Lopez bows out of Venezuela presidential race (AP)

CARACAS, Venezuela ? Opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez bowed out of Venezuela's presidential race on Tuesday, saying he will support his leading rival as the opposition seeks to field a single candidate to challenge President Hugo Chavez.

The announcement gives a significant boost to Henrique Capriles, the youthful 39-year-old state governor who has a commanding lead in the polls ahead of the Feb. 12 opposition primary. It also shakes up the field of five remaining contenders in the primary, which will choose a unity candidate to face Chavez in the Oct. 7 election.

"You will be the next president," Lopez said at a news conference with Capriles. The two embraced and raised their arms before a cheering crowd.

"In me, he will have a great ally," said Lopez, who is on a list of hundreds of politicians barred from holding office in the past decade due to corruption investigations. He calls the probe politically motivated.

Recent polls show Chavez's popularity slightly above 50 percent, down from the 63 percent support he received in 2006 elections, emboldening Venezuela's opposition, which in the past has been splintered and disorganized in its challenges to the socialist president.

Pollster Luis Vicente Leon said the opposition is seeing its "best moment" politically. Capriles' support has been above 40 percent among likely opposition voters in recent polls, and will likely pick up a significant share of Lopez's support, Leon said.

Lopez, a former mayor of Caracas' Chacao district, had been trailing among opposition contenders in recent polls, with one recent survey giving him 16 percent support. Lopez said that with his departure, "unity is strengthened" within the opposition.

The athletic Capriles has captured support among Venezuelans by presenting himself as a capable manager and pledging to solve problems such as rampant crime, unemployment and 27-percent inflation.

Capriles has tended to avoid direct verbal confrontations with Chavez and has described his politics as center-left. He likens his approach to that of former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who promoted pro-business policies while funding social programs that made him popular among the poor.

Capriles is currently the governor of Miranda state, which is the country's second-most populous state and includes parts of Caracas as well as largely impoverished towns in the surrounding hills. He served as mayor of Caracas' Baruta district before he was elected governor in 2008, defeating a close ally of Chavez. He is also a former congressman.

"We need all your good ideas here," Capriles told Lopez during the news conference. "We both have the same dream."

"You have to look for a wife for me," Capriles, who is a bachelor, joked to the married Lopez.

Capriles said that from now on Lopez will coordinate his campaign, but he denied that their alliance had anything to do with doling out potential future positions.

According to recent polls, Capriles' top rival in the race is Pablo Perez, the governor of western Zulia state, who has been trailing in the surveys.

Perez shrugged off the alliance between his rivals, but also said he thinks voters dislike such political deals. "Votes can't be endorsed. In politics, two plus two isn't four," Perez told reporters, expressing confidence.

A December survey by the Caracas-based pollster Datanalisis found that 33.6 percent supported Perez, while 44.9 percent favored Capriles.

Capriles said he aims for a "break with the old way of conducting politics," and that remark seemed to irritate some within the group of parties that back Perez.

"One thing is breaking with the bad of the past, and it's something else to generalize," said Omar Barboza, a leader of Perez's party. "I think it's immaturity," Barboza said, apparently referring to Capriles' remark.

Others running in the Feb. 12 primary include congresswoman Maria Corina Machado, Diego Arria, a former Venezuelan ambassador to the United Nations, and Pablo Medina, a leftist former union leader.

Chavez has been in office for 13 years and is seeking another six-year term in the October election. He has sought to portray his opponents as allies of the wealthy and the U.S. government.

"The candidate of the counterrevolution, whoever it is... is going to be the candidate of the Yankees," Chavez said in a speech Tuesday night, without referring to any of his potential challengers by name. "He's going to be the candidate of the bourgeoisie."

Lopez had gone ahead with his presidential bid despite a Supreme Court ruling in October that had upheld a ban on him holding office.

In its decision, the Supreme Court upheld a decision by the country's top anti-corruption official disqualifying Lopez from holding office until 2014, yet also said he could be a candidate. The Supreme Court dismissed as "unfeasible" a decision by the Costa Rica-based Inter-American Court of Human Rights that had sided with Lopez and said his political rights had been violated.

"Lopez was running far behind in the polls, and the Supreme Court's defiance of the decision by the Inter-American Court left a big cloud of uncertainty over Lopez's future, even if he were to come out ahead," said Cynthia Arnson, director of the Latin America program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington. "Capriles has been the front-runner for some time, so the endorsement will continue to bolster his campaign."

Capriles called his relationship with Lopez "an alliance with a view fixed on Oct. 7."

