Good news - smoking pot may stave off Alzheimer’s disease.
New research shows that the active ingredient in marijuana may prevent the
formation of deposits in the brain associated with the degenerative disease.
The race is over as far as Ireland's biggest bookmaker is concerned.
Paddy Power PLC says it is so sure Barack Obama will win the U.S. presidential election next month that it paid off Thursday on all bets it had taken backing the Democratic candidate. It said it shelled out more than euro1 million, about $1.35 million.
"We declare this race well and truly over and congratulate all those who backed Obama - your winnings await you," the company said in a statement.
Paddy Power has a long tradition of winning free publicity by paying off early, particularly on political contests.
Powers said the biggest winner among the Obama bettors was someone who gambled euro100,000 and got back a total of euro150,000.
The most visionary bettor, though, was the "punter" who put down euro50 on Obama in 2005. At the time, Obama was listed at 50-to-1, so the bettor got euro2,550.
Despite calling the contest, the Dublin-based bookmaker said it is still taking new bets on the race. A John McCain victory Nov. 4 on a bet placed Thursday would pay off euro5 for every euro1 bet. By contrast, each euro1 bet on Obama would net just 11 euro cents.
John McCain has made no bones about his disgust for greed. But his wife Cindy's fortune comes from a government-created entity that’s anti-competitive and full of lobbyists and special interests.
“The Kite Runner,” the novel that put a human face on Afghanistan for millions of Americans, almost didn't get finished, author Khaled Hosseini told a Charlotte audience Wednesday night.
Hosseini, a physician, had been writing in his spare time in 2001, but when terrorists attacked on Sept. 11, “I lost all will to continue.”
He worried that trying to publish a book about Afghanistan under the circumstances would appear opportunistic. It was his wife, an attorney, who convinced him to finish. His work, she told him, could show Americans a different side of Afghanistan.
“The Kite Runner,” a story of two boys who lived in Afghanistan before the Soviet invasion, was published in 2003 and became an international bestseller. He followed in 2007 with another bestseller, “A Thousand Splendid Suns,” about two Afghani women during Taliban rule.
Hosseini spoke at Ovens Auditorium to an audience of 2,300 – the largest in the 18-year history of the public library's Novello Festival of Reading. WFAE's “Charlotte Talks” host Mike Collins interviewed the author. Audience members also asked questions.
What do you remember about the Soviet invasion? one boy asked.
Hosseini, whose father was a diplomat, left Afghanistan at age 11. They were living in Paris, he said, when he and his family saw a TV news break about the invasion. He noticed the look that passed between his parents. And he realized what it meant. “For me, it meant the end of, really, my life in Afghanistan.”
Hosseini spoke humbly about his talent, saying he often writes himself into blind alleys and fumbles his way out. Responding to a question, he recalled reading condensed American novels, translated into Farsi, as a child. At 10, he read his first full American novel, “The Exorcist,” which a women's magazine had serialized.
Hosseini speaks Farsi, his native language, at home. (He also multiplies in Farsi.) But when he writes a novel, he said, he thinks in English.
As the event ended and applauding audience members began standing to leave, Hosseini spoke again. When “The Kite Runner” was first published, he said, his book signings drew only a few people.
“I'm very grateful for everyone coming,” he said. “I don't take it for granted. I'm very touched.”
Volatility has returned to Wall Street, as investors show concern after the release of some disappointing economic numbers.
The Dow Jones industrials finished more than 700 points lower.
The government's report that retail sales plunged in September by 1.2 percent - almost double the 0.7 percent drop analysts expected - made it clear that consumers are reluctant to spend amid a shaky economy and a punishing stock market. And the economy cannot grow unless consumers are spending.
And there's a new warning today from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke that the economy won't recover quickly, even if the financial markets stabilize.
I drive a company car so I don't actually have to pay for the gas, but come on, 2.99, I might as well save the station some money, the boss would probably like that.
Everybody agrees 2.99 today is an incredible price, but not that long ago even 2.99 would have seemed outrageous.
One year ago gas in North Carolina averaged 2.75 a gallon...but since then we've had hurricanes, shut down refineries and shortages, so 2.99 a gallon?
"Well, I think it's great," said one driver.
James Knox's Dodge Charger was thirsty today, he was recently laid off and needs to find bargains, so this sign hit him like a light from the sky, not the sun, but the price.
"I think it's still a high price, but you have to be in condition down from four bucks, I think it ought to be about two bucks," Knox said.
Those days may be long gone. But 2.99 is one dollar a gallon less than we paid one month ago, and it's down 36 cents just from last week, and today is the 29th straight day of falling gas prices. Experts tells us as long as oil prices keep dropping and demand slips due to the weak economy, these prices could fall even farther. But there are some prices we'll never see again, believe it or not, when Jerry Garris' car was new, gas cost fifteen cents.
His car is a 1931 Ford Model A coupe.
"Henry Ford wouldn't believe it today," said Garris.
Three months ago oil prices peaked at $147 a barrel, at the close of trading on Tuesday that price had fallen to $78.63, and the experts say that is probably not going to be the bottom.
*****
Gasoline prices in the Asheville area of western North Carolina have been among the state's highest, but this week they dropped to the lowest in the state.
After hurricanes disrupted pipeline deliveries from the Gulf coast, prices in some western North Carolina areas soared to around $5 a gallon. A month ago, Asheville's prices averaged $4.31 a gallon.
On Thursday, however, AAA Carolinas said prices in the Asheville area averaged $3.07.
The Asheville Citizen-Times reported that some stations sold gasoline for prices under $3 a gallon.
AAA said North Carolina averaged $3.32 a gallon Thursday with the highest average in the Raleigh-Durham area at $3.42 a gallon.
The guy right down the street from me has it at $3.29 a gallon.
