UNITED NATIONS (AP) ? Efforts to draw together the fragmented foes of Syrian President Bashar Assad could lead to direct talks between the leader's regime and his opponents, a key official said after talks on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari on Friday proposed plans to broker discussions for a political transition in Syria ? amid the paralysis at the U.N. Security Council which has cast a pall over the annual gathering of world leaders in New York.
Zebari told The Associated Press in an interview that he made the offer to bring together Syria's regime and opposition at a meeting Friday between nine representatives of anti-Assad groups and the Friends of Syria ? a coalition which includes the United States, the European Union and the Arab League.
He acknowledged that the U.N. and Arab League joint envoy on Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, would need to take the plan forward.
Establishing a more coherent opposition is seen as a means of increasing pressure on the Syrian leadership amid Russia and China's decisions to veto three Western-backed resolutions aimed at forcing Assad to end the violence.
Rebels on Friday made their broadest assault yet to drive Assad's forces out of Aleppo, Syria's largest city. Activists claim that since the 18-month-old conflict began, more than 30,000 people have been killed in the fighting.
Syria's opposition has been criticized as hopelessly fractured and unable to coalesce around a transition plan that was adopted by members of the U.N. Security Council in Geneva over the summer, though Western officials say they are beginning to see tentative signs of progress.
Revolutionary councils in cities including Damascus, Homs, Aleppo, Idlib and Deir al-Zour are becoming increasingly organized, U.S. officials insist. In Idlib, in northwestern Syria, and Deir al-Zour, in the country's east, the local councils are taking charge of municipal duties, restoring power supplies and cleaning streets.
Talks Friday focused on efforts to boost cooperation between the rival groups, provide them with millions of dollars more in non-lethal equipment, and help them cement authority in areas freed from the Assad regime's control.
"It is encouraging to see some progress toward greater opposition unity, but we all know there is more work to be done," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the meeting.
Mouaz Moustafa, a 27-year-old activist with the Washington-based "Coalition for a Democratic Syria," which lobbies on behalf of the civilian councils and was involved in the talks, said the local groups could provide the roots of a post-Assad Syria if they are supported with funding.
"It will be undermined if it's not coupled with financial support," he said. "You have civilian councils right now. If you don't help them, you miss an opportunity. Without money, they lose credibility, viability and power."
He said in one instance, France had supplied about $13,000 to the Maarat al-Nuaman civilian council, in northwestern Syria, which allowed them to clean streets, rebuild a bread factory and pay for policemen.
Moustafa said the councils were crucial for the country to re-emerge under civilian rule. If they failed, it would risk emboldening military commanders to create their own fiefdoms in liberated areas, or Islamic extremists ? better armed and with money ? to set up their own power centers.
U.S. officials acknowledged the importance of helping civilian activists, rather than fighters, to prepare to provide services when the country's leadership falls.
"People with guns who don't know how to have bread baked are quickly going to lose credibility on the street. People with guns who can't make the lights come back on are going to quickly lose credibility on the street," said a senior U.S. official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the talks.
During talks Friday, Clinton pledged $15 million in new non-lethal equipment ? mainly communications equipment ? and $30 in million humanitarian assistance to Syria's opposition. In total, the U.S. has offered $130 million in humanitarian supplies and about $40 million in equipment such as including satellite-linked computers, telephones and cameras. Britain and France have also offered millions of dollars worth of aid supplies and equipment.
At the General Assembly on Friday, Turkey's foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu warned of the risks that Syria's civil war could spread to other Middle East nations. "The Syrian regime deploys every instrument to turn the legitimate struggle of the Syrian people into a sectarian war, which will engulf the entire region into flames," he said.
On Saturday, nations including Uruguay, Denmark, Portugal, Sudan and Angola were scheduled to address the assembly.
___
Associated Press writers Edie Lederer and John Daniszewski contributed to this report.
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BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) ? Belfast is bracing for one of its biggest Protestant parades in years on Saturday, with tens of thousands expected to participate amid fears that it will degenerate into street clashes with the police and Northern Ireland's Catholic minority. These one-sided marches have tested tempers each year since the 19th century, and show no sign of abating despite Northern Ireland's successful peace process. The AP explores why.
WHO'S MARCHING?
The Protestant "loyal orders," chiefly two groups called the Orangemen and the Apprentice Boys. Members carry hand-painted banners depicting key historical events and values, both political and religious, while groups of fife and drum ? often called "kick the pope" bands ? play tunes ranging from the spiritual to the overtly anti-Irish.
WHY DO THEY DO IT?
For the Protestants, a successful march demonstrates their continued hold over endlessly disputed territory, town by town, street by street. They expect their right to freedom of assembly to be upheld by the law.
But for most Catholics, the marches are offensive, considered mass intimidation by the Protestant majority.
WHO ARE THE ORANGEMEN?
