E Partners Music

WASHINGTON – The little town of Libby, Mont., isn't mentioned by name in the Senate's mammoth health care bill, but it's one of the big winners in the legislation, thanks to the influence of Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont.
After pushing for years for help for residents of the area, thousands of whom suffer from asbestos-related illnesses from a now-closed mineral mining operation, Baucus inserted language in a package of last-minute amendments that grants them access to Medicare benefits.
He didn't advertise the change, and it takes a close read of the bill to find it. It's just one example of how the sweeping legislation designed to remake the U.S. health care system and extend coverage to 30 million uninsured Americans also helps and hurts more narrow interests, often thanks to one lawmaker with influence or bargaining power.
Here's a look at some other winners and losers in the latest version of the legislation, which was expected to survive an initial test vote in the Senate around 1 a.m. Monday.
WINNERS
_Cosmetic surgeons, who fended off a 5 percent tax on their procedures.
_Nebraska, Louisiana, Vermont and Massachusetts. These states are getting more federal help paying for a proposed Medicaid expansion than other states are. In the case of Nebraska — represented by Sen. Ben Nelson, who's providing the critical 60th vote for the legislation to pass — the federal government is picking up 100 percent of the tab for the expansion, in perpetuity.
_Beneficiaries of Medicare Advantage plans — the private managed-care plans within Medicare — in Florida. Hundreds of thousands of them will have their benefits grandfathered in thanks to a provision tailored by Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., that also affects a much smaller number of seniors in a few other states.
_Longshoremen. They were added to the list of workers in high-risk professions who are shielded from the full impact of a proposed new tax on high-value insurance plans.
_Community health centers. They got $10 billion more in the revised bill, thanks to advocacy by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
_A handful of physician-owned hospitals being built around the country — including one in Bellevue, Neb. — which would be permitted to get referrals from the doctors who own them, avoiding a new ban in the Senate bill that will apply to hospitals built in the future. Without mentioning Nebraska or other states by name, the Senate bill pushes back some legal deadlines by several months, in effect making a few hospitals that are near completion eligible to continue receiving referrals from the doctors who own them. Chalk up another win for Nelson.
_AARP, the lobby for elderly people. The new Democratic bill has about $1 billion in extra Medicaid payments to states that provide visiting nurses and other in-home or community services to prevent low-income people from needing to be admitted to hospitals. In House-Senate bargaining, AARP also is expected to win one of their top priorities: a full closing of the so-called "doughnut hole," the gap in Medicare's coverage of prescription drugs.
LOSERS
_Tanning salons, which are getting hit with a 10 percent tax on indoor tanning services, replacing the cosmetic surgery tax.
_Progressives. They had to give up on their long-held dream of a new government-run insurance plan so that Democratic leaders could lock down the necessary votes from moderates.
_People making over $200,000 a year. A proposed 0.5 percent increase in the Medicare payroll tax was bumped up to 0.9 percent in the latest version, putting the tax at 2.35 percent on income over $200,000 a year for individuals, $250,000 for couples.
_Generic drug makers. They fought unsuccessfully to block 12 years of protection that makers of brand-name biotech drugs — expensive pharmaceuticals made from living cells — will get against generic would-be competitors.
___

Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report.

