LA judge grants Jermaine Jackson name change

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jermaine Jackson has a new, brighter surname — Jacksun.

A Los Angeles judge approved the change to singer's name Friday.

The 58-year-old, who shared lead singing duties with his younger brother Michael in the Jackson 5, did not appear in court.

He sought the name change for "artistic reasons" and says it has nothing to do with a recent rift in his family over the care of Michael Jackson's children and family matriarch Katherine Jackson.

His attorney Bret D. Lewis says Jacksun is in Europe performing with his brothers and told him that he was sure it was "a sunny day in California."

Lewis says he doesn't know whether Jacksun will elaborate on the creative reasons for the change.

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Question Mark: Acne Common in Baby Boomers Too

Pimples are no surprise on babies and teenagers, but boomers?

You no longer have to gaze over a school lunchroom, hoping to find a seat at a socially acceptable table. You don’t rush to get home at night before your junior license driving restrictions kick in. And you men no longer have to worry that your voice will skip an octave without warning.

But if adolescence is over, what is that horrid protuberance staring at you in the mirror from the middle of your forehead? Some speak of papules, pustules and nodules, but we will use the technical term: zit. That thing on your forehead now is the same thing that was there back in high school, or at least a close relative. Same as it ever was (cue “Once in a Lifetime”).

We get more than the occasional complaint here from baby boomers who want to know about this aging body part or that. So you would think people would be happy with any emblem of youth — even if it is sore and angry-looking and threatening to erupt at any second. But oddly, there are those who are not happy to see pimples again, and some have asked for an explanation.

Acne occurs when the follicles that connect the pores of the skin to oil glands become clogged with a mixture of hair, oils and skin cells, and bacteria in the plug causes swelling, experts say. A pimple grows as the plug breaks down.

According to the American Academy of Dermatology, a growing number of women in their 30s, 40s, 50s and even beyond are seeking treatment for acne. Middle-age men are also susceptible to breakouts, but less so, experts say.

In some cases, people suffer from acne that began in their teenage years and never really went away. Others had problems when they were younger and then enjoyed decades of mostly clear skin. Still others never had much of the way of pimples until they were older.

Whichever the case, the explanation for adult acne is likely to be the same as it is for acne found in teenagers and, for that matter, newborns: hormonal changes. “We know that all acne is hormonally driven and hormonally sensitive,” said Dr. Bethanee J. Schlosser, an assistant professor of dermatology at Northwestern.

Among baby boomers, the approach of menopause may result in a drop in estrogen, a hormone that can help keep pimples from forming, and increased levels of androgens, the male hormone. Women who stop taking birth control pills may also see a drop in their estrogen levels.

Debate remains over what role diet plays in acne. Some experts say that foods once thought to cause pimples, like chocolate, are probably not a problem. Still, while sugar itself is no longer believed to contribute to acne, some doctors think that foods with a high glycemic index – meaning they quickly elevate glucose in the body — might. White bread and sweetened cereals are examples. And for all ages, stress has also been found to play a role.

One message to acne sufferers has not changed over the years. Your mother was right: don’t pop it! It can cause scarring.

Questions about aging? E-mail boomerwhy@nytimes.com

Booming: Living Through the Middle Ages offers news and commentary about baby boomers, anchored by Michael Winerip. You can follow Booming via RSS here or visit nytimes.com/booming. You can reach us by e-mail at booming@nytimes.com.

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Stocks close higher after steep 2-day slide

Strong earnings from big U.S. companies pushed the Dow Jones industrial average to a rare triple-digit gain Friday, but the S&P 500 index still posted its first weekly loss of the year.

Hewlett-Packard had the biggest gain in the Dow and the Standard & Poor's 500 index. It posted fiscal first-quarter earnings late Thursday that beat all forecasts, a relief after months of bad news for the computer maker. H-P rose $2.10, or 12.3 percent, to $19.20.

Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. was the S&P 500's second-best performer, jumping a day after reporting earnings that beat analysts' expectations. It rose $5.95, or 11.1 percent, to $59.81.

