Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com --- Wednesday, July 31, 2013
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Wednesday, July 31, 2013
India may test bench strength in 4th ODI
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Last Year's Lions | The Wildlife Society News
By Alexandra E. Sutton
A young boy herdsman (laiyoni) stands at his father?s ?boma,? a livestock enclosure. (Credit: Alexandra E. Suttton)
Jambo!
My first field notes blog introduced the goal of my project here in Kenya: to study the effectiveness of predator-proof fences in reducing human-carnivore conflict in the Western Mara. Now, I?ll write a bit about how I plan to conduct my research.
Unfortunately, there?s no perfect way (short of a time machine) to collect information about past predation rates. So I?m gathering data from a number of different sources to put together a clear picture of past predation. These include historical records of compensation paid to herders for loss of livestock, more recent yet patchy data on predation events, and retrospective interviews with herders.
By drawing on all of these data sources, I believe that we can uncover information that will help us reach our ultimate goal: to inform and improve conservation work here in the western Mara.
Historical Records
Although there are some historical records in the western Mara, they are spotty and imperfect. Some handwritten accounts of predation rest in the Mara North Conservancy?s headquarters and in the main office at Oloololo Gate, but these records cover only a small number of historical predation events, and are often secondhand accounts. Nonetheless, historical records (even imperfect ones) can provide an important buttress to the information that we gain now about current and recent predation.
These historical records also fall prey to a reporting bias problem: the Mara Conservancy compensated cattle owners until 2005 for ?huge losses? of livestock to predators. As a result, only predation that might have met the ?huge loss? criteria was reported. Although the ?huge loss? incidents might have a significant emotional impact on a cattle owner (one can just imagine the horror of waking up to find 89 goats and sheep killed out of 100), and might even be financially devastating, they often do not represent the bulk of predation.
I?m hoping to get a more complete picture of the ongoing nature of predation ? not just the incidents where a hyena or leopard killed a large number of animals in one sitting. In other words, a sudden break in a water pipe may be painfully costly to a homeowner, but a years-long slow leak might ultimately be a greater loss.
Sutton and her research team reach out to herding communities in the Maasai Mara to help build better livestock enclosures. This enclosure (above) is a traditional ?boma,? built with sticks and acacia thorns. Stronger enclosures (below) are often reinforced with chain link fence,? which reduces predation and, consequently, retaliatory attacks on wildlife. (Credit: Alexandra E. Sutton)
Recent Data
Other conservation groups working in the Mara, such as Friends of Conservation,? are sharing their recent predation data with us. But small staff size limits the ability of these groups to record all predation incidents, so patchiness and bias are inevitable in these data as well.
Interviews & Questionnaires
Interviews and questionnaires can yield incredibly rich information about human experiences; unfortunately, they?re incredibly challenging to perform well, and improper interpretation can produce data that is rife with errors. We?ve adapted survey methods originally developed by Amy Dickman during her work on the same types of human-wildlife conflict in Tanzania.
Working as a team, we?re able to provide simultaneous translation to our interview participants while providing depth and context to any answers we receive. We arrive at each boma (livestock enclosure) owner?s home, usually after giving advance notice to him or to the most senior of his wives. We introduce ourselves and our project and I offer a standard disclaimer that there will be no financial compensation for participating in the survey, or any cost to participate, and that we plan to use the data to help bolster the Anne K. Taylor Fund?s community efforts.
Elias Kamande, Kimoro Sakui, and myself ? all with the Anne K. Taylor Fund ? each play a different linguistic role during the interviews. Kimoro, a field team member, is a native Maa speaker (the Maasai language), and a well-respected member of the local Maasai community. This makes him an excellent community liaison, but he only speaks a small amount of Swahili and very little English. Kimoro can explain (in Swahili) when an interviewee has referenced a local event or has used a Maa aphorism that escapes direct translation. When Kimoro is called away by other duties, Sakat Jackson, a staff member at the Mara North Conservancy and also a native Maa speaker, helps us out.
Elias, our field team leader and a brilliant birder who knows the area?s ecology like the back of his hand, speaks Kikuyu ? the language of the largest ethnic group in Kenya. Elias also speaks Swahili and English quite well, but knows very little Maa. He?s able, however, to translate so that Kimoro and I can communicate with each other.
I am the native English speaker of the group, able to interpret our survey and research goals to Elias and Kimoro in Swahili (and, very rarely, a tiny bit of Maa) using my three years of training in Swahili and two months of immersion in the culture.
Even with these linguistic barriers conquered, the challenge of imperfect recall remains. People rarely remember distant events accurately. For this reason, we are only asking about predation events that occurred during the past year (May 2012 through June 2013).
In order to identify and compensate for outsize estimates of past predation, we ask our questions more than once and in different ways. Early in the interviews (which take about two hours each), we ask boma owners to estimate their total annual predation loss for cattle and smallstock (sheep and goats, also collectively referred to as ?shoats?). Later in the interview, we sit down for an accounting session during which we ask people to describe each predation event by the type of predator, starting with the largest ? lions and working down to the smallest ? honey badgers.
