January Jones: Fashion criticism 'makes me laugh'

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) ? AMC's "Mad Men" drama may garner attention for bringing back '60s glamour, but January Jones, known for her daring red carpet looks, says she doesn't care what critics think of her personal style.

"I think that fashion is an art," the 35-year-old actress, who has topped many best- and worst-dressed lists, said in a recent interview. "It's a fun way to express yourself. ... And I sort of like not pleasing people a bit."

Take, for example, the Prabal Gurung gown she wore to this year's Screen Actors Guild Awards. Critics both praised and criticized the bold black-and-white structured ensemble.

"It makes me laugh when the 'Fashion Police' hate what I wear," Jones said. "I loved my whole look that night. It was really fun. And I just like people looking at me like I was crazy."

Another daring style that left critics divided: her dramatic 2012 Emmys look. Jones made a statement with a severe slicked-back hairdo, smoky cat eyes and a semisheer black organza number by Zac Posen.

Jones returns as steely housewife Betty Francis, ex-wife of Madison Avenue adman Don Draper, when the new season of "Mad Men" premieres Sunday (9 p.m. EDT).

And whether you love or hate her fashion choices, Jones welcomes the attention.

"That's good, I embrace it," she said of being considered a style icon. "I love fashion so much, and I keep trying to push the envelope and keep doing things that are fun for me, different."

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Online:

http://www.amctv.com

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/january-jones-fashion-criticism-makes-laugh-184453263.html

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More Stories from Columbia?s Military Veterans

In?The Eye?s?lead story this week, Stephen Snowder examines the lives of military veterans at Columbia. In compiling his story, Snowder spoke to more than a dozen veterans who shared their stories with us. Unfortunately, due to space constraints, some of their accounts had to be excised from the final print version. While the experiences of Justin Neal (GS ?13) and John Schiffer (GS ?15) did not make it to print, they are nonetheless powerful narratives that further illustrate the harsh reality of war, with all its tension, turmoil, and triumph.??Read on for their stories, and don?t forget to read the?full article.

?

Justin Neal, from Tennessee, is a senior in the School of General Studies. He enlisted in the Army as an infantryman and went to basic training in February of 2003. He was stationed in Alaska after basic training, but less than two months after arriving at his permanent duty station, he deployed to Afghanistan.

Neal?s job consisted of conducting foot patrols. He also conducted village assessments: ?We would go in there and ask the village elders if they knew of any hostiles, or if they had any weapons,? he explained. ?They pretty much always said no.? The real job, though, ?was pretty much just trying to draw fire. We were just walking around, like ?OK, well if we get shot at then we know there?s bad guys in the area.??

Early one afternoon, Neal was travelling as part of a convoy. Suddenly, he heard gunshots. With his fellow soldiers, he dismounted from his vehicle and started shooting back. The firefight lasted about five minutes, by Neal?s estimate.

Some of their soldiers were wounded, but no one in Neal?s unit was killed. He returned to Alaska in August of 2004. ?That was the most emotional thing for me, because when we got back, everyone was greeted by their friends or family. And I didn?t have anyone there? but it really sunk in, like, you?re back.?

Psychological counseling was offered to the soldiers who returned, ?but nobody takes it,? Neal told me. ?These are wild guys, warriors. No one gives a shit about what just happened in terms of how it?s going to affect you.?

Neal?s immediate desire upon returning from Afghanistan was to go out and get drunk. This has been such a common response to returning that many units now impose a mandatory lockdown for soldiers returning from deployment, requiring them to remain on the base.

One night, while out drinking, Neal got into a fight. ?I think I probably had a lot of aggression when I came home,? he told me. His response (again, typical among the veterans I talked to) was to deal with the problem himself ? he quit drinking for good, and he hasn?t had an alcoholic beverage since that night.

After Neal left the service, he began attending college in California. His high grades earned him a letter of interest from Columbia?s School of General Studies. ?I would not be at Columbia if it wasn?t for the Army,? Neal told me. ?I just wouldn?t. And it?s not because of the thing that I did in the Army, or anything inherent about the Army?but what it did for me, in terms of turning me around?I?m a product of the Army.?

?

John Schiffer, a member of the School of General Studies? class of 2015, served in the Marine Corps from 2007 to 2012. After graduating boot camp, he was stationed in Hawaii. In October of 2009, he was deployed to western Afghanistan.

As a signals intelligence specialist, Schiffer went out with patrols to collect intelligence and provide real-time updates to the units he was with. No one in Schiffer?s unit was killed, although some Marines were injured.

