A History of Gay Rights Going Mainstream As Told by Newsweekly Covers

You can measure how quickly public opinion on gay rights has changed by looking at poll numbers, or you can see it on the covers of national general interest magazines.?As the Supreme Court heard oral arguments over California's gay marriage-banning Prop 8, we wondered whether the justices, whose?average age is 67, would vote in a way that reflects current public opinion. They should be especially aware of how quickly our views of gay people have changed in their lifetimes.?In the 1960s ? when Anton Scalia was a young lawyer in Cleveland and John Roberts was a grade-schooler in Indiana ? gay people were primarily portrayed as weird and alien. In the 1970s and 1980s they were sad people to be pitied until ? it seems odd to say it ? Ellen DeGeneres's coming out in 1997. Suddenly the magazines started to fill up with images of gay people as happy people who want the same things from life as everyone else. Here's a visual tour:

RELATED: What Comes After Gay Marriage?

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Life, June 26, 1964. This photo essay didn't make the cover, but the tone of the article is much like the rest of the decade's coverage of "a secret world" that "grows open and bolder."

RELATED: Scalia Reveals His Current Thinking on Gay Marriage (and Murder)

Look, January 10, 1967. In "an entire issue about... the American Man," we learn of "the sad 'gay' life of the homosexual." Irony!

RELATED: First Word from the Supreme Court on Prop 8: The Justices Are Hedging

The article says this is the fault of women (specifically overbearing mothers), of course.

Time, October 31, 1969.?This is your brain on homosexuality.

Time, September 8, 1974.?Predating Ellen by 23 years, the face of "The Gay Drive For Acceptance" is a sad, unaccepted airman.

Newsweek, June 6, 1977. "Anita Bryant vs. The Homosexuals." Bryant was a lesser Phyllis Schlafly-type figure. She led a campaign to fire public school teachers who were gay and against equal housing rights, and pushed the idea that gay people were out to "recruit" children. Notably, by 1980, she'd evolved to "live and let live."

Time, April 23, 1979. "How Gay is Gay?"

Newsweek,?August 8, 1983. The onset of the AIDS epidemic gave magazines a new reason to show sad gay people...

Newsweek,?January 6, 1986. ... Not that they really needed one since just growing up was a "dilemma" and "crisis."

The New Republic, August 28, 1989. With?Andrew Sullivan's landmark essay, we see the beginning of the much-abused wedding topper motif.?Newsweek used the same headline and image again in 2010.

Newsweek, March 12, 1990. The magazine seems to call for moderation, whatever that might be -- the cover lines warn of scary "Militants versus the Mainstream." Gays are "Testing the Limits of Tolerance," a recurring theme.

New York Daily News Magazine, June 24, 1990. We enter the somber anonymous gay cover phase. Gay has gone mainstream, but also cannot show its face.

New York Times Magazine, October 11, 1992. This politician is so mainstream, he needed to cropped out of the cover.

Newsweek, June 21, 1993. Notice that the main cover line just says, "LESBIANS." It's hard to imagine a "LESBIANS" headline now -- the LESBIANS should at least be doing something interesting in some kind of trend piece, instead of just existing. There's that phrase "limits of tolerance" again lingering as a warning.

Time, April 14, 1997. Ellen DeGeneres comes out. Her "all-pants wardrobe" had stoked speculation. After Ellen, gay people start to look a lot happier to be on the covers of general interest magazines.?

Newsweek, August 17, 1998. No one seems to be interested in this idea, neither Newsweek editors or their cover subject. The claim that homosexuality can be "cured" has been debunked.

Newsweek, March 20, 2000. The modern era: gays are friendly people with normal jobs, just like you.

Newsweek, July 7, 2003.?

Newsweek, December 2008. The magazines begin toying with the idea that gay marriage is not pushing the "limits of tolerance," but is actually a conservative idea after all. This is a not-so-subtle tweak of Sullivan's New Republic cover essay 19 years previous.

Newsweek,?January 18, 2010.?Two years later, the magazine completes the homage with an image and headline nearly identical to Sullivan's. Ted Olson, who got the cover byline, is the lawyer who argued against Prop 8 at the Supreme Court today.

Newsweek, May 21, 2012. Obama with a rainbow halo.?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/history-gay-rights-going-mainstream-told-newsweekly-covers-220117971.html

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Ahmadinejad roadshow: Pitching his political heir

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? During a celebration last week to mark the Persian new year, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did something quietly remarkable: He stood modestly to the side and let his favored aide have the spotlight.

The gesture was far more than just a rare demure moment from the normally grandstanding leader. It was more carefully scripted stagecraft in Ahmadinejad's longshot efforts to promote the political fortunes of his chief of staff ? and in-law ? and seek a place for him on the June presidential ballot that will pick Iran's next president.

In the waning months of Ahmadinejad's presidency ? weakened by years of internal battles with the ruling clerics ? there appears no bigger priority than attempting one last surprise. It's built around rehabilitating the image of Esfandiari Rahim Mashaei and somehow getting him a place among the candidates for the June 14 vote.

To pull it off, Ahmadinejad must do what has eluded him so far: Come out on top in a showdown with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the other guardians of the Islamic Republic. Ahmadinejad has been slapped down hard after bold ? but ultimately doomed ? attempts in recent years to push the influence of his office on policies and decisions reserved for the ruling clerics.

That has left him limping into the end of his eight-year presidency with many allies either jailed or pushed to the political margins. Mashaei is part of the collateral damage.

He's been discredited as part of a "deviant current" that critics say seeks to undermine Islamic rule in Iran and elevate the values of pre-Islamic Persia. The smear campaign has even included rumors that Mashaei conjured black magic spells to cloud Ahmadinejad's judgment.

The prevailing wisdom is that the backlash has effectively killed Mashaei's chances for the presidential ballot. The ruling clerics vet all candidates and, the theory follows, they seek a predictable slate of loyalists after dealing with Ahmadinejad's ambitions and disruptive power plays. In short: Friends of Ahmadinejad need not apply.

Khamenei and others, including the powerful Revolutionary Guard, also are hoping to quell domestic political spats that they fear project a sense of instability during critical negotiations with the West over Tehran's nuclear program.

Yet none of this seems to have discouraged Ahmadinejad, whose son is married to Mashaei's daughter. Ahmadinejad has been trying to groom Mashaei for years as his potential heir and now appears reluctant to toss his backing behind a less controversial figure.

To that end, the president has hit the road as a cheerleader for Mashaei under the slogan "Long Live Spring."

At one stop, Ahmadinejad described Mashaei as "a pious man." At another event he called him "excellent, wise," and at a third said his adviser has "a heart like a mirror."

At last week's event, both men burst into tears as they discussed the need to help children with cancer. Ahmadinejad then "thanked God for having the opportunity to get to know Mashaei."

Ahmadinejad appears to be banking on his populist appeal to force the Guardian Council ? the gatekeepers for the candidates ? to consider Mashaei too prominent to reject.

"Ahmadinejad doesn't want to go out with a whimper. That's not his style," said Mustafa Alani, an analyst at the Gulf Research Center based in Geneva. "He wants his legacy, his man, as his successor."

Tehran-based political analyst Sadeq Zibakalam also sees Mashaei as Ahmadinejad's last-ditch insurance policy. Without an ally as successor, Ahmadinejad fears he will be cast to the political sidelines.

"Ahmadinejad has no option but to get one of his loyalists into power," he said.

It will be more than a month before the candidate list is finalized. The presidential hopefuls will register from May 7-11, the semiofficial Fars news agency reported Monday.

Already, however, the general contours are taking shape.

There is Ahmadinejad's quest for Mashaei as the only active campaign roadshow.

Many conservatives, meanwhile, seem to be coalescing around a three-way alliance ? all apparently in the good graces of the ruling system ? of former Foreign Minister and current Khamenei adviser Ali Akbar Velayati; Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and prominent lawmaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, whose daughter is married to Khamenei's son.

"Should we win, our coalition will form the backbone of the future government," Velayati told a press conference earlier this month, suggesting that the potential winner would seek key posts for the other two.

A separate roster of establishment-friendly candidates is getting bigger by the day. It includes former Intelligence Minister Ali Fallahian; parliament's vice speaker, Mohammad Reza Bahonar, and a former Revolutionary Guard commander, Mohsen Rezaei, who ran against Ahmadinejad in his disputed re-election in 2009.