The Orangemen honor King William of Orange, a Dutchman who ousted a Catholic from the British throne in 1688 and then defeated that rival, James II, in a series of battles in Ireland. The Orange Order's biggest marches come each July 12, the anniversary of the 1690 Battle of the Boyne, when William's army forded a river south of Belfast to rout James' forces ? and according to Orange lore, ensured Protestant civil and religious liberty from that day forward.
WHO ARE THE APPRENTICE BOYS?
The Apprentice Boys of Derry, based in Northern Ireland's second-largest city, Londonderry, honor the other totemic moment from those 17th-century religious wars: the 1689 Siege of Derry. The recently deposed James, seeking to reclaim his London throne from his sanctuary in predominantly Catholic Ireland, sent forces to demand that the Protestant garrison of the walled town surrender. Teenage apprentices bolted the gates shut, starting a 105-day siege that the residents survived by eating rats.
ISN'T THIS ANCIENT HISTORY?
No. Both fraternal groups exist, in part, to keep these vivid ancestral memories alive in today's Northern Ireland. The Protestant community here has what sociologists call a "siege mentality," a view that they can never feel at ease because of a traitorous Irish minority forever committed to pushing Northern Ireland out of the United Kingdom and into the Irish Republic.
AREN'T THESE PROTESTANTS IRISH?
Ask them. The answer is a thunderous no, they're British. But this basic issue of identity continues to be questioned to this day ? even, most hurtfully, by fellow Britons in neighboring Britain.
ARE CATHOLICS RIGHT TO BE CONCERNED?
Absolutely. Orangemen provided the organizational muscle behind Northern Ireland's creation in 1921 shortly before the rest of Ireland won independence from Britain, binding together Protestants under one anti-Catholic banner determined to stop "Rome rule" from Dublin.
For its first half-century, Northern Ireland was an overtly Orange state with a Protestant-only government. They discriminated against Catholics in housing, jobs and voting power. The marches, given safe passage by a similarly Orange police force, underscored the Catholics' second-class status.
WHICH MEANS RIOTS, RIGHT?
Yep. It's no accident that Act I, Scene I of Northern Ireland's conflict in 1969 began with Catholic hostility to a march: the Apprentice Boys' main annual parade in Londonderry. Days of clashes between Catholic civilians and Protestant police forced Britain to deploy its army as peacekeepers ? a fateful decision that inspired the rise of the modern IRA and its aim to overthrow Northern Ireland.
HASN'T THE PEACE PROCESS IMPROVED THINGS?
Mostly yes. Also no.
Nearly two decades of peacemaking have transformed Northern Ireland almost beyond recognition from its blood-stained past. Paramilitary cease-fires by the IRA and outlawed Protestant gangs are underpinned by disarmament, troops have been withdrawn to barracks, Britain has promoted Catholic recruitment to create a balanced police force and a unity Protestant-Catholic government shares power with surprising harmony.
Almost. But the clock turns backward each "marching season" ? and increased rioting has been the norm for most summers since 1995.
___
Editor's note: Shawn Pogatchnik has covered Northern Ireland for The Associated Press since 1991.
Cricket Live Score of India vs Pakistan 20th Match - Colombo on 2012. Get Cric Live Score of Pakistan vs India, 20th Match of ICC World Twenty20 2012. Pakistan vs India 20th Match begins at 30 Sep 2012 onwards at Colombo. Get Full Scorecard of India vs Pakistan, 20th Match ICC World Twenty20 2012 online free. Get batting and bowling figures of 20th Match match starting at 2012, 30 Sep 2012. Online Live Match of India vs Pakistan 20th Match - ICC World Twenty20 2012 live from Colombo.
Current Time: 09/30/2012 01:11:44 GMT
Time Left:
India vs Pakistan, 20th Match
Toss: NA
: /()
Result: Match scheduled to begin at 19:30 local time (14:00 GMT)
Man of the Match
To be Decided
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India Team Squad: IK Pathan, G Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, MS Dhoni, PP Chawla, RG Sharma, V Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Z Khan, SK Raina, YK Pathan, V Kohli, MK Tiwary, L Balaji, AB Dinda, R Ashwin
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Pakistan Team Squad: Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Nazir, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Sami, Shahid Afridi, Nasir Jamshed, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Razzaq, Yasir Arafat, Umar Akmal, Asad Shafiq, Raza Hasan
Using imaging of the galaxy M87, astronomers have for the first time measured the closest stable orbit within which matter can circle a black hole. They found that this innermost orbit measures 750 times the distance from the Earth to the sun.?
By Clara Moskowitz,?SPACE.com / September 27, 2012
This image from a simulation shows an energy jet launched from a spinning black hole surrounded by a disk of accreting material.
Avery E. Broderick (University of Waterloo/Perimeter Institute)
Enlarge
For the first time, scientists have peered to the edge of a colossal black hole and measured the point of no return for matter.
