Feb. 28, 2013 ? Forest-living insects and spiders become less abundant and birds are adversely affected along regulated rivers. Three different studies by ecologists at Ume? University in Sweden show that river regulation has a negative effect also on land-living animals.
It is already well known that river regulation influences salmon migration, aquatic insects and streamside vegetation, but effects on land-living animals have been poorly studied.
When free-flowing rivers become regulated, there is a reduction in the number of aquatic insects that, during spring and summer, emerge and fly onto land where they become food for land-living animals.
"Our studies show that the number of flying insects is lower along regulated rivers than along free-flowing rivers. This results in fewer forest-living insects and spiders along regulated rivers, as the resource they feed upon -- emergent aquatic insects -- is reduced," says ecologist Micael Jonsson, the lead author on two of the articles.
Together with a group of researchers, he has compared the abundance of insect-feeding animals along similar river stretches at four regulated and four free-flowing large rivers in northern Sweden and the Finnish Kemi River. Along these rivers, flying and ground-dwelling insects were caught. The flying insects were caught with a net mounted on the top of a moving car, and the ground-dwelling insects and spiders were caught in pitfall traps.
The research team also shows that birds are adversely affected by river regulation. Besides a standardised bird survey, nest boxes were used to investigate breeding success of insectivorous birds. The study species, the Pied Flycatcher, is a relatively common species and prefers to use nest boxes.
The results show that adult Pied Flycatchers breeding along regulated rivers lost more weight after their eggs were hatched and fewer of the chicks survived, because their food resource -- the insects -- was less abundant. Along one of the regulated rivers, the survival of the chicks was even lower than what is required for the species to persist.
There were also signs of whole bird communities being impacted by river regulation. Aquatic insect emerge and fly onto land before terrestrial insects peak in numbers. The aquatic insects are therefore an important food resource for birds early in the season, while, normally, birds are seen foraging away from aquatic systems later in the season.
"We could see that such seasonal movements of whole bird communities differed between regulated and free-flowing rivers," says Micael Jonsson.
That the effects are still visible half a century after regulation of these rivers was initiated clearly indicates that the changes are permanent. The studies also highlight the fact that different types of ecosystems influence each other via resource flows, and that changes in one ecosystem therefore affect plant and animals in nearby ecosystems.
"Therefore, there are even stronger reasons to question the use of biological insecticides to reduce the numbers of mosquitoes along rivers in central Sweden and elsewhere in the world, because it most likely results in poorer living conditions for a range of land-living animals."
The studies are published in the international journals River Research and Applications, Ibis, and Ecological Research.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Ume? universitet, via AlphaGalileo.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal References:
M. Jonsson, P. Deleu, B. Malmqvist. PERSISTING EFFECTS OF RIVER REGULATION ON EMERGENT AQUATIC INSECTS AND TERRESTRIAL INVERTEBRATES IN UPLAND FORESTS. River Research and Applications, 2012; DOI: 10.1002/rra.2559
Darius Strasevicius, Micael Jonsson, Erik Nyholm, Bj?rn Malmqvist. Reduced breeding success of Pied Flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca along regulated rivers. Ibis, 2013 DOI: 10.1111/ibi.12024
Micael Jonsson, Darius Strasevicius, Bj?rn Malmqvist. Influences of river regulation and environmental variables on upland bird assemblages in northern Sweden. Ecological Research, 2012. 27: 945-954
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.
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - Get ready for betting in your jammies, at work, from the kitchen table, or at the beach: New Jerseyans - and possibly many others - will soon be able to gamble over the Internet.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signed a bill Tuesday legalizing Internet gambling, hours after the state legislature passed a revised bill that made the changes he wanted. They included setting a 10-year trial period for online betting, and raising the taxes on the Atlantic City casinos' online winnings from 10 to 15 percent.
New Jersey became the third state in the nation to legalize gambling over the Internet. The lawmakers' votes and Christie's signature marked the largest expansion of legalized gambling in New Jersey since the first casino began operating in Atlantic City in 1978.
Nevada and Delaware have passed laws legalizing Internet betting, which also is going on offshore, untaxed and unregulated.
"This was a critical decision, and one that I did not make lightly," Christie said. "But with the proper regulatory framework and safeguards that I insisted on including in the bill, I am confident that we are offering a responsible yet exciting option that will make Atlantic City more competitive while also bringing financial benefits to New Jersey as a whole."
The idea is to help the struggling casinos by attracting new gamblers who are not now visiting the casinos. The comps, like free hotel rooms, show tickets, meals or other freebies, would be accrued from online play, but would have to be redeemed in person at a casino, presumably enticing a player to spend more money while there.
Tony Rodio, president of the Casino Association of New Jersey, welcomed the new opportunities for his industry.
"The objectives for the continued stabilization, development and success of Atlantic City that Gov. Christie and our legislature has facilitated over the past couple of years have taken a significant step forward today with the passage of Internet gaming," he said.
The advent of Internet gambling is particularly good news for one of Atlantic City's most struggling casinos, The Atlantic Club Casino Hotel. It is in the process of being bought by the parent company of PokerStars, the world's largest poker web site.
"Our state leaders have stepped up, worked together and seized this moment," said Michael Frawley, the casino's chief operating officer. "New Jersey will be better for it as the benefits of I-gaming for our state are only beginning to be fully appreciated. We strongly believe that the economic development and reinvestment in Atlantic City, driven through I-gaming, will be remembered as a critical turning point for this proud town. We look forward to the renewed success this new law will surely bring."
The state is counting on that success, too. Budget figures released Tuesday by Christie envision contributions to the state's Casino Revenue Fund soaring from $235 million this year to $436 million next year, largely due to an influx of online gambling revenue.
But Donald Weinbaum, executive director of the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey, worried that expanding gambling options will increase the ranks of the estimated 350,000 New Jerseyans with a gambling problem. He also expressed concern about young, tech-savvy people developing gambling problems from playing online.
The bill will not take effect until the state Division of Gaming Enforcement sets a start date, sometime between three and nine months after the law is signed. Casino executives have estimated it could take six months to a year to get the system up and running.
It would allow the playing online, for money, of any game currently offered by Atlantic City's 12 casinos; online poker is expected to be a particularly popular option.
"I'm sure I'll experience it firsthand," said Jonathan Wanchalk, a Lancaster, Pa., business owner who said he frequently played poker online before a federal crackdown on offshore betting sites. "In college, I played poker a lot. It's basically where all my money came from. Especially with poker, when it was allowed and then it wasn't, I'm as curious as anyone else to see how it plays out."
Gamblers would have to set up online accounts with a particular casino, and could set daily limits on their play.
They also would be subject to the same per-hand limits as gamblers physically present in the casino. Casino executives say final rules have to be approved by the gambling enforcement division, but they expect the state to require gamblers to have to appear in person at a casino to open their accounts and verify their age, identity and other personal information. Payouts could be made remotely to a credit card account or bank account when a player cashes out, if the state approves such an arrangement, the executives said.
They conceivably could even gamble through social media sites, as long as the sites worked with casinos that have an online gambling license, according to state Sen. Raymond Lesniak.
Joe Brennan Jr., director of the Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association, said a new industry is ready to take off.
