simultaneity encyclopedia: March 2013

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Palestinian leader clamps down on critics

HUSSAN, West Bank (AP) ? Mahmoud Abbas' government in the West Bank is getting tougher with critics, interrogating, prosecuting and even jailing several journalists and bloggers in recent months for allegedly "defaming" the Western-backed Palestinian leader.

Rights activists say the legal hassles are meant to silence dissent and that the campaign is intensifying despite promises to the contrary by Abbas. Targets of the crackdown include supporters of Abbas' political rival ? the Islamic militant Hamas ? and political independents who have written about alleged nepotism and abuse of power in Abbas' Palestinian Authority.

Abbas' aides insist the Palestinian leader opposes any curb on expression. They blame overzealous prosecutors and security officials, but government critics say Abbas could easily halt the clampdown.

"It's a good cop, bad cop routine. The bad cops are the security services, and the good cop is the benevolent president," said Diana Buttu, a former Palestinian Authority insider. They want to send a chilling message, she said, "and it works."

Abbas' foreign backers, who view him as key to delivering any future peace deal with Israel and maintaining quiet in the West Bank, have said little in public about the issue. Instead, during a visit to the West Bank in late March, President Barack Obama showered Abbas and his security forces with praise for their efforts to prevent militant attacks on Israel.

The new tactic of taking journalists and bloggers to court has invited speculation about timing and motive.

Some say Abbas and his inner circle are lashing out at critics because they feel increasingly vulnerable politically. Others suggest the 78-year-old Abbas is either an old-school Arab politician not used to criticism or an out-of-touch leader getting bad advice.

"It's a weak authority and that's why it's doing this," said Shahwan Jabareen, who heads the human rights group Al-Haq. "They fear the criticism is growing ? that they will lose the (Palestinian) authority ? and they are trying to keep it by acting like this."

Such insecurities are rooted in the political split of 2007, when Hamas seized the Gaza Strip from Abbas.

Since then, Hamas has been going after sympathizers of Abbas' Fatah movement in Gaza, while Abbas' security forces have tried to dismantle the Hamas infrastructure in the West Bank to prevent a similar takeover there.

Reconciliation efforts have failed, and both sides are entrenched in their respective territories.

The split has prevented new elections, meaning Abbas has already overstayed his term as president by four years, weakening his claim to lead. His troubles are compounded by a cash crisis in his foreign aid-dependent government and lack of progress toward his main objective of negotiating terms of a Palestinian state with Israel.

There have been waves of crackdowns on political rivals, particularly Hamas, since the Palestinian Authority was established two decades ago, as part of interim peace deals with Israel.

However, Palestinian journalists say they are increasingly being targeted.

"I think it is getting worse, although we are getting very rosy promises" from the president's office, said Nabhan Khraishi, a spokesman for the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate, a union with hundreds of members.

Ahead of Obama's March 21 meeting with Abbas, 18 Palestinian journalists were told that they would not be allowed to enter the president's compound to cover the event. Veteran reporters were among those denied accreditation apparently for being perceived as politically hostile to the Palestinian Authority.

Khraishi said that in talks with the journalists' union, political advisers and security officials blamed each other for banning an unprecedented number of journalists from covering Obama.

Tayeb Abdel Rahim, an Abbas adviser who dealt with the issue, did not return phone messages Sunday.

Two recent court rulings have drawn more attention to the clampdown on free speech.

On Thursday, an appeals court in the West Bank upheld a one-year prison term for Mamdooh Hamamreh for "defaming" Abbas. Hamamreh allegedly posted a photo montage on his Facebook page in September 2010 that showed Abbas next to that of a TV villain. A caption read: "They're alike in all ways." The villain in the TV drama collaborated with French colonial rule in Syria.

Hamamreh, a Hamas activist in his college years, denies having posted the photos. He said he spent 53 days in interrogation, missing the birth of his son and was banned from seeing his lawyer for the first 20 days.

After his release on bail, his trial and an appeal dragged on for more than two years. Abbas pardoned him hours after the appeals court decision Thursday, and Hamamreh was released later that day.

Nimer Hamad, an Abbas adviser, said the Palestinian leader hadn't pushed for Hamamreh to be prosecuted. "This young man did not deserve such a sentence," Hamad said. "The freedom and right of expression is guaranteed to all people and the president is keen on protecting freedom of expression."

Hamamreh said he believes the main point was to deter him and others from speaking out, and that he will stay clear of any potential trouble in his work.

"I now censor myself regarding anything I say," the 29-year-old said Saturday, surrounded by well-wishers at his family home in the village of Hussan, near Bethlehem. "It's the one thing they (the authorities) succeeded in doing, which is intimidation."

On the same day as Hamamreh's verdict, another court in the northern town of Salfit sentenced a blogger, Anas Ismail, to six months for "liking" three Facebook posts critical of the Ministry of Telecommunications and the minister himself.

Ismail, 30, said he was jailed for 17 days of interrogation in February and convicted and sentenced Thursday for "insulting a minister." The judge allowed him to appeal immediately, meaning he is staying out of prison for now.

He later posted on his Facebook page: "For a 'tag,' you get one year. For a 'like,' you get six months, for a 'share' you get a suspended sentence. A comment invites the biggest disaster."

A Palestinian advocacy group, MADA, said it counted 238 violations of the rights of Palestinian journalists last year, including detentions, travel bans and the closing of media outlets. MADA said that of those, 70 percent, or 164, were committed by Israel and the rest in equal measure by the two rival Palestinian governments.

Last year, 12 journalists were detained by Palestinian security forces, up from five in 2011, while 13 were summoned for questioning, the group said. Overall, there was a drop in Palestinian and a rise in Israeli violations, the group said.

Jihad Harb, an independent Palestinian commentator, said dragging journalists to court for defaming the president and the government is a relatively new tactic.

Harb himself was summoned to the prosecutor's office in Ramallah in November, three months after writing about he claimed was nepotism in filling senior public service positions. Harb said he is still waiting to hear how the case against him, on possible defamation charges, will proceed.

"The biggest loser is the president, Mahmoud Abbas, and his image in the world," said Harb.

Another journalist, Yousef Shayeb, said he was jailed for interrogation for eight days, after writing in a Jordanian newspaper last year about alleged abuse of power in the PLO embassy in Paris. He said he faces a civil suit by the Palestinian foreign minister and two top embassy officials who have dismissed Shayeb's allegations as baseless.

Buttu, a former legal adviser in the Palestinian Authority, said it's unclear to what extent Abbas is involved in the clampdown or is being pushed by those around him.

"Part of it is that they fear they have lost their grip on Palestinian society," she said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/palestinian-leader-clamps-down-critics-183110334.html

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High court poised to upend civil rights policies

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Has the nation lived down its history of racism and should the law become colorblind?

Addressing two pivotal legal issues, one on affirmative action and a second on voting rights, a divided Supreme Court is poised to answer those questions.

In one case, the issue is whether race preferences in university admissions undermine equal opportunity more than they promote the benefits of racial diversity. Just this past week, justices signaled their interest in scrutinizing affirmative action very intensely, expanding their review as well to a Michigan law passed by voters that bars "preferential treatment" to students based on race. Separately in a second case, the court must decide whether race relations ? in the South, particularly ? have improved to the point that federal laws protecting minority voting rights are no longer warranted.

