The Elderly React Slowly Because They Want To Be Right

By Christie Nicholson
(Click here for the original article and podcast)

Older folks may appear to react or process info slowly. But there may be a method to their meander-ness: they?re making sure they get it right.?

Scientists gave undergrads and adults over 60 visual tests. In one, a computer screen would show an array of asterisks and the subjects had to choose as fast as they could whether there were between 31 and 50 or between 51 and 70. In a second test, the subjects saw a string of letters and quickly decided whether the letters spelled a real English word or not.

The researchers found little difference in accuracy between the younger and older subjects, although undergrads had significantly faster response times. But the older participants? slower response times were not all the result of a decline in skills.?In other tests, the older subjects were encouraged to decide faster, and their response times greatly decreased with hardly any loss of accuracy.

The researchers think it might be a greater desire to avoid mistakes that makes the elderly more deliberate. Because, as the old adage says: if you don?t have time to do something right, how will you find the time to do it again?

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/01/the-elderly-react-slowly-_n_1179078.html

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Dems target Romney in Iowa (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Looking ahead to next fall, Democrats in Iowa and beyond sought to weaken Republican Mitt Romney in advance of Tuesday's lead-off presidential caucuses as polls show the former Massachusetts governor amassing support.

Democrats dispatched party leaders and surrogates in Iowa on Monday to assail the Republican field while paying close attention to Romney, who has led in national polls and could use Iowa and other early states as a springboard to secure the Republican nomination. Democrats have tried to portray Romney as lacking any core convictions while raising questions about his business background, which the former governor has offered as a chief reason to send him to the White House.

"When push comes to shove, Romney's economic vision could not be more out of touch with the needs of working folks here in Iowa and across the country," said Michael Fitzgerald, Iowa's state treasurer and a Democrat.

President Barack Obama is expected to compete heavily for Iowa's voters in next fall's general election after winning the state's caucuses in 2008 and carrying Iowa against Republican John McCain. Obama planned to address Democratic caucus attendees by web video Tuesday night.

A Des Moines Register poll released Saturday showed Romney with steady support at 24 percent, with Republicans Ron Paul and Rick Santorum competing closing with Romney in the caucuses. Half of likely caucus-goers viewed Romney as the Republican most likely to win the November election, putting him well ahead of Santorum and Paul on that question.

The Democratic National Committee held events with a union official who was laid off by a company that Romney's former private equity firm, Bain Capital, restructured more than a decade ago. The worker, Randy Johnson, said the layoffs show that Romney doesn't understand the needs of working people.

Democrats intend to make Romney's past a major focus of a head-to-head campaign, aiming to undercut the Republican's arguments against Obama on the economy. Johnson's former company, American Pad and Paper in Marion, Ind., was bought by Bain Capital in 1994 and the company closed the Indiana plant a year later, laying off about 200 people.

"He's always been in the business of making money," Johnson said by phone from Davenport, Iowa, where he met with reporters. Johnson currently works for the United Steelworkers union.

Under Romney, Bain Capital invested millions of dollars into dozens of private-equity ventures, with some producing giant profits. Romney has said his business attempted to make the companies more successful but he wasn't always able to succeed.

Romney's campaign has dismissed the efforts by Democrats to raise the case of the Indiana factory, which played prominently in Romney's 1994 campaign against Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy. Romney's campaign said Obama "and his cronies know that if they have to face Mitt Romney in the general election they are going to lose, which is why they continue their `kill Romney' strategy."

Democrats continued to pound away at Romney's record, calling him a serial flip-flipper who has shifted views on abortion and gun control.