There was a Marine in another unit on the small base, however, who died after being shot on a mission. ?One that comes to mind is this guy named Birchfield, and I can remember that he was missing a front tooth. It?s odd that that is, like, my most significant memory about him now. I can remember him laughing, missing his front tooth,? Schiffer recalled. ?I was thinking he looked stupid, which I almost feel guilty for now.? The Marine was 24-year old Lance Corporal Joshua Birchfield. He was killed by small-arms fire on February 19, 2010.

With the death of Birchfield and others on the base, Schiffer recalls that he came to the realization that ?that line between being alive and being dead is very, very thin.?

Schiffer came back from Afghanistan in March of 2010. Part of the reintegration checklist that every Marine had to complete upon returning to Hawaii was a visit to the chaplain. Like everyone else I spoke to, however, Schiffer turned down further opportunities to be screened or treated for PTSD. ?I think, that close to the experience, I wasn?t really ready to think about it.?

Instead, Schiffer focused his attention on seemingly small details of everyday life ? his barracks room, for instance. He remembered thinking, ?There?d better be hot water? and ?there?d better be air conditioning. I?d better not get a roommate I hate.? He dealt with nightmares for a few months, but says they began to go away as he buried himself in the work of his newly-assigned role in Hawaii.

Schiffer did a few more years in the Marines, and then left at the end of his contract to matriculate at Columbia.

I asked him whether he still has nightmares. His response: ?Not ever as frequently. I think part of the reason for that is, I just keep myself so busy, it?s like, ?Do I really have time for this???

Source: http://spectrum.columbiaspectator.com/the-eye/more-stories-from-columbias-military-veterans

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China culls birds as bird flu deaths mount

By Fayen Wong and Clare Baldwin

SHANGHAI/HONG KONG | Fri Apr 5, 2013 2:24pm IST

SHANGHAI/HONG KONG (Reuters) - Chinese authorities slaughtered over 20,000 birds on Friday at a poultry market in the financial hub Shanghai as the death toll from a new strain of bird flu mounted to six, spreading concern overseas and sparking a sell-off on Hong Kong's share market.

State news agency Xinhua said the Huhuai market for live birds in Shanghai had been shut down and birds were being culled after authorities detected the H7N9 virus from samples of pigeons in the market.

All the 14 reported infections from the H7N9 bird flu strain have been in eastern China and at least four of the dead are in Shanghai, a city of 23 million people and the showpiece of China's vibrant economy.

The latest death was of a 64-year-old man in Zhejiang province, Xinhua said on Friday, adding that none of the 55 people who had close contact with him had shown symptoms of infection.

In Hong Kong, shares tumbled to a four-month low on Friday on worries that the new strain of bird flu infections could become a widespread outbreak and hurt the local economy.

"The bird flu issue is at the top of people's minds now," said Alfred Chan, chief dealer at Cheer Pearl Investment in Hong Kong.

Chinese airlines were among the biggest percentage losers on the day, including China Southern Airlines (1055.HK), China Eastern Airlines (0670.HK) and Air China (0753.HK). Cathay Pacific (0293.HK) also fell.

In Shanghai, the rising death toll has prompted some residents to stay away from markets with live chickens and ducks.

"I'm only getting my groceries at the large supermarkets now because I don't think it is safe to visit the wet markets anymore," said 38-year-old homemaker Shao Linxia, adding that she has also stopped buying poultry since news of the bird flu surfaced.

"We all remember SARS and how quickly it could spread, so we are obviously worried."

The 2002-2003 epidemic of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) started in China and killed about one-tenth of the 8,000 it infected.

Still, there were few signs of a panic in Shanghai with shops remaining open and not many people wearing face masks in public.

The strain does not appear to be transmitted from human to human, but Hong Kong airport authorities said they were taking precautions. Vietnam banned imports of Chinese poultry.

In Japan, airports have put up posters at entry points warning all passengers from China to seek medical attention if they have flu-like symptoms.

In the United States, the White House said it was monitoring the situation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had started work on a vaccine if it was needed. It would take five to six months to begin commercial production.

SHADOW OF SARS

With the fear that a SARS-like epidemic could re-emerge, China said it was pulling out the stops to combat the virus.

"(China) will strengthen its leadership in combating the virus ... and coordinate and deploy the entire nation's health system to combat the virus," the Health Ministry said in a statement on its website (www.moh.gov.cn).

In 2003, authorities initially tried to cover up an epidemic of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which emerged in China and killed about 10 percent of the 8,000 people it infected worldwide.

