News for today's 2018

BRAZIL AND TURKEY:

1:24 PM Tukiyooo 0

<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">               </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">              </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">              </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">             </span></span><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;"><tbody><tr><td><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">                  <span id="_ctl1_lblStorySlug"></span></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlItmN0FdRBMbn-1iMZ2LFyYydtZsUOk61DSfH5-EnSNHADeMttVxFa57UJpgCWR6GV2rFRLGDRGkLti2fn3ECf4eoSN57f2YiNn384sZtXqsMuqpvAlS8ESLaLz37ftErdlKnP3S8dO6z/s1600/turkey-brazil.jpeg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlItmN0FdRBMbn-1iMZ2LFyYydtZsUOk61DSfH5-EnSNHADeMttVxFa57UJpgCWR6GV2rFRLGDRGkLti2fn3ECf4eoSN57f2YiNn384sZtXqsMuqpvAlS8ESLaLz37ftErdlKnP3S8dO6z/s1600/turkey-brazil.jpeg.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: right;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: black;">  </span><span style="color: #000099;"><b><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span id="_ctl1_lblStoryTitle"> </span></span></b></span></span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #000099;"><b><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span id="_ctl1_lblStoryTitle">THE GLOBAL MIDDLE CLASS RISES</span></span></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #000099;"><b><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span id="_ctl1_lblStoryTitle">NEXT STOP ARGENTINA </span></span></b></span></span></div></div></td><td><br /><br /></td></tr><tr>               <td><br /><span id="_ctl1_lblStoryAuthor">By <b><span style="color: #000099;"><a href="http://www.theglobalist.com/AuthorBiography.aspx?AuthorId=106" target="_self">Uwe Bott</a></span></b></span> </td><td></td><td></td>               <td><br /></td>              </tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">             </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span class="intro" style="color: #666666;">               <span id="_ctl1_lblStoryIntro" style="width: 339px;"> </span></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span class="intro"><span id="_ctl1_lblStoryIntro" style="width: 339px;">This  month has been marked by widespread mass protests across cities in both  Brazil and Turkey. Protesters in the two countries say they are fighting  back against government heavy-handedness and misplaced priorities. Uwe  Bott argues that the commonality is a rising middle class in both, who  have seen growth and development slow sharply and suddenly.</span></span></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">                                            <br />                                               <span id="_ctl1_lblStoryBody"><img align="left" src="http://www.theglobalist.com/images/Dropcaps/B.gif" />razil's  modern economic history is marred by decades of boom and bust cycles  checkered with periods of high and hyper-inflation, debt default as well  as political and social erosion.    <table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 151px;"><tbody><tr><td><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="width: 130px;"><tbody><tr><td><img height="6" src="http://www.theglobalist.com/images/callouts/horizontal.gif" width="130" /></td></tr><tr><td><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Demonstrations in Turkey and Brazil are in fact the direct result of the countries' economic success.</b></span></td></tr><tr><td><img height="6" src="http://www.theglobalist.com/images/callouts/horizontal.gif" width="130" /></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>Turkey's  economic history was equally littered with failed economic experiments  that brought about chronically high inflation, impoverishing many of its  citizens.    Like Brazil, Turkey was run by a narrow elite, which — with  periodic disruptions — was democratically elected, but often served  itself rather than the people.  <br />  Brazil started implementing a more orthodox macroeconomic  framework in the 1990s, containing inflation and providing a path for  more sustainable and less volatile growth.  <br />  And change came to Turkey in November 2002, when after many false  starts, an Islamist-rooted party, the Justice and Development Party  (AKP) won the general elections.<br /><br />  As a result of macroeconomic policy adjustments, the economies of  Brazil and Turkey performed rather strongly during this century.  <br />  Admittedly they were helped by a rather favorable global economic  environment for much of that time period, but the accomplishments are  nevertheless very impressive.  <br />  The two countries' accelerating growth rates and accompanying social policies lifted many people out of poverty.<br /><br />  <table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 151px;"><tbody><tr><td><table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="width: 130px;"><tbody><tr><td><img height="6" src="http://www.theglobalist.com/images/callouts/horizontal.gif" width="130" /></td></tr><tr><td><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Growing middle classes are far less tolerant when it comes to governments performing inadequately.</b></span></td></tr><tr><td><img height="6" src="http://www.theglobalist.com/images/callouts/horizontal.gif" width="130" /></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>According to the OECD, Brazil's middle class has risen from 29% of the population in the 1980s to 52% in 2009.    In Turkey's case, income per capita nearly tripled between 2002 and 2011. This too suggests a swelling middle class.  <br />  As large-scale demonstrations have bedeviled these two countries  over the last couple of weeks, many pundits have focused on the narrow  issues that might have triggered these demonstrations.  <br />  Few have recognized that these demonstrations are in fact the direct result of the two countries' economic success.<br /><br />  In 1958, John J. Johnson wrote a seminal book entitled:  "Political Change in Latin America: The Emergence of the Middle  Sectors."  <br />  Its main premise was that Latin American countries were moving  towards liberal democracy and that the main driver for this movement was  the growth of the middle class, largely urbanized and more educated.  <br />  Johnson got a little ahead of himself as he overestimated the  growth of Latin America's middle class at the time and misjudged speed  with which the political regimes in the region would mature.  <br />  Nevertheless, Johnson's key assumption was right. In applying his  idea to Brazil and Turkey and their swelling middle classes today, one  must note that there is not one homogenous middle class.<br /><br />  Not all members of the growing middle classes in Brazil and  Turkey are urban — and not all members are progressive. Recognizing this  distinction also explains why the current upheaval in Brazil and Turkey  seems to send contradictory messages.  <br />  The reason is that the demonstrating middle classes are made up of different components, each with their own grievances.<br /><br />  <table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 151px;"><tbody><tr><td><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="width: 130px;"><tbody><tr><td><img height="6" src="http://www.theglobalist.com/images/callouts/horizontal.gif" width="130" /></td></tr><tr><td><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>On human development, Brazil and Turkey rank behind Azerbaijan, Albania, Ukraine and Venezuela.</b></span></td></tr><tr><td><img height="6" src="http://www.theglobalist.com/images/callouts/horizontal.gif" width="130" /></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>There  are those more wedded to the status quo and those, such as  better-educated workers, who demand a continuum of progress in economic,  social and political dimensions.    The latter group has grown especially large in Brazil and Turkey  and that tilts the message of the middle class movement more towards the  progressive rather than the conservative reactionary.  <br />  Still, the message is not uniform.  <br />  The question then arises, why are these demonstrations occurring  now? There are several answers to this question. First and foremost,  both countries' growth slowed down dramatically in 2012.  <br />  The Brazilian economy grew at only 0.9% and in spite of fiscal  and monetary stimulus in 2013, growth has accelerated only fractionally.  In<br /><br />Turkey too, growth fell from 8.5% in 2011 to 2.8% in 2012.  <br />  This slowdown is difficult to reconcile for the new middle  classes, because their expectations of continuously improving their  standards of living have risen.  <br />  Also both countries have made progress reining in inflation, but  their inflation rates are still high in comparison to their peers. This  is a costly tax on the middle class.  <br />  National savings rates are also low compared to other advancing  countries. In both cases, they stand just above 15% of GDP, low compared  to a rate of nearly 33% in Malaysia.  <br />  In Brazil's case, low savings rates have triggered low investment rates, which bode ill for future economic growth.  <br />  <table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 151px;"><tbody><tr><td><table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="width: 130px;"><tbody><tr><td><img height="6" src="http://www.theglobalist.com/images/callouts/horizontal.gif" width="130" /></td></tr><tr><td><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>High inflation rates are a costly tax on the middle class.</b></span></td></tr><tr><td><img height="6" src="http://www.theglobalist.com/images/callouts/horizontal.gif" width="130" /></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>In  Turkey's case, investment rates have been high, but needed to be  financed from abroad. That has caused unsustainable current account  deficits.    Growing middle classes are also far less tolerant when it comes  to governments performing inadequately. Delivery of services, such as  education and health, is poor in both Brazil and Turkey.  <br />  In its last scorecard on educational attainment referred to as  the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), the OECD found  that Turkey and Brazil ranked especially poor in math and science.  <br />  In math, Turkey ranked 41st out of 62 countries, while Brazil was in 55th place. In science, Turkey was 40th and Brazil 50th.  <br />  In the UNDP's 2013 Human Development Index, Brazil ranked 85th and Turkey 90th out of 186 countries.  <br />  To put this in perspective, both countries were ranked behind such nations as Azerbaijan, Albania, Ukraine and Venezuela.  <br />Where will the current protests take these two countries?  <br />  Much will depend on how the democratically elected leaders of  Turkey, Prime Minister Erdogan, and the President of Brazil, Dilma  Rousseff, will react to these challenges.  <br />  The aspirations of the middle class are colliding with the current capacity of these countries to deliver.  <br />  <br /><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 151px;"><tbody><tr><td><table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="width: 130px;"><tbody><tr><td><img height="6" src="http://www.theglobalist.com/images/callouts/horizontal.gif" width="130" /></td></tr><tr><td><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The middle classes in Turkey and Brazil have grown too large to acquiesce.</b></span></td></tr><tr><td><img height="6" src="http://www.theglobalist.com/images/callouts/horizontal.gif" width="130" /></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>At  this juncture, Prime Minister Erdogan seems to be taking this collision  very personally. He is trying to define the street as illegitimate.      President Rousseff, on the other hand, is striking a conciliatory  note, which might be related to the fact that she is a member of the  leftist Workers Party.  <br />  Both Erdogan's rejection and Rousseff's conciliation may in the end fail to meet their respective objectives.  <br />  Simply put, the middle class genie is out of the bottle. The  middle classes in Turkey and Brazil have grown too large to acquiesce.  They will eventually succeed in putting conditions into place that give  them a better chance to meet their aspirations.  <br /> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Nobody  can predict exactly how this will evolve and how long it will take.  Current demonstrations in Turkey and Brazil may be destabilizing in the  short term, but they are a measure of success and they promise to  advance both nations in the long term.        </span></span>

