House-Senate negotiators unveil spending bill (AP)

WASHINGTON ? House and Senate negotiators have agreed on a bundle of spending measures for the ongoing budget year, blending cuts to NASA and community development programs while averting cuts to nutrition programs.

The approximately $182 billion measure announced late Monday would fund day-to-day operations at the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, as well as the space program.

It also contains stopgap spending legislation to keep the government running until Dec. 16 and buy lawmakers more time for a raft of other spending bills, but many of those measures are freighted with controversy. Without the stopgap measure, the government would partially shut down this weekend.

Lawmakers face a midnight Friday deadline to act on the measure. House and Senate leaders promised votes this week.

The legislation would represent the first concrete step to implement a contentious budget pact sealed by President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans this summer, which traded a $2 trillion-plus increase in the government's ability to borrow to meet its obligations with promises of future budget cuts.

The legislation represents a hard-fought bargain between the GOP-controlled House and the Democratic Senate by the powerful Appropriations committees. But it's sure to run into opposition from tea party Republicans who want deeper cuts.

"We've cut total discretionary spending for the second year in a row ? a remarkable achievement that will save taxpayers billions of dollars and help get our nation's budget back into balance," said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers, R-Ky.

It comes as a congressional debt-reduction supercommittee is wrestling over cuts to benefit programs like Medicare and farm subsidies, whose budgets essentially run on autopilot and aren't funded year to year.

Congress has yet to complete action on a single spending measure for the 2012 budget year, which started more than a month ago.

The August budget agreement set a $1.043 trillion "cap" on agency operating levels, about a $7 billion cut ? less than 1 percent ? from prior-year levels. But the budget pact also permits more than $11 billion in additional spending for natural disasters, which means the current crop of spending bills will ultimately exceed the cost of the last round ? a sore point with tea party conservatives already unhappy with the GOP's efforts to cut spending.

The measure contains $2.3 billion for disaster aid, much of it to rebuild roads and bridges destroyed by this year's floods in the Northeast and Midwest. A later bill would provide the Federal Emergency Management Agency with several billion dollars more.

An earlier omnibus spending measure enacted in April covered the 2011 budget year that ended Sept. 30. It cut spending below 2010 levels set by a Democratic-controlled Congress by about $40 billion.

The range of spending covered by Monday's measure includes community development grants, Amtrak operating subsidies, funding for private sector space flight and the FBI. Still to come is legislation funding the Pentagon, homeland security and a variety of other agencies. Future bills will prove more difficult to negotiate as rival Democrats and Republicans have to sort through dozens of controversies involving flashpoints like environmental policy and abortion.

The Senate turned Monday to another hybrid measure blending the foreign aid budget with budgets for the Energy and Treasury departments.

NASA would absorb a $648 million cut, made possible by the retirement of the space shuttle fleet. Democrats restored cuts to housing subsidies for the poor, food stamps and a popular program that feeds mothers and their infants. Amtrak would receive $1.4 billion for operating subsidies and capital improvements, while a much-criticized program that subsidizes airlines that serve rural airports was largely left intact.

Obama's request for a huge budget increase for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which is responsible for implementing much of last year's rewrite of financial regulation, was cut from $308 million to $205 million. The Wall Street overhaul is deeply unpopular with most Republicans.

The measure doesn't contain congressional pet projects known as earmarks, which have been banned at the insistence of Republicans like House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio. But opponents of spending will still find much to dislike, such as potato and aquaculture research.

The House is slated to vote Thursday on the spending measures, with the Senate to follow.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111115/ap_on_go_co/us_congress_spending

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Patriots handle Jets

Brady throws 3 TDs, N.E. forces three turnovers in 37-16 win

By DENNIS WASZAK Jr.

updated 2:12 a.m. ET Nov. 14, 2011

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - A few classic drives. An impressive rout. Total control of the division.

Struggling no more, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots sent a clear message Sunday night: They're still the team to beat in the AFC East. Not the Buffalo Bills. And certainly not the New York Jets.

Brady threw three touchdown passes, including two to Rob Gronkowski, and the Patriots assumed sole possession of first place in the division with a convincing 37-16 victory over the Jets on Sunday night.

