Extreme Weather Photos Of The Week

Mike Bouse of Henderson, Nev., shades himself with an umbrella as he floats in the waters along Boulder Beach at Lake Mead, Saturday, June 29, 2013 near Boulder City, Nev. Bouse and his wife planned to spend most of the day in and out of the water to escape the heat in the Las Vegas area where Saturday's daytime high was expected to reach 117 degrees, the city's all-time high. It was 108 at noon Saturday in Sin City. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Jai, a tiger at the Phoenix Zoo, breaks apart frozen trout while sitting in his pool to keep cool, Friday, June 28, 2013 in Phoenix. Excessive heat warnings will continue for much of the Desert Southwest as building high pressure triggers major warming in eastern California, Nevada, and Arizona. Dangerously hot temperatures are expected across the Arizona deserts throughout the week with a high of 118 Friday. (AP Photo/Matt York)

A visitor to the Furnace Creek Vistitor Center walks by a digital thermometer in Death Vally National Park Friday, June 28, 2013 in Furnace Creek, Calif. Excessive heat warnings will continue for much of the Desert Southwest as building high pressure triggers major warming in eastern California, Nevada, and Arizona. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

People play in the fountain in front of the Barrett, The Honors College building at Arizona State University campus in Tempe, Ariz. during the Tempe Bicycle Action Group swimsuit ride on Saturday, June 29, 2013. About 100 cyclists biked around the city cooling off in pools and fountains. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, David Wallace)

From left, Subrina Madrid, Sarah Hudak, Jennifer, Shackelford, all of North Las Vegas, Nev., sit in the shallow waters along Boulder Beach at Lake Mead, Saturday, June 29, 2013 near Boulder City, Nev. The three planned to spend the day at the lake to escape the heat in Las Vegas where Saturday's daytime high was expected to reach 117 degrees, which is the city's all-time high. It was 108 at noon Saturday in Sin City. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

A jet looks like it is melting into the runway as it is distorted by the heat waves rising up from the north runway at Sky Harbor International Airport, Friday, June 28, 2013, the hottest day of the year so far. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, Tom Tingle)

Dan Kail, 67, of Pittsburg Pa., walks thru the sand dunes in Death Vally National Park Friday, June 28, 2013 near Stovepipe Wells, Calif. Excessive heat warnings will continue for much of the Desert Southwest as building high pressure triggers major warming in eastern California, Nevada, and Arizona. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Elephants at Utah's Hogle Zoo are cooled off with water hoses Friday, June 28, 2013, in Salt Lake City. The heat wave that is gripping the western United States is one of the worst in years, with desert locations in the Southwest seeing temperatures approach 120 degrees. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Children play at the Red Ridge Park kids water park, Thursday, June 27, 2013 in Las Vegas. Families stayed past sundown to cool off in the park's fountains after temperatures in Las Vegas hit 112 degrees. A high pressure system parking over the West is expected to bring temperatures this weekend and into next week that are extreme even for a region used to baking during the summer. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

A Filipino man pushes his tricycle along a flooded street in suburban Navotas, north of Manila, Philippines on Sunday June 30, 2013. Tropical Storm Rumbia shifted and spared the Philippine capital Sunday but stranded thousands of commuters, toppled trees and knocked out power in outlying provinces. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

This photo taken on June 24, 2013 shows large waves (below) with storm clouds (above), breaking onto cliffs at Bronte Beach near Sydney. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology has issued a warning for the Sydney area for June 25 and 26, with dangerous surf conditions, hazardous for coastal activities such as swimming, surfing and rock fishing. (GREG WOOD/AFP/Getty Images)

An Indian boy sits on a sea wall as waves lash the retaining wall of the iconic Gateway of India off the Arabian sea in Mumbai on June 25, 2013. The monsoon season, which runs from June to September, accounts for about 80 percent of India's annual rainfall, vital for a farm economy which lacks adequate irrigation facilities. However, the monsoon arrived early this year, catching many by surprise and exposing a lack of preparedness. (INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP/Getty Images)

