Turns out, seven is enough for Michael Phelps

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) ? Michael Phelps did a wise thing Monday: He gave up the chance to compete for another eight Olympic gold medals.

The move will allow him to rest properly at the London Games and have time to recover between races, which is much more important now that he's 27 years old, his body battered by a dozen years of high-level swimming. He's out of an event that might be more loaded than any other, one he certainly could've won ? never bet against Phelps ? but appeared more competitive than his other races.

But perhaps the most compelling reason to drop the 200-meter freestyle from his program was not having to race against himself at his final Olympics.

Eight is retiring.

"We're not trying to recreate what happened in Beijing," Phelps told The Associated Press during a hotel interview before he got out of Omaha. "Swimming that many times, it's just brutal and there's no need to put myself through that."

Over the eight days of swimming in London, Phelps will have four mornings off and only a couple of dreaded doubles: two races in one session. The most difficult will be the night of July 31, when he's got the finals of the 200 butterfly and 800 freestyle relay. The other comes on Aug. 2 and will be a bit easier: the semifinals of the 100 fly, which he won't have to swim at top speed in order to advance, and the final of the 200 individual medley.

He could still finish his career with a mind-boggling 21 Olympic gold medals.

That should be more than enough for the rest of us, but we were so eager to see if he could do the impossible one more time before he fades into retirement.

Even though his coach, Bob Bowman, had already cautioned that the chances of Phelps repeating his Great Haul of China were remote, we all got giddy with anticipation when he qualified in five individual events at the U.S. trials ? the same five races he competed in at least two Olympics. Combined with the three relays, it looked as though Phelps would do the exact same program that worked to perfection in 2008.

But Bowman never had any intention of entering Phelps in all eight.

Early in the week, the coach planted the idea of dropping the 200 free.

Once Phelps won his last event, the 100 butterfly Sunday night, Bowman brought it up again.

Phelps never flinched.

Seven is enough. More than enough.

"He was absolutely fine with it," Bowman said. "He and I had discussed it early in the week. I said, 'Just put this on your menu. We're not going to talk about it again, but think about it.' And then, last night, he was more perturbed that I made him sit down with his management team and myself to go over it. He sat down and said, "OK, we're scratching the 200 free. Anything else?' I think he was hungry or something."

That, in essence, epitomizes the totally unique relationship between this athlete and this coach.

With 14 gold medals already in hand, more than any Olympic athlete, it would be totally natural for Phelps to exert more control over his career. Heck, it's rare for someone in an individual sport to stay with the same coach for their entire career. But the swimmer does much than just keep Bowman on the payroll, putting total faith in the coach to make the right call about everything that happens at the pool.

When someone raised the question Sunday night, asking Phelps point-blank if he would drop any events, there was total deferral to Bowman.

"I don't have anything to do with that. That's his call. He takes care of all that," Phelps said, pointing at his coach. "I leave everything up to him training-wise and preparing me. He's done an amazing job for my career, and I trust him fully."

Bowman was most concerned about the second day of the swimming program, when Phelps would've had to swim the preliminaries of the 200 free in the morning, then return in the evening for two more events: the semifinals of the 200 free and the final of the 400 free relay ? a race the American's desperately wants to win, especially since Australia is a heavy favorite.

"We respect the challenge that we're up against," Bowman said, breaking into a sly grin, "and perhaps we will be more ready than people think."

With the 200 free out of the picture, Phelps' schedule looks more manageable ? especially since he admittedly hasn't trained nearly as hard over the past four years as he did leading up to his first three Olympics.

Bowman tried to make up for the lack of training by taking Phelps to the high altitude of Colorado for six weeks leading up the trials. While the results were fine ? Phelps won four of his races in Omaha, including two epic duels with Ryan Lochte ? but his times weren't all that impressive, and he appeared to wear down by the end of the meet.

His final race, the 100 fly, was perhaps his least impressive. He got off to a terrible start, was sixth at the turn and needed a late charge to pull out the win, gliding to the wall rather than taking an extra stroke.

"He's swimming low in the water, like a tired swimmer," observed Gary Hall Jr., a three-time Olympian.

Bowman shrugged off the notion that he bailed on the 200 free because the field is stacked. Phelps not only would've had to beat fellow American Ryan Lochte, the defending world champion, but international studs such as France's Yannick Agnel, who has the three fastest times in the world this year, as well as Germany's Paul Biedermann, China's Sun Yang, South Korea's Park Tae-hwan and Japan's Takeshi Matsuda.

