We tend to think of demolition as destructive: dynamite, dust, and plenty of fireworks. But as a New York Times article recently described, demolition in dense cities is, more and more often, a "stealth" operation, where a building is dismantled over a number of weeks.
The article describes the slow demolition of Tokyo's 40-story Akasaka Hotel, which was taken apart, piece by piece, at a rate of two stories every ten days. The building was built in 1982 by Kenzo Tange, a venerable modernist who is much-loved by historians and architects?part of the reason why the stealth demolition seemed like a good idea. ?We want people not to really see the demolition work," the development manager told the NYT. ?The noise level is 20 decibels lower than the conventional way, and there?s 90 percent less dust leaving the area.?
Stealth aside, there are plenty of old-school demolitions still happening in the world, for better or worse (check out the 300-pounds-of-dynamite job that took place earlier this year in El Paso, below). After Architizer rounded up some of the best last week, we thought we'd add a few of our own favorites to the mix. There are dozens of great videos and GIFs out there, though, so post your own in the comments, below.
The 65-year-old New Frontier Hotel, in Las Vegas, was demolished in 2007?the occasion merited fireworks.
Cinergy Field, home to the Cincinnati Reds and Bengals since 1970s, was demolished in 1995. The entire explosion took only 37 seconds.
The Asarco Copper Smelt Smokestacks, in El Paso, required 300 pounds of dynamite to bring the 600-foot stacks down.
The Athlone Power Station cooling towers being demolished, in 2010, in Cape Town.
July 1, 2013 ? Computer science researchers have programmed a computer to play the game Concentration (also known as Memory). The work could help improve computer security -- and improve our understanding of how the human mind works.
The researchers developed a program to get the software system called ACT-R, a computer simulation that attempts to replicate human thought processes, to play Concentration. In the game, multiple matching pairs of cards are placed face down in a random order, and players are asked to flip over two cards, one at a time, to find the matching pairs. If a player flips over two cards that do not match, the cards are placed back face down. The player succeeds by remembering where the matching cards are located.
The researchers were able to either rush ACT-R's decision-making, which led it to play more quickly but make more mistakes, or allow ACT-R to take its time, which led to longer games with fewer mistakes.
As part of the study, 179 human participants played Concentration 20 times each -- 10 times for accuracy and 10 times for speed -- to give the researchers a point of comparison for their ACT-R model.
The findings will help the researchers distinguish between human players and automated "bots," ultimately helping them develop models to identify bots in a variety of applications. These bots pose security problems for online games, online voting and other Web applications.
"One way to approach the distinction between bot behavior and human behavior is to look at how bots behave," says Dr. Robert St. Amant, an associate professor of computer science at NC State and co-author of a paper describing the work. "Another way is to look at what humans do. We're focusing on the latter."
"We're looking for distinctions so subtle that they'd be very difficult to replicate outside of a cognitive architecture like ACT-R," says Dr. David Roberts, an assistant professor of computer science at NC State and co-author of the paper. "The level of sophistication needed to replicate those distinctions in a bot would be so expensive, in terms of time and money, that it would -- hopefully -- be cost-prohibitive."
The researchers were also able to modify the parameters of their Concentration model to determine which set of variables resulted in gameplay that most closely matched the gameplay of the human study participants.
This offers a plausible explanation of the cognitive processes taking place in the human mind when playing Concentration. For example, the Concentration model sometimes has a choice to make: remember a previous matching card and select it, or explore the board by selecting a new card. When playing for speed, the model takes the latter choice because it's faster than retrieving the information from memory. This may also be what's happening in the human brain when we play Concentration.
"This is information that moves us incrementally closer to understanding how cognitive function relates to the way we interact with computers," Roberts says. "Ultimately, this sort of information could one day be used to develop tools to help software designers identify how their design decisions affect the end users of their products. For example, do some design features confuse users? Which ones, and at what point? That would be useful information."
The paper, "Modeling the Concentration Game with ACT-R," will be presented at the International Conference on Cognitive Modeling, being held July 11-14 in Ottawa. Lead author of the paper is Titus Barik, a Ph.D. student at NC State. Co-authors include St. Amant, Roberts, and NC State Ph.D. students Arpan Chakraborty and Brent Harrison. The research was supported by the National Security Agency.
Contact: Jennifer Beal sciencenewsroom@wiley.com 44-012-437-70633 Wiley
1,192 Wiley journals have an Impact Factor; one in five are in the top ten of their categories
Hoboken, N.J. -- John Wiley & Sons, Inc., today announced a continued increase in the proportion of its journal titles indexed in the Thomson Reuters 2012 Journal Citation Reports (JCR), with 1,192 (approximately 77%) titles now indexed, up from 1,156 in the 2011 JCR. Wiley titles now account for the largest share of journals in 50 categories.
In the 2012 JCR the number of Wiley journals with a top category rank increased by 19% (4) and the number of Wiley titles indexed in the top ten of their categories also increased by 11% (27). Of publishers with more than 100 journals indexed in the 2012 JCR, Wiley saw the largest proportion of titles (close to 60%) increasing in Impact Factor (IF).
Highlights:
1,192 Wiley journals now have an IF.
25 Wiley journals achieved a top category rank across 31 JCR categories, up from 21 in 2011.
264 Wiley journals achieved a top 10 category rank across 341 categories, up from 237 in 2011.
59.4% of Wiley journals increased their IF.
Wiley titles appear in 218 of the 232 subject categories.
Wiley journals make up the largest share of journals in 50 categories.
CA -- A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, a Wiley published journal, continues to have the highest IF in the JCR.
"We are honoured to work with the editors, societies, and publishing teams behind such high quality publications, and it gives us great pleasure to see the portfolio go from strength to strength. All those involved, our colleagues and our partners, should be delighted by the latest JCR results," said Steven Miron, Senior Vice President in Wiley's Global Research business.
One of the largest changes this year is the partnership between Wiley and the American Geophysical Union, whose portfolio of influential geoscience and geophysics titles is responsible for 6% of citations to journals published by Wiley in the 2012 JCR. Of these titles, Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems entered the Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences category in the top ten, with an IF of 4.117.
Other success stories include the first appearance of Advanced Energy Materials, entering the JCR with an Impact Factor of 10.043 putting it in the top ten of all five of its JCR subject categories. Advanced Energy Materials joins the successful Advanced Materials series, which includes titles such as Advanced Functional Materials (9.765) and Advanced Materials (14.829). Collectively, these journals appear in the top ten of a JCR subject category 15 times, asserting the traction of this journal series within the scientific community.
This year also sees a continuing increase in IF of CA -- A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, published on behalf of The American Cancer Society. Last year this journal became the first to achieve an IF over 100 and has this year broken its own record with an IF of 153.459 at 0% self-citation, a 51% increase from its 2011 IF. The Impact Factors of its two sister titles, Cancer (5.201) and Cancer Cytopathology (4.434), also increased.
