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Perfect medical marketing relies heavily on a medical websites design and content.? Physician?s representation in a medical website is a very classy manner, so their internet site should appear very conservative and contain only respectable content.? If your website looks like it put together by a high school student, prospective patients may assume the same of your practice.? Finding the website may not be too difficult, but appealing to those who come across it requires skill.? Having a good position in the world is vital for a physician of any specialty, but their place in the World Wide Web can be just as important.

?With the power of the World Wide Web at our fingertips we are able to tell the world who we are and exactly what we have to offer, and any interested parties are likely to follow up.? Once we have created a loyal and satisfied customer base, we can depend on those individuals to spread the word even more.? Recommendations, testimonials, and link sharing on the web are all a part of this type of advertising.? More and more people are turning to the internet to find out what others have to say about local healthcare professionals before they make an appointment.? No amount of great news can convince skeptics of your fantastic services if, however, your site suffers from poor medical websites design.

?Potential and existing clients like finding their physicians and dentists through the internet.? After you have been, located potential patients will want to read up on your company and all you have accomplished.? People are more likely to go somewhere they know a bit about, even if it is not all great, over a place they know nothing about at all.? Receiving healthcare can be a make people very nervous, and they seek comfort in knowledge by learning as much as they can about who they are dealing with.? This is the very reason why a professional and informative website is vital to your practice.

?Now, what is more important than what your future patients see is making sure that they actually see it?? Most factors of internet marketing are invisible to the naked eye.? Many various things are present into a site to ensure that it appears in the appropriate list of search engine results.? Having your website listed at the beginning of a search results page makes you the optimal choice in the eyes of most.

?There is some harsh competition out there in the world today and not much to make it any easier, but a great internet marketing campaign can definitely give you the edge.? The world does not usually perceive the medical field as one that would improve from internet marketing.? Advertising is a super important thing for any company and the internet is the best place for it.? To get your practice noticed you should hire a good medical website design company to jumpstart your online medical marketing campaign.

Source: http://internet-marketing.ezinemark.com/a-doctors-medical-website-a-breakthrough-in-healthcare-delivery-system-7d3826e61343.html

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FILE - This undated file photo provided by the U.S. Mint shows the President John Adams presidential $1 coin. Congressional auditors say doing away with dollar bills entirely and replacing them with dollar coins could save taxpayers some $4.4 billion over the next 30 years. (AP Photo/US Mint, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? American consumers have shown about as much appetite for the $1 coin as kids do their spinach. They may not know what's best for them either. Congressional auditors say doing away with dollar bills entirely and replacing them with dollar coins could save taxpayers some $4.4 billion over the next 30 years.

Vending machine operators have long championed the use of $1 coins because they don't jam the machines, cutting down on repair costs and lost sales. But most people don't seem to like carrying them. In the past five years, the U.S. Mint has produced 2.4 billion Presidential $1 coins. Most are stored by the Federal Reserve, and production was suspended about a year ago.

The latest projection from the Government Accountability Office on the potential savings from switching to dollar coins entirely comes as lawmakers begin exploring new ways for the government to save money by changing the money itself.

The Mint is preparing a report for Congress showing how changes in the metal content of coins could save money.

The last time the government made major metallurgical changes in U.S. coins was nearly 50 years ago when Congress directed the Mint to remove silver from dimes and quarters and to reduce its content in half dollar coins. Now, Congress is looking at new changes in response to rising prices for copper and nickel.

At a House subcommittee hearing Thursday, the focus was on two approaches:

?Moving to less expensive combinations of metals like steel, aluminum and zinc.

?Gradually taking dollar bills out the economy and replacing them with coins.

The GAO's Lorelei St. James told the House Financial Services panel it would take several years for the benefits of switching from paper bills to dollar coins to catch up with the cost of making the change. Equipment would have to be bought or overhauled and more coins would have to be produced upfront to replace bills as they are taken out of circulation.

But over the years, the savings would begin to accrue, she said, largely because a $1 coin could stay in circulation for 30 years while paper bills have to be replaced every four or five years on average.

"We continue to believe that replacing the note with a coin is likely to provide a financial benefit to the government," said St. James, who added that such a change would work only if the note was completely eliminated and the public educated about the benefits of the switch.

Even the $1 coin's most ardent supporters recognize that they haven't been popular. Philip Diehl, former director of the Mint, said there was a huge demand for the Sacagawea dollar coin when production began in 2001, but as time wore on, people stayed with what they knew best.

"We've never bitten the bullet to remove the $1 bill as every other Western economy has done," Diehl said. "If you did, it would have the same success the Canadians have had."

Beverly Lepine, chief operating officer of the Royal Canadian Mint, said her country loves its "Loonie," the nickname for the $1 coin that includes an image of a loon on the back. The switch went over so well that the country also went to a $2 coin called the "Toonie."

Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., affirmed that Canadians have embraced their dollar coins. "I don't know anyone who would go back to the $1 and $2 bills," he said.

That sentiment was not shared by some of his fellow subcommittee members when it comes to the U.S. version.

Rep. Lacy Clay, D-Mo., said men don't like carrying a bunch of coins around in their pocket or in their suits. And Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., said the $1 coins have proved too hard to distinguish from quarters.

"If the people don't want it and they don't want to use it," she said, "why in the world are we even talking about changing it?"

"It's really a matter of just getting used to it," said Diehl, the former Mint director.

Several lawmakers were more intrigued with the idea of using different metal combinations in producing coins.

Rep. Steve Stivers, R-Ohio, said a penny costs more than 2 cents to make and a nickel costs more than 11 cents to make. Moving to multiplated steel for coins would save the government nearly $200 million a year, he said.

The Mint's report, which is due in mid-December, will detail the results of nearly 18 months of work exploring a variety of new metal compositions and evaluating test coins for attributes as hardness, resistance to wear, availability of raw materials and costs.

Richard Peterson, the Mint's acting director, declined to give lawmakers a summary of what will be in the report, but he said "several promising alternatives" were found.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-11-30-US-Coins-vs-Dollar-Bills/id-09a642a0089243998c24bb6a06307dc3

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ProPublica reports that Syria asked Iraq to allow helicopter shipment overflights from Russia, just days after other documents revealed Russia sent Syrian currency to Damascus.

By Arthur Bright,?Staff writer / November 30, 2012

Syrian Air Force helicopters used by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad are seen at a military base at Taftanaz near the northern province of Idlib November 19. Syria sought permission from Iraq last month to ship attack helicopters being refurbished by Russia through Iraqi airspace, according to a new report, but it is unclear whether the shipments ever occurred.

