- Tweet
- Tweet
Cast your vote for who will be the night's big winners Click here to download a printable ballot.
Click here to download a printable ballot.
Polls
completed:
Predict the Grammy Award Winners!
Label: Lifestyle
After early start, worst of flu season may be over
Label: HealthNEW YORK (AP) — The worst of the flu season appears to be over.
The number of states reporting intense or widespread illnesses dropped again last week, and in a few states there was very little flu going around, U.S. health officials said Friday.
The season started earlier than normal, first in the Southeast and then spreading. But now, by some measures, flu activity has been ebbing for at least four weeks in much of the country. Flu and pneumonia deaths also dropped the last two weeks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
"It's likely that the worst of the current flu season is over," CDC spokesman Tom Skinner said.
But flu is hard to predict, he and others stressed, and there have been spikes late in the season in the past.
For now, states like Georgia and New York — where doctor's offices were jammed a few weeks ago — are reporting low flu activity. The hot spots are now the West Coast and the Southwest.
Among the places that have seen a drop: Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Allentown, Pa., which put up a tent outside its emergency room last month to help deal with the steady stream of patients. There were about 100 patients each day back then. Now it's down to 25 and the hospital may pack up its tent next week, said Terry Burger, director of infection control and prevention for the hospital.
"There's no question that we're seeing a decline," she said.
In early December, CDC officials announced flu season had arrived, a month earlier than usual. They were worried, saying it had been nine years since a winter flu season started like this one. That was 2003-04 — one of the deadliest seasons in the past 35 years, with more than 48,000 deaths.
Like this year, the major flu strain was one that tends to make people sicker, especially the elderly, who are most vulnerable to flu and its complications
But back then, that year's flu vaccine wasn't made to protect against that bug, and fewer people got flu shots. The vaccine is reformulated almost every year, and the CDC has said this year's vaccine is a good match to the types that are circulating. A preliminary CDC study showed it is about 60 percent effective, which is close to the average.
So far, the season has been labeled moderately severe.
Like others, Lehigh Valley's Burger was cautious about making predictions. "I'm not certain we're completely out of the woods," with more wintry weather ahead and people likely to be packed indoors where flu can spread around, she said.
The government does not keep a running tally of flu-related deaths in adults, but has received reports of 59 deaths in children. The most — nine — were in Texas, where flu activity was still high last week. Roughly 100 children die in an average flu season, the CDC says
On average, about 24,000 Americans die each flu season, according to the CDC.
According to the CDC report, the number of states with intense activity is down to 19, from 24 the previous week, and flu is widespread in 38 states, down from 42.
Flu is now minimal in Florida, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
___
Online:
CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/
Stocks end higher for sixth straight week, tech leads
Label: BusinessNEW YORK (Reuters) - The Nasdaq composite stock index closed at a 12-year high and the S&P 500 index at a five-year high, boosted by gains in technology shares and stronger overseas trade figures.
The S&P 500 also posted a sixth straight week of gains for the first time since August.
The technology sector led the day's gains, with the S&P 500 technology index <.splrct> up 1.0 percent. Gains in professional network platform LinkedIn Corp
Shares of LinkedIn jumped 21.3 percent to $150.48 after the social networking site announced strong quarterly profits and gave a bullish forecast for the year.
AOL Inc shares rose 7.4 percent to $33.72 after the online company reported higher quarterly profit, boosted by a 13 percent rise in advertising sales.
Data showed Chinese exports grew more than expected, a positive sign for the global economy. The U.S. trade deficit narrowed in December, suggesting the U.S. economy likely grew in the fourth quarter instead of contracting slightly as originally reported by the U.S. government.
"That may have sent a ray of optimism," said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
Trading volume on Friday was below average for the week as a blizzard swept into the northeastern United States.
The U.S. stock market has posted strong gains since the start of the year, with the S&P 500 up 6.4 percent since December 31. The advance has slowed in recent days, with fourth-quarter earnings winding down and few incentives to continue the rally on the horizon.
