California home for developmentally disabled faces abuse inquiry

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – California health officials have threatened to shut down part of the state’s oldest home for developmentally disabled adults due to evidence of physical abuse and neglect, in a move that could displace nearly 300 of its residents.

The state-run Sonoma Developmental Center could lose its license to run one unit if it does not fix the problems, according to a letter the state health department sent this week to the director of the sprawling facility in Eldridge.

Monitors this month and last “documented incidents of abuse constituting immediate jeopardy, as well as actual serious threats to the physical safety of female clients in certain units,” the California Department of Public Health letter said.

Among the incidents were physical abuse, a staff member exposing himself to a female client and inadequate monitoring of a patient who had propensity to swallow inedible items, leading to surgery, said Pam Dickfoss, assistant deputy director of the California Center for Health Care Quality.

The threat of sanctions against the board-and-care center in the heart of wine country represents a significant blow to a historic facility that opened at its current site in 1891 next to the bucolic town of Sonoma.

The center is northern California‘s only state-run residential facility for developmentally disabled adults and sits on 1,000 acres of land, including a petting zoo and sports fields.

Closure of the unit under scrutiny, the Intermediate Care Facility, could require moving 290 of the center’s more than 500 residents, officials said. It is unclear where they would be sent and officials say they hope that will not be necessary.

Administrators have vowed to correct deficiencies and said they plan to appeal the move to potentially strip them of federal funding and a state license for the unit under scrutiny.

“We are moving quickly to fix this center and protect our residents,” said Terri Delgadillo, director of the state Department of Developmental Services, which oversees the center.

She said the problems forced the removal of the center’s executive and clinical directors as well as other staff changes.

State monitors identified 57 deficiencies during a July visit, including four that posed an immediate danger to residents, and dozens of other threats to residents in more recent visits, the letter said.

The facility gets $ 117,000 a day in federal funding, said Nancy Lungren, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Developmental Services.

Most of the center’s residents suffer from cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism, or a combination of those conditions. Many have lived their entire adult lives at the center.

Leslie Morrison, director of the investigations unit of Disability Rights California, a watchdog group, said she was troubled by reports from the facility over the past year.

“This has been developing for a long period,” Morrison said. “They have been trying to correct things, but it’s going to take a long time.”

(Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis and Eric Walsh)

Health News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Sandy Hook shooter a mystery to neighbors and former classmates

Police prohibited access on Saturday to the neighborhood where gunman Adam Lanza lived. (Jason Sickles/Yahoo N …

NEWTOWN, CONN. -- Even to his neighbors, the gunman who massacred 26 kids and educators at an elementary school here still remains somewhat of a mystery.

"I want to know more," said Len Strocchia, who lives less than half mile away from the shooter's house.

Authorities say Adam Lanza, 20, killed his mother, Nancy Lanza, at their well-to-do home Friday morning before driving to Sandy Hook Elementary where he stormed in and committed one of the worst mass school shootings in U.S. history. The victims were 20 first-graders and six staffers, including the principal.

Adam Lanza's parents divorced a few years ago. Messages left with his father, Peter Lanza, were not returned.

On Saturday, Strocchia walked down the street to see the shooter's house firsthand, but was forbidden to go past a police barricade near the Lanza home.

"I want to know which house and why I didn't know them," the father of two teenagers told Yahoo News.

Another neighbor did know Adam Lanza. Megan, who declined to give her last name, was a classmate of the shooter from kindergarten through middle school.

"He wasn't like a weird kid as a child," Megan told Yahoo News. "He was just quiet. He didn't put off a friendly vibe."

But she said he was one of the smartest students in school.

"He was always participating in class and everything," Megan said.

But she said her former classmate with whom she rode the school bus sort of vanished after their junior high years.

"He almost fell off the radar in middle school," Megan told Yahoo News.

The shooter's aunt, Marsha Lanza, told ABC News that his mother pulled him out of Newtown public schools because of a dispute over the district's plan for her son.

"She mentioned she wound up home-schooling him because she battled with the school district," the aunt told ABC News.

Police said Adam Lanza, dressed in all black, was armed with two handguns and a semi-automatic Bushmaster .223 rifle when he barged into the school.

