During the 2012 campaign, Democrats hammered House Republicans for their support of Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan's budget proposal. With the 2014 elections around the corner, they plan to do it again.
Although Democrats did not regain control of the House last year, the party increased its numbers in part through a sustained attack on incumbent Republicans and candidates who focused on Ryan's budget plan. That success has inspired strategists at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to stick to the same formula, with plans for a massive messaging campaign that will last until November 2014.
"This issue helped win President Obama?s re-election and Democratic gains in the House and Senate," DCCC spokesman Jesse Ferguson told Yahoo News. "But 2012 was about the presidential race. In 2014, the election is about the tea party Congress and their budget will be a central focus."
The early shelling of the DCCC's 20-month-long bombardment began early this week, before Ryan even unveiled his plan. Similar to 2012, Democrats are emphasizing the Republicans' proposed changes to Medicare, which would have people born after 1959 choose between the current program and an option to purchase health insurance on a private market with help from federal subsidies.
In the new iteration, Democrats also criticized Ryan's plan to strip the federal health care law out of the budget, a program that President Barack Obama signed in 2010 and was upheld as constitutional by the Supreme Court last year.
The DCCC plans to release a video on Wednesday, seen first on Yahoo News, which calls the budget "Paul Ryan's Fantasy." It shows media outlets and some conservatives criticizing the decision.
The video will appear only online, but the DCCC is planning a wide-scale media buy closer to the election.
If you've wanted to know just whichadorable puppy picture on your website got the most pins on Pinterest, you're in luck. The internet pinboard folks just unveiled a new web analytics tool for businesses and site owners that'll track which content receives the most attention in terms of clicks, pins and repins, and how recently those items were selected. Verify your website with Pinterest, and you'll be able to check out your visitors' pinning behavior starting today. Hmm, maybe now we'll get to see which one of our editors is the most popular.
FILE - In this April 7, 2008 file photo, writer Edward Albee arrives at the 2008 Point Foundation Benefit at Capitale, in New York. The 2013-2014 Signature season at the Signature Theatre will be a fertile one, with new works by David Henry Hwang, Will Eno, Martha Clarke and the much-anticipated world premiere of Edward Albee's new play ?Laying an Egg.? (AP Photo/Peter Kramer, File)
FILE - In this April 7, 2008 file photo, writer Edward Albee arrives at the 2008 Point Foundation Benefit at Capitale, in New York. The 2013-2014 Signature season at the Signature Theatre will be a fertile one, with new works by David Henry Hwang, Will Eno, Martha Clarke and the much-anticipated world premiere of Edward Albee's new play ?Laying an Egg.? (AP Photo/Peter Kramer, File)
NEW YORK (AP) ? The upcoming season at the Signature Theatre will be a fertile one ? with new works by David Henry Hwang, Will Eno, Martha Clarke and the much-anticipated world premiere of Edward Albee's new play "Laying an Egg."
The 2013-2014 Signature season announced Wednesday also includes Ruben Santiago-Hudson starring in August Wilson's one-man show "How I Learned What I Learned" and a new work by Regina Taylor.
"I think it's a really dynamic, eclectic group and mix, and I think it really is representative of what we have to offer as a theater-making community," said James Houghton, the Signature's founding artistic director.
Albee's play, about a middle-aged married woman determined to become pregnant despite a controlling mother and restrictions imposed by her late father's will, is part of the Signature's Legacy Program, which gives its former resident writers the opportunity to return with new work.
Albee, whose other works include "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" ''Seascape" and "The Goat or Who Is Sylvia?" was a resident playwright from 1993-94. His new play will debut this summer.
"Edward is really family," Houghton said, pointing to the 20-year support the Signature has given the prize-winning playwright. "It feels very organic and natural to be working together."
"Laying an Egg" was initially scheduled to be produced last year by the Signature but was postponed when Albee requested more time. It was replaced by a revival of his "The Lady from Dubuque," starring Jane Alexander.
This fall, Clarke's "Cheri" will offer a fusion of theater, live music and dance that Clarke has conceived, directed and choreographed. It features American Ballet Theatre principal dancer Herman Cornejo and prima ballerina Alessandra Ferri, as well as British actor Suzanne Bertish.
Other works include the previously announced Taylor's "--- and Potatoes," about a crossword-loving book publisher struggling to find his purpose in the digital age, and the world premiere of Hwang's "Kung Fu," a new play directed by Leigh Silverman that incorporates dance and music.
Hwang's play, according to a Signature description, is about a young martial artist who comes to America from Hong Kong in the 1960s "with a dream as audacious as his talent: to become the biggest movie star in the world."
Eno returns next year with a new as-yet-untitled play. His last play "Title and Deed," a meditation on loneliness and home, was produced by the Signature. And Branden Jacobs-Jenkins also will have a new work making its world premiere next year.
"To me, the season is representative of what we do ? it's very dynamic," said Houghton. "I think it's diverse on every level from our most mature artists to fresh new artists coming up, pushing boundaries of what makes theater and what defines theater."
The off-Broadway theater company recently moved into its 75,000-square-foot, Frank Gehry-designed home at the Pershing Square Signature Center on 42nd Street.
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Online: http://www.signaturetheatre.org
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Follow Mark Kennedy on Twitter at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits
BYRON, Maine (Reuters) - Voters in a small Maine town unanimously rejected a proposal on Monday that would have required every household to own a firearm and ammunition.
More than 60 residents of Byron, Maine, packed into the tiny Coos Canyon Schoolhouse and quickly voted to make the symbolic measure the first order of business during the town's annual meeting.
After a brief discussion, residents elected to skip debate and vote. Not even Bruce Simmons, the resident who originally came up with the proposal, voted to support it.
Backers said the point of the measure, which was considered unenforceable, was to send a message to state and federal lawmakers trying to pass gun control laws.
"I feel we accomplished what we set out to do and I hope we will wake this town up," Simmons said. "We made a statement to the federal government that they can't take our guns away."
Selectman David Noyes, who told the group he opposed the requirement, said he was relieved the question was dispatched so quickly so the town of about 140 people could move on to other pressing matters.
Even if the measure had passed, Maine law bars municipalities from legislating on firearms.
The December shooting rampage that left 20 first-graders and six adults dead at a Connecticut elementary school has re-ignited the national debate over guns. In response, some states have been prompted to tighten gun laws, while other states have sought to keep federal gun measures from being applied within their borders.
Byron is not the only U.S. town to mull such a measure. Last week, selectmen in the Maine town of Sabattus, about 60 miles from Byron, voted against putting a similar proposal before town residents.
In Georgia, a city leader in Nelson has proposed an ordinance calling on every head of household to have a gun as a way to keep crime down in the city of 1,300 residents, which employs only a single police officer.
The Nelson city council is expected to vote on the gun ownership ordinance on April 1.
(Editing by James B. Kelleher, Cynthia Johnston, Tom Brown and Lisa Shumaker)
A sinkhole swallowed golfer Mark Mihal at the 14th hole of a southern Illinois golf course. He stayed in the sinkhole 20 minutes before his friends pulled him to safety.
By Jim Suhr,?Associated Press / March 12, 2013
Clockwise from top: Hank Martinez, Ed Magaletta, and Russ Nobbe look into an 18-foot-deep sinkhole that golfer Mark Mihal fell into while playing golf at the Annbriar Golf Course in Waterloo, Ill.
Mike Peters / Courtesy of golfmanna.com / AP
Enlarge
Mark Mihal was having a good opening day on the links when he noticed an unusual depression on the 14th fairway at Annbriar Golf Club in southern Illinois. Remarking to his friends how awkward it would be to have to hit out of it, he went over for a closer look.
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One step onto the pocked section and the 43-year-old mortgage broker plunged into a?sinkhole. He landed 18 feet down with a painful thud, and his friends managed to hoist him to safety with a rope after about 20 minutes. But Friday's experience gave Mihal quite a fright, particularly after the recent death of a Florida man whose body hasn't been found since a?sinkhole?swallowed him and his bedroom.
"I feel lucky just to come out of it with a shoulder injury, falling that far and not knowing what I was going to hit," Mihal, from the St. Louis suburb of Creve Coeur, told the Associated Press before heading off to learn whether he'll need surgery. "It was absolutely crazy."
Annbriar general manager Russ Nobbe described the?sinkhole?as "an extremely unfortunate event, an event we feel is an act of nature."
"We don't feel there is any way we could have foreseen this happening," he told a Tuesday news conference.
Mihal said it was a real downer on what had been a fine outing.
With winter finally nearing an end, "it was the first day to get to play in a long time," he said. "So I wasn't expecting too much."
