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May 13 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $5,849,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $3,388,064 3. Kevin Streelman $2,572,989 4. Billy Horschel $2,567,891 5. Matt Kuchar $2,493,387 6. Phil Mickelson $2,220,280 7. Adam Scott (Australia) $2,207,683 8. D.A. Points $2,019,702 9. Steve Stricker $1,977,140 10. Graeme McDowell $1,910,654 11. Jason Day $1,802,797 12. Webb Simpson $1,759,015 13. Dustin Johnson $1,748,907 14. Hunter Mahan $1,682,939 15. Charles Howell III $1,561,988 16. Russell Henley $1,546,638 17. Martin Laird $1,531,950 18. ...

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Cherubi (Japanese: Cherinbo) is a Grass-type Pokmon.

It evolves into Cherrim starting at level 25.

Cherubi has a round, deep-pink body with two stubby feet. It has beady eyes, and a purple-red stripe running down part of its face. Cherubi has a short stem with two big, green leaves and a second, much smaller head growing out of it. This second head is vestigial in terms of function but it contains nutrients that contribute to Cherubi's growth (somewhat similar to Azurill). The second head is apparently edible and several Pokmon have been seen trying to pluck it off. When Cherubi is about to evolve, the second head starts to wilt.

Cherubi, like many other Grass-types, can utilize the sun in order to use moves like Synthesis, Morning Sun, and SolarBeam. Cherubi is also able to learn seed-based moves like Leech Seed and Worry Seed, with supporting moves such as Growth, Helping Hand, and Lucky Chant.

Cherubi have been known to sun bathe on warm days, a trait which is believed to lead to their evolution's dependance on solar intensity.

Cherubi gets its nutrients from a variety of sources. Its smaller head serves as its initial source of food, but being a plant, it also uses photosynthesis, and it is attracted to honey.

Gardenia used a Cherubi in a battle against Ash in The Grass-type Is Always Greener and again in The Grass Menagerie.

Cherubi was also seen under Reggie's care in Lost Leader Strategy!.

Another Cherubi appeared in Battling a Cute Drama! under the ownership of Marilyn.

Multiple Cherubi made an appearance in The Rise of Darkrai.

A Cherubi had a minor appearance in Camping It Up!.

Another Cherubi appeared in The Fleeing Tower of Sunyshore!.

Multiple Cherubi made a brief appearance in Coming Full-Festival Circle!.

A Cherubi made a very brief appearance in League Unleashed!.

A photo of two Cherubi appeared in The Four Seasons of Sawsbuck!.

A Cherubi made a brief cameo in SS024, outside Professor Rowan's lab.

Cherubi appears in Pokmon Bubble Game Adventures, in the Diamond & Pearl chapter. Gardenia used a Cherubi alongside her Roserade in a Double Battle against Platinum's Prinplup and Ponyta. After Piplup evolved into Prinplup, Cherubi's Grass Knot became more effective against the heavier Pokmon, leaving the Penguin Pokmon in a difficult situation. However, Platinum took advantage of the cover that the knots gave and the holes that Roserade's poison whips created to deliver a finishing Blizzard that defeated both her Pokmon.

Gardenia's Cherubi also appears in Pokmon Diamond and Pearl Adventure!, as Hareta's first opponent. It attempted to use Leech Seed on Hareta's Shinx, but was quickly felled by cub's Bite.

It appears that Cherubi is based on a cherry.

Cherubi may be a combination of cherry, cherubic (innocent or "childlike), and ruby (a shade of red).

Cherinbo is a combination of cherry and sakuranbo (cherry).

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The Battle Frontier (Japanese: Battle Frontier) is a special post-League area in Pokmon Emerald that features several arenas where powerful Trainers can battle each other.

The Battle Frontier replaces the Battle Tower in its location south of Route 130, and likewise is only accessible by taking the S.S. Tidal from Lilycove City or Slateport City. Unlike the plain Battle Tower in Pokmon Ruby and Sapphire, as well, each of the facilities in the Battle Frontier has a leader, the Frontier Brain, who may be challenged after certain winning streaks have been made through their respective facilities.

In the anime, this Battle Frontier, rather than being on one of Hoenn's many small islands, is spread across the Kanto region, presumably so as to reflect on the then-recent releases of Pokmon FireRed and LeafGreen as well as Emerald. Much like the Gyms do not have a requirement that Ash beats anyone besides the Gym Leader, Ash is not required www.monstermmorpg.com/Football-Games to compete in any matches besides those against the Frontier Brain.

In either canon, the Battle Frontier is owned and operated by Scott, who meets up with the player throughout the game in Emerald, and met up with Ash in The Scheme Team.