Reformists remain undecided whether to fall behind a potential candidate or boycott the vote in protest of the 2009 outcome ? which they claim stole the election from Green Movement leader Mir Hossein Mousavi ? and the crushing pressures on dissent that followed. Mousavi and fellow reformist candidate Mahdi Karroubi have been under house arrest for more than two years.

But the most unpredictable element is still Ahmadinejad's push for Mashaei, whom he bills as his ideological heir and supporter of populist initiatives such as government stipends to poor families.

"Ahmadinejad will travel city to city and tell the public that they should vote for me if they want Ahmadinejad's plans to be pursued," Mashaei was quoted as saying by Iranian media.

The president ? the same man who calls for the destruction of Iran's enemies ? is often musing and sentimental as Mashaei's pitchman.

"I testify that this man loves all human beings," Ahmadinejad said of his in-law.

Mashaei, however, has been a political lightning rod for years. In 2009, Ahmadinejad appointed him as his first vice president, but was forced to backtrack on orders from Khamenei.

Mashaei is believed to have been Ahmadinejad's adviser in a stunning feud with Khamenei over the choice of intelligence chief in 2011. The president boycotted Cabinet meetings for 11 days ? an unprecedented show of disrespect to Iran's supreme leader ? but finally backed down.

In December, Ahmadinejad named Mashaei to a top post in the Nonaligned Movement, a Cold War holdover that Iran seeks to revive as a counterweight to Western influence. The appointment was seen as an attempt to raise Mashaei's political profile and give him some international experience.

While it's not possible to rule out any candidate until the vetting process is complete, one conservative cleric gives Mashaei no chance.

"The exalted supreme leader ordered that Mashaei is not qualified to serve as first vice president." said Qasem Ravanbakhsh. "So will the Guardian Council approve for president a man was not qualified to be the first vice president? Never."

___

Murphy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ahmadinejad-roadshow-pitching-political-heir-063835043.html

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T-Mobile USA to sell iPhone starting April 12

NEW YORK (Reuters) - T-Mobile USA said on Tuesday it will start selling Apple Inc's iPhone on April 12, making it the last of the big national U.S. operators to sell the popular smartphone.

The No. 4 U.S. mobile provider, which plans to merge with smaller rival MetroPCS Communications, is launching the iPhone after it eliminated this week device subsidies and two-year service contracts favored by its bigger rivals.

T-Mobile, a unit of Deutsche Telekom AG, hopes its new approach will differentiate it from bigger rivals that already sell the iPhone: Sprint Nextel, AT&T Inc and Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group Plc.

The company, which has long struggled with customer defections, hopes to attract cost-conscious consumers through an aggressive marketing campaign that focuses on its lack of service contracts and clearly outlines their monthly cost to own such devices as the iPhone.

U.S. operators have traditionally subsidized phones in exchange for tying customers into contracts but do not disclose how much of their monthly fee cover the device, a practice that T-Mobile USA criticized as lacking transparency.

"The industry's broken," T-Mobile USA Chief Executive John Legere said at a press event to announce the iPhone launch and service plans, which he had promised late last year.

In particular, T-Mobile USA is taking aim at No. 2 U.S. operator AT&T because the two companies use the same network technology, making it easier for consumers to bring their AT&T phone to T-Mobile's network.

Legere estimated that T-Mobile customers would pay about $1,000 less over two years than they would for comparable services at AT&T, and T-Mobile's website directly compares its pricing to AT&T's service fees.

T-Mobile will offer the iPhone 5, Apple's latest model, for an upfront payment of $99.99 followed by 24 monthly payments of $20. Its bigger rivals charge $200 upfront to customers who sign a two-year contract.

Reticle Research analyst Ross Rubin said it was still unclear whether consumers have as much disdain for contracts as T-Mobile hopes. But he said consumers will likely find the lower upfront cost for phones attractive and that the addition of the iPhone should help T-Mobile retain customers.

"Not having the iPhone 5 was certainly a big hole in its portfolio," Rubin said.

T-Mobile said it will sell the older iPhone 4 for a $69 up-front payment and a commitment to pay $20 a month for two years. It also promised smaller upfront fees for the latest smartphones from BlackBerry and HTC Corp.

Bigger rivals AT&T and Verizon have said they would closely watch T-Mobile's new service model and that they could follow suit if it proves popular with consumers.

The operator also announced on Tuesday an upgrade to its network with faster data services in seven markets using the Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology that its bigger rivals had a head start in delivering.

T-Mobile USA promised to offer LTE in markets with a population of 100 million by mid-year and expects to broaden coverage to 200 million by year end.

One key element of Legere's strategy involves the proposed merger with MetroPCS, which needs shareholder approval at a special meeting on April 12, the date of its iPhone launch.

Two large activist shareholders, Paulson & Co Inc and P. Schoenfeld Asset Management, are campaigning to block the deal due to the level of debt that the combined company will have on its books. But Legere insisted the merger would go through.

"It will be approved despite of the several greedy hedge funds that are trying to take a double-dip out of that process," Legere said.

(Reporting by Sinead Carew; Editing by David Gregorio, Leslie Adler and Richard Chang)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/t-mobile-usa-sell-iphone-starting-april-12-174032771--finance.html

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Early number sense plays role in later math skills

WASHINGTON (AP) ? We know a lot about how babies learn to talk, and youngsters learn to read. Now scientists are unraveling the earliest building blocks of math ? and what children know about numbers as they begin first grade seems to play a big role in how well they do everyday calculations later on.

The findings have specialists considering steps that parents might take to spur math abilities, just like they do to try to raise a good reader.

This isn't only about trying to improve the nation's math scores and attract kids to become engineers. It's far more basic.

Consider: How rapidly can you calculate a tip? Do the fractions to double a recipe? Know how many quarters and dimes the cashier should hand back as your change?

About 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. lacks the math competence expected of a middle-schooler, meaning they have trouble with those ordinary tasks and aren't qualified for many of today's jobs.

"It's not just, can you do well in school? It's how well can you do in your life," says Dr. Kathy Mann Koepke of the National Institutes of Health, which is funding much of this research into math cognition. "We are in the midst of math all the time."

A new study shows trouble can start early.

University of Missouri researchers tested 180 seventh-graders. Those who lagged behind their peers in a test of core math skills needed to function as adults were the same kids who'd had the least number sense or fluency way back when they started first grade.

"The gap they started with, they don't close it," says Dr. David Geary, a cognitive psychologist who leads the study that is tracking children from kindergarten to high school in the Columbia, Mo., school system. "They're not catching up" to the kids who started ahead.

If first grade sounds pretty young to be predicting math ability, well, no one expects tots to be scribbling sums. But this number sense, or what Geary more precisely terms "number system knowledge," turns out to be a fundamental skill that students continually build on, much more than the simple ability to count.

What's involved? Understanding that numbers represent different quantities ? that three dots is the same as the numeral "3'' or the word "three." Grasping magnitude ? that 23 is bigger than 17. Getting the concept that numbers can be broken into parts ? that 5 is the same as 2 and 3, or 4 and 1. Showing on a number line that the difference between 10 and 12 is the same as the difference between 20 and 22.

Factors such as IQ and attention span didn't explain why some first-graders did better than others. Now Geary is studying if something that youngsters learn in preschool offers an advantage.

There's other evidence that math matters early in life. Numerous studies with young babies and a variety of animals show that a related ability ? to estimate numbers without counting ? is intuitive, sort of hard-wired in the brain, says Mann Koepke, of NIH's National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. That's the ability that lets you choose the shortest grocery check-out line at a glance, or that guides a bird to the bush with the most berries.

Number system knowledge is more sophisticated, and the Missouri study shows children who start elementary school without those concepts "seem to struggle enormously," says Mann Koepke, who wasn't part of that research.

While schools tend to focus on math problems around third grade, and math learning disabilities often are diagnosed by fifth grade, the new findings suggest "the need to intervene is much earlier than we ever used to think," she adds.

Exactly how to intervene still is being studied, sure to be a topic when NIH brings experts together this spring to assess what's known about math cognition.

But Geary sees a strong parallel with reading. Scientists have long known that preschoolers who know the names of letters and can better distinguish what sounds those letters make go on to read more easily. So parents today are advised to read to their children from birth, and many youngsters' books use rhyming to focus on sounds.

Likewise for math, "kids need to know number words" early on, he says.

