By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 6 minutes ago WASHINGTON - Michigan and Florida alone can't save Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign. Interviews with those considering how to handle the two states' banished convention delegates found little interest in the former first lady's best-case scenario. Her position, part of a formidable comeback challenge, is that all the delegates be seated in accordance with their disputed primaries.
Even if they were, it wouldn't erase Barack Obama's growing lead in delegates.
The Democratic Party's Rules and Bylaws Committee, a 30-member panel charged with interpreting and enforcing party rules, is to meet May 31 to consider how to handle Michigan and Florida's 368 delegates — both pledged delegates and superdelegates.
Last year, the panel imposed the harshest punishment it could render against the two states after they scheduled primaries in January, even though they were instructed not to vote until Feb. 5 or later. Michigan and Florida lost all their delegates to the national convention, and all the Democratic candidates agreed not to campaign in the two states, stripping them of all the influence they were trying to build by voting early.
But now there is agreement on all sides that at least some of the delegates should be restored in a gesture of party unity and respect to voters in two general election battlegrounds.
Clinton has been arguing for full reinstatement, which would boost her standing. She won both states, even though they didn't count toward the nomination and neither candidate campaigned in them. Obama even had his name pulled from Michigan's ballot.
The Associated Press interviewed a third of the panel members and several other Democrats involved in the negotiations and found widespread agreement that the states must be punished for stepping out of line. If not, many members say, other states will do the same thing in four years.
"We certainly want to be fair to both candidates, and we want to be sure that we are fair to the 48 states who abided by the rules," said Democratic National Committee Secretary Alice Germond, a panel member unaligned with either candidate. "We don't want absolute chaos for 2012.
"We want to reach out to Michigan and Florida and seat some group of delegates in some manner, at least most of us do. These are two critical states for the general (election) and the voters of those states who were not the people who caused this awful conundrum to occur deserve our attention and deserve to be a part of our process and deserve to be at the convention," she said.
Just as Democrats across the country have been divided over which candidate would make the better nominee, most of the panel members also bring personal preferences to the table.
Many are long-standing party officials with close ties to the Clintons. The former first lady has 13 members publicly supporting her, including campaign advisers Harold Ickes and Tina Flournoy who are working to build her delegate count. Eight are openly aligned with Obama. Nine others are officially undeclared.
"We have to have delegates, and they have to be delegations that reflect the opinions of those two states," said former DNC Chairman Don Fowler, a committee member supporting Clinton. "How we get there is very different because everyone sees these questions of who it helps and who it hurts. I don't think the formulation has been found that will get around the piece at this point." But he said a solution is probably possible among the diverse interests.
Because Obama is in the lead for the nomination, his camp heads into the meeting in a position of strength. It is possible the Illinois senator could clinch the nomination by the time the panel meets if he picks up the pace of superdelegate endorsements in the coming weeks.
But Obama has such a lead that he may be able to afford to be generous and give Clinton most of the delegates. That would help put the issue behind them and help him build goodwill in Michigan and Florida heading into the November election.
Still, some think the fairest solution is to disregard the primary votes and split the delegations evenly between the two candidates. Yvonne Gates, a member of Nevada who said she is keeping her candidate preference private until after the meeting so her decision won't be questioned, said she isn't sure what position she would support at the meeting but that it must be fair to both candidates.
"My definition is a 50-50 split is something that is fair," she said. "It cannot be a situation where you give one candidate more votes than the other. In my opinion that wasn't an election when they didn't have a chance to get out and talk to the people of that community."
It's also possible that any vote that recognizes the Michigan and Florida results would legitimize their elections. Clinton has been arguing that she leads in the popular vote, but that's only when both states are included and it is very slim — fewer than 5,000 votes out of 34 million cast.
Her accounting also doesn't include some caucus states that favored Obama and where the popular vote wasn't tallied. The measure of winning the nomination is not the popular vote but whoever can get the majority of delegates — currently 2,026 are needed for the nomination although adding Michigan and Florida back in would change the threshold.
Obama climbed to 1,904 on Friday, according to The Associated Press count. Clinton has 1,719 delegates and is trying to use the popular vote argument to win over more.
Clinton encouraged supporters in an e-mail Friday to sign a message to the DNC asking them to count Michigan and Florida in the May 31 meeting. "I need you to remind them that in the Democratic Party, we count every vote," her e-mail said.
Fourteen of Clinton's Hispanic supporters in Congress sent a letter to the Rules and Bylaws Committee Friday arguing that disregarding the votes cast by Hispanics, 12 percent of the primary vote in Florida, could damage the nominee.
So far, Obama's campaign has not been giving direction publicly or privately to panel members. The Clinton campaign's official position has been full reinstatement, but her advisers acknowledge they are considering an idea before the panel to seat the delegates with half a vote each. Clinton campaign Chairman Terry McAuliffe said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" that they "certainly might" accept a compromise to seat half the delegates.
If their elections had been held according to party rules, Michigan and Florida would have allocated a total of 313 pledged delegates based on the outcome of the vote.
Using the results of the January elections with no votes for Obama from Michigan, Clinton would get 178 to Obama's 67, with the remainder in Michigan who voted "uncommitted" and giving her a 111-vote advantage. The remainder of the 368 delegates includes those representing the "uncommitted" vote in Michigan and John Edwards in Florida, along with superdelegates.
As of Friday, she was behind 185 delegates, so that would not catch her up even under that unlikely scenario.
The plans before the committee will be more generous to Obama. The Michigan Democratic Party has proposed giving 69 of its 128 delegates to Clinton and 59 to Obama, an advantage of 10 delegates for Clinton.
A proposal from Florida would halve its 185 delegates. From that, Clinton would get 52.5 and Obama 33.5, a 19-delegate advantage for Clinton.
"I think it's a reasonable solution to the problem that was created, and my hope is that we'll be able to get past this and move on," said Allan Katz, an Obama supporter who serves on the panel but won't be able to vote on any Florida solution because he is from the state.
The committee is not bound to select the proposals offered and has authority to reinstate any number of delegates and divide them in any way.
An open question is how to handle the other type of delegates each state lost — the superdelegates who are party leaders not bound by the outcome of the vote and are free to support whatever candidate they personally choose. Michigan has 29 superdelegates, and Florida 26. A total of nine have declared for Obama, 15 for Clinton and the rest are undeclared.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Intel agencies seek help recruiting new immigrants
By PAMELA HESS, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 2 minutes ago McLEAN, VA - The U.S. is its own worst enemy when it comes to the desperately important task of recruiting immigrants as spies, analysts and translators in the war on terror, new Americans are telling intelligence officials. The government's policies raise suspicions and fear in the immigrants' home countries and disturb potential recruits here who might otherwise want to help. The U.S. knows it needs the help. At the heart of a Friday summit with immigrant groups was a stark reality: The intelligence agencies lack people who can speak the languages that are needed most, such as Arabic, Farsi and Pashtu. More importantly, the agencies lack people with the cultural awareness that enables them to grasp the nuances embedded in dialect, body language and even street graffiti.
At the suburban Virginia summit, not far from the CIA and National Counterterrorism Center, officials gathered more than a dozen representatives of recent immigrant and other ethnic groups to get their recruiting assistance.
"We are going to ask you to open up your communities to us," said Ronald Sanders, an assistant national intelligence director, and the son of an Egyptian immigrant mother.
The officials got an earful in return — about immigration and hiring rules and foreign policies that make life harder in immigrants' old countries. The intelligence agencies' own practices also came under criticism: extraordinary rendition, holding prisoners at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, harsh interrogation practices that some say amount to torture.
"Basically they've scared people," said Amina Khan, of the Association of Pakistani Professionals and an attorney formerly with the U.S. Energy Department.
Immigrants "have always seen and regarded the United States as a law-abiding country," Khan said in an interview with The Associated Press. "Now we are the only superpower in the entire world. For us, when we hear things like renditions or Guantanamo Bay, which for many is considered outside the letter of the law, there is an element of fear."
Many immigrants come to the United States already fearing the intelligence agencies of their home countries.
A man named Aung, from Myanmar, said his countrymen in the United States are spied on by Myanmar agents.
"Basically by attending this conference I myself am on the list," he said. It will complicate his visits home to see his father, he said, asking that his full name not be used.
"In our culture it is looked down on to be a ... spy," added Humira Noorestani, whose family is from Afghanistan.
Some U.S. policies after the 9/11 terrorist attacks made things worse, said Kareem Shora, of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.
"The policy missteps and mistakes tended to alienate the very community they are now trying to approach and work with," Shora said. "The NSA wiretapping, rendition, waterboarding, linking the war in Iraq with the issue of radicalization and the terrorism threat. ... What I ask is that at some point that these conversations address these hard issues."
Even the Japanese-American experience of World War II haunts this conference. Larry Shinagawa, of the University of Maryland's Asian American studies program, said immigrant groups have reason to be suspicious of the government's sudden interest. The government admitted in 2000 after years of denials that census records were used to track down Japanese-Americans by name and address for imprisonment in internment camps during the war.
One major need now is for people who can speak the languages most needed in the anti-terror fight. The children of immigrants, even if they don't grow up speaking their parents' language, can learn it to the required level of proficiency in 16 weeks. It takes people without that cultural heritage about 63 weeks, according to Jean AbiNader, a government cultural trainer with IdeaCom. Inc.
And then there are cultural matters as well. Immigrants and their children don't need to learn these things; they can teach them.
The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are collaborating on a summer internship program to begin to tap that expertise. Twenty college students are coming to Washington, D.C. for 10 weeks. They will get free Arabic classes in the morning at George Washington University and spend the afternoons working in the agencies' intelligence offices.
"We need these people, their expertise, their understanding of culture, of language. We don't have it today and it is a great deficiency," said Charles Allen, a long time CIA officer who is now the Homeland Security Department's intelligence chief. "This will be an enormous augmentation."
U.S. policies have until recently forbidden recruitment of first-generation Americans who have direct family ties abroad, a practice that began after World War II, despite the fact that many code breakers in that conflict were not born in America, said National Intelligence Director Michael McConnell.
New rules drop that obstacle, he said. Still, the security clearance process can take 12 to 18 months for a citizen without close ties abroad. It can go on for years for children of recent immigrants. McConnell wants to shorten that to 60 days.
The agencies will try to contain the risk of giving people with close foreign associations access to top secret information by increasing the scrutiny that all employees get once they are cleared, a practice known as life cycle monitoring.
McConnell told the meeting of immigrant community leaders that he is increasing sensitivity training for the intelligence agencies' 100,000 employees.
U.S. officials are trying to adjust how they talk about the war on terrorism so as not to alienate Muslims. That adjustment is needed, said Mohammed H. Ali, an imam with a Virginia Muslim community organization.
"I'm concerned about the language used to describe terrorism," he said.
McConnell said he is, too.
"We try not to refer to 'jihad' as something that's bad," McConnell noted, referring to a recent government communications policy.
It's a first and somewhat controversial step toward shaping the language the United States uses to compete with the international messages of al-Qaida. The terror group's messages are increasing: In 2005 it issued about 15 video or audio messages. In 2006, there were 50. In 2007 there were 97. There will probably be even more in 2008, including a fresh message from Osama bin Laden this week.
"We did a good job in the war against Communism. We have not done a halfway decent job of countering the virulence (of al-Qaida) and the message properly," Allen said.
"I never use the term 'global war on terrorism,'" Allen said. "I have never used it publicly, and I don't write it that way either."
"We have so much work to do because countering this ideology is absolutely central to everything that we do. This is our way of countering al-Qaida in the future. If we don't get it right and we don't do the outreach correctly, we will simply lose ground," Allen said.
At the suburban Virginia summit, not far from the CIA and National Counterterrorism Center, officials gathered more than a dozen representatives of recent immigrant and other ethnic groups to get their recruiting assistance.
"We are going to ask you to open up your communities to us," said Ronald Sanders, an assistant national intelligence director, and the son of an Egyptian immigrant mother.
The officials got an earful in return — about immigration and hiring rules and foreign policies that make life harder in immigrants' old countries. The intelligence agencies' own practices also came under criticism: extraordinary rendition, holding prisoners at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, harsh interrogation practices that some say amount to torture.
"Basically they've scared people," said Amina Khan, of the Association of Pakistani Professionals and an attorney formerly with the U.S. Energy Department.
Immigrants "have always seen and regarded the United States as a law-abiding country," Khan said in an interview with The Associated Press. "Now we are the only superpower in the entire world. For us, when we hear things like renditions or Guantanamo Bay, which for many is considered outside the letter of the law, there is an element of fear."
Many immigrants come to the United States already fearing the intelligence agencies of their home countries.
A man named Aung, from Myanmar, said his countrymen in the United States are spied on by Myanmar agents.
"Basically by attending this conference I myself am on the list," he said. It will complicate his visits home to see his father, he said, asking that his full name not be used.
"In our culture it is looked down on to be a ... spy," added Humira Noorestani, whose family is from Afghanistan.
Some U.S. policies after the 9/11 terrorist attacks made things worse, said Kareem Shora, of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.
"The policy missteps and mistakes tended to alienate the very community they are now trying to approach and work with," Shora said. "The NSA wiretapping, rendition, waterboarding, linking the war in Iraq with the issue of radicalization and the terrorism threat. ... What I ask is that at some point that these conversations address these hard issues."
Even the Japanese-American experience of World War II haunts this conference. Larry Shinagawa, of the University of Maryland's Asian American studies program, said immigrant groups have reason to be suspicious of the government's sudden interest. The government admitted in 2000 after years of denials that census records were used to track down Japanese-Americans by name and address for imprisonment in internment camps during the war.
One major need now is for people who can speak the languages most needed in the anti-terror fight. The children of immigrants, even if they don't grow up speaking their parents' language, can learn it to the required level of proficiency in 16 weeks. It takes people without that cultural heritage about 63 weeks, according to Jean AbiNader, a government cultural trainer with IdeaCom. Inc.
And then there are cultural matters as well. Immigrants and their children don't need to learn these things; they can teach them.
The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are collaborating on a summer internship program to begin to tap that expertise. Twenty college students are coming to Washington, D.C. for 10 weeks. They will get free Arabic classes in the morning at George Washington University and spend the afternoons working in the agencies' intelligence offices.
"We need these people, their expertise, their understanding of culture, of language. We don't have it today and it is a great deficiency," said Charles Allen, a long time CIA officer who is now the Homeland Security Department's intelligence chief. "This will be an enormous augmentation."
U.S. policies have until recently forbidden recruitment of first-generation Americans who have direct family ties abroad, a practice that began after World War II, despite the fact that many code breakers in that conflict were not born in America, said National Intelligence Director Michael McConnell.
New rules drop that obstacle, he said. Still, the security clearance process can take 12 to 18 months for a citizen without close ties abroad. It can go on for years for children of recent immigrants. McConnell wants to shorten that to 60 days.
The agencies will try to contain the risk of giving people with close foreign associations access to top secret information by increasing the scrutiny that all employees get once they are cleared, a practice known as life cycle monitoring.
McConnell told the meeting of immigrant community leaders that he is increasing sensitivity training for the intelligence agencies' 100,000 employees.
U.S. officials are trying to adjust how they talk about the war on terrorism so as not to alienate Muslims. That adjustment is needed, said Mohammed H. Ali, an imam with a Virginia Muslim community organization.
"I'm concerned about the language used to describe terrorism," he said.
McConnell said he is, too.
"We try not to refer to 'jihad' as something that's bad," McConnell noted, referring to a recent government communications policy.
It's a first and somewhat controversial step toward shaping the language the United States uses to compete with the international messages of al-Qaida. The terror group's messages are increasing: In 2005 it issued about 15 video or audio messages. In 2006, there were 50. In 2007 there were 97. There will probably be even more in 2008, including a fresh message from Osama bin Laden this week.
"We did a good job in the war against Communism. We have not done a halfway decent job of countering the virulence (of al-Qaida) and the message properly," Allen said.
"I never use the term 'global war on terrorism,'" Allen said. "I have never used it publicly, and I don't write it that way either."
"We have so much work to do because countering this ideology is absolutely central to everything that we do. This is our way of countering al-Qaida in the future. If we don't get it right and we don't do the outreach correctly, we will simply lose ground," Allen said.
Analysis: Obama reacts fast to Bush on diplomacy
WASHINGTON - In President Bush's hint that Barack Obama wants to appease terrorists, Democrats heard troubling echoes of 2004, when Republicans portrayed John Kerry as irresolute and weak on national security.
Determined to end the similarities there, Obama and his allies counterattacked Friday with a multi-pronged response that was as fast and fierce as Kerry's response to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads was slow and uncertain.
And while the Democrats' first-day responses focused on Bush's speech this week in Israel, Friday's reactions mainly targeted John McCain, the GOP presidential candidate who seemed largely on the sidelines at first.
Obama, appearing unusually feisty and at times sarcastic, led the countercharge himself. Campaigning in South Dakota, he departed from planned remarks to rebuke Bush and McCain, and then called a news conference for a second dose.
"I was offended by what is a continuation of a strategy from this White House, now mimicked by Senator McCain, that replaces strategy and analysis and smart policy with bombast, exaggerations and fear-mongering," the Illinois senator said.
Bush's speech Thursday to the Israeli parliament, he said, wasn't about policy.
"It was about politics, about trying to scare the American people," Obama said. "And that's what will not work in this election because the American people can look back at the track record of George Bush, supported by John McCain," and conclude that the nation was misled about the Iraq war's justification, cost, length and benefit to America.
For four years, Democrats have regretted Kerry's halting response to the so-called Swiftboat ads, aired by Bush supporters at a crucial time in their 2004 presidential contest. The ads portrayed Kerry, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, as dishonest and "unfit for command."
Many politicians, including McCain, condemned the ads, and some stations quit airing them. But the $25 million campaign triggered conversations on talk radio, TV programs and front porches nationwide. Swiftboat became part of the political vernacular.
