LOS ANGELES (AP) — Carson Kressley can go back to evaluating wardrobes.
The fashion guru was booted off "Dancing With the Stars" on Tuesday night. It wasn't unexpected, given that the judges of ABC's TV dance competition had given him the lowest scores for his 1980s-themed routine a night …
NEW YORK (AP) — It came and went in a flash, a number on a board for seconds at a time, but its symbolic power couldn't be dismissed.
The Dow Jones industrial average, powered higher all year by optimism that the economic recovery is finally for real, crossed 13,000 on Tuesday for the first time since May 2008.
The last time the Dow occupied such rarefied territory, unemployment was a healthy 5.4 percent, and Lehman Brothers was a solvent investment bank. Financial crises happened in other countries, or the history books.
The milestone Tuesday came about two hours into the trading day. The Dow was above 13,000 for about 30 seconds, and for slightly longer at about noon …
Guest Editorial
With the presidential race in full swing, the U.S. Supreme Court is currently considering a case that could have a huge impact on the nation's electoral system forever. It revolves around an Indiana statue that requires voters to show current stateissued photo identification when they cast their ballots.
Last Election Day, 61-year-old Valerie Wilhams attempted to vote in the lobby of her retirement home as she had the past two elections. This time around, poll workers turned her away because she lacked a current Indiana-issued photo identification card.
Her telephone bill, social security letter and an expired Indiana driver's license weren't enough to …
The U.S. and major European powers said they will recognize Kosovo, whose ethnic Albanian leaders declared independence from Serbia. Giddy Kosovars danced in the streets.
Kosovo's leaders sent letters to 192 countries seeking formal recognition and Britain, France and Germany endorsed the declaration. But other European Union nations were opposed, including Spain which has battled a violent Basque separatist movement for decades.
Australia also formally recognized Kosovo as an independent state, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said in a statement Tuesday.
U.S. President George W. Bush hailed Kosovo's historic bid for statehood as Washington …
MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Mexican anti-poverty official has been fired after posting a comment on social media sites suggesting that poor people smell bad.
Mexico's anti-poverty agency says Carlos Talavera has been fired as director of outreach brigades in the western city of Uruapan after a Facebook posting of his was re-tweeted on social media sites.
The original …
Dorothy didn't go back to Kansas to play volleyball. But shecould have found a good game in Chicago.
Earlier this year, while evaluating the talent competing in aclub tournament in Chicago, a national talent scout said: "Thequality of volleyball in Chicago isn't as high as it used to be."
"That may be true," a coach from Wichita State said, "but I canstill find more good players on this court in one afternoon than Ican find in the state of Kansas in one year."
According to Chicago-based talent scout Bill …
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea celebrated the return of nearly 300 royal books looted by French soldiers in the 19th century with solemn ceremonies Saturday bringing alive the color and pageantry of a bygone royal age.
Bearers dressed in bright red costumes of the Joseon Dynasty carried a palanquin containing some of the books to central Seoul's Gyeongbok Palace to the piercing sound of traditional horns and gongs.
An official took the books wrapped in red cloth and placed them near an alter with another set for a Confucian enshrinement ceremony carried out in a square on the palace grounds complete with offerings of food, incense and drink. A report of the books' …
Turkey's government said Wednesday it is prepared to grant more rights to the nation's Kurds in an effort to end the 25-year insurgency by Kurdish rebels.
But Interior Minister Besir Atalay provided no details of the plan and despite his conciliatory language the challenge of persuading thousands of Kurdish rebels to lay down their arms is likely to be long and difficult.
The rebels want an unconditional amnesty that includes their leaders, but the government has said it had no plans to expand laws that enable lower-ranking rebels to avoid prison by renouncing their past and sharing intelligence.
Kurdish activists have said imprisoned rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan will …
VERSAILLES, Kentucky (AP) — Zenyatta is headed off to retirement in Kentucky.
The 6-year-old mare whose narrow loss in the Breeders' Cup Classic left her with a 19-1 career record will stand at Lane's End Farm near Versailles. She's expected to arrive in early December.
The farm said in a statement Wednesday that breeding plans …
BP mounted a more aggressive response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday as it started deploying undersea sensors to better measure the ferocious flow of crude while drawing up new plans to meet a government demand that it speed up the containment effort ahead of President Barack Obama's visit to the coast.
The financial ramifications of the disaster are growing by the day as the White House and states put pressure on BP to set aside billions of dollars to pay spill-related claims in a move that could quickly drain the company's cash reserves and hasten its path toward possible bankruptcy.
BP PLC spokesman Mark Proegler said the company would not …
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Dirk Nowitzki plans to return to Germany to train with his personal coach in the coming weeks if there's no progress toward starting the NBA season.
Nowitzki has said he would wait until early 2012 before considering playing for a European team. With only training camp and the first two weeks of the season canceled so far because of the NBA lockout, he is keeping to that timetable.
Nowitzki, a Texas Rangers fan, threw out the first pitch for Game 3 of the World Series in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday night.
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Coalition troops clashed with insurgents intwo battles Saturday in fighting that left four U.S. and two Afghansoldiers dead and six other Americans wounded, officials said.
The fighting was reported to be some of the heaviest in recentmonths and came as war-battered Afghanistan celebrated itsindependence day.
In a clash against Taliban militants in eastern Kunar province,three U.S. soldiers were killed and three others wounded, said U.S.military spokesman Col. Tom Collins.
American troops in that area are hunting for Taliban fighters andextremists close to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network in remotemountains hugging the Pakistani border.
In southern Uruzgan province, an American and two Afghan soldierswere killed and three other Americans wounded in a four-hour clashwith more than 100 insurgents, NATO said.
WISCONSIN AIRMAN DEAD
The slain American was identified as Senior Airman Adam Servais,23, of Onalaska, Wis. Servais had been a member of the Air ForceSpecial Operations for four years and was assigned to Hurlburt Fieldin Florida, his aunt Maggie Tracey said.
NEW YORK (AP) — Oprah Winfrey says she's not a lesbian, not even a little bit.
Her long personal and professional connection with Gayle King has sparked rumors that they are gay, but Winfrey denies it in an upcoming interview with ABC television's Barbara Walters.
"I'm not even kind of a lesbian," Winfrey says.
Persistent gossip to the contrary annoys her, she says, explaining that, if it were true, "Why would you want to hide it? That is not the way I run my life."
Asked to describe her relationship with King, Winfrey calls her "the mother I never had, the sister everybody would want. She is the friend that everybody deserves." Winfrey's eyes moisten and her voice chokes as she adds, "I don't know a better person."
Winfrey will end her daytime talk show next spring and, on Jan. 1, is launching a cable channel, the Oprah Winfrey Network.
That new venture has given her moments of panic.
"I would wake up in the middle of the night literally like clutching my chest, like, 'What have I done?'" she tells Walters.
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ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co.
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Online:
http://www.abc.com
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — He called himself Bobby Charles Thompson and gave himself the rank of lieutenant commander as he headed a nationwide nonprofit for U.S. Navy veterans.
Donations solicited by telemarketers poured in to his U.S. Navy Veterans Association from around the country — largely individual gifts under $50 — piling up tens of millions of dollars intended for veterans' needs and other military causes.
