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WASHINGTON - After weeks of secretive talks, a bipartisan group in the Senate edged closer yesterday to a health-care compromise that omits two key Democratic priorities but incorporates provisions to slow the explosive rise in medical costs, officials said. These officials said participants were on track to exclude a requirement many congressional Democrats seek for businesses to offer coverage to their workers. Nor would there be a provision for a government insurance option, despite President Obama's support for such a plan.

The White House on Monday said President Obama would consider asking Congress to delay the summer break if he hasn't seen sufficient progress on healthcare reform by the August recess. Hours after Obama told reporters that he is "going to get this done," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said that it is unlikely legislation will be finalized before the recess.

The airline Yemenia has said it may reconsider an order for 10 Airbus A350s because it has received "no support" from the manufacturer. Yemenia chairman Abdul Khaleq al-Qadi said Airbus had jumped to conclusions after the crash of a Yemenia plane off the Comoros Islands last week. Without any proof, he said, Airbus had told the media the crash was the result of technical problems.

NEW YORK (Fortune) -- The latest polling looks great for President Obama: It shows that Americans love national health care. If history and polling trends are any guide, however, that will change. Voters right now are in what the famous pollster Daniel Yankelovich called the Wishful Thinking stage -- a moment in the life of an opinion analogous to the dreamy early days of a relationship. Yankelovich believed opinion evolved through seven stages: Dawning Awareness, Greater Urgency, Reaching for Solutions, Wishful Thinking, Weighing the Choices, Taking a Stand, and Making a Responsible Judgment. In the next few weeks, when voters...

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For the 77th consecutive month, FNC finished first in total day and prime time ratings during May. FNC was the sixth highest rated cable network on all of basic cable during prime time for the month (CNN and MSNBC finished 19th and 26th) and the seventh rated network in total day (CNN and MSNBC were 19th and 27th). FNC also had 11 out of the top 13 programs in cable during the month in Total Viewers. The O'Reilly Factor was the #1 program in cable news for the 90th consecutive month, and saw gains in Total Viewers year-to-year (26%).

The Obama administration’s strongest option as it fights to keep hundreds of photographs of prisoner abuse secret may be to classify them and claim they are exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, experts on government secrecy said Thursday

Welcome To.... 'Amy's Place' welcomes all poets and those who enjoy poetry.'Amy's Place' is more than just about poetry.Come in, relax, and share with fellow FReepersyour thoughts about any of the things on the *Menu*. Enjoy! :) Never Forget! Bad Penny Amy's personal guardian ~ the ever charming, lovable, huggable, LouieWolf Many thanks for stopping by. : )

* KBW analysis shows banks need to raise capital * Sees Bank of America needing more government help (Adds dateline, detail on government stress test) NEW YORK, April 23 (Reuters) - U.S. banks including Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) may need to raise $1 trillion of capital, Keefe, Bruyette and Woods analysts said in a report on Thursday, after they stress tested the industry.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration and its European allies are preparing proposals that would shift strategy toward Iran by dropping a longstanding American insistence that Tehran rapidly shut down nuclear facilities during the early phases of negotiations over its atomic program, according to officials involved in the discussions.

"Let me show you how this all works since you will own us in a few weeks...better give you a quick brush up on things...ok?"

  As are all flowers, the month of May is dedicated to the Mary, whom we celebrate as Queen of Heaven on the last day of this month. Early in May, a statue of the Virgin at church is crowned with a wreath of roses, and the same are laid at her feet. Little girls and boys dress up in their best, often in blue; one child carries the crown on a cushion to the statue and another child is chosen to crown the statue. The selection process varies -- sometimes a boy is chosen to bear the wreath,...

