Suicide risk linked to rates of gun ownership, political conservatism

Apr. 4, 2013 ? Residents of states with the highest rates of gun ownership and political conservatism are at greater risk of suicide than those in states with less gun ownership and less politically conservative leanings, according to a study by University of California, Riverside sociology professor Augustine J. Kposowa.

The study, "Association of suicide rates, gun ownership, conservatism and individual suicide risk," was published online in the journal Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology in February.

Suicide was the 11th leading cause of death for all ages in the United States in 2007, the most recent year for which complete mortality data was available at the time of the study. It was the seventh leading cause of death for males and the 15th leading cause of death for females. Firearms are the most commonly used method of suicide by males and poisoning the most common among females.

Kposowa, who has studied suicide and its causes for two decades, analyzed mortality data from the U.S. Multiple Cause of Death Files for 2000 through 2004 and combined individual-level data with state-level information. Firearm ownership, conservatism (measured by percentage voting for former President George W. Bush in the 2000 election), suicide rate, church adherence, and the immigration rate were measured at the state level. He analyzed data relating to 131,636 individual suicides, which were then compared to deaths from natural causes (excluding homicides and accidents).

"Many studies show that of all suicide methods, firearms have the highest case fatality, implying that an individual who selects this technique has a very low chance of survival," Kposowa said. Guns are simply the most efficient method of suicide, he added.

With few exceptions, states with the highest rates of gun ownership -- for example, Alaska, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Alabama, and West Virginia -- also tended to have the highest suicide rates. These states were also carried overwhelmingly by George Bush in the 2000 presidential election.

The study also found that:

? The odds of committing suicide were 2.9 times higher among men than women

? Non-Hispanic whites were nearly four times as likely to kill themselves as Non-Hispanic African Americans

? The odds of suicide among Hispanics were 2.3 times higher than the odds among Non-Hispanic African Americans

? Divorced and separated individuals were 38 percent more likely to kill themselves than those who were married ? A higher percentage of church-goers at the state level reduced individual suicide risk.

"Church adherence may promote church attendance, which exposes an individual to religious beliefs, for example, about an afterlife. Suicide is proscribed in the three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam," Kposowa noted in explaining the finding that church membership at the state level reduces individual risk of suicide. "In states with a higher percentage of the population that belong to a church, it is plausible that religious views and doctrine about suicide are well-known through sacred texts, theology or sermons, and adherents may be less likely to commit suicide."

Kposowa is the first to use a nationally representative sample to examine the effect of firearm availability on suicide odds. Previous studies that associated firearm availability to suicide were limited to one or two counties. His study also demonstrates that individual behavior is influenced not only by personal characteristics, but by social structural or contextual attributes. That is, what happens at the state level can influence the personal actions of those living within that state.

The sociologist said that although policies aimed at seriously regulating firearm ownership would reduce individual suicides, such policies are likely to fail not because they do not work, but because many Americans remain opposed to meaningful gun control, arguing that they have a constitutional right to bear arms.

"Even modest efforts to reform gun laws are typically met with vehement opposition. There are also millions of Americans who continue to believe that keeping a gun at home protects them against intruders, even though research shows that when a gun is used in the home, it is often against household members in the commission of homicides or suicides," Kposowa said.

"Adding to the widespread misinformation about guns is that powerful pro-gun lobby groups, especially the National Rifle Association, seem to have a stranglehold on legislators and U.S. policy, and a politician who calls for gun control may be targeted for removal from office in a future election by a gun lobby," he added.

Although total suicide rates in the U.S. are not much higher than in other Western countries, without changes in gun-ownership policies "the United States is poised to remain a very armed and potentially dangerous nation for its inhabitants for years to come."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California, Riverside. The original article was written by Bettye Miller.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/living_well/~3/mTd6Pto3uYg/130405064029.htm

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Just 88,000 U.S. jobs added in March

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A streak of robust job growth came to a halt in March, signaling that U.S. employers may have grown cautious in a fragile economy.

The gain of 88,000 jobs was the smallest in nine months. Even a decline in unemployment to a four-year low of 7.6 percent was nothing to cheer: It fell only because more people stopped looking for work and were no longer counted as unemployed.

The weak jobs report Friday from the Labor Department caught analysts by surprise and served as a reminder that the economy is still recovering slowly nearly four years after the Great Recession ended.

