Egypt judges denounce Morsi maneuver, threaten strike

CAIRO — Political tension sharpened Saturday when judges threatened a nationwide strike and condemned President Mohamed Morsi for his decision to expand his power amid growing mistrust in Egypt's transition to democracy.

The Supreme Judicial Council urged Morsi, whose decree on Thursday put his office above judicial oversight, to reverse what it called an "unprecedented attack" on the courts. "We call upon the president to retract this declaration and all articles that affect the judiciary's independence," it said.

The consequences of a battle over the separation of powers were evident when a separate association of judges called for a partial strike, and judges in Alexandria suspended their duties. If similar actions spread to Cairo and other cities, tens of thousands of court cases would be delayed, crippling a judicial system strained by rising crime and pressure to prosecute officials and businessmen tied to the toppled regime of Hosni Mubarak.

Prosecutor-General Abdel Meguid Mahmoud, whom Morsi moved to fire Thursday, addressed the judges, saying that the president was running a "systematic campaign against the country's institutions ... and the judiciary in particular."

Street protests against Morsi continued in Cairo's Tahrir Square, where more than 20 political movements have called for a weeklong sit-in. Scores of young men hurled rocks through clouds of tear gas at riot police on nearby side streets. Clashes also erupted between pro- and anti-Morsi demonstrators in front of the Supreme Judiciary Council.

The protests were smaller than on Friday, indicating the opposition lacks organization and shared goals to challenge the president and the politically dominant Muslim Brotherhood. But they revealed how polarized Egypt has become as its hopes for democracy have been marred by rancor between Islamists and secularists and other non-Muslims.

The nation is flying blind in many ways, led by a conservative Islamist with little political experience who nevertheless has been lauded for his recent diplomacy, including negotiating a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. At home, though, state institutions crumble, mistrust in government abounds, and little has been done to improve a faltering economy.

Much of this was to be expected after 30 years of corrupt rule by Mubarak. Yet for many Egyptians the struggle over power and the constitution is a philosophical battle that doesn't speak to their frail finances and deeper worries about everyday life that last year's revolution was meant to address.

Morsi's decree was a bold gamble. The president, serving without a new constitution or a parliament, had already controlled the executive and legislative branches of government. Morsi suggested he is justified in sidelining Mubarak-era judges, whom he accused of blocking Egypt's steps toward a constitutional democracy.

The Supreme Constitutional Court disbanded the Islamist-dominated parliament in June. Morsi feared that the court was also preparing next month to dissolve the Islamist-led assembly drafting the country's constitution. Such a move, he said, would create further political turmoil, delay parliamentary elections and leave Egypt without a legal blueprint to run its affairs.

The president's decree "completely destabilizes the political makeup for the country going forward," said Hafsa Halawa, an activist and lawyer. "Our biggest problem lies with the fact that parliament was dissolved. This left the executive with no balancing of powers. [His] taking over the judiciary is incredibly dangerous. It's unclear where Egypt goes from here."

She added: "The opposition has to be smart and work toward cornering the Muslim Brotherhood into forcing Morsi to go back on his actions."

Morsi, who has the support of a small circle of judges, has said his decree is temporary and will be withdrawn when a constitution is approved, probably early next year.

But the president's critics say Morsi's action is a blatant power play to enshrine Islamic law in the constitution and further the interests of the Brotherhood. His detractors say it's ironic that Morsi espouses advancing democracy even as he raises himself above an independent judiciary and democratic institutions.

"The president's decision may eventually lead to a civil war," Tarek El-Kholy, a member of the April 6 youth movement, told the Ahram Online news website. "Morsi said he sought stability, but we can all see that his decision only stirred troubles and clashes. It's time for him to backtrack, or is he waiting for blood to be spilled?"

The drama took an intriguing twist when Prosecutor-General Mahmoud, a Mubarak holdover who has refused Morsi's order to step aside, threatened to reveal what one judge called "secrets and truths for the first time" about pending murder trials and business deals.

"I'll tell you about what cases are being put in the fridge, the cases of the privatization of [the] public sector," said Mahmoud. "Two-hundred-fifty companies have been privatized, and all complaints against them were sidestepped. ... I sent a memorandum to the president and the Cabinet, and they have not responded to the prosecution."

jeffrey.fleishman@latimes.com

Abdellatif is a special correspondent.

Read More..

'Dallas' star Larry Hagman dies in Texas

J.R. Ewing was a business cheat, faithless husband and bottomless well of corruption. Yet with his sparkling grin, Larry Hagman masterfully created the charmingly loathsome oil baron — and coaxed forth a Texas-size gusher of ratings — on television's long-running and hugely successful nighttime soap, "Dallas."

Although he first gained fame as nice guy Major Tony Nelson on the fluffy 1965-70 NBC comedy "I Dream of Jeannie," Hagman earned his greatest stardom with J.R. The CBS serial drama about the Ewing family and those in their orbit aired from April 1978 to May 1991, and broke viewing records with its "Who shot J.R.?" 1980 cliffhanger that left unclear if Hagman's character was dead.

The actor, who returned as J.R. in a new edition of "Dallas" this year, had a long history of health problems and died Friday due to complications from his battle with cancer, his family said.

"Larry was back in his beloved hometown of Dallas, re-enacting the iconic role he loved the most. Larry's family and closest friends had joined him in Dallas for the Thanksgiving holiday," the family said in a statement that was provided to The Associated Press by Warner Bros., producer of the show.

The 81-year-old actor was surrounded by friends and family before he passed peacefully, "just as he'd wished for," the statement said.

Linda Gray, his on-screen wife and later ex-wife in the original series and the sequel, was among those with Hagman in his final moments in a Dallas hospital, said her publicist, Jeffrey Lane.

"He brought joy to everyone he knew. He was creative, generous, funny, loving and talented, and I will miss him enormously. He was an original and lived life to the fullest," the actress said.

Years before "Dallas," Hagman had gained TV fame on "I Dream of Jeannie," in which he played an astronaut whose life is disrupted when he finds a comely genie, portrayed by Barbara Eden, and takes her home to live with him.

Eden recalled late Friday shooting the series' pilot "in the frigid cold" on a Malibu beach.

"From that day, for five more years, Larry was the center of so many fun, wild and sometimes crazy times. And in retrospect, memorable moments that will remain in my heart forever," Eden said.

Hagman also starred in two short-lived sitcoms, "The Good Life" (NBC, 1971-72) and "Here We Go Again" (ABC, 1973). His film work included well-regarded performances in "The Group," ''Harry and Tonto" and "Primary Colors."

But it was Hagman's masterful portrayal of J.R. that brought him the most fame. And the "Who shot J.R.?" story twist fueled international speculation and millions of dollars in betting-parlor wagers. It also helped give the series a place in ratings history.

When the answer was revealed in a November 1980 episode, an average 41 million U.S. viewers tuned in to make "Dallas" one of the most-watched entertainment shows of all time, trailing only the "MASH" finale in 1983 with 50 million viewers.

It was J.R.'s sister-in-law, Kristin (Mary Crosby) who plugged him — he had made her pregnant, then threatened to frame her as a prostitute unless she left town — but others had equal motivation.

Hagman played Ewing as a bottomless well of corruption with a charming grin: a business cheat and a faithless husband who tried to get his alcoholic wife, Sue Ellen (Gray), institutionalized.

"I know what I want on J.R.'s tombstone," Hagman said in 1988. "It should say: 'Here lies upright citizen J.R. Ewing. This is the only deal he ever lost.'"

On Friday night, Victoria Principal, who co-starred in the original series, recalled Hagman as "bigger than life, on-screen and off. He is unforgettable, and irreplaceable, to millions of fans around the world, and in the hearts of each of us, who was lucky enough to know and love him."

Ten episodes of the new edition of "Dallas" aired this past summer and proved a hit for TNT. Filming was in progress on the sixth episode of season two, which is set to begin airing Jan. 28, the network said.

There was no immediate comment from Warner or TNT on how the series would deal with Hagman's loss.

