SME Aerospace, Boeing And Spirit Aerosystems Host Meeting Of Regional Aerospace Suppliers In Malaysia

June 18, 2012 10:56 AM

SME Aerospace, Boeing And Spirit Aerosystems Host Meeting Of Regional Aerospace Suppliers In Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, June 18 (Bernama) -- SME Aerospace Sdn Bhd (SMEAe), Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems Malaysia Sdn Bhd hosted a conference last week in Malaysia for more than 100 executives from aerospace suppliers and related companies from 10 countries to strengthen business ties and advance Southeast Asia's aerospace capabilities.

The two-day conference on June 13-14 for General Managers for Southeast Asian suppliers included participants from Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as from China, India, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

The conference was a recognition of the region's increasing contribution to the global aerospace industry and provided a forum to support further development in Southeast Asia s aircraft component manufacturing industry.

Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir, Malaysia's Deputy Minister of International Trade & Industry, officiated at the two-day conference and provided the keynote speech.

In his speech, the Minister noted that the conference was highly significant in enhancing Malaysia s capability in the aerostructure s manufacturing industry. The theme of the event was "Developing Human Capital and Opening Communications between Aerospace Companies within the Region." Other speakers included officials from Boeing, Spirit Aerosystems Malaysia and Malaysian Government organisations such as MIDA, SME Corp and MIGHT. The objectives of the conference included establishing common practices and policies to maximize and capitalize on opportunities for companies' development and collaboration; providing networking opportunities to support supply chain integration and a common approach to aerospace manufacturing; and spurring market access, investment and productivity in Southeast Asia by facilitating collaboration among regional companies and governments.

"Boeing is pleased to support this conference because Southeast Asia's aerospace manufacturing industry has great potential for growth in capability and productivity," said Skip Boyce, president of Boeing Southeast Asia.

The conference provided a valuable opportunity for Boeing and participating companies to develop mutually beneficial relationships and establish best practices that will strengthen the industry in the region."

Suppliers from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam provide components for Boeing aircraft.

Read more:

SME Aerospace, Boeing And Spirit Aerosystems Host Meeting Of Regional Aerospace Suppliers In Malaysia

Busy aerospace agenda

Published: Monday, June 18, 2012, 12:01 a.m.

Those lucrative opportunities and what the state is doing to capitalize on them were topics of discussion for the Washington Council on Aerospace, which met Thursday. The council consists of representatives of industry and labor, and of commerce, education and state government.

"We are keenly focused on Boeing's intentions on the latest iteration of the 777 -- the 777X," said Alex Pietsch, who chairs the council and serves as the director of the governor's Aerospace Office.

Boeing officials have said they would go to the company's board of directors with a plan for refreshing the popular Everett-built 777 by year's end. Recently, however, Jim Albaugh, president of Renton-based Boeing Commercial Airplanes, indicated the company is more focused on developing a slightly larger version of the 787 before turning attention to the 777.

Pietsch indicated that the state might not need to pursue the 777X the way it did to land manufacture of the 737 MAX, Boeing's re-engined single-aisle jet. For that, the state had an outside research firm conduct a competitiveness study late last year, complete with recommendations for Washington. Boeing and the local district of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) inked a deal for keeping the MAX in Renton before the state implemented many of those recommendations. Continuing that effort could be the state's way forward on the 777X, Pietsch said.

The most immediate opportunity for Washington is the Farnborough International Airshow, held in July outside London. Jet makers like Boeing and Airbus typically make a splash at the show by announcing large orders for aircraft. But it's also a place for their suppliers to strike deals, as well.

Gov. Chris Gregoire will lead a trade delegation that includes 10 aerospace suppliers and three exhibitors, like the Center of Excellence for Aerospace and Advanced Manufacturing in Everett. More than 50 companies in the state also will be attending the air show but will have their own booths, said Monica Wiedrich of the state Commerce Department.

