Josh Koscheck, Nick Diaz?s camp hoping for a bout

Josh Koscheck's last fight was a loss in May to Johny Hendricks. An injury knocked him off UFC 151 before it was canceled. Now that he is healthy again, he is looking for an opponent. Luckily, Nick Diaz's camp made it easy for Koscheck to come up with someone.

Cesar is calling 4 me the fight Diaz in Feb. Super Bowl weekend! What you guy think? I am DOWN! Don't be scared Homie! #559 lol

? Josh Koscheck (@JoshKoscheck) October 29, 2012

UFC president Dana White said that when Diaz comes off suspension, he will need to win a fight before getting a chance at the belt. Diaz lost a tight decision to Carlos Condit for the interim welterweight belt, then was later suspended when his drug test was found positive for marijuana metabolites.

The suspension means a Super Bowl weekend fight is unlikely. Diaz's suspension ends on Feb. 3, the day after the Feb. 2 date of the event that is normally a huge event for the UFC. But even if it's not that weekend, this is an intriguing fight. The amount of trash talking alone will make it fun, as will watching Diaz try to handle Koscheck's wrestling skill.

Do you want to see this fight? Speak up in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/josh-koscheck-nick-diaz-camp-hoping-bout-141328465--mma.html

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Easing restrictions and barriers could improve African food trade

A report by the World Bank found that easing fees, rules, and border restrictions could help Africa's food crisis, and could also lead to economic growth.

By Lesley Wroughton,?Reuters / October 24, 2012

Farmer Bedlu Mamo, stands in the middle of a field, on his half hectare wheat farm near Debre Zeit, in Ethiopia?s Amhara region on Oct. 10. The World Bank says Africa could improve food shortages by easing cross-border restrictions.

Kirubel Tadesse Ayetenfisu/AP

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Africa could avoid food shortages if it reduces the tangled web of rules, fees and high costs strangling regional food trade and by putting large swathes of uncultivated land to productive use, a World Bank report said on Wednesday.

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Just 5 percent of Africa's cereal imports are now provided by African farmers, according to the report released on the eve of an African Union summit on agriculture and trade in Ethiopia.

"Too often borders get in the way of getting food to homes and communities which are struggling with too little to eat," said Makhtar Diop, World Bank vice president for Africa.

The bank estimated that 19 million people are in danger of hunger and malnutrition in West Africa's Sahel region. Yet, removing cross-border restrictions could help avoid food crises if farmers were allowed to trade more easily with each other and get food to communities facing shortages.

In addition, the World Bank estimated that fewer restrictions on food trade could generate an estimated $20 billion in annual earnings for African governments.

Food trade barriers also increase the cost to the consumer and the farmer, the World Bank said. For example, farmers on holdings in Africa who sell surplus harvest typically receive less than 20 percent of the consumer price of their produce, with the rest being eaten up by various transaction costs and post harvest losses.

"This clearly limits the incentive to produce for the market," the World Bank said.

Soaring global food prices in 2008, which triggered social unrest in several African countries, highlighted the problem of decades of underinvestment in agriculture in Africa. It also stimulated interest among investors in Europe, the Middle East and Asia in Africa's untapped farming potential. Fears of land grabbing also increased.

The World Bank said high transport costs were an impediment to more food trade across Africa, especially for small farmers. While poor roads and lack of infrastructure are a problem in Africa, transport cartels are also common with little incentive for investment in modern trucks.

Countries in West Africa could halve their transport costs within 10 years if governments undertook policy reforms that spurred more competition, the World Bank said. Roadblocks and bribes at border posts also add to the cost of getting food to markets.

The World Bank report said yields for many crops in Africa are a fraction of what farmers are achieving elsewhere in the world. More food trade in Africa could help raise yields, spread new technology and create jobs, it added.

The Bank said rules and regulations are preventing African farmers from using higher yielding seeds and better fertilizers. In some countries it can take two to three years for new seed varieties to be released, even if they are being used elsewhere in Africa.

"The challenge is how to create a competitive environment in which governments embrace credible and stable policies that encourage private investors and businesses to boost food production across the region," said Paul Brenton, World Bank economist and main author of the report.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/VevM7zK4154/Easing-restrictions-and-barriers-could-improve-African-food-trade

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Sundiata Bilal Simba, Truck Driver, Steals And Sells 1,500 Cases Of Beer

Truck drivers carry precious cargo every day. So precious, in fact, that sometimes they take that cargo into their own hands.

Truck driver Sundiata Bilal Simba, 52, was assigned to transport some 1,500 cases of Budweiser beer from Houston to Corpus Christi, Texas. When the shipment never arrived, Simba?s boss grew concerned, The Houston Chronicle reports. At first, Simba claimed the freightliner had broken down, then he admitted that he had sold the beer ?because he needed the money."

Less than a week later, police responded to reports of beer being sold from rental trailers at a Northeast Houston residence. Police were also able to match bar codes linking Simba?s shipment to the beer being sold, the Associated Press reports.

Simba, who had only been working for the shipping line Nuks for a month, isn?t the first trucker driver to go rogue. In August, truck driver Paul Reyes confessed to stealing various electronics, clothing items and other merchandise over a period of years, valued at roughly $32,000, KXXV reports. Other?s crimes are less benign. Armored truck driver Kenneth Konias Jr was charged this year with killing his partner and then stealing around $2 million in cash from the vehicle he?d been driving.

But the fact that Simba chose to steal beer at all may have something to do with its increased prevalence along shipment lines. Beer shipments are back up for the first time since 2008, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month.

P.S. If you're worried about your personal beer budget, blame taxes. A lot of taxes.

(Hat tip: The Daily Mail)

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/25/sundiata-bilal-simba-truck-driver-beer-shipment_n_2016942.html

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U.S.-Africa Agribusiness Investment Forum Scheduled for November 12-14, 2012 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 23, 2012 ) Washington, DC -- The Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) organizes U.S. - Africa Agribusiness Investment Forum that will take place at the Sheraton Hotel, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from November 12-14, 2012.

