joanmcallister: আগস্ট 2013

সোমবার, ৫ আগস্ট, ২০১৩

Unemployment Rate at 7.4%; 162,000 Jobs Created in July.

It?s that time of the month.? On the first Friday of the month, the White House trots out a statement about the 150,000-200,000 jobs created the previous month, how we?re still recovering from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and how more work needs to be done. They didn?t disappoint with the release of the July numbers.

It?s an easy statement to write. It?s a cut-and-paste job because this economy has been in the same mediocre job-creation rut it?s been in for months. Even though jobs continue to be created, the amount is not enough to return to pre-recession employment levels anytime soon.

First, the top-line numbers: The unemployment rate fell slightly to 7.4%, and 162,000 jobs were created in July. According to the Hamilton Project?s jobs gap calculator, at this rate, it will take 10 years, 9 months to return to pre-recession employment levels,?and according to Zerohedge, 77% of the jobs created in 2013 are part-time.

Here are three things Washington can do now to grow the economy faster and create more jobs:

Keystone XL. Instead of downplaying thousands of new jobs?over 42,000 by the State Department?s estimate?the President should approve the Keystone XL pipeline now.
Immigration reform. Economists agree that a more-flexible labor market that provide American companies with needed workers of all skill levels will spur economic growth and create jobs.
Corral EPA. Get the agency to back off on proposed greenhouse gas rules that are shutting down coal-fired power plants and threatening reliable electricity and tell it to forget about duplicative federal rules on hydraulic fracturing.

This list just scratches the surface, but it?s a good start. Policymakers need to stop accepting this broken record of mediocre job numbers and do more to boost the economy and job creation.

Source: http://www.freeenterprise.com/economy-taxes/unemployment-rate-74-162000-jobs-created-july?utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sitewide_feed&utm_source=0

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Global Christian Higher Ed / Reforming the Church's Music

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Subscribe in iTunes | Posted 08.05.13 Global Christian Higher Ed / Reforming the Church's Music

The Summer 2013 issue of Christian Scholar?s Review.

Subscribe in iTunes | Posted 07.29.13 In the Kettle, the Shriek

Hannah Stephenson?s first book of poems.

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Stan Guthrie?s helpful survey.

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Crayons, lights, and the boyhood of poet Pablo Neruda.

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The history of Books & Culture through one writer.

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100 poems from 25 years of the annual anthology.

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Philip Kerr?s new novel centers on the Katyn massacre.

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Worship/Hilarity & Horror/YA Fiction

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A splendid theme-issue on persuasion.

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Telling stories to your ?Inner Atheist.?

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The exemplary work of Carl F. H. Henry.

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A memoir via encounters with formative books.

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New and selected poems by the late Robert Siegel.

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Kate Breakey?s haunting ?photograms.?

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Charles Mann on the fate of our species.

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The enigma of Anne Perry.

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The God Problem / Pictures of Hope / Deep Time

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Another superb book by a master of espionage.

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Eric Metaxas at the National Prayer Breakfast.

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রবিবার, ৪ আগস্ট, ২০১৩

UN probes allegations of rebel atrocities in Syria

BEIRUT (AP) ? United Nations experts are investigating allegations that rebels killed dozens of Syrian soldiers in a village near Aleppo after they captured it from government troops, an incident that could amount to a war crime, the world body's human rights chief said Friday.

Navi Pillay said in a statement that a U.N team in the region is looking into reports about killings that followed the battle in Khan al-Assal in July. Pillay said the team has examined activists' videos and collected accounts from people in Aleppo on an incident that she called "deeply shocking."

While abuses by troops loyal to President Bashar Assad have been systematic and widespread throughout the two-year conflict, human rights groups have said the frequency and scale of rebel abuses also has increased in recent months. Specific allegations against opposition fighters include claims that rebels have routinely killed captured soldiers and suspected regime informers.

Rebels say any such violations are condemned and an unfortunate result of the brutal regime crackdown.