The questions are apt as the United States closes in on a demographic tipping point, when nonwhites will become a majority of the nation's population for the first time. That dramatic shift is expected to be reached within the next generation, and how the Supreme Court rules could go a long way in determining what civil rights and equality mean in an America long divided by race.

The court's five conservative justices seem ready to declare a new post-racial moment, pointing to increased levels of voter registration and turnout among blacks to show that the South has changed. Lower federal courts just in the past year had seen things differently, blunting voter ID laws and other election restrictions passed by GOP-controlled legislatures in South Carolina, Texas and Florida, which they saw as discriminatory.

"Whenever a society adopts racial entitlements, it is very difficult to get out of them through the normal political processes," Justice Antonin Scalia said in oral arguments earlier this year, suggesting that it was the high court's responsibility to overturn voting protections overwhelmingly passed by Congress in 2006.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, part of the court's more liberal wing, countered that while conventional discriminatory tactics may have faded, new ones have emerged. "Congress said up front: We know that the (voter) registration is fine. That is no longer the problem. But the discrimination continues in other forms," she said.

The legal meanings of "equality," ''racism" and "discrimination" have been in flux since at least 1883, when justices struck down a federal anti-discrimination law, calling it an unfair racial advantage for former black slaves. Today, justices face the question of whether the nation has reached equality by a 1960s definition or some new standard.

By some demographic measures, America has reached a new era. But the latest census data and polling from The Associated Press also show race and class disparities that persist.

President Barack Obama, the nation's first black chief executive, was re-elected in November despite a historically low percentage of white supporters. He was aided by a growing bloc of blacks, Hispanics, Asian-Americans and gays, and a disproportionate share of women, who together supported him by at least a 2-to-1 margin.

Another sign of shifting times: Among newborns, minorities outnumbered whites for the first time last year, the Census Bureau reported. "The end of the world as straight white males know it," one newspaper headline said on the morning after the November election.

Still, issues linger by race, age and class:

?Jobs and income. Black poverty has fallen by half since 1959, to 27.6 percent, but is still nearly three times the poverty rate of whites. Black and Hispanic men are twice as likely as whites to work in the low-paying service sector. Since the 1970s, the unemployment rate for blacks has remained double that of whites.

?Wealth. The wealth gap between whites and minorities is at its widest since 1984. Predominantly younger minorities were hit hard when home prices fell, while older whites were more likely to invest in 401(k) retirement plans and stocks, which have rebounded since the recession. The median net worth of white households was $113,149 in 2009, compared with $6,325 for Hispanics and $5,677 for blacks.

?Class and education. By some measures, the gap between rich and poor has stretched to its widest since 1967. Globalization and automation have eliminated many mid-skill jobs, leaving a polarized pool of low-wage work and high-skill jobs requiring advanced degrees. About 40 percent of whites age 25-29 graduate from college, compared with 15 percent for Latinos and 23 percent for blacks.

?Racial bias. Prejudice against blacks worsened slightly in the four years since Obama was first elected in 2008, according to an AP poll. In all, 51 percent of Americans expressed explicit anti-black attitudes, compared with 48 percent in 2008. Questions designed to ferret out subconscious bias raised the proportion with anti-black sentiments to 56 percent, and the share of people expressing pro-black attitudes fell.

Roderick Harrison, a demographer who is black, says he felt pride in Obama's re-election, which to him reaffirmed a historic achievement not only for black Americans but also a broader coalition of racially diverse groups. Still, he worries that demographic change and Obama's success may lead to a tipping point in the opposite direction, where people in the United States are led to assume racial equality has fully arrived.

The strength of minority support behind Obama was aided by the 1965 Voting Rights Act and other protections, he said.

The term "minority" often refers to an unequal or disadvantaged status and isn't always about numbers or counts, said Harrison, a former chief of racial statistics at the Census Bureau. The District of Columbia, Hawaii, California, New Mexico and Texas already have populations of racial and ethnic minorities that collectively add up to more than 50 percent. Across the U.S., more than 11 percent of counties have tipped to "majority-minority" status.

"Minority status is a matter of exclusion from full participation in society, remaining long after a nation becomes 'majority minority,'" Harrison said.

___

To Bradley Poole, 21, a senior at the University of Texas at Austin, racial progress is measured by the little things. An advertising major, Poole became a member and then president of the school's Black Student Alliance, seeking camaraderie after noticing he often was the only African-American in his classes.

"I definitely feel the difference," he said.

The university automatically grants admission to the top 10 percent of students in each of the state's high schools. That helps bring in students of different backgrounds because Texas high schools are highly racially segregated, reflecting decades of segregated neighborhoods.

In a state where blacks now make up 11.5 percent of the population and Hispanics 38 percent, the university's enrollment of 50,000 students never rose above 3 percent to 4.5 percent black and 13 percent to 17 percent Hispanic. So in 2004 it decided to allow students who miss the 10 percent cutoff to be considered for admission based on a range of socioeconomic factors, including race.

The share of black students has since increased slightly to 6 percent, while Hispanic enrollment rose to 26 percent.

The university's affirmative action plan is being challenged in the Supreme Court by Abigail Fisher, a white student who missed the cutoff and was rejected. Fisher says she was denied fair consideration because of her race.

A 2003 Supreme Court opinion said universities may consider race only as one of several factors to promote diversity. The court said diversity benefits everyone because in a global economy it fosters leaders who can relate to people of different backgrounds.

In the last week, justices also agreed to take up a second affirmative action case this year, deciding whether states may pass laws that restrict the use of race preferences in college admissions. That case involves an appeal to a lower court ruling that found a 2006 voter-approved ban in Michigan unconstitutional, reasoning that such bans put minorities at a disadvantage.

The justices' decision to hear the Michigan case next fall ? with their decision in the Texas case still to be announced this spring ? suggests that the court will not decide in the Texas case to eliminate affirmative action programs in higher education.

In the seven or so states that enacted bans on affirmative action at their public universities, freshman enrollments of blacks and Hispanics almost always fell afterward ? as much as 50 percent at UCLA and the University of California, Berkeley ? although in some cases they later rebounded. Those states now include Arizona, California, Florida, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Washington. A Supreme Court ruling that further restricts affirmative action could shake up college admissions policies nationwide, perhaps shifting focus to low-income students or low-performing schools.

Before opting to enroll at Texas, Poole says he considered attending a mostly white university in Iowa and a historically black college in Louisiana. The college course he now values the most: an advertising seminar that he attended along with a Hispanic, a female student-athlete and an Asian-American. No one in that class was a "minority," he said, and there was a range of perspectives.

Outside class, Poole says his organization has experienced racial incidents. One white student ran up in "blackface" to where members were gathered on campus, daring them to respond. A legal brief filed by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on behalf of Poole's group lists other racial incidents in recent years, some of which led to suspensions or public apologies.

"Racial diversity is a conversation we need to have," he said.

___

Not since the tumultuous 1960s have U.S. ideals of equality been more closely contested. Legal analysts say a Supreme Court holding of a colorblind Constitution, either as a matter of law or practical effect, could begin to emerge in two rulings on voting rights and affirmative action due out by late June. A third ruling in the Michigan affirmative action case will come next term.

