Claims for US jobless aid suggest modest hiring

In this Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013 photo, an unidentified woman answers questions on a job application at a job fair in Sunrise, Fla. The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits jumped 20,000 on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013, to a seasonally adjusted 362,000, though it remains at a level that suggests slow but steady improvement in the job market. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

In this Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013 photo, an unidentified woman answers questions on a job application at a job fair in Sunrise, Fla. The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits jumped 20,000 on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013, to a seasonally adjusted 362,000, though it remains at a level that suggests slow but steady improvement in the job market. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits jumped 20,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 362,000, though it remains at a level that suggests slow but steady improvement in the job market.

The Labor Department said Thursday that the four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose 8,000 to 360,750, the highest in six weeks. A department spokesman said heavy snowstorms in the Northeast didn't affect the total.

Applications for unemployment benefits are a proxy for layoffs. Even with last week's jump, they have trended downward recently. The four-week average has declined 7.5 percent since mid-November and fell to a five-year low three weeks ago.

Weekly applications "continue to show no sign of trending up," Jim O'Sullivan, an economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a research note. "That is a good sign ... consistent with the recent pace in employment growth at least being maintained."

Employers added an average of 200,000 jobs a month from November through January. That was up from about 150,000 in the previous three months.

Last week's increase puts applications for unemployment benefits back in the 360,000-to-390,000 range, where they have fluctuated since early last year. Since then, employers have added an average of 181,000 jobs a month.

In January, the economy added 157,000 jobs. The unemployment rate ticked up to 7.9 percent from 7.8 percent in December. Economists think the rate will slowly decline if hiring continues at last year's monthly pace of 180,000. The unemployment rate fell 0.7 percentage point in 2012.

A total of 5.6 million people received unemployment benefits in the week that ended Feb. 2, the latest period for which figures are available. That's about 300,000 fewer than in the previous week. Some of those no longer receiving unemployment aid may now be employed. But many others have exhausted the benefits available to them.

The economy shrank at an annual rate of 0.1 percent in the October-December quarter, hurt by a sharp cut in defense spending, fewer exports and sluggish growth in company stockpiles. That was much worse than the 3.1 percent growth recorded in the July-September period.

But economists predict that the October-December growth figure will be revised in coming months to show a small increase, after more positive data about last quarter has been reported. Economists now estimate that the economy expanded at an annual rate of about 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter.

Growth will likely pick up a bit in the January-March quarter to an annual rate of 1.5 percent, analysts forecast. That's better than the fourth quarter but below last year's expansion of 2.2 percent.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-02-21-Unemployment%20Benefits/id-6d7141fe0fe3425983385aa1038caa7f

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Health & Beauty Fair for Women of Color on Saturday, March 9 ...

In honor of National Women and Girls HIV Awareness Day the Snohomish Health District is partnering with local and federal agencies to host a free Health & Beauty Fair for Women of Color on Saturday, March 9 at Edmonds Community College, and a free HIV testing day for women on March 12.

Racial and ethnic minority women experience higher rates of obesity, cancer, diabetes and HIV. ?We want to remind women that with just a few simple steps, they can make great strides in preserving their health,? said Brenda Newell, Snohomish Health District HIV/STD/VHO program manager.

Empowering women of color to make their health a priority

The Women of Color Health & Beauty is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 9 in the Woodway Building off 204th Street, near the golf course. It features inspirational speakers, health screenings, beauty services, community health resources, and a light lunch ? all free.

Free Health Screenings

• Cholesterol, diabetes and BMI Screening
• Rapid HIV testing
• Breast and cervical health resources
• Flu and whooping cough vaccinations

Free Beauty Services

• Eyebrow waxing and skin care demonstrations
• Manicures
• Natural hair styling tips
• Nutrition and exercise resources, plus a Zumba class

This event is sponsored by AIDS Project Snohomish County, Edmonds Community College, Medical Reserve Corps, Molina Health Care, Office of Women?s Health ? Region X, Snohomish Health District Verdant Health and the YWCA. For more information on the event, visit www.snohd.org/events.

Women?s HIV Awareness Day Free Testing March 12

In honor of National Women and Girls HIV Awareness Day, all women ages 14+ who have had any risk for HIV transmission qualify for free, rapid HIV testing on March 12.

The test involves a simple pin-prick to the finger, resulting in a tiny drop of blood, and only takes 30 minutes ? including results.

