NBA Champions Visit White House

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama is beginning the week by hosting the NBA world champion Dallas Mavericks at the White House.

Obama, who roots regularly for the Chicago Bulls in his adopted home town, will congratulate the Mavericks for winning the 2011 championship title. He also will recognize the team's support for the men and women of the U.S. military forces.

Obama's East Room tribute for the Mavericks follows a private meeting he'll have earlier in the day with his senior advisers at the White House.

In the evening, the president will attend a campaign event in the nation's capital.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/09/dallas-mavericks-white-house-barack-obama_n_1193493.html

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Tokyo bourse in final talks to keep Olympus listed: report (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) ? The Tokyo Stock Exchange is in final talks to keep the scandal-hit Olympus Corp listed on the bourse, Jiji News Agency reported on Monday.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange kept Olympus on its watchlist after the firm met its deadline to file its revised results on December 14, which revealed a $1.1 billion dent in its balance sheet.

A source close to the matter told Reuters on Sunday that Olympus is considering suing current and former executives for compensation totaling about 90 billion yen ($1.2 billion), while its new president is considering resigning.

(Reporting By Mari Saito; Editing by Ed Lane)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120109/bs_nm/us_olympus

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Anthem gives time, funds back to community

Blue Ridge Medical Center, $64,800 to support the Latino Community Health Promoters in Action program.

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Anthem also contributed more than $440,000 to support local events, community organizations and nonprofits, including:

• $185,000 to support the American Heart Association's Heart Walk in Richmond, Roanoke and South Hampton Roads;

• $105,000 to sponsor Radio Disney's Get Active, Get Fit program across Virginia;

• $43,000 to sponsor Anthem LemonAid, which supports the fight against pediatric cancer, in Richmond, Roanoke and South Hampton Roads;

• $35,000 to sponsor the Massey Fundraising Challenge, Massey Cancer Center's largest annual fundraiser to support cancer treatment research; and

• $10,000 to sponsor the ASK 5K and Fun Walk in Richmond.

Anthem associates in Virginia pledged $422,396 during the company's annual giving campaign in November to six beneficiaries:American Cancer Society, American Red Cross, Community Health Charities, Feeding America, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and United Way. Campaign pledges are backed by a 50 percent match from the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation, bringing the total pledged to $633,594.

More than 310 company associates and their family members volunteered at community organizations throughout Virginia during the company's Community Service Day on April 30.

Allstate Foundation assists nonprofits

The Allstate Foundation donated $125,400 in 2011 to Virginia nonprofits that support safe teen driving, economic education for victims of domestic violence and Junior Achievement, among others.

Chesterfield County Public Schools received $3,500 for their safe teen driving programs, and the Virginia High School League got $45,000 for the student leaders conference and scholarships.

More than 35 Allstate agents in the state also have donated $1,000 Hands in the Community Grants to organizations where they volunteer, including Good Neighbor Village, Powhatan High School and the Burrowsville Ruritan Club.

Throughout the five-state Capital Region, the Allstate Foundation has provided $370,000 to more than 20 organizations.

"Allstate Insurance Company recognizes that our agents are vital to supporting their community, and it just makes sense for them to support those nonprofit organizations that also have helping hands for others," said Dave Prendergast, field senior vice president for Allstate's Capital Region.

"The Allstate Foundation is very proud of its two nationwide signature programs ? promoting safe teen driving and working to prevent domestic violence through education and economic empowerment," he said.

Kinder Morgan helps education effort

Kinder Morgan Foundation has donated $2,500 to the Virginia Home for Boys and Girls to fund the Vocational-Educational Partnership Program at the John G. Wood alternative school.

The Vocational-Educational Partnership Program is designed to fill the gap between knowledge learned in the classroom and the job training/real life experiences that employers demand.

Service Experts donates work clothing

When Service Experts worldwide introduced a new logo for company uniforms, Richmond's Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning (the largest division of Lennox Corp.) donated $45,000 worth of out-of-date work clothing through global philanthropy initiative Good360.

Items such as sturdy long-sleeved work shirts, T-shirts, pants and jackets were collected from the local branch as well as Service Experts offices and employees around the United States and Canada.

Coupons benefit Va. Special Olympics

Special Olympics Virginia received more than $14,000 from Procter & Gamble in 2011 through special coupons in the company's January brandSAVER coupon book.

Special Olympics programs nationwide received a donation from the company each time a coupon from the book was redeemed. The 2012 coupon book was in the Jan. 1 Times-Dispatch.

Source: http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2012/jan/08/tdmony02-notable-gifts-for-jan-8-ar-1594970/

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Gov't defends core of health care overhaul

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Defending President Barack Obama's signature health care overhaul, the administration is urging the Supreme Court to uphold the contentious heart of the law, the requirement that individuals buy insurance or pay a penalty.

The administration filed a written submission with the court Friday describing the 2010 law as an appropriate response to a "crisis in the national health care market."

