Sunday, February 3, 2008

Exxon sets record with $40 billion US annual profit

Exxon Mobil Corp. posted the largest annual profit by a U.S. company Friday — $40.6 billion US — as the world's biggest publicly traded oil company benefited from record-high crude prices at year's end.

Exxon also set a United States record for the biggest quarterly profit, posting net income of $11.7 billion for the final three months of 2007, beating its own mark of $10.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2005.

The previous record for annual profit was $39.5 billion, which Exxon Mobil made in 2006.

The eye-popping results weren't a surprise given record prices for a barrel of oil at the end of 2007. For much of the fourth quarter, oil hovered around $90 US a barrel, more than 50 per cent higher than a year ago.

Crude prices reached an all-time trading high of $100.09 on Jan. 3 but have fallen about 10 per cent since.

Exxon Mobil, which owns 70 per cent of Canada's largest oil producer and gasoline refiner and seller, Imperial Oil Ltd., is one of the world's biggest energy companies, with three per cent of global oil output.

The record profit for the October-December period amounted to $2.13 a share versus $1.76 a share in 2006. Year-ago net income was $10.25 billion.

Also extraordinary was Exxon Mobil's revenue, which rose 30 per cent in the fourth quarter to $116.6 billion from $90 billion a year ago.

For the year, sales rose to $404.5 billion — the most ever for the Irving, Tex.-based company — from the $377.64 billion it posted in 2006.

In a statement, Exxon Mobil chairman Rex Tillerson said the company continued to meet the world's energy needs through its "globally diverse resource base."

"Our long-term investment program, in projects often far from major consuming nations, continued to provide resources essential to the increasingly interdependent global energy supply network," Tillerson said.

Imperial posts record-high profits

Exxon Mobil's results came a day after Calgary-based Imperial reported record high profits last year on higher crude prices, smooth-running marketing and refinery operations and higher volumes from the Syncrude oilsands project in northern Alberta.

The positive factors for the year were offset a bit by lower than expected conventional resource volumes, pressure from the rising Canadian dollar and higher tax expenses.

The Canadian company earned $3.19 billion Cdn in 2007 on revenue of $25 billion, beating Imperial's previous record of $3.04 billion set in 2006 on revenue of $24.5 billion. In the fourth quarter, Imperial Oil earned $886 million, up from $794 million. Fourth-quarter revenue increased to $6.7 billion from $5.5 billion a year ago.

In trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, Exxon Mobil shares fell 45 cents to $85.95 US after rising as high as $87.86 earlier in the session. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $69.02 to $95.27.

Higher commodity prices in the quarter were clearly evident from earnings at Exxon Mobil's exploration and production arm, known as the upstream. Income rose 32 per cent to $8.2 billion from $6.2 billion a year ago.

On an oil-equivalent basis, production increased nearly one per cent from the fourth quarter of 2006. Excluding the expropriation of its Venezuelan assets last year, divestments and other factors, production rose nearly three per cent.

Refining and marketing, or downstream, earnings were $2.3 billion, up from nearly $2 billion in the year-ago quarter, as improved refining operations offset lower U.S. refining margins.

In the U.S., downstream earnings were off sharply from a year ago — $622 million in the most recent quarter versus $945 million in 2006.

Refining margins — the difference between the cost of crude and what the company makes on refined products such as gasoline — have been squeezed in recent months as spiking oil prices outpaced increases in gasoline prices and other refined products.

Motorola's potential breakup pleases investors, confuses analysts

Motorola Inc.'s announcement late Thursday that it would consider selling or spinning off its struggling cellphone business was popular on Wall Street Friday, but technology analysts question whether a separate venture will fare any better in the competitive mobile handset market.

Shares in the Schaumburg, Ill.-based company moved up $1.40 US to $12.90 US, a 12 per cent rise, at the open of trading Friday in response to the news before dropping down to $12.69 US at market close.

Investor and billionaire financier Carl Icahn, who led the call for a drastic overhaul of the company including the split of its handset unit, said on Friday he was "pleased" Motorola is exploring his proposal.

Two years ago, Motorola's handset sales were riding high, buoyed by sales of its sleek Razr phone. Since then, Motorola's flagship division has been in free-fall, with handset sales down 38 per cent in 2007 from the previous year and worldwide market share plummeting from 23 per cent to 12.2 per cent in the same period, according to research firm IDC.

Motorola currently trails Nokia, which has 40 per cent of the market, and Samsung, with 13.9 per cent, according to IDC.

"It's been an atrocious year for them," said Mark Tauschek, a technology analyst with U.S.-based Info-Tech Research Group.

"The trouble with a downhill slide is it snowballs, and people are kicking you as you're going down."

Should Motorola spin off or sell the division, it would be left with its two other main units, one that builds wireless networks for companies and one that makes television-set-top boxes and modems for home use.

Motorola said separating the mobile business would "permit each business to grow and better serve its customers."

Gartner analyst Phillip Redman questions whether selling the division that is the public face of the company will effectively end the 80-year-old firm's relevance.

"The challenge they'll have is if they spin off that part, they are going become a fairly insignificant, niche player," said Redman.

"Right now, it's the handset business that keeps their brand out there and they are not really going to have a ton of visibility worldwide."

The mobile unit reported revenues of about $19 billion US in 2007, making them a potentially attractive option for an outside buyer, said Redman.

A Chinese telecommunications vendor such as Huawei Technologies Co Ltd. or ZTE might be potential buyers should Motorola decide to sell, rather than spin off, the division, he suggested.

Division would do little for buyer: analysts

Info-Tech Research Group's Tauschek also suggested Samsung or another major player might look to acquire the division in an effort to close the gap with worldwide leader Nokia.

But neither analyst felt buying the division would do much for the purchaser.

Tauschek said past takeovers in the industry, such as BenQ taking over the Siemens mobile unit or Alcatal doing the same for Lucent, have done little for the prospects of the new companies.

"If you add that kind of turmoil, it's very hard for the people in your business trying to come up with exciting new products to keep their eye on the ball," he said.

Motorola is still the number 1 handset maker in the United States and also had a leading market share in Canada of 29 per cent in January 2007, ahead of Nokia and Samsung, according to Kaan Yigit of Toronto-based Solutions Research Group.

But 2007 was such a poor year, Yigit estimates Motorola's share of the Canadian market may have fallen to 24 or 25 per cent.

The problem for Motorola, said Yigit, is that while higher-end handsets like Research in Motion's BlackBerry line or Apple Inc.'s iPhone still inspire loyalty among consumers, the mid-range handset market is harder to keep.

"This sale will have zero impact on consumers," said Yigit. "One person in a focus group told me recently that with each successive replacement or update to a product, he's becoming less emotionally attached to his cellphone."

Last month's auto sales second-strongest January in history: consultant

When it came to buying cars, Canadian consumers ignored the bad economic news in January, a Canadian auto consultant reported Friday.

Sales of new cars and light trucks last month were up 12.8 per cent over January of 2007, DesRosiers Automotive Consultants said. In all, 102,831 vehicles were sold, up from 91,180 a year earlier. It was the second-strongest January in history, DesRosiers said.

"The lesson here is don't believe all the negative news in the business media each and every day. Consumers make up their minds one at a time and they decided in very big numbers to stay in the market for a new vehicle in January," Dennis DesRosiers of the consulting group said.

Even the troubled North American auto makers did well, with General Motors's sales rising 18.1 per cent, Ford adding 9.7 per cent and Chrysler gaining 1.9 per cent.

While sales of North American brands grew more slowly than import brands, overall, the Big Three outsold their competitors by about 56,000 vehicles to 47,000.

GM's sales of 26,404 vehicles left it firmly in first place, followed by Chrysler, Ford and Toyota.

BMW Group Canada (the BMW and Mini brands) reported the best January ever.

Mayo Clinic worried by CPR's U.S. acquisition

The internationally renowned Mayo Clinic has asked a U.S. regulator to intervene in Canadian Pacific Railway's pending $1.5-billion-US takeover of the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad.

The medical centre in Rochester, Minn., as well as local businesses, the county and the City of Rochester, are worried that the deal announced in September 2007 will lead to a huge increase in train traffic through the city.

The Rochester Coalition, the umbrella group for the clinic, city, county and local chamber of commerce, has asked the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to require the Calgary-based CPR to mitigate any potential problems caused by increased use of the tracks.

"Any increase in hazardous material shipments through Rochester without adequate mitigation poses an unacceptable risk," Dr. Glenn Forbes, CEO of Mayo Clinic, said in a release issued Friday.

The board is expected to approve the deal in the fall.

The coalition is particularly worried about the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern's plans to expand into the Powder River Basin in Wyoming.

The DM&E's tracks split Rochester and pass very close to the clinic. There are just two or three slow-moving trains on the line on an average day, but the proposed Powder River Basin expansion could lead to more than 34 trains a day "carrying vast amounts of coal and hazardous materials at speeds in excess of 50 miles per hour," the release said.

The coalition is also worried about conflicting messages about the Powder River Basin project.

CPR hasn't made a decision about the plan, "but that isn't stopping DM&E from trying to advance the project anyway," Olmsted County Commissioner Ken Brown said in the coalition's release.

"We don't control the DM&E's day-to-day actions" because the stock has been placed with an independent trustee, pending the Surface Transportation Board's decision, CPR spokesman Mark Seland said.

He reiterated that the CPR has not made a decision about the Powder River Basin project.

But even without the Powder River Basin plan, traffic volume on the line is expected to increase.

Costly upgrades

CPR has suggested that it will spend about $300 million US to upgrade DM&E, "but it is unclear where or how that money will be spent, or whether it will benefit Rochester in any way," the coalition said in the released.

