Australian PM Julia Gillard - Source: Reuters
Prime Minister Julia Gillard says Japanese troops could beallowed to train in Australian defence units under a new vision forgreater military co-operation by both countries.
The prime minister outlined her vision in The Weekend Australiannewspaper in an interview in Tokyo on Friday, saying she's open toexploring the idea of Japan's soldiers gaining direct experiencefrom their more combat-ready Australian peers, 66 years after WorldWar Two.
The Australian reported last year that Japan's Defence MinisterToshimi Kitizawa is keen for Japanese troops to draw on the combatexperience that Diggers have gained in East Timor, Iraq andAfghanistan.
Gillard said she had yet to receive a formal proposal, butsupports the idea being discussed by the defence and foreignministers of each country.
Although Japan's post-war military is restricted to self-defenceand peacekeeping operations, Tokyo is keen to boost its combatreadiness in response to a more powerful China and the growingthreat of North Korea.
2011年5月26日星期四
EU, China need each other: EU experts
European Union and China need each other, said Klas Molin, Head of Asian Unit, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden on Tuesday at a seminar organized by China Alliance in Stockholm.
"China means a lot more to us when we studied the 12th five year plan of China. It shows that EU is very much in Beijing's mind," Molin said at the beginning of the seminar focusing on China's 12th five year plan and its implications on China-EU relations and what it means for EU's foreign policy.
Jointly established by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI, Stockholm Environment Institute and the China Economic Research Center, Stockholm School of Economics, China Alliance aims at discussing on how to deal with a stronger China.
Men Jing, Professor of European Union-China Relations at College of Europe gave a keynote presentation on the drawing process and the main content of China's 12th year plan.
"China means a lot more to us when we studied the 12th five year plan of China. It shows that EU is very much in Beijing's mind," Molin said at the beginning of the seminar focusing on China's 12th five year plan and its implications on China-EU relations and what it means for EU's foreign policy.
Jointly established by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI, Stockholm Environment Institute and the China Economic Research Center, Stockholm School of Economics, China Alliance aims at discussing on how to deal with a stronger China.
Men Jing, Professor of European Union-China Relations at College of Europe gave a keynote presentation on the drawing process and the main content of China's 12th year plan.
2011年5月25日星期三
GBC
General Biologicals Corporation (GBC) started its humble beginnings with lack of biotech industry community rift goldwhen a need was seen to deliver Hepatitis B diagnostic kits in the Taiwan market to help with the government's health program in 1984. From there, GBC has been certified as IVD class 3 cGMP and has established sound manufacturing and supply value chain infrastructure to distribute more than 80 products in 50 countries.
We have grown wide horizontal spectrum of technology plat form in various diagnostics segments, RIA, ELISA, point of care and Real-Time PCR. And a intensive sequential vertical technology platform of hybridoma techniques, cell culture, genetic engineering, protein purification and peptide synttera goldhesis, assay, coating, fill-in and labeling has been developed. Each horizontal and vertical technology platform may grow a company as member of community for biotech industrial in Taiwan.
We have grown wide horizontal spectrum of technology plat form in various diagnostics segments, RIA, ELISA, point of care and Real-Time PCR. And a intensive sequential vertical technology platform of hybridoma techniques, cell culture, genetic engineering, protein purification and peptide synttera goldhesis, assay, coating, fill-in and labeling has been developed. Each horizontal and vertical technology platform may grow a company as member of community for biotech industrial in Taiwan.
2011年5月22日星期日
The Globalization of Technology
While late twentieth century globalization was both an effect and a cause of the large-scale development, exploitation, distribution, and transfer of scientific and technological innovation, mainstream economists such as Rosenberg (1982) regarded technology as a ‘‘black box’’ for most of the centurrift goldy. In this view, technology was simply a ‘‘public good’’ autonomous of broader economic and social factors. From the 1980s however, the economics of technology became more widely acknowledged and by the 1990s increasingly studied by policy makers. Inspired particularly by Karl Marx and Joseph Schumpeter, the economics of technology concentrates on innovation as the key to technological change and economic growth. It encompasses a variety of approachetera golds and ascribes a varying importance to firms, forces at the national level, global forces, or to particular technological systems or regimes. However, perhaps surprisingly in light of a widespread perception of the late twentieth century power of multinational corporations, the concept of ‘‘national systems of innovation’’ was particularly influential. Echoing the insights of the twentieth century German economist Friedrich List, these ideas underline the critical importance of education and training, investment in R&D, national integration and infrastructure, and the extent and quality of interaction between the many national players involved in innovation.
2011年5月18日星期三
MTV
Launched in 1981, at a time when the record industry was foundering, MTV (music television) injected new life into the popular music scene by hooking young people on its high-energy diet of music videos (short films set to the music of popular songs). The cable network’s influence reached beyond music however. MTV’s rise sparked the continued spread of cable television generally and the quick-cutting, symbol-laden and visually driven style of video-making had an impact on directors in both television and the movies. A number of music-video directors went on to successful careers in other formats, while several prominent filmmakers took their turns as video directors.
2011年5月17日星期二
Is Derrick Rose the NBA's best player?
It's time to think of Derrick Rose as the best in the league, not just the Most Valuable Player.
There's a difference, you know. The MVP is an award for what's been done. As I define it, it's the player who's the most responsible for making his team elite during the regular season. That's a title bestowed upon someone based on what he's accomplished, rather than what you believe hrift golde can do. The best player is about what's next. The simplest way to define best player is to ask yourself whom you'd pick first if you needed to win a playoff game. And at the moment, nobody has won more games in these playoffs than Rose and the Chicago Bulls.
Now his latest victory wasn't a case of him deserving a "W" next to his name like a starting pitcher. He wasn't as singularly responsible for this victory as he was in the first playoff game against the Pacers, when Rose scored seven points and set up Kyle Korver's go-ahead 3 in the final two minutes, or his 44-point outburst in the third game of the Hawks series.
The 103-82 victory in Game 1 was about the Bulls' superior effort and deeper bench, a testament to Tom Thibodeau's defensive-oriented coaching style. But someone needs to get buckets for you, and Rose had 10 of his team's 38 field goals and assisted on six more.
Rose's name did not need to be included in the headline of this one. Nor did he need to lead the highltera goldights. He didn't produce a singular defining moment. For that you could go with Taj Gibson's dunk over Dwyane Wade, which wasn't just in Wade's face it was on Wade's entire body. Or you could choose the symbolism of Gibson's put-back slam in the final minute, the 19th offensive rebound and the 31st second-chance point, the capper to two critical statistical categories in which the Bulls dominated.
There's a difference, you know. The MVP is an award for what's been done. As I define it, it's the player who's the most responsible for making his team elite during the regular season. That's a title bestowed upon someone based on what he's accomplished, rather than what you believe hrift golde can do. The best player is about what's next. The simplest way to define best player is to ask yourself whom you'd pick first if you needed to win a playoff game. And at the moment, nobody has won more games in these playoffs than Rose and the Chicago Bulls.
Now his latest victory wasn't a case of him deserving a "W" next to his name like a starting pitcher. He wasn't as singularly responsible for this victory as he was in the first playoff game against the Pacers, when Rose scored seven points and set up Kyle Korver's go-ahead 3 in the final two minutes, or his 44-point outburst in the third game of the Hawks series.
The 103-82 victory in Game 1 was about the Bulls' superior effort and deeper bench, a testament to Tom Thibodeau's defensive-oriented coaching style. But someone needs to get buckets for you, and Rose had 10 of his team's 38 field goals and assisted on six more.
Rose's name did not need to be included in the headline of this one. Nor did he need to lead the highltera goldights. He didn't produce a singular defining moment. For that you could go with Taj Gibson's dunk over Dwyane Wade, which wasn't just in Wade's face it was on Wade's entire body. Or you could choose the symbolism of Gibson's put-back slam in the final minute, the 19th offensive rebound and the 31st second-chance point, the capper to two critical statistical categories in which the Bulls dominated.
2011年5月16日星期一
Chinese Artist’s Wife Sees Him for First Time Since His Detention
The family of well-known artist-activist Ai Weiwei says he appears to be in good shape, after they were allowed to see him for the first time since he disappeared into detention more than one month ago.
Wife's visit
Ai Weiwei’s wife Lu Qing saw her husband for only about 15 minutes Sunday.
Liu Xiaoyuan, a lawyer who is close to Ai’s family, says he was told this is the first time any family member has seen the artist-activist.
Liu says Ai's wife told him Ai appears to be physically fine, and that the food he is eating while in detention is also fine. Liu says Ai only talked about personal family matters, but did not discuss any legal matters.
Wife's visit
Ai Weiwei’s wife Lu Qing saw her husband for only about 15 minutes Sunday.
Liu Xiaoyuan, a lawyer who is close to Ai’s family, says he was told this is the first time any family member has seen the artist-activist.
Liu says Ai's wife told him Ai appears to be physically fine, and that the food he is eating while in detention is also fine. Liu says Ai only talked about personal family matters, but did not discuss any legal matters.
Human Rights (All there is to know)
Human rights refers to the universal rights of people regardless of jurisdiction or other factors,rift gold such as ethnicity, age, nationality, sexual orientation or religion.
The idea of human rights descended from the philosophical idea of natural rights; some recognize virtually no difference between the two and regard both as labels for the same thing while others choose to keep the terms separate to eliminate association with some features traditionally associated with natural rights.[1]
As is evident in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, human rights, at least in the post-war period, are conceptualized as based on inherent human dignity, retaining their universal character. The existence, validity and the content of human rights continue to be the subject to debate in philosophy and political science and many other forms. Legally, human rights are defined in international law and covenants, and further, in the domestic laws of many states. However, for many people the doctrine of human rights goes beyond law and forms a fundamental moral basis for regulating the contemporary geo-political order. For them, they are democratic ideals
Propertyrift gold Rights and Human Rights
Theory of Value and Property
“Theory of value and property” John Locke uses the word property in both broad and narrow senses. In a broad sense, it covers a wide range of human interests and aspirations; more narrowly, it refers to material goods. He argues that property is a natural right and it is derived from labour.”[4]
Locke believed that ownership of property is created by the application of labour. In addition, property precedes government and government cannot “dispose of the estates of the subjects arbitrarily.” Karl Marx later critiqued Locke’s theory of property in his social theory.
The idea of human rights descended from the philosophical idea of natural rights; some recognize virtually no difference between the two and regard both as labels for the same thing while others choose to keep the terms separate to eliminate association with some features traditionally associated with natural rights.[1]
As is evident in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, human rights, at least in the post-war period, are conceptualized as based on inherent human dignity, retaining their universal character. The existence, validity and the content of human rights continue to be the subject to debate in philosophy and political science and many other forms. Legally, human rights are defined in international law and covenants, and further, in the domestic laws of many states. However, for many people the doctrine of human rights goes beyond law and forms a fundamental moral basis for regulating the contemporary geo-political order. For them, they are democratic ideals
Propertyrift gold Rights and Human Rights
Theory of Value and Property
“Theory of value and property” John Locke uses the word property in both broad and narrow senses. In a broad sense, it covers a wide range of human interests and aspirations; more narrowly, it refers to material goods. He argues that property is a natural right and it is derived from labour.”[4]
Locke believed that ownership of property is created by the application of labour. In addition, property precedes government and government cannot “dispose of the estates of the subjects arbitrarily.” Karl Marx later critiqued Locke’s theory of property in his social theory.
2011年5月11日星期三
The Cuban Missile Crisis
Those were the immediate losses. The long-term damage was more costly. American prestige and the goodwill Kennedy had fostered around the world dissipated overnight. Adlai Stevenson, the former presidential contender serving as the U.S. representative to the United Nations, was shamed by having to lie to the General Assembly about the operation rift gold because he was misled by the White House. In Moscow, Kennedy was perceived as a weakling. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev (1894–1971) immediately saw the Bay of Pigs defeat as the opening to start arming Cuba more heavily, precipitating the missile crisis of October 1962.
When American spy tera gold flights produced evidence of Soviet missile sites in Cuba, America and the Soviet Union were brought to the brink of war. For thirteen tense days (recently dramatized in a film of that title that conveys much of the drama of the situation, if not all the facts), the United States and the Soviet Union stood toe-to-toe as Kennedy, forced to prove himself after the Bay of Pigs, demanded that the missile sites be dismantled and removed from Cuba. To back up his ultimatum, Kennedy ordered a naval blockade to “quarantine” Cuba, and readied a full-scale American invasion of the island. With Soviet rift platinum ships steaming toward the island, Soviet Premier Khrushchev warned that his country would not accept the quarantine. People around the world nervously awaited a confrontation. Through back channels a secret deal was struck that the Soviets would dismantle the missiles in exchange for a promise not to invade Cuba. On Sunday, October 28, Radio Moscow announced that the arms would be crated and returned to Moscow.
When American spy tera gold flights produced evidence of Soviet missile sites in Cuba, America and the Soviet Union were brought to the brink of war. For thirteen tense days (recently dramatized in a film of that title that conveys much of the drama of the situation, if not all the facts), the United States and the Soviet Union stood toe-to-toe as Kennedy, forced to prove himself after the Bay of Pigs, demanded that the missile sites be dismantled and removed from Cuba. To back up his ultimatum, Kennedy ordered a naval blockade to “quarantine” Cuba, and readied a full-scale American invasion of the island. With Soviet rift platinum ships steaming toward the island, Soviet Premier Khrushchev warned that his country would not accept the quarantine. People around the world nervously awaited a confrontation. Through back channels a secret deal was struck that the Soviets would dismantle the missiles in exchange for a promise not to invade Cuba. On Sunday, October 28, Radio Moscow announced that the arms would be crated and returned to Moscow.