China "will continue to openly and transparently maintain communication and information channels with the World Health Organisation and relevant countries and regions, and strengthen monitoring and preventative measures", the ministry said.

Shanghai has suspended poultry sales at two other marktes and ordered through disinfection of the premises. In Huhuai, authorities were conducting proper disposal of the culled birds, their excrement and contaminated food as well as disinfection of the market, Xinhua said.

The virus has been shared with World Health Organization (WHO) collaborating centres in Atlanta, Beijing, London, Melbourne and Tokyo, and these groups are analysing samples to identify the best candidate to be used for the manufacture of vaccine - if it becomes necessary.

Any decision to mass-produce vaccines against H7N9 flu will not be taken lightly, since it will mean sacrificing production of seasonal shots.

That could mean shortages of vaccine against the normal seasonal flu which, while not serious for most people, still costs thousands of lives.

Sanofi Pasteur (SASY.PA), the world's largest flu vaccine manufacturer, said it was in continuous contact with the WHO through the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), but it was too soon to know the significance of the Chinese cases.

Other leading flu vaccine makers include GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) and Novartis NOVN.VX.

Preliminary test results suggest the new flu strain responds to treatment with Roche's (ROG.VX) drug Tamiflu and GSK's Relenza, according to the WHO.

Other strains of bird flu, such as H5N1, have been circulating for many years and can be transmitted from bird to bird, and bird to human, but not generally from human to human.

So far, this lack of human-to-human transmission also appears to be a feature of the H7N9 strain.

"The gene sequences confirm that this is an avian virus, and that it is a low pathogenic form (meaning it is likely to cause mild disease in birds)," said Wendy Barclay, a flu virologist at Britain's Imperial College London.

"But what the sequences also reveal is that there are some mammalian adapting mutations in some of the genes."

(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in BEIJING, Grace Li in HONG KONG,; Olivier Fabre in TOKYO, Hanoi newsroom; Kate Kelland in LONDON and Julie Steenhuysen in CHICAGO; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Source: http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/04/05/health-h7n9-bird-flu-vaccine-idINDEE93400T20130405?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

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94% Room 237

All Critics (83) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (79) | Rotten (5) | DVD (1)

As amusing as the movie is, I think in the end that Ascher misses the labyrinth for the trees.

The theories proposed in the doc "Room 237" aren't eye-opening. They're laughable.

A beautifully edited, deeply strange compendium of what different people have read into a single film.

A thrilling testament to the fact that art is - and should be - open to interpretation.

This movie about a labyrinth with a monster at its center is itself a labyrinth, [Ascher] tells us; better leave a trail of breadcrumbs behind you if you hope to get out.

Part of what makes "Room 237" fascinating to watch and think about (beyond other people's loopiness) is that it shows how works of art become encrusted with their reception.

Would it be hypocritical to say that I loved "Room 237," even thought I felt like 75 percent of what was said in it was completely hooey?

a journey down a rabbit hole worth taking, as the film immerses us in alternately fascinating, compelling, absurd, and frightening theories about what, exactly, The Shining is (or might be) about

Room 237 is both an ode to the subversive nature of the movies and a fascinating insight into clashing obsessions in its most lurid form, even when its stylistic choices seek to destroy the experience.

I can't buy into the notion of Stanley Kubrick faking Apollo 11's moon landing but he definitely helped Shelley Duvall fake a movie career.

"Anything you say, Lloyd. Anything you say."

"Room 237" is movie so chunky and sweet you can eat it with a spoon.

This documentary will entertain everyone from film junkies to conspiracy theorists and those who like to debunk them as Ascher spreads his net to include everything from the most provocative ideas to blatant bunkum.

This geek gossip is made even more captivating by the fact that nobody will likely ever know whether any of it is true.

Hilarious, bizarre and provocative. You'll never look at The Shining the same way again

The beauty of Room 237, however, doesn't lie in the validity of any one of the commentators' thoughtful (and occasionally well-informed) speculations, but instead in that mysterious grey zone between an artist's intentions and audience interpretation.

Unique and at times profound, Room 237 is a reminder of how much Kubrick left for us to appreciate in his work, and how the greatest films always leave something more to be discovered with each viewing.

A strange and enduring testament to Kubrick's cinematic legacy, as well as a fun way to look at a horror classic in a whole new way.

Like any great puzzle, The Shining is a lot of fun to try and solve.

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/room_237_2012/

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Findings from most in-depth study into UK parents who kill their children

Apr. 4, 2013 ? Experts from The University of Manchester have revealed their findings from the most in-depth study ever to take place in the UK into the tragic instances of child killing by parents, known as filicide. The research, published in the journal PLOS ONE, found 37 per cent of parents and step-parents who killed their children were suffering from some form of mental illness and 12% had been in contact with mental health services within a year of the offence.

