Research: Chemoresponse assay helps boost ovarian cancer survival

Public release date: 25-Apr-2013
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Contact: Susan McDonald
slmcdonald@wihri.org
401-681-2816
Women & Infants Hospital

This spring, a team of researchers has released results from an eight-year study that shows improved survival rates for women diagnosed with ovarian cancer who undergo cancer tumor testing to determine the best treatment.

Part of the team was Richard G. Moore, MD, director of the Center for Biomarkers and Emerging Technologies and a gynecologic oncologist with the Program in Women's Oncology at Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island.

"Essentially, we have demonstrated that by using a tissue sample from the patient's tumor and a chemoresponse assay, we are able to determine which treatment may or may not work for her," Dr. Moore explains of the study, which was presented at a recent meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology and in the trade publication Cure.

"This study shows that a woman with recurrent ovarian cancer could benefit from having a biopsy and chemosensitivity testing. The results from such testing will allow for the identification of chemotherapeutics that are active against the patient's disease and those that are not resulting in decreased toxicity from ineffective treatments. Learning that personal directed therapies may improve overall survival for these patients made this the first study in two decades to show a significant increase in survival in recurrent ovarian cancer."

The study, launched in 2004, included 283 women. Of those, 262 had successful biopsies which were tested in vitro, or in a test tube. The assay ChemoFx, by Precision Therapeutics, tested up to 15 approved treatment regimens on the samples, identifying chemotherapy drugs and regimens to which each tumor might be sensitive. The study was non-interventional, meaning that physicians chose the treatment regimens without knowing of the assay results. The researchers then evaluated the assay's result against actual patient outcomes.

"The assay identified at least one treatment to which the tumor would be sensitive in 52% of patients in the study," Dr. Moore says. "Overall, median survival was 37.5 months for patients with treatment-sensitive tumors, compared to 23.9 months for intermediate and resistant tumors."

Assay-directed therapy has long been debated among oncologists, he continues. Such debate provided the impetus for this study.

###

About Women & Infants Hospital

Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, a Care New England hospital, is one of the nation's leading specialty hospitals for women and newborns. The primary teaching affiliate of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University for obstetrics, gynecology and newborn pediatrics, as well as a number of specialized programs in women's medicine, Women & Infants is the ninth largest stand-alone obstetrical service in the country with nearly 8,400 deliveries per year. In 2009, Women & Infants opened the country's largest, single-family room neonatal intensive care unit.

New England's premier hospital for women and newborns, Women & Infants and Brown offer fellowship programs in gynecologic oncology, maternal-fetal medicine, urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery, neonatal-perinatal medicine, pediatric and perinatal pathology, gynecologic pathology and cytopathology, and reproductive endocrinology and infertility. It is home to the nation's only mother-baby perinatal psychiatric partial hospital, as well as the nation's only fellowship program in obstetric medicine.

Women & Infants has been designated as a Breast Center of Excellence from the American College of Radiology; a Center for In Vitro Maturation Excellence by SAGE In Vitro Fertilization; a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence by the National Institutes of Health; and a Neonatal Resource Services Center of Excellence. It is one of the largest and most prestigious research facilities in high risk and normal obstetrics, gynecology and newborn pediatrics in the nation, and is a member of the National Cancer Institute's Gynecologic Oncology Group and the National Institutes of Health's Pelvic Floor Disorders Network.

About ChemoFx

ChemoFx, is a proprietary, CLIA-certified and commercially-available chemoresponse assay which measures an individual's tumor response to a range of therapeutic alternatives under consideration by the treating physician. By testing multiple chemotherapies on a patient's tumor cells before clinically treating a cancer patient, ChemoFx helps determine the chemotherapies more likely to be effective and, therefore, provides valuable insights that help inform physicians' treatment decisions with a goal of improving patient outcomes.

Precision Therapeutics currently receives ChemoFx specimens from 271 top medical institutions including 20 of the 21 National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Member Institutions, and 8 of the US News and World Report Top 10 Hospitals for Cancer Care. Over 60,000 patient specimens to date have been tested with ChemoFx.

About Precision Therapeutics

Precision Therapeutics, a leading life-science company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is dedicated to utilizing precision medicine for personalized cancer care. Precision offers a portfolio of products developed to help guide physicians and patients with difficult clinical decisions throughout the cancer care continuum. The company's leading products for personalized cancer care include ChemoFx and BioSpeciFx, a select portfolio of clinically relevant molecular tests that provide information about drug response and patient prognosis. Additionally, in 2013 Precision is releasing two new gene signature products, under the GeneFx brand. GeneFx Colon is a 634-transcript microarray assay that has been independently validated to predict risk of disease recurrence in stage II colon cancer patients. It is currently undergoing an additional independent validation using a large cooperative group cohort. GeneFx Lung is a 15-gene microarray assay that has been independently validated in 5 separate patient groups to predict risk of mortality in early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and may also be able to predict which of those patients will experience benefit from chemotherapy. For more information, visit http://www.precisiontherapeutics.com or http://www.chemofx.com.

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Public release date: 25-Apr-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Susan McDonald
slmcdonald@wihri.org
401-681-2816
Women & Infants Hospital

This spring, a team of researchers has released results from an eight-year study that shows improved survival rates for women diagnosed with ovarian cancer who undergo cancer tumor testing to determine the best treatment.

Part of the team was Richard G. Moore, MD, director of the Center for Biomarkers and Emerging Technologies and a gynecologic oncologist with the Program in Women's Oncology at Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island.

"Essentially, we have demonstrated that by using a tissue sample from the patient's tumor and a chemoresponse assay, we are able to determine which treatment may or may not work for her," Dr. Moore explains of the study, which was presented at a recent meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology and in the trade publication Cure.

"This study shows that a woman with recurrent ovarian cancer could benefit from having a biopsy and chemosensitivity testing. The results from such testing will allow for the identification of chemotherapeutics that are active against the patient's disease and those that are not resulting in decreased toxicity from ineffective treatments. Learning that personal directed therapies may improve overall survival for these patients made this the first study in two decades to show a significant increase in survival in recurrent ovarian cancer."

The study, launched in 2004, included 283 women. Of those, 262 had successful biopsies which were tested in vitro, or in a test tube. The assay ChemoFx, by Precision Therapeutics, tested up to 15 approved treatment regimens on the samples, identifying chemotherapy drugs and regimens to which each tumor might be sensitive. The study was non-interventional, meaning that physicians chose the treatment regimens without knowing of the assay results. The researchers then evaluated the assay's result against actual patient outcomes.

"The assay identified at least one treatment to which the tumor would be sensitive in 52% of patients in the study," Dr. Moore says. "Overall, median survival was 37.5 months for patients with treatment-sensitive tumors, compared to 23.9 months for intermediate and resistant tumors."

Assay-directed therapy has long been debated among oncologists, he continues. Such debate provided the impetus for this study.