"It's very sweet," Brady said, "getting this win."

Especially after two consecutive losses had some wondering if the Patriots (6-3) were no longer the powerhouse they've been for years. Well, not so fast.

"Losing two straight, you have 14 days of just feeling crappy," Brady said. "Every day of practice is harder. It's hard to build on losses. It feels really good to win this one."

After the Jets got within a score at 23-16 early in the fourth quarter, Brady coolly led the Patriots down the field on an 84-yard drive that was capped by an 8-yard touchdown catch by Deion Branch.

New England linebacker Rob Ninkovich then sealed the victory ? which snapped a two-game skid ? on the Jets' next possession with a 12-yard interception return for a touchdown midway through the final quarter.

"One game won't win you much," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said, "but it's a good win and we're certainly happy to have it."

The game was a showdown for the top spot in the division, but it was no contest as the Patriots took over sole possession by snapping the Jets' three-game winning streak and sweeping the regular-season series.

"It looks doubtful right now," Jets coach Rex Ryan said of his team's chances of winning the division. "Maybe I should guarantee we're out of it. The last time I did we made it.

"Yeah, we got no chance."

Buffalo entered the day tied with New England and New York, but the Bills were blown out by the Dallas Cowboys 44-7.

It was also the first home loss for the Jets (5-4) after opening 4-0, but they can't dwell on it because they play again at Denver on Thursday night.

"You're not going to beat many teams when you make the mistakes that we made," Ryan said. "We've been down this road before. I apologize to our fans."

Ryan insisted his team was greatly improved since a 30-21 loss at New England on Oct. 9 and declared it a must-win if New York wanted to get some home playoff games. Turns out, the Jets still have plenty of work to do if they expect to dethrone the Patriots.

"It just wasn't our night," Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez said. "We earned what we got tonight."

New England was coming off consecutive losses to Pittsburgh and the Giants, but said there was no concern in its locker room. It certainly showed as the Patriots avoided their first three-game losing streak since 2002.

Brady finished 26 of 39 for 329 yards, the 40th time he reached the 300-yard mark in a regular-season game, breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Joe Montana for eighth on the NFL's list. He also joined New Orleans' Drew Brees as the only players to throw for 3,000 yards in their team's first nine games. Brees also accomplished the feat this season.

Brady and Belichick broke a tie with Miami's Dan Marino and Don Shula as the winningest quarterback-coach duo since 1966 with 117 victories.

"The good teams keep getting better this time of year," Brady said. "That's what we need to do."

Gronkowski finished with eight catches for 113 yards and the two scores, and Stephen Gostkowski kicked three field goals. Andre Carter had a team-record 4? sacks as the Patriots' defense ? ranked last in the league coming in ? harassed Sanchez all night.

Sanchez was 20 of 39 for 306 yards and a touchdown, but was intercepted twice and sacked five times.

LaDainian Tomlinson passed Hall of Famer Barry Sanders for fifth place on the NFL's career list for yards from scrimmage, but left the game with an injured left leg which was tightly wrapped in the locker room. He said he would have "some tests" on Monday.

The Jets appeared to get back in it when Plaxico Burress caught a 7-yard fade pass over Antwaun Molden in the right corner of the end zone for a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter, making it 23-16.

But Brady went right back to work, leading the Patriots on a typically efficient drive, going 84 yards on 13 plays using a no-huddle offense that kept the Jets' defense off balance. Mixing in some solid runs by Danny Woodhead, Brady calmly spread the ball around to his receivers before connecting with Branch with 8:04 remaining.

The score sent many in the crowd at MetLife Stadium heading for the exits. Many of those who remained didn't stick around much longer once Ninkovich returned an errant pass by Sanchez 12 yards to make it 37-16 with 7:45 left.

"Bill challenged us last week," nose tackle Vince Wilfork said. "We took his challenge and it showed tonight."

Three Jets bobbled a muffed punt by Joe McKnight to set up Gostkowski's short field goal for a 16-9 lead.

A few minutes later, Ninkovich returned a twice-tipped interception as Sanchez's throw went off the hands of running back Shonn Greene, then was deflected by linebacker Jerod Mayo to Ninkovich.

