Sunday, September 30, 2012

More than 3,000 on waiting list for developmental disability services ...

Anna Claire Statum loves her cats, Kitty and Smoky, the television station Nick Jr. and giving her mother "I want" demands such as "I want Coca-Cola," and then "I want ice water," after her request for sugary soda gets turned down.

But at 26, Stanton, who was born with profound developmental disabilities because of a recessive gene, can't live independently. Her parents, Carl and Susan, are in their mid-sixties and worry about what will happen to their daughter as they age. They'd also like her to have a place she could go during the day "where recreational activities are encouraged, to have some company."

"It's a conundrum. There is no good ending," said her mother, Susan Statum.

Statum, of West End, said her daughter has been on a state waiting list for home and community-based services for more than 10 years.

There are 3,172 people on the? waiting list for community services, mostly for residential services such as group homes but also day programs and other services, according to the Department of Mental Health. About one-third of the people are already receiving some services while they wait for others, but 1915 are have no services.

Advocates said the list is continuing to grow, leaving families waiting for years and often not getting to the top of the list until there is a emergency such as the death of a caregiver.

"Our state could choose to fund these services. To this point we have chosen not to," said James Tucker, an attorney with Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program.

"This is a choice that our state is making to not serve 3,100 people that they have determined need those services," Tucker said.

The slots are provided through Medicaid waivers, paid through a combination of federal and state funds, and aimed at helping people with disabilities meet their living and educational needs.

Department of Mental Health spokesman Jeff Shackelford said the problem is money.

"We're helping people as fast as we can with the funds we have available," Shackelford said.

"The tough financial times we're facing do not make this any easier," he said.

The state's General Fund budget has been hit by proration for the past several years, causing additional reductions in funding for non-education agencies.

Department officials acknowledged the list has continued to grow. Last year, the department was able to get services for 139 people on the list, but another 505 people were added to it, according to department officials.

"The number one thing people can do is call their lawmakers and ask them to give us more money. The more money we have, the more people we can help on this list," Shackelford said.

Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, who chairs the Senate committee that oversees the General Fund, said the state budgets are "extremely stressed." He said the Department of Mental Health has taken "great strides to reduce the cost structure," including continuing to move people from institutions to community settings.

"Those cost savings should translate to additional funds to help, not solve, the backlog," Orr said.

Alabama in 2011 ranked 46th among the 50 states in spending on services for developmental disabilities per $1,000 of statewide personal income, according to annual data collected by Professor David L. Braddock and the Coleman Institute and Department of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado. The state ranked 44th in 2009, according to Braddock.

"The financial support for the effort is anemic," Braddock said.

Advocates for both people with disabilities and mental illnesses have praised Alabama's efforts to move people out of institutions and into community settings, following court decisions that say people should be cared for in the least restrictive setting possible.

Alabama is one of only a handful of "lofty" states that operate no institutions for people with developmental disabilities, Braddock said. The state closed its last remaining institution last year and moved residents to group homes or other community settings.

Most consumers are now cared for in community settings, Shackelford said.

"The Alabama Department of Mental Health is committed to helping our consumers with the best care possible. We are working diligently to help as many people as possible," Shackelford said.

But Braddock said the need hasn't been fully addressed on the other end -- helping people who already were living at home but need some services.

With limited funds, the state has to triage people on the waiting list. They are ranked according to "criticality of need."

A person being well-cared for at home such as by their parents is not in immediate need, Shackelford said. But as their situation changes -- such as a change in their financial situation or the death of a caregiver -- they move up in priority, Shackelford said.

"It's not like a waiting list of the doctor's office where it's first come, first serve," Shackelford said.

While advocates say it's unrealistic to think the state could ever eliminate the waiting list, they argue it could do better.

Cinque Johnson, 29, was born with Down Syndrome, and his mother had cared for him at her home in Ensley. But she died in June from pancreatic cancer. His sister, Zakiya Gwinn, has been on leave from her job as a child protective services worker in Maryland to care for him ever since.

Gwinn said her mother tried to update his criticality rating after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer and had hoped get him into a group home.

"There is no place for my bother to go. I basically have to lie and say I don't want him anymore. They said the only way he would qualify for emergency services is if he was homeless," Gwinn said.

"The waiting list is too long. It seems as if Alabama does not care," Gwinn said.

Gwinn said she has considered taking her brother to Maryland, but she said she fears starting at the bottom of another state's waiting list.

The Robinson family in Chambers County said their daughter, Kelly Ware, 33, brings much happiness to their lives, but they'd like to get a little help enriching her life.

Mary Ann Robinson said she knew in her gut something was wrong with her daughter before they left the maternity ward. She never cried. She was floppy. She couldn't suck at her bottle. Her worries were largely dismissed first as "failure to thrive" and then "just slow."

It wasn't until Ware was four that, during a medical visit for Robinson's son, another doctor turned and asked, "What's wrong with her?"

The diagnosis came back as Prader-Willi syndrome, a rare genetic disorder.

Ware, who was signed up for services in 2009, was offered a slot in a day facility two years ago, but Robinson said they turned it down because they didn't feel it was appropriate. The facility had ready access to food, and Robinson said people with Prader-Willi syndrome have an insatiable appetite coupled with difficulty processing food.

"She just can't be around where there is food," Robinson said.

Robinson said their case worker has assured her she'll be able to find a place for Ware if something should happen to them, but she said she'd like to get some help for her daughter sooner.

"I just get so frustrated," she said.

Source: http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2012/09/more_than_3000_on_waiting_list.html

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Learn The Basics Of Home Improvement Today | Content for Reprint

Author: Greg James | Total views: 80 Comments: 0
Word Count: 897 Date:

Anyone can get involved in home improvement projects. Home improvement projects can benefit you much further than providing you with a nicer home to live in. When these projects are done well, they can boost your property value. This article should give you some tips on how to handle your next remodeling project.