Dr. Carver, the medical examiner, said it appears that all the children where gunned down by the military-style rifle. Authorities said all the weapons were legally owned and registered by Nancy Lanza, the shooter's mother.

Newtown school superintendent Janet Robinson told reporters Saturday that Nancy Lanza had no connection to Sandy Hook school, despite initial reports Lanza was on the faculty or a substitute teacher there.

"I'm sickened that this mass murder was done with legal guns," said Strocchia, the neighbor. "I'd like to find out why. Why did she have guns?"

But acquaintances of Nancy Lanza told The New York Times that the 52-year-old mother was a big fan of guns.

"She had several different guns," Dan Holmes told the newspaper. "I don't know how many. She would go target shooting with her kids."

Reports that Adam Lanza may have suffered from a personality disorder are being supported by people who knew the mother to have a troubled son.

According to the Times story, a friend said Nancy Lanza was "handling a very difficult situation with uncommon grace."

Investigators revealed on Saturday that evidence found in the Lanza might provide a possible motive for the massacre.

State police spokesman Lt. Paul Vance declined to provide specifics about the evidence but said, "we're hopeful it will paint a complete picture."

Neighbors like Strocchia are searching for answers too. However, he said, said he harbors no anger.

"I'm thankful my children are alive," he said. "I have compassion and mercy. There was something wrong with him."

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McAfee says will not return to Belize, willing to talk to police

(Reuters) – U.S. software pioneer John McAfee said that he will not return to Belize where police want to question him about a murder case, but that he is willing to let authorities from the Central American nation interview him in a “neutral country.”

McAfee, 67, went into hiding after his American neighbor Gregory Faull was fatally shot in November. He made his way secretly to neighboring Guatemala, but the authorities there deported him to Miami on Wednesday.

“I will not go back to Belize. I had nothing to do with the murder,” a relaxed-looking McAfee said in an interview on CNBC.

Police in Belize want to question McAfee as a “person of interest” in Faull’s killing, though authorities there say he is not a prime suspect. McAfee said he barely knew Faull and had “absolutely nothing” to do with his death.

Belize police say their country’s extradition treaty with the United States extends only to suspected criminals, a designation that does not apply to McAfee.

McAfee, an eccentric tech pioneer, made a fortune from the anti-virus software bearing his name and had lived in Belize for four years.

He has charged that authorities have persecuted him because he refused to pay $ 2 million in bribes, and that the extortion attempt occurred after armed soldiers shot one of his dogs, smashed up his property and falsely accused him of running a methamphetamine laboratory.

Belize’s prime minister has rejected the allegations, calling McAfee paranoid and “bonkers.”

(Reporting by Jim Finkle; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

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Singer-songwriter Carole King to receive U.S. Gershwin prize

(Reuters) – American singer-songwriter Carole King will be awarded the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, the U.S. national library said on Thursday.

The multiple Grammy Award winner co-wrote her first No. 1 hit at age 17 with then-husband Gerry Goffin and was the first female solo artist to sell more than 10 million copies of a single album, with her 1971 release “Tapestry.”

The prize honors individuals for lifetime achievement in popular music, the library said. It is named after songwriting brothers George and Ira Gershwin.

King, now 70, topped the charts with the song “It’s Too Late” in 1971, but is best known for her work performed by others, including “You’ve Got a Friend” by James Taylor and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” by Aretha Franklin.

“I was so pleased when the venerable Library of Congress began honoring writers of popular songs with the Gershwin Prize,” King said in a statement. “I’m proud to be the fifth such honoree and the first woman among such distinguished company.”

King and Goffin wrote some the biggest hits of the 1960s before their nine-year marriage ended in 1968. They rose to prominence in 1960 writing “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” for the Shirelles.

The duo also scored hits with “Take Good Care of My Baby,” performed by Bobby Vee in 1961, “The Loco-Motion,” performed by Little Eva in 1962 and “Pleasant Valley Sunday,” performed by The Monkees in 1967, among others.

New York-born King did not hit it big as a singer until 1971, when “Tapestry” topped the U.S. album charts for 15 weeks, then a record for a female solo artist.

Past recipients of the award include Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney and songwriting tandem Burt Bacharach and Hal David.

