Filibuster makes ex-Texas teen mom national star

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) ? As she spoke late into the night railing against proposed abortion restrictions, a former Texas teen mom catapulted from little-known junior state senator to national political superstar in pink running shoes.

Wendy Davis needed last-minute help from shrieking supporters to run out the clock on the special session of the state Legislature and kill the contentious and sweeping bill, but her old-fashioned filibuster earned her widespread praise from fellow abortion-rights supporters ? including a salute from President Barack Obama.

The victory may be short-lived, though. On Wednesday, Gov. Rick Perry called a second special session beginning July 1, giving the Republican majority in the statehouse another 30 days to re-ignite the abortion debate ? and likely finish the job this time.

Still, Davis was on her feet for more than 12 hours Tuesday ? actively speaking most of that time ? as Democrats hoped her one-woman marathon speech would derail a measure that would have closed nearly every abortion clinic in the nation's second most populous state.

As a midnight deadline loomed and Davis continued to talk, political junkies from coast-to-coast tuned in via Internet, and the senator's followers on Twitter ballooned from around 1,200 to more than 79,000.

Suddenly, photos of her Mizuno Women's Wave Rider 16 Running Shoes were everywhere, and customers began jamming online sales sites with such comments as the pair was "perfect for a filibuster." Even #StandWithWendy was trending.

Obama's official Twitter account posted: "Something special is happening in Austin tonight." Similar messages of support came from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

All this for a 50-year-old Harvard-trained attorney and one-time single mother from Fort Worth, who was once dismissed by Republican Gov. Rick Perry as a "show horse." Until recently, Davis was perhaps best known for dating former Austin Mayor Will Wynn.

But Davis' sudden surge in popularity came as no surprise to Texas Democrats, who chose her as the face of the battle to block the bill.

"She's a total fighter," said Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund and daughter of the late former Texas Gov. Ann Richards. "And the thing about Sen. Davis, she says she's going to do something, she gets it done."

Davis' filibuster ultimately lasted about 11 hours before Republicans complained she had strayed off topic and cut her off. But that action prompted a lengthy debate with Democrats and deafening protests from hundreds of orange-clad abortion-rights activists in the gallery that spilled past the midnight deadline to kill all pending legislation.

Even after she had stopped speaking, however, Davis continued to stand for more than an additional hour while her colleagues argued about whether her filibuster was really over.

"Thanks to the powerful voices of thousands of Texans, #SB5 is dead," Davis tweeted Wednesday morning. "An incredible victory for Texas women and those who love them."

Davis starting working at age 14 to help support a household of her single mother and three siblings. By 19, she was already married and divorced with a child of her own. After community college, she graduated from Texas Christian University before being accepted to Harvard Law School.

She returned to Texas to become a Fort Worth City Council member before upsetting an incumbent Republican for a seat in the state Senate.

"We knew about her on the City Council," said Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston. "And we knew her track record as someone you could count on in the heat of battle."

Davis narrowly retained her Senate seat during elections last year, but her victory allowed the Democrats to hold 12 of the chamber's 31 seats, just enough to block contentious bills from coming to the floor. She is up for re-election again in 2014, though Democratic operatives have already begun a whisper campaign urging her to run for governor.

A Democrat has not won statewide office in Texas since 1994, but those whispers are sure to get louder now. An email from Battleground Texas, a much-ballyhooed effort by former Obama campaign veterans to energize Latino voters and turn the state blue, read Wednesday: "Last night an incredible thing happened. Wendy Davis stood up to Texas Republicans."

Davis has clashed with the GOP almost since arriving at the Capitol, earning derision and respect for her ability to dissect a complex bill and make her opponents squirm under tough questioning.

In 2011, she led a short filibuster on the final night of the regular session that torpedoed a key budget bill to allow the state to cut more than $4 billion from public education. Despite warnings that the filibuster would be futile because Perry would immediately call lawmakers back into special session to pass the bill again, Davis and Democrats carried on, taking the short-term victory ? much like Tuesday's may also turn out to be.

An avid runner and cyclist, Davis was in good shape for the physical challenge of standing and talking for nearly half a day.

Because the rules didn't allow her to sit down, her chair was removed. Davis, who at one point fought tears to read testimony from women opposed to the bill, shifted her weight from hip to hip and paced around her desk to stay sharp as the hours ticked by.

Later, a colleague helped her with a back brace, prompting a complaint from a Republican lawmaker.

"My back hurts," Davis said when it was over. "I don't have a lot of words left."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/filibuster-makes-ex-texas-teen-mom-national-star-191531689.html

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'Hunger Games: Catching Fire' To Debut New Trailer At Comic-Con

We are less than a month away from Comic-Con San Diego, and as the biggest celebration of fandom draws closer, plans for the convention are coming together. Thankfully for fans of "The Hunger Games," those plans now involve a brand new trailer for "Catching Fire." Today, Lionsgate announced that two of their upcoming movies, "Catching [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2013/06/26/hunger-games-catching-fire-trailer-comic-con/

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Obama says shouldn't have to talk to Xi, Putin about Snowden case

DAKAR (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Thursday he had not spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping or Russian President Vladimir Putin about the U.S. request to extradite former American spy agency contractor Edward Snowden because he "shouldn't have to".

Speaking at a press conference in Senegal, where Obama started a three-country tour of Africa, the U.S. president said normal legal channels should be sufficient to handle Washington's request that Snowden, who left Hong Kong for Russia, be returned.

"I have not called President Xi personally or President Putin personally and the reason is...number one, I shouldn't have to," Obama said.

"Number two, we've got a whole lot of business that we do with China and Russia, and I'm not going to have one case of a suspect who we're trying to extradite suddenly being elevated to the point where I've got to start doing wheeling and dealing and trading on a whole host of other issues," Obama said.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Mark Felsenthal; Editing by Daniel Flynn and David Lewis)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-says-shouldnt-talk-xi-putin-snowden-case-121300425.html

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Texas carries out its 500th execution since 1982

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) ? Texas marked a solemn moment in criminal justice Wednesday evening, executing its 500th inmate since it resumed carrying out capital punishment in 1982.

Kimberly McCarthy, who was put to death for the murder of her 71-year-old neighbor, was also the first woman executed in the U.S. in nearly three years.

McCarthy, 52, was executed for the 1997 robbery, beating and fatal stabbing of retired college psychology professor Dorothy Booth. Booth had agreed to give McCarthy a cup of sugar before she was attacked with a butcher knife and candelabra at her home in Lancaster, about 15 miles south of Dallas. Authorities say McCarthy cut off Booth's finger to remove her wedding ring.

