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Post by nodstar on Oct 15, 2009 2:47:46 GMT 4
RPT-UPDATE 1-U.S. Senate Democrats open healthcare talks[/size] Wed Oct 14, 2009 6:24pm EDT www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN1426843720091014?sp=true WASHINGTON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Democrats opened difficult talks on healthcare reform in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday, promising to bridge party divisions on a government-run insurance plan and paying for the overhaul. Democratic leaders met to discuss the best way to merge two Senate proposals on healthcare while keeping party liberals, moderates and key Republican Senator Olympia Snowe happy [nN14243662]. Snowe became the first Republican in Congress to support a Democratic healthcare reform plan when she voted for the bill in the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday. "I know this isn't going to be easy," Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said before the talks, which included White House officials. "Legislation is the art of compromise." Senate Republicans demanded Democrats slow down their push for healthcare reform, President Barack Obama's top domestic priority, and allow more time to debate the details of the sweeping plan that would dramatically change the $2.5 trillion health system. Obama has set the end of the year as his goal for passage of a measure that would begin to slow increases in healthcare costs, regulate the insurance market and expand health coverage without increasing the budget deficit. "Senate Republicans are going to insist that this be a real Senate debate, a multi-week debate that gives everyone on both sides an opportunity to freely amend this measure," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said. Reid said there would be plenty of time to analyze the measure and questioned the motives of Republicans. "They would rather never have a vote on this," he said. The public insurance option looms as one of the biggest sticking points as Reid merges the bill produced by the Finance Committee with one passed earlier this year by the Senate health panel. The health bill includes the option, backed by Obama and liberal Democrats as a way to create competition in the insurance market, but the Finance bill does not. Three Democrats on the Finance panel voted against the public option in committee. OTHER DIFFERENCES Other differences to be hammered out in the bills include whether to require employers to provide health insurance, the amount of subsidies offered to help lower- and middle-income people buy insurance and the taxes imposed to pay for the plan. Many key provisions in the reform bills would not kick in until 2013, but lawmakers have promised to speed implementation of some aspects of the bill, such as tighter regulations on insurers. Senate Democrats agreed to seek a quick vote on a separate bill to spare doctors a $247 billion cut in Medicare fees over 10 years. The measure would raise the federal budget deficit but would not count as part of the healthcare overhaul and would lower its price tag. Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, who joined Senator Chris Dodd of the health panel in the talks with Reid, said he was optimistic they would produce a bill that could gain the 60 votes needed to overcome Republican procedural hurdles. "There may be some minor differences but that is so so small it pales in comparison to how strongly we are working together," he said. "We're going to get a good solid bill passed that addresses our objectives and gets 60 votes." Baucus and Obama had wooed Snowe for months, hoping she could be a swing vote in the Senate -- where Democrats control exactly 60 votes -- and even bring along one or two Republican colleagues. Susan Collins, Snowe's fellow Republican moderate from Maine, said she thought the Finance committee bill was an improvement on the Health committee's plan but still fell short. She offered some hope for Democrats that she could be won over. "There are a number of senators from both sides of the aisle who think that the Finance Committee bill is the best of the options put out so far but still isn't where it needs to be. I am in that group," she said. Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives also are trying to develop a single bill from three separate healthcare measures as the debate over Obama's top domestic priority moves to a bigger stage. Democratic House Leader Steny Hoyer said he did not expect a House vote on healthcare reform by early November. The insurance industry, labor unions and other outside groups have cranked up their opposition to the Finance proposal ahead of the full Senate and House taking up the issue in the next few weeks. Senate Democrats said they expect the final bill would be adjusted to ease union concerns about a tax on expensive healthcare plans, which includes some union plans. "We don't like our friends in labor not supporting our effort," Senator thingy Durbin said. "We would like to have a combined unified effort. I think at the end of the day we will." Reid fought back against the insurance industry at a Senate hearing designed to examine its anti-trust provision. "There is no reason why insurance companies should be allowed to form monopolies and dictate health choices," Reid said. (Editing by Bill Trott)
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Post by nodstar on Oct 15, 2009 2:52:22 GMT 4
