How Obesity Became Newest Killer In Africa Your Health Journal ...

From The Alaska Dispatch?..

Obesity rates are skyrocketing in sub-Saharan Africa, as in most parts of the world.

But here the obesity problem has an unusual and particularly worrying shape.

While child hunger has traditionally been the more pressing problem in African countries, researchers say that malnourished, growth-stunted children are turning into overweight adults.

This means that countries still wracked by malnutrition, as well as infectious diseases such as malaria and HIV/AIDS, are facing a battery of chronic health problems such as diabetes and heart disease.

What?s more, new research has found that babies born to overweight or obese mothers are far more likely to die ? a devastating problem in sub-Saharan African countries that already have some of the world?s highest infant mortality rates.

Dr. Zandile Mchiza, a senior scientist with the Medical Research Council of South Africa, said that research shows ?undernutrition leads to obesity,? but the connection is not yet fully understood.

Mchiza said in places where malnutrition in children is high, adults are more likely to be overweight or obese. In Africa, adult women are far more likely to be obese than men.

?As you grow up, if you were stunted at birth and then exposed to an abundance of food, you gain weight,? Mchiza said.

Factors such as food choices, genetics and social conditions all come into play, along with cultural beliefs ? for example, that a woman must be chubby to be considered beautiful and healthy.

?People strive to overeat so they?re not labeled as poor,? she explained.

The paucity of data remains a significant problem, and so Mchiza has launched the Africa Taskforce on Obesity Research to link researchers from countries around sub-Saharan Africa, including Ghana and Kenya.

In South Africa, the most developed country in sub-Saharan Africa, 61 percent of adults are obese, according to research released last month by GlaxoSmithKline, the pharmaceutical company. The survey found that 78 percent of obese people considered themselves healthy.

While obesity rates in sub-Saharan Africa are for the most part still very low by global standards, they are projected to jump dramatically in the next two decades along with growing urbanization and development.

Medical experts are worried about the rise of obesity-related illnesses, such as heart attacks, strokes, hypertension and Type 2 diabetes. In many countries, health care systems are already overburdened and lacking in resources.

A study published in The Lancet, a medical journal, last month concluded that babies born to overweight and obese mothers ?are markedly more likely to die.? Surprisingly, researchers detected no increase of neonatal death for the babies of underweight mothers.

Lead author Jenny Cresswell and colleagues looked at figures from 27 sub-Saharan African countries in what they said was the first known study of its kind for the region.

To read the full story?..Click here

Source: http://www.lensaunders.com/wp/?p=7405

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Charlotte Real Estate House Hunting Tips

Buying Charlotte real estate is a serious investment of both time and money.? However, the process of buying a Charlotte home can be very stressful and daunting task.? There are many complicated factors involved in the process.? You need expert advice if you plan to invest in real estate?and buying your personal home is one of the largest investments that you will make in life.? Here are some tips that you can use to locate that perfect home or investment property.
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Apply for a mortgage BEFORE you search for your Charlotte home.? You must apply for your mortgage prior to beginning your home search.? Before you apply for it, you should have all the necessary documents required by lenders ready to submit.? Your credit report, ID details, and statements of accounts are some of the necessary documents most lenders want.? If you have negative scores on your credit report, it is important that you seek credit repair assistance before applying for the mortgage.
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Select a home in a good location. When you are searching for Charlotte real estate, it is important that you consider the location of the property.? If you buy a property in good location, you should expect make monetary gain when you resell your property.? In the real estate market, prices are determined by the location of a property.? There are factors that make a location good for real estate investment, namely,

List the features available in the home.? There are certain features that you will want to have in your home.? When you are buying Charlotte real estate, you should first make a list of some of the basic features that you want.? The list will serve as a guide to you when you are searching for your ideal home.? If you do not have any list of the features that you want, you may overlook some features that could very well be important to you.
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Know about the real estate market.? The real estate market differs from place to place even though there are some common features; we stress the fact that real estate is local as there are few areas even within our city that are alike.? You should be knowledgeable about the Charlotte real estate market trends, the neighborhood, buying process, home sales prices, and others.? You can do this by making sure to hire a Charlotte real estate agent who can share this knowledge with you.
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If you?re ready to buy or sell a home and are looking for a knowledgeable Charlotte real estate agent, please call me at (704) 491-3310 or email me at [email?protected] for more information.
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?Debe Maxwell | Savvy + Company Real Estate | Charlotte Real Estate House Hunting Tips

