Extreme Startups Launches Accelerator With $7 Million In Funding From Top Canadian VCs

Not to be outdone by its southern neighbor, Canada has been hard at work on its own fleet of tech startup accelerators. Back in June, Montreal became the home to FounderFuel, Vancouver has GrowLab, and Toronto had Extreme University. Well, let's clarify that: Back in November, Extreme Venture Partners announced the launch of a new-and-improved version of its accelerator program, ExtremeU. Today, ExtremeU has officially gotten a makeover, as it has been rebranded and expanded under the name Extreme Startups. The accelerator program (re)launches today with $7 million in committed funding, backed by a group of Canada's leading venture capital firms.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/D0RknXGgrXs/

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Davis, Dujardin win lead honors at SAG awards (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer were the maids of honor at Sunday's Screen Actors Guild Awards, where their Deep South drama "The Help" won them acting prizes and earned the trophy for overall cast performance.

Davis won as best actress and Spencer as supporting actress for "The Help," while Jean Dujardin was named best actor for the silent film "The Artist" and Christopher Plummer took the supporting-actor award for the father-son tale "Beginners."

The wins boost the actors' prospects for the same honors at the Feb. 26 Academy Awards.

In "The Help," Davis and Spencer play black maids going public with uneasy truths about their white employers in 1960s Mississippi.

"I just have to say that the stain of racism and sexism is not just for people of color or women. It's all of our burden, all of us," Davis said, accepting the ensemble prize on behalf of her "The Help" co-stars.

Accepting her best-actress award, Davis singled out two performers in the audience who inspired her early in her career: "The Help" co-star Cicely Tyson and Meryl Streep, Davis' co-star in the 2008 drama "Doubt" and one of the nominees she beat out for the SAG prize. Streep had been nominated as Margaret Thatcher in "The Iron Lady," a role that won her the dramatic actress award at the Golden Globes over Davis.

A French film star who is a newcomer to Hollywood's awards scene with "The Artist," Dujardin played a silent-era screen idol fallen on hard times as talking pictures take over in the late 1920s.

"I was a very bad student. I didn't listen in class. I was always dreaming," Dujardin said. "My teachers called me `Jean of the Moon,' and I realize now that I never stopped dreaming. Thank you very much. Thank you for this dream."

Plummer would become the oldest actor ever to win an Oscar at age 82, two years older than Jessica Tandy when she won best actress for "Driving Miss Daisy."

Backstage, Plummer joked when asked if he would like to win an Oscar, an honor so elusive during his esteemed 60-year career that he did not even receive his first Academy Award nomination until two years ago, for "The Last Station."

"No, I think it's frightfully boring," Plummer said. "That's an awful question. Listen, we don't go into this business preoccupied by awards. If we did, we wouldn't last five minutes."

Spencer, a veteran actress who had toiled in small TV and movie parts previously, had a breakout role in "The Help" as a brassy maid whose mouth continually gets her in trouble.

"I'm going to dedicate this to the downtrodden, the under-served, the underprivileged, overtaxed ? whether emotionally, physically or financially," Spencer said.

On the television side, comedy series awards went to "Modern Family" for best ensemble; Alec Baldwin as best actor for "30 Rock"; and Betty White as best actress for "Hot in Cleveland."

"You can't name me, without naming those other wonderful women on `Hot in Cleveland,'" the 90-year-old White said. "This nomination belongs to four of us. Please, please know that I'm dealing them right in with this. I'm not going to let them keep this, but I'll let them see it."

The TV drama show winners were: Jessica Lange as best actress for "American Horror Story"; and Steve Buscemi as best actor for "Boardwalk Empire," which also won the ensemble prize.

For TV movie or miniseries, Kate Winslet won as best actress for "Mildred Pierce," while Paul Giamatti was named best actor for "Too Big to Fail."

Before the official ceremony, the Screen Actors Guild presented its honor for best film stunt ensemble to "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2." The TV stunt award went to "Game of Thrones."

The winners at the SAG ceremony often go on to earn Oscars. All four acting recipients at SAG last year later took home Oscars ? Colin Firth for "The King's Speech," Natalie Portman for "Black Swan" and Christian Bale and Melissa Leo for "The Fighter."

The same generally holds true for the weekend's other big Hollywood honors, the Directors Guild of America Awards, where Michel Hazanavicius won the feature-film prize Saturday for "The Artist." The Directors Guild winner has gone on to earn the best-director Oscar 57 times in the 63-year history of the union's awards show.

The guild's ensemble prize, considered the ceremony's equivalent of a best-picture honor, has a spotty record at predicting what will win the top award at the Oscars.

While "The King's Speech" won both honors a year ago, the SAG ensemble recipient has gone on to claim the top Oscar only eight times in the 16 years since the guild added the category.

Though "The Help" won the ensemble prize this time, "The Artist" and George Clooney's family drama "The Descendants" are considered stronger contenders for the best-picture Oscar.

Both "The Artist" and "The Descendants" also were nominated for writing and directing Oscars, categories where serious best-picture candidates generally need to be in the running. "The Help" missed out on nominations in both of those Oscar categories.

Mary Tyler Moore received the guild's lifetime-achievement award, an honor presented to her by Dick Van Dyke, her co-star on the 1960s sit-com "The Dick Van Dyke Show."

SAG President Ken Howard put in a plug during the show for the guild's planned merger with another Hollywood union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. The boards of both groups have approved the merger, and ballots will be sent to members of each union.

"As one union, SAG-AFTRA will support a future of great entertainment for all of us," Howard said.

___

Associated Press Entertainment Writer Anthony McCartney contributed to this report.

___

Online:

http://www.sagawards.com

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_en_ot/us_sag_awards

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Up to 10 months to remove capsized cruise ship (AP)

GIGLIO, Italy ? The cruise ship that capsized off Italy's coast will take up to 10 months to remove, officials said Sunday, as rough seas off the Tuscan coast forced the suspension of recovery operations.

Officials called off both the start of operations to remove of 500,000 gallons of fuel and the search for people still missing after determining the Costa Concordia had moved four centimeters (an inch and a half) over six hours, coupled with waves of more than one meter (three feet).

A 17th body, identified as Peruvian crew member Erika Soria Molina, was found Saturday. Sixteen crew and passengers remain listed as missing, with one body recovered from the ship not yet identified.

