President Obama Gets Us One Step Closer To Single Payer Health ...

It?s not the public health insurance option progressives fought for during the crafting of the Affordable Care Act, but it is close.

The Obama administration is preparing to have the federal government take a more prominent role in health care reform by sponsoring two new multi-state health insurance plans that will be available for individuals and small businesses to purchase under the state exchanges created by Obamacare. Those exchanges launch in 2014.

As reported in the New York Times, the national plans will compete directly with other private insurance plans. Premiums and benefits for the federal plans will be negotiated by the United States Office of Personal Management, the same agency that oversees benefits for federal employees ? employees like congressional representatives. The details of these plans have yet to be finalized, but if conservative concern over the plans is any indication, progressives may have scored more of a victory than we first realized with Obamacare.

Robert E. Moffit, a senior fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, told the New York Times that he worried that ?the nationwide health plans, operating under terms and conditions set by the federal government, will become the robust public option that liberals always wanted.? That?s because the federal government will be able to create larger groups of insured to leverage the most advantageous coverage. Opponents of these plans argue this tilts the balance of power to the government?s benefit in the market while supporters note this simply allows individuals who had previously been unable to collectively bargain for coverage to do so fairly.

While the creation of these multi-state exchanges are certainly a step in the right direction, and holds a lot of promise, women are once again being short-changed in the coverage thanks to anti-choice politicking over abortion access. So while conservatives love to insist taxpayer dollars subsidize abortion under Obamacare, that is simply not the case.

The federal health care law stipulates that at least one of the multi-state plans offered must provide insurance without coverage for abortion services. For those plans that do cover abortions, those plans must establish separate accounts, one for abortion services and one for all other medical services. That means additional burden and expense built in for women needing comprehensive insurance coverage, even at the federal level.

On the whole, though, so long as the American health insurance industry insists on a grouping risk and benefits, and so long as Congress seems unwilling to seriously take on the issue of breaking the health insurance monopolies of care, then these multi-state plans are the best way of providing the best coverage to the most people at the most affordable cost. And it?s just another reminder of what is at stake in this election.

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The Health Coverage Chasm

Source: http://www.care2.com/causes/president-obama-gets-us-one-step-closer-to-single-payer-health-insurance.html

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Expect small '13 Social Security benefit increase

In this photo taken Aug. 1, 2012, Janice Durflinger poses for a photo at her workplace in Lincoln, Neb. Durflinger, who runs computer software programs for a bank, says she still works at 76, ?because I have to.? Social Security recipients shouldn't expect a big increase in monthly benefits come January. Preliminary figures show the annual benefit boost will be between 1 percent and 2 percent, which would be among the lowest since automatic adjustments were adopted in 1975. Monthly benefits for retired workers now average $1,237, meaning the typical retiree can expect a raise of between $12 and $24 a month. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

In this photo taken Aug. 1, 2012, Janice Durflinger poses for a photo at her workplace in Lincoln, Neb. Durflinger, who runs computer software programs for a bank, says she still works at 76, ?because I have to.? Social Security recipients shouldn't expect a big increase in monthly benefits come January. Preliminary figures show the annual benefit boost will be between 1 percent and 2 percent, which would be among the lowest since automatic adjustments were adopted in 1975. Monthly benefits for retired workers now average $1,237, meaning the typical retiree can expect a raise of between $12 and $24 a month. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

FILE - This Aug. 1, 2012 file photo shows Janice Durflinger at her workplace in Lincoln, Neb., Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012. The 56 million people who get Social Security benefits shouldn?t expect a big increase in their monthly payments next year. The cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, is determined by a government measure of inflation, and the measure shows that consumer prices have barely increased over the past year _ a revelation that might come as a surprise to seniors who spend more of their income on health care than younger adults. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Social Security recipients shouldn't expect a big increase in monthly benefits come January.

Preliminary figures show the annual benefit boost will be between 1 percent and 2 percent, which would be among the lowest since automatic adjustments were adopted in 1975. Monthly benefits for retired workers now average $1,237, meaning the typical retiree can expect a raise of between $12 and $24 a month.

The size of the increase will be made official Tuesday, when the government releases inflation figures for September. The announcement is unlikely to please a big block of voters ? 56 million people get benefits ? just three weeks before elections for president and Congress.

The cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, is tied to a government measure of inflation adopted by Congress in the 1970s. It shows that consumer prices have gone up by less than 2 percent in the past year.

"Basically, for the past 12 months, prices did not go up as rapidly as they did the year before," said Polina Vlasenko, an economist at the American Institute for Economic Research, based in Great Barrington, Mass.

This year, Social Security recipients received a 3.6 percent increase in benefits after getting no increase the previous two years.

Some of next year's raise could be wiped out by higher Medicare premiums, which are deducted from Social Security payments. The Medicare Part B premium, which covers doctor visits, is expected to rise by about $7 per month for 2013, according to government projections.

The premium is currently $99.90 a month for most seniors. Medicare is expected to announce the premium for 2013 in the coming weeks.

"The COLA continues to be very critical to people in keeping them from falling behind," said David Certner, AARP's legislative policy director. "We certainly heard in those couple of years when there was no COLA at all how important it was."

How important is the COLA? From 2001 to 2011, household incomes in the U.S. dropped for every age group except one: those 65 and older.

The median income for all U.S. households fell by 6.6 percent, when inflation was taken into account, according to census data. But the median income for households headed by someone 65 or older rose by 13 percent.

"That's all because of Social Security," Certner said. "Social Security has the COLA and that's what's keeping seniors above water, as opposed to everybody else who's struggling in this economy."

Seniors still, on average, have lower incomes than younger adults. Most older Americans rely on Social Security for a majority of their income, according to the Social Security Administration.

"It's useful to bear in mind that no other group in the economy gets an automatic cost-of-living increase in their income," said David Blau, an economist at The Ohio State University. "Seniors are the only group."

Still, many feel like the COLA doesn't cover their rising costs.

"You have utilities go up, your food costs go up. Think about how much groceries have gone up," said Janice Durflinger, a 76-year-old widow in Lincoln, Neb. "I would love to know how they figure that."

The COLA is based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or CPI-W, a broad measure of consumer prices generated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It measures price changes for food, housing, clothing, transportation, energy, medical care, recreation and education.

In the past year, food prices have risen 2 percent while home energy prices have dropped 3.8 percent, according to the CPI-W. Housing costs have climbed by 1.4 percent and gasoline prices have increased by 1.8 percent.

Blau said it's common for seniors to feel like the COLA doesn't reflect their rising costs, in part because older people tend to spend more of their income on health care. Medical costs have risen 4.3 percent in the past year as measured by the CPI-W.

"Inflation affects everybody differently unless you happen to be that mythical average person who buys the average bundle of goods," Blau said.

By law, the Social Security Administration compares the price index for July, August and September with consumer prices in the same three months from the last year in which a COLA was awarded. A COLA was awarded a year ago, so the index from July, August and September of this year is being compared with the index from the same period in 2011.

If prices go up over the course of the year, benefits go up, starting with payments delivered in January. But if prices go down, benefits stay the same. That's what happened in 2010 and 2011, when there was no COLA.