Courtesy of Redwan Al-Homsi/Shaam News Network/Reuters

Enlarge

? A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

Skip to next paragraph Arthur Bright

Europe Editor

Arthur Bright is the Europe Editor at The Christian Science Monitor.? He has worked for the Monitor in various capacities since 2004, including as the Online News Editor and a regular contributor to the Monitor's Terrorism & Security blog.? He is also a licensed Massachusetts attorney.

Debunking Four of the Most Common Flu Shot Myths

Between 3,000 and 49,000 Americans die of influenza each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.More than 200,000 are hospitalized annually with flu-related complications like pneumonia.

In the past four years, the CDC has changed its recommendations and now urges all Americans six months and older get a flu shot. Children under the age of 9, who are getting immunized for the first time, should get two doses, one month apart.

Booth said she still cannot believe how sudden her son's death was. On Tuesday night, he had started and played a full basketball game. By Wednesday night, he was coughing up blood and was rushed to the hospital with pneumonia.

"They intubated him as he struggled to breathe," said his mother. "It was the last time I talked to him."

His father Carl, who worked on an oil rig and couldn't be reached, was never able to see his son conscious again. Austin was airlifted to St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction and at first, doctors thought he would survive.

But soon, his condition got worse -- even on "every antibiotic in the world" -- and Austin had to be taken off the ventilator and manually "bagged." Tests showed the teen positive for the virulent infection MRSA.

"Doctor's said it was a perfect storm of pneumonia and MRSA," said Booth. "He fought Thursday until Monday, but it was more than his body could handle."

Hundreds of Austin's new friends showed up for his funeral. The basketball team retired his #2 jersey and Austin was recognized with a school bench and a memory stone.

"We had never gotten the flu shot -- not any of us," she said. "We thought, we don't need it, we are healthy. If we get the shot it will make us sick."

Dr. William Schaffner, professor and chairman of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, said that people are fooled into thinking that influenza, a serious respiratory infection, is just like a cold.

"People use the word 'flu' very casually to refer to a whole variety of winter illnesses, including a stuffy nose, and that tends to trivialize it," said Schaffner. "It is a serious viral infection -- it wreaks havoc on all the body's systems."

"Although it can be mild and often is, it is often very, very serious and can strike an otherwise normal child and put them in intensive care, usually within 48 hours."

The most serious complications occur among older people, but each year children die of the disease -- and "it's potentially preventable," according to Schaffner.

"While it is an imperfect vaccine, it is the best influenza vaccine at the present time," he said. Though it does not always prevent infection, because viruses change each year, it can "turn a more serious flu into a milder one, so you won't die."

With 120 million doses given each year in the U.S. alone, it is a "wonderfully safe" vaccine, whose only side effects can be a sore arm or, rarely, a day of fever. It cannot give a person the flu. "That's an urban myth," said Schaffner.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/ColdandFlu/flu-claims-lives-100-children-year-deaths-preventable/story?id=17820500

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Goal Streaks Supercharges Seinfeld's Productivity Secret with Highly-Customizable Goal and Habit Tracking iOS: Goal Streaks helps you set and track repeat tasks so you can form habits and achieve long-term goals more easily. The idea is to chip away a little bit each day, but Goal Streaks is incredibly versatile and can handle just about any more complex schedule you care to throw at it.

Earlier this year I solved my procrastination problem with Jerry Seinfeld's productivity secret, otherwise known as don't break the chain. The "secret" is to put up a calendar and mark everyday with an X each time you complete a specific task (e.g. exercise, cook, clean, etc.). Since then many apps have surfaced to help people implement this method of getting things done on their smartphones. While pretty good, none of them were dynamic enough to allow you to create very specific rules. Perhaps you want to be able to do something four days a week and it doesn't matter to you which days that task is accomplished, or you need to take vacation days from certain tasks (e.g. exercise and work). Goal Streaks allows you to create and schedule tasks with that level of specificity, making it capable of managing pretty much any situation. The only type of schedule it currently can't handle, as far as I can tell, is something along the lines of doing something for four weeks and then taking a week off. That said, you can give it exception rules so you can skip certain days without penalty.

Goal Streaks is very easy to use and offers a feature tour to introduce you to all the things it can do. The app is responsive, nice to look at, allows you to set daily reminders, and just works better than the others. It may be late to the game, but it's a better player than what we've seen so far.

Goal Streaks ($2) | iTunes App Store

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/OVNepcUUrJs/goal-streaks-supercharges-seinfelds-productivity-secret-with-highly+customizable-goal-and-habit-tracking

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Keith Bellizzi, associate professor of human development and family studies, is the author of a new book on cancer, aging, and the medical issues involved in caring for the elderly. (Photo courtesy of CLAS)

Keith Bellizzi, associate professor of human development and family studies, has published a new book on cancer, aging, and medical issues involved in caring for the elderly. (Photo courtesy of CLAS)

No matter who you are or where you live in the world, the older you get, the more likely you are to develop cancer.

That?s the theme of a new edited volume by Keith Bellizzi, professor of human development and family studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Titled Cancer and Aging Handbook: Research and Practice, the book brings together scientists, primary care physicians, oncologists, gerontologists, economists, psychologists, nurses, social workers, and other experts to tackle what Bellizzi calls an impending public health crisis.

?The single greatest risk factor for cancer is age,? says Bellizzi, a 17-year cancer survivor himself. But although there?s an intuitive link between aging and cancer, research into prevention, identification, and care of cancer in the elderly is severely lacking, making comprehensive care difficult.

Bellizzi says the book demonstrates that the answer to addressing one of the biggest public health concerns of our time does not rest within any one discipline, and that a multidisciplinary approach is required to care for older adults at risk for, or living with, cancer.

Aging leads to increased risk of cancer because we are increasingly exposed to environmental toxins and because of our aging bodies. Historically, Bellizzi explains, the elderly have been excluded from cancer clinical trials because they are often perceived to be unhealthy or have other health problems that could interfere with the study?s results.

Cancer and Aging Handbook written by Keith Bellizzi For example, doctors often stop screening for cervical cancer in women after age 75 because there?s no data showing that it?s beneficial in this segment of the population. But Bellizzi points out that actually, there?s very little data examining the efficacy of screening in older adults, so more attention is needed in this area.

?It?s easy to exclude people who have complex medical conditions,? he says. ?Now we?re scrambling to play catch-up and build the evidence base for this population.?

The lack of data and attention to this population could lead to a national health crisis in the coming years, says Bellizzi. Right now, 12 percent of the U.S. population is over 65, and by 2030 that number is projected to double.

The good news, he says, is that with modern medicine people tend to live longer with cancer. But the bad news is that there aren?t enough oncologists, gerontologists, nurses, and other caregivers available to deal with that volume of cancer patients.

