Xmas in the Europe

nedjelja, 01.03.2009.

Late Winter Storm Targets Four State Region

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Several rounds of snow can be expected for parts of the four-state region starting Saturday night.

Light snow is expected to move into the southern two-thirds of the region overnight bringing the potential for minor accumulation. A coating to one inch of snow is possible.

A stronger low pressure system will move by Sunday night into Monday morning bringing another round of snow , especially for locations along and east of Interstate 81.

For that reason, a Winter Weather Watch has been issued by the National Weather Service for Frederick County, Maryland, and Loudon County, Virginia for Sunday evening into Monday morning for the potential of several inches of additional snowfall by Monday morning.

Overall, a dusting to 4 inches of snow is likely for most of the region with the heaviest accumulations expected to the south and east.

Major travel problems are not expected Sunday. However, roads may become slippery overnight with temperatures dropping below freezing and some accumulating snowfall.

The NBC 25 Weather Team will continue to update you on all of the latest winter weather advisories and information throughout the weekend.

- 18:51 - Komentari (2) - Isprintaj - #

srijeda, 25.02.2009.

New Mothers Who Are Diabetic At Increased Risk of Postpartum Depression

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A new study finds that new mothers who are diabetic are at an increased risk of developing postpartum depression.

This study finding comes from researchers from the Harvard Medical School in Boston, who say that 12% of new mothers may experience the condition.

“Postpartum depression is a very serious illness that affects between 10 and 12 percent of mothers every year. It may have long-term negative impacts on the women it affects, but also on their children and families,” said lead author Katy Backes.

For their study the research team looked at Medicaid data from New Jersey focusing on 11000 pregnant women.

The data spanned the time frames of 6 months prior to the women giving birth, up to 1 year post giving birth.

The researchers found a link between pregnant women with diabetes and increased cases of postpartum depression.

This link appeared to be present across all races, as well as the different types of diabetes.

The study is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

- 14:24 - Komentari (0) - Isprintaj - #

ponedjeljak, 23.02.2009.

Forecasters: Unemployment rate to go up in the next year

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Brace yourself: The recession is projected to worsen this year.

The country stands to lose a sizable chunk of economic activity in 2009 as consumers at home and abroad retrench in the face of persistent economic troubles. And the U.S. unemployment rate — now at 7.6 percent, the highest in more than 16 years — is expected hit a peak of 9 percent this year.

That gloomy outlook came from leading forecasters in the latest survey by the National Association for Business Economics to be released today. The new estimates are roughly in line with other recent projections, including those released last week by the Federal Reserve.

“The steady drumbeat of weak economic and financial market data have made business economists decidedly more pessimistic on the economic outlook for the next several quarters,’’ said NABE president Chris Varvares, head of Macroeconomic Advisers.

All told, Varvares and his fellow forecasters now expect the economy to shrink by 1.9 percent this year, a much deeper contraction than the 0.2 percent dip projected in the fall.

If the new forecast is correct, it would mark the first time since 1991 the economy actually contracted over a full year and would be the worst showing since 1982, when the country had suffered through a severe recession.

Vanishing jobs, shrinking nest eggs, rising foreclosures and tanking home values have forced American consumers to cut back, which in turn has caused businesses to lay off workers and slash costs in other ways, feeding a vicious downward cycle for the economy.

The current recession, which started in December 2007, is posing a major challenge to Washington policymakers, including President Barack Obama and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. That’s because its root causes — a housing collapse, credit crunch and financial turmoil — are the worst since the 1930s and don’t lend themselves to easy or quick fixes.

“As the news on the economy has darkened, so too, have the forecasts,’’ said Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics. “We are suffering a period of maximum stress on the economy.’’

The economy is expected to remain feeble this year — even with new efforts by the administration and Congress to provide relief.

Just over the past few weeks, a $787 billion recovery package of increased government spending and tax cuts was signed into law, the president unveiled a $75 billion plan to stem home foreclosures and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said as much as $2 trillion could be plowed into the financial system to jump-start lending.

In terms of lost economic activity in 2009, the biggest hit will come in the first six months, forecasters said.