The Jets got on the scoreboard when they got some rare pressure on Brady. Jamaal Westerman got to the Patriots quarterback in the end zone, and Brady threw the ball away left-handed and was called for intentional grounding and a safety.

New York took the free kick and moved 65 yards on seven plays, and Sanchez ran in from the 2 on a quarterback draw for a 9-6 lead. But the Jets quarterback made a mistake on the play right before his score, calling a timeout with 1:24 left in the half. Ryan was so angry, he told NBC at halftime that the timeout was the "stupidest play in NFL history."

Adding to the frustration was New York not opting to try a pooch kickoff following a 15-yard penalty on New England's Wilfork, and Nick Folk kicked the ball through the end zone. Brady hit five passes on an 80-yard drive, with Gronkowski getting open over the middle for the 18-yard score with 9 seconds left in the half that made it 13-9.

NOTES: The Patriots lost CB Devin McCourty to an injured right shoulder midway through the second quarter after he collided with teammate Sterling Moore. ... Jets WR Patrick Turner had his first catch of the season, but later left with what the team called "a kidney injury." ... Patriots WR Chad Ochocinco had two catches for 65 yards, his first receptions since the last time these teams played, on Oct. 9.

? 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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??Peter King and Mike Florio the latest struggles of the Eagles and if Andy Reid will keep his job, how Denver tweaked its offense for Tim Tebow and more.

Patriots handle Jets ? |? ??Highlights

Tom Brady threw three touchdown passes, including two to Rob Gronkowski, and the New England Patriots took control of the AFC East with a convincing 37-16 victory over the New York Jets on Sunday night.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45282861/ns/sports-nfl/

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WhereIsTheCool.com: A Lazier Pinterest for Men

Where Is The Cool Dot ComWith its pink and white color scheme and emphasis on self expression, Pinterest has found a rapidly growing audience of women, and investors are lining up. But guys might not find content for them on Pinterest's home page. Hell, even its Cars & Motorcycles channel is filled with hot pink Hummer limos.?Enter WhereIsTheCool.com, a black and red site of photos showing off the lifestyle men aspire to -- ?speed boats, surfboards, and slick tuxedos. It's designed for laid-back browsing like a men's style magazine, rather than something you have invest time in like a girlfriend.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/KxyZiFnWB7o/

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Portland police dismantle 'Occupy' camps

Police in Denver and Salt Lake City swept anti-Wall Street protesters from their camps as demonstrators and supporters in Portland, Ore., flooded a city park area in defiance of an eviction order before dispersing on Sunday.

By late morning, Portland police had taken control of both Chapman and Lownsdale squares, the Oregonian reported. They encountered almost no resistance as they took down tents in both downtown parks.

Livestream video from NBC station KGW showed official removing debris and cleaning the parks.

Hours earlier, defiant crowds swelled to thousands and went toe-to-toe with police after closing Southwest Third Avenue and Madison Street overnight.

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Police in riot gear warned them they would be arrested if they didn't clear the street. At 5 a.m. PST, when parks reopened, protesters started clearing the streets, which were reopened to traffic.

Protesters cheered and chanted "this is what victory looks like" after the standoff over the eviction notice, the Oregonian reported.

One protester was arrested and one officer was injured in the largely peaceful confrontation.

Mayor Sam Adams tweeted "Thanks to all who helped open the streets."

Adams had ordered the camp shut down, citing unhealthy conditions and the encampment's attraction of drug users and thieves.

Police numbers shifted throughout the night, but they showed no signs of moving against the protesters.

Around 4 a.m. a line of about 200 police stretched across a street and in front of a federal courthouse.

Protesters put up barricades of pallets, couches and chairs at Southwest Main Street, but they were taken down as the crowd retook the parks.

When crowds thinned, police moved in.

The mood at the parks on Sunday was "peaceful and respectful" after some raucous marching overnight, said City Council member Nick Fish.

"It's almost like the fever broke last night," he said.

Parks Bureau staff will erect fences around the squares Sunday, officially closing them to the public, Fish said.

Protesters warned
For the second time in as many days, city officials in Oakland, California, warned protesters Saturday that they do not have the right to camp in the plaza in front of City Hall and face immediate arrest.