The 2012 U.S.-Africa Agribusiness Investment Forum will introduce the ?U.S.-Africa Business Center (USABC) and its role in facilitating U.S.-African trade and highlight other initiatives designed to boost agricultural growth, trade and investment.?

Here are some of the issued that will be covered during the forum:
1. Identify key initiatives focused on investing in African agriculture
2. Explore opportunities for investment along key agricultural value chains
3. Hear about ways in which to participate in Public-Private Partnerships
4. Discover innovative models for agricultural growth and investment
5. Evaluate the risks and rewards of private sector investment in Africa?s agro-industry
6. Meet stakeholders involved in the continent?s agribusiness sector
7. Participate in discussions focused on Africa?s regional market development

According to CCA, the forum will include sessions that will ?address cross-cutting issues, such as finance, risk mitigation, value chain development, and industry best practices and trends. In partnership with U.S. and African companies, governments and other stakeholders, CCA will provide the platform for participants to identify opportunities, execute deals and network with decision makers in Africa?s agricultural sector.?

Here are some companies and organizations that will attend the forum:

- 4 - H Africa
- ACDI/VOCA
- African Union
- AGCO Corporation
- Agricultural Transformation Agency of Ethiopia
- BiOWiSH Technologies
- Cardno Emerging Markets USA Ltd.
- Catholic Relief Service (CRS)
- CNFA
- Development Finance International, Inc.
- Embassy of Republic of Congo in the U.S.
- Entami Corporation
- Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd.
- Kenya Private Sector Alliance
- Lagos State Government
- Microsoft Corporation
- Nation Media Group/Top 100
- Novus International
- Nyala Insurance
- Omega Farms
- Ondo State Ministry of Agriculture
- OPIC
- PE Minerals (Namibia) (PTY) Ltd.
- Syngenta
- TechnoServe
- U.S. Ambassador to African Union
- United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
- VEGA

Registrants have the opportunity to display their products and services at the exhibit hall. According to CCA, ?The expo provides a unique platform to directly promote your company?s products and services to all forum attendees and guests who are actively looking to discover new opportunities for business partnerships around the continent.?

The Exhibition will be open from:

2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Monday, November 12
8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 13
8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 14

For more information about U.S. - Africa Agribusiness Investment Forum, go to CCA website at http://www.africacncl.org.

Source: http://emailwire.com/release/102436-USAfrica-Agribusiness-Investment-Forum-Scheduled-for-November-1214-2012-in-Addis-Ababa-Ethiopia.html

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Sudan blames Israel for military factory explosion

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) ? Sudan claimed Wednesday that Israeli airstrikes caused an explosion and fire at a military factory south of the capital, Khartoum, killing two people.

Minister of Information Ahmed Belal Osman told reporters that four aircraft hit the Yarmouk Complex, setting off a huge blast that rocked the capital before dawn.

"Four planes coming from the east bombed the Yarmouk industrial complex," Belal said. "They used sophisticated technology." He didn't elaborate further.

Belal referred to a 2009 attack on an arms convoy in the Red Sea province in eastern Sudan. The government then blamed the attack on Israel, which believes Sudan is a conduit for arms shipments through Egypt to Gaza's militant Hamas rulers. Israel does not comment officially on the issue.

"We are now certain that this flagrant attack was authorized by the same state of Israel. The main purpose is to frustrate our military capabilities and stop any development there and ultimately weaken our national sovereignty," Belal said.

Belal said the complex only produces conventional weapons. He said his country has the right to respond and may take the issue to the U.N. Security Council.

He also said a technical team is inspecting remains of the missiles used in the attack which he said suggest Israel is behind the bombing. He didn't provide any evidence.

Israeli officials did not respond to requests for comment on the latest allegation.

At the same news conference, military spokesman Sawarmy Khaled said two people were killed and another was seriously injured in the blast. Earlier, officials said some people suffered from smoke inhalation.

The powerful blast at the complex sent exploding ammunition flying through the air, causing panic among residents.

Abdelgadir Mohammed, 31, who lives near the factory, said a loud roar of what they believed was a plane got him and his brother out of their house around midnight to check it out.

"At first we thought it was more than one plane. Then we thought it was a plane crashing because of how sharp the sound was," Mohammed said. "Then we saw a flash of light, and after it came a really loud sound. It was an explosion."

He said he heard three distinct explosions.

Mohammed said the explosion caused panic among the residents of this heavily populated low-income neighborhood. Many fled to open spaces, fearing their homes were collapsing. He said ammunition was flying out of the factory into the air and falling inside homes.

"It was a double whammy, the explosion at the factory and then the ammunition flying into the neighborhood. The ground shook. Some homes were badly damaged," he said. "The walls of our home cracked, so we left our house to sleep elsewhere. When we came back this morning, our beds and furniture were covered in ashes."

Mohammed said an artillery shell fell into a neighbor's home, and a security team had to come to remove it.

Thick smoke blackened the sky over the complex, and firefighters fought the blaze for hours.

The Cairo-based Arab League said it is closely following the fallout from the attack. Deputy Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed bin Helli said Sudanese officials are in touch with the League and have provided initial reports about Israel's alleged involvement. "We are working to verify them," he said.

Sudanese activists on social media websites criticized the government for placing a factory with such large quantities of ammunition in a residential area.

Sudan has been engaged in various armed conflicts for many years.

Sudan's government has been at war with rebels in the western region of Darfur and with its neighbors in South Sudan, which broke away to become Africa's newest country in 2011. Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir, has been indicted by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Sudan was a major hub for al-Qaida militants and remains a transit for weapon smugglers and African migrant traffickers.

In 2009, a convoy carrying weapons in northeastern Sudan was targeted from the air, killing dozens. It was widely believed that Israel carried out the attack, hitting a weapons shipment headed for Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip. Israel never confirmed or denied that. Sudanese parliamentarians denied that weapons were transported in the area.

Israel never confirmed or denied it was responsible for the attack.

The U.S. imposed economic, trade and financial sanctions against Sudan in 1997, citing the Sudanese government's support for terrorism, including its sheltering of al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden in Khartoum the mid-1990s.

