Staying fit while growing a new member of the family in her womb, Danielle Jonas shared photos of her exercise routine on Thursday (October 24).
The wife of Kevin Jonas hit the gym, posting a series of three pics of herself working with dumbbells under the watchful eye of her trainer.
Showing off her progress in her fitness and pregnancy, the mommy-to-be tweeted, "My belly! and my muscles getting big with Anthony Michael!!! #preggoproblems."
Back in July, the eldest JoBro and his wife announced the happy news and later revealed that they are expecting a baby girl.
Paul Freeman drove 600 miles last year to save himself — and his employer — thousands of dollars on his surgery.
Freeman's insurer covered his travel costs and the entire bill because a medical center in Oklahoma City could remove the loose cartilage in his knee for about 70 percent less than a hospital closer to Freeman's Texhoma, Okla., home.
At first, the community bank CEO hesitated because he thought the lower price would mean lower quality. But he knew if he didn't make the roughly 10-hour roundtrip trek, he'd pay about $5,000 out of pocket.
"You immediately think, 'Oh they're going to take me into a butcher shop and it's going to be real scary,'" Freeman, 53, says, noting that instead he had a "wonderful experience."
People shop for deals on everything from cars to clothes to computers. Why not for health care, too?
Insurers, employers and individuals are shopping around for health care as they try to tame rising health care costs. Companies are doing things like paying for workers to travel if they agree to have a surgery performed in another city where the cost is cheaper. They're also providing online tools to help people search for better deals in their home market.
And some patients are bargain-hunting on their own. Through a website called MediBid, people who pay out of pocket are soliciting doctors, hospitals and medical centers to bid to perform knee surgeries and other non-emergency procedures.
Patients who shop for care represent a tiny slice of the roughly $2.7 trillion spent annually on health care in the U.S., said Devon Herrick, an economist who studies health care for the National Center for Policy Analysis. But he and other experts expect this trend to grow, especially as more companies offer insurance plans that require employees to pay thousands of dollars before most coverage starts. These so-called high-deductible plans also will be among the cheapest options available on the public exchanges set up as part of the health care overhaul to enable millions of uninsured people to shop for coverage.
Advocates say all the shopping will help control medical spending.
"We waste an enormous amount of money in this country by overpaying for health care," says John Goodman, an economist and CEO of the National Center for Policy Analysis. "The only way to get rid of waste is to have people compete in a real marketplace."
Searching for health care deals is a big change for many patients who're used to paying whatever their insurer didn't. Just figuring out an appropriate price for a procedure can be difficult for the average person.
Surgeries and other major procedures have different prices based on a variety of factors, including whether it's performed in a big city where care can cost more or in a hospital. And the portion that patients pay can vary widely. A lot depends on the type of insurance coverage and other factors like the leverage a provider has in negotiating rates.
For instance, a patient in Detroit with high-deductible health coverage provided by an employer could pay $920 or $2,791 out of pocket for a colonoscopy, according to research done by health care technology firm Castlight Health. Same patient. Same insurance coverage. Only difference: Where the procedure is performed.
"You can be a highly educated consumer now and still not understand what bill is going to hit you," says Dr. Giovanni Colella, CEO of Castlight, which designs an application that insurers or employers can give to patients to help them shop for health care based on price and quality.
It's also tough for patients to measure quality versus price. "You may find something (more expensive), but it doesn't mean it's better, safer, or more efficient," says Arthur Caplan, a medical ethicist at NYU Langone Medical Center.
Insurers and employers are encouraging workers to become more educated. They say quality is a priority when they ask patients if they want a better deal.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the largest private U.S. employer, provides health coverage for 1.1 million employees and their dependents. It runs a voluntary Centers of Excellence program that sends people to one of six hospital systems around the U.S. for certain heart, spine and transplant surgeries at no cost to the patient.
Wal-Mart spokesman Randy Hargrove says the program can save a patient between $5,000 and $10,000 in out-of-pocket costs, depending on their coverage. He says so far, dozens of patients have used the program that includes care providers at nationally-recognized places such as the Mayo Clinic.
The retailer also recently said it would start offering no-cost knee and hip replacement surgeries for employees who travel to one of four U.S. hospital systems. Wal-Mart is doing this through a national Employers Centers of Excellence Network that it joined with other big companies like the home improvement chain Lowe's.
Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield, Alaska's biggest health insurer, started a program in January that will pay expenses for some of its members to fly to Seattle for some procedures that come with huge price breaks. For instance, a knee surgery that costs $27,100 in Alaska can be performed for $13,000 in Seattle, according to the insurer.
A Premera spokesman says only a couple of people have used the program so far, but the insurer expects use to pick up as it includes more members next year.
Some patients are deal-hunting on their own. The website Medibid, which launched in 2010, connects patients who are paying out of pocket with doctors who bid to provide care. The website's founders say they've helped about 1,800 people find care.
Patients register with the site and pay either $25 per request or $4.95 a month for a year so they can post their medical needs on the site to solicit bids. Care providers, who register and pay fees of either $24.90 per month or about $250 annually, respond to patients with a bid.
Tess St. Clair, Medibid's chief operating officer, says the site helps people weigh their health care options: "The hardest thing for an American to do is ask the question, 'How much will this cost?' and get an answer."
Dr. Keith Smith, with the Surgery Center of Oklahoma, bids often on Medibid requests. Smith says his physician-owned center can offer better rates than some competitors because it doesn't charge a high facility fee like many hospitals do. The center competes on price and cuts out insurers.