The eviction notices come as officials across the country urged an end to similar gatherings in the wake of three deaths in different cities, including two by gunfire.

Demands for Oakland protesters to pack up increased after a man was shot and killed Thursday near the encampment site.

Police officials have said a preliminary investigation suggested the shooting resulted from a fight between two groups of men at or near the encampment. Investigators do not know if the men in the fight were associated with Occupy Oakland, but protesters said there was no connection between the shooting and the camp.

The shooting occurred the same day a 35-year-old military veteran apparently committed suicide in a tent at a Burlington, Vermont, Occupy encampment. Police said a preliminary investigation showed the veteran fatally shot himself in the head. They said the death raised questions about whether the protest would be allowed to continue.

In Salt Lake City, police arrested 19 people Saturday when protesters refused to leave a park a day after a man was found dead inside his tent at the encampment.

The arrests came after police moved into the park early in the evening where protesters had been ordered to leave by the end of the day. About 150 people had been living in the camp there for weeks.

Authorities in Denver forced protesters to leave a downtown encampment and arrested four people for interfering with officers who removed illegally pitched tents, said police spokesman Sonny Jackson.

Jackson said police had advised protesters since Wednesday that their tents in Civic Center Park and on a nearby sidewalk were illegal.

San Francisco officers attacked
A clash with Occupy San Francisco protesters left one police officer slashed and a second with a torn uniform Saturday afternoon, the Contra Costa Times reported.

A woman wielding an "exacto razor blade attached to a pen or pencil-like object" slashed one officer as police tried to keep marchers at the Embarcadero near Broadway from blocking the intersection where light rail tracks are located, the Times said, citing police reports.

Also, one protester grabbed an officer's radio and a second protester blocked the officer's attempt to retrieve it, tearing his uniform and cutting his cheek in the process, the Times said.

In St. Louis, police arrested 27 demonstrators protesting economic issues at a downtown plaza early Saturday for curfew violations, authorities said.

The anti-Wall Street protesters offered no resistance as officers slipped on plastic handcuffs and walked them into police vans amid chants of "Our passion for freedom is stronger than your prison," and "Serve the people, not the state."

About 400 people had gathered at the plaza near the Gateway Arch on Friday night despite a warning from St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay that they would have to leave the park.

Slay has offered to continue talks to find a permanent place for the protest.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45271511/ns/us_news-life/

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Chavez: navy detects submarine off Venezuela (AP)

CARACAS, Venezuela ? President Hugo Chavez said Wednesday that his navy detected a submarine in Venezuelan waters and that it quickly sped off.

The submarine was detected on Tuesday near the Venezuelan island of La Orchila in the Caribbean north of Caracas, where Venezuelan troops are participating in training drills near the island, Chavez told state television by telephone.

"It was pursued. It escaped because it's much faster than ours," Chavez said, referring to Venezuela's diesel-powered submarines. He said that judging by its speed and size, "it's a nuclear-powered submarine."

Chavez said his government was unable to say what nation might have sent the sub. "We can't accuse anyone," Chavez said, adding that his government is investigating.

The leftist leader has long had tense relations with the United States, and has recently called the U.S. together with its European allies "the empires."

"Now you know how the empires are used to going around the Caribbean Sea and going everywhere, and they also use their satellites for espionage. It's espionage," Chavez said.

He praised Venezuelan navy troops for their handling of the incident, saying they had driven off the sub.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111110/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_venezuela_chavez_submarine

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Dems present offer to cut deficit by $2 trillion

Supercommittee members, Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., left, and House Assistant Minority leader James Clyburn of S.C., right, arrive for a closed-door session on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Supercommittee members, Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., left, and House Assistant Minority leader James Clyburn of S.C., right, arrive for a closed-door session on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Supercommittee member Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif. arrives for a closed-door session on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Supercommittee members, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., left, and Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., right, arrive for a closed-door session on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Supercommittee member, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. arrives for a closed-door session on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Supercommittee co-chair Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., center, is pursued by reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011, as she arrives for a closed-door session with fellow Democrats of the deficit panel. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

(AP) ? Democrats on Congress' supercommittee secretly presented Republicans with a revised deficit-cutting proposal earlier this week that calls for a blend of $1 trillion in spending cuts and $1 trillion in higher tax revenue over the next decade, officials in both parties said Wednesday night, adding that compromise talks remain alive though troubled.

