"People feel this is like the return of colonialism," says Athumani Mkambala, chairman of Mhaga village in rural?Tanzania. "Colonialism in the form of investment."A quarter of the village's land in Kisarawe district was acquired by a British?biofuels?company in 2008, with the promise of financial compensation, 700 jobs, water wells, improved schools, health clinics and roads. But the company has gone bust, leaving villagers not just jobless but landless as well. The same story is playing out across?Africa, as foreign investors buy up land but leave some of the poorest people on Earth worse off when their plans fail.The tale of London-based Sun Biofuels's misadventure in Kisarawe links the broken hopes of the villagers to offshore tax havens and mysterious new owners, tracked down by the?Observer, and ultimately to petrol pumps in the UK and across Europe. The final link results from the mandatory blending of biofuels into European petrol and diesel. The aim is to reduce carbon emissions, but many say biofuels actually increase pollution. The G20 meeting next week will discuss the issue, following a stark report it received in June from the?World Bank, World Trade Organisation, UN and others calling for biofuels subsidies to be abandoned.
"The situation in Kisarawe is heartbreaking, but the real tragedy is that it is far from unique. Communities across Africa and beyond are losing their land as a result of the massive biofuel targets set by our government," said Josie Cohen at development group ActionAid, which works in Kisarawe. "Like it or not, everyone who drives a car or catches a bus is involved in this problem, as all UK petrol and diesel is mixed with biofuels."
It was the promise of this lucrative export market that led Sun Biofuels to Africa to plant?jatropha, the seeds of which can be processed into biodiesel. Mkambala's first contact with the company was in 2006 through the former Kisarawe MP, Athumani Janguo. "People trusted him. We thought all our problems would be solved," Mkambala told the?Observer. He says no compensation has been paid for the land, on which villagers used to hunt animals, gather firewood, wild mushrooms and honey.
Mhaga has no electricity, and water has to be carried each day from a well several kilometres away, back to the small mud or concrete-block houses in which 1,000 people live. "Water is everything," says local activist Halima Ali, sitting with three of her children on the earth floor of their home. "Because they promised there would be water available, everyone was happy." There would be more time for farming and more time for her children to go to school, she says. But the company drilled only a 6in-wide hole in the village, despite having sunk a 100m well on the plantation. "We thought something very good had come to the village, to lift our standard of life, but now we are only crying," she says.
...
There is much more.
The green energy dream is turning into a nightmare around the world. ?These African victims are more vulnerable than most but the workers at Solyndra have shattered dreams too. ?The problem with green energy is that it is less efficient and more costly than traditional energy and attempts to manipulate the price of conventional energy have not saved them from their inevitable failures.
Black and white American voters live in 1 country, but 2 different worldsPublic release date: 31-Oct-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: William Harms w-harms@uchicago.edu 773-702-8356 University of Chicago
The political outlook of blacks in America has undergone dramatic swings in the last ten years from the depths of powerlessness during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, to the zenith with the election of the first black president, Barack Obama.
Now, with another presidential election looming, blacks are again confronting new issues as they judge and sometimes question the impact of Obama's election, contends University of Chicago political scientist Michael Dawson, whose work finds sharp contrasts between how African Americans and whites feel about their country.
Those two recent events, the New Orleans hurricane in 2005 and the election of President Obama in 2008, put that difference in focus, he writes in Not in Our Lifetimes: The Future of Black Politics, published Tuesday.
"Shortly after the Katrina disaster, barely 20 percent of blacks believed that racial equality for blacks would be achieved either in their lifetimes or at all in the United States," writes Dawson, the John D. MacArthur Distinguished Service Professor in Political Science and director of the University's Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture.
When Obama was elected, three years after Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of New Orleans, slightly more than half of blacks then said they believed they would soon enjoy equality, Dawson found in opinion surveys he conducted whie researching the book.
Whites were even more optimistic about the advent of racial harmony, with nearly 80 percent feeling that blacks would soon achieve equality, he found. Yet, in those three years, the euphoria has waned, Dawson said; Obama's election did not lead to a resurgence of black political effectiveness or a reduction in racial conflict. Poverty among African Americans has continued to rise as the national economy has struggled.
Hurricane Katrina reflected a particularly bleak period for black political effectiveness, Dawson writes. Dawson and colleagues conducted polls at the time that showed the strong divide between blacks and whites, who had almost totally different takes on the meaning of the disaster.
When asked, for instance, in a survey that controlled for a number of variablesincluding age, income and education levelif the federal government should spend whatever money needed to restore people to their homes, 79 percent of blacks said yes, while only 33 percent of whites agreed.
Further, the team found that blacks were 64 percent more likely than whites to think that the government would have moved faster if the victims of the hurricane were white. They were also 50 percent more likely than whites to think that Katrina exposed the problems of racial inequality in the United States.
Dawson characterizes Katrina as "the nadir of black politics" because of the inability of blacks to mobilize as a response to the suffering. "The lack of mobilization was linked to a distinct lack of allies available to African Americans during the Katrina crisis. In the past, black politics was capable of not only mobilizing black communities, but also of generating and mobilizing other communities," he said.
Many whites were uninterested in African American problems, he contends. When the 2000 presidential election raised questions about black disenfranchisement, for instance, nearly 60 percent of whites said they didn't think it was a problem, a poll found at the time. Traditional allies on the left tended to overlook the racial aspects of Katrina, he said.
Obama's election in 2008 led many whites to think that the nation had entered a post-racial phase. The cleavages remained, however, over issues such as foreign policy, with blacks much less likely to support the continued warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But blacks and other minorities have an opportunity to bring change as the proportion of whites in the electorate is steadily declining, Dawson said.
