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December 30, 2011
Jefferson City, Mo. - The Missouri Department of Insurance has appointed two veteran insurance regulators to division director positions:
Matt Barton, Consumer Affairs Division - Barton has worked at the Department of Insurance since 2005, serving as public information officer, manager of the Licensing Section and as a regulatory projects manager, where he led successful implementation of technology to make numerous areas of the agency more effective and efficient.
Barton's division, Consumer Affairs, is responsible for handling consumer complaints against insurance companies and agents. Thanks to the division's efforts, consumers who filed complaints against their insurance companies have received more than $40 million in additional payments since 2009.
In his role as the department's regulatory project manager, Barton also had leadership roles on committees through the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). He previously chaired the State-Based-Systems product steering committee and currently serves on the Producer Licensing Working Group and the International Regulatory Cooperation Working Group.
Before coming to the Department of Insurance, Barton managed securities licensing in the Missouri Secretary of State's office. He has a bachelor's degree in business administration from Lincoln University in Jefferson City.
Angela Nelson, Market Regulation Division - Nelson has worked at the department since 2002, and for the past two and a half years directed the Consumer Affairs Division. As division director, she led the department's recovery efforts on behalf of victims of the May 22 Joplin tornado. Her division's efforts helped secure an additional $3 million in claims payments for consumers who filed complaints related to the tornado. Statewide recoveries for Missouri consumers in 2011 currently stand at $18 million, a record amount for Missouri.
Prior to joining the Department of Insurance, Nelson was a licensed insurance agent with a State Farm agency in Holts Summit, Mo.
In addition to an extensive insurance background, Nelson graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree and an MBA from William Woods University. She currently serves as Chair of the NAIC Transparency and Readability of Consumer Information Working Group. She also serves on the:
Nelson takes over the Market Regulation Division, which:
"Both Angela Nelson and Matt Barton have served as invaluable members of our department's leadership team," said John M. Huff, director of the Missouri Department of Insurance. "As veteran insurance regulators, they will provide outstanding direction for these two divisions, which are key to ensuring consumers are treated fairly and encouraging a competitive insurance marketplace in Missouri."
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About the Missouri Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions & Professional Registration
The Missouri Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration (DIFP) is responsible for consumer protection through the regulation of financial industries and professionals. The department's seven divisions work to enforce state regulations both efficiently and effectively while encouraging a competitive environment for industries and professions to ensure consumers have access to quality products.
###
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CHICAGO ? Bill Dunphy thought his colonoscopy would be free.
His insurance company told him it would be covered 100 percent, with no copayment from him and no charge against his deductible. The nation's 1-year-old health law requires most insurance plans to cover all costs for preventive care including colon cancer screening. So Dunphy had the procedure in April.
Then the bill arrived: $1,100.
Dunphy, a 61-year-old Phoenix small business owner, angrily paid it out of his own pocket because of what some prevention advocates call a loophole. His doctor removed two noncancerous polyps during the colonoscopy. So while Dunphy was sedated, his preventive screening turned into a diagnostic procedure. That allowed his insurance company to bill him.
Like many Americans, Dunphy has a high-deductible insurance plan. He hadn't spent his deductible yet. So, on top of his $400 monthly premium, he had to pay the bill.
"That's bait and switch," Dunphy said. "If it isn't fraud, it's immoral."
President Barack Obama's health overhaul encourages prevention by requiring most insurance plans to pay for preventive care. On the plus side, more than 22 million Medicare patients and many more Americans with private insurance have received one or more free covered preventive services this year. From cancer screenings to flu shots, many services no longer cost patients money.
But there are confusing exceptions. As Dunphy found out, colonoscopies can go from free to pricey while the patient is under anesthesia.
Breast cancer screenings can cause confusion too. In Florida, Tampa Bay-area small business owner Dawn Thomas, 50, went for a screening mammogram. But she was told by hospital staff that her mammogram would be a diagnostic test ? not preventive screening ? because a previous mammogram had found something suspicious. (It turned out to be nothing.)
Knowing that would cost her $700, and knowing her doctor had ordered a screening mammogram, Thomas stood her ground.
"Either I get a screening today or I'm putting my clothes back on and I'm leaving," she remembers telling the hospital staff. It worked. Her mammogram was counted as preventive and she got it for free.
"A lot of women ... are getting labeled with that diagnostic code and having to pay year after year for that," Thomas said. "It's a loophole so insurance companies don't have to pay for it."
For parents with several children, costs can pile up with unexpected copays for kids needing shots. Even when copays are inexpensive, they can blemish a patient-doctor relationship. Robin Brassner of Jersey City, N.J., expected her doctor visit to be free. All she wanted was a flu shot. But the doctor charged her a $20 copay.
"He said no one really comes in for just a flu shot. They inevitably mention another ailment, so he charges," Brassner said. As a new patient, she didn't want to start the relationship by complaining, but she left feeling irritated. "Next time, I'll be a little more assertive about it," she said.