Golfing with buddies, Mihal was waiting to hit his third shot, some 100 yards from the pin on the par 5, when he noticed a bathtub-looking indentation about knee deep just behind him on the fairway. At just one over par for the round, the?golfer?with a 6 handicap was on a roll.
Then the ground gave way beneath him.
"It didn't look unstable," Mihal said. "And then I was gone. I was just freefalling. It felt like forever, but it was just a second or two, and I didn't know what I was going to hit. And all I saw was darkness."
His golfing buddies didn't see him vanish into the earth but noticed he wasn't visible, figuring he had tripped and fallen out of sight down a hill. But one of them heard Mihal's moans and went to investigate.
"He just thought it was some crazy magic trick or something," Mihal said.
Hardly.
Getting panicky and knowing his shoulder "was busted," Mihal assessed his dilemma in pitch darkness as he rested on a mound of mud, wondering if the ground would give way more and send him deeper into the pit that was 10-feet wide at the opening, then broadened out into the shape of a bell below the surface.
"I was looking around, clinging to the mud pile, trying to see if there was a way out," he said. "At that point, I started yelling, "I need a ladder and a rope, and you guys need to get me out of here.'"
A ladder hustled to the scene was too short, and Mihal's damaged shoulder crimped his ability to climb.
"At some point, I said, 'I need to get out of here. Now,'" Mihal recalled.
One of his golf partners, a real-estate agent, made his way into the hole, converted his sweater into a splint for Mihal and tied a rope around his friend, who was pulled to safety.
While disturbing, such sink-holes aren't uncommon in southwestern Illinois, where old underground mines frequently cause the earth to settle. In Mihal's case, the culprit was subsurface limestone that dissolves from acidic rainwater, snowmelt and carbon dioxide, eventually causing the ground to collapse, said Sam Panno, a senior geochemist with the Illinois State Geological Survey.
That region "is riddled with?sinkholes," with as many as 15,000 recorded, Panno said.
Nobbe told the AP other?golfers?are not in danger and the Annbriar course will remain open while officials seek geologist recommendations for what to do about the 14th hole's?sinkhole.
"Every geologist we've talked to says it is unreasonable and unnecessary" to survey the entire grounds for other?sinkhole?threats, he added.
Mihal, meanwhile, is debating a return to Annbriar.
"It's a great course. I love the course," Mihal said, having played Annbriar a couple dozen times during the past decade. "But I would have a tough time probably walking down that hole again."
Associated Press writer Herb McCann contributed to this report from Chicago.
Every day as a mother has its own personality traits that result in blessing and sacrifice.? This Monday, many mothers sacrifice the lazy weekend home with their families for work clothes, packed lunches, and carpool.
But, even in sacrifice, blessings can be found.
Your children are loved and learning independence.? Your mind has a chance to plan without interruption.? All come back to this place called home and break bread together in the evening.? Your sacrifice in the morning brings blessing in the evening.
We are in the thick days of lent, you and I.? We sacrifice food or media or hastiness to draw closer to our co-heir of this kingdom.? In the midst of giving up, we gain blessing.? We learn that we don?t need it all and certainly can?t have it all.? Our sacrifices are blooming blessings.
Before I became a mother, I thought I could have it all.? The perfect life where children would rarely disobey, the house is always clean, and I can do whatever I darn well please.? Well, I sure had my head in the clouds, don?t ya think?
I?ve been stubborn about sacrificing.? I?ve kicked and screamed and hidden under the covers.? But, I can?t run away from sacrifice.? It comes at me, hard and fast.? Just when I think it is too much, my sacrifices blindside me and turn into blessing.? Blessings so big that they hug and squeeze me tighter than my skinny jeans.
Motherhood is full of sacrifices that catapult into blessings.
The only way to enter into this exclusive club is by the doors of sacrifice.? Beyond those doors, we receive our children: the biggest blessing we will ever inherit. We sacrifice our bodies to produce these blessings. We sacrifice our dreams to build up our blessings. We sacrifice time, money, vacations, new cars, big houses, clothes, exotic cities, and even our waistlines to pour into the lives of our children.? Motherhood is full of sacrificing our selfish tendencies so we can experience the blessing that comes from loving our children.
As moms, we get a tiny glimpse of how God must feel about us.? How he sacrificed his son for the blessing of mankind.? Instead of being selfish, he sacrificed. May we, as mothers, absorb this delicate truth?
Our days as moms will be far from perfect, full of hard sacrifices.? But, as we watch our children play in the evening sun that stays at the edge of day for a little while longer, we feel the warmth of blessing tug at our hearts.? Our children are worth every sacrifice; because they are the blessings which christen us into motherhood.
TACOMA, Washington (Reuters) - An Army prosecution witness identified a rifle used in a shooting rampage at a military combat stress center in Baghdad as his, and testified on Tuesday that it had been taken from him on the day of the spree by accused killer Sergeant John Russell.
Russell, of the 54th Engineer Battalion based in Bamberg, Germany, is accused of killing five fellow servicemen in 2009 in an attack the military said at the time could have been triggered by combat stress.
He faces five charges of premeditated murder, one charge of aggravated assault and one charge of attempted murder in connection with the shootings, and could face the death penalty if convicted.
Tuesday's testimony by staff sergeant Enos Richard - and the pictures of the M-16 rifle he said was his - came during a pre-trial, evidentiary hearing in Washington state and could figure prominently as evidence in court martial proceedings slated for next month.
Richard had been assigned to drive Russell to the stress center on the day of the shooting. A spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq said in 2009 that a commander had earlier determined that it was best Russell have his own weapon taken away.
The state of Russell's mind has been the focus of legal proceedings over the past year, and Tuesday's hearing at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma comes at a sensitive time for the Army.
The Pacific Northwest base, one of the nation's largest, is also the home base of Robert Bales, who is accused of killing 16 Afghan villagers last March and is scheduled to face a court martial in September.
In both cases, lawyers or the military have suggested post-traumatic stress disorder may have been a factor.
Russell was arrested outside of the clinic shortly after the shots were heard, Major General David Perkins, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq, said in 2009.
PTSD AND PSYCHOSIS
During legal proceedings in November, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Robert Sadoff said he concluded Russell was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and psychosis at the time of the shootings. He also said Russell suffered from "dissociative disorder," or a lack of memory about the incident.
Moreover, Sadoff harshly criticized a psychologist and a psychiatrist on the staff at Camp Victory for what he called "inexcusable treatment" of Russell days before the shooting in which he experienced a "lack of compassion."
Two of the five people killed in the shooting were medical staff officers at the counseling center for troops experiencing combat stress. The others were soldiers.
Judge Colonel David Conn admitted prosecution evidence on Tuesday that included photos of the rifle used in the killings, as well as the rifle's scope, a patrol cap, name tag and a cigarette butt.
Conn also asked Russell, who wore a green military uniform and glasses, whether he wanted military defense attorney Captain Ben Hillner, who has capital punishment legal expertise, to remain on his team of three lawyers.
Russell's civilian defense attorney James Culp has indicated he and Hillner have differed on legal strategy.
"I would like him to stay aboard, your honor," Russell said, in a soft-spoken voice.
Culp, who has outlined a defense based on Russell's declining mental state, entered no plea for Russell in a November hearing - standard practice in U.S. military justice procedure.
If the defense can persuade a military jury that Russell was not in possession of his senses at the time of the shooting, then it would make a death sentence less likely.
(Additional reporting by Laura L. Myers; Writing by Eric M. Johnson; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Jackie Frank)
I?ll admit that cooking isn?t my favorite past time. My husband is the chef in the family but I do try to surprise him once in a while with a meal ready and on the table when he gets home from work. Cutting poultry is one of those tasks that makes my skin crawl so when my husband came home to this meal he assumed the turkey was pre-cut. HA! Yes sweetie, I made it all on my own. It?s nothing fancy but I wanted to try the new Top Chop Market gourmet free-range turkey combo box.
The Butter Garlic Turkey Breast caught my eye first. The premium cut was incredibly lean. I didn?t have to remove anything from the meat. The turkey breasts were pre seasoned so I didn?t ad anything additional. I browned the turkey with a little bit of olive oil, then added fresh cut mushrooms, green and red peppers, and onion. After letting the veggies cook I layered the mixture with cheese and sour cream onto a tortilla. We enjoyed fresh, simple turkey fajitas for dinner. My husband and I both enjoyed the turkey but felt the seasoning could have been stronger. We also agreed that we still enjoyed this product and love the fact that Top Chop Market sells free-range turkey and can shop with confidence with their 100% guarantee:
We are so confident you will love our products that we guarantee them. Buy with peace of mind, if for any reason you are dissatisfied with the product let us know and we will replace your order or return your money.
