Air pollution increases risk of premature birth

Air pollution increases risk of premature birth -Traffic fumes worst - Air pollution can increase a woman's risk of giving birth prematurely by up to a third, new research suggests.

A study in California found that air pollutants derived from a number of sources can be harmful to pregnant women, but traffic-related pollution was linked to a 30 per cent increase in risk.

The researchers looked at 100,000 births which took place within a five mile radius of air quality monitoring stations in Los Angeles County, over 22 months, beginning in 2004.

They compared health information about the births and mothers with that of air pollution levels from the same time period.

Overall, the study found that exposure to 'critical pollutants' such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) was linked to a thirty per cent higher risk of giving birth prematurely. PAHs are present in car exhaust fumes.

Other air pollutants, such as benzene and fine particulate matter from diesel fumes were associated with a 10 per cent higher risk of premature birth, while ammonium nitrate fine particles - an agricultural pollutant - were associated with a 21 per cent increase in risk.

The study, published in the journal Environmental Health, also found that pollution levels were higher in winter and lower in coastal areas.

Dr Beate Ritz, who led the study, said: "Air pollution is known to be associated with low birth weight and premature birth.

"Our results show that traffic-related PAH are of special concern as pollutants, and that PAH sources besides traffic contributed to premature birth.

"The increase in premature birth risk due to ammonium nitrate particles suggests secondary pollutants are also negatively impacting the health of unborn babies." ( yahoo )

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Stress lowers chances of having baby

Stress lowers chances of having baby - But yoga and meditation can help - Taking it easy may be the offhand advice doctors give to women who cannot conceive, but new scientific evidence confirms that stress does indeed play a role in conception.

Researchers at Oxford University and the US National Institutes of Health measured stress in women trying to get pregnant and found that those who were most stressed were least likely to conceive.

Stress joins other well known pregnancy risk factors such as excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and obesity.

The study measured two stress hormones in healthy women between the ages of 18 and 40 who were trying to conceive. It found that women with high levels of adrenalin had a 12 per cent lower chance of conceiving when fertile as compared to those who were less stressed.

"Irrespective of the day or frequency of sexual intercourse during the fertile window, women with higher concentrations of alpha-amylase were less likely to conceive than women with lower concentrations," the study said, referring to the enzyme that is an indicator of adrenalin levels.

However, women who were found to have a higher level of cortisol, which is a measure of chronic stress, were no less likely to conceive than women with lower levels of the stress hormone.

Dr Cecilia Pyper, of the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford, said: "The findings support the idea that couples should aim to stay as relaxed as they can about trying for a baby.

"In some people's cases, it might be relevant to look at relaxation techniques, counselling and even approaches like yoga and meditation."

The findings are published in the journal Fertility and Sterility. ( yahoo )

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Babies born to smokers have abnormal blood pressure

Babies born to smokers have abnormal blood pressure - Condition persists in first year - Babies born to mothers who smoked during pregnancy have been found to have abnormal blood pressure control which persists throughout the first year of life, according to a new study.

Scientists from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden measured the blood pressure and heart rates in 36 babies during their first weeks, at three months, and when one year old. All were of normal weight at birth and were breast fed.

Seventeen of the babies were born to mothers who smoked at least 15 cigarettes a day.

Blood pressure and heart rates were measured while the babies were asleep and tilted up at a 60 degree angle, before being laid down again.

Normally, when someone stands, the heart rate increases and blood vessels tighten to keep blood flow to the heart and brain. This causes an increase in blood pressure which then returns to normal when lying down.

However, this blood pressure response to tilting the babies upright during sleep was found to be "dramatically different" in babies born to smoking mothers compared to those born to non-smoking parents.

At a few weeks old, the babies born to non-smokers had a 2% increase in blood pressure when tilted upright at one week of age compared with a 10% increase in babies born to smokers.

When a year old, the findings were reversed. Babies born to non-smokers had a 10% increase in blood pressure when tilted compared with a 4% increase in the babies born to smokers.

At aged three months and one year, the heart rate response to tilting in the babies born to smokers was found to be "abnormal and highly exaggerated", the researchers reported.

“Infants of smokers have a hyper-reactive system in the first weeks of life because the blood pressure increases too much when they are tilted up, but at one year they under-react and are less effective in adapting to an upright position,” said Dr Gary Cohen, the senior research scientist who led the study.

The researchers plan to track the infants further to find out whether the problems continue when they become older.

“The seeds of many diseases probably are sown very early in life,” Dr. Cohen said.

“Babies of smokers may already be showing signs that they are more likely to develop high blood pressure later in life.”

The study is published in the January 25 online version of the Journal Hypertension. ( yahoo )

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Mozart does not boost IQ - Another myth debunked

Mozart does not boost IQ - Another myth debunked - Listening to Mozart will not boost your intelligence, new research has found. So if you have been playing Eine Kleine Nachtmusic around the clock hoping to improve your child's performance at school, take a break and listen to something else.

The so called "Mozart effect" first came to the public's attention in 1993, when a study published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature reported that listening to Mozart's 1781 sonata for two pianos in D major (KV 488) improved college students cognitive abilities compared with students who listed to other music or none at all.

Since then sales of Mozart CDs for children have become popular, and in 1998 the state of Georgia even gave every mother of a newborn baby a free classical music CD.

However, the findings of the study met with scepticism in the scientific community and other studies failed to achieve the same results.

To determine once and for all whether the Mozart effect really exists, psychologists from the University of Vienna analysed the results of 40 different studies involving over 3000 people worldwide.

