Yemen PM says government imminent, U.N. warns on civilians (Reuters)

SANAA (Reuters) ? Yemen's new prime minister said on Tuesday that an interim government intended to pull the country back from the brink of civil war would be formed in the next 48 hours.

The announcement came as forces opposing and loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh pulled back from some positions in the southern city of Taiz, after a bout of fighting there killed at least 20 people.

The violence has threatened to derail the formation of the government, a key element a Gulf-brokered deal to end Saleh's 33-year rule.

Mohammed Basindwa, a former foreign minister representing opposition parties who are to split cabinet posts with Saleh's party, told Reuters he expected the government to be agreed on Wednesday night or the following day.

Basindwa last week said the opposition's commitment to the power transfer depended on ending the bloodshed in Taiz, a hotbed of protests against Saleh.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a bloc of Yemen's richer neighbors, shares U.S. fears that the struggle over Saleh's fate could lead to chaos and embolden al Qaeda's Yemeni branch.

On Tuesday the belligerents withdrew from some positions they held in the city, some 200 km (120 miles) south of the capital Sanaa, leaving residents to survey the devastation.

"The two sides are fighting a guerilla war. I lost all three of my businesses in 48 hours," said Mahmoud Hamid Sharaf, a merchant speaking outside his warehouse of computer equipment.

He said fighters from the Republican Guard, a unit led by Saleh's son, had fought from the warehouse before looting it.

A committee tasked with implementing a ceasefire between the two sides moved through streets littered with buses wrecked by artillery shells, heaps of burning rubbish and shops with windows blown out by gunfire and shelling.

"We are trying desperately to de-militarize the city, to persuade the army to return to their barracks and the tribesmen to go back to their villages, if this doesn't happen, Taiz will pay the price in blood," a member of the committee said.

The fighting came as the coalition of opposition parties that signed the power transfer deal with Saleh last month said they had agreed on their candidates for an interim government.

Opposition figures have warned formation of a government could founder if the other side puts forth names linked to gross abuses during the attempt to crush protests against Saleh, who would enjoy immunity from prosecution under the transition deal.

The government is to see Yemen through to presidential elections which Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, the vice president to whom Saleh has transferred his powers, has set for February 21.

Any post-Saleh government would face multiple challenges including resurgent separatist sentiment in the south, with which Saleh's north fought a civil war in 1994 following their unification under his rule four years earlier.

The region is the site of conflict between government forces and Islamist fighters who have seized chunks of an entire province, displacing as many as 100,000 people.

The United Nations voiced concern on Tuesday about the deteriorating situation in Yemen despite the signing of the GCC deal nearly two weeks ago and called on all factions in Yemen on Tuesday to cease attacks on civilians.

(Additional reporting by Tom Finn; Writing By Nour Merza; Editing by Joseph Logan and Maria Golovnina)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/un/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111206/wl_nm/us_yemen_un

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Final Space Shuttle Commander Leaving NASA (SPACE.com)

The last astronaut to command the space shuttle is retiring from NASA, the space agency announced today (Dec. 5).

Astronaut Chris Ferguson, who commanded the final mission of NASA's 30-year space shuttle program in July, will retire from the space agency on Friday (Dec. 9).

According to NASA, Ferguson is leaving to accept a new job in the private sector.

"A tough decision to leave folks, but good things await... and I get to stay in the business," Ferguson wrote on Twitter soon after his pending departure was announced today.

Neither NASA nor Ferguson revealed where he would be working next.

"Chris has been a true leader at NASA, not just as a commander of the space shuttle, but also as an exemplary civil servant, a distinguished Navy officer and a good friend," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement. "I am confident he will succeed in his next career as he brings his skill and talents to new endeavors." [Photos: NASA's?Last Shuttle Mission?in Pictures]

An astronaut since 1998, Ferguson first flew in space as the pilot of shuttle Atlantis on the STS-115 mission in 2006. During the flight, he and his crewmates delivered portions of the International Space Station's backbone to extend the outpost's truss structure.

Ferguson next commanded shuttle Endeavour in 2008. During that STS-126 mission, Ferguson and his crew delivered water recycling and habitation hardware to the station, and dropped off a new long-term resident for the orbiting laboratory, bringing home the astronaut she replaced.

