EU pain: Unemployment at all-time high, inflation non-existent

By Robin Emmott and Martin Santa

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Unemployment has reached a new high in the euro zone and inflation remains well below the European Central Bank's target, underscoring just how severe a challenge EU leaders face to revive the bloc's sickly economy.

Joblessness in the 17-nation currency area rose to 12.2 percent in April, statistics agency Eurostat said on Friday, marking a new record since the data series began in 1995.

With the euro zone also in its longest recession since its creation in 1999, consumer price inflation was far below the ECB's target of just below 2 percent, coming in at 1.4 percent in May, slightly above April's 1.2 percent rate.

That rise may quieten concerns about deflation, but the deepening unemployment crisis is a threat to the social fabric of the euro zone, with almost two-thirds of young Greeks unable to find work exemplifying southern Europe's threat of creating a 'lost generation'.

Economists and policy makers have expressed concern that the greatest threat to the unity of the euro zone is now social breakdown from the crisis, rather than market-driven factors.

In France, Europe's second largest economy, the number of jobless rose to a record in April, while in Italy, the unemployment rate hit its highest level in at least 36 years, with 40 percent of young people out of work.

Some economists expect the ECB, which meets on June 6, to act to revive the economy and go beyond another interest rate cut to consider a U.S.-style money printing program known as quantitative easing.

"We do not expect a strong recovery in the euro zone," said Nick Matthews, a senior economist at Nomura International in London. "It puts pressure on the ECB to deliver even more conventional and non conventional measures."

In the past, the euro zone has needed economic growth of around 1.5 percent to create new jobs, according to Carsten Brzeski, an economist at ING. With the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development forecasting this week that the euro zone economy would contract by 0.6 percent this year, unemployment is set to worsen long before it turns around.

"We do not see a stabilization in unemployment before the middle of next year," said Frederik Ducrozet, an economist at Economist at Credit Agricole in Paris. "The picture in France is still deteriorating."

5.6 MILLION YOUNG JOBLESS

ECB President Mario Draghi, whose bold decision-making helped protect the euro zone from break-up last year with a plan to buy the bonds of governments in trouble, has so far preferred to leave the onus on euro zone governments to reform.

A majority of economists polled by Reuters do not expect the ECB to cut its deposit or main refinancing rates in the coming months, although the OECD this week called for the bank to consider quantitative easing.

The Commission, the EU's executive, told governments this week they must focus on reforms to outdated labor and pension systems to regain Europe's lost business dynamism, a move to shift focus away from debilitating budget cuts towards growth.

EU leaders meeting at the end of June in Brussels are expected to put the problem of joblessness at the forefront of their summit.

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, who chairs the meetings, said last week youth unemployment was one of the most pressing issues for the 27-nation European Union as a whole.

Ministers from France, Italy and Germany, meeting in Paris this week, called on their counterparts to help tackle youth unemployment, with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble describing it as a "battle for Europe's unity".

In April, 5.6 million people under 25 were unemployed in the European Union, with 3.6 million of those in the euro zone.

Even if governments take on unions and vested interests to enact reforms, they will take time to produce benefits.

The impact of the euro zone's debt and banking crises has been sapping confidence from companies and households.

Private consumption saved Germany from slipping into recession in the first three months of this year, but retail sales still fell unexpectedly in April because of the cold European winter.

Meanwhile, French consumer spending dropped again in February, falling by 0.2 percent after contracting in January. French household purchasing power contracted in 2012 for the first time since 1984.

(Reporting by Robin Emmott and Martin Santa; editing by Luke Baker and Jeremy Gaunt)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/record-joblessness-low-inflation-show-euro-zones-pain-090854893.html

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News in Brief: Easy steps limit antibiotic-resistant infections in hospitals

Bathing patients and other precautions prevent deadly staph from spreading, study finds

Bathing patients and other precautions prevent deadly staph from spreading, study finds

By Nathan Seppa

Web edition: May 30, 2013

A low-tech approach that deters antibiotic-resistant bacteria from infesting hospital patients appears to prevent infection better than screening them for the troublesome microbes and isolating those patients, scientists report May 29 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

In many hospitals, current practice calls for screening patients as they are admitted to an intensive care unit by testing nasal swabs for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, a common, dangerous infection. But this technique for catching the bug, treating it and preventing it from spreading within the hospital is far from foolproof.

An alternative method entails bathing patients who are headed for the ICU with antimicrobial soap and water, and dabbing their nasal cavities twice a day with antibiotic ointment. Researchers call this ?decolonization? because it wipes out many microbes that colonize a patient?s skin or mucus-lined nasal passages.

In the study, researchers randomly assigned more than 74,000 ICU patients to get one of three treatments: decolonization; screening for MRSA; or screening and then decolonizing only patients who tested positive for MRSA. The group in which everyone received soap swabbing and nasal ointment developed fewer bloodstream infections than did either of the screening-based groups, reports physician Susan Huang of the University of California, Irvine, and colleagues.

Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/350733/title/News_in_Brief_Easy_steps_limit_antibiotic-resistant_infections_in_hospitals

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91% Frances Ha

All Critics (74) | Top Critics (31) | Fresh (67) | Rotten (7)

The dialogue and editing are zippy and generally charming, combining with the tart observations of 20-something culture to create a nice frisson.

A black-and-white salute to the French New Wave (the score is borrowed from Georges Delerue, composer of many a Truffaut and Godard film) that manages to be very much of this moment ...

The movie's a love letter to an actress and her character, but by the end you may feel like an intervention is more in order.

The obvious love of New York City echoes Woody Allen at his best. But "Frances Ha" is very much its own film, a story of life and love and messy rooms.

Baumbach ... makes the film a celebration of Gerwig's coltish, goofball appeal.

Late-blooming 20-somethings have never been so perfectly captured -- and Gerwig has never been more appealing -- than in this funny, tender, life-affirming movie.

One of the most appealing films of the year to date -- and it may well end up being the most appealing indie release of the entire year

This is a tough one, but I must recommend it, if you are at all inclined to witness creativity at its unconventional best.

"Frances Ha"? More like Frances Bah!

Gerwig dances the Millennial Limbo

...caters to the Gerwig persona while also sanding off the edges of Baumbach's usual bitterness.

"Frances Ha" is about the inevitability of adulthood; it can be postponed, but it can't be avoided.

[a] fresh-faced and spirited black and white comedy...

If Frances has a chance, there's hope for us all.

The near-incomparable Greta Gerwig gives Frances a fire, an exuberance, and a three-dimensional uniqueness that ensures the viewer never sways from her side.

It gives you two choices: find it delightful or don't: there is no unique, self-guided option. As frustrating as that conundrum may be, it's still hard not to take option one.

Without Gerwig, this story of a hopeful young woman making her way in New York would have been just like all the rest. Instead, it's a work of art.

But there's just something so relentlessly likable about put-upon, impoverished Frances (Greta Gerwig) that it almost doesn't matter that her New York is just one big Williamsburg.

Improbable yet engaging, this arrested development serio-comedy should be particularly endearing to those who can't quite get their lives together.

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/frances_ha_2013/

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Watch, out NFL

AP

Three years ago, the Cowboys? draft board became public thanks to owner and General Manager Jerry Jones giving interviews while standing in front of it. Now it has happened again.

