Mitt Romney -- the Vanilla Republican (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | Mitt Romney has won the second Republican vote of the year by coming out on top in the New Hampshire primary, according to Fox News. Romney started as an early front-runner and has stayed on top. Republicans are starting to remind me of the last person I ever want to see in a Baskin-Robbins.

We have all seen a person who cannot make a decision at an ice cream shop. The majority of Republicans have been that person since early in 2011. They have looked over all of the candidates, just like the undecided person looking through the leaning glass at the different flavors.

We have been over Michele Bachmann (Tutti Fruity), Rick Perry (Nutragious including almonds, pistachios and ?), Rick Santorum (Neapolitan) and Herman Cain (Harass-Mint). We have passed on all of these but are still considering Jon Huntsman (Rocky Road) and Ron Paul (Butter Pecan). Of course, there is still Romney (Vanilla).

How many times have we seen that person in Baskin-Robbins or a similar location go back and forth only to order vanilla? We made it through the debates, the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary and Republicans are still sticking with Romney. All of the pomp and circumstance of three-ring circus and we still come back to Romney.

As a political scientist, I understand why Romney has stayed on top and will continue to stay on top. Even in the age of the tea party and other extreme political groups, people still feel more comfortable with moderate politicians. Romney is the most moderate of the field and can feed into one major concern people have about the government.

When President Barack Obama ran in 2008, he claimed to be the politician who would bridge the gap between the two parties. He would usher in a new era of bipartisanship and make sure American needs were placed before those of the party. He has played as much of a blame game as the Republicans and has done as much (if not more than) anyone else to destroy any perceived bridges.

With Romney, we get a politician who has beliefs which would fit on either side of the aisle. He is closer to the middle where the higher percentage of voters is. While some of the other flavors might feed more to the Republican mindset, Romney fits the American mindset.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politicsopinion/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120111/cm_ac/10818973_mitt_romney__the_vanilla_republican

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Grizzlies overcome Knicks to end losing streak (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? The Memphis Grizzlies snapped a three-game losing streak with a 94-83 mauling of the New York Knicks at the FedExForum on Thursday.

With the score tied at 10-10, the Grizzlies took advantage of some early foul trouble for the Knicks' Amar'e Stoudemire to score 10 unanswered points and never looked back.

"We came out with a sense of urgency. We knew we needed this game," Memphis forward Rudy Gay told reporters. "We couldn't extend that losing streak. We're still a good team, and we want to show that night in and night out."

The Knicks trailed 49-38 at halftime and were dealt another blow when top scorer Carmelo Anthony left the game early in the third quarter with a sprained ankle after scoring 14 points.

"Yeah, I'm beat up," said Anthony, who is also nursing a wrist injury.

"I want to see how I feel by Saturday. I'm not going to force it. If my ankle's not right by Saturday, then I'll be looking at Monday. I don't want to take too much time off, but I want to be healthy at the same time."

Memphis (4-6) stretched their lead to a game-high 25 points in the third and fourth quarters before they took their foot off the gas and allowed the Knicks to reduce the deficit.

The Grizzlies were led by Gay's 26 points, while O.J. Mayo scored 18 off the bench, Tony Allen added 12 and Marc Gasol registered a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Anthony's 14 points were matched by Bill Walker as the Knicks (6-5) shot just 37 percent from the field.

"I just thought emotionally we didn't come out with the right energy," Knicks coach D'Antoni said. "They jumped on us. We tried to resolve the problem one-on-one, everybody, and it didn't work out."

(Reporting by Mike Mouat in Windsor, Ontario. Editing by John O'Brien)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120113/sp_nm/us_nba_knicks

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First physical evidence of tobacco in Mayan container

ScienceDaily (Jan. 11, 2012) ? A scientist at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an anthropologist from the University at Albany teamed up to use ultra-modern chemical analysis technology at Rensselaer to analyze ancient Mayan pottery for proof of tobacco use in the ancient culture. Dmitri Zagorevski, director of the Proteomics Core in the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies (CBIS) at Rensselaer, and Jennifer Loughmiller-Newman, a doctoral candidate at the University at Albany, have discovered the first physical evidence of tobacco in a Mayan container. Their discovery represents new evidence on the ancient use of tobacco in the Mayan culture and a new method to understand the ancient roots of tobacco use in the Americas.

