Behind-the-Scenes at the National Hurricane Center

Image: Brett Israel

MIAMI ? There's only one building in Florida that can withstand the biggest and baddest of all hurricanes ? the Category 5, with winds of at least 165 mph (266 kph) ? and it's a concrete bunker along an unglamorous stretch of road in South Florida called the National Hurricane Center (NHC).

The NHC never closes. Here, weather forecasters work around the clock, 365 days a year, tracking threatening storms in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. They watch radars, issue storm warnings, and command their airplane? named Miss Piggy ? on airborne hurricane hunter missions.

OurAmazingPlanet recently toured the NHC just as forecasters here were becoming concerned about the storm that would become Hurricane Rina (which has since weakened into a tropical storm). In the center's main forecast room, seen on TV during press briefings, one forecaster was just about to issue the latest tropical warning as reporters walked in.

"Done!" he shouted, as if on cue.

Forecasters sit in front of banks of computer monitors, poring over the latest storm data, doing their best to predict where the storm will go, and how strong it will be when it gets there. But as seen with Rina, which was predicted to become a major hurricane (Category 3 or higher) only to quickly fizzle, forecasters are constantly struggling to make accurate forecasts.

"It's not unusual for our intensity and wind speed forecast to be off," said Chris Landsea, science and operations officer for the NHC's Tropical Analysis and Forecast Branch. "Sometimes we're too high, sometimes we're too low."

Into the heart of the storm
One way that the forecasters get information to plug into the forecast models is from ocean buoys ? as long as the hurricanes don't destroy them.

"The storms have been buoy hunting this year, which doesn't happen very often," said Daniel Brown, the NHC's warning coordination meteorologist.

The 2011 hurricane season has seen six hurricanes and 17 named storms. (Storm names are given when a system becomes a tropical storm.)

Another way to observe hurricanes is by flying airplanes and drones over, in front of and into the storms. This brand of hurricane hunting began decades ago with a few brave military pilots. [In the Eye of the Storm: NASA's Hurricane Hunters]

"A couple of Army pilots decided to see if they could go fly that thing," said John Papone, who flew missions in the Pacific years ago, and has been working in the "war room" since it opened in 1968.

Today's pilots fly out of MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla., where they patrol the tropics, except for a rectangular "no fly zone" extending from Venezuela into the Caribbean.

They fly an airplane affectionately named Miss Piggy, or P3, (they also have planes named Kermit and Gonzo) at about 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) in a full-blown storm. Once over a storm, the planes deploy instruments called dropsondes, which are biodegradable slender tubes that float into the storm while hanging from a tiny parachute. The dropsondes, at $700 each, collect reconnaissance on the storm, including wind speed, temperature and precipitation. The information is sent back to the NHC in real-time.

"It's on Google within minutes of the time we get it," Papone said.

The P3 flies in a figure-four pattern over a storm and the pilots "pepper the storm" with dropsondes, said Shirley Murillo, the hurricane field program director for the 2011 season. Missions can be up to 8 hours long. [Hurricanes from Above: See Nature's Biggest Storms]

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=a76e1a16786c4388c5b8e131f09af80a

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Boy's rescue five days after Turkish quake lifts hearts (Reuters)

ERCIS, Turkey (Reuters) ? Rescue workers pulled a 13-year-old boy alive out of the rubble of an apartment block on Friday, five days after a powerful earthquake that killed at least 570 people in eastern Turkey.

"It is a great miracle," Neriman, the boy's 34-year-old mother told Reuters. "He told me he prayed and when he said all his prayers and there were no more left he recited the national anthem."

The rescue lifted Turkish spirits as thousands of quake survivors endured a fifth freezing and wet night without a roof over their heads, and recriminations flew over the pace of relief and the shoddy construction that led to so much damage.

The boy, Ferhat Tokay, was put in a neck brace and taken on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance after being rescued in Ercis, the town hardest hit by Sunday's 7.2 magnitude quake, television images showed.

"We started digging and at first we saw his hand. And then we started speaking to him. He said 'I am hungry and thirsty'," an exhausted but elated medic, Baris Dogan, told Reuters.

"It was like taking my own son out."

Doctors at the hospital in Van, where he was taken, said the boy's condition was relatively good. A few steps away in the intensive care unit, relatives of other quake victims broke down in tears as doctors gave them bad news about their loved ones.

Tokay was rescued from the first floor of a collapsed seven-storey block of flats where he lived with his family on the main street in Ercis, opposite a mosque whose minarets had collapsed.

Around 50 people dug on through the rubble in the hope of finding more people alive. As many as 10 were still missing from the building but there were no immediate signs of life.

Tokay was rescued hours after an 18-year-old man was brought out late on Thursday to cheers among grief-stricken quake survivors.

"SHODDY BUILDINGS"

People left homeless by the quake in the predominantly Kurdish eastern province of Van have complained bitterly over the slow delivery of relief items like tents.

Drenched by pouring rain, more and more are falling sick, and with the first winter snows expected in November there is an urgent need to get people under cover fast.

A doctor in Van told Reuters his hospital had received 700 patients suffering cold-related problems on Thursday alone. Many people were also treated for anxiety.

Although search operations are beginning to wind down, 187 people have been found alive under collapsed buildings since the quake struck on Sunday afternoon, according to an official count.

The Disaster and Emergency Administration said on Friday the death toll had risen to 573, with 2,608 people hurt in Turkey's biggest quake in more than a decade.

No official figures were available for the homeless.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies put the number of "affected people" at 50,000.

In Ercis alone, a town of around 100,000 people, hardly anyone was going back to their homes even if they were still standing.

President Abdullah Gul announced that parades and receptions for Republic Day on Saturday were canceled, and went on to bemoan poor construction and lack of inspections in Turkey that led to a "problem of shoddy buildings".

"While the Van earthquake has reminded us of the reality that ours is a country prone to earthquakes, it has also shown the destruction caused by neglect and irresponsibility," he said.

TENT CITIES

Two or three tent cities have sprouted on the outskirts of Ercis, but thousands of men, having settled children and women as best they can, wander at night looking for shelter.

