The Goal of Libertarianism
Belleporte Institute member George Meyers discusses the Goal of Libertarian, what it is, how it works and how to use it.
By: WisconsinLibertarian
Here is the original post:
Should Libertarians Celebrate MLK Day? – Video
Should Libertarians Celebrate MLK Day?
Murray N. Rothbard put it well: "Scratch an egalitarian, and you will inevitably find a statist... ... flying in the face of their former supposed devotion to the absolute rights of private property, the libertarian movement has embraced almost every phony and left-wing "right" that has been manufactured in recent decades. ...I told two well-known leaders of the movement that I thought it had become infected with and permeated by egalitarianism...Further, I said that a good indication of this infection was a new-found admiration for the Reverend "Doctor" Martin Luther King. Absurd, they said. Well, interestingly enough, six months later, both of these gentlemen published articles hailing "Dr." King as a "great libertarian." To call this socialist, egalitarian, coercive integrationist, and vicious opponent of private-property rights, a someone who, to boot, was long under close Communist Party control, to call that person a "great libertarian," is only one clear signal of how far the movement has decayed. ...there is one excellent litmus test which can set up a clear dividing line between genuine conservatives and neoconservatives, and between paleolibertarians and what we can now call "left-libertarians." And that test is where one stands on "Doctor" King... ...Throughout the Official Libertarian Movement, "civil rights" has been embraced without question, completely overriding the genuine rights of private property... ...Part of #39;social tolerance, #39; of course, is ...
By: LibertarianRealist2
More:
Libertarian Self-Marginalization – Video
Libertarian Self-Marginalization
"A libertarian movement that dismisses the public #39;s concerns about very real problems, apparent to anyone with eyes in their head, with doctrinaire denials that they exist or can exist, is a libertarian movement doomed to irrelevance." Online article: c4ss.org
By: c4ssvideos
See the article here:
Libertarian Party of Texas 2012 Campaign – Video
Libertarian Party of Texas 2012 Campaign
LPTexas2012_Fund
By: Patrick Dixon
Follow this link:
[27 Sept, 2012] US back of from Diaoyu Islands NOW! – Video
[27 Sept, 2012] US back of from Diaoyu Islands NOW!
#39;All territories Japan had stolen from the Chinese, shall be restored to china, it is illegal and irresponsible, #39; said William Cheung. NTAS demands that, firstly, The US Government to stop immediately supporting any acts by the Japanese Government to violate China #39;s territorial sovereignty. Secondly, The US Government has to urge Japan to get out of the Diaoyu Islands and stop the Invasion.
By: NTAS1985
Read the original post:
Blown Cash Cayman Islands – Video
Blown Cash Cayman Islands
Chris and Pete van der Bol running "Blown Cash" in the North Sound, Cayman Islands Boat is a 21 foot Jet Drive Daytona Eliminator Motor is a 540 Cubic Inch Merlin Big Block,Dart Heads,671 Blower with 850 Holley Carbs 840 HP 110 MPH all day long 🙂 For Sale email petevanderbol@gmail.com
By: Pete van der Bol
Continued here:
Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge, West Virginia 2009 USFWS 7min CC – Video
Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge, West Virginia 2009 USFWS 7min CC
The Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge (ORINWR) is a National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in non-contiguous sites consisting of islands along 362 miles (583 km) of the Ohio River, primarily (85% of acreage) in the US state of West Virginia. There are also a couple of islands upstream...
By: spotlightwv
See the original post:
Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge, West Virginia 2009 USFWS 7min CC - Video
Mentawais Islands , Indonesia, (Hollowtrees) June 2011. – Video
Mentawais Islands , Indonesia, (Hollowtrees) June 2011.
An epic trip to the Mentawai islands of the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia June 2011. Hollowtrees was pumping. Filmed from the boat on a Nikon D7000, and from the water on a GOPRO.