In protecting against flu, face masks rank last: U.S.[/size] Wed Oct 14, 2009 5:52pm EDT www.reuters.com/article/internal_ReutersNewsRoom_ExclusivesAndWins_MOLT/idUSTRE59D5LW20091014By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New guidelines on protecting hospital workers against the H1N1 swine flu stress keeping influenza patients away from others and put protective equipment such as face masks last. The new guidelines posted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urge hospitals to vaccinate as many staff as possible against H1N1 and to bar entry to visitors with flu-like symptoms. The best way to protect staff and patients from the virus is to keep it out of the facility, the CDC advises. "Examples ... include: taking steps to minimize outpatient visits for patients with mild influenza-like illness who do not have risk factors for complications, postponing elective visits by patients with suspected or confirmed influenza until they are no longer infectious, and denying entry to visitors who are sick," the CDC said. Partitions in waiting rooms can help reduce spread, as can special equipment for airway suction in patients with breathing tubes. Administrative controls such as required vaccination of staff, keeping sick staff at home, hand hygiene strategies and setting up separate waiting area for patients with flu-like illness can also help, the CDC said. It said personal protective equipment or PPE ranked last in controlling flu, in part because it only works well when used consistently and properly. "Careful attention to elimination of potential exposures, engineering controls, and administrative controls will reduce the need to rely on PPE, including respirators," the CDC said. "This is an especially important consideration during the current year, when shortages of respirators have already been reported by many healthcare facilities." VACCINATING HEALTHCARE WORKERS Face masks called the N95 respirators are considered the best protection against viruses but they are in short supply, must be fitted properly and are uncomfortable to wear. The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America praised the decision. "We could actually put healthcare workers at greater risk by further reducing an already short supply of a device that is needed for high-risk procedures such as bronchoscopy by using it for routine care," said Dr. Mark Rupp of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, who is president of SHEA. "The best science available leaves no doubt that the best way to protect people is by vaccinating them." The CDC has advice on encouraging healthcare workers to get vaccinated against H1N1. Usually only about 40 percent of nurses, doctors and technicians are immunized against seasonal influenza. "To improve adherence, vaccination should be offered to healthcare personnel free of charge and during working hours. Vaccination campaigns with incentives such as lotteries with prizes should be considered. Healthcare facilities should require personnel who refuse vaccination to complete a declination form," the CDC advised. Liberal sick leave policies will encourage sick workers to stay at home with their germs and signs can remind workers and visitors alike how to avoid spreading germs, it added. (Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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Post by nodstar on Oct 15, 2009 9:32:19 GMT 4
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Post by emeraldsun on Oct 16, 2009 9:11:06 GMT 4
The New Black PopeThe Jesuits have chosen Adolfo Nicolas, a Spanish theologian with extensive experience in Asia, to be their new leader or "black pope". The choice of Father Nicolas follows four days of prayer and discussion among 217 electors who came to Rome from around the world. Pope Benedict was informed of the choice and has given his approval, Vatican officials said. Father Nicolas, 71, succeeds Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, a Dutch priest. Father Kolvenbach was elected leader in 1983 and was widely credited with improving the Jesuits' often tense relations with the Vatican. Jesuit leaders traditionally serve for life, but Father Kolvenbach, who will be 80 this year, had asked to retire because of his age. Father Nicolas was ordained in Tokyo in 1967 and spent most of his career in the Far East - directing a pastoral institute in Manila, in the Philippines, and holding leadership positions in Japan. Jesuit superior generals are known as "black popes" because, like the pontiff, they have influence worldwide and usually keep the position for life, and also because their cassocks are black - in contrast to the Pope who usually wears white. Link: news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7198512.stm
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Post by ninathedog on Oct 20, 2009 18:26:34 GMT 4
Revised formula puts 1 in 6 Americans in poverty  By HOPE YEN, Associated Press Writer Hope Yen, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 28 mins agoWASHINGTON – The level of poverty in America is even worse than first believed. A revised formula for calculating medical costs and geographic variations show that approximately 47.4 million Americans last year lived in poverty, 7 million more than the government's official figure. The disparity occurs because of differing formulas the Census Bureau and the National Academy of Science use for calculating the poverty rate. The NAS formula shows the poverty rate to be at 15.8 percent, or nearly 1 in 6 Americans, according to calculations released this week. That's higher than the 13.2 percent, or 39.8 million, figure made available recently under the original government formula. That measure, created in 1955, does not factor in rising medical care, transportation, child care or geographical variations in living costs. Nor does it consider non-cash government aid when