Feminine Mystique
Every so often a book comes along that really rattles America’s cage. Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1850. Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle in 1906. In the 1940s and 1950s, John Hersey’s Hiroshima and the Kinsey studies, Sexual Behavior rift gold in the Human Male and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female. Silent Spring in 1962. All these books delivered karate chops to the American perception of reality.
In 1963, it was tera gold a book that introduced America to what the author called “the problem without a name.” Betty Friedan (b. 1921), a summa cum laude Smith graduate and free-lance writer who was living out the fifties suburban dream of house, husband, and family, dubbed this malady “the feminine mystique.” The book reached millions of readers. Suddenly, in garden clubs, coffee klatches, and college sorority houses,rift platinum talk turned away from man catching, mascara, and muffin recipes. Women were instead discussing the fact that society’s institutions—government, mass media and advertising, medicine and psychiatry, education and organized religion— were systematically barring them from becoming anything more than housewives and mothers.
In 1963, it was tera gold a book that introduced America to what the author called “the problem without a name.” Betty Friedan (b. 1921), a summa cum laude Smith graduate and free-lance writer who was living out the fifties suburban dream of house, husband, and family, dubbed this malady “the feminine mystique.” The book reached millions of readers. Suddenly, in garden clubs, coffee klatches, and college sorority houses,rift platinum talk turned away from man catching, mascara, and muffin recipes. Women were instead discussing the fact that society’s institutions—government, mass media and advertising, medicine and psychiatry, education and organized religion— were systematically barring them from becoming anything more than housewives and mothers.
Pakistan PM Calls Accusations Over bin Laden 'Absurd'
Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Monday denied that his country's intelligence agencies helped hide Osama bin Laden,rift platinum insisting that allegations of complicity or incompetence were "absurd".
Intelligence failure
In a speech to Islamabad's parliament, Gilani said it was "disingenuous" for anyone to insinuate that Pakistani authorities, including the country's spy agency, the ISI, were aligned with al-Qaida.
"We emphatically reject such accusations. Speculative narratives in the public domain are meant to create despondency," said Gilani. "We will not allow our detractors to succeed in offloading their own shortcomings and errors of omission and commission in a blame game that stigmatizes Pakistan."
Suspicion has tera gold deepened that ISI, which has a long history of contacts with militant groups, may have had ties with the al Qaida leader - or that some of its agents did.
US, Pakistani relations
The prime minister's comments came after Pakistan was hit by widespread criticism following the shooting of Osama bin Laden in a U.S. raid a week ago.
Gilani said that rift gold bin Laden's death in a U.S. raid was "indeed justice done" and insisted the relationship with the U.S. was still strong.
Intelligence failure
In a speech to Islamabad's parliament, Gilani said it was "disingenuous" for anyone to insinuate that Pakistani authorities, including the country's spy agency, the ISI, were aligned with al-Qaida.
"We emphatically reject such accusations. Speculative narratives in the public domain are meant to create despondency," said Gilani. "We will not allow our detractors to succeed in offloading their own shortcomings and errors of omission and commission in a blame game that stigmatizes Pakistan."
Suspicion has tera gold deepened that ISI, which has a long history of contacts with militant groups, may have had ties with the al Qaida leader - or that some of its agents did.
US, Pakistani relations
The prime minister's comments came after Pakistan was hit by widespread criticism following the shooting of Osama bin Laden in a U.S. raid a week ago.
Gilani said that rift gold bin Laden's death in a U.S. raid was "indeed justice done" and insisted the relationship with the U.S. was still strong.
US-Led Alliance Concentrates on Afghan Population Centers
The U.S.-led war rift platinum effort in Afghanistan is nearing its high-water mark. With the first of America's troops slated to withdraw from Afghanistan in July, NATO is changing its strategy. Rather than trying to secure all of Afghanistan against a resurgent Taliban, the alliance is focusing its dwindling tera gold resources on a small number of population centers.
It is a calm day in Baraki Barak district, in Logar province, eastern Afghanistan. Military Police from the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division patrol the district center alongside Afghan police.
The local residents are receptive, even friendly. Some men just want to chat. Others volunteer to join a new neighborhood watch.
It is just another day rift gold in one of the communities enjoying a sustained NATO and Afghan government presence.
It is a calm day in Baraki Barak district, in Logar province, eastern Afghanistan. Military Police from the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division patrol the district center alongside Afghan police.
The local residents are receptive, even friendly. Some men just want to chat. Others volunteer to join a new neighborhood watch.
It is just another day rift gold in one of the communities enjoying a sustained NATO and Afghan government presence.
Pakistan to Grant US Access to Bin Laden's Wives, Says Official
A U.S. official says Pakistan soon will allow American investigators to question the three wives of Osama bin Laden who were with the al-Qaida leader when he was killed in his compound in the northern city of Abbottabad last week.
The women -rift platinum two Saudis and a Yemeni - and their children have been in Pakistani custody since the May 2 raid. U.S. officials say the interviews, as well as evidence taken from the hideout, could provide important details about the al-Qaida network.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday it has yet to receive a formal request from the United States for access to bin Laden's relatives. Other officials said no decision has been taken on the issue.
Unnamed Pakistani security officials said Tuesday that one of bin Laden's sons may have gone missing since the U.S. raid. Bin Laden's wives are said to have told interrogators that one son has not been seen since the raid. Another of bin Laden's sons, Khalid, was killed in the raid.
Bin Laden was married five times and had at least 18 children.
In other developments, a message attributed to Omar bin Laden, yet another son of the late al-Qaida leader, was posted on a militant website late Monday. In it, he purportedly criticized the U.S. for killing his father and burying his body at sea. Omar bin Laden said disposing the body in such a way "demeans and humiliates" the family and tera gold supporters, and "challenges religious provisions and the feelings of hundreds of millions of Muslims."
Also Tuesday, al-Qaida issued a statement again calling on Muslims to avenge bin Laden's death. The statement, made available by the U.S.-based SITE Intelligence monitoring service, said the assassination was a "big mistake" and a "serious sin." It warned that Americans "will pay the price" for the deadly raid.
A spokesman for rift gold former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf denied media reports that Mr. Musharraf years ago struck a deal with the United States allowing U.S. forces to conduct operations on Pakistani soil if bin Laden was found to be hiding out there.
The women -rift platinum two Saudis and a Yemeni - and their children have been in Pakistani custody since the May 2 raid. U.S. officials say the interviews, as well as evidence taken from the hideout, could provide important details about the al-Qaida network.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday it has yet to receive a formal request from the United States for access to bin Laden's relatives. Other officials said no decision has been taken on the issue.
Unnamed Pakistani security officials said Tuesday that one of bin Laden's sons may have gone missing since the U.S. raid. Bin Laden's wives are said to have told interrogators that one son has not been seen since the raid. Another of bin Laden's sons, Khalid, was killed in the raid.
Bin Laden was married five times and had at least 18 children.
In other developments, a message attributed to Omar bin Laden, yet another son of the late al-Qaida leader, was posted on a militant website late Monday. In it, he purportedly criticized the U.S. for killing his father and burying his body at sea. Omar bin Laden said disposing the body in such a way "demeans and humiliates" the family and tera gold supporters, and "challenges religious provisions and the feelings of hundreds of millions of Muslims."
Also Tuesday, al-Qaida issued a statement again calling on Muslims to avenge bin Laden's death. The statement, made available by the U.S.-based SITE Intelligence monitoring service, said the assassination was a "big mistake" and a "serious sin." It warned that Americans "will pay the price" for the deadly raid.
A spokesman for rift gold former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf denied media reports that Mr. Musharraf years ago struck a deal with the United States allowing U.S. forces to conduct operations on Pakistani soil if bin Laden was found to be hiding out there.
2011年5月7日星期六
FDA Rejects Another Proposed Diet Pill
U.S. health officials have denied approval of the experimental weight loss drug Contrave, requesting that the manufacturer conduct more studies to address concerns about possible heart problems.
The Food and Drug Administration issued a letter Monday telling drug maker Orexigen Therapeutics that they must do a double-blind,Rift Gold placebo-controlled clinical trial of "sufficient size and duration" to demonstrate the risk of major cardiovascular events in overweight and obese subjects taking Contrave.
FDA spokeswoman Karen Riley declined to comment to AOL Health on the particular notice sent to the company,RIFT Platinum but explained that a so-called "letter of complete response" like the one issued "indicates that the review cycle for an application is complete and that the application is not ready for approval." Such a report also outlines what changes need to be made to the drug.
Riley said the FDA only approves drugs that are both "safe and effective."
Contrave contains bupropion, an antidepressant, and naltrexone, a treatment for alcohol and painkiller addiction. Previous drugs touted as weight-loss remedies have been under fire for causing heart attack and stroke in some patients.
"There continue to be concerns about the cardiovascular risk of this drug combination," Dr. Wayne Andersen, the medical director of Take Shape for Life, told AOL Health. rift gold"Contrave is a combination of two approved drugs that target different parts of the brain influencing appetite and cravings."
He said existing clinical studies on Contrave showed that it caused blood pressure and heart rate to rise among the control group, a trend that continued after weight was lost.
"[The drug] could potentially increase the risk of cardiovascular events such as angina, heart attacks or strokes," he said.
The current available weight loss medications, including Contrave, are problematic because they are combinations of older drugs that can have "long-term systemic effects on the body," according to Andersen.
"They must be used indefinitely or the weight loss is regained," he said.RIFT Platinum "Any result of the current weight loss drug would require indefinite use with the potential of dangerous side effects."
A much safer way to battle weight gain is to change diet and exercise habits, rather than take pills, Andersen said.
Orexigen said it was disappointed about the FDA's decision, but intends to address the government's concerns.
"We plan to work closely with the agency to gain more information to determine the appropriate next steps regarding the Contrave application," said company president and CEO Michael Narachi in a statement.
The drug has already been tested in several clinical trials on 4,500 patients.
"They would likely need to do an extensive,TERA Gold costly and long-term study to evaluate that the benefits of weight loss outweigh the cardiovascular risks," Andersen said, which will probably result in a years-long delay in FDA approval.
The FDA's denial is the third time the agency has tossed out a proposed diet drug since last year. The fact that the government requested another study indicates approval may be in Contrave's future, however.
Contrave has been considered to be the best of the trio of new diet pills recently submitted for the FDA green light. Four of 10 patients taking it for 12 months lost 5 percent or more of their body weight, and the drug is safer than the other two options recently offered.
The FDA has acknowledged that there is a need for better weight-loss drugs now that the obesity rate has climbed to almost 35 percent among American adults.
But cardiovascular problems have been linked to other diet pills, including the combination drug fen-phen made by Wyeth, which was taken off the market in 1997.
Abbott Laboratories pulled its weight-loss drug Meridia in October after evidence surfaced that it could raise the risk of stroke and heart attack.
There is only one prescription drug currently available to for long-term weight loss called Xenical and made by Roche.
There are a number of other generic drugs that have been approved for losing weight over the short term, among them phentermine.
The Food and Drug Administration issued a letter Monday telling drug maker Orexigen Therapeutics that they must do a double-blind,Rift Gold placebo-controlled clinical trial of "sufficient size and duration" to demonstrate the risk of major cardiovascular events in overweight and obese subjects taking Contrave.
FDA spokeswoman Karen Riley declined to comment to AOL Health on the particular notice sent to the company,RIFT Platinum but explained that a so-called "letter of complete response" like the one issued "indicates that the review cycle for an application is complete and that the application is not ready for approval." Such a report also outlines what changes need to be made to the drug.
Riley said the FDA only approves drugs that are both "safe and effective."
Contrave contains bupropion, an antidepressant, and naltrexone, a treatment for alcohol and painkiller addiction. Previous drugs touted as weight-loss remedies have been under fire for causing heart attack and stroke in some patients.
"There continue to be concerns about the cardiovascular risk of this drug combination," Dr. Wayne Andersen, the medical director of Take Shape for Life, told AOL Health. rift gold"Contrave is a combination of two approved drugs that target different parts of the brain influencing appetite and cravings."
He said existing clinical studies on Contrave showed that it caused blood pressure and heart rate to rise among the control group, a trend that continued after weight was lost.
"[The drug] could potentially increase the risk of cardiovascular events such as angina, heart attacks or strokes," he said.
The current available weight loss medications, including Contrave, are problematic because they are combinations of older drugs that can have "long-term systemic effects on the body," according to Andersen.
"They must be used indefinitely or the weight loss is regained," he said.RIFT Platinum "Any result of the current weight loss drug would require indefinite use with the potential of dangerous side effects."
A much safer way to battle weight gain is to change diet and exercise habits, rather than take pills, Andersen said.
Orexigen said it was disappointed about the FDA's decision, but intends to address the government's concerns.
"We plan to work closely with the agency to gain more information to determine the appropriate next steps regarding the Contrave application," said company president and CEO Michael Narachi in a statement.
The drug has already been tested in several clinical trials on 4,500 patients.
"They would likely need to do an extensive,TERA Gold costly and long-term study to evaluate that the benefits of weight loss outweigh the cardiovascular risks," Andersen said, which will probably result in a years-long delay in FDA approval.
The FDA's denial is the third time the agency has tossed out a proposed diet drug since last year. The fact that the government requested another study indicates approval may be in Contrave's future, however.
Contrave has been considered to be the best of the trio of new diet pills recently submitted for the FDA green light. Four of 10 patients taking it for 12 months lost 5 percent or more of their body weight, and the drug is safer than the other two options recently offered.
The FDA has acknowledged that there is a need for better weight-loss drugs now that the obesity rate has climbed to almost 35 percent among American adults.
But cardiovascular problems have been linked to other diet pills, including the combination drug fen-phen made by Wyeth, which was taken off the market in 1997.
Abbott Laboratories pulled its weight-loss drug Meridia in October after evidence surfaced that it could raise the risk of stroke and heart attack.
There is only one prescription drug currently available to for long-term weight loss called Xenical and made by Roche.
