FILE - In this Oct. 20, 2010 file photo, actor James Earl Jones sits for a photograph backstage at the Golden Theater in New York. Jones swore in his longtime friend and neighbor Adrian ?Butch? Anderson, the sheriff in Dutchess County, on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011 in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. (AP Photo Stephen Chernin, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 20, 2010 file photo, actor James Earl Jones sits for a photograph backstage at the Golden Theater in New York. Jones swore in his longtime friend and neighbor Adrian ?Butch? Anderson, the sheriff in Dutchess County, on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011 in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. (AP Photo Stephen Chernin, File)
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (AP) ? Not every county sheriff gets to be sworn in by the voice of Darth Vader.
Actor James Earl Jones performed that duty Thursday for his longtime friend and neighbor Adrian "Butch" Anderson, the sheriff in Dutchess County, N.Y., where Jones lives.
Anderson's fourth term as sheriff in the Hudson Valley county began with Jones administering the oath of office in place of a judge.
Jones told about 250 attendees at the ceremony in the town of Poughkeepsie (poh-KIHP'-see) that his many movie roles included playing a judge in "Sommersby," a 1993 post-Civil War film that starred Richard Gere and Jodie Foster.
Jones provided the voice for the Darth Vader character in the original "Star Wars" trilogy. His deep, distinctive voice also was featured in Disney's animated film, "The Lion King."
Published: December 29, 2011 11:42 PM
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo credit: AP | Visitors walk around the National September 11 Memorial, in New York. (Dec. 29, 2011)
NEW YORK - Work on a planned museum at the World Trade Center has ground to a halt because of a financial dispute, and there is now no possibility it will open on time next year, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Thursday.
The underground museum commemorating victims of the 9/11 attacks was scheduled to open in September on the 11th anniversary of the disaster, a year after the opening of a memorial at the site that has already drawn 1 million visitors.
But in recent months, the National September 11 Memorial & Museum foundation has been fighting with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey over who is responsible for paying millions of dollars in infrastructure costs related to the project.
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The Port Authority, which owned the trade center and is building the museum, claims that the foundation owes it $300 million. The foundation claims that the authority actually owes it $140 million, because of delays in the project.
The dispute has been simmering for some time, and some details of the work slowdown were reported in November, but Thursday marked the first time that the mayor and other officials have acknowledged that the fight would mean the museum will not open in 2012.
"There is no chance of it being open on time. Work has basically stopped," Bloomberg said. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on a recent radio program that the Port Authority was "on the verge" of suing the foundation, but both the mayor and the Port Authority said Thursday that negotiations over the matter continue.
"I'm sure we are going to work something out with the Port Authority," Bloomberg said. "They've got a difficult budget situation. I'm sympathetic to that."
Despite security hurdles and ongoing construction, tourists from around the world have already made the memorial at the site a regular stop on their visits to New York City. Since it opened to the public Sept. 12, more than 1 million people have visited the memorial plaza, officials said.
The site now draws about 10,000 visitors a day, which would put it on pace to match or exceed the 3.5 million who visit the Statue of Liberty and Empire State Building annually.
Tourists ? some reverent, some just there to gawk ? have long been a staple at ground zero, but until this summer the closest they could get were the high fences that ringed a bustling construction zone where the twin towers once stood.
Negotiating fences and legions of construction workers is still part of any trip to the memorial. All visitors must reserve free tickets in advance and pass through a security screening. But the hurdles haven't stopped people from coming. Memorial officials said visitors have hailed from all 50 states and 120 countries.
Anthoula Katsimatides, a memorial board member whose brother, John, was killed at the trade center, said the attention is welcome.
"It truly touches my heart and reaffirms the importance of this memorial to know a million people have already come here to honor and pay respects to my brother and the thousands of other loved ones who died in the attacks," she said in a written statement.
Visitors to the site today can walk on a tree-covered plaza and see the two massive pools that sit in the footprints of the fallen towers. Each pool is ringed by waterfalls, and a parapet engraved with the names of the nearly 3,000 people who died on 9/11 and in a 1993 bomb attack.
Visitors can also get a close-up look on construction of One World Trade Center, now 90 stories high and on its way to being the nation's tallest building.
The original design for the rebuilt trade center included four other office towers, a transit hub and a performing arts center, as well as the memorial and museum.
Two towers and the transit hub are under construction. On Thursday, the memorial foundation set up a board of directors for the planned performing arts center, for the first time. The board includes trade center developer Larry Silverstein, Disney executive Zenia Mucha and Brookfield Properties co-chair John Zuccotti.
More than $100 million was set aside for the center by a downtown rebuilding agency and architect Frank Gehry was hired to design it, but private fundraising never began. Only one of four arts organizations originally chosen to anchor the center is still planning on moving in and officials say construction wouldn't begin for several years.
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) ? He speaks softly and sometimes strains to hear a question - but at the age of 82, Max von Sydow is still an imposing, even majestic figure. He's tall and upright, full of gravitas but with a twinkle in his eye; after all these years, he is still the face of the knight in "The Seventh Seal," and Jesus in "The Greatest Story Every Told" and Lassefar in "Pelle the Conqueror."
And now he is the Renter in "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," Stephen Daldry's film drawn from the Jonathan Safran Foer novel about a young boy who embarks on a hunt across New York City to make sense of the tragedy of 9/11, in which his father was killed.
In the film, von Sydow is a mysterious man who doesn't speak, and who rents a room in the house of the grandmother to young Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn). The two become unlikely allies, in the process revealing some lost bits of family history.