Debe

I am a full-time REALTOR? personally specializing in historic homes and luxury home sales in the Charlotte NC real estate market. My team specializes in a variety of areas including first time home buyers, condos and townhomes as well as single family home sales and marketing.

More Posts - Website - Twitter - Facebook

Source: http://www.icharlotterealestate.com/charlotte-real-estate-house-hunting-tips/

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Cyber Monday at Consumer Crafts! | Wee Share

So... it's that crazy shopping time of the year!? Did any of you head out to do any Black Friday shopping?? This is actually the first time in five years I have stayed home.? I needed absolutely nothing and there are no good craft stores nearby, so I decided to get some much needed sleep.

I am, however, taking advantage of the awesome deals online.? I bought some PDF sewing patterns as well as a few extra gifts for my daughter.? Plus, I am pretty certain my husband might have used that discount code I shared with him to purchase a fun crafty machine for me... we'll see!

Today, I have been browsing over at ConsumerCrafts.com because it's the last day of their Doorbuster Deals.? Plus, the ENTIRE site is 30% off!? I can always use more craft supplies {can't we all?} and I have my eye on several of their deals:

Yes... I have a Cricut, but I have been wanting one of these Silhouette Cameo machines for quite a while.? They don't require cartridges at all. Instead, simply connect the Silhouette Cameo to your computer and choose your designs.? You only purchase and download the specific designs you want {plus, I've seen some nice free ones floating around}.? The possibilities are limitless, really.?
Ever since I used Angela's Cuttlebug, I have been smitten.? This handy little machine easily embosses paper, adding texture to scrapbook pages, cards, and other paper projects.? It's fun and easy to use {though a bit heavy}.? I know we could come up with all sorts of creative ways to use this!
Raileigh loves dressing up more than just about anything else.? Well... besides reading.? But, then again, she will often read while dressed up!? So, many of her Christmas gifts revolve around those two things!? I was blown away when I saw these fairy wings.? They are less than $2!? I don't know is you've shopped for fairy wings before, but that is a steal!
For the past several years, we have had the same Christmas mantle-- an assortment of snow globes we've collected over the years.? However, a lot of those snow globes are now over 10 years old.? And, just in case you didn't know-- snow globes don't age well.? They now contain snow globs instead of snow flakes and the pieces inside many have shifted.? This year, I plan on laying some fresh garland, and I think this 5-piece votive set would look lovely sitting amongst the garland.
Raileigh enjoys puppets.? She'll crouch beside the chair while I work and put on puppet shows for me.? This darling kit would be a fun seasonal craft for us, and it would be one she'd enjoy playing with afterwards as well!? I highly suspect that Rudolph and Bumble might be part of puppet shows year round at my house!

I also want to share a few other special sales and exciting announcements you might be interested in.

• Currently, there is a Silhouette Cameo GIVEAWAY going on at Crafts Unleashed {the Consumer Crafts blog}.? It ends in a few days, so enter now!

• Canson Art Pads are Buy One Get One FREE through today.

• The Cricut Expression Version 1 {the one I currently own} is available in a bundle with FOUR cartridges for just $199.97

I encourage you to head on over to Consumer Crafts and see all of the amazing deals they have on craft supplies.? Remember-- the doorbuster deals end today.? Plus, since it's Cyber Monday, the ENTIRE site is 30% off!? What are you waiting for?? Go load up that online shopping cart and start crafting!

Are you going to take advantage of a Cyber Monday sale to get your holiday crafting started? Tell me about what YOU'RE going to make!

Stay in touch with Consumer Crafts so you never miss out on any great sales like these!

Disclosure: I wrote this post as part of a paid campaign with Consumer Crafts and Blueprint Social. The opinions in this post are my own.

