Former Gov. Jennifer Granholm had her Andy Dillon. Gov. Rick Snyder has his Randy Richardville.
The relationship between a governor and his or her legislative lieutenant would appear to be a piece of cake. Cut from the same apparent political cloth, governors seeks to advance their agenda with the able-bodied assistance of their legislative leader.
They call it carrying the governor?s water.
How?d that work out with Ms. Granholm and House Democratic Speaker Andy Dillon? For the most part, it was O.K., but then there were times when he drove her nuts. It was not a match made in heaven.
Which brings us to the Snyder-Richardville duo. Batman and Robin it ain't right now.
Randy Richardville is the Senate GOP leader and he?s been carrying the water for his governor quite nicely, but there have been some spills.
The most recent produced some harsh feelings as the governor took to his bully pulpit to call out Mr. Richardville and his Republican caucus, accusing them of ?lack of leadership.?
The rare admonishment from this usually positive governor was over the GOP Senate's failure to vote on the governor?s top priority, providing health-care coverage for 320,000 folks who don?t have it. (By the way, the governor claims he is not fighting with anyone.)
Instead of doing his bidding, GOP senators left town. The governor called it a ?vacation,? which only added more salt to the open wounds.
Things came to a head when Lt. Gov. Brian Calley met with the Senate GOP caucus as it became apparent some senators were going to stiff the gov.
Mr. Calley explained the front office was preparing to send out a ?simple request? to act on the bill. There was no hint of confrontation, nor any indication the mild-mannered governor would morph into Snidely Whiplash.
But morph he did, leaving one GOP insider to suggest the governor was used to ?always getting his way? and his behavior revealed a heavy dose of ?arrogance.?
There is one thing to know about this governor. When he wants something, he wants it, which is what he told individual GOP senators he summoned to his office for a little face time. One source reports he even ?threatened? some, which is not his normal M.O.
As the day wore on, Mr. Richardville sauntered into the inner sanctum. Reportedly he explained that his caucus, which elected him leader, was going to study this. And that is a key point that sometimes governors forget: The leader works for the caucus first and the boss second.
Mr. Snyder, now in no mood to send a ?simple request,? announced - according to someone who heard about the conversation - that ?things have changed? and he was going to call out the Republicans in a news conference his office was scurrying to tee-up.
When he got to the tee, he used his biggest driver to take aim at the GOP leader and his colleagues.
He just bopped them on the head and never hollered ?Fore!?
In recent days, the governor thanked Mr. Richardville for creation of a work group to iron this out ?over the summer.? But that is not fast enough for the impatient Mr. Snyder, which is why he continued his road show cajoling the public to call the GOP senators and urge them to vote.
Still, the relationship appears to be improving after a contentious one-on-one exchange between these two. After the half hour session, Mr. Richardville reports the governor called back an hour later saying, "I understand some of what your are saying." The governor agreed to drop references to "vacations" and there apparently won't be any robo calls or billboards aimed at GOP senators back home.
In return Mr. Richardville sees a possible Senate vote in August, which the governor wants, and now Mr. R. reports, "We think were on a positive path to success," which is not what he was thinking last week.
Warm up the Batmobile.
Watch "Off the Record with Tim Skubick" online anytime at video.wkar.org
Estimates of shale gas resources in the North of England are double that of previous estimate, according to a new report. Britain?s shale industry is still very young, Burgess writes, and as it has not been determined whether any gas can be economically extracted, it may never actually grow to maturity.?
By James Burgess,?Guest blogger / June 28, 2013
A drilling rig is seen in Springville, Pa. The Bowland shale formation in England has been calculated to hold around 1,300 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Alex Brandon/AP/File
Enlarge
The British Geological Survey released a report?on Thursday?that provided a revised estimate for shale gas resources in the North of England. The new estimate is double the old one.
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The shale formation, known as the Bowland shale formation has been calculated to hold around 1,300 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Considering that BP reports British consumption as 2.76 trillion cubic feet in 2012, this formation is enough to transform the UK energy market, even though only 10-15 percent of shale gas reserves is generally recoverable.
Danny Alexander, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, stated that??today?s news from the Geological Survey confirms 1,300 trillion cubic feet of (shale resources), which is double previous estimates.?
Fracking has come under some scrutiny by environmentalists and local communities who are worried that it could lead to earthquakes and contamination of ground water and drinking water supplies.
Related article:?European Resistance to Gazprom is Futile
To try and appease local communities the government has said that companies must invest ?100,000 in communities near to fracking wells, along with a further one percent of all revenues earned from each production site.
Energy Minister Michael Fallon, explained that??this will provide a welcome boost for communities who will host shale exploration and production as well as offering strong assurances that operators will engage with them and work to the highest health, safety and environmental standards.?
Britain?s shale industry is still very young and as it has not been determined whether any gas can be economically extracted, it may never actually grow to maturity.
Original article:?http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/New-Report-Doubles-Englands-Shale-Gas-Reserves.html
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Overview of the latest five Focus news of the innovations-report:
In the focus: Le Bourget: Electric Hybrid Drives for Aircraft
In cooperation with several partners, Siemens has created its second aircraft powered by an electric series hybrid drive system.
The two-seat DA36 E-Star 2 plane recently made its one-hour maiden flight and was then presented to aeronautics experts at the Paris Air Show. The electric series hybrid drive ensures quiet and energy-efficient operation.
After a predecessor model had demonstrated in 2011 that electric series hybrid drives are, in principle, suited ...
In the focus: Efficient Production Process for Coveted Nanocrystals
A formation mechanism of nanocrystalline cerium dioxide (CeO2), a versatile nanomaterial, has been unveiled by scientists from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.
The research results were published in the scientific journal Chemistry ? A European Journal (DOI: 10.1002/chem.201204101). This finding potentially simplifies and alleviates the existing synthetic processes of nanocrystalline CeO2 production.
Nanocrystalline CeO2 particles are widely used, for example, in catalysts for hazardous gas treatment, in electrodes for solid oxide fuel ...