The young people who gave so much support to Obama provide hope for a new civic awareness, he said. Social media provides an opportunity for young people to share their thoughts, organize and take control over their futures.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Black and white American voters live in 1 country, but 2 different worldsPublic release date: 31-Oct-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: William Harms w-harms@uchicago.edu 773-702-8356 University of Chicago
The political outlook of blacks in America has undergone dramatic swings in the last ten years from the depths of powerlessness during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, to the zenith with the election of the first black president, Barack Obama.
Now, with another presidential election looming, blacks are again confronting new issues as they judge and sometimes question the impact of Obama's election, contends University of Chicago political scientist Michael Dawson, whose work finds sharp contrasts between how African Americans and whites feel about their country.
Those two recent events, the New Orleans hurricane in 2005 and the election of President Obama in 2008, put that difference in focus, he writes in Not in Our Lifetimes: The Future of Black Politics, published Tuesday.
"Shortly after the Katrina disaster, barely 20 percent of blacks believed that racial equality for blacks would be achieved either in their lifetimes or at all in the United States," writes Dawson, the John D. MacArthur Distinguished Service Professor in Political Science and director of the University's Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture.
When Obama was elected, three years after Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of New Orleans, slightly more than half of blacks then said they believed they would soon enjoy equality, Dawson found in opinion surveys he conducted whie researching the book.
Whites were even more optimistic about the advent of racial harmony, with nearly 80 percent feeling that blacks would soon achieve equality, he found. Yet, in those three years, the euphoria has waned, Dawson said; Obama's election did not lead to a resurgence of black political effectiveness or a reduction in racial conflict. Poverty among African Americans has continued to rise as the national economy has struggled.
Hurricane Katrina reflected a particularly bleak period for black political effectiveness, Dawson writes. Dawson and colleagues conducted polls at the time that showed the strong divide between blacks and whites, who had almost totally different takes on the meaning of the disaster.
When asked, for instance, in a survey that controlled for a number of variablesincluding age, income and education levelif the federal government should spend whatever money needed to restore people to their homes, 79 percent of blacks said yes, while only 33 percent of whites agreed.
Further, the team found that blacks were 64 percent more likely than whites to think that the government would have moved faster if the victims of the hurricane were white. They were also 50 percent more likely than whites to think that Katrina exposed the problems of racial inequality in the United States.
Dawson characterizes Katrina as "the nadir of black politics" because of the inability of blacks to mobilize as a response to the suffering. "The lack of mobilization was linked to a distinct lack of allies available to African Americans during the Katrina crisis. In the past, black politics was capable of not only mobilizing black communities, but also of generating and mobilizing other communities," he said.
Many whites were uninterested in African American problems, he contends. When the 2000 presidential election raised questions about black disenfranchisement, for instance, nearly 60 percent of whites said they didn't think it was a problem, a poll found at the time. Traditional allies on the left tended to overlook the racial aspects of Katrina, he said.
Obama's election in 2008 led many whites to think that the nation had entered a post-racial phase. The cleavages remained, however, over issues such as foreign policy, with blacks much less likely to support the continued warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But blacks and other minorities have an opportunity to bring change as the proportion of whites in the electorate is steadily declining, Dawson said.
The young people who gave so much support to Obama provide hope for a new civic awareness, he said. Social media provides an opportunity for young people to share their thoughts, organize and take control over their futures.
###
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?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? Michael Jackson likely injected himself with a fatal dose of the anesthetic propofol after popping an extra eight sedatives without his doctor's knowledge, a Los Angeles court heard on Friday.
Dr. Paul White, the last defense witness in the involuntary manslaughter trial of the singer's physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, said that self-administration was the most likely scenario to explain levels of propofol and lorazepam found in Jackson's system after his death on June 25, 2009.
White said that based on the amount of propofol found in Jackson's urine, he believed the pop star gave himself a further injection of propofol about one hour after Murray has admitted injecting the 50 year-old singer with a relatively small 25 milligram dose of the drug as a sleep aid.
"With the administration of the additional 25 milligrams that we're speculating was self-injected by Mr. Jackson, the level increases rapidly and at the time of death would be almost identical to the level found in the urine at autopsy," White told jurors.
Using a mathematical model, White also said Jackson could have swallowed eight lorazepam tablets earlier in the night as he struggled with sleeplessness, bringing the amount of the sedative found in his blood to that seen at autopsy.
"The combination effect is potentially profound," White said of the two drugs.
Authorities have ruled Jackson died of an overdose of propofol, with lorazepam playing a contributing role.
A rival expert testified for the prosecution last week that he believed Jackson died after Murray left him on an intravenous drip of propofol for a number of hours.
But White said there was no physical evidence at the scene to support the prosecution scenario. It also did not reconcile with Murray's statements about the amount of drugs he gave Jackson that night, White said.
Prosecution experts will cross examine White on Monday as the five-week trial enters its closing stages.
White on Friday questioned the mathematical modeling prepared by prosecution expert Dr. Steven Shafer to support the intravenous propofol drip theory.
In order to reach the blood level of propofol found at autopsy, Jackson would have had to stop breathing right as the last drops fell from a 1,000 milligram bottle of propofol given with an IV drip, White said.
White called Shafer's hypothesis an "incredible coincidence of circumstances."
Murray denies involuntary manslaughter but could face up to four years prison if convicted. His attorneys said earlier this week he will not testify in his own defense.
Murray told police he had been trying to wean Jackson off his dependence on propofol. But he claimed the singer begged him for the drug the day he died.
Prosecution witnesses have also testified that Murray delayed calling emergency services, failed to tell ambulance and hospital staff about the propofol, and say he should never have been giving Jackson the drug for insomnia at all.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand ? A news report says renowned New Zealand movie director Peter Jackson is working with an American once on death row in hopes of getting the man a complete pardon.
The New Zealand Herald reported Friday that Jackson, who directed the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, got an exemption to New Zealand law to allow Damien Echols to visit him. Echols was part of a group known as the West Memphis Three who were convicted of killing three boys in the U.S. state of Arkansas in 1993.
