Oil Sand Industry in Canada Tied to Higher Carcinogen Level

Todd Korol/Reuters

An oil sands mine Fort McMurray, Alberta.

OTTAWA — The development of Alberta’s oil sands has increased levels of cancer-causing compounds in surrounding lakes well beyond natural levels, Canadian researchers reported in a study released on Monday. And they said the contamination covered a wider area than had previously been believed.

For the study, financed by the Canadian government, the researchers set out to develop a historical record of the contamination, analyzing sediment dating back about 50 years from six small and shallow lakes north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, the center of the oil sands industry. Layers of the sediment were tested for deposits of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, groups of chemicals associated with oil that in many cases have been found to cause cancer in humans after long-term exposure.

“One of the biggest challenges is that we lacked long-term data,” said John P. Smol, the paper’s lead author and a professor of biology at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. “So some in industry have been saying that the pollution in the tar sands is natural, it’s always been there.”

The researchers found that to the contrary, the levels of those deposits have been steadily rising since large-scale oil sands production began in 1978.

Samples from one test site, the paper said, now show 2.5 to 23 times more PAHs in current sediment than in layers dating back to around 1960.

“We’re not saying these are poisonous ponds,” Professor Smol said. “But it’s going to get worse. It’s not too late but the trend is not looking good.” He said that the wilderness lakes studied by the group were now contaminated as much as lakes in urban centers.

The study is likely to provide further ammunition to critics of the industry, who already contend that oil extracted from Canada’s oil sands poses environmental hazards like toxic sludge ponds, greenhouse gas emissions and the destruction of boreal forests.

Battles are also under way over the proposed construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would move the oil down through the western United States and down to refineries along the Gulf Coast, or an alternative pipeline that would transport the oil from landlocked Alberta to British Columbia for export to Asia.

The researchers, who included scientists at Environment Canada’s aquatic contaminants research division, chose to test for PAHs because they had been the subject of earlier studies, including one published in 2009 that analyzed the distribution of the chemicals in snowfall north of Fort McMurray. That research drew criticism from the government of Alberta and others for failing to provide a historical baseline.

“Now we have the smoking gun,” Professor Smol said.

He said he was not surprised that the analysis found a rise in PAH deposits after the industrial development of the oil sands, “but we needed the data.” He said he had not entirely expected, however, to observe the effect at the most remote test site, a lake that is about 50 miles to the north.

Asked about the study, Adam Sweet, a spokesman for Peter Kent, Canada’s environment minister, emphasized in an e-mail that with the exception of one lake very close to the oil sands, the levels of contaminants measured by the researchers “did not exceed Canadian guidelines and were low compared to urban areas.”

He added that an environmental monitoring program for the region announced last February 2012 was put into effect “to address the very concerns raised by such studies” and to “provide an improved understanding of the long-term cumulative effects of oil sands development.”

Earlier research has suggested several different ways that the chemicals could spread. Most oil sand production involve large-scale open-bit mining. The chemicals may become wind-borne when giant excavators dig them up and then deposit them into 400-ton dump trucks.

Upgraders at some oil sands projects that separate the oil bitumen from its surrounding sand are believed to emit PAHs. And some scientists believe that vast ponds holding wastewater from that upgrading and from other oil sand processes may be leaking PAHs and other chemicals into downstream bodies of water.

Read More..

Fire discovered on Boeing Dreamliner minutes after flight lands

A Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliner passenger jet was found to be on fire 15 minutes after arriving at Boston's Logan International Airport from Tokyo, adding to the list of complications for the 17-month-old jet.

The fire found smoldering Monday in the plane's underbelly after passengers had deplaned prompted the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board to look into the incident.

The Dreamliner program has had numerous problems over the years.

The first large-passenger Dreamliner was delivered in September 2011, more than three years late because of design problems and supplier issues. Recently, the plane has run into turbulence over concerns about its safety.

In December, the FAA ordered inspections of fuel line connectors because of risks of leaks and possible fires.