With nowhere to go, they lean against walls to protect themselves from the rain.

Some survivors, who had stood in long queues only to be told there were no tents left, accused officials of handing aid to supporters of the ruling AK party. Others said profiteers were hoarding tents and reselling them.

Scuffles broke out in one long line to a distribution center, before police stepped in to calm tempers.

Any accusations of neglect or ineptitude can be politically sensitive.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan visited the area hours after the quake and wants to build bridges with Turkey's minority Kurds and is expected to go again at the weekend.

More than 40,000 people have been killed in a Kurdish separatist insurgency in the region that has lasted three decades. Last week militants killed 24 troops in neighboring Hakkari province.

FOREIGN AID

A government that had thought it could manage the relief effort alone is now gratefully accepting foreign help in the shape of tents, prefabricated housing and containers.

The first foreign planeloads of tents arrived on Thursday.

In total 35,000 tents have been sent to the region.

Unable to meet demand, relief authorities in the provincial capital Van decided to hand out tents to people only after verifying their homes were too unsafe to return to.

The disaster administration said that out of some 10,000 damaged buildings assessed so far, half were uninhabitable.

People fear their homes have become deathtraps, as 1,139 aftershocks have rattled the area since the quake.

Vainly trying to dry linen and blankets after the rain, one mother was ready to be persuaded to quit her tent and go home out of a mixture of desperation and resignation.

"Last night, it rained and all our belongings are still wet. I don't know how many more days we can stay in a tent like this," the woman, who gave her name as Nimet, told Reuters, pointing at the block where she lived near the center of Van.

(Additional reporting by Seda Sezer and Kumeyra Pamuk in Van; Writing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Daren Butler; Editing by Richard Meares)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111028/wl_nm/us_turkey_quake

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Heh: Occupy This! (Powerlineblog)

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Occupy Chicago (talking-points-memo)

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UCLA vs. California at the Rose Bowl

California 7, UCLA 0 (end of first quarter)

A turnover by UCLA quarterback Kevin Prince is what put the Bruins in a first-quarter hole against California on Saturday at the Rose Bowl.

Prince had gained 21 yards on a run, but he fumbled when he was hit.

Five plays later, the Bears scored on a one-yard run by Isi Sofele midway through the first quarter?

California 7, UCLA 0 (early first quarter)

Bruins quarterback Kevin Prince had a nice run, cutting and moving past defenders.

But Prince fumbled the ball after a 21-yard gain and it was recovered by California?s Dan Camporeale at UCLA?s 30-yard line.

Five plays later, the Bears scored on a one-yard run by Isi Sofele.

Pregame

For a so-called big game between UCLA and California? at the Rose Bowl, there sure is a sparse crowd here.

The Bruins entered the game 3-4 overall, 2-2 in the Pacific 12 Conference. Cal entered?at?4-3, 1-3.

During?Karl Dorrell?s last season as Bruins coach in 2007, UCLA drew 83,484 fans for the game against California at the Rose Bowl.

-- Broderick Turner

Photo: UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel tries to fire up the Bruins during last week's game. Credit: Paul Sakuma / Associated Press

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/LAT_Sports_Blog/~3/7Xbtaso_Fcw/ucla-vs-california.html

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How to Build Your Very Own Flamethrower Jack-O'-Lantern [How To]

This time of year, there's no shortage of insane and awesome Jack-O'-Lanterns this time of year, but this is the first we've seen that shoots fire out of its mouth via a remote controlled flame thrower. Instructables user randofo has a guide on how to make your own. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/WoKyu9Ia6tE/how-to-build-your-very-own-flamethrower-jack+o+lantern

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Cain momentum continues; South could be key

Campaign buttons for Republican Presidential candidate Herman Cain are seen on sale as he campaigned in Talladega, Ala., Friday, Oct. 28, 2011. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Campaign buttons for Republican Presidential candidate Herman Cain are seen on sale as he campaigned in Talladega, Ala., Friday, Oct. 28, 2011. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

HOMEWOOD, Ala. (AP) ? Herman Cain's rise in the polls appears to be no fluke.

Unlike some other Republican presidential contenders who have flamed out fast after auditioning as the conservative antidote to Mitt Romney, Cain is still riding high atop public opinion surveys.

"They said I was the flavor of the week," the Georgia businessman said at an appearance Friday on a campaign swing through Alabama. "But four weeks later the Cain campaign still tastes good!"

Cain lacks the money and organization of his top-tier GOP competitors. But, so far, he's survived several high-profile campaign blunders and an onslaught of attacks on his signature 9-9-9 tax overhaul plan.

And despite the sudden rise to the top tier of the GOP, Cain is still doing things his own way.

He's carving out an unorthodox ? and some say impossible ? path to the White House, largely eschewing early voting states to focus heavily on the South ? where tea party groups, social conservatives and evangelical voters that make up the backbone of his support hold sway. It's been weeks since Cain has set foot in Iowa or New Hampshire. Instead, he's barnstormed through Tennessee and Alabama, states that don't hold primaries until March.

"The South looks very, very good for us," Mark Block, Cain's campaign manager, said in an interview with The Associated Press. "Do the early states matter? Of course. But they are not everything."

Block argues that next year's compressed primary calendar means more states will play larger roles. So instead of tromping around New Hampshire trying to win over skeptics, the campaign team is revving up support in states where Cain's small government, anti-tax message and church revival-style delivery resonate with voters.

Cain was trying to show that in Alabama, which won't hold its primary until March 13, and where he was greeted with enthusiastic overflow crowds at every stop. In Talladega, residents were visibly excited by the first visit from a presidential candidate in modern memory.

"I heard that FDR waved from the train once when he came through," said Jeanne Rasco, who had turned out for a packed Cain rally at a historic theater on the city square.

"I think it shows he cares about our values. He's one of us," she said.

Cain himself plays up his Southern roots: His drawl grows a little thicker and he mentions God a little more frequently, to suit the crowd.

"I am in Alabama because Alabama matters," Cain said at the state's party headquarters. "Ya'll are my neighbors."