There are a number of other generic drugs that have been approved for losing weight over the short term, among them phentermine.
Finnish Researchers Link Swine Flu Shot to Narcolepsy Risk
Finnish researchers have found an increased risk of narcolepsy among 4 to 19-year-olds who were given swine flu shots, a government health agency said Tuesday.
A preliminary study by the National Narcolepsy Task Force indicates that children vaccinated with Pandemrix "contributed to the observed increase in incidence of narcolepsy" compared to those who were not vaccinated in the same age group, it said.
The agency said, however,Rift Gold that the increase likely was caused "by joint effect of the vaccine and some other factor," and added that it would have to conduct more research as similar increases in narcolepsy cases have not been reported in other countries using the vaccine.
Pandemrix shots were made for the swine flu pandemic, and it is not clear how many people would still be receiving them since the usual flu shot now includes the swine flu strain. In Finland, RIFT Platinumhealth personnel stopped administering Pandemrix in August 2010 when concerns were first voiced about the vaccine.
Narcolepsy is a rare disorder that causes people to suddenly fall asleep. It is seldom fatal.
The National Institute for Health and Welfare, which published the findings, said that 60 children and adolescents contracted narcolepsy in Finland in 2009 and 2010. Fifty-two of them - or almost 90 percent - had received the Pandemrix vaccine, it added.
It's not clear how many in the young age group were vaccinated with Pandemrix but half of Finland's 5.3 million population were given the shot during the winter of 2009 to 2010.
"Based on the preliminary analyses, the risk of falling ill with narcolepsy among those vaccinated in the 4-19 years age group was nine-fold in comparison to those unvaccinated in the same age group," the study said.
It found that the biggest increase was among those aged 5 to 15 years. No cases were seen among those under age 4 or over age 19.
The European Medicines Agency,rift gold the regulatory body responsible for authorizing use of the vaccine, launched an investigation into a possible link between the swine flu vaccine and narcolepsy in August.
GlaxoSmithKline PLC, which produces Pandemrix, said it was aware of the Finnish report.
"This investigation is independent of a broader ongoing European Medicines Agency investigation initiated in 2010," the company said in a statement. "GlaxoSmithKline is reviewing the report and believes it would be premature to draw any conclusions on a potential association between Pandemrix and narcolepsy until this European investigation has been completed."
The company said that more than 31 million doses of Pandemrix had been administered in 47 countries with 162 cases of narcolepsy reported in people who were vaccinated.RIFT Platinum Some 70 percent of the cases originated in Finland and Sweden, it said.
The World Health Organization welcomed the report but said it does not recommend any changes to use of Pandemrix and that the vaccine remains on the list of recommended vaccines.
The European Medicines Agency also said that it would not change its assessment of the benefit-risk relating to use of the vaccine.
The Finnish institute said the association between narcolepsy and the Pandemrix vaccine needs more investigation with special attention on "TERA Goldinfections and other stimuli in close time association with the pandemic vaccination."
The agency said its final report would be published in August.
A preliminary study by the National Narcolepsy Task Force indicates that children vaccinated with Pandemrix "contributed to the observed increase in incidence of narcolepsy" compared to those who were not vaccinated in the same age group, it said.
The agency said, however,Rift Gold that the increase likely was caused "by joint effect of the vaccine and some other factor," and added that it would have to conduct more research as similar increases in narcolepsy cases have not been reported in other countries using the vaccine.
Pandemrix shots were made for the swine flu pandemic, and it is not clear how many people would still be receiving them since the usual flu shot now includes the swine flu strain. In Finland, RIFT Platinumhealth personnel stopped administering Pandemrix in August 2010 when concerns were first voiced about the vaccine.
Narcolepsy is a rare disorder that causes people to suddenly fall asleep. It is seldom fatal.
The National Institute for Health and Welfare, which published the findings, said that 60 children and adolescents contracted narcolepsy in Finland in 2009 and 2010. Fifty-two of them - or almost 90 percent - had received the Pandemrix vaccine, it added.
It's not clear how many in the young age group were vaccinated with Pandemrix but half of Finland's 5.3 million population were given the shot during the winter of 2009 to 2010.
"Based on the preliminary analyses, the risk of falling ill with narcolepsy among those vaccinated in the 4-19 years age group was nine-fold in comparison to those unvaccinated in the same age group," the study said.
It found that the biggest increase was among those aged 5 to 15 years. No cases were seen among those under age 4 or over age 19.
The European Medicines Agency,rift gold the regulatory body responsible for authorizing use of the vaccine, launched an investigation into a possible link between the swine flu vaccine and narcolepsy in August.
GlaxoSmithKline PLC, which produces Pandemrix, said it was aware of the Finnish report.
"This investigation is independent of a broader ongoing European Medicines Agency investigation initiated in 2010," the company said in a statement. "GlaxoSmithKline is reviewing the report and believes it would be premature to draw any conclusions on a potential association between Pandemrix and narcolepsy until this European investigation has been completed."
The company said that more than 31 million doses of Pandemrix had been administered in 47 countries with 162 cases of narcolepsy reported in people who were vaccinated.RIFT Platinum Some 70 percent of the cases originated in Finland and Sweden, it said.
The World Health Organization welcomed the report but said it does not recommend any changes to use of Pandemrix and that the vaccine remains on the list of recommended vaccines.
The European Medicines Agency also said that it would not change its assessment of the benefit-risk relating to use of the vaccine.
The Finnish institute said the association between narcolepsy and the Pandemrix vaccine needs more investigation with special attention on "TERA Goldinfections and other stimuli in close time association with the pandemic vaccination."
The agency said its final report would be published in August.
2011年5月6日星期五
How do I Make Carrot & Coriander Soup?
Overview
An excellent source of vitamin A and potassium, carrots not only keep your eyes bright, but their beta carotene may also reduce your risk of cancer and the serious consequences of diabetes, according to registered dietitian Roberta Duyff. Carrot soup comes together in 20 minutes when you cook the carrots in vegetable stock. Take a few extra steps by sautéing the carrots to add a depth of flavor and transform plain carrot soup into soup for a special occasion.
Everyday Soup
Step 1
Cut the carrots into chunks. The smaller you cut the carrots, the less time they will take to cook.
Step 2
Add the carrots, onions, salt and pepper to 2 cups of the vegetable stock in a large pot. Bring the mixture to a boil, and then turn it down to simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until you can pierce the carrots with a knife.
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Step 3
Remove the soup from the heat and add 1 cup of stock to cool it down. Add the coriander, TERA Gold pour the mixture into a blender, and puree until it is smooth.
Step 4
Pour the mixture back into the cooking pot, add the remainder of the stock and heat thoroughly. Taste the soup and add more salt and pepper if needed.
Step 5
Garnish each bowl with a sprinkling of parsley and, if you would like, a dollop of sour cream. RIFT Platinum Serve the soup either hot or chilled.
Special Occasion Soup
Step 1
Slice the carrots and add them to a pot on high heat with 2 tbsp. oil or butter, 1 tsp. of sugar or syrup and 3/4 cup of water.
Step 2
Sprinkle the mixture with salt and pepper, cover the pot, and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the minced ginger and orange zest during this step for extra flavor.
Step 3
Uncover the pot, and cook, rift gold stirring occasionally, until the water evaporates. Raise the heat slightly to help the process along.
Step 4
Lower the heat, add the coriander and continue cooking the carrots in the butter or oil for 8 to 10 minutes. Add 1 or 2 or two of stock if the carrots begin to stick to the bottom of the pot.
Step 5
Add half the stock and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring to dislodge any brown bits of carrot on the bottom of the pan. Lower the heat and cook, RIFT Platinum stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.
Step 6
Remove the carrots from the heat and add 1 cup of stock to cool the mixture. Rift Gold Pour it into a blender and puree until smooth.
Step 7
Taste the soup and add more salt and pepper if needed. Garnish with the parsley and add the optional sour cream.
An excellent source of vitamin A and potassium, carrots not only keep your eyes bright, but their beta carotene may also reduce your risk of cancer and the serious consequences of diabetes, according to registered dietitian Roberta Duyff. Carrot soup comes together in 20 minutes when you cook the carrots in vegetable stock. Take a few extra steps by sautéing the carrots to add a depth of flavor and transform plain carrot soup into soup for a special occasion.
Everyday Soup
Step 1
Cut the carrots into chunks. The smaller you cut the carrots, the less time they will take to cook.
Step 2
Add the carrots, onions, salt and pepper to 2 cups of the vegetable stock in a large pot. Bring the mixture to a boil, and then turn it down to simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until you can pierce the carrots with a knife.
Lose 10kg a month - JAPAN Lose weight with Herbalife products Safe, natural, healthy & effective www.removekilos.com
Sponsored Links
Step 3
Remove the soup from the heat and add 1 cup of stock to cool it down. Add the coriander, TERA Gold pour the mixture into a blender, and puree until it is smooth.
Step 4
Pour the mixture back into the cooking pot, add the remainder of the stock and heat thoroughly. Taste the soup and add more salt and pepper if needed.
Step 5
Garnish each bowl with a sprinkling of parsley and, if you would like, a dollop of sour cream. RIFT Platinum Serve the soup either hot or chilled.
Special Occasion Soup
Step 1
Slice the carrots and add them to a pot on high heat with 2 tbsp. oil or butter, 1 tsp. of sugar or syrup and 3/4 cup of water.
Step 2
Sprinkle the mixture with salt and pepper, cover the pot, and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the minced ginger and orange zest during this step for extra flavor.
Step 3
Uncover the pot, and cook, rift gold stirring occasionally, until the water evaporates. Raise the heat slightly to help the process along.
Step 4
Lower the heat, add the coriander and continue cooking the carrots in the butter or oil for 8 to 10 minutes. Add 1 or 2 or two of stock if the carrots begin to stick to the bottom of the pot.
Step 5
Add half the stock and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring to dislodge any brown bits of carrot on the bottom of the pan. Lower the heat and cook, RIFT Platinum stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.
Step 6
Remove the carrots from the heat and add 1 cup of stock to cool the mixture. Rift Gold Pour it into a blender and puree until smooth.
Step 7
Taste the soup and add more salt and pepper if needed. Garnish with the parsley and add the optional sour cream.
Royal Snub: No Wedding Invite for Sarah Ferguson?
While the groom's first cousins, Rift Gold Princesses Beatrice and Eugenia, will be VIP guests at Prince William and Kate Middleton's April 29 nuptials, their mother -- the Duchess of York -- won't be included in any royal wedding festivities.
Why the snub? Sarah Ferguson, 51, was married for a decade to Prince Andrew (Prince William's paternal uncle) until her tabloid-mocked infidelities led to divorce in 1996; RIFT Platinum the exes quietly went on to raise their daughters as single parents. Last year, a mortifying undercover sting caught Sarah soliciting bribe money to "open doors" to her influential ex. The shamed royal will soon attempt image rehab with a new reality series, 'Finding Sarah,' on Oprah Winfrey's OWN channel.
But with 1,900 royal invitations being dispatched around the world for what could be the most expensive wedding ever, is the duchess appalled at being left out? rift gold According to People.com, her rep confirms that Ferguson plans to be overseas in late April, and calls the snub no surprise: "She will not be attending. She never expected to be invited."
The spokesperson adds that Ferguson -- historically an embarrassing spotlight-stealer in the royal family's view -- has deliberately tried to avoid all wedding-related attention, RIFT Platinum shunning interview opportunities about the couple, ever since William and Kate's engagement made international headlines. "She has declined all commercial work relating to the wedding," her rep says.
Perhaps the Duchess of York's absence suits the Palace because the Windsors want all eyes focused on one thing: William and Kate's young love. TERA Gold It's the very thing the happy-go-lucky bride Sarah and her Prince Andrew were once celebrated for (before their shocking split) -- a glamorous, untainted-by-scandal storybook romance.
Why the snub? Sarah Ferguson, 51, was married for a decade to Prince Andrew (Prince William's paternal uncle) until her tabloid-mocked infidelities led to divorce in 1996; RIFT Platinum the exes quietly went on to raise their daughters as single parents. Last year, a mortifying undercover sting caught Sarah soliciting bribe money to "open doors" to her influential ex. The shamed royal will soon attempt image rehab with a new reality series, 'Finding Sarah,' on Oprah Winfrey's OWN channel.
But with 1,900 royal invitations being dispatched around the world for what could be the most expensive wedding ever, is the duchess appalled at being left out? rift gold According to People.com, her rep confirms that Ferguson plans to be overseas in late April, and calls the snub no surprise: "She will not be attending. She never expected to be invited."
The spokesperson adds that Ferguson -- historically an embarrassing spotlight-stealer in the royal family's view -- has deliberately tried to avoid all wedding-related attention, RIFT Platinum shunning interview opportunities about the couple, ever since William and Kate's engagement made international headlines. "She has declined all commercial work relating to the wedding," her rep says.
Perhaps the Duchess of York's absence suits the Palace because the Windsors want all eyes focused on one thing: William and Kate's young love. TERA Gold It's the very thing the happy-go-lucky bride Sarah and her Prince Andrew were once celebrated for (before their shocking split) -- a glamorous, untainted-by-scandal storybook romance.