The ads not only undermined Kerry's personal image. They helped divert attention from the Iraq war, whose unpopularity was growing, and they shifted the debate on national security to a broader, more personalized framework that benefited Bush.
Democratic strategists say Bush is trying to give McCain a blueprint for the same tactic, and they are determined to respond more promptly and forcefully.
"Like Bush, McCain knows that he needs to make the election less about the past conduct of the war," said Stephanie Cutter, who was Kerry's 2004 campaign spokeswoman. "He'll go after Obama's trustworthiness, just like Bush went after Kerry's."
But Obama, she said, has shown that he "can give as good as he gets by making McCain responsible for Bush's failures and calling him out for his politically expedient flip-flopping."
The Democratic counterattack against McCain began in earnest early Friday, with a Washington Post op-ed piece touching on Hamas, a Palestinian militant group that the United States considers a terrorist organization. Former Clinton administration State Department official James Rubin wrote that McCain, responding to a TV interview question two years ago about whether U.S. diplomats should work with the Hamas government in Gaza, said:
"They're the government; sooner or later we are going to have to deal with them, one way or another," despite their unpalatable record. Rubin said McCain is "guilty of hypocrisy" and is "smearing" Obama.
The McCain campaign accused Rubin of airing an incomplete portion of the interview but focused its response Friday on Iran, not Hamas.
Campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds said Obama "has pledged to unconditionally meet with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — who pledges to wipe Israel off the map, denies the Holocaust, sponsors terrorists, arms America's enemies in Iraq and pursues nuclear weapons."
McCain used similar words himself in a speech to the National Rifle Association in Louisville, Ky.
"It is reckless to suggest that unconditional meetings will advance our interests" with Iran, he said.
Obama has said he would pursue talks with Iran without insisting on "preconditions" that would likely prompt Iranian leaders to spurn the request.
Bush started the brouhaha, which dominated Friday's campaign news, with Thursday's speech to Israel's Knesset. After mentioning the president of Iran, he said: "Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along."
"We have heard this foolish delusion before," Bush said. "As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is — the false comfort of appeasement.'"
It's unclear whether the 2008 campaign will feature attacks comparable to the Swiftboat ads. But if it does, the response is almost certain to be quicker and angrier than anything seen four years ago.
___
EDITOR'S NOTE: Charles Babington covers the presidential campaign for The Associated Press.
SOURCE:NEWS.YAHOO
Determined to end the similarities there, Obama and his allies counterattacked Friday with a multi-pronged response that was as fast and fierce as Kerry's response to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads was slow and uncertain.
And while the Democrats' first-day responses focused on Bush's speech this week in Israel, Friday's reactions mainly targeted John McCain, the GOP presidential candidate who seemed largely on the sidelines at first.
Obama, appearing unusually feisty and at times sarcastic, led the countercharge himself. Campaigning in South Dakota, he departed from planned remarks to rebuke Bush and McCain, and then called a news conference for a second dose.
"I was offended by what is a continuation of a strategy from this White House, now mimicked by Senator McCain, that replaces strategy and analysis and smart policy with bombast, exaggerations and fear-mongering," the Illinois senator said.
Bush's speech Thursday to the Israeli parliament, he said, wasn't about policy.
"It was about politics, about trying to scare the American people," Obama said. "And that's what will not work in this election because the American people can look back at the track record of George Bush, supported by John McCain," and conclude that the nation was misled about the Iraq war's justification, cost, length and benefit to America.
For four years, Democrats have regretted Kerry's halting response to the so-called Swiftboat ads, aired by Bush supporters at a crucial time in their 2004 presidential contest. The ads portrayed Kerry, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, as dishonest and "unfit for command."
Many politicians, including McCain, condemned the ads, and some stations quit airing them. But the $25 million campaign triggered conversations on talk radio, TV programs and front porches nationwide. Swiftboat became part of the political vernacular.
The ads not only undermined Kerry's personal image. They helped divert attention from the Iraq war, whose unpopularity was growing, and they shifted the debate on national security to a broader, more personalized framework that benefited Bush.
Democratic strategists say Bush is trying to give McCain a blueprint for the same tactic, and they are determined to respond more promptly and forcefully.
"Like Bush, McCain knows that he needs to make the election less about the past conduct of the war," said Stephanie Cutter, who was Kerry's 2004 campaign spokeswoman. "He'll go after Obama's trustworthiness, just like Bush went after Kerry's."
But Obama, she said, has shown that he "can give as good as he gets by making McCain responsible for Bush's failures and calling him out for his politically expedient flip-flopping."
The Democratic counterattack against McCain began in earnest early Friday, with a Washington Post op-ed piece touching on Hamas, a Palestinian militant group that the United States considers a terrorist organization. Former Clinton administration State Department official James Rubin wrote that McCain, responding to a TV interview question two years ago about whether U.S. diplomats should work with the Hamas government in Gaza, said:
"They're the government; sooner or later we are going to have to deal with them, one way or another," despite their unpalatable record. Rubin said McCain is "guilty of hypocrisy" and is "smearing" Obama.
The McCain campaign accused Rubin of airing an incomplete portion of the interview but focused its response Friday on Iran, not Hamas.
Campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds said Obama "has pledged to unconditionally meet with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — who pledges to wipe Israel off the map, denies the Holocaust, sponsors terrorists, arms America's enemies in Iraq and pursues nuclear weapons."
McCain used similar words himself in a speech to the National Rifle Association in Louisville, Ky.
"It is reckless to suggest that unconditional meetings will advance our interests" with Iran, he said.
Obama has said he would pursue talks with Iran without insisting on "preconditions" that would likely prompt Iranian leaders to spurn the request.
Bush started the brouhaha, which dominated Friday's campaign news, with Thursday's speech to Israel's Knesset. After mentioning the president of Iran, he said: "Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along."
"We have heard this foolish delusion before," Bush said. "As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is — the false comfort of appeasement.'"
It's unclear whether the 2008 campaign will feature attacks comparable to the Swiftboat ads. But if it does, the response is almost certain to be quicker and angrier than anything seen four years ago.
___
EDITOR'S NOTE: Charles Babington covers the presidential campaign for The Associated Press.
SOURCE:NEWS.YAHOO
Calif. measure will test public opinion on gay marriage
By LISA LEFF, Associated Press Writer Fri May 16, 6:41 PM ETSAN FRANCISCO - The California Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage will not be the last word.
California voters will almost certainly hold a referendum on a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in November, and for the first time anywhere in the U.S., the vote will have a direct and immediate effect on gay couples waiting to tie the knot.
The amendment needs a simple majority to pass, and if the voters reject gay marriage, their decision will supersede the high court's. There are signs the contest's outcome will be close.
It will certainly be costly — the two sides say they plan to spend at least $25 million combined on the campaign.
"The people who want to defeat the amendment are going to have to work very hard to be successful — harder than the people who want the amendment to pass," said Charles Gossett, a California State University-Pomona political scientist who has analyzed a decades worth of poll numbers on the issue. "But I don't think its impossible."
Though the state has a history of being on the vanguard of gay rights, California residents have polled slightly against same-sex rights in recent years.
The most recent polls, conducted in 2006 and 2007, found that 51 percent and 49 percent of survey respondents opposed making gay marriage legal, while 43 percent and 45 percent endorsed the idea.
Those numbers have remained virtually unchanged since former Gov. Gray Davis signed legislation in 2003 giving registered domestic partners the same rights and benefits as married spouses and since same-sex marriage became legal in Massachusetts in 2004, according to Gossett.
Proponents of the November initiative marriage think the court's 4-3 ruling will hit closer to home and galvanize moderate voters who don't mind gay couples entering into domestic partnerships, but want marriage reserved for a man and a woman.
"You may find even increased support from 2000," when an anti-gay marriage referendum passed easily, said Andrew Pugno of the California Marriage Protection Act campaign. "With this court decision, the need for the marriage amendment is brought into clearer focus."
Mindful of the defeat suffered by gay marriage opponents two years ago in Arizona — the only state where voters have rejected a marriage amendment — the sponsors deliberately decided against trying to simultaneously repeal domestic partner rights, which two-thirds of California voters support.
The secretary of state still must verify the initiative, a decision expected next month.
Groups from across the nation already are pledging resources to defeat or support the measure, similar to gay marriage bans enacted in 26 other states. Colorado-based Focus on the Family and the Democratic Congressional Committee both donated funds during the signature-gathering phase.
The California Conference of Catholic Bishops will not take a position on the measure until it qualifies for the ballot, but "it is obviously an issue they will support," said spokeswoman Carol Hogan. The church's position could be a key factor with Latino voters, who have been registering in greater numbers, Gossett said. The pope reiterated his opposition to gay unions on Friday.
Gossett also noted that survey respondents often give what they consider to be politically correct answers on social questions such as gay marriage, but record their true beliefs at the ballot box. A month before 61 percent of California voters approved the 2000 marriage ban, only 52 percent of likely voters told pollsters they favored the proposition.
Corey Cook, a political scientist at the University of San Francisco, said other demographic and political changes will be in play during a presidential election that has attracted the interest of younger voters who tend to be much more accepting of gay relationships.
"We have a different electorate than we did eight years ago. They're more inclined to vote against the constitutional amendment," Cook said.
Perhaps more importantly, Californians this time might have witnessed hundreds of gay marriages by November. Opponents of gay marriage will ask the high court to stay Thursday's decision, but the court is not obligated to do so.
If gay marriages become a reality this summer, Cook said, voters will be faced with the choice of disappointing their neighbors and relatives. Some think that will only happen in San Francisco but Cook disagreed.
"People who live in Fresno are going to know gay people who are going to be married," he said.
___
Associated Press Writer Don Thompson contributed to this story.
SOURCE:NEWS.YAHOO
California voters will almost certainly hold a referendum on a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in November, and for the first time anywhere in the U.S., the vote will have a direct and immediate effect on gay couples waiting to tie the knot.
The amendment needs a simple majority to pass, and if the voters reject gay marriage, their decision will supersede the high court's. There are signs the contest's outcome will be close.
It will certainly be costly — the two sides say they plan to spend at least $25 million combined on the campaign.
"The people who want to defeat the amendment are going to have to work very hard to be successful — harder than the people who want the amendment to pass," said Charles Gossett, a California State University-Pomona political scientist who has analyzed a decades worth of poll numbers on the issue. "But I don't think its impossible."
Though the state has a history of being on the vanguard of gay rights, California residents have polled slightly against same-sex rights in recent years.
The most recent polls, conducted in 2006 and 2007, found that 51 percent and 49 percent of survey respondents opposed making gay marriage legal, while 43 percent and 45 percent endorsed the idea.
Those numbers have remained virtually unchanged since former Gov. Gray Davis signed legislation in 2003 giving registered domestic partners the same rights and benefits as married spouses and since same-sex marriage became legal in Massachusetts in 2004, according to Gossett.
Proponents of the November initiative marriage think the court's 4-3 ruling will hit closer to home and galvanize moderate voters who don't mind gay couples entering into domestic partnerships, but want marriage reserved for a man and a woman.
"You may find even increased support from 2000," when an anti-gay marriage referendum passed easily, said Andrew Pugno of the California Marriage Protection Act campaign. "With this court decision, the need for the marriage amendment is brought into clearer focus."
Mindful of the defeat suffered by gay marriage opponents two years ago in Arizona — the only state where voters have rejected a marriage amendment — the sponsors deliberately decided against trying to simultaneously repeal domestic partner rights, which two-thirds of California voters support.
The secretary of state still must verify the initiative, a decision expected next month.
Groups from across the nation already are pledging resources to defeat or support the measure, similar to gay marriage bans enacted in 26 other states. Colorado-based Focus on the Family and the Democratic Congressional Committee both donated funds during the signature-gathering phase.
The California Conference of Catholic Bishops will not take a position on the measure until it qualifies for the ballot, but "it is obviously an issue they will support," said spokeswoman Carol Hogan. The church's position could be a key factor with Latino voters, who have been registering in greater numbers, Gossett said. The pope reiterated his opposition to gay unions on Friday.
Gossett also noted that survey respondents often give what they consider to be politically correct answers on social questions such as gay marriage, but record their true beliefs at the ballot box. A month before 61 percent of California voters approved the 2000 marriage ban, only 52 percent of likely voters told pollsters they favored the proposition.
Corey Cook, a political scientist at the University of San Francisco, said other demographic and political changes will be in play during a presidential election that has attracted the interest of younger voters who tend to be much more accepting of gay relationships.
"We have a different electorate than we did eight years ago. They're more inclined to vote against the constitutional amendment," Cook said.
Perhaps more importantly, Californians this time might have witnessed hundreds of gay marriages by November. Opponents of gay marriage will ask the high court to stay Thursday's decision, but the court is not obligated to do so.
If gay marriages become a reality this summer, Cook said, voters will be faced with the choice of disappointing their neighbors and relatives. Some think that will only happen in San Francisco but Cook disagreed.
"People who live in Fresno are going to know gay people who are going to be married," he said.
___
Associated Press Writer Don Thompson contributed to this story.
SOURCE:NEWS.YAHOO
China urges quake rescuers not to give up hope
By Chris Buckley 49 minutes ago DUJIANGYAN, China (Reuters) - Chinese President Hu Jintao urged rescuers in the southwestern province of Sichuan to race time to save lives, days after the most destructive earthquake to hit modern China, state media said on Saturday. China has put the known death toll at over 22,000 but has said it expects it to exceed 50,000. About 4.8 million people have lost their homes and the days are numbered in which survivors can be found.
"Although the time for the best chance of rescue, the first 72 hours after an earthquake, has passed, saving lives remains the top priority of our work," Hu told distraught survivors just over a week after a jubilant China celebrated the Olympic torch reaching the summit of Mount Everest.
In earthquakes elsewhere in the world, survivors have been found a week or more after the disaster. In Baguio in the Philippines in 1990, a cook was found alive after two weeks in the rubble of a shattered hotel.
"Quake relief work has entered the most crucial phase," Hu said. "We must make every effort, race against time and overcome all difficulties to achieve the final victory of the relief efforts."
Many survivors were found on Friday, including six miners who took shelter in a pit for 88 hours, Xinhua news agency said.
Xinhua said 33 people were dug out of the rubble in Beichuan, one of the worst-hit areas, still alive.
Premier Wen Jiabao, also visiting the region, said the 7.9 magnitude quake was "the biggest and most destructive" since before the Communist revolution of 1949 and the quick response had helped reduce casualties.
Wen was comparing the disaster with the 1976 tremor in the northeastern city of Tangshan, which killed up to 300,000 people.
"NO MORE INSTANT NOODLES"
But as the weather gets warmer, survivors were increasingly worried about hygiene and asking questions about their longer-term future.
"What we don't need now is more instant noodles," said truck driver Wang Jianhong in the city of Dujiangyan. "We want to know now what will happen with our lives. We're not impatient but we need to know something."
In Beichuan, thousands of homeless flooded out of mountains into the city of Mianyang, many put into military trucks and taken to a refugee centre.
"It was really bad up there," farmer Dian Minggui said. "The whole mountain changed shape and all the homes are toppled."
Li Xinshen, 70, fled with relatives, walked for 10 hours from the village of Xuanping to Mianyang.
"Only today on the road out did we see soldiers walking up," she said. "Not one rescue worker came up to handle us."
Anger has been mounting at the large number of schools which collapsed and there is concern about the safety of a number of dams and reservoirs which have been weakened by the quake.
In Sichuan and neighboring Chongqing, at least 17 reservoirs have been damaged, with some dams cracked or leaking water. Several are on the Min River, which tumbles through the worst-hit areas between the Tibetan plateau and the Sichuan plain.
The country is also on precautionary alert against possible radiation leaks, according to a government website.
China's chief nuclear weapons research lab is in Mianyang, along with several secret atomic sites, but there are no nuclear power stations.
China has sent 130,000 troops to the disaster area, but roads buckled by the quake and blocked by landslides have made it hard for supplies and rescuers to reach the worst-hit areas.
Offers of help have flooded in. The first foreign rescue teams, from Japan, Russia, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore have arrived in Sichuan province.
(Additional reporting by John Ruwitch in Mianyang; Writing by Nick Macfiel Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
SOURCE:NEWS.YAHOO
"Although the time for the best chance of rescue, the first 72 hours after an earthquake, has passed, saving lives remains the top priority of our work," Hu told distraught survivors just over a week after a jubilant China celebrated the Olympic torch reaching the summit of Mount Everest.
In earthquakes elsewhere in the world, survivors have been found a week or more after the disaster. In Baguio in the Philippines in 1990, a cook was found alive after two weeks in the rubble of a shattered hotel.
"Quake relief work has entered the most crucial phase," Hu said. "We must make every effort, race against time and overcome all difficulties to achieve the final victory of the relief efforts."
Many survivors were found on Friday, including six miners who took shelter in a pit for 88 hours, Xinhua news agency said.
Xinhua said 33 people were dug out of the rubble in Beichuan, one of the worst-hit areas, still alive.
Premier Wen Jiabao, also visiting the region, said the 7.9 magnitude quake was "the biggest and most destructive" since before the Communist revolution of 1949 and the quick response had helped reduce casualties.
Wen was comparing the disaster with the 1976 tremor in the northeastern city of Tangshan, which killed up to 300,000 people.
"NO MORE INSTANT NOODLES"
But as the weather gets warmer, survivors were increasingly worried about hygiene and asking questions about their longer-term future.
"What we don't need now is more instant noodles," said truck driver Wang Jianhong in the city of Dujiangyan. "We want to know now what will happen with our lives. We're not impatient but we need to know something."
In Beichuan, thousands of homeless flooded out of mountains into the city of Mianyang, many put into military trucks and taken to a refugee centre.
"It was really bad up there," farmer Dian Minggui said. "The whole mountain changed shape and all the homes are toppled."