The researchers say the findings are clear cut: the Mozart effect is no more than a myth.

"I recommend listening to Mozart to everyone, but it will not meet expectations of boosting cognitive abilities," says Dr Jakob Pietschnig, who led the study.

The Mozart effect was recently ranked sixth in the book '50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology', authored by psychologist Scott E. Lilienfield.

The findings are published in the journal Intelligence. ( yahoo )

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Giving birth makes mother's brain grow

Giving birth makes mother's brain grow - Increases in areas linked to motivation and behaviour - Popular wisdom has it that when a woman gives birth her brain shrinks - but new research has found that the opposite appears to be true.

In the study the brains of 19 women were measured using magnetic-resonance imaging just after they had given birth, and again 4 months later.

A comparison of the two images showed that grey matter volume increased by a small but significant amount in various parts of the brain. This is an unusual result as in adults the brain rarely changes over such a short period without significant learning, brain injury, illness, or major environmental change.

Brain areas affected by the change support maternal motivation (hypothalamus), reward and emotion processing (substantia nigra and amygdala), sensory integration (parietal lobe), and reasoning and judgement (prefrontal cortex).

Interestingly, those mothers who were the most enthusiastic about their new born baby were significantly more likely to develop bigger mid-brains than the less awestruck mothers in key areas linked to maternal motivation, rewards and the regulation of emotions.

The authors of the study speculated that the intense interactive nature of the mother-baby bond may itself trigger these growth patterns - expansion in the brain's "motivation" area in particular could lead to more nurturing, which would help babies survive and thrive physically, emotionally and mentally.

These results may also provide some insight into the causes of post-natal depression, and perhaps suggest a possible avenue for treatment of the condition.

The study is published in the journal Behavioral Neuroscience. ( yahoo )

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Climate change downsizing fauna, flora

Climate change downsizing fauna, flora: study - Climate change is reducing the body size of many animal and plant species, including some which supply vital nutrition for more than a billion people already living near hunger's threshold, according to a study released Sunday.

From micro-organisms to top predators, nearly 45 percent of species for which data was reviewed grew smaller over multiple generations due to climate change, researchers found.

The impact of rapidly climbing temperatures and shifts in rainfall patterns on body size could have unpredictable and possible severe consequences, they warned.

Previous work established that recent climate change has led to sharp shifts in habitat and the timing of reproductive cycles. But impact on the size of plants and animals has received far less attention.

A toad is seen in Borneo in July 2011. Climate change is reducing the body size of many animal and plant species, including some which supply vital nutrition for more than a billion people already living near hunger's threshold, according to a study released Sunday. (AFP Photo/Indraneil Das)

Jennifer Sheridan and David Bickford at the National University of Singapore looked at scientific literature on climate-change episodes in the distant past and at experiments and observations in recent history.

Fossil records, they found, were unambiguous: past periods of rising temperatures had led both marine and land organisms to became progressively smaller.

During a warming event 55 million years ago -- often seen as an analogue for current climate change -- beetles, bees, spiders, wasps and ants shrank by 50 to 75 percent over a period of several thousand years.

Mammals such as squirrels and woodrats also diminished in size, by about 40 percent.

The pace of current warming, though, is far greater than during this so-called Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM).

It, too, has begun to shrink dozens of species, the study found.

Among 85 examples cited, 45 percent were unaffected. But of those remaining, four out of five had gotten smaller, while a fifth got bigger.

Some of the shrinkage came as a surprise. "Plants were expected to get larger with increased atmospheric carbon dioxide," but many wound up stunted due to changes in temperature, humidity and nutrients available, the researchers said.

For cold-blooded animals -- including insects, reptiles and amphibians -- the impact is direct: experiments suggest that an upward tick of one degree Celsius translates into roughly a 10 percent increase in metabolism, the rate at which an organism uses energy. That, in turn, results in downsizing.

The common toad, for example, has measurably shriveled in girth in only two decades, along with some tortoises, marine iguanas and lizards.

Overfishing has been blamed for decreased body size in both wild and commercially-harvested aquatic species, threatening the key source of protein of a billion people around the world, mainly in Africa and Asia.

But experiments and observational studies have shown that warming waters play a role as well, especially in rivers and lakes.

Birds -- including passerines, goshawks and gulls -- and mammals such as soay sheep, red dear and polar bears, have also trended towards less bulk.

Some of the most worrying changes are at the bottom of the food chain, especially in the ocean, where tiny phytoplankton and calcium-building creatures are dwindling in size due to acidification and the reduced capacity of warmer water to hold oxygen and nutrients.

Carbon pollution has probably locked in an additional 1.0 C increase in average global temperatures, and continued emissions of greenhouse gases could push up the thermometre another 4.0 to 5.0 C (7.4 to 9.0 F) by centuries end, according to the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Because warming is occurring at unprecedented rates, "may organisms may not respond or adapt quickly enough", especially those with long generation times, the authors noted in an email.

"We do not yet know the exact mechanisms involved, or why some organisms are getting smaller while others are unaffected," they added. "Until we understand more, we could be risking negative consequences that we can't yet quantify."

The study is published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Climate Change. ( AFP )

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12 Percent of Shy Teens May Have Social Phobia

12 Percent of Shy Teens May Have Social Phobia - A small portion of shy teenagers may actually have social phobia, according to a new national study of adolescents.

