Hot Trends Newsletter and Information

President Obama has promised the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act -- commonly known as the stimulus plan -- will boost to the flagging economy by creating jobs in a variety of sectors.

Though it will take a while before federal, state, and local governments determine how exactly to allocate the funds, economists agree that six sectors are poised to see a boost as a direct or indirect result of the stimulus. These include:

Construction. The biggest thrust of the stimulus plan is a national two-fer: creating jobs while shoring up the nation's infrastructure, including roads, bridges, rail lines, and wastewater and drinking water facilities. The Associated General Contractors of America estimates that stimulus spending would create or save 1.85 million jobs, including 640,000 in construction and 300,000 among suppliers and equipment manufacturers. Job opportunities will be even broader than traditional hard-hat jobs; there will also be openings for transit coordinators, waste disposal engineers, and accountants and managers with experience in large construction projects.

The Green Sector. This is a broad category of jobs, and there is some overlap with construction and energy. But generally these jobs are in some way aimed at reducing greenhouse gasses, reducing dependence on oil, or reducing consumption of other non-renewable sources. Examples can range from architects, to manufacturers and installers of solar panels, to energy rating auditors.

Medical Information Technology. The stimulus bill includes $19 billion for updating health information technology. This is intended to increase the number of physicians who use computers in their practice and will likely create opportunities for training health personnel and running health systems. It could also lead to job openings in hardware and software companies, from computer assemblers to systems analysts to project managers.

Education. Many states have made cuts in their education budgets, but the stimulus plan calls for a $53.6 billion state-stabilization to help states avoid further cuts and layoffs. Funding could also lead to new jobs for teachers and administrators in areas such as Head Start and other early-education programs. The stimulus also sets aside funds for modernization of schools (which overlaps with infrastructure and construction).

Energy and Utilities. A key part of the stimulus plan, and a campaign pledge by Obama, is the modernization of the nation's electrical grid. "Smart grid" jobs will include regulators hired by public utility commissions, in addition to load management engineers, meter manufacturers and systems control center operators.

Federal Government. A $787 billion package doesn't just administer itself. There will be openings for more lawyers, regulators, accountants, and administrators to ensure all of the dollars go where they're intended.

Too Soon to Celebrate?

Despite the oft-heard new phrase, "shovel-ready jobs," the stimulus won't create jobs overnight, economists say. Harry Holzer, an economist at Georgetown University and the Urban Institute, tells Yahoo! HotJobs that the stimulus is laying the seeds for future growth but, alone, won't turn around the job market.

"It takes time for government investment to expand the job market," Holzer says. "The most that economists expect in 2009 is fewer pink slips than we might have seen (without the stimulus). We need to also limit the damage of housing and credit markets as well as overseas markets, in order to achieve a broad-based economic recovery."

Sophia Koropeckyj, an economist at Moody's Economy.com, says that the stimulus plan is more about stopping the economic pain and limiting damage in the short term.

"Automatic stabilizers in the plan, such as unemployment insurance benefits, will have an immediate effect," she says. "In the second half of this year, tax cuts will help support employment, and by next year, state aid and infrastructure spending should begin to kick in."

Plant Your Own Seeds

Assuming that seeds planted by the stimulus plan bears fruit in all of these sectors -- and more -- how can job seekers prepare to benefit, whether this year or next? Economists believe that landing a stimulus-created job relies on the usual, time-tested qualities: education, experience, skills, and networking.

"A recession is a good time to get new training, update skills, or get certified in a new field," Holzer says. "Beyond that, (job hunters) should be patient and realistic and should keep an eye on sectors and industries and companies where new demand is opening up."

by Larry Buhl, for Yahoo! HotJobs

Labels: american recovery reinvestment act, hot trends 2009, stimulus plan

MUMBAI, India - Children broke into Bollywood dance numbers and crowds cheered in the narrow lanes of a teeming Mumbai slum on Monday as they gathered to root for the hometown heroes who nabbed the Oscars' highest honor.

Two of the child actors in "Slumdog Millionaire" were plucked from a desperately poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Mumbai to star in the rags-to-riches tale that stormed the Academy Awards.

The actors, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, 10, and Rubina Ali, 9, were flown to Los Angeles for the ceremony, leaving their friends back home to gawk, beam, shout and dance in celebration.

"My eyes couldn't believe that I was seeing Rubina in America," said Saba Qureshi, Rubina's best friend. Saba and her sisters woke before dawn to watch every minute of the Oscars, squealing with joy every time Rubina came on screen. They had one of the handful of TV sets in the neighborhood.

"Slumdog" won eight Oscars, including best picture, best director, and two awards for best music - each time inspiring raucous renditions of the dance routines for which India's movie industry is known.

The Hollywood glitz, the limousines and the red carpets of the Oscars could not be farther away from the Bandra slum, nestled between a major road and filthy train tracks.

Azhar lives in a lean-to made of plastic tarpaulins and moldy blankets. Rubina shares a tin-roofed, cotton-candy colored shack with her parents and her six brothers and sisters. Stray dogs nap on mountains of trash.

Hordes of journalists descended on the neighborhood Monday. TV tripods straddled the thin stream of sewage outside Rubina's home while rows of satellite trucks idled outside a normally sleepy tea stall.

"Normally, no one talks to us and no one comes here, but now everyone is here," Mohammed Ismail, Azhar's father, said before a bouquet of flashing bulbs.

About 65 million Indians - roughly a quarter of the urban population - live in slums, according to government surveys. Health care is often nonexistent, child labor is rampant and inescapable poverty forms the backdrop of everyday life.

While everyone in the area was proud of their local stars, some objected to the film - and its title - that made them famous.

"I'm poor, but no one can call me a dog," said Fakrunissa Sheikh, 40, who lives in a lean-to next to Azhar's. "I work very hard."

Rubina's friends wouldn't let talk like that cloud the big day.

"She looked like an angel," Saba said after the TV showed Rubina smiling in her white dress. "When she comes back, we will have the biggest party."

By SAM DOLNICK, Associated Press Writer

Labels: Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, hollywood, hot trends 2009, oscar award, Rubina Ali, slumdog millionaire

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - The former head of a prison where thousands of Cambodians were tortured then killed for opposing the Khmer Rouge expressed remorse for his deeds as a genocide tribunal got under way on Tuesday.

Kaing Guek Eav - better known as Duch - is charged with crimes against humanity. He is the first of five defendants who belonged to a close-knit, ultra-communist regime that turned Cambodia into a vast slave labor camp and charnel house in which 1.7 million or more people died of starvation, disease and execution.

Duch oversaw the S-21 prison in the capital Phnom Penh - previously a school, now the Tuol Sleng genocide museum - through whose gates some 16,000 men, women and children passed. Only a handful survived.

Tuesday's hearing of the U.N.-assisted tribunal was just procedural, and Duch did not speak to the court. Appearing alert in gray pants and blue shirt, he listened intently to the proceedings.

When he was led out of the courtroom, he pressed his hands together, turned and gave the traditional gesture of respect with head bowed.

Duch, 66, is the only defendant to have expressed remorse for his actions. He is accused of committing or abetting a range of crimes including murder, torture and rape.

"Duch necessarily decided how long a prisoner would live, since he ordered their execution based on a personal determination of whether a prisoner had fully confessed" to being an enemy of the regime, the tribunal said in an indictment in August.

In one mass execution, he gave his men a "kill them all" order, the indictment said. In another incident involving 29 prisoners he told his henchmen to "interrogate four persons, kill the rest," it said.

On Tuesday, Duch voiced new regret through his lawyer for what he had done and sought forgiveness.

"Duch acknowledges the facts he's being charged with," his French lawyer Francois Roux said at a press briefing after Tuesday's court session. "Duch wishes to ask forgiveness from the victims but also from the Cambodian people. He will do so publicly. This is the very least he owes the victims."

After the fall of the Khmer Rouge, Duch disappeared for two decades, living under two other names and converting to Christianity before he was located in northwestern Cambodia by a British journalist in 1999.