2011年5月5日星期四
Article in Chinese Character, Cursive Script Square Scroll
Poem or Verse in Chinese Character, Cursive Script Square Scroll
Colour Printing
The nineteenth century saw the flowering of colour printing. Until that time, nearly all the colour that appeared in books was applied by hand, but then several processes were developed for colour printing on a commercial scale. They all,rift gold like the Baxter prints and chromolithographs, entailed repeated printing in exact register of each colour that constituted the final picture, a laborious and expensive procedure. Technical progress in this field depended on a proper understanding of the theoretical background of the nature of colours and how they could be produced by mixing the three primary colours, red, blue, and yellow. Some progress was made in applying the three-colour theory to photography, and with that and the invention of the half-tone screen, the way was clear to convince the eye that it sees the range of colours in the original when what it really sees is a collection of dots of yellow, magenta (red) and cyan (blue) ink (known as process colours) of varying intensities. A fourth colour was added later—black, to give greater depth of tone. The first example of three-colour printing was exhibited by F.E.Ives at Philadelphia in 1885, and it became a practical proposition from 1892. It could be applied to any of the three printing processes. Four plates are made by photographing the coloured original four times through a halftone screen, using a different coloured filter each time—blue, green, red and yellow for printing successively in yellow, magenta,rift gold cyan and black ink. More recently, the orthodox process camera began to be replaced by more sophisticated equipment, that is, by the photoscanner. It was in 1937 that Alexander Murray working for Eastman Kodak built the first scanner, in which a scanning head picked up light from a coloured transparency and a photomultiplier converted this into electronic signals. From these, various kinds of output can be derived, according to the printing process. Laser light is now used to expose the output film.
Exist, Oil Painting, Chinese Painter Bai Jin
Reed of Baiyangdian Lake, Oil Painting, Chinese Painter Bai Jin
Obama Visits Ground Zero
Four days after U.S. forces killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, President Barack Obama visited New York City to pay tribute to those killed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It was Mr. Obama’s first visit as president to what is now called "Ground Zero."
Almost 10 years after the World Trade Center was destroyed, President Obama went to New York to meet with the families of the victims and emergency workers who died that day.
Roughly 2,800 people were killed when members of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida terror network hijacked commercial airliners and crashed them into both 110-story towers of the World Trade Center. The location of the buildings has since been referred to as Ground Zero.
The president’s first stop was a firehouse in midtown Manhattan that lost 15 firefighters - an entire shift - on September 11. The surviving firefighters have covered one wall of the station with pictures of their fallen colleagues and messages from their families.
Mr. Obama had lunch with the firefighters at the station and praised their everyday heroism.
He said he hoped the killing of bin Laden is of some comfort to them in the name of the colleagues they lost in 2001.
"What happened on Sunday,rift gold because of the courage of our military and the outstanding work of our intelligence, sent a message around the world, but also sent a message here back home that when we say we will never forget; we mean what we say," he said.
Afterward, New York Fire Department Chief Edward Kilduff said the station Mr. Obama visited symbolizes the sacrifices made by New York’s emergency workers on September 11, 2001, and that the president understands those sacrifices.
"So for him to come here and to see the faces of the firefighters that were killed on September 11 and to see the shrine that was erected in their honor really meant something to him. I could see that the president was clearly touched by the sacrifices and by the stories that the firefighters told him," Kilduff said.
From there, Mr. Obama visited a police station in lower Manhattan. He told officers who were working on September 11 that he could not be more proud of them or more grateful for their work. He said the killing of bin Laden was directly connected to what they do every day.
At Ground Zero,rift gold the president silently took part in a wreath-laying ceremony in memory of those who died at the World Trade Center.
At about the same time, Vice President Joe Biden laid a wreath at the Pentagon Memorial, to honor the 184 people who were killed on September 11 when al-Qaida slammed a plane into the side of the Defense Department headquarters.
After the wreath-laying in Manhattan, President Obama met with the families of about 60 of the people who died in the New York attack. He was seen shaking hands, talking briefly and hugging many of the family members.
Ground Zero is now a construction zone, where workers are building the National September 11 Memorial and the Freedom Tower. The skyscraper will stand 1,776 feet high-representing the year 1776, when the U.S. Declaration of Independence was signed.
The president’s spokesman, Jay Carney, said Mr. Obama will return to New York in September to mark the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks.
Almost 10 years after the World Trade Center was destroyed, President Obama went to New York to meet with the families of the victims and emergency workers who died that day.
Roughly 2,800 people were killed when members of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida terror network hijacked commercial airliners and crashed them into both 110-story towers of the World Trade Center. The location of the buildings has since been referred to as Ground Zero.
The president’s first stop was a firehouse in midtown Manhattan that lost 15 firefighters - an entire shift - on September 11. The surviving firefighters have covered one wall of the station with pictures of their fallen colleagues and messages from their families.
Mr. Obama had lunch with the firefighters at the station and praised their everyday heroism.
He said he hoped the killing of bin Laden is of some comfort to them in the name of the colleagues they lost in 2001.
"What happened on Sunday,rift gold because of the courage of our military and the outstanding work of our intelligence, sent a message around the world, but also sent a message here back home that when we say we will never forget; we mean what we say," he said.
Afterward, New York Fire Department Chief Edward Kilduff said the station Mr. Obama visited symbolizes the sacrifices made by New York’s emergency workers on September 11, 2001, and that the president understands those sacrifices.
"So for him to come here and to see the faces of the firefighters that were killed on September 11 and to see the shrine that was erected in their honor really meant something to him. I could see that the president was clearly touched by the sacrifices and by the stories that the firefighters told him," Kilduff said.
From there, Mr. Obama visited a police station in lower Manhattan. He told officers who were working on September 11 that he could not be more proud of them or more grateful for their work. He said the killing of bin Laden was directly connected to what they do every day.
At Ground Zero,rift gold the president silently took part in a wreath-laying ceremony in memory of those who died at the World Trade Center.
At about the same time, Vice President Joe Biden laid a wreath at the Pentagon Memorial, to honor the 184 people who were killed on September 11 when al-Qaida slammed a plane into the side of the Defense Department headquarters.
After the wreath-laying in Manhattan, President Obama met with the families of about 60 of the people who died in the New York attack. He was seen shaking hands, talking briefly and hugging many of the family members.
Ground Zero is now a construction zone, where workers are building the National September 11 Memorial and the Freedom Tower. The skyscraper will stand 1,776 feet high-representing the year 1776, when the U.S. Declaration of Independence was signed.
The president’s spokesman, Jay Carney, said Mr. Obama will return to New York in September to mark the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks.
Reuters Defends Decision To Publish Bin Laden Compound Photos
NEW YORK -- The White House isn’t releasing photos of Osama bin Laden’s dead body, but that didn’t stop Reuters from publishing several gruesome photos Wednesday showing the aftermath of the U.S. raid on bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan and sending them to clients of the wire service.
Reuters defended that decision in a statement to The Huffington Post.
"As this is a story of global importance,Rift Gold Reuters chose to share these photographs with its media clients and allow them to make editorial decisions on how they were used," a spokesperson said.
The news organization declined to comment further on photos showing three, unidentified men lying in pools of blood. (WARNING: the photographs can be viewed here but they are very graphic.)
But in an article accompanying the photos, Reuters said it purchased the photographs from a Pakistani security official who entered the compound about an hour after the U.S. raid took place that killed the al Qaeda leader.RIFT Platinum The official chose to remain anonymous.
“Reuters is confident of the authenticity of the purchased images because details in the photos appear to show a wrecked helicopter from the assault,rift gold matching details from photos taken independently on Monday,” the article read.
During Wednesday's press briefing, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney read from a transcript of an interview President Barack Obama gave earlier in the day to "60 Minutes," RIFT Platinumwhereby the president explained the reasoning behind not releasing a photo of bin Laden's corpse.
Story continues below
“We don’t need to spike the football, and I think that given the graphic nature of these photos,TERA Gold it would create some national security risk,” Obama told "60 Minutes" correspondent Steve Kroft.
The White House declined to comment on the Reuters photos.
Reuters defended that decision in a statement to The Huffington Post.
"As this is a story of global importance,Rift Gold Reuters chose to share these photographs with its media clients and allow them to make editorial decisions on how they were used," a spokesperson said.
The news organization declined to comment further on photos showing three, unidentified men lying in pools of blood. (WARNING: the photographs can be viewed here but they are very graphic.)
But in an article accompanying the photos, Reuters said it purchased the photographs from a Pakistani security official who entered the compound about an hour after the U.S. raid took place that killed the al Qaeda leader.RIFT Platinum The official chose to remain anonymous.
“Reuters is confident of the authenticity of the purchased images because details in the photos appear to show a wrecked helicopter from the assault,rift gold matching details from photos taken independently on Monday,” the article read.
During Wednesday's press briefing, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney read from a transcript of an interview President Barack Obama gave earlier in the day to "60 Minutes," RIFT Platinumwhereby the president explained the reasoning behind not releasing a photo of bin Laden's corpse.
Story continues below
“We don’t need to spike the football, and I think that given the graphic nature of these photos,TERA Gold it would create some national security risk,” Obama told "60 Minutes" correspondent Steve Kroft.
The White House declined to comment on the Reuters photos.
Grading the People Who Grade the NFL Draft
Everyone grades the NFL Draft. Ex-players, ex-coaches, ESPN viewers with these fancy new SMS capabilities, people whose name rhymes with Bell Biper who're just happy that Todd McShay's hair isn't as impressive as theirs. Rift GoldFor now.
Before the players even get a chance to hold out during training camp, we're told exactly why they're going to be good, bad, or Leaf-y, which picks were "values" and which were "reaches," and none of it is ever right. So it's high time someone graded what can be graded: the graders themselves, and various other Draft happenings that have nothing to do with football. Let's go:
Treating the Commissioner With the Respect He Deserves:
Fans: A. They booed him every time he breathed! As they should! There's a lockout on, who cares if it's actually his fault or not.
Players: D. Except for Newton,RIFT Platinum who knew for days he was getting picked first, and Nick Fairley, who seems like a real prick, they all hugged him like Grandma on Christmas with all manner of techniques: the hearty-handshake-into-one-armed-man-grasp, dual-arm-embraces, the side-to-side rock. Roger Goodell is many things, one of which, now, is cuddly.
Being the Panthers and Drafting Cam Newton, Even if Just to Make Sure You Never Have Another Reason to Start Jimmy Clausen Again, Ever: A+
The Almighty ESPN Braintrust Actually Having "Areas of Concern" for Players the Almighty ESPN Braintrust Decided "Have No Areas of Concern": C-
In his conveniently bulleted breakdown, because all athletes' skills neatly bisect into three positives and three negatives,rift gold LSU stud corner Patrick Peterson was listed as having no areas for concern. So naturally, we get this:
Kiper: "Technically, using his hands he's got some problems, he's little stiff in the hips, and he's not tremendously fluid."
Gruden: I think he needs to improve his bump-and-run mechanics, he carries his hands low, he plays from recovery a lot. This guy has a lot of raw ability, but I've rarely see him put his hands on anybody."
But I've been told to not be concerned, so I'm not, at all.
Chris Mortensen Getting ~Four Total Minutes of Camera Time, and Still Somehow Managing to say "Welcome back to Radio Music City Hall": A
Adam Shefter Transparently Creating "Compelling" Circumstances, Then Quickly Realizing There Isn't Always a "This Year's Aaron Rodgers Situation": B+
Shefter as the Cowboys are on the clock for the 9th pick, following Jake Locker getting selected at 8: RIFT Platinum"The Blaine Gabbert slide is on!"
Shefter 12 minutes and one pick later: "The Blaine Gabbert slide stops at no 10!!! As soon as I sat down with Blaine Gabbert to talk about a possible slide, a 904 number came up on his cellphone, and he's been on his phone since then. All smiles and lots of use of the word 'awesome.'"
Quarterbacks With Lots of Hair Propositioning Suzie Kolber: F
Gabbert barely even made eyes with her.
Confusing This Draft For The NBA's: B+
Gruden: "Instead of worrying about trading down or trading up, I'd take this kid Da'quan Bowers ... I had him as a lottery pick!"
(Note: There is in fact no lottery in the NFL draft, and the NBA Draft's lottery is the first 14 picks. This takes place during pick No. 12.)
John Gruden Continuing to Be Hellbent on Entertaining Us: B
On FSU QB Christian Ponder going No. 12 to the Vikings:"This is a surprise, but it's the only way they could go"
On Illinois DT Corey Liuget: "He's not a big human being, he plays at 300 pounds".
On his exhaustive pre-draft research: "The Saints had one problem last year, and it was injuries in their backfield.TERA Gold Their leading rusher last year was Chris Ivory from Tiffin College. You know why I know he's from Tiffin? Because that's where I was born!!"
Fashion: B-
Pocket squares were in full effect, hipster glasses had been carefully selected, and entire hillside towns in South Africa had been raided for unfathomably blingy watches. This isn't the NBA circa-1993. This is not necessarily a good thing.
Nebraska DB Prince Amukamara Family's Fashion: A+
Um, apparently this guy is an actual prince. First hint of this: certain members of his family coming out onto the stage for the hold-the-jersey photo op in full Nigerian regal garb just one massive lion head short of James Earl Jones. He hugs someone who might be his mother in a gold dress and gold hat, then moves onto a possible-father-possible-uncle whose wielding some form of ceremonial dagger, whom Prince naturally gives a complicated secret handshake they probably don't do in Nigeria. I want these people to adopt me.
Social Media Integration!: A
According to Shefter, teams were monitoring Colorado DB Jimmy Smith's Facebook page and didn't like what they saw, causing him to drop. Stop taking Hipstamatic photos of your non-fluid hips, Jimmy Smith!
Mandatory Drew Rosenhaus-Looking-Rosenhausy Appearance: A
At pick 27 it's a little late, but he's just like we want him: wearing a pastel polo shirt and spreading douchebag cooties to Colorado DB Jimmy Smith at his Downey, California home to show us that he's a family man. Unsurprisingly, as mentioned above, Smith has character issues. With that in mind, Gruden says "[Baltimore] is the perfect locker room for him to go into." Good thing Ray Lewis hasn't killed anyone.
Before the players even get a chance to hold out during training camp, we're told exactly why they're going to be good, bad, or Leaf-y, which picks were "values" and which were "reaches," and none of it is ever right. So it's high time someone graded what can be graded: the graders themselves, and various other Draft happenings that have nothing to do with football. Let's go:
Treating the Commissioner With the Respect He Deserves:
Fans: A. They booed him every time he breathed! As they should! There's a lockout on, who cares if it's actually his fault or not.
