'30 Rock' moms didn't get the Beyonce treatment

By Ree Hines

Finally! After a longer-than-usual break between seasons, thanks to the arrival of actress and show creator Tina Fey's newest addition, "30 Rock" returns to Thursday night's primetime lineup this week. Fey and her fellow off-screen mom and "Rock" star Jane Krakowski visited TODAY Tuesday morning to tease the action to come.

Well, they teased the show, but only after they teased another celebrity mom ? Beyonce.

As it turned out, both actresses used the same hospital that hosted Beyonce and baby Blue Ivy -- New York's Lenox Hill -- but their stays lacked the alleged A-List treatment the singer received.

"We had very similar experiences to Beyonce and Jay-Z," Krakowski joked.

"My celebrity treatment at Lenox Hill involved taking a group breastfeeding class in a closet," Fey added. "It's clearly supposed to be a storage closet with a bunch of other mothers, and a nurse grabs one of your breasts and another lady's and is shoving them in a baby's mouth."

When Fey followed up the jibe with praise for the hospital's nursing staff, TODAY host Matt Lauer wondered if that could be a hint that she planned to use their maternity services again.

"No! Next time I'm there, it'll be with a broken leg."

Zing! Fans of "30 Rock" will get plenty more laughs from the ladies when the new season kicks off, as a clip of what's to come revealed.

"In our show-within-a-show, in our fake NBC world, there's a new show called 'America's Kids Got Singing,'" Fey explained, setting up the sneak peek. "Jane's character, Jenna, is a judge. She's kind of the mean, Simon Cowell judge."

Cut to Jenna's perfect worst-than-Cowell impression.

"I'm about to get raw with you," she's seen telling one young auditioner. "You're weird, Libby. Even if you could sing, with that face, it would be like eating a steak that just came out of a dumpster. Here's my advice, Libby. Go and work on your presentation. Take voice lessons. Then seal yourself in a barrel and fall off of a waterfall."

And Krakowski's character isn't the only one with a new vibe.

"Liz Lemon's finally got it together," Fey said. "We're kind of catching up with her in the middle of her year. She's uncharacteristically happy, and they're trying to figure out what it is."

In addition to those promising plot points, there's more good news for "30 Rock" fans. Despite past predictions to the contrary from actor Alec Baldwin, the cast -- including Baldwin -- are ready and willing to show up for another season.

"We're all ready to come back if NBC wants up back," Fey said. "I'd love that."

The season premiere of "30 Rock" airs Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.

Are you looking forward to the return of "30 Rock"? Tell us on our Facebook page.

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Source: http://theclicker.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/10/10093243-30-rock-moms-fey-and-krakowski-didnt-get-the-beyonce-treatment

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Kristy McNichol Comes Out as Lesbian, Aims to Help Troubled Teens


Kristy McNichol, an Emmy-winning actress best known for roles on Family and Empty Nest, has come out to People: she's a lesbian who has been living with partner Martie Allen (pictured) for 20 years.

Kristy McNichol, Girlfriend

Why go public with this information?

Because McNichol "is very sad about kids being bullied," her publicist, Jeff Ballard, tells the magazine. "She hopes that coming out can help kids who need support. She would like to help others who feel different."

McNichol has been out of the spotlight for years. In the 1980s, she left acting for awhile due to emotional issues that included bouts of depression and has not appeared in a movie or a TV show since 1998.

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/kristy-mcnichol-comes-out-as-lesbian-aims-to-help-troubled-teens/

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Anger over Mexican parking attendant beating video (AP)

MEXICO CITY ? The case of a wealthy Mexican man seen on video beating a parking attendant at his apartment building has stirred anger among Mexicans stung in recent months by a series of class-discrimination scandals.

The Mexico City prosecutor's office did not confirm the authenticity of the surveillance camera footage posted Tuesday on YouTube. But the office issued a charge report that matched the location and actions seen on the video, and confirmed the incident involved in the allegation was indeed taped.