We also tried one of the cooked turkey sausages from the Top Chop Market combo box (they offer both cooked and uncooked options). My husband makes an amazing sausage chowder. He typically uses a kielbasa sausage but the smoked sausage with cheddar cheese sounded like a great alternative.
Amazing Sausage Chowder
Recipe Type:?Main Dish
?
Ingredients
5 pounds potatoes
1 kielbasa sausage (14 oz) or your other favorite sausage
can creamed corn
can whole kernel corn
can cream of mushroom soup
Instructions
Cut and peel potatoes and boil in a large pot of water (add enough water to cover potatoes). Once the potatoes are cooked, add creamed corn, whole kernel corn, and cream of mushroom soup. Heat and slice the cooked sausage and add to the soup. Serve and enjoy!
3.1.09
This soup is great on a cold winter day and has become a family favorite. We loved the Top Chop turkey sausage.
The only negative we could come up with for this product is the price. I?m not sure how prices compare for other free-range products but we weren?t sure we?d spend $65.99 + S&H on the combo box. With that said I did purchase our local chicken at the deli window today instead of the pre-packaged big name brand and was willing to pay the extra cost to get a more natural product.
BUY IT:
You can purchase a variety of Top Chop Market free-range gourmet turkey products online at?www.topchopmarket.com.
WIN IT:
I have an?ultimate?combo box to give away to one lucky reader! a Rafflecopter giveaway Disclosure: I received samples for the purpose of this review however all thoughts are 100% my own.
For St. Patrick's Day cooking this year, think outside the box of Irish favorites such as corned beef, potatoes and soda bread. Instead think about cooking with absinthe, the green and sometimes mean liqueur re-legalized in the United States in 2007 for the first time since it was banned at the turn of the 20th century.
Often called the "green fairy" because of its supposed hallucinogenic effects - part of the reason it was prohibited here and in Europe - the slightly naughty absinthe adds a unique, if not fascinating, kick to foods with its black licorice-like flavor.
"Straight-up, the flavor of absinthe is very in-your-face," says Heather Schmitt-Gonzalez, culinary expert, food writer and author of Girlichef food blog. "But when used in cooking, it lends a lilting whisper of anise to a variety dishes and ingredients."
While there are several absinthe brands on the market, the original and most authentic is Pernod, and at 68 percent alcohol, is intense and, if you're not careful, can make you absinthe-minded.
The base flavor is star anise and mint mixed with fennel, other complex herbals, and the bitter edge of wormwood or Artemisia absinthium, from which absinthe takes its name.
Legend holds that its creation is attributed to Mother Henroid of Couvet of Val de Travers, in the Swiss canton of Neuchatel, who blended the concoction from plants she found in the mountains. It soon found its way to a French doctor, who medicinally peddled it to his patients and called it "absinthe elixir." Henri-Louis Pernod opened the first absinthe distillery 1798.
Through the years, absinthe was blamed for a number of ugly incidents, including murder and other crimes, which probably served only to enhance its bad-boy reputation.
But for the curious cook, its historical mystique is part of its allure.
Schmitt-Gonzalez says when cooking with absinthe, look for ingredients that complement the flavor of the black licorice.
"Use it as you would white wine in fish or chicken dishes," she says. "Green vegetables like sweet peas, asparagus and green beans go great with it. You could also choose fresh fruits like apples, pears and ripe berries or dried fruits like prunes or raisins. Both dried spices and fresh herbs can mingle comfortably in a dish with absinthe - think seeds like coriander, fennel, anise, peppercorn and mustard or fresh green tarragon, mint or basil. I find that finishing a dish that uses absinthe with butter or cream is quite magical, as well."
Chef Daniel Castano, owner and co-founder with Michael Cirino of New York City's culinary experience A Razor A Shiny Knife, created such original dishes as the appetizer Absinthe Gelee with ingredients of creme fraiche, caviar and fennel, as well as the explosively flavorful Pernod Absinthe Roasted Duck.
"I love the taste of absinthe because it reminds me of a similar anise flavor of Aguardiente, the national drink of Colombia," he says of his native country. "I drink it on ice, using one big rock of ice."
The one caveat about cooking with absinthe is its high alcohol content. Says Castano, "It is tricky to use in the kitchen because it has such a high percentage of alcohol, and that takes time to burn off so you can use it."
Schmitt-Gonzalez, who's a mom, is careful about that, too. "Since absinthe has a high proof, it's important to use it in heated applications to dissipate that high alcohol content, especially if cooking for children. When used in its pure form, make sure it is an adults-only treat."
If you prefer to drink absinthe rather than cook with it, try it in cocktails or the traditional French drip method favored by Pernod. Just pour an ounce or two into a brandy snifter or similar glass, and then rest a flat, perforated spoon atop the glass, and then place a sugar cube on the perforations. Gradually pour about a half-cup of ice water onto the sugar cube, which dissolves into the absinthe. The cold water then "louches" into an opalescent cloud as the alcohol is tempered and the herbals open up.
Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder, so from appetizers to entrees and from cocktails to desserts, Pernod packs a serious punch for St. Patrick's Day festivities.
PERNOD ABSINTHE GELEE WITH CREME FRAICHE, CAVIAR, AND FENNEL SPRIG
From Daniel Castano of A Razor A Shiny Knife
Makes about 20 single-spoon servings
100 grams Pernod Absinthe
20 grams water
100 grams sugar
1.5 grams agar-agar
0.2 gram locust bean gum
30-45 grams caviar
50 grams creme fraiche
20 small sprigs of fresh fennel
Place absinthe, water and sugar into a pot. Heat over medium until sugar is dissolved. Place the mixture into a blender on low. Slowly add agar-agar and locust bean gum into the mixture, continuing on low speed, until just well blended. Add the entire mixture back into the pot, whisking over medium heat until it reaches 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Hold the temperature for about five minutes, stirring occasionally. Take care to not let the absinthe catch fire. If it does, extinguish it and continue to stir and simmer mixture to a gel.
Remove the pot from the stove, and then carefully and equally pour the gel into 20 flat-bottomed teaspoons. Place on a cookie sheet or other flat surface and place in the refrigerator for about an hour.
Place a small dollop of creme fraiche in the center of the gel on each spoon. Using two nonmetal spoons, shape about 1 to 1.5 grams of caviar onto the gel, leaving the creme fraiche at the front of each spoon. Garnish with a fennel frond.
PERNOD ABSINTHE ROASTED DUCK
From Daniel Castano of A Razor A Shiny Knife
1 duck
1 bunch lavender
1 cup Pernod Absinthe
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
5 gelatin sheets
Salt and pepper, to taste
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Season the duck with salt and pepper, and stuff the cavity with lavender. Roast the duck for about 55 minutes or until done.
In a saucepan over high heat, carefully flame the alcohol out of the absinthe. Add the sugar and water to the absinthe and bring to a boil. Reduce to taste, and then add gelatin sheets. Let the mixture cool until thick. Optionally, add green food coloring.
Remove lavender from the duck. Glaze duck with the gelatin mixture, flaming the cavity before serving so it smokes.
"GREEN FAIRY" CAKES
From Heather Schmitt-Gonzalez of www.GirliChef.com.
Inspired by and adapted from Becks & Posh
Yield 3 dozen mini-cakes
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
"Green Fairy" refers to the name absinthe was often referred to in historical literature. "Fairy Cakes" are small, one-person cakes. Here, they come together to form tasty little "adults-only" cakes.
Cake Ingredients:
4 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 ounces granulated sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
4 ounces sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
Big pinch fine sea salt
1/4 cup Pernod Absinthe
Icing Ingredients:
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1-2 tablespoons absinthe
Few drops green food coloring (optional)
Finishes (optional):
Sprinkles, candied fennel seeds, or dragees
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line 36 miniature cupcake tins with miniature cupcake liners (or grease the pans). Cream together butter, sugar and lemon zest until light and fluffy. Add sifted flour, baking powder, cardamom and salt and beat until just combined. Drop by heaping teaspoons into the waiting cake papers. Bake for 15 minutes or until the cakes have just turned golden and are cooked through. While still warm, poke each cake three times with a toothpick and brush with the absinthe.
For the icing, whisk absinthe into the sifted powdered sugar until it is the consistency that you would like it. Stir in as many drops of food coloring as you like until you get the shade of green you want. Spoon a dollop onto the top of each fairy cake.