The previously undisclosed offer scaled back an earlier Democratic demand for $1.3 trillion in higher taxes, a concession to Republicans. At the same time it jettisoned a plan to slow the growth in future cost-of-living increases in Social Security benefits, a provision liberal Democrats oppose.

The one-page proposal was handed to Republicans at a meeting Monday night attended by some but not all members of the supercommittee. At the same session, GOP lawmakers in attendance advanced a revised proposal of their own that signaled for the first time they would be willing to accept higher revenues as part of a plan to cut deficits over the next decade.

Given the unusual secrecy of the meeting and the committee's Nov. 23 deadline to produce at least $1.2 trillion in savings, it appeared that the pace of activity on the panel was accelerating. Less clear was whether there was still time to bridge enormous differences on priorities, or whether each side was laying the groundwork for trying to blame the other in case gridlock triumphs.

The committee, comprising six Republicans and six Democrats, has been working for weeks. Evidence of progress has been scarce, with Republicans demanding large cuts in benefit programs such as Social Security and Medicare, while Democrats pressed for additional tax revenue as a condition for agreeing to make deep spending cuts.

Few details are known of the session Monday night, except that Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., outlined a plan on behalf of the four Republicans in attendance, and Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., countered with the revisions in an earlier Democratic proposal.

One official said the meeting lasted several hours.

Any progress that may have been made by the panel has largely been overshadowed in the past two days by a Democratic campaign to dismiss the GOP proposal as a prescription for deep tax cuts for the wealthy at the expense of the middle class.

In a sign of the political struggle unfolding, Democrats circulated a four-page analysis that relied not on a review of what Toomey outlined, but on what they described as a different, similarly drawn proposal.

Republicans countered that for all the rhetoric, both sides had shown flexibility on the issues that long have been at the root of Congress' inability to compromise on sweeping plans to cut deficits.

"Republicans have put revenues on the table. Democrats have put entitlements on the table," said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn. "They both need to put more of each on the table."

Alexander said the so-called supercommittee could expect help from a bloc of 45 senators that have signed on to a letter pledging support for a deficit bargain that mixes new revenues with curbs on the growth of government benefits programs.

Democrats sounded far less upbeat.

"I have yet to see a real, credible plan that raises revenue in a significant way to bring us to a fair, balanced proposal," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the co-chair of the 12-member supercommittee.

In something of a dissent, the No. 2 Senate Democratic leader, Richard Durbin of Illinois, said he considered this week's GOP offer "an honest effort" and "a breakthrough that can lead to an agreement. That's what we need."

Asked why he considered it to be a breakthrough, he told reporters, "The word 'revenue.' It is a breakthrough."

Durbin said the bipartisan group of 45 senators planned to release a statement later Wednesday urging the supercommittee to keep working toward a target in the $4 trillion range, well above its mandated savings target of $1.2 trillion to $1.5 trillion.

In response, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner dismissed what Democrats had presented earlier in the week. "Right now, we are waiting for a response to what the second-ranking Democratic Leader in the Senate called 'a breakthrough' - and we've seen nothing," said Michael Steel.

The revised Democratic plan totaled $2.3 trillion in savings over the next decade, including projected savings in interest costs the government would realize from lower deficits, higher than the GOP $1.6 trillion blueprint.

Democrats proposed spending on Medicare would be restrained by $350 billion over a decade, and on Medicaid, by $50 billion.

Another $200 billion would come from defense, and an identical amount from a broad swath of government programs ranging from the parks to transportation.

Democrats also called for an overhaul of the tax code that would result in an individual rate of no higher than 35 percent and a scaling back of itemized deductions.

Republicans, too, favor tax reform. In his presentation, Toomey called for a top rate of 28 percent, which appears to require deeper cutbacks in the existing deductions than Democrats favor in order to yield $250 billion in higher revenue.

Aides in both parties requested anonymity to describe the GOP proposal, and they differed on some of the details.

Broadly speaking, however, the GOP plan would raise new revenues of at least $500 billion, both skimmed off the top as Congress completes an overhaul of the tax code and from proposals such as auctioning broadcast spectrum, raising Medicare premiums and increasing aviation security fees.