Jones gave video interviews while standing in front of the draft board during this year?s draft, and BloggingTheBoys.com has been able to look at enough different angles to reconstruct the entire draft board.

This may sound like an embarrassing gaffe on the Cowboys? part, but it?s really not: The images of the Cowboys? draft board weren?t available until after the draft was over, so it didn?t give any other teams a competitive edge over the Cowboys in draft strategy or trade talks. In fact, one specific piece of information the draft board reveals ? that first-round draft pick Travis Frederick was given a second-round grade and was the No. 22 player on the board ? had already been revealed by Jones.

Still, the full draft board makes for interesting perusing, because it isn?t often that teams allow this kind of information to go public.

The most interesting aspect might be the players whose names do not appear on the draft board, presumably because of concerns about injuries or off-field problems. The players the Cowboys didn?t consider drafting at all include Jarvis Jones, Alec Ogletree, Matt Elam, Christine Michael, Keenan Allen, Marcus Lattimore and Tyrann Mathieu.

It?s also worth mentioning the players chosen far higher than the Cowboys thought they should have been. Dallas had a fourth-round grade on quarterback E.J. Manuel, whom the Bills selected in the first round, as well as third-round grades on first-round picks Kyle Long, Desmond Trufant and Datone Jones.

For football fans, this kind of thing makes for good offseason fun. Here?s hoping Jerry Jones keeps giving interviews in the team?s draft room.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/05/30/broncos-receivers-say-peyton-mannings-arm-is-stronger/related/

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Syria's future tied to freedom for captured Christian leaders

Turkey and the US State Department must make the release of two captured Christian archbishops in Syria a top priority. At stake are not just their lives, or even the fate of Syrian Christians, but the fate of any hope of tolerance and pluralism in a post-Assad Syria ? and the region as a whole.

By Chris Van Hollen, Frank Wolf,?Op-ed contributors / May 29, 2013

Syrian citizens walk in front of a church that was shelled by mortars at the Christian village of Judeida, in Idlib province, Syria, Feb. 21. Reps. Chris Van Hollen and Frank Wolf urge 'the international community to demand the release of the [captured] Syrian archbishops and send a message to a watching world... Christians and all the diverse religions and ethnicities of Syria must have a safe future in a post-war Syria.'

Hussein Malla/AP/File

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The war in Syria, which began in April 2011 with peaceful protests against the oppressive regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is no longer just a struggle between opposition forces and the government. It has now also become a religious, sectarian civil war.

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Among those caught in the crossfire are Syria's Christians, who were estimated to number 2.5 million, or roughly 10 percent of Syria?s population prior to the conflict. On April 22, two Syriac Christian archbishops were captured and another leader was killed in an attack by extremist fighters. We have joined a bipartisan group of our colleagues in Congress in urging the Department of State to make the freeing of the archbishops an urgent priority. We also call on Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to use Turkey?s good offices to help facilitate their timely release.

At stake are not just the lives of two religious men, or even the fate of the Syrian Christian community, but the fate of any hope of tolerance and pluralism in the Syrian endgame ? and perhaps in the region as a whole.

The war in Syria is a humanitarian tragedy of epic proportions, not just for the Syrian people but for the entire Middle East and concerned peoples around the world. More than 70,000 Syrians have been killed, 4.25 million are internally displaced, 6.8 million are in need of assistance, and 1.3 million have registered as refugees in neighboring countries, according to the United Nations.

The sectarian complexion of the struggle in Syria has given a new life to jihadists and extremists on both sides of the contest. Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shiite terrorist organization backed by Iran, supports Mr. Assad's government. Among the opposition forces in Syria are terrorist organizations such as Jabhat Al-Nusra, which is a partner of Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, in a statement to Congress, said that ?AQI's Syria-based network, the Nusrah Front, is one of the best organized and most capable of the Sunni terrorist groups.?

Jabhat Al-Nusra and similar radical groups advocate an extreme form of sharia (Islamic law) in Syria. Fighting under the black flag associated with Al Qaeda, in their minds these groups are engaged in a broader holy war for a new Islamic caliphate. Syria?s minority groups, including Syriac Christians, Allawites, Kurds, and Druze, are not part of their post-Assad vision. Videos on YouTube and Facebook show fighters proclaiming their determination to murder all non-believers when they see victory in Syria.

Syria?s Christians are in a particularly perilous position. These Christian communities are among the oldest in the world. According to the New Testament, it was on the road to Damascus that Paul converted to Christianity. Syria?s Christians have, until the current conflict, been well integrated into that society, keeping a low profile, mostly staying out of politics, living throughout the country, and contributing to the rich cultural tapestry of their nation and region.

But Syria?s Christians and the prospect of a tolerant endgame in Syria are now in direct peril as a result of the civil war. The latest example of this came on April 22, when the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Aleppo, Boulose Yazigi, and the Syriac Archbishop of Aleppo, Yohanna Ibrahim, were kidnapped while carrying out humanitarian work in the area around Aleppo.

Syriac Orthodox Deacon Fatha' Allah Kabboud was killed during the abduction, and the driver, who escaped, reported that Chechen fighters participated in the kidnapping. This act was a clear provocation by rebel extremists designed to further drive fear into the heart of this community, which has largely viewed the opposition with concern due to its strong Islamist overtones.

Trends in the region are alarming. We saw the fate of Iraqi Christians, who were targets of killing, abductions, and harassment during the sectarian civil war that followed Iraq's liberation from Saddam Hussein in 2003. That community is estimated today to be less than half its pre-war level. More recently, we have seen attacks increase on Coptic churches and assemblies in Egypt and violence against Sufi shrines by Salafist jihadists in Libya and in Tunisia.

We?ve also seen heightened sectarian tensions in Lebanon, Syria?s neighbor, where Christians make up slightly more than 40 percent of the country?s 4 million people and have come to play an important balancing role between Sunni and Shiite factions in the country.

We join many of our colleagues in Congress and proponents of religious freedom and tolerance around the world in urging the international community to demand the release of the Syrian archbishops and send a message to a watching world, including other imperiled religious minorities throughout the region: Christians and all the diverse religions and ethnicities of Syria must have a safe future in a post-war Syria.

Chris Van Hollen (D) of Maryland is the ranking member of the House Budget Committee. Frank Wolf (R) of Virginia is the chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce-Justice-Science and co-chairman of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/C_5COr9zEQ4/Syria-s-future-tied-to-freedom-for-captured-Christian-leaders

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This Guy Proposed to His Girlfriend with... Vine

I don't even... This is just... I can't believe... okay. Breathe. Some guy used Vine and Twitter to propose to his girlfriend. As in he recorded a six second Vine video (selfie?) asking her to marry him, with a ring and everything. She didn't say no.

