Israel to give Palestine $100 million in withheld tax revenues

January 30, 2013 - 11:17 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Israel will give Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's administration around $100 million in tax revenues that had been withheld in retaliation for his statehood bid in the United Nations, Israeli officials said on Wednesday, January 30, according to Reuters.

They described the handover as a one-time deal, signaling rightist Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had not formally scrapped sanctions that have hurt the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank and worried world powers.

But the decision follows surprise setbacks for Netanyahu in a national election this month that, while giving him enough of a lead to head the next Israeli government, also set the stage for more moderate statecraft by boosting centrist challengers whom he must now consider as coalition partners.

Under interim peace deals, Israel collects some $100 million a month in duties on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, money Abbas badly needs to pay public sector salaries. It began withholding the funds after Abbas, sidestepping stalled diplomacy, secured a Palestinian status upgrade at the United Nations in November.

Israel said the December levies would be used instead to start paying off $200 million the Palestinians owe the Israel Electric Corporation, and predicted at the time that the lien on PA funds would be in force until March at least.

Israel has previously frozen payments to the PA during times of heightened security and diplomatic tensions, provoking strong international criticism, such as when the U.N. cultural body UNESCO granted the Palestinians full membership in 2011.

Source: http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/143500/

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Defense Contractors Brace For Military Spending Cuts

SAN DIEGO ? Looming defense cuts are casting a long shadow over the biggest defense contracting conference on the West Coast. Nearly every session, discussion and panel at West 2013 has something to do with potential defense department cutbacks.

Budget cutters could trim up to $9 billion from the Pentagon budget this year alone. In 2011, the defense budget was $530 billion.

Some observers say the defense cutbacks are part of a new reality that will continue well beyond this year. One speaker at a panel discussing the current situation said the defense department will shrink.

"Everything that looks essential, or everything that looks like it can be delayed, will be declared non-essential and will be delayed," said Kori Schake, a fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institute. She studies military policy and defense strategy.

"And so, businesses making the case that what we do is actually essential to what the department needs to successfully do, I think is the best approach to it," said Shalke.

Companies that can be flexible and market products outside the defense industry will have the best shot at survival, according to Shalke.

Source: http://feeds.kpbs.org/~r/kpbs/local/~3/_ZPy8KMyync/

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Study of human specimen collections in the US offers first look at their huge diversity

Study of human specimen collections in the US offers first look at their huge diversity

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Biobanks are organizations that collect, store and share human specimens (e.g., blood, solid tissues, hair) for research purposes. The rise of the human genome project and of large-scale genetics studies have spurred a dramatic increase in the number of biobanks in the last decade, increasing their importance in biomedical research.

But until now, biobanks in the U.S. have never been studied systematically, leaving few clear details as to how they are run or the policies and practices they use in managing their work.

A new study from the University of North Carolina published January 25, 2013 in the journal Genome Medicine reveals the huge diversity of U.S. biobanks and also raises questions about the best way to manage and govern them.

"Biobanks are increasingly important to scientific advances, but our decentralized, fragmented research enterprise system in the U.S. has encouraged their development without necessarily providing them with the tools to survive," says study leader Gail Henderson, PhD, professor and chair of social medicine at the University of North Carolina. She also heads UNC's Center for Genomics and Society.

Henderson and colleagues from UNC decided to address this paucity of information by inviting more than 600 biobanks in the U.S. to participate in an online survey. These included private and public, commercial and noncommercial, and many biobanks affiliated with hospitals and academia. Representatives of 456 U.S. biobanks (72 percent of the list invited) participated in the survey.

Among the main findings is their great diversity. "They get established for a variety of reasons; some accidental, some intentional. They vary in size, in when they were established, how formal they are as organizations, what kinds of specimens they hold, who pays for them, and where those specimens come from," Henderson notes.

In the survey, just over half (53 percent) listed research on a particular disease, such as cancer, as the most important reason for establishment. Twenty-nine percent listed research generally. Other reasons included response to a gift or grant, and "intent to centralize, integrate, or harmonize" older specimen collections.

The size of U.S. biobank collections varies, in number of specimens (from tens to millions) and in the types and where they come from ? individuals, clinics, hospitals, public health programs, and research studies.

Henderson also points out that only a small minority are commercial businesses. "So, not surprisingly, most biobanks do not perceive being in a competitive market. But the majority are quite worried about funding, and many are concerned that the specimens they collect aren't being adequately utilized."

"Researchers and people whose specimens are being held need to be concerned that we don't have a system that is as efficient and effective as it could be," Henderson adds. "If you collect specimens but don't use them, this is a failure to deliver on the promise of advancing translational research, and thus an ethical as well as technical concern."

Biobanks, like the researchers who depend on their services and specimens, need guidance informed by knowledge of their practices and challenges, the authors state. Required are policies "as nuanced as the biobanks themselves," whether these policies address issues of privacy or identity protection, or advancement of research goals.

"Given the diversity in biobank organizational characteristics identified in our survey, it's likely that management and governance policies will have to be tailored to fit the particular context. One-size policies will not fit all," says Henderson.

###

University of North Carolina Health Care: http://www.med.unc.edu

Thanks to University of North Carolina Health Care for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126499/Study_of_human_specimen_collections_in_the_US_offers_first_look_at_their_huge_diversity

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The Consumer: The Drug-Dose Gender Gap

Most sleeping pills are designed to knock you out for eight hours. When the Food and Drug Administration was evaluating a new short-acting pill for people to take when they wake up in the middle of the night, agency scientists wanted to know how much of the drug would still be in users? systems come morning.

Blood tests uncovered a gender gap: Men metabolized the drug, Intermezzo, faster than women. Ultimately the F.D.A. approved a 3.5 milligram pill for men, and a 1.75 milligram pill for women.

The active ingredient in Intermezzo, zolpidem, is used in many other sleeping aids, including Ambien. But it wasn?t until earlier this month that the F.D.A. reduced doses of Ambien for women by half.

Sleeping pills are hardly the only medications that may have unexpected, even dangerous, effects in women. Studies have shown that women respond differently than men to many drugs, from aspirin to anesthesia. Researchers are only beginning to understand the scope of the issue, but many believe that as a result, women experience a disproportionate share of adverse, often more severe, side effects.

?This is not just about Ambien ? that?s just the tip of the iceberg,? said Dr. Janine Clayton, director for the Office of Research on Women?s Health at the National Institutes of Health. ?There are a lot of sex differences for a lot of drugs, some of which are well known and some that are not well recognized.?

Until 1993, women of childbearing age were routinely excluded from trials of new drugs. When the F.D.A. lifted the ban that year, agency researchers noted that because landmark studies on aspirin in heart disease and stroke had not included women, the scientific community was left ?with doubts about whether aspirin was, in fact, effective in women for these indications.?

Because so many drugs were tested mostly or exclusively in men, scientists may know little of their effects on women until they reach the market. A Government Accountability Office study found that 8 of 10 drugs removed from the market from 1997 through 2000 posed greater health risks to women.

For example, Seldane, an antihistamine, and the gastrointestinal drug Propulsid both triggered a potentially fatal heart arrhythmia more often in women than in men. Many drugs still on the market cause this arrhythmia more often in women, including antibiotics, antipsychotics, anti-malarial drugs and cholesterol-lowering drugs, Dr. Clayton said. Women also tend to use more medications than men.

The sex differences cut both ways. Some drugs, like the high blood pressure drug Verapamil and the antibiotic erythromycin, appear to be more effective in women. On the other hand, women tend to wake up from anesthesia faster than men and are more likely to experience side effects from anesthetic drugs, according to the Society for Women?s Health Research.

Women also react differently to alcohol, tobacco and cocaine, studies have found.