Thompson and NAVPAC, his political action committee, gave lavishly to more than 50 candidates in 16 states — most of them Republicans, records show — and the generosity was rewarded with some high-level entrée, at least for photo opportunities. President George W. Bush and his adviser, Karl Rove, were among those who posing with Thompson in photographs that show him smiling broadly through an unkempt black beard and mustache.
But authorities say veterans got precious little of Thompson's largesse and that he was a fraud, operating a bogus charity from a seedy Tampa-area duplex with a stolen identity, scamming hundreds of thousands of donors in 30 states out of at least $20 million.
He disappeared last June after the St. Petersburg Times questioned him about some political donations and began publishing an investigative series.
Now charged in Ohio with aggravated theft, money laundering, identity fraud and corruption, Thompson, believed to be 65, is being investigated by several states. And many of the politicians whose treasuries he graced have hastened to shed his donations.
Not only do authorities not know where he is, they don't know who he really is, they say. And they don't know where all the money went.
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Campaign finance records show the man claiming to be Thompson has donated nearly $300,000 since 1999 to Bush's presidential campaigns, several U.S. senators, other candidates and groups.
He also gave to candidates for local offices, such as county commissioner and sheriff, according to the Ohio attorney general's office.
Investigators say he also used other aliases linked to his U.S. Navy Veterans Association to contribute to other political causes, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's 2008 White House campaign.
The Ohio attorney general's office doesn't yet know if the money Thompson used for political donations flowed directly from the charity.
Other than the campaign donations and about $500,000 for lawyers and lobbyists since 2007, investigators don't know what happened to USNVA's money. The association's bank accounts with about $70,000 and drop boxes in Ohio have been frozen.
In the alleged scam being unraveled by Ohio and other states, the man began using Thompson's identity by 2003 and applied that year for a special federal tax-exempt status for veterans' groups. "Thompson" listed the USNVA's national headquarters address at what turned out to be a United Parcel Service postal box in Washington, D.C.
Several chapters across the country, including those in Ohio, Florida, Maryland, Minnesota and South Carolina, had addresses linked to UPS boxes, Ohio authorities say.
In IRS filing papers and annual reports, USNVA listed numerous officers — including one surnamed Reagan and another Nimitz — most of them believed to be fictitious.
Yet the group Thompson created gave sporadically to some real causes for veterans and active-duty military.
The Navy Memorial Foundation in Washington got $6,000 for two plaques for servicemen, military in Iraq were sent a batch of care packages and a VFW post in Florida received at least one donation, said Lisa Peterson Hackley, spokeswoman for Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine.
In 2009, she said, USNVA gave a $28,000 van to a serviceman injured in Iraq and paid $8,000 in 2008 to have a veteran on vacation flown from Miami to Chicago after he suffered a stroke and his family didn't have the money to get him home.
Other verified gifts include a $10,000 donation in 2009 to the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument in Hawaii and $2,000 to the USO in 2007.
As professional fund-raisers made phone and mail solicitations for the USNVA, someone using the name "Brian Reagan" and purporting to be the group's secretary submitted 990s, the annual income and spending reports required by the IRS. The documents also list "Jack Nimitz" as CEO.
In October, Thompson was indicted in Cleveland after authorities already looking into the case saw the charity listed as a beneficiary in a Navy veteran's obituary printed in The Plain Dealer newspaper. Authorities say as many as 100,000 Ohio residents have donated more than $2.1 million to the fraudulent charity. Thompson faces decades in prison if convicted.
Charged with him is Blanca Contreras, 39, of Tampa, Fla., who prosecutors said was his charity's acting treasurer. Arrested in North Carolina in October, she was extradited to Ohio, jailed in Cleveland and awaits trial in June. Messages seeking comment were left with her attorneys.
Political donations went to candidates in Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Washington state, authorities said.
When they learned of the allegations against Thompson, some recipients passed the contributions on to charities.
The real Bobby Charles Thompson lives in Washington state and had nothing to do with the charity or the scam, authorities said. His stolen identity was used as long ago as 2003, when a UPS box was rented in his name in Cincinnati, said Ted Hart, a former Ohio attorney general's spokesman.
The organization abruptly went out of business and its website went blank when Thompson disappeared in June. He was last seen in Pompano Beach, Fla., about three months after the St. Petersburg Times began publishing its investigative series challenging the organization's legitimacy.
Thompson has not been charged in other states but some, including New Mexico, Virginia, Florida, Missouri and Hawaii, also are looking into whether Thompson misappropriated charity money.
Hackley, the spokeswoman for the Ohio attorney general's office, says investigators have been getting new information since Thompson appeared on a recent episode of "America's Most Wanted." She did not elaborate.
Ohio authorities say records show Thompson gave about $3,700 to Bush's 2000 campaign and about $3,200 to his 2004 campaign. He also made donations to GOP presidential hopefuls John McCain and Mitt Romney in 2007 and 2008 and, from 2002 to 2008, contributed to campaigns for current and former U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Norm Coleman of Minnesota, Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina, George Voinovich of Ohio, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John Coryn of Texas.
From 2006-2009, Thompson also gave $48,600 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which works to get members of the GOP elected to the U.S. Senate, Ohio investigators said.
In Virginia, investigators said that state residents donated at least $2 million to USNVA. Governor spokesman Jeff Caldwell said a state agency's investigation found significant fundraising concerns that have now been turned over to state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's office for possible prosecution.
Ohio authorities say Cuccinelli himself received $55,000, the largest single known political donation from Thompson. In July, amid reports questioning Thompson's legitimacy, Cuccinelli said he'd give the money to military charities.
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, who got $5,000 from Thompson, said he would donate the funds to the Naval Special Warfare Foundation.
Ohio says Thompson — after giving nearly $70,000 to Virginia political candidates in 2009 — pushed legislation to exempt his and similar veterans groups from state regulatory oversight. The legislation, introduced by state Sen. Patsy Ticer, passed last year.
Ticer, a Democrat, received $1,000 in 2009, one of the few non-Republicans to get Thompson's money. After news reports questioned the charity's validity, Ticer asked the governor to veto the bill.
But she was too late. McDonnell had already signed it. He recently signed a new measure repealing the exemption Thompson had sought.
In Minnesota, $2,400 Thompson gave in 2010 to Republican U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann has since been removed from her campaign fund, according to Federal Election Commission records. Her office says she gave the money to a local charity when she learned of allegations against Thompson.
His smallest donations, $1 each, went to the 2002 campaign of U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris in Florida and to the unsuccessful 2002 House campaign of Tim Escobar in California, both Republicans.
The St. Petersburg Times' investigative series triggered Ohio's examination of USNVA filings under then-Attorney General Richard Cordray.
"We know he bilked Ohioans out of at least $1.9 million, and we estimate that nationally he collected at least $20 million," Cordray said.
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IRS filings submitted by the national branch show the USNVA, also known as NavyVets, got nonprofit status in 2004, long after it claimed it was formed in 1927. It also claimed about 67,000 "voting members" in 2009, along with revenues of $5.9 million, up from $4.2 million declared in 2008. Various state chapters also made IRS filings, records show.
Among its reported expenses in 2009 were about $689,000 in professional fundraising fees. It listed 13 officers and key employees, all unpaid.
The USNVA's stated mission, written in the IRS documents, is to assist disabled and needy war veterans and current members of the U.S. military and their dependents, widows and orphans.
