XIAM007 - Making Unique Observations in a Very Cluttered World: 07/28/11

Thursday, 28 July 2011

Islamist militant group in Somalia banning typical fried South Asian snack, calling it “offensive” and too Christian -

The snack under scrutiny: samosas.

Somalia’s al-Shabaab group announced its ruling last week against the three-pointed pastry pouches traditionally filled with minced meat or vegetables. The Daily Mail reports that islamist militants may have taken offense to the supposed semblence between the food’s shape and the symbol of the Christian Holy Trinity.

The Daily Mail:

“The bizarre ban comes just days after militants linked to Al-Qaida in Somalia refused to let some aid workers into the country as tens of thousands suffered in the nation’s massive famine.
Aid groups including the UN Food Programme say they were not given permission by militants to provide aid in the country, where it has been warned that 800,000 children could die from starvation.”

Several countries classify the group as a terrorist organization. It is is fighting to overthrow the Transitional Federal Government and has already captured multiple Somalian provinces. Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper reported that the ruling is being enforced in a town close to Somalia’s capital city. The al-Shabaab group is known to many as a violent Islamic group lined to al-Qaeda. The small town pictured below is under the militant group’s control and is observing the samosa ban.

Al-Shabaab is known for these types of bans: the group has previously forbidden watching football on TV and playing music on the radio. In the past, it’s also ordered men to grow beards and warned it will punish anyone caught wearing tight-fitting clothes

The group has not given any official explanation for its ban, but reports say Somalians caught buying, cooking or eating the pastries, locally called sambusas, should expect to be punished.

Police arrested a 36-year-old homeless woman for allegedly snatching baby boy from stroller and trying to eat his arm -

Police arrested a 36-year-old homeless woman for allegedly snatching a baby boy from his stroller and slamming him into a pole, then trying to break his arm off so she could eat it, authorities said Wednesday.

Adriana Miranda was walking with her sister in downtown Los Angeles during the July 21 incident, pushing her 4-month-old son down the street when Natasha Hubbard allegedly reached into the stroller, unbelted the baby and grabbed him by the leg, swinging him overhead before slamming him into a rail, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The boy’s mother and aunt tried to fight Hubbard off, and when Miranda was finally able to grab the baby back Hubbard scratched at her and kept trying to fight.

The baby received only minor injuries and was treated for bruises and scratches.

According to the Times, Hubbard ran away but witnesses helped identify her, leading to her arrest. She was charged with aggravated assault and her bail set at $30,000. She is currently on probation for both a narcotics case and a battery case, and has been arrested for aggravated assault before.

In an interview with detectives, Hubbard confirmed she tried to break the baby’s arm off in order to eat it.

Rush Limbaugh - We've Been Played for Saps, Folks: Boehner Bill Will Become Reid Bill -

RUSH: I think we've been played for a bunch of saps, I mean not us exclusively, I just mean the whole country, the Republican Party, ruling class. I'll explain as uncomfortable as it is and as grading as it is, I'll explain as the program unfolds it's great to have you here as always telephone number if you want to be on the program. 800-282-2882. The e-mail address elrushbo@eibnet.com.

Where are we on the debt deal? I suspect that most of the people, and this is what a lot of people are relying on, "Just finish it!" A lot of people are sick and tired of hearing about it, let's move on to something else. "I'm tired of talking about it. Can't we do something that's fun? What the hell is going on?" I understand the sentiment. Yesterday or last night the Republican leadership succeeded in getting Alan West to flip and vote for the Boehner plan or to commit to it. The same thing with Paul Ryan, and I've had a lot of e-mails: "What's Alan West doing? I can't believe Allen West, of all people." These Democrats, folks, you have to understand who we're dealing with here. This whole thing with Debbie "Blabbermouth" Schultz going on the House floor and accusing West of wanting to cut Medicare and Social Security and all that in the south Florida district, and you remember the contretemps that begin with West responding to it and so forth. They have put his re-election into play and, of course, they've got the media on their side down here in south Florida.