"We were always confident this day would come, because even after he vetoed the original iGaming bill, Gov. Christie immediately came back to us, to try and find a way to make this happen," Brennan said. "It took a little longer than we expected, but in the end, it was done right, and now it's time for Atlantic City to take this and run with it."
And the Poker Players Alliance hailed the law's enactment.
"New Jersey has gone 'all in,' " said John Pappas, executive director of the group, which claims 1 million members, 20,000 of which live in New Jersey. "Residents now will have access to a safe and regulated online gaming market, and the state will have a new source for revenue and job creation - something the federal government has failed to do thus far."
The bill allows gamblers in other states to place bets in New Jersey as long as regulators determine such activity is not prohibited by federal or any state's law. It even has provisions for allowing people in other countries to play, although federal law would have to be changed before that could happen, Lesniak said.
___
Wayne Parry can be reached at http://twitter.com/WayneParryAC
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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The historical marker, placed by the Alabama Historical Association, on the original Shelby County courthouse. (Tommy Daspit/YCN)
?Nobody likes to be stereotyped,? said Reggie Giles, a resident of Shelby County, Ala. Which is why stereotypical assumptions about Southerners, he noted?specifically, that they?re racists?is offensive.
?Racism is a stigma that the South can't seem to shake and that most of the rest of the country seems to want to perpetuate,? Giles, a software engineer, said.
Giles was one of several Shelby County residents who shared their thoughts with Yahoo News earlier this week as the Supreme Court prepares to hear Shelby County v. Holder on Wednesday. It?s a case that may determine the constitutionality of nearly five decades of voting rights legislation, specifically Section 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and a referendum of sorts on how far their county, and most of the South, has evolved on voting rights in the past 50 years.
Giles, who lives in Pelham, a Birmingham suburb, said protecting all voters? rights is a ?no-brainer.? But like many Shelby County residents, he finds some laws antiquated: Legislation conceived in 1965, he noted, doesn?t always apply in 2013.
At the heart of the debate reaching the court is local control of election laws against alleged racial discrimination in voting. Nine states (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia) are covered under Section 5 of the act, which mandates that changes to local election laws?no matter how trivial those alterations are perceived?must receive clearance from the Justice Department or through a lawsuit at the D.C. district court. Also subject to Section 5 are 57 counties and 12 townships outside those nine states. (See a full list.)
Congress has renewed the law several times, the last time in 2006 when it extended the Voting Rights Act until 2032.
The petitioner in this case is Shelby County, home to nearly 200,000 residents. The county didn?t seek to amend its voting laws, but it nevertheless sued the Justice Department to strike down Section 5 in its entirety.
(SCOTUS Blog has more in-depth analysis and information for those interested in exploring the legislation?s more esoteric nooks and crannies, including the formula in Section 4 that determines which areas Section 5 covers.)
Legislative diversity helps battle racism in government
The racism label is hardly limited to the South. Former South Dakota state Sen. Thomas Shortbull, who also shared his thoughts with Yahoo News, says government oversight is needed in his state.
Two of the state?s counties?Shannon and Todd?already comply with the federal government. And for years, state politicians fought over the counties that hold part of the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations along the southern border with Nebraska.
In 1975, Shortbull recommended that Shannon and Todd counties sit in the same legislative district where 90 percent of the voters would be American Indian. Shortbull argued that the only way the group could gain a legislative voice was to merge the reservations into one district. Five years later, the state?reluctantly, Shortbull said?created one district that covered most of the reservations.
?[Section 5] is the only vehicle in some states to fight institutional racism in local and state governments,? Shortbull wrote in his first-person account. ?In the state of South Dakota, racism towards minorities is prevalent, and the only means of diminishing the racism is to elect more minorities to state and local governments.?
Local victories tough to win?and maintain
In Houston, Rogene Calvert has advocated for the city?s Asian-American communities for years. While there are 280,000 Asian-Americans in Houston, Calvert says, they rarely can elect a representative candidate because the state has dispersed those voters into separate districts.
They did score a victory in 2004, however, when Rep. Hubert Vo bounced a 22-year incumbent from House District 149 in southwestern Houston and became Texas? first Vietnamese-American representative.
Vo, who won that race by 16 votes after three recounts, has been re-elected four times. But, Calvert said, in 2011, the state eyed redistricting to eliminate Vo?s seat and break it up into three districts.
?We objected to this at every stage of the process,? she said, noting that she testified before the state?s House Redistricting Committee, urging it to reconsider its plan to split up Asian-American voters in southwest Harris County.
?The state legislature ignored us,? she added.
Under Section 5, however, the Justice Department refused to approve redistricting.
?Because of that, we still have a vibrant coalition in HD 149 and we still can elect the candidates of our choice,? Calvert said. ?Without the protection of the VRA, the influence of the Asian-American community would have been drastically reduced.?
?Punished for the sins of our fathers?
In Shelby County, things are less pragmatic and more philosophical. Residents who shared their thoughts about the Voting Rights Act focused less on political gerrymandering and more on how they believed it impugns local control and the spirit of sovereignty.
Jonathan Williams, a 32-year-old Montevallo resident, often gathers at the local coffee shop to listen to wisdom from men he calls the town?s elders.
?Occasionally, they let me sit in their august presence?one of my favorite ways to spend a Friday afternoon,? Williams wrote in his account. ?Between the eight of them, they have seen and done almost everything?fought for their country, traveled the world, raised families, lost and won fortunes. Black, white, blue-collar and white-collar, they all gather around a table each afternoon to solve the world's problems while shamelessly flirting with the servers.?
When Williams raised Shelby County v. Holder, the elders weren?t shy about sharing their opinions, he said.
One elder offered: "Are we second-class citizens in our own country?"
Another said: "I don't care if a man is black, white, Mexican or Chinese.?
The more important questions, to him: ?Is he Republican or Democrat? Where does he go to church?"
Williams said he?s seen too much progress to believe Section 5 should survive a court challenge. ?How long must we be punished for the sins of our fathers before the rest of the nation realizes things have changed? I'm sick of it," he said.
Elections are the only true shared experience
Unlike Williams, Tommy Daspit hasn?t live in Shelby County his whole life. He?s called it home for three years after living in diverse locales such as Louisiana, Florida, Texas, Washington state and Indiana.
He noted the subtle differences in dialect, food, music and ideologies. But elections, he said, are the same.
?The experience of voting in Shelby County, Ala., was the same as it was in Tippecanoe, Ind., Kittitas County, Wash., or Dallas County, Texas,? Daspit, a photographer, said. ?Sure, there are some differences in the way the ballots look from one place to the next, but the experience of voting is the same.?
Daspit said Section 5 is dispensable and excessive: ?It has aided in transforming the South into a place where my children can grow up friends with children of all colors. However, it is no more relevant to Shelby County today than it would be in the North or the West.?
Bigots are not the prevailing entities
Daspit?s wife, Kelly, said she sees postracial evolution in Shelby County?s youngest residents. She writes:
Last week, my 8-year-old son was making Valentines for his 21 classmates at the elementary school he attends in Shelby County. He spent extra time decorating five of them, writing on those, in his approximated spelling, the word "FRANDS."
Two of those "FRANDS" are African-American boys. They play together and sometimes argue together, but they are friends. When my son celebrates his birthday, those two boys will be among the others invited to his party. There wouldn't be a question in the children's or in their parents' minds that it should be otherwise.