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan will not go as far as Washington wants, and there's nothing the U.S. can do about it: That's the sobering reality as the U.S. tries to persuade a hesitant Pakistan to finish off the fight against terrorists.
Expand the current assault against the Taliban? Pakistan has made clear that will happen only on its own terms. U.S. officials acknowledge that so far they haven't won the argument that militants who target America are enemies of Pakistan, too.
The U.S. has offered Pakistan $7.5 billion in military aid and broader cooperation with the armed forces. The assistance is intended to help Pakistan speed up its fight not only against internal militants, but also against al-Qaida and Taliban leaders hiding near the border with Afghanistan.
Pakistanis are deeply suspicious of America's power and motives, making it difficult for their leaders to accede to Washington's pressure in public, lest they look like U.S. puppets.
U.S. officials say that while Pakistani officials cooperate more in private, there are definite limits. The U.S. wanted Pakistan to move forces deeper into the tribal belt before winter. It didn't happen, and might not at all.
A senior U.S. diplomat hinted at a separate agreement that would allow the U.S. itself to take on some of the hidden war against Pakistan's militants.
Speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive talks with Pakistan, the diplomat said last week that more U.S. action is expected against the Haqqani network, led by longtime resistance fighter and former U.S. ally Jalaluddin Haqqani. His network, based in the Waziristan tribal area in northwest Pakistan, reportedly has strong ties with al-Qaida and targets U.S. forces in eastern Afghanistan from across the border.
The diplomat said the stepped-up U.S. action would come with Pakistani support, but would not elaborate on the potential cooperation.
Pakistani officials claim they have targeted the Haqqani leadership, albeit unsuccessfully, and will go after the network when the time is right. Some U.S. officials believe that, others don't.
Military officials say the Haqqani problem illustrates how the United States sometimes needs Pakistan more than the other way around.
The U.S. military now counts the Haqqani network as the single gravest threat to U.S. forces fighting over the border in Afghanistan, and badly wants Pakistan to push the militants from their border refuges. But the Pakistani answer seems to be that unless and until the Haqqanis threaten Pakistan, they won't be a priority.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, was the latest U.S. official to make the case in a visit to Pakistan's capital last week.
More than most U.S. officials, Mullen has cordial, long-standing relationships with Pakistan's generals, the strongest power base inside the country. Despite those ties, Mullen's quiet effort met with a polite noncommittal from his hosts.
Mullen advises patience and humility in dealing with Pakistan, a view not shared by some leading Republicans in Congress. Mullen said Pakistan doesn't get enough credit for the push since spring against militants in the Swat valley and South Waziristan.
"Too many people eagerly and easily criticize Pakistan for what they have not done," Mullen said Sunday, days after Pakistan's military leaders took Mullen on a tour of a reclaimed Swat.
"When I go to Swat, and look at what they did there on the military I think it's pretty extraordinary."
Most of the groups aligned against the U.S. are in North Waziristan, a tribal area not pressed hard by Pakistan's army. The only firepower directed at militants there comes from American missile-loaded drones.
Mullen told students at Pakistan's National Defense University that the U.S. is concerned about what it sees as a growing coordination among terrorist networks in and around Pakistan.

"I do not, certainly, claim that they are great friends, but they are collaborating in ways that quite frankly, scare me quite a bit," Mullen said last week.

He did not come out and say Pakistan needs to expand the fight against militants. But his point was clear.

In an exchange of letters over recent weeks, Obama asked for more cooperation and Pakistan's president, Asif Ali Zardari, pledged some additional help, U.S. officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private correspondence.

Zardari, reflecting the views of Pakistan's powerful military, said his government will move against militants that attack U.S. forces when it is able to do so, the officials said.

That leaves ample room for Pakistan's civilian leaders to pursue their own agenda — and on their own schedule.

Without additional pressure from inside Pakistan, the only other option is for the U.S. to finish the fight against terrorists on its own. But Pakistan doesn't allow outright U.S. military action on its soil.

Mullen seemed to recognize that when he told the military students that he knows the U.S. is perceived as acting in its own interests almost at any cost, so it can hardly ask others not to put their own needs first.

"Sometimes that gets lost on us," he said.

___

EDITOR'S NOTE — Anne Gearan has covered national security policy for The Associated Press since 2004.

As Congress gets closer to a final health care bill, many Americans want to know: What's in it for me?
The answer is: It depends.
On your age and household income. Whether you own a business and whether it's big or small. Whether you're insured now and who provides that insurance. In the end, it will depend on how House and Senate negotiators will merge the proposals, and how their vision gets translated into regulations.
Five Americans shared their stories with The Associated Press. Here's an educated guess on how the health care package taking shape in Congress might affect them.
___
Name: Holly Brown
Home: Round Lake, Ill.
Age: 28
Employment: Student, working part time, receiving unemployment benefits.
Household income: about $15,000.
Coverage: Insured, but struggling to afford it.
Brown was laid off last year from a job she'd held for four years. She's stayed insured because of the government COBRA program, which allows workers to remain on a health plan for 18 months after they leave their jobs, if they pay the premiums.
Brown works part time and studies medical imaging at College of Lake County. She has a chronic lung condition and was in the emergency room in November with flu and pneumonia. She's paid about $1,000 in medical bills this year that her insurance didn't cover.
She doesn't know how she'll pay her $500 premium this month because a government subsidy that helped her afford the premium has expired.
"It's scary to think about what's going to happen if I can't make the payment by the end of the month," Brown said.
The health care overhaul taking shape in Congress would require her to buy health insurance or pay a penalty. She could pick a plan offered through new state-based insurance exchanges and she would qualify for a subsidy to help pay her premiums because she makes less than 400 percent of the poverty level ($43,320 for an individual in 2009). But all those benefits wouldn't kick in until 2013 in the House bill (2014 in the Senate legislation). Because of her medical problem, she may be able to qualify for coverage during the transition period by going through high-risk insurance pools called for in the legislation.
___
Name: Glenn Nishimura

Home: Little Rock, Ark.

Age: 60

Employment: Consultant to nonprofit groups.