____

Associated Press writers Ian James and Christopher Toothaker in Caracas contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_venezuela_opposition

j. cole j. cole joe namath austin weather lisa vanderpump pef pef

Severe Brain Injury When Young May Have Long-Term Effects (HealthDay)

MONDAY, Jan. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Although many people believe young children are extremely resilient after they are seriously hurt, the opposite may be true with traumatic brain injuries.

Two Australian studies looked at the impact of traumatic brain injury in children as young as 2 years, and found that these injuries affected cognitive function, IQ and even behavior for some time. However, the researchers also found that recovery from traumatic brain injury can continue for years after the initial injury. And, a child's home environment can positively influence recovery if the child lives in a stable, caring home.

"Many people think that the soft skull of a baby may give them some advantage because if they fall they are not likely to sustain a skull fracture. Also, because a baby's brain is growing so quickly, it seems like the brain may be able to fix an injury. In reality, the soft skull and growing brain of a baby put them at a greater risk of future problems," said the lead author of one of the studies, Louise Crowe, a postdoctoral research officer at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Melbourne.

"Children with significant head injuries do recover, but they are generally slower to learn concepts, and some high-level skills are often too difficult for them," she added.

Results from both studies were released online Jan. 23 and are scheduled to appear in the February issue of Pediatrics.

By age 16, at least one in 30 children will experience a traumatic brain injury, according to background information in one of the studies. Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) occur after a blow or bump to the head, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Young children -- those under 4 years old -- are particularly at risk of experiencing a traumatic brain injury, according to the CDC. Such injuries can occur from a fall, a car accident, deliberate child abuse, sports or being hit with a moving object. Fortunately, most of these injuries aren't fatal, but about one-third of children who survive a TBI will have lasting damage, report the researchers.

Very few studies, however, have followed youngsters from the time of their injury through adolescence, to assess the full effect of the brain injury.

The first study looked at 40 children between the ages of 2 and 7 who had experienced a traumatic brain injury. They were compared to 16 healthy children. The children were examined 12 months, 30 months and 10 years after the injury, according to the study.

Not surprisingly, they found that children with the most severe injuries had the worst cognitive outcomes.

But, the news wasn't all bad. Initially, while the brain was recovering from the injury, the children didn't make significant developmental gains for about three years. However, after that period, and at least up until 10 years after the injury, the children began to make some age-appropriate developmental gains.

That means that even many years after an injury, interventions and therapies for these children may be effective, said the study's lead author, Vicki Anderson, a professor in critical care and neuroscience research at the Murdoch Institute.

"Although this does not suggest that children catch up to peers, it does imply that the gap does not widen during this period," she said.

This study also found that the home environment and relationships could make a difference in a child's recovery. More stable homes with less family conflict appeared to contribute to a child's recovery.

"It's difficult to predict outcome," said Anderson. "A quality home environment and access to appropriate rehabilitation is critical to maximize outcomes. Or, the young brain is plastic, and so the better the environment, the better the outcome."

The second study, led by Crowe, followed a group of 53 children who had sustained a traumatic brain injury before they were 3 years old, and 27 non-injured children. They followed up with these children when they were between 4 and 6 years old. The average time since the injury occurred was 40 months.

Children who had moderate-to-severe TBIs scored lower on IQ tests by about seven to 10 points, according to the study. Mild traumatic brain injuries didn't seem to significantly affect IQ. However, mild and moderate-to-severe TBIs were associated with an increased risk of behavior problems.

And, as with Anderson's study, this study also found that a child's environment has an effect on cognitive function and behavior after a brain injury.

"Children from cohesive family environments and children whose parents had lower levels of stress showed better recovery," Crowe said. "Why this is so is unclear, but it may be due to a parent spending more time with their children, and children also growing up in a less stressful environment."

One expert noted that the findings make an important point.

"We still don't understand all of the factors that affect outcomes. But, these studies do give us important data. We don't necessarily want to close the door on treating these children too soon. There may still be room for improvement over time, but there are persistent deficits," said Dr. Mandeep Tamber, an assistant professor of pediatric neurosurgery at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.

Meanwhile, Crowe advised parents to be vigilant with young children. She said traumatic brain injuries can result from seemingly minor accidents, such as a baby rolling off of a bed or couch.

More information

Learn more about traumatic brain injuries from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20120123/hl_hsn/severebraininjurywhenyoungmayhavelongtermeffects

hedy lamarr bill conlin kendall jenner plane crash plane crash kardashian christmas card lori berenson

Ice Cream Sandwich update for original Transformer coming 'mid-February,' says ASUS

Last we heard, the Ice Cream Sandwich update making its way to the O.G. Transformer was still "in the process of being approved" by the G-men. Although we've heard rumors that the holo-coated upgrade would come in February, nothing's been confirmed until now. ASUS replied to a life long fan's Facebook post, revealing that the update should arrive "mid-February." We know hearing the news that you'll have to keep waiting might not stop you from rolling on the floor and throwing a temper tantrum, but hey, you could not be getting one at all.

