Pitbull and Christina Aguilera 'Take on Me' with 'Feel this Moment'

<br /><div class="MsoNormal">Without a doubt the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A3OT5A4?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B00A3OT5A4&linkCode=xm2&tag=whisgooninmym-20">Pitbull featuring Christina Aguilerasong “Feel This Moment”</a> is a bona fide hit, but many folks are finding something oddly familiar about the song.  Luckily thanks to YouTube a side by side comparison is possible.  Granted if you’re a child of 1980’s you probably recognize the hook of the iTunes hit:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5jlI4uzZGjU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">For those of you not acquainted with music from that particular decade, take a listen to the old <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001O7SVLI?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B001O7SVLI&linkCode=xm2&tag=whisgooninmym-20">“Take on Me” from a-ha:</a><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/djV11Xbc914" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I know what you’re thinking; you spotted that way before I did.  Unfortunately, the <a href="http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/474515/pitbull-and-christina-aguilera-sample-a-has-take-on-me-hear-song-snippet">story about thesample</a> actually appeared on Billboard.com way back in October of last year.  Depending on how you feel about sampling, you might approve or hate the new song on that premise.  However, recycling hits from the past is not necessarily a bad thing, especially considering the addictive nature of this particular riff, because it is a win-win scenario for both singles (especially on the download charts).  Taking creativity to the next level (or just a different direction) is necessary to keep things moving forward in music, movies, books, and video games.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><br /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=whisgooninmym-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B001O7SVLI&ref=tf_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=whisgooninmym-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B00A3OT5A4&ref=tf_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe>

aha Christina Aguilera feel this moment pitbull take on me Pitbull and Christina Aguilera 'Take on Me' with 'Feel this Moment'

Without a doubt the Pitbull featuring Christina Aguilerasong “Feel This Moment” is a bona fide hit, but many folks are finding something od...

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George W Bush Gives a Tour of his Library!

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Hooooo-wee! Former Preznit and AR-TEEST George W “Don’t Call Me Shrub” Bush here welcoming y’all to my fancy new Lieberry and Museum! You know, this is the first museum I’ve ever visited. Wait, that’s not true. It’s the first lieberry I’ve ever visited as an adult. I went to a couple of ‘em when I was kid, but they were boring. Not like this one though. This is exciting!<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFBbz1LGJJDABG_1zL_q7FaA1m9Z5rU7L8t8mNxmoLh6YvBOOSbyjRin03Aalh0C5YTVcxz6LtQHISMPsoBhNNuhOKE2XmRoxlSvpMj90K8c8rmlarO6SXrSL27t6WaVgF0OWyKQnMtxk/s1600/George+W+Bush+Library+Museum+Idiot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFBbz1LGJJDABG_1zL_q7FaA1m9Z5rU7L8t8mNxmoLh6YvBOOSbyjRin03Aalh0C5YTVcxz6LtQHISMPsoBhNNuhOKE2XmRoxlSvpMj90K8c8rmlarO6SXrSL27t6WaVgF0OWyKQnMtxk/s320/George+W+Bush+Library+Museum+Idiot.jpg" width="277" /></a>There probably isn’t a single building in all of America that celebrates the American Experimentation and Freedom more than this. Well, there might be a couple in Washington, but they’re old. Nobody wants to go to old places when they can somewhere new and pretty. I mean we’ve got all this fancy interactive stuff and gadgets to play with here. Heck, you can even listen to  <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid" target="_blank">I'm With Stupid</a> internet radio thingy on the internets right here! </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">First off here we’ve got a scale replication of the Supreme Court. I thought it would be funny to have this right at the front door since they’re the ones that installed me into office. Sitting right there is a wax figure of Former Chief Justice William Rehnquist. That thing is so life-like! Heck, it’s almost as creepy was Willie was in real life! Anyway, you go up to him and hit that red button and he speaks. Go ahead, try it out! <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>*pushes red button*</b> “We hereby rule in favor of George W. Bush and declare him President of the United States and all-around swell guy!”  I had the them embolism that a bit cause what he really said was full of legal mumbo-gumbo and nobody understands that stuff. Like I said, we want to keep it fun here. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Here’s a replica of my Ovulating Office. There’s my desk with the red phone in case of a newcuelar war and we’ve got some pretty pictures on the wall, a TV, vcr and dvd combo that was state of the art at one time and oh, check this out.  This here is my Nerf basketball goal attached above the door going to my personal secreetaree’s office. Man we had some great Nerf battles in here. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>*picks up Nerf basketball*</b> Come on! Try to block my dunk. It’s okay, come on! <b>*Dunks Nerf ball lets out primal scream*</b> I hope someone got a good picture of that cause that was Sports Illustrious worthy. You just got posterized buddy!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">This here is the Iraq War display, or as I like to call it The 43^rd Crusades. Hahhahaha … Get it? I was the 43 preseedent? I like to inject a little humor into the lieberry to ease the tensions here and there. Here’s photos and video of the troops marching through Basry on their way Bagdum. And probably the most precocious video in this display is right there. It’s when they tore down that statue of Saddam. See them all stomping on him and hitting the statue with their shoes? That’s a real insult in that part of the world. Found that out myself later on what we always referred to as “The Great Loafer Incident.”  Anyway, I hear Saddam Husain was a real swingin’ dude.  <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>“Hey-OOOOOOO!” </i><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Who’s back there? Dick is that you?  <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>*Dick Cheney steps out of the shadows*</b> <i>“I’m just looking over all my great accomplishments when I was president.”</i><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Umm … Exqueeze me Dickster, I do believe that I’m the one who took the oath of office as prezeedent.  Besides, you’re supposed to wait until we get to the Undisclosed Location part of the museum and then jump out of the hidden door like we practiced. You ruined my grandiosious museum opening just like you ruined my presidentin’. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">You know what, to heck with it. I’m gonna head back to the house with Laura and do some painting to settle my mind. Ya’ll are on your own. Just like you are under Obama. Hahahahahaha … I crack myself up. Anyway, Orvor Y’all. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:Jayman3768@gmail.com">Jayman3768@gmail.com</a><br /><a href="http://www.facebook.com/Jayman68" target="_blank">Facebook.com/Jayman68</a><br /><a href="http://www.twitter.com/jayman_iws" target="_blank">@Jayman_IWS </a><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></div>

George W Bush Gives a Tour of his Library!

