Jan 28 2012
“We are a big supporter and believer of private equity,” says James Leech, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan president/CEO. Leech says private equity has produced good results for pension plans and in the last 20 years his pension plan has produced over 2…
Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/46145167/
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Jan 27 2012
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? Lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee asked Google Inc on Thursday to provide answers about recent changes to the search engine’s privacy policy.
In a letter to Google Chief Executive Larry Page, the lawmakers said the company’s announcement “raises questions about whether consumers can opt-out of the new data sharing system either globally or on a product-by-product basis.”
(Reporting By Lisa Richwine; Editing by Bernard Orr)
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Jan 26 2012
MELBOURNE, Australia ? A dominating win by Roger Federer in his 1,000th career match and a more difficult workout for Rafael Nadal set up a rare Grand Slam marquee semifinal between the former top-ranked players.
Four-time Australian Open champion Federer advanced to his ninth straight semifinal at Melbourne Park with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 quarterfinal win Tuesday over Juan Martin del Potro, the man who beat him for the U.S. Open title in 2009.
Federer’s 1,000th match was similar to most in his career ? no-nonsense, dominating from the start and hitting some incredible shots.
“It’s a lot of matches and a lot tennis,” said Federer, a record 16-time Grand Slam champion. “Either I have been around for a long time or I’m extremely fit. You decide which way you want to describe it. But I’m happy.”
In an often tempestuous night match at Rod Laver Arena, Nadal advanced with a tough 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), 6-4, 6-3 win over Tomas Berdych.
“Happy with how I finished match physically, I was able to keep running with high intensity,” Nadal said.
Federer and Nadal ? they were ranked 1-2 for many years ? have been on opposite halves of the draw since the 2005 French Open. That was the last time the pair met in a Grand Slam semifinal, won that year by Nadal in four sets.
“The ranking is important, but we are talking about a player who has won 16 Grand Slams, and I’ve won 10,” Nadal said.
“We have played a lot of matches together, many in very important moments for our careers. So the matches against him are always special, even if we are (ranked) 20 against 25.”
Defending women’s champion Kim Clijsters, still dealing with a left ankle injury, advanced to an Australian Open semifinal against third-seeded Victoria Azarenka by beating No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 7-6 (4) Tuesday. Clijsters’ victory ensured that Wozniacki would lose the top ranking she has held for most of the last 15 months.
Azarenka beat No. 8 Agnieszka Radwanska 6-7 (0), 6-0, 6-2. Azarenka is one of three women who could finish at No. 1 in Melbourne ? Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova are the others.
In the late match, Nadal saved four set points in the first set, including one on an amazing crosscourt passing shot on the 29th point of a rally. But Berdych held firm to win the ensuing tiebreaker.
During the tiebreaker, a Berdych shot landed out, and Nadal returned it, then challenged. Chair umpire Carlos Bernardes wouldn’t allow the challenge because Nadal hadn’t immediately stopped play, but Nadal responded by saying he didn’t challenge immediately because he thought the linesman had called it out.
The replay showed the ball was out.
“Carlos, I’ll tell you something, you never get one right, not one correct overrule,” Nadal said in Spanish. “You’re not here as a spectator. You know that ball was out.”
Nadal was still debating the issue at his post-match news conference.
Later in the match, Bernardes had a brief discussion with Berdych when the Czech player complained about an apparent “flat” ball. And in the fourth set, Nadal chastised the chair umpire again for allowing a challenge by Berdych, feeling the Czech player waited too long before asking for a review.
In the opening game of the fourth set, Nadal hit consecutive down-the-line forehands to break Berdych’s service and the Spaniard was on his way to clinch the match in 4 hours, 16 minutes.
Nadal said he changed his strategy after losing the first set.
“I started moving a little bit inside the court after I went 20 meters behind the baseline, just trying to find solution,” Nadal said. “At the end of the match, I finished it returning fantastic.”
Berdych said his performance “was only good, which means that is not enough with Rafa.”
Federer’s career can be enhanced even more if he wins the title this year at Melbourne Park. With a 232-34 record in Grand Slam singles matches, he can overtake Jimmy Connors’ mark of 233 wins if he collects the title here.
Del Potro, who has recovered from the right wrist injury that sidelined him for most of 2010, played well in flashes. But Federer was at another level, hitting lobs, drop shots, crosscourt winners and generally negating Del Potro’s big forehand.
