Before we learn the ?cool? self hypnosis techniques that Wendi Friesen uses, such as how to hypnotise someone, let?s answer these questions: what is hypnosis, is hypnosis safe and does hypnotherapy work?
Hypnosis is a very deep, relaxed, focused state of concentration. It has been said to be a state of sleep and should not to be confused with sleep hypnosis. However it was recently discovered that the mind is actually very much awake. It simply enters a state that it is receptive to hypnotic suggestion. NLP techniques (Neuro-linguistic programming) are mostly used after you have entered your hypnotic world to effectively alter your patterns of behaviour. Hypnotism helps to bring you to a state where NLP Techniques become easier for your mind to accept. CLICK HERE to learn Hypnosis Techniques
Self hypnosis techniques are so relaxing that most people don?t even notice they are in trance at all. However, while in this state, your mind is working away at distinguishing brain wave activity, or forms of subliminal ?instruction? to help you perform certain tasks or get over addictions. This is a method used in clinical hypnosis by certified hypnotherapists including Wendi Friesen, to help you break undesirable habits or addictions such as hypnosis to quit smoking or hypnotherapy for anxiety. There is even self hypnosis for weight loss.
Hypnotic suggestion is in no way dangerous, you?re always in control. It?s not possible to put someone in a hypnotic state to make them do something they would not normally do. If you are under hypnosis, and something goes wrong, your body will wake you up. I have experienced this quite recently. While under deep sleep hypnosis, my cat got his claw stuck in a chair in another room. Though I was under self hypnosis, my subconscious recognized his distress call, and I immediately awoke from my hypnotic state.
So do I think hypnotherapy techniques work? Absolutely! Wendi Friesen has self help hypnosis techniques that has helped me to stop biting my nails, drink more water and has even helped me to communicate with two of my animal spirit guides. I can definitely say I have experienced the amazing power of hypnosis. So I will continue to learn and share my experiences with you.
CLICK HERE for Wendi?s Official Website and Hypnotic Media!
FILE ? In this Dec. 21, 2012, file photo Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks during a Capitol Hill news conference in Washington about the investigation of the deadly Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. On a Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013, talk show Graham threatened to hold up Hagel's Senate confirmation, and that of John Brennan as CIA director, until the White House provides more answers about the deadly September 11 attack against a US diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya. (AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt, File)
FILE ? In this Dec. 21, 2012, file photo Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks during a Capitol Hill news conference in Washington about the investigation of the deadly Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. On a Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013, talk show Graham threatened to hold up Hagel's Senate confirmation, and that of John Brennan as CIA director, until the White House provides more answers about the deadly September 11 attack against a US diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya. (AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt, File)
FILE - In this Jan. 31, 2013 file photo Sen. Lindsey Graham, D-S.C., questions former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, President Barack Obama's Secretary of Defense nominee, during Hagel's confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. On a Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013, talk show Graham threatened to hold up Hagel's Senate confirmation, and that of John Brennan as CIA director, until the White House provides more answers about the deadly September 11 attack against a US diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? A leading Republican senator said Sunday he would hold up Senate confirmation of President Barack Obama's nominees to head the Defense Department and the CIA until the White House provided more answers about the deadly Sept. 11 attack against a U.S. installation in Benghazi, Libya.
The White House took aim at Sen. Lindsey Graham, a persistent critic of Obama's response to the terrorist assault, by urging quick approval of the president's second-term national security team and scolding any lawmakers trying to "play politics" with critical nominations.
Graham accused the White House of "stonewalling" requests to release more information about the attack that killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya. "We're going to get to the bottom of Benghazi," he told CBS.
A Democratic colleague branded Graham's threat to stall the nominations of former Sen. Chuck Hagel to be defense secretary and John Brennan, Obama's top counterterrorism adviser, to be CIA director as "unprecedented and unwarranted." Senators should have the chance to vote on the fate of those nominees, said Sen. Jack Reed.
The White House did not address Graham's demand for more information, but did note that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified Thursday before Congress about the chaotic day of the Sept. 11 attack.
Republicans have accused the Obama administration of an election-year cover-up of the attack, and at the hearing several suggested the commander in chief was disengaged as Americans died.
"We know nothing about what the president did on the night of September 11th during a time of national crisis, and the American people need to know what their commander in chief did, if anything, during this eight-hour attack," Graham said on CBS.
Graham contended that a six-person rescue team was delayed from leaving the Benghazi airport because of problems "with the militias releasing them and a lot of bureaucratic snafus," and he said he wants to know whether Obama called any Libyan officials to expedite their mission.
"I don't think we should allow Brennan to go forward for the CIA directorship, Hagel to be confirmed to secretary of defense until the White House gives us an accounting," Graham said, adding, "What did he do that night? That's not unfair. The families need to know, the American people need to know."
Tommy Vietor, a spokesman for the White House's National Security Council, said, "We believe the Senate should act swiftly to confirm John Brennan and Sen. Hagel. These are critical national security positions and individual members shouldn't play politics with their nominations."
Reed said that "to dwell on a tragic incident and use that to block people is not appropriate. To try to find information, to ask legitimate questions, as Senator Graham is doing is completely appropriate. But then to turn around and say, 'I'm going to disrupt, essentially, the nomination of two key members of the President's Cabinet,' I don't think that's appropriate, I don't think it's warranted, I think it is an overreaction that is not going to serve the best interest going forward of the national security of the United States."
Graham would have none of it.
"In a constitutional democracy, we need to know what our commander in chief was doing at a time of great crisis, and this White House has been stonewalling the Congress, and I'm going to do everything I can to get to the bottom of this so we'll learn from our mistakes and hold this president accountable for what I think is tremendous disengagement at a time of national security crisis," he said.
At the Senate hearing, Panetta testified that he and Dempsey were meeting with Obama when they first learned of the Libya assault. He said the president told them to deploy forces as quickly as possible. Graham asked whether Panetta spoke again to Obama after that first meeting. Panetta said no, but that the White House was in touch with military officials and aware of what was happening. At one point, Graham asked Panetta if he knew what time Obama went to sleep that night. The Pentagon chief said he did not.
At the center of this image from NASA's Curiosity rover is the hole in a rock called "John Klein" where the rover conducted its first sample drilling on Mars. The drilling took place on Feb. 8.
By Mike Wall, Space.com
NASA's Curiosity rover has drilled into a Martian rock and collected samples, marking the first time any robot has ever performed this complicated maneuver on the surface of another planet.
The 1-ton Curiosity rover used its arm-mounted drill to bore a hole 0.63 inches (1.6 centimeters) wide and 2.5 inches (6.4 cm) deep in a section of sedimentary bedrock on Friday. The activity paves the way for the first-ever analysis of fresh Martian subsurface material and provides the last major checkout of the robot's gear and instruments, researchers said.
"The most advanced planetary robot ever designed now is a fully operating analytical laboratory on Mars," John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said in a statement Saturday. "This is the biggest milestone accomplishment for the Curiosity team since the sky-crane landing last August, another proud day for America."
Curiosity will process the sample over the next few days, researchers said. The rover will use some of the material to scour its sample-handling hardware clean of any residues that may remain from Earth before transferring any powder to the analytical instruments on the rover's body. [Curiosity Rover's Amazing Mars Photos]
"We'll take the powder we acquired and swish it around to scrub the internal surfaces of the drill bit assembly," said Curiosity drill systems engineer Scott McCloskey, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. "Then we'll use the arm to transfer the powder out of the drill into the scoop, which will be our first chance to see the acquired sample."
Drilling so deep into a Red Planet rock is a complex and unprecedented maneuver, so the mission team worked its way up to the first effort in a steady, stepwise fashion.
