News for today's 2018

TURKEYS CHANGING FOREIGN POLICY STANCE

2:07 PM Tukiyooo 0

<br /> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a 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...

Mayo Clinic's Upmarket Move - WSJ.com

1:44 PM Tukiyooo 0

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 ...

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

12:32 PM Tukiyooo 0

<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...

A new lease on life

6:40 AM Tukiyooo 0

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'...

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

6:24 AM Tukiyooo 0

<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...

Product Planner (Supply Chain Program Manager) (Global Inventory | Spares Stocking | Supply Chain) (#109448)

5:28 AM Anonymous 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="WordSection1"><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Position:  </span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Product Planner (Supply Chain Program Manager)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Location:  </span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Milpitas, CA<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Duration:  </span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Full time<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Job Description:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Business Unit:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">The Global Service Support Organization (GSS) team headquartered in Milpitas, CA is our service organization that consists of Service Sales and   Marketing, Spares Supply Chain management, Field Operations, Product Training, and Technical Support.  The GSS organization partners with our field teams and customers in all business sectors to maintain the high performance and productivity of our products   through a flexible portfolio of services. Our comprehensive services include: proactive management of tools to identify and improve performance; expertise in optics, image processing and motion control with worldwide service engineers, 24/7 technical support   teams and knowledge management systems; and an extensive parts network to ensure worldwide availability of parts.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Responsibilities:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">A product planner will own the spare parts planning during the product life cycle for their product lines.  The planner will work closely with   Sales/Marketing, procurement and engineering to track installed base growth, manage global inventory levels and the overall spares business for their product line.  The product planner will also be looking for ways to optimize the spares stocking strategy   and be working with the supply chain team and manufacturing to identify opportunities for inventory reductions while maintaining customer service levels.  Working technical knowledge of inspection and metrology tools is also needed to understand technical   impacts on the supply chain.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Preferred Qualifications:</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Experience:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"> 2 years experience in a high-tech supply chain environment   or program management preferably with direct customer interaction is preferred but not required.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Skills:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"> Must have excellent written and oral communications skills   and be comfortable presenting to internal and external customers.  Excellent analytical and problem solving skills are a must. Ability to focus on complete business picture is also needed.  Experience with MS-Access and other database management software is   essential. Programming skills would be a plus.<span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Basic Qualifications:</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">BS/BA Business or related field with preferred concentration in Operations or Technical Supply Chain Management (MS/MBA preferred a plus).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace: none;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Kindly send your resume to  <b><a href="mailto:raju.balaji@kla-tencor.com">raju.balaji@kla-tencor.com</a></b><o:p></o:p></span></div></div></div>

Product Planner (Supply Chain Program Manager) (Global Inventory | Spares Stocking | Supply Chain) (#109448)

Position: Product Planner (Supply Chain Program Manager) Location: Milpitas, CA Duration: Full time Job Description: Business Unit: The G...

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 04/25/2013

2:30 AM Tukiyooo 0

<ul class="diigo-linkroll">      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/every-classroom-matters-cool/id606677009">iTunes - Podcasts - Every Classroom Matters With Cool Cat Teacher by BAM Radio Network - The Twitterati Channel</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">Here's the iTunes podcast for Every Classroom matters, the new show I"m hosing on BAM radio network. I'll have one post a week go live from here on out as I interview the best, most exciting teachers I know. Let me know if you want to nominate someone.   IF you listen and like the show, it would help me out if you would rate it on the store. Thank you.</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/ecmatters">ecmatters</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/edreform">edreform</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/all_teachers">all_teachers</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/bestpractices">bestpractices</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://techpp.com/2013/04/24/evernote-tips-tricks/">15+ Tips & Tricks to Use Evernote Like a Pro</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">Excellent tips for using Evernote - I use all of these tips except the transcription and signature features. Evernote is so useful. I also like to embed documents in my notes which make repetitive tasks much easier.</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/productivity">productivity</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/evernote">evernote</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jure-klepic/social-media-influence-forbes_b_3110092.html">Jure Klepic: Social Media Influence Is Much More Than This Forbes List Shows</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">Jure Klepic nails it in his critique of the Forbes 2013 list of Social Media influencers. If you're clueless about social media, don't make a list. Jure says  "It seems that today everyone thinks they can write and preach about influence, even though they have no clue as to what influence is. In order to rank people on the ability to influence we need to understand influence, not just define it. When people just try to define influence they come away with something as useless as what is used in this post.  The real definition of influence is quite simple -- influence is the power to sway. But understanding influence is far more than just knowing this definition. Understanding influence in contemporary online world means understanding contemporary notions of identity and identity construction. Identity, ideas of person and self are cultural constructs; they are ideas and values that are part of our culture.  So the real question here should not be who will make the next Forbes list, but how can the author of an article about influence omit the names of so many of the brightest and best thought leaders in the field? "</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/social">social</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/media">media</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/edu_news">edu_news</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://www.bamradionetwork.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1053:jackstreet54&catid=91:every-classroom-matters&Itemid=259">Encouraging Global Connections and Digital Citizenship</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">I had a great conversation with Theresa Allen, IT director in Illinois who has facilitated global connections from Kindergarten through 8th grade. She talks about the "Hello Little world Skypers" project and other projects she does with her students and how you can facilitate change.</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/skype">skype</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flatclass">flatclass</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/globalcollaboration">globalcollaboration</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/communication">communication</a></p>                                        </li>  </ul><p class="diigo-ps">Posted from <a href='https://www.diigo.com'>Diigo</a>. The rest of my favorite links are <a href='https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher'>here</a>.</p>

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 04/25/2013

iTunes - Podcasts - Every Classroom Matters With Cool Cat Teacher by BAM Radio Network - The Twitterati Channel ...