Indian pedestrians run from water splashing over a sea wall in Mumbai on June 24, 2013. The monsoon, which covers the subcontinent from June to September, usually brings some flooding. But the heavy rains arrived early this year, catching many by surprise and exposing a lack of preparedness. (PUNIT PARANJPE/AFP/Getty Images)

An Indian snack vendor walks along a water-logged street in Kolkata on June 30, 2013. Heavy rains in various parts of Kolkata have disrupted normal life as several parts of the city became waterlogged and trains services were partially disrupted. (DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP/Getty Images)

Traffic passes along a water-logged street in Kolkata on June 30, 2013. Heavy rains in various parts of Kolkata have disrupted normal life as several parts of the city became waterlogged and trains services were partially disrupted. (DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP/Getty Images)

A girl wades through a flooded street in Manila on June 30, 2013. Tropical storm Rumbia lashed Manila and nearby areas with 65-75 kph winds disrupting aviation and ferry services. (NOEL CELIS/AFP/Getty Images)

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/30/extreme-weather-photos_n_3525440.html

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Family: American killed in Egypt was a teacher

CHEVY CHASE, Md. (AP) ? The family of an American college student killed in Egypt during violent protests says their son cared passionately about the Middle East and was in the country to teach English to children and to improve his own Arabic.

The U.S. State Department said Andrew Pochter, of Chevy Chase, Md., was killed Friday in Alexandria during clashes between government supporters and opponents. His family said in a statement Saturday that he was stabbed by a protester while observing the demonstrations.

"He went to Egypt because he cared profoundly about the Middle East. He had studied in the region, loved the culture, and planned to live and work there in the pursuit of peace and understanding," the statement said.

The 21-year-old spent his spring semester studying in Amman, Jordan, as part of the AMIDEAST Education Abroad Program and was teaching in Egypt before returning in the fall to Kenyon College in Ohio. He majored in religious studies, was active in the campus Hillel House and was a member of the rugby club and an organizer for the Middle Eastern Students Association, the college said.

Meryn Chimes, a New York University student who said she was a friend of Pochter, recalled how he traveled to Morocco between high school and college and sent her excited letters about how much he loved it there.

"When he came back, he just had this passion for the Middle East," she said.

During his travels, she said, he would marvel at everything from the food to the people he encountered at marketplaces to the Colonial architecture of Alexandria. She said he told her how much he loved teaching Egyptian children and how they worked so hard to master English.

"He said he hoped they liked him as a teacher, which I'm sure they did," she said.

She said they last spoke a few days ago.

"He really wanted to broaden people's perspective, especially in America. He wanted people to see places the way he saw them," said Chimes, noting how her friend had spoken of potentially becoming a reporter.

"He saw the world in a way that I don't think anyone else did, and it was a really beautiful way."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/family-american-killed-egypt-teacher-152819995.html

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Egypt prepares for worst ahead of Sunday protest

CAIRO (AP) ? As the streets once again fill with protesters eager to oust the president and Islamists determined to keep him in power, Egyptians are preparing for the worst: days or weeks of urban chaos that could turn their neighborhoods into battlegrounds.

Households already beset by power cuts, fuel shortages and rising prices are stocking up on goods in case the demonstrations drag on. Businesses near protest sites are closing until crowds subside. Fences, barricades and walls are going up near homes and key buildings. And local communities are organizing citizen patrols in case security breaks down.

For yet another time since President Mohammed Morsi took office last year, his palace in Cairo's upscale Heliopolis neighborhood is set to become the focus for popular frustration with his rule. Some protests outside the capital have already turned deadly, and weapons ? including firearms ? have been circulating more openly than in the past.

"We're worried like all Egyptians that a huge crowd will come, and it will get bloody," said Magdy Ezz, owner of a menswear shop across from the walled complex, a blend of Middle Eastern and neoclassical architecture. Besides ordinary roll-down storm shutters, storefronts on the street are sealed off with steel panels.

"We just hope it will be peaceful. But it could be a second revolution," he said. "If it lasts, we'll have to keep the store closed. But it's not like business has been booming here anyway, especially since the problems last year."