"Americans are not only the best, but also the most generous, people on earth, and that statement certainly applies to our donors' and members' support for the causes of the needy American veteran, our Armed Forces personnel and their mission," declared the association's purported chairman, "Jack L. Nimitz," in 2008. "Love of Country may be a simplistic concept to some, denounced by many, hair-splitted about by others, but to us, it is our bedrock, and most meaningful value."
Court records do not list an attorney for Thompson. USNVA attorneys who have worked with him said he worked tirelessly for the organization. And his disheveled appearance — bearded, long hair, wearing outdated, torn or dirty clothing — indicated he wasn't spending money on himself, they said.
"Not only did I not see it, I did not even see where he would have the time," said Helen Mac Murray, a suburban Columbus lawyer who represented the veterans association.
"He was on the association's business 24-7. He would e-mail and call me at all hours of the night and day," Mac Murray said. "That was his entire life."
For example, she said, Thompson's association flew an ill veteran to the U.S. from overseas on a special airplane at a cost of at least $10,000.
"I spoke with that family, and I spoke with individuals in the Tampa area who had received tens of thousands of dollars from him," Mac Murray said. "It appears there were funds being expended on a regular basis and veterans were being assisted."
Darryll Jones, a law professor at Florida A&M University who also represented USNVA, said Thompson "didn't live lavishly."
"He just didn't appear to be skimming money for his private use," Jones said.
Last year Northwestern football coach Francis Peay broketradition by naming quarterback Greg Bradshaw as the team captain.This year it's back to business as usual. The Wildcats opened fall practice Friday with Peay announcingcaptains would be chosen game by game, as they were in his first twoseasons as coach. The team's four fifth-year seniors - quarterbackTim O'Brien, tight end Bob Griswold, offensive tackle Derrill Vestand wide receiver Randy McClellan - will be listed as quad-captains.
"Greg stood out so far above the others last year," Peay said."He served as an example. Leadership is a difficult position toplace anyone in, and he did it quite well."
Bradshaw was also a fifth-year senior, but his heir-apparent,O'Brien, isn't assured of a starting job, although Peay said he wouldtake the first snap in practice. O'Brien took the unusual stance,for a Northwestern athlete, of declining interviews with the media atthe annual press day festivities. His primary competition for thestarting quarterback job will come from sophomore Kevin Krebs, whowas redshirted last season.
"Notre Dame selects its captain at the end of the previousseason, and I'd love to be able to do that," Peay said. "I don't wantthe captain selected on a popularity basis."
Dan Freveletti was the most notably changed among the playersreturning. He bulked up from 245 pounds to 269 after making theswitch from inside linebacker to nose guard in spring drills.
"He had a tremendous weight problem as a linebacker," Peay said."He's like Hercules unchained now."
Freveletti will be a key to improvement for the Wildcats, whowere 2-8-1 last season. "Our offense has performed well the lastthree years," Peay said. "Our defense has been suspect. No questionour defense has to improve for us to improve as a team."
BAGHDAD - U.S. and Iraqi forces exchanged fire with suspected Sunni insurgents on Monday, killing two and wounding four of them during a massive search for three missing American soldiers in a volatile area south of Baghdad, the Iraqi army said.
An al-Qaida front group, the Islamic State in Iraq, claimed Sunday that it had captured U.S soldiers in a deadly attack on a U.S. convoy the day before in Sunni area south of Baghdad that is known as the "triangle of death" - a longtime al-Qaida stronghold.
Meanwhile, 4,000 U.S. troops backed by aircraft, intelligence units and Iraqi forces were scouring the farming area around Mahmoudiya and the nearby town of Youssifiyah for the third day, as the military promised to make every effort available to find the missing soldiers.
Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, said the military could not verify the claim by the Islamic State of Iraq but "it would not surprise me if ... al-Qaida in Iraq is involved in this because there are similarities to what they've done before."
He pointed out that the terror network also had claimed responsibility for killing two U.S. soldiers whose mutilated bodies were found after they went missing in the same area last year.
The Islamic State in Iraq offered no proof for its claim on Internet that it was behind the attack Saturday in Mahmoudiya, about 20 miles south of Baghdad, that also killed four U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi translator.
If the claim proves true, it would mark one of the most brazen attacks by the Islamic State of Iraq, a coalition of eight insurgent groups, including al-Qaida in Iraq.
Late last month, the group named a 10-member "Cabinet" complete with a "war minister," an apparent attempt to present the Sunni coalition as an alternative to the U.S.-backed, Shiite-led administration of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
On Sunday, U.S. troops surrounded Youssifiyah and told residents over loudspeakers to stay inside, residents said. They then methodically searched the houses, focusing on possible secret chambers under the floors where the soldiers might be hidden, residents said.
The soldiers marked each searched house with a white piece of cloth.
Soldiers also searched cars entering and leaving the town, writing "searched" on the side of each vehicle they had inspected. Several people were arrested, witnesses said.
Early Monday morning, U.S. and Iraqi forces exchanged fire with gunmen near Youssifiyah during the house-to-house search operation for the missing American soldiers, killing two suspected insurgents and injuring four others, a top Iraqi army officer in the area said.
He said the fighting began at about 3:30 a.m. and lasted for about 30 minutes. The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns, said the coalition's search operation in the region has detained more than 100 suspects.
The U.S. military did not immediate comment on the report.
In Mahmoudiyah, residents complained on Monday that coalition forces had searched through their homes, and AP Television News footage showed on one apartment that appeared to have been ransacked in the search.
One resident also said three residents in the area, including two guards at a local mosque, had been detained by coalition forces, but that could not be immediately confirmed.
Deadly violence also struck other areas of Iraq on Monday.
The worst attack occurred in the Diyala capital of Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, when gunmen in two cars opened fire on a police checkpoint, killing three policemen and two civilians, police said. Two policemen and four civilians were wounded in the 9:30 a.m. attack, which ended when the assailants fled the scene, police said.
On Sunday, five civilians were killed execution style on the streets of Baquoba by gunmen who appeared to be accusing them of collaborating with the U.S.-led coalition.
The U.S. military has noted an uptick in violence in the volatile region and sent 3,000 additional forces to try to tame the violence.
In other violence reported by police on Monday:
-Three mortar rounds hit an outdoor market in Zafaraniyah, a Shiite section of southeast Baghdad, killing three civilians and wounding nine.
-A car bomb exploded in a parking lot in the mainly Shiite neighborhood of Karradah in central Baghdad, killing three people and wounding two.
-A parked car bomb exploded near a police patrol in Palestine Street, a commercial area in eastern Baghdad, killing two policemen and a civilian, and wounding three policemen and four civilians.
-In Suwayrah, 25 miles south of the capital, police dragged two unidentified, bullet-riddled bodies of a man and a women in their 40s from the Tigris River. Like many other victims of such killings in Iraq, they were handcuffed with their legs tied together.
-At 11:30 p.m. Sunday, gunmen apparently disguised as Iraqi soldiers broke into the house of a Sunni family at the Shiite-dominated al-Wihda district, 20 miles south of Baghdad, killing two men and wounding four others, included a 6-year-old child.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Magic fans will get a glimpse of the present and a possible future Friday when Orlando hosts the Los Angeles Lakers.