While in town for recent screenings of the film, von Sydow sat down with TheWrap to talk about his new role.
It's surprising that despite your career, you only have one Oscar nomination.
Awards are important. They are very important, and it's wonderful if you get them. But when I get a project, I don't think, If I do that well, maybe I'll have an award for it. That's not what this is about.
But if you get something, it's great, because then maybe it means that you will reach more people. What is important, I think, is to reach as many people as you can, and do it as well as you can. Reach them, and inspire then, or amuse them, or maybe in some odd moments help them to discover something they hadn't thought of before.
How did you become involved in "Extremely Loud?"
Well, I have a good agent. She called and said, "Stephen Daldry wants you to be in his film." How wonderful, I admire him very much. A very interesting filmmaker. "Oh, and Tom Hanks will be in it, and Sandra Bullock." I had never met Tom Hanks, but I always liked what he did, and I was looking forward to working with him. Then I got the script and realized I had nothing to do with him. And I didn't meet him until the other day in New York.
But nevertheless, I got the script, and my wife and I read it together. We were totally touched by it, moved by the story. And there was no question. I said, "Yes, I have to do this."
Why?
It's a wonderful story about healing after this terrible tragedy. And I think it's a brilliant idea to let the boy sort of invent his own therapy. Which he sticks to fanatically. He is totally convinced that what he's doing will lead to some sort of an answer, some sort of a solution.
Is it limiting in certain ways and freeing in others to play a character who doesn't speak?
It's a new way of being that I hadn't done before. It was not, shall I say, more difficult than a normal speaking part. The only difference between the Renter and normal people is that he does not speak verbally, he speaks by his writing. But he speaks.
And it was very inspiring to work with young Thomas, who is really an unusually bright young man. Very, very impressive. I'm very much looking forward to seeing what he's going to do in the future.
You keep working pretty steadily.
Not really. I really don't want to keep working, in general terms. But every now and then, if something very special shows up, why not?
Are you not driven to act anymore?
Not necessarily. I can live without it.
Was there a time when you couldn't?
I think there was, yes. I think I was a bit intoxicated by it. Now, I'm maybe a little bit more difficult to convince. What is important for me is to find something that I haven't done before. My problem is that in my early career I had parts in important films, of a special sort. I worked with the famous Ingmar Bergman, who apparently, probably from the point of view of casting directors, was very religious and very philosophical, etc. etc. Max von Sydow has played Jesus, so he's probably just as religious and philosophical also. So if we need a cleric, ask him. I don't know how many priests and how many bishops I've been offered. I've done a few, but most of the time reluctantly. Of course, there are interesting priests and bishops and saints and all this. But most of it is not that interesting.
And then, okay, I'm a foreigner. I'm not American, I'm not English. So they come and offer me the foreigner. Who is the foreigner in the story? The foreigner is most of the time the villain. And very often he's the Nazi. And then funnily enough, they also ask me to play Jewish refugees. So it's sort of two poles, in a sense.
Did you ever try to change Hollywood's vision of what you could do?
No. It's not up to me. What can I do? I don't think they read interviews with me when I say what I just told you. There are casting directors with lots of imagination, but also some with not as much imagination.
What was your experience like watching "Extremely Loud?"
Even if I miss a few scenes that there was no time for, apparently, I think it's a wonderful film. I really do. I was very moved by it. I think it's a very positive film, with the boy who invents his own healing process. It's a film of hope, to me. It's not a tragedy. It deals with a tragedy, but the film is not a tragedy.
A couple of years back, AT&T offered select customers a $25 prepaid MasterCard to switch their billing over to autodraft. Soon, Verizon Wireless will be following Sprint's footsteps and charging you for every month that you aren't using that very system. Tactical differences aside, the leaked memo shown above details what has to be one of the most consumer-unfriendly policy changes since the carrier boosted its early termination fee for "advanced devices." Effective January 15th, any customer that opts to pay their wireless bill online or over the phone will be charged an extra $2 each month, and the only way to sidestep it is to sign up for AutoPay or to pay by electronic check, where there's no credit card fee passed on to the carrier.
For those unaware, AutoPay automatically drafts the most recent amount from either a linked checking / savings account or a credit card on file, and while we can understand VZW's desire to better control when it's getting paid, charging customers to make it happen is just downright ludicrous. Here's a thought, Verizon: enforce stricter penalties on late payments, or just offer those that shift to AutoPay a small discount for going out of their way to make your life a little easier. Or, you know, for all those hours that your network has been down during the holidays.
Update: Verizon has officially confirmed the change to its policies and the $2 surcharge you'll be hit with each month if you're not using autodraft or some other small subset of payment options. Head after the break for all the details straight from the horse's mouth.
A fixed fee electric vehicle charging service is being tested by several oil wholesalers in Japan.
JX Nippon Oil, Cosmo Oil Company, Showa Shell Sekiyu KK and Idemitsu Kosan Company have teamed up to test the service at 27 of their affiliated stations across Kanagawa Prefecture and Tokyo.
Known as the Electric Vehicle Station Network, members can charge their plug-in vehicles at the stations with any of the four members.
Currently, JX Nippon Oil has the most participating stations and its plan is to start offering a monthly fee of Y3,000 (US$38) for individuals and corporate card holders. Customers will be able to charge their vehicles at any of the stations with the four companies also providing additional services while customers wait for their vehicles to recharge.
