May 22, 2013 ? Translocation -- or moving animals to safer places -- is a vital tool for saving species from extinction. Many factors influence the success of these new populations, including habitat quality, predators, capture and release techniques, the number and sex of individuals, and their genetic diversity. Now new research, the first of its kind, published in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Applied Ecology suggests bird song could also be important.
Ecologists from the University of Waikato and Lincoln University in New Zealand studied the North Island k?kako, an iconic bird with a haunting, organ-like song. Once widespread in the North Island, loss of habitat by deforestation and predation by rats, possums and stoats decimated the population. By 1999, fewer than 400 pairs remained, and between 2001 and 2007, several pairs were moved from Te Urewera National Park to two other reserves: Boundary Stream Mainland Island and Ngapukeriki.
To find out how moving the k?kako has affected their song, the researchers made hundreds of recordings in the three populations and analysed differences in song using sonograms. They then used playback experiments to discover how birds from one population reacted to another populations' song.
They found the songs of translocated birds had diverged substantially from the source population, becoming less diverse with shorter and higher-pitched elements. According to Dr Laura Molles from Lincoln University: "Not only how k?kako sing in translocated populations, but also what they sing differs from k?kako in the source population."
The greatest changes were found in the population that had been translocated for longest, indicating the songs may become more different over time. But despite the divergence between each population's song, the playback experiments showed that the birds could not yet tell them apart.
"The songs diverge because birds such as k?kako learn their songs from parents, siblings and neighbours. As translocation usually involves only a small number of indivuals, they will take with them only a small portion of all the song elements in the larger source population. Subsequent variation in small populations will depend on that subset of songs and will then differ from the larger song pool in the source population," Dr Molles explains.
The study has important implications for conservation. Although in this study the k?kako populations have not been separated for long enough to cause song incompatibility, it will occur in time, the authors say. Once that happens, releasing additional birds into these populations could be problematic because song incompatibility could make interbreeding difficult.
As a result, says Dr Molles, conservationists should consider song variation as part of bird reintroductions: "We need to be aware that behavioural factors like song can also affect translocation success and recovery of endangered birds, and adapt our management of these populations accordingly. This means that we may have to work harder but the good news is that if we consider one more factor that we now know may also affect translocation, we will be more likely to succeed in conserving birds."
The North Island k?kako is one of New Zealand's most iconic bird species. The size of a common pigeon, both males and females have blue-grey plumage with black masks and striking bright blue wattles. Both sexes sing, and pairs duet, with a haunting voice and the birds' astonishingly varied organ-like notes can be heard over 1km away.
They have limited flying power, instead moving like squirrels through the branches and gliding from hill tops to valleys. They live in the temperate rainforest, feeding mainly on fruit and leaves. Once widespread, their numbers collapsed due to deforestation and predation by rats, stoats and possums, and by 1999 fewer than 400 pairs remained. Thanks to translocation to safe offshore islands, numbers have increased to around 800 pairs today.
In a video made for Tested.com, chef Traci Des Jardins helps Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield spice up his meals on the International Space Station. Avoiding food boredom is one of the issues facing long-term spacefliers. Will 3-D-printed pizzas help?
By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News
NASA won't be printing out pizzas on Mars anytime soon, but the space agency is paying out $125,000 to study the use of 3-D printing technology for food preparation in space.
"We will be building the components for a prototype" over the grant's six-month period, David Irwin, principal investigator for the project at Texas-based Systems and Materials Research Consultancy, told NBC News.
The ideas is to use a 3-D printer to turn generic mixes of starch, protein and fat into textured foodie-type elements, and then add flavorings with an inkjet device. The result? Theoretically, you could have a warm slice of crusty-type starch material topped with fake cheese, sauce and pepperoni.
SMRC's Irwin was reluctant to discuss the project in detail, in part because the contract with NASA for a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant had not yet been signed. But he was optimistic about the long-term prospect: "We're going to do great things," he said.
NASA spokesman David Steitz said the contract was finally signed on Wednesday. The project is part of the space agency's effort to widen the menu options for future space travelers when they head out to Mars or a near-Earth asteroid. Right now, astronauts are eating mostly pre-packaged, pre-processed, shelf-stable foods. But that won't work for a trip to the Red Planet.
"The current food system is not adequate in nutrition or acceptability through the five-year shelf life required for a mission to Mars, or other long-duration missions," Steitz said in an email.
