Researchers at Emory University have identified a protein that stimulates a pair of "orphan receptors" found in the brain, solving a long-standing biological puzzle and possibly leading to future treatments for neurological diseases.
The results are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Early Edition.
The human genome is littered with orphans: proteins that look like they will bind and respond to a hormone or a brain chemical, based on the similarity of their sequences to other proteins. However, scientists haven't figured out what each orphan's partner chemical is yet.
Orphans that look like GPCRs (G protein-coupled receptors) currently number about 100. GPCRs are the targets of many drugs and are involved in vision, smell and brain cells' responses to a host of hormones and neurotransmitters. One orphan GPCR, called GPR37, has attracted interest from researchers because it is connected with an inherited form of Parkinson's disease. It is abundant in the dopamine-producing neurons that degenerate in Parkinson's. But its partner chemical, or "ligand," has not been found.
"We reasoned that GPR37 had to be doing something important, besides becoming misfolded in some forms of Parkinson's," says senior author Randy Hall, PhD, professor of pharmacology at Emory University School of Medicine.
Working with Hall, graduate student Rebecca Meyer devised a way to detect when cells producing GPR37 were reacting with GPR37's ligand.
"Usually, cells remove GPCRs from their surfaces when they encounter their ligand," Meyer says. "So we set things up so that GPR37 would be labeled red on the surface of the cell, but would appear green once internalized."
They discovered that cells producing GPR37 ? and also a close relative, GPR37L1 -- respond to a protein known as prosaposin, which was discovered by John O'Brien of University of California San Diego in the 1990s.
Prosaposin is a growth factor for brain cells and protects them from stress. Scientists studying it had worked out that it stimulates cells via a GPCR ? but which one was unclear until now. In animal models, prosaposin has shown potential for treating conditions such as stroke, Parkinson's and neuropathic pain. An artificial fragment of prosaposin called prosaptide has been tested in clinical studies, but it quickly breaks down in the body.
"That's the reason why it was so important to find the receptor," Hall says. "Then we can actually do some pharmacology."
Now, Hall's laboratory is planning to look for other compounds that can activate GPR37 as well. These could be more stable in the body than the previously studied protein fragment and thus better potential drugs.
Doctors have reported a few cases of genetic deficiency in prosaposin, leading to severe neurodegeneration. Mice engineered to lack GPR37 have more subtle brain perturbations, so Hall also plans to test the hypothesis that prosaposin acts by both GPR37 and GPR37L1, by "knocking out" both in mice, potentially duplicating the same severe effects seen in the human cases of prosaposin deficiency.
###
Emory Health Sciences: http://whsc.emory.edu/home/news/index.html
Thanks to Emory Health Sciences 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.
TfL uses agile to build new HMTL5 website with Google Maps API Transport for London (TfL) is overhauling its website estate and building a HTML5 site that can be used on any mobile device, which will be integrated with Google Maps and built on top of a single API to aid external development. The project has been ? Read more on ComputerworldUK
Developing a website is important if you?d like to identify an Internet existence. For that reason, if you?d like your internet site to always be useful online, you would need a great web host. Nonetheless, hosting companies can be pricey, specially when your internet site by now provides innovative needs. That is why cost-effective hosting can be the latest craze nowadays. You can now uncover numerous web hosting suppliers providing highly cost-effective bundles to the larger range of patrons. It is then extremely favorable to those who virtual server hosting have just forayed directly into the web-based industry.
Nonetheless, lots of people even now befuddle inexpensive hosting along with free hosting. A lot of people think that whenever they can?t afford excellent, dependable, paid out web hosting, they have no other option nevertheless to be satisfied with free web hosting. This can be a massively wrongly recognized understanding of training course. You will find active web hosting bundles which can be listed realistically, and are inside of the means of start-up online entrepreneurs.
Certainly, free hosting companies can be a practical selection. In simple fact, you?ll find quite a few free web hosting suppliers, which can make accessible dependable services and website features. Should you be partial to writing a blog, or you do not want to help make critical cash through your web site, free hosting is okay. Nonetheless, if you?d like to generate monies top web hosting your internet site and to accomplish worthwhile progress in the procedure, the paid out web hosting system is greater. Together with the existence of cost-effective hosting, you need not spend more money compared to you possibly can.
An additional downside when working with free hosting belongs to your current domain name. Frequently, your current domain name will probably be long-winded and can be challenging to bear in mind, especially with your current potential clients. The reason being you would require to contain the title of the free sponsor into your domain name or perhaps Website. This isn?t a reasonably picture, particularly if assume your business to expand in the near future, or you desire to grow in customers.
Together with cost-effective hosting nonetheless, you may get a top stage area, that is helpful in reaching model remember. Your site site visitors may easily bear in mind your internet site title, so you have got higher chances of obtaining replicate buyers. Several inexpensive contains also provide exceptional bundles, and can accommodate revisions in your web site since the require comes up. This level of overall flexibility may not be existing any time top web hosting you select to opt for free hosting.
Most of the free web hosts in addition might call for a person to place banner commercials and pop-ups in your website. This really is normally solar panel systems these kind of free contains get their particular income, because they by now provide free websites. As a consequence, your web site can appear jampacked and nonprofessional. You will not possess to experience these kind of distractions, split into cost-effective hosting instead. While you can invariably place advertisements on your web site, you can do so in a way that won?t affect the over-all physical appearance of your website.
NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - Seth MacFarlane will not return to host the 2014 Oscars, the filmmaker and hit TV writer/producer announced on Monday. MacFarlane said that his schedule did not permit him to return.
"Traumatized critics exhale: I'm unable to do the Oscars again. Tried to make it work schedule-wise, but I need sleep," MacFarlane tweeted.
MacFarlane's turn as emcee of the 2013 Oscars divided the community. Some found him funny and eager to experiment while many found him crass and unoriginal, citing a long gag about breasts.
MacFarlane, one of the most successful writers and showrunners in television, finds his schedule even busier because of his now-bustling film career. He is writing, directing and starring in "A Million Ways to Die in the West" and, eventually, should make a sequel to "Ted."
Oscar producers Craig Zadan and Neil Maron first brought on MacFarlane because he would appeal to a younger audience and because he loves musical theater. The producers will return in 2014 and had hoped MacFarlane would join them.
While the "Family Guy" and "American Dad!" creator will not be able to host, he has an idea of who should.
