tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19615445563484629592024-02-07T21:15:22.937-08:00...because THAT guy said it!Looking for a "one stop shop" blog? A place where you can get relevant news, movie and TV show recommendations or even a short story? Well look no further, this blog has what you need. So make yourself comfortable and browse around; there is something for everyone ....because THAT guy said it!Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961544556348462959.post-9393092002708758472012-03-21T19:10:00.002-07:002012-03-21T19:14:33.974-07:00Brain Skills decline due to Obesity...Should have had a V8<br />
<br />
<div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">
<strong>Being overweight in later life puts
you at higher risk of brain decline, research suggests</strong>. </div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjokcomBEmk1NMGrNPGALryOm4DUw9G6a2JWNjpBkX1B3Bo0_JjUZfxOpVADl2EQ7KfA3Kj9mdZ-hpzp3s1E96HKoHatgaW91pJZspZ4Lv78Yj6q3Tqao6KZgu9u_YBtbXFPPU_W8C1leA/s1600/OBESEDV%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjokcomBEmk1NMGrNPGALryOm4DUw9G6a2JWNjpBkX1B3Bo0_JjUZfxOpVADl2EQ7KfA3Kj9mdZ-hpzp3s1E96HKoHatgaW91pJZspZ4Lv78Yj6q3Tqao6KZgu9u_YBtbXFPPU_W8C1leA/s320/OBESEDV%5B1%5D.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: small;">A high BMI was linked to lower </span><br />
<span style="color: #e69138; font-size: small;">cognitive scores</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A study of 250 people aged between 60 and 70 found those with a high body
mass index (BMI) and big waists scored more poorly in cognitive tests.<br />
<br />
The Alzheimer's Society said the research, in the journal Age and Ageing,
added to evidence that excess body fat can affect brain function.<br />
<br />
Lifestyle changes can help make a difference, it said.<br />
<br />
The Korean study looked at the relationship between fat levels and cognitive
performance in adults aged 60 or over.<br />
<br />
The participants underwent BMI - a calculation based on a ratio of weight to
height - and waist circumference measurements, a scan of fat stored in the
abdomen and a mental test.<br />
<br />
Both a high BMI and high levels of abdominal fat were linked with poor
cognitive performance in adults aged between 60 and 70.<br />
<br />
In individuals aged 70 and older, high BMI, waist circumference and abdominal
body fat were not associated with low cognitive performance.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1q1H5IRvxNNNjFhUvOKr9ohQxSvEJJcZAJnEImxTliG5Ss-Z8OMBJu-rUhQZhn9uau4IRVROpaPNw4kVHfjkeay0VxuwbFvR64Tiy27jjZymmGX0_BibQnqYrFPPwJbOAEV0keaRLsco/s1600/obese%2520couple%2520Tobyotter%2520text%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1q1H5IRvxNNNjFhUvOKr9ohQxSvEJJcZAJnEImxTliG5Ss-Z8OMBJu-rUhQZhn9uau4IRVROpaPNw4kVHfjkeay0VxuwbFvR64Tiy27jjZymmGX0_BibQnqYrFPPwJbOAEV0keaRLsco/s320/obese%2520couple%2520Tobyotter%2520text%5B1%5D.jpg" width="320" /></a>The lead author of the study, Dae Hyun Yoon, said: "Our findings have
important public health implications. The prevention of obesity, particularly
central obesity, might be important for the prevention of cognitive decline or
dementia."<br />
<br />
A spokesperson from the UK Alzheimer's Society said: "We have all heard how a
high BMI is bad for our heart but this research suggests it could also be bad
for the head. <br />
<br />
"Although we don't know whether the people in this study went on to develop
dementia, these findings add to the evidence that excess body fat could impact
on brain function.<br />
<br />
"One in three people over 65 will die with dementia but there are things
people can do to reduce their risk. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ffd966; font-size: large;"><strong>The obvious</strong></span></div>
<br />
"Eating a balanced diet, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly
and getting your blood pressure and cholesterol checked can all make a
difference."<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">BBC News Health</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961544556348462959.post-37841304313557517422012-03-20T10:56:00.003-07:002012-03-20T10:59:07.491-07:00Elections Gone Wild...DR of Congo's killing spree last election<br />
<div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">
Security forces in the Democratic
Republic of Congo carried out killings and arbitrary arrests after elections
last year, according to a UN report.</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/56962000/jpg/_56962739_013404632-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Opposition UDPS supporters run through a cloud of tear gas outside N'Djili airport in Kinshasa" border="0" height="171" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/56962000/jpg/_56962739_013404632-1.jpg" width="304" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: small;">The aftermath of the election was </span><br />
<span style="color: #e06666;"><span style="font-size: small;">characterised</span><span style="font-size: small;">by violence</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The UN Joint Human Rights Office documented the killing of 33 civilians in
Kinshasa by members of the army, police and the elite Republican Guard. <br />
<br />
The country's justice minister has rejected the report's findings. <br />
<br />
International observers say last November's disputed elections, won by
President Joseph Kabila, were flawed. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/ZR/ReportDRC_26Nov_25Dec2011_en.pdfhttp://" title="Report of the UN Joint Human Rights Office"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">The
report focuses on the period </span></a>between 26 November and 26 December 2011 in
Kinshasa - seen as an opposition stronghold. <br />
<br />
It says that during this month, at least 33 people were killed - including 22
by gunshot - and at least 83 others were injured, including 61 who were
shot.<br />
<br />
At least 16 people remain unaccounted for, it said.<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Dumped in river</span></strong><br />
<br />
It said it had documented the arrest of at least 265 civilians, most of whom
had been detained illegally or arbitrarily.<br />
<br />
Many of these, the report alleges, were detained due to their affiliation
with the UDPS opposition party or because they came from the home province of
its leader, Etienne Tshisekedi. <br />
<br />
It blames the bulk of these acts of violence on the Congolese Republican
Guard and officers of the National Congolese Police and its specialised
units.<br />
<br />
Witnesses are quoted as saying some of the bodies were dumped in the Congo
river, while others were buried in mass graves.<br />
<br />
The report calls on the Congolese authorities to conduct independent
investigations into all the cases of human rights violations committed in the
capital to bring those guilty to justice.<br />
<br />
It also recommends that illegal detention facilities in the capital should be
immediately shut down. <br />
<br />
The November elections were the first Congolese-organised polls since the end
of a devastating war in 2003, which left some four million people dead. <br />
<br />
President Kabila has admitted that there were mistakes in the electoral
process, but said no poll was 100% perfect and rejected concerns that the
results, criticised by Western observers, lacked credibility.<br />
<br />
So next time you complain about how bad our election process is, understand that it could be wose and appreciate the freedoms and privileges we have in this country...because THAT guy said it!<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">BBC News Africa</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961544556348462959.post-91653051926362730982012-03-15T10:05:00.000-07:002012-03-15T10:10:16.976-07:00A new way to erase photocopied ink in the works! MINDBLOWING!!<span style="color: magenta; font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/59089000/gif/_59089970_close-up.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Close-up of an "unphotocopied" sheet of paper" border="0" height="300" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/59089000/gif/_59089970_close-up.gif" width="336" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="width: 336px;"></span><br />
<span style="width: 336px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A close-up image of a sheet of "unphotocopied" </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">paper reveals most of the toner has been removed</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<div style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<strong>A process to "unphotocopy" toner ink
from paper has been developed by engineers at the University of Cambridge.</strong></div>
<br />
The process involves using short laser pulses to erase words and images by
heating the printed material to the point that they vaporise. The researchers say it works with commonly used papers and toner inks and is
more eco-friendly than recycling. However, they add that more research is needed to bring a product to
market.<br />
<br />
"When you fire the laser, it hits the thin toner layer and heats it up until
the point that you vaporise it," the team's lead author, David Leal-Ayala <br />
<br />
"Toner is mostly composed of carbon and a plastic polymer. It's the polymer
in the toner that is vaporised."<br />
<br />
In their study, <a href="http://rspa.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2012/03/09/rspa.2011.0601"><span style="color: #0b5394;">published
in the Proceedings of The Royal Society A journal</span></a> and reported by <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/onepercent/2012/03/laser-powered-unprinter-wipes.html"><span style="color: #0b5394;">New
Scientist</span></a>, the engineers acknowledge that they are not the first to have
thought of the idea. <br />
<br />
But they say that others who have tried to solve the problem have found that
they damaged and/or discoloured the paper in the process, or required specially
formulated toner. Toshiba already markets a laser printer which can erase ink, but notes that
the machine is dependent on its own "e-blue" ink to function.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="cross-head"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Green pulses</span></strong></span>
<br />
<br />
Mr Leal-Ayala and his colleagues tested a range of ultraviolet, infra-red and
visible lasers at different speeds. They eventually found that the best setting was green laser pulses, lasting
just four billionths of a second in duration, which removed all but a hint of
the print.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/59089000/jpg/_59089973_text2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Test "unphotocopied" paper" border="0" height="400" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/59089000/jpg/_59089973_text2.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="width: 200px;"></span><br />
<span style="width: 200px;"><span style="color: magenta; font-size: x-small;">Tests reveal only a faint outline </span><br />
<span style="color: magenta; font-size: x-small;">of erased text were left behind</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
They say that curling, bending and accelerated-ageing tests carried out on
the resulting "unprinted" paper suggested it had not sustained significant
damage and was "comparable to blank unlasered paper". A gas extraction system was used to capture nanoparticles and "mostly
harmless" gases produced by the process.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="cross-head"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Replacing
recycling</span></strong></span>
<br />
<br />
Having demonstrated the technique in a lab setting, the engineers now plan to
develop a prototype device suitable for an office.<br />
<br />
They concede that most businesses would still find recycled paper a more
cost-effective solution, but add that the price should fall if it went into
production thanks to economies of scale.<br />
<br />
"When you recycle paper you use a lot of resources," Mr Leal-Ayala said.<br />
<br />
"You use electricity, water and chemicals, and to be honest when you print
something the only reason that you don't re-use the paper is because there is
print on it.<br />
<br />
"The paper is still in good condition and there is no point in going through
all the heavy industrial process if the paper is still perfectly fine."<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">BBC Technology</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961544556348462959.post-85183863116475120252012-03-14T13:24:00.002-07:002012-03-14T13:24:34.862-07:00Texas court shooting leaves one confirmed dead...so far<br />
<br />
<div class="caption body-narrow-width">
<a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/59075000/gif/_59075211_us_texas_beaumont_140312.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Map" border="0" height="171" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/59075000/gif/_59075211_us_texas_beaumont_140312.gif" width="304" /></a>A man has opened fire outside a court in the US state of
Texas, leaving at least one person dead and three injured, say police.</div>
<br />
The alleged shooter tried to escape in a vehicle after the attack in the city
of Beaumont, about 80 miles east of Houston.<br />
<br />
One victim was hit by the suspect's lorry as he tried to get away.<br />
<br />
The suspect had come to court with family members, but police did not say why
he was there.<br />
<br />
In a news conference, deputy police chief Zena Stephens confirmed the suspect
was injured by police returning fire outside the courthouse. One person ran into the courthouse for safety after being shot, she said. After abandoning the lorry in a nearby street, the suspect ran into a nearby
building and took hostages.<br />
<br />
Local and county police surrounded the building and contacted the suspect by
telephone. He then handed the gun to people inside and gave himself up to
police. The alleged shooter was then brought to a nearby hospital.<br />
<br />
Police say they will not release the identity of the person shot dead until
the family is notified.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/4poQnZ7yAig?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961544556348462959.post-85206955695684298572012-03-13T10:51:00.001-07:002012-03-13T10:51:25.481-07:00Case on Rare Earths Exports filed against China by the US, Japan and European Union<br />
<div class="videoInStoryB">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/LID4TRMEYFA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="caption" style="text-align: center;">
<em><strong>President Obama: "If China would simply let the </strong></em></div>
<div class="caption" style="text-align: center;">
<em><strong>market work on
its own, we would have no objections''</strong></em></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The US, Japan and the European Union
have filed a case against China at the World Trade Organization, challenging its
restrictions on rare earth exports. After discussing the Afghanistan situation, US President Barack Obama announced the filing at the White House, accusing
China of breaking agreed WTO rules.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Beijing has set quotas for exports of rare earths, which are critical to the
manufacture of high-tech products from hybrid cars, to flat-screen TVs. It is the first WTO case to be filed jointly by the US, EU and Japan. They argue that by limiting exports, China, which produces more than 95% of
the world's rare earth metals, has pushed up prices.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="cross-head"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Environmental concerns?</strong></span></span>
</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"We've got to take control of our energy future and we cannot let that energy
industry take root in some other country because they were allowed to break the
rules," Mr Obama said in a Rose Garden press conference. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div class="story-feature wide ">
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #6aa84f;">What are rare earths?</span></h2>
<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
<ul><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><strong>
</strong></span>
<li><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><strong>Despite their name, rare earths are not particularly rare</strong></span></li>
<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><strong>
</strong></span>
<li><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><strong>The term refers to 17 elements, most of which are fairly abundant in
nature</strong></span></li>
<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><strong>
</strong></span>
<li><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><strong>Rare earths are a collection of 17 chemical elements in the periodic table:
scandium, yttrium, and some 15 lanthanides</strong></span></li>
<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><strong>
</strong></span>
<li><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><strong>Some are as common as copper or zinc, while even the rarest occur in greater
quantities than gold or platinum</strong></span></li>
<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><strong>
</strong></span>
<li><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><strong>They are essential in the manufacture of many electronic goods</strong></span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<br />
<br />
<div id="story_continues_2">
"If China would simply let the market work on its own we
would have no objections."</div>
<br />
In the press conference, Mr Obama also said his new trade enforcement unit -
which he established last month, with China the primary target - was ramping up
its operations. China has denied the allegations in the WTO case, saying that it had enforced
the quotas to ensure there was no environmental damage caused due to excessive
mining. <br />
<br />
"We think the policy is in line with WTO rules," said Chinese foreign
ministry spokesman Liu Weimin. "Exports have been stable. China will continue to export, and will manage
rare earths based on WTO rules," he said. The 17 metals are used in electrical products, as well as many renewable
energy devices. There have been concerns that Beijing has implemented the quotas in a bid to
ensure that prices remain low within China, which would give its manufacturers
an advantage. <br />
<br />
But Ivor Shrago, chairman of the mining services firm Rare Earths Global,
said the US was in trouble because it took the wrong decisions in the past.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="videoInStoryC">
<div class="bbccom_companion bbccom-advert bbccom_display_none">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/4wPYbSjVrVQ?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="bbccom_text" style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="bbccom_text" style="text-align: center;">
<em><strong>China controls almost the entire world supply of rare
earths</strong></em></div>
</div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
"They took a deliberate decision about 20 years ago not to develop [rare
earth mining] and instead to buy the completed products," he told BBC News. "Because of the deliberate decision that was taken, in China we have
developed skills and expertise that the others do not have."<br />
<br />
