Monday, November 28, 2011

Colin Powell's Call to Service (ABC News)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/166946826?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Crapgadget: BFF Gemz dilute the notion of a best friend (video)

If you want a charm that hangs 'round your neck and glows whenever your friend Missy tells you she loves Justin Bieber, then eMotion Inc has the gadget for you. The BFF Gemz sends pre-written coded messages to pals up to 450 feet away, which they can access the next time they're at a computer. You can add up to eight best friends (the BFF currency devalued to Weimar proportions) and four more if you buy some GPA: Girl Power Average points. It's not entirely private: Mom and Pop will get a weekly email, listing who you're messaging, so if you swap notes with that gal from the wrong end of town you'd better stick to paper airplanes. Those curious to see what the kids might be clamoring for instead of a new cellphone, check out the video after the break.

Continue reading Crapgadget: BFF Gemz dilute the notion of a best friend (video)

Crapgadget: BFF Gemz dilute the notion of a best friend (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Nov 2011 18:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceBFF <3, FCC  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/25/crapgadget-bff-gemz-dilute-the-notion-of-a-best-friend-video/

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Sunday, November 27, 2011

NASA Fuels Rocket to Launch Huge New Mars Rover (SPACE.com)

This story was updated at 8:10 a.m. EST Saturday.

NASA has begun fueling the rocket that will launch its huge Mars rover toward the Red Planet this morning (Nov. 26).

Technicians started loading up the car-size Curiosity rover'sAtlas 5 rocket with super-chilled liquid oxygen propellant just before 8 a.m. EST (1300 GMT) today, about two hours ahead of the planned launch time of 10:02 a.m.

Chances still look good that Curiosity ? the centerpiece of NASA's $2.5 billion Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission to assess past and present Martian habitability ? will get off the ground on time, officials say. Current forecasts predict just a 30 percent chance that bad weather will postpone the launch, and the mission team is working no issues with the rover or its rocket.

"The Mars Science Lab and the rover Curiosity [are] locked and loaded, ready for final countdown on Saturday's launch to Mars," said Colleen Hartman, assistant associate administrator at NASA's science mission directorate. [Photos: Last Look at Curiosity Rover]

A rover on steroids

At 1 ton, Curiosity weighs about five times more than each of its immediate Mars rover predecessors, the golf-cart-size twins Spirit and Opportunity, which landed on the Red Planet in January 2004 to look for evidence of past water activity.

Both Spirit and Opportunity carried five science instruments. Curiosity boasts 10, including a rock-vaporizing laser and gear designed to identify organic molecules ? the carbon-containing building blocks of life as we know it.

Curiosity also sports a drill at the end of its 7-foot (2.1-meter) robotic arm that will allow it to collect samples from the interior of Martian rocks, a first for a Red Planet robot.

"This rover, Curiosity rover, is really a rover on steroids," Hartman said.

Investigating Gale Crater

After liftoff, Curiosity will embark upon an 8 1/2-month cruise to Mars. In August 2012, it will land at a 100-mile-wide (160-kilometer) crater called Gale and begin assessing whether Mars is, or ever was, capable of supporting microbial life.

A 3-mile-high (5-km) mound of layered sediment rises from Gale's center. These layers preserve a record of Martian environmental change spanning about one billion years, and Curiosity is designed to read them like a book.

The rover will pay special attention to layers near the mound's base, where Mars-orbiting spacecraft have identified clays and sulfates ? minerals that form in the presence of liquid water.

The rocks shift farther up the mountain, capturing Mars' transition from a relatively warm, wet planet to the frigid, dry and dusty world we see today. Curiosity's observations could help shed light on this dramatic transformation, researchers said.

The MSL team is quick to stress that Curiosity is not hunting for signs of life; if any microbes are squirming about in Mars' red dirt, the rover probably won't be able to spot them. But Curiosity's mission is a necessary precursor to future efforts to hunt down potential Red Planet life, researchers said.

"A habitable environment needs to be described," said MSL project scientist John Grotzinger of Caltech. "You just simply have to know where to look."

You can follow SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter: @michaeldwall. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/space/20111126/sc_space/nasafuelsrockettolaunchhugenewmarsrover

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Saturday, November 26, 2011

Gingrich could draw GOP ire on immigration (AP)

ATLANTA ? Newt Gingrich has charged into the fray over illegal immigration, risking conservative ire just as his Republican presidential campaign ? once declared all but dead ? has vaulted into front-runner status.