NIH's Mann Koepke agrees, and offers some tips:

?Don't teach your toddler to count solely by reciting numbers. Attach numbers to a noun ? "Here are five crayons: One crayon, two crayons..." or say "I need to buy two yogurts" as you pick them from the store shelf ? so they'll absorb the quantity concept.

?Talk about distance: How many steps to your ball? The swing is farther away; it takes more steps.

?Describe shapes: The ellipse is round like a circle but flatter.

?As they grow, show children how math is part of daily life, as you make change, or measure ingredients, or decide how soon to leave for a destination 10 miles away,

"We should be talking to our children about magnitude, numbers, distance, shapes as soon as they're born," she contends. "More than likely, this is a positive influence on their brain function."

___

EDITOR'S NOTE ? Lauran Neergaard covers health and medical issues for The Associated Press in Washington.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/early-number-sense-plays-role-later-math-skills-173349630--politics.html

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A diplomatic star is born in Chinese first lady

BEIJING (AP) ? Glamorous new first lady Peng Liyuan has emerged as Chinese diplomacy's latest star, charming audiences and cutting a very different profile from her all-but invisible predecessors on her debut official visit abroad to Russia.

A celebrated performer on state television, Peng featured prominently in Sunday's Chinese media coverage of husband and President Xi Jinping's activities in Moscow. The visit is Xi's first since he assumed the presidency earlier this month.

Peng watched song and dance routines at a performing arts school on Saturday, but did not join in as some media reports had suggested she might. Xi's trip continues this week with stops in Tanzania, South Africa and Congo, during which Peng is expected to hold other public events.

An internationally popular first lady could help soften China's sometimes abrasive international image and mark a victory in its so-far unsuccessful struggle to win over global public opinion.

At the same time, she could boost the popularity of the country's new leadership at a time when citizens are feeling increasingly alienated and are fed up with the ruling class's corruption and regal airs.

In recent years, the wives of China's top officials have traditionally gone almost unseen at home and attracted little attention while accompanying their husbands on state visits abroad.

That was in part a negative reaction to Mao Zedong's wife, Jiang Qing, who was widely despised and later imprisoned for her role as leader of the radical Gang of Four, which mercilessly persecuted political opponents during the chaotic 1966-76 Cultural Revolution.

Recently retired Premier Wen Jiabao's wife, Zhang Peili, became known for her role in the country's gem trade and was never seen in public with her husband. Meanwhile, Bo Xilai, one of China's most ambitious politicians, was brought down in spectacular style last year following his wife's involvement in the murder of a British businessman, setting off the country's nastiest political scandal in years.

Women in general wield relatively little power at the top of the Chinese power structure, with just two sitting on the ruling Communist Party's 25-member decision-making Politburo.

Peng's emerging high profile appears to be an extension of Xi's own confidence as he consolidates his control on power and presses a more assertive role for China in global affairs, said Steve Tsang, director of the China Policy Institute at Britain's University of Nottingham. Her training as a singer and stage performer offers the perfect preparation for such a role, he said.

"Peng is projecting a certain poise and confidence that Xi himself is carrying and he doesn't need to worry about what other (politicians) might think of her," Tsang said.

Peng's image was splashed across Chinese newspapers over the weekend, shown descending arm-in-arm with Xi as they descended from their aircraft after arriving in Moscow on Friday. Her visit to the arts school was carried by state broadcaster CCTV on its main Sunday news broadcast and reported in national newspapers.

The popular Beijing News tabloid ran a full page of items on Peng's appearances on Sunday, alongside a photo of her arriving at a speech Xi gave Saturday, dressed in an elegant Chinese-style silk tunic and skirt.

"In her role as first lady on this visit abroad, Peng Liyuan is exhibiting China's soft power," the paper quoted Wang Fan, head the Institute of International Relations at China Foreign Affairs University, as saying. "As a singer and artist and a long-term advocate for poverty relief and other causes, Peng has an excellent public image."

Much of the coverage focused on her personal style, with a report on the mass-market sina.com website noting with satisfaction that the black leather clutch she paired with the outfit was made to order by a Chinese firm in the southwestern city of Chengdu, a flattering contrast with prominent Chinese female politicians scorned publicly for appearing decked head to toe in foreign designer brands.

"In practical terms, this is an important show of support for China's domestic industries, but in the larger sense, it should raise national self-respect and confidence," read a posting on China's popular Weibo microblogging service left by Lin Zhibo, Gansu provincial bureau chief of the Communist Party's flagship newspaper, People's Daily.

Chen Li, a real estate agent from the central city of Changsha, said Peng was well-known for her modest ways and calm, dignified manner.

"She's known to be elegant and fashionable, but she's also very low-key and doesn't seem arrogant in the way that you usually associate with the wives of top leaders," Chen said.

Peng, 50, largely retired from public life after Xi was made China's leader-in-waiting in 2007, but in recent years has won new acclaim as an ambassador for the World Health Organization. Among the issues she has worked on are tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS ? diseases that still carry considerable social stigma in China.

She also made headlines last year by appearing alongside Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates as part of a campaign to discourage smoking, a high-profile cause in a country where about two-thirds of men smoke.

Peng is Xi's second wife, and the two are separated in age by almost two decades. While Xi's father was a leading revolutionary and former vice-premier, making his son a member of the "red aristocracy," Peng comes from relatively humble origins and joined the People's Liberation Army when she was 18. The couple has one daughter, a student at Harvard who remains out of the limelight.

While sometimes described as a folk singer, Peng holds the rank of PLA major general and is best known for her stirring renditions of patriotic odes, often while wearing full dress uniform.

Although her rank is largely honorary, her military status could lead to awkward questions, said University of Nottingham's Tsang.

"Sooner or later, someone is going to ask whether that's completely normal, even if she doesn't have any real military or political ambitions," Tsang said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/diplomatic-star-born-chinese-first-lady-082435770.html

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Tasktop Offers Open-Source Effort To Link And Sync The API Economy

The complexity of connecting tools in this new API economy is getting compounded by the inability to link this new breed of services so people can talk in context about the code. Application development cycles are shorter and developers are picking tools that make them more productive.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/A6HfjTnyjKc/

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I'm Home! ? Fostering Family Bonds and a Sense of Home

Photo Credit to misteraitch on Flickr

?Mommy, I?m home!? two-year-old Ethan hollered. He had just been to Sunday School and was returning to the class room where is own mother was the teacher. Considering where Ethan had just been, where he was and where he was going, perhaps those words are more profound than we realize.

Home is Where the Family Is

We all long to be home, and even Ethan knows that home is where Mommy ? or family ? is. In this modern age, families can feel at home even if they are not physically together. A college student feels at home when they receive a care package. Grandparents feel at home when they get homemade cards from the grandchildren. Children feel at home when they are connected in some way to their parents, and parents feel at home when all the little chickens are safely in the coop.

Some things to do to foster family bonds:

? Maintain photo albums to teach children about extended family
? Keep a family journal to be read out loud occasionally, reminding ourselves what fun we have as a family
? Keep a family history and pass down our heritage, complete with stories of our ancestors
? Keep family prominently displayed in our home
? Write and telephone extended family regularly

Home is Where God Is

Ethan had just been to Sunday School, and recognized that he was Home. He is being taught about his Heavenly Father and Jesus, and that if he lives a certain way, he can return Home to live with them. What can we do now, as adults, to progress on our journey Home? The same thing that we teach our children: Scripture reading, prayer, and living according to God?s commandments. Choose good friends and treat others kindly.

Some things to do to improve our journey home:

? Pray on a regular basis
? Read scriptures daily; better yet ? FEAST upon the word by studying it
? Do a good deed daily ? or more
? Learn and keep God?s commandments
? Love one another

Home is Where We Feel Safe

Ethan felt at home at church because he felt safe there. Just like the wise man who built his house upon a rock, we feel safest when we are within sturdy dwellings. We feel safe when we are prepared for life to happen. We feel safe when we have back up plans.
We also feel safe on a different level when we are with those we love and who love us. Ethan knew he was surrounded and protected by people he loved and could trust. Like him, we want to be with family when we are in danger, but we also call upon the Lord at those times. As the saying goes ? there are no atheists in foxholes!! His presence makes us feel safe and secure wherever we are and whoever we are with.