Social phobia, a persistent, debilitating fear of situations that could involve scrutiny and judgment, is a somewhat controversial diagnosis in children and teens, with critics arguing that the diagnosis turns normal shyness into a medical condition. But the new research finds that teens who meet the criteria for social phobia are also more likely to struggle with depression, anxiety, substance disorders and other problems. That finding suggests that social phobia is a serious condition beyond regular shyness, the researchers report Monday (Oct. 17) in the journal Pediatrics.

To uncover the overlap between shyness and social phobia, the researchers drew from a nationally representative survey of 10,123 American teenagers and 6,483 of their parents. In face-to-face sessions, the teenagers answered questions about their level of shyness, anxiety and prescription medication use. The teens were also evaluated for social phobia.

Parents were more likely to rate their teens as shy than the teens themselves, with 62.4 percent of parents saying their teens were shy while only 46.7 percent of teens described themselves that way. Of the students who called themselves shy, 12.4 percent actually met the criteria to be diagnosed with social phobia. Of the teens described as shy by their parents, 10.6 percent met the criteria for social phobia.

Of teens not identified as shy, about 5 percent met the social phobia criteria.

The results suggest that "social phobia is not simply shyness," the researchers wrote. "In contrast to the high frequency of shyness observed among U.S. adolescents, social phobia affected a minority of youth."

More tellingly, the researchers reported, teenagers who met the criteria for social phobia reported more social struggles and more additional psychological disorders than the teens who were simply shy. Despite these troubles, the socially phobic teens were no more likely than their counterparts to be taking medication.

The implication, the researchers wrote, is that social phobia should be taken seriously in young people.

"Although many adolescents with social phobia demonstrate marked impairment, results suggest that few ever seek or obtain professional help," the researchers wrote. "Persistent claims that dispute the severity of this condition among youth likely will do little to alter their course." ( LiveScience.com )

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The Ten Best Places to Retire in 2012

The Ten Best Places to Retire in 2012 - Better weather, affordable housing, and plenty of interesting things to do are just a few reasons people move to a new place when they retire. Whether you want to spend your golden years watching the sun set over the water or taking on a second career, we've identified an ideal place. Using data from Onboard Informatics, U.S. News selected 10 key attributes that many people look for in a retirement spot, along with a city that excels in meeting each need. Here are 10 excellent places to retire in 2012.

Pleasant year-round weather: Flagstaff, Ariz.

Flagstaff's high altitude and low humidity generally lead to a pleasant four-season climate throughout most of the year. To select a place with great year-round weather, we used National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data to find places with the most sunny days. Among the sunniest cities, we looked for places where the temperature seldom rises above 90 degrees. The sun shines in Flagstaff an average of 78 percent of the year, according to NOAA data, but unlike most other sunny climates, the temperature only rises above 90 degrees an average of three days per year. Flagstaff can receive a significant amount of snow in the winter, but the prolific sunshine often quickly melts accumulation. "There is a lot of sunshine and no extremes of temperature," says Karen Haskins, 71, a retiree who moved to Flagstaff from Amherst, N.H., in 2007. "Summer and early fall are really pleasant. Winters are cold and you do get snow, but because of the intensity of the sun, it melts quickly."

Affordable mountain town: Boone, N.C.

Pricey Aspen and Vail may be beyond your budget, but that doesn't mean you can't spend your retirement years appreciating spectacular mountain views or making runs on the slopes. Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Boone boasts three nearby ski resorts as well as trails for cross country skiing, winter hiking, and snowshoeing. Residents of this small town of 14,000 also have access to one of the country's most scenic roads, the Blue Ridge Parkway. A bonus: Boone provides residents with a free local bus service, AppalCART, and access to many of the amenities at Appalachian State University. In 2010, the median home sale price was $215,250.

Water views on a budget: Traverse City, Mich.

Dream of retiring to a lake house? The Traverse City area offers more than 180 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline and 149 large lakes measuring 10 acres or more. Residents can climb the high sand dunes and lounge on the freshwater beaches at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, or take a ferry out to the Manitou Islands. There are also plenty of opportunities for boating on the twin Grand Traverse Bays. Housing prices in this lakeside city average a reasonable $155,715.

Greenest place to retire: Walnut Creek, Calif.

Retirees make up more than a quarter of the population of Walnut Creek, which combines the amenities of a city with abundant access to the wilderness. Downtown is filled with high-end shops, fine dining, and organic eateries, as well as the Lesher Center for the Arts. The city also has 22 city parks and 2,704 acres of open space. "There's a great amount of open space available," says Joe Stadum, a resident of Walnut Creek's large 55-and-older gated community, Rossmoor. He enjoys hiking with the Rossmoor Trails Club, which counts more than 200 members. "You can drive or ride your bicycle or run and hike. It's a great asset." Residents may choose to drive up to the summit of 3,849-foot Mount Diablo or travel to nearby San Francisco. But life in the Bay Area doesn't come cheap. The median home price is $411,000.

A college town for retirees: Ithaca, N.Y.

College towns like Ithaca can be an ideal place to retire. For a median home price of just $176,500, retirees can take classes at Cornell University or Ithaca College and attend speeches, concerts, and sporting events. They can also spend their days hiking to the more than 100 waterfalls and gorges within 10 miles of downtown or sampling the wares of the Cayuga Lake Wine Trail. Don Wilson, 65, a retired cardiologist from Rockford, Ill., bicycles throughout the Finger Lakes region three times a week. "The rural roads in the Finger Lakes region have so little traffic that you can ride three or four abreast on a bicycle in continuous conversation, learning from each other," he says. Wilson has also developed an interest in paleontology, and is taking a course on the subject at Cornell University and conducting research on fossils at the Museum of the Earth. "I think that university towns tend to attract interesting organizations, like the Museum of the Earth, and interesting people who may or may not be connected with the college."