People may consider installing radiant heating or a central vacuuming system in order to attract higher purchase offers from potential buyers. Unfortunately, many forget to focus on the exterior aesthetics such as the paint or the crooked shutters. Buyers notice these things and consider the property a fixer-upper. Do not forget that the first impression that others have of your home does matter.

Some people believe that high ticket items like radiant heating under the floors or central vacuum systems will add value to their homes. However, they avoid painting the outside of the house or fixing the crooked shutters! Buyers notice these things and consider the property a fixer-upper. The way someone initially sees your home is important.

Soundproofing inside interior walls makes a good investment in any home. It would be luxurious to soundproof every wall, but it's not really feasible or financially savvy. Bedrooms, bathrooms and equipment rooms are the most important to sound proof. The kitchen can be a nice area to soundproof as well, unless it's a fairly open kitchen that attaches to a lot of different areas.

Use empty two-liter bottles as storage containers for your kitchen. They will protect just about any dried goods like flour or sugar. They are also clear, so it is easy to see what is inside. You can put them in the freezer or even in the fridge. Just open and pour when you need to use the contents.

If you wish to get creative with the design of the place, set up a stencil along the walls and use this for an outline of your basic graphic. Laminate some copies of your pattern at the copy store, and then cut them out with a craft knife. Place your stencil on the wall using painter's tape, apply the paint and put another stencil underneath the older one, switching as needed to complete the look throughout the room.

Install battery-powered LED fixtures in closets. You can find them at many discount stores. Some require you setting them in place with a couple of screws. Some are even easier with sticky pads. If you buy automatic lights, you can just open the door and the light will turn on.

Making your ceiling appear higher than it is can be accomplished using two very simple tips. You can put a lengthy floor lamp in the room or install striped wall paper. Doing this creates the illusion of height. The eye focuses on the tall lines, causing the ceilings to seem higher.

Pay attention to the climate in which you live. If your climate isn't accommodating, a patio may not be a great addition. Creating a covered patio or a wind-breaking structure may improve the situation, but if you aren't prepared to shell out for these extra costs, you may be better off skipping these plans.

Sand wooden objects before staining to make sure the wood is smooth. Follow up by wiping with a damp cloth. Sanding smooths the finish. Using a damp cloth to wipe the surface helps get rid of dust and provide a smooth finish.

If a home improvement project will require using your street, be courteous and tell your neighbors well ahead of time. This may occur if you need to have things delivered or if large pieces of equipment are a part of your plans. Your neighbors will appreciate a little warning before you inconvenience them this way.

Once you have put in new floors or carpets, do not allow anyone to walk on it with shoes in order to ensure that it looks good for years. Provide your guests with a storage space to take off their shoes. Consider providing slippers to everyone. This ensures that your floor stays clean for many years.

When you have to have your roof redone, use light colored substances or white tile. Having a light colored roof will help keep your attic cool by deflecting the sun's rays. This will make your cooling and heating bills less expensive.

Get references from anyone you hire to do improvements at your home. Think of it in terms of hiring an employee for your business. You want to investigate background, and also ensure that others have been happy with the work they do.

If you are improving your home on a budget, and want to stay in your home during the work, focus on only one room at once. This will keep things bearable, as long as you have more than one bathroom. When the bathroom is being renovated, living in your home is just not possible. Therefore, attempt to stay with your family or friends until you finish it.

Taking on a remodeling job doesn't have to be intimidating and difficult. Things will be easier by properly planning and taking your time. Take these ideas to heart and begin working on your house.

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2: Gifts vs. Cash -- Wedding Etiquette Q&A

Q: My daughter is getting married in October 2008. Her and her fiance have everything they need for their home. Is it okay to ask for money instead of a gift? If it is okay, how do we word this? st

3: How To Buy High Quality Furniture At Estate Sales

Estate sales and auctions are an excellent place to pick up gently used or even antique furniture at prices considerably less than retail. While it might take patience, it is possible to find reasonable prices on excellent pieces that will last for generations -- saving you money in the long run.

4: The Tell Tale Signs Of Pregnancy

Lean what signs to look out for that could mean a baby is on the way.

5: Best Ways To Find People Free Online

With about 50% of the world population able to access the internet, there is now a much better chance to find someone free online This is especially true if the person you are trying to locate lives in a country where internet usage is high

Source: http://www.content4reprint.com/family/learn-the-basics-of-home-improvement-today.htm

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Saturday, September 29, 2012

Lack of sleep leads to insulin resistance in teens

ScienceDaily (Sep. 29, 2012) ? A new study suggests that increasing the amount of sleep that teenagers get could improve their insulin resistance and prevent the future onset of diabetes.

"High levels of insulin resistance can lead to the development of diabetes," said lead author Karen Matthews, PhD, of the University of Pittsburgh Department of Psychiatry. "We found that if teens that normally get six hours of sleep per night get one extra hour of sleep, they would improve insulin resistance by 9 percent."

The study, appearing in the October issue of the journal Sleep, tracked the sleep duration and insulin resistance levels of 245 healthy high school students. Participants provided a fasting blood draw, and they kept a sleep log and wore a wrist actigraph for one week during the school year. Sleep duration based on actigraphy averaged 6.4 hours over the week, with school days significantly lower than weekends.

Results show that higher insulin resistance is associated with shorter sleep duration independent of race, age, gender, waist circumference, and body mass index. According to Matthews, the study is the only one in healthy adolescents that shows a relationship between shorter sleep and insulin resistance that is independent of obesity.

