Medicare health insurance Supplement Insurance Really helps to ...

Many of these over 65 that saved for retirement possess retained greater economic versatility than those hit through layoffs while still attempting to amass financial savings. That makes elderly people a very desirable marketplace for several sectors. In fact, senior citizen marketing is the quickest growing marketing section today.

In pointed contrast, one of the greatest marketing and advertising failures that can possess seriously harmful complications for all those over 65 encompases Medicare. With several parts, two deductibles, partially coverage only eighty percent with regard to doctors services, no protection at times such because when you travel outside the US with no reconciliation when physicians charge above what Medicare health insurance will pay, Medicare is really a maze connected with contradictions. How should seniors calculate and also plan for their healthcare costs?

In truth, both equally people under and also age 65 discover Medicare often to become obscure and some basically give up in dilemma. Its a depressing comment on the actual ?information age? that individuals havent described Medicares coverage in a manner that enables many seniors to calculate their expected healthcare costs and program accordingly.

Medicare Supplement Programs Help to Convert Medicares Coverage

Private insurers marketing and advertising Medigap insurance must clarify Medicare, at least within part, to show the advantages of their programs to protect seniors through all the healthcare charges that Medicare health insurance wont cover. With regard to many, private insurance firms discuss Medicare in manners that are much more direct and more understandable to give seniors a much better overall knowledge of where the cracks in Medicares coverage slide them in danger. The danger is real due to the fact hefty doctor and medical center bills sometimes devour pension savings forcing seniors to lessen their total well being. Medical care costs could be the single greatest concern for many elderly people because their requirement for health care develops as they age and since health care costs are spiraling away from control.

A Medicare health insurance Supplement Can trim Seniors Medical Charges down to Size

With current Medicare benefits in danger Medicare was expanded beyond its predicted chest in just 8 years, baby boomers and also seniors are discovering alternatives, such as Medicare advantage plans plans and Medicare health insurance Supplement plans

In the public presence of the brand new health care laws, Benefit plans are beginning to shed their financial assistance. Its expected these plans can be increasingly expensive using the decline of presidency subsidies. Medicare supplement insurance, often called Medicare health insurance supplement insurance, is a possible option. With 10 various plans, each one floods the gaps in Medicare health insurance in a different way so elderly people are free to decide on only the advantages they need without having to pay for any extra supplies. Medigap plans protect Medicares Part A and also Part B deductibles to create seeing the physician and see the hospital when youd like less expensive. These programs can also protect Medicares co-pays and also co-insurance charges, and specific plans expand Medicares protection to services beyond First Medicare, such as crisis medical care for all those out from the country

Confusion more than Medicare Has Left Senior citizens Unprepared for Medical care Debt

Although millions are actually enrolled in Medicare health insurance in order to pay money for their healthcare needs, many stay unprotected simply as a result of insufficient understanding in regards to the intricacies from the Medicare program. One of the greatest misconceptions involves the Medicare health insurance ?pre-approved? amount. Medicare health insurance only pays for 80% of a standardised amount for techniques. That doesnt quit doctors from getting more; it just changes the burden of transaction onto the sufferer. Doctors can certainly still charge their own regular fee, Medicare can certainly still pay it is standard payment and its really for you to decide to create those ends satisfy. Getting the correct information is crucial for you to get the most away from Medicare, and Medicare health insurance supplement insurance any key to linking the gaps in Medicare health insurance coverage.

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Source: http://arkhamcity.org/index.php/2012/01/medicare-health-insurance-supplement-insurance-really-helps-to-make-sense-regarding-medicare-health-insurance/

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Halliburton rides oil boom to 4Q profit (AP)

NEW YORK ? Halliburton's net income spiked 50 percent in the final three months of 2011 as one of the world's biggest oilfield services companies shifted its focus from natural gas to oil, with a barrel of crude again trading near the triple digit mark yet again.

Energy companies are capitalizing on new technology to reach crude that was once prohibitively expensive to pump, especially in the United States, and Halliburton has benefited immensely.

The Houston company posted earnings of $906 million, or 98 cents per share, for the fourth quarter. That compares with $605 million, or 66 cents per share, for the same part of 2010.

Excluding a $15 million charge for an "environmental-related matter," Halliburton Co. earned $1 per share in the quarter. Revenue increased 36.9 percent to $7.06 billion.

The boom in shale drilling across regions of North America boosted Halliburton's 2011 earnings to $2.84 billion, or $3.08 per share, compared with $1.84 billion, or $2.02 per share, in 2010. Annual revenue increased 38.1 percent to $24.8 billion.