The five conservative justices who make up a majority could overturn the 2003 opinion or take a less dramatic step. The court may opt for tighter restrictions that make it difficult for colleges to consider race or rule narrowly that in a situation like Texas, its unique top 10 percent plan is enough on its own to achieve diversity.

In the court's other racial case, a conservative majority may declare the 1965 Voting Rights Act constitutionally flawed for its focus on racism in the South but leave it up to lawmakers to sort it out.

The court could also find a less sweeping, more technical way of deciding the voting rights case, much as they did four years ago. Back then, Chief Justice John Roberts suggested Congress should update the law to reflect improved conditions in the South. Congress hasn't done so.

Prominent legal bloggers are already warning of sharp public reaction, especially if justices strike down federal voting protections.

"If the court rules in a conservative direction, this will be a pivotal year with regard to race in the Constitution and a year that could have a devastating effect on racial diversity," adds Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California, Irvine law school.

___

Has the country put its racist past behind it? That question is at the core of the challenge to the Voting Rights Act. The arguments before the court raised questions about whether new, more subtle forms of voting discrimination have taken the place of Jim Crow laws.

In 1870, the Constitution guaranteed blacks the right to vote. But for many decades afterward, whites in the post-slavery South used poll taxes and literacy tests to block African-Americans from voting.

That changed in 1965 with enactment of the Voting Rights Act, which let minorities file lawsuits against voter discrimination. Section 5 of that law went even further, requiring nine states, mostly in the South, and scores of counties and townships in seven other states, all with histories of disenfranchisement, to get federal approval before making any election change. Changes can include everything from a different poll location to a new political redistricting map.

The voting act was renewed by Congress in 2006 for another 25 years. The Justice Department and the federal courts last year used Section 5 to block voter restrictions in South Carolina, Texas and parts of Florida. That saved hundreds of thousands of votes that would otherwise have been lost in November, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. Many were cast by blacks and Hispanics who turned out for Obama.

Lawyers for Shelby County, Alabama, which is challenging Section 5, say the tables have turned in a nation that is now much more racially diverse, with minority voters possibly holding an unfair advantage.

"You have a different constituency from the constituency you had in 1964," attorney Bert Rein told the justices. "Senators who see that a very large group in the population has politically wedded themselves to Section 5 are not going to vote against it."

Richard Hasen, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine, and author of Election Law Blog, says the "smart money" now is on the Supreme Court striking down Section 5, leading to consequences for minority voters such as "more brazen partisan gerrymanders, cutbacks in early voting and imposition of tougher voting and registration rules in the formerly covered jurisdictions."

But if the court strikes down "a crown jewel of the civil rights movement," he said, that could spark a public backlash that sends Congress back to the drawing board, with any resulting new law applying equally to all states.

___

Associated Press writer Mark Sherman and AP Director of Polling Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report.

EDITOR'S NOTE _ "America at the Tipping Point: The Changing Face of a Nation" is an occasional series examining the cultural mosaic of the U.S. and its historic shift to a majority-minority nation.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/high-court-poised-upend-civil-rights-policies-090040095.html

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PBS shows how hacking is reclaiming its good name after a bad rap (video)

Hacking is still a loaded concept for many, often conjuring negative images of corporate espionage, fraudsters and prank-minded script kiddies. PBS' Off Book wants to remind us that hacking wasn't always seen this way -- and, thanks to modern developments, is mending its reputation. Its latest episode shows that hacking began simply as a desire to advance devices and software beyond their original roles, but was co-opted by a sometimes misunderstanding press that associated the word only with malicious intrusions. Today, hacking has regained more of its original meaning: hackathons, a resurgence of DIY culture and digital protests prove that hacks can improve our gadgets, our security and even our political landscape. We still have a long way to go before we completely escape movie stereotypes, but the mini-documentary may offer food for thought the next time you're installing a custom ROM or building your own VR helmet.

Filed under: Misc, Networking, Internet, Alt

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/31/pbs-explains-how-hacking-is-reclaiming-its-good-name/

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Saturday, March 30, 2013

7 Things I Was Baffled By When I Started Online

Baffled By Business I?d like to share some of the problems that prevented me making any money whatsoever for around 7-8 months after I began online almost exactly 3 years ago. I?ll also explain how I overcame them by giving some recommendations for each.

It?s quite interesting for me to see how my thinking and understanding of how to start and build a successful web business has changed over time.

But more importantly I hope you?ll be able to get a lot out of this because from talking to others I?ve learned that most people face the same challenges that I?ve experienced.

Let?s dive in with 7 things I was baffled by when I started out:?

1. How To Create Web Pages

Like all of us I visited lots of different websites on a daily basis but I really didn?t understand how to replicate them. Do you have to learn web design and HTML and get involved in the technical side of things?

Luckily, I was introduced to WordPress pretty early on. Although I have built a few pages in other systems (such as the free HTML editor Kompozer) I really never looked back.

What began as a blogging platform has now developed into a fully fledged content management system (CMS) for websites and for running a home business, there are very few cases when it makes sense to not use WordPress.

My Recommendation: If you don?t know WordPress. Learn it. Just create a simple personal blog and get acquainted. It?s time very well spent.

2. How To Get Traffic

I thought the only options were SEO (ranking your web pages high in Google) or Adwords (Google Paid ads).

Like most newcomers I didn?t want to risk any money so I went down the SEO path.

The trouble was by 2010 SEO was already becoming harder, more long term and increasingly uncertain. This didn?t stop me spending a small fortune on SEO software and training courses which resulted in virtually no revenue whatsoever.

My Recommendation: Traffic is a KEY element in your online success. So invest some time in learning about it. There are countless ways to promote your websites and many of them have been discussed on this blog (here and here?for example). Also, although I wouldn?t completely ignore SEO, I also highly recommend you don?t rely on it. Less than 10% of my traffic comes from SEO ? quite honestly I wouldn?t bother with it much at all!

3. Why The Websites Of Successful Marketers Didn?t Look Like Mine

During my ?SEO phase? I followed several ?gurus? who were very keen to tell me (and sell me) strategies which could rank my websites high in Google. Most of these involved setting up blogs, choosing the keywords, meta tags, headlines, H1 tags correctly and building backlinks to my site.

So how come when I visited these gurus? sites they had none of these things? I remember checking the backlinks and wondering why there weren?t any? How could they be making money if they didn?t seem to do the things they were telling me to do?

Also, a lot of their websites just had places for your name and email address (what I later learnt were called ?squeeze pages?) and had no content on them at all. Google wouldn?t rank these surely so I was baffled.

I was very na?ve really. But it just goes to show if you don?t know something then you just don?t know.

Of course, the reality was the the gurus were using joint ventures (JVs), affiliates and paid traffic to promote their websites. As silly as it might sound it really took me about 10 months to fully recognize this.

My Recommendation: Always ask yourself, ?Are the strategies that this person is teaching me what they actually use to make money themselves??. You can?t always be sure but being aware of this question really helps!

4. Who To Trust

A biggy.

As with any business ? online or offline ? there are scams and people who just want your money. In the internet marketing area there are definitely these kinds of people but also many very genuine businesses and marketers who provide solid products and services which can help you.