“We have played some big matches against each other, so just knowing how well he’s been playing as of late, I was just hoping that I would get off a good start,” Federer said. “I was able to mix it up well and control the ball, and right away sort of felt confident.”
The end of the match came in a most fitting way, one of Federer’s backhand winners.
Before that, Federer saved his fourth break point at 5-3 in the second set after a long rally. He let out a loud yell, unusual for a player not prone to big shows of emotion.
“That’s why I didn’t celebrate when I won the set, just to make it up,” Federer said, smiling. “I really knew how important that game was for me.”
The quarterfinals on the other side of the men’s draw are Wednesday ? Andy Murray plays Kei Nishikori of Japan and top-seeded Novak Djokovic takes on David Ferrer.
In the remaining women’s quarterfinals Wednesday, Sharapova plays Ekaterina Makarova, who beat five-time champion Serena Williams in the fourth round, and No. 2 Kvitova takes on unseeded Sara Errani of Italy.
Clijsters has needed treatment on her ankle since Sunday, when she injured it and had to save four match points in her fourth-round win over French Open champion Li Na, a rematch of the 2011 final.
“Instead of really focusing on the match, you’re focusing on trying to get the ankle as good as possible,” Clijsters said of her preparation. “Laying on the couch, every 20 minutes ice, 20 minutes off, 20 minutes ice, 20 minutes off. Leg elevated. Lymphatic drainage, all that stuff.”
Wozniacki, 21, needed to reach the semifinals to retain the top ranking.
“I will get it back eventually, so I’m not worried,” she said. Critics “talk to me like I’m finishing my career and I only have one year left and time is running out. The fact is I still have quite a few good years in front of me.”
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Jan 26 2012
Remember when Stanford offered those college-level Computer Science courses for free? Now the professor who ran them is leaving Stanford to start a project that will offer nothing but free CS online classes. More »
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Jan 25 2012
On every person’s spiritual journey, we are tested to help us learn. Occasionally, we invite frustrating people into our lives who challenge us to be stronger and stand up for ourselves. I have reiterated this lesson to clients for years now, yet I must admit that it stings when it happens in my life. I pride myself on searching for balance in all areas. However, learning compassion and forgiveness can be a hard lesson when we feel mistreated.
Recently, David received an invitation to a bar mitzvah on his side of the family. It was explained to us that I was not invited to the synagogue for services because it would create too much gossip within their religious community. I was, however, invited to the party the following day. When David put down the phone to explain the situation, we sat and stared at each other in silence. Flurries of thought went through my mind. I was angry. No, I was infuriated! I was deeply hurt that a family member would consider my mere presence in a holy institution damaging.
Ironically, David was relieved that the topic was on the table for discussion at all. In March David and I will celebrate our ninth year of being a couple. We have had many hurdles to overcome with family. We were first told that we would never be welcome together in anyone’s homes or at any family event. Members of his family initially said they would never accept nor meet me. David has a strong sense of family, however, and he has been extremely patient with them over the years. When we express this to some of our friends, it brings up a strong range of opinions.
“I’d tell them to go to hell!” cried one friend.
“If I were you, I would never speak to them again,” said another.
“What’s the big deal? Just visit occasionally and don’t push any buttons,” urged yet another.
“I think you should just crash the event and show up together!” advised a fourth.
In my opinion, we all have a choice in life. You can live in fear, or you can live in light. Once I calmed down and centered myself, I realized that this person is not trying to be hurtful. They are simply fearful of being different. They live in an isolated area where everyone is the same color and same religion. In their desire for a sense of community, they abide by the same rules and the exact same lifestyle. But in the end, they are living in fear of being different.
I understand why some of our friends think we should expel them from our lives. As humans, we tend to go on the offensive when we feel rejected. Our guard goes up, and we retaliate. Something in my heart tells me that this isn’t the right choice for me. I know that this person is in my life to challenge us to be stronger, just as we are here to challenge them.
I forget that as a gay man, I am still a pioneer. My marriage is not recognized within my own country. I can’t donate blood. I can’t adopt children in certain states and countries, and heaven help an openly gay person who lives in Iran or Jamaica! Now I am also not welcome to a family event.
“What do you want to do?” I asked David.
“Well, I’m not going alone. It’s not right,” he said.
“Well, we could show up in drag. I could be Bonnie Mitzvah!”
“Stop joking!” David chuckled.
After careful consideration, David and I agreed that we wanted to be there to honor Jonah. He is turning 13 and will have one of the most important days of his life. He loves us, and he is an innocent bystander in this situation. His parents told him that I wasn’t invited to the synagogue service because I wasn’t Jewish.