How confused are doctors?
"Extremely," said Cheryl Gregg Fahrenholz, an Ohio consultant who works with physicians. It's common for doctors to deal with 200 different insurance plans. And some older plans are exempt.
Should insurance now pay for aspirin? Aspirin to prevent heart disease and stroke is one of the covered services for older patients. But it's unclear whether insurers are supposed to pay only for doctors to tell older patients about aspirin ? or whether they're supposed to pay for the aspirin itself, said Dr. Jason Spangler, chief medical officer for the nonpartisan Partnership for Prevention.
Stop-smoking interventions are also supposed to be free. "But what does that mean?" Spangler asked. "Does it mean counseling? Nicotine replacement therapy? What about drugs (that can help smokers quit) like Wellbutrin or Chantix? That hasn't been clearly laid out."
But the greatest source of confusion is colonoscopies, a test for the nation's second leading cancer killer. Doctors use a thin, flexible tube to scan the colon and they can remove precancerous growths called polyps at the same time. The test gets credit for lowering colorectal cancer rates. It's one of several colon cancer screening methods highly recommended for adults ages 50 to 75.
But when a doctor screens and treats at the same time, the patient could get a surprise bill.
"It erodes a trust relationship the patients may have had with their doctors," said Dr. Joel Brill of the American Gastroenterological Association. "We get blamed. And it's not our fault,"
Cindy Holtzman, an insurance agent in Marietta, Ga., is telling clients to check with their insurance plans before a colonoscopy so they know what to expect.
"You could wake up with a $2,000 bill because they find that little bitty polyp," Holtzman said.
Doctors and prevention advocates are asking Congress to revise the law to waive patient costs ? including Medicare copays, which can run up to $230 ? for a screening colonoscopy where polyps are removed. The American Gastroenterological Association and the American Cancer Society are pushing Congress fix the problem because of the confusion it's causing for patients and doctors.
At least one state is taking action. After complaints piled up in Oregon, insurance regulators now are working with doctors and insurers to make sure patients aren't getting surprise charges when polyps are removed.
Florida's consumer services office also reports complaints about colonoscopies and other preventive care. California insurance broker Bonnie Milani said she's lost count of the complaints she's had about bills clients have received for preventive services.
"`Confusion' is not the word I'd apply to the medical offices producing the bills," Milani said. "The word that comes to mind for me ain't nearly so nice."
When it's working as intended, the new health law encourages more patients to get preventive care. Dr. Yul Ejnes, a Rhode Island physician, said he's personally told patients with high deductible plans about the benefit. They weren't planning to schedule a colonoscopy until they heard it would be free, Ejnes said.
If too many patients get surprise bills, however, that advantage could be lost, said Stephen Finan of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. He said it will take federal or state legislation to fix the colonoscopy loophole.
Dunphy, the Phoenix businessman, recalled how he felt when he got his colonoscopy bill, like something "underhanded" was going on.
"It's the intent of the law is to cover this stuff," Dunphy said. "It really made me angry."
___
AP Medical Writer Carla K. Johnson can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/CarlaKJohnson
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After taking part in a summer programme run by local training organisation ?Training 4 U Services?, a group of 60 young people took it upon themselves to form ?Community Needs?, a voluntary organisation which aims to help other young people from their local areas.
Community Needs offers young people advice on education, training opportunities and community activities which they can get involved in.
The project is managed completely by young people, who in turn have gained a variety of practical skills such as event management, communication, sales, marketing and advertising from running the scheme.
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At the awards ceremony, which was attended by local dignitaries including Mayor of Luton, Cllr Don Worlding, and ward Councillors Tafheen Sharif and Tahir Khan, all 60 members of the group were acknowledged for their hard work.?
Among the winners were Shavir Miah, Shakila Khanom, Dwayne Tyrone Locker and Joseph Harvey, who received awards for their dedication to the summer programme and Mrs Azra Iqbal - parent of a Community Needs member - who received an award for support.
Cllr Worlding said: ?All of the young people involved in the scheme have shown great initiative and drive to help others in their communities.
By clubbing together they are helping to provide a service which is extremely valuable to their peers. I?d like to say a big ?well done? to everyone at Community Needs.?
Cllr Sharif added: ?Dallow, Bury Park and Biscot all have a large number of young people in the area, many of who are extremely talented ? as is evident by this project.
?With unemployment levels rising nationally, the work Community Needs is doing to help other young people is admirable. I would like to offer my personal congratulations to everyone involved with the scheme.?
If you would like more information on Community Needs, or would like to offer your time to help them, call 01582 45 58 88.
Source: http://www.luton.gov.uk/0xc0a80123_0x114d2347
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Available now as an eBook, Diary of a Heartbreak Kid shadows Shawn Michaels for an immensely poignant occasion of reflection, introspection and celebration as The Heartbreak Kid is inducted into the esteemed WWE Hall of Fame.