###

About Women & Infants Hospital

Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, a Care New England hospital, is one of the nation's leading specialty hospitals for women and newborns. The primary teaching affiliate of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University for obstetrics, gynecology and newborn pediatrics, as well as a number of specialized programs in women's medicine, Women & Infants is the ninth largest stand-alone obstetrical service in the country with nearly 8,400 deliveries per year. In 2009, Women & Infants opened the country's largest, single-family room neonatal intensive care unit.

New England's premier hospital for women and newborns, Women & Infants and Brown offer fellowship programs in gynecologic oncology, maternal-fetal medicine, urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery, neonatal-perinatal medicine, pediatric and perinatal pathology, gynecologic pathology and cytopathology, and reproductive endocrinology and infertility. It is home to the nation's only mother-baby perinatal psychiatric partial hospital, as well as the nation's only fellowship program in obstetric medicine.

Women & Infants has been designated as a Breast Center of Excellence from the American College of Radiology; a Center for In Vitro Maturation Excellence by SAGE In Vitro Fertilization; a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence by the National Institutes of Health; and a Neonatal Resource Services Center of Excellence. It is one of the largest and most prestigious research facilities in high risk and normal obstetrics, gynecology and newborn pediatrics in the nation, and is a member of the National Cancer Institute's Gynecologic Oncology Group and the National Institutes of Health's Pelvic Floor Disorders Network.

About ChemoFx

ChemoFx, is a proprietary, CLIA-certified and commercially-available chemoresponse assay which measures an individual's tumor response to a range of therapeutic alternatives under consideration by the treating physician. By testing multiple chemotherapies on a patient's tumor cells before clinically treating a cancer patient, ChemoFx helps determine the chemotherapies more likely to be effective and, therefore, provides valuable insights that help inform physicians' treatment decisions with a goal of improving patient outcomes.

Precision Therapeutics currently receives ChemoFx specimens from 271 top medical institutions including 20 of the 21 National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Member Institutions, and 8 of the US News and World Report Top 10 Hospitals for Cancer Care. Over 60,000 patient specimens to date have been tested with ChemoFx.

About Precision Therapeutics

Precision Therapeutics, a leading life-science company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is dedicated to utilizing precision medicine for personalized cancer care. Precision offers a portfolio of products developed to help guide physicians and patients with difficult clinical decisions throughout the cancer care continuum. The company's leading products for personalized cancer care include ChemoFx and BioSpeciFx, a select portfolio of clinically relevant molecular tests that provide information about drug response and patient prognosis. Additionally, in 2013 Precision is releasing two new gene signature products, under the GeneFx brand. GeneFx Colon is a 634-transcript microarray assay that has been independently validated to predict risk of disease recurrence in stage II colon cancer patients. It is currently undergoing an additional independent validation using a large cooperative group cohort. GeneFx Lung is a 15-gene microarray assay that has been independently validated in 5 separate patient groups to predict risk of mortality in early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and may also be able to predict which of those patients will experience benefit from chemotherapy. For more information, visit http://www.precisiontherapeutics.com or http://www.chemofx.com.

---

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-04/wih-rca042513.php

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Fireballs! 'Tis the season for massive meteors.

Tonight (April 23) through Friday at dawn may be your best chance of the year to spot a fireball, a meteor that shines brighter than Venus, the brightest planet in the sky.

By Joe Rao,?SPACE.com / April 23, 2013

In this picture provided by Wally Pacholka of AstroPics.com, a Geminid fireball explodes over the Mojave Desert in the Jojave Desert, Calif. on Dec. 13, 2009. Unlike this Geminid fireball, the fireball-watching in the next few nights isn't connected to the just-completed Lyriad meteor shower or any other regular meteor shower.

Wally Pacholka / AstroPics.com / AP

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The dramatic fireball that exploded over Russia in February got many people wondering if there is any way to anticipate future dazzling meteors before they appear.

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Well, meteors not associated with an annual shower are certainly tough to predict. But there are some patterns that skywatchers can keep in mind to maximize their chances of spotting a fireball (which technically is any meteor that shines more brightly than Venus in the sky).

For example, springtime is "fireball season," when the number of bright meteor sightings increases by as much as 30 percent, NASA experts say. And the three-day stretch from Tuesday (April 23) to Thursday (April 25) is perhaps the best time to watch for the next prospective fireball event, which might possibly even lead to the fall of a meteorite.?

Over the years, some real dazzlers have been seen during this time frame. And in at least two cases, the orbits of the meteors were virtually identical, suggesting Earth might hit more such space rocks when it passes through this part of its orbit.

A river of rubble?

Is there perhaps a "river of rubble" orbiting the sun that is populated by rather large meteoroids?

Unlike most of the annual meteor showers that are composed chiefly of dust and sand-sized particles ? such as the Lyrids, which peaked overnight Sunday (April 21) ? this supposed fireball stream might be made up of objects that are considerably larger, perhaps originating in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter or perhaps being shed by the nucleus of a long-dormant comet.?

The circumstantial evidence for such a meteor stream lies with two brilliant fireballs that appeared during the 1960s.

One of these fireballs cast shadows over northern New Jersey on April 23, 1962. The other was seen by thousands of people over England, Wales and Northern Ireland on April 25, 1969 and also dropped a 0.6-pound (0.27 kilograms) meteorite in the town of Sprucefield, Northern Ireland.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/JN_cGf2dRGw/Fireballs!-Tis-the-season-for-massive-meteors

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MetroPCS reveals Q1 earnings, will make T-Mobile merger official April 30th

By now, you're probably aware that MetroPCS shareholders voted in favor of a merger with T-Mobile, and with regulatory red tape out of the way, both companies are now set to become one on April 30th. Now, MetroPCS has laid its Q1 2013 financials bare, which provides us with an excellent peek at T-Mobile's future partner. First off, the company is making money, and its operational income is actually rising, but it's also dealing with increased costs from loans, taxes and the like. Overall, MetroPCS reported a net income of $19.4 million for the first quarter, which is down from $21 million just one year ago.

Speaking of loans, MetroPCS has a ton of them. Its liabilities now sit at $10.3 billion, and its managed to take on $3.4 billion in financing during the last year alone. From a balance sheet perspective, 75 percent of the company's assets exist as debt, and this is a burden that T-Mobile must now take on. Naturally, much of this merger was in effort to score additional spectrum, but Ms. Magenta also stands to gain 9 million new customers once the deal completes, 39 percent of which are LTE subscribers. Better yet, with a churn rate of 2.9 percent, they're sticking around now more than any previous time in company history.