In the focus: Data storage: Making the switch
Magnetic materials that change their properties when heated could pack more data on to hard drives
A ?sandwich? of three iron alloy layers could help to create computer hard drives that can store more data than ever before. Tiejun Zhou and co-workers at the A*STAR Data Storage Institute in Singapore expect that their development, based on a new technology called heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR), could boost ...
In the focus: Sun emits a solstice CME
On June 20, 2013, at 11:24 p.m., the sun erupted with an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection or CME, a solar phenomenon that can send billions of tons of particles into space that can reach Earth one to three days later.
These particles cannot travel through the atmosphere to harm humans on Earth, but they can affect electronic systems in satellites and on the ground.
Experimental NASA research models, based on observations from NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory and ESA/NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory show that the CME left the sun at ...
In the focus: Chlamydia promotes gene mutations
Outcome of experimental Chlamydia infections points towards cancer
Chlamydia trachomatis is a human pathogen that is the leading cause of bacterial sexually transmitted disease worldwide with more than 90 million new cases of genital infections occurring each year. About 70 percent of women infected with Chlamydia remain asymptomatic and these bacteria can establish chronic infections for months, or ...
Robin Wright and Kevin Spacey star in "House of Cards," a favorite for binge-watching since all the episodes were put up on Netflix on the same day.
Ever sat down with a stack of DVDs or a queue of online TV episodes and watched till your eyes glazed over? If so, you've indulged in "binge-watching," a mostly harmless, and definitely enjoyable, addiction.
"Experts say TV binging is a lot like other pleasure activities like eating or drinking or sex," NBC's Kate Snow said on TODAY. "As you devour the next episode of your favorite show, your mind releases dopamine, the neurotransmitter that causes the feeling of pleasure ... while the forebrain provides checks and balances to guard against overindulgence."
Nearly 80 percent of U.S. adults with Internet access watch TV through subscription services like Netflix or Hulu or other on-demand sources, and 62 percent watch multiple episodes back-to-back.
"Content providers like Netflix are building business models around it, offering original series like 'House of Cards' only available on their service all at once," Snow notes.
Like anything, binge-watching can be abused. "Anything that causes pleasure is potentially abusable when matched up against the ability of your forebrain to regulate it," said Dr. Richard Rosenthal of St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital in New York. But unlike truly addictive substances, binge-watching doesn't carry with it the negative consequences of other habits.
And if you invest in the right companies, it can be profitable as well. Stock for both Netflix and Dreamworks recently jumped following the announcement of a new partnership between the two for 300 hours of original programming, which guarantees to be ripe for binge watching, Snow said.
If you have more than one monitor on your desktop and want to free up some valuable workplace real estate, consider replacing it with an ultra-wide monitor like the AOC Q2963PM . This 29-inch display has a resolution of 2,560-by-1,080, a 21:9 aspect ratio, and an IPS panel that offers rich color reproduction. It offers every video port you'll ever need and is reasonably priced, but it's not without a few minor flaws; it loses luminance when viewed from a top and bottom angle and it lacks ergonomic adjustability.
Design and Features
The Q2963PM's massive screen is housed in a matte black cabinet with uber-thin top and side bezels. The side bezels are curve around to the back of the cabinet and the 0.75-inch bottom bezel holds a small shiny AOC logo. There are four function buttons, a power switch, and a blue LED power light on the right side of the cabinet. None of the buttons are labeled but that's not a problem; pressing any key brings up an on-screen label that uses large icons to describe what each button does.
All of the I/O ports are mounted on the wedge-shaped stand, which has a removable base so you can hang the monitor on a wall using the VESA mounting holes. On the right side of the mounting arm are DVI, VGA, and DisplayPort inputs, while halfway down the arm, just above where it is connected to the base, there is an HDMI input, a DisplayPort output, an audio input, and a headphone jack. The DisplayPort output makes it possible to daisy chain multiple monitors using special DisplayPort Multi-stream cables (not included). The stand has a hinge that lets you tilt the panel forward and backward but there are no height, swivel, or pivot adjustments.
Picture settings include contrast, brightness, gamma, and Eco mode, which is AOC's name for picture mode and includes Standard, Text, Internet, Game, Movie, and Sports presets. Color settings include red, green, and blue level adjustments, Color Temperature, and Dynamic Color Boost (DCB), which offers green, blue, and skin tone enhancement settings.
The Q2963PM comes with a couple of neat utilities, including Screen+, a screen splitter that lets you split your desktop into different panels, with each panel displaying a different window. All you have to do is drag a window to the selected panel and drop it. Also included is the AOC e-Saver power management software, and i-Menu, which lets you change picture settings using a keyboard and mouse rather than the function buttons. Included in the box are VGA, DVI, and HDMI cables as well as a resource CD. The Q2963PM is covered by a three-year parts, labor, and backlight warranty.
Performance
The Q2963PM uses an IPS panel that delivers rich color quality and good grayscale performance. It was able to accurately reproduce all steps of the DisplayMate 64-Step Grayscale test and there was no evidence of tinting in the middle of the scale. Colors were mostly accurate; as shown in the color chart below, reds and blues were nearly perfect (the closer the dot is to its corresponding box the more accurate the color) but greens were a bit oversaturated, which is fairly common among affordable monitors given green's huge color space. Fortunately, the saturated greens did not result in greenish highlights or skewed colors.
Viewing angles performance was generally good, although there was a slight loss of luminance when viewed from the top and bottom angles. I noticed this with the Dell UltraSharp U2913WM also. The Q2963PM's 5-millisecond (black-to-white) pixel response handled fast motion video without any noticeable smearing or blur. In fact, this monitor is ideal for watching movies, whether in a separate window or in full screen mode. It offers crisp image detail and the embedded 3-watt speakers are nice and loud, although they could use a bass boost.
The Q2963PM used 33 watts of power during testing while operating in Standard mode. That's a few watts less than the 29-inch Dell U2913WM (36 watts) and significantly lower than the 30-inch Dell UltraSharp U3014 (60 watts).