In a letter to the U.N. Security Council obtained Friday by The Associated Press, the opposition Syrian National Coalition urged council members to "take immediate steps to refer the Syrian case to the International Criminal Court," the world's permanent war crimes tribunal.

"Only by holding the violators of human rights accountable for their crime will the violence in Syria end," said the letter dated Aug. 1 and signed by the coalition's U.N. representative, Najib Ghadbian.

The letter made no mention of Khan al-Assal, but it "condemns all atrocities committed by all parties" and reiterates the coalition's pledge to assist the U.N. commission investigating human rights abuses in Syria, "including in liberated areas."

The coalition noted Monday's statement by Paulo Pinheiro, head of the U.N. commission investigating human rights abuses in Syria, to the U.N. General Assembly saying "massacres and other unlawful killings are perpetrated with impunity" ? most by pro-government forces and some by anti-government armed groups.

Opposition fighters in recent weeks have suffered major setbacks on the battlefield. Infighting among various armed groups also has plagued rebel ranks, weakening the opposition's campaign against Assad's rule.

The capturing of Khan al-Assal on July 21 was a rare success for the opposition, one overshadowed by activists' claims that rebels had killed 150 government soldiers after taking the village. Some of the soldiers who were killed had surrendered to the rebels, the Britain-based Observatory for Human Rights reported.

Syrian state media reported that rebels killed 123 "civilians and military personnel" in Khan al-Assal.

In a statement issued in Geneva on Friday, Pillay said two of the videos the U.N. team reviewed apparently show government soldiers being ordered to lie on the ground, while another shows several bodies scattered along a wall and a number of bodies at an adjacent site.

Preliminary findings of the U.N. probe also suggests that armed opposition groups, in one incident documented by video, executed at least 30 individuals, the majority of whom appeared to be soldiers, Pillay said.

"These images, if verified, suggest that executions were committed in Khan Al-Assal," Pillay said. She called for a "thorough independent investigation to establish whether war crimes have been committed."

She also warned that opposition forces "should not think they are immune from prosecution."

Syria's main opposition bloc last week condemned the killings and blamed them on "armed groups" not affiliated with the Western-backed Syrian National Coalition. The umbrella group of opposition fighters is known as The Free Syrian Army. Although rebel groups ? including the radical Islamic ones ? share a common goal of toppling Assad, they operate independently on the battlefield. Islamic factions have been gaining influence and groups such as the al-Qaida-linked Jabhat al-Nusra front have led major battles in the past year.

In a statement last week, the Nusra Front confirmed its fighters had participated in the battle for Khan al-Assal. The group has not claimed responsibility for the soldiers' killings, though it did confirm that 150 soldiers, pro-government gunmen and Shiite militiamen were killed in Khan al-Assal.

More than 100,000 people have been killed since March 2011 when crisis started with largely peaceful protests against Assad's rule. It turned into civil war after opposition supporters took up arms to fight a brutal government crackdown on dissent. Millions have been fled their homes, with some seeking shelter in more peaceful parts of Syria and more than a million fled into neighboring countries.

U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos decried the continuing failure by the government and opposition to protect civilians across Syria, which she said means "women, men and children continue to be killed, injured and displaced across the country. "

"Thousands of people are trapped in areas besieged by government forces and opposition groups," she said in a statement. "Hundreds have reportedly been killed, injured or taken hostage in attacks in Homs, Aleppo and other areas of Syria in the last two days alone."

Amos said humanitarian workers are risking their lives to help but people are being prevented from getting basic assistance, including food, drinking water and medical care.

Specifically, in the central city of Homs, new checkpoints are stopping supplies from entering the hard-hit area, said Anthony Lake, executive director of UNICEF. Lake said in a statement that vegetables, milk and other essentials are in "increasingly short supply" and his own agency's supplies will run out in days.

