IE AP

SAN FRANCISCO – Pablo Sandoval hit a two-run homer to boost his bid for an All-Star spot and stake rookie Ryan Sadowski to an early lead, and the San Francisco Giants routed the Houston Astros 13-0 on Friday night.
Travis Ishikawa added a three-run homer that was initially ruled a double before the umpire crew went to the replay booth, at the urging of San Francisco skipper Bruce Bochy. The ball hit off the railing of the right-field arcade and Ishikawa stayed at second until getting to finish his trot about 3 minutes later.
The reviewed hit was the first this season at AT&T Park, where there was one in late September last year after replay was implemented.
Randy Winn added a two-run triple and Nate Schierholtz an RBI single in the Giants' six-run second that chased Felipe Paulino (2-5). San Francisco, which already had 14 of its 15 hits in the third inning, snapped a six-game losing streak to the Astros.
The Giants' runs were a season high and this was their majors-best 10th shutout. Jonathan Sanchez pitched two innings of relief to finish it.
Sadowski pitched another gem in his home debut, not allowing a hit until Lance Berkman's one-out single in the fourth. The 26-year-old righty has 13 scoreless innings to start his career, the longest such streak by a Giant since Mike Remlinger's 15 shutout innings in 1991, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Sadowski worked six innings in his first big league start last Sunday in a 7-0 win at Milwaukee, then topped that with seven more scoreless inning. Pretty impressive for a guy who was never in major league camp this spring training and whose bio is buried among the minor leaguers in the back of the media guide.
Sandoval had an RBI triple in the third. If he and starters Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum are all All-Stars, it would be the first time the Giants have sent three players to the Midsummer Classic since Barry Bonds, Robb Nen and Benito Santiago in 2002.
Schierholtz added an RBI double in the third.
Paulino got in trouble in a hurry in his first career appearance against San Francisco, needing a mound visit in the first from pitching coach Dewey Robinson. The right-hander was tagged for nine runs — eight earned — and nine hits in two innings in his second start since being activated from the disabled list following a right groin strain. He beat the Tigers last Saturday, but this time saw his ERA go from 5.51 to 6.66.
The Astros took three of four from the Giants in San Francisco last year and captured the season series 7-1.
San Francisco scored its most runs since a 13-0 home win against Arizona on July 1, 2007.
NOTES: Winn left the game following the second inning after fouling a ball of his foot. ... Former Giant RHP Russ Ortiz starts Saturday for Houston. "I think at heart (I'm still a Giant)," said Ortiz, who pitched Game 6 of the 2002 World Series when San Francisco collapsed against the eventual-champion Angels. "Most people recognize me as a Giant. This is where I spent most of my time in the big leagues. This will always be a special part of my career." ... Giants C Bengie Molina, nursing a cold, got the night off. ... The Giants drew 42,199 on fireworks night for their eighth sellout.

Working capital requirements of a business should be monitored at all times to ensure that there are sufficient funds available to meet short-term expenses. The cash budget is basically a detailed plan that shows all expected sources and uses of cash. The cash budget has the following six main sections.

Capital, in the financial sense, is the money which gives the business the power to buy goods to be used in the production of other goods or the offering of a service.

Chicago Financial Advisors

WASHINGTON (Reuters) –
President Barack Obama is pushing ahead with plans to shore up dwindling federal reserves for highway construction and establish a government-run bank to pay for future transportation projects.

Documents obtained by Reuters late on Wednesday detailed Transportation Department proposals for injecting $20 billion of general tax revenue into a federal trust for highway and transit infrastructure projects, and outlined Obama's longer-term plan for ensuring financial backing for new initiatives.

The administration foresees the Highway Trust Fund, which relies on federal gasoline tax receipts, running dry in late August or early September. The administration proposes to replenish it over 18 months while Congress develops a six-year blueprint for transportation priorities and funding.

The current law authorizing federal spending on highway projects expires September 30.

Officials at the Transportation Department said in the documents sent to Congress that lawmakers should approve the stop-gap measure before their next recess in August to avoid further strain on state budgets.

The administration also released details of Obama's vision for a national infrastructure bank, a centerpiece transportation initiative he promised to pursue during his campaign for president that was broadly described in his proposed budget this spring.

The bank would be an independent entity within the Transportation Department and would at first only focus on rail, highway, bridge and waterway projects.

The administration said in the documents that the bank could later include energy, water and telecommunications infrastructure.

In his budget, Obama asked for $2 billion this year and $5 billion next year to establish a bank that would give grants and make loans for projects that cross state lines or combine different modes of transportation.

The documents explained that state and local governments could apply for financing for projects worth at least $25 million and an oversight board on non-governmental advisors would decide how to distribute money based on the projects' merits, instead of by formula.

In the documents, the administration said the bank would not have authority to borrow from capital markets, since only the U.S. Treasury Department can borrow on behalf of the government, and can do so more cheaply and efficiently.

Congress returns from its week-long July 4 break on Monday and members influential on transportation matters have pledged to quickly address the trust fund shortfall.

As the gap became clearer in recent weeks, some senior members said any emergency remedy should be shorter than 18 months. They believe Congress must expedite its consideration of permanent funding solutions in the six-year transportation bill.

Administration transportation planners proposed on Wednesday to draw $18 billion from general tax revenues for highway construction spending and $2 billion for transit projects initiated by states through the early part of 2011.

Officials plan that the money be repaid over 10 years. The administration said it would support a range of options for covering reimbursement.

They also want to revise some criteria used to select the projects that receive federal support, including adding requirements for more data on project needs and costs and more transparency in how money is spent.

(Reporting by John Crawley and Lisa Lambert; Editing by Steve Orlofsky, Bernard Orr)

A home is a place of residence or refuge and comfort. It is usually a place in which an individual or a family can rest and be able to store personal property. Most modern-day households contain sanitary facilities and a means of preparing food. Animals have their own homes as well, either living in the wild or in a domesticated environment.

The word "home" can be used for various types of residential institutions in which people can live, such as nursing homes, group homes (orphanages for children, retirement homes for seniors, prisons for criminals, treatment facilities, etc.), and foster homes.

