| Obama gives donors special access report says

Obama-gives-donors-special-access,-report-says WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama has rewarded top Democratic donors with perks ranging from holiday visits to the White House to policy briefings, carrying on a practice of past presidents despite his promise to change how Washington works, a report published Wednesday shows.

At least 39 Democratic donors and fundraisers attended a White House reception on St. Patricks Day, and festivities held at the White House for Cinco de Mayo and Independence Day were financed at least in part by the Democratic National Committee, The Washington Times reported. Democratic National Committee documents it obtained showed the party promising top fundraisers who pledged to donate or raise certain amounts access to senior White House officials.

Obama invited fundraiser Robert Wolf to play golf with him during the Obama familys August vacation at Marthas Vineyard. Wolf is chief executive of the UBS Group for the Americas and was appointed to Obamas Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Also in August, Obama nominated fundraiser Alan Solomont as ambassador to Spain.

Donors have also been invited to meetings with administration officials. For example, this summer, Obama deputy chief of staff Jim Messina went to Los Angeles and San Francisco to brief top donors on the administrations national health care overhaul, the Times reported.

During his 2008 presidential campaign, Obama promised to change the way things are done in Washington. But the donor rewards provided in Obamas first months in office carry on a time-honored Democratic and Republican practice of giving special treats to top fundraisers and donors, such as appointments to ambassadorships and boards and invitations to policy briefings and holiday parties.

A White House spokesman said many White House guests were longtime Obama family friends in addition to their fundraising connections, and, that given the millions of people who donated to Obamas campaign, it wasnt surprising that some visited the White House.

Contributing does not guarantee a ticket to the White House, nor does it prohibit the contributor from visiting, Dan Pfeiffer, the White Houses deputy communications director, told the Times.

Pfeiffer said Obama has put tough ethical standards in place to reduce special-interest influence over policymaking.

- | Obama gives donors special access report says |

| TechBits package

TechBits-package TechBits package - | TechBits package |

| Bingo! Lewis takes Redskins play calling from Zorn

Bingo!-Lewis-takes-Redskins-play-calling-from-Zorn ASHBURN, Va. -Bingo! Youre not calling plays anymore, Jim Zorn. Sherm Lewis is coming out of retirement to do it for you. With a pained expression, Washington Redskins coach Zorn announced Monday that the front office strongly suggested that he yield his play-calling duties to a consultant hired only two weeks ago. While he didnt say he was given an ultimatum, Zorn said he would comply with the request because I want to stay here and win.




Sometimes we have to do things that are uncomfortable, Zorn said.




Zorn received the news in a meeting with front office chief Vinny Cerrato at the stadium following Sundays 14-6 loss to the previously winless Kansas City Chiefs. The Redskins are averaging 13.2 points and have failed to score a touchdown in two of their home games.




The reason I can comply with this is simply because of the lack of scoring, Zorn said. I want to win, too. If this has to be done this week, if this is going to be the key, Im certainly willing to give it a try. Because were 2-4 and to not score in the last few weeks, the way we have not scored, is very frustrating.




Barely a fortnight ago, Lewis was enjoying retirement in Michigan, calling Bingo games at a senior center and delivering Meals on Wheels. He previously spent 22 years as an NFL assistant before retiring after the 2004 season. The Redskins lured him back into football as a consultant for the struggling offense.




And now — Voila! — hes the play caller.




This is not an easy thing. ... I feel for Sherm because hes been here for two weeks, Zorn said. Were going to give him as much help as we possibly can to get a spark out of our offense. ... My comfort level is somewhere between one and 10. Its not at 10, but its something that Im going to have to grow into.




Several players were taken aback by the notion of trusting such a vital role to someone not yet thoroughly familiar with the roster.




I dont think its an ideal situation, quarterback Todd Collins said. Generally you have some play callers work with a quarterback for years and years. This is going to be a quick change for us, but it seems like drastic measures are called for when we havent been playing so well on offense.




Receiver Antwaan Randle El called the move to Lewis a little weird.




Some guys werent even kind of sure who he was, Randle El said. But thats just because they didnt get around and try to talk to him. But again it just kind of goes back to shaking things up.




Zorn noted that the move has the potential to hurt team chemistry.




The seriousness of the decision to do this is that we lose cohesiveness in our team, Zorn said. Now wheres the cohesiveness in six points a game? See what I mean? So Im hoping this is a positive.