calculating income. As a result, official figures released last month by Census may have overlooked millions of poor people, many of them 65 and older. According to the revised NAS formula: _About 18.7 percent of Americans 65 and older, or nearly 7.1 million, are in poverty compared to 9.7 percent, or 3.7 million, under the traditional measure. That's due to out-of-pocket expenses from rising Medicare premiums, deductibles and a coverage gap in the prescription drug benefit. _About 14.3 percent of people 18 to 64, or 27 million, are in poverty, compared to 11.7 percent under the traditional measure. Many of the additional poor are low-income, working people with transportation and child-care costs. _Child poverty is lower, at about 17.9 percent, or roughly 13.3 million, compared to 19 percent under the traditional measure. That's because single mothers and their children disproportionately receive non-cash aid such as food stamps. _Poverty rates were higher for non-Hispanic whites (11 percent), Asians (17 percent) and Hispanics (29 percent) when compared to the traditional measure. For blacks, poverty remained flat at 24.7 percent, due to the cushioning effect of non-cash aid. _The Northeast and West saw bigger jumps in poverty, due largely to cities with higher costs of living such as New York, Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The Census Bureau said it expedited release of the alternative numbers for this month because of the interest expressed by lawmakers and the Obama administration in seeing a fuller range of numbers. Legislation pending in Congress would mandate a switch to the revised formula, although the White House could choose to act on its own. Arloc Sherman, a senior researcher at the nonprofit Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said that because the revised formula factors in non-cash government aid, the amount of increase in poverty from 2007 to 2008 was generally smaller compared to the current measure. "Food stamp participation rose during the first year of recession and appears to have softened what could have been an even greater increase in financial hardship," he said. Sherman said the revised formula could take on greater importance in measuring poverty for 2009 as more Americans take advantage of tax credits and food stamps under the federal stimulus program. Food stamp assistance currently is at an all-time high of about 36 million. ___ On the Net: Census Bureau: www.census.govnews.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091020/ap_on_re_us/us_poverty
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Post by fr33ksh0w2012 on Oct 21, 2009 8:01:41 GMT 4
Bride spends wedding night in jail
Wednesday, October 21, 2009 » 01:49pm
A bride spent her wedding night in jail after she hit a policeman trying to break up a brawl at her wedding.
A Spanish bride spent her wedding night in jail after she hit a policeman trying to break up a brawl between her family and relatives of the groom.
The fight broke out just as the newlyweds were about to leave the reception in a hotel in Salou, a resort 150km southwest of Barcelona.
Alerted by shouts from the ballroom where some 30 guests were partying on October 10, the hotel owners called police to separate the feuding families.
The unidentified bride grabbed one officer by the neck and slapped him.
She was held at a police station for several hours before being allowed to rejoin her husband. |
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Post by ninathedog on Oct 22, 2009 5:26:12 GMT 4
Israel joins US for defence drill
Israel and the US are due to begin a two-week military defence exercise,
thought to be the largest of its kind in Israel's history.[/b][/color] BBC.com
Page last updated at 10:01 GMT, Wednesday, 21 October 2009 11:01 UKThe exercise will focus on providing a joint defence against a simulated co-ordinated missile attack on Israel. Up to 2,000 joint military personnel are believed to be taking part, along with at least 15 American ships. The Israeli army said the exercise was not a "response to any world events" but had been planned for a while. It is thought that a highly sophisticated new American radar, based in the Israeli desert, will be central to the exercise. Two-fold significanceThe simulation will involve elements such as barrage of missiles fired on Israel from all points south, east and north. The BBC's Middle East correspondent Tim Franks said many observers inside Israel believed the exercise carried a two-fold significance. This included sending a message of deterrence to any would-be attackers of Israel - whether they were in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria or Iran. It was also possibly an attempt to reassure Israel's people that the US took the country's security seriously - especially at a time when the US has expressed increasing concern about Iran's nuclear programme, although Tehran insists it is purely peaceful. Analysts say use the manoeuvres could also serve to make Israel feel more secure, and therefore encourage a return to Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Last week, Turkey, one of the few Muslim countries with whom Israel has had good contacts, cancelled a joint air force exercise with Israel. Israel, Turkey and the US countries took part in a joint exercise in the Mediterranean Sea, off Haifa last year. Tim Franks said Turkish-Israeli relations have become strained this year, since Turkey heavily criticised Israel's war in Gaza. The exercise, which is entitled Juniper Cobra, is due to finish on 5 November. news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8317919.stm........ (P.S. I find the BBC one-liner format to be annoying.)