Welcoming Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping to the White House last month, Mr
Obama warned that China must play by the same rules as other major powers in the
world economy. <br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">BBC News Business</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961544556348462959.post-87309498552308569042012-03-09T14:25:00.002-08:002012-03-09T14:28:52.687-08:00Who says there are no jobs being created...US economy adds 227,000 jobs in February<br />
<br />
<div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1" style="text-align: center;">
<strong>The US economy created 227,000 jobs
in February, while the unemployment rate stayed at 8.3%, the lowest level in
nearly three years.</strong></div>
<div class="introduction">
<br /></div>
<div class="introduction">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/hDSo8beKHds?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><strong>President Barack Obama says he is confident </strong></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><strong>there are "better days ahead" for the US economy</strong></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
The Labor Department report also showed that job-creation figures in December
and January were even stronger than first estimated. President Barack Obama said the figures showed the economy "getting
stronger". Employment has been rising for the past six months, but the jobless rate has
been stuck above 8% since early 2009.<br />
<br />
That, largely, can be explained by the changing size of the workforce. Americans who had given up looking for work have started streaming back into
the labour market.<br />
<br />
Those who re-enter the market but do not secure jobs are in effect counted
afresh as unemployed.<br />
<br />
That's why the unemployment rate in February remained unchanged at 8.3%.<br />
<br />
<div class="story-feature wide ">
<h2>
<hr />
</h2>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="byline-name"><strong><span style="color: #f1c232; font-size: large;">ANALYSIS</span></strong></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f1c232;"><span class="byline-name">by Adam Brookes</span> <span class="byline-title">BBC News, Washington</span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #f1c232;">The American economy, it seems, is lumbering out of recession's shadow. These
numbers are very good for President Obama's reelection chances. But we have been
here before. In the last couple of years, surges of economic activity have
simply withered away. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #f1c232;">Economists warn the same could still happen this time. The
cost of fuel is worryingly high, and may prove a drag on growth. The Republicans who seek the presidency this year pour scorn on Mr Obama's
handling of the economy. And that message resonates among millions of desperate
Americans. But if the economy continues to improve, the Republican position will
begin to look a little thin come November.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #f1c232;">
</span><span style="color: #f1c232;">And Mr Obama's approval ratings are ticking upwards. They hover around 50%
now, showing that, as America's economy slowly improves, the president undergoes
a political recovery of his own - but the two remain equally tentative.</span></div>
<br />
<hr />
<div id="story_continues_2">
<br /></div>
The number of new jobs being created has been
consistently above 200,000 in each of the past three months, fuelling hopes that
the US recovery is gathering pace.<br />
<br />
"Our job now is to keep this economic engine churning. We can't go back to
the same policies that got us into this mess," Mr Obama said at a Rolls Royce
plant in Virginia, insisting that better times lay ahead.<br />
<br />
"We can't go back to an economy that was weakened by outsourcing and bad debt
and phoney financial profits."<br />
<br />
Earlier, the head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, said
the US may exceed a previous forecast of 1.8% growth in 2012.<br />
<br />
On Friday, new figures showed the US trade deficit higher than expected in
January.<br />
<br />
High oil prices and renewed demand helped to push imports to a record high of
$233.4bn, according to the Department of Commerce, with imports from China
rising 4.7% to $34.4bn.<br />
<br />
The trade gap was $52.6bn in January, the highest since October 2008, and its
estimate of December's trade deficit was revised up to to $50.4bn from a
previous figure of $48.8bn. <br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="cross-head"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Expansion</strong></span></span>
<br />
<br />
Employment in February rose in professional and businesses services by
82,000, with half of that in temporary help services.<br />
<br />
Jobs growth also occurred in health care and social assistance, leisure and
hospitality, manufacturing, and mining.<br />
<div class="caption body-narrow-width">
</div>
<div class="caption body-narrow-width">
</div>
Manufacturing added 31,000 jobs, with most car makers been taking on new
workers and adding shifts and overtime to meet pent-up demand after production
was disrupted early last year following the tsunami and earthquake in Japan.
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58984000/jpg/_58984011_masterlocks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Lock employee in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on 25 January 2012" border="0" height="171" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58984000/jpg/_58984011_masterlocks.jpg" width="304" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;">Job-creation has been a major issue on the US</span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;">eletion campaign trail</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Another positive note was provided by a revision to data showing that the
economy had created 61,000 more jobs in December and January combined than was
previously estimated.<br />
<br />
Paul Ashworth, chief US economist at Capital Economics, said the figures
added to evidence that the US jobs market had turned a corner: "Overall, another
very strong payroll report and there's every chance that March will bring more
of the same."<br />
<br />
The number of people without a job remained all but unchanged last month, at
12.8 million, and the number of those working part time because their hours have
been cut back or because they have been unable to find a full-time job was also
stuck at 8.1 million.<br />
<br />
Unemployment is one of the most hotly contested topics among the candidates
battling to win November's presidential election. <br />
<br />
An improvement in the figures is seen as favourable to the incumbent,
President Barack Obama.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">BBC News Business</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961544556348462959.post-15218803489550194342012-03-08T10:01:00.000-08:002012-03-08T10:07:45.588-08:00Signatures: How significant are they?<br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58949000/jpg/_58949109_elizabeth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Elizabeth I's signature" border="0" height="225" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58949000/jpg/_58949109_elizabeth.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>Did Elizabeth I have more time on her hands, or have standards slipped?</strong></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong><span style="font-family: inherit;">A letter leaked to the press from Vince Cable criticising
the government was signed off by the business secretary with a distinctive
moniker akin to a smiley face. So how significant is a signature?</span></strong><br /><br />
<br />
<br />
The odd-looking sign-off became a talking point this week, with some people
joking about what the signature might say about Vince Cable. <br />
<br />
<br /><br />
<div class="caption body-narrow-width">
<a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58944000/jpg/_58944036_signature.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="One of Vince Cable's signatures" border="0" height="171" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58944000/jpg/_58944036_signature.jpg" width="304" /></a></div>
Is he trying to be cool? Is he too busy?<br />
<br />
Maybe he just likes to draw a caricature of a smiling whale at the end of his
letters as a reminder to himself and all of us that we are not alone on this
planet and all our decisions have impacts on the eco-system. <br />
<br />
Whatever it is, his squiggle is sufficiently odd to have people resurrecting
that old chestnut: trying to predict personality from handwriting.<br />
<br />
I became aware of the "science" of graphology around the time I had to
produce my first signature. This was when I opened my first account of any
description with a financial institution. <br />
<br />
Signing an application form for a Sammy Squirrel Savings Account in the Irish
Post Office is not exactly the same as inking a merger between Glencore and
Xstrata but nevertheless it was a milestone of sorts. <br />
<br />
I didn't make what one would call a cool signature. I just wrote my name a
little bit faster. And that is still the case today. Someone analysing my
signature now would conclude that I've no strong feelings about anything and
that I may not even be a real person. <br />
<br />
It's too late to change now and the lack of an impressive signature has
affected my life. One of the reasons why I consciously shun the fame that would
have otherwise occurred as a natural result of my talent, is that it would take
too long for me to sign "all those books". <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58944000/jpg/_58944200_loops.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Generic handwriting" border="0" height="299" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58944000/jpg/_58944200_loops.jpg" width="224" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>Really, are all those loops necessary?</strong></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="caption">
</div>
As for the rest of my letters, they soon came into focus. My older brother
got a book from the library about graphology and a whole new world of
navel-gazing opened up. Apparently my backward slanting writing was an
indication that I was too focused on the past. <br />
<br />
That was uncanny. I did sometimes think about the day before. I started
rotating my pages anti-clockwise and immediately felt the past fall like a
weight off my 13-year-old shoulders. <br />
<br />
Large loops on the below-the-line letters were, according to my brother, a
sure sign of a "total pervert". I clamped down on that dark side of me straight
away. <br />
<br />
For a few weeks when nothing else was happening, I gradually addressed each
aspect of my handwriting until, according to the graphology book, I was a cross
between Albert Einstein, Marilyn Monroe and Carl Lewis. <br />
<br />
You don't see so much about graphology now - a succession of studies in
recent decades have emptied a vat of scorn over its ability to describe and
predict personality, but perhaps the biggest threat to graphology is not
scepticism. It is the March of Time. <br />
<br />
With the advent of computers, fewer and fewer people are doing any
handwriting beyond their middle-school years, so their penmanship isn't evolving
beyond the teenage stage of development either. <br />
<br />
<div class="story-feature narrow">
<blockquote>
<div class="first-child" style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="color: #cccccc; font-size: large;">"Times New Roman? This person is a no-nonsense
individual”</span></strong></div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br />
<div id="story_continues_1">
This would lead graphology experts analysing future
populations to conclude that most of the subjects studied are moody, hard to get
up in the mornings and think their parents are an embarrassment (I know what you
mean, especially when they're trying to be cool).</div>
<br />
Against this background, future pseudoscientific analysis will have to look
at our computer-based evidence in order to jump to dodgy conclusions. Take fonts
for example. If you want to spot the deranged and the psychopathic now, start
with anyone who types exclusively in Wingdings. <br />
<br />
Those who employ <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11582548"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Comic
Sans</span></a> are the kind of people who want to make dull activities sound fun. A
Comic Sans user may also display passive aggressive tendencies particularly when
highlighting falling standards in the canteen. "These cups don't wash
themselves" looks cheery in A4 on the wall, but inside the author is a seething
cauldron of rage. <br />
<br />
Times New Roman? This person is a no-nonsense individual. They believe if a
job's worth doing, it's worth doing well and no amount of dressing it up or
"design" is going to change that fact. Or it could be someone who has not worked
out how to change the font in Microsoft Word.<br />
<br />
Apart from font there are other tell-tale signs of personality traits. If
someone uses lots of emoticons they're not confident in their ability to convey
their meaning to others. DO THEY WRITE IN BLOCK CAPITALS followed by a parade of
exclamation marks that looks like a picket fence? Then they are someone who
comments on an article on a website. You can leave yours below.<br />
<br />
As for graphology, the writing's on the wall.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">By Colm O'Regan </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="byline-title">Comedian and writer</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">BBC News Magazine</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961544556348462959.post-7266173279176447832012-03-07T20:09:00.002-08:002012-03-07T20:13:12.707-08:00Fears of disruption as big solar storm set to hit Earth<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">A strong solar storm is expected to
hit Earth shortly, and experts warn it could disrupt power grids, satellite
navigations systems and plane routes.</span></div>
<div class="introduction">
<br /></div>
<div class="introduction">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Yr4v2fQDtfA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
NASA image showing extreme unltraviolet </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
wavelengths on Sun's surface</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The storm - the largest in five years - will unleash a torrent of charged
particles between 06:00 GMT and 10:00 GMT, US weather specialists say. They say it was triggered by a pair of massive solar flares earlier this
week. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It means there is a good chance of seeing the northern lights at higher
latitudes, if the skies are clear.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The effects will be most intense in polar regions, and aircraft may be
advised to change their routings to avoid these areas.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="cross-head"><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><strong>Complex network</strong></span></span>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"It's hitting us right in the nose," said Joseph Kunches, an expert at the US
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa).</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">He described the storm as the Sun's version of Super Tuesday - in a reference
to the US Republican primaries and caucuses in 10 states.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"Space weather has gotten very interesting over the past 24 hours," Mr
Kunches added.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The charged particles are expected to hit Earth at 4,000,000 mph (6,400,000
km/h), and Noaa predicts the storm will last until Friday morning. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Images of from the Sun's region where the flares happened show a complex
network of sunspots indicating a large amount of stored magnetic energy. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Other solar magnetic storms have been observed in recent decades. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">One huge solar flare in 1972 cut off long-distance telephone communication in
the US state of Illinois.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">BBC <span class="section-title">Science & Environment</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961544556348462959.post-91000821486822174232012-03-06T10:22:00.000-08:002012-03-06T10:23:18.321-08:00BRAZIL SURPASSES UK's ECONOMY!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58903000/jpg/_58903848_brazil-oil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff joins workers to celebrate the construction of a new oil rig" border="0" height="171" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58903000/jpg/_58903848_brazil-oil.jpg" width="304" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Brazilian economy is still booming, </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">despite </span><span style="font-size: small;">the global economic slowdown</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Brazil has become the sixth-biggest
economy in the world, the country's finance minister has said.</strong></span><br />
<br />
The Latin American nation's economy grew 2.7% last year, official figures
show, more than the UK's 0.8% growth.<br />
<br />
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) and other
economic forecasters also said that Brazil had now overtaken the UK.<br />
<br />
The Brazilian economy is now worth $2.5tn (£1.6tn), according to Finance
Minister Guido Mantega.<br />
But Mr Mantega was keen to play down the symbolic transition - which comes
after China officially overtook Japan as the world's second-biggest economy last
year.<br />
<br />
"It is not important to be the world's sixth-biggest economy, but to be among
the most dynamic economies, and with sustainable growth," he said. Brazil is enjoying an economic boom because of high food and oil prices,
which has led to rapid growth.<br />
<br />
In 2010, the Brazilian economy was worth $2.09tn, compared with the UK's
$2.25tn total output, in current US dollars, <a href="http://www.economywatch.com/economic-statistics/economic-indicators/GDP_Current_Prices_US_Dollars/"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">according
to the International Monetary Fund</span></a>.<br />
<br />
However, according to NIESR, using the IMF's figures at current exchange
rates, Brazil's economy is now $2.52tn and the UK's is $2.48tn.<br />
<br />
The larger increase in the nominal size of both economies is explained by
domestic inflation. <br />
<br />
The Centre for Economics and Business Research has also said that Brazil's
economy has overtaken the UK's. A UK Treasury spokesman said: "Strong economic growth and large populations
in the big emerging economies mean that some will catch up with advanced
economies like the UK. This shows why the government is right to place high
importance on its economic ties with large emerging economies."<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Oil production</span> </strong><br />
<br />
In the fourth quarter of last year, Brazil's economy grew by 0.3% from the
previous quarter, according to Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia de Estatistica.