The three men were released in August under a deal in which their initial convictions were set aside and they pleaded guilty to lesser charges ? while publicly proclaiming their innocence.
Three HBO films about the case helped spark a movement to free the men, who spent 18 years in jail.
Google's smart TV software platform, Google TV, is poised for its first significant overall since it launched in Logitech and Sony hardware a year ago. Via over-the-air updates that should begin streaming to hardware devices on October 30, users will find new TV-optimized Android Apps, an improved YouTube experience, and new features that provide easy, direct discovery of TV and movie content.
Codify is an iPad app that lets you create iPad apps. It’s no typical code editor, however; Codify takes advantage of the iPad’s multitouch and let’s you manipulate your code by tapping numbers, colors, and images to adjust them. There is one little issue with Codify –...
Today, we bring you the first look (courtesy of TLC) of Solomon.
Solomon Brown was born at the polygamous family's Las Vegas home at 2:02 Wednesday morning, weighing in at 9 lbs, 10.5 oz. Here is the little angel with father Kody, mom Robyn, and sort-of moms Meri, Christine and Janelle ...
Robyn's pregnancy was the focus of Sister Wives' Season 3 premiere.
Three of the children are Robyn's from a previous relationship, so this is her first child with Kody, who has fathered the other 13 kids with the Sister Wives.
Congratulations to the happy, unconventional, ever-expanding family!
Free health care: Yes, but with cautionPublic release date: 27-Oct-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Bruno Meesen bmeessen@itg.be 32-324-76292 Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp
ANTWERP Over the last years, many low and middle-income countries have removed user fees in their health care sector. Researchers from Africa, Asia, Northern America and Europe have studied these policies; their findings are gathered in a supplement of the scientific journal Health Policy & Planning, coordinated by Bruno Meesen from the Antwerp Institute of Tropical medicine. Experiences from Afghanistan, Burundi, Burkina Faso, Mali, Nepal , Rwanda and Uganda, among others, are documented in this supplement. Conclusion: it is possible, but should not be done ill-advised.
The main lessons from their analyses are the following ones:
These policies are often decisions taken by the highest country authorities; sometimes during electoral campaigns
Many countries are opting for selective free health care (e.g. free health care for children under 5, free delivery). This allows a good alignment on the Millennium Development Goals and is probably reasonable, given the costs of free health care policies.
When these decisions are taken in a hasty manner without sufficient consultation of stakeholders (including technicians working for the concerned ministries), health systems may experience a shock (difficulty to cope with the increase in patients; drug shortages).
When these policies are well-designed, implemented with the appropriate accompanying measures and sufficiently funded, they can improve access to health services. Insufficient funding may however imply that the increased utilisation by the population paradoxically leads households to spend more for their treatment (for instance, because of drug shortages in free public health facilities, households may have to buy their drugs in private pharmacies).
There are different ways to reduce financial barriers to health care; free health care is an option, health insurance is another. Any good solution for the vulnerable populations and the public budget will require a certain level of complexity. It is therefore important that leaders consult their technicians; the latter can help the former to build fair, efficient and sustainable health care systems.
Donors, aid agencies and Northern Non-Governmental Organizations have a role to play, but in full respect of sovereign choices made by low-income countries.
According to Bruno Meessen, researcher at the Institute of Tropical Medicine and coordinator of the supplement, "Leadership developed by African leaders in favour of vulnerable populations such as young children and pregnant women has to be praised. Good outcomes for these groups however require a long term commitment in terms of public resources and policies which are sound from a technical perspective. Providing free health care is more complex than it is usually thought."
Lucy Gilson, Professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and at the University of Cape Town and co-editor of the supplement says: "As leaders take important decisions to strengthen health systems for the benefit of the poorest, their engagement with communities, health workers and technicians is vital in bringing those decisions alive in the day to day practice of health care delivery".
Abdelmajid Tibouti of UNICEF New York "hopes that this supplement sponsored by UNICEF will be a source of inspiration for governments and their partners. Equity is a major challenge in many countries. Technical and financial partners have probably a stronger support role to play, in full respect of course of options chosen by countries themselves. A first track is to network countries implementing similar policies."
In this respect, Bruno Meessen sees very positive trends. "African experts working on these issues are organised themselves in a community of practice. Thanks to information & communication technology, they constantly share their experience and knowledge. Opportunities to learn from each other are many."
###
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?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Free health care: Yes, but with cautionPublic release date: 27-Oct-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Bruno Meesen bmeessen@itg.be 32-324-76292 Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp
ANTWERP Over the last years, many low and middle-income countries have removed user fees in their health care sector. Researchers from Africa, Asia, Northern America and Europe have studied these policies; their findings are gathered in a supplement of the scientific journal Health Policy & Planning, coordinated by Bruno Meesen from the Antwerp Institute of Tropical medicine. Experiences from Afghanistan, Burundi, Burkina Faso, Mali, Nepal , Rwanda and Uganda, among others, are documented in this supplement. Conclusion: it is possible, but should not be done ill-advised.
The main lessons from their analyses are the following ones:
These policies are often decisions taken by the highest country authorities; sometimes during electoral campaigns
Many countries are opting for selective free health care (e.g. free health care for children under 5, free delivery). This allows a good alignment on the Millennium Development Goals and is probably reasonable, given the costs of free health care policies.
When these decisions are taken in a hasty manner without sufficient consultation of stakeholders (including technicians working for the concerned ministries), health systems may experience a shock (difficulty to cope with the increase in patients; drug shortages).
When these policies are well-designed, implemented with the appropriate accompanying measures and sufficiently funded, they can improve access to health services. Insufficient funding may however imply that the increased utilisation by the population paradoxically leads households to spend more for their treatment (for instance, because of drug shortages in free public health facilities, households may have to buy their drugs in private pharmacies).
