Rheumatoid arthritis takes high toll in unemployment, early death, Mayo Clinic finds

Public release date: 2-Jul-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Sharon Theimer
newsbureau@mayo.edu
507-284-5005
Mayo Clinic

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- In the realm of deadly and disabling diseases, conditions such as cancer and Alzheimer's seem to attract the most media attention. But there are others that take a similarly high toll, and rheumatoid arthritis is one of them, Mayo Clinic researchers say. It is a common cause of disability: 1 of every 5 rheumatoid arthritis patients is unable to work two years after diagnosis, and within five years, that rises to one-third. Life expectancy drops by up to five years, they write in the July issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings in an article taking stock of current diagnosis and treatment approaches.

Rheumatoid arthritis patients also have a 50 percent higher risk of heart attack and twice the danger of heart failure, Mayo researchers say. Much progress has been made in recognizing the importance of early diagnosis and prompt and aggressive treatment, but gaps in understanding of the disease remain, say the authors, Mayo Clinic rheumatologists John Davis III, M.D., and Eric Matteson, M.D.

"There are many drug therapies available now for management of rheumatoid arthritis, but the challenge for patients and their physicians is to decide on the best approach for initial management and then subsequent treatment modification based on the response," Dr. Davis says. "In our article, we reveal our approach including algorithms for managing the disease that we believe will enhance the probability that patients will achieve remission, improved physical function, and optimal quality of life."

In rheumatoid arthritis, the immune system assaults tissue, causing swollen and tender joints and sometimes involving other organs. The top goal of treatment is to achieve remission, controlling the underlying inflammation, easing pain, improving quality of life and preserving patients' independence and ability to work and enjoy other pursuits. Long-term goals include preventing joint destruction and other complications such as heart disease and osteoporosis.

Dr. Davis and Dr. Matteson offer several tips and observations:

"It is very important to have rheumatoid arthritis properly diagnosed, and treatment started early on. Getting the disease under control leads to better outcomes for the patient, ability to continue working and taking care of one's self, less need for joint replacement surgery, and reduced risk of heart disease," Dr. Matteson says.

• More than medication is needed to best manage rheumatoid arthritis. Educating patients about how to protect their joints and the importance of rest and offering them orthotics, splints and other helpful devices can substantially reduce pain and improve their ability to function. Cognitive behavioral therapy can make patients feel less helpless. Exercise programs that include aerobic exercise and strength training help achieve a leaner body; even modest weight loss can significantly reduce the burden on joints.
• No treatment approach or guidelines can ever take into account every possibility; when a patient describes joint tenderness, fatigue and disease activity worse than the physician thinks they are, the physician should investigate the causes of symptoms. Non-inflammatory causes of pain such as osteoarthritis or regional musculoskeletal pain syndromes may be to blame.
• Unanswered questions in rheumatoid arthritis include the relative benefits and harms of emphasizing initial treatment with prednisone; the effects of treatment on the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and other potentially deadly complications; and how to better predict how well treatments will work for specific patients and what the side effects will be.

"Our management approach is informed by current evidence and our clinical experience," Dr. Davis says. "We believe it is crucial that patients and their doctors thoroughly discuss the treatment options and decide on the management plan jointly in view of individual patient preferences, goals and values."

###

About Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit http://www.mayoclinic.org/about and www.mayoclinic.org/news.

Contact:
Sharon Theimer
507-284-5005 (days)
507-284-2511 (evenings)
Email: newsbureau@mayo.edu

---

[ | 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: 2-Jul-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Sharon Theimer
newsbureau@mayo.edu
507-284-5005
Mayo Clinic

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- In the realm of deadly and disabling diseases, conditions such as cancer and Alzheimer's seem to attract the most media attention. But there are others that take a similarly high toll, and rheumatoid arthritis is one of them, Mayo Clinic researchers say. It is a common cause of disability: 1 of every 5 rheumatoid arthritis patients is unable to work two years after diagnosis, and within five years, that rises to one-third. Life expectancy drops by up to five years, they write in the July issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings in an article taking stock of current diagnosis and treatment approaches.

