– President Trump spoke to 6,000 supporters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Wednesday night at a gathering that strongly resembled one of his raucous campaign rallies—right down to whistle-blowing protesters and chants of "Lock her up" when Hillary Clinton's name was mentioned. In what is being widely described as a "victory lap," Trump, making his first trip west of the Mississippi since becoming president, spoke for more than an hour and unveiled policy proposals including a plan to ban immigrants from receiving welfare for their first five years in the US. A roundup of coverage: Trump said he will ask Congress to pass a law ensuring new immigrants "support themselves financially and should not use welfare for a period of at least five years." The rule already exists as part of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, though large parts of the act were rolled back under George W. Bush and Barack Obama, Fox reports. Trump plans to expand the list of benefits that new immigrants will not be eligible for. In one of his most controversial remarks, Trump defended his choice of billionaire investor Wilbur Ross as commerce secretary, explaining that he doesn't want poor people to hold economic roles in his administration, the Guardian reports. "I love all people, rich or poor, but in those particular positions I just don’t want a poor person," he said. The AP reports that Trump made no mention of the assorted scandals he is dealing with in Washington, apart from a brief reference to the "witch hunt" Russia probe. "All we do is win, win, win," Trump said, boasting of the GOP's 5-0 winning streak in special elections and slamming "unbelievably nasty" Democrats and the media. "The truth is, people love us ... they haven't figured it out yet," he said, per the Hill. Trump said he has come up with a plan to put solar panels on his proposed border wall, but dismissed wind energy, the New York Times reports. "I don't want to just hope the wind blows to light up your house and your factory as the birds fall to the ground," he said. The president said he has been calling for a healthcare plan "with heart," but complained that he would get no help from Democrats in getting it through Congress, reports Reuters. "If we went and got the single greatest healthcare plan in the history of the world we would not get one Democrat vote because they’re obstructionists," he said.

Expand this summary.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump, under siege in Washington, defended his record at a raucous political rally in Iowa on Wednesday, rejecting a Russia investigation as a witch hunt and saying he was succeeding against all odds, despite no major legislative achievements.

 “All we do is win, win, win,” he told a cheering crowd. His first tweet on Thursday morning praised the “special people” there.

 A feisty Trump spoke for more than an hour at a rally in Cedar Rapids that was similar to those he held during last year’s presidential campaign. It included protesters escorted out by police, Trump attacking the news media and supporters waving signs saying “Drain the Swamp” in Washington.

 Trump’s first trip to Iowa since taking office on Jan. 20 came against a backdrop of problems in Washington. His legislative agenda is struggling to gain traction, a federal investigation of alleged Russian meddling into the election and possible collusion with Trump’s campaign continues, and his approval rating is below 40 percent in most polls.

 But Trump touted job gains and an improving stock market as evidence that his economic policies are working, and he lauded his wealthy appointees such as his top economic adviser Gary Cohn, a former Goldman Sachs executive, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, a billionaire known for his investments in distressed industries.

 “In those particular positions, I just don’t want a poor person — does that make sense?” Trump said.

 He also vowed he would eventually get funding for a border wall with Mexico, possibly with solar panels attached, despite congressional refusal thus far.

 “We’re thinking about building the wall as a solar wall,” he said. “Pretty good imagination, right? It’s my ideas.”

 Solar panels along the wall are among proposals that have been submitted by companies to the Department of Homeland Security, according to media reports.

 Buoyed by Republican victories in special congressional elections in Georgia and South Carolina on Tuesday, Trump blasted his opponents as “unbelievably nasty” and said cable news anchors appeared stunned by the Democratic losses.

 Unable to get Democrats to join Republicans in major legislative efforts, Trump said the wounding by a gunman last week of Republican Representative Steve Scalise in Alexandria, Virginia, had fostered a spirit of unity. But he did not sound optimistic about breaking through the partisan divide any time soon.

 Trump said he doubted he would have help from Democrats in getting major healthcare legislation through the U.S. Congress. He wants the Senate to join the House of Representatives in approving legislation soon to overhaul the signature domestic achievement of his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama.

 “If we went and got the single greatest healthcare plan in the history of the world we would not get one Democrat vote because they’re obstructionists,” Trump said.

 Slideshow (11 Images)

 Looking to foreign policy, Trump complained about the “bad hand” he had been dealt, such as North Korea’s nuclear program. His comments came days after American student Otto Warmbier died after returning in a coma from captivity in North Korea.

 On Tuesday, Trump had tweeted that he has basically given up on getting help from Chinese President Xi Jinping on North Korea after investing a lot of effort to coaxing Beijing to use its influence on Pyongyang.

 “I do like President Xi,” said Trump, who was with the new U.S. ambassador to China, former Iowa Governor Terry Branstad. “I do wish we would have a little more help on North Korea.” ||||| President Donald Trump talks with former Iowa Governor Terry Branstad and Ambassador to China as they walk off of Air Force One at Eastern Iowa Airport, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Wednesday, June 21, 2017.... (Associated Press)

 CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Struggling to advance his agenda in Washington, President Donald Trump traveled to the Midwest on Wednesday for a raucous rally with his loyal supporters — the kind of event he relished before winning the White House.

 Trump touched down Wednesday evening in rainy Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and headed to a local community college, where he got a look at agriculture technology innovations before leading a campaign rally.

 He reveled in Georgia Republican Karen Handel's congressional victory in an election viewed as an early referendum on his presidency.

 "We're 5-0 in special elections," Trump said in front of a boisterous crowd that packed a downtown arena. "The truth is, people love us ... they haven't figured it out yet."

 He also applauded Republican Ralph Norman, who notched a slimmer-than-expected win in a special election to fill the South Carolina congressional seat vacated by Mick Mulvaney, and mocked Handel's challenger, Jon Ossoff, saying the Democrats "spent $30 million on this kid who forgot to live in the district."

 Trump, no stranger to victory laps, turned his visit to a battleground state he captured in November into a celebration of his resilience despite the cloud of investigations that has enveloped his administration and sent his poll numbers tumbling.

 With the appearance in Cedar Rapids, he has held five rallies in the first five months in office.

 The event underscores Trump's comfort in a campaign setting. He laughed off the occasional heckler, repeated riffs from last year's rallies and appeared far more at ease when going after Democrats in front of adoring crowds than trying to push through his own legislative agenda from the confines of the White House.

 Trump's aides are making a renewed push to get the president out of Washington. The capital is consumed with the investigation into Russian meddling in last year's election and Trump's firing of his FBI director.

 Campaign rallies energize Trump by placing him in front of supporters who have stuck by him and are likely to dismiss the investigations as Beltway chatter.

 Iowa, with its large share of independent voters, could be a proving ground for whether Trump can count on the support of voters beyond his base. Unaffiliated voters — or "no party" voters, as they are known in Iowa — make up 36 percent of the electorate, compared with 33 percent who register Republican and 31 percent registered as Democrat.

 Self-identified independents in Iowa voted for Trump over Democrat Hillary Clinton by a 13-percentage-point margin last year, according to exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and television networks. That margin helped Trump take the state by nearly 9 points after Barack Obama won it for Democrats the previous two elections.

 Trump held a Des Moines rally in December as part of his transition-era "thank you" tour of states he had won, but has not been back to Iowa since.

 Wednesday night, he touted his administration's efforts to roll back regulations, mused about putting solar panels on a Mexican border wall, derided wind power for killing birds in a state that uses a lot of it and revealed that he urged the Senate to create a health care plan "with heart. Add some money to it!"

 He avoided any discussion of the scandals surrounding his presidency, other than one brief reference to the "witch hunt," which is what he has dubbed the probes into his campaign's ties to Russia.

 Trump's evening in Iowa began with a tribute to former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, whom he had just appointed the United States' ambassador to China. He hailed Branstad, the longest-serving governor in the nation's history and an early Trump backer, as "a legend" and "one great man."

 Trump's stop at Kirkwood Community College was intended to draw attention to the school's advancements in high-tech agriculture, but he resisted sitting behind the wheel of a virtual reality device that simulated a giant combine harvester. He was joined by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross as part of the administration's latest theme week, this time to highlight the importance of technology. He later touted the wealth of Ross and chief economic adviser Gary Cohn, saying: "Those particular positions, I just don't want a poor person. Does that make sense?"

 But much of Trump's attention was on the suburbs of Atlanta, in the 6th Congressional District race.

 Democrats had lavished attention and money on Tuesday's special election, hoping for a victory that would underscore Republican worries about Trump and serve as a harbinger of a Democratic wave in 2018.

 Instead, Handel's victory, in a traditional Republican stronghold that rarely produces a competitive contest, was met with a sigh of relief among the GOP.

 Trump tweeted several times during the night and capped the night off with a text message to supporters referring to his "Make America Great Again" slogan:

 "The MAGA Mandate is stronger than ever. BIG LEAGUE."

 ___

 Associated Press writer Jill Colvin in Washington contributed to this report.

 ___

 Follow Lemire on Twitter at http://twitter.com/@JonLemire |||||


Article:
Back in October, I wrote about Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) and his praise-worthy amendment to the FY 2010 Defense appropriations bill that would bar the government from contracting with companies who prevent their employees from bringing workplace sexual assault cases to court. The amendment passed easily 68 to 30 – with the thirty senators who voted against the measure receiving a good amount of backlash – but shortly after the vote there were rumors that conferees would strip the amendment from the final bill during reconciliation with the House. Not to fear, though, because according to Sam Stein over at the Huffington Post, the Franken amendment survived, and the final language is "remarkably strong."

