The arduous art of the chocolate taster

First study the colour, then the nose, the structure and taste: as for any good wine, tasting chocolate is both a treat and a serious art, requiring regular practice to fine-tune the senses.
And who better to offer a lesson in chocolate tasting than Pierre Herme, the French master pastry chef?
"You start by looking at the texture," he explained at a recent tasting organised in Paris by the "Chocolate Crunchers' Club" -- a 150-strong fellowship created three decades ago to celebrate a common passion for the cocoa bean.
"I rough it up a bit first -- crushing it to test its resistance," Herme said, pressing a blade onto various parts of the chocolate bonbon on his plate.
Then comes the time to taste, paying close heed to "intensity, acidity, the lightness of the texture, the finish" -- how the flavour lingers after each mouthful -- "and for flavoured chocolates the balance between the chosen aroma and the chocolate itself."
Without forgetting the most important of all: "pleasure."
Five times a year the club's members gather around some of France's top artisans to taste all manner of cocoa-based treats -- from truffle bars to mousses, biscuits, patisseries and ice creams.
The ritual is always the same: each taster needs a small knife, a glass of water and some bread to cleanse the palate.
"The knife is essential, especially for chocolate bonbons," explained Claude Lebey, the doyen of French food critics and one of the founders of the club, gathered for the occasion in a Paris mansion.
"You have to slice the sweets in two, to see the thickness of the coating. It should offer resistance, but should not be too thick either, or it stops you from tasting what is inside."
Lebey confesses to keeping chocolate stashed away in various corners of his apartment so he can indulge in a quick nibble at any moment.
"Hmm, the coffee in this one is dosed just right," he mused approvingly, sucking on a bonbon named "Brasilia", created by Jean-Paul Hevin -- a star Parisian chocolatier with his own stores in Japan and Hong Kong.
"It's a dark chocolate ganache, but I added a bit of milk to bring out the scent of the coffee," explained Hevin, who uses ground coffee from Colombia and Brazil -- rather than instant as is often the case.
The club's expert crunchers sample another bonbon, this one flavoured with Earl Grey tea.
"The bergamot could be a little more pronounced," reckoned one taster. "Yes -- but that's risky, bergamot will easily crush any other flavour," tempered another.
For Hevin, "getting the right dose between different flavours is particularly difficult, it takes months of work."
"Most often I will put the accent on the chocolate, above any other flavour."
But sometimes, on a smoked tea bonbon for instance, he does the opposite: "I am a big tea fan, so on this one I pulled out the stops so you can really taste it. I wanted something more powerful, more virile.

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One Big Reason Not to Rush into Early Retirement

You might want to think twice about retiring early.  That’s because, new research has shown a link between early retirement and premature death.
Research by Andreas Kuhn, Jean-Philippe Wuellrich and Josef Zweimüller found that men, in particular, had an increased risk of death before age 67 when they retired early. To prove this, the researchers looked at a group of blue-collar workers from Austria, born between 1929 and 1941.
"We find that a reduction in the retirement age causes a significant increase in the risk of premature death for males, but not for females," the research said. "The effect for males is not only statistically significant but also quantitatively important. According to our estimates, one additional year of early retirement causes an increase in the risk of premature death of 2.4 percentage points (a relative increase of about 13.4 percent, or 1.8 months in terms of years of life lost)."
[10 Easy Paths to Self Destruction]
According to the research, this can be attributed to negative health habits of people during retirement.  These habits, which include smoking, drinking, unhealthy diet and limited exercise, contribute to 78 percent of casual retirement deaths, while smoking and drinking alone result in 32 percent of casual retirement deaths.
"Our results also suggest that preventive health policies should be targeted to (early) retirees," the research said. "Policies that induce individuals to adopt healthy (or avoid unhealthy) behaviors may have disproportionately positive health consequences for workers who (are about to) permanently withdraw from the labor market."