In 2006, he did a guest shot on FX's drama series "Nip/Tuck," playing a macho business mogul. He also got new exposure in recent years with the DVD releases of "I Dream of Jeannie" and "Dallas."

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said Saturday morning in a statement that Hagman's role as J.R. helped the city gain "worldwide recognition."

"Larry is a North Texas jewel that was larger than life and he will be missed by many in Dallas and around the world," Rawlings said.

The Fort Worth, Texas, native was the son of singer-actress Mary Martin, who starred in such classics as "South Pacific" and "Peter Pan." Martin was still in her teens when he was born in 1931 during her marriage to attorney Ben Hagman.

As a youngster, Hagman gained a reputation for mischief-making as he was bumped from one private school to another. He made a stab at New York theater in the early 1950s, then served in the Air Force from 1952-56 in England.

While there, he met and married young Swedish designer Maj Axelsson. The couple had two children, Preston and Heidi, and were longtime residents of the Malibu beach colony that is home to many celebrities.

Hagman returned to acting and found work in the theater and in such TV series as "The U.S. Steel Hour," ''The Defenders" and "Sea Hunt." His first continuing role was as lawyer Ed Gibson on the daytime serial "The Edge of Night" (1961-63).

He called his 2001 memoir "Hello Darlin': Tall (and Absolutely True) Tales about My Life."

"I didn't put anything in that I thought was going to hurt someone or compromise them in any way," he told The Associated Press at the time.

Hagman was diagnosed in 1992 with cirrhosis of the liver and acknowledged that he had drank heavily for years. In 1995, a malignant tumor was discovered on his liver and he underwent a transplant.

After his transplant, he became an advocate for organ donation and volunteered at a hospital to help frightened patients.

"I counsel, encourage, meet them when they come in for their operations, and after," he said in 1996. "I try to offer some solace, like 'Don't be afraid, it will be a little uncomfortable for a brief time, but you'll be OK.' "

He also was an anti-smoking activist who took part in "Great American Smoke-Out" campaigns.

Funeral plans had not been announced as of Saturday morning.

"I can honestly say that we've lost not just a great actor, not just a television icon, but an element of pure Americana," Eden said in her statement Friday night. "Goodbye, Larry. There was no one like you before and there will never be anyone like you again."

___

Associated Press writers Erin Gartner in Chicago and Shaya Mohajer in Los Angeles, and AP Television Writer Frazier Moore in New York contributed to this report.

Read More..

Indian Prostitutes’ New Autonomy Imperils AIDS Fight

Kuni Takahashi for The New York Times

Sex workers in Mumbai’s long-established red-light district, where brothels are dwindling.

MUMBAI, India — Millions once bought sex in the narrow alleys of Kamathipura, a vast red-light district here. But prostitutes with inexpensive mobile phones are luring customers elsewhere, and that is endangering the astonishing progress India has made against AIDS.

Indeed, the recent closings of hundreds of ancient brothels, while something of an economic victory for prostitutes, may one day cost them, and many others, their lives.

“The place where sex happens turns out to be an important H.I.V. prevention point,” said Saggurti Niranjan, program associate of the Population Council. “And when we don’t know where that is, we can’t help stop the transmission.”

Cellphones, those tiny gateways to modernity, have recently allowed prostitutes to shed the shackles of brothel madams and strike out on their own. But that independence has made prostitutes far harder for government and safe-sex counselors to trace. And without the advice and free condoms those counselors provide, prostitutes and their customers are returning to dangerous ways.

Studies show that prostitutes who rely on cellphones are more susceptible to H.I.V. because they are far less likely than their brothel-based peers to require their clients to wear condoms.

In interviews, prostitutes said they had surrendered some control in the bedroom in exchange for far more control over their incomes.

“Now, I get the full cash in my hand before we start,” said Neelan, a prostitute with four children whose side business in sex work is unknown to her husband and neighbors. (Neelan is a professional name, not her real one.)

“Earlier, if the customer got scared and didn’t go all the way, the madam might not charge the full amount,” she explained. “But if they back out now, I say that I have removed all my clothes and am going to keep the money.”

India has been the world’s most surprising AIDS success story. Though infections did not appear in India until 1986, many predicted the nation would soon become the epidemic’s focal point. In 2002, the C.I.A.’s National Intelligence Council predicted that India would have as many as 25 million AIDS cases by 2010. Instead, India now has about 1.5 million.

An important reason the disease never took extensive hold in India is that most women here have fewer sexual partners than in many other developing countries. Just as important was an intensive effort underwritten by the World Bank and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to target high-risk groups like prostitutes, gay men and intravenous drug users.

But the Gates Foundation is now largely ending its oversight and support for AIDS prevention in India, just as efforts directed at prostitutes are becoming much more difficult. Experts say it is too early to identify how much H.I.V. infections might rise.

“Nowadays, the mobility of sex workers is huge, and contacting them is very difficult,” said Ashok Alexander, the former director in India of the Gates Foundation. “It’s a totally different challenge, and the strategies will also have to change.”

An example of the strategies that had been working can be found in Delhi’s red-light district on Garstin Bastion Road near the old Delhi railway station, where brothels have thrived since the 16th century. A walk through dark alleys, past blind beggars and up narrow, steep and deeply worn stone staircases brings customers into brightly lighted rooms teeming with scores of women brushing each other’s hair, trying on new dresses, eating snacks, performing the latest Bollywood dances, tending small children and disappearing into tiny bedrooms with nervous men who come out moments later buttoning their trousers.

A 2009 government survey found 2,000 prostitutes at Garstin Bastion (also known as G. B.) Road who served about 8,000 men a day. The government estimated that if it could deliver as many as 320,000 free condoms each month and train dozens of prostitutes to counsel safe-sex practices to their peers, AIDS infections could be significantly reduced. Instead of broadcasting safe-sex messages across the country — an expensive and inefficient strategy commonly employed in much of the world — it encircled Garstin Bastion with a firebreak of posters with messages like “Don’t take a risk, use a condom” and “When a condom is in, risk is out.”

Surprising many international AIDS experts, these and related tactics worked. Studies showed that condom use among clients of prostitutes soared.

“To the credit of the Indian strategists, their focus on these high-risk groups paid off,” said Dr. Peter Piot, the former executive director of U.N.AIDS and now director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. A number of other countries, following India’s example, have achieved impressive results over the past decade as well, according to the latest United Nations report, which was released last week.

Sruthi Gottipati contributed reporting in Mumbai and New Delhi.

Read More..

Toyota on track to become world's bestselling automaker again

Toyota Motor Corp. appears poised to regain its position as the world's largest automaker, a remarkable turnaround after years of safety recalls, huge federal fines and the Japanese earthquake last year.

In short order, surging sales have put that all in the rearview mirror.

Toyota is likely to sell 9.7 million vehicles this year, surpassing second-place General Motors Co. by more than 1 million vehicles and setting a record for annual auto sales. That's generating huge profits, with earnings tripling in the latest quarter to $3.2 billion and sales surging almost 20% compared with a year earlier.

The U.S. — where Toyota's reputation suffered most through the recalls — is now a cash cow. Through the first 10 months of the year, the Japanese automaker sold more than 1.7 million cars and trucks in the country, a 30% gain and more than double the industry growth rate.

"Toyota has done some smart things," said Rebecca Lindland, an analyst with IHS Automotive. "They have concentrated a lot of time and effort on the U.S., which is incredibly important because they make so much money here."

The Japanese automaker has launched 11 new or completely redesigned models in the U.S. in the last year, including new station wagon and commuter versions of its popular Prius hybrids. On Wednesday, the first day of the Los Angeles Auto Show, it will launch a new-generation RAV4 sport utility vehicle. The current model is an aging vehicle facing stiff competition from newly redesigned offerings such as Ford Motor Co.'s Escape and Honda Motor Co.'s CR-V.

Toyota has ramped up its factories in the U.S., opening a Corolla plant in Mississippi and expanding pickup truck manufacturing in Texas. And at the urging of Chief Executive and founding-family member Akio Toyoda, the automaker is looking to inject some panache into its historically bland styling, especially for its Lexus luxury division.