The authors concluded that interventions to promote metabolic health in adolescence should include efforts to extend nightly sleep duration. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine reports that most teens need a little more than nine hours of sleep each night.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Academy of Sleep Medicine, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Karen Matthews et al. Sleep Duration and Insulin Resistance in Healthy Black and White Adolescents. Sleep, October 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://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/nxGFitvWinU/120929140234.htm

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Zazzy Zoe, Woody, Tripp, and all their adoptable friends at ...

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Zazzy Zoe is an adult female cat that is a ball of fun. She is one of many cats up for adoption at Metro Animal Services. Zazzy Zoe has striking features and piercing eyes. She will crawl her way into your arms, forever! Stop by to see this highly entertaining and loveable cat! She is current on all shots and spayed/neutered. You can visit Zazzy Zoe at 3705 Manslick Road or contact LMAS at (502) 473-PETS (7387) for more information. Please have Zazzy Zoe?s Pet ID # A474154 ready when contacting us.

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Woody is a young male neutered St. Bernard puppy. This cute fur ball is looking for his forever home. He is neutered and wants to go home with someone who will spend time with him. If you think you are that someone please have Woody?s Pet ID # A476598 ready when contacting us about him.

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Verde is an adult male cat that wonders everyday if today will be the day that he will get his forever home. This patient feline is seriously searching for that special companion. He is not only soft and fluffy, but he is neutered and current on all shots. Come visit Verde at our Manslick location: 3705 Manslick Rd. or call us for questions at 502-473-PETS! Please have his Pet ID # A469008 handy when contacting us about him.

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Tripp is a beautiful black young male Labrador Retriever. He is neutered and is ready to find someone who will appreciate his gorgeous self. If you think you can give Tripp his happy home then have his Pet ID # A433509 ready when contacting us about him.

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Toby is an eight month old Bloodhound/Coonhound mix with a lovely red coat. He loves to play with squeaky toys and once he hears that squeak his eyes light up. He would make a great family dog who would love to play as he gets along with everyone and radiates happiness. He would love to be able to also snooze in front of a fireplace or hang out with you on the front porch. Look at that face how could you resist him. If you think your family can provide Toby with a happy home please have his Pet ID # A454855 ready when contacting us about him.

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Tanell is a small female Beagle/Chihuahua mix. She is spayed. Tanell would most likely do well as an adult companion as she doesn?t like to be grabbed at suddenly, needs some time to warm up to strangers, she is a little timid around new people. Once she gets to know you then she loves TLC. If you know of an adult who could use a little TLC from Tanell and give her the love she wants then have her Pet ID # A471527 handy when contacting us.

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To see all the adoptable pets at Louisville Metro Animal Services go to their section on the Petfinder website here.

For more information on this week?s featured pets contact Louisville Metro Animal Services at: 502-473-PETS (7387), or by email: Petfinder@louisvilleky.gov

For more information on adopting a pet go to the Metro Animal Services website here.

Metro Animal Service?s Animal House Adoption Center is located at 3516 Newburg Rd., Louisville, KY 40218.

Photos: Courtesy of Metro Animal Services, Louisville

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Source: http://www.louisville.com/content/zazzy-zoe-woody-tripp-and-all-their-adoptable-friends-louisville%E2%80%99s-metro-animal-services-are

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Tamer job gains expected for Canada in September

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada is likely to have added a modest 10,000 new jobs in September, backpedaling from gains in August that far surpassed market expectations and better reflecting the sluggish pace of the country's economic growth.

The gain of 10,000 jobs was the median forecast in a Reuters poll of 24 economists. The most bullish forecast was for 28,000 new jobs and the most bearish was for a loss of 15,000 jobs.

In August, Canada added 34,300 jobs - more than doubling expectations and recouping all the 30,400 positions lost in July - but analysts see slower and steadier jobs growth as more in line with economic fundamentals.

"If we look at the last six months, even the six-month average, which is about 27,000, that looks high for an economy that's growing at less than 2 percent," said Avery Shenfeld, chief economist at CIBC, who expects 10,000 new jobs.

"So we're due for a somewhat slower pace."

The poll's median forecast for the unemployment rate in September was 7.3 percent, unchanged from August and July.

Jobs growth was muted in May and June after a whopping 140,500 new jobs were created in March and April, which was the biggest two-month spree of job creation in more than 30 years.

"We expect a see-saw performance from the labor market in September as another strong gain in jobs (like that in August) is not likely given the current economic environment," IHS Global Insight Canadian economists Arlene Kish and Jillian Kohut wrote in a research note.

They forecast a loss of 15,000 jobs, but added: "There is the potential for a gain given that consumer confidence levels increased in September, but we haven't always seen survey responses reflected in actual data outcomes."

Canada has regained all the jobs it lost during the last recession, which was milder in Canada than it was in the United States.

(Editing by Peter Galloway and Jeffrey Hodgson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tamer-job-gains-expected-canada-september-183508574--business.html

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Friday, September 28, 2012

Leak reveals EU's plans for Large-Scale Surveillance of - kracktivist

This article is also available in:
Deutsch:?CleanIT ? Pl?ne zur ?berwachung des Internets im gro?en Stil?

A leaked document from the CleanIT project shows just how far internal discussions in that initiative have drifted away from its publicly stated aims, as well as the most fundamental legal rules that underpin European democracy and the rule of law.

The European Commission-funded CleanIT project claims that it wants to fight terrorism through voluntary self-regulatory measures that defends the rule of law.

The initial meetings of the initiative, with their directionless and ill-informed discussions about doing ?something? to solve unidentified online ?terrorist? problems were mainly attended by filtering companies, who saw an interesting business opportunity. Their work has paid off, with numerous proposals for filtering by companies and governments, proposals for liability in case sufficiently intrusive filtering is not used, and calls for increased funding by governments of new filtering technologies.

