Recount possible in Iran's disputed vote

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's powerful Guardian Council is ready to recount specific ballot boxes in last week's disputed presidential elections, a council spokesman said Tuesday, another twist in an election that has touched off widespread protests.
State television quoted Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei as saying that the recount would be limited to voting sites where candidates claim irregularities took place. It was not clear which or how many voting sites would be affected.
The results from last Friday's election showing a landslide victory for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sparked Tehran's worst violence in 10 years — including seven reportedly killed Monday during clashes.
Supporters of reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi claim the vote was rigged to re-elect the hardline president.
The 12-member Guardian Council includes clerics and experts in Islamic law. It's role includes certifying election results, and it is closely allied to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
It serves as a constitutional watchdog and vets candidates running in elections. It must certify ballot results and also has the apparent authority to nullify an election.
Iran state radio reported Tuesday that clashes in the Iranian capital the previous day left seven people dead during an "unauthorized gathering" at a mass rally over alleged election fraud — the first official confirmation of deaths linked to the wave of protests and street battles after disputed elections in last week.
The report said the deaths occurred after protesters "tried to attack a military location." It gave no further details, but it was a clear reference to crowds who came under gunfire Monday after trying to storm a compound for volunteer militia linked to Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard.
The shootings came at the end of huge rally by opponents of Ahmadinejad claiming widespread fraud in Friday's voting. The protest movement has shown no signs of easing — with another reported rally planned for later Tuesday — and has even forced Iran's non-elected ruling clerics into the unfamiliar role of middlemen between the government and its opponents.

David Letterman's Bad Joke to Sarah Palin's Daughter

David Letterman said his joke about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter was a lousy joke, no matter how you cut it, and he's sorry.
But the late-night host insisted that what's got people really riled is the misconception over which Palin daughter the joke was about.
On Monday's edition of "Late Show," Letterman explained that the risque joke thought by some to have targeted Palin's underage daughter, Willow, was actually referring to 18-year-old daughter Bristol. The name of the daughter wasn't mentioned in the joke, which was part of Letterman's monologue on last Monday's show.

It was "a coarse joke," "a bad joke," Letterman told viewers. "But I never thought it was (about) anybody other than the older daughter, and before the show, I checked to make sure, in fact, that she is of legal age, 18."
"The joke, really, in and of itself, can't be defended," he declared.
Even so, the ongoing outcry, led by Palin and her husband, Todd, has centered on Letterman intending to make a joke about the Palins' 14-year-old daughter having sex with a Yankees baseball player.
Todd Palin issued a statement last week that said "any 'jokes' about raping my 14-year-old are despicable."
And Sarah Palin charged Letterman with "sexually perverted comments made by a 62-year-old male celebrity."
On Monday's show, Letterman said, "I'm wondering, 'Well, what can I do to help people understand that I would never make a joke like this?' I've never made jokes like this, as long as we've been on the air, 30 long years."
If that's the misconception -- that the joke was aimed at a 14-year-old -- he understands why people are upset, he said. "I would be upset myself." Letterman has said from the beginning that he thought the Palin daughter who attended the Yankee game was Bristol.
"I feel that I need to do the right thing here and apologize for having told that joke," he said. "It's not your fault that it was misunderstood, it's my fault that it was misunderstood."
He apologized to both daughters, "and also to the Governor and her family and everybody else who was outraged by the joke," he said as the studio audience applauded. "I'm sorry about it, and I'll try to do better in the future."

Where is Palau

President Barack Obama moved one step closer to shutting down the U.S. military prison. The Republic of Palau has agreed to take the Uighurs, a minority group of Chinese Muslims, from Guantanamo Bay. The Pentagon found these detainees weren't "enemy combatants," and a U.S. federal judge ruled they should be set free, but instead they've been stuck in political limbo. (NPR describes their plight here.)
Now they may have a pretty good place for a fresh start. Palau president Johnson Toribiong calls offering up his place a "humanitarian gesture"--although $200 million in U.S. aid doesn't hurt. Those familiar with the archipelago nation (including faithful viewers of "Survivor") might call this more a dream escape of a lifetime, given its vacation reputation. The announcement drove many online to figure out "where is palau," "palau map," and "palau wiki"—maybe for a temporary resettlement of their own. Below, a quick once-over on paradise.
Palau's a dive The CIA Factbook describes Palau as "slightly more than 2.5 times the size of Washington, D.C." Five hundred miles east of the Philippines, the nation's better known for what lies beneath: The island consistently ties with the Galapagos and Yap as the best scuba-diving joint in the Pacific, according to Scuba Diving magazine readers. Its own tourist pitch heralds its "whitest beaches," gardens of corals," even "'sting-less' jellyfish." The Guardian describes "rolling hills, coconut plantations and lush tropical jungle," plus those jellyfish lakes.
Palau's friendship with the U.S.The $200 million in aid isn't as much as a bribe, but just another dollar in the support that America has given the archipelago nation. In the past few centuries, Palau had been under the rule of Spain, Germany, and Japan. After World War II, it hooked up with the U.S., which helped Palau's bid to independence in 1994. But, the U.S. has to watch over its defense for 50 years. (Palauans can also serve in the U.S. military.)
Palau random facts Courtesy of the Guardian and Bloomberg: The culture operates under a matrilineal society, adult literacy rate is 92%, unemployment rate's 4.2%, the traditional dish is fruit bat soup, and Palau's one of 23 countries with diplomatic ties to Taiwan...rather than China. Now, a few words from its national anthem:
Palau is coming forth with strength and power By her old ways abides still every hour One country, safe, secure, one government Under the glowing float soft light stands.