There are different ways to reduce financial barriers to health care; free health care is an option, health insurance is another. Any good solution for the vulnerable populations and the public budget will require a certain level of complexity. It is therefore important that leaders consult their technicians; the latter can help the former to build fair, efficient and sustainable health care systems.
Donors, aid agencies and Northern Non-Governmental Organizations have a role to play, but in full respect of sovereign choices made by low-income countries.
According to Bruno Meessen, researcher at the Institute of Tropical Medicine and coordinator of the supplement, "Leadership developed by African leaders in favour of vulnerable populations such as young children and pregnant women has to be praised. Good outcomes for these groups however require a long term commitment in terms of public resources and policies which are sound from a technical perspective. Providing free health care is more complex than it is usually thought."
Lucy Gilson, Professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and at the University of Cape Town and co-editor of the supplement says: "As leaders take important decisions to strengthen health systems for the benefit of the poorest, their engagement with communities, health workers and technicians is vital in bringing those decisions alive in the day to day practice of health care delivery".
Abdelmajid Tibouti of UNICEF New York "hopes that this supplement sponsored by UNICEF will be a source of inspiration for governments and their partners. Equity is a major challenge in many countries. Technical and financial partners have probably a stronger support role to play, in full respect of course of options chosen by countries themselves. A first track is to network countries implementing similar policies."
In this respect, Bruno Meessen sees very positive trends. "African experts working on these issues are organised themselves in a community of practice. Thanks to information & communication technology, they constantly share their experience and knowledge. Opportunities to learn from each other are many."
###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
ST. LOUIS ? Ron Washington was on the coaching staff in Oakland when general manager Billy Beane was pioneering the Moneyball concept of building a major league team.
Beane relied heavily on advanced statistics rather than old-school scouting, a process Michael Lewis chronicled in the bestselling book, "Moneyball." The book has been turned into a major motion picture starring Brad Pitt as the A's general manager.
Given the success Washington has had with the Rangers, who can win their first World Series by beating St. Louis in Game 6 on Thursday night, perhaps they made the movie about the wrong person.
"No," Washington said flatly.
"You know," he continued, "I was in Oakland when all of that happened, and to me it was a great movie about a general manager that was hamstrung as far as dollars go, and he had to find players and put them together under a formula that he thought would work."
Washington said he's a "big fan" of Beane, who gave him a chance to be a major league coach, and later a glowing review to Rangers general manager Jon Daniels. That allowed Washington to land his first job as a big league manager.
"As I always say, the things that you accomplish in life, it always comes from other people extending themselves to help you," Washington said, "and he's certainly been a big part in my career since I finished playing baseball."
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HOMER-LESS HAMILTON: Josh Hamilton was rifling through his bag Wednesday afternoon, trying to find the right bat to sign for a fan. Hitters are superstitious about this kind of thing, always making sure they don't give one away that has a few more hits in it.
Rangers pitcher C.J. Wilson leaned over from the adjacent locker and jokingly told Hamilton that he wanted an autographed bat, too ? one that he used to hit a home run.
"It's been a while," Hamilton said. "Not sure I can find one of those."
The slugging outfielder hasn't hit a homer since going deep off the Mariners' Anthony Vasquez on Sept. 23, a stretch of 19 games and 79 at-bats. That includes all five games against St. Louis in the World Series, which Texas leads 3-2 going into Thursday night's rain-delayed Game 6.
The extra day off should give Hamilton a chance to rest his ailing groin.
Hamilton has been hampered by the injury for several months, and appeared particularly slowed by it during the first two games in St. Louis. He looked better in the warmer climate of Texas, but now the series shifts back north, where temperatures are expected to be in the 40s.
Hamilton has grown so tired of discussing the injury that he warned reporters Wednesday that he wouldn't answer any questions if the subject was broached. However, he did say the postponment allowed him to seek more treatment and that he'd be ready to go for Game 6 on Thursday night.
"I hit in the cage, threw in the outfield, got some treatment on things," he said. "We've figured out some things that will help, allow me to be able to be more aggressive and in less pain."
___
HIT-AND-RUN: The hit-and-run that Albert Pujols called for in Game 5 of the World Series was still a topic of discussion Wednesday. Pujols sent Allen Craig running and missed when he swung at the pitch in the seventh inning of a tied game, and Craig was thrown out easily.
Cardinals manager Tony La Russa defended Pujols, saying the slugger has earned the authority and responsibility to call for a hit-and-run when Pujols thinks the play might work.
"That's not the first time that we've done a hit-and-run," Pujols said. "Probably in my career I've done that 200 times since I've been here, and I don't have any problems with that play.
"Part of that trust is not that I deserve special treatment," he said. "It's just the trust that the manager has given me, just like he has to so many players here."
Pujols was trying to put pressure on Texas by getting runners on first and third.
"That's something that didn't go our way," he said. "People can throw rocks and blame everybody, Tony and myself or whatever you want, but it's part of the game. If it would have worked out, like it has in the past, then we wouldn't be talking about this because I can tell you, out of those 200 or 150 hits-and-runs that Tony puts or that sometimes he gives me the opportunity to put it on, believe me, we've won a lot of games, too. It just didn't work this time."
___
SAVE A HORSE, RIDE A REPORTER: Cardinals manager Tony La Russa is a well-known animal lover.
Among other things, he established Tony La Russa's Animal Rescue Foundation in Walnut Creek, Calif., has taken part in PETA campaigns and is a vegetarian.
So when a reporter asked Wednesday for the umpteenth time about Chris Carpenter's availability to pitch in a potential Game 7 of the World Series, and prefaced the question by saying, "At the risk of beating a dead horse that's probably been dead ...," La Russa was quick with a retort.
"Can we use something else besides, 'beat a dead horse,'" La Russa asked. "Can we just say, 'Beat up a writer?'"
