And you thought your Hyundai had moves. This is the littoral combat ship USS Independence showing off its turning radius last week. Technically it's a display of maneuvering prowess, but you can't help but think it was also a chance for a bunch of able-bodied seamen to say wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
Source: http://gizmodo.com/what-happens-when-the-us-navy-does-a-donut-in-the-pacif-895762600
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/v_hQ9k6odLQ/130724200605.htm
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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/v_hQ9k6odLQ/130724200605.htm
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It has now been more than a year since Facebook?s lackluster IPO, and Wall Street analysts seem cautiously optimistic about the company?s future.
Analysts are expecting revenues of nearly $1.62 billion, which translates to 14 cents per share, when the company announces earnings this afternoon. That?s up 37 percent from Q2 of last year, when the company reported $1.18 billion in revenue, or 12 cents a share.
As the mobile advertising space continues to grow, analysts expect Facebook to be well-positioned to capitalize on that opportunity. If the company?s current upward trend in mobile advertising continues, it should be well-positioned for continued growth.
The real question for Wall Street is whether or not Facebook can continue to drive revenue. The company said that it would begin selling video advertisements that would run in users? news feeds in the first half of 2013, but those ads haven?t materialized yet. One reason for that may be a concern about driving users away to competing social networks.
While it doesn?t seem to be in trouble yet, investors are watching Facebook very closely to see if it?s losing ground to Snapchat and Google+. With new reports showing that Facebook may be losing its luster among young people, that?s a pressing risk.
Blair Hanley Frank is a technology journalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has also worked for Macworld, PCWorld and TechHive. He can be found on Twitter @belril.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/geekwire/~3/w6KAjskfn_4/
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Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, carries her new born son, the Prince of Cambridge, who was born on Monday. into public view for the first time. outside the Lindo Wing of St. Mary's Hospital, in London, Tuesday, July 23, 2013. The boy will be third in line to the British throne. (AP Photo/John Stillwell, Pool)
Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, carries her new born son, the Prince of Cambridge, who was born on Monday. into public view for the first time. outside the Lindo Wing of St. Mary's Hospital, in London, Tuesday, July 23, 2013. The boy will be third in line to the British throne. (AP Photo/John Stillwell, Pool)
British newspapers are displayed for sale in London, Wednesday, July 24, 2013. The newspapers show coverage of the new royal baby boy, third in line to the throne. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Fans and tourists sign a giant card congratulating Britain's Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, on the birth of their baby boy Tuesday, July 23, 2013 outside the TCL Chinese Theatre in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles in Los Angeles Tuesday, July 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
A selection of British daily newspapers on Wednesday July 24, 2013 headlining the news of the birth of a son to Prince William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. It was announced on Monday that Prince William's wife Kate has given birth to a baby boy. The baby was born at 4:24 p.m. and weighed 8 pounds 6 ounces. The infant will become third in line for the British throne after Prince Charles and William. (AP Photo/Tony Hicks)
Royal baby celebration china is displayed on sale in a souvenir shop in London, Wednesday, July 24, 2013. Sales of royal related souvenirs are expected to rise after Britain's Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to a baby boy who will be third in line to the throne. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
LONDON (AP) ? His Royal Highness has a name.
Britain's new prince has been named George Alexander Louis, royal officials said Wednesday, ending speculation over what moniker Prince William and his wife, Kate, would pick for their first child.
Kensington Palace said royals are "delighted to announce" their son's name, adding that the 2-day-old baby and third-in-line to the throne will be known as "His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge."
Noble names are steeped in history, which explains why thousands of bets rolled in to British bookmakers for the name George, the name of six previous British kings. The moniker evokes the steadfastness of the queen's father, George VI, who rallied the nation during World War II.
Meaning farmer or earth worker, George was the 12th most popular name for boys born in England and Wales in 2011. St. George, a 4th-century Christian martyr, is the patron saint of England.
The name Louis could be a tribute to Lord Louis Mountbatten, the Duke of Edinburgh's uncle and the last British Viceroy of India before independence in 1947. William's father, Prince Charles, was close with Mountbatten, who was assassinated by the Irish Republican Army in 1979.
The announcement from Prince William and Kate ? just two days after the baby's birth ? was quick, by royal standards.
Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh took a month before settling on the name Charles for the Prince of Wales. Princess Diana and Prince Charles took a week before settling on William's four names.
For now, the littlest royal is expected to stay out of the spotlight after making his first "public appearance" in the arms of his parents outside of London's St. Mary's Hospital on Tuesday.
After leaving the hospital, William and Kate introduced their son Wednesday to great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, who was keen to see the baby before she starts her annual summer vacation in Scotland later this week.
Then the young family headed to see Kate's parents in their village near London.
Now that Kate and William have chosen a name, they are expected to soon choose a photographer for the baby's first official portrait.
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Source: www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk --- Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Check out latest Football transfer gossip around the leagues. Is your favourite player tipped for a move? ...
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WARRICK DUNN, CHAD PENNINGTON and ROD WOODSON among 19 Former Players to Serve as Legends
The National Football League today launched its Legends Program, the newest step in a series of programs designed to help former NFL players connect with each other, their former teams and the NFL.
Nineteen former players, including two Hall of Famers, form the first class of NFL Legends who will participate in this multi-faceted program developed by NFL Player Engagement and the league?s Marketing Department.? The Legends will develop, foster and manage national and local alumni relations to deepen the relationship and communication between the league office, teams and former players.? They also will participate in the league?s calendar events and fan platforms as additional ways to remain connected to the game.
NFL Commissioner ROGER GOODELL and NFL Senior Vice President of Player Engagement TROY VINCENT kicked off the program on Monday, the first of two days of training at the NFL office in New York City.
?Based on our peer-to-peer model, the Legends Program will reach out to our former players, and let them know that their contribution to the game we love is appreciated and their voice is welcome,? said Vincent. ?We are a brotherhood, a family. We need to strengthen our relationships across the generations of our alumni, stay connected, and continue to contribute to this game and to each other.?
The Legends Program is built on a peer-to-peer model used in other NFL Player Engagement programs, fostering deeper relationships between generations of NFL players.? Legends commit to a three-year term during which they will work to connect the 32 teams and the league with more former players.? Legends will work closely with existing club-designated alumni directors, communicate with groups representing former players, and help develop and participate in team and league events.
For the complete release, click here
Source: http://nflcommunications.com/2013/07/22/nfl-launches-legends-program-for-former-players/
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BASTROP, Texas (AP) ? About 160 chimpanzees kept at a University of Texas animal research facility are slated for retirement at a federally funded sanctuary in Louisiana as part of the National Institutes of Health's recent decision to end almost all medical research on the apes.