Rheumatoid arthritis patients also have a 50 percent higher risk of heart attack and twice the danger of heart failure, Mayo researchers say. Much progress has been made in recognizing the importance of early diagnosis and prompt and aggressive treatment, but gaps in understanding of the disease remain, say the authors, Mayo Clinic rheumatologists John Davis III, M.D., and Eric Matteson, M.D.

"There are many drug therapies available now for management of rheumatoid arthritis, but the challenge for patients and their physicians is to decide on the best approach for initial management and then subsequent treatment modification based on the response," Dr. Davis says. "In our article, we reveal our approach including algorithms for managing the disease that we believe will enhance the probability that patients will achieve remission, improved physical function, and optimal quality of life."

In rheumatoid arthritis, the immune system assaults tissue, causing swollen and tender joints and sometimes involving other organs. The top goal of treatment is to achieve remission, controlling the underlying inflammation, easing pain, improving quality of life and preserving patients' independence and ability to work and enjoy other pursuits. Long-term goals include preventing joint destruction and other complications such as heart disease and osteoporosis.

Dr. Davis and Dr. Matteson offer several tips and observations:

"It is very important to have rheumatoid arthritis properly diagnosed, and treatment started early on. Getting the disease under control leads to better outcomes for the patient, ability to continue working and taking care of one's self, less need for joint replacement surgery, and reduced risk of heart disease," Dr. Matteson says.

• More than medication is needed to best manage rheumatoid arthritis. Educating patients about how to protect their joints and the importance of rest and offering them orthotics, splints and other helpful devices can substantially reduce pain and improve their ability to function. Cognitive behavioral therapy can make patients feel less helpless. Exercise programs that include aerobic exercise and strength training help achieve a leaner body; even modest weight loss can significantly reduce the burden on joints.
• No treatment approach or guidelines can ever take into account every possibility; when a patient describes joint tenderness, fatigue and disease activity worse than the physician thinks they are, the physician should investigate the causes of symptoms. Non-inflammatory causes of pain such as osteoarthritis or regional musculoskeletal pain syndromes may be to blame.
• Unanswered questions in rheumatoid arthritis include the relative benefits and harms of emphasizing initial treatment with prednisone; the effects of treatment on the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and other potentially deadly complications; and how to better predict how well treatments will work for specific patients and what the side effects will be.

"Our management approach is informed by current evidence and our clinical experience," Dr. Davis says. "We believe it is crucial that patients and their doctors thoroughly discuss the treatment options and decide on the management plan jointly in view of individual patient preferences, goals and values."

###

About Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit http://www.mayoclinic.org/about and www.mayoclinic.org/news.

Contact:
Sharon Theimer
507-284-5005 (days)
507-284-2511 (evenings)
Email: newsbureau@mayo.edu

---

[ | 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/2012-07/mc-rat062612.php

nhl all star draft touch nitrous oxide rihanna thug life tattoo chuck pagano arizona governor seal team 6

Exactly How Hot Is It? Which Weather Site Is Right for You

Just as the weather has started getting all freaky global warming on us, the Weather Channel has bought up the beloved weather site, Weather Underground, leading us to question whether we're still using the best weather site. When it comes to checking the weather, we tend to be creatures of habit since most weather forecasts are the same ? they emanate from the?National Weather Service. The main difference is presentation.?We have gotten accustomed to choosing one site over another because we like (or are used to) the interface or maybe just because that's the one our browser pulls up when we type "weather" into the address bar. But perhaps we've been too closed minded about our weather website habits? There is a whole world (wide web) of temperature- and precipitation-related sites out there. Let's put aside weather website loyalties for a moment and make sure we have the right site for our sensibilities.

RELATED: The Angriest Weather Map You've Ever Seen

Weather.com

The type of person that might like this site: Simpletons, lazy folk, pictorial learners, mainstream media consumers, late adopters.

