Able Author

Sexy High Heels

Many people now believe that all corsets are uncomfortable and that wearing them restricted women's lives, citing Victorian literature devoted to sensible or hygienic dress.[citation needed] However, these writings generally protested against the misuse of corsets for tightlacing; they were less vehement against corsets per se. Many reformers recommended "Emancipation bodices", which were essentially tightly-fitted vests, like full-torso corsets without boning. See Victorian dress reform.

At this time, there were two other variants of stays, jumps, which were looser stays with attached sleeves, like a jacket, and corsets.(Steele 27)

COPENHAGEN (AFP) –
South Africa will host the 17th conference of parties under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2011, the chair of the Copenhagen climate talks, Connie Hedegaard, said on Wednesday.

The 2010 conference will take place in Mexico City.

The 18th conference, taking place in 2012, will be held in Asia, Hedegaard said.

The December 7-18 talks in Copenhagen are being attended by 15,000 delegates, activists and journalists at the Bella Center conference venue, and many thousands more are attending an "alternative" climate conference in the city centre.

DAKAR (AFP) –
Kidnapping has become a lucrative business for Al-Qaeda's north African branch, experts said Tuesday after a French national and three Spaniards were abducted in the Sahel within days of each other.

The kidnapping of Frenchman Pierre Camatte in northern Mali last week and the abduction of the Spanish aid workers on Sunday have both been attributed to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), even though it has not yet claimed responsibility.

In the last year, kidnappings "have multiplied, and the situation has continuously deteriorated in the last five years," Alain Antil, a researcher for the French Institute on International Relations (IFRI) said.

"Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb needs money (...) Other groups can snatch Westerners for them and hand them over. You get the impression it's becoming a business in the (Sahel) region," Antil explained.

AQIM "has grave financial problems and these kidnappings show a push to resolve this," French Al-Qaeda specialist Jean-Pierre Filiu of the Paris Institute for Political Qtudies said.

"In times of difficulty (Al-Qaeda's north African branch) becomes dangerous," added the author of several books on Islamist extremism.

According to the coordinator of counterterrorism at the US State Department, Daniel Benjamin, AQIM "is financially strapped, particularly in Algeria, and unable to reach its recruiting goals." Benjamin said that it was reliant on kidnapping Westerners.

AQIM have targeted tourists as well as aid workers.

In February 2008, two Austrian tourists were kidnapped by AQIM in Tunisia, who took them to northern Mali and released them after eight months. In December of the same year two Canadian diplomats were seized in Niger by a group that claims links with Al-Qaeda.

They were soon joined by four European tourists -- two Swiss, a German and a Briton -- abducted in the border region between Mali and Niger in January.

The Canadian diplomats, the Swiss hostages and the German were released over the following months, but in June AQIM put a message on a web site saying it has killed the Briton, Edwin Dyer.

Ransoms are believed to have been paid and deals struck to release jailed militants, though most of the governments involved vehemently deny entering into an deals.

Observers say the killing of the British hostage was because London had refused to give in to the kidnappers demands to release an Islamic militant jailed in Britain.

In the Austrians' case, local media in Austria quoted sources saying a ransom of between two and three million euros was paid but stressed that Vienna had not paid any money directly to the kidnappers.

Likewise, Canadian media reported that the Malian authorities paid several million dollars to ensure the release of the Canadians. Canada denies paying a ransom, but critics point to the fact that Canadian aid to Mali has more than quadrupled since.

Last September, Algerian President Abelaziz Bouteflika pleaded before the United Nations General Assembly for a ban on paying ransoms to kidnappers, which he said had reached "worrying proportions."

According to the Algerian leader "ransoms are now the principal source of finance for terrorism".

However, anti-drug investigators believe the recent discovery of a burnt-out Boeing airliner in the Malian desert that the UN says transported cocaine from Venezuela demonstrates a link between organised crime gangs and the Islamist militants.

WASHINGTON – A week after they crashed the Obama administration's first state dinner, Michaele and Tareq Salahi are telling their side of the story on U.S. television.
The Salahis were scheduled to be interviewed Tuesday morning by Matt Lauer on NBC's "Today." Despite reports that the couple was seeking payment to be interviewed, an NBC spokeswoman insisted, "No money changed hands."
NBC's parent company, NBC Universal, also owns the cable network Bravo. Michaele Salahi had hoped to land a part on an upcoming Bravo reality show, "The Real Housewives of D.C."
On Monday there were more twists in the unfolding mystery of how the Virginia couple managed to get into the White House dinner Nov. 24 and shake hands with President Barack Obama.
It was revealed that they communicated with a senior Pentagon official about going to the event, but the official denied that she helped the couple get in.
Michele Jones, a special assistant to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, said in a written statement issued through the White House that she never said or implied she would get the Salahis into the event.
"I specifically stated that they did not have tickets and in fact that I did not have the authority to authorize attendance, admittance or access to any part of the evening's activities," Jones said. "Even though I informed them of this, they still decided to come."
WTTG-TV, the Fox affiliate in Washington, reported on a similar incident a month before, in which the Salahis sneaked in through a back entrance to a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Awards dinner at which Obama spoke. A guest complained that the couple didn't belong at his table.
"I double-checked my (guest) list and when they weren't on that list we escorted them out," a foundation representative, Lance Jones, said in an interview early Tuesday.
Also on Monday, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee asked the couple, Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan and White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers to testify at a hearing Thursday on the incident.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said he wants answers about the Secret Service's security deficiencies that allowed the Salahis to attend the White House dinner. A White House photo showed the Salahis in the receiving line in the Blue Room with Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in whose honor the dinner was held.
"This is a time for answers," Thompson said in a statement Monday. "This is not the time for political games or scapegoating to distract our attention from the careful oversight we must apply to the Secret Service and its mission."
Some lawmakers have called for criminal charges to be brought against the couple, but the Secret Service has not yet decided whether to refer the case for criminal prosecution.
The Secret Service declined to comment on whether Sullivan would testify Thursday.
The couple's publicist, Mahogany Jones, could not immediately be reached for comment about whether the Salahis would testify Thursday. But earlier Monday, she said allegations that the Salahis were shopping interviews and demanding money from television networks to tell their story are false.
A TV executive who spoke on condition of anonymity to publicly discuss bookings told The Associated Press that the couple's representatives had urged networks to "get their bids in" for an interview.
___
Associated Press writers Julie Pace and Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report.

WINDERMERE, Fla. – The professional athletes, bold-faced celebrities and corporate moguls who live in Tiger Woods' neighborhood favor it less for its clay tennis courts and Arnold Palmer-designed golf course than for its 8-foot security wall and platoon of private guards.
Among the many Isleworth amenities — sprawling outdoor sculptures, picturesque lakes, an 89,000-square-foot clubhouse — the one its well-to-do residents value most is its privacy. That's been harder to maintain since Friday, when the world's top golfer and most famous athlete smashed his Cadillac SUV into a fire hydrant and a tree as he pulled out of his driveway in the middle of the night.
Woods' crash outside his multimillion-dollar home near Orlando has drawn a media mob to the exclusive 300-family community, or more specifically, to its gated checkpoints. Visitors can only get past the Spanish-tiled gatehouse at the main entrance if a resident gives their name to a guard. The white-shirted guards in quasi-police uniforms then check visitors' IDs to verify names on the list.
More than a dozen television trucks were camped outside the entrance Monday as almost 100 reporters, photographers and TV crew members filmed residents' comings and goings. TV helicopters hovered overhead.
And the media are likely to stay until they get answers to where Woods was headed at 2:25 a.m. and what caused the crash. Woods, who briefly lost consciousness and was treated for cuts and bruises at a hospital, has issued two short statements through his Web site and has declined to talk with the Florida Highway Patrol.
In his statements, the famously insular golfer called the accident embarrassing and asked the public to respect — what else? — his privacy.
It's the second time in three months his community has made national news. In September, a prominent developer having money problems was accused of fatally shooting his wife in their home, which was once owned by Palmer.
Bob Ward is charged with second-degree murder in the death of his 55-year-old wife, Diane. He has pleaded not guilty and is free on a $100,000 bond.
In a state that boasts locales like Miami Beach and Key West, there are ritzier, more exotic spots than Isleworth, which sits on old orange groves amid the central Florida swamps.
Yet since the neighborhood's development in the 1980s, it has attracted sports stars and celebrities by the dozen. Former and current residents include Shaquille O'Neal, Penny Hardaway and Dee Brown from the NBA; baseball star Ken Griffey Jr.; Andre Reed of the NFL; former Wimbledon doubles champion Todd Woodbridge; and actor Wesley Snipes.
So many PGA golfers live in Isleworth that the neighborhood fields a team each year to play in a tournament against a rival luxury neighborhood in metro Orlando. Isleworth's Tavistock Cup team this year included Mark O'Meara, Stuart Appleby, Darren Clarke, John Cook, J.B. Holmes, Charles Howell III and Woods, among other pros. Florida doesn't have a state income tax and there are nearby numerous world-class courses where they can practice.
Pro athletes are specifically attracted to Isleworth, where new homes range from $1.5 million to $8 million, "because of the security and the class of the whole place and its accessibility to the airport," said Joyce McClane, a retiree who was one of Isleworth's earliest residents. She bought a lot in the neighborhood with her husband in 1987.
For Kyung Hee Yoon, the appeal is security. She and her radiologist husband bought a $2.5 million home five years ago after moving to central Florida from New York. Having celebrity neighbors such as the PGA's Appleby was almost an afterthought, she said.
"It is actually not really a big deal," she said. "I sometimes see (famous) people but it doesn't bother me. They're just treated like neighbors."
With its golf course, tennis courts and camp for kids, Isleworth's country club is the nexus of the neighborhood's social life. Sometimes the celebrity athletes get special treatment and can play golf when the course is closed.
"It's just a perfect life," McClane said. "We're very fortunate."