It?s not just because women tend to be smaller than men. Women metabolize drugs differently because they have a higher percentage of body fat and experience hormonal fluctuations and the monthly menstrual cycle. ?Some drugs are more water-based and like to hang out in the blood, and some like to hang out in the fat tissue,? said Wesley Lindsey, assistant professor of pharmacy practice at Auburn University, who is a co-author of a paper on sex-based differences in drug activity.

?If the drug is lipophilic? ? attracted to fat cells ? ?it will move into those tissues and hang around for longer,? Dr. Lindsey added. ?The body won?t clear it as quickly, and you?ll see effects longer.?

There are also sex differences in liver metabolism, kidney function and certain gastric enzymes. Oral contraceptives, menopause and post-menopausal hormone treatment further complicate the picture. Some studies suggest, for example, that when estrogen levels are low, women may need higher doses of drugs called angiotensin receptor blockers to lower blood pressure, because they have higher levels of proteins that cause the blood vessels to constrict, said Kathryn Sandberg, director of the Center for the Study of Sex Differences in Health, Aging and Disease at Georgetown.

Many researchers say data on these sex differences must be gathered at the very beginning of a drug?s development ? even before trials on human subjects begin.

?The path to a new drug starts with the basic science ? you study an animal model of the disease, and that?s where you discover a drug target,? Dr. Sandberg said. ?But 90 percent of researchers are still studying male animal models of the disease.?

There have been improvements. In an interview, Dr. Robert Temple, with the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the F.D.A., said the agency?s new guidelines in 1993 called for studies of sex differences at the earliest stages of drug development, as well as for analysis of clinical trial data by sex.

He said early research on an irritable bowel syndrome drug, alosetron (Lotronex), suggested it would not be effective in men. As a result, only women were included in clinical trials, and it was approved only for women. (Its use is restricted now because of serious side effects.)

But some scientists say drug metabolism studies with only 10 or 15 subjects are too small to pick up sex differences. Even though more women participate in clinical trials than in the past, they are still underrepresented in trials for heart and kidney disease, according to one recent analysis, and even in cancer trials.

?The big problem is we?re not quite sure how much difference this makes,? Dr. Lindsey said. ?We just don?t have a good handle on it.?

---

Readers may submit comments or questions for The Consumer by e-mail to consumer@nytimes.com.

Source: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/28/the-drug-dose-gender-gap/?partner=rss&emc=rss

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The Weekly Roundup for 01.21.2013

You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 7 days -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

Sony's Xperia Tablet Z announced

Xperia Tablet Z: 1.5GHz quad-core, 10.1-inch 1,920 x 1,200 screen and 6.9mm thickness.

Pebble smartwatch review

So, what is Pebble? It's not a smartphone for your wrist, as we've seen attempted before...

HTC M7 purportedly spied brandishing Sense 5.0

It's that special time again -- that time when Mobile World Congress looms...

Mozilla reveals Firefox OS Developer Preview Phone

Mozilla has just announced a "Developer Preview Phone" for putting the OS through its paces...

You also might like:

• Apple announces Q1 2013 earnings: record $54.5 billion in revenue, 47.8 million iPhones and 22.9 million iPads sold
• Microsoft reports Q2 2013 earnings: posts record revenue of $21.5 billion, $6.38 billion profit
• Samsung reports $8.27 billion in profits for Q4 2012

Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/0dc9sbyYLVg/

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CfA: Carson Fellowships 2013-2014 ? European Society for ...

The Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society invites applications for its 2013-2014 class of postdoctoral and senior fellows. The fellowship program, directed by Christof Mauch (LMU Munich/Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit?t) and Helmuth Trischler (Deutsches Museum) is designed to bring to Munich a cohort of excellent scholars who are working in the environmental humanities and related disciplines.

The Center will award fellowships to scholars from around the globe and from a variety of disciplines. Research and writing of applicants should preferably pertain to one (or more) of the topics that will be at the core of the Center?s 2013-2014 research agenda:

• Ecological Imperialism
• Environmental Ethics, Politics, and Movement
• Natural Disasters and Cultures of Risk
• Environmental Knowledge and Knowledge Societies

Applications that deal with past topics of the Center will also be considered. These include:

• Transformation of Landscapes
• Resource Use and Conservation

The program is a writing fellowship program; the Carson Center does not sponsor field trips or archival research. Fellowships will usually be granted for periods of 6, 9, or 12 months but they can also be granted for 3 months or be broken up into individual 3 month periods. Fellows are expected to spend their fellowship in residence, to work on a major research project, to attend the weekly lunchtime colloquium, and to present their research at the Center.

The Carson Center will pay for a replacement of the successful candidate at his or her home institution; alternatively it will pay a fellowship that is commensurate with experience and current employment.

The deadline for applications is 31 January 2013. Applications should include a cover letter, an abridged curriculum vitae (5 pages maximum), project description (3,000 words maximum), research schedule for the fellowship period, and the names of three scholars who might serve as references. While applicants may write in either English or German, we recommend that they use the language in which they are most proficient.

Please note that these fellowships are for postdoctoral scholars, i.e. applicants need to have completed their PhD by the time at which their fellowship would begin. Applicants who are in the process of completing a PhD may apply as long as their fellowship begins after graduation/completion of the PhD. If in doubt, please apply; the selection committee changes every year, and there is no penalty for applying twice, or even three times.

Applicants will be notified about the outcome of their application within approximately two months of the deadline given above. Please send applications (electronically only) in PDF or Word format via e-mail to carsoncenter [at] lmu.de

Source: http://eseh.org/cfa-carson-fellowships-2013-2014/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=cfa-carson-fellowships-2013-2014

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95% Chasing Ice

All Critics (64) | Top Critics (21) | Fresh (59) | Rotten (3)

Global Warming? "Seeing is believing."

The most important documentary of the year.

"Chasing Ice" is a grand adventure, a visual amazement and a powerful warning.

If you're looking for eye-popping evidence that the world's glaciers are melting, don't miss the small-scale but spectacular documentary, Chasing Ice.

The rapid disappearance of ice mountains, filmed over a period of years, is compressed through time-lapse technology into minutes and seconds. The speeded-up effect is harrowing and also, disturbingly, eerily beautiful.

The movie might have given us a bit less of Balog and a bit more of the startling sequences he produced.

Chasing Ice will open your eyes to a world you've never seen before and it will make you think. But whether any of us can change anything is a different matter altogether.

While skeptics continue to doubt global warming is a man-made phenomenon - Rush Limbaugh called warnings about it "garbage science" - "Chasing Ice" leaves little doubt it is occurring.

It's an absorbing and vital watch.

It's like watching our world disappear.

A few scientists pop their heads in here, a few charts are deployed, but Chasing Ice is powered primarily by the imagery, stark, irrefutable evidence that the planet is warming, not in one or two isolated places but everywhere.

"Chasing Ice" is a beautiful film to watch, especially on the big screen. But the documentary's visual pleasures come with a heavy dose of guilt.

It's sobering stuff but the film's impact is somewhat diminished by Orlowski's reverential profile of Balog, who continues to crusade despite the toll his endeavours have taken on his body.

The documentary feels a little slight but the images speak for themselves ...

Is this about the hazards of global warming or the awesomeness of James Balog? Not entirely sure...

If any film can convert the climate-change sceptics, Chasing Ice would be it: here, seeing really is believing.

While more detailed scientific analysis and greater discussion of impacts would have been welcome, the film's visual rhetoric is solid.

National Geographic photographer James Balog illustrates climate change with time-lapsed records of glacial retreat.

A project of heroic, Herzogian endeavour. Mad, you might say. But probably not as mad as what the rest of us are doing about climate change: namely almost nothing.