Officials have virtually ruled out finding anyone alive more than two weeks after the Costa Concordia hit a reef, but were reluctant to give a final death toll for the Jan. 13 disaster. The crash happened when the captain deviated from his planned route, creating a huge gash that capsized the ship. More than 4,200 people were on board.

"Our first goal was to find people alive," Franco Gabrielli, the national civil protection official in charge of the operation, told a daily briefing. "Now we have a single, big goal, and that is that this does not translate into an environmental disaster."

University of Florence professor Riccardo Fanti said the ship's movements could either be caused by the ship settling on its own weight, slipping deeper into the seabed, or both. He also could not rule out the ship's sliding along the seabed.

Gabrielli noted that the body of a man recovered from the ship remains unidentified, despite efforts to obtain DNA samples from all of the missing, meaning that officials cannot preclude that the deceased is someone unknown to authorities. Costa has said that it runs strict procedures that would preclude the presence of any unregistered passengers.

Experts have said it would take 28 days to remove fuel from 15 tanks accounting for more than 80 percent of all fuel on board the ship. The next job would be to target the engine room, which contains nearly 350 cubic meters of diesel, fuel and other lubricants, Gabrielli said.

Only once the fuel is removed can work begin on removing the ship, either floating it in one piece or cutting it up and towing it away as a wreck. Costa has begun the process for taking bids for the recovery operation, a process that will take two months.

Gabrielli said the actual removal will take from seven to 10 months ? meaning that the wreck will be visible from the coast of the island of Giglio for the entire summer tourism season.

Residents of Giglio have been circulating a petition to demand that officials provide more information on how the full-scale operations can coexist with the important tourism season. At the moment, access to the port for private boats has been banned and all boats must stay at least one mile (1.6 kilometers) from the wrecked ship, affecting access to Giglio's only harbor for fishermen, scuba divers and private boat owners.

"We are really sorry, we would have preferred to save them all. But now other needs and other problems arise," said Franca Melils, a local business owner who is promoting a petition for the tourist season. "It's about us, who work and make a living exclusively from tourism. We don't have factories, we don't have anything else."

___

Colleen Barry reported from Milan.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_italy_ship_aground

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Channing Tatum Gives Co-Star Rachel McAdams A Massive Surprise!

Channing Tatum Gives Co-Star Rachel McAdams A Massive Surprise!

Channing Tatum had fun playing a prank on his co-star Rachel McAdams while they were filming the romantic movie, “The Vow”. Tatum and McAdams play [...]

Channing Tatum Gives Co-Star Rachel McAdams A Massive Surprise! Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

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Ellie Knaus: This is Only the Beginning: Surprising Advice From a Centenarian (Huffington post)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

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HBT: No deal yet between Cardinals, Oswalt

UPDATE: Oswalt?s agent, Bob Garber, told Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors this morning that there?s ?no chance? of his client pitching out of the bullpen.

8:31 AM: Hold your horses, everyone. When most of us went to bed, it appeared as though Roy Oswalt was St. Louis-bound. That may still be the case, but Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com has backtracked a bit from his previous report. He calls a deal likely to happen ?soon? and was told by a source that it?s ?not 100 percent? yet.

Meanwhile, Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports?that the Cardinals are insisting that no deal is in place with Oswalt.?Any deal would be contingent upon a physical and the veteran right-hander has a history of back problems, so it?s possible some formalities are standing in the way of an official agreement. For now, we wait.

1:09 AM: Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com reports that Roy Oswalt is headed to the Cardinals. No word yet on the terms of the contract.

8:36 PM, Friday: Jim Duquette of MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM reports that the Cardinals and Roy Oswalt are close to agreeing on a contract. Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald?confirms Duquette?s report, but adds that the process may take ?another day or two.?

No word on the specific terms being discussed, but Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported earlier this week that the Cardinals made an offer to Oswalt a few weeks ago ?approaching $5 million.? Strauss didn?t think that would be enough to get it done and even pegged the Rangers as the favorites.

As for Duquette, he hears that the Red Sox, Astros and Rangers remain in the mix. The Astros are a bit of a head-scratcher given that they haven?t been mentioned until this point and aren?t anywhere close to contending, but perhaps Oswalt gave some thought to going back to where it all started.

Of course, the interesting part of a potential match with the Cardinals is that they already have five starters and Kyle Lohse and Jake Westbrook have full no-trade clauses in their respective contracts. By the way, Lohse will make $11.57 million in 2012 while Westbrook is owed $8.5 million this season and a $1 million buyout on his $8.5 million mutual option for 2013. Oswalt has the potential to make them better, obviously, but that could be a messy situation.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/28/report-cardinals-and-roy-oswalt-close-to-agreement/related/

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UN Security Council to discuss Syrian crisis (AP)

UNITED NATIONS ? The U.N. Security Council will discuss the crisis in Syria during an unexpected meeting Friday afternoon, French and other diplomats said.

The French mission to the U.N. said in a Twitter posting late Thursday that the council will meet at 3 p.m. "to discuss steps to take on the situation in Syria." The meeting was later confirmed by other diplomats and listed on an updated U.N. media schedule.

The U.N. says at least 5,400 have been killed in a monthslong Syrian government crackdown on civilian protests.

European diplomats have been meeting this week with diplomats from Arab countries, including Morocco and Qatar, on a resolution that would strongly back an Arab League bid to end the crisis.

"There is now a chance that the Security Council will finally take a clear stand on Syria. That is long overdue," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Friday at the General Affairs Council in Brussels. The comments were provided by the German mission to the U.N.

Diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to be quoted by the media said a vote was not expected until at least next week.

On Tuesday, the Arab League secretary-general and Qatar's prime minister will brief the Security Council on the situation in Syria.

Permanent council members Russia and China used their veto powers last fall to block an earlier European resolution on Syria. On Friday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov was quoted by the ITAR-Tass news agency as saying Moscow will oppose a new draft U.N. resolution on Syria because it fails to take Kremlin's concerns into account.

The Arab-European draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, expresses support of the Arab League's Jan. 22 decision "to facilitate a political transition leading to a democratic, plural political system."

The draft does not mention sanctions, but calls for the adoption of unspecified "further measures, in consultation with the League of Arab States," if Syria does not comply within 15 days.

