CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Forget cookies and milk. Santa wants the swine flu vaccine.
Many of the nation’s Santas want to be given priority for the vaccine and not just because of those runny-nosed kids. There’s also the not-so-little matter of that round belly. Research has suggested obesity could be a risk factor.
Swine flu has become such a concern that the Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas featured a seminar on the illness at a recent conference in Philadelphia. The group also urged its members to use hand sanitizer and take vitamins to boost their immune systems.
The president of the organization said he also hopes parents will keep sick kids away.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A police officer in a small Arkansas town used a stun gun on an unruly 10-year-old girl after he said her mother gave him permission to do so. Now the town’s mayor is calling for an investigation into whether the Taser use was appropriate.
WiserTogether is dedicated to helping you make better decisions about your health care. Most advice you find elsewhere is provided by or about people not like you – perhaps a different age, socioeconomic background or family situation. As a result, the advice doesn’t relate to you.
At WiserTogether, we are dedicated to helping you make the best decision you can for your unique situation. We do this by connecting you to extensive data and research about what people like you did when faced with similar health situations: the choices they made, the outcome of those choices, and how they felt about it afterward.
By getting information from WiserTogether, you’re also helping thousands of people similar to you. Your choices and experiences become part of the WiserTogether tool, helping others make more informed choices for themselves.
In the comfort and security of their car, a family thought there was nothing to worry about as they drove through a South African safari park – until a lion calmly opened their back door with his teeth.
Even as drug makers promise to support Washington’s health care overhaul by shaving $8 billion a year off the nation’s drug costs after the legislation takes effect, the industry has been raising its prices at the fastest rate in years.
In the last year, the industry has raised the wholesale prices of brand-name prescription drugs by about 9 percent, according to industry analysts. That will add more than $10 billion to the nation’s drug bill, which is on track to exceed $300 billion this year. By at least one analysis, it is the highest annual rate of inflation for drug prices since 1992.
The drug trend is distinctly at odds with the direction of the Consumer Price Index, which has fallen by 1.3 percent in the last year.
TOKYO -
It’s the latest in eyewear for the linguistically challenged: Japanese computer-maker NEC has created a pair of glasses that double as a translator.
The Tele Scouter integrates spectacle frames with a personal mini-computer and a head-mounted display unit, allowing two or more people with no language in common to hold a conversation.
Conversations are, with the press of a button, recorded and sent to a remote server where they are analyzed and translated.
The server then sends the translation to the receiving user who can read the words in their own language on the display unit.
Two crates of the now extinct “Rare Old” brand of McKinlay and Co whisky have been buried in the Antarctic ice since Shackleton was forced to abandon his polar mission in 1909.
But Whyte & Mackay, the whisky giant that owns McKinlay and Co, has asked a team of New Zealand explorers heading out on a January expedition to return a sample of the drink for a series of experiments.
The team intends to utilise special drills to free the trapped crates and rescue a bottle from the wreckage, which is believed to have been discarded 97 miles from the pole.
If they cannot retrieve a full bottle, they are hoping to use a syringe to extract some of the contents.
The sample will then be brought home to Richard Paterson, Whyte & Mackay’s master blender, who intends to replicate the famous old whisky.
If the experiment is successful, original McKinlay whisky could be put back on sale.
Ged Galvin, 55, now presses a remote control to open his bowels and go to the toilet.
The IT project manager from Barnsley, south Yorkshire, almost died when an off-duty police officer pulled out in front of him in her car.
Mr Galvin suffered massive internal injuries and had to be fitted with a colostomy bag until surgeons at the Royal London Hospital could perform the complex operation to rebuild his bottom.
The medical team took a muscle from above his knee, wrapped it around his sphincter, and then attached electrodes to the nerves.
These are now operated by a palm-sized remote control that he carries in his pocket.
“It’s like a chubby little mobile phone,” he said. “You switch it on and off, just like switching on the TV.
(CNN) — The death of Tom Sparks, a 33-year-old former TV host from California who was participating as a third-season contestant on ABC’s reality show “Wipeout,” likely was caused by a pre-existing condition, but the Los Angeles County coroner’s office is still examining all possibilities.
A source close to the production company that produces “Wipeout” for ABC said that Sparks began to complain of knee pain while running through the first part of an obstacle course challenge during taping on October 19.
Although Sparks was in good spirits, the spokesperson said, producers pulled him from the course. Medics realized he was also experiencing shortness of breath and sent Sparks to a hospital close to “Wipeout’s” set.
As a response to Europe’s “Seven Wonders of the World” list, which didn’t include any Russian sights, Russia organized a national contest to select the seven most beautiful destinations the country has to offer. Almost 26 million people went online and voted for their favorites since the contest started in autumn 2007.
It’s been a long, cold year for Queen Elizabeth II.
The British monarch has had to go cap-in-hand to the government she technically heads, asking Prime Minister Gordon Brown for extra cash to keep the royal palaces from crumbling, and public backlash over the royal family’s tax-payer-funded payroll and scandals involving questionable associations and real estate payments have added to her headache.
So, you might assume the Queen is looking forward to a bit of luxuriant rest and relaxation over the holidays – a time to kick back, enjoy good food and drink, and perhaps relish a nice gift or two. Think again.
The Queen, noting the mood of her many out-of-work subjects as Britain muddles through global economic malaise, has informed members of her family that this year is to be a “Credit Crunch Christmas”.
The Royals are not generally prone to extravagant Christmas gift-giving amongst themselves – often opting for “practical” items like bath soaps or a fancy face cloth for the Queen. Stocking contents have been known to include the traditional gift of fresh fruit.
For “Credit Crunch Christmas,” however, Her Majesty has made it known that she requires no gifts at all, and either does her husband, Prince Philip. Any gifts that her family may have had in mind, she asks they be donated to local charities and hospitals .
WiserTogether is dedicated to helping you make better decisions about your health care. Most advice you find elsewhere is provided by or about people not like you – perhaps a different age, socioeconomic background or family situation. As a result, the advice doesn’t relate to you.
NEC has created a pair of glasses that double as a translator.