Hydraulic fracturing, still a relatively new technology, has allowed energy companies to get to oil and natural gas from fields that had been left behind with most of the remaining resources trapped in shale rock. Halliburton and others use a mix of highly pressurized water and chemicals to break apart those shale formations and free the resources contained within.

That has reshaped the industry enormously in recent years, and those changes continued Monday with the announcement that oil and gas producer Apache Corp. would buy privately held Cordillera Energy Partners III LLC in a deal valued at $2.85 billion. Apache wants access to Cordillera's approximately 254,000 net acres in the Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle, where the company sees a strong potential for producing new sources of oil.

Increasingly, the industry has been turning away from natural gas fields in favor of wells that produce more oil. Oil prices increased more than 10 percent in the fourth quarter while natural gas prices dropped by 13 percent.

Benchmark crude traded above $99 per barrel on Monday.

"We are proactively moving equipment from dry natural gas to liquids plays in North America in response to recent rig moves," Halliburton CEO Dave Lesar said."

Halliburton also saw an increase in drilling in Gulf of Mexico during the fourth quarter. Operating income also grew in Latin America, while falling in Europe and North Africa and holding steady in the Middle East.

Overall, the company's completion and production business increased profits 58 percent while its drilling and evaluation business increased profits by 35.6 percent.

Lesar said he expects the company to increase revenue worldwide in 2012.

Schlumberger Ltd., another major oil services firm, reported a 36 percent jump in fourth-quarter profits last week.

Halliburton shares fell 35 cents to $35.85 in premarket trading.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_halliburton

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Primary day at hand, SC voters have their say (AP)

GREENVILLE, S.C. ? Primary day at hand, fast-climbing Newt Gingrich told South Carolinians on Saturday that he was "the only practical conservative vote" able to stop front-runner Mitt Romney in the GOP presidential race. Romney acknowledged the first-in-the-South contest "could be real close" and prepared for an extended fight by agreeing to two more debates in Florida, next on the election calendar.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum braced for a setback and looked ahead to the Jan. 31 contest after getting the most votes in Iowa and besting Gingrich in New Hampshire. Texas Rep. Ron Paul made plans to focus on states where his libertarian, Internet-driven message might find more of a reception with voters; his campaign said it had purchased a substantial ad buy in Nevada and Minnesota, which hold caucuses next month.

The first contest without Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who dropped out this past week and endorsed Gingrich, was seen as Romney's to lose just days ago. Instead, the gap closed quickly between the Massachusetts governor who portrays himself as the Republicans best positioned to defeat President Barack Obama and Gingrich, the confrontational former House speaker from Georgia.

Romney avoided a run-in with Gingrich at Tommy's Country Ham House, where both had scheduled campaign events for the same time. Romney stopped by the breakfast restaurant 45 minutes ahead of schedule. When Gingrich arrived, just minutes after Romney's bus left the parking lot, he said: "Where's Mitt?"

Earlier, Gingrich had a message for voters during a stop at The Grapevine restaurant in Boiling Springs not long after the polls opened: Come out and vote for me if you want to help deny Romney nomination.

He told diners who were enjoying plates of eggs and grits that he was the "the only practical conservative vote" to the rival he called a Massachusetts moderate. "Polls are good, votes are better," he said.

Gingrich also said he would put a stop to federal actions against South Carolina's voter ID and immigration laws.

Romney's agreement to participate in Florida debates Monday in Tampa and Thursday in Jacksonville was seen as an acknowledgement of a prolonged battle with Gingrich.

"This could be real close," said Romney as he chatted on the phone with a voter Saturday morning and urged the man to go vote.

Romney still has significant advantages over his three remaining Republican rivals, including an enormous financial edge and a well-organized campaign.

But with his Iowa victory now rescinded, losing in South Carolina would be a setback that could draw the primary contest out much longer. Just 10 days ago, Romney's campaign team was looking ahead to the general election as it anticipated a quick sweep in early primaries.

By Saturday, state Treasurer Curtis Loftis, a top Romney backer, was on an automated telephone message attacking Gingrich's ethics record in Congress, while Romney's wife, Ann, was on a separate one urging voters to consider the candidates character.

"Look at how they've lived their life," she says. "And that's why I think it's so important to understand the character of a person."

Before the ham house standoff that wasn't, Romney stood outside his Greenville headquarters and undertook a new attack on Gingrich. He called on Gingrich to further explain his contracts with Freddie Mac, the housing giant, and release any advice he had provided to the company. He has said the contracts earned two of his companies more than $1.6 million over eight years, but that he only pocketed about $35,000 a year himself.