Steitz stressed that the Phase I study is just one small step in what's likely to be a years-long effort to build a 3-D space food printer. "There's a lot between this and a pizza," he told NBC News.
Hello, 'Star Trek' 3-D printing technology could open the way toward the kinds of food synthesizers you've seen in 45-year-old episodes of "Star Trek." Basic unflavored ingredients could be kept in long-term storage ? up to 30 years, according to a report on the project published by Quartz. The 3-D printer?could build up different blends of the basics with different textures. Food-specific flavorings could be sprayed onto the components of synthetic food. Thus, the same device could turn out pizzas on one day, and tacos on the next.
"It has some merit as a way to avoid some of the problems that are currently experienced with the limited shelf life of the pre-prepared foods that are used by the astronauts," said Jean Hunter, a space food researcher at Cornell University who isn't involved with the 3-D-printing project. "One of the keys to having a good food system is to have a lot of variety."
SMRC's proposal to NASA says that "the biggest advantage of 3-D printed food technology will be zero waste, which is essential in long-distance space missions."
SMRC's Anjan Contractor conducted an initial 3-D printer experiment that put chocolate on a flat cookie. The next objective is to create a 3-D-printed pizza.
The Meta1 is a pair of virtual reality goggles that perform some very unique and useful tricks. While they are still in beta stage, the glasses are coupled with a Kinect-like camera to sense objects in real space and allow users to interact with virtual worlds with the swipe of their hand.
Jolla's heavily teased launch day in Finland has already spilled some major news: pricing and specs for the first Sailfish OS handset. The phone seems to be called "The Other Half" -- or at least that's the working title for now -- and judging from Jolla's Facebook page it consists of a colorful plastic case, available in various shades including orange or green, which hooks onto the main chassis containing a 4.5-inch display (of unknown resolution), dual-core processor, microSD expansion with 16GB onboard, a "4G" modem, user replaceable battery and an 8MP rear camera. The chassis recognizes which case is attached and adapts the visual theme of the OS to match, creating "your other half, exactly as you want it to be."
Perhaps more usefully, the Sailfish operating system will also be Android app compliant out of the box, and we're currently on the ground in Helsinki trying to discover exactly how developers and users will be able to put that feature to work (while also chasing down the rest of the specs). Meanwhile, there's an emphatic video message from Jolla co-founder Marc Dillon after the break, seeking the world's assistance in taking the heritage of MeeGo into a new era.
Update: We now hear that the phone will simply be called the "Jolla."
Update #2: Jolla has just clarified that 4G means LTE. The display resolution has been vaguely described as "HD," which to our minds suggests 720p. Furthermore, it sounds like the way the "other half" interfaces with the main body of the device allows for much deeper functionality beyond just personalization. We've just added our own video tour with more information.
It's been eight years since Microsoft and Sony announced new consoles, and tastes have changed considerably. Back then, new gaming gear was launched at E3, or using Elijah Wood-fronted MTV specials, but this time around Microsoft is pitching a tent on its Redmond campus for the world's media to huddle under. With less than 24 hours before the next Xbox is revealed, it's high time we sifted through the leaks, rumors and prognostications to see what we know, or at least, what we think we know about a little box called "Durango."
Older prostate cancer patients should think twice before undergoing treatmentPublic release date: 20-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Kim Irwin kirwin@mednet.ucla.edu 310-794-2262 University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences
Older prostate cancer patients with other underlying health conditions should think twice before committing to surgery or radiation therapy for their cancer, according to a multicenter study led by researchers in the UCLA Department of Urology.
The study reports the 14-year survival outcomes of 3,000 men diagnosed with prostate cancer between 1994 and 1995. The results suggest that older patients with low- to intermediate-risk prostate cancer and who have at least three underlying health problems, or comorbidities, were much more likely to die of something other than their cancer, said study first author Dr. Timothy Daskivich, a UCLA Robert Wood Johnson fellow.
"For men with low- to intermediate-risk disease, prostate cancer is an indolent disease that doesn't pose a major risk to survival," Daskivich said. "The take home point from this study is that older men with multiple underlying health problems should carefully consider whether they should treat these tumors aggressively, because that treatment comes with a price."