Phelps has never run from a challenge, and it wouldn't be fair to say that's what he's doing now.

But Bowman is a realist, and he's making the right call to give Phelps his best chance of winning seven gold medals.

Seven is enough.

___

Paul Newberry is a national writer for The Associated Press. Write to him at pnewberry(at)ap.org or www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/turns-seven-enough-michael-phelps-002839143--oly.html

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U.S. Task Force's Recommendations Stoke Debate over Calcium and Vitamin D Supplements

News | Health

A task force found insufficient evidence to recommend supplements to healthy people to prevent broken bones or cancer, but this could overlook several categories of people

By Melinda Wenner Moyer ?| July 2, 2012?|

Image: Wikimedia Commons/Ragesoss

If you are healthy, living at home, and take calcium and vitamin D supplements to prevent broken bones or cancer, you may want to reconsider, according to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). The group's new draft recommendations, published online on June 12, add more fervor to the ongoing debate about the benefits and risks associated with these popular supplements.

The USPSTF based its recommendations on a meta-analysis of 136 clinical trials, observational studies and a systematic review evaluating the effects of supplementation on fracture and cancer risk. It concluded that postmenopausal women should not take supplements containing less than 400 international units (IU) of vitamin D and 1,000 milligrams of calcium, noting that there is not enough evidence to evaluate the effects of taking more than those amounts. There was also insufficient data for the task force to determine whether or not healthy younger women and men of any age should take the supplements.

There's no question that "vitamin D and calcium are essential nutrients for a healthy diet," says task force member Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, an epidemiologist and biostatistician at the University of California, San Francisco. The heart, muscles and nerves cannot work properly without the minerals, and deficiency can also cause bone loss, osteoporosis and tooth damage. Vitamin D is crucial in part because it helps the body to absorb calcium from food. In May the USPSTF recommended that people over 65 take vitamin D supplements if they have an increased risk of falls, for instance because of mobility problems or a history of falling.

But for healthy people the benefits are less clear-cut, Bibbins-Domingo says. Part of the problem is that trials involving vitamin D and calcium are inconsistent?they test different doses for varying lengths of time in diverse populations, which "makes it extra tricky when you try to put them all together and come up with a final analysis," says Erin LeBlanc, an endocrinologist at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, Ore. Earlier this week LeBlanc and her colleagues published a study online in the Journal of Women?s Health suggesting that women over 65 with higher blood vitamin D levels gain less weight over time than women with lower amounts.

Despite the difficulty of making firm conclusions about the data, some experts find the USPSTF recommendations, which are open for public comment until July 10, misleading and potentially dangerous. "I think they went too far," says Susan Ott, a bone specialist at the University of Washington School of Medicine. For one thing, "they ignored a lot of people who are getting really no calcium in their ordinary diet."

Indeed, the recommendations only apply to healthy people who are not deficient in either nutrient. (The task force did not evaluate the benefits of supplementation in people with osteoporosis, but the National Osteoporosis Foundation recommends that people with the bone disease consume at least 1,200 milligrams of calcium and 800 to 1,000 IUs of vitamin D daily through food or supplements.) Although the Institute of Medicine maintains that most Americans get enough vitamin D from food and sunlight, the organization notes that nearly 75 percent of American women between the ages of 31 and 50 do not get the recommended 1,000 milligrams of calcium from their food every day, and that a similar percentage of women older than 50 fail to consume their recommended 1,200 milligrams. (To eat 1,000 milligrams without supplementing, a person would have to eat 16 cups of cooked broccoli or drink three and a third glasses of skim milk daily.) "There are a lot of people out there who are only getting half of what we recommend," Ott says, and the USPSTF recommendations do not apply to them.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=cbcc7b6574e978b14696d012d2579e6f

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The Declaration of...Internet Freedom?

A growing number of tech companies and names are demanding basic, unalienable, digital rights

It's no secret that various parts of the internet have been under attack for some time. Traditional media companies respond with terror at the thought of losing even more business to piracy (though it's questionable just how much they're actually hurting). Cable internet providers want the right to control what speeds you're allowed to access what sites at. And the U.S. government, meanwhile, wants to help these companies out by making streaming copyrighted content punishable by up to five years in prison.