Some things to do to feel safe:

? Plan ahead and be prepared
? Have emergency plans for fire and tornado, and practice those plans regularly
? Have a list of contacts phone numbers in a convenient place
? Have emergency supplies stocked up and easily accessible
? Establish and/or maintain a relationship with God (see previous list)

We Must Actively Teach our Children To Feel Safe

Children do not automatically feel safe. How can they unless they experience it first? That occurs when they are infants, swaddled and cuddled. As they grow, there are specific things we can do to help our children feel as safe as Ethan.

? Teach them that Heavenly Father loves them.
? Teach them the names of all the people in their lives that love them
? Teach them how to always get in touch with you, provide them access, and RESPOND IMMEDIATELY, regardless of where you are or who you are with
? Teach them how to get in touch with all the other people that love them
? Teach them the family safety plans

Are We Doing All We Can to Go Home?

Ethan is doing all he can to return home ? to his mother at church and to his Heavenly home ? by trusting his parents. We must trust our Heavenly Father in the same, childlike way. If we do that, we will feel safety here, and safety there!

About Robin Egerton

Robin Egerton has written 67 posts in this blog.

Robin is an experienced homeschooler and has extensive experience in fostering and adopting. After several years as a foster parent, Robin and her husband adopted a total of five children and later began a homesteading project. She learned to raise chickens, sheep and dogs. After growing extensive gardens and planting an orchard, the produce is canned and added to the food storage pantry to this day. When life with teens became extraordinarily hectic, Robin began putting her canning energy into preparing her own convenience foods. Robin's hobbies are knitting, crocheting, genealogy and she will soon be joining the world of amateur photography.

Source: http://www.untrainedhousewife.com/im-home-fostering-family-bonds-and-a-sense-of-home

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Kristen Stewart, One Direction win Kids' Choice

By Jill Serjeant, Reuters

LOS ANGELES -- Green slime spewed furiously at the Kids' Choice Awards on Saturday, where "Twilight Saga" star Kristen Stewart and British boy band One Direction won two awards apiece.

John Shearer / AP

Kristen Stewart accepts the award for favorite movie actress for "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2" at the Kids Choice Awards on Saturday, March 23.

Stewart, 22, escaped the slime but plunged her hands into the green goo, saying she "felt like I have finally found my kindergartner self," as she accepted trophies for movie actress and favorite female butt kicker.

Organizers said more than 350 million votes were cast online in more than 20 categories, spanning film, television, books, music and sport for the stunt-filled annual award show on youth channel Nickelodeon.

Hosted by "Transformers" actor Josh Duhamel, who is married to singer Fergie, the show in Los Angeles featured performances by Pitbull and Christina Aguilera, as well as Ke$ha.

Johnny Depp and Katy Perry accepted orange blimp-shaped trophies for favorite female singer and movie actor respectively and both stars had words of wisdom for the audience of kids and young teens.

"This is such a cool award ... stay safe, stay in school, don't do drugs," Perry told them. Depp said he was "truly honored and humbled. Thank you for what you are, which is the future."

Selena Gomez, 20, the ex-girlfriend of pop star Justin Bieber, took the female TV actress award for her Disney Channel series "Wizards of Waverly Place," even though the show came to an end more than a year ago.

Bieber, who is on tour in Europe, was voted favorite male singer and was among several stars who did not make it to accept their award in person

Christopher Polk / Getty Images

Johnny Depp accepts the Kids' Choice Award for favorite movie actor at USC Galen Center iin Los Angeles on Saturday, March 23.

Christopher Polk / Getty Images

Singer Katy Perry accepts the Kids' Choice Award for favorite female singer.

No-shows included One Direction, who are also on tour and who won for favorite music group and song for "What Makes You Beautiful," "X Factor" judge Simon Cowell (favorite villain), and Ross Lynch, 17, who was named favorite TV actor for Disney Channel's pop star series "Austin & Ally."

Sandra Bullock, Neil Patrick Harris, Duhamel, Pitbull, Nick Cannon, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and dozens of audience members got covered in slime gushing out from water cannons, presenter's podiums, ceilings, and even the tail of a fake gymnastic horse.

Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images

Nick Cannon, left, and host Josh Duhamel perform onstage during Nickelodeon's 26th Annual Kids' Choice Awards.

Other awards went to Nickelodeon's "Victorious" for top TV show, "The Hunger Games" for favorite movie, "Wreck-It Ralph" for top animated movie, and race car driver Danica Patrick and basketball player LeBron James for top athletes.

The Kids Choice Awards will be broadcast around the world in more than 25 languages, Nickelodeon said.

2013 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice winners, via E! Online:

Television:

Favorite TV Show: "Victorious"
Favorite Reality Show: "Wipeout"
Favorite Cartoon: "SpongeBob SquarePants"
Favorite TV Actor: Ross Lynch ("Austin & Ally")
Favorite TV Actress: Selena Gomez ("Wizards of Waverly Place")

Film:

Favorite Movie: "The Hunger Games"
Favorite Movie Actor: Johnny Depp ("Dark Shadows")
Favorite Movie Actress: Kristen Stewart ("The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2")
Favorite Animated Movie: "Wreck-It Ralph"
Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie: Adam Sandler ("Hotel Transylvania")
Favorite Male Buttkicker: Dwayne Johnson ("Journey 2: The Mysterious Island")
Favorite Female Buttkicker: Kristen Stewart ("Snow White and the Huntsman")

Music:

Favorite Music Group: One Direction
Favorite Male Singer: Justin Bieber
Favorite Female Singer: Katy Perry
Favorite Song: "What Makes You Beautiful" (One Direction)

Sports:

Favorite Male Athlete: LeBron James
Favorite Female Athlete: Danica Patrick

Other Categories:

Favorite Villain: Simon Cowell ("The X Factor")
Favorite Book: "The Hunger Games" series
Favorite Video Game: "Just Dance 4"
Favorite App: "Temple Run"

Source: http://todayentertainment.today.com/_news/2013/03/24/17435191-kristen-stewart-one-direction-win-twice-at-kids-choice-awards?lite

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Update Galaxy S3 I9300 to Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with SlimBean Build 2 ROM [How to Install]

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Source: www.ibtimes.com --- Sunday, March 24, 2013
Step-by-step guide to update Galaxy S3 I9300 to Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with SlimBean Build 2 ROM. ...

Source: http://www.ibtimes.comhttp:0//www.ibtimes.co.in/articles/449689/20130324/galaxys3-i9300-android422-jellybean-slimbean-build2-rom.htm

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Transform Your Offline Business To Online | Sharanyan Sharma

Review Overview

Sharanyan SharmaMarch 24, 2013

• Online Marketing10

• Offline Marketing10

Total Score10.0

Hey Guys!

Shopping at the city?center?or running errands around your local town lately? While doing these regular chores, if you look closely, you will find huge changes taken place over the recent years.I?m living in Northern Province Vavuniya City, but No matter where you live, I think the little guys- the small stores, independent business owners are all disappearing. At least in my local town, majority of them can?t be found anymore. Most of the local small families running stores offering the homely personal touch are now being all swallowed up by the latest market dominants, the supermarkets and the chain stores which sell almost anything and everything you may need for the day to day life.

It is a really depressing and pathetic scene where numerous out of town retail parks and supermarkets are uprooting the locals and taking their places. Virtually, each major town or city is basically a carbon copy of one other. Anywhere you travel; there is not much diversity or change you can find anymore. In every city or town, it?s the usual brand of coffee shops, all the same cloth stores, the usual chains of garden care companies, DIY or the same restaurants or electrical outlets.These small businesses owners are struggling to survive a losing battle and are loosing their lifeblood as it is being sucked out.

The exciting news for the small businesses is that the recent E-Commerce revolution has introduced a whole new level playing field offering everyone a fair chance to become an internet business giant very easily enabling everyone to enjoy the big profits.The internet carries the free information flow and everyone?s looking for their necessaries.? These are the local folks ? People living in your own area, Your customers with the biggest potentials.

Check out the recent statistics and you?ll get your proof. The trend of researching products and services online is increasing every year as more and more people are getting easy access to high speed internet facilities. Also the smart phone revolution and tablet devices have been a big help. But still, they buy OFFLINE! Grab full advantage of the E-Commerce concept, put your innovative ideas into effect and watch your business flourish. Make this approach, your competitors did and they are doing well.Keep reading and find out how you too can bring out your ?A Game? and someday become an online business giant.