Household income: $55,000, including wife's earnings.

Coverage: Uninsured since COBRA expired in May.

Nishimura left a full-time job with benefits in October 2007 thinking he'd be able to find another good position.

Then the recession hit.

He's now a self-employed consultant. Since May, he's been without health insurance. For 18 months, he bought insurance through the COBRA program. When that ran out, he tried to find other coverage. He's been turned down by five insurance companies because he has high blood pressure and high blood sugar levels, even though he's otherwise healthy, has never been hospitalized and controls his conditions through diet and exercise.

"I could get H1N1 or get into an accident and I would be potentially bankrupt," Nishimura said. "It's an untenable situation."

The Medicare buy-in proposal considered in the Senate could have helped Nishimura get insurance, as would portions of both the House and Senate bills that would ban denials for pre-existing conditions. But opposition from moderates and a few liberals is forcing Senate Democratic leaders to scrap the idea of a buy-in to get a bill completed.

Nishimura said he e-mailed President Barack Obama suggesting that lowering the Medicare eligibility age to 55 or 60 would create jobs. "I know a lot of people who would like to retire early, but can't because of health care," he said.

____

Name: David W. Brown

Home: Philadelphia

Age: 47

Employment: Owner of BrownPartners, an advertising and marketing agency. Seven employees. $336,000 in annual wages paid.

Household income: $150,000, including wife's earnings.

Coverage: Provides health, dental and vision coverage to employees.

An ad agency owner, Brown has been able to offer health insurance to his seven employees, but has had to cut benefits because of rising costs. Like other business owners, Brown is trying to figure out what will emerge from Congress and how it will affect him.

"We haven't been able to be as generous as we have in the past," Brown said of the insurance plan he offers his workers. "The good thing is, not a lot of folks are leaving because somebody else has a better plan."

Health care overhaul might help Brown and his wife with coverage for their daughters, now age 17 and 20. The proposals would allow young adults to stay on their parents' insurance plans as dependents into their mid-20s.

Brown would be able to shop for insurance for his workers through a health insurance exchange. Neither of the bills would require him to provide coverage. Both bills provide tax credits to help small companies with average wages of less than $40,000 provide health insurance. But pay levels in Brown's agency are above that cutoff.

___

Name: Robert Hansen

Home: Seattle homeless shelter

Age: 58

Employment: vendor, Real Change street newspaper.

Household income: $12,000, including tips.

Coverage: Uninsured.

Hansen used to work selling beer and peanuts at Seattle's now-demolished Kingdome. "Age caught up to me, running up and down the stairs, the physical labor," said the 58-year-old Seattle native.

Hansen has been homeless since 1994. A top-selling vendor of a weekly newspaper called Real Change, he makes about $1,000 a month. He eats his evening meal and finds a bed at a Catholic Community Services shelter.

The tingling in his feet and the occasional purplish color of his hands worry him. It's been so long since he's had a thorough physical exam that he's not sure if his symptoms could mean a serious health problem such as diabetes. He's uninsured and finds care in community clinics and emergency rooms.

Hansen and most other poor adults without young children don't qualify for Medicaid, the state-federal program that helps low-income families with health care. The proposals in Congress would expand Medicaid coverage to people such as Hansen.

In the leading Senate proposal, people with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level ($14,404 for an individual in 2009) could enroll in Medicaid. The House bill makes the cutoff 150 percent of the poverty level ($16,245 for an individual in 2009).

___

Name: Carol McKenna

Home: Pembroke Pines, Fla.

Age: 68

Employment: Retired payroll coordinator

Household income: About $39,000 from Social Security and some earnings by husband as mattress salesman.

Coverage: Medicare Advantage policy administered by AvMed Health Plans.

If McKenna believes the claims of the insurance industry and many Republicans, she and her husband are among the most at risk to be hurt by Congress' health proposals. If Democrats are telling the truth, they will be among those with the most to gain.

The 68-year-old retiree refrains from any worry, or any premature celebration. She simply believes, "It'll work out."

McKenna and her husband, Morty, who turns 78 on Sunday, are in private Medicare Advantage plans, which many Democrats have called wasteful and which have been made a prime target for major cuts. But Morty McKenna also falls in the coverage gap in Medicare's prescription drug program — the "doughnut hole" — that the health bills have promised to close. More than 3 million Medicare beneficiaries a year hit this gap and start paying the full cost of their drugs until they qualify for catastrophic coverage.

She said the government must "get rid of the abuses" and that pharmaceutical companies "need to step up and be accountable." For now, though, she's just waiting to see what actually happens.

___

Associated Press writers Matt Sedensky in Miami, Jesse Washington in Philadelphia and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar in Washington contributed to this report.

