Fern?ndez cancer scare: false alarm | beyondbrics | News and ...

If, as Hugo Ch?vez has maintained, the rash of cancers affecting leftist Latin American leaders is all a CIA plot, it has failed in the case of Cristina Fern?ndez of Argentina.

In the space of a fortnight, doctors had diagnosed her with thyroid cancer during a routine medical exam and whipped out the offending thyroid gland. But then it turned out at the weekend that the populist president, who won a second term in October propelled by her free-spending government ways, never had cancer after all.

The presidential palace even went so far as to publish her medical test results to prove that what had been detected was ?consistent with papillary carcinoma? and to seek to lay to rest any whiff of malpractice.

With such ?false positives? occurring only in two people in every hundred, though, the news left many scratching their heads and some dared even to think the unthinkable: was there some kind of manipulation going on?

It?s a tempting thought (though one for which there is not a shred of evidence beyond Argentines? penchant for conspiracy theories). Argentina is kicking off the new year with a raft of utilities and transport hikes that could dent the presidential popularity. A triumph over adversity, however, could repeat the outpouring of sympathy she experienced when her husband and predecessor, N?stor Kirchner, died suddenly in October 2010.

Herm?s Binner, who came a distant runner-up to Fern?ndez in the October elections and is a doctor by training, said it was vital to clear up in peoples? minds that this was an error since it ?generates a framework of suspicion?.

Fern?ndez could now return to work earlier than January 24, when her medical leave was due to end, but there have been no official announcements. Her surgeon was due to visit her at the presidential residence on Monday. But with cancer ruled out and her post-op recovery going well, she was reportedly back in touch with her ministers and with her hand on the tiller once again.

Clar?n, the top-selling paper with which the government is embroiled in a fierce war (fuelled by the paper?s criticism of the diagnosis), summed up the situation with irony here, in which it said:

Perhaps the best sign that the president?s is recovering swiftly is that yesterday, like every Sunday morning, she read the papers and got angry.

A concluding swipe in the same article ? in which it claimed that the president who is known to care about her looks, was thinking about plastic surgery to conceal the scar ? will have done nothing to improve her mood.

But as one blog put it succinctly: if there?s no cancer, the truce is over.

Related news:
Fern?ndez cleared of cancer scare, FT
Argentina?s new year tariff hikes, beyondbrics
Argentina?s president diagnosed with cancer, FT

Source: http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2012/01/09/fernandez-cancer-scare-false-alarm/

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Mexico rounds up 71 Guatemalan squatters on border (AP)

MEXICO CITY ? Mexican immigration officials and police on Monday rounded up 71 Guatemalans who had been living in a tent camp near the two countries' border since August.

The National Immigration Institute said the men, women and children were living in unhealthy and unsafe conditions. It said they were taken to immigration offices for better care and a review of their immigration status.

The Guatemalans had camped out on land belonging to a Mexican communal farm since August, when they were expelled from squatters camps they had set up in a Guatemalan forest reserve.

The institute said the Mexican farmers had asked for their land back. It said unarmed officers, psychologists and female immigration workers helped the Guatemalans move out of the improvised tarp-covered shelters.

The Miguel Agustin Pro human rights group condemned the raid and demanded the squatters not be sent back to Guatemala.

Mexico gave refuge to thousands of Guatemalans during that country's 1960-1996 civil war, and officials had previously provided food and other supplies to the squatters removed Monday. The Guatemalans have been in talks with their government about returning, but reportedly don't want to do so until they have guaranteed housing in their home country.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mexico/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120110/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_mexico_guatemala_squatters

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Victorinox's 1TB USB / eSATA II drive fingers-on

We're still trying to come to terms with just how fantastic it would be to keep a Victorinox 1TB drive on a keyring. Think about that potential for data storage -- and horrendous heart-wrenching sadness if you lost it -- at the flip of a wrist. While the drive will eventually ship in both red and black -- configured as only USB drives or more traditional Swiss Army knives -- we only got our mitts on the safer, less pointy versions. An interesting addition to these drives is a small LCD display on the side that might at some point show meaning information, but sadly our only boasted the 1TB size. The Swiss Knife masters expect this device to start shipping in the September or October time frame for what they hope is under a cool $3,000. Yeah, 3k. Perhaps since the Swiss sleep with blankets made of spare money they've lost sight of how many terabytes of traditional storage can be had for that much cake. Regardless, these are magic, so enjoy the pics.