Li Xinshen, 70, fled with relatives, walked for 10 hours from the village of Xuanping to Mianyang.
"Only today on the road out did we see soldiers walking up," she said. "Not one rescue worker came up to handle us."
Anger has been mounting at the large number of schools which collapsed and there is concern about the safety of a number of dams and reservoirs which have been weakened by the quake.
In Sichuan and neighboring Chongqing, at least 17 reservoirs have been damaged, with some dams cracked or leaking water. Several are on the Min River, which tumbles through the worst-hit areas between the Tibetan plateau and the Sichuan plain.
The country is also on precautionary alert against possible radiation leaks, according to a government website.
China's chief nuclear weapons research lab is in Mianyang, along with several secret atomic sites, but there are no nuclear power stations.
China has sent 130,000 troops to the disaster area, but roads buckled by the quake and blocked by landslides have made it hard for supplies and rescuers to reach the worst-hit areas.
Offers of help have flooded in. The first foreign rescue teams, from Japan, Russia, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore have arrived in Sichuan province.
(Additional reporting by John Ruwitch in Mianyang; Writing by Nick Macfiel Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
SOURCE:NEWS.YAHOO
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Miss. Democrat wins House seat in special election
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS, Associated Press Writer Wed May 14, 2:06 AM ET JACKSON, Miss. - It's becoming a disturbing trend for Republicans: losing traditional GOP strongholds to Democrats in some hard-fought congressional races. It happened again Tuesday, as Travis Childers beat Greg Davis in a special election to replace Republican Roger Wicker, who served in the House since 1994 and was appointed to the U.S. Senate to fill the seat vacated by Trent Lott.
Childers' win will give him the chance to over the next several months left in the seat's two-year term to build a fundraising and publicity advantage as he heads into November's general election. He will again face Davis, as well as two other opponents.
Childers' win gave Democrats a 236-199 edge over Republicans in Congress.
Earlier this year, Democrats captured the Illinois district long represented by former Republican Speaker Dennis Hastert, who resigned from Congress. This month, Democrats claimed a seat in Louisiana that Republican Rep. Richard Baker vacated and that the GOP had held since 1974.
Childers is a socially conservative county official, while Davis is mayor of a fast-growing city across the state line from Memphis, Tenn.
Vice President Dick Cheney campaigned for Davis the day before the special election, and Davis ran ads trying to tie Childers to Barack Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and the national Democratic Party's policies.
Childers stressed his independence, emphasizing his support of gun rights and opposition to abortion. He said his values match those of most voters in the deeply conservative district.
Tom Cole, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said the Mississippi race showed that "Republicans must be prepared to campaign against Democrat challengers who are running as conservatives, even as they try to join a liberal Democrat majority."
Cole said voters are "pessimistic about the direction of the country and the Republican Party in general" and the GOP must offer "positive change."
Marty Wiseman, a political scientist at Mississippi State University, said if Democrats can carry districts that traditionally have been safe bets for the GOP, "Republican strategists have to be terrified."
"If you think about the House and the Senate ... and the number of Republican Senate seats that are exposed, this could turn into something bigger than the presidential race this fall," Wiseman said.
Elsewhere, in right-leaning Nebraska, Republican Mike Johanns, the former U.S. agriculture secretary and Nebraska governor, easily won the Republican primary Tuesday in a race to replace retiring Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel. On the Democrat side, Scott Kleeb beat three other Democrats.
And in West Virginia, a conflict-of-interest scandal derailed the state's top judge from serving another term. With 97 percent of precincts reporting, Chief Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard, once considered a shoo-in for re-election, was third in a field of four candidates.
The two top vote-getters will face the lone Republican in the race for two high court spots in November.
Maynard lost his advantage when photos surfaced in January of him vacationing with the chief executive of a massive coal producer. He faced a former justice, a Huntington lawyer and a West Virginia University law professor.
Maynard raised the most money, and his allies included the state's chamber of commerce and medical association. But the photos taken during a 2006 Monaco vacation, when he met up with Massey Energy Co.'s chief executive, quickly became campaign fodder.
Maynard blamed the furor on political foes, but withdrew from several Massey-related cases. He had said he would do the same if re-elected.
West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller, who hasn't lost a statewide race since 1972, easily beat two challengers as he seeks a fifth six-year term. He'll face Republican Jay Wolfe in November's general election.
Gov. Joe Manchin easily fended off a primary challenge and will take on Republican Russ Weeks, a former state senator, in November.
___
Associated Press Writers Lawrence Messina and Tom Breen in Charleston W.Va. and Anna Jo Bratton in Omaha, Neb. contributed to this report.
READ MORE
Childers' win will give him the chance to over the next several months left in the seat's two-year term to build a fundraising and publicity advantage as he heads into November's general election. He will again face Davis, as well as two other opponents.
Childers' win gave Democrats a 236-199 edge over Republicans in Congress.
Earlier this year, Democrats captured the Illinois district long represented by former Republican Speaker Dennis Hastert, who resigned from Congress. This month, Democrats claimed a seat in Louisiana that Republican Rep. Richard Baker vacated and that the GOP had held since 1974.
Childers is a socially conservative county official, while Davis is mayor of a fast-growing city across the state line from Memphis, Tenn.
Vice President Dick Cheney campaigned for Davis the day before the special election, and Davis ran ads trying to tie Childers to Barack Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and the national Democratic Party's policies.
Childers stressed his independence, emphasizing his support of gun rights and opposition to abortion. He said his values match those of most voters in the deeply conservative district.
Tom Cole, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said the Mississippi race showed that "Republicans must be prepared to campaign against Democrat challengers who are running as conservatives, even as they try to join a liberal Democrat majority."
Cole said voters are "pessimistic about the direction of the country and the Republican Party in general" and the GOP must offer "positive change."
Marty Wiseman, a political scientist at Mississippi State University, said if Democrats can carry districts that traditionally have been safe bets for the GOP, "Republican strategists have to be terrified."
"If you think about the House and the Senate ... and the number of Republican Senate seats that are exposed, this could turn into something bigger than the presidential race this fall," Wiseman said.
Elsewhere, in right-leaning Nebraska, Republican Mike Johanns, the former U.S. agriculture secretary and Nebraska governor, easily won the Republican primary Tuesday in a race to replace retiring Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel. On the Democrat side, Scott Kleeb beat three other Democrats.
And in West Virginia, a conflict-of-interest scandal derailed the state's top judge from serving another term. With 97 percent of precincts reporting, Chief Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard, once considered a shoo-in for re-election, was third in a field of four candidates.
The two top vote-getters will face the lone Republican in the race for two high court spots in November.
Maynard lost his advantage when photos surfaced in January of him vacationing with the chief executive of a massive coal producer. He faced a former justice, a Huntington lawyer and a West Virginia University law professor.
Maynard raised the most money, and his allies included the state's chamber of commerce and medical association. But the photos taken during a 2006 Monaco vacation, when he met up with Massey Energy Co.'s chief executive, quickly became campaign fodder.
Maynard blamed the furor on political foes, but withdrew from several Massey-related cases. He had said he would do the same if re-elected.
West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller, who hasn't lost a statewide race since 1972, easily beat two challengers as he seeks a fifth six-year term. He'll face Republican Jay Wolfe in November's general election.
Gov. Joe Manchin easily fended off a primary challenge and will take on Republican Russ Weeks, a former state senator, in November.
___
Associated Press Writers Lawrence Messina and Tom Breen in Charleston W.Va. and Anna Jo Bratton in Omaha, Neb. contributed to this report.
READ MORE
New storm head toward cyclone-devstated Myanmar
YANGON, Myanmar - Another powerful storm headed toward Myanmar's cyclone-devastated delta, where so little aid has reached that the U.N. warned on Wednesday of a "second wave of deaths" among an estimated 2 million survivors. The Hawaii-based Joint Typhoon Warning Center said there is a good chance that "a significant tropical cyclone" will form within the next 24 hours and head across the Irrawaddy delta area.
The area was pulverized by Cyclone Nargis on May 3, leaving at least 34,273 dead and 27,838 missing, according to the government. The U.N. says the death toll could exceed 100,000.
An estimated 2 million survivors of the storm are still in need of emergency aid. But U.N. agencies and other groups have been able to reach only 270,000 people so far.
Bottlenecks, poor logistics, limited infrastructure and the military government's refusal to allow foreign aid workers have left most of the survivors living in miserable conditions without food or clean water. The government's efforts have been criticized as woefully slow.
"The government has a responsibility to assist their people in the event of a natural disaster," said Amanda Pitt, a spokeswoman for the U.N. Office for Humanitarian Affairs.
"We are here to do what we can and facilitate their efforts and scale up their response. It is clearly inadequate and we do not want to see a second wave of death as a result of that not being scaled up," she said.
The news of a second cyclone was not broadcast by Myanmar's state-controlled media. But Yangon residents picked up the news on foreign broadcasts and on the Internet.
"I prayed to the Lord Buddha, 'please save us from another cyclone. Not just me but all of Myanmar,'" said Min Min, a rickshaw driver, whose house was destroyed in Cyclone Nargis. Min Min, his wife and three children now live on their wrecked premises under plastic sheets.
"Another cyclone will be a disaster because our relief center is already overcrowded. I am very worried," said Tun Zaw, 68, another Yangon resident who is living in a government relief center.
Prof. Johnny Chan, a tropical cyclone expert with City University of Hong Kong, said the new cyclone would likely not be as severe as Nargis because it is already close to land, and cyclones need to be over sea to gain full strength.
"There will be a lot of rain but the winds will not be as strong," he told The Associated Press.
Soldiers have barred foreign aid workers from reaching cyclone survivors in the hardest-hit areas, but gave access to an International Red Cross representative who returned to Yangon on Tuesday.
Bridget Gardner, the agency's country head, described tremendous devastation but also selflessness, as survivors joined in the rescue efforts.
"People who have come here having lost their homes in rural areas have volunteered to work as first aiders. They are humanitarian heroes," said Gardner.
Gardner's team visited five locations in the Irrawaddy delta. In one of them, they saw 10,000 people living without shelter as rain tumbled from the sky.
"The town of Labutta is unrecognizable. I have been here before and now with the extent of the damage and the crowds of displaced people, it's a different place," Gardner was quoted as saying in a statement by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
In Labutta and elsewhere she said volunteers were giving medical aid to hundreds of people a day even though "they have no homes to go back to when they finish."
Some survivors of Cyclone Nargis were reportedly getting spoiled or poor-quality food, rather than nutrition-rich biscuits sent by international donors, adding to suspicions that the junta may be misappropriating foreign aid.
The military, which has ruled since 1962, has taken control of most supplies sent by other countries, including the United States, which began its third day of aid delivery Wednesday, with one of five scheduled flights taking off from Thailand to Yangon.
Thailand's Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej was to fly into Yangon to try to persuade the junta to grant visas to international disaster experts. On Tuesday night, King Bhumibol Adulyadej warned that hardship would prevail if assistance isn't accepted, though he did not mention Myanmar by name.
Joining other individual and institutional donors around the world, Hollywood stars have donated $250,000 for survivors through Save the Children. The global aid agency said Not On Our Watch, a nonprofit group founded by actors George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt and others, has also pledged more donations over a one-year period.
Getting to the worst-affected areas was getting more and more difficult, and the impending storm was expected to compound the misery of the survivors.
"They are already weak," said Pitt, the U.N. spokeswoman. A new storm will impact "people's ability to survive and cope with what happened to them ... this is terrible."
U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had expressed concern that aid was being diverted to non-cyclone victims, but so far there was no evidence.
CARE Australia's country director in Myanmar, Brian Agland, said members of his local staff brought back some of the rotting rice being distributed in the devastated Irrawaddy delta.
READ MORE
The area was pulverized by Cyclone Nargis on May 3, leaving at least 34,273 dead and 27,838 missing, according to the government. The U.N. says the death toll could exceed 100,000.
An estimated 2 million survivors of the storm are still in need of emergency aid. But U.N. agencies and other groups have been able to reach only 270,000 people so far.
Bottlenecks, poor logistics, limited infrastructure and the military government's refusal to allow foreign aid workers have left most of the survivors living in miserable conditions without food or clean water. The government's efforts have been criticized as woefully slow.
"The government has a responsibility to assist their people in the event of a natural disaster," said Amanda Pitt, a spokeswoman for the U.N. Office for Humanitarian Affairs.
"We are here to do what we can and facilitate their efforts and scale up their response. It is clearly inadequate and we do not want to see a second wave of death as a result of that not being scaled up," she said.
The news of a second cyclone was not broadcast by Myanmar's state-controlled media. But Yangon residents picked up the news on foreign broadcasts and on the Internet.
"I prayed to the Lord Buddha, 'please save us from another cyclone. Not just me but all of Myanmar,'" said Min Min, a rickshaw driver, whose house was destroyed in Cyclone Nargis. Min Min, his wife and three children now live on their wrecked premises under plastic sheets.
"Another cyclone will be a disaster because our relief center is already overcrowded. I am very worried," said Tun Zaw, 68, another Yangon resident who is living in a government relief center.
Prof. Johnny Chan, a tropical cyclone expert with City University of Hong Kong, said the new cyclone would likely not be as severe as Nargis because it is already close to land, and cyclones need to be over sea to gain full strength.
"There will be a lot of rain but the winds will not be as strong," he told The Associated Press.
Soldiers have barred foreign aid workers from reaching cyclone survivors in the hardest-hit areas, but gave access to an International Red Cross representative who returned to Yangon on Tuesday.
Bridget Gardner, the agency's country head, described tremendous devastation but also selflessness, as survivors joined in the rescue efforts.
"People who have come here having lost their homes in rural areas have volunteered to work as first aiders. They are humanitarian heroes," said Gardner.
Gardner's team visited five locations in the Irrawaddy delta. In one of them, they saw 10,000 people living without shelter as rain tumbled from the sky.
"The town of Labutta is unrecognizable. I have been here before and now with the extent of the damage and the crowds of displaced people, it's a different place," Gardner was quoted as saying in a statement by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
In Labutta and elsewhere she said volunteers were giving medical aid to hundreds of people a day even though "they have no homes to go back to when they finish."
Some survivors of Cyclone Nargis were reportedly getting spoiled or poor-quality food, rather than nutrition-rich biscuits sent by international donors, adding to suspicions that the junta may be misappropriating foreign aid.
The military, which has ruled since 1962, has taken control of most supplies sent by other countries, including the United States, which began its third day of aid delivery Wednesday, with one of five scheduled flights taking off from Thailand to Yangon.
Thailand's Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej was to fly into Yangon to try to persuade the junta to grant visas to international disaster experts. On Tuesday night, King Bhumibol Adulyadej warned that hardship would prevail if assistance isn't accepted, though he did not mention Myanmar by name.
Joining other individual and institutional donors around the world, Hollywood stars have donated $250,000 for survivors through Save the Children. The global aid agency said Not On Our Watch, a nonprofit group founded by actors George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt and others, has also pledged more donations over a one-year period.
Getting to the worst-affected areas was getting more and more difficult, and the impending storm was expected to compound the misery of the survivors.
"They are already weak," said Pitt, the U.N. spokeswoman. A new storm will impact "people's ability to survive and cope with what happened to them ... this is terrible."
U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had expressed concern that aid was being diverted to non-cyclone victims, but so far there was no evidence.
CARE Australia's country director in Myanmar, Brian Agland, said members of his local staff brought back some of the rotting rice being distributed in the devastated Irrawaddy delta.
READ MORE
Arson-started Florida wildfires fueled by growth
By KELLI KENNEDY, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 29 minutes ago PALM BAY, Fla. - Wildfires that have gutted at least 40 homes along the state's Atlantic coast are believed to have been started by arsonists, but they got help from two classic Florida phenomenon: rampant development and a year-round growing season.
Experts said the fires reported in Brevard County that have burned roughly 10,000 acres — or more than 15 square miles — have found ample fuel because the state has not been able to hold controlled burns near development to cut back vegetation.
That means firefighters are battling palmetto palms that should be knee-high, but have been allowed to grow for 20 or 30 years, said Dale Armstrong, senior forester with the state's Division of Forestry.
Florida's endless growing season and waxy plants that can burn while still green are also culprits, said Ken Outcalt, a research plant ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service.
"The fuels in Florida are mostly live plants, unlike in the West where it's usually dead fuel that's accumulated underneath the trees," he said.
The Brevard County fires present two kinds of firefighting challenges simultaneously because the vegetation is mixed so closely with homes. The buildings impede traditional forest firefighting techniques such as plowing lines of dirt in the flames' path or lighting backfires, Outcalt said.
Police have set up a special task force to catch the suspect or suspects who set the fires. They profiled "a trophy person," likely to brag of his or her work at some point.
"It's unconscionable that somebody would do this to another man or woman, put them in jeopardy," Gov. Charlie Crist said shortly after flying over the damaged areas where he declared a state of emergency.
The Florida Division of Forestry said 40 homes in the Palm Bay area were destroyed and about 120 other structures, including homes and outbuildings, were damaged. Officials said the total damage estimate was approximately $9.6 million.
Authorities said Tuesday they had "a majority" of the Palm Bay fires contained and were getting better control over the fires in nearby Malabar, where firefighters slept in shifts on cots lined up in the volunteer fire station.
The destruction was hard for Veda VanFleet to fathom as she stood amid the charred remains of the two-story home her husband, Butch, built almost 30 years ago in Malabar. She remembered the treehouse her three boys used to play in out back and the basketball hoop in the front yard.
"It's gone. It's all gone," said VanFleet, who cried all day Monday and awoke with resolve Tuesday to pick through the ashes where she and her husband planned to rebuild.
Palm Bay schools were to be closed again Wednesday. Smoke and the proximity of the flames have caused the intermittent closure of major highways in the area, including a 34-mile section of Interstate 95 that was closed midmorning Tuesday.