So all over the media is the allegation that Alan West wants to do all this damage to senior citizens and so forth so that's how his vote gets -- I'm guessing. I haven't spoken to him. But I think that's a large part of it. Now, as we all know the Boehner bill is not ideal. It's another one of these eight hundred, nine hundred, I don't even think it gets to a trillion, but let's say it does, a trillion dollars in cuts over 10 years, the debt limit raised immediately so the spending occurs immediately, but it re-invites the debt limit debate all over again in a few short few months and in fact there is from the Daily Caller today a story that says the GOP is stealing Christmas. The Democrats are going back to the Gingrich that stole Christmas theme from the Clinton days. And here's the story from the Daily Caller: "GOP Aims to Gut Christmas, White House Alleges -- House Speaker and national grinch John Boehner is planning to spoil Christmas, White House officials are claiming, as they try to head off passage of Boehner’s two-stage debt ceiling bill."

They don't want to head off passage of the Boehner bill. They want the Boehner bill to pass in the house. There's a trap essentially that's being set, and I noticed that there's an AP story, and way down at the AP story: "In fact, Boehner's plan has enough in common with Reid's -- including the establishment of a special congressional panel to recommend additional spending cuts this fall -- that Reid hinted a compromise could be easy to snap together," between his nonexistent bill and the Boehner bill. What does that mean? What it means is that over in the Senate Reid really doesn't have a bill. He's got an idea, but he doesn't have a bill. And what he's put forth as an idea hasn't gotten all that much support. But here comes, let's say the House, and Boehner doesn't have the votes in the House yet according to Politico. And this is key. That was as of 9:30 this morning and they're going to be working the Republican caucus all day long before the vote tonight. But as of now Boehner doesn't have the votes for his bill. But let's assume he gets the votes. The Boehner bill then goes to the Senate where it's dead on arrival. There are 58 senators that are going to vote against it, by design. However, they've got a bill over there now.

So Dingy Harry can take the Boehner bill and tweak it and rewrite it, make additions to it, take some things out of it, play with it however he wants, and get enough votes from Democrats since it becomes the Reid bill, and then it gets sent back to Boehner in the House looking nothing like his bill, but the rationale for passing the Boehner bill in the House is we've got to do this, the time is up, we're not going to get blamed. So if Reid monkeys around with the bill that he gets from Boehner, and it passes in the Senate, with whatever changes that are not favorable to us, of course, they throw it back in Boehner's lap, and then the pressure is going to be back on Boehner. Okay, do you sign the Reid bill? Do you pass it? Do you get your guys to vote for it and send it to Obama, basically a Democrat bill. That is what a lot of people -- and I sign on to the theory, too -- this is one of the traps that's being set. The Boehner bill is essentially being used to be a foundation for a nonexistent as of yet Reid bill. And thereby the Boehner bill becomes the Reid bill, therefore Democrat bill all in the absence of an Obama plan. No Obama plan at all in this.

There's no Obama bill. There's nothing set down on paper. So the Reid bill will become the Obama bill. The Boehner plan will become the Obama plan. I think that's the trap. And, of course, the establishment, Republicans are all gung ho. "Gotta get this done. It's the best we can get." Because they're telling themselves there aren't any tax increases in it, and there aren't. There aren't any tax increases in the Boehner bill. And there are spending cuts and there are caps, but what happens when that goes over to the Senate and Reid says, "You know what, I like some of this and I don't like that. Let's take some of this out and put some of this in," and gets his votes for it and the Boehner bill becomes something unrecognizable, then goes back to the House, what are they going to do? They've already passed the Boehner bill under the guise that we can't wait any longer, that AAA credit rating is in jeopardy, all this rotgut BS.

Read more -
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_072811/content/01125106.guest.html

Eat Your Own Damn Peas [iconic slogan and photo] - This will be the icon of 0bama's shark-jumping moment -

Misplaced Surgical Clamp Gives Man 37-Year Stomachache -

A Chinese man has finally got to the bottom of his enduring, decades-old stomachache -- a surgical clamp left inside his belly 37 years ago, Shanghai Daily reported Thursday.

Medics had failed to remove the 4-inch device after a 1974 operation to treat a stomach ulcer.

The patient, named only as Liu in local reports, had been on pain medication for nearly four decades.

But when he went back to the hospital in central China's Hubei Province on July 17 baffled doctors took an x-ray and immediately spotted the culprit.

The surgical instrument had thankfully caused very little damage and has since been successfully removed, much to Liu's relief, Shanghai Daily said.