My Recommendation: Rather than expand on this here I will refer to a previous post where we covered this issue in detail.

5. Which Niche To Go Into

Again, usually a problem most of us have, especially at the early stage of our business.

This is partly related to ?I?m not an expert in anything? thinking but also because there are literally SO many different niches that it can become difficult to decide!

What I did was go into lots of niches. I don?t recommend this because you end up juggling so many balls that you can?t give the attention each niche deserves.

My Recommendation: Brainstorm niches you are interested in, check for sufficient audience size and profitability. Then pick one and go with it. Later on you can (as I have done) expand it more than one niche but that?s when you?ll have the experience of setting them up and promoting them. Also, understand you don?t need to be an expert: 1) You can learn, 2) You can get another expert to help (e.g., by interviewing them), 3) Many products (e.g., software) don?t rely on you being an expert at all.

6. How Can I Keep Up With The Information Coming At Me

Yes, the old information overload problem here!

What I specifically referring to though is the emails that I received as a result of signing up to people?s lists.

This distraction can manifest in at least 2 ways: 1) You are reading emails instead of implementing and taking action, 2) You get mixed messages and conflicting information which stops you taking action on your current plans by introducing doubt and shiny object syndrome.

My Recommendation: Unsubscribe from any list which just promotes things all the time. Follow the people you trust (or at worst think you trust!) ? see above for tips on this. Pick one project and stick with it, emotionally detach (as best you can) and work on your business (imagine you are consulting on someone else?s business which helps) instead of in your business.

7. Sales Funnels

Again I?m admitting naivety here but after coming online I really didn?t understand the importance of having a funnel or even what one was!

Basically, the sales funnel is process people go through after they go up the ?on ramp? into your business.

For example, they might sign up at for your squeeze page, get offered a promotion on the thank you page, receive email follow ups which offer free content and promotions which increase in price and value.

My recommendation: Be aware all the time of sales funnels and every time you purchase something or sign up for something watch what happens and take notes. I actually have a Word files called ?Other Marketers Swipe? which I take notes on what I see from my journeys around the internet in different niches.

3 Final Tips

Overall, If I could go back in time and speak to myself when I started out I?d give this advice:

Focus soley on building a list of subscribers in a profitable niche that you are interested in
Go to live events and meetups
Invest some time and money in solid training from people who have achieved what you want to achieve

If you can relate to any of my experiences I?ve described in this post then this is the same advice I?d give to you. Regardless of your history and where you are right now with your business the PERFECT time is NOW!

What things have baffled you in terms on setting up a successful web business? Please LIKE/TWEET if you enjoyed this and start some discussion by dropping a comment below. Cheers, Rob.

Source: http://www.gainhigherground.com/7-things-i-was-baffled-by-when-i-started-online/

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PFT: Clemons says player coming out is 'selfish'

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New Dolphins DT Vaugn Martin says he had offers from the Pats, Eagles, Chargers, Chiefs, and Seattle.

Former Bills QB Frank Reich will hold his annual Call to Courage Award Breakfast on April 6; this year?s event includes a 20-year look back at the greatest comeback in NFL history.

WR Danny Amendola will wear No. 16 with the Pats, if it?s available.? (For now, it isn?t.)

The Jets won?t be hosting the Honey Badger before the draft, a fact that typically has little bearing on whether the player will be picked by the team in question.

Ravens secondary coach Teryl Austin is upbeat about the teams defensive backfield.

The Bengals will now try to find a safety, via free agency or the draft.

The Browns have ?very mild interest? in free-agent WR Domenik Hixon.

Former Steelers OL John Wiley died this week at the age of 92.? (He played in the first publicly-televised college football game, which was broadcast in 1939 by NBC.)

Former Texans LB Connor Barwin took out a newspaper ad thanking a variety of folks who helped his career in Houston ? including Jaguars QB Blaine Gabbert and ?my cleaning lady.?

Over the next couple of months, new Jaguars coach Gus Bradley will establish his vision for the team.

Colts QB Andrew Luck is among the candidates for the cover of an overhyped, underperforming football video game that inexplicably continues to sell millions of copies every year.

Someone actually believes that Ryan Fitzpatrick is an upgrade over Matthew Hasselbeck at backup quarterback for the Titans.

The Broncos hope to play as fast as possible on offense in 2013.

The Chiefs have explained the convoluted title of the man who once used the phrase ?programmatic non-fit? with a straight face.

Here?s a look at the Raiders? draft options with the third overall pick in 2013.

The agent for former Chargers LT Marcus McNeill says McNeill isn?t considering a comeback.

Cowboys QB Tony Romo talks about his new contract in a video that includes an image of Romo in front of a collection of trophies many think he?ll never touch and Romo?s young son rebuffing owner Jerry Jones? high-five attempt.

RB Tim Hightower?s workout with the Giants will occur early next week.

The Eagles reportedly have some lingering interest in OT Eric Winston.

The Redskins reportedly are eyeballing Miami CB Brandon McGee and Nevada safety Duke Williams.

The contract signed by new Bears OL Matt Slauson is worth more than the minimum salary.

Lions Hall of Famer Lem Barney has sued a former employer after he was fired for signing too many autographs.

CB Loyce Means, out of football in 2012, could be signed by the Packers early next week.

Should the Vikings focus on improving their front four?

The supposedly ultra-talented Falcons have a major hole at cornerback.

The effort to upgrade the Panthers? stadium with public money?continues to face opposition.

New Saints LB Victor Butler says that he was simply looking for a ?chance to compete and be a part of a winning team.?

How good will the Buccaneers? offensive line be in 2013, and beyond?

The Cardinals won?t be going to Flagstaff for training camp.

The Rams are ready to pull the plug on this year?s Pro Day circuit.

So who will be No. 2 on the depth chart behind Colin Kaepernick?

The Seahawks have put together 25 thinks to like about CB Richard Sherman on his 25th birthday.? (?Humility? is not on the list.)

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/30/clemons-question-motivation-of-gay-player-coming-out/related/

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Decimation of critically endangered forest elephant detailed

Mar. 28, 2013 ? African forest elephants are being poached out of existence. A study just published in the online journal PLOS ONE and supported in part by San Diego Zoo Global shows that a staggering 62% of all forest elephants have been killed across their range in central Africa, for their ivory over the past decade. The severe decline indicates what researchers fear is the eminent extinction of this species.

"Saving the species requires a coordinated global effort in the countries where elephants occur, all along the ivory smuggling routes and at the final destination in the Far East. We don't have much time," say Wildlife Conservation Society conservationists Fiona Maisels, PhD, and Samantha Strindberg, PhD, the lead authors.

The study -- the largest ever conducted on the African forest elephant -- includes the work of more than 60 scientists between 2002 and 2011, and an immense effort by national conservation staff who spent a combined 91,600 days surveying elephants in 5 countries (Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon and the Republic of Congo), walking over 13,000 kilometers (more than 8,000 miles) and recording over 11,000 elephant dung piles for the analysis.

The paper also shows that almost a third of the land where African forest elephants were able to live 10 years ago has become too dangerous for them. Results show clearly that forest elephants were increasingly uncommon in places with high human density, high infrastructure density such as roads, high hunting intensity, and poor governance as indicated by levels of corruption and absence of law enforcement.