This year, consumer prices for July and August indicate next year's COLA would be 1.4 percent. The price index for September ? the final piece of the puzzle ? will be released Tuesday. Several economists said they don't expect it to change the projected COLA by more than a few tenths of a percentage point, if at all.

Vlasenko estimates the COLA will be from 1.5 percent to 1.7 percent. AARP estimates it will be about 1.5 percent.

Since 1975, the annual COLA has averaged 4.2 percent. Only five times has it been below 2 percent, including the two times it was zero. Before 1975, it took an act of Congress to increase Social Security payments.

"Over the past year, consumer prices have only gone up a little bit," Blau said. "By historical standards, it's a very low rate of increase."

___

Online:

Social Security COLA: http://www.ssa.gov/cola/

___

Follow Stephen Ohlemacher on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stephenatap

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-10-14-Social%20Security-COLA/id-4823e16619354014a9ad32d2bc1ad441

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Endeavour finally reaches permanent LA museum home

The space shuttle Endeavour slowly moves down Martin Luther King Boulevard on Sunday, Oct. 14, 2012 in Los Angeles. In thousands of Earth orbits, the space shuttle Endeavour traveled 123 million miles. But the last few miles of its final journey are proving hard to get through. Endeavour's 12-mile crawl across Los Angeles to the California Science Museum hit repeated delays Saturday, leaving expectant crowds along city streets and at the destination slowly dwindling. Officials estimated the shuttle, originally expected to finish the trip early Saturday evening, would not arrive until later Sunday. (AP Photo/Los Angeles Times, Michael Robinson Chavez, Pool)

The space shuttle Endeavour slowly moves down Martin Luther King Boulevard on Sunday, Oct. 14, 2012 in Los Angeles. In thousands of Earth orbits, the space shuttle Endeavour traveled 123 million miles. But the last few miles of its final journey are proving hard to get through. Endeavour's 12-mile crawl across Los Angeles to the California Science Museum hit repeated delays Saturday, leaving expectant crowds along city streets and at the destination slowly dwindling. Officials estimated the shuttle, originally expected to finish the trip early Saturday evening, would not arrive until later Sunday. (AP Photo/Los Angeles Times, Michael Robinson Chavez, Pool)

The space shuttle Endeavour slowly moves down Martin Luther King Blvd. in Los Angeles, Sunday, Oct.14, 2012. In thousands of Earth orbits, the space shuttle Endeavour traveled 123 million miles (198 million kilometers). But the last few miles (kilometers) of its final journey are proving hard to get through. Endeavour's 12-mile (19-kilometer) crawl across Los Angeles to the California Science Museum hit repeated delays Saturday, leaving expectant crowds along city streets and at the destination slowly dwindling. Officials estimated the shuttle, originally expected to finish the trip early Saturday evening, would not arrive until mid-morning Sunday. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

The Space Shuttle Endeavour is slowly moved down Martin Luther King Blvd. in Los Angeles Sunday, Oct. 14, 2012. In thousands of Earth orbits, the space shuttle Endeavour traveled 123 million miles. But the last few miles of its final journey are proving hard to get through. Endeavour's 12-mile crawl across Los Angeles to the California Science Museum hit repeated delays Saturday, leaving expectant crowds along city streets and at the destination slowly dwindling. Officials estimated the shuttle, originally expected to finish the trip early Saturday evening, would not arrive until later Sunday. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

The sun rises as the space shuttle Endeavour slowly moves along Martin Luther King Boulevard on Sunday, Oct. 14, 2012 in Los Angeles. In thousands of Earth orbits, the space shuttle Endeavour traveled 123 million miles. But the last few miles of its final journey are proving hard to get through. Endeavour's 12-mile crawl across Los Angeles to the California Science Museum hit repeated delays Saturday, leaving expectant crowds along city streets and at the destination slowly dwindling. Officials estimated the shuttle, originally expected to finish the trip early Saturday evening, would not arrive until later Sunday. (AP Photo/Los Angeles Times, Robert Gauthier, Pool)

Spectators photograph the space shuttle Endeavour as it slowly moves down Martin Luther King Blvd. in Los Angeles Sunday, Oct. 14, 2012. In thousands of Earth orbits, the space shuttle Endeavour traveled 123 million miles. But the last few miles of its final journey are proving hard to get through. Endeavour's 12-mile crawl across Los Angeles to the California Science Museum hit repeated delays Saturday, leaving expectant crowds along city streets and at the destination slowly dwindling. Officials estimated the shuttle, originally expected to finish the trip early Saturday evening, would not arrive until later Sunday. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? It was supposed to be a slow but smooth journey to retirement, a parade through city streets for a shuttle that logged millions of miles in space.

But Endeavour's final mission turned out to be a logistical headache that delayed its arrival to its museum resting place by about 17 hours.

After a 12-mile weave past trees and utility poles that included thousands of adoring onlookers, flashing cameras and even the filming of a TV commercial, Endeavour arrived at the California Science Center Sunday to a greeting party of city leaders and other dignitaries that had expected it many hours earlier.

Endeavour was still inching toward a hangar on the grounds of the museum mid-Sunday afternoon.

"It's like Christmas!" said Mark Behn, 55, a member of the museum ground support team who watched the shuttle's snail-like approach from inside the hangar. "We've waited so long and been told so many things about when it would get here. But here it is, and it's a dream come true."

Movers had planned a slow trip, saying the shuttle that once orbited at more than 17,000 mph would move at just 2 mph in its final voyage through Inglewood and southern Los Angeles.

But that estimate turned out to be generous, with Endeavour often creeping along at a barely detectable pace when it wasn't at a dead stop due to difficult-to-maneuver obstacles like tree branches and light posts.

Another delay came in the early morning hours Sunday when the shuttle's remote-controlled, 160-wheel carrier began leaking oil.

Despite the holdups, the team charged with transporting the shuttle felt a "great sense of accomplishment" when it made it onto the museum grounds, said Jim Hennessy, a spokesman for Sarens, the contract mover.

"It's historic and will be a great memory," he said. "Not too many people will be able to match that ? to say, 'We moved the space shuttle through the streets of Inglewood and Los Angeles.'"

Transporting Endeavour cross-town was a costly feat with an estimated price tag of $10 million, to be paid for by the science center and private donations.

Late Friday, crews spent hours transferring the shuttle to a special, lighter towing dolly for its trip over Interstate 405. The dolly was pulled across the Manchester Boulevard bridge by a Toyota Tundra pickup, and the car company filmed the event for a commercial after paying for a permit, turning the entire scene into a movie set complete with special lighting, sound and staging.

Saturday started off promising, with Endeavour 90 minutes ahead of schedule. But accumulated hurdles and hiccups caused it to run hours behind at day's end.

Some 400 trees had been removed along the route, but officials said most of the trees that gave them trouble could not be cut down because they were old or treasured for other reasons, including some planted in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.

The crowd had its problems too. Despite temperatures in the mid-70s, several dozen people were treated for heat-related injuries after a long day in the sun, according to fire officials.

But it was a happy, peaceful crowd, with firefighters having only to respond to a sheared hydrant and a small rubbish fire, and no reports of any arrests.

And despite the late problems the mood for most of the day was festive.

At every turn of Endeavour's slow-speed commute through urban streets, spectators jammed intersections as the shuttle shuffled past stores, schools, churches and front yards through the working-class streets of southern Los Angeles. Sidewalks were off-limits due to Endeavour's enormous wingspan.