American International Group Inc. rose after its fourth-quarter operating results exceeded analysts' forecasts. The company's net loss was $4 billion, mainly because of claims related to Superstorm Sandy, in the first full quarter after it finished repaying its $182 billion government bailout. AIG rose $1.17, or 3.1 percent, to $38.45.

The Dow closed up 119.95 points, or 0.9 percent, at 14,000.57 — its third-biggest gain this year. The S&P 500 rose 13.18 points, also 0.9 percent, to 1,515.60. The Nasdaq composite index rose 30.33, or 1 percent, to 3,161.82.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed slightly lower for the week, while the Dow edged higher.

Bill Stone, chief investment strategist with PNC Wealth Management, said he expects stocks to hold up despite this week's volatility.

“You're going to get bumps and bruises along the way, but we do believe things are actually getting better, so I think there's underlying demand” for stocks, Stone said.

Spooked investors sent stocks plunging Wednesday after minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting revealed disagreement over how long to keep buying bonds in an effort to boost the economy. The slide continued Thursday. The Dow lost 155 points over those two days.

Many analysts say the Fed's bond-buying and resulting low interest rates have driven this year's stock rally, which lifted indexes to their highest levels since before the 2008 financial crisis. The Dow is now just 164 points below its record close of 14,164 reached in October 2007.

U.S. stocks followed European stocks higher after a survey of German business optimism rose sharply, adding to evidence that the country will avoid a recession. Germany's economic vitality is crucial for the beleaguered region, offsetting economic contraction in surrounding countries.

“Germany is really the bedrock,” Stone said. “If it gives way, then you have real problems.”

France's CAC-40 closed up 2.2 percent, Germany's DAX 1 percent.

Among other stocks moving on corporate news:

— Abercrombie & Fitch sank after a key sales metric declined in the all-important holiday quarter. The stock fell $2.19, or 4.5 percent, to $46.86.

— WebMD Health Corp. soared after the health website operator reported better-than-expected revenue and an optimistic outlook for 2013. The stock rose $4.14, or 25.4 percent, to $20.44.

— Texas Instruments Inc. rose strongly after saying it will increase its dividend by one-third and buy back up to $5 billion more of its own stock. TI gained $1.70, or 5.2 percent, to $34.18.

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Bulgari shows off Liz Taylor's gems

It isn't easy sometimes to be an ordinary person in Los Angeles, so near to and yet so far from the city's glamorous events.

You hear about the grand Oscar parties, but you will never be invited. The award ceremony may be taking place minutes from where you live, but you watch it at home, on TV, in your sweat pants — and you might as well be in Dubuque.

Rodeo Drive too can make you feel like a scrap on the cutting room floor. As you stroll the wide and immaculate sidewalks of Beverly Hills' iconic shopping street, you pass by boutiques you'd feel self-conscious walking into. In the windows are baubles and trinkets you could never in three lifetimes afford.

Which is why it is rather nice to be invited to make a private appointment at the house of Bulgari, the fine Italian jeweler that opened its doors in 1884.

Elizabeth Taylor loved Bulgari jewels. Richard Burton, whose torrid affair with her began during the filming of "Cleopatra" in Rome, accompanied her often to the flagship shop on the Via Condotti. He liked to joke that the name Bulgari was all the Italian she knew.

So it is fitting that starting Oscar week, the jeweler is celebrating the Oscar-winning star with an exhibit of eight of her most treasured Bulgari pieces.

They are heavy on diamonds and emeralds — of rare size, gleam and value.

And Bulgari knows their value well.

After Taylor's death, it reacquired some of the gems at a Christie's auction. One piece, an emerald-and-diamond brooch that also can be worn as a pendant, sold for $6,578,500 — breaking records both for sales price of an emerald and for emerald price per carat ($280,000).

That brooch, whose centerpiece is an octagonal step-cut emerald weighing 23.44 carats, was Burton's engagement present to Taylor. He followed it upon their marriage (his second, her fifth) with a matching necklace whose 16 Colombian emeralds weigh in at 60.5 carats. Bulgari bought the necklace back too, for $6,130,500.

They are in the exhibit, along with Burton's engagement ring to Taylor and a delicate brooch — given to her by husband No. 4, Eddie Fisher — whose emerald and diamond flowers were set en tremblant so that they gently fluttered as Taylor moved.