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Post by ninathedog on Oct 23, 2009 1:23:52 GMT 4
PCHR
Palestinian Centre for Human Rightspchrgaza.org/Ref: 49/2009 Date: 22 October 2009
PCHR Release English Version of ‘Targeted Civilians: A PCHR Report on the Israeli Military Offensive against the Gaza Strip (27 December 2008 – 18 January 2009)’Today, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) releases the English-language version of ‘Targeted Civilians: A PCHR Report on the Israeli Military Offensive against the Gaza Strip (27 December 2008 – 18 January 2009)’. This report comprehensively documents the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, in which more than 1,400 Palestinians were killed, and over 5,300 injured. The overwhelming majority of those killed and injured were civilians. Attention is also paid to the extensive destruction of civilian object, including homes, and the damage inflicted on industry, agriculture, and the infrastructure of the Gaza Strip. The report is available for download here —www.pchrgaza.org/files/Reports/English/pdf_spec/gaza%20war%20report.pdf Public Document************************************** For more information please call PCHR office in Gaza , Gaza Strip, on +972 8 2824776 - 2825893
PCHR, 29 Omer El Mukhtar St., El Remal, PO Box 1328 Gaza, Gaza Strip. E-mail: pchr@pchrgaza.org, Webpage www.pchrgaza.org
-----------------------------------
If you got this forwarded and you want to subscribe, send mail to request@pchrgaza.org
and write "subscribe" in the subject line.
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Post by galaxygirl on Oct 25, 2009 2:50:51 GMT 4
Seymour Hersh: Military Is Waging War Against The White House
The Huffington PostIn addition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States military is also fighting a war against the Obama administration at the White House, Seymour Hersh said in a little-noted speech at Duke University on October 13. The military is "in a war against the White House -- and they feel they have Obama boxed in," he said.
Hersh, a Pulitzer-prize winning investigative journalist who exposed the My Lai massacre in Vietnam and the Abu Ghraib scandal in Iraq, sees an undercurrent of racism in the Pentagon's dealings with the White House. "They think he's weak and the wrong color. Yes, there's racism in the Pentagon. We may not like to think that, but it's true and we all know it."
As Neil Offen writes in the Durham Herald Sun:
"A lot of people in the Pentagon would like to see him get into trouble," he said. By leaking information that the commanding officer in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, says the war would be lost without an additional 40,000 American troops, top brass have put Obama in a no-win situation, Hersh contended.
"If he gives them the extra troops they're asking for, he loses politically," Hersh said. "And if he doesn't give them the troops, he also loses politically."
Hersh considers the worsening situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan as the principal test of the Obama presidency, which will require the cooperation of the top military brass. Obama must face up to the military, Hersh said. "He's either going to let the Pentagon run him or he has to run the Pentagon." If he doesn't, according to Hersh, "this stuff is going to be the ruin of his presidency."www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/23/seymour-hersh-military-is_n_332139.html
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Post by fr33ksh0w2012 on Oct 25, 2009 10:01:54 GMT 4
Rudd announces civilian corp at ASEAN
Sunday, October 25, 2009 » 01:37pm
Kevin Rudd has announced the new initiative at the ASEAN Summit in Thailand
A new civilian corps being created to help disaster-affected areas overseas will complement, rather than replace, existing humanitarian work, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says.
The federal government has announced it will create a new registry of civilian specialists - including people with medical, engineering or construction experience, at a cost of $52 million.
Up to 500 people will be chosen for the registry, which has been dubbed the new civilian corps.
Those on the registry can be sent to help neighbouring countries in an emergency such as the recent earthquakes that affected Samoa and Indonesia.
Mr Rudd announced the new initiative, which will be managed by the Office of the Deployable Civilian Capability (DCC), at a meeting of the East Asia Summit in Thailand on Sunday.