The WIRES (Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews) portfolio has continued to increase in strength, with seven WIRES titles now indexed in the JCR, three of which received their first IF this year.
Impact factors are a metric that reflect the frequency that peer-reviewed journals are cited by researchers, and are often used as a tool for evaluating a journal's quality.
Highlights in Chemistry, Physical Sciences and Engineering:
Four publications rank at number one in their category this year, including Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering (4.460 and number one in three categories); Acta Crystallographica Section D which is distributed on behalf of the IUCR and further increased its IF to 14.103, now ranking number one in two categories; the International Journal of Energy Research (1.987); and WIREs Computational Molecular Science (5.738) which received its first IF and entered the JCR at number one of the Mathematical & Computational Biology category.
Other journals with impressive first IFs include Advanced Energy Materials (10.043); Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology (2.679/ jointly published with the SCI); the International Journal of Applied Glass Science (1.548/published on behalf of the American Ceramic Society); and WIRES Data Mining & Knowledge Discovery (1.422). These excellent results underline Wiley's constant efforts for innovation in publishing.
Angewandte Chemie, a journal of the German Chemical Society published under the Wiley-VCH imprint, saw its IF rise further to 13.734. It has strengthened its position as the leading multidisciplinary chemistry journal publishing both primary research and review articles. ChemSusChem, Angewandte's sister journal jointly published by Wiley-VCH and ChemPubSoc Europe, received an impressive new IF of 7.475, a further increase of 43%.
Highlights in Social Sciences and Humanities:
Wiley publishes 424 ranked titles within the Social Science JCR categories and 19% (79 titles) are ranked within the top ten of their respective categories, achieving 90 top ten rankings. Wiley publishes the top ranked journal in seven of the Social Science JCR categories, including Business, Finance; Health Policy & Services; Psychology, Educational; Family Studies; Public Administration. The Milbank Quarterly topped categories in both the Science (Health Care Sciences & Services) and Social Science (Health Policy & Services) JCR. 17% of the Social Science JCR total citations received in 2012 were to Wiley published titles.
Eleven titles received an IF for the first time in 2012 including Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy which ranked within the top ten for its subject category. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being and Global Policy received their first IFs in 2012 and entered their subject categories within the top 20.
Wiley's Social Sciences and Humanities titles received several notable increases, including Business Strategy and the Environment which increased by 65% from 1.960 to 3.236 and Review of Policy Research which increased by 72% from 0.646 to 1.113 placing it within the top ten journals in Public Administration. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry's IF increased from 4.281 to 5.42 in 2012, ranking it second in Psychology, Developmental. Nine Wiley published journals saw their 2012 Impact Factors double, including Australian Accounting Review; Political Studies Review; Syntax; International Journal of Finance & Economics and The Developing Economies.
Wiley publishes more ranked titles than any other publisher in 12 out of 52 Social Science categories (including Anthropology, Business, Finance, Economics, Political Science, and three Psychology categories) and publishes the number one journals in nine categories (including Neuroimaging, Radiology, Biodiversity Conservation, Physical Geography, Zoology, and Palaeontology).
Highlights in Life, Earth, and Environmental Sciences:
Eighty-five journals within Wiley's Life, Earth, and Environmental Sciences publishing program are ranked within the top ten of their category, giving 101 top ten rankings overall. Eight journals rank at number one in their categories, including Ecology Letters which achieved an IF of 17.949 and retained its position as the number one ranking journal in Ecology.
Six new journals received their first IF including WIREs RNA at 4.186, Biotechnology Journal at 3.446 and the recently launched open access journal Ecology and Evolution at 1.184.
There were also strong performances for Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (4.375), FEMS Microbiology Reviews which rose from 10.960 to 13.231, Human Brain Mapping (6.878) and Reviews of Geophysics, published on behalf of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), which increased to 13.906 and ranks number two in Geochemistry & Geophysics.
Microbial Biotechnology, which recently moved to an open access model, achieved its second IF rising from 2.534 to 3.214. It went up 14 places in the Microbiology category to 38/116, and 21 places in the Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology category to 41/159.
Highlights in Health Sciences:
This year 329 Wiley health science journals featured in the JCR, including eight number one ranking journals and overall 62 journals which appear in the top ten of a subject category. Three titles have been indexed for the first time and received their first IF.
The number one ranked journals are CA -- A Cancer Journal for Clinicians (153.459/Oncology), American Journal of Transplantation, (6.192/Transplantation), Addiction Biology (5.914/Substance Abuse), Addiction (4.577/Substance Abuse Social Science), Periodontology 2000 (4.012/Dentistry, Oral Surgery & Medicine), International Journal of Andrology (3.565/Andrology), Medical Education (3.546/Education, Scientific Disciplines) and BIRTH: Issues in Perinatal Care (2.926/Nursing, in both Science and Social Science JCRs).
Wiley now publishes the top three journals in the Substance Abuse Science category: Addiction Biology, Addiction, and Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
British Journal of Pharmacology was awarded an Impact Factor of 5.067 making it the leading general pharmacology research journal in the pharmacology and pharmacy category.
Both journals published on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology, Arthritis & Rheumatism, and Arthritis Care & Research, remain in the top ten of the Rheumatology category.
The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews is ranked 11 of the 151 journals in the Medicine, General & Internal category. The total number of times the CDSR was cited increased from 29,593 in 2011 to 34,230, meaning the CDSR received the 6th highest number of citations in its category.
###
About Wiley
Wiley is a global provider of content-enabled solutions that improve outcomes in research, education, and professional practice. Our core businesses produce scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly journals, reference works, books, database services, and advertising; professional books, subscription products, certification and training services and online applications; and education content and services including integrated online teaching and learning resources for undergraduate and graduate students and lifelong learners.
Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE: JWa, JWb), has been a valued source of information and understanding for more than 200 years, helping people around the world meet their needs and fulfill their aspirations. Wiley and its acquired companies have published the works of more than 450 Nobel laureates in all categories: Literature, Economics, Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, and Peace. Wiley's global headquarters are located in Hoboken, New Jersey, with operations in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Canada, and Australia. The Company's website can be accessed at http://www.wiley.com.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Contact: Jennifer Beal sciencenewsroom@wiley.com 44-012-437-70633 Wiley
1,192 Wiley journals have an Impact Factor; one in five are in the top ten of their categories
Hoboken, N.J. -- John Wiley & Sons, Inc., today announced a continued increase in the proportion of its journal titles indexed in the Thomson Reuters 2012 Journal Citation Reports (JCR), with 1,192 (approximately 77%) titles now indexed, up from 1,156 in the 2011 JCR. Wiley titles now account for the largest share of journals in 50 categories.
In the 2012 JCR the number of Wiley journals with a top category rank increased by 19% (4) and the number of Wiley titles indexed in the top ten of their categories also increased by 11% (27). Of publishers with more than 100 journals indexed in the 2012 JCR, Wiley saw the largest proportion of titles (close to 60%) increasing in Impact Factor (IF).