Georgia Girls' Lemonade Stand Reopened at Local Water Park After Police Shut Them Down -

It's perhaps a quintessential symbol of the American dream: the lemonade stand. For years it has taught children across the country about the hard work that goes into running your own business and the value of the dollar when allowance simply doesn’t cut it.
Last week, three young entrepreneurs from Georgia -- Kasity Dixon, 14, Tiffany Cassin, 12, and Skylar Roberts, 10 -- took to their front yard to sell the summer classic, in hopes of earning enough cash for a much-needed cooldown at a local water park, Summer Waves Water Park in Jekyll Island, Ga.

But the so-called Midway Georgia Lemonade Girls' plans were quickly shut down by police, who said the girls did not have the proper permits to run the concession stand.
"I was standing by my kitchen window when I saw a police officer approach my daughters and niece," Amy Roberts, Kasity's and Skylar's mother, told Foxnews.com. “The officer must have yelled, because I could hear him all the way from my kitchen, screaming, 'Girls! This is your last warning, and I’m not going to tell you again, you cannot have that lemonade stand.'"
But the girls will get their sweet taste of success on Sunday, when they'll have the opportunity not just to go to the Summer Waves, but to sell lemonade inside the park.
"I heard about the story from a local vendor," Jekyll Island's general manager Steve Sharpe told Foxnews.com. ""I'm a father of three and have been in the restaurant and concession business my whole life, so the story tugged at my heartstrings a little bit."
Sharpe invited the girls to spend the day, free of charge, at the water park, where they will be provided with their very own lemonade stand built by the Summer Waves maintenance staff.
"They have been invited as honorary lifeguards, and for two hours they will sell their lemonade," Sharpe said. "Their mission in the first place was to enjoy the park, and we hope that's what they'll do."
"We're so excited," Kasity told FoxNews.com. "Me and my sister were kind of scared [of the police] because they raised their voices, but now we're going to have our own stand at the water park."
Kasity, her sister Skylar (who goes by a different last name) and cousin Tiffany are looking forward to this Sunday when they'll be working but also enjoying the rides at the park. As for what they will do with their hard-earned cash, Kasity said that, while she wants to buy Justin Bieber concert tickets, the girls have decided to do something a little more charitable with their earnings. The girls will be donating 10 percent of their proceeds to the Liberty Humane Shelter.
"We really love animals, so my mom said we should donate some of the money to an animal shelter," Kasity said.
"They're real responsible kids, and if they're sitting in the hot sun all day, they can spend their money any way they want," Amy Roberts said.
Having already showed some success at a local farmers' market where the girls were invited to sell their lemonade on Tuesday, the girls stocked up on back-to-school supplies for the upcoming semester.
"I told them I'm going to buy them school supplies, but they said they wanted to buy the 'fancy stuff' with their own money," Roberts said.
"I thought I was doing the right thing, teaching them good work ethics and I would never have set up the stand had I known it was illegal." Now, she says, her daughters are fearful of the police and even think just going outside is going to get them in trouble with the law.
And it's unclear if the girls are out of the woods just yet.
The Midway Police Department wouldn't comment on the Midway Lemonade Girls' case, nor would the municipal court clerk.

Read more: - http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/07/28/georgia-girls-lemonade-stand-reopened-at-local-water-park-after-police-shut/

World To Watch Assisted Suicide Live On Internet - before cameras and a worldwide audience at a clinic in Switzerland -

Jack Kevorkian might be gone, but his spirit lives on -- well, maybe living isn't the best way to put it...

For the first time ever, this Friday night, a website will run a live broadcast of a terminally ill man ending his life in a case of assisted suicide.

Nikolai Ivanisovich, 62, is terminally ill with brain cancer. He will die before cameras and a worldwide audience at a clinic in Switzerland, with the use of lethal injection administered by a physician.

The filming of his death will be broadcast on BattleCam.com, a 24/7 Reality TV website where live events are regularly cast to a wide range of audiences.
The site is run by billionaire businessman Alki David, who purchased the exclusive rights to broadcast the process.

"I am grateful to Mr. David and his team for making this possible," Ivanisovich told Russia Today. "My family will be able to live in prosperity after I pass. May God bless Mr. David for his kindness and generosity.

"Projecting the moral questions that will arise from this event, I would like to add that I find nothing wrong with this at all.