"This is not a good report through and through," Dan Greenhaus, chief economic strategist at brokerage firm BTIG, said in a note to clients.

March's job gain was less than half the average of 196,000 jobs in the previous six months. This could be the fourth straight year that the economy and hiring have shown strength early in the year, only to weaken afterward. Some economists say weak hiring may persist into summer before rebounding by fall.

The percentage of working-age Americans with a job or looking for one fell to 63.3 percent in March, the lowest such figure in nearly 34 years.

Stocks plummeted after the report but then narrowed their losses later in the day. The Dow Jones industrial average closed down about 41 points. Broader indexes also declined.

The Labor Department uses a survey of mostly large businesses and government agencies to determine how many jobs are added or lost each month. That's the survey that produced the gain of 88,000 jobs for March.

The government uses a separate survey of households to calculate the unemployment rate. It counted 290,000 fewer people as unemployed ? not because they found a job but because they stopped looking for one. That's why the unemployment rate fell.

The percentage of working-age adults with a job or looking for one is a figure that economists call the participation rate. At 63.3 percent, it's the lowest since 1979. Normally during an economic recovery, an expanding economy lures job seekers back into the labor market. This time, many have stayed on the sidelines, and more have joined them.

Longer-term trends have helped keep the participation rate down. The vast generation of baby boomers has begun to retire. The share of men 20 and older in the labor force has dropped as manufacturing has shrunk.

The share of women working or looking for work, after expanding from the early 1950s through the mid-1990s, has plateaued. Fewer teenagers are working. And some who have left the job market are getting by on government aid, particularly Social Security's program for the disabled.

Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the liberal Economic Policy Institute, said the labor force participation among those ages 25 to 54 ? "prime age" workers ? has dropped to 81.1 percent. It hasn't been lower since 1984.

Gary Burtless, senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution, noted that some Americans have likely stopped looking for work because their unemployment benefits have run out. People must be looking for a job to qualify for unemployment benefits.

"If people aren't collecting benefits, they have one less reason to be out pounding the pavement looking for a job," Burtless said.

If the economy slows this spring, it would follow a pattern of recent years.

An intensifying European financial crisis depressed hiring in 2010. Japan's earthquake and tsunami also disrupted U.S. manufacturing in 2011. Last year, an unusually warm winter caused employers to do more hiring early in the year, cutting into hiring that normally happens in spring.

This year, steep government spending cuts that began taking effect March 1 could have the same effect. But some economists say they expect any weakening this spring to be milder. The economy has a stronger foundation now. Housing is recovering, and consumers are spending more.

Rising home prices and near-record-level stock prices are making consumers feel wealthier. Construction firms have also added 169,000 jobs in the past six months as home building has accelerated.

"The recovery is on much better footing this year than in the last few springs, and the recovery in the housing market will do much to support growth," said Sophia Koropeckyj, an economist at Moody's Analytics.

Economists also cautioned against reading too much into a one-month slowdown in hiring. The higher revised job totals for January and February suggest that some hiring might have again occurred earlier in the year than usual. Job gains have averaged 168,000 in the past three months, close to the trend of the past two years.

Sluggish job growth could embolden the Federal Reserve to keep borrowing costs low for the long run. The Fed has said it plans to keep short-term interest rates at record lows at least until unemployment falls to 6.5 percent ? and Chairman Ben Bernanke has said a 6.5 percent rate is a threshold, not a "trigger," for any rate increase. The Fed wants to see sustained improvement in the job market.

Friday's report showed hiring was stronger in January and February than previously estimated. January job growth was revised up from 119,000 to 148,000. February was revised from 236,000 to 268,000.

Several industries cut back sharply on hiring. Retailers cut 24,000 jobs, manufacturers 3,000 jobs.

Some economists said retailers might have held back on hiring in part because March was colder than normal. That likely meant that Americans bought fewer spring clothes and less garden equipment.

The oil and gas industry has been adding jobs fast over the past several years but cut jobs in March for the first time in 2? years. Oil drilling and exploration is booming, but low natural gas prices over the last year have made natural gas drilling in some areas unprofitable.

In March, average hourly pay rose a penny, the smallest gain in five months. Average pay is just 1.8 percent higher than a year earlier, trailing the pace of inflation, which rose 2 percent in the past 12 months.

Most analysts think the economy strengthened from January through March, helped by the pickup in hiring, a sustained housing recovery and steady consumer spending. Consumers stepped up purchases in January and February, even after Social Security taxes rose this year.

