Mammoth Blog

Prior to 1990, when Barack Obama contracted to write Dreams From My Father, he had written very close to nothing. Then, five years later, this untested 33 year-old produced what Time Magazine has called -- with a straight face -- "the best-written memoir ever produced by an American politician."

The public is asked to believe Obama wrote Dreams From My Father on his own, almost as though he were some sort of literary idiot savant. I do not buy this canard for a minute, not at all. Writing is as much a craft as, say, golf. To put this in perspective, imagine if a friend played a few rounds in the high 90s and then a few years later, without further practice, made the PGA Tour. It doesn't happen.

And yet, given the biases of the literary establishment, no reviewer of note has so much as questioned Obama's role in the writing, then or now. As the New York Times gushed, Obama was "that rare politician who can write . . . and write movingly and genuinely about himself." These accolades matter all the more because Obama has built his political persona around his presumably superior intellect, Dreams being exhibit A.

Shy of a confession by those involved, I will not be able to prove conclusively that Obama did not write this book. As shall be seen, however, there are only two real possibilities: one is that Obama experienced a near miraculous turnaround in his literary abilities; the second is that he had major editorial help, up to and including a ghostwriter.

The weight of the evidence overwhelming favors the latter conclusion and strongly suggests who that ghostwriter is. In that this remains something of a work in progress, I am willing to test my hypothesis against any standard of proof and appreciate any and all good leads.

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A powerful article written by Tom Sowell.
He asks a legitimate question.

Abraham Lincoln said, "You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you can't fool all the people all the time."

Unfortunately, the future of this country, as well as the fate of the Western world, depends on how many people can be fooled on election day, just a few weeks from now.

Right now, the polls indicate that a whole lot of the people are being fooled a whole lot of the time.

The current financial bailout crisis has propelled Barack Obama back into a substantial lead over John McCain-- which is astonishing in view of which man and which party has had the most to do with bringing on this crisis.

It raises the question: Do facts matter? Or is Obama's rhetoric and the media's spin enough to make facts irrelevant?

Fact Number One: It was liberal Democrats, led by Senator Christopher Dodd and Congressman Barney Frank, who for years-- including the present year-- denied that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were taking big risks that could lead to a financial crisis.

It was Senator Dodd, Congressman Frank and other liberal Democrats who for years refused requests from the Bush administration to set up an agency to regulate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

It was liberal Democrats, again led by Dodd and Frank, who for years pushed for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to go even further in promoting subprime mortgage loans, which are at the heart of today's financial crisis.

Alan Greenspan warned them four years ago. So did the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers to the President. So did Bush's Secretary of the Treasury, five years ago.

Yet, today, what are we hearing? That it was the Bush administration "right-wing ideology" of "de-regulation" that set the stage for the financial crisis. Do facts matter?

We also hear that it is the free market that is to blame. But the facts show that it was the government that pressured financial institutions in general to lend to subprime borrowers, with such things as the Community Reinvestment Act and, later, threats of legal action by then Attorney General Janet Reno if the feds did not like the statistics on who was getting loans and who wasn't.

Is that the free market? Or do facts not matter?

Then there is the question of being against the "greed" of CEOs and for "the people." Franklin Raines made $90 million while he was head of Fannie Mae and mismanaging that institution into crisis.

Who in Congress defended Franklin Raines? Liberal Democrats, including Maxine Waters and the Congressional Black Caucus, at least one of whom referred to the "lynching" of Raines, as if it was racist to hold him to the same standard as white CEOs.

Even after he was deposed as head of Fannie Mae, Franklin Raines was consulted this year by the Obama campaign for his advice on housing!

The Washington Post criticized the McCain campaign for calling Raines an adviser to Obama, even though that fact was reported in the Washington Post itself on July 16th. The technicality and the spin here is that Raines is not officially listed as an adviser. But someone who advises is an adviser, whether or not his name appears on a letterhead.

The tie between Barack Obama and Franklin Raines is not all one-way. Obama has been the second-largest recipient of Fannie Mae's financial contributions, right after Senator Christopher Dodd.

But ties between Obama and Raines? Not if you read the mainstream media.