“Death is a fact of life... many governments throughout the western world, including Switzerland, Belgium and Luxembourg, recognize the importance the right to each individual's right to end their life, free of terminal pain."

The controversial event comes at a time the world is in the midst of a debate on assisted suicides: In the United States, it is legal only in the states of Oregon, Montana and Washington.

"This is a breakthrough in consciousness on what we watch,” BattleCam Operations VP Claude Haraser said, “and how we watch it."

Read more -
http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2011/07/suicide-nikolai-ivanisovich-jack-kevorkian

It Just Doesn't Work: Why New Tech Products Are Increasingly Unsatisfying -

When Steve Jobs is delighted with a new Apple product — which, as you may be aware, he usually is — he flatters it with three simple words: "It just works." Anyone who tried Apple's Mobile Me service in the months immediately following its release knows that reality doesn't always live up to Jobs' promise of magical simplicity. But at least the company tries to make things just work. Lately, though, I've been wondering whether some of its competitors are doing the same.

I've been reviewing technology products for 20 years now. I've seen it all, from products that were amazing from the get-go (the first PalmPilot comes to mind) to ones that were downright hazardous (a mouse that caught on fire). But there's never been a time when so much of the new stuff I look at is so very far from being ready for mass consumption. Sometimes it's a tad quirky; sometimes I can't get it to work at all. And when I call the manufacturers for help, they're often well aware of the problems I encountered.

What's going on here? There are three main culprits:

The beta culture. Once upon a time, products that were labeled as beta were indeed undergoing beta testing. They were works in progress, and nobody dreamed of sharing them with the general public. The Internet changed that by making it easy to distribute prereleases to millions of people. And then Google rendered the beta moniker largely meaningless by applying it indefinitely to massively popular services like Gmail. (The company has since largely backed away from beta gimmickry; among other reasons, it discovered that big corporate customers aren't so excited by products that claim to be unfinished.)

A world in which anything can be a beta is a world in which no product must be complete. That might be O.K. if you're talking about free software, but the philosophy is rubbing off on hardware that people pay hundreds of dollars for. Even if companies don't call hardware beta, they clearly think of it that way.

Giant Banks Lobby to Raise the Debt Ceiling and Slash Public Benefits ... So They Can Keep Sucking at the Public Teet -

Economist Dean Banker notes:

Wall Street will suffer more than anyone from a default and it will not let it happen. The public should know this, certainly Wall Street does.

No wonder the fatcats running the giant banks which received tens of trillions in bailouts, loans and guarantees from the American public are screaming loudly that the debt ceiling must be raised.
Robert Reich points out:

Why has Standard & Poor's decided now's the time to crack down on the federal budget -- when it gave free passes to Wall Street's risky securities and George W. Bush's giant tax cuts for the wealthy, thereby contributing to the very crisis its now demanding be addressed?

Could it have anything to do with the fact that the Street pays Standard & Poor's bills?

Remember, the big 3 government-sponsored rating agencies routinely took bribes as their normal business model, committed massive fraud which greatly contributed to the financial crisis, covered up improper ratings after the fact, and otherwise sold their soul (in their own words). And see this and this.
Some complain about the poor sucking on the government teet.
But the fact that Wall Street controls the rating agencies, and the rating agencies are nowcreating an artificial emergency sounds like the powers-that-be - the giant banks which run this country - are trying to protect their government teet of perpetual bailouts from the public coffers.
And of course, they are the ones calling for slashing of spending which helps the public. Even though - as conservative writer Michael Rivero points out:

Social Security is not "unfunded" nor is it an "entitlement." That is YOUR money in that trust fund. You worked for it, and it was taken out of all your paychecks your entire working life.

The Social Security Trust fund invested your money by loaning it to the US Government, which is the largest single holder of US Government debt. But the US Government is already in default in fact, as the actual tax revenues have not even come close to the projections on which the budgets were drawn up.

So the US Government has looked at all the entities they owe money to and decided that stiffing the American people is the least likely to cause them harm. They will pay the bankers and they will pay foreign nations and they will continue to bail out Wall Street for the mortgage-backed securities fraud by embezzling your retirement money you gave them in trust. The US Government is robbing you to save the private central bank! [i.e. the big banks. See thisand this.]