WASHINGTON (AFP) –
President Barack Obama has given fateful orders likely to send thousands more troops to Afghanistan in a political gamble meant to forge an eventual US exit from a costly and gruelling war.

"The commander in chief has issued the orders," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Monday, as Obama briefed world leaders of his new Afghan strategy, a day before making a major televised address to the American people.

The plan emerged from an exhaustive policy review amid extreme weariness of the war among Americans, and as supporters warned Obama could be risking his presidency by deploying thousands more men to a Vietnam-style quagmire.

Obama is expected to order between 30,000 and 35,000 more troops to bolster the US effort to repel a resurgent Taliban, secure major cities and fast-track training for Afghan security forces, alongside a separate civilian aid surge.

The president will also assure Americans and regional leaders he will not underwrite an indefinite and costly stay in Afghanistan for US troops.

"This is not an open-ended commitment," Gibbs said, painting the plan as an eventual pathway for US troops to come home.

"We are there to partner with the Afghans, to train the Afghan national security forces, the army and the police, so that they can provide security for their country and wage a battle against an unpopular insurgency."

The White House said Obama delivered orders marking the most crucial leadership test of his presidency in the Oval Office so far, on Sunday, after telling top aides of his final decision.

He met generals and top security aides in the Oval Office.

He then spoke directly by secure video-link to Afghan war commander General Stanley McChrystal, who warned earlier this year the conflict would be lost without more troops -- and US ambassador to Kabul Karl Eikenberry.

Obama will address Americans in a major televised speech to cadets at the US Military Academy at West Point at 8:00 pm Tuesday (0100 GMT Wednesday).

He will tell a nation weary of years of conflict and humbled by the worst economic crisis in generations, why it must risk yet more lives and wealth in a war launched after the September 11 attacks in 2001.

His message will be compelling listening for voters, lawmakers and soldiers, US allies, leaders in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Taliban and Al-Qaeda insurgents battling Washington in a bloody eight-year war.

Many of Obama's core political supporters, and key Democrats worried about ballooning budget deficits, are wary of more troop deployments. Republicans have however demanded the president answer the generals' calls for more help.

As he launched a public relations offensive to market the new strategy, Obama called French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday.

A secure video link-up with Gordon Brown was also planned, after the British prime minister announced he would increase British regular troop numbers by 500 to 9,500 in December.

Obama will also talk to Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who both will be key players in the new strategy.

Asked why Obama was informing world leaders of his plans before telling the American people, Gibbs said that the president would not go into specifics on troop numbers but needed to consult valued US foreign partners.

Intense consultations with key players in Congress, where some majority Democrats have expressed skepticism about new troop deployments, were taking place on Monday and Tuesday, Gibbs said.

Some 35,000 American soldiers were fighting the Taliban-led insurgency when Obama took office. After an initial boost in February there are now about 68,000.

More than 900 American soldiers have lost their lives in Afghanistan and October was the deadliest month since the start of the war in 2001 with 74 US soldiers killed.

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have cost 768.8 billion dollars and by the end of this fiscal year (October 2010) the price tag will approach one trillion.

Obama Sunday spoke to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by telephone, then met Defense Secretary Robert Gates; Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff; General James Cartwright, the vice chairman of the joint chiefs; White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and General David Petraeus, head of US central command.

TEHRAN/LONDON (Reuters) –
Iran will take serious measures against five British yachtsmen detained in the Gulf if it proves they had "evil intentions," a close aide to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday.

Relations between Britain and have been dogged by tension in recent years over a range of issues, from Tehran's nuclear program to Iranian allegations of British involvement in post-election violence in June this year.

Oil prices rose by over $1 on fears of a diplomatic crisis shortly after news of the detainment was made public on Monday.

"The judiciary will decide about the five...naturally our measures will be hard and serious if we find out they had evil intentions," Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaie, the president's chief of staff, told the semi-official Fars news agency.

Britain stressed the five men were civilians and played down parallels with a 2007 incident when Iran seized eight British Royal Navy sailors and seven marines off its coast.

"There is certainly no confrontation or argument. As far as we are aware these people are being well treated, which is right, and what we would expect from a country like Iran," British Foreign Secretary David Miliband BBC Radio 4.

Miliband said he was expecting a statement later on Tuesday from the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

"We understand that the Iranian government are investigating the incident, which is perfectly reasonable, and then we would look forward to it being promptly sorted out," Miliband said.

PROTESTS

Iran's Revolutionary Guards confirmed on Tuesday their naval forces had detained five Britons in the Gulf, Fars News Agency said.

"Confronting foreign forces and detaining them in the Gulf is the Revolutionary Guards' duty," said Ali Reza Tangsiri, a commander of the Guards' naval forces.

A new U.S. intelligence study says Iran has restructured its naval forces to give an arm of the elite Revolutionary Guards full responsibility for operations in the Gulf.

Miliband said the sailors may have "inadvertently strayed" into Iranian waters. Britain said their yacht was stopped by Iranian naval vessels on November 25.

Organizers of a race in which the yachtsmen were planning to take part said the vessel had reported problems with a propeller en route from Bahrain to Dubai in the Gulf.

Iran and Britain have a history of mutual suspicion.

Hard-line Iranian students will gather outside the British embassy in Tehran on Wednesday to protest "the Britons' illegal entry" into Iranian waters, the ISNA news agency reported.

In March 2007, Iranian forces seized eight Royal Navy sailors and seven marines in the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab waterway that separates Iran and Iraq. They were freed unharmed the following month.

Three Americans who crossed into Iran from Iraq in July are still detained and face spying charges. Their families say they were hiking and strayed across the border accidentally.

(Additional reporting by Ramin Mostafavi and Parisa Hafezi in Tehran; Writing by Jon Hemming; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

HRT is available in various forms. It generally provides low dosages of one or more estrogens, and often also provides either progesterone or a chemical analogue, called a progestin. Testosterone may also be included. In women who have had a hysterectomy, an estrogen compound is usually given without any progesterone, a therapy referred to as "unopposed estrogen therapy". HRT may be delivered to the body via patches, tablets, creams, troches, IUDs, vaginal rings, gels or, more rarely, by injection. Dosage is often varied cyclically, with estrogens taken daily and progesterone or progestins taken for about two weeks every month or two; a method called "sequentially combined HRT" or scHRT. An alternate method, a constant dosage with both types of hormones taken daily, is called "continuous combined HRT" or ccHRT, and is a more recent innovation. Sometimes an androgen, generally testosterone, is added to treat reduced sexual desire/(libido). It may also treat reduced energy and help reduce osteoporosis after menopause.