His third and last flight to space was also the final mission for the space shuttle program. During the 13-day STS-135 mission, Ferguson and his crew delivered approximately 10,000 pounds of supplies and spare parts to the space station to help outfit it for the post-space shuttle era.

In total, Ferguson logged 40 days, 10 hours and four minutes in space.

On the ground, Ferguson served as a spacecraft communicator, or capcom, in Mission Control, and from November 2009 to September 2010, was deputy chief of the Astronaut Office at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

"Chris has been a great friend, a tremendous professional and an invaluable asset to the NASA team and the astronaut office," Peggy Whitson, chief of the Astronaut Office, said. "His exceptional leadership helped ensure a perfect final flight of the space shuttle, a fitting tribute to the thousands who made the program possible."

In addition to his formal roles in the Astronaut Office, Ferguson also played the drums in the all-astronaut band "Max Q."

Since landing shuttle Atlantis on July 21, Ferguson and his STS-135 crewmates completed a tour of NASA facilities and public venues to share their mission stories and express their thanks to those who helped make the mission ? and the shuttle program ??a success. Their tour ended last month with a visit to the White House and then a photo shoot with the crew of the first shuttle mission.

"We're done," Ferguson told the Houston Chronicle in early November. "Everyone goes their separate ways right now. From the crew office standpoint, the shuttle program is over."

Ferguson?s departure from NASA follows a number of his fellow shuttle astronauts who have left over the past few months, including Steven Lindsey and Mark Kelly, who commanded the final flights of shuttles Discovery and Endeavour, respectively.

To compensate for these departures and to meet the needs of the International Space Station and other post-shuttle space exploration programs, NASA began recruiting for a new class of astronaut candidates on Nov. 15. The space agency expects to hire between nine and 15 new trainees by March 2013.

These astronauts will continue to ride to the space station aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft, until a commercial American vehicle is ready to fly them. The new astronaut class could also be among the first people to fly on NASA's planned missions to an asteroid in 2025 and to Mars in the mid 2030s.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/space/20111205/sc_space/finalspaceshuttlecommanderleavingnasa

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Annals of Internal Medicine tip sheet for Dec. 6, 2011

Public release date: 5-Dec-2011
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Angela Collom
acollom@acponline.org
215-351-2653
American College of Physicians

1. Prevalence of Knee Pain Could be Linked to Surge in Total Knee Replacements

Rates of total knee replacement surgery doubled in the United Kingdom between 1991 and 2006 and increased 8-fold in the United States between 1979 and 2002. Researchers hypothesized that aging and increased obesity could be to blame. Using survey data from six NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) surveys between 1971 and 2004 and three examination periods in the FOA (Framingham Osteoarthritis) Study between 1983 through 2005, researchers studied the trend in prevalence of knee pain and symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. The goal was to assess whether age, obesity, and knee osteoarthritis (detected by radiography) explain the trend. A U.S. population representative sample of study participants reported knee pain more frequently in recent years. This knee pain was unexplained by changes in age and body mass index, and radiography in the Framingham study did not find more reports of knee osteoarthritis. The researchers conclude that increasing knee pain or an increased awareness of knee pain, but not increased radiographic osteoarthritis, seem to accompany the rising frequency of total knee replacements.

---

2. Single Dose Flu Shot Proven to Protect Pregnant Women and Their Infants from Swine Flu

Pregnant women have increased morbidity and mortality from flu, especially during pandemic years. In 2009, the influenza strain A(H1N1), or swine flu, reached pandemic levels, putting pregnant women and their babies at substantial risk. Researchers studied 107 pregnant women between 22 and 32 weeks of gestation to determine if vaccine for the 2009 strain of H1N1 administered during pregnancy could protect mother and child from infection. Nearly all women who received a single dose of a nonadjuvant 2009 H1N1 vaccine in their second and third trimesters of pregnancy tested positive for protective antibodies. Antibody measures found in cord blood samples from 95 percent of the infants were also at a level considered protective. The researchers conclude that a single dose of influenza vaccine administered to women during pregnancy should protect both mothers and their newborns from this common and potentially dangerous strain of swine flu.