Last winter, the area saw some of Cairo's deadliest street violence since Egypt's 2011 uprising, with Islamists attacking a sit-in, anarchists throwing gasoline bombs, and police savagely beating protesters.

Morsi's opponents aim to bring out massive crowds starting Sunday, saying the country is fed up with Islamist misrule that has left the economy floundering and security in shambles. They say they have collected 22 million signatures ? compared to around 13 million voters who elected Morsi ? calling for him to step down, and they hope the turnout will push him to do just that.

Morsi's Islamist allies say they will defend the mandate of the country's first freely elected president, some with their "souls and blood" if necessary, while hard-liners have vowed to "smash" the protests.

On Friday, thousands of Morsi supporters launched a counterdemonstration, which some plan to continue as an open-ended sit-in at a mosque near the presidential palace ? the endpoint of the main protest march two days later.

Both camps say they intend to be peaceful, but demonstrations could rapidly descend into violence ? especially if the two sides meet. Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood group has said five of its members were killed in clashes with protesters in Nile Delta provinces over the past days, and Brotherhood offices have been attacked in several cities. A total of eight people, including one American, have been killed in protests this past week. The nation's highest religious authority, Al-Azhar, has warned against "civil war."

At the Brotherhood's national headquarters in Cairo's Muqattam district, workers added a final layer of mortar to a brick wall topped with grating to reinforce the main gate. A bank on the corner was completely boarded up. Some fear protesters could descend on the neighborhood to attack the headquarters, as happened last spring when supporters and opponents of the president fought street battles that left 200 wounded.

"The police have to get this place secured. It's their job and I'm sure they will," said Hadi Saad, a designer who lives around the corner from the headquarters. "The demonstrations will be very big across the country, no matter if (Morsi) stays or goes, so we should be prepared here as well."

Other neighbors said they don't expect a repeat of violence in the area, a hill overlooking the rest of the city. Only a handful of police patrolled the neighborhood ahead of the weekend protests, corralling a 100-car queue to the main avenue's gas station.

Engineer Hasan Farag, also a neighbor, said residents were "hoping for the best." Some have begun to resent the Brotherhood's presence, however, and a petition to force the offices out has been circulating.

"The neighborhood is divided ? some don't mind the headquarters being here, others do," Saad said.

Security has been redoubled at the presidential palace in Heliopolis. Walls set up last year still block some traffic access, and curved concrete slabs designed to prevent climbing now protect the main gates. Shipping containers also line much of the perimeter, and nearby apartment buildings have blocked off their parking lots and side streets with barbed wire. On Friday, authorities built a new wall of concrete blocks to surround the complex.

Peter Soliman, a communications student who lives in the neighborhood, said most residents don't know what to expect.

"Of course, parents are worried about their children going out to demonstrate by the palace, especially if the Brotherhood shows up," he said. "People fear things will turn bloody and divide the country."

Other Heliopolis residents and protest organizers say neighborhood watch groups are already being formed.

In the city center, concrete walls continue to block off the Interior Ministry and southern access routes to Tahrir Square, epicenter of the uprising that overthrew longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak. At the weekend, protesters gathered by the thousands at the square, saying they plan to dig in for a protracted conflict.

The nearby Semiramis Hotel is taking no chances, even though Tahrir is expected to be a sideshow compared to Sunday's march on the palace. The site of repeated clashes between stone-throwing youths and riot police this past year, the luxury hotel has just finished fortifying itself with a spiked metal fence topped with razor-sharp blades.

To the south, in the leafy Garden City neighborhood ? an area that has sometimes seen spillover violence from Tahrir ? some residents were securing their homes.

Metalworker Sameh Haddad used an arc welder to put the final touches on an apartment building's new wrought iron gate before hurrying to other appointments. "For once, business has been great," he said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-prepares-worst-ahead-sunday-protest-074010870.html

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Los Angeles Public Schools Train Students as Obamacare - Reason ...

ReasonSure, professional athletes have a certain celebrity appeal, but can they really convince Americans to embrace a product that a growing number have already written off as a shit sandwich? But to really win hearts and minds ...? Hey! How about using the public schools to recruit their captive audience of students to the cause, and then set the kids loose to proselytize their families on the glories of Obamacare? That should work wonders.

