Populist, combative Obama gets love from Democratic lawmakers (Reuters)
CAMBRIDGE, Maryland (Reuters) ? Congressional Democrats have complained in the past that they have not felt the love from U.S. President Barack Obama and accuse the White House of not consulting them on key policies. But when Obama addressed them on Friday it was a love-fest.
Democratic members of the House of Representatives gave him a standing ovation and a compact disc in which they all sang “I’m So In Love With You,” the first line of Al Green’s hit song “Let’s Stay Together.”
Just three months ago some lawmakers talked privately of keeping their distance from Obama in 2012 because they feared voters’ unhappiness with his economic stewardship would hurt their election campaigns.
Relations between Obama and congressional Democrats deteriorated after Republicans won the House in 2010. Democrats complained Obama was too willing to compromise at the expense of Democratic principles.
But ties have improved as Obama has become more combative toward Republicans over taxes and jobs and sought to draw a sharp contrast with Republican presidential hopefuls vying to face him in the November 6 election.
Wrapping up a cross-country tour to promote a populist agenda laid out in this week’s State of the Union address, Obama hammered home a re-election campaign appeal for greater economic fairness.
Obama used his speech to the Democratic lawmakers’ retreat in Maryland to turn up the heat on Republicans, who have accused him of pursuing class warfare and assailed his State of the Union proposals, including higher taxes on wealthier Americans.
“Where they obstruct, where they’re unwilling to act, where they’re more interested in party than they are in country … then we’ve got to call them out on it,” Obama said to loud applause. “We’ve got to push them. We can’t wait. We can’t be held back.”
‘RISE OR FALL TOGETHER’
Obama called on congressional Democrats to close ranks with him as he seeks to persuade voters to give him a second term despite a fragile economy and high unemployment.
Obama is campaigning against a “do-nothing” Congress, highlighting the partisan gridlock that has paralyzed decision-making on job creation and tackling record deficits. “Congress” is White House code for Republicans, but some Democratic lawmakers worry that distinction may be lost on voters, who already have a low opinion of the polarized legislature.
“We are going to rise or fall together,” Representative Henry Waxman said of the Democrats’ bid to retain the Senate, keep the presidency and take back the House.
Waxman’s comments were echoed by other lawmakers at the retreat who signaled that the tensions that bedeviled relations with the White House in 2011 were in the past.
“There is always some tension between the legislative and executive branches of government,” said Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 Democrat in the House. “But we are a team, and we want to head in the same direction.”
While Congress’s approval ratings are at record lows, Obama’s have edged up to nearly 50 percent.
“The president is running a lot stronger than we are,” said Representative Jim Moran. “His train is moving in the right direction. We ought to get on,” said Moran, who just months ago questioned how vigorously Democrats would campaign for Obama.
Jennifer Duffy of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report said the Democrats’ warmer embrace of Obama underscored that “you always reach a point in an election cycle, and I think we are now there, where you realize it’s hard not to run with the president, it’s hard to walk away from the head of the ticket.”
The retreat in the waterfront town of Cambridge featured a number of private sessions to ready Democrats for the campaign, including one entitled: “How to run when the president is running against Congress.”
Obama first tested his anti-Congress strategy late last year, upsetting Democrats over what they saw as his failure to differentiate between Democrats and Republicans.
“The president upset a lot of us with the attacks,” said a top Democratic aide. “It showed White House arrogance. They didn’t even bother to consult with us on it.”
Obama has since soothed hard feelings by being more discriminate in his attacks, although he still frequently refers to his willingness to act when Congress will not.
Most Democratic lawmakers figure Obama will be more of a help than a hindrance to their own re-elections, particularly in raising money and rallying the party’s liberal base, lawmakers and analysts say.
Yet many, particularly those in conservative states, are likely to run away from his 2010 overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system, which drew Republican fire and a public backlash.
Vice President Joe Biden, speaking at the retreat on Friday, predicted Democrats would win the House and jokingly acknowledged that the White House could help or hurt members, depending on the politics of their respective districts.
“I’m prepared to row or ski anywhere and campaign for you. (But) if it helps to be against you, I’ll be against you,” Biden quipped.