Joe Jonas Dances Single Ladies

Beyonce's "Single Ladies" video has been the subject of many viral-video parodies, most notably in a Saturday Night Live skit starring Justin Timberlake, Andy Samburg, and Beyonce herself. But the latest attempt at the diva's unitarded dance fad may be the strangest yet, and it is--to quote the always quotable Jonas Brothers--totally burnin' up on the Interweb.
This new lampoon comes courtesy of Joe Jonas--yes, that Joe Jonas, the middle and arguably cutest Jonas Brother--and yes, he is wearing high heels AND a onesie even more revealing than Beyonce's one-sleeved leotard.

Apparently Joe lost some kind of bet here, or he's just never one to pass up a dare from the brotherly trio's fans. Either that, or this famously purity-ring-wearing pop star has taken Beyonce's "Put A Ring On It" line way too much to heart.

But whatever the reason for Joe's bizarre Beyonce tribute, we do have to say this is kind of awesome. Awesomely weird, but awesome nonetheless. And even the JoBros' purity-ring-eschewing nemesis, Russell Brand, must be impressed with how nicely Joe fills

Jellyfish Crop Circle

Have aliens left another calling card?
Conspiracists — and Brits — are all atwitter about a crop circle that appeared at an Oxfordshire barley field. Instead of circles, the creators have become far more artistic (or they've figured out how to use Earth landmowers). The "circle" is in the shape of a 600-foot jellyfish — a first, as far as we know — and the BBC has posted an aerial video of the creature.
The overnight sensation launched Web searches for "jellyfish crop circle," "crop circles aliens," "crop circles conspiracies," and — for the DIY crowd — "crop circle patterns." Previous lawn artworks have appeared in the form of birds, butterflies, and, last year, the first 10 digits of pi (you know, 3.141592654).
OK, say this grassy rendering isn't an alien self-portrait. Even so, the massive carve-out is impressive. Karen Alexander, a croppy (the name for experts in this, er, field), says this one's "absolutely huge — roughly three times bigger than...most crop patterns, and extremely interesting. People have been aghast at the size of it. It is a complete monster."
What human motivations could lie behind this? The English countryside could be facing a turf war, as Oxfordshire looks to poach tourists from Wiltshire. That town's currently the crop-circle capital, thanks to a lovely 350-foot yin-yang symbol near an ancient burial mound. Or who knows? Maybe the recent outbreak is an homage to a late crop-circle researcher, who recently passed away at age 90.
Either way, lucky landowners Bill and Sally Ann Spence aren't thrilled about being the owner of a giant jellyfish imprint. Not that the artwork isn't "beautiful," but they're asking visitors to stop tramping over their poor crops for a look-see, and instead get a helicopter and hover. The Spences won't be asking the local cops to track down the renegade crop artists. As if earthling law enforcement has jurisdiction over alien jellyfish.