The NIH's decision to phase out medical testing on chimps, save for in a few cases in which the animals are indispensable, was made because new research methods made using the animals unnecessary.
Chris Abee, the director of the university's M.D. Anderson Cancer Center's animal research facility in Bastrop, opposes the plan to move the chimps to the Louisiana sanctuary. He told the Houston Chronicle (http://bit.ly/129drSm ) that the research center would provide better care for the retired animals and that moving them would disrupt their social groups.
The decision to move the primates to Louisiana isn't final and NIH officials have said it could take years to happen.
Kathleen Conlee, the president for animal research Humane Society, which has pushed for the retirement of chimps to a federal sanctuary, said she thinks the retired chimps shouldn't continue being kept at a lab.
The center's Keeling Center for Comparative Medicine and Research, which was founded in 1975, is a continuous recipient of federal funding. It spends about $17,000 a year on each chimp and devotes about 12 of its 381 acres to the animals, including open-air corrals and geodesic domes in which the chimps can play and forage.
The center's chimps are from 11 to 51 years old and come from all sorts of backgrounds. Some were pets, others were used to perform in circuses and about 100 of them were born at the research center, mostly in the 1980's when the government encouraged chimp reproduction because it was believed they could be used in AIDS research. The idea was abandoned after it was shown, at least on tests done at the time, that apes did not develop the disease after being infected with their species' equivalent of HIV.
Abee said apes have been crucial to research and development of hepatitis vaccines.
"We wouldn't have a vaccine for hepatitis B without chimpanzees," Abee told the newspaper. "Our best hope for a hepatitis C vaccine is chimpanzees since there's no other animal model for it. If a loved one of yours is one of the 15,000 people in the United States who die annually of hepatitis C, the research might be more important to you."
A small percentage of Keeling's chimps at one point were infected with hepatitis C. However, Abee said the center's veterinary care involves issues of aging - arthritis, heart disease - not any effects of research. He said the chimps are the subjects only of studies observing their behavior.
Before the chimps could be moved to the Louisiana sanctuary, Chimp Haven, it would have to be expanded. That could take years, said NIH program director Jim Anderson. "There are a lot of options to be considered."
The NIH's decision to retire the chimps to Louisiana will affect about 50 employees at the Keeling center. With about 1,000 rhesus monkeys, 530 squirrel monkeys, 350 owl monkeys, sheep, geese and mice, the center will remain open for the foreseeable future.
___
Information from: Houston Chronicle, http://www.houstonchronicle.com
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So, Geraldo Rivera posted a nude selfie on Twitter.
Last night, the TV personality went on Twitter to post the above photo, writing "70 is the new 50 (Erica and family are going to be so pissed... but at my age...)."
That would be his wife, Erica Michelle Levy, whom he married in 2003 and with whom he has a daughter, Solita, 8. He has four other kids ages 19-34.
The three main takeaways from this story:
Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/07/geraldo-rivera-nude-on-twitter/
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By This Is Money Reporter
|
Yellow Pages owner Hibu is reportedly on the brink of being seized by lenders in a deal set to wipe out shareholders.
Hibu - which changed its name from Yell last year - is in talks over a complex debt-for-equity deal that will see creditors such as Wall Street hedge funds and banks take control of the phone books giant, according to The Sunday Times.
It is believed the agreement will reduce its debts from around ?2.3billion to less than ?1billion.
Trading history: Yell borrowed heavily to fund a raft of overseas acquisitions before the credit crunch struck and has also fallen foul of competition from internet search rivals
Once listed on the FTSE 100 Index, Hibu is now worth a fraction of its former ?5billion market value.
The group, which has 13,000 staff, borrowed heavily to fund a raft of overseas acquisitions before the credit crunch struck and has also fallen foul of competition from internet search rivals, such as Google, which has slashed earnings.
?
It is thought the debt restructuring details will be announced when it reports annual results on Thursday.
Hibu had 1.2million small firms as customers and revenues of ?1.6billion in the year to the end of March last year.
But it is struggling to sustain interest payments on its mammoth debts, said to be more than ?150million a year.
The firm has already warned that any debt restructuring deal would likely leave investors with little or no value on their shares.
Shareholders have already seen the value of the stock decimated - with shares worth just 0.3p, having plunged by 85 per cent in the past year alone.
Hibu's biggest creditors are thought to include Soros Fund Management, Deutsche Bank and US private equity firm Blackstone.
Hibu declined to comment.
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This publicity photo released by NBC shows Joel McHale as Jeff and Alison Brie as Annie in Episode 411 "Advanced Intro To Finality" from the TV series, "Community." (AP Photo/NBC, Vivian Zink)
This publicity photo released by NBC shows Joel McHale as Jeff and Alison Brie as Annie in Episode 411 "Advanced Intro To Finality" from the TV series, "Community." (AP Photo/NBC, Vivian Zink)
SAN DIEGO (AP) ? "Community" mastermind Dan Harmon is back at Comic-Con ? albeit in cheap Iron Man costume.
Harmon was replaced as showrunner for the fourth season after a clash with then-cast member Chevy Chase. NBC announced in May that the show had been renewed for a fifth season, and Harmon was reinstated.
He kicked off Sunday's presentation for the quirky NBC sitcom by lunging onto stage in cardboard armor, which cast members Danny Pudi and Jim Rash slowly ripped off.
Harmon was also joined by former "Community" producer Chris McKenna and co-stars Nicole Yvette Brown, Allison Brie, Ken Jeong and Gillian Jacobs.
Joel McHale is shooting the film "Beware the Night" and wasn't present. Neither was Donald Glover, who will only star in handful of new episodes.
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PEPPER PIKE -- Neighbors who woke up this morning in Pepper Pike began counting the signs of damage to yards and homes.
On several streets near Lander Road, trees are split or bent in the direction the wind blew.
The National Weather Service confirms a high-end EF1 tornado, up to 200 yards wide, blew a path 1.3 miles from Ursuline College to residential streets.
The college was hardest hit. The?gymnasium wall was ripped off in the 110 mph winds.
The science center and college library were damaged, too.
About four or five people were on campus at the time. On Friday afternoon, the college was full of summer campers earlier in the day.
"Nobody was injured. Nobody was hurt. We feel great blessings for that. God was looking out for us," said Sister Diana Stano, President of Ursuline College.
Much of the lush landscaping and age-old trees surrounding the pond on the campus were destroyed in the tornado's path.
"I've been president for 17 years and I've never seen damage like this," Sister Diana said.