Kan Hann, 55, who lives in the same district of Kampong Thom province in central Cambodia where Duch grew up, said he came to the trial because his brother and sister died of starvation and overwork under the Khmer Rouge.

"My dream has come true now as I have been waiting for the trial for 30 years," he said.
Duch's trial began 13 years after the tribunal was first proposed and nearly three years after the court was inaugurated.

"This is a very significant day for Cambodia and the world," co-prosecutor Robert Petit told reporters. "Today's proceedings bode well for the commitment of all parties to seek justice for the Khmer Rouge."

The tribunal, which incorporates mixed teams of foreign and Cambodian judges, prosecutors and defenders, has drawn sharp criticism. Its snail-pace proceedings have been plagued by political interference from the Cambodian government, as well as allegations of bias and corruption.

The Cambodian side in the tribunal recently turned down recommendations from the international co-prosecutor to try other Khmer Rouge leaders, as many as six according to some reports.

"The tribunal cannot bring justice to the millions of the Khmer Rouge's victims if it tries only a handful of the most notorious individuals, while scores of former Khmer Rouge officials and commanders remain free," New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a release Monday.

Others facing trial are Khieu Samphan, the group's former head of state; Ieng Sary, its foreign minister; his wife Ieng Thirith, who was minister for social affairs; and Nuon Chea, the movement's chief ideologue.

All four have denied committing crimes.

By SOPHENG CHEANG and SUSAN POSTLEWAITE, Associated Press

Labels: cambodia genocide trial, hot trends 2009, khieu samphan, khmer rouge

Fugitive terrorist Osama bin Laden is most likely hiding out in a walled compound in a Pakistani border town, according to a satellite-aided geographic analysis released today.

A research team led by geographer Thomas Gillespie of the University of California-Los Angeles used geographic analytical tools that have been successful in locating urban criminals and endangered species.

Basing their conclusion on nighttime satellite images and other techniques, the scientists suggest bin Laden may well be in one of three compounds in Parachinar, a town 12 miles from the Pakistan border. The research incorporates public reports of bin Laden's habits and whereabouts since his flight from the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan in 2001.

The results, reported in the MIT International Review, are being greeted with polite but skeptical interest among people involved in the hunt for bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader behind 9/11. Bin Laden's whereabouts are considered "one of the most important political questions of our time," the study notes.

"I've never really believed the sitting-in-a-cave theory. That's the last place you would want to be bottled up," Gillespie says. The study's real value, he says, is in combining satellite records of geographic locations, patterns of nighttime electricity use and population-detection methods to produce a technique for locating fugitives.

Essentially, the study generates hiding-place location probabilities. It starts with "distance decay theory," which holds that the odds are greater that the person will be found close to where he or she was last seen.

Then the researchers add the "island biographic theory," which maintains that locales with more resources - palm trees for tropical birds and electricity for wealthy fugitives - are likelier to draw creatures of interest.

"Island biographic theory suggests bin Laden would end up in the biggest and least isolated city of the region," Gillespie says, one among about 26 towns within a 20-mile distance of Tora Bora.

"To really improve the model, you would need to include intelligence data from 2001 to 2006," Gillespie says. "It has been eight years. Honestly, I think it is time to be more open. This is a very important issue for the public."

The study also makes assumptions that bin Laden might need:

• Medical treatment, requiring electricity in an urban setting.
• Security combining few bodyguards and isolation that requires a walled compound.
• Tree cover to shield outdoor activities from aircraft.

"Of course, it all depends on the accuracy of the information on most recent whereabouts," Gillespie says. "I assume that the military has more recent information that would change the hiding place probabilities."

Says geographic-profiling expert Kim Rossmo of Texas State University in San Marcos, who has worked with the military on adapting police procedures for finding criminals to counterterrorism: "It's important to think outside the box, and this is an innovative idea worth more pursuit. However, the authors are much too certain of their conclusions.

"The idea of identifying three buildings in a city of half a million - especially one in a country the authors have likely never visited - is somewhat overconfident."

The researchers contacted the FBI with their findings, and USA TODAY asked Defense Department officials for reaction, before publication of the study.

"The combination of physical terrain, socio-cultural gravitational factors and the physical characteristic of structures are all important factors in developing an area limitation for terror suspects," say John Goolgasian of the federal National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in Bethesda, Md.

His spy satellite agency "looks forward to reviewing the article once it is published."

Gillespie is an expert on finding endangered species on remote islands, typically birds. A co-author, UCLA's John Agnew, is an expert on satellite-based population estimates. The study grew out of an undergraduate seminar on applying geographic profiling to real-world problems.

"We are all wondering where bin Laden is hiding," Gillespie says. "We just wanted to offer the techniques we have to help."

By Dan Vergano, USA TODAY

Labels: bin laden, hot trends 2009, osama bin laden, thomas gillespie

This morning at the GSMA Mobile World Congress conference taking place in Barcelona, a mammoth pile of cell phone manufacturers have agreed to a universal cell phone charger standard. That format? Micro USB (picture).

Only days ago, the European Union announced it would be pursuing stronger means of forcing cell phone makers to get together on a charging standard that would work across a range of different handsets.

The target for transition to micro USB -- which is smaller than the more commonly used mini USB connector but has already been adopted in a few handsets, including the BlackBerry Storm -- is to have "the majority of all new mobile phone models" supporting the new connector by January 1, 2012.

As well, the chargers are set to be designed to use half as much power while operating on standby.

The big savings for manufacturers and buyers will come in the sheer number of chargers that will no longer have to be bundled with handsets: The use of a standard format is predicted to result in a 50 percent reduction in the number of chargers that have to be produced and sold each year. That's significant.

The list of companies immediately signing on to the initiative reads like a who's who in the GSM cell phone space -- LG, Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, AT&T, T-Mobile, Motorola -- but lacks a few key players, notably Apple, which is holding on to the legacy iPod connector with a veritable death grip. RIM and Palm are also both missing from the initial list of supporters. Whether the holdouts join on the alliance is anybody's guess.

Labels: cellphone, hot trends 2009, phone charger, usb charger

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc, the casino operator named for Donald Trump, filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday as recession and declining gambling revenues battered the company and its rivals.

The Chapter 11 filing marks the third plunge into bankruptcy for the company, which was created out of a restructuring in 2005. It also underscores the struggles facing the casino business as recession squeezes casino gambling.

Trump Entertainment owns and operates three casino hotels in hard-hit Atlantic City, New Jersey, including the Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Plaza and Trump Marina.

The company did not request debtor-in-possession financing to operate during its restructuring and said it would continue to run as normal.

"This filing will result in no immediate change in our daily operations, and we expect to make no changes regarding our operating structure or philosophy," Trump Chief Executive Mark Juliano said in a statement.

Nine affiliates of the casino operator including Trump Plaza Associates, Trump Plaza Associates, Trump Marina Associates and Trump Taj Mahal Associates simultaneously sought protection, according to the filing.

Trump had assets of about $2.1 billion and total debts of about $1.74 billion on December 31, 2008, it said in its filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey.

The company, eager to conserve cash, missed a $53.1 million bond interest payment due on December 1 as a sharp downturn in consumer spending hit casino revenue, prompting bondholders to push for bankruptcy.

WIDELY EXPECTED

Experts had been looking for a Chapter 11 filing from Trump since it missed the December 1 bond interest payment.

"It had been moving in this direction for two months," said KeyBanc gaming industry analyst Dennis Forst.

"I think (restructuring) could take a while," he said. "Obviously, they weren't able to restructure it with the debt holders in the two months they had."

The filing comes days after the casino operator's namesake founder said he would resign from the board over disagreements with bondholders who wanted the company to file for bankruptcy.

Friday's statement did not say when Trump's resignation would be offered or take effect. His daughter Ivanka Trump also said she was resigning.

Trump, a very public and flamboyant figure in an industry filled with colorful, headstrong executives, said the company represents less than 1 percent of his net worth, and that "my investment in it is worthless to me now."