Endeavour's arrival in Los Angeles was a homecoming. It may have zipped around the Earth nearly 4,700 times, but its roots are solidly grounded in California. Its main engines were fashioned in the San Fernando Valley. The heat tiles were invented in Silicon Valley. Its "fly-by-wire" technology was developed in the Los Angeles suburb of Downey. In 1991, it rolled off the assembly line in the Mojave Desert to replace Challenger, which blew up during liftoff in 1986.

As Endeavour shuffled by crowds, its age was evident after 123 million miles in space and two dozen re-entries.

Stephanie Gibbs, a longtime Inglewood resident, passed the Forum, where the Los Angeles Lakers used to play and where Endeavour made a pit stop Saturday, many times in her life. But she wasn't prepared for what she saw.

"There was a space shuttle blocking the street and I said, 'Whoa,'" she said.

Gibbs, who lives off Crenshaw Drive, the narrowest section of the move, would like to see a sign designating it as a shuttle crossing.

"We've been on the map" because of the Lakers, she said. "This kind of highlights it more."

___

Follow Alicia Chang at http://twitter.com/SciWriAlicia

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-10-14-Space%20Shuttle-Last%20Stop/id-8012ca4702b944c480f888d53c4d4124

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Shuttle inches toward retirement home at LA museum

The space shuttle Endeavour is slowly moved down Crenshaw Blvd., Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012, in Los Angeles. The shuttle is on its last mission ? a 12-mile creep through city streets. It will move past an eclectic mix of strip malls, mom-and-pop shops, tidy lawns and faded apartment buildings. Its final destination: California Science Center in South Los Angeles where it will be put on display. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

The space shuttle Endeavour is slowly moved down Crenshaw Blvd., Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012, in Los Angeles. The shuttle is on its last mission ? a 12-mile creep through city streets. It will move past an eclectic mix of strip malls, mom-and-pop shops, tidy lawns and faded apartment buildings. Its final destination: California Science Center in South Los Angeles where it will be put on display. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

The space shuttle Endeavour is moved to the California Science Center in Los Angeles on Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Lucy Nicholson, Pool)

Spectators take pictures as the space shuttle Endeavour makes its way through city streets in Inglewood, Calif., Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012. Endeavour's 12-mile road trip kicked off shortly before midnight Thursday as it moved from its Los Angeles International Airport hangar en route to the California Science Center. (AP Photo/Patrick T. Fallon)

The space shuttle Endeavour is slowly moved down Crenshaw Blvd. at Slauson Ave., Saturday, Oct.13, 2012, in Los Angeles. The shuttle is on its last mission ? a 12-mile creep through city streets. It will move past an eclectic mix of strip malls, mom-and-pop shops, tidy lawns and faded apartment buildings. Its final destination: California Science Center in South Los Angeles where it will be put on display. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Spectators take pictures as the space shuttle Endeavour makes its way down Crenshaw Boulevard in Los Angeles, Calif. on Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012 to the California Science Center museum. (AP Photo/Patrick T. Fallon)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? At every turn of Endeavour's stop-and-go commute through urban streets, a constellation of spectators trailed along as the space shuttle ploddingly nosed past stores, schools, churches and front yards.

Having escaped out of Earth's atmosphere two dozen times, Endeavour's slow-speed trek Saturday to its retirement center took it through the working-class streets of southern Los Angeles.

In an instant, the shuttle crossings became part of history.

Along the 12-mile course, thousands marveled at the engineering. Some rooted for Endeavour when it appeared it might clip a light post. Others wondered if it could just hurry up to its destination.

Early birds gathered in front of lnglewood High School before sunrise to watch Endeavour roll by at a pokey 2 mph. Dean Martinez, who lives in Los Angeles but works in Inglewood, could not miss the moment.

"This is great for the city as a whole. It makes us proud," said Martinez, a project director for a nonprofit.

Endeavour had been scheduled to inch into the California Science Center on Saturday evening to spend the rest of its years as a museum piece. But as the night wore on, even inching became a challenge, and the journey looked likely to spill into Sunday.

The second day of the move started off promising, with Endeavour 1? hours ahead of schedule. But hurdles and hiccups caused it to run some five hours behind. There was no major single reason for the slowdown ? it was the accumulation of small problems involving maneuvering and maintenance.

They included a small tree on the narrowest section of the move that planners hadn't thought needed removal but ended up bringing the procession to a stop. As crews tried to find ways to tilt and twist the shuttle past the tree, they came close to deciding to cut it down before Endeavor squeezed through. Another slip-up came when it appeared the shuttle was going to hit a light post, and crews again began plans to remove it as the ship slid through.

The crowd had its problems too. Despite temperatures in the mid-70s, more than two dozen people were treated for heat-related injuries after a long day in the sun, according to fire officials.

But incredibly, given the size of the crowd, police reported no arrests.

Unlike other high-profile events like the Academy Awards or the Rose Parade, the procession was centered in some of the area's most economically downtrodden and troubled places. The shuttle passed several gritty areas and shuttered businesses, and rolled down many streets that were aflame two decades earlier during the 1992 riots brought on by the Rodney King beating.

"Having a shuttle come through this area of high poverty, it can only be a good thing" for the community," said Damian Pipkins, a volunteer at Eso Won Books.

Endeavour hit the pavement before dawn Friday, trundling out of the Los Angeles International Airport on a remote-controlled 160-wheel carrier past diamond-shaped "Shuttle Xing" signs. When it reached a freeway overpass that night, it was towed by a truck.

The shuttle made a late-morning pit stop Saturday at the Forum ? former home of the Los Angeles Lakers ? where it was greeted in the arena's parking lot by a throng of cheering spectators. It was late to its second public celebration that included a dance performance choreographed by Debbie Allen.

For most of the way, Endeavour straddled wide boulevards ? Manchester, Crenshaw, Martin Luther King Jr. The one exception was when the shuttle ambled through a slightly curved residential street lined with apartment buildings on both sides ? a spot that caused some delay.

As it wound through South Los Angeles, residents welcomed its presence. Before the move, some lamented over the loss of shade as trees were chopped down to provide clearance.

Others thought it was a decent trade.

"If you have to go through a little bit of pain to have something nice for the community, then it's worth it," said Pamela Tucker, who lives a block away from Crenshaw Boulevard in Los Angeles.

When Endeavour rolls down King Boulevard, special attention will be paid to the pine trees planted in honor of the slain civil rights leader.

Endeavour may have circled the globe nearly 4,700 times, but its roots are grounded in California. Its main engines were fabricated in the San Fernando Valley. The heat tiles were invented in Silicon Valley. Its "fly-by-wire" technology was developed in the Los Angeles suburb of Downey.

It's no longer shiny and sleek, like when it first rolled off the assembly line in the Mojave Desert in 1991 to replace the lost Challenger. As it cruised block-by-block, it's hard to miss what 123 million miles in space and two dozen re-entries can do to the exterior.

Shuffling Endeavour through city streets was a laborious undertaking ? nearly a year in the making. It could not be taken apart without damaging the delicate tiles. Airlifting it was out of the question. So was driving on freeways since it was too massive to fit through underpasses.

