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STORY: Volcanic vortex rings are natural, near-perfect circles of gas emitted from a volcano under specific conditions and scientists say Mount Etna emits more than any other volcano on earth. It is a relatively rare phenomenon caused by a constant release of vapours and gases. The gaseous mass ascends rapidly through the central part of the conduit, promoting the formation of rings by wrapping the gas upon itself in a vortex motion. Giuseppe Barbagallo, of the South Etna Alpine Guides Group, said the last time this happened at the Etna volcano was last December. The rings have led locals to...

" ... The national smoking rate has fallen to historic lows, with just 15 percent of adults still smoking. But the socioeconomic gap has never been bigger. ..." "... Among the nation’s less-educated people — those with a high-school-equivalency diploma — the smoking rate remains more than 40 percent ..."

A 36-year-old Scottish tourist wearing traditional Muslim garb had her blouse set on fire in a bizarre incident outside a pricey Fifth Ave. boutique, police sources said Monday. The victim noticed the sleeve of her blouse was charred and smoldering in the Saturday night attack, just hours before the ceremony marking the 15-year anniversary of 9/11. She was not badly hurt.

Known variously as Puff the Magic Dragon, Dragonships or just Spooky, the AC-47 gunship, with its broadside battery of GE miniguns, was a sight to behold. In 1965 with the grunts on the ground needing as much persistent close in air support as could be spared, the Air Force went about converting a handful of World War II-era C-47 transports into lead slinging death dealers by attaching a number of General Electric GAU-2/M134 miniguns arranged to fire through the left-hand side of the plane at a target below.

UC campus police arrested music mogul P. Diddy after he assaulted a UCLA coach and swung a kettlebell (a piece of weight-lifting equipment) at a football intern, according to sources. The incident began early Monday morning when Justin Combs, Diddy’s son, was participating in an off-season workout on UCLA’s field. According to sources, Combs, who will be a redshirt junior defensive back this fall, had missed some recent workouts and wasn’t giving a great effort Monday morning, so UCLA strength and conditioning coach Sal Alosi kicked him out of the session. At approximately noon, Combs and Diddy came to UCLA’s...

It's a huge understatement to say that being president is a very demanding job. It requires some serious time management and work coping skills. 99U has compiled a list of things President Obama does that keep him going and focused and help him get things done.

Prog Spring of 2012 continues. Today we meet OccuPoet Misty Rowan of Minneapolis, who will grace us with one of her poems. Misty came to my attention via this THREAD in DUmmieland, "Our Amazing Occupy Poet!" I watched the video, and yes, I was amazed . . . at what passes for poetry with the OWSies and the DUmmies. And seeing Misty of Minneapolis, I was reminded of Ted of New York. You know, Trust Fund Ted? Ted Hall, Tedward, Edward Twitchell Hall III, Flea-bagger Ted, Our Favorite OWSie. Remember when we introduced you to Ted "Help us now!"...

DANBURY, Conn. (AP) - Mary Travers, one-third of the hugely popular 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, has died. The band's publicist, Heather Lylis, says Travers died at Danbury Hospital in Connecticut on Wednesday. She was 72 and had battled leukemia for several years. Travers joined forces with Peter Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey in the early 1960s.

Arianna Huffington, editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post, told Bob Schieffer on CBSNews.com’s “Washington Unplugged” that she thinks highly of First Lady Michelle Obama’s decisions to move her mother to the White House, create a vegetable garden and develop an “approachable” personal style. “This is fantastic, an unqualified yes, there is nothing to complain about,” Huffington said. “Even if you don’t terribly like that particular outfit,” she said of Mrs. Obama’s fashion sense, “you know it is what she loves and what she looks good in.” As for the first lady’s protocol-breeching personal contact with the Queen in London, Huffington had...

Daschele removes name from nomination for HHS

A middle school in Marin City will not be renamed after President-elect Barack Obama. Sausalito Marin City School District officials nixed the idea of renaming the Martin Luther King Jr. Academy Thursday after dozens of community members voiced opposition to the idea at a meeting.

Fox news, other news channel, presser coming up.