 An aide to Franken told Stein "the substance of the language 'is unchanged,'" which means the government will not be able to contract with companies that restrict employees from going to court over charges of "assault, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress or negligent hiring practice[s]." Moreover, the Title VII provision of the amendment, which allows an employee to sue not only the alleged perpetrator but also the perpetrator's employer, remains in the bill as well. The amendment applies to all contracts totaling $1million or more.

 There is a small loophole in the amendment, but it will be hard for contractors to get through it:

 The Franken amendment includes a national security waiver, meaning that the Department of Defense could prevent a case from coming to court if it imperils safety measures. But, for that to happen, the Secretary of Defense would have to "personally explain why the waiver was used to Congress and at that point make it public," the Franken aide explained.

 This solid amendment will prevent contractors from carrying out what were some of the most despicable business practices I think a company could foist on a person.

 Image by Flickr user Aaron Landry used under a Creative Commons license. |||||

 "In 2008, she was transferred to Texas and worked as an administrative associate in the dispatch office at the Alvarado Camp. Although a good, dedicated and productive employee, she was terminated on June 3, 2009, when she apparently violated the company's policy against procreation."

 To her knowledge, Lynda was the only employee "laid off" in her area even though there were five employees who had less experience in that position than she did. None of those employees was pregnant. Thus, the company retained employees in the same or similar positions with less qualifications who were not in the protected class. The Defendant's proferred reason for termination was a pretext for discriminatory purpose.

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 A Dallas woman filed suit against Halliburton last week claiming she was fired after her supervisors learned she was pregnant. In court documents filed on December, 21, Lynda Darden alleges she was fired in the summer of 2009 when "she was sexually discriminated against and terminated as a result of her pregnancy." Per the court docs, which indicate Darden was hired in Colorado and then transferred to Texas:If you detect a hint of snark in that wording, you're picking up what Darden's attorney, Todd Kelly, is putting down: He's become high-profile in recent years for suing the energy contractor.The Houston-based attorney presently represents Jamie Leigh Jones , the woman who sued former Halliburton subsidiary KBR alleging that she was gang-raped in 2005 by one known and several unknown co-workers and locked in a shipping container to prevent her from reporting the crime. Her case caused Al Franken to sponsor a defense bill amendment stipulating that defense contractors can't force people not to sue them if they get raped on the job. Kelly also represents several other women with sexual assault and/or harassment cases against KBR and Halliburton.Kelly tells Unfair Park that Halliburton is a less-than-ideal place to work for women: "I don't believe that Halliburton treats its women as they should." He says Darden told her supervisors she was pregnant even though she "had already been told by co-workers that she would be fired if she reported her pregnancy." According to Kelly, that was the general office scuttlebutt:. In court documents, Darden says she first told her supervisor of her pregnancy in March 2009 and was told on June 3, 2009, that she was losing her job as part of a general lay-off, but Darden says she was the only person let go at the time:For a brief time, Kelly says Unfair Park, his client's job was even advertised on the Internet after she was laid off, though he says Halliburton "took it off pretty quickly." Darden is seeking damages for back pay and "front pay in lieu of reinstatement, which would not be feasible under the circumstances."Read Darden's complaint in full below. |||||Summary:

– Does everybody's favorite energy contractor, Halliburton, hate procreation? A former Halliburton employee is suing the company for wrongful termination and sex discrimination because, in the words of her lawyer, "she apparently violated the company's policy against procreation." Halliburton said it fired the pregnant administrative associate as part of general lay-offs, but the canned worker points out no one else in her department was fired, including people with less experience. Additionally, soon after the firing Halliburton briefly posted a job listing online for her former position, reports the Dallas Observer. The woman's lawyer, Todd Kelly, has sued Halliburton several times in recent years, including over the gang-rape of a woman at former Halliburton subsidiary KBR, a defense contractor. "I don't believe that Halliburton treats its women as they should," Kelly said. The rape case led Minnesota Sen. Al Franken to sponsor a defense bill amendment stipulating that defense contractors can't bar lawsuits from employees for sex assault.


Here is a news article: Fairfax County police are searching for a woman suspected of impersonating a Target employee and stealing more than $40,000 worth of iPhones. See video.

 WASHINGTON — Fairfax County police are searching for a woman suspected of impersonating a Target employee and stealing more than $40,000 worth of iPhones earlier this month.

 Police released surveillance footage Tuesday of the suspect leaving the store.

 On March 15, an unidentified woman impersonated a Target employee at the 6600 Richmond Highway location in Alexandria, Virginia, police said.

 She gained access to the stockroom and from there, police said she took the iPhones and put them in a box before leaving the store.

 Surveillance footage shows the woman leaving the store and getting into a Volvo station wagon.

 The suspect was familiar with store procedures, employee hours and where iPhones were kept in the stockroom.

 Anyone with more information about this case can call Fairfax County police at 703-691-2131.

 Watch the video below.

 Like WTOP on Facebook and follow @WTOP on Twitter to engage in conversation about this article and others.

 © 2017 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. ||||| Detectives in Virginia are looking for a woman who disguised herself as a Target employee and stole more than $40,000 worth of iPhones.

 The woman, dressed as an employee of Target, walked into the Richmond Highway store and made her way back to the stockroom. Once inside, she placed the iPhones in a box and left the store, Fairfax County police said.

 Surveillance cameras were able to capture pictures of the woman.

 Detectives said the woman is not affiliated with the store but appeared to know the store's procedures and location of the iPhones in the stockroom. |||||
A summary of this is?

– She wasn't a Target employee, but a woman who sure seemed like one allegedly made off with around $40,000 worth of iPhones from a Virginia store. NBC Washington reports Fairfax County cops are looking for the retail impostor, who they say donned attire resembling a worker's getup, waltzed into the stockroom of the Alexandria location with a box, and loaded the box with dozens of iPhones before taking off. WTOP reports the woman, whose image was caught on tape, seemed to be familiar with how things worked at the store, including employee hours and where the iPhones were stored. Police say the theft occurred March 15, but posted about it on Facebook Monday with a call to "help us nab an iPhone thief." (Target recently had a Boston problem.)


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 A grandad whose dog discovered an abandoned baby in a Birmingham park spoke about the amazing pet rescue and said: “We were just in the right place at the right time.”

 Roger Wilday, 68, was walking German Shepherd Jade in Stechford when she inexplicably raced to bushes, then lay down next to what looked like a discarded carrier bag – and refused to return to him.

 As the pensioner moved closer he realised what the loyal family pet had discovered: a newborn baby, who has now been named after her four-legged rescuer.

 Roger said: ‘‘I walked over and saw a carrier bag – then I saw it move. I thought it was a bag of kittens, but then I saw her little arms and a head, and the baby started to cry.’’

 Here's the first video released of baby Jade

 The dramatic discovery took place in Marlborough House Community Park on Thursday afternoon.

 Dad-of-four Roger raced to a friend’s nearby house and dialled 999, then rushed back to pick up the infant.

 He said: “I thought I’m not going to touch anything because if I start messing and they come for forensics... I just didn’t want to hinder their job.

 "The police told me they were on their way and asked me to pick her up and take her out of the park.’’

 Moments later seven police cars and an ambulance arrived at the scene, off Stuart’s Road.

 Roger, from Yardley, said: “They took the baby off me and put her straight into the ambulance. I then had to show police officers where I found her.’’

 The little girl was taken to Heartlands Hospital where staff named her after hero pet Jade.

 Here's a later video showing more of her time in hospital

 On Friday pictures and video were released of the six-pound baby , who was said to be “alert, happy and contented” as she continues to recover.

 Faithful nine-year-old Jade is now receiving extra special fuss from Roger and wife Catherine, who have five grandkids, including Eliza, who was born just over two weeks ago.

 Catherine, 65, said: “Jade’s never found anything before. She must have heard the baby crying as these dogs have very good hearing, plus she’s very keen on our grandchildren.

 "Whenever she hears their names she whimpers. She just loves kids.’’

 She added: “I’m really pleased that the nurses named the baby after Jade, it makes me so proud of her.

 ‘‘It’s not a typical thing to find a baby, but that’s just the kind of thing that would happen to Roger. He’s that type of person. He cares about everyone.”

 Jade is being monitored around the clock by paediatricians while police continue the search for her mother.

 Roger and his wife are also hoping for a future reunion with the little girl. ‘‘We are waiting to hear from police if we can see her,’’ he said.

 Chief Inspector Ian Green, of West Midlands Police, said the consequences of Jade not discovering the baby could have been serious.

 “The baby was lucky to be found when she was as even just a few more hours exposed to the elements could have had fatal consequences,’’ he said.

 “Thankfully, we now know she’s safe and well – and our priority is very much on finding her mum to ensure her safety.

 "We’re still keen to hear from witnesses – especially anyone who saw somebody with a carrier bag from The Entertainer toy shop – or anyone who could have information that will lead us to identify the mother.”

 Anyone with information is urged to call police on 101.

 Video: The moment Wolves' training ground was daubed in West Bromwich Albion graffiti

 Video: Birmingham Airport people smuggling operation caught on camera

 Video: Midland university in 'is this the worst ever YouTube video' viral hit ||||| VIEW GALLERY

 These are the first heartbreaking pictures of a newborn baby who was found abandoned in a park.

 The healthy tot - who is barely a few days old - was discovered by dog-walker Roger Wilday wrapped in a towel in a plastic carrier bag by his German Shepherd on Thursday afternoon.