Born in 1975, Kelly Daspit said she understands life wasn?t always that way. Even after legal integration, unofficial social segregation?black and white students sitting at separate tables in school cafeterias?continued in her youth. But through the years, she said, it?s improved:
I have taught in five schools, and little by little, year by year, I have watched the change. No longer is it taboo for black and white children to have relationships. There are no longer "white" and "black" tables, and today's children could hardly imagine otherwise. Why? Because their parents did not teach them otherwise. Because, as we grew up in integrated schools, working in integrated workplaces, we learned each other. We learned there was nothing to fear from another's skin or another's culture. We learned that we really do all have the same worth. And racism, little by little, year by year, has perished. Yes, there are still some bigots; there always will be. You can find those in any town, in any state. But they are not the majority. They are not the prevailing entity.
How can I be sure? Because a public school is a reflection of its society. And if you wish to know about the prevailing society in Shelby County, Ala., just consider my 8-year-old son and consider who his "FRANDS" are.
Giles, the Pelham resident, offered his own evidence of progress: ?For the record, my votes were split in the past two presidential elections. In 2008, I voted for one of the two major party's candidate, and in 2012 I voted for the other.?
Nobody likes to be stereotyped.
The original Shelby County courthouse, 1854-1908, in Columbiana, Ala. (Tommy Daspit/YCN)
DOHA, Qatar (AP) ? A poet jailed for a verse considered offensive to Qatar's ruler harshly denounced the Gulf nation's legal proceedings on Monday after an appeals court reduced his life sentence but still kept a 15-year prison term.
The rant in court ? rare in the tightly controlled Gulf Arab states ? underscored the free speech battles across the region as Western-backed authorities take strict measures against perceived political dissident in the wake of the Arab Spring.
From Kuwait to Oman, dozens of people have been arrested in the past year for social media posts deemed insulting to leaders or calling for political forms.
"Unjust," shouted poet Muhammad ibn al-Dheeb al-Ajami in the heavily guarded courtroom in Qatar's capita, Doha, after his appeal to drop the conviction was denied. The court, however, cut the life sentence handed down in November and imposed a 15-year term.
Al-Ajami faced specific charges from a poem posted online in 2010 that discussed the traits needed for a good leader ? which apparently was seen by authorities as a challenge to Qatar's emir and the ruling family.
But he also was more widely known for an Internet video of him reciting "Tunisian Jasmine," a poem lauding that country's popular uprising, which touched off the Arab Spring rebellions across the Middle East. In the poem, he said, "we are all Tunisia in the face of repressive" authorities and criticized Arab governments that restrict freedoms, calling them "thieves."
Al-Ajami still can appeal to a higher court.
"This sentence will not stand," said his brother Hasan. "When you strip away everything, this is just a case about power and pressure."
Earlier this month, a Kuwait court sentenced three former opposition lawmakers to three years hard labor for insulting the country's ruler during speeches made at political rallies. In January, a Kuwait blogger and online journalists received two-year sentences in back-to-back convictions for posts deemed "insulting" to the emir.
In November, the United Arab Emirates set stricter Internet monitoring and enforcement codes. They include giving authorities wider leeway to arrest Web activists for offenses such as mocking the country's leadership or calling for demonstrations.
DODGE CITY, Kan. (AP) ? A second major winter storm was bearing down on the central Plains, forcing cancellations and sending public works crews scrambling for salt and sand supplies less than a week after another system dumped more than a foot of snow on parts of the region.
National Weather Service officials in Kansas issued blizzard warnings and watches through late Monday ahead of the strong storm system that's packing snow and high winds. The storm has been tracking across western Texas toward Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri.
"We're expecting more wind with this storm," said Jeff Johnson, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Dodge City, Kan. "Snow amounts are varying, but we could see upward of a foot across south-central Kansas with lesser amounts across west-central and central Kansas."
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback amended the state of emergency declaration he signed last week to include the new storm.
"This storm has the potential to be more dangerous than last week's storm," said Brownback, who held a briefing Sunday night along with emergency officials in his state to warn residents about the weather.
He urged motorists to "stay off the road unless it's absolutely critical" but said drivers who must travel should pack their charged cellphones and emergency kits containing food, water, blankets, road flares and shovels.
The region was hit by a massive storm last week that dumped a foot of snow in some sections, closed airports and caused numerous accidents.
"It would have been nice if we'd had a few days to recover, to do some equipment rehab," Joe Pajor, deputy director of public works in Wichita, Kan., told The Wichita Eagle. The city saw its second-highest snowfall ever Thursday with 14.2 inches.
Other totals from the Thursday snowstorm included 18 inches in the southern Kansas town of Zenda, 17 inches in Hays, Kan., about 13 inches in northeast Missouri and 12 inches of snow in parts of Kansas City.
Steve Corfidi, meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said the storm also will affect southern states and could spawn tornadoes Tuesday in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, the Florida Panhandle and Georgia.
"It definitely will be one of the more significant events of the season, the winter season, absolutely," Corfidi told The Associated Press. "Both in winter weather and severe weather potential, and rain, down in the southeast United States."
More than a foot of snow is possible from the Texas Panhandle, across the Oklahoma Panhandle and into Kansas and possibly Missouri as the storm moves eastward from the southwestern United States.
While snowfall is expected to taper off by Monday afternoon, wind gusts of up to 35 mph will remain a hazard, said Sarah Johnson, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service's Amarillo, Texas, office.
Pajor told the Wichita newspaper the new storm "looks worse than the last one" and that sand and salt supplies are low because of last week's record storm, as are the number of locations where snow can be transported off city streets. He said the plowing strategy for the new blizzard may have to involve plowing snow into the center of arterial streets, and cutting traffic to one lane each direction.
He also said streets won't be treated with the city's limited sand and salt supplies until the snow ends and plowing is under way.
The threat of the pending storm forced cancellations Sunday and Monday in Kansas and Missouri, including the championship basketball tournament for the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Association, which rescheduled the tournament for Tuesday in Park City, Kan.
Matt Lehenbauer, emergency management director for Woodward County, Okla., said he expected rain or snow to begin there Sunday evening and forecast up to a foot of snow and wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour.
"We're expecting white-out conditions," he told the AP.
He said there is plenty of salt and sand on hand to help clear roads, but the conditions may cause delays.
"We may not get the roads cleared until midday Tuesday if we get the expected amount of snow and wind. As it's falling, in the blizzard-like conditions, we just won't be able to keep up," he said.
Posted by keithsawyer in Uncategorized. Tags: american law institute, copyright, dcma, georgetown law school, patent, stephen breyer trackback
Justice Breyer?s Lunch Talk
I?ve just participated in a small conference on copyright and patent law, hosted by the American Law Institute and Georgetown University Law Center, a few steps from Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Of the 40 people in the room, I was the only one who was not a lawyer or a legal scholar?I was invited to contribute perspectives from creativity research. I was honored to be in the room, because these were some of the most highly respected people working in intellectual property?scholars from Stanford and NYU; senior legal counsel from Google and Walt Disney; judges on the Federal Circuit Court; and our lunch speaker, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. He impressed the hell out of me?a great speaker, savvy in the political ways of Washington, and a brilliant mind. The smartest guy in the room?and in this room, that was saying a lot.