Highlights:
1,192 Wiley journals now have an IF.
25 Wiley journals achieved a top category rank across 31 JCR categories, up from 21 in 2011.
264 Wiley journals achieved a top 10 category rank across 341 categories, up from 237 in 2011.
59.4% of Wiley journals increased their IF.
Wiley titles appear in 218 of the 232 subject categories.
Wiley journals make up the largest share of journals in 50 categories.
CA -- A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, a Wiley published journal, continues to have the highest IF in the JCR.
"We are honoured to work with the editors, societies, and publishing teams behind such high quality publications, and it gives us great pleasure to see the portfolio go from strength to strength. All those involved, our colleagues and our partners, should be delighted by the latest JCR results," said Steven Miron, Senior Vice President in Wiley's Global Research business.
One of the largest changes this year is the partnership between Wiley and the American Geophysical Union, whose portfolio of influential geoscience and geophysics titles is responsible for 6% of citations to journals published by Wiley in the 2012 JCR. Of these titles, Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems entered the Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences category in the top ten, with an IF of 4.117.
Other success stories include the first appearance of Advanced Energy Materials, entering the JCR with an Impact Factor of 10.043 putting it in the top ten of all five of its JCR subject categories. Advanced Energy Materials joins the successful Advanced Materials series, which includes titles such as Advanced Functional Materials (9.765) and Advanced Materials (14.829). Collectively, these journals appear in the top ten of a JCR subject category 15 times, asserting the traction of this journal series within the scientific community.
This year also sees a continuing increase in IF of CA -- A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, published on behalf of The American Cancer Society. Last year this journal became the first to achieve an IF over 100 and has this year broken its own record with an IF of 153.459 at 0% self-citation, a 51% increase from its 2011 IF. The Impact Factors of its two sister titles, Cancer (5.201) and Cancer Cytopathology (4.434), also increased.
The WIRES (Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews) portfolio has continued to increase in strength, with seven WIRES titles now indexed in the JCR, three of which received their first IF this year.
Impact factors are a metric that reflect the frequency that peer-reviewed journals are cited by researchers, and are often used as a tool for evaluating a journal's quality.
Highlights in Chemistry, Physical Sciences and Engineering:
Four publications rank at number one in their category this year, including Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering (4.460 and number one in three categories); Acta Crystallographica Section D which is distributed on behalf of the IUCR and further increased its IF to 14.103, now ranking number one in two categories; the International Journal of Energy Research (1.987); and WIREs Computational Molecular Science (5.738) which received its first IF and entered the JCR at number one of the Mathematical & Computational Biology category.
Other journals with impressive first IFs include Advanced Energy Materials (10.043); Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology (2.679/ jointly published with the SCI); the International Journal of Applied Glass Science (1.548/published on behalf of the American Ceramic Society); and WIRES Data Mining & Knowledge Discovery (1.422). These excellent results underline Wiley's constant efforts for innovation in publishing.
Angewandte Chemie, a journal of the German Chemical Society published under the Wiley-VCH imprint, saw its IF rise further to 13.734. It has strengthened its position as the leading multidisciplinary chemistry journal publishing both primary research and review articles. ChemSusChem, Angewandte's sister journal jointly published by Wiley-VCH and ChemPubSoc Europe, received an impressive new IF of 7.475, a further increase of 43%.
Highlights in Social Sciences and Humanities:
Wiley publishes 424 ranked titles within the Social Science JCR categories and 19% (79 titles) are ranked within the top ten of their respective categories, achieving 90 top ten rankings. Wiley publishes the top ranked journal in seven of the Social Science JCR categories, including Business, Finance; Health Policy & Services; Psychology, Educational; Family Studies; Public Administration. The Milbank Quarterly topped categories in both the Science (Health Care Sciences & Services) and Social Science (Health Policy & Services) JCR. 17% of the Social Science JCR total citations received in 2012 were to Wiley published titles.
Eleven titles received an IF for the first time in 2012 including Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy which ranked within the top ten for its subject category. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being and Global Policy received their first IFs in 2012 and entered their subject categories within the top 20.
Wiley's Social Sciences and Humanities titles received several notable increases, including Business Strategy and the Environment which increased by 65% from 1.960 to 3.236 and Review of Policy Research which increased by 72% from 0.646 to 1.113 placing it within the top ten journals in Public Administration. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry's IF increased from 4.281 to 5.42 in 2012, ranking it second in Psychology, Developmental. Nine Wiley published journals saw their 2012 Impact Factors double, including Australian Accounting Review; Political Studies Review; Syntax; International Journal of Finance & Economics and The Developing Economies.
Wiley publishes more ranked titles than any other publisher in 12 out of 52 Social Science categories (including Anthropology, Business, Finance, Economics, Political Science, and three Psychology categories) and publishes the number one journals in nine categories (including Neuroimaging, Radiology, Biodiversity Conservation, Physical Geography, Zoology, and Palaeontology).
Highlights in Life, Earth, and Environmental Sciences:
Eighty-five journals within Wiley's Life, Earth, and Environmental Sciences publishing program are ranked within the top ten of their category, giving 101 top ten rankings overall. Eight journals rank at number one in their categories, including Ecology Letters which achieved an IF of 17.949 and retained its position as the number one ranking journal in Ecology.
Six new journals received their first IF including WIREs RNA at 4.186, Biotechnology Journal at 3.446 and the recently launched open access journal Ecology and Evolution at 1.184.
There were also strong performances for Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (4.375), FEMS Microbiology Reviews which rose from 10.960 to 13.231, Human Brain Mapping (6.878) and Reviews of Geophysics, published on behalf of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), which increased to 13.906 and ranks number two in Geochemistry & Geophysics.
Microbial Biotechnology, which recently moved to an open access model, achieved its second IF rising from 2.534 to 3.214. It went up 14 places in the Microbiology category to 38/116, and 21 places in the Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology category to 41/159.
Highlights in Health Sciences:
This year 329 Wiley health science journals featured in the JCR, including eight number one ranking journals and overall 62 journals which appear in the top ten of a subject category. Three titles have been indexed for the first time and received their first IF.
The number one ranked journals are CA -- A Cancer Journal for Clinicians (153.459/Oncology), American Journal of Transplantation, (6.192/Transplantation), Addiction Biology (5.914/Substance Abuse), Addiction (4.577/Substance Abuse Social Science), Periodontology 2000 (4.012/Dentistry, Oral Surgery & Medicine), International Journal of Andrology (3.565/Andrology), Medical Education (3.546/Education, Scientific Disciplines) and BIRTH: Issues in Perinatal Care (2.926/Nursing, in both Science and Social Science JCRs).
Wiley now publishes the top three journals in the Substance Abuse Science category: Addiction Biology, Addiction, and Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
British Journal of Pharmacology was awarded an Impact Factor of 5.067 making it the leading general pharmacology research journal in the pharmacology and pharmacy category.
