Walking may put the brakes on cognitive decline in healthy older people as well as those with cognitive impairment, a new study finds.

The ongoing study, which spans 20 years, also quantified how much walking is necessary to keep brain volume up. Researchers followed 426 older adults for a number of years to see if there were changes in brain volume. Among the participants 299 were healthy, and 127 had cognitive impairments, including 83 with mild cognitive impairment, and 44 with Alzheimer's disease.

The more people moved, the higher their brain volume, a marker for brain health. That link held after adjusting for factors such as age, gender, body mass index and education. People who met the requirements for activity also scored better on a mental exam.

For healthy adults, walking at least 72 blocks a week (about six miles) to preserve brain volume and slow the risk of cognitive decline. Cognitively impaired adults needed to walk at least 58 city blocks a week (about five miles)

Hillary Clinton, Julian Assange said, "should resign." Speaking over Skype from an undisclosed location on Tuesday, the WikiLeaks founder was replying to a question by TIME managing editor Richard Stengel over the diplomatic-cable dump that Assange's organization loosed on the world this past weekend. Stengel had said the U.S. Secretary of State was looking like "the fall guy" in the ensuing controversy, and had asked whether her firing or resignation was an outcome that Assange wanted. "I don't think it would make much of a difference either way," Assange said. "But she should resign if it can be shown that she was responsible for ordering U.S. diplomatic figures to engage in espionage in the United Nations, in violation of the international covenants to which the U.S. has signed up. Yes, she should resign over that."

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Well, she won't but she and Obama look weak and have been damaged politically

In May 2009, rumors surfaced that President Obama was planning to leave several European countries exposed to Russian ambition if Russia would agree to help keep nukes out of Iran.

Rumors confirmed: according to the Wikileaks cables, Obama proposed a trade — he would cancel the Polish missile shield if Russia would support sanctions for Iran.

The whistle blowing web site, publishing diplomatic cables and other documents via The New York Times, the Guardian (UK) and other media outlets, show that George Bush’s anti-missile shield plan to station 10 interceptor rockets in Poland not far from the Kaliningrad (Russia) border and a radar system in the Czech Republic was seen as an obstacle by Washington in getting tougher sanctions against Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

The diplomatic cables show that the US believes that Iran has already received missiles from North Korea which could threaten western Europe.
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Read it all

But while at least three justices seemingly endorsed a lower court's order to cut California's prison population, three others raised alarms. State officials have said the lower court's order would require reducing the overall prison population by between 38,000 and 46,000. "If I were a citizen of California, I would be concerned about the release of 40,000 prisoners," Justice Samuel Alito stated. Alito further pressed attorney Donald Specter, of the Berkeley-based Prison Law Office, to acknowledge that the overall recidivism rate for California prisoners currently released on parole is 70 percent. "Seven, zero," Justice Antonin Scalia reiterated, driving the point home.

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Well, you cannot let them out but how about deporting the illegal aliens or make the feds pay for them?

In less than two months, members of the Republican National Committee will convene at National Harbor, just outside Washington, and select a chairman to lead the organization over the next two years.

With the midterm elections over, the race is already generating a phenomenal amount of chatter. That includes a former staffer and potential rival's criticism of the incumbent, Michael Steele.

But often lost in all this discussion is a focus on what really matters — the personal and professional qualifications a prospective chairman must have to do the job effectively. Speculation abounds as to whether Steele will run for re-election; to date, however, he has not announced his intention to do so.
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Read it all

Public Policy Polling (D)
11/19-21/10; 400 "typical" Republican primary voters, 4.9% margin of error
Mode: Automated phone
PPP release

National

2012 President: Republican Primary
21% Palin
19% Gingrich
18% Romney
16% Huckabee
5% Paul
5% Pawlenty
3% Thune
2% Daniels
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Still early but Sarah Palin is the front runner

The DREAM Act can best be described as giving conditional lawful permanent resident status to those illegal aliens who entered the U.S. before the age of 16, have been in the country for at least five years and agree to attend college/serve in the military. An additional provision, often overlooked, would grant illegal aliens in-state tuition rates at public universities.

There is a big reason why the DREAM Act was a campaign promise for Reid, the same reason the White House recently hosted high-level meetings with members of the Hispanic caucus regarding the bill and has expressed so much interest in passing it: The act would be an amnesty for millions of illegal aliens inside the United States. This is something the White House and Reid have been desperately seeking through a comprehensive immigration bill, but has yet to gain traction in Congress.
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Just Say NO to the DREAM Act

Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Monday that Congress can’t afford to wait to pass the DREAM Act, even as immigration allies acknowledge there’s little hope of getting the bill done in the lame-duck session.

