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Monday, April 1, 2013
This Secret Google Maps Gesture Is Totally Brilliant
A not so Traditional Vampire Story
Are you searching for a vampire story that lacks the Twilight theme? A story that actually has plot and character development along with literate players? Well then, come join The Vampire Codes, a literate vampire story about differences, racism, isolation, stereotypes, peer-pressure, and everything else in between.
The ultimate cliche; countless stories, drawings, fanfiction, board games, movies, role-plays, and whatever else I couldn?t think of right now have been created with the classic vampire idea. I mean, why not vampires? They are near-immortal beings; graceful and aristocratic. They are a dark fantasy, incredibly powerful and yet relying on a red substance that any normal human has naturally.
Now for our roleplay, that?s all you?re interested in anyways.-Sponsors are responsible for all Claimed Vampires.
They can boss them around.
The ultimate cliche; countless stories, drawings, fanfiction, board games, movies, role-plays, and whatever else I couldn?t think of right now have been created with the classic vampire idea. I mean, why not vampires? They are near-immortal beings; graceful and aristocratic. They are a dark fantasy, incredibly powerful and yet relying on a red substance that any normal human has naturally.
In this world, ?vampire? is just an umbrella term for the many supernaturals that just so happen to require liquids in some way.
They are not aristocratic. Heck, most vampires are dirt poor second class citizens.
The humans are afraid of the vampires. I mean, who wouldn?t be? Knowing there?s a creepy monster guy lurking around for someone to be dinner doesn?t exactly make me eager to sleep. And yes, the vampires are stronger than the normal person, in their own way, but they have the same moral compass as the rest of us and most of them don?t even drink human blood. But it seems that the Dracula cliche won over logic and common sense, and segregation, discrimination, and racism plagues the vampire populace.
Any crime a vampire commits is guaranteed to receive much more extreme punishment than if a normal human had committed it. The law system is very set against vampires, and closes it?s eyes to vigilante acts against the supernatural race. Lynching and similar acts are far too common.
Enter Lawrence Yeannes. Your average 35 year old guy with a nice job, but no wife. One day Lawrence visits his local discount store, with the intention of hitting on the vampire girls that he saw working there last week. This shopping trip would prove to be life changing. After being rejected (twice) Lawrence hangs around, watching the little vampric group as they go about their day, waiting for his chance to try for a third time. While observing, Lawrence sees what it?s really like for a vampire, and he decides to help them, and becomes the first Sponsor.
For all of them.
Enter Lawrence Yeannes. At seventy-eight years old, he controls a business empire of such a magnitude that it has the entire world in a chokehold. He is, in all but name, the ?ruler? of our planet. And everyone knows it, who could they not? Everything is manufactured by Yeannes Inc. from cheap knick-nacks to baby diapers to weapons of mass destruction. And yet, with all of this influence, Lawrence knows that just one person cannot force the prejudice away. However, he?s gotten rid of most of the lynchings and managed to scrap the old Vampric Codes in exchange for a set of his creation. It?s not much, but it?s all that?s needed for the stage to be set for the salvation of the vampires.
And who better to trigger a world movement for civil rights than the new generation?
Now for our roleplay, that?s all you?re interested in anyways.
In windy Iowa, there is a school notorious to being free of racism and prejudice. Classes are offered for preschool to college, for all races, all social classes, all genders, and all backgrounds. In fact, the school encourages kids to attend if they have a particularly strange/unusual history. The school is very old, a maze of old brick buildings with the occasional newer patch. It could be compared to a town; this University of Diversity has both slums and shiny new toilet seats. In fact, the University is well known for it?s confusing and rambling layout. But, from the dusty alleyways littered with trash to the soft downy beds of the five star dorms dorms, the University has always been a place of higher education and general acceptance for all.
So in order to keep face, the vampires were allowed to attend. Because of this, what little vampires there were left in the world all pooled into Iowa. Though they know vampires exist, people who don?t live in Iowa don?t really care about vampires and regard them mostly as we do today. As a result, they aren?t really up-to-date on the Vampire Codes and the rules of Sponsorship.
Now, like the rest of the world, this school has it?s own social class.
The teachers, principal, you get the picture.
|
Student Council
Manned by a combination of high schoolers and college kids, must be an advanced student to run for office. They are in charge of the spirit days, clubs, and day to day affairs.
|
Advanced Student
Any kid in the honor role for that trimester. These kids get the best dorms and school equipment.
|
Normal Student
Your average B's to D's student. They make up most of the student populace.
|
Delinquent
One could get this rank by either breaking one too many rules or having failing grades. They have academic improvement classes and community service work instead of electives.
|
Vampire
The lowest of the low. Vampires are not allowed to take electives or join clubs, and the teachers are extremely hard on all of them. There are a few vampires in every grade, but no more than five. There are even two little preschool vampires. The vampires have a seedy, run down dorm all of their own.
So what?s the point of all of this? Why are you confusing me with your social system?
Well. This story is not about high-school drama or the tensions with vampire/human relationships. Nevermind it totally is. No, this is about overcoming stereotypes, peer-pressure, and everything in between. You see this story is about the vampires of the University of Diversity, and their human Sponsors. Throughout the roleplay, I want lots of bonds to be made between character. This is about dealing with the real life problems of peer pressure, stereotyping, and just dealing with other people in general. The civil rights of an entire race rests in the hands of these youngsters.
Are you brave enough to stand up for what?s right, even though it might cost you everything?
Wait... what the heck is a Sponsor?
Good question. When ol? Lawrence butchered the old Vampire Codes, he managed to replace them with Rules that gave the vampires a shot at equality, if only a handful of humans were willing to give it to them.
Freedom, though, comes with a price.
The Vampire Codes
1. A vampire may only lay a hand on a human if the vampire?s life is in definite danger.
(A human can beat up a vampire and he/she won?t be able to do anything to stop it.)
2. Vampires may not gather in numbers, stay out past curfew, attend political conventions, run for election, or enter a human-only building without a Sponsor.
(With a Sponsor, everything changes.)
3. Sponsors may only be human.
4. Sponsors cannot have a significant criminal record.
5. When a human agrees to become a Sponsor, they have a waiting period of three days where they can revoke Sponsor status. Afterwards, they are stuck with the job for at least a year.
In Exchange for Sponsorhood in the University of Diversity
This applies only to students who wish to be Sponsors in the school.
They can boss them around.
-Sponsors are in charge of acquiring ?special? food for the Claimed Vampires.
Vampire needs blood? Guess who?s stuck with giving it to them.
-Sponsor status is only a little bit higher than the Vampire Status.
Yaaaaaaaaaaay.
-Sponsors are in charge of the Claimed Vampire Club.
Claimed Vampires get to have a club.
-If a Claimed Vampire causes trouble or is helpful, Sponsor takes blame/credit.
Vampire beats someone up? The Sponsor gets punished.
-Sponsors are moved from old dorm into the Vampire Dorm.
Sucks for the Sponsor.
Claimed Vampires
Are the luckiest vampires in the world.
+Suddenly, if someone hits you first, even if they are human, you can beat them up without punishment for you or your Sponsor.
+You get to eat in the cafeteria while the human kids are eating!
+Finally you can have a club, get an elective, and improve the dorm building.
+You can send requests to the Student Council, just like any human kid.
+No more curfew, segregation, or shoddy jobs for you!
Basically, a Sponsor gets a crummy life while the Claimed Vampires get all of their dreams come true.
This is to discourage possible Sponsors.
Races
Human-
Nothing much to say here. However, humans are known to be Gifted with a mild power of some sort. It?s not that unusual.