"Paranormal Activity 3" rocked the box office last weekend, and it looks like next October we may be able to find out what happened to Katie and Hunter ? a fourth installment in the supernatural chiller is possibly heading our way. (Duh!)
With record-breaking numbers like "PA3's" it's no shocker that Paramount's Don Harris told [...]
"Forgive Student Loans" is one of Occupy Wall Street's strongest demands. Today, President Barack Obama unveiled a plan to consolidate college student debt totaling around $1 trillion. Repayment will be income-based. What does this mean for parents and students?
Student college costs
Completing the first two years at a community college and transferring to a four-year school reduces costs. But community college costs are escalating. At most four-year schools, tuition is based on state residency. Community college students must also figure in commuter costs. Muskegon Community College in Michigan estimates out-of-county student costs at about $30,000 for 60 credit hours, plus books, supplies and transportation. The average bachelor's degree costs about $60,000 to $100,000.
Federal Pell grants down
President Obama staved off cuts in the federal Pell grant program. The maximum Pell grant amount is $5,500 per year. But the average student gets about $2,300 per year. That's the amount for parents who gross $50,000 per year, with two kids in college, regardless of their grades. Based on that income, parents are expected to contribute $4,000 per year, per college.
Tuition tax deductions capped
Parents can claim most tuition and fees on their federal income taxes. Some items are deductible under the American Opportunity and Lifetime Learning credit. Room and board or transportation for commuter students are not. The credit is capped at $2,500 and $2,000. Even with grants and tax deductions, about 50 percent to 80 percent of college expenses is pay-as-you-go.
Student loans require cosigner
To get student loans, undergraduate students generally apply for Parent PLUS loan, which requires a parent cosigner. Even students who have taken out vehicle loans need someone to guarantee college loans because the debt incurred is generally large. To protect privacy, parents cannot access student financial aid information without the student, but they are expected to pay any defaulted loans they cosign for.
Parents refuse to cosign
Occupy Wall Street says families shouldn't have to drown in debt or declare financial bankruptcy to help their kids get an education. That's what prevents many parents from cosigning for student loans. Experian says parent credit rating is affected by assumed student debt.
Majority opposes canceling student loans
Rasmussen Reports said 66 percent polled oppose the president's plan. They think federal funds should be spent to assist those who have not gone to college. Some parents, like Chris Tulgestke, of Grand Haven, Mich., believe there are better ways. "Student loans should not be forgiven based on income. Payments should be lowered and stretched out based on income, but not forgiven," Tulgestke says. Twenty-one percent favored forgiving the debt. Kay Wittenhauer of Rochester, N.Y., says, "I feel people who received government funds to pay for college have an advantage over those who had to pay for college themselves, so I'm in favor of the government leveling that playing field."
Marilisa Kinney Sachteleben writes about parenting from 23 years raising four children and 25 years teaching K-8, special needs, adult education and home-school.
ScienceDaily (Oct. 26, 2011) ? Immune system cells of the brain, which scavenge pathogens and damaged neurons, are also key players in memory and learning, according to new research by Duke neuroscientists.
Earlier studies by Staci Bilbo, an assistant professor in psychology & neuroscience, had shown that laboratory rats experiencing an infection at an early age have an aggressive immune response to subsequent infections, which also harms their learning and memory.
In a study published in the Oct. 26 Journal of Neuroscience, Bilbo's team identifies the source of the learning difficulties and traces it back to the immune system itself.
The researchers found that specialized immune system cells in the brain called microglia release a signaling molecule called Interleukin-1, or IL-1, in response to an infection. IL-1 is also crucial to normal learning and memory in the hippocampus region of the brain. But too much IL-1 can impair learning and memory in laboratory animals.
"These same molecules go up in response to any brain infection. I don't really understand why you would build a brain that way, except that there are clearly benefits in other aspects of immunity, outside the brain," Bilbo said.
In a series of experiments she has been conducting for nearly a decade, very young rats are exposed to infection and then challenged again later with a second infection consisting of only harmless, dead bacteria. The "second hit" has been shown to affect learning and memory while these rats mount a highly effective immune response.
"The microglia remember that infection and respond differently," she said. "The infection itself wasn't doing permanent damage. It was changing the immune system somehow."
The second infection doesn't even have to be directly involved with the brain. A bacterial lesion on a limb produces enough of a signal to make the glia in the brain pump out extra IL-1. "These rats handle peripheral infection really well, but at a cost to the brain," Bilbo said.
To find out what had changed in the brains of the infected rats, the team used techniques borrowed from immunology to sort out one specific cell type from brain tissue rapidly enough that they could see what the cells had been doing.
The work adds to an emerging picture of glial cells acting in the brain much the same way immune system macrophages operate elsewhere in the body -- gobbling up other cells and tearing them apart. The glia also perform a pruning function to streamline the brain's neural architecture as it matures. But some brain disorders appear to be a case of dysfunctional pruning, Bilbo said.
To test how the immune response affected memory, Bilbo's team placed all the rats in a novel environment and exposed them to a sound and a mild shock through their feet. A normal rat remembers the environment after one trial, freezing in place immediately when they enter the familiar setting a second time.
But rats exposed to infection, who tend to overproduce IL-1, stroll through the previously painful experience as if they've never seen it before, Bilbo said.
Even without experiencing the second immune challenge, the rats infected as youngsters also seem to show cognitive declines earlier than their normal control counterparts. "This is intriguingly similar to what you see in Alzheimer's. It's really kind of scary," Bilbo said.
"These findings could help us understand why some humans are more vulnerable than others to cognitive impairments from chronic infections, aging and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease," said Raz Yirmiya, a professor of psychobiology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who was not involved in the research. "This might also lead to new approaches toward diagnostic, preventive and therapeutic procedures for these conditions."