Their research will appear in the journal Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, in an article titled "The detection of nicotine in a Late Mayan period flask by GCMS and LCMS methods."

In recent years, archaeologists have begun to use chemical analysis of residues from ancient pottery, tools, and even mummies in an attempt to piece together minute clues about ancient civilizations. Among the potential problems with isolating a residue for analysis is preservation and contamination. Many vessels serve multiple purposes during their lives, resulting in muddled chemical data. Once the vessels are discarded, natural processes such as bacteria and water can destroy the surface of materials, erasing important evidence. Additionally, researchers must be attentive to archaeological field handling and laboratory treatment of the artifacts that might lead to cross contamination by modern sources.

To make their discovery, the researchers had a unique research opportunity: a more than 1,300-year-old vessel decorated with hieroglyphics that seemingly indicated the intended contents. Additionally, the interior of the vessel had not been cleaned, leaving the interior unmodified and the residue protected from contamination.

The approximately two-and-a-half-inch wide and high clay vessel bears Mayan hieroglyphics, reading "the home of his/her tobacco." The vessel, part of the large Kislak Collection housed at the Library of Congress, was made around 700 A.D. in the region of the Mirador Basin, in Southern Campeche, Mexico, during the Classic Mayan period. Tobacco use has long been associated with the Mayans, thanks to previously deciphered hieroglyphics and illustrations showing smoking gods and people, but physical evidence of the activity is exceptionally limited, according to the researchers.

Zagorevski used the technology within CBIS at Rensselaer, usually reserved to study modern diseases and proteins, to analyze the contents of the vessel for the chemical fingerprint of tobacco. The technology included gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS) and high-performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LCMS). Both are analytical chemistry techniques that combine the physical separation capabilities of gas or liquid chromatography with the analysis capabilities of mass spectrometry. The latter is used to determine molecular weights of compounds, their elemental composition, and structural characteristics.

Zagorevski and Loughmiller-Newman's analysis of the vessel found nicotine, an important component of tobacco in residues scrapped from the container. Both techniques confirmed the presence of nicotine. In addition, three oxidation products of nicotine were also discovered. Nicotine oxidation occurs naturally as the nicotine in tobacco is exposed to air and bacteria. None of the nicotine byproducts associated with the smoking of tobacco were found in the vessel, indicating that the vessel housed unsmoked tobacco leaves (possibly powered tobacco) and was not used as an ash tray. No other evidence of nicotine has been found, at this time, in any of the other vessels in the collection.

This discovery "provides rare and unequivocal evidence for agreement between a vessel's actual content and a specific ichnographic or hieroglyphic representation of that content (on the same vessel)," Loughmiller-Newman states in the paper. She is in the anthropology department at the University at Albany, studying ritual food stuff consumed by the Mayans.

Both Loughmiller-Newman and Zagorevski would like to see this technique used to analyze a greater variety of vessel types.

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Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120111113725.htm

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DIY Garage Ceiling Storage System [Weekend Projects]

DIY Garage Ceiling Storage SystemIf you need more storage space in your garage you can construct ceiling flanges from 2x4s and plywood that will hold any heavy-duty plastic storage bin.

The Family Handyman site claims this project can be done over a weekend with around $75 worth of lumber and other materials. You'll cut the lumber, assemble the flanges, and mount them to your ceiling joists. Once assembled, slide your storage bins in the flange. If you build 4 flanges long enough to store two 14-gallon totes between each set of flanges as in the photo above you've gained 84 gallons (six totes) worth of storage space.

I don't recommend storing heavy materials this way, but for holiday ornaments, camping gear, and other seldom-used items this method should work well.

Full instructions, materials list, and step-by-step photos can be found at the source link below.

