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Saturday, 26 January 2013
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Syrian forces escalate offensive in Homs
In this image taken from video obtained from the Shaam News Network, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, smoke rises from buildings due to heavy shelling in Daraa, Syria, on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video)
In this image taken from video obtained from the Shaam News Network, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, smoke rises from buildings due to heavy shelling in Daraa, Syria, on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video)
BEIRUT (AP) ? Syria's army unleashed a barrage of rocket and artillery fire on rebel-held areas in a central province Friday as part of a widening offensive against fighters seeking to oust President Bashar Assad. At least 80 people were killed in fighting nationwide, according to activist groups.
The United Nations said a record number of Syrians streamed into Jordan this month, doubling the population of the kingdom's already-cramped refugee camp to 65,000. Over 30,000 people arrived in Zaatari in January ? 6,000 in the past two days alone, the U.N. said.
The newcomers are mostly families, women, children and elderly who fled from southern Syria, said Melissa Fleming, spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. She said the UNHCR was working with the Jordanian government to open a second major camp nearby by the end of this month.
Many of the new arrivals at Zaatari are from the southern town of Daraa, where the uprising against Assad first erupted nearly two years ago, the Britain-based Save the Children said Friday.
Five buses, crammed with "frightened and exhausted people who fled with what little they could carry," pull up every hour at the camp, said Saba al-Mobasat, an aid worker with Save the Children.
The exodus reflected the latest spike in violence in Syria's civil war. The conflict began in March 2011 after a peaceful uprising against Assad, inspired by the Arab Spring wave of revolutions that toppled leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen, turned violent.
Activists said the army recently brought in military reinforcements to the central province of Homs and launched a renewed offensive aimed at retaking patches of territory that have been held by rebels for months.
An amateur video posted online by activists showed rockets slamming into buildings in the rebel-held town of Rastan, just north of the provincial capital, Homs. Heavy gunfire could be heard in the background.
Another video showed thick black and gray smoke rising from a building in the besieged city. "The city of Homs is burning ... day and night, the shelling of Homs doesn't stop," the narrator is heard saying.
Troops also battled rebels around Damascus in an effort to dislodge opposition fighters who have set up enclaves in surrounding towns and villages. The troops fired artillery shells Friday at several districts, including Zabadani and Daraya, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Another activist group, the Local Coordination Committees, said regime warplanes carried out airstrikes on the suburb of Douma, the largest patch of rebel-held ground near Damascus.
The Observatory, which like the LCC relies on a network of activists around Syria, said at least 80 people were killed in violence across the country Friday, including 11 in Homs.
Other video showed devastation in the Damascus neighborhood of Arbeen, following what activists said were two airstrikes there. A bleeding, wounded man can be seen being helped out of the rubble of the destroyed building. The videos appeared consistent with Associated Press reporting on the fighting.
Last month, the UNHCR said it needed $1 billion to aid Syrians in the Mideast, and that half of that money was required to help refugees in Jordan.
The agency says 597,240 refugees have registered or are awaiting registration with the UNHCR in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt. Some countries have higher estimates, noting many Syrians have found accommodations without registering, relying on their own resources and savings.
In a rare gesture, Syria's Interior Ministry called on those who fled the country during the civil war to return, including regime opponents. It said the government will help hundreds of thousands of citizens return whether they left "legally or illegally."
Syrian opposition figures abroad who want to take part in reconciliation talks will also be allowed back, according to a ministry statement carried late Thursday by the state SANA news agency.
If they "have the desire to participate in the national dialogue, they would be allowed to enter Syria," it said.
The proposed talks are part of Assad's initiative to end the conflict that started as peaceful protests in March 2011 but turned into a civil war. Tens of thousands of activists, their family members and opposition supporters remain jailed by the regime, according to international activist groups.
Opposition leaders repeatedly have rejected any talks that include Assad, insisting he must step down. The international community backs that demand, but Assad has clung to power, vowing to crush the armed opposition.
More than 60,000 people have been killed since the conflict began, according to the U.N.
Activists also said two cars packed with explosives blew up near a military intelligence building in the Syrian-controlled part of the Golan Heights, killing eight. Most of the dead were members of the Syrian military, the Observatory said.
The Syrian government had no comment on the attacks, which occurred Thursday night in the town of Quneitra, and nobody claimed responsibility for them.
Car bombs and suicide attacks targeting Syrian troops and government institutions have been the hallmark of Islamic militants fighting in Syria alongside rebels trying to topple Assad.
Quneitra is on the cease-fire line between Syria and Israel, which controls most of the Golan Heights after capturing the strategic territory from Syria in the 1967 war.
___
Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, and Zeina Karam in Beirut contributed to this report.
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Friday, 25 January 2013
Positive Attitude As A Way Of Life - wise self improvement
The answer is not really specific. But it has been proven that people can sense the basic mental state of their peers.
Now, suppose you arrive at a party where a lot of your friends are present? What is your usual perception: they suddenly hush up in an apparent gloom? Or do you get the feeling of excitement and welcoming?
You might have realized now that these answers are entirely dependent on your perspective and chain of thought.
Thoughts are an influential tool. They define your attitude and appearance. This might not be applicable if you are adept at acting.
However, this attitude stemming from your thoughts has ability to cause an effect upon your peers.
Whether your attitude is positive or negative is entirely dependent on you.
Positivity is uplifting and refreshing. They make you feel full and similarly affect the people that surround you, making them happy and enthusiastic too.
Negativity is, however, deteriorating. It drains your energy and causes depression and, of course, spreads similar effects.
Where positive outlook charms people, negativity keeps them at bay. Positive people are the life of any party, and negative people can be real killjoys.
Attitude is, partly, your perception of the world. They say life is like a mirror. So if you look at the world with negativity, that's what your life is going to be full of as you are possessing a negative attitude. Choosing to focus on the silver lining, however, can bring a lot of good your way since your outlook is positive.
Positivity is beneficial for health too. It equips you with better stress handling ability and less problems come your way too. You also tend to have many friends.
It enables you to create a respectful image of yourself. Being able to accept and love yourself, you tend to be more content, happy and confident. And you spread that feeling around you.
Negativity is, obviously, the other end of the pole, so it creates brings about events exactly opposite to that when possessing positivity. Not only do you put yourself down in your own eyes, you spread that distasteful feeling to others.
It is important that you have a healthy outlook in life if you want to cultivate a positive attitude towards life. It can be quite difficult as we hear and see mostly negativity in the world today. It was shown in a study that a parent spoke only one positive thing per fourteen times in a conversation. This is something that is truly depressing.
