New trail spurs interest in ex-Atlanta rail route

In this Nov. 20, 2012 photo, a couple walks along the Atlanta BeltLine as the midtown skyline stands in the background in Atlanta. Since an Atlanta nonprofit opened a 2.25-mile-long paved trail east of downtown last month, it has attracted a steady stream of joggers, dog-walkers and cyclists to take in spectacular views of the skyline as well as a slice of established neighborhoods that were once only seen by riding a freight train. The Eastside Trail is the latest and most visible phase of the Atlanta BeltLine, an ambitious $2.8 billion plan to transform a 22-mile railroad corridor that encircles Atlanta into a network of parks, trails, public art, affordable homes and ultimately streetcars. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

In this Nov. 20, 2012 photo, a couple walks along the Atlanta BeltLine as the midtown skyline stands in the background in Atlanta. Since an Atlanta nonprofit opened a 2.25-mile-long paved trail east of downtown last month, it has attracted a steady stream of joggers, dog-walkers and cyclists to take in spectacular views of the skyline as well as a slice of established neighborhoods that were once only seen by riding a freight train. The Eastside Trail is the latest and most visible phase of the Atlanta BeltLine, an ambitious $2.8 billion plan to transform a 22-mile railroad corridor that encircles Atlanta into a network of parks, trails, public art, affordable homes and ultimately streetcars. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

In this Nov. 20, 2012 photo, a rollerblader skates past an art mural along the Atlanta BeltLine in Atlanta. Since an Atlanta nonprofit opened a 2.25-mile-long paved trail east of downtown last month, it has attracted a steady stream of joggers, dog-walkers and cyclists to take in spectacular views of the skyline as well as a slice of established neighborhoods that were once only seen by riding a freight train. The Eastside Trail is the latest and most visible phase of the Atlanta BeltLine, an ambitious $2.8 billion plan to transform a 22-mile railroad corridor that encircles Atlanta into a network of parks, trails, public art, affordable homes and ultimately streetcars. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

In this Nov. 20, 2012 photo, a couple walks along the Atlanta BeltLine in Atlanta. Since an Atlanta nonprofit opened a 2.25-mile-long paved trail east of downtown last month, it has attracted a steady stream of joggers, dog-walkers and cyclists to take in spectacular views of the skyline as well as a slice of established neighborhoods that were once only seen by riding a freight train. The Eastside Trail is the latest and most visible phase of the Atlanta BeltLine, an ambitious $2.8 billion plan to transform a 22-mile railroad corridor that encircles Atlanta into a network of parks, trails, public art, affordable homes and ultimately streetcars. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

In this Nov. 20, 2012 photo, pedestrians pass a sign near the entrance for the Atlanta BeltLine in Atlanta. Since an Atlanta nonprofit opened a 2.25-mile-long paved trail east of downtown last month, it has attracted a steady stream of joggers, dog-walkers and cyclists to take in spectacular views of the skyline as well as a slice of established neighborhoods that were once only seen by riding a freight train. The Eastside Trail is the latest and most visible phase of the Atlanta BeltLine, an ambitious $2.8 billion plan to transform a 22-mile railroad corridor that encircles Atlanta into a network of parks, trails, public art, affordable homes and ultimately streetcars. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

In this Nov. 20, 2012 photo, Cash Barnes' public art project "Take Me To Your Leader," is seen against the downtown skyline along the Atlanta BeltLine in Atlanta. Since an Atlanta nonprofit opened a 2.25-mile-long paved trail east of downtown last month, it has attracted a steady stream of joggers, dog-walkers and cyclists to take in spectacular views of the skyline as well as a slice of established neighborhoods that were once only seen by riding a freight train. The Eastside Trail is the latest and most visible phase of the Atlanta BeltLine, an ambitious $2.8 billion plan to transform a 22-mile railroad corridor that encircles Atlanta into a network of parks, trails, public art, affordable homes and ultimately streetcars. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

(AP) ? Since a new urban trail opened last month in an old rail corridor in Atlanta, it has drawn a steady stream of joggers, dog-walkers and cyclists to take in spectacular views of the skyline and neighborhoods once seen only by train. Hundreds of trees have been planted along the paved 14-foot-wide path, while artists have added works such as windmills made of bicycle parts and colorful murals on concrete overpasses.