The firebrand former House speaker broke with what has become a reflexive Republican hard line on immigration, calling for "humane" treatment for otherwise law-abiding illegal immigrants who have been in the United States for decades, establishing deep family and community ties.

Gingrich suggested they should be provided a pathway to legal residency but not citizenship. Republicans, he said, should see illegal immigrants through the prism of another issue near and dear to the GOP faithful: family values.

"I don't see how the party that says it's the party of the family is going to adopt an immigration policy which destroys families that have been here a quarter-century," Gingrich said at a televised debate Tuesday night.

The response was swift.

Some conservatives asserted he had wounded his candidacy, perhaps fatally.

"Newt did himself significant harm tonight on immigration among caucus and primary voters," tweeted Tim Albrecht, deputy chief of staff to Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, whose state holds the lead-off caucuses in January.

Immigration has proven to be politically treacherous for Republicans trying to appeal to the party's conservative base. Just ask Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who said critics of in-state tuition for illegal immigrants "did not have a heart." Perry had to apologize for the remark.

William Gheen, president of the Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, said Gingrich's campaign "will now take the `Perry plunge.'"

But others praised Gingrich for emerging as a "voice of reason" on an emotionally charged topic.

"With me, personally, I fall right in line with him," said Columbia, S.C., Gingrich supporter Allen Olson, a former tea party official. "It's utterly impossible to round up 12 million people and ship them off."

The stance is not a new one for Gingrich. Aides say he was saying the same thing at town halls and forums long before he was running for president. It's laid out clearly on a campaign Web page.

What is new is the scrutiny he's receiving. Recent polls have shown Gingrich at or near the top of the Republican field, along with Mitt Romney. With a little less than six weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses, people are listening to the former Georgia congressman.

And far from a stumble, Tuesday night's remarks seemed a calculated tactic to draw a contrast with Romney, whom he now sees as his chief rival to the party nomination and who has had his own trouble with conservatives, largely because of the health care overhaul law he pushed through as governor of Massachusetts.

But Romney has been tough on illegal immigration while running for president. He said Tuesday night that what Gingrich was proposing would act as a magnet for foreigners to enter the country illegally.

The Gingrich team countered by pointing to comments Romney made on NBC's "Meet the Press" in 2007, during which he called proposals similar to the one Gingrich was backing "reasonable."

In Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday, Romney didn't address those past comments directly.

"My view is that those people who have waited in line patiently to come to this country legally should be ahead in line," he told reporters. "And those people who have come here illegally should not be given a special deal."

Opponents of illegal immigration say Gingrich has a checkered history on the topic.

While in Congress, Gingrich voted for amnesty for illegal immigrants in 1986 and for smaller, more specific amnesties throughout the 1990s, said Roy Beck, president of NumbersUSA, which advocates tighter immigration controls. The organization gave Gingrich a "D" for his time in Congress.

Beck said he believed Gingrich was playing to the Republican establishment, which has been softer on illegal immigration than the grass-roots wing of the party.

But the Gingrich team worked furiously Wednesday to fend off a potential backlash, rushing out several news releases praising his stance, including one with remarks from the son of former President Ronald Reagan.

"My father never would have broken up a family to try and make, in fact, a point on immigration," Michael Reagan said on Fox News. "And so he would have applauded Newt Gingrich on that."

Gingrich himself said he is "prepared to take the heat for saying let's be humane in enforcing the law without giving them citizenship."

Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., chuckled when asked about Gingrich's remarks. Chambliss was booed in 2007 at an annual meeting of the Georgia Republican Party for championing an amnesty program similar to what Gingrich is pushing now. One of his critics at the time, Chambliss said, was Gingrich.

"But I wouldn't underestimate Newt," Chambliss continued. "He's one of the smartest politicians out there, and don't think he hasn't thought this through."

___

Associated Press writers Kate Brumback in Atlanta and Tom Beaumont in Iowa contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111124/ap_on_el_pr/us_gingrich_immigration

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Nuclear Taco Hat Predicts How Unpleasant the Morning After Spicy Foods Will Be [Food]

You know it's coming, but this sensor hat developed by altLab for their hack project at Codebits 2011 will give you a better idea of just how unpleasant your morning will be the day after eating spicy foods. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/QSG8B_P0xrs/nuclear-taco-hat-predicts-how-unpleasant-the-morning-after-spicy-foods-will-be

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Friday, November 25, 2011

China launches probe of US renewable energy policy

(AP) ? China's government announced a trade probe Friday of whether U.S. support for renewable energy companies improperly hurts foreign suppliers, adding to tensions over an industry seen as an important source of jobs and economic growth.