"I think we're in the middle of a trading range and I'd put plus or minus 5.0 percent around it. Fundamental factors are best described as neutral," Dickson said.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> ended up 48.92 points, or 0.35 percent, at 13,992.97. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> was up 8.54 points, or 0.57 percent, at 1,517.93. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> was up 28.74 points, or 0.91 percent, at 3,193.87, its highest closing level since November 2000.
For the week, the Dow was down 0.1 percent, the S&P 500 was up 0.3 percent and the Nasdaq up 0.5 percent.
Shares of Dell
Dell's largest independent shareholder, Southeastern Asset Management, said it plans to oppose the buyout of the personal computer maker, setting up a battle for founder Michael Dell.
Signs of economic strength overseas buoyed sentiment on Wall Street. Chinese exports grew more than expected in January, while imports climbed 28.8 percent, highlighting robust domestic demand. German data showed a 2012 surplus that was the nation's second highest in more than 60 years, an indication of the underlying strength of Europe's biggest economy.
Separately, U.S. economic data showed the trade deficit shrank in December to $38.5 billion, its narrowest in nearly three years, indicating the economy did much better in the fourth quarter than initially estimated.
Earnings have mostly come in stronger than expected since the start of the reporting period. Fourth-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies now are estimated up 5.2 percent versus a year ago, according to Thomson Reuters data. That contrasts with a 1.9 percent growth forecast at the start of the earnings season.
Molina Healthcare Inc
The CBOE Volatility index <.vix>, Wall Street's so-called fear gauge, was down 3.6 percent at 13.02. The gauge, a key measure of market expectations of short-term volatility, generally moves inversely to the S&P 500.
"I'm watching the 14 level closely" on the CBOE Volatility index, said Bryan Sapp, senior trading analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research. "The break below it at the beginning of the year signaled the sharp rally in January, and a rally back above it could be a sign to exercise some caution."
Volume was roughly 5.6 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and the NYSE MKT, compared with the 2012 average daily closing volume of about 6.45 billion.
Advancers outpaced decliners on the NYSE by nearly 2 to 1 and on the Nasdaq by almost 5 to 3.
(Additional reporting by Angela Moon; Editing by Bernadette Baum, Nick Zieminski, Kenneth Barry and Andrew Hay)
Israel's Lieberman says Palestinian peace accord impossible
Label: WorldJERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel has no chance of signing a permanent peace accord with the Palestinians and should instead seek a long-term interim deal, the most powerful political partner of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday.
The remarks by Avigdor Lieberman, an ultranationalist whose joint party list with Netanyahu narrowly won a January 22 election while centrist challengers made surprise gains, seemed designed to dampen expectations at home and abroad of fresh peacemaking.
A spring visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories by U.S. President Barack Obama, announced this week, has stirred speculation that foreign pressure for a diplomatic breakthrough could build - though Washington played down that possibility.
In a television interview, ex-foreign minister Lieberman linked the more than two-year-old impasse to pan-Arab political upheaval that has boosted Islamists hostile to the Jewish state.
These include Hamas, rivals of U.S.-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who control the Gaza Strip and spurn coexistence with Israel though they have mooted extended truces.
"Anyone who thinks that in the center of this socio-diplomatic ocean, this tsunami which is jarring the Arab world, it is possible to arrive at the magic solution of a comprehensive peace with the Palestinians does not understand," Lieberman told Israel's Channel Two.
"This is impossible. It is not possible to solve the conflict here. The conflict can be managed and it is important to manage the conflict ... to negotiate on a long-term interim agreement."
Abbas broke off talks in late 2010 in protest at Israel's settlement of the occupied West Bank. He angered Israel and the United States in November by securing a U.N. status upgrade that implicitly recognized Palestinian independence in all the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza.
Israel insists it will keep East Jerusalem and swathes of West Bank settlements under any eventual peace deal. Most world powers consider the settlements illegal because they take up land seized in the 1967 Middle East war.