Both journals published on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology, Arthritis & Rheumatism, and Arthritis Care & Research, remain in the top ten of the Rheumatology category.
The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews is ranked 11 of the 151 journals in the Medicine, General & Internal category. The total number of times the CDSR was cited increased from 29,593 in 2011 to 34,230, meaning the CDSR received the 6th highest number of citations in its category.
###
About Wiley
Wiley is a global provider of content-enabled solutions that improve outcomes in research, education, and professional practice. Our core businesses produce scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly journals, reference works, books, database services, and advertising; professional books, subscription products, certification and training services and online applications; and education content and services including integrated online teaching and learning resources for undergraduate and graduate students and lifelong learners.
Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE: JWa, JWb), has been a valued source of information and understanding for more than 200 years, helping people around the world meet their needs and fulfill their aspirations. Wiley and its acquired companies have published the works of more than 450 Nobel laureates in all categories: Literature, Economics, Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, and Peace. Wiley's global headquarters are located in Hoboken, New Jersey, with operations in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Canada, and Australia. The Company's website can be accessed at http://www.wiley.com.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
U.S. President Barack Obama, left, gestures during a news conference with South African President Jacob Zuma at the Union Building on Saturday, June 29, 2013, in Pretoria, South Africa. The president is in South Africa, embarking on the second leg of his three-country African journey. The visit comes at a poignant time, with former South African president and anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela ailing in a Johannesburg hospital. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
U.S. President Barack Obama, left, gestures during a news conference with South African President Jacob Zuma at the Union Building on Saturday, June 29, 2013, in Pretoria, South Africa. The president is in South Africa, embarking on the second leg of his three-country African journey. The visit comes at a poignant time, with former South African president and anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela ailing in a Johannesburg hospital. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
U.S. first lady Michelle Obama hugs Tebogo Tenyan, 16, during a youth event to highlight the importance of education at the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre, Saturday, June 29, 2013, in Johannesburg, South Africa. Teenagers from around South Africa as well as students joining virtually in cities around the U.S. will participate. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
U.S. President Barack Obama, right, meets with African Union Commission Chair Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, left, in Johannesburg, South Africa, Saturday, June 29, 2013. The president is in South Africa, embarking on the second leg of his three-country African journey. The visit comes at a poignant time, with former South African president and anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela ailing in a Johannesburg hospital. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
U.S. first lady Michelle Obama, right, and Mirriam Kgokane, grade 10 at Sekola Sa Borokgo Middle School, center listen to Tebogo Tenyan, 16, speak during a youth event at the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre, Saturday, June 29, 2013, in Johannesburg, South Africa, organized in conjunction with MTV Base, an African youth and music TV channel, and Google+ to highlight the importance of education. Teenagers from around South Africa as well as students joining virtually in cities around the U.S. will participate. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
U.S. first lady Michelle Obama waves to the audience during a youth event at the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre, Saturday, June 29, 2013, in Johannesburg, South Africa, organized in conjunction with MTV Base, an African youth and music TV channel, and Google+ to highlight the importance of education. Teenagers from around South Africa as well as students joining virtually in cities around the U.S. will participate. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) ? One element of President Barack Obama's Africa policy is to encourage a free press, although he offered repeated reminders for U.S. reporters traveling with him on the continent to be on their best behavior.
"Americans, behave yourselves," he needled as a contingent of U.S. and South African media was pulled from a quick photo-op Saturday with President Jacob Zuma.
Obama spoke just before their news conference and may have been trying to suggest his press corps keep its questions tight.
Both U.S. and South African reporters asked multi-part questions. Obama didn't try to cut anyone off, but instead said the U.S. press corps must be happy the news conference was taking place in a wood-paneled chamber inside Pretoria's grand Union Buildings.
"This is much more elegant than the White House press room," Obama said, referring to the more cramped media quarters in the West Wing. "It's a big improvement."
He kept up the theme of a long-winded U.S. press at the start of his meeting with African Union Commission Chairwoman Dlamini-Zuma.
"I might take some questions, except earlier in the press conference you guys asked 4-in-1 questions," a grinning Obama teased.
At his earlier stop in Senegal, Obama apologized to host President Macky Sall on behalf the American media.
"Sometimes my press ? I notice yours just ask one question," Obama said. "We try to fit in three or four or five questions in there."
Minutes before that comment, Obama had praised democratic progress in Senegal, specifically mentioning "a strong press" as part of that movement. However, the first Senegalese reporter to be called on lobbed a softball, simply asking Sall to describe the visit and any new prospects it posed for Africa.
___
Zuma's dinner in honor of Obama's visit to Pretoria began with a moment of silence for ailing former President Nelson Mandela. Then came a longer, unintended and much more awkward silence.
Zuma came to the podium to deliver a toast but said his notes were not there. He asked the audience, "Just bear with me for a minute."
But the minute grew into 2 1/2, initially only broken by the sound of waiters popping champagne corks in preparation. Zuma cleared his throat and chuckled nervously in the quiet. "What is here are the remarks of President Barack Obama," Zuma said with an extended laugh from the audience
The seven-piece South African Navy Band decided to fill it by striking up "The Girl from Ipanema," and finally an aide delivered Zuma's remarks.
Obama took his turn at the podium and said his staff felt pretty good by the mix-up.
"This is not the first time that a president has come to the podium without notes that were supposed to be there," Obama said. "And they are gratefully relieved that does not only happen to them."
___
Questioned about foreign policy, Obama said more than the security issues that "take up a lot of my time," he gets great satisfaction from listening to regular people talk about building their businesses.
A priority is the war that's drawing to a close in Afghanistan, with U.S. combat troops scheduled to return home by the end of next year.
Another is keeping the U.S. public safe. "I can't deviate from that too much," Obama said before also mentioning the need to focus on turmoil across the Middle East.
But "as much as the security issues in my foreign policy take up a lot of my time, I get a lot more pleasure from listening to a small farmer say that she went from one hectare to 16 hectares and has doubled her income," Obama said. "That's a lot more satisfying and that's the future."
The president apparently was still feeling good after the stop in Senegal. On Friday, he toured an exhibit showcasing the Senegalese agricultural sector with a focus on nutrition and fortified foods and chatted up several of the farmers who were there. The programs get help from Feed the Future, a public-private partnership begun by Obama that he touted in Senegal, including to reporters aboard Air Force One.
___
Obama's trip has been quite a family affair.
He's traveling with his wife, Michelle, their daughters Malia and Sasha, his mother-in-law, Marian Robinson, and a niece, Leslie Robinson. Other relatives are with him in spirit.
He spoke Saturday about his late mother, anthropologist Stanley Ann Dunham, and what he said she always used to tell him.
"You can measure how well a country does by how well it treats its women," he said, quoting her.
On Thursday in Senegal, he quipped about how he had disappointed his maternal grandmother by becoming a politician, not a judge as she had hoped.