"This really won't be over until it rains. Until it rains, the threat is going to be ever-present," said State Emergency Management Director Craig Fugate. Forecasts show little chance of rain until at least the weekend.
___
Associated Press writers Travis Reed in Palm Bay and Jennifer Kay in Miami contributed to this report.
READ MORE
Experts said the fires reported in Brevard County that have burned roughly 10,000 acres — or more than 15 square miles — have found ample fuel because the state has not been able to hold controlled burns near development to cut back vegetation.
That means firefighters are battling palmetto palms that should be knee-high, but have been allowed to grow for 20 or 30 years, said Dale Armstrong, senior forester with the state's Division of Forestry.
Florida's endless growing season and waxy plants that can burn while still green are also culprits, said Ken Outcalt, a research plant ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service.
"The fuels in Florida are mostly live plants, unlike in the West where it's usually dead fuel that's accumulated underneath the trees," he said.
The Brevard County fires present two kinds of firefighting challenges simultaneously because the vegetation is mixed so closely with homes. The buildings impede traditional forest firefighting techniques such as plowing lines of dirt in the flames' path or lighting backfires, Outcalt said.
Police have set up a special task force to catch the suspect or suspects who set the fires. They profiled "a trophy person," likely to brag of his or her work at some point.
"It's unconscionable that somebody would do this to another man or woman, put them in jeopardy," Gov. Charlie Crist said shortly after flying over the damaged areas where he declared a state of emergency.
The Florida Division of Forestry said 40 homes in the Palm Bay area were destroyed and about 120 other structures, including homes and outbuildings, were damaged. Officials said the total damage estimate was approximately $9.6 million.
Authorities said Tuesday they had "a majority" of the Palm Bay fires contained and were getting better control over the fires in nearby Malabar, where firefighters slept in shifts on cots lined up in the volunteer fire station.
The destruction was hard for Veda VanFleet to fathom as she stood amid the charred remains of the two-story home her husband, Butch, built almost 30 years ago in Malabar. She remembered the treehouse her three boys used to play in out back and the basketball hoop in the front yard.
"It's gone. It's all gone," said VanFleet, who cried all day Monday and awoke with resolve Tuesday to pick through the ashes where she and her husband planned to rebuild.
Palm Bay schools were to be closed again Wednesday. Smoke and the proximity of the flames have caused the intermittent closure of major highways in the area, including a 34-mile section of Interstate 95 that was closed midmorning Tuesday.
"This really won't be over until it rains. Until it rains, the threat is going to be ever-present," said State Emergency Management Director Craig Fugate. Forecasts show little chance of rain until at least the weekend.
___
Associated Press writers Travis Reed in Palm Bay and Jennifer Kay in Miami contributed to this report.
READ MORE
Disclosing drug makers payments to docs gets boost
By KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press Writer Tue May 13, 5:02 PM ET WASHINGTON - Legislation that would require prescription drug makers to disclose payments to doctors got a boost Tuesday when Eli Lilly and Co. broke ranks with the industry and endorsed the bill. Lawmakers gained Eli Lilly's support after they agreed to raise the payment limit requiring disclosure from $25 to $500. The lawmakers also agreed to apply the legislation to all drug and medical device makers. Previously, the proposed disclosures would have applied only to companies with more than $100 million in annual revenue.
The legislation addresses concerns that payments, such as picking up the tab for dinner or paying travel expenses for a conference at an exotic locale, can influence a doctor's prescribing habits. The legislation doesn't ban the payments, but it does require that companies report them, beginning March 31, 2011.
The legislation would pre-empt laws in the few states that already require drug makers to disclose their payments to doctors.
John C. Lechleiter, Eli Lilly's president and CEO, said the pre-emption was an important addition to the bill.
"This helps patients, businesses and doctors alike by setting expectations and creating a more efficient system for gathering, reporting and understanding such data," Lechleiter said.
Last year, the company was the first drug maker to publicly report all of its educational grants and charitable contributions.
The bill's sponsor, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and top Democratic co-sponsor, Sen. Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, said Eli Lilly's endorsement shows "transparency's time has come."
"Transparency brings about accountability and benefits everyone, consumers most of all," Grassley said.
The lawmakers are pressing to get provisions of The Physician Payments Sunshine Act into a bill later this year that would prevent payment cuts to doctors caring for Medicare patients.
READ MORE
The legislation addresses concerns that payments, such as picking up the tab for dinner or paying travel expenses for a conference at an exotic locale, can influence a doctor's prescribing habits. The legislation doesn't ban the payments, but it does require that companies report them, beginning March 31, 2011.
The legislation would pre-empt laws in the few states that already require drug makers to disclose their payments to doctors.
John C. Lechleiter, Eli Lilly's president and CEO, said the pre-emption was an important addition to the bill.
"This helps patients, businesses and doctors alike by setting expectations and creating a more efficient system for gathering, reporting and understanding such data," Lechleiter said.
Last year, the company was the first drug maker to publicly report all of its educational grants and charitable contributions.
The bill's sponsor, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and top Democratic co-sponsor, Sen. Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, said Eli Lilly's endorsement shows "transparency's time has come."
"Transparency brings about accountability and benefits everyone, consumers most of all," Grassley said.
The lawmakers are pressing to get provisions of The Physician Payments Sunshine Act into a bill later this year that would prevent payment cuts to doctors caring for Medicare patients.
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Beijing reports first child virus death
By CARA ANNA, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 35 minutes ago BEIJING - China's capital reported Wednesday its first death from the hand, foot and mouth disease virus that has sickened tens of thousands of children across the country and killed at least 42 people. The child died Sunday on the way to a hospital, the state-run Xinhua News Agency said, citing Beijing Health Bureau spokeswoman Deng Xiaohong.
The director of the health bureau's publicity office, contacted by telephone, declined to comment on the death.
The health bureau also told Xinhua that another child died of the illness in Beijing, but the death was counted in the victim's home province of Hebei, which neighbors Beijing. A 21-month-old boy also died of the virus Monday in Hubei province, Xinhua reported.
The three newly reported deaths raise the countrywide death toll to 42 since late March. Hand, foot and mouth disease has sickened more than 24,934 children in seven Chinese provinces plus Beijing, Xinhua reported.
It said 3,606 hand, foot and mouth infections had been reported in Beijing as of Monday. It also said 32 patients remained in Beijing hospitals, with eight in serious condition.
"It is likely that the figures may be fluctuating greatly in the next few weeks" because the Health Ministry last week ordered care providers to report cases within 24 hours, ministry spokesman Mao Qunan said, according to the ministry's Web site.
China has also been struggling to handle the magnitude-7.9 earthquake that struck Monday and killed more than 12,000 people.
The hand, foot and mouth virus has been yet another major concern for Chinese authorities as they prepare for the Beijing Olympics in August. Cases have been reported from Guangdong province in the south to Jilin province in the northeast, and in major cities including Beijing and Shanghai.
"What I know is the death rate has gone down drastically since early May," World Health Organization China representative Hans Troedsson said Wednesday. "There are very, very few cases with complications — 99 percent of these are mild cases."
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt was visiting China this week and said the U.S. was willing to help China battle the illness.
Most cases of hand, foot and mouth disease in China this year have been blamed on enterovirus 71.
The virus spreads through contact with saliva, feces, nose and throat mucus or fluid secreted from blisters. There is no vaccine or specific treatment, but most children with mild forms of the illness recover quickly after suffering little more than a fever and rash.
The disease is expected to peak in the hot months of June and July.
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The director of the health bureau's publicity office, contacted by telephone, declined to comment on the death.
The health bureau also told Xinhua that another child died of the illness in Beijing, but the death was counted in the victim's home province of Hebei, which neighbors Beijing. A 21-month-old boy also died of the virus Monday in Hubei province, Xinhua reported.
The three newly reported deaths raise the countrywide death toll to 42 since late March. Hand, foot and mouth disease has sickened more than 24,934 children in seven Chinese provinces plus Beijing, Xinhua reported.
It said 3,606 hand, foot and mouth infections had been reported in Beijing as of Monday. It also said 32 patients remained in Beijing hospitals, with eight in serious condition.
"It is likely that the figures may be fluctuating greatly in the next few weeks" because the Health Ministry last week ordered care providers to report cases within 24 hours, ministry spokesman Mao Qunan said, according to the ministry's Web site.
China has also been struggling to handle the magnitude-7.9 earthquake that struck Monday and killed more than 12,000 people.
The hand, foot and mouth virus has been yet another major concern for Chinese authorities as they prepare for the Beijing Olympics in August. Cases have been reported from Guangdong province in the south to Jilin province in the northeast, and in major cities including Beijing and Shanghai.
"What I know is the death rate has gone down drastically since early May," World Health Organization China representative Hans Troedsson said Wednesday. "There are very, very few cases with complications — 99 percent of these are mild cases."
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt was visiting China this week and said the U.S. was willing to help China battle the illness.
Most cases of hand, foot and mouth disease in China this year have been blamed on enterovirus 71.
The virus spreads through contact with saliva, feces, nose and throat mucus or fluid secreted from blisters. There is no vaccine or specific treatment, but most children with mild forms of the illness recover quickly after suffering little more than a fever and rash.
The disease is expected to peak in the hot months of June and July.
READ MORE
Exercise may protect girls from future breast cancer
By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer Tue May 13, 9:06 PM ET WASHINGTON - Get your daughters off the couch: New research shows exercise during the teen years — starting as young as age 12 — can help protect girls from breast cancer when they're grown. Middle-aged women have long been advised to get active to lower their risk of breast cancer after menopause. What's new: That starting so young pays off, too.
"This really points to the benefit of sustained physical activity from adolescence through the adult years, to get the maximum benefit," said Dr. Graham Colditz of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the study's lead author.
Researchers tracked nearly 65,000 nurses ages 24 to 42 who enrolled in a major health study. They answered detailed questionnaires about their physical activity dating back to age 12. Within six years of enrolling, 550 were diagnosed with breast cancer before menopause. A quarter of all breast cancer is diagnosed at these younger ages, when it's typically more aggressive.
Women who were physically active as teens and young adults were 23 percent less likely to develop premenopausal breast cancer than women who grew up sedentary, researchers report Wednesday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
The biggest impact was regular exercise from ages 12 to 22.
"This is not the extreme athlete," Colditz cautioned.
The women at lowest risk reported doing 3 hours and 15 minutes of running or other vigorous activity a week — or, for the less athletic, 13 hours a week of walking. Typically, the teens reported more strenuous exercise while during adulthood, walking was most common.
Why would it help? A big point of exercise in middle age and beyond is to keep off the pounds. After menopause, fat tissue is a chief source of estrogen.
In youth, however, the theory is that physical activity itself lowers estrogen levels. Studies of teen athletes show that very intense exercise can delay onset of menstrual cycles and cause irregular periods.
The moderate exercise reported in this study was nowhere near enough for those big changes. But it probably was enough to cause slight yet still helpful hormone changes, said Dr. Alpa Patel, a cancer prevention specialist at the American Cancer Society, who praised the new research.
And while the study examined only premenopausal breast cancer, "it's certainly likely and possible" that the protection from youthful exercise will last long enough to affect more common postmenopausal breast cancer, too, Colditz added.
If you were a bookworm as a teen, it's not too late, Patel said. Other research on the middle-age benefits of exercise shows mom should join her daughters for that bike ride or game of tennis or at least a daily walk around the block.
Many breast cancer risks a woman can't change: How early she starts menstruating, how late menopause hits, family history of the disease.
Even though the exercise benefit is modest, physical activity and body weight are risk factors that women can control, Patel stressed.
"I'd say you and your daughter are getting off the couch," she said. "Women who engage in physical activity not only during adolescence but during adulthood lower their risk."
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"This really points to the benefit of sustained physical activity from adolescence through the adult years, to get the maximum benefit," said Dr. Graham Colditz of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the study's lead author.
Researchers tracked nearly 65,000 nurses ages 24 to 42 who enrolled in a major health study. They answered detailed questionnaires about their physical activity dating back to age 12. Within six years of enrolling, 550 were diagnosed with breast cancer before menopause. A quarter of all breast cancer is diagnosed at these younger ages, when it's typically more aggressive.
Women who were physically active as teens and young adults were 23 percent less likely to develop premenopausal breast cancer than women who grew up sedentary, researchers report Wednesday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
The biggest impact was regular exercise from ages 12 to 22.
"This is not the extreme athlete," Colditz cautioned.
The women at lowest risk reported doing 3 hours and 15 minutes of running or other vigorous activity a week — or, for the less athletic, 13 hours a week of walking. Typically, the teens reported more strenuous exercise while during adulthood, walking was most common.
Why would it help? A big point of exercise in middle age and beyond is to keep off the pounds. After menopause, fat tissue is a chief source of estrogen.
In youth, however, the theory is that physical activity itself lowers estrogen levels. Studies of teen athletes show that very intense exercise can delay onset of menstrual cycles and cause irregular periods.
The moderate exercise reported in this study was nowhere near enough for those big changes. But it probably was enough to cause slight yet still helpful hormone changes, said Dr. Alpa Patel, a cancer prevention specialist at the American Cancer Society, who praised the new research.
And while the study examined only premenopausal breast cancer, "it's certainly likely and possible" that the protection from youthful exercise will last long enough to affect more common postmenopausal breast cancer, too, Colditz added.
If you were a bookworm as a teen, it's not too late, Patel said. Other research on the middle-age benefits of exercise shows mom should join her daughters for that bike ride or game of tennis or at least a daily walk around the block.
Many breast cancer risks a woman can't change: How early she starts menstruating, how late menopause hits, family history of the disease.
Even though the exercise benefit is modest, physical activity and body weight are risk factors that women can control, Patel stressed.
"I'd say you and your daughter are getting off the couch," she said. "Women who engage in physical activity not only during adolescence but during adulthood lower their risk."
READ MORE
Government to unveil fitness test for adults
By KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press Writer Wed May 14, 12:12 AM ET WASHINGTON - If you didn't get a Presidential Physical Fitness Award in school, the government is giving you another chance to prove you're in shape. An adult fitness test is being introduced Wednesday by the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. It will incorporate several of the exercises that millions of students undertake each year as they aim for a certificate signed by the president.
"What were trying to do is inspire and motivate Americans to move their bodies more," said Melissa Johnson, executive director of the council.
The test involves three basic components: aerobic fitness, muscular strength and flexibility. The test is for people 18 and older who are in good health. It was inspired by scores of baby boomers who kept asking council members whether there was a fitness test available today that was similar to the ones they took as students, Johnson said.
The aerobic component of the tests consists of a one-mile walk or 1.5-mile run. The run is not recommended for those who don't run for at least 20 minutes, three times a week.
Push-ups and half sit-ups make up the strength test. The push-ups are done until failure. The sit-ups are done for one minute.
A stretching exercise called the "sit-and-reach" is used to measure flexibility.
The scores from all four of the fitness tests can be entered online. Other information, such as age, gender, height and weight are also part of the equation.
You won't get a presidential certificate, but the results will then show where you rank among people of the same age. For example, if someone scores in the 75th percentile for push-ups, that means 75 percent of the scores fall below your score.
The fitness test incorporates height and weight to give participants their body mass index. Generally, a BMI score above 25 equates to being overweight. However, for people who do exercise a lot, the BMI score can be high because of their extra muscle mass, not because they have too much fat.
The test will allow people to easily record a baseline that they can work from through their exercise routine.
"The point is to do consistent, regular physical activity and these are good check-in points to see how fit people are," Johnson said.
___
On the Net:
Adult Fitness Challenge: http://www.adultfitnesstest.org/adultFitnesstestLanding.aspx
READ MORE
"What were trying to do is inspire and motivate Americans to move their bodies more," said Melissa Johnson, executive director of the council.
The test involves three basic components: aerobic fitness, muscular strength and flexibility. The test is for people 18 and older who are in good health. It was inspired by scores of baby boomers who kept asking council members whether there was a fitness test available today that was similar to the ones they took as students, Johnson said.
The aerobic component of the tests consists of a one-mile walk or 1.5-mile run. The run is not recommended for those who don't run for at least 20 minutes, three times a week.
Push-ups and half sit-ups make up the strength test. The push-ups are done until failure. The sit-ups are done for one minute.
A stretching exercise called the "sit-and-reach" is used to measure flexibility.
The scores from all four of the fitness tests can be entered online. Other information, such as age, gender, height and weight are also part of the equation.
You won't get a presidential certificate, but the results will then show where you rank among people of the same age. For example, if someone scores in the 75th percentile for push-ups, that means 75 percent of the scores fall below your score.
The fitness test incorporates height and weight to give participants their body mass index. Generally, a BMI score above 25 equates to being overweight. However, for people who do exercise a lot, the BMI score can be high because of their extra muscle mass, not because they have too much fat.
The test will allow people to easily record a baseline that they can work from through their exercise routine.
"The point is to do consistent, regular physical activity and these are good check-in points to see how fit people are," Johnson said.
___
On the Net:
Adult Fitness Challenge: http://www.adultfitnesstest.org/adultFitnesstestLanding.aspx
READ MORE
Study: Over half of Americans on chronic medicines
By LINDA A. JOHNSON, AP Business Writer Wed May 14, 12:17 AM ET TRENTON, N.J. - For the first time, it appears that more than half of all insured Americans are taking prescription medicines regularly for chronic health problems, a study shows. The most widely used drugs are those to lower high blood pressure and cholesterol — problems often linked to heart disease, obesity and diabetes.
The numbers were gathered last year by Medco Health Solutions Inc., which manages prescription benefits for about one in five Americans.
Experts say the data reflect not just worsening public health but better medicines for chronic conditions and more aggressive treatment by doctors. For example, more people are now taking blood pressure and cholesterol-lowering medicines because they need them, said Dr. Daniel W. Jones, president of the American Heart Association.