Opinion polls show that voters have a slightly higher opinion of Democrats in Congress than their Republican counterparts, but pollsters say Democrats will struggle to pick up the 25 House seats they need to regain control of the 435-seat chamber.
(Additional reporting by Alister Bull and Matt Spetalnick in Washington, writing by Thomas Ferraro, editing by Ross Colvin and Marilyn Thompson)
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Ind. House Dems return in right-to-work battle (AP)
INDIANAPOLIS ? Indiana Democrats planned to end their off-and-on boycott of the state House Wednesday in a move that could open the way for Republicans to call a final vote on the divisive right-to-work legislation that prompted the walkout.
Democrats will attend the House’s 1:30 p.m. session, but have not yet decided if they will stick around if Republicans call for a final vote on the right-to-work bill, said Democratic Rep. Linda Lawson, a member of Democratic House Minority Leader Patrick Bauer’s leadership team.
Most House Democrats have been staying away since the start of the 2012 session, denying Republicans a quorum to vote on plans to make Indiana the 23rd state that bans unions from collecting mandatory representation fees.
Republicans have levied $4,000 in fines against each of the boycotting Democrats thus far, although an ongoing legal challenge has blocked them from collecting those penalties.
By boycotting eight out of the 14 days the House has met this year, Democrats have also created a backlog of other priorities, such as a proposed statewide smoking ban and a plan to crack down on human sex-trafficking before the Super Bowl kicks off in Indianapolis Feb. 5.
Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma has said he plans to work on other measures that have been backlogged in the House before taking a final vote on right-to-work. Sticking to that schedule could give the returning Democrats another chance to block the measure.
Bosma spokeswoman Tory Flynn said Wednesday he plans to stick to that schedule.
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Will GOP step in to prevent a Newt Gingrich nomination?
Newt Gingrich is surging. Mitt Romney, though, is still considered the front-runner. A drawn-out race means a growing possibility of a brokered convention, where party elites choose the nominee.
Newt Gingrich is surging ? but the GOP establishment still opposes him (and many believe he is unelectable).
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Mitt Romney is still the presumed front-runner and has a big lead on money, organization, and endorsement from key Republicans, but he just lost a massive lead in Florida seemingly overnight. State and national polls show a swing against Mr. Romney of more than 20 points.
More than ever, the 2012 nominating process is confounding pundits and proving unpredictable. It’s unlikely that any candidate will wrap up the nomination quickly, and now buzz ? which has been present for some time ? is increasing about the possibility of a brokered convention and even a late-entrant candidate.
In the past week, influential conservatives, including Rush Limbaugh and Joe Scarborough, have discussed the growing rumblings. According to Mr. LImbaugh, many in the Republican party are welcoming Gingrich’s resurgence, not because they like him as a candidate but because they have misgivings about Romney. They want the race to continue all the way to the convention in Tampa, Fla., so that the party elite can pick the nominee there.
Republican Majority Leader Dick Armey (R) of Texas predicted a brokered convention on CNBC Monday night, and Michael Steele, the former national chairman of the Republican party, recently put the chances of a brokered convention at 50-50. “The base wants its chance to have their say,” he told the The Huffington Post. “They aren’t going to want it to end early, before they get their chance, which means that the process could go all the way to Tampa.”
And several other notable conservatives, including Jennifer Rubin at the Washington Post and William Kristol at the Weekly Standard have been making pleas – hardly new, but now they seem to have an added urgency ? for someone like Mitch Daniels, the Indiana governor who will deliver the GOP rebuttal to the State of the Union address Tuesday night, to enter the race.
Ms. Rubin addressed her “open letter” to 10 Republican governors, senators, and congressmen, none of whom has yet made an endorsement and all of whom she says “would be preferable as a candidate to Newt Gingrich,” to either make an endorsement or, better yet, to get in the race themselves.
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Kris Humphries Not Entirely Stupid?