It noted that a decade ago, DM&E claimed that it would cost more than $800 million US to fix dilapidated lines and structures.

CPR has said the DME is boosting its business.

The DM&E stock has been placed with an independent trustee, pending regulatory approval of the takeover, CPR has said.

Google shares hit hard

Google Inc. shares fell more than eight per cent on Friday, a day after the company produced quarterly revenue and profit that missed analysts' expectations.

The stock fell $48.40 US to $515.90 US on Nasdaq.

The earnings miss was also coupled with news Friday that Microsoft proposed a $44-billion US takeover bid for Yahoo.

The internet search leader said after the close of trading Thursday that it made $1.21 billion US, or $3.79 per share, in the fourth quarter, up 17 per cent from $1.03 billion, or $3.29 per share, for the same period in 2006.

Google said it would have earned $4.43 cents a share, if not for stock awards given to its employees. That figure was one cent below the average estimate by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

Revenue jumped by 51 per cent to $4.83 billion US from $3.21 in the same quarter a year earlier.

The company's net revenue missed analysts' estimates by about $60 million, or just under two per cent.

There is growing concern that Google won't be able to sell as much online advertising — its main source of profit — as consumers reduce their spending amid ominous signs of a recession in the U.S.

The company's fourth-quarter profit increase was the smallest in its 14 quarters as a publicly held company. It was just the third time that Google's earnings failed to exceed analysts' estimates.

Alcoa says it will join with Aluminum Corp. to buy 12% of Rio Tinto

Alcoa Inc. said Friday it is joining with Aluminum Corp. of China to buy 12 per cent of London-listed Rio Tinto PLC (LSE;RIO.L) shares.

Alcoa released a statement saying it will contribute $1.2 billion US to the total investment.

The company praised Rio Tinto's portfolio of assets and says the company is "well positioned to prosper in the current mining cycle."

Alcoa described the partnership with Aluminum Corp. of China, the country's biggest aluminum producer, as one that would 'allow us to mutually benefit from developments in the sector.'

Last year, Rio Tinto acquired Montreal-based Alcan for $38.1 billion.

The British mining giant outbid Alcoa in the Alcan purchase.

The Popularity Contest

Popularity is defined as being regarded with great favor, approval, or affection especially by the general public. The root word, popular, originates from old French populeir, meaning “of the people”. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t desire this social distinction, including myself. But why is it that only a choice few ever make it there? What is it about some people that propel them to the top of the charts?

Popularity is a very big issue for teens, especially for girls it seems. Where teenage girls view themselves on the school’s social ladder may not only sway their future weight, but can certainly contribute to depression.

When you see the Jocks on the sports teams, and the cheerleaders, and their followings, you want to be a part of the social empire. These choice few often set the rules and boundaries for entering their group and being able to interact with the elite. Those who fail to fit the “mold” are excluded and considered “geeks.” Why?

The popular people also seem to find favor with the school administration and teachers. In our High School, we have a dress code. However, those with privilege are seldom forced to adhere to it. And while the rest of us are forced to do our assignments, the athletic stars are often exempt from them or are assigned help in order to pass the class. Why?

Earlier this year, I was approached by our school’s football quarterback. He tried to befriend me in order to get my help in passing his English class. At first I was overwhelmed at the possibility of being in the popular group and interacting with the “popular” crowd, as I am more of an intellectual geek, if you will.

Mr. Quarterback needed me to tutor him - without some help - he would probably flunk the class and be prohibited from playing on the team. He wanted me to spend my lunch period helping him as well as give up my other friends (as they were not the kind of people who fit into his crowd). And my reward for this? Being in his presence! He actually felt it was a privilege for a geek like me to have the opportunity to spend some time with the Great Quarterback and his followers.

As I began to weigh the pros and cons of it all, it seemed as if I was coming out on the short end. Despite his popularity and high place on the social structure, he has a very shallow personality, and there is a great divide in our moral ethics. It became clear to me that I would simply be a pawn in his game, and would be discarded after my usefulness had been fulfilled.

It didn’t take me long to decline his offer, much to his dismay! He seemed especially offended when I reminded him that our school had a learning center that was open for his use!

Soon after, I began tutoring an unlikely candidate instead; a young man who was considered a trouble maker by most and my teachers described as scary. I volunteered to help him with an essay, and he was very surprised that I didn’t find him repulsive or that I wasn’t afraid of him. We have become good friends, despite the principal and teachers who feel I should not be associating with his kind.

And the quarterback? He did find another candidate to help him, whom he used, dumped and devastated. (Really glad that wasn’t ME)

Sometimes I wish I had sight, mainly so I could see my Mom’s face. But most of the time, I feel that my lack of sight actually gives me greater insight into a person and who they really are. I am not limited to the external projection of a person, but can sense their inner being. I am not frightened away by their outward appearance: strange clothing or makeup, size or color and I am also not impressed by finery in dress nor stature. This allows me the unique opportunity to get to know people whom I would not have known otherwise.

Too bad everyone couldn’t put on a blindfold and see people for their inner quality instead of their outer appearance. Try it sometime -- you wouldn’t believe what you are missing!

Colestipol Reduces Cholesterol Levels

Colesipol is a cholesterol-lowering medication. It is in the drug class known as bile acid resins. Bile acid is created by the liver with the use of the body’s cholesterol. Colestipol speeds the passing of bile acid from the body. This causes the liver to make more bile acid, removing more cholesterol from the body, which in turn lowers cholesterol levels.


Colestipol, works together with diet to help lower high levels of cholesterol. It is available in tablet and granule forms. Colestid is the only brand name medication available for Colestipol at this time.

Colestipol granules should always be mixed with liquid before consumption. Never inhale granules. Never take Colestipol in dry form and use at least three ounces of liquid when mixing granules. The granules should be mixed with liquids such as:

Water
Carbonated beverages (may cause stomach or intestinal discomfort)
Flavored drinks
Milk alone or milk mixed with breakfast cereals
Fruit juices such as orange juice, pineapple juice, or tomato juice
Pulpy fruit such as crushed peaches, pears, and pineapple or fruit cocktail
Soups with a high liquid content such as chicken noodle or tomato

Swallow Colestipol tablets whole, one at a time, do not cut, chew, or crush them. Drink plenty of water when taking the tablets.
Side effects of Colestipol may include:
• Constipation or worsening of hemorrhoids
• Abdominal pain, cramps, bloating, or flatulence
• Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, indigestion, heartburn, or decreased appetite
• Hiccups or sour taste
• Headache; or dizziness or drowsiness

Before starting Colestipol, you should be tested for diseases that may contribute to increased blood cholesterol, such as an under-active thyroid gland, diabetes, kidney disease, dysproteinemia (a blood disease), obstructive liver disease, and alcoholism. Other treatment for these conditions, prior to being treated with Colestipol, may be necessary.

Colestipol may prevent the absorption of vitamins such as A, D, and K. In fact, long-term use of Colestipol may be connected to increased bleeding from a lack of vitamin K. Taking vitamin K while being treated with Colestipol can help to prevent this condition as well as relieve it.

If you have Phenylketonuria (a hereditary disease caused by the body’s inability to handle the amino acid Phenylalanine), you should not take Colestipol as it contains Phenylalanine.

Colestipol may reduce the absorption of other medications. Therefore, take other medications at least one hour before or four hours after taking Colestipol.

Tell your healthcare professional about all of the medications you use since certain medications can increase cholesterol. If Colestipol is taken with certain other drugs, the effects of either could be increased, decreased, or altered. Check with your healthcare professional before combining any of the following with Colestipol:

• Pain, fever, and inflammation reducers such as
o Aspirin
o Ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil)
o Indomethacin (Indocin)
o Ketoprofen (Orudis, Orudis KT, Oruvail)
o Naproxen (Aleve, Anaprox, Naprosyn)
• Antibiotics such as
o Penicillins (Amoxil, Augmentin, Pen VK, Veetids)
o Tetracyclines (Sumycin, Achromycin, Minocin, Doryx, Doxy, Vibramycin)
o Clindamycin (Cleocin)
• Heart medicines such as
o Digoxin (Lanoxin, Lanoxicaps)
o Propranolol (Inderal)
o Methyldopa (Aldomet)
o Furosemide (Lasix)
o Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ, HydroDiuril)
o Chlorothiazide (Diuril)
o Metolazone (Mykrox, Zaroxolyn)
o Indapamide (Lozol)
• Diabetes medications such as
o Glipizide (Glucotrol)
o Tolbutamide (Orinase)
• Anticoagulants (blood thinners) such as
o Warfarin (Coumadin)
• Other cholesterol treatments such as
o Gemfibrozil (Lopid)
o Clofibrate (Atromid-S)
o Nicotinic acid (niacin)
• Thyroid hormones such as
o Levothyroxine (Synthroid, Levoxyl, Levothroid)
• Medicines used to treat depression such as
o Imipramine (Tofranil)
• Gallstone medications such as
o Ursodiol (Actigall)
• Seizure medicines such as
o Phenytoin (Dilantin)
• Steroid drugs such as
o Hydrocortisone (Cortef, Hydrocortone)

The effects of Colestipol during pregnancy have not been determined. If you are pregnant, planning to become pregnant or plan to breastfeed, consult your healthcare professional. Since Colestipol interferes with the absorption of vitamins A, D, and K, it may affect both the mother and the nursing infant.

Your healthcare professional can provide you with more information on Colestipol as well as other cholesterol-lowering medications.

India: Bird Flu Outbreak Continuing to Spread

India is battling the country’s worst ever outbreak of bird flu. According to the World Health Organization, this is the third outbreak in India since 2006, but by far the most widespread. The disease has now spread to six districts in West Bengal state, with Bankura district being the latest addition.