Center Dwight Howard's preseason trade request left fans bracing for the worst at the start of the regular season. Howard's agent Dan Fegan is permitted to explore trades with the Lakers, New Jersey and Dallas.
That puts a bigger spotlight on the matchup, given that the Lakers' Andrew Bynum has been the subject of speculation around a Howard trade.
Magic general manager Otis Smith remains adamant he's in no rush to deal Howard by the March 15 trade deadline. Smith said he and Howard haven't gotten in-depth about his trade request since training camp.
Smith expects Howard and Bynum to have their minds on the court and nothing else.
"I think both of those guys are probably the best two centers in the business right now and will be competing against each other, so I don't know if it's anything bigger than that," he said.
Howard said he's focused on improving the Magic's 10-4 record.
"This game is not about me and (Bynum), it's about our team trying to get better to win," Howard said. "That was a problem back when Shaquille O'Neal played. People tried to make it about me and him. That's not the case. We're just trying to play basketball and trying to win. The only thing that matters is who wins the game."
Provisions in the new CBA give the Magic the ability to offer Howard $30 million more than any other team. Orlando can offer him a five-year contract extension with 7.5 percent annual raises, while other teams are tapped out at offering a four-year pact with only 4.5 percent raises.
So the Magic could keep Howard through the deadline or sign and trade him to the team of their choice.
"Or he could still walk...with a $30 million dollar haircut," Smith said.
Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said he thinks Howard and Bynum are more than equipped for the trade spotlight. He noted Howard has dealt with it all season and Bynum handled it when Bryant flirted with a trade request in 2007.
Howard said he's focused on his job.
"I think most people wouldn't allow whatever their situation is — especially what's going on with me — to stop them from playing their normal way," he said. "It's just getting on the court and putting aside everything that's going on outside and what people are saying, trade rumors or what team I'm going to...Just put it away and go play basketball.
"So when I get out there on the court, it's go as hard as I can for as long as I can and trust my teammates when I get out there."
Smith said the real pressure may be on teammate Jameer Nelson. Howard previously noted a desire to play alongside other point guards, including Chris Paul and Deron Williams.
Nelson and Howard are friends, both entering the league in 2004.
But Nelson has struggled this season, averaging a career-low 8.3 points and shooting career-low 38 percent from the field.
"He has to play better, of course. But through all of this, he is the one taking the pounding," Smith said. "Right now, he's justifying the pounding because he's not playing well. But sometimes we forget in professional sports that they're people. Regardless of what we talk about, they're still human beings."
Smith said Nelson is injury-free, other than foot issues he's dealt with for several seasons.
"So as tough as he wants to be on the outside, on the inside — all of them — he's just a 30-year-old kid," he said. "He still has to work through the mental aspect of him taking a pounding. No, the center didn't come out and directly say it's on Jameer, but basically he has."
Even with needed improvements, Smith said he likes the direction so far.
"A real good team has to overcome a lot of things," he said. "A good team has to overcome a good player not being on par, a good team has to overcome a guy getting to the foul line a bunch of times and missing a lot of foul shots.
"So I imagine if we clear up those things, we'll be a much better basketball team."
A bold gamble by President Evo Morales to break a political deadlock and re-energize his leftist revolution paid off as Bolivia's voters resoundingly endorsed him in a recall referendum.
More than 63 percent of voters in this bitterly divided Andean nation ratified the mandate of Bolivia's first indigenous leader and his vice president, Alvaro Garcia, in Sunday's vote, according to partial unofficial results.
Eight of the country's nine governors also were subject to recall _ and two Morales foes were among the three ousted, according to a private tally of votes from 1,000 of the country's 22,700 polling stations.
Morales sought the referendum to try to topple governors who have frustrated his bid to improve the plight of Bolivia's long-suppressed indigenous majority, which is concentrated in the country's barren western highlands.
His leftist agenda has met with bitter opposition in the landlocked country's unabashedly capitalistic east, where protesters who accuse him of being a lackey of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez blockaded airports last week to keep Morales and his ministers from visiting.
All four governors there easily survived Sunday's plebiscite, as expected.
But Morales did surprisingly well in those states. In one, Pando, he was endorsed by 51 percent of voters, while he won 40 percent approval or better in the other three, according to the vote tally by the Ipsos-Apoyo firm for the ATB television network.
First official returns, representing a fifth of the vote, on Monday showed Morales confirmed in his job with 52 percent. Rural areas where Morales has greater support tend to report more slowly than cities. It could take up to a week before the results are tallied.
"What happened today is important not only for Bolivians but for all Latin Americans," Morales told several thousand cheering supporters Sunday night from the balcony of the presidential palace in La Paz. "I dedicate this victory to all the revolutionaries in the world."
As supporters chanted "firm hand," urging him to get tough with his lowland rivals, Morales instead called on all the country's governors to work with him "for the unity of all Bolivians" _ especially in fighting poverty.
Winning office in December 2005, Morales received 53.7 percent of the vote _ at the time the best electoral showing for a Bolivian leader.
The Aymara politician has since nationalized the country's natural gas fields and main telephone company, but the opposition has stymied his attempts to seize fallow eastern lands and give them to impoverished Indians.
Morales has also been unable to get a date set for a nationwide vote on a new constitution that would give indigenous groups more power and allow him to be re-elected to a second five-year term. The opposition walked out of the constituent assembly that wrote the document.
On Sunday, Morales gained with the defeat of opposition governors in the highland province of La Paz and in Cochabamba, seat of his coca-growers movement. An allied governor was ousted in the highlands province of Oruro.
Morales can now name interim governors pending provincial elections.
But that does not mean Bolivia is entering a new era of reconciliation.
Cochabamba Gov. Manfred Reyes refused to step down, calling the referendum unconstitutional. Bloody street clashes broke out in the province last year when Morales supporters tried to oust Reyes.
Meanwhile, Gov. Ruben Costas of Santa Cruz, the soy-growing lowland center of resistance to Morales, won a strong endorsement in the referendum. He called Sunday's outcome "a defeat for centralism" and said his province now would create its own police force and call elections for a provincial legislature.
Santa Cruz was the first of four provinces _ including Beni, Tarija and Pando _ to declare themselves autonomous this year in what have so far been largely symbolic moves.
The more prosperous eastern provinces have resisted Morales' insistence that the central government control energy profits and decide how to distribute them.
Natural gas and precious metals revenues have boomed since Morales nationalized the gas fields in 2006 and renegotiated extraction contracts. Bolivia now keeps about 85 percent of these profits.
Chavez called and congratulated Morales on Sunday night, Venezuela's foreign minister said in Caracas.
Oil-rich Venezuela has given Bolivia tens of millions of dollars and Morales' government said Saturday that Venezuela and Iran were providing loans totaling up to US$230 million to help it build two state-owned cement plants in the Andean highlands.
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Associated Press writers Carlos Valdez and Paola Flores contributed to this report.
An official from Fiji's High Court issued a decree Thursday to prevent legal challenges to decisions made by the South Pacific nation's president or other leaders since a December 2006 military coup.
Notices posted at court entrances in the capital, Suva, said the court would not accept any complaints relating to the abrogation of Fiji's constitution on April 10 or any other government actions since the coup that ousted the democratic government.
