Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/uee0BUNJ9TQ/
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Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Fujifilm?s New X-M1 Camera Feeds Our Retro Obsession
Blackhawks rally to win Stanley Cup
BOSTON (AP) ? Two goals. Seventeen seconds apart. A second Stanley Cup victory in four seasons for the Chicago Blackhawks.
Seventy-six seconds away from defeat and a trip home for a decisive seventh game, Bryan Bickell tied it. Then, while the Bruins were settling in for another overtime in a series that has already had its share, Dave Bolland scored to give Chicago a 3-2 victory in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday night.
The back-to-back scores in about the time it takes for one good rush down the ice turned a near-certain loss into a championship clincher, stunning the Boston players and their fans and starting the celebration on the Blackhawks' bench with 59 seconds to play.
"We thought we were going home for Game 7. You still think you're going to overtime and you're going to try to win it there. Then Bolly scores a huge goal 17 seconds later," said Chicago forward Patrick Kane, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the postseason's most valuable player. "It feels like the last 58 seconds were an eternity."
The team that set an NHL record with a 24-game unbeaten streak to start the lockout-shortened season won three straight games after falling behind 2-1 in the best-of-seven finals, rallying from a deficit in the series and in its finale. Corey Crawford made 23 saves, and Jonathan Toews returned from injury to add a goal and an assist in the first finals between Original Six teams since 1979.
"I still can't believe that finish. Oh my God, we never quit," Crawford said. "I never lost confidence. No one in our room ever did."
Trailing 2-1, Crawford went off for an extra skater and the Blackhawks converted when Toews fed it in front and Bickell scored from the edge of the crease to tie the score.
Perhaps the Bruins expected it to go to overtime, as three of the first four games in the series did. They sure seemed to be caught off-guard on the ensuing faceoff. Chicago skated into the zone, sent a shot on net and after it deflected off Michael Frolik and the post it went right to Bolland, who put it in the net.
The Blackhawks on the ice gathered in the corner, while those on the bench began jumping up and down. It was only a minute later, when Boston's Tuukka Rask was off for an extra man, that Chicago withstood the Bruins' final push and swarmed over the boards, throwing their sticks and gloves across the ice.
"It's unbelievable, man," Crawford said. "So much hard work to get to this point. Great effort by everyone on the team."
The Bruins got 28 saves from Rask, who was hoping to contribute to an NHL title after serving as Tim Thomas' backup when Boston won it all two years ago.
"It's obviously shocking when you think you have everything under control," Rask said quietly, standing at his locker with a blue baseball cap on backward and a towel draped over his shoulders.
The sold-out TD Garden had begun chanting "We want the Cup!" after Milan Lucic's goal put the Bruins up 2-1 with eight minutes left, but it fell silent after its team coughed up the lead. The team came out to salute its fans as they streamed out of the building for the last time, from the air conditioning into the summer air.
"Probably toughest for sure, when you know you're a little bit over a minute left and you feel that you've got a chance to get to a Game 7," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "And then those two goals go in quickly."
The arena was almost empty ? except for a few hundred fans in red Blackhawks sweaters who filtered down to the front rows ? when NHL commissioner Gary Bettman handed the 35-pound Cup to Toews, who left Game 5 with an undisclosed injury and wasn't confirmed for the lineup until the morning skate.
The Chicago captain skated the Cup right over the crease in which the Blackhawks mounted the comeback and in front of the fans in Blackhawks sweaters who lined the front row behind the net. Toews banged on the glass while the remaining Bruins fans headed up the runways.
He then continued the tradition of handing it from player to player before the team settled to the side of the faceoff circle for a picture with the trophy they will possess for the next 12 months.
Just like in 2010, they won it in a Game 6 on the road.
"In 2010, we didn't really know what we were doing. We just, we played great hockey and we were kind of oblivious to how good we were playing," said Toews, who scored his third goal of the playoffs to tie it 1-1 in the second period, then fed Bickell for the score that tied it with 76 seconds to play.