Players: D. Except for Newton,RIFT Platinum who knew for days he was getting picked first, and Nick Fairley, who seems like a real prick, they all hugged him like Grandma on Christmas with all manner of techniques: the hearty-handshake-into-one-armed-man-grasp, dual-arm-embraces, the side-to-side rock. Roger Goodell is many things, one of which, now, is cuddly.
Being the Panthers and Drafting Cam Newton, Even if Just to Make Sure You Never Have Another Reason to Start Jimmy Clausen Again, Ever: A+
The Almighty ESPN Braintrust Actually Having "Areas of Concern" for Players the Almighty ESPN Braintrust Decided "Have No Areas of Concern": C-
In his conveniently bulleted breakdown, because all athletes' skills neatly bisect into three positives and three negatives,rift gold LSU stud corner Patrick Peterson was listed as having no areas for concern. So naturally, we get this:
Kiper: "Technically, using his hands he's got some problems, he's little stiff in the hips, and he's not tremendously fluid."
Gruden: I think he needs to improve his bump-and-run mechanics, he carries his hands low, he plays from recovery a lot. This guy has a lot of raw ability, but I've rarely see him put his hands on anybody."
But I've been told to not be concerned, so I'm not, at all.
Chris Mortensen Getting ~Four Total Minutes of Camera Time, and Still Somehow Managing to say "Welcome back to Radio Music City Hall": A
Adam Shefter Transparently Creating "Compelling" Circumstances, Then Quickly Realizing There Isn't Always a "This Year's Aaron Rodgers Situation": B+
Shefter as the Cowboys are on the clock for the 9th pick, following Jake Locker getting selected at 8: RIFT Platinum"The Blaine Gabbert slide is on!"
Shefter 12 minutes and one pick later: "The Blaine Gabbert slide stops at no 10!!! As soon as I sat down with Blaine Gabbert to talk about a possible slide, a 904 number came up on his cellphone, and he's been on his phone since then. All smiles and lots of use of the word 'awesome.'"
Quarterbacks With Lots of Hair Propositioning Suzie Kolber: F
Gabbert barely even made eyes with her.
Confusing This Draft For The NBA's: B+
Gruden: "Instead of worrying about trading down or trading up, I'd take this kid Da'quan Bowers ... I had him as a lottery pick!"
(Note: There is in fact no lottery in the NFL draft, and the NBA Draft's lottery is the first 14 picks. This takes place during pick No. 12.)
John Gruden Continuing to Be Hellbent on Entertaining Us: B
On FSU QB Christian Ponder going No. 12 to the Vikings:"This is a surprise, but it's the only way they could go"
On Illinois DT Corey Liuget: "He's not a big human being, he plays at 300 pounds".
On his exhaustive pre-draft research: "The Saints had one problem last year, and it was injuries in their backfield.TERA Gold Their leading rusher last year was Chris Ivory from Tiffin College. You know why I know he's from Tiffin? Because that's where I was born!!"
Fashion: B-
Pocket squares were in full effect, hipster glasses had been carefully selected, and entire hillside towns in South Africa had been raided for unfathomably blingy watches. This isn't the NBA circa-1993. This is not necessarily a good thing.
Nebraska DB Prince Amukamara Family's Fashion: A+
Um, apparently this guy is an actual prince. First hint of this: certain members of his family coming out onto the stage for the hold-the-jersey photo op in full Nigerian regal garb just one massive lion head short of James Earl Jones. He hugs someone who might be his mother in a gold dress and gold hat, then moves onto a possible-father-possible-uncle whose wielding some form of ceremonial dagger, whom Prince naturally gives a complicated secret handshake they probably don't do in Nigeria. I want these people to adopt me.
Social Media Integration!: A
According to Shefter, teams were monitoring Colorado DB Jimmy Smith's Facebook page and didn't like what they saw, causing him to drop. Stop taking Hipstamatic photos of your non-fluid hips, Jimmy Smith!
Mandatory Drew Rosenhaus-Looking-Rosenhausy Appearance: A
At pick 27 it's a little late, but he's just like we want him: wearing a pastel polo shirt and spreading douchebag cooties to Colorado DB Jimmy Smith at his Downey, California home to show us that he's a family man. Unsurprisingly, as mentioned above, Smith has character issues. With that in mind, Gruden says "[Baltimore] is the perfect locker room for him to go into." Good thing Ray Lewis hasn't killed anyone.
2011年5月4日星期三
The Paleolithic Diet and Pregnancy
Overview
Your nutrition affects you and your baby, so it's important to find the best diet for you. The Paleolithic diet involves eating only what was available to humans during the Paleolithic era. Proponents believe that Paleolithic foods are better matched to our genetics, improve overall health and encourage a healthy weight.
Principles
The Paleolithic diet excludes foods that first appeared in the Neolithic area, after the practices of agriculture and animal husbandry began. Many variations on the Paleolithic diet exist, but most exclude grains, dairy, beans, potatoes, sugar, salt and processed foods. Grass-fed meats, game, fish, shellfish, eggs, raw tree nuts, raw vegetables, fruits and mushrooms are all included. Consuming a wide variety of foods is recommended, especially plants, and organic foods are preferred. Carbohydrate and protein intake are usually high, but emphasis isn't placed on specific amounts of macronutrients. You can make the diet any combination of carbohydrate, protein and fat as long as you are consuming only Paleolithic foods. Eating Paleolithic should provide most of the nutrients needed by a pregnant woman, but some aspects of your nutrition should be monitored.
5 Foods you must not eat: Cut down a bit of stomach fat every day by never eating these 5 foods. Rift Gold Naviibk.com
Sponsored Links
Energy Intake
Reducing your daily caloric intake tends to happen naturally with plant-based diets like the Paleolithic diet, but you need to eat more calories per day when you are pregnant. Consult your doctor for specific calorie recommendations and monitor your caloric intake if you are trying the diet for the first time. RIFT Platinum You should eat 300 more calories per day during your second and third trimester. Failure to provide energy to your baby can result in serious complications.
Calcium
According to the American Pregnancy Association, rift gold you should consume 1,000 mg of calcium per day if you are pregnant. Exclusion of dairy from the Paleolithic diet is a concern to some because dairy products are an excellent source of calcium. RIFT Platinum You might need more calcium than your Paleolithic diet provides, so emphasize calcium-rich vegetables and consider adding whole dairy products or a supplement to your diet.
Protein
The American Pregnancy Association recommends 75 to 100 g of protein during pregnancy. TERA Gold The Paleolithic diet is naturally high in protein, so you should easily meet this requirement. Dr. Loren Cordain, author of the book "The Paleolithic Diet," cautions women that high protein intake can't be tolerated during pregnancy because of changes
Your nutrition affects you and your baby, so it's important to find the best diet for you. The Paleolithic diet involves eating only what was available to humans during the Paleolithic era. Proponents believe that Paleolithic foods are better matched to our genetics, improve overall health and encourage a healthy weight.
Principles
The Paleolithic diet excludes foods that first appeared in the Neolithic area, after the practices of agriculture and animal husbandry began. Many variations on the Paleolithic diet exist, but most exclude grains, dairy, beans, potatoes, sugar, salt and processed foods. Grass-fed meats, game, fish, shellfish, eggs, raw tree nuts, raw vegetables, fruits and mushrooms are all included. Consuming a wide variety of foods is recommended, especially plants, and organic foods are preferred. Carbohydrate and protein intake are usually high, but emphasis isn't placed on specific amounts of macronutrients. You can make the diet any combination of carbohydrate, protein and fat as long as you are consuming only Paleolithic foods. Eating Paleolithic should provide most of the nutrients needed by a pregnant woman, but some aspects of your nutrition should be monitored.
5 Foods you must not eat: Cut down a bit of stomach fat every day by never eating these 5 foods. Rift Gold Naviibk.com
Sponsored Links
Energy Intake
Reducing your daily caloric intake tends to happen naturally with plant-based diets like the Paleolithic diet, but you need to eat more calories per day when you are pregnant. Consult your doctor for specific calorie recommendations and monitor your caloric intake if you are trying the diet for the first time. RIFT Platinum You should eat 300 more calories per day during your second and third trimester. Failure to provide energy to your baby can result in serious complications.
Calcium
According to the American Pregnancy Association, rift gold you should consume 1,000 mg of calcium per day if you are pregnant. Exclusion of dairy from the Paleolithic diet is a concern to some because dairy products are an excellent source of calcium. RIFT Platinum You might need more calcium than your Paleolithic diet provides, so emphasize calcium-rich vegetables and consider adding whole dairy products or a supplement to your diet.
Protein
The American Pregnancy Association recommends 75 to 100 g of protein during pregnancy. TERA Gold The Paleolithic diet is naturally high in protein, so you should easily meet this requirement. Dr. Loren Cordain, author of the book "The Paleolithic Diet," cautions women that high protein intake can't be tolerated during pregnancy because of changes
George Michael Records Love Song for Prince William and Kate Middleton
George Michael is in the mood for love, and on Friday's 'Piers Morgan Tonight,' he debuted a romantic new single recorded in honor of Prince William's upcoming wedding to Kate Middleton.
The ballad is a cover of a 1972 Stevie Wonder track, 'You and I.' It's available via GeorgeMichael.com, where the British singer asks fans to download the song free and make a charitable contribution to the Royal Wedding Charity Fund.
"I'm incredibly happy for William, incredibly happy for his partner, and I'm absolutely sure that Diana would have loved the whole thing," Michael said. TERA Gold "I really hope she would have loved this track."
The pop star, 47, wasn't always so eager to sing for the royal family, as E! points out.
Years ago, the singer allegedly declined Princess Diana's request to perform a duet with Sir Elton John at an intimate Christmas party, on the grounds that he "just can't deal with singing in front of small crowds." RIFT Platinum The invitation was said to be a special favor to Diana's son, William, then just 8 years old. Recounting the incident on Twitter recently, Michael cracked, rift gold "So I bloody said no to the future king of my country."
One would need a strong sense of humor to rebound after the kind of year Michael just weathered: He was released from jail in October, Rift Gold after serving time for crashing his car while on drugs last summer. He'd been found slumped over the wheel of his Range Rover, RIFT Platinum and admitted being under the influence. In addition to an eight-week prison sentence (he was released early), the onetime Wham! star was slapped with a fine and five-year ban from getting behing the wheel.
The ballad is a cover of a 1972 Stevie Wonder track, 'You and I.' It's available via GeorgeMichael.com, where the British singer asks fans to download the song free and make a charitable contribution to the Royal Wedding Charity Fund.
"I'm incredibly happy for William, incredibly happy for his partner, and I'm absolutely sure that Diana would have loved the whole thing," Michael said. TERA Gold "I really hope she would have loved this track."
The pop star, 47, wasn't always so eager to sing for the royal family, as E! points out.
Years ago, the singer allegedly declined Princess Diana's request to perform a duet with Sir Elton John at an intimate Christmas party, on the grounds that he "just can't deal with singing in front of small crowds." RIFT Platinum The invitation was said to be a special favor to Diana's son, William, then just 8 years old. Recounting the incident on Twitter recently, Michael cracked, rift gold "So I bloody said no to the future king of my country."
One would need a strong sense of humor to rebound after the kind of year Michael just weathered: He was released from jail in October, Rift Gold after serving time for crashing his car while on drugs last summer. He'd been found slumped over the wheel of his Range Rover, RIFT Platinum and admitted being under the influence. In addition to an eight-week prison sentence (he was released early), the onetime Wham! star was slapped with a fine and five-year ban from getting behing the wheel.
Parents of Terminally Ill 'Baby Joseph' Battle Hospital to Keep Him Alive
The parents of a 13-month-old baby who has a fatal neurological degenerative disease are fighting doctors in Canada for the right to keep him alive.
Moe and Nader Maraachli were told two weeks ago that their son,Rift Gold known as "Baby Joseph," could not be cured and would stay in his current vegetative state, ABC News reported. They were given a consent form allowing physicians to take the small boy off life support.
The devastated parents refused to sign it. And now they're battling the hospital for their son's survival.
The case highlights the ethical dilemma that health-care providers and parents of a terminally ill child often find themselves facing:RIFT Platinum How much time and money should be spent on keeping a child with a fatal disease alive?
Alex Schadenberg, the family spokesman and the executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, said they've only just wanted to bring Joseph home so that he can live his final days out there.
"They weren't asking for extraordinary medical treatment or for the government to pay for a ventilator with an in-home nurse," he told ABC.
The hospital where the child has been staying since October 2010, London Health Sciences Centre, rift goldsays it sides with the Consent and Capacity Board on the proper course of treatment.
"It involves transferring him home, on a breathing machine, and then placing him the arms of his family before withdrawing the machine," the hospital said in a statement to ABC. "The transfer would not involve performing a tracheotomy, which ... is frequently indicated for patients who require a long-term breathing machine. This is not, unfortunately, the case with Baby Joseph, because he has a progressive neurodegenerative disease that is fatal."
The case has stirred considerable controversy and outrage among people in both Canada and the United States, RIFT Platinumwith supporters of Baby Joseph's parents starting movements on Facebook to protest the medical community's actions. One of the groups, known as Save Baby Joseph, has more than 13,000 members, and another, Save Baby Joseph Maraachli, has over 1,300, ABC said.
Baby Joseph has also become something of a poster child for the fight against a government-funded health care system like Canada's, which has become a heated topic of debate after the far-reaching U.S. health care reform bill was passed in the fall.
In the end, the issue comes down to whether doctors or families have the right to choose whether to end a terminally ill child's life.
Dr. Sarah Friebert, a pediatric palliative care doctor in Akron Children's Hospital in Ohio,TERA Gold said health-care providers should do everything they can to honor the parents' requests, unless they're clearly not doing what is best for the child, according to ABC.