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Xavier Briand)

Music News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Newtown Shooting: Young Kids Cope With Horror

Witnesses at Sandy Hook Elementary School reported horrific scenes as a shooter took 27 lives today — the shattering sounds of gunshots, children locked in the bathrooms and parents crying outside in the parking lot.

Experts say that the young children who saw events first-hand can have lasting psychological scars, but those whose home lives are stable and supportive will have fewer long-term scars.

“It was horrific,” said Kaitlin Roig, a 29-year-old teacher, who was in a morning meeting when the gunman entered the school.

“Suddenly, I heard rapid fire, like an assault weapon,” the first grade teacher told ABC. She rounded up her 14 students and locked them and herself in the bathroom. “I helped kids climb on the toilet dispenser [so they could all fit in].

“I thought we were going to die.”

CLICK HERE for more on the Newtown, Conn., School Shooting.

Children in such a situation “are terrified, and they don’t have the cognitive or emotional capacities to make sense of this,” said Dr. Nadine Kaslow, professor and vice chair of the department of psychiatry at Emory School of Medicine.

“Not that any of us can make any sense of this,” said Kaslow. “It’s truly inconceivable.”

At least 27 people, mostly children under the age of 10, were shot and killed at the K-to-4 school this morning, federal and state sources tell ABC News.

The massacre drew SWAT teams to the school and the town of Newtown locked down all its schools, authorities said today.

According to federal sources, the gunman was identified as Adam Lanza, 20. His mother, who worked at the elementary school, was one of the victims.

CLICK HERE for more photos from the scene.

One mother named Christine who has a child at Sandy Hook told ABC about the chaos that ensued when she arrived at the school this morning.

“When I got there, there were just parents running into the firehouse because they were directing us there. That’s where children had been evacuating to, and we went in and people were just grabbing their children and hugging and crying. There were lots of children crying.”

She said another parent who had been at the school at the time was “pretty broken up.” Many parents didn’t know where their children were.

In 1996 in Dunblane, Scotland, 15 children and a teacher were killed in a similar massacre.

Parents and caregivers play the most important role in a child’s recovery from a traumatic event, according to Dr. Gene Beresin, director of training in child and adolescent psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital.

“Children need to know that they are safe,” he said. “Are people taking care of me? How is this going to affect my life? They need to be reassured.”

“Thinking about kids in all disasters, you think about the airlines — when the oxygen mask drops, you put your mask on first and then help the child next,” said Beresin.

“Parents need to take care of themselves first. [The children] need to know you are calm and in control,” he said.

Adults and community support is critical, according to Beresin.

Young children who witness violence can have acute or post-traumatic stress disorder. “The immediate reaction is shock and horror,” he said.

After events like this, communities typically set up crisis centers in a church or other public place where people can seek professional and spiritual help.

Turn the television off, say experts, but answer your children’s questions. Don’t disregard an older sibling who is watching the news unfold and is worried. They need assurance, too, he said.

According to Beresin, young children may not have “discreet memories” of the event, but they can still have an emotional reaction, experiencing nightmares or, conversely, emotional numbing, said Beresin.

“Some kids shut down,” he said. “They may actually turn off and not want to be hugged or cuddled — that’s a normal response. Some kids are clingy, and others will withdraw.”

Kids can also regress in the aftermath of a traumatic event.

Parents should not force a child to open up, but “don’t let them be alone,” he said.

One way young children can work out problems are through reenactment. “They may be playing a game about shooting and dying, and parents should not stop that,” said Beresin. “Let them do it.”

Young children can also ask questions that don’t directly relate to the event, according to Rahill Briggs, assistant professor of pediatrics at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City.

“They can ask directly or less directly about guns, or heaven or death or about a pet that died,” she said.

In studies of 9/11 one of the findings — not a surprising one — after the terrorist attacks was that those who were most directly affected “suffered the most,” according to Briggs. Coping with grief long-term depended on the cohesion of the child’s family — “how well the caregiving system responds to distress. When it is proactive, by definition the children do better.”

“What was the most incredibly predictive five years out was how everyone was doing before the incident,” said Briggs. “It is the same for mental health in general, those who are coping well in their lives before a trauma are the most likely to cope well afterwards — even if they saw the towers fall.”