Welcome To.... 'Amy's Place' welcomes all poets and those who enjoy poetry.'Amy's Place' is more than just about poetry.Come in, relax, and share with fellow FReepersyour thoughts about any of the things on the *Menu*. Enjoy! :) Never Forget! Bad Penny Amy's personal guardian ~ the ever charming, lovable, huggable, LouieWolf Many thanks for stopping by. : )

During the month of May - the month of Mary - we feel a special protection of Our Lady that extends to all the faithful; we feel a special joy that shines and illuminates our hearts expressing the universal certainty of Catholics that the indispensable patronage of our heavenly mother becomes even more tender, more loving and more full of visible mercy and exorable condescendence during her month of May. Even after the month of May passes, a remnant of this remains if we have profited from those thirty-one days especially consecrated to Our Lady. We are left with an...

WASHINGTON, May 1, 2007 – In an effort to draw attention to the personal sacrifices of the men and women of the armed forces and their families, Congress has designated May as National Military Appreciation Month. “Our military has played a major role in the development of our country chronicled through their unbending honor, their dedication to duty and their love of country,” the National Military Appreciation Month Web site states. “Federal, state and local governments and private sector entities are invited to participate in this special month and to encourage everyone to sponsor and participate in programs.” The...

Green candidate, 9/11 theorist stirs debate By Brian Hutchinson, National Post Published: Friday, April 13, 2007 Kevin Potvin, a federal Green party candidate in Vancouver, has admitted his spirits soared while watching the 9/11 terrorist events unfold on television. "Beautiful!" he describes a little voice inside him saying, when the second twin tower in New York City fell, and thousands died. Then came news that the Pentagon in Washington was hit. More deaths. "I felt an urge to pump my fist in the air," wrote Mr. Potvin in the smudgy pages of the Republic of East Vancouver, a biweekly...

The publication of Hubris is filled with irony for David Corn, Washington editor of the left-wing Nation magazine. He was present at the creation of the Valerie Plame "scandal," which the enemies of George W. Bush hoped could bring down a president. Nobody was more responsible for bloating this episode. Yet Corn is coauthor of a book that has had the effect of killing the story. Thanks to Corn's intrepid coauthor, Newsweek investigative reporter Michael Isikoff, Hubris definitively revealed then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage as my source that Joseph Wilson's wife, Valerie, worked for the CIA and suggested her...

Cosmic rays may solve global warming problem By Roger Highfield, Science Editor (Filed: 04/10/2006) Cosmic events could help soften the impact of global warming by triggering cloud formations, suggests research published yesterday. A team of Danish scientists concluded in the Proceedings of the Royal Society that making clouds is plausible, using the Sun's magnetic field. The Sun has been at its strongest for more than 60 years and a period of high solar activity could be approaching its end. "This would produce a cooling effect that could counter part of the global warming predicted for the next century," said Dr...

Faith schools 'may reject Christians' By Liz Lightfoot, Education Editor (Filed: 03/10/2006) Children from Christian families may be turned away from popular Church of England schools to make way for non-believers and those of other faiths under a new quota system. At least a quarter of places at all new Church of England schools will be set aside for other pupils, according to guidelines outlined by the Church yesterday. The reform of school admissions will also affect Roman Catholic schools which will in future need to prove that their intakes reflect the social nature of the areas from which they...

Gassy Bugs: Microbes may produce propane under the sea Julie Rehmeyer For decades, scientists have been puzzled by periodic findings of ethane and propane in sediments that they've pulled from deep below the ocean floor. As far as they knew, these gases could be produced only as petroleum is—by great heat applied to ancient, buried organic matter. But sometimes, ethane and propane turn up in areas where that process seems unlikely. A new report suggests a different source: microbes. Bacteria and archaea within underwater sediments could chew up buried organic material and spew out ethane and propane as waste products,...

Vitamin shots may help protect multiple sclerosis patients from severe long-term disability, a study suggests. Currently, there is no effective treatment for the chronic progressive phase of MS, when serious disability is most likely to appear. Researchers cut the risk of nerve degeneration in mice with MS-type symptoms by giving them a form of vitamin B3 called nicotinamide. The Children's Hospital Boston study appears in the Journal of Neuroscience. MS, which affects about 85,000 people in the UK, is a disease of the central nervous system. It causes the break down of the myelin sheath, a fatty protein, which coats...