On the same day, a United Airlines Dreamliner flight from Houston to Newark, N.J., was diverted to New Orleans after an electrical problem popped up mid-flight. After accepting delivery of the aircraft just a month earlier, Qatar Air later said it had grounded a Dreamliner for the same problem that United experienced.

Scott Hamilton, an aviation industry consultant and managing director of Leeham Co. in Issaquah, Wash., said there wasn't much known yet about Monday's incident to draw conclusions.

The NTSB "is investigating to see if there is a nexus between the problems," Hamilton said. "But it's way too soon to draw conclusions about what this means for the airplane."

Monday's fire was reported at 10:37 a.m. EST after cleaners boarded the plane belonging to Japan Airlines Co. and smelled smoke in the cabin. All 173 passengers and a crew of 11 had already exited the plane at the gate, said Matthew Brelis, spokesman for the Massachusetts Port Authority, which owns and operates the airport.

"The cause and source of the fire are under investigation," Brelis said. "There were no injuries and no damage to the airport."

Firefighters used infrared equipment to determine the source of the smoke and found a strong heat signature in the rear of the aircraft, he said.

The fire was fought for about 20 minutes by about 40 emergency responders belonging to the Massport Fire Rescue Department, Boston Emergency Medical Services and Boston Fire Department. The job involved about 15 vehicles, Brelis said.

Airport spokesman Richard Walsh said that a second fire erupted after a battery exploded, though that wasn't confirmed by the Massachusetts Port Authority.

A firefighter was treated for skin irritation likely caused by the battery explosion, Walsh said.

The extent of damage to the aircraft was unknown.

NTSB spokesman Eric Weiss said an investigator had been sent to the scene.

"At this time, we're sending somebody to take a look at the airplane and gather information," Weiss said. "We should know more tomorrow."

Boeing spokeswoman Loretta Gunter said in a statement: "We are aware of the event and working with our customer. That's all we can offer at this time."

The Dreamliner, a twin-aisle aircraft that seats 210 to 290 passengers, is the first large passenger jet with more than half its structure made of composite materials (carbon fibers meshed together with epoxy) instead of aluminum sheets.

Major parts for the plane are assembled at various locations worldwide and then shipped to Boeing's facilities in Everett, Wash., where they are "snapped together" in three days once production hits full speed, compared with a month the conventional way.

william.hennigan@latimes.com

Read More..

Critics slam Chuck Hagel's likely nomination as Defense secretary

WASHINGTON—

— With former Sen. Chuck Hagel's nomination as Defense secretary imminent, conservatives denounced his views on Israel and Iran as out of step with mainstream foreign policy, underscoring the difficulty he is likely to face winning Senate confirmation.

An administration official said Sunday that Hagel — a decorated Vietnam veteran, a Republican and a former two-term senator from Nebraska — would be nominated Monday to succeed Leon E. Panetta. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal White House planning.

The nomination is likely to set up a bruising confirmation fight. Critics on all sides already have been complaining about Hagel, with Republicans leading the charge.

Speaking on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) predicted that Hagel would be "the most antagonistic secretary of Defense toward the state of Israel in our nation's history" and called it an "in-your-face nomination."

Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume described the choice as "very peculiar," saying on "Fox News Sunday" that Hagel did not have "a particularly distinguished record."

And Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), while promising Hagel would get a "fair hearing," said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he would get "tough questions" in a confirmation process.

Hagel is viewed with suspicion by many in his party for past comments he has made calling on Israel to negotiate with Palestinians and for his opposition to some sanctions aimed at Iran. Since his possible nomination was floated late last year, he has come under attack by conservatives.

He also has been criticized on the left for a remark he made in 1998 that a Clinton administration nominee for ambassador was "openly, aggressively gay." Hagel recently apologized for that comment and pledged support for lesbian and gay military families.

Hagel, an Army veteran with two Purple Hearts, said in a recent interview with the history magazine Vietnam: "I'm not a pacifist. I believe in using force, but only after a very careful decision-making process. ... I will do everything I can to avoid needless, senseless war."