Home Decor

NEW YORK – The mysteries that continue to surround Michael Jackson's death include a frustrating and potentially costly one for news organizations: how and when the fallen pop idol will be laid to rest and where a memorial service would be held.
A memorial is being planned, but not at Jackson's former Neverland Ranch in Santa Barbara, Calif. Some news organizations had been privately planning for a Neverland viewing or burial on Friday, the beginning of a holiday weekend. Now plans are on hold and reporter vigils continue.
"It can be a little bit of a hassle," said CBS News executive Susan Zirinsky. "But this is the funeral of a celebrity that has great interest. We'll figure it out. This is not the same as a massive terrorist attack."
There's little indication that media interest is fading. Six days after Jackson's death, it was still the lead story on all three network morning news shows. Even though its producer admitted to some doubts about it earlier Tuesday, a Katie Couric-anchored CBS News special won its time slot with 8.2 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.
CNN called it a "shocking change of plans" when a Jackson family spokesman said Wednesday there would be nothing at Neverland. The network said sources had been telling CNN that something was planned there for Friday.
In addition to upending plans, the announcement illustrated the difficulty in hunting for solid information in a competitive environment when it's not really clear who has it. That was particularly evident when Matt Lauer interviewed Jackson family friend Al Sharpton on the "Today" show Wednesday, when Sharpton was unable to answer several questions because he'd been in New York for two days and away from the Jacksons.
On "The Early Show," CBS reported on questions about the paternity of Jackson's children with the Internet trio of Harvey Levin, Diane Dimond and Roger Friedman, who delivered contradictory information without naming sources, leaving the issue cloudier than when the story began.
One logistical advantage for networks is that they have sizable Los Angeles bureaus. Although ABC, for example, has sent a dozen or so extra people in for the story on an open-ended basis, it's not like transporting large staffs into remote areas, said Kate O'Brian, senior vice president of news.
"As frustrating as it can be, we do this for a living," O'Brian said. "So our folks are kind of used to it."
CNN has sent Anderson Cooper and Sanjay Gupta to Los Angeles for the story with no indication of how long they will be there. Larry King is already based there. MSNBC will use correspondent Chris Jansing as its chief correspondent and anchor the story from New York over the weekend, with staffing plans dependent on what the Jacksons decide, a spokesman said.
"I don't know what tomorrow is going to bring on this story," said Bart Feder, senior vice president of current programming at CNN. "I just know we're going to be prepared for it."
Two further indications that networks expect the story to have staying power: ABC News said its Friday "20/20" will be devoted to Jackson, and CNN announced two weekend repeats of its Jackson documentary that already ran multiple times last weekend.
NBC's Lauer headed across the country after Wednesday's "Today" show for Neverland, where some fans have been conducting a vigil. He was given access to the grounds for Thursday's show by the real estate company that now owns it, said Jim Bell, "Today" executive producer. Their competitors at CBS, "The Early Show," have similar Neverland plans for Friday.
The release of Jackson's will freshened the story on Wednesday. But Jackson still commanded attention on the morning shows even though there was less fresh news on the subject at the time; all three shows devoted their first 11 or 12 minutes to the story.
"Just as there were many different angles to his life, the story now in death is taking all kinds of angles, too," Bell said. "Until there is some kind of resolution — the most basic being his burial — there will continue to be a high interest."
"Today" ran a lengthy segment showing photos of Jackson and his children provided by a family friend. They noted how Jackson's children frequently wore veils in public so they wouldn't be recognizable — then showed several photos of the children without them. There also was film of a gleeful Jackson pushing a cart in a supermarket that has opened at midnight especially for him.
Zirinsky said CBS has been flooded with offers from people who wanted to sell Jackson pictures. There were so many she had to stop looking at them; because there was so much available the network had no need to overpay to license photos, she said.
She had experienced a brief "buyer's remorse" Tuesday afternoon about convincing the network to run another prime-time hour on Jackson. But she said there was more than enough material, and the ratings proved people were still interested.

Even evening news broadcasts, which tend to drop these personality-oriented stories much faster than the morning shows, has kept interested.

"There is still a fascination on the part of a lot of people," said Jon Banner, executive producer of ABC's "World News." "You just have to look at the sales of his music to see. At some point this will diminish as a story, but there are a couple of things people are waiting for. They'd like to know what killed the man. And they'd like to spend a day at a memorial to remember him."

http://www.healthshop101.com/silver.html

Dietary minerals are the chemical elements required by living organisms, other than the four elements carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen present in common organic molecules. The term "mineral" is archaic, since the intent of the definition is to describe ions, not chemical compounds or actual minerals.

Some sources state that sixteen minerals are required to support human biochemical processes by serving structural and functional roles as well as electrolytes: The term "dietary minerals" does not include the fundamental elements of organic chemistry: hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. Also, sometimes a distinction is drawn between this category and micronutrients. Most of the essential minerals are of relatively low atomic weight:

Forex Signals

Foreign exchange trading increased by 38% between April 2005 and April 2006 and has more than doubled since 2001. This is largely due to the growing importance of foreign exchange as an asset class and an increase in fund management assets, particularly of hedge funds and pension funds. The diverse selection of execution venues such as internet trading platforms offered by companies such as First Prudential Markets and Saxo Bank have made it easier for retail traders to trade in the foreign exchange market.

Long-term trends: Currency markets often move in visible long-term trends. Although currencies do not have an annual growing season like physical commodities, business cycles do make themselves felt. Cycle analysis looks at longer-term price trends that may rise from economic or political trends.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A US Airways flight to Los Angeles was diverted to Albuquerque after a passenger removed all of his clothing mid-flight, forcing flight attendants to cover him with a blanket before he was arrested. Keith Wright, 50, of the Bronx in New York, was taken into custody by airport authorities after he allegedly disrobed while sitting in his seat in the back of Flight 705 on Tuesday evening, authorities said.
The plane carrying about 148 passengers from Charlotte to Los Angeles landed in Albuquerque about 6:45 p.m., US Airways spokeswoman Valerie Wunder said.
Wright was unresponsive when asked by a flight attendant to put his clothes back on, said Dan Jiron, a spokesman for the Albuquerque airport. Authorities suspect the passenger may have been drunk or on prescription drugs.
"She asked him on more than one occasion to put on his clothes. She covered him with a blanket and he took that off," Jiron said.
Wright allegedly became combative when flight attendants tried to cover him with the blanket and fasten his seat belt, the FBI said Wednesday in a news release.
Two off-duty law officers who were passengers on the flight helped the flight attendants subdue and handcuff Wright before the flight landed, Jiron said.
Passenger Ginny Keegan of Detroit was sitting in the front of the plane.
"All of a sudden there was a bunch of activity and a lot of loud things going on and all of a sudden people started getting out of their seats in the back of the plane," she said.
Passengers were notified of a violent passenger as the plane began to approach Albuquerque, but Keegan said no one was fearful.
"No one was really panicking. The flight attendants seemed to handle it very well," she said.
She said the man was "completely naked" as he was taken in handcuffs off the plane.
As the plane took off again, Keegan said the usual announcement to please fasten your seat belts came over the loudspeakers with a twist.
The message included "a reminder to everybody to please keep your clothing on. It got a couple chuckles," Keegan said.
The flight attendants also were dealing with an unrelated onboard medical emergency at the same time, which exacerbated the situation, the FBI said.
Wright is in federal custody on a federal charge of interfering with flight crew members and attendants. He is expected to appear in federal court in Albuquerque on Thursday.
It was not immediately known if Wright has a lawyer.