"This time around, we know definitely how much work it takes and how much sacrifice it takes to get back here and this is an unbelievable group," Toews said. "We've been through a lot together this year and this is a sweet way to finish it off."
The Blackhawks opened the season on a 21-0-3 streak and coasted to the Presidents' Trophy that goes to the team with the best regular-season record. But regular-season excellence has not translated into playoff success: Chicago is the first team with the best record to win the Cup since the 2008 Detroit Red Wings.
The Blackhawks went through Minnesota in five games and Detroit in seven, rallying in the Western Conference semifinals from a 3-1 deficit and winning Game 7 in overtime. They got through the defending NHL champion Los Angeles Kings in five games to return to the Cup finals, where Boston was waiting.
Chicago won the first game at home in three overtimes but dropped Game 2 ? another overtime ? and fell behind 2-1 in the series when it returned to Boston.
After that, it was all Blackhawks.
The tightly contested finals ? with three games going a total of five overtimes ? may help fans forget the lockout that shortened the season to 48 games and pushed back the opener to Jan. 19. That left the teams still playing ice hockey on a 95-degree day in Boston on June 24, matching the latest date in NHL history.
Fans in their Bruins sweaters filtered into the TD Garden to see the last game in Boston for the season with the hope there would be one more in Chicago: a seventh game just like two years ago, when the Bruins rallied from a 3-2 deficit, then won in Vancouver for their first NHL championship since 1972.
Both teams were bolstered by the return of star forwards, Selke Trophy winner Toews of Chicago and Patrice Bergeron, who was a finalist for the award given to the top defensive forward in the league. Both returned after missing the end of Game 5, but only Toews showed up in the box score.
Bergeron said afterward that he had a broken rib, torn cartilage in muscles, and added to that a separated shoulder on Monday night.
"It's the Stanley Cup Final. Everyone is banged up," Bergeron said. "It's tough to put words to describe how we're feeling right now. You work so hard just to get to this point and give yourself a chance to get the Cup. You feel like you're right there and you have a chance to force a Game 7, and definitely it hurts."
What had already been a physical series continued to take its toll, with Jaromir Jagr ? the NHL's active playoff scoring leader ? and Andrew Shaw both going to the dressing room during the first period. Jagr's injury was not known, but Shaw deflected a slap shot from Shawn Thornton off his own right cheek and crumpled to the ice, leaving behind a pool of blood when he skated off.
Both returned, but Jagr again disappeared from the Boston bench in the second. Crawford also forced a stoppage of play when his mask came off following David Krejci's slap shot off his shoulder; the Chicago goalie appeared to need a little time to recover, but he stayed in the game.
"The whole playoffs. It wasn't just Chicago. It's going to be physical, grinding the whole playoffs," said Bruins captain Zdeno Chara, the 2009 Norris Trophy winner who was on the ice for 10 of the last 12 Chicago goals. "I think that first game we played them we knew it would be a close series. We just had that feeling. It went all the way to triple overtime. It was physical. It was close. At times a very fast game, (but) it was very, very even."
The Bruins, who never led in Games 4 and 5, took the lead seven minutes into the game when Tyler Seguin gloved a pass from Daniel Paille and controlled it, then backhanded it across the middle to Chris Kelly. He beat Crawford on the glove side to make it 1-0.
But the Blackhawks tied it early in the second when, as a Bruins power play was ending, Toews broke into the Boston zone on the right side. He had Kane in the middle and Shaw coming out of the box, but didn't need either one, rattling it in off the right post to make it 1-1.
It stayed that way until Lucic put Boston ahead with 7:49 left in the third.
The final series seemed headed for a Game 7 for the sixth time in 10 years before Bickell and Bolland turned it around.
"Dave Bolland, what else can you say about that guy?" Kane said. "He just shows up in big playoff games."