The leaked document contradicts a letter sent from CleanIT Coordinator But Klaasen to Dutch NGO Bits of Freedom in April of this year, which explained that the project would first identify problems before making policy proposals. The promise to defend the rule of law has been abandoned. There appears never to have been a plan to identify a specific problem to be solved ? instead the initiative has become little more than a protection racket (use filtering or be held liable for terrorist offences) for the online security industry.

The proposals urge Internet companies to ban unwelcome activity through their terms of service, but advise that these ?should not be very detailed?. This already widespread approach results, for example, in Microsoft (as a wholly typical example of current industry practice) having terms of service that would ban pictures of the always trouserless Donald Duck as potential pornography (?depicts nudity of any sort ? in non-human forms such as cartoons?). The leaked paper also contradicts the assertion in the letter that the project ?does not aim to restrict behaviour that is not forbidden by law? ? the whole point of prohibiting content in terms of service that is theoretically prohibited by law, is to permit extra-judicial vigilantism by private companies, otherwise the democratically justified law would be enough. Worse, the only way for a company to be sure of banning everything that is banned by law, is to use terms that are more broad, less well defined and less predictable than real law.

Moving still further into the realm of the absurd, the leaked document proposes the use of terms of service to remove content ?which is fully legal?? although this is up to the ?ethical or business? priorities of the company in question what they remove. In other words, if Donald Duck is displeasing to the police, they would welcome, but don?t explicitly demand, ISPs banning his behaviour in their terms of service. Cooperative ISPs would then be rewarded by being prioritised in state-funded calls for tender.

CleanIT (terrorism), financed by DG Home Affairs of the European Commission is duplicating much of the work of the CEO Coalition (child protection), which is financed by DG Communications Networks of the European Commission. Both are, independently and without coordination, developing policies on issues such as reporting buttons and flagging of possibly illegal material. Both CleanIT and the CEO Coalition are duplicating each other?s work on creating ?voluntary? rules for notification and removal of possibly illegal content and are jointly duplicating the evidence-based policy work being done by DG Internal Market of the European Commission, which recently completed a consultation on this subject. Both have also been discussing upload filtering, to monitor all content being put online by European citizens.

CleanIT wants binding engagements from internet companies to carry out surveillance, to block and to filter (albeit only at ?end user? ? meaning local network ? level). It wants a network of trusted online informants and, contrary to everything that they have ever said, they also want new, stricter legislation from Member States.

Unsurprisingly, in EDRi?s discussions with both law enforcement agencies and industry about CleanIT, the word that appears with most frequency is ?incompetence?.

The document linked below is distributed to participants on a ?need to know? basis ? we are sharing the document because citizens need to know what is being proposed.

Key measures being proposed:

  • Removal of any legislation preventing filtering/surveillance of employees? Internet connections
  • Law enforcement authorities should be able to have content removed ?without following the more labour-intensive and formal procedures for ?notice and action??
  • ?Knowingly? providing links to ?terrorist content? (the draft does not refer to content which has been ruled to be illegal by a court, but undefined ?terrorist content? in general) will be an offence ?just like? the terrorist
  • Legal underpinning of ?real name? rules to prevent anonymous use of online services
  • ISPs to be held liable for not making ?reasonable? efforts to use technological surveillance to identify (undefined) ?terrorist? use of the Internet
  • Companies providing end-user filtering systems and their customers should be liable for failing to report ?illegal? activity identified by the filter
  • Customers should also be held liable for ?knowingly? sending a report of content which is not illegal
  • Governments should use the helpfulness of ISPs as a criterion for awarding public contracts
  • The proposal on blocking lists contradict each other, on the one hand providing comprehensive details for each piece of illegal content and judicial references, but then saying that the owner can appeal (although if there was already a judicial ruling, the legal process would already have been at an end) and that filtering such be based on the ?output? of the proposed content regulation body, the ?European Advisory Foundation?
  • Blocking or ?warning? systems should be implemented by social media platforms ? somehow it will be both illegal to provide (undefined) ?Internet services? to ?terrorist persons? and legal to knowingly provide access to illegal content, while ?warning? the end-user that they are accessing illegal content
  • The anonymity of individuals reporting (possibly) illegal content must be preserved? yet their IP address must be logged to permit them to be prosecuted if it is suspected that they are reporting legal content deliberately and to permit reliable informants? reports to be processed more quickly
  • Companies should implement upload filters to monitor uploaded content to make sure that content that is removed ? or content that is similar to what is removed ? is not re-uploaded
  • It proposes that content should not be removed in all cases but ?blocked? (i.e. make inaccessible by the hosting provider ? not ?blocked? in the access provider sense) and, in other cases, left available online but with the domain name removed.

Leaked document:?http://www.edri.org/files/cleanIT_sept2012.pdf

CleanIT Project website:?http://www.cleanitproject.eu/

Microsoft ?code of conduct?:?http://windows.microsoft.com/is-IS/windows-live/code-of-conduct

CleanIT?s letter to Bits of Freedom about ?factual inaccuracies? and their unfulfilled promise to produce a problem definition:?http://95.211.138.23/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/20120106-Reaction-blog?

EDRigram article 29 August:?http://edri.org/edrigram/number10.16/cleanit-safer-internet-for-terror?

EDRigram article 20 June:?http://edri.org/edrigram/number10.12/the-rise-of-the-european-upload-f?

Source: http://kractivist.wordpress.com/2012/09/28/leak-reveals-eus-plans-for-large-scale-surveillance-of-communications/

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Companies to make better tasting mid-calorie snacks | Metro

NEW YORK ? Nonfat cheese that tastes like plastic. Low-calorie soda that leaves a bitter aftertaste. Sugar-free brownies that crumble like Styrofoam.