It was among three slayings linked to McCarthy, a former nursing home therapist who became addicted to crack cocaine.

She was pronounced dead at 6:37 p.m. CDT, 20 minutes after Texas prison officials began administering a single lethal dose of pentobarbital.

In her final statement, McCarthy did not mention her status as the 500th inmate to be executed or acknowledge Booth or her family.

"This is not a loss. This is a win. You know where I'm going. I'm going home to be with Jesus. Keep the faith. I love you all," she said, while looking toward her witnesses ? her attorney, her spiritual adviser and her ex-husband, New Black Panther Party founder Aaron Michaels.

As the drug started to take effect, McCarthy said, "God is great," before closing her eyes. She took hard, raspy, loud breaths for several seconds before becoming quiet. Then, her chest moved up and down for another minute before she stopped breathing.

Friends and family of Booth told reporters after the execution that they were not conscious that Texas had carried out its 500th execution since 1982. They said their only focus was on Booth's brutal murder.

Five-hundred is "just a number. It doesn't really mean very much," said Randall Browning, who was Booth's godson. "'We're just thinking about the justice that was promised to us by the state of Texas."

Donna Aldred, Booth's daughter, reading a statement to reporters, said that her mother "was an incredible person who was taken before her time."

Texas has carried out nearly 40 percent of the more than 1,300 executions in the U.S. since the Supreme Court allowed capital punishment to resume in 1976. The state's standing stems from its size as the nation's second-most populous state as well as its tradition of tough justice for killers.

Texas prison officials said that for them, it was just another execution. "We simply carried out the court's order," said Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jason Clark.

With increased debate in recent years over wrongful convictions, some states have halted the practice entirely. However, 32 states have the death penalty on the books. Though Texas still carries out executions, lawmakers have provided more sentencing options for juries and courts have narrowed the cases for which death can be sought.

In a statement, Maurie Levin, McCarthy's attorney, said "500 is 500 too many. I look forward to the day when we recognize that this pointless and barbaric practice, imposed almost exclusively on those who are poor and disproportionately on people of color, has no place in a civilized society."

Outside the prison, about 40 protesters gathered, carrying signs saying "Death Penalty: Racist and Anti-Poor," ''Stop All Executions Now" and "Stop Killing to Stop Killings." As the hour for the execution approached, protesters began chanting and sang the old Negro spiritual "Wade in the Water."

In recent years, Texas executions have generally drawn fewer than 10 protesters. A handful of counter-demonstrators who support the death penalty gathered in another area outside the prison Wednesday.

Executions of women are infrequent. McCarthy was the 13th woman put to death in the U.S. and the fourth in Texas, the nation's busiest death penalty state, since the Supreme Court in 1976 allowed capital punishment to resume. In that same period, more than 1,300 male inmates have been executed nationwide, 496 of them in Texas. Virginia is a distant second, nearly 400 executions behind.

Levin, had asked the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to halt the punishment, arguing black jurors were improperly excluded from McCarthy's trial by Dallas County prosecutors. McCarthy is black; her victim white. All but one of her 12 jurors were white. The court denied McCarthy's appeals, ruling her claims should have been raised previously.

Prosecutors said McCarthy stole Booth's Mercedes and drove to Dallas, pawned the woman's wedding ring she removed from the severed finger for $200 and went to a crack house to buy cocaine. Evidence also showed she used Booth's credit cards at a liquor store.

McCarthy blamed the crime on two drug dealers, but there was no evidence either existed.

Her ex-husband, Michaels, testified on her behalf. They had separated before Booth's slaying.

DNA evidence also tied McCarthy to the December 1988 slayings of 81-year-old Maggie Harding and 85-year-old Jettie Lucas. Harding was stabbed and beaten with a meat tenderizer, while Lucas was beaten with both sides of a claw hammer and stabbed.

McCarthy, who denied any involvement in the attacks, was indicted but not tried for those slayings.

In January, McCarthy was just hours away from being put to death when a Dallas judge delayed her execution.

McCarthy was the eighth Texas prisoner executed this year. She was among 10 women on death row in Texas, but the only one with an execution date. Seven male Texas prisoners have executions scheduled in the coming months.

___

Follow Juan A. Lozano at http://www.twitter.com/juanlozano70.

___

Associated Press videographer John L. Mone contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/texas-carries-500th-execution-since-1982-234152447.html

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Lebanon clashes present test for weak military

BEIRUT (AP) ? Lebanon's third-largest city was turned into a battle zone Monday as the military battled heavily armed followers of an extremist Sunni cleric holed up in a mosque in a southern port city.

Residents fled as machine gun fire and grenade explosions shook the coastal area in one of the deadliest rounds of violence, seen is a test of the weak state's ability to contain the furies unleashed by Syria's civil war.

At least 16 soldiers were killed in two days of clashes with armed followers of Ahmad al-Assir, a maverick sheikh whose rapid rise among the ranks of some Sunnis is a symptom of the deep frustration among many who resent the Hezbollah-led Shiite ascendancy to power in Lebanon.

The fierce fight that al-Assir's fighters were putting up showed how aggressive Sunni extremists have grown in Lebanon, building on anger not only at Syria's regime but also its Shiite allies Hezbollah.

"Sidon is a war zone," said Nabil Azzam, a resident who returned to Sidon briefly on Monday to check on his home after having fled a day earlier with his family. "This is the result of all the sectarian rhetoric that has been building as a result of the war in Syria. It was bound to happen," he said by telephone, his speech interrupted by a burst of gunfire.

The fighting in Sidon is the bloodiest involving the army since the military fought a three-month battle in 2007 against the al-Qaida-inspired Fatah Islam group inside the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared in northern Lebanon. The Lebanese army crushed the group, but the clashes left over 170 soldiers killed.

The scenes of soldiers aiming at gunmen holed up in residential buildings in Sidon Monday and armored personnel vehicles deployed on the streets of Sidon evoked memories of Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war.

In many ways, the challenges facing the Lebanese military now resemble those that prevailed during that conflict, which eventually splintered the army along sectarian lines.

"It's the memory of this destructive war that remains as a restraining force ? for now," said Fawaz A. Gerges, director of the Middle East Center at the London School of Economics.

The civil war in Syria has for the past year been bleeding into Lebanon, following similar sectarian lines of Sunni and Shiite camps. Overstretched and outgunned by militias, the military has struggled to put out fires on multiple fronts in the eastern Bekaa valley and the northern city of Tripoli, as armed factions fought pitched street battles that often lasted several days.