A teenaged herdsman (morani) holds a young goat that was injured by a hyena. Local herdsman are not as concerned with attacks on young livestock as they are with attacks on adults because the young are less valuable. (Credit: Alexandra E. Sutton)
Using the accounting method, the number of predated cattle typically turns out to be about half as many as the owner originally estimated, while the number of predated shoats is actually double the original estimate. This phenomenon might reflect the outsize emotional importance that owners place on cattle in Maasai culture.
The Maasai tend to overlook or ?forgive? predation of juvenile sheep and goats, taking stock only when adult animals are lost. As one Maasai put it, ?You cannot protect every animal. Some things are just lost, but that is okay. The small ones, there are many.? When we press interviewees for full counts of all animals during the accounting process, we often uncover large numbers of lost juvenile smallstock that the owner did not mention initially. So it appears that in this area, there?s a general forgiveness for juvenile smallstock predation, particularly when it occurs outside of the boma. During our interviews, we make every attempt not to call extra attention to the juvenile smallstock losses, hoping to prevent further degradation of the perspective on predators.
These observations give us valuable insight into the types of livestock loss that are more likely to trigger retaliation against local predators. Lions are often the target of retaliatory attacks because they are more likely to prey on cattle, while less concern for smallstock losses may account for the lack of retaliation against smaller predators like jackals and baboons.
Next Steps
I?ll be delving more deeply into my data this week, as I take a week?s break to visit another research group up north, in Laikipia ? a Kenyan district north of the Mara. I look forward to sharing some early insights with you all!
Tutaonana baadaye! (See you later!)
Source: http://news.wildlife.org/featured/last-years-lions/
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Tuesday, July 30, 2013
GOP donor's school grade changed
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ? Former Indiana and current Florida schools chief Tony Bennett built his national star by promising to hold "failing" schools accountable. But when it appeared an Indianapolis charter school run by a prominent Republican donor might receive a poor grade, Bennett's education team frantically overhauled his signature "A-F" school grading system to improve the school's marks.
Emails obtained by The Associated Press show Bennett and his staff scrambled last fall to ensure influential donor Christel DeHaan's school received an "A," despite poor test scores in algebra that initially earned it a "C."
"They need to understand that anything less than an A for Christel House compromises all of our accountability work," Bennett wrote in a Sept. 12 email to then-chief of staff Heather Neal, who is now Gov. Mike Pence's chief lobbyist.
The emails, which also show Bennett discussed with staff the legality of changing just DeHaan's grade, raise unsettling questions about the validity of a grading system that has broad implications. Indiana uses the A-F grades to determine which schools get taken over by the state and whether students seeking state-funded vouchers to attend private school need to first spend a year in public school. They also help determine how much state funding schools receive.
A low grade also can detract from a neighborhood and drive homebuyers elsewhere.
Bennett, who now is reworking Florida's grading system as that state's education commissioner, reviewed the emails Monday morning and denied that DeHaan's school received special treatment. He said discovering that the charter would receive a low grade raised broader concerns with grades for other "combined" schools ? those that included multiple grade levels ? across the state.
"There was not a secret about this," he said. "This wasn't just to give Christel House an A. It was to make sure the system was right to make sure the system was face valid."
However, the emails clearly show Bennett's staff was intensely focused on Christel House, whose founder has given more than $2.8 million to Republicans since 1998, including $130,000 to Bennett and thousands more to state legislative leaders.
Other schools saw their grades change, but the emails show DeHaan's charter was the catalyst for any changes.
Bennett rocketed to prominence with the help of former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and a national network of Republican leaders and donors, such as DeHaan. Bennett is a co-founder of Bush's Chiefs for Change, a group consisting mostly of Republican state school superintendents pushing school vouchers, teacher merit pay and many other policies enacted by Bennett in Indiana.
Though Indiana had had a school ranking system since 1999, Bennett switched to the A-F system and made it a signature item of his education agenda, raising the stakes for schools statewide.
Bennett consistently cited Christel House as a top-performing school as he secured support for the measure from business groups and lawmakers, including House Speaker Brian Bosma and Senate President Pro Tem David Long.
But trouble loomed when Indiana's then-grading director, Jon Gubera, first alerted Bennett on Sept. 12 that the Christel House Academy had scored less than an A.
"This will be a HUGE problem for us," Bennett wrote in a Sept. 12, 2012 email to Neal.
Neal fired back a few minutes later, "Oh, crap. We cannot release until this is resolved."
By Sept. 13, Gubera unveiled it was a 2.9, or a "C."
A weeklong behind-the-scenes scramble ensued among Bennett, assistant superintendent Dale Chu, Gubera, Neal and other top staff at the Indiana Department of Education. They examined ways to lift Christel House from a "C'' to an "A," including adjusting the presentation of color charts to make a high "B'' look like an "A'' and changing the grade just for Christel House.
It's not clear from the emails exactly how Gubera changed the grading formula, but they do show DeHaan's grade jumping twice.
"That's like parting the Red Sea to get numbers to move that significantly," Jeff Butts, superintendent of Wayne Township schools in Indianapolis, said in an interview with The Associated Press.
DeHaan, who opened the Christel House Academy charter school in Indianapolis in 2002 and has since opened schools in India, Mexico and South Africa, said in a statement Monday that no one from the school ever made any requests that would affect Christel House's grades.
Current Indiana schools chief Glenda Ritz's office declined comment on the emails.
Ritz, a Democrat, defeated Bennett in November with a grass-roots campaign driven by teachers angered by Bennett's education agenda.