Less than a mile away, neighbors on Plymouth Road spent the day counting blessings, too.
Large trees in Lorie Hollington Smith and Katie Outcalt's yards are littered about like twigs.
The first hole of The Country Club is covered in debris as well. Some power lines on Plymouth were brought down in the storm, but no one in the area was injured.
"A lot of really close calls," said Hollington Smith.
The winds sent one branch straight through the dining room wall of Lorie's home. Both women said, another five feet over, and the trees could have landed on bedrooms where parents and children were sleeping.
On Saturday, neighbors found what appeared to be pieces of insulation from Ursuline buildings in their yards.
"I think it picked up a prayer at Ursuline and put a bubble over our houses,?because if you look how close these huge trees are to our homes. It's a miracle," said Outcalt.
WKYC-TV
Source: http://www.wkyc.com/rss/article/307282/226/Tornado-causes-damage-in-Pepper-Pike-area
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JERUSALEM (AP) ? Red tuna and sea bream with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A two-hour lunch of shish tawook and rice on Friday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Back again with Netanyahu, it was hummus and mixed nuts.
Secretary of State John Kerry's palate is getting a workout during his latest round of Mideast diplomacy, yet it's unclear if his chat 'n chews will yield progress in getting the two sides to reopen negotiations to end their decades-long conflict.
This is Kerry's fifth trip to the region to try his hand at helping craft a two-state solution. He apparently is not trying to seal a deal on this trip; there were no plans for a three-way meeting. His three days of diplomacy are amounting to talks about talks ? discussions to nail down what exactly each side needs to agree to resume negotiations, which broke down in 2008.
Kerry used Amman, Jordan, as his base of shuttle diplomacy. He made the 90-minute drive from Amman to Jerusalem in a convoy of SUVs for four hours of talks and a dinner, which included tuna sashimi with roots salad and wasabi cream, dried salted beef and salmon ceviche with chili, mint and pineapple.
When he traveled back to Jerusalem to meet Netanyahu again ? this time via helicopter ? a table in a hotel suite where they talked was filled with trays of hummus, baba ghanoush, spiced pickles, tabouli salad, dates and nuts.
"So soon," Kerry said with a smile as he shook hands with the Israeli leader for the second time in less than 24 hours.
On Saturday, Kerry heads back to Amman for another meeting with Abbas.
Kerry spokesmen were tight-lipped about how the talks went, saying only that he had a "detailed and substantive" three-hour conversation with Netanyahu.
Israeli officials also have declined to provide details about the talks. Palestinian officials could not be reached for comment despite numerous attempts.
So far, there have been no public signs that the two sides are narrowing their differences. No progress was publicly reported during Kerry's four earlier visits to the region either.
In the past, Abbas has said he won't negotiate unless Israel stops building settlements on war-won lands or accepts its 1967 lines ? before the capture of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem in a Mideast war that year ? as a starting point for border talks. The Palestinians claim all three areas for their future state.
Netanyahu has rejected the Palestinian demands, saying there should be no pre-conditions ? though his predecessor conducted talks on the basis of the pre-1967 lines, and the international community views the settlements as illegal or illegitimate.
People who have watched Mideast peace negotiations come and go are skeptical, but hold out hope that a deal can be crafted.
"There's no question that Kerry could be successful restarting negotiations," said Jon Alterman, a Middle East expert from the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "The real question is whether those negotiations can be successful.
"The problem is twofold: First, the parties don't trust each other, and each fears that the other will start negotiations only to pull out and blame the other for the collapse. Second, there's not much political support in either Israel or the Palestinian Authority for negotiations generally, let alone making any concessions to the other side."
State Department officials say that beyond trying to precisely ascertain their conditions for restarting talks, Kerry wanted to talk with them about the positive outcomes, such as enhanced economic growth, of a two-state solution. At the same time, they said he would remind them of what's at stake if the conflict is left unresolved.
Earlier this month, in a speech to the American Jewish Committee Global Forum in Washington, Kerry warned of serious consequences if no deal is reached with what he termed the current "moderate" Palestinian leadership. "The failure of the moderate Palestinian leadership could very well invite the rise of the very thing that we want to avoid: the same extremism in the West Bank that we have seen in Gaza or from southern Lebanon," he told the Jewish audience.
William Quandt, who was involved in negotiations that led to the Camp David Accords and the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty, said Kerry might succeed in getting the two sides back to the table, "but that does not count for much." He said he doubts the two sides have agreed to an outline of territory for a Palestinian state. "I'm not very optimistic," he said.
Efraim Inbar, director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Israel's Bar-Ilan University, doesn't have high hopes for the two sides getting back into negotiations, but said that as long as Kerry continues to visit the region, his attempt won't be seen as a failure.
"As long as he keeps coming, people will have some hope," Inbar said. "He is very perseverant but the chances of him renewing negotiations are very slim."
Inbar said Abbas faces opposition to talks with Israel from within his own Fatah party as well as from its rival, the Islamic militant group Hamas. The Palestinians have been split since 2007 when Hamas overran Gaza ousting forces from the Fatah party led by Western-backed Abbas. Abbas has since governed only in parts of the West Bank, and Hamas rules Gaza.
"The Palestinians are not interested in negotiations because of domestic politics, Hamas pressure and with the whole region becoming more Islamic it's more difficult for them to make a deal," Inbar said. Within Netanyahu's own party, "there are those who are openly saying that negotiations go nowhere," he added.
After meeting with Netanyahu, Kerry visited Israeli President Shimon Peres, who received the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize for his role in a landmark interim peace accord in 1003. Peres, who turns 90 in August, encouraged Kerry to soldier on.
"All of us admire your investment in creating really the right environment to open the peace," Peres said. "I know it's still difficult. There are many problems, but as far I am concerned, I can see there is a clear majority for the peace process and the two-state solution and the great expectation that you will do it and that you can do it."
___
Associated Press Writers Ian Deitch in Jerusalem and Jamal Halaby in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kerrys-palate-gets-workout-mideast-peace-talks-191410648.html
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Public release date: 28-Jun-2013
Share ] Contact: David Ruth
david@rice.edu
713-348-6327
Rice University
Americans are more respectful now than ever before when it comes to the religious traditions of their peers, according to findings from the longitudinal Rice University Portraits of American Life Study (PALS). Other findings: Americans are more divided on the legal definition of marriage, favor restrictions on abortion, support pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and are less politically engaged (with the exception of African-Americans).
PALS is a six-year national study tracking religion, morality, politics and other social issues in the U.S. The study included a scientifically gathered random sample of approximately 1,300 adult Americans in 2006 and 2012, interviewing the exact same people in both years.
