NASA narrows the field for rocket makers

In early February, $175 million in public funds will be handed over to a small handful of spaceship developers, with the goal of making demonstration flights to the international space station and back. NASA has now narrowed the field of competitors: from an original batch of submissions in 2006, four companies are finalists.

NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) exists to encourage privately-operated companies to create "space transportation systems" for transporting cargo and astronauts.

E. coli worries prompt ground beef recall-Five people sickened after eating products from Minn. meatpacker

The affected beef was produced Oct. 30 and Nov. 6. It was shipped to distributors nationwide for use in restaurants and food service institutions. It was not sold by retailers, the USDA service said.MINNEAPOLIS - A Minnesota meatpacker has recalled about 188,000 pounds of ground beef patties and some other products because of E. coli bacteria concerns.

Rochester Meat Co. of Rochester issued the recall after five illnesses were reported in Wisconsin and one in California, the U.S. Agriculture Department's Food Safety and Inspection Service said in a statement Saturday.

The meat may be contaminated with a strain of bacteria — E. coli O157:H7 — that's potentially deadly and can cause bloody diarrhea and dehydration. The very young, senior citizens and those with weakened immune systems are most at risk.

Dr. Bronner’s Liquid Soap for best all-over body wash.

 

 

 

If you have a phone that can check e-mail, search for local Italian restaurants and organize your monthly meetings, why shouldn’t you also use a body wash that can also step in as dishwashing soap, shampoo and laundry detergent? Dr. Bronner is the ultimate multi-tasking cleanser. Made from organic coconut, olive, hemp and jojoba oils, the no-frills soap has been a staple of the camping set for years (one little bottle covers lots of ground), but it has increasingly been making its way into the homes of those who are anything but outdoorsy. While it is safe to use for household cleaning and on any part of your body (including hair, feet and face), the liquid soap serves its purpose best as a highly effective daily body wash. Warning: The peppermint is extremely pepperminty. I turn to the lavender (made with organic essential oils) when I need a break from the frosty mint.

Clean up your act! The best all-natural soaps

Having trouble keeping up with our increasingly organic, eco-friendly world? Let me be your guide! From all-natural makeup to the best in eco-conscious jeans, I will test and review the products and treatments that are best for you and the planet.

I don’t know about you, but I take showers and baths for one primary reason: to get clean. (Secondary reasons: to relax, reduce stress and push through writer’s block.) But if you dissected the average bar of soap or broke down a teaspoon of a popular body wash, you’d probably find a handful of highly unsavory ingredients — harsh detergents, synthetic preservatives, artificial colors and fragrances, greasy mineral oils, even animal fats. How clean is that?

As with all personal care products — I’m beginning to sound like a broken record, but I can’t stop … I just can’t stop! — it is essential to read the label on that bar of soap or bottle of body wash before you decide to take it home with you. The ingredients should either a) be extremely easy to decipher; B) be accompanied by clear explanations; c) all of the above. And when shopping for soap, be on the lookout for two of the most common ingredient red flags:

• Parabens (petroleum-based preservatives): These toxic ingredients often sneak into even the most “natural” products. They can be (loosely) disguised by the addition of prefixes like “propyl” and “butyl.” Parabens have been linked to breast cancer, impaired fertility and skin irritation — from mild itching to scaling and blistering.
• Sodium lauryl sulfate and propylene glycol (petroleum surfactants): These synthetic ingredients are often used as foaming agents to create extra-fluffy lather in soaps and shampoos. They’ve been connected to skin irritation and, more alarmingly, to disrupting the structure of the skin to allow deeper penetration of other toxins.

The 10 health ‘rules’ you should break

The food pyramid almost crushed Elaine Monarch. She'd always enjoyed whole-wheat bread and the other healthy carbohydrates that form the pyramid's foundation, but her resolve to eat plenty of grains grew even stronger after she went to her doctor complaining of bloating and diarrhea. "He told me I needed more fiber in my diet," she says. "That advice practically killed me."