Sponsor- Yes, they count as a race.
We can have as many of these as we can. The Sponsors in this roleplay will be just your average kids (Gifted or otherwise), new to the school (or otherwise) and unfamiliar with the Vampire Codes because they come from different areas. The roleplay will start with the kids stumbling (or joining willingly) into Sponsorship. More about that in OOC.
Normal Vampire-
The classic vampire, with extra speed, strength, and stamina. They sunburn easily, and can die like the rest of us (though they are harder to kill). They need animal blood once a week, and human blood once a month, at minimum. Sometimes known to have a weak elemental power. These are the most common.
Human-turned Vampire-
They are basically your average person, but they suddenly feel a little bit stronger and faster. The sun irritates them just a little, and they can only digest liquids. If they drink human blood, they become super-powered (they can dodge lightning) for a short amount of time. Animal blood gives them heightened senses. The fact that these vampires exist is scandalous, and these are the second least common.
Witch Vampire-
They can cast ?spells? using the energy of the people, plants, and animals around them. Sometimes have an animal familiar. Witch Vampires can eat solid foods occasionally, but they generally only drink liquids. They like the taste of blood, but only need it if they need extra power or recovering from a bad wound.
Shapeshifting Vampire-
Basically they can transform into any one animal, and they retain certain characteristics of that animal (sharp teeth and aggressive personality for a vamp who can turn shark). This is where it?s possible for a ?werewolf? vampire to exist. They have a fondness for raw meat and animal blood, but only need it every once and awhile.
Empathic Vampires-
Perhaps the strangest, these vampires feed off of emotions and various beverages, rather than blood. Each Empathic Vampire has ?dominance? over one emotion, and while they can feed off of any, they start to become ill if they cut off from it for extended periods of time. If this particular emotion is around they can channel it into a physical version of itself. (A feeling vampire with dominance over anger can transform anger into fire, the more anger there is the stronger the fire is).
Demonic Vampire-
The unluckiest suckers of the lot, these vampires will do well to keep their identity a secret, as humans generally form mobs to hunt them down. They are stronger than normal vampires, and their ?power? is too, but they are much much more dependant on blood. They cannot eat solid food, and can only drink blood. They can survive off of animal blood, but they will eventually wither away without human blood, which is best given daily, but not required. They need sunscreen for any amount of sun, and they are scared of fire and drowning. One Available, any Demonic Vampire played by an RPer will be the only one(s) in the school.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/JvRSyfIm40U/viewtopic.php
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In Search Of Energy Metaphors: Debunking The Myth Of The Ina ...
Sunday March 31, 2013, 3:43 pm
In Search Of Energy Metaphors: Debunking The Myth Of The Inadequacy Of ?Current Renewables?
In Search Of Energy Metaphors: Debunking The Myth Of The Inadequacy Of ?Current Renewables?
By Joe Romm on Mar 12, 2013 at 7:29 pm
Last month, I was on a panel with someone who kept kept saying ?current renewables? were inadequate to address the climate problem and what we needed to do is invest in ?future renewables.? By that he meant increased research and development, of course, and not continued aggressive deployment.
I began my comments with this metaphor:
?There?s no useful intellectual distinction between ?current? and ?future? renewables. It?s like saying my daughter, who?s six, is not the same person once she becomes an adult. The only way she won?t grow is if I don?t feed her.?
The point is that continuing the amazing price drops and learning curves for renewables requires that we keep feeding them and help them keep learning ? by expanding production, as the International Energy Agency has explained (see ?The breakthrough technology illusion?). Many other studies back this up (see ?Study Confirms Optimal Climate Strategy: Deploy, Deploy, Deploy, R&D, Deploy, Deploy, Deploy?).
[In fairness to renewables, solar power is at least a junior in college, and wind power has already graduated. My daughter just happens to be six.]
Here?s a figure that shows what I?m talking about for solar power (learning curve in upper right):
Note that the price drop (and production increase) has continued since 2011 (see ?Chinese Companies Projected To Make Solar Panels for 42 Cents Per Watt In 2015?). And we are also dropping the price of financing solar ? see ?How Crowdfunding Lowers The Cost Of Solar Energy? ? which is just what you would expect as an industry becomes larger and more mature. Indeed, it?s one reason for learning curves ? most things are cheaper when you scale up (except, sadly, nukes).
Similarly, a little over a year ago, Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) analyzed the cost curve for wind projects since the mind-1980?s and found that the cost of wind-generated electricity has fallen 14% for every doubling of installation capacity.
So while I was glad to see the excellent NY Times climate reporter Justin Gillis launch his monthly print column for Science Times, I was disappointed that he rehashed the tired myth pushed by Bill Gates and a few others in his article, ?In Search of Energy Miracles.?
First, though, the good news. Gillis doesn?t fall into the trap of most of the miracle mavens and breakthrough bunch ? the trap of advocating an R&D-centered policy:
Two approaches to the issue ? spending money on the technologies we have now, or investing in future breakthroughs ? are sometimes portrayed as conflicting. In reality, that is a false dichotomy. The smartest experts say we have to pursue both tracks at once, and much more aggressively than we have been doing.
An ambitious national climate policy, anchored by a stiff price on carbon dioxide emissions, would serve both goals at once. In the short run, it would hasten a trend of supplanting coal-burning power plants with natural gas plants, which emit less carbon dioxide. It would drive investment into current low-carbon technologies like wind and solar power that, while not efficient enough, are steadily improving.
And it would also raise the economic rewards for developing new technologies that could disrupt and displace the ones of today. These might be new-age nuclear reactors, vastly improved solar cells, or something entirely unforeseen.
In effect, our national policy now is to sit on our hands hoping for energy miracles, without doing much to call them forth.
Actually, coal is being supplanted by gas and wind (see ?Wind Beats Out Natural Gas To Become Top Source Of New Electricity Capacity For 2012?). And efficiency and demand response have slowed electricity demand growth to under 1% a year.
A stiff price for CO2 would tip the balance even more toward sources like wind that are carbon-free and hence don?t destroy a livable climate. After all, BNEF concluded its wind study:
Assuming specific learning rates for these components, we expect wind to become fully competitive with energy produced from combined-cycle gas turbines by 2016 in most regions offering fair wind conditions.? Any increase in the cost of gas, which will consequently raise the cost of energy of gas-fired turbines, would bring forward the timing of grid parity for wind.
And yes, I?ll get to the so-called intermittency problem.
Where Gillis goes astray is when he buys into Bill Gates? energy miracles nonsense:
Many environmentalists believe that wind and solar power can be scaled to meet the rising demand, especially if coupled with aggressive efforts to cut waste. But a lot of energy analysts have crunched the numbers and concluded that today?s renewables, important as they are, cannot get us even halfway there.
?We need energy miracles,? Mr. Gates said in a speech three years ago introducing his approach, embodied in a company called TerraPower.
Let?s set aside the fact that Gates himself got rich through a deployment-centric innovation and learning curve strategy (see ?Pro-geoengineering Bill Gates disses efficiency, ?cute? solar, deployment ? and still doesn?t know how he got rich?).
The fact is that if ?today?s renewables? ? a meaningless distinction as I?ve said ? could only get us a third of the way there, that would be fine through, say, 2025, since the carbon price and deployment effort would accelerate countless near-commercial technologies now in the pipeline into the market to next us the next third and then the final third.
Jigar Shah, a solar-industry rock star who founded the pioneering solar company SunEdison, explained to Climate Progress at length in 2011 why doubters of today?s renewable energy technologies are so wrong. I recommend the whole interview (Jigar is in the second half), where he explains that the only meaningful technologies for solving climate are those that can be scaled at the trillion-dollar level, and nobody puts a trillion-dollar bet on some brand new, breakthrough technology.