NOTES: The Blackhawks are 2-5 against the Bruins in playoff series. This was the teams' first matchup in the finals. ... Bolland missed the entire first-round series with an injury. ... Kane and Toews had no goals in the first three games. ... Jeff Bauman, who lost his legs in the Boston Marathon bombing, was honored before the game. He went onto the ice with a walker and stood up to receive cheers from the crowd.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blackhawks-stage-rally-win-stanley-cup-030258977.html
Monday, June 24, 2013
Brain cancer: Hunger for amino acids makes it more aggressive
June 24, 2013 ? An enzyme that facilitates the breakdown of specific amino acids makes brain cancers particularly aggressive. Scientists have discovered this in an attempt to find new targets for therapies against this dangerous disease.
To fuel phases of fast and aggressive growth, tumors need higher-than-normal amounts of energy and the molecular building blocks needed to build new cellular components. Cancer cells therefore consume a lot of sugar (glucose A number of tumors are also able to catabolize the amino acid glutamine, an important building block of proteins. A key enzyme in amino acid decomposition is isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH). Several years ago, scientists discovered mutations in the gene coding for IDH in numerous types of brain cancer. Very malignant brain tumors called primary glioblastomas carry an intact IDH gene, whereas those that grow more slowly usually have a defective form.
"The study of the IDH gene currently is one of the most important diagnostic criteria for differentiating glioblastomas from other brain cancers that grow more slowly," says Dr. Bernhard Radlwimmer from the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ). "We wanted to find out what spurs the aggressive growth of glioblastomas." In collaboration with scientists from other institutes including Heidelberg University Hospital, Dr. Martje T?njes and Dr. Sebastian Barbus from Radlwimmer's team compared gene activity profiles from several hundred brain tumors. They aimed to find out whether either altered or intact IDH show further, specific genetic characteristics that might help explain the aggressiveness of the disease.
The researchers found a significant difference between the two groups in the highly increased activity of the gene for the BCAT1 enzyme, which in normal brain tissue is responsible for breaking down so-called branched-chain amino acids. However, Radlwimmer's team discovered, only those tumor cells whose IDH gene is not mutated produce BCAT1. "This is not surprising, because as IDH breaks down amino acids, it produces ketoglutarate -- a molecule which BCAT1 needs. This explains why BCAT1 is produced only in tumor cells carrying intact IDH. The two enzymes seem to form a kind of functional unit in amino acid catabolism," says Bernhard Radlwimmer.
Glioblastomas are particularly dreaded because they aggressively invade the healthy brain tissue that surrounds them. When the researchers used a pharmacological substance to block BCAT1's effects, the tumor cells lost their invasive capacity. In addition, the cells released less of the glutamate neurotransmitter. High glutamate release is responsible for severe neurological symptoms such as epileptic seizures, which are frequently associated with the disease. When transferred to mice, glioblastoma cells in which the BCAT1 gene had been blocked no longer grew into tumors.
"Altogether, we can see that overexpression of BCAT1 contributes to the aggressiveness of glioblastoma cells," Radlwimmer says. The study suggests that the two enzymes, BCAT1 and IDH, cooperate in the decomposition of branched-chain amino acids. These protein building blocks appear to act as a "food source" that increases the cancer cells' aggressiveness. Branched-chain amino acids also play a significant role in metabolic diseases such as diabetes. This is the first time that scientists have been able to show the role of these amino acids in the growth of malignant tumors.
"The good news," sums up Radlwimmer, "is that we have found another target for therapies in BCAT1. In collaboration with Bayer Healthcare, we have already started searching for agents that might be specifically directed against this enzyme." The researchers also plan to investigate whether BCAT1 expression may serve as an additional marker to diagnose the malignancy of brain cancer.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/XtS28wdqu44/130624132800.htm
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Killing deepens concern over tight Albanian election
By Benet Koleka and Matt Robinson
TIRANA (Reuters) - An activist was killed and a politician wounded in a shootout during a closely contested election in Albania on Sunday that is being watched by Western allies worried about democracy in the NATO country.
The opposition left scents victory, which would deny Prime Minister Sali Berisha an unprecedented third successive four-year term since the fall of Albania's communist rule in 1991.
But the threat of a disputed result is rising, after a political row left the top electoral body, the Central Election Commission, short-staffed and unable to certify the result.