In his second conference call with reporters in 12 days, Duncan reiterated that the legislation is not an issue of politics or ideology but rather fairness and economic necessity. The DREAM Act would provide a path to citizenship for tens of thousands of young, undocumented immigrants who attend college or serve in the military for at least two years. Critics still dismiss the proposal as “amnesty” for illegal immigrants.
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Just say NO to illegal alien amnesty

The Senate just rejected a two year ban on earmarks by a 39-56 vote. While the vote largely went down party lines, eightseven Republicans voted against the ban and seven Democrats voted for it.

Here are the Republicans voting no:

Bob Bennett (R-UT) – defeated for reelection, Appropriations Committee
Thad Cochran (R-MS) – Ranking Member, Appropriations Committee
Susan Collins (R-ME) – Appropriations Committee
James Inhofe (R-OK)
Richard Lugar (R-IN)
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) – Appropriations Committee
Richard Shelby (R-AL) – Appropriations Committee
George Voinovich (R-OH) – retiring, Appropriations Committee

Here are the Democrats voting yes:

Evan Bayh (D-IN) – retiring
Michael Bennet (D-CO) – freshman
Russ Feingold (D-WI) – defeated for reelection
Claire McCaskill (D-MO) – freshman, up for reelection in 2012
Bill Nelson (D-FL) – up for reelection in 2012
Mark Udall (D-CO) – freshman
Mark Warner (D-VA) – freshman
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Primary

The U.S. believes Russia has moved short-range tactical nuclear warheads to facilities near North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies as recently as this spring, U.S. officials say, adding to questions in Congress about Russian compliance with long-standing pledges ahead of a possible vote on a new arms-control treaty.

U.S. officials say the movement of warheads to facilities bordering NATO allies appeared to run counter to pledges made by Moscow starting in 1991 to pull tactical nuclear weapons back from frontier posts and to reduce their numbers. The U.S. has long voiced concerns about Russia's lack of transparency when it comes to its arsenal of tactical nuclear weapons, believed to be many times the number possessed by the U.S.
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The START Treaty needs to be debated starting in the next Congress.

Bob Ainsworth, the defence secretary, has blamed Barack Obama and the United States for the decline in British public support for the war in Afghanistan.
Mr Ainsworth took the unprecedented step of publicly criticising the US President and his delays in sending more troops to bolster the mission against the Taliban.

A “period of hiatus” in Washington – and a lack of clear direction – had made it harder for ministers to persuade the British public to go on backing the Afghan mission in the face of a rising death toll, he said.

My next question focused on judges, since, as a U.S. Senator, she would not only vote on U.S. Supreme Court nominees, but have a hand in selecting or blocking federal judicial candidates in California.

I asked her what she would look for in prospective California nominees for the district courts and appellate courts.

"We need judges who interpret the Constitution, not who legislate from the bench," Fiorina said. "I would favor judge in the mold of [U.S. Supreme Court Justices [John Roberts and Samuel Alito."

Fiorina as critical of Boxer for blocking the judicial nominations of former congressmen Chris Cox annd Jim Rogan, saying we "shouldn't impose litmus tests, but instead look at qualifications."

"My dad was appointed by Richard Nixon to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. I think that will give you some idea of how my views on the judiciary."
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Matt conducted a good interview with good answers by Carly Fiorina. She discussed the federal judiciary, abortion, trade and taxes.

Carly Fiorina’s conservatism notwithstanding, Chuck DeVore is bound and determined to make the contest for the opportunity to defeat perhaps the most partisan U.S. Senator one between a conservative and liberal Republican. To do that, his campaign has had to twist the former HP CEO’s positions so they match those of Dede Scozzafava.

Only problem is that the Carly has made clear she opposes many of the policies DeVore says she supports. In a press release yesterday, his campaign said, “Carly Fiorina supported the Obama stimulus.” In fact, she made her opposition to that budget-busting boondoggle crystal clear. He says she can’t decide whether or not “she opposes cap-and-tax.” The week she announced for U.S. Senate, she called the bill a “job killer for small businesses [and] farmers.” Last week, she repeated this description of the legislation on the Kudlow Report, saying she would not vote for the bill.

A new Zogby IVR poll finds Rudy Giuliani (R) just edging Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) in a potential 2010 match up, 45% to 43%.