The justices will hear arguments in the high court's biggest case this term over three days in late March. The outcome, expected in late June, has the potential to affect President Barack Obama's bid for re-election.

One federal appeals court struck down the so-called individual mandate as exceeding Congress' power under the Constitution. But two other federal appeals courts upheld the law and agreed with the administration's argument that Congress was well within its power to adopt that requirement.

Florida and 25 other states, as well as the National Federation of Independent Business, told the court in separate briefs that if the justices strike down the individual requirement, they should invalidate the rest of the law as well. Thirty-six Republican senators echoed the states' argument in their own filing.

The law is aimed at extending health insurance coverage to more than 30 million previously uninsured people and would, by 2019, leave just 5 percent of the population uninsured, compared with about 17 percent today, according to the Congressional Budget Office. About half of the increase would come from the individual requirement; the rest would come from an expansion of Medicaid and other provisions.

The health care law has attracted intense opposition from Republicans, including the party's presidential candidates, all of whom have vowed to repeal it if elected. The individual insurance requirement has been a particular lightning rod because it forces people to buy a product from a private insurer whether they want to or not, or pay a penalty for failing to do so.

This provision was struck down by a divided panel of the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the only appeals court that has ruled against the law among the four appeals courts that have considered it. One appeals court held that it was too soon to rule on the law.

But the administration said the requirement falls within Congress' power under the Constitution's Commerce Clause because health care is an issue of supreme national importance that consumes nearly 18 percent of the U.S. economy.

People may lack insurance, but they still get health care, and the costs get passed on to the insured, the administration said.

"Congress found that the cost of tens of billions of dollars in uncompensated care provided to the uninsured is passed on to insured consumers, raising average annual family premiums by more than $1,000," the administration said.

The individual mandate also goes hand in hand with another part of the law that prohibits insurers from denying coverage to people with existing medical conditions or increase their premiums, the administration said.

Separately, the insurance industry reinforced this point to the court, arguing that it needs the larger pool of people so that it can afford to cover people regardless of their medical history.

America's Health Insurance Plans and the BlueCross BlueShield Association ? major trade groups ? said in their court papers that if the individual requirement is struck down, the ban on denial of coverage based on pre-existing medical conditions must also go. Otherwise, premiums will rise and healthy people will drop coverage. The groups did not take a position on the constitutionality of the law.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-07-Supreme%20Court-Health%20Care/id-78292a6119bf460798d571e7d6990bf1

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UNC's Devon Ramsay receives hardship waiver from NCAA

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. ? The NCAA has granted North Carolina fullback Devon Ramsay a hardship waiver, giving him an extra year of eligibility in 2012.

Team officials announced the NCAA?s decision Saturday.

Ramsay tore several ligaments in his left knee in the 2011 season opener against James Madison. He had surgery in mid-September and missed the rest of the season.

He missed the 2007 season with a shoulder injury and played in only four games in 2010 before being ruled permanently ineligible for academic misconduct during its NCAA investigation of the football program. He appealed, and the NCAA later reversed its decision and restored his eligibility, saying Ramsay hadn?t committed a violation.

? Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Source: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/college/football/view.bg?articleid=1394058&srvc=rss

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U.S. Military Size, from the Civil War to Today (ContributorNetwork)

On Thursday, President Barack Obama addressed the nation and the U.S. military regarding the size of the armed forces. The Associated Press reports Obama said the military will be "leaner" in the face of around $350 billion in budget cuts in the coming years due to mandatory cuts in the Budget Control Act. The force's downsizing comes just as the United States' presence in Iraq is ending and troops start coming home from Afghanistan.

Here's a look at the size of the U.S. military over the past 150 years.

Civil War Era

Before the Civil War began in 1861, American Military History states the regular U.S. Army had 1,080 officers and nearly 15,000 enlisted men as of June 1860. Less than a year later, President Abraham Lincoln called for men in loyal states to send 75,000 men to help put down the rebellion. Very quickly, a force of 100,000 militia men serving for five months was called up as the U.S. military readied to invade the south. The Confederate States of America also tried to raise a similar force to defend its territories.

By the end of the war, there were over 1 million volunteers serving in the U.S. military. Within two years, the force was reduced to just over 11,000, a size even smaller than before the war. Adding part-time enlistees, a regular force of 57,000 men was realized for about five years. By 1876, there were just over 27,000 personnel in the military.

World Wars

When World War I started, the American military was in the process of increasing in size. Congress authorized an increase to 400,000 members in the National Guard to augment a regular Army size of around 175,000 in peace time. When President Woodrow Wilson called for the United States to enter World War I in Europe, volunteers to the force topped 2 million.

The Information Please Online Almanac states the U.S. military reached its highest enlistment in 1945. By the time World War II ended, there were over 12 million military personnel in the Army, Navy and Marine Corps combined. The U.S. Army had about 1.5 million people at the start of World War II.