Prosecutors said Miguel Sacal was charged with causing injuries to the attendant in the July 8 incident in the lobby of an apartment building in the upscale neighborhood of Bosques de las Lomas.

The crime report states that Sacal asked the parking attendant to show him where the jack for his car was, and fix his flat tire.

The report said Sacal was accused of beating the attendant after he refused to change the tire. It said considerable injuries were done to the attendant's teeth and mouth.

The video that appeared on YouTube depicts a sadistic attack in which a man identified as Sacal insults the attendant, calling him a "cat" ? Mexican slang that means roughly "flunky." The man then repeatedly slaps and punches the attendant and slams his head around, as other employees make halfhearted attempts to separate the two or simply stand by.

Hugo Enrique Vega, who identified himself to local media as the victim of the beating, said he told Sacal the jack was in the trunk of his car, but he couldn't leave his post because he had to be available to park other residents' cars.

Vega said he felt powerless and took the beating because he was afraid of losing his job. But he later filed a crime report against Sacal.

Prosecutors said Sacal had obtained a court injunction against arrest, a tactic frequently used by wealthy people in Mexico to avoid jail, but was still formally on trial though he was not in jail.

The office said Sacal was challenging Vega's description of the severity of his injuries.

The video was posted on the websites of Mexico's major newspapers. One reader, Rocio Romero Barron, wrote in the comment section: "What arrogance and cowardice this man displayed. I am also amazed by the indifference of this man's fellow employees."

In December, the daughter of the leading contender for Mexico's presidency, Enrique Pena Nieto, retweeted a message calling her father's critics a "bunch of idiots who form part of the proletariat." That led many of Pena Nieto's opponents to don placards reading "I'm a proletarian, too."

And in August, two upper middle-class women drew widespread anger when they were caught on video snobbily insulting, shoving and slapping a Mexico City cop, insulting his mother and calling him a "crappy wage slave."

In a country where most municipal police are dark-skinned and earn an average of only about 4,000 pesos ($300) a month, the sight of a taller, light-skinned woman spewing some of the worst verbal insults in the Mexican lexicon caused anger.

The women were later charged with resisting officers, insulting authorities and discrimination.

Mexico has an extremely unequal distribution of income, with about 47 million of its 112.7 million people living in poverty while the country also boasts of being home to the world's richest man, Carlos Slim.

(This version CORRECTS Corrects that victim was parking attendant sted doorman; updates with details)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mexico/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120111/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_mexico_video_beating

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Smart cooktop knows where your pots are

David Friedman / msnbc.com

By Wilson Rothman

Thermador Freedom cooktop doesn't have circles where you put your pots?? you put pots and pans of any size anywhere on the surface, and the system identifies them and heats them up, as needed. And when you move a pot, say, to make more room, the cooktop follows it, and keeps things hot.

It heats with induction, like many high-end cooktops in Europe and Asia, but it uses 48 separate 3-inch heating elements to apply just the right amount of energy for your needs. Like other induction burners, it requires pots that have enough iron in them to permit the magnetic process, but in my experience, most higher-end cookware from All-Clad, Le Creuset and others?? and of course, those good old cast iron skillets?? tend to work fine.

David Friedman / msnbc.com

The Thermador Freedom cooktop has 48 individual heating elements (shown here in a specially build demonstration model).

The touchscreen interface lets you select your pan and apply power settings and even cook time. And there's a "Boost" feature to crank the heat, with 4,600 watts of power, to give you the kind of heat needed for stir fry, you know when you really need to wok out.

The thing will cost $5,000 when it comes to the U.S. in July, so it's a bit of an aspirational product for editor types who are also cooking enthusiasts. But if you do have the coin, and a chance to remodel your kitchen, this sounds like it should be on the top of your list.

More CES 2012 coverage on msnbc.com's Gadgetbox:

We'll be posting live from Las Vegas this week at CES 2012. If you have questions or comments, shoot Wilson a tweet at @wjrothman, or grab one of the other Gadgetbox team members featured in the widget on the right. As usual, you can catch our ongoing conversation about technology over on Facebook.