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A black hole has a boundary called an event horizon. Anything that falls within a?black hole's event horizon ? be it stars, gas, or even light ? can never escape.
"Once objects fall through the event horizon, they're lost forever," Shep Doeleman, assistant director of the MIT Haystack Observatory and research associate at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, said in a statement Thursday (Sept. 27). "It's an exit door from our universe. You walk through that door, you?re not coming back."
Although the event horizon is an imaginary line that's impossible to observe, astronomers have imaged the region around a giant black hole at the center of a distant galaxy, and measured, for the first time, the closest stable orbit in which matter can circle the black hole. The findings were reported today in the journal Science.
The supermassive black hole in question lies at the center of the galaxy M87, which is about 50 million light-years from our own Milky Way. This behemoth black hole contains the mass of 6 billion suns.
Using a new observatory called the Event Horizon Telescope, which links up radio dishes in Hawaii, Arizona and California, astronomers measured that the innermost possible orbit for matter around the black hole is roughly 5.5 times the size of the black hole's event horizon.
This innermost orbit is about five times the size of the solar system, or 750 times the distance from Earth to the sun, Doeleman told SPACE.com. The distance between the Earth and the sun is nearly 93 million miles (150 million kilometers).
The observations allowed the researchers to confirm that this swirling mass around the black hole is the?source of the powerful jets?of light seen radiating from the galaxy. Many galaxies throughout the universe spot similar jets, thought to be produced by matter falling into their central black holes. Until now, no telescope has had the resolution power to verify the idea.
The?Event Horizon Telescope?is a new project that aims to link as many as 50 radio dishes around the world to work in concert to image the distant universe. Already, the observatory can see celestial objects with 2,000 times more detail than the Hubble Space Telescope.
You can follow SPACE.com on Twitter?@Spacedotcom. We're also on?Facebook?&?Google+.?
At this point, we'd rather hear just 30 seconds of Adele's "Skyfall" theme song than see anything new from the movie, but beggars can't be choosers. There's just a month and a half to go before the long-awaited 23rd James Bond film hits theaters, and 15 new images from the flick have just hit the [...]
Eating cherries lowers risk of gout attacks by 35% Public release date: 28-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Dawn Peters sciencenewsroom@wiley.com 781-388-8408 Wiley
A new study found that patients with gout who consumed cherries over a two-day period showed a 35% lower risk of gout attacks compared to those who did not eat the fruit. Findings from this case-crossover study published in Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), also suggest that risk of gout flares was 75% lower when cherry intake was combined with the uric-acid reducing drug, allopurinol, than in periods without exposure to cherries or treatment.
Previous research reports that 8.3 million adults in the U.S. suffer with gout, an inflammatory arthritis triggered by a crystallization of uric acid within the joints that causes excruciating pain and swelling. While there are many treatment options available, gout patients continue to be burdened by recurrent gout attacks, prompting patients and investigators to seek other preventive options such as cherries. Prior studies suggest that cherry products have urate-lowering effects and anti-inflammatory properties, and thus may have the potential to reduce gout pain. However, no study has yet to assess whether cherry consumption could lower risk of gout attacks.
For the present study, lead author Dr. Yuqing Zhang, Professor of Medicine and Public Health at Boston University and colleagues recruited 633 gout patients who were followed online for one year. Participants were asked about the date of gout onset, symptoms, medications and risk factors, including cherry and cherry extract intake in the two days prior to the gout attack. A cherry serving was one half cup or 10 to 12 cherries.
Participants had a mean age of 54 years, with 88% being white and 78% of subjects were male. Of those subjects with some form of cherry intake, 35% ate fresh cherries, 2% ingested cherry extract, and 5% consumed both fresh cherry fruit and cherry extract. Researchers documented 1,247 gout attacks during the one-year follow-up period, with 92% occurring in the joint at the base of the big toe.
"Our findings indicate that consuming cherries or cherry extract lowers the risk of gout attack," said Dr. Zhang. "The gout flare risk continued to decrease with increasing cherry consumption, up to three servings over two days." The authors found that further cherry intake did not provide any additional benefit. However, the protective effect of cherry intake persisted after taking into account patients' sex, body mass (obesity), purine intake, along with use of alcohol, diuretics and anti-gout medications.
In their editorial, also published in Arthritis & Rheumatism, Dr. Allan Gelber from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md. and Dr. Daniel Solomon from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard University Medical School in Boston, Mass. highlight the importance of the study by Zhang et al. as it focuses on dietary intake and risk of recurrent gout attacks. While the current findings are promising, Gelber and Solomon "would not advise that patients who suffer from gout attacks abandon standard therapies." Both the editorial and study authors concur that randomized clinical trials are necessary to confirm that consumption of cherry products could prevent gout attacks
###
This research was funded by grants from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), Arthritis Foundation and ACR Research and Education Fund.
This study and editorial are published in Arthritis & Rheumatism. Media wishing to receive a PDF of the articles may contact sciencenewsroom@wiley.com.