Place to launch a second career: Lincoln, Neb.

Clague Hodgson, 65, retired early from a faculty position at the Creighton University School of Medicine and founded his own biotech company, Nature Technology Corporation, in 1998. His Lincoln-based business now employs eight people who investigate the use of DNA as a medicine. Hodgson says the city's low unemployment rate and proximity to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln make it an excellent place to launch a second career. "The University of Nebraska Technology Park really takes a lot of the weight off your shoulders," he says. "For an entrepreneur, remaining affiliated with the university is a good source of information, the library is very helpful, and occasionally we collaborate with researchers there." Nebraska's state capitol had an unemployment rate of just 3.5 percent in 2010, among the lowest in the country. According to Onboard Informatics data, the city has added more than 15,000 jobs since 2000, many of which are in fields known to hire older workers, including government, higher education, and healthcare.

Best mix of affordability and amenities: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Pittsburgh has a low cost of living coupled with a wide variety of amenities that retirees will need as they age. The median home sale price was $97,900 in 2010, which is unusual for a city with a large university and top-notch hospitals. Senior citizens age 65 and older with proper identification are entitled to ride Port Authority buses and trains for free. You'll just have to decide whether you want season tickets to the ballet, symphony, or Steelers games, assuming all three won't fit into your retirement budget.

Best place for affordable housing: Port Charlotte, Fla.

Port Charlotte home prices were battered by the housing bust, which could mean bargains for retirees new to the area. The median home sale price was a shockingly low $59,950 in 2010. And many of these homes are located along canals and waterways. "There are a tremendous number of houses on the water, and everybody's got their boats in their backyard," says retiree Chris Zwirner, 78. "All the people who live on water essentially have access to the Gulf of Mexico, and from there you can go around the world." The Charlotte Harbor Preserve State Park spans 42,000 acres, including 70 miles of shoreline along the Charlotte Harbor. An added bonus: Florida has no state income tax.

Best place for single retirees: Pittsfield, Mass.

Dating is increasingly becoming a part of the retirement years. And Pittsfield is the only metro area where the majority of the 55-and-older population (52 percent) is single, according to Census Bureau data. Carol Scott, 60, an event planner who has been widowed for three years, likes to connect with new people online and has arranged five in-person dates so far this year. "I usually like to meet for a coffee or a drink," she says. "If we find we enjoy each other's company, perhaps it runs over into dinner." But even if you move to Pittsfield, we can't guarantee that dating will be easy. There are nearly twice as many single women (14,237) age 55 and older as single men (7,869). "A lot of my women friends are single," says Scott. "And while I have met some very nice people, I have not met someone I am interested in pursuing."

Best place for recreation and culture: Santa Fe, N.M.

At more than 400 years old, Santa Fe is the country's oldest state capitol. The city is known for its unique culture and art galleries, including the New Mexico Museum of Art and Institute of American Indian Arts. "Santa Fe has a charter that is unlike other cities," says Karen Ralston, 67, a retired director of marketing for a publisher. She moved to Santa Fe in 2006. "The cultural mix that we get here--the Anglo culture and the Indian culture and the Hispanic culture--blends very beautifully here. We really love that mix," she says. An art history minor in college, Ralston rediscovered that interest by volunteering at the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum and the Center for Contemporary Arts. The creations of artists worldwide are also celebrated at a variety of annual festivals and markets, such as the Native Treasures Indian Arts Festival and the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market. ( US News )

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From China, with love?

From China, with love? - The stern, bulky visage of Martin Luther King Jr. now gracing the National Mall has brought forth tears of joy and redemption from onlookers. But for some Americans, the massive monument will forever be marred by where it was made: China.

The MLK Memorial was created by Chinese master sculptor Lei Yixin and the Dingli Stone Carving Co. out of 159 pieces of pink Chinese granite, and, its defenders say, is intended to embrace Dr. King's legacy as a global icon.

"Martin Luther King is not only a hero of Americans, he also is a hero of the world, and he pursued the universal dream of the people of the world," Mr. Lei said through a translator in August, before hurricane Irene pushed back the dedication of the memorial to Oct. 16.

To be sure, the ultimate arbiters will be onlookers, and so far those closest to King have been pleased. "This particular artist, he has done a good job," Martin Luther King III, King's son, told USA Today.

But as America prepares to dedicate its first National Mall monument to an African-American, the process continues to dog the product.

At issue are two philosophical ideas: One is that a sculptor's job is to simply put into stone the vision of a patron, and the other is that art is the reflection of its creator.

It's not the first time such questions have dogged US monument patrons. The decision to use a French sculptor to carve the likeness of Robert E. Lee for a late 19th century monument in Richmond, Va., was met with “a lot of rumbling and grumbling” from Confederate veterans, who argued that only a Virginian could sculpt an appropriate likeness of Lee, says Kirk Savage, a University of Pittsburgh art historian.

Mr. Savage, the author of this year's "Monument Wars," a book about the transformation of the National Mall, sees an equivalent in the debate over a Chinese sculptor carving King.

“The idea is that a portrait likeness is supposed to be more than the features of a person, should convey the character or soul of that person, and that a Chinese person can't do that [with King],” he says. “But the fact is a competent, good artist can certainly do a better job than somebody who is not a competent artist, but who has a personal connection.”