Filed under: Wireless, Mobile, T-Mobile

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Source: PR Newswire

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Panasonic Lumix G6 : A Micro Four Thirds for Video Junkies

Panasonic has announced a brand-new mid-range Micro Four Thirds camera, the Lumix G6. It offers up a solid list of specs—and should appeal to fans of shooting video in particular. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/l8NNTqrZAyg/panasonic-lumix-g6--a-micro-four-thirds-for-video-junkies

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Scientist identifies protein molecule used to maintain adult stem cells in fruit flies

Scientist identifies protein molecule used to maintain adult stem cells in fruit flies

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Understanding exactly how stem cells form into specific organs and tissues is the holy grail of regenerative medicine. Now a UC Santa Barbara researcher has added to that body of knowledge by determining how stem cells produce different types of "daughter" cells in Drosophila (fruit flies). The findings appear today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Denise Montell, Duggan Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at UCSB, and colleagues studied the ovaries of fruit flies in order to see stem cells in their natural environment. Because these organisms are excellent models for understanding stem cell biology, researchers were able to shed light on the earliest stages of follicle cell differentiation, a previously poorly understood area of developmental biology. "It is clear that the fundamental principles that control cell behavior in simple animals are conserved and control the behavior of our cells as well," she said. "There is so much we can learn by studying simple organisms."

Using a nuclear protein expressed in follicle stem cells (FSCs), the researchers found that castor, which plays an important role in specifying which types of brain cells are produced during embryonic development, also helps maintain FSCs throughout the life of the animal. "Having identified this important protein molecule in fruit flies, we can test whether the human version of the protein is important for stem cells and their daughters as well," said Montell. "The more we know about the molecules that govern stem cell behavior, the closer we will get to controlling these cells."

Her research team placed the evolutionarily conserved castor (Cas) gene, which encodes a zinc finger protein, in a genetic circuit with two other evolutionarily conserved genes, hedgehog (Hh) and eyes absent (Eya), to determine the fates of specific cell progeny (daughters). What's more, they identified Cas as a critical, tissue-specific target of Hh signaling, which not only plays a key role in maintaining follicle stem cells but also assists in the diversification of their progeny.

The study also shows that complementary patterns of Cas and Eya reveal the gradual differentiation of polar and stalk precursor cells at the earliest stages of their development. In addition, it provides a marker for cell fates and insight into the molecular and cellular mechanisms by which FSC progeny diverge into distinct fates.

Follicle cells undergo a binary choice during early differentiation. Those that turn into specialized cells found at the poles of egg chambers go on to make two cell types: polar and stalk. The three genes, Cas, Eya and Hh, work in various combinations, sometimes repressively, to determine which types of cells are formed. Cas is required for polar and stalk cell fate specification, while Eya is a negative regulator of these cells' fate. Hh is necessary for Cas to be expressed, and Hh signaling is essential to repress Eya.

"If you just had one of these markers, it was hard to tell what's going on," explained Montell. "All the cells looked the same and you had no idea when or how the process occurred. But now we can actually see how the cells acquire different identities."

Hh also plays many roles in embryonic development, adult homeostasis, birth defects, and cancer. Hh antagonists are currently in clinical trials for the treatment of several types of cancer. However, Hh signaling is important in so many different cell types and tissues that systemic delivery of such inhibitors may cause serious side effects. Therefore identifying the essential, tissue-specific effectors of Hh has the potential to lead to the identification of more specific therapeutic targets.

Someday, targeted inhibition of Hh signaling may be effective in the treatment and prevention of many types of human cancers.

###

University of California - Santa Barbara: http://www.ucsb.edu

Thanks to University of California - Santa Barbara for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127866/Scientist_identifies_protein_molecule_used_to_maintain_adult_stem_cells_in_fruit_flies

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Canada thwarts "al Qaeda-backed" train plot, Iran denies role

By Euan Rocha and Alastair Sharp

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian police have arrested two men and charged them with plotting to derail a Toronto-area passenger train in an operation that they say was backed by al Qaeda elements in Iran.

"Had this plot been carried out, it would have resulted in innocent people being killed or seriously injured," Royal Canadian Mounted Police official James Malizia told reporters on Monday.

U.S. officials said the attack would have targeted a rail line between New York and Toronto, a route that travels along the Hudson Valley and enters Canada near Niagara Falls.

The RCMP said it had arrested Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, of Montreal, and Raed Jaser, 35, of Toronto in connection with the plot. Authorities said it was not linked to last week's Boston Marathon bombings, which killed three people and injured more than 200.

Neither suspect is a Canadian citizen, and police did not reveal their nationalities. Two sources following the investigation said one was Tunisian.

Canada's intelligence agency has long expressed concern about the possibility that disgruntled and radicalized Canadians could attack targets at home and abroad.

Police gave little detail about the alleged plotters, but said a tip from the Muslim community had helped their year-long investigation.

Esseghaier has been a doctoral student at the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique near Montreal since 2010 and was about midway through his degree, the school said.

"He is doing a PhD in the field of energy and materials sciences," said Julie Martineau, the school's director of communications.

A bail hearing for the two men was due to take place in Toronto on Tuesday morning.

"AL QAEDA ELEMENTS"

Malizia said they had received "support from al Qaeda elements located in Iran", but added that there was no sign that the conspiracy, which police described as the first known al Qaeda-backed plot on Canadian soil, had been sponsored by the Iranian state.

Nevertheless, Iran reacted angrily. Canada last year severed diplomatic ties over what it said was Iran's support for terrorist groups, as well as its nuclear program and its hostility towards Israel.

"No shred of evidence regarding those who've been arrested and stand accused has been provided," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said on Tuesday, according to the Mehr news agency.

He said al Qaeda's beliefs were in no way consistent with the Islamic Republic, and that Iran opposed "any kind of violent action that endangers lives".

"In recent years, Canada's radical government has put in practice a project to harass Iran and it is clear that it has pursued these hostile actions," he added.

Al Qaeda is strongly Sunni Muslim-oriented. Shi'ite Iran did host some senior al Qaeda figures under a form of house arrest in the years following the September 11 attacks, but there has been little to no evidence of joint attempts to stage attacks against the West.

However, a U.S. government source said Iran was home to a little-known network of al Qaeda fixers and "facilitators" based in the Iranian city of Zahedan, very close to Iran's borders with both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

GO-BETWEENS FOR AL QAEDA

The source said they serve as go-betweens, travel agents and financial intermediaries for al Qaeda operatives and cells operating in Pakistan and moving through the area.

They do not operate under the protection of the Iranian government, which periodically launches crackdowns on al Qaeda elements, though at other times it appears to turn a blind eye to them, according to the source.

The region is one where Iranian authorities have battled a Sunni insurgency of their own in recent years from Sunni Muslims complaining of discrimination. The Jundollah group, believed to be based across the border in Pakistan, has claimed several attacks including a bombing that killed 42 people in 2009, and attacks on mosques in Zahedan and elsewhere in the region.

Michael Stephens of the Royal United Services Institute, based in Qatar, said it was very unlikely that Iran could have given any direct support to the Canadian plot.

"It is difficult to make the connection of Iran trying to hit North America using al Qaeda as the vector," he said. "The idea of Salafist jihadis (such as al Qaeda) sitting and talking to Iranians is very far fetched."

Canadian police said the plot had involved a train route in the Toronto area, but declined to be more specific.

Malizia said the RCMP believed the two suspects had had the capacity and intent to carry out the attack, but there had been no imminent threat to the public, passengers or infrastructure.