Smokers banned from becoming foster parentsKatharine Barney, Evening Standard 29.10.08   Stubbed out: Redbridge Council has banned smokers from fostering children   SMOKERS will be banned from fostering children under radical measures to be introduced in London.Redbridge council is thought to be the first in the country to implement the rules, despite a shortage of 2,000 foster carers across the capital.The move is aimed at limiting children's exposure to the effects of passive and second-hand smoke from cigarettes, cigars and pipe tobacco.The new smoking policy, to be voted on next week, will apply to all foster carers except family...

Smoking ban leads to new religion Wednesday 16 July 2008Café owners in the Netherlands are joining religious movement known as the One and Universal Smokers Church of God, the Telegraaf reports on Wednesday.‘We stand firmly behind the church’s teachings and that is smoking,’ Cor Busch, owner of the former Lindeboom café in Alkmaar told the paper. ‘Smokers are being discriminated against… but a beer and a cigarette belong together.’ Smoking has been banned in Dutch bars since July 1. Several dozen bars have joined the movement which claims the Dutch constitution and European rules give it legitimacy under the...

SANDOVAL, Ill. — Sometimes civil action begins in a rural bar called Fat's, where an ashtray sat on every table and the smoke hovered wall to wall. About 200 people including bar owners, VFW members and patrons filled Fat's on Monday night for a tavern-hall meeting to discuss overturning or amending Illinois' statewide smoking ban established this year. -snip- Bar owners here reported Monday that revenue is down between 30 and 50 percent. The casino industry claims the ban already has caused at least a 17 percent drop in Illinois gaming business after just six weeks.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois' statewide smoking ban is barely a month old and opponents already are trying to relight the debate. With the General Assembly scheduled to return to Springfield this week, various Illinois interests — casinos, bars, veterans' organizations — are preparing to push state lawmakers to carve out exceptions for various types of facilities from the sweeping ban that went into effect this year in all indoor public places. "I'm a dedicated nonsmoker, but the hair on the back of my neck stands up" at some of the freedom-of-choice issues created by the ban, said state Rep. Bill...

METROPOLIS, Ill. -- Officials of Harrah's Metropolis riverboat casino claim Illinois' new smoking ban has resulted in the layoff of about 30 jobs at the casino. Casino officials claim guests are spending less on entertainment and making fewer trips because of the ban and the casino suffered a drop in visitation compared to the previous six-month average.

After months of protesting Columbia’s smoking ordinance and spearheading a failed campaign to have it repealed, Joel Thiel, co-owner of Otto’s Corner Bar & Grill, said he decided this week to close doors for good. Julia Robinson photos Above, Brett Wisman, left, and Kristal Allen smoke cigarettes after dinner last night at Otto’s Corner Bar & Grill in downtown Columbia. Below, Otto’s co-owner Joel Thiel works yesterday in the restaurant. Otto’s will close next week, a move Thiel blamed on the city’s smoking ban. He said sales have been down 30 percent since the ban took effect in January. "Our...

In an effort to motivate workers to kick unhealthy habits, U.S. companies are hitting them where it hurts: in their wallets. Employers who provide health insurance often use financial incentives, such as contributions toward premiums, to encourage workers to participate in wellness programs like smoking-cessation courses. Now some employers are wielding a stick as well as a carrot. Employees at some companies who are overweight, smoke, or have high cholesterol, for instance, and who don't participate in supplementary wellness programs, will pay more for health insurance. In extreme cases, employees' insurance deductibles could rise by $2,000. "The bottom line," says...

It’s not a smoking gun, but it’s smoking-related, and it’s there in bright medical images: evidence of microscopic structural damage deep in the lungs, caused by secondhand cigarette smoke. For the first time, researchers have identified lung injury to nonsmokers that was long suspected, but not previously detectable with medical imaging tools. The researchers suggest that their findings may strengthen public health efforts to restrict secondhand smoke. “We used a special type of magnetic resonance imaging to find these structural changes in the lungs,” said study leader Chengbo Wang, Ph.D., a magnetic resonance physicist in the Department of Radiology at...