A Million Thanks!!

9:00 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK4lzXctsPBdVp8bV2bpoU9hNpkovT6LYoKsq_edShiBcYtp1hXSrRrIiN-4ha6TBSbdeBoIlVeG4u36P-iYB5fGGqUG-kp2hrTnOSmmJxkXcoUMAT28D01f2dvmanlCcOqB63oOBeFxY/s1600/IWS+Magazine+Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK4lzXctsPBdVp8bV2bpoU9hNpkovT6LYoKsq_edShiBcYtp1hXSrRrIiN-4ha6TBSbdeBoIlVeG4u36P-iYB5fGGqUG-kp2hrTnOSmmJxkXcoUMAT28D01f2dvmanlCcOqB63oOBeFxY/s400/IWS+Magazine+Cover.jpg" width="308" /></a>Cheeeeeeers Chuckleheads, and a Happy Full Moon Thursday to you all.<br /><br />Earlier in the week, I was ruminating through the number of listens that our IWS Radio Show has had since its inception in late 2010.  The number of listens?<br /><br />A little more than 302,000.  Eh, not bad.<br /><br />Yesterday, I was looking over our website stats, and I was a bit flabbergasted.  I noticed the number of page views this website has had since its inception in the summer of 2011, and y’know what that number is?<br /><br />Nearly 701,000.  IKR?  Sheesh!!<br /><br />Being the numbers guy I am, I added those two numbers up, and realized that since the Jayman and I started our campaign to corner the market on social media some two and a half years ago, our IWS Radio website and our <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: blue;">IWS Radio Show</span></i></a> have been read and/or listened to….<br /><br />1,003,000 times!!<br /><br />I know.  I know.  Some sites get that many hits in a matter of hours, but…not bad for a couple of unknown, above and below the Mason-Dixon Line satirists and socio-political provocateurs.<br /><br />Upon reflecting upon these numbers, I said to myself…<br /><br /><i>“Self?  This would be a good time to thank some folks who have helped Jay and I get to this point.”</i><br /><br />So allow me to begin…<br /><br />First of all to some of most faithful listeners, readers, and doers…<br /><br />IWS Pin-Up Girl Tamra, Dour and Mrs. Mike, Bad Boy Dr. Mike, Bad Ass Jesse Ferg, Edita, Dianne, Knight, Snaaaake, Katy Anders, Jo Seaquist (when she can hear the show, and who has also done artwork for us!!), and of course…<br /><br />Our Fave Canadian and most loyal listener, the One and Only Jaaaaaamie!!  Thanks to all of you and the many that I am sure have escaped my mind.<br /><br />Our past guests such as…<br /><br />Stacy Swenson Johnson, Carrie Welch, West Coast Kat, the uber-lovely Warrior Kat who guest hosted with Jayman, Nicole Russin, Debi Daly, Andy Longo, my brother Party Marty, the hottest lesbian on Earth, Annnnngie, and the one idiot who referred to Jay and I as Nazis.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJrcnqhXL7uRKQoAaE5gUrjBzeCfH_zxtQiW60rR9P0Li2SeG4-RK8PrZQtR_beHLmrOfCeXwy8rwZo66ADFaWJ_pH657aUZeJlz_wj5X1m80tdT4DLPnYoGTkFJLrEPGydGoAL4-kc9E/s1600/IWS+Angie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJrcnqhXL7uRKQoAaE5gUrjBzeCfH_zxtQiW60rR9P0Li2SeG4-RK8PrZQtR_beHLmrOfCeXwy8rwZo66ADFaWJ_pH657aUZeJlz_wj5X1m80tdT4DLPnYoGTkFJLrEPGydGoAL4-kc9E/s400/IWS+Angie.jpg" width="318" /></a>I need to thank our IWS correspondents and at-large contributors…<br /><br />Joshua, Paul Piatt, Kirk Douglas, Guy Ahnyurdyck, Dixie Ozark, Slyder Balzcock, Kim Fragile, Bobby Kraft, Stubby Stonehenge, Keith Olbermann, and <strike>Hank Philpot DIE Traitor!!</strike> Carl Paladino, and Billy the Kid.  You all rock!!<br /><br />And lastly, there are a few people who have done a variety of things for us…<br /><br />First of all, the man who invested the $400.00 in us in order for us to become a Premium show on BTR… The crazy Cat Man of Columbus, Big Dick.  Thanks Big Dick!!<br /><br />Dana and her barely pubescent significant other who puts the “boy” in boyfriend, for putting up with our many sarcastic jabs toward them, but mainly directed at Dana.  Thanks Dana!!<br /><br />Lastly…<br /><br />A shout out to Missalicious who has in the past, broken child labor laws on our behalf, and an uber-Shout-Out to…<br /><br />Schmoop and JayMom for providing their voices to characters, shedding their dignity for the show, and putting up with our anal retentive bullshit.<br /><br />To all y’all…A great big thank you, and hopefully bigger and better things will happen, but in the meantime, thanks for everything that you have helped us to achieve.<br /><br />Have a Happy Thursday, and thanks for being a friend to Jay, to me, and to <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;"><i>IWS Radio</i></span></a>.<br /><br /><i>Cheers!!</i><br />Matt-Man<br /><br /><a href="mailto:mattmaniws@ymail.com">mattmaniws@ymail.com</a><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/MattMan_IWS" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">@mattman_iws</span></a></div>

A Million Thanks!!

Cheeeeeeers Chuckleheads, and a Happy Full Moon Thursday to you all. Earlier in the week, I was ruminating through the number of listens tha...