"I highly recommend the job, as Zadan and Meron are two of the most talented producers in the business," he tweeted. "My suggestion for host is Joaquin Phoenix."
BEIJING (AP) ? A Chinese boat and 16 fishermen seized for ransom by armed North Koreans two weeks ago were released Tuesday, easing the latest irritant in relations between the neighboring allies.
Owner Yu Xuejun, who wasn't aboard the boat when it was seized May 5, wrote on his verified microblog that his captain called him at 3:50 a.m. to say the crew and boat were set free and that they were on their way home. He told the state-run Global Times newspaper all of the crewmembers were OK.
Yu, who had reported the seizure to Chinese authorities earlier, began publicizing the incident over the weekend as a deadline for a 600,000 yuan ($100,000) ransom drew near. Chinese state media then began reporting on the incident, saying China was demanding that North Korea release the men.
Yu said on his microblog Tuesday that he had been unable to pay any ransom, and he thanked China's Foreign Ministry for negotiating on behalf of his boat and crew.
Yu's pleas for help and fears that his crew had been mistreated were forwarded thousands of times by netizens and a high-ranking Chinese military officer, Maj. Gen. Luo Yuan, wrote on the Twitter-like Sina Weibo of his fury at the detention.
"North Korea has gone too far! Even if you are short of money, you can't grab people across the border and blackmail," wrote Luo, who has more than 300,000 followers.
The seizure had added to China's frustration with North Korea over its recent tests of nuclear and rocket technologies in defiance of international efforts to curb the country's nuclear ambitions. At the same time, the Chinese government has been under intense pressure to protect Chinese who venture abroad and out to sea for their livelihoods.
A similar abduction a year ago of Chinese fishermen by armed North Koreans caused an uproar in China when they were released ? some of them stripped of everything but their underwear ? saying they had been starved and beaten.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei had declined to answer a question Monday about who exactly China believed was behind the boat seizure, but he made clear that Beijing was looking for the North Korean government to deal with it.
An expert on North Korea at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences in northeast China said he doubted the North Korean government had any knowledge of the incident when it happened.
"This incident is purely about a lawless act by the North Korean border police to blackmail our fishermen," said Lu Chao, adding that such things frequently happen to Chinese fishermen working near the border waters.
"Sometimes, if the amount they are asking for isn't too high, the boat owner would just pay it," he said. This time, it might be related to spring food shortages, "so they are asking for a huge ransom."
The owner had previously been reported as saying he received a phone call from North Korea telling him his boat had been in North Korean waters, but that he was certain it had been floating in Chinese waters.
On Monday, the Broncos will practice for the first time as a team since capping a stellar regular season with an epic postseason collapse, thanks to a 70-yard touchdown pass that allowed the Ravens to force overtime.
The throw from Joe Flacco landed in the hands of Jacoby Jones because Denver safety Rahim Moore jumped too soon and flailed clumsily at the ball.? After, of course, Moore allowed Jones to run right past the safety.
But the Broncos are still sticking with Moore.? From coaches to players, Moore has been absolved of responsibility.
?I think he?s over it; I think we?re all over it, you know,? Denver defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio told the Associated Press.? ?I think we all look back and see things that we could have done better.?
Linebacker Von Miller take responsibility for not getting to Flacco before he could launch the desperation pass.
?Rahim made a few key tackles that day. He was all over the place. It was just a football folly,? Miller said. ?I don?t blame Rahim.? I blame me and Elvis [Dumervil]: 70 yards to go, we know they?re going to pass the ball.? That?s why they bring me and Elvis to close the game out and neither of us got to the quarterback.? I took it hard.?
Coach John Fox and executive V.P. of football operations John Elway both believe that Moore?s better days are in front of him.
?Rahim?s focus is on getting better from a year ago,? Fox said. ?And there wasn?t one play.? It was a whole season.? He made great, great progress a year ago from his rookie year and we anticipate him to do that again.? He?s a very talented young man.?
?[H]e made tremendous strides from Year One to Year Two,? executive V.P. of football operations John Elway said.? ?And I think hopefully he makes those same strides.? He really had a good year last year and we want to watch him to continue to grow.? Safety-wise, we feel pretty good.?
But not good enough to resist kicking the tires of Charles Woodson.
While there?s no reason for the Broncos to bail on a second-round pick in the 2011 draft, Moore?s ability to forget after having months to stew will be critical to whether he can continue to play at a high level ? and to keep getting better.
If he does, last year?s gaffe will become a distant memory.? A very bad, awful memory, but distant nonetheless.
The iPhone 5 launched to record sales figures; 5 million units sold to customers in the first three days. Samsung's Galaxy S4 has also launched to strong figures; 10 million units shipped in the first 4 weeks. One of these was a 'disappointment,' yet the other is hailed as a triumph. Seems crazy? Well, maybe it is.
For Samsung, 10 million units shipped makes it their fastest selling smartphone release ever, so for the folks from Korea at least, it is indeed a triumph. But, Apple sold -- not shipped -- 5 million units of the iPhone 5 in the first 3 days. Yet compare these two headlines from Businessinsider:
One story portrays doom and gloom, and the other a more jubilant atmosphere. Analysts called 6 million units for the iPhone 5 the "worst case scenario" for Apple's opening weekend. And yet, they hit half Samsung's first month sales within three days.
We're not going to knock Samsung's figures, 10 million is a lot of phones. But, it does again ask the question; just how much is 'enough' for Apple?
Otterbox is here in Vegas at CTIA 2013 with its Defender and Commuter series cases for the Samsung Galaxy S4
CTIA is always a hotbed for the latest and greatest accessories and this year's show is no different -- Otterbox was onsite tonight at the Showstoppers kickoff event in Las Vegas' Venetian Hotel with both its Defender and Commuter cases for the Samsung Galaxy S 4. Otterboxes probably aren't the most attractive cases you can buy for your shiny new S4, and they certainly aren't the sleekest, but they provide the ultra-protection you've come to expect from the company. Both the Commuter and Defender series come in a slew of color options and they're both available now for $34.95 and $49.95 respectively. A quick video, and some more shots can be found in the gallery after the break.
NEW YORK ? James Levine rolled onto the Carnegie Hall stage in his black motorized wheelchair and into a 6-by-6-foot mechanical podium constructed by the Metropolitan Opera.
Belted into the wheelchair, Levine and two aides waited while the podium hoisted him about 3 feet in the air and its interior rotated 180 degrees to leave him facing the audience. Given a 1-minute standing ovation, he blew a kiss to the crowd in the sold-out 2,804-seat auditorium, raised his fists in triumph and tapped his heart.