Plus Size Lingerie

Early computer sound chips had only simple tone and noise generators with few channels, imposing limitations on both the complexity of the sounds they could produce and the number of notes that could be played at once. In their desire to create a more complex arrangement than what the medium apparently allowed, composers developed creative approaches when developing their own electronic sounds and scores, employing a diversity of both methods of sound synthesis, such as pulse width modulation and wavetable synthesis, and compositional techniques, such as a liberal use of arpeggiation. The resultant chiptunes sometimes seem harsh or squeaky to the unaccustomed listener.

The June 2008 issue of Paste Magazine has an article on chiptune artist Jeremiah "Nullsleep" Johnson, and the included sampler CD features chiptune song "Local Hero" by Crazy Q.

Voice Cards

WASHINGTON – Animal research facilities will be required to disclosee more information online about their experiments under a court settlement signed Wednesday by the Humane Society of the United States and the Agriculture Department.
According to the Humane Society, the settlement will require the Agriculture Department to post annual reports from those facilities, including what they call "pain and distress information," on its Web site. The two parties settled in a lawsuit filed by the advocacy group four years ago after the group were unable to obtain information they requested.
The settlement will now be submitted to the federal district court for the District of Columbia for final approval.
"While it became apparent during the suit that the USDA might be acting to shield animal research facilities from public scrutiny, we are pleased that the settlement will ensure public access to animal research information, and shed light on whether USDA is doing its job," said Kathleen Conlee of the Humane Society.
The Bush administration stopped posting some animal testing information in 2002, according to the group, and then began posting the annual reports in 2005 in response to the lawsuit. Conlee said the court-approved settlement is important so future administrations don't further abuse the policy.
Caleb Weaver, a spokesman for Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, confirmed the settlement.
The Animal Welfare Act, signed into law in 1966 and enforced by USDA, governs the care and handling of most warm-blooded animals at registered research facilities and licensed animal dealer facilities around the country. Birds, mice and rats bred for research are exempt from the law.
A 1970 amendment to the law requires those facilities to submit annual reports on its activities. According to the Humane Society, these reports should include information on how many and what kind of animals are used in research, whether pain relief was used and a justification if such relief was not provided.
The group's 2005 lawsuit charged that the Department of Agriculture violated the Freedom of Information Act by denying them access to reports and redacting large amounts of information in reports they did provide.

The value of graphite was soon realized to be enormous, mainly because it could be used to line the moulds for cannon balls, and the mines were taken over by the Crown and guarded. Graphite had to be smuggled out for use in pencils. Because graphite is soft, it requires some form of case. Graphite sticks were at first wrapped in string or in sheepskin for stability. The news of the usefulness of these early pencils spread far and wide, attracting the attentions of artists all over the "known world."

Many pencils across the world and almost all in Europe are graded on the European system using a continuum from "H" (for hardness) to "B" (for blackness), as well as "F" (for fine point). The standard writing pencil is graded HB. According to Petroski this system might have been developed in the early 1900s by Brookman, an English pencil maker. It used "B" for black and "H" for hard; a pencil's grade was described by a sequence or successive Hs or Bs such as BB and BBB for successively softer leads, and HH and HHH for successively harder ones.

Personalized Pencils

LOS ANGELES – A judge ruled Wednesday that Katherine Jackson will retain limited control of 2,000 items from Neverland until another hearing is held Monday.
Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff called for a speedy compromise between attorneys for Katherine Jackson and the two co-executors of Michael Jackson's will — lawyer John Branca and John McClain, a music executive and a family friend.
"I would like the family to sit down and try to make this work so that we don't have a difficult time in court," the judge said.
On Monday, Beckloff granted Katherine Jackson "slim" authority to take control of the items that had been slated for auction earlier this year. The sale was stopped after Jackson sued.
Katherine Jackson, 79, does not have the court's authority to manage her son's financial interests.
Her attorneys wrote in a court filing on Monday that the Neverland memorabilia is being held by a former Jackson representative. Beckloff said Wednesday he thought it was a valid concern that some of those items might go missing.
Still, Branca and McClain moved quickly to try to overturn Katherine Jackson's authority, saying it was granted on the mistaken assumption that Jackson died without a valid will.
Earlier, the men presented a five-page, typed will that named Katherine Jackson as the guardian of her son's three children and their estates.
But control of a trust that will control Michael Jackson's estate — estimated at more than $500 million — goes to Branca and McClain in the will.
Jackson's children, ranging in ages from 7 to 12, are named as beneficiaries of a trust.
Paul Gordon Hoffman, an attorney for Branca and McClain, told Beckloff his clients are the proper people to take over Jackson's financial affairs.
He said Katherine Jackson's attorneys had already overstepped their authority.
Another attorney for the executors, Jeryll S. Cohen, told Beckloff that Branca and McClain could negotiate a deal this week to minimize a hit to Jackson's estate from the refund of an estimated $85 million in tickets sold for a series of London concerts.
Michael Jackson had been in the late stages of preparing for those concerts when he abruptly died in Los Angeles on Thursday.
Beckloff urged attorneys for Branca and McClain to meet with Katherine Jackson's attorneys over the weekend. A hearing on Monday will deal with the estate.
The judge said he saw no urgency to give the executors authority over the Neverland items this week.
___
Associated Press writer Jacob Adelman in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON — The Social Security Administration has continued to pay millions of dollars in benefits to dead Americans, and other elderly U.S. residents are at risk of losing badly needed aid because they're improperly recorded as deceased, federal investigators warn in a new report.

The consequences of either bureaucratic error can be severe.

"The addition of erroneous death entries can lead to benefit termination, cause severe financial hardship and distress to affected individuals," investigators with the Social Security Administration's Office of Inspector General noted in the report, which was quietly released on Sunday.

The mistakes cost taxpayers and individual beneficiaries in different ways. Taxpayers are losing money when benefits are paid to the deceased. Individuals get into trouble when they're prematurely pronounced dead.

In Southern California and elsewhere last year, investigators analyzed 305 Social Security beneficiaries who were recorded as deceased in their Social Security Administration files. At least 140 of them were still alive.

All told, investigators say, more than 6,000 current Social Security beneficiaries are recorded as being deceased. An untold number of them are still, in fact, alive.

"There is no rhyme or reason," the Scott Nishioki, chief of staff for Rep. Jim Costa , D- Calif. , said Tuesday of the recurring Social Security problems. "Often, it's probably just a clerical error."