Obama visits Saudi king before high-stakes speech

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Opening a mission to write a new chapter on Islam and the West, President Barack Obama consulted Wednesday with the Saudi king "in the place where Islam began," prelude to a high-stakes speech in Egypt meant to ease long-held Muslim grievances against the United States.
The son of a Kenyan Muslim who lived part of his childhood in Muslim-majority Indonesia, Obama planned what aides called a "truth-telling" address on Thursday, aimed directly at the world's 1.5 billion Muslims. Many harbor animosity toward the U.S. over its staunch support for Israel, its terrorist-fighting policies and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many Americans, likewise, formed negative perceptions of the Muslim world after the 9/11 attacks.
In advance, Saudi King Abdullah staged a lavish welcome after Obama's all-night flight to Riyadh.
"I thought it was very important to come to the place where Islam began and to seek his majesty's counsel," Obama said. The president and the king talked in the splendor of Abdullah's sprawling retreat, a lush patch of searing desert.
The king, who was hosting Obama for an overnight stay, called his guest "a distinguished man who deserves to be in this position."
Birthplace of Islam, Saudi Arabia is still considered guardian of the faith as home to the holy cities of Medina and Mecca. The Sunni Arab powerhouse also sits on the world's largest oil reserves, buys billions in U.S. military equipment and has cooperated extensively with the U.S. on anti-terrorist operations.
As such, Obama's goals of opening what speechwriter Ben Rhodes called "a new chapter between the United States and the Muslim world" could hardly proceed without Saudi support. Obama also came asking for specific requests of help from Abdullah on a range of related issues, such as peace between the long-feuding Israelis and Palestinians, Iran's suspected efforts to build a nuclear bomb, rising Taliban extremism in Pakistan and a destination for some 100 Yemeni detainees now in the U.S. at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, prison camp.
Denis McDonough, a deputy national security adviser to Obama, could not immediately say whether the president's requests were successful after meetings between the two leaders and their delegations that stretched over nearly four hours.
Abdullah showered Obama with compliments in the welcoming ceremonies and presented him with the King Abdul Aziz Order of Merit, a large medallion with a thick gold chain that is the kingdom's highest honor. "Those are only given to the very few friends of the king, and you are certainly one of those," Abdullah said.
"Goodness gracious," Obama said as an aide approached with the striking necklace. "That's something there." He said: "I consider the king's friendship a great blessing, and I am very appreciative that he would bestow this honor on me during this visit."
Obama had pledged during his presidential campaign to deliver a major address from an Islamic capital within 100 days of becoming president. He did so with a speech to the parliament in Turkey, a secular but overwhelmingly Muslim nation. The White House says his speech in Cairo, a center of Islamic thought and culture, is the one he had in mind in making that promise, and set high expectations for it.
Al-Qaida countered Obama's outreach. Osama bin Laden released an audio tape accusing Obama of inflaming hatred toward the U.S. by ordering Pakistan to crack down on militants in Swat Valley and block Islamic law there. His deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, said "farcical visits or elegant words" in Cairo can't disguise "bloody messages" the U.S. sends to Muslims with its prosecution of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
The message from bin Laden, the terrorist mastermind-in-hiding who was born in Saudi Arabia and directed the 2001 attacks that involved 15 hijackers from the desert monarchy, was broadcast by Al-Jazeera Television almost exactly as Obama's plane touched down in Riyadh.
"Americans have seen these types of threats before," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said in response. "This is much more an effort to try to upstage."
Aides spared no effort to ensure Obama's speech Thursday reaches a vast Muslim audience.
A special State Department Web site lets people everywhere register to receive and reply to speech highlights; Obama's remarks were to be played live on the White House Web site and translated into 13 languages; and excerpts were being distributed not only on the White House's dedicated YouTube page but also on special-event links on social networking sites such as MySpace, Twitter and Facebook, complete with live chatting opportunities.
In his speech, Obama does not intend to make new policy — but to frame it differently. By stressing both U.S. respect for Muslims and the need for all sides, including Washington, to make changes, the president hopes to start setting relations between the U.S. and the Muslim world down a more constructive path even while some disagreements persist.
"There's been a breach, an undeniable breach, between America and the Islamic world," senior adviser David Axelrod said.
"That breach has been years in the making. It's not going to be reversed with one speech — it's not going to be reversed, perhaps, in one administration. But the president is a strong believer in open, honest dialogue."
The centerpiece of the speech is the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, a driving force behind Muslim anger worldwide. Obama was prepared to discuss in some detail what needs to be done to resolve it," though by urging all sides to meet obligations already agreed upon, Rhodes said.
That includes calling for a full halt to all growth in Jewish settlements in the Palestinian West Bank, the subject of a striking rift between the U.S. and Israel in recent days. It also includes telling Palestinians that anti-Israel rhetoric, and the violence it spawns, does not benefit their daily lives. Obama also was to call on his hosts, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, as well as other Arab nations, to put actual money behind their rhetorical support for the struggling Palestinian government of Mahmoud Abbas. Obama also wants to persuade Arab allies, particularly Saudi Arabia, to make conciliatory diplomatic moves toward Israel.
The president also was to explain the U.S. goals in Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran.
And he wasn't going to shy away from a hot topic — the fact that he was to speak from Egypt, which has been under the iron rule of President Hosni Mubarak for nearly 30 years.
Obama planned to salute Egypt's historically positive role in Mideast peacemaking, while also talking about the need for a better democratic and human rights model. In one gesture, organizers made sure that members of Egypt's main opposition movement, the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, would be in the audience at Cairo University.
The president also planned to talk "with a sense of candor" about U.S. policy that has largely shunned armed militias that have won elections in the Arab world, such as Hamas in the Palestinian territories and Hezbollah in Lebanon, Rhodes said.

Manny Villar

Manuel "Manny" Bamba Villar, Jr. (born December 13, 1949) is a Filipino businessman and politician. He is the President of the Nacionalista Party and a member of the Senate of the Philippines. Villar was Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1998 to 2000—in which capacity he presided over the impeachment of President Joseph Estrada—as well as President of the Senate from 2006 to 2008.