Facts don't matter much politically if they are not reported.

The media alone are not alone in keeping the facts from the public. Republicans, for reasons unknown, don't seem to know what it is to counter-attack. They deserve to lose.

But the country does not deserve to be put in the hands of a glib and cocky know-it-all, who has accomplished absolutely nothing beyond the advancement of his own career with rhetoric, and who has for years allied himself with a succession of people who have openly expressed their hatred of America.

Live Nation has announced that AC/DC will play at Globen in Stockholm, Sweden on February 20, 2009. Tickets go on sale October 11. In addition, the following three UK dates for AC/DC have popped up on what appears to be an official Live Nation promotional poster (see below):

Mar. 01 - Glasgow, UK - SECC
Mar. 02 - Birmingham, UK - LG Arena
Mar. 03 - London, UK - O2 Arena

It should be noted, however, that AC/DC has not yet officially confirmed the above dates via its web site.

A new AC/DC track entitled "War Machine" is available for streaming on the band's MySpace page. The song comes off the Australian hard rock legends' first studio album in eight years, "Black Ice", which will arrive on October 20 and will sold exclusively at Wal-Mart, Sam's Club and ACDC.com in the U.S. All three plan multiple promotional campaigns aimed at the group's millions of fans.

AC/DC's first new single in eight years, "Rock 'N Roll Train", hit the band's web site and radio stations on August 28.

AC/DC was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. The band has sold more than 200 million albums worldwide, including 69 million in the U.S. alone.

"No Bull: The Director's Cut", a chronicle of the band's famed July 1996 concert at the Plaza De Toros De Las Ventas in Madrid, Spain, was released on DVD and Blu-ray September 9. source...

I don't think it is crazy talk to consider Boo Weekley the second most popular golfer in the country right now behind Tiger Woods.

His breakout performance at the Ryder Cup just showed a larger audience what some of us golf nerds have known for a while -- that the guy can fire up a crowd faster than Nicollette Sheridan streaking through a fraternity house. The video from his appearance on The Tonight Show last week is up and, let me tell you, it's an absolute afternoon-maker.

I think a +1 is in order to the person that does scheduling for The Tonight Show. Weekley, with all the smarts of cutting your steak with a spoon, was on the same couch as Dennis Miller, one of the quicker-witted guys of our time and someone with a vocabulary that makes Webster rock in his chair. I have no idea if this was on purpose or not, but if so, I want the name of the person in charge so I can send him or her a box of very expensive chocolates.

Weekley emerged doing the same Happy Gilmore dance that he did on the first fairway at Valhalla and then went into this little story, after the jump, about losing his keys in a Port-o-Potty. Check out the interview, which is short but absolutely worth it, after the jump. source>>>

Focus on Left Arm for Solid Shots

The golf swing in its most simple form is really only a circle. The radius of that circle, back and through the swing is the left arm (in a right-handed swing.) Good players create a wide arc on the backswing and maintain the radius that they created at address throughout the swing. High-handicappers, on the other hand, in their attempt to create a wide arc usually over do it by over swinging and bending their left arm at the top of the swing, which is the opposite of what they should do.

Good ball strikers create a wide arc on the backswing because they accomplish a couple of things: 1) as they swing back, they naturally hinge their wrists, which puts the club on the proper plane and 2) they are flexible enough to make a full turn while maintaining the left arm extended. High-handicappers tend to do the opposite: 1) because of a faulty grip they are unable to hinge their wrists properly and then usually end up hinging their elbows instead and 2) because they may not be as flexible, they are unable to make a full turn so they cannot keep the left arm extended so they bend the arm instead.

You don't need to swing exactly like a tour player to strike the ball well, but don't do the exact opposite. Keep the left arm extended on the backswing and let it fold on the follow-through. If you have been struggling to hit solid iron shots, focus on your left arm.