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Parenting/Kids News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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20 children, 6 adults killed at Conn. school shooting

Twenty children died today when a heavily armed man invaded a Newtown,
Conn., elementary school and sprayed staff and students with bullets.

The gunman, identified as Adam Lanza, 20, was found dead in the school.

Lt. Paul Vance said 18 children died in the school and two more died
later in a hospital. Six adults were also slain, bringing the total to
26.

In addition to the casualties at the school, Lanza's mother Nancy Lanza
was killed in her home, federal and state sources told ABC News.

According to sources, Lanza shot his mother in the face, then left his
house armed with at least two semi automatic handguns, a Glock and a Sig
Sauer, and a semi automatic rifle. He was also wearing a bullet proof
vest.

Lanza drove to Sandy Hook Elementary School and continued his rampage,
killing 26 people, authorities said. He was found dead at the school. It
appears that he died from what is believed to be a self inflicted
gunshot wound. The rifle was found in his car.

In the early confusion surrounding the investigation, federal sources
initially identified the suspect as Adam's older brother Ryan Lanza, 24.
He is being questioned by police.

LIVE UPDATES: Newtown, Conn., School Shooting

"Evil visited this community today," Gov. Dan Malloy said at a news conference this evening.

First grade teacher Kaitlin Roig, 29, locked her 14 students in a class bathroom and listened to "tons of shooting" until police came to help.

"It was horrific," Roig said. "I thought we were going to die."

She said that the terrified kids were saying, "I just want Christmas…I don't want to die. I just want to have Christmas."

A tearful President Obama said there's "not a parent in America who doesn't feel the overwhelming grief that I do."

The president had to pause to compose himself after saying these were
"beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10." As he continued
with his statement, Obama wiped away tears from each eye.

He has ordered flags flown as half staff.

CLICK HERE for more photos from the scene.

The alert at the school ended when Vance announced, "The shooter is deceased inside the building. The public is not in danger."

The massacre prompted the town of Newtown to lock down all its schools
and draw SWAT teams to the school, authorities said today. Authorities
initially believed that there were two gunmen and were searching cars
around the school, but authorities do not appear to be looking for
another gunman.

It is the second worst mass shooting in U.S. history, exceeded only by
the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007 when 32 were killed before the
shooter turned the gun on himself. Today's carnage exceeds the 1999
Columbine High School shooting in which 13 died and 24 were injured.

The Newtown shooting comes three days after masked gunman Jacob Roberts
opened fire in a busy Oregon mall, killing two before turning the gun
on himself.

Today's shooting occurred at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, which
includes 450 students in grades K-4. The town is located about 12 miles
east of Danbury.

State Police received the first 911 call at 9:41 a.m. and immediately
began sending emergency units from the western part of the state.
Initial 911 calls stated that multiple students were trapped in a
classroom, possibly with a gunman, according to a Connecticut State
Police source.

Lt. Paul Vance said that on-duty and off-duty officers swarmed to the
school and quickly checked "every door, every crack, every crevice" in
the building looking for the gunman and evacuating children.

A photo from the scene shows a line of distressed children being led out of the school.

Three patients have been taken to Danbury Hospital, which is also on lockdown, according to the hospital's Facebook page.

"Out of abundance of caution and not because of any direct threat
Danbury Hospital is under lockdown," the statement said. "This allows us
simply to focus on the important work at hand."

Newtown Public School District secretary of superintendent Kathy June
said in a statement that the district's schools were locked down because
of the report of a shooting. "The district is taking preventive
measures by putting all schools in lockdown until we ensure the safety
of all students and staff," she said.

State police sent SWAT team units to Newtown.

All public and private schools in the town were on lockdown.

"We have increased our police presence at all Danbury Public Schools due
to the events in Newtown. Pray for the victims," Newtown Mayor Boughton
tweeted.

State emergency management officials said ambulances and other units were also en route and staging near the school.

A message on the school district website says that all afternoon
kindergarten is cancelled today and there will be no midday bus runs.