NABE forecasters now expect the economy to slide backward at a staggering pace of 5 percent in the current January-March quarter. That’s a sharp downgrade from the 1.3 percent annualized drop projected in the old survey.

Many economists believe that the current quarter will be the worst of the recession in terms of the bite to gross domestic product, which is the value of all goods and services produced within the U.S. and is the broadest barometer of the country’s economic health.

The second quarter of this year also will be a lot weaker, with the forecasters now calling for the economy to contract at a 1.7 percent pace, compared with the prior projection of 0.5 percent growth.

In the second half of this year, the economy should expand, but still less than what economists thought just a few months ago. NABE forecasters believe home sales and housing construction should hit bottom by the middle of the year, which would help stabilize the economy. Home prices, however, are expected to keep falling, according to other experts.

NABE forecasters predicted that when all is said and done the recession will have caused GDP to decline 2.8 percent. That would be “slightly less than the 3.1 percent during the early ‘70s,’’ according to the survey of 47 forecasters taken between Jan. 29 and Feb. 12.

Even in the best-case scenario, with the recession ending sometime in the second half of this year, employment conditions will be tough.

Some of the forecasters said the nation’s unemployment rate could rise as high as 9 percent for all of 2009 and hit 10 percent next year. In 2008, the jobless rate averaged 5.8 percent, the highest since 2003.

- 08:21 - Komentari (0) - Isprintaj - #

nedjelja, 22.02.2009.

8-year mystery of Chandra Levy's slaying may end (AP)

- 22:39 - Komentari (0) - Isprintaj - #

Living Near Fast Food Ups Stroke Risk

Those Living in Areas With Many Fast Food Restaurants May Have a Higher Stroke Risk

People living in neighborhoods where fast food restaurants are plentiful appear to have a higher risk of stroke than those living where such restaurants are scarce, a new study says.

Fast food consumption has previously been linked to higher rates of heart disease and organ damage. In this latest study tying fast food restaurants to cardiovascular ills, researchers studying neighborhoods in one Texas county found that people living in regions with 33 fast food restaurants or more had 13 percent greater odds of stroke than those living in neighborhoods with the fewest fast-food joints.

The study also showed that each additional fast food restaurant in the neighborhood increased the chance of stroke by 1 percent. The results of the research were presented at the International Stroke Conference in San Diego on Thursday.

"This study suggests that those living in neighborhood...

- 13:22 - Komentari (0) - Isprintaj - #

četvrtak, 19.02.2009.

Judging autism

Science has failed to convince many people that vaccines do not cause autism. Will last week's court ruling finally change their minds?

Health and medicine got a big headline last week: "Vaccines Didn't Cause Autism, Court Rules." The details have been extensively discussed, but here's the gist of the story: Three special federal judges working for the government's Vaccine Injury Compensation Program issued three separate decisions in what's become known as the Autism Omnibus Trial. The trial is a class-action lawsuit in which almost 5,500 families have sued the government, claiming routine childhood vaccines caused their children to develop autism. Last Thursday, each judge, known as a special master, reviewed the claim of one family, and in each case, ruled against it. Physicians praised the decisions, calling it great day for children and science. Anti-vaccination activists declared it unjust, wrong and unfair.

Among those expressing shock and disappointment...

- 08:16 - Komentari (0) - Isprintaj - #

utorak, 17.02.2009.

Recession takes little sheen off Oscar gold

Whether it's the recession, the age of Obama or the fact a hopeful movie is favored to win best film, it's clear that change has come to Hollywood as Oscar week kicks off on Monday.

Movie fans and critics have escaped the gloomy economy by seeking out Academy Award front-runner "Slumdog Millionaire," a rags-to-riches romance about a poor, young Indian man on an odds-defying quest on a television game show.

"Slumdog" follows two straight years of dark crime dramas -- "No Country for Old Men" and "The Departed" -- winning the world's top film honor, the Oscar, for best motion picture.