?The goal of the book is to create the first multi-disciplinary team of authors who are at the forefront of the cancer and aging interface,? says Bellizzi. ?We want both researchers and practitioners to look at the issue and ask what the best practices are, what does the evidence suggest, and what additional research is needed. We need to look at cancer in the context of other health conditions, like diabetes, heart disease, and other life events.?

When Bellizzi was diagnosed with both kidney and testicular cancer at age 24, he says it was a catalyst to pursue a career in cancer. Dropping his business career at a management consulting firm, he went back to school and earned a Ph.D. in human development and family studies at UConn. After a post-doctoral position at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., he returned to UConn as a faculty member. His Ph.D. adviser, human development and family studies professor Thomas Blank, is an author in the volume.

?Surprisingly, despite the fact that most cancer survivors are old, there have been few attempts to integrate gerontology and cancer research successfully. This volume does that,? Blank says. ?The breadth and range, including most recent biomedical aspects of cancer and aging as well as the psychosocial and social aspects that are the areas of expertise for Keith and me, set the stage for the next generation of research on the interface of these two critically important areas.?

After his bout with cancer, Bellizzi says he knew he wanted to do something meaningful with his life.

?Money was no longer important to me,? he says. ?I wanted to help survivors and make cancer more tolerable for individuals and families.? And although he was in tune with issues of young people dealing with cancer, he wanted to give more attention to the elderly, whose health he thinks is often ignored.

Cancer and Aging emerged from a 2007 workshop Bellizzi organized at the meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. Including sections on strategies for cancer prevention, screening guidelines, treatment best practices, survivorship management, and end-of-life care, the book is intended to be a reference for practitioners in different fields to approach cancer care in a comprehensive way.

?If this book gets into the hands of the right people, including doctors, medical students, and behavioral scientists, it will make the impact I want it to make,? says Bellizzi. ?If it affects how elderly people are cared for, then I?ve achieved my goal.?

Bellizzi?s co-editor on the volume is Margot Ann Gosney, director of clinical health services at the University of Reading, UK.

Source: http://today.uconn.edu/blog/2012/11/cancer-aging-and-proper-care/

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Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/11/girl-meets-world-casts-ben-savage-danielle-fishel/

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(The following statement was released by the rating agency)

Nov 27 -

===============================================================================

Summary analysis -- Starhill Global Real Estate Investment Trust -- 27-Nov-2012

===============================================================================

CREDIT RATING: BBB/Stable/-- Country: Singapore

===============================================================================

Credit Rating History:

Local currency Foreign currency

28-Oct-2009 BBB/-- BBB/--

===============================================================================

Rationale

The rating on Starhill Global Real Estate Investment Trust (SGREIT) reflects

the REIT's ownership of good quality properties. The rating also reflects

SGREIT's stable cash flows, high occupancy rates, and improved lease maturity

profile. The REIT's geographic and tenant concentration, as well as its

moderate revenue exposure to the more volatile office rental market partly

offset these strengths. We view YTL Corp. Bhd.'s ownership of SGREIT as a

neutral rating factor. We assess SGREIT's business risk profile as

"satisfactory" and its financial risk profile as "intermediate."

SGREIT's gross revenues of Singapore dollar (S$) 138.6 million for the nine

months ended Sept. 30, 2012, were in line with our expectation. Revenues

represented about 75% of the S$185 million we forecast for 2012. Positive

rental reversions at SGREIT's Wisma Atria property following the completion of

the company's asset enhancement initiative (AEI) offset the lower revenues

from the Chengdu property. We expect gross revenues to increase to S$186

million-S$187 million in 2013. Incremental revenues from the full-year effect

of the Wisma Atria AEI, a positive rental reversion for Toshin Development

Singapore Pte. Ltd.'s master lease at Ngee Ann City, and steady average

occupancy rates of about 96%-98% across the portfolio should more than offset

difficult conditions persisting at the Chengdu property in 2013.

We expect SGREIT to maintain its financial risk profile in 2013, baring

acquisitions. The REIT's ratio of funds from operations (FFO) to total debt

was about 8.4% and its FFO interest coverage was 2.8x for the 12 months ended

Sept. 30, 2012. The ratios are consistent with our expectation of 8%-10% and

2.7x-3.0x, respectively. According to our hybrid criteria, our calculations

include about S$173.5 million of convertible preferred units that SGREIT

issued as debt.

Liquidity

SGREIT's liquidity is "adequate," as defined in our criteria. We expect the

REIT's liquidity sources over the next 12 months to exceed its uses by about

1.3x. Our liquidity assessment is based on the following factors and

assumptions for the next 12 months:

-- SGREIT's liquidity sources include our expectation of FFO of about

S$80 million-S$85 million and surplus cash of about S$75.1 million as of Sept.

30, 2012.

-- Liquidity needs include distribution of at least 90% of taxable income

to unitholders. They also include short-term payables on SGREIT's current

derivatives liabilities of about S$3.28 million.

-- SGREIT also has about S$568 million of debt due in the next 12 months.

This includes a A$63 million term loan due in January 2013 for which SGREIT

has already obtained refinancing commitments. It also includes a S$284 million

term loan and the REIT's JPY13 billion term loan, both of which mature in

September 2013. We do not include such debt in our assessment of liquidity

needs because these are due beyond the next six months.

SGREIT's debt tenor will remain highly concentrated until it refinances S$489

million in debt due in September 2013. We expect the REIT to arrange

refinancing for these maturities in the first quarter of 2013. SGREIT also has

a good banking relationship and a satisfactory standing in the capital

markets, in our view. It has sufficient headroom in its multicurrency

medium-term notes program to issue about S$1.9 billion in debt. A moderate

ratio of encumbered debt to assets of 25.9% as of Sept. 30, 2012, provides the

REIT with additional financial flexibility and partly offsets the refinancing

risk.

Outlook

The stable outlook reflects our expectation that SGREIT will maintain its

current market position, good quality assets, and average occupancy rates of

95%-96% over the next three years. We also expect that SGREIT will prudently

manage its asset acquisitions while maintaining its financial risk profile.

We may raise the rating if SGREIT further diversifies its portfolio and tenant

base, while maintaining the quality of its asset base and its financial risk

profile. We could also raise the rating if the company's cash flows over the

next two to three years increase such that its ratio of FFO to interest

payments exceeds 5x on a sustained basis. This could materialize if occupancy

rates increase above 98% and lease rates across the portfolio are

significantly higher on a sustained basis.

We may lower the rating if: (1) SGREIT makes aggressive debt-funded

acquisitions that weaken its cash flow adequacy and increase its leverage such

that its debt-to-capital ratio exceeds 40% for an extended period; or (2) the

company is unable to replace the loss of a key tenant within a reasonable

timeframe under favorable lease terms, resulting in sustained lower

profitability and cash flows.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/text-p-summary-starhill-global-real-estate-investment-090714258--sector.html

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strawserbirdie83 · ScienceDaily (Nov. 26, 2012)

ScienceDaily (Nov. 26, 2012) ? It all started with a crab apple tree. Two years ago, a 71-year-old Indiana man impaled his hand on a branch after cutting down a dead tree. The wound caused an infection that led scientists to discover a new bacterium and solve a mystery about how bacteria came to live inside insects.