Dieters have learned an important lesson: When you take the fat and calories out of your favourite treats, you sometimes have to say goodbye to the taste too.

But snack brands like Dreyer?s/Edy?s ice cream, Hershey?s chocolate and Lay?s potato chips are trying to solve this age-old dieter?s dilemma by rolling out so-mid-calorie goodies that have more fat and calories than the snacks of earlier diet crazes but less than the original versions. They?re following the lead of soda companies like Pepsi and Dr Pepper that introduced mid-calorie drinks last year.

It?s hard to isolate sales of mid-calorie snacks since they also usually have reduced fat, or other healthy attributes like reduced sodium. But sales of all foods and drinks in which the amount of things like fat, sugar, salt, carbohydrates have been actively reduced during production have risen 16 per cent to $51.72 billion since 2006, according to research firm Euromonitor International.

The mid-calorie trend is hitting at a time when companies that make sugary and salty treats are being blamed for the country?s expanding waistlines. The problem is that the same things that make snacks taste good ? sugar, salt, calories ? also make them fattening. And many Americans don?t want to sacrifice taste at snack time. Shaving a few calories enables companies to market their cakes, cookies and chips as healthier without the bad taste stigma associated with some low-fat products.

It?s just the kind of marketing that might attract Monica Olivas. She says she wants to lead a healthy lifestyle, including curbing her fat and caloric intake as much as possible, but most low-fat foods just don?t appeal to her.

?Sometimes companies go too far and take out all the fat ? and all the flavour,? says Olivas, a 29-year-old recruiter from Pico Rivera, Calif.

A NEW ?LIGHT?

The mid-calorie trend is a toned-down version of the ?light? craze that started in the 1990s. Back then, ?low fat? or ?no fat? was all the rage. But the products often fizzled.

For instance, McDonald?s rolled out the McLean Deluxe, a low-fat burger, in 1991. But the burger, which was in part made with seaweed, had dismal sales. It disappeared from restaurants within five years.

Similarly, Lay?s in 1998 introduced Wow fat-free potato chips that use fat substitute Olestra. But the ick factor trumped healthiness when the Food and Drug Administration said the chips had to come with a warning that Olestra may cause abdominal cramping, loose stools, and that it inhibits the absorption of some vitamins and other nutrients.

The FDA dropped the requirement for the label in 2004 after studying the matter. The chips were renamed ?Light,? but sales have not recovered.

?Originally, a lot of the diet stuff just wasn?t good,? says Richard George, chair of the department of food marketing at Saint Joseph?s University in Philadelphia. ?People would say you could throw away contents and eat the box. But they?ve gotten better.?

The new era of diet food started in the last decade. In 2007, companies began offering 100-calorie packs of popular snacks like Oreos cookies and Twinkies cakes. That?s when brands started putting their focus on reducing calories ? without any flavour change.

Turns out, there?s some science behind all this calorie slashing. Nutritionists say it?s not necessary to cut out all the ?junk? foods in your cupboard or to take all the fat or calories out of them.

Reducing a nominal number of calories in your diet each day ? even from that morning coffee run or afternoon visit to the vending machine for chips ? is an effective way to battle obesity, says David Levitsky, professor of nutritional sciences at Cornell University.

He says ?if you typically have a 200-calorie cookie and you have a 160-calorie cookie instead? it won?t make you hungrier at the next meal. And since obesity can be caused by as few as 20 excess calories a day, Levitsky says cutting a few at each meal makes a big difference.

But in order for that to work you have to eat the snacks in moderation. It becomes a problem when people overestimate how much more they can eat of nonfat ice cream or low-calorie chips, says Kelly Brownell, a nutritionist at Yale University.

?If consumption of ice cream and potato chips does not increase and people eat somewhat better versions, the outcome will be good,? Brownell says.

TASTE IS KEY

First, companies have to convince dieters that their mid-calorie snacks are not only healthy, but tasty too.

Flavour is a key when Betty Kranzdorf, 55, considers eating foods with lower calories. She says she avoids reduced-calorie English muffins (?horrible texture and taste?) but she?ll pick up reduced-fat Pringles chips because she can?t tell the difference between those and the originals.

?I won?t buy ?low cal? just because it?s ?low-cal,?? says Kranzdorf, a paralegal from New York. ?If the food I?m eating isn?t satisfying, then I?ll just go eat something that is more to my liking later ? which defeats the whole purpose.?

With that in mind, Hershey?s in June introduced Simple Pleasures, chocolate with 30 per cent less fat. A serving size of six pieces equals 180 calories and 8 grams of fat ? that?s 30 calories and 5 grams of fat less than the original Hershey?s chocolate bar. The company is hoping the deficit is enough to lure chocolate lovers who want to eat healthier.

Hershey?s developed the product after consumer research revealed that the No. 1 barrier for people to buy chocolate is the ?perceived negative health benefits,? says spokeswoman Anna Lingeris.

?We?re hearing more and more that customers want healthier options as a balanced lifestyle becomes a more prevalent way of living,? Lingeris says.

Similarly, Lay?s in July rolled out two new flavours of its Kettle Cooked potato chips with 40 per cent less fat. The brand, which fries chips in small batches so as to use less oil than the continuous frying process for regular chips, introduced ?Smokehouse BBQ? and ?Cooked Sun-Dried Tomato and Parmesan.?

The company says it was able to lower the calories and fat without sacrificing taste: Regular Kettle Cooked chips have 160 calories and 9 grams of fat, while the reduced-fat versions have 130 calories and 6 grams of fat.