Source: http://gadgetbox.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/09/10061073-smart-cooktop-knows-where-your-pots-are

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Overhead Bin - Spending on business travel to increase in 2012

By Rob Lovitt, msnbc.com contributor

If you want an indication of where the economy is going, look for business travelers the next time you fly or check into a hotel.

The more companies spend on business travel, the more likely the economy is inching closer to a recovery, and a new report hints at that very possibility for 2012.

On Tuesday, the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) released its latest Business Travel Quarterly Outlook, which monitors business travel spending among U.S. companies. According to the report, spending on business travel is expected to top $263 billion dollars this year, an increase of 4.6 percent over last year.

?We?ve hit the reset button from pre-recession levels,? said Michael McCormick, executive director and chief operating officer. ?We?re back at the level we were at in 2007.?

Alas, it?s not all good news as most of the increase is expected to come from rising travel costs rather than an increase in the number of trips taken. While the number of trips business travelers took in 2011 was up 2.1 percent over the year before, GBTA predicts they?ll post a slight decline of 0.8 percent this year.

Nevertheless, says McCormick, the fact that businesses are spending money on travel is itself a positive sign ? not just for businesses but for the travel industry and the nation.

?Business travelers are a big driver of the economy,? he told msnbc.com. ?The amount of revenue dollars and tax dollars that are created by business travelers being out there is a great way to measure the health of the economy.??

Recent research from Deloitte LLP provides some cause for optimism. In September, the market research and consulting company conducted a survey of 1,000 business travelers and 85 percent of respondents said they expected to take the same number or more trips in 2012 than in 2011.

According to Adam Weissenberg, vice chairman of global travel, hospitality and leisure at Deloitte LLP, much of that bullishness can be traced to Gen X and Gen Y business travelers. While only 16 percent of respondents ages 45 and older are planning more trips this year, 27 percent of those between 18 and 44 expect to travel for work.

?Gen X and Gen Y travelers are making up more of the workforce and they?re also more optimistic,? said Weissenberg. Furthermore, their influence is becoming increasingly apparent, he told msnbc.com, as hotels renovate formal lobbies into friendlier, social venues; airlines offer more online and mobile services; and more ?lifestyle? restaurants offer a middle ground between fast-food and waiter service.

Such changes, of course, won?t happen overnight, just as the improving economy is proving to be a slow-motion affair. In the meantime, both McCormick and Weissenberg maintain that as business travel goes, so goes the larger economy ? at least eventually.

?There?s typically a lag between business travel and the economy,? said Weissenberg. ?Historically, heading into a recession, [the drop in] business travel is about six months behind because people have already booked plane tickets, set up meetings, paid fees for conferences. That doesn?t change overnight.?

Conversely, as companies begin to see signs of economic growth, they gradually become more optimistic to the point that they start sending people back out on the road. According to GBTA, business travel typically lags the economy by a quarter (of a four-quarter year), which suggests the effects of that optimism will start to show up this spring or summer.

?What we?re seeing now is that 2012 is looking better than 2011,? said Weissenberg. "Clearly, it?s a good sign.?

Rob Lovitt is a longtime travel writer who still believes the journey is as important as the destination. Follow him at Twitter.

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Source: http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/10/10077034-spending-on-business-travel-to-increase-in-2012

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New Mexico's highest paid health care workers are in Ruidoso, Los Alamos

Thinkstock

Fourteen U.S. markets are home to more than 10,000 private-sector companies in the related fields of health care and social assistance.

Health care has emerged as one of the fastest-growing components of the nation's economy.

Fourteen U.S. markets are home to more than 10,000 private-sector companies in the related fields of health care and social assistance. And 33 areas have more than 100,000 workers in those same industries.

The Albuquerque area has 2,040 private-sector health care and social assistance companies, with 46,854 workers. The annual payroll for those workers is $2,013,224,000 or $43,000 per worker.

The two cities in New Mexico with the highest pay per health care worker are Ruidoso and Los Alamos. Ruidoso's 489 health care workers make an average annual pay of $49,700, while Los Alamos' 902 health care workers make an average of $44,400 annually.