The fearful part of my brain doesn’t want to go where people are ashamed of me. It would be easy to move into my own community and be with people who are exactly the same. But I know in my heart that isolation isn’t going to help our world progress. So together we pledge to be strong. We all have a purpose, and I believe that ours it to live in the light and be pioneers of diversity. David and I will attend the party. We will hold our heads high and demand to be treated as equals. There will be no arguing. There will be no drama. (Although I would be lying if I didn’t say that I fantasize about David and me grabbing each other in the middle of dancing the hora and making out — can you imagine the hora on people’s faces?!)
In my thoughts, prayers, and meditation, I keep asking the universe why this has to hurt so much. What is the lesson behind it all? It feels easy to be angry. It feels easy to be hurt. I try to remind myself of the progress we have made with his family. We have visited Israel together, as they pridefully showed me the country they are from. They have started slowly introducing us to some of their friends. We have celebrated several holidays together in the past few years, and each gathering is better than the last.
There are still many mountains to climb. But when I am centered, I realize the layers of lessons there are for me on this journey. There is the lesson of compassion, the lesson of forgiveness, and, most importantly, the lesson of acceptance. Whenever I have a disagreement with a friend, business partner, or family member, my one request is that we be able to talk about the topic. After seeing clients for 15 years, I know that people simply want to feel heard. Everyone wants to know that their opinion matters, that they will have a chance to express themselves and their side of the story. I may not agree with you; I may be hurt or offended. But as long as we can negotiate and learn from each other, I am available to talk.
I know in my heart that someday this will all be behind me. The children on David’s side of the family will accept us with open hearts and understand what we all went through to maintain our ties and stay together as a family.
And now I’d like to know: where is there resistance in your life? Is there someone you constantly clash with? Remember that we all have soul contracts with our loved ones. They come into our lives for a reason. Ironically enough, it’s the most challenging relationships that stand to bring us the most light and learning.
?
Follow Dougall Fraser on Twitter: www.twitter.com/dougallfraser
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dougall-fraser/family-feud-how-to-cope-w_b_1219801.html
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Jan 24 2012
PROVIDENCE, R.I. ? The price of gasoline in Rhode Island has increased by two cents, marking the fourth straight week of higher prices at the pump.
AAA Southern New England said Monday that a gallon of regular unleaded is $3.50, up from $3.48 last week.
That’s 15 cents above prices at the beginning of the year and 12 cents above the national average of $3.38.
Rhode Islanders paid an average of $3.19 a gallon this week a year ago.
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Jan 24 2012
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 22-Jan-2012
Share ]
Contact: Luo Yue-Jia
luoyj@bnu.edu.cn
Science in China Press
Women’s emotional responses can vary significantly premenstrually. They may become depressed or grumpy during menstruation or the premenstrual phase, known as premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Roughly 75% of reproductive-age women report premenstrual mood swings or physical discomfort. Brain scans show a significant increase in activity in the medial orbitofrontal cortex related to emotional processing premenstrually, even if women’s emotional responses do not vary significantly. The relationship between estrogen and emotion was first investigated over 100 years ago, and it has been shown that estrogen can improve mood. Research has shown that during prepuberty, boys are twice as likely as girls to need psychotherapy. However, the opposite is true postpubertally. Women are twice as likely to develop anxiety or depressive disorders compared to men. Women’s increased vulnerability to depressive disorders typically occurs between the beginning of puberty and the age of 55, in concert with estrogen level changes. In addition, it is believed that about 95% of women have recurrent psychosis or a noticeable increase in negative emotions along with the fluctuation in endogenous estrogen level. Therefore, understanding the relationship between estrogen level changes and cyclical mood disorders can provide a theoretical basis for improving female physical and mental health.
In their paper titled “Estrogen Impacts on Emotion: Psychological, Neuroscience and Endocrine Studies”, Professor Luo Yue-Jia from the College of Brain and Cognitive Sciences of Beijing Normal University and Dr. Chen Chunping from the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences systematically reviewed research in the fields of neuroscience, psychology and endocrinology. The paper was published in Science China: Life Sciences. The authors hope the study will contribute to a better understanding of how estrogen affects female mood.