About two weeks ago, Curiosity began assessing the target rock, which is part of an outcrop called "John Klein" that was exposed to liquid water long ago. The rover first pressed down on the rock with its arm-mounted drill in a series of "pre-load" tests. It then used the drill's percussive action to hammer the outcrop without spinning the drill bit, which cleared the way for a recent "mini-drill" that bored into rock but didn't collect samples.
Getting Curiosity ready for all these steps ? and for yesterday's successful full-up drilling run ? also took a lot of prep work here on Earth, researchers said.
"Building a tool to interact forcefully with unpredictable rocks on Mars required an ambitious development and testing program," said JPL's Louise Jandura, chief engineer for Curiosity's sample system said Saturday. "To get to the point of making this hole in a rock on Mars, we made eight drills and bored more than 1,200 holes in 20 types of rock on Earth."
Curiosity landed inside Mars' huge Gale Crater on the night of Aug. 5 to determine if the area has ever been capable of supporting microbial life. Along with its 10 science instruments and 17 cameras, the rover's drill is considered key to this quest, for it allows scientists to peer deep into Martian rocks for evidence of past habitability.?
Follow Space.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall?or Space.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook?and?Google+.?
? 2013 Space.com. All rights reserved. More from Space.com.
FILE - This undated file family photo provided by Damon Stewart shows 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton of Chicago who was was shot Jan. 29, 2013 while she talked with friends in a park about a mile from President Barack Obama?s Chicago home. First Lady Michelle Obama will join some of Illinois? most recognizable politicians and clergy to mourn the 15-year-old honor student whose death has drawn attention to staggering gun violence in the nation?s third-largest city. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Damon Stewart, File)
FILE - This undated file family photo provided by Damon Stewart shows 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton of Chicago who was was shot Jan. 29, 2013 while she talked with friends in a park about a mile from President Barack Obama?s Chicago home. First Lady Michelle Obama will join some of Illinois? most recognizable politicians and clergy to mourn the 15-year-old honor student whose death has drawn attention to staggering gun violence in the nation?s third-largest city. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Damon Stewart, File)
CHICAGO (AP) ? First lady Michelle Obama will join some of Illinois' most recognizable politicians and clergy Saturday to mourn a 15-year-old honor student whose death has drawn attention to staggering gun violence in the nation's third-largest city.
But Hadiya Pendleton's family says her Saturday funeral service won't be about politics, but about remembering a girl who loved to dance, once appeared in an anti-gang video and died just days after performing at one of President Barack Obama's inauguration events.
None of the dignitaries are slated to speak during the service. The teen's pastor and brother will talk, and the musical group Pendleton was a member of will perform.
"Everything is about Hadiya," said Shatira Wilks, one of Pendleton's cousins and a family spokeswoman.
Pendleton was shot and killed while she talked with friends after school at a park not far from the Obamas' Chicago home. Police have said the Jan. 29 shooting appears to be a case of mistaken identity involving gang members who believed the park was their territory. Police say Pendleton was an innocent victim. No charges have been filed.
Her death brought new attention to Chicago's homicide rate and the national debate over gun violence. Pendleton's murder came in a January that was the city's deadliest in a decade. In 2012, Chicago recorded 506 homicides.
Others expected to attend the service are Gov. Pat Quinn, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett ? all of whom are from Chicago.
Quinn mentioned Pendleton's death in his State of the State address earlier this week as he called for a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines.
"There are no words in the English language . or any language . to relieve the pain of parents who lose a child," said Quinn, who said he spoke with Pendleton's family two days before his speech.
On Friday, mourners lined up outside a funeral home for Pendleton's wake. Some said they didn't know the young girl, but were moved to pay their respects out of a show of support.
For those who may have the entrepreneurial spirit, locating farm and ranch in Bloomington MN could be the optimal scenario. Just what you might or could not understand is that this kind of life is basically a method to combine both family and work. Make no doubt about it, life on the farm and ranch in Bloomington MN is a real company. It is difficult work, either, but many individuals would not return to living any other way.
Sorts of Farm and Ranch in Bloomington MN
For beginners, there are lots of different kinds of farm and ranch in Bloomington MN. These can feature dairy farms, cattle ranches, growing crops (of lots of different varieties), orchards as well as a poultry farm or ranch. Which kind you decide is right for you will certainly depend upon how much land is offered, its location and a number of various other elements.
There are a number of other types of land which are closely related to farm and ranch in Bloomington MN. For example, you might be thinking about searching land or wood land or even land for grazing a herd of livestock. There are even real estate agents that specialize in a few of these types of farm and ranch in Bloomington MN.
The Family Farm and Ranch in Bloomington MN
While numerous of the trends are against the small household farm and ranch in Bloomington MN, there are still many people engaged in this type of way of life. There is something about being able to live off the land, eating exactly what you grow and / or raise, plus being able to sell enough of this to support your family at the same time.
The family farm and ranch in Bloomington MN is additionally a business enterprise. Before choosing to enter this kind of way of life it is best to understand exactly what to anticipate. There will certainly be expenses as you start to farm or raise pets. It is also important to know exactly what your crops or products will certainly be sold for. Of course there are always changes in any sort of market, consisting of crops and livestocks and anything else which can be produced on a farm and ranch in Bloomington MN.
Advantages of Life on the Farm and Ranch in Bloomington MN
There are a number of exceptional advantages to life on the farm and ranch in Bloomington MN. For beginners, you should be planning on eating most of just what you expand and raise. This ought to normally translate into a much healthier diet plan and design of life. Imagine having the ability to eat your own fresh expanded vegetables and fruits, consume milk from your own cows, fresh eggs and meat from your very own livestock. Compared to the hormone feed beef and antibiotic and pesticide stuffed vegetables and fruit, you are likely to lose a great deal of weight and feel a lot more energetic and healthy.
Yet another benefit of life on the farm and ranch in Bloomington MN is that you (and your family members) will be closer to nature. You will likely see a lot more range of plant and animal life than it would be feasible to note while in the city. It is also much simpler to cherish nature by much more closely observing her cycles and weather patterns.
All of your household will be instilled with the suitables of effort and instructed great wholesome American values. Hard work is definitely not the adversary of those living on the farm and ranch in Bloomington MN. On top of this, you will learn ways to run all different kinds of machinery and equipment. Plus, there will not be any need to go to the gym for an excellent workout, since farm life is enough of a workout!
For many people, being away from the hustle and bustle of the urban area is another wonderful benefit of being on the farm and ranch in Bloomington MN. There will not be any type of traffic, no more 9 to 5, no more everyday commute and being hurried, needing to rush everywhere. You will be independent and pretty much able to do things exactly the way you wish; no employer is looking over your shoulder.
Disadvantages of Life on the Farm and Ranch in Bloomington MN
Maybe many of the advantages do not apply or not have you too ecstatic about life on the farm and ranch in Bloomington MN? Certainly there are additionally some negatives to consider before jumping into this sort of way of living.
For many people, not being in the urban area might be thought about a drawback of life on the farm and ranch in Bloomington MN. Some people actually delight in being in the urban area and the busyness of everything going on. If this is you, than it might be challenging to live on the farm and ranch in Bloomington MN.
Another possible disadvantage is needing to rely on your own efforts. Some people merely were not constructed to be entrepreneurs. If the idea of not having an income waiting each week appears merely distressing, life on the farm and ranch in Bloomington MN could be tough.
Some individuals are simply unable to take care of the daily grind of farm work. It demands waking early, doing duties every day and ensuring that all of the work gets done when it should. It is hard being on the farm and ranch in Bloomington MN, knowing that it all depends on your efforts. In this sort of life it is essential to make your own protection.