Bennett said Monday he felt no special pressure to deliver an "A'' for DeHaan. Instead, he argued, if he had paid more attention to politics he would have won re-election in Indiana.
Yet Bennett wrote to staff twice in four days, directly inquiring about DeHaan's status. Gubera broke
the news after the second note that "terrible" 10th grade algebra results had "dragged down their entire school."
Bennett called the situation "very frustrating and disappointing" in an email that day.
"I am more than a little miffed about this," Bennett wrote. "I hope we come to the meeting today with solutions and not excuses and/or explanations for me to wiggle myself out of the repeated lies I have told over the past six months."
Bennett said Monday that email expressed his frustration at having assured top-performing schools like DeHaan's would be recognized in the grading system, but coming away with a flawed formula that would undo his promises.
When requested a status update Sept. 14, his staff alerted him that the new school grade, a 3.50, was painfully close to an "A." Then-deputy chief of staff Marcie Brown wrote that the state might not be able to "legally" change the cutoff for an "A."
"We can revise the rule," Bennett responded.
Over the next week, his top staff worked arduously to get Christel House its "A." By Sept. 21, Christel House had jumped to a 3.75. Gubera resigned shortly afterward.
He declined comment Monday.
The emails don't detail what Gubera changed in the school formula or how many schools were affected. Indiana education experts consulted for this article said they weren't aware the formula had been changed.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WISHTV_News/~3/oDmi9BCNaZk/gop-donors-school-grade-changed
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Monday, July 29, 2013
Initiation deaths in South Africa a health problem, doctor says
This is a grim time of year for a hospital in the rolling hills of South Africa?s Eastern Cape province, where mattresses are laid on floors to cope with the stream of young men with severe injuries from botched circumcisions at initiation ceremonies.
Some patients with amputations, a doctor says, were told by their handlers that their genitals would grow back, reflecting a fog of misinformation that makes it hard to stop what has become an annual health crisis.
More Related to this Story
It wasn?t supposed to be this way. The traditional ritual, which goes back centuries, is meant to usher youths into manhood, inculcating them with the responsibilities to become valued members of their community. Former South African President Nelson Mandela wrote about the spiritual meaning of his own circumcision in the same province where the Holy Cross Hospital is struggling to handle the influx of wounded males.
At least 60 males have died at initiation schools in eastern South Africa since the start of the initiation season in May, health officials confirmed. Thirty of them died in the Eastern Cape in the last six weeks, and 300 others were hospitalized with injuries.
Dingeman Rijken, a doctor at Holy Cross Hospital, has treated so many cases that he is campaigning for better practices at the ceremonies, circulating a training manual that calls for proper medical precautions. The manual contains graphic images of circumcisions and offers an ideal method of performing the procedure, which he?s shared with people involved in initiation ceremonies around Eastern Cape?s Pondoland region.
?It is becoming a psychological issue,? said Rijken, who has treated 140 initiates in the last year and admitted another 150 for serious injuries. ?I have had to tell eight boys this season that they?ve lost their glans or parts of their penis, so it is a health problem. We can?t run away from it, we need to address it.?
He said nurses struggle to keep up with the overflow of more than 68 initiates who were admitted in the last two weeks with badly infected genitals, dehydration or other serious injuries.
The worst of the injuries occurred after botched circumcisions performed by inexperienced traditional nurses, who use the same spear on multiple initiates without protecting against the spread of infections, then cover up wounds with tightly wrapped bandaging that cuts off blood supply to the area. After about 10 hours the genitals can become gangrenous and in some cases permanently damaged, but many initiates do not seek hospital treatment for another five to 10 days, Rijken said.
By this time very little can be done. Doctors cannot perform surgery because initiates suffer from sleep deprivation and dehydration and are not in a condition to give consent.
In minor cases, Rijken cleans off loose gangrenes around the affected area, bandages it and treats it with antibiotics, which eventually may result in a partial amputation of the penis. In more serious incidents, boys wait a period of one to six weeks until the entire organ falls off, he says.
Initiations are mostly practiced, though not exclusively, by the Xhosa tribe in eastern South Africa. Young males participate in the ritual as a formal preparation for adulthood, usually undergoing circumcision and survival tests in secluded sites outside their communities.
Most of the deaths in the Eastern Cape were in Pondoland, where the practice was banned in the 1820s by its then ruler, and then reintroduced in the last three decades as men who left their communities to work in mine fields were ostracized because they were not considered men if they were not circumcized, Rijken said, citing his research of its history.
Government legislation stipulates that participants should be at least 18, but parents can sign a consent allowing younger boys to participate. Rijken has monitored more than 60 ceremonies and rescued several injured boys, and says he sees initiates mostly between ages 14 and 17, but has treated boys as young as 12 who are too young to understand the implications of losing their male organ.
He said initiates rarely complain about pain because they fear being beaten by nurses and ridiculed by peers for not properly observing a tradition that encourages initiates to develop a tough demeanour. One patient had part of his injured penis ?yanked off? as punishment for complaining, and those who suffer penile amputations are frequently told by handlers that their penises would grow back, Rijken said.
?But that?s why we need to involve the community, to tell them it won?t grow back,? he said.