RELATED: You're Not Dreaming: It Could Be a White Halloween

Why? Brought to us by a traditional news outlet, The Weather Channel, this is a site for the masses. With the easiest to remember URL, easy navigability, and the simplest to read weather graphics, this site is for the average weather checker. If we don't feel like reading words, we get a soft kindergarten style rendering of the day's weather. We also get some useful information for how the weather might affect our lives. Like, allergy and pollen alerts. The site has fancy forecast maps with isobars and stuff. But it's not the main attraction.

RELATED: Screwy Weather Makes New York Look Amazing

---

Accuweather

They type of person that might like this site: Parents, grandparents, people who are into international relations, mobile weather checkers, harried weather looker uppers, people who don't care about accuracy, hipsters.

RELATED: Multi-vortex Tornado Slams Oklahoma, The Internet Watches

Why? This site screams outdated. In an attempt to look with it, it uses some sort of animation technology to make those clouds move. But the font, the drawings and the patented RealFeel temperatures make this feel like Grandma's favorite weather site. As for utility, Lifehacker says it doesn't have the best information, as you can see it has DC a full four degrees cooler than weather.com. But, Lifehacker's people also liked the international forecasts and widgets. The best, best part of Accueweather's site, however, are these dramatic, yet informative, maps. Like this one that looks like a made-in-the-U.S.A meteorologist exploded on a map of his favorite democracy lovin' country.

RELATED: Evacuations Begin as Hurricane Irene Nears Category 4 Strength

---

Weather Underground

The type of person that might like this site: Democrats, young people, Internet natives, San Franciscans, people who can't get enough of data, weather pundits,?Farhad Manjoo.

Why? Good god this site is ugly. But, unlike other weather websites, it has a system called BestForecast that gives micro-climate information -- something Manjoo and others living in fickle places like San Francisco can appreciate. The service not only gets its information from the National Weather Service, but also collects data from "weather enthusiasts--people who love to track precipitation in their own backyards," according to Manjoo. For our data-fiend friends, there's even more details below that beautiful white scape of weather information. And, for those who just can't stop talking about weather, the site has a discussions forum for meteorologists to geek out with each other.

---

Weatherspark

The type of person who might like this site: Snobs, people who like learning, Google Maps enthusiasts, general maps aficionados, people who can't read, wannabee statisticians.

Why: This site has none of that cutesy sunshine b.s. that we get on the Internet weather checking places. This is for serious weather people who want to know serious weather trends. On the left we get radar overlay on Google Maps and on the left we get a graph, which gives temperature organized by hour, along with a percentile range of accuracy, with the statistical max and minimum temperatures. But as fancy smart-man as this gets, it also has very few words. So those who don't like to read in the traditional words on paper sense, can get a lot of weather information with little reading skills.

---

THE F**KING WEATHER

The type of person who might like this site: 13 year-old-boys, professional Internet meme makers, people who just want information right now and cannot possibly be bothered to take an extra second to read a weather forecast.?

Why? Simple, yet so egregious. Anyway, it has the bare minimum: highs, lows and possible chances of rain and clouds. And maybe the swear will impress a group of 7th grade boys? It also plays to Internet sensibilities with that interobang and state-the-obvious description. If anything, it gets the job done.

---

The National Weather Service

The type of person who might like this: Weather purists, anti-consumerists, primary source readers.

Why? Like we said, most of those sites above get their weather info from the National Weather Service. People who don't care about the frills of these other sites might as well just head to the original source. The graphics may look a little government made, but the site has a lot of relevant information. Like, past weather conditions, maps, weather safety, and on-the-ground conditions, like forest fires -- an increasingly relevant detail these days.

---

Intellicast

The type of person who might like this: Contrarians, dare to be different types, people with bad taste.

Why? If you thought Weather Underground was ugly, wait till you get a load of Intellicast. This site has nothing over any of the other sites, plus it just looks foul. Though Lifehacker readers say it gives accurate regional, national, and travel information, which counts for something.

So that's it. Maybe you were already using the right site for you. Maybe we opened your eyes to a new better site for your needs. Or, perhaps we missed some incredible weather site out there perfect for some personality we missed. Let us know in the comments!

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exactly-hot-weather-181631928.html

tim gunn tim gunn built to last obama state of the union address 2012 obama speech terrell owens terrell owens

Upgrading to Windows 8 Will Only Cost You 40 Bucks [Windows]

If you're on Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7—and if you're reading this site and a human, you better be—upgrading to Windows 8 is going to be dirt cheap and totally worth it: only 40 bucks. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/J3RIr_PVmQ0/upgrading-to-windows-8-will-only-cost-you-40-bucks

shroud of turin the borgias the masters warren sapp i robot the big c the visitor

Artificial blood vessels flow from 3-D printer

7 hrs.

Francie Diep, InnovationNewsDaily Staff Writer

A new formula creates 3-D-printed blood vessels that may be incorporated into entirely man-made organs for transplants in the future. The printer doesn't directly print the blood vessels, however; instead, researchers have printed a stiff mold made of sugar that gets embedded in tissue, then dissolved, leaving behind open channels inside the tissue that act as blood vessels. The technique is one way of getting blood vessels into?man-made organs, such as kidneys or livers. "Making the 'plumbing' is now a lot more straightforward with our 3-D-printed sugar filaments," Jordan Miller, a bioengineer University of Pennsylvania who led the research, wrote to InnovationNewsDaily in an email.?

Creating a good artificial vascular system is an important step toward building a man-made transplant that works like the real thing. ?Artificial skin,?windpipes?and bladders already appear in operating rooms today, but kidneys and livers are more difficult for researchers to build because the cells inside them are more sophisticated. For one thing, kidneys and livers require many blood vessels to carry nutrients to them. "Addressing the vascular structure is one of the key challenges," said Abraham Stroock, a chemical engineer at Cornell University who was not involved in the research.

Miller and some colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania came up with a blend of sugar molecules to go in an open-source 3-D printer called RepRap. They wrote the directions for the printer, which printed out a network of sugary tubing they called "carbohydrate glass." Like glass, it's stiff at room temperature and translucent. [10 Incredible 3-D Printed Products]

They sent the tubing off to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where researchers poured a gel containing liver cells around the carbohydrate glass. After the liver gel set ? "It's very similar to Jell-O," Miller said ? it created a tiny rectangle of solid tissue wrapped around the sugar tubes.

Researchers then flushed the tubes with water, dissolving the sugar structure and leaving behind open channels inside the liver Jell-O. The channels act like?blood vessels. When researchers began pumping a liquid containing oxygen and nutrients through the channels, they found the cells near the channels responded. Compared with a similar-size slab of liver cells that lacked channels, the channeled liver slab made more of the normal liver chemicals, which indicate that it's healthy. ?

The whole setting-and-flushing process only takes about 30 minutes. "Then we can immediately start to flow in oxygen and nutrients," Miller told InnovationNewsDaily. So the liver cells get their food and oxygen quickly, keeping them healthy. The technique also doesn't require the liver cells themselves to go through a 3-D printer. "Liver cells in particular, they don't survive those processes well," Miller said.?

Miller and his colleagues published their work in the journal Nature Materials on Sunday. "The paper is a very solid demonstration of a new technological approach to putting structure inside of a matrix for the growth of cells," Stroock said. Liver cells were a challenging example to choose, he added.

Several researchers, including Miller and Stroock, are now working on building parts of sophisticated artificial organs. They're excited, considering the success of artificial skin and bladders, but it will still take decades for an artificial liver to be ready to be transplanted into a person, Miller and Stroock say. Researchers still need to work on making more sophisticated liver tissue and on connecting a man-made liver to a person's natural tissues.?

Meanwhile, Miller's technique might be used to make something like an artificial kidney that works outside the body, cleaning the blood, or like a living pharmaceutical factory, pumping out biological drugs, Stroock suggested. "That is a much shorter term target," he said.