Create a Sliding Storage System on the Garage Ceiling | Family Handyman via Apartment Therapy

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/loy6-UIeKz0/diy-garage-ceiling-storage-system

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Yemen Cabinet approves immunity law for president

Protestors are sprayed with water to cool off during the fifth day of a five-day march from the impoverished Red Sea city of Hudaydah to Sanaa demanding the prosecution of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa, Yemen, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

Protestors are sprayed with water to cool off during the fifth day of a five-day march from the impoverished Red Sea city of Hudaydah to Sanaa demanding the prosecution of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa, Yemen, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

Yemeni protestors pray during the fifth day of a five-day march from Yemen's impoverished Red Sea city of Hudaydah to Sanaa demanding the prosecution of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa, Yemen, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

Yemeni protestors chant slogans during the fifth day of a five-day march from Yemen's impoverished Red Sea city of Hudaydah to Sanaa demanding the prosecution of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa, Yemen, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012. The banner in Arabic writing, right, reads, "save the revolution." The mens head bands read, "pride," and painting on their chests in Arabic read, "Taiz, life and dignity will come." (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

SANAA, Yemen (AP) ? Yemen's Cabinet on Sunday approved a law granting President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and anyone who has worked under him, immunity from prosecution for any crimes committed during his 33-year rule.

The decision came as a surprise to many in Yemen, who believed that a power transfer deal he signed in November granted him and his family immunity from prosecution for the killings of protesters, but would not extend to cover his 33-year rule and anyone who worked in government.

The Cabinet approved the law despite nationwide daily protests demanding the longtime leader be put on trial for the killing of hundreds of people in raids on protest camps, the use of snipers and armed attacks on marches during the country's 11-month popular uprising.

The wording of the law "provides President Ali Abdullah Saleh and those who worked with him, including in civilian, military and security institutions during the period of his presidency, legal and judicial immunity."

Activists say that the country's Revolutionary Guards, run by Saleh's son, are responsible for most of the attacks on protesters.

Yemen's new national unity government, comprised of an equal number of opposition and loyalist ministers, approved the law in accordance with the transfer agreement that Saleh signed in neighboring Saudi Arabia late last year.

The agreement, brokered by Yemen's powerful Arab neighbors and backed by the United States, the EU and the U.N., grants Saleh immunity in exchange for him hand handing over powers to his deputy.

According to the agreement, Yemen's parliament must approve the law as a formality after the Cabinet vote.

Saleh is scheduled to hand over the presidency to his vice president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi on Feb. 21.

The decision to grant blanket immunity to Saleh and all those who worked for him comes on the same day that a security chief who oversaw deadly crackdowns on anti-government protesters was fired from his position, according to a local official.

The dismissal strikes a minor blow to Saleh, a wily politician who some believe is trying to undermine the power transfer deal to retain power. Opposition figures charge that he is still trying to run the country, though he signed the deal under heavy international pressure and after months of stalling.

The firing of the Taiz region's security chief, a staunch Saleh ally, could indicate that his control, once absolute, is slipping.

The governor of the Taiz region, Hamoud al-Sufi, told The Associated Press Sunday that the regional council voted to dismiss Brig. Gen. Abdullah Qairan after reviewing the province's security situation.

A regional council member said the decision was based on Qairan's role in the deaths of protesters.

"He was involved in killing civilians because he is the one who ordered the forces to fire on protesters and raid protest camps," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity.

Taiz has been a hotbed of anti-regime activity, and security forces have at times responded with deadly force.

Saleh moved Qairan to Taiz in March from the province of Aden, where local activists accused him of ordering the use of indiscriminate force against demonstrators.

In late May, security forces stormed the central protest camp in Taiz city, shooting demonstrators and setting their tents on fire. More than 20 people were killed.

Before the Gulf-brokered deal, Saleh could have easily overruled Qairan's dismissal.

In a similar move, soldiers in the central Marib province mutinied against their commander, Brig. Gen. Ali al-Samqi, chasing him from their base. The soldiers accused Al-Samqi, also a Saleh loyalist, of corruption. He arrived in the capital, Sanaa, Sunday.

Security has collapsed across Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country, during the anti-Saleh uprising, allowing al-Qaida-linked militants to step up operations in the country's loosely governed southern provinces.

One soldier and six militants were killed in new clashes near the southern town of Zinjibar, military officials said Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity under military protocol. The clashes occurred late Saturday.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-08-ML-Yemen/id-d6ff72b219f34fce9c1cdd99831318d2

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Africa Unchained: Nigeria's finance minister -Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala ...

