Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/301460872?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Thursday, April 25, 2013
High performance semiconductor spray paint could be a game changer for organic electronics
Apr. 25, 2013 ? Researchers at Wake Forest University's Organic Electronics group have come up with a novel solution to one of the biggest technological barriers facing the organic semiconductor industry today. Oana Jurchescu, an assistant professor of physics, and a team of researchers developed a high performance organic semiconductor 'spray paint' that can be applied to large surface areas without losing electric conductivity. This is a potentially game changing technology for a number of reasons.
Organic thin film transistors are currently deposited by one of three methods. Drop casting and spin coating conduct electricity well but are limited to small area applications. They could not be used to make a wall-sized, flexible video screen for instance. On the other hand, organic spray-on techniques can be applied to large areas but have poor performance when compared to their small-area counterparts.
Jurchescu's work provides the best of both worlds. The spray-deposition technology developed in her lab produced the highest performance organic thin film transistors for this method to date -- (April 2, 2013) -- comparable to those of drop casting and spin coating. Unlike drop casting and spin coating, her spray-deposition technology can be applied over large surfaces to any medium-from plastic and metal to human skin.
Her team's research, High Mobility Field-Effect Transistors with Versatile Processing from a Small-Molecule Organic Semiconductor was published April 2, 2013 in the journal Advanced Materials.
Because of its superb performance and the fact it can be applied over large areas quickly (it is also inexpensive to process compared to inorganic semiconducting materials like silicon), it has the potential to be produced in commercial quantities. The technology is a big step towards realizing futuristic devices such as transparent solar cells on building windows, car roof and bus stations, electronic displays in previously inaccessible spaces and wearable electronics due to the organic plastics' thin, lightweight and conformal nature.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Wake Forest University, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Yaochuan Mei, Marsha A. Loth, Marcia Payne, Weimin Zhang, Jeremy Smith, Cynthia S. Day, Sean R. Parkin, Martin Heeney, Iain McCulloch, Thomas D. Anthopoulos, John E. Anthony, Oana D. Jurchescu. High Mobility Field-Effect Transistors with Versatile Processing from a Small-Molecule Organic Semiconductor. Advanced Materials, 2013; DOI: 10.1002/adma.201205371
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
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Anthony, Knicks rout Celtics for 2-0 series lead
Boston Celtics guard Jordan Crawford (27) defends as New York Knicks guard J.R. Smith (8) shoots a 3-pointer in the first half of Game 2 of their first-round NBA basketball playoff series in New York, Tuesday, April 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
Boston Celtics guard Jordan Crawford (27) defends as New York Knicks guard J.R. Smith (8) shoots a 3-pointer in the first half of Game 2 of their first-round NBA basketball playoff series in New York, Tuesday, April 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
New York Knicks center Tyson Chandler (6) and guard Pablo Prigioni (9) defend agaionst Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce (34) in the first half of Game 2 of their first-round NBA basketball playoff series in New York, Tuesday, April 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
Boston Celtics center Kevin Garnett (5) defends against New York Knicks center Tyson Chandler (6) in the first half of Game 2 of their first-round NBA basketball playoff series in New York, Tuesday, April 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony (7) drives to the basket against Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce (34) in the first half of Game 2 of their first-round NBA basketball playoff series in New York, Tuesday, April 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce (34) defends a shot by New York Knicks center Tyson Chandler (6) in the first half of Game 2 of their first-round NBA basketball playoff series in New York, Tuesday, April 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
NEW YORK (AP) ? In what they considered a "must-win" game, the New York Knicks couldn't lose. Not the way they defended after halftime.
"We buckled down on the defensive end," Carmelo Anthony said, "and that's what opened the game up for us."
And they've done it two games in a row.
Anthony scored 34 points, Sixth Man of the Year J.R. Smith added 19, and New York took a 2-0 lead over the Boston Celtics with another dominant second half in an 87-71 victory Tuesday night.
Raymond Felton added 16 points for the Knicks, who used a 27-4 run spanning halftime to blow it open and move halfway to their first series victory since the 2000 Eastern Conference semifinals. This is their first 2-0 lead since sweeping Toronto in the first round that year.
"For us, we know what type of team we are," Anthony said. "We know when we really buckle down on the defensive end, it's been hard for teams."
It's been brutally difficult for Boston.
Paul Pierce scored 18 points for the Celtics, who will host Game 3 on Friday in their first home game since the Boston Marathon bombings.
They will have to be much sharper to avoid their first opening-round elimination since 2005, before they became one of the NBA's power teams again.
"We have to figure out the offensive side of the ball and not be so stagnated," Boston's Kevin Garnett said. "Figure out ways to score more often."
Anthony had said the Knicks needed to treat the game as a "must-win," aware of the difficulty of winning in Boston on Friday with the emotional boost the Celtics will get from finally being home.
They showed that mentality after halftime, outscoring Boston 32-11 in the third quarter.
"I think guys know what's at stake. We don't have to talk about it," veteran forward Kenyon Martin said. "Guys know what it's about right now and it's about winning a championship."
Garnett had 12 points and 11 rebounds, but battled foul trouble and spent too much time walking back to the bench with a raucous Madison Square Garden crowd finally experiencing playoff success again hounding him every step of the way.
Plagued by turnovers in Game 1, when they managed eight points in the decisive fourth quarter, the Celtics watched it all fall apart 12 minutes earlier this time. They managed only 23 points after halftime, two fewer than in their 85-78 loss Saturday.
"I thought we attacked them in the first half, but they hung in there," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "They didn't let us throw a knockout punch and I thought in the second half they turned that on us and they threw a knockout punch. Several."
Anthony followed his 36-point opener by making 8 of 13 shots in the second half to finish 11 of 24 for the game.
Iman Shumpert drilled two 3-pointers to open the third and tie it before Pierce scored to give Boston its last lead at 50-48. The Knicks scored 18 of the next 20 points, with the Celtics getting just two free throws from Jeff Green over the next 5-plus minutes. Anthony's jumper with 4:25 remaining in the third capped the run before Garnett finally gave Boston its second basket of the quarter 10 seconds later
The Celtics missed 10 of their first 11 shots of the third while getting outscored 24-4 to open the period.
"I thought in that third quarter we were as good as we've been all year in terms of ball movement and pushing it and making shots," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said.
The Celtics vowed to get Garnett more involved after he shot 4 of 12 while scoring eight points in the opener. But that plan was quickly wrecked when he picked up two fouls in the first 3 minutes, 20 seconds. The Celtics shook it off and led 20-15 when Jason Terry made a 3-pointer with 1:57 left for his first basket of the series.
But the Knicks scored 11 straight to end the period. Smith, recognized before the game for the award he won Monday, kept the celebration going with five points in the final 6.8 seconds, hitting a 36-footer at the buzzer with Celtics players all over him to make it 26-20.
The Celtics quickly settled down again, ripping off an 11-0 run to take a 31-27 lead on another 3-pointer by Terry. The lead later grew to eight when Pierce made a jumper, then fired a lob pass that traveled about three-quarters of the court to a streaking Green.
They led 48-39, gave up the last three points of the half ? and probably never realized they gave away momentum for good with it.
"We made a good run in the first half, we played our style of basketball," Terry said. "But in the second half, we definitely got away from what gave us success."
Notes: Amare Stoudemire still hopes to return from right knee surgery for the second round if the Knicks advance. He hopes to be running full speed soon so he can see how the knee responds to the additional work. ... NBA TV's analysts have made their postseason awards picks, and former Knicks coach and president Isiah Thomas chose Woodson, his friend and former Indiana University teammate. "That's good, but I mean, again, I'm not in this for Coach of the Year, I'm in to try to see if we can get this team to the championship round to try to win a title," Woodson said. "If that happens, it happens, but I'm not sitting here holding my breath about a Coach of the Year award." Woodson added that he and Thomas are friends and talk all the time.
___
Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Briancmahoney
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Pot smokers aren't totally off the hook in Colo.
DENVER (AP) ? Medical and recreational marijuana may be legal in Colorado, but employers in the state can lawfully fire workers who test positive for the drug, even if it was used off duty, according to a court ruling Thursday.
The Colorado Court of Appeals found there is no employment protection for medical marijuana users in the state since the drug remains barred by the federal government.
"For an activity to be lawful in Colorado, it must be permitted by, and not contrary to, both state and federal law," the appeals court stated in its 2-1 conclusion.
The ruling concurs with court decisions in similar cases elsewhere and comes as businesses attempt to regulate pot use among employees in states where the drug is legal. Colorado and Washington state law both provide for recreational marijuana use. Several other states have legalized medical use. Police departments have been especially concerned since officers are sworn to uphold both state and federal laws.
The Colorado case involves Brandon Coats, 33, a telephone operator for Englewood, Colo.-based Dish Network LLC. Coats was paralyzed in a car crash as a teenager and has been a medical marijuana patient in the state since 2009.
He was fired in 2010 for failing a company drug test, though his employer didn't claim he was ever impaired on the job.
Coats sued to get his job back, but a trial court dismissed his claim in 2011. The judge agreed with Dish Network that medical marijuana use isn't a "lawful activity" covered by a state law intended to protect cigarette smokers from being fired for legal behavior off the clock. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, more than half of all states have such laws.
Dish Network did not return a call seeking comment.
Coats' attorney, Michael Evans, issued a statement saying the ruling has wide implications for Colorado marijuana laws.
"This case not only impacts Mr. Coats, but also some 127,816 medical marijuana patient-employees in Colorado who could be summarily terminated even if they are in legal compliance with Colorado state law," Evans noted.
Evans plans to ask the state Supreme Court to review the case.
Morgan Fox, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, called it a setback.
"It's unfortunate, considering how much support there is for medical marijuana, that employers don't see this like any other medication," Fox said.
The Marijuana Policy Project said the ruling appears to be limited to state law because it does not fall under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.
Judge John Webb dissented in the split decision, saying he couldn't find a case addressing whether Colorado judges should consider federal law in determining the meaning of a Colorado statute.
Marijuana supporters say the courts are discriminating against them because Colorado's Lawful Off-Duty Activities law protects workers being fired for legal behavior off the clock, citing cigarette smoking as a protected activity.
The court said lawmakers could act to change the law to protect people who use marijuana, but there have been no plans to do that at the state Capitol.
Colorado's amendment legalizing recreational marijuana doesn't give people a constitutional right to smoke pot and doesn't protect users from criminal prosecution, from being fired or from other negative consequences. Backers said smoking off the job was a gray area and warned people to be familiar with their employers' drug policies.
The Washington state Supreme Court also has found that workers can be fired for using marijuana, even if authorized by the state's medical marijuana law.
Last year, a federal appeals court ruled against a cancer survivor in Battle Creek, Mich., who was fired from his job with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. after failing a drug test for marijuana. Joseph Casias had a medical marijuana card and said he used pot to alleviate symptoms of an inoperable brain tumor.
According to the Marijuana Policy Project, the California Supreme Court also has ruled that people could be fired for testing positive for marijuana. The Legislature passed a bill to change that in 2008, but it was vetoed.
___
Associated Press writers Colleen Slevin, Peter Banda and Eugene Johnson contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/court-says-pot-smokers-fired-even-colo-200634860.html
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Search warrants executed in Steubenville rape case
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) ? Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine says search warrants have been executed at the high school attended by two football players who raped a 16-year-old girl.
DeWine's office says in a statement that search warrants were also executed Thursday at the Steubenville school board offices and a northeast Ohio digital investigations company. It did not say what the searches turned up.
DeWine says judges in Jefferson and Medina counties sealed the search warrants.
The searches are related to evidence state investigators are gathering as part of a grand jury looking into whether other laws were broken in connection with the rape.
The 14-person grand jury was seated earlier this month and begins hearing from witnesses Tuesday in Steubenville.
A judge convicted the teens in March of raping the Weirton, W.Va., girl after an alcohol-fueled party last August.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ohio-ag-search-warrants-executed-rape-case-192929711.html
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Researchers make a significant step forward in combating antibiotic resistance
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 24-Apr-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Claire Mulley
c.e.mulley@durham.ac.uk
01-913-346-077
Durham University
Researchers are 1 step closer to understanding why antibiotics are ineffective against certain types of bacteria
Antibiotic resistance is a global problem. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that for tuberculosis alone multi-drug resistance accounts for more than 150,000 deaths each year. WHO warns of "a doomsday scenario of a world without antibiotics," in which antibiotic resistance will turn common infections into incurable killers and make routine surgeries a high-risk gamble.
Certain types of bacteria are a scourge of the hospital environment because they are extremely resistant to antibiotics and consequently difficult, if not impossible, to treat. This group of bacteria is classified as 'gram-negative' because their cells have a double membrane or outer layer, compared with gram-positive bacteria, which just have one outer layer.
Not only are these cells difficult to penetrate in the first instance, due to their double membrane, but they have effective 'pumps' which quickly reject anything that interferes with the activity of protein-building within the cell and the development of the protective cell wall.
This research, which was funded by the Wellcome Trust, gives for the first time a clear insight into how these protein components of the pump work together to transport an antibiotic from the cell.
Examples of gram-negative bacteria include those which cause food poisoning, meningitis, gonorrhoea and respiratory problems. Since the antibiotic is an interfering agent, many of these pathogenic bacteria use the membrane pumps to transport the medication out of the cell.
The pumps are made up of three different proteins within the cell that work together to bring about the movement. Research lead, Professor Adrian Walmsley from Durham University's School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences explained:
"Patients with bacterial infections are often treated with antibiotics, but since many strains are resistant to one or more of these drugs, clinicians often try to bring such infections under control by prescribing a combination of different types of antibiotics in the hope that they will override the resistance mechanisms. This sometimes works, but other times it does not. Pumps exacerbate this situation by reducing the effective concentration of the drug inside the cell. "
"By investigating how these pumps function, we have been able to identify the molecular events that are involved in binding and transporting an antibiotic from the cell. This advance in our understanding will ultimately aid the development of 'pump blockers'. This is important because these pumps often confer resistance to multiple, structurally unrelated, drugs; which means that they could also be resistant to new drugs which have never been used before"
Dr Vassiliy Bavro from the the Institute of Microbiology and Infection at the University of Birmingham said:
"This study greatly expands our understanding of the mechanistic aspects of the pump function, and in particular challenges our previous concepts of energy requirements for pump assembly and cycling. By elucidating the intricate details of how these essential nanomachines come together, it also provides a new working model of their functional cycle in general, paving the way to development of novel approaches to disrupting their function."
Dr Ted Bianco, Acting Director of the Wellcome Trust, said:
"A world without antibiotics is a world where simple surgery becomes a life-threatening procedure, where a scratch from a rose might prove fatal, and where diseases like tuberculosis return with a ferocity not seen in Britain since the Victorian era. This is why fundamental research to understand the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance is so important. Only when we know what we're up against can researchers begin to design new antibacterial agents to help us win the war against bacterial infections."
###
[ | 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.
Public release date: 24-Apr-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Claire Mulley
c.e.mulley@durham.ac.uk
01-913-346-077
Durham University
Researchers are 1 step closer to understanding why antibiotics are ineffective against certain types of bacteria
Antibiotic resistance is a global problem. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that for tuberculosis alone multi-drug resistance accounts for more than 150,000 deaths each year. WHO warns of "a doomsday scenario of a world without antibiotics," in which antibiotic resistance will turn common infections into incurable killers and make routine surgeries a high-risk gamble.
Certain types of bacteria are a scourge of the hospital environment because they are extremely resistant to antibiotics and consequently difficult, if not impossible, to treat. This group of bacteria is classified as 'gram-negative' because their cells have a double membrane or outer layer, compared with gram-positive bacteria, which just have one outer layer.
Not only are these cells difficult to penetrate in the first instance, due to their double membrane, but they have effective 'pumps' which quickly reject anything that interferes with the activity of protein-building within the cell and the development of the protective cell wall.
This research, which was funded by the Wellcome Trust, gives for the first time a clear insight into how these protein components of the pump work together to transport an antibiotic from the cell.
Examples of gram-negative bacteria include those which cause food poisoning, meningitis, gonorrhoea and respiratory problems. Since the antibiotic is an interfering agent, many of these pathogenic bacteria use the membrane pumps to transport the medication out of the cell.
The pumps are made up of three different proteins within the cell that work together to bring about the movement. Research lead, Professor Adrian Walmsley from Durham University's School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences explained:
"Patients with bacterial infections are often treated with antibiotics, but since many strains are resistant to one or more of these drugs, clinicians often try to bring such infections under control by prescribing a combination of different types of antibiotics in the hope that they will override the resistance mechanisms. This sometimes works, but other times it does not. Pumps exacerbate this situation by reducing the effective concentration of the drug inside the cell. "
"By investigating how these pumps function, we have been able to identify the molecular events that are involved in binding and transporting an antibiotic from the cell. This advance in our understanding will ultimately aid the development of 'pump blockers'. This is important because these pumps often confer resistance to multiple, structurally unrelated, drugs; which means that they could also be resistant to new drugs which have never been used before"
Dr Vassiliy Bavro from the the Institute of Microbiology and Infection at the University of Birmingham said:
"This study greatly expands our understanding of the mechanistic aspects of the pump function, and in particular challenges our previous concepts of energy requirements for pump assembly and cycling. By elucidating the intricate details of how these essential nanomachines come together, it also provides a new working model of their functional cycle in general, paving the way to development of novel approaches to disrupting their function."
Dr Ted Bianco, Acting Director of the Wellcome Trust, said:
"A world without antibiotics is a world where simple surgery becomes a life-threatening procedure, where a scratch from a rose might prove fatal, and where diseases like tuberculosis return with a ferocity not seen in Britain since the Victorian era. This is why fundamental research to understand the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance is so important. Only when we know what we're up against can researchers begin to design new antibacterial agents to help us win the war against bacterial infections."
###
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-04/du-rma042313.php
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Syrian troops capture key town near Damascus
BEIRUT (AP) ? After five weeks of battle, Syrian government troops captured a strategic town near Damascus, cutting an arms route for rebels trying to topple President Bashar Assad's regime, state media and activists said Thursday.
By taking the town of Otaybah, east of the capital, the army has dealt a major setback to opposition forces, who in the past months have made gains near the city they eventually hope to storm.
With fresh supplies of weapons from foreign backers, the rebels have recently seized military bases and towns south of the capital in the strategically important region between Damascus and the border with Jordan, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) away.
The regime has largely kept the rebels at bay in Damascus, although opposition fighters control several suburbs of the capital from which they have threatened the heart of the city, the seat of Assad's power. Last month government troops launched a massive campaign to repel the rebel advances near the capital, deploying elite army units to the rebellious Damascus suburbs and pounding rebel positions with airstrikes.
The director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdul-Rahman, said government troops regained control of Otaybah late Wednesday.
State-run SANA news agency said Thursday that the army has "restored complete control" over Otaybah. The official news services also said Assad's troops "discovered a number of tunnels which were used by terrorists to move and transfer weapons and ammunitions."
The regime and state media refer to rebels as terrorists and accuse them of being part of a foreign plot seeking to destroy Syria.
"It's a huge victory for the regime, and a big blow to the opposition that is now in danger of losing other towns and villages around Damascus," Abdul-Rahman said of the army's campaign.
Otaybah is located on a road linking Damascus to its international airport, along which rebels have been transporting weapons and other supplies from neighboring Jordan. The capital's surrounding towns and neighborhoods have been opposition strongholds during the 2-year-old conflict.
Losing control of the town will make the defense of rebel enclaves in southern suburbs such as Douma, Harasta and others very difficult, Abdul-Rahman said. The loss of the arms supply route is a major blow to opposition forces trying to overthrow Assad.
The Syrian conflict started with largely peaceful protests against Assad's regime in March 2011 but eventually turned into a civil war.
The fighting has exacted a huge toll on the country, killing more than 70,000 people, laying waste to cities, towns and villages and forcing more than a million people to flee their homes and seek refuge abroad. Millions have also been displaced inside Syria.
International aid agencies have been pleading for funds to help refugees in neighboring countries such as Jordan and Lebanon. They have also been asking the Syrian government to allow aid convoys into the country and facilitate access to the area inside cities and towns that have been affected by fighting.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-troops-capture-key-town-near-damascus-064600068.html
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RI lawmakers to vote on gay marriage
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) ? State lawmakers in Rhode Island could decide whether the nation's smallest state becomes the 10th to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry.
Following months of review and debate, the state Senate is set to vote on gay marriage legislation Wednesday afternoon. The bill easily passed the House in January and has the support of independent Gov. Lincoln Chafee.
Gay marriage legislation has been introduced in Rhode Island's General Assembly for nearly two decades only to languish on the legislative agenda. Heavily Catholic Rhode Island is now the only state in New England that does not allow same-sex couples to marry. Gay marriage is law in nine states and the District of Columbia.
Wednesday's vote comes after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 7-4 Tuesday to forward the legislation to the Senate floor. Dozens of supporters cheered and cried following the vote. Ken Fish, a 70-year-old gay man from Warwick, said he watched the committee vote with a mixture of disbelief and elation.
"It's almost unreal to think we're here, after all these years," he said. "I wasn't sure we'd ever get here."
If the bill passes the Senate it must return to the House for a largely procedural vote on small changes made to the bill on the Senate side. House Speaker Gordon Fox, D-Providence, said a final vote could come as early as next week.
Support for the bill has grown since it passed the House in January. On Tuesday, the Senate's five Republicans announced they would all support the legislation, further improving the bill's chances.
"We've got one more step, but I expect it to pass with overwhelming support," said Sen. Dawson Hodgson, R-North Kingstown.
Opponents aren't giving up on efforts to turn back the legislation. Sen. Harold Metts, D-Providence, said he planned to fast and pray ahead of Wednesday's debate.
"Culture may change, but God has an immutable character," he said. "I'll be praying all night."
Chafee encouraged supporters to contact their senators ahead of the vote but signaled that he thinks the bill will pass, saying in a statement that "I believe that when the roll is called, marriage equality will become law in Rhode Island."
The Senate has long been seen as the true test for gay marriage in Rhode Island. Two years ago, gay marriage legislation languished after it became apparent it would be defeated in the Senate. Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed, D-Newport, opposes the bill but has vowed not to obstruct debate.
The Rhode Island legislation states that religious institutions may set their own rules for who is eligible to marry within their faith and specifies that no religious leader is obligated to officiate at any marriage ceremony. While ministers already cannot be forced to marry anyone, the exemption helped assuage concerns from some lawmakers that clergy could face lawsuits for abiding by their religious convictions.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ri-lawmakers-vote-gay-marriage-062021344.html
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In Myanmar, cheap SIM card draw may herald telecoms revolution
By Jared Ferrie
YANGON (Reuters) - Introduced a decade and a half ago under Myanmar's former military rulers, SIM cards sold for as much as $7,000 apiece. Today, they still cost more than $200. From Thursday, lucky winners of a lottery-style sale may get one for as little as $2.
This is telecoms deregulation, Myanmar-style.
The lottery is a first tentative step into a telecoms revolution that has transformed societies and spurred economic growth across the globe - and could be a game changer for Myanmar, emerging from decades of isolation and mismanagement that have left it Asia's second-poorest nation after Afghanistan.
State-owned Myanmar Post and Telecommunications is selling 350,000 SIM cards through a public lottery, and plans to offer additional batches on a monthly basis. Yatanarpon Teleport, a joint venture between local private firms and the government, holds the country's only other telecoms license, for now.
On June 27, the government is due to announce the winners of two new 15-year telecoms licenses up for grabs to international companies. Such is the untapped potential - analysts say Myanmar is the least connected nation on earth, bar maybe North Korea - that more than 90 international companies and consortia expressed interest in tendering for the two mobile licenses.
The Telecommunications Operator Tender Evaluation and Selection Committee whittled that down to 12 applicants to pre-qualify to bid, including India's Bharti Airtel, Japan's KDDI Corp, South Africa's MTN, Singapore Telecommunications, Norway's Telenor, a group backed by billionaire George Soros, and China Mobile, which has teamed up with Vodafone.
"The bid round is seen as one of the most exciting green-field opportunities available globally in the telecoms sector," said Marae Ciantar, a Singapore-based lawyer with international law firm Allens, who has advised multinational telecoms companies seeking to invest in Myanmar.
GETTING CONNECTED
Myanmar's military rulers neglected the telecoms sector, building only a skeleton infrastructure capable of handling the few subscribers who could afford SIM cards. Sanctions imposed in response to human rights abuses in what is also known as Burma barred western telecoms firms and others from operating there.
But those sanctions have eased since Myanmar's government embarked on reforms that include releasing political prisoners and allowing civilians into politics.
The government says mobile penetration is around 9 percent - though Swedish telecoms giant Ericsson last year put the figure at less than 4 percent - and President Thein Sein, a former general and member of the ruling junta, has set a goal of 80 percent penetration by 2015.
"The market potential ... is clearly very substantial," said Allens' Ciantar.
Ericsson estimated the total economic impact of the mobile sector in Myanmar could potentially be as high as 7.4 percent of GDP over the first three years after the new licenses are issued.
And telecoms firms are not alone in beating a path to the underdeveloped southeast Asian nation of some 60 million people. In February, Danish brewer Carlsberg said it was returning to Myanmar after sanctions forced it to leave in the mid-1990s. Energy companies from Canada, the United States, Britain, Australia, Japan, China and elsewhere are in the running for exploration licenses, and more foreign companies are now visiting the country, sizing up its potential.
ECONOMIC, POLITICAL BOOST
Experience elsewhere shows developing telecommunications can spur economic growth, and may also encourage political reform.
In its report last year, Ericsson said mobile networks "encourage the growth of small businesses and increase their efficiency," while mobile access "could also play an important role in enabling basic human rights and in driving increased transparency in society."
David Butcher, a telecoms consultant who last year studied the sector in Myanmar for the Asian Development Bank, said affordable mobile networks have the potential to boost rural economies. "Some calculations have shown that the impact of having a mobile phone can be to increase rural incomes by about 20 percent," he told Reuters.
Vodafone said that if it wins one of the mobile licenses it plans to roll out its M-Pesa system, which allows financial transactions via mobile phone. The system provides access to financial services for people in underdeveloped areas with little or no banking infrastructure, and is commonly used by workers in cities to send money back to their home villages.
"In Kenya, mobile money was the game changer in bringing financial services to the middle class and the poor," said Nick Read, Vodafone's regional CEO for Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific. "In 2006, only 20 percent of Kenyan adults had access to financial services, but by the end of 2010 that share had jumped to 75 percent."
The SIM cards to be sold off this week will only be compatible with MECTel top-up cards issued by the military-owned Myanma Economic Corporation (MEC) and distributed through their authorized outlets in big cities. In later batches, SIM cards will change to GSM, the global standard for mobile communications.
TEST CASE
The bidding process for the telecoms licenses is seen as a test case for the government's approach to managing investment in other sectors. "Potential investors in Myanmar, and advisers to international investors ... have been watching the bid process closely and with great interest," said Ciantar, adding it has so far been "very transparent".
Butcher said that during his research last September there were concerns that some companies were trying to influence the process. "There was a strong suspicion when I was there that people were trying to get at the minister to make them the favored son who would be given the license for a substantial payment," he said.
In January, the government launched an unprecedented corruption investigation into dozens of officials at the telecoms ministry, including former minister Thein Tun, who stepped down that month for unexplained reasons. Eight senior officials were reconfirmed in their jobs in March.
While the advent of affordable telecoms holds potential for grand social and economic change, people on the streets of Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city, have simpler expectations.
"I can connect with my friends and passengers, and my family can call me if there's an emergency at home," said Kai Saw Lin, who earns just 4,000 kyat (about $4.50) a day driving a bicycle taxi. But he added that even if he wins one of the SIM cards, he might not be able to afford the handset to put it in.
(Additional reporting by Aung Hla Tun; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/myanmar-cheap-sim-card-draw-may-herald-telecoms-205813151--finance.html
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Jessica Biel & Justin Timberlake Dazzle at Time 100!
Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake are dressed to the nines! Check out more pics of H years ollywood's tightest twosomes
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Wednesday, April 24, 2013
The paradox of motherhood in seventeenth-century England
by Susanna Calkins
In early modern England, the idea prevailed that a disciplined family was at the heart of the social order. This notion forms much of the backdrop of my debut novel, A Murder at Rosamund?s Gate, a historical mystery set in seventeenth-century London.In the most simplistic sense, wives were expected to obey their husbands, servants their masters, and children their parents. In return for this obedience and fidelity, the head of the household, more a benevolent patriarch than a tyrant, was expected to perform his duties as husband, father, or master properly and to maintain the family livelihood.
Women, idealized as "chaste, silent, and obedient," were expected to maintain their homes in a godly manner and to oversee the spiritual and physical nourishment of their husbands and children. Such ideas were derived from scripture, disseminated in household manuals, and affirmed in children's catechisms. Children were viewed as the reward of God, and husbands and wives were expected to follow the biblical injunction to go forth and multiply.
Within this context, there was a highly prescriptive understanding of what it meant to be a ?good? mother, found in sermons, advice manuals and other similar directives. Even before giving birth, the good mother was expected to ?take tender care of herself,? which included among other things, praying, consulting with almanacs (to assure an auspicious birth) and avoiding vigorous activities like dancing. After birth, mothers were expected to breastfeed their infants and otherwise stay close to them.
As William Gouge heartily admonished: "Be not so unnatural as to thrust away your own children" (Gouge, 1622, pp. 18-19)?which may well have been a warning to upper class women who sent their babies off with wet nurses.
Nor did injunctions for "good" motherhood seem to change for mothers of older children. Richard Baxter, a non-conformist, admonished parents to raise their children on a "temperate and healthful diet," and to keep them busy in order to avoid idleness of mind and body (Baxter, 1624, p. 5). Mothers were to be diligent, keeping their children from pursuing vices ("gaming for money, from cards, dice and stage plays, play books and love books and foolish wanton tales and ballads") or untoward familiarity with tempting persons of another sex" (Baxter, 1624, p. 5)
While, of course, women may not have achieved this ideal (or even wanted to, for that matter), the expectations for good motherhood were at least generally clear. What?s interesting, however, is that there was a newly emerging understanding of motherhood arising in the writings of Quaker women during the 1650s-1680s, indicating a renegotiation of the ideal mother.
On the one hand, Quaker mothers, like all mothers, were expected to teach their children the proper ideas about God, the right way to behave, the right way to carry themselves with each other and in society. William Penn advised parents to love their children wisely, to explain "the folly of their faults," and to use the rod sparingly and judiciously. The virtues extolled in this literature implicitly assumed that a good mother was physically present, corrective, and watchful of her child.
However, on the other hand, Quaker women as a group did not adhere to this ideal in practice.
First, Quaker mothers were not purified ritualistically after childbirth, nor did they have their babies baptized, two expectations of good motherhood held by the Anglican Church. Second, Quaker mothers often ignored the expectations for good motherhood established by the medical community. After all, there are examples of Quaker women?either pregnant or new mothers--withstanding long bouts in prisons, traveling long distances by foot or horseback, and even crossing the Atlantic.
Third, many wives and husbands stayed apart from one another in a deliberate attempt to minimize pregnancy, as the presence of young children impeded women's abilities to carry out their mission for God (Trevitt 2000).
Moreover, Quaker women who left their children to follow the will of God were clearly uneasy or anxious over their actions. For example, in 1670, Elizabeth Stirredge was allegedly stunned when God called her to leave her children:
??I did not think that the Lord would make of such a contemptible Instrument as I, to leave my habitation, and tender children?to go to King Charles which was an Hundred miles from my habitation, and with such a plain testimony as the Lord did require of me, which made me go bowed down many months?.(1810, p. 37)?
Quaker mothers seem to have navigated this tension by ultimately creating a new ideal of motherhood. Although they were separated from their children, many sought to become spiritual mothers of the community. Such "Mothers in Israel? offered solace, comfort, religious training and physical and spiritual nourishment to fellow Friends.
In such ways, the Quaker women offered a fascinating reinvention of what it meant to be a ?good? mother; transcending expectations imposed on women, while still pursuing what mattered most to them.
Sources:
Baxter, R. (1624). The Poor Man's Family Book. London.
Gouge, W. (1622). Of Domesticall Duties. London.
Penn, W. (1771). Advice to Children. In J. Fothergill (Ed.), Select Works of William Penn, London.
Stirredge, E. (1810). Strength in Weakness Manifest: In the Life, Various Trials, an Christian Testimony of that Faithful and Servant of the Lord (2nd ed.). London.
Trevett, C. (2000). Quaker Women Prophets in England and Wales 1650-1700. Lampeter, Wales: Edwin Mellen Press.
~~~~~~~~~~
A longer version of this piece appeared in Calkins, S. (2005). Forsaking their children: Distance, community, and unbecoming Quaker mothers, 1650-1700. In Diana L. Gustafson (Ed.), Unbecoming Mothers: Women Living Apart From Their Children. New York: Haworth Press.
Source: http://englishhistoryauthors.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-paradox-of-motherhood-in.html
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13 officers indicted: Baltimore prison officers on gang payroll?
13 corrections officers and 12 gang members were indicted with conspiracy, drug possession and distribution, and money laundering.
A poster displayed at the U.S. Attorney's office shows how investigators allege a prison gang arranged for contraband to be delivered to gang members behind bars. Federal prosecutors announced the indictment of gang members and 13 corrections officers on Tuesday.
Alex Dominguez / AP
EnlargeFederal prosecutors have charged 25 people, including corrections officers, with scheming to smuggle drugs and cell phones into Baltimore's jail.
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An indictment unsealed Tuesday claims that the?Black?Guerilla?Family?gang ran the scheme from inside the Baltimore City Detention Center and charges gang members and corrections officers with conspiracy, drug possession and distribution, and money laundering.
Gang members allegedly arranged to smuggle drugs, cell phones and other contraband into the jail and related prison facilities with the help of corrupt corrections officers. Prosecutors say gang members used contraband cell phones to arrange the drug smuggling and sexual encounters as well as warn of investigations and order assaults and murders.
The drugs brought into the prison included marijuana, Oxycodone, Xanax, Klonopin, and Vicodin.
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Foxwoods Partners With GameAccount to Offer Online Gaming in ...
April 22 2013, Pamela Maldonado
On Monday, Connecticut-based Foxwoods Resort Casino announced a partnership with GameAccount Network to deliver online gaming opportunities to the United States market.
The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation (MPTN), which owns and operates Foxwoods, said it would initially focus on play-money games until legislation allows real-money wagering in the U.S. The agreement is subject to regulatory approval, but MPTN said it would release a play-for-fun gaming site at some point this year.
The agreement includes business-to-business (B2B) operations and will provide turnkey online gaming solutions for other Indian casinos and gaming operators.
According to the tribe, Foxwoods.com attracts one million unique monthly visitors.
As of yet, Connecticut legislation has not discussed the allowance of real-money online gaming within the state, nor has the state indicated whether the issue would be brought into discussion within the future.
New Jersey, Delaware, and Nevada are the only states that regulate online wagering in the U.S. New Jersey and Delaware offer casino games; Nevada only allows online poker.
Rodney Butler, chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation commented, ?The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation is thrilled to announce our proposed partnership with GameAccount. The Mashantucket Pequot Tribe has long been a leader in brick-and-mortar casino operations, and with the help of GameAccount, we aim to take the same leadership position in regulated online gaming in the US. Our shared vision unites GameAccount's technical capabilities with our Foxwoods brand and our leadership in casino management.?
GameAccount is an online gaming software supplier focusing its efforts on regulated markets. The company offers a fully-integrated online gaming platform of casino and mobile skill games, as well as the ability to convert land-based slots into online games.
?As one of the first European Internet gaming system suppliers that moved into the United States in advance of intra-State regulation in 2011, we have developed the specialist experience, expertise and technical functionality required to serve Foxwoods from a hardware platform located on-property in Connecticut," said Dermot Smurfit, GameAccount's CEO. "We're delighted that this experience and our unique capabilities will support our new strategic partner Foxwoods as they build a new Internet gaming business in one of the World's most exciting emerging regulated Internet gaming markets."
Monday's agreement comes just a few months after Foxwoods? southeastern Connecticut rival, Mohegan Sun, signed a deal with Amaya Gaming (now owned by Bally Technologies) to provide free-play online poker. That deal, made in November last year, was the first agreement of its kind made by an East Coast casino bringing online gaming and poker to the U.S.
For news, updates, and more follow PokerNews on Twitter and Facebook.
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Rupert Murdoch Is Giving Transcendental Meditation A Try
Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch is the latest in a line of celebrities to take up Transcendental Meditation, the practice of meditating while repeating a mantra to lower stress levels and induce a sense of calm. Murdoch follows in the footsteps of A-list TM devotees like David Lynch, Oprah and Candy Crowley.
Yesterday, Murdoch tweeted to his nearly 430,000 followers:
Rupert Murdoch
Trying to learn transcendental meditation. Everyone recommends, not that easy to get started, but said to improve everything!
Although meditation may not make everything better, it has been demonstrated to have a number of mental and physical health benefits, including lower stress levels, greater success achieving weight-loss goals, improved focus and better grades, and a lower risk of depression among adolescents and pregnant women. Transcendental Meditation in particular has been linked to lower blood pressure, reduce risk of heart disease and enhanced longevity.
Hollywood director David Lynch is an outspoken advocate of Transcendental Meditation, and started the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace to educate others on the transformational potential of TM.
?Things like traumatic stress and anxiety and tension and sorrow and depression and hate and bitter, selfish anger and fear start to lift away," Lynch said of his TM practice to the New York Times.