In many cases, soldiers stood by and watched the violence helplessly.

The army, however, moved against al-Assir Monday after his followers opened fire on an army checkpoint unprovked.

Al-Assir, a 45-year-old skinny cleric with a long beard who supports the overwhelmingly Sunni rebels fighting to topple Assad, is an unlikely figure to challenge the army.

Few had heard of him until last year, when he began agitating for Hezbollah to disarm, taking advantage of the deep frustration among Lebanon's Sunnis who resent the Hezbollah-led Shiite ascendance to power in Lebanon, and a political void on the Sunni street following the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, a Sunni leader.

Last year, he set up a protest tent city complete with public lavatories and air conditioned containers , closing a main road in Sidon for a month in a sit-in meant to pressure Hezbollah to disarm.

There, he kept local and international media entertained by pulling stunts such as riding his bicycle and getting his hair cut in public while he openly challenged and taunted Hezbollah like few have dared before, even taking aim at Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, a figure usually considered a red line in Lebanon.

In February, al-Assir caused a stir when he arrived in buses along with hundreds of his bearded supporters to a ski resort in the Christian heartland, where residents set up road blocks in an attempt to keep him out.

He teamed up with Fadel Shaker, a onetime prominent Lebanese singer-turned Salafist, who took to reciting versus of the Quran at al-Assir's protests. Shaker's brother, a close aide to al-Assir, was killed in confrontations with the army Monday, the National News Agency said.

Despite his zany, attention-seeking persona, the rants against Hezbollah by al-Assir, a firebrand preacher, resonated with many Sunnis bitter about the increasingly dominant role of Hezbollah Lebanese politics.

Many in the Western-backed coalition known as March 14, headed by Hariri's son, Saad, quietly gave al-Assir backing as he launched his tirades against Hezbollah, and several Sunni politicians attacked the army, accusing it of bias in favor of Hezbollah.

Last month, after Hezbollah openly joined the fighting in Syria alongside Assad's forces in the border town of Qusair, al-Assir called Sunnis in Lebanon to join the fight in Syria and accused the army of inaction in the face of Hezbollah's growing involvement in Syria.

But al-Assir appears to have overplayed his cards by attacking the army, the only trusted institution in the country, triggering a backlash.

"The bravery of the army facing al-Assir's well-armed supporters has shamed Lebanese politicians," said Hisham Jaber, a retired Lebanese army general who heads a Beirut-based think tank. He said the army appeared determined to remain neutral despite attempts by politicians to splinter it.

The two days of fighting have transformed Sidon, a Mediterranean city some 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Beirut, left 50 wounded on Monday, the National News Agency said. At least two military officers were among those killed. Security officials said more than 20 of al-Assir's supporters were killed in the fighting, but did not provide an exact figure.

Machine-gun fire and rocket-propelled grenade explosions caused panic among residents, who also reported power and water outages. Snipers took over rooftops, terrorizing civilians, and many residents were asking for evacuation from the heavily populated neighborhood around the Bilal bin Rabbah Mosque where al-Assir preaches, and where the fighting has been concentrated.

The clashes erupted Sunday in the city, which had been largely spared the violence plaguing border area, after troops arrested an al-Assir follower. The army says supporters of the cleric opened fire without provocation on an army checkpoint.

Many people living on upper floors moved downstairs for cover or fled to safer areas. Some were seen carrying children as they fled. Others remained locked in their homes or shops, fearing getting caught in the crossfire. Gray smoke billowed over parts of the city.

The military appealed to the gunmen to hand themselves in, vowing it will "continue to uproot the strife and will not stop its operations until security is totally restored." By evening, the army had entered the mosque complex, though not the mosque itself.

Hezbollah appeared to be staying largely out of the ongoing clashes, though a few of its supporters in the city were briefly drawn into the fight Sunday, firing on al-Assir's supporters. At least one was killed, according to his relatives in the city who spoke anonymously out of concerns for their security.

Last week, al-Assir supporters fought with pro-Hezbollah gunmen, leaving two killed.

Fighting also broke out in parts of Ein el-Hilweh, a teeming Palestinian refugee camp near Sidon, where al-Assir has supporters. Islamist factions inside the camp lobbed mortars at military checkpoints around the camp.

Tension also spread to the north in Tripoli, Lebanon's second largest city. Masked gunmen roamed the city center, firing in the air and forcing shops and businesses to shut down in solidarity with al-Assir. Dozens of gunmen also set fire to tires, blocking roads. The city's main streets were emptying out. There was no unusual military or security deployment.

"The Syrian fire is beginning to devour Lebanon and the longer the conflict goes on, the more danger there is for Lebanon to implode," Gerges said.

Walid al-Moallem, Syria's foreign minister, blamed the violence in Lebanon on the international decision to arm rebels, saying that it will only serve to prolong the fighting in Syria and will impact neighboring Lebanon.

"What is going in Sidon is very dangerous, very dangerous," he told reporters in Damascus. "We warned since the start that the impact of what happens in Syria on neighboring countries will be grave."

___

Associated Press writer Sarah El Deeb contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lebanon-clashes-present-test-weak-military-190032451.html

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NSA Leaker Snowden Leaves Hong Kong (Voice Of America)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

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CalPERS program helps lower costs of member hip and knee replacement surgeries

Public release date: 23-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Lori McLaughlin
lori.mclaughlin2@wellpoint.com
317-407-7403
HealthCore

CalPERS members had similar to better outcomes at faciities that charged less

BALTIMOREJune 23, 2013A pilot program for CalPERS, a large public California employer aimed at reducing costs for hip and knee replacements was able to influence price drops for these procedures at facilities not originally part of the program.

This conclusion, among others, will be presented at the AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on June 23 in Baltimore. Presenter Winnie Li, senior research analyst for HealthCore Inc., the outcomes research company for WellPoint, Inc. will make a podium presentation on the findings of the reference-based purchasing design program implemented for knee and hip replacement surgeries in 2011 for CalPERS members of a WellPoint affiliated health plan.

In May, the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services released a database of 2011 hospital charges for Medicare services showing a wide disparity in charges for some of the same services by hospitals in the same areas. California hospital charges for total knee replacement and total hip replacement surgeries ranged from $15,000 to $110,000 without evidence of difference in outcome or quality, according to an analysis conducted by WellPoint's affiliated health plan in California in 2009.