---

3. No Difference in Efficacy Among Second-generation Antidepressants

Treatment decisions may depend on patient preference for dosing, side effects, and cost

Major depressive disorder, or MDD, will affect more than 16 percent of adults during their lifetime. Typically, drugs are prescribed to treat symptoms of MDD. The majority of antidepressants prescribed are second-generation drugs, which differ from each other in pharmacologic action. Researchers reviewed 234 published studies to compare the benefits and harms of second-generation antidepressants used to treat MMD in adults. The research showed no clinically important differences in efficacy among the medications. However, differences did exist in onset of action, dosing regimens, and adverse effects. Physicians should base prescribing decisions on patient preferences regarding possible side effects, convenience of dosing regimens, and cost.

###

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 5-Dec-2011
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Angela Collom
acollom@acponline.org
215-351-2653
American College of Physicians

1. Prevalence of Knee Pain Could be Linked to Surge in Total Knee Replacements

Rates of total knee replacement surgery doubled in the United Kingdom between 1991 and 2006 and increased 8-fold in the United States between 1979 and 2002. Researchers hypothesized that aging and increased obesity could be to blame. Using survey data from six NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) surveys between 1971 and 2004 and three examination periods in the FOA (Framingham Osteoarthritis) Study between 1983 through 2005, researchers studied the trend in prevalence of knee pain and symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. The goal was to assess whether age, obesity, and knee osteoarthritis (detected by radiography) explain the trend. A U.S. population representative sample of study participants reported knee pain more frequently in recent years. This knee pain was unexplained by changes in age and body mass index, and radiography in the Framingham study did not find more reports of knee osteoarthritis. The researchers conclude that increasing knee pain or an increased awareness of knee pain, but not increased radiographic osteoarthritis, seem to accompany the rising frequency of total knee replacements.

---

2. Single Dose Flu Shot Proven to Protect Pregnant Women and Their Infants from Swine Flu

Pregnant women have increased morbidity and mortality from flu, especially during pandemic years. In 2009, the influenza strain A(H1N1), or swine flu, reached pandemic levels, putting pregnant women and their babies at substantial risk. Researchers studied 107 pregnant women between 22 and 32 weeks of gestation to determine if vaccine for the 2009 strain of H1N1 administered during pregnancy could protect mother and child from infection. Nearly all women who received a single dose of a nonadjuvant 2009 H1N1 vaccine in their second and third trimesters of pregnancy tested positive for protective antibodies. Antibody measures found in cord blood samples from 95 percent of the infants were also at a level considered protective. The researchers conclude that a single dose of influenza vaccine administered to women during pregnancy should protect both mothers and their newborns from this common and potentially dangerous strain of swine flu.

---

3. No Difference in Efficacy Among Second-generation Antidepressants

Treatment decisions may depend on patient preference for dosing, side effects, and cost

Major depressive disorder, or MDD, will affect more than 16 percent of adults during their lifetime. Typically, drugs are prescribed to treat symptoms of MDD. The majority of antidepressants prescribed are second-generation drugs, which differ from each other in pharmacologic action. Researchers reviewed 234 published studies to compare the benefits and harms of second-generation antidepressants used to treat MMD in adults. The research showed no clinically important differences in efficacy among the medications. However, differences did exist in onset of action, dosing regimens, and adverse effects. Physicians should base prescribing decisions on patient preferences regarding possible side effects, convenience of dosing regimens, and cost.

###

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-12/acop-enf112911.php

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Periodic table to welcome two new elements

Livermorium and flerovium could soon occupy the 114 and 116 spots on the periodic table of the elements. The names for the elements, which were synthesized a decade ago, were announced Thursday by?the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.

Chemistry's periodic table can now welcome livermorium and flerovium, two newly named elements, which were announced Thursday (Dec. 1) by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. The new names will undergo a five-month public comment period before the official paperwork gets processed and they show up on the table.

Skip to next paragraph

Three other new elements?just recently finished this process, filling in the 110, 111 and 112 spots.

All five of these?elements are so large and unstable?they can be made only in the lab, and they fall apart into other elements very quickly. Not much is known about these elements, since they aren't stable enough to do experiments on and are not found in nature. They are called "super heavy," or Transuranium, elements.