'These civilian specialists will complement rather than replace existing humanitarian response mechanisms and longer-term development assistance,' Mr Rudd said in a statement.
Deployed civilians may work alongside Australian military and police as well as foreign military, UN peacekeepers and civilian experts, or they could work alone, he said.
'Assignments will range from immediate stabilisation and recovery work to longer-term capacity building roles, recognising that the consequences of disasters can be felt for many years after their immediate impact.'
Mr Rudd said countries required significant assistance to begin the process of recovery, as seen following the earthquake and tsunami that struck Samoa and Tonga earlier this month.
'By providing skilled professionals through the DCC, Australia can play a greater role in this process,' he said.
The DCC is expected to be fully operational by 2011.
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Post by ninathedog on Oct 26, 2009 5:30:29 GMT 4
Gaza's Perilous Coast Endangers Wildlife and PeopleBy Abigail Hauslohner / Gaza City – Sun Oct 25, 12:30 pm ET
Time.comThe Loggerhead sea turtle was still alive, but barely. As it lay on its back on the pavement, occasionally flapping its fins, the fisherman who had caught it when it got stuck in his net a few miles off the coast of the Gaza Strip said he would take it home and eat it. Watch with CAUTION: very upsettingwww.youtube.com/watch?v=C_4EcD0e2OYThe fisherman, who gave his name only as "Abu Mohamed," admitted that his catch was illegal. Loggerheads are classified internationally as an endangered species. But these days, environmental protection is rarely enforced in Gaza's waters. That's because, according to fishermen and local maritime officials, life has gotten far too desperate to play by the rules. The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007, when the Islamist group Hamas took control of the territory. The blockade has crippled Gaza's economy, leaving 85% of the population dependent on humanitarian aid to survive. At sea, fishermen are restricted to three nautical miles from the coast, creating a crowded, overfished shoreline. "The big fish can be found after six miles, but the fishermen cannot go that far, so they catch what's available," says Mohamed al-Hissi, who serves as a liaison for fishermen affairs at the General Syndicate of Marine Fishers in Gaza City. (See pictures of the tunnel economy of the Gaza Strip.)Catches like endangered sea turtles are only one of the signs of a besieged industry. Al-Hissi says fishermen are also using nets with smaller holes that they smuggle in from Egypt. "This allows them to catch very small fish, and this is against regulations... This does not allow the fish to grow up. If this continues, it will destroy the environment." The Palestinian National Authority was once able to enforce these rules. But now, Al-Hissi says, "We can't control it because there are no alternatives." (See pictures of Gaza digging out after the Israeli invasion.)Israel used to deem fishermen low security risks. Before Israel's "disengagement" in 2005, "during the curfews, the Israelis would call over loudspeakers to tell the fishermen that they were allowed to go to their boats to fish," says al-Hissi, who has worked with Gaza's fishermen for the past 13 years. "With a fisherman's license, you could move, even during the curfew." But he has watched with alarm as the strip's fishing radius has shrank with each political setback; the fishing industry and the coastal environment becoming collateral damage in a larger conflict that the fishermen say they have no direct role in. Since last winter's Israeli offensive in Gaza, Operation Cast Lead, the fishermen say the daily hazards have only gotten worse. By day, the silhouettes of Israeli navy vessels are visible on the Mediterranean horizon. And by night, the thudding explosion of Israeli shells a few miles out to sea is audible even from the shore. "Every night there is shooting. They don't shoot directly at us. But when you get close to the three mile mark, they will fire into the water as a warning," says 23-year-old fisherman Ahmed Habil. Human rights organizations say fishermen also face the possibility of arrest while at sea. Several fishermen who spoke to TIME, say their boats were confiscated from within the current three mile limit in recent months; members of their crew forced to swim to nearby Israeli navy vessels, and then taken to Israel for questioning. "The Israelis took my boat five months ago, when it was about three kilometers out to sea," says Subhi Abdallah, a 60-year-old fisherman whose son was arrested when the boat was taken. "They took my son to [the Israeli port city of] Ashdod for 24 hours and then released him . . . They said they would send the boat back. They still haven't." The Israeli Defense Forces say Gaza's coastal waters are used for "attempted infiltrations into Israeli