The announcement comes after Washington said Nov. 9 it would investigate whether Beijing is inappropriately subsidizing its own makers of solar panels, allowing them to flood the U.S. market with low-priced products and hurt American competitors.

"The Commerce Ministry has begun an investigation into whether U.S. support policies and subsidy measures for renewable energy industries promote trade barriers," the ministry said on its website.

The ministry said it was acting on a complaint by Chinese manufacturers.

Trade tensions over renewable energy are especially sensitive at a time when the United States and other Western economies want to boost technology exports to revive economic growth and cut high unemployment.

The United States and China are the two biggest markets for solar, wind and other renewable energy technology. Both governments are promoting their own suppliers in hopes of generating higher-paid technology jobs.

China's trade probe will cover wind, solar, hydro and other renewable energy policies and include six projects in Washington, Massachusetts, Ohio, New Jersey and California, the Commerce Ministry said.

Business groups complain that Beijing appears to be trying to limit foreign access to its fast-growing renewable energy market with proposals to limit ownership or require companies to transfer technology to Chinese partners.

The U.S. commerce secretary, John Bryson, said Chinese officials told him the country is expected to invest $1.7 trillion over the next five years in renewable energy and other emerging industries.

___

Chinese Ministry of Commerce (in Chinese): www.mofcom.gov.cn

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-11-25-AS-China-US-Energy-Investigation/id-d10325301e0547ccae98080f29d80e8c

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China November factory activity slumps to 32-month low (Reuters)

BEIJING (Reuters) ? Chinese factories battled with their weakest activity in 32 months in November, a preliminary purchasing managers' survey showed, reviving worries that China may be skidding toward an economic hard landing and compounding global recession fears.

The HSBC flash manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI), the earliest indicator of China's industrial activity, slumped in November to 48, a low not seen since March 2009.

The data showed the world's growth engine is not immune to economic troubles abroad, and could further unnerve financial markets already roiled by Europe's deteriorating debt crisis.

November's flash reading is a sharp three-point fall from October's final figure of 51 and indicated Chinese factory output shrank on the month in November. A PMI reading of 50 demarcates expansion from contraction.

The last time the PMI slipped below 50 was in September, when the index hit 49.9.

"Industrial production growth is likely to slow further to 11-12 percent year-on-year in coming months as domestic demand cools and external demand is set to weaken," said Qu Hongbin, a HSBC economist.

In line with the dismal headline number, the flash output sub-index tumbled to a 32-month low of 46.7, a steep drop from October's final reading of 51.4.

The marked slowdown in activity cooled factory inflation sharply. The sub-indices for input and output prices sunk around 10 points each to below 50, hugging lows last seen in April 2009.

New export orders were the only bright spot in the survey, holding steady from October to stay above 50.

But the sub-index for new orders suffered its biggest drop in 1- years to sink well below the 50-point mark, suggesting factories received fewer orders on the whole in November even though export orders held up.

Unlike China's official PMI which is published by Beijing and tilts toward large state firms, the HSBC PMI surveys are skewed toward private companies that have been harder hit by China's monetary tightening campaign.

As recent as July, China raised interest rates for the third time this year in a bid to calm rising consumer prices.

STILL A SOFT LANDING?

Weighed by tight domestic monetary conditions and waning demand in its two biggest export markets, Europe and the United States, China's economy lost steam in the third quarter and all signs suggest it would slow further.

Easing activity puts pressure on Beijing to relax monetary policy at the margins by loosening bank lending restrictions, for instance. But until Europe's crisis gets out of hand, few analysts think China is ready to cut interest rates.

Growth in exports hit eight-month lows in October as manufacturing output grew at its weakest in a year. The exuberant Chinese property market is also coming off a boil to drag on real estate construction and investment.

But HSBC's Qu argued China is still headed for a soft-landing as cooling inflation gives Beijing more room to ease policy and support economic growth if needed.

"As inflation is likely to decelerate at a faster-than-expected pace, it will leave more room for Beijing to step up selective easing measures, which should gradually filter through to keep China on track for a soft-landing," he said.