Like others who have spoken about the long-held tradition, Rijken believes it will take the combined effort of traditional leaders, provincial health departments and effective government regulation to end the killings and save the cultural practice, but he said it?s time the community is educated on the dangers.
?At a certain point if you see so many boys are dying, then it?s time to talk about it,? he said. ?We want people to do away with the secrecy and get the community involved.?
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Source: http://www.stargazette.com/article/20130728/LIFE12/307280028/1113/
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Sunday, July 28, 2013
Britain's SFO to receive funding for Barclays probe: FT
(Reuters) - Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is expected to receive about 2 million pounds ($3.07 million) from the UK Treasury to support its criminal probe into the dealings between Barclays Plc
Barclays is being investigated by the SFO and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for an allegation that the bank lent Qatar Holding, a part of the Qatar Investment Authority, money to invest in it as part of a rescue fundraising at the height of the 2008 financial crisis.
UK rules forbid a public company from giving financial assistance in order to acquire its shares or those of a parent company.
The bank has been deeply investigated by the FCA, which is now taking a back seat with the SFO probing into other parts of the fundraising, the FT said, citing people familiar with the matter. (http://link.reuters.com/muz89t)
A treasury spokesperson and the SFO declined to comment on the matter, while Barclays was not available for comments outside regular business hours.
David Green, the head of the SFO, has said he expects to secure extra funding from the government for some complex investigations, partly because the agency's annual budget has been slashed to around 30 million pounds - a fraction of the budget of some regional police forces.
Green, who has said he hopes for progress in the Barclays investigation by year end, is already receiving more than 3 million pounds per year in extra government funding the help with the largest and most complex inquiry on his books - the investigation into Libor rate rigging.
Some lawyers have argued that this so-called 'surge' or 'blockbuster' funding for specific investigations risks undermining the independence of the SFO, which is battling to restore faith in its crime-busting abilities.
Barclays, which publishes financial results on Tuesday, is expected to set out plans either to sell bonds that are wiped out if it hits trouble or to raise equity to meet tougher UK rules on capital.
($1 = 0.6506 British pounds)
(Reporting by Abhirup Roy in Bangalore and William Schomberg in London; Additional reporting by Kirstin Ridley; Editing by Diane Craft)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/britains-sfo-receive-funding-barclays-probe-ft-002754710.html
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Internet Marketing Solutions: Dealing With The Fear Of Commitment ...
How to earn more Online with Affiliate internet marketing?
Welcome to our website, which is devoted to internet marketing solutions. Thousands of people search the internet looking for information about this every month. We have pulled all the best information together and put it under one roof.
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Welcome to our website, which is devoted to internet marketing solutions. Thousands of people search the internet looking for information about this every month. We have pulled all the best information together and put it under one roof.
We have separated the key issues and put them on their own pages to make them easier to access. You will find the posts highly informative, and while here, have a look at the comments as well. There are lots of great suggestions from our readers, in fact, share your own suggestions, we would love to hear them.
Before you do though, check out the article below: it is intelligently written and the author makes some insightful points.
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Internet Marketing Solutions: Dealing With The Fear Of Commitment
Submitted by: Andy EliasonFear of commitment. To some degree we've all experienced it. Relationships are a difficult thing, whether they are social relationships or business relationships, we still have some natural hesitancy to fully commit to someone or something. As you search for Internet marketing solutions, from a company or packaged as software tools and applications, a little fear is a good thing. But if your fear controls you, the right Internet marketing solutions might pass you by.
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Google itself tells you in their Webmaster Help Center that no one can guarantee a #1 ranking in Google. And, for better or for worse, the people who are making Google work are a lot smarter than most of us. So in these cases of Claims and Guarantees it's okay to let your Fear guide your decisions.
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And when we look at it this way, at least we can say that our Fear of Commitment is not completely irrational. Companies that employ unethical Internet marketing solutions can get you to the top. They can also cause irreparable harm to your business and reputation.
At the same time, if you want to succeed on the Internet you have got to face your fears, cope with your hesitations, and confront your worries. (And any other encouraging statements you feel might apply.) Because not every company is like that, and there are a number of ethical, established, and proven Internet marketing solutions, and the right Internet marketing company can help you build a powerful web presence and improve your overall marketing strategy.
A couple methods that are common practices in Internet marketing include search engine optimization (SEO) and Pay-Per-Click (PPC). Both require skilled and knowledgeable application, but both can help you develop your online strategy and work your way up the search engine results.
However, SEO is not a quick or instant method. It takes time. And we've already discussed how the companies that promise instant SEO are justifiable sources of fear. Unfortunately a company's fear of commitment can often influence decisions when, in fact, you should be standing up to your fears. Fear enters corporate mentality when things don't progress as fast as they think it should. The wrong expectations can create the kind of fear that leads to bad decisions.
We can draw the same analogy to social relationships. How many of them have gone south because, even though both parties want the same outcome, they let their different expectations about how to achieve the end result destroy their chances of getting there. If you want to succeed it takes time. And more importantly, it takes commitment.
The moral of the story: Don't let your fear of commitment stop you from trying to find the right Internet marketing solutions. Not every relationship is going to work out on your first try, but if you really want to achieve the best possible outcome, you'll keep at it until the method and the achievement are exactly what your business needs.