Costa's office has handled about 10 cases in the past four years in which constituents the Social Security Administration has incorrectly classified as dead, Nishioki said. Other congressional offices have periodically confronted the same problem.

The identified problems are only a fraction of the nation's 50 million Social Security beneficiaries, and Social Security officials say they've instituted protective measures.

Social Security officials already have recovered some of the improperly paid-out funds. They further agreed to investigate "as quickly as possible based on available resources" the correct status of 6,733 potentially deceased individuals identified in the new audit.

"We will investigate the alert and follow-up systems to assess how these cases were missed by our current controls," James A. Winn , chief of staff for the Social Security Administration , said in the agency's formal response.

An agency representative couldn't be reached Tuesday to elaborate on the audit.

Those affected can feel the problem acutely even if they're still getting Social Security checks, because Social Security death records can be used by other agencies.

Several individuals told investigators that they "had to prove to the Internal Revenue Service they were not deceased before receiving a refund," investigators noted. Some sought congressional help.

"A retired beneficiary expressed a recurring problem when he could not receive funding from his private pension plan since he was declared deceased," the investigators noted. "Each time he attempted to correct the issue, the problem recurred when the pension plan updated its death information."

The flip side of the problem occurs when a beneficiary is properly designated as deceased, but the Social Security benefits continue. Payments were made to dead beneficiaries in at least 88 out of the 305 cases studied by investigators. Some of these improper payments continued for years.

For instance, a New York City resident died in April 1990 . Nonetheless, Social Security checks of $1,185 were mailed out monthly, and cashed, until October 2008 . Investigators have since charged a suspect with improperly taking more than $210,000 in benefits.

All told, investigators found $2 million in improper payments were made to the 88 deceased beneficiaries. In some cases, a "death alert tracking system" hadn't properly notified Social Security field offices. In other cases, Social Security numbers were transposed.

Investigators in April further identified 6,733 Social Security benefit recipients whose master files "contained a date of death." Extrapolating from their smaller sample, investigators warned that more than $40 million may have been paid out improperly to deceased beneficiaries.

As a result of the new study, at least three dozen potential criminal cases have been forwarded to the agency's Office of Investigations for further inquiry and possible prosecution.

ON THE WEB

Audit report

MORE FROM MCCLATCHY

Follow the latest legal affairs news at McClatchy's Suits & Sentences

Minn. high court declares Franken the winner

Sanford tells AP he 'crossed lines' with other women

Electronic prescriptions move health care into digital future

Treasury details new consumer agency, and banks cry foul

Follow the latest politics news at McClatchy's Planet Washington

TUESDAY, June 30 (HealthDay News) -- Online genetic testing for
lung cancer appears to offer some benefits to patients, according to U.S.
researchers who evaluated the use of an online test among 44 smokers.

"Up until now we have had a clear model for genetic testing. You see a
professional genetics counselor, undergo a battery of tests and that
professional helps you interpret your results," Saskia Sanderson, who
conducted the study while at the social and behavioral research branch of
the U.S. National Human Genome Research Institute, said in a news release
from the American Association for Cancer Research.

"That model is coming under increasing pressure as more and more
genetic information is generated, and as a greater number of genetic tests
become available on the Internet," Sanderson added.

"What we found was encouraging in that people who got these online
genetic results recalled them correctly, and no one regretted having taken
the test, though it is important to remember that this was a small group
of select smokers and that others may respond differently," said
Sanderson, a postdoctoral fellow in the department of genetics and genomic
sciences at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.

The online test examined in this study assessed the presence or absence
of the GSTM1 gene. The absence of the gene has been associated with a
slightly increased risk of lung cancer. Half the smokers in the study were
missing the gene, and all of them correctly identified themselves as
"higher risk." Of those with GSTM1, 55 percent accurately identified
themselves as "lower risk," while 41 percent interpreted their results as
"average risk."

The patterns of accurate interpretation remained six months after the
participants received their genetic test results, which suggests that they
retained the information, the study said.

According to the researchers, the participants said they found the test
results to be believable, trustworthy, easy to understand, relevant and
important. Those who learned they had a higher genetic risk for lung
cancer did have a short-term decrease in confidence that quitting smoking
could reduce their risk of lung cancer. However, all the participants
decided to use at least one of several smoking cessation aids.

The study is published in the July issue of the journal Cancer
Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

"Genetic information is complex, and there is a risk that providing
unfiltered information will result in heightened worry and
misinterpretation of results," Jamie Ostroff, chief of behavioral science
services at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and an
editorial board member of the journal, said in the news release.

"This pilot study found no harm in undergoing these tests and
underscores the importance of conducting future research as to how to best
educate smokers about gene-environment risks," Ostroff said.

More information

The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about genetic testing.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Republican Norm Coleman conceded to Democrat Al Franken in Minnesota's contested Senate race on Tuesday, ending a nearly eight-month recount and court fight over an election decided by only a few hundred votes.
Coleman announced his decision at a news conference in St. Paul hours after a unanimous Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that Franken, a former "Saturday Night Live" comedian and liberal commentator, should be certified the winner.
"The Supreme Court has made its decision and I will abide by the results," Coleman told reporters outside his St. Paul home.
Coleman, appearing relaxed and upbeat, said he had congratulated Franken, was at peace with the decision and had no regrets about the fight, which started almost immediately after the Nov. 4 election.
"Sure I wanted to win," said Coleman, who called the ruling a surprise. "I thought we had a better case. But the court has spoken."
He declined to talk about his future plans, brushing aside a question about whether he would run for governor in 2010.
Franken's presence in the Senate would give the Democrats control of 60 seats, enough to overcome any Republican filibuster if they stay united.
A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the earliest Franken would be seated is next week, because the Senate is out of session for the July 4 holiday.
"I look forward to working with Senator-Elect Franken to build a new foundation for growth and prosperity by lowering health care costs and investing in the kind of clean energy jobs and industries that will help America lead in the 21st century," President Barack Obama said in a statement.

