Solomon Islands National Disaster Council issues all clear in wake of deadly Honiara floods

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ABC Locals walk through floodwaters after days of heavy rain in the Solomon Islands, which caused flash flooding and the Mataniko River in Honiara to burst its banks, April 4, 2014.

The Solomon Islands National Disaster Operations Committee has issued an all clear statement in the wake of devastating floods which swept through the capital

A total of 23 people died and 9,000 are homeless after devastating floods, landslides and strong winds last week.

The statement means that no further flood threat exists, and it is safe for people to move around.

The Committee says those whose homes were not damaged or destroyed can return home, while those who have no place to return to should remain in evacuation centres.

The statement comes as the chairman of the Solomon Islands National Disaster Council says Honiara needs reconstruction, not rehabilitation, in the wake of deadly flash floods.

Permanent secretary Melchoir Mataki says that infrastructure needs to be rebuilt, not just repaired.

"At this stage what we need is reconstruction - mere rehabilitation will not work in the long term," he said.

"It will be just a band-aid.

"What we need is reconstruction of roads and other infrastructure, bridges for example, that need to be done."

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Solomon Islands National Disaster Council issues all clear in wake of deadly Honiara floods

Solomon Islands National Disaster Council says Honiara needs reconstruction in wake of flash flooding

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ABC Locals walk through floodwaters after days of heavy rain in the Solomon Islands, which caused flash flooding and the Mataniko River in Honiara to burst its banks, April 4, 2014.

The Solomon Islands National Disaster Operations Committee has issued an all clear statement in the wake of devastating floods which swept through the capital

A total of 23 people died and 9,000 are homeless after devastating floods, landslides and strong winds last week.

The statement means that no further flood threat exists, and it is safe for people to move around.

The Committee says those whose homes were not damaged or destroyed can return home, while those who have no place to return to should remain in evacuation centres.

The statement comes as the chairman of the Solomon Islands National Disaster Council says Honiara needs reconstruction, not rehabilitation, in the wake of deadly flash floods.

Permanent secretary Melchoir Mataki says that infrastructure needs to be rebuilt, not just repaired.

"At this stage what we need is reconstruction - mere rehabilitation will not work in the long term," he said.

"It will be just a band-aid.

"What we need is reconstruction of roads and other infrastructure, bridges for example, that need to be done."

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Solomon Islands National Disaster Council says Honiara needs reconstruction in wake of flash flooding

Center for Reproductive Genetics Established With $10 Million Grant

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By ASHLEY CHU

With a five-year, $10 million grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, a Center for Reproductive Genetics will be established on both Cornells Ithaca and Weill Cornell Medical School campuses.

The CRG is aimed at understanding the genetic basis for processes that give rise to healthy gametes for reproduction, said Prof. Paula Cohen, biomedical sciences, who is director of the CRG. If you dont have healthy eggs and sperm, then this can lead to all sorts of issues such as birth defects, miscarriages, preterm delivery and infertility.

This grant which the University announced it had received on April 1 marks a significant milestone for groups researching reproductive genetics, according to Cohen.

This is the first time that a number of groups are being funded collectively to ask the same questions and, as such, this is likely to bring rapid advances in our knowledge, Cohen said. In science, so often we work in isolated bubbles, but this center grant, which encompasses five different investigators in four different projects, is likely to lead to bigger and quicker advances.

The center aims to address these issues at the basic research level in a joint effort between the two campuses, which Cohen describes as the bench-to-bedside approach.

Given that the CRG is based on both the Ithaca and Weill Cornell campuses, we hope to translate our findings from the lab into the clinic to help infertile couples and to understand how birth defects arise in humans, Cohen said.

The CRGs research focus is to understand how healthy gametes are produced, but more specifically, how the defects that arise during gametogenesis are produced.

This grant will enable cutting-edge research, using the latest technological advances and discoveries, to better understand fundamental processes in mammalian spermatogenesis. Jen Grenier

Given how important healthy eggs and sperm are for sexual reproduction and how conserved the genetic processes are that give rise to these cells, its surprising to find that human gametogenesis the process that gives rise to sperm and eggs is extremely error prone, Cohen said. In fact, between 40 and 60 percent of human eggs contain the wrong complement or number of chromosomes, and this situation can lead to spontaneous miscarriages or birth defects such as Down syndrome and Klinefelter syndrome.