Study author Michael Emerson, the Allyn and Gladys Cline Professor of Sociology and co-director of Rice's Kinder Institute for Urban Research, highlighted some of the findings.
Religion
When asked about mutual respect for all religions, one-third of PALS participants in 2006 said they respected all religions equally. By 2012, 58 percent said they did.
"A major shift has occurred among Americans in just six years," Emerson said. "We have become far more respecting of the diversity of religions than we were in 2006. Very much unlike in 2006, the majority of Americans no longer single out a religion that they disrespect."
In both years of the study, participants said that the religion they most respected was Judaism, though the percentage naming it declined from 24 percent in 2006 to 15 percent in 2012. No other religion in either year was named by even 10 percent of respondents. Twenty percent of study participants in both 2006 and 2012 identified Islam as the religion they least respected.
Between 2006 and 2012, 15 percent of participants surveyed switched religious traditions, with nearly 40 percent of them identifying as unaffiliated, or no longer identifying with a religious tradition or congregation.
"For a sizable percentage, religious switching means dropping out of religion," Emerson said. "Interestingly, those who dropped out were largely replaced by a nearly equal number of the non-affiliated of 2006, who by 2012 had become part of a religious tradition."
Also of note, only 45 percent of adult Americans attended worship with the same frequency in 2012 as they did in 2006, with 31 percent attending less and 24 percent attending more. Black Protestants, Evangelical Protestants and Catholics were more likely to attend church more than individuals affiliated with other religious traditions.
More than one-third of study participants switched congregations between 2006 and 2012. Two-thirds of these individuals said their switch was due to a residential move, where they were too far away from their former congregation and needed to find another. Seventeen percent said the primary reason they changed congregations was that they grew dissatisfied with their former congregation. Another 13 percent said they became attracted to a new congregation. Twelve percent said they are in a new congregation because they were both equally dissatisfied with their former congregation and attracted to their new congregation.
Of the people who indicated they were "dissatisfied with their former congregation," 58 percent said that a source of their dissatisfaction was clergy, 53 percent said it was political and/or social views of the congregation, 45 percent said theology, 41 percent said poor relationships, 39 percent said liturgy/style, 38 percent said a poor future, 13 percent said location and seven percent said lack of programs.
Eighty-four percent of individuals surveyed indicated that clergy was a factor that drew them to a new congregation. Other factors that attracted individuals to a new congregation included liturgy/style (67 percent), theology (64 percent), programs and a bright future (62 percent), location (49 percent), relationships (42 percent), political/social views (35 percent) and return to childhood religion (15 percent).
Other changes included a declining confidence in clergy and an increased confidence in faith and God's care.
Moral reasoning
Moral discourse is a regular part of political, economic, social and cultural debates. These values are often embedded in private and public discussions ranging from the development and uses of medical technology to the beneficial and responsible use of public funds to the deployment of military drones.
When asked about personal views of morality, nearly two-thirds (62 percent) of African-American respondents said that they base their moral attitudes on "God's law," in contrast to one-third (36 percent) of Caucasian respondents and one-third (35 percent) of Hispanic respondents.
"The racial difference in how moral decisions are made is dramatic," Emerson said. "It has wide-ranging implications for differences in a host of moral, political and social views."
The majority of PALS respondents favored some level of restrictions on abortion. Just 17 percent of PALS respondents said they believe abortion should be legal under "almost all circumstances." The largest number of respondents, 26 percent, said that abortion should be available in "some circumstances," closely followed by 25.5 percent who said that abortion should be available only "in extreme circumstances." Fourteen percent of respondents said that they believe abortion should be legal under "most circumstances," and fourteen percent believe that abortion should not be available under any circumstance. Hispanic women and African-Americans were the most likely to say that abortion should be legal under "only extreme circumstances."
Americans also were asked their opinions about the use of genetic engineering. A clear majority (82 percent) of PALS respondents said they believe it is "always," "usually" or "sometimes" wrong to use "genetic engineering to make a smarter baby." Just 16 percent of PALS respondents said that the prenatal use of genetic technology is "never wrong" or that it is "not a moral issue." Ten percent more women than men said that the elective use of genetic engineering is "always wrong."
"When it comes to the issue of genetic engineering of babies, Americans are in remarkable agreement: They are saying 'It is wrong' loudly and clearly," Emerson said.
Marriage
As states and the federal government debate the legal definition of marriage, Americans surveyed for PALS were also divided on the topic. In both 2006 and 2012, a slight majority of respondents (57 percent in 2006, 53 percent in 2012) agreed with the statement "The only legal marriage should be between one man and one woman." Approximately one-third (31 percent in 2006, 33 percent in 2012) of respondents disagreed with the statement, and a small number of respondents (12 percent in 2006, 13 percent in 2012) were undecided about the statement.
Many survey respondents changed their minds on the topic between 2006 and 2012. Sixteen percent of respondents who agreed with the statement in the 2006 study disagreed in 2012. Twenty-eight percent of respondents who disagreed with the statement in 2006 agreed with it in 2012. Among those who in 2006 neither disagreed nor agreed with the statement, almost two-thirds took a different position in 2012 43 percent disagreed and 23 percent agreed.
Between 2006 and 2012, respondents became even more divided on the topic of marriage across various demographics, especially education, religion and age. Respondents without a high school diploma were most likely to agree with the marriage statement (66 percent in 2006, 75 percent in 2012), and respondents with postcollege education were least likely to agree with the statement (44 percent in 2006, 37 percent in 2012). Evangelical Protestants were most likely to agree (72 percent in 2006, 75 percent in 2012), while Jews were least likely to agree (21 percent in 2006, 12 percent in 2012). Respondents older than 50 were most likely to agree with the statement (62 percent in 2006, 63 percent in 2012), and respondents 30 and younger were least likely to agree (47 percent in 2006, 40 percent in 2012).
"The real story on the statement 'The only legal marriage should be between one man and one woman' was despite little overall change, so many individual people changed their minds -- some to agree, others to disagree," Emerson said. "The end result is important: Americans are now more divided on this issue along educational, religious and age lines than they were in 2006."
Political engagement
The average rate of political activity (across nine measures of political participation, such as voting, signing petitions and working for a candidate or party) of PALS respondents decreased from 22 percent in 2006 to 18 percent in 2012. The study saw a decrease in activity among all ethnic groups except African-American respondents. Individual average political activity for African-Americans in the sample increased from 20 percent in 2006 to 22 percent in 2012, while Caucasian activity fell from 24 to 18 percent, Hispanic activity fell from 15 to 12 percent and Asian activity fell from 14 to 11 percent.