While pacifiers have taken on a standard appearance, with teat, mouth shield, and handle, there have always been things which a baby can suck on for comfort.

Newborn infants have unremarkable vision, being able to focus on objects only about 18 inches (45 cm) directly in front of their face. While this may not be much, it is all that is needed for the infant to look at the mother’s eyes or areola when breastfeeding. Generally, a newborn cries when wanting to feed. When a newborn is not sleeping, or feeding, or crying, he or she may spend a lot of time staring at random objects. Usually anything that is shiny, has sharp contrasting colors, or has complex patterns will catch an infant's eye. However, the newborn has a preference for looking at other human faces above all else. (see also: infant metaphysics and infant vision)

site

DEAR ABBY: "Hayley" is one of the few good friends I have at college. We take a class together. It's in a building across campus, so I drive. I always contact Hayley to see if she wants me to take her. (She typically does.) Because the class requires physical activity, we dress in appropriate clothing.

When I pick Hayley up, I am already dressed and ready to go. The problem is, she isn't. She is either eating or on her computer when I arrive. Once I come in, she begins to get ready. This has made us late for class several times. It has reached the point that I have to arrive earlier and earlier to get her to be on time.

I understand that I am more organized than she is, but it grates on my nerves. I am the one giving her a ride, and she causes us both to be late. I think she should be ready to leave when I get there. I know she has a busy schedule, but this is driving me crazy. I care about Hayley dearly, and I don't want to hurt her feelings. Should I say something to her? -- CAMPUS CLOCK-WATCHER

DEAR CLOCK-WATCHER: Yes, absolutely, because Hayley isn't a mind reader and if you haven't spoken up, she may be under the impression that you don't mind. Tell your friend you are no longer willing to be late to class, you expect her to be ready to leave at the time you get there, and if she isn't, you will leave without her. THEN FOLLOW THROUGH. I predict Hayley won't be late after that.

DEAR ABBY: I am a single man living in Florida. Without being invited, my sister called to inform me that she and her husband would be coming to visit me over the Christmas/New Year holiday. She said they planned to stay "a month or so" to escape the harsh northern winter. Caught off guard, I said I'd love to have them come for a week or 10 days, but I didn't want them to move in with me. At that point, she became miffed and said not to worry about it -- she and my brother-in-law would visit her son in Las Vegas instead.

Now I'm wondering if I was rude. I don't want them planting themselves in my home for months on end, but I don't want to destroy our relationship either. I love them both, but I have a life of my own. Did I make a mistake, or is it normal for relatives to visit for months? -- CONFOUNDED IN FLORIDA

DEAR CONFOUNDED: You did not make a mistake, and it is not "normal" for people to invite themselves to be houseguests as your sister did. Her attitude was presumptuous. Your reaction was honest. What she proposed was an imposition. If defending your privacy "destroys" your relationship, your sibling bond wasn't strong to begin with. Frankly, I think your sister had a lot of nerve, and her son has my sympathy because it's going to be a long winter in Las Vegas.

DEAR ABBY: I am in my 70s, and I honestly do not know how to respond when people ask me, "How are you?" I have had many health problems in the last few years, and I don't think anyone really wants to hear about them. -- I'M JUST SAYIN'

DEAR JUST SAYIN': If you have any reason to think that the person asking the question really doesn't care how you are, then spare him or her an organ recital. Convey the expected response, which is, "I'm fine -- how are you?"

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

For an excellent guide to becoming a better conversationalist and a more sociable person, order "How to Be Popular." Send a business-sized, self-addressed envelope, plus check or money order for $6 (U.S. funds) to: Dear Abby -- Popularity Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Postage is included in the price.)

* 1 History
* 2 Design
* 3 Fitting
* 4 See also
* 5 References

[edit] Fitting

Cowboy Boots

Creators Syndicate –
Seems like only yesterday the Washington establishment had proclaimed the death of the GOP. Pundits churned out public autopsy reports faster than the L.A. County Medical Examiner. Liberals gloated over the supposedly irreparable fissures between right-wing populists and Beltway Republican elites. Conservatism, we were told, was suffering brain death and heart failure. My, how quickly things — ahem — change.

Social conservatives, fiscal conservatives, the GOP leadership, Sarah Palin's heartland supporters, conservative think-tank intellectuals, D.C. and Manhattan conservatives, Big Business and small-business conservatives, Joe the Plumber conservatives, and every stripe and flavor of conservative in between are all united against the Democrats' proposed government takeover of health care. All.

It's the left, not the right, cracking up. It's the party donkey, not the elephant, now in a rabies-crazed frenzy. Funny, though, how internecine rancor on the right always puts conservatism in its last, final, permanent death throes (again and again), but internecine warfare on the left is merely a matter of healthy, principled disagreement.

Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean went on the "YEARRGGH!"-path again — dressed in Tea Party-esque drag — and exhorted the majority to "Kill the Bill" and start over with a public option. White House senior adviser David Axelrod — echoing criticism of Dean more commonly heard on the right — promptly pronounced the Vermont liberal's rantings "insane." White House spokesman Robert Gibbs dismissed Dean as irrational. And this was just the left-wing Punch and Judy show preview.

"Progressive" blogger and Hollywood producer Jane Hamsher declared war on Sen. Joe Lieberman's wife, Haddasah, to punish him for his opposition to Harry Reid's massive Medicare expansion "buy-in" plan. Best known for disseminating an online image of Sen. Lieberman in blackface to support failed liberal challenger Ned Lamont in 2006, and for issuing a death threat to conservative author Kate O'Beirne ("the b*tch is dead meat"), Hamsher demanded that the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation fire Mrs. Lieberman from her role as a "global ambassador."

"Progressive" documentarian Michael Moore one-upped Hamsher's attack by threatening to boycott the entire state of Connecticut until it started a recall of Lieberman: "People of Connecticut: What have u done 2 this country? We hold u responsible. Start recall of Lieberman 2day or we'll boycott your state," Moore wrote on his Twitter account. Recalls, alas, are unconstitutional in Connecticut. Not that "progressives" would ever let any state or federal constitution get in the way of a bloody ideological vendetta.

Obama's BFF and most frequent visitor, SEIU president Andy Stern, threw the president's own words back at him in a cri de couer to Big Labor's brothers and sisters: "President Obama must remember his own words from the campaign. His call of 'Yes We Can' was not just to us, not just to the millions of people who voted for him, but to himself."

And moving toward the middle, moderate Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson is having his own Joe Wilson moment. On Thursday, he announced he couldn't support his colleagues' abortion language "compromise," which he said failed to restrict government funding for abortion services.

Meanwhile, House Democrats are blaming Senate Democrats and the White House for the legislative meltdown. The Nobel Peace Prize winner-in-chief himself has come under fire. Democratic Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin carped that "the Obama administration is sitting on the sidelines." Democratic Rep. John Conyers of Michigan accused the White House of selling out to the insurance industry.

It all feels very 1990s — the period between 1992 and 1994, specifically — when liberals smugly declared the premature death of the GOP only to be walloped by the midterm conservative backlash. The ruling majority got greedy, overreached and lost touch with average Americans. With the support of the public, Republicans united to slay Bill Clinton's stimulus monstrosity and Hillary Clinton's health care monstrosity. And the core differences between the parties could not have been clearer.

Then, as now, GOP strategists flirted with hapless "rebranding" programs in the wake of failed presidential campaigns. They bought into the public autopsy reports of their friends in New York City media green rooms and Georgetown parlors.

Then, as now, it took a grassroots conservative groundswell to remind the Beltway bubble boys and girls that adhering to the core principles of fiscal conservatism — lower taxes, less government, more freedom — was the key to party unification and would open the door once again to power.

And then, as now, conservative talk radio helped galvanize the revolt against a Democrat-spearheaded attempt at a government health care takeover. Local Seattle talk-show host Kirby Wilbur's huge protest against Hillary Clinton's visit in July 1994 was the turning point. National media outlets could not ignore the public booing of the first lady in the liberal Emerald City and the legislative doom it portended.

One major difference now is the vast proliferation of alternative media — through Facebook, Twitter, blogs and Fox News — that has facilitated the spread of information about Democrats' big-government designs and given rise to Tea Party activism. The right's ability to change the narrative is greater than ever. The Democratic crack-up reminds us that there are no faits accomplis in politics. Political coroners, take heed.

Michelle Malkin is the author of "Culture of Corruption: Obama and his Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks & Cronies" (Regnery 2009). Her e-mail address is malkinblog@gmail.com.

