States look to expand Health Coverage for Children

Despite a warning from the Presidents top health chief, more states are looking for ways to expand health care coverage to more children.

More states are trying to expand health coverage to children under SCHIP, State Children's Health Insurance Program, so that some middle class families can obtain coverage for their children.

The SCHIP program was started over a decade ago so states could offer health insurance to families whose income was double the federal poverty program. This meant a family of four with a household income of $41,300 would qualify for this program. Some states decided to use the Medicaid based income formula which allowed these states to cover even more children.

Ten year later, 18 states offer SCHIP to families who have a household income that is 200 percent of the federal poverty level, and this is done with the federal governments blessing. Five other states plus the District of Columbia are set to join this list according to a recent survey conducted by Georgetown University's Center for Children and Families.

Lawmakers in New York State have raised the income level of their SCHIP program to $82,600 for a family of four. These families receive government help when trying to purchase health insurance. The poorer these families are, the greater state aid they receive.

However, Mike Leavitt, Health and Human Services Secretary, is worried other states will follow New York's example of raising the income level for these SCHIP programs. Mr. Leavitt states 71 percent of all children would be on "public assistance" if other states do decide to follow New York's example.

Mike Leavitt went on to say the spirit of SCHIP was meant to expand health coverage for children, but that is not the case. Mr. Leavitt points out that for every ten people that decide to join a health insurance plan funded by the public, 6 of these people are people who have left a private insurance plan.

Jocelyn Guyer, deputy executive director of the university center, notes that recent studies have shown that states feel that having kids on health plans funded by the public are better than having these kids stuck with no health plan at all.

Ms. Guyer went on to say that State leaders are moving away from President Bush because they see that middle income families are finding the cost of health insurance is becoming unaffordable and that some type of subsidy for health insurance should be allowed.

1997 is when Congress approved a $40 billion bill allowing for a children's health program that would last ten years, and over the last ten year this children's health program has grown to include roughly 6 million people of which 640,000 are adults.

The expansion of this program is a top priority for the Democratic controlled Congress, and it is likely Congress will renew this plan. The Democrats would like to increase spending on this plan to $75 billion over the next five years, but President Bush would like to spend less than half of what the Democrats are proposing.

States are supposed to match dollar for dollar any federal money received under this program, but on average states will spend $30 for every $70 received from the federal government for funding SCHIP plans.

The White House is seeking a plan that would cover low-income families only, but Mike Leavitt was quick to point out that all states should consider plans that would allow other families to have access to basic health insurance coverage.

Jocelyn Guyer was quick to note that some states may have to scrap their SCHIP programs if Congress does not act to this summer to provide the necessary government funding for these programs. Ms.Guyer said these state programs are not possible without assistance from the federal government in funding these programs.

The Senate Fiance Committee is considering taking up the issue of a children's health insurance bill sometime in May.

Read more on this topic at Yahoo News

Gore Calls out Canada on Their Climate Plan

During a speech on Saturday in Toronto, Al Gore called Canada's plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions a 'sham' that gives industries a way to increase, and not decrease, these emissions.

Canada announced on Thursday a plan that would cut the countries greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent. This 20 percent decrease in greenhouse gases would be done by the year 2020. However, the Canadian government also said they would miss their Kyoto Protocol obligations that call for 35 industrialized countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.

Currently, Canada's greenhouse gas emissions are 30 percent above 1990 levels.

The plan of the conservative government was to reduce emissions that are directly blamed for global warming. The Canadian government was also looking to reduce emissions that would improve air quality, but this plan never really spelled out what type of regulation would be put in place to make sure this plan would be followed.

In his speech on Saturday, Al Gore said this plan by the Canadian government was a 'total fraud' because the plan did not state directly how Canada would reach it 20 percent greenhouse gas emission reduction goal by 2020. Mr. Gore went on to say this plan was designed only to fool the people into thinking the Canadian government was planning to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

He said "intensity reduction" — which allow industries to increase their greenhouse gas outputs as they raise production — was a poll-tested phrase developed by think tanks financed by Exxon Mobil and other large polluters.

Canadian Environment Minister John Baird went on to blast this criticism from Gore by stating the current Canadian government's plan is tougher than any plan that was under consideration when Al Gore was Vice-President of the United States. Mr. Baird also went to state that he would like to invite Al Gore to a discussion about Canada's greenhouse gas emissions.

Mr. Gore was in Toronto on Saturday to present his award winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," in front of a consumer environmental show.

During the showing of this film, Mr. Gore said the United States has no right to interfere with Canada's greenhouse gas emission plan; however, Mr. Gore went on to say the world looks to Canada for 'moral' leadership on this issue. This is why Mr. Gore found the announcement by the Canadian government on Thursday about their plan for greenhouse gas emissions as 'shocking'.

On Sunday, Stephane Dion, Canadian opposition Liberal Leader, came out and said he agrees with the statements made by Mr. Gore. Mr. Dion went on to say that Mr. Baird was embarrassing Canada with this plan because the world looks for Canada to do their part in reducing greenhouse gases.

Mr. Dion concluded by saying Canada is failing the world by not showing leadership on this issue, and that the current Canadian government is also failing the Canadian people.

Read more by this issue at Yahoo News

Break Out Those old Rabbit Ears if you want HDTV

Rabbit ears may be making a comeback as consumers of LCD's and plasma TVs are buying these 'old' technological gadgets for these high tech TVs.

With local TV stations starting to broadcast their shows in High Def, consumers are finding out that hooking up the old 'rabbit ear' antenna can bring free High Def shows to their television sets.

Richard Schneider, president of Antennas Direct, is betting Americans will not hesitate in shelling out $50 for his new wave rabbit ear antennas if it means free local High Def shows can be brought into their homes.

Mr. Schneider recalls people were calling him nuts because he was building antennas from his garage and then selling these antennas out of the trunk of his car. But what started out as a small operation in Eureka, Mo has now turned into a $1.4 million year operation with seven employees.

Because Congress has ordered broadcasters to shut off old-style analog TV broadcasts by Feb. 17, 2009, more people with need some type of television that will be able to receive a high def signal. However, some people may not be willing to fork over the high cost that goes with a cable subscription. This is were Richard and his rabbit ears come into play.

Unlike the old analog signal that would give you a partial picture with some 'snow', the high def signal will give you those little 'block's of a signal before going black. This means some people will be able to receive a high def signal and some will not be able to receive this signal just an antenna hooked up to their TV.

Richard likes to tell people that if they live within 25 miles of a TV tower that it is best to use and indoor antenna, and that an outdoor antenna is best if you live 70 miles away from a TV tower. Mr. Schneider also notes that a TV signal is best reached if the antenna has a clear site, ie., no mountains or trees obstructing the antenna.

The Consumer Electronics Association has a Web site http://www.antennaweb.org/ that tells how far an address is from towers and recommends what type of antenna to use.

Megan Pollock, spokeswoman for this group, says receiving a high definition signal from an antenna may give you a truer high def picture because cable and satellite companies tend to compress the high def signals sent through the cable.

One downside to using only the antenna and not cable or satellite services is that you only receive local station broadcast. This means no ESPN, TBS, USA, SciFi, or HBO. However, if you are willing, or only watch, local stations then a onetime investment of $20 to $150 is well worth it for the ability to receive local High Def broadcast instead of paying for the high cost of cable or satellite service.

Read more about the return of 'rabbit ears' at Yahoo News

Doctors Remove 2 Pound Tumor From a Baby's Neck

A day after she was born, a baby girl had a 2 pound tumor removed from her neck.

When Kari Whittington went to visit her doctor on Monday, an ultrasound test revealed a grapefruit size tumor growing on her baby daughter. Ms. Whittington had been to her doctor the prior month, and no abnormalities were found on an ultrasound performed during this visit.

A Caesarean section was performed on Thursday, and Kari's baby daughter, Addison, was delivered five weeks early. Once the delivery was successfully completed, baby Addison was stabilized before a team of nine doctors began their work of removing this large tumor.

Steven Rothenberg, pediatric surgeon, noted that the tumor began to bleed on its own, and that if they did not have everyone of the nine team surgical crew present, it was very possible that Addison would not have survived.

Rothenberg said the growth, called a cervical teratoma, is rare and occurs in about 1 in 50,000 births. The blood-swollen tissue and veins made up 40 percent of Addison's weight.

Dr. Rothenberg thinks little Addison will have to stay in the hospital for about 2 weeks before heading home. Dr. Rothenberg also feels the scar running along Addison's jawline, and the scar on her neck, should eventually disappear.