The shooting in the northwestern Lac region raised fears of confrontation in the Adriatic nation, which is deeply polarized between Berisha's Democrats and the Socialists of former Tirana Mayor Edi Rama and has seen election violence before.
Since 1991, Albania has never held an election deemed fully free and fair, and failure again would further set back its ambitions to join the European Union.
In Lac, television pictures showed bullet casings scattered across the street and the smashed rear window of a car. An opposition activist was killed and an election candidate of the ruling Democrats was wounded. Police said four guns were fired.
Berisha, a fiery former cardiologist, condemned the violence. "I voted No. 44 (Democratic Party), I touched fate, a feeling of pleasure engulfed me, a feeling I have not felt before," he said after voting in the capital, Tirana.
Opinion polls are unreliable, but point to a narrow victory for the Socialists of 48-year-old Rama. He has been buoyed by an alliance with a small leftist party previously in coalition with Berisha. Rama lost the last election in 2009, called protesters into the streets and four were shot dead by security forces.
DISPUTES, DELAYS
Berisha has dominated Albanian political life since the collapse of its Stalinist rule triggered a breakneck and sometimes violent transition to capitalism. At 68, defeat on Sunday could spell the end of his career.
Rama said the Lac shootout was an "effort to frighten people, to scare citizens away from the ballot boxes".
"I appeal for people to vote, because a decision that takes just a few minutes will decide not just the next four years but the fate of a generation," he said after voting.
Including Albanian migrant workers abroad, there are 3.27 million eligible voters. That is more than the official resident population of 2.8 million people, from Albania's rugged Alps in the north, down an Adriatic coastline still undiscovered by Western tourists, to the Ionian sea off Greece.
Polls close at 7 p.m. (1700 GMT). Official results are due in the evening, but a system by which party members count the ballots has repeatedly led to disputes and delays.
Rama pulled his three representatives from the seven-member Election Commission in April after the coalition government sacked a member whose party had switched sides to support the Socialists.
The Socialists and Berisha's Democrats differ little on Albania's goal of joining the European Union or its pro-Western policy. But their confrontational relationship does not sit easy with Brussels or Albania's NATO allies.
The EU says the election is a "crucial test" before Albania can draw closer to the 27-nation bloc, which Croatia will join in July. Albania applied to join four years ago but has not yet been made a candidate for membership.
The next government will take on an economy feeling the effects of the crisis in the euro zone, notably in Greece and Italy where about 1 million Albanians work and send money home. While Albania has avoided recession, remittances are down and public debt and the budget deficit are rising.
"I hope and wish the elections will turn out to be very good," shopkeeper Teuta Muskaj, a mother of two unemployed law graduates, said after voting in Tirana. "I expect better for the future of my children."
(Writing by Matt Robinson)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/left-bids-unseat-albanias-berisha-tense-election-080432113.html
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Bee kill-off in parking lot. Pesticide blamed.
Bee kill-off at an Oregon shopping center was caused by a pesticide for aphids. The kill-off involved some 25,000 bumble bees. ?
A bumble bee investigates a purple fountain salvia plant at Apenberry's Gardens in Orlando, Fla., in 2009. A bumble bee kill-off in an Oregon parking lot has been blamed on pesticide spraying for aphids.
Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel/AP/File
EnlargeOregon officials say a pesticide is to blame for the deaths of an estimated 25,000 bumble?bees?in a shopping center parking lot.
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The state Department of Agriculture said Friday that tests on?bees?and foliage showed the deaths are "directly related to a pesticide application on linden trees" that was meant to control aphids.
It said an investigation is underway to see if the application of the pesticide Safari, done last Saturday, violated the law.
To prevent more deaths, bee-proof netting is planned for 55 European linden trees whose blooms attracted the pollinators to the Target parking lot in Wilsonville, southwest of Portland.
State officials are working with the Xerces (ZERK'-zees) Society for Invertebrate Conservation, the city of Wilsonville and the distributor of the pesticide.