Both the annual and quarterly figures were less than analysts had
predicted.<br />
<br />
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has attributed the slowdown in growth last
year mainly to the weak global economic situation and the need to fight rising
inflation. <br />
<br />
Brazil, the largest Latin American economy and one of the so-called Bric
nations together with Russia, India and China, has seen its economy soar in
recent years, with growth far outpacing the US and western Europe, but sending
inflation higher.<br />
<br />
The currency, the real, fell 11% against the US dollar last year.<br />
<br />
That is after two years of huge gains - up 5% in 2010 and 34% in 2009. The
currency is worth more than double what it was 10 years ago.<br />
<br />
With substantial oil and gas reserves continuing to be discovered off
Brazil's coast in recent years, the country is now the world's ninth largest oil
producer, and the government wishes to ultimately enter the top five.<br />
<br />
Brazil has about 190 million people, in contrast to the UK's 60 million
people.<br />
<br />
And the country has struggled with inequality. The country's Gini
coefficient, a measure of income inequality, peaked at 0.61 in 1990 - but 2010's
figure was a historic low of 0.53.<br />
<br />
Absolute and relative poverty have declined in recent years, especially in
the past decade, during which the poorest 50% saw their incomes go up by 68%,
according to the Getulio Vargas Foundation.<br />
<br />
The country will host the 2014 World Cup, and Rio de Janeiro will be home to
the 2016 summer Olympics.<br />
<br />
<div class="caption body-width">
<img alt="brazil uk" height="421" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58901000/gif/_58901472_gdp_brazil_464.gif" width="464" /> </div>
<div class="caption body-width">
</div>
<div class="caption body-width">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">BBC News Business</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961544556348462959.post-90015021733168533182012-03-02T14:52:00.004-08:002012-03-02T14:52:57.874-08:00Limbaugh slut slur student Sandra Fluke gets Obama call<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58849000/jpg/_58849279_58849270.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Sandra Fluke, a third-year law student at Georgetown University testifies during a hearing before the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee in Washington, DC 23 February 2012" border="0" height="171" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58849000/jpg/_58849279_58849270.jpg" width="304" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sandra Fluke said President Obama told her that</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">her parents "should be proud"</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">
US President Barack Obama has called
to offer support to a US law student attacked by radio host Rush Limbaugh for
her views on contraception.</div>
<br />
Mr Obama told Sandra Fluke he was disappointed she had been the subject of
"unfortunate attacks", White House spokesman Jay Carney said.<br />
<br />
Limbaugh called Ms Fluke a "slut" and suggested her testimony to US lawmakers
made her "a prostitute".<br />
<br />
She was initially blocked from testifying by House Republicans.<br />
<br />
But Ms Fluke eventually testified on 23 February in support of Mr Obama's
ruling that religiously affiliated institutions such as universities and
hospitals should provide insurance plans that cover all costs for medicinal
contraceptives.<br />
<br />
Limbaugh's comments came during his radio show earlier in the week.<br />
<br />
"What does it say about the college co-ed Susan [sic] Fluke who goes before a
congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex,"
he said.<br />
<br />
"It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute. She wants to be paid
to have sex. She's having so much sex she can't afford the contraception. She
wants you and me and the taxpayers to pay her to have sex."<br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="cross-head"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">A model of civil discourse</span></strong></span>
<br />
<br />
Ms Fluke was invited to testify in front of a House committee convened by
Democrats after she was blocked from the first panel. A third year law student at Georgetown University, she previously served as
president of the university's Students for Reproductive Justice group.<br />
<br />
<div class="story-feature narrow">
</div>
<blockquote class="story-feature narrow">
<div class="first-child" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f1c232; font-size: large;">"Clearly the president of the university and I disagree
about the issues, but we're both able to handle this in a civil
manner”</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="story-feature narrow" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="quote-credit"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-size: large;">Sandra Fluke</span></span> </div>
<br />
<div id="story_continues_2">
<a href="http://abcnews.go.com/images/Politics/statement-Congress-letterhead-2nd%20hearing.pdf"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Her
testimony</span></a> included the case of a fellow student who needed birth control to
control ovarian cysts. </div>
<br />
Georgetown, a Catholic university with a prestigious law school, does not
cover birth control to prevent pregnancy in its student health plan, and the
student, who is gay, could not convince the insurance company she was ill.<br />
<br />
Ms Fluke also asserted that birth control prescriptions could cost as much as
$3,000 (£1893) without insurance.<br />
<br />
Georgetown University President John DeGioia defended Ms Fluke <a href="http://www.georgetown.edu/message-civility-public-discourse.html">in a
statement</a>, calling her "a model of civil discourse" and branding Limbaugh's
remarks "misogynistic, vitriolic, and a misrepresentation of the position of our
student".<br />
<br />
In an interview with cable network MSNBC the Georgetown law student pointed
to Mr DeGioia's remarks as a "model we should look to in our national
discourse".<br />
<br />
"Clearly the president of the university and I disagree about the issues, but
we're both able to handle this in a civil manner," she said.<br />
<br />
After criticism of his remarks, Limbaugh did not back down.<br />
<br />
"If we are going to pay for your contraceptives, and thus pay for you to have
sex, we want something for it. We want you post the videos online so we can all
watch," he said on Thursday.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="cross-head"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Rule change</span></strong></span>
<br />
<br />
Catholic leaders have been angered by the new rule, which required
church-linked institutions to offer health insurance including birth control
while exempting houses of worship directly.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58849000/jpg/_58849299_96216099.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Rush Limbaugh in a press conference for the 2010 Miss America Pageant 27 January, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada." border="0" height="171" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58849000/jpg/_58849299_96216099.jpg" width="304" /></a></div>
<div class="caption body-narrow-width">
</div>
<div class="caption body-narrow-width" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="width: 304px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666;">Rush Limbaugh is no stranger to
controversy, once accusing Michael J Fox of exaggerating his illness</span></div>
</span></div>
<div class="caption body-narrow-width">
</div>
<br />
But the White House changed the scheme to allow health insurers to provide
cover if employers objected.<br />
<br />
"No woman's health should depend on who she is or where she works," President
Obama said, announcing the policy change at the White House in February.<br />
<br />
The adjustment to the policy would mean Americans would not have to choose
between "religious liberty and basic fairness", he said.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">BBC News US & Canada</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961544556348462959.post-74782118697278248902012-03-01T11:09:00.001-08:002012-03-01T11:09:09.331-08:00Holy Scissors Batman!..Female bonobos "advertise" homosexual bonds<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58696000/jpg/_58696059_pair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A female-female pair of bonobos interact sexually (c) Zanna Clay for Amis de Bonobos du Congo" border="0" height="225" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58696000/jpg/_58696059_pair.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sex between females is not uncommon for bonobos</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="byline"><span class="byline-name">By Ella Davies</span> <span class="byline-title">Reporter, BBC Nature</span> </span>
</div>
<div class="caption full-width">
</div>
<div class="caption full-width">
</div>
<div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">
<strong>Female bonobos "advertise" their
homosexual activity to important audiences, say scientists.</strong></div>
<br />
Researchers studying communication among the apes found that females made the
most noise during sex if the "alpha female" was nearby.<br />
<br />
Low-ranking females that were invited to have sex with high-ranking females
would also call to tell other group members about the bond.<br />
<br />
Experts suggest females communicate the encounters to boost their status.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="story-feature narrow">
<div class="first-child" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;">"It's all about climbing up the social ladder for female
bonobos”</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="story-feature narrow" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e06666;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="quote-credit">Zanna Clay</span> <span class="quote-credit-title">Emory
University</span></span></span>
</div>
<div class="story-feature narrow" style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="story-feature narrow">
<ul class="links-list">
</ul>
</div>
<div id="story_continues_2">
The species <em>Pan paniscus</em> are referred to as the
"erotic" or "promiscuous apes" because they regularly engage in sexual contact
with both their own and the opposite sex.</div>
<br />
"[Sex] is used to reduce stress and competition, develop affiliations,
express and test social relationships and for reconciling conflicts and
consoling victims in distress," explained Dr Zanna Clay, from Emory University
in Atlanta, who has been studying vocalisations in the species for five
years.<br />
<br />
In order to understand more about communication among the apes, Dr Clay led
an international team of researchers to observe a group at the Lola Ya Bonobo
sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa.<br />
<!-- end of the embedded player component --><!-- Player embedded -->
<br />
Building on earlier work, their findings <a href="http://www.nature.com/srep/2012/120301/srep00291/full/srep00291.html" title="Scientific reports paper: Communication during sex among female bonobos: effects of dominance, solicitation and audience">published
in the journal Scientific Reports</a> identified a pattern in the calls made by
females during homosexual encounters.<br />
<br />
"Using vocalisations, females only advertise sexual contacts with important
group members," said Dr Clay, "It's all about climbing up the social ladder for
female bonobos."<br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="cross-head"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">By Invitation</span></strong></span>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58696000/jpg/_58696117_audience.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="A female-female pair of bonobos interact sexually while others observe (c) Zanna Clay for Amis de Bonobos du Congo" border="0" height="171" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58696000/jpg/_58696117_audience.jpg" width="304" /></a>The team found that calls were most likely to be made by lower-ranking
females, particularly if they were "picked" by a higher-ranking female.<br />
<br />
The females also appeared to consider their audience - calling more if the
most important group member, the alpha female, was present.<br />
<br />
"Bonobos appear to be highly aware of the dynamics governing their social worlds," said Dr Clay.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #93c47d;">___________________________________________________________________________________</span><br />
<div class="story-feature wide ">
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #93c47d;">Sex in bonobo society</span></h2>
<!-- pullout-body--><span style="color: #93c47d;">
</span><ul><span style="color: #93c47d;">
</span>
<li><span style="color: #93c47d;">Female </span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Bonobo"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">bonobos</span></a><span style="color: #93c47d;"> have
forward facing genitalia and often have face-to-face sexual contact with other
females</span></li>
<span style="color: #93c47d;">
</span>
<li><span style="color: #93c47d;">Despite being considerably more sexually active than </span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Common_Chimpanzee"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">chimpanzees</span></a><span style="color: #93c47d;">,
bonobos do not have more offspring </span></li>
<span style="color: #93c47d;">
</span>
<li><span style="color: #93c47d;">Females become sexually mature at 12 years old but will engage in sexual
activity from younger ages</span></li>
<span style="color: #93c47d;">
</span>
<li><span style="color: #93c47d;">After a conflict, males may make genital contact with their rival, in order
to diffuse the tension</span></li>
</ul>
<!-- pullout-links--><span style="color: #93c47d;">
</span><ul class="links-list"><span style="color: #93c47d;">
</span>
<li><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Bonobo#p006v49s"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Watch bonobo
society in action</span></a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<span style="color: #93c47d;">
___________________________________________________________________________________</span><br />
<br />
She suggests that the females have adopted the calls, usually associated with
reproduction, as a strategic tool.<br />
<br />
"As a low-ranked female, advertising [a] social-sexual bonding with another
dominant group member may serve to strengthen their social position, and signal
this to the alpha."<br />
<br />
Unlike their close relatives, the chimpanzees, bonobo societies are not
male-dominated. Dr Clay suggests that this may be due to the strong
relationships between females.<br />
<br />
"In bonobos, sexual interactions represent a powerful means to enable females
to develop and maintain social relationships, and it is these bonds which lie at
the heart of their raised status in bonobo society."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961544556348462959.post-6759579871873201922012-02-29T10:26:00.002-08:002012-02-29T10:36:06.063-08:00Alliance between GM and Peugeot Announced<br />
<div style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">General Motors and PSA Peugeot Citroen have announced a
global alliance that will see them develop cars together.</span></strong></div>
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/doBZVFk-wyw?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Under the deal, GM will take a 7% stake in Peugeot, making GM the second
biggest shareholder in the French firm after the Peugeot family.<br />
<br />
The two firms will share engineering development and hope to launch the first
common design by 2016.<br />
<br />
They hope to save money by combining purchasing and by 2017 they expect to
save some $2bn (£1.3bn) a year.<br />
<br />
<div id="story_continues_1">
"This partnership brings tremendous opportunity for our
two companies," said Dan Akerson, GM's chairman and chief executive.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="byline" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="byline-picture"></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-size: large;">"The strategic alliance between PSA Peugeot Citroen and General Motors (GM) fits neatly with two key trends that are emerging in the global motor industry”</span></span></div>
<div class="byline" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="byline-name">J</span><span class="byline-name">orn Madslien</span> <span class="byline-title">Business reporter, BBC News</span></span></span><br />
<br /></div>
"The alliance synergies in addition to our independent plans, position GM for
long-term sustainable profitability in Europe."<br />
<br />
Both companies have been struggling in Europe. GM's European brand, Opel, brand lost $747m (£472m) last year.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58794000/jpg/_58794036_peugeotlogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Citroen logo" border="0" height="171" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58794000/jpg/_58794036_peugeotlogo.jpg" width="304" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">PSA Peugeot Citroen sales fell 9% in </span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Europe las year</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Despite tough trading conditions Peugeot made a profit of 588m euros ($772m,