Although a lot of the legal terminology went over my head??doctrine of equivalence? and ?settled expectation??it was really stimulating. After all, the research shows that one of the best ways to stimulate creativity is to learn something about a new field related to your own. I give this advice in my new book, Zig Zag (on pages 67 and 68):
Branch out: Always start with your core area of expertise?but don?t stop there. Branch out and study subjects in every area that is somehow related to your problem?.Successful creators are curious by nature. They ask questions and listen closely to the answers, even when the information has no obvious relationship to what they?re working on at the moment.
This conference was perfect for me, because intellectual property lawyers think about creativity every day, but using a totally different language and perspective from my creativity research colleagues. Here are some of the key themes I took from the day:
The panel I spoke on discussed how (and whether) patents and copyrights provide incentives to creators to create. The research shows, not very much. Creators almost never think about patents or copyrights; when they do, they mostly get annoyed and consider them to be a hassle. Lots of creativity takes place in areas which are not eligible for patents or copyrights?from top chefs inventing new recipes, to the time-consuming and effortful work of writing fan fiction.
Do judges even need to pay attention to what these scholars think patents and copyrights should do? After all, isn?t the role of a judge simply to interpret the statutes as written by Congress? I was a bit surprised to discover that pretty much everyone in the room thinks this is na?ve and simplistic. The statutes are thought to be broad and ambiguous, open to interpretation. And after ten or twenty years, things change so much?and so much case law develops?that the statute really isn?t that helpful any more.
Justice Breyer was asked, ?We have a bumper crop of IP cases before the Supreme Court; is there an increased interest in these issues?? Breyer?s response was that the legal community has been saying that the Federal Circuit Court (which handles all patent appeals for the entire U.S.) has become ?too patent friendly,? and the Supreme Court is listening and essentially, checking to see if that?s true.
A common theme was the tension between generality and specificity. Patent law is general?it applies to all technologies and scientific domains. One could imagine a more specific regime; for example, the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DCMA) is a statute concerning intellectual property that is specific (to digital rights and copyrights) rather than general. My sense was that the consensus was in favor of general regime and against specific regimes. A second manifestation of this tension is with the courts; the Federal Circuit Court handles all patent appeals, which means those judges develop specialized knowledge about patents. Before the Federal Circuit was created, patent appeals were heard in the regional District Courts, by judges who heard appeals of every kind of decision?a more general role. Most scholars seem to think this is a good idea, although the Federal Circuit has been widely criticized, as Justice Breyer noted, for being too patent friendly.
The stated theme of the conference was ?bringing together copyright and patent law in court,? and I?m not sure we got any good answers for how to do that. But I probably only think that because I?m not part of this legal community; the folks I met there told me that copyright experts and patent experts are like people from two different planets, who rarely come together. In the courts, the Federal Circuit handles patents and the District Courts handle copyrights. So I?m pretty sure the conference organizers would consider the event a success, simply by getting copyright people and patent people in the same room together.
I stayed one extra day, and toured several museums. The high point was visiting the old Patent Office, just a few blocks from the conference, which had a special exhibit of historic patent models from the 19th century. The building also houses the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian Museum of American Art. And?it?s a bit geeky?but I also loved the Postal History Museum, in the old post office building right next to Union Station. If you want to learn about facer-canceller machines, or about the handmade artwork in old cancellation stamps, this is the place for you!
The most interesting art always takes shape far away from the limelight. Out there in the margins, you?ll find the sounds and visions which will, in time, influence what happens in the mainstream. Any great musical leap forward ? or micro-genre hop, skip and jump ? first stepped out in the underground. The mainstream may get its tuxedos on for the Oscars or Brits and command all the attention and publicity that night and the morning after, but the real machinations and momentum which informed all those moves originally took place many miles away. The drawback for those who work in the niche, of course, is that it?s usually primarily about art and not commerce from where they stand. The money and publicity which drives projects onwards and upwards doesn?t gravitate towards the margins. Most times out there, you?re doing it for love, not profit.
These musings are brought to you by two recent observations from the reporter?s notebook: an interview with Cathal Cully from Girls Names and an interesting conversation at the recent 12 Points jazz festival in Dublin.
Living in the niche: Girls Names
Cully was talking about his band?s mindset, their fantastic new album ?The Second Life? and the financial struggle and demands to make it. ?I know people get into music for various reasons, like to become famous or whatever, but we were the opposite. We get a bit of stick here because we come from an art crowd in Belfast. I?ve no qualms in saying it?s as much an art project as anything else. I personally treat it as making art. Even saying the words ?music industry? seem wrong. The dirtiest thing about it is that people are making money in the music industry but the artists aren?t.?
The economics of keeping a band together is something Cully is acutely aware of. ?We paid for the recording ourselves and I still have a bit of money to pay off it. The whole economic thing is so frustrating and jobs are so hard to come by. I?m out of work at the minute, but I?ve been through so many jobs in the last year. I was labouring all last summer and autumn, then driving for a TV shoot and then working in a shop over Christmas. I just took whatever came along to pay for what has to be done.?
When people hear someone is in a band, especially a band who?ve released two albums and tour abroad a lot, there are a lot of perceptions in the air, as Cully noted in this quote which didn?t make the published piece. ?I think people assume things are different. We were at And So I Watch You From Afar a while back and someone asked Claire (Miskimmin, bass player) ?do you make a living from music??. It?s far from it. People think when they see us going off on tours and releasing records that we?re doing well, but we don?t even have management. We?re lucky in that we?re breaking even but it?s tough. We need to buy so much gear in the next few months but it?s not going to happen.?
A two day pow-wow called Jazz Futures, featuring various panel debates, presentations and talks, took place during the recent 12 Points festival in Dublin?s Temple Bar. I was there to talk about how the web had constructively disrupted the music business and it was interesting to tease out how this macro event, something which had changed every single aspect of the business, had trickled down to the jazz community.
Now, here?s a real niche. Ask most people about their feelings for jazz and they?ll tell you that they love the stuff, but they?re probably talking about the heritage acts and vintage breeds who make up the sound?s back catalogue. Modern, new jazzers? What, they?re still making jazz? Who knew?
They sure are and the quality is very high, as the 12 Points festival showed with its bookings from the European talent pool. But it?s not the mainstream and it?s unlikely to feature on many radars unless it comes with Norah Jones or Jamie Cullum or Michael Buble or someone else upfront honing their sound with the bigger audience in mind. The issues which the jazz folks face ? funding, media coverage, dwindling audience attention, talent development etc ? are problems which many niche artists can talk about until the cows come home so it?s worth noting that the jazzers have common cause with a lot of other people in the same predicament.
But it?s also worth noting that the niche is probably bigger than it seems. After all, when you combine all these different scenes, it rivals the mainstream in size and span, depending on how you choose to define and measure these things. In this post-long tail world, there?s room for all ? and many have taken advantage of this.