Notices issued by Ana Rokomokoti, the High Court's acting registrar, said litigants whose proceedings had been discontinued were being notified. She did not specify how many cases were affected.
The move comes eight days before a deadline for Fiji to set a date for democratic elections or become the first country to be suspended from the 16-nation Pacific Islands Forum regional grouping.
On April 9, Fiji's Court of Appeal ruled that the 2006 coup by military leader Commodore Frank Bainimarama was illegal, as were all decisions made by his military-led government.
President Ratu Josefa Iloilo responded by abolishing the constitution, firing the nation's judges, imposing emergency rule and reinstating Bainimarama and his Cabinet. He ordered censors into newsrooms and has since ruled by decree on the advice of Bainimarama, a situation foreign critics have condemned as a military dictatorship.
Although the High Court stands empty, unconfirmed media reports suggest that Iloilo will appoint new senior court judges within days.
Iloilo also issued a decree setting up the framework for a new court system and the appointment of judges, which would require Iloilo's approval, and sought to put Bainimarama's rule beyond the threat of any further legal challenge.
"No court shall have the jurisdiction to accept, hear and determine, or in any other way entertain, any challenges whatsoever by any person to the validity or legality of any decrees made by the president from 10 April 2009," the decree said.
Rokomokoti's notice said among cases the High Court will refuse to accept are those that challenge any actions by the government since the Dec. 5, 2006 coup, including deportations from Fiji.
Suva lawyer Niko Nawaikula, a lawmaker in the deposed government of former Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, said he had three cases that would not be heard under the new decree.
There was no immediate comment from the Fiji Law Society, whose president, Dorsami Naidu, was taken in by security forces and held for two days last week. Up to a dozen journalists have also been questioned by security forces, and three foreign journalists have been expelled from the country.
Barenboim, Yo-Yo Ma usher in new century
Daniel Barenboim, musical director of the Chicago Symphony and Yo-Yo Ma, cellist, begin the first subscription concert of 2000 tonight at 8 p.m. and continuing Friday, Jan. 7 at 1:30 p.m. and Saturday, Jan. 8 at 8 p.m. in the Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Ave.
In the opening salute to the new millennium, Music Director Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra present the world premiere performances of "Ceremonial" by Augusta Read Thomas, the orchestra's composer-in-residence. The concert also includes music by Igor Stravinsky and Antonin Dvorak's beloved cello concerto with popular soloist Yo-Yo Ma.
It is the firs of four subscription concert programs that will be presented as part of Barenboim's winter residency with the Orchestra.
Thomas' score, "Ceremonial," was commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to usher in the new century. In recent years, the orchestra has commissioned two works from Augusta Read Thomas, "words of the sea" in 1996 and "Orbital Beacons" in 1998. Only 35 years old, Thomas already enjoys a major career; her list of commissions is growing steadily and her works are performed in major international music centers. She has been in the Orchestra's composer-in-residence since March 1997.
Fittingly paired with Thomas's brand new work is Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring," the score which created the biggest scandal in the history of music. The freshness and daring of this revolutionary composition, penned in 1913 for Diaghilev's ballet, put Stravinsky at the very forefront of the avant-garde.
Devorak's cello concerto dates from 1894, when the composer, at the peak of his worldwide fame, was teaching in New York. The concerto reflects no signs of Dvorak's American experience, rather it has long been accepted as a sign of his homesickness for his native Bohemia.
Yo-Yo Ma, regarded as one of the greatest cellists of the century, has appeared regularly with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra both in Orchestra Hall and at the Ravinia Festival since his 1979 subscription concert debut.
His first collaboration with Barenboim and the CSO was in 1994; in September 1996, he performed the Dvorak "Cello Concerto" under Maestro Barenboim's baton for the CSO's opening night pension fund concert.
Yo-yo Ma will appear in a special concert Sunday, Jan. 9 at 3 p.m.
Article Copyright Sengstacke Enterprises, Inc.
Thousands of protesters defied Iran's highest authority Saturday and marched on waiting security forces that fought back with baton charges, tear gas and water cannons as the crisis over disputed elections lurched into volatile new ground.
In a separate incident, a state-run television channel reported that a suicide bombing at the shrine of the Islamic Revolution leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini killed at least two people and wounded eight. The report could be not independently evaluated due to government restrictions on journalists.
If proven true, the reports could enrage conservatives and bring strains among backers of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi. Another state channel broadcast images of broken glass but no other damage or casualties, and showed a witness saying three people had been wounded.
The extent of injuries in the street battles also was unclear. Some witnesses said dozens were hurt and gunfire was heard.
Some bloggers and Twitter users claimed that there had been numerous fatalities in Saturday's unrest, reports that could not be immediately verified.
The clashes along one of Tehran's main avenues _ as described by witnesses _ had far fewer demonstrators than recent mass rallies for Mousavi. But they marked another blow to authorities who sought to intimidate protesters with harsh warnings and lines of black-clad police three deep in places.
The rallies also left questions about Mousavi's ability to hold together his protest movement, which claims that widespread fraud in June 12 elections robbed Mousavi of victory and kept hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in office.
Mousavi bewildered many followers by not directly replying to the ultimatum issued Friday by Iran's most powerful figure, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. His stern order to Mousavi and others: Call off demonstrations or risk being held responsible for "bloodshed, violence and rioting."
A police commander sharpened the message Saturday. Gen. Esmaeil Ahmadi Moghadam said more than a week of unrest and marches had become "exhausting, bothersome and intolerable." He threatened a more "serious confrontation" if protesters return.
Mousavi's silence was broken after the melee with another call to annul the election results. But there was no mention of the clashes _ suggesting he wants to distance himself from the violence and possibly opening the door for more militant factions to break away.
Amateur video showed clashes erupting in the southern city of Shiraz and witnesses reported street violence in Isfahan, south of Tehran.
"I think the regime has taken an enormous risk in confronting this situation in the manner that they have," said Mehrdad Khonsari, a consultant to the London-based Center for Arab and Iranian Studies.
"Now they'll have to hold their ground and hope that people don't keep coming back," he added. "But history has taught us that people in these situations lose their initial sense of fear and become emboldened by brutality."
In Washington, President Barack Obama urged Iranian authorities to halt "all violent and unjust actions against its own people." He said the United States "stands by all who seek to exercise" the universal rights to assembly and free speech.
Obama has offered to open talks with Iran to ease a nearly 30-year diplomatic freeze, but the upheaval could complicate any attempts at outreach.
Full details of the street battles could not be obtained because of Iranian media restrictions. But witnesses described scenes that could sharply escalate the most serious internal conflict since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
An estimated 3,000 marchers _ some chanting "Death to dictatorship!" _ marched directly onto a blockade of security forces keeping them from approaching Azadi Square, where Mousavi gathered hundreds of thousands of people on Monday.
Police first fired tear gas and water cannons at the protesters, witnesses said. Then came a second wave. It included volunteer militiamen on motorcycles chasing down demonstrators.
Witnesses claimed some marchers were beaten with batons by security forces or metal pipes wielded by the militiamen known as Basijis, who are directed by the powerful Revolutionary Guard.
An old woman cloaked in a head-to-toe black chador shouted, "Death to the dictator," drawing the attention of Basij members who ran from the other side of the street and clubbed her, according to one witness contacted by the AP.