Full citation:"Cherry Consumption and the Risk of Recurrent Gout Attacks." Yuqing Zhang, Tuhina Neogi, Clara Chen, Christine Chaisson, David Hunter, Hyon K. Choi. Arthritis & Rheumatism; Published Online: September 28, 2012 (DOI: 10.1002/art.34677).
URL Upon publication: http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/art.34677
Editorial: "If Life Serves Up a Bowl of Cherries, and Gout Attacks are "The Pits" Implications for Therapy." Allan C. Gelber and Daniel H. Solomon. Arthritis & Rheumatism; Published Online: September 28, 2012 (DOI: 10.1002/art.34676).
URL Upon publication: http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/art.34676
Author Contact: To arrange an interview with Dr. Zhang, please contact Gina DiGravio with Boston University School of Medicine at gina.digravio@bmc.org or at +1 617-638-8480.
About the Journal:
Arthritis & Rheumatism is an official journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and the Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals (ARHP), a division of the College, and covers all aspects of inflammatory disease. The American College of Rheumatology is the professional organization who share a dedication to healing, preventing disability, and curing the more than 100 types of arthritis and related disabling and sometimes fatal disorders of the joints, muscles, and bones. Members include practicing physicians, research scientists, nurses, physical and occupational therapists, psychologists, and social workers. The journal is published by Wiley on behalf of the ACR. For more information, please visit http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/art.
About Wiley
Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has been a valued source of information and understanding for more than 200 years, helping people around the world meet their needs and fulfill their aspirations. Wiley and its acquired companies have published the works of more than 450 Nobel laureates in all categories: Literature, Economics, Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, and Peace.
Our core businesses publish scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly journals, encyclopedias, books, and online products and services; professional/trade books, subscription products, training materials, and online applications and Web sites; and educational materials for undergraduate and graduate students and lifelong learners. Wiley's global headquarters are located in Hoboken, New Jersey, with operations in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Canada, and Australia. The Company's Web site can be accessed at http://www.wiley.com. The Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols JWa and JWb.
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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.
Eating cherries lowers risk of gout attacks by 35% Public release date: 28-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Dawn Peters sciencenewsroom@wiley.com 781-388-8408 Wiley
A new study found that patients with gout who consumed cherries over a two-day period showed a 35% lower risk of gout attacks compared to those who did not eat the fruit. Findings from this case-crossover study published in Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), also suggest that risk of gout flares was 75% lower when cherry intake was combined with the uric-acid reducing drug, allopurinol, than in periods without exposure to cherries or treatment.
Previous research reports that 8.3 million adults in the U.S. suffer with gout, an inflammatory arthritis triggered by a crystallization of uric acid within the joints that causes excruciating pain and swelling. While there are many treatment options available, gout patients continue to be burdened by recurrent gout attacks, prompting patients and investigators to seek other preventive options such as cherries. Prior studies suggest that cherry products have urate-lowering effects and anti-inflammatory properties, and thus may have the potential to reduce gout pain. However, no study has yet to assess whether cherry consumption could lower risk of gout attacks.
For the present study, lead author Dr. Yuqing Zhang, Professor of Medicine and Public Health at Boston University and colleagues recruited 633 gout patients who were followed online for one year. Participants were asked about the date of gout onset, symptoms, medications and risk factors, including cherry and cherry extract intake in the two days prior to the gout attack. A cherry serving was one half cup or 10 to 12 cherries.
Participants had a mean age of 54 years, with 88% being white and 78% of subjects were male. Of those subjects with some form of cherry intake, 35% ate fresh cherries, 2% ingested cherry extract, and 5% consumed both fresh cherry fruit and cherry extract. Researchers documented 1,247 gout attacks during the one-year follow-up period, with 92% occurring in the joint at the base of the big toe.
"Our findings indicate that consuming cherries or cherry extract lowers the risk of gout attack," said Dr. Zhang. "The gout flare risk continued to decrease with increasing cherry consumption, up to three servings over two days." The authors found that further cherry intake did not provide any additional benefit. However, the protective effect of cherry intake persisted after taking into account patients' sex, body mass (obesity), purine intake, along with use of alcohol, diuretics and anti-gout medications.
In their editorial, also published in Arthritis & Rheumatism, Dr. Allan Gelber from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md. and Dr. Daniel Solomon from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard University Medical School in Boston, Mass. highlight the importance of the study by Zhang et al. as it focuses on dietary intake and risk of recurrent gout attacks. While the current findings are promising, Gelber and Solomon "would not advise that patients who suffer from gout attacks abandon standard therapies." Both the editorial and study authors concur that randomized clinical trials are necessary to confirm that consumption of cherry products could prevent gout attacks
###
This research was funded by grants from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), Arthritis Foundation and ACR Research and Education Fund.