Estrogen has a wide range of effects on the body and brain. It exerts influence on the central nervous system through complex mechanisms of physiology and psychology. It can affect the generation and efficiency of neurotransmitters in the amygdala, hippocampus and prefrontal lobes, which are important brain areas related to emotion and cognition. It also plays a role in changing emotional behavior by acting on the hypothalamuspituitaryadrenal (HPA) axis. The genetic transcription of estrogen receptors can modulate emotional behavior, and estrogen can influence emotional processing via neuropsychological factors. It enhances the coding of emotion and recognition accuracy for facial expressions. Estrogen can also affect emotional arousal and change the intensity of emotional experiences.
Clinicians have long recognized estrogen’s therapeutic potential for mood change. Self-rated depression scores among oophorectomized women with depressive symptoms are significantly decreased by administration of estrogen, alone or in combination with the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor fluvoxamine. In addition, estrogen replacement therapy is often used in postmenopausal women to improve mood, energy level and general well-being. However, estrogen is not simply a natural “physiological protectant”. Some have reported that estrogen administration does not improve mood and even causes fear and anxiety. Therefore, the impact of estrogen on emotion varies and may depend on the individual’s current state and the situation.
The authors believe that hormones do not exert an absolute and singular effect on the body. They regulate physical and psychological changes in numerous dimensions. Thus, the influence of estrogen on women’s emotion is related to multiple systems. If we achieve a comprehensive understanding of the internal mechanisms related to emotional changes and estrogen, we can provide a theoretical support system to help address female emotional disorders. The authors also believe that the psychological, neurological and endocrine systems are interdependent. Therefore, an effective blending of psychology, biology and physiology is needed. This was the original intention of the paper.
Currently, a team led by Professor Luo Yue-Jia in cooperation with Professor Huang Ruiwang from South China Normal University continues to carry out related studies using electroencephalograms and magnetic resonance imaging as well as behavioral and biochemical techniques. In addition to the study of the relationship between estrogen and emotion, we have extended the research to ovarian hormones and complex social cognition.
###
See the article: Chen C P, Cheng D Z, Luo Yue-Jia. Estrogen Impacts on Emotion: Psychological, Neuroscience and Endocrine Studies. SCI CHINA Life Sci, 2011, 41(11).
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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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.
Public release date: 22-Jan-2012 Share ]
Contact: Luo Yue-Jia
luoyj@bnu.edu.cn
Science in China Press
Women’s emotional responses can vary significantly premenstrually. They may become depressed or grumpy during menstruation or the premenstrual phase, known as premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Roughly 75% of reproductive-age women report premenstrual mood swings or physical discomfort. Brain scans show a significant increase in activity in the medial orbitofrontal cortex related to emotional processing premenstrually, even if women’s emotional responses do not vary significantly. The relationship between estrogen and emotion was first investigated over 100 years ago, and it has been shown that estrogen can improve mood. Research has shown that during prepuberty, boys are twice as likely as girls to need psychotherapy. However, the opposite is true postpubertally. Women are twice as likely to develop anxiety or depressive disorders compared to men. Women’s increased vulnerability to depressive disorders typically occurs between the beginning of puberty and the age of 55, in concert with estrogen level changes. In addition, it is believed that about 95% of women have recurrent psychosis or a noticeable increase in negative emotions along with the fluctuation in endogenous estrogen level. Therefore, understanding the relationship between estrogen level changes and cyclical mood disorders can provide a theoretical basis for improving female physical and mental health.
In their paper titled “Estrogen Impacts on Emotion: Psychological, Neuroscience and Endocrine Studies”, Professor Luo Yue-Jia from the College of Brain and Cognitive Sciences of Beijing Normal University and Dr. Chen Chunping from the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences systematically reviewed research in the fields of neuroscience, psychology and endocrinology. The paper was published in Science China: Life Sciences. The authors hope the study will contribute to a better understanding of how estrogen affects female mood.
Estrogen has a wide range of effects on the body and brain. It exerts influence on the central nervous system through complex mechanisms of physiology and psychology. It can affect the generation and efficiency of neurotransmitters in the amygdala, hippocampus and prefrontal lobes, which are important brain areas related to emotion and cognition. It also plays a role in changing emotional behavior by acting on the hypothalamuspituitaryadrenal (HPA) axis. The genetic transcription of estrogen receptors can modulate emotional behavior, and estrogen can influence emotional processing via neuropsychological factors. It enhances the coding of emotion and recognition accuracy for facial expressions. Estrogen can also affect emotional arousal and change the intensity of emotional experiences.