Protesters lit trash bins on fire _ sending pillars of black smoke over the city _ and hurled rocks. Some managed to wrestle away a few motorcycles and set them ablaze.
One witness told The Associated Press that people came from apartments to aid the wounded demonstrators or allowed them to take shelter. Helicopters hovered over central Tehran until dusk.
The witnesses told AP that between 50 and 60 protesters were seriously beaten by police and pro-government militia and taken to Imam Khomeini hospital in central Tehran. People could be seen dragging away comrades bloodied by baton strikes.
Nearby, Tehran University was cordoned off by police and militia.
On the streets, witnesses said some protesters also shouted "Death to Khamenei!" _ another sign of once unthinkable challenges to the authority of the successor of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the father of the Islamic Revolution.
All witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared government reprisals. Iranian authorities have placed strict limits on the ability of foreign media to cover events, banning reporting from the street and allowing only phone interviews and information from officials sources such as state TV.
Mousavi, who served was prime minister during the 1980s, is not believed to seek the collapse of the Islamic system. But he claims that state powers were abused to skew the election results and re-elect Ahmadinejad in a landslide.
That stand has increasingly brought him and his supporters into direct confrontation with Iran's highest authorities.
A statement on Mousavi's Web site said he and his supporters were not seeking to confront their "brothers" among Iran's security forces or the "sacred system" that preserves the country's freedom and independence.
"We are confronting deviations and lies. We seek to bring reform that returns us to the pure principals of the Islamic Republic," it said.
Khamenei sided firmly with Ahmadinejad on Friday, saying the vote reflected popular will and ordering opposition leaders to end street protests.
A report on Press TV listed the fallout from the unrest, including 700 buildings and 300 banks damaged and 400 police hurt. It gave no similar list for the protesters. At least seven people have died, according to the official Iranian count, but the total could be more.
Mousavi's extremely slim hope of having the election results annulled rest with Iran's Guardian Council, an unelected body of 12 clerics and Islamic law experts. But Mousavi and another moderate candidate in the race, Mahdi Karroubi, did not appear at a meeting called to discuss their allegations of fraud, a council official told state TV.
The council has said it was prepared to conduct a limited recount of ballots at sites where candidates claim irregularities.
In a letter to the council, posted on one of Mousavi's Web site, he listed alleged violations that include his representatives being expelled from polling stations and fake ballots at some mobile polling stations.
The government has blocked Web sites such as BBC Farsi, Facebook, Twitter and several pro-Mousavi sites used by Iranians to tell the world about protests and violence. Text messaging has not been working in Iran since last week, and cell phone service in Tehran is frequently down.
But that won't stifle the opposition networks, said Sami Al Faraj, president of the Kuwait Center for Strategic Studies.
"They can resort to whispering ... they can do it the old-fashioned way," he said.
_____
Murphy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press Writer William J. Kole in Cairo contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON Cheryl D. Mills, the White House lawyer who vaulted tofame when she represented President Clinton on the Senate floor inlast winter's impeachment trial, has turned down Clinton's offer tobe White House counsel.
If Mills had accepted the promotion, which Clinton suggestedearlier this summer, she would have become the first woman and thefirst African American to hold the pivotal post. But White Houseofficials said that Mills, after weeks of consideration, gave Clintonand Chief of Staff John D. Podesta her answer Friday: No thanks.
Mills, 34, who has been at the Clinton White House since 1993 andis known as a fierce Clinton loyalist, has agreed to serve forseveral weeks as acting White House counsel while the presidentsearches for another candidate to replace Charles F.C. Ruff, who hadheld the job since 1997 and served his last day Friday.
Despite Mills' rebuff, Clinton can boast of one precedent-settingappointment, effective today. He offered his top speech-writing postto Terry Edmonds, the first African American to hold that job.
Edmonds, who had held lower-ranking speech-writing posts forClinton before joining the Social Security Administration, has helpeddraft many of the president's major speeches on race relations.These included a June 1997 speech in San Diego inaugurating anattempted yearlong national "conversation" on race relations.
Clinton's appointment of a commission to study race relations hasbeen widely criticized as ineffectual, but Edmonds, 49, a graduate ofMorgan State University, is helping Clinton draft a book reportinghis own conclusions.
Edmonds won the job over two other candidates, sources said.
White House officials said there are a handful of candidates fromoutside the White House under consideration as a permanentreplacement for Ruff.
Act now, worry later.
So says Randall Thomas, president of Consonance Technologies Inc., a Lancaster County start-up, who believes he added to his new business' start-up time by being overly cautious.
"In the beginning there's a lot of little things you spend a lot of time on that you don't need to," Thomas said. "It's better to make a decision and risk a mistake, but have that decision made, rather than vacillate."
Technically, the company has been in business since April 1997, but it's only now starting to release the product and earn revenues. At this early stage of the game, Thomas declined to say how much revenues total. But he said the Milton Hershey School is one of Consonance's big test sites.
What cost Consonance Technologies so much time was developing, financing and marketing the Reinholds-based company's automated technology for checking lighting systems. Encased in a unit about the size of a deck of cards, the technology installed inside light poles in places such as parking lots and garages increases safety at a relatively low cost. It warns a central system about problems such as faulty lamps and impending lamp failures.
The beauty of the Lighting and Appliance Supervision System, or LASS, is that it's wireless, Thomas said. Communication is carried over existing power lines and requires less manpower than the usual system of sending out repair crews just to check whether the lights are on. Consonance Technologies can monitor a point for a one-time, upfront cost of under $100, compared to status monitoring, which has been done traditionally at a minimum of $300 a point, he said.
At present, the remote sensors are being used to monitor lighting systems only, but the technology has future industrial applications. It can monitor virtually any power-drawing equipment, including refrigerators and heating, ventilation and airconditioning systems, Thomas said.
The Ben Franklin Technology Center of Central and Northern PA Inc. has provided grants to Consonance for three years running, with this year's grant totaling $125,000.
"They have some really cool technology," said regional director Stephen Brawley. "They have some sites in this area, and it's testing out well."
Overall, Brawley added, the center is seeing "a ton" of early-stage start-ups, many of them information-technology companies. "It seems like a lot more folks are taking that start-up business opportunity risk. Maybe it's a reflection of the strength of the economy and the money that's available."
Consonance Technologies' three principals are Thomas, Gerry Gobright, vice president of sales, and Edmund Nowicki, vice president of engineering. The three met while working at GAI-Tronics Corp., a firm near Reading that provides communications equipment for oil refineries and offshore rigs.
The principals share equal ownership, and they're helped by a group of partner businesses acting as "angel investors," Thomas said. Those include Bulova Technologies, Lancaster, which manufactures Consonance's printed circuitboard assemblies, and Anderson Advertising, Berks County, which is helping launch the product in the marketplace.
Speaking of the partner businesses, Thomas pointed to the concept of "agile manufacturing." Historically, he said, large manufacturers employ workers in a variety of different departments to make and sell their products. Agile manufacturing, on the other hand, blends the services of a group of independent companies with a symbiotic relationship, he said. Such relationships can lead to some surprising results. For example, Consonance Technologies' start-up has led to a start-up in another state, LASS Texas Inc., which sells the product in Texas and Oklahoma.