territory" to launch terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians and strategic facilities, as well as to smuggle arms. Health experts say the sea blockade may have dangerous implications for the Gazan diet. Several of Gaza's key sewage treatment and transport facilities were destroyed during last winter's war with Israel. Now, much of Gaza's sewage flows directly into the sea. "If the sewage is not treated, there will be a high level of metallic elements in the sea, including mercury," says Mohamed Elmi, the World Health Organization's Middle East regional adviser for food and chemicals. "[Mercury] affects your nervous system and your mental capability and capacity. It's a very poisonous metal. And if there is a high level of parasites in the fish then you also have the problem of parasitic diseases. We don't know what is in the sewage cocktail." Despite the hazards of fishing and a questionable future for Gaza's fishing industry, al-Hissi says fishing is still on the rise. "There are no other opportunities because people can no longer work in Israel. We used to have 100 small boats in use for fishing. Now we have 400." The new fishermen are putting added strain on an ecosystem already in peril, with some resorting to unconventional methods, such as dynamite or poison to kill the fish. "This is even more dangerous than the sewage," says al-Hissi. At the main dock in Gaza city, many of the fishermen call their predicament "an economic war." Abu Mohamed, pulled empty nets from his boat after a fruitless night of fishing. Just hours before, in the early morning, Abu Mohamed's boat had been shot at. "This is terrorism," he said. "Sometimes we feel like we are fighting to fish." View this article on Time.comRelated articles on Time.com:* On the Gaza Border: Israelis Cheering On the Attacks* Breaking the (Israeli) Gaza Blockade* Raising Cats in Gaza: A Pet Store Owner's Lamentnews.yahoo.com/s/time/20091025/wl_time/08599193208200
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Post by ninathedog on Oct 26, 2009 5:48:24 GMT 4
Palestinians make 'largest dress'Page last updated at 19:23 GMT, Sunday, 25 October 2009
BBC.com The dress was unveiled at a football stadium in the West BankPalestinians in the West Bank town of Hebron have sewn what they believe is the world's largest embroidered dress. About 150 women helped make the dress, which is 32.6m (107ft) long and 18.1m (59.4ft) wide, organisers said. It is hoped that the dress will secure a place in the Guinness Book of World records and promote local handicrafts. Many women in the West Bank have turned to handicrafts for income since Israeli restrictions imposed after the second intifada caused the economy to decline. The Palestinian economy lost ground for the ninth year in a row in 2008, with a 1.2% decline in per capita GDP and a rise in the unemployment rate to 32%, according to a recent UN report. The economic decline was rooted in Israel's restrictions on the movement of people and goods, the erosion of the Palestinian productive base, the loss of some of the territory's most fertile land and natural resources to the Israeli barrier in the West Bank, and expanding settlement activities there, the report said. The Israeli government says the restrictions are essential to prevent Palestinian militants from entering Israel and attacking Israeli civilians. news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8325232.stm
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Post by ninathedog on Oct 26, 2009 5:53:18 GMT 4
Lebanon breaks hummus, tabbouleh Guinness recordBy Omar Katerji
Special to The Daily Star
Monday, October 26, 2009BEIRUT: Lebanon successfully made three entries in the Guinness Book of Records over the weekend for the largest plate and the largest plates of hummus and tabbouleh. The “Hummus and Tabbouleh are 100 percent Lebanese” festival took place on Saturday and Sunday at Saifi Market in Downtown Beirut. Thousands attended the two-day event marking Lebanon’s attempt to claim the two dishes. The dishes were prepared under the watch of Guinness adjudicator Tallal Omar by 250 sous chefs from the Kafaat catering school. The 50 chefs were led by the famous Lebanese chef and culinary figure Ramzi Choueiri. The first attempt for the largest hummus dish reached an incredible 2056 kilograms, shattering the previous record of 362.8 kilograms set in New York in 2006. The tabbouleh dish weighed in at an even more astonishing 3557 kilograms, which surpasses Israel’s previous record of 2359 kilograms.  Lebanese chefs pour hummus into a large dish in Beirut October 24, 2009 during an attempt to enter the Guinness Book of Records for producing what they believe to be the biggest plate of hummus in the world. The dish, weighing 2,056 kg, was filled with 1,350 kg of the chickpea-based dish. The organisers claimed world records for both the size of the dish and the quantity of hummus produced.REUTERS/Jamal Saidi (LEBANON SOCIETY FOOD IMAGES OF THE DAY) Lebanese chefs celebrate around a large plate of hummus after setting a new world record in Beirut. A Guinness representative was on hand to certify the record set by 250 Lebanese chefs and their trainees, who joined efforts to mix over two tonnes of the chickpea-based dip.