BRAZIL AND TURKEY:

THE GLOBAL MIDDLE CLASS RISES NEXT STOP ARGENTINA ...

After Chemo | The Scientist Magazine

7:08 AM Tukiyooo 0

<base href="data:"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><p style="margin: 14px 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; 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); "><span class="dropcap" style="display: inline-block; font-size: 3em; float: left; font-weight: bold; margin: 9px 4px 0px 0px; ">W</span>hen my mother was treated for inflammatory breast cancer 20 years ago, I watched as she forgot appointments, where she had put her keys, and whether or not she had taken her medications. Once she even put a chicken still in its wrapping into the oven and didn't realize the mistake until the plastic began to smoke. As a psychologist and a pharmacologist, I suspected what many patients complain of to their oncologists: that the chemotherapy was affecting her ability to remember and to reason.</p><p style="margin: 14px 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; 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); ">The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 1.65 million new cancer cases will be diagnosed in 2013. For many cancers, the prognosis will be very good. For example, 90 percent of breast cancer patients will survive their cancers for at least 5 years. But while cancer chemotherapy is lifesaving, it also has a number of post-treatment adverse effects. Despite the fact that most chemotherapeutic agents do not enter the brain in significant amounts, recent research has shown they can directly and indirectly produce a number of acute and delayed changes to the central nervous system, such as headaches, vision or hearing loss, and cognitive dysfunction, colloquially called "chemo fog" or "chemo brain." These effects can last for years, then dissipate, or, when they occur in young children, can ripple into adulthood.</p><p style="margin-top: 14px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; 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); position: static; z-index: auto; ">In part because of my own experience and in part because my colleague Robert Raffa at Temple University suggested I collaborate with him, I began to research the phenomenon of chemo fog. What I learned at the start was that little preclinical or animal research definitively linked chemotherapy to cognitive effects, and some researchers didn't believe that chemotherapy was really responsible for the observed decline. In recent years, however, more clinical and preclinical researchers have begun to tease out the contribution of chemo, and have created models that are a useful first step in developing interventions that could mitigate the cognitive decline.</p><h3 style="margin: 25px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; font-family: ProximaNova-Semibold, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.2em; letter-spacing: 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); ">From the clinic</h3><p style="margin: 14px 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; 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); ">It is challenging to pinpoint whether the drugs used to kill cancer cells are really causing cognitive deficits, because there are so many confounding factors that cloud the observations. Patients are often administered multiple cancer chemotherapeutic agents in different phases of treatment, as well as additional drugs to mitigate the accompanying nausea, fatigue, suppressed immune function, and anemia. Aside from this battery of drugs, surgery can also affect cognition.</p><p style="margin: 14px 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; 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); ">In addition to factors that can affect the brain directly, chemotherapy has been known to induce menopause in premenopausal women and bring on depression and anxiety, both of which can affect cognition.<a href="http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/34848/title/After-Chemo/#ref" style="color: rgb(45, 134, 203); text-decoration: none; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; "><sup style="font-size: 0.6em; ">1,2</sup></a> What makes it even more difficult to pinpoint the effects specifically caused by chemotherapy is that not all cancer patients will exhibit cognitive deficits—the prevalence ranges from 17 to 75 percent in breast cancer patients, for instance, depending on the drugs used and the cognitive tests employed by the study. And patients can experience the effects years or even a decade after treatment has ended. Thus, controversy remains over the existence, extent, and underlying mechanisms of chemotherapy-induced cognitive dysfunction.</p><p style="margin: 14px 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; 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); ">A number of clinical trials and animal studies have tried to address some of the confounding factors and reveal the precise contribution of chemotherapy treatments. Part of the difficulty in identifying cognitive changes in humans can be attributed to how and when baseline measures of cognitive function are taken. Chemotherapy-induced cognitive deficits are best measured with a full battery of neuropsychological tests administered by a psychologist trained in performing such surveys. However, these tests can be expensive and time-consuming, so about half the clinical studies in this area have used simpler, but less-informative, screening measures. In longitudinal studies, the baseline control tests can be administered before diagnosis to rule out the emotional impact of the news on cognition, before surgery to remove tumors, and after surgery but before chemotherapy, which together provide results that aren't easily comparable. These methodological differences add to the variability in the field, and researchers have begun to call for consensus in the timing and quality of testing.</p><p style="margin-top: 14px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; 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); position: static; z-index: auto; ">Despite these difficulties, neuroscientists have been making progress in identifying some of the underlying brain structures that chemo may be impacting—information that will be helpful in categorizing the deficits and knowing what to test for in cognitive experiments. Imaging studies have revealed volume decreases in areas of the brain that correlated with poor attention and impaired memory. Functionally, even years after chemo, patients showed lower levels of responsiveness in both the prefrontal cortex—which is involved in executive functions such as decision-making and social behavior—and the parahippocampal gyrus, which feeds into the hippocampus and is involved in memory formation and retrieval. Using magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging, which produces a structural picture of the functionality of the neural tracts, researchers have also found decreased structural integrity of white matter in a number of brain regions, including frontal cortex, as well as white-matter microstructure damage in breast cancer survivors.<a href="http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/34848/title/After-Chemo/#ref" style="color: rgb(45, 134, 203); text-decoration: none; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; "><sup style="font-size: 0.6em; ">3</sup></a> </p><p style="margin-top: 14px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; 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); position: static; z-index: auto; ">The majority of clinical studies examining chemotherapy-induced cognitive deficits have been performed in women with breast cancer because of how long they tend to survive after treatment and because the chemo regimens are somewhat more standardized than for other cancers. However, the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study has also been following patients treated as children with chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and measuring the prevalence of chemotherapy-related cognitive deficits later in life, known as late effects. These effects, which include impairments in attention, working memory, IQ score, and processing speed, manifest in adolescence and young adulthood in 40–70 percent of ALL survivors. Evidence from neuropsychological and physiological testing has indicated involvement of the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and white matter, but few imaging studies have been done in children to confirm the areas implicated by cognitive tests.</p><div>More ...</div><div><br></div></div><a href="http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/34848/title/After-Chemo/">http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/34848/title/After-Chemo/</a><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>

After Chemo | The Scientist Magazine

W hen my mother was treated for inflammatory breast cancer 20 years ago, I watched as she forgot appointments, where she had put her keys, a...