A slackening economy pulled China's inflation to 5.5 percent in October, down from three-year peaks of 6.5 percent struck in July.

The flash PMI is based on up to 90 percent of total responses to the monthly survey and is a snapshot of the final data. HSBC stared publishing the series in February.

(Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111123/bs_nm/us_china_pmi_hsbc

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Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Slippery Smartphones, Windows Explorer Icons, and Brown-Bag Lunches [From The Tips Box]

Readers offer their best tips for using your smartphone at your desk, changing Windows Explorer views on-the-fly, and packing your lunch.

Don't like the gallery layout? Click here to view everything on one page.

Every day we receive boatloads of great reader tips in our inbox, but for various reasons?maybe they're a bit too niche, maybe we couldn't find a good way to present it, or maybe we just couldn't fit it in?the tip didn't make the front page. From the Tips Box is where we round up some of our favorites for your buffet-style consumption. Got a tip of your own to share? Add it in the comments, email it to tips at lifehacker.com, or share it on our tips and expert pages.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/g91il-BLSY4/

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Nicki Minaj's Pink Friday Follow-Up Due Early 2012

'Nicki's back in the studio, so we're looking to drop Nicki in the first quarter,' Cash Money boss Birdman says.
By Jocelyn Vena


Nicki Minaj
Photo: Frank Micelotta/Getty Images

The countdown is on, Barbz. Nicki Minaj's Cash Money boss Birdman is dishing on when the fierce female MC plans to drop her follow-up to Pink Friday.

"Nicki's back in the studio, so we're looking to drop Nicki in the first quarter," Brian "Birdman" Williams said in an interview with Billboard.com. He went on to dish that Minaj could potentially drop new music sometime before year-end. "Maybe this year? I don't know," he added about releasing a single before 2012 strikes. "We're really thinking it out. But she's in the studio, and we're looking real soon, because she's ready to go and we're ready to go with her."

Earlier this month, BET reported that Minaj posted a blog post about how her alter-ego Roman would play a part in her new music. Although the post was later removed, the MC teased that Roman is out for revenge.

"Roman will be in rare form this time. You know why? Cuz he no longer gives a f---," she wrote. "He has two more weeks in boarding school. We're going to pick him up now. When he lands, he will address the nation in the form of music. He will also announce the date."

Over the summer, Roman was the topic of discussion when Minaj teased her new LP. "I don't think I'm hitting up anybody for features for this sophomore album," she told us. "Roman ... possibly. But I never give away all my secrets."

Whether or not Roman will have anything to do with this record, Minaj's Pink Friday producer Kane Beatz recently told MTV News, "We got one so far. She's in L.A. goin' crazy. ... She just started, so she's really picking her music and picking the songs. She's real selective. She'll pick all the beats before she even starts writing, so right now, we're just getting music together, and it's goin' crazy right now."

Related Artists

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1674818/nicki-minaj-album.jhtml

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Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Mimo Magic Touch adds 10 inches of capacitive touchscreen to your PC using only USB

Mimo Magic Touch
We've seen monitors with touch input and displays powered only by USB, but combining both those features into a single unit would make for something truly unique. We've gotta hand it to Mimo Monitors for pulling it off -- the Magic Touch and Magic Touch Deluxe deliver 10.1 inches of capacitive interactivity using only a single USB 2.0 cable. The panel itself offers a resolution of 1024 x 600 for keeping video chats out of your way, displaying email or monitoring social networks. The Deluxe version also adds a two-port USB hub but, if you plan to charge your devices through it, you'll have to hook up the optional AC adapter. Sadly, while they can act as a secondary monitor regardless of OS, you'll need a Windows 7 machine to take advantage of the touch capabilities -- and even then it's single touch only (though, the panel itself is technically capable of four-point multitouch). Both models are available to pre-order now for $300 (Magic Touch) or $330 (Magic Touch Deluxe) with delivery expected before Christmas. Check out the complete PR after the break.