Gallery: Victorinox's 1TB USB / eSATA II drive fingers-on

Victorinox's 1TB USB / eSATA II drive fingers-on originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Jan 2012 23:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chile blames deadly fires on Mapuche Indian terror

In this photo released by Intendencia de la Araucania, firefighters who lost seven colleagues while battling wildfires, rest near Carahue in southern Chile, Thursday Jan. 5, 2012. Shifting winds caused flames to sweep over a group of Chilean firefighters on Thursday, killing seven of them, and badly burning two. Regional authorities found about 50 separate starting points for the blaze that killed the firefighters, which they said were clear signs of arson. (AP Photo/Intendencia de la Araucania)

In this photo released by Intendencia de la Araucania, firefighters who lost seven colleagues while battling wildfires, rest near Carahue in southern Chile, Thursday Jan. 5, 2012. Shifting winds caused flames to sweep over a group of Chilean firefighters on Thursday, killing seven of them, and badly burning two. Regional authorities found about 50 separate starting points for the blaze that killed the firefighters, which they said were clear signs of arson. (AP Photo/Intendencia de la Araucania)

Firefighters and investigative police officers carry the bodies of firefighters who died battling wildfires in a mountain near Carahue, southern Chile, Thursday Jan. 5, 2012. Shifting winds caused flames to sweep over a group of Chilean firefighters Thursday, killing six of them, badly burning two and leaving another missing. Nearly 50 wildfires have sprung up in southern Chile, destroying hundreds of houses, forcing the evacuations of thousands of people and causing millions of dollars in damage to the forestry and tourism industries that fuel the economy in the country's Patagonia region. (AP Photo/Hector Andrade, Agencia Uno) CHILE OUT, NO SALES

Firefighters work to contain blazes in La Patriada, Chubut, Argentina, Friday Jan. 6, 2012. Chubut province Governor Martin Buzzi said Friday that many of the wildfires burning out of control in the Patagonia region were set intentionally and hundreds of firefighters were working to contain a blaze near the town of El Hoyo in Chubut province, in southern Argentina some 2,200 kilometers southwest of Buenos Aires. (AP Photo/DyN)

Firefighters work to contain blazes in La Patriada, Chubut, Argentina, Friday Jan. 6, 2012. Chubut province Governor Martin Buzzi said Friday that many of the wildfires burning out of control in the Patagonia region were set intentionally and hundreds of firefighters were working to contain a blaze near the town of El Hoyo in Chubut province, in southern Argentina some 2,200 kilometers southwest of Buenos Aires. (AP Photo/DyN)

Israeli tourist Roter Singer, right, walks in Punta Arenas, Chile, Friday, Jan. 6, 2012. The 23-year-old is charged on suspicion of starting the Torres del Paine blaze by setting fire to toilet paper after going to the bathroom, then failing to extinguish it completely. Chile's government said Friday that many of the wildfires burning out of control in Patagonia were set intentionally, and blamed other fires on a Mapuche Indian group that has long struggled to regain its ancestral lands for starting the blaze that killed seven firefighters. (AP Photo/Carlos Pizarro)

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) ? Chile's government said Friday that many of the wildfires burning out of control in Patagonia were set intentionally, and blamed a Mapuche Indian group that has long struggled to regain its ancestral lands for starting the blaze that killed seven firefighters.

The body of the seventh firefighter killed while trying to contain a blaze on the property of the Mininco Forestry company was recovered early Friday.

Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter directly named the "Coordinadora Arauco Malleco" group, whose leaders have been accused and in some cases convicted of violent attacks on forestry company property. He noted that only days earlier, the group burned a helicopter that would have fought the deadly fire.

