NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co said on Tuesday that it plans to cut 17,000 jobs by the end of 2014, representing about 6.6 percent of the company's overall workforce, as the bank sheds staff that helped it deal with bad home loans.
The bank is optimistic that it can generate record income this year and is planning to add 4,000 employees in commercial and investment banking and credit cards to help it win business, bank executives said at an investor conference.
That hiring will be more than offset by job cuts in areas like mortgage servicing and retail banking, where the bank is positioning for a recovering housing market and new forms of branch banking. The net impact of the additions and cuts will be 17,000 fewer employees on the bank's payrolls.
The job cuts reflect the pressure that banks are under, even as the U.S. housing market and overall economy show signs of recovery. Many banks are looking to automate more of their businesses to make their staff more productive and improve profits.
For example, at JPMorgan's branches, where it plans to cut about 6,000 tellers and other employees, the bank hopes customers will use automated teller machines for every day transactions and that remaining staff can focus on higher-margin activities like selling wealth management services.
JPMorgan is one of the few big U.S. banks that is still adding branches to its network, but it is hoping to staff the branches with fewer workers. The bank's 5,614 branches have 63,500 employees, representing about a quarter of JPMorgan Chase's total. Chase's branch network is second to Wells Fargo & Co's in size.
For overall staffing levels, JPMorgan Chase had 258,965 employees globally at the end of 2012. Its headcount rose following the financial crisis to 262,882 in the second quarter of 2012 from 219,569 in the first quarter of 2009. Since last year's second quarter, staffing levels have drifted lower.
JPMorgan Chase overall earned $21.9 billion last year, excluding accounting charges linked to changes in the value of its debt. The bank said it has the potential to earn about $27.5 billion, thanks in part to efficiency gains. It aims to cut overall expenses by $1 billion in 2013.
To reach the $27.5 billion profit figure, the bank is also counting on costs for lawsuits to fall as disputes over bad mortgages are resolved, as well as seeing a one percentage point rise in interest rates, said Chief Financial Officer Marianne Lake.
The profit scenario also depends on the bank not being hit by another trading debacle like the $6.2 billion loss last year on derivatives trades placed by the London Whale, the nickname given a London-based JPMorgan trader for the size of the positions.
Chief Executive Jamie Dimon acknowledged that many of his top lieutenants who spoke to investors on Tuesday were in new jobs after changes he made last year in his management team and the bank's divisions.
"It is a little bit too much change in one year," Dimon said. "Some of it was the Whale. Some of it was the re-org" to better align product divisions with customer interests, he said.
All of the top executives, however, have been at the company several years and know its businesses, Dimon said.
JPMorgan Chase shares were down 0.2 percent at $47.60 at the close of trading on Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.
(Reporting By David Henry; Additional reporting by Rick Rothacker in Charlotte, North Carolina; Writing by Dan Wilchins; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, John Wallace and Matthew Lewis)
This article contains my personal views, not those of my employer Lonely Planet.
I?ll be blunt. Ebooks and EPUB are to the publishing industry what Blu-Ray is to the movie industry: a solution to yesterday?s problem made irrelevant by broader change in the industry. Both have a couple of years left in them, and there?s good money to be made while the kinks get worked out from the alternatives, but the way the wind is blowing is clear.
Whenever someone proposes EPUB as a solution, ask yourself a question: what?s the problem they?re trying to solve? As a standard drafted by the?IDPF, a self-proclaimed ?organization for the Digital Publishing Industry?, EPUB is built squarely to address the industry?s biggest headache: ensuring that, in the digital age, they retain the ability to charge money for distributing content. The best interests of authors or readers simply do not figure in the equation.
EPUB is thus built around the premise that ebooks should be just like physical books and Blu-Ray discs. You?re expected to buy a copy in a store, bring it home with you, read or watch it, and then keep it in your personal library. As far as publishers are concerned, the only difference (or, rather, threat) is that readers can copy ebooks too easily. Since this poses a risk to the venerable business model of selling individual copies, ebooks must be deliberately made defective through digital restrictions management ? regardless of the inconvenience posed to readers, who now find themselves trapped in a completely absurd, purely artificial maze of incompatible formats and geographical restrictions.
But all it takes to yank the carpet from underneath the house of cards is a change to one assumption: what if the book is free? You don?t need a shop to buy it from anymore, because you do not need to pay. You can make all the copies you want, since there is no revenue to be lost. In fact, you no longer even need to take home and hoard your own precious copy, because you can grab one whenever you want, chuck it out when you?re done and get another one later if fancy strikes.
From a publishing industry viewpoint, that?s pure crazy talk, because it demolishes their current business model. But from a web point of view, it?s the way things are expected to work, and it?s in fact precisely how you?re reading this article. As an author on the Web, I have access to a huge range of tools to get my content out there, actively worked on in a massive developer community, and an entire spectrum of ways to try to make money if I so choose. And as a reader, the Web gives me unfettered access to a vast amount of things to read, and I can read them on the latest, shiniest browser out there.
Compare this with EPUB, which?cannot be created without specialised tools and knowledge and?cannot be read out of the box on any major browser. Existing implementations for writing and displaying EPUB are immature?and widely loathed by developers, who will not touch it unless they happen to work for a publisher that forces them to. As a casual datapoint, a search through my (publishing-biased) LinkedIn network finds 4,900 people who claim enough knowledge of EPUB to put it on their profiles, compared to 110,000 for HTML5 and an incredible 1,400,000 for plain HTML. While EPUB 3?s decision to inhale the ever-evolving HTML5 standard wholesale is probably the lesser evil compared to futilely attempting to lock it down, the sheer disparity in these numbers also means that it is doomed to playing an endless game of catch-up, while the open Web races ahead. IDPF?s wish for EPUB to someday become ?the portable document format for the Open Web? may be sincere, but for the time being, is anybody?actually using it?for anything beyond ebooks?
EPUB?s second advantage from a publisher?s point of view is that, by imposing a straitjacket of strict XHTML on the book?s contents and pruning away some of the wilder excesses of raw HTML, it has made it somewhat easier to reproduce ebooks reliably on single-purpose ebook reading devices that lack the oomph to run a full-fledged browser. However, Moore?s law means that ever-cheaper, ever-faster multipurpose tablets with browsers that can handle anything thrown at them are becoming more popular by the day. On the other side of the equation, the aforementioned decision to adopt the full bloat of HTML5 means that full EPUB compliance will actually be?harder?than merely supporting the Internet at wide. (From personal experience, I can tell you that mapping a pinpoint onto a map or flowing text into two columns, both trivial exercises in modern browsers, are virtually impossible to implement portably in EPUB 3.)?Even?EPUB 2 is a standard only on paper: Lonely Planet is currently forced to produce three different flavours of EPUB 2, each targeted at different vendors, plus KF8 for the uncooperative thousand-pound gorilla of the market, Amazon?s EPUB-hating Kindle.