And in the South, some Cain supporters say that supporting an African-American could turn long-held racial perceptions around. No Deep South states supported Barack Obama in 2008 and elected representatives in the state have become more racially polarized in recent years.

Scott Beason, a Republican Alabama state senator, said a Cain win, especially in the Deep South, would be a visible sign of progress.

"It would change the stereotypes that still exist about how people make their decisions down here," Beason said. "I think it's ironic that he will do better here than in the so-called enlightened states up north."

"What folks are doing is listening to what is he saying and he is not afraid to say what he thinks."

But is the Cain bubble going to burst?

Cain himself says no and mocks rumors that he's simply in the race to promote his brand.

"I've written some books," he said. "I don't want no TV show."

___

Follow Shannon McCaffrey at www.twitter.com(backslash)smccaffrey13

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-10-29-Cain-Momentum%20Still%20Going/id-2f6d54bdd49340deb07d9b419f2c7b18

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Automotive Client Studies | Seening.Org

27 Oct

Article posted by RemondiniZiller439 as Credit

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Shopper experiences are useful sources of automotive purchasing information. An in depth shopper report may give you trustworthy and correct reviews on such important vehicular data comparable to fuel mileage, braking skill, steering control and traction. Until you might be an automotive knowledgeable, or have the capacity to check out a wide range of vehicles that you?re excited about buying, the buyer report is your best guess to get the unfiltered and precise info that it?s worthwhile to have.

One more reason why shopper stories are useful is as a result of they are typically written by trusted third party sources. In some circumstances, client reports are actually created by individuals who have purchased and pushed the car in question. That is of prime benefit because it gives you your individual personal perspective on the car and its attributes. A customer generated consumer report is written by somebody like your self, so that somebody like your self can simply read, comply with and comprehend it. Layman data is of absolute importance with regards to studying an automotive client report.

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Source: http://seening.org/automotive-client-studies.aspx

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Judge orders jail for accused Syrian spy from Va. (AP)

ALEXANDRIA, Va. ? A Virginia man accused of acting as a Syrian spy is a flight risk and should remain in jail while he awaits trial, a federal judge ruled Friday.

The decision from U.S. District Court Judge Claude Hilton overturns a magistrate last week who had ruled that Mohamad Soueid, 47, of Leesburg, could be freed on home detention. The magistrate had also disparaged the significance of the government's case, saying that at worst Soueid appears to be no more than a low-level operative.

The indictment against Soueid accuses him of working with the Syrian intelligence agency, the Mukhabarat, to monitor Syrian expatriates in the U.S. who have been rallying opposition to the regime of President Bashar Assad. Human rights activists estimate that Assad's crackdown on a popular uprising in the country has left more than 3,000 opponents of the regime dead.

Prosecutors immediately appealed the magistrate's order to release Soueid, whom they portray as a savvy intelligence agent with access to the highest levels of Syrian government. They say he met privately with Assad earlier this year and introduced as evidence a photo of Soueid and Assad shaking hands.

While the indictment accuses him only of monitoring Syrian dissidents in the U.S., prosecutors say that Soueid also discussed a "Plan B" that would include taking action against those being monitored.

"He is an extension of the government of Syria, we will prove that. ... And that is a very violent country," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Dennis Fitzpatrick.

Soueid's lawyer, Haytham Faraj, said the government is twisting innocent facts to make them look sinister. He acknowledged that Soueid is a supporter of the regime who maintains contacts with his native country ? Soueid is Syrian born and a naturalized U.S. citizen ? but said that does not make him a spy.

And he said much of the government's evidence comes from a paid informant who has a motive to tell the government what it wants to hear and who frequently boasted to Soueid of his connections as an international drug dealer.

"The FBI used a paid informant to try and entrap Mr. Soueid," Faraj wrote in court papers.

Faraj said after Friday's hearing that he intends to appeal Hilton's ruling on detention.

The Syrian government has denied that Soueid is an agent and denied that he ever met privately with Assad

Also at Friday's hearing, Soueid formally entered a not guilty plea and the judge set a trial date in March.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111028/ap_on_re_us/us_syrian_agent

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D.Boerse urges EU regulators to take wider futures view (Reuters)

BRUSSELS (Reuters) ? Deutsche Boerse AG sought to convince EU regulators to judge its bid for NYSE Euronext by assessing over-the-counter derivatives trading and not only its impact on the smaller exchange-listed market, in its bid to win clearance for the deal.

The European Commission is reviewing the $9 billion transaction only in terms of the exchange-listed market, sources have told Reuters. Securing EU regulatory approval is seen as the biggest hurdle for the operators, whose combination would create the world's largest exchange operator.

The narrower market underlines the impact of the combination, which would have more than 90 percent of the trade in exchange-listed futures in Europe, and has put pressure on the operators to offer significant concessions to secure regulatory approval for the deal.

Andreas Preuss, chief executive of Deutsche Boerse's Eurex derivatives unit, attended a closed-door hearing with regulators in Brussels on Thursday, urging them to take the broader view.

"Today, we have pointed out that the derivatives market is a global market dominated by OTC (over-the-counter) trading," he said in a statement.

"OTC volumes are substantially bigger than exchange-traded volumes -- OTC markets are a direct competitor to regulated markets that stand for transparency and effective risk management in derivatives trading," he said.

Preuss said the combination of the operators' Eurex and Liffe derivatives operations would increase transparency and risk management in derivatives trading.

Regulators by contrast have warned the exchange operators of the near-monopoly both in existing and future products from the combined group, in a statement of objections or charge sheet sent to them on October 5, according to a person who has seen the document.

NO SUBSTITUTION

Regulators are also concerned that rival derivatives platforms may not be able to enter the market if they do not get access to the merged operator's post-trade clearing facilities, the person said.

That document also outlined the Commission's reasons for assessing the deal only in terms of exchanged-listed futures trade (ETD).

"The market investigation revealed that, depending on the category of customers, there is either no substitution between highly standardized ETD contracts or OTC contracts, or that such substitution may be limited to a small category of contract," the source said, citing the document.