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It's official... the LIVE DVD will be released in 2008...and very soon! The DVD, entitled Live at the Paradiso - Amsterdam, will be released in early November (specific release dates and territories will be announced soon). The DVD includes seventeen tracks plus bonus behind-the-scenes footage of the band in Amsterdam. The CD contains sixteen songs with two new studio tracks including the new radio single, "Forever," and the song "Purifier" which features a guest appearance by John Popper of Blues Traveler. Enclosed are the track-listings for each and you can hear a sneak peak of the new single, "Forever", on LIVE's web site and MySpace page.

The CD track list includes:

1. Simple Creed
2. All Over You
3. The River
4. The Dolphin's Cry
5. I Walk the Line
6. Selling the Drama
7. Lightning Crashes
8. Turn My Head
9. I Alone
10. Heaven
11. Lakini's Juice
12. Overcome
13. Operation Spirit
14. Dance with You
15. Forever (new studio track)
16. Purifier (new studio track)

The DVD track list includes:

1. Simple Creed
2. All Over You
3. Mirror Song
4. The River
5. The Dolphin's Cry
6. I Walk the Line
7. Selling the Drama
8. They Stood Up For Love
9. Lightning Crashes
10. Turn My Head
11. Wings
12. I Alone
13. Heaven
14. Lakini's Juice
15. Overcome
16. Operation Spirit
17. Dance with You

Panic at the Disco can't be accused of a less-is-more aesthetic. On the band's first tour, it spiced its act with vaudeville-style performers. For a subsequent road trek, contortionists and gymnasts shared the stage with the musicians.

The theatrical approach has had both fans and detractors. The punk band Against Me wrote a song that took aim at Panic's over-the-top staging while acknowledging the musicians weren't "bad people."

On Saturday night, however, Panic at the Disco will bring a more streamlined show to the San Jose State University Event Center, putting emphasis on the music, instead. Armed with songs from its second album, "Pretty. Odd.," the group shows more confidence now than as the band of callow teenagers whose 2005 debut disc, "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out," went platinum. Expect no extra performers this time, though the stage show will feature a 60-foot-tall squid attacking a ship.

On "our first couple of tours, we were definitely more theatrical," says Jon Walker, the 23-year-old bassist for Panic at the Disco. "We were playing some pretty big places for only having one album out. So we felt that we had to put on the biggest, best show possible, no matter what. This time around, we don't feel that way. We have more material to play, and just progressing as musicians has made us want to focus more on the music. "... It's going to be a pretty interesting atmosphere."

Panic at the Disco will headline an "emo"-oriented

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The New York Giants solidified their spot atop the ranking with a blowout win against Seattle on Sunday. The two Giants-Dallas Cowboys matchups this season will be larger than life. First up, at the Meadowlands on Nov. 2.
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Week 6 rankings (last week)

1. (1) New York Giants (4-0): The Giants have outscored their opponents 127-49 this season. Eli and Co. keep their spot on top of the poll for a second straight week.

2. (2) Dallas (4-1): It wasn't pretty, but Sunday did provide a much-needed victory. However, no one involved with the Cowboys - players, fans and media - will be happy until they reach Tampa, Fla.

3. (6) Tennessee (5-0): This team continues to impress without an offense. The Titans roll into their bye as the lone undefeated in the AFC and can heal injuries to WR Justin Gage and RB LenDale White.

4. (8) Washington (4-1): This team is L-E-G-I-T. There will be plenty of hiccups with a developing Jason Campbell, but the Redskins are a scary opponent on any given Sunday.

5. (9) New England (3-1): Matt Cassel can throw the ball. Randy Moss' season might not be a complete disaster. The Patriots will improve week-to-week and still might be the favorite in the AFC.

6. (11) Denver (4-1): The Broncos' defense showed a little life Sunday. Granted, it was against Tampa Bay, but they didn't look like they could stop a Division I squad prior.

7. (7) Buffalo (4-1): The Bills suffered a big blow against Arizona when Trent Edwards was knocked silly early in the game. Edwards' services are a must if the Bills want to continue to surprise.

8. (12) Pittsburgh (4-1): Big Ben knows how to win. Sunday's comeback at Jacksonville could prove crucial down the stretch. RB Willie Parker is set to return after the bye.

9. (3) San Diego (2-3): LT was stymied by the Dolphins. Chalk this loss up to the cross-country journey and a Dolphins team being well-prepared off its bye week.