It's the largest contingent from Washington to attend Farnborough, which is held every other year, alternating with the Paris Air Show. Wiedrich said the governor is seeking to generate $10 million in long-term sales by participating.

Wiedrich, like Pietsch, also was enthusiastic about the state's opportunities in biofuels. Boeing and Airbus have both worked with airlines and research groups to come up with long-term, sustainable alternatives to oil. Boeing is interested in biofuel as a means to help stabilize fuel prices and to cut emissions, not as a new business segment, a company official told community leaders in Everett last week.

The state's opportunities in aerospace depend both on its ability to foster a steady supply of workers and to lobby for new business. The council has been focused on boosting education and aerospace training efforts over the past year. Lobbying has been left largely to the Washington Aerospace Partnership, in which Pietsch plays a role.

The rest is here:

Busy aerospace agenda

Medical school not only way Rutgers could improve

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) New Jersey state officials are working on rearranging the state's higher education system to give Rutgers control of a medical university in hopes that would help move the university, as former Gov. Tom Kean put it, from good to great.

Education experts see it as a step likely to help but hardly the only one the state's 246-year-old flagship university needs to take to become one of the nation's elite public universities.

They say the school needs to prioritize which departments will be targeted to try to attract top faculty; find ways to cut bureaucracy for undergraduates; and find ways to sell itself to the state's top high school students as a place they'll want to spend the next four years.

"Rutgers is a traditional, proud school that has the opportunity to become great," said Greg Brown, the chairman of Motorola Solutions and a Rutgers trustee.

Rutgers is known as a strong university. Two surveys that college officials follow by The Times of London and the Center for World-Class Universities at Shanghai Jiao Tong University both place it in the top 100 universities in the world. And several of Rutgers' graduate programs particularly in the humanities and social sciences were ranked highly by the latest U.S. News and World Report survey.

But several U.S. public universities rank ahead of Rutgers on those surveys. A handful, including the Universities of California-Berkeley, Washington and Michigan, consistently rank among the top 20 in the world.

It's that list that Rutgers officials seek to join.

"What you're going to see is a limited number of places around the country and around the globe will have critical mass to accomplish cutting-edge research," said Richard Edwards, the Rutgers vice president who is slated to be the university's interim president in July and August. "The whole point is not to be rated highly but what happens because of that research," Edwards said.

___

Those highest-ranked public universities in the U.S. all have medical schools.

The rest is here:
Medical school not only way Rutgers could improve

Control gene for 'conveyor belt' cells could help improve oral vaccines, treat intestinal disease

Public release date: 17-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Quinn Eastman qeastma@emory.edu 404-727-7829 Emory University

Scientists have found a master regulator gene needed for the development of M cells, a mysterious type of intestinal cell involved in initiating immune responses.

M cells act like "conveyor belts," ingesting bacteria and transporting substances from the gut into Peyer's patches, specialized tissues resembling lymph nodes in the intestines. Better knowledge of M cells' properties could aid research on oral vaccines and inflammatory bowel diseases.

A team of researchers at Emory University School of Medicine and RIKEN Research Center for Allergy and Immunology in Japan has identified the gene Spi-B as responsible for the differentiation of M cells.

The results are published Sunday, June 17 in the journal Nature Immunology.

"This discovery could really unlock a lot of information about the sequence of events needed for M cells to develop and what makes them distinctive," says co-author Ifor Williams, MD, PhD, associate professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at Emory University School of Medicine. "M cells have been difficult to study because they are relatively rare, they are only found within the Peyer's patches and can't be grown in isolation."

Scientists at RIKEN, led by senior author Hiroshi Ohno, MD, PhD, teamed up with Williams' laboratory, taking advantage of a discovery by Williams that a protein called RANKL, which is produced by cells in Peyer's patches, can induce M cell differentiation. Research scientist Takashi Kanaya is first author of the paper.

Kanaya and colleagues found that the gene Spi-B is turned on strongly at early stages of M cell differentiation induced by RANKL. Their suspicion of Spi-B's critical role was confirmed when they discovered that mice lacking Spi-B do not have functional M cells, and the cells in the intestines lack several other markers usually found on M cells.