The plot is one of a handful of terrorism-related investigations involving Canadians or Canadian residents.

Police said this year that Canadians had taken part in an attack by militants on a gas plant in Algeria in January, while Canadian and Somalia authorities are investigating whether a former University of Toronto student participated in a bomb attack in Mogadishu last week.

And in 2006, police arrested and charged nearly 20 Toronto-area men accused of planning to plant bombs at various Canadian targets. Eleven were eventually convicted.

(Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball in Washington, Louise Egan in Ottawa and Marcus George in Dubai; writing by Cameron French; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/canada-thwarts-al-qaeda-supported-passenger-train-plot-003741856.html

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Fish was on the menu for early flying dinosaur

Apr. 22, 2013 ? University of Alberta-led research reveals that Microraptor, a small flying dinosaur was a complete hunter, able to swoop down and pickup fish as well as its previously known prey of birds and tree dwelling mammals.

U of A paleontology graduate student Scott Persons says new evidence of Microrpator's hunting ability came from fossilized remains in China. "We were very fortunate that this Microraptor was found in volcanic ash and its stomach content of fish was easily identified."

Prior to this, paleontologists believed microraptors which were about the size of a modern day hawk, lived in trees where they preyed exclusively on small birds and mammals about the size of squirrels.

"Now we know that Microraptor operated in varied terrain and had a varied diet," said Persons. "It took advantage of a variety of prey in the wet, forested environment that was China during the early Cretaceous period, 120 million years ago."

Further analysis of the fossil revealed that its teeth were adapted to catching slippery, wiggling prey like fish. Dinosaur researchers have established that most meat eaters had teeth with serrations on both sides which like a steak knife helped the predator saw through meat.

But the Microraptor's teeth are serrated on just one side and its teeth are angled forwards.

"Microraptor seems adapted to impale fish on its teeth. With reduced serrations the prey wouldn't tear itself apart while it struggled," said Persons. "Microraptor could simply raise its head back, the fish would slip off the teeth and be swallowed whole, no fuss no muss."

Persons likens the Microraptor's wing configuration to a bi-plane. "It had long feathers on its forearms, hind legs and tail," said Persons. "It was capable of short, controlled flights."

This is the first evidence of a flying raptor, a member of the Dromaeosaur family of dinosaurs to successfully prey on fish.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Alberta, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Lida Xing, W. Scott Persons, Phil R. Bell, Xing Xu, Jianping Zhang, Tetsuto Miyashita, Fengping Wang, Philip J. Currie. Piscivory in the Feathered Dinosaur Microraptor. Evolution, 2013; DOI: 10.1111/evo.12119

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/hLxoXIA8_9k/130422154925.htm

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Long Distance Relationships: iPhone Enabled Underwear That ...

April 22, 2013 / bzzzzzzzzzz, diddling each other long distance, i'm gonna mod a pair then sneak them into my roommate's underwear drawer then shock his crotch off when he's in the middle of a business meeting, iffy, iphone, just make sure you're dry before you put them on, long distance relationships, lovers, relationships, tehehe that tickles!, there's an app for that, vibrating

Condom giant Durex has developed underwear (and a bra) that will vibrate when your partner rubs their finger around on an iPhone app. They're called Fundawear, and were designed to allow lovers to 'touch each other over the internet'. For the record, I don't want anybody touching me over the internet. Allegedly Durex plans on actually manufacturing the undewear (which seem like more of a draw for women than men), which we'll see about. I wonder how expensive they would be. Also, how easy they are to clean. Hey -- accidents happen, even in your fanciest underwear. And that's when you bury them at the bottom of the trashbag and take it out immediately. We've all been there.

Hit the jump for a video demo of these two jokers being awkward.

Thanks to lilco, who agrees the best underwear are a lover's dangling from a bedside table lamp shade. And to Matty Matt, who prefers trying to get them stuck on the ceiling fan.

• December 6, 2009

  This is a flowchart used to determine whether or not you should use your iPhone while in the presence of your significant other (full-size version HERE). Of course, if you've dated any women like the ones I have, the answer is always, "NO". Also, "get a job" and, "learn how t... / Continue ?

• November 5, 2012

  In a recent survey, 9 out of 10 women agreed, I'm not attractive. The other woman was my mom. Enter Tefina, a new drug that may increase a woman's libido and which I will probably utilize to develop a new cologne that makes me irresistible to the ladies (and hopefully not wol... / Continue ?

• April 17, 2012

  This is a $650 bulletproof iPhone case from Japanese manufacturer Marudai that can allegedly stop a .50-caliber round (but only from the rear). Unfortunately there's no PROOF it can stop a .50-caliber round, since they didn't bother making a video. So you're gonna just have t... / Continue ?

Source: http://geekologie.com/2013/04/long-distance-relationships-iphone-enabl.php

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Game of Thrones, Season 3

Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones

Photography by ?Keith Bernstein/HBO.

Every week in the Game of Thrones TV Club, Rachael Larimore will IM with a different fan of the show about the goings-on in Westeros and across the Narrow Sea. This week she discusses Episode 4 with Vulture's Nina Shen Rastogi.

Rachael Larimore: Welcome, Lady Nina! Today we?ll be chatting from the Eyrie, perched right next to the Moon Door, since all of our friends in Westeros and beyond seem to be after justice or revenge: Varys, Arya, the rogue Night?s Watch rangers, and?most spectacularly?Daenerys. What did you think of it all?

Nina Rastogi: Ah yes, the Eryie, where Lysa Arryn better get ready for some romantic nights with Littlefinger. Feather beds and all! I loved this episode?after three hours of rather tedious set-up (and too many plot lines), I feel like this one finally clicked: thematically, tonally, plot-wise. And I think a lot of it has to do with this theme of justice and revenge that you've picked up: A lot of storylines that were set into motion over the last few episodes finally bore fruit. It was really satisfying.

Larimore: The first two episodes did seem slow, but I thought last week picked up the pace. For all the fan complaints about storylines being left out, I'm not sure how they could cram in any more. Let's start with someone who was on the receiving end of a little justice. Theon makes a heartfelt confession that he had a choice as to who his real family was and he chose wrong. Alas, that helps very little when it turns out that Ramsay Snow has betrayed him. I almost felt bad for him.

Rastogi: Yes, I've always really felt for Theon. He was one of my favorites last season; his storyline took so many of the show's main themes (family, loyalty, leadership, honor) and pushed them to really extreme places. He was this little microcosm of the whole world of Game of Thrones. And he's just never comfortable. He's never where he's supposed to be. I loved that line from his scene with Ramsay, when he's talking about Robb:?"His life fit him better than his clothes." It's a lovely line. And I think it captures something that is true of all the people we see in this show who we think, "That's a king." (It's true of Daenerys in this episode.) So basically, Theon is a little turd, but he's one of the little turds I like. And the bit about choosing wrong?I loved it, because really, wouldn't the world be a better place if he had really committed to choosing the Ned Stark path, as opposed to the Balon Greyjoy path? I mean, Theon would probably be dead if he chose the Ned path. But we'd feel better about him.