Jigar thinks we could reduce CO2 emissions about 50% cost-effectively with existing technologies, but that by the time we finished doing so in a couple of decades, we?d have another array of cost-effective strategies to take us down another 50%.
If you?d like to see a study of how New York could go 100% renewable in two decades, see ?Examining the Feasibility of Converting New York State?s All-Purpose Energy Infrastructure to One Using Wind, Water and Sunlight? by Stanford?s Marc Jacobson et al.
As for the U.S. as a whole, here are the key points to needed the 450 ppm pathway:
We don?t need to be 100% carbon-free by 2030 ? though that would be a good idea.
We can keep nuclear for baseload and yes we can even keep much of current gas power through 2030 ? we just shouldn?t build a lot of new gas-fired plants.
We could easily keep demand flat using the most cost-effective source of energy there is ? efficiency.
New renewables can back out coal over the next couple of decades (assuming the coal industry continues to commit suicide by failing to develop carbon capture and storage)
Our renewable penetration rate is considerably lower than that of many European countries, so we have a long way to go before increased renewables would cause us problems.
As we get to higher and higher levels of renewable penetration, we deal with intermittency through a combination of demand response, grid storage (which is steadily improving and dropping in price), and plugged in elective vehicles (whose already paid-for batteries are not being used >90% of the time).
Half or more of the ?intermittency problem? is really a ?predictability problem? ? that is, if we could predict with high accuracy wind availability and solar availability 24 to 36 hours in advance, then we can use demand response (aggregated demand reductions by commercial, industrial, and even residential customers, see ?Top 5 Coolest Ways Companies are Integrating Renewable Energy into the Grid?). Fortunately, such prediction capability is already beginning developed (see, for instance, here).
I have discussed these with leading energy analysts and electric grid experts, and they agree this is all doable with existing and near-term technology, assuming we keep feeding our renewable children ? and would go even faster if we had a stiff carbon price.
As for why folks don?t get this, Jigar Shah says:
For some people, technology is not their sweet spot. They have other skills. And so when someone tells them, ?technology is not ready,? they just eat up those words ? hook, line and sinker and then decide that?s what their talking points are going to be. And with those people it?s just sad that they don?t read more.
A major 2000 report by the International Energy Agency, Experience Curves for Energy Technology Policy, analyzed a variety of experience curves for various energy technologies. Their key conclusion has already been demonstrated, in part, by the massive investment in renewables we?ve seen in the past decade, but it bears repeating:
A general message to policy makers comes from the basic philosophy of the experience curve. Learning requires continuous action, and future opportunities are therefore strongly coupled to present activities. If we want cost-efficient, CO2-mitigation technologies available during the first decades of the new century, these technologies must be given the opportunity to learn in the current marketplace. Deferring decisions on deployment will risk lock-out of these technologies, i.e., lack of opportunities to learn will foreclose these options making them unavailable to the energy system.
Don?t lock our growing kids out of the job market by depriving them of food and learning. Deployment must be ramped up again and again and again (and yes, R&D, too).
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Source: http://www.care2.com/news/member/663679641/3556326
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CA-BUSINESS Summary
Record Wall Street boosts sentiment, U.S. holds key in Q2
TOKYO (Reuters) - Whether the world's largest economy can sustain momentum will be a primary focus for investors for the next three months after a general recovery trend in the United States helped risk sentiment for broad markets in the first quarter of 2013. Asian shares edged higher and the euro steadied on Friday after banks in Cyprus reopened to relative calm. Overall trade was subdued, with many Asian markets, including Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong, closed on Friday for Easter holidays.
Banks lift TSX on Cyprus calm; index up for quarter
TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index powered ahead in a late surge on Thursday, led by strength in financial and industrial shares, on relief that banks in Cyprus reopened relatively smoothly following a bailout deal. The market received further support from BlackBerry
More trouble for Cohen's SAC Capital as Steinberg indicted in NY
(Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors on Friday charged Michael Steinberg, a veteran portfolio manager at Steven A. Cohen's hedge fund, with insider trading in two technology stocks, the most senior SAC Capital Advisors' employee to be indicted in the government's long-running probe. FBI agents arrested Steinberg at his Park Avenue home in New York City at around 6 a.m. EDT (1000 GMT). Steinberg, wearing a blue sweater, pleaded "not guilty" to charges of securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities when he appeared at a late morning arraignment.
Chesapeake names Dixon interim CEO as McClendon set to leave
(Reuters) - Chesapeake Energy Corp
Monte Paschi says lost billions in deposits after Feb scandal
MILAN (Reuters) - Customers' deposits at Italian bank Monte dei Paschi
Loeb's Third Point outperforms hedge fund rivals again
BOSTON (Reuters) - Hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb outperformed his rivals again in the first quarter with returns that kept pace with the stock market's recent rally, a person familiar with Loeb's returns said. The New York-based manager told investors late on Thursday that his flagship Third Point Offshore Fund rose 2.8 percent in March while the Third Point Ultra fund, the leveraged version of the Offshore fund, gained 4.2 percent.
Cyprus details heavy losses for major bank customers
NICOSIA (Reuters) - Major depositors in Cyprus's biggest bank will lose around 60 percent of savings over 100,000 euros, its central bank confirmed on Saturday, sharpening the terms of a bailout that has shaken European banks but saved the island from bankruptcy. Initial signs that big depositors in Bank of Cyprus
EU, IMF resisting merger of Greek banks NBG, Eurobank: paper
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's international lenders have asked Athens to halt the merger of National Bank
Areva CEO says would be interested in Urenco stake: paper
PARIS (Reuters) - French nuclear group Areva would be interested in taking a stake in uranium enrichment firm Urenco, Areva's CEO was quoted as saying on Saturday. Urenco, owned by the British and Dutch states and Germany's two top utilities, is up for sale and Areva - which already has a partnership with Urenco - is believed to be a leading contender to buy a stake in the firm. Areva so far had played down its possible interest in Urenco.
Exclusive: Indonesia's CT Corp proposes all-cash deal for Bakrie's media unit
TANJUNG BENOA, Indonesia (Reuters) - Indonesia's fifth-richest man has proposed to buy a controlling stake in PT Visi Media Asia, valued at up to $1.8 billion, in an all-cash deal that would give him the lion's share of the TV advertising market in Southeast Asia's biggest economy. Chairul Tanjung, the billionaire founder and chairman of CT Corp, a conglomerate with banking and media interests, told Reuters that his company wanted to buy the stake in the media unit of Indonesia's powerful Bakrie family without any partners.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-business-summary-012952632--finance.html
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Sequester Cuts Trickle Down From The Middle Class
SUFFOLK, Va. -- The kitchen floor is curling up at Carol Rood's house. She and her partner removed the edging when they redid the cabinets last year, and now there's nothing to hold down the white-and-green linoleum where it meets the walls.
"This floor is nasty," Rood, 47, said during an interview in her kitchen. "That was the plan this year, was to do the floor. That's not happening now."
They're not fixing it because Rood's partner, Karol Sebastian, is facing at least two weeks' worth of unpaid days off from her job fixing helicopters for the U.S. Department of Defense. Sebastian, 45, is one of 90,000 civilian defense employees in Virginia expecting furloughs thanks to budget cuts known as sequestration.
This is the best-possible scenario for people directly affected by the cuts: Rood and Sebastian will stay solidly middle class, but their lifestyle will get just slightly shabbier at the edges. You might not even notice unless they told you about it.