No quotes approved yet for Chasing Ice. Logged in users can submit quotes.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chasing_ice_2012/

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Boy Scouts consider end to gay ban

DALLAS (Reuters) - Boy Scouts of America is discussing ending a longstanding ban on gay members and whether to allow local organizations to decide their own policy, a spokesman said on Monday.

The organization has been under attack from gay rights groups and some parents for discriminating against gay members and gay leaders.

"The BSA is discussing potentially removing the national membership restriction regarding sexual orientation," spokesman Deron Smith said in an email to Reuters.

"The policy change under discussion would allow the religious, civic or educational organizations that oversee and deliver Scouting to determine how to address this issue," the spokesman said.

(Writing by Greg McCune; Editing by Paul Thomasch)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/boy-scouts-america-says-discussing-end-ban-gay-183918053.html

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This Tiny Pet Quadcopter Could Be Your Own Personal Cameraman

Who doesn't want to be the star of their own reality TV show? Well OK, sane people. But if you count yourself among the former, there's good news for you. A new, tiny quadcopter called the MeCam is just begging to be your ever-present cameraman. And you best take it up on the offer, there's no way you could find a human that willing. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/VaQy6mqlEC8/this-tiny-pet-quadcopter-could-be-your-own-personal-cameraman

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UN humanitarian chief in Syria for talks

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) ? The United Nations humanitarian chief was in Damascus on Sunday for talks with Syrian officials about the nation's conflict, which has forced millions of people from their homes, destroyed the country's cities and created food and fuel shortages.

Valerie Amos did not make any public remarks upon her arrival in Damascus on Sunday for a two-day visit, but at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, she said world powers had not done enough to lessen Syrian suffering.

"The humanitarian situation in Syria is already catastrophic and it's clearly getting worse," she said. "What we are seeing now are the consequences of the failure of the international community to unite to resolve the crisis."

The U.N. says more than 60,000 people have been killed since the start of the conflict in March 2011.

Living conditions have deteriorated across Syria during the 22-month conflict, which began with political protests that escalated into a civil war with scores of rebel groups battling President Bashar Assad's forces. Entire towns and neighborhoods have been damaged in the fighting, and more than 2 million people are internally displaced, with another 650,000 seeking refuge in neighboring countries.

Some areas face food shortages, and even areas that have been spared large-scale violence like Damascus lack sufficient quantities of gasoline, heating oil and cooking gas.

On Friday, the U.N. announced it was preparing to send $10 million in new U.S. aid to help alleviate hunger in northern Syria.

World powers remain divided on how to solve the crisis. The U.S. and many Arab and European countries have called on Assad to step down, while Russia, China and Iran refuse any pressure from outside that seeks to hasten the regime's fall.

On Saturday, Iran made its strongest warning to date that it could intervene militarily to help Assad's regime.

As quoted by the semiofficial Mehr news agency, an aide to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Syria held a key position among a group of Middle Eastern powers opposed to U.S. and Israeli influence in the region.

"Syria plays a very key role in supporting or, God forbid, destabilizing the resistance front," said Ali Akbar Velayati. "For this same reason, (an) attack on Syria is considered (an) attack on Iran and Iran's allies."

Iran is Syria's strongest ally in the Middle East, and has provided Assad's government with military and political backing for years. In September, the top commander of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, said the elite unit had high-level advisers in Syria. Iran also is believed to be sending weapons and money to Syria.

A senior Israeli Cabinet minister warned on Sunday that Israeli could attack sites in Syria if Assad's regime transferred chemical weapons to the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon.

Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom confirmed to Israel's Army Radio that top security officials held a special meeting last week to discuss Syria's chemical weapons arsenal.

"It would be crossing a line that would demand a different approach, including even action," he said. Asked whether this might mean a pre-emptive attack, he said: "We will have to make the decisions."

Also on Sunday, Syria announced that it would drop legal proceedings against opposition figures who returned to the country to participate in a "national dialogue" called for by Assad during a recent speech.

Syria's Higher Judicial Council announced the decision in a statement carried by the state news agency. The report gave no further details.

Assad proposed the national dialogue as part of his plan to end the country's crisis as laid out in a high-profile speech this month at the Damascus Opera House.

In the same speech, however, he vowed to keep fighting and referred the opposition as criminals and terrorists ? making it unlikely anyone will take their chances on the amnesty offer.

Tens of thousands of activists, their family members and opposition supporters remain jailed by the regime, according to international rights groups.

Opposition leaders have repeatedly rejected any talks that include Assad, insisting he must step down.

Violence continued around Syria on Sunday. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported clashes and government airstrikes in neighborhoods east and south of Damascus as well as elsewhere. At least seven people died in attacks in the suburbs, and three others died after a shell landed in the city's southern Yarmouk district.

The group, which relies on contacts throughout Syria, also reported clashes near a train station in southwestern Qadam neighborhood where four rebel fighters and one woman were killed.

___

Hubbard reported from Beirut. AP writer Ian Deitch in Jerusalem contributed.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-27-ML-Syria/id-ff81e23e524b45a2a1592d35a42bbfe4

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Donald Hornig, A-Bomb Scientist and Brown President, Dies at 92

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Dr. Hornig was a chemist on the Manhattan Project, science adviser to President Lyndon B. Johnson and a former president of Brown University.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/science/donald-hornig-a-bomb-scientist-and-brown-president-dies-at-92.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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Venezuela's Chavez in "best moment" since surgery: VP Maduro

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is in his "best moment" since undergoing cancer surgery in Cuba 45 days ago, the vice president said on Saturday, adding Chavez has made important economic decisions to strengthen exports.

"He's got a smile that's filled with light, his thoughts are illuminated," said Nicolas Maduro in televised comments just after midnight after returning from a visit with Chavez.

The normally garrulous president has not been heard from since a complex operation on December 11. Official statements in recent weeks have sounded upbeat about his condition following rumors that he is gravely ill.

The communication minister on Saturday is scheduled to provide more details about Chavez's condition and treatment.

Maduro's comments about economic policy come amid widespread speculation that Venezuela is preparing a devaluation of the bolivar currency that would improve state finances by providing more bolivars per dollar of oil exports.

Devaluing would make exports more competitive by lowering local production costs, and spur domestic industries by making imports less competitive with respect to local goods.

"We're going to develop our economy's capacity to export," Maduro said.

Business leaders have for weeks said a devaluation is necessary to ease periodic product shortages that have resulted from a scarcity of dollars.

(Reporting by Brian Ellsworth)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/venezuelas-chavez-best-moment-since-surgery-vp-maduro-060434274.html

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AP Debate: Training needed to redesign job market

Michael Oreskes, Vice-President and Senior Managing Editor at the Associated Press (AP) moderates the session 'Creating Economic Dynamism' at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

Michael Oreskes, Vice-President and Senior Managing Editor at the Associated Press (AP) moderates the session 'Creating Economic Dynamism' at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

Chinese Min Zhu, Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, U.S. professor Joseph E. Stiglitz and Vittorio Grilli, Italian Minister for Economy and Finance, from left to right, attend the Associated Press session 'Creating Economic Dynamism' during the 43rd Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

U.S congressman Eric Cantor speaks in the Associated Press session 'Creating Economic Dynamism' during the 43rd Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

Ali Babacan, right, Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister speaks as U.S congressman Eric Cantor looks on during the Associated Press session 'Creating Economic Dynamism' at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

Michael Oreskes, left, Vice-President and Senior Managing Editor at the Associated Press (AP) talks to Chinese Min Zhu, Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund during the session 'Creating Economic Dynamism' at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) ? Training the youth for the challenges of a fast-changing world has to be central to any strategy to rebuild the job market following a financial crisis that's wiped out millions of middle-class jobs over the past five years.