Source: http://www.weeshare.net/2012/11/cyber-monday-at-consumer-crafts.html

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Egypt's Mursi faces judicial revolt over decree

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi faces a rebellion from judges who accused him on Saturday of expanding his powers at their expense, deepening a crisis that has triggered calls for more protests following a day of violence across Egypt.

Judges in Alexandria, Egypt's second city, threatened to go on strike until it was revoked, and there were calls for the "downfall of the regime" - the rallying cry in the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak - during a meeting of judges in Cairo.

Mursi's opponents and supports - representing the divide between newly empowered Islamists and a more secular-minded opposition - have called rival demonstrations on Tuesday over his decree that has triggered concern in the West.

Issued late on Thursday, it marks an effort by Mursi to consolidate his influence after he successfully sidelined Mubarak-era generals in August. It defends from judicial review decisions taken by Mursi until a new parliament is elected in a vote expected early next year.

It also shields the Islamist-dominated assembly writing Egypt's new constitution from a raft of legal challenges that have threatened the body with dissolution, and offers the same protection to the Islamist-controlled upper house of parliament.

Egypt's highest judicial authority, the Supreme Judicial Council, said the decree was an "unprecedented attack" on the independence of the judiciary.

Youths clashed sporadically with police near Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the uprising that toppled Mubarak in 2011, following Friday's violence in which more than 300 people were injured across Egypt. Activists camped out for a second day in the square, setting up makeshift barricades to keep out traffic.

POLARISATION

Liberal, leftist and socialist parties called a big protest for Tuesday to force Mursi to row back on a decree they say has exposed the autocratic impulses of a man once jailed by Mubarak.

In a sign of the polarization in the country, the Muslim Brotherhood - the group that propelled Mursi to power - called its own protests that day to support the president's decree.

At least three Brotherhood offices were attacked on Friday.

"We are facing a historic moment in which we either complete our revolution or we abandon it to become prey for a group that has put its narrow party interests above the national interest," the liberal Dustour Party said in a statement.

Mursi also assigned himself new authority to sack the prosecutor general - a Mubarak hold over - and appoint a new one. The dismissed prosecutor general, Abdel Maguid Mahmoud, was given a hero's welcome by several thousand judges who attended the session of Egypt's Judges' Club in Cairo on Saturday.

Ahmed al-Zind, head of the Judges' Club, introduced Mahmoud by his old title, in open defiance of Mursi's decree.

The Mursi administration has defended the decree on the grounds that it aims to speed up a protracted transition from Mubarak's rule to a new system of democratic government.

Analysts say it reflects the Brotherhood's suspicion towards sections of a judiciary unreformed from Mubarak's days.

"It aims to sideline Mursi's enemies in the judiciary and ultimately to impose and head off any legal challenges to the constitution," said Elijah Zarwan, a fellow with The European Council on Foreign Relations.

"We are in a situation now where both sides are escalating and its getting harder and harder to see how either side can gracefully climb down."

RIOT POLICE

Following a day of violence in Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said and Suez, the smell of teargas hung over Tahrir Square.

A handful of hardcore activists hurling rocks battled riot police in the streets near the square, where several thousand protesters massed on Friday to demonstrate against the decree that has rallied opposition ranks against Mursi.

Al-Masry Al-Youm, one of Egypt's most widely read dailies, hailed Friday's protest as "The November 23 Intifada", invoking the Arabic word for uprising. "The people support the president's decisions," declared Freedom and Justice, the newspaper run by the Brotherhood's political party.

The ultraorthodox Salafi Islamist groups that have been pushing for tighter application of Islamic law in the new constitution have rallied behind the decree.

The Nour Party, one such group, stated its support for the Mursi decree. Al-Gama'a al-Islamiya, which carried arms against the state in the 1990s, said it would save the revolution from what it described as remnants of the Mubarak regime.

Mursi is facing the biggest storm of criticism since he won the presidential election in June.

Samir Morkos, a Christian assistant to Mursi, had told the president he wanted to resign," said Yasser Ali, Mursi's spokesman. "The president has spoken to him today but the decision to resign is yet to be taken," Ali told Reuters.