Locating Your Farm and Ranch in Bloomington MN
Finding land to use for your farm and ranch in Bloomington MN can be as straightforward as calling a reputable real estate company. There are even particular agencies which specialize in this kind of land. Of course, the rate assortment you are looking at will certainly also have a bearing on what sort of land could be readily available.
Lots of people have the dream of getting closer to nature and leaving the city to offer their households a more healthy life. Locating your very own farm and ranch in Bloomington MN could be simply exactly what you have actually been trying to find. There are numerous benefits of this type of lifestyle, however it is definitely not for everybody and must only be done after really cautious consideration and research.
With the museum grounds covered with leaves and bare of snow, J Lajik shovels the snow-covered walkway outside the National Center of Afro-American Artists after overnight flurries in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013. A midwinter storm headed to the Northeast on Friday could drop more than a foot of snow. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
With the museum grounds covered with leaves and bare of snow, J Lajik shovels the snow-covered walkway outside the National Center of Afro-American Artists after overnight flurries in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013. A midwinter storm headed to the Northeast on Friday could drop more than a foot of snow. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Tom Cwick, of Los Angeles, cross country skis on machine-made snow at the Weston Ski Track in Weston, Mass., Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013. A midwinter storm headed to the Northeast on Friday could drop more than a foot of snow. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Municipal trucks fill up with salt, Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013 in Portsmouth, N.H. as the Northeast prepares for a snowstorm later this week. The National Weather Service says the snow will start falling Thursday night, with the heaviest snowfall Friday afternoon and night. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)
Municipal trucks fill up with salt, Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013 in Portsmouth, N.H. as the Northeast prepares for a snowstorm later this week. The National Weather Service says the snow will start falling Thursday night, with the heaviest snowfall Friday afternoon and night. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)
BOSTON (AP) ? A major winter storm heading toward New England may not be one for the record books, but even some of the nation's snow-hardiest people should proceed with caution, according to at least one expert.
As much as 2 feet of snow could fall on a region that has seen mostly bare ground this winter, the National Weather Service said. That's exciting for resort operators who haven't had much snow this year.
The storm would hit just after the 35th anniversary of the historic blizzard of 1978, which paralyzed the region with more than 2 feet of snow and hurricane force winds from Feb. 5-7.
"This has the potential for being a dangerous storm, especially for Massachusetts into northeast Connecticut and up into Maine," said Louis Uccellini, director of the weather agency's National Centers for Environmental Prediction.
Uccellini, who has written two textbooks on Northeastern snowstorms, said Wednesday it was too early to tell if the storm would be one for the record books. But he said it will be a rare and major storm, the type that means "you can't let your guard down."
The snow will start Friday morning, with the heaviest amounts dumped on the region that night and into Saturday as the storm moves past New England and upstate New York, the National Weather Service said.
A blizzard watch for parts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island said travel may become nearly impossible because of high winds and blowing snow.
A coastal flooding watch also is in effect for some shore communities in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Long Island.
Thanks to the ability to make their own snow, the region's larger ski resorts aren't as dependent on natural snowfall, though every bit helps.
At Mount Snow in Vermont, spokesman Dave Meeker said the true value of the storm will be driving traffic from southern New England northward.
"It's great when we get snow, but it's a tremendous help when down-country gets snow," he said. "When they have snow in their backyards, they're inspired."
Assuming the snow clears out by the weekend with no major problems, ski areas in Massachusetts also were excited by the prospect of the first major snowstorm they've seen since October 2011.
"We'll be here with bells on," said Christopher Kitchin, inside operations manager at Nashoba Valley Ski Area in Westford, Mass. "People are getting excited. They want to get out in the snow and go snow-tubing, skiing and snowboarding."
Tom Meyers, marketing director for Wachusett Mountain Ski Area in Princeton, Mass., said that at an annual conference of the National Ski Areas Association in Vermont this week, many participants were "buzzing" about the storm. He said the snow will arrive at an especially opportune time ? a week before many schools in Massachusetts have February vacation.
"It is perfect timing because it will just remind everybody that it is winter, it's real, and get out and enjoy it," Meyers said.
The snowmobile season in northern New England started off strong, but after rain and warm weather last month, many trails in Maine turned essentially to thick sheets of ice, said Bob Meyers, Maine Snowmobile Association executive director.
"People got a taste of it," he said, "and there's no question they want some more."
___
Ramer reported from Concord, N.H. Contributing to this report were AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein in Washington and Associated Press writers Lisa Rathke in Montpelier, Vt., and Clarke Canfield in Portland, Maine.
As a beaming 6-year-old Ethan said "cheese" for photos and played with toy cars at his birthday party, there were no immediate signs of the turmoil the young boy had endured just days earlier.
The boy, identified only as Ethan, was held hostage in a nearly week-long standoff in Alabama. He was physically unharmed after Jimmy Lee Dykes kidnapped him from a school bus and held him hostage in a booby-trapped underground bunker.
Watch the full story on "20/20" TONIGHT at 10 p.m. ET
Ethan was rescued by the FBI Monday after they rushed the bunker where Dykes, 65, was holding him. Dykes was killed in the raid.
On Wednesday, Ethan celebrated his sixth birthday at a local church with abundant hugs from his family and friends as well as from the SWAT team, FBI agents and hostage negotiators who had rescued him.
Click here for photo's from the Alabama hostage situation.
"Welcome home Ethan" signs hung on the walls of the church for the homecoming celebration.
In his first interview, Ethan's adult brother Camren Kirkland described to ABC News the text messages the family would get from the hostage negotiators.
"We did know when, at times, he was asleep and that was normally around nine o'clock at night," Kirkland said.
He said the messages kept the family going throughout the ordeal.
"That was actually a lot of comfort," he said. "I could actually go lay my head down."
Kirkland said he never left his mother's side and the whole family was present when they got the call that Ethan had been rescued.
"The said, 'We have Ethan,'" Kirkland said, recalling the moment they found out Ethan had been saved.
Click here for a psychological look at what's next for Ethan.
The FBI special agent whose call it was to send the team into the bunker revealed to ABC News that Dykes left behind writings and that while in the bunker with Ethan, he'd become agitated and brag about his plan.
"At the end of the day, the responsibility is mine," he said. "I thought the child was going to die."
Supporting Ethan's family through the ordeal has been Shelly Linderman of Angel House, a victim advocate organization.
Dykes shot and killed a school bus driver, Albert Poland Jr., 66, last Tuesday and threatened to kill all the children on the bus before taking the boy, one of the students on the bus said Monday.
Dykes had been holed up in his underground bunker near Midland City, Ala., with the abducted boy for a week as police tried to negotiate with him through the PVC pipe. Police were careful not to anger Dykes, who was believed to be watching news reports from inside the bunker, and even thanked him at one point.
Video released by Iran allegedly showing decoded data from the US RQ-170 spy drone that crashed in Iran in December 2011.
By Nasser Karimi, The Associated Press
Published at 10:17 a.m. ET: TEHRAN -- Iran's state TV has broadcast footage allegedly extracted from the advanced CIA spy drone captured in 2011, the latest in a flurry of moves from Iranian authorities meant to underline the nation's purported military and technological advances.
Iran has long claimed it managed to reverse-engineer the RQ-170 Sentinel, seized in December 2011 after it entered Iranian airspace from the country's eastern border with Afghanistan, and that it is capable of launching its own production line for the unmanned aircraft.
After initially saying only that a drone had been lost near the Afghan-Iran border, American officials eventually confirmed the Sentinel had been monitoring Iran's military and nuclear facilities. Washington asked for it back but Iran refused and instead released photos of Iranian officials studying the aircraft.