[Thanks, Udupa]

Ice Cream Sandwich update for original Transformer coming 'mid-February,' says ASUS originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 21 Jan 2012 15:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  ASUS (Facebook)  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/HftRaDirJNk/

school closures mlk mlk being human being human chicago news chicago news

Watch a Music Video of LMFAO's Party Rock Anthem Ridiculously Made with MS Paint [Video]

Like the hilarious Chris Brown Look at Me Now video before it, this music video of LMFAO's played too much Party Rock song is made completely with MS Paint. What's even better is that every lyric lis literally interpreted so you'll see drawings of a rock with a party hat on inside a house when LMFAO goes, "Party rock is in the house tonight..." I love these videos so much. [YouTube] More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/G6pkqGpvD6A/watch-a-music-video-of-lmfaos-party-rock-anthem-ridiculously-made-with-ms-paint

texas judge tom brokaw maria shriver andy irons ethan zohn jeremy mayfield occupy oakland general strike

'Portlandia': A state of mind, laughs on IFC (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? When Fred Armisen of "Saturday Night Live" and musician Carrie Brownstein found themselves with time and creativity on their hands, the longtime friends decided to conspire on a few videos.

"Our goal wasn't to be funny, just to make these odd little pieces," Armisen said. It was the two of them, a cameraman and no particular expectations.

"Then some ambition did start to creep in," Armisen recalled. "We said, `Wait a minute, this has the elements of what a TV show would be,'" Armisen recalled.

The result is "Portlandia," the IFC series that's in its second season (10 p.m. EST Fridays). It's a collection of sketches set in a partly real, partly mythic version of Portland that stands in for a certain mindset and community.

Think of "a cool, weird book store" and a record shop, a restaurant with "really, really good seafood" and a movie theater dedicated to indie films, suggests Armisen.

With that backdrop, and with its stars taking on a variety of roles (and sometimes wigs), "Portlandia" sends up city life, pop culture, success-oriented parenting and slivers of obsessive behavior that veer from charming to unnerving ? such as the smiling couple who decorate every available surface with bird designs.

In Friday's episode, "Cool Wedding," militant bike messenger Spyke and his fiancee seek a unique ceremony, and a grocery store shopper (guest star Jack McBrayer of "30 Rock") is scorned when he forgets his reusable bag. A must-see repeat (9:30 p.m. EDT) is highlighted by Portland's annual Allergy Pride Parade ? all allergy sufferers welcome ? and Jeff Goldblum as a knot store owner.

The series has quickly developed a small but avid following, with two important fans at the front of the pack: Jennifer Caserta, IFC's executive vice president and general manager, and mega-producer Lorne Michaels ("Saturday Night Live," "30 Rock").

"Portlandia" is "a perfect fit for IFC," said Caserta. The channel had been expanding its original programming and "an alternative comedy was something we were honing in on, something that our audience wanted from us," she said.

Co-created by Jonathan Krisel, the show and its stars "felt very right for us and different from any sketch show we've seen before," Caserta said. It's a match for IFC's programming that is "irresistibly on the fringes of what of what you would normally find elsewhere."

Michaels, executive producer of "Portlandia," calls it "so inventive" and applauds IFC for letting the creative team keep the show's concept pure and laser-focused.

"They're only doing it for the audience that wants it. No other audience need apply," he said, laughing. "And it found an audience: It's a little hit. I notice that, because people will go out of their way to mention the show to me."

And that includes the city and its residents, who provide the starting point for parody.

"You have to see it in Portland! They love it," Michaels said. "I went out there this summer and spent a few days with (the production team). The show soaks up what's happening there and celebrates it and has a nice way of being funny about it without betraying anything."

Season two was crafted with more emphasis on relationships, Armisen said, especially on couples who "work as a unit" and speak in the same voice. There's Portland-style bicycle action, of course, including bicycle movers and a bicycle valet.

Brownstein and Armisen, who met in 2003, share indie-rock music roots. The two also have a similar "fear of stillness," said Brownstein, which set them on the path to "Portlandia."

While she describes music as her "first love" (she released a new album last year with the new band Wild Flag), she enjoys mixing it up.

"Creatively, it's nice to have different outlets and mediums for your ideas," she said.

There was another reason for them to work on what began as short web videos under the title "Thunder Ant": It gave the New York-based Armisen a reason to visit his Portland-based friend and collaborator.