Bethan Morgan, PhD, head of San Diego Zoo Global's Central Africa Program, stressed the importance of this study. "This is the largest collaborative study of its kind across the whole of Central Africa and really highlights the plight of this ecologically important species. Forest elephants are integral to a functioning forest in Africa, opening up the forest floor and acting as a vital part of the life cycle of many plant species through their role as seed dispersers. We have increasing evidence of a decline in certain tree species as a result of the local extinction of forest elephants."

Distinct from the African savanna elephant, the African forest elephant is slightly smaller than its better-known relative and is considered by many to be a separate species.

Research carried out by the CITES-MIKE program has shown that the increase in poaching levels across Africa since 2006 is strongly correlated with trends in consumer demand in the Far East and that poaching levels are also strongly linked with governance at the national level and poverty at the local level. This has resulted in escalating elephant massacres in areas previously thought to be safe.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Zoological Society of San Diego, 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:

Fiona Maisels, Samantha Strindberg, Stephen Blake, George Wittemyer, John Hart, Elizabeth A. Williamson, Rostand Aba?a, Gaspard Abitsi, Ruffin D. Ambahe, Fid?l Amsini, Parfait C. Bakabana, Thurston Cleveland Hicks, Rosine E. Bayogo, Martha Bechem, Rene L. Beyers, Anicet N. Bezangoye, Patrick Boundja, Nicolas Bout, Marc Ella Akou, Lambert Bene Bene, Bernard Fosso, Elizabeth Greengrass, Falk Grossmann, Clement Ikamba-Nkulu, Omari Ilambu, Bila-Isia Inogwabini, Fortune Iyenguet, Franck Kiminou, Max Kokangoye, Deo Kujirakwinja, Stephanie Latour, Innocent Liengola, Quevain Mackaya, Jacob Madidi, Bola Madzoke, Calixte Makoumbou, Guy-Aim? Malanda, Richard Malonga, Olivier Mbani, Valentin A. Mbendzo, Edgar Ambassa, Albert Ekinde, Yves Mihindou, Bethan J. Morgan, Prosper Motsaba, Gabin Moukala, Anselme Mounguengui, Brice S. Mowawa, Christian Ndzai, Stuart Nixon, Pele Nkumu, Fabian Nzolani, Lilian Pintea, Andrew Plumptre, Hugo Rainey, Bruno Bokoto de Semboli, Adeline Serckx, Emma Stokes, Andrea Turkalo, Hilde Vanleeuwe, Ashley Vosper, Ymke Warren. Devastating Decline of Forest Elephants in Central Africa. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (3): e59469 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0059469

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.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/nZ7F7Ebz8jc/130329125303.htm

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Friday, March 29, 2013

Brain's 'molecular memory switch' identified

Mar. 28, 2013 ? Scientists have identified a key molecule responsible for triggering the chemical processes in our brain linked to our formation of memories. The findings, published in the journal Frontiers in Neural Circuits, reveal a new target for therapeutic interventions to reverse the devastating effects of memory loss.

The BBSRC-funded research, led by scientists at the University of Bristol, aimed to better understand the mechanisms that enable us to form memories by studying the molecular changes in the hippocampus -- the part of the brain involved in learning.

Previous studies have shown that our ability to learn and form memories is due to an increase in synaptic communication called Long Term Potentiation [LTP]. This communication is initiated through a chemical process triggered by calcium entering brain cells and activating a key enzyme called 'Ca2+ responsive kinase' [CaMKII]. Once this protein is activated by calcium it triggers a switch in its own activity enabling it to remain active even after the calcium has gone. This special ability of CaMKII to maintain its own activity has been termed 'the molecular memory switch'.

Until now, the question still remained as to what triggers this chemical process in our brain that allows us to learn and form long-term memories. The research team, comprising scientists from the University's School of Physiology and Pharmacology, conducted experiments using the common fruit fly [Drosophila] to analyse and identify the molecular mechanisms behind this switch. Using advanced molecular genetic techniques that allowed them to temporarily inhibit the flies' memory the team were able to identify a gene called CASK as the synaptic molecule regulating this 'memory switch'.

Dr James Hodge, the study's lead author, said: "Fruit flies are remarkably compatible for this type of study as they possess similar neuronal function and neural responses to humans. Although small they are very smart, for instance, they can land on the ceiling and detect that the fruit in your fruit bowl has gone off before you can."

"In experiments whereby we tested the flies' learning and memory ability, involving two odours presented to the flies with one associated with a mild shock, we found that around 90 per cent were able to learn the correct choice remembering to avoid the odour associated with the shock. Five lessons of the odour with punishment made the fly remember to avoid that odour for between 24 hours and a week, which is a long time for an insect that only lives a couple of months."

By localising the function of the key molecules CASK and CaMKII to the flies' equivalent brain area to the human hippocampus, the team found that the flies lacking these genes showed disrupted memory formation. In repeat memory tests those lacking these key genes were shown to have no ability to remember at three hours (mid-term memory) and 24 hours (long-term memory) although their initial learning or short-term memory wasn't affected.

Finally, the team introduced a copy of the human CASK gene -- it is 80 per cent identical to the fly CASK gene -- into the genome of a fly that completely lacked its own CASK gene and was therefore not usually able to remember. The researchers found that flies which had a copy of the human CASK gene could remember like a normal wildtype fly.

Dr Hodge, from the University's School of Physiology and Pharmacology, said: "Research into memory is particularly important as it gives us our sense of identity, and deficits in learning and memory occur in many diseases, injuries and during aging."

"CASK's control of CaMKII 'molecular memory switch' is clearly a critical step in how memories are written into neurons in the brain. These findings not only pave the way for to developing new therapies which reverse the effects of memory loss but also prove the compatibility of Drosophila to model these diseases in the lab and screen for new drugs to treat these diseases. Furthermore, this work provides an important insight into how brains have evolved their huge capacity to acquire and store information."

These findings clearly demonstrate that neuronal function of CASK is conserved between flies and human, validating the use of Drosophila to understand CASK function in both the healthy and diseased brain. Mutations in human CASK gene have been associated with neurological and cognitive defects including severe learning difficulties.

The BBSRC-funded study, entitled 'CASK and CaMKII function in the mushroom body a'/?' neurons during Drosophila memory formation' by Bilal Rashid Malik, John Michael Gillespie, James John Llewellyn Hodge was published on Wednesday 27 March 2013 in the Frontiers in Neural Circuits Journal.

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Journal Reference:

Bilal R. Malik, John Michael Gillespie, James J. L. Hodge. CASK and CaMKII function in the mushroom body ??/?? neurons during Drosophila memory formation. Frontiers in Neural Circuits, 2013; 7 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2013.00052

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/cT56pPuns70/130328125226.htm

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Thursday, March 28, 2013

States answer help wanted ad to be drone test site

FILE - In this Jan. 15, 2009 , file photo The Global Hawk, is unveiled at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The Federal Aviation Administration is looking for six sites to test drones before they are integrated into the civilian airspace. Fifty teams from 39 states have applied for the chance to boost their economies. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)

File-This April 13,2010 file photo shows a NASA Global Hawk robotic jet siting in a hangar at Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The Federal Aviation Administration is looking for six sites to test drones before they are integrated into the civilian airspace. Fifty teams from 39 states have applied for the chance to boost their economies. (AP Photo/John Antczak,File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? It's the land where Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier, where the space shuttle fleet rolled off the assembly line and where the first private manned rocketship climbed to space.