However, you can change this by choosing to filter what you hear and only take in the positive news. Some of the easiest ways would be to watch a comedy movie or TV show, play with kids, joke and hold light repartee with your friends and family, exercise, indulge in a positive activity.
It is not feasible to see all the positivity without coming in contact with the other side of the coin. But it is a personal choice to embrace positivity.
This positivity will spread on its own. When things appear gloomy, people often need someone to listen and be supportive instead of giving advice. With positivity, however, you could make them feel better by just being around them!
Even though positivity is so beneficial, why are some people still so negative? This may be a sign for help. Such people may need support and attention. I'm not saying that it's unacceptable to be sad or angry. My point is that brooding over these negative thoughts can be harmful. One cannot mope forever.
The best thing to do, even when things seem bleak and dreadful, is to look at the silver lining. Reminding yourself of all the good things that have come your way can often lighten up the mood. You have to accept that problems and failures always teach you a lesson. There's no harm in developing a positive attitude. Positive outlook slows down aging and has many health benefits too. You spread the positivity and accompanying happiness. Try and adopt a positive attitude towards life. Starting today!
Source: http://wiseselfimprovement.blogspot.com/2013/01/positive-attitude-as-way-of-life.html
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Estrogen fights urinary infection in mouse study
Jan. 23, 2013 ? Estrogen levels drop dramatically in menopause, a time when the risk of urinary tract infections increases significantly.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found new evidence in mice that the two phenomena are connected by more than just timing. If further research confirms these links, boosting estrogen levels may get a second look as an approach for reducing urinary infections in menopausal women.
"Scientists tested estrogen as a treatment for post-menopausal women with urinary tract infections in the 1990s, but the results were either ambiguous or negative," says senior author Indira Mysorekar, PhD, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology and of pathology and immunology. "With the mouse model of menopause that we've created, we can more completely understand how estrogen levels affect infection susceptibility, bladder health and the inflammatory response to infection. That should point the way to better treatment strategies."
The findings appear online in Infection and Immunity.
Urinary infections are a significant cause of illness in many women throughout their lives and are particularly prevalent after menopause. The bacteria that cause these infections can spread to the kidney and bloodstream, with the potential for serious complications.
To simulate menopause in mice, scientists surgically remove their ovaries. Like menopausal women, the mice no longer make estrogen.
To rule out the possibility that the stress of surgery affects the risk of urinary tract infections, the researchers conducted the same surgery in other mice but put the ovaries back in, maintaining their ability to make estrogen.
When researchers gave both groups of mice urinary tract infections, the menopausal mice had higher levels of infectious bacteria in their urine. Most of the bacteria came from barrier cells, which line the interior of the bladder. These cells are the first to be infected by the bacteria.
"When the barrier cells are lost, they need to be replaced immediately," Mysorekar says. "In the menopausal mice, we found that this replacement process was stopping short of completion. That left cells under barrier cells exposed, and they are much more vulnerable to infection."
The menopausal mice had more bacterial reservoirs, which are pockets of infection that may provide a place for the bacteria to hide during antibiotic treatment. After treatment stops, the reservoirs can reseed the infection.
In earlier research, Mysorekar had identified an important regulator of the barrier cell repair process. In the new study, she showed that low estrogen levels disable this regulator.
The bladders of the menopausal mice also had higher levels of immune inflammatory compounds known as cytokines.
"The cytokines caused inflammation that left the bladder in bad shape," Mysorekar says. "It's possible that damage caused by inflammation increases the bacteria's ability to break into bladder tissue and create reservoirs of infection."
In the control mice, which had normal estrogen levels, cytokine levels and inflammatory damage were both significantly lower. When researchers gave the menopausal mice estrogen, their cytokine levels and inflammatory damage also decreased significantly, as did reservoirs of infectious bacteria.
Mysorekar notes that earlier clinical trials of estrogen's usefulness against urinary infection evaluated the treatment's success by tracking levels of bacteria in the urine. The researchers say their new results suggest that bacteria levels alone may not provide a complete picture of estrogen's effectiveness against the infections.
"If we can find ways to look at other aspects of the infectious process in humans, we may find that estrogen is more helpful than we previously realized," Mysorekar says. "We need to look for other indicators, such as cytokines in the urine, to more fully assess estrogen's potential role in treatment."
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Washington University in St. Louis. The original article was written by Michael C. Purdy.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Wang C, Symington JW, Ma E, Cao B, Mysorekar IU. Escherichia coli pathogenesis in a murine menopause model. Infection and Immunity, March 2013
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/zfSJvojEOGc/130123221411.htm
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Thursday, 24 January 2013
Less tau reduces seizures and sudden death in severe epilepsy
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Deleting or reducing expression of a gene that carries the code for tau, a protein associated with Alzheimer's disease, can prevent seizures in a severe type of epilepsy linked to sudden death, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., in a report in the current issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.
A growing understanding of the link between epilepsy and some forms of inherited Alzheimer's disease led to the finding that could point the way toward new drugs for seizure disorders said Dr. Jeffrey Noebels, professor of neurology at BCM, and director of the Blue Bird Circle Developmental Neurogenetics Laboratory.
In her research, Jerrah Holth, a graduate student in molecular and human genetics at BCM who was working with mice with the severe form of epilepsy in Noebel's laboratory, deleted the gene for tau. She found that reducing or eliminating tau also prevented the seizures in a severe form of epilepsy that has been associated with sudden death and reduced deaths in the animals.
In an earlier experiment, Noebels, in collaboration with Dr. Lennart Mucke at the Gladstone Research Laboratory at the University of California San Francisco, found that mice who carried a human gene that leads to accumulation of the beta amyloid protein and the amyloid plaques that accumulate in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease, also had epileptic seizures arising in the hippocampus, the region of the brain associated with memory storage and retrieval.
"This led to the paradigm-shifting hypothesis that excessive neuronal network activity, rather than too little, may contribute to lower cognitive performance and dementia in some forms of Alzheimer's disease. When this happens, the progression of memory loss may accelerate," said Noebels.
The finding also demonstrated the two disorders may share defects in signaling within brain memory circuits.
The two labs went on to show that deleting the second gene for tau ameliorated both cognitive losses and seizures in the mice whose inherited disorder mimicked Alzheimer's disease found in humans.
Holth's finding demonstrates that tau is involved in a far broader range of epilepsy than previously suspected, said Noebels. The type of epilepsy she studied resulted from an inherited potassium ion channel defect that affects the flow of the potassium in and out of nerve cells. She found that removing the gene encoding Tau not only dramatically reduced seizures, but prevented the mice from dying early, which typically happens in these animals.