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Nigeria's finance minister -Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala- speaks to Al Jazeera

From

Al Jazeera

:


Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan is facing opposition to his decision to cut fuel subsidies, which saw petrol prices double overnight when the decision was made at the start of the year.
Labour unions have now called for a nationwide strike to begin on Monday. This comes following a series of demonstrations held over the past week.
Sectarian violence in the country has also worsened recently, causing a rise in tensions on the street.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria's finance minister, spoke to Al Jazeera from the capital Abuja...[more here]

?

Source: http://africaunchained.blogspot.com/2012/01/nigerias-finance-minister-ngozi-okonjo.html

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Saints marching on to San Francisco in playoffs

Saints quarterback Drew Brees throws a pass to Jed Collins for a first down against the the Detroit Lions during first quarter action of an NFL playoff on Saturday, Jan. 7 2011 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Sun Herald, Amanda McCoy)

Saints quarterback Drew Brees throws a pass to Jed Collins for a first down against the the Detroit Lions during first quarter action of an NFL playoff on Saturday, Jan. 7 2011 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Sun Herald, Amanda McCoy)

Saints wide receiver Devery Henderson celebrates with fans after scoring a touchdown during the second half of an NFL playoff game on Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Sun Herald, Amanda McCoy)

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees drops back to pass during the second half of an NFL wild card playoff football game against the Detroit Lions Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

(AP) ? The New Orleans Saints are still undefeated at home and have lost just three times all season. So, it might be a bit of nitpicking to say the road could be a potential downfall.

"You win 13, 14 games now, and you're trying to find something," coach Sean Payton said Sunday. "When you start playing well on the road and home, you're probably a better team and we've been able to do that. This will be a good challenge for us. Not just playing on the road, but traveling west."

After beating Detroit 45-28 in the Superdome in the NFC wild-card round, the Saints will travel to No. 2 seed San Francisco for their game next Saturday. And of New Orleans' three road losses this season, two were on natural grass, the surface they'll play on at Candlestick Park, where the 49ers went 7-1.

"I think the Tampa Bay and St. Louis losses really helped us prepare ourselves on the road," wide receiver Robert Meachem said.

The Saints, though, will have history against them.

Never has New Orleans won a road playoff game, the neutral-site 2010 Super Bowl notwithstanding. The Saints have lost twice at Chicago, at Minnesota and at Seattle, which came in last season's wild-card round.

As for the team's road struggles this season, they provide a cautionary tale.

They had to come from behind to beat Carolina 30-27 on Oct. 9. A week later, the Saints lost at Tampa Bay 26-20, failing to convert a scoring chance in the final minutes when quarterback Drew Brees threw an interception in the end zone.

Then on Oct. 30, the Saints lost to then-winless Rams 31-21 in St. Louis.

New Orleans was twice forced to hold off late-surging opponents, winning 26-23 in overtime at Atlanta and 22-17 at Tennessee on a red-zone stand that ended with a sack at the Saints 8.

In all, the Saints' five lowest-scoring games have come on the road, three of the five coming outside.

Knowing that, Payton will change up the schedule this time. After normally traveling on Saturday for road games, the Saints will leave for San Francisco two days prior to the game, going on Thursday after practice and then participating in a Friday walk-through at Candlestick Park.

The idea is to give the players a day to acclimate to the two-hour time difference while also getting a feel for the field.

"You really have to plan for success and that's one thing our coaching staff does a great job of," Saints cornerback Jabari Greer said. "They'll make sure our schedule is set up to the point where we get adequate rest, get adjusted and we get ready for the game."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-08-Saints-Moving%20On/id-00463be69dbf49408351f4ad8bb750c4

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Scientists Identify Inherited Prostate Cancer Gene (HealthDay)

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 11 (HealthDay News) -- The first major gene mutation associated with an increased risk for hereditary prostate cancer has been identified by scientists.

Men who inherit the mutation in the HOXB13 gene have a 10 to 20 times increased risk of developing prostate cancer, according to the study in the Jan. 12 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

The HOXB13 gene plays an important role in the development of the prostate during the fetal stage and in prostate function later in life.

The discovery of this gene mutation may help improve understanding about the development of prostate cancer and which men may require early screening for the disease, according to the team led by investigators at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the University of Michigan Health System.