Read more about this story at Yahoo News

U.N. Chief Stands by Gore's Climate Change Theory

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced on Friday that he will use Al Gore's theory on climate change to gain international support for his global warming initiatives.

Calling Al Gore's climate change message a ""very powerful political message", Secretary-General Ki-moon said he plans to use Gore's message as a wake-up for getting international action on global warming.

Mr. Ki-moon on Friday said he met with the Oscar winning documentary maker, and that Al Gore offered his support in helping the United Nations bring international attention to the issue of global warming.

Many people feel that Al Gore is still considered one of the top Democratic choices for the 2008 Presidential race. Mr. Gore has not said if he will jump into this race or not, but with his climate change theory being globally popular you never know what Mr. Gore will finally decide.

Mr. Gore and Mr. Ki-moon met for about a half hour on Friday, but after the meeting, Mr. Gore had no comment for reporters. Mr. Ki-moon on the other hand feels he can use the powerful message from Al Gore's global documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth" , as a rallying point for worldwide attention to climate change and global warming.

The U.N Secretary-General said he will work closely with the European delegation to the G-8 summit in calling for measures to be taken in the fight against global warming. The G-8 summit will be hosted by Germany in June. Mr. Ki-moon feels global warming should be one of the top issues during this G-8 summit meeting.

The European Union all ready promised last month to cut the carbon emissions from their countries by 20 percent below their 1990 levels. The European Union also said they would be willing to make a 30 percent cut in carbon emissions if the United States also agreed to carbon emission cuts. The European Union feels these cuts are needed to keep the Earth's temperature from increasing by less than 2 degrees.

The U.N Secretary-General went on to praise this voluntary action by the European Union by calling this move a "a very important initiative with which I would like to continue to cooperate fully."

Read more about this story at Yahoo News

New Genes Linked to Diabetes Found

Diabetes is a disease that effects roughly 200 million people around the world, and now researchers have found new genes that may increase the risk of diabetes.

A group of four research teams recent studies show insight into the role played by genes in a disease influenced by behavior such as eating too much and exercising too little. These findings will published on Thursday in the Science and Nature Genetics journal.

These researchers hope their studies will lead to the development of new drugs to treat type 2 diabetes, previously known as adult-onset diabetes. In addition, researchers hope this will lead to genetic testing in determining if a person is prone to developing type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is one of the fastest growing worldwide diseases, but the cause of this disease is only vaguely known, and because of this, treatment and prevention efforts have been restricted.

This study involved scientists reviewing the 22,000 genes that make up the human genome. In addition, about 50,000 people with and without diabetes from countries all over the world were used in this study.

Scientists were able to discover about eight genes that give a clear indication of diabetes risk factors. Three of these genes were previously unknown to scientists who study this disease. Scientists state all eight of these genes are common in the general population.

Michael Boehnke of the University of Michigan, who led one of the teams, believes these teams have made a huge leap in the understanding of the genetic variants that contribute as risk factors to type 2 diabetes.

These researchers are quick to point out that how these three new genes play a role in the development of type 2 diabetes is still unclear. However, these researchers believe that 2 of these genes might be linked to the development, function and regeneration of certain insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.

Even though scientists have always known that heredity was a big cause in the development of diabetes, it has not been until recently that scientists have found certain genes that may also contribute to a person developing this disease.

Type 2 diabetes usually develops in people over 40 who are overweight, less active people, but researchers are now seeing this type of diabetes more and more in younger people, including children, who are obese.

There is still plenty of research to be done on the causes of type 2 diabetes, so researchers still feel the best way to combat this ever growing disease is by making correct lifestyle choices because obesity, poor diet and lack of exercise still play a major role in the development of diabetes.

Read more about this diabetes research at Yahoo News

Take the Highway Tunnel to Russia

Over the last century, the idea of linking Alaska and Russia with a highway has always been a dream;however, that dream may now someday come true.

With only 68 miles of Bering Sea separating the 49th state from Russia, supporters of linking these 2 superpowers with the world's longest tunnel is starting to gain some renewed interest. The world's current longest tunnel is the Chunnel that runs 30 miles and links England with France.

Backers of this tunnel idea hope this will lead to an even bigger project- building a 3,700 mile railroad that would link Alaska's west coast with the gold and mineral rich Yakutsk Siberian region of Russia.

This super tunnel has a projected cost of $65 billion dollars, and the tunnel would burrow underneath a stretch of water connecting the Pacific with the Arctic ocean. Backers from both the United States and Russia made their pitch for this idea at the "Megaprojects of Russia's East," held Tuesday in Moscow.

A dose of reality set in during this meeting when a Russian economics ministry official wanted to know who was going to pay for this enormous project. However, Walter Hickel, a former Alaska governor and interior secretary under President Richard Nixon, remained optimistic about this grand plan saying this would help both Russia and the United States tap into the vast natural resources of a region were winter temperatures of minus 94 degrees are not unheard of.

Backers of this tunnel idea even started to dream of a possible London-Moscow-Washington train route.

Lobbyists for this tunnel claim a profit could be made within 30 years because lobbyists feel about 3 percent of the worlds cargo could move through this tunnel once it is completed. Experts believe it would take 20 years to build such a massive tunnel.

Maxim Bystrov, deputy head of the federal agency for managing Special Economic Zones, said his ministry would only look into this project if private financiers made a commitment to this idea.

This is not the first time an idea of linking the United States and Russia has come up. Russia's last czar, Nicholas II, gave the go ahead to such a project two times before, but his projects were stopped because of the First World War and the Bolshevik Revolution.

Despite all the grand planning going on during the meeting Tuesday, the light at the end of the tunnel seemed to dim some because a top economic adviser to President Vladimir Putin, as well as the Russian railway minister, who had been billed to speak, changed their minds and cancelled at the last minute.

Even though the Russians seemed to pause at building this tunnel, a statement was endorsed Tuesday encouraging Russia, the United States, Japan, China and the European Union to develop this tunnel idea into their countries economic development strategies. This statement also urged the G-8 countries to continue discussing this tunnel linking project when they meet in Germany for the G-8 summit in June.

Read more about the great tunnel plan at Yahoo Biz

U.S. House of Representatives Approves Troop Pullout Plan

Drawing the old line in the sand, the House on Wednesday approved a plan for pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq.

Despite a firm promise by President Bush to veto any bill that sets a time line for troop withdrawals from Iraq, House leader Nancy Pelosi gleefully announced a House bill that calls for a planned withdraw of U.S. troops from Iraq.

Gen. David Petraeus made a pitch to House lawmakers to give him more time to show the troop 'surge' in Iraq was working, but this plea in a closed House meeting was all but ignored by the Democrat led House. Gen. Petraeus is the top army general running U.S. operations in Iraq.

The 124 billion dollar troop funding bill was narrowly passed by a vote of 218-208. In addition to funding U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, this bills also calls for U.S. troop withdrawals beginning in October of this year.

This House bill next moves to the Senate for debate. With Senate majority leader Harry Reid, D-Nev, all ready conceding defeat in Iraq, this bill will most likely pass the Senate before heading to the desk of President Bush.

President Bush has called for this bill to be quickly passed by the Senate so he can veto the bill and move on to more serious debate about troop funding before it is too late.

President Bush said he is willing to compromise with Democrats on a troop funding bill;however, President Bush said any bill involving a troop withdraw time line will be shot down because he believes any troop movement strategy is best left to the commanders in the field.

However, the Democrats were happy to point out a recent poll showing most Americans agree with them on this issue and believe victory in Iraq is no longer possible. This poll by NBC News and the Wall Street Journal indicates that only 37 percent of the American public sided with Bush and his Republicans in believing that Congress should not set a deadline for troop withdrawal, but 55 percent supported the Democrats view calling for a timetable.

The bill passed by the House provides more troop funding than the administration sought for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, but says US troops are to start withdrawing from Iraq in October, with a non-binding target date of completing the pullout by March 31.

Meanwhile, during his closed door meeting in the House, Gen.Petraeus asked lawmakers to withhold judgment on the new Iraq strategy-- sending 28,000 additional troops--despite a spike in violence including in Diyala on Monday where nine US troops were killed.

Gen. Petraeus was quick to point out the progress being made in Iraq since the troop surge was announced in January. Gen. Petraeus noted the positives of this new strategy talking about the killing Friday of an Al-Qaeda kingpin, identified by the US command as the "security emir" for the east of Anbar province, and he also pointed to the capture of the head of an important weapons network that may lead to more evidence about Iranian involvement in the conflict.

Funding for the troops will eventually be passed by and approved by President Bush. However, what exactly this bill will include is still up in the air. One possible solution making the rounds hints at Democrats releasing funds one small chunk at a time to keep the Iraq debate at the center of political dialogue. Another possible solution being circulated hints at Democrats imposing certain targets showing improvement in Iraq which will force the administration to justify progress it says is being made.