Upon the player's first entry into Hoenn's Battle Frontier, their Trainer Card will be upgraded into a Frontier Pass by a woman at the entrance. This pass holds the Trainer Card, as well as a small map of the Battle Frontier and the player's records with the Frontier. Saved-up Battle Points, or BP, are listed, as are any of the seven Frontier Symbols the player has won. One battle from within one of the facilities may be recorded and stored on the Frontier Pass, which may be watched or overwritten with another at any time.

On winning through a set amount of battles in any given facility, Battle Points will be awarded, usually in small amounts, but gradually growing through each consecutive streak. Defeating the Frontier Brain of a given facility for the first time awards the silver Symbol of that facility, as well as 20BP, while the second defeat of the same Brain gives the Symbol a golden color and the player another 20BP. The Frontier Brain will only appear in 3-vs-3 single battle mode.

No two Pokmon entered can hold the same item, though all items are allowed to be held (even if they would have no particular reason for being held). Items cannot be used from the Bag during battle. Battles conducted here do not award experience or money. Any Pokmon can be entered for battle, except for the following Pokmon:

Returning from Pokmon Ruby and Sapphire, the Battle Tower (Japanese: Battle Tower) is the most standard of the facilities. Like before, it features a standard 3-vs-3 single or 4-vs-4 Double Battle format, with straight runs of 7 Trainers that get progressively more powerful as the player goes on.

At the 35th and 70th battle, five and ten runs through, respectively, Salon Maiden Anabel, the Frontier Brain, appears. If she is defeated, she awards the Ability Symbol.

All multiplayer functions found in Ruby and Sapphire are retained, as well. For a detailed description of these, see Battle Tower (Hoenn). Through a glitch, players may exploit the Battle Tower in Emerald to clone their Pokmon.

In the anime, the Battle Tower was the sixth of the facilities Ash challenged, in the episodes Talking a Good Game! and Second Time's the Charm!. After losing the first match, Ash redoubled his efforts and rechallenged Anabel, resulting in a win. This version of the Battle Tower is near Tohjo Falls.

For the Battle Tower in LaRousse City, see here.

In the Battle Palace (Japanese: Battle Palace), Pokmon battle on their own, without any commands from their Trainers. This is very similar to the rules at the Verdanturf Battle Tent. The style of the Pokmon's battle depends on its Nature, and this style may change when the Pokmon's HP falls low.

At a streak of 21 (three trips through) or 42 (six trips through), Palace Maven Spenser challenges the player. If defeated, he awards the Spirits Symbol.

The Battle Palace was the fifth facility to be challenged by Ash in the anime, where it was on Metallica Island, near the Seafoam Islands. It appeared in Cutting the Ties that Bind! and Ka Boom with a View!.

The Battle Factory (Japanese: Battle Factory) is more dedicated to research than the other facilities, and the subject of the scientists' research is the abilities of Trainers when using rental Pokmon in battle. Before the player begins a battle, they will be told some information about the opponent's team, and may switch one of the Pokmon they have with them with one of the Pokmon used by the Trainer they just defeated. This is just like the Battle Tent in Slateport City.

At the 21st and 42nd battle in a streak, three and six times through the Battle Factory, Factory Head Noland will challenge the player to a battle. Like all other Trainers in the facility, including the player, his Pokmon are completely random, and so cannot be known until he is encountered. If he is defeated, he awards the Knowledge Symbol.

Trainers are divided into 9 different battle styles, based on the number of moves in 7 different categories. They are as follows:

A move may be counted more than once. Any attack not in any of the categories is not considered. how to catch Submakarb

Three moves from a category is needed to meet the criteria for the first three categories, while only two moves are needed to meet the criteria for the last four. If there are no categories meeting the criteria, then the battle style "appears to be free-spirited and unrestrained." If there are at least three categories meeting the criteria, the battle style "appears to be flexibly adaptable to the situation." If exactly one category is matched, the battle styles are as follows:

If exactly two categories meet the criteria, then the battle style is the one that appears furthest down the list above.

In the anime, the Battle Factory is located near Cerulean City, and was the first facility challenged by Ash. It appeared in the episodes Numero Uno Articuno and The Symbol Life. The Frontier Brain Noland allows the challenger to choose one of his Pokmon for him to use in a one-on-one battle. According to Scott, he suggested that a sky roof would be added so that Flying-types could use their full potential.

The Battle Pyramid (Japanese: Battle Pyramid) is a 7-layer pyramid. Each level is shrouded in darkness, and can only be lit up by defeating opponents on the level. Trainers cannot take any items into the pyramid, and items found within can only be used while inside, being stored in a special item bag that is handed out to those who challenge it.

If the player is victorious, the bag stores said items for the next challenge. However, upon defeat the bag's contents return to 1x & 1x.