He assumed the Senate presidency at the beginning of the Third Regular Session of the 13th Congress, as part of a power-sharing agreement with his predecessor Sen. Franklin Drilon. On November 17, 2008, Villar was forced to resign due to lack of support in the Senate.

Early life
Manuel "Manny" Bamba Villar Jr. was born on December 13, 1949 in Moriones, Tondo Manila. His father, Manuel Montalban Villar, Sr., a government employee, hailed from Cabatuan, Iloilo and his mother Curita Bamba, a seafood dealer, came from Pampanga and Bataan. The second of nine children, Villar attended Holy Child Catholic School and started selling seafood at the Divisoria Market at an early age.

While Manny Villar was a working student, he was also putting in long hours as a fish and shrimp trader: working where the action starts during the wee hours of the morning when the freshly caught seafood arrives at market grounds. As a working student, he was able to put himself through school by finishing his studies at the University of the Philippines where he earned his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in Business Administration.
After graduation, he tried his hand as an accountant at the country’s biggest accounting firm, Sycip, Gorres, Velayo & Co. (SGV & Co.). He resigned shortly though to venture on his own seafood delivery business.

When a restaurant he was delivering stocks to did not pay him, he printed out “meal tickets” which he persuaded the restaurant owners to honor. He then sold these tickets at a discounted price to office workers. It took him one year to liquidate his receivables.
He worked briefly as a financial analyst at the Private Development Corporation of the Philippines. His job was to sell World Bank loans, despite the attractive rates of which there were no takers. Convinced that he could make it on his own again, he quit his job and promptly availed of one of the loans.

Business
With an initial capital of P10,000 in 1975, Villar purchased two reconditioned trucks and started his sand-and-gravel business in Las Piñas.
He started a sand and gravel business and then went on to establish one of the largest development firms in the Southeast Asian region, the Camella & Palmera Homes. Originally low end developers, the Company has recently started selling more high end homes under the Crown Asia brand name, although criticism have been voiced in the press of many such developments in Cebu, Cagayan de Oro and Davao His C&P Homes business has also been featured in international publications such as the Far Eastern Economic Review, Asiaweek, Asiamoney, and the Asian Business Review.
He earned citations such as the Ten Outstanding Young Men in 1986, the Agora Award for Marketing Management in 1989, Most Outstanding CPA by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in 1990, and Most Outstanding Alumnus in 1991.

Politics
As a successful businessman, he ventured in the political arena in 1992 and was elected as Congressman representing Las Piñas posting landslide victories. On his third term, he was chosen to be the Speaker of the House of Representatives. On November 13, 2000, he became the first House Speaker in Philippine history to impeach a President, paving the way for the elevation of the articles of impeachment to the Senate.
In the national elections held last May 14, 2001, despite being a relative newcomer in national politics, Manny Villar posted one of the most impressive showings in the national polls. On his first day in office, he was selected as Senate President Pro Tempore, the position he held until 2003.

He has also spearheaded the building of schools, sending out medical missions and setting up relief operations whenever or wherever needed. He led the inauguration of the Las Piñas-Muntinlupa-Laguna-Cavite (LPMLC) link road, more popularly known as Daang Hari, as part of his road improvement program aimed at easing traffic in the south of Metro Manila.
In February 2004, he was elected as President of the Nacionalista Party — the country’s oldest political party. He was also named the Most Distinguished UP Alumnus—the highest recognition given by the UP Alumni Association—for his exemplary public service and achievements. After the 2004 elections, he initially planned to run for the Senate presidency but agreed to let the incumbent, Franklin Drilon to finish his turn as Senate President until June 2006. Honoring the said agreement, his fellow senators unanimously elected him as Senate President on July 24, 2006.

He is recognized as the richest legislator in Philippine history where he was consistently the richest congressman from 1992 to 2001 and richest senator from 2001 until 2008 with a net worth of P 1,041,383,9246.
On the Forbes Magazine released October 2007, its list of “The Philippines’ 40 Richest,” he is ranked 5th and the year’s biggest gainer. From $110 million last year, his net worth shot up 755% to $940 million after the public offering of his company Vista Land & Lifescapes.
Senator Manny Villar's wife is Cynthia A. Villar, currently the representative of the lone congressional district of Las Piñas). He has two sons (Paolo and Mark) and a daughter (Camille).

2007 Senate President
On July 23, 2007, Villar was elected Senate President by a vote of 15-7, after the oath-taking of the 11 new senators, with the exception of Senator Antonio Trillanes IV. Those who voted for Villar were Senators Edgardo Angara, Joker Arroyo, Alan Peter Cayetano, Pia Cayetano, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Juan Ponce-Enrile, Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, Richard Gordon, Gregorio Honasan, Manuel Lapid, Francis Pangilinan, Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Ramon Revilla Jr., and Juan Miguel Zubiri. Villar cast a vote for himself. Those who voted for Pimentel were Senators Benigno Aquino III, Rodolfo Biazon, Francis Escudero, Panfilo Lacson, Loren Legarda, Ana Consuelo Madrigal, and Manuel Roxas II.