The jewels are not for sale.

On Tuesday night, actress Julianne Moore wore the Burton necklace, with pendant attached, at a gala for Bulgari's top clients. At the dinner hour, guests were escorted along a lavender-colored carpet to a nearby rooftop that had been transformed into a Roman terrace.

Those honored guests, of course, got private viewings of Taylor's jewels.

But so did Amanda Perry, a healer from West Hollywood who arrived the next morning for one of the first appointments available to the public.

Someone had emailed news of the collection to the 35-year-old Taylor fan. She walked in off the street Tuesday, when the exhibit was open only to press — and Sabina Pelli, Bulgari's glamorous executive vice president, fresh from Rome, was taking sips of San Pellegrino brought to her on a silver tray between back-to-back interviews that started at 5 a.m.

The camera crews were long gone when Perry came back Wednesday. She had the exhibit, and handsome sales associate Timothy Morzenti of Milan, entirely to herself.

In a black suit, still wearing on his left hand the black glove he dons to handle fine jewels, Morzenti whisked Perry off via a private elevator to the exhibit on the second floor. The jewels stood in vitrines mounted high off the ground. Behind them were photos and a slide show of Taylor, bejeweled.

"Which piece would you like to see first?" Morzenti asked her as a security guard stood by. "I personally love the emerald ring."

Then he proceeded at leisure to explain Bulgari-signature sugar-loaf cuts and trombino ring settings, while tossing in occasional Taylor stories.

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Nielsen to begin counting broadband viewing homes

NEW YORK (AP) — The company that measures television viewership said Thursday it will soon begin counting people who watch programming through broadband in addition to the traditional broadcast or cable hook-up.

Nielsen's move is a significant step toward recognizing a world where the definition of TV viewing is swiftly changing and toward satisfying clients concerned that the company isn't keeping up with those changes. Separately, Nielsen is developing ways to track content on tablets and mobile phones.

For many years, roughly 99 percent of homes in the U.S. had televisions that received service through broadcast, cable or satellite signals.

Now the number of homes without such service is 4.2 percent — and growing each year. About three-quarters of those homes still have TVs, however, and their owners watch programming through game consoles or services like Netflix and Amazon. Starting September, Nielsen will have meters that can monitor viewership in those homes, said Brian Fuhrer, a senior vice president at Nielsen.

This will add roughly 160 homes to Nielsen's current sample of 23,000 houses nationwide with meters monitoring viewing habits.

More significantly, Nielsen will return to its sample to find homes that have cable or broadcast, but also separate TV sets hooked up through broadband. This will add an estimated 2,000 more broadband sets, significantly increasing the sample size, Fuhrer said.

"Consumers are accessing content in new ways that fall outside of our traditional definitions and if we don't expand ... we could be missing an emerging trend," he said.

Under Nielsen's old definition, there are an estimated 5 million homes in the U.S. without working TV sets, up a total of 3 million from 2007. Nielsen and the industry studied this to see whether people were pulling their plugs because of the recession; instead, the bulk of the new "non-TV homes" were simply watching TV in a different way.

The changes aren't likely to quickly boost the ratings of your favorite program, however. Most of the programs shown through broadband don't have the same encodings as shows watched traditionally, primarily because they often have different advertisements. As a result, Nielsen will be limited in tracking what particular shows are being watched, at least until more universal encoding standards are developed.

Some broadband services have the ability to measure how much individual programs are seen but keep that information private. It is why, for example, there have been no estimates of how many people have seen Netflix's well-reviewed new series "House of Cards."

Even without those specifics, Nielsen will still be able to collect information such as who in the household is watching through broadband, and how much they watch. That is data that will at least be valuable to advertisers and marketers trying to target specific consumer groups. Nielsen's change was first reported in The Hollywood Reporter.

When the industry will be able to see how much people are watching through broadband, it will increase the pressure for universal encoding — networks and advertising agencies will want to know what those new viewers are watching, said David Poltrack, chief research executive at CBS.

If, as expected, broadband viewing continues to increase, Nielsen's change at least ensures that this won't be ignored, Poltrack said.

"All of these things are designed to keep them ahead of the game," he said.