At the same time, some small businesses say they've grown more cautious about hiring. The government spending cuts could cut into sales at companies with federal contracts and at small retailers located near government facilities. And small business owners worry about increased health insurance costs next year, when the government's health care overhaul is fully implemented.

A survey released Wednesday by the National Federation of Independent Business showed that fewer small businesses plan to hire.

As federal agencies and contractors cut back in coming months, Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Global Insight, expects job growth to average 100,000 to 150,000 a month, down from an average 212,000 from December through February.

"The good news is that this is happening at a time when the private economy is gaining momentum," Behravesh said. He expects hiring to pick up after mid-year.

Craig Alexander, chief economist with TD Bank Financial Group, said the economy isn't growing fast enough to generate enough jobs. He expects the economy to grow around 2 percent this year, a sluggish pace. He thinks it would be growing faster, perhaps at a 3 percent annual rate, if not for the Social Security tax increase and the federal budget cuts.

"Fiscal austerity is having an impact," Alexander said.

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AP Business Writers Jonathan Fahey and Joyce M. Rosenberg in New York contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-adds-just-88k-jobs-rate-drops-7-161233737--finance.html

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North Korea lacks means for nuclear strike on U.S., experts say

By Mark Hosenball and Phil Stewart

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea's explicit threats this week to strike the United States with nuclear weapons are rhetorical bluster, as the isolated nation does not yet have the means to make good on them, Western officials and security experts say.

Pyongyang has slowly and steadily improved its missile capabilities in recent years and U.S. officials say its missiles may be capable of hitting outlying U.S. territories and states, including Guam, Alaska and Hawaii.

Some private experts say even this view is alarmist. There is no evidence, the officials say, that North Korea has tested the complex art of miniaturizing a nuclear weapon to be placed on a long-range missile, a capability the United States, Russia, China and others achieved decades ago.

In other words, North Korea might be able to hit some part of the United States, but not the mainland and not with a nuclear weapon.

The threats against the United States by North Korea's young leader Kim Jong-un are "probably all bluster," said Gary Samore, until recently the top nuclear proliferation expert on President Barack Obama's national security staff.

"It's extremely unlikely they have a nuclear missile which could reach the United States," said Samore.

The North Koreans "are not suicidal. They know that any kind of direct attack (on the United States) would be end of their country," said Samore, now at Harvard University's Kennedy School.

On Wednesday, North Korea's state-run KCNA news agency said its military had "ratified" an attack involving "cutting-edge smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear strike means," an apparent reference to miniaturized nuclear weapons.

It was the latest in a stream of invective from Pyongyang against what it apparently sees as hostile U.S.-South Korean military exercises, and U.N. sanctions imposed after its latest underground nuclear test.

Also on Wednesday, the Pentagon said it was moving a missile defense system known as the THAAD, or Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, to Guam, which Pyongyang has specifically threatened.

BOMBS AND MISSILES

The details of North Korea's weapons programs known to U.S. and other intelligence agencies remain classified. And there appear to be gaps in that knowledge, due to North Korea's highly secretive nature.

Some U.S. official and private weapons experts say North Korea may have succeeded in designing, and possibly building, a miniaturized nuclear device that could be fit aboard medium-range missiles known as the Nodong.

This is in dispute, however. And even if Pyongyang has developed such a warhead, there are serious doubts about whether North Korea would be able to test it enough to ensure it actually worked.

Medium-range missiles such as the Nodong might be able to reach U.S. allies South Korea and Japan, as well as Okinawa, where there is still a large U.S. military presence. But they do not have the range to hit even remote U.S. Pacific territories.

Another missile that U.S. intelligence agencies are watching closely is the KN-08, which has a longer range than the Nodong, and was first shown off in a North Korean military parade a year ago.

Last month, Admiral James Winnefeld, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told journalists that "we believe the KN-08 probably does have the range to reach the United States."

On Thursday, a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States believes the KN-08 could hit U.S. Pacific territory Guam, Hawaii and Alaska, but not the U.S. mainland.

Another official acknowledged that the U.S. estimate of the missile's range is based on limited intelligence.

Greg Thielmann, a former State Department intelligence official now with the Arms Control Association, was more skeptical of the KN-08 missile.

When some experts examined close-up pictures of a KN-08 missile on display in Pyongyang, they concluded it was a fake or mock-up, Thielmann said.