"Cannot all those involved agree that the innocent women and children in Homs, and across Syria, should be spared all possible suffering?" he asked.

In the latest cycle of rebel-on-rebel violence, 12 Islamic fighters were killed in fighting between Kurdish opposition fighters and rebels linked to al-Qaida, the Observatory said Friday. The clashes took place in the northeastern Hassakeh province, the Observatory said. It added that the dead were all members of two al-Qaida linked groups, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and the Nusra Front.

Rival rebels groups ? mostly Islamic groups and Kurdish gunmen ? frequently have clashed in northern in Syria over control of territory along the border with Turkey that fighters captured from regime troops over the past year.

Earlier this week, the infighting turned into a war within a war after a powerful Kurdish militia called on its supporters to fight al-Qaida-affiliated groups to avenge the recent killing of a prominent political leader.

___

Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/un-probes-allegations-rebel-atrocities-syria-172918385.html

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Franklin wins 5th gold, Ledecky sets another WR

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) ? Missy Franklin made history at the world swimming championships ? and she might not even be the most impressive swimmer on her own team.

The U.S. women's coach gives his vote to Katie Ledecky.

"She's not normal," said Dave Salo, marveling at another world-record performance by the 16-year-old who doesn't even have her driver's license yet.

This much is for sure: The future of the American team is in very good hands with these Golden Girls.

Franklin won her fifth gold medal of the championships with a dominating victory in the 200-meter backstroke Saturday, tying the record for most titles by a woman at the every-other-year world meet.

The 18-year-old Franklin has one event remaining ? the 400 medley relay during the final session Sunday ? and a chance to join Michael Phelps, Mark Spitz and Kristin Otto as the only swimmers to win as many as six golds at the worlds or the Olympics.

"That was awesome," said Franklin, who has already bettered her performance at the London Games, where she won four golds and a bronze.

Ledecky came along next and wrapped up a brilliant meet with her fourth gold medal and second world record, this time in the 800 freestyle.

The youngster really turned it on over the final four laps to win in 8 minutes, 13.86 seconds. Now she can focus on getting that driving permit when she returns home to suburban Washington, D.C.

"I just stayed patient throughout the race," Ledecky said, "and made that move when I knew I had to."

Powering to the finish as though she was in a sprint, not the last of 16 laps, Ledecky took down the mark of 8:14.10 set by Britain's Rebecca Adlington at the 2008 Olympics.

Lotte Friis of Denmark set the early pace but simply couldn't keep up when Ledecky shifted into another gear, a repeat of their race in the 1,500 where the teenager broke the previous world record by more than 6 seconds.

Friis settled for another silver, and New Zealand's Lauren Boyle claimed the bronze ? the same order as the 1,500.

When Ledecky climbed out of the pool, Friis pointed at the youngster and applauded, certainly a worthy gesture toward someone who is unbeaten in swimming's two major competitions.

Ledecky won the 800 free at the London Olympics, her international debut, and went 4 for 4 Barcelona, nearly breaking a world record in the 400 free and leading off the U.S. victory in the 800 free relay.

"I exceeded all the expectations I had going into this meet," Ledecky said.

Franklin matched the record held by Tracy Caulkins of the U.S., who won five times at the 1978 worlds in Berlin, and Libby Trickett of Australia, who did it at her home championships in Melbourne six years ago.

Bouncing back from a fourth-place finish in the 100 freestyle, Franklin won with a time of 2:04.76. Belinda Hocking of Australia took the silver, more than a body length behind Franklin, while Canada's Hilary Caldwell claimed the bronze.

Franklin said the 200 back is her most painful race, but it didn't show. Midway through, she had already pulled out to a comfortable lead.

Everyone else was chasing the other two spots on the podium.

She was chasing history.

"I couldn't have ever imagined this coming into the meet," Franklin said. "It's nice knowing after London that I was still able to motivate myself, and all that work that I put in this past year has still really been worth it."

