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Friday, August 2, 2013
Thatcher considered using troops in miners? strike
MARGARET Thatcher secretly considered the use of troops to break the miners? strike, according to newly released government papers.
Documents released by the National Archives at Kew, west London, show the extent of the planning by Mrs Thatcher?s Conservative government for the decisive showdown with the miners which helped define her political legacy.
The papers show that ministers and officials repeatedly warned that a confrontation with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and its left-wing leader, Arthur Scargill, was inevitable.
Mrs Thatcher, who had been a minister in Edward Heath?s government in the 1970s when it was brought to its knees by a miners? strike, was only too well aware of the stakes involved.
In February 1981 ? less than two years into her premiership ? she had been forced to cave in to the NUM?s pay demands, aware that the government was unprepared to withstand a prolonged conflict. Behind the scenes, however, a secret Whitehall working group ? codenamed MISC 57 ? was established to lay the ground for the battle to come.
Plans were set in train quietly to purchase land next to electricity power stations ? which were nearly all coal-fired ? so that coal could be stockpiled to keep them running through a strike.
The group also began the expensive process of converting stations to dual-firing so that they could run on oil if coal supplies were exhausted. MISC 57 discussed using troops to move coal stocks, although officials were unenthusiastic, warning that it would be a ?formidable undertaking?.
In a memorandum dated 27 October 1983, a PL Gregson at the Cabinet Office noted: ?To move half a million tonnes of coal per week ? twice as much as was transported by road during the rail strikes earlier this year, when power stations were not picketed ? would involve 4,000-5,000 lorry movements per day between pitheads and power stations continuously for 20 weeks. The law and order problems of coping with pickets not just at the power stations but also at the pitheads would be enormous and would arise from the very outset of the strike.
?A major risk might be that power station workers would refuse to handle coal brought in by servicemen in this way.?
The following day, however, a meeting of senior ministers chaired by Mrs Thatcher ruled that, while they might be able to rely on existing coal stocks in the early stages of a strike, planning for the use of troops should continue.
?It was agreed that it might be necessary to examine more radical options for extending endurance, including the use of servicemen to move pithead stocks to power stations by rail and road,? the minutes noted.
As the government moved towards the general election of 1983, preparations for an expected conflict over its programme of closing pits considered uneconomic was stepped up.
In January 1983, energy secretary Nigel Lawson said while the National Coal Board (NCB) was still not yet confident of winning a strike, they needed to be ready for a decisive showdown after the election.
?While the board are currently thinking a national strike would last for two months, I believe it could well be longer. We would certainly need to be prepared for it to be longer,? he wrote in a memorandum to Mrs Thatcher.
?If Scargill succeeds in bringing about such a strike, we must do everything in our power to defeat him, including ensuring that the strike results in widespread closures.?
His view was echoed by John Vereker, a member of Mrs Thatcher?s policy unit who also served on MISC 57, although he was far from sanguine about the outcome. He wrote: ?It does seem considerably less likely that we could bring the Coal Board anywhere near breakeven without winning a strike, and that of course carries the major risk that embarking upon and then losing a strike is the most expensive option of all.?
Two months later, however, in a memorandum dated 11 March 1983, he was much more optimistic. ?There is some way to go, but it looks as if we can achieve nine months of endurance at very little cost on top of what we have already incurred: and twelve months? endurance at an additional cost of ?70 million for further coal stocking capacity.?
Grenada fallout
IT WAS the moment the fabled partnership between Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan almost hit the rocks.
The US invasion of the Caribbean island of Grenada in 1983 came as a bitter shock to the Prime Minister, who was appalled at the US military intervention in a Commonwealth state. Official papers show how the president gave her virtually no time to object before committing US forces. The crisis erupted when a group of what Mr Reagan referred to as ?leftist thugs? seized control of the island.
At 7:15pm on 24 October, Downing Street received a cable saying he was giving ?serious consideration? to a request from the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States to intervene and asking for Mrs Thatcher?s ?thoughts?. She was composing her reply when at 11pm a second telegram was sent saying he had decided to ?respond positively? to the request.
Hague ?gimmick? dismissed
William Hague?s first attempt to enter the world of Whitehall politics was blackballed by Margaret Thatcher, newly-released government papers reveal.
Mrs Thatcher had been among those cheering the future foreign secretary when, as a 16-year-old schoolboy, he delivered a barnstorming speech that took the Conservative Party conference by storm.