"Even a partial reduction of the amount of tau protein by 50 percent was highly effective," said Holth. Her finding suggests developing new drugs that lower the normal interactions of the tau protein may reduce seizures and sudden unexpected death for persons with intractable epilepsies, a problem in nearly one-third of the 5 million Americans with this disorder.
Currently, Noebels and his colleagues in the Blue Bird Laboratory are studying whether the loss of tau can correct a seizure disorder once it is already established. If these studies prove fruitful, "the pharmacological discovery programs under development for treatment of Alzheimer's disease may one day find their way to the epilepsy clinic," said Noebels.
###
Baylor College of Medicine: http://www.bcm.edu/news/mediacenter
Thanks to Baylor College of Medicine for this article.
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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126422/Less_tau_reduces_seizures_and_sudden_death_in_severe_epilepsy
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Self-assembling silica microwires may herald new generation of integrated optical devices
Jan. 23, 2013 ? Silica microwires are the tiny and as-yet underutilized cousins of optical fibers. If precisely manufactured, however, these hair-like slivers of silica could enable applications and technology not currently possible with comparatively bulky optical fiber. By carefully controlling the shape of water droplets with an ultraviolet laser, a team of researchers from Australia and France has found a way to coax silica nanoparticles to self-assemble into much more highly uniform silica wires.
The international team describes their novel manufacturing technique and its potential applications in a paper published January 23 in the Optical Society's (OSA) open-access journal Optics Materials Express. This technique is particularly significant, according to the researchers, because it could, for the first time, enable silica to be combined with any material through a process of microwire self-assembly.
"We're currently living in the 'Glass Age,' based upon silica, which enables the Internet," says John Canning, team member and a professor in the school of chemistry at The University of Sydney in Australia. "Silica's high thermal processing, ruggedness, and unbeatable optical transparency over long distances equate to unprecedented capacity to transmit data and information all over the world."
Silica, however, is normally incompatible with most other materials so functionalizing silica (giving it the capability) to do more than just carry light has been a challenge. Further, bridging the gap between the light-speed transmission of data through silica and electronic and photonic components -- such as optical switches, optical circuits, photon sources, and even sensors -- requires some form of interconnect. But this transition is highly inefficient using optical fibers and interconnection losses remain one of the largest unresolved issues in optical communications.
Silica microwires, if they could be manufactured or self-assembled in place, have the potential to operate as optical interconnects. They also could achieve new functionality by adding different chemicals that can only be introduced by self-assembly.
Silica wires, unlike optical fiber, have no cladding, which means greater confinement of light in a smaller structure better suited for interconnection, further minimizing losses and physical space. "So we were motivated to solve the great silica incompatibility problem," explains Canning.
To this end, the researchers came up with the idea of using evaporative self-assembly of silica nanoparticles at room temperature. They recently reported this breakthrough in the journal Nature Communications, demonstrating single-photon-emitting nanodiamonds embedded in silica, which is a first step toward a practical photon source for future quantum computing.
The key to carrying this innovation further, as described in their new research, is perfecting the manufacturing process so highly uniform wires self-assemble from nanoparticles suspended in a solution. The challenge has been that as naturally forming round droplets evaporate, they produce very uneven silica microwires. This is due to the microfluidic currents inside the droplet, which corral the nanoparticles into specific patterns aided and held together by intermolecular attractive forces. The nanoparticles then crystalize when the solvent (water) evaporates.
Canning and his team realized that by changing the shape of the droplet and elongating it ever so slightly, they could concurrently change the flow patterns inside the drop, controlling how the nanoparticles assemble.
The researchers did this by changing the "wettability" properties of the glass the drops were resting upon. The team used an ultraviolet laser to alter and pattern a glass made of the mineral borosilicate. This patterning made the surface more wettable in a very controlled way, allowing the droplet to assume a slightly more oblong shape. This subtle shape change was enough to alter the microscopic flows and eddies so as the water evaporated, the silica formed straighter, more uniform microwires.
The researchers anticipate that their processing technology will allow complete control of nanoparticle self-assembly for various technologies, including microwire devices and sensors, photon sources, and possibly silica-based integrated circuits.
It also will enable the production of selective devices such as chemical and biological sensors, photovoltaic structures, and novel switches in both optical fiber form and on waveguides -- all of which could lead to technologies that seamlessly integrate microfluidic, electronic, quantum, and photonic functionality.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Optical Society of America.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- John Canning, Hadrien Weil, Masood Naqshbandi, Kevin Cook, and Matthieu Lancry. Laser tailoring surface interactions, contact angles, drop topologies and the self-assembly of optical microwires. Opt. Mater. Express, 3, 284-294 (2013) [link]
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
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Tuesday, 22 January 2013
Singer Shakira, soccer star Gerard Pique welcome baby
(Reuters) - Singer Shakira gave birth to her first child, a boy, on Tuesday in Barcelona, the Colombian pop star said on her website.
The "Hips Don't Lie" singer and her boyfriend, the Spanish soccer player Gerard Pique, named the six-pound, six-ounce (three kilograms) boy Milan.
"Milan (pronounced MEE-lahn) means dear, loving and gracious in Slavic; in Ancient Roman, eager and laborious, and in Sanskrit, unification," the star said in a statement posted on her website.
"Just like his father, baby Milan became a member of FC Barcelona at birth," the couple joked in a statement. Pique is a defender for Spanish La Liga runner-up FC Barcelona.
Shakira, 35, announced her pregnancy in September after bowing out of a performance in Las Vegas.
The couple last week asked fans to donate gifts such as mosquito nets and vaccines to help needy children in an online baby shower. Shakira is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
Shakira has signed on to be a judge on the upcoming season of the hit singing contest "The Voice," which is broadcast by U.S. network NBC. She and R&B singer Usher will replace judges Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green.
The singer fist met Pique, 25, in 2010, but only confirmed that they had been in a relationship in March 2011.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey, editing by Elaine Lies)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/singer-shakira-soccer-star-gerard-pique-welcome-baby-235548794--spt.html
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Chastened by His Times, Obama Falls Short of History in Inaugural Address
If there was a sentence or sentiment that will be carved in marble and remembered by history, it was not evident Monday. President Obama's second inaugural address was hampered by the fact that he governs in one of American history?s most divided moments, grounded by the memory of promises he made four years ago to reform Washington.