Someone new to King's legacy, as Lei was, could even offer a fresh look at a face so familiar to Americans, he adds.

In this case, though, the creator is a state artist who has made dozens of heroic depictions of Mao Zedong, the brutal founder of Communist China. Seen this way, the statue is a corruption of King's liberation message and a PR coup for the Chinese government.

"Why are we letting the symbol of our human rights, the symbol of freedom for all Americans, to now be partially wiped out by a country – and the product that came from it – that represents repression and slavery?" asks Ann Lau, chairman of the Visual Artists Guild, a human rights organization in Los Angeles.

Since Lei was commissioned for the project in 2006, a coalition of quarrymen, artists, and Chinese human rights activists have protested the choice and the fact that American quarry companies weren't allowed to bid on the project. A federal investigation into the no-bid decision found no wrongdoing by the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, the group tasked with organizing the project.

Concerns have also been raised about the antiquated and dangerous working conditions of Chinese quarries where the MLK Monument stone was unearthed, the muscular Socialist Realist style that mirrors landmarks more common in totalitarian countries, and Lei's lifetime pension from the Chinese government – a regime that continues to take a hard line against dissenters.

The foundation, which raised most of the $120 million needed to install the monument, says having the job done in China also had aesthetic and practical advantages.

“Not only did we need an artist, we needed someone with the means and methods of putting those large stones together,” Ed Jackson Jr., the project's executive architect, told The Washington Post ahead of the original Aug. 28 dedication date. “We don’t do this in America. We don’t handle stones of this size.”

Foundation officials also said the kind of pink-hued granite needed to fit into the National Mall color palette was not available in the US.

The technical requirements for the MLK Monument may well have been beyond the reach of the stone-carving community in America, which hasn't been able to keep up with demand for larger, more intricate monuments that appeal to modern donors, and which ultimately require different sets of technical and artistic skills, adds Savage.

“It doesn't surprise me that they would go to somebody in China,” he says. “They're still making giant statues of great Communist leaders, and we had sort of stopped making monuments of that size and scale."

But granite sculptors in Vermont, a group of African-American artists, and even a bricklayers union, which handed out protest leaflets at the monument in August, deny these claims. Not only could Americans have done the job, but the monument also could have been an economic boost to America's struggling granite quarry business, which has seen large layoffs in recent years, said stone-carver Clint Button.

"Stone doesn't care what color you are, it tells the truth, and the truth that this stone tells is indicative of the process, because it missed the mark, and that's really sad," he says. "Everybody says it's awesome, incredible, and then they say, 'I can't believe they couldn't find anybody in America to do it.' "

Those who could have benefited economically from a US-made MLK Monument aren't the only ones who have been skeptical.

In 2008, the US Commission of Fine Arts criticized the visage, made from a photograph of King in his Atlanta office, as too grim and totalitarian, although the King family approved the image. American artists had favored a warmer, more "intellectual" portrait of King.

The California Chapter of the NAACP in 2007 passed a complaint resolution on behalf of African-American artists that charged that the foundation "has chosen to outsource the production of the monument to Dr. King to the People's Republic of China … which is an affront to the ideal of human dignity."

"Surely, having a black sculptor of a black civil rights icon – working on ground once toiled by black slaves, on the National Mall, designed and surveyed with the help of a black mathematician and astronomer Benjamin Banneker – would have added to the King memorial’s symbolic power," wrote Washington Post columnist Courtland Milloy.

The conflict comes at a time of deep insecurity in the US about its role in the world compared with China. In July, a Pew Research Center survey found a stunning statistic. The percentage of Americans who believe China has or is about to overshadow the US increased from 33 percent to 46 percent between 2009 and 2011.

Foundation members have also pushed back at criticism of Lei as the principal sculptor. "My response to critics who question why we chose a Chinese sculptor is Dr. King's words themselves, that we should not judge a person by the color of their skin but by the content of their character," foundation director Harry Johnson said in defense of the memorial.

What's more, a USA Today poll showed that 7 in 10 Americans are very or somewhat interested in visiting Lei's sculpture.

But American artists and quarry men haven't given up. Their goal is to build enough public sentiment against the MLK Monument to have it torn out and replaced by another rock, hewn in America, by Americans.

"Dr. King is held in bondage by his own arms, he'll never be free at last," said Mr. Button, the South Carolina stone carver. "He's always going to be made in China." ( Christian Science Monitor )

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Indy 500 winner Wheldon dies after massive wreck

Indy 500 winner Wheldon dies after massive wreck — Every race car driver heads onto the track understanding this race could be the last and hoping it won't be.

On Sunday, IndyCar drivers got a harsh reminder when the worst happened to one of their own.

Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon died when his car got caught up in a 15-car pileup, sailed over another vehicle and smashed into a catch fence at IndyCar's season-ending race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

"Things happen in this kind of racing," said Wade Cunningham, also caught up in the wreck. "It's so close. Not much room for error. I was near the front of what caused all this, so I'm not thrilled about it. At this point, whose fault it was is kind of immaterial."

The green flag had barely stopped waving when disaster struck.

Wheldon, driving from the back of the field for a chance at $5 million, was moving through the pack when he drove into a tangle of cars careening off each other in every direction.

Unable to avoid the massive wreck unfolding before him, Wheldon clipped another car and went hurtling through the air, his car bursting into flames as it flew into a fence.