Cancer Clinical Trials of Tomorrow | The Scientist Magazine®

7:05 AM Tukiyooo 0

<base href="data:"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><p style="margin: 14px 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; 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); "><span class="dropcap" style="display: inline-block; font-size: 3em; float: left; font-weight: bold; margin: 9px 4px 0px 0px; ">W</span>e stand on the cusp of significant change in the fundamental structure of cancer clinical trials, as the emphasis begins to shift from large-scale studies of relatively unselected patients to smaller studies testing more narrowly targeted therapies in molecularly characterized populations.</p><p style="margin: 14px 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; 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); ">The previous (and still current) generation of trials established the cancer treatment standards used today. Trials that demonstrated the value of combination chemotherapy in the adjuvant treatment of breast cancer are an excellent example. Meticulous development of treatment regimens through Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials, followed by large-scale comparisons of the new regimens to established treatment protocols, have defined the modern practice of oncology for the last 4 decades. Future cancer clinical trials will be very different from those of the past, adopting a more personalized, sometimes called "precision," approach.</p><p style="margin: 14px 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; 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); ">It is, of course, not entirely true that past clinical trials did not include efforts to target treatments to the right patients. Where possible, targeted therapies are already being implemented. Using the presence of endocrine receptors to guide endocrine therapy for breast cancer was one of the first forays into molecular selection of patients. Unfortunately, the ability to select subgroups of patients for study has been severely curtailed by a still-limited knowledge of human cancer biology.</p><p style="margin: 14px 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; 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); ">This is rapidly changing, however, thanks to advances in genomics and comprehensive cancer biology research over the last decade. Large-scale efforts, such as <a href="http://cancergenome.nih.gov/" style="color: rgb(45, 134, 203); text-decoration: none; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; ">The Cancer Genome Atla</a>s, are comprehensively defining many of the crucial molecular characteristics of human malignancies by illuminating genetic alterations that are clinically and biologically important, and which, by virtue of their functional roles, are viable targets for cancer treatment. At the same time, the ability to design small-molecule inhibitors of specific cancer targets is rapidly accelerating. In 2011, two new agents exemplified the power of these trends: crizotinib was approved for the treatment of lung cancers that harbor a specific mutation in the ALK gene, and vemurafenib was approved for the treatment of melanomas with a specific <em>BRAF</em> mutation. In both cases, the drugs were approved along with companion diagnostic tests that identify patients with the target mutation, who are therefore likely to benefit from treatment.</p><h3 style="margin: 25px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; font-family: ProximaNova-Semibold, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.2em; letter-spacing: 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); ">Smaller, more precise trials ahead</h3><p style="margin: 14px 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; 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); ">Clinical trials are being transformed by these trends. It will not happen overnight, as the knowledge of cancer biology and the availability of targeted agents are uneven. Unselected populations of patients will still be studied, but it is inevitable that there will be a rise in the number of trials that incorporate molecular tumor testing prior to treatment, with treatment selection informed by the molecular features of each individual's cancer. Such personalized trials have the potential to yield better outcomes by increasing the probability of response and to employ less toxic therapies by increasingly targeting cancer-specific functions, rather than normal proliferative functions.</p><p style="margin: 14px 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; 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); ">To the extent that targeted therapies will prove more effective when given to selected patients, clinical trials should get dramatically smaller. Trial size is largely driven by how effective the treatment is expected to be, so fewer participants are needed when the therapeutic benefit is larger. But the promise of smaller trials will not to be universal; for example, when two targeted agents are compared to one another in the same molecularly selected population, the differences in efficacy may be small and larger trials will be required.</p><blockquote style="float: right; color: rgb(203, 45, 45); font-size: 24px; line-height: 30px; max-width: 310px; min-width: 150px; margin: 0px 0px 0.8em 1em; padding: 0px; font-family: ProximaNova-Regular, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 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); "><p style="margin: 14px 0px; ">As approaches to cancer treatment advance, there will need to be continual engagement with patients and with cancer survivors.</p></blockquote><p style="margin: 14px 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; 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); ">Furthermore, smaller trials may not necessarily move faster or be easier to complete, as they will require the "right patients," who may be hard to find. Many of the mutations that represent promising targets are present in a minority of tumors. Today, molecular characterization of tumors is often done as part of the screening process for each trial. Many, and sometimes most, of the patients prove ineligible, making this approach frustrating and difficult to carry out. A better avenue of attack would be to make comprehensive molecular characterization of tumors a routine part of establishing a patient's eligibility for a range of therapies. With the plummeting cost of genomic analysis, one can envision a day in the near future when a complete cancer genome (and perhaps other molecular evaluations) becomes a standard component of an initial diagnostic evaluation. Patients will be armed with molecular information about their own tumors, and thus able to make more-informed decisions about standard and investigational therapies that match the mutations driving their cancer.</p><h3 style="margin: 25px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; font-family: ProximaNova-Semibold, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.2em; letter-spacing: 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); ">New challenges</h3><p style="margin: 14px 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; 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); ">The road to personalized and targeted treatment strategies will offer new challenges. For rare targets that are present in a minority of cases across many different types of cancers, one will have to consider clinical trials that include a number of different cancers. There are many design pitfalls to such trials, chiefly the additional clinical and molecular heterogeneity introduced by the inclusion of more than one cancer type. Despite these challenges, it will inevitably make sense in some settings to select patients who share a particular tumor biology, regardless of the tissue of origin.