CHICAGO – A bone growth agent used in thousands of spinal fusion surgeries for neck pain has been linked to complications and higher cost, according to the first nationwide study of the product. Safety questions arose last year about the protein product, BMP, when used in fusion surgeries in the neck region, a use not approved by federal regulators.
"Some of these complications are life-threatening because the neck is such a sensitive area," said lead author Dr. Kevin Cahill of Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. The study appears in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.
Smaller studies have shown BMP promotes better healing of the bone and fewer repeat surgeries to fix failed spinal fusions. The product also makes it unnecessary to surgically harvest the patient's own bone from the shin or hip for a graft.
However, the powerful protein can make bone grow in unwanted places if it's incorrectly used. There are no official guidelines for its use.
Surgeons have rapidly adopted BMP since the Food and Drug Administration approved it in 2002 for back surgeries. Doctors used it in 17,623 spinal fusions in 2006, nearly 1 in 4 cases, the researchers found.
"It's a new product and use is taking off right now," Cahill said.
Last year, the FDA warned doctors about 38 reports of complications when the treatment was used in the neck region of the spine. For unknown reasons, some patients had swelling after surgery, and that caused problems with breathing and swallowing.
BMP is produced by two companies, Minneapolis-based Medtronic and Kalamazoo, Mich.-based Stryker.
Medtronic spokeswoman Marybeth Thorsgaard said that company added a label warning about neck complications in 2005. She said the company has a study under way that may help address how the product could be safely used in the neck region.
In an e-mailed statement, Stryker said doctors should use its BMP product only for approved uses, which do not include spinal fusions in the neck.
Spinal fusion is one option for people with back and neck pain, although some researchers have questioned how well it works.
In a spinal fusion, a surgeon removes the shock-absorbing disc between two vertebrae and replaces it with the patient's own bone, BMP or another product. Ideally, new bone grows and fuses the vertebrae into one piece, stabilizing the spine.
Medtronic's BMP is in a liquid solution, which is implanted on a collagen sponge in a titanium cage. Stryker's product has the consistency of wet sand.
For the new study, researchers looked at records of more than 325,000 spinal fusions from 2002 to 2006. When BMP was used in the front of the neck region of the spine, there were complications in 7 percent of patients before they left the hospital, a 50 percent higher rate compared to when the product wasn't used.
Elsewhere in the spine, however, BMP led to no more complications than other spinal fusion treatments.
In all spinal fusions, average hospital charges were higher when BMP was used, compared to when it wasn't. Without BMP, fusion surgeries in the neck region cost about $31,000; with BMP, the cost is roughly $46,000. The product itself costs between $3,600 and $5,200.
The study looked only at problems right after surgery, and didn't include repeat surgeries as complications.
"This paper doesn't address one of the biggest issues: Does BMP in fact improve fusion rates?" said neurosurgeon Dr. Allan Levi of University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine, who wasn't involved in the new study but has written about BMP.

Without large studies on fusion rates, surgeons should "think twice before using it, in recognition of the complications and costs," Levi said. "We have a product that probably works, but is very expensive."

The study was funded by the Brain Science Foundation.

___

On the Net:

JAMA: http://jama.ama-assn.org

LOS ANGELES – George Clooney has lined up a new home for his production company.
Clooney and producing partner Grant Heslov's Smoke House Pictures is in final negotiations on a two-year development and production deal with Sony Pictures, studio Co-Chairwoman Amy Pascal said Tuesday.
For many years, Clooney had been set up at Warner Bros., first with his Section Eight partnership with Steven Soderbergh and later with Smoke House. Clooney said he felt like "part of a family" at Warner.
"I'm leaving a terrific company and a lot of dear friends. They're a class act," said Clooney, 48, who called Sony a "perfect match" for Smoke House. "Grant Heslov and I hope to deliver the kind of films that will make them proud."
While at Warner, Clooney won a supporting-actor Academy Award for "Syriana" and had a best-director nomination the same year for "Good Night, and Good Luck," which Heslov produced.
Smoke House still has half a dozen projects in development at Warner Bros. that will remain there. Future Clooney and Heslov projects will be developed at Sony.
"We couldn't be more excited to be in business with them," Pascal said. "The broad range of quality projects they have championed and the compelling and sometimes provocative material they support says everything about their company and their creative aspirations."

Los Angeles (E! Online) –
Seth Rogen and James Franco have taken the pineapple express to Oscar credibility.

As if expanding the Best Picture nominee pool and potentially nixing the Best Song category wasn't enough to modernize the usually staid Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, surely its welcoming of cinema's preeminent bong jokesters is.

Rogen and Franco are two of 134 new artists and movie industry executives who have been extended invitations to join the Academy and, in doing so, secure voting rights for all future Oscar ceremonies beginning in 2010.

The smokin' Pineapple Express duo are joined by fellow Judd Apatow repertory players Michael Cera, Paul Rudd and Jane Lynch, along with Casey Affleck, Viola Davis, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, Taraji P. Henson, James McAvoy, Tyler Perry, Danny Boyle, Emile Hirsch, Michelle Williams, Amy Ryan, Slumdog soundtracker A.R. Rahman, Peter Gabriel, Tom Cruise's producing partner-in-crime, Paula Wagner, Milk man Dustin Lance Black and Mr. Oscar himself, Hugh Jackman.
"These filmmakers have, over the course of their careers, captured the imagination of audiences around the world," AMPAS head honcho Sid Ganis said in a statement. "It's this kind of talent and creativity that make up the Academy, and I welcome each of them to our ranks."

The new members, which keeps the Academy's voting membership to just under 6,000, will be welcomed at an invitation-only reception in Beverly Hills this September.

Here's the complete list of invitees:

ACTORS

Casey Affleck
Emily Blunt
Michael Cera
Viola Davis
James Franco
Brendan Gleeson
Anne Hathaway
Taraji P. Henson
Emile Hirsch
Hugh Jackman