Hooooo-wee! Former Preznit and AR-TEEST George W “Don’t Call Me Shrub” Bush here welcoming y’all to my fancy new Lieberry and Museum! You kn...

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Book Briefs #14: 3 Monographs on 3 NYC Architects

<i>"Book Briefs" are an ongoing series of posts with two- or three-sentence first-hand descriptions of some of the numerous books that make their way into my library. These briefs are not full-blown reviews, but they are a way to share more books worthy of attention than can find their way into reviews on my <a href="http://archidose.blogspot.com/search/label/book-review">daily</a> or <a href="http://www.archidose.org/books/books.html">weekly</a> pages.</i><br /><br /><img alt="BB14.jpg" src="http://www.archidose.org/Blog/BB14.jpg" title="Book brief covers" /><br /><br />1: <a href="http://www.visualprofilebooks.com/products/architecture-as-a-design-partnership"><span style="font-style: italic;">Architecture as a Design Partnership</span></a> by Spector Group | Visual Profile Books Inc. | 2013 | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982598971?_encoding=UTF8&camp=15041&creative=373501&linkCode=as3&tag=aweeklydoseof-20">Amazon</a><br />Only one drawing is found in the pages of the <a href="http://www.spectorgroup.com/">Spector Group</a>'s second monograph: a watercolor of the Parthenon done 77 years ago by Charles Spector, the founder of the firm that is now in the hands of two more generations of Spectors (soon to be three, per the foreword by Charles's architecture-school-bound great-grandson). Photographs and renderings are the means of describing the approximately 75 projects organized into four sections: architecture, interiors, master planning, and residential. Descriptions are short and to the point, though unlike the longer list of buildings included in the "representative project portfolio" at the back of the book, there isn't a chronological or some other logical order to the projects. For example, the recently completed, glassy Mercedes-Benz showroom on 11th Avenue is immediately followed by the postmodern visage of the Birch Wathen Lenox School; projects jump around without an evident progression. Yet the representative project portfolio shows how the Spector Group has rolled with the changes (some semi-brutal buildings in the 1960s are followed by mirrored glass then postmodernism, and so forth) in its nearly 50 years of existence. The roughly 20 projects in the "soon..." chapter point to a little bit more adventurousness for the corporate firm.<br /><br />2: <a href="http://www.rizzoliusa.com/book.php?isbn=9780847838530"><span style="font-style: italic;">Shelton, Mindel and Associates: Architecture and Design</span></a>, Contribution by Joseph Giovannini, Photographed by Michael Moran | Rizzoli | 2013 | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0847838536/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il?ie=UTF8&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=0847838536&link_code=as3&tag=aweeklydoseof-20">Amazon</a><br />Gracing the cover of <a href="http://www.sheltonmindel.com/">Shelton, Mindel and Associates</a>' first monograph is a duplex apartment sitting atop the Jean Nouvel-designed building at Broadway and Grand in SoHo. Many residential projects designed by Lee Mindel and the late Peter Shelton follow the same scenario, where another architect has shaped the larger canvas in which they work, be it a new building by Nouvel or Richard Meier, or a Beaux-Arts building on Central Park West. Their designs exhibit an amazing ability to fit well within any building, exuding a luxury that is balanced by their minimal hands. Texture, light, and clarity are paramount, going beyond style. When confronted with a relatively blank canvas, such as a house on Long Island, Shelton and Mindel (with architect Reed A. Morrison) are more adventurous, but the same considerations come to the fore. The qualities of the nearly 20 residences assembled in this book really jump of the pages, thanks to Michael Moran's photographs and the duo's consistent level of quality that occurs regardless of style.<br /><br />3: <a href="http://www.papress.com/html/book.details.page.tpl?isbn=9781616891312"><span style="font-style: italic;">Theater of Architecture</span></a> by Hugh Hardy | Princeton Architectural Press | 2013 | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1616891319/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il?ie=UTF8&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=1616891319&link_code=as3&tag=aweeklydoseof-20">Amazon</a><br />The least monograph-y (and for this and other reasons the best) of these three books is Hugh Hardy's autobiographical treatise on architecture expressed through 20 projects spanning much of his 5-decade career. Hardy is known for architecture for the performing arts (exactly half of the projects in the book are such), with both Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates and <a href="http://www.h3hc.com/">H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture</a>, but the title's "theater of architecture" is a broader statement about designing for human experience. As Hardy puts it in the preface (my emphasis): "Even though these projects do not all look the same, they all were created with the intention of <i>setting the stage</i> for their inhabitants' different journeys of discovery."<br /><br />Hardy's approach to design comes across in the lengthy descriptions for the projects fitted into ten thematic chapters: A Talisman, Entry, Legend, Place, Contrast, Time, Public Space, Continuity, Environment, Intimacy. Experience and context are of the utmost for him, evidenced in the commissions he chooses (theater restorations, public spaces, and so forth) and the way he traces the history of each project well beyond his involvement. Clients are also important for Hardy, and their voices are included in sidebar interviews conducted by Mildred Friedman. <a href="http://www.insideps.com/">PS New York</a> should be commended for taking the mix of photographs, descriptions by Hardy, and client interviews, and making a very readable book that carefully uses color throughout. I'm a big fan <a href="http://archidose.blogspot.com/2011/03/oeuvre-kaput.html">of monographs that</a> <a href="http://archidose.blogspot.com/2011/01/book-review-four-monographs.html">push the typology</a> beyond its norms, so I appreciate the effort and execution of Hardy's (more than a) monograph.<br /><br />Princeton Architectural Press has created a trailer for the book, featuring the ever-youthful Hardy talking about his early days in architecture and some of the ideas he explores at greater length in his excellent book:<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" mozallowfullscreen="" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/62163760?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0&color=dea52a" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="640"></iframe>

Book Briefs #14: 3 Monographs on 3 NYC Architects

"Book Briefs" are an ongoing series of posts with two- or three-sentence first-hand descriptions of some of the numerous books ...