Monarch, it turns out, has celiac disease: Her immune system attacks the gluten from grains, damaging her small intestine in the process. The founder of the Celiac Disease Foundation, she is still diligent about consuming enough fiber — but these days she gets it from fruit, nuts and supplements instead of grains.

Americans are constantly bombarded with expert health advice, and many of the messages are unquestionably right for everyone. No one will ever get sick from avoiding cigarettes or trans fats. But some of the most commonly repeated pieces of advice actually aren't meant for everyone. After all, the USDA couldn't equip its pyramid with a section just for people with celiac disease. Health recommendations are sometimes based on studies that didn't include a good cross section of the general public. And even when broadly representative studies trumpet a 94% success rate, that still leaves 6 people out of 100 looking for answers.

Your Fitness Routine Smart advice: Vigorous workouts do more for you than moderate ones.

Tailor it if you're sedentary and your main goal is weight loss. If you work too hard — and tire too quickly — you may not burn enough calories to make a real dent in your weight. A 2003 study of 184 women found that walking at a moderate pace for at least 150 minutes each week for a year was just as slimming as working out more intensely for shorter periods of time. In fact, women assigned to long sessions of moderate exercise lost about the same amount as women who worked harder for shorter bursts — 15 to 18 pounds, on average. To drop weight, exercise most days of the week at a pace that you can sustain for 30 to 40 minutes. You should be able to talk without gasping for air.

5 surprising things that give you headaches

 

 

5 headache triggers
You've been at the computer for hours. You’ve worked late all week and have in-laws coming this weekend. You have a raging case of PMS. Eyestrain, stress, and hormonal shifts are fairly common causes of headaches, which afflict 45 million Americans (most of them women). But sometimes the usual suspects don’t explain that pain in your head. That’s because some triggers are just plain weird — like perfume, storms, earrings... or even orgasms. Health magazine shares smart tips on how to identify the source of your headache so you can send it packing.

India and China pledge to strengthen trade, military ties

BEIJING: China and India pledged Monday to strengthen trade and military links and seek a solution to a border row, as India's prime minister sought to cement a rapid improvement in ties with a landmark visit.

The friendly atmosphere was tempered, however, by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's call for China to make concessions to reduce a growing two-way trade imbalance.

The Indian leader said he and his host Premier Wen Jiabao signed a broad agreement to push an often testy relationship to a new level of cooperation.

The pact lifts the target for bilateral trade -- which soared to 38.7 billion dollars last year -- to 60 billion dollars by 2010, and pledges a renewed effort to solve a Himalayan border dispute over which they fought a brief war in 1962.

It also commits the two sides to another joint military exercise this year, following their first-ever exercise late last year, and to pursue a possible regional trade agreement, said Singh, who arrived on Sunday.

Singh called the document "an important milestone in the evolution of our relations."

"The profound changes taking place in the world today present both our countries with a historic opportunity to work together towards a 21st century that is conducive to peace and development," he told reporters.

Nonprofits bear brunt of foreclosure fight Mortgage counselors in Hope NOW program say demand is overwhelming

NEW YORK - Mohammed Ibrahim is overwhelmed by people asking for help.

"It's not only the sheer volume of people needing help but the emotion," said Ibrahim, a counselor at the Neighborhood Housing Services of Staten Island in New York. "Each person comes with a different story. Often they break down and cry."

The group that Ibrahim works for helps financially troubled families in Staten Island, a middle-income borough of New York City, try to avoid foreclosure on their homes.

The number of calls to his office jumped last summer as the mortgage crisis gripping the United States escalated. It rose even more in October, when a national hotline that refers cases to local groups like Ibrahim's became a central part of a government plan to prevent foreclosures.

Between October and December of 2007, Ibrahim took on 63 cases, compared with 77 cases for the previous nine months and just a handful in 2006. After some holiday respite, January is already shaping up to be even busier, he said.

Around the New York region and in other parts of the country, mortgage counselors report a similar onslaught of cases, especially since Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced the HOPE NOW alliance of lenders, investors and counselors in October.