Smith says this approach forces it to offer good care: The center cannot hide in an insurer's network and continue to receive patients regardless of the job it does.
"If we started cutting corners and worrying about our pocketbook before doing the right thing, we're going to lose our business," he says.
Rick Matthews, a motivational speaker, saved money on his hernia surgery last year by putting it up for bid on Medibid and having the procedure at Surgery Center of Oklahoma. Matthews, 62, decided to use Medibid after he learned that the care would cost about $20,000 without insurance at a hospital close to his Milaca, Minn., home.
Matthews pays for health care through a Christian cost-sharing ministry in which members chip in to help cover medical bills. He didn't want to stick them with a big bill. A doctor on Medibid said the surgery would cost about $3,600, including removing a cyst on his knuckle.
Counting costs for the roughly 1,400-plus mile roundtrip drive, Matthews figures the cost was about $4,500 — less than a quarter of the original estimate.
With a new record, the band Arcade Fire is trying to top their 2011 release, which won a Grammy for Album of the Year. Critic Will Hermes says that on Reflektor, they turn to dance music to try to reinvigorate their sound.
The Canadian rock band Arcade Fire released their first record "Funeral" back in 2004 on a small independent label. But these days there's nothing small about them. Their third record, "The Suburbs," won a Grammy and the band's upcoming fourth album is one of the most anticipated releases of the year. It's after a much hyped appearance on "Saturday Night Live" and a half hour special on NBC. Will Hermes has this review of "Reflektor."
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
WILL HERMES: Arcade Fire may have won an album-of-the-year Grammy for "The Suburbs," but that record struck me as kind of short on fresh ideas. This time they did what David Bowie, The Clash, Talking Heads and so many rock acts before them have done to reinvigorate their sound. They turned to dance music.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
HERMES: This is always a dicey strategy for rock bands, given the tribal rift that dates back to the rock versus disco battles of the 1970s. But wisely, Arcade Fire enlisted as co-producer James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem, a guy who's done more to bridge rock and dance music than anyone in the 21st century. And the band shuffles through all sorts of danceable rock tropes like on "Joan of Arc," which mixes punk and glam rock stadium stomp.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "JOAN OF ARC")
ARCADE FIRE: (Singing) They're the ones that spit on you, 'cause they got no heart. I'm the one that will follow you, you're my Joan of Arc. Joan of Arc.
HERMES: My favorite tracks draw on Haitian and Jamaican music like this one, "Here Comes the Nighttime."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HERE COMES THE NIGHTTIME")
FIRE: (Singing) Here's comes the night. Here comes the night, the night, the night time. Now the preachers they talk of (unintelligible). If you're looking for hell, just try looking inside.
HERMES: I'd like to hear the band go further with that Caribbean fusions. But "Reflektor's" really engaging, all 76 minutes of it. Unlike much dance music, the lyrics, which often address the vacancy of online culture, are actually worth unpacking. And when I saw Arcade Fire play some of these songs in a packed Brooklyn warehouse last week, it showed that good dance music, when used as intended, is a very effective cure for digital alienation. When you're fully shaking it in a room full of sweaty, good looking people, staring at your phone just seems stupid.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "AFTERLIFE")
FIRE: (Singing) And after all the hangers-on are done hanging on to the dead lights of the afterglow. I've gotta know. Can we work it out? We scream and shout 'till we work it out.
BLOCK: The new album from Arcade Fire is "Reflektor." And you can hear the interview with the band on Monday on MORNING EDITION. Our critic Will Hermes is author of the book, "Love Goes To Buildings On Fire."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "AFTERLIFE")
FIRE: (Singing) 'Till we work it out. 'Till we work it out. 'Till we work it out. Afterlife. I think I saw...
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
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BLOCK: And if you want to hear something again or catch up on what you've missed, just go to our webpage. It's all online at npr.org/allthingsconsidered.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
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Three brand-new cable channels all share exactly the same problem: How do you wrench the eyeballs of 20-somethings away from their gadgets and toward old-fashioned regular TV?
In this Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2013 photo, Matthew Cordle enters court for his arraignment on a charge of aggravated vehicular homicide in Columbus, Ohio. Attorneys are seeking a reduced sentence for Cordle, who confessed in an online video to causing a fatal wrong-way crash after a night of drinking. (AP Photo/Mike Munden)
In this Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2013 photo, Matthew Cordle enters court for his arraignment on a charge of aggravated vehicular homicide in Columbus, Ohio. Attorneys are seeking a reduced sentence for Cordle, who confessed in an online video to causing a fatal wrong-way crash after a night of drinking. (AP Photo/Mike Munden)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A sentencing hearing for a 22-year-old Ohio man who caused a fatal crash after a night of heavy drinking has begun with a video of him confessing being played in court.
Matthew Cordle faces up to eight years in prison for the June crash that killed 61-year-old Vincent Canzani.
Cordle confessed to the crime in an online video that went viral.
During Wednesday's hearing, the judge read a letter from Canzini's ex-wife who said she believed he wouldn't have wanted a maximum sentence. She said she believes Cordle will keep his promises never to drink and drive again
His daughter asked for the maximum sentence, saying her father "got a death sentence and did nothing wrong."
Cordle's father told Canzani's family that his heart was filled with sorrow at their loss and he hopes someday they can forgive his son.