The draft also condemns the "continued widespread and gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms by the Syrian authorities" and demands that the Syrian government immediately stop all human rights violations.

The Arab League has sent observers to Syria, but the mission has been widely criticized for failing to stop the violence. Gulf states led by Saudi Arabia pulled out of the mission Tuesday, asking the Security Council to intervene because the Syrian government has not halted its crackdown.

The head of Arab League observers in Syria said in a statement that violence in the country has spiked over the past few days. Sudanese Gen. Mohammed Ahmed al-Dabi said the cities of Homs, Hama and Idlib have all witnessed a "very high escalation" in violence since Tuesday.

___

Associated Press writer Zeina Karam in Beirut contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/un/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_re_us/un_un_syria

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Finance chiefs reassure CEOs over European crisis (AP)

DAVOS, Switzerland ? Leading finance chiefs sought to reassure anxious global business leaders on Friday that Europe is on track to solve its crippling debt crisis before it drags the world's economies down. Europe's top banker said investors, burned after trusting the region's governments too much, now trust them too little.

The finance chiefs said the picture in Europe has changed over the past two months as the European Central Bank has loaned billions of euros to fragile banks, indebted countries have pushed through convincing reforms and EU leaders have come near to building a closer fiscal union that would make their common currency stronger.

Several also signaled Friday that Greece is close to clinching a crucial debt-reduction deal with private bondholders ? a key element in Europe's efforts to stem a two-year debt crisis that is causing ripples around the globe. The crisis is a central topic at the World Economic Forum, a gathering of government and business leaders at the Swiss ski resort of Davos.

"They're making progress on reforms, they're changing the institutions of Europe to put better discipline on fiscal policy," said U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. "You have three new governments doing some very tough things. You have an ECB doing what central banks have to do. You see them move to try to strengthen the financial sector."

Mario Draghi, head of the European Central Bank, said a combination of actions ? including super-cheap, long-term loans to shaky banks on the continent and a couple of interest rate cuts ? have turned the crisis around.

"We have avoided a major credit crunch, a major lending crisis," he said.

Draghi said borrowing rates would remain high "for quite a while" because bond markets are overestimating the risk involved in holding European government debt after years of underestimating it. But he called market pressure "the most potent engine for reform in different governments."

Geithner said the fate of the U.S. economy ? and by extension of the rest of the world ? hinges on Europe's debt crisis, along with potential tensions with Iran. He said the main piece of unfinished business for Europe is building a bigger fund to help troubled economies survive.

But while French Finance Minister Francois Baroin said that fund needs to be increased to calm markets, his German counterpart, Wolfgang Schaeuble, indicated that his government is not prepared to do so. Germany, as Europe's biggest economy, would face the biggest bill.

"We must not give the wrong incentives," Schaeuble said. "You can make any figure. It will not work if the real problems will not be solved."

Both, together with Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos Jurado and European Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn, agreed that the idea of issuing "eurobonds" backed jointly by all eurozone governments is a non-starter for now. They didn't rule out the possibility that such bonds could be introduced once confidence in Europe's public finances is restored, with Guindos calling that a "final target."

Schaeuble said eurobonds would provide bad incentives by allowing debt-ridden countries to "spend money you don't have on the bill of others."

Many economists have said eurobonds are needed to solve the crisis as they could reduce the borrowing costs of heavily indebted countries by pooling them with bonds of stronger economies like Germany's.

European leaders have been especially concerned about Greece, whose borrowing costs are so high that it needs a second European bailout just to pay its interest, but the finance chiefs signaled Friday that a deal is at hand.

Greece has been negotiating with the a group representing banks and other lenders in the hopes that they will forgive half of Greece's debt in exchange for Greek assurances that it will pay back the other half without defaulting on its loans. The deal would also let Greece repay over a longer period at a lower interest rate ? negotiators have been trying to agree on what that rate will be.

Schaeuble said he is "quite optimistic" about a deal, while Rehn said he hopes a deal can be reached "if not today, maybe by the weekend."

Agreement between Greece and its creditors is needed before Europe and the International Monetary Fund agree to a second multibillion-euro bailout package.

At the heart of the problem is that the 17 countries that use the euro use a single currency but have different fiscal policies. That changes the nature of their debt, said Adair Turner, chairman of Britain's banking regulator the Financial Services Authority.

"That debt is more equivalent to the State of California debt than the U.S. federal debt," he said.

That's why all but one of the 27 EU countries ? the United Kingdom has refused to participate ? are discussing a closer fiscal union. On Monday, leaders meet in Brussels to work out the details of that new compact.

Schaeuble and Baroin noted that even the agreement in principle to forge closer ties has calmed markets since a December summit, as borrowing rates have dropped and stock markets have risen.

"It's amazing," Draghi said. "If you compare today with even five months ago, the euro area is another world."

The crisis threatens more than Europe: the U.N.'s refugee chief warned Friday that it is fueling conflicts around the world. Antonio Guterres told The Associated Press that rising food prices and growing unemployment are hitting those already at the bottom hardest, sparking conflict in places like South Sudan and exacerbating hotspots including Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia.

_____

Frank Jordans in Davos and David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany contributed to this story.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_davos_forum

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Conoco says reaches China spill compensation deal (AP)

BEIJING ? ConocoPhillips said Wednesday that it and China National Offshore Oil Corp. reached a $160 million agreement to settle compensation claims from oil spills off northeastern China.

The Houston-based company said in a statement that the two had reached an agreement with China's Ministry of Agriculture over the oil spills last June in the Bohai Sea.

The spills were considered small, especially compared with the Gulf of Mexico spills in 2010, but Conoco, the operator of the Bohai field, still came under intense media criticism in China.

Conoco said the money, 1 billion yuan, would be used "to settle public and private claims of potentially affected fishermen in relevant Bohai Bay communities."

It said 10 percent of the money would go to the company's previously announced fund to improve fishery resources.

The agreement will likely stop a lawsuit that a group of more than 100 Chinese fishermen filed last year seeking compensation from ConocoPhillips China for damage to their sea cucumber catches.

In September, ConocoPhillips announced plans to set up two funds to pay compensation and address environmental problems resulting from the spills.

The government has already ordered the company to stop all production pending a full cleanup and a review to ensure no more oil seeps into the sea.