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/yGJ5ZGxOkN0/Bee-kill-off-in-parking-lot.-Pesticide-blamed
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The Maravi Post - Revisiting and rebranding Malawi Young Pioneers
The Malawi Young Pioneers Movement, which unfortunately became a terror militia to prop up the Banda regime, should be revisited by the Malawi government with the goal of involving youth in the county?s development.
?Malawian youth currently comprise a sizable 60 percent in a population of 14 million people. This means that more than half of Malawi is under the age 25. The youth represent a large, underutilized human resource that can impact Malawian development. They also represent a population who if neglected will be a detriment to development. Therefore their participation in the country?s development is pertinent for its future. In the past, the MYP, an affiliate of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), engaged the youth through a national youth service program. The original purpose of the MYP was to engage the youth in carrying out voluntary activities for Malawi?s development. However, they also functioned as a militia group and intelligentsia network for President Banda.
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The MYP carried out various economic activities that positively impacted socio-economic development. When the MYP disbanded in 1994, it left many of the youth idle, without a sense of purpose and direction. It also left many of them unemployed with few opportunities on the horizon. Since then, Malawi has not had a comparable comprehensive national youth service program in terms of scope, size, funding, pragmatism, or robustness. The Malawian government should revisit the original idea behind the MYP program, with the aim of reviving its productive tenets for the country?s development.
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Malawi?s youth remain a generation at risk of entrenchment in poverty. This is a precarious situation for any nation. Malawi currently has a large population of youth that are out of school and idle. There are few opportunities for youth development in Malawi that equip them with the education and training to become independent, economically secure adult citizens. The youth are faced with growing challenges in the country such as unemployment, underemployment, poverty, limited vocational training facilities, limited prospects for post-secondary training and a high population growth rate. Although these are not problems that are easily solved, they are not challenges that are insurmountable. The introduction of a national youth service that is comparable in scope, size and modeled after the MYP movement would begin to address some of these challenges.
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CURRENT INITIATIVES
A National Youth Policy was created in the 1995 to address the youth problems together with the National Youth Council of Malawi (NYCOM). NYCOM has been successful in empowering the youth. It introduced the Youth Development Plan of Action (YDEVPA) and has seen the registration of 131 youth-oriented NGOs. Although there is a plethora of these NGOs, few are functional or efficient. The creation of a National Youth Policy also raised the profile of youth. However, it is currently outdated and has been under review by the cabinet for nearly five years. Therefore, many of the existing programs and services for out of school youth can?t adequately meet the current demands of youth. Changes in programs for youths need to account for variables such as a changing political economy, urbanization, advances in technology and the behavioural changes in Malawi?s youth from the breakdown of traditional culture in a new globalised world. It is therefore important for a national youth service program to be implemented that reflects Malawi?s current reality. It is also important that it is adaptable so that it can continue to meet future challenges of the youth.
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There have been initiatives proposed by the current Joyce Banda?s People?s Party administration to meet some of the challenges that the youth service program used to meet. There has been a proposal to reintroduce National Youth Week, a week where the MYP and other youth organizations volunteered to work on national projects. It gave MYP youth an opportunity to showcase the skills they learnt from MYP training initiative. The current administration has also set out to rehabilitate some of the former MYP training bases and turn them in to vocational training centers. There have also been plans to set up a development bank to provide loans for the youth. More recently, the administration unveiled a plan to send thousands of Malawian youth to South Korea for apprenticeships. However, this has been highly controversial due to concerns about issues such as abuse of labor rights. Whilst these initiatives may be beneficial for Malawian youth, they appear to be isolated projects and not an integrated part of a national youth service program.
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According to reports from the Minister for Youth and Sport, Enoch Chihana, the administration has been talking about implementing a National Youth Service Program to address skills development in areas such as carpentry, mechanics, agriculture and IT. However, there are few details about the nature, scope and timeline of this plan. Despite of the MYPs problematic history, Malawi can draw lessons from its former youth service plan.