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Spring/Summer hair trends: five new looks to try

Slicked back
Get the hair gel at the ready because slicked-back styles were all over the Spring/Summer 2012 runways, with everyone from Victoria Beckham to Mugler embracing the mullet-influenced style. Labels including Giambattista Valli, Rebecca Taylor, BCBG Max Azria and Viktor & Rolf also kept tresses smoothed off the forehead for a streamlined and almost futuristic look.
Candy color
Hair color has got bold for this season, with candy colors including purple and pink replacing classic springtime looks such as ombré tresses or beachy blondes. During the Spring/Summer 2012 shows labels including Issey Miyake, Narciso Rodriguez and Thakoon showcased the trend, with the latter painting models locks blue, orange, purple or pink. Models at DSquared2 had pink streaks in their hair, while Peter Som livened up blonde locks with orange strands. Celebrities have taken to the trend too, with Katy Perry and January Jones just some of the big names reaching for the dye.
Retro quiffs
Having already made an impact during the Fall/Winter season, the quiff has confirmed its staying power and will be back for Spring/Summer 2012 after showing up at shows from the likes of Limi Feu and Rochas. While a retro aesthetic dominated at many presentations, Haider Ackerman showcased punkier varieties and Ohne Titel worked the trend for shorter styles. Meanwhile, Jean Paul Gaultier championed the victory roll for a perfect pin-up look.
Futuristic up dos
Cone-shaped chignons offered an interesting new silhouette at the Spring/Summer 2012 shows, with Rochas, Narciso Rodriguez and Issey Miyake all sculpting long locks into the most streamlined of shapes which had a science fiction feel. Meanwhile, exaggerated silhouettes were seen at Fendi with its "fobs" (faux bobs), and Diane von Furstenberg embraced dramatic beehives. Be warned: these styles require plenty of hairspray and close attention to detail.
Experimental braids
Braids were one of the most popular up-do styles on the Spring/Summer 2012 runways, whether in messy fishtail form at Michael Kors or sleek at Peter Pilotto and Danielle Scutt. Low slung braids were seen at Ashish, while romantic plaits were wrapped around the head at Moschino and Valentino. Stars including Dianna Agron have been seen working the fishtail headband trend on the red carpet recently, while Jennifer Lawrence's The Hunger Games alter ego Katniss Everdeen's side French braid has become the subject of numerous YouTube tutorials.

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US late-night host Conan O'Brien shares his workout playlist

This week, famed American late-night talk show host Conan O'Brien shared his favorite music for staying motivated in the gym.
While not known for his rock-hard gym body, O'Brien is a fitness fan and music lover, and he released his top 16 playlist of gym-friendly tunes as part of his weekly series for streaming service Rdio's Guest DJ.

Here is Conan's playlist or in certain countries, stream it here at Rdio.

1. Vampire Weekend, "A-Punk"
2. The Dovells, "You Can't Sit Down"
3. Cheap Trick, "Dream Police"
4. The Raconteurs, "Steady, As She Goes"
5. Jay-Z, "99 Problems"
6. The Police, "So Lonely"
7. Kings of Leon, "Use Somebody"
8. Ronnie Hawkins, "Forty Days"
9. The Who, "The Real Me"
10. Naughty by Nature, "Everything's Gonna Be Alright"
11. Thin Lizzy, "The Boys Are Back in Town"
12. The Brian Setzer Orchestra, "Jump Jive An' Wail"
13. Electric Six, "Danger! High Voltage (Soulchild Radio Mix)"
14. Green Day, "Basket Case"
15. Boz Scaggs, "Lido Shuffle"
16. Elvis Presley, "Promised Land"

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The Challenges of Launching an Encore Career