Larimore: True! I sympathized with Theon up until he made it look like he killed Bran and Rickon, for all the reasons you mention. Balon and Yara were both so cruel to him when he showed up at home. And sadly we'll never know what could have come of a partnership between the Greyjoys and the Starks. I do think he's a turd, as you say, but I do not relish what his immediate future holds. Similarly, it was hard to find anyone to root for up at Craster's keep. The old man was a monster, but the Rangers who took him out (and Mormont along with him) were the least likable of the bunch. At least Samwell made haste and got Gilly and her son the heck out of there.

Rastogi: Yeah, though I was happy to see Torchwood's Burn Gorman show up in that scene, as the Ranger who got everything going. (Maybe just because his real name sounds so Westerosi.) I hope Gilly and Sam's departure doesn't mean that that's the last we'll see of that band of rangers. It was really interesting to see the mob mentality take over, and I'd be curious to see what happens to them after this. Game of Thones often follows a kind of great-man theory of history?it's all about powerful individuals making significant choices ?but in this episode, we saw manyof groups: the Tangers, the Brotherhood without Banners, the Unsullied, the mob outside the Red Keep. It'll be interesting to see how those groups start to shape the narrative, if at all.

Larimore: That?s an interesting thought, about the groups. Speaking of the Brotherhood Without Banners, I worried that we wouldn?t meet Lord Beric Dondarrion at all I expect that his appearance means we'll be spending more time with the Brotherhood, at least. And Beric's upcoming battle with the Hound brings me to what I've really, really, wanted to chat about: the women! Interestingly, given Cersei?s lament that men have all the power, ?there was a lot of lady power on display. Just when it looked like Lord Beric was going to run out of excuses to fight the Hound, Arya found her voice and ratted him out for killing Mycah.

Rastogi: Yes?and Ros showing off her natural spy skills, and Margaery showing off her talent for manipulation (pleeeeeeeze do right by Sansa). All the women who manage to play the game learn how to turn their supposed weak points into strengths. And that's part of the reason I feel so much for Cersei. I feel like at one point she probably knew how to do that, and now she's just lost the touch.

Larimore: Cersei? You even feel sorry for Cersei? May the Others take your Cersei! I love that Margaery is so skilled at this "game of thrones"?calm, cool, and way smarter than any Lannister will give her credit for (which works to her advantage). The Tyrells' decision to aid Sansa by finding her a husband before the Lannisters (or anyone else) can do it for her is a sign that they might be cunning and power-hungry, but also decent. And then we see Margaery with Joffrey, with Cersei watching on. Earlier in the TV Club, we referred to Margaery as the Princess Di of Westeros, and that was again on display here. She makes Joffrey go stand outside and address the mob. It really struck me when Cersei watched on. It was like she was watching a younger version of herself, and she realized that not only that her moment was over, but that she hadn't been able to make the most of it. She later tries to do what she can, to win her father over, but he is unimpressed.

Rastogi: Well, I don't know that we can assume the Tyrells are decent just yet! That may be wish fulfillment on our part. And I loved that scene with Cersei, looking at her son and his fiancee. She's turning into this interesting Cassandra figure: girl has got Margaery?s number. But no one will believe her. She's squandered all her capital. What I like about the Cersei-Margaery dynamic is that I don't feel like one or the other is the "good one" here. I like Margaery (hard not to be won over by the Lady Di-ness!), but I don't trust her further than I can throw her and her Prell hair and her deep-V-neck gowns. And yes, Cersei is the worst, but I also think she is genuinely motivated by love for her son?and that's a rare thing in this world. It has to be worth something, even if the object of her love is Little Turd No. 1, Joffrey. But I'll happily champion her, and you can be Team Margaery.

Larimore: If I am on Team Margaery, can I borrow her dresses? While watching Cersei, I?m often reminded of one of Tyrion?s best one-liners: ?You love your children. It's your one redeeming quality." One thing I like about Margaery?and this might well be a reason not to trust her?is that she is going into this marriage with open eyes. Her father wants her to be the queen yes, but so does she. And she knows Joffrey is a monster, but rather than pouting about it, she's trying to take control. When Ned promised Sansa to Joffrey, you could pity her because Ned had no idea how monstrous Joffrey was. But while I feel for Margaery, I also admire her. And like that the show has made her more prominent, and that it has played up her friendship with Sansa. Do you agree, Lady Nina?
Rastogi: Oh yes, Your Grace, I'm a fan of Not-So-Large Marge. I also think you're right about what makes her attractive to us?that knowingness. I think the Lady Di comparisons we've all been making are telling: We like Margaery because she feels?modern. She's much more of a stand-in for a 21s-century audience than anyone else on the show, no? I, too, love the friendship brewing with Sansa. The look on Sophie Turner's face when Margaery said they would be sisters if she married Loras was really touching. (In general, great face-acting in this episode!) Though of course, I got a pang for Arya then ...

Larimore: Oh, Arya would probably prefer to be hanging out on the Wall with her brother Jon Snow than sharing tea with Sansa and Margaery. Though she would probably also enjoy dueling practice with her intended new brother-in-law, Loras. But Arya will be fine! She?s tough. Now, like the show runners, I have saved the best for last. DRACARYS!

Rastogi: AAHHHH DRAGONS. And, Daenerys, showing off her flair for the theatrical. I rolled my eyes at her line last week, to Missandei about how "all men must die?but we are not men." It felt so hokey. But I was thinking about it this week, because of course a big part of how Dany was able to pull off her heck-yeah-I-got-this moment was that Kraznys mo Nakloz underestimated her from the beginning, because she's a young woman.

Larimore: I think that Kraznys mo Nakloz might have been the only person in the world who did not see Danerys' trickery coming.

Rastogi: He?s been too busy with goatee maintenance. ?But yes, Kraznys mo Nakloz was SO outlandishly awful. It?s was such a cheap trick to get us to root for a very problematic choice by Dany, but such are the laws of popular narrative.

Larimore: Dany justifies her move, at least to herself, by freeing the Unsullied. But really, what does that mean? They've been tortured and brainwashed into taking orders. Are they really going to run at this point? Just because she asked them to fight rather than ordered them to? Still, I?ve been waiting so long for this scene, and Emilia Clarke really delivered. The way she cast aside the whip, and how it fell in slow motion, was this week?s bit of hokeyness. But even that could not take away from the awesomeness of seeing her speak Valyrian, much to the dismay of Kraznys mo Nakloz?and taking command of her new army.

Rastogi: Agreed, the whip drop was hokey. But in last week's "Behind the Episode" featurette, one of the show runners pointed out that Dany has a kind of Joan of Arc complex going on. And the way those final scene were shot really played that up, this idea that Dany has become something (or is selling herself as something) more-than-human. Dany looked iconic?literally, like an icon, or a statue; like the Astapor harpy.And yes, I had the same thought about the army. Do we believe the Unsullied were really able to develop free will in, oh, 30 seconds? Butit made for a good show, though. For us at home and for burnishing Dany's growing legend.