Read more about the Democrats troop plans at Yahoo News

Fat Workers Costly to Employers

A recent study suggests overweight employees are more costly to their employer than their slimmer co-workers.

A Duke University study found that overweight workers are involved in more work related injuries than their slimmer, more fit co-workers by an almost 2 to 1 margin.

These Duke researchers found that overweight employees had 13 times more lost work days because of work related injuries, and these employees medical claims were 7 times higher than co-workers deemed to be in better shape.

The overweight employee was more likely to suffer from back, wrist, arm, neck, shoulder, hip, knee and foot than other employees.

The Duke research team studied 11,728 people employed by Duke and its health system over the last 8 years. The results of this study found the higher an employees BMI, body mass index, the more likely this employee would have in filing a workers compensation claim.

This study indicates a higher BMI-40 or more-would lead an overweight employee to lose more work days when compared to an employee who is not considered overweight. A 6 foot tall man weighing 300 pounds is an example of a person with a BMI of 40 or more.

These Duke researchers are hoping this study will lead employers to offer more programs that promote a healthy lifestyle. The Duke researchers also worry this study may lead to employers discriminating more against overweight employees because of the higher risks and costs associated with having an overweight person at work.

John Cawley, an expert in the economics of obesity at Cornell University, cautions people to carefully review this study because a persons BMI does not take into account a persons muscle mass. For example, a body builder may have a higher BMI than a couch potato because the body builder has more, and more thicker, muscles than your average couch potato.

Employers are always looking for ways to 'cut the fat' from their companies bottom line, so investing in get-well and stay-fit programs may be one way an employer can make his companies bottom line look more healthy.

Read more about this Duke study at Yahoo News

Did Astronomers Discover Earth 2??

Researchers announced Tuesday that a planet has been found outside our solar system that may be similar to Earth.

Astronomers said this planet, with "Earth-like temperatures, appears to be the right size planet they were looking to find. Researchers went on to say this planet might have water in liquid form. Finding liquid water on another planet is important because scientists believe that were this is liquid water-there is the possibility for life.

This galactic neighbor of ours is only 120 trillion miles away from own our Earth. This near-by, in galactic terms anyway, neighbor orbits a 'red-dwarf ' sun that is smaller, less-bright, and much cooler than our sun.

There is still a lot that astronomers do not know about this planet, and because of this, this planet could still be deemed as inhospitable once more data about this planet is received and analyzed. Researchers like to point out that Mars meets these habitability standards because Mars is similar in size to Earth, and Mars does have temperatures that would permit liquid water.

Michel Mayor, one of 11 European scientists on the team that found the planet, said the find of this planet is still important because unlike Mars this newly discovered planet was found outside our solar system.

This team of astronomers used the European Southern Observatory's telescope in La Silla, Chile, because this observatory has a special instrument that can split light in finding wobbles in different light wave lengths. Wobbles in light waves are important because these wobbles can reveal the existence of other worlds.

Astronomers found this planet by studying the light waves emitted from a red-dwarf star called Gliese 581, and this led astronomers to name the planet-planet 581. Astronomers believe this planet is about five times heavier than Earth.

There have been 220 other planets found outside our solar system, but these planets were deemed as inhospitable because they were either too hot or too cold. However, these astronomers got excited about planet 581 because their initial analyses indicate the average temperature may be somewhere between 32 and 104 degrees.

So, for now at least, planet 581 has the scientific world buzzing because this find could be the big stepping stone in the search for "life in the universe".

Read more about Planet 581 at Yahoo News

What Color Is Your Diet??

Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle
By Tom Venuto, CSCS, NSCA-CPT
url: burnthefat.com

QUESTION: Dear Tom: I’ve seen quite a few diet books lately that are based on the color of the foods you eat, including the rainbow diet, the color diet and the “color code” (sounds like the Da Vinci code, LOL!) Anyway, I’ve been reading your newsletters for a long time and I know how you feel about diet pills, books and gimmicks and I was wondering what you thought about these programs. Is it just another gimmick?

ANSWER: Based on the clever titles, it might be tempting to dismiss these programs as gimmicks, and in fact when your weekly menus are literally “color coded,” it might seem that the diet book authors are just scrambling for a new hook or premise on which to base an entire eating program.

I have not read any of those books you mentioned yet, so I can’t comment on any of them specifically. However, as “gimmicky” as eating from every color in the rainbow may sound at first, there is some very legitimate and scientific evidence that this is a great idea.

We are often given the advice to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables (which have a variety of different colors). Good advice of course; even common sense would tell us that. However, “eat a lot of fruits and vegetables”is vague advice because it could mean eating only apples and broccoli (red and green), and nothing else, but eating “a lot” of them. To take that advice to the next level, a better recommendation would be to eat a WIDE VARIETY of fruits and vegetables (not just “a lot”).

Even “wide variety” is not really defined. What is a wide variety? Did you know that there are hundreds of different types of fruits and veggies? To make an even greater distinction, you could begin to sort your fruits and vegetables by color and eat a wide variety every day (at least 5 to 9 servings) and an even wider variety spread over the span of each week.

Why would you go to all the trouble? Well, each various food color is indicative of the phytonutrients and other healthful nutritional compounds found within these foods. According to the textbook Sports & Exercise Nutrition by Katch, Katch & McArdle), over 4000 phytochemicals have been identified, and 150 of them have been studied in detail.

By definition, phytonutrients (also called phytochemicals) are naturally occurring, health promoting compounds found in the plant kingdom. There has been much research on the functional properties of these compounds, proving that they play important and diverse roles in maintaining your health and protecting you from disease.

Foods such as tomatoes (red), carrots (orange), broccoli (green), blueberries (blue) all contain important phytochemicals that play specific roles in health and disease prevention. Onions, whole grains, herbs, spices and other foods also contain their own special types of protective phytochemicals.

Here are some of the phytochemicals and naturally health-promoting compounds and the foods they correspond to:

FLAVONOIDS (quercitin, kaempferol, myricetin, catechins)FruitsVegetablesBerriesCitrus fruitsOnionsPurple grapesTea

CAROTENOIDS (luten, lycopene, zeaxanthin, a-carotene, b-carotene)CarrotsTomatoesCantaloupe Apricots

GLUCOSINOLATES (glucobrassicin, isothiocyanates, indoles)Cruciferous vegetablesBroccoliBrussel sproutsCabbage

SULFIDES (allium compounds, dithiolthiones)OnionsGarlicLeeksscallions

Each of these compounds has a health promoting role in the body ranging from antioxidant activity to cancer protection. There is much more going on here than just building muscle and shedding body fat. Eating a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and other natural foods has major health and quality of life implications.

It’s great news to know how much control we can take over our health and physical fitness simply with proper food choices (and proper exercise). The only thing about these discoveries that saddens and disappoints me is that it seems each time our scientists discover something, such as lycopene in tomatoes for example, someone wants to put it in a bottle and sell it to us. (Why not just go to the source and eat the tomatoes???)

I believe in an intelligent creator, and I believe that the creator of our bodies and this universe we live in, knew exactly what he was doing when he created the marvelous diversity of plants and animals that comprise our food supply. Although it may be prudent in this modern industrial age to take a multi vitamin/mineral supplement and maybe an essential fatty acid supplement for “nutritional insurance,” everything you need can be found in your food.

If you think about what the discovery of all these naturally occurring compounds really means, you will have to agree that food truly is the most powerful drug. Combine that with recent discoveries in physiology and psychoneoruoimmunology proving that our bodies are their own self-regulating natural pharmacies, and you also have to agree that the natural way is the best way.

In any case, it’s definitely not enough to think only in terms of calories and macronutrients (proteins, carbohydrates and fats). Energy needs and macronutrient needs are important, but also think about your nutrition in terms of a wide variety of natural foods, and that includes a wide variety of colors.

For more information about the all natural way to fat loss and better health, read about the Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle program at burnthefat.com

About the Author:
Tom Venuto is a lifetime natural bodybuilder, an NSCA-certified personal trainer (CPT), certified strength & conditioning specialist (CSCS), and author of the #1 best-selling e-book, "Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle.” Tom has written more than 200 articles and has been featured in print magazines such as IRONMAN, Australian IRONMAN, Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular Development, Exercise for Men and Men’s Exercise, as well as on hundreds of websites worldwide.

For information on Tom's Fat Loss program, visit: burnthefat.com

The TRUTH About Credit Repair...