No appointment is necessary, just stop by between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 12 at Snohomish Health District Suite 106, 3020 Rucker Avenue, Everett. For more information, call 425.339.5298 or visit www.womenshealth.gov.

?

Tags: African Americans, AIDS, Edmonds Community College, HIV, HIV test, Screening, Snohomish County, Testing, Women

Category: African American Health, Female Reproductive System, HIV/AIDS, Immune System, Lab Tests & Diagnostics, Minority Health, Prevention, Public Health, Women's Health

Source: http://mylocalhealthguide.com/2013/02/21/health-beauty-fair-for-women-of-color-on-saturday-march-9/

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Warrior's grave -- and treasures -- unearthed

Photo courtesy Valentina Mordvintseva

The warrior's burial site was richly adorned and contained more than a dozen gold artifacts. This fibula-brooch, only 2.3 by 1.9 inches in size, contains intricate decorations leading toward the center where a rock crystal bead is mounted.

By Owen Jarus
LiveScience

Hidden in a necropolis situated high in the mountains of the Caucasus in Russia, researchers have discovered the grave of a male warrior laid to rest with gold jewelry, iron chain mail and numerous weapons, including a 36-inch (91 centimeters) iron sword set between his legs.

That is just one amazing find among a wealth of ancient treasures dating back more than 2,000 years that scientists have uncovered there.

Photo courtesy Valentina Mordvintseva

This iron axe is one of many weapons found buried with the warrior.

Among their finds are two bronze helmets, discovered on the surface of the necropolis. One helmet (found in fragments and restored) has relief carvings of curled sheep horns while the other has ridges, zigzags and other odd shapes.

Although looters had been through the necropolis before, the warrior's grave appears to have been untouched. The tip of the sword he was buried with points toward his pelvis, and researchers found "a round gold plaque with a polychrome inlay" near the tip, they write in a paper published in the most recent edition of the journal Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia. [See Images of the Warrior Burial and Artifacts]

The remains of three horses, a cow and the skull of a wild boar were also found buried near the warrior.

"These animals were particularly valuable among barbarian peoples of the ancient world. It was (a) sign of (the) great importance of the buried person, which was shown by his relatives and his tribe," wrote team member Valentina Mordvintseva, a researcher at the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences Institute of Archaeology, in an email to LiveScience. The animal bones and pottery remains suggest that a funeral feast was held in his honor.

Without written records it is difficult to say exactly who the warrior was, but rather than ruling a city or town, "he was rather a chief of a people," Mordvintseva said.

Photo courtesy Valentina Mordvintseva

This gold plaque, with mounted agate, would have been attached to the sheath of a short iron sword. It is less than 2 inches across.

The necropolis is located near the town of Mezmay. Grave robbers discovered the site in 2004 and rescue excavations began in 2005.?

Who used the necropolis?
Based on the artifacts, researchers believe the warrior's burial dates back around 2,200 years, to a time when Greek culture was popular in west Asia, while the necropolis itself appears to have been in use between the third century B.C. and the beginning of the second century A.D.?

Researchers were careful to note that the artifacts cannot be linked to a specific archaeological culture. Mordvintseva points out that "this region is very big, and not sufficiently excavated," particularly in the area where the necropolis is located. "(I)t is situated high in mountains. Perhaps the population of this area (had) trade routes/passes with Caucasian countries ? Georgia, Armenia etc.," Mordvintseva writes in the email.

Courtesy of Valentina Mordvintseva

The grave of a male warrior who was laid to rest some 2,200 years ago in what is now the mountains of the Caucasus in Russia, shown here in a diagram of the warrior's skeleton and numerous artifacts.

While the people who used the necropolis were clearly influenced by Greek culture, they maintained their own way of life, said Mordvintseva. "Their material culture shows that they were rather very proud of themselves and kept their culture for centuries."

Gold treasures
This way of life includes a fondness for gold-working. The warrior's burial included more than a dozen artifacts made of the material. Perhaps the most spectacular find was a gold fibula-brooch with a rock crystal at its center. Although the brooch was only 2.3 by 1.9 inches (5.8 by 4.8 centimeters), it had several layers of intricately carved decorations leading toward the mount.

"Inside the mount a rock-crystal bead has been placed with a channel drilled through it from both ends," the researchers write.?