Optionally pepper with a few sprinkles or candied fennel seeds on top of the icing or place one dragee in the center of each cake.
Notes: These cakes are so tiny that they dry out quicker than their larger counterparts. They are best eaten within a day of baking, but you can store them in an airtight container for an extra day or two and they are still fairly good.
If you want to make a larger version, use regular-sized cupcake tins and liners; you should get about one dozen. Increase the baking time by 5 minutes or so. Use a toothpick test for doneness.
Absinthe has very high alcohol content and is used in its regular form in this recipe, meaning it's not heated to dissipate the alcohol. Make these for the consumption for adults only. To make them child-friendly, do not brush with absinthe. Instead, brush with a sugar syrup mixture or skip that step altogether. Alternatively, you can substitute lemon juice for the absinthe in the icing. In this case, and as long as you use optional food coloring, they would be called Green "Fairy Cakes" instead of "Green Fairy" Cakes.
ROAST TARRAGON CHICKEN
From Heather Schmitt-Gonzalez of www.GirliChef.com
Adapted from Recipes from a French Herb Garden
Serves 4-6
Preparation time: 10-15 minutes
Cooking time: 1 to 11/4 hours
Poulet a l'Estragon in its original form is one of my favorite dishes. This is a spin on the classic, which uses absinthe to really play up the flavor of the tarragon. Plus it is every bit as rich, tempting and delicious.
1 3-4 pound chicken
4 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons chopped tarragon, divided
Pinch each of salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup Pernod Absinthe
1 teaspoon butter kneaded with 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour for (beurre manie)
2/3 cup creme fraiche
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Wash the chicken, and then pat dry with paper towels. Combine 4 tablespoons soft butter with 1 tablespoon of the tarragon and pinch of salt and pepper to make herb butter. Place it in the cavity of the chicken. Optionally, stuff a bit between the chicken breast and skin. Set the chicken breast side down in a large cast-iron skillet or deep stoneware bowl the same size as a cast-iron skillet. Pour the absinthe over the chicken, cover and place into preheated oven.
After 30 minutes, remove the cover, flip the chicken over so that the breast side is up. Place chicken back into the oven until cooked through, another 30-45 minutes. Lift the chicken out of the pan and set on a serving platter.
Set the cast-iron skillet over medium heat and add the beurre manie, stirring to combine, for 1 minute. Reduce heat a bit and stir in creme fraiche and the remaining tablespoon of tarragon, stirring until thickened. Pour sauce over and around the chicken.
Notes: If you like (and if you don't put any butter between the meat and the skin), try this French trick. Before cooking, bring 6 cups water to a boil. Set the chicken in a bowl that is placed in the sink. Pour the boiling water all over the chicken. Dry the chicken with paper towels and proceed. This tightens the skin of the bird, sealing in the flavors better.
If you do not have any creme fraiche, whisk together 1/3 cup sour cream and 1/3 cup heavy cream, using the mixture in its place of creme fraiche. It's not exactly the same, but in this application, it works well.
SCAMPI ROCKEFELLER
From Heather Schmitt-Gonzalez of www.GirliChef.com.
Serves 2
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 15-20 minutes
It is often debated whether Oysters Rockefeller, the oyster dish with a sauce so rich that it was named after the richest American of the time, should be made using absinthe, Herbsaint or anise. This riff on that much-loved dish uses Absinthe - and shrimp in place of oysters - plus the oft-debated addition of spinach.
4 ounces uncooked angel hair pasta
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 scallions, thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, minced
Big pinch crushed red chili flakes
12 ounces large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 cup Pernod Absinthe
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
4 ounces baby spinach
1/4 cup fresh tarragon, chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Jalapeno Tabasco (the green kind)
Freshly grated parmesan cheese
Bring a pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Salt it generously and add the pasta. Boil for 4 minutes, until al dente.
In the meantime, while the water is coming to a boil and the pasta is cooking, heat butter in a large, deep-sided pan. Add scallions, garlic, and crushed red chili flakes. Saute and stir until soft and fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
Add shrimp and continue to saute until they begin to turn plink, about 3 minutes. Carefully pour in the absinthe and white wine vinegar and allow to bubble and cook for about 30 seconds. Toss in the spinach and saute until wilted, another 1 to 2 minutes.
Drain pasta, reserving 1/3 cup of the cooking water. Add pasta and reserved cooking water to the pan along with the tarragon, stirring to combine. Season to taste with salt, pepper and a few good dashes of the Jalapeno Tabasco. Remove from heat.
Serve with freshly grated parmesan sprinkled over the top and, if desired, more Tabasco on the side.
---
SPICE-DUSTED SALMON WITH ABSINTHE-TARRAGON BEURRE BLANC
From Heather Schmitt-Gonzalez of www.GirliChef.com.
Serves 4
Preparation time: 10-15 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Oddly, even though this dish contains a lot of butter and uses salmon (a "fatty" fish), the addition of the absinthe and its complementary flavors makes it seem light and spring-like.
2 long sprigs tarragon, leaves stripped and chopped
Salt
Pepper
Lemon juice
Ingredients for the salmon:
4 4-ounce salmon fillets, skinned
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon anise seeds
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
To make absinthe-tarragon beurre blanc reduction, place first seven ingredients into a 6-cup medium-weight saucepan and bring to a boil until reduced to a syrupy consistency. About 11/2 tablespoons should remain. This won't take long once it starts boiling.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and immediately beat in 2 pieces of the chilled unsalted butter. As it softens and creams in the liquid, beat in another piece. Set the saucepan over very low heat and, beating constantly, continue to add the butter, one piece at a time, once the previous piece is almost entirely absorbed. The sauce should be thick.
Immediately remove from heat as soon as all the butter has been added and stir in the tarragon. Taste and adjust seasonings with salt, pepper, and/or lemon juice. Hold mixture in the pan on the back of the stove to keep warm (no heat underneath) while you make the salmon. Whisk once before serving.
To prepare the salmon, place all coriander, fennel and anise seeds in a small pan over medium-low heat and toast, shaking and moving the pan around often, 3-5 minutes or until fragrant. Grind in a spice grinder or using a mortar and pestle. Add a big pinch of salt and a big pinch of pepper; stir to combine. Lightly dust both sides of each piece of salmon with spice mixture.
Place a large skillet over medium heat and add butter. Once butter has melted and starts to foam a bit, add the salmon to the pan, the "good side" down. Cook without moving for 2 minutes. Carefully flip the salmon over and cook for another 3 minutes or until just cooked through. If you don't have a pan large enough to hold all of the salmon, saute it in batches, dividing the butter accordingly.
Remove from pan and serve immediately with the Absinthe-Tarragon Beurre Blanc.
---
ABSINTHE COOKIES
Adapted from the Wormwood Society
41/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 cup salad oil
1 teaspoon anise candy flavoring oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons Pernod Absinthe
Icing Ingredients:
4 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup butter
6 tablespoons Pernod Absinthe
6 drops anise oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon water
1 to 2 drops green food coloring
Cream butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat in eggs until fluffy. Add oil, absinthe, lemon juice and candy flavoring oils and blend well. In other bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt. Add these dry ingredients to the creamy mixture. Wrap and chill for several hours.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Roll dough into small balls and place on cookie sheet. Flatten each with the bottom of a glass that has been dipped in granulated sugar to prevent sticking. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Serve as is or frost with absinthe icing when cool.
For icing: Slowly blend all icing ingredients together in a bowl until well-mixed.
ABSINTHE COCKTAILS:
ABSINTHE COFFEE FLIP
1 ounce Pernod Absinthe
1 ounce simple syrup
1 ounce milk
1 ounce espresso
1 egg yolk
Grated nutmeg for garnish
Shake ingredients over ice and double strain into a champagne glass. Top with grated nutmeg.
ABSINTHE FRAPPE
1 part Pernod Absinthe
1/4 part simple syrup
Dash Anisette
Shake ingredients over ice and strain over crushed ice in a highball glass. Optionally top with soda.
THE GINGER FRANKLIN
11/2 ounces Absolut Vodka
1 ounce ginger liqueur
1 ounce pressed apple juice
1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 ounce Pernod Absinthe
Grated cinnamon for garnish
Shake ingredients over ice and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with grated cinnamon.
PERNOD TNT COCKTAIL
1 ounce Pernod Absinthe
1 ounce Cognac
11/2 ounce Cointreau
Dash bitters
Stir ingredients over ice and strain into a martini glass.