The video aired late Wednesday on Iranian TV shows an aerial view of an airport and a city, said to be a U.S. drone base and Kandahar, Afghanistan. The TV also showed images purported to be the Sentinel landing at a base in eastern Iran, but it was unclear if that footage meant to depict the moment of the drone's seizure.
In addition, the TV also showed images of an Iranian helicopter transporting the drone, as well as its disassembled parts being carried on a trailer.
Iranian Revolutionary Guard via EPA, file
Iranian Revolutionary Guard General Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, right, looks at the US RQ-170 drone which reportedly crashed in eastern Iran near the city of Kashmar on Dec. 4, 2011, displayed at an undisclosed location in Iran.
In another part of the video, the chief of the Revolutionary Guard's airspace division, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, said that only after capturing the drone, Iran realized it "belongs to the CIA."
"We were able to definitively access the data of the drone, once we brought it down," said Hajizadeh.
He described the Sentinel's capture as a huge scoop for Iran, saying that at the time, Tehran did not rule out a possible punitive U.S. airstrike over the drone.
Iranian officials have accused the U.S. of stepping up its espionage activities against Iran as part of intensified Western efforts to force Tehran to abandon its uranium enrichment program, a key aspect of its disputed nuclear program. The U.S. and its allies suspect Iran may be trying to develop atomic weapons, a charge Tehran denies.
In an attempt to embarrass Washington, Iran has claimed to have captured several American drones, most recently in December, when Tehran said it seized a Boeing-designed ScanEagle drone ? a less sophisticated aircraft ? after it entered Iranian airspace over the Persian Gulf.
U.S. officials said there was no evidence that the latest claims were true.
Also Thursday, the semi-official Fars news agency published photos reportedly depicting a domestic production line of ScanEagle drones. The photos show several drones in a workshop.
Iran has said before that it's making ScanEagle copies and putting them into service, but it has not offered proof of those claims.
At schools, in shops and on the streets of big cities and small towns, daily life plays out in Iran.
Fars also quoted deputy defense minister Mohammad Eslami as saying that Iran has also established a "production line for the drones in foreign countries." He did not elaborate, and it was not clear if he was referring to Syria or Lebanon's Hezbollah group, Iran's top regional allies.
The latest Sentinel footage came as the U.S. tightened sanctions to pressure the Iranian government to limit its nuclear program and restrictions on institutions that Washington says are stifling political dissent and censoring speech.
Among the expanded measures announced Monday by the Treasury Department is a move to deny Iran access to revenue garnered from its oil exports. Under the latest sanctions, Iran would be able to use revenue from its oil sales only in a country that purchased its crude ? now mostly big Asian economies such as China and India ? which would significantly limit its access to the money.
Related:
US sources: Downed CIA drone made previous trips over Iran
Analysis: Israel airstrike may foreshadow Iran attack
Drone that crashed in Iran risks secret US technology
? 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
February is National Children?s Dental Health Month and cultivating the habit to take care of your teeth early in life will help you maintain a beautiful smile well into your older years. The beginning of any good oral health routine is the right kind of toothpaste. Dentists from the American Dental Association (ADA) offer tips for all ages on how to choose the best products for the best smile.
Dr. Ada Cooper DDS, spokesperson for the ADA, reminds us that if you are lazy about brushing and flossing and making regular dental visits, no specialized toothpaste will save your smile. But choosing a brand or type of toothpaste can be overwhelming with all of the options you have to choose from. She offers tips about the various types of toothpastes available to help you make a selection based on your individualized oral health needs.
First and foremost, look for the ADA seal on the toothpaste?s box. ?This shows the product has been tested, its claims are legitimate, and its ingredients are effective,? says Dr. Cooper.
Toothpastes now come in variety of forms including not only the traditional paste form, but also gels or powders. They also have a may offer a variety of flavors, such as mint or cinnamon. Ultimately, these factors have nothing to do with the product?s effectiveness. Most toothpastes have the following ingredients in common:
? Abrasive agents. Scratchy materials, including calcium carbonate and silicates, help remove food, bacteria, and some stains from your teeth. ? Flavoring. Artificial sweeteners, including saccharin, are often added to toothpaste to make them taste better. While many people equate the flavor of toothpaste with mint, toothpaste is available in a variety of flavors, including cinnamon, lemon-lime, and even bubblegum (for kids -- or kids at heart). ? Humectants for moisture retention. Paste and gel formulations often contain substances like glycerol to prevent the toothpaste from drying out. ? Thickeners. Agents that add thickness to the toothpaste, including gums and gooey molecules found in some seaweeds, help achieve and maintain proper toothpaste texture. ? Detergents. Those suds you see when you brush your teeth are from detergents like sodium lauryl sulfate.
Remember that the most important ingredient to look for in a toothpaste is fluoride. This naturally occurring mineral has been instrumental in the dramatic drop in tooth decay and cavity occurrence that has taken place over the past 50 years. Fluoride protects the teeth from the acid that is released from the mouth when we eat. It makes the tooth enamel stronger so it is less likely to suffer damage from the acid.
Note ? just because you live in an area where the water is fluoridated, don?t think that you can skip the fluoride in toothpaste. Studies have shown that fluoridated toothpaste helps increase the concentration of fluoride in the teeth, even in areas with water supplies containing high levels of the mineral.
Evaluate your personal oral health needs to decide if you need a specialized formulation of toothpaste. For example, if you have yellow teeth due to cracked and eroded tooth enamel which has absorbed color from foods such as coffee and cola, a whitening toothpaste may help bring a shine to your smile. Whitening toothpastes contain mild abrasives that help polish teeth and prevent the buildup of additional stains. Look for a paste or gel that contain modified silicone abrasives such as Rembrandt Deeply White and Ultra Brite Advanced Whitening.
For tartar control, look on the toothpaste label for ingredients such as pyrophosphates or zinc citrate. These chemical compounds have been proven effective to prevent tartar buildup. The tartar control toothpastes may also contain triclosan, which kills some of the bacteria in the mouth that can lead to plaque. However, keep in mind that once tartar has accumulated, only the dentist can remove it. If it is not removed, it can ultimately lead to gum disease.
If you are cavity prone, any fluoridated toothpaste will help remove the bacteria that stick to the tooth enamel, but you may what to ask your dentist about a prescription cavity fighting toothpaste such as Colgate PreviDent. Also, brushing and spitting without rinsing can help the fluoride stick around longer within the mouth, giving the ingredient more time to work.
For those with sensitive teeth or gums, look for a toothpaste that contains potassium nitrate or strontium chloride. These chemicals can offer relieve within about four weeks by blocking pathways through the teeth that attach to the nerves, reducing sensitivity. The ADA approves multiple brands, including Sensodyne.
For children, remember that they should also brush their teeth at least twice a day and should begin flossing as soon as two teeth come together and touch. For children under the age of two, just brushing with a child-sized toothbrush with soft bristles with plain water can be helpful. There are also many children versions of toothpaste for the young ones that do not contain fluoride.
Fluoridated toothpaste should be used in children after the age of two. A pea-sized amount is all they need. Help them to learn how to reach all of their teeth, brush their tongue and gums, and to spit out the toothpaste rather than swallowing it.
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CAIRO (AP) ? An Islamic organization on Thursday urged Syrian opposition forces and members of President Bashar Assad's regime whose hands are not tainted by violence to hold talks to try to resolve the nation's bloody civil war.
At the end of a two-day summit in Cairo, the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation said that such talks could help achieve the "aspirations of the Syrian people for democratic reforms and change."
The statement did not call on Assad to step down, but the summit exposed conflicting views among Muslim and Arab nations about the Syrian civil war. In the past, many nations at the summit, including Egypt, have demanded that the Syrian leader step aside.