And then it was to business. After an absence of more than two years caused by a fall that left him partially paralyzed, the Met's music director had returned.
Looking a bit like a starship captain in the commander's chair, Levine conducted the prelude to Wagner's "Lohengrin," Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 with Evgeny Kissin and Schubert's Symphony No. 9 (Great) on Sunday afternoon, the first step toward his return the Met next fall. He received a 71/2-minute standing ovation at the end.
Levine, who turns 70 on June 23, has transformed the Met since his debut in 1971 and joined Leonard Bernstein as the most acclaimed American conductors. He has been the leading force at the Met for four decades as chief conductor (1973-76), music director (1976-86 and 2004-present) and artistic director (1986-2004).
But Levine's health began to deteriorate. He was afflicted with aggravated Parkinsonism ? a relatively benign form of Parkinson's disease ? starting in 1994. He tore a rotator cuff in March 2006 when he tripped and fell on the stage of Boston's Symphony Hall during ovations, and his right kidney was removed in July 2008 because of a malignant tumor. Then he had surgery in 2009 to repair a herniated disk in his back and a second back operation in 2010.
By then he was conducting from a chair and by 2011 he took his bows from the podium in the Met's orchestra pit rather than walk on stage. He resigned as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a position he had held since 2004, and canceled his appearances on a Met tour of Japan that was to celebrate his 40th anniversary with the company.
Two more back surgeries followed in May and July 2011 and the next month he fell and damaged a vertebrae, leaving him with no feeling in his legs. He canceled his entire 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons at the Met, leaving the company to scramble for fill-in conductors for his many assignments.
With intensive therapy, he regained feeling in his legs and in recent months has started to walk. He said doctors are hopeful for a complete recovery at some point. But for now, he conducts from the wheelchair.
Wearing a black shirt ? the outfit he switched to several years ago ? rather than white-tie-and-tails, he seemed to have freer movement than he did before the 2011 surgeries. His upper body was strong, and the gestures he made with his left hand to increase and decrease the orchestra's level and shape its sound were the same as the Levine of old.
His return program opened with a rendition of the "Lohengrin" prelude notable for the shimmering spaciousness of the strings in A-major. Before Sunday, his last performance had been a televised "Die Walkuere" on May 14, 2014, and his illness created a hole in the company's Ring Cycles last spring and this that Fabio Luisi never quite filled.
Levine's Wagner has texture and force, an ebb and flow that creates great import, yet a lightness that lets all the colors shine. In all of nine minutes, he showed what the Met had been missing.
He followed with frothy Beethoven accompanying Kissim, an energetic rendering of the G Major that never sounded rushed. The andante con moto was ominous and the closing rondo galloping. Kissim added a fun encore of Beethoven's "Rage Over a Lost Penny, Vented in a Caprice."
Levine's Schubert, which followed intermission, was grand and lavish with an arch that intensified toward the conclusion. By the final ovations, Levine looked overjoyed.
He is scheduled for three productions at the Met next season: revivals of Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte" starting Sept. 24 and Berg's "Wozzeck" beginning March 6, and a new-to-the-Met staging of Verdi's "Falstaff" opening Dec. 6. He also will conduct the Met Orchestra's three Carnegie concerts.
Levine says if all goes well, he will increase his schedule in 2014-15. Many a conductor's best work took place after age 70. After Sunday's performance, Levine can start looking forward to his renaissance years.
Zachary Quinto as Spock and Chris Pine as Kirk in "Star Trek Into Darkness."
Paramount and Skydance Productions' "Star Trek Into Darkness" topped the box office chart with a solid four-day opening of $84.1 million -- even if it didn't engage warp speed and hit $100 million.
Overseas, the J.J. Abrams-directed tentpole took in another $40 million over the weekend for an early global total of $164.6 million, including $80.5 million internationally. The 3-D pic, playing in 40 markets, tied with "Iron Man 3," which took in $40.2 million in its fourth weekend.
But it was Baz Luhrmann's "The Great Gatsby" -- benefiting from being the only female-skewing event pic -- that topped the foreign chart, grossing a solid $42.1 million as it opened in 49 markets following its international premiere at the Cannes Film Festival May 15.
There was plenty of action overseas all the way around. Universal's "Fast & Furious 6" tore out of the gate as it debuted in the U.K. and Ireland, grossing $13.8 million to score the biggest opening ever for a Universal title in those countries and boding well for the film's domestic bow over Memorial Day weekend and its continued expansion offshore.
Heading into the weekend, many box office observers believed "Into Darkness" had a shot at hitting $100 million in North America, easily outpacing the $79.2 million opening of Abrams' 2009 "Star Trek," which reinvigorated the sci-fi film franchise. Paramount had hoped for $100 million, but hedged its bets by estimating an $80 million to $100 million debut.
VIDEO: "Star Trek Into Darkness" Trailer: The Enterprise Is "Dead"
Paramount vice chairman Rob Moore said he was "extremely pleased" with the sequel's performance, both domestically and internationally, where the studio waged a massive marketing campaign to improve the franchise's standing ("Star Trek" has never been as popular overseas).
"'Into Darkness' did 6 percent better than the 2009 'Star Trek' and received an 'A' CinemaScore, so we know people love the movie," Moore said. "And overseas, it is pacing 82 percent ahead of Abrams' first film."
In Russia -- where sci-fi often suffers, but 3-D is enormously popular -- "Into Darkness" debuted to $8 million, four times the opening of the 2009 reboot, which topped out at only $4 million.
Moore says "Into Darkness" could ultimately double the $127 million earned by "Star Trek" in its entire run internationally.
"Into Darkness" returns Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto in the roles of Captain James T. Kirk and Spock. Other returning castmembers include Zoe Saldana, Anton Yelchin, Simon Pegg, John Cho and Karl Urban. This time out, a scheming villain played by Benedict Cumberbatch resorts to terrorism to threaten Earth.
Paramount and Skydance co-financed the $190 million tentpole, and produced alongside Abrams' Bad Robot. The script was written by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof.
In the U.S., "Into Darkness" skewed male (64 percent) while 73 percent of the audience was over the age of 25.
IMAX theaters turned in big numbers thanks to Trekkies who wanted to see the film in a large-format, with 336 theaters taking in $13.5 million.