Lieberman, himself a West Bank settler, said the ball was "in Abu Mazen's (Abbas') court" to revive diplomacy.
Abbas has demanded Israel first freeze all settlement construction. With two decades gone since Palestinians signed their first interim deal with Israel, he has ruled out any new negotiations that do not solemnize Palestinian statehood.
Netanyahu's spokesman Mark Regev noted that Lieberman, in the Channel Two interview, had said he was expressing his own opinion.
Asked how Netanyahu saw peace prospects for an accord with the Palestinians, Regev referred to a speech on Tuesday in which the conservative prime minister said that Israel, while addressing threats by its enemies, "must also pursue secure, stable and realistic peace with our neighbors".
Netanyahu has previously spoken in favor of a Palestinian state, though he has been cagey on its borders and whether he would be prepared to dismantle Israeli settlements.
Lieberman's role in the next coalition government is unclear as he faces trial for corruption. If convicted, he could be barred from the cabinet. Lieberman denies wrongdoing and has said he would like to regain the foreign portfolio, which he surrendered after his indictment was announced last year.
(Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Stephen Powell)
Sue Paterno Breaks Her Silence, Defends Late Husband Joe
Label: LifestyleBy Nicole Weisensee Egan
02/08/2013 at 03:00 PM EST
Sue and Joe Paterno in 2010
Nabil K. Mark/Centre Daily Times/MCT/Getty
Nearly one year after Joe Paterno's death amid scandal, his widow is speaking out.
The football coach – whose heralded 61-year career at PSU ended amid speculation that he did not do enough to prevent former employee Jerry Sandusky from sexually abusing young boys – was "scrupulously honest, rigidly moral and absolutely unafraid of the consequences of doing the right thing," his widow, Sue, says in a letter sent to former Penn State football players Friday.
On Sunday morning, Sue Paterno will release the results of an investigation she ordered into her husband's conduct during the period when Sandusky was bringing his young victims to the university campus, and later when a witness to one of Sandusky's crimes came to the Paternos' home to report some of what he had seen.
She did not give the results of the report in her letter to the players, instead urging them to go to paterno.com on Sunday to read it themselves. The investigation, carried out by experts hired by her lawyers, was a response to a report commissioned by Penn State's board of directors and conducted by former FBI Director Louis Freeh last July. The report alleged that Paterno and other top school officials had shown "shocking disregard for child victims" and tried to cover up the scandal.
"I did not recognize the man Mr. Freeh described," she wrote. "I am here to tell you as definitively and forcefully as I know how that Mr. Freeh could not have been more off base in his assessment of Joe."
"I knew Joe Paterno as well as one human being can know another. Joe was exactly the moral, disciplined and demanding man you knew him to be."
In an exclusive at-home interview with PEOPLE, Sue, 73, goes on to say that "Joe lived his values every day, on and off the field, and he instilled those values in his players. Honesty was paramount."
In October, Sandusky, 69, was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison on 45 counts of child sexual abuse.
For Sue Paterno's complete interview, pick up next week's PEOPLE, on newsstands next Friday
Health officials: Worst of flu season may be over
Label: HealthNEW YORK (AP) — The worst of the flu season appears to be over.
The number of states reporting intense or widespread flu dropped again last week, U.S. health officials said Friday.
The season started earlier than normal, spiking first in the Southeast and then spreading. But now, by some measures, flu activity has been ebbing for at least four weeks in much of the country. Flu and pneumonia deaths have been dropping for two weeks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
"It's likely that the worst of the current flu season is over," CDC spokesman Tom Skinner said in an email.
It's been nine years since a conventional flu season started like this one. That was the winter of 2003-04 — one of the deadliest in the past 35 years, with more than 48,000 deaths. Like this year, that season had the same dominant flu strain, one that tends to make people sicker.
But back then, the flu vaccine didn't protect against that bug, and fewer people got flu shots. The vaccine is reformulated each year, and the CDC has said this year's vaccine is a good match to the types that are circulating. A preliminary CDC study showed this year's version is about 60 percent effective.