In another potential match-up, Gillibrand holds a slight lead over former Gov. George Pataki (R), 43% to 38%.

If they were to face off in a Republican primary, likely voters would pick Giuliani over Pataki, 72% to 28%.

According to the government's broadest measure of unemployment, some 17.5 percent are either without a job entirely or underemployed. The so-called U-6 number is at the highest rate since becoming an official labor statistic in 1994.

The number dwarfs the statistic most people pay attention to—the U-3 rate—which most recently showed unemployment at 10.2 percent for October, the highest it has been since June 1983.

The difference is that what is traditionally referred to as the "unemployment rate" only measures those out of work who are still looking for jobs. Discouraged workers who have quit trying to find a job, as well as those working part-time but looking for full-time work or who are otherwise underemployed, count in the U-6 rate.

With such a large portion of Americans experiencing employment struggles, economists worry that an extended period of slow or flat growth lies ahead.

One of the things that emerged from that was this comment about your primary against Chuck DeVore. You made a remark that you are a better candidate in part because Sen. Boxer has beaten white men before. He’s responded to that, but I’m wondering if you could elaborate what you meant by that.

There are some things that are very similar between Chuck DeVore and I. We share many conservative values. I have a very different set of experiences than Chuck DeVore has. I’m not from the political world. I’m a business person. I’ve traveled around the world. So I just bring a different set of experiences to Washington than he would. And I talked about all of that, but I also made the comment that Barbara Boxer as a candidate has in many ways taken the women’s vote for granted in all of her bids for election or re-election. And as a woman candidate, she will not be able to do that running against me. I think that’s important to an ability to beat her.

Mike Murphy, the blunt-spoken, sharp-tongued, smart aleck Republican strategist who has advised such clients as John McCain, Mitt Romney and Arnold Schwarzenegger, is joining Meg Whitman’s campaign for governor, two reliable sources told Calbuzz.

Whitman, who has already spent more than $20 milllion, decided to shake up her campaign on Friday, Nov. 13, one source told us, and add another layer to her consultant-rich organization.

Murphy is widely known in the business for his skill in dealing with the media, which could help eMeg’s dreadful relations with much of the California press; although she has enjoyed a host of often fawning profiles in national publications, she has strained relations with many of the state’s major media outlets. Most recently, the Wall Street Journal described her “thin skinned” attitude towards the press, a charge she answered by saying many of the newspapers seeking access to her would soon be out of business.

Comes the news that Democratic Congressman Dennis Moore of the 3rd district of Kansas is not running for reelection. Interesting. Congressman Moore was reelected by a 56%-40% margin in 2008, and Barack Obama carried his district 51%-48%, while losing the other three congressional districts in Kansas.

There could be many plausible reasons for Moore to retire from Congress. He turns 65 in 2010 and at the end of his term will have served 12 years in Congress. He served 12 years as Johnson County District Attorney in 1976-88, and so he’s devoted more than half his working lifetime to public service. Serving in Congress means having to go back and forth between your district and Washington all the time (and a quick look at a travel website shows only two flights per day between Reagan National and Kansas City International), constantly being reachable by your constituents, etc., etc.

All that said, this still seems an ominous sign for congressional Democrats.

President Barack Obama met Monday evening with his national security team to finalize a plan to dispatch some 34,000 additional U.S. troops over the next year to what he's called "a war of necessity" in Afghanistan, U.S. officials told McClatchy.

Obama is expected to announce his long-awaited decision on Dec. 1, followed by meetings on Capitol Hill aimed at winning congressional support amid opposition by some Democrats who are worried about the strain on the U.S. Treasury and whether Afghanistan has become a quagmire, the officials said.

But when asked if she would approve the use of robocalls if she were running the campaign, Palin said she’d probably chart a different course.

"If I called all the shots, and if I could wave a magic wand,” Palin said, “I would be sitting at a kitchen table with more and more Americans, talking to them about our plan to get the economy back on track and winning the war and not having to rely on the old conventional ways of campaigning that includes those robocalls and includes spending so much money on the television ads that, I think, is kind of draining out there in terms of Americans' attention span.

“They get a bit irritated with just being inundated,” she continued, “and you're seeing a lot of that of course with the huge amounts of money that Barack Obama is able to spend on his ads and his robocalls also.”
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You betcha…..

The Sankei newspaper said there was speculation within Japan that the announcement could be about Kim's death or a change in government brought about by a coup.