Egypt's Islamist president sharply criticized Assad's embattled regime in his address to the summit, but did not directly call for the Syrian leader to leave as he had in past comments.
The Syrian government, he said, "must read history and grasp its immortal message: It is the people who remain and those who put their personal interests before those of their people will inevitably go."
The summit also witnessed the first visit of an Iranian president to Egypt in more than three years, as Egypt's Islamist government aimed for warmer relations with Iran.
In a goodwill gesture, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said in remarks carried by Egypt's official news agency that Iran will cancel visa requirements for Egyptian tourists and merchants.
"Lifting visas for merchants and tourists coming from Egypt to Iran, will be announced," he was quoted by MENA as saying. "Every day we will take steps forward."
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Cairo reflected Egypt's attempts to strike an independent foreign policy and reassert Egypt's historic regional leadership role following the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, a close U.S. ally who shared Washington's deep suspicions of Tehran.
Meanwhile, Iran seeks warmer relations with Egypt as a way to break its international isolation and win a heavyweight ally.
LONDON (AP) ? Markets recovered Tuesday, a day after suffering steep losses, as new indicators suggested the economy of the 17-country eurozone may be on the cusp of recovery.
A survey of the manufacturing and services sector across the currency union showed activity rose to a 10-month high January. Though it showed the economy as a whole was still likely contracting, the improvement suggests a recovery may be slowly taking hold.
"January's survey added to hopes that the pace of contraction will slow in Q1," said Jennifer McKeown, senior European economist at Capital Economics.
By late-morning in Europe, Germany's DAX stock index was up 0.2 percent at 7,653 while France's CAC 40 was 1.1 percent higher at 3,699. Britain's FTSE 100 was 0.6 percent higher at 6,282.
Spanish and Italian indexes, which had led markets around the world sharply lower on Monday due to concerns over the political situation in both countries, led the recovery. Madrid's IBEX was 1.5 percent higher while the FTSE MIB in Milan was up 1.1 percent.
Italy's general election at the end of this month looks like it may yield a split parliament, which would make it more difficult to push through much-needed economic reforms. Meanwhile, the Spanish government is embroiled in a corruption scandal over alleged secret cash payments that has raised questions over the future of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.
Wall Street was expected to rise at the open, with Dow futures 0.3 percent higher at 13,887 and the broader S&P 500 futures up 0.4 percent at 1,499.
The most eye-catching piece of economic news later will be the Institute for Supply Management's non-manufacturing survey. Investors are keen to see whether it echoes the positive manufacturing report that was published last Friday.
Earlier in Asia, markets mostly dropped as they responded to the losses suffered in Europe and the U.S. on Monday.
The regional heavyweight, Japan's Nikkei 225, dropped 1.9 percent to 11,046.92 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng plunged 2.3 percent to 23,148.53.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.5 percent to 4,882.70. The only gainer among major Asian markets was China's Shanghai Composite Index, which added 0.2 percent to 2,433.13.
China's economy is limping out of its deepest slump since the 2008 global crisis but optimism has been tempered by warnings the recovery could be threatened if trade or investment weakens.
A business group, the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing, said its index of service industry activity rose marginally to 56.2 in January from 56.1 in December. The measure of new orders declined, which "casts doubt on the strength of the recovery in the service sector," said Nomura economist Zhiwei Zhang in a report.
In other markets, the benchmark crude oil contract for March delivery rose 43 cents to $96.60 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The dollar rose against the Japanese yen to 92.95 yen from 92.38 yen late Monday in New York, while the euro rose to $1.3539 from $1.3520.
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Joe McDonald in Beijing contributed to this report.
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel risks sleepwalking into a crisis with its allies over relentless settlement-building in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem unless it realizes that the international anger is genuine and adjusts its course.
The next few months may prove crucial if Israel is to avoid diplomatic disaster, with a new government forming around Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama set to make his first official visit to the Holy Land in the spring.
Obama will not just be coming for a photo opportunity. He is expected to try to revive a push for peace in hopes of finding an Israeli coalition receptive to deepening Western concerns about the prospects of creating a viable Palestinian state.
"The two-state solution is not dead, but it is in mortal danger," said Daniel Seidemann, an Israeli lawyer and an expert on settlement expansion.
"We are hanging onto it by our finger nails. This is the last opportunity to save it for the foreseeable future. The prospects are not great, but this is the last best hope."
Should these hopes wither, Israel can expect repercussions.
These might range from tighter international regulations on the export of Israeli goods made in the occupied territories to tacit foreign backing for the Palestinians should they pursue Israel in the International Criminal Court over the settlements.
Obama himself, with no re-election to worry about, could review security and defense cooperation that Israeli officials say reached new heights during his first term, with annual U.S. military aid from Washington put at some $3 billion.
"Israel is walking blindly towards isolation and censure in the eyes of the world," said one of the most senior Western envoys in Jerusalem, who declined to be named given the enormous sensitivities surrounding the issue.
"What I don't understand is if Mr. Netanyahu doesn't realize what is happening, or if he doesn't give a damn."
BLOOMING SETTLEMENTS
In the past two months Israel has received sometimes fierce criticism from the United Nations, European Union and United States over its announcement of plans to build more than 11,000 new houses on land Palestinians want for a future state.
Last week, Israel boycotted the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva as it was planning a routine review of the Jewish state. Days later, U.N. investigators issued a strongly worded report that said the settlements could constitute a war crime.
Israeli leaders have largely shrugged off the opprobrium. They assert a right to build on territory seized in a 1967 war and accused the Geneva council, which includes non-democratic states like Cuba and Saudi Arabia, of bias and hypocrisy.
However, past and present Israeli diplomats are nervous about the mounting friction as Israel faces a multitude of challenges piling up along its troubled borders, with Islamists taking power in Egypt and on the rise in Syria's civil war.
"I am worried and so are many other Israelis," said Itamar Rabinovich, a former Israeli ambassador to the United States.
"Our legitimacy is being eroded and the more isolated and delegitimized Israel is, the more difficult it will be to get public opinion on our side regarding Iran," he added, referring to suspicions the Islamic Republic is seeking nuclear weapons.
Israelis started moving to the West Bank soon after the 1967 conflict, and the numbers soared in the wake of the 1993 Oslo Accords that granted limited self-rule to the Palestinian Authority - but placed no limits on Jewish settlement growth.
In 1993 there were an estimated 111,600 settlers in the territory. There are now more than 325,000, with a further 200,000 living in East Jerusalem, which was annexed by Israel after 1967 in a move not recognized internationally and is claimed by the Palestinians as their capital city.
"A Palestinian state has never been further away than it is today," Dani Dayan, outgoing head of the main settler council, was quoted as saying in the Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.
"The settlements today are blossoming ... There is almost no settlement without construction," added Dayan, who endorsed Netanyahu ahead of the January 22 election, which was won by the prime minister, albeit with a sharp fall in support.
Critics have long railed against the settlements, but successive Israeli governments have pushed back with vigor.
They were confident they had the support of mainstream America - Washington has long been Israel's most steadfast ally - and dismissed EU complaints as largely irrelevant.
Internal Palestinian political divisions, coupled with regular bouts of violence, have also enabled Israel to argue that they do not have any genuine partners for peace.
Diplomats insist the mood abroad is hardening. They say that if the settlements get any bigger there will be no more room for a contiguous Palestinian state, dashing the chance of an accord. They also maintain that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is the most moderate leader that the Israelis can hope for.
Noting this change of tone, the Institute for National Security Studies, a respected Israeli think-tank, said this week that for the first time, the country faced the possibility of "concrete punishment measures" tied to its settlement expansion.
