Gene Study Sheds Light on Body Clock's Link to Diabetes (HealthDay)

MONDAY, Jan. 30 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers studying the link between diabetes and a hormone that affects your so-called "body clock" have identified a genetic mutation in the receptor for the hormone, melatonin, that may to boost the risk of the disease.

The finding could help improve assessment of a person's diabetes risk and could also lead to the development of personalized treatments, according to the study published in the Jan. 29 online edition of the journal Nature Genetics.

The research team from Imperial College London found that people who have rare genetic mutations in the receptor for melatonin have a greatly increased risk for type 2 diabetes.

Melatonin controls the body's sleep-wake cycle. A previous study found that people with common variations in the gene for the melatonin receptor MT2 have a slightly increased risk for type 2 diabetes.

This new study discovered that having any of four rare mutations of the MT2 is associated with a six times increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Melatonin controls the release of insulin, which regulates blood sugar levels. Mutations in the MT2 gene may disrupt the connection between the body clock and insulin release, resulting in abnormal control of blood sugar, the researchers explained.

For their study, the investigators examined the MT2 gene in more than 7,000 people. They identified 40 variants associated with type 2 diabetes, four of which are very rare and make the receptor incapable of responding to melatonin. The effect of these four variants was then confirmed in an additional group of nearly 12,000 people.

"Blood sugar control is one of the many processes regulated by the body's biological clock. This study adds to our understanding of how the gene that carries the blueprint for a key component in the clock can influence people's risk of diabetes," study leader Philippe Froguel, from the School of Public Health, said in an Imperial College London news release.

"We found very rare variants of the MT2 gene that have a much larger effect than more common variants discovered before. Although each mutation is rare, they are common in the sense that everyone has a lot of very rare mutations in their DNA. Cataloging these mutations will enable us to much more accurately assess a person's risk of disease based on their genetics," Froguel added.

While the study found a link between the mutation and diabetes risk, it did not find a cause-and-effect relationship.

More information

The American Diabetes Association offers an overview of diabetes prevention.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/biotech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20120130/hl_hsn/genestudyshedslightonbodyclockslinktodiabetes

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ECB's Makuch sees some recession risks: report (Reuters)

BRATISLAVA (Reuters) ? The euro zone could fall back into recession this year, an ECB Governing Council member said on Monday, adding the bank's non-standard measures were a significant funding and confidence boost.

A surprise upturn in the euro zone's service sector this month raised hopes the region may escape recession in 2012, even though the broader economy outside Germany is still struggling to gain traction.

The single currency area was likely to avoid a slip into a "deep recession," but will probably wallow in a mild recession until the second half of this year, according to a Reuters survey from January.

The European Central Bank (ECB), which pumped 489 billion euros into the financial system in December in its first-ever offering of three-year loans to help banks' funding strains amid the European sovereign debt crisis, will do so again next month.

"The banks' significant need in the first three-year operation shows that ECB's non-standard measures provide a significant contribution for financing of banks, supporting financial conditions and confidence," Jozef Makuch, who also heads the Slovak central bank, told daily Hospodarske Noviny in an interview.

Makuch warned the banks' dependency on the ECB short-term funding was rising, adding financing problems could hurt loan supply and have negative impacts on real economies.

"The market is still not functioning, we see some opening of markets with unsecured securities, but we are at the beginning of this process and hope it will continue," Makuch said.

Makuch said the ECB's bond-buying program, aimed to ease borrowing stress of debt-troubled countries like Italy, was neither automatic, nor without limit.

"Governments in the euro zone must cut excessive deficits and, in time, reach structurally balanced or surplus budgets. Countries at risk must fix slides in consolidation swiftly," Makuch said.

EU leaders will meet on Monday to sign off on a permanent rescue fund for the bloc and are expected to agree on a balanced budget rule in national legislation, with unresolved problems in Greece casting a shadow on the discussions.

(Reporting by Martin Santa; Editing by Ramya Venugopal)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120130/bs_nm/us_ecb_makuch

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Steam mobile app beta invites now rolling out; we go hands-on

As we reported on Thursday, Valve Software recently took the wraps off the Steam mobile app for Android (and iOS), as part of a limited beta. Steam users could register their interest by downloading the app and entering their details, and over the past day or so, the first beta invites have started to roll out.

Steam is a big deal in the world of PC and Mac gaming, which makes the launch of an official mobile app a big deal for Android. As such, we decided to take this initial beta version of the Steam Android app for a spin. We've got more words and pictures for you after the break.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/BkaSmJ-EfNc/story01.htm

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Bud? Coors? No, Yuengling is the No. 1 US brewer

By Rob Neill

A beer maker many drinkers haven?t heard of has become the top American brewer. Depending on how you define ?American brewer.?

G.G. Yuengling and Son didn?t as much dethrone Budweiser, Miller and Coors as it had to wait for them to get acquired by foreign companies. Although December sales figures are preliminary, the maker of Juengling Lager passed Boston Beer, brewer of Sam Adams, to take the crown for 2011,?according?to trade journal Beer Marketer?s Insights. The ranking is for beers brewed in the U.S. with American ownership.