Some major names on the internet have had enough of playing defense. That's why they're launching a new initiative called the Declaration of Internet Freedom. It's a short five-point document ? a Bill of Rights of sorts ? that lists out the basics of what humanity should expect and deserve from the internet. It reads:

"We stand for a free and open Internet. We support transparent and participatory processes for making Internet policy and the establishment of five basic principles:

• Expression: Don't censor the Internet.
• Access: Promote universal access to fast and affordable networks.
• Openness: Keep the Internet an open network where everyone is free to connect, communicate, write, read, watch, speak, listen, learn, create and innovate.
• Innovation: Protect the freedom to innovate and create without permission. Donâ????t block new technologies, and donâ????t punish innovators for their users' actions.
• Privacy: Protect privacy and defend everyoneâ????s ability to control how their data and devices are used."

The Declaration of Internet Freedom is supported by a number of well-known, high-tech names, such as Mozilla (creators of Firefox), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), left-wing political opinion site Daily Kos, and right-wing blogging heavyweight Patrick Ruffini. By backing the document, the organization hopes to promote understanding and build support for the cause. Private individuals are urged to take action through partner sites such as the non-profit Electronic Frontier Foundation.

This article was written by Fox Van Allen and originally appeared on Tecca

More from Tecca:

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technology-blog/internet-lines-behind-declaration-internet-freedom-221654205.html

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Officials: Colorado wildfire almost half-contained

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/colorado-wildfires-waldo-canyon-fire-183708593.html

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So if I know that you know that I know that you know? (Unqualified Offerings)

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Storm power outages could last days

As blistering heat blanketed much of the eastern U.S. for the third straight day, millions of storm-ravaged residents in the mid-Atlantic on Sunday faced stifling homes, spoiled food and a looming commute filed with knocked-out stoplights.

Two days after storms tore across the region, power outages were forcing people to get creative to stay cool in dangerously hot weather. Temperatures were forecast to top 100 degrees in many storm-stricken areas, and utility officials said the power will likely be out for several more days.

"If we don't get power tonight, we'll have to throw everything away," Susan Fritz, a mother of three, said grimly of her refrigerator and freezer. Fritz came to a library in Bethesda, Md., so her son could do school work. She charged her phone and iPad at her local gym.

The storm was blamed for 14 deaths, most from trees falling on homes and cars.

"It is very unsafe outdoors for those susceptible to these extreme conditions," the National Weather Service said in a statement.

Utilities were slowly making progress, but more than 2.5 million people still had no electricity and could only watch their thermostats climb.

Other parts of the country were also sweltering. Denver recorded the hottest June on record. The average temperature for the month was 75 degrees, which was 7.6 degrees above normal. There were 17 days in which the maximum temperature exceeded 90 degrees, including a stretch of five consecutive 100-degree days from June 22-26, the weathersService said.

In the Midwest, severe thunderstorms packing 80-plus mph winds pummeled the Chicago area on Sunday. There were no immediate reports of homes damaged but ComEd utility officials said about 200,000 customers were left without power. More than 60 kayakers were rescued from the Chicago River after their kayaks flipped when the storm blew in, a fire department official told the Chicago Sun-Times.

The bulk of Friday's storm damage was in West Virginia, Washington and the capital's Virginia and Maryland suburbs. At least six of the dead were killed in Virginia, including a 90-year-old woman asleep in her bed when a tree slammed into her home. Two young cousins in New Jersey were killed when a tree fell on their tent while camping. Two were killed in Maryland, one in Ohio, one in Kentucky and one in Washington.

From Atlanta to Richmond, temperatures were expected to reach triple digits. With no air conditioning, officials urged residents to check on their elderly relatives and neighbors. It was tough to find a free pump at gas stations that did have power, and lines of cars snaked around fast-food drive-thrus.

States worked to make sure the power stayed on at water treatment plants so that people at least had clean water. Chain-saws buzzed throughout neighborhoods as utility crews scrambled to untangle downed trees and power lines. Neighbors banded together.

"Food, ice ? we're all sharing," said 51-year-old Elizabeth Knight, who lives in the blue-collar Richmond suburb of Lakeside.

