Obama Prods Nations on Religious Freedom

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Feb 6, 2014 11:32am

Speaking at the annual National Prayer Breakfast this morning, President Obama vowed to promote religious freedom around the world, arguing that freedom of religion matters to our national security.

Around the world freedom of religion is under threat, he told the non-denominational gathering of political leaders. We see governments engaging in discrimination and violence against the faith. We sometimes see religion twisted in an attempt to justify hatred and persecution against other people just because of who they are, how they pray or who they love.

History shows that nations that uphold the rights of their people, including the freedom of religion, are ultimately more just and more peaceful and more successful. Nations that do not uphold these rights sow the bitter seeds of instability and violence and extremism, he said.

The president said that in meetings he has urged the leaders of China, Burma, Nigeria, and others, to protect the rights of religious minorities.

Ive made the case that no society can truly succeed unless it guarantees the rights of all of its peoples, he said. So promoting religious freedom is a key objective of U.S. foreign policy.

Obama went on to call for the release of prisoners being held for their religious beliefs, including Kenneth Bae, the Christian missionary being held in North Korea, and Pastor Saeed Abedini, who is imprisoned in Iran.

As we pray for all prisoners of conscience, whatever their faiths, wherever theyre held, lets imagine what it must be like for them. We may not know their names, but all around the world there are people who are waking up in cold cells, facing another day of confinement, another day of unspeakable treatment, simply because they are affirming God, he said. Despite all theyve endured, despite all the awful punishments if caught, they will wait for that moment when the guards arent looking and when they can close their eyes and bring their hands together and pray.

Reflecting on his own faith, the president noted that the event is a chance to put aside party labels and recall what we are first: all children of a loving God, brothers and sisters called to make his work our own.

Here we give thanks for his guidance in our own individual faith journeys. In my life he directed my path to Chicago and my work with churches who are intent on breaking the cycle of poverty in hard-hit communities there. And Im grateful not only because I was broke and the church fed me, but because it led to everything else, he said.

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Obama Prods Nations on Religious Freedom

Obama: Freedom of Religion Is Under Threat

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President Barack Obama said religious freedom is under threat, and highlighted the plight of two American Christians held in North Korea and Iran.

In his address to the National Prayer Breakfast, an annual gathering of lawmakers and numerous faith leaders, Mr. Obama said its clear that around the world freedom of religion is under threat. He said the U.S. works with countries that dont live up to Americas standard of religious tolerance and pointed to China as an example. He said Americas relationship with the Chinese is important to the world but said that he stresses in meetings with Chinese leaders the need to uphold universal rights for Christians, Tibetan Buddhists and others.

Nations that do not uphold these rights sow the bitter seeds of instability and violence and extremism. So freedom of religion matters to our national security, he said.

He cited North Korea, where Christian-American missionary Kenneth Bae has been held for more than a year because of his and was recently sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for unspecified hostile acts. The U.S. has sought his release and Mr. Obama vowed the United States will continue to do everything in our power to secure his release, because Kenneth Bae deserves to be free.

Mr. Obama also mentioned Pastor Saeed Abedini, who was arrested in Iran for his efforts to spread Christianity and sentenced to eight years in prison on national security charges. As we continue to work for his freedom, today, again, we call on the Iranian government to release Pastor Abedini, so he can return to the loving arms of his wife and children in Idaho, the president said.

Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R., N.H.) was quick to tweet her approval. Appreciate POTUS prayers this AM for Americans Kenneth Bae & Saeed Abedini imprisoned in North Korea & Iran-we pray for their release.

On the Mideast, Mr. Obama said the U.S. has made clear to Israelis and Palestinians that lasting peace will require freedom of worship and access to holy sites for all faiths.

Mr. Obama, a Christian, told the gathering that Gods teachings led him to do community service in Chicago and to his wife, Michelle. His faith, he said, led me to public service, and the longer I serve, especially in moments of trial or doubt, the more thankful I am of Gods guiding hand.