She said yes! Curt Buthman's exact tweet was this:

@marshacollier I love you! #WillYouMarryMe#custserv shrd.by/opFrXY

? Curt Buthman (@curtbuthman) May 29, 2013

Yes, there's two hashtags, an emoticon and a ridiculous Vine in one proposal tweet. One of those hashtags (#custserv) was actually being monitored by Buthamn's girlfriend Marsha Collier as she was holding a Twitter chat with it. When she ran into his tweet (and accompanying Vine), she was predictably stunned:

Um, uh, YES @curtbuthman - I will MARRY YOU! #custserv

? Marsha Collier (@MarshaCollier) May 29, 2013

Proposing with memes, adorable. Proposing with drones, cool. Proposing with Vine? I'm just... love is love. We all have our own levels of what we're willing to share over social networks and we all have our own levels of obsession with social networks but something tells me that a Vine proposal wouldn't register as normal for umm... most of us. Sharing is usually done after the big question, I think. Different strokes and all that, I guess. But good luck to the happy couple! Maybe no Vines of the wedding night/birth of your children/and all the other stuff that's better between you two though. [Huffington Post]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/this-guy-proposed-to-his-girlfriend-with-vine-510394297

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Cassini finds hints of activity at Saturn moon Dione

May 29, 2013 ? From a distance, most of the Saturnian moon Dione resembles a bland cueball. Thanks to close-up images of a 500-mile-long (800-kilometer-long) mountain on the moon from NASA's Cassini spacecraft, scientists have found more evidence for the idea that Dione was likely active in the past. It could still be active now.

"A picture is emerging that suggests Dione could be a fossil of the wondrous activity Cassini discovered spraying from Saturn's geyser moon Enceladus or perhaps a weaker copycat Enceladus," said Bonnie Buratti of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., who leads the Cassini science team that studies icy satellites. "There may turn out to be many more active worlds with water out there than we previously thought."

Other bodies in the solar system thought to have a subsurface ocean -- including Saturn's moons Enceladus and Titan and Jupiter's moon Europa -- are among the most geologically active worlds in our solar system. They have been intriguing targets for geologists and scientists looking for the building blocks of life elsewhere in the solar system. The presence of a subsurface ocean at Dione would boost the astrobiological potential of this once-boring iceball.

Hints of Dione's activity have recently come from Cassini, which has been exploring the Saturn system since 2004. The spacecraft's magnetometer has detected a faint particle stream coming from the moon, and images showed evidence for a possible liquid or slushy layer under its rock-hard ice crust. Other Cassini images have also revealed ancient, inactive fractures at Dione similar to those seen at Enceladus that currently spray water ice and organic particles.

The mountain examined in the latest paper -- published in March in the journal Icarus -- is called Janiculum Dorsa and ranges in height from about 0.6 to 1.2 miles (1 to 2 kilometers). The moon's crust appears to pucker under this mountain as much as about 0.3 mile (0.5 kilometer).

"The bending of the crust under Janiculum Dorsa suggests the icy crust was warm, and the best way to get that heat is if Dione had a subsurface ocean when the ridge formed," said Noah Hammond, the paper's lead author, who is based at Brown University, Providence, R.I.

Dione gets heated up by being stretched and squeezed as it gets closer to and farther from Saturn in its orbit. With an icy crust that can slide around independently of the moon's core, the gravitational pulls of Saturn get exaggerated and create 10 times more heat, Hammond explained. Other possible explanations, such as a local hotspot or a wild orbit, seemed unlikely.

Scientists are still trying to figure out why Enceladus became so active while Dione just seems to have sputtered along. Perhaps the tidal forces were stronger on Enceladus, or maybe the larger fraction of rock in the core of Enceladus provided more radioactive heating from heavy elements. In any case, liquid subsurface oceans seem to be common on these once-boring icy satellites, fueling the hope that other icy worlds soon to be explored -- like the dwarf planets Ceres and Pluto -- could have oceans underneath their crusts. NASA's Dawn and New Horizons missions reach those dwarf planets in 2015.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. JPL designed, developed and assembled the Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras. The imaging team consists of scientists from the United States, England, France and Germany. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.

Hammond's work was funded through a NASA Outer Planets Research grant.

For more information about Cassini, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/cassini and http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov .

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/space_time/astronomy/~3/yIxu0pcbpI8/130529215144.htm

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Not in the DSM-5: Internet Addiction & Parental Alienation Disorder ...

Disappointing to some professionals, I?m sure, is the fact that two disorders didn?t make it into the DSM-5 at all ? not even in the chapter ?Conditions for Further Study.?

Those two lonely disorders? ?Internet addiction? and parental alienation disorder.

This is a nice respite from the hype surrounding both these concerns and reaffirms what we?ve been saying here for years ? these are not mental disorders. Do some people have a usually-temporary and almost-always transitory problem with figuring out how much time to spend on the Internet? Sure they do ? it?s just not a disorder-level concern.

And the evidence is simply too sparse for ?parental alienation disorder,? which I believe has propagated more for legal than clinical reasons.

Nearly since the introduction of the term ?Internet addiction? in 1996, I?ve been beating the same drum about this so-called disorder ? it doesn?t exist. I wrote a guide to Internet addiction back in 1999, which we keep updated from time to time.

So here we have 17 years? worth of research, and still the disorder doesn?t even rise to the level of recognition in the DSM of a condition that may need further study. That could be for one of two reasons. One, the working group that looked at the research was biased and decided that such a disorder couldn?t possibly exist (which would require consensus among the entire working group ? a pretty unlikely scenario). Two, the research is still so flimsy and based upon the same flawed instruments it?s been using for most of that 17 years, the data are simply not robust or generalizable.

In 2008, I penned this article about why Internet addiction still doesn?t exist. I had to do an update just 8 months ago to rebut the claim by Forbes that Internet addiction was going to be included in the new DSM-5. (A good argument not to get your health information from a website like Forbes.)

The DSM-5 working groups also didn?t much care for parental alienation disorder, a disorder we covered late last year here. The research data for this concern simply doesn?t support its inclusion at this time. Which is exactly what we told our readers last September (just so there are no surprises!):

??The bottom line ? it is not a disorder within one individual,?? said Dr. Darrel Regier, vice chair of the task force drafting the manual.

??It?s a relationship problem ? parent-child or parent-parent. Relationship problems per se are not mental disorders.?

Could you imagine the outcry the American Psychiatric Association ? the publishers of the DSM-5 ? would receive if they started coding relationship problems as mental illness, on the same level as schizophrenia or clinical depression?

The evidence for both these disorders is so lacking, neither made it into the category ?Conditions for Further Study.? That?s saying something ? especially for ?Internet addiction,? which has had hundreds of peer-reviewed studies published about it.

For all the misplaced angst and media-created melodrama surrounding the publication of the DSM-5, we can be thankful neither of these two disorders made the cut.

?

Dr. John Grohol is the founder & CEO of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

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Catch up on other posts by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. (or subscribe to their feed).

????Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 28 May 2013
????Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.

APA Reference
Grohol, J. (2013). Not in the DSM-5: Internet Addiction & Parental Alienation Disorder. Psych Central. Retrieved on May 29, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/05/29/not-in-the-dsm-5-internet-addiction-parental-alienation-disorder/

?

Source: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/05/29/not-in-the-dsm-5-internet-addiction-parental-alienation-disorder/

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Different types of psychotherapy have similar benefits for depression

May 28, 2013 ? Treatments for depression that don't involve antidepressant drugs but rather focus on different forms of talking therapy (referred to as psychotherapeutic interventions) are all beneficial, with no one form of therapy being better than the others, according to a study by international researchers published in this week's PLOS Medicine.

These findings are important as they suggest that patients with depression should discuss different forms of non-drug therapy with their doctors and explore which type of psychotherapy best suits them.

