Alicja Ugnire blog

Ford to idle Belgian plant to conserve parts

Ford Motor Co (F.N) will idle its auto plant in Genk, Belgium, for five days starting April 4, to conserve parts following the earthquake and nuclear crisis in Japan that has disrupted supplies for numerous automakers.

The shutdown had been set for May but the automaker chose to idle the plant sooner "to ensure we have sufficient parts availability," Ford spokesman Todd Nissen said on Saturday.

"Given the current situation in Japan, we took this as a precautionary measure. To be clear, we haven't experienced any plant disruptions as a result of a parts shortage at this point," he said.

Ford's Genk Assembly plant, about 50 miles east of Brussels, produces the S-MAX and Galaxy minivans and the Mondeo sedan.

The severe earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11 and the ensuing crisis at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant has disrupted supplies of auto parts and other materials for much of the automotive industry.

Ford has thus far felt only a minimal impact from the Japanese crisis, although the No. 2 U.S. carmaker has stopped taking orders for certain color vehicles due to shortages of a specialty pigment produced at an evacuated plant near the crippled reactor.

(Reporting by Karl Plume; Editing by Xavier Briand)

Doctor's Check-up Could Include Questions About Facebook

s office check-ups for youth. The idea, urged by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), is to help ward off a newish subset of depression entitled "Facebook depression," wherein kids who haven't yet adapted to the harsh realities of social networking may get distressed and become socially isolated.

What does "Facebook Depression" look like? Well, a lot like regular depression: It includes "classic signs of depression, such as changing sleep and eating habits, experiencing mood swings, hanging out with different friends or becoming socially isolated," the researchers explained to . Doctors are encouraged, observes Time's , to "glean information" about kids social networking habits "without coming across as heavy-handed."An example: "So a doctor might casually ask, Do you have a cell phone? A Facebook account? How many friends--virtual ones, not in-the-flesh pals--do you have?" Time goes on to cite the study's co-author as asking a sample question of, "Is it 20 or 200 [Facebook friends]?... That gives you lot of information right there."

What pediatricians are expected to do with that information, other than urge caution and educate teens on social media literacy, is unclear (also unclear: is it worse having 20 friends or 200 friends?). And even Time notes that some time-strapped pediatricians appear to be balking at an additional check-up:

Some doctors are concerned that they barely have enough time as it is to cover everything they want to during the course of a brief visit; they're leery of adding another bullet point to the checklist.

For those keeping track, the depression research follows a long line of studies that have linked Facebook usage (among all age groups) to concerns of , lower, jealousy in , and eating .

New York Times Subscription Service Goes Live Today

paywall," goes live at 2 p.m. Eastern today.

Readers can access up to 20 stories for free every month, as well as a limited amount of gratis content via the Times smartphone app. After that, it's a metered service; $15 a month buys unlimited access to the Times Web site and the premium smartphone app, $20 per month covers online access and the Times iPad app, and $35 a month buys access to the full range of Times' digital products. All of this is available to print subscribers are no additional cost. Perhaps to hook more readers into subscribing, the Times is offering the first four weeks at a discounted rate of $0.99.

The paywall has been hotly debated since it was . One of the most pervasive criticisms of the platform is that there are too many ways around it, legitimate and otherwise.

Articles posted on Twitter and Facebook can be viewed for free, and a handful of feeds have already popped up with the specific purpose of posting all Times content. There's also NYTClean, a bookmark tool created by a Canadian coder thatwith four lines of code.Other than that, a reader could simply clear his or her browsing data reset the 20 story limit.

Although the Times has recognized that there are many holes in the system, the company is betting that readers will still cough up the cash to access the publication. (Will you? Vote in our poll below.)

"We believe that enough people will pay, but we will not cut ourselves off from the rest," chairman of the Times Company Arthur Sulzberger Jr.at a conference in Munich earlier this year.

But the paper's head of digital operations, Martin Nisenholtz,that the pricing options could change.

"We're as confident as we can possibly be in a research setting," he said. "Obviously, whenever research hits the real world, there are changes."

Newspapers have struggled to maintain profitability and find their place in an age where news is increasingly consumed both online and for free. Circulation for the weekday edition of the Times has dwindled to 877,000 and 1.35 million for the Sunday paper. Meanwhile, traffic is on the rise at NYTimes.com; comScore says the site had 48.5 million unique views in January.