There is no doubt but that "Into Darkness" faced tough competition from "The Great Gatsby" and "Iron Man 3." In its third weekend, Disney and Marvel Studios' "Iron Man 3" came in No. 2 domestically with $35.2 million. The billion-dollar baby has now taken in $337.1 million in North America and $736.2 million internationally for a total $1.07 billion, the No. 9 film of all time.
"The Great Gatsby," from Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Pictures, placed No. 3 domestically, falling 53 percent in its second weekend for a handy cume of $90.2 million.
13 photos to get you in the mood for "Star Trek Into Darkness"
Warners' belief that "Gatsby" would serve as counterprogramming to action fare is paying off and already marks Luhrmann's biggest success to date in North America, not accounting for inflation (his previous best was the $57.4 million grossed by "Moulin Rouge!")
"Gatsby" also marks Luhrmann's best opening overseas, coming in 38 percent ahead of Australia ($30.4 million) and "Moulin Rouge!" ($13.8 million). The 3-D film did nice business in numerous markets, including earning $6.2 million in Russia and $6.1 million in the U.K., despite "Fast and Furious." It placed No. 1 in France with $4.7 million, buoyed by its premiere in Cannes.
At the U.S. specialty box office, Noah Baumbach scored with the debut of his black-and-white independent film "Frances Ha,"which grossed $134,000 from four theaters in New York and Los Angeles for a location average of $33,500.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced on Monday that three more states would join the ranks of those given permission to ignore parts of the federal No Child Left Behind law in favor of their own school improvement plans.
The addition of Alaska, Hawaii and West Virginia brings to 37 the number of states operating outside the Bush-era law, along with the District of Columbia. Eight additional states, the Bureau of Indian Education, Puerto Rico and a coalition of California districts are waiting to hear about their requests, which would further dismantle the federal education overhaul from coast to coast.
"Thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia can't wait any longer for education reform," Duncan said in a statement.
No Child Left Behind, also known as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, came up for renewal in 2007 and its requirements were not updated. Duncan has pushed lawmakers to revisit the law and make changes to accommodate challenges officials did not anticipate when they first passed the measure on a bipartisan basis in 2001.
"A strong, bipartisan reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act remains the best path forward in education reform, but as these states have demonstrated, our kids can't wait any longer for Congress to act," Duncan said.
In exchange for the waivers, states have had to show the Education Department they had their own plans to prepare students and improve teaching. States have sought the additional flexibility to implement their own efforts instead of following the sometimes rigid requirements included in No Child Left Behind.
The waivers also allow states to come up short on requirements that all students perform at grade level in math and reading by 2014.
If Congress were to update No Child Left Behind, the states would be forced to shift to the new national standards ? potentially a headache for states that already have set forth on their own individualized plans.
Since President Barack Obama announced his administration would consider waivers from the law in September 2011, 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Bureau of Indian Education have sought permission to implement their own reform plan.
Alabama, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wyoming are still waiting to hear about their applications.
Additionally, a coalition of California districts has requested a waiver from the Education Department. The coalition of 10 school districts, known as California Office to Reform Education, or CORE, includes Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento districts and represents 1.2 million of the state's 6 million students.
Duncan has said that he does not want his department to get into district-by-district decisions. Such a shift would potentially add a tremendous amount of work for his department and perhaps consume thousands of hours of local districts' time to assemble the detailed plans to improve schools on their own terms.
California, Montana and Nebraska have not applied for waivers. North Dakota and Vermont withdrew their applications. As a result, those five states still will be required to meet the provisions of No Child Left Behind.
___
Follow Philip Elliott on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Philip_Elliott
With the very idea of a united Europe under debate amid the economic crisis, it's hard to find people who know what 'Europe Day' is, let alone celebrate it.
By Sara Miller Llana,?Staff writer / May 9, 2013
A huge European Union flag is installed in front of the Romanian parliament building in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday. The flag, with a weight of 800 kg and measuring 100 by 140 meters, was placed at the parliament to mark Europe Day.
Vadim Ghirda/AP
Enlarge
Today is Europe Day. It marks a pivotal declaration by French foreign minister for foreign affairs, Robert Schuman, on May 9, 1950, that led to the formation of the European Coal and Steel Community and essentially the foundation of the European Union.
Skip to next paragraph Sara Miller Llana
Europe Bureau Chief
Sara Miller Llana?moved to Paris in April 2013 to become the Monitor's Europe Bureau?Chief. Previously she was the?paper's?Latin America Bureau Chief, based in Mexico City, from 2006 to 2013.
Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition
In theory, Europe Day should be comparable to Bastille Day in France or the Fourth of July in the US. Instead, it?s hard to find people who actually know what it is.
One history professor did, but this was his take: ?It?s nothing.? Pieter Lagrou, a contemporary European history professor at the Free University of Brussels, says he likes to tell his students the obscurity of the holiday marks "the symbolic deficit of Europe.?
The central question of "What is Europe?" is being picked apart across and beyond the continent. In the midst of debt crisis, nations are fighting to get in, questioning getting out and even splitting in two, and bickering over banking unions and political control and sovereignty.
On the ground ? the level at which citizens take time to raise a flag and celebrate, or at least ponder, their national founding ? it?s also an exceedingly hard question to answer.
Dr. Lagrou used himself as an example. He?s a Dutch-speaking Belgian, living in bilingual Brussels, with a French employer. His regional government and federal government are accountable to him. But so are his EU representatives.
If he, for example, cared deeply about a jobs-creation program, would it be his federal government or the EU that he should contact, and among the latter, who holds the control among the European Commission, the European Council, and the European Parliament?
?The political landscape is increasingly difficult,? he says.
As a journalist new to Europe, I made Brussels, the heart of the European Union, my first stop on the European circuit. Perhaps it would have been better to visit the EU capitals first and then Brussels, where it?s harder than most places to know whom you need to talk to, who holds the power, and how it all works.
I walked through the city, which is the first thing I usually do when I arrive somewhere new. I went to the European district, past the European Parliament and the Commission. I went to the daily Commission press briefing. There were only a few questions asked: about funding proposals in Spain for the unemployed, EU representation at the International Monetary Fund, and Macedonia. All answers were about the same: ?We can?t speculate, we can?t answer at this point.? None of them shed any light on how the EU works.
I told many people that I couldn?t get my head around it. Without fail, they all replied, ?Don?t worry, neither can most Europeans.?