There were consequences. Several hundred Inglewood residents suffered hours-long outages when power lines were temporarily snipped. Some businesses lost customers because of street and sidewalk closures.

Such a move is not cheap. The cross-town transport was estimated at $10 million, to be paid for by the science center and private donations.

___

Associated Press writer Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this story.

___

Follow Alicia Chang at http://twitter.com/SciWriAlicia

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-10-13-Space%20Shuttle-Last%20Stop/id-df2b99eda940430bb032d42f63a6998b

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Blood cells may offer telltale clues in cancer diagnosis

ScienceDaily (Oct. 12, 2012) ? Postdoctoral Research Fellow Devin Koestler is a biostatistician at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. He develops and applies statistical methods to large volumes of data, seeking new approaches for understanding disease, cancer in particular. Koestler and his colleagues are investigating the potential use of white blood cell variation as a diagnostic, predictive, and research tool in the study of non-blood cancers.

"There is promise here for a new diagnostic tool," says Koestler. "What we show here is not ready for immediate clinical utility, but I think it is on the right path."

Koestler is working in the Quantitative Biomedical Sciences program with Professors Margaret Karagas and Jason Moore. His focus is the development of computational and statistical tools for investigating the process of DNA methylation.

In methylation, a molecule known as a methyl group (chemically CH₃ -- three hydrogen atoms and one carbon) attaches itself to the DNA. When this occurs, the DNA function can change dramatically. An example might be the methyl group blocking the expression of a tumor-suppressing gene.

Koestler is the first author on a paper with Karagas and a host of colleagues from Dartmouth, Brown University, Oregon State University, the University of Minnesota, and the University of California. Its subject is methylation in leukocytes (white blood cells) and their association with cancer in tissues and organs other than blood, such as bladder or ovarian cancers.

"When we have an illness or a disease, that does something to our immune system," Koestler explains. "It responds by providing whatever cells are necessary to combat that threat. In the blood, the leukocytes supply that immune response."

Methylation has been studied in biopsied cells from cancer patients, in comparison to cells of cancer-free individuals. "Those studies have compellingly shown there are very striking differences in methylation patterns between cancer and cancer-free subjects," Koestler says. "This brought us to also look at patterns of methylation in blood."

The new studies, in which Koestler took part, showed differences in methylation patterns in the leukocytes of cancer patients versus cancer-free individuals. There are different types of leukocytes, referred to as subsets, each of which exhibits its own signature methylation pattern. The proportions of these identifiable subsets shift, depending on the kind of disease they may be combating.

Using data from studies of ovarian, bladder, and head and neck cancers, the researchers demonstrated statistically significant correlations between the specific cancers and the methylation signatures that characterize leukocyte subsets.

"What made our study unique is that we had the methylation data on the individual leukocytes themselves, enabling us to connect the dots, and better understand the mechanisms underlying the results from previous studies."

Analyzing the relative proportions of the leukocyte types in the blood sample can help predict the onset of a particular cancer or identify and diagnose a cancer in progress. The alternative of sampling a patient's blood is far preferable to undergoing an invasive surgical biopsy.

The advantages of using methylation patterns to assess proportions of white blood cell subtypes in cancer research extend beyond the bedside to the lab bench. Archival blood samples frozen and stored at some time in the past can now be used as research material, whereas existing methods typically require fresh blood samples with intact cells to assess white blood cell subtypes.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Dartmouth College. The original article was written by Joseph Blumberg.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. D. C. Koestler, C. J. Marsit, B. C. Christensen, W. Accomando, S. M. Langevin, E. A. Houseman, H. H. Nelson, M. R. Karagas, J. K. Wiencke, K. T. Kelsey. Peripheral Blood Immune Cell Methylation Profiles Are Associated with Nonhematopoietic Cancers. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, 2012; 21 (8): 1293 DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-12-0361

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/G7losAX8ui0/121012141842.htm

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T-Mobile's holiday roadmap leaked: LG Optimus L9, HTC Windows PhoneX spotted

According to a leaked roadmap on TMoNews, the magenta carrier appears to have a few tantalizing offerings coming its way this holiday season. A curious BlackBerry handheld dubbed the Armstrong, a color refresh of the Samsung Galaxy S II, a possibly Android-flavored Huawei Summit and the LG Optimus L9 are all slated to launch just on or before Halloween. Going into the next month, we see the HTC Windows PhoneX making the pre-Thanksgiving cut with a potential debut of November 14th. Notably absent are the Samsung Galaxy Note II and the Nokia Lumia 810, but that doesn't mean they won't be there when December rolls around. Of course, this info didn't come through official channels, so we wouldn't bank on any of the handsets as holiday gifts just yet. Still, its nice to know they're coming, and you can get the full details on these and other devices at the source.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung, HTC, LG, RIM, T-Mobile

T-Mobile's holiday roadmap leaked: LG Optimus L9, HTC Windows PhoneX spotted originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Oct 2012 23:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/12/t-mobile-holiday-roadmap-leaked/

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COP11 Policy Round Up no. 1 ? Earth in Brackets

Panel on the Contact Group on Resource Mobilization

Policy updates from day four of the Conference

by Mariana Calderon

This morning, now the fifth day of the conference, I realized that there is no way I can follow everything I am interested in, nor everything that I see as most crucial to follow. Took me a while?However, with the help of the marvelous Earth Negotiation Bulletins, and by attending the CBD Alliance briefings and GYBN daily meetings, I've been able to get an overall view of the proceedings.

The pace seems to have picked up in the last couple days ? yesterday (day 4 of the COP) even saw the adoption of a few decisions. However, with some exceptions (as with the Global Taxonomy Inititive decision, which passed through with flying colors), this progress does not signify that there is a lack of dissent in negotiations. Discussions in the Working Groups and the smaller Contact Groups and Friends of the Chair meetings have led to some frustration for both observers and delegates.

CBD COP11 Day Four:

In Working Group I, delegates discussing biofuels and biodiversity stressed the importance of the precautionary approach, and expressed concerns about the negative impacts of biofuels on biodiversity, including the loss of food crops, increased water scarcity, and subsidies leading to monocrops. However, when concerned countries expressed interest in re-opening the text to address these issues, Canada immediately showed some muscle and reminded delegates, with a detailed listing of its compromises so far, that it was still more than wiling to move backwards on those compromises, if unbalancing the text was to be the goal of the session. Although Canada was correct in stressing how delicately balanced the text on biofuels had become, the aggressive approach discomfited both those countries which had expressed reservations and the many NGOs observing the proceedings.

In Working Group II, under discussions addressing operations of the Convention, countries debated options for language regarding new and emerging issues.?The focus of the discussion shifted quickly when several countries and NGOs supported language initiating a proccess for the consideration of synthetic biology. Citing the precautionary approach, countries urged for text creating a moratorium on the release of the products of synthetic biology, while opposing States preferred to delete the reference. The Third World Network, in a joint statement with Friends of the Earth and ETC group, warned that if the CBD avoided addressing synthetic biology now, we would soon be dealing not with the "new and emerging issue," but with the resulting serious and irreversible damage caused by our neglect.?