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The TRUTH About Credit Repair...
-by Terry Price
(C) Copyright Terry PriceAll Rights Reserved

CREDIT SECRETS BIBLE
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Have you ever wondered what companies send you when they claim you can erase bad credit overnight? How about those ads that say you can get any major credit card without a deposit or a credit check?

Ads abound almost every where these days (online and off) selling books, systems and secrets tohelp you fix your credit. Many of these programs have claims which read like the covers of supermarket tabloids:

"In 3hrs my credit score jumped from 580 to 676!"...
"Erase bad credit and smash your debts with just 2 Magic Letters!".

Are these types of claims ALWAYS too good to be true? The answer is"Yes and... no".

While many people would love for you to believe the only thing that can fix bad credit is time; inreality... nothing could be further from the truth. The fact is, time is only one factor which can fix a credit report, but it's a far cry from being the only factor. How can I back this up? Easy.

Under a consumer protection law known as the Fair Credit ReportingAct (a.k.a. the FCRA) the only negative information which can remain on your credit report is not what is accurate... but what can be proved as accurate under the FCRA. What's this mean to you?

It means any negative item on your credit report can only remain there if it is accurate and CAN BE PROVED AS SUCH under the guidelines of the FCRA. This undisputable fact presents consumers with both good news and bad news.

The good news is that through the FCRA your credit score can most likely be improved dramatically in a very short period of time with only a modest amount of effort on your part.

The bad news is that while the actual "work" will take very little of your time, it is vital that you have good information on "how"to go about it. This is the bad news; 9 out of 10 courses on restoring your credit will do nothing more than lead you into snakepits because they will provide you with what the industry refers to as "Boiler Plate" dispute letters.These are nothing more than form letters and... quite frankly (more bad news) the Credit Bureaus and Creditors will laugh at you if you try to use them.

While I agree with the Federal TradeCommission (FTC) that "Anything a Credit Repair Clinic can do for you legally, you can do for yourself at little or not cost"... the key element you need for success is the latest inside techniques and procedures to get the results you want. This involves strategies such as "Proofof Contract", "Constructive Notice","Challenge of Procedure" or"Restrictive Endorsement" and many others.

All these terms may "sound" impressive but they are really quite simple. In the end, it is nothing more than a method of communication which exercises your consumer protection rights, gets the results you want and raises your credit score. Even more impressive, once you learn how simple it can be by doing it for yourself, you will find there is a fortuneto be made doing it for others! Either way, it all starts by requesting a freecopy of your credit report here:

http://www.AnnualCreditReport.com


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The "CREDIT SECRETS BIBLE" has been in print since 1994 and is published by Consumer Publishing Group.

Please visit "CREDIT SECRETS BIBLE" for more information.

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Next from NASA: Robo Surgeon

NASA will begin testing a portable robot surgeon developed by doctors and scientists from the University of Washington.

Starting sometime in May, NASA will begin underwater testing of a portable medical robot that will give doctors and scientists a feel for remote surgery that needs to be performed in space.

This portable robot can be controlled by humans over the Internet that are miles away from the actual surgical site. The U.S. Department of Defense is helping to fund this research so these portable robots can be used to treat wounded soldiers, to perform surgery on patients in remote parts of the world, and to help aid ill astronauts in space.

Professor Blake Hannaford, co-director of the UW BioRobotics Lab, said the main difference between this surgical robot and the ones now being used now in U.S. hospitals is communication and portability.

The current crop of robot surgeons weigh several thousand pounds which makes moving these robots to others sites a difficult task. These robots are not easily broken down, are difficult to put back together, and the current robots were not made to be controlled from miles away.

On the other hand, these new portable robot surgeons developed at the University of Washington have parts that weight only fifty pounds, are easily broken down for transportation, and these robot can easily be put back to together by non-engineers at remote sites.

This new portable surgical robot is called Raven. Raven will be testing its surgical skill in the Aquarius Undersea Laboratory off the coast of Florida. Raven will be underwater holding surgical instruments while the humans controlling its movement will be seated in Seattle.

The humans will sit in front of a computer screen while holding onto the same surgical instruments being held thousands of miles away by Raven. These doctors and scientists will be testing their, and Ravens, ability to sew rubber tubing. This rubber tubing is being used to simulate human blood vessels. This testing will be the same type of testing that is used to judge student doctors.

The surgical instructions from these doctors will be sent over a commercial Internet connection from Seattle to Key Largo, Fla. Once these commands reach Florida, they will be sent through a wireless buoy that is connected to a submarine-type research pod that will be 60 feet underwater. Inside the pod with Raven will be two NASA astronauts and a NASA flight surgeon.

Mitchell Lum,a research assistant and electrical engineering Ph.D. candidate, feels the most difficult part of these simulation will be the time difference between the surgeons command and the movement of Raven's arm. Mr. Lum thinks the time delay may only up to a second meaning the surgical test procedure may take longer than expected, but Mr. Lum still feels this test should be doable.

The major goal of this testing is not necessarily the successful completion of the surgery, but instead the goal is to show how easily Raven can be dismantled, transported, and then reassembled.

Dr. Mika Sinanan, a professor in the department of surgery at the UW Medical Center, has been working closely with this project, and he feels that Raven can be used for various applications besides battlefield use. Dr. Sinanan believes Raven can be used for any surgery requiring very precise work in small spaces, such as coronary bypass operations or prostate surgery.

Raven, along with two graduate students, will be flying down to Florida this Friday in preparation for its scheduled testing from May 7-18.

NASA will be paying for this testing, but the Defense Department will also help NASA pay for this project.

Read more about Dr.Raven at Yahoo News

Japan is Going to the Moon

apan has announced that it plans to send a lunar orbiter satellite to the moon sometime this summer.

Not wanting to fall behind China in the race to the moon, Japanese officials have announced they have plans to do more than just study the moon.

JAXA said the much delayed SELENE lunar satellite will be launched sometime in August, and this probe will be sent into space by the H-2A rocket. The H-2A rocket in the main rocket used in the Japanese space program.

Satoki Kurokawa, JAXA spokesman, said this mission is going to be a very ambitious one because it will involve observing the whole moon instead of just parts of the moon.

Japan is hoping this mission will be a stepping stone to one day landing on the moon along with other manned space missions. JAXA is hoping its "Wish Upon the Moon" campaign will make the Japanese public more aware of its pursuit of the moon. This campaign will allow people to send messages aboard the SELENE probe.

At one time, Japan led the Asian space race when they put the first Asian satellite in space back in 1972. However, Japan has now fallen behind the Chinese in the Asian space race.

China successfully launched a manned space flight in 2003. China followed up this fete in 2005 by having two astronauts orbit the Earth for a week. China now has plans for another manned space mission along with their planned mission of sending a moon probe.

China has also been successful in launching four satellites into space as part of their Compass global positioning navigation system which should be operational sometime in 2008.

However, for a country that prides themselves on their technological savvy, Japan has had one misstep after another in their space program.

These setbacks include losing communication with one of its four spy satellites, scrubbing a planned mission to Mars because their probe moved off course, and losing their Hayabusa probe that was supposed to bring back the first samples from an asteroid.

Japan did launch a moon probe back in 1990, but this probe did not orbit the moon like what SELENE is supposed to do.

It also looks like China and Japan are going to have some competition from to other Asians countries as well. In 2000, South Korea started building a rocket launch site with the help of Russia. South Korea is hoping to have a satellite in space by next year.

India is also getting into the Asian space race with hopes of launching their Chandrayaan-1 moon mission this year or next year.

Read more about the Asian space race by goint to Yahoo News

Drink Milk to Control Your Diabetes?

Scientists in Argentina said they have cloned four cows that are capable of producing human insulin in their milk.

If these genetically altered calves are capable of producing human insulin then the cost of treating diabetes may have gotten a lot less expensive.

These new calves are New Jersey heifers, and scientists involved in this project believe these calves will be able to start producing the human insulin hormone once they reach adulthood. These young calves have not been name yet, so they are just being called Patagonia 1, 2, 3 and 4.

The biotech company, Bio Sidus, is the one behind this cow-human insulin project. Managing director Marcelo Criscuolo said the cost of insulin could be reduced by as much as 30 percent if this research is successful. Mr. Criscuolo said the insulin cost can drop this much because the model of a genetically altered cow is one that allows for large production of insulin at a very low cost.

Mr. Criscuolo is very proud of the cattle-ranching know how of his fellow Argentineans which is why Marcelo feels Argentina has a leg-up on the world when to comes to research involving cows.

Pharmaceutical products from a cow are produced by scientists inserting a human gene into an embryo. Once this is done, the embryo is then inserted into a surrogate mother cow. To produce human insulin, the scientists inserted the human insulin gene into an embryo.