On Oct. 15, 2010, Thomas Fritz, a retired inventor, engineer and volunteer firefighter, cut down a dead, 10-foot-tall crab apple tree outside his home near Evansville, Ind.

As he dragged away the debris, he got tangled in it and fell. A small branch impaled his right hand in the fleshy web between the thumb and index finger.

A former emergency medical technician, Fritz dressed the wound, which became swollen. Then he waited for a scheduled visit with his doctor a few days later. By then, a cyst formed at the wound site. The doctor put Fritz on an antibiotic after sending a sample of the cyst to a lab.

The pain and swelling persisted and the wound became abscessed.

About five weeks after the accident, an orthopedic surgeon removed several pieces of bark from the wound, which finally healed without further incident.

Only later did Fritz find out that his infected wound contained a previously unknown bacterium that scientists say could be used to block disease transmission by insects and prevent crop damage.

Scientists call the new strain human Sodalis or HS; it's related to Sodalis, a genus of bacteria that lives symbiotically inside insects' guts.

The journal PLOS Genetics published a paper detailing the discovery November 26.

"Symbiotic interactions between microorganisms and insects are common, and biologists suspect that they're an important driver of biological diversification," says Matt Kane, program director in the National Science Foundation's Division of Environmental Biology, which funded the research.

"But how such symbioses came to be is often a mystery," Kane says. "This particular story has a happy ending, but also an interesting one, because researchers used it to gain insight into how insects and microbes can form symbiotic partnerships in the first place."

As in the case of the crab apple tree, "there are bacteria in the environment that form symbiotic relationships with insects," says University of Utah biologist Kelly Oakeson, the study's lead co-author. "This is the first time such a bacterium has been found and studied."

Identifying a New Strain of Bacteria

The lab that first received the sample from Fritz's infected wound couldn't identify the bacterium once it was isolated. So the organism was shipped to ARUP Laboratories, a national pathology reference library operated by the University of Utah.

An automated analysis at ARUP found that the bacterium from Fritz was E. coli, but scientists doubted the results.

"We had close matches for it, but none were validly described species," says Mark Fisher of the ARUP Institute for Clinical and Experimental Pathology and a co-author of the paper. "It caught my eye because I knew Colin Dale worked on Sodalis."

Dale is the researcher who discovered and named Sodalis in 1999. He is a biologist at the University of Utah and is the study's senior author.

He says that genetic sequencing showed that the HS bacterium is related to bacteria that live symbiotically in 17 insect species, including tsetse flies, weevils, bird lice and stinkbugs, and is most closely related to bacteria in the chestnut weevil and a stinkbug species.

The study compared HS with genomes of the strain Sodalis glossinidius that lives in tsetse fliesand another Sodalis-likebacterium that lives in grain weevils.

Compared with HS, the other two bacterial species have lost or deactivated about half their genes.

A Missing Link

According to Dale, the findings provide "a missing link in our understanding of how beneficial insect-bacteria relationships originate.

"They show that these relationships arise independently in each insect. The insect picks up a pathogen that is widespread in the environment and then domesticates it. This happens independently in each insect."

A competing theory is that parasitic wasps and mites spread symbiotic bacteria from one insect to another.

Dale says that theory cannot explain why such similar types of Sodalis bacteria are found in insects that differ widely in location and diet, including insects that feed either on plants or animals.

The new results support the theory that insects are infected by pathogenic bacteria from plants or animals in their environment, and that the bacteria evolve to become less virulent and to provide benefits to the insect.

Then, instead of spreading from one insect to another, the bacteria spread from mother insects to their offspring.

Taming Invading Bacteria

Various bacteria live symbiotically in blood or fat cells or in special structures attached to the guts of as many as 10 percent of all insects.

The bacteria gain shelter and nutrition from their insect hosts, and they produce nutrients--B vitamins and amino acids--to help feed the insects.

Sometimes they also produce toxins to kill invaders, such as fungi or the eggs laid in an insect by a parasitic wasp.

Sodalis is only one of several types of bacteria that live in insects.

Symbiotic bacteria are known for having the smallest genetic blueprints, or genomes, of any cellular organism because as they evolve inside an insect, they lose genes that would be needed for survival outside the insect.

But when biologists sequenced the new bacterium's genome, they found that HS has a relatively large genetic blueprint and is closely related to Sodalis-like bacteria that have smaller genomes and live in many species of insects, implying that Sodalis-like bacteria all descended from a bacterium like HS.

A Way to Block Some Insect-Spread Diseases?

The researchers believe the discovery could have important implications. They say it may be possible to genetically alter the new bacterium to block disease transmission by insects like tsetse flies and prevent crop damage by insect-borne viruses.

"If we can genetically modify a bacterium that could be put back into insects, it could be used as a way to combat diseases transmitted by those insects," says Adam Clayton, a University of Utah biologist and lead author of the paper unveiling the new bacterium and its genome.

Tsetse flies and aphids both carry symbiotic Sodalis bacteria related to strain HS. Sodalis doesn't grow well outside insects, but HS grows well in the lab.

So it may be possible to insert genes in HS, and then place the bacteria in tsetse flies to kill the protozoan parasites that live in the flies and cause sleeping sickness in people and domestic animals in Africa.

Aphids transmit many plant viruses that attack soybeans, alfalfa, beets, beans and peanuts.

Replacing their normal symbiotic bacteria with a genetically engineered strain of HS could interfere with disease transmission.

The researchers speculate that in addition to the HS bacterium, there are likely many other undiscovered bacteria in the environment that could form symbiotic relationships with insects.

"We have identified very few of the bacteria that exist in nature," says Dale, "and new species and strains like HS are often only discovered when they infect humans."

Additional co-authors of the paper are Maria Gutin, Arthur Pontes, Diane Dunn, Andrew von Niederhausern and Robert Weiss, all of the University of Utah.