Party planners and caterers say plans for Oscar festivities have slowed ahead of Sunday's Oscar show. Celebrity gift-getting suites are open for business but organizers say giving back seems to be more of a priority among the stars.

"Obama asked us for a day of service and we're asking for a night to make a difference," celebrity talk show hostess Leeza Gibbons said.

Gibbons and singer Oliv...

- 09:07 - Komentari (0) - Isprintaj - #

ponedjeljak, 16.02.2009.

Barbie all dolled up in New York

Heidi Klum was among the spectators at Barbie's birthday runway show.

New York Fashion Week has celebrated Barbie's 50th birthday with a catwalk debut for the famous doll.

Organised under tents in Bryant Park, and attended by model Heidi Klum, the weekend event drew throngs of fans of the fantastic plastic model, many of them young girls brandishing their pink invitations in a bid to cut through the crowd.

Shrouded in pink extravaganza, the podium gave way to real-life models showing off specially-designed outfits by top designers and coifed "a la Barbie" with a high pony tail or hair draping their shoulders. Designers included Michael Kors, Calvin Klein and Badgley Mischka.

Models showed off twinkling outfits, tiaras and the black and white bathing suit the first Barbie wore in 1959. A young woman wearing a T-shirt that read "everyone needs a Ken" strutted her stuff while holding the hand a man bearing a striking resemblance to Barbie's plastic fiance.

The world's most-sold toy has often inspired designers, and Assouline Publishing distrib...

- 08:56 - Komentari (0) - Isprintaj - #

nedjelja, 15.02.2009.

Days of Wine and Roses Are Over This Valentine’s

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Long-stemmed roses are being replaced by homemade cards. Theater tickets are being replaced by Netflix. Personal jewelry is being replaced by personal poems.

And even some preparing to propose on Saturday are seeking a bargain approach: on Yahoo, searches for “cheap engagement rings” are “off the charts” compared with a year ago, according to Vera Chan, a trend analyst for the company. Other searches that are up over last year include “cheap lingerie,” “free Valentine’s Day cards” and “homemade Valentine’s Day gifts.”

Valentine’s Day, a more discretionary holiday compared with birthdays and Christmas, is proving particularly vulnerable to the bursting of the economic bubble. Diamond jewelry sales are down 20 percent to 30 percent. Flower sales are likely to tighten as well, in part because the day falls on a Saturday.

In the current economic climate, many men say it comes as a great relief not to have to produce a material manifestation of an intangible emotion.

“It has become such an ingrained part of our culture that women expect it and men expect they need to do such things,” said Marc Matsumoto, 31, a New York marketing manager who was laid off in December.

For Mr. Matsumoto, Valentine’s Days past meant splurging on $700 to $1,000 dinners, $400 and $500 dresses from Theory and Eli Tahari, and jewelry from Tiffany’s. This year, he and his wife are planning a meal at home. The menu includes foie gras with persimmon port and lobster sous vide with yuzu butter, but they will split the $125 cost.

Angeline Close, a business professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who has studied consumer attitudes toward Valentine’s Day, says the reassessment of the day is forcing it back to its roots. It started out as an intimate card-giving occasion in the mid-1800s but then grew into the second-most-marketed holiday after Christmas.

“It became a card and chocolate,” Professor Close said. “Then card, chocolate and roses, and then card, chocolate, roses and a lavish night out.”

Last year, consumers spent an average of $122.98 on Valentine’s Day gifts and merchandise, up from $80 in 2003, according to the National Retail Federation. With men, Professor Close said, “a lot of it had to do with the whole one-upmanship.” This year, however, the average expense is expected to drop 17 percent, to $102.50 this year, the federation said.

Tim Rhodes, 23, of Snellville, Ga., said he never wanted his wife to feel left out when other men doted on their partners; it seemed like “you don’t love your significant other as much as they love theirs.” This year, Mr. Rhodes and his wife, Beth, are planning to exchange practical gifts, like boots or a coat, and save their money for their move to Russia to teach English.

Creative, personal and experiential have become the key words. Chadd Bennett, 30, of Seattle, and his wife are forgoing their traditional getaways and jewelry this year, and will instead camp out in their living room and build a fort, harking back to their childhood.