Diary traces HBK throughout Atlanta for the festivities of WrestleMania, an event that began the same year as Shawn Michaels' unparalleled career. Such a grand setting could not be more appropriate for WWE?s one and only Showstopper to add "Mr. Hall of Fame" to his myriad monikers.
In a day-by-day narrative accompanied by incredible photography that capture each moment?s raw emotion, Diary of a Heartbreak Kid captures unfiltered candor of Michaels as he's reunited with family, friends and legends like Triple H, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Ric Flair, The Rock, Kevin Nash, Sean Waltman and Vince McMahon ? all of whom played a part in Michaels? Hall of Fame career and legacy of immortality.
With his beautiful wife, children, time tested faith and nearly three decades of squared circle memories, Michaels steps back into the warm glow of the limelight during WrestleMania XXVIII weekend to have sports-entertainment?s greatest honor bestowed upon him. And with Diary of a Heartbreak Kid, you'll experience it all by his side.
This eBook exclusive is available for Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble eBook and Apple iBooks for only $5.99 USD. To download history, choose your device and click below to order:
Source: http://www.wwe.com/inside/shawn-michaels-diary-of-a-heartbreak-kid-ebook
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GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) ? Sales of Green Bay Packers stock have been so brisk since an initial offering three weeks ago that the team is making another 30,000 shares available.
The team initially offered 250,000 shares for sale starting Dec. 6. But the allotment is nearly gone, even though the shares cost $250 each and have virtually no resale value.
"The support from our fans has been outstanding, and we appreciate their enthusiasm," Mark Murphy, the team's president and CEO, said Tuesday in a statement. "We continue to receive interest in the offering, and this increase in the number of available shares will help ensure that we are able to accommodate all those who want to become shareholders."
The offering is scheduled to end Feb. 29 or when all remaining shares are sold.
The NFL's only publicly owned team is applying the proceeds toward a $143 million expansion of Lambeau Field. The Packers have said they would fund the expansion themselves and through private funding, and wouldn't ask taxpayers to contribute as owners of other teams typically do.
Selling all 280,000 shares would raise $70 million.
The shares are available at packersowner.com for $250, plus a $25 handling fee per transaction.
Buyers gain the privilege of calling themselves NFL owners, though the stock value will not go up and there are no dividends. Stockholders also get voting rights, and they can attend annual meetings where they can meet team executives and tour the Packers Hall of Fame.
The team has had four other stock offerings. Sales in 1923, 1935 and 1950 helped keep the Packers afloat at a time when other small-market teams were struggling to survive.
The most recent sale was in 1997. The team offered 400,000 shares for $200 apiece, but only about 120,000 shares were sold.
___
Online:
Packers shares: http://packersowner.com
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Sites include Android.com 
, Facebook.com . Published on December 25th, 2011. Written by Anthony West.
The battle between Apple?s mobile platform and Android is intense and it is happening on all fronts, especially on the social networks. Apple seems to have switched focus away from Facebook and is now looking to build on its partnership with Twitter. Android on the other hand, has cemented its commitment to Facebook.
These establishment of a central focus of course, has resulted in a shift in popularity on the Facebook platform. According to a recent report, Facebook?s native app for Android now has a whopping 58.3 million daily active users (DAU), while Facebook for iPhone is now falling behind with 57.4 million DAUs. Things weren?t always like this though, and for a long time, Apple?s Facebook App was leading so badly, many thought Android would never catch up. This lag that Android suffered was due largely in part to the fact that Facebook released the Android App more than 12 months after it created and launched the iPhone App.
Will things change round again or will Facebook for Android rule supreme indefinitely? The answer is hard to ascertain at this point for many reasons, the chief one being that Facebook has launched another official iPhone App. This App currently stands at 5.5 million DAUs and many are speculating that it will soon mount a challenge to Android. But on the flip side of the coin, Facebook for Android is adding users 550,000 activations per day.
This sort of dynamic in the competitive process means that anything can happen?we?ll just have await the outcome.
Source: http://www.sitetrail.com/2011/12/25/facebook-on-android-gets-58.3-million-daily-active-users/
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RICHMOND, Va. ? After emotional wins just days earlier at WWE TLC, new World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan and new United States Champion Zack Ryder both continued to soar on the penultimate SmackDown of 2011.
World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan & Big Show def. Dolph Ziggler & Jack Swagger (WATCH | PHOTOS)
As new World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan battled former United States Champion Dolph Ziggler, Big Show, Vickie Guerrero and Jack Swagger all circled the action at ringside. But as tensions grew outside the ring, Swagger decided to attack Show, leading to the two tussling in the ring. In an effort to avoid total chaos, SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long charged in and announced the bout was now a tag team bout. After Big Show worked over Swagger pretty good, Bryan seized the victory for his team by making The All-American American tap out to his pain-inducing LeBell Lock.