In addition, there is the pharmaceutical industry's relentless advertising. With those factors unlikely to change, doctors say the proportion of Americans on chronic medications can only grow.
"Unless we do things to change the way we're managing health in this country ... things will get worse instead of getting better," predicted Jones, a heart specialist and dean of the University of Mississippi's medical school.
Americans buy much more medicine per person than any other country. But it was unclear how their prescriptions compare to those of insured people elsewhere. Comparable data were not available for Europe, for instance.
Medco's data show that last year, 51 percent of American children and adults were taking one or more prescription drugs for a chronic condition, up from 50 percent the previous four years and 47 percent in 2001. Most of the drugs are taken daily, although some are needed less often.
The company examined prescription records from 2001 to 2007 of a representative sample of 2.5 million customers, from newborns to the elderly.
Medication use for chronic problems was seen in all demographic groups:
• Almost two-thirds of women 20 and older.
• One in four children and teenagers.
• 52 percent of adult men.
• Three out of four people 65 or older.
Among seniors, 28 percent of women and nearly 22 percent of men take five or more medicines regularly.
Karen Walker of Paterson, N.J., takes 18 prescription medicines daily for high blood pressure, diabetes, chronic back and shoulder pain, asthma and the painful muscle disorder fibromyalgia.
"The only way I can do it and keep my sanity ... is I use pill boxes" to organize pills for each morning and night, said Walker, 57, a full-time nurse at an HIV clinic. Her 69-year-old husband, Charles, keeps his medicines lined up on his bureau: four pills for arthritis and heart disease, plus two inhalers for lung problems.
Dr. Robert Epstein, chief medical officer at Franklin Lakes, N.J.-based Medco, said he sees both bad news and good in the findings.
"Honestly, a lot of it is related to obesity," he said. "We've become a couch potato culture (and) it's a lot easier to pop a pill" than to exercise regularly or diet.
On the good side, he said, researchers have turned what used to be fatal diseases into chronic ones, including AIDS, some cancers, hemophilia and sickle-cell disease.
Yet Epstein noted the biggest jump in use of chronic medications was in the 20- to 44-year-old age group — adults in the prime of life — where it rose 20 percent over the six years. That was mainly due to more use of drugs for depression, diabetes, asthma, attention-deficit disorder and seizures.
Antidepressant use in particular jumped among teens and working-age women. Doctors attributed that to more stress in daily life and to family doctors, including pediatricians, being more comfortable prescribing newer antidepressants.
Dr. Sidney Wolfe of Public Citizen's Health Research Group said the increased use of medications is partly because the most heavily advertised drugs are for chronic conditions, so most patients will take them for a long time. He also blames doctors for not spending the time to help patients lose weight and make other healthy changes before writing a prescription.
The study highlights a surge in children's use of medicines to treat weight-related problems and other illnesses previously considered adult problems. Medco estimates about 1.2 million American children now are taking pills for Type 2 diabetes, sleeping troubles and gastrointestinal problems such as heartburn.
"A scarier problem is that body weights are so much higher in children in general, and so we're going to have larger numbers of adults who develop high blood pressure or abnormal cholesterol or diabetes at an earlier age," said Jones, of the heart association.
Dr. Richard Gorman, an American Academy of Pediatrics expert on children's medicines, said more children are taking medicines for "adult conditions" partly because manufacturers now provide pediatric doses, liquid versions or at least information to determine the right amount for a child.
The Medco study found that among boys and girls under age 10, the most widely used medication switched from allergy drugs to asthma medicines between 2001 and 2007. Gorman said that's because over the last decade, asthma care has gone from treating flare-ups to using inhaled steroids regularly to prevent flare-ups and hospitalizations.
___
On the Net:
http://www.medco.com
READ MORE
The numbers were gathered last year by Medco Health Solutions Inc., which manages prescription benefits for about one in five Americans.
Experts say the data reflect not just worsening public health but better medicines for chronic conditions and more aggressive treatment by doctors. For example, more people are now taking blood pressure and cholesterol-lowering medicines because they need them, said Dr. Daniel W. Jones, president of the American Heart Association.
In addition, there is the pharmaceutical industry's relentless advertising. With those factors unlikely to change, doctors say the proportion of Americans on chronic medications can only grow.
"Unless we do things to change the way we're managing health in this country ... things will get worse instead of getting better," predicted Jones, a heart specialist and dean of the University of Mississippi's medical school.
Americans buy much more medicine per person than any other country. But it was unclear how their prescriptions compare to those of insured people elsewhere. Comparable data were not available for Europe, for instance.
Medco's data show that last year, 51 percent of American children and adults were taking one or more prescription drugs for a chronic condition, up from 50 percent the previous four years and 47 percent in 2001. Most of the drugs are taken daily, although some are needed less often.
The company examined prescription records from 2001 to 2007 of a representative sample of 2.5 million customers, from newborns to the elderly.
Medication use for chronic problems was seen in all demographic groups:
• Almost two-thirds of women 20 and older.
• One in four children and teenagers.
• 52 percent of adult men.
• Three out of four people 65 or older.
Among seniors, 28 percent of women and nearly 22 percent of men take five or more medicines regularly.
Karen Walker of Paterson, N.J., takes 18 prescription medicines daily for high blood pressure, diabetes, chronic back and shoulder pain, asthma and the painful muscle disorder fibromyalgia.
"The only way I can do it and keep my sanity ... is I use pill boxes" to organize pills for each morning and night, said Walker, 57, a full-time nurse at an HIV clinic. Her 69-year-old husband, Charles, keeps his medicines lined up on his bureau: four pills for arthritis and heart disease, plus two inhalers for lung problems.
Dr. Robert Epstein, chief medical officer at Franklin Lakes, N.J.-based Medco, said he sees both bad news and good in the findings.
"Honestly, a lot of it is related to obesity," he said. "We've become a couch potato culture (and) it's a lot easier to pop a pill" than to exercise regularly or diet.
On the good side, he said, researchers have turned what used to be fatal diseases into chronic ones, including AIDS, some cancers, hemophilia and sickle-cell disease.
Yet Epstein noted the biggest jump in use of chronic medications was in the 20- to 44-year-old age group — adults in the prime of life — where it rose 20 percent over the six years. That was mainly due to more use of drugs for depression, diabetes, asthma, attention-deficit disorder and seizures.
Antidepressant use in particular jumped among teens and working-age women. Doctors attributed that to more stress in daily life and to family doctors, including pediatricians, being more comfortable prescribing newer antidepressants.
Dr. Sidney Wolfe of Public Citizen's Health Research Group said the increased use of medications is partly because the most heavily advertised drugs are for chronic conditions, so most patients will take them for a long time. He also blames doctors for not spending the time to help patients lose weight and make other healthy changes before writing a prescription.
The study highlights a surge in children's use of medicines to treat weight-related problems and other illnesses previously considered adult problems. Medco estimates about 1.2 million American children now are taking pills for Type 2 diabetes, sleeping troubles and gastrointestinal problems such as heartburn.
"A scarier problem is that body weights are so much higher in children in general, and so we're going to have larger numbers of adults who develop high blood pressure or abnormal cholesterol or diabetes at an earlier age," said Jones, of the heart association.
Dr. Richard Gorman, an American Academy of Pediatrics expert on children's medicines, said more children are taking medicines for "adult conditions" partly because manufacturers now provide pediatric doses, liquid versions or at least information to determine the right amount for a child.
The Medco study found that among boys and girls under age 10, the most widely used medication switched from allergy drugs to asthma medicines between 2001 and 2007. Gorman said that's because over the last decade, asthma care has gone from treating flare-ups to using inhaled steroids regularly to prevent flare-ups and hospitalizations.
___
On the Net:
http://www.medco.com
READ MORE
Penguins move to brink of Cup finals with 4-1 win
By IRA PODELL, AP Hockey Writer Tue May 13, 11:07 PM ET PHILADELPHIA - Quick strikes by Ryan Whitney and Marian Hossa raised the Pittsburgh Penguins to heights not reached since Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr donned the black and gold. Whitney and Hossa scored less than 3 minutes apart in the first period, and the Penguins held the Philadelphia Flyers to 18 shots Tuesday night in a 4-1 victory that gave Pittsburgh a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.
One more win against their cross-state rivals, and the Penguins will advance to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since Lemieux and Jagr led Pittsburgh to back-to-back titles in 1991 and 92.
R.J. Umberger, born in Pittsburgh, answered with a first-period goal for the Flyers, but the Pittsburgh defense then locked them down. That made things easier for Marc-Andre Fleury, who finished with 17 saves after a pair of 4-2 home victories.
Ryan Malone scored with 10:02 left to make it 3-1 and silenced a crowd hoping to see Philadelphia get back in it. Instead, the Flyers can be eliminated as soon as Thursday in Game 4. Hossa added an empty-net goal with 53.7 seconds remaining.
Pittsburgh, which recorded 25 shots, is 11-1 in these playoffs and has led 3-0 in all three series. Detroit holds the same advantage over Dallas in the West, and can advance with a win Wednesday.
The excitement and enthusiasm from the "Flyer-ed Up," orange-clad fans was dampened by Whitney's power-play goal 5:03 in, then extinguished when Hossa made it 2-0 2:38 later.
It was reminiscent of how Pittsburgh took out the Madison Square Garden crowd 1:02 into Game 3 of the second round when Hossa scored against the New York Rangers.
The loudest noises that rained down from the rafters at Wachovia Center came in the form of groans, first when Evgeni Malkin drew a questionable hooking call against Flyers defenseman Derian Hatcher with a dive in the offensive zone, then when Whitney cashed in the Penguins' third power-play goal of the series.
Hossa needed no help to further frustrate the Flyers. He rushed the puck through the neutral zone, stick-handled around Jeff Carter near the blue line, and sent a shot between the legs of Philadelphia defenseman Lasse Kukkonen, who screened goalie Martin Biron as the puck sailed by at 7:41.
The goals came on the Penguins' second and fourth shots.
While Sidney Crosby and Malkin and the rest of the Penguins passed the puck around as if they had it on a string, the Flyers struggled to generate any kind of offense. Given three power-play chances, of various lengths and manpower-advantages, in the first period, Philadelphia couldn't even muster a shot.
Philadelphia's power play, the NHL's second-best in the regular season, continued to struggle. The loss of top defense pairing Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn has proved costly. Timonen is likely out for the playoffs due to a blood clot in his foot, and Coburn missed his first game after being struck in the face by a puck in Sunday's loss.
The Flyers cut the deficit in half on Umberger's 10th of the playoffs. The play was started by top-line forwards Danny Briere and Vinny Prospal, who were held without a point in the first two games. Prospal swooped behind the Pittsburgh net and banked a shot off the right post. The puck caromed into the slot, where Umberger softly swept it in past Fleury with 9:01 left in the first.
From that point through the end of the second period, the Flyers generated only three shots in 29 minutes. They went into the third trailing 17-8 on the shot clock, but still behind by only a goal.
Philadelphia's best scoring chance in the second came when Mike Richards got free after a turnover 9 minutes in and was tripped up by charging defenseman Sergei Gonchar, who knocked away the puck.
With the score 2-1, Flyers forward Scott Hartnell hit the left post with just under 14 minutes remaining.
Malone then took a pass from Petr Sykora, who was leveled by Steve Downie, and scored his fourth of the playoffs.
Notes:@ A pregame moment of silence was held in the blacked-out arena for Stephen Liczbinski, a Flyers fan and member of the Philadelphia police force, who was killed last week in the line of duty. Biron stood at the top of his crease and applauded along with the crowd as Liczbinski was remembered. ... Pittsburgh has scored first in nine of 12 postseason games, going 9-0. ... The Flyers' low shot total for a playoff game was 13 on May 24, 2000, against New Jersey in the East finals. Their fewest of these playoffs is 14 versus Montreal on April 28. ... Coburn could return once the swelling in his face subsides. ... Penguins LW Gary Roberts sat out due to illness. He was replaced by Adam Hall. ... Crosby had a pair of assists for Pittsburgh, which lost its four regular-season visits to Philadelphia.
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Kobe's back much better, says he'll play in Game 5
By JOHN NADEL, AP Sports Writer Tue May 13, 7:46 PM ET LOS ANGELES - Kobe Bryant walked a bit gingerly as he emerged from the training area at Lakers headquarters to speak with reporters Tuesday, remaining on his feet since sitting is not a preferred option because of his sore lower back.
"Quite a bit (of pain), but it's a lot better than it was yesterday," Bryant said with a smile — his mood clearly positive. "It'll be fine."
Bryant tweaked his back in the opening minutes of Sunday's 123-115 overtime loss at Utah that tied the Western Conference semifinals 2-2. Sore back and all, he had 33 points eight rebounds and 10 assists while playing 46 minutes.
Bryant said he'll definitely play Wednesday night in Game 5 at Staples Center, adding he would have given it a go had there been a game Tuesday night.
"I think the key is to know what you can and can't do," he said. "I kind of know what I can and can't do. I hope I can do what's necessary to help us win."
Bryant didn't practice Tuesday, spending his time in suburban El Segundo getting treatment and watching film. He said he hoped to participate in the shootaround Wednesday morning.
And he outlined a couple areas of inconvenience because of his back.
"Sleeping's tough," Bryant said. "This car ride home is going to be a beast, sitting in traffic. I'll stretch out when I get home."
Bryant made it clear he wouldn't be the one doing the driving.
Lakers coach Phil Jackson said he believes there's a possibility Bryant might not shoot that well, but added: "As long as he can play, we're satisfied. He'll do OK."
Jackson also said he wasn't feeling the pressure a deadlocked series might bring. Having coached nine NBA championship teams, he's been in this kind of situation many times before.
"We know we have homecourt advantage. We earned it," Jackson said. "We feel very confident in our building."
The Lakers have won the last six games between the teams in Los Angeles and have a 16-3 record against the Jazz at Staples Center since the arena opened before the 1999-2000 season.
"To win the series, we have to win on the road," Utah's Matt Harpring said before the Jazz flew to Los Angeles. "So we haven't gotten anywhere yet. The series is basically 0-0 and now it's the best two-out-of-three.
"They're capable of beating us at home," Harpring added. "We're not invincible. We know that."
Road victories have been extremely tough to come by for anyone in the second round of the playoffs. Home teams were 15-1 entering Tuesday night's action, with the one road win a 90-89 triumph by Detroit at Orlando last Saturday.
"That's incredible," Bryant said. "That's why homecourt advantage is so important, I guess."
Jackson said he believes the Lakers need to play a more physical game to be successful in this series.
"I personally am for the cut-slash game. I like speed," he said. "Our team is long, lanky, lean. You've got to beat the opponent to the punch. You've got to deliver the first blow. That's what I'm telling the guys."
Utah's Deron Williams, who had 29 points and 14 assists in Game 4, pointed to slow starts and bad first halves as the key to his team's 109-98 and 120-110 losses to the Lakers in the first two games of this series.
"This is a big game. It's a momentum game and it puts a lot of pressure on whoever doesn't win," Williams said. "You can always expect a couple guys to be the same at home and away. I think I have to be one of those guys. You've got to be maybe even more aggressive on the road and try to pick up some of the slack. That's what I'm trying to do."
While the Jazz were nearly unbeatable at home, going an NBA-best 37-4 during the regular season, they were just 17-24 on the road.
But Utah coach Jerry Sloan expressed confidence in his players, saying: "I think they can play against anybody. I told them that at the beginning of the season."
Williams, in his third NBA season, has made quite an impression on Bryant.
"I love him. He's one of my favorite players in the league," Bryant said, adding he's not one to throw praise around lightly. "I love his toughness, I love his skill."
Lakers reserve Ronny Turiaf, ejected early in the second quarter of Game 4 after committing a flagrant foul on Ronnie Price, looks forward to returning to the court.
"Just because I got ejected doesn't mean I'm going to do anything different," Turiaf said. "I went for the ball like I always do. It's unfortunate what happened. I apologized to Ronnie, he's one of my best friends in the league."
Game 5 will be played Friday night in Utah. A seventh game, if necessary, scheduled Monday night at Staples Center.
Notes:@ Lakers F Trevor Ariza, who hasn't played since breaking his right foot in practice Jan. 20, was cleared Tuesday to practice with no restrictions. "The bone is not completely healed, but it's healed as much as it's going to heal," team spokesman John Black said, adding the chances of Ariza breaking the same bone again are remote. Jackson said no timetable has been set on when Ariza might play in a game. "We'll just see what he can do. Vlade's not played well in the last two games," Jackson said, referring to Vladimir Radmanovic, the Lakers' starting small forward. "(Ariza) plays that position. We'll see if Vlade can't right his game here."
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Belgian media: Henin to quit tennis
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Justine Henin is quitting professional tennis, according to a Belgian newspaper. The 25-year-old Henin, the top-ranked player in the world, will make the announcement Wednesday, Het Nieuwsblad reported.
Henin has been battling fatigue and not playing well.
This year she lost to Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Italy's Francesca Schiavone. Last week she was ousted from the Berlin Open in the third round and this week she pulled out of the Italian Open.
Henin's retirement will come a year after Belgium's Kim Clijsters said farewell to competitive tennis. Clijsters has since married and become a mother.
Henin's rise to the top began in the mid-1990s.
Despite a troubled personal life — her mother died in 1995, her father did not speak to her for eight years and she divorced in 2007 — Henin won an Olympic gold medal and all major tournaments except Wimbledon.
Her best year was 2007, when she earned more than $5 million winning 63 of her 67 matches in 10 tournaments, including two grand slam events.
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Henin has been battling fatigue and not playing well.
This year she lost to Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Italy's Francesca Schiavone. Last week she was ousted from the Berlin Open in the third round and this week she pulled out of the Italian Open.
Henin's retirement will come a year after Belgium's Kim Clijsters said farewell to competitive tennis. Clijsters has since married and become a mother.
Henin's rise to the top began in the mid-1990s.