Any illness that triggers an immune response tends to slow a person's cognition down as their body enters a recovery mode, but these animals have some sort of permanent change in their immune response, Bilbo said. The newborn rats exposed to infections in these experiments are roughly equivalent to a third-trimester human fetus, but it would be too soon to say what parallels these findings may have in humans, she said.
Bilbo believes the early infection triggers a permanent change in gene expression, and is now looking at the role of microglial cells in addiction, and the interactions between maternal care and immune function.
This research was supported by an ARRA stimulus grant from the National Institutes of Health.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Duke University.
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Journal Reference:
L. L. Williamson, P. W. Sholar, R. S. Mistry, S. H. Smith, S. D. Bilbo. Microglia and Memory: Modulation by Early-Life Infection. Journal of Neuroscience, 2011; 31 (43): 15511 DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3688-11.2011
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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Google has already confessed that the Nexus S would get the Ice Cream Sandwich update, but if you're not the type to wait -- and really, who is these days? -- you can load up a mostly complete version of Android 4.0 right now. Yep, thanks to some intrepid folks on the xda-developer forums, you too can enjoy Ice Cream Sandwich on the Nexus S before its official release. Before you dive into the deep end though, be aware that your device has to be rooted before you can take part.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel reacts during a debate at the German federal parliament, Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is calling for the private sector to make a significantly larger contribution than previously agreed to reduce Greece's debt burden. Merkel said the aim of a European summit Wednesday must be a solution that allows for Greece to cut its debt load to 120 percent of gross domestic product by 2020. (AP Photo/dapd/Michael Gottschalk)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel reacts during a debate at the German federal parliament, Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is calling for the private sector to make a significantly larger contribution than previously agreed to reduce Greece's debt burden. Merkel said the aim of a European summit Wednesday must be a solution that allows for Greece to cut its debt load to 120 percent of gross domestic product by 2020. (AP Photo/dapd/Michael Gottschalk)
French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrives for an EU summit in Brussels on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011. A grand plan to resolve Europe's escalating debt crisis was once again in doubt after officials said key parts of the package may not be ready in time for a leaders' summit on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, right, speaks with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou during a round table at an EU summit in Brussels on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011. A grand plan to resolve Europe's escalating debt crisis was once again in doubt after officials said key parts of the package may not be ready in time for a leaders' summit on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou arrives for at an EU summit in Brussels on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011. A grand plan to resolve Europe's escalating debt crisis was once again in doubt after officials said key parts of the package may not be ready in time for a leaders' summit on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)
From left, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Luxembourg's Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, and Finland's Prime Minister Jyrki Tapani Katainen look over papers during a round table at an EU summit in Brussels on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011. A grand plan to resolve Europe's escalating debt crisis was once again in doubt after officials said key parts of the package may not be ready in time for a leaders' summit on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
BRUSSELS (AP) ? European leaders clinched a deal Thursday they hope will mark a turning point in their two-year debt crisis, agreeing after a night of tense negotiations to have banks take bigger losses on Greece's debts and to boost the region's weapons against the market turmoil.
After months of dawdling and half-baked solutions, the leaders had been under immense pressure to finalize their plan to prevent the crisis from pushing Europe and much of the developed world back into recession and to protect their currency union from unraveling.
The euro surged on the news of the full plan ? an early sign that investors may welcome it.
"We have reached an agreement, which I believe lets us give a credible and ambitious and overall response to the Greek crisis," French President Nicolas Sarkozy told reporters after the meeting broke Thursday morning. "Because of the complexity of the issues at stake, it took us a full night. But the results will be a source of huge relief worldwide."
The strategy unveiled after 10 hours of negotiations hit upon the three points expected for weeks. These include a significant reduction of Greece's debts, a shoring up of the continent's banks, partially so they could sustain losses on Greek bonds, and a reinforcement of a bailout fund so it can serve as a firewall to prevent larger economies like Italy and Spain from being dragged into the crisis.
After several missed opportunities, the hashing out of a plan was a success for the eurozone, but the strategy's effectiveness will depend on the details, which will have to be finalized in the coming days and weeks.
"Will the sound of 1 trillion euros do the trick and 'wow' the markets or will the markets perceive this as smoke and mirrors?" Heather Conley, director of Europe program for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, asked before the official announcement of the plan. "If the past two years has told us anything, it never appears to be sufficient."
The most difficult piece of the puzzle proved to be Greece, whose debts, the leaders vowed, would fall to 120 percent of its GDP by 2020. Under current conditions, they would have ballooned to 180 percent.
To achieve the reduction, private creditors will be asked to accept 50 percent losses on the bonds they hold. The Institute of International Finance, which has been negotiating on behalf of the banks, said in a statement that it was committed to working out an agreement based on that "haircut," but the challenge now will be to ensure that all private bondholders fall in line.
It said the 50 percent cut equals a contribution of euro100 billion ($139 billion) to a second rescue for Greece, although the eurozone promised to spend some euro30 billion ($42 billion) on guaranteeing the remaining value of the new bonds.
The full program is expected to be finalized by early December and investors are supposed to swap their bonds in January, at which point Greece is likely to become the first euro country ever to be rated at default on its debt.
"We can claim that a new day has come for Greece, and not only for Greece but also for Europe," said Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, whose country's troubles touched off the crisis two years ago. "Let's hope the worst is over."
Since May 2010, Greece has been surviving on rescue loans worth euro110 billion ($150 billion) from the 17 countries that use the euro and the International Monetary Fund since it can't afford to borrow money directly from markets.
In July, those creditors agreed to extend another euro109 billion ? but that plan was widely panned as not doing enough to right Greece's finances and wean it from the bailout.
Now, in addition to euro30 billion in bond guarantees, the eurozone leaders and IMF said they will give Greece euro100 billion in new loans.