The researchers analyzed DNA from the youngest prostate cancer patients in 94 families that had multiple cases of the disease among close relatives, such as fathers, sons and brothers. Members of four different families were found to have the same mutation in the HOXB13 gene. All 18 patients in those four families had the mutation.

The investigators then looked at 5,100 men who had been treated for prostate cancer and found that 1.4 percent (72) of them had the same HOXB13 gene mutation. The men with the mutation were much more likely to have at least one first-degree male relative (father or brother) who also had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

When they looked at a control group of 1,400 men without prostate cancer, the study authors found that only one of the men had the mutation.

The researchers also looked at data from men enrolled in studies of early-onset or familial prostate cancer.

"We found that the mutation was significantly more common in men with a family history and early diagnosis compared with men diagnosed later, after age 55, without a family history. The difference was 3.1 percent versus 0.62 percent," Dr. Kathleen Cooney, a professor of internal medicine and urology at the University of Michigan Medical School, and one of the study's two senior authors, said in a Hopkins news release.

"It's what we've been looking for over the past 20 years," added fellow senior author William Isaacs, a professor of urology and oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "It's long been clear that prostate cancer can run in families, but pinpointing the underlying genetic basis has been challenging and previous studies have provided inconsistent results."

An estimated 240,000 men in the United States will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year. While the HOXB13 gene mutation may account for only a small number of prostate cancer cases, it may provide clues about how this cancer develops and help to identify a group of men who might benefit from early or additional prostate cancer screening, the researchers said.

More information

The American Cancer Society has more about prostate cancer.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/diseases/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20120112/hl_hsn/scientistsidentifyinheritedprostatecancergene

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America hits the brakes on health care spending (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Is health-care relief finally in sight? Health spending stabilized as a share of the nation's economy in 2010 after two back-to-back years of historically low growth, the government reported Monday.

Experts debated whether it's a fleeting consequence of the sluggish economy, or a real sign that cost controls by private employers and government at all levels are starting to work.

The answers will be vital for Medicare's sustainability, as well as for workplace coverage.

U.S. health care spending grew by 3.9 percent in 2010, reaching $2.6 trillion, according to the report by the Health and Human Services department.

That's an average of $8,402 per person ? far more than any other economically advanced country.

Still, the increases for 2010 and 2009 were the lowest measured in 51 years. And health care as a share of the economy leveled off at 17.9 percent, the first time in a decade there's been no growth.

The main reason for the slowdown was that Americans were more frugal in their use of health care, from postponing elective surgery to using generic drugs and thinking twice about that late-night visit to the emergency room.

"Although medical goods and services are generally viewed as necessities, the latest recession has had a dramatic effect on their utilization," said the report published in the journal Health Affairs. "Though the recession officially ended in 2009, its impact on the health care sector appears to have continued into 2010."

Independent economists issued conflicting assessments.

"I think it could signal slower growth in the future," said Ken Thorpe, professor of health policy at Emory University in Atlanta. "Any discussion about reducing the deficit is going to focus on how we reduce the growth in health-care costs. And employers are adopting more effective tools to keep putting downward pressure on health-care cost increases."

But his counterpart Len Nichols at George Mason University in Virginia said people are getting less medical care because too many have lost jobs and insurance, and they just can't afford to pay.

"The slowdown is mostly due to postponement of care, due to anticipated inability to pay," said Nichols. If he's right, that could mean costs will spike once the economy is on solid footing.

The report provided relief for a jittery White House facing a 2012 reelection campaign in which President Barack Obama's health care overhaul is a top target for Republicans.

The nonpartisan number crunchers at HHS found that the health care law barely contributed to cost increases in 2010 ? just one-tenth of 1 percentage point. Major provisions expanding coverage to more than 30 million uninsured don't take effect until 2014, well after the presidential election.

The federal government's share of the total health care tab ? another issue in this year's political debate ? grew to 29 percent in 2010, up from 23 percent as recently as 2007. Counting state and local spending, the overall government share stood at 45 percent of the total.

Medicare spending grew by 5 percent in 2010. That was slower growth than in 2009, due mainly to reductions in what the government paid private Medicare Advantage insurance plans. Medicaid spending increased by 7.2 percent, less than the 2009 rate because of fewer people covered by the program.