 Hospital staff have named the baby in honour of Jade - the dog who may well have saved her life.

 Medics say Jade - who weighs six pounds - is "alert, happy and contented" as she continues her recovery.

 West Midlands Police have released a picture of the baby and say they urgently want to reunite her with her mother.

 Baby Jade was discovered by Mr Wilday at around 3pm on Thursday in Stechford Park, the West Midlands.

 Mr Wilday, 68, said of his dog: "She headed to the bushes. She wouldn't come back so I had to go over and I saw the bag and then I heard a baby cry.

 "I reached down to look at the bag closer and I saw a baby in a blue blanket, I was so shocked.

 "I dialled 999 and picked the baby up. She was warm so I don't think she had been there long."

 He added: "Jade has grown up with children around her, she loves babies, she's a hero, if it wasn't for her that baby could have died."

 Chief Inspector Ian Green, said: "It is fantastic news that baby Jade is recovering well in hospital - I’m told she’s very alert and a contented happy baby.

 "She’s doing well and should make a full recovery over the next couple of days – but of course what she really needs is to be in her mother’s arms.

 "I’d urge Jade’s mum to make contact with us on the 101 police number so we can reunite them and get her medical attention and emotional support."

 Officers are continuing the search today for the baby’s mother.

 Extensive house-to-house enquiries have been carried out around the park and checks made with regional hospitals, medical centres and care homes.

 The towel baby jade was wrapped in, along with the carrier bag, have been sent away for fast-track forensics whilst it’s hoped DNA samples taken from the tot will help identify her parents.

 Chief Insp Green, added: "Paediatricians have confirmed the baby was lucky to be found when she was as even just a few more hours exposed to the elements could have had fatal consequences.

 "Thankfully, we now know she’s safe and well – and our priority is very much on finding her mum to ensure her safety and to provide whatever support she needs.

 "We’re still keen to hear from witnesses who were in the park yesterday – especially anyone who saw somebody with a carrier bag from The Entertainer toy shop – or anyone who believes they could have information that will lead us to identify the mother." |||||
A summary of this is?

– A 68-year-old British man was walking his dog in a Birmingham park last week when the German shepherd suddenly ran over to the bushes and refused to return. Owner Roger Wilday walked over to find her lying down next to what looked like trash ... but as he got closer, he realized it was actually a newborn infant. "I saw it move," Wilday tells the Birmingham Mail. "I thought it was a bag of kittens, but then I saw her little arms and a head, and the baby started to cry." The six-pound baby girl was brought to the hospital and named Jade, after the dog. She's "alert, happy, and contented" while recovering, and police are looking for her mother. Canine Jade "must have heard the baby crying as these dogs have very good hearing, plus she’s very keen on our grandchildren," Wilday says. "Whenever she hears their names she whimpers. She just loves kids." He and his wife are hoping they'll be allowed to see the little girl, who, police say, could have died had she been left outside even a few more hours. She was just a few days old when found, the Mirror notes.


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People around the world prepare for the coming of the new year.

 BEIJING |

 BEIJING (Reuters) - Two young Tibetan monks set themselves on fire to protest against government religious controls in western China on Monday, two exiled Tibetan sources said, the third such protest this year that could spark fresh tension in the unstable region.

 The 18-year-old monks, Kelsang and Kunchak, belong to the Kirti monastery -- a major site of protest against Chinese policies and the scene of a harsh crackdown by security forces in May -- one India-based exiled Tibetan activist, told Reuters.

 The monks' self-immolations could lead to a renewed crackdown in Aba prefecture, a heavily ethnic Tibetan part of Sichuan province that many advocates of self-rule say should form part of a larger homeland under Tibetan control.

 "When they set themselves on fire, they shouted: 'We need freedom of religion,'" said the activist, who asked not to be identified, adding that he obtained his information from at least five sources in China and overseas.

 Both monks immolated themselves at 10 a.m. local time (0200GMT) on Monday, he said.

 The two monks suffered slight burns and were in stable condition, state news agency Xinhua said, citing doctors. The report added that "the suicide attempt is under further investigation."

 When asked about the self-immolations, Hu Jiang, an official from the Aba prefecture information office, told Reuters: "I don't know anything about it, I'm not quite clear."

 Calls to the police bureau in Aba prefecture went unanswered.

 A Tibetan monk, Kanyag Tsering, from the sister Kirti monastery in the Indian town of Dharamsala, where Tibet's government-in-exile is based, said he had received confirmation that the Chinese military removed the bodies of the two monks.

 Tsering said he got his information from at least 10 different people inside the monastery and within Aba, including eyewitness accounts of the self-immolations.

 Tsering said the two monks were heard shouting several slogans as they burned themselves, including: "Long live the Dalai Lama".

 The self-immolations come just six months after another Tibetan Buddhist monk, Phuntsog, 21, from the same monastery, burned himself to death. Kelsang is related to Phuntsog.

 China last month jailed three monks for their involvement in Phuntsog's self-immolation.

 His death kicked off a harsh crackdown, with security forces detaining about 300 Tibetan monks for a month.

 Monks from the Kirti monastery also participated in protests that gripped Tibet and Tibetan areas of China in March 2008, when Buddhist monks and other Tibetan loyal to their exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama confronted police and troops.

 Beijing has repeatedly accused the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Dalai Lama of being a separatist who supports violence, charges he denies.

 The Dalai Lama and China have argued lately about what should happen when he dies. Beijing says he has to reincarnate, but the Dalai Lama has questioned whether this tradition should continue.

 "Like a has-been star, he fears the loss of popularity," the official Xinhua news agency wrote in a commentary. "In pursuit of fame and power, he has deviated from the commandments of Buddhism and used his religion as a subterfuge for his personal political motives."

 "The Dalai Lama ... should seriously follow the teachings of Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, and seek the dharma that will liberate him from the rotation of life and death," it added.

 (Additional reporting by Sabrina Mao, Editing by Ben Blanchard and Sugita Katyal) ||||| Successor chosen by Dalai Lama 'illegal': China

 BEIJING — China said Monday any successor chosen by the Dalai Lama would be "illegal" after the Tibetan spiritual leader announced that he, and not Beijing, would decide whether he should be reincarnated.

 The Dalai Lama, who is 76, said on Saturday he would decide when he was "about 90" whether he should be reincarnated, in consultation with other monks, and that China should have no say in the matter.

 Under Tibetan tradition, monks identify a young boy who shows signs he is a reincarnation of a late leader, but many predict China will simply appoint its own successor to the Dalai Lama.

 China's foreign ministry said any reincarnation process would have to be conducted in accordance with the country's "laws and regulation".

 "The title of Dalai Lama is conferred by the central government and is illegal otherwise," ministry spokesman Hong Lei told journalists.

 "There is a complete set of religious rituals and historical conventions in reincarnation of the Dalai Lama and a Dalai Lama identifying his own successor has never been the practice.

 "The reincarnation of the Dalai Lama should follow religious rituals and historical conventions and laws and regulations of this state."

 Tibet's spiritual leader said he had decided to lay out "clear guidelines to recognise the next Dalai Lama" while he was still "physically and mentally fit" so that there was "no room for doubt or deception."

 The Dalai Lama made the statement in a 4,200-word document issued after a gathering of leaders of the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism in the northern Indian hill town of Dharamshala, home of the government in exile.

 He had earlier signalled a willingness to break with custom by choosing a successor before his death or among exiles outside Tibet. He had also said he might be open to electing the next Dalai Lama.

 China's stance raises the prospect of two Dalai Lamas -- one recognised by Beijing and the other chosen by exiles or with the blessing of the current Dalai Lama.

 This happened in 1995, when China rejected the Dalai Lama's choice to be the next Panchen Lama, the second-highest ranking Tibetan Buddhist, and picked its own reincarnation.

 The Chinese-raised Panchen Lama, Gyaincain Norbu, is now 21 and often extols Beijing's rule over Tibet. The Dalai Lama's selection, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, has not been seen since 1995 after he was detained by China.

 The Dalai Lama fled Tibet following a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. He later founded the government in exile in Dharamshala after being offered refuge by India.

 China vilifies him as a "separatist" who incites violence in Tibet, while he insists his sole focus is a peaceful campaign for greater autonomy for his homeland.

 China's state news agency Xinhua echoed the ministry's statements, calling the spiritual leader a "has-been" and saying his latest comments were aimed at keeping him in the spotlight following his retirement from politics.

 "Over the decades since he fled China in 1959, the Dalai Lama has come to enjoy his role as a political monk, travelling across the globe, picking up his accolades and selling his independence claim," it said.

 "Like a has-been star, he fears the loss of popularity, a personal loss that does no harm to his fellow Tibetans, but would certainly announce the eventual failure of his separatist attempt."

 Copyright © 2012 AFP. All rights reserved. More » |||||

– The Dalai Lama says it’s up to him to decide whether he should be reincarnated—and of course China isn't having any of that. Beijing today dismissed any successor picked by the spiritual leader himself as illegal, following the 76-year-old’s statement this weekend that he’ll make a decision on reincarnation when he’s “about 90." He said China shouldn’t weigh in on the choice; China, however, says that “the title of Dalai Lama is conferred by the central government and is illegal otherwise." Traditionally, monks pick a young boy to be Dalai Lama based on signs he is the previous leader’s reincarnation, AFP notes. But “a Dalai Lama identifying his own successor has never been the practice,” says a rep for China’s foreign ministry. “The reincarnation of the Dalai Lama should follow religious rituals and historical conventions and laws and regulations of this state." The current Dalai Lama said he planned to offer “clear guidelines to recognize the next Dalai Lama” while he remains “physically and mentally fit.” Meanwhile, two young Tibetan monks set themselves on fire today in China, calling for religious freedom.