The path, known as the Eastside Trail, is part of a $2.8 billion plan to transform a 22-mile railroad corridor that encircles Atlanta into a network of trails, parks, affordable homes and ultimately streetcar lines. The Atlanta BeltLine is an example of rails-to-trails projects going on around the country, including in New York and Chicago, that aim to make better use of old rail corridors by creating better-connected and more livable urban areas, providing alternatives to car travel and spurring economic development.

"I think it's transformational," Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said. "The new section is already overused in terms of the people. ... Now folks are demanding more and more."

Advocates say the BeltLine has great promise for a city that was founded as a railroad crossroads before the Civil War and later became a poster child for suburban sprawl and highway gridlock.

"The perception of Atlanta as 100 percent dependent on the car has really started to change," said Ed McMahon, senior residence fellow at the Urban Land Institute in Washington. He cited recent efforts to create bike paths and the planned BeltLine, which he said would be the "first bicycle beltway."

Atlanta's focus on light rail alongside the planned trails is also unique, he added.

More than 1,600 abandoned or unused rail corridors nationwide have been converted to trails, which totaled more than 19,000 miles in 2012.

One of the best-known examples is the High Line on Manhattan's West Side, where a 1.45-mile-long elevated rail structure has been transformed into an above-ground park drawing 2 million visitors a year. McMahon said it cost $150 million to build and has generated $2 billion in adjacent new construction. Chicago is undertaking The Bloomingdale Trail, a 3-mile-long elevated linear park and trail on a former rail line.

Such projects are "sparking real estate sales and energizing future development," McMahon said.

They're also changing the way people get around. In Minneapolis, he said, an abandoned rail yard was turned into a "bicycle freeway" with separate 10-foot-wide paths for travel to and from downtown.

It seems only fitting that Atlantans are reclaiming their rail corridors: The city was settled in 1837 as a railroad crossroads called Terminus. Rail lines were destroyed by Union Major General William Tecumseh Sherman's forces during the Civil War, but were quickly rebuilt after the war.

Atlanta BeltLine Inc., a nonprofit that is an offshoot of the city's economic development authority, works with a myriad of groups and agencies. Its roughly $20-million-plus budget includes new tax revenue above 2005 levels from a BeltLine corridor tax district ? expected to generate $1.7 billion over 25 years ? and government funds and private donations.

In addition to the 2.25-mile-long Eastside Trail, the group has opened three other parks, a skate park and two trails; helped create 120 affordable homes; secured land for future streetcar lines; and invested more than $1.3 million in public art.

However, the vision of light rail seems farther off after area voters this year rejected a transportation referendum that included $600 million for transit projects such as the BeltLine.

The ABI has gotten some public-relations black eyes, too. The board overseeing the project voted in August to oust its president and CEO after the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that he charged taxpayers for a wedding gift, a dry cleaning bill, a parking ticket and other items. Critics also voiced concern about spending for elaborate staff retreats, stays at pricey hotels and meals at expensive restaurants for project employees.

ABI Chairman John Somerhalder said limited dollars were at issue, but that a higher principle was involved. He said the board has put in place policies "to make sure we're very good stewards going forward."

Somerhalder said there has been $775 million in private redevelopment completed or underway within a half-mile of the trail since 2005. And, he said, the positive response to projects like the Eastside Trail will help build on the $41 million in private fundraising, much of it from Atlanta's major philanthropic groups.

In recent weeks, the trail has been a beehive of activity.

"I like it. It definitely cleans it up," said John Timlin, 29, a worker at New York Butcher Shoppe, whose back door abuts an increasingly crowded trail. Sales have gone up about 20 percent since the trail opened.

Camila Brioli, 21, a Brazil native who is studying piano performance at Georgia State University, jogged on the trail recently and stopped at the various public art works, including a temporary piece by artist Misao Cates where passersby wrote messages on white ribbons and attached them to bamboo poles. She left one in Portuguese about Brazil's soccer team, one of more than 1,000 left by people.

"I love it because I am a pianist," she said, adding that she was talking to her mom on Skype moments earlier and used it to show her some of the works.

The new trail, which links century-old Piedmont Park to the well-known Inman Park and Old Fourth Ward neighborhoods, also evokes the past. From one bridge, a visitor can look down on a large shopping plaza and lot that was once occupied by Ponce de Leon Park, home of the minor-league Atlanta Crackers until the Braves came to town. A magnolia tree that was prominently just right of center field still stands.

The trail also passes a 2-million-square-foot red-brick building that was a Sears, Roebuck & Co. regional warehouse and store for decades before it became city offices for a time.