WWE Tag Team Champion Kofi Kingston def. Primo (WATCH | PHOTOS)
Following up on Air Boom?s victory over Primo & Epico at WWE TLC, WWE Tag Champion Kofi Kingston defeated Primo in singles action with Trouble in Paradise.
Randy Orton RKO?d Wade Barrett onto the roof of a car (WATCH | PHOTOS)
Wade Barrett took to the ring and offered his view on his encounters with Randy Orton and said Orton ??was one of the greatest in the history of WWE, until he encountered Wade Barrett.? As he finished his address, Barrett declared he should be next to face new World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan. Hearing enough of Barrett?s lip, The Viper decided to let his actions do the talking by storming in and bringing the fight to Barrett. As the two fought tooth-and-nail, they found themselves within the parking garage of the Richmond Coliseum, where WWE?s Apex Predator brutally RKO?d Barrett onto the roof of a parked car!
Sheamus def. The Miz (WATCH | PHOTOS)
After Raw Superstar The Miz sauntered onto SmackDown ? declaring he was going to disrupt Teddy?s show ? he perhaps bit off more than he could chew when Long pit him against Sheamus. Although the former WWE Champion was a formidable foe, he proved no match for The Great White?s brutal Brogue Kick.
The Big Show vs. Mark Henry match was called off (WATCH | PHOTOS)
As the two massive former World Heavyweight Champions prepared to clash for the opportunity to challenge Daniel Bryan, David Otunga called a stop to things. As the legal counsel to Executive Vice Present of Talent Relations and Interim General Manager of Raw John Laurinaitis, Otunga announced that Mark Henry was not medically cleared to compete and the match would not take place. After Otunga wished the WWE Universe happy holidays, Big Show dropped him with a brutal WMD to the jaw.
United States Champion Zack Ryder def. Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes in a Non-Title Match (WATCH | PHOTOS)
Fresh off his big win at WWE TLC, United States Champion Zack Ryder looked sharp against Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes. But Booker T decided to interrupt their match and poke fun at his WWE TLC opponent by singing his own rendition of the holiday classic ?Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.? The distraction opened the door for Ryder to drop Rhodes with a Rough Ryder for the win. Afterward, Booker added insult to injury with some more ?singing.?
World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan evaluated himself (PHOTOS)
The night kicked off with Big Show describing his pride in winning the title he has sought for so long. But Mark Henry emerged to disparage Show and said he should quit WWE. Moments later, World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan came to the ring to compare himself to the rest of the WWE roster. After some self-criticism, Bryan was proud to declare himself World Heavyweight Champion.
Then, when Henry and Show argued about who should get a chance to face Bryan, Teddy declared the two would square off, with the winner being first in line to challenge him for his World Title. Next, Bryan feigned that he would shake hands with Henry, but then dissed The World?s Strongest Man when went to accept.
MATCHES
Source: http://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/2011-12-23/results
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Associated Press Sports
updated 4:25 p.m. ET Dec. 23, 2011
MONACO (AP) -Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev completed his takeover of Monaco on Friday and promised to invest a minimum of ?100 million ($130 million) in the struggling club over the next four years.
Monaco announced on its website that Rybolovlev's company Monaco Sport Invest (MSI) had become majority shareholder with 66.67 percent.
"I think this club has enormous potential," Rybolovlev said of the seven-time French champion which is currently bottom of the second tier with one win in 18 games.
"I hope that it will be able to realize that potential fully and completely, at both national and European level."
Rybolovlev is among the world's 100 richest people with a net worth estimated at $9.5 billion. He made his money in fertilizer products.
Rybolovlev bought U.S. businessman Donald Trump's Palm Beach mansion for $100 million in 2008, and his 22-year-old daughter recently purchased a New York apartment that was listed at $88 million.
The new owner has a huge task to revive Monaco's fortunes. The club won the last of its French league titles in 2000 and was Champions League runner-up in 2004, losing to Jose Mourinho's Porto.
An 18th-place finish last season saw the club lose its place in the top flight and Rybolovlev may have to start spending straight away with Monaco now in danger of a second straight relegation.
"I am a fervent football fan," Rybolovlev said. "Having lived long enough in Monaco, I realize that AS Monaco isn't just one of the principality's sporting teams, but also represents one of the principal symbols of the principality, its pride and its traditions."
Rybolovlev has been elected president of the board of directors. He is joined on the board by five representatives of MSI and three members of l'Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, which has kept 33 percent of the shares.
Prince Albert of Monaco, who takes a keen interest in the running of the club and regularly attends games at Stade Louis II, said he was hopeful Rybolovlev was the right man to turn Monaco around.
"The agreement that has been reached opens a new page in the history of a football team that is so dear to the principality, and that I hope will progressively regain the position which in the past made it one of the jewels of sporting life in Monaco."
? 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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More newsChandler: What demons possess men to rush the playing field and attack athletes? And lately athlete-fan field interaction has taken a darker turn.
AFP - Getty ImagesEngland captain will face a criminal charge over allegations that he racially abused an opponent in the Premier League.
Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45666028/ns/sports-soccer/
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WASHINGTON (AP) ? Stuck in a stalemate, President Barack Obama and his Republican rivals are slugging it out in Washington rather than reaching for a holiday season accord to prevent payroll taxes from going up on 160 million workers.
The tax increases, as well as cuts to Medicare doctors' fees and a lapse in jobless benefits, are due Jan. 1. They are looming even though Democrats and Republicans agree that they shouldn't happen. Instead of stopping them, the factions have painted themselves into a corner.
House Republicans are demanding that the Senate join negotiations to produce an agreement within days; Senate Democrats insist no talks will take place before the House approves a stopgap measure to buy more time.
A House vote Tuesday scuttled a bipartisan Senate deal for a two-month extension of all three policies: the payroll tax cuts, jobless benefits and Medicare fees.
After the House killed the Senate measure on a 229-193 vote, Obama signaled he'll use his presidential megaphone to try to force Republicans controlling the House into submission.
"Now let's be clear," Obama said at the White House. "The bipartisan compromise that was reached on Saturday is the only viable way to prevent a tax hike on Jan. 1. The only one."
The Obama campaign promptly took to Twitter and Facebook to fight it out. With their candidate's poll numbers rising, Democratic operatives seemed almost giddy at the prospect of a prolonged battle.
Republican lawmakers relished the battle as well, though some of them are too inexperienced to know that presidents ? regardless of party ? usually win such high-profile fights, like President Bill Clinton did over a 1995-96 government shutdown or President George W. Bush did in skirmishes on anti-terror policies.
House Republicans instead rallied around a plan passed last week that would have extended the payroll tax cut for one year. But that version also contained spending cuts opposed by Democrats and tighter rules for jobless benefits.
If legislation isn't passed by New Year's Day, payroll taxes will go up by almost $20 a week for a worker making a $50,000 salary. Almost 2 million people could lose unemployment benefits as well, and doctors would bear big cuts in Medicare payments.
Whatever the stakes, there was little indication that Republicans would get their wish for negotiations with the Senate any time soon. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., issued a statement saying he would be happy to resume talks on a yearlong measure ? "but not before" the House ratifies the two-month bill and sends it to Obama for his signature.
Given Obama's remarks and Reid's refusal to negotiate, it was unclear what leverage Republicans had in the year-end standoff. It appeared likely the partisan disagreement could easily persist past Christmas and into the final week of the year.
A little-noticed element of the brawl was that the House-Senate parliamentary situation, which can be a critical factor, is all messed up. The Senate adjourned Saturday until Jan. 23 except for so-called pro forma sessions in which legislative business ? like responding to the House moves ? is basically impossible unless all 100 senators agree. That's never a sure thing.
The standoff was sowing confusion among business executives, who were running out of time to adapt to any new payroll tax regimen. Even the Senate's proposed two-month extension was creating headaches because it contained a two-tiered system geared to ensuring that higher-income earners paid a higher rate on some of their wages, according to a trade group.
"There's not time enough to do that in an orderly fashion," said Pete A. Isberg, president of the National Payroll Reporting Consortium trade group. "We're two weeks away from 2012." He wrote a letter to congressional leaders this week warning that the Senate bill "could create substantial problems, confusion and costs."
Meanwhile, Medicare announced Tuesday that, as it has in the past when doctors' reimbursements have been cut through congressional inaction, it would withhold physicians' payments for two weeks in January to avoid passing on a 27 percent cut in Medicare fees. The hope is that the problem gets fixed by then.
Source: http://www.connectmidmissouri.com/news/story.aspx?id=699631
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Children who are breastfed through age 18 months have healthier growth patterns and reduced incidence of diabetes and obesity, says a new study from Denmark. Here are findings from this study about breastfeeding child health benefits and implications for parenting.
Current maternal breastfeeding habits
The Center for Disease Control recommends that mothers breastfeed babies exclusively for at least the first six months of life. After that age, parents usually begin to supplement breast milk with solid foods or other milk. Only about 25 percent of mothers are breastfeeding exclusively after six months.
Breastfeeding and infant growth
The Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Copenhagen Professor study set out to determine if mothers who breastfed longer had babies with healthier weight gain patterns. Study author Dr. Kim Fleischer Michaelsen, explains, "It is well-known that children who are breastfed grow slightly more slowly than children who are given formula, and it looks as if this growth pattern is optimal because it reduces the risk of developing lifestyle diseases later in life."
Breastfeeding beyond six months
The study demonstrated that mothers who breastfed beyond age six months and up to 18 months were able to keep their children's' IGF-I growth hormone and insulin levels down. They found that the longer a mother breastfed her child, the lower the child's weight. Breastfed children had a lower risk of becoming obese as they grew older. Lower insulin levels in breastfed babies mean lower risk for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, too. Study authors concluded that mothers should consider breastfeeding children exclusively rather than supplementing with formula or other milk. They recommend that mothers breastfeed children beyond age six months and up to age 18 months healthy growth patterns.