Many people dream about launching a second career in a field they have always wanted to try. But the transition into an encore career can be a long and costly process.
Most people earn a significantly lower amount of money (43 percent) or no money at all (24 percent) during the transition from one job to the next, according to a recent MetLife Foundation and Civic Ventures survey conducted by Penn Schoen Berland. The online survey of 253 adults between ages 44 and 70 who are currently in encore careers found that over half (57 percent) of these older workers had to tap their personal savings to make ends meet during the transition.
"That transition is not necessarily a very easy or a sure thing," says Jim Emerman, executive vice president of Civic Ventures. "The financial hardship of the transition, while not really surprising, really jumped out at us as one of the big challenges."
It often takes a significant amount of time for older workers to launch second careers. Three quarters of the survey respondents currently in encore careers experienced an employment gap of longer than 6 months. And a third (34 percent) of these older workers were unemployed for two or more years before they found another job. Some people used that time to volunteer (23 percent) or retrain by taking college courses (20 percent).
When Lisa Roger, 53, a former software engineering project director, was laid off in 2009, she faced a substantial reduction in income for about 14 months. She had to use her savings, collect unemployment benefits, and sign up for COBRA continuing health coverage to make ends meet. During the transition she participated in the Encore Hartford program in Storrs, Conn., a fellowship that helps experienced professionals transition to the nonprofit sector. She eventually found a new job as a family self-sufficiency services manager for the Norwalk Housing Authority. "Today I don't make nearly the salary that I did as a software engineer and I am ok with that," Roger says. "The work is incredibility rewarding. I know I am making a difference." The new job has caused her to reevaluate her retirement plans. "I used to feel that I was going to retire at a really early age, before 65," Roger says. "The career that I am in now, I see myself going beyond that because it is so rewarding."
Older workers are motivated to make a career change by a variety of financial and personal reasons. Insufficient income (28 percent) and inadequate savings (25 percent) were among the top reasons for making the switch. But realizing that some lifetime goals have yet to be fulfilled (28 percent) and a desire to make a bigger difference in the world (21 percent) also play a large role in decisions to move on to something new. Sometimes the transition is sparked by health problems (15 percent), an empty nest (11 percent), or hitting a specific age such as 50 (12 percent). Some people also speak of a spiritual calling into a new line of work (12 percent).
Most people switched into new jobs at for-profit businesses (22 percent) or nonprofit organizations (20 percent). Education (19 Percent), health care (15 percent), and government agencies (6 percent) are also popular second career choices. "Some people will work longer in their current jobs, whatever they are, and other people will want a change," says Emerman. Often the new job comes with shorter hours and a more flexible schedule. People in encore careers work an average of 30.5 hours per week, the Civic Ventures survey found.
Almost half of people who made a career change (47 percent) did so between ages 50 and 59. Only 3 percent of those surveyed changed careers at age 60 or older. The typical person in an encore career expects to continue working for an average of another 11 years and eventually retire at an average age of 69. They have an average of 24 years of work experience.
Many individuals need to keep working for the income (69 percent) and benefits (30 percent). Other people launch second careers to stay active and productive (58 percent), pursue a new challenge (6 percent), and because they simply enjoy the work (31 percent). Some older workers also want to give something back by helping others in the community (35 percent) and staying involved with other people (19 percent).
"People are living much longer and they are healthier, and so they want to stay engaged. People need and want and are able to work longer," says Emerman. "If people are out of work now or worried about their current job, the idea of a next career that combines continued financial security with personal satisfaction and something that they are passionate about is very strong."

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The Importance of Being Self-Reliant in Retirement

Most baby boomers are at various stages of preparing for retirement, depending on whether they were born at the beginning or end of their generation. The smart ones realize that effective planning starts well before retirement age. Important calculations need to be made to determine what it will take to survive financially throughout the retirement years. Post-work lifestyles and passions also need to be defined, and consideration for unexpected events should be taken into account whenever possible.
Counting on others to provide for us in our old age is a risky proposition. In the U.S., the ratio of working-age citizens between ages 15 and 64 supporting those over 64 is currently 5:1. By the year 2050 this ratio will drop to 3:1, according to United Nations data. In China things are even worse. They will move from the current 9:1 ratio to 3:1. And in Japan the ratio will be 1:1 in 2050.
It is important to rely on ourselves and our own resourcefulness. Society is changing to deal with the aging demographic with less generous pension plans, longer working hours, and an increase in the retirement age. Back in the 1980s, 38 percent of people had traditional pensions. By 2008 the number dropped to 20 percent. If a traditional pension will not be part of our retirement equation, we need to fill in the blank with other investments and savings alternatives.
Don't count on Social Security to foot your entire retirement bill either. With an average monthly amount of $1,230 paid at the beginning of 2012, it should only be viewed as a supplement to your other sources of retirement income. It is a piece of the puzzle, but should not be considered the entire solution.
Health demands and expenses will increase as we age. Fidelity estimates that a 65-year-old couple retiring in 2011 will need $230,000 to cover likely out-of-pocket medical expenses in retirement. And this estimate does not even include the cost of long-term care. Such burdens could prove catastrophic if we do not plan ahead with additional savings, health insurance, and long-term care coverage.
Most people approaching retirement would like the option to stay in their current home if they choose to and remain healthy enough to safely do so. Paying down your mortgage over the years provides flexibility, and the equity can be available for emergencies. Whether a decision is made to stay in the existing home or sell, having the option empowers senior citizens.
Remaining independent in retirement requires planning ahead, realistically evaluating your situation, and taking appropriate action to provide for your retirement needs. You can't count on the government or your former employer to finance your retirement years. It's something you need to take care of yourself.