The nation?s 44th?president, just the 17th?to deliver a second inaugural address, Barack Hussein Obama called a bitterly partisan nation to ?collective action," knowing his second-term agenda will be too ambitious for many and too meek for others.
And yet the address had a muscular undercurrent: Obama tied his agenda to the nation's founding principles, the uniquely American ideal of reinvention and renewal in the face of what he called "outworn programs [that] are inadequate to the needs of our times." The deficit, health care, income equality, climate change, immigration, gay rights, women's rights, and the right to vote are part of the nation's long arc toward justice, Obama said.
"You and I as citizens, have an obligation to shape the debate of our time," Obama said. "With common effort and common purpose, with passion and dedication, let us answer the call of history and carry into an uncertain future that precious light of freedom."
Obama attempted to speak to both his rivals and allies, demanding leadership worthy of this era of economic and social transition. ?We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate,? the president declared.
If that was a nod to an obstructionist GOP-controlled House, the Democrat seemed to ask patience of his liberal allies in his next breath: ?We must act, knowing that our work will be imperfect. We must act, knowing that today?s victories will be only partial, and that it will be up to those who stand here in four years, in 40 years, and 400 years hence to advance the timeless spirit once conferred to us in a spare Philadelphia hall.?
The president most obviously walked the line between pragmatism and ambition when he both vowed to keep Americans safe and denounced "perpetual wars." An antiwar candidate in 2008, Obama has pulled troops out of Iraq, overseen fluctuations in Afghanistan, and ordered the attack on Osama bin Laden.
With Iran's nuclear ambitions posing a stiff test of his presidency, Obama said, "We will defend our people and uphold our values through strength of arms and rule of law," he said. "We will show the courage to try and resolve our differences with other nations peacefully--not because we are naive about the dangers we face, but because engagement can more durably lift suspicion and fear."
The nation's first African-American president opened the address with a nod to the Declaration of Independence's promise that all men are created equal. "We recall that what binds this nation together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names," he said.
It's a sentiment at risk of ringing hollow in a country deeply split between whites and nonwhites, rich and poor, and, as evident in his hotly contested reelection race, a medley of frustrated Democrats, Republicans, and independents.
Still, for the hundreds of thousands who witnessed the addressed, this was a moment to remember.
??You only get one minute of history in your life,? said Desiree Armstrong, a barber from Wyandanch, N.Y., who traveled to Washington for hers.
Whether this was a moment for the ages will depend on Obama's ability to persuade both his rivals and allies to accept the difference between absolutism and principle.
Editor's note: This story was updated several times during and shortly after the address.
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Wednesday, 16 January 2013
Arizona gov. opts for federal Medicaid expansion
Speaker of the House Andy Tobin, R-Paulden, left, listens as Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer gives her State of the State address at the Arizona Capitol, Monday, Jan. 14, 2013, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Speaker of the House Andy Tobin, R-Paulden, left, listens as Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer gives her State of the State address at the Arizona Capitol, Monday, Jan. 14, 2013, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer smiles as she gives her State of the State address at the Arizona Capitol, Monday, Jan. 14, 2013, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
PHOENIX (AP) ? Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said Monday she plans to push for an expansion of the state's Medicaid program under the federal health care law, a surprising decision that could have an impact on other Republican governors weighing a similar decision.
Brewer has opposed the federal health care law known as the Affordable Care Act, citing worries over a potential overreliance on federal funding.
A provision in the 2010 law allows for states to increase Medicaid coverage, and Brewer told lawmakers in her annual State of the State address on Monday that virtually all of the expansion would be funded by the federal government. Not taking the money wouldn't contribute to the lowering of federal deficits, she said.
Any increase would also "include a circuit-breaker that automatically" would roll back enrollment if federal reimbursement rates decrease, Brewer said.
"I won't allow Obamacare to become a bait-and-switch," she said.
Brewer's decision was being closely watched across the country, particularly since Arizona was among the states that sued to overturn Obama's law. After the last summer's Supreme Court ruling upholding the law, Brewer considered a partial expansion, but the administration rejected that approach.
Brewer on Monday cited President Barack Obama's re-election and the Supreme Court ruling as evidence of the law's permanence.
She also referenced a brief and unpleasant encounter between her and the president that was captured by photographers. The argument on a Mesa airport tarmac was a highly visible demonstration of the verbal and legal skirmishing that has regularly occurred between Brewer and Obama's administration over illegal immigration and other issues.
A smiling Brewer told lawmakers that Arizona can't simply wag its finger at the federal government.
"Trust me: I tried that once," she said.
The Supreme Court ruling said states were free to accept or reject the expansion, and several GOP governors have said they will not go forward, including Rick Perry in Texas, Bobby Jindal in Louisiana and Nikki Haley in South Carolina.
Another Republican governor considering Medicaid expansion is Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who faces pressure from hospitals and other state constituencies but has said he's concerned about the potential costs of the expansion.
"I think this speaks to how this is a very good offer on the table," said Joan Alker, co-director of the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. "This puts pressure on other governors, like Gov. Scott in Florida, where there is a lot of debate right now."
Republicans have a majority in Arizona's House and Senate, which must approve the expansion. Brewer's announcement took even her own party's Legislative leaders by surprise.
"That was a bit of a shocker," Senate President Andy Biggs told reporters after the speech.
The announcement was a surprise even to journalists who were provided an advance copy of Brewer's speech ? minus the section on the Medicaid expansion. Brewer said as recently as last week she would make a decision soon, but didn't hint it would come in the State of the State address.
Seventeen states and Washington D.C. have now signed onto the expansion, and nine have opted out. The rest are weighing the decision.
Overall, the Medicaid expansion accounts for about half the 30 million uninsured people expected to eventually gain coverage under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.
The law expanded Medicaid to cover low-income people making up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $15,400 a year for a single person. That provision will mainly benefit low-income childless adults, who currently can't get Medicaid in most states. Separately, the overhaul provides subsidized private insurance for middle-class households.
Under the legislation, Washington would pay the entire cost of the Medicaid expansion for the first three years, gradually phasing down to 90 percent of the cost after that. It's a far more generous matching rate than the federal government provides for other parts of the Medicaid program.
Brewer told lawmakers that expanding Medicaid would help poor Arizonans and help hospitals and caregivers who now must give care without pay. An estimated 300,000 more Arizonans would be eligible for the state's version of Medicaid under the full expansion.
Biggs said it was premature to say whether lawmakers would support the expansion.
"We don't even know what the plan is," he said.
Republican state Rep. John Kavanagh, an opponent of expanding Medicaid, said he doubted the governor's plan will clear the Legislature.
