Study: Bee Gees’ ‘Stayin’ Alive’ Has Perfect Beat for CPR

Sounds like the Bee Gees knew what they were talking about – and were years ahead of medical research.The band’s iconic 1977 disco anthem “Stayin’ Alive” provides an ideal beat to follow while performing chest compressions as part of CPR on a heart attack victim, U.S. doctors have found.

The American Heart Association calls for chest compressions to be administered at a rate of 100 per minute during cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR. Ironically, “Stayin’ Alive” chimes in with 103 beats per minute, Reuters reports.

In a small study headed by Dr. David Matlock of the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria, listening to “Stayin’ Alive” helped 15 doctors and medical students to perform chest compressions on dummies at the proper speed, according to the Reuters report.

“The theme ‘Stayin’ Alive’ is very appropriate for the situation,” Matlock told Reuters. “Everybody’s heard it at some point in their life. People know the song and can keep it in their head.”

The findings will be presented this month at a meeting of the American College of Emergency Physicians in Chicago.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,439543,00.html

McCain-Obama tie possible in presidential race

What if it’s a tie?

A handful of battleground states are likely to determine the November 4 U.S. presidential election and it’s possible that Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama could split them in a manner that leaves each just short of victory.

If that happens, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives would pick the president but it’s unclear whether Democrats would have enough votes to send Obama to the White House.

The House last decided an election in 1824. But the legal skirmishing and partisan rancor would probably resemble a more recent election — the 2000 vote in which Republican George W. Bush narrowly defeated Democrat Al Gore after a disputed Florida vote count and legal battle.

“This would be the seamy side of democracy, the lobbying and the money would be so intense,” said American University history professor Allan Lichtman.

In the United States, presidential elections are determined on a state-by-state basis rather than a nationwide popular vote. Each state, along with the District of Columbia, is allotted a number of votes in the Electoral College that correspond to the number of representatives it has in Congress. To become president, a candidate must win at least 270 electoral votes.

If McCain wins Virginia, New Hampshire, Florida and Ohio but loses Pennsylvania, Colorado, New Mexico and Iowa to Obama, both candidates could end up with 269 electoral votes.

Other, less likely scenarios — McCain losing Virginia and New Hampshire but winning Michigan, for example — also could result in a tie.

Under the U.S. Constitution, the House would then decide the election when it meets in January, with each state getting one vote — regardless of its size — if the chamber has to break a tie.

Democrats, who control the 435-seat House, outnumber Republicans in 27 state congressional delegations and could see that number rise in the November elections.

Republicans have a majority in 21 state delegations. Two states have an equal number of Republican and Democratic representatives.

Some members could feel pressure to vote for the other party’s candidate if he carried their state or district or if he won a clear margin of the national popular vote, said Northwestern University law professor Robert Bennett.

They would also be under extraordinary pressure from party leaders to stick together.

“There would be bargaining in that context and lots of room for rancor and bitterness. It would be a mess,” Bennett said.

The dispute probably would not be confined to Congress.

“Do you believe for one moment that this won’t end up in the courts?” Lichtman said.

Other possible scenarios, according to Bennett:

* Before the House meets, the Obama and McCain campaigns could try to convince the Electoral College voters who actually cast each state’s electoral votes to switch their support. This has happened occasionally in past elections but has never affected the outcome of an election. Electors in roughly half of the states are bound by law to honor the popular vote.

* While the House picks a president, the Senate picks the vice president in the event of a tie. The Democratic-controlled chamber could pick Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden even if McCain wins the House vote.

* The newly minted vice president could become acting president if the House doesn’t reach a resolution by the time President George W. Bush leaves the White House on January 20.

* House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would become acting president if neither chamber could settle on a president or vice president but she would have to resign her post.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE4941C220081005

‘Most Iraqi People Say President Bush Is a Hero,’ Immigrant Says

An interesting perspective – one that we rarely hear about…

—–

Benny Aldosakee left Iraq five months ago, after getting special immigration status through a federal law that allows some translators who worked with the United States in Iraq or Afghanistan to come to America.