The newly named elements fit in the 114 and 116 spots, down in the lower-right corner of the periodic table, and were officially?accepted to the periodic table?back in June. They originally were synthesized more than 10 years ago, after which repeat experiments led to their confirmation.

Elements 113, 115, 117 and 118 have also been synthesized at Russia's Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, located in Dubna, Russia (about two hours drive from Moscow), but their creation hasn't been confirmed by the International Union yet. Once they have been confirmed, they will also have to go through the naming and public-commenting periods.

Both livermorium and flerovium were also synthesized at the same Russian lab, where Russian researchers were working with American researchers from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. ?

Element 114, previously known as ununquadium, has been named flerovium (Fl), after the Russian institute's Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions founder, which similarly is named in honor of Georgiy Flerov (1913-1990), a Russian physicist. Flerov's work and his writings to Joseph Stalin led to the development of the USSR's atomic bomb project.

The researchers got their first glimpse at flerovium after firing calcium ions at a plutonium target.

Element 116, which was temporarily named ununhexium, almost ended up with the name moscovium in honor of the region (called an oblast, similar to a province or state) of Moscow, where the research labs are located. In the end, it seems the American researchers won out and the team settled on the name livermorium (Lv), after the national labs and the city of Livermore in which they are located. Livermorium was first observed in 2000, when the?scientists created it by mashing together?calcium and curium.

"Proposing these names for the elements honors not only the individual contributions of scientists from these laboratories to the fields of nuclear science, heavy-element research, and super-heavy-element research, but also the phenomenal cooperation and collaboration that has occurred between scientists at these two locations," Bill Goldstein, associate director of Lawrence Livermore National Labs' Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, said in a statement.

The names for the next batch of super-heavy atoms is still up for grabs, perhaps moscovium will make a comeback.?

You can follow LiveScience staff writer Jennifer Welsh on Twitter @microbelover. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter?@livescience?and on?Facebook.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/3TIFJmdoWjw/Periodic-table-to-welcome-two-new-elements

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Contest Winners: Pad & Quill, POP Handset, Flick Quarterback, Muud.io

If there’s one thing TiPb loves even more than iPhones and iPads, it’s giving cool iPhone and iPad accessories and apps to our awesome readers. This week we have… Pad & Quill Octavo and Contega for iPad Octavo: @krysty_lyn on Twitter, Alli Flowers on Facebook Contega:

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/W2yOWx1pXRk/story01.htm

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Saudi report claims women at wheel will have sex

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) ? A Saudi rights activist says a report given to a high-level advisory group claims that women in the kingdom will have options for premarital sex if allowed to drive.

The ultraconservative stance suggests increasing pressure on King Abdullah to retain the kingdom's male-only driving rules.

Rights activist Waleed Abu Alkhair said Saturday that the document by a well-known academic was sent to the all-male Shura Council, which advises the monarchy. The report by Kamal Subhi claims that allowing women to drive will threaten the country's traditions of virgin brides, he said.

Saudi women have staged several protests defying the driving ban. The king has already promised some reforms, including allowing women to vote in municipal elections in 2015.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-12-03-ML-Saudi-Women-Driving/id-5d85f83f77b24ecc9439ea2c1f628607

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Lynch carries Seahawks to 31-14 win over Eagles (AP)

SEATTLE ? During his time playing in San Francisco, Michael Robinson said the mention of the Seattle Seahawks came with a label no NFL team wants to have.

"I've been playing against the Seahawks for four or five years and the identity used to always be that they were soft," said Robinson, now Seattle's starting fullback. "And we're trying to change that identity."

Marshawn Lynch is certainly doing his part to help the Seahawks shed that image.

Seattle's hard-charging running back bulled through Philadelphia for 148 yards and a pair of first-half touchdowns, David Hawthorne returned the third of Vince Young's four interceptions 77 yards for a score, and the Seahawks rolled to a 31-14 victory Thursday that added to the Eagles' miserable season.

Lynch ran into and escaped from a massive pileup for a 15-yard TD run in the first quarter, then made a quick cut and went back against the flow for a 40-yard scoring dash on the first play of the second quarter to give the Seahawks (5-7) a 14-0 lead.

It was the second-best performance of Lynch's career and a capper to what has been his finest stretch as a pro. Lynch never had consecutive 100-yard rushing games until a few weeks ago. Now he's done it in four of Seattle's past five, and the only time he didn't, Lynch had 88 yards in a victory over St. Louis.