Bio Sidus started their research by taking a cow fetus from a slaughterhouse, and then removing selected cells from this cow. The scientists then took these cells and merged them with the human insulin gene. Finding a cow slaughterhouse in Argentina was not too difficult because Argentina is the worlds third largest beef exporter.

After the cow cells and human insulin gene were merged, researchers used cloning techniques to take the modified nuclei from these cells, and then these cells were injected into cow eggs. The cloning process starts the egg dividing as if it had been fertilized. This step was followed by scientists successfully implanting four embryos into four surrogate mother cows.

The calves developed from this process were given the titles Patagonia 1, 2, 3 and 4 because of the vast region in Argentina that stretches to the tip of South America.

Cow, horse, pig or fish pancreases were the first sources of insulin because insulin from these sources are almost identical to human insulin. Today, most insulin is produced by genetically engineered bacteria in tanks.

With about 200 million diabetics worldwide, these Argentinean scientists are hoping to have their insulin-laced milk in the worldwide market within the next couple of years.

Read more about cloning cows for insulin at Yahoo News

A Whale of a Day for New York

A young minke whale lost its way on Tuesday and ended up in the New York City Harbor.

A young whale cruising around Gowanus Bay was being watched over by marine biologists on Tuesday. Gowanus Bay is the outlet from the mile-long Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, and this canal is known for its industrial pollution.

Kim Durham, rescue program director for the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation, said this juvenile whale is approximately 15 feet long and appeared to be in good health. Ms. Durham also said the whale did not appear to be in distress. This foundation is based in Riverhead, NY where it specializes in cases involving whales, dolphins, seals and sea turtles.

A television news crew was able to get film of this whale as it jumped in and out of the water. This type of action is common among whales of the baleen species.

Even though this young whale was frolicking around in waters surrounded by docks and a large oil depot located at the end of this highly polluted canal, Ms. Durham was not overly concerned with any possible harm to the whale because of short term exposure to anything that may be in this water.

Durham was glad to note this whale was not swimming around in tight circles or showing any other signs indicating the whale my have some type of disease. Ms. Durham said researchers will keep an eye on this young minke whale overnight hoping this youngster will find its way back out to the deeper ocean waters. The U.S. Coast Guard and a police harbor patrol boat were on stand-by in case emergency assistance was required.

Live whales are a rare site in New York City, and no one is sure of the last time a live whale was actually viewed in the waters around the city. The last sighting of any whale was in 2000, when a dead whale was found floating in the harbor between Brooklyn and Staten Island. Investigators believed this whale died because of a collision with some type of ship.

The last live whale found in the New York City area was found off Long Island Sound in 1993. This whale was ailing at the time, but this whale was able to recover after spending eight months recovering at the New York Aquarium in Coney Island.

As for the young minke whale in Gowanus Bay, Fran Hackett, a New York Aquarium official, said this youngster is doing reasonably well and just swimming around. Ms. Hackett went on to say this young whale probably found its way into the bay because it was following a school of fish.

Read more about this young whale at Yahoo News

When Parents Rewards Kids--Is This Considered Bribery?

When parents give their kids rewards for sleeping in their own beds, or for behaving themselves in public, is this type of reward really a bribe?

Behaving in public and sleeping in my own bed is something my own parents would have expected from me; however, these days kids are getting anything from treats to money for doing things that were once considered normal child behavior.

This new approach to child rearing has some experts feeling that parents have gone 'soft'.
Kirsten Whipple, a 35-year-old mom in Northbrook, Ill, said she feels her parents would be taken aback if they found out how much she bribes her children. Ms.Whipple also thinks this 'bribery' mindset is a sign of the times for her generation.

Ms.Whipple has also found out that 'rewards' work best on getting her children to accomplish small tasks such as behaving when the kids have a baby sitter or when celebrating a good report card.

Of course, as is often the case, there is also a downside to giving too many rewards. Kirsten goes on to say rewarding, or bribing if you like, kids too much may give these kids a "sense of entitlement". This "sense of entitlement" is what has experts really worried.

Marcy Safyer, director of the Adelphi University Institute for Parenting, says there is a time a place for everything, and that this philosophy also applies to parents giving out rewards to their kids. Ms.Safyer points out that she would receive ice cream as a reward for behaving properly during church services, but she also goes on to say that parents may have lost the ability to effectively communicate that doing the right thing should be enough of a reward.

Robin Lanzi, a clinical psychologist and mother of four who's the research director at the Center on Health and Education at Georgetown University, thinks it may be unrealistic to think parents should not give their children a reward every now and then. However, Ms.Lanzi also notes the reward must match the achievement. She feels that giving a Nintendo Wii does not necessarily match the achievement of a child scoring a goal or two during a soccer match.

I also think this 'bribery' system may be more of a risk/reward system created by parents because of the times we live in. When I was growing up, parents never thought of spanking or slapping your hand when you misbehaved. This 'hot-stove' technique seemed to work well, at least on me, because kids knew if they did something bad their butt or hand would be 'hot' afterwards.

Now if your kid now mentions they were spanked or had their wrists slapped; I can guarantee you a call from the school principal or day care manager will coming along with a warning that the parent could be hauled to jail as a child abuser.

I can recall onetime may son and I were playing catch outside and he tripped over a curve and fell on the sidewalk, and because of this he received a nasty bruise on his forearm. The next day when I brought him to day care, one of the employees noticed this bruise, and for the next 15 minutes I had to explain how my son received this bruise, and this resulted in me getting a lecture stating I would be reported to child services and the police if my son ever came to day care with another bruise on his body.

I also give credit for children being able to 'sense' what their parents will and will not do when it comes to disciplining them for their behavior. If a kid knows the worst that will probably happen is a parent screaming at them, sitting them in a corner, or sending them to their room if they act badly; this kid may decide to act bad just to see if a better alternative action or 'bribe' will come from the parent. Therefore, children have been able to develop negotiating skills to get things they want. If a child knows the worse that is going to happen is a 'time-out' in the corner, this gives the child a leg-up on negotiating with their parents.

I have also noticed that as kids get older it is much easier to negotiate with them because they probably know there is more to loose. When my kids were younger, I will readily admit to 'rewarding' them for good report cards. Now when one of my kids bring home a bad report card, all I do is remove their gaming system or portable dvd player. When my kids protest this action as unfair, I can calmly explain to them that without good grades they will not be able to afford the 'luxuries' in life like gaming systems and portable dvd players, because they will not be able to a good enough job with bad grades.

So far, this negotiating tactic seems to be working. However, I am waiting for my kids to develop a counter tactic, but on the bright side my kids may also be developing some critical thinking skills that will help them later in life.

Read more about 'bribing' kids at Yahoo News

Democrats Try to Figure Out the Best Move On Iraq

Facing the inevitable Bush veto on their Iraq funding bill, the Democrats must now decide what their next move will be in planning a withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

Despite the ever increasing unpopularity of the war in Iraq, there still remains a deep divide among Democrats regarding the funding of this war and leaving the troops out in the cold.

Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash, said that at some point the Democrats will reach their 'come-to-Jesus' point on whether Democrats do, or do not, give the troops the necessary funding required to continue their mission in Iraq.

Rep. McDermott is one of the 218 House members, mostly Democrats, who voted on March 23 to fund the troops, but this bill also contained a clause that would have the troops withdrawn from Iraq by September 2008. McDermott was reluctant to vote for the troop funding bill because he felt the $96 million request for the military would keep the war in Iraq going for another six months.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., launched an aggressive campaign amongst her fellow House Democrat for their vote in approving this troop funding bill because Rep. Pelosi thought this bill was the best way to end the war. Even with many Democrats being opposed to pulling out the troops, Pelosi got her wish when this bill narrowly passed the House by a vote of 218-212.

On March 29, the Democratic controlled Senate approved similar legislation that would require President Bush to start an immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq with a goal of having all troops out of Iraq by March 2008. Again, this bill was narrowly passed by a vote of 51-47.

Members of the House and Senate are planning to meet on Tuesday to negotiate a final bill that will be some type of compromise bill that will please both very liberal Democrats like McDermott and conservative Democrat members like Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb. Sen. Nelson is against any type of legislation that includes imposing any deadlines on troop movements.

Any type of compromise bill will still have to be approved by both the House and the Senate; however, most analysts view this as a mere procedural move with Democratic leaders not anticipating any serious opposition.

President Bush meanwhile said he does not have a problem with Republicans and Democrats debating about their differences in how best to handle the war in Iraq; however, President Bush feels it is not fair to have the troops put in the middle of this debate.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich, said one option the Democrats are considering is a bill which will remove any withdrawal language with language that will tie funding the war based on certain Iraqi political progress milestones.