By: Hollowpits
Original post:
Mentawais Islands , Indonesia, (Hollowtrees) June 2011. - Video
China criticizing US remarks over disputed islands in East China Sea – Video
China criticizing US remarks over disputed islands in East China Sea
In Beijing, the Chinese government has rebuked US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her backing of Japan #39;s administration over East China Sea islands which are at the center of a row between China and Japan. The remarks came after a visit to the US by Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida. During the trip, Hilary Clinton said Washington is opposed to any unilateral action by China that seeks to undermine Japan #39;s administration. Follow our Facebook on: http://www.facebook.com Follow our Twitter on: twitter.com
By: PressTVGlobalNews
Original post:
China criticizing US remarks over disputed islands in East China Sea - Video
Clinton is distorting islands dispute with Japan, says bearish China
BEIJING: China has accused the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, of presenting a distorted picture of its dispute with Japan over islands in the East China Sea.
The Foreign Ministry said Mrs Clinton ''ignores the facts and confuses right and wrong'' in a short description of the situation at a news conference in Washington on Friday.
The unusual objection, released as Mrs Clinton prepares to step down as secretary of state, appears to have been prompted by a new phrase she used in an otherwise standard reference to the worsening feud between China and Japan.
With Japan's Foreign Minister, Fumio Kishida, standing beside her, Mrs Clinton said the Obama administration opposed ''any unilateral actions that would seek to undermine Japanese administration'' of the islands, known as Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan.
Advertisement
The reference to unilateral actions was interpreted in the Japanese media as meaning the US was unhappy with China's recent actions in the East China Sea.
In the past few months, both China and Japan have sent civilian vessels to the waters around the uninhabited islands.
On January 10, China ordered a surveillance aircraft to fly near the area. In response, Japan scrambled F-15 fighter jets and China dispatched J-10 fighter jets in turn.
Under a longstanding security treaty with Japan, the US is obliged to defend the country, including the uninhabited islands, a position Mrs Clinton referred to at the news conference.
She also repeated that Washington recognised that the islands were administered by Japan. China insists its claim to the islands is supported by historical documents.
Read this article:
Clinton is distorting islands dispute with Japan, says bearish China
China blasts US over islands
Zhang Yunbi and Cai Hong
China Daily
Publication Date : 21-01-2013
Asks Washington to be 'responsible' and 'choose its words carefully'
Beijing yesterday blasted Washington's latest intervention in the Diaoyu Islands issue, warning the US to be "responsible" and "choose its words carefully".
The warning came as Beijing prepared to receive a high-ranking member of the governing coalition in Tokyo who will reportedly deliver a letter "aimed at improving ties".
But sending messengers to Beijing will be of little value, observers warned, if Washington's support for Tokyo's stance risks the situation getting out of control. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday revealed Washington's lack of neutrality when she said the islands were "under the administration of Japan", a phrase that China rejects.
Clinton told reporters after meeting with visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida that the US opposes "any unilateral actions" that would seek to undermine Japan's "administration", a remark observers see as clearly backing Japan.
Go here to read the rest:
China monitors Japanese ships around Diaoyu Islands
Beijing, Jan 21 (IANS) A Chinese marine surveillance fleet continued patrolling around the Diaoyu Islands Monday and monitored Japanese ships that entered the islands' waters.
The vessels -- Haijian 137, Haijian 23 and Haijian 46 -- followed and engaged in surveillance of the Japanese ships, solemnly declared China's sovereignty over the islands and sought the Japanese ships' immediate departure from the area, China Daily quoted the state oceanic administration as saying.
Last year, surveillance ships carried out 58 patrol missions in the South China Sea over its territorial waters off the disputed Diaoyu Islands to secure the nation's maritime rights and interests.
The islands are called "Diaoyu" in China but "Senkaku" in Japan. The row over the islands, which are presently controlled by Japan, has left ties between Tokyo and Beijing highly tense.
Japan claims occupying the islands since 1895, while China maintains the islands were recognised as Chinese territory as early as 1783.