Performance rating
On January 7, 2008, the Social Weather Stations (November 30 to December 3, 2007) survey revealed all-time high satisfaction grades for Vice-President Noli de Castro and Senate President Manuel Villar, Jr.: 64% satisfied and 23% dissatisfied - de Castro's performance, or satisfaction rating of net +41; 71%, satisfied and 13% dissatisfied for Villar, net +59.

Resignation
Juan Ponce Enrile was elected Senate of the Philippines President who replaced resigned Villar, who saw himself forced to resign due to lack of support in the Senate on November 17, 2008.

The 2010 presidency
Villar Jr., on June 6, 2008 announced that he is 99% joining the Philippine general election, 2010 (one percent, is on the possibility of no election), amid his nomination of the Nacionalista Party (NP), chaired by him. Villar stated that: "We are prepared to have alliance with other political parties." On September 4, 2008, Villar formally declared and confirmed his presidential candidacy.

"Villa Pacencia" Villar mansion
Manuel Villar and Cynthia A. Villar, bought and took over, on July 12, 2008, "Villa Pacencia," the 3-story 51-year-old white-and-green Laurel mansion, now a historic site, built by Jose P. Laurel, on 6,000 square meters prime Mandaluyong lot. The mansion has 2 historical markers - the 1957 note of its first creation, and the visit of Indonesian President Sukarno, who twice slept at the mansion (in 1963 visit, and again, later, with Filipino movie star, Amelia de la Rama). Jose P. Laurel built the house on No. 515 Shaw Blvd., several years after he stepped down as President. The mansion is the biggest of the 3 residences that Laurel built (in Tanauan, and in Paco, Manila, called the Villa Peñafrancia). The Villars refurbished the mansion and formally presented it to the Laurel clan, NP leaders, inter alia, for the June 10, 2008 blessing.

Pocket billiards promoter
Besides being an entrepreneur and a politician, Villar became a promoter for pool tournaments. He held the first Manny Villar Cup on May 5, 2008. The staging of this event became somewhat controversial because it took place at the same date of a tournament under the Philippine Pool Tour.

How to Spend Like a Frugal Millionaire

Saving thousands while still spending.

Millionaires make up just 2 percent of the population. They get a bad rap during recessions for being wasteful with their money and are frequently used as examples of excess. It's the millionaires that you don't see that you can learn from in times like these. I call them the frugal millionaires and interviewed 70 of them to uncover ways we can all be smarter with money.
Nearly 70 percent of the economy is based on consumer spending. To keep the economy going we need to keep spending but not waste money in the process. This is where the frugal millionaires come in. They've been smart with their money all along and haven't lost it all and had to remake it. These are the kind of people you want to learn from when it comes to spending your money.

Spending philosophy.
Frugal millionaires are unique thinkers when it comes to spending money:

1) they can easily delay their need for gratification when purchasing;

2) they are resourceful in getting what they want by carefully timing their consumer purchases;

3) they make living below their means painless;

4) they don't like wasting anything (especially money);

5) their sense of "self-entitlement" is highly minimized: and

6) spending is OK with them...depending on what they are buying (think: appreciating vs. depreciating assets).

Buying tips.
These millionaires keep more money than they spend, that's why they are rich. Their tactics work for them so they'll work even better for you. Key Point: They don't view shopping as a sport. They shop efficiently and spend their time doing more important things with their lives. Here are their tips that will help you save while spending:

Cars:

Buy used (or off lease) fuel-efficient cars, often with "certified pre-owned" warranties. This warranty can be better than a new car, plus the initial depreciation hit is avoided. Drive the car for a long time and never lease it.

Eating Out:

Bring half of a meal home to eat later (this also saves the waistline). Eat at happy hours. Bring wine from home and skip dessert. Value food quality over expensive ambience.

Eating In:

Eat better and less expensively by cooking at home. Make it a friends and family event. Get your kids involved. Bonus: You can have that extra drink without worrying about getting busted for driving under the influence. Also: buy day-old bread at the best bakery in town and freeze it. Eat oatmeal, because it's the most cost-effective breakfast food. Get a supermarket "club card" and buy food on special. Play the game of trying to see how much of a discount can be saved off the total food bill.

Clothes:

When you buy something new donate something used to charity. Buy traditional clothes, but wait for the off-season to acquire them. Go for high quality - not high price. Buy vintage clothing and avoid logo clothing and keep people guessing who the designer might be. Hint: There shouldn't be one!

Consumer Electronics:

Buy low-end gear that has the basic functionality of the more expensive stuff. Don't be the first to buy new technology. Wait at least one lifecycle so the bugs are worked out. Buy refurbished electronics whenever possible.