Clinicians have long recognized estrogen’s therapeutic potential for mood change. Self-rated depression scores among oophorectomized women with depressive symptoms are significantly decreased by administration of estrogen, alone or in combination with the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor fluvoxamine. In addition, estrogen replacement therapy is often used in postmenopausal women to improve mood, energy level and general well-being. However, estrogen is not simply a natural “physiological protectant”. Some have reported that estrogen administration does not improve mood and even causes fear and anxiety. Therefore, the impact of estrogen on emotion varies and may depend on the individual’s current state and the situation.
The authors believe that hormones do not exert an absolute and singular effect on the body. They regulate physical and psychological changes in numerous dimensions. Thus, the influence of estrogen on women’s emotion is related to multiple systems. If we achieve a comprehensive understanding of the internal mechanisms related to emotional changes and estrogen, we can provide a theoretical support system to help address female emotional disorders. The authors also believe that the psychological, neurological and endocrine systems are interdependent. Therefore, an effective blending of psychology, biology and physiology is needed. This was the original intention of the paper.
Currently, a team led by Professor Luo Yue-Jia in cooperation with Professor Huang Ruiwang from South China Normal University continues to carry out related studies using electroencephalograms and magnetic resonance imaging as well as behavioral and biochemical techniques. In addition to the study of the relationship between estrogen and emotion, we have extended the research to ovarian hormones and complex social cognition.
###
See the article: Chen C P, Cheng D Z, Luo Yue-Jia. Estrogen Impacts on Emotion: Psychological, Neuroscience and Endocrine Studies. SCI CHINA Life Sci, 2011, 41(11).
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/sicp-tio010912.php
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Jan 23 2012
There is no doubt that China is on the move in space ? including the country’s own human spaceflight missions to Earth orbit ? and at a time when NASA’s own budget and big space decisions remain in the to-be-determined column.
Last November, China accomplished its first unpiloted space rendezvous and docking test between the country’s Tiangong 1 space lab module and a Shenzhou 8 spaceship. Follow-up flights to the space lab by crewed spacecraft are on the books, all in preparation for China to develop a larger space station in the near future ? a major space project that could serve as a testing ground for human treks to the moon.
The country also recently unveiled its blueprint for future space exploration in a white paper entitled “China’s Space Activities in 2011,” which was released in late December by China’s Information Office of the State Council. In addition to taking a detailed look at China’s space achievements to date, the report offers a glimpse into where the spacefaring nation appears to be headed.
China is the third country, after Russia and the United States, to achieve human spaceflight. The country has launched three crewed spaceflights, each more ambitious than the last, since 2003. In the new white paper, major future goals include plans for a robust space transportation system, Earth satellites, human spaceflights and deep-space exploration. [Photos From China's 1st Space Docking Mission]
SPACE.com asked several China space program watchers to chime in on what they see in the report … and what they read as between-the-lines intimation in the document:
China’s space economy
“I found this report the least clunky and bureaucratic of the Chinese space white papers that have been issued,” said Joan Johnson-Freese, professor of national security studies at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I. “It provides relatively straightforward information that doesn?t require translation by a Sinologist, and an impressive list of accomplishments and goals.”
The national security specialist said that in reading the document, she was struck by several points.
Firstly, “economic development” remains the umbrella rationale for space development in China, she said. The spectrum covered by that umbrella ranges from the very fungible increasing of Chinese ?innovative capabilities? to the very practical “industry development.”
“The report includes an impressive list of accomplishments, impressive as much for the political will for success demonstrated as the technical achievements,” Johnson-Freese said. Furthermore, the document notes that “guaranteed funding” through “multiple funding streams” is a goal, she added.
“The Chinese do an excellent job in learning from others and I think they do not want to see themselves in NASA’s position of having lots of good ideas, but more rhetorical political support than actual funding to follow through on those ideas,” Johnson-Freese said.
Humans on the moon
Under tasks, China’s No. 1 priority is getting their heavy-lift Long March 5 rocket operational, Johnson-Freese noted. “Until that is done, all the other big plans will be on hold.”
Task No. 3, China says, is to “conduct studies on the preliminary plan for a human lunar landing.”
“This acknowledges the eventual intent to put a human on the moon ? something most Americans have long assumed already officially approved and in the works,” Johnson-Freese said.
Also in the document, the Chinese provide an extensive list of international cooperation partners, with positive mention made of working with NASA, “though they are acutely aware of Congressional roadblocks in place to stifle any U.S.-Sino Cooperation,” Johnson-Freese added.