£492m) in 2011, but that was down 48% on the previous year because of falling
sales.<br />
<br />
Philippe Varin, chairman of the managing board of PSA Peugeot Citroën said:
"With the strong support of our historical shareholder and the arrival of a new
and prestigious shareholder, the whole group is mobilized to reap the full
benefit of this agreement."<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">BBC News</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961544556348462959.post-80857364118657099962012-02-28T14:28:00.003-08:002012-02-28T14:29:00.128-08:00SOME REMAINS OF THE 9/11 PENTAGON ATTACK WENT TO LANDFILL!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58771000/jpg/_58771527_000211086-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Smoke billows from Pentagon (11 Sept 2011)" border="0" height="171" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58771000/jpg/_58771527_000211086-1.jpg" width="304" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #76a5af; font-size: x-small;">A total of 184 people wee killed at the Pentagon </span><br />
<span style="color: #76a5af; font-size: x-small;">on September 11, 2001</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="caption body-narrow-width">
<strong>Partial remains of some victims of
the 11 September attacks ended up in landfill, a Pentagon report has found.</strong></div>
<br />
Some small portions of unidentifiable remains from the Pentagon, and from the
Pennsylvania field where a hijacked plane crashed in 2001, were given to a
private contractor for disposal.<br />
<br />
The fragments "could not be tested or identified," <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/28_02_2012pentagon_soldier_remains_report.pdf">the
review said</a>.<br />
<br />
The disposal came to light as the US defence department probed practices at
the military's Dover Port mortuary.<br />
<br />
The air base at Dover, in the state of Delaware, is the main point of entry
to the US for the bodies of troops killed while serving overseas.<br />
<br />
However, an investigation by the Washington Post newspaper uncovered evidence
that unidentified body parts were being cremated and disposed of in a
landfill. The practice of putting partial unidentified remains in landfill was stopped
in 2008.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="cross-head"><strong>COMMAND WEAKNESSES</strong></span><br />
<br />
The official report into the Dover mortuary found that this practice began
shortly after the September 11 attacks, when "several portions of remains from
the Pentagon attack and the Shanksville, Pennsylvania, crash site could not be
tested or identified".<br />
<br />
<div class="story-feature narrow">
</div>
<blockquote class="story-feature narrow">
<div class="first-child" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-size: large;"><strong>"Every step will be taken to protect the honour and respect
that their loved ones richly deserve”</strong></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="story-feature narrow" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ea9999;"><strong><span class="quote-credit">Leon Panetta</span> <span class="quote-credit-title">US Secretary of Defense</span></strong></span></span> </div>
<br />
<div id="story_continues_2">
It confirmed that the base's mortuary cremated
unidentified fragments, then gave them to a biomedical waste disposal
contractor. This contractor incinerated the remains and then put any material left over
in a landfill site.</div>
<br />
Officials at the Dover mortuary assumed that "after final incineration
nothing remained", the report says. There is no suggestion that remains of victims who died in New York were
handled in this way.<br />
<br />
Speaking at a news conference at the Pentagon, retired General John Abizaid
said: "We don't think it should have happened."<br />
<br />
A total of 184 people died when a hijacked plane crashed into the Pentagon on
September 11, 2001. Forty people were killed when another plane crashed in a
field in Pennsylvania, after passengers overpowered the hijackers.<br />
<br />
The Pentagon review of the Dover practices, chaired by retired US Army
General John Abizaid, was hailed by US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta.<br />
<br />
It "highlights weaknesses in the overall command and oversight structure at
the Dover Port Mortuary", Mr Panetta conceded.<br />
<br />
In a statement, he promised "the families of our fallen heroes... that every
step will be taken to protect the honour and respect that their loved ones
richly deserve".<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">BBC New US & Canada</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961544556348462959.post-34183275846953383762012-02-27T17:02:00.000-08:002012-02-27T17:15:18.396-08:00India strike: Millions expected to take part<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58749000/jpg/_58749398_140073336-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Activists of trade unions participate in a rally to show support for the All India General Strike, in Siliguri on 27 February 2012" border="0" height="171" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58749000/jpg/_58749398_140073336-1.jpg" width="304" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #f6b26b; font-size: x-small;">Unions want universal social security cover for workers</span><br />
<span style="color: #f6b26b; font-size: x-small;">in India's vast unorganised labour sector</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">
Millions of Indian workers are
expected to join a strike against high inflation and to demand better working
conditions and an end to selling off state firms. The strike has the support of most of India's major trade unions and
thousands of smaller unions from across the political spectrum.</div>
<br />
Banks, transport, post offices and ports are thought most likely to be
affected by the industrial action. But services on India's rail network are not expected to be disrupted.<br />
<br />
Although India's inflation rate dropped from 9.1% in December, it remains
stubbornly high at 7.5%.<br />
<br />
Growth for the financial year ending in March is also expected to be around
7%, lower than the previous forecasts of about 9%. The government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is trying to cut its budget
deficit by selling stakes in state-run companies - something the unions object
to.<br />
<br />
Other demands include measures to curb inflation, universal social security
cover for non-unionised workers and enforcement of labour laws.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
States such as West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala, where the communist parties
have greater influence, are expected to be most affected by the strike.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">**BBC News India**</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961544556348462959.post-9680758764160351202012-02-24T14:21:00.000-08:002012-02-24T14:21:15.749-08:00After less than 5 months in office, Haiti Prime Minister resigns<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Haiti Prime Minister Garry Conille resigns</strong></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/56084000/jpg/_56084234_013103664-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille leaves a news conference in Port-au-Prince, 6 October 2011." border="0" height="171" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/56084000/jpg/_56084234_013103664-1.jpg" width="304" /></a></div>
<div class="caption body-narrow-width">
</div>
<div class="caption body-narrow-width" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="width: 304px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
Garry Conille has only been in
the post since October 2011</div>
</span></div>
<div class="caption body-narrow-width">
</div>
<div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">
The prime minister of Haiti, Garry
Conille, has resigned after a power struggle within the government. His resignation is likely to set back efforts to re-build the country after
the January 2010 earthquake which devastated the capital Port-au-Prince.</div>
<br />
He was President Michel Martelly's third nomination when appointed in
October, ending a long stalemate. For several weeks there have been reports of power struggles that prompted
the UN to intervene.<br />
<br />
On Thursday Mariano Fernandez, the special representative of the UN secretary
general in Haiti, said there were "repeated crises" between the parliament,
president and prime minister.<br />
<br />
"[These] undermine the proper functioning of the institutions and the
democratic process," he said.<br />
<br />
So far President Martelly has not announced any replacement or caretaker
prime minister.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="cross-head"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>UN experience</strong></span></span>
<br />
<br />
One of the issues causing division was a parliamentary commission
investigating the nationality of government ministers.<br />
<br />
Many officials in Haiti and elsewhere in the Caribbean spend considerable
time overseas.<br />
<br />
The commission is investigating whether some senior administration officials
have dual citizenship, which is prohibited under the constitution.<br />
<br />
Mr. Conille originally trained as a doctor and had previously worked with the
UN. <br />
<br />
He was an aide to former US President Bill Clinton when he was a UN envoy to
Haiti.<br />
<br />
When Mr Conille took office he pledged to create thousands of jobs by
attracting foreign investment to help rebuild the country.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">BBC
<span class="section-title">Latin America & Caribbean</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961544556348462959.post-28850301725584293162012-02-23T09:04:00.001-08:002012-02-23T09:05:44.423-08:00Harry Potter Gone Wild?! JK Rowling to pen first adult novel<h1 class="story-header" style="text-align: center;">
JK Rowling to pen first adult novel</h1>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58684000/jpg/_58684164_012283493-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="JK Rowling" border="0" height="171" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58684000/jpg/_58684164_012283493-1.jpg" width="304" /></a></div>
<div class="caption body-narrow-width" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="width: 304px;"></span><br />
<span style="width: 304px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
The seven Harry Potter books
have sold more than 450 million copies</div>
</span></div>
<div class="caption body-narrow-width">
</div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">
Author JK Rowling has announced plans
to publish her first adult novel, which will be "very different" to the Harry
Potter books she is famous for.</div>
<br />
The book will be published worldwide, although no date or title has yet been
released. <br />
<br />
"The freedom to explore new territory is a gift that Harry's success has
brought me," Rowling said.<br />
<br />
The writer published seven Potter books, which have sold more than 450
million copies around the world.<br />
<br />
The books, about a boy wizard, became a worldwide phenomenon and were turned
into eight blockbuster films starring Daniel Radcliffe. <br />
<br />
When the final instalment of the book series went on sale in 2007, thousands
of copies sold in minutes. <br />
<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Logical progression</span></strong><br />
<br />
All the Potter books were published by Bloomsbury, but Rowling has chosen a
new publisher for her debut into adult fiction.<br />
<br />
"Although I've enjoyed writing it every bit as much, my next book will be
very different to the Harry Potter series, which has been published so
brilliantly by Bloomsbury and my other publishers around the world," she said,
in a statement.<br />
<br />
"The freedom to explore new territory is a gift that Harry's success has
brought me, and with that new territory it seemed a logical progression to have
a new publisher." <br />
<br />
"I am delighted to have a second publishing home in Little, Brown, and a
publishing team that will be a great partner in this new phase of my writing
life."<br />
<br />
Little, Brown's David Shelley said the company were "thrilled, honoured and
proud" to be publishing Rowling's latest novel. <br />
<br />
"For me, quite simply, it is a personal and professional dream come true to
be working with JK Rowling."<br />
<br />So as of yet no word on what the book(s) will be about but she is sure it will have an adult theme.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961544556348462959.post-5468131584414776702012-02-22T17:52:00.000-08:002012-02-22T17:59:31.829-08:00Is English or Mandarin the language of the future?<h1 class="story-header" style="text-align: center;">
Is English or Mandarin the language of the
future?</h1>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="byline"><span class="byline-name">By Jennifer Pak</span>
<span class="byline-title">BBC News, Kuala Lumpur</span> </span></div>
<span class="byline"></span>
<br />
<div class="caption body-width">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58628000/jpg/_58628081_mandarin_think464.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Mandarin-English dictionary" border="0" height="251" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58628000/jpg/_58628081_mandarin_think464.jpg" width="464" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">
English has been the dominant global
language for a century, but is it the language of the future? If Mandarin
Chinese is to challenge English globally, then it first has to conquer its own
backyard, South East Asia. </div>
<br />
In Malaysia's southernmost city of Johor Bahru, the desire to speak good
English has driven some children to make a remarkable two-hour journey to school
every day.<br />
<br />
Nine-year-old Aw Yee Han hops on a yellow mini van at 04:30. His passport is
tucked inside a small pouch hung around his neck.<br />
<br />
This makes it easier for him to show it to immigration officials when he
reaches the Malaysian border. <br />
<br />
His school is located on the other side, in Singapore, where unlike in
Malaysia, English is the main language.<br />
<br />
It's not your typical school run, but his mother, Shirley Chua thinks it's
worth it.<br />
<br />
"Science and maths are all written in English so it's essential for my son to
be fluent in the language," she says.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="byline-name"><span style="color: #e69138;"></span></span><br />
<span class="byline-name"><span style="color: #e69138;"></span></span><br />
<span class="byline-name"><span style="color: #e69138;"><hr />
</span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e69138;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="byline-name">Robert Lane Greene</span> <span class="byline-title">Author of You Are What You Speak</span></span>
</span></div>
<div class="story-feature wide ">
<span style="color: #e69138;">
</span></div>
<div class="story-feature wide " style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e69138;">The assumption that Mandarin will grow with China's economic rise may be
flawed. Consider Japan which, after spectacular post-war economic growth, became
the world's second-biggest economy. The Japanese language saw no comparable rise
in power and prestige. </span></div>
<div class="story-feature wide " style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e69138;">
</span></div>
<div class="story-feature wide " style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="story-feature wide " style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="story-feature wide " style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e69138;">The same may prove true of Mandarin. The character-based writing system
requires years of hard work for even native speakers to learn, and poses a
formidable obstacle to foreigners. In Asia, where China's influence is thousands
of years old, this may pose less of a problem. But in the West, even dedicated
students labour for years before they can confidently read a text of normal
difficulty on a random topic.</span></div>
<div class="story-feature wide " style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="story-feature wide " style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="story-feature wide " style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e69138;">
</span></div>
<div class="story-feature wide " style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e69138;">Finally, many languages in Asia, Africa and the Amazon use "tones" (rising,
falling, flat or dipping pitch contours) to distinguish different words. For
speakers of tonal languages (like Vietnamese) learning the tones of Mandarin
poses no particular difficulty. But speakers of non-tonal languages struggle to
learn tones in adulthood - just ask any adult Mandarin-learner for their
funniest story about using a word with the wrong
tone.</span></div>