HRT is often given as a short-term relief (often one or two years, usually less than five) from menopausal symptoms (hot flashes, irregular menstruation, fat redistribution etc.). Younger women with premature ovarian failure or surgical menopause may use hormone replacement therapy for many years, until the age that natural menopause would be expected to occur.

Menopause Treatment

Some controversy is associated with coffee cultivation and its impact on the environment. Many studies have examined the relationship between coffee consumption and certain medical conditions; whether the effects of coffee are positive or negative is still disputed..

The Dutch were the first to import coffee on a large scale, and they were among the first to defy the Arab prohibition on the exportation of plants or unroasted seeds when Pieter van den Broeck smuggled seedlings from Aden into Europe in 1616. The Dutch later grew the crop in Java and Ceylon. The first exports of Indonesian coffee from Java to the Netherlands occurred in 1711. Through the efforts of the British East India Company, coffee became popular in England as well. It was introduced in France in 1657, and in Austria and Poland after the 1683 Battle of Vienna, when coffee was captured from supplies of the defeated Turks.

Green Mountain Coffee

BEIJING (AFP) –
US President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that the United States and China want next month's climate change talks in Copenhagen to culminate in a global accord that has "immediate operational effect."

We "agreed to work toward a successful outcome in Copenhagen," Obama told journalists after talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao.

"Our aim there is... not a partial accord or a political declaration, but rather an accord that covers all the issues in the negotiations and one that has immediate operational effect."

"This kind of comprehensive agreement would be an important step forward in our effort to rally the world around a solution to our climate challenge," Obama said.

Obama gave no further details and a joint statement released after the two leaders spoke merely reiterated support for earlier UN goals on climate change.

On Sunday, Asia-Pacific leaders, including Obama and Hu, acknowledged it would be unrealistic to reach a legally binding agreement at the December 7-18 conference.

Ministers from 42 countries were wrapping up a meeting in the Danish capital on Tuesday, assessing a proposal by Denmark to end the deadlock.

A diplomatic source in Copenhagen said a proposed end-of-summit statement would include a pledge of "fast-track" finance -- funds to help poor countries cope with the impacts of global warming and move to lower-carbon energy.

The money could be disbursed swiftly, before a fully-fledged treaty is sealed next year, according to the Danish idea.

China and the United States are the world's No. 1 and No. 2 carbon polluters, accounting together for 37.5 percent of global emissions of the six main greenhouse gases, according to the World Resources Institute (WRI).

Their positions are key to the outcome of the Copenhagen conference, a two-year process that aims at building a post-2012 planet-wide treaty on tackling climate change.

China argues that rich nations bear historical responsibility for triggering climate change and that developing nations should not be legally bound to cut carbon emissions blamed for rising temperatures.

The United States meanwhile has called for more aggressive mitigation steps by China.

Obama said China and the United States had agreed to take significant steps to reduce carbon emissions, but gave no specifics.

"We agreed that each of us would take significant mitigation actions and stand behind these commitments," Obama said as Hu looked on.

"As the two largest consumers and producers of energy, there can be no solution to this challenge without the efforts of both China and the United States."

Hu also said the two leaders had agreed to work toward an accord in Copenhagen, while repeating Beijing's insistence on the different "responsibilities" rich and poor nations have in addressing climate change.

"We also agreed to act on the basis of common but differentiated responsibilities and consistent with our respective capabilities to work with other parties concerned to help produce positive outcomes from the Copenhagen conference," he said.

China points out that its per capita emissions, though growing fast, remain much lower than those of the United States due to its huge population of 1.3 billion people.

Hu told a September summit at the United Nations that China would reduce the intensity of its carbon emissions as a percentage of economic growth by a "notable margin" by 2020 from their 2005 levels.

Environmental group Greenpeace released a statement after the Hu-Obama talks criticising the US president for a continued "lack of leadership."

"In the lead-up to Copenhagen, Obama is still failing to address the most important issue that is causing the disagreements between the two countries at the climate talks, which is the absence of an emission reduction target from the US," said Kyle Ash, legislative director for Greenpeace USA.

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Bug spray that produces a fog to kill insects is likely to blame for the death of a 10-month-old South Carolina boy, and his 2-year-old brother was critically injured by the fumes, authorities said Monday.
Anderson County Deputy Coroner Don McCown said the boys' mother had been using foggers in their single-wide mobile home in Williamston, in the northwest part of the state, because of an insect problem. Elizabeth Whitfield, 25, called 911 on Sunday afternoon to report her youngest son was having trouble breathing.
Paramedics took all three to a hospital, and Jacob Whitfield was pronounced dead. His brother, Kenneth, was flown to another hospital about 20 minutes north to Greenville, where he remained Monday on a respirator, but was starting to stabilize, McCown said.
Elizabeth Whitfield was coated in chemicals when she first arrived to the hospital and had to remove her clothes and take a shower. She was released Sunday, but was re-admitted to the ER on Monday with breathing problems, McCown said.
Investigators found seven fogger containers. She told authorities she set off three when she began renting a month ago, then continued using them when the insects wouldn't die.
"Most people put these foggers in — they do it one time a month or every couple of months. She was using two to three a week," McCown said. "She said she followed the directions, but you have to wonder. We can't attribute it to anything else."
A single fogger is typically used to treat 6,000 cubic feet and can leave an oily residue on furniture and floors. Directions call for residents to cover all furniture, vacate the home for four hours, then open windows and doors for an hour before returning, he said.
While the pesticides appear to be the cause of death, confirmation through toxicology reports could take eight weeks. Other air quality tests turned up nothing. The baby was otherwise healthy with no signs of abuse or neglect, McCown said.
He said the home was located in a rural area and "pretty infested with insects, roaches. It was her goal to get rid of all of them."
"The stuff didn't seem to have too much effect on the bugs," he said. "They're still running everywhere."
The scent at the home was so strong authorities called in a hazardous materials team before entering. One deputy complained of headaches, McCown said.
Investigators initially focused on a grease fire, but tests showed that didn't play any role in the illnesses, McCown said.
"Right now, we're just concerned about them. We're hoping the 2-year-old can make a recovery and hope the mom will be OK," said Sheriff's Sgt. Steve Reeves.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama greeted Hamid Karzai's election victory with as much admonishment as praise on Monday, pointedly advising America's partner in war he must make more serious efforts to end corruption in Afghanistan's government and prepare his nation to ultimately defend itself.
"I emphasized that this has to be a point in time in which we begin to write a new chapter," Obama said in describing his phone call to the Afghan president. When Karzai offered back assurances, Obama said he told him that "the proof is not going to be in words. It's going to be in deeds."
Obama's message of stern solidarity came as he considers sending tens of thousands more U.S. troops into the war zone in Karzai's country.
Karzai won a second term Monday when competitor Abdullah Abdullah pulled out of the Nov. 7 runoff, suggesting it would be doomed by fraud just as the first voting in August was. The handling of the first election cost Karzai in international credibility.
Yet the White House put its weight behind the legitimacy of the final outcome after helping to broker a runoff that never happened. Obama called the process "messy" but said Karzai won in accordance with Afghan law. The White House repeatedly said Abdullah had pulled out for his own political and personal reasons.
The collapse of the planned run-off increases pressure on the Obama administration to quickly end its lengthy deliberations about whether to commit more U.S. forces to a worsening war. Obama may announce his revamped war strategy, including a decision on sending more troops, early next week before a planned overseas trip.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs acknowledged that Karzai's win by default is a factor in the coming decision about troops but did not say the timetable for an announcement has changed. The administration continues to say it will happen in the "coming weeks."
In recounting his call to Karzai, Obama spent most of his time saying what he expects from his fellow president: more diligent efforts to end corruption, cooperation in accelerating the training of Afghan security forces, tangible benefits in the lives of the Afghan people.
Those aren't just Obama's standards. He is under pressure to show Congress and the public that the U.S. is dealing with a trustworthy partner, particularly if it is going to send more troops there. Many Americans have grown weary of the war and are questioning its worth.
About 68,000 U.S. troops are already in Afghanistan, where October was the deadliest month for U.S. forces. Several thousands NATO troops from various countries are also committed to a war that has stretched into its ninth year and is focused on combatting insurgents and dismantling al-Qaida terrorists.
Obama said Karzai needs to "take advantage of the international community's interest in his country."
Indeed, the White House made clear that the election gave Karzai legal legitimacy but not necessarily any new boost of credibility.
"Nobody has ever made the accusation that credibility was going to be had simply out of one election," Gibbs said.
Relieved U.S. officials said the outcome accomplished two main objectives that have been part of weeks of strategy discussion in Washington: The results yielded finality to a messy process and came only after Karzai acknowledged the illegitimacy of the original balloting.
Knowledge that Karzai would continue at the helm of the Afghan government changed little in the administration's calculus, at least in terms of pushing for reform and anti-corruption and counter-narcotics efforts, said officials who have been involved in strategy discussions. The U.S. government feels the outcome gives it continued leverage to push for reform in Karzai's political house, the officials said.
They spoke on condition of anonymity because Obama has not announced his decision on strategy and troops.
Karzai has led Afghanistan since U.S. forces invaded to oust the Taliban in 2001. He won election in 2004, and his latest victory will give him another five-year mandate.
___