They were joking to a certain extent (at least those who work for the EU). But Lagrou says there is a risk here. To many, the EU has become a giant bureaucracy ?without a face or identity,? he says. In the face of crisis ? as real fault lines are forming between nations, especially over austerity ? many are increasingly losing faith in the project.
Each year, around Europe Day, the EU opens its doors to the public, so citizens get an inside look at the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council of the European Union, the Commission, the Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions, and the Office of the Ombudsman. These kinds of events, of any governmental institution, are often disregarded as hokey. But it might be as important a time as ever to sign up for the tour. I know I wish I had.
Greetings everyone, today I?m excited to announce a fabulous event happening this summer, in partnership with ScotchBlue? Painter?s Tape and The Home Depot! I was so happy when the brands contacted me to play host for an exciting event ? it?s a Summer Blog Hop where 30 bloggers will be getting creative with ScotchBlue Tape and I?ll be hosting links to all the projects right here ? the projects featured will help inspire this year?s painting season!
I?ve been using ScotchBlue Painter?s Tape for such a long time, it?s my go-to tape whenever I?m working on furniture or painting doors. This brand doesn?t grab like traditional masking tape but sticks just enough to paint perfect stripes or line up hardware ? even on top of freshly painted surfaces and it won?t pull up the paint, I love that.
?
I?ll be featuring the blogger projects here and linking back to this page over the course of the summer whenever a participating blogger completes a new project. Follow along and don?t miss a thing by following both the ScotchBlue? Painter?s Tape?s Facebook Page and the ScotchBlue? Painter?s Tape Pinterest Page for all the latest ideas and inspiration!? Be sure to like The Home Depot?s Facebook Page for all the latest in the Summer Blog Hop.
I?ll be back tomorrow to kick off the summer event with my latest furniture makeover using ScotchBlue Tape ? you?re going to love it!
This post was brought to you in partnership with The Home Depot and ScotchBlue? Painter?s Tape.
.
Tags: home depot, painter's tape, scotchblue, summer blog hop
This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 15th, 2013 at and is filed under Featuring. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
If you ever stared at a chrysalis as a kid, patiently waiting for a beautiful new butterfly to emerge, you were probably left wondering just what was going on inside there. Was the caterpillar reconfiguring itself like a Transformer? Was it morphing like a Terminator? Nobody knows?except now everyone does thanks to these fascinating micro-CT 3D x-ray scans of the process.
Two research teams used the cutting edge imaging technique to routinely scan a chrysalis during its metamorphosis and generate 3D models of its organs and other internal structures changing over time. Smaller details?like details of the brain?are unfortunately still left out with the limitations of the technology. But as they improve, so will our understanding of this unique process. Not to mention, kids won't have to wait weeks to see a butterfly finally emerge?they can just hit fast forward. [National Geographic via Boing Boing]
James Cameron to be publicly honored with Scripps Nierenberg PrizePublic release date: 15-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Mario Aguilera scrippsnews@ucsd.edu 858-534-3624 University of California - San Diego
Renowned explorer and filmmaker donates lander system that played key role in record-setting expedition and will be used by Scripps researchers as part of the next age of deep-sea exploration
Ocean frontier explorer and world-renowned filmmaker James Cameron has been named by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego as the recipient of the 2013 Nierenberg Prize for Science in the Public Interest. Cameron will deliver a presentation on his record-setting DEEPSEA CHALLENGE expedition and exploration of the frontiers of the deep sea on Friday, May 31, on the UC San Diego campus.
In addition, Scripps Institution of Oceanography's capacity to probe the mysteries and promise of the deep sea has been considerably boosted with a key undersea gift of technology from Cameron, who last year became the first person to complete a solo dive to the world's deepest point. Cameron has donated an extreme-depth unmanned undersea exploration system known as a "lander" to Scripps for the institution's future deep-sea exploration endeavors.
The Nierenberg Prize for Science in the Public Interest, awarded annually by Scripps, is named for William A. Nierenberg (1919-2000), a renowned national science leader who served Scripps Oceanography as director from 1965 to 1986. In addition to the lander gift to Scripps, Cameron will donate the $25,000 Nierenberg Prize money to Scripps to kickstart operations of a new "Lander Lab" based at Scripps to oversee the lander system's operations and research applications.
Developed by long-time Scripps engineer Kevin Hardy for Cameron's historic DEEPSEA CHALLENGE expedition, the lander includes an instrument frame, command/control spheres, empty camera spheres, buoyancy spheres, water and biological sampling systems, and deck support gear. The Cameron lander comes equipped as a complete deep-exploration system that can be configured in a full 14-foot, 1,000-pound modethe workhorse design for Cameron's historic DEEPSEA CHALLENGE expeditionor smaller versions that can be deployed from a variety of vessels.
"James Cameron's landers worked in conjunction with his record-setting manned submarine by providing a stand-alone camera platform to film the submarine, to survey and scout locations prior to manned dives, and to test new technology before integration on the manned submarine," said Hardy. "The lander also acted as a baited lure to attract fish and other animals, concentrating them for photography and behavioral studies."
Sampling devices can be tailored to the lander to address various branches of ocean science, including biology, chemistry, geology, and physics.
"Scripps Institution of Oceanography is extremely grateful to James Cameron for his generous lander gift, which not only holds historical value, but will prove to be a key resource for many significant deep-sea expeditions in the near future," said Catherine Constable, interim director of Scripps. "The lander will help us unlock the mysteries of Earth's least explored environment, which remains a true frontier of science."
Doug Bartlett, a Scripps marine microbiologist and chief scientist of Cameron's DEEPSEA CHALLENGE expedition, plans to put the lander system to work soon for Scripps science.
"The lander will be used with various payloads to collect seawater, sediments, animals in baited traps, and microbes following in-situ filtration and in-situ enrichment," said Bartlett. "It may see operation in the (Pacific Ocean's) Sirena Deep this June."
On March 26, 2012, Cameron plunged 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) below the ocean surface in a one-man submarine to the Challenger Deep in the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench, the first solo diver to reach such depths. Scripps has been collaborating with Cameron for nearly a decade, focusing on developing new ways to explore and study the deepest parts of the oceans. The DEEPSEA CHALLENGE was a joint scientific expedition by Cameron, a National Geographic explorer-in-residence; National Geographic; and Rolex to conduct deep-ocean research and exploration.