If you have a TiVo in your home entertainment set-up and wish it could serve its content elsewhere, here's a solution. The TiVo Mini is an extender box which lets you stream to another room for $100—plus a $6 monthly fee. More »
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday accused the Taliban and the U.S. of working in concert to convince Afghans that violence will worsen if most foreign troops leave ? an allegation the top American commander in Afghanistan rejected as "categorically false."
Karzai said two suicide bombings that killed 19 people on Saturday ? one outside the Afghan Defense Ministry and the other near a police checkpoint in eastern Khost province ? show the insurgent group is conducting attacks to demonstrate that international forces will still be needed to keep the peace after their current combat mission ends in 2014.
"The explosions in Kabul and Khost yesterday showed that they are at the service of America and at the service of this phrase: 2014. They are trying to frighten us into thinking that if the foreigners are not in Afghanistan, we would be facing these sorts of incidents," he said during a nationally televised speech about the state of Afghan women.
Karzai is known for making incendiary comments in his public speeches, a tactic that is often attributed to him trying to appeal to Taliban sympathizers or to gain leverage when he feels his international allies are ignoring his country's sovereignty. In previous speeches, he has threatened to join the Taliban and called his NATO allies occupiers who want to plunder Afghanistan's resources.
U.S. and NATO forces commander Gen. Joseph Dunford said Karzai had never expressed such views to him, but said it was understandable that tensions would arise as the coalition balances the need to complete its mission and the Afghans' move to exercise more sovereignty.
"We have fought too hard over the past 12 years, we have shed too much blood over the last 12 years, to ever think that violence or instability would be to our advantage," Dunford said.
The Karzai government's latest comments and actions come during U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel's first visit to Afghanistan since becoming the Pentagon chief, a trip made in part to meet with Karzai. Hours after Karzai's speech, their joint news conference was canceled by officials citing security concerns, though officials said the two men still planned to meet privately.
The two men had plenty of contentious issues to discuss. The Afghan and U.S. government are negotiating a security pact for the long-term presence of American forces in Afghanistan ? the difficulty illustrated when a deal to transfer a U.S. prison outside of Kabul to Afghan authority on Saturday fell through at the last moment.
U.S. and Afghan officials are also at odds over a Karzai demand that U.S. special operations forces withdraw from a province neighboring Kabul by Monday over allegations they participated in torture and extrajudicial killing ? charges U.S. officials deny. As the deadline approached, Dunford told reporters he spoke to Karzai about the issue on Saturday and told him the U.S. is working on a plan to hand over security in the Wardak region to Afghan forces. He would not directly say whether the commandos will stay in Wardak when the deadline to leave comes on Monday.
Karzai raised another difficult issue when he denounced the alleged seizure of a university student Saturday by Afghan forces his aide said were working for the CIA. It was unclear why the student was detained.
Presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi said in an interview with The Associated Press that the CIA freed the student after Karzai's staff intervened, but that Karzai wants the alleged Afghan raiders arrested. The president issued a decree on Sunday banning all international forces and the Afghans working with them from entering universities and schools without Afghan government permission.
The CIA declined to comment. NATO spokesman Lt. Col. Les Carroll said that no NATO forces "harassed a university student" as described by the President's office.
In the incident at the Kandahar university Saturday, presidential spokesman Faizi said the raiders fired shots as they grabbed student Abdul Qayoum, and blindfolded him before taking him for interrogation at a CIA post that Taliban leader Mullah Omar once used as a home.
The CIA has trained an Afghan counterterrorist force several thousand strong, known as the Counterterrorism Pursuit Team, which works mostly in insurgent strongholds in southern and eastern Afghanistan. U.S. officials say they work in concert with the Afghan intelligence service, but Karzai frequently complains he lacks oversight over their operations.
Karzai said in his speech that any foreign powers that want to keep troops in Afghanistan need to do so under conditions set forward by Afghanistan.
"We will tell them where we need them, and under which conditions. They must respect our laws. They must respect the national sovereignty of our country and must respect all our customs," Karzai said.
Karzai offered no proof of coordination, but said the Taliban and the United States were in "daily negotiations" in various foreign countries and noted that the United States has said that it no longer considers the insurgent group its enemy. The U.S. continues to fight against the Taliban and other militant groups, but has expressed its backing for formal peace talks with the Taliban to find a political resolution to the war.
Karzai said he did not believe the Taliban's claim that they launched Saturday's attacks to show they are still a potent force fighting the United States. "Yesterday's explosions, which the Taliban claimed, show that in reality they are saying they want the presence of foreigners in Afghanistan," Karzai said.
____
Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor and Heidi Vogt contributed to this report from Kabul.
Follow Dozier on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/KimberlyDozier; Baldor at http://twitter.com/lbaldor; and Vogt at http://twitter.com/HeidiVogt.
ST-Ericsson was already in some tumult after the ST half of the partnership said it was exiting the venture late last year. As we're discovering, there was a little more drama in store for 2013. CEO Didier Lamouche has resigned from the company for a tempting job prospect elsewhere, and there's no named replacement for him so far -- a slight problem when Lamouche will be out by March 31st. He's leaving ST-Ericsson in a better state than he found it, as the company is scoring key deals for phones like the Galaxy S III Mini while getting its LTE chip plans on track. Nonetheless, we suspect that remaining owner Ericsson will want that power vacuum filled quickly when there's already enough uncertainty ahead.
As global warming pushes back the Arctic Sea ice, uncovering new natural-resource deposits, China is looking to establish its presence in the north.
By Mike Eckel,?Contributor / March 7, 2013
The crew of the US Coast Guard Cutter Healy, in the midst of their ICESCAPE mission, retrieves supplies for some mid-mission fixes dropped by parachute from a C-130 in the Arctic Ocean in this July 2011 photo.
Courtesy of Kathryn Hansen/NASA/Reuters
Enlarge
Way up above 66th parallel north, the jousting and jostling for the mother lode of oil, gas, mineral, fish, and other resources being exposed by the rapidly receding Arctic sea ice is well under way.
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Russia is building a new class of nuclear icebreakers. Norway is charting fish-migration patterns for potential new fisheries. Canada is setting up a new Arctic training base and constructing a fleet of new patrol ships. US oil giants are angling to drill exploratory oil and gas wells. And China is sending its flagship icebreaker along the Northern Route.
Wait. China?
Not surprisingly, the eight nations that ring the planet?s northern cap ? the United States, Canada, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, and Denmark ? are the ones who have largely driven the discussion about access in the Arctic. With the exception of periodic saber-rattling or polar tub-thumping (Exhibit A: Russia?s 2007 ocean-floor flag-planting stunt), the discussions have been amicable. That?s due in large part to the 17-year-old intergovernmental agency known as the Arctic Council, which has helped soften the edges of growing competition.
?The lure of riches in the Arctic draws ever more companies and nations,? said William Moomaw, a professor of international environmental law at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Medford, Mass. ?And so far it?s been relatively amicable jousting and jostling there.?
The quickening decline of Arctic Sea ice has its own alarming implications for the globe. As Prof. Moomaw put it at the Tufts University Energy Conference Sunday: ?the trend line looks like a failing stock market or the collapse of a fishery ? it just keeps going down and down, and then keeps going down further.?
That aside, with the wealth of resources being unlocked by global warming, it?s not surprising that other, non-Arctic nations are increasing looking to get in on the action. The US Geological Survey estimates more than a fifth of the world?s undiscovered, recoverable oil and gas lie under the harsh, frigid, and remote conditions above the 66th parallel.
Enter China, whose northern most point in Manchuria, along the Amur River, is at least 1,000 miles south of the Arctic Circle.
Beijing last year sent the icebreaker Snow Dragon (MV Xue Long) from Shanghai to Iceland along the Northern Route, which parallels the Russian Arctic coastline and has the potential to be a shorter, cheaper route to get goods from East Asia to Europe. They?ve applied for observer status at the Arctic Council. And, according to Malte Humpert, executive director of The Arctic Institute, China has also built a swanky new, $250 million embassy in Reykjavik, Iceland, of all places.
So what's behind this push?
It?s easy to see that China would clearly like access to oil, gas, and other resources. But a more persuasive argument is that Beijing clearly wants alternate shipping routes to the Strait of Malacca. That?s the crowded 1-1/2 mile bottleneck between Indonesia and Malaysia that 60,000 ships pass through every year, according to Mr. Humpert: Sixty percent are China-bound, and 80 percent are carrying the fuels that are propelling its economic dynamo. China?s leadership is concerned enough this is a strategic vulnerability that they call the situation the ?Malacca Dilemma.?