Larimore: Back at the end of Season 1, when she emerged from the fire with her dragons, that imagery had its own power. But she was still young, and almost in wonder that she'd been right about the dragon eggs Here she was powerful, and mighty. All grown up. It would be hard not to follow her into battle.

Rastogi: Yeah. She's become such a bad-ass.

Larimore: And now the credits are rolling. Thanks for chatting!

Rastogi: I wish a horrible porridge plague on all your enemies,Rachael. Especially your pretty cousins.

Larimore: Such a sweet sentiment! May dragons eat your enemies as their children look on.

Editor's note: Important reminder! Please keep the comments a spoiler-free zone. Do not give away anything based on future happenings from the Song of Ice and Fire books, for those who aren't reading or have not read that far yet. Violators will subject to trial by combat.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=edf17815b595c3da85869e3d4c00e721

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Border Patrol now counts getaways

CAMPO, Calif. (AP) ? Richard Gordon is one of the Border Patrol's best at spotting the smallest human traces in pursuit of people who enter the U.S. illegally from Mexico: dusty footprints, torn cobwebs, broken twigs, overturned pebbles.

It's a skill he has sharpened over the last 16 years in the craggy, shrub-covered mountains east of San Diego and one that is taking on new importance as gauging border security has emerged as a potential stumbling block to an overhaul of the U.S. immigration system.

With lawmakers demanding more measures of border security and assurances that massive spending increases on enforcement yield results, Gordon's skill, known as "sign-cutting," will likely get greater focus because it is the Border Patrol's dominant technique to count those who escape capture.

It's not the new cameras, sensors and airborne radars.

"You can have all the technology but we're still back to sign-cutting," said Gordon, 46, who works in the same sparsely populated area where he grew up hunting deer and quail. "It's tried, and it's true, and it works."

There's no question it works to find hikers, but its effectiveness at tracking how many escape agents' grasp is more open to debate.

A recent Government Accountability Office report cites Border Patrol data from fiscal 2011, the latest available, that 61 percent of estimated illegal crossings on the southern border resulted in capture, 23 percent turn back to Mexico and 16 percent got away.

Of the 85,467 who got away, 70,980 (83 percent) were counted by sign-cutting, with nearly all the rest from cameras and plain sightings.

Despite such precise tallies, Border Patrol Chief Mike Fisher said sign-cutting "is not an exact science." Even the most skilled trackers make educated guesses and, as the GAO noted, counting has been inconsistent.

"We get better every day," but the agency doesn't know with pinpoint accuracy the number of border crossers and what happened to them, said Fisher, who issued a directive in September to ensure that the more than 21,000 agents under his command are consistent in how they count.

The implications for immigration reform are potentially significant as lawmakers seek assurances that the border is secure before millions are allowed to legally remain in the country.

The Border Patrol has been judged almost solely by its number of arrests, which are hovering near 40-year lows. Apprehension figures are unquestionably accurate but have limited value in assessing border security.

A Senate bill introduced last week sets a goal that 90 percent of illegal crossings from Mexico in high-traffic areas result in arrest or a turn-back. One key possible point of contention is how much weight to give to turnarounds, which are mainly tallied by plain sightings.

The Border Patrol takes credit for them, but others note they may succeed on a second try after waiting a few hours or trying another location.

"The fact that they weren't apprehended isn't necessarily a bad thing," Fisher said in an interview. "The fact that they didn't continue their entry is, overarching from our strategy, what we're trying to prevent."

Edward Alden, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, told a congressional panel last month that lawmakers should avoid putting too much emphasis on the numbers because it is unknown how many people the Border Patrol misses altogether, failing to find any traces. He also warned about a potential for agents to game numbers to hit targets.

But Doris Meissner, the top immigration official under former President Bill Clinton, said Congress and the GAO will scrutinize the numbers closely to make sure they are credible, as airborne radar gets more sophisticated.

"They're going to want to know these are not funny numbers," she said.

The Border Patrol has been experimenting with airborne radar to count getaways. A trial run in a 150-square-mile stretch of Arizona found about 1,870 were caught and about 1,960 got away from Oct. 1 through Jan. 17, according to a senior Customs and Border Protection official who spoke on condition of anonymity because results have not been made public.

U.S. authorities play down the significance of the radar results, first reported by the Los Angeles Times, saying the technology is promising but flawed.

For now, sign-cutting is the main tool.

Gordon seems to find clues everywhere: a pebble with moist dirt facing the sun to suggest it was recently overturned; backpack fibers stuck on a barbed wire fence; fallen leaves. In off-hours, he looks for clues about how many people stepped on his driveway or came before him on a walking trail.

He examines each sign to determine its age. He knows a cloverleaf curls immediately after it falls. He can tell how quickly a trampled blade of grass returns to its natural height and how fast a broken tree limb turns brittle.

Around the clock, agents lay fresh tire tracks on dirt roads that hug the border, recording the times to help determine the age of each new set of footprints.

Smugglers have become adept at covering their tracks, ordering migrants to tie blankets over the soles of their shoes to avoid leaving sharp footprints. The last person in the group may carry a jug of dirt to sprinkle over any traces. Some migrants walk backward to leave an impression that they turned back to Mexico. At night, migrants walk on paved roads to avoid leaving prints, a trick called "blacktopping."

The best hours to track are early morning, when sunlight casts a long shadow, and under a flashlight's evening glare.

Gordon began patrolling a highway checkpoint in Southern California in 1990 and, seven years later, transferred to Campo, where his father also gained a reputation as an expert Border Patrol tracker. Unlike urban stretches of the 1,954-mile border with Mexico that are crowded with houses, agents must learn quickly to read tracks in the parched, desolate valleys of oak and shrub.

Gordon, who is still fit enough to hustle through thick brush with his chest pressed to the ground, is second-in-command in a station that employs about 400 agents to scour 400 square miles. He captured a group of 76 when illegal crossings near the station peaked about 10 years ago. Until about five years ago, the station often made 100 arrests a day.

Illegal crossings slowed to a trickle since the Border Patrol responded to the 2009 assassination of a Campo-based agent by flooding the area with agents and cameras. It isn't unusual for the station to go shifts without making any arrests, a luxury the station chief says has allowed agents to pursue groups of only two or three people over days and sharpen their tracking skills.

When someone is captured, agents scour the area in widening circles until they feel confident that they caught everyone in the group or know how many got away. One obvious sign of a getaway is when a set of footprints ends in a well-known staging area for smugglers to pick up migrants in cars.

When migrants are caught, a supervisor typically makes the call on when to count a getaway. "There is nothing scientific about this," Gordon says. "Some people are better at it than others."