?The strategy behind mid-calorie offerings is finding the happy space between zero fat and regular products,? says Tony Matta, vice-president of marketing for Frito Lay, which makes Lay?s chip brands.

But sometimes finding the right balance isn?t enough ? marketing can be key. Dreyer?s/Edy?s (it?s called Dreyer?s on the West Coast and Edy?s on the East) learned that the hard way.

The company in May rolled out an ad campaign that emphasizes that Slow Churned ice cream is half the fat and one third of the calories of regular ice cream ? but the company avoids using the word ?light.?

Why? Because when Dreyer?s/Edy?s began selling Slow Churned ice cream in 2004, the company labeled the product ?light.? But ice cream buyers didn?t take to the word, and the company stopped advertising the brand using it. In fact, the company eventually stopped advertising the product altogether after 2007, although it still sold it in stores.

??Light? used to be a word that consumers had a lot of negative perception ? because of the taste experience,? Eiseman says. ?For ice cream, taste is king, first and foremost ? they?d rather have great taste and half the fat, rather than OK taste and no fat.?

The new packaging and ad campaign for the product, which has about 120 calories and 4.5 grams of fat compared with 150 calories and 8 grams of fat in regular Dreyer?s mint chocolate chip, has the tagline ?1/2 the Fat, 1/3 Fewer Calories than Regular Ice cream.? (The company acknowledges that 4.5 grams of fat is not quite ?half? of 8 grams of fat, but Dreyer?s/Edy?s brand manager Jen Eiseman says the marketing campaign took a the liberty of rounding in order to focus on the healthier aspects of the slow-churn ice cream.

?There?s been a shift culturally from extreme dieting ? and giving up food altogether,? Eiseman says. ?Now it?s not about giving things up, but finding healthier ways of having it all.?

Source: http://metronews.ca/food/385659/companies-to-make-better-tasting-mid-calorie-snacks/

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Building a CBS Show That Can Last

Sherlock (Jonny Lee Miller) and Joan (Lucy Liu) in 'Elementary.'

Sherlock (Jonny Lee Miller) and Joan (Lucy Liu) in Elementary

Photo by Giovanni Rufino/CBS.

Procedurals are the worker bees of television. The tireless toil of cops, doctors, lawyers, forensic scientists, and federal agents produces sweet ratings honey?seven of the 10 top-rated scripted shows in the 2011-12 season were procedurals?but no one pays them much mind. Every year, one drone rises above the rest to receive critical acclaim?currently The Good Wife is the critics? pet?but otherwise, they?re so plentiful and popular that their essential genius goes unappreciated.

CBS rules this niche?six of those seven hits air on the network?and this week it is introducing three new ones: Vegas, Elementary, and Made in Jersey. Their settings are rural, urban, and suburban; and their heroes are a modest Westerner, an arrogant foreigner, and a gregarious East Coaster; but all are attempts to find a formula that can be entertainingly repeated 24 times a year. Two of them are successful. One can?t crack the case.

In Elementary (Thursdays at 10 p.m.), Jonny Lee Miller?s Sherlock Holmes is a recovering drug addict whose post-rehab regime has him working as a consulting detective in present-day New York. His stylish partner in crimesolving is Dr. Joan Watson (Lucy Liu), a former surgeon who now spends her days as a ?sober companion,? a line of work that Holmes charmingly likens to ?a glorified helper monkey.? None of these departures from the Conan Doyle canon bothers me in the slightest. A female Watson feels fresh and full of potential; Holmes? powers of deduction should work just as well on this side of the Atlantic; and Benedict Cumberbatch has no monopoly on 21st-century Holmesiness.

But that British version raises a red flag: The BBC has produced six episodes of Sherlock since 2010. Two, ?A Study in Pink? and ?A Scandal in Belgravia,? were superb. One, ?The Blind Banker,? was embarrassingly bad. And the other three, like the curate?s egg, were good in parts. If Britain?s finest TV writers can barely manage to stay above the Mendoza line, is there any hope that CBS scribes churning out two dozen episodes a year can consistently create Holmes-worthy logic puzzles?

Judging from the pilot, the answer is no. Miller and Liu are both captivating actors, and their damaged characters mesh together well, but the mystery?the show?s raison d??tre?is a disaster. Worst of all, it breaks the cardinal rule of the detective story, spelled out by P.D. James in her book Talking About Detective Fiction: The solution must be ?one which we the readers should be able to arrive at from evidence fairly presented.? Instead, Elementary?s first investigation depends on guesswork, coincidence, plot points that have been used so frequently they are now procedural clich?s, and the utterly unbelievable.

The first three of those sins are annoying, but the last is unforgivable. TV crime always requires a certain suspension of disbelief?suspects confess far too easily, DNA results appear in a flash?so I don?t care that Watson always finds street parking in Manhattan or that Holmes happens to find a decade-old case just like the one he?s currently investigating by flipping through files. But would an NYPD detective give a drug addict fresh out of ?junkie jail? unfettered access to his crime scene and interrogation room? By the mystery?s big reveal, a farce of technology that will make anyone who?s recently bought a cellphone scoff, I was near screaming with irritation.

Jessica Blank and Erin Cummings in 'Made in Vegas.' Deb (Jessica Blank) and Bonnie (Erin Cummings) in Made in Jersey

Photo by Eric Liebowitz/CBS.