Continue reading Mimo Magic Touch adds 10 inches of capacitive touchscreen to your PC using only USB

Mimo Magic Touch adds 10 inches of capacitive touchscreen to your PC using only USB originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/21/mimo-magic-touch-adds-10-inches-of-capacitive-touchscreen-to-you/

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A new model for understanding biodiversity

A new model for understanding biodiversity [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 21-Nov-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Katherine Gombay
katherine.gombay@mcgill.ca
514-398-2189
McGill University

Researchers develop a unified theory of ecosystem change by combining spatial modeling and food web analysis

Animals like foxes and raccoons are highly adaptable. They move around and eat everything from insects to eggs. They and other "generalist feeders" like them may also be crucial to sustaining biological diversity, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

McGill biology researchers have developed a unified, spatially based understanding of biodiversity that takes into account the complex food webs of predators and prey. "Biodiversity exists within a landscape. Predators and prey are continuously on the move as their habitats change it's a complex dynamic system," says lead author Pradeep Pillai, a doctoral candidate at McGill.

Previous theories of biodiversity have either concentrated on the complex network of feeding interactions that connects all species into food webs or have focused on the way that species are connected in space. "A unified theory of ecological diversity requires understanding how species interact both in space and time, and this is what is different about our work," explains co-author Michel Loreau, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Theoretical Community and Ecosystem Ecology.

What they discovered was that a "branching network" maintained by generalist species, like foxes or coyotes, that are able to move around and prey on different species in different locations, have an important role in promoting complex food webs and thereby in maintaining biodiversity. The researchers concluded that these generalist species have the advantage of being able to find prey no matter where they are as they move from one place to another, and this sustains the network.

This theory also lays a foundation for understanding the effects human activities like deforestation are likely to have not simply on a single species but on whole food webs. The researchers show how food webs are eroded by species extinction when disturbed by habitat destruction. "The theory is useful because it helps us understand how biodiversity is maintained, but also the impacts humans have when they disrupt ecological networks by destroying and fragmenting habitat," concludes co-author Andrew Gonzalez, Canada Research Chair in Biodiversity Science and Director of the Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Science.

###

This research was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Fonds qubcois de la recherche sur la nature et les technologies.

More news from McGill University: http://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/

Contact:
Katherine Gombay
Katherine.gombay@mcgill.ca
Relations avec les mdias | Media Relations
Universit McGill | McGill University
T. 514.398.2189
http://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/
http://twitter.com/#!/McGilluMedia


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share 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.


A new model for understanding biodiversity [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 21-Nov-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Katherine Gombay
katherine.gombay@mcgill.ca
514-398-2189
McGill University

Researchers develop a unified theory of ecosystem change by combining spatial modeling and food web analysis

Animals like foxes and raccoons are highly adaptable. They move around and eat everything from insects to eggs. They and other "generalist feeders" like them may also be crucial to sustaining biological diversity, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

McGill biology researchers have developed a unified, spatially based understanding of biodiversity that takes into account the complex food webs of predators and prey. "Biodiversity exists within a landscape. Predators and prey are continuously on the move as their habitats change it's a complex dynamic system," says lead author Pradeep Pillai, a doctoral candidate at McGill.

Previous theories of biodiversity have either concentrated on the complex network of feeding interactions that connects all species into food webs or have focused on the way that species are connected in space. "A unified theory of ecological diversity requires understanding how species interact both in space and time, and this is what is different about our work," explains co-author Michel Loreau, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Theoretical Community and Ecosystem Ecology.

What they discovered was that a "branching network" maintained by generalist species, like foxes or coyotes, that are able to move around and prey on different species in different locations, have an important role in promoting complex food webs and thereby in maintaining biodiversity. The researchers concluded that these generalist species have the advantage of being able to find prey no matter where they are as they move from one place to another, and this sustains the network.

This theory also lays a foundation for understanding the effects human activities like deforestation are likely to have not simply on a single species but on whole food webs. The researchers show how food webs are eroded by species extinction when disturbed by habitat destruction. "The theory is useful because it helps us understand how biodiversity is maintained, but also the impacts humans have when they disrupt ecological networks by destroying and fragmenting habitat," concludes co-author Andrew Gonzalez, Canada Research Chair in Biodiversity Science and Director of the Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Science.

###

This research was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Fonds qubcois de la recherche sur la nature et les technologies.

More news from McGill University: http://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/

Contact:
Katherine Gombay
Katherine.gombay@mcgill.ca
Relations avec les mdias | Media Relations
Universit McGill | McGill University
T. 514.398.2189
http://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/
http://twitter.com/#!/McGilluMedia


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share 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/2011-11/mu-an112111.php

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Military dropping anti-malaria drug (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? Almost four decades after inventing a potent anti-malarial drug, the U.S. Army has pushed it to the back of its medicine cabinet.