The oil spill covered about 2,500 square miles (6,200 sq. kilometers) of water surface. It drew attention to pollution in the Bohai region due to industrialization, oil drilling and fast population growth that has decimated sea food and fish stocks and caused frequent red tides.

Sea cucumbers, one of many types of sea product harvested in the Bohai, are sausage-shaped, often spiky marine animals that are viewed as a delicacy by many in Asia.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_bi_ge/as_china_oil_spill

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Cost of 10 leading causes of death to US: $1.1 trillion

By?Baxter B. Allen, 24/7 Wall St.

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its estimated causes of death for 2010. The 10 leading causes of death in the U.S. accounted for 75 percent of the nearly 2.5 million deaths in 2010. Overall costs for the top 10 causes of death topped $1.1 trillion in 2007, the last fully reported year for all causes. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the causes to determine how much they cost and to reflect how efficiently they are being treated.

The overall cost for the top 10 causes of death, which includes direct medical care and the indirect loss of productivity, is far greater when the lost wages of family members are taken into account. Since 2000, the overall cost of the top 10 causes of death has increased by an estimated 35 percent. During this same time, the death rate from these diseases and injuries has decreased by 13.5 percent.

In some of the areas, spending to treat the disease has been very efficient. For example, the costs attributable to heart disease and stroke (two closely related diseases) have declined both due to decreasing deaths and improvements in the efficiency of care.

In other areas, however, costs have gone up disproportionately compared to the decreases in death rate. For example, while the cost to treat diabetes has risen by 30 percent, the death rate dropped by only 11 percent. Of course, when taking lives saved into account, it is tough to decide how much is too much to spend.

Finally, some areas continue to increase in both cost and rate of death. Alzheimer?s disease deaths have increased by more than 50 percent over the past decade, and total costs have more than doubled. This is likely a function of an aging population and very limited success in treatment.

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24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 10 leading causes of death to determine how much they cost and how effectively they?re being treated. We used yearly estimates from the CDC to examine changes in death rates between 2000 and 2010. We also examined data from the National Institutes of Health, CDC and several national health organizations focused on individual diseases, to determine the direct costs for medical care and procedures and the indirect cost of death and lost productivity, as well as to reflect how the leading causes of death individually affect the U.S. economy. The costs for each cause of death are based on the last fully reported year for all causes, 2007. More recent estimates on costs were also referenced when available.

These are the 10 leading causes of death and what they cost the American economy.

10. Suicide

• Deaths: 37,793
• Change since 2000: 15 percent increase in death rate
• Total cost: $36 billion

The age-adjusted suicide rate in America has been steadily increasing over the past decade, and the costs associated with successful and unsuccessful suicide attempts continue to rise. In successful suicide attempts, more than 99.6 percent of the costs are due to lost wages and work productivity.?In 2010, the most recent available estimate, suicides cost the economy approximately $34 billion. The overall cost is even higher when all intentionally inflicted self-harm is included. In 2010, there were more than 450,000 injuries in this category, which cost the economy an additional $3 billion in direct medical care costs and $5.1 billion in indirect costs due to lost wages and productivity. The rate of self-inflicted injuries increased by 36 percent since 2000, a greater increase than suicide itself.

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9. Pneumonia and the flu

• Deaths: 50,003
• Change since 2000: 32 percent decrease in death rate
• Total cost: $40 billion

Despite widespread use of vaccinations, influenza continues to be a major cause of death in the United States. While the death rate due to both pneumonia and flu has fallen by 32 percent over the past decade, the impact of the flu itself varies widely from year to year. In 2000, flu directly accounted for 1,765 of the 65,313 deaths in the category, compared to 494 of 50,003 in 2010. Much of this variation is due to the differing severity of the flu strains each year, as well as the success of the yearly flu vaccine. Until a better flu vaccine is invented, this wide variation is likely to continue. Pneumonia and the flu cost $6 billion in direct medical care and another $34.2 billion in projected lost earnings in 2007, according to the American Lung Association. This represented an increase of nearly 50 percent from 2003, the previously reported year.

8. Renal disease

• Deaths: 50,472
• Change since 2000: 21 percent increase in death rate
• Total cost: $61 billion

Not only do kidney diseases cause an increasing number of deaths every year, their total cost has also been rising at an even faster pace. Dialysis, the process of filtering the blood of a patient with failing kidneys, is an enormously expensive medical procedure. In 2007, direct medical treatments cost the U.S. economy $54 billion.?Between 2000 and 2009, the direct costs of kidney diseases doubled in the Medicare budget, from $12 billion to $24 billion, according to the U.S. Renal Data System. As diabetes and obesity rates continue to rise, the costs of damaged kidneys will continue to skyrocket.

7. Diabetes mellitus

• Deaths: 68,905
• Change since 2000: 11 percent decrease in death rate
• Total cost: $112 billion

Deaths attributable to diabetes have been falling because of increased awareness and treatment of the disease complications. But even as deaths from the disease decline, more and more Americans are diagnosed and the costs of the disease continue to rise. In 2002, the American Diabetes Association estimated that the 12.1 million Americans diagnosed with the disease cost twice as much per person in direct medical expenses compared to otherwise similar people without diabetes. That same year, they estimated $92 billion in direct costs and an additional $40 billion in losses to the U.S. economy. By 2007, there were 17.5 million Americans diagnosed with diabetes. That year, according to the ADA, costs jumped to $116 billion in direct costs and $58 billion in lost wages and productivity, for an inflation-adjusted increase of $21 billion over five years. According to the World Diabetes Foundation, 80 percent of type 2 diabetes, which represents roughly 90 percent of all cases, is preventable by changing eating habits, increasing physical activity, and improving living situations. Unless people start living a healthier lifestyle, this disease will continue to be a major drain on the U.S. economy.

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6. Alzheimer?s disease

• Deaths: 83,308
• Change since 2000: 50 percent increase in death rate
• Total cost: $70 billion

As of 2011, an estimated 5.4 million Americans are living with Alzheimer?s disease. This number is projected to hit 13.2 million by 2050, according to the Alzheimer?s Association. Alzheimer?s is a very expensive disease with high direct medical costs, as well as lost productivity from patients and unpaid care given by the family and friends. This last category is not counted in government reports as part of the disease?s cost, but was estimated at more than $200 billion in 2010 for over 17 billion hours of unpaid care. As of 2004, total medical costs for Medicare beneficiaries with Alzheimer?s disease were three times the cost of similarly aged people without the disease. From 2005 to 2011, the total direct costs of Alzheimer?s disease increased from $91 billion to $183 billion, according to the Alzheimer?s Association. By 2050, this is projected to increase to $1.1 trillion (in 2011 dollars).