In the Senate, Hagel voted to give the George W. Bush administration authority to go to war in Afghanistan and Iraq, but later he harshly criticized the conduct of both wars, irritating fellow Republicans and making him popular with Democrats critical of those wars.

Critics have focused on his calls for direct negotiations with Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that the U.S. and Israel refuse to deal with directly, and his votes against some Iran sanctions.

And Hagel rankled many with comments he made in a 2006 interview with author and former State Department Mideast peace negotiator Aaron David Miller. "The Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people up here," Hagel said, but "I'm a United States senator. I'm not an Israeli senator."

Graham told CNN on Sunday, "Quite frankly, Chuck Hagel is out of the mainstream of thinking, I believe, on most issues regarding foreign policy."

He added, "This is an in-your-face nomination by the president to all of us who are supportive of Israel."

Miller, who had interviewed Hagel for a book he was writing on Mideast peace negotiations, wrote recently that attempts to use his comment about the "Jewish lobby" to paint Hagel as anti-Semitic were "shameful and scurrilous." He noted that in the same interview, Hagel emphasized "shared values and the importance of Israeli security."

Backers say Hagel showed his support for Israel by voting repeatedly to provide it with military aid and by calling for a comprehensive peace deal with Palestinians that should not include any compromise regarding Israel's Jewish identity and that would leave Israel "free to live in peace and security."

They note that he also supported three major Iran sanctions bills: the Iran Missile Proliferation Sanctions Act of 1998, the Iran Nonproliferation Act of 2000 and the Iran Freedom Support Act of 2006.

When Hagel left the Senate four years ago, McConnell praised his "clear voice and stature on national security and foreign policy," ABC's George Stephanopoulos reminded the Senate minority leader on "This Week."

But McConnell declined to reiterate that view Sunday.

"He's certainly been outspoken in foreign policy and defense over the years," he said. "The question we will be answering, if he's the nominee, is: Do his views make sense for that particular job? I think he ought to be given a fair hearing, like any other nominee, and he will be."

matea.gold@latimes.com

Christi Parsons in the Washington bureau contributed to this report.

Read More..

NBC execs say it's not a 'shoot-'em-up' network

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — NBC executives said Sunday they are conscious about the amount of violence they air in the wake of real-life tragedies like the Connecticut school shooting, but have made no changes in what has gone on the air or what is planned.

NBC isn't a "shoot-'em-up" network, said network entertainment President Jennifer Salke.

The level of violence on television, in movies and video games has been looked at as a contributing factor — along with the availability of guns and a lack of mental health services — in incidents such as the Dec. 14 attack in a Newtown, Conn., school where 20 first-graders and six educators were killed.

Like many in Hollywood, NBC questioned a link between what is put on the air and what is happening in society.

"It weighs on all of us," said NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt. "Most of the people at this network have children and really care about the shows that we're putting out there. It's always something that's been on our mind but this brought it to the forefront."

NBC hasn't needed to take any tangible steps like minimizing violence in its programming or deemphasizing guns, Salke said, because NBC didn't have much violence on the air. It might be different "if we were the 'shoot-'em-up' network, she said.

She didn't name such a network, but said violence might be an issue on a network that airs many crime procedural shows. That's a staple of CBS' lineup. Greenblatt, who was head of Showtime when the "Dexter" series about a serial killer was developed, said CBS' "Criminal Minds" is "worse than 'Dexter' ever was."

Within an hour after both executives spoke, NBC showed reporters at a news conference highlights of its show "Revolution" that included a swordfight, a standoff between two men with guns, a bloodied man, a building blown up with a flying body and a gunfight.

Later clips of the upcoming series "Deception" featured several shots of a bloodied, dead body.

NBC also is developing a drama, "Hannibal," based on one of fiction's most indelible serial killers, Hannibal Lecter. An airtime for the show hasn't been scheduled, but it could come this spring or summer.