"Based on this, one can conjecture and say that the group is behind other fires that could be intentional," Hinzpeter told reporters.

President Sebastian Pinera also said the wildfires appear to be acts of terror: "Behind this premeditated and criminal conduct is hidden activity of a terrorist nature."

Hector Rebolledo, the fire chief whose men were killed, said earlier this week that people were seen making charcoal in the area before the fires broke out, but regional authorities later determined that the deadly blaze appeared to have started simultaneously in 50 places ? a clear sign of arson.

The forestry worker's union, which has tried to organize the firefighters, blamed Mininco for their deaths, accusing the company of leaving poorly trained and supported firefighters in unsafe conditions.

Mapuche activists did take responsibility for destroying the forestry company helicopter and several bulldozers, which it said were operating "illegally" on Indian territory.

Much of the area's forests were sold off after Gen. Augusto Pinochet dictatorship expropriated them from the Indians, and governments since then have failed to reach an accord that satisfies all the Mapuche's demands.

"My people also lament these deaths, just as they have destroyed our mother earth!" Mapuche spokeswoman Natividad Llanquileo tweeted Friday in response to an Associated Press request for comment.

Strong winds, unusually high temperatures and dangerously dry conditions have fed about 50 major wildfires across southern Chile, destroying hundreds of houses, forcing the evacuations of thousands of people and causing millions of dollars in damage to the forestry industry.

The fires also blackened much of the Torres del Paine park, which attracts 150,000 tourists annually, most during the brief southern summer. An Israeli tourist has been blamed for starting the Torres del Paine blaze by setting fire to toilet paper after going to the bathroom, then failing to extinguish it completely.

Even drier conditions have sharply increased fire risk on the Argentine side of the Andes, where hundreds of firefighters Friday were working to contain a blaze near the town of El Hoyo in Chubut province. Gov. Martin Buzzi said that blaze also appeared to have been set intentionally, and his ministers blamed a land dispute between indigenous and other local residents.

Gabriel Rapoport, the civilian defense coordinator in El Hoyo, told The Associated Press Friday that the fire was set intentionally in a forest planted with pine trees. Tensions have been rising in the area as Mapuches and others clash over property that lacks clear ownership.

___

Associated Press Writers Almudena Calatrava and Michael Warren in Buenos Aires contributed to this story.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-06-LT-Chile-Forest-Fires/id-118de71fe3aa408b80730af3c3e8f853

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In elections, jobless trend matters more than rate (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Unemployment is higher than it's been going into any election year since World War II.

But history shows that won't necessarily stop President Barack Obama from reclaiming the White House.

In a presidential election year, the unemployment trend can be more important to an incumbent's chances than the unemployment rate.

Going back to 1956 no incumbent president has lost when unemployment fell over the two years leading up to the election. And none has won when it rose.

The picture is similar in the 12 months before presidential elections: Only one of nine incumbent presidents (Gerald Ford in 1976) lost when unemployment fell over that year, and only one (Dwight Eisenhower in 1956) was re-elected when it rose.

Those precedents bode well for Obama. Unemployment was 9.8 percent in November 2010, two years before voters decide whether Obama gets to stay in the White House. It was down to 8.7 percent in November 2011, a year before the vote. It fell to 8.5 percent in December and is expected to fall further by Election Day.

Even so, the unemployment rate is still at recession levels. And former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who is contending with other Republican candidates to challenge Obama in November, has made the weak economy the centerpiece of his campaign.

In a statement Friday, Romney said Obama's policies "have slowed the recovery and created misery for 24 million Americans who are unemployed, or stuck in part-time jobs when what they really want is full-time work."

An Associated Press-GfK poll of American adults last month found that 60 percent of American adults disapprove of Obama's performance on economic issues.