"It was somewhat surprising to find Spi-B expressed in intestinal epithelial cells," Williams says. "Because Spi-B is known to be important for the development of some types of immune cells, it was thought to be expressed only in bone marrow-derived cells."

Read more from the original source:
Control gene for 'conveyor belt' cells could help improve oral vaccines, treat intestinal disease

Travel: North Fork offers wilder side of Glacier Park

This Aug. 7, 2011 photo shows old tools and antlers on display at Polebridge Mercantile, the general store in Polebridge, Mont., a mile from the northwestern entrance to Glacier National Park. The Polebridge Mercantile, known for its bakery goods made daily, is where park visitors go to pick up food and other supplies for their trips into the parks North Fork. (AP Photo/Ron Zellar) (Ron Zellar)

POLEBRIDGE, Mont. - The Blackfeet Tribe named the greater Glacier National Park ecosystem "the backbone of the world." Use the park's remote northwestern entrance and the bumpy access road will have you feeling like you drove over each vertebra.

But you'll be grateful you made the trip.

For an out-of-the-mainstream take on the country's 10th national park, go to its northwestern expanse, the North Fork. It invites "a more self-reliant visitor," the National Park Service says in its Glacier literature.

The North Fork doesn't have the grand old lodges like those near Glacier's principal gateways, but this piece of paradise isn't without comforts.

Rustic, tasty and memorable, they are in Polebridge, a mile from the park's northwestern entrance. This off-the-grid community increasingly reliant on solar power is the hub for an area where the summer population numbers maybe a few hundred, up from five to 10 in the winter.

Get a cabin, stay in a hostel or overnight in a teepee. At the Northern Lights Saloon, bite into burgers - choose beef or elk - or try specials such as trout with dill sauce. Next door at the Polebridge Mercantile, bakers daily turn out bread, cookies, brownies and cinnamon rolls that would draw customers anywhere, but seem doubly delicious in an outpost like this.

People find their way to the North Fork for hikes in the spectacular wilds of the Northern Rockies, to recreate on water and to camp.

"Glacier park is world- renowned as a wilderness park, and the wildest part of Glacier is the North Fork," says Will Hammerquist, Glacier program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association. "You can feel the wilderness around you. That's a big part of why people go there."

Camping in the backcountry requires permits from the National Park Service. The places for car camping are next to alpine lakes. Guides take rafters through the relatively mild rapids of the North Fork of the Flathead River, and the hiking trails cross miles of rugged land. Like trails elsewhere in Glacier, they are in grizzly bear habitat. The Park Service's recommended precautions include not hiking alone.

Follow this link:

Travel: North Fork offers wilder side of Glacier Park

Royal Oak Veterinarian Dr. Simon First in Michigan to Offer In-House Adult Pet Stem Cell Therapy

ROYAL OAK, Mich., June 17, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Woodside Animal Hospital announced they have added both stem cell therapy and cold laser therapy to their suite of services. These two cutting edge treatments are done entirely in-house, no third-party lab work is required. Royal Oak veterinarian Dr. John Simon is the first Michigan veterinarian to provide pets with in-house adult stem cell therapy. The stem cells are derived from the pet's fat deposits and absolutely no embryonic tissue is used.

"As a holistic veterinarian, I am committed to providing high quality, cutting-edge care that combines traditional veterinary care with advanced holistic treatments," said Dr. Simon. "Our in-house stem cell therapy and cold laser therapy procedures alleviate pain in limping dogs and promote internal healing following an injury. I also recommend these procedures for pets with osteoarthritis."

Cold laser therapy is a non-surgical approach to pain management. Holistic equine veterinarians have used the procedure for over 20 years to treat injuries and joint pain. Today, veterinarians are using cold laser therapy to provide natural pain relief for injured pets.