10. (13) Carolina (4-1): The Panthers are a well-rounded football team. The offense is led by Jake Delhomme and a solid running back tandem while the defense is thriving.

11. (4) Philadelphia (2-3): Where they go from here will depend on how Brian Westbrook responds from his broken ribs. Donovan just can't do it all by himself.

12. (5) Indianapolis (2-2): The horseshoe did it again. The Colts triumph at Houston was one of the most improbable finishes in the NFL game in awhile. It shouldn't mask the fact the Colts are struggling.

13. (10) Green Bay (2-3): Banged-up Aaron Rodgers or not, a home loss to Atlanta is inexcusable. Thankfully for the Packers, the NFC North isn't exactly a monster.

14. (15) Jacksonville (2-3): Sunday night's loss to the Steelers might be a backbreaker. The Jaguars have to make up ground now, and that's not going to be easy.

15. (14) Tampa Bay (3-2): The Bucs will still give the rest of the NFC South fits this season. Who is going to take the snaps, though? Brian Griese or Jeff Garcia?

16. (16) Chicago (3-2): Lovie Smith has another Bears squad on top of the NFC Central. Tulane's Matt Forte could be a presence in the Windy City for years to come.

17. (24) Miami (2-2): Goodness gracious. Is this team this good? Or do they just love slaying NFL giants? Ronnie Brown is the team's best quarterback; that is no lie.

18. (17) Baltimore (2-2): A very questionable personal foul penalty cost the Ravens a huge victory Sunday against Tennessee. However, this young offense will only improve.

19. (18) New Orleans (2-3): Martin Gramatica is the obvious goat, but dig deeper for the root of your frustrations. Sean Payton hasn't proved to be a mastermind in a tight game.

20. (19) Minnesota (2-3): The Vikings couldn't have played much worse -- sans Antoine Winfield -- against the Saints. This team is going nowhere fast despite Adrian Peterson.

21. (20) Arizona (3-2): It's just a matter of whether the Cardinals can win more shootouts than they lose. Kurt Warner is a fantasy stud, but his inconsistency gives fans fits.

22. (21) Seattle (1-3): In any other division, 1-3 is a tough hole to climb out of. In the NFC West, it's doable. The Seahawks should thrive in intra-divisional play.

23. (22) New York Jets (2-2): This week presents a good test for the Brett Jets. Cincinnati is desperate for a win while the Jets want to prove their better than mediocre.

24. (23) San Francisco (2-3): The 49ers held tough against New England, but it was too difficult a task to pull off at this point. The Niners will be a team to watch, though.

25. (27) Atlanta (3-2): I keep wanting to dub the Falcons as one of the NFL's worst, but it's safe to say they are one of the biggest surprises of 2008.

26. (25) Cleveland (1-3): The Browns can't get everything back with a win Monday night against the Giants, but a victory sure would help save the season.

27. (26) Houston (0-4): It has not been a good month to be a sports fan in Houston, although somehow, someway it was Bud Selig's fault Sage Rosenfels imploded Sunday.

28. (28) Cincinnati (0-5): I fully expect the Bengals to rally. They are healthy and loaded with talent. However, the hole is so deep, the only thing left to do is save face and pride.

29. (29) Oakland (1-3): How will the Raiders respond to their new coach and the extra week of preparation for a bitter Saints squad thanks to the bye?

30. (32) St. Louis (0-4): The other team with a new coach draws a tough matchup at Washington. Steven Jackson looks like he's found his rhythm. This team could be tough.

31. (30) Detroit (0-4): The Lions get a prime opportunity to erase the doughnut with a date with the Vikings. Jon Kitna's days are numbered if things don't do a 180; fast.

32. (31) Kansas City (1-4): So much for the momentum garnered by the win against Denver. The Chiefs are still the pathetic team we thought they were. source>>>

Last weekend's Amp Energy 500 at Talladega was set up as the make-or-break, wild card race in this year's Chase for the Sprint Cup, and in many ways, it delivered -- but in ways that could hardly have been imagined.