Obama can take comfort in President Ronald Reagan's experience. In November 1982, the economy was in the last month of a deep recession, and unemployment was 10.8 percent, the highest since the Great Depression. A year later, unemployment was down to 8.5 percent. By November 1984, it was still a relatively high 7.2 percent, but the downward trend was unmistakable. Reagan was re-elected that month in a 59-41 percent landslide.

"A sense that things are on the mend is really important to people," says Andrew Kohut, president of the Pew Research Center. Three examples:

? President Richard Nixon got a boost from falling unemployment, which dropped from 5.9 percent in November 1970 to 5.3 percent when voters went to the polls in November 1972.

? President Jimmy Carter was hurt by rising unemployment ? from 5.9 percent in November 1978 to 7.5 percent in November 1980.

? President George H.W. Bush, who seemed invincible after the U.S. drove Saddam Hussein's Iraqi forces out of Kuwait in early 1991, wound up losing in November 1992. The unemployment rate was 7.4 percent that month, up from 6.2 percent two years earlier.

The trend holds up even when the changes in unemployment are slight. President Bill Clinton was re-elected handily even though the unemployment rate was only 0.2 percentage points lower in November 1996 than it had been two years earlier and was the same as it had been a year before.

Under Obama, unemployment peaked at 10 percent in October 2009, nine months into his presidency, before it began coming down in fits and starts. Along the way it stayed above 9 percent for 21 straight months.

But unemployment has now dropped four months in a row. And the economy added 1.6 million jobs in 2011, the most since 2006.

Of course, unemployment isn't everything.

Obama's prospects could be changed by the strengths or weaknesses of whoever emerges as his Republican opponent or by a triumph or setback in foreign policy, perhaps in Afghanistan or the Middle East.

Eisenhower no doubt benefited from having an opponent, the high-brow former Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson, who had trouble connecting with ordinary voters. Ford may have been sunk by his unpopular decision to pardon former President Nixon. President Jimmy Carter's prospects were surely dimmed by the lengthy hostage crisis in Iran ? and a failed attempt to end it with a military rescue.

The third-party candidacy of billionaire Ross Perot ? not just an increase in unemployment ? may have torpedoed President George H.W. Bush's re-election campaign in 1992 by dividing his supporters and giving an edge to challenger Clinton.

And there's no guarantee that unemployment will continue to slide through Election Day. "We've seen this before ... periods when it seemed like things were getting better only to see them grind to a halt," says John Challenger, CEO of the staffing company Challenger, Gray & Christmas. "I'm not yet convinced."

Americans who have given up looking for work don't count as unemployed in the official tally. But if they get more optimistic, they might re-enter the job market and join the ranks of the officially unemployed, pushing the rate back up, says Republican strategist Rich Galen.

Galen says what matters is how the economy looks in late summer when undecided voters start making up their minds. "What people perceive in August is what they take to the polls with them."

Three dozen economists surveyed by The Associated Press in December see an 18 percent chance that Europe's debt crisis will cause the U.S. economy to slip back into recession. If 2012 brings a recession, Obama would surely lose, writes Yale University's Ray Fair, who feeds economic forecasts into a computer model to predict elections.

Pew's Kohut also warns that voters are wary after seeing the economy fail to achieve liftoff two and a half years after the Great Recession officially ended in June 2009. "The public is going to be in a show-me mood," he says.

Still, the online betting market Intrade on Friday put the chances of an Obama victory in November at 52.5 percent.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120108/ap_on_bi_ge/us_jobs_election

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Republicans sharpen knives for twin debates (reuters)

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GOP Front-Runners: Their Track Record on Health Care

A current poll by Real Clear Politics reveals that 49.4 percent of Americans oppose the health care plan while only 37.2 percent support it.

Santorum

Santorum, like all the other GOP candidates, opposes ?Obamacare.? On his website, Santorum describes that repealing the health care overhaul is his ?priority number 1.?

In his proposal, Santorum says he wants to replace Obamacare with ?market-driven, patient-centered alternatives to increasing health care access and affordability.? He believes that by encouraging competition between health care insurance agencies and increasing transparency that costs can be reduced. He also is an advocate for allowing patients to buy health care coverage across state lines that may better suit their needs.