And it's not creepy at all.

From School Reform News:

The Los Angeles Unified School District will use a state grant to train teens to promote ObamaCare to family members. Covered California, the state's health insurance exchange, announced grants of $37 million on May 14 to promote the nationally unpopular law.

LAUSD will receive $990,000. The district listed as a primary outcome for its project, "Teens trained to be messengers to family members."

Covered California spokeswoman Sarah Soto-Taylor said staff have not questioned this goal. ?

"We have confidence that the model LA Unified brought to the table will be successful in reaching our target population, which includes family members of students," she said.

Well, of course "staff have not questioned this goal." That's because "LAUSD will also use tax-paid staff to promote ObamaCare through phone calls to students? homes, in-class presentations, and meetings with employees eligible for ObamaCare?s taxpayer-covered healthcare."

So public school teachers get paid taxpayer dollars to preach Obamacare to their co-workers and the students, so the kids will then go home and sing the glories of the health scheme to the same taxpayers who are funding the whole process. Everybody wins!

If this experiment in using the public schools as a medium for spreading the good news works out as school officials and health insurance exchange managers hope, expect more in the future.

"Teens are part of a 'pilot' program to test whether young people can be trained as messengers to deliver outreach and limited education to family and friends in and around their homes," said Gayle Pollard-Terry, a LAUSD spokesman, in an email. "Teens will be educating adults that they already know (e.g., family or friends) and not other adults."

Well, of course teens will be indoctrinated in official messages that they'll then be expected to bring home. Why else would you send them to public schools?

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Source: http://reason.com/blog/2013/06/27/los-angeles-public-schools-train-student

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'White House Down' Review: Impeach the Movie, Elect Channing Tatum

By Leah Rozen

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Sometimes movie stars grow on you, with familiarity breeding fondness. It's taken time but Channing Tatum has finally won me over with his goofy, lunkish charm.

Good thing, too, since he's front and center in the shameless bonfire of gunfire, explosions and macho hyperbolic heroics that is "White House Down," the latest over-the-top offering from director-producer-blockbuster specialist Roland Emmerich ("Independence Day," "The Day After Tomorrow" and "2012").

Emmerich, of course, notoriously annihilated the White House and most of Washington, D.C., in "Independence Day," a movie about an extraterrestrial invasion. In "White House Down," it's the Capitol that gets blown up, and this time it's human bad guys who are the invaders, taking over the White House at gunpoint.

Tatum plays John Cale, a Capitol Hill policeman and Afghanistan War vet who just happens to be accompanying his precocious daughter, Emily (Joey King), on a guided tour of the White House that day. During the course of the tour, President James Sawyer (Jamie Foxx), an idealistic former academic who chomps on Nicorette to keep from smoking - hmm, remind you of anyone? - stops by to greet the visitors and grants young Emily a brief interview for her video blog.

Minutes later, a group of heavily armed gunmen, who'd been posing as repairman, put into operation with military precision a takeover of the White House. Pulling out major weaponry, they start firing, slaughtering the President's entire protective detail and bevies of bureaucrats.

Cale quickly unites with President Sawyer, trying his best to protect the leader of the free world and keep him out of the bad guys' hands. As the two sneak around the Executive Mansion, trying to elude the gunmen and get to safety, they're also attempting to figure out what the heck is happening and who's behind the takeover.

At the same time, in a secure bunker elsewhere, a group of high level security personnel (Maggie Gyllenhaal), military officers (Lance Reddick) and elected figures (Richard Jenkins) gather to investigate the identities and motives of the White House invaders and how best to save the President and the nation.

The cat-and-mouse game in "White House" goes on and on (the movie runs for two hours and 17 minutes), growing more preposterous and silly by the scene. This totally is the stuff of action movies, not real life.

It's kind of fun, in a dopey way, for a while, but then it's just noise and firepower and boys with their toys.