?It?s a little ironic" that Yeungling is the No. 1 brewer, given its lack of a?national profile,?said Eric Sheppard, editor of Beer Marketer's Insights.??There are a lot of caveats.?

?It?s not that long ago Yuengling being the largest in the U.S. would have caused people to go, ?Wha??,? he said.

Despite its lack of recognition, Yuengling is no upstart. A family owned brewer founded in 1829 and based in Pottsville, Pa., the company?sells seven brands and distributes its product in 14 mostly southeastern states. The company's signature brand is its flagship traditional lager.

?By default we?ve slowly climbed our way to the top after 183 years,? chief financial officer?David Casinelli said.

He downplays any No. 1 talk, saying the Buds and Millers of the world, even if foreign-owned,??are brewed in American breweries with American jobs."

"Those rankings are more important to industry gurus," Casinelli told msnbc.com. "What?s important to us is we?re growing in an industry that?s declining.?

Anheuser-Busch, brewer of the iconic Budweiser brand, was bought by Belgian conglomerate InBev in 2008. Miller and Coors are owned by a multinational that is based in Britain?and Canada.

According to figures supplied by Insight, with preliminary December numbers, Anheuser-Busch InBev has 47 percent of the American market and brewed 99 million barrels in 2011. MillerCoors is second at 28 percent with 60 million barrels.

Yuengling?s numbers that make them dominant? Two-and-a-half million barrels brewed, for a 1 percent market share. Boston is less than a hundred thousand barrels behind.

?Casinelli credits a push this year into the Ohio market that was ?far more successful than we planned? for pushing them over the top. But if you live in, say, Texas or California, don?t plan on ordering one any time soon. The company has no more expansion plans at this time.

?We are a regional brewery," Casinelli said. ?We will grow as we feel we can handle it. But we?re not going to run across the U.S. and become a national brand.?

But they don?t plan on going away either.

?We?re a fifth-generation business. Most don?t make it past, what do they say, two.?

?

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/17/10175670-brewer-youve-never-heard-of-is-no-1-in-us-depending-how-you-count

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Homemade Mother?s Circus Animal Cookies Recipe

Do you remember eating iced animal crackers as a kid? I certainly do. The nostalgic taste of an animal cracker covered in pink or white icing and topped with just the right amount of confetti sprinkles brings back the tastiest of childhood memories. If you can relate to the fun of eating Mother?s Circus Animal Cookies as a kid then you will be happy to see this recipe for Vanilla Sugar Animal Cookies with Royal Icing from Dessert First. While nothing will quite take the place of that special taste from the past, these cookies are as close as you might get. A simple sugar cookie dough will get you started. A few cookie cutters, some royal icing and some colored sprinkles later and you will be having flashbacks of your younger days. And if you haven?t had the pleasure of enjoying these fun little cookies as a kid it?s never too late to start! This is definitely a tradition worth sharing!

Photo Credit: Dessert First

About Leslie Reese

Leslie Reese writes about dessert trends & recipes here. She is currently publishing her first dessert recipe book.

Source: http://bestfriendsforfrosting.com/2012/01/homemade-mothers-circus-animal-cookies-recipe/

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Algeria says kidnapped governor freed on Libyan soil (Reuters)

ALGIERS (Reuters) ? A kidnapped Algerian regional governor has been freed after his captors were intercepted inside Libya, officials said on Tuesday, an incident that will raise new concerns about instability spilling over from Libya to its neighbors.

Two Algerian security sources earlier told Reuters the governor was being held by al Qaeda. Security experts have warned the group is exploiting turmoil in Libya after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi to carve out a safe haven.

Algeria's state news agency, citing a source close to the Interior Ministry, said the governor, Mohamed Laid Khelfi, was freed by the Libyan authorities when they stopped his kidnappers about 150 km inside Libyan territory.

The agency said the governor would soon be handed over to the Algerian authorities at a nearby border crossing.

An Algerian security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters: "The governor is safe and well. He was freed. That is all I can say for now."

The kidnapping, deep in the Sahara desert, was the most audacious attack on a senior official for years in Algeria, which has been fighting a two-decade battle against Islamist insurgents.

There was no immediate comment from officials in Libya's interim government on the incident.

Khelfi, governor of the Illizi region about 1,700 km (1,000 miles) southeast of the Algerian capital, was driving away from a meeting on the Libyan border on Monday afternoon when three armed men stopped his convoy, the Interior Ministry said.

The attackers released his driver and an aide, but took the governor in the direction of the Libyan border, a ministry statement said. He later made telephone contact with his family.

The ministry did not identify the kidnappers, saying only they were young Algerian men who were known to the authorities.

Two Algerian security officials, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the governor had been held by al Qaeda's north African branch, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

The group carries out kidnappings, ambushes and suicide bombings, mainly in Algeria but also in neighboring states which straddle the Sahara desert.

With backing from Western states, which are concerned the group could spread its activities further afield, Algerian security forces have been able to reduce the insurgency to a small rump of fighters hiding out in remote areas.