Mursi addressed his supporters outside the presidential palace on Friday. He said opposition did not worry him, but it had to be "real and strong".

Mursi is now confronted with a domestic crisis just as his administration won international praise for mediating an end to the eight-day war between Israel and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

"The decisions and declarations announced on November 22 raise concerns for many Egyptians and for the international community," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

The European Union urged Mursi to respect the democratic process, while the United Nations expressed fears about human rights.

(Additional reporting by Omar Fahmy, Marwa Awad and Reuters TV; Editing by Alison Williams)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/clashes-cairo-mursi-seizes-powers-053441160.html

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Older vets to post-9/11 vets: 'We had it harder'

Brennan Linsley, AP

World War II combat veteran Ben Kauffman, 86, carries an American flag as he listens to a speaker during a Veterans Day ceremony in Loveland, Colo., on Nov. 11. Cultural fault lines clearly run between the generations that saw action in different conflicts or that wore the uniform in different eras, including peacetime.

By Bill Briggs, NBC News contributor

The war stories from his grandfather, though sparse in detail, blended one moment of explosive drama with a vague reference of death ??all wrapped around a description of how old-school military men used to handle both experiences.

David Weidman, who spent two tours in Afghanistan with the Air Force, recalls his late grandfather, a veteran of World War II and Korea, telling him that he survived having his body and his Jeep blown through a wall. He did not reveal to Weidman where that attack happened. He also gave his grandson some advice: ?You don?t want to be in a foxhole talking to a guy one minute and then you turn around and he?s dead. You just don?t want to experience that.?

?He said he just dealt with it all. It?s that same mentality: ?I did what I had to do. I got myself better then I went back to work.? Other than that, he never spoke about the wars at all. That tells me he never did deal with it,? added Weidman, 32.

Cultural fault lines clearly run between generations of veterans who saw action in different conflicts or who wore the uniform in different eras, including peacetime. The refrain echoed by some older veterans to some younger ex-service members: ?We had it so much harder than today?s military.?

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It is, quite likely, a tradition that hearkens back to the Civil War or possibly the Revolutionary War, according to some ex-service members. But many post-9/11 veterans who have chatted with older veterans revealed the sentiment they've often heard carry the same note: ?We just came home, put our heads down and got to work ??without any whining."

Buried, not so subtly, in that message is that the current crop is a tad less tough and lot more needy. Some of that cultural gap may have to do with how aging veterans were taught not to talk about combat stress whereas today's military members are constantly urged to open up about any symptoms of anxiety they're feeling. It's a battle of Macho circa 1945 or 1970 versus Macho 2012.?

This age-old cultural chasm between military generations has been further fueled in recent years as the modern American armed services welcomed far more women into its ranks (about 15 percent are female), and as the federal government repealed the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, which barred openly gay people from serving their country, modern veterans say.?

?Human nature is that we all resist change, especially as we get older. The cultural changes, especially within the military, are hard to swallow by some people my age,? said Craig Roberts, who served as a carrier-based Naval pilot, flying missions over Vietnam from 1969 to 1971.

?I?m in my 60s now. And (some veterans my age) just take a blanket view of the military as softer now, that it is a less-difficult experience to live through. I don?t think that?s true at all,? Roberts said. ?In combat, it doesn?t matter what gender is next to you, the experience is the same.

But the generational disconnect among veterans also impacted Roberts and tens of thousands of his fellow service members after they returned from an unpopular war in the early 1970s.

Click here for more military-related coverage from NBC News.

?We of the Vietnam era experienced some of that when we joined veterans services organizations ??or attempted to join???and many felt rejected by the older fellas there from Korea and World War II,? Roberts said. ?Because there was a resentment???they perceived that they had seen more severe combat than we were in. There may be some truth to that.

?So I think it may be a generational thing. As one gets older, one views one?s past life???the hardships and, sometimes, the triumphs???as being greater.?

Heroes of long-ago wars find new homes with families across the country through a program that keeps the veterans out of nursing homes or hospitals.