His first-quarter, escape-act touchdown against Philadelphia (4-8) gave Lynch eight straight games with at least one score and added a highlight reminiscent of his famous tackle-breaking, 67-yard TD run in last year's NFC playoffs against New Orleans.

It's all adding up to more dollars likely coming Lynch's way. He's a free agent after the season.

But on a night he deserved praise, Lynch was deferring praise to others before he jetting out of the locker room with the same elusiveness he showed the Eagles.

"It was all about the offensive line. We managed the game, we came out victorious, everybody's happy, and now we're on to our break," Lynch said during his brief locker room appearance. "Thank you."

Golden Tate's 11-yard, toe-tapping touchdown grab along the back edge of the end zone in the third quarter on a pass from Tarvaris Jackson pushed Seattle's cushion to 17. Jackson finished 13 of 16 for 190 yards and the one TD pass.

But the Seahawks' third victory in their last four games wasn't secured until Hawthorne stepped in front of a swing pass intended for LeSean McCoy and raced untouched in the other direction with 4:24 left. It was Hawthorne's third interception of the season, but he was getting plenty of grief from his teammates for the length of time it took him to get to the end zone.

And of course, the first guy to greet Hawthorne in the end zone was Lynch running off the sideline without his helmet.

"They have not backed off yet, there's no time. Maybe some teams quit at this time of year, but we're still trying to do something," Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. "We're still trying to get something accomplished this year."

Making his third straight start in place of Michael Vick, out with two broken ribs, Young couldn't find the same magic he did in the 2006 Rose Bowl when he led Texas to an upset of Carroll and USC.

Young's first pass of the night was an awful interception thrown right to Seattle safety Kam Chancellor and nowhere near an Eagles receiver. Young was intercepted in the third quarter as well when a perfect pass deflected off the hands of Riley Cooper and into the hands of cornerback Brandon Browner. Both turnovers led to Seattle touchdowns.

Then came a pass for McCoy when Young clearly didn't see Hawthorne, ruining the Eagles' last chance to rally. Seattle safety Earl Thomas jumped Young's primary target and by the time he came back to McCoy, Hawthorne was ready for the pass.

"That was just a bum-head play on my part. I should have known there was a man there," Young said. "I just lost a linebacker when I released it. He just popped into the picture. That's all on the quarterback's fault. I saw the coverage, I saw the man, I just lost a linebacker on that route."

Young added one more interception in the final moments, another one grabbed by Browner that left the quarterback with a career-high four picks.

Young finished 17 of 29 for 208 yards. McCoy got more chances than he did last Sunday against New England when he touched the ball just 14 times, a number that drew criticism from Eagles fans believing the leading rusher in the NFL deserved more opportunities.

McCoy finished with 84 yards on 17 carries and added another four catches for 49 yards, including a 2-yard TD grab that drew the Eagles within 24-14 with 12:51 left in the game. But he was upstaged by Lynch.

"This is really tough. Knowing that this is a good team, but I feel like we are a better team, no disrespect to them," McCoy said. "They played hard, but knowing that they are a good team, but we are far, far better. Way more talented. We didn't get it done. We played poorly today."

The quick bounce-back by the Seahawks only magnified their missed chance last Sunday when they blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead and lost 23-17 to Washington. Even with the win over Philadelphia and another home game coming up against St. Louis, any hopes the Seahawks have of jumping into the playoff race are likely gone.

"We felt like we let one go last week and that was all we could think about," Hawthorne said. "So to come on a fast week and get it out this fast, it's a positive."

Notes: Carroll thinks LT Russell Okung may have a serious pectoral injury sustained in the closing seconds. ... Lynch's career high was 153 yards rushing against Cincinnati with Buffalo in 2007. ... Philadelphia CB Nnamdi Asomugha left in the first half with a head/neck injury and did not return. ... Philadelphia fell to 5-2 in Thursday night games. ... Jackson's 137.0 QB rating was the best of his career.