Artificial vasculature might also help grow?artificial meat, though researchers are less interested in that than in artificial organs, Stroock said. "There's potential in that area," Miller said, while adding his lab does not study lab-grown meat. Stroock was more skeptical: "I think it's justified that it's not being well-funded or heavily pursued because it doesn't serve an obvious need. It's not at all obvious that it'd be an efficient way to generate biomass."

You can follow?InnovationNewsDaily?staff writer Francie Diep on Twitter?@franciediep. Follow InnovationNewsDaily on Twitter?@News_Innovation, or on?Facebook.

Source: http://www.futureoftech.msnbc.msn.com/technology/futureoftech/artificial-blood-vessels-flow-3-d-printer-859228

bobby petrino brian dunn vin scully petrino fired george zimmerman charged tony romo big sean

Gas under cemeteries raises money, moral questions

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) ? Loved ones aren't the only thing buried in the 122-year-old Lowellville Cemetery in eastern Ohio. Deep underground, locked in ancient shale formations, are lucrative quantities of natural gas.

Whether to drill for that gas is causing soul-searching as cemeteries ? including veterans' final resting places in Colorado and Mississippi ? join parks, playgrounds, churches and residential backyards among the ranks of places targeted in the nation's shale drilling boom.

Opponents say cemeteries are hallowed ground that shouldn't be sullied by drilling activity they worry will be noisy, smelly and unsightly. Defenders say the drilling is so deep that it doesn't disturb the cemetery and can generate revenue to enhance the roads and grounds.

"Most people don't like it," said 70-year-old Marilee Pilkington, who lives down the road from the cemetery in rural Poland Township and whose father, brother, nephew and niece are all buried there.

"I think it's a dumb idea because I wouldn't want anyone up there disturbing the dead, number one, and, number two, I don't like the aspect of drilling," she said.

Township trustees received a proposal this year to lease cemetery mineral rights for $140,000, plus 16 percent of any royalties, for any oil and gas. Similar offers soon followed at two other area cemeteries.

Longtime Trustee Mark Naples felt the same way as Pilkington when the issue arose ? despite the fact $140,000 could cover the cemetery's budget, minus road maintenance, for more than 20 years.

"Our concern was we weren't going to let anybody come in there and move anything" in the cemetery, he said. "They weren't going to have my vote for that."

John Campbell, a lease agent for Campbell Development LLC, a company based in Fort Worth, Texas, declined a request for more information on his proposal, which was not expected to stir any graves. He said only that the offer was not accepted.

It was just more fuel for drilling opponents in the Youngstown area, already rocked by a series of earthquakes that have been tied to deep-well injection of wastewater from hydraulic fracturing and other drilling activities. They're now fighting for a citywide drilling ban.

Concerns are driven largely by a lack of information, said John Stephenson, president of the Texas Cemeteries Association.

"A lot of it just has to do with the way that it's presented," he said. "You're hundreds of feet below the ground, and it's not disturbing any graves."

It's possible to reach oil and gas deposits now from drilling rigs placed sometimes miles away because of advances in what's called horizontal drilling. The technology has made vast new shale energy deposits available under the Northeast, Texas and elsewhere.

Stephenson leased mineral rights under two of his cemeteries within the past three years, he said. Each is about a century old and populated with 75,000 graves. Revenue from the leases ? he wouldn't say how much ? has allowed him to pave roads, repair fences and make other improvements during economic hard times.

The Catholic Cemeteries Association in Pittsburgh also saw benefits to leasing mineral rights under 11 of its cemeteries comprising more than 1,200 acres. The five-year lease, signed in 2008, came to light through news reports in 2010.

Douglas Shields, a city councilman at the time, was able to push through a citywide drilling ban amid the outrage stirred up by the debate.

"Everybody (in the press) liked the ghoulish aspects of drilling on sacred ground and disturbing great-Grandma's body and all that," Shields said. "I'd say there were many other issues of greater immediate concern, but that's what the hook to it was."