According to Dr. Simon, cold laser therapy works by using a low-level energy beam to penetrate just below the skin's surface. Injured cells use the laser's energy to repair cellular damage. This provides relief for pain and swelling following a soft tissue injury, such as a ligament, tendon or muscle strain.

"Cold laser therapy is a revolutionary treatment for natural pain management in animals," said the Royal Oak veterinarian. "Laser therapy allows for advanced pain management, especially for pets suffering from chronic conditions or soft tissue injuries."

Woodside Animal Hospital also provides in-house pet stem cell therapy. This treatment uses adult stem cells collected from a dog's fat deposits to promote the growth of new soft tissue and cartilage. By performing the whole procedure in the clinic, the stem cells can be harvested and re-injected on the same day.

"Our in-house pet stem cell therapy is an affordable, same-day treatment that helps dogs suffering from joint pain, osteoarthritis, soft tissue injuries and hip dysplasia," said Dr. Simon. "As pets age, it's natural that their range of movement becomes restricted. While oral joint care supplements and prescription painkillers can help, medication alone cannot restore a full range of movement. Our treatments help restore activity and movement."

In addition to cold laser therapy and stem cell therapy, Dr. Simon also provides holistic treatments for cancer in dogs, cat and dog rashes, and dietary needs. The Royal Oak practice is a full-service animal hospital with wellness care, vaccinations and surgical procedures.

Dr. Simon is active in the greater Detroit veterinary community, serving as the past president of the Oakland County Veterinary Medical Association and as a board member for the Southeastern Michigan Veterinary Medical Association (SEMVMA).

See the article here:

Royal Oak Veterinarian Dr. Simon First in Michigan to Offer In-House Adult Pet Stem Cell Therapy

China's Space Flight: Wow or Meh?

China's latest launch of three astronauts puts the country on a firm space footing. That's impressiveand not.

HE YUAN / EPA

Liu Yang, Liu Wang, and Jing Haipeng, the three astronauts for the space voyage on the spacecraft Shenzhou-9, salute before their departure at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan in northwest China's Gansu province on June 16, 2012.

There are a lot of reasons to be both very impressed and very unimpressed by Chinas announcement that it successfully launched a three-person crew into space todaya crew that included Liu Yang, 33, the countrys first female astronaut. Before 2003, China had never conducted any manned launch at all. That year they put one astronaut in orbit; in 2005 they lofted a two-man crew; in 2008 it was three menplus a spacewalk. Last year they launched Tiangong-1, an unmanned space station, that the new crew will attempt to dock with this week. So just like that: the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Skylab programs in four deft vaults. The Great Leap Forward was never like this.

But what about those Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Skylab programs? Chinas been in the manned space game for nine years now and has managed four successful launches. The U.S. flew six Mercury missions from 1961 to 1963; ten Geminis in the 20 months from March 1965 to November 1966; and elevenApollos from 1968 to 1972. In the nine months from Oct. 1968 to July 1969 alone, we popped off the first five Apollosincluding three visits to the moon and the first landing. The fact that China lofted a female astronaut so early in its space program is a very good thingbut that achievement comes a whopping 49 years after the U.S.S.Rs Valentina Tereshkova first made space travel a Title IX sport.

(MORE: And We Have Lift Off! A Historic Family Day at Chinas Space City)

Dont lose sight either of the fact that the U.S. and U.S.S.R. were inventing the systems and the flight techniques pretty much on the fly. Its a familiar joke that before Yuri Gagarin became the first human being in space in 1961, people didnt know whether or not a human beings eyeballs would explode in zero-g. But the fact is,people didnt know whether or not a human beings eyeballs would explode in zero-g. The spacecraft, the spacesuits, the ability to rendezvous, dock, walk in space, reenter safelyevery bit of it was new.

China is standing on the shoulders of those long-ago giantsas is the U.S. private sector as it tries to crack open the space travel industry itself. You have every reason to be proud if youre able to summit Mt. Everest, but dont kid yourself: you aint Sir Edmund Hillary.