Yesterday we learned from a record executive that Beyoncé MAY be releasing her new album in December but today we hear something more concrete from songwriter/producer Pharrell Williams, who has direct knowledge of Bey‘s new album. According to Pharrell, Bey is almost finished with her album but he gives no hint WHATSOEVER that she is ready to release her new album by year’s end. According to Pharrell, Beyoncé will not be releasing her album until she feels it’s ready for release so … we wait with bated breath. Click below to read Pharrell‘s comments on Bey‘s album and get excited nonetheless.
Pharrell Williams has said the new Beyoncé album he’s working on is almost finished. The producer and Daft Punk collaborator says the singer’s new material is “crazy” but added that she won’t put out any music until she is absolutely happy with it. “B’s album is crazy,” he told Billboard. “Let me tell you what it is. She’s very particular. She’s a Virgo. And she’s not going to put it out until it’s ready and feels like it’s right to her.” “She’s got a very specific taste,” he continued. “I guess that’s the reason she’s Beyoncé. Her name is recognisable around the globe and that’s huge. That comes from someone that has very particular taste. When you know what you want, you won’t stop until you get it. [Other people are hearing her album] and are like ‘Whoa!’ And she’s like, ‘Yeah, I’m almost done.’ And she’s the queen.”
SO … this doesn’t entirely dash our hopes for a December release date but … I’m guessing we shouldn’t hold our breaths just based on what that Columbia Records exec said yesterday. My guess is that the record company REALLY wants Beyoncé to release this year (in time for the holiday shopping season) but she’s gonna do what she’s gonna do. That said, if she’s “almost done” then there is still time for it to be completely done and in stores by December, right? Lord, I hope so. I am dying for a new Beyoncé album so … BEY, YOU BETTA WORK, B!
Rihanna, the bad girl of pop, is featured on the cover and in the pages of the new issue of British GQ magazine. As you can see below, Ri Ri is all dolled up as Medusa from Greek myth … and I have to admit, she looks pretty cool. Rihanna‘s cover feature was overseen by artist Damien Hirst so, clearly, this issue of GQ is super extra special. Click below to get your first look at Rihanna on the cover of GQ and check out just how badass she looks inside the mag.
Damien Hirst is one of the world’s most highly acclaimed living artists. Rihanna is one of the world’s most successful pop icons. To celebrate GQ’s 25th anniversary, these two creative firebrands embarked on an art project the like of which has never been seen before. See the full portfolio, art directed by Damien Hirst, in the special anniversary issue of GQ, on newsstands and available to download from 31 October.
And just in time for Hallowe’en. Sure, Rihanna is naked AGAIN but at least this time she’s naked and kinda cool rather just merely naked as usual. I am all about this cover photo. I can’t wait to see the rest of the photos from this spread. Go on with your bad self, Miss Ri Ri.
The protein, unsaturated fat composition and fiber in almonds all very likely play a role in helping to curb appetites.
iStockphoto.com
The protein, unsaturated fat composition and fiber in almonds all very likely play a role in helping to curb appetites.
iStockphoto.com
Americans seem to have a love affair with snacking.
As a society, we eat twice as many snacks as we did a generation ago. Women, on average, nosh on upwards of 400 snack calories per day, according to federal survey data. And men consume almost 600 calories a day in between meals.
So, if nibbling is our new pastime, researchers have a suggestion for one satiating snack that seems to help control our appetites: almonds.
According to the findings of fresh research published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, people who added 1.5 ounces of almonds to their diet each day reported reduced hunger, and they compensated for the extra calories from nuts by eating less at other times of the day.
"This research suggests that almonds may be a good snack option, especially for those concerned about weight," says Richard Mattes, a professor of nutrition science at Purdue University. "Despite adding 250 calories to the diet, there was no change in total energy intake."
And after a month of eating almonds each day, the participants did not gain weight.
If you listen to my story on All Things Considered, you'll hear how Glenn Reed of East Orange, N.J., manages to stay slim. We met up with him at Union Station, in Washington, D.C., during the late afternoon commuting rush.
"There's a lot of junk and sugar here [at the train station]," Reed noted, "so I always look for something with nuts in it."
As he munched on trail mix that included almonds and dried cranberries, he says nuts may be calorie dense and full of fat — which many Americans are wary of — but for him, nuts are the perfect snack.
"I love the crunchiness, and this is a snack that will definitely ... hold you over [until dinner]," Reed told me.
So what is it about nuts that can help curb our appetites? It's most likely a combination of factors, explains Mattes.
"The protein, the unsaturated fat composition, the fiber" all very likely play a role, he says. And almonds are low in carbohydrates, which tend to stimulate our appetites.
One other factor? Chewing. As we've reported, research has shown that if we don't chew our almonds thoroughly, some of the calories move right through us — undigested.
Prior research has already shown that almonds help increase satiety, both in people of normal weight and those prone to being overweight.
The new observation here, according to Mattes, is that almonds are even "better at controlling appetite when consumed as snacks."
His team found that eating almonds in between meals tended to blunt the rise in hunger, compared with when people ate the nuts as part of a meal.
It's not clear whether all nuts have this effect. This study was funded by the almond industry, and researchers didn't evaluate other types of nuts.
Mattes explains that industry-funded studies are becoming more common, especially as government funding becomes harder to obtain. But he emphasizes that the research is carried out completely independently and is peer-reviewed before being published.
"So it does have the checks and balances," Mattes concludes.
Software provider New Relic is extending its system administrator tools for monitoring the performance of applications to help business managers as well.
"The data coming out of your software is transformative to your business. The answers are there, you just to need to query the data correctly and do it fast," said New Relic CEO Lew Cirne, speaking Thursday at the company's FutureStack13 user conference in San Francisco.