West Bengal’s animal resources minister, Anisur Rahman said there were fears the disease could be spreading further afield in the state, with suspect poultry spotted in the hill resort of Darjeeling on the border with Nepal, and in several villages in Coochbehar. West Bengal state borders Bangladesh, which is also fighting a bird flu outbreak.

Authorities said they needed to step up the slaughter of chickens and ducks to beat a spread in the virus. “We have to cull more chickens and ducks as the disease has spread to new districts. A total of nearly 700,000 poultry would have to be culled in six districts in the next seven days,” said Rahman. “There is no shortage of volunteers or personnel to cull the birds and no other birds or animals have been affected by the infection,” he added.

Villagers initially resisted attempts to destroy the poultry, and were continuing to eat chickens killed by the disease. “Most villagers are not aware of the disease. They are eating the dead chickens. Their children are playing with the infected chickens on the courtyards. It’s horrible,” Rahman said.

Residents also opposed the slaughter of their birds because of a “problem regarding the mode of compensation,” said Rahman. The government has paid more than 40 million rupees (or one million dollars) as compensation to the villagers affected by the culling operations, he said.

In most cases, the livelihood of the farmers depends on poultry. According to Venky’s Ltd., the country’s largest supplier of poultry products, West Bengal consumes an average of 13.7 million eggs and about 900,000 birds daily.

The disease is usually transmitted to humans through direct contact with infected poultry. According to the World Health Organization, more than three of every five human cases have been fatal. “There are chances of humans being infected,” said Mumbai-based Department of Virology’s Ranjana Deshmukh. “If say, 100 people get infected, at least between 70 and 80 will die of pulmonary pneumonia. The government should take preventative measures such as keeping farmers away from the dead birds and raising awareness.”

The New England Journal of Medicine reports that early signs of the disease range from fever and cough to diarrhea and vomiting.

Rahman said, “All precautionary measures have been taken.” He said the government has stocked hospitals with drugs, and health workers are raising public awareness of the possibility of infection from handling dead or sick poultry.

So far, no human cases in India have been recorded from the H5N1 strain, but experts fear it may mutate into a form easily spread between humans, sparking a global pandemic. “I hope that situation won’t arise,” said Rahman.

Since 2003, the number of human cases worldwide has grown to 350, which includes the two women who died from H5N1 in the past two weeks in Indonesia.

Smokers at Greater Risk for Tuberculosis

Tobacco smoking was responsible for 100 million deaths in the 20th century, mostly in developed countries. At current rates, it is estimated that smoking will kill about one billion people in the 21st century, mostly in developing countries.

A group of researchers from Harvard School of Public Health have found that smokers have double the risk of tuberculosis, when compared to non-smokers. They also found evidence of an association between smoking, passive smoking and indoor air pollution and tuberculosis infection, disease and mortality.

An associate professor of international health at Harvard School of Public Health, Majid Ezzati said, “Our findings suggest that information on people’s exposure to respirable pollutants from sources such as smoking and biomass use will help TB detection efforts. Additionally, TB control programs may benefit from including interventions aimed at reducing tobacco and IAP exposure, especially among those at high risk for exposure to infection.”

This is a worldwide problem. For instance, in India smoking triples the risk of death from tuberculosis and may even contribute to the spread of TB to others. “Since tobacco smoking has increased in developing countries where TB is prevalent, a considerable portion of the global burden of TB may be attributed to tobacco. Importantly, this also implies that smoking cessation might provide benefits for global TB control in addition to those for chronic diseases,” said Ezzati.

Cessation is the only cure, here in the U.S. and around the world. Most smokers become addicted as adolescents or young adults. By the time child smokers become adults, more than 80% wish they had never started. People who quit in their thirties have death risks close to life-long non-smokers, and even those who stop smoking in their forties have a marked decrease in their risk of death.

But how do we do that? Developed countries already have many tools in place to encourage people to quit, or better yet, to never begin smoking. Distribution of information about the health risks of smoking, smoking bans in public, bans on the advertising and promotion of tobacco products, cessation therapies, and tobacco tax increases are all effective methods in helping smokers quit.

Tax increases are probably the single most cost-effective intervention. As seen in New York, a tripling of the excise tax would roughly double the price of cigarettes, preventing approximately three million deaths per year by 2030.Tax hikes lower consumption and raise revenue. Money not spent on tobacco would be spent on other goods and services.

However, these effective tobacco control measures are not being implemented in developing countries. For instance, in Toronto taxes are about 80% of the street price of cigarettes, but in Delhi or Beijing it is less than 30%. Also, the knowledge of health risks associated with smoking is low. In 1996, 61% of Chinese smokers thought tobacco did ‘little or no harm’. It is estimated that about one million people per year, as well as 150 million young adults, will soon die from smoking in China and India alone, unless there is widespread cessation.

Of course there is opposition to tobacco control from the tobacco industry as well as from the general public who feel that government should not interfere with individual decisions.

It is estimated that within 25 years, tobacco smoking will cause ten million deaths a year worldwide; more than malaria, maternal deaths, childhood infections and diarrhea combined. However, there are signs for hope: more than 160 countries have signed the World Health Organization’s global tobacco control treaty, and Caribbean heads of state have declared they want to tackle tobacco together.

According to Pabhat Jha, a professor of health and development at the University of Toronto and director of the Centre for Global Health Research, between 150 and 180 million deaths would be avoided before 2050 if the proportion of adults in developing countries who quit smoking, increases from today’s level of below five percent to 30-40% by 2020. Because control policies deter children from starting, even greater benefits can be expected beyond 2050.

Is your spa safe? Check it out before you go

If your New Year's resolutions include improving your health, you may have already booked a spa appointment.

That's because a growing number of spas in the past several years have shifted from a focus on pampering to overall wellness, according to spa marketing and media company SpaFinder. Of course, you can still book a massage or facial. But you're now more likely to see options such as healthy sleep workshops, too.

If you want to make sure your goal doesn't backfire, however, experts recommend checking out your spa or medical spa as thoroughly as you would any doctor. That means asking lots of questions. The risks of failing to do so range from a minor nail infection to — in the extreme — death, as in the 2005 case of a woman who was administered a fatal dose of lidocaine for a hair-removal treatment by a physician connected to a Raleigh, N.C., spa.

"Anytime you feel your questions are not being answered correctly, freely and completely, walk," says Hannelore Leavy, executive director of The International Medical Spa Association, a professional organization focused on promoting quality consumer care. "This is your health."

Experts say the first step you should take to ensure the safety of your spa is a straightforward one — visit it. If you see anything that appears unclean or makes you uncomfortable, trust your gut, says Lynne McNees, president of the International SPA Association, a trade association with more than 3,000 members in 75 countries.

Right food for your heart

Monster Motorbike: the 13 tonne car crushing colossus

Almost thirty feet (9 metres) long, ten feet (3 metres) high and weighing as much as a school bus, the name emblazoned along the side of this menacing two-wheeled beast says it all - it's the "Monster Motorbike from Hell". Designed and built in Perth, Australia, by stunt driver Ray Baumann where it's been wowing fans with its car and caravan crushing capabilities, the Monster Motorbike is powered by a Detroit Diesel truck engine and six-speed Allison automatic and uses a two-speed Eaton differential from a road train to drive a massive chain on each side of the one-metre wide rear wheel.

Taken from a Caterpillar 80 tonne front end loader, the wheels and tyres alone are almost 10 feet (3 metres) high.

Weighing in at 13.6 tonnes (picture 10 family cars or a school bus), the Monster Motorbike is heading to Australia's east coast where it's sure to be a star attraction at the Melbourne Motor Show beginning in late February.

Baumann, a road train driver turned record setting stunt-jumper, spent three years developing the Monster with a small team of collaborators.

"We did stunt driving for quite a few years, broke a few records and broke my back a few times, so this is a way of taking a bit more care," he said.

"Now we crush things, which is definitely less risky than jumping them - we still do jump things, but not at the Melbourne Motor Show."

The 2008 Melbourne International Motor Show runs from 5pm on 29 February until 6pm on 10 March.

Apple’s US$1800 MacBook Air becomes the World’s thinnest Notebook

Apple’s Steve Jobs unveiled the world’s thinnest notebook (0.16 inches at its thinnest point, 0.76 inches at its thickest) at MacWorld today. The new US$1800 MacBook Air is powered by Intel Core 2 Duo processors running at 1.6 GHz or 1.8 Ghz, has a full-size, back-lit keyboard, a 13.3-inch display, five hours of battery life, 802.11n Wi-Fi, and a large trackpad designed for multi-touch gesture support. It comes standard with 2GB of memory and an 80GB 1.8-inch hard drive, with an optional 64GB solid state drive. Countless features make the MacBook Air a compelling proposition for road warriors, including its 3 pound (1.36 kg) weight and "instant on" start-up

As the Air doesn’t have an optical drive, users can buy the companion US$100 SuperDrive, or wirelessly access the optical drives on remote PCs or Macs to install software applications.

The MacBook Air SuperDrive is powered by MacBook Air’s USB port, eliminating the need to carry a separate power adapter.

Every MacBook Air includes a micro-DVI port so users can connect to Apple’s 20-inch or 23-inch Cinema Displays to extend their desktop or connect to projectors and other displays via DVI, VGA, Composite and S-video adapters. MacBook Air includes USB 2.0 for plugging in peripherals or charging an iPod or iPhone, a headphone jack and Apple’s acclaimed MagSafe Power Adapter designed especially for mobile users.