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Software Engineer ( C/C++/C#/.Net/MFC, COM, ATL, XML, Java, OOA/OOD/OOP ) (#109340)

<font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size:10pt;"> <div><b>Position</b>: Software Engineer<br> <b>Location</b>: Milpitas, CA <br> <b>Duration</b>: Full time<br> <br> <b>Job Description</b>:<br> The EBEAM division, designs and manufactures Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) equipment for wafer inspection (fast defect finding) and ultra-high resolution defect review. Each product's life cycle is about 2 years from early development to release. The market for e-beam inspection and review is expected to have strong growth in the next few years, complementing and supplementing light optical wafer inspection.</div> <div> </div> <div><b>Responsibilities:</b></div> <div>This engineering team is seeking a  SW engineer to work with cross functional development. The position also requires the ability to plan SW modules of 6-36 months in duration, work with the team and to be technical-oriented and hands-on during the entire PLC.<br> <br> 1) Participate in all stages of software development including deployment/trouble shooting at customer sites.</div> <div>2) Must have good understanding of general SW principles and constructs</div> <div>3) Need to be able to work with hardware and systems/application groups to understand system requirements and map them to a software design.</div> <div>4)Interact with multi site team members (India & USA)</div> <div>5) Handle software sustaining activities</div> <div>6) Be able to communicate effectively, conduct technical presentations</div> <div>7) Be able to conduct detailed analysis, consider the tradeoffs for the various solutions, and make decisions on which solution to implement and why. Leverage on teams strength and abilities.</div> <div>8) Establish operational objectives and assignments, and delegates assignments to team.</div> <div>9) Regularly interacts with senior management or executive levels on matters concerning several functional areas, divisions and/or customers.</div> <div>10) Lead and take responsibility for planning and development activities (e.g., driving software team to milestones, mitigating risks) for software product excellence in quality, reliability, user experience and functionality.</div> <div>11) Communicate and share information, learning, and methods with cross-functional team members to achieve organizational/program goals.<br> <br> <b>Preferred Qualifications:<br> </b><b>S/W skills:</b></div> <div>Knowledge of C/C++/C#/.Net/MFC, COM, ATL, XML, Java, OOA/OOD/OOP<br> Experience with CMM, UML, Rational Suite, Clear case.<br> <br> <b>Minimum Qualifications:</b></div> <div>Doctorate (Academic) with at least 3 years of experience.</div> <div>OR</div> <div>Master's Level Degree with at least 7 years of experience.</div> <div>OR</div> <div>Bachelor's Level Degree with at least 10 years of experience in Computer Technology or SW Engg Or equivalent.<br> <br> Kindly send your resumes to <a href="mailto:Sivaram.bose@kla-tencor.com"><font color="navy"><u>Sivaram.bose@kla-tencor.com</u></font></a></div> <div><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size:12pt;"> </span></font></div> </span></font>

Software Engineer ( C/C++/C#/.Net/MFC, COM, ATL, XML, Java, OOA/OOD/OOP ) (#109340)

Position : Software Engineer Location : Milpitas, CA Duration : Full time Job Description : The EBEAM division, design...

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TURKEYS CHANGING FOREIGN POLICY STANCE