The debt crisis might be real ... I've been warning about it for years (and see this and this).

The potential downgrade to America's credit is real ... I've been warning about thatfor years, as well.

But the way that the rating agencies and Wall Street are approaching the debt ceiling debate is a scam. See this, this and this.

Read more -
http://www.blacklistednews.com/Giant_Banks_Lobby_to_Raise_the_Debt_Ceiling_and_Slash_Public_Benefits_..._So_They_Can_Keep_Sucking_at_the_Public_Teet/14925/0/38/38/Y/M.html

Oops, it's a £700,000 prang... Hapless blonde crashes her Bentley into a Merc, Porsche, Ferrari and Aston Martin -

When in Monte Carlo, everything is done in style. And that includes crashing your car.

This was the moment when a woman driver caused a £700,000 five-car pile-up as her Bentley collided with a Mercedes, Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin.

Disaster struck as the hapless blonde negotiated the traffic around the Place du Casino in her £250,000 Bentley Azure.

The driver of a white Mercedes S Class worth £75,000 was the first victim as the 2.7-ton Bentley scraped down the side of it before ploughing into a £143,000 black Ferrari F430.

Hope you're insured, madam: A policeman tries to sort out the chaos beside Monte Carlo's Place du Casino

An Aston Martin Rapide worth £150,000 and an £80,000 Porsche 911 also came a cropper. The driver and her two passengers then suffered the embarrassment of being surrounded by tourists as they were unable to open the doors of the convertible.

It is estimated the crash will cost more than £40,000 with the Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin requiring new front wings and bumpers. The Bentley will need the same repairs, plus a new door.

Chaos: A staggering £685,000 worth of supercars were involved in the inpromptu game of demolition derby

Woman Sues PETCO After Dog Dies From Cage Dryer -

A California woman is suing PETCO after her dog suffered fatal injuries from being placed in a cage dryer, NEWS10/KXTV reported.
Teresa Gilland dropped her dog Sadie off for her monthly grooming appointment at the PETCO store in Fair Oaks—where Sadie experienced heat stroke, internal bleeding and burns after being in a cage dryer at the store. She had to be euthanized at the veterinary office later that evening because of her extreme injuries.
"I couldn't have known," Gilland said. "It never occurred to me that they were putting her in that kennel. It's nothing you can see... it's not out there for the public to see. It's an enclosed kennel, and they blow hot air in there."
There has been controversy about cage dryers in the past, but Gilland is the first known court case in the U.S. Since Sadie’s death three years ago, Gillian has spent two years trying to find a lawyer that would take the case, and is armed with a report from the veterinarian who treated Sadie, stating she suffered “internal burn injuries and bleeding caused by heat.”
Gilliand hopes she can get cage driers banned, but said consumers should at least see a posted warning when they drop off their pet.
PETCO released the following statement in regards to Sadie's death:
We've been aware of Sadie's story since it happened three years ago. We can't comment on the case, as it's currently in litigation, but it was a tragic loss and we take all issues of pet safety very seriously. Over the last few years, we've made a number of improvements in the grooming equipment we use and we are always seeking to improve our existing safety practices. One of those improvements is that we no longer use heat of any kind in the drying process in our grooming salons.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/07/28/woman-sues-petco-after-dog-dies-from-cage-dryer/?test=latestnews

Could Black Holes Help Treat Cancer Patients? -

Astronomers studying stars and black holes have made a discovery that could lead to safer, more effective cancer treatments down the road.

Heavy metals emit low-energy electrons when exposed to X-rays at specific energies, the researchers found. This raises the possibility that implants made of gold or platinum could allow doctors to destroy tumors with low-energy electrons, while exposing healthy tissue to far less radiation than is possible today, researchers said.

"As astronomers, we apply basic physics and chemistry to understand what's happening in stars," said astronomer Sultana Nahar of Ohio State University in a statement. "We're very excited to apply the same knowledge to potentially treat cancer." [10 Deadliest Cancers and Why There's No Cure]

A new kind of radiation therapy?

The researchers' computer simulations suggest that hitting a single gold or platinum atom with a small dose of X-rays at a narrow range of frequencies produces a flood of more than 20 low-energy electrons.

These ejected electrons can kill cancer kills, shredding their DNA, researchers said. So doctors could embed many heavy-metal nanoparticles inside and around tumors, then hit them with a tailored shot of radiation.