If you require a dual monitor setup but don't have the room on your desktop, the AOC Q2963PM is a good bet. It offers good color and grayscale performance, loads of video inputs, and multiple monitor support. And, it's reasonably priced. That said, a USB hub would be a welcome addition, as would a height adjustable stand. Both the NEC MultiSync PA271W and Dell UltraSharp 3014 offer multiple USB ports and highly adjustable stand, but you'll pay significantly more for these features and don't get the full Ultra-wide, 21:9 screen.
NEW YORK (AP) ? Pianist Keith Jarrett says "only music excites me, and awards and ceremonies do not." But the pianist says he feels honored to receive the National Endowment for the ArtsJazz Masters Award, joining many past recipients who've influenced him.
The NEA announced Thursday that its 2014 Jazz Masters ? the nation's highest jazz honor ? also include avant-garde saxophonist-composer Anthony Braxton, bassist-educator Richard Davis, and educator Jamey Aebersold.
Jarrett was cited by the NEA for his work in both the jazz and classical fields. His latest release, "Somewhere," marks the 30th anniversary of his trio with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette. His recording of J.S. Bach's "Six Sonatas for Violin and Keyboard" with violinist Michelle Makarski is due out in September.
Rice U. releases findings from national Portraits of American Life StudyPublic release date: 28-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: David Ruth david@rice.edu 713-348-6327 Rice University
Study reveals changes in attitude toward religion, morality, politics and other social issues
Americans are more respectful now than ever before when it comes to the religious traditions of their peers, according to findings from the longitudinal Rice University Portraits of American Life Study (PALS). Other findings: Americans are more divided on the legal definition of marriage, favor restrictions on abortion, support pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and are less politically engaged (with the exception of African-Americans).
PALS is a six-year national study tracking religion, morality, politics and other social issues in the U.S. The study included a scientifically gathered random sample of approximately 1,300 adult Americans in 2006 and 2012, interviewing the exact same people in both years.
Study author Michael Emerson, the Allyn and Gladys Cline Professor of Sociology and co-director of Rice's Kinder Institute for Urban Research, highlighted some of the findings.
Religion
When asked about mutual respect for all religions, one-third of PALS participants in 2006 said they respected all religions equally. By 2012, 58 percent said they did.
"A major shift has occurred among Americans in just six years," Emerson said. "We have become far more respecting of the diversity of religions than we were in 2006. Very much unlike in 2006, the majority of Americans no longer single out a religion that they disrespect."
In both years of the study, participants said that the religion they most respected was Judaism, though the percentage naming it declined from 24 percent in 2006 to 15 percent in 2012. No other religion in either year was named by even 10 percent of respondents. Twenty percent of study participants in both 2006 and 2012 identified Islam as the religion they least respected.
Between 2006 and 2012, 15 percent of participants surveyed switched religious traditions, with nearly 40 percent of them identifying as unaffiliated, or no longer identifying with a religious tradition or congregation.
"For a sizable percentage, religious switching means dropping out of religion," Emerson said. "Interestingly, those who dropped out were largely replaced by a nearly equal number of the non-affiliated of 2006, who by 2012 had become part of a religious tradition."
Also of note, only 45 percent of adult Americans attended worship with the same frequency in 2012 as they did in 2006, with 31 percent attending less and 24 percent attending more. Black Protestants, Evangelical Protestants and Catholics were more likely to attend church more than individuals affiliated with other religious traditions.
More than one-third of study participants switched congregations between 2006 and 2012. Two-thirds of these individuals said their switch was due to a residential move, where they were too far away from their former congregation and needed to find another. Seventeen percent said the primary reason they changed congregations was that they grew dissatisfied with their former congregation. Another 13 percent said they became attracted to a new congregation. Twelve percent said they are in a new congregation because they were both equally dissatisfied with their former congregation and attracted to their new congregation.
Of the people who indicated they were "dissatisfied with their former congregation," 58 percent said that a source of their dissatisfaction was clergy, 53 percent said it was political and/or social views of the congregation, 45 percent said theology, 41 percent said poor relationships, 39 percent said liturgy/style, 38 percent said a poor future, 13 percent said location and seven percent said lack of programs.
Eighty-four percent of individuals surveyed indicated that clergy was a factor that drew them to a new congregation. Other factors that attracted individuals to a new congregation included liturgy/style (67 percent), theology (64 percent), programs and a bright future (62 percent), location (49 percent), relationships (42 percent), political/social views (35 percent) and return to childhood religion (15 percent).
Other changes included a declining confidence in clergy and an increased confidence in faith and God's care.
Moral reasoning
Moral discourse is a regular part of political, economic, social and cultural debates. These values are often embedded in private and public discussions ranging from the development and uses of medical technology to the beneficial and responsible use of public funds to the deployment of military drones.
When asked about personal views of morality, nearly two-thirds (62 percent) of African-American respondents said that they base their moral attitudes on "God's law," in contrast to one-third (36 percent) of Caucasian respondents and one-third (35 percent) of Hispanic respondents.
"The racial difference in how moral decisions are made is dramatic," Emerson said. "It has wide-ranging implications for differences in a host of moral, political and social views."
The majority of PALS respondents favored some level of restrictions on abortion. Just 17 percent of PALS respondents said they believe abortion should be legal under "almost all circumstances." The largest number of respondents, 26 percent, said that abortion should be available in "some circumstances," closely followed by 25.5 percent who said that abortion should be available only "in extreme circumstances." Fourteen percent of respondents said that they believe abortion should be legal under "most circumstances," and fourteen percent believe that abortion should not be available under any circumstance. Hispanic women and African-Americans were the most likely to say that abortion should be legal under "only extreme circumstances."