The final advantage often ascribed to EPUB is that it serves as a handy package for everything beyond the text: it offers a clear structure for including images and other media, and?it?defines a clear way for specifying metadata like a table of contents and publication dates. Technologically, none of these is a unique advantage: both?vector?and?raster?images can be embedded directly in HTML,?the?meta tag?has been around since the dawn of HTML, and the?document outline semantics?needed to reliably build a table of contents have been a part of the HTML5 standard for a while now and are supported to varying but ever-increasing degrees by modern browsers.
The inescapable conclusion is that, within a few years,?EPUB will offer no benefits over existing solutions. Do you wish to reproduce a paper document with perfect fidelity? ?PDF cracked that nut years ago. Do you want to distribute a standalone written document, like a report or a novel, in a format that readily adapts itself to any device? ?HTML is the way to go. And if you?re publishing a complex, interactive, data-driven and thus ever-changing website, EPUB doesn?t even try to fit the bill.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The White House conceded Wednesday that efforts to avoid automatic budget cuts are unlikely to succeed before they kick in and is initiating new talks with congressional leaders to confront seemingly intractable tax-and-spend issues.
President Barack Obama will meet at the White House Friday with House and Senate leaders of both parties several hours after the deadline for averting the cuts, known in Washington-speak as a "sequester," has passed. This would put the White House and Congress essentially in the position of looking past the cuts to the next looming fiscal showdown: A March 27 deadline to continue government operations or force a government shutdown.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said the White House talks, arranged Tuesday, are designed to be a "constructive discussion" about how to keep the cuts from having harmful consequences. Obama has been calling for a mix of spending cuts and tax increases to achieve deficit reduction goals.
The White House has warned that the $85 billion in cuts could affect everything from commercial flights to classrooms and meat inspections. The cuts would slash domestic and defense spending, leading to forced unpaid days off for hundreds of thousands of government workers.
The impact won't be immediate. Federal workers would be notified next week that they will have to take up to a day every week off without pay, but the furloughs won't start for a month due to notification requirements. That will give negotiators some breathing room to keep working on a deal.
The Senate planned to vote on a Democratic stop gap measure on Thursday that would forestall the automatic cuts through the end of the year. It would replace them with longer-term cuts to the Pentagon and cash payments to farmers, and by installing a minimum 30 percent tax rate on income exceeding $1 million.
But Republicans oppose tax increases and will likely block the measure. Carney argued that such opposition would mean the cuts, known as a sequester in budget terms, would be the responsibility of Republicans.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Friday's session will focus on ways to reduce government spending, but he also said he will not back down on his opposition to any new revenues. McConnell, along with House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, will attend meeting at the White House.
"We can either secure those reductions more intelligently, or we can do it the president's way with across-the board cuts. But one thing Americans simply will not accept is another tax increase to replace spending reductions we already agreed to," said McConnell, R-Ky.
Carney said Obama also spoke briefly with congressional leaders Wednesday ahead of a ceremony in the Capitol to unveil a statue of civil rights heroine Rosa Parks. Obama and House Speaker John Boehner jointly led the unveiling, standing with the statue between them as they grasped and pulled in opposite directions on the braided cord that held the covering.
With the cuts now imminent, the administration continued its campaign Wednesday to cast them in dire terms. Education Secretary Arne Duncan appeared in the White House briefing room to detail what he described as bad choices in reducing assistance to schools and early childhood programs.
"The only choice I can make would be to hurt fewer poor children and help more special needs kids, or do the opposite," Duncan said. "It's a no-win proposition."
He said the first to feel the pinch will be school districts in and around military bases and Native American reservations, entities which receive direct federal aid to make up for lower local property taxes.
Duncan's remarks came a day after the Department of Homeland Security announced that the forced cuts had prompted the federal immigration enforcement agency to start releasing illegal immigrants being held in immigrant jails across the country.
Carney on Wednesday said the decision was made by career immigration and customs enforcement officials, without input from the White House.
Friday's meeting reflects a move to jumpstart negotiations after weeks of inaction on cuts that both parties have said could inflict major damage to government programs, the military and the economy at large. No serious talks to avert the cuts have been under way, and Friday's meeting will be the first face-to-face discussion between Obama and Republican leaders this year.
Republicans were considering offering a measure that would give Obama authority to propose a rewrite to the 2013 budget to redistribute the cuts. Obama would be unable to cut defense by more than the $43 billion reduction that the Pentagon currently faces, and would also be unable to raise taxes to undo the cuts. The GOP plan would allow the Obama proposal to go into effect unless Congress passed a resolution to overturn them.
The idea is that money could be transferred from lower-priority accounts to accounts funding air traffic control or meat inspection. But the White House says that such moves would only offer slight relief. At the same time, however, it could take pressure off of Congress to address the sequester.
In the House, where Republicans in the last Congress passed legislation to replace the cuts, Boehner has said it's now up to Obama and the Senate to figure a way out. The Senate never took up the House-passed bills, which expired when the new Congress was seated in January.
The recent run-up in gasoline prices has some economists ? including Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke ? worried about the impact on consumer spending and the economy.
It?s a perennial concern. When gas prices spike, as they have done in the past few weeks, the extra money you pay at the pump forces you to cut spending on other things. That takes a bite out of overall consumer spending, which fuels roughly 70 percent of the U.S. economy. Slower spending means slower growth.
But the longer-term impact is not as great as some forecasters would have you believe. Here?s why:
Why is Chairman Bernanke soworried?
He?s concerned mostly because the economy isn?t growing as fast as it should be this far into an economic recovery. For reasons that most economists believe are temporary, the U.S. gross domestic product ground to a screeching halt in the last three months of last year. Bernanke and his Fed policy colleagues have been doing everything they can to get the economy moving ahead. But unemployment remains stubbornly high and near-zero interest rates don?t seem to be working.
In his Congressional testimony Tuesday on the state of the economy, Bernanke worried out loud that one reason for the slow growth is that higher gasoline prices ?are hitting family budgets.?
So how hard do budgets get hit by higher gas prices?
In the short term, gas price spikes can have an bigger impact than they should, largely because gasoline is one of the few commodity prices consumers track so closely. (Quick: how much does a loaf of bread cost at your local grocery store?)
An opinion poll conducted last week by the National Association of Convenience Stores found that 44 percent of consumers said that gas prices have a "great impact" in how they feel about the economy, up from the 38 percent who felt that way in January.
See? Bernanke?s right.
In the short-run, yes, a gas price spike can slow the economy ? a little. But over the long run, the impact is not all that great. To see why, we?re going to have to do a little math.