Salke said there is more violence in Fox's upcoming drama "The Following," also about a serial killer, than there will be in "Hannibal." Much of the violence in the upcoming NBC show, created by former "Heroes" producer Bryan Fuller, is implied and not gratuitous.

"We respect the talent and like what he is doing, so we are standing behind him," Salke said. She said there's been a spate of programs about creepy killers because they've been such indelible characters.

Greenblatt said he wasn't trying to be glib, but one of the best tonics for people upset about real-life violence is to watch an episode of NBC's "Parenthood." He said it's a great example of a family that loves each other and grapples with many issues.

"Ultimately, I think you feel good at the end of the day," he said.

Read More..

Alarm in Albuquerque Over Plan to End Methadone for Inmates

Mark Holm for The New York Times

Officials at New Mexico’s largest jail want to end its methadone program. Addicts like Penny Strayer hope otherwise.

ALBUQUERQUE — It has been almost four decades since Betty Jo Lopez started using heroin.

Her face gray and wizened well beyond her 59 years, Ms. Lopez would almost certainly still be addicted, if not for the fact that she is locked away in jail, not to mention the cup of pinkish liquid she downs every morning.

“It’s the only thing that allows me to live a normal life,” Ms. Lopez said of the concoction, which contains methadone, a drug used to treat opiate dependence. “These nurses that give it to me, they’re like my guardian angels.”

For the last six years, the Metropolitan Detention Center, New Mexico’s largest jail, has been administering methadone to inmates with drug addictions, one of a small number of jails and prisons around the country that do so.

At this vast complex, sprawled out among the mesas west of downtown Albuquerque, any inmate who was enrolled at a methadone clinic just before being arrested can get the drug behind bars. Pregnant inmates addicted to heroin are also eligible.

Here in New Mexico, which has long been plagued by one of the nation’s worst heroin scourges, there is no shortage of participants — hundreds each year — who have gone through the program.

In November, however, the jail’s warden, Ramon Rustin, said he wanted to stop treating inmates with methadone. Mr. Rustin said the program, which had been costing Bernalillo County about $10,000 a month, was too expensive.

Moreover, Mr. Rustin, a former warden of the Allegheny County Jail in Pennsylvania and a 32-year veteran of corrections work, said he did not believe that the program truly worked.

Of the hundred or so inmates receiving daily methadone doses, he said, there was little evidence of a reduction in recidivism, one of the program’s main selling points.

“My concern is that the courts and other authorities think that jail has become a treatment program, that it has become the community provider,” he said. “But jail is not the answer. Methadone programs belong in the community, not here.”

Mr. Rustin’s public stance has angered many in Albuquerque, where drug addiction has been passed down through generations in impoverished pockets of the city, as it has elsewhere across New Mexico.

Recovery advocates and community members argue that cutting people off from methadone is too dangerous, akin to taking insulin from a diabetic.

The New Mexico office of the Drug Policy Alliance, which promotes an overhaul to drug policy, has implored Mr. Rustin to reconsider his stance, saying in a letter that he did not have the medical expertise to make such a decision.

Last month, the Bernalillo County Commission ordered Mr. Rustin to extend the program, which also relies on about $200,000 in state financing annually, for two months until its results could be studied further.

“Addiction needs to be treated like any other health issue,” said Maggie Hart Stebbins, a county commissioner who supports the program.

“If we can treat addiction at the jail to the point where they stay clean and don’t reoffend, that saves us the cost of reincarcerating that person,” she said.

Hard data, though, is difficult to come by — hence the county’s coming review.

Darren Webb, the director of Recovery Services of New Mexico, a private contractor that runs the methadone program, said inmates were tracked after their release to ensure that they remained enrolled at outside methadone clinics.

While the outcome was never certain, Mr. Webb said, he maintained that providing methadone to inmates would give them a better chance of staying out of jail once they were released. “When they get out, they won’t be committing the same crimes they would if they were using,” he said. “They are functioning adults.”