Every MacBook Air comes with iLife ‘08, the most significant update ever to Apple’s award-winning suite of digital lifestyle applications, featuring a major new version of iPhoto and a completely reinvented iMovie, both seamlessly integrated with the new .Mac Web Gallery for online photo and video sharing. The new MacBook Air also comes with Leopard, the sixth major release of the world’s most advanced operating system. Leopard introduces Time Machine™, an effortless way to automatically back up everything on a Mac; a redesigned Finder that lets users quickly browse and share files between multiple Macs; Quick Look, a new way to instantly see files without opening an application; Spaces, an intuitive new feature used to create groups of applications and instantly switch between them; a brand new desktop with Stacks, a new way to easily access files from the Dock; and major enhancements to Mail and iChat. .Mac members can use the new Back to My Mac feature to browse and access files on their home computer from a MacBook Air over the Internet while out on the road.

The new MacBook Air embodies Apple’s continuing environmental progress with its aluminum enclosure, a material highly desired by recyclers; Apple’s first mercury-free LCD display with arsenic-free glass; and brominated flame retardant-free material for the majority of circuit boards as well as PVC-free internal cables. In addition, MacBook Air consumes the least amount of power of any Mac, and its retail box, made primarily from 100 percent post-consumer recycled material, is 56 percent smaller by volume than the previously smallest MacBook packaging.

The new MacBook Air will be shipping in two weeks at a suggested retail price of $1,799 (US), and includes:

* 13.3-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display with 1280x800 resolution; * 1.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4MB L2 cache; * 800 MHz front-side bus; * 2GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM; * 80GB hard disk drive with Sudden Motion Sensor; * Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100; * Micro-DVI port (includes Micro-DVI to VGA and Micro-DVI to DVI Adapters); * built-in iSight video camera; * built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR; * one USB 2.0 port; * one headphone port; * multi-touch TrackPad with support for advanced multi-touch gestures including tap, scroll, pinch, rotate and swipe; and * 45 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

Build-to-order options and accessories include the ability to upgrade to a 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor; 64GB solid state drive, MacBook Air SuperDrive, Apple USB Ethernet Adapter, Apple USB Modem, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter, Apple Remote and the AppleCare Protection Plan. Additional build-to-order options also include pre-installed copies of iWork ‘08, Logic Express 8, Final Cut Express 4 and Aperture™ 1.5.

Zero-ink printing revolution brings us the first pocket-sized full colour printer

Zink zero-ink printing technology is a significant and far-reaching advance in printing technology that seems set to take the world by storm. Using advanced heat-reactive crystals impregnated into the paper, Zink allows you to produce durable, full-color, high-resolution prints from printers so small they can literally fit in your pocket or be integrated into mobile imaging devices. The digital Polaroid camera is about to hit the shelves featuring this fantastic new technology, and you'll be relieved to hear that the mobile printing revolution is refreshingly inexpensive.

Camera-phones and mini digital cameras have given the average person a very quick and easy way to capture the world around them and share it with friends – but printing these images is a different matter. Inkjet and color laser printing requires bulky, expensive equipment – not to mention annoyingly pricey toner and ink cartridges. The vast majority of digital images never make it to print – not because people don't want prints, but because it's too much of a hassle and an expense to get them done. This is where Zink's inkless, excellent-quality, ultra-compact and high-speed printing technology looks certain to cause a big upheaval in the market.

The concept is fairly simple – instead of storing ink or toner in the printer, the Zink paper itself is impregnated with dye crystals that are colorless until treated with heat. The Zink printer is nothing but a thermal transfer engine that stimulates the crystals into the correct colors to produce a full color print.

The Zink paper has four layers – a base (which can currently be white or clear, paper, card or adhesive), three color layers (cyan, magenta and yellow) and a protective polymer overcoat on top. The color crystals, which Zink has trademarked under the name Amorphocromic crystals, respond to precisely targeted heat pulses of specific duration and temperature to become visible. Through this technique, it's possible to produce millions of colors with excellent accuracy, delivering exceptionally vibrant and clean prints that are durable, waterproof and heat-resistant.

The Zink printers themselves will be somewhat of a revolution. All they need to do is pass Zink paper under a thermal transfer head, meaning that very few moving parts are required and it's possible to make exceptionally compact printers. One of the first Zink printing products to be released is a Bluetooth pocket printer the size of an iPod and priced at around US$100. The Polarooid Digital Instant Mobile Photo Printer will run off 2x3 inch full-color pictures and stickers from a mobile phone or camera in seconds. There's also a digital compact camera in development with a built-in Zink printer – just like your old Polaroid camera, but with the ability to run off unlimited prints of your favorite images.

Due to the nature of the print technology, size isn't an issue, and commercial Zink printers will be easily able to reel off banners and posters of any length. As for cost, Zink paper is expected to cost around 20 cents per small print upon its initial release – already a very attractive price point but one that will surely come down with volume. We look forward to seeing the doors this fantastic technology is about to open.

Pulse Smartpen: merging the mobile computer with the humble pen

Efforts to combine the sheer convenience of the pen as an input device with the benefits of digital technology continue to evolve with Livescribe's launch of the Pulse Smartpen. Based on licensed technology from pioneering digital pen developer Anoto, the Pulse is a computer in the shape of a pen that not only digitally captures handwriting, but simultaneously records audio and synchronizes it to the writing. Working in conjunction with a special Dot Paper Notebook, the system promises incredible benefits for students, professionals or anyone in a note taking situation... and that's just the beginning. By simply tapping the pen on the paper, the system will replay audio coinciding with the moment those notes were taken and using navigation controls printed on the bottom of each page, users can fast forward, rewind, jump ahead, pause, and even speed up or slow down their audio recordings. In short - everything you hear, speak or write is captured by the Pulse.

"Pulse is a new type of mobile computer that supports the four basic modes of human communication – reading, writing, speaking and listening," said Livescribe, Inc. Founder and Chief Executive Officer Jim Marggraff. "Using an embedded speaker and display for audio/visual input, and microphones and a pen for audio/visual output, Pulse advances the power and flexibility of mobile computing – it's the missing link that now connects the paper and digital worlds."

Due for release in March, the Pulse Smartpen will be available in two models. The 1GB model (USD$149) that provides storage for around 100 hours of recorded audio, 16,000 pages of digital notes or add-on applications while the 2GB (USD$199) provides more flexibility for downloading future applications.

Housed in anodized aluminum, the Pulse Smartpen weighs 1.3 ounces (36 grams) and measures 6.1 inches (155mm). The device features a Samsung ARM 9 (32-bit, 150 MHz) processo,r high speed infrared camera (over 70 images per second) incorporating Dot Positioning System (DPS) technology, a rechargeable lithium battery, a high contrast 96x18 OLED display, dual microphones with noise cancellation and an embedded speaker and an audio jack for Livescribe's 3D Recording Headset, itself optimized for capturing audio in noisy environments.

Recharging and transfer of data to computer is via a light weight USB Mobile Charging Cradle and the included Desktop Software allows storage, replay, and searching for words within handwritten notes after they are transferred to PC. The package will also give users access to the Livescribe Online Community which includes 250MB of online storage to upload and share notes and audio as interactive Flash movies or PDF files.

The Dot Paper Notebook works via a series of nearly-invisible micro dots printed each page that communicate with the smartpen so that it knows where you are writing or tapping. TIn addition to the navigation functionality this allows, the Dot Positioning System also facilitates a full-function calculator on the inside front cover of every notebook. According to Livescribe, additional notebooks will be comparable in price to ordinary paper notebooks and from April, the technology will become available on qualified laser jet printers so that you can print your own Dot Paper.

Coinciding with the launch, Livescribe has also announced a Developer Program inviting developers to build innovative, paper-based computing applications for the Pulse smartpen. Examples of applications already in progress include foreign language translators, productivity tools, games, interactive books, transcription services, and specialized educational aids like applications to assist visually-impaired students.

The applications for this technology seem only limited by the imagination. One interesting example already in development through Audio Tutor is an interactive birding journal that provides visuals and information in both text and audio and lets users record their birding expeditions through handwriting, drawings and audio recordings.

Visit Livescribe for further information.

Why Google will remain the king of search

Microsoft-Yahoo will have 33% of search business; Google has 60%
The verb “googling” has become synonymous with Internet searches, a fact that speaks to Google’s dominance. But don’t expect the verb “msn-yahooing” to become part of the lexicon anytime soon.

Even with the $44.6 billion bid by Microsoft Corp. to buy Yahoo Inc., the combined company would be unable to knock Google Inc. off its web search and web advertising throne, industry watchers say.

“It’s going to be awfully hard to take two complex companies that are trailing, put them together to beat a company that has the tremendous momentum of Google,” says Bob Monroe, associate teaching professor in information technology and computer science at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, PA.

Indeed, even a merged Microsoft and Yahoo would still be dwarfed by Google. The web giant holds nearly 60 percent of the Internet search market share, compared to what would be a 33 percent stake for the combined Microsoft-Yahoo.

But the deal would go a long way in helping the two companies in their battle for the lucrative Internet advertising space that is expected to explode in the next decade. “I think this deal is a no brainer,” says Rich Munarriz, senior analyst of media and technology at The Motley Fool. They need to marry, he explains, because alone they would be unable to at least give Google a run for its money.

“Even with Yahoo on Microsoft’s shoulders, the company would still come up to Google’s belly button,” he quips.

While the deal makes sense to many technology analysts, most agree there will be challenges.

First off, is the issue of combining two very different cultures. Yahoo is seen by many as more cutting-edge and creative, compared to Microsoft’s more business-like image. Bringing together two very different workforces will be a challenge, says Andy Zaleta, a partner in the technology practice at recruiting firm Battalia Winston.