Thursday also saw the establishment of break-off groups on contentious issues. The most central issues revolved around finance; the Contact Group for the Strategy on Resource Mobilization and the Friends of the Chair Group on the Financial Mechanism consisted of the most high-level negotiators from many countries. Freed from past heavy negotiation on the Nagoya Protocol, these negotiators have been able to turn their attention to this next element of implementation ? how to finance work under the CBD. However, little progress has been made in either group.?

In the Friends of the Chair Group on Financial Mechinisms (largely dealing with the Global Environment Facility), much of the discussion has been taken up by debates on how to proceed. With the chair of the group unsure how to respond to contradictory opinions by countries on whether or not agreed text could be opened, the first meeting was forced to break until further consultation with the WGII Chair could be had.

In the Resource Mobilization Contact Group, the most vocal parties found themselves siding with one of two points of view: Developing countries generally are pushing for an "interim" decision on baselines and targets so that progress on implementation can begin;?Several have repeatedly stated that committments have already been made in Nagoya, and that it is pointless to continue to dance around the issue when implementation is urgently needed.?Others, most notably the E.U., hold that there is no point in making targets until more infomation is available and baselines can be firmly established. As Christine von Weizs?cker noted in the CBD Alliance meeting, negotiations on resource mobilization have turned into a vicious cycle of arguing for establishing baselines so that solid resources ($) can be sought to increase capacity for monitoring on countries' implementation of the strategy, so that we can establish baselines. Negotiations on this particular topic are not necessarily being driven by environmental ministries, but rather by State ministries of finance back at home, meaning that there will likely be many semi-polite and circular battles to come in the next week. ??

More updates soon on the state of things at the end of week 1

No Responses ? Written on October 12, 2012 ? Filed in Biological Diversity, COP11 ? biodiversity, biological, CBD, Christine Von Weizsacker, Conference of the parties, Convention on biological diversity, COP11, finance, mariana calderon, resource mobilization

Source: http://www.earthinbrackets.org/2012/10/12/cop11-policy-round-up-no-1/

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Big Blue Eye on Beach Likely from Swordfish, Experts Say

Wildlife officials in Florida are examining a lone blue eye the size of a softball that washed ashore on Pompano Beach this week. While test results are pending, some researchers have speculated that the mysterious eye belonged to a large swordfish.

Though some had also suggested it came from a deep-sea squid, experts contacted by LiveScience lean toward a swordfish as the likely eyeball owner.

Marine scientist Heather Bracken-Grissom, of Florida International University in Miami, told LiveScience that the shape of the eyeball's lens and pupil is similar to that of a giant squid.

"The eyes of squids do dislodge quite easily during dissection," Bracken-Grissom said in an email, though she added that "it would be very rare for a fresh squid eyeball to wash ashore a Florida beach."

Other experts saw a "fishier" explanation for the eyeball.?

"I have not seen a squid with blue eyes, but I am not an expert," said Trevor Wardill, a research associate at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) at Woods Hole, Mass. "My guess is that it is from a vertebrate, as the iris is not fully open, but still very round."

Squid have w-shaped irises when they aren't fully open, Wardill told LiveScience.

Eric Warrant, a vision scientist at the University of Lund in Sweden who has worked extensively with swordfish eyes, said if the eye is not fake, it is almost certainly a swordfish. But that still wouldn't answer a key question: How would a single swordfish eye wash up on a Florida beach?

"You usually don't find random floating eyes of any animal," said biologist?S?nke Johnsen of Duke University. Johnsen was cautious about?making a judgment based on the photos but said, "I'm fairly sure it's just the eye of a large scombrid, likely a swordfish or marlin."

"They get seriously big, but people don't realize it because most of the eye is inside the head," he wrote in an email to LiveScience. (Squid eyes can also get seriously big, with scientits finding the giant squid can have basketball-size peepers, likely as a way to spot predators like sperm whales in their dim undersea homes.)

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) posted pictures of the big eye Thursday (Oct. 11) after it was found by a man on Pompano Beach.

"Our staff in South Florida picked it up and placed it on ice. It will be sent for possible identification," the FWC said in a Facebook post.

As of Friday morning, a spokesperson for the agency, Carli Segelson, told LiveScience there was no new information about the eye.

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

Copyright 2012 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/big-blue-eye-beach-likely-swordfish-experts-224623835.html

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Exposure to traffic air pollution in infancy impairs lung function in children

ScienceDaily (Oct. 12, 2012) ? Exposure to ambient air pollution from traffic during infancy is associated with lung function deficits in children up to eight years of age, particularly among children sensitized to common allergens, according to a new study.

"Earlier studies have shown that children are highly susceptible to the adverse effects of air pollution and suggest that exposure early in life may be particularly harmful," said researcher G?ran Pershagen, MD, PhD, professor at the Karolinska Institutet Institute of Environmental Medicine in Stockholm, Sweden. "In our prospective birth cohort study in a large population of Swedish children, exposure to traffic-related air pollution during infancy was associated with decreases in lung function at age eight, with stronger effects indicated in boys, children with asthma and particularly in children sensitized to allergens."

The findings were published online ahead of print publication in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

The study included more than 1,900 children who were followed from birth through age eight with repeated questionnaires, spirometry and immunoglobulin E measurements. Outdoor concentrations of particulate matter from road traffic were estimated for residential, daycare and school addresses using dispersion modeling, a mathematical simulation of how air pollutants disperse in the atmosphere.

A 5th to 95th percentile difference in time-weighted exposure to outdoor concentrations of particulate matter from road traffic during the first year of life was associated with a reduced forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) of -59.3 mL (95% confidence interval (CI): -113.0 to -5.6) at age eight. This negative association was particularly pronounced in children who were sensitized to common inhalant and/or food allergens and also seemed stronger among boys and among children with asthma.

Exposure to traffic-related air pollution after the first year of life appeared to have less impact on subsequent lung function.

The study had a few limitations. Calculations of particulate matter concentrations were only performed for the year 2004 and were extrapolated to the other years of follow-up, and some miscalculation of individual exposure levels was likely.

"Our study shows that early exposure to traffic-related air pollution has long-term adverse effects on respiratory health in children, particularly among atopic children," concluded Dr. Pershagen. "These results add to a large body of evidence demonstrating the detrimental effects of air pollution on human health."

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Stocks slide, and investors wait for earnings

Trader Joseph Lawler, center, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2012. Another dire prediction about global economic growth is sending stocks lower on Wall Street in early trading on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Joseph Lawler, center, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2012. Another dire prediction about global economic growth is sending stocks lower on Wall Street in early trading on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Andrew O'Connor works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2012. Another dire prediction about global economic growth is sending stocks lower on Wall Street in early trading. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Specialist Thomas McArdle, left, and trader Michael Zicchinolfi work at the post that handles Edwards Lifesciences on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2012. Edwards Lifesciences dropped $21.05 to $86.31 after the company reported revenue that fell well short of analyst's forecasts. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Brandon Barb, left, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2012. Another dire prediction about global economic growth is sending stocks lower on Wall Street in early trading. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Lucia Cuttone works with fellow traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2012. Another dire prediction about global economic growth is sending stocks lower on Wall Street in early trading. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Stocks slumped Tuesday on Wall Street after the International Monetary Fund predicted weaker world economic growth and as investors waited for what they expected to be lower corporate earnings.