In a study published in 2009 in The Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, researchers found that male inmates in Baltimore who were treated with methadone were far more likely to continue their treatment in the community than inmates who received only counseling.

Those who received methadone behind bars were also more likely to be free of opioids and cocaine than those who received only counseling or started methadone treatment after their release.

Read More..

'Texas Chainsaw 3D' is strong No. 1; 'Promised Land' disappoints

"Texas Chainsaw 3D" easily sliced through the competition at the box office this weekend — not that its rivals were particularly threatening.

As the only new film to hit theaters nationwide, the reboot of the 1974 horror flick only had to contend with a handful of movies that have been out for weeks. Still, the low-budget movie did better than expected, collecting a robust $23 million during its opening weekend, according to an estimate from distributor Lionsgate.

Heading into the weekend, pre-release audience polling suggested that "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" would claim No. 1 for the fourth consecutive weekend, while "Chainsaw" looked poised to finish second with around $16 million. Instead, Peter Jackson's film grossed $17.5 million, raising its domestic total to $263.8 million.

PHOTOS: All-time box office leaders

Meanwhile, both "Django Unchained" and "Les Misérables crossed the $100-million milestone. Since being released on Christmas Day, Quentin Tarantino's film has sold $106.4 million, while the film version of the Broadway musical is up to $103.6 million. The continued performance of the movies helped to start the year off on a positive note, as ticket sales were up 7% compared with the same weekend in 2012.

"Texas Chainsaw 3D" is the sixth film to feature the villain Leatherface since the original horror film was released almost four decades ago. The new movie posted the second-highest opening of any "Chainsaw" film — not adjusting for inflation — behind 2003's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," the Jessica Biel film which ultimately sold a strong $80.6 million.

Financed by Avi Lerner's Millennium Pictures for about $20 million, "Texas Chainsaw 3D" is being distributed by Lionsgate. The movie — which has notched only a 23% fresh rating on the review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes — received an average grade of C+ from opening-weekend moviegoers, according to market research firm CinemaScore. However, horror films often receive poor CinemaScores and still go on to do good business at the box office.

The film attracted a young audience, 64% of whom were under the age of 25. Of those in that age group, 1 out of 3 said the main reason they showed up to see the film was because the musical artist Trey Songz had a role in it. "Chainsaw" is the first film the 28-year-old Grammy nominee has starred in, and he has been heavily promoting the picture to his 5.6-million Twitter followers in recent weeks.

PHOTOS: Horror movie locations around Los Angeles

Also this weekend, the Matt Damon-John Krasinski collaboration "Promised Land" got off to a bad start. The environmental picture, which was co-written by and stars the actors, expanded from 25 theaters to 1,676 locations but brought in a lackluster $4.3 million.

The Focus Features production about a town with natural gas reserves only cost the studio and co-financier Participant Media about $15 million to produce. But with middling reviews and a B CinemaScore, it's a long shot that the film will end up being a hit even given its modest budget.

Another film that expanded this weekend was "The Impossible," the $40-million production about a family in the aftermath of the 2004 Thailand tsunami. Playing in 572 locations, the Summit Entertainment release collected a so-so $2.8 million. However, the picture is faring far better overseas. Already a hit in Spain, where its filmmaker hails from, the movie debuted in the United Kingdom this weekend and grossed $6.4 million. Overall, the movie has grossed $81.2 million abroad and $3.4 million in the U.S. and Canada.

ALSO:

The wizardry behind "The Impossible's" tsunami

'Texas Chainsaw 3D' to get nicked by 'Hobbit' at the box office

"Texas Chainsaw 3D" director: Leatherface abused, stunted, lethal

Read More..

Fraud allegations swirl around firm run by two L.A. candidates

Two would-be candidates for the Los Angeles school board have accused a campaign consulting firm — run by two contenders for city office — of botching their efforts to get on the ballot for the March primary election.

