BREVITAS

||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

HEALTH & SCIENCE

PRESS WATCH – Britain's young people are more likely to be ill than
their grandparents - and it's all down to their poor lifestyle.
Binge-boozing, ready meals and a lack of exercise are taking their toll
on people in their 20s and 30s. They are now more likely to suffer from
headaches, anxiety attacks and flu than the over-55s. New research for
Florida Grapefruit shows that people aged 18 to 34 are three times more
likely to have a cold or flu than those over 55.

http://www.presswatch.com/health/#6

CBS - The emergency room has become a waiting room, according to a study
of more than 90,000 ER visits. . . A report found emergency room waiting
times have increased 36 percent since the 90s, from an average of 22
minutes in 1997 to 30 minutes in 2004. The wait has hit heart attack
patients the worst, increasing their average wait from 8 minutes in 1997
to 20 minutes in 2004. . . Improving care inside the emergency room
depends on solving a major problem on the outside. With 47 million
Americans lacking health insurance, the ER has been taking the place of
the primary-care doctor.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/15/eveningnews/main3718223.shtml

||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

OUTLYING PRECINCTS

GEORGE WILL - Endorsements of politicians by politicians may matter
little to voters, but they are indicators of the endorsers' estimates of
strengths and dangers. So what do Sens. Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Tim
Johnson of South Dakota, Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Ben Nelson of
Nebraska; former senator Gary Hart of Colorado; and Govs. Jim Doyle of
Wisconsin, Tim Kaine of Virginia and Janet Napolitano of Arizona have in
common? Three things, actually. They are Democrats, they have been
elected in red or swing states, and they have endorsed Obama. In 2000
and 2004, George W. Bush carried North Dakota with 60.7 percent and 62.9
percent of the vote. A Democratic presidential candidate has not carried
the state since 1964. Bush carried South Dakota with 60.3 percent and
59.9 percent. It has not voted Democratic in a presidential election
since 1964. Bush carried Missouri with 50.4 and 53.3. This bellwether
state has voted with the winner in every election but one (1956) in the
past 100 years. Bush carried Nebraska with 62.2 and 65.9. It last voted
Democratic in 1964. Bush carried Colorado with 50.8 and 51.7. It last
voted Democratic in 1992. Bush carried Arizona with 51 and 54.9. It last
voted Democratic in 1996. Bush carried Virginia with 52.5 and 53.7. It
last voted Democratic in 1964. Bush narrowly lost Wisconsin with 47.6
and 49.3.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/16/
AR2008011603445.html


USA TODAY - Turnout in the opening Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire
primary this month smashed records. By 2-1, those surveyed in a new USA
TODAY/Gallup Poll say they're more enthusiastic than usual about voting
this year. Nine in 10 say it makes a difference to them who is elected
president. . . By 62%-28%, voters say they're more enthusiastic about
voting than usual. That's 17 percentage points higher than at this point
in 2000 and 6 points higher than in 2004 — a year in which November
turnout was the highest in a generation.

WORLD NET DAILY - A second state has approved a plan that would bypass
the U.S. electoral college, giving the presidency to the winner of a
national popular vote. New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine signed legislation
that specifies the state's 15 electoral college votes would go to the
winner of the popular vote. Maryland, with its 10 electoral college
votes, earlier approved a similar plan. Both are contingent on enough
other states approving the plan to provide absolute control over
presidential elections.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59683

CATO AT LIBERTY - Analyzing exit polls from last week's New Hampshire
primary, E.J. Dionne observes in today's Washington Post that "an
astonishing 42 percent of McCain's voters disapproved of the Iraq war".
. . The voters who oppose the Iraq war but who support the leading
advocate for the war seem to be saying that fiscal conservatism stops at
the water's edge. Then again, it could just be cognitive dissonance.

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2008/01/15/irrational-voters/

POLITICAL WIRE - The Detroit Free Press notes an interesting finding
from the Michigan exit polls: Sen. Hillary Clinton's support among black
voters was just 30%, with 68% going to "uncommitted."

PEW RESEARCH – Shortly after last week's Iowa caucuses, only about half
(49%) of American adults could name both the Democratic and Republican
winner -- but 40% say the media have devoted too much coverage to the
campaign.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/pew/20080115/ts_pew/49couldnamebothiowacaucuswinners


MIKE HUCKABEE'S AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION
http://www.themishmash.com/

||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

RECOVERED HISTORY

LA TIMES - The Library of Congress today unveiled three negatives --
long mislabeled -- of the crowd that gathered at the U.S. Capitol for
Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural on March 4, 1865. "It's exciting to
find additional images related to the Lincoln presidency," said Carol
Johnson, curator of photography who specializes in 19th century
photography and who played sleuth to match the negatives to the correct
event. "It was a wet, rainy day, most people have on long overcoats and
hats.... You can see some people's expressions -- some who seem to be
cheering, one guy raising his hand." A reader browsing through the
Library of Congress' online Civil War photographic negative collection
noticed three glass negatives identified as taken during the
administration of Ulysses S. Grant, either at his inauguration or at the
Grand Review of the Armies. The reader, from Berthoud, Colo., alerted
the Library that he did not think the labels were correct.

http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/nationworld/nation/~3/217786601/
la-na-lincoln17jan17,1,5935345.story


||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

RELIGION AND ITS ALTERNATIVES

TOM CRUISE'S DISCOURSE ON SCIENTOLOGY
http://defamer.com/344987/the-tom-cruise-indoctrination-video-
scientologists-dont-want-you-to-see


||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

ECO CLIPS

Bucking the trend in many other wealthy industrialized nations, the
United States seems to be experiencing a baby boomlet, reporting the
largest number of children born in 45 years. The nearly 4.3 million
births in 2006 were mostly due to a bigger population, especially a
growing number of Latinos. That group accounted for nearly one-quarter
of all U.S. births. But non-Latino white women and other racial and
ethnic groups were having more babies too. An Associated Press review of
births dating to 1909 found the total in the U.S. was the highest since
1961, near the end of the baby boom. An examination of global data also
shows that the United States has a higher fertility rate than every
country in continental Europe, as well as Australia, Canada and Japan.
Fertility levels in those countries have been lower than the U.S. rate
for several years, although some are on the rise, most notably in
France.

||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

FURTHERMORE. . .

GALLERY: 15OO LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PHOTOS FROM 100 YEARS AGO
http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/sets/
72157603624867509/show/with/2163445674/


||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||