The dramatic about-face follows years of complaints and concerns that mefloquine caused psychiatric and physical side effects even as it was used around the globe as a front-line defense against the mosquito-borne disease that kills about 800,000 people a year.

"Mefloquine is a zombie drug. It's dangerous, and it should have been killed off years ago," said Dr. Remington Nevin, an epidemiologist and Army major who has published research that he said showed the drug can be potentially toxic to the brain. He believes the drop in prescriptions is a tacit acknowledgement of the drug's serious problems.

Over the past three years, the Army slashed by almost 75 percent the amount of mefloquine it prescribes, even as it sent thousands more soldiers to malaria-prone Afghanistan.

The decrease in doses followed two orders from military and Pentagon leaders in 2009. One, from the Army's surgeon general, ordered the branch to limit its use to specific circumstances. Other branches, however, continue to favor mefloquine.

"We are constantly looking to ensure we are taking care of (soldiers) the best we can," said Army Col. Carol Labadie, the service's pharmacy program manager. "If that means changing from one drug to another because now this original drug has shown to be potentially harmful ... it is in our interests to make that change."

Army researchers started developing mefloquine toward the end of the Vietnam War and began using it widely after it was licensed by Roche Pharmaceuticals under the brand name Lariam in the early 1990s.

It gained support among the fighting forces because it works in areas where mosquitoes developed resistance to an earlier treatment, chloroquine, and requires just one tablet a week, not the daily dose needed with other medications.

For years, the Army downplayed veterans' criticism of the drug and insisted its protection against malaria easily outweighed the small risks.

Some users complained the pill caused varying degrees of psychiatric symptoms ranging from nightmares, depression and paranoia to auditory hallucinations and complete mental breakdowns. Army literature says such symptoms occur at a rate of between one per 2,000-13,000 people. Critics, including Nevin, contend the number is far higher.

Family members have even blamed the drug on their loved ones' suicides.

Retired Navy Capt. Gary Foster said he cut his career short in part because of the effects of taking mefloquine in 2008 and 2009.

"I began to suffer short term memory loss, not able to recall what I had done earlier," he wrote in an email. "I also had more bouts of anxiety, and I cannot for the life of me tell you why."

In February 2009, Army Surgeon General Eric Schoomaker sent a policy memo to doctors saying it should be used only if soldiers could not tolerate doxycycline, a general antibiotic effective at preventing malaria.

In September 2009, Ellen P. Embrey, who at the time was deputy assistant secretary of defense overseeing health affairs, sent a letter similar to Schoomaker's. This time, it was directed across all military branches.

A small but vocal group of anti-mefloquine campaigners seized on the memos as vindication.

"I was stunned," said retired Navy commander Bill Manofsky, who said he sustained permanent damage to his sense of balance after taking Lariam in Kuwait in 2002 and has been a persistent critic of the drug.

"It's like you scream into a hurricane until you are hoarse," he said. "We knew we were right."

Roche says it stopped selling Lariam in the U.S. in 2008 because of the availability of generics and alternative therapies.

Roche spokesman Christopher Vancheri said in an email he could not comment on the military's stance on mefloquine, but noted that the drug continues to be available in over 50 countries.

In 2008, the Army dispensed 8,574 courses of the drug. In 2010, it fell to 2,054. At the same time, the Army increased fivefold the number of doxycycline prescriptions ? to more than 80,000 ? reflecting the increasing number of soldiers deployed to Afghanistan.

Spending followed a similar pattern, with the Pentagon buying almost $1.8 million of mefloquine in 2009, enough for about 10,000 yearlong courses. The amount dropped to $1.5 million last year. So far this year, the military has only spent about $50,000.

It's not clear how many of the tablets have been dispensed.

The Navy and Marine Corps have actually slightly increased their mefloquine prescriptions over the past three years, from about 1,200 in 2008 to nearly 2,000 last year. Numbers could be higher still because prescriptions filled overseas are frequently not counted.

The Air Force, which has long banned its pilots from using the drug, has been decreasing its usage over the past two years.

Capt. Christopher Clagett, who directs the Navy's Department of Preventive Medicine, said his service's view is mefloquine remains one of his best tools to prevent malaria. He said it is much cheaper than the most effective drug, Malarone, and can often work better than doxycycline.