"The process involves bringing in other people to support the family with any sort of emotional, religious or spiritual issues that we need to understand better," Friebert said. "It often feels like an impossible choice because death is such a final option and parents are understandably going to try everything to avoid that."
Moe and Nader Maraachli were told two weeks ago that their son,Rift Gold known as "Baby Joseph," could not be cured and would stay in his current vegetative state, ABC News reported. They were given a consent form allowing physicians to take the small boy off life support.
The devastated parents refused to sign it. And now they're battling the hospital for their son's survival.
The case highlights the ethical dilemma that health-care providers and parents of a terminally ill child often find themselves facing:RIFT Platinum How much time and money should be spent on keeping a child with a fatal disease alive?
Alex Schadenberg, the family spokesman and the executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, said they've only just wanted to bring Joseph home so that he can live his final days out there.
"They weren't asking for extraordinary medical treatment or for the government to pay for a ventilator with an in-home nurse," he told ABC.
The hospital where the child has been staying since October 2010, London Health Sciences Centre, rift goldsays it sides with the Consent and Capacity Board on the proper course of treatment.
"It involves transferring him home, on a breathing machine, and then placing him the arms of his family before withdrawing the machine," the hospital said in a statement to ABC. "The transfer would not involve performing a tracheotomy, which ... is frequently indicated for patients who require a long-term breathing machine. This is not, unfortunately, the case with Baby Joseph, because he has a progressive neurodegenerative disease that is fatal."
The case has stirred considerable controversy and outrage among people in both Canada and the United States, RIFT Platinumwith supporters of Baby Joseph's parents starting movements on Facebook to protest the medical community's actions. One of the groups, known as Save Baby Joseph, has more than 13,000 members, and another, Save Baby Joseph Maraachli, has over 1,300, ABC said.
Baby Joseph has also become something of a poster child for the fight against a government-funded health care system like Canada's, which has become a heated topic of debate after the far-reaching U.S. health care reform bill was passed in the fall.
In the end, the issue comes down to whether doctors or families have the right to choose whether to end a terminally ill child's life.
Dr. Sarah Friebert, a pediatric palliative care doctor in Akron Children's Hospital in Ohio,TERA Gold said health-care providers should do everything they can to honor the parents' requests, unless they're clearly not doing what is best for the child, according to ABC.
"The process involves bringing in other people to support the family with any sort of emotional, religious or spiritual issues that we need to understand better," Friebert said. "It often feels like an impossible choice because death is such a final option and parents are understandably going to try everything to avoid that."
No Guarantees Against Unethical Research, Panel Told
Experts say that the kind of unethical medical studies that occurred half a century ago could still happen again despite more than 1,000 rules and regulations that should prevent such abuses.
Bioethicists and researchers spoke Tuesday before a presidential panel in Washington.Rift Gold The meeting was triggered by the government's apology last fall for federal doctors infecting prisoners and mental patients in Guatemala with syphilis 65 years ago.
President Barack Obama ordered his Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues to explore whether such a study could ever happen again.
Speakers noted that over the last several decades, as many as 1,000 rules, regulations and guidelines have been enacted worldwide to ensure the ethical conduct of medical research.RIFT Platinum In the United States, there are rules to protect people in every study done by federal scientists, funded by federal agencies or those testing a product requiring federal approval to be sold.
But that oversight is inconsistent - ethical rules can vary among federal agencies.rift gold What's more, if federal funding or review is not involved, an unethical study could be done and no one in authority would ever know about it.
"We have a leaky system," said Eric Meslin, director of the Indiana University Center for Bioethics.
Dr. Robert Califf, Duke University's vice chancellor for clinical research, agreed there are weaknesses.
"It's night and day and what you could do in the 'good old days' with no one knowing about it. But there's no 100 percent guarantee. There still will be bad things that will happen," he said.
RIFT PlatinumThe commission, ordered to report to the president by September, was given two tasks:
-Examine federally funded international studies to make sure research is being done ethically. The commission named a 14-member international panel of experts to study the question.
-Take a more intensive look at the Guatemala study. More than a dozen commission investigators have already started poring through hundreds of boxes of old government documents.
What they will turn up is unknown, but there are doubtless more unethical studies from the past that have never been publicly reported, said Susan Lederer,TERA Gold a medical historian at the University of Wisconsin.
On Sunday, The Associated Press reported on dozens of studies from the past - most of them between 40 and 80 years ago - involving researchers deliberately infecting people to study the effects of diseases or to see if an experimental treatment might work.
The AP investigation itself was triggered by the Guatemala study.
At Tuesday's commission meeting, Lederer was the most pessimistic of five guest speakers about whether that kind of research could happen again.
"I don't think you should look to historians for optimism," she said.
Bioethicists and researchers spoke Tuesday before a presidential panel in Washington.Rift Gold The meeting was triggered by the government's apology last fall for federal doctors infecting prisoners and mental patients in Guatemala with syphilis 65 years ago.
President Barack Obama ordered his Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues to explore whether such a study could ever happen again.
Speakers noted that over the last several decades, as many as 1,000 rules, regulations and guidelines have been enacted worldwide to ensure the ethical conduct of medical research.RIFT Platinum In the United States, there are rules to protect people in every study done by federal scientists, funded by federal agencies or those testing a product requiring federal approval to be sold.
But that oversight is inconsistent - ethical rules can vary among federal agencies.rift gold What's more, if federal funding or review is not involved, an unethical study could be done and no one in authority would ever know about it.
"We have a leaky system," said Eric Meslin, director of the Indiana University Center for Bioethics.
Dr. Robert Califf, Duke University's vice chancellor for clinical research, agreed there are weaknesses.
"It's night and day and what you could do in the 'good old days' with no one knowing about it. But there's no 100 percent guarantee. There still will be bad things that will happen," he said.
RIFT PlatinumThe commission, ordered to report to the president by September, was given two tasks:
-Examine federally funded international studies to make sure research is being done ethically. The commission named a 14-member international panel of experts to study the question.
-Take a more intensive look at the Guatemala study. More than a dozen commission investigators have already started poring through hundreds of boxes of old government documents.
What they will turn up is unknown, but there are doubtless more unethical studies from the past that have never been publicly reported, said Susan Lederer,TERA Gold a medical historian at the University of Wisconsin.
On Sunday, The Associated Press reported on dozens of studies from the past - most of them between 40 and 80 years ago - involving researchers deliberately infecting people to study the effects of diseases or to see if an experimental treatment might work.
The AP investigation itself was triggered by the Guatemala study.
At Tuesday's commission meeting, Lederer was the most pessimistic of five guest speakers about whether that kind of research could happen again.
"I don't think you should look to historians for optimism," she said.
2011年5月3日星期二
You Never Called
Haiti
Haiti is located in the Caribbean, on the island of Hispaniola. It has a population of approximately 7 million, of whom 99 percent are descendants of African slaves. Its capital is Port-au-Prince. Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere and has long been plagued by political violence.
Haiti was colonized by the French in the late seventeenth century. The French established valuable sugar plantations on the island using slave labor. In 1804, a slave uprising led to Haiti’s independence. Since then its history has been characterized by political turmoil and endemic poverty. The election of François (Papa Doc) Duvalier in 1957 led to the creation of a harsh dictatorship. Duvalier helped to destroy what little economic or political promise Haiti might have had. Upon his death in 1971,rift gold his son Jean Claude (Baby Doc) Duvalier took over the country. Like his father, he ruled by violence and intimidation. In 1986, public protests against Duvalier’s rule forced him to flee the country. A series of military leaders ruled the country until, under international pressure, the government allowed free elections for a new president. Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a leftleaning Catholic priest, won those elections in 1990, but was overthrown by a military coup in 1991. Haiti descended into further chaos until 1994 when American troops landed and forced the Haitian army to accept Aristide as president. Backed by a United Nations presence, Aristide ruled until 1996. After Duvalier’s death, a period of political chaos ensued, which was ended by United Nations (UN) intervention in 1994. A constitution was drafted in 1997,rift gold but it has yet to be ratified and Haiti remains an unstable nation without strong democratic roots. Shortly after the military was disbanded in January 1995, the Haitian government created the Haitian National Police (HNP) to provide order and stability. The UN maintained a police mission in Haiti (called MIPONUH), which advised and trained the HNP, but it withdrew from the country in March 2000. Under the guidance of the UN, the HNP has gained valuable experience, but it still is weak, corrupt, and prone to human rights violations. Aristede was elected president again in 2000. Originally viewed as a human rights defender, he has been accused of using force to maintain his influence over the country.
Haiti was colonized by the French in the late seventeenth century. The French established valuable sugar plantations on the island using slave labor. In 1804, a slave uprising led to Haiti’s independence. Since then its history has been characterized by political turmoil and endemic poverty. The election of François (Papa Doc) Duvalier in 1957 led to the creation of a harsh dictatorship. Duvalier helped to destroy what little economic or political promise Haiti might have had. Upon his death in 1971,rift gold his son Jean Claude (Baby Doc) Duvalier took over the country. Like his father, he ruled by violence and intimidation. In 1986, public protests against Duvalier’s rule forced him to flee the country. A series of military leaders ruled the country until, under international pressure, the government allowed free elections for a new president. Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a leftleaning Catholic priest, won those elections in 1990, but was overthrown by a military coup in 1991. Haiti descended into further chaos until 1994 when American troops landed and forced the Haitian army to accept Aristide as president. Backed by a United Nations presence, Aristide ruled until 1996. After Duvalier’s death, a period of political chaos ensued, which was ended by United Nations (UN) intervention in 1994. A constitution was drafted in 1997,rift gold but it has yet to be ratified and Haiti remains an unstable nation without strong democratic roots. Shortly after the military was disbanded in January 1995, the Haitian government created the Haitian National Police (HNP) to provide order and stability. The UN maintained a police mission in Haiti (called MIPONUH), which advised and trained the HNP, but it withdrew from the country in March 2000. Under the guidance of the UN, the HNP has gained valuable experience, but it still is weak, corrupt, and prone to human rights violations. Aristede was elected president again in 2000. Originally viewed as a human rights defender, he has been accused of using force to maintain his influence over the country.
Chernobyl
Ukrainian city north of Kiev and site of a massive nuclear accident in April 1986. The explosion of Reactor Four at the Chernobyl nuclear power station marked a turning point for the fortunes of both atomic energy and the Soviet system. As a result of the accident, thirty-one people died outright, hundreds of thousands were exposed to high doses of radiation,rift gold and large areas of the Soviet Union were contaminated. Soviet mismanagement of the disaster damaged the USSR’s reputation at home and abroad. Chernobyl heightened public perceptions of nuclear risk and led many countries to reassess their atomic energy programs.
On April 25, 1986, a test was to be carried out at Reactor Four of the Chernobyl plant during a routine maintenance shutdown. The test program, which was to assess the viability of alternative electrical power supplies in the event of the loss of main power, included numerous actions that violated established nuclear safety regulations. Errors included the disabling of key components of the emergency shutdown system and the inadvertent lowering of reactor power to an unstable level. Flaws in the scheduled test were compounded by particular design features of the reactor itself, a light water-cooled RBMK1000 graphite-moderated unit, which was one of the most dangerous types of nuclear reactors.
During the experiment, plant technicians attempted to manually control the reactor after it reached a dangerous operating state. This intervention made matters worse, and at 1:23 A.M. on April 26, the reactor experienced a surge in power of one hundred times normal operating capacity. The result was a catastrophic steam explosion that blew off the top plate of the reactor, exposing the reactor core to the air. Seconds later, a hydrogen explosion ignited a graphite-moderator fire. Gases from the fire carried melted uranium fuel into the atmosphere. Meteorological and wind conditions transported the radioactive material over much of the Northern Hemisphere.
The causes of the Chernobyl accident and the series of events that led to the destruction of Reactor Four have been the subject of intense inquiry by international committees and individual scientists. Most investigations have pointed to an insufficient level of “safety culture” in both the Chernobyl plant and the Soviet nuclear industry. The reactor’s faulty design was unforgiving of operator error, while the technicians themselves betrayed a lack of respect for the potential dangers involved in deviating from established nuclear safety procedures. Moreover, the entire Soviet nuclear industry suffered from shoddy construction materials, chronic supply problems, and insufficient training of personnel. Much of the onus for Chernobyl must also rest on the Soviet Communist Party, which preferenced economic goals over responsible and safe energy production. In sum, the Chernobyl disaster was the product of the myriad curses of the Soviet system in its final stage of decay.
The magnitude of the accident was without precedent, and Soviet officials had no emergency plan in place to cope with such a disaster. Aggressive countermeasures at the plant were generally successful and reduced the threat of additional damage. To contain the graphite fires, helicopters dropped wet sand, boron carbide, lead, and dolomite on the burning reactor. Official Soviet reaction was characterized by delays in notification and underestimation of the scale of the danger. The evacuation of the nearby town of Pripyat and a thirty-kilometer zone around the reactor was delayed nearly thirty-six hours. For two weeks the Kremlin released only limited information about the disaster, and it was not until May 14 that General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev addressed Soviet citizens on the matter.
The calculation of radiation dose estimates resulting from Chernobyl has sparked considerable controversy, but it is certain that most of the population of the Northern Hemisphere was exposed to some degree. Ey far the worst affected were the approximately 400 people on site at the time of the accident, including plant workers, firefighters, and medical crews. Of these, 31 died as a result of acute radiation syndrome. The 135,000 evacuees from the thirty-kilometer exclusion zone received significant doses, as did many of the 800,000 people involved in clean-up operations. About 270,000 people still live in contaminated areas, where radiocesium deposition is in excess of 555 kilobecquerels per square meter, the highest level considered safe. Populations outside the former Soviet Union received doses too low to be considered harmful.
