Whitney Houston back on the charts after her death (AP)

NEW YORK ? Fans are showing their grief over Whitney Houston's death by buying her music. Since her death, her album sales have been boosted by almost 6,000 percent.

Data released late Tuesday by Nielsen SoundScan showed that Houston's album sales for the week ending Sunday ? the day after her death ? were at 101,000. The week earlier, she had sold just 1,700 copies of her albums.

Her "Greatest Hits" album catapulted to the No. 6 position on Billboard's Top 200 albums chart, with about 64,000 copies sold. In the past week, it had sold only 607 copies.

And "I Will Always Love You" sold 195,000 digital tracks. The past week it had sold 3,000, an increase of 6,877 percent.

The 48-year-old Houston was one of music's top-selling artists of all time.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120215/ap_en_mu/us_music_whitney_houston

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Obama proposes $800 million in aid for "Arab Spring" (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? The White House announced plans on Monday to help "Arab Spring" countries swept by revolutions with more than $800 million in economic aid, while maintaining U.S. military aid to Egypt.

In his annual budget message to Congress, President Barack Obama asked that military aid to Egypt be kept at the level of recent years -- $1.3 billion -- despite a crisis triggered by an Egyptian probe targeting American democracy activists.

The proposals are part of Obama's budget request for fiscal year 2013, which begins October 1. His requests need the approval of Congress, where some lawmakers want to cut overseas spending to address U.S. budget shortfalls and are particularly angry at Egypt.

Obama proposed $51.6 billion in funding for the U.S. State Department and foreign aid overall, when $8.2 billion in assistance to war zones is included. The "core budget" for the category would increase by 1.6 percent, officials said.

Most of the economic aid for the Arab Spring countries -- $770 million -- would go to establish a new "Middle East and North Africa Incentive Fund," the president said in his budget plan.

Analysts said it was difficult to tell how much of the proposal was actually new money.

"As presented it's very difficult to determine if the Arab spring fund is new wine in new bottles or old wine in new bottles," said John Norris, a former U.S. foreign aid worker now at the Center for American Progress.

The Middle East and North Africa Incentive fund "will provide incentives for long-term economic, political, and trade reforms to countries in transition -- and to countries prepared to make reforms proactively," the White House budget document said.

The proposal said this approach "expands our bilateral economic support in countries such as Tunisia and Yemen, where transitions are already underway."

It would also build on other programs for the area, including up to $2 billion in regional Overseas Private Investment Corporation financing, up to $1 billion in debt swaps for Egypt, and approximately $500 million in existing funds re-allocated to respond to the region last year, the budget document said.

It did not say how the Middle East and North Africa Incentive Fund would be divided between countries, or give any other details of the plan.

Egypt has long been among the top recipients of U.S. aid, getting about $1.6 billion annually, mostly in military assistance. In fiscal 2012, $250 million of aid approved for Egypt was economic; $1.3 billion was military and there was a $60 million "enterprise fund" approved by Congress.

No U.S. assistance is moving to Egypt at the moment, U.S. lawmakers and their aides said last week. Some legislators favor cutting off aid to Egypt entirely if it does not drop accusations against American democracy activists and lift a travel ban on them.

Obama continued the practice of putting proposed foreign assistance for war zones in a separate account. This account, known as the "Overseas Contingency Operations," includes $8.2 billion for the State Department and foreign aid.

It includes $3.3 billion for Afghanistan, $1 billion for Pakistan, and $4 billion for Iraq, where U.S. troops have left the country but the State Department has picked up some of their functions such as police training.

(Editing by Christopher Wilson)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120213/pl_nm/us_usa_budget_foreign

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"Linsanity" touches down in star-struck Canada (Reuters)

TORONTO (Reuters) ? 'Linsanity' slammed into hockey-mad Canada with the force of a winter storm on Tuesday as Jeremy Lin, the National Basketball Association's (NBA) newest sensation, set hearts aflutter with a Valentine's Day visit to the league's most northern outpost.

A game between two losing teams would not normally qualify as a must-see event but Lin, the anonymous benchwarmer turned NBA superstar in a week, made the New York Knicks' visit to the Toronto Raptors the hottest ticket in town.

Part of Lin's immense appeal is his made-for-Hollywood back story of sleeping on a team mate's couch one day and living the American dream the next.

But it is a story still without an ending and, on a day dedicated to love, some began to wonder if Lin was involved in yet another basketball one-night stand or had finally settled into a long-term relationship.