The city last year sold the building to Jamestown Properties, owner of Chelsea Market in New York, for $27 million. Plans call for turning it into restaurants, apartments and offices.

Fred Yalouris, director of design for the Beltline project, said the Eastside Connector has turned out well, drawing on the area's new apartments and condos as well as an influx of 20- and 30-somethings. But planners still must figure out how to better connect neighborhoods that were long separated by railroad tracks.

"There are communities in some parts of the BeltLine within 200 feet and hardly no (one knows) each other," he said.

Two Urban Licks, a popular Atlanta restaurant, used to have a 6-foot-tall privacy fence to shield its back patio, garden and bocce courts from the kudzu-covered railroads tracks. As the trail was built, the fence came down ? and now the eatery may set up a host stand out back. General manager Shireen Herrington called the BeltLine "a great use of something that's just there, been sitting there."

But Herrington said police need to adequately patrol the trail given past crime problems. She also favors adding lighting and call boxes.

Officers patrol the segment by bike, and officials say future plans include lighting.

Farther down the trail, a battered old wooden railroad bridge still stands alongside a new span over Ralph McGill Boulevard. There on a recent day, Sabine Markham helped her 6-year-old daughter Savannah learn how to roller blade.

"It's our first time trying it," the Germany native said of the trail. "It's pretty. It's nice they're doing something that lets people do something outdoors."

___

Online:

http://beltline.org/

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-11-24-Atlanta%20BeltLine/id-8a8130e33f8d411bb786dad0fb4c1b7b

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Video: Roundtable discusses fiscal cliff, Lincoln film

A Second Take on Meeting the Press: From an up-close look at Rachel Maddow's sneakers to an in-depth look at Jon Krakauer's latest book ? it's all fair game in our "Meet the Press: Take Two" web extra. Log on Sundays to see David Gregory's post-show conversations with leading newsmakers, authors and roundtable guests. Videos are available on-demand by 12 p.m. ET on Sundays.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/vp/49955657#49955657

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Video: Where does the GOP go now?

Iconic street foods every world traveler must try

While many travelers make it a priority to book a table at Michelin-starred restaurants around the world, some of the best food ? street food ? can be had for a fraction of the cost, in the most unlikely of places. From stainless steel push carts and dubious-looking night market stalls, to kiosks and the backs of bicycles, street food is ubiquitous around the world.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/49903754#49903754

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Google Shopping Becomes More Amazon-Like - NYTimes.com

Google Shopping has been giving itself a makeover in time for holiday shopping ? and it is starting to look a lot more like Amazon.com.

Last week, it introduced wish lists for saving items and sharing them with friends, 360-degree photographs of items, retailer promotions and product reviews.

These updates came after Google made a big change this fall, for the first time including retailers in Google Shopping only if they pay to list their products there. Google said this would make the listings better, because retailers would have an incentive to list up-to-date items.

But as a result, Google Shopping?s listings are less comprehensive than they were before. For example, Amazon has so far refused to pay for listings, so a Google search for the Kindle does not show Amazon, which makes the Kindle, in shopping results.

On Search Engine Land, Danny Sullivan, a search industry expert, outlined in greater detail some of the service?s recent weaknesses in a post called ?The Mess That Is Google Shopping.?

The lack of comprehensiveness means that Google risks losing shoppers to other comparison shopping sites or to Amazon, even as it tries to keep them. In a shift, more people now start product searches on Amazon instead of Google, according to Forrester data. That is a problem for Google for a few reasons, the biggest of which is that retail searches and search ads are among its biggest businesses.

Google is trying to lure retailers by offering new features for its shopping search. They include 360-degree photos of items, starting with holiday toys. With Shortlists, people can save items they like and share lists with friends, and Google and retailers gain insight into what shoppers want to buy.

Google is also trying to attract shoppers with exclusive promotions that retailers can offer through the site. These also show up on mobile apps for Google Maps and Google Offers. And Google has expanded its product reviews. Google has long drawn product reviews from around the Web, but now people can write their own on Google and see reviews from people they know on Google Plus ranked at the top when they do a product search.

Reviews have been one of Amazon?s biggest selling points for shopping search because of the volume of shoppers there. This shopping season will provide some clues as to whether Google can lure back some of the shoppers who have turned to Amazon for search.

Source: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/23/google-steps-up-competition-with-amazon-in-shopping/

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Violent dolphin deaths: $5,000 reward to find their attackers ( video)

Violent dolphin deaths are on the rise in the Gulf of Mexico. The violent attacks on dolphins include bullet wounds and hacked off fins. Five dolphin deaths are from gunshot wounds.