The health implications of dose exposure from the Chernobyl accident vary. Those living in areas of contamination, especially children,rift gold have experienced increased incidence of carcinoma of the thyroid, which is expected to lead to many thousands of cancer deaths. The same areas have recorded no increases in leukemia, congenital abnormalities, adverse pregnancy outcomes, or any other radiation-induced disease. Over many years, however, public health officials expect increased incidence of genetic diseases, though these may not be statistically measurable or traceable to Chernobyl. The most serious longterm health impact continues to be psychological stress syndrome. Public fears about radiation, a mistrust toward public authorities, and the disruption of social networks and traditional ways of life has exacted a high psychological toll on populations in contaminated areas.
More serious than the direct health impact on humans is the long-term damage to food production and the environment. Large areas of agricultural land within the former Soviet Union must be excluded from productive use for many generations. Restrictions on animal slaughter and food distribution remain in place in some affected areas. Forest environments that lay in the path of fallout will constitute a radiological problem for many years. To date, contamination of ground water has been limited to the thirtykilometer exclusion zone.
The residual risks posed by the Chernobyl accident are considerable. Seven months after the event, Soviet authorities completed the construction of the “sarcophagus,” a massive concrete structure that encases the destroyed reactor. In recent years numerous cracks in the roof have allowed the penetration of rainwater, which is now radioactive. There is some concern that contamination of the water table in the thirty-kilometer zone could threaten the Dnieper River. An independent Ukraine awaits international assistance to repair the sarcophagus and eventually undertake the safe elimination of both the reactor and the large quantity of radioactive waste produced during postaccident countermeasures.
The destruction of the Chernobyl reactor, the worst industrial accident in European history, was and continues to be an event of far-reaching significance. Aside from health consequences and environmental, industrial, and economic damage, Chernobyl has had a profound impact worldwide on public perceptions of nuclear power. After the accident the transboundary implications of nuclear disaster were better understood, and a global campaign in favor of international nuclear regulation and cooperation was launched. The Chernobyl disaster was also a harbinger of the coming demise of the Soviet Union. At Chernobyl, as with the collapse and dissolution of the Soviet empire, a poorly conceived experiment on a faulty system led to the destruction of the entire machine.
On April 25, 1986, a test was to be carried out at Reactor Four of the Chernobyl plant during a routine maintenance shutdown. The test program, which was to assess the viability of alternative electrical power supplies in the event of the loss of main power, included numerous actions that violated established nuclear safety regulations. Errors included the disabling of key components of the emergency shutdown system and the inadvertent lowering of reactor power to an unstable level. Flaws in the scheduled test were compounded by particular design features of the reactor itself, a light water-cooled RBMK1000 graphite-moderated unit, which was one of the most dangerous types of nuclear reactors.
During the experiment, plant technicians attempted to manually control the reactor after it reached a dangerous operating state. This intervention made matters worse, and at 1:23 A.M. on April 26, the reactor experienced a surge in power of one hundred times normal operating capacity. The result was a catastrophic steam explosion that blew off the top plate of the reactor, exposing the reactor core to the air. Seconds later, a hydrogen explosion ignited a graphite-moderator fire. Gases from the fire carried melted uranium fuel into the atmosphere. Meteorological and wind conditions transported the radioactive material over much of the Northern Hemisphere.
The causes of the Chernobyl accident and the series of events that led to the destruction of Reactor Four have been the subject of intense inquiry by international committees and individual scientists. Most investigations have pointed to an insufficient level of “safety culture” in both the Chernobyl plant and the Soviet nuclear industry. The reactor’s faulty design was unforgiving of operator error, while the technicians themselves betrayed a lack of respect for the potential dangers involved in deviating from established nuclear safety procedures. Moreover, the entire Soviet nuclear industry suffered from shoddy construction materials, chronic supply problems, and insufficient training of personnel. Much of the onus for Chernobyl must also rest on the Soviet Communist Party, which preferenced economic goals over responsible and safe energy production. In sum, the Chernobyl disaster was the product of the myriad curses of the Soviet system in its final stage of decay.
The magnitude of the accident was without precedent, and Soviet officials had no emergency plan in place to cope with such a disaster. Aggressive countermeasures at the plant were generally successful and reduced the threat of additional damage. To contain the graphite fires, helicopters dropped wet sand, boron carbide, lead, and dolomite on the burning reactor. Official Soviet reaction was characterized by delays in notification and underestimation of the scale of the danger. The evacuation of the nearby town of Pripyat and a thirty-kilometer zone around the reactor was delayed nearly thirty-six hours. For two weeks the Kremlin released only limited information about the disaster, and it was not until May 14 that General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev addressed Soviet citizens on the matter.
The calculation of radiation dose estimates resulting from Chernobyl has sparked considerable controversy, but it is certain that most of the population of the Northern Hemisphere was exposed to some degree. Ey far the worst affected were the approximately 400 people on site at the time of the accident, including plant workers, firefighters, and medical crews. Of these, 31 died as a result of acute radiation syndrome. The 135,000 evacuees from the thirty-kilometer exclusion zone received significant doses, as did many of the 800,000 people involved in clean-up operations. About 270,000 people still live in contaminated areas, where radiocesium deposition is in excess of 555 kilobecquerels per square meter, the highest level considered safe. Populations outside the former Soviet Union received doses too low to be considered harmful.
The health implications of dose exposure from the Chernobyl accident vary. Those living in areas of contamination, especially children,rift gold have experienced increased incidence of carcinoma of the thyroid, which is expected to lead to many thousands of cancer deaths. The same areas have recorded no increases in leukemia, congenital abnormalities, adverse pregnancy outcomes, or any other radiation-induced disease. Over many years, however, public health officials expect increased incidence of genetic diseases, though these may not be statistically measurable or traceable to Chernobyl. The most serious longterm health impact continues to be psychological stress syndrome. Public fears about radiation, a mistrust toward public authorities, and the disruption of social networks and traditional ways of life has exacted a high psychological toll on populations in contaminated areas.
More serious than the direct health impact on humans is the long-term damage to food production and the environment. Large areas of agricultural land within the former Soviet Union must be excluded from productive use for many generations. Restrictions on animal slaughter and food distribution remain in place in some affected areas. Forest environments that lay in the path of fallout will constitute a radiological problem for many years. To date, contamination of ground water has been limited to the thirtykilometer exclusion zone.
The residual risks posed by the Chernobyl accident are considerable. Seven months after the event, Soviet authorities completed the construction of the “sarcophagus,” a massive concrete structure that encases the destroyed reactor. In recent years numerous cracks in the roof have allowed the penetration of rainwater, which is now radioactive. There is some concern that contamination of the water table in the thirty-kilometer zone could threaten the Dnieper River. An independent Ukraine awaits international assistance to repair the sarcophagus and eventually undertake the safe elimination of both the reactor and the large quantity of radioactive waste produced during postaccident countermeasures.
The destruction of the Chernobyl reactor, the worst industrial accident in European history, was and continues to be an event of far-reaching significance. Aside from health consequences and environmental, industrial, and economic damage, Chernobyl has had a profound impact worldwide on public perceptions of nuclear power. After the accident the transboundary implications of nuclear disaster were better understood, and a global campaign in favor of international nuclear regulation and cooperation was launched. The Chernobyl disaster was also a harbinger of the coming demise of the Soviet Union. At Chernobyl, as with the collapse and dissolution of the Soviet empire, a poorly conceived experiment on a faulty system led to the destruction of the entire machine.
Myanmar
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is located in Southeast Asia, bordering the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, between Bangladesh, China, India,rift gold, Laos, and Thailand. The population, estimated at just over 50 million, is composed of seven major ethnic minorities and several smaller ones. The majority ethnic group, Burmese, who make up approximately 68 percent of the total population, are mostly Buddhist, while Christians and Muslims combined make up less than 10 percent of the total population. Over 106 languages and dialects are spoken.
In 1948, while working to gain independence from Britain, several important leaders, including the hero of the independence movement, General Aung San, were assassinated. The killings weakened the union of ethnic groups who had placed their trust in these original leaders. Several ethnic groups subsequently began to struggle for increased autonomy from the majority Burmese. This has led to continued strife in Myanmar to this day.
The independence leaders had created a parliamentary democracy which continued to function, despite a context of continuing ethnic strife, until 1962. On the eve of peace negotiations between the Burmese and minority ethnic groups, an army coup led by General Ne Win resulted in a dictatorship that has lasted ever since.
Throughout Ne Win’s reign, which lasted ostensibly through 1988, Burma closed itself to the world, forsaking foreign trade and international economics in favor of the “Burmese Way to Socialism.” While black markets flourished, Burma’s economy was decimated. In 1987, the United Nations declared Burma a “least developed country.” In addition to poor economic management, Ne Win’s rule was known particularly for its brutality and paranoia. He devised and oversaw the Military Intelligence Service (MIS), which maintained a pervasive network of informers and spies throughout the country.
By 1988, frustration with Ne Win reached a boiling point when several Burmese students launched a pro-democracy movement that quickly encompassed the entire nation. The army squelched the national demonstrations that ensued by shooting non-violent protestors. Casualty estimates range from 6,000 to 10,000, and most were shot at close range.
In response to the unrest and Ne Win’s failing health, the military reorganized itself into the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC)—later renamed the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) in 1997—and abolished all remnants of civilian administration. The SPDC junta is led formally by General Than Shwe, the top general of the army. The junta is comprised of eighty cabinet members, including forty SPDC ministers.
To pacify the people, the military called for a general parliamentary election in 1990. Opposition parties were briefly allowed to form, and the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San’s daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi, quickly became the leading democratic opposition party. In 1989, just months before the election, the SPDC placed Suu Kyi and several of her NLD colleagues under house arrest, fearing her popularity in the upcoming election. The NLD triumph, however,rift gold was still overwhelming. The party won 392 of the 485 seats in Parliament, while ethnic minority groups opposing the regime won an additional 65. The military-backed National Unity Party (NUP) won only ten seats. Instead of recognizing the results of the election, the regime backpedaled, stating that the delegates were elected to draft a constitution rather than form a Parliament.
Still under house arrest, Suu Kyi was awarded the Sakharov Prize from the European Parliament in 1990 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. She remained under house arrest until 1995, when she was formally released. Despite her release, Suu Kyi remains under virtual house arrest—she is forbidden from traveling out of Yangon (Rangoon) and from giving speeches in the city. Moreover, most visitors are blocked from entering her house, and those that do meet her risk detention or even imprisonment. In early 1999, Suu Kyi’s husband became terminally ill in England, but the junta refused to grant him a travel visa so he could visit her at home. In March 1999 he passed away before the two were able to reunite.
In August 2000, Suu Kyi was again imprisoned, this time in her own car. On her way to a meeting with supporters, she was stopped by army roadblocks and kept in her car for nine days. She was then forced to return to her house, where, as of September 2000, she remains under house arrest. This new attack on Suu Kyi has attracted international outrage and condemnation.
The NLD, the party Suu Kyi leads, consistently challenges the junta’s rule. In June 1998 Suu Kyi and the NLD issued an ultimatum stating that if the junta continued to refuse to open the duly elected Parliament, the NLD would convene it independently. Instead of allowing the NLD to move forward, the junta arrested several hundred members of the party, including over 150 elected military police. In response, the NLD formed the Committee Representing the People’s Parliament (CRPP) to speak for the Parliament it was unable to convene. Parliamentarians in several nations have recognized the CRPP as a legitimate and legal body.
In 1948, while working to gain independence from Britain, several important leaders, including the hero of the independence movement, General Aung San, were assassinated. The killings weakened the union of ethnic groups who had placed their trust in these original leaders. Several ethnic groups subsequently began to struggle for increased autonomy from the majority Burmese. This has led to continued strife in Myanmar to this day.
The independence leaders had created a parliamentary democracy which continued to function, despite a context of continuing ethnic strife, until 1962. On the eve of peace negotiations between the Burmese and minority ethnic groups, an army coup led by General Ne Win resulted in a dictatorship that has lasted ever since.
Throughout Ne Win’s reign, which lasted ostensibly through 1988, Burma closed itself to the world, forsaking foreign trade and international economics in favor of the “Burmese Way to Socialism.” While black markets flourished, Burma’s economy was decimated. In 1987, the United Nations declared Burma a “least developed country.” In addition to poor economic management, Ne Win’s rule was known particularly for its brutality and paranoia. He devised and oversaw the Military Intelligence Service (MIS), which maintained a pervasive network of informers and spies throughout the country.
By 1988, frustration with Ne Win reached a boiling point when several Burmese students launched a pro-democracy movement that quickly encompassed the entire nation. The army squelched the national demonstrations that ensued by shooting non-violent protestors. Casualty estimates range from 6,000 to 10,000, and most were shot at close range.
In response to the unrest and Ne Win’s failing health, the military reorganized itself into the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC)—later renamed the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) in 1997—and abolished all remnants of civilian administration. The SPDC junta is led formally by General Than Shwe, the top general of the army. The junta is comprised of eighty cabinet members, including forty SPDC ministers.
To pacify the people, the military called for a general parliamentary election in 1990. Opposition parties were briefly allowed to form, and the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San’s daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi, quickly became the leading democratic opposition party. In 1989, just months before the election, the SPDC placed Suu Kyi and several of her NLD colleagues under house arrest, fearing her popularity in the upcoming election. The NLD triumph, however,rift gold was still overwhelming. The party won 392 of the 485 seats in Parliament, while ethnic minority groups opposing the regime won an additional 65. The military-backed National Unity Party (NUP) won only ten seats. Instead of recognizing the results of the election, the regime backpedaled, stating that the delegates were elected to draft a constitution rather than form a Parliament.