Capitalizing on Southern California's aerospace fortunes, two rival groups want to add another laurel: drone test range.

They face crowded competition. In search of an economic boost, more than half the country is looking toward the sky ? expected to be buzzing in the near future with pilotless aircraft.

Before that can become reality, the Federal Aviation Administration last month put out a call to test fly drones at half a dozen to-be-determined sites before they can share the same space as commercial jetliners, small aircraft and helicopters.

Fifty teams from 37 states answered, vying to win bragging rights as a hub for unmanned aerial vehicles.

The military has long flown drones overseas to support troops, spy on enemies and fire missiles. There's a recent clamor to fly them domestically to track the health of crops, fight wildfires in remote terrain, conduct search and rescue after a disaster and perform other chores considered too "dirty, dull or dangerous" for pilots. The expanding use for drones comes amid concerns of a "Big Brother" society.

The untapped civilian market ? estimated to be worth billions ? has created a face-off, with states perfecting their pitch ? ample restricted airspace, industry connections, academic partners ? not unlike what you might read in a tourism brochure.

"It's the chance to get in on the ground floor of what may be the next big business," said Peter Singer, a robotics expert at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington. "The states competing hope it might make them the robotics equivalent of Detroit for automobiles in the 20th century or Silicon Valley for computers."

Winners will play key roles in helping the government seamlessly transition drones, which are controlled remotely by joystick, into the civilian airspace without crashing into other planes or injuring bystanders.

Supporters of a Southern California test site point to an existing drone presence. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., based in the San Diego suburbs, makes the Predator that has circled over Iraq and Afghanistan. Just outside of downtown Los Angeles, AeroVironment introduced the world's first hummingbird spy plane and is developing other tiny drones inspired by biology.

"From start to finish, you can do your UAV work here," said John Rose of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, which co-sponsored a three-day drone conference this week in the Los Angeles area focused on civilian uses.

There are two competing California bids from airport agencies in Ventura County northwest of Los Angeles and Kern County in the Mojave Desert.

"If we are successful, it would be an economic stimulus for the region moving forward," said Bill Buratto of the Ventura County Economic Development Association, which is working with county airport officials on a plan to have drones fly from Point Mugu, the site of numerous Navy training exercises.

Their in-state competitor envisions test flights out of the high desert skies about 150 miles north of Los Angeles and touts its remoteness and access to military and civilian facilities currently doing drone research.

"You kind of want to be in the middle of nowhere. You don't want to risk being close to a populated area," said Eileen Shibley, who leads the effort for the Indian Wells Valley Airport District.

Other states have taken a different tact, putting on a united front or partnering with a neighboring state to pool resources.

Ohio ? the home state of Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong, Mercury astronaut John Glenn and the Wright brothers ? teamed with Indiana to increase both states' odds. Like California, there is budding drone activity in Ohio, most notably the Air Force's sensor research at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

Joseph Zeis of the Dayton Development Coalition doesn't see this as a competition.

"When the test site selection is over, we're all collaborating on a single goal" to safely merge drones into the national airspace, said Zeis, who's spearheading the Ohio-Indiana venture.

The FAA is expected to choose the six drone test sites by year's end.

The specter of thousands of unmanned eyes swarming the sky in the coming years has unnerved privacy advocates, who fear ordinary Americans would be overzealously monitored by law enforcement, considered one of the top users of the technology in the future. As part of the selection process, test site hopefuls must publish a privacy policy and follow existing privacy laws.

The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International does not have a favorite. But the voice for the domestic drone industry acknowledged that states hosting test sites would benefit economically.

In a report published earlier this month, the group said states with an already solid aerospace industry are predicted to gain drone business. But other factors, including location of test sites, will also drive job creation.

That's why California needs to act fast, said state assemblyman Jeff Gorell, who has been pushing for a test site in his district.

"This is a great opportunity for California," he said. "We might be able to recapture some of the golden era of aerospace."

___

Follow Alicia Chang at http://twitter.com/SciWriAlicia

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-03-27-Luring%20Drones/id-d8256116b0e84e2084c2b00a3e148f49

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Cyprus weighs on euro, U.S. data lifts shares

Mar 26 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $3,787,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $2,859,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,154,500 4. Steve Stricker $1,820,000 5. Phil Mickelson $1,650,260 6. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 7. John Merrick $1,343,514 8. Dustin Johnson $1,330,507 9. Russell Henley $1,313,280 10. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 11. Keegan Bradley $1,274,593 12. Charles Howell III $1,256,373 13. Michael Thompson $1,254,669 14. Brian Gay $1,171,721 15. Justin Rose $1,155,550 16. Jason Day $1,115,565 17. Chris Kirk $1,097,053 18. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/asian-shares-gain-u-recovery-momentum-instills-optimism-051139092--finance.html

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Ailing A-Rod will make more than Houston Astros

FILE - In this Sept. 24, 2012 file photo, New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez is interviewed before batting practice prior to a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins in Minneapolis. Rodriguez will make more this year than all the Houston Astros combined _ a lot more. A-Rod's $29 million salary tops the major leagues for the 13th straight season, according to a study of major league contracts by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Jim Mone, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 16, 2013 file photo, Houston Astros third base coach Dave Trembley (47) talks to players before the start of a spring training baseball workout in Kissimmee, Fla. Alex Rodriguez will make more this year than all the Houston Astros combined _ a lot more. A-Rod's $29 million salary tops the major leagues for the 13th straight season, according to a study of major league contracts by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Alex Rodriguez will make more this year than all the Houston Astros combined ? a lot more.

And he won't even play the first half of the season, if at all.

A-Rod's $29 million salary tops the major leagues for the 13th straight season, according to a study of major league contracts by The Associated Press.

Rodriguez's Yankees are on track to have the highest payroll on opening day for the 15th straight year, climbing above the Los Angeles Dodgers to a projected $228 million with this week's acquisition of Vernon Wells.

With teams due to set opening-day rosters Sunday, the Yankees' payroll will be nearly 10 times the spending of the Astros, who have shrunk their payroll to about $25 million.

"When we get on the baseball field with whomever the opponent is, they are not sitting there saying: 'Well, their players make more money than us so therefore you're deemed a winner and we're deemed a loser,'" Astros manager Bo Porter said Thursday. "Games are won and lost on the baseball field, and it doesn't matter what somebody is paid every two weeks. At the end of the day, that person has to be better than you today."

Rodriguez, recovering from hip surgery, is followed on the money list by Philadelphia pitcher Cliff Lee at $25 million.

Three of the top six will start the season on the DL, with A-Rod joined by New York Mets pitcher Johan Santana (third at $24.6 million) and Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira (sixth at $23.1 million). Wells is fourth at $24.6 million and CC Sabathia fifth at $24.3 million, giving the Yankees four of the top six.

The Astros and Miami Marlins have no such worries about pricey players getting hurt. After lifting payroll to about $100 million at the start of last year and then flopping in the first year of their new ballpark, the Marlins slashed spending to around $40 million.