The National Institutes of Health also funded the research.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by National Science Foundation.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

Adam L. Clayton, Kelly F. Oakeson, Maria Gutin, Arthur Pontes, Diane M. Dunn, Andrew C. von Niederhausern, Robert B. Weiss, Mark Fisher, Colin Dale. A Novel Human-Infection-Derived Bacterium Provides Insights into the Evolutionary Origins of Mutualistic Insect?Bacterial Symbioses. PLoS Genetics, 2012; 8 (11): e1002990 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1002990

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A customer fills in his numbers on a Powerball ticket for a chance to win the $450,000 jackpot Monday, Nov. 26, 2012, in Houston for a chance to win the $450,000 jackpot. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)

A customer purchases lottery tickets for the Powerball lottery at Foster Stationery in Bergenfield, N.J. on Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012. The jackpot for Powerball's weekend drawing has climbed to $325 million, the fourth-largest in the game's history. Powerball organizers say this is the first run-up to a large jackpot that's fallen over a major holiday. (AP Photo/The Record (Bergen County), Don Smith)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) ? The historic Powerball jackpot boosted to $500 million on Tuesday was all part of a plan lottery officials put in place early this year to build jackpots faster, drive sales and generate more money for states that run the game.

Their plan appears to be working.

Powerball tickets doubled in price in January to $2, and while the number of tickets sold initially dropped, sales revenue has increased by about 35 percent over 2011.

Sales for Powerball reached a record $3.96 billion in fiscal 2012 and are expected to reach $5 billion this year, said Chuck Strutt, executive director of the Des Moines, Iowa-based Multi-State Lottery Association, the group that runs the Powerball game.

There has been no Powerball winner since Oct. 6, and the jackpot already has reached a record level for the game. It was first posted at $425 million but revised upward to $500 million when brisk sales increased the payout. It's the second highest jackpot in lottery history, behind only the $656 million Mega Millions prize in March.

It took nine weeks for the Mega Millions jackpot to get that high, before three winners ? from Kansas, Illinois and Maryland ? hit the right numbers, each collecting $218.6 million for their share of the split.

With soaring jackpots come soaring sales, and for the states playing the game, that means higher revenue.

"The purpose for the lottery is to generate revenue for the respective states and their beneficiary programs," said Norm Lingle, chairman of the Powerball Game Group. "High jackpots certainly help the lottery achieve those goals."

Of the $2 cost of a Powerball ticket, $1 goes to the prizes and the other dollar is kept by the state lottery organization, said Lingle, who also is executive director of the South Dakota Lottery. After administrative overhead is paid, the remaining amount goes to that state's beneficiary programs.

Some states designate specific expenditures such as education, while others deposit the money in their general fund to help supplement tax revenue.

The federal government keeps 25 percent of the jackpot for federal taxes.

Most states withhold between 5 percent and 7 percent. A New York City winner would pay more than 12 percent since the state takes 8.97 percent and the city keeps 3.6 percent.

Powerball and Mega Millions games are seeing jackpots grow faster and higher in part because the states that play both games agreed in 2010 to sell to one another.

Both games are now played in 42 states, Washington, D.C., and the Virgin Islands. The larger pool of players means jackpots roll over to higher numbers faster, which tends to increase the buzz about the jackpots which increases sales. It all can result in higher jackpots sooner.

"It really happened with both of these games became national games," said Terry Rich, CEO of the Iowa Lottery.

Still, just seven of the top 25 jackpots occurred after January 2010 when the cross-selling began. That just points to the unpredictability of games of chance like lotteries. It still comes down to the luck of the numbers, Rich said.

It has been proven that once the jackpot reaches a certain threshold more players buy.

The Quick Shop in Ottumwa, Iowa, is one of the state's highest-volume lottery ticket sellers due to its location across the street from a John Deere farm implement factory.

"It's picking up by the minute," said store owner Mark Ebelsheiser. "We're selling probably 60 to 70 percent more than normal. When it gets up this high they really come out and get them."

Bob Allison, a retired Indian Hills Community College instructor and administrator, buys tickets weekly for a group of people at the college in Ottumwa. On Tuesday he and two golfing and fishing buddies went in together to buy additional tickets. Allison said he usually buys a few additional tickets when the jackpot gets so high.

He said he'd make a lot of people very happy if he won.

"My kids would probably retire quick," said the father of three daughters.

Between $20 and $30 million in tickets were sold between Wednesday and Saturday drawings for most of October. Once the jackpot hit $100 million on Oct. 27, nearly $38 million worth of tickets were sold by Oct. 31. As the jackpot grew to more than $200 million on Nov. 17, sales surged by nearly $70 million by the next Wednesday. Then the jackpot reached over $300 million on Nov. 24 and ticket sales over the next four days surpassed $140 million.

"Somewhere around $100 million those occasional players seem to come back into the stores in droves," said Rich, the Iowa Lottery CEO. The lottery also notices a significant increase in workers and other groups joining together in pools to combine resources to buy numbers, he said.

Trina Small, manager at the convenience store in Bondurant, Iowa, where a couple bought a $202 million ticket on Sept. 26, said sales have been heavy. She said Monday night Powerball sales were at about $800, at least $200 more than normal. She expects Tuesday and Wednesday sales to be even more.

"It's kind of like Black Friday all over again," she said.

Small doesn't usually play the lottery herself but said she may buy a chance at the record jackpot. She's just trying to decide if her chances are better buying it elsewhere since a jackpot ticket was sold at her store just two months ago ? the old adage about lightning striking twice.

"The odds are against you anyway but I'm pretty sure they're more against you getting one from this store," she joked.

Powerball has posted sales exceeding $714 million in the current jackpot run since early October and it's possible more than $1 billion in tickets will have been sold by the end of Wednesday when the next drawing is held.

A single winner choosing the cash option would take home more than $327 million before taxes.

Strutt said the chance of getting a winner this Wednesday is approaching 60 percent.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-11-27-Powerball-Big%20Jackpots/id-c6b1b12ede5a48799876d25228dd988d

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Retail stocks were off to a weak start on Monday as questions about the strength of consumer spending and fears about the "fiscal cliff" overshadowed an apparently strong Black Friday kickoff to the holiday shopping season.

Shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Macy's Inc , which analysts said did well over the weekend, were down because investors see those stocks as proxies for the overall economy, given the wide breadth of the retailers' customer bases, said Morningstar analyst Paul Swinand.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Retail index <.spxrt> was down 0.8 percent in morning trading.

The broader S&P 500 <.spx> fell 0.7 percent as investors focused on the meeting of euro zone finance ministers on Greece and negotiations over the U.S. fiscal cliff after last week's rally.

Among retailers, standouts included Deckers Outdoor Corp , whose shares rose 5.2 percent to $34.83. Wedbush Securities raised its price target on Deckers to $40 from $38, saying cooler weather over the weekend had helped stimulate sales of the company's Ugg boots.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co's shares were up 1.3 percent. The company, which operates the Hollister chain in addition to its namesake stores, "was the clear winner," with the longest lines and units per transaction during the weekend, according to Oppenheimer analyst Pamela Quintiliano.

Aeropostale shares fell 7.3 percent after the stock was downgraded by Janney Capital Markets analyst Adrienne Tennant, who cited increased competition from Abercrombie and American Eagle Outfitters Inc .