Getting Started Online

Promoting business on the web can be quite overwhelming. This is one of the many reasons why small business owners postpone their advertisement plans over the internet. On the web, there are numerous advertisement techniques available and not having a clear idea might cause trouble deciding where to start from.

Many local businesses dip into the online marketing world and after sometime they give up as the expected results don?t show up.

The internet marketing is efficient and fruitful but it?s not a magic wand which will help you get rich overnight. You know your business by heart, so, now find an easy and simple approach to let the others know.

Not all marketing methods work well for all type of business ventures, but below are some basic things which literally almost any business venture, no matter which sector the venture is related to, can certainly help you to mark your presence on a large scale over the internet without draining your account dry.

Your Online Income Generation Machine ? ?Your Website

You don?t have to create an expensive website with all singing and dancing works of art. The site should be updated regularly and be search engine friendly.Designing a fully functional and yet profitable website is an extremely daunting task. So, small businesses owners usually leave all the designing and technical works to the hired contractors.This sometimes turns out to be an expensive mistake. Website designers are capable of making stunning looking website designs complete using every bell and whistle.

For example, if you were running a car dealership, you would not trust the car mechanics to run your marketing campaigns. He ?may be a damn good car mechanic, but it is almost unlikely that the mechanic would also be an expert authority on marketing. Hand the control of the marketing campaigns over to him and pretty soon you?ll be out of business.Allowing your website designer to run the website for you would put you into similar situations as mentioned above.

Of course, they come with excellent design skills, but they are not experts on marketing in most cases. Only a few website designers completely understand the effective search engine optimization techniques, or how to present compelling sales information or advertisements which effectively pre-sells the products and services you intend to put on the shelves.Believe me; nobody wants a website designer who only focuses on eye catching designs with pretty looking but absolutely pointless gimmicks providing Zero efficiency.Below some tips are presented that will help you run your website with total control and eventually you?ll be running a website providing a healthy profit.

1.? Think straight and be sure about what it is that you really want. You want and need a website working 24/7 with regular earnings. Be clear about exactly what task each web page is expected to accomplish and design them accordingly. Also, in advance, decide what kind of customers your website is trying to attract.

1. For example, are you interested in showing off your products via an online brochure or do you want to sell those on the website?
2. ?Do you want the webpage to collect the visitor?s contact details or just want the site to let the consumers know your contact details?To keep the customers updated you can go for a blog or newsletter delivery.

2.? Place your offers and make the Buy and contact details clearly visible on the website.? People buy online to save time. So, if you want more online buyers, make the Buy button clearly seen. Make sure that your contact details are visible bright and clearly on each web page, so, the customers can call you if needed.

?Download Your Free Ebook ?

Social media allow you connect with your target audience and have a two-way effective conversation. But it can be easy to forget that not everyone who finds your social media profiles will speak your language, or be able to relate to your region?s latest trends.Social Media Marketing is Secret Weapon for any offline; online business and Brands. Big MNC?s and Small Business owners use social media platform to capture the attention of their target audiences . That?s why?I?ve?created ?special short report about ?Basic E-Commerce Strategies and transform your Business Online using Social media and search Engines. Don?t worry I?m not going to ask you to subscribe my mailing list, but if you like my short report then you can?subscribe my blog to receive Regular updates via email notification.

I hope my short report will help you create some amazing ideas about your business and Brand. Just hit reply to this post and let me know what you thought please.

Talk Soon,

Sharanyan Sharma

Last updated by Sharanyan Sharma at March 24, 2013.

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Source: http://www.sharanyan.com/local-business-online-giant/internet-marketing/

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Worst practice in providing educational technology, especially to ...

March 22, 2013 at 1:12 am

I followed an insightful chain of blog articles to this one. ?I started with Larry Cuban?s excellent piece about ?No End to Magical Thinking When It Comes to High-Tech Schooling? which cited the quote below, but first when through a really terrific analysis of the explanations that educational technology researchers sometimes make when hardware in dumped in the developing world fails to have a measurable impact. ?I highly recommend the whole sequence for a deeper understanding of what real educational reform looks like and where technology can play a role.

1. Dump hardware in schools, hope for magic to happen

This is, in many cases, the classic example of worst practice in ICT use in education.? Unfortunately, it shows no sign of disappearing soon, and is the precursor in many ways to the other worst practices on this list. ? ?If we supply it they will learn?: Maybe in some cases this is true, for a very small minority of exceptional students and teachers, but this simplistic approach is often at the root of failure of many educational technology initiatives.

via Worst practice in ICT use in education | A World Bank Blog on ICT use in Education.

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Source: http://computinged.wordpress.com/2013/03/22/worst-practice-in-providing-educational-technology-especially-to-developing-world/

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Family connections a big part of NCAA tournament

In this photo combo, Utah Jazz guard John Stockton, left, drives towards the basket during an NBA basketball game, Thursday, May 30, 1996, in Salt Lake City; while at right, Gonzaga's David Stockton, John's son, brings the ball up the court during an NCAA college basketball game, Thursday, March 21, 2013, in Salt Lake City. Family connections are a big part of the 2013 NCAA college basketball tournament. (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac, George Frey)

In this photo combo, Utah Jazz guard John Stockton, left, drives towards the basket during an NBA basketball game, Thursday, May 30, 1996, in Salt Lake City; while at right, Gonzaga's David Stockton, John's son, brings the ball up the court during an NCAA college basketball game, Thursday, March 21, 2013, in Salt Lake City. Family connections are a big part of the 2013 NCAA college basketball tournament. (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac, George Frey)

Michigan guard Tim Hardaway Jr. (10) drives against South Dakota State guard Brayden Carlson (12) in the second half of a second-round game of the NCAA men's college basketball tournament in Auburn Hills, Mich., Thursday, March 21, 2013. Michigan won 71-56. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Gonzaga's David Stockton brings the ball upcourt against Southern University in the second half during a second-round game in the NCAA college basketball tournament in Salt Lake City Thursday, March 21, 2013. Gonzaga won 64-58. (AP Photo/George Frey)

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) ? Tim Hardaway Jr. can take the questions in stride at this point.

Any time Michigan is in the national spotlight, his familiar name stands out ? and the queries about his father seem inevitable.

"It was hard just to try to follow his footsteps, and you try not to worry about it," Hardaway said. "You try to leave a legacy of your own. It takes a long time to do that."

Hardaway is one of three Michigan players with fathers who were in the NBA, and the Wolverines aren't the only team with some famous names in this NCAA tournament. John Stockton's son plays for Gonzaga, and Danny Manning's is with Kansas. Several of college basketball's top performers are from athletic families, and some of these players have already conjured memories of generations past.

Hardaway scored 21 points to lead Michigan over South Dakota State on Thursday night, and he had plenty of help from Glenn Robinson III, who added 21 of his own for the Wolverines. Hardaway's father, of course, was a standout in the NBA, and Robinson's was a star at Purdue who scored 44 points in a win over Kansas during the 1994 NCAA tournament.

The Wolverines also have a backup forward named Jon Horford. His brother Al plays for the Atlanta Hawks, and his father Tito made it to the pros too. It's a coincidence that Hardaway, Robinson and Horford all ended up at Michigan, but coach John Beilein isn't shying away from the story line.

"We really feel good about it because their dads do know basketball," Beilein said. "We think that's always been a feather in our cap to have families. It's not just the dad involved with all these. There's a strong mother involved with every single one of these young men, and they've had a big part to do with their success as well."

David Stockton has played in all 34 games this season for Gonzaga, the same school his father attended. Kansas actually has three familiar names: Tyler Self, Evan Manning and Niko Roberts.

Self is the freshman son of Kansas coach Bill Self, and Manning is the freshman son of Danny Manning, who led the Jayhawks to the 1988 national title. Roberts, a junior guard, is the son of Norm Roberts, the former St. John's coach who is in his second year on Self's staff with the Jayhawks. All three play sparingly off the bench.

Don't think for a moment that they receive any sort of favoritism just because of the name on the back of their jerseys.

"Coaches want everybody to play, but obviously it's not equal opportunity," Bill Self said. "My wife even understands it, so it's not a big deal."

Then there's Montana coach Wayne Tinkle, whose Grizzlies lost to Syracuse on Thursday night in San Jose, Calif. At least the location was convenient. Tinkle's daughter Joslyn plays at Stanford and took a break from preparing for her own NCAA tournament to watch her dad coach.