So it turns out that Kim?s ex-hubby is not as dumb as he comes off. He may have made his first smart move in months over the weekend. That?s right. Even though I have a ton of questions about exactly what the heck happened between he and Kim, I do know that the PR behind it all was a disaster. Most people have a pretty low opinion of him: he?s annoying, he?s immature, and he?s a douche. In fact, I can?t think of anyone who can even stand the him. Even after claims that Kim could have used him and his wedding as a huge payday, most people still took her side rather than his. Now he is giving the company that handled his PR, Anderson Group Public Relations, the boot. Can you blame him? It turns out he wants to have the right people in place to help him become a celebrity, or something he calls his ?off the court? career. I?m starting to believe the theory that his marriage to Kim was a career move? sad ? TMZ. Somehow Lindsay Lohan keeps finding work. It?s amazing ? Gossip And Soaps. Everybody is talking about Steven Tyler?s National Anthem [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RightCelebrity/~3/G90Vwj_V-1U/
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Sharon Osbourne: ?I?m Going to Be the Grandmother From Hell?
“I am going to be the grandmother from hell because I am going to spoil this baby so bad,” she says. “My son and Lisa are going to be like, ‘Get her out of here!’”
Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/daFb8XZokPA/
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“Mad Men” shocker: could Don and Betty reunite? (Reuters)
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) ? Don and Betty Draper, together again?
That’s a hint “Mad Men” series creator Matt Weiner is dropping about the show’s upcoming fifth season, which premieres on AMC on March 25.
“It’s called ‘A Little Kiss,’” Weiner tells TV Guide of the two-hour season premiere. “I like the title to have some kind of synergy with the show so it will pique your interest.”
Asked if Jon Hamm’s Don Draper is one half of the titular kiss, perhaps with secretary-turned-fianc?e Megan (Jessica Par?), Weiner answered with a cryptic comment that could mean a surprise reunion for exes Don and Betty (January Jones).
“Who says Megan’s even going to be part of Don’s life?” Weiner told the magazine. “He may be back with Betty. One of my favorite scenes from (the season-four finale) was when Betty offered herself to him again. And let’s face it — those two look really good together.”
AMC did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
(Editing by Chris Michaud)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120123/tv_nm/us_madmen
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Vaccines to boost immunity where it counts, not just near shot site
Monday, January 23, 2012
Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have created synthetic nanoparticles that target lymph nodes and greatly boost vaccine responses, said lead author Ashley St. John, Ph.D., a researcher at Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School.
The paper was published online in the journal Nature Materials on Jan. 22.
Currently all other adjuvants (substances added to vaccines to help to boost the immune response) are thought to enhance immunity at the skin site where the vaccine is injected rather than going to the lymph nodes, where the most effective immune reactions occur. The current study used mice to show it is possible to shift the delivery path directly to the lymph nodes.
The researchers based their strategy on their observation that mast cells, which are cells that are found in the skin that fight infections, also communicate directly to the lymph nodes by releasing nanoparticles called granules.
“Our strategy is unique because we have based our bioengineered particles on those naturally produced by mast cells, which effectively solve the same problem we are trying to solve of combating infection,” said St. John, who is in the Duke-NUS Program in Emerging Infectious Diseases.
The synthetic granules consist of a carbohydrate backbone that holds tiny, encapsulated inflammatory mediators such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF). These particles, when injected, mimic the attributes of the granules found in natural cells, and the synthetic particles also target the draining lymph nodes and provide for the timed release of the encapsulated material.
Traditional vaccine adjuvants may help antigens (the small part of a pathogen that is injected during vaccination that the body reacts to) to persist so the body can have an immune reaction and build antibodies so that when a real pathogen, such as the flu virus arrives, it will be conquered. Alternatively, adjuvants may activate cells called dendritic cells, which pick up pathogen parts and must travel from the skin to lymph nodes where immune reactions are initiated.
The Duke team, however, has created a vaccine adjuvant of nanoparticles that are capable of traveling from the point of injection to the lymph nodes where they act on many cell types of the immune system to spur the right reaction for a greatly increased immune response.
The researchers found that they could use this adjuvant in vaccinations of mice with the influenza A virus.
In levels of flu virus exposure that would be lethal in typical mice, the vaccinated mice were able to fight off the disease and had an increased survival rate, thanks to the effective immune response the particles stimulated.
The researchers also showed they could load the same type of particles with a different immune factor, IL-12, that directed a response toward a different set of lymphocytes. This is an important finding since certain types of infections require specialized responses to be overpowered by the body.
St. John said the flexibility of the synthetic particles and their ability to target certain lymph nodes represented a new avenue of personalized medical treatment ? personalized vaccines.