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href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0qCQHin9JSAIzKMvLx5R_pGg3ypYlW4z_noETMVCeXHiU-1xJZ4LgAoXdcVu9WoE0SCaWBOM_tSU0epvb6YflgXbQNN6ZBFENRu1rm31RhurrmsJwZvzYbYxxU2ciF_hGLDEa61SVr6jf/s1600/turkeywomen-150x150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0qCQHin9JSAIzKMvLx5R_pGg3ypYlW4z_noETMVCeXHiU-1xJZ4LgAoXdcVu9WoE0SCaWBOM_tSU0epvb6YflgXbQNN6ZBFENRu1rm31RhurrmsJwZvzYbYxxU2ciF_hGLDEa61SVr6jf/s320/turkeywomen-150x150.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">TURKEY IS ATTEMPTING TO MIRROR ITS RISING ECONOMIC INFLUENCE IN THE REALM OF FOREIGN POLICY</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Unlike his predecessors, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has taken on a much more robust and aggressive foreign policy with the country's neighbors. From supporting the Arab Spring movement to spearheading negotiations over IRAN'S nuclear program and supporting the SYRIAN opposition in its uprising against the Assad regime, Ankara is attempting to mirror its rising economic influence </span><span style="color: red;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">RELATED BACKGROUND INFORMATION:</span></u></b></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b>TURKEY <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">GROWS FASTER THAN EUROZONE'S MAJOR ECONOMIES</span></b> </span>at: </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/04/turkey.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/04/turkey.html</a>)</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> in the realm of foreign policy. But what are the implications of such a dramatic shift away from the "Good Neighbor" policy that has served TURKEY so well for decades? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">THE IMPLICATIONS OF TURKEY’S TOUGH NEW FOREIGN POLICY</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 1;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Since Erdogan has taken office, TURKISH foreign policy has become decidedly less passive and noninterventionist. The Prime Minister lashed out at ISRAELI President Shimon Peres in 2009 over what he believed was excessive force used by the ISRAELIS against the Palestinians; tensions continued to rise during the flotilla crisis the next year. More recently, Erdogan referred to Zionism as a "crime against humanity" during a speech to the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations in Vienna.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">RELATED BACKGROUND INFORMATION:</span></u></b></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #134f5c;">TURKEYS ERRATIC FOREIGN POLICIES</span> at: </span></b><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-erratic-foreign-policies-all.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-erratic-foreign-policies-all.html</a><br />and </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">TURKEY WOULD MAKE A SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION TO THE RESOLUTION OF THE SYRIAN CRISIS IF IT COULD BRING ITSELF TO RISE ABOVE THE SECTARIAN CONSIDERATIONS THAT HAVE DICTATED ITS REGIME CHANGE POLICY IN SYRIA</span> at: </span></b><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-syrian-policies.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-syrian-policies.html</a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">With regards to SYRIA, what were once thawing relations between the two countries early in Erdogan's term have frosted over considerably since the SYRIAN uprising, with rumors circulating that the TURKS are supplying arms to the rebels. What is known for certain is that the TURKISH government has set up camps for refugees and has offered humanitarian support as well.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">RELATED BACKGROUND INFORMATION:</span></u></b></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></b><b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">DRAWING SYMPATHY FROM ARAB COUNTRIES </span>at:</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></u></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/09/turkeys-middle-east-chess-game.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/09/turkeys-middle-east-chess-game.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Generally speaking TURKEY has in recent years recalibrated its Middle East policy to reflect that of the United States. However, where they have differed recently is over IRAN; TURKEY has taken an active role in talks over IRAN'S nuclear program and has stressed the need for diplomacy, as opposed to the more bellicose calls emanating from Washington. Part of this use of soft power stems from the fact that TURKEY has important trade ties with IRAN and clearly would not want to jeopardize that through siding with the UNITED STATES and the EUROPEAN UNION.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">THE KURDISH EQUATION </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy2PKRloWW-dQEdOg7X7UjM1ZvUAb8kVZzb1mapctjck4-in6hPvlqB0VCtfSU0rFPJQNLTc4kPWq55VJwjHrDMe9RHpmDYnbWAU1MOEEXZLuoBErrn0aYA8J4VTwkK0IhFb2dUWOnmvGU/s1600/kurdistan1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy2PKRloWW-dQEdOg7X7UjM1ZvUAb8kVZzb1mapctjck4-in6hPvlqB0VCtfSU0rFPJQNLTc4kPWq55VJwjHrDMe9RHpmDYnbWAU1MOEEXZLuoBErrn0aYA8J4VTwkK0IhFb2dUWOnmvGU/s320/kurdistan1.gif" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The new foreign policy strategy stems from Erdogan's desire for TURKEY to become a larger influence in the region. For years TURKEY has wanted to join the EUROPEAN UNION despite strong opposition both at home and in certain corners of EUROPE. However, meddling in the affairs of its neighboring countries could have a negative impact, a consequence currently developing with regards to TURKEY'S actions in SYRIA.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Considering the secular nature of the Assad regime, religious and ethnic minorities such as the KURDS tended to side with the government since the state offered the best chance of protection from persecution by the Sunni majority. Anything that undermines the safety of KURDS does not sit well with the PKK, and in the past months there have been reports of PKK attacks in TURKEY'S southeast.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">RELATED BACKGROUND INFORMATION:</span></u></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">TURKEY’S DREAMS, OF BEING ENERGY HUB STRENGTHENED BY PKK NEGOTIATIONS? </span>at: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/03/turkey-and-kurds.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/03/turkey-and-kurds.html</a>and</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/turkeys-foreign-policy-poker-game.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/turkeys-foreign-policy-poker-game.html</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">and </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">THE KURDISH EQUATION</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red;">at: </span></b><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/libya-syria.