That was the central conclusion that emerged from the annual Associated Press debate at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss village of Davos, which focused on the need to build up skills for a changing economy.

"We need a young labor force," IMF Deputy Managing Director Min Zhu said. "Government doesn't pay enough attention to training and retraining."

Amid concerns that the rich world is faced with a lost generation of young people with dismal job prospects, panelists suggested other ideas in the debate that was moderated by the AP's senior managing editor for U.S. news, Michael Oreskes. Proposals included the creation of "green" jobs to save the planet from climate catastrophe and lowering the costs of hiring first-time workers.

The International Labor Organization estimates that young people are three times more likely to be unemployed than adults, and that worldwide around 75 million youths aged between 15 and 24 are looking for work. This youth employment crisis, it says, threatens to scar "the very fabric of our societies."

Eric Cantor, a Republican Congressman from Virginia, said training is needed to give workers the tools they need for the "new labor force."

"America is a huge catalyst for growth," he said. "Workers need to be trained to get into those jobs."

He warned, however, against piling more government money on schools without coming up with a "better way" to create new skills.

An Associated Press analysis of employment data from 20 countries found that millions of mid-skill, mid-pay jobs have already disappeared over the past five years ? jobs that form the backbone of the middle class in developed countries.

That experience has left a growing number of technology experts and economists pondering whether middle-class jobs will return when the global economy recovers, or whether they have been lost forever.

Italian Finance Minister Vittorio Grilli, also at the debate, argued that technology doesn't have to be the enemy, and "will provide a second wind to advanced economies."

Young people in the job market don't all feel they're getting education that fits today's demand.

"The quality of courses is not up to standard at all," said Lucy Nicholls, a 22-year-old fashion graduate in London. She was speaking Friday in a Google hangout video chat as part of AP's Class of 2012, an exploration of Europe's financial crisis through the eyes of young graduates facing the worst downturn the continent has seen since the end of World War II.

Emerging markets may offer some ideas to the developed world in its new jobs conundrum.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan, whose country has generated 4.6 million jobs over the past five years, credited the performance on a host of innovative policies, such as paying the wages of some young people when they first enter the workforce.

"The biggest problem is the cost of entry to the job market," he said. "If an employer thinks it is less expensive to hire, then employment becomes easier."

Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz suggested focusing on "green, renewable jobs" to help solve the youth unemployment crisis as well as the planet.

In Europe, where youth unemployment is a huge issue, particularly in Greece and Spain where the rate stands at over 50 percent, the job market overhaul will not be easy and certainly won't be fast.

"It's a slow process and unfortunately it's going to be a painful one," Italy's Grilli said. "It involves people changing their lives."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-25-Davos%20Forum-AP%20Debate/id-6646fd719b7e40e2a9e91801d74eda62

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Billionaire investors square off on live TV

This photo combo of file photos shows Bill Ackman, left, of Pershing Square Capital Management, on Feb. 6, 2012, in Toronto, and financier Carl Icahn, on Feb. 7, 2006, in New York. A long-simmering spat between billionaire investors Icahn and Ackman boiled over publicly on Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. The two Wall Street titans, interviewed by phone simultaneously on CNBC, traded barbs about an old investment deal and on Ackman?s investment position in nutritional supplements distributor Herbalife Inc. (AP Photo/Pawel Dwulit, Shiho Fukada)

This photo combo of file photos shows Bill Ackman, left, of Pershing Square Capital Management, on Feb. 6, 2012, in Toronto, and financier Carl Icahn, on Feb. 7, 2006, in New York. A long-simmering spat between billionaire investors Icahn and Ackman boiled over publicly on Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. The two Wall Street titans, interviewed by phone simultaneously on CNBC, traded barbs about an old investment deal and on Ackman?s investment position in nutritional supplements distributor Herbalife Inc. (AP Photo/Pawel Dwulit, Shiho Fukada)

NEW YORK (AP) ? A long-simmering spat between billionaire investors Carl Icahn and Bill Ackman boiled over into a shouting match on live television Friday.

The two Wall Street titans, interviewed by phone simultaneously on CNBC, traded barbs about an old investment deal and on Ackman's position in the nutritional supplements distributor Herbalife Inc.

Ackman was being interviewed by CNBC host Scott Wapner a day after Icahn made disparaging comments about him on Bloomberg Television. After Ackman had spoken about some of his current investment positions, Wapner interrupted the conversation to say that Icahn had called in and had a few points to make.

"I've really sort of had it with this guy Ackman," Icahn told CNBC. "He's like the crybaby in the school yard."

The two men then spent the best part of thirty minutes telling Wapner why they didn't much care for each other.

"This is not an honest guy, this is not a guy who keeps his word," Ackman said. "This is a guy who takes advantage of little people."

The animosity between the two men dates back to at least 2003, when Icahn bought a stake in Hallwood Realty Partners from Ackman's former fund Gotham Partners. Icahn paid $80 a share for that investment and, according to Ackman, agreed to pay a portion of any future profit to Ackman's fund.

Icahn referred to the clause as "schmuck insurance," and refused to pay up when Hallwood was acquired a year later for $136 a share, according to Ackman's version of events.

Ackman then sued Icahn on behalf of his investors and won. He says that Icahn then called him, congratulated him on winning his claim and said he wanted to be his friend. Ackman declined the invitation.

"Carl Icahn does not have a good reputation for being a handshake guy," said Ackman.

That version of events, in particular the claim that he wanted to be Ackman's friend, is disputed by Icahn. He also said that he had helped Icahn "out of a jam," when he bought the stake in Hallwood.

"To get the record straight, I never asked Ackman to be my friend," Icahn told CNBC. "Quite to the contrary, Ackman has stated to me on more than one occasion that it's a shame we are not friends because then he could have invested with me."

One of Ackman's recent big bets is on Herbalife.

In December, the hedge fund manager said that the nutritional supplements distributor was a pyramid scheme and that he was taking a short position in the stock. Short-sellers make money when the stock they're betting against declines.

In an interview with Bloomberg Television Thursday, Icahn had said it was no secret that he neither liked nor respected Ackman and he didn't like how he had approached his short position in Herbalife, "getting a room full of people to bad mouth the company."

Icahn refused to comment on whether he held a position in Herbalife, but speculation is rife that he bought a stake in a bet against his old adversary.

Despite the ongoing fight with his rival, Icahn has reason to be cheerful this week.

Less than five months ago, the investor decided to go against the grain and make a big investment in the Internet video service Netflix, at a time when most investors were spurning the company.

Icahn bought a stake of almost 10 percent in Netflix for $324 million. The value of that stake has already almost tripled to $941 million after Netflix's stock surged this week, when the company reported an unexpected profit and an influx of 2 million U.S. subscribers to its service.

___

AP Business Writer Michelle Chapman contributed to this story.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-01-25-Billionaire%20Battle/id-2c4aa6e03b514b02914cce66ff1a2a40

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Egyptian protesters clash with security forces

CAIRO (AP) ? Witnesses say Egyptian riot police firing tear gas have clashed with dozens of protesters who were trying to tear down a cement wall built to prevent demonstrators from reaching parliament and the Cabinet building.

The violence in central Cairo Thursday comes on eve of the second anniversary of Egypt's Jan. 25 uprising, which toppled longtime authoritarian president Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

Youth activists and opposition groups are calling on Egyptians to mark Friday's anniversary with mass demonstrations in Cairo's Tahrir Square and in front of the presidential palace.