“We can still keep that ritual together,” Mr. Bennett said. “It will save us a few hundred bucks, and be a heck of a lot more fun.”

Some men say they are reflecting a perceived shift in women’s thinking that they not spend a “stupid gluttonous amount of money,” said Brad Wilson, 28, of Chicago, the editor in chief of BradsDeals.com, which offers online shopping deals.

Indeed, Candace Lindemann, 31, an educational consultant from Miller Place, N.Y., pre-emptively drew the line, telling her husband, “No cut flowers.”

“I think they are expensive for what they are,” Ms. Lindemann said.

Even if plans include going out, many are finding creative ways to cut corners. Some are using restaurant gift certificates. Others are avoiding the pricey prix fixe dinners and going out for lunch, or dinner during the week.

Susan Jennings, 44, an artist from Manhattan, did both, using a gift certificate for Craft restaurant on Thursday. “We have zero income,” Ms. Jennings said. “We are just living on savings.”

Businesses are adapting in subtle ways. Roses are being sold in bundles of 10 instead of a dozen for a few dollars less. Jewelry companies are pushing less expensive items, like colored stones. Budget restaurants, which have not traditionally been hot spots for lovers, are offering Valentine’s Day specials.

The Internet abounds with ideas for frugal options, like playlists burned onto CDs and coupons for household chores. Sheryl P. Kurland, a relationship counselor, had another suggestion: do whatever it is that you did on your first date. The emphasis “recalls falling in love and nostalgia that’s often filled with humor,” Ms. Kurland said.

Susan Ji-Young Park, 39, of Los Angeles, has seen her income from teaching cooking classes fall sharply lately, so she prepared truffles to send to friends and family, in lieu of $100 orchid arrangements.

The holiday, Professor Close said, may be coming full circle.

“It started as a very pure romantic holiday, until capitalism and marketing spiked it,” she said. “We are retreating back a little bit to the original meaning behind the day.”

- 17:13 - Komentari (0) - Isprintaj - #

petak, 13.02.2009.

Friday the 13th (Remake) (2009)

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A Slice of Life

There’s a refreshing lack of numbers in the title of “Friday the 13th,” the latest in a slasher-flick franchise that has spawned approximately 500 sequels, including one that sent its villain, a hockey-mask-wearing psycho named Jason, into outer space to terrorize nubile astronauts.

Neither is it a remake of the 1980 original, which is just as well, since even that dubious classic is a lousy movie. Directed by Marcus Nispel, who gave us a monstrously cynical remake of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” a few years back, “Friday the 13th” attempts to shake off a quarter-century of Jason-related silliness (“Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan”). Set in the present-day, with a story line that references the original’s mythology, this movie attempts to reboot the concept, if that’s the word, of this undying series.

The surprise is that it does so with vicious aplomb, massacring its clutch of topless young girls and their inebriated boyfriends, assembled at a lavish summer house around the way from Camp Crystal Lake, with a gleeful sense of fun.

Fun? Granted, most people’s notion of entertainment doesn’t involve watching sexed-up, beer-guzzling morons impaled, decapitated or burnt alive. But there’s an itch for this kind of material, and here it is scratched — to the bone.

“Friday the 13th” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian) for some very, very nasty things.

FRIDAY THE 13TH

Opens on Friday nationwide.

Directed by Marcus Nispel; written by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, based on a story by Mr. Shannon, Mr. Swift and Mark Wheaton and the original film by Sean Cunningham; director of photography, Daniel C. Pearl; edited by Ken Blackwell; music by Steve Jablonsky; production designer, Jeremy Conway; produced by Michael Bay, Andrew Form, Brad Fuller and Mr. Cunningham; released by Warner Brothers Pictures. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes.

WITH: Jared Padalecki (Clay), Danielle Panabaker (Jenna), Aaron Yoo (Chewie), Amanda Righetti (Whitney), Travis Van Winkle (Trent) and Derek Mears (Jason Voorhees).

- 08:36 - Komentari (2) - Isprintaj - #

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