The Dow Jones industrial average declined 110.12 points, or 0.8 percent, to 13,473.53. The Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 14.40 points, a hair under 1 percent, to 1,441.48.

The Nasdaq composite index lost 47.33 points, or 1.5 percent, to 3,065.02.

The slide came on the five-year anniversary of record high closes for the Dow and S&P 500. The Dow is about 700 points off its all-time high, 14,164.53. It would take a 5 percent rally from here to reach the record.

Investors were discouraged by an International Monetary Fund report released overnight that said the global economy was weakening and the downturn afflicting developing nations has begun to spread.

The weak forecast came one day after the World Bank cut its estimate for growth in China, the world's second-largest economy, and for developing countries across Asia.

The IMF forecasts that the world economy will expand 3.3 percent this year, down from the estimate of 3.5 percent growth it issued in July. Its forecast for growth in 2013 is 3.6 percent, down from 4.1 percent in April.

After the market closed, Alcoa, the aluminum company, said it earned 3 cents per share in the most recent quarter after accounting for special charges. Wall Street was expecting break-even.

Alcoa stock ended the regular trading day up a penny at $9.13 and gained an additional 7 cents in the first half-hour after the earnings report. Alcoa is the first of the 30 stocks in the Dow to report earnings.

Overall, analysts expect earnings at S&P 500 companies to be down compared with last year, the first decline in almost three years.

Talley Leger, investment strategist at Macro Vision Research, noted that the IMF report came while Greek protests erupted again in Athens over budget-cutting measures and after a downgrade of Cyprus' credit rating on Monday.

"It's all negative headlines today," Leger said. "There's a lot of European fears."

Leger added he wouldn't be selling stocks given that Federal Reserve and other central banks are trying to stimulate economies around the world. The Fed has committed to buying $40 billion in mortgage bonds per month until the economy heals.

"With markets so firmly supported by central bankers, I don't want to be defensive," Leger said. "It's a gift" to investors.

Earlier Tuesday, the National Federation of Independent Business reported that business owners became increasingly pessimistic during September because of the weak hiring environment and poor sales.

Nonetheless, the number of owners who expect business conditions to improve in six months gained four percentage points. Those believing it's a good time to expand rose three percentage points.

Only energy stocks kept the market from closing even lower. The price of crude oil jumped more than $3 per barrel to $92.39 because of supply concerns in the Middle East and the North Sea.

Energy stocks were the only major group in the S&P 500 to finish higher, and just barely. So-called consumer discretionary stocks, including companies like hotels and luxury stores that depend on a healthy economy, fell 1.5 percent as a group.

Among stocks making big moves, Edwards Lifesciences dropped $22.81 to $84.60 after the company reported revenue that fell well short of analyst forecasts. Sales of its Sapien heart valves were weaker than the company had expected.

Stanley Black & Decker, the tool maker, fell $1.99 to $72.24 after saying it would sell its hardware and home-improvement business to Spectrum Brands Holdings for $1.4 billion in cash.

Spectrum Brands' stock jumped $4.88, or 11.9 percent, to $46.04. The Wisconsin company owns the Rayovac, Remington and Toastmaster brands.

Eli Lilly, the drugmaker, rose $1.03, or 2 percent, to $51.81 after two studies found that its experimental Alzheimer's drug may modestly slow mental decline.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.72 percent from 1.74 percent late Friday. U.S. government bond trading was closed Monday for the Columbus Day holiday.

European markets also fell. Benchmark indexes fell 0.8 percent in Germany and 0.5 percent Britain. France's stock market index fell 0.7 percent.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-10-09-Wall%20Street/id-640e578dc28c4c3e870b27053f590daf

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Hunt for schoolgirl continues after body found

Police in Colorado have not confirmed the age or gender of a body they recovered from a rural area not far from the home of missing 10-year old girl Jessica Ridgeway. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.

By NBC News staff and wire reports

Police searching for missing Colorado schoolgirl Jessica Ridgeway found a body late Wednesday near the spot where she vanished, but at a brief press conference Thursday they said they were continuing to hunt for the 10-year-old.

AP

Jessica Ridgeway disappeared while making the short walk to school Friday.

The body was removed from Pattridge Park in Arvada -- an area dotted with abandoned coal mines -- by Westminster Police just before 9 p.m. Wednesday (11 p.m. ET).

Westminster Police spokesman Trevor Materasso did not release the gender or approximate age of the body, and said police have not tied the discovery of the body to the search for the missing girl.

At a short press conference Thursday morning, Westminster Police said investigators will continue the search in the Westminster neighborhood where Jessica lives.

Authorities said Wednesday they believed Jessica, a fifth-grader with blond hair and glasses who loves math and gym class, had been abducted. She disappeared Friday on what should have been a short walk to school.

After initially saying that the public didn't need to fear a kidnapper, the police said they were investigating whether Jessica's case might be related to that of another girl who was abducted for several hours Monday in Cody, Wyoming.

In that case, a man lured the 11-year-old girl into a sport utility vehicle, saying he needed help finding his puppy. The girl was released four hours later and was discovered by hunters. Police there are looking for a white man, between 55 and 60 years old, with short, strawberry-blond or white hair and a neatly trimmed mustache.

Police explore link between missing Colorado girl and Wyoming abduction

In Colorado, the parents of a missing 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway open up for the first time since their daughter disappeared on her way to school. They vow to "never stop looking." NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.

Westminster police spokeswoman Karlyn Tilley noted there is "no specific connection" between Jessica's disappearance and the Wyoming case. "It's just like everything else they're looking at," Tilley said Wednesday. "They just don't want to leave any stone unturned."

Adding to the mystery was a reported sighting more than 2,000 miles away in Dexter, Maine.

A woman reported seeing a girl who looked like Jessica on Sunday, in a blue Buick station wagon with Colorado plates. Authorities issued a statewide alert for officers to stop any blue Buick station wagons with Colorado plates, Dexter police Sgt. Alan Grinnell said.

Citizens also have passed on tips from Maryland, Texas and Nevada, Materasso said.

Police release new photos, video in search for missing Colorado girl

Kathryn Scott Osler / The Denver Post via AP

After giving the interview, Jessica's mother Sarah Ridgeway and father, Jeremiah Bryant, embrace at the Westminster Police Department Tuesday.

Backpack, water bottle found
Police in the Denver suburb of Westminster repeatedly have urged the public to study the details of Jessica?s face in a photo ? a small, gap-toothed grin, a slight bruise on her nose ? and a short home video, in hopes they may have seen something or come across the girl.

The only real clue police have revealed is the discovery over the weekend of a backpack and water bottle that Jessica had with her when she disappeared.

The items were found in the town of Superior, some six miles from her home. Police won't discuss what was found in the bag or testing results on it.

The search for Jessica went national, thanks in part to social media and a Facebook page set up to help find the girl.

"Do your good deed of the day and retweet Jessica's photo," hundreds of Tweets urged Wednesday.

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Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/11/14358366-police-body-found-but-search-for-missing-colorado-girl-continues

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Google's Eric Schmidt Interviewed by Walt Mossberg, Kara Swisher ...

You wanted new news from Eric Schmidt about the state of the Apple-Google war? So did all of us. But the Google chairman was mostly mum on that subject. He was happy, however, to tell Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher about how ?life changing? it was to ride in a Google-built self-driving car. More below:

?