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Center for Reproductive Genetics Established With $10 Million Grant

Morning Blend – Dr. Vikram Nangia – Implantable Cardiac Monitoring Device – Video

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Morning Blend - Dr. Vikram Nangia - Implantable Cardiac Monitoring Device
A first in Wisconsin, and another advancement from Aurora Health Care. New heart monitor offers relief to patients. Physicians at Aurora St. Luke #39;s Medical C...

By: Aurora Health Care

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Morning Blend - Dr. Vikram Nangia - Implantable Cardiac Monitoring Device - Video

Health care access preserved for Portlands homeless

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1:00 AM Officials say homeless patients will be able to get care at a nonprofit health center as a city clinic gradually scales back services starting next week.

By Kevin Miller kmiller@pressherald.com Staff Writer

Portland will begin scaling back operations at the citys Health Care for the Homeless program next week, but officials now say homeless residents receiving medical treatment from the city should not lose access to care during the transition to a nearby nonprofit health center.

click image to enlarge

Because of recent staffing efforts by the Portland Community Health Center, all parties are more confident that what was once considered to be a potentially large gap in medical services to the homeless is not a significant issue, says Sheila Hill-Christian, Portlands deputy city manager.

John Patriquin/Staff Photographer

Because of recent staffing efforts by the Portland Community Health Center, all parties are more confident that what was once considered to be a potentially large gap in medical services to the homeless is not a significant issue, Sheila Hill-Christian, Portlands deputy city manager, wrote in a memo to the City Councils Public Safety, Health and Human Services Committee.

Committee members are scheduled to discuss the issue Tuesday evening with representatives from the city and the Portland Community Health Center, the nonprofit medical care provider that is expanding to serve homeless patients.

Portland officials learned earlier this year that the city would lose a federal grant that provides roughly one-third of the funding for the Health Care for the Homeless program, which serves roughly 2,300 individuals. As a result, city officials announced the programs clinics would close this year.

The federal government instead awarded the $680,000 grant to the Portland Community Health Center to provide medical care to the homeless. However, city officials and others raised concerns that the nonprofit would not have the capacity to serve all of the patients who get care at the city clinic.

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Health care access preserved for Portlands homeless

Health Care Major US Election Issue

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President Barack Obamas controversial health care law will be at the center of the political debate during this years U.S. congressional midterm election campaign.

Despite early problems with implementation of the law, the White House recently announced more than seven million people have signed up for health insurance and that has some Democrats breathing a bit easier about their re-election hopes in November.

At a recent Obamacare sign-up event in Los Angeles, volunteer Elliot Petty was pleased with the turnout. You know its really going great today. People are really hungry for health care.

The White House has been quick to seize on the good news about the health care law, well aware that nervous Democrats are anxious to find the political silver lining in what has been a difficult roll out period for the complex and divisive law.

A recent Washington Post-ABC News poll found the country split on the health care law, 49 percent in favor and 48 percent opposed. That poll result should encourage Democrats since past readings have put support for the law closer to 40 percent in many surveys.

President Obama was quick to seize on the good news about the sign up figures at a White House rally with supporters of the law. I will always work with anyone who is willing to make this law work even better. But the debate over repealing this law is over. The Affordable Care Act is here to stay!

Election Year Battle

Republicans say the debate is not over and they have not stopped trying to either repeal the law outright or force some serious changes. They also see the ongoing debate over the law as a major factor in their favor come the November elections.

I can give you hundreds of letters from my constituents who have been harmed by this law, says House Speaker John Boehner.

Despite the fact that the Affordable Care Act was signed into law in 2010, it remains a constant topic of debate in both the House and Senate. During recent Senate floor speeches, Republican John Thune of South Dakota charged the health care law continues to wreak havoc on job creation, while Democrat Richard Durbin accused Republicans of only wanting to kill the law, not improve it. Not a single Republican has been willing to sit down and work on bipartisan compromises and changes. Not one.

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Health Care Major US Election Issue

Tips for Reducing Your Long-Term Medical Costs

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Health-care costs are projected to double in seven years, making it more costly than ever to treat chronic illnesses and diseases. Even at current costs, a majority of personal bankruptcies are due to out-of-control medical expenses.

We spend all our resources to manage diseases, but our health-care system doesnt offer prevention, says Steven Masley, president and medical director of the Masley Optimal Health Center. Prevention would be an enormous financial benefit to add.