Americans also were asked their opinions about the use of genetic engineering. A clear majority (82 percent) of PALS respondents said they believe it is "always," "usually" or "sometimes" wrong to use "genetic engineering to make a smarter baby." Just 16 percent of PALS respondents said that the prenatal use of genetic technology is "never wrong" or that it is "not a moral issue." Ten percent more women than men said that the elective use of genetic engineering is "always wrong."
"When it comes to the issue of genetic engineering of babies, Americans are in remarkable agreement: They are saying 'It is wrong' loudly and clearly," Emerson said.
Marriage
As states and the federal government debate the legal definition of marriage, Americans surveyed for PALS were also divided on the topic. In both 2006 and 2012, a slight majority of respondents (57 percent in 2006, 53 percent in 2012) agreed with the statement "The only legal marriage should be between one man and one woman." Approximately one-third (31 percent in 2006, 33 percent in 2012) of respondents disagreed with the statement, and a small number of respondents (12 percent in 2006, 13 percent in 2012) were undecided about the statement.
Many survey respondents changed their minds on the topic between 2006 and 2012. Sixteen percent of respondents who agreed with the statement in the 2006 study disagreed in 2012. Twenty-eight percent of respondents who disagreed with the statement in 2006 agreed with it in 2012. Among those who in 2006 neither disagreed nor agreed with the statement, almost two-thirds took a different position in 2012 43 percent disagreed and 23 percent agreed.
Between 2006 and 2012, respondents became even more divided on the topic of marriage across various demographics, especially education, religion and age. Respondents without a high school diploma were most likely to agree with the marriage statement (66 percent in 2006, 75 percent in 2012), and respondents with postcollege education were least likely to agree with the statement (44 percent in 2006, 37 percent in 2012). Evangelical Protestants were most likely to agree (72 percent in 2006, 75 percent in 2012), while Jews were least likely to agree (21 percent in 2006, 12 percent in 2012). Respondents older than 50 were most likely to agree with the statement (62 percent in 2006, 63 percent in 2012), and respondents 30 and younger were least likely to agree (47 percent in 2006, 40 percent in 2012).
"The real story on the statement 'The only legal marriage should be between one man and one woman' was despite little overall change, so many individual people changed their minds -- some to agree, others to disagree," Emerson said. "The end result is important: Americans are now more divided on this issue along educational, religious and age lines than they were in 2006."
Political engagement
The average rate of political activity (across nine measures of political participation, such as voting, signing petitions and working for a candidate or party) of PALS respondents decreased from 22 percent in 2006 to 18 percent in 2012. The study saw a decrease in activity among all ethnic groups except African-American respondents. Individual average political activity for African-Americans in the sample increased from 20 percent in 2006 to 22 percent in 2012, while Caucasian activity fell from 24 to 18 percent, Hispanic activity fell from 15 to 12 percent and Asian activity fell from 14 to 11 percent.
Emerson said the shift in political behavior among African-Americans can be attributed to the "Obama effect" -- members of the ethnic group showed enthusiastic support for the first African-American presidential candidate belonging to a major contemporary political party.
"It seems likely that President Obama's ascendency as the first African-American president of the United States is responsible for the boost in black political participation," Emerson said. "And this does not just mean voting. African-Americans, unlike other Americans, have become more active across a range of political activities."
Immigration
A clear majority 71 percent of Americans favored offering undocumented immigrants a pathway to legal status rather than having them returned to their nation of origin or letting them remain in the U.S. illegally.
These results hold across political and ideological lines (64 percent of Republicans, 78 percent of Democrats and 70 percent of independents), gender (67 percent of men, 76 percent of women) and race (68 percent of Caucasians, 76 percent of African-Americans, 75 percent of Asians and 81 percent of Hispanics).
"It is stunning, given the divided political rhetoric and media debates, that Americans of all stripes so strongly favor finding a path to legalization over other options," Emerson said. "The overwhelming percentage of Americans preferring the legalization of undocumented immigrants speaks volumes."
About the Portraits of American Life Study
The Portraits of American Life Study is an unprecedented panel study focused on religion and other issues in the U.S., with a particular focus on capturing ethnic and racial diversity. The study included a statistically random sample of approximately 1,300 adult Americans, with more than 600 questions asked in each survey in 2006 and 2012.
"We live in a world of accelerated change with serious implications for our lives," Emerson said. "PALS is designed to understand the impact of change on our lives in real time."
###
This news release can be found online at http://news.rice.edu/.
Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews.
Related materials:
Portraits of American Life Study: http://kinder.rice.edu/content.aspx?id=2147483718
Portraits of American Life Study video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJC-1iCkUdk&feature=youtu.be
Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,708 undergraduates and 2,374 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice has been ranked No. 1 for best quality of life multiple times by the Princeton Review and No. 2 for "best value" among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. To read "What they're saying about Rice," go to http://tinyurl.com/AboutRiceU.
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Rice U. releases findings from national Portraits of American Life StudyPublic release date: 28-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: David Ruth david@rice.edu 713-348-6327 Rice University
Study reveals changes in attitude toward religion, morality, politics and other social issues
Americans are more respectful now than ever before when it comes to the religious traditions of their peers, according to findings from the longitudinal Rice University Portraits of American Life Study (PALS). Other findings: Americans are more divided on the legal definition of marriage, favor restrictions on abortion, support pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and are less politically engaged (with the exception of African-Americans).
PALS is a six-year national study tracking religion, morality, politics and other social issues in the U.S. The study included a scientifically gathered random sample of approximately 1,300 adult Americans in 2006 and 2012, interviewing the exact same people in both years.
Study author Michael Emerson, the Allyn and Gladys Cline Professor of Sociology and co-director of Rice's Kinder Institute for Urban Research, highlighted some of the findings.
Religion
When asked about mutual respect for all religions, one-third of PALS participants in 2006 said they respected all religions equally. By 2012, 58 percent said they did.
"A major shift has occurred among Americans in just six years," Emerson said. "We have become far more respecting of the diversity of religions than we were in 2006. Very much unlike in 2006, the majority of Americans no longer single out a religion that they disrespect."