___
Obama was looking forward to visiting Robben Island for a special reason: the opportunity to take his daughters with him.
The tiny island off the coast of Cape Town is where many opponents of South Africa's former system of white-minority rule were sent to prison.
Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years behind bars on the island. He was elected president a few years after his release.
Obama has visited the island previously, but called it a "great privilege and a great honor" to be able to bring Malia, who turns 15 next Thursday, and Sasha, 12, to teach them the history of the island and South Africa and how those lessons apply to their own lives growing up in America. The family was scheduled to ride the ferry over on Sunday.
The Obama girls could have visited Robben Island in 2011 when they accompanied their mother on her visit to South Africa, but the trip was scrubbed at the last minute due to rough seas.
___
Michelle Obama says she definitely would take more risks if she could go back and relive her teenage years.
She avoided getting too specific, though, saying simply that she'd try more things and travel more.
"I wouldn't be as afraid as I was at that age to fail," she said in Johannesburg during a Google+ Hangout chat involving scores of young people in Africa and several cities across the U.S., including New York City, Los Angeles and Houston. Singer-songwriters John Legend and Victoria Justice also participated.
After some of the students seated on stage with the first lady were asked to name their dream jobs, the question was then put to her.
Mrs. Obama didn't identify her dream job, but said that back then she could never have envisioned participating in such a forum. She often has said she never saw herself becoming first lady, either, and used her example to try to inspire the audience. She told them to keep their dreams big and embrace failure.
"Don't take yourself out of the game before you even start, because there's no telling what life has in store for you," Mrs. Obama said.
___
Associated Press writers Nedra Pickler in Johannesburg and Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report.
___
Follow Julie Pace on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jpaceDC
Cynthia Wides, right, and Elizabeth Carey file for a marriage certificate at City Hall in San Francisco, Saturday, June 29, 2013. Dozens of gay couples have lined up outside City Hall in San Francisco as clerks have resumed issuing same-sex marriage licenses one day after a federal appeals court cleared the way for the state of California to immediately lift a 4-year freeze. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Cynthia Wides, right, and Elizabeth Carey file for a marriage certificate at City Hall in San Francisco, Saturday, June 29, 2013. Dozens of gay couples have lined up outside City Hall in San Francisco as clerks have resumed issuing same-sex marriage licenses one day after a federal appeals court cleared the way for the state of California to immediately lift a 4-year freeze. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Cynthia Wides, right, and Elizabeth Carey exchange wedding vows at City Hall in San Francisco, Saturday, June 29, 2013. Dozens of gay couples have lined up outside City Hall in San Francisco as clerks have resumed issuing same-sex marriage licenses one day after a federal appeals court cleared the way for the state of California to immediately lift a 4-year freeze. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Jen Rainin, left, laughs as her wife Frances holds up their dog Punum after they were married at City Hall in San Francisco, Friday, June 28, 2013. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a brief order Friday afternoon dissolving, "effective immediately," a stay it imposed on gay marriages while the lawsuit challenging the ban advanced through the courts. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Army Capt. Michael Potoczniak, center left, and Todd Saunders, of El Cerrito, Calif., are married by deputy marriage commissioner John Loschmann, center, as witnesses Bill Hershon, left, and Sean Boileau watch at City Hall in San Francisco, Saturday, June 29, 2013. Dozens of gay couples waited excitedly Saturday outside of San Francisco's City Hall as clerks resumed issuing same-sex marriage licenses, one day after a federal appeals court cleared the way for the state of California to immediately lift a 4 ? year freeze. Big crowds were expected from across the state as long lines had already stretched down the lobby shortly after 9 a.m. City officials decided to hold weekend hours and let couples tie the knot as San Francisco is also celebrating its annual Pride weekend expected to draw as many as 1 million people. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Army Capt. Michael Potoczniak, at left, and Todd Saunders, right, of El Cerrito, Calif., exchange rings as they are married by deputy marriage commissioner John Loschmann, center, at City Hall in San Francisco, Saturday, June 29, 2013. Dozens of gay couples waited excitedly Saturday outside of San Francisco's City Hall as clerks resumed issuing same-sex marriage licenses, one day after a federal appeals court cleared the way for the state of California to immediately lift a 4 ? year freeze. Big crowds were expected from across the state as long lines had already stretched down the lobby shortly after 9 a.m. City officials decided to hold weekend hours and let couples tie the knot as San Francisco is also celebrating its annual Pride weekend expected to draw as many as 1 million people. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Dozens of couples in jeans, shorts, white dresses and the occasional military uniform filled San Francisco City Hall on Saturday as clerks resumed issuing marriage licenses one day after a federal appeals court removed the last obstacle to making same-sex matrimony legal again in California.
Although a few clerk's offices around the state stayed open late on Friday, San Francisco was the only jurisdiction to hold weekend hours so same-sex couples could take advantage of their newly restored right, Clerk Karen Hong said.
A sign posted on the door of the office where a long line of couples waited to fill out applications listed the price for a license, a ceremony or both above the words "Equality=Priceless."
"We really wanted to make this happen," Hong said, adding that her whole staff and a group of volunteers came into work without having to be asked. "It's spontaneous, which is great in its own way."
The timing could not have been better for California National Guard Capt. Michael Potoczniak, 38, and his partner of 10 years, Todd Saunders, 47, of El Cerrito.
Potoczniak, who joined the Guard after the military's ban on openly gay service was repealed almost two years ago, is scheduled to fly out Sunday night for a month of basic training in Texas.
"I woke up this morning, shook him awake and said, 'Let's go," said Potoczniak, who chose to get married in his Army uniform. "It's something that people need to see because everyone is so used to uniforms at military weddings."
The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for gay marriage to return to the nation's most populous state by ruling 5-4 on Wednesday that the sponsors of California's voter-approved ban on same-sex unions lacked authority to defend the measure in court.
Also Wednesday, the Supreme Court overturned the federal law that prevented the government from awarding federal benefits to same sex couples, a decision with extra significance for military couples such as Saunders and Potoczniak.
"It scared me, honestly, before this all happened, that something could happen to me," Potoczniak said, "Things like my body, who would take care of him, even just getting the health insurance...It gives me a lot more peace of mind to know that the Army is taking care of us."
Also waiting to wed Saturday were Scott Kehoe, 34, and his fiancee, Aurelien Bricker, 24. After finding out on Facebook that the city was issuing same-sex marriage licenses Friday, the San Francisco couple rushed out to Tiffany's to buy wedding rings.
"We were afraid of further legal challenges in the state," Kehoe said.
Bricker is a French citizen living in the United States on a student visa, and the couple has contemplated moving to France once he completes his studies next year.
Now that the Defense of Marriage Act has been struck down and California's gay marriage ban lifted, Kehoe can sponsor his husband for U.S. citizenship or permanent residency.
Hong said 81 same-sex couples wed in San Francisco on Friday just hours after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a brief order saying it has dissolved a stay it imposed on gay marriages while a lawsuit challenging the ban, known as Proposition 8, worked its way through the courts.