Brad Adgate, top researcher for Horizon Media, noted that several networks have seen the median age of their viewers increase significantly over the past few years. In the way television does business, older viewers are less valuable to advertisers. Presumably, younger viewers are more likely to be watching through broadband — and many had dropped off Nielsen's radar, he said.

Nielsen must also develop a separate metering system for tablets and mobile devices, and Fuhrer said that work is ongoing.

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Living With Cancer: Arrivals and Departures

After being nursed and handed over, the baby’s wails rise to a tremolo, but I am determined to give my exhausted daughter and son-in-law a respite on this wintry evening. Commiserating with the little guy’s discomfort — gas, indigestion, colic, ontological insecurity — I swaddle, burp, bink, then cradle him in my arms. I begin walking around the house, swinging and swaying while cooing in soothing cadences: “Yes, darling boy, another one bites the dust, another one bites the dust.”

I kid you not! How could such grim phrases spring from my lips into the newborn’s ears? Where did they come from?

I blame his mother and her best friend. They sang along as this song was played repeatedly at the skating rink to which I took them every other Saturday in their tweens. Why would an infatuated grandma croon a mordant lullaby, even if the adorable one happily can’t understand a single word? He’s still whimpering, twisting away from me, and understandably so.

Previously that day, I had called a woman in my cancer support group. I believe that she is dying. I do not know her very well. She has attended only two or three of our get-togethers where she described herself as a widow and a Christian.

On the phone, I did not want to violate the sanctity of her end time, but I did want her to know that she need not be alone, that I and other members of our group can “be there” for her. Her dying seems a rehearsal of my own. We have the same disease.

“How are you doing, Kim?” I asked.

“I’m tired. I sleep all the time,” she sighed, “and I can’t keep anything down.”

“Can you drink … water?” I asked.

“A little, but I tried a smoothie and it wouldn’t set right,” she said.

“I hope you are not in pain.”

“Oh no, but I’m sleeping all the time. And I can’t keep anything down.”

“Would you like a visit? Is there something I can do or bring?” I asked.

“Oh, I don’t think so, no thanks.”

“Well,” I paused before saying goodbye, “be well.”

Be well? I didn’t even add something like, “Be as well as you can be.” I was tongue-tied. This was the failure that troubles me tonight.

Why couldn’t I say that we will miss her, that I am sorry she is dying, that she has coped so well for so long, and that I hope she will now find peace? I could inform an infant in my arms of our inexorable mortality, but I could not speak or even intimate the “D” word to someone on her deathbed.

Although I have tried to communicate to my family how I feel about end-of-life care, can we always know what we will want? Perhaps at the end of my life I will not welcome visitors, either. For departing may require as much concentration as arriving. As I look down at the vulnerable bundle I am holding, I marvel that each and every one of us has managed to come in and will also have to manage to go out. The baby nestles, pursing his mouth around the pacifier. He gazes intently at my face with a sly gaze that drifts toward a lamp, turning speculative before lids lower in tremulous increments.

Slowing my jiggling to his faint sucking, I think that the philosopher Jacques Derrida’s meditation on death pertains to birth as well. Each of these events “names the very irreplaceability of absolute singularity.” Just as “no one can die in my place or in the place of the other,” no one can be born in this particular infant’s place. He embodies his irreplaceable and absolute singularity.

Perhaps we should gestate during endings, as we do during beginnings. Like hatchings, the dispatchings caused by cancer give people like Kim and me a final trimester, more or less, in which we can labor to forgive and be forgiven, to speak and hear vows of devotion from our intimates, to visit or not be visited by acquaintances.

Maybe we need a doula for dying, I reflect as melodious words surface, telling me what I have to do with the life left to be lived: “To love that well, which thou must leave ere long.”

“Oh little baby,” I then whisper: “Though I cannot tell who you will become and where I will be — you, dear heart, deliver me.”

---

Susan Gubar is a distinguished emerita professor of English at Indiana University and the author of “Memoir of a Debulked Woman,” which explores her experience with ovarian cancer.

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Google in talks with Warby Parker for its glasses [video chat]

News of the Warby Parker relationship to Glass comes a day after Google opened a competition to select the first people who can buy the smart-glasses. Users can apply over Twitter or Google+ with a 50-words-or-less essay explaining what they would do with Glass.