CNN anchor Candy Crowley, too, has said that TM helps her to handle stress and learn to cope with negative emotions.
LOOK: Celebrities who meditate:
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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/23/rupert-murdoch-meditation-transcendental_n_3131268.html
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Graham blocks vote on Obama energy nominee
SYDNEY, April 24 (Reuters) - Australia named the following squad for the Ashes test series against England in July and August. Squad: Michael Clarke (captain), Brad Haddin (vice captain), Ed Cowan, David Warner, Phillip Hughes, Shane Watson, Usman Khawaja, Chris Rogers, Matthew Wade, Nathan Lyon, James Faulkner, Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris, James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc, Jackson Bird (Compiled by Greg Stutchbury; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/graham-blocks-vote-obama-energy-nominee-195055141--politics.html
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Graham on Boston suspect: 'We want to talk to him without a lawyer'
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Tuesday, April 23, 2013
France legalizes gay marriage after harsh debate
French justice minister Christiane Taubira addresses members of parliament during the questions to the government session, at the National Assembly in Paris, Tuesday April 23, 2013. President Francois Hollande's social reform on gay marriage and adoption have already been approved by both houses of French parliament. The second and final reading is expected today. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)
French justice minister Christiane Taubira addresses members of parliament during the questions to the government session, at the National Assembly in Paris, Tuesday April 23, 2013. President Francois Hollande's social reform on gay marriage and adoption have already been approved by both houses of French parliament. The second and final reading is expected today. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)
Frigide Barjot, leader of the movement against gay marriage, 2nd right, talks to the media as she visits mothers, who take part in a vigil to protest against French President Francois Hollande's social reform on gay marriage and adoption next to the Eiffel tower in Paris, Monday, April 22, 2013. Both houses of the French parliament have already approved the bill in a first reading. The second and final reading is expected Tuesday. Eiffel tower is seen in the background. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
French interior minister Manuel Valls addresses members of parliament during the questions to the government session, at the National Assembly in Paris, Tuesday April 23, 2013. President Francois Hollande's social reform on gay marriage and adoption have already been approved by both houses of French parliament. The second and final reading is expected Tuesday. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)
PARIS (AP) ? France legalized gay marriage on Tuesday after a wrenching national debate and protests that flooded the streets of Paris. Legions of officers and water cannon stood ready near France's National Assembly ahead of the final vote, bracing for possible violence on an issue that galvanized the country's faltering conservative movement.
The measure passed easily in the Socialist-majority Assembly, 331-225, just minutes after the president of the legislative body expelled a disruptive protester in pink, the color adopted by French opponents of gay marriage.
"Only those who love democracy are here," Claude Bartelone, the Assembly president, said angrily.
In recent weeks, violent attacks against gay couples have spiked and some legislators have received threats ? including Bartelone, who got a gunpowder-filled envelope on Monday.
One of the biggest protests against same-sex marriage drew together hundreds of thousands of people bused in from the French provinces ? conservative activists, schoolchildren with their parents, retirees, priests and others. That demonstration ended in blasts of tear gas, as right-wing rabble-rousers, some in masks and hoods, led the charge against police, damaging cars along the Champs-Elysees avenue and making a break for the presidential palace.
Justice Minister Christiane Taubira told lawmakers that the first weddings could be as soon as June.
"We believe that the first weddings will be beautiful and that they'll bring a breeze of joy, and that those who are opposed to them today will surely be confounded when they are overcome with the happiness of the newlyweds and the families," she said.
When President Francois Hollande promised to legalize gay marriage, it was seen as relatively uncontroversial. But the issue has become a touchstone as his popularity has sunk to unprecedented lows, largely over France's ailing economy.
But the most visible face in the fight against gay marriage ? a former comedienne who goes by the name of Frigide Barjot ? said the movement named "A Protest for Everyone" will continue beyond the law's passage and possibly field candidates in 2014 municipal elections. She said anyone involved in protest violence would be marginalized, but blamed the government for its failure to listen.
"The violence comes from the way in which this was imposed," Barjot told France Info radio.
French conservatives, decimated by infighting and the election loss of standard-bearer Nicolas Sarkozy, had found a rallying cause in same-sex marriage. Hoping to keep the issue alive, the conservative UMP party planned to challenge the law in the Constitutional Council.
French civil unions, allowed since 1999, are at least as popular among heterosexuals as among gay and lesbian couples. But that law has no provisions for adoption, and the strongest opposition in France as far as same-sex couples goes comes when children are involved. According to recent polls, just over half of French are opposed to adoption by same-sex couples ? about the same number who said they favored same-sex marriage.
Christophe Crepin, spokesman for the police union UNSA, says the extraordinary security Tuesday includes a total of about 4,000 officers in the area near the National Assembly building and water cannon positioned nearby. One group of anti-riot police swarmed the banks of the Seine River about a quarter-mile from the legislature, hours before protests were scheduled there.
France is the 14th country to legalize gay marriage. On the cover of Tuesday's Liberation newspaper, the famed gay photographers Pierre and Gilles took over the front page and several of the inside pages, splashing them with some of their most provocative photos, including one of three soccer players ? nude but for the footwear ? facing the camera.
In New Zealand, where gay marriage enjoys popular support, people gathered outside Parliament and joined in singing a traditional Maori love ballad after a vote last week making it legal. Nine states and the District of Columbia in the U.S. also recognize such marriages, but the federal government does not.
___
Follow Lori Hinnant at https://twitter.com/lhinnant
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