"We were pleased to see that the program led to better quality for some measures and increased use of facilities that charge less," said Ann Boynton, deputy executive officer for Benefit Programs Policy and Planning for the California Public Employees' Retirement System, which has 356,543 PPO members in California served by WellPoint's affiliated health plan. "The outcomes of this program further support what we know to be true, that higher cost does not mean better quality. Current spending levels are not sustainable and we must continue to find ways to provide quality services at lower costs now and into the future."

As part of the intervention program, members of the California Public Employees' Retirement System were given a list of designated facilities that met quality requirements and charged less than $30,000 for each knee and hip replacement surgery.

To qualify for the list, hospitals had to have already contracted with the network of WellPoint's California affiliated health plan, which manages a robust credentialing process. Participation includes requiring all participating hospitals maintain accreditation by at least one of several nationally renowned accreditation organizations. In addition, hospitals had to perform enough procedures to ensure results could represent credible measurement that positively demonstrated the hospital's skill in the surgeries.

Members were able to either choose from 46 facilities on the list that would result in them paying little to no out-of-pocket costs beyond deductible or pay the difference if they chose to use another facility that charges more than $30,000.

The result was that CalPERS health plan costs dropped significantly by 19 percent from $35,408 to $28,695 largely made up of lower prices on procedures from those who went to non-designated facilities. Out-of-pocket costs did not increase. CalPERS members also used designated facilities 21 percent more than they did in the previous year.

"We were not surprised to find that the program caused overall reductions in cost for CalPERS members," said Li. "However, it was amazing to see how costs fell for CalPERS members among the facilities that were not part of the original designation list. This demonstrates that a program used by a group with considerable buying power can influence costs at facilities not originally part of the intervention."

Outcomes for the CalPERS group were slightly better in some areas and equivalent in others for those using designated facilities. The study compared post-surgery infection, complications and hospital readmission rates. When comparing plan members to non-members, CalPERS members had significantly lower 30-day infection rates and lower 30-day complication rates.

The study compared CalPERS PPO members to other PPO members of WellPoint's affiliated health plan. The analysis used administrative medical claims for patients who had elective, non-emergency total knee replacement or total hip replacement surgeries from Jan. 1, 2010 and Dec. 31, 2011.

###

About HealthCore, Inc.

HealthCore, based in Wilmington, Del., is the clinical outcomes research subsidiary of WellPoint, Inc. HealthCore has a team of highly experienced researchers including physicians, biostatisticians, pharmacists, epidemiologists, health economists and other scientists who study the "real world" safety and effectiveness of drugs, medical devices and care management interventions. HealthCore offers insight on how to best use this data and communicates these findings to health care decision-makers to support evidence-based medicine, product development decisions, safety monitoring, coverage decisions, process improvement and overall cost-effective health care. For more information, go to http://www.healthcore.com.

Media contact:

Lori McLaughlin, lori.mclaughlin2@wellpoint.com, 317.407.7403

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 23-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Lori McLaughlin
lori.mclaughlin2@wellpoint.com
317-407-7403
HealthCore

CalPERS members had similar to better outcomes at faciities that charged less

BALTIMOREJune 23, 2013A pilot program for CalPERS, a large public California employer aimed at reducing costs for hip and knee replacements was able to influence price drops for these procedures at facilities not originally part of the program.

This conclusion, among others, will be presented at the AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on June 23 in Baltimore. Presenter Winnie Li, senior research analyst for HealthCore Inc., the outcomes research company for WellPoint, Inc. will make a podium presentation on the findings of the reference-based purchasing design program implemented for knee and hip replacement surgeries in 2011 for CalPERS members of a WellPoint affiliated health plan.

In May, the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services released a database of 2011 hospital charges for Medicare services showing a wide disparity in charges for some of the same services by hospitals in the same areas. California hospital charges for total knee replacement and total hip replacement surgeries ranged from $15,000 to $110,000 without evidence of difference in outcome or quality, according to an analysis conducted by WellPoint's affiliated health plan in California in 2009.

"We were pleased to see that the program led to better quality for some measures and increased use of facilities that charge less," said Ann Boynton, deputy executive officer for Benefit Programs Policy and Planning for the California Public Employees' Retirement System, which has 356,543 PPO members in California served by WellPoint's affiliated health plan. "The outcomes of this program further support what we know to be true, that higher cost does not mean better quality. Current spending levels are not sustainable and we must continue to find ways to provide quality services at lower costs now and into the future."

As part of the intervention program, members of the California Public Employees' Retirement System were given a list of designated facilities that met quality requirements and charged less than $30,000 for each knee and hip replacement surgery.

To qualify for the list, hospitals had to have already contracted with the network of WellPoint's California affiliated health plan, which manages a robust credentialing process. Participation includes requiring all participating hospitals maintain accreditation by at least one of several nationally renowned accreditation organizations. In addition, hospitals had to perform enough procedures to ensure results could represent credible measurement that positively demonstrated the hospital's skill in the surgeries.

Members were able to either choose from 46 facilities on the list that would result in them paying little to no out-of-pocket costs beyond deductible or pay the difference if they chose to use another facility that charges more than $30,000.

The result was that CalPERS health plan costs dropped significantly by 19 percent from $35,408 to $28,695 largely made up of lower prices on procedures from those who went to non-designated facilities. Out-of-pocket costs did not increase. CalPERS members also used designated facilities 21 percent more than they did in the previous year.

"We were not surprised to find that the program caused overall reductions in cost for CalPERS members," said Li. "However, it was amazing to see how costs fell for CalPERS members among the facilities that were not part of the original designation list. This demonstrates that a program used by a group with considerable buying power can influence costs at facilities not originally part of the intervention."

Outcomes for the CalPERS group were slightly better in some areas and equivalent in others for those using designated facilities. The study compared post-surgery infection, complications and hospital readmission rates. When comparing plan members to non-members, CalPERS members had significantly lower 30-day infection rates and lower 30-day complication rates.

The study compared CalPERS PPO members to other PPO members of WellPoint's affiliated health plan. The analysis used administrative medical claims for patients who had elective, non-emergency total knee replacement or total hip replacement surgeries from Jan. 1, 2010 and Dec. 31, 2011.

###

About HealthCore, Inc.

HealthCore, based in Wilmington, Del., is the clinical outcomes research subsidiary of WellPoint, Inc. HealthCore has a team of highly experienced researchers including physicians, biostatisticians, pharmacists, epidemiologists, health economists and other scientists who study the "real world" safety and effectiveness of drugs, medical devices and care management interventions. HealthCore offers insight on how to best use this data and communicates these findings to health care decision-makers to support evidence-based medicine, product development decisions, safety monitoring, coverage decisions, process improvement and overall cost-effective health care. For more information, go to http://www.healthcore.com.