"You have to have luck in life ... he had an opportunity and took advantage of it," Knicks head coach Mike D'Antoni said on Tuesday in front of a crush of media after his team's shootaround. "There are a lot of NBA players who don't make it. Sometimes you get lucky."

The first Taiwanese-American to play in the NBA, Lin's rise from obscurity to toast of the Big Apple is an extraordinary tale that is hard to resist.

The point guard from Harvard, a college better known as a springboard to the U.S. presidency than the NBA, went undrafted and was cut by Golden State and Houston before finding a place at the end of the Knicks bench in December.

MARKETING DREAM

Given his chance, Lin seized the NBA spotlight with both hands, helping the Knicks to five straight wins with a string of stunning performances.

As the first ripples of "Linsanity" hit Asia, marketing men rubbed their hands with glee as they contemplated a potential candidate to fill the very large shoes left by last year's retirement of Yao Ming.

But nowhere has the fascination been greater than New York, where Lin's No. 17 jersey is the NBA's top seller and shares of Madison Square Garden Co, owner of the Knicks, shot to record highs.

Some experts say Lin has the potential to be bigger than any current athlete in terms of marketing as long as 'Linsanity' does not prove to be a passing fad.

"He is Tiger Woods before the scandal, I think he has everything going for him," Ronn Torossian, chief executive of 5W Public Relations, told Reuters. "If he can continue to deliver on the court his possibilities off the court are limitless.

"I don't think he needs to put up MVP numbers but I do think when you look at marketing greatness over the last few years, whether it is David Beckham, Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods, let's not forget they were all winners.

"Before anything else he has to be a winner. If he is, I can't tell you if we have ever seen anything like this."

'IT'S A MIRACLE'

Certainly Raptors fans are not accustomed to seeing anything like it in Toronto, where such lavish attention is reserved for the NBA's elite.

The Raptors have fielded more media credential than for any other regular season game and Tuesday's contest marked just the second sellout of the season.

Coaches, team mates, fans and even Lin himself are at a loss to explain the sequence of events that took him from anonymity to the face of the NBA.

But you do not need to be a Harvard graduate to figure out that opposing defenses are also getting acquainted with Lin and searching for a cure for 'Linsanity.'

"I've been able to get away with some stuff but defenses are going to start locking in so I'm going to have to improve," said Lin, who averaged 26.8 points, 8 assists and 4.2 rebounds in over his first five games. "If you look back at my story ... there are a lot of things that had to happen that I just couldn't control.

"I think it's a miracle because obviously I don't think anybody expected this to happen the way it happened."

(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto; Editing by Frank Pingue)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120215/sp_nm/us_nba_knicks_lin

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Budget reflects scaled-back vision for clean energy | Insurance For ...

President Obama?s fiscal 2013 budget proposal asks Congress to increase spending on renewable-energy projects by about $500 million ? almost the same amount the Energy Department lost on its loan guarantee for the bankrupt solar-panel manufacturer Solyndra.

The proposed spending increase, which would take the Energy Department?s renewables spending up to $2.3 billion, compared to $1.8 billion in fiscal 2012, is a clear signal that Obama plans to push ahead with full-throated support of clean energy on the campaign trail, despite the Solyndra controversy.

The bump up is part of an overall increase in the Energy Department?s topline request of $27.2 billion, up 3.2 percent from fiscal 2012 levels.

?In light of the tight discretionary spending caps, this increase in funding is significant and a testament to the importance of innovation and clean energy in the country?s economic future,? the agency wrote in its request.

Practically, though, the request for new clean-energy spending is dead on arrival on Capitol Hill, where election-year partisan deadlock has all but assured that Congress won?t even pass a budget this year. And even if it did, the Republican-controlled House would be sure to attack any fresh Energy Department spending on renewable-energy programs.?

And while Obama?s proposed boost in clean-energy spending may seems bold in the face of the rain of criticism he knows will come from House Republicans, it represents a deeply scaled-down vision of his once-ambitious agenda. Campaigning in 2008, Obama proposed a sweeping clean-energy?plan that would have budgeted $150 billion over a decade in federal spending. By comparison, clean-energy advocates say that this year?s relatively paltry proposal won?t come close to scaling up the nation?s clean-energy economy to the size once envisioned by the Obama administration.