Computers:

Buy more mainstream computers with proven technology. Select higher capacity hard drives, a decent amount of RAM (the memory that the program runs in) and a cost effective processor. Super fast doesn't always equal super good...unless you are building airplanes or bridges. Laptops are a good compromise between desktops and netbooks. Don't go through the pain of upgrading operating systems on existing computers, it's not time efficient and you will probably go insane trying.

Going green:

Being green and frugal go hand-in-hand. Yet frugal millionaires don't readily fall for the trendy green hype machine. They typically buy green if it helps the environment and lowers their costs. They look at the timeframe when a product can pay for itself. They do use compact fluorescent lighting, turn off lights and equipment that isn't being used, monitor AC and heat usage (with programmable thermostats), drive efficiently, live in "right-sized" homes and turn off the water when they aren't brushing their teeth or washing dishes. Because they have trained themselves to not waste money they won't waste anything else either. They get into good habits and keep them going. You can, too.

'Cell Phone Elbow' -- A New Ill for the Wired Age

TUESDAY, June 2 (HealthDay News) -- First came Nintendo thumb. Then, Guitar Hero wrist. Now, for the latest affliction of the wired age, it's cell phone elbow.
Medically known as cubital tunnel syndrome, cell phone elbow is numbness, tingling and pain in the forearm and hand caused by compression of the ulnar nerve, which passes along the bony bump on the inside of the elbow.
One of the causes of pressure on the ulnar nerve? Too much gabbing, often brought on by those cell phone plans with unlimited minutes, experts say.
Prolonged flexing of the elbow, such as when you hold a cell phone to your ear while closing sales, talking to your mother or keeping tabs on your teens while you're at work, puts tension on the ulnar nerve. In susceptible people, holding the bent-elbow position for extended periods can lead to decreased blood flow, inflammation and compression of the nerve.
"Repetitive, sustained stretching of the nerve is like stepping on a garden hose," said Dr. Peter J. Evans, director of the Cleveland Clinic's Hand and Upper Extremity Center. "With the hose, you're blocking the flow of water. With the elbow, you're blocking the blood flow to the nerve, which causes it to misfire and short circuit."
The first symptoms patients often notice include numbness, tingling or aching in the forearm and hand, a pain similar to hitting your "funny bone." (The unpleasant sensation of hitting your "funny bone" is actually your ulnar nerve.)
As symptoms progress, they can include a loss of muscle strength, coordination and mobility that can make writing and typing difficult. In chronic, untreated cases, the ring finger and pinky can become clawed, Evans and colleagues note in a report in the May issue of the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine.
Though there are no solid figures on how many people have cell phone elbow, hand specialists say the incidence is increasing along with the 3.3 billion cell phone service contracts active worldwide, Evans said.
Still, the disorder is less common than carpal tunnel syndrome, a related condition that causes pain in the hand and wrist. Carpal tunnel syndrome is caused by compression of the median nerve that runs from the forearm into the hand.
"Cubital tunnel is the second most common compression syndrome we see," said Heather Turkopp, an occupational therapist and certified hand specialist at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich.
Most people who get cubital tunnel syndrome are middle-aged or older. Women get cubital tunnel syndrome more often than men -- and it's probably not because they talk more.
Although the precise reasons are unknown, women may be more susceptible due to hormonal fluctuations or their anatomy, Evans said.
And too much yakking isn't the only cause of cubital tunnel syndrome. Other causes may include sleeping with the elbows bent and tucked up into the chest, sitting at a desk with the elbows flexed at an angle greater than 90 degrees and driving with your elbow propped on the window for extended periods, he said.
In most cases, minor lifestyle changes can help alleviate symptoms, including using a hands-free headset for your cell phone. If sleep position is the problem, an elbow pad to keep the arm straighter at night can help.
More serious cases are referred to an occupational therapist, who may use ultrasound to loosen scar tissue that can form around the nerve as a result of the inflammation, as well as stretching, deep massage and "nerve-gliding" exercises to reduce pressure on the nerve, Turkopp said.
Doctors may also use anti-inflammatory injections or surgery.
Seeing your doctor soon if you're experiencing any numbness or tingling in your hand or forearm can prevent the problem from progressing to that point, Evans said

Storm Katrina

The Obama administration will announce plans today to virtually give away roughly 1,800 mobile homes to 3,400 families displaced by Hurricane Katrina who are living in government-provided housing along the Gulf Coast, officials said.
The administration also will make available $50 million in rental vouchers to income-eligible trailer occupants who move to targeted housing projects, and take over from Louisiana the job of helping residents find permanent homes, said a senior White House official, speaking on the condition of anonymity before the formal announcement.

"We knew we needed to bring this program to a close," the official said. "We also want to ensure a humane and secure transition for all of them."
The sale option comes weeks after the trailer program formally ended May 1, and after Federal Emergency Management Agency officials said they could begin officially referring cases for eviction June 1.