Lewis will sit in the upstairs coaching box to the call the plays, starting with next Monday nights game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Zorn will relay Lewis calls to the quarterback. Zorn said hell retain control over big decisions — such as whether to go on fourth down — but that he wont veto Lewis play calls.




I wouldnt do that to Sherm, Zorn said.




The Redskins werent offering much more insight Monday. Cerrato declined comment through a team spokesman. The spokesman also said Lewis was in meetings and unavailable for comment.




That left Zorn by himself at the podium, looking like a coach twisting in the wind. If the team continues to struggle, a foreseeable next step would be his dismissal, with one of the defensive assistants taking over as head coach and Lewis handling the offense.




Zorn, however, said the season is still salvageable. If nothing else, he should be able to focus more on game management. Wasted timeouts and sloppy two-minute drills have become a mainstay during his 22 games in Washington.




Zorn is the third consecutive Redskins head coach to relinquish play calling because of a stagnant offense, although hes the first to have it essentially stripped by the front office. Steve Spurrier handed the reins to Hue Jackson for a couple of games in 2003, and Joe Gibbs brought in Al Saunders to run the offense after the 2005 season.




For Zorn, the move is a particularly harsh blow because he feels he had a knack for calling plays. The chance to take that role for the first time in the NFL was one reason he relished coming to the Redskins in the first place.




Im sure hes not happy with it, Collins said. He came here and he wanted to call the plays, and now its taken away from him.




Zorn said he had to do a soul search Sunday night before saying yes to Cerrato. Changing the play caller certainly wasnt at the top of his to-do list for the week.




I have confidence in my play calls, Zorn said.




Zorn at least still gets to decide who is playing quarterback. He said he hasnt decided whether to go with Jason Campbell or Collins against the Eagles. Collins led two drives that ended in field goals for the Redskins only points against the Chiefs after Campbell was benched at halftime. - | Bingo! Lewis takes Redskins play calling from Zorn |

| Expert describes what happens when we die

Expert-describes-what-happens-when-we-die Editor’s note: Dr. Sam Parnia is a fellow in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Weill Cornell Medical Center and author of “What Happens When We Die.” He is founder of the AWARE study to discover whether “out-of-body experiences” really happen and, if so, how resuscitation practices can be improved so that more people can be revived after being clinically dead.

Quite by chance, last year witnessed the launch of two intriguing scientific studies that, while worlds apart in their respective approaches, are united by the potential to answer two of the most fundamental questions that have baffled humankind since the beginning of time: What is the origin of life as we know it today, and what happens to us when life comes to an end?

Both the Hadron collider launched by the European Organization for Nuclear Research, and the AWARE project launched by a multidisciplinary group of scientists and physicians on both sides of the Atlantic are novel and audacious scientific endeavors that may fundamentally alter the way we understand and think of ourselves. While the former aims to study what happened during the first few moments after existence began, the latter explores what happens after existence and human life as we know it ceases to be.

For many years colleagues and I have worked to establish a scientific method to study the elusive question of what happens when we die. Although a highly emotive subject that has traditionally been perceived as a subject for philosophical or theological debate, recent advances in medicine have finally enabled a scientific approach to answering this age-old question.

A process, not a moment
Contrary to popular perception, we now understand that biologically speaking, there is no “moment” that defines “death.” In fact, death is a process that begins when the heart stops beating and the lungs stop breathing, and as a consequence, within a few seconds the brain ceases functioning and enters into a “flatline” state. From this point on, oxygen deprivation leads brain cells into a “panic” state before they incur substantial damage and ultimately die over a period of minutes to hours.

A fascinating question that arises, then, is this: At what point during this process of cell death do we die? When exactly does the human mind and consciousness cease its activity? Is it at the moment the heart stops beating, or is it a few seconds, minutes, or even hours after the process of death has initially begun? Furthermore, what is the relationship between the mind and the brain during the state of clinical death?

These and fascinating questions relating to the mind and brain were addressed at a symposium at the United Nations titled: “Beyond the Mind-Body Problem: New Paradigms in the Science of Consciousness.” Sponsored by the NGO Section of the UN and the Nour Foundation, a New York-based nonprofit organization with consultative status to the UN, the symposium also served as the backdrop for the launch of the AWARE study, the world’s largest ever scientific study of what happens when we die.