The team was surprised to find that two of the warrior's swords (including the one pointing toward his pelvis) had gold decorations meant to be attached. In one case a short 19-inch-long (48.5-cm) iron sword had a gold plate, with inlaid agate, that was meant to adorn its sheath. Until now, scholars had never seen this type of golden sword decorations in this part of the ancient world, the researchers write. The "actual fact that these articles were used to decorate weapons sets them apart in a category all of their own, which has so far not been recorded anywhere else ..."

Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook?and Google+.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://science.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/21/17046233-warriors-grave-and-his-treasures-found-in-russia?lite

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Purpose In Life: Rick Warren On What's Keeping You From Finding It (VIDEO)

After reading tens of thousands of letters and talking to people over the last 10 years, Pastor Rick Warren -- bestselling author of The Purpose Driven Life -- says it became very clear to him that the two biggest reasons people do not fulfill their purpose in life are envy and people-pleasing. In this clip from "Oprah's Lifeclass," Pastor Warren explains the difference between the two.

"Envy is 'I must be like you to be happy,' I've got to look like you, I've got to have your money, I've got to have your kids, your family, your husband.' That?s envy," he says. "People-pleasing is 'I must be liked by you to be happy. And unless you like me, then I can?t be happy.' So if I have to be like you or I have to be liked by you, those two things will cause you to miss God?s purpose for your life."

Tune in to Pastor Warren on "Oprah's Lifeclass" at 9 p.m. ET on Feb. 24 on OWN.

Keep in touch! Check out HuffPost OWN on Facebook and Twitter .

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/20/rick-warren-purpose-in-life_n_2718092.html

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Pope may change conclave rules before leaving: Vatican

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict may change rules governing the conclave that will secretly elect his successor, a move that could move up the global meeting of cardinals who are already in touch about who could best lead Catholics through a period of crisis.

The Vatican appears to be aiming to have a new pope elected and then formally installed before Palm Sunday on March 24 so he can preside at Holy Week services leading to Easter.

The rule changes could mean that the conclave in the Sistine Chapel, where cardinals will choose the next leader of the 1.2 billion member Roman Catholic Church, might be able to start before March 15, which is currently the earliest it can begin.

Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said on Wednesday that Benedict, who will lose all power when he abdicates on February 28, was considering issuing a "Motu Proprio," a personal document which has the force of Church law and addresses a specific need.

A 1996 apostolic constitution by Pope John Paul stipulates that a conclave must start between 15 and 20 days after the papacy becomes vacant, meaning it cannot begin before March 15 under the current rules given Benedict's date to step down.

Some cardinals believe a conclave should start sooner than March 15 in order to reduce the time in which the Roman Catholic Church will be without a leader at a time of crisis.

Benedict's papacy was rocked by scandals over the sex abuse of children by priests in Europe and the United States, most of which preceded his time in office but came to light during it.

His reign also saw Muslim anger after he compared Islam to violence. Jews were upset over his rehabilitation of a Holocaust denier. During a scandal over the Church's business dealings, his butler was convicted of leaking his private papers.

Benedict and his predecessor made sure any man awarded a cardinal's red hat was firmly in line with key Catholic doctrine supporting priestly celibacy and Vatican authority and opposing abortion, women priests, gay marriage and other liberal reforms.

Cardinals worldwide have begun informal consultations by phone and email to build a profile of the man they think would be best suited to lead the Church through rough seas. Some 117 cardinals under age of 80 will be eligible for the conclave.

CONCERNS ABOUT EARLY CONCLAVE

But some in the Church believe that an early conclave would give an unfair advantage to cardinals already in Rome and working in the Curia, the Vatican's central administration.

"A short period before a conclave helps the curial cardinals in Rome operating on their home turf," said Father Tom Reese, senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University and author of several books on the Vatican.

"The curial cardinals are the ones that cardinals from outside Rome turn to for opinions about the other cardinals. The longer the pre-conclave period, the more time non-curial cardinals have to talk to each other and to get to know each other. The longer the period prior to the conclave, the less dependent outside cardinals are on the curial cardinals."

There is speculation in the Vatican that, if the rules are amended, the conclave could start on March 10, lasting a few days, and the new pope could be installed on March 17, both Sundays. But much would depend on the length of the conclave.

During the conclave, cardinals live in a residence inside the Vatican and vote twice in the Sistine Chapel. They are not allowed to communicate in any way with the outside world, nor are they allowed to listen to radio, watch television, make phone calls or use the internet.

Benedict has hand-picked more than half the men who will elect his successor. The rest were chosen by the late Pope John Paul, a Pole with whom the German pope shared a determination to reassert a more orthodox Catholicism in the new millennium.