Associated Press writers Anne Gearan and Matthew Lee contributed to this story.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) –
Republicans seeking a comeback from recent losses may pick up the governor's seats in Virginia and New Jersey on Tuesday in campaigns that tested the limits of President Barack Obama's influence.

Democrats were bracing for the unhappy possibility they could go down to defeat not just in those two states but in a congressional district in upstate New York where a conservative candidate was leading.

The election outcome could give some clues as to the national mood a year after Obama was elected president and a year before 2010 congressional elections that will represent the first clear referendum on Obama's time in office.

While local factors influenced all three races, the weak state of the U.S. economy was an overarching issue that played a role in each state.

In Virginia, Republican Bob McDonnell was leading Democrat Creigh Deeds by double digits in opinion polls as Virginians went to the polls -- an opportunity for Republicans a year after Obama became the first Democratic presidential nominee to win the state since 1964.

Two appearances on Deeds' behalf by Obama appeared to have little impact on the race, as Democrats suffered a lack of enthusiasm without Obama on the ticket and Republicans were energized by the chance to take back the governor's seat, held by Democrats the past eight years. Voting ends at 7 p.m. EST (0000 GMT) and the winner could be known a few hours later.

OBAMA CAMPAIGNS FOR CORZINE

In New Jersey, Republican Chris Christie has been running neck and neck with Democratic Governor Jon Corzine, the former Wall Street executive who has pumped $23 million of his own money into his campaign. A poll released on Monday gave the Republican a slight lead.

Independent candidate Chris Daggett trailed, and a key question concerned how many of Daggett's supporters would abandon him for Christie or Corzine and sway the race.

Obama campaigned with Corzine on Sunday and made a last-ditch appeal for the Democrat, trying to generate more enthusiasm for him.

"We will not lose this election if all of you are as committed as you were last year," he said. "So I want everybody in this auditorium to make a pledge that in these next 48 hours, you will work just as hard for Jon as you worked for me."

New Jersey polls close at 8 p.m. EST (0100 GMT Wednesday) but it could be some hours before the outcome is clear.

While a Virginia loss for the Democrats could be considered fairly predictable in a state long considered a Republican stronghold, a defeat in New Jersey would be seen as a bigger blow to the party because the state is heavily Democratic. Obama won it by 16 points last year.

"If the Democrats win New Jersey and lose Virginia, I would basically say, no harm, no foul," said Democratic strategist Doug Schoen. "The only real adverse impact is if the administration loses two campaigns, especially one they're heavily invested in New Jersey."

In New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg appeared headed to victory over Democrat Bill Thompson after engineering a rules change to allow him to run for a third term and spending millions of his own money on his campaign. As of last month, the billionaire mayor had spent $85 million to Thompson's $6 million.

WILD RACE IN NEW YORK

A wild race was taking place in New York's 23rd congressional district for a House of Representatives seat left vacant when Obama picked Republican John McHugh as his Army secretary.

Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman was leading Democrat Bill Owens slightly in the traditionally Republican district. The race took a bizarre twist over the weekend when Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava withdrew because of flagging support and endorsed the Democrat.

Democrats charged the race was an example of how divided the Republican Party has become between conservatives and moderates as it tries to rebound from losing control of Congress in 2006 and the White House in 2008.

Hoffman had been endorsed by conservative Republicans such as Sarah Palin, last year's Republican vice presidential nominee.

"If you look at what I think is likely to happen next year, you already have some Republicans who are more aligned with the very conservative element of what's happening in New York saying, 'This is a model for what you'll see throughout the country,'" said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.

(Additional reporting by Ellen Wulfhorst in New York; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Sexy Costumes

Isadora Duncan made a great impact on dance costume today. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries she “throws off the corset, bares her limbs, and dances barefoot” (Penrod 13). Duncan began a new look, inspired by the Greeks, of tunics and scarves. This simple costume inspired a new form of dance costume and new ways of moving (Penrod 13). This imitation of the Greek clothing freed the naturally beautiful lines of the human body and movement. This change in costume extended the dancer’s space, and caused the costume to be made to conform to the curves and shapes of the body as much as possible (Art of Production 57).

Most dancers go without underwear, but if they are uncomfortable with this then they wear a thong or bikini underwear. Dancers also require a well fitting bra. Their bra should have no metal clips or hooks that could cause damage to the dancer or a partner. If their bra doesn’t provide enough support then the breast tissue can be torn away from the underlying musculature. Sports or dance bras provide enough support and allows the dancer to move with ease (Penrod 13).

It is now a highly eroticized item of adult apparel, often classified as a form of lingerie. When worn by an adult woman there is great contrast to when worn by an infant; the legs are fully displayed and some styles emphasize or deliberately expose the breasts as well. The gown is often sold as a set with matching panties as a typical babydoll is short enough that underwear is visible if worn. Styles of the same general length but not intended to emphasize sex appeal are sometimes called shortie nightgowns.

A chemise, shift, or smock was usually sewn at home, by the women of a household. It was assembled from rectangles and triangles cut from one piece of cloth so as to leave no waste. The poor would wear skimpy chemises pieced from a narrow piece of rough cloth; the rich might have voluminous chemises pieced from thin, smooth fine linen.

http://www.qplussizelingerie.com/

BEREA, Ohio – The Cleveland Browns are currently without a general manager after George Kokinis left the club under unexplained circumstances.
After reports surfaced that Kokinis was fired, the team issued an awkwardly worded statement Monday night saying the GM "is no longer actively involved with the organization." The Browns also denied reports that Kokinis was escorted from their team headquarters.
Kokinis' apparent ouster came one day after owner Randy Lerner said he wanted to hire a "strong, credible, serious" football adviser to help run his struggling team, which is off to a 1-7 start. Kokinis was hired on Jan. 23, two weeks after the Browns named Eric Mangini as their fourth coach since 1999.
The Browns said they would withhold further comment "in the interest of protecting the parties involved."
Before coming to Cleveland, Kokinis spent 13 years with Baltimore, the past six seasons as the Ravens' director of pro personnel. He had little or no authority with the Browns as Mangini, who was fired by the New York Jets after last season, has enjoyed full control over football operations.
It's unclear if Kokinis was fired or forced out. His strange departure is the latest twist for the Browns, the closest thing the NFL has to a daily soap opera.
Already in Mangini's first year in Cleveland, the Browns have dealt with a lengthy list of on- and off-the-field circumstances.
Mangini was criticized for making his rookies take a 10-hour bus ride to his football camp in Connecticut and later for fining one of his players $1,701 for not paying for a $3 bottle of water during a hotel stay. There's been the ongoing quarterback saga involving Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn, the trade of wide receiver Braylon Edwards two days after he allegedly punched a friend of NBA star LeBron James, a flu outbreak that hit 12 players, cornerback Eric Wright's car accident and other situations.
And of course, there has been the losing, something the Mangini-Kokinis team was supposed to fix.
Kokinis essentially was hand-picked by Mangini to be his GM. The two worked together under former Browns coach Bill Belichick in the 1990s.
Kokinis attended Cleveland's 30-6 loss in Chicago on Sunday. He sat in the press box and had little interaction with anyone, which has been his customary mode of operation since the day he joined the Browns. Kokinis had not formally spoken to Cleveland media members since draft day in April.
He was usually on the field during training camp practices, but Kokinis never held court with reporters like his predecessor, Phil Savage, routinely did for four years. When the Browns traded Edwards to the Jets last month, it was Mangini and not Kokinis who explained Cleveland's decision to deal one of its only stars.
Following Sunday's lopsided loss against the Bears, Lerner told reporters he wouldn't fire Mangini during the team's bye week, but that he wanted to hire a football authority to help guide the organization.
Recently, Lerner brought in former Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar in an unspecified consulting role. One possibility could be Ernie Accorsi, who was Cleveland's GM from 1985-92, when Kosar led the Browns to three AFC title games. Accorsi was the New York Giants' GM for nine years before retiring after the 2006 season. His biggest move was a trade with San Diego for quarterback Eli Manning.
Mangini said he would welcome anyone who could help the Browns get better.
"If you can add quality people that can help you get better, then you do that," he said. "You're always searching for those opportunities."