However, the problem for those who operate in niche areas is that the coverage and attention which the mainstream attracts will never come their way. It?s something which came up a few times at Jazz Futures, a feeling that jazz merited and deserved a level playing field when it came to media coverage, for instance. Of course, jazz merits and deserves this and should get the same coverage as rock/pop does, but it?s never going to happen. Girls Names also merit and deserve the same coverage that Bon Jovi and Coldplay get, but that too is never going to happen. The mainstream isn?t interested. The mainstream has made its decision and goes with the bold-type names which have been pushed their way by the major entertainment companies and corporations. The mainstream will never cover a jazz event like 12 Points in the same way as it covers a festival like the Electric Picnic because it?s made a decision that its target audience favours the latter over the former. And the numbers they?re looking at show that they?re right. Of course, the jazzers can produce another set of numbers, but the mainstream will just shrug and move on.
Perhaps, then, it?s time for the niche to turn its back on the mainstream. Maybe it?s time to stop cribbing about the unfairness of their lot, about how the mainstream media prefers to cover shite rock and pop acts than their music, their sounds, their stars. Perhaps it?s time to stop fighting battles which can never be won because of how the battlefield has been drawn up. Indeed, maybe it?s time to stop fighting full stop and start creating even more great music, art and culture and wait, as has always happened, for the mainstream to realise what is happening. I don?t know about you, but I?m far more interested in and excited by what?s happening out in the niches and margins than anything going on in the mainstream.
Antioxidant improves donated liver survival rate to more than 90 percentPublic release date: 25-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Dawn Peters sciencenewsroom@wiley.com 781-388-8408 Wiley
Researchers from Italy have found that the antioxidant, N-acetylcysteine (NAC), when injected prior to harvesting of the liver, significantly improves graft survival following transplantation. Results published in the February issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), suggest that the NAC effect on early graft function and survival is higher when suboptimal organs are used.
A 2010 World Health Organization (WHO) report estimates that 22,000 liver transplants were performed worldwide, with nearly 18,500 from deceased donors. According to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) close to 16,000 U.S. patients are currently on the waiting list for a liver. Nearly 18,500 deceased donor transplants were performed between January and October 2012 in the U.S. OPTN reports that roughly 7,000 livers were recovered from deceased donors during the same time period.
"Liver transplantation is the standard treatment for end-stage liver disease," explains lead author Dr. Francesco D'Amico from Padova University in Italy. "Antioxidants such as NAC could potentially reduce damage to deceased donor livers, improving graft function." Studies have shown that ischemia-reperfusion injury (IFI)damage to the liver tissue when blood supply returns to the liver after lack of oxygen (ischemia)often occurs during storage and preservation of donated livers, and impacts early graft function post-transplantation.
For the present study researchers assigned 140 organs to adult candidates with liver disease undergoing their first transplant. An NAC infusion of 30 mg/kg was administered to one hour prior to liver procurement and another infusion of 300 mg (150mg/kg liver weight) through the portal vein before cross-clamping. There were 69 transplant candidates who received an NAC infused organ and 71 patients who had a standard transplant without NAC.
Results indicate that graft survival rates at 3 and 12 months were 93% and 90%, respectively, for patients receiving NAC infused livers; rates were 82% and 70% in the control group. Post-transplant complication rates were 23% for the NAC group and 51% in the control group. Analysis of the 61 patients receiving suboptimal livers the incidence of organ dysfunction was lower in the NAC group compared to controls at 15% and 32%, respectively.
Dr. D'Amico concludes, "Our study was the first randomized trial to investigate the use of NAC antioxidant infusion during the liver procurement procedure. We propose that NAC be used during organ harvesting to improve liver transplantation outcomes, particularly with the increased use of suboptimal organs. NAC has a good safety profile and the very low cost per patient, make this protocol highly cost-effective in consideration of grafts survival, length of hospital stays and post operative complications. Moreover we are performing further analyses to determine beneficial effects on the other organ procured with NAC protocol."
In a related editorial published this month in Liver Transplantation the authors from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and OneLegacy (Organ Procurement Organization, Los Angeles) highlight the importance and rarity of deceased organ donor research, such as the study by D'Amico et al., despite the fact that randomized clinical trials are essential to evidence-based medicine. Dr. Claus Niemann from the Department of Anesthesia and the Department of Surgery, Division of Transplantation at UCSF said, "Well-controlled deceased donor research is crucial to uncovering superior clinical practices that improve organ utilization and transplant outcomes. However, researchers are currently operating in a regulatory and legal vacuum since no review and oversight policies are established."
###
For a copy of the study and editoral, please email sciencenewsroom@wiley.com.
Full citations: "Use of N-Acetylcysteine During Liver Procurement: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Study." Francesco D'Amico, Alessandro Vitale, Anna Chiara Frigo, Donatella Piovan, Alessandra Bertacco, Domenico Bassi, Rafael Ramirez Morales, Pasquale Bonsignore, Enrico Gringeri, Michele Valmasoni, Greta Garbo, Enrico Lodo, Francesco Enrico D'Amico, Michele Scopelliti, Amedeo Carraro, Martina Gambato, Alberto Brolese, Giacomo Zanus, Daniele Neri and Prof. Umberto Cillo. Liver Transplantation; (DOI: 10.1002/lt.23527) Print Issue Date: February, 2013.
Editorial: "Deceased Organ Donor Research: The Last Research Frontier?" Thomas Mone, John Heldens and Claus U. Niemann. Liver Transplantation; (DOI: 10.1002/lt.23579) Print Issue Date: February, 2013.
About the Journal
Liver Transplantation is published by Wiley on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the International Liver Transplantation Society. Since the first application of liver transplantation in a clinical situation was reported more than twenty years ago, there has been a great deal of growth in this field and more is anticipated. As an official publication of the AASLD and the ILTS, Liver Transplantation delivers current, peer-reviewed articles on surgical techniques, clinical investigations and drug research the information necessary to keep abreast of this evolving specialty. For more information, please visit http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/livertransplantation.
About Wiley
Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has been a valued source of information and understanding for more than 200 years, helping people around the world meet their needs and fulfill their aspirations. Wiley and its acquired companies have published the works of more than 450 Nobel laureates in all categories: Literature, Economics, Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, and Peace.
Wiley is a global provider of content and content-enabled workflow solutions in areas of scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly research; professional development; and education. Our core businesses produce scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly journals, reference works, books, database services, and advertising; professional books, subscription products, certification and training services and online applications; and education content and services including integrated online teaching and learning resources for undergraduate and graduate students and lifelong learners. Wiley's global headquarters are located in Hoboken, New Jersey, with operations in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Canada, and Australia. The Company's Web site can be accessed at http://www.wiley.com. The Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols JWa and JWb.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Antioxidant improves donated liver survival rate to more than 90 percentPublic release date: 25-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Dawn Peters sciencenewsroom@wiley.com 781-388-8408 Wiley
Researchers from Italy have found that the antioxidant, N-acetylcysteine (NAC), when injected prior to harvesting of the liver, significantly improves graft survival following transplantation. Results published in the February issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), suggest that the NAC effect on early graft function and survival is higher when suboptimal organs are used.
A 2010 World Health Organization (WHO) report estimates that 22,000 liver transplants were performed worldwide, with nearly 18,500 from deceased donors. According to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) close to 16,000 U.S. patients are currently on the waiting list for a liver. Nearly 18,500 deceased donor transplants were performed between January and October 2012 in the U.S. OPTN reports that roughly 7,000 livers were recovered from deceased donors during the same time period.