American drivers burn through about 350 million gallons of gasoline a day this time of year, at a cost of a little over $400 billion a year. Pump prices bottomed in December (as they usually do every year) at $3.32 a gallon and then shot up by 53 cents to an average of $3.85 a gallon nationwide, according to the latest Department of Energy figures. (We're using the data for all formulas, all grades.) This year, that seasonal rise has come earlier, and quicker, than usual.
If that increase held through the rest of the year, the hit to spending would be about a half percent of GDP. With an economy that?s only growing about 2 percent a year, that?s a fairly big number.
But that math doesn?t account of the savings consumers enjoy when gas prices fall. For the past three years, prices have bounced in a range between about $2.75 and $4.00 a gallon. The three-year average has been $3.43 a gallon. If you use that price as a starting point, the recent increase ? even if sustained for a full year ? would only knock about two-tenths of a percent from GDP.
Those numbers don?t look right. I?m paying a lot more than that at the pump, and it?s taking a big bite out of my paycheck.
Again, these are averages. For some people, the impact is much more severe. California drivers are paying $4.20 a gallon on average. If you live 30 miles from the nearest grocery store, you?re going to feel the impact of every extra penny a lot more than someone who commutes to work by subway.
Lower-income households feel the impact much more than those further up the income ladder. On average, roughly 5.5 percent of American household budgets go to pay for gasoline. But gasoline bills eat up a bigger portion of the weekly budget for those in the bottom quintile that for those at the top.
But gas prices hurt more than other price increases because I can?t cut back on driving.I have to get to work. What am I supposed to do?
You?re right. For most Americans, especially outside of major cities, gas price spikes are extremely painful because it?s very difficult to cut back in the short run. But over time, drivers can ? and do ? respond.
The long-term rise in gasoline prices over the past decade ? and the pain of sudden spikes ? is one of the biggest reasons that the consumption of gasoline has been falling since August 2007. Americans have been burning through about four percent less gasoline every year since then - even as the number of cars and trucks on the road continues to increase. Thanks to improvements in engine technology, higher-mileage government mandates and strong consumer demand for fuel-efficient cars and trucks, that trend is expected to continue.
Demand for those higher-mileage vehicles has, in turn, spurred a surge in consumer spending on new cars, a category has been an important source of strength for the U.S. recovery. That improvement in the overall mileage of the U.S. fleet has, in turn, helped offset the impact of gas price spikes.
Since bottoming in the first quarter of 2010, new car sales have zoomed ahead ? up nearly 60 percent to $103 billion in the final three months of 2012. About two-thirds of that money went to domestic car makers. Light truck sales have jumped 40 percent, to more than $140 billion for the latest quarter.
The boom in sales is coming partly because drivers deferred buying during the recession. But they?re also snapping up new models with better gas mileage that will continue to reduce consumption ? and blunt the economic impact of future gas price spikes.
The Delvar, a Malta-flagged Iranian crude oil supertanker, is seen anchored off Singapore on March 1, 2012.
By Jonathan Saul, Reuters
LONDON - Iran is using old tankers, saved from the scrapyard by foreign middlemen, to ship out oil to China in ways that avoid Western sanctions, say officials involved with sanctions who showed Reuters corroborating documents.
The officials, from states involved in imposing sanctions to pressure Iran to curb its nuclear program, said the tankers - worth little more than scrap value - were a new way for Iran to keep its oil exports flowing by exploiting the legal limitations on Western powers' ability to make sanctions stick worldwide.
Officials showed Reuters shipping documents to support their allegation that eight ships, each of which can carry close to a day's worth of Iran's pre-sanctions exports, have loaded Iranian oil at sea. Publicly available tracking and other data are consistent with those documents and allegations.
"The tankers have been used for Iranian crude," one official said. "They are part of Iran's sanctions-busting strategy."
Dimitris Cambis, the Greek businessman who last year bought the ships - eight very large crude carriers, or VLCCs - to carry Middle East crude to Asia, flatly denied doing any business with Tehran or running clandestine shipments of its oil to China.
Cambis said he had not been involved in shipping before but had bought the tankers as part of a new venture he runs from the United Arab Emirates. He denied trading with Iran - though he has contacts there from his previous work in the oil industry.
Related story:?Skulduggery at sea: Iran uses tankers off Malaysia to evade oil embargo
He denied his vessels have loaded oil from Iran while at anchor in the Gulf. Known as ship-to-ship transfers, or STS, such movements are hard to track as crews can switch off tracking beacons or not update their recorded positions for periods to conceal that one vessel has come alongside another.
Cambis also explained a stop in Iran by one of his tankers - recorded in publicly available tracking data - as having been only for an emergency repair, not to load an oil cargo.
"There is no Iranian vessel that has done any STS with us," Cambis told Reuters in Athens in response to the officials' allegations of taking oil from Iranian tankers owned by Tehran shipping group NITC. "We have nothing to do with NITC."
The officials involved with sanctions dispute his account and showed documents detailing several ship-to-ship loadings. They said all eight of the tankers were involved in Iran trade.
In one instance in early December, according to the shipping documents shown to Reuters by the officials, an NITC tanker named Marigold loaded Iranian crude onto the Leycothea, one of Cambis's eight ships, while both were at anchor off the UAE emirate of Sharjah. Public tracking showed Cambis's tanker made a call about a month later to Zhanjiang oil terminal in China.
Loading at sea lets vessels pick up a cargo without visiting the country of origin of the crude. Officials allege the tankers are also used as offshore storage for Iranian oil which can then be transferred onward to other ships, concealing its origins.
Officials in Iran, which rejects Western allegations it is seeking nuclear weapons, did not respond to requests for comment.
Muddying waters Experts on sanctions law said that by operating outside the European Union, ship-owners had no clear obligation to observe rules barring EU companies from buying Iranian oil, though banks and insurers with EU or U.S. business ties are giving a wide berth to firms they suspect of dealing with Iran, given U.S. and EU efforts to penalize such firms within their own jurisdiction.?
"Such ships would be used to delete traces of a trade taking place," a London-based ship broker said.
While Iran has its own substantial tanker fleet, capable of carrying over 72 million barrels, the 2 million barrels that each of the eight tankers can move would be a useful addition to its capacity, analysts said - particularly as their foreign ownership and management could help conceal the Iranian origin of the oil, making it easier to obtain insurance, finance and other ship services that are affected by EU and U.S. sanctions.
Cambis said that between August and November he bought the eight ships: Leycothea, Glaros, Nereyda, Ocean Nymph, Seagull, Zap, Ocean Performer and Ulysses I. The first five are now managed by his firm, Sambouk Shipping, in Sharjah and he is in the process of transferring management of the remaining three.
In other movements indicated by the shipping documents, the Nereyda was also involved in a separate ship-to-ship transfer with NITC's Rainbow in the Gulf in November, while the Glaros took an offshore transfer from the Marigold there in December.
The Nereyda was later recorded arriving at a terminal in China in December. The Glaros appears to have remained in the Gulf since that December transfer, according to tracking data.