Regulators pointed to a "distinguishable group of customers that have no mandates to trade OTC derivatives and hence for whom OTC derivatives are not alternatives," the person said.

NYSE Euronext Chief Executive Duncan Niederauer and Deutsche Boerse CEO Reto Francioni were also in Brussels for the hearing.

The Commission is scheduled to decide by December 22 whether to clear the deal.

Guillaume Loriot, the deputy head of EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia's cabinet, and Eliana Garces Tolon, another cabinet member in charge of financial issues, led the Commission team at the hearing.

Other participants included Bernd Langeheine, deputy director general for mergers at the Commission, Nick Banasevic, who is handling the case and Commission lawyers.

Representatives from Germany, France, Britain, Spain, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Ireland were present at the hearing.

The London Stock Exchange and its Turquoise trading platform, Nasdaq, Euroclear, ICAP, Chi-X -- the largest pan-European platform -- Bank of New York Mellon and bank lobbying group the Association for Financial Markets in Europe also sent representatives to the hearing, which continues on Friday.

(Additional reporting by Edward Taylor in Frankfurt; Editing by Rex Merrifield and David Holmes)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111027/bs_nm/us_dboerse_nyse_eu

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Obama adviser says president best for middle-class (The Arizona Republic)

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Exclusive: China eyes creation of ASEAN Bank (Reuters)

BEIJING (Reuters) ? China is considering a proposal to set up a regional bank to help its small and medium enterprises (SMEs) invest in Southeast Asian neighbors, fund infrastructure projects and promote development in southwestern China, two independent sources said.

After approval by the State Council, or cabinet, China would formally invite members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Japan and South Korea to each take a stake in the ASEAN Bank, said the sources, who have direct knowledge of the proposal.

China, the world's second biggest economy, is likely to be the bank's biggest single shareholder with an initial investment of up to 30 billion yuan ($4.7 billion), the sources said, requesting anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to reporters. The other countries' stakes still must be negotiated.

"ASEAN Bank will be a commercial bank and at the same time a policy bank," the first source told Reuters. "It will be a mini Asian Development Bank (ADB)."

The ADB was founded in 1966 to help fight poverty in Asia. The Manila-headquartered bank is owned and financed by its 67 member countries. Its president is traditionally from Japan, the lender's biggest donor along with the United States.

China hopes the ASEAN Bank will buy it some goodwill in Southeast Asia, providing low interest loans to infrastructure projects and Chinese SMEs investing there, the sources said.

The bank will also settle China-ASEAN trade in yuan, a step in China's long campaign to make the yuan, also known as renminbi or people's currency, a regional currency.

China's cabinet and the central bank declined immediate comment.

Vietnam's central bank said it had not received any information or an invitation to join. The Philippine central bank refused to comment. Central banks of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand could not be reached for comment.

CHINA-ASEAN TRADE SOARS

Trade between China and ASEAN members has soared since a bilateral Free Trade Agreement took effect in 2010.

The ASEAN bloc overtook Japan to become China's third-largest trading partner this year after the European Union and the United States. China-ASEAN trade accounted for 10 percent of China's total trade in the first nine months of 2011.

China is ASEAN's biggest trading partner. Two-way trade rose 26.4 percent to $267 billion in the first nine months, an $18.9 billion surplus in favor of ASEAN, Chinese customs data show.

China wants the bank in the southern Guangxi region, where it hopes it can help transform the area into southwest China's financial center.

"Southwest China needs a financial center to balance east-west development," the second source said, referring to China's wealthy coastal provinces and impoverished hinterland.

"Guangxi and (neighboring) Yunnan (province) will play a key role in regionalization of the yuan," the source added.

Reuters reported last week that China plans to sign a framework agreement with ASEAN to settle trade in yuan, formalizing a pilot program put in place in 2009.

State news agency Xinhua confirmed that report on Saturday, quoting Jin Qi, an assistant to the central bank governor.

But Gavin Bowring, a Hong Kong-based analyst with research firm GaveKal Dragonomics, said Nanning -- Guangxi's regional capital -- would find it difficult to compete against nearby Chengdu and Chongqing as the epicenter of western China.

"Though Nanning is a suitable geographical location to spur ties with ASEAN countries, it is mainly a convenient spot only for neighboring Vietnam and Laos, and to a lesser extent Thailand and Myanmar," Bowring said.

"Having said that, it appears Malaysian companies are investing in infrastructure, real estate and other projects in Nanning so there is some credence to the plan," he added.

HELP FOR CHINESE ENTERPRISES

The new bank will facilitate new business opportunities for Chinese SMEs -- a pillar of the economy but which have been squeezed by a Beijing-led credit clampdown, a firmer yuan, falling export orders and rising land and labor costs.

"It will resuscitate SMEs abroad rather than (let them) die at home," the first source said.

Many cash-strapped SMEs are drowning after turning to loan sharks who charge exorbitant interest rates. Scores of SME bosses have gone into hiding or fled abroad.

China plans to create a vice-ministerial level agency to facilitate lending to SMEs.

The 10-member ASEAN, ranging from resource-rich Indonesia to financial center Singapore, is planning a union by 2015 to become a single market and production base to compete with rising Asian powerhouses China and India.

Despite friction with several ASEAN members over overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea, China is keen to boost ties with its economies, which it relies on for commodities and energy supplies, such as natural gas and crude palm oil, to keep the Chinese economic engine humming.

The region, home to 600 million people and a combined GDP of $2 trillion, is also angling for foreign investment.

($1 = 6.353 Chinese Yuan)

(Editing by Brian Rhoads and Paul Tait)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111027/bs_nm/us_china_asean_financial

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Popular tattooed Barbie causes controversy (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? The doll with the dragon tattoo?

With pink hair and tattoos across her shoulders and neck, U.S. toymaker Mattel's latest collector's edition Barbie doll could be compared more to the edgy female heroine of author Stieg Larrson's best-selling Millennium trilogy than to the more traditional Barbies.

Since its release earlier this month online, the $50 limited edition doll designed by Los Angeles-based fashion company tokidoki and aimed at adult collectors, has sold out but not before causing controversy.