Who'd'a thunk that Carl Edwards would wipe out not just one but TWO of his teammates -- not to mention three other Chase contenders -- when he made a mistake in the draft late in the race

The least surprising thing about it was that Edwards, as embarrassed as he was, would take blame for creating the exact nightmare he'd gone out of his way to predict coming into the weekend -- and also that some of his competitors, particularly those involved in the melee, as Kevin Harvick was, would make a snide remark about it.

Neither Harvick nor anyone else could say much ill about the tactics of Robby Gordon and Ken Schrader, or even current Chase leader Jimmie Johnson, when some of them fell as many as two laps behind early in the race only to come back for eighth, 16th and ninth place finishes, respectively -- all on the lead lap.

Talladega's effect on the Chase was somewhat profound, as only four Chase drivers finished in the top 10, exactly half as many of the Chase contenders that had finished in the top 10 in each of the playoffs' first two races.

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When brothers Alex and Stephen Kendrick were looking for inspiration for their third feature-length film, they turned to God for help.

"To be honest, I prayed about it," Alex Kendrick said. "I said, `God, would you give me an idea that will impact all of our culture.'"

While he was out jogging and praying one day, the idea for "Fireproof" came to him. He footed it over to his brother's house about a mile away and told him the story: A firefighter who lives by the mantra "never leave your partner behind" at work is about to do just that in his personal life.

The movie, which has a strong faith-based message and was made with a budget of just $500,000 and a volunteer cast that includes former teen idol Kirk Cameron, has been surprisingly successful. Its opening on 839 screens two weeks ago was strong enough to propel it to No. 4 at the box office. It stayed in the top 10 last weekend, at No. 8, and has earned an estimated $13.6 million and spawned a best-selling book that started as a prop. ("Religulous," Bill Maher's jeremiad zinging religion, was No. 10 in its debut last weekend.)

"The Love Dare," written by the Kendricks, was at No. 8 on Amazon's best-seller list Thursday afternoon. In the movie, Caleb Holt (Cameron) receives the book from his father, who tells him to follow its 40-day challenge to save his marriage.

Prompted by repeated questions during production about whether the book really existed, the Kendricks sat down last spring and prayed to God to help them write it.

"It's an answer to prayer. I don't think I'm smart enough to come up with something like that on my own," Alex Kendrick said in a telephone interview. "I do think these are legitimate principles and not something we pulled out of thin air."

The brothers said the overwhelmingly positive response to the film has been rewarding and cited the more than a thousand e-mailed stories posted on the movie's Web site from people who have seen it and been affected by it. [more.]

They acknowledged the movie is not as artistically or technically fancy as many films out of Hollywood, but say its appeal is its relatable message that things aren't always easy but marriage is worth fighting for. That message is conveyed by the title, which takes on a double meaning given that the main character is a firefighter.

"It doesn't mean when something is fireproof that fire will never come, but when fire comes, it can withstand it," Alex Kendrick said. "Every marriage will go through trials, or fire, as we say, and what's going to happen on the other side of that fire? Will your marriage survive?"

The Kendricks grew up in suburban Atlanta and now live in Albany in southwestern Georgia, where they are associate pastors at Sherwood Baptist Church. Along with the church's senior pastor, Michael Catt, they created Sherwood Pictures, a production company, in 2002 and scraped together $20,000 to put out their first film, "Flywheel," in 2003.

With a budget of $100,000, the company released "Facing the Giants" in 2006. That film ended up grossing more than $10 million. Cameron, best known for the TV sitcom "Growing Pains," saw the film and called the Kendricks to say he loved it and would be interested in working with them.

After auditioning several actors for the role of Caleb, the brothers decided to give Cameron a call, but they were skeptical. They saw the lead as a big burly guy, but Cameron flawlessly executed nine of the script's most difficult scenes during his audition and won them over.

Cameron, who turns 38 Sunday and has six kids after 17 years of marriage, said he is very aware of the challenges of marriage and wanted to be a part of something that encourages people to fight for that union.

"This is a movie that gives people hope and inspires them that they can save their marriages -- that love, in the end, won't fail, if you pour your heart and your time and your energy into the things that really matter," Cameron said.