Employees at firms that are acquired – in this case Yahoo – are typically the ones whose jobs are most threatened, Zaleta says. But, he points out, Microsoft has already reached out to software developers at Yahoo, offering them retention packages if the deal goes through.

So that means, upper level management and those outside of the engineering sphere, he adds, may have the most to lose if such a deal goes through.

As far as regulatory hurdles, most analysts believe the deal will have little problem getting past a U.S. Justice Department review because even merged the company would be no where near the size of Google in the Internet search space.

But in Europe, the battle may be harder to win.

It’s hard to predict exactly what the European Community will do, but Jonathan Yarmis, an analyst with AMR Research, says it will all come down to “who the EC hates more: Microsoft or Google.”

“They hate anything that strengthens Microsoft but there is also growing concern over anything that strengthens Google,” he notes.

Microsoft shareholders might not be that happy with the prospect either.

Anant Sundaram, finance professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth in Hanover, N.H., says, “This is a great deal for Yahoo's shareholders, but an iffy one for Microsoft's shareholders.”

“The $31 per share offer by Microsoft for Yahoo, for a total valuation of $44.6 billion, seems like a substantial overpayment,” he explains. “While this valuation presumes revenue synergies from increased advertising and moves into newer areas such as video and mobile, as well as cost synergies from R and D efficiencies and other cost reductions, the 62 percent premium over yesterday's closing sets tough synergy goals to achieve.”

A tough economy will only make matters worse, he adds.

But Motley Fool’s Munarriz says it’s a move Microsoft had to make if the company was going to get in the Internet search and ad game with Google.

“You can’t compete with something like a Google but you can hold off the bleeding,” he explains. “Buying Yahoo is like a tourniquet for Microsoft."

The big surprise, Munarriz surmises, is if Yahoo says no to the offer.

There is no other publicly traded company that can afford the deal that Microsoft has put on the table, he says. While Google could make a bid for Yahoo, he adds, no regulator would ever go for such a combination because it would surely hinder competition in the search arena.

While all these Internet portals want people surfing the web to do searches on their websites, thus capturing the coveted eyeballs, the real money is in the advertising dollars businesses spend with Google, Microsoft and Yahoo in order to get to those eyeballs.

Google is clearly the leader in this regard. “Most people start their day out on the web by going to Google,” says Carnegie Mellon’s Monroe. Neither Yahoo nor Microsoft, he adds, “offers software or services that are significantly more compelling than Google.”

AMR’s Yarmis disagrees. He believes Microsoft has some decent technology that enables them to monetize traffic, but the problem is the software company just doesn’t have enough search traffic.

Outside of search, though, Google hasn’t been nearly as dominate.

Google’s web mail, for example, is still in beta and hasn’t been the mail powerhouse some analysts expected. Yahoo’s and Microsoft’s service, however, have done much better, Monroe says.

So if Microsoft and Yahoo can get it together and create a viable alternative to Google, companies that pay ad revenues to Google now may reap the benefits down the line when it comes to choice. “Advertisers are scared of Google’s growing power,” notes Yarmis.

Nuvifone: Garmin Drops a Phone into the GPS

Today in a surprise announcement in New York City, Garmin whipped out the nuvifone, a full-fledged GSM HSDPA smartphone built on its own operating system with GPS navigation at its core—but e-mail and web browsing close to its heart, and a camera built in too. No pricing or carrier announcement has been made yet, though its likeliest compatible network is AT&T given the technology. (When T-Mobile launches HSDPA, it too will be suitable, and possibly more attractive than AT&T.)

Features include:
• Google local search
• Garmin Online services - traffic, weather, fuel prices, hotel discounts, etc.
• nuvi-like navigation on the road or in pedestrian mode
• Email, text, IM functions
• Camera, video camera, MP3 and MPEG4/AAC

Garmin is promising to deliver it in the 3rd quarter, and says that while the PND market isn't dying, the cellphone is clearly a ripe opportunity. Only one problem, as quipster and NPD analyst Ross Rubin pointed out: "Hello and Welcome to nuvifone!" Damn, now I'll never get that voice out of my head. Have a look at all those pictures and the official press release below.

For Once, The Underdog

Microsoft not only needs the cash to buy Yahoo!; it needs permission. Yet for once, it might find facing antitrust regulators relatively easy. In both the U.S. and Europe, Google dominates online advertising and search. Some healthy competition would be welcome. But that doesn't mean approval will happen overnight.

In the U.S., the potential merger would either have to be scrutinized by the Department of Justice or the Federal Trade Commission if Yahoo! (nasdaq: YHOO - news - people ) accepts Microsoft's (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) offer. The two agencies would literally sit down to decide which one would oversee the merger consideration. As of yet, it's not clear which one would do this. A Justice Department official says that the agency would be "interested" in scrutinizing the deal; FTC officials declined to comment.

The European Commission, stricter about market dominance than the Department of Justice, wouldn't comment on the deal Friday, but said that it was awaiting notification from Microsoft. It won't start an investigation until a deal is "implemented."

Microsoft is already dealing with regulatory hurdles in both America and Europe. In the U.S. a federal judge ruled earlier this week that Microsoft's compliance with a 2002 antitrust settlement would remain under court supervision until November 2009. The Justice Department has said that case is "a different matter" from the current bid for Yahoo!.

Meanwhile, Microsoft's Web browser is a sticking point in Europe. Only two weeks ago the Commission said it was launching a phase-two antitrust investigation against Microsoft that included looking into the tying of Internet Explorer into Windows, and IE's proprietary technology, which allegedly makes it incompatible with other competing browsers.

The whole idea of tying browsers and downloadable software like Media Player into Windows doesn't sit well with the European Commission, so Microsoft will have to tread carefully when it explains how it plans to create that $1 billion in synergies with Yahoo!. Bundling Yahoo!'s software into Windows--think free e-mail and instant-messaging services--would probably be a no-no.

"Linking their dominant position in the operating system market with the search engine services has been seen as abusive behavior," said Hans Friederiszick of ESMT Competition Analysis in Berlin. "If they implement this strategy, they'll get even higher fines."

U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wisc., chairman of the Senate's antitrust subcommittee, says his panel will scrub the deal to ensure that it doesn't promote anticompetitive behavior. The committee doesn't have any teeth, so to speak, but it does have the ability to delay a merger by exposing problems it feels federal regulators should scrutinize.

And, at least in theory, any U.S. state could sue to block the transaction, though this would be a major commitment of resources, says Robert Lande, a law professor at the University of Baltimore who specializes in antitrust cases. A host of other international regulators could also open their books on this deal.

Microsoft's bid is not necessarily an all-or-nothing transaction. It could choose (or be forced) to divest some assets if the merger is approved. Second, if the Justice Department is to scrutinize the deal, it will likely proceed quickly, as its officials could be replaced when a new president takes office next January. Having blessed Google's (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ) $3.1 billion acquisition of online advertiser DoubleClick over Microsoft's objections, it may also be hard for U.S. regulators to justify a challenge to Microsoft-Yahoo!. Late last year, the European Commission launched an in-depth investigation into that deal.

Key to the Commission's probe of a Yahoo! bid will be the online ad market, which Google also dominates along with search. In addition, it charges higher prices for its ads than Yahoo! and MSN Windows Live, in part because, being so large, there are so many advertisers bidding for space.

"Advertising is often the hidden element in whether a deal is problematic or not," said one European antitrust lawyer who wished to remain anonymous, adding that when European television companies started merging many years ago, the regulatory big concern was about what that would do to competition in the advertising market.

For the last year, Microsoft has repeatedly suffered a loss on its Internet business. During the last quarter of 2007, the company took a loss of $245 million on $863 in revenues for its “online services” segment. Although Yahoo’s revenue grew by 7% in 2007, $6.9 billion up from $6.4 billion in 2006, it took a 23% nosedive on its net income in the fourth quarter of last year. By contrast, Google’s revenue for the last quarter increase 51%, to $4.83 billion from $3.21 billion during the same period in 2006.

With Yahoo! ailing, the only tech company with enough capital to go head-to-head with Google is Microsoft, and bulking up its weak Internet business might be just the way to do it.

One other thing Microsoft has on its side: Chief Executive Steve Ballmer's experience with regulators. After more than a decade of dealing with them, expect he's learned a thing or two about getting what he wants.

Big Gains By Obama

A startling surge of support for Barack Obama has catapulted the Illinois senator into a virtual tie with Hillary Rodham Clinton in California's Democratic presidential primary, a Field Poll released Saturday shows.

Arizona Sen. John McCain lengthened his lead in the state Republican primary, grabbing a 32 to 24 percent edge among likely voters over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was at 13 percent and Texas Rep. Ron Paul at 10 percent.

But the Democratic numbers are the shocker. Clinton, a longtime California favorite, saw her once-commanding lead slip to two percentage points, 36 to 34 percent, in the new survey. That's down from the New York senator's 12 percentage point lead in mid-January and a 25 percentage point margin over Obama in October.

But with 18 percent of Democratic voters still undecided just days before Tuesday's primary, the election is still up for grabs, said Mark DiCamillo, the poll's director.

"It's an unusually volatile election, with a very high number of undecided voters and so many moving parts," he said. "It could be a very, very close election."

The head-to-head matchups between the Republican and Democratic candidates highlight both Clinton's loosening hold on California voters and McCain's growing strength in the state.

Clinton now clings to a bare 45 to 43 percent lead over McCain in a projected California presidential vote, down dramatically from her 17 percentage point margin just two weeks ago. Obama now holds a stronger 47 to 40 percent margin over the Arizona senator, but that's only half the 14 percentage point advantage he had in mid-January.