"The Legislature doesn't like Obamacare, and this is a critical part of it," he said.
Senate Minority Leader Leah Landrum Taylor said not expanding Medicaid would continue to leave the poor without care and hospitals stuck with costs.
"The number of jobs that it's going to create, the number of lives it's going to save, it's people that need the health care," she said. "And the writing is on the wall. We can't continue this way."
___
Associated Press writers Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar in Washington contributed to this report.
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Tuesday, 15 January 2013
An Open Letter from Barack Obama to Louie Giglio
Last night I dreamt that I was reading The New York Times?and stumbled upon this open letter from the President to evangelical pastor Louie Giglio:
To my friend, Pastor Louie Giglio,
We share the essence of a common religious heritage. We both profess a faith in Jesus Christ, both call on God for direction and strength, and both believe that God calls us to care for the least of these. Yet we do not agree on all things, and you had the courage to form a friendship with me in spite of our differences.
You took a risk. Many of your fellow evangelicals look askance at anyone who cooperates with me. I?m sure there were some in your own congregation who disapproved. You had amassed enormous capital within the evangelical Christian community with the tens of thousands of young people who have attended your conferences and the millions who have enjoyed the messages and the music that have emerged from the Passion movement.?You risked that capital when you focused that movement on ending human trafficking, and risked it again when you formed a friendship and partnership with my faith-based office and with me. You visited the White House frequently?in 2012, and I have appreciated your prayers, your encouragement and your friendship.
My offices invited you to deliver the benediction at my inaugural, and you courageously accepted. Since I am so radioactive to many evangelical Christians, you endured some criticism for agreeing, as though your cooperation would anoint me with some veneer of evangelical approval. Yet you stood beside me and emphasized that we are all Americans, we are both believers, and we have many convictions and causes in common.
Then it happened. You have avoided speaking to hot-button issues in order to focus on saving the lost and rescuing the enslaved. Yet still?you came under attack for a sermon you preached nearly 20 years ago, where you identified homosexuality as sinful, held out the hope that same-sex desires can be transformed through the sanctification of the Spirit, and asked Christians to resist the activists? ?agenda of normalizing homosexuality. You were slandered as a bigoted, anti-gay extremist. I wanted to highlight your work fighting modern day slavery. Instead you were demonized. Americans who had never heard of you before the events of recent weeks have heard of you now, but they believe you are a preacher of hatred who cannot be allowed on the platform in the public square.
I know that you?re not a man of hatred and intolerance. But instead of speaking up in your defense, I left you twisting in the wind. I said nothing. I have hardly been a profile in courage, and for that I apologize. I should not have bowed to a few angry voices. I should have been a leader.
I understand why many of my gay and lesbian friends find your comments offensive. They find the implication that they should ?change? offensive; they believe that any kind of pastoral counseling that seeks to retrain or restrain their sexual desires is destructive and doomed to failure; and they resent the implication that there is something insidious about their agenda. There?s also a great deal of pain that many have endured in families and churches that teach these things. So I do not condone your words. They do not represent my views.
But I also understand why so many evangelicals and social conservatives in general are upset that you were pressed out of the inaugural. They feel as though they have in you, pastor Giglio, a man of extraordinary integrity. Your one ?crime? is that you believe in the traditional Christian sexual ethic. If even you are not acceptable, for all your work to help the poor and the needy, if even you are only held up to be pilloried and slandered as hateful, then what hope do they have? What place is there for them, they wonder, in Obama?s America??
Evangelicals say that your freedom of conscience is being infringed; when does the price of holding your religious conviction become so costly that you?re religious freedom is no longer free? My gay and lesbian friends respond, ?Well, we wouldn?t let a preacher of racial hatred deliver the benediction, would we??
This is where I should speak a word to both sides. I want my evangelical friends to understand the hurt that resides in the LGBT community, and that LGBTs see the wrongs committed against them as far greater than any wrong committed here against evangelicals. Evangelicals need to understand that and gain some perspective. Yet I want my LGBT friends to understand that creating a parallel between the belief that homosexuality is sinful on the one hand, and racial hatred on the other, is both false and destructive. It leaves no place for conversation. Gay activists chose to articulate their argument for gay rights as the equivalent of African Americans? fight for civil rights. Historically, of course, the two are enormously different. Blacks were actually enslaved in America for centuries, and effectively enslaved even in the Jim Crow South, in ways that gays have never been. The history of black-white relations in this country make the charge of racism absolutely explosive. And philosophically, it?s a category mistake to say that a belief is hateful. Beliefs may be wrong or right, justified or unjustified, harmful or helpful, but beliefs cannot be hateful any more than rocks can be loving.
Practically, however, and this is the most important point: paralleling the fight for gay rights with the fight for Civil Rights turns everyone who disagrees with us on the rightness or wrongness of homosexual relationships into a Bull Connor. And I know for certain that Louie Giglio is no Bull Connor. This, I believe, is what evangelicals were so upset about in this case and in the Dan Cathy/Chick-Fil-A case. They find it shocking that we have reached a point where anyone who believes gay sex is wrong or anyone who believes that marriage is ordained by God for the union of a man and a woman is ostracized and condemned as hateful, bigoted, and the equivalent of a racist.?
What I should have said is this: I know that you, my friend, Louie Giglio, love all people and believe that all people struggle with sin. Even though I don?t agree with your views (if they still are your views) on reparative counseling and the gay agenda, I know you are a man of compassion and integrity. So with this public letter I invite you back to the inauguration. We will have two pastors deliver the benediction, one who believes what you do and one who believes what I do. For, to quote my favorite blogger: neither side has a monopoly on good ideas or good intentions. Men and women of sound mind and heart stand on both sides of this issue, and we?ll need to work together to overcome the forces that threaten to tear us down or tear us apart.
Sincerely, your friend,?
Barack Obama
It was a sweet dream. Now it?s a prayer. It would, in my view, be a true profile in courage.
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Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush released from hospital
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Former U.S. president George H.W. Bush was released from a Houston hospital on Monday after more than seven weeks of treatment for bronchitis and related ailments, according to a statement issued by a family spokesman.
?Mr. Bush has improved to the point that he will not need any special medication when he goes home, but he will continue physical therapy,? Dr. Amy Mynderse, the doctor in charge of Bush?s care, said in the statement, issued by Bush spokesman Jim McGrath.
Bush said in the statement that he was grateful to the ?wonderful? doctors and nurses who took care of him.
?Let me add just how touched we were by the many get-well messages we received from our friends and fellow Americans,? the former president said. ?Your prayers and good wishes helped more than you know, and as I head home my only concern is that I will not be able to thank each of you for your kind words.?