Much more important though than the fact that China is able to travel in space is the fact that its decided to. The most resonant phrase in Pres. Kennedys 1962 speech speech at Rice University committing the U.S. to a manned lunar landing before the end of the decade was, We choose to go to the moon. JFK speechwriter Ted Sorensen may have beenin the words of Bernard Malamuds The Naturalthe best there ever was, the best there ever will be. He knew the power of the carefully curated verb, and choose said everything. The U.S. has chosen to dither in space (at least in the manned portion of the program) for the better part of 40 years now. The Soviets chose to blow their entire social and political system up 20 years agoan admittedly very good decisionand have been a bit too busy and a lot too poor for an ambitious space program since. That left a big void, and no other wealthy, technologically advanced nation chose to step into it. Props to China for having the spine to do it. But whether it will continue to reel off the successes is very much an open question.

(MORE: China Prepares to Send First Female Astronaut into Space)

See more here:

China's Space Flight: Wow or Meh?

Bolden’s Two Stops at SpaceX on This Week @NASA – Video

16-06-2012 14:45 NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden pays congratulatory visits to the facilities Space Exploration Technologies in Texas and California following the company's teams for the successful round-trip of the company's Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station. Dragon demonstrated its ability to maneuver and berth to the ISS, then make its safe return to Earth. Also, Garver opens robotics challenge; chasing dreams at Langley; record-breaking engine test; networking for the future; new site for Curiosity; NuSTAR makes orbit; and more.

Continued here:

Bolden's Two Stops at SpaceX on This Week @NASA - Video

NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 16 June 2012

ISS On-Orbit Status 06/16/12

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below. Saturday - Crew off duty.

After wakeup, Sergei Revin performed the routine inspection of the SM (Service Module) PSS Caution & Warning panel as part of regular Daily Morning Inspection.

FE-5 Andr Kuipers conducted the regular (~weekly) inspection & maintenance, as required, of the CGBA-4 (Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus 4) and CGBA-5 payloads in their ERs (EXPRESS Racks) at Lab O2 & O1, focusing on cleaning the muffler air intakes.

The six Exp-31 crewmembers joined in conducting the regular weekly three-hour task of thorough cleaning of their home, including COL (Columbus Orbital Laboratory) and Kibo JPM (JEM Pressurized Module). ["Uborka", usually done on Saturdays, includes removal of food waste products, cleaning of compartments with vacuum cleaner, damp cleaning of the SM dining table, other frequently touched surfaces and surfaces where trash is collected, as well as the sleep stations with a standard cleaning solution; also, fan screens and grilles are cleaned to avoid temperature rises. Special cleaning is also done every 90 days on the HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) bacteria filters in the Lab.]

As part of Uborka house cleaning, Oleg completed regular weekly maintenance inspection & cleaning of fan screens in the FGB (TsV2) plus Group E fan grilles in the SM (VPkhO, FS5, FS6, VP).

FE-2 Revin handled the routine daily servicing of the SOZh system (Environment Control & Life Support System, ECLSS) in the SM. [Regular daily SOZh maintenance consists, among else, of checking the ASU toilet facilities, replacement of the KTO & KBO solid waste containers, replacement of EDV-SV waste water and EDV-U urine containers and filling EDV-SV, KOV (for Elektron), EDV-ZV & EDV on RP flow regulator.]

In the JAXA JPM (JEM Pressurized Module) at F5, Andr Kuipers terminated the loading of the ER-4 RIC (EXPRESS Rack 4 Rack Interface Controller) with new software, shutting off and breaking down the A31p & ER-4 T61p laptop computers, reconfiguring the T61p and reactivating it.

After closing the window shutters in the Cupola to establish good thermal control environment for IR (Infrared) operations, Don Pettit used the EVA IR camera to take thermal imagery of the Cupola windows. Window heater on/off switching was performed by MCC-H ground control.