Senate majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev, said that he was open to the idea mentioned by Sen. Levin, but Reid went on to say President Bush would not be receiving a bill with nothing on it about troop withdrawal.

Sen. Reid went on to say the Democratic controlled Congress is committed to funding the troops even though he is supporting legislation that would cut-off funding troop combat missions in Iraq after March 2008.

Sen. Reid went on to explain that there would still be funding for non-combat missions in Iraq that would include counterterrorism missions and missions to better train the Iraq security forces. However, Reid feels the time to continuing the funding of combat missions is coming to a close.

Read more about the Democrats Iraq plan at Yahoo News.

Democarts Tread Slowly on Medicare Cuts

When Democrats won control of Congress last year, it seemed almost a foregone conclusion there would be cuts in the Medicare program because Democrats have a distaste for managed care health plans.

It is widely known that Democrats do not like health maintenance programs ( HMOs ), so most analysts felt it would only be a matter of time before Democrats began slashing away at the managed care portion of the Medicare program.

The Democrats are willing to cut managed care coverage from Medicare in order to give more funding for expanded health coverage for children who do not have health insurance.

However, when a warning was received from NAACP and the League of United Latin American Citizens about the possible adverse effects of cutting into Medicare would have on blacks and Hispanics; the Democrats decided to take a step back and rethink their plans on cutting any Medicare programs.

Iowa's GOP Sen. Charles Grassley summed up some of the politics behind the Democrats slow approach to slashing Medicare managed care programs by stating, ""There are a lot of blue states ... that have a lot of HMOs."

The Democrats had planned to slash as much as $50 billion over the next 5 years from the Medicare Advantage managed care program. Karen Ignagni, president of American Health Insurance Providers said once Democratic members of Congress starting reviewing these cuts; the less likely it became that Democrats would be willing to cut Medicare programs because of the impact it would have on the beneficiaries in their district.

Ignagni's group is lobbying for Congress to not make these cuts because of the huge impact it would have on seniors.

Rep. Fortney Stark, D-Calif., chairman of a House subcommittee on Medicare, feels health insurance companies that run the managed care program for Medicare are overpaid. Mr. Stark points to the fact that it cost $112 per member who is enrolled in an HMO or preferred provider organizations (PPOs) Medicare program as opposed to $100 per member in the traditional program.

Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., adds that right now Democrats feel Medicare managed care programs are nothing but 'slush' funds for health insurance companies running these programs.

Even though a vote on Medicare funding is still some months away, the consensus is the $50 billion cut from Medicare is all but dead. The Democrats did point out they may be able to make small savings in Medicare by slashing some fee for service programs.

Hilary O. Shelton, speaking on behalf of the NAACP, said that even a small cut in funding Medicare managed care programs would have a negative impact on seniors and minorities because they may not have access coordinated care and disease management services. Ms. Shelton also pointed out that seniors and minorities often suffer from more chronic conditions such as diabetes, asthma, and some forms of cancer.

Rosa Rosales, national president of the League of Latin American Citizens, also came out to speak against cutting funding for Medicare managed care programs. Ms. Rosales said any cuts to these programs will threaten access to comprehensive benefits, result in higher out-of-pocket health care costs, and create financial barriers to care that will be particularly harmful for Hispanic seniors."

A memo circulated privately to all House Democrats stated that health insurance companies are more worried about turning a profit than finding less costly and more efficient ways to run managed care programs for Medicare. This private memo went on to say minorities usually do not enroll in managed care plans, and that minorities and low-income elderly are more apt to enroll in Medicaid. This memo also states that attempts to protect managed care payments from cuts would make it difficult to expand children's health coverage and increase benefits in the new Medicare prescription drug program.

Recent government statistics show more than 8 million beneficiaries are enrolled in managed care. This represents about 18 percent of the total Medicare population, and this number is growing. Congressional experts estimate that enrollment in Medicare managed care programs will reach 22 percent by next year.

Read more about the Democrats plan for Medicare at Yahoo News

Automakers look to Crash 'Virtual Humans'

A group of nine international automakers are looking for a few good 'virtual people' to act as crash dummies.
Researchers have been asked by DaimlerChrysler AG, Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp., Honda Motor Co., Hyundai Motor Co., Nissan Motor Corp., PSA Peugeot-Citroen, Renault SA, Takata Corp., Toyota Motor Corp. and TRW Inc. to develop computer programs that involve crashing 'virtual humans' in order to help these automakers design better cars, trucks and SUV's.

The Global Human Body Models Consortium LLC believe these computer simulations will be better than crashing test dummies into walls and other other objects.

This group of automakers was set to announce the use of these computer simulations at the Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress in Detroit. This international consortium of automakers have asked 40 research groups to send proposals so 5 test centers can be set-up to study crash effects on different parts of the body. Two of these centers will be studying full body crash effects.

These companies believe $18 million will need to be spent in developing these test sites, and these companies plan on sharing the cost of building these sites. This group of automakers is also hoping additional funding will come from the federal government and Michigan Economic Development Corp.

This consortium hopes to have the first 6 computer models up and working by March 2011. These first 6 simulations will involve small, medium, and large 'virtual' men and women.

Computer crash simulations are all ready being used by Ford Motor Company in developing vehicle interiors and restraint systems. The Ford simulations involve the use of a mid-sized adult male, but the nine group of international automakers hopes to speed up the development of simulations for different body types.

Even though these computer models are expected to bring in very sophisticated data, this automakers consortium still plans to back any data from these simulations up with physical test simulations.

Read more at Yahoo News

The Windy City Looks to Blow-in the Olympics

The U.S. Olympic committee stuns the world by picking Chicago over Los Angeles as the U.S. choice to hold the 2016 Summer Olympic games.

Los Angeles was hoping to play host to their third Olympics, but in a surprise move it was decided Chicago would get the honor of bringing the Summer Olympic games back to the U.S.

Chicago now has to persuade the International Olympic Committee (IOC ) that it is the right choice to play host instead of other international cities that may include the likes of Madrid, Prague, Rome, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. And this may be no easy task because Chicago has all ready had to overcome USOC( United States Olympic Committee ) concerns about a lack of venues in which to hold the many different Olympic events. The IOC will choose the host city of the 2016 Summer Games in 2009.

The 11 member USOC board decided to go with Chicago despite Los Angeles having many Olympic venues set-up because L.A. hosted the 1932 and 1984 Olympics. However, Chicago was able to sway the committees votes based mainly on the idea of developing venues along the cities lakefront area. This lakefront idea seemed to impress the committee because they think a lakefront venue will bring the needed 'magic' required of a city playing host to the world.

The Chicago bid centers around building a massive 80,000, $336 million temporary Olympic stadium in Washington Park. Chicago's bid also includes building a $1.1 billion lakefront village that would be built south of downtown Chicago which would be near the convention center.


The USOC has been looking for a suitable host site for the 2016 games ever since their 2012 site choice, New York City, lost out to London as host of the 2012 games. The USOC feels New York lost the bid because financing for a new stadium in Manhattan fell apart just weeks before the International voting took place.

This time around, the USOC required that any private financing had to be all ready in place, and that if the private financing fell through, then the local governments must be willing to pick-up the tab. Both Chicago and Los Angeles were able to meet this requirement.

The USOC feels Chicago has a good chance of winning the 2016 bid because 2016 will mark 20 years since the U.S. has played host to the Summer Olympic games. Atlanta was the last city to host the Summer games and that was in 1996.

USOC chairman Peter Ueberroth thinks Chicago falls in nicely into the IOC's idea of rotating the Summer Games on a geographical basis, so he feels 2016 will be the United States turn to host the Summer games. Ueberrouth feel this way because the IOC picked a European city for the Summer Olympics of (London) and an Asian city (Beijing) for 2008 as host cities for the next 2 Summer games. Another European City ( Athens ) played host to the 2004 Summer games.

Read more about this topic at Yahoo Sports

Researchers Want to Take Away the Internet

Researchers are mulling over the idea of scrapping the Internet and starting over; all with the government's blessing!!

With the Internet about two and a half years away from its fortieth birthday, serious thought is being given to the idea of scrapping the Internet and starting over.

Sept.2, 1969 is generally the date given to the birth of the Internet when UCLA professor Leonard Kleinrock helped supervise the first exchange of meaningless test data between two machines. And now, forty years later the Internet has grown to be a worldwide phenomenon that a lot of people, and business' cannot live without in their daily lives.

Dipankar Raychaudhuri, a Rutgers University professor overseeing three clean-slate projects, said the Internet works quite well for many situations, yet the Internet was designed for completely different reasons than the way it is currently being used. Dr.Raychaudhuri states he is also amazed the Internet continues to work so well today.