They want to use the occasion to put pressure on President Mohammed Morsi and his ruling Muslim Brotherhood. Many secular and liberal Egyptians accuse the Islamist group of trying to monopolize power.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egyptian-protesters-clash-security-forces-121752585.html

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Katy Perry on Ellen: Pop Star Slays as '70s Game Show Host

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/01/katy-perry-on-ellen-pop-star-slays-as-70s-game-show-host/

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AP Debate: Training needed to redesign job market

Michael Oreskes, Vice-President and Senior Managing Editor at the Associated Press (AP) moderates the session 'Creating Economic Dynamism' at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

Michael Oreskes, Vice-President and Senior Managing Editor at the Associated Press (AP) moderates the session 'Creating Economic Dynamism' at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

Chinese Min Zhu, Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, U.S. professor Joseph E. Stiglitz and Vittorio Grilli, Italian Minister for Economy and Finance, from left to right, attend the Associated Press session 'Creating Economic Dynamism' during the 43rd Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

U.S congressman Eric Cantor speaks in the Associated Press session 'Creating Economic Dynamism' during the 43rd Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

Ali Babacan, right, Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister speaks as U.S congressman Eric Cantor looks on during the Associated Press session 'Creating Economic Dynamism' at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

Michael Oreskes, left, Vice-President and Senior Managing Editor at the Associated Press (AP) talks to Chinese Min Zhu, Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund during the session 'Creating Economic Dynamism' at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) ? Training the youth for the challenges of a fast-changing world has to be central to any strategy to rebuild the job market following a financial crisis that's wiped out millions of middle-class jobs over the past five years.

That was the central conclusion that emerged from the annual Associated Press debate at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss village of Davos, which focused on the need to build up skills for a changing economy.

"We need a young labor force," IMF Deputy Managing Director Min Zhu said. "Government doesn't pay enough attention to training and retraining."

Amid concerns that the rich world is faced with a lost generation of young people with dismal job prospects, panelists suggested other ideas in the debate that was moderated by the AP's senior managing editor for U.S. news, Michael Oreskes. Proposals included the creation of "green" jobs to save the planet from climate catastrophe and lowering the costs of hiring first-time workers.

The International Labor Organization estimates that young people are three times more likely to be unemployed than adults, and that worldwide around 75 million youths aged between 15 and 24 are looking for work. This youth employment crisis, it says, threatens to scar "the very fabric of our societies."

Eric Cantor, a Republican Congressman from Virginia, said training is needed to give workers the tools they need for the "new labor force."

"America is a huge catalyst for growth," he said. "Workers need to be trained to get into those jobs."

He warned, however, against piling more government money on schools without coming up with a "better way" to create new skills.

An Associated Press analysis of employment data from 20 countries found that millions of mid-skill, mid-pay jobs have already disappeared over the past five years ? jobs that form the backbone of the middle class in developed countries.

That experience has left a growing number of technology experts and economists pondering whether middle-class jobs will return when the global economy recovers, or whether they have been lost forever.

Italian Finance Minister Vittorio Grilli, also at the debate, argued that technology doesn't have to be the enemy, and "will provide a second wind to advanced economies."

Young people in the job market don't all feel they're getting education that fits today's demand.

"The quality of courses is not up to standard at all," said Lucy Nicholls, a 22-year-old fashion graduate in London. She was speaking Friday in a Google hangout video chat as part of AP's Class of 2012, an exploration of Europe's financial crisis through the eyes of young graduates facing the worst downturn the continent has seen since the end of World War II.

Emerging markets may offer some ideas to the developed world in its new jobs conundrum.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan, whose country has generated 4.6 million jobs over the past five years, credited the performance on a host of innovative policies, such as paying the wages of some young people when they first enter the workforce.

"The biggest problem is the cost of entry to the job market," he said. "If an employer thinks it is less expensive to hire, then employment becomes easier."

Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz suggested focusing on "green, renewable jobs" to help solve the youth unemployment crisis as well as the planet.

In Europe, where youth unemployment is a huge issue, particularly in Greece and Spain where the rate stands at over 50 percent, the job market overhaul will not be easy and certainly won't be fast.

"It's a slow process and unfortunately it's going to be a painful one," Italy's Grilli said. "It involves people changing their lives."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-25-Davos%20Forum-AP%20Debate/id-6646fd719b7e40e2a9e91801d74eda62

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Building permits, real estate transactions and other stats in Irvine ...

BUSINESS LICENSES

Baskin Robbins; Owner/Principal: Mao, Tough; Description: Ice Cream and Frozen Dessert Manufacturing; Personnel: 8; Start date: Jan. 18; Phone: 949-551-6360; Address: 14001Jeffrey Road, Irvine, 92620

Livermore Dental Services; Owner/Principal: Aase, Brady; Description: All Other Business Support Services; Personnel: 1; Start date: Jan. 15; Phone: 714-508-3600; Address: 2860 Michelle Drive, Second Floor, Irvine, 92606

BUILDING PERMITS

Friday, Jan. 11

Address: 3353 Michelson, Irvine, 92612; Permit type: Commercial Tenant Improvement PC - 5,5,5,5; Description: 4th Floor - Interior Demo by Exterior Window and Replaced with a Metal Closure. 1.11.13 - Plan Check Extension Approved to 5.24.13. Mm.

Address: 3353 Michelson, Irvine, 92612; Permit type: Interior Demolition Permit; Description: 4th Floor - Interior Demo by Exterior Window and Replaced with a Metal Closure

Address: 31 Fortune, Irvine, 92618; Permit type: Commercial TI PC Extended - 10,5,5,5; Description: Interior Demo Only - Food Court

Address: 31 Fortune, Irvine, 92618; Permit type: Commercial TI PC w/ Structure/in IBC - 10,5,5,5; Description: Food Court: Demo Interior Slab, Structural Columns, Plumbing Lines, Clerestory Windows, Mechl Units, Duct Work. Add Structural Columns, Steel Truss, Roof Top Mech Units Electrical Service. New Roofing.

Address: 8691 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine, 92618; Permit type: Commercial Tenant Improvement PC - 5,5,5,5; Description: Restaurant TI Tenant: Han's Restaurant

Address: 87 Overbrook, Irvine, 92620; Permit type: Residential New Condominium PC - 20,10,5,5; Description: 1 Production 4 Plex, (2) Tri-Plexes, 1 Duplex. Tract 17447. Lots 4,5. Units 88-99. 87, 89,91,93,95,109,111,113,115,117,119,121 Overbrook. Cambria Phase 1 Stonegate

Address: 61 Overbrook, Irvine, 92620; Permit type: Residential New Condominium PC - 20,10,5,5; Description: 3 Production Tri-Plexes and 2 Duplexes. Tract 17447. Lots 4,5,6. Units 85-87, 100-105, 116-119. 61,63,65,67,71,73,75,97,99,101,103,105,107 Overbrook. Cambria Phase 2 Stonegate

Address: 15215 Barranca Parkway, Irvine, 92618; Permit type: wireless facility PC - 10,5,5,5; Description: Modify Wireless Facility. Replace (3) Panel Antennas and (1) Gps Antenna. Upgrade (1) and Add (1) Equip. Cabinet. Add (6) Rrhs. Add Fiber Backhaul Equp/Cables and (3) Combiner Units Tenant: Sprint Pcs

Address: 71 Fortune, Irvine, 92618; Permit type: Commercial Sign PC - 5,3,3; Description: Location: 71 Fortune, Ste. 151 Install (1) Illuminated Wall Sign and (1) Illuminated Projecting Sign Tenant: Wahoo's

Address: 50 Eastshore, Irvine, 92604; Permit type: Tree Removal Check (PC); Description: Removal of One (1) Windrow Eucalyptus Tree Woodbridge Meadow Apartments