In 2014, New Relic will launch a service, now called Rubicon, that promises to provide information on how an organization's applications and websites are being used by their customers. It leverages the operational data already collected by New Relic's software agents.
The company also announced that it has updated its flagship application performance management (APM) software and launched a new APM monitor for mobile clients.
APM software, offered by companies such as New Relic, CA, and Compuware, can collect vast amounts of operational metrics, such as the time it takes for a database to return a response. This data can be useful for debugging a slow-running application or to alert IT staff when an application stops running altogether.
That data could also be useful for other business units within an organization, Cirne said. Typically, though, retrieving and formatting such large volumes of unstructured data has been difficult to do in-house. "You have to think very hard about the question you pose, because it may take weeks before you get the data in, formatted, and get an answer back," Cirne said.
The idea behind Rubicon is to simplify that process.
The Rubicon service will provide an event database to collect the raw operational data, as well as a set of tools to query and build reports against that data.
The service could reveal, for instance, how many users deployed a particular feature on an application within the prior 24 hours.
The service supplies SQL-like language to interrogate the database, which collects operational data from agents attached to the application.
Cirne, who coded the first version of Rubicon, called the culling and analysis of this data "software analytics." It can aggregate data around how many users deployed an application, what features they tried, what OSes they used and what countries they reside in.
Rubicon can run queries on the fly, allowing users to filter for the specific attributes they are looking for. Data can be grouped by a time series or it can show data of current actions currently being taken.
Users' queries can also be displayed on a dashboard or supplied to another application as a JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) feed.
Existing New Relic customers can sign up to try a beta of the software when it becomes available.
Beyond the Rubicon announcement, the company also updated its flagship APM software, the highlights of which Cirne also discussed during his keynote.
The software now can monitor the performance of Node.js, an increasingly widely used framework for running JavaScript applications on a server. Over 10,000 New Relic customers asked for Node.js support, Cirne said.
To work with Node.js, New Relic partnered with Joyent, Microsoft Windows Azure Mobile Services, CloudBees, and EngineYard.
New Relic is not alone in its support of Node.js. Apigee also announced this week that it would support Node.js on its API (application programming interface) management service.
There's some big excitement in the sleepy town of Dingwall, Scotland, where the remnants of Viking parliamentary gathering spot was just discovered under a parking lot. This is where Norse nobleman would get together and settle their differences before swords started swinging. Now it's a Camry hangout.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Jackie Chan says his mission is complete.
Chan wrote, directed and stars in "Chinese Zodiac," an action comedy which centers on a team attempting to steal some of the 12 bronze statues looted from a Chinese palace in 1860.
Since the movie was released in China last year, two of the real statues were returned to China by Francois Pinault, head of Gucci's parent company.
The 59-year-old Hong Kong star praised their return, saying he hopes all such looted artifacts can be returned from Western museums.
Chan says he isn't quitting anytime soon. He completed filming on another installment in his "Police Story" franchise and is discussing another movie alongside "Rush Hour" co-star Chris Tucker. He said scheduling conflicts prevented him from joining Sylvester Stallone's "Expendables 3" ensemble.
LG clearly doesn't have a monopoly on Quad HD smartphone screens -- Japan Display has unveiled two low-temperature polysilicon (LTPS) LCDs that offer the extra-sharp 2,560 x 1,440 resolution. The headlining 5.4-inch panel is ever so slightly denser than its Korean equivalent, at 543ppi; there's also a 6.2-inch (473ppi) model for giant devices. Both LCDs have "dead-bands" that are just 1mm thick, which should lead to extra-slim bezels on finished products. Japan Display hasn't said which companies will use the Quad HD screens, but it's easy to see one of the joint venture's partners (Hitachi, Sony or Toshiba) calling first dibs.
FILE - In this Sunday, March 31, 2013 file photo, a bodyguard secures popular Egyptian television satirist Bassem Youssef, who has come to be known as Egypt's Jon Stewart, as he enters Egypt's state prosecutors office to face accusations of insulting Islam and the country's Islamist leader in Cairo, Egypt. After more than four months away, the man known as “Egypt’s Jon Stewart†returns the airwaves Friday in a country radically different from the one he previously mocked. Satirist Bassem Youssef’s weekly “El-Bernameg,†or “The Program†in Arabic, mocked the country’s first elected Islamist president and his supporters for mixing religion and politics, took them to task for failing to be inclusive or deliver on people’s demands for change_ to the extent that some said he was one of the main reasons people turned against Mohammed Morsi. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)
FILE - In this Sunday, March 31, 2013 file photo, a bodyguard secures popular Egyptian television satirist Bassem Youssef, who has come to be known as Egypt's Jon Stewart, as he enters Egypt's state prosecutors office to face accusations of insulting Islam and the country's Islamist leader in Cairo, Egypt. After more than four months away, the man known as “Egypt’s Jon Stewart†returns the airwaves Friday in a country radically different from the one he previously mocked. Satirist Bassem Youssef’s weekly “El-Bernameg,†or “The Program†in Arabic, mocked the country’s first elected Islamist president and his supporters for mixing religion and politics, took them to task for failing to be inclusive or deliver on people’s demands for change_ to the extent that some said he was one of the main reasons people turned against Mohammed Morsi. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)
FILE - In this Saturday Dec. 8, 2012 file photo, Egyptian TV host Bassem Youssef addresses attendants at a gala dinner party in Cairo, Egypt. After more than four months away, the man known as “Egypt’s Jon Stewart” returns the airwaves Friday in a country radically different from the one he previously mocked. Satirist Bassem Youssef’s weekly “El-Bernameg,” or “The Program” in Arabic, mocked the country’s first elected Islamist president and his supporters for mixing religion and politics, took them to task for failing to be inclusive or deliver on people’s demands for change_ to the extent that some said he was one of the main reasons people turned against Mohammed Morsi. (AP Photo/Ahmed Omar, File)
FILE - In this Sunday, March 31, 2013 file photo, Egyptian popular television satirist Bassem Youssef, who has come to be known as Egypt's Jon Stewart, waves to is supporters as he enters Egypt's state prosecutors office to face accusations of insulting Islam and the country's Islamist leader in Cairo, Egypt. After more than four months away, the man known as “Egypt’s Jon Stewart” returns the airwaves Friday in a country radically different from the one he previously mocked. Satirist Bassem Youssef’s weekly “El-Bernameg,” or “The Program” in Arabic, mocked the country’s first elected Islamist president and his supporters for mixing religion and politics, took them to task for failing to be inclusive or deliver on people’s demands for change_ to the extent that some said he was one of the main reasons people turned against Mohammed Morsi. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)
CAIRO (AP) — "Welcome to The Program!" Every week Egyptians obsessively tuned in to hear that slogan and watch groundbreaking TV political satirist Bassem Youssef flay their politicians. Some loved his biting humor, others were infuriated, but no one could ignore it. For four months, they've gone without him, his show kept off the air by turmoil surrounding the country's coup.