A glance at the finances of some famous Norwegians, from an online database by national broadcaster NRK, based on government tax records (numbers reflect only income taxable in Norway, which for Norwegians working abroad may mean only a fraction of what they earn):
_Liv Ullmann, director and actress. Income, 96,000 kroner ($17,300); Wealth, 13.7 million kroner ($2.5 million).
_Jostein Gaarder, author of best-selling novel "Sophie's World." Income, $500,000; wealth, $1.5 million.
_Gro Harlem Brundtland, former prime minister. Income, $110,000; wealth, $135,000.
_Kjetil Andre Aamodt, four-time Olympic gold medalist in skiing. Income, $97,000; Wealth, $3.3 million.
_Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, Olympic biathlete and five-time gold medalist. Income, $110,000; wealth, $415,000.
_Bjoern Daehlie, former cross-country skier, winner of 29 Olympic and World Championship titles, including a record eight gold medals. Income, $270,000; wealth, $5.3 million.
_Mona Grudt Bittrick, Miss Universe 1990. Income, $250,000; wealth, $150,000.
_Grete Waitz, long-distance runner, nine-time New York City Marathon winner. Income, $13,500; wealth, $90,000.

WASHINGTON – Physical attacks on people based on their sexual orientation will join the list of federal hate crimes in a major expansion of the civil rights-era law Congress approved Thursday and sent to President Barack Obama.
A priority of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., that had been on the congressional agenda for a decade, the measure expands current law to include crimes based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. The measure is named for Matthew Shepard, the gay Wyoming college student murdered 11 years ago.
To assure its passage after years of frustrated efforts, Democratic supporters attached the measure to a must-pass $680 billion defense policy bill the Senate approved 68-29. The House passed the defense bill earlier this month.
Many Republicans, normally staunch supporters of defense bills, voted against the bill because of the hate crimes provision. All the no votes were Republicans except for Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., who supported the hate crimes provision but opposes what he says is the open-ended military commitment in Afghanistan.
"The inclusion of the controversial language of the hate crimes legislation, which is unrelated to our national defense, is deeply troubling," said Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.
Hate crimes law enacted after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1968 centered on crimes based on race, color, religion or national origin.
The expansion has long been sought by civil rights and gay rights groups. Conservatives have opposed it, arguing that it creates a special class of victims. They also have been concerned that it could silence clergymen or others opposed to homosexuality on religious or philosophical grounds.
Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay rights group, hailed the bill as "our nation's first major piece of civil rights legislation for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Too many in our community have been devastated by hate violence."
Some 45 states have hate crimes statutes, and the bill would not change current practices where hate crimes are generally investigated and prosecuted by state and local officials.
But it does broaden the narrow range of actions — such as attending school or voting — that can trigger federal involvement and allows the federal government to step in if the Justice Department certifies that a state is unwilling or unable to follow through on an alleged hate crime.
The measure also provides federal grants to help state and local governments prosecute hate crimes and funds programs to combat hate crimes committed by juveniles.
"As we learned in the civil rights era, sometimes communities need assistance and resources from the federal government when they have to confront the most emotional and dangerous kinds of crimes," said Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo.
The bill also creates a federal crime to penalize attacks against U.S. service members on account of their service.
Attorney General Eric Holder said nearly 80,000 hate crime incidents have been reported to the FBI since he first testified before Congress in support of a hate crimes bill 11 years ago. "It has been one of my highest personal priorities to ensure that this legislation finally becomes law," he said.
The FBI says more than half of reported hate crimes are motivated by racial bias. Next most frequent are crimes based on religious bias, at around 18 percent, and sexual orientation, at 16 percent.
At the urging of Republicans the bill was changed to strengthen free speech protections to assure that a religious leader or any other person cannot be prosecuted on the basis of his or her speech, beliefs or association.
"Nothing in this legislation diminishes an American's freedom of religion, freedom of speech or press or the freedom to assemble," said Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md. "Let me be clear. The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act targets acts, not speech."
That didn't convince Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., who said the bill was a "dangerous step" toward thought crimes. He asked whether the bill would "serve as a warning to people not to speak out too loudly about their religious views."

Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Family Research Council, said the measure was "part of a radical social agenda that could ultimately silence Christians and use the force of government to marginalize anyone whose faith is at odds with homosexuality."

___

The defense bill is H.R. 2647.

On the Net:

Congress: http://thomas.loc.gov

WASHINGTON – Americans seem to be cooling toward global warming.
Just 57 percent think there is solid evidence the world is getting warmer, down 20 points in just three years, a new poll says. And the share of people who believe pollution caused by humans is causing temperatures to rise has also taken a dip, even as the U.S. and world forums gear up for possible action against climate change.
In a poll of 1,500 adults by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, released Thursday, the number of people saying there is strong scientific evidence that the Earth has gotten warmer over the past few decades is down from 71 percent in April of last year and from 77 percent when Pew started asking the question in 2006. The number of people who see the situation as a serious problem also has declined.
The steepest drop has occurred during the past year, as Congress and the Obama administration have taken steps to control heat-trapping emissions for the first time and international negotiations for a new treaty to slow global warming have been under way. At the same time, there has been mounting scientific evidence of climate change — from melting ice caps to the world's oceans hitting the highest monthly recorded temperatures this summer.
The poll was released a day after 18 scientific organizations wrote Congress to reaffirm the consensus behind global warming. A federal government report Thursday found that global warming is upsetting the Arctic's thermostat.
Only about a third, or 36 percent of the respondents, feel that human activities — such as pollution from power plants, factories and automobiles — are behind a temperature increase. That's down from 47 percent from 2006 through last year's poll.
"The priority that people give to pollution and environmental concerns and a whole host of other issues is down because of the economy and because of the focus on other things," suggested Andrew Kohut, the director of the research center, which conducted the poll from Sept. 30 to Oct. 4. "When the focus is on other things, people forget and see these issues as less grave."
Andrew Weaver, a professor of climate analysis at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, said politics could be drowning out scientific awareness.
"It's a combination of poor communication by scientists, a lousy summer in the Eastern United States, people mixing up weather and climate and a full-court press by public relations firms and lobby groups trying to instill a sense of uncertainty and confusion in the public," he said.
Political breakdowns in the survey underscore how tough it could be to enact a law limiting pollution emissions blamed for warming. While three-quarters of Democrats believe the evidence of a warming planet is solid, and nearly half believe the problem is serious, far fewer conservative and moderate Democrats see the problem as grave. Fifty-seven percent of Republicans say there is no solid evidence of global warming, up from 31 percent in early 2007.
Though there are exceptions, the vast majority of scientists agree that global warming is occurring and that the primary cause is a buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels, such as oil and coal.
Jane Lubchenco, head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told a business group meeting at the White House Thursday: "The science is pretty clear that the climate challenge before us is very real. We're already seeing impacts of climate change in our own backyards."
Despite misgivings about the science, half the respondents still say they support limits on greenhouse gases, even if they could lead to higher energy prices. And a majority — 56 percent — feel the United States should join other countries in setting standards to address global climate change.
But many of the supporters of reducing pollution have heard little to nothing about cap-and-trade, the main mechanism for reducing greenhouse gases favored by the White House and central to legislation passed by the House and a bill the Senate will take up next week.
Under cap-and-trade, a price is put on each ton of pollution, and businesses can buy and sell permits to meet emissions limits.
"Perhaps the most interesting finding in this poll ... is that the more Americans learn about cap-and-trade, the more they oppose cap-and-trade," said Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., who opposes the Senate bill and has questioned global warming science.
Regional as well as political differences were detected in the polling.
People living in the Midwest and mountainous areas of the West are far less likely to view global warming as a serious problem and to support limits on greenhouse gases than those in the Northeast and on the West Coast. Both the House and Senate bills have been drafted by Democratic lawmakers from Massachusetts and California.