Greetings from Manhattan?s Upper East Side, where Google Chairman Eric Schmidt is sitting down for an interview with AllThingsD?s Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher.

The last time these three chatted in public, at the D9 conference in May 2011, they had a wide-ranging conversation, and you should expect the same here.

If I had to guess I?d predict we?ll hear quite a bit about Google?s relationship with Apple, for starters, as well as Schmidt?s take on privacy, politics and the state of the technology business in general.

But we?ll find out right now: I?ll be liveblogging the event below, and you should be able to see a livestream of the event at the top of this post, courtesy of our hosts at the 92nd Street Y.

8:03 pm: Good evening! Looks like the livestream is working, with a delay of a few seconds. Excellent news.

8:05 pm: Some introductory remarks from outgoing Columbia J-School dean Nicholas Lemann.

Walt and Kara are both Columbia grads, hence the connection.

8:09 pm: And we?re off and running.

Disclosure from Kara: She is married to a Google executive. You can read all about that here.

Mossberg: Two years ago we talked to you and you brought up this ?Gang of Four? idea. The most influential tech companies. Please expand on that, and update that.

Schmidt: Something unusual has happened. All four companies are networks/platforms generating enormous scale effects. We?ve never had that before: Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google. All different, all competitors, all making enormous investments.

Swisher: You left out Microsoft:

Schmidt: Deliberate.

Swisher: Still four? What about with Facebook?s troubles?

Schmidt: A billion users is still a really big deal. You can do a lot with that.

Swisher: We talked to AOL?s Tim Armstrong today and he talked about a war between these big platforms.

Schmidt: These companies are all run by smart people. With respect to identity, one of the mistakes we made on the Internet was we never gave you a reliable way to say who you are. Facebook emerged as the best way to do that. But all of the companies will have some form of identity solution.

Mossberg: What Armstrong was getting at more was about these vertical stacks in the cloud: Messaging, content, all this stuff gets tied into one platform or the other. All that stuff is sticky. And Armstrong isn?t running one of those, so what becomes of him?

8:16 pm: Schmidt: Facebook has Facebook Connect, and Google+ is doing something analogous.

(Now a technical discussion of iMap which seems to confuse most people in the room except Schmidt.)

8:17 pm: Mossberg: So you guys all have these different identity systems. Facebook is based on identity ?

8:18 pm: Schmidt: The focus shouldn?t be on lock-in for identity, but the huge race for all these other features on the platform. We argue, for instance, that the Chrome browser gives us a huge advantage when it comes to the cloud.

So basically your phone is a front-end for a supercomputer.

(Schmidt now explaining the origins of the word ?cloud,? which has to do with whiteboard scribblings.)

8:20 pm: Time to talk about maps. Schmidt: ?Apple should have kept our maps.?

Mossberg: But Apple says you didn?t give them all the features they wanted.

Schmidt: ?Apple decided a long time ago to do their own maps ? [now they've] discovered that maps are really hard.?

Swisher: What argument could you make to Apple to keep your maps?

Schmidt: They?re better maps.

Mossberg: Are you going to make your own iOS map?

Schmidt: Don?t want to pre-announce products, but if we made one, they would have to approve it. ? They haven?t approved all of our apps in the past. (Schmidt allows that the two companies are always in communication.)

Mossberg: Why did you keep Microsoft out of the Gang of Four?

Schmidt: They?re a well-run company, but they haven?t been able to bring state-of-the-art products into the fields we?re talking about yet.

8:23 pm: Schmidt: The Android-Apple platform fight is the defining contest. Here?s why: Apple has thousands of developers building for it. Google?s platform, Android, is even larger. Four times more Android phones than Apple phones. 500 million phones already in use. Doing 1.3 million activations a day. We?ll be at 1 billion mobile devices in a year.

Schmidt: We?ve not seen network platform fights at this scale. The beneficiary is you all, the customer, globally. ?This is wonderful.?

8:25 pm: Compare this to the PC industry. Phone user population is six billion, one billion smartphone users. Much bigger than the PC industry ? maybe a billion, 1.5 billion installed.

Every month, quarter, year, the growth rate of mobile adoption exceeds everyone?s expectations. The phones become so useful that ?it?s good enough for normal people? in lieu of a PC, for day-to-day events. Years ago, ?people like myself, we missed that.?

8:27 pm: Schmidt: Facebook is attempting to become the world?s communication hub. Off to a good start. Amazon wants to be the world?s store. All of these guys compete, but they also link up in different ways.

8:28 pm: Swisher: But Google is in everyone?s business. There?s Google Play, that?s Amazon. There?s Google+, that?s Facebook.

8:29 pm: Mossberg: All of them overlap but Google overlaps the most.

8:29 pm: Schmidt: We?re trying to solve material problems in the world. Judge us by our solutions. )Schmidt jokes about making a tech news site, but insists Google will ?not cross the barrier? of getting into the content business ? which would be news to the people in the YouTube world.)

8:30 pm: Now we?re talking about Gangnam style.

8:30 pm: Swisher: One of your former executives, Marissa Mayer, is at Yahoo, which is in the content business. What do you think of that business for her? And do you think you can do a search deal with her?

Schmidt: We?d certainly talk about it if Yahoo wanted to do a search deal. But our last attempt to do that got kiboshed. And I assume they have a ?pretty binding? deal with Microsoft.

8:32 pm: Mossberg: The FTC and others are looking at you. Today there?s a story that says they?re now looking at ?standards-essential patents,? which if I understand correctly are patents that are so basic that they?re supposed to be licensed to everyone, and the allegation is that Motorola has not been doing that.

8:33 pm: Schmidt. I can?t talk about it because I don?t know the details and ?because it actually just gets me too upset.? Patent wars are a disaster for all of us. Everyone can find prior art for everything. So the new trick is to get judges to block devices country by country. It?s bad for innovation, it?s bad for choices.

Schmidt: We are now spending hundreds of millions of dollars to fight these fights against patent trolls, and we?re winning.

Swisher: You?re buying patents, too.

Schmidt: Yes.

8:35 pm: Mossberg: Why did the jury find for Apple?

Schmidt: I don?t know enough about it. I know that Samsung is very upset. ? It?s better if I don?t comment on the jury?s decision.

Schmidt: The victims here are not Google and Apple. It?s the little companies that can?t acquire patents to protect themselves.

Swisher: You said it annoys you?

Schmidt: I was trying to use a non-binding phrase.

8:37 pm: Mossberg: In a few weeks we?ll see something historic. Microsoft will have built its first computer, with Surface. Running a Microsoft OS. That?s a huge change for them, because they were always licensing operating systems to other people. What does this mean?

Schmidt: ?It means a lot if the product works.?

Mossberg: Let?s say it does.

Schmidt: ?My answer stands.? Microsoft built a structural monopoly around Windows. ?Produced enormous value, and a series of antitrust cases, which they lost.? So is that the right model to solve problems? I would argue that we?ve evolved to a new model, like with Android. ?We?re going to see an explosion of integrated hardware/software solutions.?

Mossberg: Can some other company make a truly integrated device that?s comparable to what Apple does and Microsoft is trying to do?

Schmidt: Google is doing that with Chromebooks.