The islands, which are also claimed by Taiwan, potentially contain large reserves of hydrocarbons.
Visit link:
Argentina attacks Falkland Islands referendum
"A referendum in which the colonists will take part, the descendants of those who evicted the true inhabitants of those islands, means a disrespect to intelligence and to national and international law," Mr Boudou said on Sunday.
"No brand of pirates will get hold of the sovereignty and dignity of the Argentine Republic," added Mr Boudou, who ha been in charge of the executive during President Cristina Kirchner's trip to Asia.
The Government of the Falkland Islands has arranged for outside observers to monitor the referendum in order to prove it is free and fair.
The announcement comes after defence chiefs drew up new contingency plans designed to scupper any possible hostile action by Argentina, which could include a stunt by radical elements.
Mrs Kirchner's overseas tour concludes on Monday in Vietnam.
She has repeatedly called for Britain to honour a 1965 United Nations resolution to start negotiations over the Falkland Island's sovereignty.
Prime Minister David Cameron has dismissed Kirchner's demands for the "return" of the Falkland Islands insisting its people have shown "a clear desire to remain British".
Read more from the original source:
China anger at US islands remarks
21 January 2013 Last updated at 08:07 ET
China's foreign ministry has strongly criticised the US for backing Japan's control of a disputed group of islands in the East China Sea.
Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said the view, expressed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, "neglects the facts".
Mrs Clinton had warned that the US opposed any action that would undermine Japanese administration of the islands.
The row over the islands, called Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan, has left ties between Tokyo and Beijing tense.
In her comments on Friday following a meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, Mrs Clinton said the US did not take an official view on the sovereignty of the islands.
But she said Washington opposed "any unilateral actions that would seek to undermine Japanese administration".
"We want to see China and Japan resolve this matter peacefully through dialogue."
"We do not want to see any action taken by anyone that could raise tensions or result in miscalculation that would undermine the peace, security and economic growth in this region."
In Monday's regular briefing to journalists, Mr Hong said the US "bears undeniable historical responsibility on the Diaoyu issue".
Read the original:
Insurance health care exchange legislation clears for legislative committee
By ECM on January 21, 2013 at 12:31 pm
by T.W. Budig ECM Capitol reporter
Insurance health care exchange legislation cleared its first legislative committee with Democratic leaders wanting the complex bill signed by the governor and out the door by the end of March.
A Senate committee on a party-line vote Thursday (Jan. 17) advanced Sen. Tony Loureys exchange bill, touching off a flurry of committee hearings in the Senate on the states alternative to a federal insurance exchange.
Senators Bruce Anderson, R-Buffalo Township, Alice Johnson, DFL-Spring Lake Park, and Bev Scalze, DFL-Little Canada, listen to insurance exchange testimony in committee. (Photo by T.W. Budig)
The House is expected to hold its first exchange committee hearing this week.
Minnesota is one of 18 states that has conditional approval from the federal government to launch its own insurance exchange.
Speed is part of the bargain.
Because insurance companies must be allowed six months to prepare products to sell in the exchange, a one-stop marketplace where consumers can browse for the best buy, the state exchange must be state law by the end of March.
Enrollment is scheduled to begin Oct. 1, with plan coverage starting the first of the year.
Read more:
Insurance health care exchange legislation clears for legislative committee
Albertans support private health care services more than other canadians
CALGARY, Jan. 21, 2013 /CNW/ - Alberta is the only part of Canada where half the population would welcome increased private delivery of health care services, according to a survey conducted by EKOS Research Associates for The Conference Board of Canada's Canadian Alliance for Sustainable Health Care.
Many publicly funded health care services already are delivered through private enterprises, but Canadians were asked if they believe that allowing more private delivery would improve health care in Canada (by encouraging the public sector to become more efficient and relieving pressure on the public organizations), or whether they felt that this would worsen health care (by diverting limited resources from the public system).