Meanwhile, after an epic night of swimming, Ryan Lochte finally ran out of gas on his 29th birthday.

He had the top time coming into the final of the 100 butterfly, but managed only a sixth-place finish. Chad le Clos won the gold, leaving no doubt he is the new king of the fly as long as Michael Phelps stays in retirement. The personable South African touched in 51.06, completing a sweep of the 100 and the 200 in Barcelona.

Laszlo Cseh of Hungary claimed the silver, while Poland's Konrad Czerniak picked up the bronze.

"This one is special to me, because of the lineup," Le Clos said. "Lochte came in, and I think he really wanted to win the race. I think that gave the race extra flavor."

The previous night, Lochte pulled off a stunning triple, winning two gold medals and setting a personal best in the 100 fly semifinals. But he couldn't match it in the final, trailing all the way and finishing in 51.58 ? a tenth of a second slower than the previous day, even though he was better rested.

"I just didn't have it," Lochte said. "I got very short and choppy on my stroke and I just fell apart. But 100 fly, it's the first time swimming it internationally. I'm still learning how to swim that event, but I'm going to keep trying it every year and hopefully I get better."

Brazil's Cesar Cielo won his third straight world title in the 50 free. Despite undergoing surgery on both knees after the Olympics, and not even bothering to enter the 100 free, Cielo showed he's still the man to beat in the furious, foamy dash from one end of the pool to the other. His time was 21.32, edging Russia's Vladimir Morozov by 0.15. The bronze went to George Bovell of Trinidad.

In a star-studded final, Nathan Adrian of the U.S. managed only fourth, reigning Olympic champion Florent Manaudou was fifth, and American Anthony Ervin sixth.

Cielo celebrated wildly, screaming and pumping his fists while straddling a lane rope. Then, as always, the tears flowed freely while the rousing Brazilian anthem played and his country's flag was raised toward the roof of the Palau Sant Jordi.

Jeanette Ottesen Gray of Denmark won gold in the 50 butterfly, a non-Olympic event. She touched in 25.24. China's Lu Ying claimed the silver, while the bronze went to Ranomi Kromowidjojo of the Netherlands. American Dana Vollmer finished last in the eight-woman field.

Another 16-year-old, Ruta Meilutyte of Lithuania, broke a world record that was set only hours earlier in the women's 50 breaststroke. In the second semifinal heat, Meilutyte ripped off a time of 29.48, beating the mark set in the morning preliminaries by Russia's Yuliya Efimova.

Efimova was swimming the same heat as the teenager and touched second in 29.88, just off the mark of 29.78 she held for not even a day. She had broken the previous record set by American Jessica Hardy in 2009 at the height of the rubberized suit era, 29.80.

The 50 breaststroke is another event not on the Olympic program. Still, it goes down as the second world record for Meilutyte at these championships. The teenager also set one in the semifinals of the 100 breast before winning gold in the final.

For sure, the kids are all right at these world championships.

Their biggest problem is figuring out how to get home with all those gold medals.

"I'll probably just throw 'em in my swim bag," Franklin quipped, "and carry 'em on."

___

Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/franklin-wins-5th-gold-ledecky-sets-another-wr-184232680.html

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শনিবার, ৩ আগস্ট, ২০১৩

carhartt warehouse (Hackney, London, by tossup)

Review of carhartt warehouse by tossup

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Review of carhartt warehouse from 3 August 2013

How can this warehouse be difficult to find?? It's just off of Mare Street.? One side of Ellingfort Road was completely flattened with bombs, and the county put up prefabs all along that side of Ellingfort Road.? I lived there with my mum, dad and sister from 1944 until 1956.? It was a great area to live in, so close to everything.

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? Qype 2013 - Review of carhartt warehouse by tossup Made with Love in Hamburg, Germany

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Another Poll Shows Grimes Ahead (Taegan Goddard's Political Wire)

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Justice Scalia voices uncommon dissent in California prison ruling

WASHINGTON -- Not all the justices on the U.S. Supreme Court were in agreement with the decision Friday that will force California to remove more than 9,000 inmates from its overcrowded prisons by the end of the year.