Join us for a live video chat at 1 p.m.

Google will select about 8,000 winners, who must then fly to either Los Angeles, San Francisco or New York to pay $1,500 plus taxes and pick up their devices.

Besides Google's relationship with Warby Parker, the New York Times reports that although Glass frames don't come with lenses, Google is trying out adding sunglasses or prescription lenses to some units.

The New York Times report also says Glass frames weigh less than a typical pair of sunglasses, despite earlier versions of the device weighing eight pounds just 18 months ago.

Google declined to comment.

Join us for a live video chat at 1 p.m. on wearable technology. Google and other companies are working on augmented-reality eyeglasses, talking wristwatches and coats that adjust to the weather. Click here to read today's story on wearable tech.

ALSO:

Apple stock falls following Foxconn hiring freeze

Pinterest secures $200 million, pushing value to $2.5 billion

Google developing touch-screen Chrome OS laptops, report says

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Interstate 5 reopens through the Grapevine

From Times Staff

February 20, 2013, 9:44 a.m.

The California Highway Patrol has reopened a stretch of Interstate 5 through the Grapevine that was closed earlier today because of ice.

The highway was opened to vehicles with escorts at about 9:15 a.m., said CHP Officer Ed Jacobs. The freeway was closed between Castaic and Grapevine Road about 6:35 a.m., Jacobs said.

Comments are filtered for language and registration is required. The Times makes no guarantee of comments' factual accuracy. Readers may report inappropriate comments by clicking the Report Abuse link next to a comment. Here are the full legal terms you agree to by using this comment form.

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Mumford & Sons, Adele among winners at Brit Awards

LONDON (AP) — British music put on a confident show at the Brit Awards on Wednesday, celebrating a resurgent industry whose bands and artists are topping charts around the world.

Winners ranged from established acts such as Coldplay and Adele to surfing English folk singer Ben Howard, who was named British breakthrough act and British male artist of the year.

"I'm not very good at speeches," 25-year-old Howard said, accurately — though he may have to get good at it if his career continues to take off.

American artists Frank Ocean and Lana Del Rey were among the non-British winners at a ceremony that embraced the mainstream while rewarding artists with distinctive personalities.

Long derided as dull, the Brits have become a lively celebration of "Cool Britannia" music and style, featuring a dinner for hundreds of artists and industry figures followed by a televised concert and awards show for thousands of paying fans.

Hard rockers Muse opened the show at London's O2 Arena with a typically robust performance of their song "Supremacy"— all thundering music, dazzling light show and 60-piece orchestra. Other performers ranged from world-conquering boy band One Direction to American artists Taylor Swift and Justin Timberlake.

Timberlake, dapper in a tuxedo as he performed "Mirrors," was described by host James Corden, in a nod to Europe's horse meat scandal, as "95 percent beefcake with just a little touch of horse."

One Direction performed a mashup of post-punk classics "One Way or Another" and "Teenage Kicks," their single for Britain's Comic Relief charity.

Chanteuse Emeli Sande took the first award of the evening, for British female artist, while Mumford & Sons were named best British group.

Both had an outstanding 2012. Singer-songwriter Sande topped the British charts with her debut album "Our Version of Events" and performed at both the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics. Mumford & Sons topped U.K. and U.S. charts with their second album "Babel," which was named album of the year at the Grammys earlier this month.

Soul singer Amy Winehouse — who died in July 2011 from accidental alcohol poisoning — was among the other nominees for British female artist, eligible thanks to her posthumous "Lioness: Hidden Treasures" album. Her father, Mitch Winehouse, arrived for the awards ceremony at London's O2 Arena wearing a waistcoat emblazoned with a picture of his daughter.

Coldplay was named best British live act, beating nominees including The Rolling Stones, who celebrated their 50th anniversary with a series of sold-out shows last year.

Adele won the best British single prize for her James Bond theme "Skyfall." The soulful singer sent a message from Los Angeles, where she is rehearsing for Sunday's Academy Awards.

There was no repeat of last year, when she was cut-off mid-speech because the show was running late — an incident Corden referred to in mock-embarrassment several times.