STUCK WITH LABELLING
Israel's solitude was seen most starkly in November when a mere eight countries, including the United States and four micro Pacific nations, voted with the Jewish state in a failed bid to prevent the Palestinians from gaining de-facto statehood recognition at the United Nations.
EU diplomats in Jerusalem forecast that such isolation would become a way of life for Israel, but dismissed any suggestion that Europe might impose economic sanctions on the Jewish state.
"The most we would expect is a move towards labeling of all settler products as coming from occupied territories," said one diplomat, who declined to be named. "Sanctions are a no-no."
Even a labeling change is likely to elicit fury in Israel. When South Africa proposed a similar move last May, the Israeli foreign ministry said the decision was "tainted" with racism.
Many ordinary Israelis see deep-rooted anti-Semitism at play in the criticism that is raining down on their nation, with the politically divided Palestinians only rarely admonished in the court of world opinion for their own missteps.
"The issue of delegitimisation goes beyond a simple United Nations report. We are aware of the situation as Jewish people and worried by it," said Zalman Shoval, another former Israeli ambassador to the United States who is close to Netanyahu.
However, he predicted that Obama and the prime minister would be able to find some way to resuscitate the peace process, which collapsed in 2010 after the Palestinians refused to take further part unless settlement building ceased.
"Knowing what Mr. Netanyahu's plans are in trying to move the conundrum forward ... I think cooperation between the two leaders will be very successful," Shoval said, without elaborating.
Before he meets Obama, Netanyahu must first assemble a new coalition - a particularly tricky task given the unexpected success of the new centrist party Yesh Atid (There is a Future).
Although many of the thorniest issues are entwined with domestic affairs, Yesh Atid has said that re-starting peace negotiations should be Netanyahu's main foreign policy goal.
That sits uneasily with many of Netanyahu's party faithful who reject the two-state solution. It will also be hard to square with another natural coalition partner - the pro-settler Jewish Home, which wants to annex much of the West Bank.
The top selling Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth said on Wednesday the surprise announcement on Tuesday that Obama was planning an imminent visit would thrust peace considerations to the top of the agenda in the ongoing coalition talks.
"Barack Obama is urging Benjamin Netanyahu to find solutions, and there is no room here for deceptions. The State of Israel is likely to find itself in another few weeks poised before one of its most important moments of truth," it wrote.
SEOUL, South Korea -Yet another North Korean mystery has been solved. That smart phone spotted next to the regime's leader Kim Jong Un is a Taiwanese phone, made by HTC.
The high-tech phone stirred interest when spotted in a photo released by North Korea's Central News Agency partly because so few people in the low-tech country could afford one and because Kim has ordered people hiding cell phones to be shot.
But there was also speculation whether Kim owned a Samsung or Apple phone. Samsung is a South Korean company while Apple is from Kim's arch enemy America.
A South Korean government official said the phone was apparently a HTC brand, made in Taiwan. HTC declined to confirm, but said in a statement that it appreciates the "support of all users."
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un presides over a national defense meeting with his top officials, Jan. 27, 2013. (Yonhap News/Newscom)
The next question is does that smartphone work as an internet data-transmitting device? If so, that means Kim could be surfing the net, googling his name, and could even read this article.
There has been evidence of using smartphones in North Korea in the past. StatCounter.com which tracks search engines, browsers, and operating systems around the globe confirmed in 2011 that some North Koreans used Apple's iPhone and Nokia's smartphones. In 2010, Foursquare had confirmed a check-in from North Korea as well.
Whether this was simply a test run of the 3G network by the state or for private use is not known. The 3G mobile phone service started in 2008 provided by Koryolink which is a joint venture between North Korea and Orascom Telecom, an Egyptian company.
Most recent data shows 1.5 million people subscribe to the service, mostly Pyongyang's elites that comprise 5 percent of the population. These privileged owners are carefully screened and strictly controlled with regards to their allegiance to the communist party and loyalty to the leader.
But witnesses who have been in North Korea recently say most people who own phones own Chinese cell phones - folder types and sliding types - not smartphones. Currently, North Koreans could text messages but have no access to the internet from their mobile devices.
Non-Pyongyang residents comprising the lower rank in North Korea's social system use smuggled mobile phones from China using Chinese networks with roaming coverage. Many defectors to South Korea communicate with their families back in the North by delivering these illegal mobile phones through brokers.
If caught hiding the phones, authorities used to arrest and send illegal phone users to political camps for reformation. But starting this year Kim Jong Un has given strict orders to have villains be shot to death.
For average North Koreans, the mobile phones are way above what they could afford anyway. Cell phones cost almost 25 times what an average person earns in a month.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Environmental Protection Agency says heat-trapping gases from U.S. power plants fell 4.6 percent in 2011 from the previous year as plants burned less coal, the biggest source of greenhouse gas pollution.
The report, released Tuesday, said power plants remain the largest stationary source of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that trigger global warming. Power plants were responsible for 2,221 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2011.
The reduction from 2010 reflects a relative decline in the use of coal, the dominant U.S. energy source, and an increase in natural gas and renewable sources that produce lower amounts of greenhouse gases.
Power plants produced roughly one-third of total U.S. emissions, followed by petroleum and natural gas systems, with refineries the third-largest pollution source.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? A senior Iranian government official and former Tehran prosecutor general has been arrested, two years after a parliamentary probe found him responsible for deaths by torture of at least three jailed anti-government protesters, state media reported.
Saeed Mortazavi ? a close ally of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ? was taken to Tehran's Evin prison late Monday night, according to the reports, which gave no details or explanation for the arrest.
Mortazavi has been at the center of a growing confrontation between Ahmadinejad and the president's conservative rivals in parliament ahead of the June presidential election.
Ahmadinejad cannot run a third time because of term limits and many of his allies have either been arrested or pushed to the political margins because of the president's attempt to extend his powers.
Mortazavi's detention came a day after Ahmadinejad displayed in parliament a barely audible video showing Fazel Larijani, brother of parliament speaker Ali Larijani, meeting with Mortazavi and allegedly seeking a bribe in return for ensuring his brother's support for the president. Ali Larijani denied any links to the video.
Ahmadinejad strongly denounced Mortazavi's arrest, accusing the judiciary of being run as a "family institution" ? a reference to the Larijanis. Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani, another brother of Ali Larijani, is Iran's judiciary chief.
"The judiciary should be the judiciary of the nation and not one special family's private organization," said Ahmadinejad in remarks posted on the president's website.
"This is very ugly. It's not appropriate for the people of the Islamic Republic and the judiciary," Ahmadinejad said ahead of his departure to Egypt where he is to attend a summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. "I'll definitely pursue this matter seriously when I return."
Mortazavi was Tehran city prosecutor in 2009, during massive protests in the wake of Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election. At the time, he was responsible for Kahrizak prison in the Iranian capital, where at least three anti-government protesters were tortured to death. He now heads the country's social security fund.
Iran's reformists have openly criticized Mortazavi during his years in the judiciary. He was even dubbed "butcher of the press" for the closures of more than 120 newspapers and the imprisonment of dozens of journalists and political activists over the past 13 years.
The semiofficial Mehr news agency said Mortazavi was detained at midnight Monday while Fars, another semiofficial news agency, said he was detained as he was leaving work and taken to Evin prison, just north of Tehran.
Fars also said the arrest was related to Mortazavi's role in the 2009 prison deaths of the protesters. The following year, a parliamentary probe into the case found Mortazavi responsible for what had happened at Kahrizak. He was suspended as Tehran prosecutor general and the case remained open for a judicial investigation, though no further action was taken against Mortazavi.