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Obama: Freedom of Religion Is Under Threat

To Catch a Killer Gene: Sisters Race to Stop Mystery Disease

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Days before she ended her pregnancy, Joselin Linder was thrilled to imagine herself as a parent. She was 37, newly-married, and though her baby-to-be wasnt planned, it was soon deeply desired. Maybe its that I played with dolls until I was so old I had to play with them in my closet, she says. But it seemed inevitable that I would one day be a mother.

Linder is not a mother today, more than a year later, because she had an abortion at 10 weeks. She still wanted the childwanted to call it George, perhapsbut she feared she would pass along the disease that killed her father in mid-life, practically fusing his organs and ballooning his body. She and her sister Hilary inherited the same unnamed illness, but as with most of the thousands of inheritable diseases known to science, there is no cureexcept for stopping the affected bloodline.

Its an agonizing form of prevention the Linder sisters have turned to four times combined. Theyve had three abortions, and in 2009, Hilary and her husband paid $20,000 out of pocket for a round of in vitro fertilization aimed at creating an unaffected embryo. The gene has killed five people in the Linder family, and it now threatens the sisters themselves. But if they have their way, it will die out in their generation.

I think thats a big deal, says Joselin, who lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. I think weve done something amazing with this particular gene.

The Linders story is personal, of course, but its also a public milestone. Its the first known example of genetic medicine not only identifying a deadly new mutationakin to the next Huntingtons or Cystic Fibrosisbut of a family banding together to stop a disease before it cuts a path through society itself. It illustrates the promise of genomic medicine, which may one day stop disease as we know it, but also the soul-troubling questions that arise when people have a hand in their own evolution.

America is experiencing a boom in biological fortune-telling. Doctors can now scan the genes of a fetus using only a drop of the mothers blood, testing for hundreds of known mutations, including Down syndrome. Soon theyll be able to detect a growing list of rare mutationsalmost none of them treatableand predict an embryos risk of more common ailments like diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. By that point, millions of pregnant women will be offered a God-like view of their child-to-be and a decision much like the Linders, a decision as miraculous as it is unnerving: When is a life worth living?

The family gene, as Joselin calls it, surfaced in the late 1980s, when her father William came home from a family trip complaining of swollen legs and strange fatigue. He waved it off as jet lag, but the swelling spread and the fatigue deepened. He was 40, vibrant and fit, a busy doctor in Columbus, Ohio. But within a couple years he was forced into semi-retirement, hardly able to take the stairs.

Im very, very sick, he told Joselin, who was then 17, and surprised to see her father start to cry. In the years that followed, his body filled with a creamy white fluid, which doctors pumped out by the liter. He got rounder, but lighter, his muscles withering even as something in his belly grew.

He moved into Brigham and Womens Hospital, a Harvard-affiliated facility in Boston, where he confounded some of the countrys best doctors. In his records, which Joselin shared with NBC News, a series of gobsmacked specialists noted puzzling resultsan occult malignancysomething brewing. None could come up with a diagnosis, however, let alone a cure.

William Linder died a medical mystery in September of 1996, his autopsy revealing a body both starved and bloated. The cause of death was officially unknown. His daughters visited him often, right to the end, shuffling ICU visits into their college schedules. They never suspected that they were getting a preview of their own genetic destiny.

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To Catch a Killer Gene: Sisters Race to Stop Mystery Disease

Hino and DENSO Jointly Develop the World's First Electric Refrigerator System for Heavy-duty …

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Refrigerator System for Heavy-duty Trucks Using a Hybrid Unit

HINO & KARIYA (Japan) - Hino Motors, Ltd. (Hino) and DENSO Corporation (DENSO) have jointly developed the world's first electric refrigerator system for heavy-duty trucks using a hybrid unit. This system is used in the Hino Profia, which will be released on Feb. 1, in Japan.

With the combination of Hino's hybrid powertrain system technology and DENSO's electric refrigerator system technology, the two companies have developed a high-quality refrigerator system that helps improve fuel economy, improves refrigeration performance, and is quieter when operating.