Asked about publicly available ship tracking data showing that the Glaros stopped at Iran's Larak Island oil terminal on October 20 last year, Cambis provided what he said was an affidavit by the ship's master describing an emergency repair carried out by Iranian divers when the tanker was headed to Saudi Arabia.
The master, named as I. Bonoutas, could not be reached for comment. Cambis denied loading any oil in Iran. After its stop at Larak, Glaros's next recorded visits, according to ship tracking data, were at Chinese ports between November 24 to December 1.
The eight tankers, built up to 20 years ago, can carry about 16 million barrels of oil among them, shipping databases show.
Iranian crude exports declined to an average of 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2012, down about 1 million bpd from 2011 levels, data from the International Energy Agency showed.
NITC blacklisted The eight tankers were bought last year for a total of about $204 million, ship trading sources said - reflecting prices only 3-4 percent above their worth as raw metal. The purchases have been the object of considerable discussion among ship brokers - not least because they would more typically have been broken up.
A ship dealer based in London said, however: "They can carry on trading for as long as people are willing to employ them.
"There's really not much that any authorities can do."?
NITC has been blacklisted by the West and the EU has imposed an outright ban on providing ship insurance that would benefit Iran. The exit from Iran of top providers of ship certification, vital for port access, and the removal of Iranian vessels from international registries have added to operational challenges.
While NITC has expanded its fleet in recent months, experts say access to additional foreign tankers would give Tehran more flexibility in maintaining exports.
"The key word for the Iranians is resistance as in the Supreme Leader's declaration of a resistance economy," said Scott Lucas, a specialist on Iran at Birmingham University.
"This is not an economy which is going to produce growth but it is one which is going to try and avoid a domestic collapse."
More related stories
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Apple (AAPL) shares got a boost Tuesday afternoon on rumors that the company may announce a split on Wednesday during its annual shareholder meeting. The rumor comes from former money manager and current TheStreet.com contributor?Douglas Kass, who did not disclose his source. ?High above the Alps my Gnome is hearing a rumor that Apple will announce a stock split at tomorrow?s shareholder meeting,? Kass wrote in a post on Twitter, providing no further details. Apple shares rose more than 1.4% on the rumor after nearing a new closing low.
Individuals had actually been making use of marks on their body to represent many points. At very early times, individuals made use of these marks to represent their loyalty to the tribe they belong and for many various other reasons. However now, tattooing is the representation of one?s individuality. Tattooing is gaining popularity and coming to be much more accepted in the culture. Therefore, people are acquiring out in a rush to obtain long-lasting ink on their body with the first ? concept? that concerns their thoughts. However, do not fail to remember the fact that a tattoo style is for life, and you need to look at a couple of hints prior to making a long-lasting mark on your body that shows your individuality.
Picking a tattoo style is a hard process. You need to bear in mind that the tattoo style you pick is for life, and the elimination is incredibly pricey. You need to be satisfied whenever you figure out that style on your body. So, believe sensibly prior to picking the tattoo style, and do not fail to remember to look at, where to place that tattoo.
Tips To Choose Your Tattoo Design:
No Names ? Try not to engrave labels of your relatived?s in your body. You might not have the exact same sensations and accessory to that person after 10 or 20 years.
Believe Back ? Think back 20 years and you then feel that you didn?t require a tattoo, then do not obtain tattoo now. There is a opportunity that you might regret acquiring it after 20 years.
Stop Following Trends ? Trends undergo alter at any type of time. If you discover something fashionable at one point of your life, might not be so after 10 or 20 years.
Think Forward ? The tattoo style on your body might not look the exact same when you are old and wrinkled.
Choose tattoo designs that represent your personality. Consider your hobbies, career, talents, etc.
If you are choosing tattoo designs for appearance and trend, try to get traditional designs like stars, flowers, animals, and angels which never go out of trend.
Pick an artist that has a good encounter in tattooing.
Oriental characters are a good choice, if you like significance in the style.
If you enjoy a style too much which does not have an internal significance, go obtain it. Even if it?s Mickey computer mouse or Donald duck.
If you consider eliminating the tattoo prior to it?s done, attempt to avoid multicolored tattoo styles. Colored inks are incredibly tough to eliminate and call for numerous procedures, more ache and more cash. Black ink is the most convenient to eliminate. Yellow is almost impossible and green is incredibly difficult to eliminate. So, opt for black if you want to remove it in future.
If you feel a bad perception on the style or the artist, do not go via with it.
Face, hand and feet call for more time to recover correctly and require more touch-ups. It will certainly be much more costly too.
Try short-term tattooing prior to choosing the long-lasting.
Pain Variable:
One of the most common inquiry asked by the people prior to tattooing is ?where does it hurt the most??. However there is no particular rule for this concern. According to the viewpoints of different people, I had actually listed some concepts:.
Least Uncomfortable Locations:
Guy ? Arm, Back, Butts.
Women ? Abdomen, Thigh, Buttocks, Shoulder Most Painful Areas;
Guy ? spine, chest, abdominal areas.
Women ? ankle, ribcage, spine.
You can do research on locating the excellent tattoo style for you. There are many tattoo connected magazines and many photos available on internet. Whatever style you obtain tattooed on your body, the perception of various other people will certainly be depended on it. So, if you like to make a good visuals in people?s eyes, obtain a style that matches your individuality. Visit for more information. Tattooing
BEIJING (Reuters) - China expressed serious concern on Wednesday after North Korea stepped up its bellicose rhetoric and threatened to go beyond a third nuclear test in response to what it sees as "hostile" sanctions imposed after a December rocket launch.
"China is extremely concerned by the way things are going. We oppose any behavior which may exacerbate the situation and any acts which are not beneficial towards the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.
"We call on all the relevant sides to remain calm and exercise restraint and earnestly work hard to maintain peace and stability in the Korean peninsula," she told a daily news briefing.
China is the North's sole remaining major diplomatic and economic benefactor but has been showing sings of exasperation with its isolated neighbor.
One of China's most widely read newspapers, the tabloid Global Times published by Communist Party mouthpiece the People's Daily, said China should take a tough line and inform North Korean leaders of the consequences of their actions.
"If North Korea insists on a third nuclear test despite attempts to dissuade it, it must pay a heavy price," it said in an editorial in both its Chinese and English-language issues.
The newspaper said China should cut its help if North Korea went ahead with the nuclear test. In 2009, China reportedly cut fuel supplies to North Korea after a nuclear test, although it was impossible to verify the reports.
"The assistance it will be able to receive from China should be reduced. The Chinese government should make this clear beforehand to shatter any illusions Pyongyang may have," the Global Times said.
While the stridently nationalist newspaper is not considered an official mouthpiece of the Chinese government, it is nonetheless an influential publication.