This study which is being conducted through collaboration of leading physicians across 25 major European and U.S medical centers uses a combination of sophisticated brain-monitoring techniques, to study the brain while also employing an innovative method to study the mind and consciousness during clinical death.  

After flatlining
Although many independent studies have shown that the brain reaches a “flatline” state during clinical death, it has consistently been shown that 10 to 20 percent of people who are revived back to life report some activity of the mind and consciousness in the form of lucid, well-structured thought processes with reasoning and memory formation as well as the ability to “see” and “hear” actual events , raising the intriguing possibility that the mind and consciousness could continue functioning after we have reached the point of death and the brain has “flatlined.”

This intriguing possibility will now be tested using images that are strategically placed in specific areas in the hospitals, such that they are visible only by opening the eyes and looking above, or by looking down from the ceiling.

As well as exploring the fascinating nature of the human mind and consciousness during death, the AWARE study also aims to improve the way physicians resuscitate people who have undergone death by studying the biological factors that lead to better outcomes in survivors.

Only time will tell what the Hadron collider and the AWARE study will possibly reveal about our beginnings and our inevitable end. 

For more information about this topic, visit these sites:

MindBodySymposium.comNour FoundationHorizon Research Foundation

- | Expert describes what happens when we die |

| Dallas woman reunited with dog found in Fla

Dallas-woman-reunited-with-dog-found-in-Fla. MIAMI - A 77-year-old Dallas woman has been reunited with her dog after it mysteriously turned up in Florida. A Miami Beach club promoter found Sunshine, a Yorkie mix, on a street corner and took her to the vet. A microchip traced the pooch to Jodi Head, more than 1,000 miles away in Texas. The two were reunited Monday at Miami International Airport, where Sunshine happily shook her tail and licked Heads face.

Head, a dermatology lab courier, says shes amazed. Neighbors recently hosted some Sunshine State visitors, but thats the only connection she can make between her Sunshine and here.

For his help, Head gave $200 to good Samaritan Micha Porat. He spent half of it getting papers for the pooch to fly home.

- | Dallas woman reunited with dog found in Fla |

| Want to get rid of belly fat? Try these recipes

Want-to-get-rid-of-belly-fat?-Try-these-recipes Prevention magazine recently polled their readers and 67% said that their stomach is the No.1 body part most people would love to change. But did you know this stubborn fat is also the hardest to drop. Lucky for you, theres a new diet and some recipes to help. Prevention magazine reveals five meals from their The Flat Belly Diet Cookbook that are not only quick and tasty but can also help you lose those extra pounds around your waist.

Granola parfaitThe Flat Belly Diet Cookbook - | Want to get rid of belly fat? Try these recipes |

| US: No death penalty in embassy bombing

U.S.:-No-death-penalty-in-embassy-bombing NEW YORK - The U.S. government has decided not to seek the death penalty against a Guantanamo detainee charged in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa.

A letter the government released Monday advised U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan that Attorney General Eric Holder had told prosecutors not to seek the death penalty in the September 2010 trial of Ahmed Ghailani. The letter was dated Friday.

Authorities allege Ghailani was a bomb maker, document forger and aide to al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. The attacks at embassies in Tanzania and Kenya killed 224 people, including 12 Americans.

Ghailani was brought to the United States in June. The Tanzanian, captured in Pakistan in 2004, was held in Guantanamo since 2006. He is the first Guantanamo detainee to be brought to a U.S. civilian court for trial.

Justice Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement that other defendants in the embassy bombings case have received life prison sentences or will not be subject to the death penalty because the U.S. agreed not to seek it as a condition of their extradition.

Given those circumstances and other factors in this case, the attorney general authorized the U.S. attorney to seek a life sentence, Miller said.

However, the government did seek the death penalty against two of four defendants convicted in 2001 of conspiracy in the attacks. A jury declined to vote for death though, leaving the men with life prison sentences.

A message left with a lawyer for Ghailani was not immediately returned Monday.

Prosecutors have said the case against Ghailiani will be similar to the 2001 trial when evidence included extensive discussion about al-Qaida, bin Laden and techniques used by terrorists.

Bin Laden, who remains a fugitive, is a defendant in the case as well.

- | US: No death penalty in embassy bombing |