Child sleep patterns affect weight gain
The study revealed that other parent habits affect weight gain in toddlers, too. Children who slept more had smaller waist sizes and less belly fat. Study authors suggested that parents should set healthy sleep schedules for children and encourage napping.
Maternal weight gain affects child weight gain
Mothers who gained a great deal of weight during pregnancy gave birth to children with thicker layers of fat than the children of mothers with normal weight gain, the study found. Mayo Clinic sets recommended weight gain for expectant women based on BMI (body mass index). Underweight women (BMI below 18.5) should gain 25-40 pounds. Women of normal weight (18.5-24.9 BMI) should gain 25-35 pounds. Overweight women (BMI 25-29.9) should gain 15-25 pounds and obese women with BMIs over 30 should only gain 11-20 pounds.
Marilisa Kinney Sachteleben writes about parenting from 23 years raising four children and 25 years teaching K-8, special needs, adult education and homeschool.
MIAMI (Reuters) ? As her mother sat in a homeless shelter in downtown Miami, talking about her economic struggles and loss of faith in the U.S. political system, 3-year-old Aeisha Touray blurted out what sounded like a new slogan for the Occupy Wall Street protest movement.
"How dare you!" the girl said abruptly as she nudged a toy car across a conference room table at the Chapman Partnership shelter in Miami's tough and predominantly black Overtown neighborhood.
There was no telling what Aeisha was thinking as her 32-year-old mother, Nairkahe Touray, spoke of how she burned through her savings and wound up living in a car with five of her eight children earlier this year.
But how dare you indeed? How does anyone explain to kids like Aeisha and countless others how they wound up homeless in the world's richest nation?
In a report issued earlier this month, the National Center on Family Homelessness, based in Needham, Massachusetts, said 1.6 million children were living on the streets of the United States last year or in shelters, motels and doubled-up with other families.
That marked a 38 percent jump in child homelessness since 2007 and Ellen Bassuk, the center's president, attributes the increase to fallout from the U.S. recession and a surge in the number of extremely poor households headed by women.
Recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau provided a sobering backdrop. Based on new or experimental methodology aimed at providing a fuller picture of poverty, the data showed that about 48 percent of Americans are living in poverty or on low incomes.
Under the bureau's so-called Supplemental Poverty Measure for 2010, issued last month, the poverty level for a family of four was set at income anywhere below $24,343 per year.
"I see it every day," said Alfredo Brown, 73, a retired army officer and deputy director of the non-profit Chapman Partnership, when asked about child homelessness.
The organization, funded largely by a 1 percent food and beverage tax on larger restaurants to bankroll homeless programs, operates two sprawling homeless shelters in Miami-Dade County.
"I see so many children and mothers that are homeless and sleeping in their car or an abandoned building, an old bus. It's a sad situation that we live in a country that has so much and many people have so little," Brown said.
Child homelessness is a relatively new social problem in the United States, where being on the street and the stigma attached to it has long been associated with adults with alcohol or drug dependency issues.
IMPOVERISHED MOTHERS
Families accounted for less than 1 percent of the U.S. homeless population in the mid-1980s, according to Bassuk, but they now comprise about a third of the homeless population. A lot of children are dependent on poverty-stricken single moms.
"There's sort of a Third World emerging right in our backyard. You know, we talk about developing countries but look at what's going on here," Bassuk said.
To put a face to the breadth and depth of the homeless problem, a team of Reuters journalists fanned out across the country in the past week, for interviews with parents and children who are down on their luck.
From Skid Row in Los Angeles to the South Bronx in New York, a common thread of economic devastation from the recession ran throughout many of the stories these people told.
But there also was a common thread of hope running through their compressed life stories.
Little Aeisha in Miami got visibly upset as her mother spoke tearfully about the wear and tear on her children amid her struggles with a bad economy, severe depression, diabetes and chronic foot problems stemming from torn ligaments.
Touray sounded like an Occupy Wall Street protester herself, as she complained about bailout money for banks but not people. "You get treated like an animal because you're homeless," said Touray, who said she lives on just $583 a month in child support after going through a divorce last year. Her parents, who live separately in Atlanta and Chicago, are also homeless.
"Just because I'm homeless it doesn't mean that I was like nothing yesterday," said Touray, who said four small businesses she owned in Atlanta only went bust due to the recession.
She also complained about the tone-deafness of many politicians, saying they were doing nothing to ease the unemployment and inequality that have come to dominate the national conversation.
"I'm living the real deal," Touray said. "I don't need for somebody to come up here and tell me what the economy's doing. They (the politicians) need to get out here and see these children, see these parents."
RIDING THE RAILS
Across the country in Los Angeles, Reuters came across Luis Martinez, 34. A single parent, he lives with his three children at the Union Rescue Mission on a trash-strewn city block where homeless men and women stand vigil over plastic shopping carts.