In Alberta, 48 per cent of respondents agreed with the statement that prospect of private delivery of health care services could improve efficiency and reduce wait times, while 48 per cent said that allowing private services will cause the public system to deteriorate.
Nationally, 60 per cent of respondents believe that allowing private services will cause the public system to deteriorate and only 36 per cent of respondents were supportive of increased private care delivery.
"Private health care encompasses many different ideas, including out-of-pocket payments for services and health care services delivered by private practitioners, clinics and other institutions. These results show that private delivery of health care is still contentious in the country," said Louis Thriault, Director, Health Economics. "Albertans appear more open to the idea than the rest of Canada."
Opposition to increased private health care service delivery exceeded 60 per cent in each of Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces, and reached 56 per cent in British Columbia and the Territories and 55 per cent in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
Nationally, support for some private delivery of health services is higher among men than women. Support for private delivery increases as income rises. While only 25 per cent of respondents making $20,000 or less supported increased private delivery, 43 per cent of those making $100,000 or more approved of it.
EKOS Research Associates conducted the study to update and refine our understanding of Canadian views on health and the health care system. The methodology for this study involved a nationally representative survey of 2,036 Canadians 18 years of age and older. In May 2012, EKOS surveyed 534 Canadians by telephone and 1,502 respondents completed the survey online. The sample source for this study was members of the EKOS panel, which was specifically designed for online/telephone surveys.
The study was supported by the Canadian Medical Association, Accreditation Canada and the Conference Board's Canadian Alliance for Sustainable Health Care (CASHC). Launched in 2011, CASHC is a five-year Conference Board program of research and dialogue. It will delve deeply into facets of Canada's health care challenge, including the financial, workplace, and institutional dimensions, in an effort to develop forward-looking qualitative and quantitative analysis and solutions to make the system more sustainable.
As part of the CASHC initiative, the Conference Board is hosting the Western Summit on Sustainable Health in Edmonton on May 22-23.
Original post:
Albertans support private health care services more than other canadians
Health Care M&A Spending Falls Nearly 40% in 2012, Lowest Year on Record since 2003, According to Irving Levin …
NORWALK, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
In 2012, dealmakers committed $143.3 billion to finance the years activity in the health care merger, acquisition and takeover market. Although sizable, that total represents a 38% decline compared with the $231.0 billion spent in 2011. Last year ranks ninth out of the last 10 years in dollar volume, with only 2003s $94.2 billion coming in lower.
In terms of the number of health care deals announced, however, the year was one of the busiest in the past decade, with 1,063 deals, up 5.9% compared with 2011s 1,004. 2012 ranked second only to 2007, when 1,079 deals were announced. Both the technology and services sectors showed a modest gain in deal volume compared with 2011: the number of deals in the technology sector rose 2.0% and services increased by 8.9%.
Source: Irving Levin Associates, January 2013
Despite the uneven performance, some health care sectors turned in break-out performances, particularly on the services side. Home Health and Hospice recorded a 20.7% gain in deal volume (to 35 deals vs. 2011) and a whopping 1872.1% in dollar volume (to $5.7 billion vs. 2011). Typically deals in this sector are small, and conducted between private companies, so many deals, terms and prices are not made public. The question of Medicare reimbursement continues to hover, but with the Affordable Care Act beginning to take effect and more and more Baby Boomers expecting home health care services, this sector is poised for even higher growth.
Another sector that experienced high growth was Physician Medical Groups, although the number of deals in 2012 fell 37.0% compared with 2011, the dollar value of those deals shot up 845.6%, to $4.4 billion, thanks to the $4.2 billion acquisition of HealthCare Partners, Inc. by DaVita Inc. The strong recovery this sector has made since the recession ended is predicated on fact that a lot of hospital and medical systems are buying doctors groups as a way to control costs in the face of Affordable Care Organizationsand they want to lock in physician referrals to their own facilities. From the physicians perspective, receiving a steady salary and not dealing with reimbursement bureaucracies is becoming more and more attractive.