The researchers, led by J?rgen Barth from the University of Bern in Switzerland, reached these conclusions by reviewing 198 published studies involving over 15,000 patients receiving one of seven types of psychotherapeutic intervention: Interpersonal psychotherapy, behavioural activation, cognitive behavioural therapy, problem solving therapy, psychodynamic therapy, social skills training and supportive counselling.* The authors compared each of the therapies with each other and with a control -- patients on a waiting list or continuing usual case -- and combined the results.

The authors found that all seven therapies were better at reducing symptoms of depression than waiting list and usual care and that there were no significant differences between the different types of therapy. They also found that the therapies worked equally well for different patient groups with depression, such as for younger and older patients and for mothers who had depression after having given birth. Furthermore, the authors found no substantial differences when comparing individual with group therapy or with face-to-face therapy compared with internet-based interactions between therapist and patient.

The authors say: "We found evidence that most of the seven psychotherapeutic interventions under investigation have comparable effects on depressive symptoms and achieve moderate to large effects vis-?-vis waitlist."

They continue: "All seven psychotherapeutic interventions achieved a small to moderate effect compared to usual care."

The authors add: "Overall, we found that different psychotherapeutic interventions for depression have comparable, moderate-to-large effects."

Notes:

*"Interpersonal psychotherapy" is short and highly structured, using a manual to focus on interpersonal issues in depression.

"Behavioral activation" raises the awareness of pleasant activities and seeks to increase positive interactions between the patient and his or her environment.

"Cognitive behavioural therapy" focuses on a patient's current negative beliefs, evaluates how they affect current and future behaviour, and attempts to restructure the beliefs and change the outlook. "Problem solving therapy" aims to define a patient's problems, propose multiple solutions for each problem, and then select, implement, and evaluate the best solution.

"Psychodynamic therapy" focuses on past unresolved conflicts and relationships and the impact they have on a patient's current situation.

In "social skills therapy," patients are taught skills that help to build and maintain healthy relationships based on honesty and respect.

"Supportive counselling" is a more general therapy that aims to get patients to talk about their experiences and emotions and to offer empathy without suggesting solutions or teaching new skills.

Funding: This research was supported by a Swiss National Science Foundation Grant (no. 105314-118312/1) awarded to JB, HJZ, and PJ.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/AXeEw_BIzcs/130528181023.htm

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Iran's approaching vote brings receding Web access - The Sun News

TEHRAN, Iran ? From a computer keyboard in London, an Iranian emigre plays the role of counselor, social media guru and all-around adviser for Internet users back home seeking ways around the cyber-blocks set up by authorities in Tehran. These have been busy days.

His Twitter account - which goes under the handle of Nariman Gharib - registers a steady stream of calls for help from Iran and responses about new proxy servers, dial-up modems and other possible workarounds. The goal is to defeat Iran's Internet clampdowns, which have intensified in the approach to presidential elections on June 14.

"Here is a new link for Siphon," he wrote, describing a site that directs users to a server outside Iran. Minutes later, replies stream back that it worked on Android systems but not PCs. He sent a tweaked Web address.

"Hope this works," he wrote.

State controls on the Internet in Iran are nothing new. Authorities have steadily tried to choke off social media and political opposition sites - among others - since they became tools for protesters alleging vote rigging after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election four years ago.

Now, with the election to pick Ahmadinejad's successor looming, the constraints are drawing even tighter. Iranian authorities appear to be stepping up their efforts to block the pathways to servers outside Iran that open access to outlawed sites such as Facebook, the BBC's Persian service and websites from what's left of Iran's opposition Green Movement.

The Internet squeeze signifies more than a display of widening state controls before an election that is almost certain to bring an establishment-friendly winner. It's also another showcase of Iran's expanding online prowess led by the powerful Revolutionary Guards.

A special Web-watching corps established two years ago has the mission of patrolling the domestic Internet and fighting suspected cyberwars with the West and its allies. Some say it even creates false activist profiles to try to ferret out dissidents.

Iran is believed by many security experts to be behind computer-virus attacks last year on Saudi Arabian state oil giant Saudi Aramco and Qatari natural gas producer RasGas. Last week, The New York Times reported that Iran is considered a chief suspect in a series of malware breaches into U.S. energy companies, citing American officials and corporate security experts. Iran has repeatedly denied similar claims.

But Iran also has been hit by viruses it claims were launched by the U.S. and Israel. A date-siphoning program known as Flame forced Iran's Oil Ministry to completely shut down its computer system last year. Three years ago, Iran's uranium-enrichment labs were penetrated by a virus called Stuxnet, which was tailored to disrupt Iran's nuclear centrifuges.

On Sunday, Iran inaugurated a 5,000-kilometer (3,000-mile) fiber-optic line running to Germany via Russia. Iran's North Korean-educated communications minister, Mohammad Hasan Nami , said it will boost the "security" of telecommunications as part of Iran's wider efforts to seek a self-contained Internet with its own Google-style search engines and vetted websites such as Twitter and Facebook accounts attributed to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"Iranian authorities are getting better at controlled cyberspace," said Theodore Karasik, a security and political affairs analyst at the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis. "But Iran's Internet generation is very clever at beating them at their own game."

The legions of well-educated and highly Web literate Iranians under 30 are the backbone of a kind of cyber-underground. Names and Web addresses of proxy server sites that allow users to sidestep controls are passed around like hot gossip. Lately, however, authorities appear to be gaining the upper hand.

Each morning, Hossein Razaei, a mechanical engineer who runs a small engineering company in Tehran, checks up on the best-working path to beat the censors. Sometimes that means scanning banned news sites such as Voice of America or connecting to foreign engineering firms to look at new ideas.

"Nowadays," he laments, "we cannot open many sites."

Iranian authorities have not commented directly on any possible new Web controls. Some lawmakers have suggested that Web restrictions are needed to prevent "enemies" - a reference to U.S. and allies - from influencing the election.

But Iran's leaders certainly have factored in the chaos in 2009, which marked Iran's worst domestic unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

It also was a precursor to the Arab Spring in the use of social media. Sites such as Facebook and Twitter - still relatively obscure in the region at the time - were essential to organizing protests and giving accounts of crackdowns after blanket media restrictions were imposed. A YouTube video of a dying protester, Neda Agha Soltan, became an iconic image of the demonstrations.

Ironically, the latest apparent Internet pressures in Iran are not reflected in fears of rising opposition linked to the election. The rejection of former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani from the ballot seemed to undercut a possible resurgence of reformist fervor after years of arrests and relentless intimidation.

Many liberals and others may now simply stay on the sidelines as most of the eight candidates represent firm loyalists to the Islamic system, including top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, former Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati and Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf. Two relatively moderate candidates, including a former vice president under reformist President Mohammad Khatami, have not yet generated much popular buzz.

Last week, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry noted "troubling signs" that the Iranian government is cutting off Internet access to stifle criticism of how the candidates were chosen.

"Ultimately, the Iranian people will be prevented not only from choosing someone who might reflect their point of view, but also taking part in a way that is essential to a kind of legitimate democracy," he said.

Khamenei said Monday that Kerry's criticisms weren't "worthy enough" to merit a response, according to the semiofficial Fars news agency. Then he vowed Washington would be "punched in the mouth" by a high turnout for the election.

At an Internet cafe in Tehran, a former activist during the 2009 unrest, Mohammad Feizi, spoke in dark tones about an election in which he feels no stake and Internet crackdowns that cut off his main window to the wider world. His old tricks of bypassing the Web controls, he said, are increasingly foiled.