Still under house arrest, Suu Kyi was awarded the Sakharov Prize from the European Parliament in 1990 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. She remained under house arrest until 1995, when she was formally released. Despite her release, Suu Kyi remains under virtual house arrest—she is forbidden from traveling out of Yangon (Rangoon) and from giving speeches in the city. Moreover, most visitors are blocked from entering her house, and those that do meet her risk detention or even imprisonment. In early 1999, Suu Kyi’s husband became terminally ill in England, but the junta refused to grant him a travel visa so he could visit her at home. In March 1999 he passed away before the two were able to reunite.
In August 2000, Suu Kyi was again imprisoned, this time in her own car. On her way to a meeting with supporters, she was stopped by army roadblocks and kept in her car for nine days. She was then forced to return to her house, where, as of September 2000, she remains under house arrest. This new attack on Suu Kyi has attracted international outrage and condemnation.
The NLD, the party Suu Kyi leads, consistently challenges the junta’s rule. In June 1998 Suu Kyi and the NLD issued an ultimatum stating that if the junta continued to refuse to open the duly elected Parliament, the NLD would convene it independently. Instead of allowing the NLD to move forward, the junta arrested several hundred members of the party, including over 150 elected military police. In response, the NLD formed the Committee Representing the People’s Parliament (CRPP) to speak for the Parliament it was unable to convene. Parliamentarians in several nations have recognized the CRPP as a legitimate and legal body.
Palestinian Factions to Sign Deal in Cairo
Officials say Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas will sign a unity agreement in Cairo Wednesday to end the divide that has left Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza with rival governments.
Officials say Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal will attend a ceremony Wednesday marking the signing. Meshaal is already in Cairo,rift gold
and Abbas is due to arrive on Tuesday.
The agreement between the Palestinian factions calls for the formation of an interim government followed by presidential and legislative elections within a year.
A top Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip said Monday that the prime minister of the new unity government should come from Gaza, not the West Bank.
The deal was sharply criticized by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week because Israel considers Hamas a terrorist group.
rift gold
He said Abbas must choose "peace with Israel or peace with Hamas." He added: "There is no possibility for peace with both."
Officials say Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal will attend a ceremony Wednesday marking the signing. Meshaal is already in Cairo,rift gold
and Abbas is due to arrive on Tuesday.
The agreement between the Palestinian factions calls for the formation of an interim government followed by presidential and legislative elections within a year.
A top Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip said Monday that the prime minister of the new unity government should come from Gaza, not the West Bank.
The deal was sharply criticized by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week because Israel considers Hamas a terrorist group.
rift gold
He said Abbas must choose "peace with Israel or peace with Hamas." He added: "There is no possibility for peace with both."
Albany
Located 135 miles north of New York City and 165 miles west of Boston, Albany was founded by the Dutch in 1624 as a fur trading post and was chartered as a city by the British in 1686. The settlement first came to international attention in 1754 as the site of the Albany Congress, a gathering of colonial representatives and Native American Iroquois leaders. The colonials,rift gold delegations of which came from seven of the thirteen British colonies, needed this Indian alliance as a defense against the armed power of New France in the looming imperial conflict that would be known as the French and Indian War (1754–1760).
Despite difficulties, the Iroquois’ assistance was secured and the colonial delegates turned their attention to a plan of union to enable greater cooperation and coordination between their colonial governments. The plan that was adopted, conceived by Benjamin Franklin, advocated a single American government with far-reaching powers, uniting the thirteen colonies under one president general appointed by the crown. While it was rejected by both the British government and the colonial legislatures as encroaching on their authority, the Albany Plan paved the way for subsequent national assemblies such as the Stamp Act Congress of 1765 and the Continental
Congress of 1774.
During the French and Indian War, Albany was a major base for English regulars and colonial soldiers. Twenty years later, Albany was a Patriot stronghold in the American Revolution, and in 1775 it was again the site of important negotiation as General Philip Schuyler tried to persuade the Six Nations to remain neutral in the escalating conflict. Throughout the war, Albany’s three thousand residents doggedly resisted British attempts to invade the city. Albany’s riverfront location held strategic value for both sides, and the city thus served as a major supply depot for the Continental Army.
Albany developed rapidly after the war, becoming the capital of New York State in 1797, chosen because its inland location promised safety from naval attack and also gave access to new farmlands to the west. The transportation revolution of the early nineteenth century made the city the center of a new web of commercial links. The introduction of steamboats put New York City within twenty hours’ reach, while the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 connected the city to the Great Lakes. While the colonial settlement had once been an entrepôt between frontier colonists and Indian traders, now Albany grew wealthy on the trade between the coastal cities and the resource-rich interior. As Albany expanded, the grid system was adopted and the city acquired banks, hotels, newspapers,rift gold a hospital, and a jail. While many of the city’s residents were still of Dutch origin, the population, which reached twenty-four thousand in 1830, was now swelled by Irish construction workers as well as large numbers of northern European Presbyterians and Episcopalians. The city would enjoy continued antebellum prosperity with the arrival of the country’s first commercial railroad, the Mohawk and Hudson, in 1831. Further industrial growth was spurred by the city’s iron foundries and leather industries, creating a period of general growth that would last for much of the century.
Despite difficulties, the Iroquois’ assistance was secured and the colonial delegates turned their attention to a plan of union to enable greater cooperation and coordination between their colonial governments. The plan that was adopted, conceived by Benjamin Franklin, advocated a single American government with far-reaching powers, uniting the thirteen colonies under one president general appointed by the crown. While it was rejected by both the British government and the colonial legislatures as encroaching on their authority, the Albany Plan paved the way for subsequent national assemblies such as the Stamp Act Congress of 1765 and the Continental
Congress of 1774.
During the French and Indian War, Albany was a major base for English regulars and colonial soldiers. Twenty years later, Albany was a Patriot stronghold in the American Revolution, and in 1775 it was again the site of important negotiation as General Philip Schuyler tried to persuade the Six Nations to remain neutral in the escalating conflict. Throughout the war, Albany’s three thousand residents doggedly resisted British attempts to invade the city. Albany’s riverfront location held strategic value for both sides, and the city thus served as a major supply depot for the Continental Army.
Albany developed rapidly after the war, becoming the capital of New York State in 1797, chosen because its inland location promised safety from naval attack and also gave access to new farmlands to the west. The transportation revolution of the early nineteenth century made the city the center of a new web of commercial links. The introduction of steamboats put New York City within twenty hours’ reach, while the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 connected the city to the Great Lakes. While the colonial settlement had once been an entrepôt between frontier colonists and Indian traders, now Albany grew wealthy on the trade between the coastal cities and the resource-rich interior. As Albany expanded, the grid system was adopted and the city acquired banks, hotels, newspapers,rift gold a hospital, and a jail. While many of the city’s residents were still of Dutch origin, the population, which reached twenty-four thousand in 1830, was now swelled by Irish construction workers as well as large numbers of northern European Presbyterians and Episcopalians. The city would enjoy continued antebellum prosperity with the arrival of the country’s first commercial railroad, the Mohawk and Hudson, in 1831. Further industrial growth was spurred by the city’s iron foundries and leather industries, creating a period of general growth that would last for much of the century.
2011年5月2日星期一
Why Is the Fed Letting Banks Boost Dividends?
The news hit Friday that the Federal Reserve is allowing big banks to pay sharply higher dividends. Rift Gold I don't understand how the Fed justified that decision. And not just because the results of the so-called "stress tests" are secret.
At least our four biggest banks are insolvent, Adam Levitin explains at the blog Credit Slips. The banks' balance sheets only come out in positive territory if home equity loans made during the bubble years are valued at much closer to their face value than good accounting or even common sense would dictate. First mortgages are apparently similarly overvalued. This isn't some fantasy of Levitin's, by the way: Paul Krugman and many other experts have described our banks -- big and small -- as "zombies" with fictional balance sheets.
And it's not as if those balance sheets are free from other stresses. One big near-term danger is banks' potential liability for the mortgage and foreclosure mess. Settling that tab with regulators and law enforcement agencies supposedly will cost the financial industry $20 billion to $30 billion -- though who knows if there will be a settlement at all. rift gold Those numbers are big enough that Republican lawmakers worry that a settlement would render big banks insolvent. (As if they weren't already.)
In the medium term, banks also face a serious risk from the growing mass of lawsuits over mortgage-backed securities: There are several scenarios under which those suits and the buybacks the banks may be forced into could threaten their balance sheets.
So why are the banks being allowed to give away cash to their shareholders that would be better applied to shoring up those shaky, fictional balance sheets? RIFT Platinum Yes, bigger dividends means the big executives, who are also big shareholders, get to pay themselves even more "compensation," but I'm not cynical enough to imagine that's what motivated the Fed to give the OK. So what gives?
It's one thing to lack the political will to "nationalize" the banks temporarily, wiping out shareholders, but cleaning up the banks' balance sheets for real.TERA Gold It's another thing entirely to let zombie banks pay big dividends. Regardless of what it would have the rest of us believe, surely the Fed knows better than to think these financial emperors are wearing clothes.
Sponsored Link: I don’t want to scare you… But right now, the U.S. government is doing something incredibly stupid, which could potentially cause a huge crisis in America, in the next few months. Watch the full investigative video here.
At least our four biggest banks are insolvent, Adam Levitin explains at the blog Credit Slips. The banks' balance sheets only come out in positive territory if home equity loans made during the bubble years are valued at much closer to their face value than good accounting or even common sense would dictate. First mortgages are apparently similarly overvalued. This isn't some fantasy of Levitin's, by the way: Paul Krugman and many other experts have described our banks -- big and small -- as "zombies" with fictional balance sheets.
And it's not as if those balance sheets are free from other stresses. One big near-term danger is banks' potential liability for the mortgage and foreclosure mess. Settling that tab with regulators and law enforcement agencies supposedly will cost the financial industry $20 billion to $30 billion -- though who knows if there will be a settlement at all. rift gold Those numbers are big enough that Republican lawmakers worry that a settlement would render big banks insolvent. (As if they weren't already.)
In the medium term, banks also face a serious risk from the growing mass of lawsuits over mortgage-backed securities: There are several scenarios under which those suits and the buybacks the banks may be forced into could threaten their balance sheets.
So why are the banks being allowed to give away cash to their shareholders that would be better applied to shoring up those shaky, fictional balance sheets? RIFT Platinum Yes, bigger dividends means the big executives, who are also big shareholders, get to pay themselves even more "compensation," but I'm not cynical enough to imagine that's what motivated the Fed to give the OK. So what gives?
It's one thing to lack the political will to "nationalize" the banks temporarily, wiping out shareholders, but cleaning up the banks' balance sheets for real.TERA Gold It's another thing entirely to let zombie banks pay big dividends. Regardless of what it would have the rest of us believe, surely the Fed knows better than to think these financial emperors are wearing clothes.
Sponsored Link: I don’t want to scare you… But right now, the U.S. government is doing something incredibly stupid, which could potentially cause a huge crisis in America, in the next few months. Watch the full investigative video here.
UFC 129 Undercard Live Blog: Jabouin vs. Garza, Patrick vs. Roberts, More
Round 1: Roberts sprints forward at the opening and Patrick quickly takes him down. TERA Gold Roberts hunts a kimura from the bottom and eventually uses it to get to his feet. Patrick scores with a left against the cage and they circle. Moments later, they clinch against the fence. After they break, Patrick lands a lead left hand. He looks relaxed. He takes Roberts down off a bodylock with 1:00 left. They get back to their feet but Patrick hammers him with a series of punches to the head and body. Roberts is able to back away and last the round, but it's 10-9 for Patrick.
Round 2: Roberts catches a kick and takes Patrick down early. Patrick briliantly escapes with a near-sweep into a whizzer and gets to his feet. RIFT Platinum Patrick lands a knee to the head as they separate. Patrick shoots in for a takedown, Roberts threatens with a guillotine and ends up reversing position, ending up on top and in side control. There's 2:15 left. Patrick regains half-guard as Roberts uses short punches from the top. Patrick eventually gets back to full guard. After a scramble, he's back to his feet. A close round but Roberts takes it 10-9.
Round 3: Big body kick from Roberts scores early. Patrick looks like the fresher of the two though. rift gold Patrick catches a kick and tries to get a takedown but Roberts stays on his feet. Patrick keeps working it against the cage and eventually pulls him down. He's in mount briefly, but Roberts defends and improves to butterfly guard, then gets to his feet. Patrick lands a knee as he pulls away. In the late moments, Roberts tries to work a takedown, but they get stalemated against the cage for what seems like an eternity, neither improving position. Rift Gold Eventually ref Dan Miragliotta breaks them. Patrick takes Roberts down in the last 30 seconds, tries a guillotine but Roberts pulls out. He ends up on top at the final horn but MMA Fighting scores it for Patrick, 10-9.
Round 2: Roberts catches a kick and takes Patrick down early. Patrick briliantly escapes with a near-sweep into a whizzer and gets to his feet. RIFT Platinum Patrick lands a knee to the head as they separate. Patrick shoots in for a takedown, Roberts threatens with a guillotine and ends up reversing position, ending up on top and in side control. There's 2:15 left. Patrick regains half-guard as Roberts uses short punches from the top. Patrick eventually gets back to full guard. After a scramble, he's back to his feet. A close round but Roberts takes it 10-9.
Round 3: Big body kick from Roberts scores early. Patrick looks like the fresher of the two though. rift gold Patrick catches a kick and tries to get a takedown but Roberts stays on his feet. Patrick keeps working it against the cage and eventually pulls him down. He's in mount briefly, but Roberts defends and improves to butterfly guard, then gets to his feet. Patrick lands a knee as he pulls away. In the late moments, Roberts tries to work a takedown, but they get stalemated against the cage for what seems like an eternity, neither improving position. Rift Gold Eventually ref Dan Miragliotta breaks them. Patrick takes Roberts down in the last 30 seconds, tries a guillotine but Roberts pulls out. He ends up on top at the final horn but MMA Fighting scores it for Patrick, 10-9.
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