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WhoHasTheRemote.com Suggests Practical New Year's Resolutions

WhoHasTheRemote.com discusses various ideas that families can employ to get better usage of items around the house. From parties with colleagues to quality time with relatives, the site encourages people to be creative with food and entertainment during the holidays.

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) December 21, 2012
WhoHasTheRemote.com encourages readers to embrace the festivities and family games that mark the month of December. At the same time, the site urges people to keep health and frugality in practical consideration throughout the year. To that end, readers are discouraged from over-drinking or overspending during the holidays, or setting impossible goals on New Year's.
It has often been said that most people break their New Year's resolutions within the first three-to-five days of January. In many cases, the problems lie in the unrealistic goals that most people set for themselves. To avoid such disappointments once 2013 kicks in,

Brett Blumenthal's advises people to make small, week-by-week resolutions throughout the coming year.
Weight loss, for instance, can be a tough thing to achieve for people who make abrupt, radical adjustments in food consumptions. Diets are one of the most common goals behind New Years resolutions, yet few succeed, let alone last into February. For people that struggle with unhealthy eating habits, the best advice is to make slow, gradual adjustments towards a healthier way of life.
Most people love sweets, but some people get more carried away than others when it comes to sugary foods. While there is nothing to be ashamed about for liking desserts, moderation is always the best policy. By the same token, it is highly unlikely for a junk food loving, dish network watching couch potato to instantly switch to a life of pure health and exercise. By eating a little less junk and a few more healthy items on a week-by-week, month-by-month basis, one could accomplish some major health goals by the end of next year.
WhoHasTheRemote.com encourages everyone to live the holidays to their fullest. When New Years rolls around, however, it is best to make realistic, long-term resolutions, and proceed with plans for achieving them by the end of next year.
WhoHasTheRemote.com is loaded with ideas on everything from weekend games to holiday snacks. Whether a reader is looking to entertain guests or find new ways for engaging the little ones, numerous ideas can be found at the site.

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hCGTreatments / Diet Doc hCG Diets & Weight Loss Plans Develops Industry Leading Weight Loss App for Apple Platform

Weight loss apps for mobile devices are the newest technological advancement in dieting. Diet Doc developed an industry leading mobile app to guide clients during their weight transformation.

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) December 21, 2012
The dieting industry has begun to more intricately incorporate technology into their operating procedures, realizing the potential of mobile apps for weight loss centered on the ability to track progress and provide quick information regarding dietary choices. Grasping this trend earlier than most, Diet Doc recently revamped their weight loss app to include a larger database of food information, more detailed meal planning and calorie tracking, and handy reminders alerting dieters of key dietary tasks throughout the day, like drinking more water or eating scheduled meals. The leader in hCG diets teamed up with a leader in mobile apps, Apillicious to design this intuitive dieting tool. This mobile app further lends accountability to dieters struggling with poor decision making, allowing them to review their food choices and pre-plan meals in order to pre evaluate calorie, fat, carbohydrate, and other nutrition content whose monitoring is imperative if results are to be had. The Diet Doc App allows users to monitor their diet through all 4 phases, counting calories, proteins, and allowing users to monitor every nuance of their diet. The Diet Doc app contains over 30 individual and unique features, including an extensive 5,000+ food database to give dieters information about the most common diet friendly foods, daily meal planning and supplement tracking, calculating time remaining until the users goal weight is achieved, and many more intuitive weight management features.