"I am really frustrated," the 27-year-old said. "The government put lethal restrictions on the Internet, yet expects people - particularly the youth - to get involved in society. It is meaningless."

Murphy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Source: http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/2013/05/27/3507645/irans-approaching-vote-brings.html

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Passengers returning to U.S. after cruise ship fire

BALTIMORE (AP) ? For the second time this year, a fire at sea has aborted a cruise ship's voyage. This time, aboard Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas and the ship's 2,200 passengers were expected back in Baltimore on Tuesday after being flown on charter flights from the Bahamas.

The fire that began at 2:50 a.m. Monday was extinguished about two hours later with no injuries reported. A cause wasn't immediately known but the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board planned to investigate.

The ship, which left Baltimore on Friday for a seven-night cruise, was headed originally to CocoCay, Bahamas. Royal Caribbean said the ship never lost power and was able to sail into port in Freeport, Bahamas, Monday afternoon. The ship launched in 1996 and was refurbished last year.

Royal Caribbean said on its website and through social media that executives met with passengers in port and that the cruise line was arranging flights for all 2,224 guests. Also, passengers will get a full refund of their fare and a certificate for a future cruise.

Aboard ship, the captain announced that passengers needed to go to their muster stations, said passenger Mark J. Ormesher in an email to The Associated Press. Immediately after, his room attendant knocked on the door and told him and his girlfriend to grab their flotation devices. The attendant said it wasn't a drill.

Ormesher, a native of England, who lives in Manassas, Va., said he and his girlfriend smelled acrid smoke as they went to their muster station, the ship's casino. The crew quickly provided instruction.

"This encouraged calm amongst the passengers," he said. Passengers were required to remain at their stations for four hours, he said, and the captain "provided us as much information as we needed to stay safe."

Ormesher, who is 25 and on his first cruise, said the air conditioner had been shut off, and as the hours passed and the ship got hot, bottled water was distributed. The crew and passengers remained calm, and helped those who needed it. Crying babies were given formula and held while their parents used the bathrooms.

Photos show a substantial area of the stern burned on several decks of the ship the length of about three football fields.

Royal Caribbean said all guests and 796 crew were safe and accounted for. Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez said in an email that the company was arranging 11 different charter flights.

The company in a statement on its website said it is "deeply sorry for this unexpected development in our guests' vacation. We understand that this may have been a very stressful time for them. We appreciate their patience and cooperation in dealing with this unfortunate situation."

Carnival Corp. also had trouble with fire aboard ship earlier this year.

The 900-foot Triumph was disabled during a February cruise by an engine room fire in the Gulf of Mexico, leaving thousands of passengers to endure cold food, unsanitary conditions and power outages while the ship was towed to Mobile, Ala. It remained there for repairs until early May when it headed back to sea under its own power.

On the Royal Caribbean ship, after passengers were allowed to leave their stations, Ormesher said he saw water on the outside of deck 5 and in the hallways. The mooring lines were destroyed he said; crew members brought new lines from storage.

The damage at the rear of the ship "looks bad," Ormesher said; burned out equipment was visible.

Martinez said in a news release that a cruise scheduled aboard the Grandeur of the Seas for May 31 has been canceled so the ship can be repaired.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/passengers-returning-us-cruise-ship-fire-084732665.html

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Presidency and 2020 bids the focus at IOC meetings

Call it the perfect storm of Olympic politics.

With sports leaders gathering in St. Petersburg, Russia, this week for a global convention, three high-profile campaigns will be played out at the same time in an unusual confluence of issues that will set the tone for the future of the Olympic movement.

The race for the IOC presidency, the bidding for the 2020 Summer Games and the fate of wrestling will be on full display at the SportAccord conference and executive board meetings of the International Olympic Committee.

About 1,500 delegates are expected for the conference, which opens Tuesday and will feature an appearance later in the week by Russian President Vladimir Putin. His presence will underscore Russia's commitment to its first Winter Games, which will take place in the Black Sea resort of Sochi in less than nine months.

The centerpiece of the meetings will be Wednesday's decision by the IOC board on which sport or sports to recommend for inclusion in the 2020 Olympics. Three months after it was surprisingly removed from the list of core sports, wrestling will have a chance to climb back into contention for a spot on the 2020 program.

Also competing for the single opening are seven other sports: a combined baseball-softball bid, karate, roller sports, sport climbing, squash, wakeboarding and the Chinese martial art of wushu.

The sports will make closed-door presentations to the IOC board, which will then decide on recommendations to submit to the IOC general assembly for a final decision in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in September.

There is widespread speculation that the executive board will select a shortlist of three or four finalists, including wrestling. Squash and karate have been cited as other leading contenders, while men's baseball and women's softball have merged to push their bid after having been off the program since the 2008 Beijing Games.

"Everything will be done on merit and respecting the rights that the federations have," IOC President Jacques Rogge told The Associated Press.

Wrestling, a sport with a tradition dating back to the ancient Olympics, has gone through a major upheaval since it was dropped by the IOC in February. The decision caused a worldwide outcry and led an improbable alliance of the United States, Iran and Russia to push for its return.

Governing body FILA has elected a new president, Nenad Lalovic of Serbia, and brought women and athletes into decision-making roles. It has also adopted a series of rules changes designed to make the sport more exciting and easier for spectators to understand.

"The federation definitely understood the reasons why they were ousted and they reacted well," Rogge said. "That does not guarantee them a spot, but they have addressed the shortcomings."

The process has caused some consternation in IOC circles. If wrestling ends up being voted onto the program in September, it means that no new sport will be brought in for 2020, which was the original intention.

Lalovic believes wrestling has done everything possible to win back its place.

"I understand the other sports are surprised to have wrestling with them," he told the AP. "They don't like that, but what can I do? We have to fight, like wrestlers do."

The debate over the sports lineup comes in the thick of the IOC presidential campaign ? with all candidates to be on show this week in St. Petersburg. Rogge, who replaced Juan Antonio Samaranch in 2001, steps down in September after 12 years.

Five members have declared their candidacies in the past two weeks ? IOC vice presidents Thomas Bach of Germany and Ng Ser Miang of Singapore, finance commission chair Richard Carrion of Puerto Rico, executive board member and amateur boxing association chief C.K. Wu of Taiwan, and international rowing federation head Denis Oswald of Switzerland.

Former pole vaulter Sergei Bubka, an executive board member from Ukraine, is expected to declare his candidacy this week in St. Petersburg and complete the record field of six candidates. Bach has been considered the front-runner, but the large field would indicate there is no consensus and votes could be split in the Sept. 10 election.

Rogge, who has pledged to remain neutral in the race, said he has seen some of the candidates' manifestos and believes whoever is elected will follow in his path.

"There is no sign of revolution," Rogge told the AP. "There is a sign of necessary evolution. I don't expect a major shift from what has been done under Samaranch and me and I believe was quite successful."

The presidential candidates won't be the only ones lobbying in St. Petersburg. So, too, will be the three cities bidding to host the 2020 Olympics ? Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo.

Leaders of all three bids will make public presentations Thursday to the SportAccord delegates, a key chance to get their message across to an international audience. They'll also make pitches to IOC members in July, two months before the vote in Buenos Aires on Sept. 7.