Media contact:

Lori McLaughlin, lori.mclaughlin2@wellpoint.com, 317.407.7403

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/h-cph062113.php

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James, Heat beats Spurs 103-100 in OT; Game 7 next

MIAMI (AP) ? LeBron James led a title-saving charge, and now his crown will be on the line one more time in Game 7.

James powered Miami to a frantic fourth-quarter rally and overtime escape as the Heat beat the San Antonio Spurs 103-100 on Tuesday night to extend the NBA Finals as far as they can go and keep Miami's repeat chances alive.

Losing his headband but keeping his cool while playing the entire second half and overtime, James finished with 32 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists, making the go-ahead basket with 1:43 remaining in the extra period.

"If we were going to go down tonight, we're going to go down with me leaving every little bit of energy that I had on the floor," James said.

Tim Duncan scored 30 points for the Spurs, his most in an NBA Finals game since Game 1 in 2003, but was shut out after the third quarter. He added 17 rebounds.

Game 7 will be here Thursday, the NBA's first do-or-die game to determine its champion since the Lakers beat the Celtics in 2010.

"They're the best two words in sports: Game 7," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

And two the Spurs were oh so close to avoiding.

They looked headed to a fifth title in five chances when they built a 13-point lead with under 4 minutes left in the third quarter, then grabbed a five-point edge late in regulation after blowing the lead.

But James hit a 3-pointer and Ray Allen tied it with another. Just 5.2 seconds remained in regulation. The Heat were that close to the edge.

"It's a tough moment. We were a few seconds away from winning the championship and we let it go," Spurs veteran Manu Ginobili said. "A couple rebounds we didn't catch, a tough 3 by Ray and a couple missed free throws. It's a very tough moment."

James was just 3 of 12 after three quarters, the Heat trailing by 10 and frustration apparent among the players and panic setting in among the fans.

Nothing to worry. Not with James playing like this.

He finished 11 of 26, even making a steal after his basket had given Miami a 101-100 edge in the OT.

Before that, he was 12 minutes from hearing the familiar criticisms about not being able to get it done, from having to watch a team celebrate on his home floor again.

Then he changed the game and erased that story.

The Heat, who haven't lost consecutive games since Jan. 8 and 10, had too much defense and way too much James for the Spurs in the final 17 minutes. They are trying to become fourth team to win the final two games at home since the NBA went to the 2-3-2 format for the finals in 1985.

James came in averaging 31.5 points in elimination games, highest in NBA history, according to a stat provided through the NBA by the Elias Sports Bureau.

This wasn't quite the 45-point performance in Game 6 of last year's Eastern Conference finals in Boston, but given the higher stakes may go down as more important ? if the Heat follow it with another victory Thursday.

The Heat were in the same place as they were in 2011 at the end of their Big Three's first season together, coming home from Texas facing a 3-2 deficit in the finals.

This is a different team. And oh, what a different James.

They said they welcomed this challenge, a chance to show they how much mentally tougher they were than the team the Dallas Mavericks easily handled in Game 6 that night.

James made sure they did, looking nothing like the player who was so bad in the fourth quarters during that series.

He was simply unstoppable down the stretch of this one.

"He just made plays. I don't think there's any two ways to put it," Duncan said. "We were in the right position to close it out and he found a way to put his team over the top and we just didn't make enough plays to do that."

Kawhi Leonard had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Spurs. Tony Parker had 19 points and eight assists, but shot just 6 of 23 from the field.

The Spurs had one final chance down 103-100, but Chris Bosh blocked Danny Green's 3-pointer from the corner as time expired.

Bosh had said Green wouldn't get open the way he has all series ? and he didn't.

Green finished 1 of 5 from behind the arc after going 25 of 38 on 3-pointers (65.8 percent) in the first five games.

The Heat, the NBA's 66-win powerhouse during the regular season, will be playing a seventh game for the second straight round, having needed to go the distance to beat the Indiana Pacers in the East finals.

"See you in Game 7!" the public address announcer hollered as some Heat fans tossed their white T-shirts ? the ones that hang on chairs in the arena. These read "First to 16 Wins," meaning the number of victories it takes to win the championship.

The race will go down to a final day.

The Heat are 13-0 after losses over the last five months, though this was nothing like the previous 12 that had come by an average of nearly 20 points. Nor was it like the previous four games of this series, which had all been blowouts after the Spurs pulled out a four-point victory in Game 1.

San Antonio had an 11-0 run in the first half, then a 13-3 burst in the third quarter for a 71-58 lead, and a final flurry late in regulation that seemed to have them ready to walk off with another title.

Parker's 3-pointer over James tied it at 89 with 1:27 left. He then came up with a steal, spinning into the lane for a 91-89 lead with 58 seconds to go. Miami coughed it up again and Ginobili made two free throws, and he made another after a third straight Miami turnover to put the Spurs ahead 94-89.

But James nailed a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left, and the Heat had one more chance after Leonard made just one foul shot to give the Spurs a 95-92 edge. James missed but Bosh got the rebound out to Allen, the league's career leader in 3-pointers, who made another one from the corner to even it up.

The Spurs went ahead by three again in overtime, but James found a cutting Allen for a basket, then scored himself to put the Heat on top. They clinched it when Bosh blocked San Antonio's final two shot attempts.

Bosh finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Mario Chalmers scored 20 points and Dwyane Wade had 14.

After shooting 60 percent in Game 5, the Spurs hadn't cooled off when they traded Texas heat for the South Florida sun, making nine of their first 12 shots to open a 20-16 lead. Duncan made all six shots in the first quarter, but consecutive 3-pointers by Shane Battier and Chalmers late in the period rallied Miami to a 27-25 advantage.

Duncan made his first eight shots, scoring 13 straight San Antonio points over nearly 8 minutes in the second quarter. Boris Diaw finally stopped that stretch with a little scoop shot in the lane and Leonard tipped in a miss with 1.3 seconds left, capping the Spurs' 11-0 run to end the second quarter. It was 50-44 at the break.

With Duncan 37 and Ginobili nearly 36, the Spurs know they may never get another shot like this one.

Duncan knew how tough it would be to get back to the top six years ago, when the Spurs swept James' Cleveland Cavaliers for their most recent title.

San Antonio's leader told James afterward that the league would someday belong to him.