    To view a list of all features available with this mobile diet app, visit Apple's itunes store here: iTunes
The Diet Doc diet App is intended to help clients reach their weight loss goals quickly, and provide a tangible reference for learning how to maintain healthy habits and long term weight management. This app is capable of guiding dieters through the initial phase of losing weight, and offers continual support through lifelong weight maintenance, providing a useful reference for nutritional values and accountability to prevent poor dietary decisions.
Diet Doc is the nation's leader in prescription only, pure hCG weight loss plans, offering the most comprehensive and successful collection of prescription and non-prescription diet products and services. For over a decade, Diet Doc has been producing the most effective results, safely and at a fraction of the cost of expensive alternatives. Pricing plans are available to fit even the tightest budget, making weight loss affordable for anyone nationwide via the most advanced Telehealth system in America.

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Acti-Kare Plano Provides Key Tips for Celebrating the Holidays for Families Living With Alzheimer's

Acti-Kare Plano in Frisco, Texas gives key tips for how to make the holidays enjoyable despite the inherent challenges of having a family member with Alzheimer's or other dementias. The in-home care company recommends that families adjust expectations, plan ahead and utilize Acti-Kare's quality senior care services when help is needed.

Frisco, TX (PRWEB) December 21, 2012
Acti-Kare Plano, a leading provider of responsive in-home care for seniors, recently offered key tips for families living with Alzheimers or other dementias during the holiday season. The company recommends that families choose safe and useful gifts for the person with Alzheimer's, help other family members set realistic expectations of the caregiver, and involve the person with Alzheimer's in holiday preparation and traditions.
Because some gifts may now be dangerous or unusable for persons with Alzheimer's, Acti-Kare Plano recommends giving gifts that the person with Alzheimer's can easily enjoy, such as comfortable clothing, audiotapes of favorite music, photo albums and identification bracelets. Most significantly, gift certificates for spa services or household cleaning services make great gift ideas for caregivers.
During the holiday season, Acti-Kare Plano also recommends that families adjust expectations by discussing the caregiver's limitations regarding hosting or preparing for holiday events and keeping the caregiver or Alzheimer's patient from getting overwhelmed. Families should also be wiling to adjust the schedule for holiday gathering in order to avoid any triggers that may agitate the loved one with Alzheimer's.
In addition, families can involve the loved one with Alzheimer's in holiday preparations. As the person's abilities allow, invite him or her to help measure ingredients for a dish, wrap packages, set the table, or hand out decorations as they are put up. For families with loves ones in a care facility, Acti-Kare Plano suggests that families join in on some of the planned holiday activities at the facility. Families can even bring holiday food to share, sing holiday songs or read a favorite holiday story aloud.
"We understand that for families living with Alzheimer's, the holidays can be a stressful time," said Yubi Navarro of Acti-Kare Plano. "Family gatherings can still be happy, memorable occasions with a little planning and some reduced expectations for the whole family." For further information about living with Alzheimers or to learn more about quality senior home care services, call Acti-Kare Plano at (469) 269-0143 or visit their website.

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United Benefit Advisors Offers Simplified Summaries of New Health Care Reform Proposed Rules

What Employers Need to Know About the PPACA Proposed Rules

Indianapolis, IN (PRWEB) December 21, 2012
To help employers quickly understand their obligations under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), United Benefit Advisors (UBA) has issued a summary of the most crucial components of the proposed rules recently released by the Department of Health and Human Services. PPACA is confusing as it is and staying up with "proposed" and "final" rule clarifications is even harder. In addition to the summary, UBA has broken each of the guidelines down further making them easier to understand.
On Nov. 20, 2012, the Department of Health and Human Services issued three sets of proposed rules that provide some of the details on how PPACA will probably unfold. In early December , 2012, they issued two more sets. All rules are still in the “proposed” stage, which means that there may – and likely will – be changes when the final rules are issued.
The proposed rules address:

Wellness programs under PPACA
Essential health benefits and determining actuarial value
Health insurance market reforms
Benefit and Payment Parameters
Multi-State Plan Program
Nondiscriminatory Wellness Incentives:The proposed rule largely carries forward the rules that have been in effect since 2006. There still would not be limits on the incentives that may be provided in a program that simply rewards participation, such as a program that pays for flu shots or reimburses the cost of a tobacco cessation program, regardless whether the employee actually quits smoking. Programs that are results-based (which will be called “health-contingent wellness programs”) still would need to meet several conditions, including a limit on the size of the available reward or penalty. Beginning in 2014, the maximum reward/penalty would increase to 50 percent for tobacco nonuse/use and to 30 percent for other health-related standards.
Essential Health Benefits (EHBs) and Actuarial Value: The proposed rule confirms that non-grandfathered plans in the exchanges and the small group market will be required to cover the 10 essential health benefits and provide a benefit expected to pay 60, 70, 80 or 90 percent of expected allowed claims. The proposed rule also says that self-funded plans and those in the large employer market would not need to provide the 10 EHBs; instead, they would need to provide a benefit of at least 60 percent of expected allowed claims and provide coverage for certain core benefits. The proposed rule would consider current year employer contributions to a health savings account (HSA) or a health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) as part of the benefit value calculation.
Market Reforms: The proposed rule confirms that non-grandfathered health insurers (whether operating through or outside of an exchange) would be prohibited from denying coverage to someone because of a pre-existing condition or other health factor. The proposed rule also provides that premiums for policies in the exchanges and individual and small group markets could only vary based upon age, tobacco use, geographic location, and family size and sets out details on how premiums could be calculated.
The “Benefit and Payment Parameters”: proposed rule addresses a number of topics. Of particular interest to employers are proposed rules regarding:
The Temporary Reinsurance Program (TRP): intended to provide funding to cover additional costs associated with covering formerly uninsured individuals who may have unmet health needs. Funding will be provided by assessing all fully insured and self-funded major medical plans.
Small-business health options program (SHOP) exchanges: The proposed rule provides that, at least through 2016, eligibility for the small-business health option program (SHOP) exchange would be limited to small employers. An employer would be “small” for exchange purposes if it has 100 or fewer employees, although a state could elect to use 50 employees for the limit in 2014 and 2015.
A timing change for medical loss ratio (MLR) beginning in 2014: The proposed rule provides that MLR payments will be due Sept. 30, beginning in 2014. Beginning next year, if an MLR payment is used to reduce premiums, it would need to be applied to the next premium due after the MLR due date.
A user fee for those using federally facilitated exchanges: HHS has proposed a user fee of three and one-half percent of premium to cover the cost of running a federally facilitated exchange (FFE) for those states that choose not to run their own exchange.
The “Multi-State Plan Program”: proposed rule begins to address the complex topic of multi-state health exchanges. PPACA directs the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to enter into contracts with private health insurance issuers to offer at least two Multi-State Plans (MSPs) through the exchanges. Health insurance issuers who wished to provide an MSP would apply to OPM. OPM would determine which issuers are qualified to become MSP issuers, enter into contracts with the issuers and approve the plans to be offered on exchanges.
Important: These rules are still in the “proposed” stage, which means that there may be changes when the final rule is issued. Employers should view the proposed rules as an indication of how plans will be regulated beginning in 2014, but need to understand that changes are entirely possible.
To read the complete summary of all rules, click here. Follow the instructions for access to the individual summaries of each proposed rule.

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Judge orders fumigation after bed bug found in Newfoundland court building

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - The provincial court in St. John's is dealing with a bedbug problem.
A single bedbug was first detected near the holding cells at the court building in the capital city of Newfoundland and Labrador in the fall.
A dog trained to detect bedbugs was then brought in for a thorough search and more of the creatures were found.
In a news release, Chief Judge Mark Pike says officials have met with a local pest control company to discuss a plan to eradicate bedbugs at Atlantic Place, where the provincial courts are located.
A complete fumigation is planned, followed by another search of the area using dogs and specialized technicians.
He says where bedbugs are detected, technicians will vacuum, steam and spray the area.
The process is expected to take two days, beginning Saturday.
Occupational health and safety inspectors have visited the court, but Pike says bed bugs are not a valid health and safety concern.

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Obama takes his case to people for "fiscal cliff" deal

REDFORD, Michigan (Reuters) - Making no visible headway in direct talks with Republicans, President Barack Obama took to the road on Monday to apply pressure on his political opponents to agree to a "fiscal cliff" deal that would raise taxes on the richest Americans.

Wearing shirtsleeves with no suit coat and speaking in front of an array of auto workers, Obama plunged into his new campaign a month after winning re-election on a vow to raise taxes on the wealthiest and take care of the middle class.