This study and editorial are published in Arthritis & Rheumatism. Media wishing to receive a PDF of the articles may contact sciencenewsroom@wiley.com.
Full citation:"Cherry Consumption and the Risk of Recurrent Gout Attacks." Yuqing Zhang, Tuhina Neogi, Clara Chen, Christine Chaisson, David Hunter, Hyon K. Choi. Arthritis & Rheumatism; Published Online: September 28, 2012 (DOI: 10.1002/art.34677).
URL Upon publication: http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/art.34677
Editorial: "If Life Serves Up a Bowl of Cherries, and Gout Attacks are "The Pits" Implications for Therapy." Allan C. Gelber and Daniel H. Solomon. Arthritis & Rheumatism; Published Online: September 28, 2012 (DOI: 10.1002/art.34676).
URL Upon publication: http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/art.34676
Author Contact: To arrange an interview with Dr. Zhang, please contact Gina DiGravio with Boston University School of Medicine at gina.digravio@bmc.org or at +1 617-638-8480.
About the Journal:
Arthritis & Rheumatism is an official journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and the Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals (ARHP), a division of the College, and covers all aspects of inflammatory disease. The American College of Rheumatology is the professional organization who share a dedication to healing, preventing disability, and curing the more than 100 types of arthritis and related disabling and sometimes fatal disorders of the joints, muscles, and bones. Members include practicing physicians, research scientists, nurses, physical and occupational therapists, psychologists, and social workers. The journal is published by Wiley on behalf of the ACR. For more information, please visit http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/art.
About Wiley
Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has been a valued source of information and understanding for more than 200 years, helping people around the world meet their needs and fulfill their aspirations. Wiley and its acquired companies have published the works of more than 450 Nobel laureates in all categories: Literature, Economics, Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, and Peace.
Our core businesses publish scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly journals, encyclopedias, books, and online products and services; professional/trade books, subscription products, training materials, and online applications and Web sites; and educational materials for undergraduate and graduate students and lifelong learners. Wiley's global headquarters are located in Hoboken, New Jersey, with operations in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Canada, and Australia. The Company's Web site can be accessed at http://www.wiley.com. The Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols JWa and JWb.
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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.
Both Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama campaigned in Ohio on Wednesday. With Obama gaining more and more of an edge in the polls, Romney tried to appeal to voters, telling them he cares about all Americans.
By Ben Feller and Steve Peoples,?Associated Press / September 26, 2012
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks during a campaign stop at American Spring Wire, Wednesday in Bedford Heights, Ohio.
David Richard/AP
Enlarge
Slipping in states that could sink his presidential bid, Republican Mitt Romney declared Wednesday that "I care about the people of America" and can do more than President Barack Obama to improve their lives. In an all-day Ohio duel, Obama scoffed that a challenger who calls half the nation "victims" was unlikely to be of much help.
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Romney's approach reflected what he is up against: a widening Obama lead in polls in key states such as Ohio, the backlash from a leaked video in which he disparages Obama supporters as government-dependent people who see themselves as victims, and a campaign imperative to make his policy plans more plain.
With under six weeks to go, and just one week before the first big debate, Obama's campaign reveled in the latest public polling ? but tried to crush any sense of overconfidence. "If we need to pass out horse blinders to all of our staff, we will do that," said campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki.
The day's setting was Ohio, where Obama's momentum has seemed to be growing. It's also a state no Republican has won the White House without carrying.
Romney, eager to project confidence and brush aside suggestions that he was faltering, went after working-class voters outside Columbus and Cleveland before rolling to Toledo. Obama rallied college crowds at Bowling Green State University and Kent State University, reminding Ohioans their state allows them to start cast ballots next week. Early voting has already begun in more than two dozen other states.
For Romney, in his appearances and in a new TV ad in which he appeals straight to the camera, it was time for plain talk to contrast himself with Obama, and to mince no words about his expectations.
"There are so many people in our country who are hurting right now. I want to help them. I know what it takes," Romney told the crowd in Westerville. "I care about the people of America, and the difference between me and Barack Obama is I know what to do."
That message so late in the campaign ? a presidential nominee declaring his concern for all the people of the country ? was part of his widening effort to rebound from his caught-on-video comments at a fundraiser.
In those comments, made last May but only recently revealed, Romney said "47 percent of the people" pay no federal income tax, will vote for Obama no matter what, see themselves as victims, think the government must care for them and do not "take personal responsibility and care for their lives."