No stranger to bankruptcy, Trump Entertainment Resort Holdings went into Chapter 11 in 2004, from which it emerged a year later with Trump having relinquished the position of CEO.

Casino companies have been hurt in the last year as the gambling boom fizzled and tight credit markets stifled growth plans. Meanwhile, the Chinese government has made efforts to slow down the Macau gambling market.

The sector now faces a wave of restructurings. In May, the privately held casino operator Tropicana Entertainment LLC filed for Chapter 11.

The Dow Jones U.S. Gambling Index has fallen some 83 percent since its lifetime high reached in October 2007.

By Kyle Peterson

Labels: casino, donald trump, hot trends 2009, trump, trump entertainment

AP – Chart breaks down stimulus totals for states for infrastructure An examination of how the economic stimulus plan will affect Americans.
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Taxes:

The recovery package has tax breaks for families that send a child to college, purchase a new car, buy a first home or make the ones they own more energy efficient.

Millions of workers can expect to see about $13 extra in their weekly paychecks, starting around June, from a new $400 tax credit to be doled out through the rest of the year. Couples would get up to $800. In 2010, the credit would be about $7.70 a week, if it is spread over the entire year.

The $1,000 child tax credit would be extended to more low-income families that don't make enough money to pay income taxes, and poor families with three or more children will get an expanded Earned Income Tax Credit.

Middle-income and wealthy taxpayers will be spared from paying the Alternative Minimum Tax, which was designed 40 years ago to make sure wealthy taxpayers pay at least some tax, but was never indexed for inflation. Congress fixes it each year, usually in the fall.

First-time homebuyers who purchase their homes before Dec. 1 would be eligible for an $8,000 tax credit, and people who buy new cars before the end of the year can write off the sales taxes.

Homeowners who add energy-efficient windows, furnaces and air conditioners can get a tax credit to cover 30 percent of the costs, up to a total of $1,500. College students - or their parents - are eligible for tax credits of up to $2,500 to help pay tuition and related expenses in 2009 and 2010.

Those receiving unemployment benefits this year wouldn't pay any federal income taxes on the first $2,400 they receive.
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Health insurance:

Many workers who lose their health insurance when they lose their jobs will find it cheaper to keep that coverage while they look for work.

Right now, most people working for medium and large employers can continue their coverage for 18 months under the COBRA program when they lose their job. It's expensive, often over $1,000 a month, because they pay the share of premiums once covered by their employer as well as their own share from the old group plan.

Under the stimulus package, the government will pick up 65 percent of the total cost of that premium for the first nine months.

Lawmakers initially proposed to help workers from small companies, too, who don't generally qualify for COBRA coverage. But that fell through. The idea was to have Washington pay to extend Medicaid to them.

COBRA applies to group plans at companies employing at least 20 people. The subsidies will be offered to those who lost their jobs from Sept. 1 to the end of this year.

Those who were put out of work after September but didn't elect to have COBRA coverage at the time will have 60 days to sign up.

The plan offers $87 billion to help states administer Medicaid. That could slow or reverse some of the steps states have taken to cut the program.
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Infrastructure:

Highways repaved for the first time in decades. Century-old waterlines dug up and replaced with new pipes. Aging bridges, stressed under the weight of today's SUVs, reinforced with fresh steel and concrete.

But the $90 billion is a mere down payment on what's needed to repair and improve the country's physical backbone. And not all economists agree it's an effective way to add jobs in the long term, or stimulate the economy.
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Energy:

Homeowners looking to save energy, makers of solar panels and wind turbines and companies hoping to bring the electric grid into the computer age all stand to reap major benefits.

The package contains more than $42 billion in energy-related investments from tax credits to homeowners to loan guarantees for renewable energy projects and direct government grants for makers of wind turbines and next-generation batteries.

There's a 30 percent tax credit of up to $1,500 for the purchase of a highly efficient residential air conditioners, heat pumps or furnaces. The credit also can be used by homeowners to replace leaky windows or put more insulation into the attic. About $300 million would go for rebates to get people to buy efficient appliances.

The package includes $20 billion aimed at "green" jobs to make wind turbines, solar panels and improve energy efficiency in schools and federal buildings. It includes $6 billion in loan guarantees for renewable energy projects as well as tax breaks or direct grants covering 30 percent of wind and solar energy investments. Another $5 billion is marked to help low-income homeowners make energy improvements.

About $11 billion goes to modernize and expand the nation's electric power grid and $2 billion to spur research into batteries for future electric cars.
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Schools:

A main goal of education spending in the stimulus bill is to help keep teachers on the job.

Nearly 600,000 jobs in elementary and secondary schools could be eliminated by state budget cuts over the next three years, according to a study released this past week by the University of Washington. Fewer teachers means higher class sizes, something that districts are scrambling to prevent.

The stimulus sets up a $54 billion fund to help prevent or restore state budget cuts, of which $39 billion must go toward kindergarten through 12th grade and higher education. In addition, about $8 billion of the fund could be used for other priorities, including modernization and renovation of schools and colleges, though how much is unclear, because Congress decided not to specify a dollar figure.

The Education Department will distribute the money as quickly as it can over the next couple of years.

And it adds $25 billion extra to No Child Left Behind and special education programs, which help pay teacher salaries, among other things.

This money may go out much more slowly; states have five years to spend the dollars, and they have a history of spending them slowly. In fact, states don't spend all the money; they return nearly $100 million to the federal treasury every year.

The stimulus bill also includes more than $4 billion for the Head Start and Early Head Start early education programs and for child care programs.
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National debt:

One thing about the president's $790 billion stimulus package is certain: It will jack up the federal debt.

Whether or not it succeeds in producing jobs and taming the recession, tomorrow's taxpayers will end up footing the bill.

Forecasters expect the 2009 deficit - for the budget year that began last Oct 1 - to hit $1.6 trillion including new stimulus and bank-bailout spending. That's about three times last year's shortfall.

The torrents of red ink are being fed by rising federal spending and falling tax revenues from hard-hit businesses and individuals.

The national debt - the sum of all annual budget deficits - stands at $10.7 trillion. Or about $36,000 for every man, woman and child in the U.S.

Interest payments alone on the national debt will near $500 billion this year. It's already the fourth-largest federal expenditure, after Medicare-Medicaid, Social Security and defense.

This will affect us all directly for years, as well as our children and possibly grandchildren, in higher taxes and probably reduced government services. It will also force continued government borrowing, increasingly from China, Japan, Britain, Saudi Arabia and other foreign creditors.
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Environment:

The package includes $9.2 billion for environmental projects at the Interior Department and the Environmental Protection Agency. The money would be used to shutter abandoned mines on public lands, to help local governments protect drinking water supplies, and to erect energy-efficient visitor centers at wildlife refuges and national parks.

The Interior Department estimates that its portion of the work would generate about 100,000 jobs over the next two years.

Yet the plan will only make a dent in the backlog of cleanups facing the EPA and the long list of chores at the country's national parks, refuges and other public lands. It would be more like a down payment.

When it comes to national parks, the plan sets aside $735 million for road repairs and maintenance. But that's a fraction of the $9 billion worth of work waiting for funding.

At EPA, the payout is $7.2 billion. The bulk of the money will help local communities and states repair and improve drinking water systems and fund projects that protect bays, rivers and other waterways used as sources of drinking water.

The rest of EPA's cut - $800 million - will be used to clean up leaky gasoline storage tanks and the nation's hazardous waste sites.
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Police:

The stimulus bill includes plenty of green for those wearing blue.

The compromise bill doles out more than $3.7 billion for police programs, much of which is set aside for hiring new officers.

The law allocates $2 billion for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant, a program that has funded drug task forces and things such as prisoner rehabilitation and after-school programs.

An additional $1 billion is set aside to hire local police under the Community Oriented Policing Services program. The program, known as COPS grants, paid the salaries of many local police officers and was a "modest contributor" to the decline in crime in the 1990s, according to a 2005 government oversight report.

Both programs had all been eliminated during the Bush administration.