"DANGEROUS ESCALATION"

But the instability in Libya could give AQIM a new lease of life by providing the insurgents with a source of weapons and a safe haven in vast desert tracts which the new Libyan authorities lack the capacity to police.

"This (kidnapping) is a very dangerous escalation which shows that the group is feeling secure and strong because of the chaos in Libya," said Samer Riad, a security expert who runs Algeria's numidianews.com news portal.

Western diplomats say Algeria is under serious threat from al Qaeda and is an important ally in helping fight the spread of the insurgency. Some security experts say the al Qaeda threat also helps Algeria garner international support.

The kidnapping was unusual because in Algeria, governors and all other senior government officials almost always travel with heavy security details, making them a "hard" target, which the insurgents tend to avoid.

One of the security officials who spoke to Reuters said the governor had on Monday been at Debdeb, a border crossing with Libya, trying to calm down local protesters angry at unemployment and poor living conditions.

Among the protesters were relatives of Abdelhamid Abu Zeid, one of AQIM's leading field commanders in the Sahara desert, the official said.

Abu Zeid is believed by many security experts to have ordered the killings of two foreigners kidnapped by his group, Frenchman Michel Germaneau and Briton Edwin Dyer.

The security official said that the Illizi governor was kidnapped by local people who had been involved in the protest, and was subsequently handed over to insurgents under the command of Abu Zeid.

(Additional reporting by Mahmoud Habboush in Tripoli)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120117/wl_nm/us_algeria_libya_kidnap

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A tamer Gervais leads predictable Golden Globes

In this image released by NBC, George Clooney accepts the award for best actor for his role in "The Descendants" during the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/NBC, Paul Drinkwater)

In this image released by NBC, George Clooney accepts the award for best actor for his role in "The Descendants" during the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/NBC, Paul Drinkwater)

In this image released by NBC, Meryl Streep accepts the award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama for "The Iron Lady" during the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/NBC, Paul Drinkwater)

In this image released by NBC, host Ricky Gervais speaks during the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/NBC, Paul Drinkwater)

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) ? The Hollywood Foreign Press Association dared to let Ricky Gervais come back and host the Golden Globe Awards, a year after he insulted the organization and nearly everyone in the star-studded room with his lacerating wit.

But Gervais and the show seemed tamer and more predictable this year, not quite living up to outrageous reputations. Even the winners themselves, including "The Descendants" and its star, George Clooney, were predictable.

The victory for "The Descendants" in the best drama category sets it up in an expected battle at the Academy Awards with "The Artist," which won the award for best musical or comedy. Both had been frontrunners all along among people who are the business of prognosticating these things; Oscar nominations will be announced Jan. 24, with the ceremony itself coming Feb. 26.

Clooney won for his portrayal of a middle-aged husband struggling to raise his two daughters while their mother is in a coma. Jean Dujardin won the same award in the musical or comedy category for "The Artist" as a silent film actor whose career derails with the arrival of sound. ("The Artist" won the most film awards with three total, including one for Ludovic Bource's original score.)

It took the presenters and winners themselves to liven up the program ? and that includes Uggie, Dujardin's scene-stealing Jack Russell terrier in "The Artist," who performed some of his signature tricks on stage toward the end of the night.

While Gervais dropped an F-bomb a couple hours into the broadcast ? likely an accident after some imbibing on and offstage ? he also took aim at easy targets like Kim Kardashian. Later, wine glass in hand, he emerged from the wings to express delight in having "a job where you can get drunk and say what you want, and they still pay you."

After he introduced Madonna with a series of hackneyed puns about her song titles, including "Like a Virgin," the pop star shot back.

"If I'm still just like a virgin, Ricky, then why don't you come over here and do something about it?" she deadpanned. "I haven't kissed a girl in a few years ? on TV."

Male genitalia was a frequent theme. Tina Fey and Jane Lynch teamed up to make a penis pun inspired by "Hung" star Thomas Jane. Seth Rogen, taking the stage with the gorgeous Kate Beckinsale, cracked: "Hello, I'm Seth Rogen, and I'm currently trying to conceal a massive erection." And Clooney, in accepting his best-actor award, made a joke about fellow nominee Michael Fassbender, who plays a sex addict in "Shame."

"I'd like to thank Michael Fassbender for taking over the full-frontal nudity responsibility that I had," and Clooney then went on to suggest Fassbender could play golf with his hands behind his back.

Even Meryl Streep ? the grand dame of them all who won for best actress in a drama for her portrayal of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in "The Iron Lady" ? let an expletive slip during her acceptance speech. Streep got flustered when she realized she forgot her glasses at her table; instead she winged it, giving a rambling (but gracious) speech praising other actresses' performances, including some who hadn't even been nominated that night.

Two of Hollywood's most veteran and esteemed directors also were winners Sunday night, both of whom were venturing into 3-D for the first time: Martin Scorsese for best director for the family fantasy "Hugo" and Steven Spielberg for best animated film for "The Adventures of Tintin." Meanwhile, Woody Allen won for his screenplay for "Midnight in Paris" ? but naturally, he wasn't there to accept the statue in person. The comedy is his biggest hit in decades but he's typically reluctant to attend awards shows.