Both Democrats still run well ahead of Romney, collecting more than 50 percent of the vote in those matchups.

Obama's California campaign team said the latest polls reflect a hard-charging effort to track down potential voters in every precinct - undeterred by polls that showed the Illinois senator behind by double digits here for most of the race.

"If we hadn't laid the groundwork for the last year, we couldn't be delivering now," Debbie Mesloh, spokeswoman for the Obama campaign, said Saturday.

Averell "Ace" Smith, Clinton's California campaign manager, said the last-minute dead heat is to be expected in the nation's most populous state, which is "critical" to Clinton's effort to win the nomination.

"We always knew it would tighten," he said. "But we're incredibly confident in the organization we have to get out the vote."

The new poll shows why Obama's campaign has been targeting decline-to-state voters, who can cast ballots in the Democratic primary. While Clinton has a 37 to 31 percent lead over Obama among Democrats, Obama leads by an overwhelming 54 to 32 percent among nonpartisans, who will make up an estimated 13 percent of the primary voters.

The poll also highlights the dramatic split the Clinton-Obama battle has caused in the state's Democratic Party. Rich versus poor, young versus old, liberal versus conservative, men versus women: Each of those groups has lined up on different sides of the primary divide.

While people aged 18 to 29 back Obama by a margin of 11 percentage points, voters 65 and older support Clinton, 40 to 18 percent. Voters with household incomes of $40,000 or less back Clinton by an advantage of 11 percentage points, while those making $80,000 or more are strong Obama supporters.

Obama attracts voters who call themselves liberal, who have gone to graduate school and who are from the Bay Area, which backs him 41 to 31 percent. Clinton's strength is among conservatives and moderates, those with a high school education and residents of sprawling Los Angeles County, where she holds a 42 to 34 percent lead.

There's also a broad ethnic and gender gap between the campaigns. While white voters are split evenly between Clinton and Obama, the Illinois senator, whose late father was a black African, has a 55 to 19 percent lead among black voters, while Latinos back Clinton 52 to 19 percent.

Among men, Obama holds a 13 percentage point lead, the same advantage Clinton holds among women.

But for Clinton, even her good numbers show some ominous changes. In mid-January, the Field Poll showed her with a 19 percentage point lead among women and a huge 59 to 19 percent advantage with Latino voters. In two weeks, much of that backing has melted away.

While part of the reason for the huge number of undecided voters is last week's departure of John Edwards from the race, most of it seems to be honest angst among Democrats pressed to make a choice between two favored candidates, DiCamillo said.

"This is the Democratic rank and file having a hard time making a choice, because they like them both," he said.

On the Republican side, McCain continues to make an astounding comeback in a state where he was virtually given up for dead just months ago. He's moved from 12 percent in December to 22 percent in mid-January to 32 percent and the lead in the most recent poll.

"McCain's had a very good month," DiCamillo said. "He also benefits from Huckabee, who peels off some votes from Romney."

McCain's lead comes courtesy of a strong showing among moderate and moderately conservative Republicans, where he holds a 39 to 16 percent advantage over Romney.

Steve Schmidt, a senior strategist for McCain, said the new poll numbers reflect a national surge for the Arizona senator.

"From California to Massachusetts, Sen. McCain is on the move and getting ready for a big night on Tuesday," said Schmidt.

But Romney spokeswoman Sarah Pompeii said the latest figures will not stop them from pushing hard in California.

So much of the election still depends on who turns out to vote on Tuesday, which DiCamillo admitted is the hardest thing to project.

"There are cautionary notes," he said. "With those big differences among (Democratic) subgroups, an unexpectedly large turnout by any one of them can shift the final result. We don't know if Obama's surge will continue or if something will arrest it in the days before the election."

Both Democratic campaigns were working hard in the Bay Area on Saturday. Chelsea Clinton, the 27-year-old daughter of Sen. Clinton, spoke Saturday to hundreds of students at Oakland's Mills College, while Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry was in San Francisco to boost Obama's campaign.

Kerry was pleased Obama was closing the gap in California, but warned that "we've got to try even harder over the next few days because there are all of these absentee ballots out there - people who voted a few weeks ago when they thought the race was a foregone conclusion (for Clinton). It's proven not to be."

The poll was based on a telephone survey of 511 likely voters in the Democratic primary and 481 likely voters in the Republican primary and was conducted between Jan. 25 and Feb. 1. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points among Democrats, plus or minus 4.6 percentage points among Republicans and plus or minus 4.2 percentage points among general election voters.

Clinton Cheered in Bay Area

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, barnstorming California in the final days before the Feb. 5 primary, made a strong appeal to Bay Area voters Friday, telling them "the future has been invented right here in San Jose, in Silicon Valley, in California."

"So let's begin again to show the world, and prove to ourselves, that we're the innovators, we're the inventors, we're the people who understand that the future is what America is all about," the New York senator, her voice hoarse, said to the thunderous cheers of more than 4,000 people who assembled in the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. "America once again needs to be the innovation nation."

Clinton's appearance in San Jose, combined with a standing-room-only evening fundraiser at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown San Francisco, was part of a three-pronged Clinton family march through the nation's most populous state with its 376 Democratic delegates up for grabs on Tuesday.

Clinton planned a final rally in Los Angeles Saturday, while her daughter, Chelsea, is set to campaign in the Bay Area, including at Mills College. Former President Bill Clinton planned to be traveling up and down the state in the final days on his own campaign swing, campaign officials said.

Hillary Clinton's appearance Friday in San Jose drew thousands of cheering supporters to an event with a celebratory Latino theme, backed by a giant banner that read "Solutions for America."

And on her final Bay Area campaign swing, Clinton was surrounded by a retinue of high-profile Democrats, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

The rally clearly aimed to energize voters who constitute Clinton's particular strengths in California: She is ahead 2-1 with women and 3-1 with Latinos, the latest Field Poll shows.

Calling for immigration reform, she said to cheers that real immigration reform "is being drowned out by the voices of the demagogues."

"We know we've got to have tougher border security," she said. "We need to crack down on abusive employers" who exploit illegal immigrants, she said. But she cautioned, "These are people who are part of our economy and our society ... what we have to do is bring people out of the shadows."

Clinton also appeared eager to extend the conciliatory theme established with this week's debate with Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

"I am so proud of the Democratic Party," she told the audience. "I don't think any of us could have imagined that all of the work, all of the sacrifice, all of the commitment that has moved our country ... could have been so symbolized by the two of us, standing there, debating, trying to become the Democratic nominee and the president of our great country."

In San Francisco, Clinton was joined by Mayor Gavin Newsom and Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums, who said Clinton showed a powerful feeling for simple justice. The predominately female crowd cheered when the senator conceded that as a young girl she never would have dreamed she would have a chance to become president.

"No matter what happens," she said, "after last night's debate, you can look at a child and say, 'Yes, you can be anything you want to be in this country we care so much about."

In San Jose, mariachis strolled the crowd, trumpets blaring, serenading Clinton's supporters into a joyous mood. Giant red and black United Farm Workers flags danced in the hall as supporters chanted, "Si Se Puede," the UFW slogan, Spanish for "Yes we can."

"I see a lot of estrogen-based life forms in this hall," said an exuberant Rep. Ellen Tauscher of Walnut Creek, revving up the crowd before Clinton's arrival. "Come on girls, like you mean it! She's one of us!"

Dolores Huerta, the iconic co-founder of the United Farm Workers, also appealed to the crowd "to do what Hillary did and do what Cesar Chavez did" and get Democrats out to vote on Tuesday.

While the Clintons blanketed the state, the Obama campaign also tried to reach voters with live events. But with the Illinois senator campaigning in other Super Tuesday states, the rallies featured his high-profile surrogates. Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy hit Oakland on Friday; Michelle Obama, the candidate's wife, is tentatively scheduled to campaign in the Bay Area on Sunday and in Los Angeles with Oprah Winfrey and Caroline Kennedy.

Some Democrats who showed up for a last chance to see Clinton before Tuesday's primary said they were still making up their minds.

Among them was Barbara Katz, 52, a mental health worker from Albany - and a self-identified lesbian voter - who said she was still mulling her vote in the final days. She said she had watched portions of this week's debate at the Kodak Center in Los Angeles and liked what she saw in Clinton.

"I was pleased she was so much more positive; she came across as warmer and more personable," said Katz.

Sitting next to her, Peggy Reamer, 66, of Richmond said her mind was already made up.

Clinton's "experience factor is huge," as are her positions on key issues like health care, she said. But a factor that tugged at her heart, Reamer said, was that she wants to see - finally - a woman elected as president of the United States. "It's about time," said Reamer.

Still, she said, the recent debates have convinced her that Democrats have two good candidates to choose between.

"If Obama wins, he'll certainly have my support," she said.

State Dems accused of ignoring independents

Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign is desperately seeking independent voters to support him in Tuesday's Democratic primary, but some California liberals believe party officials haven't done enough to spread a message that could be key to Obama's success in the state: that decline-to-state voters can cast Democratic ballots.

Going into the final weekend of the campaign, the concern over reaching independent voters was one of several signs that the race between Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton could be tightening in California, which offers the biggest delegate prize in Tuesday's Super Tuesday primary.

There also were two signs Friday that the departure of former Sen. John Edwards from the race earlier this week is sending more support to Obama. The liberal online hub MoveOn - with a membership of 3.2 million - voted to endorse the Illinois senator, the first time MoveOn has backed a candidate in a primary race.

Also on Friday, the 650,000-member California service workers union, which had previously endorsed Edwards, shifted its support to Obama.