The bill also includes $225 million for general criminal justice grants for things such as youth mentoring programs, $225 million for Indian tribe law enforcement, $125 million for police in rural areas, $100 million for victims of crimes, $50 million to fight Internet crimes against children and $40 million in grants for law enforcement along the Mexican border.
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Higher Education:

The maximum Pell Grant, which helps the lowest-income students attend college, would increase from $4,731 currently to $5,350 starting July 1 and $5,550 in 2010-2011. That would cover three-quarters of the average cost of a four-year college. An extra 800,000 students, or about 7 million, would now get Pell funding.

The stimulus also increases the tuition tax credit to $2,500 and makes it 40 percent refundable, so families who don't earn enough to pay income tax could still get up to $1,000 in extra tuition help.

Computer expenses will now be an allowable expense for 529 college savings plans.

The final package cut $6 billion the House wanted to spend to kick-start building projects on college campuses. But parts of the $54 billion state stabilization fund - with $39 billion set aside for education - can be used for modernizing facilities.

There's also an estimated $15 billion for scientific research, much of which will go to universities. Funding for the National Institutes of Health includes $1.5 billion set aside for university research facilities.

Altogether, the package spends an estimated $32 billion on higher education.
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The Poor:

More than 37 million Americans live in poverty, and the vast majority of them are in line for extra help under the giant stimulus package. Millions more could be kept from slipping into poverty by the economic lifeline.

People who get food stamps - 30 million and growing - will get more. People drawing unemployment checks - nearly 5 million and growing - would get an extra $25, and keep those checks coming longer. People who get Supplemental Security Income - 7 million poor Americans who are elderly, blind or disabled - would get one-time extra payments of $250.

Many low-income Americans also are likely to benefit from a trifecta of tax credits: expansions to the existing Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit, and a new refundable tax credit for workers. Taken together, the three credits are expected to keep more than 2 million Americans from falling into poverty, including more than 800,000 children, according to the private Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

The package also includes a $3 billion emergency fund to provide temporary assistance to needy families. In addition, cash-strapped states will get an infusion of $87 billion for Medicaid, the government health program for poor people, and that should help them avoid cutting off benefits to the needy.

By The Associated Press

Labels: cobra, economic stimulus plan, hot trends 2009, medicaid

CARSON, Calif. (AP) -David Beckham is coming back to the Los Angeles Galaxy.

The English midfielder will return to the MLS team next month as scheduled after his two-month loan agreement with AC Milan ends despite his wish to stay in Italy.

Tim Leiweke, president of Galaxy parent AEG, said Friday the Italian club didn't make a second offer to the Galaxy to keep Beckham so the team will adhere to MLS commissioner Don Garber's Friday deadline to resolve the situation.

The Galaxy had earlier rejected Milan's only offer.

"We didn't receive an offer today," Leiweke told The Associated Press by phone from Colorado. "We will abide by the commissioner's wishes, so we are clear at this point that we don't want to have any further conversations."

Leiweke said he had discussions with Milan officials earlier in the week, but heard nothing from them Friday.

"They clearly were looking at this as a football decision and we were looking at it as a football and business decision," he said.

"I'm not sure they ever quite understood the magnitude of the losses the Galaxy and the league would have had to bear this season. They were very respectful discussions. We're fine. There's no issues here."

Leiweke said he had not spoken directly to Beckham, but that he informed the player's representatives the loan would not be made permanent. Beckham's five-year Galaxy contract is owned by MLS, and he is due in the team's training camp on March 9.

"I know David is emotionally invested, but I don't think Milan really was that interested in spending the money we would have had to receive to compensate us for our losses," Leiweke said.

"We need David to honor the contract and come home and let's stop the distraction."

Leiweke said Beckham will likely be disappointed by the outcome, but added that "David is a professional. He will get his arms around this and he will come back here."

Beckham had said he wanted to stay with Milan in a bid to play one more World Cup with England in South Africa next year.

"He can probably still accomplish that as well by being here in 2009," Galaxy coach Bruce Arena said Friday before the resolution was announced.

"We look forward to having him back with the club," Arena said in a statement issued Friday night.

Leiweke confirmed that Beckham has a clause in his contract that would allow him to leave at the end of this year.

"Clearly the risk is we may lose him at the end of the year," Leiweke said. "Our hope is the team surprises him and we're a lot better than last year."

Beckham arrived injured amid much hoopla in July 2007, but he had no goals and two assists as the Galaxy finished with a 9-14-7 record that was third-worst in the league.

Last season, Beckham had five goals and 10 assists, but the Galaxy's 8-13-9 record tied for the worst in MLS.

Beckham was injured last season, when he left the Galaxy at various times for appearances with England's national team.

Garber said this week he wanted Beckham's future resolved by Friday or he would not approve any transfer between the two teams.

"The negotiations are over and we move on," Leiweke said. "We look forward to seeing David back in camp. We need to have a good season and we need to live up to a higher expectation."

Leiweke said the Galaxy's sponsors and season ticket holders were clamoring for a conclusion to the saga.

"We heard loud and clear this week from our contractual partners that they wanted an end to this," he said. "We need to pay a little bit of attention to the league and Galaxy now."

The Galaxy opens the MLS season at home March 22 against DC United.

By BETH HARRIS, AP Sports Writer

Labels: beckham, david beckham, hot trends 2009, la galaxy

If you fear Friday the 13th, then batten down the hatches. This week's unlucky day is the first of three this year.

The next Friday the 13th comes in March, followed by Nov. 13. Such a triple whammy comes around only every 11 years, said Thomas Fernsler, a math specialist at the University of Delaware who has studied the number 13 for more than 20 years.

By the numbers

Here are 13 more facts about the infamous day, courtesy of Fernsler and some of our own research:

1. The British Navy built a ship named Friday the 13th. On its maiden voyage, the vessel left dock on a Friday the 13th, and was never heard from again.

2. The ill-fated Apollo 13 launched at 13:13 CST on Apr. 11, 1970. The sum of the date's digits (4-11-70) is 13 (as in 4+1+1+7+0 = 13). And the explosion that crippled the spacecraft occurred on April 13 (not a Friday). The crew did make it back to Earth safely, however.

3. Many hospitals have no room 13, while some tall buildings skip the 13th floor.

4. Fear of Friday the 13th - one of the most popular myths in science - is called paraskavedekatriaphobia as well as friggatriskaidekaphobia. Triskaidekaphobia is fear of the number 13.

5. Quarterback Dan Marino wore No. 13 throughout his career with the Miami Dolphins. Despite being a superb quarterback (some call him one of the best ever), he got to the Super Bowl just once, in 1985, and was trounced 38-16 by the San Francisco 49ers and Joe Montana (who wore No. 16 and won all four Super Bowls he played in).

6. Butch Cassidy, notorious American train and bank robber, was born on Friday, April 13, 1866.

7. Fidel Castro was born on Friday, Aug. 13, 1926.

8. President Franklin D. Roosevelt would not travel on the 13th day of any month and would never host 13 guests at a meal. Napoleon and Herbert Hoover were also triskaidekaphobic, with an abnormal fear of the number 13.

9. Superstitious diners in Paris can hire a quatorzieme, or professional 14th guest.

10. Mark Twain once was the 13th guest at a dinner party. A friend warned him not to go. "It was bad luck," Twain later told the friend. "They only had food for 12."

11. Woodrow Wilson considered 13 his lucky number, though his experience didn't support such faith. He arrived in Normandy, France on Friday, Dec. 13, 1918, for peace talks, only to return with a treaty he couldn't get Congress to sign. (The ship's crew wanted to dock the next day due to superstitions, Fernsler said.) He toured the United States to rally support for the treaty, and while traveling, suffered a near-fatal stroke.

12. The number 13 suffers from its position after 12, according to numerologists who consider the latter to be a complete number - 12 months in a year, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 apostles of Jesus, 12 days of Christmas and 12 eggs in a dozen.

13. The seals on the back of a dollar bill include 13 steps on the pyramid, 13 stars above the eagle's head, 13 war arrows in the eagle's claw and 13 leaves on the olive branch. So far there's been no evidence tying these long-ago design decisions to the present economic situation.