"We think it's a product that will revolutionize the maintenance of exterior parking lot and roadway lighting," said Lance Charriere, a partner in the Dallas-Fort Worth start-up.
"We owe it all to the Internet," he added. "That's how my partner found it. We've been working with them for a year and a half now."
The partner, D.H. Jones, recalled that he was using a search engine to look for live monitoring technologies when he came across Consonance's web site. "They had what I was looking for," Jones said. "That's how it started, and I picked up the phone and called Randy."
Charriere and his partner, Jones also own a more established business, RWC Enterprises, a 10-employee electrical contracting company that installs exterior parking lot and roadway lighting systems.
While Consonance Technologies sees this relationship as a success, it has made mistakes along the way, Thomas acknowledged. But getting back to the issue of lost time, he said even the mistakes were of value.
"It doesn't matter that you did it wrong, because you found out how to do it fight sooner. I have that philosophy now, but I didn't have it then," he said.
SHANGHAI, China - The Shanghai-based manufacturer of a leukemia drug that was banned by China's drug watchdog after some patients reported leg pains and difficulty walking said Monday it was investigating the problem.
The State Food and Drug Administration said over the weekend it had suspended the sale of methotrexate made by Shanghai Hualian Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. The drug is widely used to treat leukemia and other cancers, as well as autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.
"We are responsible for the patients and we take this issue very seriously," said Yin Qinxie, spokesman for Shanghai Pharmaceutical (Group) Co., China's biggest drug maker.
Yin said the company received reports on July 6 that some patients who received doses of methotrexate made by its unit Shanghai Hualian Pharmaceutical Co. had felt leg pains and experienced difficulty walking.
"Experts are discussing and investigating it," Yin said. "We started trying to figure out the problem as soon as we got the reports on bad reactions," he said.
The Chinese government has been trying to toughen its drug regulation amid mounting criticism at home and aboard that the quality of its drugs, food and other products is poorly regulated.
In the past week alone, a former department head at the State Food and Drug Administration was sentenced to death on bribery charges, and it was announced that authorities had withdrawn the production licenses of five drug makers over the last year and penalized 128 others.
China's pharmaceutical industry is lucrative but poorly regulated. Some companies try to cash in by substituting fake or substandard ingredients.
The country is currently overhauling its chaotic food and drug safety mechanisms, which are handicapped by competition between government agencies, murky laws and corruption.
In The Arthritis Cure (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997) by Jason Theodosakis, M.D., and colleagues, it is said that "there are more than 100 diseases that so affect the joints, the most common of which is osteoarthritis."
Osteoarthritis - what it is. In joints afflicted with osteoarthritis, the cartilage that covers and pads the ends of bones - called articular cartilage - breaks down, allowing bones to rub against each other, causing pain ranging from bothersome to excruciating.
The traditional approach. Working under the underlying assumption that osteoarthritis is unstoppable and incurable, standard treatment in this country has been to prescribe non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen and aspirin.
Unfortunately, there are three big problems with that approach: 1) research suggests that natural compounds, such as chondroitin sulfate, can halt or reverse the progression of osteoarthritis and can help rebuild cartilage; 2) there are many damaging side-effects that go along with these NSAIDs, including "stomach ulcers, intestinal bleeding, kidney failure, high blood pressure, and aggravation of immune system disorders like asthma, psoriasis, and colitis" (The Four Pillars of Healing, New York: Random House, 1997); and 3) some research actually suggests that these medications cause certain features of osteoarthritis to get worse, and more rapidly than they would have without the anti-inflammatory pain-killers.
Since little is known as to why certain people get osteoarthritis (aside from specific risk factors, such as obesity and traumatic injury), it "will be more important to design preventive strategies for the early detection of impairment and implementation of interventions to halt, slow, or reverse progression of the disease," said Masayuki Shinmei echoing E.C. Hardley in a 1995 issue of the Journal of Rheumatology. Which brings us back to: 1) why is cartilage so important?; and 2) what can we add to our diet to help preserve cartilage or restore it?
Cartilage - a closer look. Cartilage is 65 to 85 percent water, the rest made up of collagen and proteoglycans, the compounds that give cartilage its stretchability and shock-absorption capability. Together, water, collagen, and proteoglycans make up what's referred to as the "cartilage matrix."
Collagen is a crucial structural protein in cartilage that holds in the proteoglycans, which, in turn, trap water in the tissue. Proteoglycans are monster molecules (macromolecules) composed of protein and sugars. The cells which actually form new cartilage are called chondrocytes; these mini power-plants produce new collagen and proteoglycan molecules. Also important is hyaluron, the component that makes joint-fluid viscous, providing lubrication between the synovial membrane and cartilage.
Enter chondroitin sulfate. A long chain of repeating sugars, chondroitin: 1) protects the cartilage we have from premature breakdown or "nutrient starvation" by making it difficult for certain enzymes (such as N-acetylglucosaminadase) to get too ambitious; 2) stimulates the production of glycosaminoglycans (of which chondroitin sulfate is one), proteoglycans, and collagen, cartilage matrix molecules which serve as building blocks for new cartilage; 3) sweeps nutrients into the cartilage, which is important, since articular cartilage has no blood supply; 4) decreases pain and improves function; and 5) works hand-in-hand (synergistically) with glucosamine sulfate.
The diet. We do get small amounts of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfates from our food. For example, "chondroitins are found in most animal tissues, especially in the 'gristle' around joints," according to The Arthritis Cure. Nevertheless, we will not likely get what we need from food sources, particularly if we are vegetarian.
Our joint-friendly diet should be rich in fruits and vegetables. Theodosakis asks us to ensure that we're getting optimal daily levels of: vitamin A (e.g., 5,000 IU); vitamin C (e.g., 500 to 4,000 mg); vitamin E (e.g., 100 to 400 IU); selenium (e.g., 55 to 200 mcg); and boron (e.g., 3 mg). We should look for whole-foods such as green tea, berries, onions, and citrus fruits and supplements containing: citrus bioflavonoids; rutin; quercetin; hesperidin; catechins; ginkgo biloba; milk thistle; oligomeric proanthocyanidins (OPC's); and evening primrose oil.
He also recommends the following as an effective osteoarthritris prevention program: 1) eat a healthful, joint-preserving diet; 2) maintain your ideal weight; 3) exercise regularly; 4) prevent injuries; 5) ensure proper recovery if you are injured; 6) optimize your biomechanics to counteract stress to your joints; and 7) consider use of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfates, especially after injury. BN
Joseph Saladino, 47, a criminal investigator for the Cook Countystate's attorney, died of cancer Sunday at his south suburban home.
An investigator since 1969 specializing in undercover work,Saladino worked under State's Attorneys Edward Hanrahan, BernardCarey and Richard M. Daley.
"Joe was a dedicated public servant who risked his lifecountless times to protect the public's safety," Daley said.
Mr. Saladino's undercover assignments included being hired as a"hit man" 15 times and purchasing truckloads of stolen whiskey, meatand ice cream. Working undercover, he once drove a …
WASHINGTON (AP) — American companies are on a hiring spree. Businesses delivered a jolt of strength to the economy by creating 268,000 jobs in April, the biggest monthly total in more than five years. The gains were solid across an array of industries, even beleaguered construction.
