NY Times #10

Ed Harris alway locates the esscence of every character he portrays. He plays a soft-spoken, bow-tie wearing, middle school teacher in the new movie "That's What I am" a reflection on bullying and tollerance. It is a sentimental movie, whose narrator looks back on his middle-school experience. His beloved teacher (Harris), is portrayed as a martyr-like figure. A bully spreads rumors about the teacher's sexuality, which he refuses to deny out of principle, which leads the small town on a sort of witch-hunt. The movie portrays the children as naive, especially for the 1965 standards. The film is produced by WWE Studios, so they slip in a wrestling star to play the homophobic father of the bully. "Thats What I Am" opens on Friday in Manhattan.

NY Times #9

The Beastie Boys-a rap group that would be considered retro today, has recently released their eighth studio-album: “Hot Sauce Committee Part Two”. The three rappers are now in their forties, and often refer to themselves as "grandpas of rap". In the new album, the group keeps to their old ways of boasting and name dropping. They mention New York locations, and foods throughout the album. They are in competition with "Sucker Rappers" with the ever-changing vocabulary and targeting young kids. Unlike their old albums which featured samples, the boy's new album features all their own backup. They feature vintage sounding Reggae (featuring Santigold). and Noisy-rock. The Beasties boys have always been outsiders in the hip-hop communtiy (White, jewish rappers), however, they were always popular and remain happy on the outside.

NY Times #8

Video games are no longer being upgraded with internet speeds. Microsoft and Sony are especially taking their time to update. The video game industry does not expect an upgrade from either company until the year 2014. That would make a nine-year gap for Microsoft, and and eight-year gap for sony.

Analysts say that the reason for extending the console's life-span is cost. They are invested in to hace intensive graphics and complex gameplay. It is also said that the companies are trying to recoup their investments. Nintendo has suffered less losses, and is sticking to the traditional upgrade cycle. Today, these companies are facing competition from online games such as Farmville on Facebook. Nintendo's Wii is targeted towards women, children and seniors, and is immensely popular. Microsoft and Sony's movement consoles are significantly less popular. Sony says that they think the PS3 is "hitting its stride". Nintendo is considering redoing the Wii so it will appeal to the hardcore gaming crowd, with better graphics. Nintendo wants to make movies appear in HD, the way they do on Sony and Microsoft systems.

NY Times #7

The Tony award winning musical, "Hair", is coming BACK to Broadway. It was announced this week that the show would return in July, after only being closed for about a year. The performances will conclude in September, and the show will begin touring around the country. The cast will include members from the 2009 revival and from tour. This ever-popular show has been nominated for eight tony awards, winning one. The show went to London for several months but was unsuccessful and lost the theater $200,000. The producers are more careful financially for the show.

NY Times #6

Netflix is wonderful for the consumer with its low rates and HD, but many internet providers dislike the service and would like to set up tolls to make sure the bits being streamed do not fall in cost too quickly. Last October, 20% of the web's traffic was generated by Netflix. ISP's are faced with video streaming's growth. Netflix data is growing more, and more threatening.

The company, Mu, has measured other HD online video websites, and Netflix has been proven as overwhelmingly worse than the others. The non-HD versions, while still delivering a ton of bits, is better than the HD versions. Due to these new releases, Netflix has decreased the quality of its streams in Canada to help consumers affected by bandwidth caps.

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NY Times #5

The Mediterranean diet is rich in olive oil, whole grains, fish, fruits, vegetables and wine, has become a multi billion dollar global brand. Food related trips to Italy make as much as 5 billion euros a year. The Mediterranean diet is associated with lower rates of heart disease, diabetes, and depression. However, Mediterranean people have the most fattening diets in Europe. Greeks are the fattest, with 75 percent overweight.

During WWII, it was proven that mortality from coronary disease declined in Northern European countries due to wartime food restrictions. It was proven that well-fed people suffer from high cholesterol and other heart problems, due to high saturated fat. It was concluded that people should turn to vegetable oils instead of saturated fat, changing the way Americans eat.

Mediterranean diets share commonalities-fruits, vegetables, small dishes and less meat; however there is no single Mediterranean diet. Many eat/ate lentils instead of meat for monetary reasons.

Today more than half the populations in Italy, Portugal, and Spain are overweight. Obesity is growing in Eastern Mediterranean countries, especially among the young.

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NY Times #4

People dying from chronic diseases like cancer have been getting more aggressive medical care in NY than in the rest of the country for years. 46 percent of chronically ill patients in Manhattan were being treated in hospitals when they died, instead of dying in hospices or nursing home; the highest in the country. Long Island/Queens are second, Bronx is third, and Brunswick, NJ is fourth. Nationally, the rate is 28 percent.
The disparity may be driven by financial incentives for keeping patients in hospitals while possibly neglecting the patient's wishes. Medicare generally paid better for hospital care than for community-based medical services.

If someone doesnt have a home, it is hard to send them home, therefore extending their stay. Statistically, Black and Hispanic patients are more likely to prefer dying in the hospital than Hospice care. Hospice care is increasing in NY and across the country. It focuses on quality of life, rather than curing the disease.