There is nothing original about Made in Jersey (Fridays at 9 p.m.). Its setup?working-class Jersey girl shakes up snooty Manhattan law firm?is 20 percent My Cousin Vinny, 80 percent Legally Blonde. Let?s call it Legally Bayonned. But in the world of procedurals, a sturdy frame matters more than an original concept. Elementary is an architectural folly that can?t possibly stand up to the wear and tear of a season?s worth of cases; Made in Jersey on the other hand, is an unglamorous but solid split-level suburban that will have no problem passing inspection. In the opening episode, we meet ballsy new associate Martina Garretti (Janet Montgomery), the stuck-up lawyers and salt-of-the-earth paralegals she works with, and her chaotic-but-loving family over in the Garden State. Sherlock has his smartphone, but Martina?s army of human clue-droppers and intel sources are far more telegenic.

Subtlety isn?t among Made in Jersey?s attributes. The pilot?s first images are a suspension bridge and a subway tunnel, and in her red blazer and amazingly voluminous hair, Martina stands out from her sober-suited, sleek-coiffed colleagues at Stark & Rowan. She has much more in common with her clients than her co-workers, and that?s her biggest asset: She?s the plebe whisperer, able to explain the mysterious world of tight jeans and cheap hair dye to the children of privilege preparing the case for the defense.

Dennis Quaid in 'Vegas.' Sheriff Ralph Lamb (Dennis Quaid) in Vegas

Photo by Cliff Lipson/CBS.

The charming Vegas (Tuesdays at 10 p.m.) follows Ralph Lamb (Dennis Quaid, looking mid-century manly), a taciturn rancher, as he reluctantly tackles the task of cleaning up the crime that the new casinos are bringing to 1960 Las Vegas. He?s the charismatic, enigmatic force that every procedural needs at its center, but he?s got family and friends to help with his investigations, and in Michael Chiklis? casino owner Vincent Savino, an enemy worth his time and trouble. Vegas relies on viewers recognizing clues from the future?not just the physical evidence, like that sign proclaiming ?Nuclear Test Site,? but also in the social mores of an era when parents had more control over their kids? lives and men over their womenfolk.

For all their apparent dissimilarities, testosterone-tinged Vegas and estrogen-infused Made in Jersey are both classic, well-made legal procedurals centered around family. The heroes?a fourth-generation rancher and the last in a long line of beauticians?are slowly moving away from the trades that have been in their blood for generations. And both wear a star: Ralph clips a metal one to his vest, while Martina gets one tattooed on her hip.

Thanks to nice touches like that star, no matter how dogged, diligent, and creative Martina is, her co-workers will never see her as anything other than a cut-rate upstart with trashy relatives. ?Don?t worry,? one WASPy colleague tells her, ?You lower expectations just by walking in the room.? In that sense, Martina is just like a procedural. Underestimated and unappreciated, she works hard and makes it look easy. And it doesn?t matter what the snobs think, because real people will love her.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=8222a7419e061202a9c5be5f0d38e81e

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Thursday, September 27, 2012

In rare appearance, Germany's Kohl makes plea for European unity

BERLIN (Reuters) - Former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who reunified Germany and pushed the country into the euro, urged Europe to press ahead with closer integration despite a crisis of the single currency, saying the continent must never again descend into conflict.

In a rare public appearance to mark 30 years since he became chancellor, Kohl was celebrated by party allies, an array of former presidents and prime ministers, as well as Angela Merkel, a former prot?g? with whom he has had a frosty relationship since she turned on him over a decade ago.

Frail since a fall in 2008 put him in the hospital for months, the 82-year old Kohl has remained largely silent through three years of euro turmoil, but on the occasions he has spoken out, he has voiced doubts about Merkel's handling of the crisis.

"Europe can never sink into war again," he told an audience at the German Historical Museum in Berlin. "We need to press ahead with the unification of Europe. Let's make good use of the time we have."

Before Kohl spoke, Merkel addressed the crowd, praising her former mentor's record but also defending her own approach to the crisis.

Merkel has demanded that struggling southern euro states introduce painful reforms in exchange for aid and talked tough with problem-countries like Greece. She has resisted pressure for "miracle solutions" like common euro zone bonds.

"The introduction of the euro was about stability and we feel an obligation here," she said. "We can't solve this crisis in one fell swoop. We need to take a considered approach."

Kohl was one of the towering European leaders of the second half of the 20th century. At the event on Thursday, he was praised in taped video tributes by former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, Britain's John Major, France's Edouard Balladur and Israel's Shimon Peres.

Yet his legacy has been recast, revised and redrawn many times over the past decades and its final chapter has probably not been written.

REUNIFICATION AND THE EURO

In Germany and abroad, he is celebrated as the father of German reunification, though his promise of "flourishing landscapes" in the east failed to materialize.

Kohl's other landmark achievement, pushing through the euro together with French President Francois Mitterrand, was hailed as a huge success in the currency's first decade. But it looks less glorious after three years of crisis that have raised the prospect of a catastrophic euro breakup.

Some in Germany now blame Kohl for pressing ahead with the euro without insisting on closer political and fiscal integration as a condition - a decision that Merkel has denounced publicly as an epic mistake.

Kohl's defenders point out that it was his successor as chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, who allowed Greece into the bloc and watered down EU budget rules.

Another black mark on Kohl's record is the party funding scandal that soured his relationship with Merkel, whom he'd plucked from obscurity after the Berlin Wall fell and brought into his cabinet.

It was Merkel who engineered her party's break from Kohl, urging the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to move on "without its old war horse" when the scandal erupted.

But enough time has now passed for both to have recognized the benefits of a rapprochement.

"This is an attempt at reconciliation," Gerd Langguth, a professor at Bonn University said of Thursday's event. "Both sides realize it is time for Kohl to return to the bosom of the party."

Merkel may also hope that bringing him back into the fold will help unify the CDU in the run-up to an election next year in which she will fight for a third term. Some believe the event may be the start of a rebranding of Merkel as a "great European" in the tradition of Kohl and Konrad Adenauer.