A new IRC paper explores some contributions being made by honey-sucker tanker operators ? that renders a small-scale sanitation service informally and within the private sector ? on waste (faecal) extraction and, in some cases, reuse. Operating outside the legal framework of waste management, this paper provides preliminary insight into the limitations and potentials of the ?honey-sucker business? as a sanitation service model, based on selected experiences in Bengaluru (India). Through semi-structured interviews and the?application of?Osterwalder and Pigneur?s (2010) business model building blocks tool, this paper reveals that: a two-sided business model is being employed by the business (benefiting both septic tank/ pit owners?and?farmers); positive outcomes of sludge reuse in farms seem to outweigh negative outcomes; and the honey-sucker business seems to be a financially viable sanitation service model (especially amongst middle-class households with no piped connections). As an exploratory study, the authors of the paper encourage further research into aspects that interlink with the honey-sucker business to achieve greater clarity on its positive contributions to society, and its prospects of scaling up and replication across different contexts. Kvarnstr?m, E.
Visit link: The business of the honey-suckers in Bengaluru (India)
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Posted by WASH on Sep 27 2012. Filed under WASH. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WTKR) ? Imagine being told, ?We help cancer patients, but just not you.? One Virginia Beach woman came to NewsChannel 3 for help after she said she was told her cancer wasn?t good enough.
?I know if I don?t get treatment, I?m not going to live, I?m not going to have a chance,? said cancer patient Vicki Andrus.
Living through cancer once is tough enough, but after seven years in remission, Vicki Andrus found out she would have to fight lung cancer for a second time.
?Came back, there was a tumor in the exact same location as other tumor, with the exact same cancer.?
So the merry go-round started again including visits to her oncologist, her radiologist, and her surgeon ordering CAT-scans, PET-scans and lung scans. That ended in the decision by doctors to remove her entire right lung.
?I left and my head was totally spinning thinking about all the if?s and buts.?
Including how she was going to pay for it all, because in her job as a teaching assistant, Vicki doesn?t get the benefit of health insurance.
?All my time and energy is not able to be spent on what?s happening to me,? she says. Right now my energy is only spent on all these overwhelming medical bills.?
With $30,000 already racked up before a single round of chemotherapy or surgery, Vicki decided to go to the State of Virginia for help, hoping she would be eligible for Medicaid.
A family member first contacted the city of Suffolk?s social services office. In an online response, an employee said she could apply but that ?the only medical category for cancer is breast and cervical cancer.?
?Breast cancer and cervical cancer would be a qualifier for Medicaid. How dare they discriminate against all the other cancers there are.?
?Cancer is cancer. I don?t care what kind you have, I don?t care what stage it?s in, and it doesn?t matter.?
Just to make sure, Vicki called her local Medicaid office in Virginia Beach and got the same answer.
Again, they told her to apply anyway, but Vicki felt discouraged that her cancer wasn?t good enough for coverage.
?You can?t just pick and choose, this one has breast cancer, we?ll take her, this one has ovarian cancer, no, she?s not going to qualify.?
?I really want to know why, get an answer from the State of Virginia about why they can pick and choose?
So Vicki asked NewsChannel 3 to take action.
And the first place we went was the state?s department of social services, which administers Medicaid.
They do admit that ?breast cancer or cervical cancer is specifically designated as a qualifying medical condition for Medicaid under the breast and cervical cancer treatment act.?
But even in that special program, women still have to be considered low-income to get help.
According to the state, if you qualify for full Medicaid coverage, cancer treatments are always paid for, no matter what type of cancer you have.
So why wasn?t this explained to Vicki by her local office?
According to the city of Virginia Beach, ?state Medicaid policy allows local social service agencies to provide general information only.?
They showed NewsChannel 3 a directive which says local offices should ?limit verbal and written information?? because ?an attempt to be helpful could be futile or lead to incorrect advice.?
It seems the local offices went against that very rule in their conversations with Vicki, giving her more information than she needed about breast and cervical cancer, and confusing her in the process.
But the state wouldn?t say if Virginia Beach or Suffolk violated social services policy.
In the end, NewsChannel 3 found out that the state was not discriminating against Vicki?s lung cancer, but their answers haven?t helped her get any closer to possible coverage.
Vicki applied for Medicaid three weeks ago, and has yet to hear back on whether she qualifies under their disabled category.
?Whatever it takes, I will fight for whatever treatment I can have, because I?m not going to give up.?
?I plan on being around for a long time. I have a lot of grandchildren that I want to see grow up, be a part of their lives.?
Vicki just underwent that surgery to remove the remaining lobes of her right lung.
She is doing well, still recovering at Sentara Norfolk Heart Hospital.
And while she is waiting on an answer for Medicaid eligibility, Sentara has told us that Vicki will receive assistance with her medical bills through their uninsured patient discount program.
It?s available to anyone without insurance, all you need to do is ask.
I get it: The Internet is a dangerous place. People want my stuff. There are bad people out there, yadda yadda yadda.
But the password requirements and security verification processes in place are Kafkaesque, mind-bending, and straight-up annoying.
Every time I need to access my online mortgage account, I am forced to reset my password because, without fail, I enter the wrong one three times. I couldn't tell you what my Apple ID is because it has an even itchier verification trigger finger, especially when you have more than one device accessing the same account. Get it wrong on one, and all your devices are borked.