Also Read

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Cuban lawmakers meet to consider economy, budget

HAVANA (AP) — Cuban lawmakers are holding the second of their twice-annual sessions with a year-end report expected on the state of the country’s economy.

Legislators are also to approve next year’s budget.

Cuban leaders have sometimes used the parliamentary gatherings to make important announcements or policy statements.

Observers will be watching for word on the progress of President Raul Castro‘s economic reform plan and efforts to promote younger leaders.

The unicameral parliament will reconvene in February with a new membership following elections. It is then expected to name Castro to another five-year term.

State-run media said Castro presided over Thursday’s session.

It was not open to international journalists.

Latin America News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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iPhone 5 hits China as Apple market share slips

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – The China release of its iPhone 5 on Friday should win Apple Inc some respite from a recent slide in its share of what is likely already the world’s biggest smartphone market, but its longer-term hopes may depend on new technology being tested by China‘s top telecoms carrier.

Cupertino, California-based Apple has been in talks about a tie-up with China Mobile for four years. A deal with China’s biggest carrier is seen as crucial to improve Apple’s distribution in a market of 290 million users – which is forecast to double this year.

China is Apple’s second-largest and fastest-growing market – it brings in around 15 percent of total revenue – but the company’s failure to strike a deal with China Mobile means it is missing out on a large number of phone users. As the China pie grows, Apple’s sales increase, but without China Mobile, it’s losing ground at a faster rate compared to other brands.

“In absolute terms, this (iPhone 5) launch will certainly result in strong sales for Apple in China. However, in relative terms, I don’t believe it will move the needle enough in market share,” said Shiv Putcha, a Mumbai-based analyst at Ovum, a global technology consultant.

China Mobile and Apple initially said they were separated only by a technical issue – as the Chinese carrier runs a different 3G network from most of the world – but that has evolved into a broader and more complex issue of revenue-sharing.

“China Mobile and Apple still have to solve many issues, such as the business model, articles of cooperation and revenue division, but I believe we will reach an agreement eventually,” China Mobile CEO Li Yue was reported by Chinese media as saying in Guangzhou last week.

Apple China declined to comment. China Mobile said it had no update to the Apple discussions.

STRONG PRE-ORDERS

Apple’s ranking in China’s smartphone market slipped to sixth in July-September, according to research firm IDC, [ID:nL4N09G1QK] but investors, primed to look to China product launches for an uptick in Apple’s quarterly sales, have good headline numbers to digest – more than 300,000 iPhones pre-ordered on one carrier alone. But it’s the lack of a deal with the No.1 carrier that prevents those numbers being stronger.

The iPhone is currently sold through Apple’s seven stores, resellers and through China Unicom and China Telecom – which together have fewer than half the mobile subscribers of bigger rival China Mobile.

“Apple’s market share declined because of the transition between the iPhone 4S and 5. Their market share will recover (with the iPhone 5), but if you don’t have China Mobile, the significant market share gains will be very difficult,” said Huang Leping, an analyst at Nomura in Hong Kong.

TD-LTE: STILL DISTANT

Cutting a deal with a Chinese state-owned carrier may be less optimal than the deals Apple is used to in other markets, and analysts note that China Mobile wouldn’t necessarily open the flood gates for Apple.

Ovum’s Putcha believes Apple and China Mobile will eventually strike a deal – though this would be for an iPhone running on China Mobile’s next-generation network rather than its current 3G network.

Of China Mobile’s 704 million subscribers, only 79 million are on its 3G network, and Apple has been reluctant to sign up to China Mobile’s under-utilized, homegrown TD-SCDMA technology. “Apple likely doesn’t see the return-on-investment in extending themselves for TD-SCDMA,” Putcha said.

China Mobile is currently trialling its next-generation network, TD-LTE, which could be of more interest to Apple, but full-scale commercial use – and an iPhone tie-up – could still be years away.

ANDROID THREAT

Meanwhile, rivals are circling, eating away at Apple’s smartphone market share. Samsung Electronics, Lenovo Group and little-known Chinese brand Coolpad held the top three slots in the third quarter, according to IDC.

All three have relationships with China Mobile and offer smartphone models at different price points. Apple competes exclusively at the high-end, and even there, rivals are rolling out models with China Mobile. Last week, Nokia said it planned to release its latest Lumia smartphone with China’s top carrier, which is also expected to launch Research in Motion’s new Blackberry 10, analysts predict.