“Overall, this is a report they can, and I’m sure they do, rightly take pride in. It also tacitly points out the need for NASA to move forward with the Space Launch System. China is not doing anything the U.S, couldn’t or hasn’t done, but space development appears more important to China now than it is to the U.S.,” Johnson-Freese concluded. “The Chinese emphasis on space for innovation and economic development ought to resonate as much in the U.S. as it does in China.”
China’s space method
According to space analyst Marcia Smith, the president of the Space and Technology Policy Group, LLC in Arlington, Va., and founder and editor of the highly informative SpacePolicyOnline.com, there were few surprises in the latest white paper.
“I don’t see that the Chinese are announcing anything that we haven’t heard about already? part of their steady, methodical approach to space exploration and utilization,” Smith said.
Smith said that, as for sending people to the moon, all the report says is: ‘China will conduct studies on the preliminary plan for a human lunar landing. “No news there,” she added.
Smith has written an extensive review of the white paper at SpacePolicyOnline.com. In that appraisal, she said that “China issued such white papers in 2000 and 2006, and the 2011 version offers little that is new.”
According to Steve Eisenhart, senior vice president of the Space Foundation in Colorado Springs, Colo., is a recent visitor to China, where he met with officials from the China Space Agency and Chinese space industry leaders.
“What is said in the plan is consistent with what we have heard and seen in all of our interaction with the Chinese,” Eisenhart told SPACE.com. “They have a plan, and seem intent on executing it. From a purely Space Foundation perspective, we are happy to see the inclusion of engagement with nongovernmental organizations.”
Technological autonomy
Dean Cheng, a research fellow on Chinese political and security affairs at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative public policy think tank in Washington, D.C., also offered his thoughts to SPACE.com on the white paper.
Cheng said he found it interesting to read the space document in conjunction with the speech that China’s President Hu Jintao recently gave to representatives of the All-Army Military Equipment Development Commission.
In that talk, Hu complimented them on their achievements in the last Five Year Plan, telling them that this would be the starting point for the new 12th Five Year Plan. As the Chinese space program is under the effective control of the People’s Liberation Army, Hu’s speech is arguably in line with the space white paper, Cheng said.
“Note, too, that the second hallmark, after ‘scientific development,’ which is a Hu Jintao catchphrase, is independent development. This would seem to reinforce the importance of Chinese technological autonomy and ‘autonomous innovation’ or ‘indigenous innovation,’ another Hu hallmark and ideological legacy,” Cheng explained, something that is again reiterated in “innovative development.”
“I think those who foresee a whole lot of international programmatic development with the People’s Republic of China will be disappointed. China may cooperate with others, but not in technology development,” Cheng said.
Competition in satellite applications
In the document, the repeated references to high resolution Earth-observation satellites raises the question, Cheng said, of whether China is interested in developing sub-meter resolution spy satellites ? and if so, whether it will also makes them commercial systems, competing against U.S. commercial imaging satellites and others.
Cheng noted that there are extended references in the white paper to satellite applications.
“Past Chinese economic analyses have noted that the money lies in satellite applications, and there’s no reason to think the Chinese will miss out on that, if at all possible,” Cheng said.
Direct TV, Beidou handsets for China’s version of the GPS, etc., are all mentioned, Cheng added, “and this is consistent with past Chinese discussions of needing to expand their commercial presence in this area.”
In the human spaceflight arena, Cheng said, “we now have a formal, official statement of interest in a manned lunar mission. This is huge, since the white paper reflects governmental buy-in from the entire system.”
On the whole, Cheng said that he doesn?t think the document offers too many surprises.
“It is a reminder, though, that the Chinese link their space development efforts ? among other things ? to their five-year plans, hence the issuance of these white papers every five years,? Cheng said.
For a look at the expansive white paper “China’s Space Activities in 2011″ visit this link.
?Leonard David has been reporting on the space industry for more than five decades. He is a winner of last year’s National Space Club Press Award and a past editor-in-chief of the National Space Society’s Ad Astra and Space World magazines. He has written for SPACE.com since 1999.
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Jan 23 2012
WASHINGTON ? Here’s a reality check for President Barack Obama’s health overhaul: Three out of four uninsured Americans live in states that have yet to figure out how to deliver on its promise of affordable medical care.
This is the year that will make or break the health care law. States were supposed to be partners in carrying out the biggest safety net expansion since Medicare and Medicaid, and the White House claims they’re making steady progress.