Things were much more fresh and inspired on the television side of the ceremony, with daring shows earning honors and longtime stars going home with statues for new roles.

"Homeland" on Showtime, which explores terrorism and an Iraq war veteran, earned awards for best drama and best actress in a drama for star Claire Danes. It was Danes' third Globe; she won her first when she was just 15 for "My So-Called Life."

Former "Frasier" star Kelsey Grammer won best actor in a drama for Starz's "Boss," while former "Friends" star Matt LeBlanc won best actor in a musical or comedy for Showtime's "Episodes."

ABC's "Modern Family" was the big winner among commercial broadcast networks, following up its Emmy for best television comedy by winning the Golden Globe. Creator Steve Levitan and actress Sofia Vergara accepted the award with a comic riff in which she spoke in Spanish and Levitan "translated."

Let's hope the after-parties got wilder.

___

AP Television Writer David Bauder contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-16-Golden%20Globes/id-46a67adf80954e1f9ac66667359513d9

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Software for analyzing digital pathology images proving its usefulness

ScienceDaily (Jan. 13, 2012) ? As tissue slides are more routinely digitized to aid interpretation, a software program whose design was led by the University of Michigan Health System is proving its utility.

In bladder cancer test case, a new software tool developed at U-M separates malignancy from background tissue.

In a new study, a program known as Spatially Invariant Vector Quantization (SIVQ) was able to separate malignancy from background tissue in digital slides of micropapillary urothelial carcinoma, a type of bladder cancer whose features can vary widely from case to case and that presents diagnostic challenges even for experts.

The findings by U-M and Rutgers University researchers were published online in Analytical Cellular Pathology ahead of print publication.

"Being able to pick out cancer from background tissue is a key test for this type of software tool," says U-M informatics fellow Jason Hipp, M.D., Ph.D., who shares lead authorship of the paper with resident Steven Christopher Smith, M.D., Ph.D. "This is the type of validation that has to happen before digital pathology tools can be widely used in a clinical setting."

To test the software's ability to identify cancer in a digital slide, a group of human pathologists first pinpointed the cancer the old fashioned way, by hand. Their work was then used as the gold standard for grading the program's results. Researchers then systematically tested which settings within the program produced the most accurate results -- which can serve as a blueprint for optimizing the software to detect other types of cancer and disease.

Diagnosing cancer and other pathologies from tissue slides has always been part science and part art. Pathologists pore over samples looking for certain structural anomalies or counting microscopic features.

But different pathologists -- or even the same pathologist at different times -- may come to different conclusions based on a number of factors, including whether a slide is viewed at high or low magnification, or even whether the pathologist is fatigued from examining dozens of other slides that day, the researchers say.

Digital tools like SIVQ can help pathologists to quickly, accurately and efficiently identify features on a slide with just a few clicks; to quickly calculate the area of an irregularly shaped feature; or to eliminate the slow and painstaking tallying of tiny elements.

Still, the authors stress, the program isn't intended to replace the skill and art of human pathologists, but to provide an additional resource.

"Not only do our findings show that SIVQ has the potential to be a useful tool in surgical pathologists' toolkits when optimized to aid detection of such a highly variable disease, but the case is an excellent example for how the same approach might be applied to a variety of clinical areas," says Ulysses Balis, M.D., director of the division of pathology informatics at U-M and the paper's senior author.

Balis led the software's design at U-M along with Hipp and former informatics fellow Jerome Cheng, M.D.

Unlike other pattern recognition software, SIVQ bases its matches on a set of concentric rings rather than the usual square block. This allows features to be identified no matter how they're rotated or whether they're flipped, as in a mirror.

An example of the program's flexibility was recently demonstrated by Bruce P. Levy, M.D., a research fellow in pathology at Harvard Medical School. Testing the program's utility in a forensic pathology setting, SIVQ was used to calculate the area of bullet wounds and to identify and quantify stippling, which are small scrapes surrounding some gunshot wounds that help to determine the distance from which a gun was fired.

"Being able to use software like SIVQ to analyze forensic images helps to bring the practice of forensic pathology closer to the high-tech fictional world of CSI," Levy says.

Since the computer-aided analysis of micropapillary urothelial carcinoma might contribute to patient care, the group is making all of their primary data freely available to other doctors and researchers at U-M's online digital imaging repository, www.WSIrepository.org.

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Story Source:

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

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Jason Hipp and Steven Christopher Smith et al. Optimization of complex cancer morphology detection using the SIVQ pattern recognition algorithm. Analytical Cellular Pathology, Volume 35, Number 1 / 2012

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

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

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120113093820.htm

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AP Interview: Winfrey celebrates 1st graduates

HENLEY-ON-KLIP, South Africa (AP) ? Oprah Winfrey makes no apologies for spending millions on an elite school for underprivileged South African girls. But she's also looking for ways to make her money stretch further to help more struggling Africans.

Winfrey spoke Friday on the eve of the first graduation at her school. Of the 75 students who started at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in 2007, 72 who will graduate Saturday.