Emerson said the shift in political behavior among African-Americans can be attributed to the "Obama effect" -- members of the ethnic group showed enthusiastic support for the first African-American presidential candidate belonging to a major contemporary political party.
"It seems likely that President Obama's ascendency as the first African-American president of the United States is responsible for the boost in black political participation," Emerson said. "And this does not just mean voting. African-Americans, unlike other Americans, have become more active across a range of political activities."
Immigration
A clear majority 71 percent of Americans favored offering undocumented immigrants a pathway to legal status rather than having them returned to their nation of origin or letting them remain in the U.S. illegally.
These results hold across political and ideological lines (64 percent of Republicans, 78 percent of Democrats and 70 percent of independents), gender (67 percent of men, 76 percent of women) and race (68 percent of Caucasians, 76 percent of African-Americans, 75 percent of Asians and 81 percent of Hispanics).
"It is stunning, given the divided political rhetoric and media debates, that Americans of all stripes so strongly favor finding a path to legalization over other options," Emerson said. "The overwhelming percentage of Americans preferring the legalization of undocumented immigrants speaks volumes."
About the Portraits of American Life Study
The Portraits of American Life Study is an unprecedented panel study focused on religion and other issues in the U.S., with a particular focus on capturing ethnic and racial diversity. The study included a statistically random sample of approximately 1,300 adult Americans, with more than 600 questions asked in each survey in 2006 and 2012.
"We live in a world of accelerated change with serious implications for our lives," Emerson said. "PALS is designed to understand the impact of change on our lives in real time."
###
This news release can be found online at http://news.rice.edu/.
Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews.
Related materials:
Portraits of American Life Study: http://kinder.rice.edu/content.aspx?id=2147483718
Portraits of American Life Study video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJC-1iCkUdk&feature=youtu.be
Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,708 undergraduates and 2,374 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice has been ranked No. 1 for best quality of life multiple times by the Princeton Review and No. 2 for "best value" among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. To read "What they're saying about Rice," go to http://tinyurl.com/AboutRiceU.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 28-Jun-2013 Share ] Contact: David Ruth
david@rice.edu
713-348-6327
Rice University
Americans are more respectful now than ever before when it comes to the religious traditions of their peers, according to findings from the longitudinal Rice University Portraits of American Life Study (PALS). Other findings: Americans are more divided on the legal definition of marriage, favor restrictions on abortion, support pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and are less politically engaged (with the exception of African-Americans).
PALS is a six-year national study tracking religion, morality, politics and other social issues in the U.S. The study included a scientifically gathered random sample of approximately 1,300 adult Americans in 2006 and 2012, interviewing the exact same people in both years.
Study author Michael Emerson, the Allyn and Gladys Cline Professor of Sociology and co-director of Rice's Kinder Institute for Urban Research, highlighted some of the findings.
Religion
When asked about mutual respect for all religions, one-third of PALS participants in 2006 said they respected all religions equally. By 2012, 58 percent said they did.
"A major shift has occurred among Americans in just six years," Emerson said. "We have become far more respecting of the diversity of religions than we were in 2006. Very much unlike in 2006, the majority of Americans no longer single out a religion that they disrespect."
In both years of the study, participants said that the religion they most respected was Judaism, though the percentage naming it declined from 24 percent in 2006 to 15 percent in 2012. No other religion in either year was named by even 10 percent of respondents. Twenty percent of study participants in both 2006 and 2012 identified Islam as the religion they least respected.
Between 2006 and 2012, 15 percent of participants surveyed switched religious traditions, with nearly 40 percent of them identifying as unaffiliated, or no longer identifying with a religious tradition or congregation.
"For a sizable percentage, religious switching means dropping out of religion," Emerson said. "Interestingly, those who dropped out were largely replaced by a nearly equal number of the non-affiliated of 2006, who by 2012 had become part of a religious tradition."
Also of note, only 45 percent of adult Americans attended worship with the same frequency in 2012 as they did in 2006, with 31 percent attending less and 24 percent attending more. Black Protestants, Evangelical Protestants and Catholics were more likely to attend church more than individuals affiliated with other religious traditions.
More than one-third of study participants switched congregations between 2006 and 2012. Two-thirds of these individuals said their switch was due to a residential move, where they were too far away from their former congregation and needed to find another. Seventeen percent said the primary reason they changed congregations was that they grew dissatisfied with their former congregation. Another 13 percent said they became attracted to a new congregation. Twelve percent said they are in a new congregation because they were both equally dissatisfied with their former congregation and attracted to their new congregation.
Of the people who indicated they were "dissatisfied with their former congregation," 58 percent said that a source of their dissatisfaction was clergy, 53 percent said it was political and/or social views of the congregation, 45 percent said theology, 41 percent said poor relationships, 39 percent said liturgy/style, 38 percent said a poor future, 13 percent said location and seven percent said lack of programs.
Eighty-four percent of individuals surveyed indicated that clergy was a factor that drew them to a new congregation. Other factors that attracted individuals to a new congregation included liturgy/style (67 percent), theology (64 percent), programs and a bright future (62 percent), location (49 percent), relationships (42 percent), political/social views (35 percent) and return to childhood religion (15 percent).
Other changes included a declining confidence in clergy and an increased confidence in faith and God's care.
Moral reasoning
Moral discourse is a regular part of political, economic, social and cultural debates. These values are often embedded in private and public discussions ranging from the development and uses of medical technology to the beneficial and responsible use of public funds to the deployment of military drones.
When asked about personal views of morality, nearly two-thirds (62 percent) of African-American respondents said that they base their moral attitudes on "God's law," in contrast to one-third (36 percent) of Caucasian respondents and one-third (35 percent) of Hispanic respondents.
"The racial difference in how moral decisions are made is dramatic," Emerson said. "It has wide-ranging implications for differences in a host of moral, political and social views."
The majority of PALS respondents favored some level of restrictions on abortion. Just 17 percent of PALS respondents said they believe abortion should be legal under "almost all circumstances." The largest number of respondents, 26 percent, said that abortion should be available in "some circumstances," closely followed by 25.5 percent who said that abortion should be available only "in extreme circumstances." Fourteen percent of respondents said that they believe abortion should be legal under "most circumstances," and fourteen percent believe that abortion should not be available under any circumstance. Hispanic women and African-Americans were the most likely to say that abortion should be legal under "only extreme circumstances."