About the Author: Andy Eliason is a writer at Main10, an Internet Marketing and Development company. If you'd like to learn more about our Internet Marketing Solutions visit http://www.main10.com/ or http://www.main10.com/marketing/internet_marketing_solutions.php
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Saturday, July 27, 2013
Charleston area?s District 42 at the heart of search for a new senator to replace Robert Ford
James Smalls and his wife Annette have lived in the Maryville-Ashleyville neighborhood since 1969, converting a small, run-down block house into a two-story brick home with a tidy yard.
They have seen crime up close but also witnessed the narrow streets here become more safe. They have seen improvements to their neighborhood playground where children can shoot hoops or just hang out and repair a bike.
And they fought hard ? and successfully ? to rid the neighborhood of what they saw as its biggest problem: an adult bookstore right in the middle, at Sycamore Avenue and St. Andrews Boulevard.
But they realize that they will need help if the neighborhood is going to continue to improve, and that?s why the upcoming Aug. 13 Democratic primary and Oct. 1 special election to fill Robert Ford?s state Senate seat is on their minds.
?When Robert Ford was in the Senate, he?d always come back into the neighborhood,? Smalls said. ?That?s the kind of representation we want for the community ? not just someone to get our vote and forget about us after the election.?
His wife Annette nodded. ?If I support them,? she said, ?I expect them to support the community we live in.?
Special race, special place
Among all those voting in the upcoming state Senate 42 election, residents of Maryville-Ashleyville, a historically African-American neighborhood in West Ashley, may have an extra sense of what?s at stake.
The contest not only will fill the seat vacated when Ford resigned amid ethical problems but also will determine who gets a high-profile post to represent the Lowcountry?s large black community.
Old timers here appreciate how powerful Columbia can be. Maryville once was one of the Lowcountry?s few majority black towns ? where black elected officials levied taxes and policed the streets decades before the civil rights movement. In 1936, as friction emerged between black and white residents, state lawmakers stripped away that power and dissolved the town.
Neighborhood Association President Diane Hamilton said the incorporation fight is over, but residents here still want respect.
?There are always some people who are going to object, whether it?s 2013 or 1936,? she said. Revoking the charter did not simply reflect Maryville?s lack of clout, she said, ?but those in the majority didn?t have any compassion for the minority. And we?re still dealing with that even today.?
Three centuries-plus of history
The Maryville-Ashleyville neighborhood lies just south of Charles Towne Landing and traces its earliest history to the years immediately following the 1670 founding of the Carolina colony.
But the neighborhood that exists today began taking shape shortly after the Civil War, when the land here was subdivided and sold to local black and white families. A black woman named Mary Matthews Just encouraged residents here to transform their community into a town.
In 1886, her efforts paid off, and the town ? one of the state?s first with a majority black voting population ? was named in her honor.
But the area, like today, was integrated, and the first attempt to disband the town came in 1933, when some white merchants in the town bristled at being taxed. A compromise was reached, but three years later, the end arrived.
A 1936 News and Courier article noted a growing number of white residents sought to revoke Maryville?s charter ?to improve the policing, health and road conditions. ... The county police have no right in there, therefore the white residents are at the mercy of these negroes.?
The story also noted calls to disband Lincolnville, a similar town near Summerville, but it managed to survive.
Later in the 20th century, the community was split by Saint Andrews Boulevard ? a four-lane highway serving new developments farther from the city. The blocks west of the new highway kept the Maryville name, while the section closest to the river began to be called ?Ashleyville.?
A heated election
This working-class community along the banks of the Ashley River already has seen heavy campaigning: Most candidates have stopped by, and their signs dot its narrow streets just off St. Andrews Boulevard.
Six Democrats will meet in an Aug. 13 primary, and a Republican and a Libertarian also will be on the Oct. 1 special election ballot.
These seats don?t come open often ? Ford held his seat for about 20 years ? so the crowded field is no surprise.
Randy Gillispie, a disabled veteran who has lived in the neighborhood before its streets were paved, said it?s the kind of neighborhood where people pull each other?s garbage cans back.
?Everybody knows everybody,? he said.
Gillispie recently talked near a corner marked by four different political signs. One reason campaigning here is intense is that no candidate lives nearby ?no one has home-field advantage here.
Democrat Emmanuel Ferguson, a Charleston lawyer, is the only candidate who lives in West Ashley. Gillispie said he is backing Ferguson, but not because of where he lives. ?I just like him,? he said. ?He?s about trying to give something back.?
Going door to door
North Charleston businesswoman Margaret Rush said she has campaigned door to door here, as have her opponents.
Marlon Kimpson, a Charleston lawyer who also is making his first run for office, said he made a point to visit Maryville-Ashleyville early. He called the neighborhood ?a culturally significant and politically aware area.?
State Rep. Wendell Gilliard, a Charleston Democrat supporting Kimpson, represents this area in the House and introduced Kimpson to James and Annette Smalls. They were sold and have one of Kimpson?s purple yard signs in front of their home.
?I like the way he speaks,? Smalls said of Kimpson.?
But the other candidates also have been hard at work here.
Retired veterans? counselor Herbert Fielding, whose father held the Senate seat before Ford, said he gets a little different feel when campaigning here. ?A lot of people say, ?We got you, don?t worry about it. We?ve got your back,? ? he said.
Overall, Fielding said this Senate 42 race is stirring up interest not only in this neighborhood but also in the larger black community.