All are headed to universities in South Africa and the United States to pursue such studies as medicine, law, engineering and economics.

Across South Africa, more than half a million members of the class of 2011 disappeared before the 496,000 remaining took their final exams. Only a quarter of those who graduated did well enough to qualify for university study.

"We're taking a victory lap here, for transformation," Winfrey said. "Every single girl is going to leave here with something greater to offer the world than her body."

South Africa is struggling to overcome the inequalities of apartheid, which ended in 1994. The country has too few schools at all levels, and many lack such basics as libraries and are staffed by undereducated teachers.

Earlier this week, a stampede at a Johannesburg university campus killed a mother who had accompanied her son to an in-person application day. Thousands were vying for a few hundred spots at the university.

Winfrey, who spent $40 million on her campus, said her focus was "just to change one girl, affect one person's life." But she acknowledged hers "is not a sustainable model for most people in most countries."

Another new class starts at Winfrey's school next week. But to help more young Africans, Winfrey said she would be working with established philanthropies to identify schools around the developing world that can be strengthened with money.

She hopes to adapt some of the practices of her school, including creating strong support networks for students.

"It takes a lot of support, it takes a whole team," she said, saying teachers and communities would have to be active participants.

Her focus on girls was not among the strategies she would change. Winfrey said studies have shown helping girls helps entire communities, in part because girls and women give back so much.

"I know what it's like to be a poor girl with your heart's desire to do well in the world," she added. "I chose to use my philanthropy to do what I know."

Winfrey said she also might work more quietly in the future, to spare those she helps the kind of scrutiny celebrity draws.

The achievements at Winfrey's school came despite turmoil in its first years.

A woman working as a dormitory matron at the school was accused of abusing teenagers soon after it was opened. She was acquitted in 2010. Winfrey, who has spoken of being abused as a child and called the allegations against the matron crushing, and has said the trial's outcome was "profoundly" disappointing.

Winfrey settled a defamation lawsuit filed in Philadelphia by the school's former headmistress, Nomvuyo Mzamane, who claimed Winfrey defamed her in remarks made in the wake of the scandal.

Last year, a baby born to a student at the school was found dead. The events would have been newsworthy had they involved any school, but drew particularly frenzied attention because of the Winfrey connection.

As a celebrity, Winfrey said: "All of your mistakes are amplified and show up on the evening news."

Winfrey said there were times when she wondered if her project would fail, but she could not give up, both for herself and for Nelson Mandela, who she says inspired her to build the school.

South Africa's education problems result from decades of blacks being denied resources and dignity under apartheid. Since the dawn of multiracial democracy in 1994, progress in righting the educational and other wrongs of the past has been slow and fitful.

Graeme Bloch, an education specialist at Johannesburg's University of the Witwatersrand, said he is among those who worry elite schools like Winfrey's can produce elitists. But he praised Winfrey for trying to ensure her students understood they needed to give back to their communities.

The Winfrey students, who call their school's founder Mam Oprah, lectured in their communities about AIDS, created and ran breast cancer awareness campaigns, even picked up trash in the streets of Henley-on-Klip, where the school is located.

Winfrey's was among just 544 out of some 6,500 South African schools whose entire graduating class passed national final year exams last year. Many of the schools with a 100 percent pass rate were either private like Winfrey's, or among the best public schools that had been reserved for whites under apartheid and received the bulk of public school funding.

Black students attend South Africa's elite schools ? on scholarship or because their families are among an emerging black middle and upper class. But Winfrey's is among the few top schools that can say all the students it shepherded through the exams were from poor families, most of them black.

Laurence Corner directs the Student Sponsorship Programme, which for the past decade has raised funds from corporations and individuals to place promising students from South Africa's poorest communities in its best schools.

Corner said that while his own program and schools like Winfrey's can enroll relatively few students, they have wide impact.

Entire communities start to see their young people have potential, and people are inspired to become philanthropists, he said.

"It's very important for disadvantaged communities to have role models from their own communities," he said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-01-13-AF-South-Africa-Winfrey/id-6de595028b8e4fc9b301efccf886102e

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Investing In Precious Metals, From Suze Orman

Finance expert Suze Orman offers advice on investing in precious metals.

Get Suze's FREE download to The Money Navigator enter the gift code MARLO at www.SuzeOrman.com.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/13/investing-in-precious-met_n_1205402.html

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LG at CES Liveblog

LG's made a habit of kicking things off early at CES, and so we're at their presser this morning with the hopes of seeing a little mobile fare from the Korean manufacturer. That said, we're also expecting an update on the multitude of LG's appliance and television side of the business. But it's all connected at this point, so you'll see refrigerators talking to smartphones and TVs talking to tablets.

Join us after the break for the liveblog. Things get going at 8 a.m. PST / 11 a.m. EST.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/RBmXU03mnQM/story01.htm

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?Firing? your insurance in Romney's Massachusetts : CJR

Romney?s remark Monday about firing your insurance company apparently harmed him little yesterday in the New Hampshire primary. But as the quote has rocketed around, it might be misleading some into thinking that the Massachusetts health care reforms that Romney signed into law made it so people can willy-nilly get rid of an insurer that doesn?t pay their claims on time.