Address: 5200 Trabuco Road, Irvine, 92620; Permit type: Tree Removal Check (PC); Description: Location: Great Park Remove 743 Trees. Mixed Species from 15 Gallon to 18' Boxes

Address: 50 Eastshore, Irvine, 92604; Permit type: Tree Removal Permit; Description: Removal of One (1) Windrow Eucalyptus Tree Woodbridge Meadow Apartments

Address: 71 Fortune, Irvine, 92618; Permit type: Sign Permit; Description: Location: 71 Fortune, Ste. 151 Install (1) Illuminated Wall Sign and (1) Illuminated Projecting Sign Tenant: Wahoo's

Address: 16163 Lake Forest Drive, D, Irvine, 92618; Permit type: Commercial Sign PC - 5,3,3; Description: Install Two (2) Illuminated Wall Signs Tenant: Orange County Mattress

Address: 8691 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine, 92618; Permit type: Electrical Alteration/Addition Permit; Description: Restaurant TI

Address: 8691 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine, 92618; Permit type: Mechanical Alteration/Addition Permit; Description: Restaurant TI

Address: 8691 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine, 92618; Permit type: Plumbing Alteration/Addition Permit; Description: Restaurant TI

Address: 8691 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine, 92618; Permit type: Tenant Improvement Permit; Description: Restaurant TI

Address: 31 Fortune, Irvine, 92618; Permit type: Interior Demolition Permit; Description: Interior Demo Only - Food Court

Address: 15215 Barranca Parkway, Irvine, 92618; Permit type: Electrical Alteration/Addition Permit; Description: Modify Wireless Facility. Replace (3) Panel Antennas and (1) Gps Antenna. Upgrade (1) and Add (1) Equip. Cabinet. Add (6) Rrhs. Add Fiber Backhaul Equp/Cables and (3) Combiner Units Tenant: Sprint PCS

Address: 15215 Barranca Parkway, Irvine, 92618; Permit type: Wireless Facility Permit; Description: Modify Wireless Facility. Replace (3) Panel Antennas and (1) Gps Antenna. Upgrade (1) and Add (1) Equip. Cabinet. Add (6) Rrhs. Add Fiber Backhaul Equip/Cables and (3) Combiner Units Tenant: Sprint PCS

Address: 20 Pacifica, No. 200, Irvine, 92618; Permit type: Electrical Alteration/Addition Permit; Description: Rev#1 Add'l Elect. Tenant: Sterling Bank

Address: 20 Pacifica, No. 200, Irvine, 92618; Permit type: Mechanical Alteration/Addition Permit; Description: Rev#1 Add'l Mech. Tenant: Sterling Bank

Address: 31 Fortune, Irvine, 92618; Permit type: Interior Demolition Permit; Description: Food Court: Demo Interior Slab, Structural Columns, Plumbing Lines, Clerestory Windows, Mechl Units, Duct Work.

Address: 31 Fortune, Irvine, 92618; Permit type: Electrical Alteration/Addition Permit; Description: Food Court: Demo Interior Slab, Structural Columns, Plumbing Lines, Clerestory Windows, Mechl Units, Duct Work. Add Structural Columns, Steel Truss, Roof Top Mech Units Electrical Service. New Roofing.

Address: 31 Fortune, Irvine, 92618; Permit type: Mechanical Alteration/Addition Permit; Description: Food Court: Demo Interior Slab, Structural Columns, Plumbing Lines, Clerestory Windows, Mechl Units, Duct Work. Add Structural Columns, Steel Truss, Roof Top Mech Units Electrical Service. New Roofing.

Address: 31 Fortune, Irvine, 92618; Permit type: Misc Commercial Permit; Description: Food Court: New Roofing

Address: 31 Fortune, Irvine, 92618; Permit type: Plumbing Alteration/Addition Permit; Description: Food Court: Demo Interior Slab, Structural Columns, Plumbing Lines, Clerestory Windows, Mechl Units, Duct Work. Add Structural Columns, Steel Truss, Roof Top Mech Units Electrical Service. New Roofing.

Address: 31 Fortune, Irvine, 92618; Permit type: Tenant Improvement Permit; Description: Food Court: Demo Interior Slab, Structural Columns, Plumbing Lines, Clerestory Windows, Mechl Units, Duct Work. Add Structural Columns, Steel Truss, Roof Top Mech Units Electrical Service. New Roofing.

Address: 109 Overbrook, Irvine, 92620; Permit type: New Residential Construction Permit; Description: 1 Production 4 Plex Plan Type C-B 109,111,113,115 Overbrook Bldg 22 Units 88-91 Cambria Phase 1 Stonegate

Address: 117 Overbrook, Irvine, 92620; Permit type: New Residential Construction Permit; Description: 1 Production 3 Plex Plan Type B-A 117,119,121 Overbrook Bldg 23 Units 92-94 Cambria Phase 1 Stonegate

Address: 87 Overbrook, Irvine, 92620; Permit type: New Residential Construction Permit; Description: 1 Production 3 Plex Plan Type B-B 87,89,91 Overbrook Bldg 24 Units 95-97 Cambria Phase 1 Stonegate

Address: 93 Overbrook, Irvine, 92620; Permit type: New Residential Construction Permit; Description: 1 Production Duplex Plan Type A-C 93,95 Overbrook Bldg 25 Units 98,99 Cambria Phase 1 Stonegate

Address: 103 Overbrook, Irvine, 92620; Permit type: New Residential Construction Permit; Description: 1 Production 3 Plex Plan Type B-A 103,105,107 Overbrook Bldg 21 Units 85-87 Cambria Phase 2 Stonegate

Address: 97 Overbrook, Irvine, 92620; Permit type: New Residential Construction Permit; Description: 1 Production 3 Plex Plan Type B-B 97,99,101 Overbrook Bldg 26 Units 100-102 Cambria Phase 2 Stonegate

Address: 71 Overbrook, Irvine, 92620; Permit type: New Residential Construction Permit; Description: 1 Production 3 Plex Plan Type B-C 71,73,75 Overbrook Bldg 27 Units 103-105 Cambria Phase 2 Stonegate

Address: 61 Overbrook, Irvine, 92620; Permit type: New Residential Construction Permit; Description: 1 Production Duplex Plan Type A-C 61,63 Overbrook Bldg 32 Units 116,117 Cambria Phase 2 Stonegate

Address: 65 Overbrook, Irvine, 92620; Permit type: New Residential Construction Permit; Description: 1 Production Duplex Plan Type A-A 65,67 Overbrook Bldg 33 Units 118,119 Cambria Phase 2 Stonegate

Address: 16163 Lake Forest Drive, D, Irvine, 92618; Permit type: Sign Permit; Description: Install Two (2) Illuminated Wall Signs Tenant: Orange County Matress

Address: 71 Clifford, Irvine, 92618; Permit type: Residential Minor/Overnight/Overcounter PC; Description: Gas and Electrical for Fountain and Firepit

Address: 71 Clifford, Irvine, 92618; Permit type: Misc Residential Permit; Description: Gas and Electrical for Fountain and Firepit

Address: 3 Park Plaza, No. 1480, Irvine, 92614; Permit type: Electrical Alteration/Addition Permit; Description: Rev#1 Add'l Fee. Tenant: Readynow Suite

Address: 3 Park Plaza, No. 1480, Irvine, 92614; Permit type: Mechanical Alteration/Addition Permit; Description: Rev#1 Add'l Fee. Tenant: Readynow Suite

Address: 1 Grid, U30, Irvine, 99999; Permit type: Encroachment Permit; Description: Location: N/S Trabuco, 900' E/O Culver Dr--Excavate 4'X4' Paved Area in Sidewalk Per Std 201 to Repair 2" Water Service. Std Cond Apply. Traffic Control Per Watch Manual.