The resulting electron shower could obliterate a tumor. And the process would greatly reduce a patient's radiation exposure compared to most current radiation treatment methods, researchers said.

The team has built a prototype device that shows that specific X-ray frequencies can free low-energy electrons from heavy-metal nanoparticles. While the machine needs to be developed further, it's providing a proof of principle for the potential cancer treatment technique.

"This work could eventually lead to a combination of radiation therapy with chemotherapy using platinum as the active agent," said astronomer Anil Pradhan, also of Ohio State.

Two women Bulgarian students find hidden cameras in apartment near Tampa -

The tiny cameras were hidden in smoke detectors and motion sensors, placed in the bedrooms and bathrooms of a west Hillsborough apartment.

Late Monday, two Bulgarian women discovered the covert cameras in their apartment. And now the Bulgarian students are afraid their every move — from sleeping to showering — may have been broadcast on the Internet.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office is investigating and says detectives have recovered some equipment and are following several leads.

However, between Tuesday night — when a report about the episode appeared on Bay News 9 — and Wednesday morning when detectives returned, some of the electronic equipment was removed, said sheriff's spokesman Larry McKinnon.

The women didn't answer their door Wednesday, but in an interview Tuesday with Bay News 9 said their landlord has a key to the apartment.

The Sheriff's Office declined to name any suspects.

Vanya Samokovareva, 22, and Ralitsa Dzhambazova, 23, have lived in the apartment near Westchase for three months, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Dzhambazova, a student from Sofia, Bulgaria, said they both found an employer through Sky Travel, a Bulgarian company that helps students travel abroad for the summer to improve their English. The company finds students an employer and then obtains travel documents including visas for a $1,000 fee, Dzhambazova said.

Samokovareva said their employer sub-leased them the apartment. They did modeling in an ad campaign for a pizza place and a delivery business.

"We wore superhero costumes and things like that," Dzhambazova said.

That job ended, and both girls were able to find work at Wing House to continue to fund their summer abroad.

"We had to buy all the furniture," Dzhambazova said of the sparsely furnished apartment.

When they first moved into the apartment, the two women joked that the wired devices might be cameras, Dzhambazova said. But they believed for weeks that the devices truly were smoke detectors and security devices.

That belief was shattered when one of their former roommates, a man, took down one of the devices and entered the serial number in an online search. The results showed tiny cameras, just like the one in his hand.

"I was shocked," Dzhambazova told Bay News 9. "This is terrible. I never expected that this would happen to me and my friend."

Immediately, the group followed the wires to a locked closet and broke the lock. Inside, deputies say, they found an electronic box and something that appeared to be a WiFi device.

The Sheriff's Office is investigating where the images may have gone and aren't sure yet if they were displayed online or were sent to a remote location, McKinnon said. Investigators also will try to trace the cameras' ownership through serial numbers.

The women disabled the cameras. They say they plan to stay in the apartment through the end of the month and then move elsewhere.

Dzhambazova said they reported the incident to the international agency that arranged their trip and also to Sky Travel.

"Many students from Europe came for the summer to travel and improve their language. They're just students and somebody needs to protect them and to be responsible for them and check with the employers," she said. "I don't know how else to help students."

Hepatitis rates soar among IV drug users, study finds -

About 10 million injection drug users worldwide have hepatitis C, and 1.3 million have hepatitis B, a new study reports.
Hepatitis can lead to cirrhosis, liver failure and liver cancer.
Researchers analyzed international data and found that rates of hepatitis C infection among injection drug users (IDUs) were 60 to 80 percent in 25 countries and greater than 80 percent in 12 other countries.
These countries included Spain (80 percent), Norway (76 percent), Germany (75 percent), France (74 percent), United States (73 percent), China (67 percent), Canada (64 percent), Italy (81 percent), Portugal (83 percent), Pakistan (84 percent), the Netherlands (86 percent), Thailand (90 percent) and Mexico (97 percent).
Lower rates were seen in New Zealand (52 percent), Australia (55 percent) and the United Kingdom (50 percent), the researchers noted.
The countries believed to have the largest number of IDUs infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) are China (1.6 million), the United States (1.5 million) and Russia (1.3 million), the investigators found.
Rates of hepatitis B infection were 5 to 10 percent in 21 countries and more than 10 percent in 10 countries. The highest rates were in Vietnam (20 percent), Estonia (19 percent), Saudi Arabia (18 percent) and Taiwan (17 percent). The United Kingdom had the highest rate in Western Europe at 9 percent. The rate in the United States was 12 percent.
Read more -
http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/medical/story/2011/07/Hepatitis-rates-soar-among-IV-drug-users-study-finds/49697316/1