The 41st U.S. president, 88, was admitted to Methodist Hospital on Nov. 23 for bronchitis and then transferred to intensive care in December after coming down with a persistent fever and other complications. He was moved to a regular patient room after his condition improved last month.
A spokesman for President Barack Obama - the nation?s 44th president - posted on Twitter Monday that Bush?s discharge was ?great news.?
?From 44 down, we all are relieved he?s out of the hospital and wish him & his family well,? White House Press Secretary Jay Carney wrote.
Bush, a Republican, took office in 1989 and served one term in the White House. The father of former President George W. Bush, he also served as a congressman, U.N. ambassador, envoy to China, CIA director and vice president for two terms under Ronald Reagan.
As president, Bush routed Iraq after former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990. His public approval ratings soared, but just 20 months later he was defeated in his re-election bid by Democrat Bill Clinton.
Until recently, Bush was known for an active lifestyle. He went skydiving to celebrate his 75th, 80th and 85th birthdays.
He met with former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev late last year in Houston. In March 2012, Bush formally endorsed Republican Mitt Romney for president.
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Source: http://www.winnipegsun.com/2013/01/14/former-president-george-hw-bush-released-from-hospital
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Monday, 14 January 2013
Honda offers glimpse of new small SUV
1 hr.
What, you were expecting an Element redux?
Two years after ending production of the intentionally ugly-duckling boxy Element, Honda showed the Urban SUV Concept, a thinly disguised look at a new small crossover that will slot in below the CR-V in the Honda lineup at the Detroit auto show. Key competitors will be the quirky Nissan Juke and the Fiat 500L, a supersize version of the diminutive Fiat 500.
While the trucklet?s profile is similar to many other small crossovers ? including big brother CR-V ? a unique, upswept character line that suggest speed.?The as-yet unnamed production version will be built on Honda?s Global Compact Series platform, the same as the Honda Fit. Honda will also build the vehicle on the same Mexico assembly line as the Fit.
As the industry moves toward smaller vehicles with better fuel economy, small crossovers in the Urban?s class will probably proliferate. And Honda is counting on selling a lot of them. It expects the Urban to help it double worldwide production of vehicles on the Global Compact Series platform to more than 1.5 million units.?
No one has had greater success with small cars than Honda, and this Urban SUV Concept will create new value in the growing small-SUV segment,? said John Mendel, executive vice president of sales at American Honda. ?With the continued expansion of our North American manufacturing operations, we expect fuel-efficient and fun-to-drive ?small? cars to play a key role in meeting the needs of our customers in the U.S.?
The North American International Auto Show is expected to be dominated by subcompact and compact SUVs and crossovers. Click here to read about some of the other little utes that are expected to break cover at this year?s show.
The concept measures 169.3 inches long, nine inches shorter than the CR-V, which Honda says makes it ideal for ?navigating both crowded city streets and open mountain roads.?
Honda said the Urban will use its Earth Dreams Technology for increased fuel efficiency. Inside, it will feature a layout that is similar to the Fit, including its trick MagicSeat, which can be configured for a variety of passenger and cargo options. Honda did not show the vehicle?s interior, but said it will be modern and feature the latest telematics technology.
The Urban will be manufactured along with the Fit at Honda?s newest North American plant near Celaya, Mexico, expected to open in the spring of 2014. While the new SUV is targeted at the U.S. market, Honda will sell it in many other markets around the world.
More from The Detroit Bureau
Copyright ? 2009-2012, The Detroit Bureau
Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/honda-offers-glimpse-new-small-suv-1B7972323
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Cleveland Indians' Chris Perez, Vinnie Pestano to pitch for U.S. team in World Baseball Classic
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Vinnie Pestano and Chris Perez, the Indians' 1-2 bullpen punch, have committed to pitching for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic.
Team USA begins WBC play March 8 against Mexico.
Pestano and Perez both Tweeted the news Saturday evening. Tweeted Pestano: "Just got the second best phone call of my career. I'm going to be wearing the Stars and Stripes in the WBC. #trulyhonored #childhooddream."
Tweeted Perez: "I am happy to say that I will be pitching for Team USA in the upcoming 2013 WBC. #Honored #Humbled #Ready."
Perez converted 39 of 43 save chances last season. Pestano, who finished second in the American League with 36 holds, was his primary set-up man. Despite losing 94 games last year, the Indians went 24-12 in one-run games thanks largely to the work of front-line relievers Joe Smith, Pestano and Perez.
The provisional roster will be announced Thursday. Former Yankees manager Joe Torre will manage Team USA.
Source: http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2013/01/cleveland_indians_chris_perez_4.html
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Sunday, 13 January 2013
Bartlett native's cancer motivates her life, her work
Before it became her inspiration for a rich life filled with joy, friends and a mission, cancer waged a cruel and unrelenting battle against Colleen McGrath and the people she loved.
Having already killed her grandmother and an uncle, cancer ravaged Colleen's "perfect suburban childhood" in Bartlett. As a teen, she watched cancer kill her mom, her dad and her best friend and come close to killing her. Now that Colleen is 27 and finally living the life she loves, cancer is attacking her once more in the form of incurable Stage IV colon cancer.
"I won't let cancer define me," proclaims Colleen, who says her passionate quest to help children with cancer is her "revenge" on the disease. "I won't be a victim to cancer ? My story, it happened for a reason, and I believe sharing my battle will help someone else."
With her brother Michael, 15 years older, and her sister Mary Eileen, 12 years older, already out into the world, Colleen was enjoying soccer, homemade cookies and all the other benefits of being the youngest child of Michael and Ellen McGrath when her mom, a former preschool teacher, was diagnosed with colon cancer.
"I had my 13th birthday in hospice with my mom," Colleen remembers. Ellen McGrath died 12 days later, on April 27, 1998, two days before her 52nd birthday.
Colleen completed her seventh-grade year, but she wasn't healthy. She missed chunks at the start of eighth grade, spent too much time in bed, had bouts with strep throat and fevers of 102 degrees, and showed signs of depression. Her still-grieving father, who worked as a youth probation officer and ran a car-detailing business on the side, took her to endless doctor's appointments before they discovered Colleen had pancreatic cancer, often deadly and extremely rare in children.
An extensive surgery in December of 1998 to remove the girl's gallbladder and parts of her pancreas, small intestine and stomach was followed by even more grueling rounds of chemotherapy. The drugs made her sick, gave her panic attacks about the loss of her hair, and made her lose more than 50 pounds. Despite support from her dad and siblings, Colleen eventually decided she wanted to quit treatment, surrender to the cancer and let it kill her.