But it was concern over reaching the state's growing number of independent voters that spurred an organization to broadcast a last-minute radio appeal.

"The Democratic Party had a huge opportunity to appeal to decline-to-state voters, and they didn't take the opportunity that was handed to them," said Rick Jacobs, founder of the 100,000-member Courage Campaign, a liberal online organization that has not endorsed a candidate.

The group raised money to fund radio commercials to air across the state Monday - starring actor and Clinton supporter Bradley Whitford - that tell decline-to-state voters that they can request a Democratic ballot on Tuesday. The goal, Jacobs said, is to try to woo new voters to the Democratic side.

And that, Jacobs said, is something the state party should have done a better job of doing.

"It was a total whiff on their part," Jacobs said. "They didn't even swing as far as I can tell."

"That's baloney," said California Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres. "We have continuously reached out to decline-to-states."

Though Jacobs doesn't believe there was any intention by party officials to favor one campaign or another, Torres bristled at any insinuation from others that the party establishment is trying to aid Clinton's candidacy by downplaying its outreach to independents.

The state party's bylaws prevent the party from doing anything that favors one candidate over another in the primary. Torres said he has reached out to independents in interviews and through the party's Web site, but said the state party could not afford a major TV campaign to get decline-to-state voters to the polls. The party sent e-mails to permanent decline-to-state voters on Dec. 26, reminding them they can vote in the Democratic primary and plans to send another e-mail reminder to all independents this weekend, Torres said.

"If the Obama campaign is concerned because they think they will be getting the lion's share of independent votes, then they should be doing mail and communications," he said. "That's the responsibility of their campaign."

While Obama campaigners were careful not to criticize party leaders Friday, they've made it clear that reaching decline-to-state voters is key to their California strategy, particularly in the Bay Area where there are plenty of voters who don't identify with the two major parties.

"Sen. Obama's message of unity and change really resonates with independent voters, so we have made reaching them a major focus," said Debbie Mesloh, a spokeswoman for the Obama campaign.

The final voter registration numbers for Tuesday's election, released Friday, show just how important decline-to-state voters have become in California elections.

Since the 2004 presidential primary, the Democrats have added 230,000 registered voters, Republicans have lost 135,407, and 563,125 more people have signed up as decline-to-state voters. They now represent 19.3 percent of California's voters. The endorsements Obama received Friday could bring thousands of new foot soldiers into his campaign, including some of those elusive decline-to-state voters. Key was the blessing from MoveOn. The online giant promised its membership that it wouldn't back any candidate until two-thirds of its members supported that candidate.

A few weeks ago, the membership was split. But, as MoveOn Executive Director Eli Pariser wrote in an e-mail Friday "with John Edwards bowing out, progressives are coming together." More than 70 percent of MoveOn members said they prefer Obama compared with 30 percent for Clinton.

"Something big is clearly happening," Pariser wrote Friday. "If we all pitch in together between now and Tuesday, we can help Sen. Obama win the biggest primary day in American history."

More ground troops will come from California's service employees' union. Service Employees International Union officials said their members will spend the weekend running phone banks in Oakland and Los Angeles urging union members to vote for Obama.

Obama also brought Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy to Oakland on Friday to pump up the campaign's supporters for a huge get-out-the-vote effort over the weekend.

"The eyes of the country are on California," he told a standing-room-only crowd at Beebe Memorial Cathedral C.M.E. "We can elect someone who will electrify this nation."

The Republican National Committee pounced on Friday's developments as an example of Obama scoring the "Liberal Hat Trick."

"In The Span Of Five Days, Barack Obama Earned MoveOn.Org Endorsement, Sen. Ted Kennedy's Seal Of Approval, And National Journal's Most Liberal Senator Ranking," the RNC Web site declared.

"It's a bizarre day in American politics when Ted Kennedy campaigns for Barack Obama in the Bay Area, and the most conservative part of that statement is 'Ted Kennedy,' " said RNC spokesman Paul Lindsay.

Obama also pushed to improve his standing with Latinos, who could make up close to 20 percent of the Democratic primary voters. So far, Latinos have been leaning heavily toward Clinton.

In a telephone news conference Friday, several of Obama's Latino backers emphasized that he will address immigration reform in his first year in office.

"He will tackle a difficult issue in an honest way and take people with him," said Rep. Xavier Becerra, a Los Angeles Democrat.

But Clinton also is working hard to get the Latino vote out, said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. She was endorsed Friday by Los Angeles Supervisor Gloria Molina and named the prominent Latina a national co-chair for her presidential campaign.

Despite Obama's efforts, Clinton's campaign believes it can seal a victory in California with its extensive vote-by-mail operation. A Los Angeles Times-CNN-Politico poll, released Tuesday, found that Clinton had a major edge with voters planning to vote by mail, leading 53 percent to 30 percent over Obama. She held a narrower lead, 42 percent to 34 percent, among those planning to vote in precincts.

Voters who cast their ballots by mail tend to be older and whiter and are more likely to be female - demographic groups where Clinton has shown strength.

State election officials predict that 47 percent of ballots will be cast by mail this year. Stephen Weir, president of the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials and the elections chief in Contra Costa County, said county elections officials are reporting that about 30 percent of the ballots that will be cast in Tuesday's primary are already in.

Even if the polls appear to be tightening before election day, "it's a mirage," said Ace Smith, Clinton's California campaign manager. He predicted that the first returns to be announced as polls close at 8 p.m. Tuesday - the absentee ballots - will show Clinton's advantage.

Do Or Die For Romney Campaign

After devoting two years and more than $35 million of his own money trying to win his party's nomination for the presidency, Mitt Romney and his advisers face the possibility that his effort could end with the nominating contests on Tuesday.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona has won a series of major primaries and landed big-name endorsements as he seeks to present himself as the Republican Party's putative nominee.

Operating in survival mode, Romney's circle of advisers has come up with a detailed road map to try to salvage his campaign. The plan is complete with a new infusion of cash from Romney, a long-term strategy intended to turn the campaign into a protracted delegate fight and a reframing of the race as a one-on-one battle for the future of the party that seeks to sound the alarm among conservatives about McCain.

The advisers have drawn up a list of states, dividing and ranking them into those considered relatively easy and inexpensive targets, along with a broader grouping of more costly battlegrounds where the advisers hope Romney can be competitive.

Some states like Arizona and Arkansas, the home states of McCain and Mike Huckabee, respectively, are largely written off.

The question is whether the planning, along with the campaign's one trump card, the candidate's vast wealth, can overcome the growing sense of inevitability that has begun to attach itself to McCain.

Complicating the outlook, Romney's campaign has been racked by infighting over advertising strategy between some senior advisers, including some consultants who joined the campaign after leaving McCain's.

Polls in many major primary states on Tuesday, including California, the linchpin of Romney's strategy, where he is spending $1.7 million on advertising, according to a rival campaign, show McCain with a comfortable lead. McCain also appears to hold significant edges in New York and New Jersey, winner-take-all states where many former backers of Rudy Giuliani have joined the McCain camp.

The endorsement by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger boosts McCain in California, and the national news media buzz contributes to the air of a coronation.

"I don't think anyone should write Mitt Romney's obituary yet," said Todd Harris, a political consultant who worked on Fred Thompson's campaign. "He can be a compelling candidate with a ton of money. But at some point if he's not winning, the entire rationale for his campaign becomes that he is a well-funded candidate who's not John McCain, and that's not enough."

Another unforeseen complication is the funeral Saturday of Gordon B. Hinckley, late president and prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in Salt Lake City. The funeral, taking Romney off the trail on the most important weekend of campaigning so far, will draw attention once again to Romney's Mormon faith.

Alex Castellanos, a media strategist for Romney, said that regardless of the delegate count, the winner in California will have the momentum to move on. "California's the one to watch," Castellanos said.

Rob Stutzman, a senior adviser for the California campaign, said the state's Republican electorate is traditionally quite conservative. Stutzman predicted that McCain will run into problems because of his moderate stance on illegal immigration.

"The immigration vulnerability is amplified in California for McCain," he said.

The Romney campaign has had four paid staff members in California since last summer and has been making calls throughout the state since the beginning of January, when absentee voting began.

The field operations are focused on congressional districts where it believes that organization can have productive effects. The state is set up so that each district is worth the same number of delegates, no matter how many Republicans are in it. A small organizing effort could swing a district.

The Romney campaign is banking on winning Utah, with its heavy concentration of Mormons.

Beyond that, the campaign is also focused on picking off the handful of states holding caucuses or state conventions on Tuesday. The campaign says some minimal organization - it has had at least one paid worker in almost every Super Tuesday state since the fall - and spending can produce results. The states include Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia.

Adding Alaska, where Romney's son Josh has been dispatched, more than 250 delegates are at stake in this first group of states out of the more than 1,000 delegates up for grabs Tuesday.

The campaign has then drawn up a broader list of battlegrounds where it believes it can be competitive, including Georgia, Illinois, Missouri and Tennessee. Advertising will most likely be focused on those primary states.

Newsom surprised Peskin's call is news now

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said Friday that Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin has made harassing and threatening phones call to elected officials and private citizens for years and that he was surprised the behavior made the news just this week.

The Chronicle reported Thursday that Monique Moyer, executive director of the Port of San Francisco, wrote a letter to the city's Department of Human Resources and Newsom's office in August describing a series of calls from Peskin to her and other port officials that she characterized as "outlandish harassment."

She said Peskin had threatened to cut the department's funding and eliminate jobs of port officials because they disagreed with him over building-height limits on the city's waterfront. The calls included one to Moyer's home at 8:45 p.m. in which he said he would be "going after" her, she said.