Within hours of the appeals court's action Friday, the two lead plaintiffs who in 2009 sued to overturn Proposition 8, Kristin Perry and Sandra Stier of Berkeley, became the first couple to marry in San Francisco in a hastily arranged ceremony.
The city, home to both a federal trial court that struck down Proposition 8 as unconstitutional and the 9th Circuit, has been the epicenter of the state's gay marriage movement since then-Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered his administration in February 2004 to issue licenses to gay couples in defiance of state law.
A little more than four years later, the California Supreme Court, which is also based in San Francisco, struck down the state's one-man, one-woman marriage laws.
City Hall was the scene of many more marriages in the 4 1/2 months before a coalition of religious conservative groups successfully campaigned for the November 2008 passage of Proposition 8, which amended the state constitution to outlaw same-sex marriages.
Standing amid the beaming couples on Saturday, John Lewis and Stuart Gaffney of the advocacy group Marriage Equality USA looked like proud fathers. The men have been together 26 years, got married in February 2004, had their union invalidated six months later and then became one of the 18,000 couples estimated to have tied the knot in California before Proposition 8 was enacted.
"I don't think getting a license means as much to anyone who hasn't worked so long for it and fought so hard for it," Gaffney said. "It's been a very long engagement."
Mike Bouse of Henderson, Nev., shades himself with an umbrella as he floats in the waters along Boulder Beach at Lake Mead, Saturday, June 29, 2013 near Boulder City, Nev. Bouse and his wife planned to spend most of the day in and out of the water to escape the heat in the Las Vegas area where Saturday's daytime high was expected to reach 117 degrees, the city's all-time high. It was 108 at noon Saturday in Sin City. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
Jai, a tiger at the Phoenix Zoo, breaks apart frozen trout while sitting in his pool to keep cool, Friday, June 28, 2013 in Phoenix. Excessive heat warnings will continue for much of the Desert Southwest as building high pressure triggers major warming in eastern California, Nevada, and Arizona. Dangerously hot temperatures are expected across the Arizona deserts throughout the week with a high of 118 Friday. (AP Photo/Matt York)
A visitor to the Furnace Creek Vistitor Center walks by a digital thermometer in Death Vally National Park Friday, June 28, 2013 in Furnace Creek, Calif. Excessive heat warnings will continue for much of the Desert Southwest as building high pressure triggers major warming in eastern California, Nevada, and Arizona. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
People play in the fountain in front of the Barrett, The Honors College building at Arizona State University campus in Tempe, Ariz. during the Tempe Bicycle Action Group swimsuit ride on Saturday, June 29, 2013. About 100 cyclists biked around the city cooling off in pools and fountains. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, David Wallace)
From left, Subrina Madrid, Sarah Hudak, Jennifer, Shackelford, all of North Las Vegas, Nev., sit in the shallow waters along Boulder Beach at Lake Mead, Saturday, June 29, 2013 near Boulder City, Nev. The three planned to spend the day at the lake to escape the heat in Las Vegas where Saturday's daytime high was expected to reach 117 degrees, which is the city's all-time high. It was 108 at noon Saturday in Sin City. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
A jet looks like it is melting into the runway as it is distorted by the heat waves rising up from the north runway at Sky Harbor International Airport, Friday, June 28, 2013, the hottest day of the year so far. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, Tom Tingle)
Dan Kail, 67, of Pittsburg Pa., walks thru the sand dunes in Death Vally National Park Friday, June 28, 2013 near Stovepipe Wells, Calif. Excessive heat warnings will continue for much of the Desert Southwest as building high pressure triggers major warming in eastern California, Nevada, and Arizona. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Elephants at Utah's Hogle Zoo are cooled off with water hoses Friday, June 28, 2013, in Salt Lake City. The heat wave that is gripping the western United States is one of the worst in years, with desert locations in the Southwest seeing temperatures approach 120 degrees. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Children play at the Red Ridge Park kids water park, Thursday, June 27, 2013 in Las Vegas. Families stayed past sundown to cool off in the park's fountains after temperatures in Las Vegas hit 112 degrees. A high pressure system parking over the West is expected to bring temperatures this weekend and into next week that are extreme even for a region used to baking during the summer. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
A Filipino man pushes his tricycle along a flooded street in suburban Navotas, north of Manila, Philippines on Sunday June 30, 2013. Tropical Storm Rumbia shifted and spared the Philippine capital Sunday but stranded thousands of commuters, toppled trees and knocked out power in outlying provinces. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
This photo taken on June 24, 2013 shows large waves (below) with storm clouds (above), breaking onto cliffs at Bronte Beach near Sydney. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology has issued a warning for the Sydney area for June 25 and 26, with dangerous surf conditions, hazardous for coastal activities such as swimming, surfing and rock fishing. (GREG WOOD/AFP/Getty Images)
An Indian boy sits on a sea wall as waves lash the retaining wall of the iconic Gateway of India off the Arabian sea in Mumbai on June 25, 2013. The monsoon season, which runs from June to September, accounts for about 80 percent of India's annual rainfall, vital for a farm economy which lacks adequate irrigation facilities. However, the monsoon arrived early this year, catching many by surprise and exposing a lack of preparedness. (INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP/Getty Images)
Indian pedestrians run from water splashing over a sea wall in Mumbai on June 24, 2013. The monsoon, which covers the subcontinent from June to September, usually brings some flooding. But the heavy rains arrived early this year, catching many by surprise and exposing a lack of preparedness. (PUNIT PARANJPE/AFP/Getty Images)
An Indian snack vendor walks along a water-logged street in Kolkata on June 30, 2013. Heavy rains in various parts of Kolkata have disrupted normal life as several parts of the city became waterlogged and trains services were partially disrupted. (DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP/Getty Images)
Traffic passes along a water-logged street in Kolkata on June 30, 2013. Heavy rains in various parts of Kolkata have disrupted normal life as several parts of the city became waterlogged and trains services were partially disrupted. (DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP/Getty Images)
A girl wades through a flooded street in Manila on June 30, 2013. Tropical storm Rumbia lashed Manila and nearby areas with 65-75 kph winds disrupting aviation and ferry services. (NOEL CELIS/AFP/Getty Images)
CHEVY CHASE, Md. (AP) ? The family of an American college student killed in Egypt during violent protests says their son cared passionately about the Middle East and was in the country to teach English to children and to improve his own Arabic.
The U.S. State Department said Andrew Pochter, of Chevy Chase, Md., was killed Friday in Alexandria during clashes between government supporters and opponents. His family said in a statement Saturday that he was stabbed by a protester while observing the demonstrations.
"He went to Egypt because he cared profoundly about the Middle East. He had studied in the region, loved the culture, and planned to live and work there in the pursuit of peace and understanding," the statement said.