Toyota now accounts for 14.4% of the U.S. auto market, up from 12.6% during the first 10 months of 2011. In retail — not including rental and fleet sales — the Toyota brand is the biggest in the U.S., outselling GM's Chevrolet.

Lynne Thomas, a Santa Monica resident who works in the restaurant industry, bought a Toyota Prius C hybrid in October after considering other fuel-efficient vehicles including the Smart fortwo, Fiat 500 and Volkswagen Jetta.

"I love the mileage. I'm getting more than 50 mpg," Thomas said. "It fits my lifestyle completely. It is easy to park in this crazy city. I can put my bike in the back and drive somewhere and do an amazing bike ride. It works really well in stop-and-go traffic."

The company is expanding its factory network in the U.S. as part of a strategy to manufacture in regional markets and blunt the profit-eating consequences of the Japanese yen's strong exchange rate with the dollar. It has put $1.4 billion into U.S. factories and equipment in the last year, adding more than 2,700 jobs, on top of the 1,300 positions created in the U.S. the previous year.

The expansion comes after Toyota's controversial decision to close the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. plant in Fremont, Calif., displacing nearly 5,000 workers in early 2010. Toyota shut the plant after GM, as part of its bankruptcy reorganization, pulled out of joint manufacturing there.

Toyota also is shipping more U.S.-built vehicles abroad. In the first 10 months of this year, it exported 74,000 U.S.-built cars to Canada and Mexico and 29,000 to overseas markets. It is sending Kentucky-built Camrys to South Korea and Indiana-built Sequoias to Saudi Arabia. Exports of U.S.-built Toyotas are on track to rise more than 50% this year.

Just three years ago, Toyota was the second-largest auto seller in America, with 17% of the market, and was closing in on a crippled GM, which was struggling with the stigma of bankruptcy and a federal bailout. But Toyota was derailed in a series of embarrassing recalls. In one high-profile accident, an improperly positioned floor mat in a sedan from Toyota's Lexus luxury division may have trapped the accelerator — causing the car to race down California Highway 125 near San Diego at more than 100 mph. The car crashed and burned, killing off-duty California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor and three members of his family.

That crash led to a safety investigation and recall of 3.8 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles to fix the floor mat problem. After a Los Angeles Times series on unintended sudden acceleration, Toyota issued millions more recall notices to fix sticking gas pedals and other issues. Then, two years ago, Toyota paid record federal fines of nearly $50 million for failing to promptly inform regulators of defects and for delaying recalls. At one point it had to halt much of its production of new cars in the U.S. to fix recalled vehicles.

Just as the automaker started to recover, it was hobbled by last year's earthquake and tsunami in Japan, which upended Toyota's manufacturing even on American soil. Toyota's share of U.S. auto sales slid to 12.9%, well below GM's and Ford's.

Several factors have helped Toyota survive the recalls and disaster-related production shutdowns, said James E. Lentz, CEO of Toyota Motor Sales, the automaker's U.S. marketing arm.

First, there was "the loyalty of our consumers as we went from the financial crisis to the recalls to the tsunami," he said. "They stayed with us for the entire time."

Lentz is thankful for customers such as Evan Rabinowitz of Sherman Oaks, who bought a Camry sedan in August.

"I didn't look at anything else because I never had an issue with my 2008 Camry. Going back to Toyota was a no-brainer," said Rabinowitz, who owns a fabric business. He said his previous Toyota was recalled twice to fix pedal issues, but that work was done quickly and well and didn't dissuade him from purchasing another Camry.

Read More..

Lining up even earlier for Black Friday becomes a shop priority

In a tradition that seems to take a bigger slice of Thanksgiving every year, hordes of deal-sniffing shoppers descended on Southland stores Thursday, elbowing their way in search of toys, video games and that time-honored Black Friday symbol: cut-rate television sets. As nightfall came, they huddled in long lines, clutching coupons and hatching shopping strategies.

Rebecca Abbott, 42, of Torrance had it down to a science Thursday night. The accountant said she was out the door of the local Toys R Us store in 20 minutes with a shopping cart full of Christmas gifts for her two daughters. 

Her fourth time shopping on Black Friday, Abbott had spent a few hours in Toys R Us the day before scoping out her plan of attack. The first item on her list: a Rockstar Mickey Mouse doll, normally priced at $59.99 but selling for just $19.99.

"You have to have a strategy for this Black Friday madness," she said as she headed for the door. "First-timers will walk around all day looking at deals," Abbott said. "I got in, grabbed my stuff and got out." Her cart was overflowing with large toys — primarily Barbie and Mickey Mouse items. 

PHOTOS: Black Friday shoppers hunt for deals

At a Wal-Mart in Panorama City, just after 8 p.m., "it was really crazy, but you could still walk," said Marya Huaman, 23, as she left the store with her dad, her two infant sons and three bags full of Fisher-Price toys.

"No, you couldn't," scoffed her father, Edward Huaman. "I didn't see anyone fighting, but they will be soon. This is madness."

Last year, Thanksgiving night was marred by a pepper spray "shopping rage" incident at a Wal-Mart in Porter Ranch that injured at least seven people and forced employees to evacuate part of the store. One person was hospitalized.

Los Angeles Police Cmdr. Andy Smith said Thursday that the night appeared to be running smoothly across Los Angeles. "In general, I think things have gone really well," he said. "It sounds like the stores have taken proper precautions and everyone is aware of the hazards of Black Friday."

After retailers last year moved the opening bell for Black Friday sales to midnight, this year there were even more customers eager to get a jump on the traditional kickoff to the holiday shopping season. Wal-Mart, Sears and Toys R Us began rolling out their door busters at 8 p.m. on Turkey Day, followed by Target at 9 p.m. Macy's, Kohl's and Best Buy were set to open at midnight.

A handful of chains such as Kmart and Old Navy also had daytime hours on Thursday. And online merchants were touting bargains all day and night.

About 147 million shoppers are expected this all-important holiday weekend, with more logging in for online specials by Cyber Monday, according to the National Retail Federation. In all, the trade group estimated that holidays sales will rise 4.1% this year, to $586 billion.

"Though the Black Friday tradition is here to stay, there's no question that it has changed in recent years," NRF Chief Executive Matthew Shay said in a statement.

Many shoppers were perfectly content to queue up. At Best Buy electronic stores across the Southland, people waited for hours — and sometimes days — in tents before the midnight opening.

But many workers were angry about spending Turkey Day away from loved ones.

Frustrated retail employees and families have taken to creating online petitions at Change.org to beg companies not to cut into Thanksgiving dinners. More than 20 online petitions have popped up in recent weeks. Lines grew throughout the afternoon and into the evening as anxious shoppers surveyed the competition in line.

Throughout Southern California there were reports of lines wrapped around stores. In Glendale, more than 750 shoppers were lined up outside the Target at the Galleria.

For shoppers who just couldn't wait until Thursday night — much less Black Friday — some retailers opened their doors all day on Thanksgiving.

The sales weren't quite as glorious as the Black Friday specials that stores promise to roll out later. But they were pretty good nonetheless, shoppers said.

JoAnne Garcia walked into Kmart in Burbank in search of a roasting pan in which to cook her turkey. She walked out 90 minutes later, having shelled out $491, including $329 for an RCA 39-inch LCD flat-panel TV.

"The roasting pan was $14.99," Garcia said, laughing at how much she spent as she rolled her cart to the parking lot.

To the 53-year-old aerospace machinist, shopping on Thanksgiving made perfect sense.

Standing near a store display touting "Freak Out Pricing," Garcia explained her theory about shopping while cooking. "You get up, throw your turkey in the oven, and you come back and it's all done."

walter.hamilton@latimes.com

joseph.serna@latimes.com

Contributing to this report were staff writers Wesley Lowery, Marisa Gerber, Nicole Santa Cruz and Andrew Khouri.

Read More..

Marc Anthony comes to aid of Dominican orphanage

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Singer Marc Anthony is coming to the aid of an orphanage in the Dominican Republic.