"It would be imprudent and would place our personnel at the far greater risk of malaria to abandon an effective anti-malarial due to unsubstantiated allegations of chronic effects," Clagett wrote in an email, "than to continue the judicious and selective use of an imperfect, but nevertheless effective and valuable medication."

In August, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., wrote to the secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs, urging them to strengthen safeguards for the use of the drug. The VA last month stripped mefloquine from the advice section on its website while it reviews recent research into the drug's side effects.

Nevin, the Army doctor, has riled superiors with public attacks on mefloquine, calling it "probably the worst-suited drug for the military." He noted that its side effects can closely mirror symptoms of stress disorders related to combat, making diagnosis of neurological problems difficult.

"It is a story of the military bureaucracy gradually and reluctantly coming to terms with a tragic, possibly catastrophic, decades-long series of errors and missteps," Nevin said.

___

Online:

http://www.pdhealth.mil/mefloquine.asp

http://www.lariaminfo.org

___

Watkins can be reached at http://twitter.com/thomaswatkins

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/usmilitary/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111119/ap_on_re_us/us_military_malaria_medication

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Remain of the Day: Facebook Finds New Places to Put Ads [For What It's Worth]

Get the most popular stories and breaking news directly in your Twitter feed Follow @Lifehacker

Remain of the Day: Facebook Finds New Places to Put AdsSoon you'll be seeing advertisements in your Facebook News Ticker, Adobe will release Flash for Android 4.0, and Amazon offers slower shipping and free MP3s for Prime accounts.

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Monday, November 21, 2011

Insight: Tibetans in China seek fiery way out of despair (Reuters)

DAOFU, China (Reuters) ? The Ganden Jangchup Choeling Nunnery stands hidden from view on an isolated mountain-top in southwestern China, accessible only by a twisting, rocky road. It was here, in a mud-brick hut, that Palden Choetso lived.

The 35-year-old Tibetan Buddhist nun burned herself to death on a public street an hour's drive away earlier this month, the latest in a string of self-immolations to protest against Chinese religious controls over Tibet.

Palden was a quiet woman who had been with the nunnery in the Ganzi prefecture in Sichuan province for more than a decade, her friends said. A bright nun who studied Tibetan Buddhism, she was well-versed in reciting spiritual texts and was an ardent follower of the exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama.

No one suspected, however, that Palden would sacrifice herself, writhing in flames on a dusty road lined with shops in downtown Daofu, or Tawu in Tibetan.

"I want the Dalai Lama to return to China, I want freedom for Tibet!" she is said to have shouted as fire engulfed her body.

"She had drunk several jin of gasoline," a senior religious figure at the nunnery told Reuters, referring to a traditional weight of measure that is about half a kilogram. "We got a call that she had set herself on fire, and a few of us went down to try to save her. But it was too late."

In China, eleven Tibetan monks and nuns -- some former clergy -- have resorted to the extreme protest since March this year. At least six have been fatal.

The similarities are striking: All called for the return of the 76-year-old Dalai Lama, who fled to exile in India in 1959, and for freedom for Tibet.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111120/wl_nm/us_china_tibetans

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[OOC] X-Men: The Next Stand Plot Discussion & Ideas

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This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?X-Men: The Next Stand?. Anything posted here will also show up there.

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Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.

Here we discuss and help determine the plot of this roleplay. The cure is still being treated to mutants and while the Brotherhood had been dissolved and there haven't been aggressive actions taken, there is still much controversy surrounding it. Now that the Brotherhood has been revived, the current objective is to eliminate the cure. Feel free to add any ideas you have here for discussion.

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The Longform.org Guide to the Making of Movies

?My guide tapped at Brando's door, shrieked ?Marron!,? and fled away along the corridor, her kimono sleeves fluttering like the wings of a parakeet. The door was opened by another doll-delicate Miyako maid, who at once succumbed to her own fit of quaint hysteria. From an inner room, Brando called, ?What is it, honey?? But the girl, her eyes squeezed shut with mirth and her fat little hands jammed into her mouth, like a bawling baby's, was incapable of reply. ?Hey, honey, what is it?? Brando again inquired, and appeared in the doorway. ?Oh, hi,? he said when he saw me. ?It's seven, huh?? We'd made a seven-o'clock date for dinner; I was nearly twenty minutes late. ?Well, take off your shoes and come on in. I'm just finishing up here. And, hey, honey,? he told the maid, ?bring us some ice.? Then, looking after the girl as she scurried off, he cocked his hands on his hips and, grinning, declared, ?They kill me. They really kill me. The kids, too. Don't you think they're wonderful, don't you love them?Japanese kids??