North Korea has vowed to conduct more rocket and nuclear tests in response to a U.N. censure for its launch of a long-range missile launch in December. On Tuesday, it vowed "stronger" but unspecified actions in addition to the test.
U.S.-backed South Korea and others who have been closely observing activities at the North's known nuclear test grounds believe it is technically ready for a nuclear test and is awaiting the final word from supreme leader Kim Jong-un.
The Chinese spokeswoman reiterated China's wished to see a nuclear-weapons-free Korean peninsula.
NORTH HAS STRUCK BEFORE
In 2010, North Korea was blamed for sinking a South Korean naval vessel. It also shelled a South Korean island in the same year, killing civilians.
The North, which frequently aims fiery rhetoric at South Korea and the United States, did not spell out the actions it would take in its comments on Tuesday.
It is not capable of staging a military strike on the United States, although South Korea is in range of its artillery and missiles and Japan of its missiles.
"The DPRK (Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, or North Korea) has drawn a final conclusion that it will have to take a measure stronger than a nuclear test to cope with the hostile forces' nuclear-war moves that have become ever more undisguised," the North's KCNA state news agency said.
New U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry discussed North Korea in what he said were "remarkably similar" telephone conversations with his counterparts from Japan, South Korea and China, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
U.N. resolutions ban North Korea from developing missile or nuclear technology after its nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.
North Korea says that it has the sovereign right to launch rockets for peaceful purposes, even though the multiple U.N. resolutions make this illegal under international law.
The North has in the past said its nuclear program was for peaceful purposes but has more recently boasted of becoming a nuclear weapons state.
Feb. 5, 2013 ? Native Americans are at much greater risk of suicide after acute alcohol intoxication, according to a study led by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).
The study examined the prevalence and social demographic correlates of suicide involving acute alcohol intoxication among United States ethnic minorities. Results will be published in the May 2013 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View.
"Some reviews suggest that people with alcohol use disorders are nine times more likely to die by suicide than the general population," said Raul Caetano, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., the study's corresponding author and regional dean of The University of Texas School of Public Health Dallas Regional Campus, part of UTHealth. "Our paper looks at the issue more specifically, examining suicide and acute intoxication among U.S. ethnic minorities. It is not the first study to do so, but few among them have used such large data set as the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS)."
Suicide is the 10th leading overall cause of death in the United States in 2009, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Prior research has also shown that alcohol use disorders confer increased risk for suicide.
"Other studies have found that large numbers of people who have recently committed suicide, or attempted to commit suicide, have alcohol in their blood," added Sarah Zemore, Ph.D., a scientist at the Alcohol Research Group and an associate adjunct professor at the University of California, Berkeley. "There is also reason to believe that binging on alcohol is a risk for suicide attempt regardless of whether the person is dependent on alcohol. Yet research has not fully answered the question of why alcohol misuse increases the likelihood of a suicide attempt, whether due to major depression, increases in impulsivity or poorer life conditions common among alcohol-dependent people."
Caetano and his colleagues used data derived from the 2003-2009 NVDRS, analyzing sociodemographic and toxicological information for 59,384 suicide decedents from 16 states. Acute alcohol intoxication at the time of death was defined as having a blood alcohol content (BAC) equal to or greater than 0.08.
"We showed considerable differences across ethnic groups in the association between alcohol intoxication and suicide and types of suicide," said Caetano, professor of epidemiology at the UT School of Public Health. "Although alcohol intoxication is important for all groups, American Indians are much more at risk than other groups."
Zemore added, "This study is consistent with the larger literature suggesting that more than a third of those committing suicide use alcohol prior to the event. The study also extends the literature by showing that alcohol use and intoxication prior to suicide is particularly prevalent among American Indian and Alaskan Native populations and, to some extent, Latinos, compared to Whites, but less prevalent among Blacks and Asians. Finally, this article highlights the fact that suicide is a particular problem among young American Indian and Alaskan Native people. In this sample, 22 percent of those completing suicide were under 21, and half were under 29."
The authors suggest that alcohol-related prevention strategies focus on suicide as a consequence of alcohol use, especially among American Indian and Alaskan Native youth and young adults.
"These associations indicate that heavier drinkers are more at risk and should be targeted for prevention efforts," said Caetano. "Alcohol treatment facilities should focus on suicide, and be aware of the potential risk that their clients have in regard to suicide. Clinicians working with heavier drinkers, especially those who are depressed, should be aware of the increased risk that these patients have."
"Suicidal threats or insinuations by individuals who misuse alcohol should be taken particularly seriously," said Zemore. "Family and friends play an important role here, as people intending to commit suicide often fail to seek formal help -- though they do often inform their social circle in some manner. Findings also suggest a need for emergency room departments and health care providers to more broadly screen for suicidal ideation among alcohol-dependent individuals."
?The study was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.?
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
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Journal Reference:
Raul Caetano, Mark S. Kaplan, Nathalie Huguet, Bentson H. McFarland, Kenneth Conner, Norman Giesbrecht, Kurt B. Nolte. Acute Alcohol Intoxication and Suicide Among United States Ethnic/Racial Groups: Findings from the National Violent Death Reporting System. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 2013; DOI: 10.1111/acer.12038
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
When's the last time you watched The Cookout? How about Beauty Shop? Well, if you feel like you've been deprived of your daily dose of Queen Latifah and Tim Meadows, you can finally breathe easy. The once-upon-a-rapper's company, Flavor Unit Entertainment, has signed an exclusive multi-year deal with Netflix. Starting in the Spring pop culture touchstones, such as the made-for-TV remake of pop culture touchstone Steel Magnolias, could be available only to Netflix subscribers. You lucky dogs. Check out the PR after the break.
I don?t know about you, but here in Pittsburgh, the weather has been crazy. Zero temps and subzero wind-chill early last week, with lots of snow. Then later on? Mild, springlike temps and thunderstorms. Now, though, it?s back to the deep freeze, with vicious winds.
Two words come to mind: San. Diego. Investmentwise, two more words come to mind: Precious. Metals?
Through the ups and downs I see basic support for precious metal prices ? gold, silver, platinum and palladium. They?ve found a floor. Prices are holding, with plenty of inflation built into the dollar supply (no matter what you hear in the mainstream), courtesy of the Federal Reserve and its $85 billion per month of bond buying. There?s just a lot of Keynesian thinking at work. Too much, some might say.
Platinum and palladium (PGMs), as I told you about last week, are a solid buy. I see limited downside with this one, because the supply deficit in the PGM metals is here and not going away. The demand side is primed to explode.
For those of you who want to accumulate a stash of something else, I suggest you skip the gun shows, where AR-style weaps are about triple the recent price. Instead, go for physical silver just now. Of course, don?t turn down the chance to buy physical gold, either, if you can get it without too much in the way of markup. If you do NOT hold any physical metal? Get some. Gold. Silver. (Don?t forget brass, if you know what I mean.)