Melissa Leo

Jane Lynch

Eddie Marsan

James McAvoy

Seth Rogen

Paul Rudd

Amy Ryan

Michael Shannon

Michelle Williams

Jeffrey Wright

ANIMATORS

J.J. Blumenkranz

Konstantin Bronzit

Kendal Cronkhite

Rodolphe Guenoden

Byron Howard

Kunio Kato

Doug Sweetland

Chris Williams

ART DIRECTOR

Andrew Ackland-Snow

AT-LARGE

Matthew D. Loeb

Redmond Morris

CASTING DIRECTORS

John Papsidera

Bernie Telsey

CINEMATOGRAPHERS

Russ T. Alsobrook

Anthony Dod Mantle

Henner Hofmann

Claudio Miranda

Rodney Taylor

Mandy Walker

COSTUME DESIGNERS

Deborah Hopper

Louise Mingenbach

Michael O'Connor

Michael Wilkinson

DIRECTORS

Rachid Bouchareb

Danny Boyle

David Frankel

Rod Lurie

Thomas McCarthy

Tyler Perry

Henry Selick

DOCUMENTARY

William Gazecki

Rachel Grady

Rory Kennedy

Scott Hamilton Kennedy

James Marsh

Megan Mylan

Doug Pray

EXECUTIVES

Daniel D.A. Battsek

Steve Beeks

Graham W. Burke

Joe Drake

Erik Feig

Paul Hanneman

Donald P. Harris

Claudia Lewis

FILM EDITORS

Roger Barton

Hank Corwin

Chris Dickens

Elliot Graham

Kathryn Himoff

Leo Trombetta

Brent White

Pam Wise

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILMS

Reto Caffi

Jochen Alexander Freydank

F. Carter Pilcher

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLISTS

Howard Berger

Mike Elizalde

Louis Lazzara

Gerald Quist

MUSIC

Jeff Danna

Andrew Dorfman

Peter Gabriel

Clint Mansell

A.R. Rahman

PRODUCERS

Mark Ciardi

Christian Colson

Gordon Gray

Broderick Johnson

Cathy Konrad

Andrew Kosove

James Lassiter

Russell Smith

Paula Wagner

PRODUCTION DESIGNERS

Donald Graham Burt

Michael Carlin

Jane Ann Stewart

Kevin Thompson

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Michael D. Camp

Marc Cohen

Megan Colligan

James C. Gallagher

David Kaminow

Sal Ladestro

Maria Pekurovskaya

Elizabeth Petit

SET DECORATORS

Rebecca Alleway

Peter Lando

Barbara Munch-Cameron

SCENIC ARTIST

Robert Topol

SOUND

Michael Barry

Derek Casari

Aaron Glascock

Ren Klyce

Peter F. Kurland

Karen Baker Landers

Hamilton Sterling

Deborah Wallach

Kim Waugh

VISUAL EFFECTS

Christopher Bond

Matthew Butler

Chris Corbould

Rob Engle

Scott Gordon

Hal Hickel

Van Ling

Shane Mahan

Steve Preeg

Tim Webber

Edson Williams

WRITERS

John August

Dustin Lance Black

Courtney Hunt

Howard A. Rodman

______

Follow us on Twitter @eonline and get our free iPhone app

··· THEY SAID WHAT? Get today's most commented stories now at www.eonline.com

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – An 800-pound hog that survived on its own for a week after a truck flipped while on its way to a slaughterhouse has surfaced in a swimming pool at a home near the crash site. LeAnn Baldy, whose house is only yards from Interstate 430, said Monday she noticed her pool was suddenly overflowing and then saw the immersed pig, which was having a drink in the pool.
About 90 hogs were in the trailer when it overturned where I-430 meets I-40, and about 60 survived. Officials said they thought the last of them had been caught.
Baldy said she found a farmer to take in the pig. A spokesman for Odom's Tennessee Pride said it can't use the hog in its sausage products because no one knows what the hog had been eating in its week on the lam.
___
Information from: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, http://www.arkansasonline.com

Halloween Costume

BIGresearch conducted a survey for the National Retail Federation in the United States and found that 53.3% of consumers planned to buy a costume for Halloween 2005, spending $38.11 on average (up 10 dollars from the year before). They were also expected to spend $4.96 billion in 2006, up significantly from just $3.3 billion the previous year.

As in Ireland the exact customs involved with celebrating Halloween from ancient times to pre-industrialised Scotland are lost and lack primary documentation, to distinguish the ancient customs from the modern counterpart. The Witchcraft Act of 1735 contained a clause preventing the consumption of pork and pastry comestibles on Halloween although in modern times such treats are a popular treat for children; the act was repealed in the 1950s. Scotland's National Bard Robert Burns portrayed the varied custom for children to dress up in costumes in his poem "Hallowe'en" (1785).

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – Honduran troops detained seven international journalists covering the aftermath of a military coup Monday, freeing them unhurt a short time later. The government also took at least two television stations off the air and interrupted the broadcasts of others.
At least 10 soldiers, most with rifles drawn, arrived at the hotel where journalists from The Associated Press and the Venezuela-based television network Telesur were staying and unplugged their editing equipment in an apparent attempt to stop their coverage of protests in support of deposed President Manuel Zelaya.
One of the Telesur journalists was speaking on a telephone at the time of the detention, and AP's Nicolas Garcia saw a soldier lightly slapping her hand so she would hang up.
Garcia, an Argentine videojournalist, and Esteban Felix, a Peruvian photographer, and two Nicaraguan assistants were loaded into a military Land Cruiser, with another military vehicle following close behind. Also detained were Telesur journalists Adriana Sivori, producer Maria Jose Diaz and cameraman Larry Sanchez.
"They're taking us prisoner at gunpoint," Sivori told Telesur by telephone as she was being detained. Telesur is financed by Venezuela's government and its allies.
Garcia said the four AP journalists were taken to an immigration office where two officials demanded to see their Honduran visas. They were released after explaining they were journalists. Telesur confirmed that its journalists were also released.
The two officials who handled the journalists' cases refused to give their names.
Telesur said military officers also threatened another of its journalists, warning that others would be detained if the network continued to transmit images of protests in support of Zelaya, who was forced into exile on Sunday.
Soldiers also shut down Channel 8, the official broadcaster of the Zelaya government, and another television station sympathetic to his administration in the capital. Honduran reporters also said at least one Tegucigalpa radio station has been forced off the air.
When Zelaya was first arrested Sunday morning, power was cut throughout the capital and all radio and television stations went off the air or simply played traditional "marimba" music. Most networks resumed transmission a few hours later, but they have provided little coverage of the protests outside the military-occupied presidential palace.
The media apparently have been acting on orders from the government, though it is unclear who has been giving them. Soldiers have been posted around some television and radio stations and around the national power and phone companies.
Telesur and CNN en Espanol, the Spanish-language network of CNN, have broadcast news of the protests in Hondurans via cable television, but those transmissions have been interrupted intermittently.
The Committee to Protect Journalists said it is "deeply concerned by reports that several broadcasters have been taken off the air," calling the situation a "media blackout." Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International also expressed similar concerns.
Police and the Honduran military refused to comment on measures involving journalists Monday night.

Artificial lighting is most commonly provided today by electric lights, but gas lighting, candles, or oil lamps were used in the past, and still are used in certain situations. Proper lighting can enhance task performance or aesthetics, while there can be energy wastage and adverse health effects of lighting. Indoor lighting is a form of fixture or furnishing, and a key part of interior design. Lighting can also be an intrinsic component of landscaping.

Lighting is the deliberate application of light to achieve some aesthetic or practical effect. Lighting includes use of both artificial light sources such as lamps and natural illumination of interiors from daylight. Daylighting (through windows, skylights, etc.) is often used as the main source of light during daytime in buildings given its low cost. Artificial lighting represents a major component of energy consumption, accounting for a significant part of all energy consumed worldwide.

Exit Lighting

BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT (Reuters) –
Efforts to save two leading European carmakers took a twist on Tuesday that could change the ownership of both crisis-hit General Motors Corp's (GMGMQ.PK) Opel and German sportscar maker Porsche (PSHG_p.DE).