It was the third month in a row of at least 200,000 new jobs. The private sector has added jobs for 14 consecutive months. Even a slight rise in the unemployment rate to 9 percent appears to be a quirk.
The job growth was better than economists expected and perhaps the strongest sign yet that what they call a "virtuous cycle" has taken hold: When people spend more, corporate earnings rise, leading …
ATLANTA - A secretary accused of helping two men steal trade secrets from The Coca-Cola Co. and trying to sell them to rival PepsiCo Inc. was ordered released on bond Thursday in a blockbuster case her lawyer likened to "a spy novel."
Joya Williams' co-defendants, a pair of ex-cons who served time together at the same federal prison in Alabama, were detained pending a preliminary hearing for all three on Tuesday. Their attorneys would not say how Williams knew the two men.
Williams' lawyer, Wanda Jackson, said outside the federal courthouse that the defense needs to see the product sample her client allegedly stole from Coke to be able to defend her properly. Jackson also …
Coke Case Suspect Ordered Released on BondATLANTA - A secretary accused of helping two men steal trade secrets from The Coca-Cola Co. and trying to sell them to rival PepsiCo Inc. was ordered released on bond Thursday in a blockbuster case her lawyer likened to "a spy novel."
Joya Williams' co-defendants, a pair of ex-cons who served time together at the same federal prison in Alabama, were detained pending a preliminary hearing for all three on Tuesday. Their attorneys would not say how Williams knew the two men.
Williams' lawyer, Wanda Jackson, said outside the federal courthouse that the defense needs to see the product sample her client allegedly stole from Coke to be able to defend her properly. Jackson also …
The City of Los Angeles signed an agreement with an Israeli water technology company.
On a visit to Israel June 15, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signed a cooperation agreement with the Kinarot-Jordan Valley Technology Incubator, the Israeli business daily Globes reported.
The company's laboratories are located just south of the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret).
Anti-terrorism agreement
The agreement will allow the technology start-up to launch pilot projects at the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power.
Los Angeles has suffered from chronic water …
(ADPnews) - May 30, 2011 - The primary public offering of Brazil-based sugar and ethanol maker Tereos Internacional (SAO:TERI3) will have a "negative" impact on the company shares in the short term, Ativa said.
However, after the completion of the transaction the company's stock is likely to show an upward trend, Ricardo Correa, analyst with Ativa, noted, attributing the "negative" short term influence of the offering to the dilution of the minority shareholders.
On May 25, Tereos Internacional filed a request for a primary public offering of …
Byline: HILLEL ITALIE Associated Press
Uncle Sam wants you to join a book club.
The National Endowment for the Arts announced Tuesday the creation of "The Big Read," a program that will sponsor community reading groups throughout the country. Like the NEA's "Poetry Out Loud," a national competition that was formed last year, the new initiative is a response to the organization's 2004 study, "Reading at Risk," which reported a dramatic rise in nonreading.
In a recent interview with The Associated Press, NEA Chairman Dana Gioia said that books have benefits beyond the private enjoyment of a good story.
"There's a whole social aspect to …
Byline: Susan Pierce
Sep. 16--The National Merit Scholarship Corp. recognized the academic excellence of 37 area high school seniors this week by naming them semifinalists in its National Merit Scholarship program.
Twenty-nine Chattanooga private-school students qualified along with one from Cleveland High School and seven from North Georgia schools, according to the NMSC.
Locally, Baylor School had 11 students qualify, although one of them, Robert Alex Copeland, is now a student at Darlington School in Rome, Ga. Darlington also had two other students named semifinalists. Baylor's Rick Manning claimed the double distinction of being named a …
BOSTON (AP) — Former Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner has been sentenced to three years in prison for taking a $1,000 bribe and then lying about it to FBI agents.
After his sentencing Tuesday, Turner insisted he's innocent and blamed "political persecution" for his conviction.
Turner was sentenced for taking a $1,000 bribe and then lying about it to FBI agents. Judge Douglas Woodlock also found he had committed perjury when …
The textbooks on infant mortality don't mention BrendaStephenson and Mildred Wortham. But they could write a book aboutwhat they've seen.
The pair have front row seats in the war against infantmortality. They are caseworkers for West Side Future. That's a partof Families With a Future, the Illinois infant mortality reductioninitiative program.
On a recent day, they talked about the grinding poverty andindifference they face daily in their fight for healthy babies. It'sa harsh and often cruel story of failure - and success.
"I have one client who is nine months pregnant and hooked oncocaine," Wortham said, shaking her head in frustration. "She told …
Mr. Nolte has 30 years experience in financial and economic consulting. He has served as an expert witness in over 100 trials. Credentials include CPA, MBA, CMA and ASA.
Area of Specialization: Financial Forensics Website: www.fulcrum.com State or Country: CA Category: Listing #:62611 [To …
NEW Leake Post Office is to be replaced with an 'outreach' service.
In its latest round of closures, Post Office Ltd has confirmed in principle the village post office will be replaced with this service.
"The outreach solutions could include a mobile service visiting small communities at set times, a hosted service operated within third party premises for restricted hours each week, or a partner service within the premises of a local partner," read a statement from Post Office Ltd.
Earlier this year villagers in Midville, Eastville and New Leake mobilised to try to fight the proposed …
Byline: ELIZABETH BENJAMIN Staff writer
From a morning groundbreaking for a new 900-space garage to an evening review of his proposed permit parking legislation with the Common Council, Mayor Jerry Jennings' primary focus Wednesday was on easing Albany's parking crunch.
The $12 million, six-story municipal garage will be the first to be built downtown in a decade. Located just south of the Clinton Avenue ramp off Interstate 787, officials hope the garage will intercept cars as they exit the highway and prevent them from adding to the congested weekday traffic.
``This is our commitment to be part of the solution,'' Jennings said. ``To say we have not …
Byline: Beacon Journal staff report
May 16--Tickets for Friday night's Game 6 of the Cavaliers' playoff series against the Detroit Pistons at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland are sold out.
The Cavs and Pistons play Game 5 of their series Wednesday night in Auburn Hills, Mich. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m., with the game on TNT.
The series is tied at 2-2 following Cleveland's 74-72 win on Monday.
Friday's tip-off time will be determined by what happens in the Mavs-Spurs Western …
Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik believes Sri Lanka will be at an advantage in their three-match one-day series starting Tuesday because it has played more recently.
Pakistan has played just three one-day internationals against the West Indies since hosting the Asia Cup last June, while Sri Lanka has hosted India and played Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in the past six months since successfully defending its Asia Cup title.
"They have an advantage of playing more international cricket and have greater confidence levels than us," Malik said Monday.
After back-to-back matches in Karachi on Tuesday and Wednesday, the last match will be played in …
Leigh Ledare
ROTH
A typewritten note describing the artist's mother air-drying naked on a bed, postshower; a napkin on which his mother has scribbled things she would like to be ("a writer like Marguerite Duras and Anai's Nin" ); a grid of thirty-six photos of his mother playing with her labia; a page from a 1966 Seventeen magazine profile of his mother as a young ballerina; classified ads his mother placed in the Seattle Weekly seeking "a generous wealthy husband (not someone else's) who wants his own private dancer." In all, twenty-three works (images, texts, ephemera) made up "Pretend You're Actually Alive," Leigh Ledare's first New York solo exhibition, which coincided …