The plan also would cut spending by about $700 billion, mixing a less generous cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security beneficiaries with further cuts to agency operating budgets and curbs on the booming growth of Medicare and the Medicaid health care program for the poor and disabled.

Lower interest payments on the national debt would provide the remaining savings.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-11-09-US-Debt-Supercommittee/id-6002b3a0a8154657a868d7c884caad75

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Cure Winter Blues With Light Therapy

Or The Beach ? Seasonal depression, or seasonal affective disorder, affects some five percent of Americans in the winter as daily sunlight hours dwindle. Psychiatrist Richard A. Friedman discusses the evolutionary origins of the winter blues, and treatments ranging from light therapy to a trip to the beach.

Copyright ? 2011 National Public Radio?. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

IRA FLATOW, host: This is SCIENCE FRIDAY. I'm Ira Flatow. Have you noticed how short the days are getting? Is it having an effect on you? Maybe you have a little trouble rolling out of bed each morning or you're feeling a little bit sluggish, a little depressed even.

Well, the good news is it's a normal reaction to less daily sunlight, but why do you get the winter blues? And is there some evolutionary advantage to all of this? In some people the depression can be more acute.

Seasonal Affective Disorder, SAD. What can they do about it? That's what we'll be talking about. Our number is 1-800-989-8255, 1-800-989-TALK. Dr. Richard A. Friedman is a professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College here in New York. He is here in our New York studios.

Welcome to SCIENCE FRIDAY, Dr. Friedman.

DR. RICHARD A. FRIEDMAN: Thank you.

FLATOW: What exactly is going on that causes this seasonal depression?

FRIEDMAN: Well, what we think is going on is that people are essentially beginning to respond to the fact that the days are getting shorter, and so daylight gets shorter during the winter. And there are a group of people that respond by feeling lethargic and tired and sad and they want to sleep more and eat more and have less sex.

FLATOW: How do you know if you're one of the people who has this full blown Seasonal Affective Disorder?

FRIEDMAN: Well, because you have a repeated pattern of depression the same time every year. That is, when the photo period starts to get short and the winter is coming on, and then when the winter lets up and spring comes, you start to feel good again.

FLATOW: Do we actually know what's going on in your brain when this happens?

FRIEDMAN: Well, we know what's going on in other animals who've displayed behavior that's somewhat like humans; that is, a kind of hibernating behavior, so we think it's linked to the hormone melatonin, which basically is the signal that tells your brain that it's nighttime.

FLATOW: So could you just take melatonin pills and solve it that way?

FRIEDMAN: You can manipulate melatonin, but it's not as effective as light, so far.

FLATOW: So you want to get more light, artificially, if you have to, right?

FRIEDMAN: Right. You want to basically fool the brain into thinking winter's not here and that, you know, the days are actually not getting shorter.

FLATOW: And how do you do that?

FRIEDMAN: You administer light in the morning and you essentially tell the brain, hey, it's time to wake up. It's actually daylight.

FLATOW: Yeah?

FRIEDMAN: So, basically, what you want to do is override the signal from the season that is telling you the days are shorter, the photo period's getting smaller, and you can override it with light.

FLATOW: Now, do you need to get a prescription for a light box or can you go out and buy one yourself? Or can you self-diagnose this or is it better to - maybe you could try it and see if it works.

FRIEDMAN: Yes. You know, light is highly effective, very safe, very few side effects. Most people who have seasonal depression are aware of the pattern. You don't need a prescription to get a light box and you can buy one yourself on multiple websites.

FLATOW: 1-800-989-8255. Someone is tweeting us, saying what about a tanning bed. People get into tanning beds. Is that the same thing or will that help? But you're going to get brown at the same time.

FRIEDMAN: Well, that's a bit dangerous because the exposure to UV light is carcinogenic and it's harmful. And basically, you want visible light spectrum and you're getting - you don't want to be exposed to UV light.

FLATOW: And for how many hours a day?

FRIEDMAN: Well, actually, you don't need much exposure. You know, basically 20 to 30 minutes in the morning, when the brain is the most sensitive to light, does the trick.