Origins of Friday the 13th

Where's all this superstition come from? Nobody knows for sure. But it may date back to Biblical times (the 13th guest at the Last Supper betrayed Jesus). By the Middle Ages, both Friday and 13 were considered bearers of bad fortune.

Meanwhile the belief that numbers are connected to life and physical things - called numerology - has a long history.

"You can trace it all the way from the followers of Pythagoras, whose maxim to describe the universe was 'all is number,'" says Mario Livio, an astrophysicist and author of "The Equation That Couldn't Be Solved" (Simon & Schuster, 2005). Thinkers who studied under the famous Greek mathematician combined numbers in different ways to explain everything around them, Livio said.

In modern times, numerology has become a type of para-science, much like the meaningless predictions of astrology, scientists say.

"People are subconsciously drawn towards specific numbers because they know that they need the experiences, attributes or lessons, associated with them, that are contained within their potential," says professional numerologist Sonia Ducie. "Numerology can 'make sense' of an individual's life (health, career, relationships, situations and issues) by recognizing which number cycle they are in, and by giving them clarity."

Mathematicians dismiss numerology as having no scientific merit, however.

"I don't endorse this at all," Livio said, when asked to comment on the popularity of commercial numerology for a story prior to the date 06/06/06. Seemingly coincidental connections between numbers will always appear if you look hard enough, he said.

livescience.com

Labels: friday the 13th, hot trends 2009

You're Bruce Springsteen and you've just played the greatest halftime show in the history of the Super Bowl. What are you going to do? Why, put the tickets for your U.S. tour up on sale, of course!

Because, after all, there were an awful lot of people watching the Super Bowl, right? And you rocked them harder than humans deserve to be rocked, right? So they'll want to come see your show now more than ever, right? Right!

But wait, there's a problem here--when Springsteen tickets went on sale last week, Bruce fans flooded Ticketmaster's site looking for a fix, and many in the New Jersey area got error messages telling them to try back later.

When they did, they found out the shows were sold out--nooooooo!--but they still had a chance: A link would take them to TicketsNow (Ticketmaster's resale site) where they could buy seats for a lot more than face value.

In the old days, before the miracle of the Internet, this used to be called scalping, and wouldn't you know it, such a fuss ensued that the New Jersey State Attorney General has launched an investigation and Bruce put a message up on his site saying he was just as angry as everyone else. (Ticketmaster apologized too.)

Bruce has done his share of apologizing recently, saying his team goofed up by letting their record company give an exclusive hits CD to Wal Mart, a place that's not traditionally a friend to the union guys Springsteen sings about.

You know the old Springsteen song about how it's hard to be a saint in the city? Sometimes it's hard to be a saint in the world of rock 'n' roll too (sometimes? always!), but Bruce Springsteen will keep trying.

The Bruce ticket screw-up is hardly the only concert flub in rock history, which includes Kanye keeping his fans waiting until nearly dawn, Axl Rose not showing up at all, and the great tradition of fans throwing bottles.

Posted by Blender Magazine in The Blender Burner

Labels: bruce springsteen, hot trends 2009

ATLANTA - An experimental vaginal gel has shown some promise in preventing infection from the AIDS virus - the first study to offer hope that a microbicide may soon join the medical arsenal in the international battle against HIV, scientists announced Monday.

The results were not conclusive in this preliminary study, but they were welcome news considering the failure of other similar products. The multi-country study suggests a gel made by Massachusetts-based Indevus Pharmaceuticals Inc. cut HIV infection to a slight degree, a researcher said Monday at a medical conference.

Scientists have been trying to develop gels and other microbicides for women to use as protection in parts of the world where their partners may refuse to use condoms.

"This is the first study that now shows we have a promising candidate," said Salim Abdool Karim, the South African researcher who presented the results.

About 3,100 women participated in the study, which was designed mainly to test whether it was safe. The women were divided into four groups. One-quarter of them used the Indevus gel, which is supposed to block the AIDS virus from attaching to certain white blood cells.

Another quarter were put on a gel made by Baltimore-based ReProtect Inc. The rest were given a placebo gel, or no gel at all.

All the women were counseled to have their partners use condoms. The study was done in South Africa, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the United States, and was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

Researchers found that women who used the Indevus-made gel had a 30 percent lower rate of HIV infection than the other women in the study. But the difference was not statistically significant, meaning the results could have occurred by chance.

Health officials say larger studies are needed to better assess effectiveness. Such a study of the Indevus gel, involving 9,400 African women, is to conclude in August.

The results were presented at a medical conference on retroviruses in Montreal.

By MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer

Labels: aids, aids drug, hot trends 2009, indevus gel

The 51st annual Grammys was an all-ages affair ultimately dominated by a rock legend who took up with a younger bluegrass singer on a whim.

The unlikely pairing of Robert Plant and Alison Krauss that produced the hit album "Raising Sand" won five Grammys on Sunday including album of the year. The former Led Zeppelin frontman, previously best known for his high-decibel shrieking and rock star theatrics, found more docile Nashville melodies with Krauss.

While accepting the Grammy for album of the year, the 37-year-old Krauss - perhaps wanting to remind the audience that Plant's rock star hadn't entirely matured - said there's "never a dull moment" with the 60-year-old singer.

"Raising Sand," produced by T Bone Burnett, bested fellow nominees Lil Wayne, Ne-Yo, Coldplay and Radiohead. Their "Please Read the Letter" also won record of the year.

"I'm bewildered," said Plant. "In the old days we would have called this selling out, but I think it's a good way to spend a Sunday."

In a performance-stuffed live broadcast on CBS, the subject of age — and intertwining musical realms - was always close at hand.

Taylor Swift, 19, and Miley Cyrus, 16, sang a duet of Swift's "Fifteen." The 66-year-old Paul McCartney, with 40-year-old Dave Grohl on drums, sang the Beatles classic about a girl who "was just 17."

Stevie Wonder performed with the Jonas Brothers and even a nine-months pregnant woman - the rapper M.I.A. - hobbled out on the stage to join the dapperly dressed Jay-Z, Kanye West, Lil Wayne and T.I. in a "rap summit" performance of T.I.'s "Swagger Like Us."

Before the night's end, Plant and Krauss seemed to be in a three-horse race with Lil Wayne and Coldplay - a trio of acts of wildly different sounds.

Lil Wayne - who led the field with eight nominations - won three awards, including best rap album for "Tha Carter III," for which he literally hopped on stage to receive. (His tally came to four Grammys if you count his inclusion on "Swagger Like Us," which won best rap performance by a duo or group.)

Coldplay also took home three awards, including best rock album for "Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends."

"We've never had so many Grammys in our life," said lead singer Chris Martin, perhaps so excited he got confused (they had already won four over the years). "We feel so grateful to be here. I'm going to tear up."

The Grammys this year offered a CBS telecast without a host and - unexpectedly - without several performers.

Rihanna and Chris Brown, both nominated for awards and scheduled to perform, were absent after the Los Angeles Police Department announced that Brown - who is dating Rihanna - was the subject of an investigation into a felony domestic violence battery from around 12:30 a.m. Sunday.

Brown turned himself into police late Sunday and was released after posting bail. Police booked the 19-year-old R&B singer on suspicion of making a criminal threat.

To fill in for Rihanna's scheduled performance, the Recording Academy hastily put together an ensemble of Al Green, Justin Timberlake, Boyz II Men and Keith Urban performing Green's "Let's Stay Together."

One of the night's superior performances, it reflected the comments of producer T. Bone Burnett, who explained while accepting the award for record of the year: "Good things happen out of nowhere."

"Things happen; you have to be nimble," said Recording Academy president Neil Portnow after the show, explaining he didn't know of the absences until Sunday afternoon. "We think to ourselves, we've got the greatest musical talent in the world in the same place at the same time."

The broadcast from the Staples Center in Los Angeles sometimes had the appearance of a bubble. No mention was made of economic troubles across the country or of the music industry's continuing declining sales. Though download sales are rising, album sales dropped 14 percent last year.