When a plane crashes on a remote island in the bermuda triangle six teens have to get over loss and survive so they can get back home.
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Ed Branson draws on a sports metaphor to explain the importance of accounting in managing a business.
If a scoreboard was covered up and the final score wasn?t revealed until after the fact, it would be far more difficult to motivate players to perform at their best during the game. Yet, some business owners put off the accounting that not only would enable them to keep score of how their ventures are performing, but also engage in them more fully, says Branson, managing partner of Grand Mesa CPAs.
Given all the other demands on their time, it?s not all that surprising business owners sometimes balk at filing and bookkeeping, too, he says.
That?s why Branson says he?s excited about the potential for cloud-based accounting, payroll and document management services to make those tasks more efficient while offering up-to-the-minute financial information. It?s a tool, he says, that helps business owners take control of their operations.
Grand Mesa CPAs has scheduled a series of demonstrations on cloud-based accounting services for October. The firm plans group demonstrations at?
Ed Branson and Denise Downey run Grand Mesa CPAs, a Grand Junction-based accounting firm that offers a range of cloud-based services designed to help business owners take control of their ventures. (Business Times photo by Phil Castle)
7 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays at its offices, located at 2754 Compass Drive, Suite 200. Individual appointments also may be scheduled.
Branson and Denise Downey, his partner in the firm, say cloud-based services are basically those offered through the Internet. The computer software and hardware needed to process and store information? also are accessed through the Internet. The means a business needs only a computer, scanner and Internet access to make the process work.
Branson and Downey say their firm offers clients as much or as little as they want in terms of cloud-based services, whether it?s billing customers, paying bills, processing payrolls or bookkeeping.
The firm not only works with clients to customize services to meet their needs, but also offers training, they say.
The key to getting the most out of cloud-based services, Branson says, is to enable business owners to touch a document only once.
For example, a business owner who receives a bill in the mail would inspect that bill to make sure it?s accurate, scan the bill to create an electronic image, push a computer button to print out a check and put the check into an envelope for mailing.
Thanks to cloud-based services, the filing and accounting functions already have been completed, Branson said. The only thing left to do is to shred the original paper document.
The process similarly works for other functions, including billing customers and paying employees, he says.
Cloud-based services allow business owners, employees and accountants to work simultaneously with information stored on computer servers on the Internet and accessed online from anywhere there?s an Internet connection, Branson and Downey say.
At the same time, cloud-based services eliminate concerns related to data backups, software updates and virus protection, they say. With cloud-based payroll services, employees can enjoy direct deposits and debit cards as well as online access to earnings reports.
One of the biggest benefits of all to cloud-based services is the availability of financial information about a business in real time, Downey says. Business owners don?t have to wait until the end of the month, the week or even the day to know how their operations are performing, she says.
Branson says Grand Mesa CPAs uses many of the techniques and processes it offers clients and has enjoyed a paperless operation since 1999.
Downey says she expects more and more clients to take advantage of cloud-based services. The growing use of smart phones and tablet computers likely will hasten more widespread adoption. ?That?s where it?s going, absolutely,?
Branson sees the trend as a positive one in helping business owners gain more information about their operations and, in the process, more control. ?It?s your real-time information. It?s your scoreboard. Let?s help you take control of it.?
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Couponing is quickly becoming an addictive trend that is sweeping across the country. Americans are saving billions of dollars each year by clipping, cutting, printing and scanning coupons.? You no longer have to buy the Sunday paper to get the deals or wait for the weekly circular to come in the mail. Simply go online and visit one of the many online coupon sites, such as myDealCompass, and discover how they can help you save today.
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Pornography. Casual sex. Crude jokes about sex. Hooking up with no strings attached.
Hanna Rosin?s most recent Atlantic article, ?Boys on the Side,? describes highly intelligent, career-oriented women engaging in all of these behaviors with a mere shrug of the shoulders. In the minds of many driven young women on college campuses across the country, sexual promiscuity doesn?t harm anyone. Hooking up has become the new sexual norm for young adults, and according to this norm, students shy away from committed relationships and instead enjoy one-time sexual encounters with no expectation of further intimacy. And, Rosin argues, the sexual liberation of the 1960s that led to the more recent ?hookup culture? on college campuses is good for women?it allows women to enjoy casual sex without being ?tied down? by serious commitment.
Rosin initially substantiates this claim through interviews with her subjects. Most women who are engaging in the hookup culture report that they don?t want to return to the days of chastity belts or even more traditional dating, and Rosin takes these positive reports as evidence that the hookup culture is not only here to stay but is also good for the women involved. She provides no evidence, however, that women who hookup a lot during their early 20s go on to lead fulfilling lives, and she doesn?t offer a counterpoint of women who have opted out of hooking up. Furthermore, Rosin offers a few statistics to demonstrate positive trends nationwide when it comes to sexual mores. The rate of teenage girls having sex has declined from 37 to 27 percent in the past 25 years, for instance. And the rate of rape and sexual assault against females has declined by 70 percent nationally since 1993. Both of these numbers demonstrate significant progress for women. Whether or not the positive statistics correlate to the rise of the hookup culture, however, remains unclear.