The rest of the cast was made up of volunteers from the church. Most of the budget was spent on equipment and paying a handful of professionals to operate that equipment. The Kendricks, who plan to continue making films, wrote the script together, and 38-year-old Alex directed and edited the film, while 35-year-old Stephen worked as a producer. Catt served as executive producer.

Part of the film's success can be attributed to a marketing plan that targeted areas with large and enthusiastic faith-based communities. Distributor Samuel Goldwyn Films had a pretty good idea of where it might do well based on where "Facing the Giants" succeeded, said head of distribution Michael Silberman.

It has done best so far in the Atlanta region as well as cities such as Dallas, Tampa, Fla., Orlando, Fla., and Charlotte, N.C., Silberman said.

A marketing technique honed during the "Facing the Giants" release, the "action squad," helped bring the movie to some smaller markets that might not otherwise have seen it on opening weekend. If the film wasn't set to play within 30 miles of a community, an action squad could bring it there by buying 1,000 tickets.

The success may also be driven by the fact that the Christian community, including the Kendricks, is also starved for movies that reflect its values, which often is not the case with Hollywood fare.

"We want to go enjoy good movies, but we rarely ever see the kind of movie that we have been longing to see, where there's a moral message that's communicated, it's clean, you can watch it with your kids, your wife, your grandmother, but you can laugh and cry and be entertained," Stephen Kendrick said. source>>>

A defendant had a hard time facing the music.

Andrew Vactor was facing a $150 fine for playing rap music too loudly on his car stereo in July. But a judge offered to reduce that to $35 if Vactor spent 20 hours listening to classical music by the likes of Bach, Beethoven and Chopin.

Vactor, 24, lasted only about 15 minutes, a probation officer said.

It wasn't the music, Vactor said, he just needed to be at practice with the rest of the Urbana University basketball team.

"I didn't have the time to deal with that," he said. "I just decided to pay the fine."

Champaign County Municipal Court Judge Susan Fornof-Lippencott says the idea was to force Vactor to listen to something he might not prefer, just as other people had no choice but to listen to his loud rap music.

"I think a lot of people don't like to be forced to listen to music," she said.

She's also taped TV shows for defendants in other cases to watch on topics such as financial responsibility. As she sees it, they get the chance to have their fine reduced "and at the same time broaden their horizons." source>>>

Records: Dodgers 84-78, NL West champions; Phillies 92-70 NL East champions.
Season series: Tied 4-4.
Pitching matchups: Game 1 - Dodgers RHP Derek Lowe (14-11, 3.24) vs. Phillies LHP Cole Hamels (14-10, 3.09); Game 2 - Dodgers RHP Chad Billingsley (16-10, 3.14) vs. Phillies RHP Brett Myers (10-13, 4.55); Game 3 - Phillies LHP Jamie Moyer (16-7, 3.71) vs. Dodgers RHP Hiroki Kuroda (9-10, 3.73); Game 4 - Phillies RHP Joe Blanton (9-12, 4.69) vs. Dodgers TBA.
About the Dodgers: With a three-game sweep of the favored Chicago Cubs in the first round, Los Angeles won a postseason series for the first time since upsetting Oakland in the 1988 World Series. . . . The Dodgers outscored Chicago 20-6, getting strong starts from Lowe, Billingsley and Kuroda. Manny Ramirez was 5-for-10 in the series with two jaw-dropping homers. He also drew four walks and scored five times.
About the Phillies: With power and pitching, Philadelphia beat the wild-card Brewers three games to one in the first round to reach the NLCS for the first time since 1993. Hamels pitched eight shutout innings of two-hit ball in the opener, and the Phillies finished with a 2.31 ERA. Lidge closed out all three wins, earning two saves. Shane Victorino was 5-for-14 (.357) with 3 doubles, 3 walks, 3 stolen bases and 5 RBIs.
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Prediction: Dodgers in six games. source>>>

When it comes to children's health, family income matters. So does education.

In an analysis of children's health across the country, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation ranked states and the District of Columbia by children's health status and infant mortality -- as they pertained to family income and mother's education, respectively.