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/libya-syria.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This poses a significant problem as PKK attacks had lessened in the past few years. Is destabilizing a neighboring country really in the interest of TURKEY, especially if it reignites conflict with the KURDISH population? Or does the idea of TURKEY establishing itself as a regional power override domestic security concerns? Erdogan's popularity stemmed from the booming TURKISH economy, which gave him the maneuverability to "reset" TURKISH foreign policy. Polls suggest that Erdogan's support of the SYRIAN uprising has eroded support for him and his Freedom and Justice Party (AKP), a significant worry with the next elections only a year away.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">GOING BACK TO TURKEY'S NEUTRAL STANCE MAY BE THE BEST WAY TO GO FROM A POLITICAL STANDPOINT</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN-JcJo77he5apzpknY4MvZAHaU8nUR43UPpeNfRNmAalhpPKRO7MgY1B5pkRvPh5uwhiwYJnn6k_32yGyKbwG6IOTo7QsPXUNmyhLlUUJKtShwbWhIrZ2kxhHsA_oUyETikN28Lux24_l/s1600/turkey-diplomatic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN-JcJo77he5apzpknY4MvZAHaU8nUR43UPpeNfRNmAalhpPKRO7MgY1B5pkRvPh5uwhiwYJnn6k_32yGyKbwG6IOTo7QsPXUNmyhLlUUJKtShwbWhIrZ2kxhHsA_oUyETikN28Lux24_l/s400/turkey-diplomatic.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tensions have risen even further between SYRIA and TURKEY in light of SYRIAN rockets landing in TURKISH territory and calls from Ankara asking Washington for Patriot missiles along its border with SYRIA. On February 1st, the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party–Front detonated a bomb outside the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, citing the TURKISH government's support for the SYRIAN rebels as one of the reasons for the attack.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If Erdogan wants the Presidency, as some suggest he does, going back to TURKEY'S neutral stance may be the best way to go from a political standpoint. It would also relieve tensions along the TURKEY-SYRIA border, placate the PKK, and put the public's collective mind at ease. Additionally, any sort of internal or external insecurity will do the TURKISH economy no favors, especially if it means strained trade relations with IRAN, a key ally of SYRIA (and their lone friend in the region).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ABANDONING THE "GOOD NEIGHBOR" POLICY</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> that has seen TURKEY well throughout its existence has had both positive and negative effects. It has caused Erdogan's stock to rise in the West, and his diplomatic efforts regarding IRAN should be lauded. However, its meddling in the SYRIAN uprising has revived tensions between Ankara and its Kurdish population when relations between the two looked to be normalizing. The TURKISH Foreign Ministers visit to IRAQI KURDISTAN and its recognition of its regional government was seen as a major step forward in TURKISH-KURD relations.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Turkey miscalculated the implications supporting the Free Syrian Army would have in regards to a burgeoning refugee problem (current estimates put the number of refugees at 150,000 and rising) and rekindled PKK attacks in its southeast. Erdogan seems to be hoping that the rebels will win and install a TURKISH-style democracy in SYRIA, one that would be Sunni-dominated. All well and good for TURKEY to have a “like-minded government” on its border, but if relations were improving under Assad, why take a chance and support the opposition?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnglG19hXud3i5qHIr17kxvoUK6fntPu167CwRVSYP3FakZjTup1p841HvimNiMU5zI3Db7M4XhKBaWVNEWVWk2gvUZgdfgOffoFBvKjXBH-NytKzqY6uPdtdRXdE24dLYaRZhKxSQboM1/s1600/news-graphics-2006-_631107a.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnglG19hXud3i5qHIr17kxvoUK6fntPu167CwRVSYP3FakZjTup1p841HvimNiMU5zI3Db7M4XhKBaWVNEWVWk2gvUZgdfgOffoFBvKjXBH-NytKzqY6uPdtdRXdE24dLYaRZhKxSQboM1/s200/news-graphics-2006-_631107a.gif" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Comment by Geopolitical Analysis and Monitoring</span></u></b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">: It seems most unlikely that Erdogan really believed that if the Free SYRIAN Army rebels win, they would install a TURKISH style democracy. The more likely reason for his pivot against Assad was to synchronize with the Sunni Arab alliance, (QATAR, SAUDI ARABIA and the rest of the GULF STATES) focused on toppling Assad, in order to emerge as the key- regional player by enforce a powerful Middle Eastern “Sunni crescent” that opposes the “Shiite crescent” (IRAN, SYRIA, IRAQ etc.). </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">RELATED BACKGROUND INFORMATION:</span></u></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">SECTARIANISM - “SUNNI CRESCENT”</span> at: </span></b><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/turkeys-sunni-crescent.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/07/turkeys-sunni-crescent.html</span></a><br /><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">and </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">THE MIDDLE EAST IS PERVADED AND INCREASINGLY INFECTED BY THE SECTARIAN RIVALRY BETWEEN THE SHIITE PERSIANS AND THE WAHHABI SAUDIS, WHO ARE NOW FIGHTING PROXY WARS ALL OVER THE REGION</span> at:</span></b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/05/turkey-shiite-persians-versus-wahhabi.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/05/turkey-shiite-persians-versus-wahhabi.html</span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9FJYRbvvgpZYI-ERz_x9agWFAzvTGyEa7sWZtFzkNpkBtfyWnGrObxPX7qsqdkDQBLJzeb6xgWiAP21MrHm7zq-u0us_mTdnHUMe86Yl3dZirf45SThyphenhyphenCAUOnOHKPXO_1qtvYS6ZonWXH/s1600/nasr-shiamap_400px.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9FJYRbvvgpZYI-ERz_x9agWFAzvTGyEa7sWZtFzkNpkBtfyWnGrObxPX7qsqdkDQBLJzeb6xgWiAP21MrHm7zq-u0us_mTdnHUMe86Yl3dZirf45SThyphenhyphenCAUOnOHKPXO_1qtvYS6ZonWXH/s320/nasr-shiamap_400px.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The AKP now has a dilemma on its hands. Facing elections in 2014, the question remains whether Davutolu's and Erdogan's foreign policy will see the AKP ousted from power, in spite of the economic gains the country has made under them. Public opinion shows that the majority of TURKS are uneasy with the more interventionist policies. Nevertheless, Erdogan should keep pushing for a diplomatic solution in IRAN. A war between IRAN, ISRAEL, and possibly the UNITED STATES would be disastrous for the region as a whole, in addition to the economic damage it would cause TURKEY. On the other hand, in order to hedge his and his party's bets, it would be wise for Erdogan to scale back and let the situation in SYRIA play itself out. The last thing Ankara needs is for the conflict to spill over into its territory.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By <b>Frank Lopapa </b>via Oilprice</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br /><b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></b><br />