Breast milk may not be enough Janet Raloff A new study finds a high incidence of vitamin D deficiency in breast-fed babies, mostly during winter. Such a deficiency limits the body's use of calcium, which is essential for healthy bones and teeth. As part of a trial of iron supplementation, Ekhard E. Ziegler of the University of Iowa in Iowa City and his colleagues regularly took blood samples over 2 years from 84 newborns who were initially breastfed exclusively. The researchers noticed that few infants were getting supplemental vitamin D. The scientists evaluated vitamin D in the infants' blood. They...

Ice Age DNA may now be sequenced 15 August 2006 JURASSIC PARK here we come? Not quite, but we might now be able to sequence the genomes of mammoths and even Neanderthals, thanks to a new way to correct the errors in sequencing ancient DNA that are made because it degrades over time. When Svante Pääbo's group at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, analysed DNA from 50 to 50,000-year-old bone samples from wolves, a single error stood out: one of DNA's "letters", cytosine, had degraded in such a way that sequencing machines misinterpreted it as...

Stung Lung: Volatile chemical may cut respiratory capacity Ben Harder A chemical in some air fresheners and pest-control products may slightly impair lung function in millions of people, a nationwide study suggests. The compound, para-dichlorobenzene, is used to make mothballs, urinal deodorizers, and air-freshening blocks for household use. At room temperature, the strong-smelling chemical gradually changes from a solid to a gas. Para-dichlorobenzene was previously detected in the blood of more than 95 percent of the participants tested in a U.S. study called NHANES III. Scientists at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, N.C., looked...

Cervical cancer virus risk may depend on race 15:30 02 August 2006 NewScientist.com news service Roxanne Khamsi Race may influence a woman’s risk of a virus known to cause cervical cancer, researchers report. The new study finds that a variant of the human papillomavirus (HPV) from a particular geographical region will infect a woman longer if her ancestors come from the same region. Experts say it is an uncommon example of how people are more prone to viral agents from their own place of origin. HPV is by no means an uncommon virus: about 50% of sexually active women between...

2,300-year-old artefacts may change Ashoka-Buddhist history (FOC) BHUBANESWAR: Orissa Institute of Maritime and South East Asian Studies (OIMSEAS) has unearthed some 2,300-year-old artefacts at Jajpur district in Orissa, which, it claimed, could change some historical narratives on the Ashokan period. The description of Chinese pilgrim Hieun-Tsang about Ashoka that he had constructed 10 stupas in Odra country where Buddha had preached may come true. Earlier, historians refused to accept the narrative. We have already analysed five stupas and found three more similar structures,” OIMSEAS Director Debaraj Pradhan told mediapersons here. He said a huge inscribed monolithic stupa along with other...

PLYMOUTH, Mass. (July 2) - In this village settled by thrifty Pilgrims, you can still buy penny candy for a penny, but tourist Alan Ferguson doubts he'll be able to dig any 1-cent pieces out of his pockets. He rarely carries pennies because "they take up a lot of room for how much value they have." Instead, like so many other Americans, he dumps his pennies into a bucket back home in Sarasota, Fla. Pity the poor penny! It packs so little value that merry kids chuck pennies into the fountain near the candy store, just to watch them splash...

WASHINGTON, June 29, 2006 – A key al Qaeda operative implicated in the February bombing of a prominent Iraqi mosque was captured last month, a senior U.S. military officer said in Baghdad today. Iraqi National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie announced yesterday that terrorist Abu Qudama had been seized by Kurdish pershmerga troops after a May 20 firefight north of Baghdad, Army Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell told reporters at a news briefing. Abu Qudama, a Tunisian, is an admitted participant of the Feb. 22 bombing of the Golden Dome, a holy Shiite mosque in Samarra, Caldwell said. The bombing set...