In both years of the study, participants said that the religion they most respected was Judaism, though the percentage naming it declined from 24 percent in 2006 to 15 percent in 2012. No other religion in either year was named by even 10 percent of respondents. Twenty percent of study participants in both 2006 and 2012 identified Islam as the religion they least respected.
Between 2006 and 2012, 15 percent of participants surveyed switched religious traditions, with nearly 40 percent of them identifying as unaffiliated, or no longer identifying with a religious tradition or congregation.
"For a sizable percentage, religious switching means dropping out of religion," Emerson said. "Interestingly, those who dropped out were largely replaced by a nearly equal number of the non-affiliated of 2006, who by 2012 had become part of a religious tradition."
Also of note, only 45 percent of adult Americans attended worship with the same frequency in 2012 as they did in 2006, with 31 percent attending less and 24 percent attending more. Black Protestants, Evangelical Protestants and Catholics were more likely to attend church more than individuals affiliated with other religious traditions.
More than one-third of study participants switched congregations between 2006 and 2012. Two-thirds of these individuals said their switch was due to a residential move, where they were too far away from their former congregation and needed to find another. Seventeen percent said the primary reason they changed congregations was that they grew dissatisfied with their former congregation. Another 13 percent said they became attracted to a new congregation. Twelve percent said they are in a new congregation because they were both equally dissatisfied with their former congregation and attracted to their new congregation.
Of the people who indicated they were "dissatisfied with their former congregation," 58 percent said that a source of their dissatisfaction was clergy, 53 percent said it was political and/or social views of the congregation, 45 percent said theology, 41 percent said poor relationships, 39 percent said liturgy/style, 38 percent said a poor future, 13 percent said location and seven percent said lack of programs.
Eighty-four percent of individuals surveyed indicated that clergy was a factor that drew them to a new congregation. Other factors that attracted individuals to a new congregation included liturgy/style (67 percent), theology (64 percent), programs and a bright future (62 percent), location (49 percent), relationships (42 percent), political/social views (35 percent) and return to childhood religion (15 percent).
Other changes included a declining confidence in clergy and an increased confidence in faith and God's care.
Moral reasoning
Moral discourse is a regular part of political, economic, social and cultural debates. These values are often embedded in private and public discussions ranging from the development and uses of medical technology to the beneficial and responsible use of public funds to the deployment of military drones.
When asked about personal views of morality, nearly two-thirds (62 percent) of African-American respondents said that they base their moral attitudes on "God's law," in contrast to one-third (36 percent) of Caucasian respondents and one-third (35 percent) of Hispanic respondents.
"The racial difference in how moral decisions are made is dramatic," Emerson said. "It has wide-ranging implications for differences in a host of moral, political and social views."
The majority of PALS respondents favored some level of restrictions on abortion. Just 17 percent of PALS respondents said they believe abortion should be legal under "almost all circumstances." The largest number of respondents, 26 percent, said that abortion should be available in "some circumstances," closely followed by 25.5 percent who said that abortion should be available only "in extreme circumstances." Fourteen percent of respondents said that they believe abortion should be legal under "most circumstances," and fourteen percent believe that abortion should not be available under any circumstance. Hispanic women and African-Americans were the most likely to say that abortion should be legal under "only extreme circumstances."
Americans also were asked their opinions about the use of genetic engineering. A clear majority (82 percent) of PALS respondents said they believe it is "always," "usually" or "sometimes" wrong to use "genetic engineering to make a smarter baby." Just 16 percent of PALS respondents said that the prenatal use of genetic technology is "never wrong" or that it is "not a moral issue." Ten percent more women than men said that the elective use of genetic engineering is "always wrong."
"When it comes to the issue of genetic engineering of babies, Americans are in remarkable agreement: They are saying 'It is wrong' loudly and clearly," Emerson said.
Marriage
As states and the federal government debate the legal definition of marriage, Americans surveyed for PALS were also divided on the topic. In both 2006 and 2012, a slight majority of respondents (57 percent in 2006, 53 percent in 2012) agreed with the statement "The only legal marriage should be between one man and one woman." Approximately one-third (31 percent in 2006, 33 percent in 2012) of respondents disagreed with the statement, and a small number of respondents (12 percent in 2006, 13 percent in 2012) were undecided about the statement.
Many survey respondents changed their minds on the topic between 2006 and 2012. Sixteen percent of respondents who agreed with the statement in the 2006 study disagreed in 2012. Twenty-eight percent of respondents who disagreed with the statement in 2006 agreed with it in 2012. Among those who in 2006 neither disagreed nor agreed with the statement, almost two-thirds took a different position in 2012 43 percent disagreed and 23 percent agreed.
Between 2006 and 2012, respondents became even more divided on the topic of marriage across various demographics, especially education, religion and age. Respondents without a high school diploma were most likely to agree with the marriage statement (66 percent in 2006, 75 percent in 2012), and respondents with postcollege education were least likely to agree with the statement (44 percent in 2006, 37 percent in 2012). Evangelical Protestants were most likely to agree (72 percent in 2006, 75 percent in 2012), while Jews were least likely to agree (21 percent in 2006, 12 percent in 2012). Respondents older than 50 were most likely to agree with the statement (62 percent in 2006, 63 percent in 2012), and respondents 30 and younger were least likely to agree (47 percent in 2006, 40 percent in 2012).
"The real story on the statement 'The only legal marriage should be between one man and one woman' was despite little overall change, so many individual people changed their minds -- some to agree, others to disagree," Emerson said. "The end result is important: Americans are now more divided on this issue along educational, religious and age lines than they were in 2006."
Political engagement
The average rate of political activity (across nine measures of political participation, such as voting, signing petitions and working for a candidate or party) of PALS respondents decreased from 22 percent in 2006 to 18 percent in 2012. The study saw a decrease in activity among all ethnic groups except African-American respondents. Individual average political activity for African-Americans in the sample increased from 20 percent in 2006 to 22 percent in 2012, while Caucasian activity fell from 24 to 18 percent, Hispanic activity fell from 15 to 12 percent and Asian activity fell from 14 to 11 percent.