As GM readied for bankruptcy, the Financial Times reported Belgium-based holding company RHJ International (RHJI.BR), a former bidder for Opel, was back in the running and close to a deal that would strand Canadian-Austrian auto parts group Magna International (MGa.TO).

Elsewhere, Qatar made an offer to the Porsche and Piech families that control the Porsche SE automotive holding that could help cut its debt mountain.

Porsche and Volkswagen (VOWG.DE) have been in talks to create an "integrated" automotive group after Porsche's 9 billion euro ($12.6 billion) debt burden forced it to drop plans for a full takeover of VW. But progress toward creating a combined company stalled after Porsche chief executive Wendelin Wiedeking sought investment from Qatar's sovereign wealth fund.

RHJ-OPEL DEAL CLOSE?

The FT reported GM was close to a deal with RHJ to sell a stake in Opel, and a memorandum of understanding could be signed within days.

Talks on a stake in Opel between its parent, GM, and Magna -- going on since Magna clinched an agreement just before GM's bankruptcy filing in May, pipping Fiat (FIA.MI) to the post at the time -- have hit snags, the paper said.

RHJ was named as a potential Opel buyer in media reports but never confirmed or denied it had made an initial bid let alone a second, improved one. But according to the Financial Times, RHJ has improved an earlier bid and is being taken "very seriously" by GM and a memorandum of understanding could be signed in days.

The FT reported RHJ's new offer was said to be more sensitive to job losses in Germany, which is providing $2.1 billion of bridge financing to keep the carmaker afloat as GM goes through bankruptcy proceedings.

Another sticking point in negotiations with Magna is access to the Detroit carmaker's global technology, which Magna wants to secure on behalf of Russian partners, the paper said. Magna has teamed up with GAZ (GAZA.RTS) and Sberbank (SBER03.MM) for the bid.

RHJ and Magna declined to comment, as did Fiat whose chief executive Sergio Marchionne has said he wants to focus on Chrysler (CBS.UL) -- in which it has taken a 20 percent stake -- after the Italian automaker's bid for Opel failed, and that its existing bid for Opel was the best it can do.

Back in the United States, GM is due to seek approval from a court on Tuesday to sell its assets to a "New GM" in a plan to reinvigorate the automaker under government ownership.

Also on Tuesday, Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS) offered to allow customers to lock in fuel prices for new vehicles in a sales promotion aimed at the economic anxieties of American consumers.

(Reporting by Reuters reporters; Writing by Helen Massy-Beresford; Editing by Dan Lalor)

($1 = 0.7143 euro)

OKLAHOMA CITY – When D.J. White heard former college teammate Robert Vaden's name in the NBA draft, he sent a text message saying "Congratulations!"
When Vaden got traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder minutes later, he had some revising to do.
"Welcome to the family" was the new message.
The duo, who shared a room at Indiana during the Hoosiers' run to the NCAA tournament three years ago, will be reunited in the NBA.
"It felt good just to know somebody already there — somebody who can look out for you, show you the ins and outs of town, the ups and downs," said Vaden, a second-round pick at No. 54 overall. "We helped each other out in college, so I don't really see it being no different here in Oklahoma City."
Back when White and Vaden were rooming together during their freshman and sophomore years with the Hoosiers, they'd chat about the future and envision themselves playing in the NBA. White was the Big Ten freshman of the year before breaking his left foot and missing most of the following season, while Vaden started all 60 games and averaged 11.9 points.
"We always thought we would play against each other, never with each other," White said. "It's here now, so things work out in weird ways. But I'm happy it did."
Although they intersected along the way, White and Vaden took different paths to the pros.
White was raised in Alabama before heading north for his college career. He stuck with the Hoosiers for all four years of college and was the Big Ten player of the year as a senior.
Meanwhile, Indiana's program fell into scandal as Kelvin Sampson got into the same sort of trouble with the NCAA that he'd had at Oklahoma over phone calls to recruits.
Vaden grew up in Indiana and stayed at home with the Hoosiers before transferring to Alabama-Birmingham to follow Mike Davis when he resigned after the 2005-06 season — opening the door for Sampson's hiring.
"It was a different experience going into it than I thought it was going to be. I played at Indiana for two years. That was pretty much like my dream school," Vaden said.
He had to sit out a year under NCAA transfer rules and then played in relative obscurity at UAB. The Blazers made the second of back-to-back NIT appearances last season despite being left with only six scholarship players at midseason.
Vaden stayed focused on getting better.
"I think that's the reason — what got me here today, just being able to get in the gym all the time and work hard," Vaden said. "That's what I do, so I'm going to continue to do that."
That part of Vaden's approach apparently caught the attention of Thunder general manager Sam Presti enough that he sent cash to the Charlotte Bobcats for his draft rights.
"Robert Vaden is a worker. Robert Vaden is a guy that spends a lot of time in the gym," Presti said. "We think he's a guy that's about winning, and we like his dedication to shooting the ball."
Left without as many offensive options around him, Vaden's scoring average dropped from 21.1 to 17.6 points last season and his 3-point shooting percentage fell to 35 percent, three points lower than it was over the course of his four years in college.

If he can regain his stroke, he could be a boon for a team that ranked 28th out of 30 NBA teams last season by shooting 34.6 percent from 3-point range.

"I feel like I can score from just about anywhere on the floor. I feel like I have unlimited range," Vaden said. "I know a lot of people may disagree, but I feel like I'm a very confident when I'm on the offensive end, so hopefully I can bring that to the table."

Vaden said he didn't know what his role would be with the Thunder but "if I didn't fit in, they wouldn't have picked me."

Oklahoma City has 2008 Rookie of the Year Kevin Durant at small forward, while starting shooting guard Thabo Sefolosha has competition with No. 3 overall pick James Harden from Arizona State.

"It's a young, up-and-coming team," Vaden said. "I feel like we've got a chance to win a lot of games here with the nucleus that they already have."

White will also practically be a rookie next season. He missed all but the final seven games of last season after having a benign growth removed from his jaw, but has had all restrictions removed on what he can eat and how much he can lift.

"I'm pretty much feeling like my old self," White said. "I had the chance to do a lot of things I haven't done in the past couple months."

YANGON (AFP) –
UN chief Ban Ki-moon must meet opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi when he visits military-ruled Myammar this week if he hopes to make real progress towards democratic reform, her party has said.

The world body announced late Monday that secretary general Ban would visit Myanmar on Friday and Saturday for talks with the ruling junta on the release of all political prisoners, including the Nobel Peace laureate.