<div class="story-feature wide ">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: #e69138;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #e69138;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #e69138;"><hr />
</span><span style="color: #e69138;">
</span><br />
<br />
<div id="story_continues_2">
An estimated 15,000 students from southern Johor state
make the same bus journey across the border every day. It may seem like a
drastic measure, but some parents don't trust the education system in Malaysia -
they worry that the value of English is declining in the country. </div>
<br />
Since independence from the British in 1957, the country has phased out
schools that teach in English. By the early 1980s, most students were learning
in the national language of Malay. <br />
<br />
As a result, analysts say Malaysian graduates became less employable in the
IT sector.<br />
<br />
"We've seen a drastic reduction in the standard of English in our country,
not just among the students but I think among the teachers as well," says
political commentator Ong Kian Ming.<br />
<br />
Those who believe that English is important for their children's future
either send their kids to expensive private schools or to Singapore, where the
government has been credited as being far-sighted for adopting the language of
its former colonial master.<br />
<br />
Nearly three-quarters of the population in Singapore are ethnic Chinese but
English is the national language. <br />
<br />
Many believe that this has helped the city state earn the title of being the
easiest place to do business, by the World Bank. <br />
<br />
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #c27ba0;">Lost in translation</span></h2>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<!-- pullout-items--><span style="color: #c27ba0;">
</span></div>
<div class="caption body-narrow-width" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #c27ba0;"><img alt="Notes saying Merry Christmas in different languages" height="120" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58628000/jpg/_58628089_xmas_think304.jpg" width="304" /> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<!-- pullout-body--><span style="color: #c27ba0;">
</span></div>
<ul><span style="color: #c27ba0;">
</span>
<li><span style="color: #c27ba0;">Up to 7,000 different languages are estimated to be spoken around the
world</span></li>
<span style="color: #c27ba0;">
</span>
<li><span style="color: #c27ba0;">Mandarin Chinese, English, Spanish, Hindi, Arabic, Bengali, Russian,
Portuguese, Japanese, German and French are world's most widely spoken
languages, according to UNESCO</span></li>
<span style="color: #c27ba0;">
</span>
<li><span style="color: #c27ba0;">Languages are grouped into families that share a common ancestry</span></li>
<span style="color: #c27ba0;">
</span>
<li><span style="color: #c27ba0;">English is related to German and Dutch, and all are part of Indo-European
family of languages</span></li>
<span style="color: #c27ba0;">
</span>
<li><span style="color: #c27ba0;">Also includes French, Spanish and Italian, which come from Latin</span></li>
<span style="color: #c27ba0;">
</span>
<li><span style="color: #c27ba0;">2,200 of the world's languages can be found in Asia, while Europe has
260</span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #c27ba0;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #c27ba0;">Source</span>: <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/guide/languages.shtml">BBC
Languages</a></div>
<ul class="links-list"><div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/guide/languages.shtml">Read more
about languages of the world</a></div>
</ul>
However, the dominance of English is now being
challenged by the rise of China in Singapore. <br />
<br />
The Singapore Chinese Chamber Institute of Business has added Chinese classes
for business use in recent years. <br />
<br />
Students are being taught in Mandarin rather than the Hokkien dialect spoken
by the older Chinese immigrants. <br />
<br />
These courses have proved popular, ever since the government began providing
subsidies for Singaporeans to learn Chinese in 2009 during the global financial
crisis.<br />
<br />
"The government pushed to provide them with an opportunity to upgrade
themselves so as to prepare themselves for the economic upturn," says chamber
spokesperson Alwyn Chia.<br />
<br />
Some businesses are already desperate for Chinese speakers. <br />
<br />
Lee Han Shih, who runs a multimedia company, says English is becoming less
important to him financially because he is taking western clients to do business
in China.<br />
<br />
"So obviously you need to learn English but you also need to know Chinese,"
says Mr Lee.<br />
<br />
As China's economic power grows, Mr Lee believes that Mandarin will overtake
English. In fact, he has already been seeing hints of this.<br />
<br />
"The decline of the English language probably follows the decline of the US
dollar. <br />
<br />
"If the renminbi is becoming the next reserve currency then you have to learn
Chinese."<br />
<br />
More and more, he says, places like Brazil and China are doing business in
the renminbi, not the US dollar, so there is less of a need to use
English.<br />
<span class="cross-head">Bilingualism</span>
<br />
Indeed, China's clout is growing in South East Asia, becoming the region's
top trading partner.<br />
<br />
But to say that Mandarin will rival English is a "bit of a stretch", says
Manoj Vohra, Asia director at the Economist Intelligence Unit.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div id="story_continues_4">
Even companies in China, who prefer to operate in
Chinese, are looking for managers who speak both Mandarin and English if they
want to expand abroad, he says. </div>
<br />
"They tend to act as their bridges."<br />
<br />
So the future of English is not a question of whether it will be overtaken by
Mandarin, but whether it will co-exist with Chinese, says Vohra. <br />
<br />
He believes bilingualism will triumph in South East Asia.<br />
<br />
It is a sound economic argument, but in Vietnam's case, there is resistance
to learning Mandarin. <br />
<br />
The country may share a border with China, but the Vietnamese government's
choice to not emphasise Mandarin is an emotional one, says leading economist Le
Dang Doanh.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58610000/jpg/_58610055_shirleychuawhosendshersonawyeehantoschooltosingaporeeveryday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Aw Yee Han and his mother" border="0" height="171" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58610000/jpg/_58610055_shirleychuawhosendshersonawyeehantoschooltosingaporeeveryday.jpg" width="304" /></a></div>
<div class="caption body-narrow-width">
</div>
<div class="caption body-narrow-width" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="width: 304px;"></span><br />
<span style="width: 304px;"></span><br />
<span style="width: 304px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e69138;">Shirley Chua fears her son's
English will suffer in the Malaysian school system</span></div>
</span></div>
<div class="caption body-narrow-width">
</div>
<br />
"All the streets in Vietnam are named according to generals and emperors that
have been fighting against the Chinese invasion for 2000 years," he says.<br />
<br />
Tensions flared up again last May over the disputed waters of the South China
Sea.<br />
<br />
Anti-Chinese sentiment means that young Vietnamese are choosing to embrace
English - the language of a defeated enemy. Many families still bear the
psychological scars from the Vietnam War with the United States.<br />
<br />
Yet there is no animosity towards English because the founding father of
Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh, made a clear distinction between the so-called American
imperialists who were bombarding Vietnam and the American people, says Le Dang
Doanh.<br />
<br />
Many Vietnamese who have lost family members during the war are now studying
in America, he says.<br />
<br />
"We never forget any victim in the past but in order to industrialise and
normalise a country, Vietnam needs to speak English."<br />
<br />
The Vietnamese government has an ambitious goal to ensure all young people
leaving school by 2020 will have a good grasp of the English language.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58610000/jpg/_58610051_bboydancersngoctu(left)andfrienddoducwhoonlylistentowesternmusicbecausevietnamesegovdoesntcensorenglishmusic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Bboy dancer Ngoc Tu" border="0" height="299" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58610000/jpg/_58610051_bboydancersngoctu(left)andfrienddoducwhoonlylistentowesternmusicbecausevietnamesegovdoesntcensorenglishmusic.jpg" width="224" /></a></div>
<div class="caption">
</div>
<div class="caption" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="width: 224px;"></span><br />
<span style="width: 224px;"></span><br />
<span style="width: 224px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b;">Vietnamese Ngoc Tu only listens
to music in English</span></div>
</span></div>
<div class="caption">
</div>
<br />
But it's not hard for young Vietnamese to accept English. For some, the
language offers a sense of freedom in Vietnam, where the one-party communist
state retains a tight grip on all media. <br />
<br />
In a public square in central Hanoi, a group of young men are break-dancing
to the pulsing beats of western hip hop. Ngoc Tu, 20, says he only listens to
English music.<br />
<br />
"The Ministry of Culture has banned a lot of [Vietnamese] songs and any
cultural publications that refer to freedom or rebellion but... English songs
are not censored."<br />
<br />
It is debatable whether English or Mandarin will dominate in South East Asia
in the future. There are arguments for both on the economic front.<br />
<br />
But culturally, there is no dispute.<br />
<br />
Even Mandarin language enthusiasts like Singaporean businessman Mr Lee, says
that English will remain popular so long as Hollywood exists.<br />
<br />
The success of movies such as Kung Fu Panda, an American production about a
Chinese animal, has caused a lot of anxiety in China, he says.<br />
<br />
There have been many cartoons in China about pandas before, but none had
reached commercial success, says Mr Lee.<br />
<br />
"The moment Kung Fu Panda hit the cinemas everybody watched it. They bought
the merchandise and they learned English."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961544556348462959.post-2431436154583543742012-02-22T10:59:00.000-08:002012-02-24T00:49:14.716-08:00Is 8 straight hours of sleep daily a realistic and neccessary goal?<h1 class="story-header" style="text-align: center;">
The myth of the eight-hour sleep</h1>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="byline"><span class="byline-name">By Stephanie Hegarty</span> <span class="byline-title">BBC World
Service</span> </span></div>
<span class="byline"></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58649000/jpg/_58649151_awake_thinkstock624.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Woman awake" border="0" height="261" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58649000/jpg/_58649151_awake_thinkstock624.jpg" width="464" /></a></div>
<div class="caption body-width">
</div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">
<strong>We often worry about lying awake in
the middle of the night - but it could be good for you. A growing body of
evidence from both science and history suggests that the eight-hour sleep may be
unnatural.</strong></div>
<br />
In the early 1990s, psychiatrist Thomas Wehr conducted an experiment in which
a group of people were plunged into darkness for 14 hours every day for a month.
<br />
<br />
It took some time for their sleep to regulate but by the fourth week the
subjects settled into a very distinct sleeping pattern. They slept first for
four hours, then woke for one or two hours before falling into a second
four-hour sleep. <br />
<br />
Though sleep scientists were impressed by the study, among the general public
the idea that we must sleep for eight consecutive hours persists. <br />
<br />
In 2001, historian Roger Ekirch of Virginia Tech published a seminal paper,
drawn from 16 years of research, revealing a wealth of historical evidence that
humans used to sleep in two distinct chunks.<br />
<br />
His book At Day's Close: Night in Times Past, published four years later,
unearths more than 500 references to a segmented sleeping pattern - in diaries,
court records, medical books and literature, from Homer's Odyssey to an
anthropological account of modern tribes in Nigeria. <br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58434000/jpg/_58434887_jan_saenredam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="A woman tending to her husband in the middle of the night by Jan Saenredam, 1595 " border="0" height="420" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58434000/jpg/_58434887_jan_saenredam.jpg" width="304" /></a></div>
<div class="caption body-narrow-width" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="width: 304px;"></span><br />
<span style="width: 304px;"></span><br />
<span style="width: 304px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ffd966;">Roger Ekirch says this 1595
engraving by Jan Saenredam is evidence of activity at night</span></div>
</span></div>
<div class="caption body-narrow-width">
</div>
<br />
Much like the experience of Wehr's subjects, these references describe a
first sleep which began about two hours after dusk, followed by waking period of
one or two hours and then a second sleep. <br />
<br />
"It's not just the number of references - it is the way they refer to it, as
if it was common knowledge," Ekirch says.<br />
<br />
During this waking period people were quite active. They often got up, went
to the toilet or smoked tobacco and some even visited neighbours. Most people
stayed in bed, read, wrote and often prayed. Countless prayer manuals from the
late 15th Century offered special prayers for the hours in between sleeps. <br />
<br />
And these hours weren't entirely solitary - people often chatted to
bed-fellows or had sex. <br />
<br />
A doctor's manual from 16th Century France even advised couples that the best
time to conceive was not at the end of a long day's labour but "after the first
sleep", when "they have more enjoyment" and "do it better". <br />
<br />
Ekirch found that references to the first and second sleep started to
disappear during the late 17th Century. This started among the urban upper
classes in northern Europe and over the course of the next 200 years filtered
down to the rest of Western society.<br />
<br />
By the 1920s the idea of a first and second sleep had receded entirely from
our social consciousness.<br />
<br />
<br />
___________________________________________________________________________________<br />
<h2 class="story-feature wide " style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ffd966;">When segmented sleep was the norm</span></h2>
<div class="story-feature wide ">
<span style="color: #ffd966;">
</span></div>
<div class="story-feature wide ">
<ul><span style="color: #ffd966;">
</span>
<li><span style="color: #ffd966;">"He knew this, even in the horror with which he started from his first
sleep, and threw up the window to dispel it by the presence of some object,
beyond the room, which had not been, as it were, the witness of his dream."
Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge (1840)</span></li>
<span style="color: #ffd966;">
</span>
<li><span style="color: #ffd966;">"Don Quixote followed nature, and being satisfied with his first sleep, did
not solicit more. As for Sancho, he never wanted a second, for the first lasted
him from night to morning." Miguel Cervantes, Don Quixote (1615)</span></li>
<span style="color: #ffd966;">
</span>
<li><span style="color: #ffd966;">"And at the wakening of your first sleepe You shall have a hott drinke made,
And at the wakening of your next sleepe Your sorrowes will have a slake." Early
English ballad, Old Robin of Portingale </span></li>
<span style="color: #ffd966;">
</span>
<li><span style="color: #ffd966;">The Tiv tribe in Nigeria employ the terms "first sleep" and "second sleep"
to refer to specific periods of the night</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;">
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ffd966;">Source: Roger Ekirch</span> (<a href="http://www.history.vt.edu/Ekirch/">Roger Ekirch's
website</a>)</div>
<br />
<br />
___________________________________________________________________________________<br />
<br />
<br />
<div id="story_continues_2">
He attributes the initial shift to improvements in
street lighting, domestic lighting and a surge in coffee houses - which were
sometimes open all night. As the night became a place for legitimate activity
and as that activity increased, the length of time people could dedicate to rest
dwindled. </div>
<br />
In his new book, Evening's Empire, historian Craig Koslofsky puts forward an
account of how this happened.<br />
<br />
"Associations with night before the 17th Century were not good," he says. The
night was a place populated by people of disrepute - criminals, prostitutes and
drunks.<br />
<br />
"Even the wealthy, who could afford candlelight, had better things to spend
their money on. There was no prestige or social value associated with staying up
all night."<br />
<br />
That changed in the wake of the Reformation and the counter-Reformation.