"When you're not dating someone it's weird to fly across the country and not have a purpose," she said. "So we created a purpose."

She has high praise for her co-star and pal.

"I love Fred's quickness. ... He's somebody who is pulling the rug out from beneath you and you have to scramble to find it. It's an exhilarating world and I'm glad to be part of it."

___

AP Television Writer Frazier Moore in New York contributed to this report.

___

EDITOR'S NOTE ? Lynn Elber is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. She can be reached at lelber(at)ap.org.

___

Online:

http://wwww.ifc.com

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_en_tv/us_tv_portlandia

miami heat pro bowl sinead oconnor celtics braylon edwards jimmer fredette mall of america

Dow and S&P 500 post best week since Christmas (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Stocks posted their best week since Christmas, even with a mixed finish on Friday after strong earnings from tech bellwethers IBM (IBM.N) and Intel (INTC.O) contrasted with Google's (GOOG.O) disappointing report.

The market heads into the most hectic week so far in this earnings season after a mixed start, with some worries over revenue and growth offset by sharp cost-cutting to protect the bottom line.

For the week, the Dow rose 2.4 percent and the S&P 500 gained 2 percent as investors showed some relief that earnings didn't reflect the worst elements that battered the market in the last year, especially given the problems in the euro zone that have been weighing on investor sentiment.

"For the time being, investors are pretty much taking earnings in stride. They knocked Google down this morning, but the general feeling in the marketplace is (stocks) are very undervalued at these levels, even given the marginal misses they're making in earnings," said Paul Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist at Windham Financial Services in Charlotte, Vermont.

Indeed, investors in recent weeks have been heartened by improving economic data, even though progress has been uneven. Reflecting improved economic sentiment, the Dow Jones Transportation Average, an indicator of the economy's strength (.DJT) has gained about 2 percent in each of the last two weeks.

IBM (IBM.N) lifted the Dow a day after it offered a strong outlook and results from several big-tech names signaled they were shaking off nervousness about economic growth and boosting technology spending. IBM's stock rose 4.4 percent to $188.52.

On the flip side, Google Inc (GOOG.O) slid 8.4 percent to $585.99. The Internet search giant's quarterly profit and revenue missed expectations on declining search advertising rates.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) gained 96.50 points, or 0.76 percent, to 12,720.48 at the close. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) inched up just 0.88 of a point, or 0.07 percent, to 1,315.38. But the Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) dipped 1.63 points, or 0.06 percent, to close at 2,786.70.

NASDAQ UP ALMOST 3 PCT FOR WEEK

For the week, the Nasdaq climbed 2.8 percent, making this its best week in seven.

General Electric Co (GE.N) was unchanged at $19.15 after the conglomerate's revenues missed consensus forecasts. Fellow Dow component American Express Co (AXP.N) fell 1.8 percent to $50.04 as it set aside more money to cover bad loans.

Intel Corp (INTC.O) rose 2.9 percent to $26.38, while Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) advanced 5.7 percent to $29.71. Both reported results late Thursday.

Still, in what could be seen as a more bearish sign for the earnings period, 60 percent of the S&P 500 companies that have reported results so far this earnings season have beaten profit expectations, below the 68 percent that beat estimates at this point in the reporting cycle for the third quarter and well below the 78 percent that exceeded estimates in the second quarter, according to Thomson Reuters data.

That's based on results from just 14 percent of the S&P 500 companies. But strategists say it could be a sign of what's in store for the rest of this earnings season and perhaps future quarters.

During the session, investors also kept an eye on Greece, where a bond-swap deal between the cash-strapped country and its private bondholders appeared to be close, according to sources. An agreement was deemed possible heading into the weekend. Creditors could lose up to 70 percent of the loans given to the fiscally troubled nation.

Hopes are an agreement would prevent the nation from spiraling into bankruptcy and bring some stability to the debt-strained euro zone.

Volume totaled about 7 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the NYSE Amex and the Nasdaq, above the daily average of 6.68 billion.

Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a ratio of not quite 3 to 2 while on the Nasdaq, about three stocks rose for every two that fell.

(Reporting By Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Jan Paschal)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120121/bs_nm/us_markets_stocks

thanksgiving brining a turkey brining a turkey who won dancing with the stars 2011 five iron frenzy wild horses lyrics sweet potato recipes

Study: 'Tiger Parenting' Tough on Kids (LiveScience.com)

"Tiger mom" and Yale professor Amy Chua caused an uproar last year with a Wall Street Journal article about the superiority of her strict, Chinese-style version of parenting. Now, research suggests that critics of the piece may have had a point: High-achieving Chinese-American children do, in fact, struggle more with depression, stress and low self-esteem than their equally high-achieving European-American counterparts, and the reason involves parenting style.