</p><p style="margin: 14px 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; 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); ">Another major challenge is how to combine targeted therapies to improve clinical outcomes. To date, targeted therapies have not been able to cure advanced solid tumors. Clinical benefits, while sometimes quite impressive when compared to marginally effective treatments, still fall far short. It stands to reason that redundant survival and growth pathways enable tumors to overcome therapies that inhibit a single target. The simultaneous inhibition of relevant redundant pathways may yield dramatically better results, but will also dramatically increase the complexity of molecularly personalized clinical trials.</p><p style="margin: 14px 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; 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); ">As approaches to cancer treatment advance, there will need to be continual engagement with patients and with cancer survivors. Fewer than 5 percent of adult cancer patients participate in a clinical trial. To carry out meaningful clinical trials in the future, that number must increase. This will be most important for treatments that target relatively rare mutations; a large number of potential volunteers will have to be screened to identify a sufficient number who harbor the relevant target. To succeed, we must partner with a much larger fraction of cancer patients.</p><p style="margin-top: 14px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; 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); position: static; z-index: auto; ">Designing and executing future cancer clinical trials will not be easy, but physician-scientists are armed with a fast-growing body of omics-informed knowledge with which to surmount these hurdles.  <br><br><em><strong><a href="http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/education/schools/school-of-medicine/academic-programs/graduate-studies/faculty/grad-studies-faculty.cfm?facultyid=471" style="color: rgb(45, 134, 203); text-decoration: none; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; ">Tomasz M. Beer</a> is deputy director of the <a href="http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/health/services/cancer/about-us/" style="color: rgb(45, 134, 203); text-decoration: none; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; ">Knight Cancer Institute</a> and a professor of medicine at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland. He is the coauthor of </strong></em><strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tomasz-M.-Beer-M.D./e/B0080TPOEA" style="color: rgb(45, 134, 203); text-decoration: none; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; ">Cancer Clinical Trials: A Commonsense Guide to Experimental Cancer Therapies and Clinical Trials</a>.</strong><em><strong> Written for people living with cancer, the book is accompanied by a blog (<a href="http://www.cancer-clinical-trials.com/" style="color: rgb(45, 134, 203); text-decoration: none; -webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; ">www.cancer-clinical-trials.com</a>) that seeks to disseminate knowledge about clinical trials.</strong></em></p></div><a href="http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/34761/title/Cancer-Clinical-Trials-of-Tomorrow/">http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/34761/title/Cancer-Clinical-Trials-of-Tomorrow/</a><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>

Cancer Clinical Trials of Tomorrow | The Scientist Magazine®

W e stand on the cusp of significant change in the fundamental structure of cancer clinical trials, as the emphasis begins to shift from lar...

Today is My Due Date!

5:36 AM Tukiyooo 0

This last week of pregnancy is just really giving it to me.  Since last Monday's appointment, I have been struggling every day with my sore bum. <br /><br />I just couldn't take it anymore yesterday, so I scheduled a last minute appointment at my OBGYN.  I met with a midwife at around 11:30 AM and she confirmed the severity of those painful, protruding veins.  As some other doctors have been saying, they know the baby is going to be big (now they're estimating 10 lbs).  I told the midwife how concerned I was about pushing and how much worse that would make the hemorrhoids.  She shared in my concern, stating that if I am birthing a large baby I'm going to need to push hard.  If I have any anxieties surrounding pushing hard because of the hemorrhoids, I could potentially go through a natural delivery for nothing - causing me to have a c-section anyhow, and then I've <i>really</i> hurt myself.   The thing with hemorrhoids is that they never go away.  They can recede back up inside your colon, but sometimes they don't depending on how severe they are. <br /><br />But, it gets better.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://thechive.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/cat-saturday-231.jpg?w=500&h=1083" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://thechive.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/cat-saturday-231.jpg?w=500&h=1083" width="292" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This will for SURE be Charles!</td></tr></tbody></table>On top of the fact that I went in because of my sort butt, my blood pressure was also slightly elevated (in the 130s).  That's not really a bad reading on average, but for me it is.  Pre-pregnancy by BP was on the low end (in the 90s) and during pregnancy it's hovered between the 100s, never going above 120.  The midwife was concerned I could be suffering from preeclampsia so she sent me to the hospital.  She also told me to be prepared to deliver the baby that day, especially if they found I was starting to have early signs of it. <br /><br />Needless to say, I was in total shock when I left the doctor's office.  I knew my blood pressure was steadily rising as I drove home to grab Joel.  I was so nervous - I could've had a baby later that day!  Of course, I didn't have my hospital bag packed (totally procrastinating on this), so I just grabbed a change of clothes, the camera and we were off.  Once they got me checked in, my blood pressure had risen into the 140s - no surprise there!  I was so nervous and scared - mainly because of the increased blood pressure, and less because of the impending delivery. <br /><br />They monitored me for a few hours and also drew blood.  It turned out I did <i>not</i> have preeclampsia (thank you JESUS!), but I did have a urinary tract infection and didn't even know it.  They attributed the higher BP to the pain I'm dealing with because of the hemorrhoids.  I was also experiencing contractions while I was there (didn't even know it!), and they said they suspected I was contracting because of the UTI - I guess those infections can cause that. <br /><br />Now, I was told when I left my doctor's office not to eat or drink anything else from now until they're done with me at the hospital.  So once my test results came back, I asked the nurse if I could finally have a drink of water because I was parched and so hot!  She said I could while I waited for the doctor to come and discharge me.  I knew I wanted to talk c-section for Monday's induction, so I anxiously awaited the doctor's arrival.  Well, the doctor had just gotten out of surgery so they sent a midwife.  I explained to her why I was there in the first place and she was completely fine with me having a c-section, but she had to go clear it with the doctor.  Dr. Andre came in and she talked to me about my entire situation and agreed it was the best approach.  I had never met Dr. Andre before, but I did like her and she said she would be performing my surgery on Monday morning at 7:30 AM!<br /><br />Yesterday was quite a day, needless to say.  However, I am so happy and relieved to know I won't be making my sore bum any worse and it can hopefully start to heal once the little lady makes an appearance.  Please keep us all in your thoughts and prayers!<br /><br /><br />