Wellness plays a major role in the Affordable Care Act, which mandates coverage for preventative care in the form of cancer screenings, mammograms, and other tests, but experts say more needs to be done.

There will always be some people who do all the right things and still have poor health outcomes, and others who have poor health habits and don't have bad consequences, says Cindy Leiffer, a locum tenens nurse practitioner with Weatherby Healthcare. For most people, however, health costs will be higher in the future if they delay or avoid basic preventive actions, such as keeping a healthy diet, getting adequate exercise, following appropriate health screening guidelines and managing acute and chronic illnesses early and consistently.

Diabetes and hypertension are prime examples: According to Leiffer, millions of Americans have early stages of the diseases but dont know it because they are symptomless. If caught early through preventive screenings, the two diseases can often be managed or mitigated through lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise. Even if medical treatment is necessary, the earlier the regime is started, the less expensive long-term treatment will be, says Leiffer.

Masley says our eating habits as young adults play a larger role in our future medical bills. What makes a big difference in clinical outcomes for preventing heart disease and cancer is fiber, says Masley. He says people should swap out high fat, high sugar and processed foods for those that are rich in fiber, like lean proteins, fruits and vegetables.

He says deficiencies in vitamin D and magnesium are plaguing the country and are leading causes for illnesses like migraine headaches, muscle cramps, high blood pressure and high blood sugar. Short of sitting out in the sun, people can get their vitamin D through a supplement. Magnesium that is found in seeds, nuts, beans and leafy vegetables.

Hand in hand with eating healthy is exercising. More than one-third of U.S. adults (34.9%) are obese, according to the government, and the excess weight is causing serious medical conditions and is taxing the entire health-care system.

If you lose weight, it prevents heart diseases, reverses diabetes, decreases cancer risks and increases bone density, says Masley. Getting fit is critical.

Going from a sedentary life to hitting the gym five days a week isnt realistic for most people, which is why experts advise making smaller life changes over time toward increased exercise and better eating.

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Tips for Reducing Your Long-Term Medical Costs

Long-Term Care Insurance: What You Should Know

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By Dayana Yochim and Dan Caplinger | More Articles March 25, 2014 |

For retirees, health care costs are a huge unknown that can wipe out your finances quickly. While most retirees take advantage of Medicare, many don't realize that Medicare largely doesn't cover nursing-home care and other long-term care expenses.

In the following video from The Motley Fool's series on retirement investing, sponsored by TD Ameritrade, Fool consumer finance expert Dayana Yochim talks to Dan Caplinger, the Fool's director of investment planning, about how long-term care insurance works and how it can help you avoid costly expenses in retirement. Dan notes that Medicare only covers skilled-nursing facilities for a limited time, leaving you on the hook for extended stays and ongoing care needs. But long-term care insurance can kick in to cover those expenses. Dan goes through some common terms of long-term care insurance and points out some of the pitfalls involved with coverage. But it's wise to at least consider long-term care insurance, as it can help many people preserve their assets more effectively in retirement.

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Long-Term Care Insurance: What You Should Know

Chamber members can access health care coverage

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By ANDREW MARTINS

Staff Writer

A new health care plan offered by CentraState Healthcare System, Freehold Township, is being called an alternative to the federal Affordable Healthcare Act.

It could give business owners who belong to local chambers of commerce an opportunity to provide health insurance for their employees.

We became painfully aware of what is going on in the small-business community in regard with what is happening to the [health care] market, CentraState President and CEO John Gribbin said. With Obamacare turning the market upside-down, employers are looking for solutions.

The CentraState Community Health Plan (CCHP) was created in conjunction with QualCare to try to contain what Gribbin said are disproportionately rising costs in the health care market.

We are getting reports of dramatic increases in health care prices. We are talking 20, 30 and 40 percent increases, he said.

The Jackson Chamber of Commerce is the latest organization to sign on to the health care plan, joining the Greater Monmouth Chamber of the Commerce, Freehold, and the Howell Chamber of Commerce.

In order for a business to join the CCHP, it must join one of those three chambers of commerce.

According to the CCHP website, the plan is specifically designed for businesses and practices with two to 50 employees or larger.

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Chamber members can access health care coverage

Survey: Roughly 3.5 million gained coverage under the new health law

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Health care enrollment increased by about 1.5 percent, since the launch of the Affordable Care Act a new survey shows. Photo by Andrew Harrer/Getty Images

Released Monday, the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index measured the share of adults without health insurance. That shrank from 17.1 percent at the end of last year to 15.6 percent for the first three months of 2014.