"Part of it was because I was that sick," remembers Colleen, who was spending 20 hours a day in bed. "Part of the reason that I was giving up was because my only experience with cancer was holding my mom's hand as she died of cancer."
Her oncologist, Dr. Charles Rubin of the University of Chicago, and nurse Heather Moore, now retired, had been volunteers at a special camp for kids with cancer and thought it might help Colleen. That summer, Colleen's father told her she could quit treatment under one condition: She had to go to the One Step At A Time Camp in Lake Geneva, Wis., no matter how much she balked.
"I went to camp, and they cured my spirit," Colleen says of the camp run by a not-for-profit charity called Children's Oncology Services. "I saw amputees playing soccer. I saw bald kids who were totally comfortable and felt beautiful inside and out."
She ditched her wig, shaved the few strands of hair on her head, and vowed to complete her treatment and live.
"I remember my dad, tears rolling down his cheeks when he came to pick me up," Colleen says, wiping her own tears at the memory. "I'll never forget his face when he picked me up. He was so happy. He had me back."
Crediting that experience with "saving my life," Colleen has been to every One Step Camp since, as a camper and then as a counselor. She's also gone to the one-week winter camps, the annual ski trip to Utah, advocacy trips to Washington, D.C., with other cancer kids and survivors, and has been a constant volunteer and fundraiser for all 10 of the One Step Programs.
Children's Oncology Services hired Colleen a year ago as the development coordinator charged with raising money to send kids to camp, mainly by organizing teams for charity runs and other fundraisers. The 33 runners on Team One Step raised $56,000 the first year. Last year, about 100 runners raised $140,000. This year, Colleen is organizing an even bigger effort.
She uses the battle with cancer to motivate all her good works.
"Colleen embraced it and made it her own," remembers Lauren Johnson, 28, one of the many friends from Colleen's Bartlett High School class of 2003 who volunteers with One Step Programs.
"Freshman year, I walked in with complete confidence. I was bald, 14, weighed 83 pounds and I had cancer," says Colleen. At 15, she sponsored a basketball tourney to raise funds for the camps. In remission and recovered from her treatment by junior year, Colleen drove a car with license plates reading "XBALDY."
On the anniversary of ending her chemo treatments, her dad took her to get a tattoo on her ankle boasting the Japanese characters for "survivor."
Their close world was ripped apart once again when her dad went to the hospital with some pains and was diagnosed with colon cancer.
Her father died in December of 2004 when Colleen was a 19-year-old student at the University of Nebraska. Her best friend from camp died of bone cancer the following July. Colleen had met Jackie Renner of Sycamore during her second year at camp. While Colleen was thriving in recovery, Jackie suffered six relapses in five years. Even after cancer caused the amputation of Jackie's right leg, the pair always made camp and the ski trip to Utah.
The early morning when Jackie's mother phoned to say her friend had died, Colleen hopped in her car and drove to the camp to celebrate Jackie's life and grieve her loss.
"We're a big family," says Jill Kulbok-Carlson, director of program services for Children's Oncology Services. "We celebrate together as a family, and we mourn together as a family. There's a lot of coming together around a loss."
Now, there is an all-encompassing rally around Colleen. The lump Colleen discovered on her hip at the end of April was a symptom of Stage IV colon cancer officially diagnosed in May.
"Me being me, I'm like, 'Am I going to die?'" Colleen remembers asking a surgeon. "And she said, 'Yeah.'"
Colleen took chemo treatment while at camp "because I couldn't miss camp," and says she isn't about to give up just because she has an incurable cancer.
"My family and I chose to say my cancer is not curable now," says Colleen, whose dress hides the medical tubing draining fluids from her body. Adhesive patches constantly deliver a drug to help her manage the pain. She had an allergic reaction to her last chemo treatment and will start a new drug on Wednesday, when she'll lose her hair as she did at age 13.
"We are going to do everything to keep me alive until there's a cure," Colleen says, before flashing a coy smile and quipping, "Or I'll still be taking chemo at 80."
Her brother and sister, who take extra medical precautions warranted in a family with such a history of cancer, are constant and upbeat supporters. Her brother, the longtime head basketball coach at the University of Chicago, her sister and their families live near Colleen in Chicago.
"Nobody can do it by themselves. It takes an army," says Mary Eileen Weber, the sister who remembers how their dad survived long enough to enjoy a family trip to Ireland, see his two oldest kids marry and help Colleen head to college. "So much of this is about having the fight and having the energy because you have to enjoy the days you have."
Dubbed Aunt Caca by her niece before the girl was old enough to pronounce her name, Colleen now enjoys the support of Team Caca, led by Mary Eileen's kids, 7-year-old Elly and 4-year-old Sean, and including children Colleen took care of during her earlier career as a nanny. Growing numbers of friends, including leukemia survivor Erin Fullmer and Colleen's roommate Veronica Reyes, are part of Team Colleen.
"She continues to inspire both young kids and everyone she gets a chance to tell her story to," says her uncle Terry McGrath of Glen Ellyn.
"Cancer in no way defines you," reads a post from friend Hailey Danisewicz on Colleen's Facebook page. "What defines you is your contagious smile, your scary cacklely laugh, your personality that's almost too big for your body, your love of Nebraska football, your mad Triple Play skills, your frequent hugs, your passion for the happiest place on earth, and your dedication to bettering camp for generations to come. That's how the world sees you, Colleen Patricia McGrath. Don't ever forget it. I love you with all my heart."
"She's amazing," Kulbok-Carlson says of her co-worker. "I don't know how she does it, but she does. There's definitely a sense that she's going to make it, and no matter what happens, she's going to be fine."
While she admits to having "bad days," Colleen says her passion for the One Step Camp once again feeds her spirit.
"It feels really good some days to sit in my bed and work on it," says Colleen, who notes that in the last four years she had gotten to the point where "I really love my life again."
"I finally get my dream," Colleen says of her career helping others with cancer. "It's like revenge. If I can come up with something to make life better for somebody with cancer, I win."
To find out more about Children's Oncology Services, One Step Camp, Team One Step, Team Colleen or fundraising and volunteer possibilities, email Colleen at marathon@onestepcamp.org, go to the website onestepcamp.org, or call (312) 924-4220.
Source: http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20130113/news/701139924/
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Beijing Air Pollution Off the Charts
[unable to retrieve full-text content]An air-quality monitor atop the United States Embassy recently measured an air quality index well above 500, which is supposed to be the top of the scale.