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Top 10 Sports Stories of 2011: Lady Hornets golf team advances to state tournament, boys make it to regional round shar.es/WrlSgIl y a environ 7 heuresvia Tweet Button
WELLINGTON, New Zealand ? A South Korean polar research ship on Monday reached a leaking Russian fishing vessel that has been stuck in the frigid waters off Antarctica for the past 10 days, New Zealand officials said.
The Sparta, with 32 crew on board, hit underwater ice on Dec. 16 that tore a 1-foot (30-centimeter) hole in its hull and caused it to list at 13 degrees. Several rescue ships had been hampered by heavy ice in the Ross Sea off the northern Antarctica coast before the icebreaker Araon finally pushed through and reached the Sparta on Monday, New Zealand Rescue Coordination Center spokeswoman Rosalie Neilson said.
The arrival was a relief to the crew, which had been desperately pumping out near-frozen sea water while awaiting rescue. At one point, more than half of those on board were forced onto life rafts.
The crew is made up of 15 Russians, 16 Indonesians and one Ukrainian.
A New Zealand air force cargo plane had previously made two parachute drops of pumps and hull patching gear that had helped keep the single-hulled Sparta from sinking.
Search and rescue coordinator Mike Roberts said the South Korean vessel was alongside Sparta transferring fuel to it to change its trim ? or how it's sitting in the water ? so the bow rises clear of the sea, exposing the damaged area of hull.
Roberts said crew from both ships will attempt to weld a "doubler plate" over the hole ? one external and a second inside. If successful, the repair is expected to make Sparta seaworthy, and should enable it to be escorted by Araon out of the sea ice to open water, he said in a statement. Roberts did not say how long the repair attempt was expected to take.
Weather in the area was calm, which should help the repair operation, he said.
The survival drama on the edge of the Antarctic ice shelf is taking place about 2,200 miles (3,700 kilometers) southeast of New Zealand.
LONDON ? Britain's Prince Philip will spend a fourth night in hospital Monday, as he recovers from treatment for a blocked coronary artery.
Queen Elizabeth II's 90-year-old husband is making "good progress," but will remain under observation at Papworth, a specialist heart hospital in Cambridge, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said Monday.
The spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with policy, said there are no details on when Philip may be released.
Philip underwent a successful coronary stent procedure at the specialist hospital, where he was taken Friday after complaining of chest pains.
"The Duke of Edinburgh continues to make good progress from the procedure. He remains in hospital under observation and in good spirits," the spokesman said.
It was the most serious health scare suffered by Philip, who is known to be active and robust. He has continued to appear at many engagements, most recently taking a 10-day tour of Australia with the queen.
He missed the Royal Family's traditional Boxing Day shooting party on Monday at the queen's private Sandringham estate in Norfolk, an event he usually leads.
Six of Philip's grandchildren, including Princes William and Harry, visited him Sunday in the hospital.
TARPON SPRINGS, Florida (AP) ? In a spectacle repeated every Jan. 6 for more than a century, dozens of teenage boys set out from the stately Greek Orthodox cathedral in this Florida Gulf Coast town to seek God's blessing in the chilly waters of a bayou several blocks away.
They dive off row boats and, in a chaotic flailing of arms and legs, grope in the murky water for a wooden cross tossed in by a priest. The one lucky enough to surface with it earns instant celebrity status, a ride through the streets on the shoulders of his peers and ? the Greek-American boys believe ? the favor of God in the coming year.
The Tarpon Springs "Cross Dive" is the centerpiece of what locals call the largest Epiphany event in the Western Hemisphere, celebrating the day Orthodox Christians believe Jesus was baptized in the River Jordan. Equal parts religious ceremony and community jubilee, it is the signature festival for the waterfront village that draws tourists year-round to its working sponge docks and colorful assortment of Greek restaurants and shops.
Tarpon Springs, 45 minutes northwest of Tampa, boasts one of the largest per-capita concentrations of Greek-Americans in the country among its modest population of 22,000. (About 8,000 in town claim such status.) And the Mediterranean influence is everywhere, from the dome of the grand St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral downtown to the intricate murals on the walls outside the shops that line Dodecanese Boulevard across the street from the sponge docks.
The city's population will at least double for the cross dive and Greek festival that follows on Jan. 6. Sixty boys will dive in Spring Bayou this year, with the cross likely thrown by Archbishop Demetrios Trakatellis, leader of the Greek Orthodox Church in America. The boys are 16, 17 and 18 years old, and participation is limited to members of the handful of Greek Orthodox churches in the Tampa Bay area.
"We actually receive requests from all around the country from youths who want to participate," says Nick Mantzanas, this year's Epiphany committee chairman, who dove for the cross himself as a teen two decades ago, as did his father before him.
Tarpon Springs, incorporated in 1887, began life as getaway for rich people from the North. Sponges eventually were discovered in the area, and by the 1890s sponge-packing houses were going up on the docks. The sponge business eventually shifted its center from Key West, Cuba and the Bahamas to Tarpon Springs, and by the turn of the century the city was considered the largest sponge port in the United States.
According to the city's official history, a man named John Corcoris arrived in Tarpon Springs in 1896 as a sponge buyer from New York. He was hired to make the industry more efficient, introducing the first mechanized sponge fishing boat and bringing in 500 Greek divers from Kalymnos, Halki, Sumi, Hydra, Spetses, Aegina and other Greek islands. More Greek immigrants followed to establish restaurants, candy shops, coffee houses and grocery stores to serve the sponge-fishing community.