Aggressive treatments for prostate cancer, including surgery, external radiation and radioactive seed implants, can result in major side effects, including erectile dysfunction, urinary incontinence and bowel problems. Also, the survival advantage afforded by these treatments does not develop until approximately eight to 10 years after treatment. In many cases, either "watchful waiting" or "active surveillance"- monitoring the patient's cancer very closely with regular biopsies and intervening with surgery or radiation if the disease progresses - is better than hitting the disease with everything in the treatment arsenal, Daskivich said.
The study appears May 21, 2013 in the early online issue of the peer-reviewed journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
The men in the study completed surveys within six months of diagnosis to document what other medical conditions they had at that time. Researchers then determined survival outcomes at 14 years from the time of diagnosis using information from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database.
"This was a great opportunity to get a glimpse at the long-term outcomes of these men diagnosed with prostate cancer in the mid-1990s," Daskivich said. "What we were most interested in was their survival outcomes. We wanted to prove that in older men with other health problems, the risk of dying from their cancer paled in comparison to the risk that they'd die from something else."
The study looked at older patients with three or more comorbidities, such as diabetes, hypertension, congestive heart failure and arthritis. Researchers found that the 10-year risks of dying from causes other than prostate cancer in men 61 to 74 and men older than 75 with three or more comorbidities were 40 percent and 71 percent, respectively. In comparison, the 14-year risks of dying from low- or intermediate-risk prostate cancer were 3 percent and 7 percent, respectively, which Daskivich characterized as low.
"If you're very unlikely to benefit from treatment, then don't run the risk and end up dealing with side effects that can significantly impact quality of life," he said. "It's important for these men to talk to their doctors about the possibility of forgoing aggressive treatment. We're not talking about restricting care, but the patient should be fully informed about their likelihood of surviving long enough to benefit from treatment."
However, Daskivich said, older men with high-risk, aggressive prostate cancers may benefit from treatment so they don't die of their cancers. The risk of death from high-risk prostate cancer was 18 percent over the 14 years of this study.
Daskivich said there was very little long-term data prior to this study on which patients could base these crucial decisions. The study will result in patients who are much better informed on the risks and benefits of treatment.
Many men as they age will develop prostate cancer and not know it, because it's slow growing and causes no symptoms. Autopsy studies of men who died from other causes have shown that almost 30 percent over the age of 50 have histological evidence of prostate cancer, according to a study published in 2008 in the journal Urology.
In 2013, prostate cancer will strike 238,590 men, killing 29,720. It is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in men aside from skin cancer.
###
The study was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson/VA Clinical Scholars Program, the Urology Care Foundation of the American Urologic Association, the American Cancer Society and the National Institutes of Health.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Older prostate cancer patients should think twice before undergoing treatmentPublic release date: 20-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Kim Irwin kirwin@mednet.ucla.edu 310-794-2262 University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences
Older prostate cancer patients with other underlying health conditions should think twice before committing to surgery or radiation therapy for their cancer, according to a multicenter study led by researchers in the UCLA Department of Urology.
The study reports the 14-year survival outcomes of 3,000 men diagnosed with prostate cancer between 1994 and 1995. The results suggest that older patients with low- to intermediate-risk prostate cancer and who have at least three underlying health problems, or comorbidities, were much more likely to die of something other than their cancer, said study first author Dr. Timothy Daskivich, a UCLA Robert Wood Johnson fellow.
"For men with low- to intermediate-risk disease, prostate cancer is an indolent disease that doesn't pose a major risk to survival," Daskivich said. "The take home point from this study is that older men with multiple underlying health problems should carefully consider whether they should treat these tumors aggressively, because that treatment comes with a price."
Aggressive treatments for prostate cancer, including surgery, external radiation and radioactive seed implants, can result in major side effects, including erectile dysfunction, urinary incontinence and bowel problems. Also, the survival advantage afforded by these treatments does not develop until approximately eight to 10 years after treatment. In many cases, either "watchful waiting" or "active surveillance"- monitoring the patient's cancer very closely with regular biopsies and intervening with surgery or radiation if the disease progresses - is better than hitting the disease with everything in the treatment arsenal, Daskivich said.
The study appears May 21, 2013 in the early online issue of the peer-reviewed journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
The men in the study completed surveys within six months of diagnosis to document what other medical conditions they had at that time. Researchers then determined survival outcomes at 14 years from the time of diagnosis using information from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database.