One of the school board aspirants, Scott Folsom, filed a complaint with the district's attorney's office last month alleging fraud and possible forgery. Franny Parrish, the other would-be candidate, said she would comply with any probe into the firm, Henry, Law & Associates. The two say they hired the company to gather the signatures of registered voters for petitions that would qualify them for the ballot.

James T. Law, a principal in the firm, acknowledged that he accepted work from Folsom and Parrish. He denied wrongdoing and blamed his clients for failing to make the ballot. Law is the only challenger against incumbent Joe Buscaino to represent City Council District 15. Analilia Joya, who works closely with Law, is one of six candidates for the open job of city controller. She did not respond to requests for comment.

Candidates typically hire firms to gather the 500 registered voters' signatures required for the ballot. Those voters must live in the area a candidate hopes to represent. It is time-consuming, often difficult work — it involves knocking on doors and approaching people outside shopping centers or grocery stores. People sometimes give false information or refuse to sign.

In a letter to authorities and in interviews, Folsom said he hired the signature gatherers in response to a solicitation from a man who identified himself as David Johnson.

Folsom agreed to pay Johnson $2,000 up front and $1,500 plus expenses on the back end, according to the contract, which Folsom provided to The Times and included in his letter to the district attorney. Parrish said she agreed to pay a flat fee of $2,100 for at least 500 valid signatures, although she also was gathering some signatures herself. She provided scans of checks made out to Law.

In a series of text messages that Folsom saved, Johnson kept pushing back delivery and postponing appointments. Folsom saved a telephone message from Johnson and another from a woman who identified herself as Joya, about signing a form for the work. Folsom said the woman met him at a Denny's near the city's election office on the deadline day, Dec. 5, to assure him that her associate was on the way with the petitions.

Johnson was late but did turn over petitions, Folsom said. The city later determined, however, that of 704 signatures, 289 were not from the right district, 93 were not of registered voters, 85 had invalid addresses and 31 had other problems.

According to the contract, Law's company guaranteed between 500 and 1,000 valid signatures; only 206 passed muster.

Several attempts by The Times to reach Law failed, but responses then came via text message, from the cell number that Johnson had given as his own to Folsom and Parrish.

In these text messages, someone identifying himself as Law blamed the disappointed candidates.

"The allegations are not true," he wrote. "It's slander and harassment. My company worked very hard for those two candidates. Out of six candidates my company helped out, those two are the only one[s] that did not make the ballot. Mr. Folsom gave us the wrong ZIP Codes and Franny did not hand me her work until the last four days left."

He wouldn't name the other four candidates, citing "disclosure agreements."

Folsom said he was never asked to provide ZIP Codes.

Law also said that he collected 767 signatures for Parrish and that she failed to meet his worker at an agreed upon location.

Parrish said she waited in vain for Johnson on the deadline day at the election office, where, she said, he'd promised to show up after postponing other meetings. Her account was confirmed by Folsom and another witness, who were with Parrish in the election office when Johnson allegedly called and texted to say he was on his way. She also forwarded those text messages to The Times.

Parrish added that she hired Johnson two weeks before the deadline.

Law and Joya gathered enough signatures to qualify themselves for the ballot — a task that Law allegedly delegated to another signature contractor, Vernon Van. Van claims Law didn't pay him. Law, in turn, claims that Van "ripped me off."

The address of Henry, Law & Associates is a private mailbox in Torrance, rented Oct. 27, according to a manager. The firm made one monthly payment of $15 and recently lost the box for failing to pay rent.

Even though both are on the city ballot, neither Law nor Joya is currently a registered voter in L.A. County, records show. And Law's listed residence is in Torrance. Either issue would disqualify a successful candidate from taking office. The Torrance address is associated with several businesses: Open Door Christian Lifestyle; the United States of America Kingdom of Tzedakah Charitys; and Titus Landscaping.

In election filings, Joya describes herself as an employee of Open Door Christian Lifestyle.