In 1998, American cruise missiles bombed a Khartoum pharmaceutical factory suspected of links to al-Qaida. That followed the terror group's bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people.

The Yarmouk weapons complex was built in the 1996. Sudan prided itself in having a way to produce its own ammunition and weapons despite international sanctions.

Yarmouk is one of two known state-owned weapons manufacturing facilities in the Sudanese capital.

Jonah Leff of the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey told The Associated Press that the location of the two factories is "certainly a hazard" to Khartoum's population if the weapons inside are not properly maintained or secured.

A September report from the Small Arms Survey said there was evidence from weapons packaging found in Darfur and in South Kordofan that arms and ammunition from China are exported to Yarmouk and then transported to the two embattled regions.

Leff said that although the Small Arms Survey has documented Sudanese military stocks of Iranian weapons and ammunition, there is no evidence that Iranian weapons are being assembled or manufactured in the two Khartoum factories.

___

Associated Press writers Maggie Fick and Sarah El Deeb contributed from Cairo.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-10-24-AF-Sudan-Explosion/id-6d3c0debb5b14e60ab65b9060ff7bcb4

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Fire, explosions at Khartoum military factory

KHARTOUM (AFP) - Fire raged and explosions tore through the night sky early Wednesday at the Yarmouk military factory in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, witnesses and state-linked media said.

"The authorities are controlling a fire in the El Yarmouk military manufacturing facility," the Sudanese Media Centre, which is close to the security apparatus, said in a brief alert.

"It is a military factory," said one witness in the southern Khartoum neighbourhood who heard "big, big explosions."

Several kilometres from the scene an AFP reporter could see two or three fires flaring across a wide area, with heavy smoke and intermittent flashes of white light bursting above.

"I hear explosions, and now a fire truck has gone inside and soldiers are guarding the area," another area resident said.

Abdul Rahman Al-Khider, the governor of Khartoum state, told official media that an explosion occurred at midnight Tuesday, followed by a fire.

"Preliminary investigation says the explosion happened in a store room," he said, dismissing speculation that the blaze had been caused by "other reasons."

Khider said some people were hospitalised because of smoke inhalation but he gave no numbers.

The fires appeared to be extinguished by 0030 GMT, more than three hours after they began, an AFP reporter said.

A September report from the Small Arms Survey, a Swiss-based independent research project, said evidence from weapons packaging suggests that Chinese-origin weapons and ammunition are exported to the state-owned Yarmouk Industrial Complex.

From there they have subsequently moved into Sudan's far-west Darfur region which has been plagued by conflict for almost a decade, the report said.

Small Arms Survey said it was not clear whether Yarmouk served simply as a recipient "or whether they repackage or even assemble the Chinese-made weapons."

In 1998 Human Rights Watch said that a coalition of Sudanese opposition groups had alleged that Sudan stored chemical weapons for Iraq at the Yarmouk facility but government officials strenuously denied the charges.

Source: http://www.modernghana.com/news/425812/1/fire-explosions-at-khartoum-military-factory.html

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Privatization - Mexico - Conagua accepts human rights commission recommendation on Wirikuta mining concessions

By Rebecca Conan?/?Business News Americas

The Mexican national water commission, Conagua, has accepted a recommendation from the national commission of human rights, CNDH, to monitor claims of...

...

Including privatization information insight and forecasts for business opportunities in Mexico, Business News Americas focuses on major projects, active companies, such as Secretar?a de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales and Comisi?n Nacional del Agua; and business and sales contacts, providing networking opportunities with leading executives throughout Latin America.

Source: http://member.bnamericas.com/news/privatization/conagua-accepts-human-rights-commission-recommendation-on-wirikuta-mining-concessions

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Mass. gov.: Fungus seen at meningitis-linked firm

BOSTON (AP) ? State officials investigating a pharmacy linked to a deadly outbreak of meningitis said Tuesday they found shoddy sterilization practices and unclean conditions there, including debris-covered floor mats and standing water from a leaking boiler.

State officials also said the New England Compounding Center shipped steroids from the possibly contaminated batches suspected in the outbreak before it received its own test results confirming the drugs were sterile.

Gov. Deval Patrick said he's ordered state pharmacy regulators to conduct surprise inspections ? the first of which happened Tuesday ? at companies similar to the NECC and take other steps to tighten oversight. The state also has moved to revoke the company's operating license and the licenses of its top three pharmacists.

"Those whose laboratory practices caused this outbreak should never practice pharmacy or manufacture in Massachusetts again," Patrick said.

The outbreak of fungal meningitis, an inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord, has sickened 308 people, including 23 who have died, in 17 states. The outbreak has been linked to a steroid made by the NECC and taken mainly for back pain. Compounding pharmacies like NECC custom mix solutions in doses or forms generally not commercially available.

The federal government is conducting a criminal investigation.

The state said Tuesday that its preliminary investigation, which began last month after the company was first suspected in the growing outbreak, found large batches of drugs ready for general distribution but not labeled for specific patients.

Its state license permits the company to fill out only specific prescriptions for specific patients, and distributing drugs in bulk like a manufacturer would violate that, said Dr. Madeleine Biondolillo, director of the state Department of Public Health's Bureau of Healthcare Safety.

But company attorney Paul Cirel said it's "hard to imagine" state regulators weren't previously aware of the scale of its operations because they've worked so closely together. The state Board of Pharmacy has always had complete access to the facility, and board members were there as recently as last summer, he said.

"NECC's transparency in dealing with the board since inception in 1998 demonstrates its good-faith intention to operate in compliance with the requirements of its license," Cirel said.

Besides possible state license violations, Biondolillo said the inspections also revealed "several health and safety deficiencies" at the NECC facility in Framingham, just west of Boston.

Three lots of steroids produced by the company are suspected in the outbreak, and the company shipped orders from those lots 13 times before receiving the results of its own tests to confirm those lots were sterile, Biondolillo said. Some medication was shipped as many as 11 days before the company received test results, she said.

Biondolillo also detailed signs of flawed sterilization procedures, including black specks of fungus in sealed vials of the steroids, which were returned to the company during a recall.