Blights of the sponge beds in the 1930s and '40s, along with the introduction of synthetic sponges, took the oomph out of the industry here, but the community has fiercely maintained its culture and Greek heritage. Tourism is now the area's leading industry, but professional sponge divers still ply the waters off the coast of Tarpon Springs, as deep as 150 feet (45 meters), for sponges that are sold in the dockside shops and all over the world via the Internet.
A short walk from the sponge docks is an historic, active downtown popular with tourists and antique hunters. Besides eating and shopping at the sponge docks, visitors can board sight-seeing or charter fishing boats for a few hours out on the Gulf of Mexico.
A unique attraction here is the venerated painting known as "The Weeping Icon of St. Nicholas" in the Greek Orthodox cathedral. Kept under glass in an elaborately carved enclosure, the image inexplicably "wept" at Christmastime for three consecutive years in the early 1970s. The droplets that appeared were never explained, and at the time the Greek Archdiocese in New York termed it a "phenomenon beyond human comprehension." St. Nicholas is the patron saint of the area's sponge fishing community, as well as the cathedral.
The business and culture of Tarpon Springs revolves around the Epiphany festival and getting ready for the next one.
"It brings people to Tarpon Springs who might not normally come here or even thought of coming here," says Sue Thomas, president of the local chamber of commerce. "They see the downtown, they go to the sponge docks. We hear it over and over. We love it."
PanARMENIAN.Net - Israel has canceled a $141 million defense deal with Turkey, a reflection of the steep deterioration in relations between the former allies, Today's Zaman reported.
Israeli officials said Thursday, December 22, they are concerned that Turkey could deliver the state-of-the-art airborne intelligence units to third parties hostile to Israel.
They said the deal was signed in 2008.
Officials in Israel's Defense Ministry and Elbit Systems, the manufacturer of the system, confirmed the deal was called off. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the diplomatic sensitivity of the matter. There was no immediate comment from Ankara.
Read?more: Local, Pets, Animal Lovers, Holidays, Dogs, Cats, Kennel, Veterinarian, David Heflin, Mistletoe, Ornaments, Christmas Tree, Tinsel, Treats, Gabriela Gonzalez, Puppies, Christmas Decorations, Mission Veterinarian Hospital, Mission, Hidalgo County, Rio Grande Valley, Texas
For many animal lovers, their pets are their babies, but be careful not to spoil them too much during the holidays.
If you're not careful, your doggy could be spending the night in a kennel at the veterinarian?s office this holiday.
"Ya. That's something you need to watch out for," said Veterinarian David Heflin.
Mistletoe, ornaments on trees, and even tinsel can harm your pets.
"They can get caught in their digestive system,? said Heflin. ?You need to watch out for mistletoe it's toxic to animals. Even the Christmas tree water can be toxic. You need to make sure they don't drink that."
But the most common holiday pet blunder is giving them Christmas treats.
"With all the good food we have at Christmas time, what we see is dogs that get vomiting and diarrhea sometimes serious cases of pancreatitis even where they have eaten really fatty foods. It's easy to give them something. You think you're only giving them an ounce and they weigh 10 pounds, but that's like giving me 20 ounces of food," said Heflin.
Gabriela Gonzalez has these pups at home and a bigger dog.
She said she keeps the big dog outside away from Christmas decorations and these pups in a safe room.
?I'm always keeping a close eye on them to make sure they're okay," she said.
Heflin said that's the best advice he can give pet owners.
"I think the main thing is just to realize there's visitors coming to the house, and they may not be familiar that your pet is not able to handle different foods, and they may give them a piece of sausage or something that makes them sick. I think you have to pay attention to say, ?hey I have to watch out that my dog or cat doesn't get something that they're not supposed to,?" said Heflin.
Heflin said it's also important to know your dog.
Some dogs can handle a small dose of lean table food and others cannot.
In medical terms, multiplication of cancer form one area of the body to a different is called staging. The first times of cancer, once the cancer just started within the lung area, are classified as stage 1 cancer of the lung. Now, the malignant tumor is fixed to simply one place also it in some way starts its spread with other areas of the body.
Multiplication which begins within the lung area entails the malignant cancer cells being tiny and being contained in the lung area but starting to spread with other organs from the body while wrecking the tissue. Also called the main tumor, this tumor has a tendency to grow in the tissue inside the lung area where it?s situated. Only at that particular stage, regardless of how early it may be, the cancer of the lung survival rate isn?t as high compared to other kinds of cancer.
Cancer of the lung is famous among the most harmful types of cancer these days which is accountable for over 100,000 deaths every year. Despite such staggering statistics prevailing, you will find still many those who are not aware that smoking cigarettes or cigarettes for your matter may be the leading reason behind the instances of cancer of the lung. symptoms of lung cancer in women However, second hands smoking that is also called passive smoking is much more harmful compared to first hands smoking especially relating to stage 1 cancer of the lung.
Cigarettes are often full of nicotine that is addictive yet toxic to individuals. If there?s excessive contact with the cancer causing materials or contaminants, then there?s worries the cells within the lung area might experience uncoordinated and abnormal growth designs.
This uncoordinated development of cells usually creates a tumor which may be viewed as the start of the cancerous invasion. In early stages, the lymph nodes aren?t impacted by the cells of cancer and survival rate in the initial phases stands at 50-60% likelihood of complete cure.