Protestants and Catholics became accustomed to holding secret services at night,
during periods of persecution. If earlier the night had belonged to reprobates,
now respectable people became accustomed to exploiting the hours of
darkness.<br />
<br />
This trend migrated to the social sphere too, but only for those who could
afford to live by candlelight. With the advent of street lighting, however,
socialising at night began to filter down through the classes.<br />
<br />
In 1667, Paris became the first city in the world to light its streets, using
wax candles in glass lamps. It was followed by Lille in the same year and
Amsterdam two years later, where a much more efficient oil-powered lamp was
developed.<br />
<br />
London didn't join their ranks until 1684 but by the end of the century, more
than 50 of Europe's major towns and cities were lit at night. <br />
<br />
Night became fashionable and spending hours lying in bed was considered a
waste of time. <br />
<br />
"People were becoming increasingly time-conscious and sensitive to
efficiency, certainly before the 19th Century," says Roger Ekirch. "But the
industrial revolution intensified that attitude by leaps and bounds."<br />
<br />
Strong evidence of this shifting attitude is contained in a medical journal
from 1829 which urged parents to force their children out of a pattern of first
and second sleep. <br />
<br />
"If no disease or accident there intervene, they will need no further repose
than that obtained in their first sleep, which custom will have caused to
terminate by itself just at the usual hour. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58633000/jpg/_58633469_leipzig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Street-lighting in Leipzig in 1702" border="0" height="319" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58633000/jpg/_58633469_leipzig.jpg" width="224" /></a></div>
<div class="caption" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="width: 224px;"></span><br />
<span style="width: 224px;"></span><br />
<span style="width: 224px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ffd966;">A small city like Leipzig in
central Germany employed 100 men to tend to 700 lamps</span></div>
</span></div>
<div class="caption">
</div>
<br />
"And then, if they turn upon their ear to take a second nap, they will be
taught to look upon it as an intemperance not at all redounding to their
credit."<br />
<br />
Today, most people seem to have adapted quite well to the eight-hour sleep,
but Ekirch believes many sleeping problems may have roots in the human body's
natural preference for segmented sleep as well as the ubiquity of artificial
light.<br />
<br />
This could be the root of a condition called sleep maintenance insomnia,
where people wake during the night and have trouble getting back to sleep, he
suggests. <br />
<br />
The condition first appears in literature at the end of the 19th Century, at
the same time as accounts of segmented sleep disappear.<br />
<br />
"For most of evolution we slept a certain way," says sleep psychologist Gregg
Jacobs. "Waking up during the night is part of normal human physiology."<br />
<br />
The idea that we must sleep in a consolidated block could be damaging, he
says, if it makes people who wake up at night anxious, as this anxiety can
itself prohibit sleeps and is likely to seep into waking life too.<br />
<br />
Russell Foster, a professor of circadian [body clock] neuroscience at Oxford,
shares this point of view. <br />
<br />
"Many people wake up at night and panic," he says. "I tell them that what
they are experiencing is a throwback to the bi-modal sleep pattern."<br />
<br />
But the majority of doctors still fail to acknowledge that a consolidated
eight-hour sleep may be unnatural. <br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">___________________________________________________________________________________</span><br />
<h2 class="story-feature wide " style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">Stages of sleep</span></h2>
<div class="story-feature wide " style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">Every 60-100 minutes we go through a cycle of four stages of sleep</span></div>
<div class="story-feature wide ">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">
</span></div>
<div class="story-feature wide ">
<ul><span style="color: #d5a6bd;">
</span>
<li><span style="color: #d5a6bd;">Stage 1 is a drowsy, relaxed state between being awake and sleeping -
breathing slows, muscles relax, heart rate drops</span></li>
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">
</span>
<li><span style="color: #d5a6bd;">Stage 2 is slightly deeper sleep - you may feel awake and this means that,
on many nights, you may be asleep and not know it</span></li>
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">
</span>
<li><span style="color: #d5a6bd;">Stage 3 and Stage 4, or Deep Sleep - it is very hard to wake up from Deep
Sleep because this is when there is the lowest amount of activity in your
body</span></li>
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">
</span>
<li><span style="color: #d5a6bd;">After Deep Sleep, we go back to Stage 2 for a few minutes, and then enter
Dream Sleep - also called REM (rapid eye movement) sleep - which, as its name
suggests, is when you dream</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<br />
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">In a full sleep cycle, a person goes through all the stages of sleep from one
to four, then back down through stages three and two, before entering dream
sleep</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">Source: Gregg Jacobs (</span><a href="http://cbtforinsomnia.com/About/gregg_jacobs.html" title="Dr Gregg Jacobs - CBT for Insomnia"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Gregg Jacobs' site -
CBT for Insomnia</span></a><span style="color: #d5a6bd;">)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #d5a6bd;">___________________________________________________________________________________</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div id="story_continues_3">
"Over 30% of the medical problems that doctors are faced
with stem directly or indirectly from sleep. But sleep has been ignored in
medical training and there are very few centres where sleep is studied," he
says.</div>
<br />
Jacobs suggests that the waking period between sleeps, when people were
forced into periods of rest and relaxation, could have played an important part
in the human capacity to regulate stress naturally. <br />
<br />
In many historic accounts, Ekirch found that people used the time to meditate
on their dreams. <br />
<br />
"Today we spend less time doing those things," says Dr Jacobs. "It's not a
coincidence that, in modern life, the number of people who report anxiety,
stress, depression, alcoholism and drug abuse has gone up."<br />
<br />
So the next time you wake up in the middle of the night, think of your
pre-industrial ancestors and relax. Lying awake could be good for you.<br />
<br />
<em>Craig Koslofsky and Russell Foster appeared on </em><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p004kln9">The Forum</a><em> from the
</em><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/">BBC World Service</a><em>.
Listen to the programme </em><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00ngb4r">here</a><em>. </em>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961544556348462959.post-38376159026428530552012-02-21T09:30:00.000-08:002012-02-21T09:32:01.359-08:00One Step Forward, 2 Steps Back. If Our Goal Is Peace, These Actions Cannot Be Tolerated<h1 class="story-header" style="text-align: left;">
Nato apologises for Afghan Koran 'burning' </h1>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58615000/jpg/_58615975_014054778-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Protest at Bagram air base" border="0" height="261" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58615000/jpg/_58615975_014054778-1.jpg" width="464" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A large crowd of protesters gatherd outside the sprawling Bagram air base</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="caption body-width">
</div>
<br />
<div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">
The Nato commander in Afghanistan has
apologised over reports foreign troops may have burnt copies of the Koran. Announcing an inquiry, US Gen John R Allen said any "improper disposal" of
religious materials was inadvertent. </div>
<br />
Reports suggest the books were taken from prisoners after the US uncovered a
secret Taliban message system.<br />
<br />
Rumours that a Koran had been burnt led to protests outside the US base at
Bagram north of Kabul. One man was hurt when Nato troops fired rubber
bullets.<br />
<br />
President Hamid Karzai condemned the reports that the Koran had been burnt,
as did the Taliban who said the incident would hurt the feelings "of one billion
Muslims around the world".<br />
<br />
Police stated that at least 1,000 people took part in the demonstration
earlier on Tuesday and that some elders went into the base to talk to Nato
officials.<br />
<br />
<br />
<hr />
<h2 class="story-feature wide " style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b;">Analysis</span></h2>
<div class="story-feature wide " style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b;">
</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58425000/jpg/_58425850_006731078-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #f6b26b;"><img alt="image of Andrew North" border="0" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58425000/jpg/_58425850_006731078-1.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<div class="byline" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="byline-picture"></span><span style="color: #f6b26b;">
<span class="byline-name">Andrew North</span> <span class="byline-title">BBC News,
Kabul</span>
</span><br />
<span style="color: #f6b26b;"><hr />
</span></div>
<div class="story-feature wide ">
<span style="color: #f6b26b;">
</span></div>
<div class="story-feature wide " style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #f6b26b;">The US military in Afghanistan is in full damage-limitation mode. Gen Allen
has already made two contrite television apologies, and called President Hamid
Karzai. But Afghan security forces have been put on alert across the country because
of fears of a repeat of the violence that followed news of a Koran being burnt
last year by a hardline preacher in Florida. The spark for the latest incident may have originated with the Americans
uncovering a secret message system being used by suspected Taliban prisoners.
The Americans confiscated these religious materials from prisoners because
they believed they were using them to communicate with each other, two senior
Afghan officials told the BBC. A US spokesman said they could not comment on reports of this message system
until an investigation was complete, but he did not deny it. </span></div>
<div class="story-feature wide ">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: #f6b26b;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #f6b26b;"><hr />
</span><span style="color: #f6b26b;">
</span><br />
<br />
<div id="story_continues_2">
Afghan officials told the AP news agency that the Korans
were in rubbish that two soldiers with the US-led coalition transported in a
lorry late on Monday night to a pit on the base where waste is burned.</div>
<br />
When five Afghans working at the pit noticed the religious books in the
rubbish, they stopped the disposal process. <span style="color: #ffd966;">"Foreign troops tried to burn a container of holy Koran books at three
o'clock in the morning, but the Afghan mujahideen employees working at the base
did not allow them,"</span> protester Mohammad Zahir stated.<br />
<br />
A BBC reporter at the protests said he saw people crying over claims that
foreign troops had set fire to the Koran, while others threw stones and fire
bombs at the security forces. A photographer for the AFP news agency said that guards at the base fired
rubber bullets from a watchtower as the crowd shouted "Allahu akbar," (God is
great).<br />
<br />
Afghan officials told the BBC that the Americans had confiscated books and
other documents from suspected Taliban prisoners at the Parwan detention centre
next to Bagram base because they believed they were using them to send messages
to each other.<br />
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It is thought that documents containing extremist inscriptions were taken
from the library, the BBC's Andrew North in Kabul says. An unknown quantity of
these materials were then burnt, according to military officials, among them
some Korans. <br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="cross-head"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Sincere apologies</span></strong></span>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
</div>
In <a href="http://www.isaf.nato.int/article/news/general-allen-commander-isaf-issued-the-following-statement.html" title="Gen Allen's statment">his
statement,</a> Gen John R Allen said that the investigation would examine whether
troops "improperly disposed of a large number of Islamic religious materials
which included Korans". <br />
<br />
"The materials recovered will be properly handled by appropriate religious
authorities," the statement said.<br />
<br />
"We are thoroughly investigating the incident and we are taking steps to
ensure this does not ever happen again. I assure you… I promise you… this was
not intentional in any way." <br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #ffd966;">___________________________________________________________________________________</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="color: #ffd966; font-size: large;">Previous tension points</span></strong></div>
<div class="story-feature wide ">
<span style="color: #ffd966;">
</span></div>
<div class="story-feature wide ">
<ul><span style="color: #ffd966;">
</span>
<li><span style="color: #ffd966;">January 2012: US and UN officials describe a video clip of US marines
urinating on dead Afghans as "disgusting" and "inhuman" </span></li>
<span style="color: #ffd966;">
</span>
<li><span style="color: #ffd966;">April 2011: US President Barack Obama describes March 2011 Koran burning by
a radical US pastor as "intolerance and bigotry". The incident triggered
protests which left at least 24 people dead in Afghanistan </span></li>
<span style="color: #ffd966;">
</span>
<li><span style="color: #ffd966;">April 2008: Dutch and Danish governments evacuate their embassies in Kabul
after protests against cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad which was reprinted by
Danish newspapers </span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<span style="color: #ffd966;">___________________________________________________________________________________</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div id="story_continues_3">
Gen Allen went on to offer his "sincere apologies for
any offence this may have caused", to the president of Afghanistan, the Afghan
government and "the noble people of Afghanistan". </div>
<br />
Later, the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) force said
it intended to invite Afghans to join the investigation "so we are transparent
with this issue".<br />
<br />
"These were religious materials that were gathered up at the detention
facility in Parwan and inadvertently given to troops for burning," the Isaf
statement said.<br />
<br />
"We are still trying to determine if and/or how much got burned before the
mistake was discovered. <br />
<br />
"If a Koran was damaged, we will find out how it happened and make certain
that this does not happen again." <br />
<br />
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<div align="center" class="bbccom_text">
</div>
<div class="caption">
<br /></div>
</div>
<br />
Correspondents say that it was a remarkably candid statement by Gen Allen -
played repeatedly on Afghan television - apparently aimed at damage limitation
after similar incidents led to violence and attacks on foreigners. <br />
<br />
Kandahar Governor Tooryalai Wesa strongly condemned the alleged Koran
destruction, which he described as a "shameful move by some stupid
individuals".<br />
<br />
The BBC's Andrew North, in Kabul, says that reports of the Islamic holy book
being mistreated, whether substantiated or not, have proved incendiary in
Afghanistan in the past.<br />
<br />
The Taliban and other groups have sometimes been accused of spreading such
reports to spark violence, but last year protests erupted in Afghanistan after
news emerged that an American preacher had set a Koran on fire in Florida.<br />
<br />
At least 14 people, seven of them UN workers, were killed in the northern
city of Mazar-e Sharif. Another 10 people died in unrest in Kandahar the
following day. Dozens of others were injured.<br />
<br />
<div class="caption full-width" style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="Map" height="500" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58615000/gif/_58615903__47877857_afg_bagram_466-1.gif" width="466" /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961544556348462959.post-51878209452637896422012-02-20T10:31:00.000-08:002012-02-20T10:31:51.247-08:00Man survived 2 months without food?!<h1 class="story-header" style="text-align: center;">
Who, What, Why: How long can someone survive without
food?</h1>
<div class="story-header">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div align="center" class="story-header">
</div>
<br />
<div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">
A Swedish man, found in a car buried
under snow, says he survived for two months without food by eating handfuls of
snow. But how long can people go without food?</div>
<br />
The circumstances surrounding Peter Skyllberg's survival are still being
investigated. However, photographs taken of the inside of the car show empty
food and drink wrappers, which could mean the 44-year-old had some sustenance.