The person behind the Torrance business entities appears to be named Titus Henry. The relationship between Henry, Law and Johnson is unclear. The former school board candidates and Van said that based on descriptions they exchanged, they are convinced that at least two of the three are the same person.

When asked to sort out these identities, Law declined to respond.

The L.A. County district attorney's office would confirm only that "an allegation of fraud regarding petition signatures" is under review.

Without Folsom and Parrish, the dynamics of two pivotal school board races were altered.

Folsom was among the candidates endorsed by the teachers union in District 2, where the union hopes to push school board President Monica Garcia into a runoff. Four challengers remain in that race. Folsom served for years on an important school bond oversight committee, and both he and Parrish were longtime PTA leaders.

Parrish had hoped to represent District 4, in which two candidates remain: incumbent Steve Zimmer and challenger Kate Anderson. Zimmer is backed by the teachers union. Parrish works as a library aide, advocated for disabled students and served as a negotiator in her union's contract negotiations.

howard.blume@latimes.com

Read More..

We Salute the First Baby Senator

We realize there’s only so much time one can spend in a day watching new trailers, viral video clips, and shaky cell phone footage of people arguing on live television. This is why every day The Atlantic Wire highlights the videos that truly earn your five minutes (or less) of attention. Today:

RELATED: Claire McCaskill and How to Attack the Opponent You’re Rooting For

Here’s our suggestion to improve the (already pretty hilarious) swearing-in process for U.S. Senators: Each new member of Congress must bring a cute baby.

RELATED: Rand Paul Doesn’t Want You to Go to Jail for Smoking Pot

RELATED: Larry David’s Two-Minute Guide to Etiquette

Apparently the BBC has decided to market a line of lunch boxes specifically made for hungry polar bears. They are still working out the kinks: 

RELATED: Homer Simpson, Fox News Pundit; Books After Dark

RELATED: Bo Obama Stays On Message; Sarah Palin Can See HBO in Her House

The Golden Globes will be bittersweet this year. Don’t get us wrong — we’re really excited to watch Amy Poehler and Tina Fey entertain us. But we’ll also be also really sad when this thing is over because it means the end of these promos:

And finally, it’s Friday. And it’s time to dance. Enjoy your weekend. 

Wireless News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Title Post: We Salute the First Baby Senator
Url Post: http://www.news.fluser.com/we-salute-the-first-baby-senator/
Link To Post : We Salute the First Baby Senator
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment

Read More..

Poet-performer Jayne Cortez dies in NY at age 78

NEW YORK (AP) — Jayne Cortez, a forceful poet, activist and performance artist who blended oral and written traditions into numerous books and musical recordings, has died. She was 78.

The Organization of Women Writers of Africa says Cortez died of heart failure in New York on Dec. 28. She had helped found the group and, while dividing her time between homes in New York and Senegal, was planning a symposium of women writers to be held in Ghana in May.

Cortez was a prominent figure in the black arts movement of the 1960s and '70s that advocated art as a vehicle for political protest. She cited her experiences trying to register black voters in Mississippi in the early '60s as a key influence.

A native of Fort Huachuca, Ariz., she was raised in the Watts section of Los Angeles. She loved jazz since childhood and would listen to her parents' record collection. Musicians including trumpeter Don Cherry would visit her home and through them she met her first husband, Ornette Coleman, one of the world's greatest jazz artists. They were married from 1954 to 1964.

Her books included "Scarifications" and "Mouth On Paper," and she recorded often with her band the Firespitters, chanting indictments of racism, sexism and capitalism. Its members included her son, drummer Denardo Coleman, and several other members of Ornette Coleman's electronic Prime Time band, guitarist Bern Nix and bassist Al McDowell.

Cortez, who described herself as a "jazz poet," performed all over the world and her work was translated into 28 languages. At the time of her death, she was living with her second husband, the sculptor Melvin Edwards.

Read More..