The diplomatically risky visit starts the same day as a Myanmar court is due to resume the trial of the 64-year-old on charges that she violated her house arrest after an American man swam to her lakeside home.

"We welcome Mr Ban Ki-moon's visit," Nyan Win, the spokesman for Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) and a member of her legal team, told AFP.

"His visit will focus on three main things: to release all political prisoners, to start dialogue and also to ensure free and fair elections in 2010. Regarding these three things, he needs to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi."

A UN statement said Ban "looks forward to meeting all key stakeholders" during his two-day visit but did not specify whether he would meet Aung San Suu Kyi herself.

But the UN chief in May described her as an "indispensable patron for reconsidering the dialogue in Myanmar".

Aung San Suu Kyi is currently being held at Insein prison in Yangon where her internationally condemned trial is taking place alongside that of eccentric American John Yettaw. She faces up to five years in jail if convicted.

The NLD leader has spent 13 of the last 19 years in jail since the junta refused to recognise the party's landslide victory in Myanmar's last elections, in 1990.

The UN chief decided to go ahead with his trip after being briefed Sunday by his special envoy to Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, who paid a short preparatory visit to the country last week.

Gambari met twice with Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win in the junta's remote administrative capital Naypyidaw before holding talks with Singapore's ambassador and UN staff in Yangon, but he did not meet with Aung San Suu Kyi.

When Ban visits, he will address "the resumption of dialogue between the Government and Opposition as a necessary part of any national reconciliation process," the UN statement said.

He will also focus on "the need to create conditions conducive to credible elections", as well as on the release of political prisoners, it added.

The ruling junta has promised to hold elections in 2010, but critics say they are a sham designed to entrench the generals' hold on power and that Aung San Suu Kyi's trial is designed to keep her behind bars during the polls.

Diplomats at the United Nations said Ban had faced a dilemma in responding to the formal invitation from Myanmar rulers.

Refusing to make the visit would be seen as not fulfilling his role as secretary general, but to accept and return empty-handed would be seen as a slap in the face for him and for the international community, said a diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Other diplomats said Ban was also in a delicate position because of conflicting pressures from different countries.

Veto-wielding China, a traditional ally of Myanmar, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations of which Myanmar is a member, were pushing Ban to go without setting conditions, they said.

But Western nations were pressing him to secure at least some concessions from the military regime.

Ban's last trip to Myanmar was in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, when he visited devastated regions and pressured the junta into allowing foreign aid workers into the hardest-hit areas.

The trip made him the first UN secretary general in 44 years to visit Myanmar but he was also effectively barred from bringing up issues of political reform.

The UN statement said he "considers it important to consolidate and build on the joint humanitarian effort following his visit last year".

"Risk transfer is reasonably self-evident in most traditional per-risk or per-occurrence excess of loss reinsurance contracts. For these contracts, a predetermined amount of premium is paid and the reinsurer assumes nearly all or all of the potential variability in the underlying losses, and it is evident from reading the basic terms of the contract that the reinsurer can incur a significant loss. In many cases, there is no aggregate limit on the reinsurer's loss. The existence of certain experience-based contract terms, such as experience accounts, profit commissions, and additional premiums, generally reduce the amount of risk transfer and make it less likely that risk transfer is reasonably self-evident."

* Most insurance companies now use call centres and staff attempt to answer questions by reading from a script. It is difficult to speak to anybody with expert knowledge.

site

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) –
T.J. Ramini, who played Yaniv, the Israeli boot camp instructor who got Gabby into shape on ABC's "Desperate Housewives" this past season, has joined Fox's "24" as a recurring character.

He will play Tarin Karoush, an associate of the Middle Eastern leader played by new series regular Anil Kapoor ("Slumdog Millionaire").

Ramini, who is British, also co-starred on the long-running U.K. cop drama "The Bill."

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - On the heels of her recurring role on the CW's "90210," Jana Kramer is joining another CW drama, "One Tree Hill."

In a multi-episode arc next season, she will play model/actress Alexis, the new face of the clothing line by Brooke (Sophia Bush). Alexis is an adrenaline junkie and a diva who loves parties and is used to getting her way.

On "90210," Kramer played Portia Ranson. She also had a recurring role on NBC's "Friday Night Lights."

ADELPHI, Md. – Government experts are scheduled to vote on whether Nyquil and other combination cold medications should be pulled from the market to help curb deadly overdoses.
The Food and Drug Administration has assembled more than 35 experts for a two-day meeting to discuss and vote on ways to prevent overdose with acetaminophen — the pain-relieving, fever-reducing ingredient in Tylenol and dozens of other prescription and over-the-counter medications.
Despite years of educational campaigns and other federal actions, acetaminophen remains the leading cause of liver failure in the U.S., sending 56,000 people to the emergency room annually, according to the FDA. There are about 200 acetaminophen-related deaths each year.
"It can happen to anybody, but it's very rare," said Dr. Lee Simon, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, who attended Monday's meeting. "Obviously it's important that we improve the communication about these products because they are ubiquitous, and we still see people inadvertently overdosing."
The drugs that could be pulled off shelves are combination medications, such as Procter & Gamble's NyQuil or Novartis' Theraflu, which mix acetaminophen with other ingredients that treat cough and runny nose.
The FDA is not required to follow the advice of its panels, though it usually does. The panel vote is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.
Manufacturers could lose hundreds of millions of dollars in sales if combination drugs are pulled from the market. Total sales of all acetaminophen drugs reached $2.6 billion last year, with 80 percent of the market comprised of over-the-counter products.
The FDA says patients often pair the cold medications with pure acetaminophen drugs, like Tylenol, exposing themselves to unsafe levels of the drug.
But the industry group that represents Johnson & Johnson, Advil-maker Wyeth and other companies defended the products Monday, saying they pose a relatively small risk to patients.
Only 10 percent of deaths linked to acetaminophen medications involved over-the-counter combination cold medications, according to the Consumer Healthcare Products Association.
The majority of deaths were caused by either single-ingredient drugs or prescription strength combination drugs like Endo Pharmaceutical's Percocet, which combines oxycodone and acetaminophen.
"We believe there is a clear health benefit of over-the-counter combination products containing acetaminophen," said Linda Suydam, the group's president.
Tylenol-maker Johnson & Johnson also pushed back against a proposal to lower the maximum daily dose of acetaminophen, which is currently 4 grams daily, or eight pills of a medication like Extra Strength Tylenol.
While taking more than 4 grams per day can cause liver injury, J&J argued that taking the exact dose is proven to treat osteoarthritis pain.
The FDA panel also will vote on a series of other proposals, including changes to the packaging and labeling of medications. Both ideas are designed to prevent patients from taking more than the recommended dose of the drug.