Stage 1 cancer usually manifests itself in a variety of ways and when recognized rapidly, it may be treated and you will find greater chances that certain may not belong to a cancer of the lung infection. The first signs and symptoms of the condition include really shallow breath in addition to coughing sounds. The region round the chest is generally where all of this discomfort is felt and also the chest discomfort becomes one such occurrence if this involves the development from the tumor within the regions of the lung area. There?s usually persistent or sometimes chronic cough that is also called people who smoke cough. Several infections start to emerge inside the lung area for example bronchitis or perhaps certain cases pneumonia which all lead towards the develop of cancer of the lung.
Just in case these signs and symptoms appear, a healthcare professional should be notified for a strategy to be devised. The professional will recommend probably the most appropriate treatment method for you after looking at your problem using the disease.
With the negative health effects of smoking cigarettes widely documented, it's not surprising that inhaling secondhand smoke can also impact your health. But a 2010 study that attempted to measure the impact produced startling results: Worldwide, more than 600,000 people die due to secondhand smoke every year, the AP reported.
Much of the research surrounding secondhand smoke has focused on the effects on children. Around 40 percent of children regularly breathe it in, greatly increasing their risk of numerous health ailments, mental health problems and for becoming smokers themselves.
But there's another demographic that could be breathing in secondhand smoke you might not have thought about: pets. Watch the video to find out how secondhand smoke hurts your furry friends.
I grew up in a house where we ate rabbit on Easter and deer at Christmas. Not that my mom was anti-religion, but more because she had an ironic sense of humor. I was raised Catholic, we celebrated the holidays, went to church, but I was never told to believe in mythical creatures that would leave chocolate bunnies in baskets or presents under a tree. But now that I have my own child I am starting to wonder if I should encourage her to believe in Santa, and if I missed out by never knowing to believe.
Part of what takes away from the innocence of the fantasy is the connection between Santa and materialism, because Christmas has become so intimately tied to consumerism. Having a child believe in Santa is not just about the magic of Christmas, but also the market. There is the mindset of Santa paraphernalia, Santa movies, sitting on Santa's lap at the mall, the branded Santa Coke cans, and now the proving of Santa by customized pictures you can order online. Giving your kids personalized evidence of Santa in your house to capture the magic seems like an extreme use of media manipulation to me, but maybe I am just cynical.
Here is where I am torn. On the one hand I understand that many children associate Santa with the charisma of Christmas. There is this fantastic story of a benevolent man who travels to your house and brings your hearts' desires for the cookies you left behind as an offering. Each family has their own ritual that stirs the imagination and ignites unparalleled feelings of expectation. You spend your night waiting to hear the hooves on your roof, and then wake up before sunrise to see your tree transformed with an explosion of elegantly wrapped gifts. In a way Santa can seem more real than God for a child. They are both old white men with beards that judge your behavior, but there is tangible verification that Santa has visited you.
But here are my reservations. The list of Santa's naughty or nice implies that if you are a nice person, you should be rewarded with goodies. But what about being good for goodness' sake? I always thought we should teach our children that the reward for being nice is the positive feelings that being nice inspires, and not because they will get something in return. And what about the fact that Santa gets all the credit for presents parents work hard to buy? I think it is important to have gratitude and thank mom and dad for their sacrifices rather than thinking that their new Xbox 360 just fell from the sky.
Yet before I could make a genuine assessment of how Santa affects the psyche of our children, I had to question some of my Santa-believing friends about their experiences. I was moved by how, with every person I asked, their eyes lit up with an intense twinkle as they described their personal ceremonial practice with the jolly man. For most, Santa was the closest to magic they ever got, and their memories are filled with an incomparable delight. It didn't seem to be about the presents or the vindication of good behavior, but the irreplaceable presentation of wonder that Santa and Christmas embodied.
I then thought back to my own childhood and remembered a very similar feeling the night before Christmas. There was something in the air; the collective energy of millions of children believing that the world is full of unexplainable enchantment. Maybe what our kids really love most about Christmas is that it is the time of year where they are allowed to truly live in their imaginations. And perhaps we parents have a nostalgia so deep for this mental freedom that we too get caught up in the thrilling delight of believing. Maybe the real gift of Santa is bringing families together to celebrate the beauty of belief and the remembrance that miracles are real.
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Breast cancer and heart disease may have common rootsPublic release date: 20-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Leslie Shepherd shepherdl@smh.ca 416-864-6094 St. Michael's Hospital
Women who are at risk for breast cancer may also be at greater risk for heart disease
TORONTO, ON., Dec. 20, 2011Women who are at risk for breast cancer may also be at greater risk for heart disease, new research has found.
The majority of women with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer have a mutated form of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes, which normally suppress the growth of breast and ovarian tumours.
Dr. Subodh Verma, a cardiac surgeon at St. Michael's Hospital, said his research team was surprised to discover the genes also regulate heart function.
Following a heart attack, mice with the mutated BRCA1 gene had a three-to-five times higher rate of death. This was largely due to the development of profound heart failure, possibly because their heart attacks were twice as severe as those in mice who did not have the mutated gene.
A similar two-fold increase in heart failure was observed when mice with a mutated BRCA1 or BRAC2 gene were treated with doxorubicin, one of the most common chemotherapy drugs for patients with breast cancer. In addition to studies in mice, the authors also verified this observation in human tissues.
The researchers believe that the mutated BRCA1/2 prevents DNA repair in muscle cells that is essential to recovery after a heart attack.
Their findings were published in the journals Nature Communications and Journal of Biological Chemistry.
"Our findings suggest that individuals who are at risk of breast cancer may also be at a previously unrecognized risk of heart disease," Dr. Verma said. "More importantly, we now understand that breast cancer and heart disease -- the two leading causes of death for Canadian women have a common biological basis, a common soil."