The comment deserves a second look. Can you really fire your insurance company? The answer is that it?s darn difficult even in Massachusetts?the land of Romneycare.

Sarah Kliff, The Washington Post?s health policy blogger, took a crack at explaining Romney?s remark. She argued that under Massachusetts?s individual mandate, which requires residents to carry health insurance, someone can sign up for a new policy only during an open enrollment period. That?s to prevent people from gaming the system by signing up for coverage only when they get sick. Insurance companies don?t like that since they end up insuring a bunch of sick people they might lose money on.

Kliff gave only half the answer. She was talking about people buying insurance on their own in the so-called individual market. But most people in Massachusetts have coverage from their employers. They, too, can, change insurers only during open enrollment, and their employer decides whether to offer policies from more than one carrier. And increasingly workers?and not only those in the Bay State?have less choice.

But what if they want to dump their employer?s policy because it?s too expensive or covers too little? Massachusetts law bars them from dropping that coverage and buying a policy through The Connector, the state?s shopping service, where they might find more suitable insurance. As long as their employer?s insurance meets some minimum state standards, they?re stuck.

When national health reform takes effect, the rules will get more complicated. Workers who have employer coverage cannot shop in the new state insurance exchanges and receive a government subsidy unless their share of the premium for employer coverage exceeds 9.5 percent of their gross income. If someone wants to leave an employer policy and doesn?t want a subsidy, they can shop in the exchange.

Romney?s statement prompts another look at Jeremy Devor, the man in the middle whose health insurance problems we?ve been reporting on. He would love to ?fire? his insurance company, but can?t now or in the future. So you see, firing an insurance company is not exactly like giving a pink slip to bad employee?even if Romney thinks it is.

Source: http://www.cjr.org/the_kicker/firing_your_insurance_in_romneys_massachusetts.php

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Washington, Schlagle high schools honor cancer-stricken head coach

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By NICK SLOAN, NJSloan212@gmail.com

While the Washington Wildcats and Schlagle Stallions basketball rivalry is one of the most hotly-contested in the State of Kansas, the two schools and programs came together for a 10-minute halftime ceremony to honor Wildcats girls basketball head coach Vivian Jordan.

Jordan, who suffers from cancer, has coached multiple sports at Washington High School.

Former players, current players and fellow employees presented Jordan letters and brief speeches of support.

The halftime ceremony was part of the Washington and Schlagle?s ?Coaches vs. Cancer? event.

Washington Wildcats head coach Eric King and Schlagle head coach David Johnson both wore tennis shoes while coaching during the boys? game.

The tennis shoe tradition began when college coaches started participating in the event.

Jordan was also presented a proclamation from Unified Government Mayor/CEO Joe Reardon ? one that proclaimed Tuesday?s date as ?Vivian Jordan Day in Kansas City, Kansas.?

A jersey with Jordan?s name will hang in Washington?s gymnasium.

A portion of the proceeds generated by those in attendance, a game that generated a sell-out at the school, will go towards a scholarship program in the name of Jordan.

Source: http://kansascitykansan.com/blogs/nick-sloan/washington-schlagle-high-schools-honor-cancer-stricken-head-coach/11574

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Apple plans January 19 education event in New York (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Apple Inc (AAPL.O) sent out media invitations on Wednesday announcing plans for an education event at New York's Guggenheim Museum on January 19 but did not reveal further details.

The iPhone and iPad maker is notoriously tightlipped about its carefully staged launch events and this time is no different.

The invitation, integrating the Apple logo into an outline sketch of the Manhattan skyline, simply asks guests to "Join us for an education announcement in the Big Apple".

The invitation-only event will take place at the modern and contemporary art Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

(Reporting By Yinka Adegoke; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120111/tc_nm/us_apple_education

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DJDarren: @jearle Like I've said to you before, AirPlay is the sole reason I use my Apple TV. It's such a wonderful tool.

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@jearle Like I've said to you before, AirPlay is the sole reason I use my Apple TV. It's such a wonderful tool. Il y a environ 1 heure via Echofon en r?ponse ? jearle

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Source: http://jobsearch.educationcanada.com/index.phtml?a=v&j=111602

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US, EU Wage Economic War on Iran; Greece Lifts Objection to Oil Embargo; Warmongers United; Will Cooler Heads Prevail? (938209)

One might think the US and EU would have enough economic problems already to risk oil soaring to stratospheric heights by an embargo of Iranian oil.

Unfortunately, common sense never gets in the way of bureaucrats and fools or their foolish missions.

Bloomberg reports EU Governments Moving Closer to Iran Oil Embargo as Greece Lifts Objection

European Union governments moved closer to halting oil purchases from Iran, stepping up the confrontation over the Islamic republic?s nuclear program.

EU foreign ministers are aiming to announce harsher sanctions on Iran?s energy and banking industries at their next meeting on Jan. 30 after Greece lifted its objections to an oil embargo.