Senior author Soman Abraham, Ph.D., professor of pathology, immunology and molecular genetics and microbiology at Duke in Durham, N.C., and emerging infectious diseases at Duke-NUS, is cautiously optimistic that the mast-cell-inspired synthetic particles could make their way into human use soon.
“It should not be long because all the individual cytokines (immune system factors) and additional materials loaded into these particles are already FDA approved for use in humans,” Abraham said. “There is a lot of interest in nanoparticle-based therapy, but we are basing our materials on our observation of mast cells in nature. This is an informed application to deliver the right material to the right place in the body to get the most effective immune reaction.”
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Duke University Medical Center: http://www.dukemednews.org
Thanks to Duke University Medical Center for this article.
This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.
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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116925/Vaccines_to_boost_immunity_where_it_counts__not_just_near_shot_site
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Coordinated sect attack kills 143 in north Nigeria (AP)
KANO, Nigeria ? A coordinated attack by a radical Islamist sect in north Nigeria’s largest city killed at least 143 people, a hospital official said Saturday, representing the extremist group’s deadliest assault since beginning its campaign of terror in Africa’s most populous nation.
Soldiers and police officers swarmed Kano’s streets as Nigeria’s president again promised the sect known as Boko Haram would “face the full wrath of the law.” But the uniformed bodies of security agents that filled a Kano hospital mortuary again showed the sect can strike at will against the country’s weak central government.
Friday’s attacks hit police stations, immigration offices and the local headquarters of Nigeria’s secret police in Kano, a city of more than 9 million people that remains an important political and religious center in the country’s Muslim north. A suicide bomber detonated a car loaded with powerful explosives outside a regional police headquarters, tearing its roof away and blowing out windows in a blast felt miles away as its members escaped jail cells there.
Authorities largely refused to offer casualty statistics as mourners began claiming the bodies of their loved ones to bury before sundown, following Islamic tradition. However, a hospital official told The Associated Press at least 143 people were killed in the attack.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to release the death toll to journalists. The toll could still rise, since other bodies could be held at other clinics and hospitals in the sprawling city.
State authorities enforced a 24-hour curfew in the city, with many remaining home as soldiers and police patrolled the streets and setup roadblocks. Gunshots echoed through some areas of the city into Saturday morning.
Nwakpa O. Nwakpa, a spokesman for the Nigerian Red Cross, said volunteers offered first aid to the wounded, and evacuated those seriously injured to local hospitals. A survey of two hospitals by the Red Cross showed at least 50 people were injured in Friday’s attack, he said.
A Boko Haram spokesman using the nom de guerre Abul-Qaqa claimed responsibility for the attacks in a message to journalists Friday. He said the attack came because the state government refused to release Boko Haram members held by the police.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Saturday that he was “shocked and appalled” by the attacks in the former colony.
“The full horror of last night’s events is still unfolding, but we know that a great many people have died and many more have been injured,” Hague said in a statement. “The nature of these attacks has sickened people around the world and I send my deepest condolences and sympathies to the families of those killed and to those injured.”
The U.S. Embassy said it had canceled all staff travel to northern Nigeria after Friday’s attacks.
President Goodluck Jonathan also condemned an attack he said saw innocent people “brutally and recklessly cut down by agents of terror.”
“As a responsible government, we will not fold our hands and watch enemies of democracy, for that is what these mindless killers are, perpetrate unprecedented evil in our land,” Jonathan said in a statement. “I want to reassure Nigerians … that all those involved in that dastardly act would be made to face the full wrath of the law.”
But Jonathan’s government has repeatedly been unable to stop attacks by Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is sacrilege” in the Hausa language of Nigeria’s north. The group has carried out increasingly sophisticated and bloody attacks in its campaign to implement strict Shariah law and avenge the deaths of Muslims in communal violence across Nigeria, a multiethnic nation of more than 160 million people.
Authorities blamed Boko Haram for at least 510 killings last year alone, according to an AP count, including an August suicide bombing on the U.N. headquarters in the country’s capital Abuja. So far this year, the group has been blamed for at least 219 killings, according to an AP count.