Investigators found the company didn't sterilize its products long enough and didn't adequately test whether its sterilization equipment was working, she said.

In addition, mats on which people wiped their shoes to remove contamination before entering a sterile environment were "visibly dirty and soiled with assorted debris," she said. And a leaking boiler adjacent to a pharmacy clean room left an unsanitary pool of water around it and the adjacent walls, she said.

None of what's been found is enough to definitively determine what caused the contamination, and the investigation is ongoing, Biondolillo said.

Meanwhile, Patrick's moves to increase oversight at the state's 25 compounding pharmacies have already started.

The first of the unannounced inspections, to take place at least annually, was done on Tuesday, health department spokesman Alec Loftus said. He wouldn't give the inspected facility's name and said the results are being reviewed.

Patrick said compounding pharmacies will now be required to file annual compliance reports that could help regulators determine if they are acting as manufacturers.

____

Associated Press reporter Bob Salsberg contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mass-gov-fungus-seen-meningitis-linked-firm-205746973.html

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Obama, Romney national security surrogates spar ahead of Monday debate [VIDEO]

WASHINGTON ? Two senior national security surrogates for the presidential candidates traded barbs in a lively debate Thursday night.

Speaking on behalf of Republican nominee Mitt Romney, Dov Zakheim, the under secretary of defense in President George W. Bush?s administration, talked about spending more on defense in terms of the economy by growing the Gross Domestic Product.

?The governor underpins his notion of peace through strength,? Zakheim told a crowd gathered in Washington for the annual Military Reporters and Editors conference. ?If you want to have peace and stability, you need to be strong to dissuade people from doing things they might otherwise do.?

Candidate Romney has said that, if elected president, he would make it a goal to spend 4 percent of GDP on defense annually.

But Michele Flournoy, a foreign policy adviser to President Barack Obama?s campaign and a former top defense official in his administration, said Romney would give the Pentagon $2 trillion it isn?t even asking for, echoing Obama?s remarks at the second presidential debate.

Staking out positions likely to come up again on Monday in the third and final presidential debate, where the topic is foreign policy, budget constraints were clearly top of mind for the two senior advisers.

?Peace through strength is a great slogan, but it?s not a foreign policy,? said Flournoy, pushing back on the Romney campaign?s talking point. ?Taking defense spending back to 4 percent GDP, what?s the strategy behind that? And how in the world are you going to pay for it??

The Obama administration has plans to slash ground troop levels by 100,000 military personnel, bringing the number down to about where it was in 2001 before the surge from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Zakheim said that the kind of defense spending the Republican ticket advocates could be sustained without raising taxes or cutting major programs in a stronger and rebounding economy.

Additional cuts to defense would spread the American military too thin as the U.S. shifts focus from the Middle East to the Pacific, perhaps putting the nation at risk of losing its edge in military might, Zakheim said.

?To be credible to your allies, you need that strength. You need that spending,? he said.

Flourney took exception to the idea that Obama doesn?t embrace the notion of American exceptionalism, saying the president does regard America as the world leader but differs from Romney in how to play that role.

?We?re not leading from behind. We?re encouraging others to step up and be part of the solution,? she said.

Both sides seemed to agree on at least one issue ? fighting two wars has put enormous stress on U.S. troops and their families and they need to be cared for.

?Veterans and active-duty service members will not be touched if sequestration goes into effect,? Flournoy said.

?There?s nothing to argue about this,? Zakheim added.

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Obama, Romney national security surrogates spar ahead of Monday debate [VIDEO]

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Sen. Bob Casey's lead shrinks to 3 points; Tom Smith leads in grassroots fundraising

United Nations organization set to monitor US polling places on Election Day

Debate commission board member involved in lawsuit against Obama administration over HHS mandate

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-romney-national-security-surrogates-spar-ahead-monday-035009059.html

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Breast Cancer's Pink Ribbons: Are We ... - The Lingerie Addict

Today?s guest post is by Elisabeth Dale, one of my close friends as well as a breast expert and founder of The Breast Life, a website that?s all about breast health and well-being. Elisabeth is also the author of bOObs: A Guide to Your Girls, one of my favorite books because it talks about a woman?s breasts at every stage of her life. If you?re interested in keeping up with Elisabeth, you can find her on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Elisabeth Dale

I have mixed feelings about breast cancer awareness month. Some of my ambivalence has to do with my family?s medical history. My mother was diagnosed in the late 1960s, when women stayed silent about the disease and had no say in their treatment. So I understand the importance of talking about and sharing information on the subject.

But over the years, my concerns have shifted. I?m less anxious about finding breast cancer in my own body than I am about finding a cure. I know that one in 8 women are at risk during their lifetime, up from 1 in 11 back when pink ribbons first came on the scene. Despite advances in detection and treatment and millions of charitable dollars raised, it turns out that aren?t much closer to finding out what causes breast cancer.

Sure, we can talk about being aware, wear a ?save the boobies? bracelet or a ?cop a feel? t-shirt, but has all the focus on being aware of our breasts reduced our chances of getting the disease in the first place?

Not really. Medical experts now advise against teaching women to conduct formal monthly breast self-exams. Breast Self Exams don?t save lives or find breast cancers earlier than mammograms. I?ve been getting mammograms for some 25 years now. Turns out that all those visits to a breast-imaging center weren?t necessary. Such screenings are no longer recommended for women under age 40, with the latest guidelines suggesting women wait until age 50 (unless there is a specific family history or exposure to radiation). Still charitable breast cancer organizations continue to tout and even overstate the benefits of BSE?s and mammograms, while neglecting to mention the risks.

Younger and younger women are cautioned to be ?aware,? while the median age of breast cancer patients is 61 years old and over 50% of those diagnosed are older than 62. It?s more common to see pink promotions displaying perky, uplifted cleavage, rather than photos of mature, at-risk bosoms. Breast cancer may be deadlier in younger populations but it is still less common. Today?s Breast Cancer Awareness Month appears focused on saving an image of girlish breasts, not an aging woman?s life.