Even the election of Barack Obama was hardly referred to. Following the inauguration and the Super Bowl, it was just about the only major broadcast of late not to feature Bruce Springsteen, whose "Girls in Their Summer Clothes" won for best rock song.

Besides the expected will.i.am mention of Obama ("congratulations," will.i.am said), Portnow was one of few to mention Obama. He noted musicians had supplied "the soundtrack to history" and that the new president is, after all, a two-time Grammy winner for his readings of his books.

Such awards, though, never make it into the televised broadcast, which this year included awards for only a dozen of the 110 categories.

Among the unseen awards was a posthumous award for George Carlin in the comedy album category for "It's Bad for Ya," a recording of his final HBO comedy special. Al Gore - adding to his extensive awards tally - won for the audio book of his "An Inconvenient Truth."

Instead of focusing on the awards, though, the Recording Academy has increasingly turned the Grammys into an all-star revue, packing the three-and-a-half-hour long show with performance after performance, duet after duet.

Among them: U2 kicking things off with their new single "Get on Your Boots"; Lil Wayne and Allen Toussaint paying tribute to New Orleans; Neil Diamond singing "Sweet Caroline"; Radiohead performing with the University of Southern California marching band; Jay-Z joining Coldplay; a tribute to the Four Tops; and Jennifer Hudson singing a rousing, touching version of "You Pulled Me Through" that left her teary-eyed.

Following the Super Bowl, it was Hudson's second major performance since her mother, brother and nephew were killed in October. Hudson's self-titled disc also won best R&B album.

"I first would like to thank God, who has brought me through," she said accepting the award. "I would like to thank my family in heaven and those who are with me today."

The Grammys also sought to tap into online traffic with official updates on Twitter and Facebook throughout the broadcast.

There were some oddities in the show, too:

Gwyneth Paltrow introduced not the giant British rock group that her husband, Chris Martin, plays in (Coldplay), but the giant British rock band they have often been compared to (Radiohead). Introducing the Al Green performance, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson curiously declared, "I live for the Grammys." Katy Perry, again singing her hit "I Kissed a Girl," performed a choreographed routine while simultaneously appearing to disdain choreographed routines.

Other notable winners included: Rick Rubin for producer of the year; Adele for best female pop vocal performance ("Chasing Pavements"); Duffy for best pop vocal album ("Rockferry"); Radiohead for best alternative music album ("In Rainbows"); Metallica for best metal performance ("My Apocalypse"); Al Green for best R&B performance by a duo or group with vocals, and best traditional R&B vocal performance; Daft Punk for best dance recording, and best electronic dance album; George Strait for best country album ("Troubadour"); and B.B. King for best traditional blues album ("One Kind Favor").

A complete list of winners is available at http://www.grammy.com.

Following last year's surprise best album winner - Herbie Hancock's Joni Mitchell tribute "River: The Joni Letters" - the Grammys have now picked a folk album for best album a year after choosing a jazz record.

Krauss is the most decorated female artist in Grammy history with 26 awards. Burnett has known Grammy glory before, too, most notably as producer of the best-album winning soundtrack to "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"

Led Zeppelin, which was given a lifetime achievement Grammy in 2005, was never otherwise honored by the Recording Academy.

Nekesa Mumbi Moody, AP

Labels: 51 grammy, alison krauss, grammy award, hot trends 2009, robert plant

NEW YORK - The bar was crowded with well-dressed professionals enjoying drinks and conversation, a typical evening - except that many of them had no job.

The event was a Wall Street Pink Slip Party, where the unemployed mix with recruiters and curious bystanders to network, look for work, and share their stories.

With employers shedding 600,000 more jobs in January, the undercurrent at this party in a Manhattan bar was decidedly glum.

"Wall Street, directly or indirectly, has ruined the best 10 years of my life," said Susan Lange, speaking of colleagues and friends she lost on Sept. 11, 2001, and the sense now, after being laid off from her job as an AIG training manager, that her world has again turned on its head.

"I'm devastated," the 39-year-old woman said.

Figures released Friday showed that the unemployment rate hit 7.6 in January, a month with more layoffs than at any other time since 1974.

Jobseekers are gathering in bars, delving into the business networking Web site LinkedIn, waiting in lines at city help centers, and even starting up hopeful conversations with prosperous-looking strangers on commuter trains - all in the hope of landing jobs in what seems to be a shrinking pool of opportunity.

"Places have hiring freezes. And they have cutbacks. And they have layoffs. There are a lot more people in the job market," said 32-year-old Ana Arrendell, who has been searching for work since August.

At first, she was looking only for a job in her field, graphic design. But as the months have gone by, Arrendell has lowered her expectations. "Right now, I'll take anything," she said Friday as she left a New York City-run office that offers resume-writing assistance and interview training.

Already having given up hope for a Wall Street job making $80,000 per year right out of college, recent graduate David Gunther is getting creative as he tries to expand his business network.

The 23-year-old has begun hanging around commuter ferries and suburban trains, chatting up professional-looking types traveling to areas where executives live.

Recently, at an electronica concert - a wildly different atmosphere than at the career services office at his university - he talked to some fans who introduced him to an entertainment-industry manager. Now he's preparing for a job interview with the man.

Gunther isn't the only one looking for new ways to meet people. Among the groups using the networking service Meetup, the NYC Job Seekers & Career Strategy group has more than doubled in size to 454 people since September, with more than 95 joining since the first of the year.

Worldwide, Meetup has seen a boom in career-related groups; more than 2,000 were started in January, compared to about 500 a month over the summer, said spokesman Andres Glusman.

Chandlee Bryan, a resume writer and career coach who acts as facilitator for the New York group, says she has seen it transform. Initially, people attending the meetings were pondering a career switch out of a desire for something new.

Now, participants in talks on online networking and interviewing techniques are more often being forced into the hunt, either because they've been laid off or because they believe they might be.

Bryan says the meetings help people fight off the solitude that comes with being jobless.
"There's a great deal of isolation," she said. "That complicates the process and makes it harder, given that the majority of people find their jobs through networking."

That's the point of the Wall Street Pink Slip Party - modeled after similar events held following the dot-com bust. Since the reincarnation was launched in November, the intensity at the parties is increasing, says organizer Rachel Pine.

The first event drew a mix of people, only a quarter of them laid off. By the Feb. 4 event, 85 to 90 percent of the 400 people were looking for work.

The scene at the bustling Public House bar on Wednesday night was varied, as men and women in a mix of suits and corporate casual wear - and pink glow-in-the-dark wristbands that marked them as jobseekers - homed in on recruiters wearing green wristbands.

Some were approaching their job search with equanimity, figuring they could rely on savings socked away during the flush years. Others seemed more desperate, counting their change after paying for the coat check. Some, drink in hand, sounded almost bitter about their personal economic downturn.

Andrea Bouwman recounted watching the Super Bowl with a growing sense of ire, as she saw the millions of dollars that her former employer PepsiCo had spent on advertising instead of salaries.
"They kind of compromised people for the actual advertising," said the former marketing manager, adding that since she got her pink slip she's been drinking only Coca-Cola.

Options are more limited back at the city employment center in Brooklyn, where 43-year-old Desmond Moulton, who held jobs as a retail salesman, recounts months of dashed hopes.

Most recently he returned to the job placement center, only to see a once-enthusiastic counselor turn somber as she studied his prospects.

"She clearly wanted to help me. She clearly wanted to have some good news to give me," he said. "But she had none."

By Samantha Gross, Associated Press Writer

Labels: hot trends 2009, layoffs, Wall Street Pink Slip Party

As layoffs mount across the country and in all sectors, couples who are co-workers are increasingly vulnerable to losing their families' twin sources of income at once. The lack of variety in job skills can also make it difficult to bounce back, especially in a struggling industry.

Such hard times have befallen Clarkston, Mich., high school sweethearts Victor and Lauri Cox, who married in 1976 and soon took jobs at the General Motors plant; Pam Podger and John Cramer, who met as reporters at The Fresno Bee in California in 1991; and Chad and Lindsey Lewis, who prospered while selling homes for a Tampa builder but now face a more than 60 percent drop in there combined income.