An IOC evaluation commission will release its report on the bids next month, and Rogge said he is "reassured" by its findings.

"I know that the outcome of the report is that the three cities are capable of staging excellent games," he said. "So there is no major disqualifying shortcoming in any of the three bids. Whoever wins will be a very good organizer and, for me, that is the most important thing."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/presidency-2020-bids-focus-ioc-meetings-071220054.html

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Sensitivity Gets More Complex As Society ... - Golf News Now

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Home / HUTCH'S BLOG / Sensitivity Gets More Complex As Society Becomes More Diverse

As I mentioned in my Toronto Sun column here, I don?t believe Sergio Garcia made his infamous ?fried chicken? comment about Tiger Woods with any intent to be offensive, but that doesn?t excuse him for perpetuating one of the oldest stereotypes in the books.

Since then, a variety of potential punishments have been volleyed about in the media, although there has been no response to those suggestions by either the PGA or European Tours and I?m not sure that any of them would actually deal with the bigger problem.

Such retaliation is putting a band-aid on a gaping wound. It?s not as if this hasn?t happened before in golf.

Similar quotes by Fuzzy Zoeller about Woods in 1997 was brought up countless times in all of the Garcia controversy and let?s not forget what Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghman said in jest about ?lynching? Woods in 2008.

Such comments are more thoughtless than intentional, but they do hit home.

I?ve listened to Charlie Sifford, the World Golf Hall of Fame member and an African-American pioneer in golf, about his experiences.

Renee Powell, who carries on her dad William?s legacy after his efforts to bring equality to America?s golf courses, also describes through experience her reaction to such comments.

Those feeling can?t simply be blown off. In the Garcia case, Tiger was gracious enough to tweet that he felt Sergio had ?real regret? about the comment, adding that it was time to move on and talk golf, but it isn?t.

It?s time to tackle the problem. The Garcia comment will fade into time, only to be brought up the next time it happens down the road.

Professional athletes in general spend their time honing their skills and if they make it to the top of their respective games, they?re suddenly in front of cameras, in press conferences and in high profile situations where something they say can result in the backlash Garcia received.

That?s not to excuse Garcia?s comment, but to point out that the tours need sensitivity training for the players who represent them that can be done during orientation.

If the players want to simply blow off what they hear, they also need to be reminded, not only about the backlash they?ll get, but what can they can expect if the tour makes official fines and suspensions in such incidents.

It?s also an idea that facilities at the grassroots of Canadian golf may want to consider considering the changing and diverse society around us. The hurt that can come from a comment isn?t limited to staff or members of African descent, but other ethnic groups, as well.

Former LPGA Tour commissioner Carolyn Bivens stepped in it a few years ago when a proposed policy would suspend players who could not efficiently speak English, a move that was seen as directly targeting Asian-born players. After considerable pressure, the tour backed off.

The tour was correct in saying that learning English would be to the players? benefit considering the number of events that are played in North America, but the tyrannical way it handled it was the issue and it came across as singling out one particular ethnic group.

The matter will become more complex as society continues to change and people of various cultures arrive in Canada, each with its own identity.

To understand what offends each group may be difficult to do, but quite often, such incident can be avoided through awareness, common sense and sensitivity.

Like the Garcia incident, the intent to be racist may not be there, but an operation will want to avoid any such incident, whenever possible.

What you think is innocent may not be seen as such by somebody else and that goes beyond race to people with disabilities, for example, and there are no easy solutions.

The first step, however, is awareness.

About Ian Hutchinson
Ian Hutchinson is a veteran Canadian golf writer, whose history in the game includes an extensive background with Canadian golf trade publications. A golf columnist with Sun Media, Hutch is also a regular contributor to publications and websites in Canada and the United States.

Source: http://www.golfnewsnow.ca/2013/05/27/sensitivity-gets-more-complex-as-society-becomes-more-diverse/

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EU to move spotlight from austerity to reforms on Wednesday

By Jan Strupczewski

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission will further shift the EU's policy focus from austerity to structural reforms to revive growth when it presents economic recommendations for each member state on Wednesday, officials said.

In its annual assessment as guardian of the EU's budget rules, the Commission will say that while fiscal consolidation should continue, its pace can be slower now that a degree of investor confidence in the euro has been restored.

Because highly indebted governments cannot afford to kickstart growth through public spending, they must reform the way their economies are run - by making labor markets more flexible or by opening up product and services markets.

"The main message will be that the emphasis is shifting to structural reforms from austerity," one senior EU official said.

The recommendations, once approved by EU leaders at a summit in late June, will become binding and are expected to influence how national budgets are drafted for 2014 and onwards.

The 17 countries that share the euro will have halved the pace of budget consolidation in 2013 compared to 2012, as the overall budget deficit of the euro zone fell by 1.5 percent of GDP in 2012 but will only shrink a further 0.75 percent this year, the European Commission forecast this month.

The United States plan to reduce their budget deficit by 2 percent of GDP in 2013 against 2012. Unless policies change the overall euro zone consolidation will be only 0.1 percent of GDP in 2014, the Commission said, against 1 percent in the U.S.

The Commission has already indicated that it will give France, the euro zone's second biggest economy, and Spain, the fourth largest, two extra years to bring their budget deficits below the EU ceiling of 3 percent of GDP, and other countries are also expected to get a year's extension.

MORE CONSOLIDATION TIME IN EXCHANGE FOR REFORMS

But in exchange, both France and Spain will have to commit to broad structural and labor-market reforms intended to make their economies more competitive and help create jobs. Those prescriptions are likely to sit uncomfortably with unions.

"Even more important for France (than fiscal consolidation) is that France will put renewed, strong emphasis on the labor market, the pension system, on opening up of closed professions and service markets," EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said earlier in May.

"France badly needs to unblock its growth potential and create jobs and this is at least as important as continuing with fiscal consolidation," he said.

French unemployment is above 10 percent of the workforce and set to grow. In Spain it is 27 percent, with more than half of young people without jobs. Spain's rate is more than double the euro zone average of 12 percent.

The Commission is likely to ask France to tackle its rigid labor code which makes it very difficult to fire someone on a permanent contract, making employers reluctant to hire.

Also the minimum wage in France, which at 1,430 euros a month is among the highest in Europe, hinders employment and makes French products less competitive globally.

France should also open up closed professions like taxi drivers, notaries and more generally legal professions and the health sector, allow competition into railways and into electricity, where state-owned EDF has 85 percent both in the production and retail markets.

Slovenia, the Netherlands, Portugal and Poland are also likely to get more time to bring down their budget gaps.

Italy also is likely to see the end of EU disciplinary budget action on Wednesday and Hungary is another candidate.

(Reporting By Jan Strupczewski; editing by Ron Askew)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/eu-move-spotlight-austerity-reforms-wednesday-164031120.html

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10 Mind-Blowing Facts About Google! - Business Insider

Stephen Lam/Reuters

Google's Sergey Brin

A Quora user recently posed a straightforward question: What are some mind-blowing facts about Google?

Given the size and scope of such a company, the Quora community had no problem providing a number of little-known yet surprising tidbits.