"This was a great opportunity to get a glimpse at the long-term outcomes of these men diagnosed with prostate cancer in the mid-1990s," Daskivich said. "What we were most interested in was their survival outcomes. We wanted to prove that in older men with other health problems, the risk of dying from their cancer paled in comparison to the risk that they'd die from something else."
The study looked at older patients with three or more comorbidities, such as diabetes, hypertension, congestive heart failure and arthritis. Researchers found that the 10-year risks of dying from causes other than prostate cancer in men 61 to 74 and men older than 75 with three or more comorbidities were 40 percent and 71 percent, respectively. In comparison, the 14-year risks of dying from low- or intermediate-risk prostate cancer were 3 percent and 7 percent, respectively, which Daskivich characterized as low.
"If you're very unlikely to benefit from treatment, then don't run the risk and end up dealing with side effects that can significantly impact quality of life," he said. "It's important for these men to talk to their doctors about the possibility of forgoing aggressive treatment. We're not talking about restricting care, but the patient should be fully informed about their likelihood of surviving long enough to benefit from treatment."
However, Daskivich said, older men with high-risk, aggressive prostate cancers may benefit from treatment so they don't die of their cancers. The risk of death from high-risk prostate cancer was 18 percent over the 14 years of this study.
Daskivich said there was very little long-term data prior to this study on which patients could base these crucial decisions. The study will result in patients who are much better informed on the risks and benefits of treatment.
Many men as they age will develop prostate cancer and not know it, because it's slow growing and causes no symptoms. Autopsy studies of men who died from other causes have shown that almost 30 percent over the age of 50 have histological evidence of prostate cancer, according to a study published in 2008 in the journal Urology.
In 2013, prostate cancer will strike 238,590 men, killing 29,720. It is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in men aside from skin cancer.
###
The study was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson/VA Clinical Scholars Program, the Urology Care Foundation of the American Urologic Association, the American Cancer Society and the National Institutes of Health.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
In this photo copied from the 2010 Sleepy Hollow High School yearbook, high school student Andrea Rubello is shown. Police said Rubello, a junior at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., was shot and killed Friday, May 17, 2013, during a break-in near the college campus. (AP Photo/Sleepy Hollow High School)
In this photo copied from the 2010 Sleepy Hollow High School yearbook, high school student Andrea Rubello is shown. Police said Rubello, a junior at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., was shot and killed Friday, May 17, 2013, during a break-in near the college campus. (AP Photo/Sleepy Hollow High School)
The Tarrytown, N.Y., home of the family of Hofstra University student Andrea Rubello is seen on Friday, May 17, 2013. Police say Rubello was shot and killed Friday, May 17, 2013, during a break-in near the college campus in Uniondale, N.Y. (AP Photo/Jim Fitzgerald)
Hofstra University students gather near the house where another student and an armed intruder were killed during an overnight house break-in next to the campus, Friday, May 17, 2013, in Uniondale, N.Y. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano)
Officers continue working the scene at the house, left, where a Hofstra University student and an armed intruder were killed during an overnight break-in next to the campus, Friday, May 17, 2013, in Uniondale, N.Y. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano)
Officers guard the area leading to the white house, background, where a Hofstra University student and an armed intruder were killed during an overnight house break-in next to the campus, Friday, May 17, 2013, in Uniondale, N.Y. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano)
MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) ? In what police are describing as a crime of opportunity, a wanted man with a criminal history dating nearly 15 years entered a front door that had been left open at a New York home near Hofstra University.
A short time later, the intruder, Dalton Smith, and a 21-year-old college junior, Andrea Rebello, were both dead. The two were killed early Friday by a Nassau County police officer who fired eight shots at the masked man, hitting him seven times but also accidentally hitting Rebello once in the head, Nassau County homicide squad Lt. John Azzata said Saturday.
Smith was holding Rebello in a headlock and pointing a gun at her head before he turned his gun at the officer, Azzata said, prompting the shooting.
"He kept saying, 'I'm going to kill her,' and then he pointed the gun at the police officer," Azzata said.
A loaded 9 mm handgun with a serial number scratched off was found at the scene, police said.
Nassau County Police Commissioner Thomas Dale said he had traveled to Rebello's Tarrytown, N.Y., home to explain to Rebello's parents what happened.
"I felt obligated as a police commissioner and as a parent to inform them as soon as all the forensic results were completed," Dale said.
The veteran police officer, who was not identified, has about 12 years of experience on the Nassau County police force and previously spent several years as a New York City police officer, Dale said.