Though the court?s ideological differences are well known, it is unusual for the justices to write a dissent on procedural matters such as California?s request for a stay of an order from a panel of federal judges.

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy initially received the petition as the justice who oversees the 9th Circuit. But Kennedy referred Gov. Jerry Brown?s request for a stay to the entire high court, and it ultimately rejected it 6-3. Justice Antonin Scalia penned a sharply worded dissent, which Justice Clarence Thomas also signed.

Scalia wrote that he does not believe the federal courts have the authority to order California to remove thousands of inmates from its prison system.

PHOTOS: 2013's memorable political moments

?California must now release upon the public nearly 10,000 inmates convicted of serious crimes -- about 1,000 for every city larger than Santa Ana,? he wrote. The order, he wrote, goes ?beyond the power of the courts.?

Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. also joined the minority, but he did not sign the written dissent.

Attorneys for inmates are hopeful that Friday?s high court order signals that the state has run out of options for avoiding the prison population caps. They had expected Kennedy to make the ruling himself. But instead, the entire court weighed in after state attorneys filed extensive legal briefs seeking the stay.

?I think the governor has played this out now,? said Michael Bien, the lead lawyer in one of two federal lawsuits that triggered the prison release order.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/latimes/news/politics/~3/O4iR2K0F2AY/la-pn-justice-scalia-dissent-california-prisons-20130802,0,1067915.story

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Johnson: Spare us the hypocritical anger on baseball steroid scandal

Mr. Moseby?Mr. Lloyd Moseby speaks out on steroids.

?I?m surprised,?? Lloyd Moseby is saying, ?that people are surprised, more than anything, to tell you the truth. I?m shocked that people are shocked.?? The lurid headlines have returned, almost on cue, to stain America?s Game, long since shorn of the sense of sepia-toned romance that promised a refuge of sanity in an increasingly insane world. The Biogensis case of performance-enhancing drugs is only the latest to soil an increasingly soiled sports world in general and baseball specifically.

...Cheating, says Moseby bluntly, is one thing. A bad thing. Undeniably. But complicit silence, insidious hypocrisy, isn?t exactly a shining virtue, either.

?This is the era. This goes back a ways. The owners knew it. The commissioner knew it. He was happy that Sammy Sosa and (Jason) Giambi and (Mark) McGwire were hitting all those home runs. They saved the game. And so now you want to back up and say ?Oh, what a terrible thing!? ?It?s kind of silly for anyone to say ??- Moseby grabs theatrically at his heart ??Oh, I?m shocked! I can?t believe he was doing it!? ?Stop it.

?Some ex-players are angry. Not me. I just laugh and say ?Who didn?t know about it?? ?I am angry that the commissioner is doing what he?s doing. Now he wants to punish the kids. Now he wants to start passing the buck onto the second generation of people doing it.?? At 53, the irrepressible Shaker is looking a lot like a favourite old glove.

...?I love baseball. I love the game. I?ll never stop loving the game. The stats are kind of what get you, though. For us as older players, we know what we did. The stats have climbed. Suddenly you had guys hitting 50, 60, 70 home runs. I knew I was better than this guy, but he had better stats than me. But do they really care (about the Hall of Fame, about Cooperstown)? They live in mansions. They got $100 million contracts. Keep ?em out of the Hall of the Fame all you want, they?re still driving Lamborghinis. So Alex Rodriguez is not going to make another $30 million? So what? He?s already made half a billion.?? More lurid headlines await, more big names are set for exposure.

Source: http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/newsstand/discussion/johnson_spare_us_the_hypocritical_anger_on_baseball_steroid_scandal

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শুক্রবার, ২ আগস্ট, ২০১৩

Djibouti needs to diversify its economy to reduce extreme poverty: IMF

DJIBOUTI (Reuters) - Djibouti's economy will grow 5 percent this year then accelerate towards 6 percent by 2016 but needs to diversify and tackle unemployment if it is to lift almost half its population out of extreme poverty, the IMF said.