FLATOW: And if it's working, you'll know it immediately?

FRIEDMAN: It's very fast. The treatment has an onset of action that's much faster than antidepressants.

FLATOW: And much cheaper.

FRIEDMAN: Much cheaper and less side effects.

FLATOW: And a lot less side effects. Is there some evolutionary advantage to this? Why would people have this happening?

FRIEDMAN: It's a fascinating question. Well, it seems like there might be. In the sense that, you know, people who have seasonal depression look like they're going through some sort of energy conservation strategy. They're eating less, they're conserving energy, they're more tired, they want to be a couch potato. They consume a lot of calories. They look like, in a sense, they're hibernating. Not hibernating in the way that bears hibernate, where their body temperature goes down.

And, in fact, there are very interesting scientific experiments that have been done looking at people who have seasonal depression and looking at the difference in their melatonin secretion during the winter compared to people that don't. And they behave like hibernating animals, because what happens is that as the daylight gets shorter, their nighttime get longer and their melatonin secretion gets longer in the winter. It's like hibernating animals.

FLATOW: Well, how do we know that we're not the abnormal people and they're the normal people?

FRIEDMAN: Well, in a sense, we might be the abnormal people in the sense that, you know, people that don't have seasonal depression have a constant melatonin secretion all year long, even though daylight is getting shorter, and probably because we're sensitive to artificial light. So with artificial light we've extended the day.

FLATOW: Are there people who actually go the opposite direction?

FRIEDMAN: You mean people who are depressed in the summer?

FLATOW: Yeah.

FRIEDMAN: Yes. They're a smaller group of people and, mostly, you find those people in the South and, for some reason in Asian countries. So there's a much smaller percent of seasonal depression or summer, you know, depressions.

FLATOW: And now, I've heard of therapies that involve going to the beach instead. Why would going to the beach work?

FRIEDMAN: Well, for two reasons. One, it's very sunny.

FLATOW: Yeah.

FRIEDMAN: Two, it's very beautiful. And three, it's filled with negative ions.

FLATOW: The beach is?

FRIEDMAN: The beach is. Yes. Wet, damp places have an excess of negative charge and although it sounds like snake oil, actually there's good empirical evidence that negative ion generators can actually improve seasonal depression, just like photo therapy.

FLATOW: So you could get a negative ion generator?

FRIEDMAN: You could get a high flow negative ion generator. Yeah.

FLATOW: I've heard about positive, negative ions for years.

FRIEDMAN: Well, you know, the folklore about these hot, dry winds that drive people mad?

FLATOW: Uh-huh.

FRIEDMAN: Well, there's actually some scientific basis behind it because these hot, dry winds like the Santa Ana and the Foehn and the Mistral are full of positive ions and they do drive people...

FLATOW: Because I've also heard that the way animals know that the weather is going to change or people - they start sniffing the air, that they're detecting, possibly, the ion change that's coming.

FRIEDMAN: Yeah, possibly.

FLATOW: Also. Is it easier to get the light box or the negative ion generator? (Unintelligible)

FRIEDMAN: Probably easier at this point to get the light box, and maybe cheaper.

FLATOW: Is it? Yeah.

FRIEDMAN: I think so.

FLATOW: And you can build your own if you want.

FRIEDMAN: You could, although the issue is, you want to really be sure that you've got a filter that will take away as much UV light as possible because you don't want to harm your eyes.

FLATOW: Right. You know, people will say to you, why don't you just get out of bed and go jog someplace? You'll feel a lot better.

FRIEDMAN: Yes. Well, people who don't experience depression always say things like that. You pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. It's very hard.

FLATOW: Yeah. If you could get out of bed, you wouldn't be depressed.

FRIEDMAN: By definition.

FLATOW: By definition. Thank you very much for joining us today.

FRIEDMAN: My pleasure.

FLATOW: We're talking to Richard Friedman, professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College here in New York.

Copyright ? 2011 National Public Radio?. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to National Public Radio. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.

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Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/11/11/142244046/cure-winter-blues-with-light-therapy?ft=1&f=1007

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Obama tells agencies to save on travel, coffee mugs (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? President Barack Obama asked government agencies on Wednesday to slash $4 billion in spending on things like travel, printing and coffee mugs, in his latest effort to sidestep Congress and help the economy.