A foundation run by Anthony with music and sports producer Henry Cardenas plans to build a new residence hall, classrooms and a baseball field for the Children of Christ orphanage in the eastern city of La Romana. Anthony attended the groundbreaking ceremony Friday with his model girlfriend Shannon de Lima.

Children of Christ Foundation Director Sonia Hane said Anthony visited the orphanage previously and decided to help. His Maestro Cares Foundation raised $200,000 for the expansion on land donated by a sugar company. The orphanage was founded in 1996 for children who were abused or abandoned or whose parents were unable to care for them.

Read More..

Inquiry Sought in Death in Ireland After Abortion Was Denied

DUBLIN — India’s ambassador here has agreed to ask Prime Minister Enda Kenny of Ireland for an independent inquiry into the death of an Indian-born woman last month after doctors refused to perform an abortion when she was having a miscarriage, the lawyer representing the woman’s husband said Thursday.

The lawyer, Gerard O’Donnell, also said crucial information was missing from the files he had received from the Irish Health Service Executive about the death of the woman, Savita Halappanavar, including any mention of her requests for an abortion after she learned that the fetus would not survive.

The death of Dr. Halappanavar, 31, a dentist who lived near Galway, has focused global attention on the Irish ban on abortion.

Her husband, Praveen Halappanavar, has refused to cooperate with an investigation being conducted by the Irish health agency. “I have seen the way my wife was treated in the hospital, so I have no confidence that the H.S.E. will do justice,” he said in an interview on Wednesday night on RTE, the state television broadcaster. “Basically, I don’t have any confidence in the H.S.E.”

In a tense debate in the Irish Parliament on Wednesday evening, Robert Dowds of the Labour Party said Dr. Halappanavar’s death had forced politicians “to confront an issue we have dodged for much too long,” partly because so many Irish women travel to Britain for abortions.

“The reality is that if Britain wasn’t on our doorstep, we would have had to introduce abortion legislation years ago to avoid women dying in back-street abortions,” he said.

After the debate, the Parliament voted 88 to 53 against a motion introduced by the opposition Sinn Fein party calling on the government to allow abortions when women’s lives are in danger and to protect doctors who perform such procedures.

The Irish president, Michael D. Higgins — who is restricted by the Constitution from getting involved in political matters — also made a rare foray into a political debate on Wednesday, saying any inquiry must meet the needs of the Halappanavar family as well as the government.

In 1992, the Irish Supreme Court interpreted the current law to mean that abortion should be allowed in circumstances where there was “a real and substantial risk to the life of the mother,” including the threat of suicide. But that ruling has never been codified into law.

“The current situation is like a sword of Damocles hanging over us,” Dr. Peter Boylan, of the Irish Institute of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, told RTE last week. “If we do something with a good intention, but it turns out to be illegal, the consequences are extremely serious for medical practitioners.”

Dr. Ruth Cullen, who has campaigned against abortion, said that any legislation to codify the Supreme Court ruling would be tantamount to allowing abortion on demand and that Dr. Halappanavar’s death should not be used to make that change.

Dr. Halappanavar contracted a bacterial blood infection, septicemia, and died Oct. 28, a week after she was admitted to Galway University Hospital with severe back pains. She was 17 weeks pregnant but having a miscarriage and was told that the fetus — a girl — would not survive. Her husband said she asked several times for an abortion but was informed that under Irish law it would be illegal while there was a fetal heartbeat, because “this is a Catholic country.”

Read More..

N. Hollywood senior housing complex caters to artistic tenants

As the real estate industry ponders ways to cater to an aging population, one company has come up with an unusual amenity for senior housing: a professional theater.

In fact, developers of an apartment complex catering to seniors with an artistic bent that has opened in North Hollywood think it may be the region's first pairing of housing and live theater.

The $32-million NoHo Senior Arts Colony is intended for residents age 62 and over with interests in such artistic pursuits as singing, acting, photography and writing. Free classes in the arts will be offered, and the complex will include a 78-seat theater operated by the Road Theatre Co.

The developer, Meta Housing Corp., has staked out a niche making rental housing for Southern California seniors who enjoy the arts and want to be around like-minded souls.

The company also operates the Long Beach Senior Arts Colony and the Burbank Senior Artists Colony, where tenants can attend poetry workshops, learn to paint with watercolors or join the chorus.

"We are inviting artists and those who wish to be involved in or surrounded by the arts, to come and live in a community in which they will increase their artistic abilities and opportunities, as well as being surrounded by like-minded, arts-focused neighbors," said John Huskey, chief executive of Meta Housing.

The 126-unit NoHo Senior Arts Colony is set apart by having a built-in professional theater that will sell tickets to public performances.

Several of the first would-be residents to seek apartments at the colony are actors with the Road Theatre, a North Hollywood troupe that will make its home at the Arts Colony when its theater is finished.

Another resident, 85-year-old writer Tony Calvetta, came to be among other creative folks and take part in big-city life.

"You get inspiration from other people," he said. "Everyone helps one another and it inspires you."

Calvetta had a business making doors and windows before he retired eight years ago. He came to Los Angeles because he got bored living in Sonoma near his son.

"It's a little too quiet, too laid-back," he said.

Now Brooklyn-born Calvetta is a full-time, if unpublished, author of short stories and novels.

"I caught the bug 15 years ago and have been addicted ever since," he said.

With the enormous baby boom generation closing in on retirement, demand for senior housing will swell, industry experts said, but it's unclear how best to serve them. Developers are uncertain how deep demand will be for apartment living and whether average boomers will be able to afford upscale rents of $2,000 a month or more.

Previous generations tended to stay in their homes rather than rent apartments because their mortgages were paid off and they were comfortable in their longtime neighborhoods, said Richard Green, director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate. Boomers are more likely to have substantial mortgages and may have to sell their homes to afford retirement.

"Each cohort behaves differently from the previous cohort," Green said.

Boomers may prefer to retire in more urban settings than earlier generations did, but developers will be challenged to build housing in desirable locations where seniors can afford to rent, said real estate broker Craig Stevens of Lee & Associates.

The most desirable sites are around transportation hubs with shops and restaurants in easy walking distance. But those spots are also attractive to standard apartment developers, who can afford to pay more for property because they can charge higher rents than many seniors can pay.

"The problem is affordable land," Stevens said. "I just don't think you can do [senior housing] anymore without some sort of [public] redevelopment or housing funds."

Rents at NoHo Senior Arts Colony, at 10747 Magnolia Blvd., range from $1,750 to $2,340 a month for one-bedroom or two-bedroom apartments. Other amenities at the complex include a visual arts studio, a digital arts center and a "meditation eco-garden."

roger.vincent@latimes.com

Read More..

Gazans sweep up, head home as truce holds through first day

Members of the Attar family, Palestinians who were displaced during the eight-day conflict with Israel, return to their home in the Atatra area in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday, a day after a cease-fire took hold. (Marco Longari / AFP/Getty Imagesa / November 22, 2012)

By Edmund Sanders

November 22, 2012, 10:14 a.m.

RAFAH, Gaza Strip – As the truce between Israel and Hamas appeared to be enduring through its first 24 hours, Gazans spent Thursday sweeping up, digging out and looking forward.

Hamas declared a public holiday, but most shops and many businesses opened their doors. Israeli warships were replaced on the horizon with Palestinian fishing boats for the first time in a week.

Having endured many conflicts, it’s a day-after drill Gazans know well. Residents who sought shelter in United Nations schools went home. A steady stream of families returning from Egypt arrived at the Rafah border crossing. Bulldozers tried to clear alternate roads around bombed-out bridges.

PHOTOS: Gaza conflict

Glass shop owner Kamal Habboush, 45, had seven walk-in customers by lunchtime to replace broken windows. Usually he’s lucky to have one.

But after 16 years in the business, he predicts the real rush won’t come for a few more days.

“People tend to wait to make sure the fighting is really over,’’ he said. “Just in case.”

TIMELINE: Israel-Gaza conflict

The eight-day conflict left at least 162 Palestinians and six Israelis dead. The Israeli military reported the sixth death Thursday, saying a soldier had died from injuries sustained in a rocket attack by Gazan militants, the Associated Press reported.