FEMA typically provides disaster aid for 18 months. It extended assistance for 45 months since Katrina hit in August 2005.
About 1,150 families in FEMA housing live in units the agency classifies as mobile homes and park models, which will be offered for sale at $5 and $1, respectively. FEMA expects to free up an additional 600 to 700 units from its inventory to donate through state and local governments and nonprofit groups, the administration official said. Individuals who previously bought units will be offered refunds.

Its unclear what impact the changes will have. Many local jurisdictions refuse to alter zoning ordinances to allow small manufactured homes.
Thousands of existing vouchers from the Department of Housing and Urban Development that are becoming available in Louisiana are going unused. Some trailer occupants await promised grants to rebuild their homes or do not want to leave their home sites. Others do not want to move to HUD-subsidized housing or to pay more rent. Some occupants are so sick, elderly or dysfunctional that they require more help to find housing, officials said.
Spokesman Clark Stevens said FEMA is committed to working with families case by case, adding that 139,000 other households have cycled out of the trailer program. "No one will face evictions from a temporary unit while these new measures are implemented," he said in a written statement.

Brian Deese

It is not every 31-year-old who, in a first government job, finds himself dismantling General Motors and rewriting the rules of American capitalism.
But that, in short, is the job description for Brian Deese, a not-quite graduate of Yale Law School who had never set foot in an automotive assembly plant until he took on his nearly unseen role in remaking the American automotive industry.

Nor, for that matter, had he given much thought to what ailed an industry that had been in decline ever since he was born. A bit laconic and looking every bit the just-out-of-graduate-school student adjusting to life in the West Wing — “he’s got this beard that appears and disappears,” says Steven Rattner, one of the leaders of President Obama’s automotive task force — Mr. Deese was thrown into the auto industry’s maelstrom as soon the election-night parties ended.

“There was a time between Nov. 4 and mid-February when I was the only full-time member of the auto task force,” Mr. Deese, a special assistant to the president for economic policy, acknowledged recently as he hurried between his desk at the White House and the Treasury building next door. “It was a little scary.”
But now, according to those who joined him in the middle of his crash course about the automakers’ downward spiral, he has emerged as one of the most influential voices in what may become President Obama’s biggest experiment yet in federal economic intervention.
While far more prominent members of the administration are making the big decisions about Detroit, it is Mr. Deese who is often narrowing their options.

A month ago, when the administration was divided over whether to support Fiat’s bid to take over much of Chrysler, it was Mr. Deese who spoke out strongly against simply letting the company go into liquidation, according to several people who were present for the debate.
“Brian grasps both the economics and the politics about as quickly as I’ve seen anyone do this,” said Lawrence H. Summers, the head of the National Economic Council who is not known for being patient whenever he believes an analysis is sub-par — or disagrees with his own. “And there he was in the Roosevelt Room, speaking up vigorously to make the point that the costs we were going to incur giving Fiat a chance were no greater than some of the hidden costs of liquidation.”

Mr. Deese was not the only one favoring the Fiat deal, but his lengthy memorandum on how liquidation would increase Medicaid costs, unemployment insurance and municipal bankruptcies ended the debate. The administration supported the deal, and it seems likely to become a reality on Monday, if a federal judge handling the high-speed bankruptcy proceeding approves the sale of Chrysler’s best assets to the Italian carmaker.
Mr. Deese’s role is unusual for someone who is neither a formally trained economist nor a business school graduate, and who never spent much time flipping through the endless studies about the future of the American and Japanese auto industries.
He lives a dual life these days. He starts the day at a desk wedged just outside of Mr. Summers’s office, where he can hear what young members of the economic team have come to know as “the Summers bellow.” From there, he can make it quickly to the press office to help devise explanations for why taxpayers are spending more than $50 billion on what polls show is a very unpopular bailout of the auto industry.

Several times a day he speed-walks to Treasury, taking a shortcut through the tunnel under the colonnade, near the kitchens. The other day he talked about how sharply perceptions of the industry’s future changed after Mr. Obama’s election.
“At the first meeting with Rick Wagoner,” he said, referring to G.M.’s recently deposed chief executive, “they were in a very different place. He said publicly that bankruptcy was not a viable option. It’s been a long process getting everyone to look at the options differently.”
In fact, from before Inauguration Day, few in Mr. Obama’s circle saw any other choice. Every time Mr. Deese ran the numbers on G.M. and Chrysler, he came back with the now-obvious conclusion that neither was a viable business, and that their plans to revive themselves did not address the erosion of their revenues. But it took the support of Mr. Rattner and Ron Bloom, senior advisers to the task force charged with restructuring the automobile industry, to help turn Mr. Deese’s positions into policy.