"Is the New 'Tokidoki' Tattoo Barbie Inappropriate for Children?" the magazine U.S. News & World Report asked in a recent headline.

Some parents in the United States also questioned whether the toy company that launched the original Barbie in 1959 should be promoting body art.

"It's teaching kids to want tattoos before they are old enough to dress like that," Kevin Buckner, of Virginia, told a local television station.

No one was available from Mattel to comment on the issue but not all the feedback has been negative. Some adults said the doll reflected modern fashion and pop culture.

"Have you seen Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry, Rihanna?" Candace Caswell, a 30-year-old mother from New York asked in an email interview, adding that the pop stars have tattoos and wear wigs and crazy clothes.

"They are capturing a snapshot of pop culture the way it really is. Barbie is not raising my daughter. I am," she added.

For Heather Gately Stoll, of Colorado, tattoos are not the issue.

"What is inappropriate for kids are her measurements," she said about the shapely doll. "If she can change personalities why can't she change her shape and size?"

And while New York mother Sue Dennis would not spend $50 on the doll, she is not offended by it.

"I have a 16 month-old son and the tokidoki Barbie is more the diverse image of women I would like to present to him versus more traditional ones," she said.

The tokidoki Barbie is not the first to sport tattoos. In 2009, some stores pulled Mattel's Totally Stylin' Tattoos Barbie following complaints, and a year earlier Mattel collaborated with motorcycle manufacturer Harley Davidson to produce a Barbie with wings tattooed on her back.

Production of tattooed Butterfly Art Barbie was halted in 1999 after parents voiced their concerns.

Gayatri Bhalla, 41, of Washington D.C, who writes a blog about experiences for tween girls, sees it as a marketing issue.

"One the one hand, the company likes to hold Barbie up as the iconic American toy for girls and use her to promote things that most parents wouldn't object to, such as Take Your Daughter To Work Day," she said.

"But they also create Barbie in images that a lot of parents wouldn't choose to hold up as a role model for their young daughters, and a full-body tattooed doll falls into this camp."

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Expert says Jackson likely addicted to pain med

Dr. Robert Waldman, an addiction specialist, testifies during the final stage of Dr. Conrad Murray's defense case in Murray's involuntary manslaughter trial in Los Angeles on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011. Murray has pleaded not guilty and faces four years in prison and the loss of his medical licenses if convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Michael Jackson's death. (AP Photo/Paul Buck, Pool)

Dr. Robert Waldman, an addiction specialist, testifies during the final stage of Dr. Conrad Murray's defense case in Murray's involuntary manslaughter trial in Los Angeles on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011. Murray has pleaded not guilty and faces four years in prison and the loss of his medical licenses if convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Michael Jackson's death. (AP Photo/Paul Buck, Pool)

Dr. Robert Waldman, an addiction specialist, testifies during the final stage of Dr. Conrad Murray's defense case in Murray's involuntary manslaughter trial in Los Angeles on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011. Murray has pleaded not guilty and faces four years in prison and the loss of his medical licenses if convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Michael Jackson's death. (AP Photo/Paul Buck, Pool)

Dr. Conrad Murray listens during testimony by Dr. Robert Waldman, an addiction specialist, during the final stage of Murray's defense case in his involuntary manslaughter trial in Los Angeles on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011. Murray has pleaded not guilty and faces four years in prison and the loss of his medical licenses if convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Michael Jackson's death. (AP Photo/Paul Buck, Pool)

Dr. Conrad Murray sits with his attorneys as he listens to testimony by Dr. Robert Waldman, an addiction specialist, during Murray's involuntary manslaughter trial in Los Angeles on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011. Murray has pleaded not guilty and faces four years in prison and the loss of his medical licenses if convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Michael Jackson's death. (AP Photo/Paul Buck, Pool)

A medical record for Michael Jackson is projected on a screen as defense attorney Ed Chernoff questions witness Dr. Robert Waldman during Conrad Murray's involuntary manslaughter trial in Los Angeles on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011. Murray has pleaded not guilty and faces four years in prison and the loss of his medical licenses if convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Michael Jackson's death. (AP Photo/Paul Buck, Pool)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? An addiction expert testifying for the doctor charged in Michael Jackson's death told jurors Thursday he believes the singer developed an addiction to a powerful pain medicine in the months before his death.

Dr. Robert Waldman told jurors that Jackson was receiving "above-average doses" of the painkiller Demerol.

"I believe there is evidence that he was dependent on Demerol, possibly," Waldman said. The witness said he also thinks Jackson had an addiction to opioids by May 2009, the month before his death.

Waldman said a symptom of Demerol withdrawal is insomnia.

Attorneys for Dr. Conrad Murray have suggested Jackson was undergoing withdrawal from Demerol before his death and self-administered a fatal dose of propofol as a sleep aid.

Jackson had complained of insomnia as he prepared for a series of comeback concerts and was receiving the anesthetic and sedatives from Murray, his personal physician, to help him sleep.

Authorities contend Murray delivered the lethal dose and botched resuscitation efforts. Murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's June 2009 death.

No Demerol was found in the singer's system when he died, but propofol was found throughout his body.

Waldman said he based his opinion on medical records detailing treatment from Jackson's longtime dermatologist, and characterizations of the singer that are publicly known. On cross-examination, Waldman said he didn't consider Jackson's recent public conduct, but rather events from the 1980s and 1990s.

In response to questions from a prosecutor, Waldman said some of the symptoms of Demerol withdrawal were the same as those seen in patients withdrawing from the sedatives lorazepam and diazepam. Murray had been giving Jackson both drugs.

Jackson received the Demerol shots from his longtime dermatologist, Dr. Arnold Klein, who has not been accused of wrongdoing and who a judge has ruled cannot be called as a witness during the trial. The singer had been visiting Klein for Botox and Restylane treatments, the dermatologist's medical records show.

Waldman said he had not treated a case of Demerol addiction in recent memory.

Murray's attorneys plan to call a propofol expert later Thursday.