Mother tongue may determine maths skills 17:55 27 June 2006 NewScientist.com news service Roxanne Khamsi The native language you speak may determine how your brain solves mathematical puzzles, according to a new study. Brain scans have revealed that Chinese speakers rely more on visual regions than English speakers when comparing numbers and doing sums. Our mother tongue may influence the way problem-solving circuits in our brains develop, suggest the researchers. But they add that different teaching methods across cultures, or genes, may also have primed the brains of Chinese and English speakers to solve equations differently. The findings may help...

WASHINGTON, June 12, 2006 – All the military services achieved or exceeded their active-duty recruiting goals in the month of May, which marks the 12th consecutive month they've done so, according to information released by DoD June 9. Jacob Cristina, of Metairie, La., recites the Navy's oath of enlistment, given by Cmdr. Charles Schug, commanding officer of Navy Recruiting District New Orleans, during enlistment ceremony at the command's headquarters earlier this year. Cristina was NRD New Orleans' first applicant to be sworn in at the headquarters since Hurricane Katrina caused it to be moved. Cristina signed up to become...

We may pull plug on our censored Chinese website, says Google By Catherine Elsworth in Los Angeles (Filed: 08/06/2006) The co-founder of Google has acknowledged that the internet search giant compromised its principles by agreeing to Chinese censorship demands and says it may reverse its decision. During a visit to Capitol Hill, Sergey Brin said the company's much-criticised deal to allow politically sensitive information to be filtered from web searches in China was struck only after Beijing blocked its main service. The Google.cn search engine blocks politically sensitive terms Google was examining whether the compromise - "a set of rules...

LEVITTOWN, Pennsylvania (June 6) - A deal is being negotiated that would allow a high school's class president to participate in Friday's graduation ceremony despite concern that he could be targeted by a gang. Tyrone Lewis, 18, had been scheduled to be one of the speakers at the Truman High School commencement ceremony, but police were worried that he could be targeted by a gang from Trenton, New Jersey, because his sister had testified in a murder trial. Lewis had been barred from the ceremony. Dave Truelove, the Bristol Township School District's solicitor, confirmed Tuesday that talks are in progress...

Evolving genes may not size up brain Bruce Bower Two gene variants previously proposed as contributors to the evolution of human brain size exert no influence on brain volume in people today, a new report indicates. If these particular genes indeed spread quickly by natural selection, that process might have been spurred by the genes' effects on reproductive organs or other tissue outside the brain, say neurologist Roger P. Woods of the University of California, Los Angeles and his colleagues. Prior research had indicated that a now-common variant of a gene called microcephalin originated 37,000 years ago and that a...

Hominids' cave rave-ups may link music and speech Wed May 31, 2006 2:15 AM BST By Michael Roddy (Reuters) - It was a dark and stormy night, and in a cave in what is now southern France, Neanderthals were singing, dancing and tapping on stalagmites with their fingernails to pass the time. Did this Ice-Age rave-up happen, perhaps 50,000 to 100,000 years ago, on a cold night in the Pleistocene Epoch? Or is it purely a figment of the imagination of Steven Mithen, professor of early prehistory at the University of Reading in England? Impossible to know, Mithen, 45, readily...

Hamas may recognise Israel's right to exist By Tim Butcher in Gaza City (Filed: 26/05/2006) Signs of a breakthrough in the stand-off between the international community and Hamas emerged last night after the Islamist movement prepared to moderate its hostility towards Israel. While weeks of negotiations will be needed to confirm the policy shift, it raised the hope of a new era in the Middle East and even a return to peace negotiations aimed at ending decades of Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed. A masked gunman from the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades The shift came as Mahmoud Abbas, the moderate Palestinian president, sought...

USA Citizens Day - July 1st Immigration Control Rally Nationwide Rally on Saturday, July 1st, at noon, at your City HallMay 1st - Million of Illegal Aliens Marched in our StreetsTwelve million illegal aliens demonstrated their political power, and declared May 1st to be A Day Without Undocumented Workers ( illegal aliens ). They boycotted the USA, all US businesses and institutions. Millions of them marched in our streets, carried Mexican flags, shouted "Si se puede!", and demanded new laws from our Congress. July 1st - U.S. Citizens Nationwide Rally for Immigration ControlRally to stop our continuous invasion by...