While his website claims that repealing the health care overhaul is his number one priority, criticism has been thrown his way for what many of his opponents cite as his indirect responsibility for the passage of Obamacare.

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In 2004, Santorum supported former Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter in the GOP Senate primary over the more conservative Pat Toomey. Santorum campaigned for Specter who was viewed with skepticism among many conservatives that he was ?too liberal.? Santorum promised the electorate that his colleague was a true conservative.

In 2009, however, Specter switched to the Democratic Party. He is a supporter of gay marriage, the repeal of Don?t Ask Don?t Tell, and a big advocate of abortion rights. The switch gave the Democrats their filibuster 60 seat majority in the Senate, allowing the health care overhaul to pass.
"Arlen Specter supplied the 60th vote that gave us Obamacare and gave us taxpayer-funded abortions," the now former GOP candidate Michele Bachmann told CBS before she left the race. "I never would have supported Arlen Specter, who is a pro-abortion candidate. I never would have done that, and so there are real differences between us."

Santorum defends his previous endorsement by saying that it was rooted in his strong opposition to abortion. Santorum claims Specter had agreed to support Bush, president at the time, and his Supreme Court nominees no matter what. If Specter had lost the Senate seat, Santorum says, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito would not have been confirmed by the Senate.

Specter, according to Politico, denies making any such a promise.

Another potential problem for Santorum and the issue of health care is the uncovering of his role in the passage of the 2003 controversial law that expanded Medicare.

When asked about his vote in favor of the law, Santorum told CNN in an interview on Wednesday, ?One of the reasons I held my nose and voted for it was because we did have the private sector model for Medicare prescription drugs??

However, The Hill reports that Santorum?s involvement of the passage of the bill was actually much greater than ?holding his nose.?

At the time of the passage, Santorum was the number three guy in the GOP-led Senate. Many of his colleagues, according to The Hill, say Santorum was campaigning for the bill?s passage. In a memo that dates October 2003 to Senate Republicans, Santorum reportedly warned that Democrats had ?gained traction? on domestic issues. He wrote that passing the Medicare drug plan was the way to win over independent voters and warned that the GOP could face serious political consequences if the bill was not passed.

The law expanded prescription drug benefits and at the time it passed was expected to cost the taxpayers $400 billion.

Santorum?s opponents have already jumped on this issue and are trying to use it as a way to say the former senator is not as conservative as he claims.

Texas congressman Ron Paul, who voted against the bill, has called Santorum ?very liberal? in regards to his government spending ideology, according to The Hill.

Romney

Romney, like his counterparts, has come out and declared that President Obama?s health care reform must be repealed. He wants to replace it with ?market-based reforms that empower states and individuals and reduce costs,? much like his rival Santorum.

?States and private markets,? Romney states, ?not the federal government, hold the key to improving our healthcare system.?

The last statement, of course, is very important to Romney. It is well-known that as the governor of Massachusetts he implemented a universal health care system in his state very similar to the one Obama imposed at the federal level. Obama even praised Romney for it and was said to have used the former governor?s plans as a blueprint for his own health care overhaul.

Of course, Santorum and other critics of Romney have used this as reasoning to vote against him in November.

?This (campaign) has been a debate about health care, that?s what the behemoth of government, the signature issue is Obamacare,? Santorum said on Good Morning America on Tuesday. ?We cannot put up a presidential candidate who is in basically in the same place as Obama on government-run health care.?

While Santorum did back Romney in his presidential bid for 2008, the former senator admits that this year, concerns about the health care system are greater than they were four years ago; therefore, he claims conservative voters should be skeptical of Romney?s track record of the issue.

Santorum, who lost the Iowa caucuses to Romney by a mere eight votes, is prepared to bring the fight to his rival in New Hampshire and health care is sure to be part of the ammunition.

Source: http://www.christianpost.com/news/gop-front-runners-their-track-record-on-health-care-66593/

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