Despite New Health Law, Some See Sharp Rise in Premiums

Health insurance companies across the country are seeking and winning double-digit increases in premiums for some customers, even though one of the biggest objectives of the Obama administration’s health care law was to stem the rapid rise in insurance costs for consumers.

Bob Chamberlin/Los Angeles Times

Dave Jones, the California insurance commissioner, said some insurance companies could raise rates as much as they did before the law was enacted.

Particularly vulnerable to the high rates are small businesses and people who do not have employer-provided insurance and must buy it on their own.

In California, Aetna is proposing rate increases of as much as 22 percent, Anthem Blue Cross 26 percent and Blue Shield of California 20 percent for some of those policy holders, according to the insurers’ filings with the state for 2013. These rate requests are all the more striking after a 39 percent rise sought by Anthem Blue Cross in 2010 helped give impetus to the law, known as the Affordable Care Act, which was passed the same year and will not be fully in effect until 2014.

 In other states, like Florida and Ohio, insurers have been able to raise rates by at least 20 percent for some policy holders. The rate increases can amount to several hundred dollars a month.

The proposed increases compare with about 4 percent for families with employer-based policies.

Under the health care law, regulators are now required to review any request for a rate increase of 10 percent or more; the requests are posted on a federal Web site, healthcare.gov, along with regulators’ evaluations.

The review process not only reveals the sharp disparity in the rates themselves, it also demonstrates the striking difference between places like New York, one of the 37 states where legislatures have given regulators some authority to deny or roll back rates deemed excessive, and California, which is among the states that do not have that ability.

New York, for example, recently used its sweeping powers to hold rate increases for 2013 in the individual and small group markets to under 10 percent. California can review rate requests for technical errors but cannot deny rate increases.

The double-digit requests in some states are being made despite evidence that overall health care costs appear to have slowed in recent years, increasing in the single digits annually as many people put off treatment because of the weak economy. PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates that costs may increase just 7.5 percent next year, well below the rate increases being sought by some insurers. But the companies counter that medical costs for some policy holders are rising much faster than the average, suggesting they are in a sicker population. Federal regulators contend that premiums would be higher still without the law, which also sets limits on profits and administrative costs and provides for rebates if insurers exceed those limits.

Critics, like Dave Jones, the California insurance commissioner and one of two health plan regulators in that state, said that without a federal provision giving all regulators the ability to deny excessive rate increases, some insurance companies can raise rates as much as they did before the law was enacted.

“This is business as usual,” Mr. Jones said. “It’s a huge loophole in the Affordable Care Act,” he said.

While Mr. Jones has not yet weighed in on the insurers’ most recent requests, he is pushing for a state law that will give him that authority. Without legislative action, the state can only question the basis for the high rates, sometimes resulting in the insurer withdrawing or modifying the proposed rate increase.

The California insurers say they have no choice but to raise premiums if their underlying medical costs have increased. “We need these rates to even come reasonably close to covering the expenses of this population,” said Tom Epstein, a spokesman for Blue Shield of California. The insurer is requesting a range of increases, which average about 12 percent for 2013.

Although rates paid by employers are more closely tracked than rates for individuals and small businesses, policy experts say the law has probably kept at least some rates lower than they otherwise would have been.

“There’s no question that review of rates makes a difference, that it results in lower rates paid by consumers and small businesses,” said Larry Levitt, an executive at the Kaiser Family Foundation, which estimated in an October report that rate review was responsible for lowering premiums for one out of every five filings.

Federal officials say the law has resulted in significant savings. “The health care law includes new tools to hold insurers accountable for premium hikes and give rebates to consumers,” said Brian Cook, a spokesman for Medicare, which is helping to oversee the insurance reforms.

“Insurers have already paid $1.1 billion in rebates, and rate review programs have helped save consumers an additional $1 billion in lower premiums,” he said. If insurers collect premiums and do not spend at least 80 cents out of every dollar on care for their customers, the law requires them to refund the excess.

As a result of the review process, federal officials say, rates were reduced, on average, by nearly three percentage points, according to a report issued last September.

Read More..