In addition, M&A deal and dollar volumes in the Behavioral Health Care sector grew 30.8% and 230.6%, respectively, compared with the previous year. Much of the 2012 growth is attributable to one public company, Acadia Healthcare Company, Inc. making five large dealsthe smallest was $33.4 millionfor in-patient facilities around the country. This usually quiet sector may see a lot more activity in the future, now that mental health issues have gained national attention and addiction has lost much of its stigma.
The fact that the number of M&A transactions was so high, despite the drop in dollar volume, indicatesa strong case of market breadth with buyers going after more strategic deals and not the blockbusters, stated Stephen M. Monroe, partner at Levin Associates.
By contrast, the technology sectorincluding Biotechnology, eHealth, Medical Devices and Pharmaceuticalssaw a substantial slide in announced deal value, down 41.6% for the sector overall compared with 2011. Medical Devices were hardest hit, declining 62.0% to $25 billion from $65.7 billion the year before. With the new federal tax on medical devices now in place, companies will be looking to pass the higher cost on to their customers, who will pass it along to patients and their payors. But start-up and early-stage medical devices are still attracting venture capital interest, so the pipeline will stay full and some may make it through FDA approval to marketand the M&A market.
Health care M&A activity will stay strong through 2013 as the services sector particularly looks forward to welcoming many more insured patients once the Affordable Care Act fully takes effect on January 1, 2014, said Lisa E. Phillips, editor of The Health Care M&A Report. The technology side could make a good comeback as the FDA issued a record number of approvals in 2012 and as those drugs and devices come to market. Biotech and Pharma are definitely on the media radar, as rumors are already swirling about potential targets and takeovers.
Read more:
Genetic Engineering Advertisement – Video
Genetic Engineering Advertisement
Just a little video for my Genetic Engineering assignment PS there #39;s a presentation part to this too. Subscribe! 🙂
By: CommaDproductions
See the article here:
Light shed on complexity of gene therapy for congenital blindness
Jan. 21, 2013 Independent clinical trials, including one conducted at the Scheie Eye Institute at the Perelman School of Medicine, have reported safety and efficacy for Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), a congenital form of blindness caused by mutations in a gene (RPE65) required for recycling vitamin A in the retina. Inherited retinal degenerative diseases were previously considered untreatable and incurable. There were early improvements in vision observed in the trials, but a key question about the long-term efficacy of gene therapy for curing the retinal degeneration in LCA has remained unanswered.
Now, new research from the Scheie Eye Institute, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds that gene therapy for LCA shows enduring improvement in vision but also advancing degeneration of affected retinal cells, both in LCA patients and animal models of the same condition.
LCA disease from RPE65 mutations has two-components: a biochemical blockade leading to impaired vision, and a progressive loss of the light-sensing photoreceptor cells throughout life of the affected patient. The authors of the new study explain that until now gene therapy has been optimistically assumed, but not proven, to solve both disease components at the same time.
"We all hoped that the gene injections cured both components -- re-establishing the cycle of vision and also preventing further loss of cells to the second disease component" said Artur V. Cideciyan, PhD, lead author and co-investigator of an LCA clinical trial at Penn.
Yet, when the otherwise invisible cell layers of the retina were measured by optical imaging in clinical trial participants serially over many years, the rate of cell loss was the same in treated and untreated regions. "In other words, gene therapy improved vision but did not slow or halt the progression of cell loss," commented Cideciyan.
"These unexpected observations should help to advance the current treatment by making it better and longer lasting," commented co-author Samuel G. Jacobson, MD, PhD, principal investigator of the clinical trial. "Slowing cell loss in different retinal degenerations has been a major research direction long before the current gene therapy trials. Now, the two directions must converge to ensure the longevity of the beneficial visual effects in this form of LCA."
In a continuation of the longstanding collaboration between the Scheie investigators and the Section of Ophthalmology at Penn School of Veterinary Medicine headed by co-authors Gustavo D. Aguirre, VMD, PhD, and William A. Beltran, DVM, PhD, studies were performed to test whether the clinical results were also present in the canine model of this LCA at disease stages equivalent to those in human patients.