Chad Lewis said the experience "hit us really hard," forcing them to dip into savings in order to afford health insurance and other necessities. But they have found a silver lining: "There is someone there to rely on, to go through this with you."

It may seem harsh for an employer to lay off both spouses simultaneously. But companies risk lawsuits and union contract violations if they consider workers' family status in determining who to eliminate.

And whatever the financial risks, it is simply unrealistic to expect couples who fall in love on the job or while studying the same field in school to be thinking about revenue diversification, said Stephanie Coontz, a family studies professor at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash.

"I imagine that people will try to be more thoughtful about not putting all their economic eggs in the same basket, but I doubt if they will start trying to meet people outside their field just for economic reasons," Coontz said.

People searching for a lifetime partner say the idea of choosing mates based on their careers would add too much complication to an already difficult process.

"Most of the single people I know are happy just to find another single person they get along with, let alone worry about what kind of job they have," said Margaret Warren, 45, a Pensacola artist and computer consultant who dates a restorer of antique automobiles.

It was a shared love of journalism that helped spark romance between Pam Podger and John Cramer.

When the Roanoke Times in Virginia began cutting costs and offering early retirements last year, the couple thought they had found safe harbor and a fresh start out West at The Missoulian, a 28,000-daily and 32,000-Sunday circulation newspaper in Missoula, Mont.

Less than 10 months later, the publisher laid them off, unsettling the new life they had begun with their two toddlers.

"Do I wish one of us had a sudden yen to go into medicine, law, business? Sure, some days," Podger said.

Podger now freelances and teaches part time, while her husband has a part-time job at a smaller paper owned by the same publisher.

Such double layoffs would have been extremely rare just a couple of generations ago.

Before the 1970s, families weathered economic downturns by sending the non-working spouse, typically wives, into the work force. But today roughly 53 percent of all married couples, and 64 percent of married couples with children under age 18, rely on two incomes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

In theory that should have increased financial security. Instead, couples often use the extra income to buy bigger homes, nicer cars and other luxuries, said Rick Harper, director of the University of West Florida's Haas Center for Business Research.

"In the 1980s, both spouses worked and the savings rate for families went from 12 and 14 percent to essentially zero," Harper said. "In this decade, households smoothed over the rough spots by taking equity out of their homes. Now there is no equity left to take."

There are no statistics on the number of couples who have both lost jobs. Nearly 3 million jobs were eliminated last year alone. On Friday, the Labor Department said 11.6 million were unemployed in January.

Meeting at work is among the top three ways people find spouses, along with being introduced through friends or at school. But workplace relationships have inherent risks, such as awkward breakups, and many companies discourage co-workers from dating. Large companies often have policies that separate spouses into different departments.

But this deep and lengthy recession is revealing a pitfall that could not have been foreseen when high school sweethearts Victor and Lauri Cox married in 1976. They very soon landed jobs at the General Motors plant in their hometown of Clarkston, Mich., and figured they had found financial security.

For three decades, that was true. Victor Cox made good money pulling parts for shipment to dealerships worldwide. Lauri worked at a GM supplier and later at the plant. But last August they were both laid off.

GM has since found positions for the couple at an Ohio plant, but they are the among the lowest in seniority and will be the first laid off if that plant cuts production.

The stakes are considerable: the Coxes are still paying a mortgage on their Michigan home, renting a town house in Ohio and worried about their children - ages 23, 20, 17 - who are back in Michigan trying to finish school and find jobs in uncertain times.

Victor said he occasionally thinks it would might have been easier financially if his wife were a nurse or a teacher - something other than an auto worker.

"When we aren't working, we watch the news and think about whether we are going to have a job. We are hoping and praying that they (GM) don't declare bankruptcy," Victor Cox said.

By MELISSA NELSON, Associated Press Writer

Labels: hot trends 2009, income, lay offs, twin sources of income

LONG BEACH, California (AFP) - Microsoft founder turned disease-battling philanthropist Bill Gates loosed mosquitoes at an elite Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) Conference to make a point about the deadly sting of malaria.

"Malaria is spread by mosquitoes," Gates said while opening a jar onstage at a gathering known to attract technology kings, politicians, and Hollywood stars.

"I brought some. Here I'll let them roam around. There is no reason only poor people should be infected."

Gates waited a minute or so before assuring the audience the liberated insects were malaria-free.

TED curator Chris Anderson fired back at the legendary computer software maker, joking that the headline for the video of his talk to be posted online at Ted.com would be "Gates releases more bugs into the world."

As he has in travels on behalf of his eponymous charitable foundation, Gates detailed the strides made in dealing with malaria in affluent countries and the need to fight the disease in impoverished nations.

"There is more money put into baldness drugs than into malaria," Gates quipped, triggering laughter. "Now, baldness is a terrible thing and rich men are afflicted. That is why that priority has been set."

Gates called for aggressive distribution of insect netting and other gear proven to protect people from disease-transmitting stings.

He also shared that a malaria vaccine backed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation should start Phase Three testing in a few months.

"I am an optimist; I think any tough problem can be solved," Gates said.

"The market does not drive scientists, thinkers, or governments to do the right things. Only by paying attention and making people care can we make as much progress as we need to."

Gates' clever candor continued as he filed a question from Anderson about the pall he felt shrouding the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last month.

"I think it is good that the mood in Davos was bleak," Gates said.

"It was a great meeting where people really had to say 'Hi, how is your economy falling apart ... Gee that is different than how mine is ... What is your solution?'"

Gates said he is confident the economy will recover, with new technologies playing vital roles, but that the financial meltdown was "a great checkpoint" compelling people to think realistically about money and business.

"For me, it was a chance to make sure aid for the poorest doesn't get cut," Gates said of his time at Davos.

His foundation plans to increase annual spending this year to 3.8 billion dollars despite its investment portfolio's value sinking.

In a TED session titled "Reboot," Gates also called for vastly improving the quality of teachers at US schools because it will take "brilliant people" to solve the world's woes.

"I hope I'm not in the Reboot session because you have to reboot your computers and associate that with me," Gates joked. "That might be fair, but don't think about it."

by Glenn Chapman

Labels: Bill Gates, Design (TED) Conference, Entertainment, hot trends 2009, Technology

Folgers, Maxwell House, and Starbucks are America's best-selling ground coffees. But all three were iced by Eight O'Clock Colombian coffee in our taste tests. As for Starbucks, it didn't even place among the top regular coffees and trailed among decafs.

Our tests of 19 coffees also show that some of the best cost the least. At about $6 per pound, Eight O'Clock costs less than half the price of Gloria Jean's, Peet's, and other more expensive brands.

Like your joe without all the caffeine? Dunkin' Donuts and Millstone were the front runners among the decafs. But Folgers Gourmet Selection Lively Colombian came in close behind and costs up to $3 less per pound. But even the best decaffeinated coffees couldn't match the best regular brews in our taste tests.

What we tastedOur coffee experts focused on 100 percent Colombian - a best-selling bean - for regular coffee. Most of our decaffeinated coffees are a blend of different beans.

What makes a great cup of Colombian? Lots of aroma and flavor, some floral notes and fruitiness, a touch of bitterness, and enough body to provide a feeling of fullness in the mouth. Woody, papery, or burnt tastes are off-notes.

Weeks of sipping and swirling confirmed that even 100 percent Colombian coffee and its Juan Valdez logo don't guarantee quality. Our trained testers unearthed other surprises:

Still so-so after all these yearsChock full o'Nuts and Maxwell House have pushed coffee that's "heavenly" and "good to the last drop" since 1932 and 1907, respectively. But off-notes, little complexity, and, for Chock full o' Nuts, variable quality put both behind Eight O'Clock.

When boutique isn't betterMidwest-based Caribou and Kickapoo beat an array of larger players among regular coffees. But Bucks County Coffee, from Langhorne, Penn., tasted only OK, and Peet's, from Berkeley, Calif., was burnt and bitter, despite costing $14 per pound. Peet's, Archer Farms, and Kickapoo also varied from batch to batch.