The officer is currently out on sick leave. He will be the focus of an internal police investigation once the criminal investigation is completed, which is standard police procedure in any officer-involved shooting, the commissioner said.
The shooting came just days before the school's commencement ceremonies, which are scheduled for Sunday.
A university spokeswoman said students will be handed white ribbons to wear in memory of Rebello. The shooting, which took place just steps from campus, has cast a pall over the university community as it geared up for commencement.
Earlier Saturday, police announced that Smith, 30, had been wanted on a parole violation related to a first-degree robbery conviction. A warrant was issued for Smith on April 25 for absconding from parole, police said.
Smith had what police described as "an extensive criminal history," which included arrests for robbery in the first degree in 1999, promoting prison contraband in the second degree in 2000, robbery in the first degree in 2003, assault in the second degree in 2003 and robbery in the second degree in 2003.
Rebello was in the two-story home in Uniondale, N.Y., with her twin sister Jessica, a third woman and a man when Smith, wearing a ski mask, walked into the house through an open front door, Azzata said.
The door was left open after someone had moved a car that was blocking a driveway, Azzata said.
When Smith entered, he demanded valuables and was told they were upstairs, Azzata said.
Smith, apparently unsatisfied with the valuables upstairs, asked if any of the four had a bank account and could withdraw money, Azzata said. The intruder then allowed the unidentified woman to leave and collect money from an ATM, telling her she had only eight minutes to come back with cash before he killed one of her friends, Azzata said.
The woman left for the bank and called 911, according to Azzata.
Minutes later, two police officers arrived at the home and found Rebello's twin sister Jessica running out of the front door and the male guest hiding behind a couch on the first floor, Azzata said.
One of the officers entered the home and encountered Smith holding onto Rebello in a headlock, coming down the stairs, Azzata said. Smith pulled Rebello closer and started moving backward toward a rear door of the house, pointing the gun at her head before eventually threatening the officer, Azzata said.
The Rev. Osvaldo Franklin, who gave Rebello and her twin their first communions, on Saturday night told The Associated Press their mother, Nella, couldn't even speak to him earlier in the day.
"She was so devastated," said Franklin. "She's just crying. We have to pray for Andrea, to pray for Jessica because she needs help."
Franklin said a funeral is scheduled for Wednesday at Teresa of Avila Church in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., and will be in Portuguese.
"The family's a very good family, they have very good values," he said. "They are a very good, very devoted family."
___
Associated Press writer Jake Pearson in New York contributed to this report.
FILE - In this Aug. 2, 2012 file photo, U.S. gymnast Gabrielle Douglas displays her gold medal during the artistic gymnastics women's individual all-around competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Douglas is back in the gym.The Olympic all-around champion was to practice Monday afternoon, May 20, 2013 after meeting with coach Liang Chow to discuss her comeback plan. The workout is in her old gym in West Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson, File)
FILE - In this Aug. 2, 2012 file photo, U.S. gymnast Gabrielle Douglas displays her gold medal during the artistic gymnastics women's individual all-around competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Douglas is back in the gym.The Olympic all-around champion was to practice Monday afternoon, May 20, 2013 after meeting with coach Liang Chow to discuss her comeback plan. The workout is in her old gym in West Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson, File)
Gabby Douglas had been looking forward to this appearance for a long time.
The Olympic all-around champion returned to the gym Monday, going through her first practice since the London Games after meeting with coach Liang Chow to discuss her comeback plan.
"She is very excited to be coming back," Chow told The Associated Press. "She can't wait any longer."
Douglas has always said she wanted to continue competing through the Rio Olympics in 2016. She is only 17, and Chow said in London that she hadn't come close to reaching her potential. (The Olympics were only the fifth international event for Douglas.)
But her life has been a whirlwind since London, where she also helped the U.S. win only its second team title. Her Olympic success, dazzling smile and captivating personality turned her into a worldwide celebrity, and she's been going nonstop since the games ended.
She was the AP's female athlete of the year and one of Barbara Walters' "10 Most Fascinating People" in 2012. She was the only female on Forbes' recent list of 10 most influential athletes in the U.S. She had a guest spot on "The Vampire Diaries," one of her favorite shows, and she performed at the Video Music Awards after walking the red carpet with the rest of the Fierce Five.