So far, the season has been labeled moderately severe.
The government does not keep a running tally of flu-related deaths in adults, but has received reports of 59 such deaths in children. The most — nine — were in Texas, where flu activity was still high last week.
On average, about 24,000 Americans die each flu season, according to the CDC.
Flu vaccinations are recommended for everyone 6 months or older.
Wall Street jumps; Nasdaq near 12-year high
Label: BusinessNEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks climbed on Friday, pushing the S&P 500 to a fresh five-year high and putting the Nasdaq within a hair of a 12-year intraday high, following a batch of encouraging domestic and international economic reports.
Data showing stronger international trade in China and Germany, and a report indicating the U.S. trade deficit had narrowed in December, pointed to improving global demand.
"That may have sent a ray of optimism," said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
The technology sector led the day's gains, with the S&P 500 technology index <.splrct> up 1 percent. Gains in LinkedIn Corp
The benchmark S&P 500 <.spx>, up more than 6 percent for the year, is on track for six straight weeks of gains for the first time since August 2012.
But an advance has been tougher in recent days as investors await strong trading incentives to drive the index further upward.
"I think we're in the middle of a trading range and I'd put plus or minus 5 percent around it. Fundamental factors are best described as neutral," Dickson said.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> was up 40.94 points, or 0.29 percent, at 13,984.99. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> was up 7.72 points, or 0.51 percent, at 1,517.11. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> was up 27.94 points, or 0.88 percent, at 3,193.08.
The Nasdaq was just 3 points shy of its highest level since November 2000.
Shares of LinkedIn jumped 21.1 percent to $150.31 after announcing quarterly profits and giving a bullish forecast for the year.
AOL Inc shares rose 7.5 percent to $33.77 after the online company reported higher quarterly profit, boosted by a 13 percent rise in advertising sales.
The CBOE Volatility index <.vix>, Wall Street's so-called fear gauge, was down 4.2 percent at 12.94. The gauge, a key measure of market expectations of short-term volatility, generally moves inversely to the S&P 500.
"I'm watching the 14 level closely" on the CBOE Volatility index, said Bryan Sapp, senior trading analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research. "The break below it at the beginning of the year signaled the sharp rally in January, and a rally back above it could be a sign to exercise some caution."
Data showed Chinese exports grew more than expected in January, while imports climbed 28.8 percent, highlighting robust domestic demand, while German data showed a 2012 surplus that was the nation's second highest in more than 60 years, an indication of the underlying strength of Europe's biggest economy.
Separately, U.S. economic data showed the trade deficit shrank in December to $38.5 billion, its narrowest in nearly three years, indicating the economy did much better in the fourth quarter than initially estimated.
(Additional reporting by Angela Moon; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Nick Zieminski)
EU leaders approve budget, and everyone wins - at least politically
Label: WorldAfter a vigorous all-nighter of horse-trading, European Union leaders in Brussels overcame what appeared to be unsalvageable differences and on Friday approved a 960 billion euro ($1.3 trillion), seven-year budget for the 27-member block.
But while the new 2014-2020 budget allows the leaders involved to claim victory to their constituents back home, the agreement's significance is mostly political, rather than practical – and could still be subject to a veto from the EU Parliament.
RECOMMENDED:
Think you know Europe? Take our geography quiz.
The core divide at the summit was a familiar one, once again pitting the French-led block, backed by Italy and Spain, that wanted to secure funds to spur economic growth, against the British-led block, backed by richer and smaller northern European nations, that demanded more austerity and shrinking of what they see as an giant EU bureaucracy.
The ultimate broker was – not surprisingly – Germany's Angela Merkel, who supported cuts, but prioritized clinching a deal in order to avoid exposing the EU as a dysfunctional block unable to agree on common policies: a scenario that could have undermined its credibility when it comes to economic recovery policies.