By Tamara Lush,?Associated Press / November 20, 2012

Over the past several months, dolphins have washed ashore along the northern Gulf Coast with bullet wounds, missing jaws and hacked off fins, and federal officials said they are looking into the mysterious deaths.

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The most recent case was of a dolphin found dead off the coast of Mississippi, its lower jaw missing.

Officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday they're asking everyone from beachgoers to fishermen to wildlife agents to be on the lookout for injured or dead dolphins ? and any unusual interaction between the mammals and people.

RECOMMENDED: The 20 weirdest fish in the sea

"It's very sad to think that anyone could do that to any animal," said Erin Fougeres, a marine mammal scientist for NOAA's southeast office in St. Petersburg, Florida. "There have been some obviously intentional cases."

Fougeres said five dolphins have been found shot. In Louisiana, two were shot in 2011 and one in 2012. And in Mississippi, three were found shot this year, the most recent one last week, which was first reported by the Sun-Herald newspaper.

Besides the shootings, a dolphin in Alabama was found with a screwdriver stuck in its head over the summer. Another in Alabama had its tail cut off, and that animal survived. Still others were missing fins or had cuts to their bodies.

"I think it is outrageous," said Moby Solangi, the executive director of Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, Mississippi. "These animals are very docile, very friendly and they're very curious. They come close to the boats, so if you're out there, you'll see them riding the bows. And their curiosity and friendship brings them so close that they become targets and that's the unfortunate thing."

Dolphins are among the species protected by the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act. Violators can be fined up to $10,000 per violation and sent to prison for a year.

The California-based Animal Legal Defense Fund said it is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whomever harmed the dolphins.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/8Fa2-tBxpNI/Violent-dolphin-deaths-5-000-reward-to-find-their-attackers-video

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Scientists win funding to study new treatment for severe chronic pain

[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 21-Nov-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Sarah Stamper
sarah.stamper@liv.ac.uk
01-517-943-044
University of Liverpool

Scientists at the University of Liverpool are leading a 1.5 million project to study `immunoglobulin', a type of drug which has been shown to ease complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS).

The team, from the University of Liverpool and the Walton Centre, who have already conducted previous work with this drug type, will now trial `immunoglobulin' in a larger group of patients who have suffered from CRPS for between one and five years. The Medical Research Council (MRC)-funded study will start to recruit patients in March 2013 and results are expected to be published in 2016/17.

Dr Andres Goebel, from the Institute of Translational Medicine who is leading the study, said: "The immunoglobulin technology is an entirely new way of treating severe chronic pain. It may help people with CRPS whose pain was previously virtually untreatable.

"This is also a sign of recognition, by one of the most prestigious research funding bodies in the UK, of the value of developing novel ways of treating patients with chronic pain, which causes such a burden in the general population.

"Using immunoglobulin treatment at a low dose (0.5g/kg) has very few side effects. We hope that we will eventually be able to demonstrate that this treatment is good value for money, and that it can be introduced into NHS practice, although additional studies will be required to achieve that goal."

CRPS is an unexplained condition that usually develops after an injury or trauma to a limb, and continues after the injury has healed. CPRS I, formerly called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, can arise after any type of injury. CRPS II, previously called causalgia (a term coined in the American Civil War when it was first diagnosed), follows partial damage to a nerve.

In some cases the pain can be so severe that patients request amputation, only to find that the pain returns in the stump. CRPS pain can improve within one year after the injury, but if it is still unchanged after 12 months (longstanding CRPS), then it will often not improve at all. Longstanding CRPS affects about 1 in 2,000 people in the UK. More follows

###

The 'Low-dose intravenous Immunoglobulin in the treatment of complex regional Pain Syndrome' (LIPS) will be conducted in collaboration with the Clinical Trial Unit at King's College London (www.ctu.co.uk) at six sites throughout the UK.

The study is also supported by the Pain Relief Foundation, a charity dedicated to finding better treatments for chronic pain, and Biotest AG, a German company who will supply the immunoglobulin drug free of charge.

Notes to editors:

1. The Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation programme is funded by the MRC and NIHR and managed by the NIHR Evaluation, Trials and Studies Coordinating Centre (NETSCC). The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the MRC, NHS, NIHR or the Department of Health.