Mossberg: Yeah, but they?re made by someone else. Now you own a hardware company, Motorola. So when will we see a ?pure? Google phone that they made?

(Schmidt argues that it?s already happening because Motorola is a subsidiary and is working on phones, etc. A non-answer.)

Swisher: We talked to Samsung when you were buying Motorola, and they were not happy.

Schmidt: We?re not going to give Motorola an advantage of over Samsung.

Mossberg: Why would you do that?

Schmidt: Because we want lots of partners.

Mossberg: So are you saying you can?t both license software and make your own products?

Schmidt: No, that?s what we?re doing.

Swisher: You guys have vast ambitions. I think about you like the Borg. What is the end game? In the beginning you wanted to collect all the world?s information.

Schmidt: We want to be in the center of the information revolution. ?The world doesn?t need more copycat products; it needs innovative products.?

Apple has the cash, people and scale to do what Google is trying to do. Not sure about Facebook and Amazon.

(Some jokes about Google Glass.)

Swisher: What are you doing with self-driving cars?

Schmidt: Why don?t we celebrate innovation? ?Don?t you want a car that drives you??

Swisher: I?m not sure I want a Google car. ? Still, what?s the goal here?

Schmidt: Let?s talk about cars. ?It?s really an error that we?re allowed to drive the car.? A computer can obviously do this better ?once we get a few bugs ironed out.? There are 30,000 people killed on American highways. It?s a terrible tragedy. If there?s some way we can help, that?s a good thing. Most likely scenario is that the car manufacturers end up using some of the technology, and we?re in talks with them.

Same thing with Google Glass ? we don?t know what it will be like for other people to be able to use this technology, but we?ll find out.

8:48 pm: Mossberg: One day Sergey Brin dragged me into the ?holodeck? at Google. It was pretty cool.

Swisher: What?s your life like right now?

Schmidt: I spend a lot of time on airplanes. Very interested in the effect of all this technology on society. Publishing a book on this next year. It?s overwhelmingly positive, but we have to look out for stuff, like when autocrats misuse this stuff.

Morale in the U.S. is the lowest it has been in decades. That?s a demographic problem, a global problem, and an automation problem. That?s the underpinning of all of these debates. The only solution I can come up with is innovation.

8:51 pm: Schmidt: Like everyone else, I?ve come to the conclusion that the only way to fix this is by education. The gap between the elite and everyone else when it comes to technology is getting greater and greater. We need to make that gap shorter.

Mossberg: Are you a proponent of using technology for online education ?even at an elite institution like Columbia??

8:53 pm: Schmidt: I describe all of the online education efforts today as version one. Think about the early iPhone. So much has changed. These are all glimmers of what will be possible.

Q&A from the audience:

Q: Please comment on HP?s struggles and prospects.

Schmidt: Meg Whitman is very capable, and she?s identified that this is a multiyear turnaround. Hard for me to opine on it. ?It?s very easy to criticize a company that you?re not in.? When I used to be at Sun, ?we had lots of time.? The industry is so competitive now, there?s no time. If you?re off by a week, you miss millions of dollars. It?s very hard to stay on that curve.

Q: If you had to be a CEO again, would you choose Apple, Amazon or Facebook?

Schmidt: I was on Apple?s board, and I?ll always have a soft spot for them. I was very good friends and very close to Steve Jobs, and we miss him dearly. Jeff Bezos has made remarkable moves. And again, Facebook has a billion users.

Mossberg: So which one?

Schmidt: Which one has the most cash? That would be Apple.

Q: When will we have mainstream self-driven cars?

Schmidt: ?I?ve been driven in one, and it?s a life-changing experience.? We call it driverless, but it?s better to think of it as car autopilot. There?s a big red disconnect button, and I think that will always be the case. You?re always going to be sitting behind the wheel.

Q: Apple gets huge margins selling phones. What will reduce that?

Schmidt: Competition.

Q: How will you compete in Asia and China specifically?

Schmidt: We want to continue to serve customers everywhere. Building out in Korea. We?re not No. 1 in four or five countries and we?re working on that.

Swisher: What about China?

Schmidt: China has this ?hellacious law ? true, hardcore censorship.? When we entered China, we agreed to do this, but we?d publish the fact that this information was omitted. But we would cache the content, and China would get mad and just cut off our access. Untenable.

I think that?s roughly where we are. We have a pretty good export ad business in China, but that?s about it. I can?t imagine their new leaders calling me up and saying, ?Oh Eric, we apologize.?

Q: Future products and services?

Schmidt: We don?t talk about those.

Mossberg: Okay, what about this. Let?s talk about technology in general. There?s the smartphone, and now there?s the tablet. So what?s the next big thing?

Schmidt: More mobility. Mobile first. Now companies build mobile applications first, Web apps second.

There are ?acres and acres? of start-ups building powerful stuff for mobile. The underlying structure here is big data, and when you have all of this stuff connected, you can do interesting stuff. Amazon is starting to do it. We?re getting closer to ?true AI.? Imagine your house and driverless car, and all of these basic tasks are taken care of for you by AI. You can see that now by looking at young people today who live on the Web, and get all this information from Twitter, and we?ll be able to get everyone to get all sorts of information that way.

Mossberg: How long will that take?

Schmidt: Don?t know. There?s an 80/20 problem where the 20 percent we haven?t figured out is the most crucial part.

This will apply to biomedicine. Pills that will Wi-Fi out your basic medical condition, could alert your doctor ?that you?re about to die, come to the hospital.?

Swisher: Would you buy Twitter?

Schmidt: Can?t talk about M&A. We had Twitter in search results and that fell apart but I?d love to get that to work again. We now have a competitor of sorts in Google+.

Q: How do you deal with environmental costs of the server farms that power the cloud?

Schmidt: We have the world?s most powerful data centers. ?When you?re in them, it feels like you?re in a submarine.? We?ve done many many things to make the impact less, and we think ours have half the impact of other data centers. If we get better at this stuff, people will be more efficient, and the servers will be more efficient, and ?hopefully this will be a net positive.?

Mossberg: Let?s talk about journalism. Are you worried about the future of journalism?

Schmidt: I have been for a long time. There are a couple of success models, and they all use new models: Politico and Huffington Post. Incumbents will move to subscription models, because they understand that. So what does this mean for journalism?

1) Extra money that used to be generated by the ?unholy alliance? of print, classifieds, etc. That?s at risk, has been for a while. ?That?s a real loss? at a city level, and an investigative level, etc.

2) And what happens to the brands? The top brands remain quite strong. The mid-tier regional brands have become not as relevant. So one idea is ?the new brands will be much more celebrity driven.? So the ultimate structure may be traditional brands, and celebrity driven brands, and I have no idea what they will look like, but people will follow them.

Swisher: Like the Ashton Kutcher Daily?

Schmidt: Or the Jay-Z Post.

Swisher: What about Google buying some of these companies, like the Times?

Schmidt: We decided not to cross those lines. One day I was talking to Larry and Sergey for quite some time about getting into the refrigerator business. And it took me a while to realize they were joking.

9:15 pm: And we?re done. Thanks for following along.

Source: http://allthingsd.com/20121010/live-from-new-york-walt-mossberg-kara-swisher-interview-eric-schmidt/

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