See the data on all 18 New Mexico cities and town in the database at the end of the story at this link.

Topping the list is the New York metropolitan area. It has 56,600 health care and social assistance firms, which employ 1.3 million workers. The runner-up is Los Angeles, with 38,700 businesses and 616,200 employees.

On Numbers analyzed the nation's health care and social assistance industries, using 2009 data from the U.S. Census Bureau?

On Numbers looked at 915 metropolitan and micropolitan areas. The 915 markets contain 755,000 private-sector businesses in the fields of health care and social assistance. Those companies employ 16.6 million workers, paying them a total of $708 billion in 2009. ...

Health care has emerged as one of the fastest-growing components of the nation's economy.

Fourteen U.S. markets are home to more than 10,000 private-sector companies in the related fields of health care and social assistance. And 33 areas have more than 100,000 workers in those same industries.

The Albuquerque area has 2,040 private-sector health care and social assistance companies, with 46,854 workers. The annual payroll for those workers is $2,013,224,000 or $43,000 per worker.

The two cities in New Mexico with the highest pay per health care worker are Ruidoso and Los Alamos. Ruidoso's 489 health care workers make an average annual pay of $49,700, while Los Alamos' 902 health care workers make an average of $44,400 annually.

See the data on all 18 New Mexico cities and town in the database at the end of the story at this link.

Topping the list is the New York metropolitan area. It has 56,600 health care and social assistance firms, which employ 1.3 million workers. The runner-up is Los Angeles, with 38,700 businesses and 616,200 employees.

On Numbers analyzed the nation's health care and social assistance industries, using 2009 data from the U.S. Census Bureau?

On Numbers looked at 915 metropolitan and micropolitan areas. The 915 markets contain 755,000 private-sector businesses in the fields of health care and social assistance. Those companies employ 16.6 million workers, paying them a total of $708 billion in 2009.

San Jose, Calif., leads the nation in pay per worker. Its 93,000 health care and social assistance employees make an average of $58,200.


G. Scott Thomas of The Business Journals compiled this report.

Source: http://feeds.bizjournals.com/~r/vertical_38/~3/IZn47M7cyRk/new-mexicos-highest-paid-health-care.html

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The BCS as we know it is going away

(AP) ? The Bowl Championship Series as college football fans have come to know it is going away.

Over the next six months, the people who oversee the much-maligned postseason format will talk about how to reconstruct the system for crowning a national champion. In the tumultuous 14-year history of the BCS, the appetite for change among college football's leaders has never been stronger.

"It's my impression that ... there will be meaningful discussion about possible changes to the BCS," Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive said last week as SEC rivals LSU and Alabama prepared to play in the title game Monday night at the Superdome.

The 11 conference commissioners and Notre Dame's athletic director will meet Tuesday in New Orleans to exchange ideas.

What the changes will be is hard to say because it's all open for debate, from eliminating automatic bids to top-tier bowl games to creating a four-team playoff ? an idea that's known as the plus-one model.

What's not a realistic option is exactly what many football fans are clamoring for, a full-scale playoff that would require numerous teams to play additional games.

"Whatever we do we have to protect the regular season," BCS executive director Bill Hancock said Monday at a meeting of the Football Writers Association of America. "I think the larger the playoff field the more damage to the regular season."

Still, there is likely to be a BCS extreme makeover in the 2014 season.

"Everything you can imagine will be discussed," Hancock said. "Everything from format, who plays who, to where they play, to the business aspect of it ... it's all going to be on the table."

The last time changes were considered was 2008. That's when Slive, with the support of Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford, made a push for the plus-one model to the rest of the group.

Slive's proposal was unceremoniously shot down.

Simply put, the plus-one would match the No. 1 team in the BCS standings after the regular season against the No. 4 team in a bowl game, and No. 2 against No. 3 in another, creating two national semifinals.

The winners would play in a championship game the following week.

It's a format that Alabama coach Nick Saban has always liked.

"I just feel that only having two teams sort of takes a lot of teams out of it," he said during media day in New Orleans.