<br />
<br />
The car was found on Friday at the end of a forest track more a little less than a mile from a main road in northern Sweden. Police say the temperature in the
area had recently dropped to -22F (-30C).<br />
<br />
Skyllberg says he had been inside the car since 19 December 2011. <br />
<br />
Experts believe it is possible for the human body to survive without food for
up to two months.<br />
<br />
It's not the first example of humans subsisting on next to nothing for long
periods of time.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">___________________________________________________________________________________</span></div>
<h2 class="story-feature wide " style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">The answer</span></h2>
<div class="story-feature wide ">
<ul><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">
</span>
<li><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">It is possible to survive for about 60 days without food - but usually in
warmer conditions</span></li>
<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">
</span>
<li><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Snow on the car may have created an "igloo effect"</span></li>
<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">
</span>
<li><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Being inside a car might have conserved calories</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">___________________________________________________________________________________</span></div>
<!-- pullout-links-->
<br />
<div id="story_continues_2">
Japanese hiker Mitsutaka Uchikoshi survived 24 days in
2006 without food and water after he went missing during a climbing trip in
western Japan. He was found with a body temperature of 71F (22C) - nearly 15C
below normal. After being treated for severe hypothermia and other health
complications Uchikoshi returned home, leaving some doctors puzzling over his
miraculous recovery. </div>
<br />
Last year, a 56-year-old woman from British Columbia survived nearly 50 days
in the Nevada wilderness on trail mix, sweets and stream water after being
stranded in the mountains while her husband went in search of help. Hunters
found Rita Chretien conscious and able to speak, although she had lost 20-30lb
as a result of the ordeal.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">___________________________________________________________________________________</span></div>
<h2 class="story-feature wide " style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Survival through hibernation</span></h2>
<div class="story-feature wide ">
<!-- pullout-items--><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">
</span></div>
<div class="caption body-narrow-width">
<span style="color: #9fc5e8;"> </span></div>
<div class="story-feature wide ">
<!-- pullout-body--><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">
</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58601000/jpg/_58601001_kobe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><img alt="Mount Rokko" border="0" height="171" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58601000/jpg/_58601001_kobe.jpg" width="304" /></span></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="story-feature wide " style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #9fc5e8;">In 2006, Mitsutaka Uchikoshi survived for three weeks without food and water
after what experts described as falling into a state akin to hibernation. Mitsutaka had climbed Mount Rokko in western Japan (pictured) but descended
on his own. He is thought to have tripped and lost consciousness on the snowy
mountainside. He was found 23 days later with a body temperature of just 22C (72F) with a
barely discernible pulse and suffering from multiple organ failure. Doctors
believe he had fallen into a hypothermic state at a very early stage, which they
said was similar to hibernation</span></div>
<div class="story-feature wide " style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="story-feature wide " style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #9fc5e8;">___________________________________________________________________________________</span></div>
<!-- pullout-links-->
<br />
<div id="story_continues_3">
The American illusionist David Blaine spent 44 days in
2003 suspended in a glass box by the River Thames in London without food. In the
1940s, Mahatma Gandhi survived 21 days on sips of water during a display of
civil disobedience. </div>
<br />
But even in the chronicles of food and water deprivation, Skyllberg's recent
60-day stint is an extreme case. <br />
<br />
"It is at the bounds of possibility but not completely untenable," said Dr
Mike Stroud, senior lecturer of Medicine and Nutrition at Southampton
University. <br />
<br />
Stroud, who accompanied veteran British adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes across
the Antarctic, said it was possible to survive 60 days without food. <br />
<br />
"That is about the time hunger strikers in prisons tend to die," said Stroud.
"But they are normally in warmer conditions." In 1981, Republican prisoner Bobby
Sands died in Northern Ireland's Maze prison after a hunger strike lasting 66
days.<br />
<br />
There are a number of factors that can influence a person's ability to
survive, says Stroud, such as the way in which the body's metabolism slows down
to conserve energy.<br />
<br />
"The average resting human body, doing absolutely nothing, produces about 100
watts of body heat, which could function a light bulb," he says. "But under
these circumstances the body will begin to make less and less heat to keep you
warm. That's where a heavier body would have more of an advantage."<br />
<br />
Stroud also says the amount of body fat a person has at the beginning of the
ordeal may not count as much as one might imagine.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #9fc5e8;">___________________________________________________________________________________</span><br />
<h2 class="story-feature wide " style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Himalayan ordeal</span></h2>
<div class="story-feature wide ">
<!-- pullout-items--><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">
</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58606000/jpg/_58606454_himalayas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><img alt="Himalayas generic" border="0" height="171" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58606000/jpg/_58606454_himalayas.jpg" width="304" /></span></a></div>
<div class="caption body-narrow-width" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #9fc5e8;"> </span></div>
<div class="story-feature wide " style="text-align: center;">
<!-- pullout-body--><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">
</span></div>
<div class="story-feature wide " style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #9fc5e8;">In 1992 Australian James Scott was lost for 43 days in the Himalayas during
the winter. He sheltered under a rock ledge and survived on melted snow, two
chocolate bars and a caterpillar. He was finally able to make his way out into a
clearing and was spotted by a helicopter. He says he remained positive that he
would be rescued. </span></div>
<!-- pullout-links--><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">
</span><br />
<span style="color: #9fc5e8;">___________________________________________________________________________________</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div id="story_continues_4">
"The body needs more than just calories - it will start
to shut down its organs one by one. But it could still take up to 60 days for
that to happen."</div>
<br />
Catherine Collins, spokeswoman for the British Dietetics Association explains
that "the body can remodel during starvation to minimise the amount of calories
it needs".<br />
<br />
When the body stops getting food, it has to live on the stored sugars. The
liver and muscles store glucose - the primary fuel source - as glycogen. This
glycogen can then be converted into glucose. <br />
<br />
When this runs out, fat is then converted into a secondary energy supply
called ketone bodies. After the fat runs out, she says, the body must take
recycled protein from the system and eventually from the muscles to convert to
energy. But this, she says, is "very expensive" fuel for the body because "it's
wasting important tissue reserves". <br />
<br />
"It's like being in a cold house and burning Chippendale furniture instead of
firewood," she says.<br />
<br />
However, the resulting muscle loss slows the body's furnace, causing it to
burn calories at a slower rate. "So whatever calorie supply you have will last
you longer," she says. <br />
<br />
"In a way you're trying to eke out what you've got left to help you survive."
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: x-small;">Reporting by Lauren Everitt and Chi Chi Izundu.</span></em></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961544556348462959.post-14444527199261235342012-02-16T13:09:00.000-08:002012-02-16T13:11:18.591-08:00MICROCHIP IMPLANTS NOT SCIENCE FICTION ANYMORE!<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="font-size: x-large;">Pharmacy on a chip' gets closer</span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="byline byline-photo">
<span class="byline-name">By Jonathan Amos</span> <span class="byline-title">Science
correspondent, BBC News, Vancouver </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="byline byline-photo"><span class="byline-title"></span></span>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58529000/jpg/_58529408_raw2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Implant device" border="0" height="320" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58529000/jpg/_58529408_raw2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="caption body-narrow-width">
</div>
<div class="caption body-narrow-width" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="width: 304px;"></span><br />
<span style="width: 304px;"><div style="text-align: left;">
The clinical trial reports the
working of the implant device in seven women from Denmark</div>
</span></div>
<div class="caption body-narrow-width">
</div>
<br />
<div class="introduction">
<strong>The futuristic idea that microchips could be implanted
under a patient's skin to control the release of drugs has taken another step
forward.</strong> </div>
<br />
US scientists have been testing just such a device on women with the
bone-wasting disease osteoporosis. The chip was inserted in their waist and activated by remote control.<br />
<br />
A clinical trial, reported in <a href="http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/early/2012/02/15/scitranslmed.3003276"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Science
Translational Medicine</span></a>, showed the chip could administer the correct doses
and that there were no side effects.<br />
<br />
The innovation has also been discussed here at the <a href="http://www.aaas.org/meetings/2012/"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">annual meeting of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)</span></a><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">.</span><br />
<br />
One of the designers, Prof Robert Langer from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT), claimed the programmable nature of the device opened up a
fascinating new avenue for medicine.<br />
<br />
"You could literally have a pharmacy on a chip," he said. "You can do remote
control delivery, you can do pulsatile drug delivery, and you can deliver
multiple drugs."<br />
<br />
The work is described as the first in-human testing of a wirelessly
controlled drug delivery microchip. The technology at its core has been in
development for more than 15 years.<br />
<span class="cross-head">Programmed to
dose</span>
<br />
It sees the fingernail-sized chip connected to an array of tiny, individually
sealed wells of a drug product - in this case, a parathyroid hormone,
teriparatide, which is used to counter bone density loss. Fully packaged, the
device is about the size of a heart pacemaker.<br />
<br />
The drug wells are capped by a thin membrane of platinum and titanium. A dose
can only get out when a well membrane is broken, which is achieved through the
application of a small electrical current.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="story-feature narrow" style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<blockquote class="story-feature narrow">
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="first-child" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ffd966;">"Although it was a very small study, the findings are
certainly exciting”</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="story-feature narrow" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><span class="quote-credit">Julia Thomson</span> <span class="quote-credit-title">National
Osteoporosis Society</span></span> </div>
<div class="story-feature narrow" style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div id="story_continues_1">
The chip controls the timing, and because it is
programmable, the dosages can be scheduled in advance or - as in the newly
reported study - triggered remotely by a radio signal.</div>
<br />
The device was tested on seven women between ages of 65 and 70 from Denmark.
In their paper, the scientists report that the implant delivered the drug
teriparatide just as effectively as the injections pens that often used to
administer such treatment, and that there were indications of improved bone
formation (although drug efficacy was not formally assessed in the trial).
Critically, no side effects were noticed.<br />
<br />
The innovation started out as a research project in MIT but is now being
developed by a spin-off company, Microchips Inc.<br />
<br />
The firm is trying to scale up the system so that more doses can be included.
In the trial, only 20 wells were present. Microchips Inc believes drug delivery
devices containing hundreds of wells are possible.<br />
<br />
However, the team acknowledges that a marketable product is still at least
five years away.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="cross-head"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Clinical promise</span></strong></span><br />
<br />
Commenting on the research, John Watson, a professor of bioengineering at the
University of California, San Diego, <a href="http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/early/2012/02/15/scitranslmed.3003687">listed
areas where improvements would be needed</a>. <br />
<br />
"In the study, the device failed in one patient (an 8th patient, not included
in their analysis), and the manufacturing process yielded only one device with
all 20 reservoirs of drug," he said. <br />
<br />
"Nevertheless, all doses present were released from the seven devices.