Dr. Verma emphasized that these findings may have important implications for patients. Knowing that the BRCA1/2 gene is essential to DNA repair may lead to future treatments for anyone with heart disease, a leading cause of death worldwide. Women who carry this mutated gene now know they may also be at a higher risk for developing heart disease in addition to the risk of developing cancer.
Dr. Christine Brezden-Masley, an oncologist at St. Michael's and a co-author of the paper, said that while physicians knew doxorubicin was associated with heart failure, the new research shows women with the mutated BRCA1/2 gene are particularly sensitive to its toxicity.
"What this means is that when a patient has the mutated gene, I now have to think about how much doxorubicin I'm going to give them or whether we should consider an alternate therapy," Dr. Brezden-Masley said.
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About St. Michael's Hospital
St. Michael's Hospital provides compassionate care to all who enter its doors. The hospital also provides outstanding medical education to future health care professionals in more than 23 academic disciplines. Critical care and trauma, heart disease, neurosurgery, diabetes, cancer care, and care of the homeless are among the Hospital's recognized areas of expertise. Through the Keenan Research Centre and the Li Ka Shing International Healthcare Education Center, which make up the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, research and education at St. Michael's Hospital are recognized and make an impact around the world. Founded in 1892, the hospital is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto.
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Breast cancer and heart disease may have common rootsPublic release date: 20-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Leslie Shepherd shepherdl@smh.ca 416-864-6094 St. Michael's Hospital
Women who are at risk for breast cancer may also be at greater risk for heart disease
TORONTO, ON., Dec. 20, 2011Women who are at risk for breast cancer may also be at greater risk for heart disease, new research has found.
The majority of women with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer have a mutated form of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes, which normally suppress the growth of breast and ovarian tumours.
Dr. Subodh Verma, a cardiac surgeon at St. Michael's Hospital, said his research team was surprised to discover the genes also regulate heart function.
Following a heart attack, mice with the mutated BRCA1 gene had a three-to-five times higher rate of death. This was largely due to the development of profound heart failure, possibly because their heart attacks were twice as severe as those in mice who did not have the mutated gene.
A similar two-fold increase in heart failure was observed when mice with a mutated BRCA1 or BRAC2 gene were treated with doxorubicin, one of the most common chemotherapy drugs for patients with breast cancer. In addition to studies in mice, the authors also verified this observation in human tissues.
The researchers believe that the mutated BRCA1/2 prevents DNA repair in muscle cells that is essential to recovery after a heart attack.
Their findings were published in the journals Nature Communications and Journal of Biological Chemistry.
"Our findings suggest that individuals who are at risk of breast cancer may also be at a previously unrecognized risk of heart disease," Dr. Verma said. "More importantly, we now understand that breast cancer and heart disease -- the two leading causes of death for Canadian women have a common biological basis, a common soil."
Dr. Verma emphasized that these findings may have important implications for patients. Knowing that the BRCA1/2 gene is essential to DNA repair may lead to future treatments for anyone with heart disease, a leading cause of death worldwide. Women who carry this mutated gene now know they may also be at a higher risk for developing heart disease in addition to the risk of developing cancer.
Dr. Christine Brezden-Masley, an oncologist at St. Michael's and a co-author of the paper, said that while physicians knew doxorubicin was associated with heart failure, the new research shows women with the mutated BRCA1/2 gene are particularly sensitive to its toxicity.
"What this means is that when a patient has the mutated gene, I now have to think about how much doxorubicin I'm going to give them or whether we should consider an alternate therapy," Dr. Brezden-Masley said.
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About St. Michael's Hospital
St. Michael's Hospital provides compassionate care to all who enter its doors. The hospital also provides outstanding medical education to future health care professionals in more than 23 academic disciplines. Critical care and trauma, heart disease, neurosurgery, diabetes, cancer care, and care of the homeless are among the Hospital's recognized areas of expertise. Through the Keenan Research Centre and the Li Ka Shing International Healthcare Education Center, which make up the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, research and education at St. Michael's Hospital are recognized and make an impact around the world. Founded in 1892, the hospital is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto.
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The cities of Cagayan de Oro and nearby Iligan on Mindanao island were worst hit when Typhoon Wasi slammed ashore while people slept late Friday and early Saturday, sending torrents of water and mud through villages and stripping mountainsides bare.
"This is the first time this has happened in our city," Vicente Emano, mayor of Cagayan de Oro, said in a radio interview. He said officials in the area did not receive adequate warning before the typhoon struck.
The Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) estimated 497 were killed in eight provinces in the southern Mindanao region, with more than 100 still missing.
"It's difficult to be certain on those missing," Gwendolyn Pang, secretary-general of the PNRC, told Reuters. "The floods washed out whole houses and families inside. It's possible entire families are dead and no one is reporting them missing."
The latest report by the state disaster agency said 327 people had been killed and 274 were missing.
Disaster and health officials were struggling to deal with the scores of bodies that have been recovered. Some have been stacked one on top of another in local mortuaries.
Mindanao island, the southernmost in the Philippines, is a mineral-rich region that also produces rice and corn but is not normally on the path of an average 20 typhoons that hit the Southeast Asian country each year.
"This pose challenges to us ... We need to educate people with this kind of change in climate," Pang said. "The volume of rainfall for one month fell for just one day."