But those aren?t wholly convincing in Humpert?s estimation. The most plausible argument is that, as with many of its policies these days, the Chinese are in it for the long haul: a long-term strategy as a global emerging power.
China ?is extending its reach in Africa, southwest Pacific; the Arctic is just the latest region with geopolitical significance. They can make minimal investments today and can secure strong influence in 20, 30 years,? he told a energy conference panel discussion dubbed ?Arctic Anxiety.?
?China wants to have a seat at the table. They want to be part of the Arctic Council. They?re an emerging power,? he said. ?They know that Arctic may be one of the hot spots of the 21st century.?
CARACAS (Reuters) - Senior aides and relatives of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez countered on Friday a crescendo of rumors that the socialist president may be dead from cancer, saying he was still battling for his life.
"There he is, continuing his fight, his battle, and we are sure of victory!" his brother Adan Chavez, the governor of Barinas state, told cheering supporters during an event.
Speculation about Chavez, 58, has reached fever pitch this week, fed in part by assertions from Panama's former ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), Guillermo Cochez, that the Venezuelan leader had died.
"The launching of absurd and bizarre rumors by the right wing simply discredits them and isolates them further from the people," Chavez's son-in-law Jorge Arreaza, who is also Venezuela's science minister, said via Twitter.
Apart from one set of photographs showing Chavez in a hospital bed, he has not been seen or heard from in public since December 11 cancer surgery in Cuba, his fourth such operation. He returned to a military hospital in Caracas last week.
Vice President Nicolas Maduro, now Venezuela's de facto leader and Chavez's preferred successor, has also said several times during the week that the president was fighting for life and urged Venezuelans to be patient with the situation.
Opposition politicians accuse the government of being deceitful about the president's condition, and compare the secrecy over his medical details with the transparency of other Latin American leaders who have suffered cancer.
Cochez, who said relatives had taken Chavez off life support several days ago after he had been in a vegetative state since the end of December, challenged the Venezuelan government to prove him wrong by showing the president in public.
HIGH STAKES
Across the South American nation of 29 million people, Venezuelans are extremely anxious, speculating endlessly about Chavez's condition and wondering what the potential end of his 14-year rule might mean for them.
Adding to the tension, several dozen students have chained themselves up in public, demanding to see the president.
Should Chavez die or step down, an election would be held within 30 days, probably pitting Maduro against opposition leader and state governor Henrique Capriles for leadership of the OPEC member nation with the world's biggest oil reserves.
The stakes are high for the region, too, given Chavez's role as Washington's main irritant in Latin America and the aid his government gives leftist governments from Cuba to Bolivia.
Amid the flurry of rumors, Spain's ABC newspaper said on Friday that Chavez had been taken to a presidential retreat on La Orchila island in the Caribbean off Venezuela's coast with his closest family to face the "final stages" of cancer.
Venezuelan officials have frequently lambasted ABC as being part of an "ultra-right" conspiracy spreading lies about Chavez.
"There's a psychological operation underway to upset the Venezuelan people," complained Information Minister Ernesto Villegas on Friday, condemning the "frightful" versions about Chavez's state flying around the Internet.
"Leave the Venezuelan people in peace," he added. "President Chavez is in his process of recovery. His family is with him ... The revolution continues."
In the latest of short updates on Chavez's health, the government said last week his breathing difficulties had grown worse, and he was using a tracheal tube.
The respiratory problem was a complication from a complicated, six-hour operation in December for a cancer first detected in Chavez's pelvic region in June 2011.
Remarkably, two opinion polls this week showed that a majority of Venezuelans - 60 percent in one survey, 57 percent in another - believe Chavez will be cured.
"The prolonged absence of the president and his critical situation have not turned into massive pessimism," said one of the pollsters, Luis Vicente Leon.
Chavez's millions of passionate supporters, who love his down-to-earth style and welfare policies, are struggling to imagine a Venezuela without him.
"Of course, he's coming back, back to government," said Jose Urbina, 47, buying photos of Chavez at a pro-government rally. "I want to remember him, I want to put them in my house."
(Additional reporting by Girish Gupta; Editing by Daniel Wallis, Vicki Allen and Eric Walsh)
MOBILE, Alabama (Reuters) - Blue Angels pilot Dave Tickle said he is focused on practicing maneuvers for an upcoming show in California instead of worrying about how federal spending cuts will threaten performances this year by the U.S. Navy's renowned flight demonstration squadron.
With $85 billion in automatic cuts due to take effect on Friday, millions of fans across the country will likely miss out on the precision flying team's thrilling shows this year.
Blue Angels shows scheduled in more than two dozen cities between April and September are expected to be canceled as part of the cuts, said the team's spokeswoman, Lieutenant Katie Kelly. Some shows featuring the Blue Angels already have been called off in the face of budget uncertainties.
The grounding would be a sentimental loss for fans but not as serious as other reductions to defense spending, which President Barack Obama said could threaten Navy readiness. The Defense Department said the cuts would slash ship and aircraft maintenance, curtail training and result in 22 days' unpaid leave for most of the Pentagon's 800,000 civilian employees.
Programs such as the Blue Angels would take a back seat to "making sure ships are seaworthy and planes are airworthy for the war fighters who are operating overseas," said Lieutenant John Supple, spokesman for the Chief of Naval Air Training in Corpus Christi, Texas.
The news has saddened longtime fans, disappointed city leaders and sparked an online petition to the White House to save the Blue Angels' season. About 1,200 people had signed as of Thursday.
"They're an American icon, and they really resonate in a military town," said Ashton Hayward, mayor of Pensacola, Florida, home to the naval air station where the Blue Angels are based.
Pensacola's Blue Angels beach show each July pumps an additional $2.5 million into the local economy, according to a 2012 study.
"People plan their annual family trips around the shows and the impact on business is phenomenal," Hayward said. "If the Blue Angels end, it's going to be a sad, sad day for not just us, but for millions of people all over the country."
SHOWS CALLED OFF
Air shows scheduled for May at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina, and for June in Indianapolis, already have been canceled, organizers and U.S. Air Force officials announced in recent weeks.
The Air Force said its Thunderbirds exhibition flying team also is expected to be grounded if the so-called sequestration cuts happen.
The budget cuts will affect cities from Seattle to North Kingstown, Rhode Island, where the Rhode Island National Guard Air Show draws thousands of visitors to the small town each year.
The city's Quonset Air Base closed in the 1970s, but a sense of military pride still runs deep. Losing the Blue Angels would deal a huge blow for the show in late June, said Elizabeth Dolan, North Kingstown's town council president.
"Everybody looks forward to when they come," she said. "They fly right up over my house, and it's amazing and emotional to watch."
The Blue Angels program began in 1946 and costs about $40 million a year. Cancelling the bulk of the performing season would save about $28 million, according to Navy officials.
Because of the timing of the cuts, the Angels will still perform in March at the El Centro Air Show in southern California and the Southernmost Air Spectacular show in Key West, Florida.
The 130-person team, which includes seven pilots, consists of members who have served in high-level tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Should the budget cuts go into effect, the team would be reassigned until there is enough money for them to take to the skies again, Supple said.
Tickle, a 32-year-old from Birmingham, Alabama, said he was inspired to become an expert naval pilot after watching Blue Angels performances during family vacations to Pensacola when he was a child. He is now a lieutenant commander in the Navy and the Blue Angels' lead solo pilot.
"I remember looking up at these shining blue and gold precision aircraft and thinking, 'I want to do that.' It gave me a feeling of amazement and pride," he said.
Clouds, crowds and games improve UK manufacturingPublic release date: 28-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: EPSRC Press Release pressoffice@epsrc.ac.uk 01-793-444-404 Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Six research projects that will help improve manufacturing competitiveness in the UK by using the latest ICT developments have been awarded 12 million Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) grant funding as part of a 45 million package of investments in manufacturing research announced today by David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science.
The projects will use concepts of cloud computing, crowdsourcing, gaming technology, ICT dashboards and platforms to provide new ways to develop, design and manage manufacturing.
Speaking ahead of the BIS Manufacturing Summit on Thursday, Mr Willetts said:
"The UK has a proud history of manufacturing but to build on this success industry needs access to the very latest science and technology. This 45 million package of investment will see our world-class research base investigating innovative new manufacturing equipment and techniques. This will support our industrial strategy in a range of important sectors, driving growth and keeping the UK ahead in the global race."
Mark Claydon-Smith, Manufacturing the Future Lead, EPSRC said: "Advanced manufacturing is highly knowledge-intensive and ICT has a huge role to play in improving manufacturing intelligence, supporting collaboration, increasing efficiency, speeding up innovation and enabling new business models and technologies. These six projects demonstrate the collaborative nature of manufacturing research with nine universities and over 70 manufacturing partners working together."