“The president’s instruction to us was that we had to come up with a solution that would work on a commercial basis, that didn’t involve indefinite federal financing,” Mr. Deese said. “But we didn’t want liquidation, which would have even worse effects. So the question was how do you design a very substantial restructuring, and do it fast.”

Mr. Deese’s route to the auto table at the White House was anything but a straight line. He is the son of a political science professor at Boston College (his father) and an engineer who works in renewable energy (his mother). He grew up in the Boston suburb of Belmont and attended Middlebury College in Vermont. He went to Washington to work on aid issues and was quickly hired by Nancy Birdsall, a widely respected authority on the effectiveness of international aid and the founder of the Center for Global Development.

But he wanted to learn domestic issues as well, and soon ended up working as an assistant for Gene Sperling, who 17 years ago in the Clinton White House played a similar role as economic policy prodigy. Eventually, Mr. Deese headed to Yale for his law degree. But his e-mail box was constantly filled with messages from friends in Washington who were signing up to work for the Obama or Hillary Rodham Clinton campaigns. Mr. Deese chose Senator Clinton’s.

“He was pretty quickly functioning as the top economic policy staffer through her campaign,” Mr. Sperling said. “He could blend the policy needs and the political needs pretty seamlessly.” On the day that the Clinton campaign ended, Mr. Deese left her concession speech and received a message on his BlackBerry from a friend in the Obama campaign urging him to sign on immediately to Mr. Obama’s team.

He resumed his policy work there, and found himself stuck in Chicago — unable to fly to Washington with his dog — as the economic crisis deepened. Finally, one night, he decided to get into his car with his dog and just started driving back to Washington. Tired, he pulled over to catch some sleep in the car.

“I slept in the parking lot of the G. M. plant in Lordstown, Ohio,” he recalled. The giant plant, opened during G.M.’s heyday in the mid-1960s, is where the Pontiac G5 is produced. Under the plan Mr. Deese worked on when he arrived in Washington, Pontiac will disappear.
“I guess that was prophetic,” he said, shaking his head.

Mystery of Giant Ice Circles Resolved

Strange circles have once again appeared in the frozen surface of Lake Baikal in Siberia, as spotted by astronauts aboard the International Space Station this April. News reports described the ice rings as a puzzling phenomenon.
But experts say they can explain the mystery, and it's not aliens - methane gas rising from the lake floor represents the likely culprit.
Methane emissions can create a rising mass of warm water that begins swirling in a circular pattern because of the Coriolis force, or the phenomenon caused by the Earth's rotation that also helps create cyclones.
"Once the water mass reaches the underside of the ice on the surface of the lake, the warm water melts the ice in a ring shape," said Marianne Moore, a marine ecologist at Wellesley College in Massachusetts who has spent much time studying Lake Baikal with Russian researchers. The lake is the largest (by volume) and deepest fresh water lake on Earth.
The latest ring patterns included a circle of thin ice with a diameter of 2.7 miles (4.4 km), although the circular patch was becoming a hole of open water. Astronauts spotted similar ice circles in both 1985 and 1994, and satellites have also made sightings over the past years.
This phenomenon is nothing new to the Russian government, which has documented circle sightings on an official Ministry of Natural Resources Web site.
"Interestingly, the government is also warning people that abnormally high emissions of methane may occur in these areas in the summer and fall, posing risks for ships," Moore told LiveScience.
The Russian Ministry of Natural Resources points out that random emissions of natural gas have probably always occurred in Lake Baikal. And such emissions would have created ice rings every few years.
"But, because of the huge size, it is practically impossible to see a ring standing on the ice or even from a mountain," the Ministry Web site notes. The Russian government has ordered daily space monitoring of the Lake Baikal area in recent years, which prompted many of the satellite sightings.
Tectonic activity deep in the Earth may be the trigger for such methane gas release, according to the Russian government.
That could have major consequences for Lake Baikal's rich array of plants and animals, Moore cautioned - especially in combination with a warming climate. Both could lead to spring ice disappearing more rapidly from Lake Baikal, which can typically hold onto an ice cover through June.
"Unlike other lakes in the world, spring ice is essential for the reproduction of the lake's top predator (the Baikal seal) and the dominant plants (under-ice phytoplankton) at the bottom of the food web," Moore said. "Without spring ice, the food web of this lake will be disrupted substantially."

Mahatma Gandhi

"The devotion of such titans of spirit as Lenin to an Ideal must bear fruit. The nobility of his selflessness will be an example through centuries to come, and his Ideal will reach perfection."

Mao Zedong

"We must have faith in the masses and we must have faith in the Party. These are two cardinal principles. If we doubt these principles, we shall accomplish nothing."

Che Guevara

“Struggles of masses and ideas. An epic that will be carried forward by our peoples, mistreated and scorned by imperialism; our people, unreckoned with until today, who are now beginning to shake off their slumber. Imperialism considered us a weak and submissive flock; and now it begins to be terrified of that flock...”