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig endorses the decisions, saying "every team runs in cycles."

"You have to understand where you are and not be afraid then to do what you have to do," he said. "Outside of building a good farm system, I don't see how you will remain competitive."

The price of competing keeps going up. The average salary projects to about $3.67 million, up about $200,000 from the start of last season.

As always, the Yankees did as they pleased. For all the talk of austerity under owner Hal Steinbrenner, New York will break the record of $209 million it set in 2008 and top the $200 million mark for the sixth straight season. While the Yankees will pay luxury tax for the 11th consecutive year in 2013, they want to get under the $189 million tax threshold in 2014.

"We've actually increased our payroll this year," Yankees President Randy Levine said. "As sometimes happens, certain people like to ignore the facts instead of the reality. These are the same people who one day criticize us for spending too much money, the next day criticize us for spending too little. The goal of the team every year is to do what's necessary to field a championship team. That goes for this year and, as Hal Steinbrenner has said, next year and every year going forward."

For much of the offseason, it appeared as if the Dodgers would emerge as baseball's biggest spenders in their first full season since a group headed by Mark Walter, Stan Kasten and Magic Johnson bought the club for $2 billion from Frank McCourt.

Just 12th at $95 million on opening day last year, the Dodgers climbed to about $216 million after acquiring Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford from Boston last summer, when they also added Hanley Ramirez and Brandon League. Los Angeles then signed Zack Greinke during the offseason for $147 million. The Yankees had been the only previous team to reach $200 million.

"Everybody knows it's not about the money. It's about how they're going to play together," said All-Star outfielder Carlos Gonzalez, whose Colorado Rockies will have a payroll of about $75 million.

"They still have to go out there and know each other and be winners," he said, referring to the Dodgers. "Last year, they got three great players and they still didn't make it because they still have to go out there and get used to playing together and compete."

The Dodgers haven't won the World Series since 1988 and if they fall short again this year, they might spend even more. They had the biggest impact on the elite free-agent market.

"There's a perception that we're in on a couple dozen starting pitchers, three dozen outfielders and infielders, 17, 18 catchers," GM Ned Colletti said during the winter meetings.

Toronto also bulked up, jumping from $75 million at the start of last season to about $118 million after adding Jose Reyes, R.A. Dickey, Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson in trades and signing Melky Cabrera.

"You look on paper and Toronto should be in the World Series," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "The talent they've added is substantial."

Oakland showed last year that money isn't everything, winning the AL West despite the lowest payroll in the majors. The A's have gone up slightly to about $68 million.

"Our payroll, as in every year we have owned the A's, has been within our annual budget ? around half of our revenue," Oakland owner Lew Wolff said in an email. "We are all set to go even as we face much larger payroll teams. Actually, that makes the season even more exciting to me."

The Mets hardly resemble a high-revenue team anymore and are down to about $90 million ? and that includes about $17.5 million to account for the settlement with departed outfielder Jason Bay. After the Mets' owners settled a lawsuit caused by the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme, they promised to resume spending. But they haven't broken out the checkbook just yet, except for a new long-term deal with new team captain David Wright.

"I think we would anticipate being big investors where appropriate," owner Fred Wilpon said.

The AP's figures include salaries and prorated shares of signing bonuses and other guaranteed income for players on active rosters, disabled lists and the restricted lists, and rosters will change before teams must cut down to 25 active players. For some players, parts of deferred signing bonuses and salaries are discounted to reflect current values.

For the first time, the AP study presents payrolls for both active rosters and rosters following adjustments for cash transactions in trades, signing bonuses that are the responsibility of the club agreeing to the contract, option buyouts and termination pay for released players.

For instance, the Astros are paying Pittsburgh $4.5 million as part of last year's trade sending Wandy Rodriguez to the Pirates. Houston's active payroll for its 25-man roster will be about $19 million, the lowest in the major leagues since the 2006 Florida Marlins at $15 million.

___

AP Baseball Writer Janie McCauley and AP freelance writers Mark Didtler, Maureen Mullen and Dick Scanlon contributed to this report.

Associated Press

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Study: Health law to raise claims cost 32 percent

FILE - In this March 23, 2010 file photo, Marcelas Owens of Seattle, left, Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., right, and others, look on as President Barack Obama signs the health care bill in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Medical claims costs _ the biggest driver of health insurance premiums _ will jump an average 32 percent for individual policies under President Barack Obama?s overhaul, according to a study by the nation?s leading group of financial risk analysts. Recently released to its members, the report from the Society of Actuaries could turn into a big headache for the Obama administration at a time when many parts of the country remain skeptical about the Affordable Care Act. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Map shows projected change in medical claim costs by

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A new study finds that insurance companies will have to pay out an average of 32 percent more for medical claims under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

What does that mean for you?

It could increase premiums for at least some Americans.

If you are uninsured, or you buy your policy directly from an insurance company, you should pay attention.

But if you have an employer plan, like most workers and their families, odds are you don't have much to worry about.

The estimates from the Society of Actuaries could turn into a political headache for the Obama administration at a time when much of the country remains skeptical of the Affordable Care Act.

The administration is questioning the study, saying it doesn't give a full picture ? and costs will go down.

Actuaries are financial risk professionals who conduct long-range cost estimates for pension plans, insurance companies and government programs.

The study says claims costs will go up largely because sicker people will join the insurance pool. That's because the law forbids insurers from turning down those with pre-existing medical problems, effective Jan. 1. Everyone gets sick sooner or later, but sicker people also use more health care services.

"Claims cost is the most important driver of health care premiums," said Kristi Bohn, an actuary who worked on the study. Spending on sicker people and other high-cost groups will overwhelm an influx of younger, healthier people into the program, said the report.

The Obama administration challenged the design of the study, saying it focused only on one piece of the puzzle and ignored cost relief strategies in the law, such as tax credits to help people afford premiums and special payments to insurers who attract an outsize share of the sick.

The study also doesn't take into account the potential price-cutting effect of competition in new state insurance markets that will go live Oct. 1, administration officials said.

At a White House briefing Tuesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said some of what passes for health insurance today is so skimpy it can't be compared to the comprehensive coverage available under the law. "Some of these folks have very high catastrophic plans that don't pay for anything unless you get hit by a bus," she said. "They're really mortgage protection, not health insurance."

Sebelius said the picture on premiums won't start coming into focus until insurers submit their bids. Those results may not be publicly known until late summer.

Another striking finding of the report was a wide disparity in cost impact among the states.

While some states will see medical claims costs per person decline, the report concluded that the overwhelming majority will see double-digit increases in their individual health insurance markets, where people purchase coverage directly from insurers.

The differences are big. By 2017, the estimated increase would be 62 percent for California, about 80 percent for Ohio, more than 20 percent for Florida and 67 percent for Maryland. Much of the reason for the higher claims costs is that sicker people are expected to join the pool, the report said.

Part of the reason for the wide disparities is that states have different populations and insurance rules. In the relatively small number of states where insurers were already restricted from charging higher rates to older, sicker people, the cost impact is less.

The report did not make similar estimates for employer plans that most workers and families rely on. That's because the primary impact of Obama's law is on people who don't have coverage through their jobs.