Get our FREE 2013 Global Security Forecast now
Ultimately, all parties agreed on a 45 billion euro ($60 billion) reduction from the current budget cycle, and a symbolic 12 billion euro ($16 billion) less than a November proposal that Britain and its allies rejected, raising worries that a deal was not forthcoming. The cuts will come mostly from energy and transport projects.
"Deal done!" EU President Herman Van Rompuy said in Twitter. "We simply could not ignore the extremely difficult economic realities across Europe, so it had to be a leaner budget," he said in a press conference.
EVERYONE WINS
The apparently irreconcilable positions among Europe's leaders are driven by domestic politics and opposing visions of what the EU should be, rather than actual number-crunching. Those contrasting visions are not easily smoothed over, as the budget must be unanimously approved by country leaders.
In addition, the EU Parliament has veto power and it has threatened to still block approval if the cuts are too big.
But EU President Herman Van Rompuy, who is responsible for proposing compromises to bridge the budget differences, designed a budget that allowed all major participants to claim victory with their constituencies.
British Prime Minister David Cameron, who threatened multiple times to veto the budget in order to placate growing euroskepticism from his coalition partners, imposed the symbolic austerity. France's Francois Holland can claim he blocked an overly thrifty budget to show his citizens that he would defend French interests.
Ultimately, it appears that every nation can claim victory. The UK can claim the EU yielded to its demands; Denmark will get the bigger rebate it asked for; Germany will reaffirm its leadership role, and France will not lose its agriculture subsidies.
Italy and Spain secured little change to their net receipts, though Spain will be the main beneficiary of a 6 billion euro fund aimed at cutting youth unemployment.
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING?
But for all the political significance, the practical implications of the agreement are limited, as the EU budget is not designed to finance national expenditure. Every country has to contribute to the budget, depending on numerous factors, especially the size of its population and economy. But every country also received rebates toward specific policies, the biggest being agricultural subsidies, rural development, and infrastructure projects, that mostly benefit France, Poland, Spain, Italy, and Eastern Europe.
The budget is designed to bridge the economic and development differences in Europe. Rich northern European countries, and France, are net contributors, while southern and eastern European countries are net receivers. The logic is that rich countries ultimately benefit from having a more balanced EU.
No member country actually depends on the EU budget, though. The headline EU budget is equivalent to around 1 percent of the EU's gross domestic product. The net benefit of each is minute, as a share of overall government expenditure. And the 12 billion in additional cuts, equivalent to less than 2 billion annually, are insignificant.
RECOMMENDED:
Think you know Europe? Take our geography quiz.
Related stories
Read this story at csmonitor.com
Become a part of the Monitor community
Ex-cop hunted over California vendetta killings
Label: TechnologyBIG BEAR LAKE, California (Reuters) – A fugitive former police officer accused of declaring war on law enforcement in an Internet manifesto and wanted as a suspect in three murders eluded a manhunt for a second day on Friday in the snow-swept mountains east of Los Angeles.
Search teams combed hillsides and homes around a ski area through the night and past daybreak for Christopher Dorner, 33, a former Navy officer presumed by police to be heavily armed and intent on carrying out a vendetta against those he blames for his 2008 dismissal from the Los Angeles Police Department.
“We did not find any additional evidence, and we certainly did not locate him,” San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon told a news briefing, adding that investigators were pressing ahead despite heavy snow that complicated the manhunt.
“We’re going to continue searching until either we determine that he’s left the mountain or we find him,” McMahon said at the Big Bear Lake resort, about 80 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
Snowfall forced authorities to ground helicopters used on Thursday to scour the area with infrared cameras. But a team of more than 100 law enforcement officers, some of them riding on “snow cat” tractor vehicles, kept up an intense ground search with dogs.
The search was focused on a wooded area near where Dorner‘s pickup truck was found burning in the snow on Wednesday, and in nearby higher elevations dotted with abandoned cabins, McMahon said.