Academics from the University's Institute of Brain Behaviour and Mental Health analysed 297cases of convicted filicide and 45 cases of filicide-suicides in England and Wales occurring between January 1997 and December 2006 from the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness (NCI) -- a longitudinal national case series of all homicides in the UK, with particular focus on perpetrators with mental illness. The scope of the NCI's clinical dataset enabled analysis of filicide to take place in greater detail than other epidemiological studies.

The over-representation of mental illness in filicide was the key finding of the study. Forty percent of filicide perpetrators had a recorded mental illness, consistent with findings from other smaller studies. But the most common diagnoses were mood disorders and personality disorder; not psychosis. This may contrast with popular perceptions and that of some professionals caring for mentally ill parents about more severe psychotic illnesses like schizophrenia. The proportion of perpetrators with psychosis was still high at 15%, (18% mothers) compared to 6% of homicides in general population studies. This compares to 0.4% overall prevalence in UK, 0.5% for women and 0.3% for men, with highest rates for women and men in people aged 35-44 years.

Less than half the perpetrators studied with mental illness had previous contact with mental health services; fewer fathers than mothers. Of the total, 20% were treated before the offence, which is lower than a similar Swedish population study (35%). Overall, the Manchester findings were consistent with those reported from a similar large, population-based sample in Denmark, where most parents committing filicide had no prior psychiatric history. This finding would suggest that the perpetrators were either not experiencing serious mental health problems at the time or, that they had not sought help.

Other key findings from the research were that 23% of female perpetrators were teenagers at the time of the child victim's birth. In the general population, the proportion of babies born to a teenage mother was 7%. Overall, fathers were significantly more likely to kill their children than mothers, and were more likely to use violent methods of killing, have previous convictions for violent offences, perpetrate multiple killings, and have a history of substance misuse or dependence. Of the 297 total filicide cases recorded during the 10 year period, the study found 13% of perpetrators took their own life after killing their child, known as filicide-suicide.

The study also reported that victims were equally likely to be girls as boys. Infants were most likely to be victims rather than school aged or older children. The researchers say the high proportion of infant deaths strengthens calls for early assessment detection of post-partum mental illness -- a condition which may be becoming more widespread.

Professor Kathryn Abel, who led the study, said: "Identifying associations between mental illness and filicide has clear implications for service providers. It shows there needs to be greater awareness for patients who are parents and especially those with severe mood disorders. This is an increasingly important issue because better mental health care means that more people with mental illness are able to become parents.

"Generating effective child violence/homicide prevention strategies requires broad public health approaches. Targeting sub-populations by providing high quality evidence about risk factors such as mental illness and the need for contact with mental health services may prove more constructive for health service development. Violence prevention may also offer possibilities to recognise and intervene with specific risk factors.

"Risk-assessment of mothers in joint psychiatric care reported greatest risk of actual harm to child was presented by mothers with mood disorders like depression, rather than schizophrenia. In spite of this, staff consistently perceived and rated mothers with schizophrenia to be the greatest risk to their infants and this was reflected in significantly higher rates of social service supervision on discharge compared to other ill mothers.

"Our findings indicate that fathers with a history of substance misuse, violence or mood disorder, and mothers who were teenagers at the birth of their child, or with mood disorder may be appropriate targets for intervention. Parents with mental illness should be asked about violent thoughts toward their children, particularly if depressed."

The researchers conclude that understanding the risk factors for filicide and the widespread nature of child abuse is far from complete. Future research on filicide should study these acts in the context of child abuse and domestic violence to support the development of effective interventions, they suggest.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Manchester University.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Sandra M. Flynn, Jenny J. Shaw, Kathryn M. Abel. Filicide: Mental Illness in Those Who Kill Their Children. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (4): e58981 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0058981

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/child_development/~3/biUVI1JTA30/130404184446.htm

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Economy adds fewest jobs in 9 months

WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. employers added just 88,000 jobs in March, the fewest in nine months and a sharp retreat after a period of strong hiring. The slowdown may signal that the economy is heading into a weak spring.

The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate dipped to 7.6 percent, the lowest in four years, from 7.7 percent. But the rate fell only because more people stopped looking for work. People who are out of work are no longer counted as unemployed once they stop looking for a job.

The percentage of Americans working or looking for jobs fell to 63.3 percent in March, the lowest such figure in nearly 34 years.

Stock futures sank after the jobs report was released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time.