"Liver transplantation is the standard treatment for end-stage liver disease," explains lead author Dr. Francesco D'Amico from Padova University in Italy. "Antioxidants such as NAC could potentially reduce damage to deceased donor livers, improving graft function." Studies have shown that ischemia-reperfusion injury (IFI)damage to the liver tissue when blood supply returns to the liver after lack of oxygen (ischemia)often occurs during storage and preservation of donated livers, and impacts early graft function post-transplantation.
For the present study researchers assigned 140 organs to adult candidates with liver disease undergoing their first transplant. An NAC infusion of 30 mg/kg was administered to one hour prior to liver procurement and another infusion of 300 mg (150mg/kg liver weight) through the portal vein before cross-clamping. There were 69 transplant candidates who received an NAC infused organ and 71 patients who had a standard transplant without NAC.
Results indicate that graft survival rates at 3 and 12 months were 93% and 90%, respectively, for patients receiving NAC infused livers; rates were 82% and 70% in the control group. Post-transplant complication rates were 23% for the NAC group and 51% in the control group. Analysis of the 61 patients receiving suboptimal livers the incidence of organ dysfunction was lower in the NAC group compared to controls at 15% and 32%, respectively.
Dr. D'Amico concludes, "Our study was the first randomized trial to investigate the use of NAC antioxidant infusion during the liver procurement procedure. We propose that NAC be used during organ harvesting to improve liver transplantation outcomes, particularly with the increased use of suboptimal organs. NAC has a good safety profile and the very low cost per patient, make this protocol highly cost-effective in consideration of grafts survival, length of hospital stays and post operative complications. Moreover we are performing further analyses to determine beneficial effects on the other organ procured with NAC protocol."
In a related editorial published this month in Liver Transplantation the authors from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and OneLegacy (Organ Procurement Organization, Los Angeles) highlight the importance and rarity of deceased organ donor research, such as the study by D'Amico et al., despite the fact that randomized clinical trials are essential to evidence-based medicine. Dr. Claus Niemann from the Department of Anesthesia and the Department of Surgery, Division of Transplantation at UCSF said, "Well-controlled deceased donor research is crucial to uncovering superior clinical practices that improve organ utilization and transplant outcomes. However, researchers are currently operating in a regulatory and legal vacuum since no review and oversight policies are established."
###
For a copy of the study and editoral, please email sciencenewsroom@wiley.com.
Full citations: "Use of N-Acetylcysteine During Liver Procurement: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Study." Francesco D'Amico, Alessandro Vitale, Anna Chiara Frigo, Donatella Piovan, Alessandra Bertacco, Domenico Bassi, Rafael Ramirez Morales, Pasquale Bonsignore, Enrico Gringeri, Michele Valmasoni, Greta Garbo, Enrico Lodo, Francesco Enrico D'Amico, Michele Scopelliti, Amedeo Carraro, Martina Gambato, Alberto Brolese, Giacomo Zanus, Daniele Neri and Prof. Umberto Cillo. Liver Transplantation; (DOI: 10.1002/lt.23527) Print Issue Date: February, 2013.
Editorial: "Deceased Organ Donor Research: The Last Research Frontier?" Thomas Mone, John Heldens and Claus U. Niemann. Liver Transplantation; (DOI: 10.1002/lt.23579) Print Issue Date: February, 2013.
About the Journal
Liver Transplantation is published by Wiley on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the International Liver Transplantation Society. Since the first application of liver transplantation in a clinical situation was reported more than twenty years ago, there has been a great deal of growth in this field and more is anticipated. As an official publication of the AASLD and the ILTS, Liver Transplantation delivers current, peer-reviewed articles on surgical techniques, clinical investigations and drug research the information necessary to keep abreast of this evolving specialty. For more information, please visit http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/livertransplantation.
About Wiley
Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has been a valued source of information and understanding for more than 200 years, helping people around the world meet their needs and fulfill their aspirations. Wiley and its acquired companies have published the works of more than 450 Nobel laureates in all categories: Literature, Economics, Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, and Peace.
Wiley is a global provider of content and content-enabled workflow solutions in areas of scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly research; professional development; and education. Our core businesses produce scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly journals, reference works, books, database services, and advertising; professional books, subscription products, certification and training services and online applications; and education content and services including integrated online teaching and learning resources for undergraduate and graduate students and lifelong learners. Wiley's global headquarters are located in Hoboken, New Jersey, with operations in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Canada, and Australia. The Company's Web site can be accessed at http://www.wiley.com. The Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols JWa and JWb.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
LAS VEGAS (AP) ? Police are seeking a 26-year-old man as the prime suspect in last week's pre-dawn shooting and crash on the Las Vegas Strip that killed three people and injured several others
The black SUV used as a getaway car was found Saturday as police named Ammar Harris in connection with the shooting and six-vehicle chain-reaction carnage Thursday on the neon-lit boulevard near the Bellagio, Caesars Palace, Bally's and Flamingo resorts,
An aspiring rapper who was driving a Maserati was shot to death, while two people in a taxi died in the crash.
"His location is unknown," police Capt. Chris Jones said of Harris, who sometimes goes by the name Ammar Asim Faruq Harris. Police say he has been arrested for working as a pimp.
Police released a photo that was taken when Harris was arrested last year on pandering, kidnapping, sexual assault and coercion charges. The disposition of that case was not immediately known.
The photo shows Harris with tattoos on his right cheek and words on his neck above an image that appeared to depict an owl with blackened eyes. Jones warned that Harris should be considered armed and dangerous.
Police had been searching for the black Range Rover, with blackout windows and distinctive black rims, since it was last seen speeding from the shooting. It was located at an apartment complex just a couple of blocks east of the neon-lit boulevard, and was impounded as evidence, Jones said.
The shooting killed Kenneth Wayne Cherry Jr., who was driving the dark gray Maserati that was peppered by gunfire from the SUV. Taxi driver Michael Boldon and passenger Sandra Sutton-Wasmund, of Maple Valley, Wash., died when the Maserati hit their taxi, which exploded in flames.
Boldon, 62, was a family man who moved from Michigan to Las Vegas. Sutton-Wasmund, 48, was a businesswoman and mother of three.
A passenger in the Maserati was wounded in the arm and four people from four other vehicles were treated for non-life-threatening injuries. The Maserati passenger was cooperating with investigators. His name hasn't been made public.
The shocking chain of events had family members and friends in Las Vegas, California, Michigan and Washington trying to grasp the blink-of-an-eye finality of it all.
"My son was a good boy," Kenneth Cherry Sr. told reporters Saturday in a news conference convened by Las Vegas lawyers Vicki Greco and Robert Beckett.
Beckett said they wanted to respond to rumors that the 27-year-old son ? who produced a rap video using the name Kenny Clutch ? was a gangster and a troublemaker. The attorneys had represented his son, and now represent his estate and the family.
"My son was a victim just like the two people in that taxi," Kenneth Cherry Sr. said. "Trouble found him. The people in the taxicab, trouble found them."
Court records show Cherry had no criminal cases or convictions in Las Vegas, and police said there was no record of arrests.