Joslyn Tinkle watched the game with her brother, mother and two teammates. Her younger sister, Elle, was back at Gonzaga preparing for her NCAA tournament opener on Saturday against Iowa State.

"I was actually in the midst of finishing my take-home final and watching the selection show. I was hoping Montana would pop up in the San Jose bracket," Joslyn Tinkle said. "As soon as it happened the whole family got excited. It's really fun to be able to hang out with the family, except my sister. Maybe we'll get to see her next week. It's really awesome."

The Tinkle family was juggling two different NCAA tournaments, but the Larkin family extends across two sports. Miami guard Shane Larkin is the son of former Cincinnati Reds star Barry Larkin.

The Hall of Fame shortstop conceded he was "crushed" when his son gave up baseball, but Shane is making quite an impact on the basketball court, leaving a mark of his own.

That's what all these young athletes are trying to do. They may not be going about it the exact same way their parents did, but they're trying to enjoy their own competitive experiences ? with the support of family members who have already done it, like Hardaway's father.

"He just tells me to go out there, have fun, just play my hardest," Hardaway said. "And he's behind me 100 percent."

___

AP Sports Writers Josh Dubow and Dave Skretta contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-03-23-NCAA-Family%20Affairs/id-11a5abac348249e99701c45ae8e47c29

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Long nerve grafts restore function in patients with brachial plexus injury

Mar. 22, 2013 ? A study by researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) challenges a widely held belief that long nerve grafts do poorly in adults with an axillary nerve injury. Investigators found that the outcomes of long nerve grafts were comparable to those of modern nerve transfers. Both procedures restored function. The axillary nerve supplies the deltoid muscle of the shoulder and an important rotator cuff muscle. It's part of the brachial plexus, a network of nerves that runs down from the neck and across the shoulder.

"Conventional wisdom is that grafts longer than seven centimeters (about three inches) don't work well. We set out to test this theory and found that long nerve grafts did work well. Our study concludes that this type of graft should not be overlooked as an effective treatment for an axillary nerve injury," said Dr. Scott W. Wolfe, lead author and director of the Center for Brachial Plexus and Traumatic Nerve Injury at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.

The study, titled, "Comparison between Long Nerve Grafts and Nerve Transfers for Axillary Nerve Injuries," will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons on March 22 in Chicago.

Injury to the brachial plexus can be devastating, leaving people unable to use their arms or hands. The most common cause is a motor vehicle accident or sports injury. The Center for Brachial Plexus and Traumatic Nerve Injury at Hospital for Special Surgery offers advanced diagnostic and treatment options, including complex nerve reconstruction surgery.

Nerve reconstruction is considered when nerves are so severely damaged they cannot recover on their own. These complex operations can take up to 12 hours. Surgeons reconstruct nerves either by bridging a nerve defect with a nerve graft or by performing a nerve transfer from a nearby healthy nerve to share its function. In the study, researchers compared these two different techniques to reactivate the deltoid muscle and enable patients to regain the use of their arm.

"A nerve transfer takes a working nerve from one muscle and transfers all or part of that nerve to a non-working nerve or another muscle, so that the two muscles can share the nerve and regain function," Dr. Wolfe explained. "A nerve graft involves taking a nerve from another part of the body. The nerve is removed from a location where its function is less important, usually the leg, and moved to the damaged area. It is used to bridge the defective gap between two ends of a nerve to restore function."

Only 150 to 200 highly specialized surgeons worldwide perform these complex brachial plexus surgeries, and Dr. Wolfe and his colleagues aim to raise awareness that the procedures can restore function in people severely debilitated by a nerve injury. It is important for patients to be treated in a timely manner.

Traditionally, nerve grafts longer than seven centimeters have demonstrated worse outcomes than short grafts and poorer functional outcome when compared to nerve transfer surgery. The purpose of the HSS study was to take another look at longer grafts and directly compare the outcomes to nerve transfers. The results were measured by the patients' recovery and by a test called electromyography, or EMG. This sophisticated test is used to objectively measure muscle and nerve function.

In the study, 11 patients treated with long nerve grafts (> 7cm, range 9cm to 15cm) were compared with 14 patients treated by a nerve transfer over a 10-year period. The average length of the nerve graft was 13cm (5.2 inches). Data was collected at regular intervals, beginning pre-operatively and continuing for up to 11 years.

Prior to surgery, all patients had EMG tests that showed complete absence of deltoid muscle function. After surgery, deltoid recovery, range of motion and EMG evidence of restored function were compared.

The study found no statistically significant differences in shoulder strength, range of motion or electromyographic recovery between nerve graft and nerve transfer patients. All adults in the long nerve graft group regained at least enough strength to be able to move their arm against gravity, but there were two failures in the nerve transfer group. "Going from no function with a limp and numb arm to gaining enough strength to be able to lift a glass to one's lips is a major gain for these patients," said Dr. Wolfe, who is also chief emeritus of the Hand and Upper Extremity Service at HSS. .

"Improvements in the patients receiving a nerve graft were identical to improvements in the nerve transfer group," he added, "so now surgeons can say with confidence that 'a long graft has a good chance of working,' instead of abandoning the procedure when a nerve transfer is not an option."

Unfortunately, some patients suffer long-term impairment from nerve injuries that could have been repaired because many physicians are unaware that nerve reconstructive surgery works, according to Dr. Steve K. Lee, director of research at the Center for Brachial Plexus and Traumatic Nerve Injury. "When a nerve that controls a muscle loses function, it needs to be reactivated within about 12 months, before the muscle atrophies. Studies have shown that if nerve reconstruction surgery is done within six months after a nerve is damaged, patients do much better."

Dr. Joseph Feinberg, who is co-medical director of the Center and performs diagnostic testing to evaluate nerve injuries, says studies such as the one conducted at HSS are important to raise awareness. "In general, many people feel that these types of nerve injuries are permanent and not many treatments are effective. We want people to be aware that they do have options. Procedures can be done to restore function, even when a patient has completely lost the ability to use certain muscle groups," said Dr. Feinberg, who is physiatrist-in-chief at Hospital for Special Surgery.

Dr. Wolfe says the next step will be to conduct a rigorous multi-center study to better define the role of nerve grafts versus nerve transfers and how best to use the two techniques.

Other contributing authors from Hospital for Special Surgery are Parker Johnsen, B.S., who is the presenting author, and Adele Mirbey, B.A.

Paper: Comparison between Long Nerve Grafts and Nerve Transfers for Axillary Nerve Injuries, (Paper 801) Friday, March 22, 2013.

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/MNQmx89xPPo/130322090357.htm

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Rick Rule: PGMs vs. Silver and Gold | Resource Investing News

Rick Rule outlined the case for platinum and palladium bullion as an investment option that is superior to silver and gold at the 2013 California Resource Investment Conference.

Rule, chairman of Sprott US Holdings, has dedicated his career to the resource sector. He is commonly interviewed by prominent news sources and speaks at industry events.

On such an occasion in Palm Springs, he explained that the platinum and palladium thesis begins with the bullion thesis, which is based on the advisability of owning things that governments can?t print.

?This is a United States $20 bill,? Rule said, holding the money in the air. ?This is a promise to pay. Bullion is not a promise to pay. It?s payment.? Gold, silver and platinum are payment, he said.

He noted that precious metals have similarities; for example, they can be used for jewelry and can act as storers of value.

?All those things that are true about gold and silver are also true about platinum,? said Rule. ?But there are several important differences about platinum and palladium that I believe, in the near term ? one or two years ? make them probably superior investments to gold and silver.?

?The thesis is going to be very simple: supply and demand.?

?Most of the gold and silver that have ever been mined are still supply. When you think about it, we do a very stupid thing with it to protect ourselves from our government. We take it out of a hole in the ground called a mine and put it in a hole in the ground called a vault,? he said. ?We use billions of dollars to take it out of a hole and put it in a hole.?

?We do something different with platinum and palladium,? Rule explained. ?We take it out of a hole and we burn it. It either goes out of a tail pipe or up an exhaust pipe or it gets turned into jewelry. It is no longer supply.?

There is no need to consider historical supplies because there aren?t any, he said. ?They?ve been used for catalytic conversion. They have been used in chemical processing. Or they have become jewelry,? he said. ?They?re gone.?

That leaves only mine supply.

?The next thing you have to think about is that gold and silver are produced around the world, ubiquitously, in many countries and as by-products of other kinds of metal.?