`I'd like to see what he actually told Freddie Mac. Don't you think we ought to see it?" Romney said.

It was another response to pressure on Romney to release his tax returns before Republican voters finish choosing a nominee.

A day earlier, Romney had called on Gingrich to release information related to an ethics investigation of Gingrich in the 1990s. Gingrich argues that GOP voters need to know whether the wealthy former venture capital executive's records contain anything that could hurt the party's chances against Obama.

Romney has said he will release several years' worth of tax returns in April. Gingrich has called on him to release them much sooner. On Saturday, Romney refused to answer questions from reporters about the returns and whether his refusal to release them had hurt him with South Carolina voters.

Gingrich, buoyed by Perry's endorsement as he left the race Thursday, has called Romney's suggestion about releasing ethics investigation documents a "panic attack" brought on by sinking poll numbers.

The stakes were high for Saturday's vote. The primary winner has gone on to win the Republican nomination in every election since 1980.

It's very important, but it's not do or die," Paul told Fox News

Some of South Carolina's notorious 11th-hour devilry ? fake reports in the form of emails targeting Gingrich and his ex-wife Marianne ? emerged in a race known as much for its nastiness as for its late-game twists.

"Unfortunately, we are now living up to our reputation," said South Carolina GOP strategist Chip Felkel.

State Attorney Gen. Alan Wilson ordered a preliminary review of the phony messages to see if any laws had been broken.

Gingrich's ex-wife burst into the campaign this week when she alleged in an ABC News interview that her former husband had asked her for an "open marriage," a potentially damaging claim in a state where the Republican primary electorate includes a potent segment of Christian conservatives. The thrice-married Gingrich, who has admitted to marital infidelities, angrily denied her accusation.

___

Associated Press writers Beth Fouhy and Thomas Beaumont contributed to this report from South Carolina.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_el_pr/us_gop_campaign

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iVillage Woman of the Week!

Each week iVillage celebrates a woman who makes us proud. See who we're highlighting this week.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/woman-week-1/1-b-211957?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Awoman-week-1-211957

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The advantage of ambiguity in language

Friday, January 20, 2012

Why did language evolve? While the answer might seem obvious ? as a way for individuals to exchange information ? linguists and other students of communication have debated this question for years. Many prominent linguists, including MIT's Noam Chomsky, have argued that language is, in fact, poorly designed for communication. Such a use, they say, is merely a byproduct of a system that probably evolved for other reasons ? perhaps for structuring our own private thoughts.

As evidence, these linguists point to the existence of ambiguity: In a system optimized for conveying information between a speaker and a listener, they argue, each word would have just one meaning, eliminating any chance of confusion or misunderstanding. Now, a group of MIT cognitive scientists has turned this idea on its head. In a new theory, they claim that ambiguity actually makes language more efficient, by allowing for the reuse of short, efficient sounds that listeners can easily disambiguate with the help of context.

"Various people have said that ambiguity is a problem for communication," says Ted Gibson, an MIT professor of cognitive science and senior author of a paper describing the research to appear in the journal Cognition. "But once we understand that context disambiguates, then ambiguity is not a problem ? it's something you can take advantage of, because you can reuse easy [words] in different contexts over and over again."

Lead author of the paper is Steven Piantadosi PhD '11; Harry Tily, a postdoc in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, is another co-author.

What do you 'mean'?

For a somewhat ironic example of ambiguity, consider the word "mean." It can mean, of course, to indicate or signify, but it can also refer to an intention or purpose ("I meant to go to the store"); something offensive or nasty; or the mathematical average of a set of numbers. Adding an 's' introduces even more potential definitions: an instrument or method ("a means to an end"), or financial resources ("to live within one's means").

But virtually no speaker of English gets confused when he or she hears the word "mean." That's because the different senses of the word occur in such different contexts as to allow listeners to infer its meaning nearly automatically.

Given the disambiguating power of context, the researchers hypothesized that languages might harness ambiguity to reuse words ? most likely, the easiest words for language processing systems. Building on observation and previous studies, they posited that words with fewer syllables, high frequency and the simplest pronunciations should have the most meanings.

To test this prediction, Piantadosi, Tily and Gibson carried out corpus studies of English, Dutch and German. (In linguistics, a corpus is a large body of samples of language as it is used naturally, which can be used to search for word frequencies or patterns.) By comparing certain properties of words to their numbers of meanings, the researchers confirmed their suspicion that shorter, more frequent words, as well as those that conform to the language's typical sound patterns, are most likely to be ambiguous ? trends that were statistically significant in all three languages.