Bryan Herta Autosport driver Dan Wheldon of England poses with his family, wife Susie (L) holding son Oliver with older son Sebastian (R), next to the BorgWarner trophy the day after winning the Indianapolis 500 auto race in Indianapolis, Indiana, in this May 30, 2011 file photo. Wheldon was killed in a multi-car wreck during the IZOD IndyCar World Championship race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 16, 2011, according to local media. REUTERS/Jeff Haynes/Files (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT MOTORSPORT OBITUARY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

After just 11 laps, the race was over. Two hours later, track officials announced that Wheldon was dead. The Englishman was 33.

"One minute you're joking around at driver intros and the next, Dan's gone," said Dario Franchitti, whose wife, actress Ashley Judd, had to bring him a box of tissues. "I lost, we lost, a good friend. Everybody in the IndyCar series considered him a friend. He was such a good guy. He was a charmer."

With the speed — close to 225 mph during practice — and a crowded 34-car field, a big worry was aggressive driving early in the 200-lap race.

Chaos started when two cars touched tires coming around turn 2 and almost no one had time to react.

Within seconds, several cars burst into flames and debris covered the track nearly halfway up the straightaway. Some points of impact were so devastating workers had to patch holes in the asphalt.

Video replays showed Wheldon's car turning over as it went airborne and sailed into what's called the catch fence, which sits over a barrier designed to give a bit when cars make contact. Rescue workers were at Wheldon's car quickly, some furiously waving for more help to get to the scene.

"It's unfortunate that early on in the race they've got to be racing so close. ...," Team Penske owner Roger Penske said. "You always worry about those at these mile-and-a-halves at the speed and with this many cars."

Three other drivers, including championship contender Will Power, were hurt in the pileup.

Wheldon was airlifted from the track to University Medical Center; news of his death came from IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard:

"IndyCar is very sad to announce that Dan Wheldon has passed away from unsurvivable injuries," he said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family today. IndyCar, its drivers and owners, have decided to end the race."

In his honor, drivers, many sobbing openly, took part in a five-lap salute around the 1.5-mile oval as thousands of fans stood and cheered from the grandstand.

Also injured in the crash were JR Hildebrand and Pippa Mann. Both will remain in the hospital overnight. IndyCar said Mann was being treated for a burn to her right pinkie finger and will be released Monday morning; Hildebrand was awake and alert but will be held overnight for further evaluation. Power was evaluated and released.

An autopsy was planned Monday for Wheldon.

"I'll tell you, I've never seen anything like it," Ryan Briscoe said. "The debris we all had to drive through the lap later, it looked like a war scene from Terminator or something. I mean, there were just pieces of metal and car on fire in the middle of the track with no car attached to it and just debris everywhere. So it was scary, and your first thoughts are hoping that no one is hurt because there's just stuff everywhere. Crazy."

IndyCar has not had a fatality since Paul Dana was killed at Homestead in 2006 during a crash in a morning warmup. Wheldon won the race later that day.

The accident appeared to start when Cunningham's car swerved on the track and Hildebrand drove over the left rear of Cunningham's car. Hildebrand appeared to go airborne, and Cunningham's car shot up into the wall, setting off a chain reaction among the cars behind him.

Some of those cars slowed, others didn't, and others spun in front of Wheldon and Power. There was so much confusion on the track it was hard to tell who was driving what car.

Power appeared to fly over Alex Lloyd's car, his ride rolling into the catch fence and landing on its right side. His in-car camera showed one of the front tires coming toward him in the cockpit.

Wheldon then appeared to drive over a car driven by Paul Tracy, who seemed to be slowing down. Wheldon, however, went airborne and spun into the fence.

"It was like a movie scene which they try to make as gnarly as possible," said Danica Patrick, making her final IndyCar start. "It was debris everywhere across the whole track. You could smell the smoke. You could see the billowing smoke on the back straight from the car. There was a chunk of fire that we were driving around. You could see cars scattered."

Wheldon, who came to the United States from England in 1999, won 16 times in his IndyCar career and was the series champion in 2005.

Despite winning this year's Indy 500, Wheldon couldn't put together a full-time ride this season but had a deal in the works for 2012.

Andretti Autosport, the team with which Wheldon won the 2005 Indy 500, had agreed to a contract early Sunday for Wheldon to replace Patrick next season. The deal was supposed to be signed after the race.

"Back when he was with the team in '05, we referred to the team as The Beatles because it was such perfect harmony (with his teammates) — and with Dan coming back, there was talk of putting The Beatles back together," said John Lopes, chief marketing officer and VP of marketing for Andretti Autosport. "So today is devastating. We not only lost a future teammate, but a longtime teammate. It's so sad. He's going to be sorely missed and fondly remembered."

Wheldon landed in the Las Vegas race thanks to Bernard's promise of $5 million to any moonlighting driver who could win the IndyCar season finale. Although there were no takers, Bernard refused to scrap the idea and Wheldon was declared eligible for the prize, which would have been split with a fan.

Asked about speed after the crash, Wheldon's former boss Chip Ganassi said, "There'll be plenty of time in the offseason to talk about that. Now is not the time to talk about that."

And Franchitti said: "I agree. We'll discuss that and sort it out."

But driver Oriol Servia didn't mince words: "We all had a bad feeling about this place in particular just because of the high banking and how easy it was to go flat. And if you give us the opportunity, we are drivers and we try to go to the front. We race each other hard because that's what we do," he said. "We knew it could happen, but it's just really sad."

Wheldon had been providing blog posts for USA Today in the days leading up to the Las Vegas race, and in one posted Saturday to the newspaper's website he spoke of how he expected Sunday to be "pure entertainment."