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Image caption Village came out in large numbers to protest after the death of their negotiator

 Residents of a Chinese village locked in a stand-off over land seizures appear to be nearing a compromise with local authorities.

 Protests have been simmering in Wukan, in Guangdong province, since September and escalated after the death of a village negotiator in police custody.

 Villagers had planned a march through police barriers on Wednesday.

 But a senior official met a village representative, and villagers said some demands had been met.

 The villagers say officials have sold off their land to developers and failed to compensate them properly.

 They also want an investigation into the death of Xue Jinbo, who died on 11 December while in the hands of local police.

 Police say he died of a "sudden illness", but his family say he was beaten to death.

 The villagers had planned to march through police barricades around the town to local government offices. Local authorities had urged them not to.

 Amid deadlock, deputy provincial Communist Party secretary Zhu Mingguo agreed to meet local leaders on Wednesday in the town of Lufeng.

 Image caption Police have set up roadblocks around the village

 Village representative Lin Zulian said that the authorities had agreed to release three other village leaders detained at the same time as Mr Xue, and to release Mr Xue's body.

 "I'm very satisfied with the outcome of the meeting," AFP news agency quoted him as saying. "This is not a victory, but it is a beginning."

 Villagers have told the BBC they will return to the streets if promises are not kept. They later held a meeting to discuss the developments.

 There are thousands of protests over land grabs in China each year but the situation in Wukan has attracted considerable attention because of its scale.

 There has also been a series of strikes and labour walk-outs in southern China in recent months.

 On Tuesday a separate protest erupted in Haimen, also in Guangdong province, over local government plans to build a power plant. ||||| Southern Chinese authorities have given in to demands of protesting villagers after a nearly two-week standoff with police, releasing detainees and returning some confiscated land to farmers in a rare compromise.

 Protest leader Yang Semao says a senior provincial official told him and another village representative in a meeting Wednesday that four villagers being held by police would be released over the next few days and land from one development project would be returned to the villagers.

 Yang says police on Tuesday night withdrew and removed the roadblocks that they had set up leading into the village.

 Wukan villagers angered by the sale of farmland without their consent drove out local officials and police almost two weeks ago. |||||

– They fought the law and, for now, it looks like they won. Villagers in southern China who rebelled against the Communist Party over a land grab and the death of a village negotiator in police custody have had some of their demands met, AP reports. Authorities have agreed to release four detained villagers from Wukan and return confiscated land to farmers. The Communist Party's deputy chief in Guangdong province has agreed to meet with protest leaders, and, in return, villagers have agreed to postpone a planned march to government offices. Police officers had surrounded the Guangdong village of 20,000 people during the two-week standoff, but roadblocks have now been lifted. Thousands of protests against land grabs occur every year in China, but the one in Wukan attracted an unusual amount of attention both in China and abroad, the BBC notes.


Here is a news article: Ricky Gervais and Mel Gibson came face-to-face during the Golden Globes leading to quite the awkward moment.

 “I blame NBC for this terrible situation,” Gervais said before bringing Gibson up. “Mel blames…well, we know who Mel blames.”

 The comedian also joked about Gibson’s alcohol problem, but said he’d rather have a drink with Gibson than Bill Cosby.

 After coming out, Gibson responded, “I love seeing Ricky every three years because it reminds me to get a colonoscopy,” which prompted Gervais to return to the stage, making for one of the strangest moments in Globes history.

 Gervais, with drink in hand, then put his arm around Gibson and said he had one question.

 Bleeped out for audiences at home, Gervais inquired,”What the f— does sugar—s mean?” to awkward laughter from the audience.

 Gervais is referencing Gibson’s run-in with the law in 2006. While being arrested for a DUI, Gibson asked a female police officer “what do you think you’re looking at, sugar t–s?”

 Gervais didn’t just call out Gibson though during his time hosting the award show. His monologue included jabs at Sean Penn, Caitlyn Jenner and “The Martian” being included as a comedy film. ||||| When Ricky Gervais hosted the Golden Globe awards in 2010 he said "It's OK folks, I won't be doing this again" on more than one occasion. His acerbic remarks stunned Hollywood stars more accustomed to flattery and pandering from awards hosts.

 But Gervais did do it again. And the second year he hosted the ceremony the jokes were even more painful. The third time was tamer. Now, as Gervais is set to host once more, we round-up some of his best, funniest, and most offensive Golden Globes barbs.

 2010

 The Los Angeles elite had no idea what was about to hit them. “Looking at all the wonderful faces here today reminds me of the great work that’s been done this year… by cosmetic surgeons,” he said, opening to a smattering of embarrassed titters.

 “I’ve had some work done, too. I’ve had a penis reduction. Just got the one now. And it is very tiny. But then so are my hands, so when I’m holding it it looks pretty big. ”

 “Actors aren’t just loved here in Hollywood, they are loved the world over. You could be in the third world and get a glimpse of a Hollywood star and it could make you feel a little bit better. You could be a little Asian child with no possessions and no money. But you could see a picture of Angelina Jolie and you’d think, ‘Mummy!’”

 “This next category is a bit of a downer. It’s for writing. We all know writers get too much credit in Hollywood, when actors mention them. I don’t mean to keep going on about actors, but they’re the most important ones, OK? It’s not the words you say, it’s how good you look when you’re saying them.”

 “I hope I haven’t offended anyone. It’s not my fault [points at his drink]. I like a drink as much as the next man. Unless the next man is Mel Gibson."

 2011

 It did not take Gervais long to provoke the A-list audience at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles. By the time he wound up his four-minute opening, he had managed to insult Johnny Depp, Charlie Sheen, Cher, all the stars of Sex and the City 2, Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Hugh Hefner.

 Bruce Willis appeared to be upset when he was later introduced as "Ashton Kutcher's dad", but still not content with his night's work, Gervais went on to insult Robert Downey Jr and Tim Allen. Downey Jr summed up the feeling in the auditorium. After the wisecracking host suggested the actor was best known for his time in prison and rehabilitation centres, the Iron Man star said: "Aside from the fact that it's been hugely mean-spirited with mildly sinister undertones, I'd say the vibe of the show is pretty good so far."

 "It's going to be a night of partying and heavy drinking – or as Charlie Sheen calls it: breakfast."

 Golden Globes - Leonardo Di Caprio receives standing ovation

 "Everything this year was three-dimensional, except the characters in The Tourist. I feel bad about that joke. I'm jumping on the bandwagon, because I haven't even seen that movie. Who has?"

 “Also not nominated, I Love You Phillip Morris. Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor, two heterosexual actors pretending to be gay. So the complete opposite of some famous Scientologists, then. My lawyers helped with that joke.”

 "Next up, Eva Longoria has the daunting task of introducing the President of the Hollywood Foreign Press. That's nothing, I just had to help him off the toilet and pop his teeth in.”

 "Talking of the walking dead, congratulations to Hugh Hefner, who is getting married at age 84 to 24-year-old beauty Crystal Harris. When asked why she was marrying him, she said, 'He lied about his age. He told me he was 94'. Just don't look at it when you touch it."

 2012

 Despite having toned thing down considerably, he directed what some saw as a homophobic gag at Jodie Foster, the lesbian actress, who co-starred with Mel Gibson in the film The Beaver. “Jodie Foster’s Beaver,” he remarked, “I haven't seen it myself. I've spoken to a lot of guys here, they haven't seen it either”.

 Later, he became involved in a minor dispute with Madonna, who won Best Original Song, after suggesting that the title of her famous song “Like A Virgin” is at odds with her colourful romantic life. The singer responded: “Ricky, if I am just like a virgin why don’t you come over here and do something about it?”

 His final gift to broadcasters, who air the programme in primetime on America’s notoriously-sensitive public airwaves, was to swear while discussing the Spanish-speaking Salma Hayek and Antonio Banderas. His comment (“I don't know because I can't understand a f**king word they're saying“) was bleeped out. ||||| To Hollywood, California, where the fatted calf is advised to complete its bucket list inside the next 48 hours. By way of consolation, the cause in which it is to be slain could scarcely be more noble: the welcome home of cinema’s Mel Gibson.

 Sunday night sees the Golden Globes ceremony take place, and organisers have completed the most uplifting of story arcs by deciding that Mel should be on stage to present an award. We don’t know which award, we don’t know if he has any new material. If I were Mel, I would open with an ice-breaker. Maybe walk to the mic, take a long pause, then arch an eyebrow and shrug: “And they say the Jews run Hollywood …”

 But, you know, up to Mel.

 It must be said that returning Globes host Ricky Gervais has greeted the news of Mel’s involvement with the words: “Thank you, Jesus.” So you may care to cast any interaction between the two men as a battle between Ricky’s mischievous atheism and Mel’s ultra-conservative Catholicism. Ricky always has all the best lines, but Mel has a $70m private church compound in the Malibu hills. You get the feeling that if they met in the wilderness, Mel would smite him.

 Whichever way you shake it, though, it all caps a stunning – and stunningly predictable – return to the Hollywood firmament for Mel. He’s back. Lord knows there was a time when you would have remarked that Mel couldn’t get arrested in Hollywood, except for the fact that arrested was pretty much all he could get.