“The threat will still come more from the Android camp where they have many vendors already working with China Mobile and offering high-end phones,” said TZ Wong, a Singapore-based IDC analyst.

While these smartphones don’t generate the buzz of a new iPhone, Chinese buyers are not known for their brand loyalty, and this could siphon away users considering an Apple upgrade.

“I’ve used a Blackberry, Android and iOS and, personally, I want to try the Windows 8,” said Andy Huang, a 37-year-old fund manager, who owns most iPad models, an iPhone 4 and a 4S. “I think the Windows 8 is very innovative.”

With a China Mobile deal looking some way off, Apple could always boost market share by offering cheaper models – the basic iPhone 5 will cost 5288 yuan ($ 850) without a contract – though this appears an unlikely route for a high-end brand.

“If they want to expand market share, probably the only way to do it here dramatically would be to put out a lower cost phone,” said Michael Clendenin, managing director at RedTech Advisors. “It’s really uncertain if they’d decide to go that route … Apple’s a mystery in that regard.”

($ 1 = 6.2518 Chinese yuan)

(Additional reporting by the Shanghai Newsroom and Jane Lee; Editing by Kazunori Takada and Ian Geoghegan)

Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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A Minute With: Director Peter Jackson on shooting “The Hobbit”

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – After bringing J.R.R. Tolkien‘s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy to life, filmmaker Peter Jackson is back in the world of Middle Earth with the author’s prequel, “The Hobbit.”

The three-film series is due to open in U.S. theaters on Friday with “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.”

The Oscar-winning director, 51, told Reuters about the 3D film, including the 48 frames per second (fps) format he used, which was widely debated by fans and critics.

Q: You originally intended “The Hobbit” to only be two parts. Why stretch it out to three?

A: “Back in July, we were near the end of our shoot and we started to talk about the things that we had to leave out of the movies. There’s material at the end of ‘The Return of the King’ (the final part of ‘The Lord of the Rings‘ trilogy) in the appendices that takes place around the time of ‘The Hobbit.’

“We were thinking, this is our last chance because it’s very unlikely we’re ever going to come back to Middle Earth as filmmakers. So we talked to the studio and next year we’re going to be doing another 10 to 12 weeks of shooting because we’re now adapting more of Tolkien’s material.”

Q: At what point did you decide you would direct the film yourself after originally handing it to Guillermo del Toro?

A: “At the time (we wrote the script), I was worried about repeating myself and worried that I was competing with myself. I thought it would be interesting to have another director with a fresh eye coming in and telling the story. But after Guillermo left, having worked on script and the production for well over a year at that stage, I was very emotionally attached to it. I just thought, this is an opportunity I’m not going to say no to.”

Q: You hired Gollum actor Andy Serkis to do second unit directing on the film, something he has never done before. What made you hand the task to a novice?

A: “I know how strongly Andy has been wanting to direct. One of the problems with second unit is that you tend to have conservative footage given to you by the director. They play it safe. I knew that I wouldn’t get that from Andy because he’s got such a ferocious energy. He goes for it and doesn’t hold back. I knew that if Andy was the director I would be getting some interesting material, that it would have a life and energy to it.”

Q: What inspired you to make a film in 48 fps?

A: “Four years ago I shot a six or seven minute King Kong ride for Universal Studios’ tram ride in California. The reason we used the high frame rate was that we didn’t want people to think it’s a movie. You want that sense of reality, which you get from a high frame rate, of looking in to the real world. At the time, I thought it would be so cool to make a feature film with this process.”

Q: Not everyone has embraced “The Hobbit” in 48 fps.

A: “For the last year and a half there’s been speculation, largely negative, about it and I’m so relieved to have gotten to this point. I’ve been waiting for this moment when people can actually see it for themselves. Cinephiles and serious film critics who regard 24 fps as sacred are very negative and absolutely hate it. Anybody I’ve spoken to under the age of 20 thinks it’s fantastic. I haven’t heard a single negative thing from the young people, and these are the kids that are watching films on their iPads. These are the people I want to get back in the cinema.”