COPYRIGHT 2009 CREATORS.COM

SAN ANTONIO – New results from a landmark women's health study raise the exciting possibility that bone-building drugs such as Fosamax and Actonel may help prevent breast cancer.
Women who already were using these medicines when the study began were about one-third less likely to develop invasive breast cancer over the next seven years than women not taking such pills, doctors reported Thursday.
The study is not enough to prove that these drugs, called bisphosphonates, prevent cancer. More definitive studies should give a clearer answer in a year or two.
Yet it greatly amplifies the hopeful buzz that started last year when researchers reported that a bisphosphonate cut the chances that cancer would come back in women already treated for the disease.
"Now we're actually looking at this in the general population — healthy women who have never had breast cancer. And it looks like it's protective in those women as well," said Dr. Peter Ravdin of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.
"There's a strengthening story here," said Ravdin, who helped review the research for the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, where results were reported Thursday. "This is very promising."
Millions of women already take bisphosphonates for bone-thinning osteoporosis, or to prevent fractures from cancer that has spread to their bones.
The drugs range in cost from $100 for a three-month supply of the generic version of Merck & Co. Inc.'s Fosamax pills to as much as $1,200 for an infusion of Novartis AG's Zometa, given every six months for osteoporosis. Other brands are e GlaxoSmithKline PLC's Boniva and Warner Chilcott PLC's Actonel.
After last year's surprise finding that Zometa cut the risk of cancer recurrence, doctors wondered: Is it just making bones more resistant to cancer's spread, or does it have wider anti-tumor effects that may prevent cancer from developing in the first place?
Dr. Rowan Chlebowski of Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, Calif., sought answers from the Women's Health Initiative, a federally funded study best known for revealing previously unrecognized risks from estrogen and progestin pills after menopause.
Of the 151,592 participants, 2,216 were taking bisphosphonates — mostly Fosamax — when the study began. About seven years later, 31 percent fewer invasive breast cancer cases had occurred among those women than the others. The benefit persisted even after researchers took into account differences in age, smoking, weight, hormone and vitamin D use, and other things that affect bone density and breast cancer risk.
However, women taking bisphosphonates were more likely to develop a noninvasive tumor of the milk duct called DCIS. Chlebowski contends this is an acceptable trade-off: For every 1,000 women taking a bisphosphonate for one year, one fewer case of invasive, life-threatening breast cancer would occur.
Overall, the results suggest that bisphosphonates have direct anti-cancer effects and are not just helping bones resist cancer's spread.
"If it only worked in the bone marrow then you wouldn't be influencing incidence" of new cancers, said Chlebowski, who has consulted for makers of bisphosphonates and other cancer prevention drugs.
A second study supported that view. Dr. Gad Rennert of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel, compared about 2,000 postmenopausal women with breast cancer to 2,000 similar women without the disease. Those with cancer were 29 percent less likely to have been taking bisphosphonates, he found.
Neither study collected information on side effects. Bisphosphonates can cause bone, joint or muscle pain and in rare cases, jawbone decay.
"These are drugs that, generally speaking, are relatively well tolerated" and fairly safe, but they still should not be taken for cancer prevention until more definitive studies show their risks and benefits, said Dr. Eric Winer of the Dana-Farber Cancer Center in Boston. He has no financial ties to any makers of these drugs.
The only drugs approved now for preventing breast cancer in healthy women at higher risk are the hormone blockers tamoxifen and raloxifene. Side effects such as hot flashes, high blood pressure and a higher risk of blood clots have limited their use.

The cancer conference is sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Research, Baylor College of Medicine and the UT Health Science Center.

___

On the Net:

Patient information: http://www.cancer.net

American Cancer Society: http://www.cancer.org

Cancer conference: http://www.sabcs.org

There are strict regulations regarding the amateur status of golfers. Essentially, everybody who has ever received payment or compensation for giving instruction or played golf for money is not considered an amateur and may not participate in competitions limited solely to amateurs. However amateur golfers may receive expenses which comply with strict guidelines and they may accept non-cash prizes within the limits established by the Rules of Amateur Status.

[edit] Swinging the golf club
Tiger Woods displaying the textbook position (course: St Andrews).
Tiger Woods displaying the textbook position (course: St Andrews).
Animation of the full golf swing.
Animation of the full golf swing.

Putting Contest

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama keeps his focus on economic issues Wednesday before an evening departure for Europe.
The president meets with a bipartisan group of congressional leaders in the morning. They'll discuss Obama's proposal for a jolt of federal spending aimed at reducing the nation's double-digit unemployment rate.
In the afternoon, the president will make an announcement regarding his economic stimulus program and community health centers.
Later, climate change enters the discussion as the president meets with business and environmental leaders ahead of his attendance at the U.N. climate conference under way in Copenhagen.
The president and his wife, Michelle, leave Wednesday night for Oslo, Norway, where he'll accept the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Thursday.

Though at first glance a very simple object, the mug serves a number of functions which make it especially suited to holding hot liquids:

Hot beverages may be too hot to drink, with temperatures often nearing the boiling point of water. The thick walls of a typical mug will absorb much of this heat when the liquid is first poured into the mug and so lower the beverage closer to potable temperatures.