2. The University of Liverpool is one of the UK's leading research institutions with an annual turnover of 410 million, including 150 million for research. Liverpool is ranked in the top 1% of higher education institutions worldwide and is a member of the Russell Group. Visit www.liv.ac.uk

For further information:

Kate Mizen, Head of Public Relations
Tel: 0151 794 2247, Mobile: 07970 247391, E-mail: kate.mizen@liv.ac.uk

Samantha Martin, Senior Press Officer
Tel: 0151 794 2248, Mobile: 07970 247836, E-mail: samantha.martin@liv.ac.uk

Sarah Stamper, Press and Marketing Officer
Tel: 0151 794 3044, Mobile: 07970 247396, E-mail: sarah.stamper@liv.ac.uk



[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 21-Nov-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Sarah Stamper
sarah.stamper@liv.ac.uk
01-517-943-044
University of Liverpool

Scientists at the University of Liverpool are leading a 1.5 million project to study `immunoglobulin', a type of drug which has been shown to ease complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS).

The team, from the University of Liverpool and the Walton Centre, who have already conducted previous work with this drug type, will now trial `immunoglobulin' in a larger group of patients who have suffered from CRPS for between one and five years. The Medical Research Council (MRC)-funded study will start to recruit patients in March 2013 and results are expected to be published in 2016/17.

Dr Andres Goebel, from the Institute of Translational Medicine who is leading the study, said: "The immunoglobulin technology is an entirely new way of treating severe chronic pain. It may help people with CRPS whose pain was previously virtually untreatable.

"This is also a sign of recognition, by one of the most prestigious research funding bodies in the UK, of the value of developing novel ways of treating patients with chronic pain, which causes such a burden in the general population.

"Using immunoglobulin treatment at a low dose (0.5g/kg) has very few side effects. We hope that we will eventually be able to demonstrate that this treatment is good value for money, and that it can be introduced into NHS practice, although additional studies will be required to achieve that goal."

CRPS is an unexplained condition that usually develops after an injury or trauma to a limb, and continues after the injury has healed. CPRS I, formerly called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, can arise after any type of injury. CRPS II, previously called causalgia (a term coined in the American Civil War when it was first diagnosed), follows partial damage to a nerve.

In some cases the pain can be so severe that patients request amputation, only to find that the pain returns in the stump. CRPS pain can improve within one year after the injury, but if it is still unchanged after 12 months (longstanding CRPS), then it will often not improve at all. Longstanding CRPS affects about 1 in 2,000 people in the UK. More follows

###

The 'Low-dose intravenous Immunoglobulin in the treatment of complex regional Pain Syndrome' (LIPS) will be conducted in collaboration with the Clinical Trial Unit at King's College London (www.ctu.co.uk) at six sites throughout the UK.

The study is also supported by the Pain Relief Foundation, a charity dedicated to finding better treatments for chronic pain, and Biotest AG, a German company who will supply the immunoglobulin drug free of charge.

Notes to editors:

1. The Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation programme is funded by the MRC and NIHR and managed by the NIHR Evaluation, Trials and Studies Coordinating Centre (NETSCC). The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the MRC, NHS, NIHR or the Department of Health.

2. The University of Liverpool is one of the UK's leading research institutions with an annual turnover of 410 million, including 150 million for research. Liverpool is ranked in the top 1% of higher education institutions worldwide and is a member of the Russell Group. Visit www.liv.ac.uk

For further information:

Kate Mizen, Head of Public Relations
Tel: 0151 794 2247, Mobile: 07970 247391, E-mail: kate.mizen@liv.ac.uk

Samantha Martin, Senior Press Officer
Tel: 0151 794 2248, Mobile: 07970 247836, E-mail: samantha.martin@liv.ac.uk

Sarah Stamper, Press and Marketing Officer
Tel: 0151 794 3044, Mobile: 07970 247396, E-mail: sarah.stamper@liv.ac.uk



[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-11/uol-swf112112.php

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Book gift guide: 20 picks for the season

NEW YORK (AP) ? Louise Erdrich is more than this year's winner of the National Book Award for fiction. She's a bookstore owner and has some ideas for what customers might pick up as holiday gifts.

The four other finalists: "This Is How You Lose Her," by Junot Diaz; "A Hologram for the King," by Dave Eggers; "The Yellow Birds, by Kevin Powers; and "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk," by Ben Fountain.

"This was a tough crowd!" Erdrich, who runs Birchbark Books in Minneapolis, wrote in a recent email about her competition.

Erdrich didn't mention her own novel, "The Round House," but another author-bookseller took care of that. Ann Patchett, the writer who founded Parnassus Books in Nashville, says she has been recommending Erdrich's story of a boy seeking his mother's rapist well before the award was announced in mid-November.