The defense has yet to show evidence of how their self-administration theory would have worked. Several prosecution experts have said the self-administration defense was improbable, and a key expert said he ruled it out completely, arguing the more likely scenario was that Murray gave Jackson a much higher dose than he has acknowledged.

The scientific testimony of Waldman and Dr. Paul White comes a day after jurors heard from five of Murray's one-time patients, who described the cardiologist as a caring physician who performed procedures for free and spent hours getting to know them. When Ruby Mosley described Murray's work at a clinic he founded in a poor neighborhood in Houston in memory of his father, tears welled up in the eyes of the normally stoic doctor-turned-defendant.

White and Waldman do not necessarily have to convince jurors that Jackson gave himself the fatal dose, but merely provide them with enough reasonable doubt about the prosecution's case against Murray.

Prosecutors have portrayed Murray, 58, as a reckless physician who repeatedly broke the rules by giving Jackson propofol as a sleep aid. But jurors heard a different description of the doctor Wednesday.

Several of the character witnesses called described Murray as the best doctor they had ever seen and highlighted his skills at repairing their hearts with stents and other procedures.

"I'm alive today because of that man," said Andrew Guest of Las Vegas, who looked at Murray. "That man sitting there is the best doctor I've ever seen."

Another former patient, Gerry Causey, stopped to shake Murray's hand in the courtroom and said the physician was his best friend.

A prosecutor noted none of them were treated for sleep issues, although Causey and others said they didn't believe the allegations against Murray.

Defense attorneys have told Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor they expect their case to conclude Thursday. Pastor has said if that happens, closing arguments would occur next week.

___

AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch contributed to this report.

___

McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2011-10-27-Michael%20Jackson-Doctor/id-558c87e0f61b4cc5a6f8f02e2fe0dd67

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Would Rick Perry's flat tax bankrupt the U.S.? (The Week)

New York ? The GOP presidential hopeful claims his tax plan will boost the economy and balance the budget. That's "pure fantasy," scoff critics

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, trying to revive his flagging GOP presidential campaign, has unveiled a proposal for a 20 percent flat tax that he says would help boost the economy and create jobs. (Americans would also have the option of sticking with their current tax rates, if they prefer.) Many independent economists say it would likely only be wealthier Americans who opted out of the current system?? and getting a major tax break as a result. Ted Gayer, co-director of the Economic Studies program and a Brookings Institution senior fellow, says Perry's proposal would leave the government with a "substantial" drop in revenues, driving up deficits. Would Perry's proposal indeed lead America toward economic ruin?

Perry's plan would be a budget disaster: Perry should be applauded for trying to simplify the messy tax system, says Peter Schiff at the Financial Post. But his claim that a flat tax would lead to balanced budgets is "pure fantasy." He wants to let anyone already paying less than 20 percent stay in their low tax brackets, while handing the wealthy "a huge tax cut." All that will do is "blow another enormous hole in an already dangerously unbalanced budget."
"Rick Perry's tax plan is pure fantasy"

Keeping the current system is what would ruin us: We're not raising enough revenue with the current tax code, says The Wall Street Journal in an editorial, but tax reform can turn things around. The Reagan reform of 1986 reduced tax rates from 50 percent to 28 percent, and it helped the economy. So it's reasonable to expect Perry's plan to spur "faster growth and more job creation." And for insurance, he plans to slash spending from 24 percent of GDP to 18 percent.
"The flat-tax sweepstakes"

It's more complicated than either side admits: Perry's own consultants estimate his plan will reduce the nation's tax haul, says James Pethokoukis at The American. The reduction would be?$4.7 trillion from 2014 to 2020 if all else remains equal, and by $1.7 trillion assuming Perry's tax code actually does boost economic growth. So cutting spending isn't a secondary consideration ? it's what will determine whether Perry's plan results in budget surpluses or bigger deficits.
"Perry tax plan would raise either $4.7 trillion or $1.7 trillion less than CBO baseline through 2020"

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DWTS Week 6 Elimination Night: Who Was Voted Off?

We say goodbye to yet another couple tonight on DWTS, it’s hard to believe that it’s already been six weeks since the show started. Last night we saw amazing performances from J.R. Martinez and Ricki Lake, both tying for first place, and at the other end of the leaderboard, Chaz Bono and Lacey Schwimmer had the lowest score, followed by Hope and Maks. Who ended up going home? Find out below! We started off the evening with Len’s take on last night’s performances, which he thought was filled with a ‘mix of fights and delights’, and see an encore performance from J.R. and Karina. I could watch these two dance over and over again, just love them! They have amazing chemistry, yes? We learn right after their performance that they are safe. Um, duh. Kristin Chenoweth graced us with her presence for the second night in a row, this time doing a cover of Carrie Underwood’s ‘Lessons Learned’, which is off of Chenoweth’s new country album, ‘Some Lessons Learned’, released last month. I’m a huge fan of Kristin, and love to see her perform. Will April Rhodes be back on Glee? *Fingers crossed*! Okay sorry, getting a bit off track [...]

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APNewsBreak: Texas DA offered leniency for cash

This December 2006 evidentiary photo provided by R. Christopher Goldsmith, lawyer for Gregory Fuller, shows, from left, Shelby County, Texas, Precinct Four Constable Randy Whatley, Shelby County District Attorney Lynda Kaye Russell and Tenaha Deputy City Marshal Barry Washington, posing with $81,000 cash and 15 kilos of cocaine. Fuller got probation for aggravated cocaine possession, a first degree felony that would normally result in a long prison sentence, after he agreed to forfeit the cash. Russell's system of allowing suspected drug runners and money launderers to receive extremely light sentences, or even escape criminal charges altogether, if they forfeited their cash to the prosecutor?s office is being investigated by the federal government. (AP Photo/R. Christopher Goldsmith)