?I think this race is good for the black community because they?re interested in it. The community can be apathetic, but they aren?t this time,? he said. ?They?ve got a good field of candidates.?
Ferguson said when he has campaigned there, he has talked to residents concerned about their ability to remain in the neighborhood as more discover its marsh views with the peninsular city in the distance.
?I campaign there,? he said, ?and have met people who fear they will be carried away by either the ?law man? or the ?tax man.? ?
Former Charleston City Council candidate Maurice Washington said he feels a special kinship to the neighborhood because he led an effort to annex the area into the city.
?I challenged city officials to go back out and do the proper solicitations to bring Ashleyville into the city,? he said. ?I understand that community very well.?
?Those are serious voting people,? he added. ?It?s going to be a very, very important of determining who the next Senator is going to be, I believe.?
About the future
While the town is long gone, its independent spirit remains.
?I think it?s a very important election because we need someone who will go to the state capital and voice our views and fight for the things that would benefit the neighborhood,? said Hamilton, a retired school teacher.
She said she is most interested in funding for public education and in the state?s refusal to expand Medicaid as outlined under the Affordable Care Act.
?I think we ought not to look at just the wealthiest people in our community but also focus on the working class,? she said. ?Everything seems to be for business, but what about the people these businesses will serve? I don?t see anything filtering down. Those who have get more. Those who do not have get less.?
Because the Senate district is 62 percent black, whoever wins the Aug. 13 Democratic primary ? or the likely Aug. 27 Democratic runoff ? will be seen as the heavy favorite on Oct 1. But if a Democrat is elected, the new senator will have to serve in a Statehouse that has grown increasingly Republican.
Ford had a reputation, especially early in his career, for being outspoken and ruffling feathers, and Hamilton liked that.
?He would say things that needed to be said. He was not afraid to address certain issues. We need someone who will continue that,? she said. ?This is going to be a difficult decision.?
Reach Robert Behre at 937-5771.
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Siemens' board to discuss management's future at weekend: sources
MUNICH (Reuters) - Siemens'
Pressure is building on Chief Executive Peter Loescher who is seen as struggling to turn Siemens around.
The agenda for both emergency meetings includes an item on "the future composition of management", one of the sources said.
Shares in the company turned positive after the news, gaining 1.5 percent at 79.81 euros by 1227 GMT.
Supervisory board members representing Siemens workers and shareholders will meet separately ahead of a joint meeting scheduled for Wednesday, a day before the company releases third-quarter results, the sources said.
Siemens' supervisory board has 20 members and, as is customary in Germany, half of them represent the interests of workers and the other half those of shareholders.
Siemens declined to comment.
Loescher has been trying to boost margins after criticism for being too slow to react to the global economic downturn. Last year, he said Siemens would save 6 billion euros ($8 billion) over two years to compete with rivals such as General Electric Co
But Siemens, whose products range from gas turbines to fast trains and hearing aids, has so far failed to make the progress Loescher promised investors at the time and just three months ago lowered its profit outlook for this year.
The group expects net profit from continuing operations to reach the lower end of its outlook range of between 4.5 billion euros ($6.0 billion) and 5 billion in the current year.
"Five to 6 billion euros of profit are apparently still not enough," Juergen Kerner, a board member at labor union IG Metall, told paper Donau-Zeitung in its Friday edition. He said the company needed a "new prospects", especially in Germany.
Since Loescher took over in 2007, the number of Siemens employees in Germany has fallen by 25,000 to 119,000, not including staff at closed or divested businesses such as its IT unit or recently spun-off lighting company Osram
(Reporting by Jens Hack; Writing by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Louise Ireland and Christoph Steitz)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/siemens-board-members-discuss-future-management-sources-113200208.html
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NCQA Recognizes NEW Health as Patient-Centered Medical Home ...
[unable to retrieve full-text content]?Becoming a patient-centered medical home is just one of the many ways we are striving to give our patients the best possible health care.? The PCMH model of care emphasizes care coordination and communication to ...
Source: http://northendwaterfront.com/2013/07/ncqa-recognizes-new-health-as-patient-centered-medical-home/
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Friday, July 26, 2013
Miley Cyrus returns to TV with docu special
FILE - This June 29, 2013 file photo shows Miley Cyrus hosting the iHeartRadio Ultimate Pool Party at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami. Cyrus is getting her own one-hour documentary on MTV. The news was announced by the network?s programming president Susanne Daniels on Friday, July 26, at the annual Television Critics Association summer press tour. Cameras will follow 20-year-old Cyrus as she works on her new album, which is due out later this year. (Photo by Jeff Daly/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - This June 29, 2013 file photo shows Miley Cyrus hosting the iHeartRadio Ultimate Pool Party at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami. Cyrus is getting her own one-hour documentary on MTV. The news was announced by the network?s programming president Susanne Daniels on Friday, July 26, at the annual Television Critics Association summer press tour. Cameras will follow 20-year-old Cyrus as she works on her new album, which is due out later this year. (Photo by Jeff Daly/Invision/AP, File)
Miley Cyrus hosts the iHeartRadio Ultimate Pool Party at the Fontainebleau Hotel on Saturday, June 29, 2013 in Miami. (Photo by Jeff Daly/Invision/AP)
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) ? MTV will become Miley Television this fall.