Hybrid trucks conventionally use energy generated from hybrid systems to assist the vehicle's driving. However, this new truck uses energy from hybrid unit only for the new electric refrigeration system, which saves fuel.

Heavy-duty refrigerated trucks typically require an auxiliary engine or need to use their main engine power to operate the compressor of the refrigerator. The newly developed electric refrigerator system uses energy generated while driving or regenerated energy from the hybrid unit to operate the refrigerator's compressor. This substantially reduces the amount of fuel normally used to drive the engine to operate the compressor, thus reducing CO2 emissions as well.

Compared to refrigerated trucks that use an auxiliary engine to operate the compressor, the new system is quieter, and contributes to an approximately 150kg weight reduction because it does not need an auxiliary engine.

In addition, compared with those having the main engine-driven compressor system, the new truck can operate the refrigeration compressor at a constant rotational speed using the energy supplied from hybrid system, which stabilizes the refrigeration performance and quality regardless if the truck is moving or stopped.

Trucks with main engine-driven compressor systems need to have separate refrigerator components in the engine compartment, under the floor panel, and in other places. However, the new truck uses a new integrated refrigeration unit that includes an electric compressor, condenser, and other devices. This simplified structure uses fewer tubes and wires and also is easier to maintain.

The new refrigerator system includes a stand-by unit that can be connected to an external 200-volt power source so the refrigerator temperature can be maintained while the engine off for a long period of time. The stand-by unit also has a timer function, which can pre-freeze the refrigerator room without the driver's operation. This helps reduce fuel consumption and manpower costs.

The Hino Profia with an electric refrigerator system reduces the amount of fuel required to operate its refrigerator. The new truck's fuel efficiency exceeds Japan's 2015 fuel efficiency standards by 5 percent. Moreover, as standard features, the Hino Profia has advanced safety systems including an enhanced pre-crash safety system (PCS* 1) designed to support drivers to prevent rear-end collision with vehicle in motion ahead, a lane-departure warning system that issues an alarm at a more appropriate timing, and a driver monitoring system that provides more precise detection. Thus, the Hino Profia is a heavy-duty truck that achieves greater environmental and safety performance.

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Hino and DENSO Jointly Develop the World's First Electric Refrigerator System for Heavy-duty ...

Local Eco-Friendly Gym Gets National Recognition

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GOLETA, Calif. -

Two local gyms are doing their part to reduce energy use and one facility caught the eye of a national magazine.

From pedal power, to weights, gyms are a place for people to get in shape, drop a few pounds and now generate electricity while building up a sweat.

University of California Santa Barbara's recreation center has five stationary bikes that actually pump energy back into the grid.

"I think it's a great idea. It's eco-friendly. If they could do this to more of the machines it could supply energy to the whole establishment," said student Greyson Schultz.

Other machines at the recreation center are powered only by the people on them and do not plug into an outlet.

"I know all the students who come in, kind of a new generation, that's their focus," said Bruce Hansen, the recreation center general manager.

AC4 Fitness owner Tony Calhoun has been in the gym business for three decades. He said a lot has changed, and he is glad to be on the cutting edge.

"Technology is becoming more and more available across the nation, if not the world," said Cahoun.

The AC4 Fitness gyms in both Goleta and Santa Barbara use ReRev on all the ellipticals. It converts workouts into useable energy.

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Local Eco-Friendly Gym Gets National Recognition

Eco-villagers prepare for next stage of green energy research project

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A consortium of researchers led by Heriot-Watt University has been awarded 2.8 million Euros (2.3 million) to develop a 'smart energy hub' which will attempt to synchronise the demand for energy within a neighbourhood to the availability of locally generated renewables.

ORIGIN Research Project

The ORIGIN research project, led by Dr Edward Owens of the Institute of Infrastructure and Environment in the School of the Built Environment, is being funded by the European Commission and will be piloted over three years in Findhorn and in eco-villages in Portugal and Italy.