"I read the book really early on, and I've thought about it every single day since," Patchett said. "It's dark, funny, complex and very, very moving."

Patchett had several other suggestions, from Jon Meacham's biography "Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power," a pick she thinks ideal for men; to Maile Maloy's "The Apothecary" for middle schoolers. She also loved J.K. Rowling's first grownup novel, "The Casual Vacancy," a feeling she made clear in October when she interviewed the "Harry Potter" author on stage at Lincoln Center in Manhattan.

Erdrich also cited the illustrated edition of Edmund de Waal's "The Hare With Amber Eyes," writing that "it feels lustrous in hand, orderly, pleasing. This is what a book should be."

Gayle Shanks, owner of the Changing Hands bookstore in Tempe, Ariz., likes the novel "Beautiful Ruins" by Jess Walter; Deb Perlman's "Smitten Kitchen" cookbook; and Marcus Samuelsson's memoir "Yes, Chef."

Barnes & Noble is suggesting works of humor ("The Onion Book of Known Knowledge"), music (An illustrated Rolling Stones biography to mark the band's 50th anniversary) and history ("Reporting the Revolutionary War").

Sarah McNally, owner of McNally Jackson Books in Manhattan likes Alice Munro's story collection "Dear Life"; Alan Ryan's two-volume history "On Politics" and Louise Glueck's "Poems 1962-2012." Kate Milford, a children's author and McNally Jackson employee, suggests the picture book "Cecil, the Pet Glacier," by Matthea Harvey; the middle school novel "Twelve Kinds of Ice," by Ellen Bryan Obed and illustrator Barbara McClintock.

"This is going to be one of those things adults buy for a kid and end up keeping themselves or giving to other adults, too," Milford says of the Obed book. "It's beautifully illustrated, beautifully written, and just feels like a classic gift book."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/book-gift-guide-20-picks-season-182849946.html

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As Europe plots closer ties, Britain mulls split

FILE This Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2011 file photo shows Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron leaving Downing Street in London, to attend the weekly Prime Ministers Questions in Parliament. Goodbye Britain? For the European Union, a once-unthinkable question is looking more like a real possibility with each new grinding week of economic crisis. The reason is that bad times are forcing the 17 EU nations that use the euro currency to move ever closer toward some kind of United States of Europe _ one that could make decisions about how much member countries spend and how much tax they collect. If ever Britain had a nightmare, that's it. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

FILE This Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2011 file photo shows Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron leaving Downing Street in London, to attend the weekly Prime Ministers Questions in Parliament. Goodbye Britain? For the European Union, a once-unthinkable question is looking more like a real possibility with each new grinding week of economic crisis. The reason is that bad times are forcing the 17 EU nations that use the euro currency to move ever closer toward some kind of United States of Europe _ one that could make decisions about how much member countries spend and how much tax they collect. If ever Britain had a nightmare, that's it. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

FILE This Wednesday, April 25, 2012 file photo shows Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron walking from number 10 Downing Street to attend Prime Minister's Questions at the Houses of Parliament in London. Goodbye Britain? For the European Union, a once-unthinkable question is looking more like a real possibility with each new grinding week of economic crisis. The reason is that bad times are forcing the 17 EU nations that use the euro currency to move ever closer toward some kind of United States of Europe _ one that could make decisions about how much member countries spend and how much tax they collect. If ever Britain had a nightmare, that's it. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

(AP) ? Goodbye Britain?

For the European Union, a once-unthinkable question is looking more like a real possibility with each new grinding week of economic crisis. The reason is that bad times are forcing the 17 EU nations that use the euro currency to move ever closer toward some kind of United States of Europe ? one that could make decisions about how much member countries spend and how much tax they collect.

If ever Britain had a nightmare, that's it.

The British public shows no interest in moving closer to the rest of Europe, and most can't even seem to stomach the status quo. The real question these days appears to be whether to drift away or break away abruptly.

After a 2015 election, Britain ? among 10 of the 27 EU nations that don't use the euro ? is likely to hold a referendum on whether to leave the EU. Even if it doesn't hold a vote, the country is already unpicking its ties with Europe, a movement that has unsettled Germany, which is eager to retain the U.K. as an important economic driver of the bloc.

"I will ask the inhabitants of the wonderful island to reflect that they will not be happy if they are alone in this world," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a speech before visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron last week in London.