A prominent national expert, recently retired Medicare chief actuary Rick Foster, said the report does "a credible job" of estimating potential enrollment and costs under the law, "without trying to tilt the answers in any particular direction."

"Having said that," Foster added, "actuaries tend to be financially conservative, so the various assumptions might be more inclined to consider what might go wrong than to anticipate that everything will work beautifully." Actuaries use statistics and economic theory to make long-range cost projections for insurance and pension programs sponsored by businesses and government. The society is headquartered near Chicago.

Bohn, the actuary who worked on the study, acknowledged it did not attempt to estimate the effect of subsidies, insurer competition and other factors that could offset cost increases. She said the goal was to look at the underlying cost of medical care.

"We don't see ourselves as a political organization," Bohn added. "We are trying to figure out what the situation at hand is."

On the plus side, the report found the law will cover more than 32 million currently uninsured Americans when fully phased in. And some states ? including New York and Massachusetts ? will see double-digit declines in costs for claims in the individual market.

Uncertainty over costs has been a major issue since the law passed three years ago, and remains so just months before a big push to cover the uninsured gets rolling Oct. 1. Middle-class households will be able to purchase subsidized private insurance in new marketplaces, while low-income people will be steered to Medicaid and other safety net programs. States are free to accept or reject a Medicaid expansion also offered under the law.

___

AP White House Correspondent Julie Pace contributed to this report.

___

Online:

Society of Actuaries: http://www.soa.org/NewlyInsured/

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-03-27-Health%20Overhaul%20Costs/id-9d109e82a3a04ca79b611699934b6f2d

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Genetics might determine which smokers get hooked

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Researchers have identified genetic risk factors that may accelerate a teen's progression to becoming a lifelong heavy smoker.

The team of scientists from the U.S., the U.K. and New Zealand examined earlier studies by other research teams to develop a genetic risk profile for heavy smoking. Then they looked at their own long-term study of 1,000 New Zealanders from birth to age 38 to identify whether individuals at high genetic risk got hooked on cigarettes more quickly as teens and whether, as adults, they had a harder time quitting.

Study participants who had the high-risk genetic profile were found to be more likely to convert to daily smoking as teenagers and then progress more rapidly to heavy smoking (a pack a day or more). When assessed at age 38, the higher-risk individuals had smoked heavily for more years, had more often developed nicotine dependence and were more likely to have failed in attempts to quit smoking.

"Genetic risk accelerated the development of smoking behavior," said Daniel Belsky, a post-doctoral research fellow at Duke University's Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development and the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy. "Teens at a high genetic risk transitioned quickly from trying cigarettes to becoming regular, heavy smokers."

A person's genetic risk profile did not predict whether he or she would try cigarettes. But for those who did try cigarettes, having a high-risk genetic profile predicted increased likelihood of heavy smoking and nicotine dependence.

The findings appear March 27 in JAMA Psychiatry. They were supported by multiple grants from the U.S. National Institutes of Health, as well as the U.K. Medical Research Council and the New Zealand Health Research Council.

The Duke researchers developed a new "genetic risk score" for the study by examining prior genome-wide associations (GWAS) of adult smokers. These studies scanned the entire genomes of tens of thousands of smokers to identify variants that were more common in the heaviest smokers. The variants they identified were located in and around genes that affect how the brain responds to nicotine and how nicotine is metabolized, but it is not yet known how the specific variants affect gene function.

It makes sense that the genes on which the group based their risk score are involved in nicotine metabolism and sensitivity, said Jed Rose, a Duke nicotine addiction researcher who was not involved in this study. "Addictions are a learned behavior and it requires reinforcement through neural pathways."

In their first step, the researchers found the genetic risk score they developed was able to predict heavy smoking among individuals in two large databases created by other researchers.

Then they turned to their New Zealand sample of 880 individuals of European descent to see whether the genetic risk score predicted who initiated smoking, who progressed to heavy smoking, and who developed nicotine dependence and experienced relapse after quitting.

Genetic risk was not related to whether a person tried smoking, which 70 percent of the sample had. One reason for this was that so-called "chippers" -- smokers who consume cigarettes only on weekends or smoke only one or two per day -- had even lower genetic risk than nonsmokers.

Genetic risk was related to the development of smoking problems. Among teens who tried cigarettes, those with a high-risk genetic profile were 24 percent more likely to become daily smokers by age 15 and 43 percent more likely to become pack-a-day smokers by age 18.

As adults, those with high-risk genetic profiles were 27 percent more likely to become nicotine dependent and 22 percent more likely to fail in their attempts at quitting. By age 38, a study participant with high-risk genetic profile had smoked about 7,300 more cigarettes (one "pack-year") than the average smoker.

Study participants who did not become regular, heavy smokers during their teens appeared to be "immune" to genetic risk for adult smoking problems. "The effects of genetic risk seem to be limited to people who start smoking as teens," said Belsky. "This suggests there may be something special about nicotine exposure in the adolescent brain, with respect to these genetic variants."

"Adolescence is indeed a period of high risk for nicotine addiction," said Denise Kandel, a professor of sociomedical sciences in psychiatry at Columbia University, who was not involved in this study. "The results illustrate why adolescence is of crucial importance for the development and targeting of prevention and intervention efforts. How this genetic risk affects brain functions, which in turn affect reactions to nicotine, remains to be determined."

The risk factor the team developed "may not be sensitive or specific enough to be a clinical test, but it may have public health uses," said Rose, who is the director of the Duke Center for Smoking Cessation and co-developer of the nicotine patch.

"Public health policies that make it harder for teens to become regular smokers should continue to be a focus in antismoking efforts," Belsky said.

###

Duke University: http://www.duke.edu

Thanks to Duke University for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127482/Genetics_might_determine_which_smokers_get_hooked

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Gay Marriage: The Fight For Equality Dominates Social Media ...

Marriage Equality Symbol On Facebook — Even President Obama is tweeting about it!

Equality goes viral as the Supreme Court starts to hear two historic marriage equality cases.

You simply can't ignore the red today. From images of equal signs filling up your Facebook feed to people dressed in all red, the bright color is everywhere on and offline. That's because today is a huge day for?gay-marriage supporters.?

Today marks the first of two days of Supreme Court hearings over crucial same-sex marriage laws. Today, the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8 is being discussed and tomorrow the court will address the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which prevents same-sex couples from marrying nationally.

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Thanks to the Human Rights Campaign, who began promoting the equality image (pictured above) yesterday to gain online support over today's hearings in Washington, everyone from your long-lost high school acquaintance to celebrities have been voicing their support today with powerful images and words.?

So what does it mean that all of your Facebook friends' profiles have gone completely red and that even our president is?tweeting?his support for same-sex marriage? A lot.

We already know the mental health benefits?that come from allowing same-sex couples to marry, that gay parents are thriving, the?cost of banning gay marriage?and the positive effects of acceptance for all of society.?So what else do we need to prove how essential this is?

Perhaps the Human Rights Campaign says it best on their website: "Together we will show the nation that we believe all Americans deserve to be treated fairly and equally under the law ? no matter who they love."

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Share your support for gay marriage by changing your profile picture?or spread the word by joining #marriageequality conversation on Twitter.

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Source: http://www.yourtango.com/2013178817/marriage-equality-fighting-gay-rights-social-media

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