The tiny Red sea state, a key ally in the West's fight against militant Islam and piracy, also needs to push ahead with economic reforms, the International Monetary Fund said.

"The bulk of the population has benefited little from the recent economic growth," the IMF said late on Wednesday, adding that the economy grew 4.8 percent in 2012.

Commodity price shocks and domestic political instability posed the main risks to expansion this year, it said.

Djibouti's national output last year relied heavily on activity at its DP World-run port, transit trade with neighbouring landlocked Ethiopia and transhipment activity.

The IMF said inflation would slow further to 2.5 percent in 2013 from 3.7 percent last year when steadier international food prices and lower power tariffs for low-consumption households helped ease price pressures on the previous 12 months.

However, persistent budget deficits underscored the need for Djibouti to expand its tax base and strengthen tax administration.

"Priority should also be given to reforming the fuel pricing mechanism, especially replacing the costly fuel subsidies with well-targeted social safety nets, and to re-examining the tax exemptions system," the IMF said.

President Ismail Omar Guelleh's ruling Union for the Presidential Majority party comfortably won in February a parliamentary election which the opposition said was rigged, unleashing a wave of protests in the capital.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/djibouti-needs-diversify-economy-reduce-extreme-poverty-imf-093456341.html

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Dvorak confident of no systematic doping in football

Following the recent publication of a report on doping in sport by a commission of the French Senate, rumours have been circulating about the anti-doping procedures in football in the late 1990s.

FIFA?s Chief Medical Officer Professor Jiri Dvorak clarifies what were the anti-doping regulations in sport at that time and explains how the fight against doping has evolved since then.

FIFA.com: There are new rumours being published in the media regarding the anti-doping procedures at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. What was the anti-doping protocol at the time?
Professor Jiri Dvorak: To put it in perspective, I?ve been FIFA?s Chief Medical Officer since 1994 and at the FIFA World Cup in the USA, so in 1998 it was my second World Cup. At that time, and as always, FIFA followed the regulations of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and since the establishment of WADA and the World Anti-doping Code in 2003 we were compliant and followed the protocol of WADA and the IOC.

At that time, in 1994, 1998 and 2002 there was no protocol of storing samples, not a single international federation stored the samples from their competitions. At that time, we are talking of 15 years ago, the accredited IOC laboratories were not equipped with storage rooms for large amount of samples. It was only in 2004 when the IOC following, I think, the 27 positive doping cases at the Olympic Games in Athens ordered to store the samples for several years to reassess them.

We have stored suspicious samples from the past 15 years, but it was only at the London Olympic Games in 2012 when the IOC decided that samples would be routinely stored for at least eight years. But this is only the recent development.

At that time, in 1998, to the best of my knowledge it was only the French Government under the leadership of the Sports Minister Madame Buffet who ordered to store the samples only from Tour de France athletes. That was the reason at that time. International federations were not storing samples.

When did FIFA start blood sampling and testing of EPO?
We had several scandals like the Festina affair at the Tour de France and EPO came into the mindset. 2002 was the starting point when laboratories could directly detect EPO. For the 2002 World Cup, we decided that we would take blood samples from all players selected for doping control; we had 256 players. We had the blood samples and we were looking, the same as for the Tour the France and UCI, for the indirect parameters, which are the levels of haemoglobin, haematocrit, the red blood cells and the young blood cells. We analysed them and statistically saw that all the values were within the normative population. There was no indication that players were manipulating them. That was actually the first systematic application of blood sampling for the indirect controls. For EPO we do the direct testing in urine and also the indirect testing in blood.

For me as a scientist I believe in facts and figures, not in speculation: We have no evidence that there is systematic doping.?

Jiri Dvorak, FIFA's Chief Medical Officer.