Her outreach, however, has little impact here. British Foreign Secretary William Hague, who once toured the U.K. on a "Save The Pound" campaign that opposed the euro, believes the British public has never been more skeptical of European unity.

"Public disillusionment with the EU in Britain is the deepest it has ever been," he said last month. "People feel that in too many ways the EU is something that is done to them, not something over which they have a say."

Such distrust is tangled with worries over the fallout from the European debt crisis and anger at the European Court of Human Rights ? castigated by British politicians for ordering Britain to give prisoners a vote in national elections, and preventing the U.K. from deporting terrorism suspects to countries with patchy human rights records.

Even more alarming for many in Britain, Merkel called last week for turning the European Commission, which currently drafts legislation and regulates competition, into "something like a European government." The phrase alone rattles the teeth of many British politicians, who have warned for decades of the specter of a European superstate.

"Withdrawing from the EU can no longer be dismissed as unthinkable. It is no longer a marginal view confined to mavericks, but a legitimate point that is starting to go mainstream," Douglas Carswell, a legislator with Cameron's Conservative Party, told Parliament as it debated the idea of leaving the EU.

Last month, Cameron faced a huge rebellion within his own party as 81 of the 303 Conservative lawmakers defied his orders and voted to hold an urgent referendum on EU membership in 2015.

Under pressure from his own party and watching nervously as his traditional supporters are wooed by UKIP, a minority political party that advocates EU withdrawal, Cameron is expected to eventually offer Britain its first referendum about staying in the EU since 1973. The opposition Labour Party says it too would back holding a vote ? but only when the eurozone crisis has come to an end.

Even without a decisive split, there are signs already of the diverging paths of Britain and the EU:

? Because Britain does not use the euro, it has no voice in the decisions that affect the 17-member eurozone. It is worth remembering that all but three EU countries ? the UK, Denmark and Sweden ? are committed to using the euro eventually. So the eurozone meetings could one day be meetings of almost the entire European Union, with only three member states excluded.

? In March, 25 EU members signed a Fiscal Compact to provide for stronger oversight of national budgets. The two that didn't sign? The Czech Republic and Britain.

? In October, 11 EU countries decided to go ahead with a tax on financial transactions. EU officials predict the number of participants will swell to more than 20. Britain will not be among them.

? Next year, EU officials will be working to set up a single banking supervisor for banks in countries that use the euro. Britain has said it is concerned about the prospect of decisions being made over which it has no say.

? Britain is planning to opt out of 130 European agreements on crime and justice ? hoping to instead pick and choose how and when it cooperates with its neighbors on law enforcement. The decision would risk undermining the European Arrest Warrant system, which allows police to reach across European borders to easily arrests fugitive suspects.

The trend has political leaders in other countries worried.

"If the eurozone is much more integrated and those outside are far away, the distance can become too wide and too large," Andreas Mavroyiannis, Cyprus' deputy minister for European Affairs, told The Associated Press. And that, he said, would be dangerous for the EU as a whole.

Officials in Brussels are deeply concerned, as well.

"Probably rightly, I've been called an Anglophile," Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, said in a magazine interview this summer. "I believe that Europe without Britain at the heart will be less reform-driven, less open, less an international Europe. That is why sometimes when I look at the debate in the U.K., I ask myself: 'How is it that this country is so open to the world, and apparently so closed to Europe?' It seems a contradiction."

The prospect of a British exit from the EU alarms some British business leaders, who see the bloc's free markets as vital to their nation's prosperity.

"Whatever the popular appeal may be of withdrawal, businessmen and politicians must keep a bridge firmly in place," said Roger Carr, the president of the Confederation of British Industry, the nation's biggest business lobby.

"As countries of Europe bind together in pursuit of salvation, we in the U.K. must work harder to avoid the risks of isolation."

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who left office in 2007 before the debt crisis struck, is another lonely advocate for British leadership in Europe.

"The 21st century case for Europe is based not on war or peace but on power or irrelevance," Blair said last month. "Europe carries weight, multiplies opportunity and makes sense for its individual nations."

He has urged Britain's government not to walk away, but to help build a new structure to help Europe balance the competing demands of the 17 eurozone nations and the remainder of the European Union.

"It is a very tricky task. But it is an essential one if the U.K. is not to be sidelined," Blair said.

Peter Mandelson, a former member of Blair's Cabinet and ex-European Union trade commissioner, warns that going it alone would mean waning influence for Britain on the global stage.