"So far, Merkel hasn't told the right story to the German people," a former minister in Kohl's cabinet who attended Thursday's event told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

"Her message has been that Germany is right and others in Europe must become like us. This will never happen. We cannot Germanize Europe. Kohl understands this. We can only hope this event is a sign that Merkel is beginning to realize that too."

(Reporting by Noah Barkin)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rare-appearance-germanys-kohl-makes-plea-european-unity-222312990.html

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How Obama Turned Romney into a Tax-Raiser (Atlantic Politics Channel)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/251542022?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Magnitude 6.3 earthquake strikes near Mexico's Baja Peninsula

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AP Interview: Ahmadinejad pushes new world order

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks during an exclusive interview with Associated Press editorial staff during his visit to the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012 in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks during an exclusive interview with Associated Press editorial staff during his visit to the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012 in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks during an exclusive interview with Associated Press editorial staff during his visit to the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012 in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks during an exclusive interview with Associated Press editorial staff during his visit to the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012 in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad listens during an exclusive interview with Associated Press editorial staff during his visit for the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012 in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, center, and Iranian government officials, left, hold an exclusive interview with Associated Press editorial staff, right, during his visit for the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012 in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

(AP) ? Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that a new world order needs to emerge, away from years of what he called American bullying and domination.

Ahmadinejad spoke to The Associated Press in a wide-ranging interview on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly ? his last as president of Iran. He was to address the Assembly Wednesday morning.

He also discussed solutions for the Syrian civil war, dismissed the question of Iran's nuclear ambition and claimed that despite Western sanctions his country is better off than it was when he took office in 2005.

"God willing, a new order will come together and we'll do away with everything that distances us," Ahmadinejad said, speaking through a translator. "I do believe the system of empires has reached the end of the road. The world can no longer see an emperor commanding it."

"Now even elementary school kids throughout the world have understood that the United States government is following an international policy of bullying," he said.

President Barack Obama warned Iran earlier Tuesday that time is running out to resolve the dispute over its nuclear program. In a speech to the General Assembly, Obama said the United States could not tolerate an Iran with atomic weapons.

Ahmadinejad would not respond directly to the president's remarks, saying he did not want to influence the U.S. presidential election in November.

But he argued that the international outcry over Iran's nuclear enrichment program was just an excuse by the West to dominate his country. He claimed that the United States has never accepted Iran's choice of government after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

"Everyone is aware the nuclear issue is the imposition of the will of the United States," he said. "I see the nuclear issue as a non-issue. It has become a form of one-upmanship."

Ahmadinejad said he favored more dialogue, even though negotiations with world powers remain stalled after three rounds of high-level meetings since April.

He said some world leaders have suggested to him that Iran would be better off holding nuclear talks only with the United States.

"Of course I am not dismissing such talks," he said, asked if he were open to discussions with the winner of the American presidential election.

Israeli leaders, however, are still openly contemplating military action again Iranian nuclear facilities, dismissing diplomacy as a dead end. Israel and many in the West suspect that Iran is seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, and cite its failure to cooperate fully with nuclear inspectors. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

Ahmadinejad also proposed forming a new group of 10 or 11 countries to work to end the 18-month Syrian civil war. Representatives of the nations in the Middle East and elsewhere would meet in New York "very soon," he said.

Critics have accused Tehran of giving support to Syrian President Bashar Assad in carrying out massacres and other human rights violations in an attempt to crush the uprising against his rule. Activists say nearly 30,000 people have died.

He said the so-called contact group hopes to get the Syrian government and opposition to sit across from each other.

"I will do everything in my power to create stability, peace and understanding in Syria," Ahmadinejad said.

Earlier this month, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi announced the formation of a four-member contact group with Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. But Saudi Arabia so far has not participated.

He denied Iranian involvement in plotting attacks on Israelis abroad, despite arrests and accusations by police in various countries. He also vehemently disputed the U.S. claim that Iranian agents played a role in a foiled plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States last year.

Ahmadinejad will leave office next June after serving two four-year terms. He threw out numbers and statistics during the interview to show that Iran's economy and the lives of average Iranians have improved under his watch. Since his 2005 election, he claimed, Iran went from being the world's 22nd-largest economy to the 17th-largest; non-petroleum related exports increased sevenfold; and the basic production of goods has doubled. Median income increased by $4,000, he said.

"Today's conditions in Iran are completely different to where they were seven years ago in the economy, in technical achievement, in scientific know-how," Ahmadinejad said. "All of these achievements, though, have been reached under conditions in which we were brought under heavy sanctions."

Iran has called for the U.S. and its European allies to ease the sanctions that have hit its critical oil exports and left it blackballed from key international banking networks.

Ahmadinejad said he had no knowledge of the whereabouts of Robert Levinson, a private investigator and former FBI agent who vanished in Iran five years ago. He said he directed Iranian intelligence services two years ago to work with their counterparts in the U.S. to locate him.

"And if any help there is that I can bring to bear, I would be happy to do so," he said.

He also claimed never to have heard of Amir Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine who is imprisoned on espionage charges in Iran. Hekmati was arrested while visiting his grandmother in Iran in August 2011, and his family has been using Ahmadinejad's visit to New York to plead for his release.

____

Associated Press writers Maria Sanminiatelli and Christopher Chester contributed to this story.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-09-25-UN-General%20Assembly-Ahmadinejad/id-ca29a6d332eb42eeb41a5f96d3d28bcf

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Baz Luhrmann signs overall deal with Sony Pictures Television

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Tuesday, September 25, 2012

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Source: http://generalcontractors1.com/Blog/2012/09/24/ca-modern-home-contractors-chatsworth-california-91311-2/

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Stocks drift lower amid Europe gloom

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