Obama made his appeal in Michigan where his popularity is high due in part to the 2009 government bailout of the state's auto industry. He won Michigan easily in the November 6 election.

Now, Obama is trying to convince Americans that congressional Republicans need to avert a year-end fiscal crisis by increasing taxes on people making more than $250,000 a year.

If no agreement is reached by January 1, Bush-era tax cuts on all Americans expire and spending cuts agreed to last year kick in, a scenario known as the fiscal cliff that could hurl the economy back into recession.

A typical middle-class family of four, Obama said, would see an income tax hike of $2,200 a year if no deal is done.

"How many of you can afford to pay another $2,200?" he asked workers at a Daimler automobile manufacturing plant near Detroit. "That's a hit you can't afford to take."

Polling shows most Americans would blame Republicans if the country goes over the fiscal cliff, and pressure has been building from some Republicans for House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner to get an agreement quickly, even if it means tax hikes on the wealthiest.

Obama painted a stark picture of what would happen if bipartisan talks fail.

Consumer spending would go down because families would have less expendable income, meaning businesses would have fewer customers and the economy would go into a "downward spiral," he said.

"There's good news," he said. "We can solve this problem."

Republicans accuse Obama of not proposing sufficient cuts to entitlements, like the Medicare health insurance program for seniors, to make a tax increase more palatable to Republicans.

The two sides have hit back at each other with rhetorical broadsides and appear no closer to an agreement than they did a month ago. The White House and Boehner's office held more talks on Monday.

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Who's living past 100 in the U.S.? Mostly white women

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Women have long been known to live longer than men, but when it comes to hitting the century mark the difference is stark: just 2 out of 10 Americans who live to 100 or longer are male.

Of the 53,364 Americans age 100 and older, more than 80 percent are women, a U.S. Census Bureau report released on Monday showed.

The agency's findings, based on data collected from its 2010 census, also found those who make it past 100 are also more likely to be white city-dwellers in the Northeast and Midwest.

"Due to sex differences in mortality over the lifespan, the proportion of females in the population increases with age. This is especially true in the oldest ages, where the percentage female increases sharply," Census researchers wrote.

"For every 100 centenarian females, there were only 20.7 centenarian males," they added.

While reaching 100 years of age may not attract as much fanfare as it did a few decades ago, the public still marvels at those who reach "super centenarian," status.

Guinness World Records, which certifies the oldest living person, said the title was held by Besse Cooper, an American woman who died last week at age 116 in a Georgia nursing home soon after having her hair done.

Guinness announced on its website that the new person to certified to be the oldest anywhere on the globe is 115-year-old Dina Manfredini, an immigrant from Pievepelago, Italy, who has lived in Des Moines, Iowa, since 1920. She is just 15 days older than Japan's Jiroemon Kimura, Guinness World Records said.

Although still rare, the number of people living past 100 can have an impact as policymakers consider and plan services and programs that affect older adults, Census said in its report.

The findings are not necessarily all rosy for women.

Living longer can mean greater medical and retirement expenses, among other issues.

And the number of those living past 100 continues to grow. Just 32,194 Americans reached 100 or older in 1980, far below the current level, according to the Census Bureau.

Still, centenarians in the United States remain relatively rare compared to those in other developed countries.

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Cold, mold loom as hazards in Sandy disaster zones

NEW YORK (AP) — A month after Sandy's floodwaters swept up his block, punched a hole in his foundation and drowned his furnace, John Frawley still has no electricity or heat in his dilapidated home on the Rockaway seashore.

The 57-year-old, who also lost his car and all his winter clothes in the flood, now spends his nights shivering in a pair of donated snow pants, worrying whether the cold might make his chronic heart condition worse.

"I've been coughing like crazy," said Frawley, a former commercial fisherman disabled by a spine injury. He said his family doesn't have the money to pay for even basic repairs. So far, he has avoided going to a shelter, saying he'd rather sleep in his own home.

"But I'm telling you, I can't stay here much longer," he said.

City officials estimate at least 12,000 New Yorkers are trying to survive in unheated, flood-damaged homes, despite warnings that dropping temperatures could pose a health risk.

The chill is only one of the potential environmental hazards that experts say might endanger people trying to resume their lives in the vast New York and New Jersey disaster zone.