The 21-year-old spent his spring semester studying in Amman, Jordan, as part of the AMIDEAST Education Abroad Program and was teaching in Egypt before returning in the fall to Kenyon College in Ohio. He majored in religious studies, was active in the campus Hillel House and was a member of the rugby club and an organizer for the Middle Eastern Students Association, the college said.
Meryn Chimes, a New York University student who said she was a friend of Pochter, recalled how he traveled to Morocco between high school and college and sent her excited letters about how much he loved it there.
"When he came back, he just had this passion for the Middle East," she said.
During his travels, she said, he would marvel at everything from the food to the people he encountered at marketplaces to the Colonial architecture of Alexandria. She said he told her how much he loved teaching Egyptian children and how they worked so hard to master English.
"He said he hoped they liked him as a teacher, which I'm sure they did," she said.
She said they last spoke a few days ago.
"He really wanted to broaden people's perspective, especially in America. He wanted people to see places the way he saw them," said Chimes, noting how her friend had spoken of potentially becoming a reporter.
"He saw the world in a way that I don't think anyone else did, and it was a really beautiful way."
CAIRO (AP) ? As the streets once again fill with protesters eager to oust the president and Islamists determined to keep him in power, Egyptians are preparing for the worst: days or weeks of urban chaos that could turn their neighborhoods into battlegrounds.
Households already beset by power cuts, fuel shortages and rising prices are stocking up on goods in case the demonstrations drag on. Businesses near protest sites are closing until crowds subside. Fences, barricades and walls are going up near homes and key buildings. And local communities are organizing citizen patrols in case security breaks down.
For yet another time since President Mohammed Morsi took office last year, his palace in Cairo's upscale Heliopolis neighborhood is set to become the focus for popular frustration with his rule. Some protests outside the capital have already turned deadly, and weapons ? including firearms ? have been circulating more openly than in the past.
"We're worried like all Egyptians that a huge crowd will come, and it will get bloody," said Magdy Ezz, owner of a menswear shop across from the walled complex, a blend of Middle Eastern and neoclassical architecture. Besides ordinary roll-down storm shutters, storefronts on the street are sealed off with steel panels.
"We just hope it will be peaceful. But it could be a second revolution," he said. "If it lasts, we'll have to keep the store closed. But it's not like business has been booming here anyway, especially since the problems last year."
Last winter, the area saw some of Cairo's deadliest street violence since Egypt's 2011 uprising, with Islamists attacking a sit-in, anarchists throwing gasoline bombs, and police savagely beating protesters.
Morsi's opponents aim to bring out massive crowds starting Sunday, saying the country is fed up with Islamist misrule that has left the economy floundering and security in shambles. They say they have collected 22 million signatures ? compared to around 13 million voters who elected Morsi ? calling for him to step down, and they hope the turnout will push him to do just that.
Morsi's Islamist allies say they will defend the mandate of the country's first freely elected president, some with their "souls and blood" if necessary, while hard-liners have vowed to "smash" the protests.
On Friday, thousands of Morsi supporters launched a counterdemonstration, which some plan to continue as an open-ended sit-in at a mosque near the presidential palace ? the endpoint of the main protest march two days later.
Both camps say they intend to be peaceful, but demonstrations could rapidly descend into violence ? especially if the two sides meet. Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood group has said five of its members were killed in clashes with protesters in Nile Delta provinces over the past days, and Brotherhood offices have been attacked in several cities. A total of eight people, including one American, have been killed in protests this past week. The nation's highest religious authority, Al-Azhar, has warned against "civil war."
At the Brotherhood's national headquarters in Cairo's Muqattam district, workers added a final layer of mortar to a brick wall topped with grating to reinforce the main gate. A bank on the corner was completely boarded up. Some fear protesters could descend on the neighborhood to attack the headquarters, as happened last spring when supporters and opponents of the president fought street battles that left 200 wounded.
"The police have to get this place secured. It's their job and I'm sure they will," said Hadi Saad, a designer who lives around the corner from the headquarters. "The demonstrations will be very big across the country, no matter if (Morsi) stays or goes, so we should be prepared here as well."
Other neighbors said they don't expect a repeat of violence in the area, a hill overlooking the rest of the city. Only a handful of police patrolled the neighborhood ahead of the weekend protests, corralling a 100-car queue to the main avenue's gas station.
Engineer Hasan Farag, also a neighbor, said residents were "hoping for the best." Some have begun to resent the Brotherhood's presence, however, and a petition to force the offices out has been circulating.
"The neighborhood is divided ? some don't mind the headquarters being here, others do," Saad said.
Security has been redoubled at the presidential palace in Heliopolis. Walls set up last year still block some traffic access, and curved concrete slabs designed to prevent climbing now protect the main gates. Shipping containers also line much of the perimeter, and nearby apartment buildings have blocked off their parking lots and side streets with barbed wire. On Friday, authorities built a new wall of concrete blocks to surround the complex.
Peter Soliman, a communications student who lives in the neighborhood, said most residents don't know what to expect.
"Of course, parents are worried about their children going out to demonstrate by the palace, especially if the Brotherhood shows up," he said. "People fear things will turn bloody and divide the country."
Other Heliopolis residents and protest organizers say neighborhood watch groups are already being formed.
In the city center, concrete walls continue to block off the Interior Ministry and southern access routes to Tahrir Square, epicenter of the uprising that overthrew longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak. At the weekend, protesters gathered by the thousands at the square, saying they plan to dig in for a protracted conflict.
The nearby Semiramis Hotel is taking no chances, even though Tahrir is expected to be a sideshow compared to Sunday's march on the palace. The site of repeated clashes between stone-throwing youths and riot police this past year, the luxury hotel has just finished fortifying itself with a spiked metal fence topped with razor-sharp blades.
To the south, in the leafy Garden City neighborhood ? an area that has sometimes seen spillover violence from Tahrir ? some residents were securing their homes.
Metalworker Sameh Haddad used an arc welder to put the final touches on an apartment building's new wrought iron gate before hurrying to other appointments. "For once, business has been great," he said.
ReasonSure, professional athletes have a certain celebrity appeal, but can they really convince Americans to embrace a product that a growing number have already written off as a shit sandwich? But to really win hearts and minds ...? Hey! How about using the public schools to recruit their captive audience of students to the cause, and then set the kids loose to proselytize their families on the glories of Obamacare? That should work wonders.
And it's not creepy at all.
From School Reform News:
The Los Angeles Unified School District will use a state grant to train teens to promote ObamaCare to family members. Covered California, the state's health insurance exchange, announced grants of $37 million on May 14 to promote the nationally unpopular law.
LAUSD will receive $990,000. The district listed as a primary outcome for its project, "Teens trained to be messengers to family members."
Covered California spokeswoman Sarah Soto-Taylor said staff have not questioned this goal. ?
"We have confidence that the model LA Unified brought to the table will be successful in reaching our target population, which includes family members of students," she said.