Search teams had followed footprints found in the snow near Dorner’s truck on Thursday “around the forest … until we lost them where the ground got frozen and we couldn’t continue to track,” he said.
By Friday morning, sheriff’s deputies had gone door to door to several hundred vacation homes without finding signs of forced entry, and no vehicles were reported stolen. Area schools shut on Thursday as a precaution remained closed due to snow, McMahon said.
Police have said they believe Dorner was carrying multiple weapons, including an assault-style rifle, though the manifesto attributed to the suspect suggested he might be more heavily armed.
“Do not deploy airships or gunships. SA-7 Manpads will be waiting,” the message said, in a reference to a Russian-made shoulder-launched missile system.
“The violence of action will be high…I will bring unconventional and asymmetrical warfare to those in LAPD (Los Angeles Police Department) uniform whether on or off duty,” he allegedly wrote.
Police said they had taken steps to protect about 40 potential targets mentioned in the online declaration, but the LAPD canceled a citywide tactical alert, where officers are held over on their shifts and work overtime for as long as needed.
DOUBLE HOMICIDE
Dorner first came to public attention on Wednesday when he was named as a suspect in the weekend killings of a university security officer and his fiancée, college basketball coach Monica Quan, 28, in Irvine, about 40 miles south of Los Angeles. They were found shot to death on Sunday in a car at the top of a parking structure.
Quan was the daughter of a retired Los Angeles police captain who represented Dorner in disciplinary action that led to his firing in 2008. Police say Dorner was dismissed for making false statements accusing another officer of using excessive force.
Two Los Angeles police officers assigned to a search detail traded gunfire with him early on Thursday in the city of Corona, east of Los Angeles, police said.
About 20 minutes later, two other officers were ambushed and one of them was killed. They had been sitting in their patrol car at a traffic light near Corona in the town of Riverside.
The officer who died, and whose name has not been released by authorities in an effort to protect his family from Dorner, was an 11-year Riverside police veteran. His wounded partner is expected to make a full recovery, police said.
Former Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton warned on CBS television that the burned-out truck was “possibly a diversionary tactic to draw people into that area while he’s actually heading south.”
The FBI said its agents had searched a Las Vegas residence owned by Dorner, who joined the Navy in 2002 and the LAPD in 2005. He was discharged from the Navy Reserves last Friday, two days before Quan and her fiance were found slain.
Dorner, who once played college football, blamed the police department not just for firing him but also for ending his Navy career and the loss of close relationships.
He listed other grievances as well, such as encountering racism both at the LAPD and as an African-American boy growing up in Southern California.
But it remained unclear what led to the violence nearly five years after his firing and three years after his petition to be reinstated to the LAPD was denied by a judge.
(Additional reporting by Nichola Groom; Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Daniel Trotta, Alden Bentley, Cynthia Johnston and Leslie Gevirtz)
Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News
Title Post: Ex-cop hunted over California vendetta killings
Url Post: http://www.news.fluser.com/ex-cop-hunted-over-california-vendetta-killings/
Link To Post : Ex-cop hunted over California vendetta killings
Rating:
100%
based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment
Jessica Simpson Takes Her Bump For a Workout!
Label: LifestyleBy Maggie Coughlan
02/07/2013 at 04:00 PM EST
Jessica Simpson
Bruja/Juan Sharma/Pacific Coast News
Now that's a bump!
While heading to the gym on Wednesday, an expectant Jessica Simpson was photographed in Los Angeles wearing a form-fitting black top that showed off her growing belly.
Shielded by sunglasses, Simpson, 32, looked relaxed in comfy green sweatpants and her hair up in a high ponytail.
The Weight Watchers spokeswoman is expecting her second child with fiancé Eric Johnson. The couple are already parents to 9-month-old daughter, Maxwell Drew.
But the mommy mogul is doing more than just expanding her family, she's also taking on a maternity-focused business venture. Simpson recently partnered with Destination Maternity to feature her designs at over 800 stores.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Copyright © News protagon. All rights reserved.
Design 
And Business Directories