Wild Pokmon are encountered within the Battle Pyramid, with strategies differing depending on how many floors the player has ventured through. The tactics used by the wild Pokmon will progress as follows:

The pickup table, and the item-balls on the ground share the same pool of items. These items change per 7 floors/1 round.
The items found include HP restoring and PP restoring items, Fluffy Tails, Status restoring berries, Reviving items, many Battle items, as well as various held items,

After passing through 21 floors (three passes/rounds through) and 70 floors (ten passes/rounds), Pyramid King Brandon appears at the top to challenge the player. If he is defeated, he awards the Brave Symbol.

In the anime, the Battle Pyramid was located near Pewter City, but has hovercraft-like turbines installed in its underside, thus giving it the ability to move around anywhere. The location of the Battle Pyramid is only revealed to those who have defeated the other six Frontier Brains, and so it was the seventh and final facility challenged by Ash, between Battling the Enemy Within! and Pace - The Final Frontier!.

In A Pyramiding Rage!, the Battle Pyramid traveled to Snowpoint City. Here, Brandon battled and defeated Paul.

The Battle Dome (Japanese: Battle Dome) is a tournament between 16 Trainers.

Before each battle, the player can find out about their opponent, such as the Pokmon they use, their battle style, and how they train. Competitors can find out who was eliminated in each round by looking at the tournament bracket.

After the player has won five and ten championships, Dome Ace Tucker will challenge him or her. On his defeat, he awards the Tactics Symbol.

The tournament bracket is organized as follows:

Seedings are determined by their ranking: the sum of the combined base stat totals of all Pokmon, plus 1/20 of the product of the number of different types represented by the Pokmon and the highest level among the Pokmon. If two Trainers tie in ranking, the higher internal Trainer number will win the tiebreaker; the player will always win the tiebreaker against any CPU Trainer, while Dome Ace Tucker will win any tiebreaker against other CPU Trainers. In the event of a tie battle, the higher seed advances and the lower seed is eliminated.

The battle style of a Trainer is solely determined by the effort values of all of the Trainer's Pokmon. A stat is considered to be emphasized if it makes up at least 30% of the team's EVs (taking Nature into account: for this calculation, EVs on a Pokmon with a beneficial Nature are worth 10% more, while EVs on a hindering Nature are worth 10% less), and neglected if there are no EVs in that stat among the entered Pokmon.

If there any emphasized stats, they are shown (if there are three emphasized stats, only two are shown). Otherwise, if there are any neglected stats, they are shown (if there are more than two, only two are shown; the ones that are shown are further influenced by the number of entered Pokmon having a hindering Nature in the particular stat). Otherwise, the Trainer is said to "raise Adventure Games Online Pokmon in a well-balanced way."

Note that the game does not simulate battles between two CPU Trainers. Instead, the outcome between two CPU Trainers is broken down as follows: each Trainer is scored based upon the sum of the following:

The Trainer with the higher score advances; if this is a tie, then the higher-seeded Trainer advances. During tournaments in which he may be challenged by the player, Tucker always appears as the #2 seeded contestant, and will always win his battles against CPU opponents.

To determine the Pokmon sent out by a CPU Trainer against the player, each of the CPU Trainer's three Pokmon is given a score. There are two scoring methods, which are chosen at random: the offensive method and defensive method. Both methods compare the type affinity of the Pokmon's damaging attacks against each of the three Pokmon on the player's team. In the offensive method, 2 points are awarded if the attack is normally effective, 4 if super-effective, and 8 if 4 super-effective. In the defensive method, 2 points are awarded if the attack is resisted, 4 if 4 resisted, and 8 if ineffective. 2 points are deducted if super-effective, and 4 are deducted if 4 super-effective. No points are awarded or deducted in any other scenario. For the purposes of this calculation, type matchups that are not super-effective against Pokmon with Wonder Guard are ignored (no points are awarded or deducted), and Ground-type attacks are considered to be neutral against Pokmon with Levitate.

If all three Pokmon tie in one method, the other method is used. If all three Pokmon tie in the second method, then two Pokmon and the order they appear are chosen at random. Otherwise, the two highest-scoring Pokmon is chosen (if there is a tie for the second selection, the second selection of Pokmon is chosen at random). There is a 40% chance that the CPU Trainer will lead off with the higher-scoring Pokmon, and a 60% chance of leading off with the lower-scoring Pokmon.

In the anime, Ash challenged the Battle Dome, which is located near Lavender Town, in Tactics Theatrics!!, as his third facility.

The Battle Arena (Japanese: Battle Arena) pits two Pokmon against one another for three rounds. If both Pokmon last all three rounds, they are rated on how they battled in three aspects, and the Pokmon with the higher score wins, and the losing Pokmon leaves battle. If they somehow tie, both Pokmon leave battle. A knockout results in an automatic win for the Pokmon that is still standing.

Pokmon are scored on their mind, skill, and body. This is much like the Fallarbor Town Battle Tent rules. The Pokmon with the better rating in each category scores two points, while a tie will award one point to each Pokmon.