Photo Mugs

LOS ANGELES – Tom Arnold is married again.
Arnold's spokeswoman, Staci Wolfe, said the "True Lies" and "Happy Endings" actor-comedian wed Ashley Groussman on Saturday in Maui.
It is Arnold's fourth marriage. He was first married to actress-comedian Roseanne Barr from 1990 to 1994. He was married to second wife Julie Lynne Champnella from 1995 to 1999 and third wife Shelby Roos from 2002 to 2008.
Arnold currently hosts the weekly "Laughing With The Stars" comedy show at The Laugh Factory in Los Angeles.
___
On the Net:
http://tomarnoldcomedy.com

Almost anything can be branded with a company’s name or logo and used for promotional purposes. Common items include t-shirts, caps, keychains, bumper stickers, pens, mugs or mouse pads. The largest product category for promotional products is wearable items, which make up more than 30% of the total.[citation needed]

Promotional items are also used in politics to promote candidates and causes. Promotional items as a tool for non-commercial organizations, such as schools and charities are often used as a part of fund raising and awareness-raising campaigns. A prominent example was the livestrong wristband, used to promote cancer awareness and raise funds to support cancer survivorship programs and research.

Promotional Products

Many mugs are made of ceramic materials such as earthenware, bone china, porcelain or stoneware. Some are made from strengthened glass, such as Pyrex. Other materials, including plastic, steel and enameled metal are used where break resistance is at a premium, such as for campers. Techniques such as silk screen printing or decals can be used to apply decorations; these are fired onto the mug to ensure permanence.

A puzzle mug is a novelty that is counter-intuitive. It will usually have several holes in the rim, making it impossible to drink from in the normal way. Frequently the solution is to cover all the holes in the rim, and then drink via another hole in the hollow handle.

Photo Mugs

Los Angeles –
Bondage may be the new look for the holidays if the outfits onstage at the American Music Awards held Sunday, Nov. 22, at the Nokia Theater in downtown Los Angeles were any indicator.

Rihanna donned a bandage bodysuit á la "The Fifth Element," Lady Gaga got her freak on with a girdle get-up that matched her crazy, bottle-breaking antics, and Jennifer Lopez got rough with a boxer-gladiator look. It was a tough night for Lopez, who slammed into the stage as she dominated her males dancers by walking on their backs; that was not in the rehearsal, as hubsband Marc Anthony watched from the audience.

Jay-Z made the star-studded music scene solo, looking seriously dapper in a white dinner jacket as he shared the stage for a fantastic duet with Alicia Keyes. Perhaps his wife Beyoncé knew she was going to lose out to the hottest thing on wheels, Taylor Swift, for the Favorite Female Artist Award?

Taylor, who accepted her five awards including Artist of the Year via satellite from London, was truly shocked to beat out the late Michael Jackson for that top prize. "I cannot believe it!" she cried, then went on to thank all the fans that voted for her. The American Music Awards have been giving these fan-bestowed awards for 37 years, so many of the wins were no surprise.

Fergie and the Black Eyed Peas were winners, and put on a great set of their songs. Green Day wowed with their song and win, and Shakira hit it with a dance-filled number that had everyone on their feet. Other performers included Janet Jackson, Carrie Underwood, Mary J. Blige, Eminem with Fifty Cent, Timbaland with Nelly Furtado and Soshy, Daughtry, and Kelly Clarkson.

Whitney Houston received the International Artist Award, and performed "I Didn't Know My Own Strength," doing a pale imitation of her old self, and wearing a skintight white Grecian gown that made her look pregnant, but the fans didn't care, giving her a cheering, standing ovation.

Keith Urban looked good in jeans and cowboy boots as he performed, and then took home the Favorite Male Country Artist Award. He shouted out to audience member Nicole Kidman - who also happens to be his wife - "This is for you, baby, and for Sunday," referring to their little girl, and drawing a sigh from the filled-to-the-rafters audience.

The crowd was sighing for a different reason as Adam Lambert closed out the show and joined in on the bondage theme, with a touch of porno and homosexuality thrown in to drive the ABC censors crazy. His over-the-top finale was the talk of the VIP after party held at the Conga Room; that, and actress Kate Hudson's fashion faux pas, as her plunging neckline silver lame mini dress revealed all on national television.

ATLANTA – Chip Caray has called his final baseball game for TBS.
Network spokesman Jeff Pomeroy confirmed Monday that TBS and the announcer have decided to part ways.
A son of late Braves broadcaster Skip Caray and a grandson of famed broadcaster Harry Caray, Chip Caray had called first-round playoff games for TBS during the past three seasons. He originally worked with Tony Gwynn and Bob Brenly, then teamed with Ron Darling and Buck Martinez.
Caray also was part of the network's Sunday regular-season package.
Pomeroy said no replacement has been picked.
"Since the end of the 2009 MLB Playoffs, we've had several discussions with Chip Caray regarding 2010 and beyond. Both sides agree that now is the right time to move ahead on different paths," the network said in a statement.