Among Generation X women, age 40 is party time - celebrating with girlfriend getaways or exotic no-kids vacations -

The Big 4-0 looms large for Jennifer O'Donnell of Sebastopol, Calif.

She turns 40 on Saturday. But she's not bemoaning the fact that she's on the cusp of middle age. She's planning to party.

"Turning 40 is a pretty big deal to most people," says O'Donnell, the mother of two, ages 3 and 6.

Since she and her sister-in-law Melyssa Watson both turn 40 within two weeks of each other and are good friends, the families are celebrating with a beach vacation. "On my actual birthday, my request is that I have a spa day," says O'Donnell, who works for a non-profit.

She's not alone by any means. Many of today's Gen X women see the Big 4-0 as the midpoint of their lives, and are embracing it with a new zest. They're celebrating with girlfriend getaways or exotic no-kids vacations with spouses, or making special family memories.

In many cases, it's a party. Whether a lavish spread or a gathering at home, these soirees are almost like a new Sweet 16. But rather than a coming-of-age statement, the 40th party is a way to proclaim they're healthy, they're sexy and they haven't lost their mojo.

"What we did is pretty decadent," says Christy Swildens of Tiburon, Calif., who flew to Mexico with her friends for her 40th last fall. "My mom thought it was pretty ridiculous. … Very few people were flying to Mexico with their friends just because they were 40. It is a very different time."

Sociologist Richard Settersten Jr., a professor at the Center for Healthy Aging Research at Oregon State University in Corvallis, attributes the attitude to societal changes such as marrying and having children at older ages. What used to happen in the 20s and 30s is moving into the 40s, he says.

"It naturally means your 40s are completely different. For many, the 40s are active years of childrearing. Just a couple of decades ago, the bulk of childbearing and childrearing was done by 40."

9/11 Memorial free timed tickets available online Monday morning -

In preparation for its opening on the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks, free timed tickets to visit the 9/11 Memorial at the site of the World Trade Center will be available online starting Monday .

The eight-acre memorial, which includes two deep pools replicating the footprint of the twin towers, will be dedicated on Sept. 11 and open to the public the following day. Names of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks will be inscribed on bronze panels around the pools.

Signup for the timed-entry passes will be via the memorial's website, 911memorial.org, beginning 9 a.m. Monday. The site will allow times to be reserved up to six months in advance.

"The idea is that when people are planning their visits toNew York City, we think this is going to be a place everyone is going to want to come down to and pay their respects,'' Joe Daniels, president of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, said Thursday. "It's a place to sit and contemplate a space the public has not set foot on in 10 years.''

As at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., there will be information on locating individual names on the panels surrounding the two pools. Similarly, visitors will be allowed to leave flowers or other remembrances. "This is a ritual of this country and we're going to observe it,'' Daniels said.

Access to the memorial will be limited because it is surrounded by construction on the remainder of the 16-acre trade center site: four office towers, including the 1,776-foot-tall building originally called the Freedom Tower, a transit hub and the 9/11 Museum. Visitors will line up at a plaza being constructed at the southeast corner of the site, then walk to an orientation and security screening center and into the memorial at the southwest corner. Access is expected to remain limited for three years, Daniels said.

The entry plaza and pathway to the screening center and memorial entrance are currently under construction. "We're racing, in a very safe way, but racing to get this done for 9/12,'' Daniels said. Security screening will be similar to that at other public sites, such as the Statue of Liberty, he said. "During this period when it's a construction site, it is constrained access, it is a place that has been attacked twice, the feeling was we need to do some screening.''

The cost of the entry plaza, sidewalks and screening center is $16 million but the memorial faces a $3 million shortfall in funds to pay for it, memorial officials say. The memorial foundation, the city and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the site, are negotiating how to cover the gap, Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman said.