The projects are:
Cloud Manufacturing towards a resilient and scalable high value manufacturing. Led by Professor Svetan Ratchev, University of Nottingham. Grant value 2.4 million.
This research will use concepts of 'cloud manufacturing', as a new platform to provide resilient, cost effective, environmentally-friendly and knowledge-intensive distributed manufacturing. Within the 'cloud' a pool of data from design and manufacturing resources can be shared and readily accessed by users to improve manufacturing processes.
The multi-disciplinary research team will use complex systems, cloud computing and crowdsourcing methods in a radical departure from existing manufacturing ICT. The advantages are that manufacturers can optimise processes, respond quickly to change, and gain valuable data and knowledge from crowds. The research will lead to an increased participation by the UK's small and medium size companies in global manufacturing networks, allow longer term strategic capital and infrastructure investment, and will dramatically increase the utilisation of available manufacturing resources and skills.
Intelligent Decision Support and Control Technologies for Continuous Manufacturing of Pharmaceuticals and Fine Chemicals. Led by Professor Andonovic, University of Strathclyde with Loughborough University. Grant value 2.5 million.
The research team of chemical, electrical engineers and IT specialists will create IT tools based on advanced software using sensors, lasers and ultrasound. The IT system (Intelligent Decision Support) will collate real time data during the manufacture of pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals. It will be able to measure changes in a chemicals particle shape, form and size at a 100 micron level, as well as monitor and finely control the production processes. This will result in the production line being operated continuously, instead of in batches, as at present.
The project will cut current manufacturing times in the industry, reduce energy and operating costs, produce better quality products and increase flexibility. Changes to optimise products or in processes can be made easily. The deployment of advanced ICT will increase the global competitiveness of this key UK industry.
Prototyping Open Innovation Models for ICT- enabled Manufacturing in Food and Packaging. Led by Dr Sharon Baurley, Brunel University with the University of Nottingham. Grant value 1.8 million.
This research intends to harness and develop ideas from the social media sphere, using the power of the 'crowd' to develop new products and types of packaging within the food industry.
Involving a number of major industry partners the research will focus on designing a platform of ICT tools for state-of-the-art manufacturing processes allowing customers to be co-creators whilst products are being developed. The ICT tools and platform will gather content from users, organise those ideas, and integrate them with design and production systems.
The advantage of using consumers in product development will be a shorter time to market for new products, and the ability to integrate the design and manufacturing process with people, so enabling customers to have 'conversations' with brands and manufacturers.
Transforming the adoption of Product-Service Systems through innovations in applied gaming technology. Led by Professor Tim Baines, Aston University, with Professor K Ridgway, University of Sheffield and Professor S de Freitas, Coventry University. Grant value 1.5 million.
This research aims to help mainstream manufacturers transform their company models from manufacturing products only to providing services as well (product-service systems) by using video-gaming technologies and computer simulations.
The research team will create games using three dimensional virtual worlds which can represent and handle complex data systems of manufacturing companies adopting product service systems. Business managers can interact with the software to engage, inform and support attitudinal change within a business context. Industry partners will test out the games.
Three quarters of world-wide wealth is created through providing services so helping manufacturers compete in this way is seen as a huge opportunity, a competitive advantage, and key to manufacturing success in the UK.
The Language of Collaborative Manufacturing. Led by Dr Ben Hicks, University of Bath. Grant value 1.9 million.
Dr Hicks said: "Modern engineering projects such as aircraft manufacture operate globally, and involve thousands of engineers and companies. Managing such collaborative, large-scale, high-value engineering projects and the communications within them is complex and risky."
"Companies need to minimise delivery setbacks, cost overruns, risk and collapsed projects. For example, overruns on engineering projects cost the US economy $150 million a day (96 million)."
Dr Hicks and the research team will produce a new suite of ICT tools and a 'next generation project dashboard' to address these issues. They will analyse the relationship between emails and Computer Aided Design (CAD) models, simulations and reports in order to predict the status and performance of a project. They will identify the successful characteristics of project phases, and create methods to aid the management of intellectual property, and the capture of design records, lessons learned, decisions taken, and rationale to help manufacturing.
As a result the status of engineering projects will be interpreted better, enabling early warning of issues, improved management, increased productivity, and ultimately improve a product's design and manufacture.
Adaptive Informatics for Intelligent Manufacturing. Led by Professor Andrew West, University of Loughborough. Grant value 1.9 million.
A multi-disciplinary team from the University of Loughborough and practitioners from industry will form a research cluster with the aim to improve global competitiveness in the supply chains of the defence, automotive and aerospace industries.
The project will support manufacturing practices and infrastructures by developing a range of intelligent software services that can be used throughout the lifecycle of the product or process on demand. The research will bridge the information gaps associated with inefficient supply chain integration and a lack of knowledge on operational usage throughout product and process lifecycles.
This project aims to deliver an ICT solution for companies which captures and analyses a larger range of data, faster, at lower cost and manage it better than ever before. This will improve a company's efficiencies, increase market share and develop new products, processes and services. It will enable supply chains to remove defects generated throughout manufacturing, share lifecycle knowledge of product and processes, optimise strategy and understand the impact of legislation, technologies and the impact of adopting new designs and business models.
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is the UK's main agency for funding research in engineering and the physical sciences. EPSRC invests around 800 million a year in research and postgraduate training, to help the nation handle the next generation of technological change. The areas covered range from information technology to structural engineering, and mathematics to materials science. This research forms the basis for future economic development in the UK and improvements for everyone's health, lifestyle and culture. EPSRC works alongside other Research Councils with responsibility for other areas of research. The Research Councils work collectively on issues of common concern via Research Councils UK. www.epsrc.ac.uk
Industry partners for the projects:
Cloud Manufacturing: IBM UK Ltd, ARM Ltd, PA Consulting Group, RTI, Midlands Aerospace Alliance, GBA Group of Companies, NineSigma Europe BVBA, BioProject Consultancy Ltd, Afroalpine Pharma Ltd, Manufacturing Technology Centre, EADS Airbus, Zagaya, Hewlett Packard plc, DLA Piper UK LLP.
Intelligent Decision Support and Control Technologies for Continuous Manufacturing of Pharmaceuticals and Fine Chemicals: Operational Management: Umit Bititci. Industrial Co-Creators: GlaxoSmithKline PLC, AstraZeneca, Process Systems Enterprise (PSE), Perceptive Engineering,GSE Systems Ltd, Honeywell, Siemens, Accelrys, Intelligence Business Solutions, Gilden Photonics, Mettler Toledo, Sympatec.
Prototyping open innovation models for ICT-enabled manufacturing in food and packaging: Autodesk GmbH, Leatherhead Food International, Campden BRI, EnginSoft UK Ltd, Hayes Town Partnership, Giraffe Innovation Consultants.
Transforming the adoption of Product-Service Systems through innovations in applied gaming technology: TEKS, Xerox UK Ltd, UK Council for Electronic Business, Technicut, Finning UK Ltd, Total Eclipse, Ford Motor Company, Serious Games International, SEMTA, Second Places Ltd, PlayGen, PERA Innovation, MAHER Ltd, MAN Truck and Bus Ltd, Virtualware Labs, Footprint Sheffield Ltd, AMRC, Birmingham Science Park, BIS, HCL Technologies Ltd, Alstom.
The Language of Collaborative Manufacturing: Delcam International plc, FBM Babcock Marine Ltd, Arup Group Ltd, Volvo Aero Corporation, Dyson Appliances Ltd, Airbus, CIMPA SAS, National Centre for Text Mining, Shapespace, Jaguar Land Rover.
Adaptive Informatics for Intelligent Manufacturing (AI2M): Manufacturing Technology Centre, SAP AG, MOD, Ford Motor Company, KET Ltd, Invotec Circuits, GE Aviation, S2S Electronics Ltd, MTG Research Ltd.
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Clouds, crowds and games improve UK manufacturingPublic release date: 28-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: EPSRC Press Release pressoffice@epsrc.ac.uk 01-793-444-404 Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Six research projects that will help improve manufacturing competitiveness in the UK by using the latest ICT developments have been awarded 12 million Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) grant funding as part of a 45 million package of investments in manufacturing research announced today by David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science.
The projects will use concepts of cloud computing, crowdsourcing, gaming technology, ICT dashboards and platforms to provide new ways to develop, design and manage manufacturing.