Currently, the top two teams in the BCS standings after the regular season, including conference championships, advance to the title game. It's a format that's led to frequent debates about whether the right teams were getting a shot to play for a national title.

This year's controversy involved whether Alabama (11-1) should get a second chance at undefeated LSU or if Big 12 champion Oklahoma State (12-1, including its bowl victory over Stanford) had earned a shot to play for the national title.

The BCS has often caused as many arguments as settled them, and drawn the ire of fans all over the country in the process. It's also come under pressure from a political action committee called PlayoffPAC, and been the subject of a congressional hearing and a Department of Justice inquiry. Even President Barack Obama has said he doesn't like it.

Apparently, all that consternation is starting to register with the decision-makers in the sport.

"I sense that people who run college football and run the conferences obviously are not tone-deaf," said Burke Magnus, ESPN senior vice president of college sports programming.

The structure in place, with four bowl games ? the Orange, Sugar, Rose and Fiesta ? each taking turns hosting the championship game, in addition to its bowl, could handle the plus-one.

Slive said that he will not be the one championing the plus-one this time around.

"I'm eager to hear from my colleagues about their views, but I fully anticipate that there will also be a meaningful discussion about the plus-one," he said.

Standing in the way of the plus-one last time were the Big Ten, Pac-10, Big East and Big 12.

Since then, the Pac-10 has become the Pac-12 and it has a new commissioner, Larry Scott, who has quickly established himself as one of the most forward-thinking leaders in college sports. Previous commissioner Tom Hansen was adamantly against a plus-one. Scott is willing to listen.

"We don't have a definite opinion on that or any other model yet," he said. "It's a little premature. Those conversations are going to start in earnest this spring and I'll have opportunities to talk to other people informally within our conference and with other conferences between now and then."

The Big 12 has an interim commissioner, with Chuck Neinas replacing the ousted Dan Beebe, who was a vocal opponent of any type of playoff. The embattled Big East has a new commissioner, too. John Marinatto has been busy trying to save his league, and it's doubtful the conference is in a position to be a force in the upcoming BCS negotiations.

What hasn't changed is the Big Ten's stance, led by its influential commissioner, Jim Delany.

Delany is steadfastly against a full-blown playoff and has said his biggest fear with the plus-one would be that once a four-team playoff becomes a reality it would inevitably grow.

"I don't necessarily think the slippery slope is theoretical," he said last month. "I think the slippery slope is practical."

But Delany has come out in favor of another potentially major change to how all the other marquee bowl games are set: the elimination of automatic bids.

The Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, ACC, SEC and Pac-12 champions receive automatic entry into the BCS. One champion from the Mountain West Conference, the Western Athletic Conference, the Sun Belt Conference, the Mid-American Conference and Conference USA can potentially earn an automatic bid each season by reaching certain BCS standings targets.

That format has allowed teams such as TCU and Boise State to play in the BCS, but it's also created a class system.

A free market would ostensibly mean the most-deserving teams would play in the biggest games. But the free market in college football is often more about earning potential for bowl organizers than performance on the field, which could lead to more opportunities for brand-name teams from the power conferences and less for upstarts such as Boise State in all the bowls, not just the BCS.

"I think it's time to look at the entire system," said Mountain West Conference commissioner Craig Thompson, a playoff advocate who appeared with Hancock on Monday.

It's clear there is much work to be done before June, when BCS officials will need to have a new format in place to negotiate the next television contract. The current ESPN deal runs through the 2013 season and the network will get first crack at retaining whatever postseason system is created.

"We've had a fairly lengthy timeline with the current process," Slive said. "It's time to take measure of where we were. What's working. What isn't working. I think it's time. I think it's a good time.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-09-BCS%20Going%20Away/id-81b17ff1d0e74188b9c2ae8951e87e8d

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BofA prunes senior ranks in Asia investment banking: sources (Reuters)

HONG KONG (Reuters) ? Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (BAC.N), the second-largest U.S. bank by assets, is cutting around a fifth of its managing directors across its Asia investment banking division, sources said on Monday, in a bid to cut costs as the outlook sours in a once-booming region.