The Battle Arena is a series of single challenges, rather than a forced streak of some amount, and so after 28 wins and 56 wins, Arena Tycoon Greta appears to challenge the player. On her defeat, she awards the player with the Guts Symbol.

In the anime, Ash challenged the Battle Arena, located near Saffron City, as his second facility, in Wheel of Frontier!. Before the match begins, a special machine is used to determine if the match is 1-vs-1, 2-vs-2, or 3-vs-3.

The Battle Pike (Japanese: Battle Tube) is a long pike in the design of a Seviper. Inside of it are 21 rooms, in seven sets of three. The player may choose any of the three in a set to continue through, and in each of the three, any of the following eight events may occur:

The lady standing outside of the rooms will hint at what is in one of the three rooms. Each quote has two possibilities, but the first is more common than the second.

The Frontier Brain of the Battle Pike is Pike Queen Lucy. She challenges Trainers who complete 27 rooms (two passes through the pike) and 139 rooms (10 passes). By beating her, one is awarded with the Luck Symbol.

In the anime, the Battle Pike is located near Fuchsia City, and Ash challenged it as his fourth facility in Queen of the Serpentine!.

The Artisan Cave is a long cave connecting one end of the Battle Frontier to the other. It starts near the Battle Palace and the exit is right next to the Battle Tower. The only wild Pokmon found inside is Smeargle.

There is a house next to the Battle Tower. Insid

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AP IMPACT: Cars made in Brazil are deadly

SAO PAULO (AP) ? The cars roll endlessly off the local assembly lines of the industry's biggest automakers, more than 10,000 a day, into the eager hands of Brazil's new middle class. The shiny new Fords, Fiats, and Chevrolets tell the tale of an economy in full bloom that now boasts the fourth largest auto market in the world.

What happens once those vehicles hit the streets, however, is shaping up as a national tragedy, experts say, with thousands of Brazilians dying every year in auto accidents that in many cases shouldn't have proven fatal.

The culprits are the cars themselves, produced with weaker welds, scant safety features and inferior materials compared to similar models manufactured for U.S. and European consumers, say experts and engineers inside the industry. Four of Brazil's five bestselling cars failed their independent crash tests.

Unsafe cars, coupled with the South American nation's often dangerous driving conditions, have resulted in a Brazilian death rate from passenger car accidents that is nearly four times that of the United States, according to an Associated Press analysis of Brazilian Health Ministry data on deaths compared to the size of each country's car fleet. In fact, the two countries are moving in opposite directions on survival rates ? the U.S. recorded 40 percent fewer fatalities from car wrecks in 2010 compared with a decade before. In Brazil, the number killed rose 72 percent, according to the latest available data.

Dr. Dirceu Alves, of Abramet, a Brazilian association of doctors that specializes in treating traffic accident victims, said poorly built cars take an unnecessary toll.

"The gravity of the injuries arriving at the hospitals is just ugly," he said, "injuries that should not be occurring."

Automakers in Brazil point out that their cars meet the nation's safety laws. Some said they build even tougher cars for the country because of its poorly maintained roadways and rejected any notion that cost-cutting in production leads to fatalities.

But the country's few safety activists perceive a deadly double standard, with automakers earning more money from selling cars that offer drivers fewer safeguards ? a worrisome gap for new middle-class households, whose surging spending power has outpaced consumer protections taken for granted in more developed countries. The problem extends beyond Brazil, with economic forecasts showing the majority of global growth in auto sales taking place in emerging-market nations as the world's auto fleet doubles to 1.5 billion by 2020.

"Entry-level cars in Brazil are incredibly dangerous, it can't be denied. The death rate from accidents is far too high," said Maria Ines Dolci, coordinator of the Rio de Janeiro-based consumer defense group Proteste. "The manufacturers do this because the cars are a little cheaper to make and the demands of the Brazilian consumers are less; their knowledge of safety issues is lower than in Europe or the U.S."

Manufacturers earn a 10 percent profit on Brazilian-made cars, compared with 3 percent in the U.S. and a global average of 5 percent, according to IHS Automotive, an industry consulting firm.

Only next year will laws require frontal air bags and antilock braking systems on all cars, safety features that have been standard in industrial countries for years. The country will also have new impact regulations on paper, at least; Brazilian regulators don't have their own crash-test facility to verify automakers' claims about vehicle performance, nor are there independent labs in the country.

Experts say those requirements alone are not sufficient to meet basic safety standards. Some models sold in Brazil, like the Chinese-made JAC J3, scored only one star in a recent crash test despite having air bags and antilock brakes.

An independent pilot effort known as the Latin New Car Assessment Program has run initial tests of Brazil's most popular car models, and the results are bleak.

The cheapest models of four of the five top-selling cars, made by General Motors, Volkswagen and Fiat, received a one-star rating, out of five stars, while other top sellers also scored poorly. Such a rating means cars provide little protection in serious head-on wrecks, compared to four- or five-star rated cars, which are virtually the minimum that consumers in the U.S. and Europe buy.