The White House order on cost-cutting is the latest in a series of small-scale initiatives Obama has been carrying out that do not require congressional approval.

By taking the executive actions, the Democrat is trying to put pressure on opposition Republicans to work with him on his $447 billion jobs package and other legislative proposals, and blame them for failing to act in the country's best interest.

Wednesday's order urges agencies to use teleconferences and videoconferences to cut down on travel and to reduce printing costs by making more information available electronically.

Government bodies are also being encouraged to limit the number of laptops, cellphones, smart phones and other devices issued to bureaucrats and workers to cut unnecessary costs.

The federal vehicle fleet used to taxi government officials around Washington would also see its budget cut, from a current estimated $9 million per year.

Obama told reporters at the White House the order would cut spending in the targeted areas by 20 percent.

"At a time when families have had to cut back, have had to make some tough decisions about getting rid of things that they don't need in order to make the investments that they do, we thought that it was entirely appropriate for our governments and our agencies to try to root out waste, large and small," he said during a short signing ceremony.

In attention to operations-related budget items, the order also calls for less spending on "swag" -- promotional clothing, branded coffee mugs and other gadgets and memorabilia that government agencies sometimes buy with tax dollars.

Items emblazoned with the presidential seal are commonplace in and around the White House and on the president's aircraft, Air Force One, and are highly coveted by foreign dignataries as well as other visitors.

White House spokesman Jay Carney did not say how the order would affect spending at the White House. Most leading companies and schools also spend some money on branded goods for marketing and other purposes.

Obama's series of small-bore executive actions have been criticized for being largely symbolic and a political ploy, rather than a genuine boost to the U.S. economy which has been growing slowly with unemployment at 9 percent.

By drawing attention to spending on government spending in non-essential areas, Obama risks raising questions about why those budgets have not been trimmed already in a time when Washington's debt and fiscal strains are a major concern.

An administration official said the estimated $4 billion saved by the measure would be reinvested in "things that really matter" like "our nation's infrastructure to help grow the economy and create jobs."

(Additional reporting by Caren Bohan; Writing by Laura MacInnis; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111109/pl_nm/us_obama_budget

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Federal gov't runs $98.5B deficit in October

(AP) ? The federal government started the budget year with a smaller October deficit than a year ago, modest progress after three straight years of $1 trillion-plus deficits.

The deficit for October, the first month of the 2012 budget year, totaled $98.5 billion, the Treasury Department said Thursday. That's down from $140.4 billion in October 2010.

Even with the improvement, the deficit remains extraordinarily high by historical standards and will keep pressure on lawmakers as they debate spending cuts and tax increases.

For all of the 2012 budget year, the Congressional Budget Office predicts the deficit will be $973 billion. That's lower than the $1.3 trillion imbalance from the budget year that just ended on Sept. 30, the second highest ever. But it would still be higher than any previous deficit before fiscal year 2009.

The government ran an all-time record deficit of $1.41 trillion in 2009, and a $1.29 trillion imbalance in 2010.

Lawmakers are under pressure to agree by Thanksgiving on where they can cut $1.2 trillion over the next decade. If they cannot, automatic cuts to Medicare, defense spending and other critical areas of the budget would go into effect in January 2013.

A decade ago, the government was running surpluses and trillion-dollar deficits seemed unimaginable. Now, the nation's debt is $14.9 trillion.

The enormity of that figure has stoked intense partisan debate in Congress over spending and taxes. Polls show growing voter anger with the inability of both parties to reach solutions to the country's budget problems.

Congress reached a last-minute deal in August to raise the government's borrowing limit in stages. But as part of the deal, lawmakers tasked a 12-member deficit-cutting panel with find cuts over the next decade.

The committee, which is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, has until Thanksgiving (Nov. 24) to come up with a plan. After that, it would then go before the House and Senate in December for up-or-down votes.

With just two weeks to go before the committee's Thanksgiving deadline, the two sides are far apart on how much in new tax revenues a deal should include.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-11-10-Budget%20Deficit/id-507b6a69ba004c27b5ff8d0d57d4ee8c

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