Now the man known as "Egypt's Jon Stewart" is back, returning to the air Friday night in a country radically different from four months ago.
When Youssef's final show of last season aired, the president was Islamist Mohammed Morsi — Youssef's favorite target. The satirist mocked him and his Islamist supporters mercilessly week after week for mixing religion and politics and for botching the governing of the country. Soon after the last show, massive protests began against Morsi, paving the way for the military to remove him.
Since then, divisions have grown deeper and hatreds stronger. Hundreds have been killed in crackdowns on protesters demanding Morsi's reinstatement. Attacks by Islamic extremists have increased. A nationalist, pro-military fervor is gripping the country, leaving little tolerance among the public or officials for criticism of the new leadership, with military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi lionized as a hero.
So the question hanging over Friday's episode of "El-Bernameg" — Arabic for "The Program": Will Youssef mock the military-backed leadership and its supporters as sharply as he did Morsi and the Islamists?
Doing so could anger Youssef's mainly liberal fan base, who adored the way he excoriated Islamists and who now largely support the military. But if he avoids it and focuses his jokes against Islamists, he could appear to be caving in to pressure. Morsi supporters — some of whom "hate-watched" Youssef as obsessively as his fans did — are already predicting the 39-year-old satirist will sell out.
In an article Tuesday, Youssef took up the challenge, criticizing the intimidating atmosphere.
"I admit things are much harder now," Youssef wrote in his weekly article in Al-Shorouk. "Not only because the raw material coming from religious stations or from Morsi has diminished," he quipped, referring to the rich vein of folly from Islamists he often mined for jokes — "but because the general mood is different."
"In reality, there is no tolerance on the Brotherhood side or among those who call themselves liberals. Everyone is looking for a pharaoh that suits them," he wrote.
He said military supporters tell him, "Don't talk about el-Sissi" — "even though they were the same ones waiting for me to talk about Morsi."
He noted that under Morsi's year-long presidency, Islamist critics sent him to the prosecution office for questioning on possible charges of insulting the presidency. "I may be visiting (it) again soon at the hands of other people, who allegedly love freedom dearly — when it works in their favor," he jabbed.
Most of all, he pointed to the difficulty of joking amid tragedy. "How do we come up with a comedy program when the talk all day is about blood?" he wrote. "When people live in fear, terror, hate and anger, no one listens to reason, let alone satire."
The surgeon-turned-comedian's form "Daily Show"-style program brought an entirely new type of political satire to Egypt. He began with short, independently made YouTube episodes during the 2011 uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak. His show was picked up by a TV station popular among young revolutionaries. As his star rose, he moved to another station, CBC, seen as stacked by former supporters of Mubarak.
Many thought Youssef would follow the station's conservative line. But he turned his jokes against his own station, mocking its claims of revolutionary credentials. With sky-high ratings bringing advertising cash, CBC was not about to drop him.
But his biggest target was the Islamist elite that rose to power in post-Mubarak elections — excoriating them so sharply that some credit him for fueling the tidal wave of protests against Morsi. In fast-paced jokes, Youssef lampooned Morsi's clumsy speeches and gestures. He played clips from Islamist TV stations to expose hypocrisy in their mix of religion and politics. He fact-checked the president. One episode in which he played video clips showing 2010 remarks by Morsi, calling Zionists "pigs," caused a brief diplomatic tiff with Washington.
In reply, Islamist lawyers tried to sue him for "corrupting morals" or "violating religious principles" and prompted the arrest warrant for "insulting the presidency." He was questioned by prosecutors and released without charges.
Naila Hamdy, a journalism professor at the American University in Cairo, said Youssef might go after the military-backed civilian government or satirize out-of-control pro-military fervor. But mocking the military directly is harder, given the public mood. "It is a very highly mobilized nationalist feeling in the country. Even Bassem Youssef would not want to go against that."
Social media have been buzzing. A Twitter hashtag of "#Joy" was started by fans for his return.
"Will he be like all the other media personalities or will he stand out?" tweeted one fan, referring to other media's unquestioning backing of the military.