 Mel Gibson to present an award at the Golden Globes Read more

 DUI, domestic violence battery: in many ways, Mel was the last great charge-sheet all-rounder, as at home playing a sexist antisemite as he was bringing life to taped recordings featuring threats of homicide, admissions of assault in front of an infant, and deathless observations such as the one that he “deserve[s] to be blown fast” or arson may ensue. You can never really read anyone else’s relationship, but in Mel’s case there was always the audiobook.

 As for how he returned to the fold, there will be a load of theories. But Lost in Showbiz has compiled a personal highlights reel of milestones on the road to industry redemption.

 It was cold out there for a few years, despite two starring roles: one in an Edge of Darkness remake, and one in The Beaver, a domestic drama flop about an alcoholic in crisis – yup – directed by his friend Jodie Foster. But in 2011, Mel was thrown a high-profile lifeline back to system compliance by drearissimo franchise bore Robert Downey Jr, whose money-shitting turn as Iron Man appears endlessly satisfying to this once-interesting actor. When he was honoured for lifetime achievement at the American Cinematheque Awards, Robert chose Mel to be the one to hand the gong over to him, telling the audience: “I humbly ask that you join me, unless you are completely without sin, and in which case you picked the wrong fucking industry, in forgiving my friend of his trespasses and offering him the same clean slate that you have me and allowing him to continue his great and ongoing contribution to our collective art without shame.”

 Their collective art duly moved to allow it, resulting in Gibson starring in the world cinema classic Expendables 3 – overlooked by the Academy, yes, but still an incredibly moving look at steroid abuse in the senior citizen community.

 Mel Gibson has taken on Jesus and Jews. Now for the second world war Read more

 The next step involved Mel going back to beginnings and becoming temporarily Australian again, choosing Sydney as the base for his directorial return. Hacksaw Ridge is a second world war movie, which tells the story of a misunderstood religious loner who declines to fight Hitler (yes, I know), but ends up being honoured in the end. Anyway, Australia. For a country that had rather washed its hands of Mel back around the time of the DUI arrest, the move was a bit of a litmus test. But this phase of the road back was judged to be complete when the New South Wales premier himself tweeted: “Welcome back Mel Gibson. New movie Hacksaw Ridge to be filmed in NSW bringing 720 jobs and $26 million.”

 Running in tandem to all these penitential acts, of course, has been Gibson’s assiduous purchase of indulgences. Look, it may be his own, aforementioned church (last recorded congregation: 70) to which Mel keeps donating millions of tax-free dollars. But until some reforming entertainer nails 95 theses to the door of Malibu’s heavily fortified Church of the Holy Family, it all counts on the great penance abacus in the sky, OK?

 And, ultimately, there was the drawing of lines under stuff. In 2014, Mel used an interview to declare how over he was apologising to the Jews and whatnot. “It’s an eight-year-old story,” he said of The Unpleasantness on the hard shoulder of a Malibu coastal highway. “It keeps coming up like a rerun. All the necessary mea culpas have been made copious times,” he ruled. “So for this question to keep coming up, it’s kind of like … I’m sorry they feel that way, but I’ve done what I need to do.”

 Quite so. The stage is now set for the final chapter in this quasi-redemptive story, in which Mel wins next year’s best actor Golden Globe – and is presented with it by none other than highway patrol officers Jew and Sugartits. |||||
A summary of this is?

– Mel Gibson has been persona non grata for some time in Hollywood, following a string of headline-making infractions, including DUI troubles and accusations of anti-Semitism and domestic violence. As the Guardian puts it, "There was a time when you would have remarked that Mel couldn't get arrested in Hollywood, except for the fact that arrested was pretty much all he could get." But Gibson showed up on the Golden Globes stage tonight, and that put host Ricky Gervais—who had poked fun of Gibson at the 2010 awards—on the spot. "I like a drink as much as the next man—unless the next man is Mel Gibson," Gervais said six years ago, and he chastised the Globes' network Sunday night for making him face his target, saying, "I blame NBC for this terrible situation" and adding, "Mel blames ... well, we know who Mel blames," Variety reports. Still, he noted, "I'd rather have a drink with him in his hotel room tonight than with Bill Cosby." Gibson, for his part, played the straight man and just introduced clips from Mad Max: Fury Road—though he did say, "I love seeing Ricky every three years because it reminds me to get a colonoscopy."


Photo

 Instant noodles are cheap, convenient, and tasty to many. Now for the bad news.

 Researchers in South Korea, where instant noodle consumption is the highest in the world, studied 10,711 adults, a representative sample of the Korean population enrolled in a large survey of health and nutrition. They found two major dietary patterns â€” the â€œtraditional diet,â€? of fish, rice and vegetables, and the â€œmeat and fast-foodâ€? regimen, rich in meat and processed food, including instant noodles.

 Neither diet as a whole was associated with metabolic syndrome â€” the constellation of symptoms that includes abdominal obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol and blood sugar levels, which may increase the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

 But the study, in the August issue of The Journal of Nutrition, found that independent of other factors, women who ate instant noodles at least twice a week were 68 percent more likely to have metabolic syndrome.

 The effect was not apparent in men. According to the senior author, Dr. Frank B. Hu, a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard, this may be because women report their diet more accurately or because postmenopausal women are more sensitive to the dietary effect of carbohydrates, sodium and saturated fat.

 In any case, Dr. Hu said, instant noodles are not part of a healthy diet. â€œOnce or twice a month is not a problem,â€? he said. â€œBut a few times a week really is.â€? ||||| SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Kim Min-koo has an easy reply to new American research that hits South Korea where it hurts — in the noodles. Drunk and hungry just after dawn, he rips the lid off a bowl of his beloved fast food, wobbling on his feet but still defiant over a report that links instant noodles to health hazards.

 In this Aug. 19. 2014, customers eat "ramyeon" instant noodle at a ramyeon restaurant in Seoul, South Korea. Instant noodles are an essential, even passionate, part of life for many in South Korea and... (Associated Press)

 In this Aug. 19. 2014 photo, a cook prepares "ramyeon" instant noodles for Han Seung-youn, left, during an interview at a ramyeon restaurant in Seoul, South Korea. Instant noodles are an essential, even... (Associated Press)

 In this Aug. 18. 2014 photo, an employee fills in shelves with packages of "ramyeon" instant noodles at a shopping center in Seoul, South Korea. By value, instant noodles were the top-selling manufactured... (Associated Press)

 In this Sunday, Aug. 17, 2014 photo, a child eats instant noodle at a train station in Beijing. China is the world’s largest instant noodle market, according to World Instant Noodles Association, although... (Associated Press)

 In this Aug. 18. 2014 photo, customers pick up a package of "ramyeon" instant noodles in a basket at a shopping center in Seoul, South Korea. By value, instant noodles were the top-selling manufactured... (Associated Press)

 In this Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2014 photo, Japanese instant ramen noodle expert Masaya “Sokusekisai” Oyama, 55, slurps noodles at a shop and restaurant specialized only in varieties of instant noodles in Tokyo.... (Associated Press)

 In this Sunday, Aug. 17, 2014 photo, a Chinese boy eats instant noodles at the waiting lounge of the south train station in Beijing. China is the world’s largest instant noodle market, according to World... (Associated Press)

 In this Sunday, Aug. 17, 2014 photo, a woman and a man eat instant noodles as they wait for their train at a waiting lounge of the south train station in Beijing. China is the world’s largest instant... (Associated Press)

 In this Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2014 photo, Japanese instant ramen noodle expert Masaya “Sokusekisai” Oyama, 55, speaks at a shop and restaurant specialized only in varieties of instant noodles in Tokyo. Oyama... (Associated Press)

 In this Sunday, Aug. 17, 2014 photo, a woman holds a plastic bag with a bowl of instant noodles and other snacks on her luggage at a waiting lounge of the south train station in Beijing. China is the... (Associated Press)

 In this Monday, Aug. 18, 2014 photo, Japanese instant noodle lover Miyuki Ogata, a 33-year-old director for films and TV shows, eats an instant cup noodle in Tokyo. Instant noodles are a godsend for Ogata... (Associated Press)

 "There's no way any study is going to stop me from eating this," says Kim, his red face beaded with sweat as he adds hot water to his noodles in a Seoul convenience store. His mouth waters, wooden chopsticks poised above the softening strands, his glasses fogged by steam. At last, he spears a slippery heap, lets forth a mighty, noodle-cooling blast of air and starts slurping.

 "This is the best moment — the first bite," Kim, a freelance film editor who indulges about five times a week, says between gulps. "The taste, the smell, the chewiness — it's just perfect."

 Instant noodles carry a broke college student aura in America, but they are an essential, even passionate, part of life for many in South Korea and across Asia. Hence the emotional heartburn caused by a Baylor Heart and Vascular Hospital study in the United States that linked instant noodles consumption by South Koreans to some risks for heart disease.

 The study has provoked feelings of wounded pride, mild guilt, stubborn resistance, even nationalism among South Koreans, who eat more instant noodles per capita than anyone in the world. Many of those interviewed vowed, like Kim, not to quit. Other noodle lovers offered up techniques they swore kept them healthy: taking Omega-3, adding vegetables, using less seasoning, avoiding the soup. Some dismissed the study because the hospital involved is based in cheeseburger-gobbling America.

 The heated reaction is partly explained by the omnipresence here of instant noodles, which, for South Koreans, usually mean the spicy, salty "ramyeon" that costs less than a dollar a package. Individually-wrapped disposable bowls and cups are everywhere: Internet cafes, libraries, trains, ice-skating rinks. Even at the halfway point of a trail snaking up South Korea's highest mountain, hikers can refresh themselves with cup noodles.