Address: 2244 .75 Barranca Parkway, Irvine, 92606; Permit type: Electrical Alteration/Addition Permit; Description: Temporary Power Pole

Address: 4237 Campus Drive, B157, Irvine, 92612; Permit type: Mechanical Alteration/Addition Permit; Description: Revision 2 (E) Hood Replacement (Same Type 1 Hood)

Address: 2 Executive Circle, No. 125, Irvine, 92614; Permit type: Temporary Occupancy Permit; Description: Office TI Tenant: Ready Now

Address: 3 Monarch, Irvine, 92604; Permit type: Online Permit - Residential Water Heater; Description: Replace Old Tank Water Heater with New Tank Water Heater

Address: 29 Technology Drive, B, Irvine, 92618; Permit type: Temporary Occupancy Permit; Description: Temporary Occupancy Approved. Reason: to Move in Equipment

Address: 3901 Portola Parkway, Irvine, 92602; Permit type: Encroachment Permit; Description: Location: Orchard Hills Village Center. Beg 1/14/13 Temp 30 Day Sidewalk Closure Along N/S Portola from Gate Park to Culver Per Watch Manual and Std Cond Per Sherwood. Closure in Place While Procuring Tree Removal Permit.

Data provided by Redfin.

Source: http://www.ocregister.com/news/permit-408905-type-irvine.html

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How Much Will Tar Sands Oil Add to Global Warming?

TAR SANDS: At least 170 billion barrels of oil could be extracted from Alberta's oil sands deposits with today's technology. Image: ? David Biello

James Hansen has been publicly speaking about climate change since 1988. The NASA climatologist testified to Congress that year and he's been testifying ever since to crowds large and small, most recently to a small gathering of religious leaders outside the White House last week. The grandfatherly scientist has the long face of a man used to seeing bad news in the numbers and speaks with the thick, even cadence of the northern Midwest, where he grew up, a trait that also helps ensure that his sometimes convoluted science gets across.

This cautious man has also been arrested multiple times.

His acts of civil disobedience started in 2009, and he was first arrested in 2011 for protesting the development of Canada's tar sands and, especially, the Keystone XL pipeline proposal that would serve to open the spigot for such oil even wider. "To avoid passing tipping points, such as initiation of the collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, we need to limit the climate forcing severely. It's still possible to do that, if we phase down carbon emissions rapidly, but that means moving expeditiously to clean energies of the future," he explains. "Moving to tar sands, one of the dirtiest, most carbon-intensive fuels on the planet, is a step in exactly the opposite direction, indicating either that governments don't understand the situation or that they just don't give a damn."

He adds: "People who care should draw the line."

Hansen is not alone in caring. In addition to a groundswell of opposition to the 2,700-kilometer-long Keystone pipeline, 17 of his fellow climate scientists joined him in signing a letter urging Pres. Barack Obama to reject the project last week. Simply put, building the pipeline?and enabling more tar sands production?runs "counter to both national and planetary interests," the researchers wrote. "The year of review that you asked for on the project made it clear exactly how pressing the climate issue really is." Obama seemed to agree in his second inaugural address this week, noting "we will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations."

At the same time, the U.S. imports nearly nine million barrels of oil per day and burns nearly a billion metric tons of coal annually. China's coal burning is even larger and continues to grow by leaps and bounds. Partially as a result, global emissions of greenhouse gases continue to grow by leaps and bounds too?and China is one alternative customer eager for the oil from Canada's tar sands. Neither developed nor developing nations will break the fossil-fuel addiction overnight, and there are still more than a billion people who would benefit from more fossil-fuel burning to help lift them out of energy poverty. The question lurking behind the fight in North America over Keystone, the tar sands and climate change generally is: How much of the planet's remaining fossil fuels can we burn?

The trillion-tonne question
To begin to estimate how much fossil fuels can be burned, one has to begin with a guess about how sensitive the global climate really is to additional carbon dioxide. If you think the climate is vulnerable to even small changes in concentrations of greenhouse gases?as Hansen and others do?then we have already gone too far. Global concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have reached 394 parts per million, up from 280 ppm before the Industrial Revolution and the highest levels seen in at least 800,000 years. Hansen's math suggests 350 ppm would be a safer level, given that with less than a degree Celsius of warming from present greenhouse gas concentrations, the world is already losing ice at an alarming rate, among other faster-than-expected climate changes.

International governments have determined that 450 ppm is a number more to their liking, which, it is argued, will keep the globe's average temperatures from warming more than 2 degrees C. Regardless, the world is presently on track to achieve concentrations well above that number. Scientists since chemist Svante Arrhenius of Sweden in 1896 have noted that reaching concentrations of roughly 560 ppm would likely result in a world with average temperatures roughly 3 degrees C warmer?and subsequent estimates continue to bear his laborious, hand-written calculations out. Of course, rolling back greenhouse gas concentrations to Hansen's preferred 350 ppm?or any other number for that matter?is a profoundly unnatural idea. Stasis is not often found in the natural world.

Concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere may not be the best metric for combating climate change anyway. "What matters is our total emission rate," notes climate modeler Ken Caldeira of the Carnegie Institution for Science Department of Global Ecology at Stanford University, another signee of the anti-Keystone letter. "From the perspective of the climate system, a CO2 molecule is a CO2 molecule and it doesn't matter if it came from coal versus natural gas."

Physicist Myles Allen of the University of Oxford in England and colleagues estimated that the world could afford to put one trillion metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere by 2050 to have any chance of restraining global warming below 2 degrees C. To date, fossil fuel burning, deforestation and other actions have put nearly 570 billion metric tons of carbon in the atmosphere?and Allen estimates the trillionth metric ton of carbon will be emitted around the summer of 2041 at present rates. "Tons of carbon is fundamental," adds Hansen, who has argued that burning all available fossil fuels would result in global warming of more than 10 degrees C. "It does not matter much how fast you burn it."

Alberta's oil sands represent a significant tonnage of carbon. With today's technology there are roughly 170 billion barrels of oil to be recovered in the tar sands, and an additional 1.63 trillion barrels worth underground if every last bit of bitumen could be separated from sand. "The amount of CO2 locked up in Alberta tar sands is enormous," notes mechanical engineer John Abraham of the University of Saint Thomas in Minnesota, another signer of the Keystone protest letter from scientists. "If we burn all the tar sand oil, the temperature rise, just from burning that tar sand, will be half of what we've already seen"?an estimated additional nearly 0.4 degree C from Alberta alone.

As it stands, the oil sands industry has greenhouse gas emissions greater than New Zealand and Kenya?combined. If all the bitumen in those sands could be burned, another 240 billion metric tons of carbon would be added to the atmosphere and, even if just the oil sands recoverable with today's technology get burned, 22 billion metric tons of carbon would reach the sky. And reserves usually expand over time as technology develops, otherwise the world would have run out of recoverable oil long ago.

The greenhouse gas emissions of mining and upgrading tar sands is roughly 79 kilograms per barrel of oil presently, whereas melting out the bitumen in place requires burning a lot of natural gas?boosting emissions to more than 116 kilograms per barrel, according to oil industry consultants IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates. All told, producing and processing tar sands oil results in roughly 14 percent more greenhouse gas emissions than the average oil used in the U.S. And greenhouse gas emissions per barrel have stopped improving and started increasing slightly, thanks to increasing development of greenhouse gas?intensive melting-in-place projects. "Emissions have doubled since 1990 and will double again by 2020," says Jennifer Grant, director of oil sands research at environmental group Pembina Institute in Canada.