Moyer said the calls violated a city law prohibiting board members from interfering in city departments' business. The city attorney's office and the Department of Human Resources are investigating.

After an unrelated event in the Bayview neighborhood Friday, Newsom said numerous city officials and private citizens have called his office in recent days to report having received threatening phone calls over the years from Peskin. Newsom added that he was proud of Moyer for raising the issue.

"Everyone's been hearing this for years. I don't think there's a person in city government who's surprised," Newsom said. "I don't think anyone that I've met in elected office or a community leader hasn't received these types of calls.

"What was surprising is why it took so long for this to come out," he said. "The only reason it seems to have is that someone had the courage to actually write down the impact it had on her and her staff. I can't tell you how many people are still unwilling, particularly in the private sector with projects coming before the board ... to say it."

Peskin did not return calls seeking comment Friday, but did have a couple of backers call The Chronicle to voice their support for the supervisor. Earlier this week, he denied he had violated the law.

"I take my job seriously," he said in response to Moyer's complaint. "I aggressively pursue policies and outcomes that I think are in the best interest of the city. I know the boundaries of appropriate behavior. Things get heated from time to time in the legislative arena."

He also said the 5-month-old complaint from Moyer had been leaked by the Newsom administration in retaliation for Peskin's blast at the mayor for using Municipal Transportation Agency funds to pay senior staffers' salaries.

Nathan Ballard, Newsom's press secretary, said that was an attempt to change the subject.

"Aaron Peskin is in hot water because of his own threatening behavior," Ballard said. "He needs to act like a grown man and stop blaming everyone else for the predicament he's in."

Inside: An Oklahoma senator wants a federal investigation of Mayor Gavin Newsom's use of transportation funds to pay for aides' salaries.

Rio Rocks As Samba Groups Parade

A two-story high lion led an army of spinning women in gold-and-red hoop skirts Saturday night to open the carnival parade in a Rio stadium, a fierce competition between second-division samba groups seeking a promotion.

Estacio de Sa was the first group to go in the Sambadrome, sending down the golden lion on an enormous float surrounded by some 80 dancing men and women in skin-tight lion costumes. The whirling women followed, topped by headdresses fashioned from crystals and feathers.

"I've been all over the world. I've done carnival in the Caribbean and there's nothing like Brazil," Edgardo Levita, a 23-year-old Argentine decked-out in a pirate costume.

Saturday's parade is a warm-up for the "Special Group," which includes the city's top 12 samba schools all mounting 80-minute long parades Sunday and Monday nights in an effort to impress a panel of judges and be declared the year's champion.

But there's much at stake in Saturday's event. The group that receives the highest score gets promoted to the top division.

"We work all year for this one day," said Fabio Ricardo, carnival designer for the second-division samba group Academicos da Rocinha. "It's not a game, it's a competition, like a marathon or like the Olympics."

Jumping from the second division to the first can be a financial windfall for a Samba group. The city provides second-tiered groups about $171,000 for the parade, while in the first-division they get $1.71 million, said Pedro Aridio, Rocinha's carnival director.

It's also hard to attract additional funding for a parade that isn't going to appear on TV.

Rocinha rose to the first division in 2005 only to see their hopes of staying in the elite group dashed by the pouring rain, which washed away the feathers and sequins and made the ground slippery for dancing.

"In carnival you never know what will happen until you hit the avenue," said Aridio, who believe the group has at least a fighting chance with this year's theme paying homage to the poor immigrants from Brazil's northeast, who make up most of the population of Rocinha, the city's biggest slum.

Meanwhile, revelers crowded downtown Rio de Janeiro to partake in the free-for-all celebrations around the Cordao de Bola Preta, the city's most traditional carnival band, which expects to attract over half a million people this year.

In the northeastern city of Recife, crowds topping the million mark turned out for the traditional Galo de Madrugada, or Midnight Rooster, celebrations that long ago were rescheduled for midday in order to reduce violence.

In the coastal city of Salvador, revelers got an early start clogging the major avenues to fall in behind bands playing Axe music from atop huge sound trucks and Blocos Afros, featuring hundreds of exotically costumed drummers.

And all across the nation, partiers and tourists nursed their hangovers on the beach.

"Wow, I can't remember most of it, but it was good," said Richard Cohen, a South African tourist as he sat on Copacabana beach, scraping away red nail polish painted on the night before at a carnival ball.

US, Iraqis Vow to Avenge Bombings

Atop U.S. commander said Saturday that two bombings carried out by women wrapped in bombs that killed nearly 100 people in Baghdad underscored that al-Qaida in Iraq remains a serious threat, but he vowed the military would "not give back any terrain" to the terror network.

Iraqis in Baghdad demanded more protection for markets, saying one of the bombers wasn't searched because she was known as local beggar and the male guards were reluctant to search women because of Islamic sensitivities.

U.S. and Iraqi officials said Saturday that pictures showed the bombers had Down syndrome and likely did not know they were being used in Friday's attacks.

Ali Nassir, a 30-year-old day laborer whose hobby is raising birds, said people with disabilities often beg for food and money at the weekly al-Ghazl pet bazaar on Fridays.

"I saw the suicide bomber and she was begging," Nassir said, adding the woman was known to the vendors. "The security guards did not search her because she is a woman and because it is not unusual to have beggars, mainly women and children, moving around in the market."

Iraqi officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were authorized to release the information, raised the death toll of Friday's attacks to at least 99 — 62 people in the first blast at the central al-Ghazl bazaar and 37 others about 20 minutes later at the New Baghdad area pigeon market in southeastern Baghdad.

Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond, the top U.S. commander in Baghdad, said the women appeared to be unwitting attackers.

"It appears the suicide bombers were not willing martyrs, they were used by al-Qaida for these horrific attacks," he said. "These two women were likely used because they didn't understand what was happening and they were less likely to be searched."

He also reiterated military warnings that al-Qaida remains a serious threat despite major inroads against the network since the Americans began sending some 30,000 extra troops to the capital and surrounding areas in the spring.

"These two suicide vest attacks represent the worst of human nature," Hammond said during a news conference. He said American forces would continue their targeted operations that have succeeded in decreasing attacks.

"We will not give back any terrain here in Baghdad," he said.

Iraqi officials said they had pictures of the two women's heads that were found at the scene that proved they had Down syndrome, and they said the explosives had been detonated by remote-control.

"This is very credible information," said Lt. Gen. Abboud Qanbar, the chief Iraqi military commander in Baghdad, adding the photos would not be released to the public because of humanitarian concerns.

Lt. Col. Steve Stover, a military spokesman for the Baghdad area, said "they were both females and they both looked like they had Down syndrome." Medical experts with his division had examined the photos and agreed the women probably suffered from the genetic disorder, he said.

A cell phone image of one of the heads viewed by The Associated Press was inconclusive.

The U.S. military, which gave a lower combined death toll of 27, blamed the attacks on al-Qaida in Iraq and said they signaled a new desperation as concrete blast barriers and other security measures have stanched the group's ability to stage deadly car bombings and similar attacks.

"It sounds like (al-Qaida in Iraq) has stooped to a new low where they're using people who may not even know what they're doing and strapped something to them and told them go into a market," Stover said.

He said one of the women was carrying a backpack that was stuffed with ball bearings and shrapnel to maximize the casualties, while the other one was wearing an explosives vest.

The bombings served as a reminder that Iraqi insurgents are constantly shifting their strategies in attempts to unravel recent security gains around the country. Women have been used in ever greater frequency in suicide attacks — six times now since November.

Friday's blasts were the deadliest in the capital since an April 18 suicide car bombing that killed 116 and wounded 145.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki vowed to crack down on the militants. "The ugliness of this crime will not deter our security forces. It will increase our determination to continue crushing the dens of the terrorists," he said in a statement.

Onlookers gathered at the New Baghdad pigeon market Saturday, peering through twisted metal into the charred remains of stalls and shops. Vendors sifted through ruined wares. One man held up a tattered piece of clothing, ripped apart by Friday's blast or in the frenzied panic that followed.

Haider Jabar, a 28-year-old government employee who lives near the market and often goes for a stroll among the cages, said the woman used in that attack was a stranger to the locals.

"The woman seemed to be handicapped. It was uncommon to have a woman walking inside New Baghdad bird market, this fact had attracted many teenagers who had gathered around her at the time of the explosion," he said.

Others called on authorities to step up measures to protect the market, which unlike many others in the capital is not surrounding by concrete barriers.

"Every place in Baghdad is exposed to terrorist attacks," said survivor Badir Sami, 42. "I demand tighter security measures at popular markets like this, where many people gather especially on Fridays."

Another pigeon dealer, Ali Mansour, said he was packing up his shop after surviving three attacks in the al-Ghazl market.

Al-Maliki, meanwhile, turned his attention to the northwestern city of Mosul, promising what he said would be the final showdown with al-Qaida in Iraq led insurgents said to have taken refuge there to escape U.S.-led offensives in Baghdad and surrounding areas.

U.S. commanders in northern Iraq have said the battle to oust al-Qaida in Iraq from its last urban stronghold will not be a swift strike as al-Maliki suggested, but rather a grinding campaign that will require more firepower.

Iraqi police and military units have been dispatched to the area, and al-Maliki said he was eager to "end the matter as soon as possible," although he gave no start date. The prime minister also named the commander of the security operations in and around Mosul as newly promoted Lt. Gen. Riyadh Jalal, a senior officer in the region.

"We have come here to start the march of liberating Mosul from terrorists and outlaws," al-Maliki said during a meeting with Iraqi military commanders in the city, which is the capital of Ninevah province. "The stabilization of this province will send the last message that al-Qaida and the remnants of the former regime are defeated."