That said, Mediabistrothat a print subscription is still cheaper. That the Times has opted to shift to a paid model is big news. After all, the New York Times is one of the most respected news organizations around. But whether or not people will actually pay for something they're used to getting for free, and something that they can still get for free by various means, will be apparent in the coming months.

Independent Woman Can't Find The Right Mix In Men

DEAR ABBY: I'm an independent, 41-year-old woman who attracts men who are 10 to 13 years younger than I am. I'm not interested in them because I feel they are only after one thing. Another problem is, when I start getting close to a man my own age, he always makes me feel "smothered." It seems I'm either loved too much or not at all.

Is there a balance, or am I just afraid of getting close? -- AVOIDING GETTING HURT IN MILWAUKEE

DEAR AVOIDING: I suspect that it's the latter. Not all younger men are interested in only one thing. Some are, but not all. And men your age who are ready for commitment are not "smothering" you -- but they do seem to want something you are unwilling or unable to give.

Unless you can determine what's holding you back, you will remain single and looking. A psychologist could help you get to the heart of the matter quickly, and that's what I'm recommending so I won't hear from you with this same problem when you're 50.

DEAR ABBY: After nine years of marriage, my husband, "Brett," and I welcomed our first child 10 months ago. We are happy except for a problem with Brett's mother, "Carol."

Carol and I have had a rocky relationship, although in recent years things seem to have gotten better. My complaint (and Brett's as well) with Carol is that she is intrusive. She always wants to be in the middle of everything and won't ease up on "mothering" Brett. Furthermore, Carol has decided our child should call her "Grandmommy" or "Mommy Smith."

I object to that name because I feel "Mommy" is the one name reserved for me. I don't mind "Grandma," "Grandmother" or "Granny." But Carol won't back down. We tried coming up with another name, but she has ignored our suggestions.

Am I being unreasonable? Please advise. -- THE ONLY MOMMY HERE

DEAR ONLY MOMMY: You and Brett need to calm down. Your child won't be doing a lot of talking for a while. And when your baby does, he or she isn't going to be calling Carol by any multisyllabic appellations. Your child will probably call her a name that's easy to pronounce and entirely original.

DEAR ABBY: I am the youngest of three children. Whenever my mom looks through our family photo albums, she makes comments about "the good old days" while she's looking at the pictures taken before I was born. It offends me when I hear it, because it feels like she's saying the years she remembers most fondly are the ones before she had me.

Am I overreacting, or do those comments seem inappropriate to you as well? -- OUT OF THE PICTURE, LEWISTON, IDAHO

DEAR OUT OF THE PICTURE: When your mother looks at the photo albums, she may be reminded of a time when she was younger, experienced less stress and had fewer responsibilities. Not knowing her, I can't tell you if you're overreacting. But I can suggest that you discuss this with her because your feelings may be a mile off target. Please don't wait and let this fester.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby ator P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

Good advice for everyone -- teens to seniors -- is in "The Anger in All of Us and How to Deal With It." To order, send a business-size, self-addressed envelope, plus check or money order for $6 (U.S. funds only) to: Dear Abby -- Anger Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Postage is included in the price.)

Penguins aren't expecting Malkin back this season

WASHINGTON – The Penguins aren't planning to have Evgeni Malkin back this season.

Coach Dan Bylsma nodded his head yes Sunday when asked if he was preparing as if the injured All-Star center won't return until the fall.

Malkin tore the ACL and MCL in his right knee when he collided with defenseman Tyler Myers in the second period of Friday night's win over Buffalo. It was Malkin's first game back after sitting out five games with a knee problem and a sinus infection.

Bylsma said it hasn't been determined whether Malkin will have an operation or will try to rehabilitate the knee without surgery. Surgery would definitely rule Malkin out for the season.

"Even with (just) rehab, I'm not sure what the prognosis would be," Bylsma said before Sunday's game against the Washington Capitals.

The Penguins are already missing some major star power at the center position. Sidney Crosby is out with a concussion, his return date uncertain. Mark Letestu is out four to six weeks with a knee injury.

The Penguins added some needed manpower by recalling forward Tim Wallace from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL.