GENEVA (AP) — Officials say U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will fly to Geneva on Friday to participate in nuclear negotiations with Iran and other major powers.
The officials say Kerry will travel to the talks after a brief stop in Israel, where he will hold a third meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel's intense interest in Iran's nuclear ambitions is a likely topic between Netanyahu and Kerry as well as Israeli-Palestinian peace.
Iran's plan to cap some of the country's atomic activities in exchange for selective relief from crippling economic sanctions has been accepted by six world powers, the country's chief nuclear negotiator said Thursday.
Kerry's last-minute decision to join the talks suggests a deal could be imminent.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because Kerry has not been formally invited by the Europeans to join the talks.
Contact: Mary Beckman mary.beckman@pnnl.gov 509-375-3688 DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
An international team of climate and social scientists say a new approach to climate preparedness is essential to help people adjust to coming changes
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Changes are already happening to Earth's climate due to the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and large-scale agriculture. As changes get more pronounced, people everywhere will have to adjust. In this week's issue of the journal Science, an international group of researchers urge the development of science needed to manage climate risks and capitalize on unexpected opportunities.
"Adapting to an evolving climate is going to be required in every sector of society, in every region of the globe. We need to get going, to provide integrated science if we are going to meet the challenge," said senior scientist Richard Moss of the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. "In this article, we describe the foundations for this research and suggest measures to establish it."
Climate preparedness research needs to integrate social and climate science, engineering, and other disciplines. It prepares for impacts by determining who and what are most vulnerable to changes and considering ways to adapt.
"Science for adaptation starts with understanding decision-making processes and information needs, determining where the vulnerabilities are, and then moves to climate modeling. A final step tracks whether adaptation is effective," said Moss, who is based at the Joint Global Change Research Institute, a collaboration between PNNL in Richland, Wash. and the University of Maryland.
The article grew out of a workshop held in August 2012 at the Aspen Global Change Institute in Aspen, Colo., on how to improve support for decision-making in the face of a changing climate. The authors arrived at this approach to guide preparedness research based on the need to reduce the risks that climate change presents.
"The need to adapt and adjust is going to be global," said Moss. "We need a flexible, integrated approach that merges theoretical and problem-oriented sciences around four general challenges."
The four challenges are:
Understanding what information is needed to make decisions about adapting to climate change
Identifying vulnerabilities in society, the economy and the environment
Improving forecasts and climate models in ways that can address specific problems
Providing technology, management, and policy options for adapting
As an example of how practical and basic research can work together, Moss described work in the U.S. involving water utilities, university scientists, and private firms to pilot use of climate models and water utility modeling to design resilient water systems.
"This research is motivated by a practical challenge, ensuring reliable water supplies. Among the scientific advances that will be required is better integration of weather and climate models to improve decadal climate information to help people plan," Moss said.
Bringing together diverse disciplines at the Aspen workshop allowed the international team to explore all facets of adaptation, including less examined ones such as how scientific information is (and isn't) used in making decisions.
"Traditionally we think that what society needs is better predictions. But at this workshop, all of us climate and social scientists alike recognized the need to consider how decisions get implemented and that climate is only one of many factors that will determine how people will adapt," he said.
The focus on problem-solving could open up new sources of funding as well, sources such as non-governmental organizations, industry -- any group with specific problems that adaptation science could solve.
"We will make a virtue of necessity," said Moss.
###
Funding for the Aspen workshop was provided by NASA.
Reference: R.H. Moss, G.A. Meehl, M.C. Lemos, J.B. Smith, J.R. Arnold, J.C. Arnott, D. Behar, G.P. Brasseur, S.B. Broomell, A.J. Busalacchi, S. Dessai, K.L. Ebi, J.A. Edmonds, J. Furlow, L. Goddard, H.C. Hartmann, J.W. Hurrell, J.W. Katzenberger, D.M. Liverman, P.W. Mote, S.C. Moser, A. Kumar, R.S. Pulwarty, E.A. Seyller, B.L. Turner II, W.M. Washington, T.J. Wilbanks. Hell and High Water: Practice-Relevant Adaptation Science, Science November 8, 2013, doi:10.1126/science.1239569.
The Joint Global Change Research Institute is a unique partnership formed in 2001 between the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the University of Maryland. The PNNL staff associated with the center is world renowned for expertise in energy conservation and understanding of the interactions between climate, energy production and use, economic activity and the environment.
Interdisciplinary teams at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory address many of America's most pressing issues in energy, the environment and national security through advances in basic and applied science. PNNL employs 4,500 staff, has an annual budget of nearly $1 billion, and has been managed for the U.S. Department of Energy by Ohio-based Battelle since the laboratory's inception in 1965. For more, visit the PNNL's News Center, or follow PNNL on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
[
| 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.
Preparing for hell and high water
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
7-Nov-2013
[
| E-mail
]
Share
Contact: Mary Beckman mary.beckman@pnnl.gov 509-375-3688 DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
An international team of climate and social scientists say a new approach to climate preparedness is essential to help people adjust to coming changes
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Changes are already happening to Earth's climate due to the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and large-scale agriculture. As changes get more pronounced, people everywhere will have to adjust. In this week's issue of the journal Science, an international group of researchers urge the development of science needed to manage climate risks and capitalize on unexpected opportunities.
"Adapting to an evolving climate is going to be required in every sector of society, in every region of the globe. We need to get going, to provide integrated science if we are going to meet the challenge," said senior scientist Richard Moss of the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. "In this article, we describe the foundations for this research and suggest measures to establish it."
Climate preparedness research needs to integrate social and climate science, engineering, and other disciplines. It prepares for impacts by determining who and what are most vulnerable to changes and considering ways to adapt.
"Science for adaptation starts with understanding decision-making processes and information needs, determining where the vulnerabilities are, and then moves to climate modeling. A final step tracks whether adaptation is effective," said Moss, who is based at the Joint Global Change Research Institute, a collaboration between PNNL in Richland, Wash. and the University of Maryland.
The article grew out of a workshop held in August 2012 at the Aspen Global Change Institute in Aspen, Colo., on how to improve support for decision-making in the face of a changing climate. The authors arrived at this approach to guide preparedness research based on the need to reduce the risks that climate change presents.
"The need to adapt and adjust is going to be global," said Moss. "We need a flexible, integrated approach that merges theoretical and problem-oriented sciences around four general challenges."
The four challenges are:
Understanding what information is needed to make decisions about adapting to climate change
Identifying vulnerabilities in society, the economy and the environment
Improving forecasts and climate models in ways that can address specific problems
Providing technology, management, and policy options for adapting
As an example of how practical and basic research can work together, Moss described work in the U.S. involving water utilities, university scientists, and private firms to pilot use of climate models and water utility modeling to design resilient water systems.
"This research is motivated by a practical challenge, ensuring reliable water supplies. Among the scientific advances that will be required is better integration of weather and climate models to improve decadal climate information to help people plan," Moss said.
Bringing together diverse disciplines at the Aspen workshop allowed the international team to explore all facets of adaptation, including less examined ones such as how scientific information is (and isn't) used in making decisions.
"Traditionally we think that what society needs is better predictions. But at this workshop, all of us climate and social scientists alike recognized the need to consider how decisions get implemented and that climate is only one of many factors that will determine how people will adapt," he said.
The focus on problem-solving could open up new sources of funding as well, sources such as non-governmental organizations, industry -- any group with specific problems that adaptation science could solve.
"We will make a virtue of necessity," said Moss.
###
Funding for the Aspen workshop was provided by NASA.
Reference: R.H. Moss, G.A. Meehl, M.C. Lemos, J.B. Smith, J.R. Arnold, J.C. Arnott, D. Behar, G.P. Brasseur, S.B. Broomell, A.J. Busalacchi, S. Dessai, K.L. Ebi, J.A. Edmonds, J. Furlow, L. Goddard, H.C. Hartmann, J.W. Hurrell, J.W. Katzenberger, D.M. Liverman, P.W. Mote, S.C. Moser, A. Kumar, R.S. Pulwarty, E.A. Seyller, B.L. Turner II, W.M. Washington, T.J. Wilbanks. Hell and High Water: Practice-Relevant Adaptation Science, Science November 8, 2013, doi:10.1126/science.1239569.
The Joint Global Change Research Institute is a unique partnership formed in 2001 between the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the University of Maryland. The PNNL staff associated with the center is world renowned for expertise in energy conservation and understanding of the interactions between climate, energy production and use, economic activity and the environment.
Interdisciplinary teams at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory address many of America's most pressing issues in energy, the environment and national security through advances in basic and applied science. PNNL employs 4,500 staff, has an annual budget of nearly $1 billion, and has been managed for the U.S. Department of Energy by Ohio-based Battelle since the laboratory's inception in 1965. For more, visit the PNNL's News Center, or follow PNNL on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
[
| 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.
On Wednesday, Facebook released a digital resource center to expand its efforts against online harassment.
Facebook
On Wednesday, Facebook released a digital resource center to expand its efforts against online harassment.
Facebook
Facebook has rolled out a tool to address online harassment that some digital safety advocates are calling a beneficial, but belated, first step.
The social networking site with 1.2 billion users worldwide released a "bullying prevention hub" this week. It's essentially an online resource center with suggestions for teens, parents and educators on how to address bullying — both online and off — and take action on Facebook.
The site is also beginning to roll out more options for teens to report when posts are making them uncomfortable.
The idea is to build on Facebook's existing tools, says company spokesman Matt Steinfeld.
For example, the site unveiled social reporting in 2011, which encouraged users to send a message to a friend asking for help or ask another user to take down a photo. The latter was particularly successful, Steinfeld says: 83 percent of the time, if you reach out to a user who has a photo you don't want to be in, that user will take it off.
"We were pretty impressed when we rolled out social reporting a couple of years ago that people were willing to engage with each other, as long as we suggested some text to use," he says.
An example of the reporting tool that Facebook is in the process of making available to its users.
Facebook
An example of the reporting tool that Facebook is in the process of making available to its users.
Facebook
And Facebook hopes this will be true of bullying as well. The hub gives suggested conversation starters for victims ("Hey, NAME — that comment wasn't funny. I don't like it, please take it down"), as well as for people who are accused of bullying and people who witness it.
"There's a lot of literature on how people interact face to face. ... What we're trying to do is apply those studies to an online setting. And it's tough," Steinfeld says. "People are really hungry for help."
Innovative, Or Too Late?
Jim Steyer is CEO of Common Sense Media, an organization that promotes safe technology and media for kids, and he says he's glad to see Facebook taking positive steps toward combating online harassment. He also says this should have been done earlier.
"We think cyberbullying is an enormous challenge facing every young person," Steyer says. "Facebook has been a big part of the problem in this area."
He also says that Facebook's "ever-changing privacy policy" confuses users instead of keeping them safe.
But Facebook's Steinfeld says the company is serious about the cause. "Bullying prevention has been something we've worked on for a long time," he says. "We're the first Internet company that's putting bullying prevention resources in the heart of the product itself."
Other Internet companies are, more and more, taking the blame for recent bullying-related teen suicides.
Rebecca Ann Sedwick, a 12-year-old girl who died in September, had been harassed on Facebook, The New York Times reports. But after her mother closed Rebecca's account, the bullying returned viciously on other social messaging applications, like Ask.fm, Kik and Voxer.
London's The Telegraph also links Ask.fm — a site where people can ask each other questions, often anonymously — to several teen suicides in Britain and Ireland.
Beyond Facebook
It's part of a larger teen migration away from Facebook, Steyer says.
Last week, the company's chief financial officer, David Ebersman, told analysts that although usage among U.S. teens overall has been stable, "we did see a decrease in daily users, specifically among younger teens."
Earlier this fall, financial services firm Piper Jaffray reported that 23 percent of teens thought Facebook was the most important social network, down from 42 percent last fall. And 17 percent of teens say social networks other than Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, Tumblr or Pinterest were the most important, up from only 2 percent a year ago.
According to Common Sense Media, middle-schoolers are most affected by online harassment. So will an anti-bullying campaign on Facebook affect the age group that needs it the most?
"There are enough teens still on Facebook that it could," says Jennifer Hartstein, a psychologist who works with adolescents and digital behavior. "And maybe it's a good model for other sites that teens are now going to."
Steyer says the effort will be most effective when it spreads to Instagram, which Facebook owns, and beyond. "These sites have to take way more responsibility for this."
We got our first peek at Panasonic's 4K Toughpad tablet last January at CES, and now the company says it will go on sale in the US about a year later, for $5,999. Panasonic announced two devices for Europe, but here in the US there's only the higher end UT-MB5 that packs Windows 8.1, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, Intel Core i5 CPU and, oh yeah -- that super high res 3,840 x 2,560 LCD. With a projected two hour battery life you probably won't be using this on the go very often (there's an optional desktop cradle and carrying case), but even with its incredible 20-inch size, it's about .49-inches thick and weighs 5.27 lbs. If you're a professional in the "video production, architecture, design, photography and healthcare" fields who can expense this six thousand dollar slate, you're probably already sold -- all others can check after the break for a demo video and more specs.
Toughpad 4K UT-MB5: Key Features
4K Visual Experience: 20-inch IPS Alpha LCD screen with 3840x2560 pixel display featuring 230 pixels per inch and15:10 aspect ratio
FILE - In this Jan. 18, 2012, file photo, Alexes Garcia makes cinnamon rolls for student's lunch in the kitchen at Kepner Middle School in Denver. The rolls are made using apple sauce instead of trans fats. Heart-clogging trans fats have been slowly disappearing from grocery aisles and restaurant menus in the last decade as nutritionists have criticized them and local governments have banned them. The Food and Drug Administration is now finishing the job as they announce Nov. 7, 2013, that it will require the food industry to gradually phase out trans fats, saying they are a threat to the health of Americans.(AP Photo/Ed Andrieski, File)
FILE - In this Jan. 18, 2012, file photo, Alexes Garcia makes cinnamon rolls for student's lunch in the kitchen at Kepner Middle School in Denver. The rolls are made using apple sauce instead of trans fats. Heart-clogging trans fats have been slowly disappearing from grocery aisles and restaurant menus in the last decade as nutritionists have criticized them and local governments have banned them. The Food and Drug Administration is now finishing the job as they announce Nov. 7, 2013, that it will require the food industry to gradually phase out trans fats, saying they are a threat to the health of Americans.(AP Photo/Ed Andrieski, File)
FILE - In this Feb. 12, 2008 file photo, a rack of donuts is displayed at a Dunkin' Donuts franchise in Boston. Consumers wondering what food without trans fat will taste like, probably already know as food manufacturers began eliminating it years ago. (AP Photo/Lisa Poole, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Heart-clogging trans fats were once a staple of the American diet, plentiful in baked goods, microwave popcorn and fried foods. Now, mindful of the health risks, the Food and Drug Administration is getting rid of what's left of them for good.
Condemning artificial trans fats as a threat to public health, the FDA announced Thursday it will require the food industry to phase them out.
Manufacturers already have eliminated many trans fats, responding to criticism from the medical community and to local laws, Even so, the FDA said getting rid of the rest — the average American still eats around a gram of trans fat a day — could prevent 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths each year.
It won't happen right away. The agency will collect comments for two months before determining a phase-out timetable. Different foods may have different schedules, depending how easy it is to find substitutes.
"We want to do it in a way that doesn't unduly disrupt markets," said Michael Taylor, FDA's deputy commissioner for foods. Still, he says, the food "industry has demonstrated that it is, by and large, feasible to do."
Indeed, so much already has changed that most people won't notice much difference, if any, in food they get at groceries or restaurants.
Scientists say there are no health benefits to trans fats. And they can raise levels of "bad" cholesterol, increasing the risk of heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States. Trans fats are widely considered the worst kind for your heart, even worse than saturated fats, which also can contribute to heart disease.
Trans fats are used both in processed food and in restaurants, often to improve the texture, shelf life or flavor of foods. Though they have been removed from many items, the fats are still found in some baked goods such as pie crusts and biscuits and in ready-to-eat frostings that use the more-solid fats to keep consistency.
They also are sometimes used by restaurants for frying. Many larger chains have phased them out, but smaller restaurants may still get food containing trans fats from suppliers.
How can the government get rid of them? The FDA said it has made a preliminary determination that trans fats no longer fall in the agency's "generally recognized as safe" category, which covers thousands of additives that manufacturers can add to foods without FDA review. Once trans fats are off the list, anyone who wants to use them would have to petition the agency for a regulation allowing it, and that would likely not be approved.
The fats are created when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil to make it more solid, which is why they are often called partially hydrogenated oils. The FDA is not targeting small amounts of trans fats that occur naturally in some meat and dairy products, because they would be too difficult to remove and aren't considered a major public health threat on their own.
Many companies have already phased out trans fats, prompted by new nutrition labels introduced by FDA in 2006 that list trans fats and by an increasing number of local laws, like one in New York City, that have banned them. In 2011, Wal-Mart pledged to remove all artificial trans fats from the foods the company sells by 2016. Recent school lunch guidelines prevent them from being served in cafeterias.
In a statement, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said it was his city's 2008 ban that led to much of the change. "Our prohibition on trans fats was one of many bold public health measures that faced fierce initial criticism, only to gain widespread acceptance and support," he said.
But support is far from universal. A nationwide poll conducted by the Pew Research Center between Oct. 30 and Nov. 6 said that of the 996 adults surveyed, 44 percent were in favor of prohibiting restaurants from using trans fats while 52 percent opposed the idea.
Still, Americans are eating much less of the fat. According to the FDA, trans fat intake among Americans declined from 4.6 grams per day in 2003 to around one gram in 2012.
A handful of other countries have banned them, including Switzerland and Denmark. Other countries have enacted strict labeling laws.
Dr. Leon Bruner, chief scientist at the Grocery Manufacturers Association, said in a statement that his group estimates that food manufacturers have voluntarily lowered the amount of trans fats in food products by 73 percent.
The group, which represents the country's largest food companies, did not speculate on a reasonable timeline or speak to how difficult a ban might be for some manufacturers. Bruner said in a statement that "consumers can be confident that their food is safe, and we look forward to working with the FDA to better understand their concerns and how our industry can better serve consumers."
Said FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg: "While consumption of potentially harmful artificial trans fat has declined over the last two decades in the United States, current intake remains a significant public health concern."
Agency officials say they have been working on trans fat issues for around 15 years and have been collecting data to justify a possible phase-out since just after President Barack Obama came into office in 2009.
The advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest first petitioned FDA to ban trans fats nine years ago. The group's director, Michael Jacobson, says the prohibition is "one of the most important lifesaving actions the FDA could take."
"Six months or a year should be more than enough time, especially considering that companies have had a decade to figure out what to do," Jacobson said.
___
Follow Mary Clare Jalonick on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mcjalonick
Max Mosley may have used poor judgment when he trusted a group of prostitutes to respect his privacy. The girls recorded their sadomasochistic romp, leaving the ex F1 chief red-faced and litigious. Now, thanks to a French court, his shame is Google's headache. To hide the evidence of his escapade, the company may have to spend a whole lot more than the $4,000 Mosley shelled out to the hookers.
A French court has ruled that Google must automatically block links to nine images of Max Mosley participating in an orgy, according to press reports. Mosley is the former president of the International Automobile Federation.
The company reportedly must find a way to prevent all links to the images from appearing in its image search results for a period of five years. The order takes effect two months after the ruling, presumably to allow Google time to build a filter tool.
The company will be fined 1,000 euros (US$1,344) every time one of the images is found through its search engine, starting next year, the court reportedly ruled.
Google previously argued such a ruling would be tantamount to "automated censorship" of the Web.
Privacy vs. Free Speech
In 2008, the British tabloid News of the World published a video and story relating to a "sick Nazi orgy" in which Mosley participated. He admitted taking part in sadomasochistic activity with five women and paying them, but brushed off accusations of there being a Nazi theme and claimed the video breached his privacy.
Later that year, a UK court ruled the News of the World had breached his privacy and said there was no public interest in printing the story. He was awarded US$94,000 in damages.
In 2011, Mosley won a similar ruling against the now-defunct newspaper's publisher, News Corp., in France.
For companies that operate in multiple countries, having to deal with privacy and free speech laws that vary in different regions "makes day-to-day operations quite complicated and difficult," Anupam Chander, professor and scholar in the law of globalization and digitization at UC Davis School of Law, told TechNewsWorld.
"Anyone who has the means, as Mosley does, will resort to court orders," he added, in order to have perhaps unflattering content about themselves removed from Google results.
The ruling would force it to create a software filter to automatically detect and block the images, Google said. Because it cannot stop others from reposting them on the Web, it would essentially be compelled to act as gatekeeper, tracking where people were posting the images and stopping others from accessing them through Google's services.
Not Our Job
In September, Google said it had removed hundreds of links on Mosley's behalf, following its standard process of scrubbing links to certain pages after the content has been deemed to violate the law.
The French ruling forces Google to take a more proactive approach in purging the Mosley images.
Google is merely a platform for helping people find content, and it should not be responsible for policing links, it has argued.
Banning the images from appearing in its search results would not stop people from accessing them through other means, such as on social networks or other search engines, Google has pointed out.
It reportedly plans to appeal the French court's ruling, which also ordered payment to Mosley of a token 1 euro ($1.34) in damages and 5,000 euros ($6,717) in costs.
"Google is obliged to follow the law in countries where they have boots on the ground, where they have servers or where they have employees," Eva Galperin, a global policy analyst with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told TechNewsWorld.
"Certainly, Google does have boots on the ground in France, and so they are obliged to follow French law," she continued. However, "the thing they are being asked to do is so technically difficult and potentially expensive that there's no doubt Google will appeal this decision."
With both acting and singing on her plate, Selena Gomez has a lot of promotion to do and she helped keep herself in the spotlight by covering the latest issue of Flaunt magazine.
Sporting a sassy bob haircut in a shoot styled by Ilaria Urbinati and photographed by Amanda de Cadenet, the "Spring Breakers" star opens up about her future, fame, personal life, and more.
Check out highlights from her interview below and view the full article at Flaunt.
On criticism from Lorde: "[Lorde is] not supporting other women. That’s my honest opinion, that’s what I would say to her if I saw her. I actually covered her song in all of my shows that I’ve done so far. I’m not sure if I’m going to continue that."
On her ten-year plan: "Oh, God. I don't know. I hope that I'm really happy by 30. I'm hoping I'm super satisfied with who I am."
On taking more control of her music: "I started realizing when I set foot on stage that I didn’t know if what I was singing [is] what I should be singing."
Belfort will face Dan Henderson on Saturday in a five-round light heavyweight bout in Goiania, Brazil, that will serve as the main event of UFC Fight Night 32 and will be broadcast in the U.S. on Fox Sports 1.
Belfort is headlining the show in Goiania at the request of Globo, the UFC's broadcast partner in Brazil and the South American nation's largest television network.
UFC president Dana White said viewership and ratings expectations for Saturday's card in Brazil are astronomical. He said Globo expects a 70-75 share and an average viewership of between 12 and 14 million people. That's staggeringly high for an MMA card, and is roughly comparable to the average viewership of an NFL regular season game in the U.S. in 2011 and 2012, particularly when accounting for the disparity in market size.
"Make the other person feel important." "Let the other fellow feel that the idea is his." "Make people like you." Those are some of the peppy commands that have sent generations of Americans out into the world, determined to win friends and influence people — oh, and make big bucks.
Dale Carnegie's book How to Win Friends and Influence People came out in November 1936 and has gone on to sell more than 30 million copies worldwide — making it one of the best-selling nonfiction books in American history. Despite taking knocks from the likes of Arthur Miller, who mocked its upbeat worldview in Death Of A Salesman, and Lenny Bruce, who titled his 1965 autobiography How To Talk Dirty And Influence People, Carnegie's blockbuster is still in print and still sells in the six figures yearly. Contemporary prophets of positivity like Oprah, Jack Canfield of the "Chicken Soup For The Soul" series and televangelist Joel Osteen, to name but a few, owe much to Carnegie's brisk gospel of sunny reinvention.
Carnegie is the subject of a new biography by Steven Watts, who has chronicled the lives of other American cultural dynamos like Henry Ford, Walt Disney and Hugh Hefner. To be ruthlessly honest (which is not a conversational style that Carnegie ever recommended), Watts' book, called Self-Help Messiah, is a tad lumbering. We readers are treated to way too much background information about, say, the genesis of the YMCA and the ethos of The Lost Generation. Watts might have profited by adopting some of the perky anecdotes and canny sense of audience that characterizes Carnegie's own writing style.
But Carnegie is such a pivotal figure and his life story such a compelling testament to the power of positive thinking (and good luck) that the overstuffed feel of this book is an irritant rather than a deal-breaker.
Carnegie was born in Missouri in 1888; his parents were dirt-poor farmers. As a teenager, Carnegie enrolled in the tuition-free Missouri State Normal School for teachers, where he was humiliated by his ragged clothes and jug ears until he found distinction in the debate society. His "people skills" were subsequently honed on the road as a meat products salesman and by a stint at acting school in New York City.
As Watts depicts him, Carnegie seems to have been one of those people born with a bedrock optimism and belief in their own potential. He finally found his footing when he began to give workshops on public speaking to aspiring young businessmen at YMCAs along the Eastern Seaboard. The descriptions of those classes, in which sweaty, young middle managers would buckle at the knees and even faint out of fear of public speaking, are poignant.
As Watts shows, Carnegie's emphasis on projecting a sunny personality was part of a larger shift away from a Victorian concern with character and self-denial to a modern fascination with advertising, consumerism and self-promotion. Carnegie's teaching promised to pay off in self-fulfillment and fat wallets.
Steven Watts' other books include The People's Tycoon, Mr. Playboy and The Magic Kingdom.
Alison Reynolds/Courtesy of Other Press
Steven Watts' other books include The People's Tycoon, Mr. Playboy and The Magic Kingdom.
Alison Reynolds/Courtesy of Other Press
In How to Win Friends and Influence People, which was derived from those early YMCA classes, Carnegie wrote that he'd asked "thousands of businessmen to smile at someone every hour of the day for a week and then come to class and talk about the results." Carnegie proudly reported a stockbroker's comments: "I find that smiles are bringing me dollars, many dollars every day." Other businessmen who attested to the success of the Carnegie method were Walter Chrysler, John D. Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan.
Watts shows how particularly attuned Carnegie was to the psychological needs of Americans beaten down by the Great Depression, who needed to hear that positive thinking would garner positive results. It's easy, of course, for we contemporary readers to dismiss Carnegie's teaching as mere boosterism and Babbittry, but his self-help legacy has endured well beyond his own death in 1955, and flourishes in our own age.
Of all the anecdotes about Carnegie's far-reaching influence that Watts cites, one especially stays with me. During the 1960s, radical Youth International Party — Yippie — leader Jerry Rubin read How to Win Friends and Influence People to overcome his own fear of making public political speeches. He faced off, ideologically speaking, with President Lyndon Johnson, who had been a Carnegie method instructor in his youth in Texas. Sometimes truth is indeed stranger than fiction.
Mayo Clinic: Less-invasive option as effective as esophagus removal in early esophageal cancer
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
7-Nov-2013
[
| E-mail
]
Share
Contact: Kevin Punsky punsky.kevin@mayo.edu 904-953-2299 Mayo Clinic
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Use of a minimally invasive endoscopic procedure to remove superficial, early stage esophageal cancer is as effective as surgery that takes out and rebuilds the esophagus, according to a study by researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida. The research, published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, examined national outcomes from endoscopic treatment compared to esophagectomy, surgical removal of the esophagus.
It found that endoscopic therapy offered long-term survival rates similar to those for esophagectomy, says lead author, Michael B. Wallace, M.D., a gastroenterologist at Mayo Clinic in Florida.
"Endoscopic resection in the esophagus is similar to how we remove polyps in the colon, although it is much more technically complex. Esophagectomy is a major surgical procedure that cuts out the entire esophagus, and pulls the stomach into the neck to create a new food tube," Dr. Wallace says.
"Our study on national outcomes, as well as our own experience with the procedure at Mayo Clinic in Florida, suggests that both offer the similar changes for cure and long-term survival," he says. "Patients now have the option to preserve their esophagus when only early stage cancer is present."
The research looked at national outcomes from the two procedures in patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma, the most common type of esophageal cancer in the United States. The research team examined data from the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database.
They identified 1,619 patients with superficial, early stage esophageal adenocarcinoma who had endoscopic therapy (19 percent) or surgery (81 percent) from 1998 through 2009. Many of these patients were treated for cancers that arose from Barrett's esophagus, a condition in which the cells in the lower part of the esophagus morph into a precancerous state.
The researchers collected survival data through the end of 2009, and found that endoscopy therapy increased progressively from 3 percent in 1998 to 29 percent in 2009 and was more often used in older patients. After adjusting for patient and tumor factors, the researchers concluded that patients treated by endoscopy had similar overall survival times compared to surgery.
"Endoscopy therapy for early stage esophageal cancer is becoming an acceptable method for all patients with very early esophageal cancer," Dr. Wallace says. He adds that because of its complexity the procedure is generally offered at centers of endoscopic excellence, such as Mayo Clinic in Florida, that have extensive experience in a multidisciplinary approach to endoscopic therapy.
###
Co-authors included Mayo Clinic gastroenterologists Saowanee Ngamruengphong, M.D., and Herbert Wolfsen, M.D.
The study was funded by the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.
About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit http://www.mayoclinic.com and http://www.mayoclinic.org/news.
Journalists can become a member of the Mayo Clinic News Network for the latest health, science and research news and access to video, audio, text and graphic elements that can be downloaded or embedded.
VIDEO ALERT: Video resources including an interview
with Dr. Wallace describing the study can be found on the Mayo Clinic News Network.
[
| 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.
Mayo Clinic: Less-invasive option as effective as esophagus removal in early esophageal cancer
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
7-Nov-2013
[
| E-mail
]
Share
Contact: Kevin Punsky punsky.kevin@mayo.edu 904-953-2299 Mayo Clinic
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Use of a minimally invasive endoscopic procedure to remove superficial, early stage esophageal cancer is as effective as surgery that takes out and rebuilds the esophagus, according to a study by researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida. The research, published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, examined national outcomes from endoscopic treatment compared to esophagectomy, surgical removal of the esophagus.
It found that endoscopic therapy offered long-term survival rates similar to those for esophagectomy, says lead author, Michael B. Wallace, M.D., a gastroenterologist at Mayo Clinic in Florida.
"Endoscopic resection in the esophagus is similar to how we remove polyps in the colon, although it is much more technically complex. Esophagectomy is a major surgical procedure that cuts out the entire esophagus, and pulls the stomach into the neck to create a new food tube," Dr. Wallace says.
"Our study on national outcomes, as well as our own experience with the procedure at Mayo Clinic in Florida, suggests that both offer the similar changes for cure and long-term survival," he says. "Patients now have the option to preserve their esophagus when only early stage cancer is present."
The research looked at national outcomes from the two procedures in patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma, the most common type of esophageal cancer in the United States. The research team examined data from the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database.
They identified 1,619 patients with superficial, early stage esophageal adenocarcinoma who had endoscopic therapy (19 percent) or surgery (81 percent) from 1998 through 2009. Many of these patients were treated for cancers that arose from Barrett's esophagus, a condition in which the cells in the lower part of the esophagus morph into a precancerous state.
The researchers collected survival data through the end of 2009, and found that endoscopy therapy increased progressively from 3 percent in 1998 to 29 percent in 2009 and was more often used in older patients. After adjusting for patient and tumor factors, the researchers concluded that patients treated by endoscopy had similar overall survival times compared to surgery.
"Endoscopy therapy for early stage esophageal cancer is becoming an acceptable method for all patients with very early esophageal cancer," Dr. Wallace says. He adds that because of its complexity the procedure is generally offered at centers of endoscopic excellence, such as Mayo Clinic in Florida, that have extensive experience in a multidisciplinary approach to endoscopic therapy.
###
Co-authors included Mayo Clinic gastroenterologists Saowanee Ngamruengphong, M.D., and Herbert Wolfsen, M.D.
The study was funded by the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.
About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit http://www.mayoclinic.com and http://www.mayoclinic.org/news.
Journalists can become a member of the Mayo Clinic News Network for the latest health, science and research news and access to video, audio, text and graphic elements that can be downloaded or embedded.
VIDEO ALERT: Video resources including an interview
with Dr. Wallace describing the study can be found on the Mayo Clinic News Network.
[
| 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.
Police stand outside a building near the scene of a multiple shooting that took place at Al's Place Barber Shop in Detroit, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013. Detroit police say gunfire broke out at the barbershop known for gambling activity. Police Chief James Craig told reporters that police were looking for two vehicles that the suspects may have been using, a 2004 white Chevrolet Impala that may have a broken window and bullet holes in the back, and a 2004 black Impala. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Police stand outside a building near the scene of a multiple shooting that took place at Al's Place Barber Shop in Detroit, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013. Detroit police say gunfire broke out at the barbershop known for gambling activity. Police Chief James Craig told reporters that police were looking for two vehicles that the suspects may have been using, a 2004 white Chevrolet Impala that may have a broken window and bullet holes in the back, and a 2004 black Impala. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Detroit Police Chief James Craig addresses the media during a news conference in Detroit, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. Craig said a man has been apprehended and will be questioned about a barbershop shooting that killed three people and wounded several more on Wednesday night on the city's east side. Craig said that the man was wearing body armor when he was arrested on unrelated felony charges in suburban Rochester after the shootings. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Police stand outside the scene of a multiple shooting at Al's Place Barber Shop in Detroit, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013. Detroit police say gunfire broke out at the barbershop known for gambling activity. Police Chief James Craig told reporters that police were looking for two vehicles that the suspects may have been using, a 2004 white Chevrolet Impala that may have a broken window and bullet holes in the back, and a 2004 black Impala. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Police gather at a scene of a multiple shooting at Al's Place Barber Shop, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013, in Detroit. Detroit police say gunfire broke out at the barbershop known for gambling activity, leaving at least three people dead. (AP Photo/Detroit Free Press, Andre J. Jackson) DETROIT NEWS OUT; NO SALES; TV OUT; INTERNET OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT
People stand outside a barber shop, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013 in Detroit. Gunfire broke out Wednesday evening at a Detroit barbershop known for gambling activity, leaving at least two men dead, police say. (AP Photo/Detroit News, Elizabeth Conley) DETROIT FREE PRESS OUT; HUFFINGTON POST OUT
DETROIT (AP) — A convicted felon who was wearing body armor when police arrested him in a Detroit suburb will be questioned in an investigation into the fatal shooting of three men in a back gambling room of an east side barbershop.
Detroit Police Chief James Craig described the man as a person of interest in Wednesday evening's shooting at Al's Barber Shop that left six other people wounded. Speaking at a Thursday news conference at police headquarters, Craig said the bloodshed may have stemmed from an ongoing feud.
Craig did not name the person of interest and provided few details about the arrest. He said Rochester police picked up the man north of Detroit without incident on an unrelated felonious assault charge.
"Police wear body armor. Why would a community member be driving around in body armor?" said Craig, who described the latest mass shooting in Detroit as "urban terrorism."
Craig said 20 to 30 people were gambling in a tiny back room at the barbershop in a strip mall shortly before 6 p.m. when shots were fired from a high-powered rifle through an open back door.
When the gunfire began, the gamblers tried to escape the room through a door that led back into the barbershop, but that the jam of bodies prevented them from escaping.
"The shooter struck nine of the individuals inside the location," Craig said, adding that many people in the room were armed and at least one returned fire.
"Officers were able to develop information that there was an ongoing feud between a particular individual and several members of the gambling party," the chief said.
Craig declined to say whether police think the person of interest is the shooter. But he would say that the shooter is suspected in at least two other violent crimes.
Two of Wednesday's shooting victims died inside the gambling room. The third died later at a hospital. The conditions of the survivors were not available.
A witness told police that the shooter pulled into a rear alley and fired shots at someone in a pickup truck. He then got out of the car and began shooting into the open rear door of the barbershop.
Wednesday night police said they were seeking two vehicles believed to have been involved in the shooting.
Lorne Carter told the Detroit Free Press that he was smoking a cigarette against the wall of a nearby business when he heard what sounded like 30 to 40 rapid shots.
Detroit has one of the highest violent crime rates in the country. Including Wednesday night's barbershop slayings, 289 criminal homicides have been committed so far this year in Detroit.
Criminal homicides accounted for 386 of the 461 death investigations in 2012.
"Anytime you have ... shootings of nine, it certainly does rise up as one of Detroit's more violent incidents," Craig said.
Craig said one person was shot and three others wounded during a shooting in October 2012 on the city's west side. Seven teenagers — including five students at Cody Ninth Grade Academy — were shot and wounded while waiting at a bus stop near that school in June 2009.
___
Associated Press writers David N. Goodman and David Runk contributed to this report.
Charts show percentages of students performing at or above proficiency in math and reading; 2c x 5 inches; 96.3 mm x 127 mm;
Charts show percentages of students performing at or above proficiency in math and reading; 2c x 5 inches; 96.3 mm x 127 mm;
Education Secretary Arne Duncan, left, stands with Washington Mayor Vincent Gray, as he speaks to reporters during a visit to Malcolm X Elementary School in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. Duncan announced that today's fourth and eighth graders are doing better than their predecessors in math and reading. Today’s fourth and eighth graders are doing better than their predecessors in math and reading, but despite record high scores it’s too soon to start celebrating. The vast majority of students still are not demonstrating solid academic achievement in either subject, according to the Nation’s Report Card, released Thursday. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Education Secretary Arne Duncan arrives for a visit to Malcolm X Elementary School in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013. Duncan announced that today's fourth and eighth graders are doing better than their predecessors in math and reading. Today’s fourth and eighth graders are doing better than their predecessors in math and reading, but despite record high scores it’s too soon to start celebrating. The vast majority of students still are not demonstrating solid academic achievement in either subject, according to the Nation’s Report Card, released Thursday (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sometimes the best isn't good enough: Most American fourth- and eighth-graders still lack basic skills in math and reading despite record high scores on a national exam.
Yes, today's students are doing better than those who came before them. But the improvements have come at a snail's pace.
The 2013 Nation's Report Card released Thursday finds that the vast majority of the students still are not demonstrating solid academic performance in either math or reading. Stubborn gaps persist between the performances of white children and their Hispanic and African-American counterparts, who scored much lower.
Overall, just 42 percent of fourth-graders and 35 percent of eighth-graders scored at or above the proficient level in math. In reading, 35 percent of fourth graders and 36 percent of eighth graders hit that mark.
Still, as state and federal policies evolve in the post-No Child Left Behind era, the nation's school kids are doing better today on the test than they did in the early 1990s, when such tracking started, with more improvement in math than in reading. Students of all races have shown improvement over the years.
The results come from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, which is given every two years to a sample of fourth- and eighth-graders.
This year's results, compared to results in 2011, show average incremental gains of about one or two points on a 500-point scale in math and reading in both grades, although the one-point gain in fourth grade reading was not considered statistically significant.
"Every two years, the gains tend to be small, but over the long run, they stack up," said Jack Buckley, commissioner of the Education Department's National Center for Education Statistics.
Buckley said he was "heartened" by some of the results, "but there are also some areas where I'd hoped to see improvement where we didn't."
Today, President W. Bush's landmark education law No Child Left Behind, which sought to close achievement gaps among racial groups and have every student doing math and reading at grade level by 2014, has essentially been dismantled.
After Congress failed to update the law before it was due for renewal in 2007, President Barack Obama allowed states to get waivers from it if they showed they have their own plans to prepare students. Most states took him up on the offer.
Meanwhile, a majority of states are rolling out Common Core State Standards with the goal of better preparing the nation's students for college or a job. The states-led standards establish benchmarks for reading and math and replace goals that varied widely from state.
Academic scholars have long debated what effects the law and other state-led reforms have had on test scores.
This year, Tennessee and the District of Columbia, which have both launched high-profile efforts to strengthen education by improving teacher evaluations and by other measures, showed across-the-board growth on the test compared to 2011, likely stoking more debate. Only the Defense Department schools also saw gains in both grade levels and subjects.
In Hawaii, which has also seen a concentrated effort to improve teaching quality, scores also increased with the exception of fourth grade reading. In Iowa and Washington state, scores increased except in 8th-grade math.
Specifically pointing to Tennessee, Hawaii and D.C., Education Secretary Arne Duncan said on a conference call with reporters that many of the changes seen in these states were "very, very difficult and courageous" and appear to have had an impact.
Chris Minnich, executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers, said the biggest problem revealed in the results is the large gap that exists between the performances of students of different races.
There was a 26-point gap, for example, between how white and African American 4th graders performed on the math section. In eighth grade reading, white students outperformed Hispanic students by 21 points.
"We still have a situation where you have kids that are left behind. They aren't given the same instruction. They aren't given the same expectations as other kids," Minnich said. He said it's time for "doubling down and making sure the gaps get smaller."
Duncan said too many African-American and Hispanic children start kindergarten a year or two behind and that early childhood programs are key to leveling the playing field. Duncan and Obama have lobbied for congressional passage of a preschool-for-all program.
This test specifically looked at the performance of American children, but the results from other recent assessments and studies have shown American children and adults scoring below peers in many other countries.
The exam was given this year to about 377,000 fourth graders and 342,000 eighth graders in public and private schools. However, state-specific numbers are only from public schools.
In math, students were asked to answer questions about topics such as geometry, algebra and measurement. In reading, students were told to read passages and recall details or interpret them.
Among the other results:
—More boys than girls scored at or above the proficient level for both grades in math. In reading, more girls than boys scored at or above that mark.
—Twenty-five out of the 52 states or jurisdictions measured had a higher average score in 2013 than in 2011 in at least one subject and grade.
—Five states had a lower score than two years ago in at least one subject and grade: Massachusetts, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Dakota.
—Hispanic students were the only racial or ethnic group that saw improvements in math scores in both fourth and eighth grades; Asian/Pacific Islanders students had the highest percentage of students performing at or above the proficient level in both math and reading.
Amid the clamor of "bring your own device" (BYOD), a question lurks in the background: "What happens to technical service and support?" Concerns for the tech support function encompass the extremes, from agents being overwhelmed with calls, to their becoming inhabitants of a help desk ghost town.
On the one hand, it’s easy to imagine a flood of calls as employees attempt to access wireless networks or synch their e-mail, especially in companies that permit the use of any device type. At the same time, as more people own smartphones, they are increasingly accustomed to resolving issues independently, through online forums, communities and other means of self-support.
By 2016, says Gartner analyst Jarod Greene, help desks will see a 25% to 30% drop in user-initiated call volume, as BYOD drives a companion trend of BYOS, or “bring your own support.”
FILE - In this Oct. 30, 2013, file photo, President Barack Obama speaks at Boston's historic Faneuil Hall about the federal health care law. Obama says he's sorry Americans are losing health insurance plans he repeatedly said they could keep under his signature health care law. But the president stopped short of apologizing for making those promises in the first place. "I am sorry that they are finding themselves in this situation based on assurances they got from me," he said in an interview Thursday, Nov. 7 with NBC News. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 30, 2013, file photo, President Barack Obama speaks at Boston's historic Faneuil Hall about the federal health care law. Obama says he's sorry Americans are losing health insurance plans he repeatedly said they could keep under his signature health care law. But the president stopped short of apologizing for making those promises in the first place. "I am sorry that they are finding themselves in this situation based on assurances they got from me," he said in an interview Thursday, Nov. 7 with NBC News. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says he's sorry Americans are losing health insurance plans he repeatedly said they could keep under his signature health care law. But the president stopped short of apologizing for making those promises in the first place.
"I am sorry that they are finding themselves in this situation based on assurances they got from me," he said in an interview Thursday with NBC News.
He added: "We've got to work hard to make sure that they know we hear them, and we are going to do everything we can to deal with folks who find themselves in a tough position as a consequence of this."
The president's apology comes as the White House tries to combat a cascade of troubles surrounding the rollout of the health care law often referred to as "Obamacare." The healthcare.gov website that was supposed to be an easy portal for Americans to purchase insurance has been riddled by technical issues. And with at least 3.5 million Americans receiving cancellation notices from their insurance companies, there's new scrutiny aimed at the way the president tried to sell the law to the public in the first place.
Much of the focus is on the president's promise that Americans who liked their insurance coverage would be able to keep it. He repeated the line often, both as the bill was debated in Congress and after it was signed into law.
But the measure itself made that promise almost impossible to keep. It mandated that insurance coverage must meet certain standards and that policies that fell short could no longer be sold except through a grandfathering process, meaning some policies were always expected to disappear.
The White House says under those guidelines, fewer than 5 percent of Americans will have to change their coverage. But in a nation of more than 300 million people, 5 percent is about 15 million people.
Officials argue that those people being forced to change plans will end up with better coverage and that subsidies offered by the government will help offset any increased costs.
"We weren't as clear as we needed to be in terms of the changes that were taking place," Obama told NBC. "And I want to do everything we can to make sure that people are finding themselves in a good position, a better position than they were before this law happened."
The president's critics have accused him of misleading the public about changes that were coming under the law, which remains unpopular with many Americans and a target for congressional Republicans.
Obama dismissed that criticism, saying "I meant what I said" and insisting that his administration was operating in "good faith." He acknowledged that the administration "didn't do a good enough job in terms of how we crafted the law" but did not specify what changes might be made.
Sign-ups for the new health care marketplaces opened Oct. 1. People have six months to enroll before facing a penalty.
Some lawmakers — including Democrats — have called on the White House to delay the penalty or extend the enrollment period because of the website woes that have prevented many used from signing up. Obama said he remains confident that anyone who wants to buy insurance will be able to do so.
"Keep in mind that the open enrollment period, the period during which you can buy health insurance is available all the way until March 31," he said. "And we're only five weeks into it."
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Share
Do you want to know why Vitor Belfort is fighting in Brazil on Saturday and not, say, in Las Vegas?
Belfort is headlining the show in Goiania at the request of Globo, the UFC's broadcast partner in Brazil and the South American nation's largest television network.