On the merely valuable side ? but not quite as precious ? copper prices are firm too. The recent price for copper has been solid, within a dime or so of $3.70 per pound. There?s no apparent demand weakness, what with globally active construction and industrial activity.
This is not a ?China boom? time for copper, like five or six years back, but things are better than a lot of people think. I believe that a company like Freeport-McMoRan will have solid earnings this year and its share price will benefit.
Switching metals, let?s discuss uranium. The spot price of which ? at $42 per pound ? is ridiculously low and set to rebound. I had a long discussion with a couple of serious uranium scholars earlier this week. They?ve been doing uranium in both government and private industry since the 1970s. They?ve seen all the different rodeo acts.
These gents laid out a strong case for strengthening yellowcake prices this year ? 2013 ? and well into the future. ?Yellowcake,? said one, ?is comparable to where gold was 10 years ago. We?re looking at prices four-six times higher in the out years.?
That?s quite a claim ? $150-250 per pound ? and if it works out, it makes great news for uranium producers. You know, the guys that are already producing the stuff.
Begin with the eye-popping cost of acquiring ?new? uranium supplies. When you add up all the exploration and development costs, a new uranium mine scopes out in the range of $100-120 per pound. This is nearly triple the current spot price. And it?s before you factor in the vagaries of future tax changes and higher interest rates. After all, it pays to build a mine only if there?s a decent return on investment.
Expanding existing mines, on the other hand, is problematic. Everyone who?s trying to expand a mine confronts serious sticker shock. Look, for example, at how BHP Billiton deferred expansion at the gigantic site at Olympic Dam, Australia, as costs topped $20 billion.
A 10-figure level of capex approaches the limit of private enterprise in any respect. That?s big, even for the oil industry, let alone miners ? and I mean even the biggest of the big. We?re talking about a major defense program or space program level of capex, plus comparable difficulties in recruiting personnel, developing technology and scheduling the whole thing to work over a decade or more.
Look at it another way. Who can afford to make those kinds of energy investments? Governments, perhaps. Or more likely, government-industry partnerships. In the future, look for business forms in which the mining consortium becomes sort of a public utility, with all the legalistic bells and whistles something like that entails. But without government help? Big energy projects likely won?t happen. And then there goes the supply curve.
On the demand side, the China story is ?real and getting more real,? according to my sources. The Chinese need electric power, and they?re currently burning coal because they have it, not because they want to. Chinese air pollution is now a national problem ? as I discussed in the article noted above. Inside China, large future power projects all have to show an environmental angle to receive state approval. So says the Communist Party.
Across the sea from China, the stories you hear about Japan eliminating its nuclear power plants are ?fairy tales,? according my sources. After the Fukushima disaster, two years ago, initial sentiment in Japan was to move away from nuclear power. It was all emotion. ?And then came reality,? the man said.
Basically, Japan looked at the bill for importing liquefied natural gas (LNG), now in the $20 per mcf range. Plus, Japan is watching China build up its navy, which threatens Japan?s sea lines of commerce and communication, pertinent to oil and coal imports.
The bottom line is that rebuilding its nuclear power base gives Japan another reason to pour more concrete, which is as much a Japanese national pastime as baseball.
Unlocking Value in the Oil Biz
Let?s look at the oil side of things. There?s a trend within the industry, within shareholder groups, to demand more and better return from management. The movement is getting much stronger, and this may be a year to remember.
There?s a shareholder push at Hess Oil, for example, to move the company to deliver higher returns. Hess has already announced that it?ll close its aging, 70,000 barrel per day refinery at Port Reading, N.J. The facility is another casualty of weak refining profits on the East Coast in recent years.
Beyond closing money losers, however, there?s the possibility of Hess spinning off its entire exploration and production operation in the Bakken Formation of North Dakota as a separate entity. Hess shares have climbed on the news (as Dan Amoss wrote about on Friday.)
Elsewhere in the oil patch, similar shareholder activity is rattling the dishes. There are plenty of opportunities out there, as my paid-up readers know.
MENA Problems
Looking ahead, I see better days ? better years, actually ? for offshore players. Offshore is where there?s lots of oil. Also, offshore, there are far fewer Islamist terrorists.
The recent attack on the BP facility in Algeria marked a milestone. Up to now, the energy industry had an acceptable working presence across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Shiny, energy-producing technology existed side by side with the ancient caravan routes. Westerners did their work and kept a low profile. There wasn?t too much trouble ? occasional, but manageable.
That is, up to recently, people made deals and drilled wells. Oil and gas flowed to the coastlines, to refineries, tankers and transoceanic pipelines. Everybody got paid.
Now? With the BP attack in Algeria? The terrorists have determined that Westerners and energy interests are fair game. It?s part of the militant Islamist awakening across MENA.
It doesn?t really matter that the Algerian government sent in troops almost immediately, guns blazing, and wiped the terrorists out to the last man. The global energy industry ? Western players, but national oil companies, as well ? must deal with the new reality of development amidst a vast battle space of irregular warfare. It?ll make everything more difficult, time-consuming, costly, riskier.
What?s the answer? There?s no real ?answer.? You just have to deal with it. Welcome to the 21st century. You?ll have to invest around it. And on that note, thank you for reading.
Best wishes,
Byron W. King
Byron King
Byron received his Juris Doctor from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, was a cum laude graduate of Harvard University, served on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations and as a field historian with the Navy. Our resident energy and oil expert, Byron is the editor of Outstanding Investments and Energy and Scarcity Investor. Byron has made frequent appearances in mainstream media such as The Washington Post,MSN Money, Marketwatch.com, Fox Business News, CNBC's Squawk Box, Larry Kudlow, Glenn Beck and PBS Newshour. He also had a feature article written in the Financial Times, and has appeared on both CNN and Marketplace radio broadcasts. Byron has also been quoted in various international publications such as The Guardian and De Volkskrant, and has been a guest on Canada's CBC television broadcast.
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In this April 6, 2012, photo, former Navy SEAL and author of the book ?American Sniper?, Chris Kyle poses in Midlothian, Texas. A Texas sheriff has told local newspapers that Kyle has been fatally shot along with another man on a gun range, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013. (AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Paul Moseley)
In this April 6, 2012, photo, former Navy SEAL and author of the book ?American Sniper?, Chris Kyle poses in Midlothian, Texas. A Texas sheriff has told local newspapers that Kyle has been fatally shot along with another man on a gun range, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013. (AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Paul Moseley)
This photo provided by the Erath County Sheriff?s Office shows Eddie Ray Routh. He was charged with murder in connection with a shooting at a central Texas gun range that killed former Navy SEAL and "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield, the Texas Department of Public Safety said Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013. (AP Photo/ Erath County Sheriff's Office)
In this April 6, 2012, photo, former Navy SEAL and author of the book ?American Sniper? poses in Midlothian, Texas. A Texas sheriff has told local newspapers that Chris Kyle has been fatally shot along with another man on a gun range, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013. (AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Paul Moseley)
Map showns path of texas gunman following a double shooting
View of buildings on the property of Rough Creek Lodge photographed Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013. Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield were found murdered at the gun range on the property. (AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Richard W. Rodriguez)
STEPHENVILLE, Texas (AP) ? The former top Navy SEAL sniper who authorities say was killed at a Texas shooting range was devoted to maintaining camaraderie and helping his fellow veterans find their way after leaving active duty.