Rosin?s stance on hookup culture hinges on two assumptions. First, she assumes that economic productivity and personal independence are the twin goals of every modern person. Feminists shouldn?t decry the advent of the hookup culture, she argues, because it ?is too bound up with everything that?s fabulous about being a young woman in 2012?the freedom, the confidence, the knowledge that you can always depend on yourself.? Moreover, ?[the hookup culture] is not a place where they drown . . . unlike women in earlier ages, they have more-important things on their minds, such as good grades and internships and job interviews and a financial future of their own.? Intimacy, family, and community might be desirable, but only after a woman has established herself as an independent financial entity.
Second, though I suspect she would disagree with me here, Rosin?s argument assumes that for women to ?arrive,? they must become just like men. She describes sexually aggressive women at a business-school party as ones who ?had learned to keep pace with the boys,? and later as ones who were ?behaving exactly like frat boys.? Instead of challenging male behavior that demeans women (and men), Rosin capitulates to it. Instead of arguing for men and women to change culture in such a way that the responsibility for pregnancy and childrearing falls on the shoulders of both parents, she simply heralds women?s ability to avoid pregnancy through birth control and abortion. And instead of promoting an understanding of human flourishing that includes relationships with trust, responsibility, and love, she succumbs to a truncated and depleted view of humanity that esteems individual work as the highest goal and self-serving love as the highest love.
From a Christian perspective, it?s easy to critique Rosin?s argument, one that she explores in her new book, The End of Men (a review of which Christianity Today will publish online in the coming weeks). Even if they don?t always heed it in practice, Christians at least acknowledge the truth and goodness of the biblical view of human sexuality?that both men and women will honor God and find personal fulfillment in engaging in a sexual relationship with one other person within the covenant of marriage. Christians understand relationships as the core of our humanity, beginning with God?s relationship within the Trinity, and extending to humans, who are invited into relationship with God but also into interdependent relationships with one another. Marriage, children, and community are viewed not as problems to be delayed until a career is in place, but rather as blessings to be received. And Christians understand love as, at its core, self-sacrificial, modeled after the love of Christ offered to us on the cross.
In Rosin?s view, ?Feminist progress right now largely depends on the existence of the hookup culture.? But women can continue to find their rightful roles in the workplace and within the home without succumbing to the lie that a fulfilling life is one in which financial independence and self-sufficiency are the primary goals. Instead of assuming that women must become just like the traditional norm of sexually active men, the gospel offers a transformative vision of humanity. And it isn?t a picture of the 1950s housewife either. It?s a picture that challenges notions of traditional masculinity and femininity, including, but not limited to, the sexual norms for both. Yes, it?s a picture that calls for chastity for both men and women outside of marriage. But it?s also a picture that holds forth the possibility not of sexual liberation, but of true freedom.
Christians have done plenty of finger-wagging about the state of our nation?s sexual culture, for the same reasons that Rosin extols it. But Rosin?s posture, and the norm it extols, calls for more than rebuke. Christians have an opportunity to offer a different understanding not only of sex, but of what it means to know abiding joy and peace as a full human being. Let?s make sure we can both articulate and live that understanding of sex and humanity in a world starving for true fulfillment.
A Connecticut woman faces three years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 after pleading guilty to filing a false federal income tax return.
According to court documents, Renee Lamar Joseph, 38, of Norwalk, Conn., was the bookkeeper for Joseph Landscaping and Masonry, a sole proprietorship landscaping and masonry business owned and operated by her husband.? Joseph?s responsibilities included handling JLM?s billing, receiving payments and recording payments in the business accounting software, and providing tax-related information to tax return preparers.
On April 15, 2004, Joseph signed and filed a false joint 2003 tax return, Form 1040, that falsely represented JLM?s Schedule C business receipts as $221,621 when, in fact, the business receipts for calendar year 2003 were approximately $315,949. Instead of providing her tax preparers with bank statements or information from the business? accounting software, Joseph provided summaries, which she created and adjusted, that substantially understated the business?s income.
In pleading guilty, Joseph also acknowledged that she told an accountant assisting her in an IRS audit in 2006 that she had ?bad bookkeeping ethics.?
More Tax Help, IRS News and Tax Relief Tips:
Classic Case of Tax Evasion: Under Reporting Income Gets Florida Man 51 Months in Prison
Tax Professionals Can Help Settle IRS Back Taxes, A Better Choice Than Tax Evasion
Filing False Tax Return by Guilty Florida Ophthalmologist Incurs Huge Penalties and Prison Time
For Filing False Tax Return, A Possible Year in Prison
False Tax Returns Filed by Wife for Husband?s Business
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