"It's not going to knock us out of being middle-income people," Rood said. "I don't think we'll suffer. Suffer's not a good word because we live a really nice life."
Surely others will suffer more: the thousands of government workers and contractors who will be laid off, seniors and schoolchildren who will miss out on meals and early education programs, millions of long-term unemployed who will get stingier benefits, to name a few.
Sequestration's potential aggregate impact is what matters most. A family in Suffolk might represent the first chokepoint. The trouble is small when it starts with them, but when thousands and thousands of families tone their spending, the reverberation's pretty loud. Economists say the policy will result in 750,000 fewer jobs this year.
Rood and Sebastian anticipate getting something like $600 or $800 less per month from May through September, roughly 13 percent of their total income during that time. One of the first things they did at the beginning of the year when they realized they might have less money was to call a meeting with their three teenage boys.
"At the time, I didn't know how many days it was going to be," Sebastian said. "I was like, 'Look, I could lose my job for the summer.'"
Rood continued: "We gave them the whole story, their eyes kinda glassed over because they're teenagers, but they got the money part. They got the fact that we were going to be losing money so we would have to make changes."
For the kids, that means no more lunch money (they'll have to bag it instead) and a family data plan with less texting. For the parents, that means rebundling the cable package, putting plans on hold to pay down the car debt early, and holding off on more trips to the hair stylist. The messed up linoleum in the kitchen, the broken handle on the lawnmower, the malfunctioning second fridge that holds extra water and gallons of milk -- that stuff will have to wait. The nascent termite infestation won't, of course.
"That's the stuff that worries me," Rood said. "When life happens."
Though they consider themselves blessed, Rood and Sebastian said they find it irritating that their reduced income is the product of a pampered elite who supposedly don't even think sequestration is a good idea.
"I don't see any congressmen or senators going on furlough," Rood said. "That's the kind of thing that aggravates me."
Members of Congress are feeling the pinch in their own special way. The New York Times reported Wednesday that the U.S. Senate will be privatizing its Hair Care Services unit. Rood might dye her hair at home; future senatorial haircuts might lack taxpayer-subsidized marble bathtubs and a chandeliered sitting parlor.
Rood and Sebastian, both retired from the Navy, have plenty of sequestration company in the detached homes along the curvy streets of their neighborhood. The Hampton Roads area, which encompasses Suffolk and several other towns, is home to 39,000 civilian Defense Department employees. (Active duty personnel are shielded from cuts.)
"We're military, the guy behind us is Air Force, the guy next door is retired Navy, the guy two houses down is retired Navy," Rood said. "This entire neighborhood is saturated with military people."
And from what Rood has gleaned from conversations with her neighbors, a lot of them are also getting stuck with furloughs and layoffs. The concentration of defense personnel and contractors makes the area particularly vulnerable to cutbacks.
"In some sense sequestration is not a big deal in other parts of the country," said James Koch, an economics professor at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va. "Whereas here in this region we're talking about losing a little more than 2 percent of our gross regional project, a little more than $2 billion a year."
Koch, an expert on the region, said the diminished cash equals 17,000 lost jobs, just shy of 3 percent of the regional labor force. Neighbors will notice the difference.
"People will go to shop in the mall and they'll find there are not as many people in the store, or maybe the store is closed," he said.
Rood and Sebastian have found a bright side: They're glad sequestration is teaching them to spend more carefully. On balance, it might even be a good year for them. They met in 2003 while deployed to Bahrain during the Iraq war. In 2006, they combined their families and bought their Suffolk house. But they can't get legally married in Virginia.
"We dealt with 'don't ask, don't tell' and then it was a really big deal for us when President Obama got rid of that," Rood said. She hopes the federal Defense of Marriage Act, debated this week at the U.S. Supreme Court, follows "don't ask, don't tell" out the door.
"In the big picture, I would take sequestration for six months if DOMA would be struck down," she said.
HuffPost Readers: Have the federal budget cuts kicking in this month had an impact on you specifically or on your community? Have you lost work, has a program you rely on been cut back, has a project been halted? The Huffington Post wants to hear from you on how you're being affected by sequestration. Send your stories, links to news reports on the impact in your area, photos and anything else you want to share here. Include a number if you'd like to be interviewed. Let us know if you want to remain anonymous."
Also on HuffPost:
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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/30/sequester-cuts-middle-class_n_2966003.html
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Sunday, March 31, 2013
Choosing the Right Plants for your Landscape with @homedepot ...
It?s home improvement time, and The Home Depot has everything you need for spring. No matter what projects you want to tackle, The Home Depot has you covered.
Spring is the perfect time for all your outdoor home renovations. Shop The Home Depot for terrific values on new patio furniture, landscape supplies such as fertilizer and potting soil and outdoor grills. Keep your lawn and garden looking great, too, with the huge selection of lawn mowers, edgers and trimmers, and garden tools.
Visit?The Home Depot Garden Club?for product ideas from kick-starting your Spring with seed starter kits to building a window birdfeeder.?
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Home Depot.
Source: http://www.thecountrychiccottage.net/2013/03/choosing-right-plants-for-your.html
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Beverley?s Mitchell?s Blog: When I Nest, I Nest
In her latest blog, a 39-weeks-pregnant Mitchell writes that she hopes for just a bit more time to finish the nursery ? and shares her maternity portraits.
Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/knOtw4Ih2J4/
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Tablet computers acceptable for reading EEG results, study says
Mar. 29, 2013 ? Mayo Clinic physicians in Arizona have shown that tablet computers can be used to analyze electroencephalogram or EEG results outside of the clinic or hospital. Their study findings were recently presented at the American Academy of Neurology conference in San Diego.
"The fact that this gives doctors the ability to read EEG results from anywhere can only help patients in the long run," says Matthew Hoerth, M.D., a neurologist at Mayo Clinic in Arizona.
Click here to hear Dr. Hoerth explain the study.
An EEG is a painless procedure that uses electrodes attached to a person's scalp to detect electrical activity in the brain. Brain cells are constantly communicating via electrical impulses, even when someone is asleep. This activity shows up as wavy lines on an EEG recording.
The objective was to determine whether a computer tablet is an acceptable alternative to the traditional laptop for remote EEG interpretation. The findings showed that the tablet cost significantly less and weighed less than the laptop and had a comparable screen resolution. The greatest disadvantage to the tablet compared to the laptop is screen size. Boot-up time was significantly longer for the laptop and desktop. An EEG is one of the main diagnostic tests for epilepsy and may also play a role in diagnosing other brain disorders. The epilepsy division at Mayo Clinic in Arizona interprets EEGs for Mayo Clinic Hospital as well as three other institutions across Arizona, where they have remote access for interpretation to all locations. "With high volumes of EEGs and multiple systems and facilities to read from, the efficiency of technology is essential to many physician practices," says Dr. Hoerth. "Despite the marginally smaller screen size, the ease of use, accessibility, and reliability make the tablet a viable option for its integration into the tele-EEG practice.
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Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
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Saturday, March 30, 2013
The Rio Bonito House Fully Lives Up To Its Name
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Friday, March 29, 2013
EBay sets aggressive 2015 target, shares climb
By Alistair Barr
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - EBay Inc aims to handle $110 billion of sales on its marketplace in 2015 by expanding globally and using mobile technology to lure more shoppers, an aggressive target that drove its shares 4 percent higher on Thursday.
The forecast by eBay Marketplaces chief Devin Wenig was higher than Wall Street had expected and represents a 47 percent jump in gross merchandise volume, or GMV, from 2012's $75 billion.
GMV is a closely watched measure of eBay's performance. Doug Anmuth, an analyst at JP Morgan, had predicted 2015 GMV of $101 billion.