"This is going to be an amazing show," Wheldon wrote. "The two championship contenders, Dario Franchitti and Will Power, are starting right next to each other in the middle of the grid. Honestly, if I can be fast enough early in the race to be able to get up there and latch onto those two, it will be pure entertainment. It's going to be a pack race, and you never know how that's going to turn out."

The accident spoiled what Bernard had hoped would be a showcase event for the struggling IndyCar Series.

The second-year CEO worked the entire season on turning the finale into a spectacle, and said he would offer his resignation to the IndyCar board of directors if ABC's broadcast didn't pull a .8 ranking. His goal was to improve upon last year's horrible television rating for the season finale and give the series some momentum for a strong season in 2013 with the introduction of a new car and new manufacturers.

So Bernard poured everything into Las Vegas, renting the speedway from owner Bruton Smith and agreeing to promote the event himself. He landed enough sponsorship to at least break even, and the $5 million challenge bought him an enormous amount of publicity the entire year.

Bernard got the Las Vegas Strip to close to stage a parade of cars, and hosted industry parties and a blackjack tournament to boost interest in the race. He even got MGM Grand Resorts to offer a pair of tickets to anyone staying this weekend in one of the chain's 14 properties.

But what was hoped to be a day of celebration quickly turned somber.

When drivers returned to the track for the tribute laps, Wheldon's No. 77 was the only one on the towering scoreboard. Franchitti sobbed uncontrollably as he got back into his car for the memorial ride. The sound of "Danny Boy" echoed around the track, followed by "Amazing Grace." Hundreds of crew workers and representatives from each team stood at attention in honor of Wheldon.

"What can you say? We're going to miss him," Ganassi said. "Everybody in IndyCar died a little today." ( Associated Press )

READ MORE - Indy 500 winner Wheldon dies after massive wreck

Don't Dim Your Light for Your Man

Don't Dim Your Light for Your Man - Don't play conservative, if you're not! Don't play anything -- be yourself!

If you're Christian, you grew up singing that song in church, "This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine." My heart melts when I see the toddlers sing that today at my church. Such a simple song with a huge meaning -- God/the Universe has given you a light to shine and therefore you should let it.

I love to watch children play, specifically my Godchildren, Jayden and Elliot. They are discovering the world -- one leaf, one spider, and one ice cream cone at a time. It is wonderful to see them attack life with such a brilliant and pure light.

It is the main reason why I hate to see some parents and adults do things to dim that light by forgetting kids are kids and not adults. I think the worst thing you can do to a child is dim the natural light that shines within her. It is equally disheartening for me to see adults dim their own lights, especially for someone else.

One of my sister-friends, who I'm not that close with, but have known for years, has always been a vibrant person. She's the type of woman who wears those outfits that borderline outrageous, but work for her because she has that type of personality. I have always admired her zeal for life and her indifference to what other people think. She did her thing no matter what!

It was her enigmatic personality that always made everyone want to be around her. She was definitely someone you wanted on the list at your party, as you could count on her to do something ridiculously fun. We all loved her just the way she was.

I hadn't seen her in a couple of years and we both ended up at a mutual friend's birthday party. Turns out, she had gotten married and had a baby. I was so happy for her and wanted to know everything about her husband and her new life. I offered to grab us some cocktails so we could sip while we caught up. She said she no longer drank alcohol. It was a shocker to me because she could drink a linebacker under the table. But, I do understand people evolve and didn't think much of it.

When I returned with my gimlet in hand and her Sprite, we sat down to shoot the breeze. As she told me about her day-to-day life, I felt like I was talking to a complete stranger. This couldn't be the wild and crazy girl that I'd known for years. Instead, some demure Stepford Wife had invaded her body. Then, I noticed how she was dressed; floral print dress, two-inch pumps and pearls. Wow!

As she continued about her life, I felt like I was in an episode of Charlie Brown, because all I heard was "womp, womp, womp!" I was stunned! Don't get me wrong; I know people do change. But, this was like Snooki becoming Mother Theresa; people don't change that much! More importantly, I was getting bored. The interesting, hip, life on the edge girl I knew was clearly gone and I was counting the moments when I could break away from her.

Then, I said it! I was probably out of line, but I had to do it. I asked, "So, what gives? You're a completely different person than what I remember you to be." At first, she was taken aback by the question. Then, she paused for a moment and saw an opportunity to talk. She told me that her husband was really conservative -- a Republican -- and how over the course of their relationship he'd made "suggestions" on how she should conduct herself. He had intentions of running for office.

I could tell she was unhappy with this change, but she clearly loved her husband and child. My question was, "Who did he think he was marrying?" Her response, "He says he saw my potential past all of the other stuff." I was heated! All that "other stuff" was what made her special; it was her light.

Of course, I went on to encourage her to let her light shine. Otherwise, she was going to be miserable for the rest of her life. I asked, "Do you even like pearls?" She gave me that smile that reads, "Hell no!" My goal was not to interfere in her relationship because she had clearly made some choices. I did, however, want to encourage her to seek a way that she could be more of herself and let her true light shine.

I don't know what happened with my sister-friend after that birthday party. I haven't seen her since. I pray that she is becoming more secure in who she really is at the core and allowing herself space to be that person within the confines of her marriage. Not only is she doing her self a disservice, her husband is missing out on a truly awesome woman.