Foreign banks in Asia stepped up their cost cutting in the latter part of last year and are now moving up the experience chain to prune positions and units seen as too expensive in the current environment.

Some 15 of BofA's 75 Asia managing directors in that unit will be gone by end-March through early retirement, transfer or the standard pink slip, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the matter. Among the departures is managing director Michael Cho, a veteran Merrill Lynch Asia M&A banker.

Headhunters interviewed by Reuters said the bank's reduction in its ranks of managing directors in Asia was a deeper-than-usual cull of senior bankers, but reflects the broad challenges the investment banking industry faces.

"That sounds like carnage," said Richard Broadhurst, who runs Hong Kong-based Initiative Recruitment.

TOP TITLE

Cho was the co-head of mergers and acquisitions in Asia ex-Japan, Australia and India and was appointed to the role in May 2009. His departure would represent one of the most senior Asia Pacific investment bankers to leave his post since the region wide cuts began in the fall.

Dow Jones first reported Cho's departure on Monday.

Cho could not immediately be reached for comment. Cho's co-head, Zhang Xiuping, will remain with BofA, the source said.

In a unique move, BofA is putting some of its analysts and associates - typically the youngest and newest members of a bank - into a general pool rather than assign them to a specific team, the sources said. This would allow the bank to set these younger bankers to any urgent and fee-producing work for any part of the business, rather than have them wait for their unit to see better demand.

Managing director is the top title attained at most investment banks, and in good years guarantees pay of $1-$3 million, including bonus. The title is earned for years of hard work or a shorter period of significant fee in-take.

But in leaner times or during a business restructuring or repositioning, MDs are targeted as the most expensive employees and the quickest way to reduce a significant cost. MDs who are not directly involved with client relationships that bring in revenue are usually the first to go.

BofA began its round of investment banking cuts in Asia on Monday, said the sources, who did not want to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

The move is consistent with what BofA is doing globally as it aims to streamline the corporate and investment banking businesses and reduce costs wherever it can. The cost cutting initiative, known as "New BAC", targets the reduction of 30,000 jobs, the bank has previously disclosed.

Asia's rapid economic growth allowed the region to avoid some of the large lay-off rounds triggered in the United States and Europe by the financial crisis. The region now, though, has shown that it's no longer spared from such moves.

Large banks across the world have outlined plans to cut more than 125,000 jobs this year, according to a Reuters tally.

Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) and Morgan Stanley (MS.N) fired analysts and brokers at their Australian operations on Monday as part of global job cuts, said two sources with direct knowledge of the cuts.

BofA kicked off its Asia cost cutting late last year, focusing on its Global Banking and Markets division, laying off bankers in the sales and trading, fixed income and commodities trading desks.

The latest round targets the investment banking business in the region, or mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt capital markets, said the sources.

Bank of America, which has around 6,000 employees across Asia, declined to comment.

BofA shares have slumped to around $6 each from more than $15 a year ago and almost $55 five years ago.

Separately, the bank has named Graham Seaton as head of its Asia Pacific prime brokerage, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters and confirmed by BofA spokesman Mark Tsang.

Seaton, who joined BofA in 1999, will be based in Hong Kong and report to Brian Canniffe, head of Asia Pacific Financing and Futures, and Soofian Zuberi, head of Asia Pacific Global Markets Sales & Structuring.

(Additional reporting by Saeed Azhar in SINGAPORE, Nishant Kumar and Denny Thomas in HONG KONG, Editing by Ian Geoghegan and Matt Driskill)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120110/bs_nm/us_bofa_asia

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Serenity Tattoo Church 'The Bridge' Non-Traditional - PostChronicle.com

A Michigan church is trying a new method of attracting parishioners - and it includes running a tattoo parlor in its house of worship.

Pastor Steve Bentley, who views tattoos much the same as getting one's ears pierced, says he wants to do all he can to bring people to his church, The Bridge, especially those who are not comfortable at 'traditional' churches.