While heading an organization that represents more than 200,000 veterans of from Iraq and Afghanistan, Paul Rieckhoff said he?s become well aware of what he calls ?a little bit of a sibling rivalry? between generations of veterans.

?We all generally stick together (as veterans) but some of it is just more deeply ingrained,? said Rieckhoff, founder and chief executive officer of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. In Iraq, he served as an infantry platoon leader, leading 38 men on more than 1,000 mounted and dismounted combat patrols.?

?This is also just the military: Everybody thinks everybody else had it harder than every generation that came after them. You go to Fort Bragg and they'll tell you how much harder basic training was (years ago). That?s always there,? Rieckhoff said. ?I think there?s also some some level of fear and apprehension just around the evolution of our culture. It?s happening in the military, too."

That this version of the American military is the first to include so many women ?is hard for some people to accept,? Rieckhoff added. ?And now that ?Don?t Ask, Don?t Tell? has been repealed, that too is hard for some people to accept.?

While some young-old divides certainly exist within pockets of the veteran community, Rieckoff said ?a tremendous sense of unity also descends generations." As evidence, he cited the fact that that the chairman of IAVA?s board (Edward Vick) is a Vietnam veteran and that, before Thanksgiving, Rieckhoff received a letter of support from former Sen. Bob Dole, a World War II veteran.

?I think most veterans, no matter what era, including my era???Vietnam???are not resentful, whatsoever, of the treatment given to today?s veterans,? Roberts added. ?In fact, we celebrate this. We applaud it. This is what is due to them. Their combat experience and ours, while it is apples and oranges in some ways, was still???all???combat experience. The stresses of combat are the same, no matter what the venue is, no matter what the era is.?

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Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/24/15392392-older-vets-to-post-911-vets-we-had-it-harder-did-they?lite

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Wal-Mart India suspends CFO and legal team in corruption probe ...

Wal-Mart?s woes in India just got a whole lot worse.

Both houses of the country?s Parliament were to meet yesterday, the start of the winter session and the first meeting since the government in September announced a plan to allow foreign firms to take majority stakes in retail stores. But parties opposing the reform disrupted the session and forced an adjournment. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, trying to hang onto India?s once-miraculous growth story (and his own reputation), invited the opposition over for dinner to talk things out?but that, too, ended inconclusively.

Meanwhile, the retail giant, which in India operates under a joint venture known as Bharti Wal-Mart, suspended chief financial officer Pankaj Madan and four members of its legal team following an internal investigation into corrupt business practices. The Economic Times first reported the development but several people with knowledge of the matter confirmed the suspensions to Quartz.

Internal investigations revealed that government agencies were being paid bribes in order to get clearances for licenses and building approvals for its stores, according to these people, who requested anonymity. A company spokeswoman did not respond to email and text messages for comment, nor did Madan and other suspended staff members. Their suspensions are pending investigation.

MarketWatch reported that the company confirmed the suspensions, quoting a Bharti Wal-Mart spokeswoman?s email: ?We are committed to conducting a complete and thorough investigation. Walmart and Bharti have suspended a few associates pending the outcome of the investigation.?

This week, Wal-Mart Asia CEO Scott Price addressed employees after the suspensions and reiterated that the company will operate only on the right side of the law, no matter how difficult it is. ?He said the company will have zero tolerance to any violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the company is making significant investments in ensuring this.

?We will not tolerate non-compliance anywhere or at any level of the company. We are working diligently to strengthen our compliance programmes and dedicating considerable resources to this effort. In fact, the company has spent more than USD35 million on its global FCPA compliance review efforts over the past 18 months,? the company said in a statement last week.

India is ranked 95^th out of 175 countries in the corruption perception index, and it is widely held that running a business without bribing government officials is nearly impossible here.

This is the second country in which Wal-Mart has faced allegations of corruption. After a scandal in Mexico that found payments were made to local officials as the retailer aggressively expanded, Wal-Mart initiated internal investigations in Brazil, China and India. Investigations in the Indian arm have been going on for a couple of months, and escalated last week, when the Hong Kong-based Price arrived.