Abercrombie joins Wal-Mart as some of the weekend's perceived winners in a four-day weekend when some stores opened on Thanksgiving night and people shopped online in greater numbers than ever before.

Analysts said the Walmart chain had done a good job pairing physical stores with its online and mobile capabilities, making for a seamless shopping experience.

The National Retail Federation trade group reported on Sunday that total sales for the four days from Thanksgiving through Sunday had risen 12.8 percent to $59.1 billion. That is down from a 16.4 percent increase last year.

But analysts were quick to note that a strong initial weekend does not make an entire holiday season.

Barclays Capital analyst Alan Rifkin said he was "a little skeptical" about the reported strength of the number. Thanksgiving weekend typically accounts for 16 percent to 19 percent of total holiday sales, which most retailers are expecting to show a rise of only 3 percent to 4 percent, he said.

"There's plenty of time left," said Kevin Regan, senior managing director for retail at FTI Consulting. He said he expected a lull for the next couple weeks, with another burst of buying right before Christmas, which falls on a Tuesday this year.

In fact, four of the five busiest shopping days of the season will come in the 10 days leading up to Christmas Day, according to ShopperTrak.

Quintiliano said Ann Inc , which specializes in women's clothing, "may potentially prove to be the most disappointing as traffic never fully materialized on stable promotions" over the four-day Thanksgiving weekend. The company's shares were down 3.7 percent on Monday.

UBS analyst Roxanne Meyer said specialty retailers with strong foot traffic included Limited Brands Inc , American Eagle and Gap Inc , with relatively weaker traffic at Aeropostale, Cold Water Creek Inc and Chico's FAS Inc .

Like Ann, Cold Water Creek and Chico's focus on mature women shoppers, whereas American Eagle and Abercrombie target younger people.

(Reporting by Martinne Geller and Phil Wahba in New York; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/retail-stocks-muted-strong-holiday-sales-start-162012701--finance.html

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MONTREAL, Que. ? Canadians are increasingly reaching for a glass of Beaujolais instead of beer and they?re also drinking more domestic wines, says a new study on Canadian drinking habits.

Consumers bought an average of 22 bottles of wine in 2011, up from 13 in 1995, found the Bank of Montreal?s (TSX:BMO) special report on the Canadian wine industry.

?It?s a meteoric rise, really,? said David Rinneard, national manager of agriculture at BMO.

And Canada?s wine industry is poised for solid growth over the next five years, thanks in part to an aging population, a willingness to pay more for premium wines and the opportunity for domestic producers to make bigger inroads in the Canadian marketplace, the report said.

A third of wine consumed in Canada is produced by domestic wineries, Rinneard said. More than half of wine consumed in New Brunswick is Canadian-made and almost half of wine consumed in British Columbia is Canadian, he added.

?Canadian wineries continue to evolve, continue to hone their craft to the point where they are making some really globally competitive wines, which will in time bode well for all Canadian vintners,? Rinneard said from Toronto.

But Quebec, which is the leading wine drinking province, has the lowest consumption of Canadian-made wine at a little more than 20 per cent.

Wine has drained away market share from beer and spirits to the point where it?s a third of all alcohol consumption in Canada, the recent report said.

Over the 1995 to 2011 period, wine rose from 18 per cent to 30 per cent of Canadians? total alcohol consumption, while beer fell from 53 per cent to 45 per cent and spirits fell from 29 per cent to 25 per cent.

One hindrance for Canadian wine makers is the climate does impose limits on Canada?s wine production, which is concentrated in southern Ontario and Prince Edward County in southeastern Ontario as well as the interior of British Columbia, he said. There is also some wine production in Nova Scotia and Quebec.

Rinneard said Canadian wineries do import grapes and blend them into some of their wines to increase production, due to the climate.

But the freezing temperatures are also essential to the production of Canada?s ice wine, known globally.

?It?s certainly a niche, if you will, that Canadian wineries have carved out on a global level and certainly have positioned Canadian wineries as the pre-eminent ice wine producer on the planet.?

Rinneard said he sees Canada?s wine industry, which employs about 5,000 people, poised for solid growth over the next five years.

?Certainly growth in many respects is attributable to changing consumer palates,? he said.

Rinneard said he sees growth for Canadian wines in southeast Asia, particularly China where ice wine is already seen as something of a luxury good.

He isn?t as optimistic about Latin America, where Canadian wines would have to compete with ?plenty of cheap wines.?

Wine writer Michael Pinkus said B.C.?s wine industry is seen very much in a good light worldwide, but Ontario?s wine industry ?barely makes a drop in the large glass of wine,? on a global level, except for ice wine.

People are starting to know Ontario for cool climate Chardonnay wine, but the province has a reputation to deal with, Pinkus said.

?B.C. doesn?t have the nasty past that Ontario has,? said Pinkus, president of the Wine Writers? Circle of Canada.

?Ontario had Baby Duck and things like that kind of tarred Ontario with a broad brush of making, for lack of a better term, crappy wine. That?s the stuff your parents grew up on.?

However, younger people are really taking to Ontario wines, he said. It?s the older generation that?s still looking to French and Italian wines, said Pinkus, who lives in the heart of Ontario?s Niagara wine region in St. Catharines, Ont.

Overall, Pinkus said there?s potential for the Canadian wine industry and noted the climate doesn?t prevent Ontario from making good wine, Pinkus said.

?A cool climate gives you better acidity, gives you wines that are better for food because it cleanses the palate,? he said.

?Instead of sitting on the palate, it freshens the mouth, freshens the palate and you?re ready for your next bite.?

Another issue is that most provinces ban the direct importation of wine from other provinces.

But last week Nova Scotia introduced provincial legislation that would allow the province?s wine drinkers to import wine from other parts of Canada, following a recent decision by the federal government to lift its prohibition on wine importation.

If the legislation becomes law, Nova Scotia would join British Columbia and Manitoba as the only provinces to allow direct importation.

Source: http://www.ipolitics.ca/2012/11/25/a-glass-of-wine-please-say-canadians-who-are-moving-to-more-wine-drinking-study/

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If the U.S. economy falls over the ?fiscal cliff,? it would have an immediate and severe impact on U.S. business travel, according to new research from GBTA Foundation. The new report analyzes the business travel impact of expiring tax cuts and automatic spending reductions ? commonly referred to as the ?fiscal cliff? ? as well as the longer-term ramifications of leaving current levels of deficit spending unaddressed.

The report models the potential business travel impact of two scenarios ? one in which the fiscal cliff takes effect, and one where no changes are made to current tax and spending provisions.

Fiscal Cliff Scenario: If the fiscal cliff occurs, the U.S. economy would enter a recession. This would lead to a total loss of $20 billion in spending on U.S. business travel over the next nine quarters ? a 2.5% decline ? and a reduction of 32 million business trips.