Boko Haram recently said it specifically would target Christians living in Nigeria’s north, but Friday’s attack saw its gunmen kill many Muslims. In a recent video posted to the Internet, Imam Abubakar Shekau, a Boko Harm leader, warned it would kill anyone who “betrays the religion” by being part of or sympathizing with Nigeria’s government.
“I swear by Allah we will kill them and their killing will be nothing to us,” Shekau said. “It will be like going to prayers at 5 a.m.”
Friday’s attacks also could cause more unrest, as violence in Kano has set off attacks throughout the north in the past, including postelection violence in April that saw 800 people killed. Kano, an ancient city, remains important in the history of Islam in Nigeria and has important religious figures there today.
Amid the recent unrest and attacks, at least two journalists have been killed in Nigeria. Journalist Enenche Akogwu, who worked as a correspondent in Kano for private news station Channels Television, was shot Friday while reporting on the attacks, colleagues said. In central Nigeria’s city of Jos, Nansok Sallah, a news editor for a government-owned radio station called Highland FM, was found dead in a shallow stream Thursday, the victim of an apparent murder, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.
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Salisu Rabiu in Kano, Nigeria, and Raphael Satter in London contributed to this report.
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Jon Gambrell reported from Lagos, Nigeria and can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.
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Chris Ladd: Evaluating the Merits of Private Equity
Mitt Romney’s career as a private equity manager has suddenly become a hot issue in a party that normally avoids any criticism of the business community. We’ve heard Rick Perry describe private equity as “vulture capital.” Newt Gingrich has painted Romney’s former firm as a business equivalent of the Grim Reaper while subtly connecting it to the ’08 bailouts.
A wild and weird Republican primary season just keeps getting wilder and weirder.
Sean Hazlett who writes at Reflections of a Rational Republican is an investment banker and analyst. He’s put together a fantastic explanation of what private equity is and why it’s an issue.
Why private equity is seldom an option for middle income investors:
Anyone can gain access to the public equity markets, but only those with a high net worth or annual income can invest in private equity transactions. The American people can thank the United States government for these restrictions, which set criteria for “accredited investors”. In other words, the government has erected barriers to entry for people to invest in this asset class based entirely on net worth and/or income. However, that is a topic for another day.
The objectives of private equity firms:
Both venture capital and buyout firms have an exit orientation. In other words, they can only truly make money for their investors by selling the companies they help fund or turnaround. They can either sell these companies to other private equity firms or public companies or to public market investors by floating shares in an IPO. If the company turns out to be a dud, they can liquidate that company’s assets, often for pennies on the dollar.
Hazlett goes on to explain how different types of private equity players might approach a particular business and why some may be more resented than others. On the merits of private equity he reaches the conclusion:
In most cases, buyouts still likely save more jobs than they destroy for the simple reason that many mismanaged companies would have gone out of business in the absence of a buyout firm’s rescue. Of course, there will always be exceptions, but in the end, the buyout side of private equity can be either a force for good or evil, depending on how one uses its tools.
The GOP candidates who criticize Romney over his involvement with Bain are largely missing the point. The interesting question isn’t whether Bain created or destroyed jobs. It did both at different times and under varying circumstances. The greater concern is that we may have built perverse incentives into our business law and the tax code that reward liquidation over business development.
The fact that Republicans are debating (or almost sort-of debating) the merits of certain business practices is a ground-breaking development all by itself. Hopefully it will build into some wider soul searching about economic assumptions that have gone unquestioned for too long.
?
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-ladd/romney-private-equity_b_1211720.html
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Kris Humphries Splits from PR Team
Kris Humphries is getting really good at this break up thing.
The New Jersey Nets power forward/E! star has called it quits with Anderson Public Relations, TMZ confirms, following disagreements between the company and the Humphries over how to best promote the latter off the court.
The PR team was especially upset with how Humphries handled an appearance on Good Morning America in December, where he brushed off questions about Kim Kardashian and looked confused about why they were even being asked. He instead talked about baking with his mom.
Kris’ relationship with Anderson lasted 73 days, so, hey, that’s an improvement of 24 hours for the guy!
Sources say he now wants to focus solely on basketball, which ought to be welcome news for the woeful Nets. Humphries scored 12 points and pulled down 16 rebounds in their 84-74 loss last night to the Thunder.
Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/kris-humphries-splits-from-pr-team/
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