"We're getting so many calls about the government plan, but no real answers on how we are supposed to help them," said Eileen Anderson, who runs two NeighborWorks counseling centers on suburban Long Island, outside New York City.

The number of calls to Anderson's offices rose more than tenfold in 2007 from the year before, and since October more than half of those calls have been referrals from HOPE NOW, she said.

‘Clients ... are desperate’
While the HOPE NOW alliance puts troubled borrowers in touch with counselors, both counselors and borrowers complain it offers no financial help.

"There's no money, nobody has emergency funds. Clients who are calling are desperate," Anderson said.

Agnes Kallon and Bai Turay, a Staten Island couple, are among the people that Ibrahim is trying to help. Kallon, a nursing assistant at Richmond University Hospital, and Turay, who receives disability allowance, have a combined income of $39,000 and six children to support.

In 2005 they took out a mortgage for a $412,000 house with a low introductory rate, based on their mortgage broker's assurance that they would easily be able to refinance when the rate went up. But when their mortgage payment reset to $3,000 a month, far beyond what they can afford, that assurance didn't hold up.

"If we lose the house, what will happen to the kids?" Turay asked. "These brokers are profiting from other people's misery."

The buildup of such cases means the process of negotiating deals with lenders to keep the homeowners in their homes is taking ever longer. And the further down the path to foreclosure they go, the less likely it can be avoided.

Infant skeleton in Penn. suitcase examined Authorities say no sign of trauma to child although cause of death unknown

GREENSBURG, Pennsylvania - An infant's skeleton found in a dead woman's suitcase was born at 35 weeks gestation, but authorities do not know its gender or how long it had been there.

There was no sign of trauma to the fetus, whose remains were found Saturday in Hempfield Township, said Westmoreland County chief deputy coroner Paul Cycak. The cause and manner of death will likely be ruled undetermined, he said.

The remains also will be examined by a forensic anthropologist at Mercyhurst College, state police said. It remains unclear when that examination will take place. Police said the investigation is ongoing.

Forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht used bone measurements and other techniques to determine the fetus' age, Cycak told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The fetus was wrapped in a "smock," its arms folded across its chest and its knees tucked into its chest in a fetal position, Cycak said.

State police said adult siblings cleaning out their elderly mother's house after she died in early December found the skeleton in an "old style" suitcase stored under the woman's bed. Cycak said the suitcase appeared to be from the 1950s.

The siblings did not recognize the suitcase as their mother's, but said clothes found inside belonged to her, Trooper Lisa Jobe said. Police did not immediately release the dead woman's name.

No charges have been filed. The coroner did not immediately return calls for comment from The Associated Press on Monday.

Divisional playoffs rematches for familiar foes-Each team facing each other for at least third time in last three years

The NFL filter that separates pretenders from contenders is working quite well. The eight teams remaining in the playoffs boasted the eight best records in football this year.

So some may say they’re the best of the best. The teams themselves may just say …

Hello … again.

Each of the four divisional battles is a re-match of sorts with all of the teams meeting for at least the third time in as many years. Jacksonville-New England met in the 2005 playoffs and at the end of last season. Seattle-Green Bay, New York-Dallas and San Diego-Indianapolis will take their frequent regular-season battles to the next level.

The Giants and Cowboys meet in the postseason for the first time in history. It's a remarkable first, considering the two marquee organizations have combined for 81 playoff games since the Cowboys joined the NFL in 1960. The Chargers and Colts meet in the postseason for just the second time, and first since Jim Harbaugh’s Colts bested Stan Humphries’ Chargers in 1995. The Seahawks and Packers battled in a famous overtime playoff game, but that was back in 2003.

Before we can look ahead to this weekend’s slate of action we decided to take a look back at the recent history of each familiar battle.

Jacksonville at New England

Last three years:
New England 28, Jacksonville 3 (2005 wild-card)
New England 24, Jacksonville 21 (2006 regular season)

Vs. 2007 common opponents: Jacksonville, 4-2 (152 PF-139 PA); New England, 5-0 (190-64)

Recent history says: Jags couldn’t even keep pace with the Branch & Caldwell Patriots.