Report: Ozone Hole May Disappear by 2050Sat May 20, 9:01 AM ET TOKYO - The ozone hole over the Antarctic is likely to begin contracting in the future and may disappear by 2050 because of a reduction in the release of chlorofluorocarbons and other ozone-depleting gases, according to a team of Japanese scientists. The findings are based on a series of numerical simulations carried out by Eiji Akiyoshi of the National Institute for Environmental Studies, near Tokyo, using projected emissions of chlorofluorocarbons and other gases blamed for the ozone hole. According to a report posted Friday on the institute's Web...

Spectacular brooch find may 'unlock secrets of Hadrian's Wall' Publisher: Jon Land Published: 17/05/2006 - 12:08:01 PM Hadrian's Wall A 'spectacular' small brooch has been uncovered at a Roman fort that may reveal secrets about the men that built Hadrian's Wall. The discovery of the legionary soldier's expensive and prestigious cloak brooch has excited archaeologists in Northumberland. Experts have discovered that the brooch belonged to soldier Quintus Sollonius who would have been stationed at the forefront of the Roman empire 2,000 years ago. Historians are continuing to examine the artefact and believe it could reveal more secrets behind the men...

Sam Hornish Jr. is on the provisional WorldPoints Visa Card Pole for the 90th Indianapolis 500 this afternoon after posting a four-lap average of 228.985 mph. His teammate, Helio Castroneves, is second at 228.008, with Dan Wheldon filling the front row at 227.338. Qualifying continues until 6 p.m. (ET), with 29 drivers already in the field. Saturday, May 20 The Run for the WorldPoints Visa Card Pole on Coca-Cola Throwback DayAdmission: $5.00 Public Gates Open 7 a.m. - 6 p.m. IndyCar Series Practice 9:30 - 11 a.m. Qualifications Noon - 6 p.m. Sunday, May 21 Bump Day/Armed Forces DayAdmission: $5.00...

VATICAN CITY, MAY 17, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI invited the faithful to pray the rosary, in order to better understand the key moments of salvation history and to help with "spiritual growth." At the end of today's general audience in St. Peter's Square, the Pope addressed the 45,000 people present. In particular he greeted young people, as well as the sick and newlyweds who came in their wedding clothes, and exhorted all to "intensify the devout practice of praying the rosary, especially in this month of May, dedicated to the Mother of God." "Dear young people, I invite you to...

  Prayer Categories: » Devotion Feasts: » Joseph the Worker» Beatified Martyrs of England and Wales (Eng) (Wal, Mem)» Friday of the Third Week of Easter» Monday of the Fourth Week of Eastermore » Bl. Damien Joseph de Veuster, priest» Thursday of the Fourth Week of Easter» Nereus and Achilleus; Pancras» Our Lady of Fatima» Isidore the Farmer (USA)» Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Easter» Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter» Bernardine of Siena» Christopher Magallanes and companions; Eugene de Mazenod (Canada)» Rita of Cascia» Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter» Solemnity of Mary Help of Christians...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., May 7, 2006 – Military Appreciation Month is under way, as millions of people have jammed the beach here this week for "Fleet Week USA - A National Salute to America's Heroes," sponsored by McDonald's. The company kicked off the salute on May 1. Today's McDonald's Air and Sea Show, featuring the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels demonstration team and the Army's Golden Knights parachute team, will conclude the week's festivities. The Canadian Forces Snow Birds precision aerobatics team is adding an international flavor to the weekend. The salute has been a fixture here for 12 years running,...

'Afro-tunnel' may still be a bridge too far By Jon Clarke and Colin Freeman (Filed: 30/04/2006) Like every other great plan to link one continent with another, it has spent an age gathering dust. A bridge between Africa and Europe has been dreamt of since the Moorish conquest of southern Spain, but the political will and hard cash to build it have always been lacking. Now, in an effort to overcome that inertia, regional officials in southern Spain have turned to an eccentric American architect. Eugene Tsui, whose oddball designs have attracted controversy, has been commissioned by officials in Cadiz,...