The judiciary said earlier this year that the prison deaths would again be investigated in March.
The three prisoners, detained in mass street protests against Ahmadinejad, died in Kahrizak a month after their arrest. The case significantly embarrassed the authorities and drew some of the fiercest criticism against Iran's government and its treatment of those arrested in the turmoil following the election.
On Sunday, Iranian lawmakers impeached the country's labor minister and another Ahmadinejad ally, Abdolreza Sheikholeslami, for appointing Mortazavi as head of the social security fund.
NEW YORK (AP) ? With a partial power outage, an overly excited quarterback and a game that suddenly turned from snoozer to sizzler, CBS had its hands full at the Super Bowl. The game fell short of setting a viewership record, but it stands as the third most-watched program in U.S. television history.
The Nielsen Co. said an estimated 108.4 million people watched the Baltimore Ravens' 34-31 victory over the San Francisco 49ers. The most-watched events in U.S. TV history were last year's game, seen by 111.3 million, and the 2010 game, with 111 million viewers.
CBS had hoped to make it the fourth year in a row that football's ultimate game broke the record for most-watched event in American television history. But pro football ratings in general have been down slightly this year.
When the Ravens' Jacoby Jones returned the opening kickoff of the second half for a touchdown and gave his team a 28-6 lead, CBS' dream of a ratings record surely became even more distant. And then half the lights went out. CBS' ratings immediately dipped by two full ratings points in the overnight measurement of big cities.
When the lights returned, so did the 49ers. They quickly jumped back in the game and CBS' audience, no doubt fueled by social media chatter, came back, too. CBS was blessed with the dream of every network that telecasts the Super Bowl: a game that isn't decided until the final play.
CBS had a moment of dead air when the field darkened, since power was lost in the control booth where Jim Nantz and Phil Simms worked. After a commercial break, sideline anchor Steve Tasker appeared to say there had been a power outage. CBS then filled time with its football pregame team, showing highlights and speculating on how the delay would affect the teams.
At the precise moment the lights went out, CBS' Armen Keteyian was in the NFL's control booth, conducting an interview with Frank Supovitz, senior vice president of the NFL in charge of events.
"In the NFL control room, there was no panic, but there was an undeniable amount of uncertainty about the cause," Keteyian said Monday on "CBS This Morning." Keteyian was filming for a "60 Minutes Sports" report scheduled to be aired Wednesday on Showtime. CBS News did not participate in live coverage of the power outage.
The power outage was an immediate hot topic for quips and questions online. There were an estimated 47.7 million social media posts during the game, according to the company Trendrr TV, which tracks activity on Twitter, Facebook and other social networks. That compares with 17 million during last year's game and 3 million in 2010, Trendrr said.
Baltimore had the highest rating of any individual city, Nielsen said. San Francisco was not among the top 10 cities in ratings.
CBS showcased its freshman drama, "Elementary," to an estimated audience of 20.8 million people after the game. That was markedly down from the 37.6 million who watched "The Voice" on NBC after the 2011 game or the 26.8 million who saw "Glee" on Fox in 2010. CBS noted that the drama did not begin until 11:11 p.m. on the East Coast because of the Superdome power outage.
CBS drew criticism from the Parents Television Council for not editing out a profanity said by Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco shortly after the game. Flacco was caught by microphones describing his team's victory as "f------ awesome."
"No one should be surprised that a jubilant quarterback might use profane language while celebrating a career-defining win, but that is precisely the reason why CBS should have taken some precautions," said Tim Winter, president of the lobbying group, asking for the Federal Communications Commission to rebuke CBS.
The network had no immediate comment Monday on the complaint.
CBS has said it was airing the pregame, postgame and halftime portions of the show on tape delay to guard against the use of bad language or wardrobe malfunctions. The postgame delay does not begin until the first block of commercials after the game, which hadn't happened before Flacco's expletive.
CBS' Craig Ferguson was quick to poke fun at the power outage on his comedy show, which aired after "Elementary." He was shown plugging actress Lucy Liu's cellphone charger into a power outlet at the Superdome, despite instructions not to use it.
"It's one outlet," Ferguson said. "What could possibly go wrong?"
The picture switched to the lights going out in half the dome.
MIDLAND CITY, Alabama (Reuters) - U.S. authorities stormed an underground bunker in rural Alabama on Monday, rescuing a 5-year-old boy held hostage for nearly a week and leaving his kidnapper dead.
After a standoff of more than six days, FBI agents entered the bunker when they feared the child was in "imminent danger" at the hands of his abductor, who had killed a school bus driver, said Steve Richardson, special agent in charge in Mobile, Alabama.
The kidnapper, identified as 65-year-old Jimmy Lee Dykes, had previously allowed authorities to deliver medication, coloring books and toys to the kindergarten student, who is due to celebrate his birthday on Wednesday.
But negotiations deteriorated in the 24 hours before agents entered the bunker, Richardson told a news conference.
"Mr. Dykes was observed holding a gun," the FBI agent said.
Law enforcement officials would not confirm on Monday how Dykes died.
The standoff gripped a rural corner of southeast Alabama with dread, shuttering local schools and prompting prayers and vigils for the boy identified only as Ethan.
By all accounts, Dykes had taken him from the bus at random, reinforcing concerns that have been raised about U.S. school safety and gun violence since the December shooting deaths of 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school.
"It just shows you how close it can come," one of Dykes' neighbors, 42-year-old Angie Adams, said of the violence, adding she now plans one day to home school her 2-year-old daughter.
"We waited 10 years to have her and we would be devastated" if something happened, Adams said.
The drama near Midland City began when Dykes, a retired trucker who served in the Navy during the Vietnam War era, boarded a school bus ferrying more than 20 children home last Tuesday and demanded that the driver let a student off the bus, according to authorities.
PHYSICALLY UNHARMED
When driver Charles Albert Poland, 66, refused, Dykes shot him four times with a 9 mm handgun, local sheriff's department officials said.
"To Mr. Poland's family, we would like to express our condolences," Dale County Sheriff Wally Olson said. "Also our appreciation to a hero who through his brave actions saved many lives."
Dykes fled with the child to a homemade bunker equipped with a television and electric heaters on the man's property off a dirt road. Authorities would not confirm news reports that said negotiators had remained in contact with Dykes by talking through a PVC pipe connected to the underground shelter.
The child was being treated at a local hospital but appeared physically unharmed, Richardson said. He is said to suffer from Asperger's Syndrome and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder.
"He's laughing, joking, playing, eating," Richardson said. "He's very brave. He's very lucky."
A local law enforcement source said a stun or flash grenade was detonated as part of the operation to free the boy, but further details were not immediately released.
Late on Monday, bomb technicians were clearing the crime scene and looking for explosives, said FBI Special Agent Jason Pack. Authorities said the investigation could take days to complete.
Law enforcement officials offered few insights about Dykes and their negotiations with him before the rescue.
Dale County Sheriff Wally Olson said the gunman had a "very complex" story to tell.
"Based on our discussion with Mr. Dykes, he feels like he has a story that's important to him, although it's very complex," Olson said, without elaborating.
According to neighbors, the reclusive Dykes moved into the Midland City area about two years ago and was often seen patrolling the property where he lived in a trailer with a gun and flashlight at night.
He had been due to appear for a trial before a judge last Wednesday after his recent arrest on a menacing charge involving one of his neighbors.
Another neighbor, who said he grew up with Dykes and also served in the Navy around the same time, suspected the court case might have sparked his unraveling.
"When he kidnapped those kids, he was afraid of losing his property, his rights, his freedom and going to jail," said Mel Adams, who owns a used car lot.
But, Adams added, "We had no idea on Earth he would turn into a monster like this."