Because of the technological advances in connection and computer processing speed, researchers think the time is now right for developers to rethink the underlying architecture of the Internet. This change in the Internets architecture could mean replacing networking equipment and rewriting software on computers to better channel future traffic over the
existing pipes.


Even Vinton Cerf, one of the Internets founding fathers as co-developer of the key communications techniques, said the exercise was "generally healthy" because the current technology "does not satisfy all needs."

The biggest challenge is any reconstruction of the Internet will be the ability to incorporate the needs of various constituencies. Developers will no longer be able to work quietly in a lab like they did in 1969. Instead, these developers will now need to balance the needs of business' because of the huge role the Internet now plays in how companies operate on a daily basis. In addition, law enforcement officials may also want to have a say on the new Internet configuration because of the wiretapping possibilities of the Internet.

The National Science Foundation wants to build an experimental research net known as GENI (Global Environment for Network Innovations). This Foundation is now funding several reconstruction projects at universities and other sites through the FIND ( Future Internet Network Design ) programs. Universities such as Rutgers, Stanford, Princeton, Carnegie Mellon and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are involved in the FIND program. Also involved in the program is the Defense Department and other government agencies.

Government officials and researchers in the European Union are also exploring architecture reconstruction projects through their FIRE ( Future Internet Research and Experimentation) program.


One idea currently under discussion is to run a new network parallel to the current Internet that could possibly replace it, or perhaps incorporate aspects of the research that could lead to a major overhaul of the existing architecture.

These so called "clean-slate" efforts are still about ten or fifteen years aways from bearing fruit. Some analysts estimate it may cost up to a billion dollars to replace and/or modify the current software and hardware in the current Internet design. Congress will still have to come up with funding if any research is going to be successful, and with such a high price tag many elected officials may think twice about allocating money for any Internet 'upgrade'.

Advocates of the 'clean-slate' program point out that the researchers world of the '70's and '80's no longer meshes with the realities of the current commercial Internet because of the ever evolving dependence that worldwide commerce has on Internet usage. When the Internet was originally designed, this system was based on the trust users had with each other. But as usage of the Internet became more widespread, hackers and spammers slowly eroded away this user trust system.

Another fact advocates mention is the portability issue now in place with Internet users. Early researchers always thought Internet usage would be limited to fixed user stations. However, with wireless access growing more popular, researchers realize the need for better connection points and security need to be developed so users have more security and less 'black' spots in connectivity.

With the Internet be used for many diverse applications, clean-slate advocates feel it is no longer good strategy to just keep patching in workarounds because even small delays in transmitting data could possibly lead to life threatening situations. Just think of the doctor who is receiving surgical assistance via teleconferencing when all of a sudden there is a five to ten second delay, or even garbled transmissions, in input from another physician. This delay could be make a big difference in the outcome of this doctors surgery.


The ever increasing reliance on high speed connections, wireless access points, and the increased need for better security may mean the end to the Internet as we know it. But if developers around the world have their way, the Internet will come back a stronger, faster and more secure entity the world will need as remote work and commerce sites become more and more a reality in everyday life.

Read more about this topic at Yahoo News

Drew Bledsoe call it Quits

After 14 years and 44,611 yards passing, quarterback Drew Bledsoe has decided to call it a career instead of playing back-up to Tony Romo, or trying to catch on with another team.

Now, this may not be the most earth-shaking news out here in the world today, but I still feel this is important enough to report on because Drew Bledsoe did have a stellar NFL career.

Drew Bledsoe is leaving the NFL as one of their all-time greats. With 251 touchdown passes to his name, Bledsoe ranks 13th in career touchdown passes, 7th in total passing yards, and 5th in completions with 3,839. Bledsoe was also a four time Pro-Bowl quarterback during his career.

Drew Bledsoe was a first round pick out of Washington State by the New England Patriots in 1993. Besides playing for the Patriots, Bledsoe also played for the Buffalo Bills and more recently the Dallas Cowboys.

During his retirement speech, Bledsoe said he felt fortunate to live his childhood dream of playing in the NFL. Bledsoe also feels lucky that he is able to retire with a smile on his face, and in relatively good health. Bledsoe also added that he was looking forward to spending falls watching his kids play instead of the other way around.

Drew Bledsoe was able to appear in a Superbowl when he led the 1996 Bill Parcels coached New England Patriots against the Green Bay Packers. Unfortunately for Bledsoe, Green Bay ended up winning the Superbowl.

When Bledsoe was injured in the second game of the 2001 season against the New York Jets, he was replaced by, at the time, little know quarterback Tom Brady who was a seventh round Patriots draft pick.

With Tom Brady able to guide the New England Patriots to the AFC title game, coach Bill Belichick, still went back to the veteran Bledsoe for this game. Even though Bledose was able to beat the Steelers and send New England into another Superbowl, coach Belichick decided to switch back to Brady for the Superbowl game.

And from this point on, the fate of Drew Bledsoe as leader of the Patriots was sealed because Tom Brady ended up leading the Patriots to a Superbowl victory over St. Louis.

Read more at Yahoo Sports

Did the Senate Get a Small Victory in the Stem Cell Debate?

Did the Democratic Congress actually score a small victory over President Bush on Wednesday by lifting a key restriction on federal funding of stem cell research?

By a 63-34 vote, the Senate approved legislation to eliminate the nearly 6 year old federal funding restrictions on stem cells that were put in place by President Bush. However, many analysts feel that Congress will still not be able to come up with that one vote needed to override the President's promise to veto any federal stem cell funding legislation.

44 Democrats were joined by the 2 independents in the Senate along with 17 Republicans in voting for this very popular piece of legislation.

When the Democrats took control of the Senate last year, the Democrats vowed to lift the restriction on federal funding for stem cell research. But for now, it appears this very hot issue will be carried over to the general election voting in 2008.

Backers of stem cell research believe this type of research is necessary in finding cures for diseases such as Parkinson's disease, diabetes and spinal cord injuries. On the other side, those against stem cell research point to the fact that stem cell research requires the destruction of one-day old embryos, and the opponents feel this is just another type of abortion.

None the less, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, hopes that President Bush will change his mind about vetoing legislation on federal funding of stem cell research. Sen.Harkin points out that roughly 400,000 unwanted embryos are in fertility clinics across America, and that all the proponents of stem cell research are asking is that instead of throwing these embryos away; why not allow these unwanted embryos be put to good use by using them in research.

Even though President Bush said he was going to veto this particular piece of stem cell legislation, President Bush did indicate he would be willing to sign into law a alternative stem cell bill that was passed 70-28 by the Senate which had strong Republican support.

The measure President Bush is looking to sign encourages research on certain types of stem cells, but this alternative stem cell bill still does not go past the 2001 restrictions. Critics are calling this bill a sham, but proponents still feel this bill would be better than nothing. Proponents also think this alternative bill is a step forward, albeit a small step.

The bill passed by the Senate on Wednesday would lift the federal funding restriction on stem cell research, but this bill would still prohibit the use of federal funding for creating embryos by cloning or other technology.

Backers of stem cell research do see a ray of hope for their cause. As Sen.Russ Feingold, D-Wisconsin, so succinctly put it, "President Bush is not going to be President forever."

Read more at Yahoo News

Game Over for 'Pacman", Henry

The NFL came down hard on the terrible twosome of Adam 'Pacman' Jones and Chris Henry.

Sending a clear message about players off-the-field conduct, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell issued a 1 year suspension to Tennessee Titans troublesome cornerback Adam 'Pacman' Jones. Troubled wide receiver Chris Henry of the Cincinnati Bengals received an 8 game suspension.

Because of their suspension, 'Pacman' Jones will lose his $1,292,500 salary for the 2007 season, and Henry will lose $217,500 as a result of his 8 game suspension. Not coincidentally, both Jones and Henry were teammates and starred for the University of West Virginia.

Commissioner Goodell also issued a written statement to both players warning them this is their last chance to save their careers. Goodell's written statement also warned both players to end their off-the-field antics if they still have any interest in returning to the NFL.

It should also be pointed out that Jones and Henry were disciplined under the 'old' NFL disciplinary policy. Mr. Goodell issued these penalties to Jones and Henry just before he announced a tougher league policy on players personal conduct. The new league policy will look for higher fines and longer suspensions for players, and this new policy is also taking aim at the owners of NFL teams who allow a players personal conduct to get out of control. The owners could be looking at a loss of draft picks or other penalties because of a players off-the-field misconduct.

Goodell went on to remind everyone that is a privilege and not a right to be an NFL player. Goodell also said that anyone involved with the NFL has to act responsibly and make the right decision regarding their personal conduct.