Douglas and fellow Fierce Five members Aly Raisman, Jordyn Wieber and McKayla Maroney did a 40-city gymnastics tour last fall, and she's made dozens of other celebrity appearances. She signed deals with Nike, Kellogg Co. and AT&T, among others, and recently published her second book.
Gymnastics was never far from her mind, though, and Chow got the sense from the text messages Douglas would send him that she'd eventually be back in the gym in West Des Moines, Iowa.
"She's the kind of person who wants to be achieving," he said. "She wants to feel good about her improvement and her goal setting. That's the attitude Gabby is about and now she can set out a goal and achieve it, through the sport."
Chow wouldn't put a timetable on Douglas' return, saying she has to get back in gymnastics shape before they can put a "realistic" training plan together.
"I think 2014 is an excellent possibility for competition," he said.
But this won't be an easy process, Chow said. Gymnastics is a sport that requires hundreds of hours of repetition to perfect skills, and Douglas has been out of action for nine months.
"I did warn her, 'If you think preparing for London was hard, preparing for Rio will be harder.' There's many challenges ahead of us," Chow said. "Also, 'You're going to have to have a lot more patience with yourself. Nine months off, you have to get yourself in very good physical condition first before we even talk about the training plan for the next steps."
But Douglas is undeterred.
"She understood," Chow said, "and she is super excited."
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Five months into President Barack Obama's second term, allies and former top aides worry that his overarching goal of economic opportunity has been diminished, partly drowned out by controversies seized upon by Republicans in an effort to weaken him.
The former White House insiders, including longtime Obama adviser David Axelrod, say Obama needs to make his case anew for government's role in expanding education and innovation and to give, as Obama put it in one of his early seminal speeches, "every American a fighting chance in the 21st century."
Among their suggestions is that the president deliver a major address, perhaps at a commencement, that once again places his economic vision at the center of his agenda and speaks to what continues to be the overriding concern of the American public.
Instead, absent major legislative victories, Obama's second term has become a series of small actions overshadowed by a trio of recent troubles over the administration's response to the attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, the IRS's targeting of conservative groups and the Justice Department's seizure of Associated Press phone records as part of a leak investigation.
"The hardest thing in the hot house of Washington in weeks like this is to get above the maelstrom and really define major issues in your own terms," Axelrod said. "They need to find big platforms, whether it's congressional addresses, commencement speeches, high-profile interviews or a combination of those things and others."
As these Democrats see it, there has been an arc of Obama addresses that have spelled out the challenge and the hope of attaining the American Dream, from a 2005 commencement address at tiny Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., to his speech in Osawatomie, Kan., in late 2011, and that the time for another one is now.
Over the last two weeks, Obama has been trying to draw attention to his job-creation ideas with small events in Austin and, on Friday, in Baltimore. The daytime visits have been coupled with modest executive initiatives that tend to garner local media attention but get lost in Washington's attention to the contentious issues of the moment.
"There does seem to be a risk of getting bogged down in noise," said Jared Bernstein, who was part of Obama's economic team when he served as Vice President Joe Biden's chief economist. "He doesn't need to get out to talk about Benghazi and the IRS and the budget deficit. He needs to talk about investment in the nation's productivity."
Obama has called for more government spending on education, public works projects, and research and development and has proposed paying for it largely with higher taxes. But after letting one tax increase on the rich pass at the beginning of the year, Republicans have steadfastly refused any further tax hikes and have resisted Obama's spending plans. The result has been a fruitless search, at least so far, for a "grand bargain" to trim the nation's long-term debt.
In the face of Republican-led investigations in Congress and with some conservatives even suggesting impeachment proceedings against the president, some Obama advisers say that boldly elevating the economy would create a sharp contrast and emphasize their belief that Republicans are overplaying their hand. They note that as dissatisfaction with Washington has grown, Obama has continued to hold a substantial edge over the Republicans in Congress.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said that creating jobs is the top priority of Republicans, too, but "we're also focused on holding this administration accountable" about what happened in Libya and with the IRS.
If Obama has a single long-term governing priority, it is a deep-seated belief that advances in technology and globalization have translated into a significant consumer benefits but have also eroded middle-class gains. "The result has been the emergence of what some call a 'winner take all' economy, in which a rising tide doesn't necessarily lift all boats," he wrote in his 2006 book, "The Audacity of Hope."