One pro-Morsi protester, Mahmoud Mohammed said Friday he always watched Youssef "to know what the other camp is saying."
And he's convinced the comedian will stick to knocking Islamists and avoid the military. "The government repression is too heavy."
Hundreds of students and residents attend a candlelight vigil at Sparks Middle School in Sparks, Nev., on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013, in honor of slain teacher Michael Landsberry and two 12-year-old students who were injured after a fellow student open fire at the school on Monday, before turning the gun on himself. (AP Photo/Cathleen Allison)
Hundreds of students and residents attend a candlelight vigil at Sparks Middle School in Sparks, Nev., on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013, in honor of slain teacher Michael Landsberry and two 12-year-old students who were injured after a fellow student open fire at the school on Monday, before turning the gun on himself. (AP Photo/Cathleen Allison)
Jannelle Tan grieves for her teacher Michael Landsberry during a vigil held at Sparks Middle School on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013 in Sparks, Nev. Monday's shooting left Landsberry dead and two students injured. Several hundred people attended the interfaith memorial. (AP Photo/The Reno Gazette-Journal, Tim Dunn) NO SALES; NEVADA APPEAL OUT; SOUTH RENO WEEKLY OUT
Washoe County School Board President Barbara Clark walks Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013, past a makeshift memorial in front of Sparks Middle School in Sparks, Nev., where math teacher Michael Landsberry was killed and two students wounded before a 12-year-old gunman killed himself. Landsberry was known as a tough ex-Mairne who taught with compassion, coached basketball and soccer and was a big fan of Batman. (AP Photo/Scott Sonner).
SPARKS, Nev. (AP) — As they try to understand what prompted a 12-year-old boy to open fire at his school, district officials were examining an anti-bullying video that includes a dramatization of a child taking a gun on a school bus to scare aggressors.
The video, which uses the scene as an illustration of the wrong way to respond, was being studied as students and faculty members prepared to return to Sparks Middle School, where a boy fatally shot a teacher, wounded two classmates and killed himself Monday.
Sparks city spokesman Adam R. Mayberry identified the shooter Thursday as Jose Reyes.
Washoe County School District spokeswoman Victoria Campbell said school officials were examining the video but couldn't comment because it's part of the broader investigation into the shooting just outside the school building about 5 miles northeast of downtown Reno.
Reno's KRNV-TV reported that some students said they watched the video, entitled "Bully," earlier this month. The station has broadcast excerpts.
Katherine Loudon, the school district's director of counseling, equity and diversity, said anything that would have been presented to children would have been part of a district-wide bullying prevention and intervention initiative that includes all schools in the county.
"We've been told by Sparks Police Department to not discuss that particular curriculum," Loudon said.
It wasn't clear if the video had been seen by the young shooter, whom police previously refused to identify. Police had said they wanted to respect the boy's family but came under pressure from media organizations over that decision.
City officials previously acknowledged a report from the Univision affiliate in Reno that disclosed the name and said they decided to release it publicly to be fair to families and other media outlets.
About 700 people, including Gov. Brian Sandoval, students, parents and siblings, attended a private ceremony Thursday morning in the school's gymnasium, which students had decorated with posters, tributes, balloons and stuffed animals in recognition of their beloved math teacher, Michael Landsberry.
The 45-year-old had served as a Marine and coached basketball and soccer. He was known by all as a big fan of Batman. In addition to drawings and references to the cartoon super hero, one unidentified veteran left the U.S. Navy Medal for Meritorious Service he earned in Iraq, with a note that read, "You deserve the medal of honor in my book."
"It's heartbreaking," school district police chief Mike Mieras said Thursday as he gazed at the growing pile of mementos.
Loudon said it was important for the children to have a chance to get back inside the school before classes resume on Monday.
"As all of you can imagine, this has been a very difficult week," she said. "Kids want to know, 'What does their building look like? Is it OK? What is everything like?'" she said.
School Superintendent Pedro Martinez said in an extensive email to all district parents that officials are reaching out to provide counseling and other services. Parents were encouraged to do the same.
"It is difficult to imagine something of this nature happening in our own community and impacting us so closely," Martinez said. "We know we will be feeling many emotions as we struggle to understand and cope with this incident," he wrote.
Martinez outlined a variety of resources available to families, including a crisis call center and Northern Nevada Mental Health Services.
The email was sent Wednesday night while hundreds of students and others gathered at a candlelight vigil outside the school, where community leaders and clergy offered prayers and words of encouragement.
"We pray for a world where guns and children don't go together — where violence is not the first or second or third way children think of to solve problems," said Julia Rubin of Reno's Temple Sinai. "We pray after we have mourned and comforted each other we can take steps to address the root cause of violence and gun use by children throughout our country."
Meanwhile, the mother of one of the wounded boys told reporters she's committed to helping promote gun safety in the community, and her son said he used to think of guns as a toy, but not anymore.
Jenifer Davis said it's a "miracle" that her 12-year-old son, Mason Kamerer, survived.
"As a result of this incident, I will be getting involved with issues around gun safety in the hopes of preventing this kind of situation in the future," said Davis, who said she has owned guns and always kept them locked but will be even more proactive in the future.
Mason told CNN he heard what sounded like distant gunfire and spotted Landsberry lying motionless on the ground before he found himself within 10 to 20 feet of the shooter, who said nothing before firing a single shot.