The Black Keys were named best international group, while Del Rey took the trophy for international female solo artist. The U.S. singer, who began as an Internet sensation, won a breakthrough Brit award last year and on Wednesday thanked Britain for supporting her.

The international male trophy went to R&B star Frank Ocean, who said it was "definitely a long way from working fast food in New Orleans" — and was the only winner to thank artist Damien Hirst for creating the polka-dot Brit Awards statuette.

Contenders for the biggest award of the night, best album, include Sande's "Our Version Of Events," Alt-J's "An Awesome Wave," Mumford & Sons' "Babel," Plan B's "Ill Manors" and Paloma Faith's "Fall To Grace."

This year sees the introduction of a new category recognizing global success, with nominees including One Direction, Mumford & Sons and Adele.

Most of the awards are chosen by more than 1,000 musicians, critics and record industry figures, with several decided by public vote.

___

Online: www.brits.co.uk

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Well: Effects of Bullying Last Into Adulthood, Study Finds

Victims of bullying at school, and bullies themselves, are more likely to experience psychiatric problems in childhood, studies have shown. Now researchers have found that elevated risk of psychiatric trouble extends into adulthood, sometimes even a decade after the intimidation has ended.

The new study, published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry on Wednesday, is the most comprehensive effort to date to establish the long-term consequences of childhood bullying, experts said.

“It documents the elevated risk across a wide range of mental health outcomes and over a long period of time,” said Catherine Bradshaw, an expert on bullying and a deputy director of the Center for the Prevention of Youth Violence at Johns Hopkins University, which was not involved in the study.

“The experience of bullying in childhood can have profound effects on mental health in adulthood, particularly among youths involved in bullying as both a perpetuator and a victim,” she added.

The study followed 1,420 subjects from Western North Carolina who were assessed four to six times between the ages of 9 and 16. Researchers asked both the children and their primary caregivers if they had been bullied or had bullied others in the three months before each assessment. Participants were divided into four groups: bullies, victims, bullies who also were victims, and children who were not exposed to bullying at all.

Participants were assessed again in young adulthood — at 19, 21 and between 24 and 26 — using structured diagnostic interviews.

Researchers found that victims of bullying in childhood were 4.3 times more likely to have an anxiety disorder as adults, compared to those with no history of bullying or being bullied.

Bullies who were also victims were particularly troubled: they were 14.5 times more likely to develop panic disorder as adults, compared to those who did not experience bullying, and 4.8 times more likely to experience depression. Men who were both bullies and victims were 18.5 times more likely to have had suicidal thoughts in adulthood, compared to the participants who had not been bullied or perpetuators. Their female counterparts were 26.7 times more likely to have developed agoraphobia, compared to children not exposed to bullying.

Bullies who were not victims of bullying were 4.1 times more likely to have antisocial personality disorder as adults than those never exposed to bullying in their youth.

The effects persisted even after the researchers accounted for pre-existing psychiatric problems or other factors that might have contributed to psychiatric disorders, like physical or sexual abuse, poverty and family instability.

“We were actually able to say being a victim of bullying is having an effect a decade later, above and beyond other psychiatric problems in childhood and other adversities,” said William E. Copeland, lead author of the study and an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University Medical Center.

Bullying is not a harmless rite of passage, but inflicts lasting psychiatric damage on a par with certain family dysfunctions, Dr. Copeland said. “The pattern we are seeing is similar to patterns we see when a child is abused or maltreated or treated very harshly within the family setting,” he said.

One limitation of the study is that bullying was not analyzed for frequency, and the researchers’ assessment did not distinguish between interpersonal and overt bullying. It only addressed bullying at school, not in other settings.

Most of what experts know about the effects of bullying comes from observational studies, not studies of children followed over time.

Previous research from Finland, based on questionnaires completed on a single occasion or on military registries, used a sample of 2,540 boys to see if being a bully or a victim at 8 predicted a psychiatric disorder 10 to 15 years later. The researchers found frequent bully-victims were at particular risk of adverse long-term outcomes, specifically anxiety and antisocial personality disorders. Victims were at greater risk for anxiety disorders, while bullies were at increased risk for antisocial personality disorder.

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