Chris Kyle, author of the best-selling book "American Sniper," and his friend Chad Littlefield apparently were doing just that Saturday when, officials say, they were shot and killed by former Marine Eddie Ray Routh.
Kyle, 38, had left the Navy in 2009 after four tours of duty in Iraq, where he earned a reputation as one of the military's most lethal snipers. But he quickly found a way to maintain contact with his fellow veterans and pass on what had helped him work through his own struggles. By late 2011, he filed the paperwork to establish the nonprofit FITCO Cares, which received its nonprofit status the following spring, said FITCO director Travis Cox.
"Chris struggled with some things," Cox said. "He'd been through a lot and he handled it with grace, but yeah he did struggle with some things. And he found a healthy outlet and was proactive in his approach to deal with those issues and wanted to help spread his healing, what worked for him, to others. And that's what he died doing."
For Kyle that healthy outlet was exercise. At the heart of FITCO was giving in-home fitness equipment to physically and emotionally wounded veterans, as well as families who had lost a veteran, Cox said.
Littlefield, a 35-year-old friend and neighbor, was Kyle's "workout buddy," and also volunteered his time to work with veterans, Cox said. He was married and had children as well.
"He's a very gentle, sweet-hearted man, just a great man, kind of quiet," Cox said of Littlefield. "He just really cared. ... He wanted to do whatever he could to help veterans and help see that vision of serving others that Chris had. He shared that vision with all of us. He was a great man."
Cox said he understood that Kyle and Littlefield were helping Routh work through his own PTSD, but that he did not know how they came into contact. He said it was not a FITCO session.
Erath County Sheriff Tommy Bryant on Sunday offered a similar description of the situation.
"It's my understanding that the suspect may have been suffering from some type of mental illness from being in the military himself," he said of Routh.
He said Routh's mother may have reached out to Kyle for help with her son.
"We kind of have an idea that maybe that's why they were at the range for some type of therapy that Mr. Kyle assists people with," Bryant said.
Bryant didn't know whether Routh was on any medication or whether he had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Authorities say the three men arrived at the Rough Creek Lodge southwest of Fort Worth around 3:15 p.m. Saturday. A hunting guide discovered the bodies of Kyle and Littlefield around 5 p.m. and called 911.
Routh allegedly left in Kyle's pickup and went to his sister's in Midlothian. He told what he had done and left. She called police and Routh was eventually found at his home in Lancaster. After a short pursuit he was arrested.
Routh was being held on $3 million bail in the Erath County Jail. Authorities said they believed he had requested a court-appointed attorney. Calls to his home were not answered Sunday.
Kyle was also president of a security training firm Craft International. Craft had scheduled a $2,950-per-person civilian training event at Rough Creek Lodge called the "Rough Creek Shoot Out!" for March 1-3. The price included lodging, meals and shooting instruction. Kyle was scheduled to teach the first class, called "precision rifle."
But the work with veterans through FITCO was Kyle's passion, Cox said.
FITCO Cares offered life coaching for veterans, a daily support group and weekly group counseling. Sometimes veterans in other states would video conference in to counseling sessions, Cox said.
Kyle was always recognized at events, but would deflect attention to other veterans, quickly introducing and praising those around him.
"That camaraderie is usually missed once the veteran gets out of the military," said Cox, himself a former Marine sniper. "The authentic relationships that you develop in the military, especially overseas and in combat are some of the most meaningful, authentic relationships that one can have and it's missed. And so we tried to create a means through this group of veterans that can gather and talk about things that they're dealing with."
"He (Kyle) didn't have any fear at all as far as working with an extreme case," Cox said. "Just like in combat he would take it on head on and do whatever he could to give these guys assistance. There was no fear in helping anyone that may have an extreme case. He was willing to help anyone in need."
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Christopher Sherman contributed reporting from McAllen, Texas.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi announced several changes to her communications operation Monday, finalizing her staff shuffle after the Feb. 1 retirement of her longtime chief of staff, John Lawrence.
?With 49 new Democratic members, the communications office is retooling to support our expanded Caucus,? Pelosi, D-Calif., said. ?Ensuring that our new members and our entire caucus of 200-plus members have the resources they need will continue to be a top priority of my office in the 113th Congress, and the excellence of this team underscores that commitment.?
Ashley Etienne joins Pelosi?s office as deputy communications director. She had been communications director for Oversight and Government Reform ranking member Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md. Previously, she was the spokeswoman for the Corporation for National and Community Service and worked for several members of the Texas delegation.
Evangeline George becomes Pelosi?s press secretary. She had been with Pelosi since January 2009, but took a leave of absence to head communications for now-New York Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney?s 2012 campaign.
Jonathan Powell, who has also been with Pelosi since 2009, takes over as director of speech-writing. He previously served in the same role for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Finally, Ryan King, a Pelosi aide since August 2011, has been promoted to press adviser.
The moves underscore the importance of communications when in the minority, and they fill out the press team after Nadeam Elshami, who was the communications director, was promoted to chief of staff after Lawrence?s departure.
As was announced last month along with Elshami?s move, George Kundanis remains the deputy chief of staff, Diane Dewhirst was promoted to deputy chief of staff and Drew Hammill replaced Elshami as communications director and senior adviser.
Fast food linked to higher asthma and allergy risk
New study links fast-food consumption to a greater risk for developing asthma, eczema and allergies.
Tue, Jan 15 2013 at 8:56 AM
Teens and kids who eat a lot of fast food may be at greater risk for developingasthma, eczema?and allergies, according to a new study published in the British Medical Journal's respiratory magazine,?Thorax.
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For the study, researchers from?the University of Auckland in New Zealand and the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom looked at surveys from more than 500,000 kids in 51 countries to determine how diet affected their allergy-related risks. They found that?eating fast food three times a week may lead to asthma, eczema?and itchy, watery eyes in children. ?
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Researchers surveyed kids and their parents to determine whether or not they experienced symptoms of allergies, asthma and eczema. Participants also shared what types of foods they consumed each week. In the study, children in their early teens who ate fast food three or more times each week had a 39 percent greater risk of severe asthma. For 6- and 7-year-olds, there was a 27 percent increased risk. Overall, kids who ate fast food three or more times a week had about a 30 percent increased risk of severe allergies. The results were consistent across all age groups regardless of gender or socioeconomic status. ?