However, the elimination of tax cuts and reductions in federal spending would lead to reduced deficits and lower interest rates over the long run, resulting in business travel spending and an overall economy that grows more quickly after absorbing the shock of the fiscal cliff.

No Fiscal Restraint Scenario: If all provisions of the fiscal cliff are eliminated or delayed indefinitely, business travel would experience more robust trip volume and spending as a result of stimulus from lower tax rates and continued government spending. In the near term, this scenario would lead to a cumulative loss of only 300,000 business trips and a gain of $5.5 billion in total business travel spending over the next nine quarters.

However, by 2014, much of the spending growth would be attributed to higher inflation. Larger budget deficits and growing debt will begin to take a toll, and business travel spending growth would continue to slow beyond the forecast horizon.

?Given business travel?s indispensable role in spurring economic growth, these findings dramatically illustrate the potential impact of the fiscal cliff on the overall economy,? said Joseph Bates, vice president of research at the GBTA Foundation. ?Falling over the cliff would set back the clock substantially for business travel and every other sector of the economy in the near term.

?This research shows that we must seriously consider both the near-term ramifications of the fiscal cliff and the long-term implications of expanding government debt,? said Michael W. McCormick, GBTA executive director and COO. ?Either way, the fiscal cliff is a wake-up call for leaders looking to craft smart economic policy going forward.?

The research, GBTA BTI? Outlook ? United States Special Report: Fiscal Cliff Scenario, was conducted through an analysis and econometric model used in the quarterly GBTA BTI? Outlook ? United States report and altered to reflect predictions in business travel spending and volume according to each of these potential outcomes.

Source: http://www.breakingtravelnews.com/news/article/falling-over-fiscal-cliff-could-slash-20-billion-in-u.s.-business-travel-sp/

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Recent evidence suggests government officials continue to eye the multi-trillion dollar private retirement savings market, including IRAs and 401(k) plans, eyeing the opportunity to redistribute private retirement savings to less affluent Americans and to force the retirement savings out of the private market and into government-controlled programs investing in government-issued debt.

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Tony Gutierrez / AP file

Actor Larry Hagman poses in front of the Southfork Ranch mansion made famous in the television show, "Dallas," in Parker, Texas, Oct. 9, 2008.

By NBC News staff and wire

Updated at 7:30 a.m. ET: Actor Larry Hagman ? who became a global icon playing the cunning J.R. Ewing in the television series "Dallas" ? died on Friday at the age of 81, NBC Dallas-Fort?Worth reported.

Hagman?was at Medical City Dallas Hospital when he died Friday afternoon from complications of his recent battle with cancer, the Dallas Morning News reported, citing members of his family.

Linda Gray, who played J.R.'s long-suffering wife, Sue Ellen, was with Hagman in Dallas when he died, the actress' spokesman, Jeffrey Lane, said in an email.?

Hulton Archive / Getty Images

"Larry Hagman was my best friend for 35 years," Gray said in a statement. "He was the Pied Piper of life and brought joy to everyone he knew. He was creative, funny, loving and talented, and I will miss him enormously."

'Who shot J.R.?'
Despite his fragile health, the actor had returned to Texas from his home in California to film season one of TNT?s "Dallas" reboot and part of season two.

The original show, in which Hagman played a conniving businessman who people loved to hate, ran from 1978 to 1991 on CBS.?

The "Who shot J.R.?" cliffhanger series ending in 1980 -- which left it unclear if he was alive or dead -- broke viewing records and led to weeks of speculation about what had happened.?In a later interview, Hagman said after the episode he went to England because he "wanted to get out of the country," but "England went stark raving nuts." Ewing survived.

"Larry was back in his beloved Dallas, re-enacting the iconic role he loved most," the family said in a statement, the Morning News reported. "Larry?s family and close friends had joined him in Dallas for the Thanksgiving holiday. When he passed, he was surrounded by loved ones. It was a peaceful passing, just as he had wished for. The family requests privacy at this time."

A statement from Warner Bros. described Hagman as "a giant, a larger-than-life personality whose iconic performance as J.R. Ewing will endure as one of the most indelible in entertainment history."

"He truly loved portraying this globally recognized character, and he leaves a legacy of entertainment, generosity and grace. Everyone at Warner Bros. and in the 'Dallas' family is deeply saddened by Larry's passing, and our thoughts are with his family and dear friends during this difficult time," the statement added.

Earlier in his career, Hagman was known for his role as Maj. Anthony Nelson, the master-turned-husband of a beautiful genie played by Barbara Eden in the sitcom "I Dream of Jeannie."

In July 1995, he was diagnosed with liver cancer, which led him to quit smoking, and a month later he underwent a liver transplant.?

After giving up his vices, Hagman said he did not lose his zest for life.?

"It's the same old Larry Hagman," he told a reporter. "He's just a littler sober-er."?

Hagman was born on Sept. 21, 1931, in Texas, to?Benjamin Jack Hagman and Mary Martin.?His father was a lawyer who dealt with the Texas oil barons Hagman would later come to portray.

He was still a boy when his parents divorced and he went to Los Angeles with Martin, who would become a big name in Hollywood and a Tony winner on Broadway, where she starred in "Peter Pan" and "The Sound of Music."?

Hagman eventually landed in New York to pursue acting, making his stage debut there in "The Taming of the Shrew." In New York, he married Maj Axelsson in 1954 while they were in a production of "South Pacific. The marriage produced two children, Heidi and Preston.?

'Big laughs, big smiles'
Hagman served in the Air Force, spending five years in Europe as the director of USO shows, and on his return to New York he took a starring role in the daytime soap "The Edge of Night." His breakthrough came in 1965 when he landed the "I Dream of Jeannie" role opposite Barbara Eden.?

After hearing of Hagman?s death, Eden paid tribute to him on Twitter and Facebook.

?Amidst a whirlwind of big laughs, big smiles and unrestrained personality Larry was always, simply Larry,? she wrote on Twitter.??Larry Hagman not just a great actor, not just a television icon, but an element of pure Americana. I'll miss him.?

In his later years, Hagman became an advocate for organ transplants and an anti-smoking campaigner.

He also was devoted to solar energy, telling the New York Times he had a $750,000 solar panel system at his Ojai estate, and made a commercial in which he portrayed a J.R. Ewing who had forsaken oil for solar power. He was a longtime member of the Peace and Freedom Party, a minor leftist organization in California.?

Hagman told the Times that after death he wanted his remains to be "spread over a field and have marijuana and wheat planted and harvest it in a couple of years and then have a big marijuana cake, enough for 200 to 300 people. People would eat a little of Larry."?