This over-emphasis on early detection once made me assume that if I were only diligent enough to find a lump in its earliest stages, I could count on being cured. But the truth is that scientists don?t know which of the many breast cancers are slower growing or more deadly. Researchers have only figured out a causal link in about 15% of all cases.

According to the National Breast Cancer Coalition, ?The incidence of women diagnosed with advanced breast cancer has not changed. Rates of diagnosis of truly lethal disease have remained stable since 1975.? I?m left with the knowledge that my two biggest risk factors of being female and aging aren?t ones I can change. I have learned to remind myself that it is heart disease, and not breast cancer, that takes more women?s lives each year in the US. I?ve learned to focus on what I can do to keep myself in the best of heart health, knowing that regular exercise and a reasonably nutritious diet will benefit the whole of me, including my boobs.

I?ve also found new ways to support breast cancer research, education, and advocacy programs. The following initiatives are all focused on measuring greater progress:

1. Before purchasing or participating in any Breast Cancer Awareness promotions, Think Before You Pink. Visit the Breast Cancer Action?s informative and consumer friendly website, where you?ll find a list of questions you can ask before buying pink products.
2. Consider joining Dr. Susan Love?s Health of Women Study. This important international on-line medical questionnaire provides researchers with information they need to learn more about the causes of breast cancer.
3. Check out the National Breast Cancer Coalition?s 2012 Breast Cancer Progress Report and read about their campaign to coordinate research efforts and private funding. Learn about the myths and truths surrounding Breast Cancer.

Women have always been the leaders and active participants in campaigns to raise ?awareness.? We are also the biggest consumers of pink merchandise. My fear is that if we keep wrapping the problem in the same pretty pink ribbons, we?ll continue to get the same results.

What do you think about the campaigns to raise awareness and pink ribbons? Let?s talk about it in the comments.

Source: http://www.thelingerieaddict.com/2012/10/breast-cancers-pink-ribbons-overselling-awareness.html

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Some student veterans fighting to stay on GI Bill

courtesy of Hayleigh Perez

Hayleigh Perez, a former Army sergeant who served in Iraq, argues that the University of North Carolina system has over-billed by her $4,600 that should have been covered, she contends, by the GI Bill. She is holding her daughter Caleigh.

By Bill Briggs, NBC News contributor

Some 250,000 student veterans are being forced to pay $10,000 for tuition each academic year because many colleges are misclassifying the residency status of those veterans ??often for the schools? own financial gain ??according to a student veterans organization.

The issue centers on a fundamental change to the GI Bill, enacted last year by Congress, which stripped tuition benefits for veterans who attend public schools and who are categorized as out-of-state students. In-state student veterans enrolled at public institutions remain eligible for full tuition coverage under federal law.?

But the financial fallout of the residency crunch is impacting student veterans in about 38 states, including Florida, North Carolina and California, reports the Student Veterans Advocacy Group?(SVAG). Many of those same student veterans are lifelong residents of the states in which they?re now enrolled ? even owning homes in those states???but their schools stamped them as out-of-state residents after they were temporarily transferred to other military bases, or deployed overseas.

?Many veterans are having to quit school because they can?t afford that $5,000 per semester they have to now pay out of pocket,? said Jason Thigpen, founder and president of SVAG, which is based in North Carolina. Thigpen, a student at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, is not personally affected by the classification problems. As a U.S. Army sergeant, he earned a Purple Heart medal for combat wounds he sustained in Iraq in 2009.

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?This is the first time in the history of the GI Bill that we can?t get the education that we were promised,? Thigpen said. ?It?s a debt that?s owed to these services members. Our veterans are just asking what was promised to them ? no more, no less.?

Dozens of student veterans, who recently used SVAG to successfully appeal and overturn their out-of-state residency classifications at their colleges, used utility bills and mortgage papers to prove that they are???and have been???living in their home states, Thigpen said.

Despite a similar pile of residency proof, however, student veteran Hayleigh Perez, 26, has failed during several hearings to convince the University of North Carolina that she was fully eligible for GI Bill tuition benefits when she attended UNC Pembroke last spring.

Perez, who was stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., in 2006, legally maintained her residence in Fayetteville, N.C., during a subsequent 15-month deployment to Iraq, she said. When she returned to North Carolina, she got married in that state. In 2008, Perez and her husband bought a home in Hoke County, N.C. and she registered as a voter. In 2009, the U.S. military relocated Perez and her husband to Texas, but the couple continued to pay property taxes on their North Carolina home, she said.

Perez received an honorable discharge from the Army in 2009. Last spring, after her husband was transferred back to North Carolina, Perez enrolled at UNC Pembroke. She was stunned, however, when the school billed her $4,600 for a semester of tuition because she?d been deemed an out-of-state resident ? and, thus, ineligible for the GI Bill.

?It is disgraceful,? Perez said. ?I was forced to borrow the money for my tuition from family members.?

She filed a grievance with UNC Pembroke, offering as evidence of her residency the property records, her marriage license and her North Carolina voter ID. The school denied her appeal, she said. She ultimately took her case to UNC leaders in Chapel Hill ? and met with UNC officials yet again last Tuesday with Thigpen at her side. Once more, she said, her claim was denied.

NBC News asked UNC to address Perez?s assertion that she should be classified by the school system as an in-state resident. Laura B. Fjeld, a UNC vice president and general counsel, e-mailed a response:??We are not at liberty to offer any details in connection with the case of Ms. Perez because of the privacy protections afforded her under FERPA (the U.S. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act).?

Meanwhile, in North Carolina, there are about 5,000 additional student veterans like Perez who are wrongly classified by their colleges as out-of-state residents ? and many of those take classes within the UNC system, Thigpen contends. He has personally represented 32 of those students during their hearings to overturn their residency classifications, winning each case, he said.?

courtesy of Hayleigh Perez

Student veteran Hayleigh Perez now attends Methodist University in Fayetteville, N.C. Since spring, she's battled the University of North Carolina to reimburse her for $4,600 in tuition she argues she never should have paid under the GI Bill.

On that point, Fjeld responded: ?We believe that the (North Carolina) State Residency Manual which governs classification of residency for tuition purposes,?is consistent with state and federal law.?