After bleeding market share to Amazon.com Inc for years, Chief Executive John Donahoe began a turnaround effort in 2009 that set the Internet commerce company back on track by borrowing from its larger rival's playbook.
He took what was then a muddled auctions website and made it easier for shoppers to buy new items at fixed prices and get more free shipping and returns - essentially mimicking the Amazon experience. He also embraced mobile technology, creating shopping apps for smartphones and tablets that brought in new customers.
But eBay's online marketplace is still growing less than Amazon's and some analysts are concerned its growth may struggle to keep up with the overall expansion of the online retail sector.
On Thursday, eBay's Wenig told analysts and investors that the company's core business will deliver "at least" market rates of growth.
EBay's stock rose 4.1 percent to $54.20 in the afternoon.
"They are saying they have fixed the core marketplace, and they are now positioned to drive incremental growth from local, mobile and global initiatives," said Colin Sebastian, an analyst at R.W. Baird.
CEO Donahoe said that the company would enable $300 billion of commerce in 2015, up 71 percent from $175 billion in 2012.
That forecast includes sales on eBay's online marketplace, payments processed by PayPal and other transactions touched by the company's various businesses, such as GSI Commerce.
"That's one of the ways we will measure our success," Donahoe said during eBay's investor day at its headquarters in Silicon Valley.
To get this done, eBay is focusing on three main sources of potential growth - global expansion, local commerce and mobile applications that it hopes will encourage consumers to shop more on its marketplace and use PayPal more to pay for those purchases.
EBay is aiming to increase sales in emerging markets and BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China, by four times current levels in three years, Wendy Jones, an executive overseeing the global push, said.
By the end of 2015, as much as 25 percent of eBay active users and over 12 percent of global sales will come from BRIC countries and emerging markets, she added.
EBay's top executives will give other, new three-year financial forecasts later on Thursday.
Expectations run high on Wall Street. Anmuth of J.P. Morgan, is expecting revenue of $21.16 billion in 2015 and earnings of $3.98 per share that year, versus $14 billion and $2.36 a share in 2012.
The analyst is also calling for 2015 PayPal transaction volume of $246.9 billion that year.
(Reporting by Alistair Barr; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn, Tim Dobbyn, and Kenneth Barry)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ebay-ceo-says-company-enable-300-billion-commerce-154139664--sector.html
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Filipino Catholics crucify themselves
SAN PEDRO CUTUD, Philippines (AP) ? Devotees in villages in the northern Philippines took part in a bloody annual ritual to mark Good Friday, a celebration that mixes Roman Catholic devotion and Filipino folk beliefs and sees some reenact the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
The crucified devotees spent several minutes nailed to crosses in Pampanga province while thousands of tourists watched and took photos of the spectacle, which the church discourages. Earlier in the day, hooded male penitents trudged through the province's villages under the blazing sun while flagellating their bleeding backs with makeshift whips. Others carried wooden crosses to dramatize Christ's sacrifice.
Devotees undergo the hardships in the belief that such extreme sacrifices are a way to atone for their sins, attain miracle cures for illnesses or give thanks to God.
Alex Laranang, a 58-year-old vendor who was the first to be nailed to a cross Friday, said he was doing it "for good luck and for my family to be healthy."
It was the 27th crucifixion for sign painter Ruben Enaje, 52, one of the most popular penitents from San Pedro Cutud village. He began his yearly rite after surviving a fall from a building.
Enaje screamed in pain as men dressed as Roman soldiers hammered stainless steel nails into his palms and feet. A wireless microphone carried his voice to loudspeakers for everyone watching to hear.
His cross was raised and he was hanged there for several minutes under the searing afternoon sun before the nails were pulled out and he was taken on a stretcher to a first aid station.
"It's intriguing and fascinating what makes people do something like this, how you can believe so much that you make yourself suffer to that extent," said Dita Tittesass, a tourist from Denmark.
Remigio de la Cruz, the chief of San Pedro Cutud village, explained that the practice began in his village in the 1950s.
Archbishop Jose Palma, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, told the church-run Radio Veritas that the practice is "not the desire of Jesus Christ."
"We are aware that this has been practiced long before ... but we still hope that this will not be done any more," he said. "We should all concentrate on prayers."
_____
Associated Press writer Oliver Teves contributed to this from Manila.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/filipino-devotees-reenact-crucifixion-christ-093544016.html
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Thursday, March 28, 2013
PlayStation Home Update: Doctor Who Items + Aurora 1.7 Update ...
This week in PlayStation Home, Doctor Who items materialize, there are tons of new locomotions, Aurora update 1.7 is here and much more!
BBC ? Doctor Who
BBC Worldwide is bringing their iconic series, Doctor Who, to PlayStation Home this week! In Wave One fans have the Eleventh Doctor, River Song, Silent, and Silurian costumes to choose from, plus a TARDIS private estate and clubhouse. Included with both TARDIS spaces is the LOOT? Active Camera to capture all of your fantastic adventures! Are you ready to be a Time Lord? This is one interstellar adventure you don?t want to miss out on! Geronimo!
JAM Games ? Easter Egg Heads
Are you wondering how you are going to eggs-press yourself in style this Easter? JAM Games has eggs-actly what you need! We bring you our bunny-eared Easter Egg Heads!
nDreams ? Aurora 1.7 Update + The Complex
Aurora 1.7
Players can now reach level 120 with new rewards every five levels. Rewards include two locomotions, an active item for your apartment and for the true Aurora veterans that make it to the top, the Aurora Showcase Apartment. To help you reach level 120 we have upgraded Orbrunner with new visuals, sounds and a consumable items. For more details please visit AlphaZone4.
The Complex Modular Apartment
If you visit Aurora starting today, you will be rewarded with The Complex HUB Personal Space. The Complex is a new modular apartment from nDreams that has four additional sections available for purchase. If you own all five section of The Complex you will be rewarded with some fantastic furniture items.
HellFire Games ? Home Improvement Week
It?s Home Improvement Week in Home Tycoon! The Hellfire Games team has DOUBLED the Worker regeneration rate in Home Tycoon from March 24 to March 31 in honor of AlphaZone4?s 4th anniversary. Mayors can now build more and collect revenue faster than ever before, but only for a limited time. Visit Home Tycoon today to take advantage of this free promotion while it lasts!
Atom Republic ? Comedy Moves + Rock, Paper, Scissors
Comedy Moves
If you like having fun and don?t take yourself too seriously, this week Atom Republic brings you Comedy Moves avatar animations and two hilarious locomotions! With the Comedy Moves, you can be sure to raise a few smiles: do the chicken dance, the conga line, the mime behind a glass wall, and last but not least, the famous Harlem Shake! And if you love horse-riding, but can?t afford the real thing, just pretend to ride an imaginary steed with the Pretend Horse-Riding locomotion!
Finally the Silly Walk is probably the most ridiculous locomotion you can buy in Home? You have been warned!
Rock, Paper, Scissors
Play Rock, Paper, Scissors with your friends anywhere in Home, with this new avatar animation pack!
Granzella ? Casual Cardigans
Enjoy the spring dressed in a cardigan set! For women this 3-piece set includes the Bowler Hat, Long Cardigan Outfit, and Open Toe Pumps and is available in 3 colors. For men this 4-piece set includes the Felt Hat, Cardigan & Dress Shirt, Zipper-Pocket Chinos, and the Fold-Down High Cut Trainers, available in 3 colors. In addition, matching hairstyles for men and women are available separately.