The president?s budget request proposes once again to slash long-standing tax breaks to coal, oil, and gas companies ? a move that would raise $46 billion over 10 years to help pay for his clean-energy vision.? Democrats have tried and failed for years to end these tax breaks, and they?ll likely have just as much success this year as in years past. The White House knows this, of course, but proposing to slash the tax breaks to oil companies gives Democrats an important talking point in an election year likely to see voter ire at high gasoline prices. It also helps set the stage for a debate on broad corporate tax reform in 2013. Although oil companies have fought the rollback of their tax breaks tooth and nail, they?ve said they would be willing to come to the table in 2013.

Most of the rest of the increase in the Energy Department funding request comes in boosts to its chief portfolio, managing the nation?s nuclear-weapons arsenal. The agency requests $7.6 billion for weapons activities, a 5 percent increase above the fiscal 2012 enacted level, for such things as continuing nuclear-weapon life-extension programs and sustaining the existing stockpile.

Source: http://insuranceforless.mobi/wp/index.php/health-insurance/budget-reflects-scaled-back-vision-for-clean-energy/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=budget-reflects-scaled-back-vision-for-clean-energy

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Whitney Houston's Addictions: How Couples Share Their Drug Habits (LiveScience.com)

Whether Whitney Houston, who died on Saturday (Feb. 11), had substance abuse problems before her marriage to the singer Bobby Brown, or whether she was influenced by his "bad boy" ways, one thing is clear: the fact that the couple shared a drug habit is not surprising, experts say.

By and large, couples tend to have similar drinking, drug and smoking habits, research shows.

A common reason for this is that we tend to marry people who share our values and interests, including activities such as drinking and smoking, said Kenneth Leonard, director of the Research Institute on Addictions at University at Buffalo, in Buffalo, N.Y.

"Oftentimes, people will not be accepting of a partner who is doing something that is sort of different from themselves," Leonard said. This means relationships in which one couple is a heavy smoker or drinker, and the other is not, often won't last, or won't begin in the first place, Leonard said.

In fact, one of Leonard's studies showed that recently married couples who were discordant in their drug and alcohol use ? that is, one was a heavy user and the other was not ? were more likely to be unhappy in their marriage compared with those who shared these behaviors? for better or for worse.

And other research suggests older couples who are discordant in these behaviors are more likely to divorce, Leonard said.

But that doesn't mean you should go looking for a mate that has similar alcohol and drug habits as you, Leonard said. What is more important in terms of a lasting relationship is that couples maintain similar values and expectations about the marriage, he said.

And while marrying your drinking buddy may mean that your marriage won't suffer, the shared behaviors "may promote continued dangerous levels of drinking or drug use," and possibly have a detrimental impact on other parts of your life, such as your ability to parent, Leonard said.

Road to recovery

Though similar people tend to get together, married couples who are different in terms of their drinking and drug habits can also influence each other. If discordant drinking and drug behavior is causing marital stress, the nonuser in the partnership may change their behavior, Leonard said, and take up the alcohol or drug habit.

Regardless of how couples come to share a drug or alcohol habit, once they do, it becomes harder for either partner to quit, said Bruce Goldman, director of substance abuse services at the Zucker Hillside Hospital of the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System in Glen Oaks, N.Y.

"If you're in a relationship in which both parties use, the decision to enter recovery is even more difficult," Goldman said. That's because the dynamics of a relationship can change if one partner stops using and the other one doesn't, he added.

And even if both couples enter rehab together, it is by no means smooth sailing, Goldman said. In this case, an individual not only has to worry about her recovery, but also the recovery of her partner, he said.

While a more healthy relationship may be on the horizon, "that transition may be rocky," Goldman said.

Benefits of marriage

But marriage isn't just an institution for swapping bad behaviors. In fact, many in many cases, the opposite is true. A smoker who is married is more likely to quit smoking in the following year than an unmarried smoker, Leonard said. Married people are also more likely to get regular medical checkups than unmarried people, he said.

And married people tend to drink less than their single counterparts, said Kathryn Graham, head of social and community prevention research at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, in London, Ontario.

So what exactly determines if a marriage has a positive or negative influence on health? Researchers don't know for sure, but how vulnerable a person is to peer influences may play a role, said Dr. Ihsan Salloum, professor of psychiatry and director of the alcohol and substance abuse treatment program at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. In a sense, a marriage is a more complex, more focused peer relationship, Salloum said.

An individual's genetic predisposition to addiction, her personality and how much she values the relationship with her partner all play a role in determining whether one spouse adopts the drinking or alcohol behavior of the other, Salloum said.