Well, of course "staff have not questioned this goal." That's because "LAUSD will also use tax-paid staff to promote ObamaCare through phone calls to students? homes, in-class presentations, and meetings with employees eligible for ObamaCare?s taxpayer-covered healthcare."
So public school teachers get paid taxpayer dollars to preach Obamacare to their co-workers and the students, so the kids will then go home and sing the glories of the health scheme to the same taxpayers who are funding the whole process. Everybody wins!
If this experiment in using the public schools as a medium for spreading the good news works out as school officials and health insurance exchange managers hope, expect more in the future.
"Teens are part of a 'pilot' program to test whether young people can be trained as messengers to deliver outreach and limited education to family and friends in and around their homes," said Gayle Pollard-Terry, a LAUSD spokesman, in an email. "Teens will be educating adults that they already know (e.g., family or friends) and not other adults."
Well, of course teens will be indoctrinated in official messages that they'll then be expected to bring home. Why else would you send them to public schools?
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LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Sometimes movie stars grow on you, with familiarity breeding fondness. It's taken time but Channing Tatum has finally won me over with his goofy, lunkish charm.
Good thing, too, since he's front and center in the shameless bonfire of gunfire, explosions and macho hyperbolic heroics that is "White House Down," the latest over-the-top offering from director-producer-blockbuster specialist Roland Emmerich ("Independence Day," "The Day After Tomorrow" and "2012").
Emmerich, of course, notoriously annihilated the White House and most of Washington, D.C., in "Independence Day," a movie about an extraterrestrial invasion. In "White House Down," it's the Capitol that gets blown up, and this time it's human bad guys who are the invaders, taking over the White House at gunpoint.
Tatum plays John Cale, a Capitol Hill policeman and Afghanistan War vet who just happens to be accompanying his precocious daughter, Emily (Joey King), on a guided tour of the White House that day. During the course of the tour, President James Sawyer (Jamie Foxx), an idealistic former academic who chomps on Nicorette to keep from smoking - hmm, remind you of anyone? - stops by to greet the visitors and grants young Emily a brief interview for her video blog.
Minutes later, a group of heavily armed gunmen, who'd been posing as repairman, put into operation with military precision a takeover of the White House. Pulling out major weaponry, they start firing, slaughtering the President's entire protective detail and bevies of bureaucrats.
Cale quickly unites with President Sawyer, trying his best to protect the leader of the free world and keep him out of the bad guys' hands. As the two sneak around the Executive Mansion, trying to elude the gunmen and get to safety, they're also attempting to figure out what the heck is happening and who's behind the takeover.
At the same time, in a secure bunker elsewhere, a group of high level security personnel (Maggie Gyllenhaal), military officers (Lance Reddick) and elected figures (Richard Jenkins) gather to investigate the identities and motives of the White House invaders and how best to save the President and the nation.
The cat-and-mouse game in "White House" goes on and on (the movie runs for two hours and 17 minutes), growing more preposterous and silly by the scene. This totally is the stuff of action movies, not real life.
It's kind of fun, in a dopey way, for a while, but then it's just noise and firepower and boys with their toys.
As for the acting, Tatum proves a sturdy action hero, stripping down to a sleeveless undershirt in record time and projecting resolute concern. This guy is Aldo Ray all over again, only he's going to have a longer and more successful career.
Foxx goes with the flow, doing a sly take on the current occupant of the White House, making his President Sawyer both noble and ready to rumble. In supporting roles, Gyllenhaal, Reddick, Jenkins, James Woods and Jason Clarke all deliver when asked to, and Nicolas Wright earns laughs as a know-it-all White House tour guide who's appalled by the gunmen's disregard for historical White House antiques.
I'll give "White House Down" this: For sheer chutzpah, both in terms of product placement and situational believability, it will be hard for any other movie this summer to top a scene in which a bad guy has the temerity to grab President Sawyer by the ankles.
The Commander in Chief, having earlier in the story swapped his heavy dress shoes for pricey, fleet-making sneakers, fights the man off, scolding, "Don't touch the Jordans!"
June 25, 2013 ? In women who have type 2 diabetes and show signs of depression, vitamin D supplements significantly lowered blood pressure and improved their moods, according to a pilot study at Loyola University Chicago Niehoff School of Nursing.
Vitamin D even helped the women lose a few pounds.
The study was presented at the American Diabetes Association 73rd Scientific Sessions in Chicago.
"Vitamin D supplementation potentially is an easy and cost-effective therapy, with minimal side effects," said Sue M. Penckofer, PhD, RN, lead author of the study and a professor in the Niehoff School of Nursing. "Larger, randomized controlled trials are needed to determine the impact of vitamin D supplementation on depression and major cardiovascular risk factors among women with Type 2 diabetes."
Penckofer recently received a four-year, $1.49 million grant from the National Institute of Nursing Research at the National Institutes of Health to do such a study. Penckofer and her Loyola co-investigators plan to enroll 180 women who have type 2 diabetes, symptoms of depression and insufficient levels of vitamin D. Women will be randomly assigned to receive either a weekly vitamin D supplementation (50,000 International Units) or a matching weekly placebo for six months. The study is titled "Can the Sunshine Vitamin Improve Mood and Self Management in Women with Diabetes?
About 1 in 10 people in the United States has diabetes, and the incidence is projected to increase to 1 in 4 persons by 2050. Women with type 2 diabetes have worse outcomes than men. The reason may be due to depression, which affects more than 25 percent of women with diabetes. Depression impairs a patient's ability to manage her disease by eating right, exercising, taking medications, etc.
Many Americans do not get enough vitamin D, and people with diabetes are at especially high risk for vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency. Reasons include limited intake of foods high in vitamin D, obesity, lack of sun exposure and genetic variations.
The pilot study included 46 women who were an average age of 55 years, had diabetes an average of 8 years and insufficient blood levels of vitamin D (18 ng/ml). They took a weekly dose (50,000 International Units) of vitamin D. (By comparison, the recommended dietary allowance for women 51 to 70 years is 600 IU per day.)
After six months, their vitamin D blood levels reached sufficient levels (average 38 ng/ml) and their moods improved significantly. For example, in a 20-question depression symptom survey, scores decreased from 26.8 at the beginning of the study (indicating moderate depression) to 12.2 at six months (indicating no depression. (The depression scale ranges from 0 to 60, with higher numbers indicating more symptoms of depression.)
Blood pressure also improved, with the upper number decreasing from 140.4 mm Hg to 132.5 mm Hg. And their weight dropped from an average of 226.1 pounds to 223.6 pounds.
Penckofer is internationally known for her research on vitamin D, diabetes and depression. In October, she will be inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing for her scientific contributions in improving the health and quality of life of women with chronic disease. And she recently was appointed as the first nurse researcher to the Chicago Diabetes Center for Translational Research.
Co-authors of the study are Todd Doyle, PhD, Patricia Mumby, PhD, Mary Byrn, Mary Ann Emanuele, MD and Diane Wallis, MD.
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Public release date: 1-Jul-2013
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