The opportunity to make a broad shift toward the economy might have presented itself this week, when the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicted that the budget deficit for 2013 will be $642 billion ? lower than estimated and half of the record $1.4 trillion hit during Obama's first year in office. Instead, that bit of news was overshadowed by the IRS, Benghazi and AP phone record controversies.
Armed with a lower deficit number, some of Obama's liberal critics say he should abandon efforts to reduce deficits and focus exclusively on jobs.
"They should declare victory," said Lawrence Mishel, president and CEO of the liberal Economic Policy Institute. "Making the big policy and political project the grand bargain has been digging us in a deeper and deeper hole."
White House officials say the time to pause and deliver the type of major address that connects Obama's policies to his core beliefs is when it has the possibility of making a major impact. For now, they say, their economic tour across the country is better suited to the moment.
"What we think that these tours do is add another dimension to the argument of what we're trying to get done with Congress," White House communications director Jennifer Palmieri said. "That this is not just about budgets, this is about steps that Congress can take legislatively and the president can take unilaterally that will create jobs and help middle-class families."
How to emphasize Obama's jobs agenda was a subject Thursday during a meeting between top White House aides and outside Democratic operatives, many of whom had worked for Bill Clinton's administration. They had been called by Obama chief of staff Denis McDonough to consult and offer ideas on how to respond to the most recent uproars. Among those attending were such Clinton aides as Paul Begala and Mike McCurry.
"What the president can do is make decisions about what he wants to talk to the American people about," said Democratic consultant Tad Devine, who also attended Thursday's meeting. "And my view is, as someone who spends time sitting in focus groups listening to voters, what's at the top of mind with them is the economy still."
___
Follow Jim Kuhnhenn on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jkuhnhenn
Google's kept pretty quiet about the Nexus Q since removing it from sale last summer. Last we heard, the company was still working on refining its streaming sphere, and that was back in January. In recent days, the lack of Nexus Q support in the new Google Play Music app had led some to believe that Google had abandoned the project. However, freshly-filed FCC documents indicate that Google could be preparing another media player device for release.
The "H840 Device" is revealed in FCC documents to function "as a media player," and was given with the model number H2G2-42, an apparent Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy reference. As is customary for unreleased products, Google has requested that diagrams and photos of the device remain confidential.
Testing documents reveal that it was tested hooked up to a 24-inch Dell monitor, and that it possesses Wifi a/b/g/n support and a USB port. What's more, it gets its power from a separate power supply unit, so we can safely assume this isn't a smartphone, tablet or wearable device.
Google unveiled the ill-fated Nexus Q at least year's Google I/O conference, where attendees were given complementary spheres. The device went up for pre-order shortly afterwards, but before going on sale Google withdrew the device and shipped Qs out to pre-order customers free of charge. Despite being a no-show at this year's I/O, Google's official stance remains that it's "hard at work" improving the multimedia orb. So could this "H840" device be the result of the past year's efforts? We'll have to wait and see.
In this episode of the podcast I talk about the importance of entrepreneurs having a reliable bookkeeper (EntreTip #3). ?Listen as I share with you my own personal bookkeeping nightmare about hiring a bookkeeper that?disappears?at the worst possible time without any explanation.
If you are an?entrepreneur?and are earning a living, you should hire a professional bookkeeper unless you are experienced in bookkeeping yourself and are comfortable being responsible for every aspect of your business finances. ?For me, having a bookkeeper taking care of my finances helps me sleep at night (along with an accounting firm for year end).
Links you may find of interest:
Essential Steps To Internet Success eBook?- My eBook that explains 8 essential steps to getting started doing business online
Earlier today, Yahoo sent press invites to a "product-related" event in New York City Monday afternoon and there are already two separate rumors about the company's plans. The first, from Bloomberg, concerns the event specifically and cites a "person familiar with the matter" reporting we'll hear about new updates for Yahoo's once-mighty Flickr photo service. The second is from AllThingsD which has upgraded rumors of a Tumblr purchase from possible to possibly imminent, saying the company's board will meet Sunday to decide whether it will make a $1.1 billion all-cash offer for the site. Since new CEO Marissa Mayer took over Yahoo has made a number of acquisitions with a focus on improving its homepage, content and app offerings including Flickr. That announcement is also penciled in for the 20th, but whatever actually goes down you can be sure we'll have the details as they're unveiled around 4PM ET.
The 
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 20-May-2013
Share ] 