This December 2006 evidentiary photo provided by R. Christopher Goldsmith, lawyer for Gregory Fuller, shows, from left, Shelby County, Texas, Precinct Four Constable Randy Whatley, Shelby County District Attorney Lynda Kaye Russell and Tenaha Deputy City Marshal Barry Washington, posing with $81,000 cash and 15 kilos of cocaine. Fuller got probation for aggravated cocaine possession, a first degree felony that would normally result in a long prison sentence, after he agreed to forfeit the cash. Russell's system of allowing suspected drug runners and money launderers to receive extremely light sentences, or even escape criminal charges altogether, if they forfeited their cash to the prosecutor?s office is being investigated by the federal government. (AP Photo/R. Christopher Goldsmith)

In this Sept. 1, 2011 photo, traffic moves along U.S. Highway 59, a well-known drug-trafficking route through Tenaha,Texas. The federal government is investigating the local district attorney's system of allowing suspected drug runners and money launderers to receive extremely light sentences, or even escape criminal charges altogether, if they forfeited their cash to the prosecutor?s office. (AP Photo/Danny Robbins)

CENTER, Texas (AP) ? The district attorney in a Texas county with a well-known drug-trafficking route repeatedly allowed suspected drug runners and money launderers to receive light sentences ? or escape criminal charges altogether ? if they forfeited their cash to prosecutors.

As a result, authorities collected more than $800,000 in less than a year using a practice that essentially let suspects buy their way out of allegations that, if proven, would probably have resulted in prison sentences.

"They were looking out for the treasury of their county instead of doing the job of protecting society," said R. Christopher Goldsmith, a Houston attorney who represented one of the defendants.

The system engineered by Shelby County District Attorney Lynda Kaye Russell is now one focus of a federal criminal investigation that is also reviewing whether Russell and other law enforcement officials targeted black motorists for traffic stops.

Interviews, court records and other documents reviewed by The Associated Press show numerous examples of suspects who went unpunished or got unusually light sentences after turning over tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The money from those and other defendants increased the DA's forfeiture account by more than two hundredfold and helped ease a tight budget. The county's former auditor has testified that at least a portion of it was spent on campaign materials, parades, holiday decorations, food, flowers, gifts and charitable contributions.

In one instance, a man accused of transporting 15 kilos of cocaine and more than $80,000 in cash got probation after forfeiting the money to the district attorney. When the Justice Department learned about the deal, federal officials regarded it as so outlandish that they took the rare step of building their own case.

In another case, a woman caught with more than $620,000 stuffed into Christmas presents walked away after reaching a similar agreement.

Russell, who has been district attorney in the county on the Texas-Louisiana border since 1999, did not respond to repeated requests for comment. She announced in June that she was resigning, effective at the end of the year, to care for her sick mother.

Law enforcement agencies across the country often seize money or property believed linked to criminal activity. If they can prove the link in civil court, authorities can take possession of it permanently. But it's highly unusual to make deals that provide suspects with freedom or leniency if they agree to forfeit their cash.

The Shelby County cases arose from traffic stops on U.S. Highway 59, which runs from the U.S.-Mexico border to Canada and is one of the nation's most notorious drug corridors.

Russell and other county law enforcement officials have been under investigation by the Department of Justice's civil-rights division since 2008, when they were named defendants in a class-action lawsuit stemming from traffic stops in the small town of Tenaha.

The lawsuit contends that a drug-enforcement program established by the town in 2006 was actually a scheme to threaten innocent motorists, most of them black, with money laundering charges if they didn't forfeit their cash.

In the program's first year, the DA's office and the law enforcement agencies that made the stops divvied up nearly $1 million in forfeited cash. That was a spectacular spike in income: Forfeitures had produced less than $2,000 the year before, according to reports filed with the Texas attorney general's office.

The class-action lawsuit has received national media attention, but the fact that the forfeiture deals were also made with people who fit the profile of "mules" transporting drugs or drug money is neither addressed by the complaint nor widely known outside Shelby County, about 175 miles northeast of Houston.

FBI agents have interviewed many of the motorists who were stopped in Tenaha, including some who were given leniency. And several Shelby County officials have testified before a grand jury in Tyler.

Malcolm Bales, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Texas, said limited resources have put the district attorney at a disadvantage in prosecuting major crimes. But he acknowledged that several matters were mishandled, particularly the one that resulted in probation for the man with 15 kilos of cocaine.

That case "was extraordinary enough for me to take it on and re-prosecute the guy," said Bales, who was an assistant U.S. attorney based in Lufkin at the time.

Gregory Fuller of Nashville, Tenn., is now serving more than 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.

Fuller was on parole for selling cocaine in Tennessee when he was stopped for speeding in 2006 in Tenaha. A search of his car turned up the drugs with a potential street value of more than $1 million. The offense carried a sentence of 15 to 99 years in prison.

But just four days after his arrest, Fuller cut a deal allowing him to pay a $10,000 fine and receive three years' probation with deferred adjudication. On the day the documents were signed, he also agreed to forfeit $81,300 to the district attorney's office.

Fuller "walked out of there thinking he was the luckiest man on the planet," said Goldsmith, his attorney.

Less than two months later, federal authorities initiated their case under the principle of dual sovereignty, which permits the federal government to prosecute an offense even if it's been dealt with in state court.

"That incident demanded a full investigation, or at least an attempt to find out where Fuller got the narcotics and where they were going," Bales said.

The case of Angela Neveins, a Houston woman stopped in 2006, followed a similar pattern. She was charged with money laundering after her gift-wrapped packages were found to contain $626,000. But the charge was dismissed two days later when she signed a waiver agreeing to forfeit the cash.

Neveins told her attorney that the money wasn't hers, and she quickly agreed to give it up in exchange for her freedom.

"Once she heard the monkey would be off her back," said Houston attorney Jim Dyer, "she readily thought that was the way to go."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-10-25-Prosecutor-Drug%20Cash/id-991940acc3fe4e0f9e6a9d65be6b241f

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Book recalls film critic Pauline Kael with relish (AP)

"Pauline Kael: A Life in the Dark" (Viking), by Brian Kellow: Film critic Pauline Kael could be as brilliant and maddening in person as she was in the pages of The New Yorker, whether you were a filmmaker who failed to meet her standards or an acolyte who dared to disagree with her judgment.

Movies, after all, were her life.