ALSO:

Gaza City's Mukhabarat building defies Israeli airstrikes

Israel-Hamas cease-fire gives each side enough to claim success

Judge questions former French leader Sarkozy in fundraising probe

Read More..

Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9 is Good, But No iPad Killer [REVIEW]

Unboxing the Kindle Fire HD 8.9

Click here to view this gallery.

[More from Mashable: Apple Now Owns the iMessage Name]

Amazon expands its tablet sights with the bigger, more powerful Kindle Fire HD 8.9. Can it compete against Apple‘s iPad?

If there’s one company that deserves credit for reigniting the iPad competitor market, it’s Amazon. Despite some bugs and an overall blah design, its 7-inch Kindle Fire was the first Android tablet that made sense to consumers who gobbled it up to help the Fire grab 50% of the Android tablet market in just 6 months.

[More from Mashable: 9 Black Friday Deals For iPhone Owners]

That tablet essentially opened the flood gates for a new set of ever-more-powerful 7-inchers from, notably, Barnes & Noble and Google. All three companies have already updated their 7-inch offerings to more powerful components and higher-resolutions screens. They’re all still running Android, though Amazon and Barnes & Noble choose to hide the Google OS behind smarter and much more consumer-friendly interfaces.

All this led Apple to finally enter the mid-sized tablet space with the iPad Mini. It’s easily the best-looking tablet of the bunch, but also $ 120 more expensive than its nearest competitor.

The more interesting development, though, is Amazon‘s (and Barnes & Noble‘s) decision to go toe-to-toe with Apple’s full-size iPad and launch the Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9 (in 4G LTE and WiFi-only). The move is akin to a middle weight boxer putting on the pounds to take on the Heavyweight world champion. Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD is slightly smaller (the iPad is 9.7-inches), lighter (567g vs. 625g), cheaper ($ 369 for 32 GB model vs. $ 599 for the iPad 4th Gen — Amazon subsidizes with sleep-state ads, that I do not mind) and overall somewhat less powerful. In order to win the battle, the 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD better be pretty nimble on its feet, while able to throw that all important knockout punch.

Short version of this story: the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 does some serious damage, but the iPad 4th Gen gets the decision and retains the tablet leader title.

The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 is by no means a failure. In many ways, it’s as good as the smaller Kindle Fire HD, but throughout my tests I noticed odd bugs and glitches (which should all be fixable by software) and a somewhat disturbing lack of power that’s especially obvious when you put the Fire HD 8.9 next to the iPad 4th Gen

What It Is

If you’ve never seen an iPad and someone handed you the Kindle Fire HD .9, you’d likely say its jet-black, soft-to-the-touch plastic body felt good in your hands and was more than effective at all the core tasks (reading, game playing, e-mail, web browsing).

Design-wise, the 8.9 device looks exactly like the 7-inch model, complete with the too-hard to find volume and power buttons. There are no other physical buttons on this device, but Amazon chooses to hide the few it has by making them the exact same color as the chassis and flush with the body. Every time I use the tablet I do the “where’s the damn button” dance, rotating the Kindle Fire HD round and round until I feel the buttons (since I can barely see them).

I have applauded Barnes & Noble for putting the physical “N” home button right on the face of their Nook HD. Bravo for having the guts to do this. Amazon apparently looks at Apple’s iPad home button and thinks to have anything similar would be seen as “copying” the Cupertino hardware giant, when instead they should realize that it works, consumers like it and tablets without it are at a distinct disadvantage.

Amazon’s interface has you make do with a virtual, slide-out home button that is always available. Problem is, I found times when it wasn’t available. When I played Spider-Man and Asphalt 7, the tiny little left-had bar would disappear and I couldn’t exit the game unless I hit the sleep/power button.

The rest of the Kindle Fire HD 8.9′s body is solid and unremarkable (if you read my Kindle fire HD 7 review, then you know exactly what to expect.). Like the iPad 4th Gen, the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 has a front-facing 720p-capable camera. It’s useful for capturing video, snapping 1 Megapixel images and, probably most important, Skype video chats. Skype has built a fairly sharp-looing Kindle Fire app, though the design doesn’t fully fit the larger 8.9-inch screen. Skype just updated its Android app for better tablet viewing and hopefully, we’ll see this update hit the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 as well.

The iPad also has an HD rear-facing camera. The Kindle fire HD 8.9 does not (Barnes & Noble leave out cameras altogether)

Not Packing a Punch

As a large-screen high-resolution tablet (though iPad’s 2048×1536 retina display beats it), the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 offers plenty of attractive screen real estate for web browsing, book and magazine reading and games. But the results can be mixed. Silk, Amazon‘s custom web browser, was occasionally less than responsive and games, though, they ran well, never looked half as good as they do on the considerably more expensive iPad 4.

Granted, you can’t always find the same high-quality immersive action games on both Android and iOS, but Asphalt 7 Heat is a notable exception and it throws the performance differences between the two tablets into stark contrast. Game play is equally responsive on both platforms: the Kindle Fire HD 8.9’s accelerometer reads my moves just as well as the iPad.

The graphics on the Kindle Fire HD, however, are reduced to blobs and blocks (palm trees without distinct leaves, buildings without discernible windows) . The iPad’s quad-core graphics simply overmatch the Kindle Fire. I have never, for example, seen an iPad draw the game as I was playing, as I did when I tried out The Amazing Spider-Man.

Additionally, I experienced more than my share of crashes with games and even magazine apps like Vanity Fair.

The Good

Not everyone, however, will compare the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 to the iPad. Some will see the $ 299 entry-level price point (for the 16 GB model) and appreciate the power, flexibility and utility of this device. Like all Fire’s before it, the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 makes it easy to consume mass quantities of content. Nearly every menu option: Games, Apps, Books, Music, Videos, Newsstand, puts you just one click away from shopping for fresh content. If you have an Amazon account (and who doesn’t) your desired book, music or movie is just a click away. Plus, you can still easily store any of it locally, and worry about running out of storage space, or in the cloud, and never worry about space or accessibility—you can get to that purchased Kindle content from any Kindle app or registered Amazon device.

Watching movies on the tablet is a pleasure. I streamed a couple through Amazon Prime; they looked good on the 1920 x 1200 screen and the Dolby Stereo speakers produced sharp, loud, almost room-filling sound—an impressive feat not even the iPad can match.

The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 also includes a mini-HDMI-out port, which prompted me to connect the tablet to my 47-inch LED HDTV so we could watch Disney’s Brave. Yes, I had to get up and tap on the Kindle screen each time I wanted to pause and restart the move, but otherwise, I was pretty impressed with how the Kindle handled the task.

Obviously I yearn for an Apple Airplay-like feature on Android tablets (rumor has it one is coming), but this is the next, best thing.

There isn’t a lot to say about the Kindle Fire HD 8.9-inch interface that I did not say in the Kindle Fire HD 7 review. I will note, however, that the increased real estate makes the trademark task carousel seem almost too big. Icons for everything from your recently played Spider-Man game to magazine apps, books and Web sites all sit side-by-side-by side. Some, like book covers, look gorgeous.

Others like a broken web-page link look stupid. Worse yet, none of them have labels, which can occasionally make it hard to identify which app or task you’re looking at. I’m just not sure this interface metaphor is sustainable.

Personally I prefer either the clean consistent look of iOS, or the uber-user friendly, family-oriented Nook HD profile-based one. Amazon may want to take a hard look at those and start over.

Staying Connected

The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 is also Amazon’s first cellular-based tablet. That fact puts it even more squarely in competition with the iPad (which obviously has always had 3G models and now offers blazing fast 4G LTE ones as well on all major carriers).

Amazon’s mobile broadband plans are a little more conservative, with just the AT&T 4G LTE option (the 32 GB 4G model that I tested lists for $ 499, which is still $ 224 less than a comparable iPad 4th Gen).