However, all is not lost for Jones because his suspension may be shortened depending upon the results of the Las Vegas stripe club shooting case. On the other hand, if the results of this case turn out worse than expected, Jones could be looking at a longer suspension.

This tougher player conduct policy will be put to the test again when the commissioners office, the players union, and the newly formed player advisory panel takes a look at Chicago Bears player Tank Johnson's case that involved Johnson being arrested by police for having an arsenal of weapons in his house.

Tank Johnson is currently in prison serving a four month sentence for being arrested because police raided his house and found six unregistered firearms. Commissioner Goodell plans to meet with Johnson once he is released from jail.

As for Jones, Jones' attorney Manny Arora did not have any comment on this decision by the NFL. However, Jones' mother, Deborah Jones, said: "I just pray that this can be changed. This is not fair for him. It's just not fair."

Read more at Yahoo Sports

New York Joins list of States for Feb.5 Presidential Primaries

Not wanting to be on the bench when it comes to the 2008 Presidential primaries, New York State will join a list of other states by holding their primaries on Feb.5.

New York Democtratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer signed legislation on Monday that will move the New York primaries up one month from March 4 to Feb.5. This move by New York is setting the stage for a mid-winter showdown of Presidential candidates that could leave America facing the longest general election campaign in United States history.

With California and neighboring New Jersey having all ready moved their primaries up to Feb.5, New York felt they also had to make the move if they still wanted to be a 'player' in deciding who will be the Democrat and Republicans candidates for President.

A dozen more states are also considering moving up to the Feb.5 primary date that will set the stage for this day in February to become known as "Super-Duper Tuesday' and not just "Super Tuesday" as it has been known in the past. This date in February also comes just 22 days after the Iowa caucuses lead off the race for the 2008 White House.

This moves appears that it will favor Dem. NY Senator Hillary Clinton and former Rep. Mayor of NYC Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani's camp had been pushing Gov. Spitzer to move up the primary, and when the camp of Hillary Clinton gave their blessing to this move; the move became a done deal when the New York's Republican-led state Senate and Democratic-controlled Assembly last month passed a bill to approve this shift in the New York primary date.

Bill Gardner, the New Hampshire secretary of state, feels that all these states moving to Feb.5 could do more harm than good. Mr.Gardner thinks the race for each parties nomination could be over by this date, and because of this 'rush' to judgement the political process could be harmed.

Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, feels this will just give each political party more time to take 'pot shots' at each other candidates.

Chris Lehane, a veteran Democratic presidential campaign operative, feels with nearly every state moving up earlier in the year to hold primaries will make it very difficult for the second-tier candidates to get their message out because they may not be able to afford campaigning in all these states with the Feb.5 primary date.

Some political strategists suggests that having a super primary date will benefit a well oiled (lots of money) candidate who stumbles in the four earlier primaries. Other political analysts think holding a super primary so early in the year will cause the candidates to focus more on one region of the country.

The National Association of Secretaries of State shows Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Missouri, Oklahoma and Utah joining California, New Jersey and New York on Feb. 5.

If both the Democrat and Republicans parties do have their candidates selected by Feb.5, the American public will be able to look forward to 9 months of name calling, false ads, and more hate mongering than ever leading up to the general election vote in November.

Read more at Yahoo News

Schwarzenegger Throws Big Shadow over Presidential Race

Arnold Schwarzenegger may not be able to run for President, but that does not mean the "Terminator" will not be playing a key role in who ends getting the presidential nomination for both parties.

Arnold would rather be in the action instead of in the wings, but because the US Constitution bars foreign born citizens from running for President that does not mean Gov. Schwarzenegger has not found other ways to be involved.

By moving California's presidential primaries from June to February 5th, Gov. Schwarzenegger has given California new status as a major force in determining which candidate will get a major leg up for their parties nomination.

In addition, Arnold plans to visit other early primary states to give speeches, but at this point exactly what the former action star plans to say or do remains up in the air. Many people feel that Gov. Schwarzenegger would have been a top, if not the top, choice for President because he is seen as the type of outsider the American public is looking for in a President.

Sacramento Bee editorial page editor Peter Schrag, an expert on California politics, feels the Austrian-born Schwarzenegger is in a very unusual position because outside of President Bush, Gov. Schwarzenegger may be the most well know politician in the country.

Matthew Baum, a political scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, adds that if Gov. Schwarzenegger was able to run for President, now would be a good time because Arnold has been able to successfully distance himself from the Republican Party.

As governor of California, Arnold will be able to direct media attention and fund raising efforts to whichever candidate he decides to back. So far, the California Governor has not decided who he will back because of his friendships with Sen. John McCain and Rudy Giuliani. Not only is Gov. Schwarzenegger friends with these two candidates, these three also seem to have a lot in common politically because all three are seen as mavericks who do not always pull the Republican lines on issues as diverse as global warming, immigration, and the right to choose when it comes to abortions.

Gov. Schwarzenegger has been highly effective as a 'shadow' presidential candidate trying to gain national attention. Chris Lehane, a Democratic strategist in San Francisco, feels Arnold is so popular because he is considered the anti-Bush. Lou Cannon, a biographer of Ronald Reagan, thinks another reason Gov. Schwarzenegger is popular is because of the fantasy appeal he has since Arnold cannot actually run for president.

With the national media never having to worry about a "President Schwarzenegger", many media people will be able to opine about how great a president Schwarzenegger would have been when these media people are comparing Arnold to past and/or current Presidents.

But however way you look at it, the 2008 Presidential race may just come down to who "The Terminator" has selected for termination from the run for the 2008 Presidency.

Read more about Da' Governor at Yahoo News

Teen Murderer, Now 18, of Grandparents Receives Plenty of Support

Christopher Pittman was 12 years old when he shot his grandparents while they slept, but Janet Sisk still gets up at 5am to drive 100 miles to visit Christopher.

6 years ago, Christopher Pittman used a pump action shotgun to kill his grandparents, Joe and Joy Pittman, while they slept. After he finished killing his grandparents, he then torched their Chester County Home.

Pittman's trail was held four years later, and he was found guilty and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Christopher's lawyer had unsuccessfully defended him on the grounds that Christopher was high on Zoloft at the time.

Zoloft is a very strong anti-depressant that has carried the FDA's "black box" warning since 2004 which warns patients about possible side effects that include an increased risk of suicidal behavior in children.

Janet Sisk, director of the Juvenile Justice Foundation, describes Christopher has a shy, quiet and polite person.

Ms.Sisk spent this Easter weekend sitting across a table from Christopher at the maximum security prison in Columbia, SC were Christopher is being held. Janet also took the 100 mile trip from her home in Charlotte, NC to spend last Christmas Eve with Pittman.

Ms.Sisk is not the lone person who has spent time visiting Christopher. Over a half-dozen people make visits to Pittman because they are drawn to his case. One women has even flown from Michigan twice in the last year to spend time with Christopher. There are also hundreds of people who show their support in other ways such as promising to pay for college when he gets out of prison.

Ms.Sisk also sees Christopher now as more of a third son, and not the cold-blooded 12 year old killer that he was in 2001 when he killed his grandparents.

Pittman, who turns 18 on Monday, is now 6 feet 2 inches tall, but his supporters still see him as the quiet 12 year old that he was 6 years ago. Christoper was from from a juvenile facility to an adult prison 6 months ago, but he still does not consider himself an adult.

Teresa Strattard, the Michigan women who flew in to visit Pittman, says she felt a chord strike in her heart when she first saw pictures of the 12 year old Pittman on TV. Strattard has a son of her own, and she said that when she saw Christopher on TV it made her realize that maybe this could be her child, or anyone's child. This theme is a popular one that runs through the Pittman supporters camp.

Pittman supporters are hoping the South Carolina Supreme Court will overturn the conviction because of the outrage many people felt because Christopher was held in prison for fours years before he received a trial. Last October, many Pittman supporters met in Columbia to hear defense attorney Andy Vickery argue that his client's confession was influenced by Zoloft and his youth.

Christopher's mother has not been a part of his life for years, but Pittman's father, Joe, has traveled from Florida many times to visit his son. It was Joe's parents who were murdered by Christopher 6 years ago.

Barney Giese the prosecutor on this case declined to comment. However, Mr.Giese told the jury about the brutality of the murders and how Pittman told police that his grandparents "deserved it."

"I believe his grandparents would want us to give our love and compassion to their grandson and to fight for his freedom," Sisk said. "Those that really knew Joe and Joy Pittman and their kindness and love they had for their grandchildren, I'm sure, would agree."

Read more at Yahoo News