Konami ? Vehicle Locomotions + Raver Update
Konami adds to their raver line with a huge update! In addition to clothes, Konami releases all new vehicles! Intimidate with your very own mini-tank or fly around in your glowing space fighter. There are multiple colors of each, so collect them all!
Lockwood ? Motorbikes
You look like the kind of person who loves power! Lockwood?s LMO Motorbikes pack that power. Their horsepower is so powerful, it hoofs horses out of the way to make room for unicorns. That?s right, Lockwood?s Motorbike engines run on unicorn power. You want to see the unicorns? Well, you can?t! They?re tiny and they live in the engine and make the bike vroom! You?ll just have to be content with vrooming.
What?s that? You love power, but not as much as you love gifts? Well that?s good too, because Lockwood?s LMO Motorbikes also come in gift flavor! Okay so it isn?t a flavor, it?s just an alternative but equally convenient way to get hold of an awesome motorbike. Stop licking the gift machine already! You?ll just get a sore tongue.
Also, the ever popular Baron?s Eggcellent Plan active item gets re-released for a limited time. Pick yours up and enjoy all the shenanigans that Easter was meant to be.
x7 Update
This week in exclusive VIP nightclub x7, there is a new exclusive value bundle, a new freebie, plus new ?Flaming Hair? items from Lockwood, and new hairstyles from Konami! Head to x7, take the elevator upstairs, check out these fine items, then dance the night away!
Mall Update ? The Virtual Item Showcase, Volume 80
Magnus is back again, sharing with us all the hottest new items this week. Check out the video below for all the details. Highlights include Easter Egg Heads, Egg-inspired companions made in-house by two of our talented Home QA guys (props to Sean and David!), funny new walking styles, positively glowing new Raver clothing items and Flaming Hair and Eyes in x7. Enjoy this week?s Virtual Item Showcase.
See you in Home!
Want to chat more about PlayStation Home? Hop on over to the Home Forums! If you?re having trouble with Home, head to the Home Support forum.
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"Can't We All Just Get Along?" Your Friends vs. Your Relationship ...
Marriage
by ?|? on March 27th, 2013 ?|?
Things change! Yes my friends believe it or not when you become involved in a relationship or marriage there are certain things in your life and social life that will change. Unfortunately one of the things that we see change for the worse many times are our friendships. I know you have seen the scenario when a woman is tight with her best girlfriends, but then she gets into a relationship with a man and all of sudden her friends (especially her single friends) become really salty towards her. Suddenly she is a ?sellout? because her social life involves her man more and her outings become more couple friendly. Then ultimately comes the statement ?well she just flipped on us now that she has a man.? Okay now before we put on the boxing gloves to have this fight let?s explore the situation a little deeper. Come follow me!
When we decide to embark on a relationship we decide to put someone else in our lives that we are going to make a priority. We are trying to build a foundation for a long lasting relationship and marriage and in order to do that it we must spend time together. There are only 24 hours in a day and because this is true there is no way that our lives can remain the same as they were pre-relationship or marriage. I believe there is a disconnect that happens because we aren?t realistic about expectations. Sometimes friends expect that we will have the same amount of time to just chill with them as we used to. This is not to say that we should turn our backs on our friends, but it is to say that both parties, the friends and the person in the relationship, must learn to reach some type of balance.
Now let?s address another issue that seems to arise between friends when one gets involved in a relationship. Remember when I said that things change? Well that includes social activities as well. It?s only natural that when someone gets married they begin to share some of the same activities as other married people. People tend to hang around people that have like interests and there is nothing wrong with that. People will gravitate towards the people that they can begin to share the same experiences with and have similar conversations with. Suddenly the conversations become more about family and relationship issues more so than about the last girl or guy you met or the latest bit of drama and gossip that you became privy too. That?s not to say that those things aren?t still interesting or entertaining, but they just become less of a priority. Also the places you go will change. If you are a married man then sometimes it?s hard for your single friends to understand why you might not want to be in the strip club or be in the club until the lights come on anymore. Believe it or not it?s not because he is ?whipped? by his wife, he just understands that in those places exist serious temptation and furthermore there becomes a perception issue as well. If you are a married woman sometimes your girls might not understand why you can?t take all of the trips that you used to or why you can?t be her sidekick at the bar as much anymore or why you two can?t be the life of the party anymore. Sometimes instead of her friends understanding that they will label the woman as being sprung or being ?controlled? by her man. Maybe, just maybe, she is being respectful to her man.
The final thing I would like to address is this idea of your responsibility within a friendship and what sometimes happens when a friend get married. Our job as friends is to be supportive, understanding, and also honest with our friends. When your friend is married or about to get married why does that seem to be the time that many people become the least supportive? Given the fact that your friend isn?t a bridezilla of sorts I would fully hope that you would be willing to be as supportive as possible of her marriage process and her union. Even if you are single or slightly envious, your job as a friend is not to wear those emotions on your sleeve. If you respect your friend and their union then find ways to help make her life easier and be her escape rather than always presenting more drama or issues. I?m not saying you should cater to her every need, but I am saying be her friend rather than her enemy. If she is getting married, offer to help, if she is married and has kids already offer to help her with the kids one Saturday. Find ways to spend time together that may be more conducive to her lifestyle instead of condemning her for not being able to run with you the way she used to.
What we all must remember is that as we all transition and grow in life our priorities and activities will change, but that doesn?t mean that we can?t still be good friends to each other. One day you will be the one getting married or having kids and you are going to want your best friends to be there for you as well! With all of that said I?m just asking ?can?t we all just get along?!?
BMWK ? Get involved in the discussion; How have your friendships changed after you entered into a relationship or marriage?
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Michigan, others may regulate amateur MMA fights
Eric Prindle, left, and Jerry Waterson train at Fight Club Proving Ground gym in Waterford, Wednesday, March 6, 2013. Michigan lawmakers are pushing for legislation to regulate amateur mixed martial arts to protect fighters from injury and disease. When the sport was legalized in 2007, the professional bouts became regulated, but the amateurs were overlooked. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Eric Prindle, left, and Jerry Waterson train at Fight Club Proving Ground gym in Waterford, Wednesday, March 6, 2013. Michigan lawmakers are pushing for legislation to regulate amateur mixed martial arts to protect fighters from injury and disease. When the sport was legalized in 2007, the professional bouts became regulated, but the amateurs were overlooked. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Mohammed Ali Alshatri helps Malky Berlin stretch at Fight Club Proving Ground gym in Waterford, Wednesday, March 6, 2013. Michigan lawmakers are pushing for legislation to regulate amateur mixed martial arts to protect fighters from injury and disease. When the sport was legalized in 2007, the professional bouts became regulated, but the amateurs were overlooked. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Fighters train at Fight Club Proving Ground gym in Waterford, Wednesday, March 6, 2013. Michigan lawmakers are pushing for legislation to regulate amateur mixed martial arts to protect fighters from injury and disease. When the sport was legalized in 2007, the professional bouts became regulated, but the amateurs were overlooked. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Mike Hamida's "Fight or Die" tattoo is shown at Fight Club Proving Ground gym in Waterford, Wednesday, March 6, 2013. Michigan lawmakers are pushing for legislation to regulate amateur mixed martial arts to protect fighters from injury and disease. When the sport was legalized in 2007, the professional bouts became regulated, but the amateurs were overlooked. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Fighters train at Fight Club Proving Ground gym in Waterford, March 6, 2013. Michigan lawmakers are pushing for legislation to regulate amateur mixed martial arts to protect fighters from injury and disease. When the sport was legalized in 2007, the professional bouts became regulated, but the amateurs were overlooked. Lawmakers and fighters say it's created a system in Michigan where anything goes. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
LANSING, Mich. (AP) ? Jerry "The Moose" Waterson fulfilled a dream last month by stepping into the ring for his first professional mixed martial arts fight, which he won.