Overall, 16% of children in the United States have what the report called "less than optimal health." That status was based on information from parents -- and varied dramatically by region.

The gap in health status as linked to family income was greatest in Texas, with 44% of kids in poor families in less than optimal health, as opposed to only about 7% of those kids in relatively well-off families. The gap was smallest in New Hampshire, with 13% of poor kids in something other than perfect health, compared with 6% of kids from well-off families. (The differences changed through the middle-income levels as well.)

California wasn't far behind Texas, ranking 50 instead of 51, on the health gap list, with 41% of poor kids and 9% of well-off kids in not-great health.

The researchers also analyzed the link between a mother's educational status and the mortality rate of infants. No state should have more than 3.2 deaths per live births, the researchers said. And yet, even Maine, with the smallest gap based on mothers' educational status, had 4.8 infant deaths per 1,000 live births. The District of Columbia, with the biggest gap, had 11 per 1,000. California? It ranked ninth, with 5.2 deaths per 1,000 births.

Want a closer look at your own state and county? The foundation has included an interactive calculator for just that purpose.

The calculator shows the current percentage of adults with some college education and how the overall mortality rate (not just among infants) would change if that were to go up or, perish the thought, decline. For California, for example, the chart says 61% of adults have some college education and that there are 309 deaths per 100,000 people. If that were to go up by 5 percentage points, there would be 294 deaths per 100,000 people. Factor in the size of California's population, and the difference is significant. source>>>

Children who are diagnosed with bipolar disorder can continue to suffer from the disease as they develop into young adults.

That's according to a new study by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis, which was published in the October issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

The study appears amid an ongoing controversy about diagnosing bipolar disorder in children. Much of the debate stems from an exponential surge in the number of children being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Some experts believe it is uncommon and becoming over-diagnosed, while others think just the opposite.

More articles on the condition were published in January 2008 than in the decade between 1986 and 1996, highlighting many researchers' hope of better understanding bipolar disorder.

Barbara Geller, MD, and her colleagues at Washington University followed a sample of children diagnosed with pediatric bipolar disorder into adulthood.

Beginning in 1995 to 1998, the researchers examined 115 children diagnosed with bipolar disorder with an average age of 11. At the beginning of the study and again during nine follow-up visits conducted over eight years, the children and their parents were interviewed separately about their symptoms, diagnoses, daily cycles of mania and depression, and interactions with others.

Ninety-four percent of the children completed the study, with 54 of these patients turning 18 or older at the end of the follow-up period.

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Professionals in the gambling business have some pretty pointed opinions about the Wall Street titans who brought you the current financial crisis.

"The problem is they were playing with other people's money," says a stern-faced Alexander Havenick, whose firm, Southwest Florida Enterprises, runs poker parlors and dog racing tracks in the Miami and Fort Myers areas. "Would you do that with your own money?"

This is The Palm Beach Post's expanded coverage of the local economy. In print and online, we invite readers to share their stories, explore money-saving tips and reach out to others.

In Havenick's business, everyone places his or her own bets, whether on a racing greyhound or three kings. Handing money over to Wall Street middle men with a taste for crumby mortgages has turned out to be a bad wager for the American public, he says.

Charles Anderer, publisher of the Casino Journal and Indian Gaming Business magazines, couldn't agree more.

"It's a mug's game," says Anderer, speaking of the state of affairs in the roller-coaster stock market and the other dealings by those financiers. "They say Wall Street has been operating like a casino lately, but that's an insult to the casinos.

"The casino business is run strictly by the numbers and is much more strictly regulated than Wall Street."

Havenick and Anderer were among dozens of gambling business professionals who attended the fourth annual Florida Gaming Summit this week at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.

The gaming industry professionals are not happy with the cards that Wall Street has dealt the nation and their industry in the past month. They say that while slot machines return about 90 cents of every dollar wagered to the gamblers, Wall Street is coming up short of that lately.

The professionals have their own portfolios to worry about, like everyone else, and they are looking at fewer customers over the next year as would-be gamblers tighten their belts.

The summit host tried to be optimistic.

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