To understand why ambiguity makes a language more efficient rather than less so, think about the competing desires of the speaker and the listener. The speaker is interested in conveying as much as possible with the fewest possible words, while the listener is aiming to get a complete and specific understanding of what the speaker is trying to say. But as the researchers write, it is "cognitively cheaper" to have the listener infer certain things from the context than to have the speaker spend time on longer and more complicated utterances. The result is a system that skews toward ambiguity, reusing the "easiest" words. Once context is considered, it's clear that "ambiguity is actually something you would want in the communication system," Piantadosi says.

Implications for computer science

The researchers say the statistical nature of their paper reflects a trend in the field of linguistics, which is coming to rely more heavily on information theory and quantitative methods.

"The influence of computer science in linguistics right now is very high," Gibson says, adding that natural language processing (NLP) is a major goal of those operating at the intersection of the two fields.

Piantadosi points out that ambiguity in natural language poses immense challenges for NLP developers. "Ambiguity is only good for us [as humans] because we have these really sophisticated cognitive mechanisms for disambiguating," he says. "It's really difficult to work out the details of what those are, or even some sort of approximation that you could get a computer to use."

But, as Gibson says, computer scientists have long been aware of this problem. The new study provides a better theoretical and evolutionary explanation of why ambiguity exists, but the same message holds: "Basically, if you have any human language in your input or output, you are stuck with needing context to disambiguate," he says.

###

Massachusetts Institute of Technology: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice

Thanks to Massachusetts Institute of Technology for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116859/The_advantage_of_ambiguity_in_language

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Solar Flare May Spark Weekend Northern Lights Show (SPACE.com)

A powerful flare erupted from the sun Thursday (Jan. 19), unleashing a plasma wave that may supercharge the northern lights for skywatchers in high latitudes this weekend.

The solar flare occurred at about 11:30 am EST (1600 GMT) and touched off a massive solar explosion ? known as a coronal mass ejection ? aimed at Earth, space weather experts and officials said. The charged particles from the sun explosion should reach Earth by Saturday night (Jan. 21), and could amp up northern lights displays when they hit the upper atmosphere.

"Forecasters say strong geomagnetic storms are possible when the cloud arrives during the late hours of Jan. 21st. High-latitude (and possibly middle-latitude) sky watchers should be alert for auroras this weekend," the skywatching website Spaceweather.com announced in an alert.

Several space telescopes recorded photos and video of the solar flare, including NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and the Solar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). [Photo and video of the solar flare]

According to the Space Weather Prediction Center maintained by NOAA, Thursday's solar flare erupted from an active sunspot group called Region 1401. Another solar hotspot, called Region 1402, is also fired off a flare, the center reported.?

Auroras occur when charged particles from the sun interact with Earth's upper atmosphere, releasing visible light in the process. The particles are funneled toward Earth's polar regions by the planet's magnetic field, with the northern auroral displays known as the aurora borealis, or northern lights. The southern counterpart is called the aurora australis, or southern lights.?

Thursday's solar flare rated as a powerful M2-class sun storm on the scale used by astronomers to measure flare strength. M-class storms are powerful, but mid-range, types of solar flares. They fall between the weaker C-class flares and the most powerful X-class solar storms, which can pose a threat to satellites and astronauts in orbit, cause widespread communications interference and damage infrastructure on Earth when aimed directly at the planet.

SDO mission scientists have said that sunspot group 1401 has been unleashing solar flares almost daily as the sun's rotation slowly turned the solar hotspot toward Earth in recent days. On Wednesday (Jan. 18), the region unleashed an M1.7-class solar flare, they said in a Twitter post.

The sun is currently in the middle of an active phase of its 11-year solar weather cycle. The current sun storm cycle, called Solar Cycle 24, is expected to peak in 2013, NASA scientists have said.

Editor's note: If you snap an amazing northern lights photo, or other skywatching image, and would like to share it for a possible story or gallery, please contact managing editor Tariq Malik at?tmalik@space.com.

Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter?@Spacedotcom?and on?Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personaltech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/space/20120120/sc_space/solarflaremaysparkweekendnorthernlightsshow

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Video: The Goldfinger Mystery, Part 5

Dateline NBC

'Dateline NBC,' the signature broadcast for NBC News in primetime, premiered in 1992. Since then, it has been pioneering a new approach to primetime news programming. The multi-night franchise, supplemented by frequent specials, allows NBC to consistently and comprehensively present the highest-quality reporting, investigative features, breaking news coverage and newsmaker profiles.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032600/vp/46079600#46079600

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