Several years are still needed to bring this technology to approval by the US
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and to the clinical promise reflected in this
small study."<br />
<br />
Automated drug delivery systems are likely to prove popular with patients who
currently have a daily regimen of self-administered injections. Julia Thomson, a
nurse with the UK's National Osteoporosis Society, said such innovations could
improve compliance among patients, some of whom will stop injecting because of
the hassle.<br />
<br />
"These implants form a new and novel approach to the way in which parathyroid
hormone is administered, and although it was a very small study, the findings
are certainly exciting," she said.<br />
<br />
"The downside with parathyroid hormone has always been that women have to
inject themselves on a daily basis so a new implant, like this, would certainly
address compliance issues."<br />
<br />
Ultimately, say the Massachusetts researchers, one could envisage sensors
being combined with chips that hold reservoirs of different kinds of drugs,
creating a system which could adapt treatments in response to changing
conditions in a patient's body.<br />
<br />
<a href="mailto:Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk">Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk</a>
and follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/BBCAmos">Twitter</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961544556348462959.post-46845196769816078022012-02-15T10:16:00.000-08:002012-02-15T10:19:54.219-08:00Payroll tax cut: US Congress reaches deal<h1 class="story-header" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;">A US congressional panel is reported to have reached a tentative deal on extending a payroll tax cut, ending weeks of uncertainty.</span></h1>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58507000/jpg/_58507431_58506711.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Sen Jack Reed speaks during a meeting of the House-Senate Conference Committee 7 February 2012" border="0" height="171" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58507000/jpg/_58507431_58506711.jpg" width="304" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Passions flared as the House-Senate panel neared a deal<br />
on the tax cut renewal</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="caption body-narrow-width">
<br /> </div>
The deal would extend the tax cut until the end of 2012, adding $100bn
to the US deficit.<br />
<br />
Agreement came after Republicans dropped calls for spending cuts to offset
the expense, and Democrats put aside requests for other tax breaks. The payroll tax sparked an impasse in Congress at the end of 2011.<br />
<br />
In reaching the deal, the joint House-Senate panel has also agreed to extend
unemployment benefits.<br />
<br />
"I do expect, if the agreement comes together like I expect it will, the
House should vote this week," House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said
on Wednesday.<br />
<br />
The Democratic leader in the House, Nancy Pelosi, said: "We're way down the
road from where we were just a few days ago."<br />
<br />
Extending the cut, originally passed in 2010, was part of a wide-ranging jobs
plan launched by President Barack Obama in September 2011.<br />
<br />
Mr. Obama held a news conference on Tuesday to urge Congress to pass an
agreement.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="cross-head"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Off the table</strong></span></span>
<br />
<br />
Republicans had wanted to reduce the extension of unemployment benefits from
99 weeks to 59 weeks. The White House has called for a 79-week extension as a
compromise.<br />
<br />
Under the emerging terms of the deal, Republicans are said to have dropped a
condition that potential recipients of unemployment benefits must be drug-tested
first. <br />
<br />
Meanwhile, negotiators are considering ways to pay for the extension of
jobless benefits. They include increasing the pension contributions paid by US
government workers, as well as cutting funding from a healthcare drive that
promotes healthy living, correspondents say.<br />
<br />
Republicans in the House of Representatives were put on the defensive as 2011
drew to a close after negotiations broke down on how to pay for the cut.<br />
<br />
Despite opposing tax rises in general, the Republican desire to ensure any
renewal of the tax break was fully funded and did not add to the deficit saw the
White House cast them as opponents of a middle-class tax cut.<br />
<br />
After a climbdown by Mr Boehner, Republicans eventually agreed to a two-month
extension while the House and Senate panel brokered a year-long deal. <br />
<br />
By dropping the requirement of offsetting spending cuts, Republicans moved
away from making the cut an election-year issue.<br />
<br />
"The mood is to get it off the table," Florida House Republican Dennis Ross
told the Associated Press. "We've got to move on to another issue."<br />
<br />
The tax break is estimated to a household making $50,000 about $20 per
week.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">**courtesy of BBC NEWS US & Canada**</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961544556348462959.post-52622943896948410602012-02-14T08:58:00.000-08:002012-02-14T08:59:05.994-08:00China's (potential) new leader has taken a trip to the US. Hear what he had to say<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">China's Xi Jinping in closely-watched visit to the
US</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58397000/jpg/_58397846_013943571-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Xi Jinping. File photo" border="0" height="171" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58397000/jpg/_58397846_013943571-1.jpg" width="304" /></a></div>
<div class="caption body-narrow-width">
</div>
<div class="caption body-narrow-width" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="width: 304px;"></span><br />
<span style="width: 304px;"><div style="text-align: left;">
Chinese Vice-President Xi
Jinping alluded to regional concerns over the US presence in the Pacific</div>
</span></div>
<div class="caption body-narrow-width">
</div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">
The man likely to become China's next
leader, Vice-President Xi Jinping, has begun a closely watched visit to the
United States.</div>
<br />
In comments to a US newspaper ahead of his trip, Mr Xi sounded a note of
warning to the US over its military stance in the Pacific.<br />
<br />
He said scaling up military activity was not what countries in the region
wanted to see.<br />
<br />
He is due to meet President Barack Obama at the White House on Tuesday.<br />
<br />
"This will be an opportunity for the leaders of both countries to really sit
down and talk about our differences," said US Ambassador to China Gary Locke
after greeting Mr Xi. <br />
<br />
He added that the leaders would also be able to "really focus on the common
interests that both the US and China have".<br />
<br />
<div align="center">
___________________________________________________________________________________</div>
<h2 class="story-feature wide ">
Who is Xi Jinping?</h2>
<div class="story-feature wide ">
<ul>
<li><strong>China's likely next leader</strong>, expected to lead the country
from 2013</li>
<li>Currently China's <strong>vice-president </strong>and vice chair of the
Central Military Commission (which controls the army)</li>
<li><strong>Son of Xi Zhongxun</strong>, one of the Communist Party's founding
fathers</li>
<li>Joined the party in 1974</li>
<li>His <strong>wife, singer Peng Liyuan</strong>, describes him as frugal,
hardworking and down-to-earth</li>
</ul>
</div>
___________________________________________________________________________________<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div id="story_continues_2">
Mr Xi, 58, is widely expected to succeed President Hu
Jintao, who must retire as head of the Communist Party later this year and from
the presidency in 2013.</div>
<br />
His visit comes a year after Mr Hu's trip to Washington, which he referred to
in his comments published in <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/views-from-chinas-vice-president/2012/02/08/gIQATMyj9Q_story.html">The
Washington Post</a> provided by the Chinese government.<br />
<br />
He is making the week-long trip as a guest of US Vice-President Joe Biden,
who made a high-profile visit to China late last year.<br />
<br />
Mr Xi was welcomed by Mr Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the
White House's Roosevelt Room on Tuesday morning. <br />
<br />
Emphasising the importance of friendly ties between the two countries, Mr
Biden said that while "we are not always going to see eye to eye", both nations
would speak "candidly" about their differences.<br />
<br />
"We have very important economic and political concerns that warrant that we
work together," he said.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #ffd966;">Mr Xi said in his remarks that he hoped the visit would "strengthen
consensus... and deepen our friendship".</span><br />
<br />
Mr Xi also will meet Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. On Wednesday, he will
travel to Iowa to meet his hosts from his first visit to the US in 1985 when he
was a county official. <br />
<br />
He is also scheduled to visit a farm in Iowa on Thursday before flying to Los
Angeles, California, to meet business leaders there.<br />
<br />
As well as comments focusing on the US role in the Pacific, Mr Xi said that
what has happened over the last 40 years "tells us that a sound and stable
China-US relationship is crucial for both countries". <br />
<br />
Correspondents say the US-China relationship has become an increasingly
delicate one over a series of security and economic issues. <br />
<br />
Washington has been putting pressure on Beijing over the value of its
currency and turning the heat up on what it has called unfair trade
practices.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="cross-head"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Frictions and differences</span></strong></span>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58487000/jpg/_58487193_042087c1711b1b04070f6a706700dacd-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Pro-Tibet demonstrators in front of the White House in Washington. Photo: 13 February 2012" border="0" height="171" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58487000/jpg/_58487193_042087c1711b1b04070f6a706700dacd-1.jpg" width="304" /></a></div>
<div class="caption body-narrow-width">
</div>
<div class="caption body-narrow-width" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="width: 304px;"></span><br />
<span style="width: 304px;"><div style="text-align: left;">
Pro-Tibet demonstrators held a
rally outside the White House</div>
</span></div>
<div class="caption body-narrow-width">
</div>
<br />
In his comments, Mr Xi emphasised that China had taken ''active steps'' to address these concerns.<br />
<br />
''Frictions and differences are hardly avoidable in our economic and trade
interactions,'' he said.<br />
<br />
''We must not allow frictions and differences to undermine the larger
interests of our business co-operation.''<br />
<br />
China, on the other hand, has voiced concern over the US military presence in
the Asia-Pacific region and displeasure over arms sales to Taiwan, which Beijing
considers a renegade province. <br />
<br />
China and the US, Mr Xi said, had ''converging interests'' in the region and
there was ''ample space'' for both in the Pacific Ocean.<br />
<br />
"We also hope that the United States will fully respect and accommodate the
major interest and legitimate concerns of Asia-Pacific countries," he wrote.
<br />
<br />
Mr Xi's trip also comes amid increased tension over protests and tightened
security in Tibet. <br />
<br />
Human rights activists staged a protest outside the White House, carrying
banners that read "Tibet will be free".<br />
<br />
Mr Xi is also scheduled to visit Ireland and Turkey, following the US
trip.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">**Courtesy of BBC News China**</span><br />
<div id="_em_stage__em" style="display: none;">
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961544556348462959.post-90439293487852778972012-02-13T09:21:00.000-08:002012-02-13T09:24:59.199-08:00IS OBAMA's PLAN TO TAX THE RICH A WISE MOVE FOR THE UPCOMING ELECTION?<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="font-size: x-large;">Obama budget plan to tax the rich</span></strong></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58482000/jpg/_58482843_obamabudget.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="US President Barack Obama unveils 2013 federal budget in Virginia 13 February 2012" border="0" height="171" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58482000/jpg/_58482843_obamabudget.jpg" width="304" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Barack Obama's budgt sets ot a vision that will</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">frame political debate in an election year</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="caption body-narrow-width" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<br /></div>
<h1 class="story-header">
</h1>
<div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">
US President Barack Obama has
proposed to raise taxes on the wealthy in his 2013 budget, prompting an election
year spending showdown with Republicans.</div>
<br />
The proposal includes $1.5 trillion in new taxes, much from allowing
Bush-era tax cuts to expire.<br />
<br />
He will also call for a Buffett Plan tax hike on millionaires, and
infrastructure projects.<br />
<br />
Republicans said the budget, which must be agreed between the White House and
Congress, would not curb the deficit.<br />
<br />
Mr Obama unveiled the details in an address to students at a college in
Virginia on Monday morning.<br />
<br />
At its core is the idea that the wealthiest Americans should pay more in tax
and that, in the short-term, a chunk of that extra revenue should be spent on
job creation, manufacturing and upgrading the nation's schools.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="story-feature narrow" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><strong>
</strong></span></div>
<blockquote class="story-feature narrow">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><strong>
</strong></span></div>
<div class="first-child" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><strong>"I think there is pretty broad agreement that the time for
austerity is not today”</strong></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="story-feature narrow" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><strong>
<span class="quote-credit">Jack Lew </span><span class="quote-credit-title">White
House chief of staff</span></strong></span> </div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div id="story_continues_2">
Republican leaders, who portray Mr Obama as a
tax-and-spend liberal stoking class warfare, have pronounced the budget dead on
arrival. </div>
<br />
But in his budget message, Mr Obama said: "This is not about class warfare.
This is about the nation's welfare."<br />
<br />
"This is about making fair choices that benefit not just the people who have
done fantastically well over the last few decades but that also benefit the
middle class, those fighting to get into the middle class, and the economy as a
whole," he added.<br />
<br />
His plan to allow George W Bush-era tax cuts to expire would affect families
making $250,000 or more per year.<br />
<br />
The president would also put in place a rule named after billionaire Warren
Buffett to tax households making more than $1m annually at a rate of at least
30%.<br />
<br />
In a populist touch, over the next decade, the plan would levy a new $61bn
tax on financial institutions, in an effort to recover the costs of the
financial bailout. And it would raise a further $41bn by cutting tax breaks for
oil, gas and coal companies.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="cross-head" style="font-size: large;"><strong>Ducking
responsibility</strong></span><br />
<br />
But Republicans are unhappy that the blueprint would entail a fourth year in
a row of trillion-dollar-plus deficits.<br />
<br />
"He's just going to duck the responsibility to tackle this country's fiscal
problems," Republican Congressman Paul Ryan, who is chairman of the House Budget
Committee, told the Associated Press news agency. <br />
<br />
The spending plan, which would take effect on 1 October, projects a deficit
for this year of $1.33 trillion, with the amount shrinking to $901bn by 2013 and
$575bn in 2018.<br />
<br />
Mr Obama has also proposed more than $100bn in investments for transportation
projects, revamps for tens of thousands of schools and for the hiring of
teachers and emergency service workers.<br />
<br />
The plan would defer major spending cuts until the economy is on a more
steady footing, a priority as Mr Obama seeks re-election in November.<br />
<br />
"I think there is pretty broad agreement that the time for austerity is not
today," new White House chief of staff Jack Lew told NBC's Meet the Press on
Sunday. <br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">**courtesy of BBC US&Canada**</span><br />
<div id="_em_stage__em" style="display: none;">
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1961544556348462959.post-11283753101001106172012-02-11T07:50:00.000-08:002012-02-11T07:50:36.906-08:00RADIO WAVES TO REPLACE CONVENTIONAL BATTERIES<h1 class="story-header" style="text-align: center;">
Researchers develop new system to 'eliminate'
batteries</h1>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Batteries generic" height="171" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58449000/jpg/_58449201_hi006338618.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="304" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The university claims the new system could reduce the<br />
number of batteries sent to landfill sites</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="caption body-narrow-width">
<span style="width: 304px;"></span> </div>
<br />
<div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1" style="text-align: center;">
<strong>Researchers at the University of
Bedfordshire have developed a new technique for powering electronic devices</strong>.
</div>
<br />
The system, developed by Prof Ben Allen at the Centre for Wireless Research,
uses radio waves as power.<br />
<br />
Believed to be a world first, the team claims it could eventually eliminate
the need for conventional batteries.<br />
<br />
The university has now filed a patent application to secure exclusive rights
to the technique.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="cross-head"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Spare time</span></strong></span><br />
<br />
Prof Allen and his team, including David Jazani and Tahima Ajmal, have
created a system to use medium wave frequencies to replace batteries in small
everyday gadgets like clocks or remote controls.<br />
<br />
The new technique uses the "waste" energy of radio waves and has been
developed as part of the university's research into "power harvesting".<br />
<br />
Prof Allen said that as radio waves have energy - like light waves, sound
waves or wind waves - then in theory these waves could be used to create power.
<br />
<br />
"The emerging area of power harvesting technology promises to reduce our
reliance on conventional batteries," he said.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<h2 class="quote" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">"The emerging area of power harvesting technology promises
to reduce our reliance on conventional batteries”</span></h2>
<div class="story-feature narrow" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><span class="quote-credit">Prof Ben Allen</span>
<span class="quote-credit-title">University of Bedfordshire</span> </span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div id="story_continues_2">
"It's a really exciting way of taking power from other
sources than what we would normally think of."</div>
<br />
The team are now waiting for the results of the patent application to secure
recognition of the technique.<br />
<br />
Prof Allen said that the team's achievements had all been done in their
"spare time".<br />
<br />
"Our next stage is to try and raise some real funds so that we can take this
work forward and make a working prototype and maybe partner up with the right
people and take this to a full product in due course," he said.<br />
<br />
"Power harvesting has a really important part in our future because, just in
this country, we dispose of somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 tonnes of
batteries in landfill sites every single year - that is toxic chemicals going
into the ground.<br />
<br />
He added that development of the product could also be "commercially
beneficial".<br />
<br />
"The market for this is several billion pounds, we've seen market predictions
for 2020 which have these kinds of figures so there's a lot of commercial
potential in this area," he said.<br />
<br />
Pro-Vice Chancellor at the University of Bedfordshire, Prof Carsten Maple,
said: "This type of work is a reflection of the university's growing reputation
and experience in conducting innovative research."<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">**courtesy of BBC Beds, Hertz and Bucks**</span><br />
<div id="_em_stage__em" style="display: none;">
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0