5. Accidents

• Deaths: 118,043
• Change since 2000: 7.6 percent increase in death rate
• Total cost: $308 billion

The rate of accidental injury and death has remained fairly constant over the past decade. It has also remained incredibly expensive. Accidental deaths alone accounted for $91 billion in lost earnings and productivity in 2010. The direct medical costs of all accidental injuries, fatal and nonfatal, accounted for $78 billion. Additional costs due to death, disability and lost productivity accounted for another $233 billion. Despite rather stable costs, accidental death, injury and poisoning account for a greater share of medical spending and indirect losses than all other diseases on the list.

4. Strokes

• Deaths: 129,180
• Change since 2000: 31 percent decrease in death rate
• Total cost: $34 billion

While the total costs of all cardiovascular disease have declined slightly over the past decade, costs attributable to stroke have decreased an impressive inflation-adjusted 46 percent, according to data from the American Heart Association. Direct and indirect costs have both dropped significantly. These declines have been linked to increased awareness and treatment of major risk factors, including high blood pressure, diabetes and smoking, as well as to improvements in acute stroke care, which appears to decrease both death and long-term disability from stroke. Despite these improvements, stroke remains the leading cause of serious long-term disability in the United States.

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3. Chronic lung disease (chronic lower respiratory diseases)

• Deaths: 137,789
• Change since 2000: <1 percent increase in death rate
• Total cost: $65 billion

Chronic lung disease is the third leading cause of death in the U.S., but unlike the top two causes of death, heart disease and cancer, it is not seeing any significant improvement in the death rate. The main contributors to this category of disease are asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. As of 2008, there were 23.3 million Americans with asthma, which cost approximately $14.7 billion in direct health care and $5 billion in lost productivity, according to the American Lung Association. Prescription drugs constituted $6.2 billion alone. Another 12.1 million adults have COPD. COPD cost the U.S. economy $42.6 billion in 2007, including $26.7 billion in direct health care expenditures, $8 billion in decreased productivity and $7.9 billion in costs related to death. Smoking remains the number one cause of COPD.

2. Cancer

• Deaths: 573,855
• Change since 2000: 7.5 percent decrease in death rate
• Total cost: $227 billion

In the next five years, cancer is likely to become the number one killer of Americans, if current trends continue. Despite major advances in treatments and increases in the number of people who survive for five years or more, few true ?cures? have been found. Real progress is being made, but there is still a long way to go. Direct costs of medical treatments will continue to rise, more than offsetting any gains due to decreased mortality rates. In 2004, direct medical costs to the U.S. economy were $69.4 billion. By 2007, costs were $104 billion, and by 2020, they are projected to range between $160 billion to $200 billion, according to the American Cancer Society. The vast majority of these increases in cost are driven by new medical treatments, usually highly tailored and difficult-to-manufacture drugs that cost $5,000/month on average. One such drug, Gleevec, increased five-year survival rates to 95 percent (from 70 percent) for one blood cancer and has been used to varying degrees of success in a different cancers since.

1. Heart disease

• Deaths: 595,444
• Change since 2000: 25 percent decrease in death rate
• Total cost: $190 billion

Heart disease remains the number one killer of Americans. But deaths due to the disease have been declining at a rapid rate over the past several decades, despite the ever-increasing issues of obesity and diabetes in America. The indirect costs of heart disease due to death have declined from an inflation-adjusted $114 billion in 2000 to $94.8 billion in 2008. Over the same time period, direct costs of medical interventions and care have decreased from an inflation adjusted $129 billion to $96 billion. These declining costs are likely due to major improvements in care. For example, in 2001, only 43 percent of heart disease patients were counseled on smoking cessation compared to 99 percent in 2010, according to the American Heart Association. Similarly, only 60 percent to 85 percent of patients were discharged from the hospital on all recommended medications in 2001, compared to 92 percent to 99 percent in 2010. Additionally, there was a decrease in the number of bypass surgeries, stent placements, angioplasties and diagnostic cardiac catheterizations between 2002 and 2009, likely contributing to the decrease in direct medical costs. Despite the recent trends, total costs are likely to rise over the next couple decades due to an aging population and increased rates of obesity and diabetes.

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/18/10183578-11-trillion-what-the-10-leading-causes-of-death-cost-the-economy

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I Want to Work On This Vespa Workstation [Video]

I want to work on this Vespa workstation made with half a 1968 Vespa half of the day. Then chill out the other half of the day on the chair made with the other half of the Vespa. A brilliant mashup. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/bzth-S4Ol_w/i-want-to-work-on-this-vespa-workstation

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Strange Forgotten Space Station Concepts That Never Flew

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Strange Forgotten Space Station Concepts That Never Flew
Astronauts living and working in space rely on the International Space Station as their port of call. The iconic ISS is a modern engineering triumph, zipping around the Earth every 90 minutes at a height of 200 miles above the surface.

Source: Wired
Posted on: Tuesday, Jan 24, 2012, 8:19am
Views: 23

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116991/Strange_Forgotten_Space_Station_Concepts_That_Never_Flew

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Video: Gingrich surge reflecting a ?revolt? for GOP base?

Tablets, e-readers in 1 of every 4 hands now

Get an iPad, Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet over the holidays? You're not alone: Tablet and e-reader ownership increased by nearly double over the holidays, and more than 1 out of every 4 Americans now has one of the devices, according to a new study.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/46106789#46106789

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Sean Penn shares film's dream of ducking stardom

Sean Penn, a cast member in "This Must Be The Place," poses at the premiere of the film at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Sean Penn, a cast member in "This Must Be The Place," poses at the premiere of the film at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Sean Penn, a cast member in "This Must Be The Place," poses at the premiere of the film at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Sean Penn, a cast member in the film "This Must Be The Place," poses at the premiere of the film at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) ? Sean Penn's new movie casts him as a former rock star who turns his back on stardom and goes into exile overseas.

Penn can relate. He says he's thought often enough about ducking out of the limelight.

"This Must Be the Place" had its U.S. premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, where Penn first came 27 years ago with "The Falcon and the Snowman."