RESCUED BY CARGO SHIP
Typhoons normally strike the central Visayas region and the southern tip or the eastern part of Luzon, the main island in the north.
Carmelita Pulosan, 42, said she and eight family members and neighbors survived by sitting on top of the tin roof of their house as it drifted miles into the open sea after floodwaters swept through their village.
They were rescued by a passing cargo ship.
"There was a deafening sound followed by a rush of water. We found ourselves in the river and the current took us out to the sea," Pulosan, from Cagayan de Oro, told Reuters.
"The current was very strong. God is really good to us. He saved my family," she said. Only one 3-storey building was left standing in their village, Pulosan said.
Pang said many residents returned to their villages after floodwaters receded, but many found their homes destroyed.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States, a major ally of the Philippines, was ready to assist Philippine authorities.
Wasi, downgraded to a tropical storm with gusts of up to 80 km per hour (50 miles per hour), is now hovering 60 km (40 miles) west of the southwestern city of Puerto Princesa and is expected to move out of Philippine waters later Sunday.
(Additional reporting by Rosemarie Francisco and Manny Mogato in MANILA; Editing by Paul Tait)
BOISE, Idaho ? Tyler Tettleton scored on a 1-yard keeper with 13 seconds left to give Ohio its first bowl victory, 24-23 over Utah State on Saturday in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
After the Aggies failed to run out the clock in the final minutes, Tettleton and the Bobcats' offense took over at their own 39 with one timeout and 2:02 left.
Tettleton was 3 of 4 on the final drive, and his biggest completion was a 14-yarder on fourth down to LaVon Brazill that gave the Bobcats a first down inside the 1 with 37 seconds left.
Tettleton was stuffed on his first try to score. On the next play, he rolled right and outran two defenders to cap the comeback and give the Bobcats their first 10-win season since 1968.
Tettleton was 19 of 26 for 220 yards and he rushed 16 times for another 31 yards.
For Utah State, the loss was a heartbreaker.
The Aggies dominated the first half and extended their lead to 23-10 in the third quarter behind a bruising rushing attack that rolled up 345 yards.
Michael Smith rushed for 157 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries, including a 63-yard scoring run early in the third quarter that put Utah State up 16-10. Smith scored later in the third on an 11-yard run up the middle, giving the Aggies a 13-point lead.
Robert Turbin added for 101 yards on 20 carries, and Kerwynn Williams had 69 yards on nine carries.
But Utah State, which finished second in the Western Athletic Conference and was making its first bowl appearance since 1997, failed to close the deal.
After Smith's second touchdown, Tettleton started the rally by marching the Bobcats quickly down the field, capping the drive with a 44-yard TD pass to Brazill, who jumped high over a defender and fell just beyond the goal line to make it 23-17.
The Aggies had a chance to run out the clock when they took possession at their own 7 with 4:23 to go. But Ohio's defense stopped the Aggies on three straight plays to force a punt.
On the winning drive, Tettleton scrambled for 14 yards and completed passes of 19, 7 and 14 yards to Brazill. The last reception was initially ruled a touchdown, but a review concluded he was down before the end zone, giving Ohio a first down inside the 1.
Brazill led the Bobcats with eight catches for 108 yards and the Ohio offense had 345 total yards.
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KABUL (Reuters) ? An attack on a police station in the west of Kabul on Friday ended without casualties, police and the Interior Ministry said.
An attacker threw a hand grenade at the station, ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said on his official Twitter account, and soon afterwards police said they had regained control.
"There were gunfights in Police District Five. There were no casualties. Now everything is under control and we are investigating the case," said Mohammad Zahir, head of the criminal investigation department for Kabul police.
Police officials denied the incident was a suicide attack.
Earlier, a Reuters witness heard gunfire and at least two explosions, and a police source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said several suicide bombers had attacked the police station.
The Taliban generally target military personnel or foreigners, such as in the attack on a convoy of NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) vehicles in late October, which killed 13.
That attack was also in the west of the city, an area which does not have a high concentration of foreign residents.
A huge suicide bomb killed 80 people at a Shi'ite Muslim shrine in Kabul last week, an attack the Taliban condemned.
Despite the presence of tens of thousands of Western forces in Afghanistan, the United Nations and other groups say violence is at its worst since U.S.-led Afghan forces toppled the Taliban from power in late 2001.
NATO-led forces say they have seen a decline over recent months in attacks launched by insurgents against their troops.
(Reporting by Hamid Shalizi and Mirwais Harooni; Writing by Daniel Magnowski; Editing by Sophie Hares)
KABUL, Afghanistan ? Assailants threw a hand grenade at a police station in the Afghan capital on Friday, triggering an explosion and a gunbattle with police.
Police fired on the attackers but they escaped, said Sardar Mohammad, a police officer at the scene in western Kabul. No one was injured, said the capital's police chief, Gen. Mohammad Ayub Salangi. He said reports that attackers got inside the police station were inaccurate.
The gunfire damaged nearby houses.
"The glass is broken," said Abdul Salam, 70, who lives across from the police station. "See, there were five bullets," Salam said, showing an Associated Press reporter damage to his home.
An Afghan National Police quick reaction force responded to the scene as well as troops from the NATO international military coalition.
The most recent major attack in Kabul occurred on Dec. 6 when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a Shiite shrine, killing at least 80 people.
What we have here is an excellent video walkthrough of a couple of Verizon Galaxy Nexus accessories that should be available in the morning -- the navigation vehicle mount and the spare battery charging kit -- from forums member Aatrek.