The suspensions are just the latest in a string of problems Bharti Wal-Mart has been facing in India. Investments by foreign companies in multi-brand retail stores in India had been limited to wholesale outlets as a protectionist measure to save small shop owners from big retail. Then in September, the government announced retail would be open to 51% equity investment from foreign companies.

Bharti Wal-Mart is a 50-50 joint venture established in 2007 between Bharti Enterprises and Wal-Mart. Currently, Wal-Mart operates two cash- and-carry outlets, which are essentially wholesale stores, in India. It also provides back-end support in merchandising and logistics to multi-brand retail stores. These retail stores themselves are run by Bharti under the brand name Easy Day.

However, the company is now being investigated for violating the regulation and investing over $100 million in a unit owned by Bharti Enterprises. This was done through a complex mechanism involving debentures which could later be converted to equity. ?The allegation is that this money was invested in 2010 when FDI was disallowed in the sector.

The suspension of the CFO and the investigation into bribery, however, is unrelated to that probe.

The government has called for an all-party meeting on Monday to assuage the concerns of the opposition. The uncertainty about foreign retail and therefore Wal-Mart?s investments in India continue. Other large retailers including Tesco, Ikea and Carrefore are also awaiting Parliament support of the bill before committing to invest in India.

Source: http://qz.com/30440/wal-mart-india-suspends-cfo-and-legal-team-in-corruption-probe/

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Massive pileup shuts I-10 in Texas; 2 dead

Cars and Trucks are piled on Interstate 10 in Southeast Texas Thursday Nov. 22, 2012. The Texas Department of Public Safety says at least 35 people have been injured in a more than 50-vehicle pileup. (AP Photo/The Beaumont Enterprise, Guiseppe Barranco) Mandatory Credit

Cars and Trucks are piled on Interstate 10 in Southeast Texas Thursday Nov. 22, 2012. The Texas Department of Public Safety says at least 35 people have been injured in a more than 50-vehicle pileup. (AP Photo/The Beaumont Enterprise, Guiseppe Barranco) Mandatory Credit

An emergency worker walks past a pile of cars from the accident on Interstate in Southeast Texas Thursday Nov. 22, 2012. The Texas Department of Public Safety says at least 35 people have been injured in a more than 50-vehicle pileup. (AP Photo/The Beaumont Enterprise, Guiseppe Barranco)

Emergency workers carry a victim across the Interstate 10 median after a massive auto accidentin Southeast Texas Thursday Nov. 22, 2012. The Texas Department of Public Safety says at least 35 people have been injured in a more than 50-vehicle pileup. (AP Photo/The Beaumont Enterprise, Guiseppe Barranco)

BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) ? Two people died and dozens were hurt Thursday when at least 100 vehicles collided in Southeast Texas in a pileup that left trucks twisted on top of each other and authorities rushing to pull survivors from the miles of wreckage.

The collision occurred in extremely foggy conditions at about 8 a.m. Thanksgiving Day on Interstate 10 southwest of Beaumont, a Gulf Coast city about 80 miles east of Houston.

Officials at Acadian Ambulance service told KFDM-TV that at least 51 people have been taken to area hospitals and at least eight are critically hurt.

It wasn't immediately clear how the pileup began, but Jefferson County Sheriff's Office Deputy Rod Carroll said the fog was so thick that deputies didn't immediately realize they were dealing with multiple accidents.

"It is catastrophic," Carroll said. "I've got cars on top of cars."

I-10's eastbound lanes were expected to remain closed for most of Thursday.

Texas Department of Public Safety trooper Stephanie Davis told KFDM that two people in an SUV died after the crash. She said at least 100 cars and trucks were involved in the accident.

Carroll said uninjured drivers tried to help as authorities sorted through the wreckage.

"It's just people helping people," Carroll said. "The foremost thing in this holiday season is how other travelers were helping us when we were overwhelmed, sitting and holding, putting pressure on people that were injured."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-11-22-Southeast%20Texas-Highway%20Crash/id-3050f47f84ec495a95702fa32bf10fb7

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