More on the Nierenberg Prize
The Nierenberg Prize for Science in the Public Interest was created through a gift from the Nierenberg family to honor the memory of William A. Nierenberg. The prize, which includes a bronze medal and $25,000, is awarded each year for outstanding contributions to science in the public interest. Nierenberg was a leading expert in several fields of underwater research and warfare, and was known for his work in low-energy nuclear physics. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1971 and was the recipient of numerous awards and honors for professional research and public service. Past Nierenberg Prize winners are: Daniel Pauly (2012), Ira Flatow (2010), Richard Dawkins (2009), James Hansen (2008), J. Craig Venter (2007), Gordon E. Moore, Ph.D. (2006), Sir David Attenborough, OM (Order of Merit) (2005), Dame Jane Goodall (2004), Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D. (2003), Walter Cronkite (2002), and E.O. Wilson, Ph.D. (2001).
More on Scripps and deep-sea discoveries
With its decades-long history of deep-sea exploration, Scripps is recognized as a world leader in investigating the science of the deep ocean, from exploring the deep's geological features, researching its exotic marine life inhabitants, to development of the requisite sensor and sampling technologies.
Scripps's history in exploring the deepest regions of the ocean dates back to the 1950s and '60s, when Scripps research geologist Robert Fisher meticulously mapped the Mariana Trench's deepest points. He employed innovative sounding techniques to firmly establish Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench as the deepest point in the world's oceans. In 1952 Fisher identified Horizon Deep in the Tonga Trench as the second-deepest point in the oceans and the deepest spot in the Southern Hemisphere.
This work set the stage for the famous dive of Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard and U.S. Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh aboard the bathyscaphe Trieste in the first manned voyage to the bottom of Challenger Deep on January 23, 1960, and later Cameron's record-breaking solo dive in 2012.
Scripps engineers also pioneered designs in free vehicles, autonomous unmanned diving platforms not connected to a ship by rope or wire, for reaching far into the ocean depths to gather data and samples. Scientists John Isaacs and Frank Snodgrass developed fundamental techniques of free vehicle operations still used today.
"Our present designs utilize new materials, processes, and technologiesall the things you expect to have evolved," said Hardy. "But we owe a lot to these first Scripps trailblazers of undersea robotic systems. We are only just beginning the exploration of the ultra-deep ocean. James Cameron's gift will profoundly accelerate our understanding of the hadal (extremely deep) zone. It's a different Earth down there."
"The generous donation (by James Cameron) will enable the lander system to be brought back into service, helping us to examine the distribution, characteristics, and adaptations of extremophilic microbes in the trenches," said Bartlett. "I am hoping that we can bring back some of the scientists from the DEEPSEA CHALLENGE Expedition for the next deployments and recoveries of this lander, and that we can start off where this expedition ended."
###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
James Cameron to be publicly honored with Scripps Nierenberg PrizePublic release date: 15-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Mario Aguilera scrippsnews@ucsd.edu 858-534-3624 University of California - San Diego
Renowned explorer and filmmaker donates lander system that played key role in record-setting expedition and will be used by Scripps researchers as part of the next age of deep-sea exploration
Ocean frontier explorer and world-renowned filmmaker James Cameron has been named by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego as the recipient of the 2013 Nierenberg Prize for Science in the Public Interest. Cameron will deliver a presentation on his record-setting DEEPSEA CHALLENGE expedition and exploration of the frontiers of the deep sea on Friday, May 31, on the UC San Diego campus.
In addition, Scripps Institution of Oceanography's capacity to probe the mysteries and promise of the deep sea has been considerably boosted with a key undersea gift of technology from Cameron, who last year became the first person to complete a solo dive to the world's deepest point. Cameron has donated an extreme-depth unmanned undersea exploration system known as a "lander" to Scripps for the institution's future deep-sea exploration endeavors.
The Nierenberg Prize for Science in the Public Interest, awarded annually by Scripps, is named for William A. Nierenberg (1919-2000), a renowned national science leader who served Scripps Oceanography as director from 1965 to 1986. In addition to the lander gift to Scripps, Cameron will donate the $25,000 Nierenberg Prize money to Scripps to kickstart operations of a new "Lander Lab" based at Scripps to oversee the lander system's operations and research applications.
Developed by long-time Scripps engineer Kevin Hardy for Cameron's historic DEEPSEA CHALLENGE expedition, the lander includes an instrument frame, command/control spheres, empty camera spheres, buoyancy spheres, water and biological sampling systems, and deck support gear. The Cameron lander comes equipped as a complete deep-exploration system that can be configured in a full 14-foot, 1,000-pound modethe workhorse design for Cameron's historic DEEPSEA CHALLENGE expeditionor smaller versions that can be deployed from a variety of vessels.
"James Cameron's landers worked in conjunction with his record-setting manned submarine by providing a stand-alone camera platform to film the submarine, to survey and scout locations prior to manned dives, and to test new technology before integration on the manned submarine," said Hardy. "The lander also acted as a baited lure to attract fish and other animals, concentrating them for photography and behavioral studies."
Sampling devices can be tailored to the lander to address various branches of ocean science, including biology, chemistry, geology, and physics.
"Scripps Institution of Oceanography is extremely grateful to James Cameron for his generous lander gift, which not only holds historical value, but will prove to be a key resource for many significant deep-sea expeditions in the near future," said Catherine Constable, interim director of Scripps. "The lander will help us unlock the mysteries of Earth's least explored environment, which remains a true frontier of science."
Doug Bartlett, a Scripps marine microbiologist and chief scientist of Cameron's DEEPSEA CHALLENGE expedition, plans to put the lander system to work soon for Scripps science.
"The lander will be used with various payloads to collect seawater, sediments, animals in baited traps, and microbes following in-situ filtration and in-situ enrichment," said Bartlett. "It may see operation in the (Pacific Ocean's) Sirena Deep this June."
On March 26, 2012, Cameron plunged 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) below the ocean surface in a one-man submarine to the Challenger Deep in the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench, the first solo diver to reach such depths. Scripps has been collaborating with Cameron for nearly a decade, focusing on developing new ways to explore and study the deepest parts of the oceans. The DEEPSEA CHALLENGE was a joint scientific expedition by Cameron, a National Geographic explorer-in-residence; National Geographic; and Rolex to conduct deep-ocean research and exploration.