Aldosakee said that most Iraqis are grateful to President Bush and the U.S. military for removing dictator Saddam Hussein and that the many in the major media, here and abroad, are misinforming people about Iraq and the Middle East.

Aldosakee’s journey from his hometown of Dahuk in northern Iraq to his home today in Elizabethtown, N.C., where he is working on a congressional campaign, reveals a portrait of Iraq and its people not often on view to Americans.

Aldosakee said before the U.S. led invasion of Iraq, he and his family were resigned to live their lives under Saddam Hussein’s rule.

“Because we couldn’t even dream that one day in our lives that Saddam Hussein would be removed from his power,” Aldosakee, 28, told CNSNews.com. “And President Bush did it within a month.”

Aldosakee said that fact alone has shaped the opinion of the majority of his countrymen.

“Most people in Iraq say President Bush is a hero,” said Aldosakee, who was on Capitol Hill earlier this month for a campaign event for Will Breazeale, a congressional candidate in North Carolina’s 7^th district.

And Aldosakee, a Sunni Muslim, said that sentiment includes Shia Muslims and the Kurdish people in Iraq.

“All of us,” he said.

For Aldosakee, the fall of Saddam Hussein inspired him to stand up for his own convictions. In 2005, Aldosakee ran a small Internet café, a business he said was successful. Before that, he had worked for a number of years for the United Nations in Iraq, where he honed his English skills. Then he was offered a different kind of job.

“One day an Iraqi general was looking for (someone) to actually translate between him and (the) American forces,” Aldosakee told CNSNews.com. “He couldn’t find anybody, because everyone was scared. They were afraid to go and work for the military. So he asked me to go with him. I went back home, and I told my parents.”

In Iraq, Aldosakee explained, even a grown man has to ask his parents’ permission when making a life-changing decision. His parents were against his plan. But Aldosakee asked his father if he could explain why he wanted to work as a translator for the U.S. military.

“I said, ‘Dad, who do you think I’m going to work for?’ He said, ‘Americans.’ I said, “Who are those Americans?’ He said, ‘Americans are Americans.’ I said, ‘No, they are not only Americans. They are those people who sacrificed themselves, their blood, and they left their kids behind, they left their country – the greatest country in the world – and came here to give me freedom,  so why shouldn’t I go help them to free my people?’ So my father looked at me and said, ‘Go, son. Go.’”

“That was an amazing day for me,” said Aldosakee.

Aldosakee’s assignment involved working with a military transition team, which is a team of U.S. military in charge of training the Iraqi army. That is how he met Will Breazeale, a three-time combat veteran of the wars in Iraq and Kuwait. In 2006, Breazeale was deployed to Iraq as an army reservist who advised an Iraqi division headquarters company commander.

For one year, Aldosakee worked as a translator with Breazeale, a working relationship that led to mutual respect and friendship.

Breazeale was a witness to Aldosakee’s good work and character, which helped him to come to the United States with special immigrant status.

Aldosakee said he had no idea what he would find in America.

“I have met thousands of people,” Aldosakee said. “I have found out that the American people are the most wonderful people on this planet. I did not know that before because we don’t know anything about America. We only see bad things about America.”

Aldosakee blames the media in both countries for any ill-will that exists between his people and Americans, adding that Al Jazeera is the main source of news in his country.

“What they show us in our country is only things that are against my religion,” he said. “I’ll give you an example. In California right now there is a law that gay marriage is allowed. In my country it is totally against the law, and it is totally against my religion. So people hate those people who make the law.

“The government is the one (that) makes the law, so we say all of American government is corrupted,” he added.

“The media gives Iraqi a terrible picture of American people, and the media gives you guys a terrible picture of the Iraqi people,” he said.

Aside from his campaign work, Aldosakee is also studying to earn his high school diploma. He said he has no plans to go back to Iraq.

“I am staying forever,” he said.

http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=36629