___

Associated Press writer Alicia Caldwell in Washington contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/under-pressure-border-patrol-now-counts-getaways-181701706.html

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Immigration bill debate sidetracked following Boston bombings

By Richard Cowan and Caren Bohan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional advocates of comprehensive U.S. immigration legislation were diverted into a sometimes testy debate on Monday over whether the measure should be delayed because of questions arising from the Boston Marathon bombing allegedly carried out by two immigrant brothers.

The idea of holding up the legislation gained some ground with the support of U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, a prominent Republican who in the past supported immigration reform. However, the highest-ranking Republican in Washington, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner of Ohio said he saw no reason for the bombings to delay the debate.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican sponsor whose continued support is crucial to the bill's survival, took a middle-ground position, saying in a statement that he disagreed with "those who say that the terrorist attack in Boston has no bearing on the immigration debate" but he added that immigration reform could and should address any "flaws" exposed by the attack in Boston.

Rubio's remarks came as some conservative commentators and lawmakers continued to seize on the Boston bombings as evidence that an immigration bill should move more slowly in Congress.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, who was captured Friday night and charged on Monday in the deadly marathon bombing, was a naturalized U.S. citizen. His brother, Tamerlan, 26, who died after a shootout with police early Friday, also was in the country legally and had applied for U.S. citizenship. The brothers had immigrated to the United States a decade ago with their family, which is from Chechnya.

The Boston bombings hung over a congressional hearing on Monday as the Senate Judiciary Committee debated a bipartisan immigration bill.

Senators on the committee jousted with each other and with witnesses over the significance in the immigration debate of last week's attacks in which the two immigrant brothers are suspected of planting bombs that killed three people and injured more than 200.

Frank Sharry, head of the immigration advocacy group America's Voice, said the events in Boston could result in "a few more amendments on national security concerns" being debated as the legislation makes its way through Congress. He added that chances of enacting a bill this year remained strong.

John Pitney, professor of politics at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California, said the fate of the legislation could be tied to whether there are revelations that the Boston attackers were aided by anyone in the United States illegally.

"If they were working with others and if some of those others were here illegally, that's the proverbial game changer," Pitney said.

Timing is considered critical to passage of an immigration reform bill in part because of the approach of the 2014 mid-term elections. Members of Congress traditionally shy away from controversial votes on anything in election season.

Supporters of the bill, introduced just last week, also are mindful of the fact that immigration legislation backed by former President George W. Bush disappeared from the political radar after the attacks on New York and Washington of September 11, 2001.

White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters that immigration reform, which is President Barack Obama's top domestic priority, would enhance rather than harm security by bringing "out of the shadows the roughly 11 million residents of this country who are here illegally."

Boehner made a similar point in an interview with Fox News. "Primarily, I'm in the camp of: if we fix our immigration system it may actually help us understand who all's here, why they're here and what legal status they have," the speaker said.

He also said that it may take a couple of days for there to be clarity on key questions, such as 'What did our immigration system know and what didn't they know?'"

Paul has written to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid suggesting that the Boston bombing should give Congress reason to pause on immigration legislation.

"We should not proceed until we understand the specific failures of our immigration system," Paul wrote.

"Why did the current system allow two individuals to immigrate to the United States from the Chechen Republic in Russia, an area known as a hotbed of Islamic extremism, who then committed acts of terrorism?"

LEAHY DEFENDS BILL

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy chided critics who have cited the Boston bombings as a reason to hold off on immigration reform.

"Let no one be so cruel as to try to use the heinous acts of two young men last week to derail the dreams and futures of millions of hard-working people," the Vermont Democrat said.

Democratic leaders hope to have an immigration bill on the Senate floor for debate in June.

In the past, Boehner has voiced support for trying to pass an immigration bill through the House. But he has not gotten into the specifics of what sort of bill should be presented to his chamber, where a significant number of Republicans oppose a pathway to citizenship for illegal residents.

Much of the upcoming debate of immigration legislation in Congress will focus on whether 11 million illegal residents should be put on a 13-year pathway to citizenship, as the Senate legislation provides.

Under that provision, those who came into the United States illegally or overstayed their visas would have to register with the government if they want to become legal residents as a first step toward citizenship. That would in effect end their lives "in the shadows," as many immigration reform groups call it, as the undocumented currently try to evade deportation.

Even though the Senate legislation has bipartisan support, there is some significant opposition to the current bill in the Judiciary Committee, including Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, the senior Republican on the panel.

Grassley's temper flared when Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York, one of four Democrats and four Republicans who drew up the legislation, noted that some were using the Boston bombings as reason for delaying legislation.

"I never said that. I never said that," Grassley shouted at Schumer.

Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, noted during the congressional hearing that there were several "positive improvements to our immigration system" in the bipartisan bill.

But he signaled that the measure faces a tough fight when he criticized border security provisions of the measure and said that "major changes" were needed.

(Additional reporting by Susan Heavey and Mark Felsenthal; Editing by Fred Barbash, Bill Trott and Lisa Shumaker)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/immigration-bill-debate-sidetracked-boston-terror-issues-181229014.html

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Review: Learning 'Economics in One Lesson' with Henry Hazlitt ...

For those uninitiated in economics, a sycophant may surmise that reading a book on the subject would consist of mammoth words, tiny font, intricate terms and complex formulas. This may be true at a university or college course, but when reading for enjoyment and to obtain an actual education, studying Henry Hazlitt?s ?Economics in One Lesson? gives a different perception on the field.

Considered to be Hazlitt?s magnum opus, ?Economics in One Lesson? contradicts everything that mainstream media outlets, Keynesian economists, CNBC analysts and left-leaning professors have taught for the last few decades. No, war is not good for the economy, printing vast amounts of money will not stimulate economic growth, minimum wage laws do not generate jobs, credit actually diverts production, unions are not helping wages and government intervention into our lives will not spur morality.

It may be a bold statement, but this near 200-page book can provide a lot more important points of information than a four-year university degree can. Instead of being indoctrinated with the idea that without government intrusion capitalism would not exist, the reader is taught that government oversteps its boundaries and corrupts capitalism.

Since the economic collapse of 2007 and 2008, the American people have been intrigued by economics and have been studying the various thoughts. Although it may appear that the general public is Keynesian, this is only so because not a lot of individuals are exposed to the realm of Austrian economics and its theorists: Hazlitt, Ludwig von Mises, Murray N. Rothbard and the like.

Hazlitt reiterates many of the famous libertarian premises: the broken window fallacy, a recession becomes a depression when the government intervenes, savings creates growth and taxation deters production. The author also opines that every government act or policy must be analyzed in the long-term rather than in the short-term, which usually benefits the politicians.

?There are men regarded today as brilliant economists, who deprecate saving and recommend squandering on a national scale as the way of economic salvation; and when anyone points to what the consequences of these policies will be in the long run, they reply flippantly, as might the prodigal son of a warning father: ?In the long run we are all dead,?? writes Hazlitt. ?And such shallow wisecracks pass as devastating epigrams and the ripest wisdom.?

?Economics in One Lesson,? as well as many other books from the Austrian side, espouses the notion that the anointed in our society do not receive any sort of punishment for their failed concepts and measures. In fact, the only ones that get penalized are the ones that have to live with the intellects? endorsed policies.