However, the main finding of the report was a continued slowdown in the use of services across major health-care categories, one its authors termed "dramatic." Higher copayments for those with private insurance are part of the reason.

Hospital care, which accounts for just over 30 percent of what Americans spend, grew more slowly because of a decline in a key measure of inpatient admissions, and slower growth in emergency room visits, outpatient appointments, and outpatient surgery.

Spending on doctor visits and related care ? about 20 percent of the total ? grew at a historically low rate of 2.5 percent, due to an overall drop in visits and a milder 2010 flu season. But spending on dental care increased faster than in 2009.

Prescription drugs, about 10 percent of overall spending, also saw a slower increase ? just 1.2 percent in 2010. That was not only due to the continuing shift to generic drugs, but also slower growth in the overall volume of medications that Americans took.

Will less health care hurt consumers?

That remains to be seen, but current evidence suggests it won't. Americans are no healthier than their counterparts in other developed countries, which spend far less. And research suggests that as much as 30 percent of tests and treatments for U.S. patients may be of little or no benefit.

The HHS experts refused to speculate about the implications of the slowdown, although their report stressed the connection to a weak economy. More may be known by the summer, when another team in the same HHS unit will update projections for future health care spending.

___

Online:

HHS report in Health Affairs: http://tinyurl.com/6nyuzrr

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120110/ap_on_he_me/us_health_care_spending

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NY judge drops Binladen Group as 9/11 defendant (AP)

NEW YORK ? A construction company founded by Osama bin Laden's father cannot be sued to recover money for survivors of the Sept. 11 attacks, a judge has ruled, because no evidence has emerged to show the company provided a "financial lifeline" to the terrorist leader after he was removed as a shareholder following the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Judge George B. Daniels in Manhattan released a decision Wednesday dismissing the Saudi Binladen Group as a defendant in six lawsuits brought by more than 3,000 survivors of the attacks, relatives, victims' representatives and insurance carriers. They allege more than 200 defendants provided material support to terrorists.

The defendants include al-Qaida, its members and associates. The suit also names charities, banks, front organizations, terrorist organizations and financiers.

Lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The lawsuit alleged that proceeds used to support terrorism came from a successor to a construction company founded by bin Laden's father that is now one of the largest engineering and construction companies in the Arab world.

It said the group maintained a close relationship to bin Laden leading up to the attacks and cited business activities by a now-defunct subsidiary and by an employee who worked from his North Carolina residence as evidence that a U.S. court should have jurisdiction.

It said the company provided "significant support to bin Laden before he was removed as a shareholder in 1993 with knowledge that he was targeting the United States" and continued to provide a "financial lifeline" to him afterwards.

The Feb. 26, 1993, bombing of the World Trade Center killed six people and injured more than 1,000. Khalid Sheik Mohammed, held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has claimed a role behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. He is the uncle of Ramzi Yousef, who is serving life in prison after he was convicted in the 1993 bombing.

Another judge in 2005 allowed the lawsuits to proceed against the Saudi Binladen Group, saying lawyers needed to find out whether the company purposefully directed its activities against the United States. The cases were transferred to Daniels.

Daniels said the business activities of the subsidiary were irrelevant since it had closed by 2000 and other business activities by the group in the United States were sporadic or casual.

At the time of the attacks, the company "had no operations of any kind in the United States, had not undertaken any construction or engineering projects in the United States and had no office in the United States," the judge said.

He said no evidence had been produced to support claims by the plaintiffs that the Saudi Binladen Group maintained a financial lifeline to bin Laden or that discrepancies in the company's accounting suggest that a third party provided bin Laden with direct material support via Saudi Binladen Group funds.

Last year, a magistrate judge recommended that al-Qaida be assessed $9.3 billion for the damage done to properties and businesses in the Sept. 11 attacks. Al-Qaida, the organization founded by bin Laden, never responded to the lawsuit and was found in default in 2006. The organization is blamed for orchestrating the attacks.

Bin Laden was killed last May in Pakistan during a raid by U.S. special operations forces.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/terrorism/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120111/ap_on_re_us/us_sept11_lawsuits

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