And on Tuesday, James refused to let it go.

Notes: Allen moved two behind Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher (48) for second place in finals 3-pointers. Robert Horry, a former champion with the Spurs, made 56 3-pointers in the finals. Horry held the Spurs' record for 3s in a finals with 15 in 2005 that Green has broken with his finals-record 26. ... Duncan and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich appeared in their 210th playoff game together, moving 30 ahead of Phil Jackson and Bryant for most all-time.

___

Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Briancmahoney

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/james-heat-beats-spurs-103-100-ot-game-050129642.html

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Afghan President Karzai to boycott talks with Taliban

The Afghan government will not take part in peace talks with the Taliban unless the process is ?Afghan-led?, President Hamid Karzai has said.

The Afghan puppet President Karzai do not want to smoke ?peace pipes? with Norwegian PM Stoltenberg and the Taliban.

The statement came a day after the US said it would talk to the Taliban, who opened a political office in Qatar.

Mr Karzai earlier suspended talks with the US on its military presence in Afghanistan after Nato leaves in 2014.

Source: The BBC

My comment:

One of the most deceptive and deceitful nations in the World, is the Kingdom of Norway.

Now, Norway has initiated secret ?peace talks? in Oslo,? where Obama and the Taliban have found common ground.

Not only did Norway do considerable damage to Israel, by working as the agent for the PLO and Radical Islam.? The Oslo ?peace process? quickly became the ?Oslo war process?. Now Norway is supporting the Taliban, and doing considerable harm to the future of a possible democratic state in Afghanistan.

In the state controlled and loyal Norwegian media yesterday, the Norwegian Government were presented as ?great peace makers? helping the Afghan people.

After the Afghan Government announced that they will boycott the ?peace talks? arranged by Oslo, this message is censored.

Amazingly, people still think about Norway as a free and democratic nation.

Do not be deceived. Norway is the largest sponsor of Islamic terrorism outside the Islamic World.? Do not trust the present Government of Noway. Not even for a second.

Written by Ivar

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Source: http://ivarfjeld.com/2013/06/20/afghan-president-karzai-to-boycott-talks-with-taliban/

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Seth Rogen Talks Weed, Auditions And The Challenge Of Sci-Fi Comedy

'This is the End' star chats with MTV News and admits 'Superbad' will never get a sequel.
By Josh Horowitz

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1709236/seth-rogen-this-is-the-end-weed-superbad.jhtml

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Google launches Internet-beaming balloons

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AP) ? Wrinkled and skinny at first, the translucent, jellyfish-shaped balloons that Google released this week from a frozen field in the heart of New Zealand's South Island hardened into shiny pumpkins as they rose into the blue winter skies above Lake Tekapo, passing the first big test of a lofty goal to get the entire planet online.

It was the culmination of 18 months' work on what Google calls Project Loon, in recognition of how wacky the idea may sound. Developed in the secretive X lab that came up with a driverless car and web-surfing eyeglasses, the flimsy helium-filled inflatables beam the Internet down to earth as they sail past on the wind.

Still in their experimental stage, the balloons were the first of thousands that Google's leaders eventually hope to launch 20 kilometers (12 miles) into the stratosphere in order to bridge the gaping digital divide between the world's 4.8 billion unwired people and their 2.2 billion plugged-in counterparts.

If successful, the technology might allow countries to leapfrog the expense of laying fiber cable, dramatically increasing Internet usage in places such as Africa and Southeast Asia.

"It's a huge moonshot. A really big goal to go after," said project leader Mike Cassidy. "The power of the Internet is probably one of the most transformative technologies of our time."

The first person to get Google Balloon Internet access this week was Charles Nimmo, a farmer and entrepreneur in the small town of Leeston. He found the experience a little bemusing after he was one of 50 locals who signed up to be a tester for a project that was so secret, no one would explain to them what was happening. Technicians came to the volunteers' homes and attached to the outside walls bright red receivers the size of basketballs and resembling giant Google map pins.

Nimmo got the Internet for about 15 minutes before the balloon transmitting it sailed on past. His first stop on the Web was to check out the weather because he wanted to find out if it was an optimal time for "crutching" his sheep, a term he explained to the technicians refers to removing the wool around sheep's rear ends.

Nimmo is among the many rural folk, even in developed countries, that can't get broadband access. After ditching his dial-up four years ago in favor of satellite Internet service, he's found himself stuck with bills that sometimes exceed $1,000 in a single month.

"It's been weird," Nimmo said of the Google Balloon Internet experience. "But it's been exciting to be part of something new."

While the concept is new, people have used balloons for communication, transportation and entertainment for centuries. In recent years, the military and aeronautical researchers have used tethered balloons to beam Internet signals back to bases on earth.

Google's balloons fly free and out of eyesight, scavenging power from card table-sized solar panels that dangle below and gather enough charge in four hours to power them for a day as the balloons sail around the globe on the prevailing winds. Far below, ground stations with Internet capabilities about 100 kilometers (60 miles) apart bounce signals up to the balloons.

The signals would hop forward, from one balloon to the next, along a backbone of up to five balloons.

Each balloon would provide Internet service for an area twice the size of New York City, about 1,250 square kilometers (780 square miles), and terrain is not a challenge. They could stream Internet into Afghanistan's steep and winding Khyber Pass or Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, a country where the World Bank estimates four out of every 100 people are online.

There are plenty of catches, including a requirement that anyone using Google Balloon Internet would need a receiver plugged into their computer in order to receive the signal. Google is not talking costs at this point, although they're striving to make both the balloons and receivers as inexpensive as possible, dramatically less than laying cables.

The signals travel in the unlicensed spectrum, which means Google doesn't have to go through the onerous regulatory processes required for Internet providers using wireless communications networks or satellites. In New Zealand, the company worked with the Civil Aviation Authority on the trial. Google chose the country in part because of its remoteness. Cassidy said in the next phase of the trial they hope to get up to 300 balloons forming a ring on the 40th parallel south from New Zealand through Australia, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina.

Christchurch was a symbolic launch site because some residents were cut off from online information for weeks following a 2011 earthquake that killed 185 people. Google believes balloon access could help places suffering natural disasters get quickly back online. Tania Gilchrist, a resident who signed up for the Google trial, feels lucky she lost her power for only about 10 hours on the day of the quake.

"After the initial upheaval, the Internet really came into play," she said. "It was how people coordinated relief efforts and let people know how to get in touch with agencies. It was really, really effective and it wasn't necessarily driven by the authorities."