___

Follow Tim Booth on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ByTimBooth

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111202/ap_on_sp_fo_ga_su/fbn_eagles_seahawks_folo

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Herman Cain: 'We Are Reassessing' (ABC News)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/168222055?client_source=feed&format=rss

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From Giving to Impact Investing | eJewish Philanthropy: Your Jewish ...

by Shawn Landres

The philanthropic paradigm that funded the organized Jewish community for much of the 20th century is in terminal crisis. Federated giving and allocation platforms no longer are the dependable revenue streams they once were. Within the organized Jewish community, at least three factors are challenging assumptions that governed donor behavior for generations:

Increasing numbers of individual Jews question not only the significance of Jewish communal involvement in their own lives but also the relevance of inward-looking Jewish institutions to global concerns.

At a time when Jewish federations and human service agencies report growing demand for their core priorities ? educational initiatives, anti-poverty programs, health services, assistance to the aging ? they face a sharply declining donor pool.

Many of those who do give to federations, especially younger donors, expect to be able to direct their contributions to specific beneficiaries and programs, irrespective of the budgetary needs of the broader service platforms. Growing numbers of donors want to know the measurable impact of their gifts and grants.

While the traditional Jewish nonprofit economy is reacting to these seismic shifts, a new sector dedicated to public benefit is flourishing in North America and around the globe. This ?impact economy? encompasses social enterprise, social entrepreneurship, social business, and impact investing, and it does not focus purely on profit or social benefit. Instead, the impact economy combines multiple bottom lines: financial returns, social gains, environmental benefits, and economic development. Impact investing rapidly is becoming a vital part of contemporary individual, institutional, and foundational investment portfolios. Analysts estimate that by 2020, the global impact economy will reach $400 billion to $1 trillion, mostly from individual investments of less than $25,000 each.(1)

Impact investing in social enterprise blurs the boundaries between profit seeking and charitable giving. This is a market paradigm governed as much by Adam Smith?s The Theory of Moral Sentiments, writes the White House?s Jonathan Greenblatt, as it is by Smith?s The Wealth of Nations.(2) Social enterprise transforms welfare recipients into stakeholders in their own socioeconomic future; impact investment transforms donors into investors who can expect to do (reasonably) well while doing good. For example, bonds available through the Community Investment Initiative created jointly by Jewish Funds for Justice and the Calvert Social Investment Foundation provide inexpensive microcredit in economically distressed regions. At the same time, they guarantee investors the return of principal plus interest of 1 percent to 2 percent interest. Social venture funds, another impact investment vehicle, build on principles of ?patient capital? and can achieve an even more sustained impact and higher payouts. In many respects, these financial instruments are 21st-century versions of Maimonides?s highest levels of tzedakah; they create job opportunities and enable beneficiaries to sustain themselves.

Social enterprise also offers Jewish donors and investors the opportunity to apply Jewish principles and values within the organized Jewish community and around the globe. Jews are disproportionately represented among impact investors and social entrepreneurs alike, just as they are in other areas within the public benefit sector. Jewish community involvement in social enterprise honors and involves Jews working globally in tikkun olam and expands our understanding of what it means to ?do Jewish.? Agencies gain the added benefit of access to the latest innovation engines for improving core human service delivery. In Los Angeles, for example, Beit T?Shuvah, a combined Jewish congregation and substance-abuse-recovery organization, won Los Angeles Social Venture Partners? 2010 Social Innovation Fast Pitch competition through its social venture, BT Communications, a nonprofit advertising and social media agency that employs and trains treatment center residents.

Impact investing generates self-renewing revenue streams that fund core priorities. Furthermore, access to those streams attracts and engages high-net-worth investors and funders who may not be interested in traditional Jewish federated philanthropy. Research suggests that for most investors, funds for impact investing are redirected from other investment vehicles rather than from charitable commitments, which results in more funding for the social good. In short, greater investment in the impact economy could generate a net increase in overall Jewish giving.

The future of the Jewish nonprofit sector depends on new mixes of investment income, charitable gifts, and earned revenue. With an investment mix that includes high-growth, socially responsible industries, such as clean energy, financial returns on impact investments will not only benefit investors, but also provide backstop funding to social service programs that lack an adequate donor base. They also can supplement funding for truly philanthropy-dependent initiatives focused on identity, culture, or broad-based social change ? many of which struggle to find stable income and do not have earned income streams. While there are no panaceas for the challenges facing the field of social service, the natural parallels between Jewish values and those of the impact economy augur a creative and promising future for the Jewish philanthropic and nonprofit sectors.