This last week of pregnancy is just really giving it to me. Since last Monday's appointment, I have been struggling every day with my s...

GERMANY AND IRAN

1:54 AM Tukiyooo 0

<br /> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><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; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><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></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKQk1J_BpoHI27nvw6F4lZbfE8KL5VOoSp7F_2sDSm68pMH7xkbkSjTt9wHsrPWLRUZE17LyGk0Wy2Bs4Yu1AnQLj7dpKrN_rQXbSqFVQd6jNWbJYpskLTTSUuek8dlHjhmuRITXq_N8tk/s1600/iran-germany-flags.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKQk1J_BpoHI27nvw6F4lZbfE8KL5VOoSp7F_2sDSm68pMH7xkbkSjTt9wHsrPWLRUZE17LyGk0Wy2Bs4Yu1AnQLj7dpKrN_rQXbSqFVQd6jNWbJYpskLTTSUuek8dlHjhmuRITXq_N8tk/s400/iran-germany-flags.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><br />  <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">THE NEXT ROUND </span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Via German-Foreign-Policy.com</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the aftermath of IRAN'S presidential elections, GERMAN foreign policy specialists and government advisors are pushing for a new round in the power struggle with Teheran. Even before votes were cast, GERMAN specialists were calling for using the personnel change to launch a new round in the dispute over IRAN'S nuclear program. The conditions are now considered unusually favorable. The winner of the elections, Hassan Rohani is "in favor of compromises in the nuclear dispute and a normalization of relations with the USA." Whereas some experts on IRAN are pleading for using cooperation programs, "killing Teheran with kindness" - others are still in favor of pursuing confrontation approaches. For example, one of Chancellor Helmut Kohl's former advisors proposes that the more than 3,000 members of the People's Mujahedin of IRAN, trapped in IRAQ, be taken from that country. In the past, the West had considered them as a possible core for a subversive military insurgent movement in IRAN. The EU should also address the IRANIAN people directly - for example, using internet PR campaigns or through the recently founded "European Endowment for Democracy," which has the task of strengthening subversive forces against undesirable regimes.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><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";">COMPROMISES IN THE NUCLEAR DISPUTE</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Even before the IRANIAN presidential elections, GERMAN specialists in foreign policy were pleading for a readjustment of GERMANY'S and the EU's approach to Teheran. The pending new constellation of the IRANIAN establishment offers a good "opportunity" for doing this, explains, for example, Cornelius Adebahr, an associate fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP). Since Hassan Rohani has won the elections, experts are now insisting even more on progressing in the negotiations. The moment is seen as advantageous, because Rohani is considered part of a political spectrum that is more open to the West, than that of his predecessor President Mahmud Ahmadinejad. Also preceding the elections, IRAN specialist Bahman Nirumand, speculated that he may even "introduce a fundamentally new foreign policy." Rohani "strongly criticized Ahmadinejad's foreign policy" declaring that "he does not master the art of diplomatic negotiation," but rather used "inflammatory rhetoric, which has brought the country to the brink of war." Rohani, on the other hand, "seeks compromises in the nuclear dispute and a normalization of relations with the USA."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><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";">WEAKENING IRAN WITH COOPERATION HAS BEEN REPEATEDLY DEMANDED BY GERMANY</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI6H5Kmpq6Bk_mUXUAr7xKPGz8MjGvG3oU8IlVxJcmQ8Z1FBZ-M_-Zi4DIzM8n8HdMBHSnYnzJV37yfcJp2JfZiSAr7IJXK5OV04zrAaLY5BppbALCbZQu04YLG1QggXXyHbUtcXsYG03w/s1600/NA-BA946_GERIRA_NS_20091002190027.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI6H5Kmpq6Bk_mUXUAr7xKPGz8MjGvG3oU8IlVxJcmQ8Z1FBZ-M_-Zi4DIzM8n8HdMBHSnYnzJV37yfcJp2JfZiSAr7IJXK5OV04zrAaLY5BppbALCbZQu04YLG1QggXXyHbUtcXsYG03w/s320/NA-BA946_GERIRA_NS_20091002190027.gif" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A plea for an "embracing strategy" is one of the proposals for the approach to Teheran, now making the rounds in Berlin. As the IRANIAN-ISRAELI foreign policy expert, Meir Javedanfar wrote in "Internationale Politik", the sanctions against IRAN are showing effects: they "could become an existential threat to the regime." The West should therefore intensify the negotiations. One should not "get tired" of "making proposals to the other side." In the long run, Teheran would not be able to evade them. Javedanfar is circumscribing the attempt to wear down the adversary using means of cooperation rather than direct confrontation. For example, "imagine a boxing match. Rather than throwing punches at the contender, you bear-hug him. It is the tying him up that wins points and weakens the adversary." Weakening IRAN with cooperation has been repeatedly demanded by GERMAN foreign policy specialists. The specialized journal "Internationale Politik" calls this strategy "killing with kindness."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><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";">SUPPORT THE RESISTANCE</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Even though the "embrace strategy" is gaining ground in Berlin since Rohani's electoral victory, proposals of aggressive confrontation have still remained on the table. Horst Teltschik, a former advisor to Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who served from 1999 to 2008 as the director of the Munich Security Conference, pleads for such an approach. Teltschik demands that "the opposition forces in IRAN" must be "given the public signal and therefore the assurance that their resistance is not only being honored, (...) but also supported." This expert makes his call even more concrete with a demand "to free the People's Mujahedin of IRAN (MEK) from the grip of the IRAQI leadership." (The more than 3,000 member People's Mujahedin is currently being held in Bagdad by the pro-IRANIAN IRAQI government.) For some time, Teltschik has been campaigning for providing MEK asylum in GERMANY - an unusual step for GERMANY, which usually turns refugees away. At times, over the past few years, the MEK had been considered a core element for a subversive military movement in IRAN. It should "be politically supported," according to Kohl's former advisor.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><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";">Background Information</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">: </span><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">SEVENTY PERCENT OF IRAN'S 74 MILLION PEOPLE ARE UNDER 35</span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2012/10/iran.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2012/10/iran.html</a></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">IRAN: WEAPON FOR CHANGE - DEMOGRAPHY</span></i></b></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJgNJtpeWjUVoeAcDSoODLD0LxqHZR0RYLqDts2Wv5cOaTbUp8kJ3QvZTTP0SjBNIdV7ofRiUmKbaLi6yZ5c_1nPu7G1ojhDHvNqvEVE3YY0HSMgPCj_7fjzaraLRd_Kai-GRZO_R_jx51/s1600/6a00d83451608369e200e552e6415c8834-800pi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJgNJtpeWjUVoeAcDSoODLD0LxqHZR0RYLqDts2Wv5cOaTbUp8kJ3QvZTTP0SjBNIdV7ofRiUmKbaLi6yZ5c_1nPu7G1ojhDHvNqvEVE3YY0HSMgPCj_7fjzaraLRd_Kai-GRZO_R_jx51/s1600/6a00d83451608369e200e552e6415c8834-800pi.jpg" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">WHILE THE U.S. PURPORTS TO HAVE A STRATEGY FOR NUCLEAR NEGOTIATIONS, WHY IS THERE NO STRATEGY FOR WOOING THE YOUNG IN IRAN?