The Clark County coroner determined that Kenny Cherry died of at least one gunshot to the chest. Boldon and Sutton-Wasmund died of injuries in the crash. All three deaths were ruled homicides.
Police say the shooting appeared to stem from an argument at the valet area of the upscale Aria resort-casino about a block south of the crash scene. The shooting happened after a night featuring Morocco-born rapper French Montana at Aria nightclub Haze.
Cherry's parents live in Emeryville, Calif., and the father said his son's body would be taken back to Oakland. He said his son started a music career there and was recognized by other rappers within a West Coast hip-hop strain called hyphy.
Cherry wasn't well-known in wider music circles, according to Chuck Creekmur, CEO of AllHipHop.com.
Kenny Clutch's YouTube music video, "Stay Schemin," shows scenes of hotels along the Strip as he sings about paying $120,000 for his Maserati.
"One mistake change lives all in one night," he raps in one verse.
Kenneth Cherry Sr., who said he runs a cellphone business, said he helped his son make payments on the Maserati. He said he last spoke to him on Wednesday, when they talked about the high cost of the son's cellphone use.
Cherry Sr. described his son as an entrepreneur but didn't say how he made money or if he had jobs other than his music production.
Boldon's family in Las Vegas was struggling to cope with his death, said Tehran Boldon, the taxi driver's younger brother.
Boldon's sister, Carolyn Jean Trimble, said Boldon was a father, a grandfather and a car race enthusiast who drove a Mercedes when he wasn't in a cab. He owned a clothing store in Detroit and worked at a car dealership, his sister said, and drove taxis after moving to Las Vegas about 1? years ago.
The irony that a man with a taste for beautiful cars was killed by a sports car wasn't lost on Trimble.
"He would be tickled to death: 'Damn, of all things, a Maserati hit me, took me out like that,'" she said. "I'm happy he didn't suffer."
In Washington, Sutton-Wasmund co-owned a dress shop, said Debbie Tvedt, the office manager for a Maple Valley plumbing company that Sutton-Wasmund started with her husband, James Wasmund. Sutton-Wasmund was in Las Vegas attending a trade show with her business partner.
"It's a big loss," Tvedt said in a telephone interview with AP.
The Maple Valley-Black Diamond Chamber of Commerce website said Sutton-Wasmund was a board member from 2004 to 2011 before becoming a marketing representative.
A phone message left for James Wasmund was not immediately returned.
The famously glowing, always-open Las Vegas Strip was closed for some 15 hours after the crash. Nevada Highway Patrol Sgt. Eric Kemmer recalled a similarly long closure after the 1996 drive-by slaying of rapper Tupac Shakur.
That shooting ? involving assailants opening fire on Shakur's luxury sedan from a vehicle on Flamingo Road ? happened about a block away from Thursday's crash.
The Shakur killing has never been solved.
___
Associated Press writers Michelle Rindels in Las Vegas, Garance Burke in San Francisco, Kathy McCarthy in Seattle and AP Music Writer Mesfin Fekadu in New York contributed to this report.
The economic ills that led to mass protests in Bulgaria earlier this week and led Prime Minister Boyko Borisov to quit aren't going to be easy to address.
By Tom A. Peter,?Correspondent / February 22, 2013
Supporters of Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov applaud in front of the parliament in Sofia February 20. Bulgaria's government resigned on Wednesday after violent nationwide protests against high power prices, joining a long list of European administrations felled by austerity during Europe's debt crisis.
Stoyan Nenov/Reuters
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Bulgaria's national parliament accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov yesterday, but the protests that drove him from office continue.
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Today's peaceful demonstration, involving just a couple hundred protesters, is much smaller in scale than the earlier, violent protests that led to Mr. Borisov's removal. But the young activists say they are just now getting organized and plan to push for major social changes in the coming weeks to fight the corruption and financial woes that plague Bulgaria.
The last week of turmoil in the country ? initially a response to high electricity bills and an overall declining standard of living, but quickly evolving into calls for an end to government corruption and major reforms ? is in many ways reflective of a shift happening throughout Europe.
Across the continent, residents say austerity measures have cut too deep, and European society ? particularly post-Communist nations in Eastern Europe like Bulgaria ? is struggling to adjust to a new economic reality that can no longer support a wide array of state-sponsored social services. Now Bulgaria and many of its European counterparts must work to find a middle ground that supports economically sustainable social services, but the process will likely not be without its growing pains.?
?There needs to be a balance, otherwise we will face a revolution. But in terms of social policy, this balance will never get back to what it used to be twenty years ago. From now on, and I tell this to my students, they can?t expect to have the same provisions as their parents,? says Emilia Zankina, an assistant professor in political science at the American University in Bulgaria. ?There will be a readjustment of expectations, but also a redefinition of the government role.??
Among those who?ve taken to the streets in protest, one of the central frustrations is that many of the same figures have occupied their government for nearly two decades now. Activists blame an immobile old guard, rooted in the past and short on new ideas, for many of the nation's ills.?
?We didn?t complete our transition to a democratic country with an open market. The transition failed in this country,? says Panayot Nikolov, an unpaid consulting intern and recent graduate who was among the protesters. ?I am part of a new generation and we are waking up.?
Bulgaria is the poorest country in the European Union. The average resident?s monthly salary is less than $550 per month and has not increased for years. The nation was hit particularly hard by the global recession in 2008, which led to a tenfold reduction in foreign investment.?
Like many of its neighbors, Bulgaria has sought to shore up its economy through a number of austerity measures, including freezing government salaries and delaying payments to the private sector.?
?Bulgaria is one of the examples that you cannot revitalize the economy with austerity," says Rumen Gechev, director of the Center on Sustainable Development at the University of National and World Economy in Sofia. "In order to restore economic growth, you have to stimulate investments. There is no other way. How will you stimulate investments with austerity? Decreasing the purchasing power of households, not paying the private companies??
Mr. Gechev adds that there is unlikely to be any serious improvement in the Bulgarian economy without first finding a way to improve citizens? average income. Low wages are what makes a problem such as soaring electric bills crippling for many Bulgarians.?
Jivko Hristov, who spontaneously joined in Friday?s protest, says that his grandmother?s monthly electric bill now exceeds what she receives from her pension. Mr. Hristov, an unemployed plumber, says that even when he had work, many of his clients did not pay him at the end of a job because they simply did not have the funds.?
?The Bulgarian people are poor and we cannot pay our bills,? he says. ?The problem is that we cannot live like this anymore.??
NICOSIA (Reuters) - Cypriots started voting in a runoff on Sunday to elect a president who must clinch a bailout deal for the island nation to avoid a financial meltdown that would revive the euro zone crisis.
Conservative leader Nicos Anastasiades, who favors hammering out a quick deal with foreign lenders, is favored to win against Communist-backed rival Stavros Malas, who is more wary of the austerity terms accompanying any rescue.
Financial markets are hoping for an Anastasiades victory that speeds up a joint rescue by the European Union and International Monetary Fund before the island runs out of cash and derails fragile confidence returning to the euro zone.
The 66-year-old lawyer took more than 45 percent of the vote in last Sunday's first round, easily beating Malas who took 27 percent.
The winner takes the reins of a nation ravaged by its worst economic crisis in four decades, with unemployment at a record high of 15 percent. Pay cuts and tax hikes in preparation for a bailout have further soured the normally sunny national mood.