With all its tech excellence (which runs from Google Glass to the self-driving car to the internet's most beloved search engine), here are 10 mind-blowing facts you should know about Google.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/10-mind-blowing-facts-about-google-2013-5

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Paul Szep: The Daily Szep- Barack Obama

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Follow Paul Szep on Twitter: www.twitter.com/szeptoons

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-szep/the-daily-szep-barack-oba_b_3337337.html

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Prepare to party for 'Behind the Candelabra'

TV

Ree Hines TODAY contributor

21 hours ago

Claudette Barius / HBO

Michael Douglas as Liberace in "Behind the Candelabra."

The sequin-covered this, the rhinestone-encrusted that, the champagne cocktails, and -- oh! -- the frilled cuffs and collars. Sunday night is the big event: "Behind the Candelabra," the highly anticipated Liberace-Scott Thorson relationship flick, finally comes to the small screen.

It's also the perfect night to host the ultimate TV viewing party. After all, with so much glamour and excess set to hit the boob tube, it seems a shame not to let a little of that spill over into your living room.

Director Steven Soderbergh has made it clear that, despite the kitsch factor, the film isn't a shallow, campy effort. It's a look at a real relationship and real people -- at least as real as a story can be when it's based on Thorson's tell-all book, which was written after his lover-turned-benefactor-turned-bitter-ex died.

But just because the story is getting a thoughtful treatment on-screen, that doesn't mean you can't make a camp-filled f?te of it off-screen.

HBO

Just having a new movie with the combined star power of Michael Douglas and Matt Damon is reason enough for a little celebration. Add to it that the former is portraying one of the most popular (and easily the most flamboyant) entertainers of the 20th century, and the latter is playing the suing-mad, surgically-enhanced chauffeur who outed him -- well, pop culture rarely offers up such party-worthy plots.

So, let the celebration begin!

The menu
It's easy to go overboard with a bash like this -- and let's face it, it's necessary for most elements of a proper Liberace-themed party. The man himself was the definition of overboard. But when it comes to refreshments, keep the menu simple and the bar open.

For food, just get your hands on a used copy of the classic (and sadly out of print) "Liberace Cooks!" and let Mr. Showmanship himself plan your meal with "delicious recipes for you from his seven dining rooms." If you can't pull that off, just go with one of the recipes you can find online -- Liberace Sticky Buns anyone?

The music
If you have to ask what music to play, you're throwing the wrong party. Unless you or your guests know how to tickle the ivories particularly well, keep Liberace's own brand of pumped-up pop and quasi-classical tunes playing until show time.

The mood
Look around your place. Glitz? Glam? Glitter? If you answered "no" to any of those one-word queries, then it's back to work. You're not party-ready until it all shines, sparkles or reflects.

The main attraction
If everything else is just so, then it's time to focus on the part of the party that really matters: the costumes. Whether you and your guests are draped in floor-length faux furs or wearing a blinding amount of sequins, don't hold back. Dress as Liberace. Dress as Scott Thorson. Dress as one of their glitterati pals. Heck, dress up as one of the kids from "Toddlers & Tiaras," as long as your outfit knows no subtlety.

HBO

Prepare a prize or two for the best costumes. Did someone wear every ring they own (and borrow a few more too)? Prize. Did someone actually tape their skin back for that fresh-from-the-old-school-plastic-surgeon's-office look (just like Rob Lowe did for his part as Dr. Jack Startz, Liberace's go-to face man, in "Candelabra")? Big prize.

Start bringing out the bling now. There's just enough time to plan the party and polish your candelabra (you do have a candelabra?) before the TV event kicks off.

"Behind the Candelabra" airs May 26 at 9 p.m. on HBO.

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/get-ready-party-ahead-behind-candelabra-6C10074850

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Will There Be A ?Mass Exodus' Of Religious Groups From The Scouts?

By Adelle M. Banks
Religion News Service

(RNS) Now that Boy Scout delegates have taken their long-awaited vote and permitted openly gay Scouts, will there be a mass exodus by religious groups?

It depends on who you ask.

The Assemblies of God is certain there will be.

?We believe that the BSA policy change will lead to a mass exodus from the Boy Scout program, as Assemblies of God and many other churches can no longer support groups that are part of an organization allowing members who are openly homosexual,? the Pentecostal denomination declared minutes after 61 percent of delegates to a Boy Scouts of America meeting voted Thursday (May 23) to change the policy.

But R. Chip Turner, national chairman of the BSA?s Religious Relationships Task Force, hopes not. He acknowledged there will likely be fewer units, especially among religious groups, which have comprised about 70 percent of BSA sponsoring organizations.

?We?re absolutely not telling them you have to endorse homosexuality,? he said. ?You may not deny that membership based on that one characteristic.?

Other conservative leaders, including Liberty Counsel Chairman Mat Staver and Southern Baptist ethicist Richard Land, are using the ?mass exodus? terminology about the change that goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2014.

?I think there will be an immediate exodus,? said Roger ?Sing? Oldham, spokesman for the Southern Baptist Convention?s Executive Committee. ?I don?t know how large that immediate exodus will be, but then I think there?ll be a continual attrition over time.?

John Stemberger, who led the charge against a policy change as the head of the group OnMyHonor.net, plans to gather supporters in Louisville, Ky., in June to consider starting an alternative ?character development organization for boys.?

Both the Assemblies of God and the Southern Baptists have alternative programs that could attract members who are thinking of leaving the Scouts. The Assemblies put its statement on the website of its Royal Rangers, which includes boys in kindergarten through 12th grade. Oldham said some churches have been contacting the Royal Ambassadors program, which is run by the SBC?s Woman?s Missionary Union and includes boys in grades 1-6.

But other prominent religious groups are standing by the Scouts.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which sponsors more BSA troops than any other organization, ?will continue to sponsor Scout units for its congregations in the United States,? said spokesman Eric Hawkins. He does not expect any to disband.

United Methodist Scouting officials, the BSA?s second-largest sponsor, are continuing to support the BSA after the vote, along with other youth organizations.

The National Catholic Committee on Scouting said it hopes to maintain a relationship with BSA but will be conferring with bishops and diocesan Scouting committees about how the policy change will affect their activities. The committee noted: ?Open and avowed homosexuals promoting and engaging in homosexual conduct are not living lives consistent with Catholic teaching.?

Some individuals, on the other hand, already say they are going rather than grappling.

?As of now, I will no longer associate myself with the Boys Scouts and would work to promote the creation of Columbian Squires with every Knights of Columbus Council,? said Albert Bryson, a local leader of the Catholic fraternal group in Parkesburg, Pa., referring to a Scout-like group it sponsors.

?Our family are evangelical Christians,? said Mari LaCom, who attends a congregation of the Evangelical Free Church near Chatsworth, Calif., and expects her son will no longer pursue the rank of Eagle Scout.

?This is the reason our church will no longer be chartering our troop or have Scout Sundays. What do gay Boy Scouts grow up to be? Gay Boy Scout leaders.?

But religious supporters of the BSA vote say they are celebrating ? and expecting more progressive congregations to sponsor Scout troops ? while holding out hope that the Scouts eventually will approve gay leaders.

?It?s a good message to say youth are youth and can be involved with Scouting, and the difficult part is does someone suddenly become immoral and unable to serve once they turn 18?? asked Ross Murray, director of news and faith initiatives for the pro-gay organization GLAAD.

The BSA did not see that as an immediate agenda item: ?There are no plans for further review on this matter,? it said, noting it did not want to ?be consumed by a single, divisive, and unresolved societal issue.?