Pass it on: Couples commonly share drinking and drug behaviors, which may make it harder for either to quit, experts say.

This story was provided by MyHealthNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience. Follow MyHealthNewsDaily staff writer Rachael Rettner on Twitter @RachaelRettner. Find us on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20120213/sc_livescience/whitneyhoustonsaddictionshowcouplessharetheirdrughabits

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Can Cross Cultural Associations Work-Of Course Just Have ...

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You can?t usually choose who you drop in adore with and there are lots of people who?ve just happened to fall in love with someone from another culture. It could seem exciting when dating someone from an additional tradition but it isn?t always that easy. In the event you could make it work then you might have a cross cultural relationship that?s life altering and really fulfilling but it is not usually easy falling in adore with someone that features a completely various tradition than you.

If you do plan to possess a cross cultural relationship you must be ready to step outside of your normal mind-set. You might need to make some compromises within the relationship that don?t follow your traditions. You might not think it would be all that difficult but you could be surprised how some situation can sneak up on you and also you find your self creating a tough choice. Different cultures have different suggestions of what?s correct and wrong and a few cultures will clash in those beliefs. If you?re dating someone whose tradition clashes with every thing which you believe then these differences can be difficult to overcome.

When you are inside a cross cultural relationship you will have to learn around you can about your partners culture and then you?ll know whether you are able to probably compromise on certain things or whether or not your different beliefs are too excellent. You?ll need to listen to your partner and inquire respectful questions about their tradition. If you are open minded you are able to enjoy an information discussion about your cultures, but usually remain respectful of your partner and their beliefs.

If at a while throughout your connection you find your self inside a scenario that you are not comfortable with regarding their beliefs or tradition then you definitely need to discuss it with them. Remain respectful but allow them know your beliefs are different and let them understand how you feel about this. By no means ridicule them for their beliefs, you need to usually regard them, but just allow them know that you do not feel comfy with it. If they love you and regard your beliefs then they?ll attempt to know your place.

Different cultures have different customs and a few of them may appear a little primitive to you, however you ought to still remain respectful. It?s quite possible that a few of your customs may seem unusual or primitive to them. You should by no means judge someone by their customs but instead take an curiosity in them and discover about them.

Whenever you enter right into a new relationship it could be an anxious time but even more so in the event you come from different cultural backgrounds. You have to be patient and comprehending and have discover while you learn about each other as well as your different cultures. If you are open to stepping outside of one?s comfort and ease zone then you definitely might learn about and experience some incredible cultures. This does not mean which you require to alter your personal beliefs, it just implies that you?re willing to acknowledge and regard someone else?s beliefs.

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Obama to submit his budget to Congress on Monday (AP)

WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama is pressing for investments in infrastructure while relying on familiar tax increases on the wealthy and corporations to claim progress on the federal deficit in his upcoming budget.

Obama's 2013 budget, to be released Monday, is the official start to an election-year budget battle over taxes and spending as the nation's debt tops $15 trillion. Obama's budget predicts a $1.3 trillion deficit in the ongoing budget year and a $901 billion deficit in 2013.

The president's plan is laden with stimulus-style initiatives, like sharp increases for highway construction, school modernization, and a new tax credit for businesses that add jobs. But it avoids sacrifice, with only minimal curbs on the unsustainable growth of Medicare even as it slaps a 10-year, $61 billion "financial crisis responsibility fee" on big banks to recoup the 2008 Wall Street bailout.

The budget, administration officials say, borrows heavily from Obama's September submission to a congressional deficit "supercommittee" assigned to come up with at least $1.2 trillion in deficit savings as part of last summer's budget-and-debt pact that avoided a first-ever U.S. default on its obligations. The panel deadlocked and left Washington to grapple with bruising across-the-board spending cuts that kick in next January.

Obama's plan predicts deficit savings of more than $4 trillion over a decade, mixing $1 trillion already banked through last summer's clampdown on agency operating budgets with $1.5 trillion in higher tax revenues reaped from an overhaul of the tax code. It also claims savings from reduced war costs and takes just a nip at federal health care programs even as it promises $476 billion for road and other surface transportation programs over six years, a significant increase.

It's already received a chilly reception from Republicans who say Obama isn't doing enough to tame the deficit or curb the rapid growth of benefit programs like Medicare.

The budget will also call for a "Buffett Rule" named after billionaire Warren Buffett that would guarantee that households making more than $1 million a year pay at least 30 percent of their income in taxes.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120212/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_budget

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