Newspaper headlines reflected the grim outlook, warning of an uphill climb for the new president. One described it as walking towards "Calvary", the location where, according to Christian scripture, Jesus Christ was crucified.
"He will be plunged straight into the deep end, and failure is not an option," the Simerini daily wrote. Phileleftheros, another daily, said: "Its a long road ahead, and insight and vision is needed."
Like candidates, newspapers also called on people to vote. Fewer voters were expected to show up at the polls than on February 17 after the third-placed candidate refused to back either contender in the runoff, boosting Anastasiades's chances.
"Whatever happens in this vote, the day after is going to be very difficult for Cyprus," said Demetris Charalambous, a 56-year-old convenience store owner. "People are really depressed. Business is bad, we are at risk of shutting down."
Prospects for a quick bailout that revives the sinking Cypriot economy - which the EU says will shrink a worse than expected 3.5 percent this year - have been equally grim.
Talks to rescue Nicosia have dragged on eight months since it first sought help, after a Greek sovereign debt restructuring saddled its banks with losses. It is expected to need up to 17 billion euros in aid - worth the size of its entire economy.
Virtually all rescue options - from a bailout loan to a debt writedown or slapping losses on bank depositors - are proving unfeasible because they push Cypriot debt up to unmanageable levels or risk hurting investor sentiment elsewhere in the bloc.
German misgivings about the nation's commitment to fighting money laundering and strong financial ties with Russia have further complicated the negotiations.
END UNCERTAINTY
Longstanding anger over the island's 40-year-old division into the Greek-speaking south and Turkish north has been relegated to a distant second as an election issue this year, with both candidates vying to portray himself as the right man to lead the country out of its financial quagmire.
"We must end the uncertainty and give Cyprus back its lost international credibility and its prestige in Europe," Anastasiades said as he ended his campaign.
A heavy smoker known for his no-nonsense style, Anastasiades is widely respected but suffered political humiliation nine years ago when he supported a United Nations blueprint to reunify the island that was later rejected by the public.
He has suggested the island may even need a bridge loan to tide it over until a rescue is nailed down.
His younger rival Malas is handicapped by the support of the incumbent Communists who are perceived as having mismanaged the economic crisis and a munitions blast in 2011.
Still, he is expected to get a boost from his pledges to drive a hard bargain with lenders and anti-austerity rhetoric that resonates with many Cypriots struggling to make ends meet.
"I want to see someone worthy win, who will cut out cronyism and be decisive about the problems we have," said George Nearchou, 58, an unemployed electrician.
"I am however very worried about austerity, people are very angry. I see a popular uprising."
(Writing by Deepa Babington; Editing by Stephen Powell and Jackie Frank)
Afghan President Hamid Karzai addesses military officers in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013
By Hasani Gittens, News Editor, NBC News
Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai has ordered that all U.S. special forces must leave Wardak province, just west of Kabul, within two weeks ? citing allegations of disappearances and torture.
In a statement Sunday, a spokesman for Karzai said, "after a thorough discussion, it became clear that armed individuals named as U.S. special force stationed in Wardak province engage in harassing, annoying, torturing and even murdering innocent people."
Karzai's office cited a "recent example" in which nine people were allegedly "disappeared" and a separate incident where a student was taken from his home in the middle of the night and whose tortured body was found two days later under a bridge with his throat cut.
In addition to demanding the U.S. pull out in two weeks, Karzai also demanded the immediate cessation of all international special forces operations in Wardak.
The province is a strategically important area because it is seen the gateway the Taliban uses to carry out attacks in Kabul, the war-torn nation's capital.
In response, International Security Assistance Force, which coordinates the multinational coalition in Afghanistan, said "the U.S. Forces Afghanistan is aware of the reporting of presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi's comments today. We take all allegations of misconduct seriously and go to great lengths to determine the facts surrounding them."
The ISAF declined to comment further until they've "had a chance to speak with" senior officials in the Afghan government.
In their statement, the Afghan government noted that "Americans reject having conducted any such operation," but also noted "that such actions have caused local public resentment and hatred."
With it being sleep and relaxation week here at iMore for Mobile Nations fitness month, I've been on the hunt for related apps, and the newest gem I've discovered is Let's create! Pottery HD for iPhone and iPad. This pottery-creating app is surprising relaxing and fun.
The menu screen of Pottery HD shows a piece of clay slowly spinning on table with out-of-focus greenery in the background. As you move around your iPhone or iPad, the background will slightly move around as if you are changing your orientation.
After you go through the initial tutorial your inbox will be your source of quests to create beautiful pottery pieces beginning with your Aunt Chloe. Through her, word spreads of your work and other people come to you to make pieces for them.
To create a pottery item, you simply use your finger on the piece of clay. Moving your finger up or down the clay will make is taller and shorter, moving out from the center will make it wider from that point, and moving in towards the center will make it thinner.
After you've shaped your item, you must send it to cooked. As it goes through the firing process, a progress bar displays and the background makes it appear that the clay is in a hot oven. Then it's time to decorate it.
You can decorate your pottery with paint, ornaments and fancy brushes that stamp a pattern on your artwork. You do this all while the item slowly spins on the wheel. The constant movement in Pottery HD is part of what makes it so relaxing, engaging, and beautiful.
If you have an active quest, then a little picture of what you're supposed to create will be displayed while you work towards your goal. On this polaroid snapshot, there are two different objects: the shape and design. You can earn put to 5 stars for each one. As long as you get three stars in each, your piece will be accepted.
There are two things about creating ceramics with Pottery HD that are disappointing. The first is that when adding paint, sometimes it doesn't register the correct spot and actually adds the paint higher than you would expect.
The other is that sometimes it's way too difficult to get even just three stars for your decorations. The screenshot above demonstrates this -- my vase looks almost identical to the photo, yet I only earned three stars. The one I made before this one only earned me two stars even though it was just a little shorter. Both vases earned 5 stars for the shape, so I don't think it's fair that the height alone made me earn one less star for decoration.
If the ceramic you are making is not for a quest, then you have an option to sell it. You need coins to buy new decorating tools for your quests.
The good
Great graphics
Quests to make pots, vases, cups, and more
Earn coins when completing quests to buy materials to decorate your creations
Build your own pottery to sell and raise money
More decorations available as in-app purchases
Relaxing
Fosters creativity
Universal for iPhone and iPad
The bad
Touch isn't precise enough when adding paint
Sometimes it's nearly impossible to get 5 stars for the look your creation
No way to save snapshots of your pieces in the app
Once you sell an item, you can view even a photo of it in the app. It would nice to see a collection of everything you've made.
The bottom line
Let's Create! Pottery HD is the next best thing to actually creating real life ceramics, yet has the benefit of being able to kick back and relax while you sculpt your pottery without the mess.
I stayed one extra day, and toured several museums. The high point was visiting the old Patent Office, just a few blocks from the conference, which had a special exhibit of historic patent models from the 19th century. The building also houses the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian Museum of American Art. And?it?s a bit geeky?but I also loved the Postal History Museum, in the old post office building right next to Union Station. If you want to learn about facer-canceller machines, or about the handmade artwork in old cancellation stamps, this is the place for you!
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Public release date: 25-Feb-2013
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