In my experience, the connectivity is superfast and fairly ubiquitous. Amazon‘s $ 49 (a year) flat fee plan is attractive, but with a cap of 250MB per month of data, it’s unlikely it will satisfy the most data-hungry users. If you do need more data, users can also get 3GB and 5GB data plans directly from AT&T on the device.

At press time, Amazon had not enabled streaming video over LTE. Having it sounds nice, but even with the most generous data plans, streaming video would eat it up faster than you can say, “I’m streaming Back to the Future in HD over 4G LTE on my Kindle fire HD!”

The reality for most users is that WiFi is plentiful and you’ll be hard pressed to find a spot where you can’t connect for free or a small one-off fee. It’s the reason Barnes & Noble’s line of HD Nooks do not include a cellular option.

Review continues after FreeTime Gallery

FreeTime

Kindle HD FreeTime Start

Click here to view this gallery.

Perhaps the best new addition to the Kindle Fire family is not a piece of hardware or new component, but the new FreeTime app. Amazon put a lot of loving care into this parental control interface, but almost mucks the whole thing up by hiding the tool under an app that you have to scroll down to (or search) to find. By contrast profiles and age and content controls are baked into the Barnes & Noble Nook HD in a way that makes them impossible to ignore.

Even so, once you do access FreeTime, I think you’ll be pleased with the level of control it gives you. I added test profiles for my two children and then hand-picked every app and piece of content they could access. I was also able to block broadband mobile and even set time limits for access to content and overall screen viewing time (on a per profile basis). The set-up is a bit wonky and it bizarrely switches between landscape and profile screens, but I still applaud the effort. It would make sense for Amazon to move FreeTime into a device set-up screen. If the user has no additional family members or kids using the device, they can easily skip it.

To Buy or Not to Buy

Amazon’s expansive content and shopping ecosystem has always been a strong draw and it’s just as good in this large screen tablet as it was in the very first Kindle Fire. Still, you have to compare it with the equally strong iOS ecosystem, which is no slouch in the content shopping department. Apple doesn’t connect you as seamlessly to physical products, but there’s nothing difficult about shopping on Amazon.com via your iPad. It’s also notable that tablet competitor Barnes & Noble has added movie and TV viewing, rental and purchase.

Ultimately, all of these tablets are offering more and more of the same content options, apps, and features. The decision will likely come down to price, app selection, interface and overall ease of use. The Amazon Kindle fire HD 8.9 scores well on all of these, but does not always lead.

For the price, it’s a great value, but I want Amazon to focus on hardware and interface design for the next big update. Then, they may get my full endorsement.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Australian author Bryce Courtenay dies of cancer

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australian best-selling author Bryce Courtenay has died of stomach cancer. He was 79.

His publisher Penguin Group said Friday that the South African-born writer died at his family home in the Australian capital Canberra late Thursday surrounded by his family and pets.

Courtenay had a successful career in advertising before writing his first novel, "The Power of One," which was published in 1989 when he was 56. The story became a movie starring Morgan Freeman.

His 21st novel, "Jack of Diamonds," was published this month.

Read More..

Recipes for Health: Apple Pear Strudel — Recipes for Health

Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

This strudel is made with phyllo dough. When I tested it the first time, I found that I had enough filling for two strudels. Rather than cut the amount of filling, I increased the number of strudels to 2, as this is a dessert you can assemble and keep, unbaked, in the freezer.

Filling for 2 strudels:

1/2 pound mixed dried fruit, like raisins, currants, chopped dried figs, chopped dried apricots, dried cranberries

1 1/2 pounds apples (3 large) (I recommend Braeburns), peeled, cored and cut in 1/2-inch dice

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons unsalted butter for cooking the apples

1/4 cup (50 grams) brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 cup (30 grams) chopped or slivered almonds

3/4 pound (1 large or 2 small) ripe but firm pears, peeled, cored and cut in 1/2-inch dice

For each strudel:

8 sheets phyllo dough

7/8 cup (100 grams) almond powder, divided

1 1/2 ounces butter, melted, for brushing the phyllo

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment.

2. Place the dried fruit in a bowl and pour on hot or boiling water to cover. Let sit 5 minutes, and drain. Toss the apples with the lemon juice.

3. Heat a large, heavy frying pan over high heat and add 2 tablespoons butter. Wait until it becomes light brown and carefully add the apples and the sugar. Do not add the apples until the pan and the butter are hot enough, or they won’t sear properly and retain their juice. But be careful when you add them so that the hot butter doesn’t splatter. When the apples are brown on one side, add the vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and almonds, flip the apples and continue to sauté until golden brown, about 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the pears and dried fruit, then scrape out onto one of the lined sheet pans and allow to cool completely. Divide into two equal portions (easiest to do this if you weigh it).

4. Place 8 sheets of phyllo dough on your work surface. Cover with a dish towel and place another, damp dish towel on top of the first towel. Place a sheet of parchment on your work surface horizontally, with the long edge close to you. Lay a sheet of phyllo dough on the parchment. Brush lightly with butter and top with the next sheet. Continue to layer all eight sheets, brushing each one with butter before topping with the next one.

5. Brush the top sheet of phyllo dough with butter. Sprinkle on half of the almond powder (50 grams). With the other half, create a line 3 inches from the base of the dough, leaving a 2 1/2-inch margin on the sides. Top this line with one portion of the fruit mixture. Fold the bottom edge of the phyllo up over the filling, then fold the ends over and roll up like a burrito. Using the parchment paper to help you, lift the strudel and place it on the other parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush with butter and make 3 or 4 slits on the diagonal along the length of the strudel. Repeat with the other sheets of phyllo to make a second strudel. If you are freezing one of them, double-wrap tightly in plastic.

6. Place the strudel in the oven and bake 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, brush again with butter, rotate the pan and return to the oven. Continue to bake for another 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes. Serve warm or room temperature.

Yield: 2 strudels, each serving 8

Advance preparation: The fruit filling will keep for a couple of days in the refrigerator. The strudel can be baked a few hours before serving it. Recrisp in a medium oven for 10 minutes. It can also be frozen before baking, double-wrapped in plastic. Transfer directly from the freezer to the oven and add 10 minutes to the baking time.

Nutritional information per serving: 259 calories; 13 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 15 milligrams cholesterol; 34 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 91 milligrams sodium; 4 grams protein

Martha Rose Shulman is the author of “The Very Best of Recipes for Health.”

Read More..

Postal Service to test same-day delivery of online orders

WASHINGTON — Emboldened by rapid growth in e-commerce shipping, the cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service is moving aggressively this holiday season to start a premium service for the Internet shopper seeking the instant gratification of a store purchase: same-day package delivery.

Teaming with major retailers, the post office will begin the expedited service Dec. 12 in San Francisco at a price similar to its competitors. If things run smoothly, the program will quickly expand next year to other big cities such as Boston, Chicago and New York. It follows similar efforts by EBay Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and most recently Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which charges a $10 flat rate for same-day delivery.

The delivery program, called Metro Post, seeks to build on the post office's double-digit growth in package volume to help offset steady declines in first-class and standard mail. Operating as a limited experiment for the next year, it is projected to generate $10 million to $50 million in new revenue from deliveries in San Francisco alone, according to postal regulatory filings, or as much as $500 million if expanded to 10 cities.

The filings do not reveal the mail agency's anticipated expenses to implement same-day service, which can only work profitably if retailers have enough merchandise in stores and warehouses to be quickly delivered to nearby residences in a dense urban area. The projected $500 million in potential revenue, even if fully realized, would represent just fraction of the record $15.9 billion annual loss that the Postal Service reported last week.

But while start-ups in the late 1990s such as Kozmo.com notably failed after promising instant delivery, the Postal Service's vast network serving every U.S. home could put it in a good position to be viable over the long term. The retail market has been rapidly shifting to Internet shopping, especially among younger adults, and more people are moving from suburbs to cities, where driving to a store can be less convenient.

Postal officials, in interviews with the Associated Press, cast the new offering as "exciting" and potentially "revolutionary." Analysts are apt to agree, at least in part, if kinks can be worked out.