The decline of 1.5 percentage points would translate roughly to more than 3.5 million people gaining coverage. The trend accelerated as the March 31 enrollment deadline loomed.

The Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare, appears to be accomplishing its goal of increasing the percentage of Americans with health insurance, said Gallups analysis of the findings.

The survey is important because it combines the quick turnaround of media polls with extensive outreach usually seen in government research. Gallup interviewed more than 43,500 adults, or more than 40 times the number in a typical national media poll.

Coming a week after the close of the health care laws first enrollment season, Gallups numbers suggest a more modest impact on coverage than statistics cited by the Obama administration.

However, those numbers are not comparable with Gallups.

The White House figure of 7.1 million insurance exchange sign-ups includes insured people who switched their previous coverage, as well as people who have not paid their first months premium, and who would therefore still be uninsured.

Also, Gallup is counting just adults, while the administration figures include children as well.

It may take much of the rest of the year to get a true bottom line of the health care laws impact on coverage.

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Survey: Roughly 3.5 million gained coverage under the new health law

A cascade of DNA-binding proteins for sexual commitment and development in Plasmodium – Video

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A cascade of DNA-binding proteins for sexual commitment and development in Plasmodium
Find out more: http://www.gla.ac.uk/researchinstitutes/iii/staff/andywaters/index.html?refer=guyoutube http://www.gla.ac.uk/researchinstitutes/iii/wtcmp/index.html?refer=guyoutube http://www.gla.ac...

By: University of Glasgow

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A cascade of DNA-binding proteins for sexual commitment and development in Plasmodium - Video

520-Million-Year-Old Fossils Had Heart and Brain

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The fossil of an extinct marine predator that lay entombed in an ancient seafloor for 520 million years reveals the creature had a sophisticated heart and blood-vessel system similar to those of its distant modern relatives, arthropods such as lobsters and ants, researchers report today (April 7).

The cardiovascular system was discovered in the 3-inch-long (8 centimeters) fossilized marine animal species called Fuxianhuia protensa, which is an arthropod from the Chengjiang fossil site in China's Yunnan province. It is the oldest example of an arthropod heart and blood vessel system ever found.

"It's really quite extraordinary," said study co-author Nicholas Strausfeld, a neuroscientist at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

The cardiovascular network is the latest evidence that arthropods had developed a complex organ system 520 million years ago, in the Cambrian Period, the researchers said. Arthropodscome in a wide range of shapes and sizes today, but the animals have kept some aspects of their basic body plan since the Cambrian. For instance, the brain in living crustaceans is very similar to that of F. protensa, which is a distant relative but not a direct ancestor of modern species, Strausfeld said. "The brain has not changed much over 520 million years," he said.

In contrast, blood vessel networks have become both simpler and more complex in the ensuing millennia, in response to changing bodies. The modern relatives of F. protensa are arthropods with mandible jaws, and include everything from insects such as beetles and flies to crustaceans such as shrimp and crabs.

"What we're seeing in the arterial system is the ground pattern, the basic body pattern from which all these modern variations could have arisen," Strausfeld told Live Science.

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520-Million-Year-Old Fossils Had Heart and Brain

Gene, immune therapy help cancer war

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Stanford University researcher Irving Weissman explains how the drug Rituxan, generically called rituximab, improves the cancer-killing effect of a new antibody that renders cancer cells vulnerable to immune attack. He spoke Monday, April 7, at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting in San Diego.

The war on cancer is getting some potent reinforcements, including a potentially broad-spectrum new weapon and genetically engineered immune cells with improved cancer-fighting abilities, speakers said at a major cancer research conference held this week in San Diego.

The American Association for Cancer Research, attended by an estimated 18,000 participants, is being held at the San Diego Convention Center through Wednesday. While it is covering the gamut of research, cancer immunotherapy is a major focus. The field began more than 100 years ago, and has lately scored impressive advances by using gene therapy to its tool kit.

The weapon is an antibody that makes a wide range of cancer cells vulnerable to immune attack. It's close to entering human clinical trials, said Irving L. Weissman, a Stanford University professor leading that project. The antibody neutralizes a chemical signal many cancers exude to decoy the immune system, Weissman said in a Monday morning plenary session.

The antibody is being tested first in acute myeloid leukemia patients, backed by $20 million from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Weissman said. The institute is interested because the target cells are cancer stem cells, the cells that proliferate to spread cancer.