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MYP
The MYP was a youth wing that was established by President Kamuzu Hastings Banda in 1963. It was modeled after the Ghana Young Pioneers and the National Service Brigade of Israel. Its main aim was to train rural youth with various skills so that they could ?spearhead? the country?s development. The MYP played a major role in the socio-economic development of Malawi, particularly, in agricultural activities. The Department of Youth together with the MYP offered Agricultural Science, Technical and Vocational Education for out of school youth or drop-outs. The MYP trained a significant number of youth who ended up joining the civil service, private sector or Armed Forces. They were extremely loyal to Banda and were indoctrinated in ?Kamuzuism?. That is, they saw Banda as the Father and Founder of the nation, and the Ngwazi (conqueror). They believed Banda was the only one capable of leading the country. Due to their loyalty, they increasingly received preferential treatment from Banda. By 1965, the MYP had turned in to a paramilitary group which functioned primarily to keep Banda?s autocracy intact. They were given extrajudicial powers, including the power to arrest, which caused tension with the police and army.
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From the late 1960s to the early 1970s, the Young Pioneers received military, intelligence and espionage training in Taiwan and Israel. According to Chirwa (1994), they also received scholarships for ?technical studies? in Denmark, West Germany, United States and Britain. Although receiving arms from China for ?training purposes? only, Banda also made claims that he wanted to discourage dissidents and communists. This support came at a time when Banda was increasingly becoming autocratic. By the 1980s the MYP operated as a parallel security system above the Army and police.
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At the height of Banda?s rule, MYP became a terror group to the public and were used to enforce Banda?s rule. MYP infiltrated every aspect of Malawian life by creating an intricate network of informants. This ranged from lecturers, administrator, university students, cleaners, messengers, watchmen, office personnel, garden boys, barmaids, or bartenders that were encouraged to report any detractors to them. Those that were against Banda would be detained, beaten, maimed, killed or forced into exile. Members of the public who didn?t have party membership cards were denied access to public services such as buses, health clinics or public transportation. They were used as an instrument of voter intimidation against multi-party advocates during the 1993 referendum. After the country voted for multi-party rule, Banda stepped down, and the MYP were disbanded by the Malawi Army in a covert overnight mission called ?Operation Bwezani?. Malawi went on to conduct peaceful elections in 1994.
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THE LASTING LEGACY OF THE MYP
The MYP left a negative and lasting legacy on the mindset of Malawians. Although the MYP developed into a destructive force for the nation, the original idea behind the youth movement was benign. When they began to function as the feared milita group that propped Banda?s dictatorship, their mandate for development was forgotten by them and the public. According to historian Richard Mkandawire (2008), ?Under Banda?s regime, the young pioneers, whom it was believed were carrying out voluntary work, became extremely unpopular among the general population for their sometimes ruthless and coercive manner in mobilizing local communities for development goals and supporting the ruling party.? As a result, they remain entrenched in Malawi?s history as a public terror group.
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They also left other marks on Malawi. Since their disbandment, the idea of reviving the MYP has received mixed reactions. Banda?s successor, Bakili Muluzi branded this type of public service Thangata, a reference to free, unreciprocated labor experienced under colonialism. Therefore, funding for such social programs became limited. NGOs began to fill in much of the work previously undertaken by MYP. Another mark was the blurring of lines between youth leagues (although they worked closely with the MCP Youth League, MYP was separate) and youth mercenaries. In subsequent administrations, Muluzi?s United Democratic Front (UDF) formed the Young Democrats and Bingu wa Mutharika?s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) formed the Young Cadets. Although these groups do not have as much clout as the MYP, their role has been to terrorize the public (particularly, political opponents) through violence and intimidation. There continues to be a tendency to use idle youth as instruments of terror in ruling parties, instead of encouraging their political participation in decision making within the parties.
There is evidence that some of their legacy is fading. Recently, attitudes towards the MYP concept are changing. In 2012, Youth Consultative Forum publicly called for the government to start a national youth service similar to the MYP. This is perhaps a reflection of a youth that is borrowing from the past either out of necessity, nostalgia or pragmatism. It may also be a reflection of the passage of time. The MYP was disbanded almost twenty years ago; hence, most Malawians under 25 years of age did not experience the MYP era. However, these new calls do indicate that the youth wants to be engaged in the development process.