(1) Hope Consulting, 2010, ?Money for Good: The U.S. Market Opportunity for Impact Investments and Charitable Gifts from Individual Donors and Investors?; J. P. Morgan, 2010, ?Impact Investments: An Emerging Asset Class?.

(2) Jonathan Greenblatt, ?Investing for Change: The Emergence of the Impact Economy.? Huffington Post, January 14, 2011.

Shawn Landres is the co-founder and CEO of Jumpstart ? a nonprofit that works across the globe to empower organizations and leaders committed to compelling, relevant, and meaningful visions of Jewish life. Jumpstart?s most recent publication is The Jewish Innovation Economy: An Emerging Market for Knowledge and Social Capital. A 2009 Ariane de Rothschild Fellow and a 2010 Nahum Goldmann Fellow, Landres is a member of the ROI Community, a Jerusalem-based global community for young Jewish innovators initiated by philanthropist Lynn Schusterman. He serves on the Sh?ma Advisory Committee and on the board of Keshet, a grassroots advocacy organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Jews. He was named to the Forward 50 in 2009 and to Jewcy.com?s The Big Jewcy 100 in 2011. He thanks Joshua Avedon, Jonathan Greenblatt, and Renata Landres for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article.

Reprinted with permission from the October 2011 issue of the journal?Sh?ma, as part of a larger conversation about philanthropy and tzedakah.

Source: http://ejewishphilanthropy.com/from-giving-to-impact-investing/

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What's the worst password of 2011? "password" (Digital Trends)

This last year has brought an increased emphasis on online security?what with the PlayStation Network breach, seemingly endless stories of services, companies, and governments losing personal data or seeing their systems compromised (Valve, Sony, and RSA all spring to mind), one might think consumers would be more careful with passwords on their email and social networking accounts, mobile devices, and even online banking. According to a report published by SpashData?makers of password management software, that?s not really true. SpashData looked at files containing ?millions? of stolen passwords that were posted online by cyberattackers in the last year, and has compiled a list of the 25 most common passwords it found. At the top of the list: ?password.?

?Hackers can easily break into many accounts just by repeatedly trying common passwords,? said SplashData CEO Morgan Slain, in a statement. ?Even though people are encouraged to select secure, strong passwords, many people continue to choose weak, easy-to-guess ones, placing themselves at risk from fraud and identity theft.?

SpashData?s sample is admittedly biased: its list comprises the 25 most common passwords it found in lists of accounts that had been cracked?meaning accounts with more-secure passwords aren?t even in the sample set. There?s also no indication whether these accounts represent real people or simply accounts created by automation or for testing purposes: there?s no way of knowing whether guessing the password to any one of those accounts would actually have a harmful result. Nonetheless, the results seem to indicate a rather shocking naivet? from everyday Internet users.

According to SplashData, the 25 most common passwords cracked by cyberattackers are:

• password
• 123456
• 12345678
• qwerty
• abc123
• monkey
• 1234567
• letmein
• trustno1
• dragon
• baseball
• 111111
• iloveyou
• master
• sunshine
• ashley
• bailey
• passw0rd
• shadow
• 123123
• 654321
• superman
• qazwsx
• michael
• football

One interesting entry is ?passw0rd??many people think they?re secure from dictionary attacks if they simply change out a letter for a numeral.

Security experts generally recommend a password be at least eight characters long, contain a mix of upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and allowable punctuation. However, from a usability standpoint, those sorts of ?secure? passwords are difficult for users to remember and use?meaning they often wind up on sticky notes next to a monitor or in a file or note labelled ?password,? further compromising users? security.

?If you have a password that is short or common or a word in the dictionary, it?s like leaving your door open for identity thieves,? Slain said.

Another approach is to create rather long passwords from strings of seemingly, unrelated, ordinary words: those passwords are generally easier to type and remember, although they often aren?t accepted by systems that enforce rules about password length or requiring special characters.

[Comic via the excellent xkcd: http://xkcd.com/936/]

[Image via Shutterstock]

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personaltech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/digitaltrends/20111125/tc_digitaltrends/whatstheworstpasswordof2011password

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