More on the Nierenberg Prize
The Nierenberg Prize for Science in the Public Interest was created through a gift from the Nierenberg family to honor the memory of William A. Nierenberg. The prize, which includes a bronze medal and $25,000, is awarded each year for outstanding contributions to science in the public interest. Nierenberg was a leading expert in several fields of underwater research and warfare, and was known for his work in low-energy nuclear physics. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1971 and was the recipient of numerous awards and honors for professional research and public service. Past Nierenberg Prize winners are: Daniel Pauly (2012), Ira Flatow (2010), Richard Dawkins (2009), James Hansen (2008), J. Craig Venter (2007), Gordon E. Moore, Ph.D. (2006), Sir David Attenborough, OM (Order of Merit) (2005), Dame Jane Goodall (2004), Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D. (2003), Walter Cronkite (2002), and E.O. Wilson, Ph.D. (2001).
More on Scripps and deep-sea discoveries
With its decades-long history of deep-sea exploration, Scripps is recognized as a world leader in investigating the science of the deep ocean, from exploring the deep's geological features, researching its exotic marine life inhabitants, to development of the requisite sensor and sampling technologies.
Scripps's history in exploring the deepest regions of the ocean dates back to the 1950s and '60s, when Scripps research geologist Robert Fisher meticulously mapped the Mariana Trench's deepest points. He employed innovative sounding techniques to firmly establish Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench as the deepest point in the world's oceans. In 1952 Fisher identified Horizon Deep in the Tonga Trench as the second-deepest point in the oceans and the deepest spot in the Southern Hemisphere.
This work set the stage for the famous dive of Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard and U.S. Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh aboard the bathyscaphe Trieste in the first manned voyage to the bottom of Challenger Deep on January 23, 1960, and later Cameron's record-breaking solo dive in 2012.
Scripps engineers also pioneered designs in free vehicles, autonomous unmanned diving platforms not connected to a ship by rope or wire, for reaching far into the ocean depths to gather data and samples. Scientists John Isaacs and Frank Snodgrass developed fundamental techniques of free vehicle operations still used today.
"Our present designs utilize new materials, processes, and technologiesall the things you expect to have evolved," said Hardy. "But we owe a lot to these first Scripps trailblazers of undersea robotic systems. We are only just beginning the exploration of the ultra-deep ocean. James Cameron's gift will profoundly accelerate our understanding of the hadal (extremely deep) zone. It's a different Earth down there."
"The generous donation (by James Cameron) will enable the lander system to be brought back into service, helping us to examine the distribution, characteristics, and adaptations of extremophilic microbes in the trenches," said Bartlett. "I am hoping that we can bring back some of the scientists from the DEEPSEA CHALLENGE Expedition for the next deployments and recoveries of this lander, and that we can start off where this expedition ended."
###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Despite increasing demands for U.S. military involvement in the Syrian conflict, there is still little chance that the Obama administration will commit the U.S. to a new war in the region. That's a good thing.
Still, that there is any chance is a measure of how obsessed with trying to direct and "shape" events on the other side of the world many American pundits and politicians are. If the last 12 years of war should have taught Americans anything, it is that other nations are not interested in being "shaped" or "built" by us, and that we are remarkably unsuited to the task of refashioning the political order of countries that we don't understand very well.
SEE MORE: What Europeans really think about each other
One thing we hear all the time from Syria hawks is that "Syria is not Iraq." Bill Keller of The New York Times made this argument just last week. On one level, this is an obvious, but not very meaningful observation. No two countries and no two conflicts are ever going to be identical, and some of the things that made the Iraq war a debacle may not be relevant to the Syrian case. However, military intervention in Syria would suffer from many of the same flaws as the Iraq war, and it would also have its own set of complications and unintended consequences that might prove to be just as bad or even worse than the Iraq's.
Like the Iraq war, a U.S. war in Syria would be unauthorized and illegal under international law, and America would have even fewer allies than it had in Iraq. Like Iraq, the costs and duration of a Syrian war have been minimized to make it appear to be a quick, easy, and cheap intervention. Unlike Iraq, there wouldn't even be the pretense that the U.S. was acting to eliminate a potential threat to our security. Instead, the U.S. would be fighting solely for the purpose of overthrowing another government. While the Iraq war was mostly limited to that country, U.S. intervention in Syria would draw us directly into a proxy war with Assad's patrons that would likely not remain confined to Syria. Finally, a Syrian war would be waged with the knowledge of all the things that went so horribly wrong in Iraq, which makes the impulse to intervene in Syria both inexcusable and inexplicable.
SEE MORE: New White House email: Proof there was no Benghazi cover-up?
While there has been a surge of op-eds and editorials in recent weeks declaring that U.S. "credibility" is in jeopardy because of the president's ill-advised "red line" remarks about chemical weapons use, evidence of that use is sketchy at best. And U.S. interests elsewhere in the world are not endangered by refusing to start a new war in Syria. It seems unlikely that the U.S. is going to go to war for the sake of "credibility" that isn't even at risk. Weak evidence involving unconventional weapons is being used as a pretext for hawks that want the U.S. in the Syrian conflict one way or another. Following through on a vague threat by taking unnecessary military action in Syria would be a declaration to the world that the U.S. is incapable of staying out of foreign conflicts.
Finding some mechanism for a negotiated resolution to the conflict would be ideal, but to date none of the warring parties in Syria has been prepared to accept a compromise that could lead to a cease-fire. Skeptics of military action sometimes suggest trying to gain Russian cooperation that could help end the conflict, but this overestimates Russian influence over the Syrian government and the ability of Western diplomats to persuade Moscow that its position should change. Nonetheless, the administration continues to try to do just that. Along those lines, a joint U.S.-Russian-led Syrian peace conference will reportedly take place in June in an attempt to bring the warring parties to the negotiating table.
SEE MORE: Why is the FBI pursuing this leak so aggressively?
While it is doubtful that this conference will have much success by itself, it could create a structure for future negotiations that will eventually be needed when both sides of the conflict grow exhausted from fighting. Until both sides accept that neither of them can win by force, any negotiations will be fruitless. In the meantime, the U.S. must resist the urge to wade deeper into a conflict that secures no U.S. interests, especially when intervention would in all likelihood make the conflict more destructive and destabilizing than it already is.
View this article on TheWeek.com Get 4 Free Issues of The Week
Other stories from this section:
Like on Facebook?-?Follow on Twitter?-?Sign-up for Daily Newsletter
PLANS to demolish the 1920s sports pavilion at Douai Park Recreation Ground and build a new one have been given the green light.
But now the hard work begins as the group looking to rebuild the pavilion is going to have to raise about ?500,000 to make the dream a reality.