?This isn?t just North Carolina, though,? Perez said. ?This has become an issue nationally. People are serving multiple deployments, and to face these kinds of hardships when they get home is crazy.?

Perez knows well the scope of the issue. She posted an online petition?at change.org, asking the ?UNC Board of Governors? to ?Stop Discriminating Against Student Veterans.? Within the petition, she also revealed her situation, point by point. As of Monday evening, more than 143,000 supporters had signed the petition???including people who said they are student veterans experiencing the same residency problems???and tuition bills???in Virginia, Florida and other states.

Why are some colleges such sticklers on the residency disputes filed by student veterans, forcing many to pay out-of-state tuition fees even though they reside in the same state?

If a public college agrees with a student?s assertion that he or she is an in-state resident and, consequently, allowed to attend school tuition-free on the GI bill, the federal government then directly sends the school that tuition payment???in North Carolina, that?s $5,000, on average, per academic year at public institutions, Thigpen said.

If the school holds fast to its ruling that a student veteran should be classified as an out-of-state enrollee, the student must pay the school out of pocket for tuition???in North Carolina, that?s $16,000, on average, per academic year at public colleges, Thigpen said.

?When you multiply that $11,000 difference over just say 5,000 to 10,000 student veterans who are affected by this,? Thigpen said, ?you?re talking about over $100 million a year.?

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Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/22/14565761-home-but-not-a-resident-some-student-veterans-fighting-to-stay-on-gi-bill?lite

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Squalid factories, foodborne diseases are rising again

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By Nicole Goodkind

Foodborne illnesses kill 3,000 Americans each year. Nearly 130,000 more are hospitalized. The aggregate cost of foodborne illnesses to the U.S. economy in 2011 was $77.7 billion.

These are staggering numbers, and they're on the rise. The FDA had 37 recalls of fruits and vegetables in 2011, up from just two in 2005. Between 2006 and 2010 the rate of foodborne salmonella rose 10%.

Why is food in the United States so riddled with disease that it's killing citizens?

Stephanie Armour, Food Safety and Public Health Reporter at Bloomberg, investigated this question for a special report in this month's issue of Bloomberg Markets. What she found was deeply disturbing.

The Food and Drug Administration has an annual budget of $1 billion to fulfill its duties. Annual food sales in the United States equal $1.2 trillion.

Because of these budget constraints, the FDA is able to inspect ust 6% of domestic food producers and 0.4% of importers.

"The FDA doesn't really have the funding to do the inspections," says Armour in an interview with The Daily Ticker. "I mean it's a negligible amount that they're actually able to get to and look at visually. Instead a lot of private companies have used these third-party auditors. They're basically private inspection firms that go in, do the inspection, make sure the food handling is safe and let the companies know and give them a grade."

Unfortunately, these third-party auditors are far from ideal inspectors. They are not required to follow any federal standards and do not have to make their reports public. Some are financially linked to the companies they are inspecting.

"In some cases you have companies that are on the board of the inspecting companies that are writing the rules for food safety," explains Armour.

Third-party auditors only inspect areas that companies ask them to look at. Sometimes they do not see a factory before giving it a passing grade. Food that is imported into the U.S. often goes uninspected altogether.

These improper inspections kill people, says Armour.

"People have died after these food safety inspection firms have gone in and said 'everything's great.' They've given them superior scores and weeks later or even at the same time people have started getting sick and dying."

What is found to be acceptable by these inspectors is appalling. Plants that receive superior scores are often later found by the FDA to be packed with mold, cockroaches, rats and pigeons.

Abroad, it is not an uncommon practice for workers to defecate in fields where fruit grows.

In Vietnam fish are packed in contaminated tap water for their trip to the U.S. Fish in China are fed a diet of pig and goose feces before they are sent for American consumption.

So what can we do to protect ourselves?

On a personal level, meat should always be cooked properly and fruits and vegetables should always be washed thoroughly, Armour says.

On a federal level, the FDA is hoping to receive more funding through the recently passed Food Modernization Act. Many food experts say these regulations are long overdue.

Armour, however, remains confident that the FDA can boost inspections.

"There have been some members of Congress who are trying to put some pressure on, to try to get there regulations out so that changes can start to be made," she says.

What do you make of food regulation in the U.S.? Have you changed the way you eat?

More from The Daily Ticker:

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Home Prices Up 11 Percent - Speaking of Real Estate

Home sales dropped a bit over the last month but they remain strong compared to this time last year and price gains remain robust.

NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun released NAR?s September 2012 existing-home sales figures on Friday last week, and they?re down 1.7 percent from August figures, to an annual sales pace of 4.75 million units. That?s still 11 percent above where they were last year, suggesting that the long-term upward trend continues.

The upward trend of prices continues as well. The median price, at $183,900, is up a strong 11.3 percent from year-ago levels. Part of that increase stems from the mix of houses being sold today. We?re seeing fewer distressed sales as a percentage of the market, and prices are reflecting that more favorable mix. But Yun said on Friday that the increase is also reflective of genuine price appreciation. Indices that look at price changes of the same assets over time, like Case-Shiller and the Federal Housing Finance Agency price index, are showing similar price increases. So, the gains aren?t just from a change in the mix of homes being sold; they?re also from asset appreciation, Yun said.

Two other notable data points from Friday?s release:

1. Inventory is dropping, so you can expect upward price pressure to continue. The supply of homes available for sale is now at 5.9 months, the first time in a number of years the number has dropped below 6 months. Total inventory stands at 2.32 million units.

2. Time on market has dropped to a median 70 days, with roughly a third of all sales closing in 30 days or so. At this time last year, the median time on market was more than 100 days, so the trend is positive.

You can learn more in the 5-minute video from Yun?s press conference above.

Access NAR?s news release on the latest figures.