Q: Why all the hoopla over a frame rate?

A: “Somehow as humans, we have a reaction to change that’s partly fear driven. But there are so many ways to look at movies now and it’s a choice that a filmmaker has. To me as a filmmaker, you’ve got to take the technology that’s available in 2012, not the technology we’ve lived with since 1927, and say how can we enhance the experience in the cinema? How can we make it more immersive, more spectacular?”

Q: George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney for $ 4 billion. Do you think you will sell your New Zealand facility Weta someday?

A: “I would if I want to retire at some stage and want to have a nice easy life, which will hopefully happen one day. But in the foreseeable future, the fact that I’m an owner of my own digital effects facility is a fantastic advantage for me.”

Q: How so?

A: “When we asked the studio if we could shoot ‘The Hobbit‘ at 48 fps, we promised the budget would be the same. But it actually does have a cost implication because you’ve got to render twice as many frames and the rendering takes more time. The fact that we owned Weta and could absorb that in-house was actually part of the reason we were able to do the 48 frames.”

(Editing by Patricia Reaney)

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Vision insurance tied to better eye health

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Older adults’ eyesight may suffer irreversibly if they don’t have vision insurance, suggests a new study that argues eye health should be a mandatory part of regular health insurance policies.

Researchers found that people between 40 and 65 years old with vision insurance were twice as likely to see an eye doctor in the past year, compared to those without coverage.

And people who saw an eye doctor were more likely to be able to read printed material and to recognize someone from across the street.

“The study finds that having vision insurance increases the likelihood of an eye care visit, and that a prior-year eye care visit is associated with better vision status,” the researchers write in the Archives of Ophthalmology.

Led by Yi-Jhen Li at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, the team notes that by 2020 it’s estimated that over 5.6 million Americans will have an age-related eye disease that may lead to vision loss.

But the researchers add that permanent vision loss from some of those eye diseases – including glaucoma and cataracts – can be staved off with early detection and treatment.

“We want to get them in the door. If they get in the door, they’re likely get what they need,” said John Crews, a health scientist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, who was not involved in the research.

“The problem from a public health point of view is, ‘what is impeding people from getting access to care?’” Crews said.

For the new study, Li and colleagues wanted to see if lack of vision insurance might stand in the way of working-age adults’ ability to go to an eye doctor and whether that would affect their vision.

They used a 2008 survey of 27,152 people from across eight U.S. states. Of those, 11,541, or 43 percent, did not have vision insurance.

Of the 15,611 people who did have vision insurance, about 64 percent had seen an eye doctor in the previous year, compared to about 45 percent of people without coverage.

After taking certain traits – such as age, sex and race – into account, the researchers also found that generally healthy people with vision insurance were 24 percent more likely to report that they had no trouble recognizing friends from across the street and 34 percent more likely to say they could read printed material without problems, compared to those without the insurance.

The difference was even greater among a subsample of people who had common eye ailments like glaucoma, cataracts or age-related macular degeneration – those with vision insurance were 37 percent more likely to say they could read and 45 percent were more likely to recognize a friend from afar.

In both the general population and those with eye diseases, people who saw a doctor within the past year were also more likely to report better vision.

Li and colleagues, who were not available for comment, note in their paper that the age group they focused on, between 40 and 64, are too young to be covered by Medicare but are “at high risk for eye diseases that cause gradual vision loss that is preventable.”

Theirs is the first study, they add, to examine how having vision insurance, versus general health insurance, influences how often people in this working-age segment of the population get regular eye care.

While 85 percent of the people in their sample had health insurance, the researchers write, just about 68 percent of those with health insurance had vision coverage. And, they say, their study indicates that it is vision insurance, but not health insurance, that determines not only whether people go to the eye doctor, but also the quality of their reported vision.

Making vision coverage a mandatory part of standard insurance policies would raise costs by about three percent, they conclude, calling that a “good value” compared to the costs of the vision loss that could be prevented.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology says older adults should have regular eye checkups every two to four years. The group recommends that people 65 years old and up see an eye doctor every one or two years.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/UiObja Archives of Ophthalmology, online December 10, 2012.

Seniors/Aging News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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