Kennewick Man Skeletal Find May Revolutionalize Continent's HistoryKennewick Man's Skull, front view A forensic anthropologist at Middle Tennessee State University is one of a select number of scientists to participate in the examination of a 9,300-year-old skeleton known as Kennewick Man that could force historians to rewrite the story of the entire North American continent. Newswise — A forensic anthropologist at Middle Tennessee State University is one of a select number of scientists to participate in the examination of a skeleton that could force historians to rewrite the story of the entire North American continent. Dr. Hugh Berryman, research professor,...

Antiviral coating may help fight epidemics 15:00 14 April 2006 From New Scientist Print Edition BANKNOTES, vending machines and photocopiers could help fight off future epidemics if a novel antiviral coating can be made to work safely. Materials researcher Guagang Ren at Queen Mary, University of London, has discovered a raft of metal, metal oxide and ceramic nanoparticles that have strong antiviral properties. He hopes to create a face mask impregnated with the particles to destroy certain airborne viruses before people breathe them in. Ren has joined forces with UK-based Qinetiq Nanomaterials and London research firm Retroscreen Virology. Qinetiq's technology...

UK's bird tests may be missing flu virus 12 April 2006 From New Scientist Print Edition Debora MacKenzie WHEN France reported its first case of H5N1 bird flu in February, the UK's response was adamant: samples had been taken from more than 3500 wild birds, and those tested so far showed the disease was not yet in the UK. Additional precautions, such as moving poultry indoors, were unnecessary, said the authorities. Last week, scientists found H5N1 bird flu for the first time in the UK, in a dead swan in Fife, Scotland. The UK's environment ministry DEFRA again stated that...

Typhoid May Have Caused Fall of Athens, Study Finds Nicholas Bakalar for National Geographic News February 27, 2006 An ancient medical mystery—the cause of a plague that wracked Athens from 426 to 430 B.C. and eventually led to the city's fall—has been solved by DNA analysis, researchers say. The ancient Athenians died from typhoid fever, according to a new study. Scientists from the University of Athens drew this conclusion after studying dental pulp extracted from the teeth of three people found in a mass grave in Athens' Kerameikos cemetery. The mass grave was first discovered in 1994 and was dated...

WASHINGTON, March 22, 2006 – The Defense Department is considering issuing new instructions to military commissions that specifically prohibit the admission of evidence that's been obtained by torture, a senior DoD official told reporters here today. "This has been one area where there has been some concern raised, and so the department is taking a look at it and may issue a separate instruction on it," DoD spokesman Bryan Whitman told Pentagon reporters. President Bush has been clear that the United States does not condone torture, Whitman said. "The Department of Defense, of course, abides by that admonition," Whitman said,...

Melting Ice Threatens Sea-Level Rise By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, Associated Press Writer 19 minutes ago WASHINGTON - The Earth is already shaking beneath melting ice as rising temperatures threaten to shrink polar glaciers and raise sea levels around the world. By the end of this century, Arctic readings could rise to levels not seen in 130,000 years — when the oceans were several feet higher than now, according to new research appearing in Friday's issue of the journal Science. Even now, giant glaciers lubricated by melting water have begun causing earthquakes in Greenland as they lurch toward the ocean, other...

Tools 'may be 250,000 years old' Archaeologists found the flint tools in Pan last summer Stone tools found at one of the South's most important early prehistoric sites could date back 250,000 years, archaeologists claim. The historic finds were uncovered at a former gravel quarry on the Isle of Wight during digs last summer. Flint axes found near Great Pan Farm, Newport, are thought to be of the sort used by Neanderthal man. Elephant teeth from the same period were also found. Specialists are now to carry out further investigations of the site. The Great Pan Farm site now looks...