One of those lawmakers, Sen. Barbara Boxer of California, told reporters Thursday that she was happy with the results, given the interests and industry groups fighting the bill.

"Today, to get 57 percent saying that the climate is warming is good, because today everybody is grumpy about everything," Boxer said. "Science will win the day in America. Science always wins the day."

Earlier polls, from different organizations, have not detected a growing skepticism about the science behind global warming.

Since 1997, the percentage of Americans that believe the Earth is heating up has remained constant — at around 80 percent — in polling done by Jon Krosnick of Stanford University. Krosnick, who has been conducting surveys on attitudes about global warming since 1993, was surprised by the Pew results.

He described the decline in the Pew results as "implausible," saying there is nothing that could have caused it.

The poll's margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.

___

Associated Press writers Seth Borenstein and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.

___

On the Net:

The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press: http://www.people-press.org

(This version adds corrected graphic.)

NEW YORK (Reuters) –
Twitter has been kind to a motley crew of actors, TV personalities and pop stars whose fame online outstrips that of the outside world. And it's all about getting personal.

Ashton Kutcher is the most popular user with more than 3 million Twitter followers, and LeVar Burton of Star Trek fame is more popular than pop star Lady Gaga. Cellist Zoe Keating has 200,000 more followers than mega-star Justin Timberlake.

"Name recognition only takes you so far," said Jeremiah Owyang of the Altimeter Group consultants.

The social networking and blogging service that limits messages to 140 characters has a different hierarchy of who is most popular. And crowding the top are those who adopted Twitter early in its 3 1/2-year history.

Simply being a celebrity does not guarantee a following, analysts say. A loyal following, said Owyang, involves creating a dialogue with users that is personal, not self-promoting.

"If they talk about Christmas, or what they're doing this weekend," said Owyang, then a conversation is begun.

Kutcher is followed closely in popularity by Ellen DeGeneres and Britney Spears.

"Unlikely stars like LeVar Burton or MC Hammer" participate actively in Twitter and interact with users, said Rohit Bhargava, senior vice president at Ogilvy.

These celebrities seem to genuinely care about Twitter, Bhargava said, "rather than just a celebrity trying out the latest fad their assistant or PR person tells them about.

"That credibility is huge when it comes to who to follow."

There is also an age factor.

Twitter has been pretty much ignored by users under 25, according to a Nielsen study, which affects popularity.

"It could also explain why Oprah Winfrey is so popular even though she doesn't update her Twitter account that often." said Mark Evans of Sysomos, a media analytics firm.

Many celebrities benefited from joining early, and doing so with fanfare. Kutcher did that, then created enough momentum to stay on top, said Pete Cashmore who runs the blog Mashable.

If Kutcher joined Twitter today, he said, "you wouldn't hear about it."

Twitter had nearly 21 million unique visitors last month according to comScore and, according to eMarketer, has over 18 million members, though the majority does not post actively. It is the third largest social networking site in the United States, after Facebook and MySpace.

(Editing by Doina Chiacu and Daniel Trotta)

Dominican Republic Villa

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

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

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) –
Michael Jackson was buried with one of his iconic white gloves, sunglasses and dressed with pearl beads and a large gold belt, his sister, La Toya, said in a television interview to air on Friday.

"He was dressed in all white pearl beads going across, draped across (and) a beautiful big gold belt ... like a belt that you win being a boxer," La Toya Jackson told journalist Barbara Walters in a "20/20" interview to air on ABC on Friday night.

Jackson, 50, died on June 25 of a prescription drug overdose and was buried eight days ago in a Los Angeles suburb.

Aside from full make-up, Michael Jackson also was buried with one of his iconic white gloves, La Toya Jackson said.

She described him as a man with a great heart.

"He wasn't God, but he was certainly God-like," she told Walters. "He was the closest thing to a god that I knew."

La Toya Jackson dismissed questions about the parentage of her brother's three children, Prince Michael, 12, Paris, 11, and Prince Michael II, 7, also known as Blanket.

"It doesn't really matter, those are Michael's kids," she said in the interview. "He raised those kids. They were in his arms when they were born."

Media reports have suggested that Jackson's dermatologist, Dr Arnold Klein, was the sperm donor for Jackson's two oldest children with ex-wife Debbie Rowe. The biological parents of Blanket have never been revealed.

In other developments, the private company with an ownership stake in Michael Jackson's famed central California estate, Neverland Ranch, this week withdrew official applications made in August to trademark various names for the property.

The applications were filed in the event that the Neverland owners and Jackson's estate decided to transform it into a tourist attraction with a museum. A spokesman for the company, Colony Capital, declined to comment.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis: Editing by Jill Serjeant).

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts said Friday it's vital he and new Justice Sonia Sotomayor get along well because they could spend the next quarter century working together in close quarters.
"She's going to be a delightful, wonderful colleague," Roberts, nominated to the court by President George W. Bush, said of President Barack Obama's first Supreme Court appointee. "We're going to be working together closely, who knows, for 25 years."
A sometimes wisecracking Roberts let the University of Michigan's law dean and about a dozen students and others put a wide range of questions to him during an on-stage discussion. Later, he attended a groundbreaking for a new classroom building.
Roberts said Sotomayor's long experience as a trial judge will aid the high court.
"She'll be able to contribute in ways that most of us can't," he said.
Justices get along remarkably well, despite public appearances of a deep conservative-liberal split, Roberts said. That means he and his colleagues feel a sense of loss when one of their number leaves and a new member steps in.
"We worry about it a lot in terms of the interpersonal relationships," he said.
Moderator and law Dean Evan Caminker pressed Roberts on the fact that about a third of the decisions last Supreme Court session were decided on 5-4 votes. Roberts said he agreed it was important to seek more consensus.
"I think we do a better job as judges if we can come to an agreement," Roberts said. He said the public probably sees it the same way.
People may have doubts about the wisdom of a court decision if they hear it was 5-4, he said.
"If it's nine to nothing, you say, `It's probably right,'" he said.
Justices should shy away from broad rulings, he said, and "stick to the knitting before you."
"I think it's better to hit a few singles, rather than always swinging for the fence," Roberts said. Trying for homers means "you strike out a lot."
The once left-leaning campus gave the conservative chief justice a warm reception, with standing ovations before and after his 90-minute appearance.
Roberts was jovial, joking about his lack of basketball prowess, and the fact that justices lack direct accountability to the public.
"You can't throw me out at the next election," he said. "If you don't like what I do, too bad."
Asked how he would advise Obama on filling a future Supreme Court seat, Roberts said, "He could save us all a lot of trouble by just giving me an extra vote."
And asked if too many justices came from elite schools, he said no.

"Some went to Yale," said Roberts, who earned undergraduate and law degrees at Harvard.