Despite a troubled personal life — her mother died in 1995, her father did not speak to her for eight years and she divorced in 2007 — Henin won an Olympic gold medal and all major tournaments except Wimbledon.
Her best year was 2007, when she earned more than $5 million winning 63 of her 67 matches in 10 tournaments, including two grand slam events.
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Pistons oust Magic, reach 6th straight East finals
By LARRY LAGE, AP Sports Writer Tue May 13, 11:10 PM ET AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - The Detroit Pistons made just enough shots and stops to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for a sixth straight year. Richard Hamilton scored 19 of his 31 points in the first half, made victory-sealing free throws late in the game and Tayshaun Prince had a key block, helping Detroit hold off the Orlando Magic for a 91-86 win Tuesday night in Game 5 of the second-round series.
"Playing in six straight is awesome, but now we expect to do this," Hamilton said. "We're supposed to be here."
The Pistons will have a break before facing the Boston Celtics or Cleveland Cavaliers in the conference finals.
Detroit made just 36 percent of its shots and allowed the Magic to make nearly half of their attempts, but made up for the disparity at the line and by taking care of the ball.
The Pistons were 28-of-32 at the line and had just three turnovers — setting an NBA playoff record for the fewest giveaways in a game — while Orlando was 16-of-28 and had a playoff-high 21 turnovers, which turned into 34 points for Detroit.
"The fact that the game is close at the end when you look at the free throw shooting and turnover disparity is remarkable," Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said.
To the Magic's credit, they didn't go away easily against a playoff-tested team that improved to 15-3 when it has a chance to advance since 2003.
Detroit led by 10 late, but was ahead 85-84 with just under a minute left after Hedo Turkoglu made back-to-back shots.
The Pistons won when Hamilton made two key free throws, Prince blocked Turkoglu's dunk attempt, and Hamilton made two more at the line in the last 20 seconds of the game.
Playing without All-Star point guard Chauncey Billups for the second straight game because of a strained hamstring, rookie Rodney Stuckey filled the void with 15 points, six assists and no turnovers.
"I'm never scared," Stuckey said.
Antonio McDyess had 17 points and 10 rebounds, Rasheed Wallace had 14 points and Prince added 10.
Turkoglu had 18 points and nine rebounds, and Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis and Jameer Nelson had 14 points apiece for the Magic. Nelson had guaranteed his team would extend the series with a win.
"We played them tough," Nelson said. "If there's anyone in their locker room who didn't think this was tough, they don't know what tough is."
Howard also had 17 rebounds and three blocks, but his night was marred by going 6-of-15 at the line.
Orlando was in the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1996.
The Magic scored the last seven points of the first quarter to make it 20-all in what had to be a frustrating score for them.
They allowed Detroit to score all but two of its points off turnovers and offensive rebounds.
Lewis had as many missed shots (four) as turnovers in a scoreless first, but each of the other starters scored at least four points to make up for the awful start from the team's leading scorer.
When Lewis finally scored midway through the second quarter, his hook capped a 10-2 run that put Orlando ahead 33-27.
Detroit then went on a 16-3 run, and took a 47-41 lead into halftime.
The Pistons enjoyed quite an advantage at the line.
Hamilton made all 10 of his free throws before intermission and Detroit missed only one of 14 attempts while Howard was 6-of-13 to sink Orlando's total to 7-of-16 in the first half.
The Magic carried a 68-65 lead into the final period but struggled at the start of the fourth. After Lewis made two free throws in the opening seconds, Orlando went scoreless for nearly 7 minutes as the Pistons went ahead on Stuckey's steal and layup during a McDyess-led 13-0 run that put them ahead 78-70.
The Magic still wouldn't go away until fading in the final seconds.
"It's good to get this over with," Detroit coach Flip Saunders said. "Now we get a chance to rest, especially Chauncey, and we get a chance to prepare."
Notes:@ With his 11th point, Hamilton broke Isiah Thomas' career playoff scoring record of 2,261 points and he did it in 110 games — one fewer than Thomas needed to set the mark. "That's a great honor because Isiah is Detroit basketball," Hamilton said. "To pass one of his records is crazy because I haven't been here that long." ... Hamilton is four games away from breaking Bill Laimbeer's franchise record of 113 playoff appearances. ... Stuckey, drafted by Detroit with a pick acquired from Orlando for Darko Milicic, was named to the All-Rookie second team. ... Saunders said McDyess was told as he was arriving at the arena that his grandmother, who helped raise him, had died.
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"Playing in six straight is awesome, but now we expect to do this," Hamilton said. "We're supposed to be here."
The Pistons will have a break before facing the Boston Celtics or Cleveland Cavaliers in the conference finals.
Detroit made just 36 percent of its shots and allowed the Magic to make nearly half of their attempts, but made up for the disparity at the line and by taking care of the ball.
The Pistons were 28-of-32 at the line and had just three turnovers — setting an NBA playoff record for the fewest giveaways in a game — while Orlando was 16-of-28 and had a playoff-high 21 turnovers, which turned into 34 points for Detroit.
"The fact that the game is close at the end when you look at the free throw shooting and turnover disparity is remarkable," Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said.
To the Magic's credit, they didn't go away easily against a playoff-tested team that improved to 15-3 when it has a chance to advance since 2003.
Detroit led by 10 late, but was ahead 85-84 with just under a minute left after Hedo Turkoglu made back-to-back shots.
The Pistons won when Hamilton made two key free throws, Prince blocked Turkoglu's dunk attempt, and Hamilton made two more at the line in the last 20 seconds of the game.
Playing without All-Star point guard Chauncey Billups for the second straight game because of a strained hamstring, rookie Rodney Stuckey filled the void with 15 points, six assists and no turnovers.
"I'm never scared," Stuckey said.
Antonio McDyess had 17 points and 10 rebounds, Rasheed Wallace had 14 points and Prince added 10.
Turkoglu had 18 points and nine rebounds, and Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis and Jameer Nelson had 14 points apiece for the Magic. Nelson had guaranteed his team would extend the series with a win.
"We played them tough," Nelson said. "If there's anyone in their locker room who didn't think this was tough, they don't know what tough is."
Howard also had 17 rebounds and three blocks, but his night was marred by going 6-of-15 at the line.
Orlando was in the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1996.
The Magic scored the last seven points of the first quarter to make it 20-all in what had to be a frustrating score for them.
They allowed Detroit to score all but two of its points off turnovers and offensive rebounds.
Lewis had as many missed shots (four) as turnovers in a scoreless first, but each of the other starters scored at least four points to make up for the awful start from the team's leading scorer.
When Lewis finally scored midway through the second quarter, his hook capped a 10-2 run that put Orlando ahead 33-27.
Detroit then went on a 16-3 run, and took a 47-41 lead into halftime.
The Pistons enjoyed quite an advantage at the line.
Hamilton made all 10 of his free throws before intermission and Detroit missed only one of 14 attempts while Howard was 6-of-13 to sink Orlando's total to 7-of-16 in the first half.
The Magic carried a 68-65 lead into the final period but struggled at the start of the fourth. After Lewis made two free throws in the opening seconds, Orlando went scoreless for nearly 7 minutes as the Pistons went ahead on Stuckey's steal and layup during a McDyess-led 13-0 run that put them ahead 78-70.
The Magic still wouldn't go away until fading in the final seconds.
"It's good to get this over with," Detroit coach Flip Saunders said. "Now we get a chance to rest, especially Chauncey, and we get a chance to prepare."
Notes:@ With his 11th point, Hamilton broke Isiah Thomas' career playoff scoring record of 2,261 points and he did it in 110 games — one fewer than Thomas needed to set the mark. "That's a great honor because Isiah is Detroit basketball," Hamilton said. "To pass one of his records is crazy because I haven't been here that long." ... Hamilton is four games away from breaking Bill Laimbeer's franchise record of 113 playoff appearances. ... Stuckey, drafted by Detroit with a pick acquired from Orlando for Darko Milicic, was named to the All-Rookie second team. ... Saunders said McDyess was told as he was arriving at the arena that his grandmother, who helped raise him, had died.
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Hornets beat spurs 101-79 to take 3-2 series lead
By BRETT MARTEL, AP Sports Writer 2 hours, 52 minutes ago NEW ORLEANS - David West and the New Orleans Hornets sure looked happy to be at home. West had career playoff highs of 38 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots, lifting New Orleans to a 101-79 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night and a 3-2 series lead.
New Orleans looked impressive in winning the first two games at home but stumbled in San Antonio. Back in the Big Easy, the Hornets cruised again.
"We've proved all season long we're one of the better teams in the NBA," Hornets coach Byron Scott said. "We had every reason after Games 3 and 4 to fold, but again, being with these guys, they've showed this type of resilience all season, so I'm not surprised."
Chris Paul had 16 of his 22 points in the second half and added 14 assists for New Orleans, which has never advanced past the second round of the playoffs.
Manu Ginobili led San Antonio with 20 points and Tony Parker had 18. The Hornets held Tim Duncan to 10 points, though Duncan was a force on the glass with 23 rebounds.
"They did a great job of crowding the paint and also getting back to our shooters," Duncan said. "They were very physical on the post. I didn't shoot the ball very well and those opportunities kind of turned into them running it back at us."
Game 6 is Thursday night in San Antonio, where the Spurs are 5-0 in the postseason.
Guarded mostly by Tyson Chandler, Duncan was 5-of-18 shooting, but Chandler left the game early in the fourth quarter with a bruised left foot. Meanwhile, a trainer put an ice pack on West's back after he left the game in the final minutes as the Hornets All-Star forward grimaced in pain.
Scott said both were in obvious pain, but he did not expect either of them to miss the next game.
Morris Peterson had 12 points for New Orleans on four 3-pointers, picking up the slack for Peja Stojakovic, who was guarded closely again.
Stojakovic still managed a crucial transition 3 in the fourth quarter, however, giving the Hornets an 81-68 lead with 7:05 to go.
San Antonio pulled to 85-77 on Ime Udoka's third 3-pointer, but Paul responded with a driving layup with 4:33 left and scored again on a pass from West to turn back the Spurs' rally.
Paul, who had six points in the first half, scored nine points and set up Chandler for an alley-oop dunk during a 20-4 Hornets run to open the third quarter. Peterson's 3 capped the surge, giving New Orleans a 64-51 lead.
While Stojakovic managed only nine points, he recognized who had the hot hand. His pass to the corner set up Peterson's fourth 3, which put the Hornets ahead 68-54. Paul then added two free throws, giving him 12 for the quarter, and West scored his 30th point of the game on a jumper over Parker, giving the Hornets a 72-58 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Duncan was held scoreless until early the second quarter, but the Spurs hit their first four 3s and six of their first eight. Ginobili's second 3 put San Antonio up 37-30.
West, who had 22 in the opening half, got New Orleans as close as 38-36 on a jumper late in the second quarter, then tied it at 43 when he put back a blocked fast-break layup.
The Spurs took a 47-44 lead into halftime after Parker got up from a hard foul and sank two free throws in the final seconds.
Notes:@ Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was called for a technical between the first and second quarters while arguing with referee Joe Crawford about an earlier delay of game call. ... Robert Horry's appearance for San Antonio gave him 238 in the playoffs, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most in NBA history. ... New Orleans' Melvin Ely and Fabricio Oberto of the Spurs were called for double fouls and double technicals after a collision under the San Antonio basket in the first quarter. ... Saints quarterback Drew Brees, among the local celebrities at the game, signed a football brought to him by a Hornets mascot and threw it to a fan in the upper deck of the arena.
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Another elimination from 'Dancing With the Stars'
By SANDY COHEN, AP Entertainment Writer 1 hour, 53 minutes ago LOS ANGELES - Tony Award winner Marissa Jaret Winokur won't be adding a mirrorball trophy to her collection of prizes — the actress was eliminated Tuesday from "Dancing With the Stars." What kind of food is a baguette? Bread Pastry Fruit She and her professional partner, Tony Dovolani, came into the semifinal results show in last place, with 52 points out of 60. The couple divided the judges Monday with their quickstep and rumba, earning 26 points for each performance.
Judges' scores are combined with viewer votes to determine which couple is eliminated each week.
Winokur, who has worn a glowing smile throughout the competition, kept grinning even after she learned her fate.
"I've never felt sexier in my life. Just going through this ride, I feel like I can pretty much do anything," said the full-figured Winokur, adding that she "wanted to prove to people that you don't have to be a size zero to dance."
"I want everyone to go out and do something fun," she said as the credits rolled on the ABC dance-off. "Do something that makes you feel sexy and shake what your mama gave you."
Tuesday's show also featured a tribute to Michael Jackson's "Thriller," with Omarion singing a medley of hits from the 1980s album as dozens of dancers performed some of Jackson's signature moves.
The show's tiniest competitors, the ballroom kids, also returned to dance floor. One of three preteen couples will be crowned junior champions during next week's season finale.
Usher is set to perform on the final show, as are the celebrity dancers who've been eliminated during this season's competition: Mario, Marlee Matlin, Priscilla Presley, Adam Carolla, Steve Guttenberg, Monica Seles and Penn Jillette.
Finalists Jason Taylor, Kristi Yamaguchi and Cristian de la Fuente will do their last dances Monday, and one will be named season champ on Tuesday.
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ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co.
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On the Net:
ABC: http://abc.go.com/primetime/dancingwiththestars
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Judges' scores are combined with viewer votes to determine which couple is eliminated each week.
Winokur, who has worn a glowing smile throughout the competition, kept grinning even after she learned her fate.
"I've never felt sexier in my life. Just going through this ride, I feel like I can pretty much do anything," said the full-figured Winokur, adding that she "wanted to prove to people that you don't have to be a size zero to dance."
"I want everyone to go out and do something fun," she said as the credits rolled on the ABC dance-off. "Do something that makes you feel sexy and shake what your mama gave you."
Tuesday's show also featured a tribute to Michael Jackson's "Thriller," with Omarion singing a medley of hits from the 1980s album as dozens of dancers performed some of Jackson's signature moves.
The show's tiniest competitors, the ballroom kids, also returned to dance floor. One of three preteen couples will be crowned junior champions during next week's season finale.
Usher is set to perform on the final show, as are the celebrity dancers who've been eliminated during this season's competition: Mario, Marlee Matlin, Priscilla Presley, Adam Carolla, Steve Guttenberg, Monica Seles and Penn Jillette.
Finalists Jason Taylor, Kristi Yamaguchi and Cristian de la Fuente will do their last dances Monday, and one will be named season champ on Tuesday.
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ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co.
___
On the Net:
ABC: http://abc.go.com/primetime/dancingwiththestars
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Study: Over half of Americans on chronic medicines
By LINDA A. JOHNSON, AP Business Writer Wed May 14, 12:17 AM ET
TRENTON, N.J. - For the first time, it appears that more than half of all insured Americans are taking prescription medicines regularly for chronic health problems, a study shows. The most widely used drugs are those to lower high blood pressure and cholesterol — problems often linked to heart disease, obesity and diabetes.
The numbers were gathered last year by Medco Health Solutions Inc., which manages prescription benefits for about one in five Americans.
Experts say the data reflect not just worsening public health but better medicines for chronic conditions and more aggressive treatment by doctors. For example, more people are now taking blood pressure and cholesterol-lowering medicines because they need them, said Dr. Daniel W. Jones, president of the American Heart Association.
In addition, there is the pharmaceutical industry's relentless advertising. With those factors unlikely to change, doctors say the proportion of Americans on chronic medications can only grow.
"Unless we do things to change the way we're managing health in this country ... things will get worse instead of getting better," predicted Jones, a heart specialist and dean of the University of Mississippi's medical school.
Americans buy much more medicine per person than any other country. But it was unclear how their prescriptions compare to those of insured people elsewhere. Comparable data were not available for Europe, for instance.
Medco's data show that last year, 51 percent of American children and adults were taking one or more prescription drugs for a chronic condition, up from 50 percent the previous four years and 47 percent in 2001. Most of the drugs are taken daily, although some are needed less often.
The company examined prescription records from 2001 to 2007 of a representative sample of 2.5 million customers, from newborns to the elderly.
Medication use for chronic problems was seen in all demographic groups:
• Almost two-thirds of women 20 and older.
• One in four children and teenagers.
• 52 percent of adult men.
• Three out of four people 65 or older.
Among seniors, 28 percent of women and nearly 22 percent of men take five or more medicines regularly.
Karen Walker of Paterson, N.J., takes 18 prescription medicines daily for high blood pressure, diabetes, chronic back and shoulder pain, asthma and the painful muscle disorder fibromyalgia.
"The only way I can do it and keep my sanity ... is I use pill boxes" to organize pills for each morning and night, said Walker, 57, a full-time nurse at an HIV clinic. Her 69-year-old husband, Charles, keeps his medicines lined up on his bureau: four pills for arthritis and heart disease, plus two inhalers for lung problems.
Dr. Robert Epstein, chief medical officer at Franklin Lakes, N.J.-based Medco, said he sees both bad news and good in the findings.
"Honestly, a lot of it is related to obesity," he said. "We've become a couch potato culture (and) it's a lot easier to pop a pill" than to exercise regularly or diet.
On the good side, he said, researchers have turned what used to be fatal diseases into chronic ones, including AIDS, some cancers, hemophilia and sickle-cell disease.
Yet Epstein noted the biggest jump in use of chronic medications was in the 20- to 44-year-old age group — adults in the prime of life — where it rose 20 percent over the six years. That was mainly due to more use of drugs for depression, diabetes, asthma, attention-deficit disorder and seizures.
Antidepressant use in particular jumped among teens and working-age women. Doctors attributed that to more stress in daily life and to family doctors, including pediatricians, being more comfortable prescribing newer antidepressants.
Dr. Sidney Wolfe of Public Citizen's Health Research Group said the increased use of medications is partly because the most heavily advertised drugs are for chronic conditions, so most patients will take them for a long time. He also blames doctors for not spending the time to help patients lose weight and make other healthy changes before writing a prescription.