In Florida, Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Florida congresswoman, told reporters that "all of the Republican candidates support the failed policies of past" but singled out Romney, urging voters to "ask themselves if they know the real Mitt Romney and just how far he's gone to remake himself to win the nomination."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/democrats/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120102/ap_on_el_pr/us_gop_campaign_democrats

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Police try to ID body found in search for Ark. mom

Authorities examine the scene where a body was found Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011, near Jessieville, Ark. Investigators were working Saturday to identify a body found in a forest a few miles from a missing police dispatcher's home, but the dispatcher's family said they were all but certain it was her. (AP Photo/Jeannie Nuss)

Authorities examine the scene where a body was found Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011, near Jessieville, Ark. Investigators were working Saturday to identify a body found in a forest a few miles from a missing police dispatcher's home, but the dispatcher's family said they were all but certain it was her. (AP Photo/Jeannie Nuss)

In this undated photo released by Hot Springs Village Police Department, Dawna Natzke is seen. The search continues Friday, Dec 30, 2011, in Hot Springs Village, Ark., for the woman who disappeared a week ago after leaving a Christmas party. (AP Photo/Hot Springs Village Police Department)

Authorities examine the scene where a body was found Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011, near Jessieville, Ark. Investigators were working Saturday to identify a body found in a forest a few miles from a missing police dispatcher's home, but the dispatcher's family said they were all but certain it was her. (AP Photo/Jeannie Nuss)

A.L. Cornett, the Hot Springs Village police and fire chief, talks about a body near where it was found Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011, near Jessieville, Ark. Investigators were working Saturday to identify a body found in a forest a few miles from a missing police dispatcher's home, but the dispatcher's family said they were all but certain it was her (AP Photo/Jeannie Nuss)

HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE, Ark. (AP) ? Investigators were working Saturday to identify a body found in a forest a few miles from a missing police dispatcher's home, but the dispatcher's family said they were all but certain it was her.

Authorities would not say whether they think the body searchers found was that of 46-year-old Dawna Natzke. But her sister, Debbie Shingler, said her family think's it her, even though they haven't seen the body.

"It's not confirmed to be Dawna, but we all know," she told The Associated Press.

Natzke, a mother of three, was last seen leaving a Dec. 21 Christmas party with her 28-year-old boyfriend, Kevin Duck. According to police, Duck told detectives the two of them returned to her home in Hot Springs Village that night, and that she wasn't there when he awoke the next morning. It wasn't until Dec. 23, when Natzke failed to show up for work, that she was reported missing.

Although there are security gates at each of the central Arkansas town's entrances, there are no video cameras that would have recorded her leaving the community of 13,000 that caters to retirees.

Volunteer searchers found the body in a remote part of a forest 5.5 miles from where Natzke's burned-out station wagon turned up in Ouachita National Forest, Garland County Sheriff's Office spokesman Lt. James Martin said. Authorities hadn't yet searched the area. Police went to Natzke's mother's home at about 10 a.m. to let the family know a body had been found.

"I'm not aware of but one missing person in this area up here," said A.L. Cornett, the police and fire chief in Hot Springs Village, where Natzke has worked for years. "Some suspicions are very strong, but again, until we get confirmation, we don't know who this is."

Authorities wouldn't describe the condition of the body, but Martin said foul play is suspected in the death. Crime scene tape stretched across pine trees blocked access to the area, including a pond.

"They don't want to speculate anything until after the crime lab has done their investigation," Shingler said. "I am sure if it wasn't (Natzke's body), they would be calling us."

Police have not named any suspects in the disappearance of Natzke, who had recently separated from her husband.

Duck didn't return a phone message left Saturday at his mother's home. His cell phone number, which went to a voicemail on Friday, had been disconnected by Saturday.

Shingler, the oldest of four sisters, said both of her other sisters were in Arkansas because of their youngest sister's disappearance. One flew in Saturday.

"I had to tell her when her plane landed" that a body had been found, Shingle said.

___

Follow Jeannie Nuss at http://twitter.com/jeannienuss

___

Associated Press writer Ken Miller in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-12-31-Missing%20Mom-Arkansas/id-64ac5c75c98643659c035c33a9a81995

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Bio-Engineering Board Game Sounds Like More Fun Than Running a Monopoly [Games]

The best board games also teach important life skills. Scrabble improves spelling. Monopoly imparts valuable business strategies. And now Strain can make you a genetic engineer on par with Dr. Moreau. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/zOm3czvNKfk/bio+engineering-board-game-sounds-like-more-fun-than-running-a-monopoly

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In 2012, Obama to press ahead without Congress (The Arizona Republic)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/181334094?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Daniel Brown: 'Greatest trade in football' fails to land Raiders a playoff spot

What Hue Jackson called "probably the greatest trade in football" turned out to be just another transaction line.