PORT ARTHUR, Texas – First too much water, now not enough.
The Texas Gulf Coast's recovery from Hurricane Ike — which submerged the marshes in seawater, scouring away beaches, ruining thousands of acres of vegetation and wiping out much of the wildlife — is being stymied by the state's worst drought in 50 years.
The drought has deprived the land of the cleansing rains needed to purge salty residue left from the tidal surge Ike dragged in when it slammed into the Texas coast on Sept. 13, 2008. The toxic soil and contaminated ponds have kept plants from regrowing and animals from nesting, driving off some species altogether.
"We're very far behind in our rainfall, and that's made a bad problem even worse," said Jim Sutherlin, manager of the 25,000-acre Murphree Wildlife Refuge near Port Arthur. "We've not had nearly the rains we need to reverse the damage to the landscape."
Lance Wood, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said Texas has endured a dry year with rainfall totals among the lowest since the state began keeping track more than 100 years ago. Precipitation levels have been down 13 to 19 inches along the coast between Beaumont and Galveston.
"It's one of the worst droughts we have on record," Wood said.
Coastal marshes provide a vital natural buffer between the ocean and populated areas, cutting down the storm surge, absorbing toxic water and reducing inland flooding.
While the delicate lands wait for replenishing rain, workers are racing to burn debris, replant grasses and trees in the fertile soil beneath it, and restore habitats before the next monster hurricane forms in the Gulf of Mexico.
"If we're going to live on the coasts, we have a responsibility to put on our boots, put our shoulder to the shovel and put all this stuff back together," Sutherlin said. "If enough people are concerned about what happens to this land, we can stay here. But if we don't do that job, then we all better move away and live somewhere else."
The state received $7 million from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to restore the coastal habitats after Ike; about $500,000 is earmarked to restore and fortify the dunes at the McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge.
Dean Bossert, manger of the 43,000-acre refuge, said the surge's relentless waves bulldozed the sand backward, dumping it into freshwater ponds and smothering vegetation. Another hurricane this year would have an even more devastating impact because of the damage from Ike, he said.
"Ike destroyed what beach ridge we had left," Bossert said. "Now we have absolutely nothing to stop the saltwater from flooding into the marsh."
Due west, at the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, the immediate concern after the storm was not the beach, but the massive debris field.
The 34,000-acre refuge covers the south end of a peninsula that juts into Galveston Bay. When the surge receded, it left swamped boats, the remnants of obliterated houses and piles of refrigerators on the wetlands.
Only the most salt-resistant plants survived, and refuge manager Tim Cooper said the area's population of frogs, toads and salamanders was decimated.
"Places that were alive with the sounds of frogs at night are now totally silent," Cooper said. "I don't know the exact numbers, but that storm definitely had a sweeping effect."
Ike also wiped out oysteries in Galveston Bay by smothering them with silt, said Bill Balboa, a biologist and the state Parks and Wildlife Department's ecosystem leader for the bay.
The state Parks and Wildlife Commission recently voted to shut down oyster harvesting on the east side of the bay for two years to allow about 8,000 acres of damaged reefs to recover.

But Balboa said the marine ecosystem will ultimately benefit from the storm because native grasses uprooted from the coastal marshes were sprinkled onto the bay, providing nutrient-rich food for fish.

The signs of Ike's power are more starkly visible at LaBelle Ranch, nestled between the Murphree and McFaddin refuges.

Buzzards hover over skeletal gum trees with thick piles of snarled grass at their bases. The debris had wrapped around the gum trees like aprons, choked the root systems and killed them.

Cattlemen who used the LaBelle land for pasture have moved herds elsewhere until the grass grows back and fences can be rebuilt.

Jimmy Broussard, a co-owner of LaBelle, fears some ranchers may have left for good.

"Some of them said they just couldn't come back here and take that risk again," Broussard said. "Ike just highlighted the risk that this area has to them."

The ranchers had been responsible for much of the land maintenance, Broussard said. Without them, the mounds of debris have remained and given root to invasive tallow trees and weeds.

Terrie Looney, a coastal and marine resource agent with the Texas Sea Grant conservancy group, said salinity levels remain unhealthy in ponds across the region. Ranchers have little choice but to relocate herds that need fresh water, she said.

"There's no grass, there's salty water — where do you put them?" Looney said. "Sometimes, you've got to do what you've got to do."

Massage Oil

LAS VEGAS – A Las Vegas prosecutor said Friday that O.J. Simpson was fairly convicted of armed robbery and kidnapping, responding to the football legend's appeal in a sports memorabilia case.
Clark County District Attorney David Roger filed a brief with the state's high court challenging Simpson's appeal of his conviction on 12 charges related to a confrontation with dealers of sport mementos in a Las Vegas casino hotel room.
Simpson was convicted in October and sentenced in December to nine to 33 years in state prison. He is housed at a medium-security prison in Lovelock, about 90 miles east of Reno.
The NFL Hall of Famer who had been acquitted in the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, in Los Angeles, has maintained he was trying to retrieve personal items that had been stolen from him and didn't know guns were involved when led the armed escapade with golfing buddies.
The 62-year-old's lawyers want him exonerated of all charges and have cited judicial misconduct, insufficient evidence, a lack of racial diversity on the jury and errors in sentencing and jury instructions in arguing that he should be set free.
Roger outlined eight reasons to uphold the conviction in a 46-page brief, arguing among other things that the court didn't remove two black women from the jury pool because of their race. The jury didn't include any black members.
Neither Roger nor Simpson attorney Yale Galanter immediately responded to messages seeking comment from The Associated Press late Friday.
In the document, Roger said the women were removed, in part, because prosecutors believed they wouldn't convict Simpson despite the state's evidence because of their religious convictions.
One of the women was a pastor in her church, and prosecutors worried that she might be forgiving by nature and able to influence other jurors.
"Prosecutors feared that a minister, whom many believe possesses a higher moral authority, could influence and sway jurors who might otherwise be inclined to convict and punish," the brief said. "Indeed, the state's apprehension ... had nothing to do with her racial background and everything to do with her ministerial position."
Another woman was removed from the jury pool because she made several Biblical references while being questioned by prosecutors and said her beliefs would make it hard to judge someone else's conduct. She said she would not send anybody to jail, Roger said in the brief.
In the brief, Roger also argues that Simpson's belief that he was retrieving his own property is not a defense against robbery and the court was not obligated to give instructions that would have misstated the law.
He also said Judge Jackie Glass properly stopped Simpson's lawyers from cross-examining a witness about things that didn't relate to the charges Simpson faced.
Roger also said in his filing that his attempt to show memorabilia dealer Alfred Beardsley's bias toward Simpson did not constitute prosecutorial misconduct. Beardsley was one of the peddlers whom Simpson confronted on Sept. 13, 2007, for selling mementoes of his career.
The district attorney's brief did not respond to the appeal of Clarence "C.J." Stewart, a 55-year-old friend of Simpson's who was convicted with him and is serving a 7 1/2- to 27-year sentence. Stewart's lawyers have argued that he should have been tried separately from Simpson.
Simpson and Stewart were tried together. Four other men who were with them took plea deals and received probation after testifying for the prosecution.

Cardiology Equipment

The human embryonic heart begins beating around 21 days after conception, or five weeks after the last normal menstrual period (LMP), which is the date normally used to date pregnancy. It is unknown how blood in the human embryo circulates for the first 21 days in the absence of a functioning heart. The human heart begins beating at a rate near the mother’s, about 75-80 beats per minute (BPM).

The apex is the blunt point situated in an inferior (pointing down and left) direction. A stethoscope can be placed directly over the apex so that the beats can be counted. It is located posterior to the 5th intercostal space just medial of the left mid-clavicular line. In normal adults, the mass of the heart is 250-350 g (9-12 oz), or about twice the size of a clenched fist (it is about the size of a clenched fist in children), but extremely diseased hearts can be up to 1000 g (2 lb) in mass due to hypertrophy. It consists of four chambers, the two upper atria and the two lower ventricles.

FRIDAY, Sept. 11 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration has approved a new test for women with pelvic tumors that
are known to need surgery. The test, called OVA1, will help doctors decide
if the tumor probably is ovarian cancer and how to proceed surgically.

OVA1 will identify some women who have negative results from ovarian
cancer tests, but whose surgical cases would benefit from a gynecological
oncologist's involvement, the agency said in a news release. Gynecological
oncologists -- doctors who specialize in women's cancer -- have been found
to help improve survival when they perform ovarian cancer surgery, the FDA
said.

The new blood test -- approved for women aged 18 and older who have
pelvic masses that require surgery -- is not meant to screen for ovarian
cancer or replace diagnostics used to detect ovarian cancer, the FDA
stressed.

OVA1 is produced by California-based Vermillion Inc., in conjunction
with scientists at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

More information

The FDA has more about this approval.