Britain, he said, soon could be a "Hong Kong to Europe's China, or a Canada to Europe's United States."

___

Stringer reported from London. Don Melvin can be reached at http://twitter.com/Don_Melvin .

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-11-20-EU-Europe-Goodbye-Britain?/id-739b30edcd4d4a6fa8f494dbaf7d7de5

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'Spaceship' House in Lake Quivira, Kansas ... - AOL Real Estate

Much like beauty, the likeness of a home to that of a spaceship is in the eye of the beholder. First we brought you the house inspired by "Star Trek's" USS Enterprise, which 80 percent of our commenters thought didn't even look like the fictional space cruiser. Then we found a house in Russia that looked like something out of "Battlestar Galactica."

And now we've come across a home that both Curbed and Zillow referred to as spaceship-like. (Curbed goes so far as to call it "Spaceshuttle-Style.")

While we may not agree with their characterizations, this house is very cool nonetheless. And who are we to deprive our readers of another house that might resemble one of the most advanced vehicles ever created?

You can find this home in Lake Quivira, Kan. Dubbed the "Four Seasons House," this structure was built in 1968 for lighting engineer John Hilburn, who worked with architect Albert Yanda. One of the most remarkable aspects of this house is the terrain on which it is built.

"The terrain slopes very quickly, and the house is supported on three concrete piers," real estate agent Bob Myers told Zillow. "So technically the house is not resting on the ground but on the piers."

The four-bedroom, five-bathroom house has almost 4,000 square feet of floor space and uninterrupted views of the nearby lake and golf course. The interior features an open floor plan with angular rooms that "will surprise you at every turn," and open bright spaces, according to the listing.

Whether or not this is rightfully being called a spaceship house, it's certainly is one of a kind. And for under $500,000, the price isn't so bad, either.

See the listing for more details.

Click on the images below to see more homes for sale in Lake Quivira, Kan.:


See more Houses of the Day on AOL Real Estate.

Got a tip for House of the Day? Know of an exceptional or unusual property currently listed for sale? Please email krisanne.alcantara@huffingtonpost.com with your suggestions and be sure to include links to listing details and photos. (Due to the volume of response, we unfortunately are unable to reply to each submission.)

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/11/20/spaceship-house-in-lake-quivira-kansas-house-of-the-day/

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The Take-Charge Patient: How You Can Get The Best Medical ...


The Take Charge Patient

by Martine Ehrenclou

Frustrated or confused about how to get good medical care? In her newest book,?The Take-Charge Patient: How You Can Get The Best Medical Care, (Lemon Grove Press, on sale May 15, 2012) award-winning author and patient advocate, Martine Ehrenclou, empowers patients to become proactive, well informed participants in their own care. With advice and personal stories from over 200 doctors, nurses, pharmacists, health psychologists, patients and more,?The Take-Charge Patient?reveals insider information on how to cut through the red tape and navigate today?s complex health care system with confidence.

Ehrenclou empowers readers with vital information on how to find the right doctor, how to communicate effectively with doctors, how to prepare for medical appointments, prevent medical errors and medication mistakes, obtain discounted medication, manage your health insurance, and much more.?The Take-Charge Patient?will forever change how you act as a patient and thereby vastly improve the quality of the medical care you receive.

Get your Copy from Amazon

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About the Author: Martine Ehrenclou

Martine Ehrenclou is an award-winning author, patient advocate and speaker. Author of the multiple award-winning, Critical Conditions, and her newest health book, The Take-Charge Patient, Martine is focused on empowering patients so they become experts on how navigate and take charge of their medical care. Her mission is to bring to light the importance of being an advocate for others and for ourselves. Through her books, media interviews, published articles, lectures and blog, Martine Ehrenclou reveals insider information on how to form collaborative relationships with medical professionals, effectively communicate with them and navigate the healthcare system with confidence. Martine writes monthly articles for several health websites, regularly publishes articles on the topics of patient empowerment, patient advocacy, patient safety and other health/medical related issues. Martine lectures at universities, hospitals, health organizations and libraries, and writes a monthly blog and newsletter.
Connect with Martine:

BLOG: http://www.martineehrenclou.com
Book Website: http://www.thetakechargepatient.com
Twitter? http://twitter.com/Med_writer
Facebook? https://www.facebook.com/MartineEhrenclou
LinkedIn? http://www.linkedin.com/in/martineehrenclou
Amazon Order Page:? http://www.amazon.com/dp/0981524036

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Source: http://booktourradio.com/the-take-charge-patient/

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