The 20-year-old actress-singer is getting a one-hour documentary ? not yet titled ? on the music network. The announcement was made Friday by MTV Programming President Susanne Daniels at the annual Television Critics Association summer press tour in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Cameras will follow Cyrus as she works on her new album, which is due out later this year.
Her current single, "We Can't Stop," is No. 2 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart.
Cyrus was the star of Disney's "Hannah Montana" for four seasons. The series' finale aired in January 2011.
___
Online:
http://www.mileycyrus.com/
http://www.mtv.com/
___
Alicia Rancilio covers entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow her online at http://www.twitter.com/aliciar
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Why China pays over the odds for its medicines
By Ben Hirschler, Ransdell Pierson and Kazunori Takada
(Reuters) - China has a drug problem. While most Western countries spend 10-12 percent of their healthcare budget on medicines, in China it is well over 40 percent, a disparity that goes to the heart of Beijing's crackdown on the industry.
A promise this week by GlaxoSmithKline to make its drugs more affordable in China in the wake of a bribery scandal is an important lever Chinese authorities may now use to start redressing the balance.
Britain's biggest drugmaker has given no details on the size of the price cuts it will consider, but an examination of its discounts in other emerging markets suggests there may be scope for reductions for some medicines of a third or more. Other pharmaceutical firms might have to follow suit.
"Four executives were arrested, the company itself will probably be fined top to bottom, and they are having to cut prices," said one veteran industry executive in China, who declined to be identified.
"That'll send a signal to other players in the industry, and prices should come down."
Chinese police have detained four Chinese GSK executives in connection with allegations the drugmaker funneled up to 3 billion yuan ($489 million) to travel agencies to facilitate bribes to doctors and officials to boost sales and raise the price of its drugs.
GSK has said some Chinese executives appeared to have broken the law, but Chief Executive Andrew Witty said on Wednesday that head office had no knowledge of the alleged wrongdoing.
None of GSK's competitors in China has publicly said they would cut prices, and major pharmaceutical companies reached by Reuters have so far declined to comment.
But a precedent was set earlier this month when Nestle led other foreign milk powder makers in cutting prices in China after Beijing launched an investigation into possible price-fixing and anti-competitive behavior in that sector.
Around the same time, the powerful National Development and Reform Commission said it was examining pricing by 60 local and international pharmaceutical companies.
"The Chinese government never does anything without a reason. China could be using these investigations partly to clean house and to also drive prices down," said Philip Urofsky at law firm Shearman & Sterling, who previously worked at the U.S. Department of Justice on cases involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
BIG PREMIUM FOR FOREIGN MEDICINE
Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and other groups shows how China's drugs market has been thrown out of kilter by a system that effectively encourages public hospitals to prescribe large amounts of expensive medicine to earn revenue, given cuts in government subsidies over 30 years.
"In China, a very high proportion of health expenditure is spent on medicines, which reflects both over-consumption and high prices," said Hans Hogerzeil, a professor of global health at the University of Groningen and a former WHO director of medicines policy.
As in many emerging markets, there is strong demand in China for Western drugs, whose brands offer quality assurance in an environment where patients often worry over sub-standard or counterfeit treatments. As such, they can command hefty price premiums, even though they are no longer protected by patents.
Just how big a premium is revealed in data collected by Dutch-based Health Action International (HAI), a non-profit group focused on access to medicines.
HAI found that in China's Shaanxi province last year, prices charged for drugs made by the original Western drug company in both the public and private sectors were about 11 times the international reference price as calculated by the U.S.-based independent group Management Sciences for Health.
Exact comparisons with other markets are difficult, but a separate survey of prices in New Delhi, India, found the prices patients paid in the private sector for originator brands were much less at under five times the reference level.
China's government has also faced criticism that some drug prices are higher than in South Korea and Taiwan, both developed economies.
"You have to question why the Chinese government is buying high-priced originator brands for off-patent medicines. It's clear they could treat many more patients, without any increase in expenditure, if they only procured lower-priced, quality-assured generics," said Margaret Ewen, coordinator for global pricing at HAI.
GSK FINDS CHEAPER PRODUCTS SELL MORE
GSK has a record of cutting prices in emerging markets.
In Indonesia, for example, GSK has halved the price of its top-selling inhaled lung drug Seretide, also known as Advair, and its antibiotic Augmentin was slashed by 50 percent in Brazil in 2010.
Newer drugs have seen price reductions, too, with Avodart for prostate enlargement cut by a third in Russia and a similar discount seen for cancer treatment Tykerb in India.
All these price cuts were made in the expectation that cheaper products would sell better - a strategy that GSK says has paid off in these cases.
Witty said on Wednesday that tiered pricing "may well be important" in China.
Jason Mann, managing director of emerging market healthcare and global biotechnology at Konus Capital in Hong Kong, said GSK might cut prices by 5-10 percent on average.
But he questioned if other big drugmakers would immediately follow because they all sold different medicines in China and might not be directly competing with any that GSK reprices.
Many international health experts would welcome tiered pricing as a way to counter pressures in the Chinese healthcare system, where hospitals get 40 percent of their income from prescribing drugs, giving doctors an incentive to use costly products and creating a fertile seedbed for corruption.