BALTIMORE – Former CBS "Early Show" personality Mark McEwen is moving on with his life after a massive stroke nearly four years ago that abruptly ended his TV career. He's written a book about his experiences and is trying to raise awareness about stroke warning signs and recovery.
But McEwen, 54, is now dealing with a fresh setback — the abrupt end to a court battle against the doctor who told him he had the stomach flu when he showed up at a Maryland hospital emergency room with stroke-like symptoms.
Two days after that hospital visit, McEwen boarded a flight home to Orlando, Fla., and suffered a massive stroke. His attorneys claim the stroke could have been prevented if McEwen had been given drugs including aspirin and anti-coagulates.
But U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz disagreed, ruling last week that those drugs were not effective enough in the short term to have made a difference in McEwen's case.
"I was very disappointed," McEwen told The Associated Press on Monday. "When you're up against something that's kind of murky, it tends to throw a person who's used to knowing the difference between right and wrong."
McEwen's attorneys say they are considering an appeal. Lawyers for the defendants, Dr. Michael Bond and Baltimore Washington Medical Center, did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
McEwen worked for CBS from 1987 through 2002, filling a variety of roles on "The Early Show" including weatherman, anchor and entertainment reporter. He interviewed presidents and contributed to the network's Olympics coverage. He was fired in 2002 when the network revamped "The Early Show," and in 2004, he joined the CBS affiliate in Orlando, WKMG-TV, as a news anchor.
McEwen was visiting friends and family in Maryland — his brother, Kirk McEwen, is a longtime radio DJ in Baltimore — in November 2005 when he began to feel nauseous and dizzy while waiting to board a flight at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
He also experienced slurred speech — a red flag for a possible stroke. But Dr. Michael Bond, who treated him in the emergency room, said in a deposition that paramedics did not mention that symptom to him.
Bond also acknowledged in his deposition that he spent time looking up McEwen on the Internet during his time in the ER. The doctor told McEwen he had the stomach flu and advised him not to fly for two days. McEwen heeded that advice, then traveled home to Florida and suffered a stroke in mid-air.
McEwen's attorney, Daniel W. Cotter, said he was "shocked" by Motz's decision to dismiss the lawsuit and disappointed that the case was thrown out on what he considers a legal technicality.
"We believe that if given an opportunity to decide this case, a jury would have clearly seen through the defenses created to avoid responsibility to Mr. McEwen," Cotter said.
McEwen had to learn to walk and talk again after the stroke, and the former righty now uses his left hand for most tasks. While his speech sounded clear in a telephone interview, he said his voice remains "a work in progress," and a full-time return to television is out of reach.
He has written a book, "After the Stroke: My Journey Back to Life," and travels the country for speaking engagements.
"Many people who have a stroke think it's kind of a lonely malady," McEwen said. "There is no one advocating, being a spokesman like a Lance Armstrong, like a Michael J. Fox. ... I'm committed to doing that."

SHANGHAI/HONG KONG (Reuters) –
After driving his BMW 5 series model for just three years, Chinese futures trader Jerry Lin traded in his car for an Audi A6.

His decision had less to do with performance and more with image: BMWs have become associated with China's nouveau riche, while Audis are favoured by 'old money' and senior government officials.

"When people made money the first thing they did was get a BMW," says Lin, who lives in Wenzhou, a city known for its rich entrepreneurial culture. "I had a lot of fun driving my BMW. Now, I want to try something different."

China's car market is the world's largest with growth opportunities that are dazzling. About 10 million vehicles will be bought in China this year, a 500 percent increase from 2000.

Yet despite the opportunities, foreign automakers face an uphill battle marketing cars in an intensely competitive and fickle market.

"The huge amount of foreign brands pushing into the Chinese market somehow overloads potential customers with far too much information," said Jochen Goller, Vice President of marketing for BMW China (BMWG.DE).

"So it is getting more and more difficult to get brand and product messages through to and understood by the audience."

BMW tries to separate itself from the rest of the luxury car pack with "experiential marketing," hosting events such as a car rally across China called Destination X which has received 35,000 applicants for only a few places in this year's race.

Despite the novelty of such campaigns as well as viral marketing initiatives such as a social networking website for BMW owners, industry experts say Chinese consumers have little brand loyalty.

"Few foreign automakers have successfully differentiated their brands in China so far because pricing, more than anything else, is still the number one concern for most buyers," said Huang Zherui, an analyst with CSM Worldwide, a global industry consultancy.

"Customer loyalty is almost an unheard of concept here and even a moderate price-cut can easily swing customers away to the competing brands," Huang added.

In China's luxury sector, which makes up about 5 percent of car sales, Audi and BMW owners are starting to switch brands without a second thought.

"We have an Audi at home. I am here to pick a BMW as a birthday gift," said a woman, who gave her name only as Wu, as she inspected a BMW 7 model at a Shanghai dealership.

OVER THE HILL

While names such as Toyota (7203.T), Volkswagen (VOWG.DE) and Honda Motor (7267.T) have well-defined images in the West, honing their brand in China is challenging due to huge demographic differences in a country where many people rode bicycles as their primary mode of transport just a decade ago.

In some cases, circumstance plays a crucial role in creating brand equity. Take General Motors' (GM.UL) Buick, a car seen as over the hill back home where sales have been dropping.

Yet in China the Buick enjoys enormous success with a prestigious brand cachet that dates back to the early 20th century when historical figures such as Pu Yi, the last emperor of China, and Zhou Enlai, communist China's first premier, owned, drove or were driven in Buicks, GM said.

In fact, the Buick is enjoying double digit growth in China where sales have already topped 2 million. Other popular cars are VW's Passat, Honda's Accord and Toyota's Camry and Corolla.

Tailoring its models to the tastes of Chinese consumers, GM sells Cadillacs and other sedans with roomy backseats as many well-heeled Chinese prefer to be chauffeured through traffic-choked roads in China's mega-cities.

Even Porsche launched a relatively staid four door sedan in China this year which offers ample leg room for company executives traveling in the backseat.

Drivers are often used for corporate cars and among the well-heeled because the commutes to work in China's traffic-clogged roads can be long, tiresome affairs. And drivers are cheap, earning just a few hundred dollars a month.

BLAND BRANDS

Gloomy predictions for car sales in China this year due to the financial downturn were swept away by a multi-billion dollar government stimulus plan that included tax breaks and sales tax cuts on some car models, fuelling a demand spurt at a time when many factories had slowed down production.

Demand for new cars jumped so high, so quickly that some customers have had to wait weeks for deliveries of new vehicles due to manufacturing logjams.

Industry analysts predict double digit sales growth in the coming years as more first-time car buyers enter the market and China's wealthy and upper middle class become two car families.

Many of the cars that will end up on Chinese roads will come from the factories of domestic brands such as Geely (0175.HK), Chery and Brilliance China Automotive Holdings (1114.HK).

The local brands are significantly cheaper but so is their quality. Car prices can range from 300,000-700,000 yuan ($44,000 to $102,000) for top range cars from the BMW 3 and 5 series and Audi A4 and A6. Meanwhile, the cheapest local brands such as Chery's QQ can go for as little as 30,000 yuan ($4,400) or less.

Cars in the luxury category include BMW, Audi, Toyota's Lexus, Honda's Acura, Nissan Motor's Infiniti (7201.T) and General Motor's Cadillac which offers a model that stretches about 10 cm longer in the back for the local market.

In sharp contrast to its sporty and sophisticated reputation in most of the world, BMW's flashy image in China owes much to the company's entry to the market in the mid-1990s when the first generation of newly wealthy began to emerge.

Desirable or not, the nouveau riche image has helped make China one of BMW's fastest growing markets, with sales up 28 percent to 65,822 units last year.

"Some super rich people have actually been collecting BMWs, getting one not just for themselves but for their wives, kids and even their mistresses," says Lin, the futures trader.

Audi, meanwhile, benefited in a different way as the only foreign car brand on government procurement lists until recently, helping its A6 to become a favorite among senior Chinese officials.

Such unofficial endorsement has not only helped Audi, VW's luxury brand, get a fifth of its annual China sales from government bodies, but has also made it a favorite among China's new generation of business elite who often depend on government connections to get their jobs done.

"Audi buyers are people who want to keep both feet on the ground. They want to convey a very down-to-earth but still powerful image," said Klaus Paur, director of automotive industry market research firm TNS's North Asia branch.

(Editing by Megan Goldin)