Emerson said the shift in political behavior among African-Americans can be attributed to the "Obama effect" -- members of the ethnic group showed enthusiastic support for the first African-American presidential candidate belonging to a major contemporary political party.
"It seems likely that President Obama's ascendency as the first African-American president of the United States is responsible for the boost in black political participation," Emerson said. "And this does not just mean voting. African-Americans, unlike other Americans, have become more active across a range of political activities."
Immigration
A clear majority 71 percent of Americans favored offering undocumented immigrants a pathway to legal status rather than having them returned to their nation of origin or letting them remain in the U.S. illegally.
These results hold across political and ideological lines (64 percent of Republicans, 78 percent of Democrats and 70 percent of independents), gender (67 percent of men, 76 percent of women) and race (68 percent of Caucasians, 76 percent of African-Americans, 75 percent of Asians and 81 percent of Hispanics).
"It is stunning, given the divided political rhetoric and media debates, that Americans of all stripes so strongly favor finding a path to legalization over other options," Emerson said. "The overwhelming percentage of Americans preferring the legalization of undocumented immigrants speaks volumes."
About the Portraits of American Life Study
The Portraits of American Life Study is an unprecedented panel study focused on religion and other issues in the U.S., with a particular focus on capturing ethnic and racial diversity. The study included a statistically random sample of approximately 1,300 adult Americans, with more than 600 questions asked in each survey in 2006 and 2012.
"We live in a world of accelerated change with serious implications for our lives," Emerson said. "PALS is designed to understand the impact of change on our lives in real time."
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This news release can be found online at http://news.rice.edu/.
Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews.
Related materials:
Portraits of American Life Study: http://kinder.rice.edu/content.aspx?id=2147483718
Portraits of American Life Study video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJC-1iCkUdk&feature=youtu.be
Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,708 undergraduates and 2,374 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice has been ranked No. 1 for best quality of life multiple times by the Princeton Review and No. 2 for "best value" among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. To read "What they're saying about Rice," go to http://tinyurl.com/AboutRiceU.
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Blue Star Recyclers ?received a social enterprise loan from the Beanstalk Foundation to expand its electronics recycling capabilities, just as a new law makes it illegal to dispose of electronic waste in Colorado landfills.
The $53,000 loan will fund a new program director position that will allow Blue Star Recyclers to extend its reach beyond Colorado Springs and the Front Range. The nonprofit company has also established the vocational electronics recycling network as a way to provide new communities with the tools to start e-waste recycling programs and create jobs for people with disabilities. The new sites include Salida/Buena Vista, Aurora, Vail, Aspen and Limon/Lincoln City.
The money has also been used to help Blue Star achieve e-Stewards, R2 and ISO 14001 certifications, which help distinguish the organization as a recycling leader. The certifications allow Blue Star to market to government accounts and large businesses.
The Beanstalk Foundation is a Denver-based nonprofit that is committed to growing nonprofits in Colorado. It created the social enterprise loan fund and Blue Star was the first company to receive the loan. The nonprofit-to-nonprofit loan fund provides Colorado charities with the capital to grow and become sustainable.
Once that goal is reached, the intention is for the money to be recycled and paid forward to help the next cause.
Blue Star was chosen for the loan program because it creates work for people with developmental disabilities. Blue Star employs more than 40 people who have helped recycle more than 1,800 tons of e-waste since 2010.
?We knew we had a great model, but in order to expand Blue Star Recyclers? social enterprise model, we needed to hire a new program director, and unfortunately getting funding to pay a salary is a big hurdle for nonprofits to cross,? said Bill Morris, CEO of Blue Star Recyclers. ?We are fortunate the Beanstalk Foundation recognizes the value in our unique approach and had both the vision and the expertise to craft a first-of-its-kind loan that will make it possible for use to maintain our triple bottom line and grow as a respectable business.?
Beanstalk was founded by Ted Stolberg, a former private equity manager. He started the new lending concept after realizing that grant-making organizations, commercial banks and individual donors typically turn down nonprofit requests for salaries and other assets need to expand. The foundation spent several months designing the fund and is one of only a handful of foundations loaning to other nonprofits.
?Bringing Colorado nonprofit leaders and their organizations to sustainability, especially those like Blue Star Recyclers, requires that we rethink the way we work with and fund nonprofits,? Stolberg said. ?Donations and grants alone would have kept Blue Star Recyclers? model running at its current capacity, but it would not have had the capacity to grow.?
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's climate plan on Tuesday offered help to U.S. cities dealing with natural disasters and specifically for the region slammed by massive Superstorm Sandy in October.
For Dawn Zimmer, mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey the plan came not a moment too soon.
Hoboken, across the Hudson River from Manhattan, was in the bull's eye of Sandy last October, when storm surges flooded 80 percent of the city, causing $100 million in property damage to 1,700 homes and hundreds of businesses. Since then, the city of 52,000 has weathered three more major flood events.
"For me, this is an emergency," Zimmer said. "Whether you believe in (climate change) or not, and I definitely do, we're seeing the impact of it on the local level."
In addition to proposals to cut pollution from power plants and boost fuel efficiency, the White House on Tuesday directed federal agencies to cut bureaucratic red tape to support local climate-resilient investment.
Obama's plan also sets up pilot projects for areas hit by Sandy to make communities better able to deal with extreme weather and other climate impacts.
Zimmer is among dozens of U.S. mayors who have taken on the challenges of climate resilience - to heat, drought, flood and extreme weather - as an economic and public safety necessity.
Last week, more than 50 elected officials from localities as diverse as Washington D.C., Des Moines, Iowa and Santa Barbara County, California, released a plan (online at http://www.resilientamerica.org/) to make communities better able to deal with climate impacts that included using more renewable energy and making buildings and infrastructure more energy-efficient.
"NO-BRAINER"
This initiative was launched less than a week after New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a $20 billion plan to prepare his city for rising sea levels and hotter summers.