</span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"Death to AMERICA" has been the rallying cry of IRAN'S Islamic Revolution since the late 70s, and images of IRANIAN radicals chanting the regime's favorite slogan have made a lasting impression in AMERICAN minds.</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But there is a huge misunderstanding in the West about IRANIANS as religious fanatics. For many young IRANIANS, hatred of their own government is all consuming, and they stand fiercely against the corrupt religious regime. So why wouldn't we consider anyone who hates the current IRANIAN regime as possible allies?</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">SEVENTY PERCENT OF IRAN'S 74 MILLION PEOPLE ARE UNDER 35</span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">and have no real memory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Fifty percent of the IRANIAN population is under 25 and very well educated. Many of these young people joined the democracy protests in 2009, but were severely beaten and are now afraid to speak out against their country. While the 2009 demonstrations didn't lead to an EGYPT-style revolution, they did permanently alter the landscape of IRANIAN politics.</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">To the dismay of the IRANIAN government, and despite their strong arming tactics, their youth often look upon the UNITED STATES, if not warmly, at least with some jealousy. Many young IRANIANS have access to the Internet and satellite television, which is banned but still widely used. And they long for what AMERICANS enjoy: freedom, liberty, equality and justice. They often describe themselves as the "burnt generation," and many young IRANIAN bloggers say they await the opportunity to once again take to the streets to express their disapproval of their spiritual leadership's aggressive policies.</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">IRAN IS ONE OF THE MOST TECH-SAVVY SOCIETIES</span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Broadcasting Board of Governors conducted a phone survey in March and reported that over one third of IRANIANS watch satellite television. The IRANIAN police go house to house and take the dishes away, but most do not issue any fines. Pirated music, videos and video games are also widespread. Many IRANIAN youths push the legal limits sometimes to a breaking point. Millions go to websites such as Facebook that are blocked by the government but accessible to anyone with some technical knowledge. IRAN is one of the most tech-savvy societies in the developing world, with an estimated 28 million Internet users, led by youth.</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">According to the UNITED STATES Institute of Peace, "<b>IRANIAN youth are among the most politically active in the 57 nations of the Islamic world and represent one of the greatest long-term threats to the current form of theocratic rule. IRAN'S youth are increasingly pivotal to elections. After the 1979 revolution, the voting age was lowered to 15, but later raised to 16 then 18, as the theocrats recognized the youth's political power. </b>The young constitute nearly 40 percent of the electorate, a number expected to grow over the next decade. Whether they vote, and how, will be a major factor in the 2013 parliamentary elections, the regime's next official test."</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">IRAN is one of the youngest societies in the world, skewing politics, the economy and social pressures, and the sheer number of well-educated youth is one of the biggest threats to the current regime. But even with a university degree, it takes two to three years to find a job, and many are chronically unemployed, left frustrated, angry and ready for change. According to the IMF, IRAN has one of the world's highest rates of brain drain.</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In April, <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Al Arabiya News</span> reported, "The increasing infighting between Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and President Ahmadinejad has given even more hope to the many young IRANIANS in the pro-democracy movement. The infighting between these leaders is more than an indication of their lack of popular support. It is a sign of their weakness and myopia, not to mention a golden opportunity for young reformers to swoop in. It may happen during the next presidential election in mid-2013 or it may happen sooner, but whatever the case, sometime soon political power will land in the laps of young IRANIANS. When it does, change will follow. In the meantime, the children of the Islamic Revolution are still stirring, and as the old chaps fight among themselves, young women and men are setting the stage for a new day in IRANIAN politics."</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Rising education, erosion of government restrictions on information and an expanding middle class are the key to change in IRAN. Given some time to let the young mature and have children of their own, IRAN could become more like TURKEY in the future.</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So while the U.S. purports to have a strategy for nuclear negotiations, why is there no strategy for wooing the young in IRAN?</span></i></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A war with IRAN will only strengthen the hatred IRANIANS have for the West, including the on-the-fence burnt generation. The West should consider using the IRANIAN youth—not bombs—as their weapon for change.</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><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";">DIRECT CONTACT WITH THE POPULATION</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">At the same time, DGAP associate fellow, Cornelius Adebahr, makes proposals that could lead to an aggressive confrontation as well as to a cooperation strategy of embrace. Adebahr favors establishing a special "TASK FORCE IRAN" within the EU to consolidate all activities concerning IRAN. Parallel to this task force, he also favors a reinforcement of the EU's internet PR propaganda, for example, through the creation of a Persian language "virtual embassy." This could provide a means of "explaining" to the internet-enthused IRANIAN population the "EU's policy" toward their country. But, above all, Adebahr proposes that the EU address "the masses of the people, directly" - with PERSIAN language internet publications. This will offer a means for denouncing Teheran's violations e.g. of rule of law, freedom of the press or labor rights. This foreign policy specialist has concrete ideas about possible instruments for stirring up the IRANIAN people against their government, such as foundations, like the GERMAN party-affiliated foundations or the "European Endowment for Democracy." The latter was recently created to furnish support to subversive forces in foreign countries. Adebahr has good access to Brussels: He is a member of "Team Europe," a "network of experts" of the EU Commission.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><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";">PRESSURE ON TEHERAN</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><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></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">While the diverse strategy variations for wearing down IRANIAN resistance to western hegemony over the Persian Gulf are being discussed, Berlin is intensifying its pressure on the government in Teheran. Foreign Minister, Guido Westerwelle, said his government "expects IRAN to do its part to help bring about a swift diplomatic solution to its standoff with the West over its disputed nuclear program." The newly elected IRANIAN President must now "assume his responsibility in terms of sobriety and hope," writes the foreign ministry. Hassan Rohani will take office in August; however the dispute around his foreign policy course has already begun.</span> </div>