"There is definitely consumer demand for same-day delivery, at the right price," said Matt Nemer, a senior analyst at Wells Fargo Securities in San Francisco. "The culture in retail traditionally has been to get a customer into the store, with the immediacy of enjoying a purchase being the main draw. So same-day delivery could be huge for online retailers. The question is whether the economics can work."

He and others said that consumers are a fickle lot when it comes to shipping, seeking fast delivery but also being sensitive to its pricing. Many will order online and pick up merchandise at a store if it avoids shipping charges, or will agree to pay a yearly fee of $79 for a service such as Amazon Prime to get unlimited, free two-day delivery or even purchase a higher-priced item if it comes with "free" shipping.

"Customers do like same-day delivery when it gets very close to a holiday or it otherwise becomes too late to shop," said Jim Corridore, an analyst at S&P Capital IQ, which tracks the shipping industry. "But while the Postal Service has the ability to deliver to any address, they are not always known for their speed. To increase their speed might prove to be a much more complex offering than they're thinking about."

Under the plan, the Postal Service is working out agreements with at least eight and as many as 10 national retail chains for same-day delivery. The mail agency says nondisclosure agreements prohibit it from revealing the companies. But given the somewhat limited pool of large-scale retailers — they must have a physical presence in 10 or more big U.S. cities to be a postal partner — the list is expected to include department stores, sellers of general merchandise, clothiers and even perhaps a major e-commerce company or two.

Consumers will have until 2 or 3 p.m. to place an online order with a participating retailer, during which they will click the box that says "same-day delivery" and make the payment. Postal workers then pick up the merchandise from nearby retail stores or warehouses for delivery to homes from 4 to 8 p.m. that day. In San Francisco, the post office will closely track work hours and travel, which could quickly add to costs depending on traffic, total package volume or the proximity of merchandise in a delivery area.

"We're trying to revolutionize shipping; we're not simply trying to get a niche market of consumers," said Gary Reblin, the Postal Service's vice president for domestic products. He believes people of varying ages and income levels — young adults who don't own cars, older Americans who are less mobile — will welcome avoiding costly or time-consuming trips to the store.

Read More..

Growing up with grandma

NEW YORK — Each day at 5 a.m., Denise Peace rises and begins the task of waking and feeding five grandchildren, ages 2 to 17, and shepherding them out the door of her cramped but miraculously neat apartment in Brooklyn.

The 5-year-old needs to be on his school bus by 6:26. The eldest has to catch a 7 a.m. train. The 4-year-old must be walked to school in time for the 8:10 bell. The 2-year-old plays while Peace prepares the 3-year-old for day care. In the early afternoon, she reverses the drill, fetching children from bus stops and schools and getting them home for dinner, baths and bed. Peace collapses about 9 p.m.

"Then I just start all over again," the 56-year-old said of the moment when her alarm sounds the next morning.

It's a routine that changes once a month, when Peace travels to a Brooklyn church and meets with dozens of other grandmothers — and some great-grandmothers — in similar situations. All have been catapulted back into full-time parenting by the sudden losses of their own children. All have been brought together by the New York Police Department and local clergy for a chance to swap stories, compare legal and parenting advice, cry on a friendly shoulder, pray and simply let off steam.

"It comforts you. It lets you know you're not alone in this," said Peace, who learned of the close-knit group called Grandmothers LOV — for Love Over Violence — as she searched for programs last year to help women like herself. "They have your back. It's like another family."

It's a family that is growing. According to the 2010 census, the number of grandparents who are primary caregivers to grandchildren has risen 12.8% since 2000, from about 2.4 million to more than 2.7 million. Between 1990 and 2000, census figures indicate that the number of U.S. children being raised by grandparents rose 30%. And the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which studies children's issues, says that in 1970, 3.2% of U.S. children lived in grandparent-run households; by 1997, it was 5.5%.

With today's grandparents — particularly grandmothers — living longer and often staying healthier, they are more likely to be able to step in if parents die or are unable to raise their children because of illness, incarceration, drug abuse or other problems. The recession is believed to have played a role in the increase, with grandparents more apt than many parents to have the financial stability needed to raise children, said Robert Geen, the Annie E. Casey Foundation's family services policy director.

"I think there is a concern that the tough economic environment is putting pressure on parents — that it is simply overwhelming them," Geen said. "The big concern is that our social services system is completely oriented toward a nuclear family, so support available to grandparents is fairly lacking."

Joanne Jaffe, the housing chief for the New York Police Department, had noticed how many grandmothers were becoming the anchor for disjointed families. LOV, which first met in September 2010, evolved from her observations, and from Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly's work with Brooklyn clergy to combat youth violence.

Jaffe focused on grandmothers — not grandfathers — for several reasons. Among them: far more grandmothers than grandfathers are thrust into parenting roles because they often have more time, experience and willingness than men of their generation to rear their children's children. Jaffe wanted to empower those women to become leaders in combating violence and other problems in their communities.

"It's a giant family therapy group," Jaffe said recently as LOV members trickled into the Mt. Sion Baptist Church, on a busy corner near a loud highway overpass. There were women leaning on walkers and on canes, and at least one in a wheelchair. Another came with a squirming toddler in her arms.

There were squeals of joy and cries of "Welcome back!" as the women who had not seen each other in eight weeks — the group had taken a summer hiatus — huddled like giddy teenagers. For the next 21/2 hours, with their grandchildren and great-grandchildren in day care, at school, or being cared for by baby-sitters or other family members, they could focus on themselves and one another.

Inez Rodriguez said she had canceled hip and knee replacement surgery to come to the gathering. Daphne Georgalas lamented the challenge of resting babies on her tired shoulders. "I thought I was done — and lo and behold I have little Princess Emily now," she said of her infant granddaughter.

Jaffe, whose NYPD uniform was in sharp contrast to the colorful dresses and hats worn by many of the grandmothers, made a point not to sound too cheery as she greeted the crowd. Instead, she alluded to the city's bloody summer, when shootings left several children and teenagers dead and wounded in the very neighborhoods that many of the grandmothers call home, and hope to change by keeping their own grandkids out of trouble.

"I'm not going to say it was a wonderful summer. I'm not coming here saying it's been a wonderful year," Jaffe said as cries of "Amen" and knowing "Uh-huhs" filled the room.

As police officers in uniform dished out a hot buffet breakfast, the women began catching up with one another. One of them was Carolyn Faulkner, a slender 74-year-old, who raised two grandchildren, now 21 and 19, and is now raising a third — a 10-year-old girl.

"Between running to school and going to PTA meetings, it's a lot of work, but you know what they say to me?" she said of her grandchildren. "'Thanks, Grandma.' That's more than money can buy."

Faulkner says she stepped in to care for her eldest daughter's three children when it became clear their mother was not up to the task.

"She didn't do drugs or anything. She just didn't grow up," said Faulkner, who with her husband of 50 years has run a wedding planning business among other enterprises, and who sits on her neighborhood's community board.

Asked when she gets time to herself, another grandmother cracked, "When she's on jury duty."

Read More..

Chevy Chase is leaving NBC's sitcom 'Community'

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The NBC series "Community" will finish the season without Chevy Chase.

Sony Pictures Television said Wednesday that the actor is leaving the sitcom by mutual agreement with producers.

His immediate departure means he won't be included in the last episode or two of the show's 13-episode season, which is still in production.

Chase had a rocky tenure playing a bored and wealthy man who enrolls in community college. The actor publicly expressed unhappiness at working on a sitcom and feuded last year with the show's creator and former executive producer, Dan Harmon.

The fourth-season premiere of "Community" is Feb. 7, when it makes a delayed return to the 8 p.m. EST Thursday time slot. The show's ensemble cast includes Joel McHale and Donald Glover.

Read More..

Well: Officials Warn Against Baby Sleep Positioners

Health officials are warning parents not to use a special device designed to help keep babies in certain positions as they sleep. The device, called a sleep positioner, has been linked to at least 13 deaths in the last 15 years, officials with two federal agencies said on Wednesday.