I see so many women dim their lights for men and nothing upsets me more. Don't play dumb! Don't play conservative, if you're not! Don't play anything -- be yourself! If a man is looking for you to mute your music, then he's not the man for you. You can only be someone else for so long before your true self comes out. And, it's usually too late then. So, it's best for you to stay true to the light God gave you and let it shine! ( msn.com )

READ MORE - Don't Dim Your Light for Your Man

Sell your life to a stranger?

Sell your life to a stranger? - You may be able to get cash by selling your life insurance policy to an investor. Here's how to find out whether it's a smart move.

If you've heard anything about the life settlement industry, it's probably because of deals that went wrong.

Life settlement is the practice of selling your life insurance policy for cash to investors who continue paying your premiums and who collect the death benefit when you die.

The practice has been around for a few decades, but it gained notoriety starting in the mid-2000s after hedge funds became big investors, wealthy people began buying policies specifically to flip them and many individual investors got burned by people who hung around much longer than their life expectancies suggested.

Here are just some of the cases that made headlines:

• Talk-show host Larry King sued an insurance brokerage in 2007, saying he was paid too little for the $15 million in policies he sold and wasn't told how tough it would be to get affordable replacements.
• The widow of a wealthy Manhattan lawyer sued after learning her late husband bought $56 million in life insurance coverage and quickly sold it to investors. She argued the death benefits should have come to her.
• An 81-year-old man in Los Angeles sued his agent, an insurance company and a bank after he said he was persuaded to pay $690,000 in premiums for a $6 million policy, only to find out there were no investors who wanted to buy it.

The idea of giving strangers a financial interest in your death may strike you as kind of creepy. But life settlement is a legitimate option for older people who have policies they no longer need, said Darwin Bayston, the executive director of the Life Insurance Settlement Association, an industry trade group.

What's your policy worth?

"So much of our senior population is just not prepared for retirement," Bayston said, noting that selling unneeded life insurance policies could be an alternative to selling a family home or using a reverse mortgage to tap the home's equity for cash. "Maybe their policies have value. . . . They can take a look at it and see what it might be worth."

The answer could be: not much. The recent boom in life settlements ended with the 2008 financial crash, which wiped out most of the market for what Bayston calls "manufactured STOLI," or stranger-originated life insurance, that was taken out by rich, healthy people to sell for a quick profit. Changes in life-expectancy tables -- actuaries figured out we were living longer -- dealt the industry another blow.

Today, most of the business involves policies owned by seniors in poor health, and "it's a buyer's market," said Glenn Daily, a fee-only insurance consultant who evaluates policies for investors and sellers.

The institutional investors that buy most policies -- big banks, pension funds, hedge funds, even life insurance companies -- are looking for a sizable expected return, typically in the range of 15% to 20%, after accounting for the policyholder's life expectancy and the cost of future premiums. Broker commissions and other costs further reduce the potential payout to sellers.

Often, Daily said, "people are disappointed."

"They think there's this pot of gold they can take advantage of," said Daily, who evaluates individual polices for a $1,895 fee. "They find out their policy is worth 10 cents on the dollar, or you go through the work (of trying to evaluate its worth) and it's worth nothing."

When is a life insurance policy most likely to have value in this market? Here are some guidelines, according to Daily:

• It's a cash-value policy, particularly a universal life policy. Cash-value policies, also known as "permanent" insurance, combine a death benefit with an investment component that builds up value over time. Term insurance, which is pure insurance with no investment component, typically has no value unless the owner's death is imminent.
• The policy has a face value of $250,000 or more, although some investors specialize in big portfolios of smaller-value policies.
• The owner has a life expectancy of 15 years or less. As you might expect, the shorter the life expectancy, the more the policy may be worth.

The policy also typically needs to be at least two years old and cover only one person. So-called second-to-die policies that cover couples are usually valuable only if one of those covered is already dead.

How to sell

To sell a policy, you'll need to work with an insurance agent or broker who specializes in this market, but you also should have an independent adviser -- such as an attorney, CPA or financial planner -- who isn't earning commissions from the sale.

Here's what to do:

• Make sure you no longer need the policy. The factors that are most likely to make your policy valuable -- you're over 65 and in poor health -- mean you're unlikely to qualify for new insurance. So review why you bought the policy in the first place, and make sure the need you were trying to cover is no longer there. If you still have people financially dependent on you, for example, you may still need insurance.
• Consider your alternatives. If you need money, you typically can borrow against your policy's cash value and still keep your coverage in place. You also may surrender your policy to the insurance company for cash, although your payout could be less than you'd get from a sale. If you're considering selling your policy because you can no longer afford the premiums, talk to your insurer about your options. You may be able to lower or skip premiums if you have a lot of cash value in the policy. Another option: Ask your kids or other beneficiaries to take over the premium payments. This is often the best option if your life expectancy is very short, since selling the policy would net you only a fraction of what the policy will shortly be worth.
• Get several offers, if you can. This market is neither efficient nor robust, and some policies will generate little interest. But push your broker or agent to bring you more than one or two offers, since otherwise you may be presented with only the offers with high commissions attached.
• Negotiate commissions based on the purchase price. Some brokers try to claim a commission based on the policy's face value, regardless of the amount they eventually get for you. Daily says that's wrong, and that you should base the commission you pay on the purchase price. "You shouldn't have to pay more than 10% if you're a responsible seller who appreciates the business reality of the broker," Daily said. "If the broker can make a good case for charging more, then I'd be willing to listen. But this market has a history of taking advantage of policyholders, so you're justified in being skeptical." ( msn.com )
  

READ MORE - Sell your life to a stranger?