 Elderly South Koreans often feel deep nostalgia for instant noodles, which entered the local market in the 1960s as the country began clawing its way out of the poverty and destruction of the Korean War into what's now Asia's fourth-biggest economy. Many vividly remember their first taste of the once-exotic treat, and hard-drinking South Koreans consider instant noodles an ideal remedy for aching, alcohol-laden bellies and subsequent hangovers.

 Some people won't leave the country without them, worried they'll have to eat inferior noodles abroad. What could be better at relieving homesickness than a salty shot of ramyeon?

 "Ramyeon is like kimchi to Koreans," says Ko Dong-ryun, 36, an engineer from Seoul, referring to the spicy, fermented vegetable dish that graces most Korean meals. "The smell and taste create an instant sense of home."

 Ko fills half his luggage with instant noodles for his international business travels, a lesson he learned after assuming on his first trip that three packages would suffice for six days. "Man, was I wrong. Since then, I always make sure I pack enough."

 The U.S. study was based on South Korean surveys from 2007-2009 of more than 10,700 adults aged 19-64, about half of them women. It found that people who ate a diet rich in meat, soda and fried and fast foods, including instant noodles, were associated with an increase in abdominal obesity and LDL, or "bad," cholesterol. Eating instant noodles more than twice a week was associated with a higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome, another heart risk factor, in women but not in men.

 The study raises important questions, but can't prove that instant noodles are to blame rather than the overall diets of people who eat lots of them, cautions Alice Lichtenstein, director of the cardiovascular nutrition lab at Tufts University in Boston.

 "What's jumping out is the sodium (intake) is higher in those who are consuming ramen noodles," she says. "What we don't know is whether it's coming from the ramen noodles or what they are consuming with the ramen noodles."

 There's certainly a lot of sodium in those little cups. A serving of the top-selling instant ramyeon provides more than 90 percent of South Korea's recommended daily sodium intake.

 Still, it's tough to expect much nutrition from a meal that costs around 80 cents, says Choi Yong-min, 44, marketing director for Paldo, a South Korean food company. "I can't say it's good for your health, but it is produced safely."

 By value, instant noodles were the top-selling manufactured food in South Korea in 2012, the most recent year figures are available, with about 1.85 trillion won ($1.8 billion) worth sold, according to South Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

 China is the world's largest instant noodle market, according to the World Instant Noodles Association, although its per capita consumption pales next to South Korea's. The food is often a low-end option for Chinese people short of money, time or cooking facilities.

 Japan, considered the spiritual home of instant noodles, boasts a dazzling array. Masaya "Instant" Oyama, 55, who says he eats more than 400 packages of instant noodles a year, rattles off a sampling: Hello Kitty instant noodles, polar bear instant noodles developed by a zoo, black squid ink instant noodles.

 In Tokyo, 33-year-old Miyuki Ogata considers instant noodles a godsend because of her busy schedule and contempt for cooking. They also bring her back to the days when she was a poor student learning to become a filmmaker, and would buy two cup noodles at the 100 yen shop. Every time she eats a cup now, she is celebrating what she calls "that eternal hungry spirit."

 In South Korea, it's all about speed, cost and flavor.

 Thousands of convenience stores have corners devoted to noodles: Tear off the top, add hot water from a dispenser, wait a couple minutes and it's ready to eat, often at a nearby counter.

 Some even skip the water, pounding on the package to break up the dry noodles, adding the seasoning, then shaking everything up.

 "It's toasty, chewy, much better than most other snacks out there," Byon Sarah, 28, who owns a consulting company, says of a technique she discovered in middle school. "And the seasoning is so addictive — sweet, salty and spicy."

 Cheap electric pots that boil water for instant noodles in one minute are popular with single people. Making an "instant" meal even faster, however, isn't always appreciated.

 At the comic book store she runs in Seoul, Lim Eun-jung, 42, says she noticed a lot more belly fat about six months after she installed a fast-cooking instant noodle machine for customers.

 "It's obvious that it's not good for my body," Lim says. "But I'm lazy, and ramyeon is the perfect fast food for lazy people."

 ___

 AP journalists Youkyung Lee in Seoul, Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo, Didi Tang and Zhang Weiqun in Beijing, and AP Food Editor J.M. Hirsch in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this story.

 ___

 Follow Foster Klug, AP's Seoul bureau chief, on Twitter at twitter.com/APklug. ||||| Abstract

 The consumption of instant noodles is relatively high in Asian populations. It is unclear whether a higher intake of instant noodles is associated with cardiometabolic risk independent of overall dietary patterns. We therefore investigated the association using the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey IV 2007–2009, a nationally representative cross-sectional survey of the Korean population with a clustered, multistage, stratified, and rolling sampling design. A total of 10,711 adults (54.5% women) 19–64 y of age were analyzed, with adjustment for sampling design complexity. Diet was assessed by using a 63-item food-frequency questionnaire. We identified 2 major dietary patterns with the use of principal components analysis: the “traditional dietary pattern” (TP), rich in rice, fish, vegetables, fruit, and potatoes, and the “meat and fast-food pattern” (MP), with less rice intake but rich in meat, soda, fried food, and fast food including instant noodles. The highest MP quintile was associated with increased prevalence of abdominal obesity (OR: 1.41; 95% CI: 1.05, 1.90), LDL cholesterol ≥130 mg/dL (1.3 g/L) (OR: 1.57, 95% CI 1.26, 1.95), decreased prevalence of low HDL cholesterol (OR: 0.65; 95% CI: 0.53, 0.80), and high triglycerides [≥150 mg/dL (1.5 g/L); OR: 0.73; 95% CI: 0.57, 0.93]. The highest quintile for the TP was associated with decreased prevalence of elevated blood pressure (OR: 0.73; 95% CI: 0.59, 0.90) and marginally lower trends for abdominal obesity (OR: 0.76; 95% CI: 0.58, 0.98; P-trend = 0.06), but neither of the dietary patterns was associated with prevalence of metabolic syndrome. The consumption of instant noodles ≥2 times/wk was associated with a higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome (OR: 1.68; 95% CI: 1.10, 2.55) in women but not in men (OR: 0.93; 95% CI: 0.58, 1.49; P-interaction = 0.04). The 2 major dietary patterns were associated with distinct cardiometabolic risk factors. The consumption of instant noodles was associated with increased prevalence of metabolic syndrome in women, independent of major dietary patterns. |||||

Write a summary.

– Think of this the next time you slurp a cheap cup of hot ramen noodles: It could be linked to heart disease, especially if you're a woman, the AP reports. A new American study of South Korea's ramen consumption examined the diets of 10,700 people aged 19 to 64. They found both healthy (fish and rice) and unhealthy (meat and fast food) diet trends, but neither was linked to metabolic syndrome and ultimately heart disease, the New York Times explains. When instant noodles were thrown in the mix, researchers saw trouble. Women who ate a cup of them more than twice a week saw a 68% jump in cardiometabolic syndrome. It didn't matter what else they ate. Some South Koreans are a little steamed—and defensive—about the study's findings. After all, South Koreans eat more ramen than anyone else; the sodium-rich 80-cent cup is found everywhere there, from comic book stores to libraries and train stations. One man tells the AP, while guzzling ramen: "There's no way any study is going to stop me from eating this." Love for the instant noodle spans generations—it reminds the elderly of post-Korean War recovery and for the young and busy, it's quick and cheap. For others, "the smell and taste create an instant sense of home," says one Seoul resident. (Here's how ramen got its start)


Here's our annual charts of predictions for the 86th Academy Awards.

 0000013e-8587-d0c4-a93e-dfdf17500000

 Awards season (which is less a season than the half of the year between September and March) is upon us, and Indiewire is offering up our annual charts of predictions for the grand daddy of them all: The Oscars.

 Check out our predictions for the winners of the 86th Academy Awards below, which will be announced on March 2nd, 2014 (and clearly updated regularly between then and now).

 BEST PICTURE

 BEST DIRECTOR

 BEST ACTOR

 BEST ACTRESS

 BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

 BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

 BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

 BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

 BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

 BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

 BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

 BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

 BEST FILM EDITING

 BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

 BEST COSTUME DESIGN

 BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

 BEST ORIGINAL SONG

 BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

 BEST SOUND EDITING

 Sign up HERE for Indiewire's Awards Season newsletter and receive a twice-weekly email roundup of our awards stories, hand-picked by our editors from across the Indiewire Network, plus additional coverage in the final run up to the Oscars.

  ||||| She will make her second appearance as the show's emcee on the March 2 broadcast.

 Ellen DeGeneres will host this year's Oscars. DeGeneres herself announced the news Friday morning on Twitter, writing, "It's official: I'm hosting the ! I'd like to thank , my wife Portia and, oh dear, there goes the orchestra."

 The Academy is getting an early start on next year's Oscar show. In April, it rehired producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron to produce next year's 86th Academy Awards, which will air March 2 on ABC. The decision to bring back the two producers was made by outgoing president Hawk Koch, with the blessing of the board of governors, even though the decision is usually left to the current Academy president.

 PHOTOS: A Day in the Life of Ellen DeGeneres

 DeGeneres' announcement comes immediately after Cheryl Boone Isaacs was elected new president of the Academy on Tuesday. She promptly endorsed the selection of the two producers and said her first order of business was meeting with them to decide on a host.

 Choosing DeGeneres, known for her kindler, gentler humor, signals that the Academy's next awards show will have a decidedly different tone than the 85th Academy Awards, hosted by Seth MacFarlane, who drew criticism for routines like his song about actresses' nudity on film.