The book was first published in 1946 and the thoughts, proposals and statements still remain true to this day. ?Economics in One Lesson? contradicts the premise that government spending is the panacea to all of our economic ailments. This widespread belief is immediately shot down with facts that are the antithesis to the Keynesian doctrine.

Indeed, Hazlitt?s writing makes it seem that the situation in the United States and other developed nations are hopeless and the people will languish in perpetuity. After turning the final page, it would appear to be that the American people will have to just deal with government incompetence, a spoiled bunch of intellects, failed policies and Paul Krugman.

As a matter of fact, the book gives the reader with some glimmers of optimism. Since the American people are exceptional and have it in their blood to be wary of government, a book like ?Economics in One Lesson? will inspire generations to come to pontificate economic freedom, personal liberty and a society free from the shackles of government?s decadence, dishonesty and uselessness.

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Source: http://economiccollapsenews.com/2013/04/21/review-learning-economics-in-one-lesson-with-henry-hazlitt/

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Amazon Studios Starts Free Streaming Of 14 Original Series Pilots ...

By Adnan Farooqui on 04/21/2013

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Last month we heard that Amazon Studios was moving in to the production of original content, which would bring it at par with its rivals such as Netflix and Hulu. They have now started streaming all new 14 original series pilots. The way this works is that only those shows will become series whose pilots get enough votes by Amazon Prime members. The pilots are available now and are streaming for free, it is now up to Amazon Prime members to decide which shows the studio will keep on producing.?The company has previously said that they believe adding original content will make Prime more enticing for its users, as well as those who?re thinking of being Amazon Prime members.

There are a total of 14 pilots, six for children and eight for adults. Alpha House, Betas, Browsers Dark Minions, Onion News Empire, Supanatural, Those Who Can?t and Zombieland are for adults. For children Annebots, Creative Galaxy, Positively Ozitively, Sara Sovles It, Teeny Tiny Dogs and Tumbleaf are available. As they say, voting is a huge responsibility. Do vote wisely Amazon Prime members!

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Source: http://www.ubergizmo.com/2013/04/amazon-studios-starts-free-streaming-of-14-original-series-pilots/

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US set to expand nonlethal aid to Syrian rebels

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The United States is poised to significantly expand its non-lethal military aid to the Syrian opposition as European nations weigh easing an arms embargo to potentially supply the rebels with arms and increase pressure on President Bashar Assad to step down.

The European Union arms embargo expires at the end of May and may be allowed to expire or be modified to only block weapons that are headed to Assad's government.

If that happens, it will amount to a new threat to give weapons to the rebels, and test whether the Syrian president reacts to the increased pressure ? or if stronger international intervention might be tried.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is expected on Saturday to announce plans to give opposition forces up to $130 million in defensive military supplies ? possibly including body armor, armored vehicles, night vision goggles and advanced communications equipment. U.S. officials said exactly what is given, and how much it will cost, will be determined at a Saturday meeting Kerry will attend in Istanbul, Turkey, of the Syrian opposition leadership and their main international allies.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to preview Kerry's announcement publicly.

On Thursday, Kerry said the conference aims to get the opposition and all prospective donors "on the same page" with how Syria will be governed if and when President Bashar Assad leaves power or is toppled.

"The hope is that that will then create a confidence level about who is getting what kind of aid from whom," he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

With Syria's civil war in its third year, the U.S. and its European and Arab allies are struggling to find ways to stem the violence that, according to the United Nations, has killed more than 70,000 people. Despite international pressure, Assad has managed to retain power far longer than the Obama administration first expected.

"We need to change President Assad's calculation, that is clear," Kerry said. He said the government's survival largely depends on the continued support it gets from Iran, its proxy Hezbollah, and Russia.

"That equation somehow has to change," Kerry said.

He said boosting the size and scope of non-lethal assistance to the rebels is one way to convince Assad that he must go.

Despite pressure from Congress and even advisers within his own administration, President Barack Obama has said he has no plans to send weapons or give lethal aid to the rebels.

Instead, the U.S. has been shipping food and medical supplies directly to the Free Syrian Army since February and later expanded the aid to include defensive military equipment. So far, the U.S. has provided an estimated $117 million in non-lethal aid to the Syrian opposition, said White House National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden.

Sen. John McCain, one of the top Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee, renewed his call Thursday for U.S. military action in Syria, including airstrikes on government aircraft and weapons but not sending in American soldiers. He said the steps he recommends would give moderate and secular opposition forces a better chance to succeed without having to depend on extremist groups that are supporting the rebels.

"Do the costs of inaction outweigh the costs of action? I believe they do," McCain said at the Center for a New American Security in Washington. "And as much as I hate war and wish to avoid it, I believe this conflict will grind on with all of its worsening effects until the balance of power shifts more decisively against Assad."

The U.S. is not opposed to other countries arming the rebels ? provided there are assurances the weapons do not get to extremist groups that have gained ground in the conflict.

In Europe, Britain and France are leading a push to modify the European Union's arms embargo on Syria to permit weapons transfers to the rebels by the end of next month. The EU embargo is to expire at the end of May unless it is extended or revised.

Those in favor of the change say there have been no decisions on whether to actually supply the rebels with arms. They argue that allowing such transfers would increase the pressure on Assad. U.S. officials say they support testing this strategy.

Germany and the Netherlands, however, are said to be reluctant to support the step because they fear it would lead to further bloodshed.

Amal Mudallali, a Syria scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, said it's unlikely Assad will leave any time soon. She noted that Syrian forces have stepped up counterattacks against the rebels in recent days, and she predicted the fighting would have to dramatically shift against Assad for him to go.

"If the EU lifts the embargo, maybe this will change things on the ground, but I am not sure it will change the American position," Mudallali said. "But it will put pressure on the Americans because they don't want to feel they are behind on things. It will show people in the region that the Americans are not leading on this ? that the EU is."

In an interview Thursday, the EU's top official for humanitarian aid said arming the rebels or otherwise giving them deadly aid could create a backlash by the Assad government and, in effect, worsen the situation for the Syrian people.

EU Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva said she does not advocate a position on whether the international community should arm the rebels or not. She maintained efforts to promote diplomacy through dialogue have not yet been fully exhausted.

"Because the Syrian government, the Assad government, has very strong military and chemical weapons, we have to be fair and say there is a risk in Syria that an external use of force may trigger to the detriment of the Syrian people," Georgieva said. "It may get worse."

Kerry said that Assad, his inner circle and supporters in Iran and Russia have yet to be persuaded to enter negotiations with the opposition and allow for a political transition. He said he had not given up on persuading Moscow to reverse its support for Assad, and would be meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov next week in Brussels on the sidelines of a NATO-Russia Council meeting.

"My hope is still that the Russians can be constructive," he said.

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Follow Lara Jakes at https://twitter.com/larajakesAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-set-expand-nonlethal-aid-syrian-rebels-155427442--politics.html

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