Moreover, research indicates the method can be used against many solid tumors that emit the signal, a protein called CD47. These include breast, ovarian, bladder, pancreatic and colon cancer.

"Every human cancer that we've seen has CD47," Weissman said.

Animal studies show that anti-CD47 antibodies inhibit growth of transplanted patient tumors, he said. And when used against non-Hodgkin's lymphoma along with an existing antibody drug called Rituxan, the result is a potent cancer-killing effect. Immune cells called macrophages actually engulf and destroy the cancer cells.

The CD47 molecule is normally present on young cells, serving as a "don't eat me" signal to immune system cells that might otherwise attack them, Weissman said. Cancer cells have chanced on mutations that cause the protein to be made in exceptionally high amounts. So even when they might be abnormal enough to merit immune system attack, they escape surveillance.

Another approach already in the clinic is to genetically engineer immune cells called T cells to be better at fighting cancer. Carl June, a University of Pennsylvania researcher behind one of the studies, said results continue to be encouraging. This approach targets another protein abnormally made by cancer cells, CD19. Novartis is testing the therapy.

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AAVLife Formed To Advance Gene Therapy For Friedreich's Ataxia

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By Estel Grace Masangkay

The Friedreich's Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA) announced the birth of a new company, AAVLife, for the rapid development of a promising gene-therapy program for the treatment of cardiomyopathy in Friedreichs ataxia (FA).

The founding of AAVLife is based on the groundbreaking research of FARA-funded scientist Dr. Hlne Puccio. Dr. Puccio and her colleagues reported significant results showing that gene-replacement therapy using an adeno-associated virus to deliver the frataxin gene missing in patients with FA prevented and corrected cardiac damage in an FA mouse model.

Jennifer Farmer, FARA Executive Director, said, When we first learned of Dr. Puccio's results and saw that she was demonstrating prevention and correction of the cardiomyopathy at both the functional and cellular levels we were beyond excited because this gave us evidence that we could attack the cardiomyopathy, which takes an individual's life at an early age. While we also want to have therapies that treat the neurological aspects of the disease, the significance of the cardiac disease is often under appreciated.

FA is a rare, degenerative, life-shortening, neuro-muscular disorder that affects balance and coordination in both children and adults. As the disease progresses it affects other organs including the pancreas, skeletal muscle, and the heart. The primary cause of early death in patients with FA (usually in the early 20s to 30s) is cardiomyopathy.

Ron Bartek, FARA President and co-founder, said, The launch of AAVLife and Dr. Puccio's tremendous achievement reported in Nature Medicine represent an exciting new opportunity for the FA community that comes from our international partnership. Dr. Puccio's research was funded by public agencies in France, Europe, and the United States, and AAVLife is bringing together international expertise and resources. This partnership is essential when we are battling a rare disease like FA FARA will continue working closely with AAVLife, FA scientists, and the patient community as, together, we drive this promising therapeutic approach forward into the clinic.

FARA is a non-profit, charitable organization committed to accelerating research FA treatments. The organization has been in close collaboration with the founders of AAVLife since 2013.

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AAVLife Formed To Advance Gene Therapy For Friedreich's Ataxia

Damn Right 'It's Album Time': House Whiz Todd Terje Drops a Booty Bomb

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Release Date: April 8, 2014 Label: Olsen

For the last decade, Oslo DJ/producer Todd Terje has indulged scholarly fetishes for '60s lounge music, '70s disco/prog/jazz-fusion, '80s TV show themes, and '90s electronica, yet his buoyant output resists the weight of history: The dude rocks a party with rollicking flair. He's got the sensibility to impress serious music heads his 2012 EP It's the Arps was performed exclusively on vintage ARP synths, the sort favored by '70s jazzbos yet his sunny mutant grooves remain fundamentally fun. While much EDM keeps getting more automated and commoditized, Terje's countless singles, EPs, remixes, and re-edits have grown more articulated, better played, and, most importantly, increasingly individuated: Terje's particular house music emphasizes its humanity.

With one notable exception, his long-awaited long-playing debut It's Album Time is solely instrumental, but always feels as though Terje [pronounce it Terr-YEAH] is singing via his sounds. His compositional voice is playful, but exacting, like an eccentric, joke-cracking professor who nevertheless schools well. On track after track, Terje dances to his own drum not in that hokey put-your-hands-in-the-air way, but as if pop-locking breakdance kids had hooked up with Bob Fosse's Broadway babies to reinvent the funky robot for the 21st century.