Uncounted numbers of families have returned to coastal homes that are contaminated with mold, which can aggravate allergies and leave people perpetually wheezing. Others have been sleeping in houses filled with construction dust, as workers have ripped out walls and flooring. That dust can sometimes trigger asthma.

But it is the approaching winter that has some public health officials worried most. Nighttime temperatures have been around freezing and stand to drop in the coming weeks.

New York City's health department said the number of people visiting hospital emergency rooms for cold-related problems has already doubled this November, compared with previous years. Those statistics are likely only the proverbial tip of the iceberg.

Mortality rates for the elderly and chronically ill rise when people live for extended periods in unheated apartments, even when the temperature is still above freezing, said the city's health commissioner, Dr. Thomas Farley.

"As the temperatures get colder, the risk increases," he said. "It is especially risky for the elderly. I really want to encourage people, if they don't have heat in their apartment, to look elsewhere."

Since the storm, the health department has been sending National Guard troops door to door, trying to persuade people to leave cold homes until their heating systems are fixed. The city is also carrying out a plan to spend hundreds of millions of dollars helping residents make emergency repairs needed to restore their heat and hot water.

Convincing people that they could be endangering themselves by staying until that work is complete, though, isn't always easy.

For weeks, Eddie Saman, 57, slept on sheets of plywood in the frigid, ruined shell of his flooded Staten Island bungalow. He stayed even as the house filled up with a disgusting mold that agitated his asthma so much that it sent him to the emergency room.

Volunteers eventually helped clean the place up somewhat and got Saman a mattress. But on Sunday the wood-burning stove he had been using for heat caught fire.

Melting materials in the ceiling burned his cheek. A neighbor who dashed into the house to look for Saman also suffered burns. The interior of the house — what was left of it after the flood — was destroyed.

Two days later, another fire broke out in a flood-damaged house across the street, also occupied by a resident trying to keep warm without a working furnace.

Asked why he hadn't sought lodging elsewhere, Saman said he didn't have family in the region and was rattled by the one night he spent in an emergency shelter. He said it seemed more populated by homeless drug addicts than displaced families.

"That place was not for me," he said.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency offered to pay for a hotel, but Saman said he stopped looking because every inn within 100 miles of the city seemed to be booked solid through December.

Saman's case may be extreme, but experts said it isn't unusual for people to hurry back to homes not ready for habitation.

After Hurricane Katrina, medical researchers in New Orleans documented a rise in respiratory ailments among people living in neighborhoods where buildings were being repaired.

The issue wasn't just mold, which can cause problems for years if it isn't mediated properly, said Felicia Rabito, an epidemiologist at Tulane University's School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. There was simply so much work being done, families spent their days breathing the fine particles of sanded wood and drywall.

People complained of something that became known as the "Katrina cough," and while it subsided once the dust settled, researchers later found high lead levels in some neighborhoods due to work crews ignoring standards for lead paint removal.

A group of occupational health experts in New York City, including doctors who run programs for people sickened by World Trade Center dust after 9/11, warned last week that workers cleaning up Sandy's wreckage need to protect themselves by suppressing dust with water, wearing masks and being aware of potential asbestos exposure.

"There are clearly sites that you don't want children at ... and it is very challenging for homeowners to know whether it is safe to go home," said Dr. Maida Galvez, a pediatrician and environmental health expert at The Mount Sinai Hospital who is part of a team evaluating hazards in the disaster zone.

U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler has urged FEMA and the Environmental Protection Agency to develop a testing program that could give residents an indication of whether their homes were free of mold, sewage and other hazardous substances.

Farley, New York City's health commissioner, said people entering rooms contaminated by floodwater should wear rubber boots and gloves, and exercise care in cleanup. The hazard posed by spilled sewage is a short-term one and experts say the disease-causing bacteria found in it can be wiped out with a good cleaning. But they say anything absorbent that touched tainted water, like curtains or rugs, should be thrown out.

As for the bitter cold, there was no test needed to tell John Frawley that his home is no place to be spending frigid autumn nights.

"A couple of days ago, I was shivering so badly, I just couldn't stop," he said.

Yet with winter nearly here, he still had no plan for getting his heat working again or his ruined electrical system restored, although he also has passed up some of the programs designed to help people like him.

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