In the MRM2 Poisk module, Gennady Padalka continued the twice-daily checking of vacuum/pressure conditions in the Plasma Chamber of the KPT-21 PK-3+ Plasma Crystal-3+ (Plazmennyi-Kristall-3 plus) Telescience payload. [The PK-3+ equipment comprises the EB (Eksperimental'nyj Blok) Experiment Module with a turbopump for evacuation, Ts laptop, video monitor, vacuum hoses, electrical circuitry, four hard storage disks for video, and one USB stick with the control application. The experiment is performed on plasma, i.e., fine particles charged and excited by HF (high frequency) radio power inside the evacuated work chamber. Main objective is to obtain a homogeneous plasma dust cloud at various pressures and particle quantities with or without superimposition of an LF (low frequency) harmonic electrical field. The experiment is conducted in automated mode. PK-3+ has more advanced hardware and software than the previously used Russian PKE-Nefedov payload.]

Go here to see the original:

NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 16 June 2012

[Miku Hatsune] This is the Happiness and Peace of Mind Commitee [English Subtitles] – Video

16-06-2012 12:10 I recommend you smile, for your own safety. Also, if you are wondering who Undine/Ondine is, scroll below for some notes. This neat song immediately caught my attention last night. It is one of most "different" songs I've heard in awhile. I've never been the biggest fan of dystopian or "horror" style Vocaloid music but this one is pretty cool. After getting trolled by the opening you get to hear "Big Brother Miku" proselytizing in front of roaring brainwashed crowds, set to some awesome eletrorock style music...it's pretty sweet. Hearing Miku say "Minna sama no shiawase ga, wareware no shiawase" (Your happiness, is our happiness) is just sooo perfect! Especially when it's also made by one of the great producers, t.komine/UtataP. Translation Notes: -OK So about Undine/Ondine. This creature/person is a water elemental/water nymph of Greek and German legend. They supposedly sing with a beautiful voice and seek to marry a human to gain a soul. However in some stories, like the unfortunate German knight mentioned in the song, those who are unfaithful to an undine are cursed with death. While it's a bit abstract here, you can see how this fits with the song. The Ondine/Miku character is singing with her beautiful voice (spreading the message of "happiness") and if she is not obeyed and her subjects do not remain faithful, well, she'll kill them. Seems simple enough 🙂 (More info: -Some fellow Japanese-readers will probably want to point out that ?????? ...

View post:

[Miku Hatsune] This is the Happiness and Peace of Mind Commitee [English Subtitles] - Video

Do You Mind? Craft! Introduction – Video

17-06-2012 07:38 Just a little intro I made for my upcoming lett's play series which I should be uploading shortly. Please don't hate on my videos because it does take up a lot of my time to make them and compress them, not to mention uploading them. I hope you enjoy this series and if you do, feel free to like, comment or even subscribe so you never miss an episode!

See original here:

Do You Mind? Craft! Introduction - Video

Knee Joints are Now Being Treated with Regenerative Medicine at the Center for Regenerative Medicine

"The knee joint is now being treated with regenerative medicine at he center for regenerative medicine." according to A.J. Farshchian MD an orthopedic regenerative practitioner at the center for regenerative medicine.(PRWEB) June 17, 2012 "The knee joint is now being treated with regenerative medicine at he center for regenerative medicine." according to A.J. Farshchian MD an orthopedic ...

Go here to read the rest:

Knee Joints are Now Being Treated with Regenerative Medicine at the Center for Regenerative Medicine

Medical school not only way Rutgers could improve

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) Rutgers University may take over much of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey as part of a reconfiguration of higher-education in New Jersey.

Experts say that would probably help with the goal of making it into one of the nation's top public universities, but there is more to be done.

They say the school also needs to prioritize which departments will be targeted to try to attract top faculty. And, it needs to cut bureaucracy for students and do a better job of promoting itself.

The university is working on those areas.

For instance, it's using money from a capital campaign to endow chairs in some key departments.

The shifts for the university come just as a new president is to be sworn in.