Douai Park Recreation Association wants to demolish the existing sports pavilion and replace it with a two storey sports pavilion including changing rooms and community facilities.
The plan also includes to construct a 49-space car park.
Last week, it was given approval by West Berkshire Council.
Both Beenham Parish Council and Midgham Parish Council raised no objections to the plans.
Neighbouring parish Midgham Parish Council went as far as saying it was ?an excellent plan and a welcome addition to local facilities?.
The existing pavilion was constructed in 1922 to honour the ?Old Boys? of Douai School who were killed in the first world war.
The school closed in 1999 and Douai Abbey agree to lease the sports ground to the Douai Park Recreation Association for a 99-year period if they agreed to refurbish or rebuild the pavilion.
Chairman of the Douai Park Recreation Association, David Howe, said that the current pavilion was barely useable and almost in a dangerous state so they decided to apply to rebuild it.
It is hoped that the new pavilion, complying with Sport England guidelines, will enable increased use of the playing fields at weekends by clubs and for local social events.
At present football, cricket and tennis clubs use the grounds.
Anyone wishing to donate to the cause should log onto www.findmeagrant.org/wberks
Don't forget to read the Newbury Weekly News ? Berkshire's largest?selling local newspaper ? out each Thursday morning.
President Barack Obama speaks on the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups for extra tax scrutiny in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday May 15, 2013. Obama announced the resignation of Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller, the top official at the IRS. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
President Barack Obama speaks on the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups for extra tax scrutiny in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday May 15, 2013. Obama announced the resignation of Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller, the top official at the IRS. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
President Barack Obama speaks on the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups for extra tax scrutiny in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday May 15, 2013. Obama announced the resignation of Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller, the top official at the IRS. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Under mounting pressure, President Barack Obama on Wednesday released a trove of documents related to the Benghazi attack and forced out the top official at the Internal Revenue Service following revelations that the agency targeted conservative political groups. The moves were aimed at halting a perception spreading among both White House opponents and allies that the president has been passive and disengaged as controversies consume his second term.
In another action, the White House asked Congress to revive a media shield law that would protect journalists from having to reveal information, a step seen as a response to the Justice Department's widely criticized subpoenas of phone records from reporters and editors at The Associated Press.
The flurry of activity signaled a White House anxious to regain control amid the trio of deepening controversies. The incidents have emboldened Republicans, overshadowed Obama's legislative agenda and threatened to plunge his second term into a steady stream of congressional investigations.
Standing in the East Room of the White House, the president said Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller had resigned and vowed that more steps would be taken to hold those responsible accountable.
"Americans have a right to be angry about it, and I am angry about it," Obama said of the IRS actions. "I will not tolerate this kind of behavior at any agency, but especially at the IRS given the power that it has and the reach that it has into all of our lives."
The president, seeking to keep up his more robust profile on the controversies, also said he would take questions from reporters Thursday at a previously scheduled news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Obama had addressed the IRS matter on Monday, but his measured words left many unsatisfied, particularly given that he had waited three days to address the developments. He also repeatedly asserted that he was waiting to find out if the reports were accurate, even though top IRS officials had already acknowledged the controversial actions.
Adding to narrative of a passive president were White House efforts to distance Obama from the IRS scandal, as well as the revelations that the Justice Department had secretly obtained work and personal phone records of journalists. In both cases, the White House insisted the president had no prior knowledge of the events and learned about the matters like the general public ? from news reports.
Obama's cautious response, combined with his lack of awareness about controversies brewing within his administration, opened him to quick criticism from his Republican foes.
"If Obama really learned about the latest IRS and AP secret subpoena scandals in the news, who exactly is running the ship at the White House?" Republican National Committee spokesman Kirsten Kukowski said.
But in a worrying sign for the White House, some Democrats also criticized the president for not being more aggressive in responding to trouble within the government.
Robert Gibbs, Obama's former White House press secretary, said the president should have appointed a bipartisan commission of former IRS officials to look into the issue of targeting political organizations. And Gibbs gently chided his former boss for using passive language when he first addressed the political targeting during a White House news conference Monday.
"I think they would have a much better way of talking about this story rather than simply kind of landing on the, 'well if this happened, then we'll look at it'," Gibbs said during an appearance on MSNBC.
The pair of new fresh controversies coincided with a resurgence in the GOP-led investigation into the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks on a U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans.
Congressional Republicans launched another round of hearings on the attacks last week. And on Friday, a congressional official disclosed details of emails among administration officials that resulted in the CIA downplaying the prospect that the attacks were an act of terror in talking points used to publicly discuss the deadly incident.
Obama aides insisted the emails were either taken out of context or provided no new information but resisted pressure to make the emails public for five days, before finally disclosing the documents to reporters Wednesday. The emails revealed that then-CIA Director David Petraeus disagreed with the final talking points, despite the White House's insistence that the intelligence agency had the final say over the statements.
The White House has publicly defended its handling of the controversies. Obama spokesman Jay Carney has insisted it would be "wholly inappropriate" for the president, in the case of the Justice Department matter, to weigh in on an active investigation, and in the case of the IRS controversy, to insert himself in the actions of an independent agency.
However, legal scholar Jonathan Turley disputed those assertions, saying there is no legal reason a president would be precluded from learning about the investigations before the public or commenting on them, at least broadly.
"These comments treat the president like he's the bubble boy," said Turley, a law professor at George Washington University.
David Axelrod, Obama's longtime adviser, acknowledged the White House could have acted more aggressively in "the interest of stagecraft." But he insisted that the president's handling of the matters will ultimately be vindicated.
"One virtue he has is that he takes a long-range view," he said. "It's easy to get whipped up by the frenzy, but it's responsible to react to the facts. It has short-term liabilities, but in the long-run, it's a quality you want in a president."
___
Follow Julie Pace on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC
and 
!
and the 
for all the latest ideas and inspiration!? Be sure to like 
for all the latest in the Summer Blog Hop.
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vB7aMP7nhipkIwBRVpqbDxf5wbOP6wk3Ph7oNjLZeNncnRSzZAZ29c07jyTIlMXJWP_j8P24Zv90JGPZ_qXj941GhTXeW7Q9mjxF5c01k=s0-d){kind=small}
Public release date: 15-May-2013
Share ] 
PLANS to demolish the 1920s sports pavilion at Douai Park Recreation Ground and build a new one have been given the green light.