 DeGeneres previously hosted the show in 2007 and earned a Primetime Emmy nomination for her work.

 "I am so excited to be hosting the Oscars for the second time. You know what they say -- the third time's the charm," DeGeneres said in a statement.

 COVER STORY: The Booming Business of Ellen DeGeneres ||||| Ellen DeGeneres will host the Oscars.

 The comedian and talk show host made the announcement via her Twitter feed on Friday.

 @TheEllenShow

 Ellen DeGeneres It's official: I'm hosting the #Oscars ! I'd like to thank , my wife Portia and, oh dear, there goes the orchestra.

 DeGeneres has experience hosting the Academy Awards: She previously served as emcee during the 2007 ceremony.

 "I am so excited to be hosting the Oscars for the second time," DeGeneres said in a press release announcing the big news. "You know what they say -- the third time's the charm."

 That DeGeneres was chosen as host should please critics who were unhappy with this year's master of ceremonies, Seth MacFarlane. The "Family Guy" creator was criticized for his opening monologue, which included a parody song called "We Saw Your Boobs" that was directed at actresses who had disrobed onscreen.

 "What I really didn’t like was the song and dance number about seeing actresses boobs," Oscar-winning actress Jane Fonda wrote after the 85th annual Academy Awards this past February. "I agree with someone who said, if they want to stoop to that, why not list all the penises we’ve seen? Better yet, remember that this is a telecast seen around the world watched by families with their children and to many this is neither appropriate or funny."

 Despite the outrage, Oscar telecast producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron thought MacFarlane did a good job as host. "We weren't concerned at that level [of shocking people]," Meron said after the broadcast. "We were concerned with putting on entertainment, which we think we did, and people tuned in great numbers."

 To that end, the 85th annual Academy Awards were watched by 40 million people, an increase of one million from the year before. The show also saw a 20 percent rise in the coveted 18-34 demographic from the 2012 ceremony.

 "We looked at ratings and said, 'Men are not watching, and young men are not watching, and why does that have to be?'" Zadan told The Los Angeles Times in February.

 Zadan and Meron made no mention of ratings in the press release announcing DeGeneres as Oscars host:

 "We are thrilled to have Ellen DeGeneres host the Oscars," the duo said in a statement. "As a longtime friend, we had always hoped to find a project for us to do together and nothing could be more exciting than teaming up to do the Oscars. There are few stars today who have Ellen's gift for comedy, with her great warmth and humanity. She is beloved everywhere and we expect that the audience at the Dolby Theatre, and in homes around the globe, will be as excited by this news as we are."

 The 86th annual Academy Awards will air on ABC on March 2, 2014. Head to the Oscars website for the full press release announcing DeGeneres as host. Watch DeGeneres' monologue from the 2007 Oscars below -- and see a pic of her in action -- below: |||||

Write a summary.

– Seth MacFarlane won't be back at the Oscars next year for an encore: Instead, Ellen DeGeneres is returning as host for a second time, reports the Huffington Post. DeGeneres herself confirmed via jokey tweet: "It's official: I'm hosting the #Oscars! I'd like to thank @TheAcademy, my wife Portia and, oh dear, there goes the orchestra." DeGeneres hosted previously in 2007 and earned an Emmy nod in the process, notes the Academy's news release via the Hollywood Reporter. The show airs on March 2. (IndieWire is already getting a jump on predictions.)


Article:
Best Diets 2019

 U.S. News evaluated 41 of the most popular diets and identified the best. Find which top-rated diet is best for your health and fitness goals. ||||| Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. ||||| NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Trying to shed excess weight, lower high blood pressure or combat diabetes? The best personal diet depends on the goals trying to be achieved, according to a new ranking.

 For dropping those extra pounds Weight Watchers ranked No. 1 in the ratings by U.S. News & World Report, followed closely by Jenny Craig and the Raw Food Diet, while the DASH diet was deemed best overall diet, with the Mediterranean Diet coming in second.

 "Our analysis put hard numbers on the common-sense belief that no diet is ideal for everybody," the magazine said on its website.

 "The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet beat out 19 others, among them Atkins, Jenny Craig and Slim-Fast, to win the 'Best Diets Overall,'" it added.

 Researchers looked and compiled profiles on 20 diets, which were reviewed by a panel of 22 experts in diet and nutrition, diabetes and heart disease.

 The rankings were based on scores in seven categories -- short-term weight loss, long-term weight loss, easiness to follow, nutritional completeness, ability to prevent or manage diabetes and to manage heart disease.

 Each diet was also judged in five categories including best overall diet, best commercial diet plan, best weight-loss, best diabetes diet and best heart-healthy diet.

 DASH also came out first for the best diabetes diet, followed by the Mayo Clinic diet, while the Ornish Diet captured the top spot for heart-healthy diets with TLC (Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes) diet coming in second.

 "Exercise gets serious attention in some diets and lip service in others, but the primary focus of a diet, after all, is food. Whether to exercise, how, and how much is a lifestyle decision beyond the scope of a mere diet," the magazine added.

 About 34 percent of U.S. adults aged 20 and over are overweight and an equal number are obese, according to 2007-2008 figures from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. |||||Summary:

– The best overall diet is the DASH diet, US News & World Report says in new rankings—but if weight loss is your specific goal, go with Weight Watchers. So what's DASH? It stands for Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension and it's generally meant for adults looking to curb high blood pressure. It's big on "whole grains, fruits, vegetables, low-fat and nonfat dairy foods, lean proteins, nuts and limited amounts of fats and sweets," explains the Los Angeles Times, which writes about it for a different reason: A new study suggests it slows weight gain in teen girls. Back on the US News & World rankings: The Mediterranean diet came in second for overall diet, while Jenny Craig and the Raw Food diet were close runners-up for weight loss, Reuters reports. “Our analysis put hard numbers on the common-sense belief that no diet is ideal for everybody,” says the magazine. It all depends on your aim. Click for details on the specific diets and complete rankings.


Emanuel Zayas, 14, will have surgery at Holtz Children's Hospital at Jackson Memorial in Miami, this holiday season to remove a 10-pound tumor that covers his face. (Photo: C.M. Guerrero, AP)

 A 14-year-old boy died after undergoing surgery to remove a 10-pound tumor from his face.

 Emanuel Zayas and his family traveled to the U.S. from Cuba to have the surgery in Miami. Doctors and relatives confirmed Zayas died Friday, according to statements reported by the Miami Herald and NBC 6 in Miami.

 "I am saddened by the fact that we are losing him and that the physiological stress of the surgery was apparently too much for his compromised anatomy," said Dr. Robert Marx, chief of oral and maxillofacial surgery for the University of Miami Health System, in a statement to the Herald. "Our hopes of saving his life, and with that allowing him a better quality of life, were not realized."

 When the growth first appeared, Zayas and his parents thought it was just a pimple, but the tumor eventually grew bigger than a basketball.

 Although the tumor was benign, doctors were concerned it was big enough to suffocate Zayas or break his neck. Last month, doctors revealed a surgery had been scheduled to have the tumor removed.

 "Our condolences and prayers for Emanuel's family and the loss of a very brave young man," said Marx, as reported by NBC 6. "Another angel has arrived in heaven."

 Zayas' condition is known as polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, which caused the boy's body to develop scar-like tissue instead of bone. Marx first learned of Zayas' condition after viewing photos and X-rays presented by missionaries during a medical conference.

 Marx said Zayas' family will donate his body to science to help them learn more about polyostotic fibrous dysplasia.

 Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.

 Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2F4aRSi ||||| Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. |||||

Write a summary.

– A 10-pound tumor with the potential to suffocate or break the neck of the Cuban 14-year-old whose face it was covering was successfully removed in Miami, but then things took a turn. The Miami Herald reports Emanuel Zayas died Friday night due to kidney and lung complications at the Holtz Children's Hospital. Emanuel suffered from polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, which USA Today reports spurs the body to grow something akin to scar tissue instead of bone; his family initially thought the growth, which the Washington Post reports surfaced when he was 11, was a pimple. His parents sought help for years, but Cuban doctors were too skittish over the risks of surgery. The family finally secured a humanitarian visa. It allowed him to fly to Miami on Nov. 27 and undergo surgery Jan. 13 at the hands of Dr. Robert Marx, who heads up maxillofacial surgery at the University of Miami Health System and had once removed a woman's 16-pound facial tumor. Said Marx in a statement: "After visiting Emanuel last night and observing a ray of hope from his pupillary reflexes and the muscle tone of his face, I was informed this morning that his condition had turned grave. ... The physiological stress of the surgery was apparently too much for his compromised anatomy. Our hopes of saving his life, and with that allowing him a better quality of life, were not realized." Marx says the teen's body will be donated to science by the family, in hopes of learning more about the condition.


– Just what did Ron Paul mean when he finished third in Iowa and said, "We are all Austrians now"? Republican candidates don't often celebrate European economic policies, but this is different, Matthew Yglesias writes in Slate. Those familiar with the inside baseball of libertarianism know that Paul is referring to two thinkers, Ludwig Von Mises and Murray Rothbard, whose idea of capitalism "is even more libertarian and anarchic than that espoused by many libertarians," writes Yglesias. "Austrian economics" rejects all government regulation and intervention to help the poor, and considers the tweaking of short-term interest rates a mistake that lures investors into doomed enterprises. Yglesias mounts a counter-argument, noting that the "Austrian" view doesn't explain the effectiveness of post-Great Depression fixes or the spending habits that fuel recessions. Yglesias sees an economic recovery around the corner, but if there isn't one, "these faddish views may gain more steam and perhaps we really all will be Austrians someday soon. But let’s hope not."

