U.S. researchers tracking flu through Twitter

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Researchers and computer scientists at Johns Hopkins University have devised a way to track cases of influenza across the United States using the microblogging site Twitter. Twitter is full of tweets about the flu, which has been severe and reached epidemic proportions this year, but it has been difficult to separate tweets about the flu from actual cases. …

California governor urges restraint despite state’s riches

Brown speaks at a news conference to announce the Public Employee Pension Reform Act of 2012 at Ronald Reagan State Building in Los AngelesSACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) – Governor Jerry Brown, hailing what he described as a hard-fought rebound in California's fortunes, used his annual State of the State address on Thursday to urge fiscal discipline to avoid a return to budget deficits and cycles of "boom and bust." He called on the legislature of the most populous U.S. state to help him keep a promise to voters to "jealously guard" the billions of dollars in additional revenue made available through passage last year of a ballot measure temporarily extending tax increases. …

Unintended pregnancies on the rise in servicewomen

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Just over ten percent of women in the military said in 2008 they’d had an unintended pregnancy in the last year – a figure significantly higher than rates in the general public, according to a new study. The findings come amid news that the Pentagon will lift the ban on women in front-line combat jobs starting in 2016. “It does definitely have implications for troop readiness, ability to deploy (and) troops in combat missions if they are potentially at high risk for unintended pregnancy and pregnant women can’t be deployed,” said Dr. …

Public wants deficit reduction but not programs cuts: polling data

U.S. President Obama speaks while visiting middle class family members in their home to discuss his Administration's push to cut taxes for 98% of Americans in Falls ChurchWASHINGTON (Reuters) – Most Americans want President Barack Obama and Congress to reduce the federal deficit without cutting Medicare, Social Security and education, according to polling data released Thursday. A joint survey by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Harvard School of Public Health and the Kaiser Family Foundation also showed majorities support President Barack Obama's plan to expand Medicaid and provide subsidized private health insurance to working families through new online state exchanges. …

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