"The difference is you're talking about somebody dead in the vehicle or dying very quickly, or somebody being able to get out of the vehicle themselves," said David Ward, director general of the London-based FIA Foundation for auto safety, which supports the Euro and Latin NCAP programs. "It's definitely a difference between life and death."

The squat Ford Ka hatchback sold in Europe scored four stars when it was tested by Euro NCAP in 2008; its Latin American version scored one star.

Ford acknowledged that particular Ka is built on an outdated platform, and said it cannot be compared with the European version of the same name ? it's that different. The company said it aims to have all its cars produced in Brazil built on updated, global platforms by 2015.

The Mexico-produced Nissan March compact sold in Latin America received a two-star rating from Latin NCAP, while the version sold for about the same price in Europe, called the Micra, scored four stars. The crash tests found the Latin American model had a weak, unstable body structure that offered occupants little protection in even non-serious wrecks.

In an emailed statement, Nissan said the March sold in Brazil is "practically the same model" offered in Europe. "The difference in the results achieved in Europe and Latin America is due to variations in the NCAP tests applied in different parts of the world."

Not so, said Alejandro Furas, technical director for the Global NCAP crash test programs.

"We perform the frontal crash test exactly in the same way as the Euro NCAP," he said. "The March and Micra were tested in the same lab, with the same type of crash test dummies, under the same conditions with the same people running the laboratory."

The Euro NCAP tests are more complete. They include side-impact and other tests, while the Latin American version only records front-impacts. Each type of impact test is individually scored on a 16-point scale.

The March sold in Brazil obtained a 7.62 rating in its frontal-impact test. The Micra fared much better, 12.7 points.

Italian automaker Fiat said in an emailed statement that "in general, Brazilian projects receive more reinforcements" within the cars' bodies to fortify them against the nation's "harsher roads and terrain."

However, NCAP tests found that Fiat's best-selling car in Brazil, called the Novo Uno, had an unstable body structure and scored it just one star.

Crash-test footage shows the front of the car folding up like an accordion, giving it a 2.0 point rating, the second lowest of the 28 cars NCAP has examined. Consumers purchased nearly 256,000 Novo Uno's last year ? the second-most popular car in the country.

Renault's safety standards also vary. The French company builds its Sandero in Brazil, selling 98,400 cars last year. That car scored one star on the Latin NCAP test, but the model sold in Europe, made by Renault's Romanian subsidiary Dacia, scored three stars.

Renault said the safety record of the Sandero and its other cars were on par with autos of the same class in Brazil.

One of those is the VW Gol, Brazil's best-selling car for the last decade.

Volkswagen said it strives to maintain a global standard for body strength, putting the same number of welds on the same models regardless of where they're produced, and using high-strength steel in Brazilian cars. It added that since 1998 it's given Brazilian consumers the option of buying a car with air bags ? its Gol Trend model with two frontal air bags scored three stars, while the same model without air bags scored one star.

The company didn't respond to requests for figures on how many consumers requested air bags.

"Structural integrity during a crash is a global standard for Volkswagen," the company said in an emailed statement. "The passenger compartment for the Gol remained stable and thus guarantees survival space for occupants."

Latin NCAP has tested three VW models. The Gol and the Polo had stable bodies. The Bora sedan, however, was rated as unstable, though other factors helped it score three stars.

And then there are the cars the companies do not market outside Latin America, such as the Celta by GM. Celta is Brazil's No. 5 car in terms of sales, with 137,615 sold last year. It received one star after its door unhinged and the passenger cabin roof bent into an inverted V shape during its crash test.

General Motors had no comment other than to say that its cars in Brazil are legal.

An engineer for a major U.S. automaker, speaking only on condition of anonymity for fear of losing his job, said he has watched for years as his company failed to implement more advanced safety features in Brazil, simply because the law did not require them.

""The automakers are pleased to make more profitable cars for countries where the demands, whatever they may be, are less rigorous," he said. "It happens everywhere ? India, China and Russia, for example."

___

About 40 million Brazilians moved into the middle class during the past decade with more income than ever to buy their first car. The growth potential is enormous: One out of every seven Brazilians owns a car, while the U.S. vehicle fleet covers nearly every American.

But as auto sales boom in Brazil, so have the number of accidents and deaths.

An analysis of Health Ministry data shows that 9,059 car occupants died in vehicle crashes in Brazil in 2010, according to the most recent statistics available. That same year, 12,435 people in the U.S. were killed in car crashes, though the U.S. passenger car fleet is five times larger than Brazil's. The result: Brazilian automobile crash victims died at four times the rate as those in the U.S.

The dangers come down to basics, engineers said: the lack of body reinforcements, lower-quality steel in car bodies, weaker or fewer weld spots to hold the vehicles together and car platforms designed decades before modern safety advances.