The Friday evening storms, a meteorological phenomenon known as a derecho, moved quickly across the region with little warning. The straight-line winds were just as destructive as any hurricane ? but when a tropical system strikes, officials usually have several days to get extra personnel in place. Not so this time.

"Unlike a polite hurricane that gives you three days of warning, this storm gave us all the impact of a hurricane without any of the warning," Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union."

Power crews from as far away as Florida and Oklahoma were on their way to the mid-Atlantic region to help get the power back on and the air conditioners running again. Even if people have generators, the gas-run devices often don't have enough power to operate an air conditioner.

And power restoration was spotty: Several people interviewed by The Associated Press said they remained without power even though the lights were on at neighbors' homes across the street.

National Guard troops were brought in to help in New Jersey and West Virginia. Crews had for the most part cleared debris from major roadways, and signals were working in many major intersections. But officials still had much work to do on secondary roads.

Sixty-year-old John Swift was content to rough it, at least for now. The Lakeside resident has a camping stove for cooking, doesn't mind cold showers and doesn't watch TV even when the power is working. He can charge his phone in his car, he said.

"It's hot, that's the biggest nuisance, the biggest concern," he said.

Forecasters warned the high temperatures put people at risk for heat exhaustion and heat stroke. The National Weather Service told people to drink plenty of fluids, and to stay in air-conditioned rooms away from direct sunlight. Some cities gave residents free admission to swimming pools.

The weather service said yet another round of thunderstorms was possible late Sunday and early Monday, threatening strong winds and hail.

Fire rescue authorities also warned people to be careful when using candles and generators to help light darkened homes. Officials already had gotten calls in Maryland about people sickened by carbon monoxide fumes from generators.

In Waldorf, Md., Charles County emergency officials handed out free 40-pound bags of ice to anyone who needed them. Among the takers was Ann Brown, 47, of Accokeek, Md., who had stayed in a hotel Saturday night because her house was without power.

She went to a cookout in Upper Marlboro, Md., on Saturday after family members decided to cook all the food in the freezer rather than let it go bad.

"Whatever they had, that's what we ate, and it was great," Brown said.

Story: For parts of U.S., a fireworks-free July 4th

Whether she makes the commute to work on Monday will depend entirely on how comfortable the office is.

"If they don't have power, I'm not going. But if they have power, yeah, I'm going in, to be in the air conditioning all day," she said.

A pirate-themed splash park at a recreation center in Franconia was near capacity before noon Sunday. Alan Gorowitz, 44, a civilian Pentagon employee from Springfield, brought his 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter. Aside from spoiled food, he said the family wasn't suffering.

"If she wants m-i-l-k, there's nothing I can do," Gorowitz said, gesturing at his daughter as she munched on pretzels. He said the family hadn't done extensive disaster preparation.

"We keep batteries, water, flashlights," Gorowitz said. "My friend across the street has the generator going today, the emergency food stocks and lots of guns. We're not quite there. I don't think we're close to having looters."

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this story.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48032427/ns/weather/

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Heat Waves and Water Use Go Hand-in-Hand

Photo courtesy of Michael Melgar

With excessive heat spreading across the country, people are seeking relief by retreating indoors, turning up the AC, and staying well hydrated. In many parts of the country, particularly the Southeast and Southwest, the heat is exacerbated by ongoing drought, which means water is on everyone?s mind and is being used at increased rates.

It?s common during extended periods of hot and dry weather, like we?re experiencing now, for water use to increase, emailed Nancy Barber, Hydrologist with USGS?Georgia Water Science Center.

Most noticeable, explained Barber, is the increased demand for electricity for air conditioning, which means more water use at thermoelectric power plants ? an amount that?s already high. According to the USGS, 53 percent of fresh surface water extracted for human use (in 2005) was used to produce electricity.

Irrigation is also greatly affected by the heat. As temperatures increase, so too does evapotranspiration, and in turn, agriculture?s thirst. On a smaller scale, household use also increases due to more people spraying their gardens, jumping in the shower for another rinse, and the occasional topper to the backyard pool.

On a personal level, the best thing to do besides staying hydrated and taking it easy, is to be aware of one?s water use and conserve it where possible. Take shorter showers, stuff your dishwasher and clothes washer full before starting the load and, if necessary, only water the yard at an effective time ?(1pm, or solar noon, is not that time).

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=d5a4d0d9f596ecff38777b25333c7e3c

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