But an analysis by The Associated Press shows that states are moving in fits and starts. Combined with new insurance coverage estimates from the nonpartisan Urban Institute, it reveals a patchwork nation.
Such uneven progress could have real consequences.
If it continues, it will mean disparities and delays from state to state in carrying out an immense expansion of health insurance scheduled in the law for 2014. That could happen even if the Supreme Court upholds Obama’s law, called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
“There will be something there, but if it doesn’t mesh with the state’s culture and if the state is not really supporting it, that certainly won’t help it succeed,” said Urban Institute senior researcher Matthew Buettgens.
The 13 states that have adopted a plan are home to only 1 in 4 of the uninsured. An additional 17 states are making headway, but it’s not clear all will succeed. The 20 states lagging behind account for the biggest share of the uninsured, 42 percent.
Among the lagging states are four with arguably the most to gain. Texas, Florida, Georgia and Ohio together would add more than 7 million people to the insurance rolls, according to Urban Institute estimates, reducing the annual burden of charity care by $10.7 billion.
“It’s not that we want something for free, but we want something we can afford,” said Vicki McCuistion of Driftwood, Texas, who works two part-time jobs and is uninsured. With the nation’s highest uninsured rate, her state has made little progress.
The Obama administration says McCuistion and others in the same predicament have nothing to fear. “The fact of states moving at different rates does not create disparities for a particular state’s uninsured population,” said Steve Larsen, director of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight at the federal Department of Health and Human Services.
That’s because the law says that if a state isn’t ready, the federal government will step in. Larsen insists the government will be ready, but it’s not as easy as handing out insurance cards.
Someone has to set up health insurance exchanges, new one-stop supermarkets with online and landline capabilities for those who buy coverage individually.
A secure infrastructure must be created to verify income, legal residency and other personal information, and smooth enrollment in private insurance plans or Medicaid. Many middle-class households will be eligible for tax credits to help pay premiums for private coverage. Separate exchanges must be created for small businesses.
“It’s a very heavy lift,” said California’s health secretary, Diana Dooley, whose state was one of the first to approve a plan. “Coverage is certainly important, but it’s not the only part. It is very complex.”
California has nearly 7.5 million residents without coverage, more than half of the 12.7 million uninsured in the states with a plan. An estimated 2.9 million Californians would gain coverage, according to the Urban Institute’s research, funded by the nonpartisan Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Democrats who wrote the overhaul law had hoped that most states would be willing partners, putting aside partisan differences to build the exchanges and help cover more than 30 million uninsured nationally. It’s not turning out that way.
Some states, mainly those led by Democrats, are far along. Others, usually led by Republicans, have done little. Separately, about half the states are suing to overturn the law.
Time is running out for states, which must have their plans ready for a federal approval deadline of Jan. 1, 2013. Those not ready risk triggering the default requirement that Washington run their exchange.
Yet in states where Republican repudiation of the health care law has blocked exchanges, there’s little incentive to advance before the Supreme Court rules. A decision is expected this summer, and many state legislatures aren’t scheduled to meet past late spring.
The result if the law is upheld could be greater federal sway over health care in the states, the very outcome conservatives say they want to prevent.
“If you give states the opportunity to decide their own destiny, and some choose to ignore it for partisan reasons, they almost make the case against themselves for more federal intervention,” said Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb.
A conservative, Nelson was on the winning side of a heated argument among Democrats over who should run exchanges, the feds or the states. Liberals lost their demand for a federal exchange, insulated from state politics.
“It’s pretty hard to take care of the states when they don’t take care of themselves,” said Nelson, who regrets that the concession he fought for has been dismissed by so many states.
The AP’s analysis divided states into four broad groups: those that have adopted a plan for exchanges, those that made substantial progress, those where the outlook is unclear, and those with no significant progress. AP statehouse reporters were consulted in cases of conflicting information.
Thirteen states, plus the District of Columbia, have adopted a plan.
By contrast, in 20 states either the outlook is unclear or there has been no significant progress. Those states include more than 21 million of the 50 million uninsured Americans.
Four have made no significant progress. They are Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana and New Hampshire. The last three returned planning money to the federal government. In Arkansas, Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe ran into immovable GOP opposition in the Legislature. Beebe acknowledges that the federal government will have to run the exchange, but is exploring a fallback option.
In the other 16 states, the outlook is unclear because of failure to advance legislation or paralyzing political disputes that often pit Republicans fervently trying to stop what they deride as “Obamacare” against fellow Republicans who are more pragmatic.