GERMANY AND IRAN

THE NEXT ROUND Via German-Foreign-Policy.com In the aftermath of IRAN'S presidential elections, GERMAN foreign policy specialists and...

Matt Said, Jay Said Uno Dos Tres Cuatro

9:00 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal">Matt talks, Jay talks, You listen. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixTQfk5u_OgHXNodN7EYiFpMMo_0Y8do_FAkkIdVXMTOGnT6NGaPUb7hyphenhyphenun64M1VLzNEPv6X0FcgWIXEmTSfWYmNEtsWMF7LNZ5Nn75p7-sJ2xJK9FHXiKAMIFas_I_J9iyNwp0zreRwY/s1600/Jamie-Chung-Bikini-Nude-Hot.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/AVvXsEixTQfk5u_OgHXNodN7EYiFpMMo_0Y8do_FAkkIdVXMTOGnT6NGaPUb7hyphenhyphenun64M1VLzNEPv6X0FcgWIXEmTSfWYmNEtsWMF7LNZ5Nn75p7-sJ2xJK9FHXiKAMIFas_I_J9iyNwp0zreRwY/s320/Jamie-Chung-Bikini-Nude-Hot.jpg" width="226" /></a>Schmoop: Hiaya! <br />Jay: Huh .. Uh … What are you wearing?<br />Schmoop: A t-shirt .. AND NOTHING ELSE! <br />Jay: Whoa! <br />Schmoop: Hello?<br />Jay: *heavy breating*<br />Schmoop: Are you there? <br />Jay: *grunts* …. *more heavy breating*<br />Schmoop: Uhhhhhh … What are you doing??<br />Jay: What? <br />Schmoop: What were you doing sicko?<br />Jay: What? I dropped my pen and couldn’t reach it. <br />Schmoop: Oh, okay. Here’s Matt<br />Matt: Cheers! <br />Jay: Hola! <br />Matt: How’s you? <br />Jay: Excellent! How’s you? <br />Matt: *sigh* It’s been a rough week. Rough TWO weeks actually. <br />Jay: I know it has Pookie. <br />Matt: Thank you for your support. <br />Jay: You’re totally welcome. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Jay: Hey! Kim and Kanye named their kid …  Matt: Stop. <br />Jay: North! <br />Matt: Stop! <br />Jay: No really, they named it North West. <br />Matt: Maybe the full name is Northby North West <br />Jay: Or North South Easton West<br />Matt: Maybe actual FULL name is Pacific North West?<br />Jay: I guess there’s always Westby North West too. <br />Matt: <br />Jay: You there? <br />Matt: Are we done with these people?<br />Jay: Yeah<br />Matt: Then I’m here. <br />Jay: Oh, okay then. <o:p></o:p></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Matt: Why do I have David Carradine in my notes? <br />Jay: Shit, I don’t know. <br />Matt: It had to have something to do with the show. <br />Jay: Oh you wrote him down in your SHOW NOTES!<br />Matt: Well yeah, I’m a professional, you know?<br />Jay: True. I guess we talked about Erotic Asphyxiation or Thai Hookers. <br />Matt: That doesn’t sound like us at all. <br />Jay: IKR? Maybe Kung-Fu TV show? <br />Matt: That show was a classic! <br />Jay: Totally! <br />Matt: But that couldn’t be it. <br />Jay: Hmmm … Well I got nothing then. <br />Matt: Strike David Carradine off the list then! <br />Jay: OHHHHH! Vacation activities. <br />Matt: Really? THAT was one of the vacation activities we talked about? <br />Jay: Well, there were other things too. <br />Matt: God, I hope so. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhRyG_u4AW6wDYJhD2H-jGzKbzU7HfoSlDWpgw9pnJxn4S310wyDG_VVkwVwuofpzYa-J8cQwnjbbLqyxGmbSdw-keoba6toytJmndCzM0ij99yzfPTQ3YWPR9DCKQRrUQff6YQQBeqEU/s1600/Kristen-Bell-Bikini-Ass-Nude-Hot-Sexy.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/AVvXsEhhRyG_u4AW6wDYJhD2H-jGzKbzU7HfoSlDWpgw9pnJxn4S310wyDG_VVkwVwuofpzYa-J8cQwnjbbLqyxGmbSdw-keoba6toytJmndCzM0ij99yzfPTQ3YWPR9DCKQRrUQff6YQQBeqEU/s320/Kristen-Bell-Bikini-Ass-Nude-Hot-Sexy.jpg" width="235" /></a>Jay: So that’s what we’re talking about this week right?  Matt: Deviant sex acts? <br />Jay: No, vacations and summer<br />Matt: Right! Summer celebration and stuff. <br />Jay: Yeah, the Ratchet Summer Show<br />Matt: What does “ratchet” mean. <br />Jay: Not really sure, but the kids use that word all the time. <br />Matt: Is it something like “off the hook?” or “Cray-Cray?” <br />Jay: Yeahhhhh .. Something like that, but more dirty and nasty. <br />Matt: Oh. Well okay then. We’ll do it for the kids. <br />Jay: And the ratings. <br />Matt: Mostly the ratings. <br />Jay: So summer vacations<br />Matt: Local tourist attractions! <br />Jay: Road trips and roadside attractions! <br />Matt: Family vacations as when we were kids.<br />Jay: Oh yeah. <br />Matt: Summer activities. <br />Jay: Places we would like to go! <br />Matt: OH … Something else I have to do! <br />Jay: Okay, I’ll wait. <br />Matt: No on the show! A Slim Whitman tribute. <br />Jay: Well of course! <br />Matt: Definitely. <br />Jay: Also Poet’s Corner? <br />Matt: Oh hell yeah. <br />Jay: And maybe some tourism related sponsors. <br />Matt: Brilliant! <br />Jay: And a Summer Move Blockbuster!<br />Matt: Can’t wait! <br />Jay: Oh yeah, we’re ready for greatness! <br />Matt: Always! <o:p></o:p></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal">Be sure to listen to the <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid/2013/06/23/ratchet-summer-show" target="_blank">Ratchet Summer Show</a> on I’m With Stupid Sunday at 12 Noon ET!! It’s gonna be HUGE! <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></div>

Matt Said, Jay Said Uno Dos Tres Cuatro

Matt talks, Jay talks, You listen. Schmoop: Hiaya! Jay: Huh .. Uh … What are you wearing? Schmoop: A t-shirt .. AND NOTHING ELSE! Jay: Whoa!...