(Additional reporting by Tom Brown; Writing by Colleen Jenkins; Editing by Cynthia Johnston, Cynthia Osterman and Xavier Briand)
A 'nudge' can be the ethical choice Public release date: 4-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Gracie Gutierrez ggutierr@bcm.edu 713-798-4710 Baylor College of Medicine
HOUSTON -- (Feb. 6, 2013) As patients and physicians share decision-making in choices among treatment options, decision aids such as videos, websites, pamphlets or books are coming to play an important role. However, in some cases, it may be ethical for the decision aids to provide a "nudge" toward a particular option, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine, the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in a report that appears in the journal Health Affairs.
In general, decision aids are meant to be even-handed, presenting information in a non-judgmental way, said Dr. Jennifer Blumenthal-Barby, assistant professor in the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at BCM. However, as she began to consider different situations in which they might be used, she realized that this might not always be helpful to patients.
"There are situations in which I think it is okay for a decision aid to favor one option more," she said. In the paper, she and her colleagues described three scenarios in which such "nudges" might be the ethical choice:
In early stage prostate cancer, active surveillance of early stage prostate cancer is a clinically viable option of which patients are often aware and are often not offered.
Screening for colorectal cancer, which is low risk and high benefit.
Treatment for deep vein thrombosis, which involves a choice between two alternatives that could be affected by the patient's habits, concerns or preferences.
In using decision aids, the patient and physician are supposed to sit down together and watch a video, look at a website or go over written material that is designed to spell out the risks and benefits of each treatment for a particular disease.
"Decision aids came into being because of the concern that clinicians aren't telling patients all the options," said Blumenthal-Barby. "Decision aids standardize things so patients get a fair view of all the options, their risks and benefits."
In some cases, however, an even-handed presentation may not give patients a fair understanding of the options. In those cases, it might be ethical to alter the playing field by placing a certain option first or help patients understand how one option might be compatible with their lives while another might not.
In the case of early prostate cancer, the data support active surveillance as a viable treatment option for a subset of patients, but many physicians do not discuss it as an option or do not go into it in depth. In that case, she said, designing the decision aid to make patients think about it more might be the best choice.
In the second case, the guidelines recommend that people ages 50 to 75 years be screened by one of four methods. In this case, said Blumenthal-Barby and her colleagues, the aid might highlight the four methods colonoscopy, flexible sigmoidoscopy, computed tomography colonography or fecal tests and not include a fifth option no screening at all.
In this way, the decision aid is even-handed in its presentation of screening options but unbalanced in the decision of screening versus not screening.
Patients who have suffered deep vein thrombosis (a blood clot deep in the body) require extended treatment to prevent future blood clots. For most patients, taking an anticoagulant called warfarin by mouth or injections of low-molecular weight heparin (another anticoagulant) under the skin is equally effective.
However, the oral warfarin treatment requires that patients exclude some foods such as leafy green vegetables or alcohol from their diets and have their blood levels of the drug checked frequently. While the daily or twice daily injections of heparin may be distasteful to people who dislike needles, they do not require the dietary changes or the frequent testing of the other treatment.
In this case, said Blumenthal-Barby, the decision aid should include a "values clarification" exercise that enables the patient to consider what is most important to him or her and then the option that is most in line with that should be encouraged t.
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Others who took part in this report include Dr. Heidi Voelker Russell, associate professor of pediatrics at BCM, Dr. Aanand D. Naik, of the Houston VA Health Services Research and Development Center of Excellence at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center and assistant professor of medicine health services research at BCM, Dr. Scott B. Cantor, professor of biostatistics, and Dr. Robert J. Volk, professor of general internal medicine, both at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Funding for this work came from the Greenwall Foundation, the Pfizer Foundation and the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
This paper and others on the "New Era of Patient Engagement" will be discussed at a briefing in Washington, D.C., at 8 a.m. on Feb. 6, 2013. Blumenthal-Barby will be one of the presenters.
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A 'nudge' can be the ethical choice Public release date: 4-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Gracie Gutierrez ggutierr@bcm.edu 713-798-4710 Baylor College of Medicine
HOUSTON -- (Feb. 6, 2013) As patients and physicians share decision-making in choices among treatment options, decision aids such as videos, websites, pamphlets or books are coming to play an important role. However, in some cases, it may be ethical for the decision aids to provide a "nudge" toward a particular option, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine, the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in a report that appears in the journal Health Affairs.
In general, decision aids are meant to be even-handed, presenting information in a non-judgmental way, said Dr. Jennifer Blumenthal-Barby, assistant professor in the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at BCM. However, as she began to consider different situations in which they might be used, she realized that this might not always be helpful to patients.
"There are situations in which I think it is okay for a decision aid to favor one option more," she said. In the paper, she and her colleagues described three scenarios in which such "nudges" might be the ethical choice:
In early stage prostate cancer, active surveillance of early stage prostate cancer is a clinically viable option of which patients are often aware and are often not offered.
Screening for colorectal cancer, which is low risk and high benefit.
Treatment for deep vein thrombosis, which involves a choice between two alternatives that could be affected by the patient's habits, concerns or preferences.
In using decision aids, the patient and physician are supposed to sit down together and watch a video, look at a website or go over written material that is designed to spell out the risks and benefits of each treatment for a particular disease.
"Decision aids came into being because of the concern that clinicians aren't telling patients all the options," said Blumenthal-Barby. "Decision aids standardize things so patients get a fair view of all the options, their risks and benefits."
In some cases, however, an even-handed presentation may not give patients a fair understanding of the options. In those cases, it might be ethical to alter the playing field by placing a certain option first or help patients understand how one option might be compatible with their lives while another might not.
In the case of early prostate cancer, the data support active surveillance as a viable treatment option for a subset of patients, but many physicians do not discuss it as an option or do not go into it in depth. In that case, she said, designing the decision aid to make patients think about it more might be the best choice.
In the second case, the guidelines recommend that people ages 50 to 75 years be screened by one of four methods. In this case, said Blumenthal-Barby and her colleagues, the aid might highlight the four methods colonoscopy, flexible sigmoidoscopy, computed tomography colonography or fecal tests and not include a fifth option no screening at all.
In this way, the decision aid is even-handed in its presentation of screening options but unbalanced in the decision of screening versus not screening.
Patients who have suffered deep vein thrombosis (a blood clot deep in the body) require extended treatment to prevent future blood clots. For most patients, taking an anticoagulant called warfarin by mouth or injections of low-molecular weight heparin (another anticoagulant) under the skin is equally effective.
However, the oral warfarin treatment requires that patients exclude some foods such as leafy green vegetables or alcohol from their diets and have their blood levels of the drug checked frequently. While the daily or twice daily injections of heparin may be distasteful to people who dislike needles, they do not require the dietary changes or the frequent testing of the other treatment.
In this case, said Blumenthal-Barby, the decision aid should include a "values clarification" exercise that enables the patient to consider what is most important to him or her and then the option that is most in line with that should be encouraged t.
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Others who took part in this report include Dr. Heidi Voelker Russell, associate professor of pediatrics at BCM, Dr. Aanand D. Naik, of the Houston VA Health Services Research and Development Center of Excellence at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center and assistant professor of medicine health services research at BCM, Dr. Scott B. Cantor, professor of biostatistics, and Dr. Robert J. Volk, professor of general internal medicine, both at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Funding for this work came from the Greenwall Foundation, the Pfizer Foundation and the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
This paper and others on the "New Era of Patient Engagement" will be discussed at a briefing in Washington, D.C., at 8 a.m. on Feb. 6, 2013. Blumenthal-Barby will be one of the presenters.
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Public release date: 4-Feb-2013
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