In 2005, Jacksonville traveled to Foxboro for the wildcard playoffs. Three hours later the 12-4 Jaguars left bruised, battered and outclassed, victims of a 28-3 beat down at the hands of New England. And to think, that Patriots team was 10-6 during the regular season.

Last year the Jaguars played the Patriots to the wire, losing narrowly 24-21 in Jacksonville. That game featured a heavy dose of the human bowling ball of running backs, Maurice Jones-Drew, who totaled 200 yards from scrimmage on just 23 touches and accounted for all three Jaguars touchdowns. We also got a preview of things to come from David Garrard: he completed 17 of 23 passes for 195 yards, 1 TD and 0 picks that day, a performance looks quite familiar to anyone who followed Jacksonville here in 2007.

If the Jaguars have a chance this time around they'll need the best they can get from Garrard, along with a huge effort from their two-headed running attack: newly minted Pro Bowl selection Fred Taylor (5.4 YPA) and Jones-Drew (4.6 YPA), who combined for 1,970 yards on the ground this season.

So let's just say that, while this is a rematch, Jacksonville might find that the New England attack does not look very familiar.

Seattle at Green Bay

Last three years:
Green Bay 23, Seattle 17 (2005)
Seattle 34, Green Bay 24 (2006)

Vs. 2007 common opponents: Green Bay, 4-2 (124-120); Seattle, 5-1 (160-99)

Recent history says: The gunslinger needs to check his holster at the door before the family reunion.

Green Bay and Seattle are incredibly familiar with each other for teams that play in different divisions. Mike Holmgren, of course, won a Super Bowl coaching the Packers and even has a street named after him (Holmgren Way) outside Lambeau Field.

Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was originally drafted by the Packers, while Green Bay general manager Ted Thompson was hired away from the Seahawks.

Brett Favre, meanwhile, developed into a three-time MVP under Holmgren. But the coach certainly feasted on the gunslinger Favre of the past few years. Favre threw just a single TD in each of those two games, against four picks. His combined performance has looked like this: 43 for 73 (58.9%), 525 yards, 7.2 YPA, 2 TD, 4 INT, 67.4 passer rating

Of course, the 2007 version of Favre has been much more productive than the 2005 and 2006 versions, playing ball much like he did back in his MVP glory days under Holmgren.

SY investigators briefed on Ms Bhutto’s murder case

ISLAMABAD: The British Scotland Yard (SY) team which arrived here on Friday was given a briefing by the Interior Ministry about the probe carried out so far by the local investigators into the assassination of Ms Benazir Bhutto.
Sources told Geo News that Special Investigation Group of FIA Anti Terrorism apprised the SY team about the evidence gathered so far in connection with the murder of PPP leader.
The SY team, after holding detailed consultations with the Pakistan Government, will be embark upon a fully fledged probe into the incident and they will be extended full cooperation by SIG.
However, the matters regarding the team’s contact with the eye witnesses besides autopsy of the body of Ms Bhutto are yet to be finalized.
Meanwhile, the office bearers of Pakistan Peoples Party have been expressing distrust on locally conducted investigation and have demanded probe into the murder of Ms Bhutto under United Nations’ appointed investigators.
President Pervez Musharraf had announced to invite Scotland Yard’s investigative team to the country in his address to the nation on Wednesday night.

Aid workers in Chad kidnap case return to Paris-Convicted of taking children, they'll serve terms in France

PARIS - Six French aid workers sentenced to eight years hard labor in Chad for trying to kidnap 103 children arrived on Friday in France, where they are due to serve their sentences in jail.

France invoked a judicial cooperation treaty with its former colony to obtain the quick transfer home of the six, who were convicted of abduction by a Chadian criminal court on Wednesday.