Speaking ahead of the BIS Manufacturing Summit on Thursday, Mr Willetts said:
"The UK has a proud history of manufacturing but to build on this success industry needs access to the very latest science and technology. This 45 million package of investment will see our world-class research base investigating innovative new manufacturing equipment and techniques. This will support our industrial strategy in a range of important sectors, driving growth and keeping the UK ahead in the global race."
Mark Claydon-Smith, Manufacturing the Future Lead, EPSRC said: "Advanced manufacturing is highly knowledge-intensive and ICT has a huge role to play in improving manufacturing intelligence, supporting collaboration, increasing efficiency, speeding up innovation and enabling new business models and technologies. These six projects demonstrate the collaborative nature of manufacturing research with nine universities and over 70 manufacturing partners working together."
The projects are:
Cloud Manufacturing towards a resilient and scalable high value manufacturing. Led by Professor Svetan Ratchev, University of Nottingham. Grant value 2.4 million.
This research will use concepts of 'cloud manufacturing', as a new platform to provide resilient, cost effective, environmentally-friendly and knowledge-intensive distributed manufacturing. Within the 'cloud' a pool of data from design and manufacturing resources can be shared and readily accessed by users to improve manufacturing processes.
The multi-disciplinary research team will use complex systems, cloud computing and crowdsourcing methods in a radical departure from existing manufacturing ICT. The advantages are that manufacturers can optimise processes, respond quickly to change, and gain valuable data and knowledge from crowds. The research will lead to an increased participation by the UK's small and medium size companies in global manufacturing networks, allow longer term strategic capital and infrastructure investment, and will dramatically increase the utilisation of available manufacturing resources and skills.
Intelligent Decision Support and Control Technologies for Continuous Manufacturing of Pharmaceuticals and Fine Chemicals. Led by Professor Andonovic, University of Strathclyde with Loughborough University. Grant value 2.5 million.
The research team of chemical, electrical engineers and IT specialists will create IT tools based on advanced software using sensors, lasers and ultrasound. The IT system (Intelligent Decision Support) will collate real time data during the manufacture of pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals. It will be able to measure changes in a chemicals particle shape, form and size at a 100 micron level, as well as monitor and finely control the production processes. This will result in the production line being operated continuously, instead of in batches, as at present.
The project will cut current manufacturing times in the industry, reduce energy and operating costs, produce better quality products and increase flexibility. Changes to optimise products or in processes can be made easily. The deployment of advanced ICT will increase the global competitiveness of this key UK industry.
Prototyping Open Innovation Models for ICT- enabled Manufacturing in Food and Packaging. Led by Dr Sharon Baurley, Brunel University with the University of Nottingham. Grant value 1.8 million.
This research intends to harness and develop ideas from the social media sphere, using the power of the 'crowd' to develop new products and types of packaging within the food industry.
Involving a number of major industry partners the research will focus on designing a platform of ICT tools for state-of-the-art manufacturing processes allowing customers to be co-creators whilst products are being developed. The ICT tools and platform will gather content from users, organise those ideas, and integrate them with design and production systems.
The advantage of using consumers in product development will be a shorter time to market for new products, and the ability to integrate the design and manufacturing process with people, so enabling customers to have 'conversations' with brands and manufacturers.
Transforming the adoption of Product-Service Systems through innovations in applied gaming technology. Led by Professor Tim Baines, Aston University, with Professor K Ridgway, University of Sheffield and Professor S de Freitas, Coventry University. Grant value 1.5 million.
This research aims to help mainstream manufacturers transform their company models from manufacturing products only to providing services as well (product-service systems) by using video-gaming technologies and computer simulations.
The research team will create games using three dimensional virtual worlds which can represent and handle complex data systems of manufacturing companies adopting product service systems. Business managers can interact with the software to engage, inform and support attitudinal change within a business context. Industry partners will test out the games.
Three quarters of world-wide wealth is created through providing services so helping manufacturers compete in this way is seen as a huge opportunity, a competitive advantage, and key to manufacturing success in the UK.
The Language of Collaborative Manufacturing. Led by Dr Ben Hicks, University of Bath. Grant value 1.9 million.
Dr Hicks said: "Modern engineering projects such as aircraft manufacture operate globally, and involve thousands of engineers and companies. Managing such collaborative, large-scale, high-value engineering projects and the communications within them is complex and risky."
"Companies need to minimise delivery setbacks, cost overruns, risk and collapsed projects. For example, overruns on engineering projects cost the US economy $150 million a day (96 million)."
Dr Hicks and the research team will produce a new suite of ICT tools and a 'next generation project dashboard' to address these issues. They will analyse the relationship between emails and Computer Aided Design (CAD) models, simulations and reports in order to predict the status and performance of a project. They will identify the successful characteristics of project phases, and create methods to aid the management of intellectual property, and the capture of design records, lessons learned, decisions taken, and rationale to help manufacturing.
As a result the status of engineering projects will be interpreted better, enabling early warning of issues, improved management, increased productivity, and ultimately improve a product's design and manufacture.
Adaptive Informatics for Intelligent Manufacturing. Led by Professor Andrew West, University of Loughborough. Grant value 1.9 million.
A multi-disciplinary team from the University of Loughborough and practitioners from industry will form a research cluster with the aim to improve global competitiveness in the supply chains of the defence, automotive and aerospace industries.
The project will support manufacturing practices and infrastructures by developing a range of intelligent software services that can be used throughout the lifecycle of the product or process on demand. The research will bridge the information gaps associated with inefficient supply chain integration and a lack of knowledge on operational usage throughout product and process lifecycles.
This project aims to deliver an ICT solution for companies which captures and analyses a larger range of data, faster, at lower cost and manage it better than ever before. This will improve a company's efficiencies, increase market share and develop new products, processes and services. It will enable supply chains to remove defects generated throughout manufacturing, share lifecycle knowledge of product and processes, optimise strategy and understand the impact of legislation, technologies and the impact of adopting new designs and business models.
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is the UK's main agency for funding research in engineering and the physical sciences. EPSRC invests around 800 million a year in research and postgraduate training, to help the nation handle the next generation of technological change. The areas covered range from information technology to structural engineering, and mathematics to materials science. This research forms the basis for future economic development in the UK and improvements for everyone's health, lifestyle and culture. EPSRC works alongside other Research Councils with responsibility for other areas of research. The Research Councils work collectively on issues of common concern via Research Councils UK. www.epsrc.ac.uk
Industry partners for the projects:
Cloud Manufacturing: IBM UK Ltd, ARM Ltd, PA Consulting Group, RTI, Midlands Aerospace Alliance, GBA Group of Companies, NineSigma Europe BVBA, BioProject Consultancy Ltd, Afroalpine Pharma Ltd, Manufacturing Technology Centre, EADS Airbus, Zagaya, Hewlett Packard plc, DLA Piper UK LLP.
Intelligent Decision Support and Control Technologies for Continuous Manufacturing of Pharmaceuticals and Fine Chemicals: Operational Management: Umit Bititci. Industrial Co-Creators: GlaxoSmithKline PLC, AstraZeneca, Process Systems Enterprise (PSE), Perceptive Engineering,GSE Systems Ltd, Honeywell, Siemens, Accelrys, Intelligence Business Solutions, Gilden Photonics, Mettler Toledo, Sympatec.
Prototyping open innovation models for ICT-enabled manufacturing in food and packaging: Autodesk GmbH, Leatherhead Food International, Campden BRI, EnginSoft UK Ltd, Hayes Town Partnership, Giraffe Innovation Consultants.
Transforming the adoption of Product-Service Systems through innovations in applied gaming technology: TEKS, Xerox UK Ltd, UK Council for Electronic Business, Technicut, Finning UK Ltd, Total Eclipse, Ford Motor Company, Serious Games International, SEMTA, Second Places Ltd, PlayGen, PERA Innovation, MAHER Ltd, MAN Truck and Bus Ltd, Virtualware Labs, Footprint Sheffield Ltd, AMRC, Birmingham Science Park, BIS, HCL Technologies Ltd, Alstom.
The Language of Collaborative Manufacturing: Delcam International plc, FBM Babcock Marine Ltd, Arup Group Ltd, Volvo Aero Corporation, Dyson Appliances Ltd, Airbus, CIMPA SAS, National Centre for Text Mining, Shapespace, Jaguar Land Rover.
Adaptive Informatics for Intelligent Manufacturing (AI2M): Manufacturing Technology Centre, SAP AG, MOD, Ford Motor Company, KET Ltd, Invotec Circuits, GE Aviation, S2S Electronics Ltd, MTG Research Ltd.
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Public release date: 28-Feb-2013
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