Excerpt from:

Medical school not only way Rutgers could improve

Liberty Theater hosting summer activities

MURPHYSBORO The historic Liberty Theater will be the cure to every kids summer complaint, theres nothing to do!

Kids ages 12 and under may participate in the Childrens Talent Show from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday, June 23.

Kids that enjoy tap dancing, guitar playing, tune singing or have any other talent, the historic Liberty will be the place to go and show. Registration deadline is Saturday, June 16 with rehearsal from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, June 21.

For more information on the Childrens Talent Show call Lois Murphy at 618-684-5880.

At 1 p.m. every Wednesday during the summer, the historic Liberty Theater will offer a kids movie on the big screen. $1 concessions will be available and admission is by donation. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult. Proceeds benefit the on-going restoration project of the Liberty.

For more information call 618-684-5880.

Go here to read the rest:

Liberty Theater hosting summer activities

Off Beat: Terms not disclosed

June 16, 2012 11:24:12 PM

The days of railing against "taxpayer-supported schools" are over. And so, it appears, are the days of Freedom Newspapers, later known as Freedom Communications.

The final shoe dropped last Monday with announcement of the sale of the final chunk of the media empire cobbled together by Raymond Cyrus Hoiles.

Fittingly, there was no government bailout for Freedom. Banks, repositories of dollars, got the government largesse. Newspapers, repositories of ideas, were left to fend for themselves.

There was no Newspaper Preservation Act this time around to save "failing" newspapers.

It was sink or swim. A devil's brew of family feuding, an economic collapse and the quickening shift of reading habits from print to digital proved too powerful for Freedom to overcome.

As for Hoiles, who died in 1970, his newspapers were the Santa Ana Register (now Orange County Register) and everything else, including this one.

Back in the early part of the 20th century, Hoiles could see the future in mostly small markets, where his newspapers could grow along with the population of readers, most of whom went through those "taxpayer-supported schools."

The newspapers' guiding philosophy was a simple one: Libertarianism. He was a tea party guy before there was the tea party.

Five years ago, long after Hoiles' death, he was still being extolled, in a way, on the Reason.com website, where Libertarian ideas live on.

Read the original:

Off Beat: Terms not disclosed

Falkland Islands lifted by economy

Thirty years after Britain liberated the Falkland Islands from Argentinian occupation, the islanders are keen not to solely be defined by the events of 1982.

On the anniversary of the end of the war, Falklanders stood side by side with the veterans who fought for their freedom and said they wanted to show the loss of 255 British servicemen and three Falklanders were not in vain.

During last week's visit to the islands Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne was shown parts of the island's successful fishing and farming industries, their improved education system and witnessed their passion for self-determination.

But it is the prospect of local oil and gas industries that is potentially the most significant and kicking up a storm in the South Atlantic.

It is one of the reasons Britain believes Argentina has been ratcheting up the rhetoric over the territory it calls Las Malvinas and has been trying to implement an economic blockade on the isolated islands.

Argentina's president Cristina de Kirchner took her country's claim to the Falkland Islands to the United Nations on the 30th anniversary of Britain's ousting of an Argentinian invasion force from the Falklands.

However, Prime Minister David Cameron sent a clear message there would be "no negotiation" on the Falklands and warned that Britain would defend the territory by force again if necessary.

The legacy of the Falklands conflict has been political freedom and physical security, but it is the hard work and ingenuity of the islands people and their fishing industry that has provided an economic boom and prosperity.

The Falklands' economy is "booming with significant government surplus", Governor Nigel Haywood said during his state of the nation annual speech to the Legislative Assembly in May.

This was based on an excellent year for the fishing industry, higher prices for wool and meat plus the Tourism Strategy, aimed at increasing the number of tourists and transforming the industry. But it is the discovery of potentially lucrative oil and gas reserves around the Falklands that could radically transform the country's economy. It would also mean the islands are well-placed to economically withstand pressure placed on them by the G20 country.

Continued here:

Falkland Islands lifted by economy