March's job gains were less than half the average of the previous six months, when the economy added an average of 196,000 jobs a month. The government said hiring was even stronger in January and February than previously estimated. January's job growth was revised up from 119,000 to 148,000. February's was revised from 236,000 to 268,000.

Several industries cut back sharply on hiring in March. Retailers cut 24,000 jobs after averaging 32,000 in the previous three months. Manufacturers cut 3,000 jobs after adding 19,000 the previous month. Financial services shed 2,000.

The Labor Department uses a survey of mostly large businesses and government agencies to determine how many jobs are added or lost each month. That's the survey that produced the gain of 88,000 jobs for March. It uses a separate survey of households to calculate the unemployment rate.

In March, the number of people either working or looking for work fell by nearly 500,000. It was sharpest such drop since December 2010. And the number of Americans who said they were employed dropped nearly 210,000.

Average hourly pay rose a penny, the smallest gain in five months. Average pay is just 1.8 percent higher than a year earlier, trailing the pace of inflation, which rose 2 percent in the past 12 months.

"This is not a good report through and through," Dan Greenhaus, chief economic strategist at brokerage firm BTIG, said in a note to clients.

Economists had hoped that the bigger pay increases in recent months would continue and boost Americans' ability to spend.

Some economists said they expect a slowdown this spring, though not as bad as in the past three years.

"We don't anticipate the slowdown becoming too severe, not when the housing recovery is firing on all cylinders, but it is a reminder that the U.S. is still unable to sustain what used to be just average rates of growth," said Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics.

The decline in the work force reflects several trends, economists say: Many of those out of work become discouraged and give up on their job hunts. And as the population ages, more people are retiring.

And Gary Burtless, senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution, notes that many Americans have likely stopped looking for work because their unemployment benefits have run out.

"If people aren't collecting benefits, they have one less reason to be out pounding the pavement looking for a job," Burtless says.

Most analysts think the economy strengthened from January through March, helped by the pickup in hiring, a sustained recovery in housing and steady consumer spending. Consumers stepped up purchases in February and January, even after Social Security taxes increased this year.

Still the higher taxes have reduced paychecks. And many economists say steep government spending cuts that began taking effect March 1 will slow growth in the spring and summer.

Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Global Insight, said employers may be slowing hiring in anticipation of the impact of the spending cuts.

As federal agencies and contractors cut back in coming months, Behravesh expects jobs growth to average 100,000 to 150,000 a month, down from an average 212,000 from December through February.

"The good news is that this is happening at a time when the private economy is gaining momentum," Behravesh said. He expects hiring to pick up after mid-year.

Mark Vitner, an economist at Wells Fargo Securities, thinks the economy expanded at a 3.2 percent annual rate in the first quarter. But he forecasts that growth will slow to a 2 percent annual pace in the current second quarter, and then rebound after the impact of the government spending cuts fades.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-economy-adds-88k-jobs-123241385.html

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Jim Carrey was considered for "Jurassic Park" and other fun dino-facts

By Brent Lang

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Jim Carrey was considered for a key role in "Jurassic Park," according to a new oral history of the dinosaur disaster flick on Entertainment Weekly.

At the time, the rubber-faced comedian was best known for his work playing outrageous characters like Fire Marshall Bill on Fox's "In Living Color," but was not yet a household name. When the film was casting in 1992, he was two years away from his breakout role in "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective."

However, he impressed the "Jurassic Park" team with his audition for the role of Ian Malcolm, the mathematician and chaos theoretician so brilliantly portrayed by Jeff Goldblum.

"I read the book and I thought of Jeff Goldblum right away," Janet Hirshenon, the film's casting director, recalled. "There were several other people we taped for the part, though. Jim Carrey had come in and he was terrific, too, but I think pretty quickly we all loved the idea of Jeff."

The film also can thank a big-name guardian angel for steering Laura Dern to the project. The actress had just scored an Oscar nomination for her starring role in "Rambling Rose" when she was approached for the project.

"I was talking with Nicolas Cage, and we had just done 'Wild at Heart' together, and I said to him, 'Nic, they want to put me on the phone with Steven Spielberg, but they want to talk to me about a dinosaur movie?,'" Dern said. "And he was like, 'You are doing a dinosaur movie! No one can ever say no to a dinosaur movie!' I was like, 'Really?' And he's like, 'Are you kidding? It's a dream of my life to do a movie with dinosaurs!' So he was such an influence on me."

"Jurassic Park" gets a 3D re-release this week.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/jim-carrey-considered-jurassic-park-other-fun-dino-213628092.html

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