The Rev. Mike Schuenemeyer, the United Church of Christ?s executive minister for gay and lesbian concerns, said he expects more UCC congregations to get involved in Scouting. But he hopes houses of worship with less progressive stances also will continue their Scouting support.

?I think that Scouting is big enough for everyone and I think it?s big enough for people who are conservative to remain in the program as well,? he said.

Also on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/24/will-there-be-a-mass-exodus-of-religious-groups-from-the-scouts_n_3334536.html

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'Big Bang Theory' cast shares favorite moments

TV

Lesley Goldberg, The Hollywood Reporter

20 hours ago

Michael Yarish / CBS

Cast of "The Big Bang Theory."

"The Big Bang Theory" wrapped up its sixth season with a breakthrough for Raj. Overcoming selective mutism was one of scores of watershed moments the CBS comedy celebrated under first-year showrunner Steve Molaro.

While the writer/executive producer has been with the series since season one, Molaro says this year the characters -- because the audience knew them so well -- were in a place where the series was ready to go deeper and "tell stories where things really happen to them and things matter more."

"I'm really proud of season six; it's been really satisfying and fun to see how we've been able to go deeper and push these characters," Molaro says. The Hollywood Reporter was on set for the season finale and polled the cast on their favorite moments from the season that helped propel the series to become TV's No. 1 scripted comedy on TV.

More from THR: 'Big Bang Theory': A behind the scenes diary of the sweet season 6 finale

Steve Molaro

"I can't pick one. Leonard and Penny saying, 'I love you'; Raj's speech in the comic book store about how they're all a community, if they have each other; Sheldon making Amy his emergency contact; Howard coming back from space. Every character has had these incredible moments this season. Raj standing in the hall convincing Lucy to go out with him because he swears he's messed up in the head. The end of the closet episode when they all tell Howard what might be in the letter and one of them is true."

Jim Parsons (Sheldon)

"I did really enjoy the episode where Amy was sick. Her lassoing Sheldon into taking care of her goes to my point of Sheldon doing almost anything that is justified in the name of science or reason. In that case, she was sick enough that she needed to be bathed; she needed to have something rubbed on her bare chest; and by the end, she'd done so wrong that when Sheldon found out that she'd lied that she needed to be spanked. The young lady gets exactly what she wants by a young man who's doing it for different reasons. It's really brilliant."

Mayim Bialik (Amy)

"The spanking episode. That was fun largely because it was supposed to be off-camera, and at the last minute, Chuck Lorre decided to film it. That was really fun and awkward, right in front of the audience letting it come alive."

Photos from THR: 'The Big Bang Theory's' nerdiest guest stars

Johnny Galecki (Leonard)

"Penny telling Leonard she loves him is pretty big. We didn't play it as a watershed moment. It was played as if she's always known this. It was touching. I also love the moment when Leonard says, 'I know I propose a lot,' and then promises that he won't. It's one of my favorite Leonard lines to say. To put his own desire aside and say, 'You tell me when you're ready, despite what I want in my life right now and with you right now.' That's unconditional, selfless love."

Kaley Cuoco (Penny)

"When Penny said, 'I love you' to Leonard. It took her more than five years to say it. That's why now you know with Penny that whatever she does is real. You know when she said it she truly meant it. That's why now Leonard is OK with going away and knowing that they're going to be OK. We did that in one take. Steve came out and said, 'We're really happy with that. Do you want to do it again?' We didn't want to; it felt perfectly right. I told Johnny: 'It was so weird -- I became Penny in that moment.' There was no audience, just Leonard and Penny. It was a moment I'll definitely never forget."

Kunal Nayyar (Raj)

"I'll always remember this season. This is the season where these guys are getting to the point in their lives now where their priorities are not, 'Let's have video game night.' It's, 'I want love. I want a family. I want a relationship. I need a partner in my life.' That is the season for me; watching them shift from, 'Let's buy a time machine,' to, 'Am I going to get married to this girl? Am I going to ever find love? Am I ever going to find a partner?'"

Photos from THR: Behind the scenes: 'The Big Bang Theory'

Simon Helberg (Howard)

"Sheldon and Amy deciding to get physical -- but in the context of Dungeons and Dragons. It's a really brilliantly constructed scene where they're rolling the dice to figure out which article of armor, or clothing, comes off. It's really an amazing moment and a microcosm of the show. It is the reality of these characters, yet it's very universal. It's real to them and what maybe is a small step to other people, is as big of a step to these characters as you can find."

Melissa Rauch (Bernadette)

"The letter episode was so special. I really loved how they showed that aspect of Howard and Bernadette's marriage. It showed the emotional component of marriage and how Howard was going through this really traumatic event, and they did it together. They've always done a good job of showing the love between Howard and Bernadette -- even though they bicker and they don't always see eye to eye at exactly the same time. I just loved how that was a dual effort of helping them come to Howard's resolution and him talking it out with her."

Which was your favorite moment from the season? Click on "Talk about it" below and tell us!

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/big-bang-theory-cast-shares-their-favorite-moments-6C10067267

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The world's favorite fruit only better-tasting and longer-lasting

Friday, May 24, 2013

Tomatoes, said to be the world's most popular fruit, can be made both better-tasting and longer-lasting thanks to UK research with purple GM varieties.

"Working with GM tomatoes that are different to normal fruit only by the addition of a specific compound, allows us to pinpoint exactly how to breed in valuable traits," said Professor Cathie Martin from the John Innes Centre.

The research could also lead to GM varieties with better flavour, health and shelf life characteristics because even higher levels of the compounds can be achieved.

In research to be published in Current Biology, Martin and colleagues studied tomatoes enriched in anthocyanin, a natural pigment that confers high antioxidant capacity. The purple GM tomatoes have already been found to prolong the lives of cancer-prone mice and in the latest findings they also more double the normal shelf life of tomatoes from an average of 21 days to 48 days.

"Post-harvest losses due to rotting are such a serious problem for growers and supermarkets that even an increased shelf life of one day would make an enormous difference to them," said Yang Zhang, lead author from the John Innes Centre.

One way to improve shelf life is to pick tomatoes early when they are still green and induce them to ripen artificially with ethylene. However, this results in loss of flavour. Another method is to grow varieties that never fully ripen, but these also never develop a full flavour.

In the current study, anthocyanins were found to slow down the over-ripening process that leads to rotting and softening, achieving a tomato with a long shelf life and full flavour. The purple tomatoes were also less susceptible to one of the most important postharvest diseases, grey mould caused by Botrytis cinerea.

Conventional tomatoes can now be screened for their antioxidant capacity. Those found to be highest in antioxidant compounds can be used as parental lines for breeding.

"Our research has identified a new target for breeders to produce tomato varieties that are fuller in flavour, and so more appealing to consumers, and more valuable commercially due to increased shelf life," said Martin.

The findings could also be applied to other soft fruit such as strawberries and raspberries.

Other varieties of JIC tomatoes high in a variety of compounds such as those found in red wine are being used by Essex company Biodeb to develop a range of skincare products.

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Norwich BioScience Institutes: http://www.nbi.ac.uk/

Thanks to Norwich BioScience Institutes for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/128386/The_world_s_favorite_fruit_only_better_tasting_and_longer_lasting

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