Another goal is to remove formal barriers that might keep young families away.?Reports mLive.com: The Bridge is anything but traditional. It is inter-denominational, located in what was once a Bingo hall in a shopping plaza, conveniently located off a major freeway. It has a platform but no pulpit. Sunday services are called "weekend connections" and snacks and beverages are served after services.

The county licensed parlor, called Serenity Tattoo, is established inside the Flint, Michigan church.

It is run by recovering alcoholic Ryan Brown and his partner, former atheist Drew Blaisdell, who run the shop from noon til 8pm daily.

Pastor Bentley told reporters, "We are about doing church in a different way and being relevant to people," he said. "You can get a tattoo in a clean environment. You can do it while still sticking to your moral code."

Brown and Blaisdell said they won't fill requests for tattoos that glorify drugs, gangs, or the Devil.

Go here for the full story.

Source: http://www.postchronicle.com/news/strange/article_212395890.shtml

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Cancer cells feed on sugar-free diet

ScienceDaily (Jan. 10, 2012) ? Cancer cells have been long known to have a "sweet tooth," using vast amounts of glucose for energy and for building blocks for cell replication.

Now, a study by a team of researchers at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere shows that lymph gland cancer cells called B cells can use glutamine in the absence of glucose for cell replication and survival, particularly under low-oxygen conditions, which are common in tumors.

Writing in the Jan. 4, 2012, edition of Cell Metabolism, Anne Le, M.D., and a team of investigators collaborating with the Johns Hopkins Brain Science Institute, say the finding is critical for developing innovative cancer therapies because it offers "proof of concept" evidence that curbing the growth of B cell cancers can be accomplished by inhibiting a glutamine enzyme called glutaminase.

Le notes that although little is known about glutamine's role in the growth of B cell cancer, the amino acid circulates in the blood at the highest level among the 20 amino acids that do so.

The tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA or Krebs cycle) is classically regarded as a pathway for glucose oxidation. However, the experiments by Le and the team show that B cells oxidize glutamine when glucose is absent.

The study also found that when oxygen is scarce, there is enhanced conversion of glutamine to glutathione, an important agent for controlling the accumulation of oxygen-containing chemically reactive molecules that cause damage to normal cells.

When the investigators used a glutaminase inhibitor, cancerous growth of B cells was stopped in petri dishes.

"The flexibility of the TCA cycle in using both glutamine and glucose pathways may be important for cancer cells to proliferate and survive, especially under the low-oxygen and nutrient-deprived conditions often encountered in the tumor microenvironment," says Le.

Now, perhaps, scientists can exploit that survival strategy to stop cancer, according to former Johns Hopkins scientist Chi Dang, M.D., now at the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania. "A broader and deeper understanding of cancer cell metabolism and cancer cells'ability to reprogram biochemical pathways under metabolic stress can be a rich ground for therapeutic approaches targeting tumor metabolism," he says.

In addition to Le, an assistant professor in the Department of Pathology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, other researchers from Johns Hopkins who participated in this study include Sminu Bose, Arvin Gouw, Joseph Barbi, Takashi Tsukamoto, Camilo J. Rojas and Barbara Slusher. The Johns Hopkins Brain Science Institute, where Tsukamoto, Rojas and Slusher are faculty, is pursuing the development of new glutaminase inhibitor drugs.

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  1. Anne Le, Andrew?N. Lane, Max Hamaker, Sminu Bose, Arvin Gouw, Joseph Barbi, Takashi Tsukamoto, Camilio?J. Rojas, Barbara?S. Slusher, Haixia Zhang, Lisa?J. Zimmerman, Daniel?C. Liebler, Robbert?J.C. Slebos, Pawel?K. Lorkiewicz, Richard?M. Higashi, Teresa?W.M. Fan, Chi?V. Dang. Glucose-Independent Glutamine Metabolism via TCA Cycling for Proliferation and Survival in B Cells. Cell Metabolism, 2012; 15 (1): 110 DOI: 10.1016/j.cmet.2011.12.009

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