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Sunday, November 20, 2011

Fly Or Die: The Kindle Fire

Erick and I were pretty much of the same mind when it came to the Kindle Fire: it's pretty darn nice. But will it Fly or Die? Find out in this exciting, Fruit-Ninja-infused episode.

We're working on our Kindle Fire review as we speak - we took a bit of time to do the Nook Tablet review first - but thus far it's been an interesting device.

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

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Japan Inc steps up shift overseas as yen stays high (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) ? Japan's big manufacturers are speeding up their shift overseas, in a sign they see the strong yen as a long-term handicap rather than a temporary blip, as they struggle to compete with nimble Asian rivals.

A sluggish home market and energy shortages following the widespread nuclear power shutdown sparked by the March 11 earthquake and ensuing atomic crisis are also tipping the balance toward investment abroad.

Panasonic Corp is planning its first solar factory outside Japan, sources said on Friday, while Suzuki Motor Corp said it was seeking to double auto production at its joint venture in China by 2015.

Rival automakers Toyota Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co also said on Thursday that exchange rates were forcing them to consider changes in their own production plans.

"I think we are reaching the limit for manufacturing in Japan," said Yuuki Sakurai, president of Fukoku Asset Management in Tokyo.

"In future, companies may be registered in Japan and have their head office here, but it could be that most people they employ are not Japanese and most of their production doesn't take place in Japan."

The Japanese currency was trading at about 77 yen to the dollar on Friday, compared with levels around 90 yen two years ago.

The euro has tumbled to about 104 yen, compared with about 134 yen in November 2009, slashing the value of overseas revenues brought home to Japan by export-reliant firms. Manufacturers say there is little prospect of increasing procurement in euros to offset the pain.

Panasonic, for example, has said the strong yen will cut its operating profit by 28 billion yen ($363 million) in the year to March 2013.

Panasonic's new solar plant in Malaysia is set to cost 40-50 billion yen, according to sources, with news of the investment coming just weeks after the firm revealed it was dropping a plan to convert a TV panel plant in Japan for solar panel production.

"We were considering increasing solar production capacity by converting our No. 3 panel plant," Panasonic President Fumio Ohtsubo told a news conference last month.

"But there was no reason for an aggressive expansion at this plant, given that the exchange rate situation is completely different from two years ago, and that we have grave concerns about power shortages," he added. "All things considered, there is more merit to manufacturing overseas than in Japan."

NEW POWER GENERATION

Mandatory peak usage cuts this summer on large customers of power companies Tokyo Electric Power Co, the operator of the crippled nuclear plant in Fukushima, and Tohoku Electric Power Co forced many companies to invest in their own power generation equipment and adjust working shifts.

The government has said power should suffice for the winter, despite the lack of active nuclear capacity, but admits a bigger challenge looms in summer next year.

Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn called for fixed exchange rates in a speech in New York, at which he also said the company may be forced to shift more of its manufacturing overseas.

"We need just one thing," Ghosn told the Japan Society in New York. "Fix the exchange rate. Fix it."

The yen's strength has raised questions about the rationale of rival Toyota's commitment to producing at least 3 million cars in Japan each year and President Akio Toyota said on Thursday the company may need to "deepen alliances" to tackle the problem.

Fukoku's Sakurai said even Toyota could find it itself struggling to fulfill what it has long seen as an obligation to maintain employment in Japan.

"Rival companies are spreading their production, and in this day and age, how far can they stick to an obligation like that?" he said.

Camera and printer-maker Canon Inc is among the few major Japanese firms saying it will not change its production strategy drastically because of the high yen, instead relying on increased automation to cut costs at its domestic plants.

But chief financial officer Toshizo Tanaka said in an interview last month he had changed his earlier view that the yen's strength would be short-lived.

"I think rates may stay as they are for quite a while against both the euro and the dollar," he said. "What is happening in Europe is not a cyclical downturn but structural, a financial crisis, so it will take a long time to recover." [ID:nL3E7LC1UJ] ($1 = 76.985 Japanese Yen)

(Additional reporting by Reiji Murai; Editing by Joseph Radford)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111118/bs_nm/us_japan_yen

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