?90 percent of world platinum and palladium supplies come from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Russia.?

Supply from South Africa

South Africa is the world?s largest platinum-producing nation.

?The first thing I want you to take home is that the platinum and palladium industry in South Africa does not meet its cost of capital,? Rule told the audience. ?More than half the shafts are loss making.?

That is not new, he said. The platinum miners in South Africa have not earned their cost of capital in 10 years. And as a consequence, the supply of platinum group metals (PGMs) has declined 19 percent in six years.

Rule explained that platinum mining in South Africa is a labor-intensive business. The ore bodies are too thin to mechanize. Furthermore, there is political pressure against mechanization because it would to drive high unemployment rates even higher.

But in this labor-intensive business, miners are demanding more pay ? and according to Rule, they deserve it.

?I have been underground in these mines personally and the labor conditions are disgusting. They are deplorable. Labor conditions must improve and the workers? wages must go up. This is not a union slogan. This is a human truth. If you went underground and saw what I saw, you would be disgusted,? he said.

The problem is the aforementioned lack of capital.

?It gets worse,? he continued. ?There is widespread consensus in South Africa ? with some historic justification ? that the people?s stake, the black people?s stake, from the mining sector ? apart from wages ? has to go up.?

There is also widespread political consensus that state stakes have to go up. And Rule said that means royalties, taxes and the secured interest of the state all have to rise.

?But it can?t go up because the industry doesn?t earn its cost of capital,? he pointed out again.

Meanwhile, industry players have stated that in order to maintain current levels of production, they have to make $8 billion worth of sustaining and new capital investments in the next five years.

?There?s just one problem ? they don?t have the $8 billion. And because they don?t earn their cost of capital, we?re not going to give it to them,? he said.

Rule explained that platinum mining is also a power-intensive business. South Africa?s monopoly power supplier, Eskom, is run by the government under a political mandate to deliver affordable power to people who can?t pay for it. Meanwhile, power demand is exploding and supply is shrinking.

?The supply of power has to go up, but it can?t go up because Eskom doesn?t earn its cost of capital either,? Rule said.

He urged listeners to think about one point in particular: the PGMs industry has no [historic] supply, has a supply and demand imbalance and has a producer that produces 75 percent of the world?s platinum and 39 percent of the world?s palladium. Supplies have declined 19 percent. Wages have to go up, taxes have to go up, capital expenditures have to go up ? and they can?t go up.

?What do you think is going to happen to supply?? he asked.

Supply from Zimbabwe

Looking north, Rule said Zimbabwe is a joke, not even a real country, but a so-called promised land run by a thug.

In Zimbabwe, miners couldn?t earn the cost of capital either, Rule explained.

?So Mugabe, about six years ago, said as a consequence of historic theft from ancestral blacks ? which is true ? we have to address that imbalance, we have to arrange for 51 percent of the ownership of the mines to be given to black people.?

?The problem is they couldn?t pay for them or wouldn?t pay for them. So the industry had to find a way to steal 51 percent of itself to benefit Zimbabwe, which they did by decapitalizing the mine. They gave the ZANU-PF cronies 51 percent of a mine that couldn?t any longer produce ? pretty smart.?

Although Zimbabwe has the ability to produce platinum, Rule explained that it ultimately inherited shafts that used to be productive.

Mugabe has now decided that 51 percent was unfair after all. Rule said that the ZANU-PF leader now wants 100 percent and has announced plans to run the next election on nationalization.

?And it doesn?t really matter. 100 percent of nothing is just as egregious as 51 percent of nothing,? said Rule.

?At any rate, as a supplier Zimbabwe is irrelevant.?

Russia is key supplier of palladium. There, the issue is geological. The mines are old, the digging is getting deeper, but the grades are declining.

?So on a global basis, supply of platinum and palladium are declining. And at this price point, there is nothing whatsoever we can do about it.?

From a producer?s point of view, Rule insists that prices must go up. And he explained why they will go up.

PGM demand

The utility in society for platinum and palladium is extremely high and it comes down to a choice: ?it?s platinum versus smog. That?s the trade off,? he said.

Rule explained that about $200 worth of PGMs are used in a vehicle. If platinum and palladium prices double to $400 per vehicle in the near term, the $200 increase relative to the median sticker price of a new car, which is $27,000 in the United States, is de minimis, he said.

?Demand elasticity with regards to price at that price point does not matter. If the price of platinum doubled, it wouldn?t make an iota of difference to vehicle demand in the United States,? he said.

The political movement in nations such as Europe, the US and Japan is to use more platinum and palladium to continue to improve the air quality, not to conserve the metal, he added.

Furthermore, frontier and emerging nations are really set to drive demand growth for these metals. As people in those countries grow richer, one of the items that they are seeking is personal transport, evidenced in large part by the fact that China has overtaken the US as the largest auto market.

Emerging countries are spending tens of billions of dollars building infrastructure, including interstate highway systems, said Rule. But in places like China and India, they use less than 10 percent of the platinum and palladium per vehicle that is used in the US. And as a consequence, their air quality is deplorable.

He said the Chinese government has identified cardiopulmonary illness as a consequence of poor air quality as one of the leading causes of death in China. Proposed air-quality standards in China would quintuple platinum and palladium loadings.

?That doesn?t suggest to me that demand for platinum and palladium is going to fall,? he said. ?In summary, with regards to platinum ? two things: the price has to go up and the price can go up.?

?If something has to happen and something can happen, what do you think will happen?? he asked the audience.

?

Securities Disclosure: I, Michelle Smith, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Related reading:?

INN VIDEO: Why Rick Rule Likes Gold Juniors

Source: http://resourceinvestingnews.com/52512-rick-rule-pgms-vs-silver-and-gold.html

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Georges St-Pierre?s camp says he beat Nick Diaz with an injured Achilles tendon

The UFC gave a backstage look at Georges St-Pierre's win over Nick Diaz at UFC 158, complete with an adorable shot at the end of GSP high-fiving a young fan who was dressed like the champ from head to toe.

According the GSP's trainer, Firas Zahabi, it's a fight the UFC welterweight champion went through with despite an injury. Zahabi said GSP injured his Achilles tendon during training for the fight, and it may have worsened during the bout.

"I was worried it would tear during the fight," Zahabi told MMAFighting.com. "We had to cut his last sparring [session] short due to his injury. He had a week to rest it and then the fight."

Does finding out that GSP was injured changed your opinion of his performance? Speak up in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/georges-st-pierre-camp-says-beat-nick-diaz-132833374--mma.html

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Discovery could increase efficacy of promising cystic fibrosis drug

Public release date: 21-Mar-2013
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Contact: Michael Muin
muinm@health.missouri.edu
573-884-7541
University of Missouri School of Medicine

Data about defective regulatory protein described in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

A little more than a year after the FDA approved Kalydeco (Vx-770), the first drug of its kind to treat the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis, University of Missouri researchers believe they have found exactly how this drug works and how to improve its effectiveness in the future. Described in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, MU researchers have redefined a key regulatory process in the defective protein responsible for cystic fibrosis that could change the way scientists approach the lethal genetic disease.

"They know the drug works, but they don't know how it works or where it works," said Tzyh-Chang Hwang, PhD, PNAS corresponding author and professor of medical pharmacology and physiology at the MU School of Medicine. "Our paper provides a theory for how Vx-770 works, and based on our understanding of how the CFTR channel works, we have identified a novel strategy for future explorations to complement and enhance the performance of the existing drug."

Cystic fibrosis is the second most common life-shortening inherited disorder occurring in childhood in the United States, after sickle cell anemia. Approximately 30,000 Americans have cystic fibrosis, and there are an estimated 1,000 new cases diagnosed each year. Cystic fibrosis patients are born with a genetic defect that causes a malfunction of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein, a chloride channel in the cell membrane that plays a critical role in maintaining water and salt balance across many body tissues, such as sweat glands, tissues that line the lungs, liver, pancreas and reproductive organs.

"The chloride channel is like a pipe that allows ions to travel through at a very fast pace," Hwang said. "In cystic fibrosis patients the channel is dysfunctional and activity is diminished. So what is the mechanism that controls the opening and closing of the channel? That is the fundamental discovery of our recent papers summarized in Physiology."

Like an automatic water faucet with a defective hand sensor, many genetic mutations found in cystic fibrosis patients cause a faulty signal, resulting in limited chloride transport across the CFTR. The result is the formation of thick mucus that builds up in the lungs, digestive tract and other parts of the body, which leads to severe respiratory and digestive problems, as well as infections and diabetes.