In Poland Township, officials were full of questions: Could they legally sell the mineral rights to a public cemetery? What claim would families with burial plots have to the royalties?

"You know what it is, it's emotional," Poland Township Administrator Jim Scharville said. "A lot of people don't want any type of drilling. There's something about disturbing the sanctuary of a cemetery. We're not talking about dinosaurs now and creatures that roamed the earth millions of years ago. We're talking about loved ones who have died, people we knew."

Plot owners have no legal claim to the mineral rights at a cemetery, Stephenson said. Their agreements are for an indefinite rental of sorts at the surface level ? and a promise the site will be maintained, he said.

The Ohio township was also worried about not acting, Scharville said, out of fear the oil and gas could be claimed through mandatory pooling and they would wind up with nothing. Under such laws, well operators can seek underground access to properties without the owner's permission through a state review board.

The inability to control mineral rights has also become a concern in Colorado, where the National Cemetery Association, which operates veterans' cemeteries, is working to select a site for a new cemetery.

One of four prospective sites, in Fountain, could have been open to drilling because the mineral rights weren't free and clear, said Glenn Madderom, the agency's chief of cemetery development and improvement service. That presented a disincentive, even though its owners plan to donate the land at no cost to the government.

"Certainly you don't want oil drilling operations occurring on a property where it could be disruptive to the services or to the visitors, to the serenity or the peace of the site," Madderom said. "A national cemetery, we call it a national shrine. It's a beautiful, well-maintained property that honors the veterans and their families, and so oil drilling operations on that site are just not appropriate."

The administration also successfully fought to move drilling operations to the other side of a forest abutting the veterans' cemetery in Natchez, Miss., to preserve the mood, he said. Such sites are all eventually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

___

Associated Press writer Thomas J. Sheeran in Cleveland contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gas-under-cemeteries-raises-money-moral-questions-062932465--finance.html

city of ember city of ember virgin diaries kevin smith kevin smith carlos mencia packers stock sale

Factbox:Islam in West Africa

Factbox: Islam in West Africa

ICC Note

This report by Reuters indicates the role of Islam in West Africa. The growth of Islamic radicalism has increased persecution of Christians Africa. Radical Islam has also posed security threats to many countries in Africa.

06/28/2012 Nigeria (Reuters)-Al Qaeda-linked Islamists declared on Thursday they had secured full control of Mali's desert north from separatist rebels with whom they had temporarily joined forces to seize territory earlier this year [ID:nL6E8HSFJ7].

Separatist Tuareg-led MNLA rebels and armed Islamist groups, swept through northern Mali in March and April and declared an independent state of "Azawad" in the north after routing the regular troops, in disarray after a March 22 coup in the West African country.

The Tuareg separatists said they wanted an independent secular state while the Islamists said their objective was to impose sharia or Islamic law across the whole of Mali, which mostly follows a moderate form of Islam.

The relationship between the state and Islam differs significantly across western Africa, in part because of variations in the complex interaction between Islam and ethnic politics.

Here is a look at Islam in a few West African countries:

OVERVIEW:

- Islam arrived in sub-Saharan West Africa as early as the 8th century, travelling with Arab traders from North Africa. The Muslim merchants brought trade and goods to exchange for gold and facilitated trade by introducing concepts such as contract law and credit arrangements. They were valued also for the literacy they brought, which African rulers quickly discovered could help them administer their kingdoms.

...

- Today, countries to the north of the region such as Gambia, Guinea, Mauritania, Mali and Niger are predominantly Muslim. To the south of the region, in countries such as modern Ghana, Muslims are in the minority.

NIGERIA:

...

- However tension between the two communities has been a part of the landscape of Nigerian politics since independence in 1960 and problems have been exacerbated recently by the election of Goodluck Jonathan as president. He is a Christian southerner, and in the eyes of many Muslim northerners it was a northerner's turn to rule.

- The shadowy Islamist sect Boko Haram has attacked Christians, possibly hoping to trigger a religious conflict.