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Source: http://entertainment.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/24/15398595-larry-hagman-tv-villain-jr-ewing-on-dallas-dies-at-81?lite

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Pope Benedict XVI makes his way through cardinals as he arrives inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican to preside over a consistory, Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012. Six new cardinals are joining the elite club of churchmen who will elect the next pope, bringing a more geographically diverse mix into the European-dominated College of Cardinals. The new cardinals are: Archbishop James Harvey, the American prefect of the papal household; Abuja, Nigeria Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan; Bogota, Colombia Archbishop Ruben Salazar Gomez; Manila, Philippines Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle; Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites in Lebanon, His Beatitude Bechara Boutros Rai; and the major Archbishop of the Trivandrum of the Siro-Malankaresi in India, His Beatitude Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Benedict XVI prays as he arrives inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican to preside over a consistory, Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012. Six new cardinals are joining the elite club of churchmen who will elect the next pope, bringing a more geographically diverse mix into the European-dominated College of Cardinals. The new cardinals are: Archbishop James Harvey, the American prefect of the papal household; Abuja, Nigeria Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan; Bogota, Colombia Archbishop Ruben Salazar Gomez; Manila, Philippines Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle; Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites in Lebanon, His Beatitude Bechara Boutros Rai; and the major Archbishop of the Trivandrum of the Siro-Malankaresi in India, His Beatitude Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Benedict XVI presides over a consistory in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012. Six new cardinals are joining the elite club of churchmen who will elect the next pope, bringing a more geographically diverse mix into the European-dominated College of Cardinals. The new cardinals are: Archbishop James Harvey, the American prefect of the papal household; Abuja, Nigeria Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan; Bogota, Colombia Archbishop Ruben Salazar Gomez; Manila, Philippines Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle; Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites in Lebanon, His Beatitude Bechara Boutros Rai; and the major Archbishop of the Trivandrum of the Siro-Malankaresi in India, His Beatitude Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

VATICAN CITY (AP) ? Six new cardinals on Saturday joined the elite club of red-robed churchmen who will elect the next pope, bringing a more geographically diverse mix into the European-dominated College of Cardinals.

Pope Benedict XVI presided over the ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica to formally elevate the six men, who hail from Colombia, India, Lebanon, Nigeria, the Philippines and the United States. As Benedict read each name aloud in Latin, cheers and applause erupted from their friends and family members in the pews.

The ceremony was both joyful and emotional: Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle, seen by many to be a rising star in the church, visibly choked up as he knelt before Benedict to receive his three-pointed red hat, or biretta, and gold ring, and wiped tears from his eyes as he returned to his place.

Abuja, Nigeria Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, meanwhile, seemed to want to sit down and chat with each one of the dozens of cardinals that he greeted in the traditional exchange of peace that follows the formal elevation rite.

Benedict has said that with this "little consistory," he was essentially completing his last cardinal-making ceremony held in February, when he elevated 22 cardinals, the vast majority of them European archbishops and Vatican bureaucrats.

Benedict said Saturday that the new cardinals represent the "unique, universal and all-inclusive identity" of the Catholic Church.

"In this consistory, I want to highlight in particular the fact that the church is the church of all peoples, and so she speaks in the various cultures of the different continents," he told the crowd, which included Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, the vice president of the Philippines Jejomar Binay and lawmakers from India and Nigeria.

The College of Cardinals remains heavily European even with the new additions: Of the 120 cardinals under age 80 and thus eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope, more than half ? 62 ? are European. Critics have complained that the "princes of the church" no longer represents the Catholic Church today, since Catholicism is growing in Asia and Africa but is in crisis in much of Europe.

The issue of numbers is significant since these are the men who will elect the next pope from among their ranks: Will the next pontiff come from the southern hemisphere, where two-thirds of the world's Catholics live? Or will the papacy return to Italy, which has 28 voting-age cardinals, after a Polish and German pope?

The new cardinals do make the papal voting bloc a bit more multinational: Latin America, which boasts half of the world's Catholics, now has 21 voting-age cardinals; North America, 14; Africa, 11; Asia, 11; and Oceana, one.

Among the six new cardinals is Archbishop James Harvey, the American prefect of the papal household. As prefect, Harvey was the direct superior of the pope's former butler, Paolo Gabriele, who is serving an 18 month prison sentence in a Vatican jail for stealing the pope's private papers and leaking them to a reporter in the greatest Vatican security breach in modern times.

The Vatican spokesman has denied Harvey, 63 from Milwaukee, is leaving because of the scandal. But on the day the pope announced Harvey would be made cardinal, he also said he would leave the Vatican to take up duties as the archpriest of one of the Vatican's four Roman basilicas. Such a face-saving promotion-removal is not an uncommon Vatican personnel move.

Harvey's departure has led to much speculation about who would replace him in the delicate job of organizing the pope's daily schedule and arranging audiences.

Aside from Harvey, Tagle, and Onaiyekan, the new cardinals are: Bogota, Colombia Archbishop Ruben Salazar Gomez; the Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites in Lebanon, His Beatitude Bechara Boutros Rai; and the major Archbishop of the Trivandrum of the Siro-Malankaresi in India, His Beatitude Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal.

Cardinals serve as the pope's closest advisers, but their main task is to elect a new pope. And with Benedict, 85, slowing down, that task is ever more present. For the second time, the consistory ceremony was greatly trimmed back, lasting just over an hour to spare the pope the fatigue of a lengthy ceremony.

He will, however, celebrate Mass on Sunday with them.

While Benedict didn't mention the cardinals' primary task in his remarks, he did remind them that the scarlet of their cassock and hat that they wear symbolizes the blood that cardinals must be willing to shed to remain faithful to the church.

"From now on you will be even more closely and intimately linked to the See of Peter," he said.

The six new cardinals are all under age 80. Their nominations bring the number of voting-age cardinals to 120, 67 of whom were named by Benedict, all but ensuring that his successor will be chosen from a group of like-minded prelates.

Saturday's consistory marks the first time in decades that not a single European or Italian has been made a cardinal ? a statistic that has not gone unnoticed in Italy. Italy still has the lions' share of cardinals, though, with 28 voting-age "princes" of the church.

___

Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-11-24-EU-Vatican-New-Cardinals/id-d52da4b4096b4fbcb8a3f42d35a32a66

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Tuesday, November 27, 2012

TEXT-S&P summary: Starhill Global Real Estate Investment Trust

Microbial 'missing link' discovered after man impales hand on tree branch

Record Powerball result of changes to boost sales

Retail stocks muted after strong holiday sales start

A glass of wine please, say Canadians who are moving to more ...

Monday, November 26, 2012

Falling over fiscal cliff could slash $20 billion in U.S. business travel ...

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Obama Coming After Your IRA And 401K | America's Conservative ...

'Dallas' star Larry Hagman dies at 81

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Pope elevates 6 cardinals to choose successor