Source: http://speakingofrealestate.blogs.realtor.org/2012/10/22/home-prices-up-11-percent/

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The Truth About the Personal Growth Industry ? hot news

People are talking a lot about the world of Personal Growth these days, not least because of the well-documented events at James Ray?s retreat at a sweat lodge in Arizona last fall, and the probe into the deaths that occurred there. I can?t even begin to say how tragic I think it was, and of course want to express my condolences to the families of the victims, and everyone else involved. That said, I don?t think James Ray should be considered a con man, or that his entire career in helping people achieve personal and business success should be slammed because of what happened. So, for now, let?s leave Ray himself out of it-?whether he was in the wrong is up to the people investigating the case to decide. More than that, it bothers me that an entire industry is being pilloried based on one (admittedly horribly sad) event.

The Personal Growth (also known as Personal Development, Self Help, Self Improvement and more) industry produces overwhelmingly positive and tangible results for a wide array of people, plain and simple. Take it from me. I grew up in an affluent area, but my parents struggled financially. I couldn?t help attaching my self worth to my parents? net worth (or lack thereof), and at the same time, started to overeat to compensate for my feelings of inadequacy. I wasn?t exactly a happy kid, and no one in the medical or education systems seemed to be able to light on the right words (or prescriptions) to help me. I learned later that unlike standard medicine and/or education, Personal Growth encompasses a holistic approach, and deals with root issues of problems, not just symptoms. As I got older, I got in with the wrong crowd, which for me meant drinking, drugs, and other unhealthy behavior. I was arrested four times before graduating high school, and then ended up dropping out of college to take over my father?s business and start others. Entrepreneurial spirit aside, the businesses failed, and I found myself hitting rock bottom a short time later. I?d ballooned to 245 pounds, been clinically depressed for more than ten years, and I was $100,000 in debt. At the young age of twenty-four, in addition to failing at all the commercial ventures I?d undertaken, I?d also already failed in six intimate relationships. I even contemplated suicide as the only solution I thought was possible for a world I couldn?t figure out. Looking back, I realize I was just never given an -?owner?s manual-? of how to be successful in my life, whether that meant to be healthy, make a decent living, or just to be happy. I was introduced to Personal Growth by reading about it and hearing about it, and to be honest, I was skeptical. Up until that point, everything I attempted to better my life had failed. But I suppose I felt I had nothing more to lose, and maybe even something to gain. So I made the decision, and signed up for a four-day seminar that promised to unleash my -?Power Within.-? Over the course of the seminar?s four days, I learned more about my life than I had in the previous twenty-four years. My transformation began then and there. With the help of the seminar?s instructor, I came up with a plan to turn my life around and stuck to it (with more help from mentors and coaches). In eleven short months, I lost fifty pounds, got myself out of the six-figure debt, began my first lasting and healthy relationship (with my now-wife), and discovered a satisfying and lucrative career path. The Personal Growth industry has given millions of people from all over the world the same opportunity. It might manifest differently for each and every one of them, because -?Personal Growth-? can mean a lot of different things. And as my journey demonstrated, it certainly doesn?t just include spiritualism, sweat lodges, or other esoteric practices. In fact, there isn?t much that?s -?mystical,-? or mystifying, about it. Though some critics might suggest otherwise, the truth is, we human beings do have the ability to transcend our limitations, be they emotional, physical, or even spiritual. But please-?none of us who truly understand Personal Growth is suggesting that only visualization and positive thinking will get you there. A positive attitude is important, but taking real action is even more important. So at its core, Personal Growth is a synonym for personal responsibility and the understanding that we create our own reality. We are the referee and judge of our own life. We create the meaning and purpose of our life. Similarly, if we insert ourselves into an environment where somebody is leading us, it?s still imperative that we take charge of ourselves-?if Personal Growth teaches anything, it?s that. But of course, there are people who might follow an expert in the field too far and do things that go beyond their core beliefs, values and capabilities. In other words, extreme elements-?and major mistakes-?unfortunately show up in just about everything, and I know that what happened in that sweat lodge was a true anomaly in the bigger picture of Personal Growth. To knock down an entire industry that does a lot of good for a lot of people because of one incident is unfair. Instead, let?s keep a positive perspective, and allow people to see for themselves what Personal Growth can do. What are your thoughts about this industry and movement? Please click the -?Post Your Comments-? button below to share your thoughts. http://www.PersonalGrowth.com/blog Connect with us on Facebook http://bit.ly/8ZOtQW

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Spelheim, the Citylands

In a realm of magic, war rages. Will the continent be consumed by strife, or will the people unite against the greater danger?

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This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?Spelheim: The First Magewar?. Anything posted here will also show up there.

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Spelheim, the Citylands

Landscape
The landscape of Spelheim is one of gentle hills and meandering rivers. The mud roads are well kept, connecting one village to the next. Much of the land surrounding the capital was deforested and made into farmland, but a few deciduous woods remain in the more southern areas.

Aside from the capital, a number of other places of interest exist. An academy for military magic exists on a small western island, a little out of the western coast. Only students that have been tested for devotion and loyalty to the City are accepted here ? others remain at the general academy, locked within the City walls. A second island can be seen to the south-east of Spelheim. The murderous sea prevents reaching it, but when the Veil was still intact, it originated (or ended) in an ominous tower on this isle. Additionally, mysterious dolmen sites are spread throughout the Citylands.

People
The people of Spelheim are colloquially referred to as Citians, even those that have never set a foot inside the City. They possess brown or red hair, and spend their days farming, crafting, or hunting. Magic is almost thing of myth to most ? any discovered magician will be immediately relocated into the City.

A second group of people exists within Spelheim ? a group of nomads-turned-traders known as the Socharev. They travel between the two kingdoms, trading wares and stories. These nomads are not an ethnic group per se - anyone is free to join their caravans. However, their appearance breeds true, and offspring between Citian and Socharev tend to have the latter?s characteristic black hair. Lately, they have been submit to heavier discrimination than before, as the Apostate was born from these people.

Government and politics
A village may only call itself a Town after reaching a sufficient level of civilization. When the City Council bestows a Township, that Town is appointed a City noble as its regent. In effect, most towns are governed by representatives of nobility, as it is considered a shame upon one?s house to reside outside of the capital. Towns manage the taxes and laws of the surrounding area, and possess administrative offices and communication post that act as the City?s eyes and ears. Any Town in Spelheim has a stable with horses that may reach the City in less than one day and night.