His passion has become his full-time job, requiring 40 hours a week of training. But it took the 24-year-old Waterson four years of punching, kicking and grappling his way through Michigan's unregulated amateur system, where nearly anything goes and where fighters are often uninsured or could be infected with HIV or hepatitis.
"It's like the wild, wild west. It's crazy," Waterson said.
Michigan is among about a dozen states in which amateur MMA fights are legal but unregulated. That could soon change, however, as even lawmakers who recoil at the sport's brutality see the wisdom in setting ground rules.
"It is time to teach the beast some manners," said Democratic Rep. Harvey Santana, who is sponsoring legislation that would require promoters of amateur events to get licensed annually, carry up to $10,000 in health insurance for fighters and have a physician on site for fights.
MMA has exploded in popularity since the 1990s, led by its major brand, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and giving rise to an amateur industry that serves as the sport's minor leagues and offers fans a cheap night out or even the chance to get in the ring themselves. Combatants draw from various disciplines, including jiu jitsu, judo, boxing and wrestling, to try to knock out or subdue their opponents.
The sport's brutality ? choke holds are legal and bloodied faces are the norm ? has earned MMA its share of critics, including U.S. Sen. John McCain, who once likened it to "human cockfighting." South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard recently signed off on the establishment of a state commission to regulate MMA, boxing and kickboxing, despite reservations that doing so would legitimize the fights.
Michigan legalized MMA bouts in 2007, and today most states allow professional bouts. They remain illegal in Connecticut and New York, but the state Senate in New York, where amateur fights are legal, this month passed a measure to legalize and regulate the professional sport. When Michigan lawmakers legalized the sport, they stipulated that promoters must be licensed and carry insurance for fighters at pro events. But they didn't set requirements for amateur bouts.
No one tracks all Michigan's amateur fights, but Grand Rapids-area promoter and matchmaker Dru Gardner estimates that there 65 promoters in the state and that there are five events on any given weekend. Rob Fisk, a medic who works many of the fights, said the typical event draws from 500 to more than 2,000 spectators who plunk down $20 each to watch 20-or-so bouts.
While a pro fighter can earn $5,000 for a bout, amateur fighters earn nothing and compete for the thrill or because they harbor hopes of turning pro. In the meantime, amateurs put themselves at risk of serious injury or disease due to the lack of regulation, some lawmakers and promoters say.
Joe Battaglia, who runs a Michigan promotion company, said a fighter goes to the hospital at nearly every one of his events, and that broken noses, ribs and hands are among the most common injuries. Battaglia stopped fighting professionally after suffering a broken neck while training. Fortunately, he was insured.
Many promoters don't provide insurance and many fighters don't have their own, said Al Low, who co-owns the Fight Club Proving Ground gym with Battaglia. Amir Khillah, a pro fighter from Michigan, said he broke his arm in three places in his first bout in 2006. The promoter didn't carry insurance, so Khillah said he made himself a cast out of shin guards and duct tape. His arm is now crooked.
Lawmakers, fighters and promoters also point to a lack of pre-match blood testing, which puts combatants at risk of contracting HIV, hepatitis and other illnesses. The Association of Boxing Commissions, which is made up of the various state fighting commissions, has recommended that members ban amateur MMA fighters from Michigan, for fear of disease. And Bernie Profato, who heads the Ohio Athletic Commission, said he warns fighters that they won't be allowed to compete in Ohio if they fight in Michigan, for fear of spreading disease.
The lack of regulation means Michigan amateurs sometimes can't be protected from themselves. While the Association of Boxing Commissions keeps a database of fighters who have been suspended due to injury, a recent knockout or bad blood work, Michigan promoters aren't required to report to it.
"I know a guy who has been knocked out five times in the last year," said Gardner, the promoter. Someone getting knocked out that often "is a serious liability for the entire sport."
Last year, a 26-year-old South Dakota amateur fighter died a week after a bout from head injuries. Police said there wasn't enough evidence to conclude that the injury was suffered in the event.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder's spokesman, Kurt Weiss, said in an email that Snyder supports making mixed martial arts safer and that the governor "will continue to work with the Legislature to find the right approach to ensure that any new regulation will be self-supporting and that need for public health and safety is addressed."
The promoters and amateur fighters calling for regulating the amateur fights made clear that it's for a love of the sport.
Low said many of the young fighters who have taken up MMA at his gym learn discipline, confidence and self-worth.
"I've seen kids coming in here heavy set, out of shape with their heads down and you could barely hear them talk," Low said. "Two years later, they are acting like they are Muhammad Ali."
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Imaging methodology reveals nano details not seen before: Understanding nanoparticles at atomic scale in 3-D could improve materials
Mar. 27, 2013 ? A team of scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Northwestern University has produced 3-D images and videos of a tiny platinum nanoparticle at atomic resolution that reveal new details of defects in nanomaterials that have not been seen before.
Prior to this work, scientists only had flat, two-dimensional images with which to view the arrangement of atoms. The new imaging methodology developed at UCLA and Northwestern will enable researchers to learn more about a material and its properties by viewing atoms from different angles and seeing how they are arranged in three dimensions.
The study will be published March 27 by the journal Nature.
The authors describe being able to see how the atoms of a platinum nanoparticle -- only 10 namometers in diameter -- are arranged in three dimensions. They also identify how the atoms are arranged around defects in the platinum nanoparticle.
Similar to how CT scans of the brain and body are done in a hospital, the scientists took images of a platinum nanoparticle from many different directions and then pieced the images together using a new method that improved the quality of the images.
This novel method is a combination of three techniques: scanning transmission electron microscopy, equally sloped tomography (EST) and three-dimensional Fourier filtering. Compared to conventional CT, the combined method produces much higher quality 3-D images and allows the direct visualization of atoms inside the platinum nanoparticle in three dimensions.
"Visualizing the arrangement of atoms in materials has played an important role in the evolution of modern science and technology," said Jianwei (John) Miao, who led the work. He is a professor of physics and astronomy at UCLA and a researcher with the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA.
"Our method allows the 3-D imaging of the local structures in materials at atomic resolution, and it is expected to find application in materials sciences, nanoscience, solid state physics and chemistry," he said.
"It turns out that there are details we can only see when we can look at materials in three dimensions," said co-author Laurence D. Marks, a professor of materials science and engineering at Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science.
"We have had suspicions for a long time that there was more going on than we could see from the flat images we had," Marks said. "This work is the first demonstration that this is true at the atomic scale."
Nanotechnology expert Pulickel M. Ajayan, the Benjamin M. and Mary Greenwood Anderson Professor of Engineering at Rice University complimented the research.
"This is the first instance where the three-dimensional structure of dislocations in nanoparticles has been directly revealed at atomic resolution," Ajayan said. "The elegant work demonstrates the power of electron tomography and leads to possibilities of directly correlating the structure of nanoparticles to properties, all in full 3-D view."
Defects can influence many properties of materials, and a technique for visualizing these structures at atomic resolution could lead to new insights beneficial to researchers in a wide range of fields.
"Much of what we know about how materials work, whether it is a catalyst in an automobile exhaust system or the display on a smartphone, has come from electron microscope images of how the atoms are arranged," Marks said. "This new imaging method will open up the atomic world of nanoparticles."