?We want to tighten sanctions on Iran -- the things that have been mentioned are the oil sector and the financial sector,? EU spokesman Michael Mann said by telephone in Brussels today.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said in Lisbon today that he hopes a decision about an embargo on Iranian oil exports may be adopted at the Jan. 30 meeting of foreign ministers.

The U.S. today welcomed the push toward an embargo.

?This is consistent with tightening the noose around Iran economically,? State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said at a briefing in Washington. ?The place to get Iran?s attention is in the oil sector.?

US, EU Wage Economic War on Iran

By some misguided thinking it is OK for the the US to block Iranian oil but not OK for Iran to defend itself or retaliate.

As far as I am concerned, an embargo is an act of war, and only Congress can declare war.

Thus, one seriously has to wonder if the the US is purposely attempting to goad Iran into blocking the Strait of Hormuz, just so the US can flatten Iran.

Warmongers United

Flushed with the "success" of wasting trillions of dollars in Iraq, fighting weapons of mass destruction that did not exist, the US now wants to do the same to Iran.

Oil is Fungible

The best news out of this mess is that oil is fungible, and perhaps embargo disruptions are already priced in. Regardless, as long as Iranian oil gets through, anywhere, prices will not get out of hand.

With that in mind, it would not surprise me one bit to see China send ships to the Gulf, stating flat out that China will defend its right to not have the US interfere with China's oil needs.?

Will Cooler Heads Prevail?

I would love to see someone cram this illegal action so far down Obama's throat it makes him puke. The only problem I see with China asserting Iran's right to ship oil (and it's quite a major problem), is that such actions by China could lead to WW III, just what neocon nutcases want.

By the way, the only candidate from either party against these illegal military and economic actions is Ron Paul.

In an addendum to my? Predictions for 2012, under the category of Energy, I stated? "My prediction is cooler heads prevail."

Perhaps I will be quite wrong on that particular call, quite soon.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MishsGlobalEconomicTrendAnalysis/~3/6VaMZOZ9I2w/us-eu-wage-economic-war-on-iran-greece.html

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2011 Reflections: the end of a landmark year for Latin America

Seven Monitor correspondents reflect on the world's hot spots. In this installment, Sara Miller Llana says Latin America has economically boomed this year as the US and Europe struggle.

As 2011 comes to a close, Latin America's future looks bright, with poverty at its lowest level in 20 years ? 31.4 percent ? and economies growing, thanks to earlier market-oriented reforms, the high prices of commodities, and new trading partners, especially China.

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In the ultimate role reversal, as Europe and the United States struggle, Latin America has shined.

Even Cuba made major economic progress, albeit out of necessity, granting more licenses for entrepreneurs and allowing for the sale of real estate and cars. But shadows of the past have clouded the region as well, especially in elections.

In Central America, two cold-war-era figures won presidencies, with retired Army Gen. Otto Perez Molina winning Guatemala's runoff, and Sandinista Daniel Ortega winning another term in Nicaragua (unconstitutionally, many argue). Mr. Perez Molina is accused of human rights abuses during the civil war; Mr. Ortega was a US foe as president in the 1980s after Nicaragua's revolution.

And then there is growing discontent with dynastic influences.

In Peru, Keiko Fujimori, daughter of disgraced former dictator Alberto Fujimori, made it to the runoff in June (she lost to Ollanta Humala).

In Argentina, Cristina Fern?ndez de Kirchner easily won reelection in October, boosted by a solid economy. But by the time she steps down, her family will have ruled for 12 years. That's too long for those who seek more dynamic democracy, replete with a robust opposition.

That is the case in Venezuela, too, where opponents are trying to edge out President Hugo Ch?vez, who announced this year that he was ill. He has been in office since 1999 and will face probably his fiercest test in 2012, as the opposition seeks to capitalize on high crime rates and inflation.

In Mexico, the 2012 presidential campaign is heating up. The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which presided over 71 years of authoritarian rule before being defeated in 2000, has emerged as the front-runner ? in part because of public weariness over President Felipe Calder?n's strategy against organized crime, which has caused homicides to soar past 40,000 in five years.

There are other hints of the past. Honduras is still reeling from its 2009 coup. The head of Colombia's FARC rebel group was killed in November, but the group still terrorizes. And former dictator Manuel Noriega is back in Panama, where he went straight to prison, having spent 20 years in French and US prisons.

But most of these events are overshadowed by the positive economic news. The year 2011 may be seen as the starting point of a new era for Latin America.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/cRoeC68nGvc/2011-Reflections-the-end-of-a-landmark-year-for-Latin-America

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Five dead in Nigeria church attack

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WORLD NEWS

Recent violence in Nigeria has been linked to the Boko Haram sect (AP)

Gunmen have attacked a church in north-east Nigeria during a prayer service, killing at least five people and wounding others in an assault that occurred amid an increasingly violent campaign by a radical Muslim sect.

Gunmen have attacked a church in north-east Nigeria during a prayer service, killing at least five people and wounding others in an assault that occurred amid an increasingly violent campaign by a radical Muslim sect.