Rosina Bierbaum, an expert on climate change adaptation at the University of Michigan and a member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, said local leaders have consistently been at the forefront on these issues.
"The rubber really hits the road in cities...Mayors are having to deal with heat waves, droughts, floods, all of the above, and they're making adjustments in real time," Bierbaum said by telephone.
While the required action may be local, some of the data communities need, such as climate projections, can only be done at the federal level, Bierbaum said.
Bierbaum and other climate experts have long maintained that climate resilience, or adapting to altered conditions, must be done along with mitigation of climate change, which aims to curb the rate at which the global temperatures rise.
In the absence of mitigation, though, working to adapt to changed circumstances "is a no-brainer," said Stuart Gaffin, a research scientist at Columbia University's Earth Institute.
"It's amazing how much more traction (climate resilience) has on all levels," Gaffin said by phone. This is especially true in cities, he said, because urban areas are already dealing with the effects of a changing climate, and Superstorm Sandy was a wake-up call for many cities.
(Reporting by Deborah Zabarenko; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)
How does a Venus flytrap know when to snap shut? Can it actually feel an insect?s tiny, spindly legs? And how do cherry blossoms know when to bloom? Can they...
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As if making food from light were not impressive enough, it may be time to add another advanced skill to the botanical repertoire: the ability to perform ? at least at the molecular level ? arithmetic division.
Computer-generated models published in the journal eLife?illustrate how plants might use molecular mathematics to regulate the rate at which they devour starch reserves to provide energy throughout the night, when energy from the Sun is off the menu. If so, the authors say, it would be the first example of arithmetic division in biology.?
But it may not be the only one: many animals go through periods of fasting ? during hibernations or migrations, for example ? and must carefully ration internal energy stores in order to survive. Understanding how arithmetic division could occur at the molecular level might also be useful for the young field of synthetic biology, in which genetic engineers seek standardized methods of tinkering with molecular pathways to create new biological devices.
?This is a new framework for understanding the control of metabolic processes,? says Rodrigo Guti?rrez, a plant-systems biologist at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile in Santiago, who was not involved in the work. ?I can immediately think of applying it to other problems.?
Divide and survive Plants make the starch reserves they produce during the day last almost precisely until dawn. Researchers once thought that plants break down starch at a fixed rate during the night. But then they observed that the diminutive weed Arabidopsis thaliana, a plant favored for laboratory work, could recalculate that rate on the fly when subjected to an unusually early or late night.
To Alison Smith and Martin Howard of the John Innes Center in Norwich, UK, and their colleagues, this suggested that a more sophisticated molecular calculation was at work. The team hypothesized the existence of two molecules: one, S, that tells the plant how much starch remains, and another, T, that informs it about the time left until dawn.?
The researchers built mathematical models to show that, in principle, the interactions of such molecules?could indeed drive the rate of starch breakdown such that it reflected a continuous computation of the division of the amount of remaining starch by the amount of time until dawn.
For example, the models predicted that plants would adjust the rate of starch breakdown if the night were interrupted by a period of light. During that period of light, the plants could again produce starch. When the lights went out again, the rate of starch breakdown should adjust to that increase in stored starch, the models predicted ? a result that the researchers confirmed in Arabidopsis plants.
The team then trawled the literature looking for Arabidopsis mutants with known handicaps at different steps along the starch-degradation pathway. These showed that the models were compatible with the behavior of these mutants, which result in a higher than usual amount of starch remaining at the end of the night.
Simple principles To find proteins that might be interacting directly with their hypothesized S/T computation system, the researchers also subjected these mutants to an unexpectedly early night ? a situation that would normally cause plants to slow starch degradation. They found one mutant that could not alter the rate at which it consumed starch in response to this situation. That suggests that the mutated gene, called PWD,?normally regulates this response, and may be an important player in the plant?s molecular calculations.?
Guti?rrez says that the concept of biological arithmetic division provides a simple modeling principle that can stimulate new ways of looking at metabolism, although he is not yet convinced that plants execute division in the way suggested by the model. ?Whether the plant is really doing that, I?m not sure,? he says. ?But it?s a fascinating approach.?
Over the last few days we've been hearing from several of our readers about WiFi instability on new Haswell-equipped MacBook Airs, which also happen to be Apple's first computers with 802.11ac. Despite those rare reports, the company's new laptops impressed us in our recent review with solid performance and incredible battery life. Today 9to5Mac learned that Apple is supposedly aware of the issue and working on a fix, while some customers have also reported getting their systems replaced. In the meantime, the company's apparently directed its Genius Bar employees to "capture" machines experiencing the problem -- i.e. return them to Cupertino for testing. We've contacted Apple for comment and will keep you posted if there's any official response.
Forget bulging muscles or a toned set of abs. If you really want to impress everyone on the beach this summer, a stunning sand castle is the way to go. And if your sculpting skills max out at Play-Doh snakes, these architectural sand castle molds will let you re-build the most stunning structures from past empires, ready to be lost to time once again once the tide rolls in.
At around $3 each you can complete the whole set for less than $20, and since they max out at just seven inches in size, they're perfect for crafting sandbox civilizations too. [Educational Toys Planet via Fancy]
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? The Taliban say they have hit one of the most secure areas of the Afghan capital with a suicide attack, as a series of explosion rocked the gate leading into the presidential palace.
Smoke rose from the eastern gate of the palace early Tuesday after more than a half dozen explosions and at least 45 minutes of on-and-off small arms fire.
The Taliban sent a quick text-message statement saying "we brought death to the enemy."
The palace is in a large fortified area of downtown Kabul that also includes the U.S. Embassy and the headquarters for the NATO-led coalition forces.
Reporters gathering for an event with President Hamid Karzai counted at least seven or eight explosions starting about 6:30 a.m.
I recently discovered a slew of super recipes at Delmonte.com ? each simple and special just the way I like them!
Below is one I think is perfect for a summer night.? Quick and easy to make, inexpensive to serve, and a meal the whole family will love!