Expand this summary.

Photograph by Justin Sullivan

 As he declared quasi-victory in Iowa following a third-place finish, Ron Paul puzzled cable news watchers across the country by proudly proclaiming, “We are all Austrians now.” The average Republican presidential candidate would sooner officiate a gay marriage than praise Europe, yet here was Paul pledging allegiance to Vienna. What did he mean? Why would we all be Austrians?

 Paul’s statement was crystal clear to those familiar with the internecine controversies of the libertarian movement. He was referring to so-called “Austrian economics,” an idiosyncratic passion of his and a set of beliefs that put him at odds with the vast majority of well-known economists of all ideological inclinations.

 For starters, it’s important to note that the term has something of a double meaning. The Austrian school originally referred to a set of classical liberal thinkers with diverse interests who came out of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Many of these thinkers are obscure today, but the most distinguished member of the group, Friedrich Hayek, is anything but. By the same token, an appreciation for Hayek’s work by no means makes you an “Austrian.” Hayek, who died in 1992, won the Nobel Prize, and mainstream economists thoroughly embraced his important work explicating the role of the price system in conveying information. His ideas undergird everything from carbon taxes to wireless spectrum auctions and thoroughly permeate policy throughout the Western world.

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 But “Austrians” in Paul’s sense refers to something narrower, specifically the thought of Ludwig Von Mises and his student Murray Rothbard. It is a form of capitalism that is even more libertarian and anarchic than that espoused by many libertarians. Rothbard‘s followers, most prominently longtime Paul associate and founder of the Mises Institute Lew Rockwell, have been waging a decades-long war against the Koch brothers and the more mainstream form of libertarianism the Kochs represent.

 “Austrian economics,” in this sense, goes beyond standard-issue free market thinking in a number of ways. Most notably, it seeks to build a strong ethical case for strict libertarianism without admitting that this would lead to any practical problems whatsoever. Therefore, along with rejecting the legitimacy of any intervention to protect the poor or regulate anything (a position much more extreme than even the Hayek of Road to Serfdom), Austrians reject the idea that there is anything at all the government can do to stabilize macroeconomic fluctuations. This, to be clear, is different from the mainstream Republican view that the stimulus bill enacted by Congress in 2009 and signed into law by President Obama was wasteful or ineffective. Austrians also believe that cutting taxes to boost economic activity doesn’t work either. And they disagree with Milton Friedman that appropriate monetary stimulus by the Federal Reserve could have prevented the Great Depression. Indeed, they disagree with even the least controversial of all stabilization measures, the ordinary tweaking of short-term interest rates that all modern central banks use to try to prevent either inflation or deflation. In the view of the Austrians, practically every economic policy pursued by the federal government and Federal Reserve is a mistake that distorts markets. Rather than curing recessions, claim Austrians, stimulative policies cause them by producing unsustainable bubbles.

 The way this works, according to the Austrians, is that artificially low interest rates spur “malinvestment” in unworkable enterprises that inevitably crash when the stimulus is withdrawn. This is an emotionally appealing idea, positing that the suffering of a bust is a kind of cosmic payback for the boom. But it doesn’t make much logical sense. For one thing, as George Mason University economist Bryan Caplan, who’s ideologically sympathetic to the Austrians, points out, it’s hard to understand why businesspeople would be so easily duped in this way. If Ron Paul and Ludwig von Mises know that cheap money can’t last forever, why don’t private investors? Why wouldn’t firms avoid making the supposedly dumb investments? Ironically, the Austrians have replicated an error from the crudest forms of postwar Keynesianism—the failure to consider the role of expectations feedback in macroeconomic policy.

 More broadly, the Austrian story of investment booms and busts doesn’t actually explain recessions and unemployment. Spending patterns shift all the time without sparking a recession. People stop buying BlackBerrys and they buy iPhones instead. Or people stop buying boot-cut jeans and buy skinny jeans instead. Across sectors, maybe people go see fewer movies and with the money they save they eat out at nicer restaurants. A business that curtails its investment spending should have extra money to pay out as dividends. Or if they want to horde the cash, it sits in a bank for someone else to lend out.

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 It may seem “obvious” that the decline in housing activity caused the current recession, in line with the Austrian view, but in fact fixed residential investment turned negative in 2006. It stayed negative for more than a year before the recession began, and then continued negative for a couple more quarters before it turned severe. People spent less on home-building and renovation and more on other things. If investment spending in general declines, you would expect spending on consumer goods to rise to offset it. In practice, this doesn’t always happen and you get a recession. It’s this anomalous collapse in overall spending that needs explaining, and describing some of the past spending as “malinvestment” doesn’t help you understand it.

 The interesting question is what to do about it. Many of the original Austrians found their business cycle ideas discredited by the Great Depression, in which the bust was clearly not self-correcting and country after country stimulated real output by abandoning the gold standard and engaging in deficit spending. Then for a long time after World War II, policy elites more or less agreed on a combination of “automatic” fiscal stabilizers (the deficit naturally goes up during recessions as tax revenues fall and social service outlays rise) and interest rate cuts. And it worked, so nobody much cared about Austrian economics outside of crank circles. But when short-term rates hit zero and the Fed couldn’t push them any lower despite high unemployment, political consensus broke down. ||||| Photograph by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images.

 Economic forecasting is a mug’s game. There are simply too many unknowable factors that affect “the economy” for anyone to make accurate predictions. The Fukushima earthquake and nuclear disaster, for instance, had a noticeably negative macroeconomic impact around the world, and nobody knows what lurks inside the hearts of central bankers. Plus, if I did possess the secrets to the future, I’d be making a fortune as a speculator, not telling you about it.

 Still, the application of economic theory should be able to help us avoid the commonplace error of simply assuming that the future will be like the past, that after 18 months of sluggish growth we’re due for sluggish growth to continue. The conventional wisdom is that the relatively strong growth in the fourth quarter was a false dawn, and the economy is destined to stall out. This is mistaken. Some tragic unforeseen disaster could hit us, but if it doesn’t we should be in for a string of increasingly strong quarters and accelerating growth that put us back on the path to full employment.

 My guru in this prediction is Karl Smith, an economist at the University of North Carolina, one of the authors of the Modeled Behavior blog, and one of the few sources who saw through the cloak of pessimism this past summer and accurately called for a strong close to the year. But in a deeper sense, I’m following the long-dead Swedish economist Knut Wicksell, whose work is so fundamental that people sometimes forget to return to it.

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 Wicksell argued that there is a “natural rate of interest,” at which desired savings is balanced by desired investment and the economy suffers from neither inflation nor massive excess capacity. A recession occurs when the natural rate of interest falls below the actual interest rate. Instead of savings being channeled into investment and driving the economy forward, firms and households start merely hoarding and the economy stalls, leaving workers and equipment idle.

 Wicksell’s work leaves open the question of why the natural rate of interest might rise or fall, so it doesn’t make for much of a causal theory of recessions. But under normal circumstances central bankers can cure recessions by cutting interest rates to bring them closer to the natural rate. This brings saving and investment back into equilibrium and ensures that resources are put to good use.

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 Unfortunately, the financial crisis we’ve been suffering through pushed the natural rate very low—below zero. The Fed can’t set the nominal interest below zero, and has steadfastly refused to engage in the variety of “unorthodox” measures that would push real rates lower, thus ensuring a long and painful recovery process.

 The important thing to note, however, is that each month of recovery closes the gap between the natural rate and the rate the Federal Reserve is willing to set. The downward creep of unemployment from 10.1 percent in October 2009 to 9.7 percent a year later to 9 percent in October 2011 and then down to 8.6 indicates a rising natural rate of interest. And while the Fed has refused to resort to exotic moves to push rates down further, they’ve committed to holding nominal rates where they are until the economy recovers. There’s no precise precedent for the situation we’re in, since the Fed’s never hit zero before. But the basic mechanism of a narrowing gap between the natural and actual interest rates has been behind all of our recoveries from postwar recessions and the same logic applies today. Improvement will lead to further improvement, with the economy growing rapidly as idle resources—workers, machinery, storefronts—are put back into use.

 What will this recovery look like in concrete terms? Total bank credit, which collapsed during the crisis, is growing again and will keep growing. That will make it easier for Americans to buy new cars and reverse the four years of growth in the average age of America’s passenger vehicles. Families will also invest in other kinds of durable goods—refrigerators, washing machines, etc.—that they’ve been hesitant to upgrade or replace. The housing bust, meanwhile, has been followed by an epic construction slump that’s actually left us with a shortage of homes. But every downward tick in the unemployment rate is another twentysomething moving out of his parents’ basement, stimulating a return to a more normal level of construction. Multifamily housing starts are already up 80 percent over the past year to accommodate the likely coming flood of renters, and there’ll be more to come once people have more cash in their pockets.

 This increase in economic activity will boost state and local tax revenue and end the already slowing cycle of public sector layoffs. Re-employment in the construction, durable goods, and related transportation and warehousing functions will bolster income and push up spending on nondurables, restaurants, leisure and hospitality, and all the rest. Happy days, in other words, will be here again.

 None of that means we’ll remember 2012 as the best of times. What we’re talking about is a spurt of rapid employment growth from a low base, not a tight labor market and rapidly rising wages like we had in the late ’90s. But compared with the past four years, it’ll look like a magnificent boom. |||||