A New Day

8:31 PM Tukiyooo 0

I have battled weight all of my life.  I have tried multiple diet methods, programs, and have always ended with the same conclusion - FAIL!  My biggest issue:  feeling hungry all of the time!!  I wake up hungry, I go to be hungry.  Unfortunately, my thought to end hunger is....well, simply, EAT!  My weight gain has been progressive over the last few years.  Several events lead to the weight gain.  One being the passing of my mom to cancer.  Another is the loss of a job I loved and I was good at.  The third is falling and breaking my foot requiring 2 surgeries about 2 years ago.<br /><br />This week, a few things happened that will hopefully change my life for good.  A friend posted a picture of me and her on facebook.  I was horrified when I saw the picture.  I couldn't believe what I was looking at.  <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1owi3K7APFqA9CPJFD1y0VrS4wpCmKyj3-qc6FMo5XMHCgNbinuWZp1YmYgFzV8TLqMhCkJ8dzE2Bcx38faTPCYILd7c6pJxz7GhUDEiA3WUsMDK1moPZfl5vMgOpUo1oz5tSWKpl-N8/s1600/me+and+pam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1owi3K7APFqA9CPJFD1y0VrS4wpCmKyj3-qc6FMo5XMHCgNbinuWZp1YmYgFzV8TLqMhCkJ8dzE2Bcx38faTPCYILd7c6pJxz7GhUDEiA3WUsMDK1moPZfl5vMgOpUo1oz5tSWKpl-N8/s320/me+and+pam.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />I knew I needed to make a change.  I am considering lap band surgery, but my insurance doesn't cover it.  So, I will have to save to cover the procedure.  It will cost minimally $10,000 to have the lap band, with that cost to be higher depending on the physician I chose.<br /><br />This week, I had a small medical issue where I needed to see my primary physician.  My physician shares an office with  my orthopedic surgeon that I have been using for about 5 years for various orthopedic issues.  When I walked in the door, the girls at the front desk were reading a brochure that a pharmaceutical rep left behind.  As I was approaching the counter, one looks up and said, "Hey, let's get Ellie to try it."  Now understand, this person is someone I have become friends with over the year and just so happens to be the wife of my orthopedic surgeon!  They all get excited as if I was about to encounter something great!  The brochure:  Belviq and a free 15 day trial certificate.<br /><br />Belviq is a new prescription medication recently approved by the FDA to treat obesity.  BELVIQ is believed to decrease food consumption and promote satiety by selectively activating serotonin 2C receptors in the brain.<br /><br />So, my physician wrote out the 15 day RX (taking 2 a day).  This morning, I got the RX filled by my pharmacy and I took my first dose at about 10:00 am.  For lunch, although probably not ideal for weight loss, my coworkers treated me to an already pre-planned lunch.  Mexican food is one of my weaknesses.  I CRAVE salsa and can usually go through 2 bowls before my meal even comes out.  I always, for the most part, finish my plate.  Today, I ordered the taco dinner.  It comes with the standard beans, rice, and had 3 tacos.   I didn't realize that I only had 1/2 small bowl of salsa before my food came out.  By the time I got my food, I was already feeling "full".  I ate 1 taco and that was it!  I was full.<br /><br />So, is this a sign that this will really work?  So far, my mind isn't consumed on eating - which is not normal for me.  In fact, eating has become a habit.  So, I have to remind myself to keep busy so I don't conform to my habit.  That's where this blog will come in!  <br /><br />Stay tuned as I blog about my change!!!<br /><br />Also, remember, no pill will lose your weight entirely.  Like every other weight loss pill, Belviq is to be used along with proper diet and exercise.  Those two elements will be the biggest part of the change!  But, I can do it!

A New Day

I have battled weight all of my life. I have tried multiple diet methods, programs, and have always ended with the same conclusion - FAIL! ...

Dogs with jobs

7:21 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">This dog has an important job to do - he picks up his owners lunch in the Old Town Bakery and carries it back to the house!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZwzrv-MgAwJ_WKG3lN6BNR9zlyWQMAltg5ShvIytB-ZgSfBYDljXKc_BFmtyaZdzhFnV5PonWVBbUDNU-ueru4hNd8zZfOIiI8dInktyWVH82rypOF703wUNRKe5S7aVvQq4vu1Ya2UdA/s640/blogger-image--23871483.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZwzrv-MgAwJ_WKG3lN6BNR9zlyWQMAltg5ShvIytB-ZgSfBYDljXKc_BFmtyaZdzhFnV5PonWVBbUDNU-ueru4hNd8zZfOIiI8dInktyWVH82rypOF703wUNRKe5S7aVvQq4vu1Ya2UdA/s640/blogger-image--23871483.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">This dog sits on his owners moped as he makes sandwich deliveries all over the island of Key West.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeyKg17dWyVJ4iOhbTDYgpCjLMhyphenhyphenCy9-0SN9thG6F2PAak1m-u5I0ewJfAHL8FI-CL21ta83IF0zxJ9xXOWtDD7DRUl6bdihEVPC7wBPPUMaoi2Wl4mZWFvhQqx4fvAlGdw4PvlCsxrQhz/s640/blogger-image--213716040.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeyKg17dWyVJ4iOhbTDYgpCjLMhyphenhyphenCy9-0SN9thG6F2PAak1m-u5I0ewJfAHL8FI-CL21ta83IF0zxJ9xXOWtDD7DRUl6bdihEVPC7wBPPUMaoi2Wl4mZWFvhQqx4fvAlGdw4PvlCsxrQhz/s640/blogger-image--213716040.jpg"></a></div><br></div>

Dogs with jobs

This dog has an important job to do - he picks up his owners lunch in the Old Town Bakery and carries it back to the house! This dog sits on...