(AFP/Ramzi Haidar)Both dishes were prepared in the world’s largest plate designed by Lebanese engineer Joseph Kabalan which was designed to hold over 3 tons. The event was organized by the International Fairs and Promotions group (IFP), along with the Association of Lebanese Industrialists (ALI) and the Industry Minister Ghazi Zaiter. The event was held to affirm the origins of the dishes after the ALI’s claim that the specialties are sold internationally as Greek or Israeli dishes, undermining the cultural originality of the dishes and causing huge losses for the Lebanese economy. At the event, Ghazi Koraytem, president of the Syndicate of Lebanese Food Industries called for the international recognition and registration of the dishes as being Lebanese in origin. The festival, which attracted thousands of people to Saifi Market, was set up to include many stalls from Lebanese caterers and artisans. Famous presenter Michel Azzi acted as the master of ceremonies for the event, keeping the crowd lively and amused throughout the various stages of the record attempts. At the event Azzi said: “We wish that the Lebanese could share this sense of unity all the time in all endeavors.” At times the security struggled to keep the enthusiastic audience back away from the giant dishes. Mona, from Beirut, said: “This is an important issue to the Lebanese. If Israel attempts to break the record again, we will keep breaking it and prove that these dishes are Lebanese.” The ALI has claimed their case is similar to the European Union court ruling in 2002 that ruled feta cheese to be Greek. Geographical appellation rights exist for sparkling wine from the French Champagne region and Scotch whisky, and according to ALI, Lebanon should be able to patent hummus and tabbouleh dishes. www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=107936
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Post by fr33ksh0w2012 on Oct 26, 2009 12:15:43 GMT 4
NOD A PM AWAITS  |
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Post by ninathedog on Oct 27, 2009 14:55:49 GMT 4
The great Baby Einstein scamby Mira Jacob, Shine staff, 11 hours 40 minutes agoOf course it was too good to be true. The New York Times reported Thursday that Disney is offering a refund to buyers of its ubiquitous “Baby Einstein” videos, which did not, as promised, turn babies into wunderkinds. Apparently, all those puppets, bright colors, and songs were what we had feared all along—a mind-numbing way to occupy infants. This news has rocked the parenting world, which had embraced the videos as a miraculous child-rearing staple. Videos that make your kid smarter while you prepare dinner? Genius! Or not. According to the article, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under two years old stay away from watching screens. In the letter threatening Disney with a class-action lawsuit for "deceptive advertising," public health lawyers hired by Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood cited a study which found a link between early television exposure and later problems with attention span. For many parents, this was the most unsettling of "duh" moments, and a confirmation that nothing, when it comes to child-rearing, is as ever easy as we'd like to make it. So why were we so quick to seize on Baby Einstein videos as technological tutors? Call it the perfect storm of parenting. Who doesn’t want to believe that there is a magical, wondrous, no-parental-guidance-required product that will turn their kids into Mensa members? The combination of our lack of time, our paranoia over our kids performance, and our faith in technology primed this generation of parents to accept the clever advertising around "Baby Einstein" as truth, just as parents before us have seized on corporal punishment, or the teachings of Dr. Spock. Still, the idea that a caper this big could be pulled off (according to the Times, in “a 2003 study, a third of all American babies from 6 months to 2 years old had at least one 'Baby Einstein' video") is mind-boggling. Disney’s refund is about as close as we’re going to get to an actual admission that we were sold snake oil, and it casts a pall over the other "educational" toys out there. So now what? Lose the Leapfrog? Whisk away the Wii? How do you plan on keeping (or cutting out) technology in your child's life? Related: viewing screens, screens, parenting, lawsuit, disney, baby einstein videos, baby einstein products, baby einstein, american acadmy of pediatricsshine.yahoo.com/channel/parenting/the-great-baby-einstein-scam-531147/
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he's ALIVE and WELL .. 