"The electricity used in building a car is about 20 percent of the cost of the structure," said Marcilio Alves, an engineering professor at Brazil's premier University of Sao Paulo and one of the few independent researchers in the nation looking at car safety.

"If you save on electricity, you save on cost. One way to save electricity is either reducing the number of spot welds or using less energy for each spot weld made. This affects structural performance in the event of a crash."

In a car with no air bags and an unstable body structure, a driver's biggest danger is the steering wheel.

A weak body structure and fragile steering column make it easier for the wheel to slam into the driver's chest and abdomen in frontal crashes, the deadliest and most common, causing serious damage to vital organs.

Ward talks of steering wheels that break off and "float" during wrecks in poorly made cars ? moving around the cabin in the driver's area. That means that even if an air bag is deployed, the steering wheel may go around or under it and directly hit the driver.

Many Brazilian car bodies also don't contain crumple zones, areas that absorb energy during wrecks. The omission endangers occupants' lower limbs, as foot wells rip off and expose feet and legs to car parts slamming into them from the front.

"If a car's body cannot absorb the energy of a crash, it will logically result in more damage, more injuries to passengers," said Alves, the doctor who specializes in traffic accident victims.

One auto engineer described the situation by sketching two car body designs with identical perimeters, but one depicted internal gaps ? missing body reinforcements.

He worked three decades for Volkswagen and spent the last 10 years as an independent engineering consultant for big automakers. He asked that his name not be published for fear of losing contracts and benefits.

"The secret of a car's body being able to withstand the crash test are the weld spots," he said.

"Let's say this is a German car," he pointed to the gapless sketch. "It's really sophisticated. Nothing is missing."

Then he pointed at the car made in Brazil, full of incomplete ink strokes.

"The Brazilian version looks the same from the outside, but it's missing pieces," he said. "In one version they include the reinforcement, in the other they don't. What's of interest is the final shape. What's inside, nobody can see."

___

In 2008, Carlos Alberto Lopes, then a 23-year-old waiter, was riding in a one-star car traveling about 50 mph on a rainy highway in the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais when the road curved smoothly left. The car hydroplaned, skidded into an embankment and rolled several times down a long incline. Of the four occupants, Lopes was the only one with serious injuries, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.

Lopes says the three-point seatbelt he was wearing didn't lock his body in place, allowing him to repeatedly hit the collapsing roof as the car rolled. He suffered a crushed vertebra.

"If the seatbelt had locked when the car rolled I wouldn't have hit my back. None of this would have happened," Lopes said.

A study by a chain of Brazilian rehabilitation centers where Lopes is being treated found that in 2011, 40 percent of the patients it worked with in Sao Paulo with serious spinal injuries were hurt in traffic accidents.

Lopes never considered a lawsuit. In fact, in more than a dozen interviews with accident victims left paralyzed after crashes, not one considered taking legal action against vehicle manufacturers.

That's in part a reflection of the lack of police investigations into car accidents, the majority of which, like Lopes', only result in simple "occurrence bulletins" that include minimal information.

But it's also indicative of the deference Brazil's new middle class consumers show to automakers and most other industries.

"We're 20 years behind the U.S. and Europe in terms of consumer awareness," said Dolci, coordinator of the Proteste consumer defense group. "The new, emerging middle class entering the market has little information on car safety. They think little of automobile security. It's this very class of consumer the automakers are targeting and to whom they're selling a mountain of cars."

Accidents like Lopes' involve more than a poorly built car.

Drivers fail to obey traffic laws, which many of the region's governments notoriously don't enforce. Cars must navigate crumbling roads and poorly designed highway systems that all but make gridlock and accidents unavoidable. And many drivers simply value perks such as alloy wheels and sound systems over unseen crumple zones.

In 1965, there were 47,089 motor vehicle fatalities in the U.S. That same year, consumer activist Ralph Nader's famous indictment of the auto industry was published, Unsafe at Any Speed. The book ignited a national discussion on auto safety and ultimately led to reforms that dramatically refashioned the industry's standards, helping lead to a 32 percent drop in deaths by 2011.

Nader said halting the growing number of auto deaths in Brazil would take "a public uproar, product liability lawsuits, selective boycotts by motorists or by mandatory Brazilian law equalizing safety standards with the safest engineering required in other countries."

"These responses in the past have worked in other countries confronted by auto industry double standards for protecting lives on the highway. Such actions are long overdue but now Brazilians know the truth in more detail," he said.

The Brazilian government says its new laws mandating frontal air bags and anti-lock brakes will dramatically improve safety, as will new impact standards. But because there are no independent crash-test centers in Brazil, companies will not face the same scrutiny as elsewhere. They will run the impact tests themselves and present the results to the government for approval. Because there is no "conformity of production" clause in the Brazilian legislation, cars won't be spot-checked to ensure they meet safety laws.