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The youth in Malawi have always been at the foreground of transformation in the country. As an example, their participation was instrumental in protests against one-party rule and in more recent protests against Mutharika?s repression. They have earned a right to participate in shaping Malawian society as productive citizens. Yet, despite their contributions, the youth sector has remained an underdeveloped and undermined sector. Given their record of participation in shaping important events in the county?s past, there needs to be a more tangible plan for their continued participation in the future by the current administration.
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So far, the current Joyce Banda administration appears to have strayed away from the practice of using youth to commit public terror. However, as Malawi prepares for elections in 2014, the youth across parties may once again become political pawns.
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MYPS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
The concept of MYP was for the group to participate in national development. They largely targeted the rural poor so that they would have opportunities to lift themselves out of poverty. In order to achieve this, the MYP established training bases throughout the country. By 1989 there were MYP training bases in each of the country?s 24 districts. By the 1994, there were 6,000 MYPs and about 45,000 in the MYP reserves. The program effectively trained a large number of idle youth to become productive citizens.
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Under the program, youths trained for approximately 10 months. They received a multi-faceted curriculum including political education, physical education and rural development. A large part of it involved agricultural work including farming and keeping livestock. Malawi was an agricultural based economy under Banda. Therefore, their work complimented the national development policy. When the program was completed, students were equipped to enter the public or private sector. Most students participated in economic and development activities in their communities. They were given the tools they needed to set up their own business in vocations like carpentering, bricklaying, and welding. Select students furthered their education by attending Salima Technical College. During the National Youth Week, MYP, Youth Leaguers and students, would hold parades, demonstrate their skills and highlight the contribution they were making to national development.
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The program had the affect of teaching youth the values of hard work, self-reliance and self-determination. It taught them leadership skills and molded students in to responsible citizens who took responsibility for the country. Youth coming out of the program had a sense of purpose and self-worth. At national level, MYP contributed towards food security and state security. Unfortunately for Malawi, this system only lasted a few years as the MYP was hijacked by politics and ?Kamuzuism?. However, it should have been disarmed but not disbanded.
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REBRANDING THE MYP
Malawi can benefit from a new national youth service program similar to MYP. The basic development-focused tenets of the program should be reviewed and revived with adaptation where necessary. The new MYP movement should be a demilitarized albeit providing a good stepping stone for those wanting to join the army after the program. It should also be depoliticized and not have any party affiliation ? recruitment should be transparent and non-partisan. The basic organizational structure of the program should be similar to the MYP. They should have offices in each district so that it is accessible to all youth. It should also be institutionalized and centrally organized for consistency, but retain enough autonomy to allow each district to manage certain activities such as creating a budget, daily management, setting district-specific goals, and determining the needs of its youth. This can be done through the Ministry of Youth or it may be best served as a public-private partnership.
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Similar to the MYP, its emphasis should be on uplifting the rural population, who make up the majority of the youth. However, the program should also target the urban youth. Its core curriculum should be modeled after the MYPs focus on vocational skills training in areas like agriculture, welding etc. However it should expand its training or class offerings to include subjects like tailoring/?dress-making?, design, nutrition, cooking, civics, basic law, computers and basic literacy. It should also continue to include merit-based scholarships for exemplary students to attend technical college, enter the Malawi university system or receive scholarships abroad. Similar to the MYP, students should be given the opportunity to affect their communities. They should be given the tools to start their own businesses or SMEs in their local areas. As a result of the program, they should gain preferential access to services such as government jobs and services such as the proposed Development Bank which is being set up to empower the youth through issuing loans. In order to achieve this, the students should earn a certificate indicating that they have completed the National Youth Service Program. Recognized accreditation for would be a valuable assets that they use to access future loans, employment, and education. The program duration should be one year but a two year option should be considered.