But the shelter is an improvement over the time when Martinez passed nights on the L.A. subway with his children, riding the rails to nowhere.
A junior high school dropout who became unemployed after he injured his back on construction site job about six years ago, Martinez spoke proudly about how well he said his kids were doing in school.
They have a laptop computer, which they use to help do homework through free wireless connections at McDonalds and Starbucks. They also have an Xbox video game system and Martinez, who wears a necklace that says "My Kids First," has a cell phone to stay in touch with family and potential employers.
"I mean, I'm homeless but not hopeless," Martinez said.
"(It) gets easier as you go," said Jesse, Martinez's 8-year-old son.
Highlighting the shrinking middle class in America, a reporter found Tracy and Elizabeth Burger and their 8-year-old son, Dylan. The Burgers said they once earned nearly $100,000 a year combined but saw their middle-class lifestyle evaporate when Tracy lost his job in audiovisual system sales.
Unable to pay rent, they were evicted from their apartment in early 2009 and had to move into a motel. In March they moved into a cramped converted garage at Elizabeth's mother's house in Los Angeles.
Elizabeth, a former medical assistant, said she has less than six weeks left on her unemployment insurance and was anxiously watching this week's standoff in Congress over extending those payments, along with the payroll tax cut for 160 million Americans.
The congressional debate highlighted the partisan bickering that has made this a tumultuous year in U.S. politics, while throwing Washington's ability to make sound economic policy into doubt.
In central Florida, Justin Santiago, 15, said he was not surprised when he, his parents and three younger siblings landed in a downtown Orlando shelter last September.
Since the national economic collapse in 2008, his out-of-work family bounced from one relative's home to another, and left California in search of employment and stability.
"I wasn't shocked. When the economy's going down and it just drops, it's out of control," Justin said.
EYES ON THE PRIZE
In 16 years of marriage, his parents, Theresa and Timothy Santiago, managed to provide for their family by working multiple jobs, earning about $20,000 in their best year. But work dried up and the family set out for Florida last spring in search of cheaper living expenses.
After a run of more bad luck, they found their way to the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida shelter. But Justin is taking eighth grade honors classes now and says his family's recent experience will not keep him from pursuing his dream career in video game production and becoming an Internet success story.
"It will get better for me and my family," he said. "I'll be making billions, I know that."
Antonio Dixon, 26, knows all about things getting better. His mother, Corenthia, said he bounced between at least a dozen homeless shelters growing up in Miami and Atlanta.
He eventually won a football scholarship at the University of Miami and fought dyslexia to become the first person in his family to graduate college.
"They had me study hard every hour," Dixon told Reuters.
He has since gone on to play defensive tackle for the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles, making good on his boyhood dream.
Dixon has been sidelined by a torn tricep since early October. But he seems confident about overcoming adversity yet again and plans on being in the starting lineup next season.
His advice to homeless kids is to stay in school and get focused on whatever it is they really want to do in life.
"Just keep on doing something you like and don't give up," Dixon said. I had to work myself up from the bottom to the top. I did that. Don't let nobody stand in your way. You just got to go and get it. You can't be afraid to take a chance on life."
Bassuk, a psychiatrist and Harvard Medical School professor, said medical problems and under-achievement in school were among the things that often go hand in hand with childhood homelessness.
"These are kids who don't have any opportunities," she said. "If you look at some of the educational variables, they're doing really poorly. And they're kids who can do OK. They just don't have appropriate support.
"It just seems that on every front this is a very vulnerable group of kids," she said.
(Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis, Tim Gaynor, James Kelleher, David Bailey, Michelle Nichols, Kelli Dugan and Barbara Liston; Editing by Bill Trott)
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In a sign that the apocalypse really may take place in 2012, Toddlers & Tiaras standout Eden Wood has just inked a deal for her own reality show on the Logo network.
According to WetPaint, the gay-lesbian channel that brings us hits like RuPaul’s Drag Race and Bad Sex is set to film an as-yet-untitled reality series starring Eden, 6.
“The show will document Eden and her mother’s move from their Arkansas hometown to the Big Apple,” the website claims, citing a source close to the pint-size star.
“So far, the four main characters are Eden, her mom, her manager, and her agent. Right now, they’re set to start filming at the very beginning of 2012.” Characters.
When contacted about the Eden Wood reality show, a representative for Logo said the network does not comment on stories about shows possibly in development.
But it's totes on. Whoop dee doo. Don't everyone celebrate at once.
Should Toddlers & Tiaras be pulled off the air?
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VATICAN CITY (Reuters) ? The Vatican said on Wednesday an unknown buyer had snapped up the internet address vatican.xxx, a domain combining its name with an extension reserved for pornographic content.
"This domain is not available because it has been acquired by someone else, but not the Vatican," Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said on Vatican radio.
It was not clear from his statement if the Vatican had tried to acquire the domain in order to prevent future misuse and had been beaten to the punch by the unknown buyer.