Alexandre Cordeiro, the top government minister overseeing auto safety laws, acknowledged that the government doesn't have its own crash-test center ? but said Brazil will monitor crash tests conducted outside the country.

"Regarding front- and rear-end crash tests, our cars are as secure as European or American cars," Cordeiro said.

However, when asked about the stark differences in performance that the NCAP tests document between Brazilian and European cars, Cordeiro acknowledged improvements need to be made, saying "we need to evolve and we're working on it."

Over the years Ward said he has watched the same battles play out over auto safety ? the only thing that changes is the location.

"The sad thing is, this has been the experience in the 1960s in the U.S., in the 1990s in Europe and now in Latin America," Ward said. "The industry does the least it can get away with until they're forced to do something different. It's maddening."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-05-11-LT-Brazil-Unsafe-Cars/id-99e965fc38304f1dbdb22fe015d622ac

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Yoga Postures for Mobility and Flexibility | Diet & Fitness ...

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Mobility and flexibility are equally important for fitness and? musculoskeletal strength. Rashmi Ramesh, yoga teacher with the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre explains in detail the importance of mobility and flexibility and yoga postures to improve them.

According to Bruce Kelly, a fitness professional, ?For our purposes, mobility is the range of motion under specific circumstances (specific) while flexibility is the range of motion about joint. So mobility involves movement with some purpose while flexibility is essentially isolated and does not account for other joints or how the central nervous system is involved. An example of mobility would be how well one squats while an example of flexibility would be the "old" sit and reach test.?

Our yoga expert says, ?Every body is built differently and it is up to each individual to keep the body agile, supple and flexible.?

And the best way to test your mobility and flexibility is to touch your toes. Rashmi explains, ?Touching your toes while standing or sitting down with knees straight is a good test for flexibility. Something as simple as that is very hard to achieve for most people. But don?t stop at just that.?

She further adds, ?Sit with your back upright with legs spread apart, as much as it is comfortable for you. Now bend forward so as to touch your chin to the floor with your hands stretched forward in between your legs. If you are able to do this with ease, you have great flexibility. If not, then you need to get off your backside and do some stretching.?

Rashmi Ramesh adds, ?Surya Namaskars are one of the best ways to improve the flexibility and mobility.?

Here are top 8 yoga postures for flexibility:

1. Baddhakonasan (butterfly pose)
2. Paschimotasana (forward bending while sitting)
3. Purvottasana (lifting the body up while sitting)
4. Trikonasan (Triangle pose)
5. Sarvangasan (Shoulder stand)
6. Halasan (Plough pose)
7. Hastapasasan (hands to feet while standing)
8. Ardha matsyendrasan (half spinal twist)

?

*Images courtesy: ? Thinkstock photos/ Getty Images

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Obama declared health care law 'is here to stay'

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Caught between nervous Democrats and emboldened Republicans, President Barack Obama on Friday stepped up the sales pitch on his health care overhaul as the final elements of his top domestic achievement go into effect. With his legacy and the law's success at stake, Obama said: "The law is here to stay."

Behind the scenes, the White House readied a campaign-style effort to get healthy young people to sign up for the insurance "exchanges" in order to keep premium costs from skyrocketing. On Capitol Hill, House Republicans are planning yet another vote to try to try to repeal the law.

The insurance exchanges are the centerpiece of the landmark overhaul of the nation's health insurance system and the White House mobilization is crucial to the success of the health care law and, by extension, to Obama's place in history as the first president in decades to expand health care coverage.

"There's a lot that this law is already doing for Americans with insurance," Obama said during a Mother's Day-themed event at the White House. "There's a lot more that's going to happen for folks who don't have insurance."

But he cautioned: "We still have a lot of work to do in the coming months to make sure more Americans can buy affordable health coverage."

And he urged the public not to be swayed by what he said were scare tactics from critics of the law who might blame it for rising premiums.

"Don't be bamboozled," he said.

Underscoring the policy and political consequences, the White House plans to employ both the resources of government as well as those of his reconfigured political operation as it aimed to enroll 7 million people in health insurance exchanges between Oct. 1 and the end of March. The goal is to get 30 million people to sign up within five years.

However, the composition of those signing up for the new exchanges matters just as much as the overall totals. In order to keep premium costs down, officials say they must register 2.7 million healthy people between the ages of 18 and 35 in order to counteract the costs of ensuring seniors and people with health problems.

The effort comes as the public remains divided over the health care law. As a result, the White House is planning an election-like campaign to target those uninsured or individually insured young people, an effort reminiscent of the sophisticated voter outreach that helped Obama win twice win the White House. The administration has identified where many of the healthy and uninsured young live and will be working with health clinics, hospitals, churches and other groups to sign them up for the exchanges.

Organizing for Action, an outside political group supporting Obama, will also be involved in the effort to promote the exchanges.