"This was not ready for prime time," he said.

On Thursday, Western officials confirmed reports that North Korea had moved yet another weapon, apparently a medium-range missile known as a Musudan or Nodong B, to its east coast. Experts said it was unclear if the missile was moved as a menacing gesture or in preparation for a test firing.

The Musudan is believed to have a range of 3,000 kilometers (1,875 miles), more than the Nodong, which would put all of South Korea, Japan and possibly Guam in its range.

Thielmann said the Musudan had not flown either. "A missile that has never even had a flight test is not an operational system and is not a credible threat," he said.

CONDITIONAL THREATS?

U.S. officials say the latest threats about a nuclear strike go beyond previous rhetoric voiced not only by Kim Jong-un, but also his father Kim Jong-il and grandfather, North Korea's founding dynast Kim Il-sung.

One U.S. official said that until now, read closely, the threats from Pyongyang were conditional, suggesting an attack on the United States would only take place if the U.S. first acted against North Korea.

However, that was not the case with Wednesday's threat of a nuclear strike, the official said.

Thielmann said North Korea has several hundred missiles, most of which are variants of the SCUD-B and SCUD-C missiles with a range of 300 km and 500 km (187 to 312 miles). They have some dozens of Nodong missiles with an estimated 1300 km (862 miles) range.

"Neither of these (medium range) systems can reach Guam. Neither of them can reach Hawaii or (the) Aleutian Islands," Theilmann said. There are "missiles that North Korea pretends that it has and ... various people in the United States seem to want to lend credence to these fantastic North Korean claims."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/north-korea-lacks-means-nuclear-strike-u-experts-234024739.html

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Video - Are you an Internet dynamo or a dinosaur? | Small Business ...

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Twitter Is Building A Gateway To The ?Web? Of Mobile Apps

Twitter is making a move to become the jumping off point for discovering, browsing and accessing the mobile app ecosystem, the company announced yesterday, in a somewhat understated event only developers were invited to attend. The event, due to its nature, was filled with geekier terminology like "footer tags," "deep linking," and "URL schemes," making summaries of its announcements hard to parse by the everyday Twitter user who isn't as familiar with what some of these things may mean.

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Roger Ebert's cancer returns

CHICAGO (AP) ? Acclaimed film critic Roger Ebert said he's been diagnosed with cancer again and that he will scale back his prolific writing of movie reviews while undergoing radiation treatment.

In a blog post, the 70-year-old said he'll take a "leave of presence."

"I am not going away," the ailing Pulitzer Prize winner wrote in a note posted late Tuesday. "My intent is to continue to write selected reviews but to leave the rest to a talented team of writers. ... What's more, I'll be able at last to do what I've always fantasized about doing: reviewing only the movies I want to review."

The veteran critic battled cancer in his thyroid and salivary glands and lost the ability to speak and eat during previous surgery, which also left him with a facial disfigurement.

Ebert said the cancer recurrence was discovered after a "painful fracture" that made it difficult for him to walk. He hospitalized late last year with a hip fracture.

"It really stinks that the cancer has returned and that I have spent too many days in the hospital," he wrote.

In addition to the select movie reviews he'll write, Ebert said he also plans to spend time writing about his own illness.

"I may write about what it's like to cope with health challenges and the limitations they can force upon you," he said. "So on bad days I may write about the vulnerability that accompanies illness. On good days, I may wax ecstatic about a movie so good it transports me beyond illness."

Ebert penned more than 300 reviews last year. He also said he plans to relaunch his website and roll out several other projects later this year.

Ebert began reviewing films for the Chicago Sun-Times in 1967 and marked his 46th anniversary at the paper on Wednesday. He was the nation's foremost movie critic on television on shows such as "Sneak Previews" and "At the Movies."

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Online:

Roger Ebert's Journal: http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2013/04/a_leave_of_presense.html

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ebert-cancer-returns-taking-leave-presence-114032646.html

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With Over 6,000 Courses Now Live, Udemy Brings Its Learning Marketplace To iOS To Let You Study On The Go

Udemy launched in 2010 to help students of all ages continue their education through video-based, online courses -- and in turn, give teachers (and experts) a way to make a buck by sharing their knowledge with the masses. Capitalizing on the growing interest and buzz around online learning and MOOC platforms pioneered by sites like Khan Academy, Udemy has been on a mission to create the largest online destination for on-demand, online courses.

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