“We urge parents and caregivers to take our warning seriously and stop using these sleep positioners,” Inez Tenenbaum, the chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, said in a statement.

The sleep positioner devices come primarily in two forms. One is a flat mat with soft bolsters on each side. The other, known as a wedge-style positioner, looks very similar but has an incline, keeping a child in a very slight upright position.

Makers of the devices claim that by keeping infants in a specific position as they sleep, they can prevent several conditions, including acid reflux and flat head syndrome, a deformation caused by pressure on one part of the skull. Many are also marketed to parents as a way to help reduce a child’s risk of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, which kills thousands of babies every year, most between the ages of 2 months and 4 months.

But the devices have never been shown in studies to prevent SIDS, and they may actually raise the likelihood of sudden infant death, officials say. One of the leading risk factors for sudden infant death is placing a baby on his or her stomach at bedtime, and health officials have routinely warned parents to lay babies on their backs. They even initiated a “Back to Sleep” campaign in the 1990s, which led to a sharp reduction in sudden infant deaths.

With the positioner devices, if an infant rolls onto the stomach, the child’s mouth and nose can press up against a bolster or some other part of the device, leading to suffocation. Even if placed on the back, a child can move up or down in the positioner, “entrapping its face against a bolster or becoming trapped between the positioner and the crib side,” Gail Gantt, a nurse consultant with the Food and Drug Administration, said in an e-mail. Or the child might scoot down the wedge in a way that causes the child’s mouth and nose to press into the device.

“The baby’s movement may also cause the positioner to flip on top of the baby, trapping the baby underneath the positioner or between the positioner and the side of the crib,” she said.

Of the 13 babies known to have suffocated in a sleep positioner since 1997, most died after they rolled from their sides onto their stomachs. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has also received dozens of reports of babies who were placed on their sides or backs, “only to be found later in hazardous positions within or next to the product,” the F.D.A. said in a statement.

Many baby books for new parents specifically urge against using sleep positioners, and the American Academy of Pediatrics does not support their use for SIDS prevention. Though the F.D.A. has never approved the positioners for the prevention of SIDS, it has in the past approved a number of the devices for the prevention of gastroesophageal reflux disease and flat head syndrome. But the agency said that in light of the new safety data, it believed any benefits from using the devices were outweighed by the risk of suffocation.

As of Wednesday, the agency is explicitly advising parents to stop using sleep positioners, and it has asked manufacturers of the devices to submit clinical data showing that the benefits of their products outweigh the risk of serious harm. In addition to avoiding the devices, experts say, parents should keep things like pillows, comforters, quilts and bumpers away from their infants and their cribs. Soft bedding can increase the likelihood of a baby suffocating.

“The safest crib is a bare crib,” Dr. Susan Cummins, a pediatric expect with the F.D.A., said in a statement. “Always put your baby on his or her back to sleep. An easy way to remember this is to follow the ABC’s of safe sleep – Alone on the Back in a bare Crib.”

Read More..

Hostess wins court approval to shut down

Twinkies maker Hostess Brands Inc. won court approval to start shutting down operations, selling its assets and laying off its 18,500 workers, after the failure of an 11th-hour mediation to try to resolve a labor dispute.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain gave Hostess the go-ahead Wednesday to sell its plants and brands after he presided over the closed-door talks Tuesday with the company and the striking Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco and Grain Millers Union, which represents about 5,000 Hostess workers.

Heather Lennox, a lawyer for Hostess, said in court that the company has received a "flood of inquiries" from potential suitors.

Among the possible bidders are Nature's Own parent Flowers Foods Inc., Sun Capital Partners Inc., Sara Lee owner Grupo Bimbo, Pabst Blue Ribbon owner C. Dean Metropoulos & Co. and investment firm Hurst Capital, according to reports and analysts.

An outpouring of concern and nostalgia broke out last week when Hostess said publicly that it would shut down. It held back to give mediation a try, but Wednesday's action kindled disappointment among workers' families.

"My uncle lost his job of 27 years working for Merita Bread (partnered with Hostess)," tweeted user @sunlightmocha. "He had only ever taken ONE sick day. It's so sad."

"I'm so sad Hostess went out of business," tweeted user @NikkiKiley1. "My dad lost his job and I will never get to eat a Twinkie again. What a bad day."

"This is truly a sad day for thousands of families," said Ken Hall, general secretary-treasurer of the non-striking Teamsters union, the largest at Hostess with 6,700 members.

The 82-year-old company said that it would shrink its head count to 3,200 workers in the coming months and that those remaining would stay until the liquidation is done, which it said would take a year.

Hostess, based in Irving, Texas, will end up closing 33 bakeries, 565 distribution centers and 570 bakery outlet stores nationwide. In Southern California, the maker of Ho Hos, Ding Dongs, Dolly Madison Cakes, Wonder bread and other products employed more than 500 workers at the start of the year.

Hostess filed for bankruptcy in January for the second time in a decade.

It first moved to shut down its operations Friday, blaming the union for a strike that "crippled its operations at a time when the company lacked the financial resources to survive a significant labor action."

The baker said its "inflated cost structure," which it attributed primarily to its collective bargaining agreements, put it at a "profound competitive disadvantage."

Workers who walked off their jobs accused Hostess of awarding pay increases to executives while pillaging employee benefits and wages.

In court Wednesday, Drain noted that the failure of the talks was the result of disagreements and not the fault of either party. He allowed the company to remain in control of the liquidation, rejecting a request to turn the Chapter 11 proceeding into one overseen by the U.S. trustee's office under Chapter 7.

The company will return to court later to seek approval to sell off specific brands, which financial advisors testified could generate $1 billion in proceeds.

Last year, Hostess reported sales of $2.45 billion, down 2% from the year before, according to estimates from research group PrivCo. The company's net loss more than doubled to $341 million from $136 million, according to the report.

tiffany.hsu@latimes.com

Read More..

California air board says DWP must control dry lake bed's dust

The California Air Resources Board has ruled that the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is solely responsible for controlling the choking dust storms that arise from the dry Owens Lake bed.

The board said the DWP must take additional air pollution control measures on 2.9 square miles of the dry lake, which was drained to provide water to Los Angeles. The powder-fine dust arising from the bed often exceeds federal health standards.

The DWP argues that it has already reduced dust pollution 90% at a cost to ratepayers of $1.2 billion. The additional measures will cost an estimated $400 million, the utility said.

The board's decision Monday aligns with the findings of the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District, which had called for the added measures. "It's a complete victory," said Ted Schade, chief enforcement officer for the district.

Still pending, however, is a federal court lawsuit the DWP filed this year to limit its obligation to control dust from the vast alkaline playa, about 200 miles north of Los Angeles.

Schade said the board's decision will become "an important part of our defense in the federal lawsuit. I believe a court will look kindly on the district's position in this matter. After all, it's a public health issue."

James N. Goldstene, the board's executive officer, ruled that the DWP must abide by conditions of 1998 and 2007 settlement agreements with Great Basin to stop the massive dust storms that arose after it opened its aqueduct 99 years ago.

In a statement, DWP spokesman Joe Ramallo said the board's decision to "simply accept Great Basin's position was not unexpected."

The lawsuit accuses Great Basin and Schade of giving "other responsible parties" a "free ride" when it comes to Owens Lake's dust problems, while forcing the utility to waste billions of gallons of water to control dust with shallow flooding.

In addition to Great Basin, the lawsuit names as defendants the California Lands Commission, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as defendants.

The lawsuit seeks to transfer a portion of the costs of controlling dust from city ratepayers to the state lands commission and the federal bureau, which own 10 square miles of the lake bed.

Goldstene pointed out that the city aqueduct diverted nearly all the water flowing into the 110-square-mile eastern Sierra lake, reducing it to a small permanent brine pool surrounded by dry alkali soils. "During high winds significant quantities of sand particles are blown across the lake bed surface, resulting in dust plumes of particulate matter 10 microns or less in diameter," Goldstene said.

Particulate air emissions lodge deep in the lungs, causing respiratory injuries and additional risks to children and the elderly.

louis.sahagun@latimes.com

Read More..