Contact: Andy Freeberg afreeberg@slac.stanford.edu 650-926-4359 DOE/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Scientists used the powerful X-ray laser at the U.S. Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory to create movies detailing trillionths-of-a-second changes in the arrangement of copper atoms after an extreme shock. Movies like these will help researchers create new kinds of materials and test the strength of existing ones.
This work, published Oct. 11 in Science, pinpointed the precise breaking point when the extreme pressures began to permanently deform the copper structure, or lattice, so it could no longer bounce back to its original shape. Such experiments provide a direct test of complex computer simulations that model the behavior of many millions of atoms within tiny samples of material.
Such simulations are used to design stronger, more durable materials such as shielding for satellites to withstand high-speed pelting by space debris but they have been hard to test in the lab because of the tiny samples and short timescales involved.
"The results enable a number of materials experiments that can be compared to simulations at the same scales," said Despina Milathianaki, a staff scientist at SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) who led the experiment. "This and future experiments, designed to provide a direct comparison with simulations, will help us to accurately predict the strength of materials in extreme conditions."
In this experiment, researchers shocked a layer of copper about 1 thousandth of a millimeter, or 1 micron thick with optical laser pulses, and then probed the copper's lattice with ultrabright X-ray pulses. They compiled the X-ray images into atomic-scale movies that detail how the lattice responded at various times after the shock, including the moment the copper reached its breaking point.
"The demand for research time at LCLS is already at a premium, and these results demonstrate yet another new technique that we believe will open the door to a host of new experiments," said Sebastien Boutet, who leads LCLS's Coherent X-ray Imaging (CXI) Department, where the measurements were performed.
The same research team composed mostly of SLAC scientists, with collaborators from University of Oxford, Stanford University and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory also shocked other metals, including iron and titanium, and is analyzing the data obtained from those samples.
Follow-up research scheduled at LCLS in March seeks to extend the research to additional materials and to enlist other x-ray scattering techniques, which may provide more details about the origins of the damage in the lattice.
###
SLAC is a multi-program laboratory exploring frontier questions in photon science, astrophysics, particle physics and accelerator research. Located in Menlo Park, California, SLAC is operated by Stanford University for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science. To learn more, please visit http://www.slac.stanford.edu.
This research was supported by the Linac Coherent Light Source's (LCLS) in-house research effort. SLAC's LCLS is the world's most powerful X-ray free-electron laser. A DOE national user facility, its highly focused beam shines a billion times brighter than previous X-ray sources to shed light on fundamental processes of chemistry, materials and energy science, technology and life itself. For more information, visit lcls.slac.stanford.edu.
DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov.
Citation: D. Milathianaki et al., Science, 11 Oct 2013 (10.1126/science.1239566)
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Copper shock: An atomic-scale stress test
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
22-Oct-2013
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Contact: Andy Freeberg afreeberg@slac.stanford.edu 650-926-4359 DOE/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Scientists used the powerful X-ray laser at the U.S. Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory to create movies detailing trillionths-of-a-second changes in the arrangement of copper atoms after an extreme shock. Movies like these will help researchers create new kinds of materials and test the strength of existing ones.
This work, published Oct. 11 in Science, pinpointed the precise breaking point when the extreme pressures began to permanently deform the copper structure, or lattice, so it could no longer bounce back to its original shape. Such experiments provide a direct test of complex computer simulations that model the behavior of many millions of atoms within tiny samples of material.
Such simulations are used to design stronger, more durable materials such as shielding for satellites to withstand high-speed pelting by space debris but they have been hard to test in the lab because of the tiny samples and short timescales involved.
"The results enable a number of materials experiments that can be compared to simulations at the same scales," said Despina Milathianaki, a staff scientist at SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) who led the experiment. "This and future experiments, designed to provide a direct comparison with simulations, will help us to accurately predict the strength of materials in extreme conditions."
In this experiment, researchers shocked a layer of copper about 1 thousandth of a millimeter, or 1 micron thick with optical laser pulses, and then probed the copper's lattice with ultrabright X-ray pulses. They compiled the X-ray images into atomic-scale movies that detail how the lattice responded at various times after the shock, including the moment the copper reached its breaking point.
"The demand for research time at LCLS is already at a premium, and these results demonstrate yet another new technique that we believe will open the door to a host of new experiments," said Sebastien Boutet, who leads LCLS's Coherent X-ray Imaging (CXI) Department, where the measurements were performed.
The same research team composed mostly of SLAC scientists, with collaborators from University of Oxford, Stanford University and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory also shocked other metals, including iron and titanium, and is analyzing the data obtained from those samples.
Follow-up research scheduled at LCLS in March seeks to extend the research to additional materials and to enlist other x-ray scattering techniques, which may provide more details about the origins of the damage in the lattice.
###
SLAC is a multi-program laboratory exploring frontier questions in photon science, astrophysics, particle physics and accelerator research. Located in Menlo Park, California, SLAC is operated by Stanford University for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science. To learn more, please visit http://www.slac.stanford.edu.
This research was supported by the Linac Coherent Light Source's (LCLS) in-house research effort. SLAC's LCLS is the world's most powerful X-ray free-electron laser. A DOE national user facility, its highly focused beam shines a billion times brighter than previous X-ray sources to shed light on fundamental processes of chemistry, materials and energy science, technology and life itself. For more information, visit lcls.slac.stanford.edu.
DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov.
Citation: D. Milathianaki et al., Science, 11 Oct 2013 (10.1126/science.1239566)
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Share
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are officially engaged! And while we know that their upcoming nuptials are sure to be even bigger than the over-the-top engagement, we also know that it will be Kardashian's third time down the aisle.