"Our gene treatment in this canine model provided the groundwork for the clinical trials of patients, and now we added data to confirm the fact that retinal degeneration does continue despite improved vision" said Aguirre. "The next step is to perform the relevant experiments to ask what intervention will stop the degeneration if added to the gene therapy."
"These new findings contribute to greater clarity in understanding the natural history and complexity of the RPE65 form of LCA and provide a firm foundation for future investigations," said Joan M. O'Brien MD, professor and chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and director of the Scheie Eye Institute.
Co-authors, in addition to the Penn researchers include, William W. Hauswirth, PhD, professor of Ophthalmology, at the University of Florida, Gainesville.
See the article here:
Light shed on complexity of gene therapy for congenital blindness
Study Sheds Light on the Complexity of Gene Therapy for Congenital Blindness
New Discoveries Provide a Path to a More Complete Cure with Gene Therapy Treatment
Newswise PHILADELPHIA - Independent clinical trials, including one conducted at the Scheie Eye Institute at the Perelman School of Medicine, have reported safety and efficacy for Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), a congenital form of blindness caused by mutations in a gene (RPE65) required for recycling vitamin A in the retina. Inherited retinal degenerative diseases were previously considered untreatable and incurable. There were early improvements in vision observed in the trials, but a key question about the long-term efficacy of gene therapy for curing the retinal degeneration in LCA has remained unanswered. Now, new research from the Scheie Eye Institute, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds that gene therapy for LCA shows enduring improvement in vision but also advancing degeneration of affected retinal cells, both in LCA patients and animal models of the same condition.
LCA disease from RPE65 mutations has two-components: a biochemical blockade leading to impaired vision, and a progressive loss of the light-sensing photoreceptor cells throughout life of the affected patient. The authors of the new study explain that until now gene therapy has been optimistically assumed, but not proven, to solve both disease components at the same time.
We all hoped that the gene injections cured both components re-establishing the cycle of vision and also preventing further loss of cells to the second disease component said Artur V. Cideciyan, PhD, lead author and co-investigator of an LCA clinical trial at Penn.
Yet, when the otherwise invisible cell layers of the retina were measured by optical imaging in clinical trial participants serially over many years, the rate of cell loss was the same in treated and untreated regions. In other words, gene therapy improved vision but did not slow or halt the progression of cell loss, commented Cideciyan.
These unexpected observations should help to advance the current treatment by making it better and longer lasting, commented co-author Samuel G. Jacobson, MD, PhD, principal investigator of the clinical trial. Slowing cell loss in different retinal degenerations has been a major research direction long before the current gene therapy trials. Now, the two directions must converge to ensure the longevity of the beneficial visual effects in this form of LCA.
In a continuation of the longstanding collaboration between the Scheie investigators and the Section of Ophthalmology at Penn School of Veterinary Medicine headed by co-authors Gustavo D. Aguirre, VMD, PhD, and William A. Beltran, DVM, PhD, studies were performed to test whether the clinical results were also present in the canine model of this LCA at disease stages equivalent to those in human patients.
Our gene treatment in this canine model provided the groundwork for the clinical trials of patients, and now we added data to confirm the fact that retinal degeneration does continue despite improved vision said Aguirre. The next step is to perform the relevant experiments to ask what intervention will stop the degeneration if added to the gene therapy.
These new findings contribute to greater clarity in understanding the natural history and complexity of the RPE65 form of LCA and provide a firm foundation for future investigations, said Joan M. OBrien MD, professor and chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and director of the Scheie Eye Institute.
Co-authors, in addition to the Penn researchers include, William W. Hauswirth, PhD, professor of Ophthalmology, at the University of Florida, Gainesville.
Read the rest here:
Study Sheds Light on the Complexity of Gene Therapy for Congenital Blindness