Directed by Paolo Sorrentino, "This Must Be the Place" stars Penn as Cheyenne, a raven-maned, mascara-caked former pop icon whose look was inspired by Robert Smith of the Cure.

After his father's death, lost soul Cheyenne embarks on a road trip to track down a former Nazi who brutalized his dad in a concentration camp.

The film opens in the U.S. in March.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-22-Film-Sundance-Sean%20Penn/id-4fe7102e875848c192c3bba59f7f6a38

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Notion Ink's Adam II promises TI OMAP CPUs, Ice Cream Sandwich, broken dreams

Notion Ink's teaming up with TI in order to get at its OMAP4xx silicon for the forthcoming Adam II tablet. It'll also be jamming in the company's Wi-Link 7.0 and Phoenix Audio gear onto the Ice Cream Sandwich-running slate. The chip was apparently chosen thanks to its modular setup, HD visuals and powerful low-energy multitasking. Novice owners will also get their hands on a modular software architecture which will let casual users develop specific applications using a drag-and-drop interface. It's pitching that functionality at home-brewers, students and professionals who can tailor the software to meet a specific need, casually mentioning that it could be used for signal processing, 3D modeling or medical imaging. Do we hear expectations being raised to unrealistic levels again? Given our experiences with the original, we suspect the answer is: "Yes."

Continue reading Notion Ink's Adam II promises TI OMAP CPUs, Ice Cream Sandwich, broken dreams

Notion Ink's Adam II promises TI OMAP CPUs, Ice Cream Sandwich, broken dreams originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 21 Jan 2012 05:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/8HI94P9Rp-0/

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Biochip measures glucose in saliva, not blood

ScienceDaily (Jan. 23, 2012) ? Engineers at Brown University have designed a biological device that can measure glucose concentrations in human saliva. The technique could eliminate the need for diabetics to draw blood to check their glucose levels. The biochip uses plasmonic interferometers and could be used to measure a range of biological and environmental substances.?

For the 26 million Americans with diabetes, drawing blood is the most prevalent way to check glucose levels. It is invasive and at least minimally painful. Researchers at Brown University are working on a new sensor that can check blood sugar levels by measuring glucose concentrations in saliva instead.

The technique takes advantage of a convergence of nanotechnology and surface plasmonics, which explores the interaction of electrons and photons (light). The engineers at Brown etched thousands of plasmonic interferometers onto a fingernail-size biochip and measured the concentration of glucose molecules in water on the chip. Their results showed that the specially designed biochip could detect glucose levels similar to the levels found in human saliva. Glucose in human saliva is typically about 100 times less concentrated than in the blood.

"This is proof of concept that plasmonic interferometers can be used to detect molecules in low concentrations, using a footprint that is ten times smaller than a human hair," said Domenico Pacifici, assistant professor of engineering and lead author of the paper published in Nano Letters, a journal of the American Chemical Society.

The technique can be used to detect other chemicals or substances, from anthrax to biological compounds, Pacifici said, "and to detect them all at once, in parallel, using the same chip."

To create the sensor, the researchers carved a slit about 100 nanometers wide and etched two 200 nanometer-wide grooves on either side of the slit. The slit captures incoming photons and confines them. The grooves, meanwhile, scatter the incoming photons, which interact with the free electrons bounding around on the sensor's metal surface. Those free electron-photon interactions create a surface plasmon polariton, a special wave with a wavelength that is narrower than a photon in free space. These surface plasmon waves move along the sensor's surface until they encounter the photons in the slit, much like two ocean waves coming from different directions and colliding with each other. This "interference" between the two waves determines maxima and minima in the light intensity transmitted through the slit. The presence of an analyte (the chemical being measured) on the sensor surface generates a change in the relative phase difference between the two surface plasmon waves, which in turns causes a change in light intensity, measured by the researchers in real time.

"The slit is acting as a mixer for the three beams -- the incident light and the surface plasmon waves," Pacifici said.

The engineers learned they could vary the phase shift for an interferometer by changing the distance between the grooves and the slit, meaning they could tune the interference generated by the waves. The researchers could tune the thousands of interferometers to establish baselines, which could then be used to accurately measure concentrations of glucose in water as low as 0.36 milligrams per deciliter.

"It could be possible to use these biochips to carry out the screening of multiple biomarkers for individual patients, all at once and in parallel, with unprecedented sensitivity," Pacifici said.

The engineers next plan to build sensors tailored for glucose and for other substances to further test the devices. "The proposed approach will enable very high throughput detection of environmentally and biologically relevant analytes in an extremely compact design. We can do it with a sensitivity that rivals modern technologies," Pacifici said.

Tayhas Palmore, professor of engineering, is a contributing author on the paper. Graduate students Jing Feng (engineering) and Vince Siu (biology), who designed the microfluidic channels and carried out the experiments, are listed as the first two authors on the paper. Other authors include Brown engineering graduate student Steve Rhieu and undergraduates Vihang Mehta, Alec Roelke.

Results are published in Nano Letters. The National Science Foundation and Brown (through a Richard B. Salomon Faculty Research Award) funded the research.

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Journal Reference:

1. Jing Feng, Vince S. Siu, Alec Roelke, Vihang Mehta, Steve Y. Rhieu, G. Tayhas R. Palmore, Domenico Pacifici. Nanoscale Plasmonic Interferometers for Multispectral, High-Throughput Biochemical Sensing. Nano Letters, 2012; 120109130837001 DOI: 10.1021/nl203325s

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.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/bTNp9urlzeo/120123115530.htm

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Rockies get Scutaro from Red Sox for Mortensen (AP)

DENVER ? The Colorado Rockies acquired infielder Marco Scutaro from the Red Sox for right-hander Clayton Mortensen on Saturday in a surprising trade that could pave the way for top Boston prospect Jose Iglesias to take over at shortstop sooner than expected.

The 36-year-old Scutaro hit a career-high .299 for the Red Sox last season, when he had seven homers, 26 doubles, 54 RBIs and a .358 on-base percentage. Boston picked up his $6 million option in October, a month after the team missed the playoffs following a record collapse down the stretch.

Scutaro was expected to remain Boston's starting shortstop this season but he will play second base and bat second in Colorado, where the Rockies also have added Michael Cuddyer and Ramon Martinez in an offseason makeover following last year's disappointing slide.

