Some Venezuelans see 'Chavismo' struggles brewing

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) ? Hugo Chavez's most influential allies are projecting an image of unity while the president recovers from cancer surgery in Cuba, standing side-by-side and pledging to uphold his socialist movement no matter what happens.

But with Chavez's outlook increasingly darkening, some Venezuelans believe power struggles are brewing between ambitious lieutenants long in the president's shadow.

One-man rule has been the glue holding together Chavez's movement, and he hadn't groomed any clear successor until he surprised Venezuelans with the announcement last weekend that if cancer forced him from office he wanted his vice president, Nicolas Maduro, to take over.

The president's diverse "Chavismo" movement includes groups from radical leftists to moderates, and long-hidden divisions could flare, at least behind-the-scenes, if Chavez is no longer in charge.

"In politics, everything is possible," said Gustavo Chourio, a bookseller in downtown Caracas, adding that he expects conflict between Maduro and National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello.

Maduro leads a civilian-political wing that is considered to be closely aligned with Cuba's communist government. Cabello, a former military officer, is thought to have strong ties to the military ? a relationship he highlighted when he spoke at a Mass for Chavez held at Venezuela's largest military base.

Analysts agree that political battles are likely, if not inevitable.

"It is almost certain that an intense power struggle is already under way within Chavismo," said Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue think tank in Washington.

Shifter said key figures in the president's camp, including Maduro and Cabello, have long had to suppress personal ambition as Chavez monopolized decision-making.

"With Chavez no longer on the scene, and the power vacuum exposed, the situation becomes extremely unpredictable," Shifter said. "The fact that Maduro is Chavez's designated successor gives him the upper hand for the time being, but that is unlikely to last long. The others vying for power are wily and ruthless. From the outset, the Chavez regime has been about power ? including lots of money ? and now all of that is up for grabs."

Maduro and Cabello, for their part, showed a united front this week by appearing together at events along with other Cabinet ministers and military commanders. Speaking alongside Cabello and Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez on Wednesday, Maduro said: "We're more united than ever."

The 58-year-old Chavez underwent his fourth cancer-related operation Tuesday after announcing that tests had found the illness had come back despite previous operations, chemotherapy and radiation treatments. The government said Thursday that Chavez suffered complications in surgery but that he was recovering favorably.

If Chavez were to die or be unable to continue in office, the constitution says new elections should be held within 30 days. If that happened before Chavez's Jan. 10 swearing-in, the president of the National Assembly would take over temporarily until elections were held.

Before his surgery, Chavez acknowledged such a scenario. He said on television Saturday night, with Maduro and Cabello seated beside him, that if he was unable to continue as president, Maduro should be elected to take his place and lead the socialist movement.

That appearance by Chavez, during a quick trip home after 10 days of treatment in Havana, was an indication that jostling for power had already begun, said Adam Isacson, an analyst at the Washington Office on Latin America think tank.

"If there were consensus, Chavez would not have found it necessary to fly home from Havana last weekend, in the middle of delicate medical treatments, to publicly name a successor," Isacson said.

In the short-term, he said, Chavez's allies know it's in their best interest to fall in behind Maduro if a new election is called, and the president's endorsement could give Maduro enough clout to lead for months or years.

"Instability could come later, if President Chavez dies and the new leader of Chavismo lacks his charisma and ability to hold the coalition together," Isacson said. "At that point, Chavismo would be likely to splinter."

For now, though, many of Chavez's supporters seem united in their concern and sympathy.

On the streets of Caracas, the government put up new banners on lampposts this week reading: "Now more than ever, with Chavez." The president's supporters wrote and painted get-well messages for him on a giant banner in downtown Caracas on Friday.

Many said that even though he seems to face long odds in his fight against cancer, they still hold out hope he might recover.

State television has been showing a collage of moments in Chavez's life, including appearances alongside Fidel Castro, snippets of his 2006 speech on the floor of the U.N. when he called President George W. Bush "the devil," and images of him rallying supporters wearing the red beret from his days as an army paratroop commander.

Some of Chavez's supporters expressed fears about political battles emerging, while others said the country's people wouldn't stand for it.

Mariana Salas, who sells orange juice and fruit at a roadside stand in the working-class slum of Petare, said she trusts that Chavistas won't turn on each other if the president dies.

"If it turns out that some of them do, they should be expelled from the party because Chavez gave a very clear order: Maduro is the man we should follow," she said.

Maduro, Chavez's longtime foreign minister and a former bus driver, has stepped into the void during Chavez's absence. On Thursday night, his voice was hoarse as he spoke at a political rally, pledging not to give in to the country's "bourgeoisie."

"I swear to you ... we will never betray the Venezuelan people!" he said, adding: "Together we're going to defend the peace, stability and the future of our children, with our own lives if necessary!"

But Maduro will find it difficult to control the various factions in Chavez's socialist party, said Vicente Torrijos, a political analyst at Rosario University in Bogota, Colombia. "Maduro doesn't have that charisma, nor the ability, much less the political capital," he said.

Torrijos expects the fervor inspired by Chavez to continue, but he predicts differences among the president's followers will eventually "disrupt the revolution." The military is likely to "influence political decisions more and more," he said.

___

Associated Press writers Christopher Toothaker in Caracas and Cesar Garcia in Bogota, Colombia, contributed to this report.

___

Ian James on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ianjamesap

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/venezuelans-see-chavismo-struggles-brewing-132907907.html

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Students Demand University Endowments Stop Investing in Fossil ...

 universities students sri SFI oil companies investments fossil fuel endowments do the math colleges Climate Change Bill McKibben Last week,?the New York Times reported on a growing trend in campuses across the U.S. ? college students demand that their university endowment funds rid themselves of?fossil fuel stocks. Energized by Bill McKibben?s Do the Math Tour, the students see this divestment campaign as a tactic that could force climate change back onto the national political agenda and pressure oil, gas and coal companies to start taking serious steps to fight global warming.

It wasn?t surprising to read that ?at colleges with large endowments, many administrators are viewing the demand skeptically, saying it would undermine their goal of maximum returns in support of education.?

But are they right? Will college and university endowments lose money if they will accept the students? demands? And if so, is still fair to ask colleges and universities to take this step given the important role endowments have in funding the operations of educational institutions?

First, let?s take a look at how involved American college and university endowments are in socially responsible investing (SRI). According to a report released on July by IRRC Institute and Tellus Institute, these endowments, which have more than $400 billion in combined assets under their management, ?constitute an important segment of institutional investors involved in sustainable and responsible investing.? At the same time, they ?no longer appear to be leaders in the greatly evolved institutional ESG investment space.?

US SIF 2012 Trends Report shows that more than $253 billion in assets (63 percent) of the total assets managed by endowments are affected by ESG issues, making educational institutions the second largest pool of institutional capital that is subject to some form of responsible investment policy. While this figure is impressive, apparently the number of endowments applying some form of ESG criteria to portfolio holdings is in decline ?from 178 in 2009 to 148 in 2011.

The endowments that stay involved in some form of ESG investing activity tend, according to the IRRC report, to remain confined to single issue negative screening of public-equity portfolios. The most common issue is divestment from investing in companies doing business in Sudan ($200 billion in assets), followed by tobacco ($133.3 billion), terrorist/repressive regimes ($10.7 billion), military/weapons ($7.9 billion) and products/other ($7.7 billion).

As you can see, about 92 percent of the endowments? SRI activity is related to two negative screenings ? Sudan and tobacco. Both criteria are a result of a values-driven SRI approach, or in other words, endowments choose not to invest in companies involved in Sudan or in tobacco companies because of ethical grounds.

Is divestment in fossil fuel companies any different? Technically, no. In both cases, we?re talking about what can be considered ?sin stocks,? or stocks that are evaluated on moral rather than profit-making grounds. The difference is, that in reality it is much more difficult to exercise a similar moral judgment when it comes to oil and coal stocks.

First, these companies are much more powerful today than tobacco companies and universities know it very well. Second, as the Times wrote, ?fossil fuel companies represent a significant portion of the stock market, comprising nearly 10 percent of the value of the Russell 3000, a broad index of 3,000 American companies.? Last, but not least, in terms of perception, oil and coal stocks do not have yet the label of ?sin stocks? so it?s more difficult to convince a board of trustees that they actually are.

The main obstacle seems to stem from a simple cost-benefit analysis that endowments conduct, which shows them that at the moment, it?s less beneficial to divest in fossil fuel stocks. How come? Well, studies show that a values-driven investment approach (unlike the positive screening-based/profit-seeking approach) tends to underperform conventional investments. In other words, there?s a good chance endowments will pay a price in terms of lower return for divestment in fossil fuel stocks.

This is a price that almost none of the endowments are willing to pay right now, especially when ? from their point of view -adopting this approach could result in a conflict with powerful oil and coal companies that might also be among their donors, not to mention that the effectiveness of this approach is questionable.

The only factor that can change this equation seems to be the students ? just like they fought to make ownership of tobacco stocks unacceptable no matter how profitable they are, they can fight to make ownership of fossil fuel stocks unacceptable. After all, it seems like climate change is a bit more of a threat to the future of human society than cigarettes. If students make the cost of owning these stocks greater than the cost of not having them, endowments will have to think twice about it.

But should colleges and universities put climate change before their own financial needs? For some, this is a moral question, for others this is a question of short-term vs. long-term priorities. Yet, for a growing number of students, it?s a no brainer ? the math of climate change is much more powerful and important than the math behind the endowments short-term returns.

[Image credit: Marcio Cabral de Moura, Flickr Creative Commons]

Raz Godelnik is the co-founder of?Eco-Libris?and an adjunct faculty at the University of Delaware?s Business School, CUNY SPS and Parsons the New School for Design, teaching courses in green business, sustainable design and new product development. You can follow Raz on?Twitter.

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Source: http://www.triplepundit.com/2012/12/university-endowments-stop-investing-fossil-fuel-stocks/

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Family of journalist Austin Tice struggles with silence on kidnapping

"There's not a manual for this," says Debra Tice, clutching her husband's hand as they sit in the lobby of Beirut's Commodore Hotel.

Mrs. Tice and her husband, Marc, were in Beirut recently as part of their ongoing quest to find their son, Austin, who was kidnapped in Syria in August while working as a freelance journalist. It's a journey that has taken the Houston family to the State Department, put them in front of media cameras, and introduced them to a world of backchannel communications and international intrigue that they knew absolutely nothing about just a year ago.

"We came here to extend our reach into Syria," Mrs. Tice says. Her husband adds, "We want to reach as widely as we can in hopes that the person who has the ability [to release him] will show some compassion to us."

RELATED: Four things Syria must do after Assad

The number of kidnapped journalists has climbed as news organizations have covered everything from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars to the Syrian civil war alongside fighters. And with the rise in the number of reporters operating in dangerous places like Syria ? and with many parties seeing value in targeting them ? many expect the threat to persist.

Yet no uniform playbook on handling such crises has emerged, largely because each situation is unique. And while that makes sense, it leaves families struggling with agonizing choices as they try to calculate which steps are most likely to secure a safe release for their loved one.

SIFTING THROUGH SENSITIVE QUESTIONS

Any number of questions arise: Should we keep it quiet? Or would it be better to go public? Will more pressure help my son get released more quickly? Or will it scare his captors, putting him in further danger?

"The right situation on going public depends on why that person was abducted in the first place," a security contractor who works in the region said in an e-mail interview. "Money? Politics? Islamic fundamentalism? Kidnap for ransom?"

Austin Tice was reporting in Daraya, outside Damascus, when he went missing in mid-August. The Tices became concerned when several days elapsed without a word from their son, who previously had checked in regularly. His disappearance rapidly became public, with McClatchy News Service and the Washington Post, for whom Tice had been reporting as a freelancer, posting stories about his disappearance. The Tices then launched what has become a multi-month search.

But despite all their efforts, the Tices say they and the news organizations have little information to work off of. "It has really been a prolonged silence ? an excruciating silence," Debra says.

"We don't know with any certainty where he is or who has him," says Marc Tice. "We could speculate ourselves crazy."

The parents speak wearily about the waiting game they and their six other children ? Austin is the oldest ? are playing as they wait for news. The situation has changed agonizingly little since his kidnapping in August, with the exception of one video of Austin in captivity that was made public.

Mr. and Mrs. Tice insist they know next to nothing about their son's current status, only that he is the latest in a string of American journalist kidnappings over the past few years. But the couple have worked to keep the pressure on the parties involved by raising sympathy and compassion in television interviews, including one with Russia's RT.TV Arabic service. They traveled to Beirut for a week in November in hopes that being in the region as they made their plea might prompt action.

The tactic is not new, but it is effective, says the security contractor. Security firms are often brought in during cases like these to assist governments, families, and employers navigate the confusing, difficult scene.

"Using family members is good to portray the individual as a human being," he says. But he notes that the message that Tice was there for the people of Syria ? something that both Tice and his family have said ? may not go over as well as one might think.

"Stating that a captive was there for the people of Syria (let's say) creates unwanted attention and hatred with the local population," he says. "More than one person has stated on web pages, 'Why do we care about Tice when thousands are dying every day?'"

HOPE FROM A YOUTUBE VIDEO

The last communication Tice's family and employers received was a YouTube video released in September. Posted on a pro-Syrian government website, it seemed to be an attempt to implicate Islamist militants as Tice's captors. But inconsistencies resulted in a nearly unequivocal dismissal of that possibility.

"When the video of Austin came out, a lot of analysts had looked at the video, and it was clear this was kind of a mock-up of guys who were posing to be these Islamic extremists," says Dahlia El Zein, Middle East and North Africa researcher for the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in New York.

?This would very much fit into the government line that these Islamic terrorists were causing all this havoc in the country. Based on the track record of information, it appears that it's likely that he would be held within Syrian custody," Ms. El Zein says.

Videos like that one are often the starting point for a search, says the security contractor.

"During many occasions, the only way to begin a search is from videos posted, or messages sought by the abductors. Intel plays a vital role. Where the video was shot, what accents were heard, what type of clothing the abductors wore, the terrain, how the victim is being treated, what the abductors' demands [are]. From gaining sound intel, information could be sought and then the search narrows down to a specific area, neighborhood." he says.

"In Tice's case, the search is cold," the contractor says.

WHEN THE GOVERNMENT IS A SUSPECT

Tice is widely believed to be in custody of the Syrian government. The Czech ambassador to Syria, who represents the US there because its embassy in Damascus was shut down in 2011, said earlier this year that embassy sources say Tice is alive and in the regime's hands. Damascus has denied it.

"At this stage, I would suggest the regime has Tice," the contractor says, nothing that the capital and surrounding areas have a much stronger regime presence than a rebel one. "It would have been very difficult for any reporter to avoid imminent capture by the Assad regime. Is he alive? I would expect so. What would Assad gain from Tice being killed?"

Indeed, whether the suspected abductor is a government or a rogue player will closely shape the response. El Zein cites the case of C?neyt ?nal, a cameraman for Turkish television station Al-Hurra. Mr. ?nal was kidnapped in Syria in late August.

CPJ and other organizations "had a strong belief that he was being held by the Syrians," El Zein says, so they went public, calling on the Syrian government to release him. "The more publicity around it, the better so that the government knew that they couldn?t get away with keeping it quiet," she explains.

?nal was released from Syrian government custody about two weeks ago.

But the cards are played very differently when dealing with rogue actors, as was the case in the kidnapping of British freelancer photographer John Cantlie and Dutch freelance photographer Jeroen Oerlemans. The two were kidnapped by Islamic militants when crossing into Syria from Turkey. News organizations were unable to get much information about their whereabouts, and knew little until after the release of the two men.

In that case, silence was the best option, El Zein says. The parties working to get the two men out believed the rebel Free Syrian Army might have some leverage, so they kept quiet to give the FSA time and space to negotiate. After a week, it managed to secure the release of Mr. Cantile and Mr. Oerlemans.

Allowing some time for an initial, low-profile investigation is helpful in either situation, says the contractor.

"I would hold the release of information about a person abducted for at least 72 hours. This could give security personnel enough time to back check routes, patterns, and other factors involved in an abduction," he says. "Interviewing witnesses, backtracking the path where the abduction happened ? all this provides key information before the case goes cold. Once the case turns cold, then [going public with] as much information about the case is indeed a good thing."

But Tice has been in capivity, without contact, far longer than either of these cases.

"On my previous cases for kidnap and ransom, silence was broken quickly as they wanted payment. In this case, it's different. I expect he isn't being held for ransom or money gain. No news is good news," the contractor says.

A RELENTLESS SEARCH

The Tices say they will continue to hammer away at gathering credible information on their son's whereabouts.

"When you lose something precious to you, you don't stop asking where that precious thing is until you find it," Marc says.

While all journalists face threats, the risk to freelancers operating in dangerous places like Syria can be particularly acute, as they are often operating without significant institutional backing and experience.

"More and more of those journalists are freelancers because of the nature of the changing field," El Zein says, referring to the rise in the number of freelancers reporting in dangerous places, traditionally more a world for journalists on the staff of major publications. "Especially in Syria, the risks are very high for journalists, and a freelancer going in there without any support structure ? it can be very risky and daunting."

Austin's parents were aware of the risks that Austin's pursuits posed, but say there was little they could do to stop their son, who felt compelled to go and report in Syria. "He trained us in parental support. He clearly outlined our job description early on: 'I will follow my path and appreciate your support,' " Debra says. And when they saw his work, their thought was, "There he is, doing his dream. That's our boy."

Read Austin Tice's Facebook statement here about why he decided to report from Syria.

Read this story at csmonitor.com

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/family-journalist-austin-tice-struggles-silence-kidnapping-195212761.html

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Sony NEX-6 review: it's the whole package, for just shy of a grand

DNP Sony NEX6 review it's the whole package, for just shy of a grand

Sony had a lot to show off just before we hopped aboard a flight to Photokina. The A99 was a lightweight bargain of a full-frame DSLR, the Cyber-shot RX1 was the most powerful compact we'd ever seen and the 16.1-megapixel NEX-6 was one of the finest mirrorless models of the year -- in other words, this is a camera manufacturer that's doing it right, with a wide range of high-end products that would make any tech giant proud. We won't dwell on the firm's troubling financial misfortunes, but based on the company's recent success in the digital imaging space, Sony absolutely needs to remain afloat -- the interchangeable-lens camera market simply wouldn't be the same without it.

For now, we'll focus on the NEX-6. You can snag this compact body for $850 without the lens, but you're probably gonna want to splurge for the kit. At just under $1,000, the 16-50mm power zoom lens duo is clearly Sony's premium 2012 entrant. It's the first such model to pack a brand-new collapsible optic -- it's not the speediest lens, by a long shot, but it is convenient, and versatile. Sony's standard 18-55mm lens is famously oversized in contrast to the relatively thin profile of nearly every NEX model. It's fairly hefty, suffers from significant barrel distortion and is prone to netting nicks and scratches.

With the NEX-6, that aging version's been retired -- at least temporarily, considering that it may pop up with lower-end models next year. This is also the first Sony mirrorless to feature a dedicated mode dial, and you'll get the NEX-7's OLED EVF, along with a built-in flash and a full-size hot shoe. All this in a body that's marginally larger than the NEX-F3. The 6 is clearly a miniature powerhouse, but is it destined to become yours? Find our take after the break.

Continue reading Sony NEX-6 review: it's the whole package, for just shy of a grand

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/12/sony-nex-6-review/

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Chicagoland Pet Stores Investigation Links Dozens of Puppy Sellers ...

December?11,?2012

Investigation also reveals pet stores? non-compliance with Illinois law and reliance on breeders with repeat violations of the Animal Welfare Act

?

CHICAGO (Dec. 11, 2012)?During the busiest puppy buying season of the year, The Humane Society of the United States released an undercover investigation of pet stores in the Chicago area, linking many of them to inhumane commercial breeders known as puppy mills. The investigation found that employees repeatedly gave strong assurances that stores did not buy from puppy mills, but documentary evidence showed otherwise.

"This investigation drives home the heartbreaking lesson that consumers can unwittingly support the vast cruelties of puppy mills if they patronize pet stores in search of a puppy," said Melanie Kahn, senior director of the Puppy Mills Campaign for The HSUS. "Again and again, The Humane Society of the United States finds pet stores won't tell consumers the truth. The only way to confidently add a pet to the family this holiday season or anytime is to avoid pet stores or internet sites."

This investigation was the latest of three conducted in large U.S. cities to show the very same thing?stores claiming that they did not rely on puppy mills when, in fact, they did. By refusing to admit the source of animals they sell, these store employees tacitly acknowledge that puppy mills are unacceptable facilities that cause great suffering to breeding dogs.

Over a three day period in October, an HSUS investigator and a local Chicago resident visited 12 Chicagoland pet stores. HSUS investigators made trips to many of the stores? breeders as well.

The investigation found:

  • HSUS footage revealed many of the breeding facilities that supply Chicago-area pet stores are puppy mills, where hundreds of dogs are confined in cramped wire cages solely to produce puppies for the pet trade. One of the breeders had almost 1,000 dogs and puppies on her property.
  • Some breeders found selling to Chicago-area pet stores have a record of repeat violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act. USDA inspection reports contained reports of significant animal care violations, including sick and injured dogs who had not been treated by a vet, underweight animals, puppies with their feet falling through the wire floors, puppies with severe eye deformities, piles of feces, and food contaminated by mold and insects.
  • In addition to the 12 stores visited in person, HSUS staffers followed the paper trail for puppies sent from puppy mills to dozens of other Chicagoland stores, linking almost all of them to puppy mills or brokers for puppy mills.
  • More than 2,000 puppies were shipped to Chicago-area pet stores during an approximate 6-month period, most of them from notorious puppy mill states such as Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, Ohio and Indiana.
  • Illinois pet store inspection records obtained by The HSUS reveal that one of the stores visited is, itself, a puppy mill, with approximately 60 adult dogs kept in small, stacked wire cages in a back room in addition to the dozens of puppies for sale. "Puppy Parlor" aka "Poochie Puppy Parlor" in Lisle has been the subject of 19 complaints to the state department of agriculture over the past two years, and was quarantined for a week last year due to an outbreak of parvovirus that killed at least six puppies.
  • During The HSUS's visits it appeared that eight of the 12 stores did not fully comply with a state law passed in 2010 requiring pet shops to "post in a conspicuous place in writing on or near the cage of any dog or cat available for sale the [?] name and address of the animal's breeder" and other information about the puppies for sale. The law was intended in part to help consumers avoid purchasing puppies from puppy mills.

Almost 2,000 pet stores nationwide and more than 80 in Illinois have signed an HSUS pledge not to sell puppies, demonstrating that it is possible to have a successful pet-related business without supporting puppy mills.

See the full investigation report here.

The HSUS encourages adoption from local shelters or rescues as a first choice, and also provides tips on finding responsible breeders: www.humanesociety.org/puppy.

Media Note: Video from inside the stores and video, still photos and USDA reports from breeders are available via the contact below.

-30-

Media Contact: Niki Ianni, 301-548-7793, nianni@humanesociety.org

Follow The HSUS on Twitter. See our work for animals on your Apple or Android device by searching for our "Humane TV" app.

The Humane Society of the United States is the nation?s largest animal protection organization, rated the most effective by its peers. Since 1954, The HSUS has been fighting for the protection of all animals through advocacy, education and hands-on programs. We rescue and care for tens of thousands of animals each year, but our primary mission is to prevent cruelty before it occurs. We're there for all animals, across America and around the world. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty -- on the Web at humanesociety.org

Source: http://www.humanesociety.org/news/press_releases/2012/12/puppy-mill-investigation-chicago-121012.html

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Facebook unveils new privacy controls

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc began rolling out a variety of new privacy controls on Wednesday, the company's latest effort to address user concerns about who can see their personal information on the world's largest social network.

New tools introduced on Wednesday will make it easier for Facebook's members to quickly determine who can view the photos, comments and other information about them that appears on different parts of the website, and to request that any objectionable photos they're featured in be removed.

A new privacy "shortcut" in the top-right hand corner of the website provides quick access to key controls such as allowing users to manage who can contact them and to block specific people.

The new controls are the latest changes to Facebook's privacy settings, which have been criticized in the past for being too confusing.

Facebook Director of Product Sam Lessin said the changes were designed to increase users' comfort level on the social network, which has roughly one billion users.

"When users don't understand the concepts and controls and hit surprises, they don't build the confidence they need," said Lessin.

Facebook, Google Inc and other online companies have faced increasing scrutiny and enforcement from privacy regulators as consumers entrust ever-increasing amounts of information about their personal lives to Web services.

In April, Facebook settled privacy charges with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that it had deceived consumers and forced them to share more personal information than they intended. Under the settlement, Facebook is required to get user consent for certain changes to its privacy settings and is subject to 20 years of independent audits.

Facebook's Lessin said some users don't understand that the information they post on their Timeline profile page is not the only personal information about them that may be viewable by others. Improvements to Facebook's so-called Activity Log will make it easier for users to see at a glance all the information that involves them across the social network.

Facebook also said it is changing the way that third-party apps, such as games and music players, get permission to access user data. An app must now provide separate requests to create a personalized service based on a user's personal information and to post automated messages to the Facebook newsfeed on behalf of a user - previously users agreed to both conditions by approving a single request.

The revamped controls follow proposed changes that Facebook has made to its privacy policy and terms of service. The changes would allow Facebook to integrate user data with that of its recently acquired photo-sharing app Instagram, and would loosen restrictions on how members of the social network can contact other members using the Facebook email system.

Nearly 600,000 Facebook users voted to reject the proposed changes, but the votes fell far short of the roughly 300 million needed for the vote to be binding, under Facebook's existing rules. The proposed changes also would eliminate any such future votes by Facebook users.

(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/facebook-unveils-privacy-controls-150227913--sector.html

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oratorio palladium: Definition Personal Health and Fitness ? Fish-Oil ...

A diet rich in fish oils has been found to have a positive effect on bedsores, researchers from Tel Aviv University reported in the?British Journal of Nutrition?and the?American Journal of Critical Care.

The authors explained that?fish oils, which are full of antioxidants and Omega-3 fatty acids, can help reduce blood pressure, improve immune system function, lower joint and skin?inflammation, as well aspromote good fetal development. In this study, the researchers had set out to determine what benefits, if any, fish oils might have for?pressure ulcers?(bedsores).

After sitting or lying down for long periods, critically ill patients are at risk of developing bedsores on the skin and underlying tissue.

Professor Pierre Singer of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine and Mirian Theilla at the Rabin Medical Center, designed a randomized trial to find out what the impact of dietary fish oil supplements might be on critically ill patients? bedsores.

The patients had eight grams of fish oil added to their daily diet. Within three weeks, Prof. Singer and team found that:

  • Patients? symptoms of pain and discomfort from bedsores improved by 20% to 25%
  • There was significantly less inflammation throughout the patients? bodies
  • Their immune systems improved

Improving the immune system

Bedsores form because of a lack of oxygen, skin wetness and reduced bloodflow. The team had been inspired from a prior study which demonstrated that dietary fish oil supplements for bedridden patients increased levels of oxygen in body tissues. They wondered whether this increase in oxygen levels might help improve the symptoms of bedsores.

They recruited 40 critically ill patients to take part in the randomized study that they created themselves. Twenty of the participants received standard hospital food, while the other 20 ate the same, with eight grams of fish oil added each day.

As mentioned earlier,?significant improvements in bedsore symptoms were detected within three weeks in the fish oil group, compared to those on just the standard hospital diet.

They also found that the fish oil supplementation had boosted the patients? immune systems and helped reduce the swelling.

Professor Singer said:

?We saw a modification in the expression of a group of molecules associated with directing leukocytes, or white blood cells, in the direction of the wound, which could explain the improved healing.?

Blood levels of C-reactive protein were also significantly lower among those receiving the extra fish oils in their food. C-reactive protein is linked to inflammation and bacterial and viral infections, tissue injury, rheumatic diseases, and necrosis.

Fish oils for natural pain management?

The team wonder whether fish oils may be useful for natural pain therapy.

They plan to carry out a study which measures pain intensity among post-surgical patients after knee or hip replacements, and correlate those measurements with the amount of fish oil they received.

What are fish oils?

Fish oils come from?oily fish, also known as?fatty fish, such as salmon, sardines, herring, tuna, mackerel and trout.

Nutritionists and scientists are interested in two particular substances found in fish oils:

  • DHA, which stands for docosahexaenoic acid
  • EPA, which stands for eicosapentaenoic acid

DHA and EPA are types of Omega-3 fatty acids.

Fillets of oily fish consist of up to 30% oil. Non-oily fish, also known as white fish, only have high fish-oil levels in the liver. Oily fish, apart from being good sources of Omega-3 fatty acids, are also rich in?vitamins?A and D. White fish contain all these ingredients, but much less.

Although oily fish are thought of as better for the health than white fish (white fish is not bad for you), science has not yet proven this.

Most health authorities in North America and Western Europe encourage their people to regularly consume oily fish, or to take fish oil supplements, because of their health benefits.

Previous research on fish oils

    • Post-partum depression (post-natal depression)?- scientists from the University of Connecticut School of Nursing found that?DHA consumption during pregnancy probably helps reduce the risk of developing post-natal depression.
    • Multiple sclerosis?- several nutritionists, health care professionals and laypeople say that Omega-3 fatty acids are good for people with?multiple sclerosis. However, Norwegian scientists carried out a study and?found no link between Omega-3 fatty acid consumption and improved multiple sclerosis symptoms.
    • Eyesight?-?people who consume plenty of DHA are less likely to develop age-related vision loss, Canadian researchers found.
    • Prostate cancer?- there have been mixed findings regarding fish oils and?prostate cancer. One study found that?fish oils lower a man?s risk of developing prostate cancer, while another?found an association between Omega-3 levels and a higher risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer.
    • Mental health?-?fish oils were found to help people with ADHD, and other behavioral problems.
    • Memory?- an article in?PLOS One?reported that?working memory among young healthy adults improves if they raise their Omega-3 fatty acid consumption.

Source: http://definitionhealthfit.ca/?p=2252

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Structure of carbon's 'Hoyle state' revealed

Dec. 10, 2012 ? A North Carolina State University researcher has taken a "snapshot" of the way particles combine to form carbon-12, the element that makes all life on Earth possible. And the picture looks like a bent arm.

Carbon-12 can only exist when three alpha particles, or helium-4 nuclei, combine in a very specific way. This combination is known as the Hoyle state. NC State physicist Dean Lee and German colleagues Evgeny Epelbaum, Hermann Krebs and Ulf-G. Meissner had previously confirmed the existence of the Hoyle state using a numerical lattice that allowed the researchers to simulate how the protons and neutrons interact. When the researchers ran their simulations on the lattice, the Hoyle state appeared together with other observed states of carbon-12, proving the theory correct from first principles.

But they also wanted to find out how the nucleons (the protons and neutrons inside the nucleus of an atom) were arranged inside the nucleus of carbon-12. This would enable them to "see" the structure of the Hoyle state. Using the same lattice, the researchers, along with collaborator Timo Laehde, found that carbon-12's six protons and six neutrons formed three "alpha clusters" of four nucleons each. At low energy, the alpha clusters tended to clump together in a compact triangular formation. But for the Hoyle state, which is an excited energy state, the three alpha clusters combined in a "bent arm" formation.

The researchers' findings will appear this month in Physical Review Letters.

"It's interesting that a straight chain seems not to be the preferred configuration for the Hoyle state," Lee says. "A bend in the chain seems necessary. This work leads us to the question of what other nuclei have such alpha cluster shapes. These would be rather exotic structures in nuclear physics and open some really interesting questions regarding shape and stability. For example, can we have longer chains of alpha clusters? We are investigating these possibilities."

The work was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy; the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft Deutscher Forschungszentren, and Bundesministerium fuer Bildung und Forschung in Germany; European Union HadronPhysics3 Project and the European Research Council; and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Computational resources were provided by the Juelich Supercomputing Center. The NC State Department of Physics is part of the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by North Carolina State University.

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Journal Reference:

  1. Evgeny Epelbaum, Hermann Krebs, Timo L?hde, Dean Lee, Ulf-G. Mei?ner. Structure and Rotations of the Hoyle State. Physical Review Letters, 2012 (in press) [link]

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/9OAlEsSSF3Y/121210124715.htm

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