A number of cardinals have said they would be open to the possibility of a pope from the developing world, be it Latin America, Africa or Asia, as opposed to another from Europe, where the Church has lost credibility and is polarized.

"I can imagine taking a step towards a black pope, an African pope or a Latin American pope," Cardinal Kurt Koch, a Swiss Vatican official who will enter the conclave to choose the next pope, told Reuters in an interview last week.

Of the 117 electors, a slim majority of 61 are from Europe, compared to 58 in 2005. Italy, the largest national group, will have 28 this time, up from 20 at the last conclave in 2005.

HARMONISING CONSTITUTION, RITES

Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said Pope Benedict was considering making changes that would "harmonize" two documents approved by his predecessor.

One, the 1996 apostolic constitution called "Universi Dominici Gregis," governs the entire period while the papacy is vacant, known as the "Sede Vacante".

That constitution, which consists of an introduction and 92 articles, details everything about the running of the Church in the absence of a pope, including the preparatory meetings for the conclave, the start of the conclave, the oaths of secrecy and the election procedure.

The other main document, "Ordo Rituum Conclavis," or Rites of the Conclave, is a 350-page book in Latin and Italian that details the rituals, prayers and chants inside the secret conclave.

That book, which was last updated in 1998, includes the Mass in which the cardinals pray at the start of the conclave, the ritual of the election and even the precise Latin formula with which the new pope accepts his election and chooses his name.

It was not immediately clear how the two documents could be "harmonized" because one is a detailed, legalistic document and the other is more of a ceremonial handbook, similar to a missal.

(additional reporting by Tom Heneghan and Naomi O'Leary; editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pope-may-change-conclave-rules-abdication-vatican-130553697.html

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Via Licensing Adds China Mobile, Deutsche Telekom To Its 4G LTE Standards-Essential Patent Pool

Via Licensing Corporation today announced that China Mobile and Deutsche Telekom joined the company?s LTE patent pool for standards-essential patents. The two telecom giants join AT&T, Clearwire Corporation, DTVG Licensing, HP, KDDI Corporation, NTT DOCOMO, SK Telecom, Telecom Italia, Telef?nica, and ZTE Corporation in this pool that launched last October. Give the vagaries of the patent system and the constant threat of litigation, a patent pool like Via Licensing?s allows telecom companies to reduce the risk of litigations and makes it easier for them to license their own patents.

?The addition of these key patent holders increases the benefit that the Via LTE patent pool brings to the 4G ecosystem. The inclusion of standard-essential patents from China Mobile and Deutsche Telekom to the LTE patent pool further strengthens the program and ensures licensees worldwide access to critical LTE IPR,? said Roger Ross II, President of Via Licensing in a statement today.

This statement was echoed by Deutsche Telekom?s CTO Bruno Jacobfeuerborn, who also noted that his industry ?is often affected by costly patent litigation and a lack of predictability surrounding the cost and availability of essential IP.?

The patent pool is open to all owners of LTE essential patents, that is, a patent that is part of the industry standard. The holders of standard-essential patents have to make these available for licensing and others have tried to launch LTE patent pools in the past (but mostly failed to gain traction). Via, it seems has been able to recruit a wide variety of patent holders and now that it has some momentum, chances are others will join as well.

Deutsche Telekom is the largest telecommunications company in Germany and the European Union. Subsidiaries include T-Mobile (the mobile phone provider), T-Home, and T-Systems. T-Venture is its venture capital arm.

? Learn more

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/21/via-licensing-adds-china-mobile-deutsche-telekom-to-its-4g-lte-standard-essential-patent-pool/

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Florida to expand Medicaid under health overhaul

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) ? Gov. Rick Scott announced plans Wednesday to expand Medicaid coverage to roughly 900,000 more people under the federal health overhaul, a surprise decision from the vocal critic of President Barack Obama's plan.

Scott said he will ask the Legislature to expand the program under a bill that would expire in three years, after which it would require renewed legislative support. He's the seventh Republican governor so far to propose expanding the taxpayer-funded health insurance program.

Scott said he would support the expansion as long as the federal government pays 100 percent of the increased costs, which is the deal offered to states by the Obama administration for the first three years. After that, the federal government said it would pay 90 percent of the cost for the additional enrollees.

The governor said he gained new perspective after his mother's death last year, calling his decision to support a key provision of the Affordable Care Act a "compassionate, common sense step forward," and not a "white flag of surrender to government-run healthcare."