Some considered Kael an irresponsible bully and an opportunistic writer who could be far too chummy with filmmakers. Others found her friendly, gregarious and bawdy, though hardly faultless, sometimes boorish but never boring. She reveled in such attention and devoted herself to earning it.

In "Pauline Kael: A Life in the Dark," author Brian Kellow offers a making-of story as engaging as her criticism. It's no easy feat ? what's less dramatic than scribbling into the night? ? but Kellow tapped her friends and foes and her writing while developing a colorful, evenhanded appreciation of one of film's most influential critics.

Her first movie review appeared in 1952. Kael was 33, a single woman in San Francisco struggling to raise an out-of-wedlock daughter and getting nowhere in a series of jobs and with her fiction writing. Marrying the owner of a repertory theater would give her a reliable platform to write about film, even if only for programming notes. The arrangement appeared more about Kael gaining financial traction than love.

Similar decisions by Kael focused on getting ahead. Writing bold essays taking a contrarian view was one strategy; attacking fellow critics was another. At times she was accused of getting her facts wrong and faking a technical or business knowledge of filmmaking to make a point. She apparently based her controversial 1971 essay on "Citizen Kane" on research she failed to credit ? "stole" might be the proper word.

A literate style driven by passionate opinions and punctuated with cutting, crude remarks was central to her appeal. (Director Billy Wilder's comedy "One, Two, Three," she wrote, "pulls out laughs the way a catheter draws urine.") She could overly praise movies, too, like "Last Tango in Paris" ("a landmark in movie history"), and she practically wet-nursed directors like Robert Altman and Brian De Palma when she believed they were misunderstood by other critics or abused by the studios.

Reading about Kael ? she retired as a regular reviewer in 1991 and died in 2001 ? will no doubt rekindle interest in her work. Right on cue comes "The Age of Movies: Selected Writings of Pauline Kael" (Library of America). It's a grand collection of her more challenging, provocative and argument-inducing views, and a perfect companion to Kellow's eye-opening biography.

___

Douglass K. Daniel is the author of "Tough as Nails: The Life and Films of Richard Brooks" (University of Wisconsin Press).

___

Online:

http://www.briankellowwriter.com/

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Cholesterol Conundrum

DANGER: High LDL levels can lead to blockages of arteries that nourish the brain (as in this angiogram), heart and other organs. Image: Gilles Podevins/Corbis

Most people who are even a little bit concerned about their cholesterol know that there is a ?good? kind?known as HDL?and a ?bad? kind?known as LDL. Research has shown that the higher the amount of HDL and the lower the amount of LDL in the blood, the less likely a person is to suffer a heart attack or stroke. As for the one in six Americans with unhealthy cholesterol levels, well, they can always hope to change their luck with a cholesterol-changing medication or two. Or can they?

Two major clinical trials in the past three years have greatly complicated the picture for these and perhaps other folks. The first study, from 2008, shows that lowering LDL levels does not always decrease the risk of having a heart attack. Similarly, results from the second study, released in the spring of this year, show that raising HDL levels does not always translate into fewer heart attacks or strokes.

These perplexing findings do not mean that people should stop taking their cholesterol drugs. The results have, however, underscored the danger of indulging in a common logical shortcut in medical thinking?assuming that artificially producing normal test results in a patient is the same as conferring good health on that patient. For one thing, drugs typically do not mimic normal conditions perfectly. For another, heart attacks and strokes occur after a complex series of processes that may take years to unfold. Simply altering one of these processes does not necessarily fix the whole problem.

Good vs. Bad Cholesterol
Still, researchers and physicians, knowing the roles of LDL and HDL in the body, had good reasons to suspect that manipulating the levels could protect against heart attacks and strokes. Despite its bad reputation as a clogger of arteries, the cholesterol molecule is an irreplaceable component of many key parts of the body, from cell membranes to sex hormones. Indeed, this fatty, waxy substance is so important to life that evolution has produced several different mechanisms for transporting it through the bloodstream. Just as oil and water do not mix, neither do waxy cholesterol and watery blood, so cholesterol needs a kind of protective vehicle to surround it and carry it around the body. Two of the most important vehicles for the job are LDL (low-density lipoprotein), which delivers cholesterol to the various cells of the body, including the walls of arteries, and HDL (high-density lipoprotein), which removes cholesterol from the blood. HDL may also act as an antioxidant that reduces unhealthy inflammation in the arteries.

The trouble begins when too much LDL-carried cholesterol winds up in the arterial lining and contributes to the buildup of fatty material, or atherosclerotic plaque. Much of the time the plaque stabilizes without creating too many immediate problems, but sometimes it bursts, triggering blood clots that lead to heart attacks and strokes if the clots prevent blood from delivering critical oxygen to heart or brain tissue. Without oxygen, the affected tissue dies.

People with high LDL levels may form arterial plaques that are more likely to burst. Some people develop extremely high LDL levels because of a genetic disease called familial hypercholesterolemia that severely limits their ability to clear cholesterol from their blood. They suffer heart attacks in their thirties or forties, which is several decades earlier than the average for the general population. On the positive side, those who maintain normal cholesterol levels (LDL less than 100 milligrams per deciliter of blood and HDL cholesterol levels greater than 40 mg/dL) throughout their life without medication are much less likely to suffer heart attacks or strokes.

A Shortcut in Logic
With all this evidence linking cholesterol levels to heart disease risk, it is no wonder that researchers in general and pharmaceutical companies in particular reached a fairly straightforward, if simplistic, conclusion: anything?such as a medication?that reduces LDL levels and raises HDL levels must also reduce heart disease risk. By the 1980s the drug industry began marketing a whole family of cholesterol-lowering drugs called the statins, which work by blocking a liver enzyme that is essential for forming cholesterol. Clinical studies proved that statins do in fact reduce the number of heart attacks in people with high cholesterol. But is it the medications? cholesterol-lowering effect or some other aspect of how the drugs affect the body?such as its anti-inflammatory properties (inflammation is strongly suspected of contributing to atherosclerosis)?or even a combination of both that does the trick?

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Action-packed video games help solve lazy eye

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