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Northwestern University, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Chien-Chun Chen, Chun Zhu, Edward R. White, Chin-Yi Chiu, M. C. Scott, B. C. Regan, Laurence D. Marks, Yu Huang, Jianwei Miao. Three-dimensional imaging of dislocations in a nanoparticle at atomic resolution. Nature, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nature12009
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
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Tuesday, March 26, 2013
High court struggles over generic drug delay deals
FILE - In this Aug. 12, 2011 file photo, Jeremy Lazarus, president-elect of the American Medical Association (AMA) speaks in Portland, Oregon. The Supreme Court will struggle this week with whether it?s legal for patent-holding pharmaceutical companies to pay rivals, who make generic drugs, to temporarily keep those cheaper versions of their brand-name drugs off the market. Now AMA President, Lazarus said in a statement,"The AMA believes that pay-for-delay agreements undermine the balance between spurring innovation through the patent system and fostering competition through the development of generic drugs. Pay for delay must stop to ensure the most cost-effective treatment options are available to patients." (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
FILE - In this Aug. 12, 2011 file photo, Jeremy Lazarus, president-elect of the American Medical Association (AMA) speaks in Portland, Oregon. The Supreme Court will struggle this week with whether it?s legal for patent-holding pharmaceutical companies to pay rivals, who make generic drugs, to temporarily keep those cheaper versions of their brand-name drugs off the market. Now AMA President, Lazarus said in a statement,"The AMA believes that pay-for-delay agreements undermine the balance between spurring innovation through the patent system and fostering competition through the development of generic drugs. Pay for delay must stop to ensure the most cost-effective treatment options are available to patients." (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
FILE - In a Jan. 7, 2008, file photo then-Attorney Donald Verrilli talks to media outside the Supreme Court. Now President Barack Obama's top Supreme Court lawyer, Solicitor General Verilli will argue before the Supreme Court this week whether it is legal for patent-holding pharmaceutical companies to pay rivals, who make generic drugs, to temporarily keep those cheaper versions of their brand-name drugs off the market. The Obama administration is taking the position that the agreements are illegal if they?re based solely on keeping the generic drug out of consumer's hands. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
This March 2011 photo provided Actavis Inc. shows Actavis CEO Paul Bisario at the pharmaceutical company's corporate headquarters in Parsippany, N.J. On Monday, March 25, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments of pharmaceutical company interests in recouping billions of dollars spent developing new drugs pitted against the government's desire to get cheaper generic drugs on the market earlier to save American consumers money. "By doing what the FTC wants, you're going to hurt consumers rather than help them," said Bisaro. Fighting between generic and brand-name drugmakers in court is risky and time consuming, he said, while settlements bring certainty, allow generic drug sales years before patents expire and reduce legal costs. (AP Photo/Actavis, Maryanne Russell)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Supreme Court justices appeared troubled Monday over whether to stop deals between pharmaceutical corporations and their generic drug competitors that the government says could keep cheaper forms of medicine from American consumers for longer periods of time.
Justices heard arguments from the Justice Department against what the government calls "pay-for-delay" deals or "reverse settlements."
Such deals arise when generic companies file a challenge at the Food and Drug Administration to the patents that give brand-name drugs a 20-year monopoly. The generic drugmakers aim to prove the patent is flawed or otherwise invalid, so they can launch a generic version well before the patent ends.
Brand-name drugmakers then usually sue the generic companies, which sets up what could be years of expensive litigation. When the two sides aren't certain who will win, they often reach a compromise deal that allows the generic company to sell its cheaper copycat drug in a few years ? but years before the drug's patent would expire. Often, that settlement comes with a sizable payment from the brand-name company to the generic drugmaker.
Drugmakers say the settlements protect their interests but also benefit consumers by bringing inexpensive copycat medicines to market years earlier than they would arrive in any case generic drugmakers took to trial and lost. But federal officials counter that such deals add billions to the drug bills of American patients and taxpayers, compared with what would happen if the generic companies won the lawsuits and could begin marketing right away.
A study by RBC Capital Markets Corp. of 371 cases during 2000-09 found brand-name companies won 89 at trial compared to 82 won by generic drugmakers. Another 175 ended in settlement deals, and 25 were dropped.
The Obama administration, backed by consumer groups and the American Medical Association, wants the court to stop the deals because it says they profit the drug companies but harm consumers by adding $3.5 billion annually to their drug bills.
"What the brand name is attempting to purchase is protection from the possibility that it will have its patent invalidated, and it will suffer a large competitive advantage," Justice Department lawyer Malcolm L. Stewart told the justices.
What if a brand-name drug company is making $100 million, and a generic drug company says its product will reduce that to $10 million, so both companies agree that the brand name company would give the generic company $25 million to stay off the market, asked Justice Elena Kagan. "It's clear what's going on here is that they're splitting monopoly profits, and the person who's going to be injured are all the consumers out there," Kagan said.
Generic drugs account for about 80 percent of all American prescriptions for medicines and vaccines, but a far smaller percentage of the $325 billion spent by U.S. consumers on drugs each year. Generics saved American patients, taxpayers and the healthcare system an estimated $193 billion in 2011 alone, according to health data firm IMS Health.
But Justice Sonia Sotomayor said it may be going too far to make these deals illegal on their face, instead of making the government prove they are anticompetitive in court in each case. "It would seem to me that you have to bear the burden of proving that the payment for services or the value given was too high," she told Stewart.
Sotomayor said later the government seems to be arguing that the generic vs. brand name drug fight should be settled by the generic paying a royalty or negotiating an early release date for the generic drug instead of by the two companies agreeing to share profits. "What's so bad about that?" she said.
But Jeffrey L. Weinberger, lawyer for the defendant, Actavis Inc., in the government lawsuit, said most cases aren't settled like that, and in case of a strong brand-name drug patent, generic drugmakers wouldn't have an incentive to settle with brand name companies.
They would say, "'Why would I drop this lawsuit to get an entry date in 2025 or 2028? That doesn't meet my business needs, I have shareholders, I have investors, I have to run a business, and I'm going to keep on litigating unless you give me something of value,'" Weinberger said. "So that's what these agreements are about."
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that by settling with a reverse payment, the generic drug maker gets more than it would if it won against the brand-name drugmaker at trial.
Added Justice Anthony Kennedy: "Why don't you just put a cap on what the generic can make and then we won't have a real concern with the restraint of trade, or we'll have a lesser concern."
The court shouldn't let the government interfere with the ways companies have decided to resolve these disputes, Weinberger said.
Congress intended that "generics should be able to challenge, and should have strong incentive to challenge, but that doesn't mean that they should be required to litigate to conclusion," Weinberger said. "And if settlement is made more difficult so that different perceptions or different business objectives can't be bridged with some kind of a business settlement, that is going to mean that fewer generics are going to challenge these patents and that is contrary to the purpose."
In the case before the court, Brussels, Belgium-based Solvay ? now part of a new company called AbbVie Inc. ? reached a deal with generic drugmaker Watson Pharmaceuticals allowing it to launch a cheaper version of Solvay's male hormone drug AndroGel in August 2015. The patent runs until August 2020, and brought in $1.2 billion last year for AbbVie.
The government said Solvay agreed to pay Watson, now called Actavis Inc., an estimated $19 million-$30 million annually. Actavis said the deal, in addition to providing a licensing agreement over Solvay's Androgel patents, compensated Actavis for using its sales force to promote AndroGel to doctors.
The FTC called the deal anticompetitive and sued Actavis.
Eight justices will decide this case later this year. Justice Samuel Alito did not take part in the arguments.
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The case is Federal Trade Commission vs. Actavis, Inc., 12-416.
AP Business Writer Linda A. Johnson in Trenton, N.J., contributed to this report.
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Follow Jesse J. Holland on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jessejholland
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