SENEGAL:

- A religious, economic and social force with no real parallel elsewhere, Senegal's Brotherhoods are a pillar of the moderate Sunni Islam espoused by over 90 percent of the nation who co-exist with minority Christians and others.

...

MAURITANIA/MALI

- In Mauritania throughout the 1990's, political liberalization allowed Islamists to participate in elections as participants and the Tawassoul party became a significant minority moderate voice. However there are more hardline Salafi activists in poorer areas.

...

- However Bamako has accused the Tuaregs of lending support to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) by sharing their desert expertise and navigational skills, opening up their trade networks. It would be impossible for AQIM to operate in northern Mali without some sort of acceptance by the Tuaregs, some Sahel researchers have said.

- AQIM had its roots in Algeria's Salafist movement, but has pushed south into the lawless Sahel region in recent years where it funds operations by collecting kidnap ransoms and by siphoning off the West African drugs trade. AQIM has established an operating base for itself in the Sahara desert - spanning northern Mali, Niger, Mauritania - by exploiting the vast expanses, official corruption and weak militaries in the region.

...

[Go to the Full Story]

Tags: Boko Haram, Sharia law

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 30th, 2012 at 12:30 am and is filed under Africa, Countries, Islam, Mali, Mauritania, News, Nigeria. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Source: http://www.persecution.org/2012/06/30/factboxislam-in-west-africa/

meghan mccain wilson chandler bristol motor speedway puerto rico prometheus grand canyon skywalk tonga

South Surrey soccer player to represent Canada

Robbie Tice is on the move again.

For one, the 22-year-old South Surrey soccer player ? who plays professionally in Norway ? recently signed with a new team in the Norwegian second division, which he?ll join after the league?s summer break.

But before he suits up for his new club, Nesodden IF, he?ll be donning a soccer kit adorned with the red Canadian Maple Leaf. Last month, Tice, an Earl Marriott Secondary grad, was selected to join Canada?s national men?s futsal team.

Futsal is FIFA?s official version of five-a-side indoor soccer. The sport ? which originated in South America in the 1930s ? is played by largely the same rules as the outdoor game, but on a smaller field and with a slightly smaller, weighted ball. It will be a medal sport at the 2015 Pan-American Games in Toronto.

Tice?s futsal squad was in Costa Rica late last month for two games against the host country?s national team, and last week, the Canadians headed to Guatemala City, where they were set to play a two-game preliminary series against El Salvador.

The winner of that two-game showdown advances to the eight-team CONCACAF Futsal Championships, which began yesterday (July 2).

The eight teams will be vying for one of four spots at the 2012 Futsal World Cup, which is to be held Nov. 1-18 in Bangkok, Thailand.

?It?s truly a dream come true and an honour for me to get the opportunity to represent Canada in an international competition,? Tice said via email from Costa Rica last week.

?This is something I?ve been dreaming of for as long as I can remember, and I?m very excited? to represent my home country.?

After the World Cup, Tice will head back to Oslo, where he?s lived for the past five years while playing with a number of different pro teams.

Prior to joining Nesodden IF, he hit the pitch with Kjels?s IL, and the season before that, with FK Bod?/Glimt. Since heading overseas after high school, Tice also also played in England for Nantwich Town FC and in Scotland, with Ayr United.

?I?m very happy to have signed with Nesodden and I?m looking forward to playing (there) when I return to Norway,? Tice said.

?It?s going to be a busy couple months for me, but I wouldn?t have it any other way.?

?

'; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } google_ad_client = 'pub-9774721429222771'; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_ad_channel ='3389691084'; google_max_num_ads = '4'; google_feedback = 'on'; google_ad_type = 'text'; google_adtest = 'on'; google_image_size = '300x250'; google_skip = '3'; // -->

Source: http://www.peacearchnews.com/sports/160699305.html

camille grammer us supreme court breaking dawn part 2 trailer mississippi state chris carpenter chris carpenter dick cheney