With the banks being asked to shoulder more of the burden, though, there were concerns they needed more money in their rainy-day funds to cushion their losses. So European leaders have asked them to raise euro106 billion ($148 billion) by June.
The last piece in the complicated plan was to increase the firepower of the continent's bailout fund to ensure that other countries ? like Italy and Spain ? don't get dragged into the crisis. The third- and fourth-largest economies of the eurozone are too large to bail out.
"These are exceptional measures for exceptional times. Europe must never find itself in this situation again," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said after the meetings.
To that end, the euro440 billion ($610 billion) European Financial Stability Facility will be used to insure part of the losses on the debt of wobbly eurozone countries like Italy and Spain, rendering its firepower equivalent to around euro1 trillion ($1.39 trillion).
That should have the effect of making those countries' bonds more attractive investments and thus lowering borrowing costs for their governments.
In addition to acting as a direct insurer of bond issues, the EFSF insurance scheme is also supposed to entice big institutional investors to contribute to a special fund that could be used to buy government bonds but also to help states recapitalize weak banks.
Such outside help may be necessary for Italy and Spain, whose banks were facing some of the biggest capital shortfalls.
Using the insurance promise, the eurozone also hopes to attract big institutional investors from outside the eurozone, such as sovereign wealth funds, to contribute to a separate fund that would back up the EFSF.
Sarkozy was due to speak to Chinese President Hu Jintao later Thursday. On Friday, the head of the EFSF Klaus Regling will travel to China, which has huge cash reserves, to detail the insurance set-up.
___
DiLorenzo contributed from Paris. Juergen Baetz and Geir Moulson in Berlin, and Raf Casert, Don Melvin and Robert Wielaard in Brussels, and Sylvie Corbet in Paris also contributed.
(Reuters) ? The China hard-landing debate is a classic tail risk story -- an unlikely scenario, but if it materializes the consequences could be catastrophic.
Because of their close trade links, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong would be among the first to feel the pain should China's growth weaken dramatically.
However, it would probably take a shock even bigger than what followed the 2008 Lehman Brothers bankruptcy to spread significant damage beyond Asia.
Judging from the latest HSBC survey of China's manufacturing sector, released on Monday, there is no evidence that growth is collapsing in the world's second biggest economy.
Indeed, not one of the 30 economists polled by Reuters last week predicted China's 2012 growth rate would dip below 8 percent.
But that has not silenced speculation that China is heading for an economic disaster. Some economists have tried to calculate the potential fallout just in case their forecasts prove to be overly optimistic.
Bank of America-Merrill Lynch economists estimated that if China's real per capita gross domestic product fell by 2 percentage points, the pain would remain contained within Asia.
"It would take a severe shock to China for the negative spillovers to be transmitted beyond Asia," they wrote in a note last week to clients.
A 4 percentage point drop would be enough to spread to parts of Europe and the Middle East, with growth suffering in countries including Russia, Kuwait and Finland. Annual global growth would probably drop by 0.5 percentage points.
The last time China's economy recorded a decline anywhere close to that magnitude was after the Lehman bankruptcy. Year-over-year growth dropped to 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, down from 9.0 percent in the prior three-month period.
A full-blown crash, which BofA-Merrill described as a 6 percentage point drop in China's real per capita GDP, would harm Europe's biggest economies -- Germany, France and Britain -- and even nick U.S. growth. It would probably shave 0.8 percentage points off global growth.
That would be a significant hit considering the International Monetary Fund thinks world output will be up a relatively modest 4 percent in 2012.
DOOMSDAY SCENARIO
BofA-Merrill considers the risk of a China crash negligible -- a 0.13 percent probability event.
But the China bears are growing louder in their warnings of an impending doom. China simply cannot rely on fixed-asset investment to drive 8-percent-plus growth forever, they argue.
Heavily indebted local governments could default. A property market crash may drive hundreds or even thousands of developers out of business. Bad loans may pile up on banks' books, and China could face an all-out credit crisis.
"China is undoubtedly a severely imbalanced economy, suffering from credit-fueled investment and housing excesses that could easily spin out of control and crash, just like all the other 'highly regarded' economic bubbles before it," Societe Generale strategist and well-known bear Albert Edwards wrote in an October 20 research note.
Jim Walker, founder of Hong Kong-based consultancy Asianomics, said it would be a "miracle" if China's 2012 GDP slows to just 7 percent.
"We're really looking for something much, much worse than that," he said. "China will be lucky to get away with 5 percent."
That would be a drop of more than 4 percentage points from 2011's expected growth. Not only would China's regional trade partners take a hit, but so would commodity exporters such as Australia and Indonesia. China accounted for 65 percent of the world's iron ore imports in 2009, and 15 percent of coal imports, according to IMF data.
LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE
A China slowdown would bring some benefits for Asia, albeit small ones. Lower prices would bring welcome inflation relief for Asia's commodity importers, said Johanna Chua, chief Asia-Pacific economist for Citi in Hong Kong.
It might also swing a little bit more foreign investment toward other Southeast Asian economies that have struggled to compete with China for overseas funds.
China itself invested only about $2.4 billion last year into the 10 countries that make up the Association of South East Asian Nations, according to Bofa-Merrill economist Chua Hak Bin in Singapore, too little to pose a systemic threat on its own.
There is considerably more money flowing the other way. Since 1995, ASEAN has invested about $75 billion in China, with Singapore far and away the most exposed, accounting for $62 billion of that. A China hard landing could cause "significant" portfolio losses, BofA-Merrill's Chua said.
But it also looks clear that Beijing will act if growth looks likely to weaken dramatically. It has room to ramp up government spending, ease credit conditions, and slow the appreciation of the yuan currency to give exports a boost.
"If China is hard landing, I agree with the bulls on one thing: expect the authorities to become aggressively stimulative," SocGen's Edwards said.