I?m the third generation of women in my family, to enjoy and serve Delmonte products at my table.? I have always found the brand?s tagline of Quality to be true, and love that I can visit the Delmonte?s site for recipes and? inspirations for entertaining!
Santa Fe Wraps from
Prep time: 5 min | Cook time: 15 min Total Time: 20 min | Serves: 6
Ingredients
1 can (14.5 oz.) Del Monte? Diced Tomatoes-No Salt Added
1 can (15.25 oz.) Del Monte? Whole Kernel Corn-No Salt Added, drained
12 oz. lean ground beef
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 pkg. (3 oz.) low-fat cream cheese, cut up
6 (8-inch) flour tortillas
(Optional) 1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
(Optional) lettuce
(Optional) cheddar cheese
(Optional) salsa
Cooking Directions
1. Brown meat in large skillet; drain. Stir in undrained tomatoes, chili powder and cumin. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes. 2. Stir in corn, cream cheese and jalapeno; stir until cheese melts. Spoon mixture onto tortillas and roll up or fold. Serve with shredded lettuce, shredded cheddar cheese and salsa, if desired.
PRAGUE (Reuters) - The Czech coalition agreed on Saturday that the junior party can have the post of parliamentary speaker if the current one becomes prime minister in a reshuffle caused by a spying and bribery scandal.
The deal clears a potential hurdle for the three-party center-right coalition which hopes to avoid a snap election after Prime Minister Petr Necas resigned over the scandal.
It has put forward lower house speaker Miroslava Nemcova, from Necas's Civic Democrat party, to replace him.
President Milos Zeman, a leftist who has criticized the government, has the sole right to appoint a prime minister. He is holding meetings with party heads over the weekend before announcing a decision on Tuesday.
Zeman has not said if he will accept Nemcova or pick a leader of his choice. The opposition Social Democrats are pushing for a snap election - ahead of the one scheduled for May next year. Opinion polls indicate it would win easily.
Saturday's deal is a victory for the TOP09 party, which had hinted that it wanted the speaker's position as the price of sustaining the shaky coalition that has faced collapse several times since taking power in 2010.
"TOP09 should make the nomination and the coalition should stand behind it," Martin Kuba, acting Civic Democrat party leader, said in comments broadcast on Czech Television.
Police have charged eight people for offences including bribery and illegal spying on people including the prime minister's wife.
Necas's closest aide, Jana Nagyova, is charged with ordering illegal spying. Prosecutors also accuse her of offering bribes, in the form of posts at state companies, to three parliamentary deputies last year in exchange for abandoning a rebellion against the prime minister.
Necas himself has not been charged but his Civic Democrats have suffered a severe hit in popularity.
A lawyer for Nagyova, who is in custody, says she denies some of the allegations against her, while on others she argues that she acted in good faith.
(Reporting by Jason Hovet; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
A Chinese astronaut gave China its first physics lesson by video from space today, a required lesson for middle schools across the country.
By Peter Ford,?Staff writer / June 20, 2013
A student looks at his iPad as his class watches a live broadcast of a lecture given by Shenzhou-10 spacecraft astronauts on the Tiangong-1 space module, at a primary school in Quzhou, Zhejiang province June 20, 2013.
REUTERS
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It adds a whole new meaning to ?distance learning.?
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Beijing Bureau Chief
Peter Ford is The Christian Science Monitor?s Beijing Bureau Chief. He covers news and features throughout China and also makes reporting trips to Japan and the Korean peninsula.
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Chinese astronaut Wang Yaping gave a physics lesson by video from a space module orbiting more than 300 km (186 miles) above the earth?on Thursday.
She gulped a globule of water floating in the air, and pushed a fellow astronaut against the module?s wall with a touch of her finger, to illustrate the effects of weightlessness. Then she answered questions from a group of children gathered in a studio in Beijing watching the lesson on live TV.
The scene resembled a similar lesson that US elementary school teacher Barbara Morgan taught from the International Space Station in 2007. But this one had specifically Chinese characteristics.
The questions that the Chinese kids asked?on Thursday?were much like the questions that American kids asked six years ago. Do stars twinkle when you are in space? (No, because there is no atmospheric interference.) Have you seen any UFO?s? (?Not yet? was Ms. Wang?s answer to that one.)
But while Barbara Morgan and her colleagues participated in three low-key sessions with small groups of students in Idaho, Virginia, and Massachusetts, Wang?s class was broadcast nationwide on state TV?s premier channel and 60 million schoolchildren and teachers in 80,000 middle schools watched, according to China?s Education Ministry.
The ministry had ?issued instructions requiring middle schools to adjust their class schedules and organize students to watch? the lesson, according to its website.
The compulsory class reflected the importance that the Chinese government has attached to its ambitious space program. Beijing first sent a human into space only 10 years ago, but plans to build its own space station by 2020.
Beijing has more than just a technological interest in space. A few years ago, just before China launched its first lunar probe, the chief scientist for China's moon program, Ouyang Ziyuan, was blunt about its political purposes.
"Lunar exploration is a reflection of a country's comprehensive national power,? he said in an interview with the official newspaper People's Daily. ?It is significant for raising our international prestige and increasing our people's cohesion."
In cooperation with several partners, Siemens has created its second aircraft powered by an electric series hybrid drive system.
A formation mechanism of nanocrystalline cerium dioxide (CeO2), a versatile nanomaterial, has been unveiled by scientists from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.
Magnetic materials that change their properties when heated could pack more data on to hard drives 
On June 20, 2013, at 11:24 p.m., the sun erupted with an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection or CME, a solar phenomenon that can send billions of tons of particles into space that can reach Earth one to three days later.
Outcome of experimental Chlamydia infections points towards cancer
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Public release date: 28-Jun-2013
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Blue Star Recyclers ?received a social enterprise loan from the Beanstalk Foundation to expand its electronics recycling capabilities, just as a new law makes it illegal to dispose of electronic waste in Colorado landfills.