Technology
Though the City raises prodigious builders and architects, due to an over-reliance on its mages, Spelheim?s non-magical technology has certain gaps. Due to the overwhelming offensive capabilities of magic, gunpowder has not yet been weaponized to the extent it has in Id-Heren. Armour craft, on the other hand, is highly advanced, and often comes with specialized structures for reinforcing Earth magic to latch on to.

Religion
For those living outside of the walls, the entirety of the City is a holy place, a target for pilgrimage. The monopoly on magic is considered proof that the supreme god ? the Maker ? has a special place in its heart for Spelheim and its people. Every settlement must own a church dedicated to the Maker?s glory to be eligible for Township.

The Socharev are a primarily spiritual people, believing instead in a number of guardian animals, which are worshipped through decorative woodwork - primarily on their wagons, but also on jewelry. Officially, the Socharev have all been forcibly to converted to the Church of the Maker, but the sincerity with which this is practiced varies wildly.

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On War and Peace, George McGovern Will Die Vindicated (Atlantic Politics Channel)

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Breakthrough offers new route to large-scale quantum computing

ScienceDaily (Oct. 19, 2012) ? In a key step toward creating a working quantum computer, Princeton researchers have developed a method that may allow the quick and reliable transfer of quantum information throughout a computing device

The finding, by a team led by Princeton physicist Jason Petta, could eventually allow engineers to build quantum computers consisting of millions of quantum bits, or qubits. So far, quantum researchers have only been able to manipulate small numbers of qubits, not enough for a practical machine.

"The whole game at this point in quantum computing is trying to build a larger system," said Andrew Houck, an assistant professor of electrical engineering who is part of the research team.

To make the transfer, Petta's team used a stream of microwave photons to analyze a pair of electrons trapped in a tiny cage called a quantum dot. The "spin state" of the electrons -- information about how they are spinning -- serves as the qubit, a basic unit of information. The microwave stream allows the scientists to read that information.

"We create a cavity with mirrors on both ends -- but they don't reflect visible light, they reflect microwave radiation," Petta said. "Then we send microwaves in one end, and we look at the microwaves as they come out the other end. The microwaves are affected by the spin states of the electrons in the cavity, and we can read that change."

In an ordinary sense, the distances involved are very small; the entire apparatus operates over a little more than a centimeter. But on the subatomic scale, they are vast. It is like coordinating the motion of a top spinning on the moon with another on the surface of Earth.

"It's the most amazing thing," said Jake Taylor, a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Joint Quantum Institute at the University of Maryland, who worked on the project with the Princeton team. "You have a single electron almost completely changing the properties of an inch-long electrical system."

For years, teams of scientists have pursued the idea of using quantum mechanics to build a new machine that would revolutionize computing. The goal is not build a faster or more powerful computer, but to build one that approaches problems in a completely different fashion.

Standard computers store information as classical "bits," which can take on a value of either 0 or 1. These bits allow programmers to create the complex instructions that are the basis for modern computing power. Since Alan Turing took the first steps toward creating a computer at Princeton in 1936, engineers have created vastly more powerful and complex machines, but this basic binary system has remained unchanged.

The power of a quantum computer comes from the strange rules of quantum mechanics, which describe the universe of subatomic particles. Quantum mechanics says that an electron can spin in one direction, representing a 1, or in another direction, a 0. But it can also be in something called "superposition" representing all states between 1 and 0. If scientists and engineers can build a working machine that takes advantage of this, they would open up entirely new fields of computing.

"The point of a quantum computer is not that they can do what a normal computer can do but faster; that's not what they are," said Houck. "The quantum computer would allow us to approach problems differently. It would allow us to solve problems that cannot be solved with a normal computer."

Mathematicians are still working on possible uses for a quantum system, but the machines could allow them to accomplish tasks such as factoring currently unfactorable numbers, breaking codes or predicting the behavior of molecules.

One challenge facing scientists is that the spins of electrons, or any other quantum particles, are incredibly delicate. Any outside influences, whether a wisp of magnetism or glimpse of light, destabilizes the electrons' spins and introduces errors.

Over the years, scientists have developed techniques to observe spin states without disturbing them. (This year's Nobel Prize in physics honored two scientists who first demonstrated the direct observation of quantum particles.) But analyzing small numbers of spins is not enough; millions will be required to make a real quantum processor.

To approach the problem, Petta's team combined techniques from two branches of science: from materials science, they used a structure called a quantum dot to hold and analyze electrons' spins; and from optics, they adopted a microwave channel to transfer the spin information from the dot.

To make the quantum dots, the team isolated a pair of electrons on a small section of material called a "semiconductor nanowire." Basically, that means a wire that is so thin that it can hold electrons like soda bubbles in a straw. They then created small "cages" along the wire. The cages are set up so that electrons will settle into a particular cage depending on their energy level.

This is how the team reads the spin state: electrons of similar spin will repel, while those of different spins will attract. So the team manipulates the electrons to a certain energy level and then reads their position. If they are in the same cage, they are spinning differently; if they are in different cages, the spins are the same.

The second step is to place this quantum dot inside the microwave channel. This allows the team to transfer the information about the pair's spin state -- the qubit.

Petta said the next step is to increase the reliability of the setup for a single electron pair. After that, the team plans to add more quantum dots to create more qubits. Team members are cautiously optimistic. There appear to be no insurmountable problems at this point but, as with any system, increasing complexity could lead to unforeseen difficulties.

"The methods we are using here are scalable, and we would like to use them in a larger system," Petta said. "But to make use of the scaling, it needs to work a little better. The first step is to make better mirrors for the microwave cavity."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Princeton University, Engineering School, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. K. D. Petersson, L. W. McFaul, M. D. Schroer, M. Jung, J. M. Taylor, A. A. Houck, J. R. Petta. Circuit quantum electrodynamics with a spin qubit. Nature, 2012; 490 (7420): 380 DOI: 10.1038/nature11559

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/n36-2zUZfko/121019141254.htm

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