(Reporting by Emily Kaiser in Singapore; Editing by Mathew Veedon)
ERCIS, Turkey (Reuters) ? Rescuers pulled a two-week-old baby girl alive from a collapsed apartment block on Tuesday as they battled to find survivors of an earthquake in eastern Turkey that killed more than 400 people and made tens of thousands homeless.
The baby's mother and a grandmother were also brought out alive on stretchers to jubilant cries from onlookers who followed the dramatic rescue under cold, pouring rain.
"It's a miracle!" said Senol Yigit, the uncle of the baby, Azra, whose name means "purity" or "untouched" in Arabic. "I'm so happy. What can I say? We have been waiting for two days. We had lost hope when we first saw the building," he said sobbing.
However, hope of finding more people alive under the rubble faded with every passing hour as more bodies were found.
The death toll from Sunday's 7.2-magnitude quake rose to 459, with 1,352 injured, the Disaster and Emergency Administration said. The final count was likely to rise further as many people were still missing and 2,262 buildings had collapsed.
Thousands prepared to spend a third night in freezing temperatures in crowded tents or huddled around fires across a quake-prone region in Van province, near the Iranian border.
With the government facing criticism over shortages of tents and other relief items, Turkey requested prefabricated housing and tents from more than 30 countries, including Israel, a Foreign Ministry official told Reuters.
Ties between the two former strategic allies have been frayed since Israeli commandos killed nine Turks on board a Gaza-bound flotilla last year.
Many victims accused the central government of poor organization and of being slow in delivering aid to a region inhabited mostly by minority Kurds and home to a separatist insurgency against the Turkish state. Fighting broke out among desperate victims to grab tents from overwhelmed aid workers.
Spelling more trouble for authorities, gunshots were heard as prisoners set fire to a jail and fought with guards in Van, two days after a jailbreak in which 200 were reported to have escaped in the chaos after the quake.
The ruling AK Party has apologized for distribution problems. Urgency to offer shelters was heightened by worsening weather, with the first winter snow less than a month away.
"PUSHED BACK 100 YEARS"
"We have no tents, everybody is living outdoors. Van has collapsed psychologically, life has stopped. Tens of thousands are on the streets. Everybody is in panic," Kemal Balci, a construction worker, said as he awaited news of friends injured in the quake at a hospital in Van.
"Aid has been arriving late. Van has been reduced to zero. We have no jobs, no bread, no water and there are nine members in my family. If the government doesn't give a hand to Van it will be like Afghanistan. Van has been pushed back 100 years."
The quake, Turkey's most powerful in a decade, is one more affliction for Kurds, the dominant ethnic group in impoverished southeast Turkey, where more than 40,000 people have been killed in a three-decade-long separatist insurgency.
In an escalation of hostilities, Turkish warplanes struck targets overnight in northern Iraq, where the separatist militants have bases.
About 500 soldiers have crossed the border with armored vehicles following an attack last week by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters that killed 24 Turkish troops, security sources said.
Quake rescue efforts focused on Ercis, a town of 100,000 that was worst hit, and Van, the provincial capital, have been hampered by power cuts and by more than 500 aftershocks, including one with a magnitude of 5.4 on Tuesday.
"MIRACLE" BABY
Emergency workers extracted the infant girl from the wreckage two days after she was buried with her mother under an apartment block.
The mother was clutching the child to her chest when they were reached by rescuers, who then set about rescuing the mother and a grandmother who were also still alive.
"We're going to get them out soon," a rescuer assured the other grandmother, whose eyes brimmed with tears of joy at the survival of her grandchild, who was born prematurely.
Elsewhere, exhausted workers used machinery, jackhammers, shovels, pick axes and bare hands to comb through rubble. Every so often, they would shout for silence and generators and diggers would stop, straining to hear voices under rubble. Seconds later the drone of the machinery would start again.
The Turkish Red Crescent said it is preparing temporary shelter for about 40,000 people, although there are no reliable figures for the homeless.
SLOW RESPONSE
Officials said 12,000 more tents would reach Van on Tuesday for the neediest, particularly in villages.
"Life has become hell. We are outside, the weather is cold. There are no tents," said Emin Kayram, 53, sitting by a campfire in Ercis after spending the night with his family of eight in a van parked nearby. His nephew was trapped in the debris of a building behind him, where rescue workers dug through the night.
"He is 18, a student. He is still stuck in there. This is the third day but you can't lose hope. We have to wait here."
How fast Ankara manages to deliver aid and long-term relief to the survivors might have political consequences in a region plagued by poverty and the Kurdish insurgency, analysts said.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who won a third consecutive term with a strong majority in a June election, has promised to push reforms in parliament and rewrite the constitution to address long-time Kurdish grievances in an effort to end violence. Erdogan traveled to the region on Sunday, and President Abdullah Gul has also announced plans to visit.
"If we want to win the hearts of our brothers of Kurdish origin, we should act now. We should beat the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) with this approach, which is more effective than arms," leading analyst Mehmet Ali Birand wrote.
Fighting broke out among a crowd of around 200-300 people
after a truck arrived in Van city and started handing out tents next to a cemetery. Women were hit and kicked as people tried to force their way through to get access to the tents, while police tried in vain to establish order.
"There is absolutely no coordination, you have to step on people to get a tent," said jobless Suleyman Akbulut, 18.
"The prime minister runs for help when it's Palestine or Somalia, sends ships to Palestine, almost goes to war with Israel for the sake of Palestinians, but he doesn't move a muscle when it comes to his own people," said Emrullah, a young man of about 18.
(Additional reporting by Ece Toksabay; Writing by Ibon Villelabeitia, Daren Butler and Simon Cameron-Moore; Editing by Michael Roddy)
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Google has already confessed that the Nexus S would get the Ice Cream Sandwich update, but if you're not the type to wait -- and really, who is these days? -- you can load up a 