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Interestingly, kids who ate fruit were able to cut their risk of developing these conditions. Researchers found that kids who ate three or more portions of fruit each week reduced their risk of severe asthma, eczema and allergies by between 11 and 14 percent.
HOLD FOR RELEASE AT 12:01 A.M. EST MONDAY, FEB. 4 - FOR STORY BY LINDSEY TANNER - This Jan. 30, 2013 photo provided by the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor, Mich., shows Dr. Beth Tarini, a pediatrician and researcher at UMHS, posing with a selection of "Little House" books written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Tarini is the author of a study that suggests that Mary Ingalls, sister of Laura Ingalls Wilder, went blind from a meningitis-like disease and not scarlet fever. (AP Photo/Courtesy of The University of Michigan Health System, Hillary Edwards)
HOLD FOR RELEASE AT 12:01 A.M. EST MONDAY, FEB. 4 - FOR STORY BY LINDSEY TANNER - This Jan. 30, 2013 photo provided by the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor, Mich., shows Dr. Beth Tarini, a pediatrician and researcher at UMHS, posing with a selection of "Little House" books written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Tarini is the author of a study that suggests that Mary Ingalls, sister of Laura Ingalls Wilder, went blind from a meningitis-like disease and not scarlet fever. (AP Photo/Courtesy of The University of Michigan Health System, Hillary Edwards)
CHICAGO (AP) ? Any fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder's beloved "Little House" books knows how the author's sister Mary went blind: scarlet fever. But turns out that probably wasn't the cause, medical experts say, upending one of the more dramatic elements in the classic stories.
An analysis of historical documents, biographical records and other material suggests another disease that causes swelling in the brain and upper spinal cord was the most likely culprit. It was known as "brain fever" in the late 1800s, the setting for the mostly true stories about Wilder's pioneer family.
Scarlet fever was rampant and feared at the time, and it was likely often misdiagnosed for other illnesses that cause fever, the researchers said.
Wilder's letters and unpublished memoir, on which the books are based, suggest she was uncertain about her sister's illness, referring to it as "some sort of spinal sickness." And a registry at an Iowa college for blind students that Mary attended says "brain fever" caused her to lose her eyesight, the researchers said.
They found no mention that Mary Ingalls had a red rash that is a hallmark sign of scarlet fever. It's caused by the same germ that causes strep throat. It is easily treated with antibiotics that didn't exist in the 1800s and is no longer considered a serious illness.
Doctors used to think blindness was among the complications, but that's probably because they misdiagnosed scarlet fever in children who had other diseases, said study author Dr. Beth Tarini, a pediatrician and researcher at the University of Michigan.
Her study appears online Monday in Pediatrics.
It's the latest study offering a modern diagnosis for a historical figure. Others subjected to revisionists' microscope include Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin, composer Wolfgang Mozart and Abraham Lincoln.
Tarini said as a girl she was a fan of the "Little House" books and wanted to research Mary Ingalls' blindness ever since scarlet fever came up during a medical school discussion.
"I raised my hand and said, 'Scarlet fever can make you go blind, right?'" The instructor hesitated and responded, "I don't think so."
The disease that Mary Ingalls probably had is called meningoencephalitis (muh-NING-go-en-sef-ah-LY-tis). It can be caused by bacteria and treated with antibiotics, but Tarini said it's likely she had the viral kind, which can be spread by mosquitoes and ticks.
The viral disease is fairly common today, particularly in summer months and can cause fever, headaches and sometimes seizures, said Dr. Buddy Creech, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University. Affected children typically require hospitalization but lasting effects are uncommon, Creech said.
Still, blindness can occur if the disease affects the optic nerve, and it's entirely possible that Mary Ingalls had the condition, he said.
Historian William Anderson, author of Laura Ingalls Wilder biography, said various theories about Mary Ingalls' blindness have been floating around for years. The new analysis provides credible evidence that it was caused by something other than scarlet fever, but it does nothing to discredit the books, Anderson said.
"From a literary standpoint, scarlet fever just seemed to be the most convenient way" to describe Mary's illness, he said.
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Online:
Pediatrics: http://www.pediatrics.org
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AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.Twitter.com/LindseyTanner
At the second annual Health and Wellness Fair that will be held at the Shoppes at Osprey, located on FishHawk Blvd. next to CenterState Bank on Saturday, February 23 from 1-4 p.m., you will be able meet with local businesses participating in the Fair to learn about their services that can help you meet your fitness and nutrition goals.
It is important to take a pro-active approach to health and wellness. A lot of illness and the pain caused by illness and other medical issues can be traced back to very basic root causes.
The symptoms that manifest are the body?s final attempt to get a message to the brain that the body and the mind?s needs aren?t being met. Many people think that nutrition is limited to the food we eat, but there are many non-food components that nourish us as well.
Tara Gravino, Owner of TNT Smoothies & Supplements said, ?Taking responsibility for your health begins with small pro-active decisions that contribute to a healthy lifestyle on a daily basis, as opposed to reactive steps only after we feel sick.?
TNT offers everything from daily multi-vitamins and supplements to entire programs for serious fitness and weight loss goals. ?Sharing information about health is something they have found to help people live more abundant, well-rounded and fulfilling lives,? said Gravino.? They are a main sponsor of the Health & Wellness Fair.
The Fair is intended to be educational, interactive and fun for all ages, and the goal is to highlight the healthy, natural options each participating business brings to the community.
There will be demonstrations and samples from TNT vitamin and supplement representatives, their resident therapeutic grade essential oil consultant from Now Age Wellness and their wheat grass supplier from Universal Living Sprouts.
Snap Fitness trainers will be present to answer questions about healthy lifestyle changes, weight loss, and the different fitness packages available at Snap. There will be Interactive group fitness demos and Snap Fitness will also provide body fat testing and measurements.
Other participating businesses will include Strong Life Chiropractic, FishHawk Martial Arts Academy, Keller Williams Realty, FishHawk Animal Clinic, The Coffee House and FishHawk Pizza.
They will also have volunteers from the local Relay for Life (RFL) of FishHawk to provide information regarding the services the American Cancer Society is able to offer through funds raised through Relay. They plan on donating a portion of the proceeds from TNT?s smoothie sales to The Ibis Park Partners, LLC RFL Team.
For more information, e-mail Tara Gravino at tara.gravino@me.com.
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By Michelle ColesantiFishHawk, Health & WellnessTags: FishHawk Animal Clinic, FishHawk Martial Arts Academy, Fishhawk wellness gair, Health and Wellness Fair in Lithia, Keller Williams Realty, Shoppes at Osprey, Strong Life Chiropractic, Tara Gravino, The Coffee House and FishHawk Pizza., The Coffee House and FishHawk Pizza. Strong Life Chiropractic, TNT Smoothies