Just one mine expansion, Shell's Jackpine mine, currently under consideration for the Albian mega-mine site, would increase greenhouse gas emissions by 1.18 million metric tons per year. "If Keystone is approved then we're locking in a several more decades of dependence on fossil fuels," says climate modeler Daniel Harvey of the University of Toronto. "That means higher CO2 emissions, higher concentrations [in the atmosphere] and greater warming that our children and grandchildren have to deal with."

And then there's all the carbon that has to come out of the bitumen to turn it into a usable crude oil.

Hidden carbon
In the U.S. State Department's review of the potential environmental impacts of the Keystone project, consultants EnSys Energy suggested that building the pipeline would not have "any significant impact" on greenhouse gas emissions, largely because Canada's tar sands would likely be developed anyway. But the Keystone pipeline represents the ability to carry away an additional 830,000 barrels per day?and the Albertan tar sands are already bumping up against constraints in the ability to move their product. That has led some to begin shipping the oil by train, truck and barge?further increasing the greenhouse gas emissions?and there is a proposal to build a new rail line, capable of carrying five million barrels of oil per year from Fort McMurray to Alaska's Valdez oil terminal.

Then there's the carbon hidden in the bitumen itself. Either near oil sands mines in the mini-refineries known as upgraders or farther south after the bitumen has reached Midwestern or Gulf Coast refineries, its long, tarry hydrocarbon chains are cracked into the shorter, lighter hydrocarbons used as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. The residue of this process is a nearly pure black carbon known as petroleum (pet) coke that, if it builds up, has to be blasted loose, as if mining for coal in industrial equipment. The coke is, in fact, a kind of coal and is often burned in the dirtiest fossil fuel's stead. Canadian tar sands upgraders produce roughly 10 million metric tons of the stuff annually, whereas U.S. refineries pump out more than 61 million metric tons per year.

Pet coke is possibly the dirtiest fossil fuel available, emitting at least 30 percent more CO2 per ton than an equivalent amount of the lowest quality mined coals. According to multiple reports from independent analysts, the production (and eventual burning) of such petroleum coke is not included in industry estimates of tar sands greenhouse gas emissions because it is a co-product. Even without it, the Congressional Research Service estimates that tar sands oil results in at least 14 percent more greenhouse gas emissions than do more conventional crude oils.

Although tar sands may be among the least climate-friendly oil produced at present?edging out alternatives such as fracking for oil trapped in shale deposits in North Dakota and flaring the gas?the industry has made attempts to reduce greenhouse gas pollution, unlike other oil-producing regions. For example, there are alternatives to cracking bitumen and making pet coke, albeit more expensive ones, such as adding hydrogen to the cracked bitumen, a process that leaves little carbon behind, employed by Shell, among others.

More recently, Shell has begun adding carbon-capture-and-storage (CCS) technology to capture the emissions from a few of its own upgraders, a project known as Quest. The program, when completed in 2015, will aim to capture and store one million metric tons of CO2 per year, or a little more than a third of the CO2 emissions of Shell's operation at that site. And tar sands producers do face a price on carbon?$15 per metric ton by Alberta provincial regulation?for any emissions above a goal of reducing by 12 percent the total amount of greenhouse gas emitted per total number of barrels produced.

The funds collected?some $312 million to date?are then used to invest in clean technology, but more than 75 percent of the projects are focused on reducing emissions from oil sands, unconventional oils and other fossil fuels. And to drive more companies to implement CCS in the oil sands would require a carbon price of $100 per metric ton or more. "We don't have a price on carbon in the province that is compelling companies to pursue CCS," Pembina's Grant argues.

In fact, Alberta's carbon price may be little more than political cover. "It gives us some ammunition when people attack us for our carbon footprint, if nothing else," former Alberta Energy Minister Ron Liepert told Scientific American in September 2011. Adds Beverly Yee, assistant deputy minister at Alberta's Environment and Sustainable Resource Development agency, more recently, "Greenhouse gases? We don't see that as a regional issue." From the individual driver in the U.S. to oil sands workers and on up to the highest echelons of government in North America, everyone dodges responsibility.

Price of carbon
A true price on carbon, one that incorporates all the damages that could be inflicted by catastrophic climate change, is exactly what Hansen believes is needed to ensure that more fossil fuels, like the tar sands, stay buried. In his preferred scheme, a price on carbon that slowly ratcheted up would be collected either where the fossil fuel comes out of the ground or enters a given country, such as at a port. But instead of that tax filling government coffers, the collected revenue should be rebated in full to all legal residents in equal amounts?an approach he calls fee and dividend. "Not one penny to reducing the national debt or off-setting some other tax," the government scientist argues. "Those are euphemisms for giving the money to government, allowing them to spend more."

Such a carbon tax would make fossil fuels more expensive than alternatives, whether renewable resources such as wind and sun or low-carbon nuclear power. As a result, these latter technologies might begin to displace things like coal-burning power plants or halt major investments in oil infrastructure like the Keystone XL pipeline.

As it stands, producing 1.8 million barrels per day of tar sands oil resulted in the emissions of some 47.1 million metric tons of CO2-equivalent in 2011, up nearly 2 percent from the year before and still growing, according to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. In the same year coal-fired power plants in the U.S. emitted more than two billion metric tons of CO2-equivalent. "If you think that using other petroleum sources is much better [than tar sands], then you're delusional," says chemical engineer Murray Gray, scientific director of the Center for Oil Sands Innovation at the University of Alberta.

In other words, tar sands are just a part of the fossil-fuel addiction?but still an important part. Projects either approved or under construction would expand tar sands production to over five million barrels per day by 2030. "Any expansion of an energy system that relies on the atmosphere to be its waste dump is bad news, whereas expansion of safe, affordable and environmentally acceptable energy technologies is good news," Carnegie's Caldeira says.

There's a lot of bad news these days then, from fracking shale for gas and oil in the U.S. to new coal mines in China. Oxford's Allen calculates that the world needs to begin reducing emissions by roughly 2.5 percent per year, starting now, in order to hit the trillion metric ton target by 2050. Instead emissions hit a new record this past year, increasing 3 percent to 34.7 billion metric tons of CO2 and other greenhouse gases.

Stopping even more bad news is why Hansen expects to be arrested again, whether at a protest against mountaintop removal mining for coal in West Virginia or a sit-in outside the White House to convince the Obama administration to say no to Keystone XL and any expansion of the tar sands industry. The Obama administration has already approved the southern half of the pipeline proposal?and if the northern link is approved, a decision expected after March of this year, environmental group Oil Change International estimates that tar sands refined on the Gulf Coast would produce 16.6 million metric tons of CO2 annually, along with enough petroleum coke to fuel five coal-fired power plants for a year. All told, the increased tar sands production as a result of opening Keystone would be equal to opening six new coal-fired power plants, according to Pembina Institute calculations.

Even as increased oil production in the U.S. diminishes the demand for tar sands-derived fuel domestically, if Keystone reaches the Gulf Coast, that oil will still be refined and exported. At the same time, Obama pledged to respond to climate change and argued for U.S. leadership in the transition to "sustainable energy sources" during his second inaugural address; approving Keystone might lead in the opposite direction.

For the tar sands "the climate forcing per unit energy is higher than most fossil fuels," argues Hansen, who believes he is fighting for the global climate his five grandchildren will endure?or enjoy. After all, none of his grandchildren have lived through a month with colder than average daily temperatures. There has not been one in the U.S. since February 1985, before even Hansen started testifying on global warming. As he says: "Going after tar sands?incredibly dirty, destroying the local environment for a very carbon-intensive fuel?is the sign of a terribly crazed addict."

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=82b099f8912c5051e83457151e040113

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