The study highlights a surge in children's use of medicines to treat weight-related problems and other illnesses previously considered adult problems. Medco estimates about 1.2 million American children now are taking pills for Type 2 diabetes, sleeping troubles and gastrointestinal problems such as heartburn.
"A scarier problem is that body weights are so much higher in children in general, and so we're going to have larger numbers of adults who develop high blood pressure or abnormal cholesterol or diabetes at an earlier age," said Jones, of the heart association.
Dr. Richard Gorman, an American Academy of Pediatrics expert on children's medicines, said more children are taking medicines for "adult conditions" partly because manufacturers now provide pediatric doses, liquid versions or at least information to determine the right amount for a child.
The Medco study found that among boys and girls under age 10, the most widely used medication switched from allergy drugs to asthma medicines between 2001 and 2007. Gorman said that's because over the last decade, asthma care has gone from treating flare-ups to using inhaled steroids regularly to prevent flare-ups and hospitalizations.
___
On the Net:
http://www.medco.comREAD MORE
TRENTON, N.J. - For the first time, it appears that more than half of all insured Americans are taking prescription medicines regularly for chronic health problems, a study shows. The most widely used drugs are those to lower high blood pressure and cholesterol — problems often linked to heart disease, obesity and diabetes.
The numbers were gathered last year by Medco Health Solutions Inc., which manages prescription benefits for about one in five Americans.
Experts say the data reflect not just worsening public health but better medicines for chronic conditions and more aggressive treatment by doctors. For example, more people are now taking blood pressure and cholesterol-lowering medicines because they need them, said Dr. Daniel W. Jones, president of the American Heart Association.
In addition, there is the pharmaceutical industry's relentless advertising. With those factors unlikely to change, doctors say the proportion of Americans on chronic medications can only grow.
"Unless we do things to change the way we're managing health in this country ... things will get worse instead of getting better," predicted Jones, a heart specialist and dean of the University of Mississippi's medical school.
Americans buy much more medicine per person than any other country. But it was unclear how their prescriptions compare to those of insured people elsewhere. Comparable data were not available for Europe, for instance.
Medco's data show that last year, 51 percent of American children and adults were taking one or more prescription drugs for a chronic condition, up from 50 percent the previous four years and 47 percent in 2001. Most of the drugs are taken daily, although some are needed less often.
The company examined prescription records from 2001 to 2007 of a representative sample of 2.5 million customers, from newborns to the elderly.
Medication use for chronic problems was seen in all demographic groups:
• Almost two-thirds of women 20 and older.
• One in four children and teenagers.
• 52 percent of adult men.
• Three out of four people 65 or older.
Among seniors, 28 percent of women and nearly 22 percent of men take five or more medicines regularly.
Karen Walker of Paterson, N.J., takes 18 prescription medicines daily for high blood pressure, diabetes, chronic back and shoulder pain, asthma and the painful muscle disorder fibromyalgia.
"The only way I can do it and keep my sanity ... is I use pill boxes" to organize pills for each morning and night, said Walker, 57, a full-time nurse at an HIV clinic. Her 69-year-old husband, Charles, keeps his medicines lined up on his bureau: four pills for arthritis and heart disease, plus two inhalers for lung problems.
Dr. Robert Epstein, chief medical officer at Franklin Lakes, N.J.-based Medco, said he sees both bad news and good in the findings.
"Honestly, a lot of it is related to obesity," he said. "We've become a couch potato culture (and) it's a lot easier to pop a pill" than to exercise regularly or diet.
On the good side, he said, researchers have turned what used to be fatal diseases into chronic ones, including AIDS, some cancers, hemophilia and sickle-cell disease.
Yet Epstein noted the biggest jump in use of chronic medications was in the 20- to 44-year-old age group — adults in the prime of life — where it rose 20 percent over the six years. That was mainly due to more use of drugs for depression, diabetes, asthma, attention-deficit disorder and seizures.
Antidepressant use in particular jumped among teens and working-age women. Doctors attributed that to more stress in daily life and to family doctors, including pediatricians, being more comfortable prescribing newer antidepressants.
Dr. Sidney Wolfe of Public Citizen's Health Research Group said the increased use of medications is partly because the most heavily advertised drugs are for chronic conditions, so most patients will take them for a long time. He also blames doctors for not spending the time to help patients lose weight and make other healthy changes before writing a prescription.
The study highlights a surge in children's use of medicines to treat weight-related problems and other illnesses previously considered adult problems. Medco estimates about 1.2 million American children now are taking pills for Type 2 diabetes, sleeping troubles and gastrointestinal problems such as heartburn.
"A scarier problem is that body weights are so much higher in children in general, and so we're going to have larger numbers of adults who develop high blood pressure or abnormal cholesterol or diabetes at an earlier age," said Jones, of the heart association.
Dr. Richard Gorman, an American Academy of Pediatrics expert on children's medicines, said more children are taking medicines for "adult conditions" partly because manufacturers now provide pediatric doses, liquid versions or at least information to determine the right amount for a child.
The Medco study found that among boys and girls under age 10, the most widely used medication switched from allergy drugs to asthma medicines between 2001 and 2007. Gorman said that's because over the last decade, asthma care has gone from treating flare-ups to using inhaled steroids regularly to prevent flare-ups and hospitalizations.
___
On the Net:
http://www.medco.comREAD MORE
Anonymous rape tests are going nationwide
By KRISTEN WYATT, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 10 minutes ago ELKTON, Md. - Starting next year across the country, rape victims too afraid or too ashamed to go to police can undergo an emergency-room forensic rape exam, and the evidence gathered will be kept on file in a sealed envelope in case they decide to press charges.
The new federal requirement that states pay for "Jane Doe rape kits" is aimed at removing one of the biggest obstacles to prosecuting rape cases: Some women are so traumatized they don't come forward until it is too late to collect hair, semen or other samples.
"Sometimes the issue of actually having to make a report to police can be a barrier to victims, and this will allow that barrier to cease, to allow the victim to think about it before deciding whether to talk to police," said Carey Goryl, executive director of the International Association of Forensic Nurses.
The practice is already followed at some health clinics, colleges and hospitals around the country and by the state of Massachusetts. But many other jurisdictions refuse to cover the estimated $800 cost of a forensic rape exam unless the victim files a police report.
Beginning in 2009, states will have to pay for Jane Doe rape kits to continue receiving funding under the federal Violence Against Women Act, which provides tax dollars for women's shelters and law enforcement training. States will decide how many locations will offer anonymous rape exams and how long the evidence should be kept.
Emergency rooms typically use a "rape kit" to collect evidence for use by police and prosecutors. It consists of microscope slides, boxes and plastic bags for storing skin, hair, blood, saliva or semen gathered by a specially trained nurse. The victim's injuries are also photographed.
What makes a Jane Doe rape kit different is that it is sealed with only a number on the outside of the envelope to identify the victim. Police do not open the envelope unless the victim decides to press charges.
The FBI has recommended such an option since at least 1999.
"The idea is to collect the evidence now, while it's still there," said Scott Berkowitz, president of the national Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.
The new requirement applies only to adult victims. Hospitals and doctors must still report incest or abuse involving children to the police.
In Cecil County, local authorities started offering Jane Doe kits four years ago, after a rape victim recanted. Anne Bean, clinical director for a rape and sexual assault counseling program in Cecil County, said giving women the option of keeping police out of it until they are ready to press charges is crucial.
According to the U.S. Justice Department, 272,350 sexual assaults were reported in 2006. The same survey estimated that only 41 percent of rapes and other sexual assaults are reported to police.
"Many times, you have people who were drunk, maybe doing drugs, maybe they're underage, and you start talking about the police and they get scared," Bean said. "So, sometimes it's not until long after they're willing to report, at which point of course any physical evidence is gone."
Massachusetts officials had no immediate figures on how many rape kits were collected anonymously there, or how many were ultimately opened.
In Allegany and Cecil counties in Maryland, evidence is kept at least 90 days. So far, 13 women have submitted anonymous evidence, and none has returned to press charges.
Still, hospital and police officials credit an offer of Jane Doe testing with encouraging a reluctant victim in Cecil County to undergo an exam. During that process, she decided to report the crime, and her attacker was successfully prosecuted.
"Just to let people know this option is out there is good, to say, 'It's OK, you don't have to prosecute if you don't want to,'" said Kathleen, a rape victim in Pennsylvania who spoke on condition her full name not be used.
Kathleen underwent an exam after being raped in Virginia in 2004, but her rapist was never found or charged. Kathleen said she wasn't offered anonymous reporting, but she has met rape victims in group therapy who regret not going for an exam.
"They're embarrassed. They don't even go get tested for STDs because they're so embarrassed," Kathleen said.
At Union Hospital in Elkton, forensic nurse Chris Lenz said Jane Doe testing is not offered unless a medical professional fears the victim will leave without the option.
"Of course we encourage reporting. That's what we would like. But when they're adamant they don't want to report — if we think, `She's going to walk out if she has to go through with this,' — that's when we offer it," Lenz said.
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On the Net:
International Association of Forensic Nurses:
http://www.iafn.org
Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network:
http://www.rainn.org
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The new federal requirement that states pay for "Jane Doe rape kits" is aimed at removing one of the biggest obstacles to prosecuting rape cases: Some women are so traumatized they don't come forward until it is too late to collect hair, semen or other samples.
"Sometimes the issue of actually having to make a report to police can be a barrier to victims, and this will allow that barrier to cease, to allow the victim to think about it before deciding whether to talk to police," said Carey Goryl, executive director of the International Association of Forensic Nurses.
The practice is already followed at some health clinics, colleges and hospitals around the country and by the state of Massachusetts. But many other jurisdictions refuse to cover the estimated $800 cost of a forensic rape exam unless the victim files a police report.
Beginning in 2009, states will have to pay for Jane Doe rape kits to continue receiving funding under the federal Violence Against Women Act, which provides tax dollars for women's shelters and law enforcement training. States will decide how many locations will offer anonymous rape exams and how long the evidence should be kept.
Emergency rooms typically use a "rape kit" to collect evidence for use by police and prosecutors. It consists of microscope slides, boxes and plastic bags for storing skin, hair, blood, saliva or semen gathered by a specially trained nurse. The victim's injuries are also photographed.
What makes a Jane Doe rape kit different is that it is sealed with only a number on the outside of the envelope to identify the victim. Police do not open the envelope unless the victim decides to press charges.
The FBI has recommended such an option since at least 1999.
"The idea is to collect the evidence now, while it's still there," said Scott Berkowitz, president of the national Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.
The new requirement applies only to adult victims. Hospitals and doctors must still report incest or abuse involving children to the police.
In Cecil County, local authorities started offering Jane Doe kits four years ago, after a rape victim recanted. Anne Bean, clinical director for a rape and sexual assault counseling program in Cecil County, said giving women the option of keeping police out of it until they are ready to press charges is crucial.
According to the U.S. Justice Department, 272,350 sexual assaults were reported in 2006. The same survey estimated that only 41 percent of rapes and other sexual assaults are reported to police.
"Many times, you have people who were drunk, maybe doing drugs, maybe they're underage, and you start talking about the police and they get scared," Bean said. "So, sometimes it's not until long after they're willing to report, at which point of course any physical evidence is gone."
Massachusetts officials had no immediate figures on how many rape kits were collected anonymously there, or how many were ultimately opened.
In Allegany and Cecil counties in Maryland, evidence is kept at least 90 days. So far, 13 women have submitted anonymous evidence, and none has returned to press charges.
Still, hospital and police officials credit an offer of Jane Doe testing with encouraging a reluctant victim in Cecil County to undergo an exam. During that process, she decided to report the crime, and her attacker was successfully prosecuted.
"Just to let people know this option is out there is good, to say, 'It's OK, you don't have to prosecute if you don't want to,'" said Kathleen, a rape victim in Pennsylvania who spoke on condition her full name not be used.
Kathleen underwent an exam after being raped in Virginia in 2004, but her rapist was never found or charged. Kathleen said she wasn't offered anonymous reporting, but she has met rape victims in group therapy who regret not going for an exam.
"They're embarrassed. They don't even go get tested for STDs because they're so embarrassed," Kathleen said.
At Union Hospital in Elkton, forensic nurse Chris Lenz said Jane Doe testing is not offered unless a medical professional fears the victim will leave without the option.
"Of course we encourage reporting. That's what we would like. But when they're adamant they don't want to report — if we think, `She's going to walk out if she has to go through with this,' — that's when we offer it," Lenz said.
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On the Net:
International Association of Forensic Nurses:
http://www.iafn.org
Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network:
http://www.rainn.org
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Farm bill full of goodies for both rich and poor
By MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press Writer 34 minutes ago WASHINGTON - A $300 billion farm bill contains a little something for everyone, including tax breaks for Kentucky racehorse owners, extra help for farmers in Hawaii and Alaska, dollars for salmon farmers in the Pacific Northwest and more food stamps for the needy. Supporters of the bill are hoping that such goodies will bring in enough votes to send the White House a strong message when the House and Senate consider the bill's final version this week. President Bush has threatened to veto the five-year bill, saying it is too expensive and too generous to wealthy farmers.
The House is expected to take up the politically popular, bipartisan legislation Wednesday and the Senate should follow by the end of the week, when current farm law expires. A two-thirds majority in both chambers — a harder feat in the more urban House — would neutralize the administration's threat.
"My goal is to get over 300 votes tomorrow," House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., said Tuesday. "We have the possibility of getting that done. Three-hundred votes seals the deal."
Two-thirds of the massive bill would pay for the nation's nutrition programs, including food stamps. Most of the rest of the legislation would provide subsidies for farmers and conservation programs that protect the land.
Also buried in the bill are incentives for various regions designed to garner votes. A tax break for horse owners was included by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Money for salmon farmers affected by the collapse of the salmon fishing season in California, Oregon and Washington was included by Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif. Another provision would give extra money to "geographically disadvantaged farmers" in Alaska and Hawaii.
The legislation also includes language by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., that would allow state and local governments to issue bonds to help conservation organizations buy private lands. The provision that would provide incentives for non-profits to buy land from Montana's Plum Creek Timber Co.
Though the language appears to be tailored for Montana, Baucus said the provision is a "model for other states" that would help keep pristine private lands out of the hands of developers.
The bill also contains $3.8 billion by Baucus that would pay farmers who lose crops to weather-related disasters — a priority for farmers in Montana and the Dakotas.
Bush again criticized the bill Tuesday for sending too much money to wealthy farmers. He noted that married farmers who make up to $1.5 million can still collect subsidies.
"I believe doing so at a time of record farm income is irresponsible and jeopardizes America's support for necessary farm programs," he said.
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Associated Press Writer Frederic J. Frommer contributed to this report.
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The bill is H.R. 2419
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The House is expected to take up the politically popular, bipartisan legislation Wednesday and the Senate should follow by the end of the week, when current farm law expires. A two-thirds majority in both chambers — a harder feat in the more urban House — would neutralize the administration's threat.
"My goal is to get over 300 votes tomorrow," House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., said Tuesday. "We have the possibility of getting that done. Three-hundred votes seals the deal."
Two-thirds of the massive bill would pay for the nation's nutrition programs, including food stamps. Most of the rest of the legislation would provide subsidies for farmers and conservation programs that protect the land.
Also buried in the bill are incentives for various regions designed to garner votes. A tax break for horse owners was included by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Money for salmon farmers affected by the collapse of the salmon fishing season in California, Oregon and Washington was included by Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif. Another provision would give extra money to "geographically disadvantaged farmers" in Alaska and Hawaii.
The legislation also includes language by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., that would allow state and local governments to issue bonds to help conservation organizations buy private lands. The provision that would provide incentives for non-profits to buy land from Montana's Plum Creek Timber Co.
Though the language appears to be tailored for Montana, Baucus said the provision is a "model for other states" that would help keep pristine private lands out of the hands of developers.
The bill also contains $3.8 billion by Baucus that would pay farmers who lose crops to weather-related disasters — a priority for farmers in Montana and the Dakotas.
Bush again criticized the bill Tuesday for sending too much money to wealthy farmers. He noted that married farmers who make up to $1.5 million can still collect subsidies.
"I believe doing so at a time of record farm income is irresponsible and jeopardizes America's support for necessary farm programs," he said.
___
Associated Press Writer Frederic J. Frommer contributed to this report.
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The bill is H.R. 2419
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Arson-started Florida wildfires fueled by growth
By KELLI KENNEDY, Associated Press Writer 55 minutes ago PALM BAY, Fla. - Wildfires that have gutted at least 40 homes along the state's Atlantic coast are believed to have been started by arsonists, but they got help from two classic Florida phenomenon: rampant development and a year-round growing season. Experts said the fires reported in Brevard County that have burned roughly 10,000 acres — or more than 15 square miles — have found ample fuel because the state has not been able to hold controlled burns near development to cut back vegetation.
That means firefighters are battling palmetto palms that should be knee-high, but have been allowed to grow for 20 or 30 years, said Dale Armstrong, senior forester with the state's Division of Forestry.
Florida's endless growing season and waxy plants that can burn while still green are also culprits, said Ken Outcalt, a research plant ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service.
"The fuels in Florida are mostly live plants, unlike in the West where it's usually dead fuel that's accumulated underneath the trees," he said.
The Brevard County fires present two kinds of firefighting challenges simultaneously because the vegetation is mixed so closely with homes. The buildings impede traditional forest firefighting techniques such as plowing lines of dirt in the flames' path or lighting backfires, Outcalt said.
Police have set up a special task force to catch the suspect or suspects who set the fires. They profiled "a trophy person," likely to brag of his or her work at some point.
"It's unconscionable that somebody would do this to another man or woman, put them in jeopardy," Gov. Charlie Crist said shortly after flying over the damaged areas where he declared a state of emergency.