As summarized in Physiology and followed up with further research in the PNAS article, the accidental discovery of a mutation in CFTR, the R532 mutation, allowed MU researchers to reveal a new "non-strict coupling" relationship that occurs between the consumption of ATP, a molecule that provides energy in the body, and the opening and closing of the CFTR. They argue that the new information uncovered about this mechanism that controls the opening and closing of the CFTR and the passage of ions through it could explain how and where the new cystic fibrosis treatment Kalydeco (Vx-770) works.

"To his credit, Dr. Hwang exploited the behavior of the CFTR mutants to demonstrate that CFTR's gate is not strictly coupled to the nucleotide binding engine (NBD) that binds and splits ATP [energy] to drive conformational changes that regulate chloride flow through the CFTR protein channel," said colleague David Sheppard, PhD, an associate professor in the School of Physiology and Pharmacology at the University of Bristol in Bristol, U.K. who did not participate in the study.

In their study, MU researchers were able to observe the effects of the cystic fibrosis drug Vx-770 on the recently discovered R352 mutation. They found that Vx-770 enhances the activity of the CFTR channel by exploiting this "non-coupling" mechanism, a conclusion also supported by experimental results with the wild-type CFTR protein.

"Traditionally, researchers have defined how energy is utilized and transferred in the CFTR as a 'strict coupling' mechanism, meaning that one ATP molecule opens CFTR's gate, ions pass through and the ATP molecule is hydrolyzed and then the gate closes," Hwang said. "In this new model, we argue that the CFTR uses energy from ATP hydrolysis to carry out its function of chloride flow, but this coupling mechanism is more plastic than we thought and therefore could be subjective to manipulations by drugs such as Vx-770."

CFTR is part of a family of thousands of active transporter proteins called ABC proteins. Although CFTR may share many structural features with its ABC "cousins," as Hwang calls them, it has been unclear as to whether CFTR and its cousins may work in a similar manner.

The new idea of how the CFTR utilizes ATP to carry out its function may bear a broader implication because of the evolutionary relationship between CFTR and other ABC transporter proteins. It opens up a wide variety of therapeutic possibilities for other common diseases, such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes, Hwang said, since many other ABC proteins play critical roles in those human illnesses.

"It's taken years for scientists to solve this particular puzzle about the CFTR protein," Hwang said. "Our recent study provides evidence that these ABC transporter proteins and CFTR, a chloride channel, are two peas in a pod. Mother nature employs the same structural framework with just a little bit of modification to do two totally different things. From a basic science perspective, it's a big deal."

Using electrophysiology techniques available at MU's Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center, Hwang's lab studied the opening and closing, or "gating," of the CFTR at the single-molecule level. By measuring the electrical current that reflects directly the movement of chloride ions through one single CFTR channel as it opens and closes, Hwang's lab is able to monitor the activity of a single CFTR molecule in real time.

"Single-channel recording provides a unique opportunity to observe conformational changes in a single CFTR molecule in real time," Sheppard said. "It's exciting to think about how the new models proposed by Dr. Hwang and his colleagues explain the action of Vx-770 and other transformational drugs that target the root cause of cystic fibrosis."

###

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?

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.

Public release date: 21-Mar-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Michael Muin
muinm@health.missouri.edu
573-884-7541
University of Missouri School of Medicine

Data about defective regulatory protein described in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

A little more than a year after the FDA approved Kalydeco (Vx-770), the first drug of its kind to treat the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis, University of Missouri researchers believe they have found exactly how this drug works and how to improve its effectiveness in the future. Described in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, MU researchers have redefined a key regulatory process in the defective protein responsible for cystic fibrosis that could change the way scientists approach the lethal genetic disease.

"They know the drug works, but they don't know how it works or where it works," said Tzyh-Chang Hwang, PhD, PNAS corresponding author and professor of medical pharmacology and physiology at the MU School of Medicine. "Our paper provides a theory for how Vx-770 works, and based on our understanding of how the CFTR channel works, we have identified a novel strategy for future explorations to complement and enhance the performance of the existing drug."

Cystic fibrosis is the second most common life-shortening inherited disorder occurring in childhood in the United States, after sickle cell anemia. Approximately 30,000 Americans have cystic fibrosis, and there are an estimated 1,000 new cases diagnosed each year. Cystic fibrosis patients are born with a genetic defect that causes a malfunction of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein, a chloride channel in the cell membrane that plays a critical role in maintaining water and salt balance across many body tissues, such as sweat glands, tissues that line the lungs, liver, pancreas and reproductive organs.

"The chloride channel is like a pipe that allows ions to travel through at a very fast pace," Hwang said. "In cystic fibrosis patients the channel is dysfunctional and activity is diminished. So what is the mechanism that controls the opening and closing of the channel? That is the fundamental discovery of our recent papers summarized in Physiology."

Like an automatic water faucet with a defective hand sensor, many genetic mutations found in cystic fibrosis patients cause a faulty signal, resulting in limited chloride transport across the CFTR. The result is the formation of thick mucus that builds up in the lungs, digestive tract and other parts of the body, which leads to severe respiratory and digestive problems, as well as infections and diabetes.

As summarized in Physiology and followed up with further research in the PNAS article, the accidental discovery of a mutation in CFTR, the R532 mutation, allowed MU researchers to reveal a new "non-strict coupling" relationship that occurs between the consumption of ATP, a molecule that provides energy in the body, and the opening and closing of the CFTR. They argue that the new information uncovered about this mechanism that controls the opening and closing of the CFTR and the passage of ions through it could explain how and where the new cystic fibrosis treatment Kalydeco (Vx-770) works.

"To his credit, Dr. Hwang exploited the behavior of the CFTR mutants to demonstrate that CFTR's gate is not strictly coupled to the nucleotide binding engine (NBD) that binds and splits ATP [energy] to drive conformational changes that regulate chloride flow through the CFTR protein channel," said colleague David Sheppard, PhD, an associate professor in the School of Physiology and Pharmacology at the University of Bristol in Bristol, U.K. who did not participate in the study.

In their study, MU researchers were able to observe the effects of the cystic fibrosis drug Vx-770 on the recently discovered R352 mutation. They found that Vx-770 enhances the activity of the CFTR channel by exploiting this "non-coupling" mechanism, a conclusion also supported by experimental results with the wild-type CFTR protein.

"Traditionally, researchers have defined how energy is utilized and transferred in the CFTR as a 'strict coupling' mechanism, meaning that one ATP molecule opens CFTR's gate, ions pass through and the ATP molecule is hydrolyzed and then the gate closes," Hwang said. "In this new model, we argue that the CFTR uses energy from ATP hydrolysis to carry out its function of chloride flow, but this coupling mechanism is more plastic than we thought and therefore could be subjective to manipulations by drugs such as Vx-770."

CFTR is part of a family of thousands of active transporter proteins called ABC proteins. Although CFTR may share many structural features with its ABC "cousins," as Hwang calls them, it has been unclear as to whether CFTR and its cousins may work in a similar manner.

The new idea of how the CFTR utilizes ATP to carry out its function may bear a broader implication because of the evolutionary relationship between CFTR and other ABC transporter proteins. It opens up a wide variety of therapeutic possibilities for other common diseases, such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes, Hwang said, since many other ABC proteins play critical roles in those human illnesses.

"It's taken years for scientists to solve this particular puzzle about the CFTR protein," Hwang said. "Our recent study provides evidence that these ABC transporter proteins and CFTR, a chloride channel, are two peas in a pod. Mother nature employs the same structural framework with just a little bit of modification to do two totally different things. From a basic science perspective, it's a big deal."

Using electrophysiology techniques available at MU's Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center, Hwang's lab studied the opening and closing, or "gating," of the CFTR at the single-molecule level. By measuring the electrical current that reflects directly the movement of chloride ions through one single CFTR channel as it opens and closes, Hwang's lab is able to monitor the activity of a single CFTR molecule in real time.

"Single-channel recording provides a unique opportunity to observe conformational changes in a single CFTR molecule in real time," Sheppard said. "It's exciting to think about how the new models proposed by Dr. Hwang and his colleagues explain the action of Vx-770 and other transformational drugs that target the root cause of cystic fibrosis."

###

---

[ | 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.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-03/uoms-dci032113.php

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