"Before I ever dreamed of standing here today as governor of this great state, I was a strong advocate for better ways to improve healthcare than the government-run approach taken in the President's healthcare law. I believe in a different approach. But, regardless of what I ? or anyone else ? believes, a Supreme Court decision and a presidential election made the President's healthcare mandates the law of the land," Scott said at a news conference.

The governor said he still worries that the president's plan could "lead to less patient choice, worse care, and higher costs" but he can't "in good conscience deny the uninsured access to care." Scott stressed he won't simply deny new Medicaid recipients health insurance after the three years are up, but said he will spend that time measuring how the expansion impacts healthcare costs, quality and access.

Scott, a former CEO of the HCA hospital chain, entered politics in 2009 running national cable TV commercials criticizing the president's plan. Florida led the way in challenging the ACA in a lawsuit that went all the way to the Supreme Court. Scott also made the rounds on conservative talk shows repeatedly expressing concern that expanding Medicaid would put too much of a strain on Florida taxpayers.

At one point, he said the expansion would cost $26 billion over the next decade, but the state's health care agency slashed its estimate to $3 billion after backlash from lawmakers over how the initial figure was calculated. After Obama was re-elected, Scott toned down his rhetoric, signaling he wanted to work with federal health officials. He even flew to Washington to meet with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius last month to discuss the expansion.

Florida lawmakers must still sign off on Scott's decision, and the Legislature doesn't meet until next month.

"I am personally skeptical that this inflexible law will improve the quality of healthcare in our state and ensure our long-term financial stability," Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford said.

Angry conservatives said Scott owes his support base an explanation.

"I am flabbergasted. This is a guy who, before he was a candidate for governor, started an organization to fight 'Obamacare' in the expansion of medical entitlements. This is a guy who said it will never happen on his watch. Well, here it is," said Slade O'Brien, Florida director of the conservative group Americans for Prosperity.

Scott's announcement came hours after federal health officials said they plan to approve the state's longstanding request to privatize its Medicaid program statewide if they agree to beef up transparency and accountability measures. He said that decision signaled that feds were willing to work with the state to give them the flexibility they need.

The other six GOP governors who plan to expand the program are the leaders of Michigan, Ohio, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and North Dakota. So far 21 states plus Washington, D.C., plan to expand their Medicaid programs under the health care law. Fourteen states have said they'll turn it down, although the debate is still going in several of them. Another 15 are weighing options.

Under the federal law, states were given the choice of whether to expand Medicaid to people whose incomes equal 138 percent of the federal poverty level ? about $15,000 for an individual and $32,000 for a family of four.

Florida has one of the highest rates of uninsured residents in the country and some of the most stringent eligibility requirements. A family of three with income of $11,000 a year makes too much and single residents are not covered. The bulk of residents getting coverage under the Medicaid expansion will be childless adults.

The federal government's offer to cover most of the cost of expansion is much more generous than the roughly 50 percent matching rate that federal health officials currently pay for Medicaid. The state spends about $21 billion a year to cover roughly 3 million patients ? about half are children.

Florida hospital officials have said the state would receive about $26 billion from the federal government to pay for Medicaid expansion over the next decade. That would be a huge boon to hospitals that are losing other federal funding sources for uninsured patients under the federal health law.

Advocates said Medicaid expansion will bring about 54,000 new jobs to the state and have a significant impact on Florida's tourism and hospitality industries.

Hospital executives have said the expansion will significantly reduce the amount of money spent covering uninsured patients by hospitals, insurers and taxpayers by allowing patients to get coordinated treatment whenever they need it instead of waiting to go to the emergency room.

The new Medicaid population will get coverage under the privatization proposal that federal and state health officials are still hammering out. The program would allow for-profit providers to determine the health care for Medicaid recipients with the goal of saving money and improving services

Federal officials are insisting on enhanced accountability measures by requiring the state to use real-time data that evaluates whether the program is actually improving patient care along the way as promised, not just at yearly benchmarks. The state must also hold regular meeting with health advocates, patients and insurers and hire an ombudsmen to oversee the portion of the program that involves tens of thousands of elderly, long-term care patients.

___

Follow Kelli Kennedy and Gary Fineout at ?http://twitter.com/kkennedyAP and http://twitter.com/fineout

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-20-Health%20Overhaul-Florida/id-aa56949b2a4246d899ccadaafdbe4989

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