As for the acting, Tatum proves a sturdy action hero, stripping down to a sleeveless undershirt in record time and projecting resolute concern. This guy is Aldo Ray all over again, only he's going to have a longer and more successful career.

Foxx goes with the flow, doing a sly take on the current occupant of the White House, making his President Sawyer both noble and ready to rumble. In supporting roles, Gyllenhaal, Reddick, Jenkins, James Woods and Jason Clarke all deliver when asked to, and Nicolas Wright earns laughs as a know-it-all White House tour guide who's appalled by the gunmen's disregard for historical White House antiques.

I'll give "White House Down" this: For sheer chutzpah, both in terms of product placement and situational believability, it will be hard for any other movie this summer to top a scene in which a bad guy has the temerity to grab President Sawyer by the ankles.

The Commander in Chief, having earlier in the story swapped his heavy dress shoes for pricey, fleet-making sneakers, fights the man off, scolding, "Don't touch the Jordans!"

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/white-house-down-review-impeach-movie-elect-channing-202534863.html

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Vitamin D improves mood and blood pressure in women with diabetes

June 25, 2013 ? In women who have type 2 diabetes and show signs of depression, vitamin D supplements significantly lowered blood pressure and improved their moods, according to a pilot study at Loyola University Chicago Niehoff School of Nursing.

Vitamin D even helped the women lose a few pounds.

The study was presented at the American Diabetes Association 73rd Scientific Sessions in Chicago.

"Vitamin D supplementation potentially is an easy and cost-effective therapy, with minimal side effects," said Sue M. Penckofer, PhD, RN, lead author of the study and a professor in the Niehoff School of Nursing. "Larger, randomized controlled trials are needed to determine the impact of vitamin D supplementation on depression and major cardiovascular risk factors among women with Type 2 diabetes."

Penckofer recently received a four-year, $1.49 million grant from the National Institute of Nursing Research at the National Institutes of Health to do such a study. Penckofer and her Loyola co-investigators plan to enroll 180 women who have type 2 diabetes, symptoms of depression and insufficient levels of vitamin D. Women will be randomly assigned to receive either a weekly vitamin D supplementation (50,000 International Units) or a matching weekly placebo for six months. The study is titled "Can the Sunshine Vitamin Improve Mood and Self Management in Women with Diabetes?

About 1 in 10 people in the United States has diabetes, and the incidence is projected to increase to 1 in 4 persons by 2050. Women with type 2 diabetes have worse outcomes than men. The reason may be due to depression, which affects more than 25 percent of women with diabetes. Depression impairs a patient's ability to manage her disease by eating right, exercising, taking medications, etc.

Many Americans do not get enough vitamin D, and people with diabetes are at especially high risk for vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency. Reasons include limited intake of foods high in vitamin D, obesity, lack of sun exposure and genetic variations.

The pilot study included 46 women who were an average age of 55 years, had diabetes an average of 8 years and insufficient blood levels of vitamin D (18 ng/ml). They took a weekly dose (50,000 International Units) of vitamin D. (By comparison, the recommended dietary allowance for women 51 to 70 years is 600 IU per day.)

After six months, their vitamin D blood levels reached sufficient levels (average 38 ng/ml) and their moods improved significantly. For example, in a 20-question depression symptom survey, scores decreased from 26.8 at the beginning of the study (indicating moderate depression) to 12.2 at six months (indicating no depression. (The depression scale ranges from 0 to 60, with higher numbers indicating more symptoms of depression.)

Blood pressure also improved, with the upper number decreasing from 140.4 mm Hg to 132.5 mm Hg. And their weight dropped from an average of 226.1 pounds to 223.6 pounds.

Penckofer is internationally known for her research on vitamin D, diabetes and depression. In October, she will be inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing for her scientific contributions in improving the health and quality of life of women with chronic disease. And she recently was appointed as the first nurse researcher to the Chicago Diabetes Center for Translational Research.

Co-authors of the study are Todd Doyle, PhD, Patricia Mumby, PhD, Mary Byrn, Mary Ann Emanuele, MD and Diane Wallis, MD.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/nutrition/~3/DPhOiwJotg4/130625091841.htm

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