Mortensen, 26, went 2-4 with a 3.86 ERA in 16 games between the Rockies' rotation and their bullpen last season. He provides depth for a Boston rotation that will be without injured starters John Lackey and Daisuke Matsuzaka next season.

The Rockies targeted Scutaro for months and taking on his $6 million contract gives the Red Sox financial flexibility to make a run at free-agent pitcher Roy Oswalt.

Shortstop has been a trouble spot in Boston since Nomar Garciaparra was traded during the World Series championship season of 2004. Orlando Cabrera filled the position the rest of that year, but he was followed by Edgar Renteria, Alex Gonzalez, Julio Lugo and Gonzalez again; Jed Lowrie, Nick Green and Alex Cora were also in the mix.

Scutaro provided two years of stability after signing with Boston as a free agent following the 2009 season. Now he's gone, too.

The 22-year-old Iglesias appeared in 10 games for the Red Sox last year, getting two hits in six at-bats. A slick fielder who has struggled at the plate as a pro, he batted .235 with a homer and 31 RBIs in 101 games for Triple-A Pawtucket last year. In two minor league seasons since he defected from Cuba, Iglesias has a paltry .308 on-base percentage and .316 slugging percentage.

Still, his defense is considered outstanding and the Red Sox have been grooming him as their shortstop of the future.

Other options for Boston include versatile veterans Mike Aviles and Nick Punto. Both have plenty of big league experience at shortstop, but they were expected to fill utility roles off the bench this season.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120122/ap_on_sp_ba_ne/bbo_red_sox_rockies_trade

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AFC Championship Game: Quiz time for Baltimore football fans

Baltimore Ravens free safety Ed Reed, right, celebrates his interception with teammate outside linebacker Terrell Suggs, left, during the second half of an NFL divisional playoff football game against the Houston Texans in Baltimore, Sunday, Jan. 15. (Patrick Semansky/AP)

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/dGSVZsD5L64/AFC-Championship-Game-Quiz-time-for-Baltimore-football-fans

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HDNet joins up with AEG, CAA and Ryan Seacrest to become AXS TV this summer

It held on as long as it could, but HDNet is following the path of INHD (which became Mojo before disappearing entirely) and Discovery HD Theater (now Velocity) by rebranding itself, and will see morph into AXS TV this summer. Of course, HDNet has always focused on "lifestyle programming" and from the looks of it the new channel (pronounced: access) will be very similar, at least for now. HDNet is bringing programming like HDNet Fights, Dan Rather Reports, its concerts and more to the joint venture, which will be combined with its partners AEG, CAA and Ryan Seacrest Media. If HDNet is currently on your programming lineup AXS TV will simply take its place when it launches, and Dish Network actually plans to increase the channel's distribution by adding it to the America's Top 120 package. If you're distressed over the future of Art Mann Presents, check out the press release after the break or a Q&A on the site for more information about what's happening to Mark Cuban's baby.

Continue reading HDNet joins up with AEG, CAA and Ryan Seacrest to become AXS TV this summer

HDNet joins up with AEG, CAA and Ryan Seacrest to become AXS TV this summer originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 21 Jan 2012 11:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/HBGCWnhg2SA/

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'Jersey Shore': Mike Depressed When Pauly Gets More Birthday Attention Than Him (VIDEO)

This week, the rest of the house learned that Vinny was gone -- Pauly D was there when he left last week -- on "Jersey Shore" (Thu., 10 p.m. EST on MTV), as they were out partying when he slipped out to get his head straight. They paid tribute to their fallen comrade in their own unique ways, and then revved up to prepare for the double-birthday weekend.

Mike's birthday is July 4, followed by Pauly D's on the next day. But as the weekend progressed, Mike wasn't feeling the love from anyone. It was a little silly of him to get upset when Pauly's family surprised him for his birthday. "I'm definitely very agitated right now," he said about dinner with Pauly's family. "I mean, it's my birthday, Pauly's birthday and I see Pauly smiling and I'm like, Yo, what about me?"

The pity party went into overdrive later, though, when the girls very intentionally snubbed him by baking and decorating a cake for Pauly. "Well obviously Mike knows that we all like Pauly better than him, so the fact that we made a cake for Paul and not Mike?" Snooki said. "That's what you get for being a f*****g douchebag!"

It got to be too much for Mike, who took his party of one outside and away from the house. Did "Jersey Shore" just lose another one already? It certainly seems the mourning period for this loss would be much shorter, considering the admission that they don't seem to really like Mike all that much.

Find out what happens next on "Jersey Shore" every Thursday at 10 p.m. EST on MTV.

TV Replay scours the vast television landscape to find the most interesting, amusing, and, on a good day, amazing moments, and delivers them right to your browser.

Related on HuffPost:

MONDAY, JANUARY 16: "Alcatraz"

1? of ?20

"Alcatraz" (8 p.m. EST, Fox) two-hour series premiere Produced by J.J. Abrams, this moody mystery series combines procedural elements with a hint of supernatural suspense. Detective Rebecca Madsen (Sarah Jones) and Alcatraz historian Doctor Diego Soto (Jorge Garcia) team up with a secret agency that is dedicated to finding and catching inmates from the infamous prison who went missing 50 years ago and have begun reappearing today. "Alcatraz" (8 p.m. EST, Fox) two-hour series premiere

Produced by J.J. Abrams, this moody mystery series combines procedural elements with a hint of supernatural suspense. Detective Rebecca Madsen (Sarah Jones) and Alcatraz historian Doctor Diego Soto (Jorge Garcia) team up with a secret agency that is dedicated to finding and catching inmates from the infamous prison who went missing 50 years ago and have begun reappearing today.