Americans also were asked their opinions about the use of genetic engineering. A clear majority (82 percent) of PALS respondents said they believe it is "always," "usually" or "sometimes" wrong to use "genetic engineering to make a smarter baby." Just 16 percent of PALS respondents said that the prenatal use of genetic technology is "never wrong" or that it is "not a moral issue." Ten percent more women than men said that the elective use of genetic engineering is "always wrong."
"When it comes to the issue of genetic engineering of babies, Americans are in remarkable agreement: They are saying 'It is wrong' loudly and clearly," Emerson said.
Marriage
As states and the federal government debate the legal definition of marriage, Americans surveyed for PALS were also divided on the topic. In both 2006 and 2012, a slight majority of respondents (57 percent in 2006, 53 percent in 2012) agreed with the statement "The only legal marriage should be between one man and one woman." Approximately one-third (31 percent in 2006, 33 percent in 2012) of respondents disagreed with the statement, and a small number of respondents (12 percent in 2006, 13 percent in 2012) were undecided about the statement.
Many survey respondents changed their minds on the topic between 2006 and 2012. Sixteen percent of respondents who agreed with the statement in the 2006 study disagreed in 2012. Twenty-eight percent of respondents who disagreed with the statement in 2006 agreed with it in 2012. Among those who in 2006 neither disagreed nor agreed with the statement, almost two-thirds took a different position in 2012 43 percent disagreed and 23 percent agreed.
Between 2006 and 2012, respondents became even more divided on the topic of marriage across various demographics, especially education, religion and age. Respondents without a high school diploma were most likely to agree with the marriage statement (66 percent in 2006, 75 percent in 2012), and respondents with postcollege education were least likely to agree with the statement (44 percent in 2006, 37 percent in 2012). Evangelical Protestants were most likely to agree (72 percent in 2006, 75 percent in 2012), while Jews were least likely to agree (21 percent in 2006, 12 percent in 2012). Respondents older than 50 were most likely to agree with the statement (62 percent in 2006, 63 percent in 2012), and respondents 30 and younger were least likely to agree (47 percent in 2006, 40 percent in 2012).
"The real story on the statement 'The only legal marriage should be between one man and one woman' was despite little overall change, so many individual people changed their minds -- some to agree, others to disagree," Emerson said. "The end result is important: Americans are now more divided on this issue along educational, religious and age lines than they were in 2006."
Political engagement
The average rate of political activity (across nine measures of political participation, such as voting, signing petitions and working for a candidate or party) of PALS respondents decreased from 22 percent in 2006 to 18 percent in 2012. The study saw a decrease in activity among all ethnic groups except African-American respondents. Individual average political activity for African-Americans in the sample increased from 20 percent in 2006 to 22 percent in 2012, while Caucasian activity fell from 24 to 18 percent, Hispanic activity fell from 15 to 12 percent and Asian activity fell from 14 to 11 percent.
Emerson said the shift in political behavior among African-Americans can be attributed to the "Obama effect" -- members of the ethnic group showed enthusiastic support for the first African-American presidential candidate belonging to a major contemporary political party.
"It seems likely that President Obama's ascendency as the first African-American president of the United States is responsible for the boost in black political participation," Emerson said. "And this does not just mean voting. African-Americans, unlike other Americans, have become more active across a range of political activities."
Immigration
A clear majority 71 percent of Americans favored offering undocumented immigrants a pathway to legal status rather than having them returned to their nation of origin or letting them remain in the U.S. illegally.
These results hold across political and ideological lines (64 percent of Republicans, 78 percent of Democrats and 70 percent of independents), gender (67 percent of men, 76 percent of women) and race (68 percent of Caucasians, 76 percent of African-Americans, 75 percent of Asians and 81 percent of Hispanics).
"It is stunning, given the divided political rhetoric and media debates, that Americans of all stripes so strongly favor finding a path to legalization over other options," Emerson said. "The overwhelming percentage of Americans preferring the legalization of undocumented immigrants speaks volumes."
About the Portraits of American Life Study
The Portraits of American Life Study is an unprecedented panel study focused on religion and other issues in the U.S., with a particular focus on capturing ethnic and racial diversity. The study included a statistically random sample of approximately 1,300 adult Americans, with more than 600 questions asked in each survey in 2006 and 2012.
"We live in a world of accelerated change with serious implications for our lives," Emerson said. "PALS is designed to understand the impact of change on our lives in real time."
###
This news release can be found online at http://news.rice.edu/.
Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews.
Related materials:
Portraits of American Life Study: http://kinder.rice.edu/content.aspx?id=2147483718
Portraits of American Life Study video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJC-1iCkUdk&feature=youtu.be
Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,708 undergraduates and 2,374 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice has been ranked No. 1 for best quality of life multiple times by the Princeton Review and No. 2 for "best value" among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. To read "What they're saying about Rice," go to http://tinyurl.com/AboutRiceU.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/ru-rur062813.php
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Public release date: 17-Jun-2013 Share ] Contact: Sebastian Fiechter
fiechter@helmholtz-berlin.de
49-308-062-42927
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
This news release is available in German.
Researchers at the HZB Institute for Solar Fuels have modified so called superstrate solar cells with their highly efficient architecture in order to obtain hydrogen from water with the help of suitable catalysts. This type of cell works something like an "artificial leaf." But the solar cell rapidly corrodes when placed in the aqueous electrolyte solution.
Now, Ph.D. student Diana Stellmach has found a way to prevent corrosion by embedding the catalysts in an electrically conducting polymer and then mounting them onto the solar cell's two contact surfaces, making her the first scientist in all of Europe to have come up with this solution. As a result, the cell's sensitive contacts are sealed to prevent corrosion with a stable yield of approx. 3.7 percent sunlight.
Hydrogen stores chemical energy and is highly versatile in terms of its applicability potential. The gas can be converted into fuels like methane as well as methanol or it can generate electricity directly inside fuel cells. Hydrogen can be produced through the electrolytic splitting of water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen by using two electrodes that are coated with suitable catalysts and between which a minimum 1.23 volt tension is generated. The production of hydrogen only becomes interesting if solar energy can be used to produce it. Because that would solve two problems at once: On sunny days, excess electricity could yield hydrogen, which would be available for fuel or to generate electricity at a later point like at night or on days that are overcast.
New approach with complex thin film technologies
At the Helmholtz Centre Berlin for Materials and Energy (HZB) Institute for Solar Fuels, researchers are working on new approaches to realizing this goal. They are using photovoltaic structures made of multiple ultrathin layers of silicon that are custom-made by the Photovoltaic Competence Centre Berlin (PVcomB), another of the HZB's institutes. Since the cell consists of a single - albeit complex - "block," this is known as a monolithic approach. At the Institute for Solar Fuels, the cell's electrical contact surfaces are coated with special catalysts for splitting water. If this cell is placed in dilute sulphuric acid and irradiated with sun-like light, a tension is produced at the contacts that can be used to split water. During this process, it is the catalysts, which speed up the reactions at the contacts, that are critically important.