The most recent edition of the WHO's World Medicines Situation report, issued in 2011, said that in China "even in the most basic primary care level institutions, patients are frequently provided with unnecessary and expensive drugs".
As a result, medicines account for nearly half, or 43 percent, of China's total health expenditure, the WHO said.
(Ben Hirschler reported from London, Ransdell Pierson from New York and Kuzanori Takada from Shanghai; additional reporting by Donny Kwok in Hong Kong; editing by Dean Yates and Will Waterman)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/why-china-pays-over-odds-medicines-145509651.html
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'Leno' revisits Aaron Paul's 'awful' '90210' role
TV 
3 hours ago
"Breaking Bad" star Aaron Paul may have two Emmy awards under his belt and another nomination this year, but when he first started acting, he wasn't quite the thespian he is today.
On Tuesday, the actor appeared on "Tonight Show With Jay Leno," and his host didn't let him forget his more humble beginnings. To be specific, his early gig on the original "90210."
"That was actually I think ... if not my first job, one of my first jobs ever," Paul told Leno. He portrayed a high-school student who was playing the role of Romeo for West Beverly's production of "Romeo and Juliet" in the 1999 episode.
But it wasn't enough for Leno to merely discuss Paul's early experience ? he also had a clip to share.
"Oh no!" the actor groaned.
He watched with a look of horror on his face as his not-quite-Emmy-worthy performance aired. "That was awful!" he declared afterward. "Oh. My. Good God."
He's come quite far with his work as Jesse Pinkman, wouldn't you say?
Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/aaron-paul-horrified-his-awful-90210-role-thanks-leno-6C10732137
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Thursday, July 25, 2013
Sports Verdict: Which Team Has A Better Shot At Reaching The Postseason? Pirates Vs. Orioles
By Christian S. Kohl
Both the Baltimore Orioles and the Pittsburgh Pirates are enjoying quality seasons midway through this year. With each team presenting a legitimate threat to make the playoffs in their respective leagues, the question is, which is most likely to achieve that goal?
>>More Sports Verdict Here
Consistency is the big question with Baltimore this season. Chris Davis has effectively put the team on his back so far, with an eye-popping 37 HR and 97 RBI. Nearly half a season remains, and Davis has already produced an outstanding season?s worth of numbers. However, it remains completely uncertain whether or not he can continue to produce at anywhere near that clip. If he falls off, Baltimore may very well simply lack the offensive production to keep pace with the other teams in the AL East.
Jim Johnson presents another question mark of consistency for the O?s. While he leads the American League with 35 saves, he also sports 6 blown saves and has worked through true patches of difficulty in this season. He was utterly dominant last season, and he will need to recapture some measure of that consistency down the stretch to launch Baltimore into October.
Currently, the prospects for the often woeful Pirates seem brighter than the hopes of Baltimore. The pitching of Jeff Locke, in addition to the resurgence of Francisco Liriano, offer big starting options in their rotation. If Jason Grilli is able to produce at his current rate, the lone blown save bodes very well moving forward for Pittsburgh in key games. For the more new age stat fans, the performance of Andrew McCutchen and his league leading WAR also provides ample evidence to the emerging elite talent on the Pirates squad.
Still, the most compelling factor in determining who has the edge in this contest may well be an intangible one. The youth of the Orioles and the experience of Showalter last year ignited them in a unique fashion which may not be able to be duplicated this year. Conversely, that optimism and energy seems vibrant and alive in Pittsburgh, after decades of hopeless, floundering futility. The feeling is they may have pieced together a winner this year, and their team is playing with a fervor that may well be enough to carry them into postseason play.
Moreover, the division is tougher to wade through in the AL East. The Yankees, Sox and Rays all pose legitimate threats, as do the Jays if they can ever get healthy and straighten themselves out. In the NL Central, the Cubs and Brewers pose absolutely no threat whatsoever, leaving St. Louis as the primary divisional competition. A thinner division, plain and simply, translates to better chances and higher hopes. The Pirates trail St. Louis currently, but they are also currently the only NL team featuring 60 wins.
The O?s are explosive and talented, but the edge in this particular race goes to the Pirates. They are long overdue and are playing like they know it. Davis may need to hit 60 or more to keep Baltimore in it, but Pitt just needs to keep on rolling.
Christian S. Kohl is a sports contributor for CBS Local Digital Media.
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Sensex falls around 100 points; Ambuja, ACC slump
Reuters Market Eye - The BSE Sensex falls more than 80 points and the Nifty is down over 20 points. Ambuja Cements Ltd slumps as much as 15 percent after Holcim Ltd
Hindustan Unilever Ltd
Asian stocks retreated from seven-week highs on Thursday as Wall Street buckled under profit-taking pressure, while upbeat U.S. economic news helped the dollar snap a three-day slide.
Foreign institutional investors sold 4.04 billion rupees of cash shares on Wednesday, exchange data shows.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bse-sensex-flat-ambuja-cements-acc-slump-051825884.html
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Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Football: Robinho signs 2 year contract with AC Milan
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Source: chennaionline.com --- Tuesday, July 23, 2013
AC Milan striker, Robinho has extended his contract till the end of 2015-2016 with serie A club ...
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The Real Reason Google Killed Reader
Much has been said about the demise
Source: http://gizmodo.com/the-real-reason-google-killed-reader-879983329
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Celebrity News Headlines - Yahoo! News
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