Chua's piece, excerpted from her book "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" (Penguin Press, 2011), extolled the virtues of strictness, blunt criticism and an unyielding insistence on academic perfection. In the essay, she tells the story of making her 7-year-old daughter sit at the piano without food or bathroom breaks until she mastered a difficult piece.

Strict parenting and stellar academic achievement are common in Chinese immigrant families, according to Desiree Baolian Qin, a professor in the department of human development and family studies at Michigan State University. But unfortunately, so are depression, stress and other so-called "internalizing" disorders.

"If you're doing well, you should be feeling good," Qin told LiveScience. "But what I've found persistently in my research is that that's not the case."

Family and mental health

In a new study to be published in the Journal of Adolescence, Qin compared 295 Chinese-American ninth graders with 192 European-American ninth-graders at the same highly competitive U.S. school. This high school, in a northeastern U.S. state, accepts only the top 5 percent of applicants by test scores. Thus, all the children in the study were academic all-stars.

Earlier research had turned up disturbing patterns of mental health struggles in Chinese-American high-achievers, Qin said. She wanted to understand why. So she and her colleagues had the two groups of ninth graders fill out questionnaires to measure their grades, levels of anxiety and depression and the amount of conflict in their families. The researchers also asked about how much warmth and support they felt from their parents, a measure called family cohesion.

"It wasn't completely surprising, but I was still a little shocked that in all these measures of family conflicts and cohesion and mental health, we see the Chinese kids were more disadvantaged," Qin said. "They reported higher levels of conflict, particularly around education, and they report much lower levels of cohesion." [7 Things That Will Make You Happy]

Not only that, but they were more stressed and depressed than the Euro-American counterparts, and they had lower self-esteem.

The culprit, Qin found, had everything to do with family. The more conflict and less cohesion in a teen's family, the more likely they were to have poor mental health. When the researchers removed conflict and cohesion from the statistical analysis, essentially erasing those differences between the white and Asian kids, the mental health difference also disappeared.

"Parent-child relations are the main factors that contribute to their lower levels of reported mental health," Qin said.

Academic strife

In a second study, Qin conducted in-depth interviews with18 of the Chinese students at the school. She found that academics are an enormous point of contention in Chinese-American families. The students complained that their parents talked constantly about academics and reacted emotionally to failure.

"They just take everything so literally, and exaggerate," one female student told Qin, "like if I get one bad grade, they think, 'Oh no, you're going to fail school, you're going to become one of those bad girls who do drugs.'"

Students also struggled with being compared to other children or family members, such as an older sibling who went to an Ivy League college. They even mentioned struggling with a cultural gulf between themselves and their parents. For example, one student said that she had a tough time in her relationship with her mother because American culture values standing up for oneself, while her Chinese-born mother feels that children should respect their parents and do as they're told.

While East Asian culture has a deeply ingrained focus on education, many of the issues that arise in these families are migration-related, Qin said. All the Chinese children in the larger sample had immigrant parents, she said, while almost none of the European-American kids did.

"My co-authors and I are not pathologizing Chinese kids and saying, 'Oh my God, Chinese kids are oppressed,'" Qin said. "The findings really point to immigration and the challenges created by migration in families."

"When children are caught in between their parents' old way of parenting and being and culture and the new in the U.S., then that can be very, very tough for children in a variety of ways."

Finding a middle ground

Not all Chinese parents take the "tiger" approach, of course. In fact, Qin's in-depth interviews, to be published in an upcoming issue of the journal New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, found that even strict "tiger parenting" is not black and white. The parents of the kids in the study worried about their children's health and happiness, and expressed sympathy when the children were overworked.

"They have a lot of internal conflict," Qin said of these parents. "They want them to be successful in the new land, and they want them to be healthy."

Fortunately, both are possible, Qin said. In a 2008 paper, Qin compared high-achieving Chinese-American students who were distressed with Chinese-American high-achievers who were mentally healthy. She found that the teens in families where parents take a strict "tiger mom" approach were the distressed ones. The high-achieving Chinese-American kids with more flexible parents did just as well in school, but were happy, too.

That's the important message for all parents, "tiger" or not, Qin said. It's not a problem to have high expectations for your child, she said. You just have to communicate those expectations with love and warmth.

"You can have a happy child with high achievement," Qin said. "A lot of families do have that."

You can follow LiveScience?senior writer Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience?and on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20120120/sc_livescience/studytigerparentingtoughonkids

nba lockout over gone with the wind nba lockout news nba lockout news gifts for mom gifts for mom pepper spray