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Although the new program should draw on the MYP, it should be re-branded. This includes giving it a new ?pioneer?-free name. Instead of indoctrinating the youth on Malawi?s cornerstone slogan of ?Unity, Loyalty, Obedience, Discipline? like the MYP, it may emphasize values that resonate with contemporary youth such ?freedom?, ?justice?, ?peace?, and ?inclusion?! It should also redefine the term national service by reclaiming the original definition, of thangata, ?moral obligation? which is a reference to something that is mutually beneficial. In this light, the program does also need to benefit the youth so that they gain real opportunity to lift themselves out of their economic circumstances whilst serving the country. The program should target long-term volunteers but should pay students a stipend or allowance so that they can meet their daily needs. It should also make a provision for uncompensated short-term volunteer positions so that the program fosters the spirit of volunteerism. Although the Malawi government may not have all the resources to meet the demands of all of Malawi?s development woes, the government can enact a program for its underutilized human capital as a resource for development and nation building.
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CONCLUSION
Malawi has had a long history of volunteerism and service. Despite narratives about absence of volunteerism and the sense of civic duty, both are wide-spread in Malawi, albeit largely undocumented. Therefore, the potential for engaging Malawi?s youth is realistic and pragmatic. Malawi has had a strong tradition of youth-led volunteerism and participation in development, in part due to the MYP movement. Yet, much like the Ghana Young Pioneers, The Zambia National Youth Service, and the Boys Brigades of Botswana, organizations like MYP often resort to using idle youth as instruments of political control. As Malawi prepares for elections in 2014, the youth should not continue to be undermined. They Malawi have the potential to make a real impact on the country?s development. However, long-term programs are needed to ensure their success so that they can become productive citizens. Revisiting the MYP program provides Malawi with a viable blueprint that it can use in the creation of a national youth program geared towards development.
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* Sitinga Kachipande is a scholar in Pan African Studies and a blogger. She is currently a Research and Communication intern at TransAfrica. Views expressed are her own.
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Source: http://www.maravipost.com/scope/op-ed/4023-revisiting-and-rebranding-malawi-young-pioneers.html
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Sunday, June 23, 2013
This Is How Much Pot Is Seized At The U.S.-Mexico Border
The Center for Investigative Reporting is doing a really serious and extensive multi-part series on the drug trade and border patrol at the U.S.-Mexico border. There are budget analyses, infographics and policy reviews. This is legit reporting. But you know what, sometimes you get so wrapped up in your work that you don't realize you're getting a contact high. It happens. And it's the only thing that explains this video.
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Ween: Where'd the Cheese Go?
Earlier today I found myself searching for my keys and?lo and behold?a certain song popped into my head. And what a wonderful tune it is. Both versions.
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Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/9i_0hiOtNhY/ween-whered-the-cheese-go-543936107
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Report: Jan Ullrich admits blood doping
BERLIN (AP) ? A German magazine is reporting that 1997 Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich has admitted receiving blood-doping treatment from Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes.
Ullrich was quoted Saturday as saying in an interview with the weekly Focus that almost everyone was using performance-enhancing substances and he wanted to ensure "equality of opportunities."
Asked if he only engaged in blood doping, Ullrich says "the doctor's diagnosis says that."
In February 2012, the Court of Arbitration for Sport banned Ullrich for two years for blood doping, finding that he was "fully engaged" in Fuentes' drug program. At the time, the retired racer said he had "contact" with Fuentes but didn't directly acknowledge doping.
He didn't contest the CAS ruling, saying he wanted to "put an end to the issue."
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Saturday, June 22, 2013
AT&T's Pantech Flex gets Jelly Bean update
AT&T today announced that its Pantech Flex is receiving an over-the-air update to Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. That means you'll be able to get things like Google Now, the latest Google Voice Search and better accessibility features, too, with options for external Braille input and output, and Bluetooth and gestures for the visually impaired.
Plus you get those fancy Jelly Bean notifications that the kids are all talking about. AT&T says those with the Flex should receive a text message alerting them to the update.
Source: AT&T
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/DRonAgSPSS4/story01.htm
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