Dr Owens will be working with researchers from the University of Strathclyde, as well as Universities in Germany, Spain and Portugal, to develop a community scale energy management system.

Dr Owens said, "Thousands of householders and businesses have installed renewable energy systems in the last few years. However, often the energy is not generated at times of peak demand, finding a way to match periods of supply with periods of demand will create much more efficient energy systems."

Dr Owens added, "The system will forecast renewable energy supply and energy demand, at both individual building and community levels. Groups of buildings in a community will then be connected via our smart energy hub and a series of energy controllers in each building.

"Residents will then be asked to plan when they use energy, such as using hot water or a washing machine, to maximise the uptake of community-generated renewable electricity. They will also be able to read 'recommendations' from the community hub to inform them when locally generated energy is available for them to use."

The Findhorn Community

Initially the system will be demonstrated at around 75 homes and public buildings at the Findhorn Community in Moray. They will benefit from the new system, as well as another 100 homes and public buildings across the two eco-villages in Portugal and Italy.

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Eco-villagers prepare for next stage of green energy research project

Tenean Beach needs major fixes, agency findings make clear

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Dorchesters Savin Hill and Malibu beaches have seen maintenance improvements, but Tenean Beach is still in need of major upgrades, according to the preliminary findings in a report on the 14 beaches along Boston Harbor that was shared at a meeting at UMass Boston on Saturday by the Commission of Metropolitan Beaches.

Paul Polito, 61, who lives on Parkman Street in Fields Corner, remembers swimming in the water at Savin Hill and Malibu Beach when he was a kid and the water quality was horrible.

Now a member of the Dorchester Yacht Club, Polito said that while the MBC has helped clean up the two beaches over the past five years, he still sees issues that need to be addressed, such as restricted water flow into Savin Hill Cove. Were having problems with the water quality. Thats what causes the beach closures, the bacteria, he said.

Eileen Boyle, a member of the Columbia Savin Hill Civic Association and a resident of Auckland Street, was also present at the regional meeting. She said she is very happy with what has happened under the MBCs watch. Im impressed with the work that has been done through community efforts, she said.

Still, she has concerns about the long-term goals of the MBC and how the planned improvements to Morrissey Boulevard, which frequently closes due to overflows at high tides, will affect the waterfront. She is also concerned with environmental issues surrounding the beaches, citing the yacht club as a source of pollution. I dont think they look at the beaches from our point of view. They just look at it for recreational use, she said, referring to members of the club who live outside of the Dorchester area.

Paul Nutting, the Savin Hill Shores commissioner for the MBC, said he has attended all of the meetings concerning the harbor beaches and still sees Tenean as an area in need of major care, primarily from opinions delivered by Port Norfolk, Clam Point, and Popes Hill residents. Brian Leahy was the primary advocate for that beach and since he died no one has stepped in his shoes to fill that role, said Nutting. Leahy was a member of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority and was active in the Dorchester community.

Nutting said the communitys interest in the Shaffer Paper site in Port Norfolk under the MBTA bridge that crosses the Neponset River is good, but has taken attention away from the problems surrounding Tenean Beach. The paper company site will become a park under plans being worked on by the Department of Conservation and Recreation, which owns the land.

Adams Street resident Elle Spring, a member of the Neponset Greenway Council, said she would like to see some attention shifted from the Shaffer Paper site to the upkeep of Tenean as well. Its a forgotten beach, she said, citing sand erosion, a flooded parking lot, and a lack of accessibility as reasons why the beach has been ignored by communities in Dorchester. Spring said she usually travels to the other beaches in Dorchester or to South Bostons Castle Island during the summer instead of staying at Tenean. It would be my neighborhood beach, but it cant be, she said.

The MBC is planning to release its full report on the harbor beaches this spring. The preliminary paper can be read at savetheharbor.org/MBC2013/.

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Tenean Beach needs major fixes, agency findings make clear