Can American doctors say “No” to an aggressive and high-tech treatment they’re used to providing even when it turns out a less heroic and cheaper one works just as well? It’s an important question. The affordability of American medical care in the future will depend, in part, on the ability of physicians to simplify and economize, which are two things they’ve never been good at. With national health expenditures amounting to $2.6 trillion a year — 45 percent of it paid by government — prosperity and political stability may also be at stake. Read full article > >

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Why do cardiologists often pass up safe, low-tech treatments for chest pain?

Some Twitter users say they will boycott the service on Saturday after the company announced it may begin blocking tweets in specific countries. The social network said Thursday that it had given itself the ability to block content on a country-by-country basis when the content runs afoul of local laws. Read full article > >

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Twitter faces accusations of censorship; users plan Saturday boycott

Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis are stepping down at a time when investors wonder whether RIM has the ability to compete in the rapidly changing markets for smartphones.

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RIM’s Balsillie and Lazaridis Step Aside

District native Lamont Peterson pulled off one of the more stunning upsets in recent boxing memory, winning a split decision over Amir Khan in their unified super lightweight title bout on Saturday night at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. So sure of his ability in the boxing ring, Khan traveled to the home town of his challenger expecting a tidy victory in defense of his titles. The bold move backfired, though, when to the delight of the partisan crowd of 8,647, Peterson clearly wasn’t willing to be just another glorified sparring partner in the first major championship fight in the nation’s capital since 1993 . Read full article > >

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D.C.’s Lamont Peterson upsets Amir Khan for super lightweight title

THE QUESTION Might the physical and mental aspects of yoga help people with chronic back pain? THIS STUDY involved 313 adults, mostly women, who averaged 46 years old and who had had back pain for an average of 10 years. They were randomly assigned to take a once-a-week, 75-minute gentle yoga class or to continue with regular care through their physicians. All participants were given educational material on back pain; the yoga group also received handouts and a CD to help practice yoga stretches and mental relaxation at home. When the classes ended after three months, as well as when participants were evaluated nine months later, little difference overall was found in back pain levels between those who had practiced yoga and those who had not, although 8 percent of the yoga group, vs. 1 percent of the others, noted some increased pain. However, yoga participants on average reported better functioning of their backs, allowing participation in 30 percent more activities than the others and the ability to walk more quickly, stand for a longer time and get dressed without help. Read full article > >

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Yoga may improve functioning in people with back pain, study suggests

Concerned that overfishing is destroying the ability of menhaden to reproduce, the commission that manages the Atlantic coast fishery voted Wednesday to sharply reduce the catch of the fish. Tiny, oily menhaden are called the ocean’s most important fish by environmentalists because they provide food for essential fish such as striped bass and for birds such as osprey, bald eagles and brown pelicans. Without menhaden, environmentalists say, the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay ecosystems would come crashing down. Read full article > >

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Menhaden harvest limit sharply cut by fisheries commission

Concerned that overfishing is destroying the ability of menhaden to reproduce, the commission that manages the Atlantic coast fishery voted Wednesday to sharply reduce the catch of the fish. Tiny, oily menhaden are called the ocean’s most important fish by environmentalists because they provide food for essential fish such as striped bass and for birds such as osprey, bald eagles and brown pelicans. Without menhaden, environmentalists say, the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay ecosystems would come crashing down. Read full article > >

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Menhaden harvest limit sharply cut by fisheries commission

ST. LOUIS — Six and a half months ago, the Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals opened seasons defined, to that point, by the loss of an ace. Cliff Lee had defected from the Rangers via free agency in December. St. Louis’s Adam Wainwright had blown out his elbow in mid-February. There would be injuries, trades, winning streaks and losing streaks ahead, but both teams knew way back then that success would depend largely upon their ability to withstand the losses of their No. 1 starters. Read full article > >

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In Cardinals, Rangers, 2011 World Series pits ultimate survivors against each other

Questions continue to mount about the ability of Europe’s banks to ride out the debt crisis, as some are having a harder time securing loans needed for daily operations.

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News Analysis: In Euro Zone, Banking Fear Feeds on Itself

In politics, things change fast. Less than a month ago, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann sat atop the political world fresh off her win at the Ames Straw Poll . Today, two new polls show Bachmann ’s support badly eroding — a finding that when coupled with a Labor Day staff shakeup raise serious questions about her ability to recapture the momentum that shot her into the top tier over the summer. Read full article > >

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Michele Bachmann’s rise and fall in the 2012 Republican primary

In politics, things change fast. Less than a month ago, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann sat atop the political world fresh off her win at the Ames Straw Poll . Today, two new polls show Bachmann ’s support badly eroding — a finding that when coupled with a Labor Day staff shakeup raise serious questions about her ability to recapture the momentum that shot her into the top tier over the summer. Read full article > >

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Michele Bachmann’s rise and fall in the 2012 Republican primary

Sahm Adrangi works with six other people in a small room on Madison Avenue with a view of an adjacent brick building. He doesn’t speak Chinese. He’s never set foot in China. At 30, he claims no special insight into the sources or durability of the Chinese economic miracle. Yet he has managed to dig up enough information to wreck the fortunes of several Chinese companies — while building up his own. Two years ago, Adrangi, a 2003 Yale graduate, left an investment banking job and set up a small hedge fund, largely with money from himself and his parents, as well as a few other supporters. Since then, his red-hot fund has increased sixfold, partly a fortuitous accident of market timing but mostly a product of his ability to spot flimsy Chinese companies listed on U.S. markets — which he bets against by short-selling them. Read full article > >

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Gaining by betting against flimsy Chinese firms

The government of France acknowledged Wednesday that the country’s economy is slowing and announced $16 billion in new taxes to ensure it reaches its deficit-reduction targets. The measures, including higher income taxes on high-wage earners and stiffer levies on alcohol, tobacco and soda, come as the country tries to safeguard its AAA credit rating — something considered critical to the stability of the 17-nation euro zone. Emergency programs put together for Greece, Ireland and Portugal — and potentially needed to help Spain and Italy — hinge on the region’s stronger economies and their ability to borrow money at the lowest possible rates. Read full article > >

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France to raise taxes in deficit battle

The very act of making decisions depletes our ability to make them well. So how do we navigate a world of endless choice?

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Magazine Preview: Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue?

As Joni Mitchell put it, “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” That’s why it took a lack of outdoor space to get me interested in vegetable gardening. When I lived in Boston, I took my back yard for granted, crowding it with grills and smokers and patio furniture, letting my dog use it for his business, and always telling myself, and my downstairs neighbors, that I’d surely plant something there someday. I never managed more than a few pitiful shade plants, but on my front balcony I did cultivate containers full of basil, mint, parsley, cilantro, thyme, oregano and rosemary. As a single cook, I relished the ability, for a few short months, to avoid buying those clam-shell packs of herbs in supermarkets. Read full article > >

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Cooking for One: What grows on you