Cap Cana

Cap Cana is a tourism development with an investment of upwards of two billion dollars in the eastern lands of the Dominican Republic. This area renown for its great hotels and beaches, lacks exclusivity to the high upper class which Cap Cana hopes, in part, to offer. The area was conceived with the backing both financially and publicly of "elites" such as Donald Trump, Jack Nicklaus, and other holders.

Cap Cana's area includes more than one-hundred and twenty millon square meters of land, of which twenty-five million will be developed in its first phase. It also includes 8 kilometers of beach and coasts, 5 of which are considered to be among the most spectacular in the Caribbean, locally considered to be neck-in-neck to the beaches of Bahia de Las Aguilas (literally, Bay of the Eagles) located in the southwestern municipality of Perdernales- often referred by past visitors as some of the most beautiful in the world.

MIAMI (Reuters) –
Tiger Woods pulled out of a golf tournament this week, the latest fall-out from a minor car accident that has left a swirl of mystery and a hint of scandal around the world's top golfer and pushed him into full damage control.

The Florida Highway Patrol said in a terse statement on Monday that it was pursuing the crash investigation but had still not been able to interview Woods, who declined to meet with investigators during the weekend.

Woods pulled out on Monday of the Chevron World Challenge in Thousand Oaks, California, a tournament he has hosted for nine years. He said he could not attend the event that starts on Thursday because of injuries suffered in the accident.

The greatest golfer of his generation and an unparalleled product pitchman whose personal fortune is estimated at $1 billion, Woods was hospitalized briefly on Friday after his Cadillac Escalade hit a fire hydrant and a tree as he left the driveway of his Windermere, Florida, home after 2 a.m.

Woods met Florida's legal requirement by providing police with his driver's license, car registration and proof of insurance, and is not obliged to volunteer medical records, video from home security cameras or anything else investigators might want, prominent Florida lawyer Roy Black said.

"Any lawyer with a brain in their head is not going to allow him to talk to the police because nothing good can come of talking to the police," said Black, who defended William Kennedy Smith, a member of America's Kennedy clan, against a rape charge, and radio host Rush Limbaugh in a drug fraud case.

Woods said in a written statement on Sunday that the accident was his fault and was "obviously embarrassing to my family and me." He called irresponsible the "many false, unfounded and malicious rumors that are currently circulating about my family and me."

TABLOIDS AWASH WITH SPECULATION

Tabloid media and celebrity websites are awash with speculation that Woods and his wife, Elin, had been arguing before the crash. The National Enquirer has reported that Woods had an extra-marital relationship with a "New York City party girl." The woman named in that report has denied a relationship.

The Florida Highway Patrol said it had not made any comments on Woods' medical information, an apparent reference to a published report that investigators were seeking a search warrant for the hospital where the golfer was treated to obtain his medical records.

Under Florida law, Woods has a right to keep medical information private, but Black said under certain circumstances police have been able to seize hospital records.

"Unfortunately, yes. That was the issue in Rush Limbaugh's case and the court upheld the use of a search warrant to seize medical records," he said. "But they (police) would have to convince a judge that there was probable cause to believe a crime had been committed."

One of the world's most recognizable figures, Woods has lucrative endorsement deals with companies such as Nike and AT&T. So far, signs are that companies are standing by the popular golfer.

The chatter about the greatest golfer of his generation and, according to Forbes magazine the world's first billionaire athlete, was fueled in part by the circumstances -- why was he leaving home at 2:25 a.m.? -- and in part by a hint of trouble in the Woods household.

The Enquirer report said that a New York nightclub hostess Rachel Uchitel, had been "telling friends about a jet-set liaison" with the golfer. Uchitel has issued a denial.

"I did not have any involvement with him," E! News quoted Uchitel as saying.

Woods' handlers have done the right thing by keeping their client away from the police, Black said, citing the recent case of U.S. television talk show host David Letterman, who two months ago revealed he was the target of a $2 million blackmail plot, then admitted having affairs with women on his staff.

"By reporting that blackmail attempt to the police, all he did was guarantee that all his dirty laundry would be played out in the news media," Black said. "Tiger Woods is a lot smarter, so far at least."

But William Moran, an attorney whose practice with the New York office of McCarter and English includes crisis management, said Woods would have been wiser to meet with the police.

"His problem that he's now facing is that he's possibly running the risk of turning himself from a victim into an offender here, if the police determine that he is obstructing justice or tampering with evidence," Moran said.

(Additional reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles and Ben Klayman in New York; Editing by Frances Kerry)