TURKEYS CHANGING FOREIGN POLICY STANCE

TURKEY IS ATTEMPTING TO MIRROR ITS RISING ECONOMIC INFLUENCE IN THE REALM OF FOREIGN POLICY Unlike his predecessors, Turkish Prime Ministe...

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Mayo Clinic's Upmarket Move - WSJ.com

ROCHESTER, Minn.—The Mayo Clinic has big plans to join other top-flight medical centers in an expensive fight for well-heeled patients, but it faces a problem: Its sleepy hometown needs a face-lift.<br /><br><br /><br>Mayo, the biggest private employer in Minnesota, is proposing to invest $3 billion to $3.5 billion over 20 years to transform its already big operation here into a "destination medical center." But the clinic thinks Rochester needs some major upgrading as well—including new parking, sewers and other public works and maybe even a high-speed rail link to Minneapolis/St. Paul some 75 miles to the north.<br /><br><br /><br>Much of that would be aimed at attracting a bit of glitz to this out-of-the-way city, such as high-end hotels and restaurants, to help the clinic appeal more to lucrative patients from around the world.<br /><br><br /><br>Mayo officials want Minnesota taxpayers to kick in $585 million to revamp the city's infrastructure over 20 years to make Rochester more attractive for development—and suggests the clinic could expand elsewhere if the money doesn't come through. (It already has satellites in Scottsdale, Ariz., and Jacksonville, Fla.) Some state lawmakers have balked at the price and pushed the city and county to pick up a bigger share.<br /><br><br /><br>Mayo's plans come as other top medical centers have spent heavily to attract well-insured patients that need complicated, expensive medical care, said Leigh Turner, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota who studies the globalization of health care.<br /><br><br /><br>As governments, corporations and other employers try to rein in medical spending, patients who can pay top dollar increasingly are valuable, he said.<br /><br><br /><br>"The clash is about patients with significant resources, whether personal funds or gold-plated health-care plans," Mr. Turner said.<br /><br><br /><br>Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore last year opened a $1.1 billion building partly funded by the president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan, and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The Cleveland Clinic has spent $712 million on expansion since 2011, and the new facilities have helped attract patients from across the world, a spokeswoman said.<br /><br><br /><br>Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, meantime, is nearly finished with a $1.5 billion fundraising initiative to revamp its facilities, including a cutting-edge, 530,000-square-foot clinical-care and surgery center that opened in 2011.<br /><br><br /><br>Mayo is in danger of falling behind such rivals in more attractive and accessible cities, said Bradly Narr, Mayo's head of anesthesiology and medical director of the planned expansion. Mayo Chief Executive John Noseworthy "gets the daylights beat out of him by the trustees because there are no four- or five-star hotels" in Rochester, he said.<br /><br><br /><br>The Mayo expansion would transform this city of 107,000 people, helping create as many as 40,000 jobs by 2030, or a 50% increase in the city's workforce, according to projections by local officials. Mayo predicts its own 20-year spending plan would attract more than $2 billion in additional private investment.<br /><br><br /><br>State lawmakers are considering revised legislation unveiled last week that would shift some $200 million of the public investment from the state onto taxpayers in Rochester and the surrounding county.<br /><br><br /><br>After some lawmakers scoffed at an earlier, larger request for state funds, Mayo officials warned they could invest someplace else. While on a recent trip to Washington, Mayo's Dr. Noseworthy told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that "there are 49 states that would like us to invest in them. That's the truth."<br /><br><br /><br>Mayo, with 34,300 employees here, is regularly ranked among the world's top hospitals and often is attributed with developing an approach where teams of specialists work together to solve complex cases. The nonprofit center developed the first heart-bypass machine and has treated several U.S. presidents and foreign heads of state.<br /><br><br /><br>Outside the Mayo-dominated downtown, Rochester is a workaday city, with strip malls and fast-food outlets. International Business Machines Corp. IBM +1.17% is another major employer but has been shrinking the workforce at its sprawling facility here and recently said it would move some jobs elsewhere.<br /><br><br /><br>As the center of the local economy, Mayo looms over the city, which was founded as a stagecoach stop less than a decade before the clinic's founder, William Worrall Mayo, arrived here in 1863. Mayo occupies some 15 million square feet—triple the size of the Mall of America near Minneapolis.<br /><br><br /><br>"This town wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Mayo," said Chad Roelofs, a bartender at the restaurant Pescara, who estimates 90% of his customers have a connection to the clinic. "You're either going to Mayo, work at Mayo or are selling something to Mayo."<br /><br><br /><br>That influence worries some locals, who criticize Mayo for a lack of transparency in its expansion plans, with little questioning from local officials.<br /><br><br /><br>County Judge Kevin Lund and local auctioneer John Kruesel sent a letter to legislators this month suggesting the proposed project would "generate for Mayo one more level of unfettered power in a community they have always controlled."<br /><br><br /><br>They also question the city's preparation for the expansion's impact on police, schools and social services. "Growth can be good but growth has a negative aspect to it as well," Judge Lund said during a recent meeting of the local chamber of commerce. "This community is at a tipping point already relative to the services that should be provided and aren't being provided."<br /><br><br /><br>"As far as I'm concerned, they're the finest medical institution in the world," said Mr. Kruesel, sitting in his cluttered antiques shop. "But given its scope here, one has to take a critical eye and balance the benefits and risks of this project."<br /><br><br /><br><a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324763404578433183837597020.html">http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324763404578433183837597020.html</a>

Mayo Clinic's Upmarket Move - WSJ.com

ROCHESTER, Minn.—The Mayo Clinic has big plans to join other top-flight medical centers in an expensive fight for well-heeled patients, but ...

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Webinar recording: It's time to write our stories (25/04/2013)

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCFh03lp_1G4CjXG5dUVbCY1z9DX0Fq2BmVyk3NnJMx7CJFZiLT_YiOtOwj0Xq5VtFGIoNecMogy7MKsbo7icbEdqD_e_wlUBB687o9_q7bhZO2LOynuZzl84WGYbc0435KkPyKZiSafw/s1600/webinar+recording.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="53" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCFh03lp_1G4CjXG5dUVbCY1z9DX0Fq2BmVyk3NnJMx7CJFZiLT_YiOtOwj0Xq5VtFGIoNecMogy7MKsbo7icbEdqD_e_wlUBB687o9_q7bhZO2LOynuZzl84WGYbc0435KkPyKZiSafw/s400/webinar+recording.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The webinar summary</span></b><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This webinar looks at the task of writing a story for the African Storybook Project. We will look at the different parts of story writing such as audience (characteristics of a Grade 3 child), finding inspiration, getting started, story structure, elements of a story, rubric for the African Storybook story contributions, and more...</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Webinar recording</span></b><br />It will be useful to listen to the webinar to get the full gist of what is being said about licensing. Thank you to those who attended. I am adding the 6pm webinar:<br /><a href="http://meet78641452.adobeconnect.com/p1db9meti2z/">http://meet78641452.adobeconnect.com/p1db9meti2z/</a></span><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The presentation used for the webinar</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SlideShare is a useful free tool for sharing PowerPoints, Keynotes or PDFs on the web. I use it constantly. I have put my presentation into Slideshare</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="356" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" mozallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/20022044" style="border-bottom: #ccc 0px solid; border-left: #ccc 1px solid; border-right: #ccc 1px solid; border-top: #ccc 1px solid; margin-bottom: 5px;" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="427"> </iframe><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal/its-time-to-write-our-stories" target="_blank" title="Its time to write our stories">Its time to write our stories</a> </strong>from <strong><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal" target="_blank">Fiona Beal</a></strong> </span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So let’s get writing – it might not be as difficult as you think. Maybe just give it a go and see where your story takes you. If you don’t like it you can write another one!</span></div></div>

webinars Webinar recording: It's time to write our stories (25/04/2013)

The webinar summary This webinar looks at the task of writing a story for the African Storybook Project. We will look at the different parts...