Lombardi denied Italian media reports that the Vatican had, like many other organizations including companies, universities and museums, registered the xxx domain to prevent its misuse.
The xxx domains are being launched this month for pornographic content and many organizations have preemptively acquired them so others cannot.
(Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Barry Moody)
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After 10 years of marriage, the actress and her husband are parting ways. See more celeb pairs who are back to going solo
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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? Grammy-winning R&B singer Etta James is terminally ill, her live-in physician said in an interview this week that confirmed reports of the singer's fading health.
Dr. Elaine James, who is no relation to the singer, told a California newspaper in a video interview that the 73-year-old "At Last" singer has leukemia, dementia and kidney disease among her "many, many illnesses."
"At the present time, Etta is considered terminally ill," the doctor told the Press-Enterprise newspaper in Riverside, California, east of Los Angeles. Dr. James added that the diagnosis was made about two weeks ago by three medical specialists including an oncologist and an internist from a local hospital where the singer is frequently treated.
James' two sons, Donto and Sametto, told Reuters on Friday that they were not sure the terminally ill diagnosis was accurate and it was announced without the family's agreement.
The singer's sons are currently involved in a court battle with their stepfather Artis Mills over conservatorship of James' $1 million estate.
Both sons agree that their mother's health is deteriorating and felt that she should be admitted to hospital rather than receiving care at her home in Riverside.
"I saw her the day before yesterday, and I think she needs to be in the hospital. She doesn't look good," said Donto James.
With songs like "The Wallflower" and "Good Rockin' Daddy," James, a three-time Grammy winner, was a key figure in the early days of rock 'n' roll and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
The singer has battled obesity and heroin addiction throughout her life. She lost more than 200 pounds after undergoing gastric bypass surgery in 2003.
More recently, she was hospitalized in 2010 with numerous ailments including a bloodstream infection. She become ill while being treated for an addiction to painkillers and over-the-counter medicine in a detoxification center.
James has remained active in the music industry despite her ailments, and she released an album in November this year entitled "The Dreamer."
"I don't think it was meant to be her final album, of course she wants to make more music," said Sametto James.
(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
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TEHRAN (Reuters) ? Iranian authorities said on Saturday they had arrested an Iranian caught spying for the United States, the Islamic Republic's latest claim of success in a spying war with Washington.
State TV quoted the Intelligence Ministry as saying the arrested person had received training at U.S. bases in neighboring Afghanistan and Iraq and was meant to feed false information to Iranian intelligence.
"This CIA agent of Iranian nationality began his mission after receiving training in weapons use," the ministry said in a statement quoted on television.
"But he was identified by Iranian intelligence agents and his espionage missions were revealed."
He was supposed to launch his mission from Bagram base in Afghanistan, the intelligence ministry report said, but Iranian intelligence agents helped him enter Iran and later arrested him.
Current and former U.S. officials told Reuters in November that Iran had succeeded in uncovering the identities of several CIA informants.
Iran said in May it had arrested 30 people on suspicion of spying for the United States and last Tuesday 15 people were indicted for spying for Washington and Israel. Spying in Iran can be punishable by death.
On December 4, Iran announced it had downed a U.S. spy plane in the eastern part of the country, near Afghanistan. It has since shown the plane on television and said it is close to cracking its technological secrets.
The United States is leading diplomatic efforts to tighten sanctions on Iran which it accuses of seeking nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies. Washington and Israel say they do not rule out making strikes on Iran's nuclear sites.
(Reporting by Hashem Kalantari; Writing by Robin Pomeroy)
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NEW YORK ? Patrick Murphy, a police reformer who urged officers to hold their fire as head of the New York, Detroit and Washington police during the turbulent 1960s and 1970s, has died at age 91.
Murphy died Friday of a heart attack at a hospital in Wilmington, N.C., his son, Gerard Murphy, said.
"Pat Murphy was the visionary embodiment of police reform," New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said in a written statement. "In the face of fierce opposition from entrenched police leadership nationally, he revolutionized policy to restrain the use of deadly force."
Murphy was born in Brooklyn and became a police patrolman after serving as a Navy pilot in World War II. He rose to become the top police official in Syracuse, N.Y., then Washington and Detroit.
In 1968, Murphy ordered police to use restraint in controlling the riots that wracked Washington following the killing of Martin Luther King Jr.
New York Mayor John Lindsay brought in Murphy in 1970 to lead the NYPD after corruption allegations rocked the police department.
In 1972, he instituted new rules restricting the use of deadly force to situations in which police needed to defend a life. He led the NYPD until the end of Lindsay's term in 1973.
Murphy later became a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and spent 12 years as president of the Police Foundation, an advocacy group. He also helped found the Police Executive Research Forum.
"Police chiefs across the nation recognize Patrick Murphy as an icon in the field of policing, and agree that he played a historic role in changing the landscape of policing for the better," the Police Executive Research Forum said Wednesday.
Murphy's survivors include his wife, Betty Murphy, and eight children.
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