Protection against corrosion
The PVcomB photovoltaic cells' main advantage is their "superstrate architecture": Light enters through the transparent front contact, which is deposited on the carrier glass; there is no opacity due to catalysts being mounted onto the cells, because they are located on the cell's back side and are in contact with the water/acid mixture. This mixture is aggressive, that is to say, it is corrosive, so much so that Diana Stellmach had to first replace the usual zinc oxide silver back contact with a titanium coat approximately 400 nanometers thick. In a second step, she developed a solution to simultaneously protect the cell against corrosion with the mounting of the catalyst: She mixed nanoparticles of RuO2 with a conducting polymer (PEDOT:PSS) and applied this mixture to the cell's back side contact to act as a catalyst for the production of oxygen. Similarly, platinum nanoparticles, the sites of hydrogen production, were applied to the front contact.
Stable H2-Production
In all, the configuration achieved a degree of efficacy of 3.7 percent and was stable over a minimum 18 hours. "This way, Ms. Stellmach is the first ever scientist anywhere in Europe to have realized this kind of water-splitting solar cell structure," explains Prof. Dr. Sebastian Fiechter. And just maybe anywhere in the World, as photovoltaic membranes with different architectures have proved far less stable.
Yet the fact remains that catalysts like platinum and RuO2 are rather expensive and will ultimately have to give way to less costly types of materials. Diana Stellmach is already working on that as well; she is currently in the process of developing carbon nanorods that are coated with layers of molybdenum sulphide and which serve as catalysts for hydrogen production.
###
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 17-Jun-2013 Share ] Contact: Sebastian Fiechter
fiechter@helmholtz-berlin.de
49-308-062-42927
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
This news release is available in German.
Researchers at the HZB Institute for Solar Fuels have modified so called superstrate solar cells with their highly efficient architecture in order to obtain hydrogen from water with the help of suitable catalysts. This type of cell works something like an "artificial leaf." But the solar cell rapidly corrodes when placed in the aqueous electrolyte solution.
Now, Ph.D. student Diana Stellmach has found a way to prevent corrosion by embedding the catalysts in an electrically conducting polymer and then mounting them onto the solar cell's two contact surfaces, making her the first scientist in all of Europe to have come up with this solution. As a result, the cell's sensitive contacts are sealed to prevent corrosion with a stable yield of approx. 3.7 percent sunlight.
Hydrogen stores chemical energy and is highly versatile in terms of its applicability potential. The gas can be converted into fuels like methane as well as methanol or it can generate electricity directly inside fuel cells. Hydrogen can be produced through the electrolytic splitting of water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen by using two electrodes that are coated with suitable catalysts and between which a minimum 1.23 volt tension is generated. The production of hydrogen only becomes interesting if solar energy can be used to produce it. Because that would solve two problems at once: On sunny days, excess electricity could yield hydrogen, which would be available for fuel or to generate electricity at a later point like at night or on days that are overcast.
New approach with complex thin film technologies
At the Helmholtz Centre Berlin for Materials and Energy (HZB) Institute for Solar Fuels, researchers are working on new approaches to realizing this goal. They are using photovoltaic structures made of multiple ultrathin layers of silicon that are custom-made by the Photovoltaic Competence Centre Berlin (PVcomB), another of the HZB's institutes. Since the cell consists of a single - albeit complex - "block," this is known as a monolithic approach. At the Institute for Solar Fuels, the cell's electrical contact surfaces are coated with special catalysts for splitting water. If this cell is placed in dilute sulphuric acid and irradiated with sun-like light, a tension is produced at the contacts that can be used to split water. During this process, it is the catalysts, which speed up the reactions at the contacts, that are critically important.
Protection against corrosion
The PVcomB photovoltaic cells' main advantage is their "superstrate architecture": Light enters through the transparent front contact, which is deposited on the carrier glass; there is no opacity due to catalysts being mounted onto the cells, because they are located on the cell's back side and are in contact with the water/acid mixture. This mixture is aggressive, that is to say, it is corrosive, so much so that Diana Stellmach had to first replace the usual zinc oxide silver back contact with a titanium coat approximately 400 nanometers thick. In a second step, she developed a solution to simultaneously protect the cell against corrosion with the mounting of the catalyst: She mixed nanoparticles of RuO2 with a conducting polymer (PEDOT:PSS) and applied this mixture to the cell's back side contact to act as a catalyst for the production of oxygen. Similarly, platinum nanoparticles, the sites of hydrogen production, were applied to the front contact.
Stable H2-Production
In all, the configuration achieved a degree of efficacy of 3.7 percent and was stable over a minimum 18 hours. "This way, Ms. Stellmach is the first ever scientist anywhere in Europe to have realized this kind of water-splitting solar cell structure," explains Prof. Dr. Sebastian Fiechter. And just maybe anywhere in the World, as photovoltaic membranes with different architectures have proved far less stable.
Yet the fact remains that catalysts like platinum and RuO2 are rather expensive and will ultimately have to give way to less costly types of materials. Diana Stellmach is already working on that as well; she is currently in the process of developing carbon nanorods that are coated with layers of molybdenum sulphide and which serve as catalysts for hydrogen production.
###
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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.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/haog-pcp061713.php
By Li Hui and Maxim Duncan
QIANTUN, China (Reuters) - Two years short of 70, Zhang Guosheng spends his days caring for an 81-year-old fellow villager - washing his clothes, bringing meals to his bed, and keeping him company - a routine he'll keep up until he himself needs the type of care he is now giving.
"Living here is better than staying at home alone. We help each other and have a common language," said the spritely Zhang, an enthusiastic dancer. "We are very happy here."
With younger villagers who would traditionally have looked after their parents and grandparents flocking to the booming cities to seek work as part of Beijing's urbanization drive, Qiantun village in northern China's Hebei province has had to pioneer a new model - the old looking after the even older.
Surrounded by green wheat fields that stretch across a flat plain, Qiantun is unremarkable among countless rural Chinese communities, but its old-age care model is now a prototype cited by central government as a solution to the daunting challenge of caring for a vast and rapidly greying rural population.
One of every four Chinese will be older than 60 by 2030, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
Massive rural-to-urban migration will further strain the rural areas' ability to provide care for the elderly, as personal savings and family support remain the primary pillars of old-age care.