Administration officials say one-third of the young people they need to sign up for the exchanges live in California, Texas and Florida. Just over 50 percent are minorities and 57 percent are men.

The administration's challenge is to overcome both confusion and lack of awareness about the law. A new poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation showed more than 4 in 10 Americans didn't know the Affordable Health Care Act was still law or was being implemented, and about half feel they don't have enough information about the law to know how it will affect them.

However, the officials said they expect some of those views to shift after the exchanges are fully operational, in part because many Americans will realize their health didn't change and those that are uninsured will see the benefits of the law.

Besides enrolling needed participants, the White House effort is designed to rally the public around the health care law to stave off yet another challenge from Republicans. Three years after it became law, the health care overhaul remains a target of GOP lawmakers determined to overturn it.

"Women and families don't need Obamacare's higher costs, 20,000 pages of red tape and regulations, or to be forced off plans they currently have and like, in order to get cancer screenings or other preventive care," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a statement ahead of Obama's remarks. "As implementation draws closer, the president owes it to these women and all Americans to be straight about those consequences. Rather than another campaign-style event, the President has an obligation to warn all Americans about the train wreck that's headed our way."

___

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-declared-health-care-law-stay-194130430.html

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UN rights chief alarmed over Syrian troop buildup

BEIRUT (AP) ? The top U.N. human rights official expressed concern Friday that Syrian troop buildup around a besieged, rebel-held town in the country's west could lead to more atrocities if the area is overrun.

The area of Qusair is strategically important to the regime because it links the capital, Damascus, with the coastal region, where regime loyalists are concentrated. This includes Alawites, followers of an offshoot of Shiite Islam to which the Assad family also belongs.

The rebellion against President Bashar Assad is largely driven by Syria's majority Sunni Muslims.

Last week, regime forces were blamed for killing dozens of civilians in two predominantly Sunni communities in western Syria, which is also near the border with Lebanon.

Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said Friday her team has reported a troop buildup around the town of Qusair, which is just 10 kilometers (six miles) from the Lebanese border in Syria's Homs province.

Qusair has been ringed by Syrian troops for several weeks and has been shelled by their backers from the Lebanese Hezbollah militia.

On Friday, the Syrian military dropped leaflets over Qusair, urging rebel fighters to surrender, but did not set a deadline for them to do so, said the office of the Homs governor.

Pillay said in a statement that it appears the regime is preparing for a large-scale attack, adding that "local people clearly fear a possible repeat of last week's killings of civilians."

Rebels have lost ground in the area since the government launched an offensive there last month, backed by Hezbollah.

Bassan al-Dada, an official in the rebels' Free Syrian Army, confirmed Friday that more pro-regime forces have been streaming to the area of Qusair, a town of more than 20,000 people south of the city of Homs.

Hezbollah fighters have been shelling the town, hitting the main water tank and filtration station, and rebel fighters have responded, al-Dada said by phone from Turkey. On Thursday, several rockets overshot their targets and hit Lebanon, causing no casualties.

Pillay said she has received reports that the local population in the area of Qusair is increasingly being displaced, but it was not clear if civilians can leave the town itself. Al-Dada said the siege is tight and roads in and out of the city are not safe.

In other developments, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan alleged that the Assad regime has fired about 200 missiles tipped with chemical weapons but did not provide detailed proof.

Erdogan said in an interview with the U.S. TV network NBC that his claim is based on remains of missiles, photographs, intelligence reports and medical reports of victims of such alleged attacks being treated in Turkey.

President Barack Obama has said the use of chemical weapons in Syria is a "red line" for the U.S. and would have serious consequences. There have been repeated allegations that the regime has used chemical weapons, but the administration says it is still investigating.

Erdogan said the regime crossed Obama's red line "a long time ago," adding that Turkey wants the U.S. "to assume more responsibility and take further steps."

Turkey is a major ally of the Syrian opposition.

In the Philippines, meanwhile, a top official said Filipinos should pull out of a U.N. peacekeeping contingent in Syria after Filipino troops were kidnapped by Syrian rebels twice over the past two months.

The most recent abduction took place earlier this week, when four Filipino peacekeepers were seized. The contingent patrols a buffer zone between Syria and the Golan Heights, a plateau Israel captured from Syria in 1967.

Syrian rebels seized the four along the U.N.-patrolled demarcation line on Tuesday, only two months after 21 Filipino peacekeepers were abducted and held for three days by the rebels in the same area.

"We have sent a recommendation to the president and as soon as he says go, we will undertake to do that as soon as possible," Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said.

President Benigno Aquino III has the final word on whether to pull out the Filipino troops.

Nearly 1,000 U.N. peacekeepers are patrolling the Golan Heights. Other major contributors are India and Austria. Croatia has recently withdrawn its contingent.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/un-rights-chief-alarmed-over-syrian-troop-buildup-130746504.html

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