The 66-year-old Kim disappeared from public view in mid-August and failed appear on two important national holidays, leading to speculation that he was seriously ill.

United States and South Korean officials said he had suffered a stroke and had undergone brain surgery, but North Korea has denied that he is unwell.

Quoting unidentified sources at Japan's defence ministry, the Sankei said Tokyo had information that "there will be an important announcement on (October) 20th".

t's no secret that the entertainment industry is overwhelmingly liberal — political donations this presidential cycle from the movie, TV and music industries recently were running about 86% Democrat versus 14% Republican. But being outnumbered is one thing, being bullied by your liberal co-workers into keeping your opinions to yourself is quite another.

Is that what's going on? Yes, say many of the industry's conservatives. That's why secret organizations with such names as "SpeakEasy" and "The Sunday Night Club" spring up every so often. They're not conservative per se, they just let it be known that attendees of their gatherings may freely discuss politics without being chastised for not toeing the liberal line.

"Are you kidding me? Of course it's true," Kelsey Grammer said when asked whether the town is hostile to conservatives. "I wish Hollywood was a two-party town, but it's not."
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You betcha and Hollywood will pay for it.

There are only 15 days left until Election Day, which means that pundits and pols will be busy predicting who will win come November 4.

We caught up with Speaker Nancy Pelosi at Georgetown's Café Milano Friday night and she didn't pull any punches.

"100% Barack Obama is going to win!" she told Yeas & Nays. "He's going to be our next president and a great president at that. We're all excited to work with him."

But that's not what Rudy Giuliani thinks. We found him palling around with Yogi Berra at the Washington Hilton Saturday night and he's still got his money on John McCain.

"He's going to do great," Hizzoner told us. "He's looking strong for November 4."

But conservative pollster Frank Luntz — begrudgingly — thinks Pelosi's correct. On Friday's "Real Time with Bill Maher" on HBO, Luntz said, "I believe Barack Obama is going to be the next president of the United States. … John McCain cannot communicate. Stevie Wonder reads a teleprompter better than John McCain."

Democrat Barack Obama's lead over Republican John McCain in the presidential race has dropped to 3 points, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Sunday.

Obama leads McCain by 48 to 45 percent among likely U.S. voters, down 1 percentage point from Saturday. The four-day tracking poll, which has a margin of error of 2.9 points.

Pollster John Zogby said the numbers were good news for McCain, and probably reflected a bump following his appearance in the third and final presidential debate on Wednesday.

"For the first time in the polling McCain is up above 45 percent. There is no question something has happened," Zogby said.

He said the Arizona senator appeared to have solidified his support with the Republican base — where 9 out of 10 voters now back him — and was also gaining ground among the independents who may play a decisive role in the November 4 election.
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The election will not be a cake walk like the Left leaning media portrays.

Rush Limbaugh said Colin Powell's decision to get behind Barack Obama appeared to be very much tied to Obama's status as the first African-American with a chance to become president.

As for Powell's statement of concern this morning about the sort of Supreme Court justices a President McCain might appoint, Limbaugh wrote: "I was also unaware of his dislike for John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy and Antonin Scalia. I guess he also regrets Reagan and Bush making him a four-star [general] and secretary of state and appointing his son to head the FCC. Yes, let's hear it for transformational figures."
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Uh Huh…….

"Secretary Powell says his endorsement is not about race," Limbaugh wrote in an e-mail. "OK, fine. I am now researching his past endorsements to see if I can find all the inexperienced, very liberal, white candidates he has endorsed. I'll let you know what I come up with."

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsed Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., for president on Sunday, criticizing his own Republican Party for what he called its narrow focus on irrelevant personal attacks over a serious approach to challenges he called unprecedented.

Powell, who for many years was considered the most likely candidate to become the first African-American president, said in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he was not supporting Obama because of his race. He said he had watched both Obama and his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, for many months and thought “either one of them would be a good president.”

Retired Gen. Colin L. Powell, one of the country's most respected Republicans, stunned both parties Sunday by strongly endorsing Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) for president on NBC's "Meet the Press" and laying out a blistering, detailed critique of the modern GOP.

Powell said the election of Obama would "electrify the world."

"I think he is a transformational figure," Powell said. "He is a new generation coming … onto the world stage and on the American stage. And for that reason, I'll be voting for Sen. Barack Obama."

As a key reason, Powell said: "I would have difficulty with two more conservative appointments to the Supreme Court, but that's what we'd be looking at in a McCain administration."
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Uh Huh…..