Pastor Johnson Jauro said the gunfire sprayed the Deeper Life Church in Gombe, the capital of Gombe state, injuring several worshippers and killing his wife and two others. Two other people later died at the hospital from their wounds.

Local police spokesman Ahmed Muhammad confirmed the attack, but declined to say how many people the gunmen killed and wounded.

The assault occurred as Nigeria remains under attack by the sect known as Boko Haram. The oil-rich nation's president recently put regions of the country under a state of emergency due to the threat, but that did not include Gombe, which sits about 350 miles from Nigeria's central capital Abuja.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion immediately fell on Boko Haram. The sect has carried out increasingly sophisticated and bloody attacks in its campaign to implement strict Shariah law across Nigeria, a multi-ethnic nation of more than 160 million people.

Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the local Hausa language, is responsible for more than 500 killings this year alone, according to an Associated Press count. The group claimed responsibility for an attack that killed at least 39 people in a Christmas Day bombing of a Catholic church near Abuja, as well as a suicide car bombing targeting the UN headquarters in the capital that killed 25 people and wounded more than 100.

Nigeria's government has been slow to respond to the sect.

On December 31, President Goodluck Jonathan declared regions of Borno, Niger, Plateau and Yobe states to be under a state of emergency - meaning authorities can make arrests without proof and conduct searches without warrants. He also ordered international borders near Borno and Yobe state to be closed.

However, it remains unclear what effect that will have on a sect that has adopted hit-and-run attacks and suicide bombings to target the country's military and police, as well as civilians.

Source: http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/293906/Five-dead-in-Nigeria-church-attack/

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Swimming and Diving Travels to Southern California

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Source: http://www.sjsuspartans.com//ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=5600&ATCLID=205356707

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Know How Your Charitable Donations Will Be Spent Before You Give [Charity]

Giving to charity can be a surprisingly difficult task. Sure, you may have a cause you'd like to support, but you'll often find large disparities between how various charitable organizations actually spend their money. Our info expert Clay Johnson explains how to use publicly available data to make better decisions about your charitable giving.

Part of my book, The Information Diet, is about how to use publicly available data to make better decisions. It's about ways to bypass the spin and the marketing, and how to make healthier choices around the information you consume.

Whether you're looking to lower your 2011 tax bill, or looking to give a little back after the holidays, it's now the season for giving to charity. But how do you know if your money is doing any good? Charities might say that they "give 80 cents of every dollar to" [support whatever cause they you're in to], but if that 80 cents is going to fund some other non-profit who is spending 80 cents on the money that *it* receives, then your money is being poorly spent.

It's sad to say, but sometimes non-profits and charities aren't what they're cracked up to be. And if you're not careful, you can give your money to an organization that won't make the most use of your money. Fortunately you can evaluate a charity about as easily as you can the features of a flat-screen TV using publicly available data.

Every substantial charity that does business in the United States must file an IRS Form 990 that contains a lot of operational details about how the organization spends its money. They're far superior than a charity's annual report because there's less marketing inside of it, and more brass tacks.

You can generally get a 990 form by searching around for it. You can search for "990 Lance Armstrong Foundation" for instance, and find yourself with at this site, with a history of the foundation's recent 990s. GuideStar also provides 990s for most non-profits, but requires a free registration to do so.

The first thing I look for in a 990 form is whether or not a non-profit spends a lot of money giving grants. If the non-profit is giving a substantial amount of its revenues as grants out to other organizations, then taking a look at those organizations and figuring out whether or not to give directly to them is an option worth considering. That may help your dollars get closer to the source of the problem you're trying to solve with your money, giving them more impact.

The second thing I look for in a 990 is executive compensation. If a non-profit is giving a substantial portion of its revenues to its executives, then it's not for me. I want my dollars going to solve problems not to line pockets. Use good judgement and com parables here ? if the directors of the non-profit you're thinking of donating to are paying themselves far more than the directors of comparable non-profits, maybe you should give elsewhere.

Accounting isn't the only method of evaluation though ? it's also whether or not the practices of your non-profit are actually doing any good. GiveWell.org is an organization that tries to do much of this non-profit research for you. They even provide a great set of questions for many charities you may be interested in giving to, along with their own research.

Sometimes though a 990 and an evaluation won't do. There are some charities that are small, just getting their start, and either aren't old enough to have a 990, or big enough to be evaluated by an organization like GiveWell. Newer organizations tend to be "fiscally sponsored" by larger ones, and usually you can tell who those larger organizations are because that's who you have to write your check to.

One way to evaluate those smaller organizations is to check out the sponsor organization, but another is to actually contact the executive director of the organization. The smaller organizations probably don't get a lot of attention, so they'll usually get back to you on your questions.

Don't let your charitable giving go to waste. While your heartstrings might get tugged in one direction or another, taking a few minutes to do some basic evaluations can do a lot of good. It helps to make sure that the charities out there that are doing good get rewarded, and the charities out there that aren't don't.

Photo by Feng Yu/Shutterstock.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/6TbSTZZqhWk/know-how-your-charitable-donations-will-be-spent-before-you-give

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