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A new lease on life

As weird as this is going to sound, in a way, I'm thankful for my cancer diagnosis. You probably think I've lost my mind but it's given me new energy to fight for my life, as well an appreciation for this world that I've never had before. <br /><br />I had my follow-up appointment with my oncologist and after reviewing my pathology report there were some positive numbers on it that increase my odds of surviving cancer. Perhaps moving it from 50% to a 60% five-year survival rate. Of course, these numbers are just a crap shoot and no one really knows. <br /><br />Since this cancer doesn't respond well to chemo or radiation those are both off the table for now. I didn't know this but every cancer has it's own chemo cocktail. ULMS (uterine leiomyosarcoma) is so rare that it doesn't have it's own special chemo cocktail. They use what they think might work but so far the results haven't been good. If the cancer does come back, it will require more surgery and then they will attempt the chemo and radiation. <br /><br />I'd read that this is such a rare cancer that often an oncologist might only see one or two cases of ULMS in their entire career. I asked my very young oncologist (maybe 35 years old) if she'd ever seen a case of ULMS or was I her first. I'm her third patient which she even said is pretty remarkable. She had a new diagnosis of one last week, Stage 4. No chance of survival. The cancer had mastasized into the woman's liver and they sent her home to die (she's in her mid-sixties). I'm very grateful that at least I have a chance of survival and a pretty good one too. Stage 1B is almost as good as it gets (1A would have been better). <br /><br />My new lease on life is taking me to see a neuropath oncologist this morning that specializes in women's cancers. This is with the blessing of my traditional medical oncologist. The neuropath is suppose to be one of the best in the state of Washington and one of only three in this state that is a board certified neuropath oncologist. She focuses on nutrition and stress relief in order to build the immune system to fight cancer. Hear that cancer, I'm going to fight you with all I have in me!<br /><br />I'm amazingly happy today. My sister-in-law (soon to be "ex" but I will call her my sister after the divorce..married to my husband's brother) went with me to my oncologist visit yesterday. She is a wonderful friend. The end of my marriage has renewed our friendship especially since we weren't able to see each other much for years because my husband and her husband barely spoke and hated each other. After the doctor we went shopping for me to get a "panty girdle". I haven't worn one of those since high school. My five-inch incision hurts if it isn't held in place. The hospital gave me a big elastic band to wear which is fine under PJs or a nightie, but doesn't work under clothes. Then we went to lunch, then a mani/pedi. We had a blast together. Laughing and talking and just enjoying each other's companionship. <br /><br />Last night my manager came by and visited. We're not close friends, but it was nice of her to drop by. We talked and laughed. I made continual jokes about my cancer and death. Some people find my humor gruesome, but I think it's kind of funny that I have cancer. I mean, really, look at my life these last two years. You just have to laugh that on top of all that crap that now I have cancer. If you don't see the humor in that then you don't have a sense of humor. I find myself sometimes just giggling when I think about it. I mean, really God, do you think this is what it takes to get my attention? Okay, big guy, you've got my full attention now. <br /><br />My manager was appalled at the online calculator I found for ULMS that can predict your survival rate. It's on the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center website. I found it last week, but didn't have all the numbers from the pathology report to put in it and had to guess. Even then I came up with 57%. My oncologist told me yesterday she was going to tell me about it but I had already found it. That's where my oncologist got the 60% number. The doctors actually use this website to determine approprate treatment. Again, just a crap shoot. No one really knows. <br /><br />Speaking of treatment for my cancer, there isn't any. My oncologist thinks the chemo or radiation would do more harm than good. If there are cancer cells that escaped prior to the surgery through my bloodstream then it's unlikey the chemo or radiation will catch them. Even though she thinks she got all the cancer with the surgery, there's really no way of knowing for sure. Tumor size is an indicator if the cancer will return even when they think the cancer has been completely surgically removed. A tumor larger than 5 cm is bad and the larger the tumor the great the odds the cancer cells have already spread. My tumor was 8.5 cm.<br /><br />Enjoy your day and enjoy your life. Each day is a precious gift. Don't wait to enjoy life until you've been diagnosed with something like cancer.

A new lease on life

As weird as this is going to sound, in a way, I'm thankful for my cancer diagnosis. You probably think I've lost my mind but it'...

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‘Accountable Care’ Helping Hospitals Keep Medical Costs Down - NYTimes.com