How have the anti-doping procedures in football evolved over time? What are they like today?
We have to see it from a bigger perspective. We have realised from the statistical analysis that if we do more sampling procedures we will not catch more cheats. The amount of cheats has remained the same over the past seven or eight years even though we all have increased the number of sampling procedures.

So we have to look for more sophisticated ways of looking and getting information about potential manipulations, for instance during training periods, during the preparation for a competition. In this respect we have initiated the steroid profiles with the examination of nandrolone in 1998. In the mid-2000s we did a testosterone study and we have seen that each person has a genetic blueprint, more or less the same steroid and hormone profile. The moment you start to manipulate your body you alter that. The first pilot was done during the FIFA Club World Cup 2011 and then again in 2012. Now we have decided to implement the biological profile, with blood and urine analysis, for the FIFA Confederations Cup, which was already done, and for the World Cup in 2014. So all players will be part of the database and we can compare. And now we are also in discussion with UEFA and other confederations to start this biological profile in the confederations so all the top players will be registered. And if we have a suspicion then we go into the more intelligent and targeted testing.

How confident are you that there is no doping in football?
I am confident that there is no systematic doping in football. There is no systematic doping culture in football. I am confident of this. Of course there are individual cases, for sure. We do more than 30,000 sampling procedures every year and we have between 70 to 90 positive cases, most of them for marijuana and cocaine and we have also anabolic steroids, but these are individual cases.

So there are some cases; that?s why we are doing so many controls with such a stringent protocol. But we don?t have scientific evidence from the statistical analysis ? and for me as a scientist I believe in facts and figures, not in speculation: We have no evidence that there is systematic doping.

On the other hand, we don?t think that the more we do sampling procedures the more we find. The absolute number of positive cases remains the same even though we are increasing the number of procedures 10 to 15 per cent per year. That?s why we started to think about the biological profile because this might be the solution for the future. We want to be more efficient but also cost effective. There are hundreds of millions spent on doping controls and the fight against doping worldwide and we think that if we establish a biological profile, then we will have a longitudinal follow up of each player by testing blood and urine with several samples procedure of the same player, and if we have a suspicion we can be much more efficient and go into targeted testing.

We also think that it would have a much more deterrent effect from an educational point of view, because then it?s very difficult to manipulate or cheat since we have the longitudinal results.
There is also a very positive side effect of it: if we have this longitudinal follow up of specific hormones and steroids of the body we know that there are some hormones that are produced by malignant tumours.

For instance, in the young male population the most that we are afraid of is the testicular malignant tumour which produces an elevation of the so-called human choriogonadotropin hormone. Every year we have a few of them, and I feel obliged as a doctor to inform my colleagues and the player that there?s this possible underlying pathology. So we check by a specialist and we had cases were an early intervention saved lives. This is one of the reasons why in the anti-doping structure the physicians must play a key role because we understand the human body, we understand the science, we are educated for that.

Source: http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/footballdevelopment/news/newsid=2147931/index.html?cid=rssfeed&att=

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Apple To Source IPad Screens From Samsung: WSJ

LOS ANGELES ? ?Apple Inc. will use high-resolution screens from its rival Samsung Electronics Co. for a new iPad mini device planned for the fourth quarter, The Wall Street Journal reported early Thursday, citing unnamed sources. The report quoted a component supplier as saying the U.S. tech major had originally planned to use only screens from Japan's Sharp Corp. and South Korea's LG Display Co. , but decided to also procure the parts from Samsung to ensure supply. Apple and Samsung have fought a series of bitter patent disputes in courts across the world and are fierce competitors in the lucrative smartphone market. But Apple has frequently used Samsung parts in its past products. The report said the size of the new iPad mini tablet would likely be the same as the current 7.9-inch model, released last November.

Source: http://feeds.foxbusiness.com/~r/foxbusiness/technology/~3/cDYFV4fUOTk/

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