The Raiders missed the playoffs with quarterback Carson Palmer.

They could have missed the playoffs just fine without him.

Now, the so-called "greatest trade" looks like a flop.

"It was this year," Palmer acknowledged.

It will be said that the quarterback couldn't get the Raiders to the playoffs, but Palmer held up his end of the bargain Sunday by throwing for 417 yards, with two touchdowns and a 102.6 passer rating.

Still, the third biggest passing day in franchise history was barely enough to keep the defenseless Raiders in the game. The San Diego Chargers never even had to punt during a 38-26 victory at O.co Coliseum.

Jackson was quick to point the fingers at the locker room for the collapse, saying that he was tired for covering up for his players.

Palmer, meanwhile, took the high road: He blamed himself.

"I always feel that when you don't win, the quarterback can always play better," he said. "I can definitely play better next year."

At those last two words, Palmer caught himself.

"It stinks to sit here and say, 'Next year,' " he said, after a brief pause. "You have to let this one settle in, look back at this entire season, find out why it didn't work out and why you didn't win the game when you had chances. You have to look to the

future."

The Raiders gambled big when they acquired the semiretired former Pro Bowl quarterback from the Cincinnati Bengals in October. They shipped a 2012 first-round pick and a conditional second-rounder in 2013 that would become another first if the Raiders made it to the AFC title game in either of the next two years.

In the immediate, giddy wake of the trade, Jackson went so far as to suggest that Palmer was the missing piece.

"I think this team is poised to win whatever we need to win," the coach said the day the prized quarterback arrived. "I said that before. We're not putting people on the team just to put them on there. We're chasing a championship.

"I'm not going to tell you I'm going to be disappointed if we don't, but I'll probably be mad if we didn't."

Well, at least that last part was on the money. Jackson was indeed steaming mad after the loss, especially after hearing that the Denver Broncos lost, too. The door was open for the Raiders to make the postseason for the first time since 2002.

Palmer didn't hear about the Broncos loss until about a half-hour after the game. That's when his frustration doubled.

"Absolutely," he said. "We came into the game hoping and wishing and with our fingers crossed about other games. Then to find out it worked out the way you needed it to?"

He said his mind immediately flashed back to a loss to the Detroit Lions, when the Raiders allowed two long scoring drives in the final minutes.

He had his regrets from this one, too. The Raiders reached the red zone three times but managed only one touchdown.

"If you don't score enough points to win, you look at all the areas -- the times you didn't convert on third down, the times you had to kick field goals as opposed to touchdowns," Palmer said. "When you're playing a team that is hot on offense like (the Chargers), field goals don't get it done. You have to get seven when you get down there."

In his 10 games (nine starts) with the Raiders, Palmer wound up averaging 305.9 passing yards per game. He threw 13 touchdown passes and 16 interceptions.

The Raiders went 4-6 after his arrival, 4-5 with him as the starter.

Apparently, the "greatest trade in football" is going to need more time to pay off.

"It's going to be a long offseason," Palmer said. "We have a lot of things to figure out."

Contact Daniel Brown at dbrown@mercurynews.com.

Source: http://www.mercurynews.com/rss/ci_19657776?source=rss

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Chile closes Allende case after confirming suicide

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) ? A judge in Chile has closed the case on the death of President Salvador Allende after an authoritative autopsy confirmed it was suicide.

An international panel of experts convened by Judge Mario Carroza determined that Allende took his own life with an AK-47 while defending the presidential palace in Chile's 1973 coup.

Carroza ruled out the possibility that a soldier or bodyguard fired the fatal shots. He also disproved a range of other myths surrounding Allende's death 38 years ago.

Allende was among 726 people who died or disappeared when Gen. Augusto Pinochet seized power, and whose cases were stuck in the courts since then. Carroza is studying these cases anew under orders from the Supreme Court.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-12-29-LT-Chile-Allende/id-a4779f66d8214287871ecbc8c535ee04

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