Note it's a "Navigation vehicle mount" and not a "Car dock" or anything. It's a hunk of plastic that the phone sits in, that's all. No contact charging, no Bluetooth audio. In other words, it does not bring, as the kids say, the sex. The spare battery charger, on the other hand, chargers a spare battery. No muss, no fuss.
On Saturday night, Spike will air "The Ultimate Fighter" for the final time. After 14 seasons, the show that helped jump start the UFC's popularity will move to the Fox family of networks. MMA Fighting broke the show down by the numbers, pointing out that three TUF alumni won championships, two left the show during tapings because of their girlfriends, and one competed in four different weight classes. The show has created countless memories, which Kevin Iole wrote about here, and you so kindly shared on your Facebook page.
Both Jason Moles and Larry Morgan mentioned the season one incident when much of the cast was drunk, and Josh Koscheck sprayed Chris Leben with a hose as he slept outside. Morgan also liked the run-ins between coaches Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz, as well as Matt Riddle's devastating knockout to get into the house.
Nick Thompson's favorite moments involved season five's Andy Wang. "To BJ giving him the boot, to him getting destroyed on the finale, and the uncontrollable crying following each of those events, Andy "Waaaaaaaaahhhhhh"ng!" Dan Burjooly's favorite also came from season five, when Nate Diaz and Karo Parisyan argued and argued and argued.
Two memories came from the 14th season. Morgan offered Johnny Bedford's knockout and confusion as to where he was after the bout, and James Guerino liked the the trash talk that Akira Corassani offered.
For me, I loved all the coaches' challenges, Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans' many shouting matches, and Josh Koscheck's heel attitude from day one. But my very favorite was a quiet moment between Jens Pulver and Nate Diaz from the fifth season. As Pulver prepared Diaz for a fight, Diaz, who is known for having a mouth, showed his appreciation to Pulver. "I'm really glad you're my coach," Diaz said.
That short moment gave a great glimpse into the relationship between a coach and fighter. It was sweet, and still sticks out in mind years after the show aired.
You can still share your favorites in the comment section or on Facebook.
A policeman drives down Yazahdani Road on the way to the President's Office before a meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Myanmar's President Thein Sein in Naypyitaw on Thursday.
By Ian Williams, NBC News correspondent
NAYPYITAW, Myanmar ? U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton could be forgiven for believing she's visiting two different countries ? one called Naypyitaw, the other Myanmar.
Naypyitaw is the new capital of Myanmar, the country formerly known as Burma. It?s been built from scratch in the middle of nowhere. It's still a work in progress, it was only designated as the administrative capital in 2005, and until recently was largely off-limits to foreigners.
It?s a sprawling, surreal place with so few people that its eight-lane highways are almost deserted ? a somewhat shocking site in this congested part of the world.
For several miles down one stretch, I saw just three motorcycles and a truck transporting a group of workers who had been tending the landscaped gardens on either side of the road.
Despite the apparent lack of people, Naypyitaw does have plenty of monstrous government buildings and villas, and several hotels and an international airport are under construction.
"Where's downtown?" I asked a Myanmar journalist. "I keep asking them that," he replied, ?But nobody seems to know."
For many, Naypyitaw is a symbol of military ego, a metaphor for the former junta's isolation from the world ? and its own people.
Pool / Reuters
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets with Myanmar's President Thein Sein at the President's Office in Naypyitaw Thursday.
Myanmar's new president, Thein Sein, a former army officer, is reportedly a modest man. But there's little modesty about his sprawling palace, where he and other officials from the new and nominally civilian government received Clinton in an ornate reception room. It was so new you could almost smell the paint.
The police made a big show of stopping what little traffic there was to make way for the Clinton cavalcade as it crisscrossed the city. There was never any danger of congestion.
The real Myanmar Clinton flew late in the afternoon Thursday to the country?s old capital, Yangon, the city also known as Rangoon, seemingly a world away. Yangon, 200 miles from Naypyitaw, is a city of stunning pagodas and dilapidated, colonial-era buildings, including the run-down lakeside residence of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Saul Loeb / Pool via AP
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton pours water over a Buddhist statue, as she tours the Shwedegon Pagoda, a Buddhist temple founded between the 6th and 10th centuries AD, in Yangon, Myanmar, Thursday.
It?s a real city, with real people and a real soul. And for the most part, its residents are giving the benefit of the doubt to the reforms coming from Naypyitaw.
Clinton met Suu Kyi for a private dinner Thursday evening, the meeting itself a remarkable sign of change.
Many are still skeptical about the government's intentions ? although Suu Kyi isn't among them.
She was expected to tell Clinton she thinks President Thein Sein is sincere in wanting change, that he truly believes it is the best way forward for the country.
Suu Kyi will likely test the reforms by standing for a vacant parliamentary seat early next year.
It is an unusually positive response to the government?s claims of reform ? she?s been persecuted for years by the regime for her pursuit of democracy, spending 15 of the last 21 years under house arrest.
Thursday evening was the first time the two have met, and Clinton, while welcoming the reforms, is taking a more cautious public line.
Pool / Pool via Reuters
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tours the Shwedegon Pagoda in Yangon, Myanmar Thursday.
That, after all, is her job.
Though it?s my guess that she'll be enchanted both by Suu Kyi and Yangon ? a good deal more so than the sterile meeting rooms of Naypyitaw.
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On Saturday night, Spike will air "The Ultimate Fighter" for the final time. After 14 seasons, the show that helped jump start the UFC's popularity will move to the Fox family of networks. 