At Google's mission control in Christchurch this week, a team of jet lagged engineers working at eight large laptops used wind data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to maneuver the balloons over snowy peaks, identifying the wind layer with the desired speed and direction and then adjusting balloons' altitudes so they floated in that layer.

"It's a very fundamentally democratic thing that what links everyone together is the sky and the winds," said Richard DeVaul, an MIT-trained scientist who founded Project Loon and helped develop Google Glass, hidden camera-equipped eyeglasses with a tiny computer display that responds to voice commands.

DeVaul initially thought their biggest challenge would be establishing the radio links from earth to sky, but in the end, one of the most complex parts was hand building strong, light, durable balloons that could handle temperature and pressure swings in the stratosphere.

Google engineers studied balloon science from NASA, the Defense Department and the Jet Propulsion Lab to design their own airships made of plastic films similar to grocery bags. Hundreds have been built so far.

He said they wouldn't interfere with aircraft because they fly well below satellites and twice as high as airplanes, and they downplayed concerns about surveillance, emphasizing that they would not carry cameras or any other extraneous equipment.

The balloons would be guided to collection points and replaced periodically. In cases when they failed, a parachute would deploy.

While there had been rumors, until now Google had refused to confirm the project. But there have been hints: In April, Google's executive chairman tweeted "For every person online, there are two who are not. By the end of the decade, everyone on Earth will be connected," prompting a flurry of speculative reports.

And international aid groups have been pushing for more connectivity for more than a decade.

In pilot projects, African farmers solved disease outbreaks after searching the Web, while in Bangladesh "online schools" bring teachers from Dhaka to children in remote classrooms through large screens and video conferencing.

Many experts said the project has the potential to fast-forward developing nations into the digital age, possibly impacting far more people than the Google X lab's first two projects: The glasses and a fleet of self-driving cars that have already logged hundreds of thousands of accident-free miles.

"Whole segments of the population would reap enormous benefits, from social inclusion to educational and economic opportunities," said DePauw University media studies professor Kevin Howley.

Temple University communications professor Patrick Murphy warned of mixed consequences, pointing to China and Brazil where Internet service increased democratic principles, prompting social movements and uprisings, but also a surge in consumerism that has resulted in environmental and health problems.

"The nutritional and medical information, farming techniques, democratic principles those are the wonderful parts of it," he said. "But you also have everyone wanting to drive a car, eat a steak, drink a Coke."

As the world's largest advertising network, Google itself stands to expand its own empire by bringing Internet to the masses: More users means more potential Google searchers, which in turn give the company more chances to display their lucrative ads.

Richard Bennett, a fellow with the nonprofit Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, was skeptical, noting that cell phones are being used far more in developing countries.

"I'm really glad that Google is doing this kind of speculative research," he said. "But it remains to be seen how practical any of these things are."

Ken Murdoch, a chief information officer for the nonprofit Save the Children, said the service would be "a tremendous key enabler" during natural disasters and humanitarian crises, when infrastructure can be nonexistent or paralyzed.

"The potential of a system that can restore connectivity within hours of a crisis hitting is tremendously exciting," agreed Imogen Wall at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, although she warned that the service must be robust. "If the service fails in a crisis, then lives are lost."

In Christchurch this week, the balloons were invisible in the sky except for an occasional glint, but people could see them if they happened to be in the remote countryside where they were launched or through binoculars, if they knew where to look.

Before heading to New Zealand, Google spent a few months secretly launching between two and five flights a week in California's central valley, prompting what Google's scientists said were a handful of unusual reports on local media.

"We were chasing balloons around from trucks on the ground," said DeVaul, "and people were calling in reports about UFOs."

___

Mendoza reported from Mountain View, Calif. Follow Martha Mendoza at http://twitter.com/mendozamartha.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-06-15-Google%20Internet%20Balloon/id-8688b2e5ecaa4a56bddb704f1a32299d

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What are the Technological Advancements in Online Learning ...

Technological advancements in online learning have reshaped the whole education industry. In the past educators had to remain abreast of latest research on pedagogy and new teaching methods, but it has become equally necessary to keep abreast of latest technological trends. Latest technological advancements and their adoption in the learning industry are redefining learning and lending more importance to online learning systems.

In the article, we will look into some important technological advancements useful in the field of online learning.

1) Social Media Collaboration

For teachers and students, the use of social media moves beyond status and image updates. The use of current social media technologies has become a method for online collaboration, real time research and enhancement of unstructured learning conditions, without defeating the purpose of structured learning conditions. It is true that not all school or colleges have taken to social media platforms, but the progress is there nonetheless. These days students spend lots of time on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. It is prudent for the learning community to optimize on this trend and reach out with more online learning opportunities.

2) Cloud Computing Technology

In the last couple of years, the cloud computing technology has immersed itself with the growing online learning field. Cloud computing is a way with which data and applications can be shared on any connected browser seamlessly. Google Drive and Dropbox are two popular cloud computing options useful for online learners. A student sitting in Cambodia can do any online course and share projects and assignments by just uploading the files in Drive or Dropbox.

The instructor, on the other hand, located in England can access the files by logging into the Drive or Dropbox account and grade it. Similarly, there are cloud computing options for webinars (web seminars), project management and other productivity tools. In short, online learning with the latest technological advancements makes it possible to reach out to a wider base of students without compromising quality of education.

3) Open Source Software Products

Moodle, Udutu and Sakai are some products which are made for eLearning. The products come under the ?open source software? category, which means they are free for use. These and others are specifically known as learning management systems (LMS). Online learners and educators can create presentations, authoring tools, mentoring tools and other useful tools. The code is very customizable, but on the downside, the main disadvantage is that the open source software documentation can be sparse and unregulated.

4) EBook Readers and Notebooks

Some educational institutions have completely gone paperless. These days students depend more on eBook readers and notebook computers. This is especially true in the online learning model. The Kindle is a popular eBook reader for digital books. Learning professionals recognize such devices as an intrinsic part of the learning process. Similarly, notebooks or mini laptops make online learning easier. They are affordable for students, and in the last couple of years they have successfully reshaped the online learning scenario positively.

5) Educative Gaming Environment

A lot of gaming technology developers spend millions to develop software that will aid the online learning industry. The 3D virtual environment is growing at a break neck speed. High quality virtual authoring software with 3D augmented reality is beginning to hit the market. These virtual environments are closer to the real world and it is believed that such games improve learning. Moreover, as the concept of ?games? is involved here, the motivational factor is not far behind.