The four men and two women from French humanitarian group Zoe's Ark arrived at Le Bourget airport near Paris and were interviewed by state prosecutor Francois Molins before being transferred to an unidentified prison.They were weak and demoralized but otherwise in good health, he told reporters, adding: "They realize that they're facing a period that is going to be difficult."

A group of family members and supporters, some bearing signs with slogans like "They were only thinking of the children" was waiting at the airport but did not see any of the six, who were taken away out of sight of reporters or the public.

"We asked to see them. It was refused," Christine Peligat, wife of the group's logistics specialist Alain Peligat told Reuters. "I'm worried about the medical side."

Their departure from Chad followed a highly publicized legal case and diplomatic imbroglio which had embarrassed France, a key backer of Chadian President Idriss Deby. French troops and planes stationed in Chad have given logistical and intelligence support to Deby's army fighting rebels in the east.

France is also the main contributor of troops to a European Union peace force preparing to deploy in eastern Chad to protect thousands of Sudanese refugees and displaced Chadian civilians.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is on holiday in Egypt and had personally lobbied for the six to be returned to France, spoke by telephone with Deby on Thursday, French officials said.

Case sparks protests
The aid workers were arrested in October as they tried to fly the children, aged one to 10, from eastern Chad to Europe for fostering with families there.

The workers said they had been on a humanitarian mission to rescue orphans from Sudan's war-torn Darfur region, across Chad's eastern border.

But most of the 103 children were found to have come from families in Chadian border villages who were persuaded to give up the infants in return for promises of education.

The Zoe's Ark case sparked anti-French protests in the Chadian capital N'Djamena and in Abeche in the east.

Many Chadians were angry over what they saw as meddling by Sarkozy, who flew to Chad in early November to collect three French journalists and four Spanish flight attendants who were freed after being arrested along with the Zoe's Ark six.

Under pressure from Paris and Madrid, Chad also freed three remaining Spanish aircrew and a Belgian pilot who had been detained in the case.

Zoe's Ark under fire
Zoe's Ark was widely condemned in France, but there was shock at the severity of the sentences handed out to a group generally considered naive and misguided but not malevolent.

Being flown to France means the convicted aid workers will be spared hard labor, a sentence no longer imposed in France.

But they may face legal battles lodged by families who had offered to look after the children in Europe. Diplomats say some of them paid thousands of dollars for each child.

It is not clear what will happen to $9 million that the Chadian court ordered the convicted aid workers to pay out to the children's families in compensation.

Witness: 50 burn to death in Kenya church--Mob attack building where hundreds had taken refuge from violence

NAIROBI, Kenya -

A mob torched a church sheltering hundreds of Kenyans fleeing election violence on Tuesday, killing as many as 50 people as the convulsion of bloodshed continued after the disputed vote that gave the president a second term. The opposition leader accused the government of "genocide."

President Mwai Kibaki said political parties should meet immediately and publicly call for calm after rioting killed at least 263 people in what had been east Africa's most stable and prosperous democracy.
Most of Kibaki's cabinet lost their seats in parliament, where Odinga's party took the majority of the seats. The discrepancy between the parliamentary and presidential results, unexplained delays in vote tallying and anomalies that included a 115-percent turnout in one constituency have fueled allegations of rigging. After the results were announced, the government instituted a ban on live broadcasts and many media outlets suspended their news programs in protest, allowing wild rumors to flourish.

The bloodshed is a stunning turn of events in one of the most developed countries in Africa, with a booming tourism industry and one of the continent's highest growth rates.

Kibaki's supporters say he has turned Kenya's economy into an east African powerhouse, with an average growth rate of 5 percent. He won by a landslide in 2002, ending 24 years in power by the notoriously corrupt Daniel arap Moi. But Kibaki's anti-graft campaign has been seen as a failure, and the country still struggles with tribalism and poverty.

Odinga, a flamboyant 62-year-old with a son named Fidel Castro, cast himself as a champion of the poor. His main constituency is Kibera, where some 700,000 people live in breathtaking poverty, but he has been accused of failing to do enough to help them in 15 years as a member of parliament.

Nighty shoe