"Migrants to urban areas are mainly young adults, leaving mostly the elderly in villages with children," said Wang Dewen, an expert with the World Bank's Beijing office. "The formal eldercare system in rural areas is very weak, and basically a blank spot in many places."
As a result, the gap between the number of elderly in rural and urban areas is expected to balloon over the next 15 years, to 11 percentage points from today's 1.24 percentage points, the ministry projects.
The costs of caring for China's rapidly expanding elderly population are likely to be too heavy a burden for the government, forcing Beijing to find cost-effective and creative ways to provide care in myriad localities. The self-help model practiced among the 1,500 residents of Qiantun offers a cheaper and streamlined alternative to a state-run system.
More than 95 percent of China's rural elderly still adhere to the traditional practice of seeking old-age care within their families, Wang said. But families are no longer able to cope, with youth and even middle-aged people heading to cities to find work, leaving the elderly behind to fend for themselves.
THE "LIGHT" OF FEIXIANG
In their search for affordable eldercare models, Beijing's leaders have turned their attention 450 km (280 miles) to the south in Hebei's Feixiang county, where Qiantun lies. The practice of old people taking care of each other posed a simple and attractive solution.
Labeled "mutual assist eldercare", the Feixiang model is set to be expanded to the rest of rural China, with 3 billion yuan ($490 million) set aside by the central government to get it started over the coming three years.
"The light of Feixiang will shine across China," Li Liguo, minister of civil affairs, declared enthusiastically during a trip to Feixiang in 2011. "Feixiang has set an example for the whole country."
But not everyone is as optimistic about the model.
"As people get older, they don't tend to get healthier. So if you have somebody in their sixties caring for somebody in their nineties, are they going to be able, and trained and strong enough themselves to care for somebody who has chronic conditions?" said Tony Buccheri, a manager with Right at Home International, a U.S.-based senior home care provider that offers services in China through a partner.
Buccheri's concern echoes that of Cai Qingyang, pioneer of the model and Qiantun's village chief.
"Old people with critical illnesses need more than the very basic care provided here, and we will have to think of other ways to care for them," said the 61 year-old former soldier Cai, watching several old villagers dancing in the yard.
"But this really is the only feasible way given the local elder care situation. The village and the government simply can't afford proper institutional care for every aged rural resident," Cai added.
In 2008, Cai sought to do something about the lack of care for rural elderly left behind as young adults sought better paying work in cities. He turned an abandoned brick house into an old-age home, where 25 elderly villagers moved into 11 rooms, keeping each other company, sharing meals, as well as farming and doing housework.
His innovation has thrived under state support and more than a dozen other provinces have replicated the model.
OLD BEFORE RICH
What separates China's ageing pattern from that in other Asian societies such as Japan, South Korea and Singapore is that the country is still relatively poor on a per capita basis. The phrase "getting old before rich" reflects the fact that even though China's economic growth remains robust, its demographics work against it.
Those in the emerging middle class have more options among at-home care providers, and public as well as private senior homes, and are more likely to find them affordable.
The rural elderly have fewer resources and fewer choices, while youth migration patterns unstitch the traditional family safety net. And despite years of efforts by China's leaders, the income gap between urban and rural residents has increased. A report published by the World Bank last year noted that rural elderly have "remained consistently poorer than the urban elderly over time".
Nor is that likely to change. Two-thirds of elderly Chinese currently live in rural areas, and although migration patterns cloud demographic estimates, many demographers believe the majority of China's elderly will remain in the countryside.
To meet the challenge, says the World Bank's Wang, China must make its urbanization an equalizer of basic social services for urban and rural residents. To do that, he adds, it must reform the household registration system that ties social services to people's registered home, to facilitate family migration to cities and receive care there.
But in the short term, rural areas such as Qiantun, which has three times as many elderly residents as young adults, can only make do with the resources they have. The government provides 600 yuan ($97.68) a year in subsidies for each of the 30 elderly Qiantun villagers at the centre. Their average age is 75.
By contrast, offering professional care at an old-age care institution would cost a minimum of ten times as much, 6,000 yuan a year, according to government estimates, offset by a mere 120 yuan annual subsidy from the government.
At the Qiantun villager centre, "old" Zhang, as he is known, talks about the future as he brings a bowl of dumplings and medicine to the bedside of his charge, bedridden by a broken thigh bone.
"He can't move around now, I help him," said a still spry Zhang. "When I can't move, someone will also care for me."
($1 = 6.1428 Chinese yuan)
(Editing by Ben Blanchard and Ian Geoghegan)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/greying-china-taps-rural-elderly-care-those-even-041855642.html
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Collectors Cornered is an occasional video column, filmed inside Collectors Corner in Baltimore. Join us every week as we discuss comic book news from a different point of view and get instant feedback from real customers on New Comics Day, as we literally corner them and and ask questions about comic books and related topics. Unscripted, reality CC.
This Installment we cover Collectors Con MD, Our First attempt as a Store at Organizing and running our own Pop Culture Convention. The goal was to cover more than just comic books and try to encapsulate more of the pop culture genre from comics to games, toys and beyond. We worked hard to bring together local, regional and out of state vendors selling everything from Arts & Crafts to Comic Books, video games and everything in between. We set up our own booth and staffed the Con with volunteers waiting for fans to pour in. Almost 400 attendees came through the doors and including tons of costumed kids and adults ready to compete in our cosplay contest and shop. Artists and Creators set up in Artists Alley including HC Noel, GCP Comics, Vince Sneed, Rob Emm, Greg LaRocque, Marc Hempel, Neil Vokes, JT Krul, Fred Van Lente, Mike Riley, Matt Heuston & David Crispino (CC?s Store Manager).
Comic Book Men?s co-star Robert Bruce not only joined us as a Vendor in the Dealer?s Room but hosted a Panel talking about collecting and pop culture.
We also featured panels from local film makers, Aspen Comics with JT Krul, IDW Comics with Fred Van Lente and hosted Super Art Fight and a super cool costume contest too.
Huge Thanks to our Sponsors, Geppis Entertainment Museum, League of Hot Geeks & JK Cosplay!
We are already planning the next show, Time and Date TBA.
Stay Tuned for next week?s Collectors Cornered #41 featuring Free Comic Book Day at Collectors Corner..
Seeya Next week!
Continue the favorite comic book film discussion in the forum here on BC, or on our CC Facebook http://www.facebook.com/CollectorsCorner & Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/CCMD_ComicsShop!
Source: http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/05/19/collectors-cornered-40-collectors-con-md/
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