The Florida Division of Forestry said 40 homes in the Palm Bay area were destroyed and about 120 other structures, including homes and outbuildings, were damaged. Officials said the total damage estimate was approximately $9.6 million.
Authorities said Tuesday they had "a majority" of the Palm Bay fires contained and were getting better control over the fires in nearby Malabar, where firefighters slept in shifts on cots lined up in the volunteer fire station.
The destruction was hard for Veda VanFleet to fathom as she stood amid the charred remains of the two-story home her husband, Butch, built almost 30 years ago in Malabar. She remembered the treehouse her three boys used to play in out back and the basketball hoop in the front yard.
"It's gone. It's all gone," said VanFleet, who cried all day Monday and awoke with resolve Tuesday to pick through the ashes where she and her husband planned to rebuild.
Palm Bay schools were to be closed again Wednesday. Smoke and the proximity of the flames have caused the intermittent closure of major highways in the area, including a 34-mile section of Interstate 95 that was closed midmorning Tuesday.
"This really won't be over until it rains. Until it rains, the threat is going to be ever-present," said State Emergency Management Director Craig Fugate. Forecasts show little chance of rain until at least the weekend.
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Associated Press writers Travis Reed in Palm Bay and Jennifer Kay in Miami contributed to this report.
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That means firefighters are battling palmetto palms that should be knee-high, but have been allowed to grow for 20 or 30 years, said Dale Armstrong, senior forester with the state's Division of Forestry.
Florida's endless growing season and waxy plants that can burn while still green are also culprits, said Ken Outcalt, a research plant ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service.
"The fuels in Florida are mostly live plants, unlike in the West where it's usually dead fuel that's accumulated underneath the trees," he said.
The Brevard County fires present two kinds of firefighting challenges simultaneously because the vegetation is mixed so closely with homes. The buildings impede traditional forest firefighting techniques such as plowing lines of dirt in the flames' path or lighting backfires, Outcalt said.
Police have set up a special task force to catch the suspect or suspects who set the fires. They profiled "a trophy person," likely to brag of his or her work at some point.
"It's unconscionable that somebody would do this to another man or woman, put them in jeopardy," Gov. Charlie Crist said shortly after flying over the damaged areas where he declared a state of emergency.
The Florida Division of Forestry said 40 homes in the Palm Bay area were destroyed and about 120 other structures, including homes and outbuildings, were damaged. Officials said the total damage estimate was approximately $9.6 million.
Authorities said Tuesday they had "a majority" of the Palm Bay fires contained and were getting better control over the fires in nearby Malabar, where firefighters slept in shifts on cots lined up in the volunteer fire station.
The destruction was hard for Veda VanFleet to fathom as she stood amid the charred remains of the two-story home her husband, Butch, built almost 30 years ago in Malabar. She remembered the treehouse her three boys used to play in out back and the basketball hoop in the front yard.
"It's gone. It's all gone," said VanFleet, who cried all day Monday and awoke with resolve Tuesday to pick through the ashes where she and her husband planned to rebuild.
Palm Bay schools were to be closed again Wednesday. Smoke and the proximity of the flames have caused the intermittent closure of major highways in the area, including a 34-mile section of Interstate 95 that was closed midmorning Tuesday.
"This really won't be over until it rains. Until it rains, the threat is going to be ever-present," said State Emergency Management Director Craig Fugate. Forecasts show little chance of rain until at least the weekend.
___
Associated Press writers Travis Reed in Palm Bay and Jennifer Kay in Miami contributed to this report.
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China airlifts aid to remote villages hit by quake
By AUDRA ANG, Associated Press Writer 51 minutes ago AN XIAN, China - China began airlifting aid to the areas worst hit by a massive earthquake Wednesday, while state media reported several thousand deaths near the epicenter that accounted for 80 percent of one town's population. The new figures appeared certain to push the death toll well beyond the reported 12,000. The official Xinhua News Agency said 7,700 people died in Yingxiu town, near the epicenter of Monday's 7.9 magnitude earthquake.
It was unclear if the new figure was in addition to the previously reported death toll of more than 12,000.
If the deaths from Yingxiu have not already been folded in, the toll could be as high as 20,000. It could continue to rise even higher as rescuers have still not reached other towns in Wenchuan, Xinhua said.
Government officials told Xinhua rescuers who hiked into the Wenchuan county town on Wednesday found it "much worse than expected." Of the only 2,300 had survived, and 1,000 of them were badly hurt.
Xinhua said the survivors in Yingxiu "desperately needed medical help, food and water."
The highway linking Wenchuan county to Dujiangyan city was still cut off Wednesday, nearly 48 hours after the quake.
But as the weather cleared after a day of rain, a fleet of military helicopters was seen flying north over Dujiangyan. Xinhua reported that two army helicopters airdropped food, drinking water and medicine to Yingxiu, with three more en route.
Elsewhere in the area north of the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu, relatives cried over bodies of loved one.
In Hanwang, about 60 bodies wrapped in plastic were laid out as sobbing relatives walked among them. Feet and hands were sticking through the plastic wrapped around some of the bodies.
Some were covered with tree branches or flowers, and relatives burned paper money to be used in the afterlife.
As people mourned, rescue workers in blue uniforms continued to bring out bodies they have had been keeping in the Dongqi sports arena. It was unclear whether the corpses were from Hanwang or elsewhere.
Most of the buildings in Hanwang, which is surrounded by mountains, had been left in twisted piles by the quake, and cranes were tearing down what was left of any buildings still standing.
Farther north in An Xian, on the road to Beichuan, a hard-hit area on the edge of the quake's epicenter, a group of survivors huddled by the road in a makeshift tent to protect them from the rain.
Government buses have carried some survivors out of Beichuan, but Li Zizhong, a 38-year-old farmer, said he had not heard from his relatives there yet.
"Who knows what happened to them," Li said. "All we need is a little something to eat. I'm just happy to be alive."
Li and a friend, Zhang Mingfu, 44, had built a wood and plastic shelter with a straw floor where about 30 family members spent the night. Their destroyed homes were in the background.
"I feel lucky. It's the people in the mountains that we are worrying about, they are our relatives," Zhang said.
Authorities had blocked the road to Beichuan to regular traffic to allow rescue vehicles access.
Premier Wen Jiabao stopped Wednesday at a school in Beichuan county where two classroom buildings collapsed in the earthquake. The school with 2,000 students sustained "heavy casualties," broadcaster China Central Television reported.
"The party and the government are concerned about you. Your pain is our pain," Wen told earthquake victims who were living in Red Cross tents, his arms wrapped around two little girls and a somber-faced woman.
China also reported Wednesday that a 3-year-old Taiwanese boy was among the victims. Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Li Weiyi said two other Taiwanese were hurt in the quake.
Meanwhile, Mianyang, an industrial city of 700,000 people and home to the headquarters of China's nuclear weapons design industry, had turned into a thronging refugee camp.
The devastation and ramped-up rescue across a large, heavily populated region of farms and factory towns strained local governments. Food dwindled on the shelves of the few stores that remained open. Gasoline was scarce, with long lines outside some stations and pumps marked "empty."
Price gouging was evident at some store that were open. A package of instant noodles normally selling for 35 cents now costs $1.15.
The government's high-gear response aimed to reassure Chinese while showing the world it was capable of handling the disaster and was ready for the Aug. 8-24 Olympics in Beijing. Although the government said it welcomed outside aid, officials said it would accept only money and supplies, not foreign personnel.
Bowing to public calls, Beijing Olympics organizers scaled down the boisterous ongoing torch relay, with Wednesday's leg in the southeastern city of Ruijin beginning with a minute of silence. The torch is scheduled to arrive in quake-hit areas next month.
___
Associated Press writers Christopher Bodeen and Bill Foreman in Dujiangyan contributed to this report.
It was unclear if the new figure was in addition to the previously reported death toll of more than 12,000.
If the deaths from Yingxiu have not already been folded in, the toll could be as high as 20,000. It could continue to rise even higher as rescuers have still not reached other towns in Wenchuan, Xinhua said.
Government officials told Xinhua rescuers who hiked into the Wenchuan county town on Wednesday found it "much worse than expected." Of the only 2,300 had survived, and 1,000 of them were badly hurt.
Xinhua said the survivors in Yingxiu "desperately needed medical help, food and water."
The highway linking Wenchuan county to Dujiangyan city was still cut off Wednesday, nearly 48 hours after the quake.
But as the weather cleared after a day of rain, a fleet of military helicopters was seen flying north over Dujiangyan. Xinhua reported that two army helicopters airdropped food, drinking water and medicine to Yingxiu, with three more en route.
Elsewhere in the area north of the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu, relatives cried over bodies of loved one.
In Hanwang, about 60 bodies wrapped in plastic were laid out as sobbing relatives walked among them. Feet and hands were sticking through the plastic wrapped around some of the bodies.
Some were covered with tree branches or flowers, and relatives burned paper money to be used in the afterlife.
As people mourned, rescue workers in blue uniforms continued to bring out bodies they have had been keeping in the Dongqi sports arena. It was unclear whether the corpses were from Hanwang or elsewhere.
Most of the buildings in Hanwang, which is surrounded by mountains, had been left in twisted piles by the quake, and cranes were tearing down what was left of any buildings still standing.
Farther north in An Xian, on the road to Beichuan, a hard-hit area on the edge of the quake's epicenter, a group of survivors huddled by the road in a makeshift tent to protect them from the rain.
Government buses have carried some survivors out of Beichuan, but Li Zizhong, a 38-year-old farmer, said he had not heard from his relatives there yet.
"Who knows what happened to them," Li said. "All we need is a little something to eat. I'm just happy to be alive."
Li and a friend, Zhang Mingfu, 44, had built a wood and plastic shelter with a straw floor where about 30 family members spent the night. Their destroyed homes were in the background.
"I feel lucky. It's the people in the mountains that we are worrying about, they are our relatives," Zhang said.
Authorities had blocked the road to Beichuan to regular traffic to allow rescue vehicles access.
Premier Wen Jiabao stopped Wednesday at a school in Beichuan county where two classroom buildings collapsed in the earthquake. The school with 2,000 students sustained "heavy casualties," broadcaster China Central Television reported.
"The party and the government are concerned about you. Your pain is our pain," Wen told earthquake victims who were living in Red Cross tents, his arms wrapped around two little girls and a somber-faced woman.
China also reported Wednesday that a 3-year-old Taiwanese boy was among the victims. Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Li Weiyi said two other Taiwanese were hurt in the quake.
Meanwhile, Mianyang, an industrial city of 700,000 people and home to the headquarters of China's nuclear weapons design industry, had turned into a thronging refugee camp.
The devastation and ramped-up rescue across a large, heavily populated region of farms and factory towns strained local governments. Food dwindled on the shelves of the few stores that remained open. Gasoline was scarce, with long lines outside some stations and pumps marked "empty."
Price gouging was evident at some store that were open. A package of instant noodles normally selling for 35 cents now costs $1.15.
The government's high-gear response aimed to reassure Chinese while showing the world it was capable of handling the disaster and was ready for the Aug. 8-24 Olympics in Beijing. Although the government said it welcomed outside aid, officials said it would accept only money and supplies, not foreign personnel.
Bowing to public calls, Beijing Olympics organizers scaled down the boisterous ongoing torch relay, with Wednesday's leg in the southeastern city of Ruijin beginning with a minute of silence. The torch is scheduled to arrive in quake-hit areas next month.
___
Associated Press writers Christopher Bodeen and Bill Foreman in Dujiangyan contributed to this report.
Clinton presses ahead in longshot campaign
By CHARLES BABINGTON and CALVIN WOODWARD, Associated Press Writers 39 minutes ago STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. - An embattled Hillary Rodham Clinton is urging the party leaders who are key to the Democratic presidential race to take a hard look at her West Virginia win and slow their march to Barack Obama. Clinton trounced her rival Tuesday in a primary that did little if anything to knock Obama off stride as he approaches the delegate totals needed to give him the nomination.
It did, however, expose in stark terms his disadvantage with blue-collar voters, fueling Clinton's last-gasp argument to party VIPs that she's the Democrat with broad appeal against Republican John McCain.
"Choose who you believe will make the strongest candidate in the fall," she said at her Charleston rally in a pitch aimed at superdelegates. She was returning to Washington to meet Wednesday with some of them.
"The White House is won in the swing states," she said, "and I am winning the swing states."
Obama isn't ceding the latter point.
He was campaigning Wednesday in Michigan, keenly aware of the need to recapture the unifying promise of his earlier primary and caucus wins, which transcended geography, parties and even racial divisions at times.
Specifically, he arranged to visit workers at a Chrysler factory in Macomb County, bellwether of bellwethers, and rally in Grand Rapids.
"This is our chance to build a new majority of Democrats and independents and Republicans," Obama said in Missouri, a November battleground.
With votes from 98 percent of West Virginia's precincts counted, Clinton was winning 67 percent of the vote, to 26 percent for Obama. Nearly a quarter of the voters were 60 or older, and a similar share had no education beyond high school, exit polls indicated. More than half were in families with incomes of $50,000 or less, and the former first lady was winning nearly 70 percent of their votes.
Clinton won 20 of the 28 delegates at stake in West Virginia and Obama won eight.
That left Obama with 1,883.5 delegates, to 1,717 for Clinton, out of 2,026 needed to clinch the nomination at the party convention in Denver this summer. The Democratic win on Tuesday in a Mississippi special election increased by one the number of delegates needed to win the nomination.
He added a symbolic victory Tuesday, defeating Clinton in Nebraska's nonbinding primary by a 49-47 percent margin. Nebraska already held caucuses three months ago and Obama locked up most of the delegates in that contest.
Obama picked up about 30 superdelegates in the last week, altogether a bigger prize than West Virginia offered either candidate in the lopsided primary.
Superdelegates are elected officials and other prominent Democrats who can vote as they choose, without regard to primaries or caucuses. About 250 have not declared their support.
Obama has tapped the crucial superdelegate pool to considerable effect and in the last week overcame Clinton's campaign-long advantage with that group. They've proved resistant to Clinton's recent entreaties, but she was trying again Wednesday.
"This race isn't over yet," she said.
The New York senator also planned to meet members of her finance committee. Her campaign is facing more than $20 million in debt.
Still ahead are five primaries, beginning next week in Kentucky and Oregon, then Puerto Rico on June 1 and Montana and South Dakota two days later.
Obama is favored in Oregon and South Dakota, with Montana apparently more competitive and the others looking solid for Clinton.
On May 31, a convention committee will hear Clinton's appeal to seat delegations from disputed primaries in Florida and Michigan.
Clinton wants the delegates seated — a decision that would cut into Obama's advantage — even though the primaries were held so early in the year that they violated Democratic party rules.
Obama has indicated a willingness to compromise on that matter now that he's more confident of ultimate victory.
The Illinois senator picked up four superdelegates Tuesday, including Roy Romer, former Democratic Party chairman.
It did, however, expose in stark terms his disadvantage with blue-collar voters, fueling Clinton's last-gasp argument to party VIPs that she's the Democrat with broad appeal against Republican John McCain.
"Choose who you believe will make the strongest candidate in the fall," she said at her Charleston rally in a pitch aimed at superdelegates. She was returning to Washington to meet Wednesday with some of them.
"The White House is won in the swing states," she said, "and I am winning the swing states."
Obama isn't ceding the latter point.
He was campaigning Wednesday in Michigan, keenly aware of the need to recapture the unifying promise of his earlier primary and caucus wins, which transcended geography, parties and even racial divisions at times.
Specifically, he arranged to visit workers at a Chrysler factory in Macomb County, bellwether of bellwethers, and rally in Grand Rapids.
"This is our chance to build a new majority of Democrats and independents and Republicans," Obama said in Missouri, a November battleground.
With votes from 98 percent of West Virginia's precincts counted, Clinton was winning 67 percent of the vote, to 26 percent for Obama. Nearly a quarter of the voters were 60 or older, and a similar share had no education beyond high school, exit polls indicated. More than half were in families with incomes of $50,000 or less, and the former first lady was winning nearly 70 percent of their votes.
Clinton won 20 of the 28 delegates at stake in West Virginia and Obama won eight.
That left Obama with 1,883.5 delegates, to 1,717 for Clinton, out of 2,026 needed to clinch the nomination at the party convention in Denver this summer. The Democratic win on Tuesday in a Mississippi special election increased by one the number of delegates needed to win the nomination.
He added a symbolic victory Tuesday, defeating Clinton in Nebraska's nonbinding primary by a 49-47 percent margin. Nebraska already held caucuses three months ago and Obama locked up most of the delegates in that contest.
Obama picked up about 30 superdelegates in the last week, altogether a bigger prize than West Virginia offered either candidate in the lopsided primary.
Superdelegates are elected officials and other prominent Democrats who can vote as they choose, without regard to primaries or caucuses. About 250 have not declared their support.
Obama has tapped the crucial superdelegate pool to considerable effect and in the last week overcame Clinton's campaign-long advantage with that group. They've proved resistant to Clinton's recent entreaties, but she was trying again Wednesday.
"This race isn't over yet," she said.
The New York senator also planned to meet members of her finance committee. Her campaign is facing more than $20 million in debt.
Still ahead are five primaries, beginning next week in Kentucky and Oregon, then Puerto Rico on June 1 and Montana and South Dakota two days later.
Obama is favored in Oregon and South Dakota, with Montana apparently more competitive and the others looking solid for Clinton.
On May 31, a convention committee will hear Clinton's appeal to seat delegations from disputed primaries in Florida and Michigan.
Clinton wants the delegates seated — a decision that would cut into Obama's advantage — even though the primaries were held so early in the year that they violated Democratic party rules.
Obama has indicated a willingness to compromise on that matter now that he's more confident of ultimate victory.
The Illinois senator picked up four superdelegates Tuesday, including Roy Romer, former Democratic Party chairman.
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