Like Daft Punk, Terje looks to the past's version of futurism to transcend today's numbed-out consensus beats. "Intro (It's Album Time)" sets the tone with a sci-fi title sequence's sense of expectation and wonder as multiple synths tinkle, twitter, and ultimately soar to the heavens. He comically undercuts this auspiciousness with "Leisure Suit Preben," which starts out lumbering with a trudging synth bassline and scattered wah-wah quacks but suddenly turns lyrical and foreboding, as if a femme fatale had ensnared our spy hero. The harmonies grow lush and overripe, delightfully evoking a bygone European soundtrack composer's florid impression of African-American jazz not the real thing, for Terje never forgets that he's generations and oceans removed from his sources. With "Preben Goes to Acapulco," he sends his homegrown protagonist hustling south of the border via '70s-squeaky synths and tightly wound syncopations.

In the credits, Terje lists his equipment with a gearhead's glee "ARP 2600 with St. Eric Mods" (an old synth refurbished by a contemporary Dutch lab), "NI Abbey Road Drums" (new drum software engineered to sound old), and "my brother's double bass." He's both analog and digital, synthetic and acoustic, and playing most everything himself, but the result still swings. Taking a tip from his countrymen in Mungolian Jetset, he offsets psychedelic quirks with dazzling technique on "Svensk SAS," which features layers of scatting grunts intertwined with a deliriously tropical melody.

Terje's inspirations may largely be retro, but he's one of the leading lights of a current Scandinavian scene that's essentially neo-Balearic the 21st century version of '80s Ibiza's melodic, anything-goes DJ approach, the one that thrived before Brit jocks colonized the Spanish Mediterranean island. It's this dubby but joyous vibe that he brings to his fleet-footed numbers. He even calls one "Oh Joy," which re-imagines synth icon Jean Michel Jarre with a hi-NRG makeover. For three minutes he teases a suspenseful, sequencer-driven build out of keyboards soloing in harmony like the Miami Vice version of Thin Lizzy. Then, finally, those Abbey Road drums enter, and the rest just rockets into dancefloor ecstasy once again proving that as nerdy as Terje gets, the guy can jam the fuck out.

He nevertheless hedges his bets on It's Album Time by rightfully including some single and EP tracks that deserve a broad audience, one that doesn't collect pricey import 12"s and scattered mp3s. It's the Arps's "Inspector Norse" and both parts of "Swing Star" reappear in slightly tweaked form along with a condensed edit of last year's "Strandbar" that judiciously reduces its "disko" mix's nagging piano chords, thereby maximizing their impact. New cuts "Delorean Dynamite" and "Alfonso Muskedunder" strike with similar stealth: Terje spices up the former's space disco motif by riffing Nile Rodgers-style on his Fender Tacocaster (yes, that's a real guitar). On the latter's speedy samba, he lets his multi-instrumentalist skills fly and nimbly recreates the wordless vocal razzmatazz of bygone sibling harmony group the Free Design.

Nearly every EDM pan-flasher has launched their debut disc with a teen-accessible vocalist, typically with crass results. Terje takes the high road by enlisting Bryan Ferry, whose solo and Roxy Music classics he's already remixed. But whereas his re-imaginings of "Don't Stop the Dance" and "Love Is the Drug" emphasize rhythmic uplift, Ferry and Terje's cover of late crooner Robert Palmer's originally spritely "Johnny and Mary" is so willfully lethargic it resists both club and radio play.

Palmer's depiction of a woefully mismatched couple is that singer's career highlight, a canny distillation of the doomed love games Ferry still embodies. Here, the 68 year-old Casanova whispers it with a vocal apparatus so worn by cigarettes, late nights, and a bajillion supermodels that he can barely sigh the air out of his lungs. Terje casts Ferry in what feels like a Fellini dream sequence playing at a nightmarish fraction of its intended speed, as if Marcello Mastroianni can no longer leave his bed, much less lure vixens to it. Terje can make an aging gigolo's commentary on the folly of his misspent youth the centerpiece of his otherwise invigorating dance album because he's the rare crowd-pleasing DJ whose musical skills trump his proven ability to move butts.

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Damn Right 'It's Album Time': House Whiz Todd Terje Drops a Booty Bomb