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Rich sports legacies dot Rockford schools' first Hall of Fame class
The Rockford School District?s inaugural Hall of Fame class includes three state championship teams, an NCAA All-American and a former NFL player.
It truly is the best of the best of RPS sports history.
?We feel this is long overdue, to showcase the rich history of athletics in the Rockford Public Schools,? said Mat Parker, director of athletic activities and program development. ?And because this is the first class that is going to be inducted, it?s extremely prestigious.?
The district will honor its first Hall of Fame recipients Feb. 23 at the first Champion?s Ball. The fundraiser for school athletics and the Rockford Sports Coalition will be staged at the Radisson Conference Center.
Ten local media members, coaches and former Rockford athletes selected the honorees last month: two athletes, two teams, one coach and one service award winner.
?Because there?s such a large number of deserving inductees, this is going to be a fun event for many, many years,? Parker said.
Athletes: Jerry Latin (East football and basketball), Lisa Coole (Guilford swimming)
Latin was a football and basketball star for the E-Rabs in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He rushed 190 times for 1,325 yards for the 1970s conference championship team from East and went on to play college football for NIU. He spent four years in the NFL, gaining 560 yards as a halfback for St. Louis and Los Angeles. Latin lives in Rockford and is active in youth football leagues.
Coole, a 1993 Guilford graduate, won four state swimming titles, ranking No. 1 in the nation as a senior in the 100-yard butterfly. The 1993 NIC-9 Female Athlete of the Year swam for University of Georgia, where she was a 26-time All-American and the 1996 NCAA champion in the 100 butterfly. She also finished sixth in the event at the 1996 Olympic Trials. Coole died in an automobile accident in 1998; she was 23.
Teams: 1974 East football, 1955-1956 West boys basketball
The E-Rabs won the Class 4A state football championship with an undefeated record, and at least four of the team members went on to play professional football and several others played Division I college football.
The West basketball teams that won back-to-back state championships will be inducted together. Both went 29-1 in an era when there was only one state champion. It was the last state championship for a Rockford boys basketball team. The 1955 team is famous for scoring six points in one second to beat Elgin for the title.
Coach: Alex Saudargas (West boys basketball)
The man who led the West teams to their titles compiled a 435-198 career record. West advanced to the state tournament under Saudargas five times ? in 1949, 1955, 1956, 1967 and 1973 ? won the titles in 1955 and ?56, and placed fourth in 1967. Saudargas died in 1999 at the age of 82.
Service award: Genelle Samuelson
The former teacher and coach was well-known for re-establishing sports in Rockford?s middle schools, for helping launch the youth basketball REBA program, and was a pioneer for women?s sports in the 1970s. Samuelson died of cancer in August at the age of 68.
Honoring these recipients will be a highlight of the Champions Ball, which will feature a presentation by Ben Holmstrom, a former all-state Guilford basketball player.
Emily Tropp: 815-987-1385; emilytropp@rrstar.com; @emilytropp
Champions Ball
What: Fundraiser for Rockford School District athletics
When: 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23
Where: Radisson Conference Center, 200 S. Bell School Road, Rockford
What to expect: Semi-formal dinner, drinks, dancing and live music. Emceed by WROK?s Steve Shannon. Inaugural Hall of Fame inductions. Presentation by former all-state Guilford basketball player Ben Holmstrom. Live and silent auctions.
Cost: $50/person, $350 for a table of eight. Includes admission to the East-Auburn boys basketball game at 2 p.m. at Rock Valley College
Tickets: 815-489-7264, ext. 16362
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Saturday, 12 January 2013
Business Leaders Unveil Prospectus for Increased Innovation ...
We founded Startl to pave the way for cool new digital media learning products to move from idea to funding and into learners? hands. We?re working outside the established systems in a public-private partnership to break new ground in the education market and help to launch the next generation of digital tools for learning. >> Read more About Startl
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Germany's Bad Energy Choices Leading into Cul ... - Peak Oil News
Big wind and big solar are hopelessly intermittent and unreliable forms of energy production. But Germany has rashly committed itself to supplying 40% of its power from the intermittent unreliables by 2020. As a result of this giant leap of faith, German energy planners are scrambling for ways to convert big wind and big solar energy to more reliable forms of energy that can be stored, and used whenever needed.
As seen in the diagram above, a new ?3.3 million project aims to produce methane from wind and solar generated electricity, using alkaline electrolyser stacks.
Once the hydrogen has been produced it passes through a methanisation process. The resulting methane can be injected directly into the natural gas grid, thus allowing for renewable energy storage on a timescale of months or more. The gas contributes to decarbonising the grid, and can be used for electricity generation or to fuel natural gas vehicles. _FuelCellToday
Here is more information about an earlier, preliminary research project to prove the concept:
The Centre for Solar Research Baden-W?rttemberg (ZSW) has inaugurated a research facility to convert solar power to methane. The methane is then added to the natural gas grid.
The project uses solar power to electrolyse water in a pressurised alkaline electrolyser, producing hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen gas then undergoes methanation, and with the facility able to produce up to 300 cubic meters of renewable methane per day, it is the largest of its type in the world. _FuelCellToday
More information from ZSW (in German)
Needless to say, the concentration of CO2 in the Earth?s atmosphere is vanishingly small (0.04%) ? making atmospheric CO2 far too rare and expensive as a CO2 source, for an industrial-scale project. This being the case, it is clear that the project will have to use concentrated CO2 effluent from a hydrocarbon-burning power plant, cement plant, or other industrial scale plant.
And as it happens, Germany is burning much more coal lately, as a result of its impulsive decision to shut down its nuclear power plants. All of which brings up a very good question: ?If Germans want to produce methane from CO2 and H2 from the electrolysis of water, why not use nuclear power as your source of electricity?? Nuclear power is cheaper, more reliable, and more potentially abundant than the intermittent unreliables ? big wind and big solar.
Perhaps the answer to the question is that the Germans are not actually serious about all of this, but are merely posturing for the energy and environmental media ? and for green oriented voters and power blocs.
That would be a shame. Germany is in dire need of competent people who are willing to take a serious approach to present and future electrical power needs.
Today?s bad choices by German leaders will have the effect of limiting possible good choices in the future. Germany is being painted into a corner, led into a cul de sac, by faux environmental greens who have been given too much power across the EU.
The green ideology is doing for Germany and the EU what the communist ideology did for the former USSR.
Al Fin
Source: http://peakoil.com/alternative-energy/germanys-bad-energy-choices-leading-into-cul-de-sac/
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