TOKYO (AP) — Japan's consumer prices rose in September for the fourth straight month, boosted mainly by higher energy costs, in the latest set of data showing fitful progress toward revitalizing the economy.
The core consumer price index, which excludes food, was up 0.7 percent compared with 0.8 percent in August, the Management and Coordination Agency said. With food prices factored in, the index was up 1.1 percent.
The government is striving to end a long bout of deflation through aggressive monetary easing and hefty spending on public works. Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda insists the economy is on track to achieve an official target of 2 percent inflation within the next year or so.
But economists say much of the increase in prices in recent months has been due to higher costs for imported food and energy as the Japanese yen has weakened as a result of mammoth monetary easing.
"Import price inflation has remained stubbornly high, so we could see a further mild increase in goods inflation in coming months. But the pass-through from the weak yen to goods prices has now mostly run its course," Capital Economics said in a commentary Friday.
It said further prices increases would likely be muted.
A planned 3 percentage point increase in the 5 percent national sales tax in April 2014 is expected to weigh on growth in the coming year, despite government stimulus measures to counter the expected impact on consumer demand.
Consumer spending is likely to gain some oomph, however, as shoppers rush to buy big ticket items such as vehicles ahead of the tax hike.
Weaker than expected growth in exports, despite the weaker yen, is also viewed as a sign of wavering momentum.
"Economic recovery takes a break," said a headline in Friday's edition of the financial newspaper Nikkei Shimbun.
Excluding food and energy costs, the inflation index was flat, the first time since 2008 that measure has not fallen.
Japanese consumers are facing price hikes for a wide array of items, including most food products. Fresh food prices rose 11 percent in September from a year earlier, including a 58 percent increase in the price of cucumbers. Gasoline prices rose 9 percent and electricity rates 7.6 percent, for a 5.4 percent increase in overall utility rates.
Price increases for other consumer goods, housing and services have remained weak, however, due to competition and oversupply.
Wage increases, key to stimulating consumer demand, have been slow in coming. Major labor groups say they plan to push for more than 1 percent increases in base wages in spring labor negotiations next year, for the first time in five years. But any increase in average incomes is likely to be more than offset by price and tax hikes.
"This Is Not a Song, It's an Outburst: Or, the Establishment Blues"
For another dose of Sense of Place: Detroit, we revisit an archived studio session from 2009 Rodríguez. The Motor City folk rocker's albums from the '70s, Cold Fact and Coming from Reality, were being re-released at the time of this interview. While those records became huge hits in South Africa several years after their initial U.S. release, back in Detroit, Rodriguez was completely unaware of his fame until decades later.
The incredible story of Rodríguez's latent success was brought to an international audience by the 2012 documentary Searching for Sugar Man. He tells the tale in his own words here on the World Cafe.
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — DuPont Co. says it will spin off its Performance Chemicals unit to shareholders.
The company has said previously that it was looking at options for the unit. Performance Chemicals is one of DuPont's largest businesses by revenue, but it has been struggling because of falling prices for titanium dioxide, a key industrial pigment.
It says it expects the spinoff to its shareholders to happen in about a year and a half.
The company says the spinoff will give it more reliable earnings growth.
When DuPont reported earnings on Tuesday it said that Performance Chemicals sales have fallen 9 percent so far this year. Pre-tax operating income in that unit is less than half of what it was at this time last year.
Its shares rose $1.62 to $63 in after-hours trading.
An impressive story for those who can follow its dense political maneuvers.
Venue
Hamptons International Film Festival
Directors
Carlos Aguilo, Mandy Jacobson
Suggesting that the fall of apartheid and the release of Nelson Mandela can be tracked back to a sole commodities trader in France, Plot for Peace introduces viewers to a timeline of secret meetings and diplomacy so finely balanced one can hardly believe it all worked. The tale is surprising, and directors Carlos Aguilo and Mandy Jacobson blaze right through it -- recounting ins and outs across an entire continent in ways that will challenge most viewers in the West. Mandela's marquee value is the doc's biggest selling point, but he's not really a part of the story; though its value for history students is clear, commercial appeal isn't.
Jean-Yves Ollivier, known to some as "Monsieur Jacques," was born in Algeria and experienced that country's civil war as a teenager. So when he visited South Africa as a businessman in 1981, he was primed to understand the unsustainability of a system in which a small number of insulated whites oppressed a vast black population. To hear him describe it, he ignored global sanctions and did business in the country in order to keep South Africans communicating with neighboring countries; in time, the entrepreneur became an advisor to Jacque Chirac on African affairs, and his history of making connections with those the world had shunned paid off.
Ollivier's tale is told first-hand and corroborated by heads of state, spies, and American diplomat Chester Crocker -- none of whom ever saw the whole picture of Ollivier's operation as he was conducting it. The film describes a complex series of political trades that led to a dramatic 1987 prisoner swap on a tarmac in Mozambique; elsewhere, Monsieur Jacques helped negotiate the removal of South African and Cuban troops from Angola, initiating a "domino effect" of peace in the region.
The narrative is dauntingly dense and quick-moving for those lacking a working knowledge of 1980s geopolitics, but fine photography and lively interviewees help pull us through parts we mightn't quite understand -- conveying the sense that we're meeting a kind of hero, even if the mechanics of his achievements don't always sink in.
Production Company: Indelible Media
Directors: Carlos Aguilo, Mandy Jacobson
Screenwriter: Stephen Smith
Producer: Mandy Jacobson
Director of photography: Rita Noriega, Diego Olivier
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