Modern Times

Since the Vietnam War, troop levels decreased from about 3 million to roughly 1.4 million active personnel over the past two decades. PBS reported in 2004 that there were 499,000 active duty U.S. Army personnel backed up by 700,000 part time National Guard troops. Those numbers were about a third less than the force available during the Persian Gulf War in 1991.

Under current proposals, the U.S. Army and Marine Corps will begin troop reductions in 2015. The military will have to find savings across the board, from pay and retirement benefits to the size of overall military units.

William Browning is a research librarian specializing in U.S. politics. Born in St. Louis, Browning is active in local politics and served as a campaign volunteer for President Barack Obama and Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120106/us_ac/10797397_us_military_size_from_the_civil_war_to_today

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Mother unaware son arrested for LA arson fires (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? Shackled in handcuffs and flanked by three U.S. Marshals, Dorothee Burkhart scanned a Los Angeles courtroom looking for her son.

"Can you bring my son inside?" she pleaded with court officials. "Where is my son?"

Apparently she was unaware that less than two miles away, her 24-year-old son Harry Burkhart, also was behind bars suspected of more than 50 arson attacks over New Year's weekend that caused $3 million in damage.

Authorities believe Burkhart, angry over his mother's legal troubles, went on a nighttime rampage of burning parked cars a day after she made an initial court appearance last week.

On Tuesday, court documents were unsealed that revealed Burkhart's mother is charged in their native Germany with 19 counts of fraud, including failing to pay for a 2004 breast-augmentation surgery and pilfering security deposits from renters.

In a brief court appearance, she appeared perplexed, wondering aloud if her son had disappeared or was dead. At one point, she said, he is mentally ill and questioned whether Nazis knew where she and her son lived.

"What did you do to my son?" she asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Margaret Nagle.

"I'm not here to address anything related to your son," Nagle responded.

Both mother and son are being held without bail. Her next court hearing was delayed until Friday so she can hire an attorney, and charges could be filed against Burkhart as early as Wednesday.

Harry Burkhart was taken into custody after authorities received a tip from federal officials who recognized him in a security video that showed a pony-tailed man emerging from a garage where a car was set ablaze.

"When they saw the security footage, they recognized him and they contacted the arson task force," a State Department official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigations are ongoing.

Burkhart arrived in the U.S. in October and his non-immigrant visa is set to expire Jan. 18, authorities said. His mother last entered the country lawfully in January 2007 and she left four months later, officials said.

A federal law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the case, said Harry Burkhart was present when his mother was arrested Dec. 28 on a provisional arrest warrant.

Provisional arrest warrants are normally issued when there are criminal charges pending overseas against someone. Ordinarily, U.S. authorities then obtain an arrest warrant through the State Department and the Justice Department.

Burkhart had been in court Thursday afternoon at his mother's hearing when he launched into an obscenity-laden tirade, saying "F--- the United States!" said Thom Mrozek, spokesman at the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles.

Mrozek said Burkhart was detained and later escorted out of the courthouse. He said Burkhart did not make any specific threats against anyone or property at his mother's court hearing.

A law enforcement official, who requested anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, said authorities believe Burkhart went on the arson spree because he was angry over his mother's legal troubles.

Outside Harry Burkhart's Hollywood apartment, some neighbors described him as a loner who loitered around the busy commercial strip at night and could be heard arguing with his mother.

But Shlomo Elady, a hair stylist who regularly trimmed Burkhart's long hair, recalled someone who spoke three languages, dreamed of visiting Jerusalem and cared for a sickly mother who had trouble walking.

Elady said he was stunned that the man who lived with his mother above his Sunset Boulevard shop is suspected of torching vehicles, some just steps from his home.

"He loved his mom, the way every son loves his mom," Elady said. "He's not a creepy guy."

Galina Illarionova, who lives in the same apartment complex as the suspect, said through a Russian translator that an agitated Burkhart visited her Sunday and said his mother was having some kind of legal problems.

He told her his mother was in trouble with authorities and wanted Illarionova to attend a legal hearing with him, but he later said he didn't need her help.

A domain name for a website offering appointment-only sensual massage is registered to Dorothee Burkhart. Her name is not mentioned on the website, which states the service is not prostitution.

The series of fires appeared to have stopped with Burkhart's arrest. The onslaught of intentionally set fires kept residents anxious over the holiday weekend in some of the most densely populated areas of the city.

One of Saturday's fires occurred at the Hollywood and Highland entertainment complex, a popular tourist destination bordered by the Walk of Fame in a neighborhood that includes Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

Damaged buildings included a former home of Doors singer Jim Morrison.

Hundreds of investigators, police officers and firefighters raced to deal with the blazes. Police conducted extra patrols all weekend, and the noise of helicopters and sirens persisted virtually nonstop in Hollywood.

The fires forced many apartment dwellers from their homes. There were no serious injuries.

___

Associated Press writers Bradley Klapper and Pete Yost in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120104/ap_on_re_us/us_los_angeles_arson

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