Advantages of Technological Advancements

Some of the primary advantages of these technologies are:

The technological advancements help wider outreach. Students who couldn?t have done a certain course previously because of financial or geographical barrier can now use the online learning platform at half the cost without changing location.

The use of technological advancements in various courses like nursing, distance learning MBA, mass communications and more are definitely less costly as compared with conventional education practices. There are no costs of commuting, spending exorbitant fees or buying expensive books.

• No Loss of Financial Independence

Learners do not have to leave their full-time jobs or other sources of earning to learn online. They can work and learn at the same. Hence, there is no loss of financial independence.

Conclusion

In the technologically connected 21^st century, the education industry is undergoing a lot of changes. A lot of technological advancements have made online learning possible in new ways. There is less financial burden to gain education and learners only need basic Internet connectivity to study. The cost of accessing technology is either free or very low.

The content of this post is licensed: ?2013 All Rights Reserved

About the author

Diksha Singh is an internet analyzer and freelance blogger. She enjoys sharing information about colleges with students as well as her readers. She loves to write on higher education in India and abroad. Currently she is working with StudyNation.com, a leading educational portal for helping the students.

This post was written by Diksha Singh

Source: http://doteduguru.com/id9361-what-are-the-technological-advancements-in-online-learning.html

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St. Louis shooting: Gunman kills four, including himself

St.?Louis shooting: At a St. Louis home health care business, a man shot two women and another man before turning his semi-automatic handgun on himself, say police.

By Jim Salter,?Associated Press / June 13, 2013

St. Louis police work the scene just south of downtown St. Louis on Thursday, June 13. The St. Louis Police Department posted on its official Twitter account that two women and two men are dead.

Robert Cohen / St. Louis Post-Dispatch / AP

Enlarge

An argument inside a?St.?Louis?home health care business escalated into gun violence Thursday when a man shot three other people before turning the gun on himself, police said.

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The?shooting?occurred at AK Home Health Care LLC, one several small businesses inside the Cherokee Place Business Incubator south of downtown?St.?Louis. The shooter gunned down another man and two women before turning his semi-automatic handgun on himself, Police Capt. Michael Sack said.

Authorities said the shooter either owned or was a co-owner of the small business and his three victims were employees.

"We don't know if this was a thing that carried over into today or was initiated today," Sack told reporters.

Police said surveillance video showed what appeared to be a verbal dispute, followed a short time later by gunshots penetrating an inside wall. The video showed that no one else had gone into the building other than the four people who were killed, the?St.?Louis?Police Department said in details posted on its official Twitter account.

An employee of another business in the building heard gunshots and called police. Other businesses in the building include an attorney's office and an African bazaar.

The victims' names have not been released, but Sack said they appeared to be middle-aged.

A woman who showed up about two hours after the?shooting?began sobbing loudly when she saw the police scene and was comforted by onlookers and police. A neighborhood woman translated the woman's outbursts for reporters, saying the woman was worried that a relative was inside the building.

Abdi Salam Elmi, an immigrant from Somalia who drives a cab in?St.?Louis, said he was close to all four of the dead in Thursday's?shooting. He described them as hardworking, friendly people.

"They always smile for me. This is my worst day in my life. It's a very, very sad day for us and a very sad day for the city of?St.?Louis."

St.?Louis?has long struggled with urban violence, but the last week has seen a troublesome uptick in bloodshed. Police scrambled late Monday and early Tuesday to respond to five different?shootings?on the city's north side that left 15 people wounded.

Elmi said as a cab driver he sees too much violence in the city and he's concerned about the recent?shootings. "I feel the same as I did when I left Somalia," he said, referring to the war-torn African country.

Meant to be a nurturer of startup businesses, the Cherokee Place Business Incubator dates back at least a decade in a once-thriving business section about a five minutes' drive from downtown.

Big retailers later shifted to the suburbs. But that part of town, which has a strong Latino flair, has regained solid footing. New street lighting complimenting welcomed police responsiveness has helped make it safe, according to Jason Deem, a board member and former president of the Cherokee Street Business Association.

Deem called Thursday's bloodshed "a very unfortunate situation for Cherokee" but not reflective of the area as a whole.

"It's not like this type of thing goes on down here. This is very much a shock to us," he said. "Everything police are telling us leads us to believe it was a targeted incident and not some random act of violence."

Associated Press reporter Jim Suhr contributed to this story.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/KdtENPx4rbQ/St.-Louis-shooting-Gunman-kills-four-including-himself

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Parents Who Own Bookshelves Raise Kids Who Do Better in School

By conventional wisdom, the things we own don?t define us?no matter how much we hope they will. But according to science, there are some reliable correlations between who we are and what we own.

Over on Core77, Rain Noe discusses a sweeping international study by a team of Stanford and University of Munich researchers, who looked at all sorts of questions about how economics, school conditions, and parents end up affecting education. But one of the most interesting tidbits concerned the fact that a child?s achievements at school are correlated to whether his or her parents own a very simple object.

That object? A bookshelf. Two, actually. According to the study?s authors, the educational achievements of British children whose parents owned two bookcases differed from children whose parents didn?t by 1.15 standard deviations. In plain language, that?s three times the amount of what the average kid learns during a year of school.

?Books at home are the single most important predictor of student performance in most countries,? write the study authors. But they're quick to point out that they're talking about correlation, not causation. ?The consistency of the estimates across studies is not meant to imply that books in the home per se are causally related to achievement and that providing more books to families would raise student performance. Books in the home proxy systematic differences in parenting, home education, and home resources...?

It?s not altogether surprising?after all, access to books was proven a reliable indicator of education level long ago?but it?s fascinating to know that the mere presence of books is correlated to a kid?s achievements in school. Another interesting point? Whether or not this measure will hold up as the tablet becomes a more popular way to read. [The Economics of International Differences in Educational Achievement, via Core77]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/parents-who-own-bookshelves-raise-kids-who-do-better-in-513115295

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The Weirdest Thing on the Internet Tonight: Hands Up If You're Lost

Who would have thought a song sung for a dying mouse by fraggly imps could be this wonderful?

We Show Up on RadaR (WSUOR)?comprised of singer-songwriter-producer-instrumentalist-creative visionary Andy Wright?crafted this serene melody ahead of his new album's release July release, Sadness Defeated. Polymath Pictures produced the official music video while a team of six puppeteers controlled the onscreen action. [iTunes - Get album at Hello Thor Records]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/the-weirdest-thing-on-the-internet-tonight-hands-up-if-512314303

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