<base href="data:"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><nyt_text style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div id="articleBody"><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">CHICAGO — On a stormy evening this spring, nurses at Dr. Gary Stuck's family practice were on the phone with patients with heart ailments, asking them not to shovel snow. The idea was to keep them out of the hospital, and that effort — combined with dozens more like it — is starting to make a difference: across the city, doctors are providing less, but not worse, health care.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">For most health care providers, that would be cause for alarm. But not for <a title="The Advocate Health Care site." href="http://www.advocatehealth.com/" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">Advocate Health Care</a>, based in Oak Brook, Ill., a pioneer in an approach known as "accountable care" that offers financial incentives for doctors and hospitals to cut costs rather than funnel patients through an ever-greater volume of costly medical services. Under the agreement, hospital admissions are down 6 percent. Days spent in the hospital are down nearly 9 percent. The average length of a stay has declined, and many other measures show doctors providing less care, too.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">This approach is one small part of a growing effort by providers to hold down costs without restricting needed care. Nationwide, health care spending has grown over the last three years at the slowest rate since the federal government started keeping data more than 50 years ago. While the bulk of that is related to the poor economy, changes among insurers and health care providers have contributed as well. If the trend continues, even at a reduced pace, it could help alleviate Washington's long-term deficit problems and ease the strain on family budgets.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"The part that's not driven by the economy, that's the part we can theoretically control," said Drew Altman, president of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. "If we can shave even a small percentage off of it, it has a huge impact on public programs, a huge impact on premiums, a huge impact on employers."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">But even as more health systems seek to replicate Advocate's early success, its experience shows just how hard it may be to expand the approach and keep medical costs from resuming their relentless rise.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"It's hard to imagine that you could start from scratch and do this and be successful in three years," said Dr. Lee Sacks, Advocate's chief medical officer, noting that other systems may find it far harder to flip the traditional fee-for-services system on its head. "We had a running head-start going back to 1995."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Nonetheless, the Affordable Care Act, President Obama's <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/health_insurance_and_managed_care/health_care_reform/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="Recent and archival news about healthcare reform." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">health care law</a>, has helped encourage a shift to Advocate's payment model. Such agreements were merely a theory four years ago. But an estimated 428 accountable-care organizations now cover four million <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/medicare/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="Recent and archival health news about Medicare." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">Medicare</a> enrollees and millions more people with private insurance.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Under Advocate's deal with Blue Cross Blue Shield, certain patients are assigned to the accountable care framework — about 380,000 — and their health costs are projected. If Advocate achieves savings below that amount while meeting explicit quality targets, it splits the money with the insurer. If not, its revenue is at risk.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">In some ways, accountable care resembles earlier efforts to control medical spending, including the health maintenance organizations that proliferated in the 1980s but fell out of favor, in part because they severely limited patients' choices. But accountable care differs by giving doctors and hospitals a direct financial stake in saving money and a reason to invest in various programs of preventive care rather than relying exclusively on the fees they would normally earn from providing services.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"There's an enormous amount at stake in getting these reforms to work," said Alan Krueger, the chairman of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">To help control costs, Advocate has hired scores of workers to coordinate care and keep an eye on the highest-cost patients, like those who are obese or have diabetes. It started providing doctors' offices with report cards on their performance. Dozens of quality-control measures cover items as varied as blood pressure, rehospitalizations for asthma attacks or the use of expensive imaging machines.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">On a blustery spring morning, those changes were visible in Advocate care centers across the metropolitan area. Sumera Khan, a clinical pharmacy specialist, popped into the hospital room of Noraine Scarpelli, an elderly woman with congestive heart failure, to check her prescription drug levels, an additional level of scrutiny that can help prevent complications. In another building, Dr. Karen O'Mara flicked between eight computer screens, peering at intensive care patients miles away, ready to alert a doctor if they looked in distress.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">Advocate, a faith-based nonprofit, has an advantage over other health systems just jumping into what is more broadly known as "value-based care." In the late 1990s, well before it forged its contract with Blue Cross Blue Shield, Advocate began taking steps to control costs and improve quality. A decade ago it adopted a "clinical integration" program, requiring doctors to work together on patients in common. It was also a pioneer in the use of electronic health records.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"A lot of these early adopters were systems that were already putting things in place," said Ani Turner of the Center for Sustainable Health Spending at the Altarum Institute, a national health care research group based in Ann Arbor, Mich. "In a way, the contracts are rewarding behaviors they were already pursuing."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">So far, Advocate has achieved a small but significant savings of about 2 percent below projected costs, Blue Cross Blue Shield said, but it is not clear whether it can continue to make progress. Already, some Advocate hospital chiefs have expressed fears over losing revenue and warned about the threat to their financial performance. Doctors fret that their incomes may suffer. "We're doing it because it's the right thing to do for patients," said Dr. Stuck, the Advocate family physician. "We're not making more money."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">At the same time, Advocate and Blue Cross Blue Shield have no way to prevent patients that fall under the accountable-care agreement from seeing doctors outside Advocate's network. That means patients might see doctors without an incentive to cut costs as well as deliver excellent care, eroding or even erasing the cost savings the agreement achieves.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"You're trying to overlay a payment design onto a benefit model that allows a patient to go anywhere he wants," said Steve Hamman of Blue Cross Blue Shield, noting that patients can undermine the advantages of the new approach if they ignore the advice or insist on unnecessary tests and procedures. "We can talk all we want about provider accountability and how important that is. But there is a measure of patient accountability that is critical as well."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">For all the obstacles, most health economists agree that accountable care organizations are one of the most promising recent developments in the giant industry. Kaufman Hall, a consulting firm that studied Advocate's results, said its research showed that the older and the bigger a value-based care system, the more capable it proved at controlling costs — and the more it was able to influence the larger community of health care providers.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"Doctors who practice with Advocate often also practice at other hospitals," said Mark Grube, Kaufman Hall's managing director. "What is occurring is that even when they are practicing at hospitals that are not under value-based contracts, they've changed how they practice. We're seeing declines in utilization there, too."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">That ultimately might be what helps the accountable care model catch on and hold down spending in the longer term.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 24px; ">"You can see a synergy with all these initiatives," said Ms. Turner of the Altarum Institute. "There are a lot of forces out there trying to move things in the same direction."</p><nyt_correction_bottom><div class="articleCorrection" style="font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 2.8em; "></div></nyt_correction_bottom><nyt_update_bottom></nyt_update_bottom></div></nyt_text><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); display: inline !important; float: none; "></span></div><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/24/business/accountable-care-helping-hospitals-keep-medical-costs-down.html?src=me&ref=general">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/24/business/accountable-care-helping-hospitals-keep-medical-costs-down.html?src=me&ref=general</a><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>

‘Accountable Care’ Helping Hospitals Keep Medical Costs Down - NYTimes.com

CHICAGO — On a stormy evening this spring, nurses at Dr. Gary Stuck's family practice were on the phone with patients with heart ailment...

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