MORE SLIDESHOWS NEXT?> ??|?? <?PREV

MONDAY, JANUARY 16: "Alcatraz"

"Alcatraz" (8 p.m. EST, Fox) two-hour series premiere Produced by J.J. Abrams, this moody mystery series combines procedural elements with a hint of supernatural suspense. Detective Rebecca Madsen (Sarah Jones) and Alcatraz historian Doctor Diego Soto (Jorge Garcia) team up with a secret agency that is dedicated to finding and catching inmates from the infamous prison who went missing 50 years ago and have begun reappearing today. "; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/20/jersey-shore-mike-depress_n_1218203.html

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Power outages in Northwest could continue for days

A U.S. flag is shown encrusted with ice, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, near Lacey, Wash. Heavy layers of ice brought down trees and power lines across the Northwest Friday, following two days of snow and ice storms. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

A U.S. flag is shown encrusted with ice, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, near Lacey, Wash. Heavy layers of ice brought down trees and power lines across the Northwest Friday, following two days of snow and ice storms. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Ice coats TV cable lines, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, near Lacey, Wash. Heavy layers of ice brought down trees and power lines across the Northwest Friday, following two days of snow and ice storms. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Ice coats power lines, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, near Lacey, Wash. Heavy layers of ice brought down trees and power lines across the Northwest Friday, following two days of snow and ice storms. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

A tree branch that feel as a result of a heavy coating of ice is shown resting on a house, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, near Lakewood, Wash. Heavy layers of ice brought down trees and power lines across the Northwest Friday, following two days of snow and ice storms. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

A deep snow pile made things a bit challenging for an Intercity Transit rider while boarding the bus on Friday, Jan. 20,2012 in Olympia, Wash. Thick ice brought down trees and power lines in the region overnight, following two days of snow and ice storms. A powerful Pacific Northwest storm knocked out power to about 250,000 electric customers around Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia after it coated much of Washington in ice and swelled Oregon rivers, killing a child and two adults. Besides the outages, the big concern now is more flooding in both states with warmer temperatures and rain. (AP Photo/The Olympian, Steve Bloom)

SEATTLE (AP) ? A Pacific Northwest storm that brought snow, ice and powerful winds left a mess of fallen trees and power lines Friday as tens of thousands of residents already without power faced the prospect of a cold, dark weekend and flooding became a top region-wide concern.

While temperatures warmed and the icy, snowy conditions abated in western Washington and Oregon, slick roads and fast-melting snow brought challenges for road workers, city officials and rescue crews. The region also faces more rain as swelling rivers lead to the worst flooding some Oregon counties have seen in more than a decade.

Meanwhile, the storm system continued its plod east, where it was expected to move into the Plains and Great Lakes regions by Saturday evening.

"It's definitely a trial we get to endure," said Jeanette Donigan, whose Turner, Ore., home was surrounded by floodwater, leaving her and her family to seek shelter nearby. "But earthly possessions can be replaced, as long as we got our children to higher ground."

In the Northwest, the system has been blamed for three deaths that include those of a mother and her 1-year-old boy, who died after torrential rain swept away a car from an Albany, Ore., grocery store parking lot; and an elderly man fatally injured by a falling tree as he was backing an all-terrain vehicle out of a backyard shed near Seattle.

On Mount Rainier, a blizzard kept rescuers from continuing a search on Washington's Mount Rainier for two campers and two climbers missing in the storm since early this week.

A 35-year-old woman who drove a Ford Mustang into 4 feet of floodwaters in Oregon's Willamette Valley was plucked from the roof Friday by deputies who arrived by boat to save her. It was one of a number of dramatic rescues in western Oregon, left sodden by as much as 10 inches of rain in a day and a half that has brought region's worst flooding in 15 years.

The rain in western Oregon was expected to resume Friday, though not as heavily as the previous two days, and forecasters said the Northwest can expect more rain, mountain snow and winds for a week.

Interstate 5, the main arterial connecting Seattle and Portland, was briefly closed Friday morning in both directions near Centralia so crews could remove fallen power lines. Amtrak trains weren't running Friday between Seattle and Portland, because of trees and other debris that fell on the tracks.

Northbound lanes of the interstate in Everett, north of Seattle, were closed much of the morning following a tractor-trailer accident. Around midday, Washington State Patrol troopers closed both Tacoma Narrows bridges, which connect Tacoma with communities to the west, because of large ice chunks falling onto the bridge deck.

In Seattle, residents were asked for help clearing the city's 80,000 storm drains.

Puget Sound Energy used three helicopters Friday to check its transmission lines as crews repair damage from Thursday's ice storm. Utility spokeswoman Terri-Ann Betancourt says it had about 254,000 customers out of service at mid-day, mostly around Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia. The utility it could take into the weekend or later to get the power back on.

Much of Washington's capital city, Olympia, was without power. The two main roads onto the Capitol campus were closed Friday morning because several large tree limbs had fallen. On the main street through downtown, tree limbs littered a park and sidewalks. Main roads were clear, but many residential roads in the area weren't plowed, and at least one power line had fallen.

Cathie Butler, a spokeswoman for the City of Olympia said they were dealing with "the fallout from all of the heavy ice and snow on the trees."

Butler said that in addition to first dealing with downed trees and limbs and power lines, the city wants to get snowplows back out to clear primary roads and snow that is piled up on drains.

"We want to try to clear some of that away from the drains so as it starts to rain this weekend the snow and ice have somewhere to go," she said.

Nancy Kolnen of Issaquah was without power, and had to throw out food in the fridge and layer up to keep warm at night. By Friday, power hadn't returned and she had no idea when it would.

"Well, going into the weekend, I'm kind of looking forward to (the snow) because it's nice if you don't have to drive in it, but if I get home and don't have power all weekend, I won't enjoy that," Kolnen said.

It was still snowing in the Cascades, with up to 2 feet possible in the mountains over the weekend. In Eastern Washington, forecasters expect more snow Friday or freezing rain before warming temperatures on Saturday raise the snow level above the valley floors in some areas.

Sea-Tac Airport was open Friday, and airlines were trying to accommodate passengers whose flights were canceled Thursday. The largest carrier at the airport, Alaska Airlines, canceled 50 of its 120 daily departures Friday. On Thursday, Alaska and sister airline Horizon canceled 310 flights to and from Seattle, affecting 29,000 passengers.

In Seattle, Carly Nelson was negotiating an icy sidewalk on her way to Starbucks. Nelson has been frequenting her neighborhood coffee shop to avoid cabin fever.

"I'm pretty tired of it. It gets old pretty fast. All my friends are stranded in little pockets and you can't get together to go to yoga," she said. "I'm just looking forward to being able to go wherever I want to go."

___

Cooper reported from Oregon. Associated Press writers Doug Esser, Ted Warren, Rachel La Corte, Nigel Duara and Nicholas K. Geranios contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-20-Northwest%20Storm/id-548fbc7ec92b469b8e428cfba57ca36e

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