Caffeine differences

None of our decaffeinated coffees had more than 5 milligrams of caffeine per 6-ounce serving. But among regular coffees, Caribou and Bucks County had roughly four times the caffeine (195 milligrams) of some of the lowest-level brews.

Medical experts say up to 600 milligrams per day is probably safe for most and can help keep you alert. But heart patients and women who are pregnant or nursing should stay below 200 milligrams, which might mean sidestepping those brands among the caffeinated coffees we tested.

How to choose

Several of our top coffees could save you $25 to $70 per year over pricier brands even if you drank just one 6-ounce cup per day. Here's what else to think about:

Consider how you take it

Coffees judged very good taste fine black. Milk and sugar can improve a mediocre coffee, but not even cream is likely to help the lowest-scoring decafs.

Choose a good coffeemaker

The best coffeemakers from our January report reached the 195º to 205º F required to get the best from the beans and avoid a weak or bitter brew. A top Michael Graves model costs just $40.
Consider grinding for fresher flavor

Even the best pre-ground coffee can't beat the best fresh-ground when it comes to taste. One top grinder from our January report, the Mr. Coffee IDS77, costs only $20.

By ConsumerReports.org

Labels: Eight O'Clock Colombian coffee, Folgers, hot trends 2009, Maxwell House, Starbucks

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The online networking site MySpace has identified and barred some 90,000 registered sex offenders from using the site over the last two years, MySpace revealed to an investigative task force on Tuesday.

The "shocking" number was 40,000 more than MySpace had previously acknowledged, according to Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, a co-chairman of the task force of state attorneys general looking into sex offenders' use of social networking.

MySpace, owned by News Corp.'s Fox Interactive Media digital division, disclosed the figures to the task force in response to a subpoena.

"This shocking revelation, resulting from our subpoena, provides compelling proof that social networking sites remain rife with sexual predators," Blumenthal said in a statement.

Blumenthal's office said it was awaiting a response to a similar subpoena issued to Facebook, another popular social networking site that his office said also might host "substantial numbers of convicted offenders."

Facebook's Chief Privacy Officer Chris Kelly said in a statement it was working with Blumenthal's office but said the site had "not yet had to handle a case of a registered sex offender meeting a minor through Facebook."

"Unlike MySpace or other social networking sites, Facebook has always enforced a real-name culture and has developed and deployed social verification and powerful privacy rules that allow people to interact in a safer and more trusted environment," the statement said.

Two years ago, MySpace commissioned background verification firm Sentinel Safe Tech Holdings Corp. to create a national database of sex offenders after reports that some of its teenage users were abducted by sex predators.

Sentinel operates a U.S. database of sex offenders that includes as many as 120 details for each offender, from their names and addresses to their scars and tattoos, Sentinel Chief Executive John Cardillo said.

Before the national database was created, information on convicted sex offenders was available only locally.

MySpace said on Tuesday the technology had enabled it to identify 90,000 users as registered sex offenders -- people who have been found guilty of sex crimes and ordered to register with law enforcement officials -- and had removed and blocked them from the site.

"We can confirm that MySpace has removed these individuals from our site and is providing data about these offenders to any law enforcement agency including the Attorney General's in Connecticut," MySpace's Chief Security Officer Hemanshu Nigam said in a statement.

(Reporting by Edith Honan; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Philip Barbara)

Labels: facebook, hot trends 2009, myspace, sex offenders

WASHINGTON - The economic downturn has forced private industry and state and local government to shed jobs, but one major employer in the country is hiring: The federal government.

While the nation's 11 million unemployed and the millions more who fear losing their jobs may feel Washington should streamline too, economists say a strong federal work force is key to economic recovery. Were President Barack Obama to put any of the nearly 2 million federal civil servants out in the street in the middle of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, the consequences could be dire.

"Federal belt-tightening would worsen the problem right now," said Kevin Hassett, director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. "Most economists agree that the federal government is a built-in stabilizer," said Hassett, a former adviser to GOP presidential campaigns.

Obama's proposed $800-plus billion economic aid plan, which includes heavy spending on public works, is expected to increase the ranks of government workers, although mostly at the state and local level.

That measure is working its way through Congress just as Microsoft Corp., Pfizer, Caterpillar, Home Depot and scores of other companies are shedding workers, and governors are asking or ordering state workers to accept furloughs, salary reductions, truncated workweeks or reduced benefits.

Simply letting federal workers go is "penny-wise and pound foolish," said Max Stier, president of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit group that works to revitalize the government and its work force. "We had a situation where we had a single person monitoring toys coming in from abroad. The result: You get lead-tainted toys coming in to the country," Stier said. "We need people looking out for the public good."

Paul Light, professor of public service at New York University, also thinks more, not fewer, federal workers are needed on the front lines. He said other steps could be taken to trim costs. The Obama administration has suggested reducing the number of managers at the middle levels, he said.

"That would be a good thing," Light said. "What he hasn't suggested is that we reduce political appointees at the senior level. I just think you could do some things to say to the public, 'Look, the federal government is going to make its share of sacrifice and it's more than just having energy-efficient buildings."

The government's civilian, nonmilitary work force peaked in the late 1960s at about 2.3 million. It was 2 million or more through the mid-1990s, when the government cut more than 400,000 jobs - many through military base closings. Since 2001, civilian employment in the executive branch, excluding postal employees, has edged upward from 1.7 million to about 2 million, largely because of new homeland security jobs.

More federal job openings are on the horizon.

A report released in January by Christina Romer, head of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, and Jared Bernstein, an economic policy adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, predicted that more than 90 percent of the 3 million to 4 million jobs that Obama proposes to save or create would be in the private sector.

But the report also estimated that 244,000 government jobs - some at the federal level, but more at the state and local level - would be created or saved.

That was based on a $600 billion stimulus package; the one being debated in Congress is more than $800 billion.

Moreover, many baby boomers who are getting government paychecks are at retirement age. The Office of Personnel Management estimates that 58 percent of supervisory and 42 percent of nonsupervisory workers who were on the federal payroll as of October 2004 will be eligible to retire by the end of next year. The financial meltdown, however, has prompted some to delay retirement.

Cynthia Bascetta, 56, director of health care at the Government Accountability Office, has 31 years of federal service under her belt. She said she thought retiring in these troubled economic times was too risky. So she will wait at least a year to retire, even though she recently moved to Fredericksburg, Va., and now has to commute by train to her job in Washington.

"I know of a few people who feel as though they need to stay because they have children they need to put through college, and they've lost a lot in college funds," she said. "Others are just anxious about their financial situation."

Other older workers are seeking federal jobs, which come with job security, health and life insurance, a federal retirement program, paid vacations and leave and other benefits.

When the national job market began tightening in the first quarter of last year, FedJobs.com, a business that has been helping federal job hunters since 1974, started hearing from 50- to 65-year-olds instead of 25- to 40-year-olds.

"All of a sudden, it's a much older clientele calling up saying they're interested in government work because they lost their jobs, their companies merged, their companies went bankrupt and they're looking for stability," said Ross Harris, sales and marketing director for the site. "The perception is that federal work is more stable - that there aren't as many layoffs."

Rising unemployment and excitement about working for Obama combined to motivate about 350,000 people to apply for 3,000 to 4,000 political appointee positions in his new administration. Jumping to the federal payroll, however, doesn't necessarily mean moving to the nation's capital; more than 80 percent of federal civil workers are employed outside the Washington metro area.

Federal employment has not completely escaped the impact of the economic downturn, While no government-wide hiring freeze has gone into effect, some departments and agencies are taking belt-tightening moves.

Obama, for example, froze the pay of some White House employees.

"During this period of economic emergency, families are tightening their belts, and so should Washington," Obama said.

But it was a symbolic move. The pay freeze only affects roughly 100 White House employees earning more than $100,000 a year.

By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer

Labels: federal government jobs, hot trends 2009, uncle sam, unemployment