In Kansas, for example, Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger is pushing hard for a state exchange, but Gov. Sam Brownback returned a $31 million federal grant, saying the state would not act before the Supreme Court rules. Both officials are Republicans.
“It’s just presidential politics,” said Praeger, discussing the situation nationally. “It’s less about whether exchanges make sense and more about trying to repeal the whole law.” As a result, outlook is unclear for a state with 361,000 uninsured residents.
There is a bright spot for Obama and backers of the law.
An additional 17 states have made substantial progress, although that’s no guarantee of success. Last week in Wisconsin, GOP Gov. Scott Walker abruptly halted planning and announced he will return $38 million in federal money.
AP defined states making substantial progress as ones where governors or legislatures have made a significant commitment to set up exchanges. Another important factor was state acceptance of a federal exchange establishment grant.
That group accounts for just under one-third of the uninsured, about 16 million people.
It includes populous states such as New York, Illinois, North Carolina and New Jersey, which combined would add more than 3 million people to the insurance rolls.
Several are led by Republican governors, including Virginia and Indiana, which have declared their intent to establish insurance exchanges under certain conditions. Other states that have advanced under Republican governors include Arizona and New Mexico.
For uninsured people living in states that have done little, the situation is demoralizing.
Gov. Rick Perry’s opposition to the law scuttled plans to advance an exchange bill in the Texas Legislature last year, when Perry was contemplating his presidential run. The Legislature doesn’t meet this year, so the situation is unclear.
McCuistion and her husband, Dan, are among the nearly 6.7 million Texans who lack coverage. Dan is self-employed as the owner of a specialty tree service. Vicki works part time for two nonprofit organizations. The McCuistions have been uninsured throughout their 17-year marriage, although their three daughters now have coverage through the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Dan McCuistion has been nursing a bad back for years, and it only seems to get worse.
“For me it almost feels like a ticking time bomb,” his wife said.
Dan McCuistion says he doesn’t believe Americans have a constitutional right to health care, but he would take advantage of affordable coverage if it was offered to him. He’s exasperated with Perry and other Texas politicians. “They give a lot of rhetoric toward families, but their actions don’t meet up with what they are saying,” he said.
Perry’s office says it’s principle, not lack of compassion.
“Gov. Perry believes `Obamacare’ is unconstitutional, misguided and unsustainable, and Texas, along with other states, is taking legal action to end this massive government overreach,” said spokeswoman Lucy Nashed. “There are no plans to implement an exchange.”
___
Online:
AP interactive: http://hosted.ap.org/interactives/2011/healthcare
Urban Institute estimates: http://tinyurl.com/86py8nd
Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight: http://cciio.cms.gov
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Jan 22 2012
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Funding for startups rose 19 percent in the fourth quarter as venture capitalists fueled money into more companies in the Internet, clean technology and other sectors.
According to a study released Friday, startup investments grew to $6.57 billion in the October-December quarter from $5.52 billion in the same period in 2010. The volume of deals, though, did not keep up with the amount of money invested. There were 844 deals completed in the fourth quarter, down from 861 a year earlier.
Called the MoneyTree report, the study was conducted by PriceWaterHouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association based on data from Thomson Reuters.
For all of 2011, venture investments jumped 22 percent to $28.43 billion, in 3,673 deals. That’s up from $23.26 billion in 2010, when the money went to 3,526 deals.
Venture capitalists piped $133.9 million into 80 seed-stage companies in the fourth quarter. That’s down from $233.2 million going to 90 such startups in the fourth quarter of 2010. The decline suggests some caution on the part of venture capitalists looking at the newest, often most risky, startup investments.
A total of 364 early-stage companies snapped up $2.27 billion in venture funding during the quarter. That compares with $1.48 billion going to 318 early-stage startups in the last three months of 2010. The report said 222 companies in the expansion stage received $2.36 billion in funding, compared with 270 companies snagging about the same amount a year earlier. In the later stage, 178 startups received $1.8 billion in the fourth quarter, while $1.4 billion went to 183 companies a year earlier.
By industry, software companies received the most funding with $1.76 billion snagged in the fourth quarter, followed by biotechnology with $1.27 billion.
San Francisco-based internet storage locker Dropbox Inc. got the single-largest investment during the quarter, $250 million. In second place was Better Place Inc., which is based in Palo Alto and builds infrastructure and systems for electric vehicles, with $200 million.
John S. Taylor, head of research at the National Venture Capital Association, said the figures show “cautious optimism.”
Associated Press
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