However, the then prime minister was rather less impressed when ? as a 21-year-old Oxford graduate ? he tried to secure a prestigious posting as special adviser to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Papers show she angrily blocked the move, denouncing it as a ?gimmick? and an ?embarrassment? to her government.
?When I spoke to you less than three months ago we were all enjoying the warmth and fellowship of a family Christmas. Our thoughts were concentrated on the strong links that bind each generation to the ones that came before and those that will follow. The horrors of war could not have seemed more remote as my family and I shared our Christmas joy with the growing family of the Commonwealth.
Now this madness of war is once more spreading through the world and our brave country must again prepare itself to survive against great odds.
I have never forgotten the sorrow and the pride I felt as my sister and I huddled around the nursery wireless set listening to my father?s inspiring words on that fateful day in 1939. Not for a single moment did I imagine that this solemn and awful duty would one day fall to me.
We all know that the dangers facing us today are greater by far than at any time in our long history. The enemy is not the soldier with his rifle nor even the airman prowling the skies above our cities and towns but the deadly power of abused technology.
But whatever terrors lie in wait for us all the qualities that have helped to keep our freedom intact twice already during this sad century will once more be our strength.
My husband and I share with families up and down the land the fear we feel for sons and daughters, husbands and brothers who have left our side to serve their country. My beloved son Andrew is at this moment in action with his unit and we pray continually for his safety and for the safety of all servicemen and women at home and overseas.
It is this close bond of family life that must be our greatest defence against the unknown. If families remain united and resolute, giving shelter to those living alone and unprotected, our country?s will to survive cannot be broken.
My message to you therefore is simple. Help those who cannot help themselves, give comfort to the lonely and the homeless and let your family become the focus of hope and life to those who need it.
As we strive together to fight off the new evil let us pray for our country and men of goodwill wherever they may be.
God Bless you all.?
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Andreessen-Backed Tutor Matching Service Is Working With Colleges To Upend The Tutoring Industry, Starting With Cost
Of the many ways that technology is disrupting education, one area that's changing a lot, is rife with potential, but doesn't get as much play as it should is tutoring. Mostly, this involves the attempt to make high-quality, local tutors accessible to a wider range of students online, without having to turn to traditional channels, like Craigslist or those pesky, expensive SAT-focused private networks.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/SxINw_0lGac/
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Global Water Shortages Grow Worse But Nations Have Few Answers
As we have been hearing, global water shortages are poised to exacerbate regional conflict and hobble economic growth. Yet the problem is growing worse, and is threatening to deal devastating blows to health, according to top water officials from the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) who spoke before a House panel hearing today. Ever-rising water demand, and climate change, are expected to boost water problems worldwide, especially in countries that are already experiencing shortages. Globally, the world is on track to meet the Millennium Development Goal of halving the number of people unable to reach or afford safe drinking water by 2015, but it still must make strides to improve global sanitation, says Aaron Salzberg, the State Department's Special Coordinator for Water Resources. In addition to supply problems, unclean water causes more than four billion cases of diarrhea a year which lead to roughly 2.2 million deaths, and most are in children under the age of five. "The magnitude of it is extraordinary." says Christian Holmes, global water coordinator for USAID. The hearing comes on the heels of stark reminders of the current water shortages that are apparent across the globe. Pakistan, one of the most water-stressed countries in the world, is on the brink of crisis. A recent report from the Asian Development Bank, highlighted by The Atlantic, states that the country's emergency water reserve only has enough supply for 30 days - more than 30 times below the 1,000-day recommendation for similar countries. Pakistan, the report states, is "not far from being classified as 'water scarce,' with less than 1,000 cubic meters per person per year." Among other factors, climate change is affecting snowmelt and reducing flows into the Indus River, the area's main water source. USAID expects its programs to provide a minimum of 10 million people with sustainable access to improved water supply by 2018.It also plans to provide 6 million people with sustainable access to improved sanitation by that time, according to the agency's new water and development strategy, its first. It is also supporting regional discussions on water scarcity issues. Despite such a large effort, almost 800 million people lack access to safe water, and more than double that number are unable to access sanitation. And without big changes, two-thirds of the world's population is expected to be living under "severe water stress conditions" by 2025, according to USAID. To alleviate more of that stress, USAID will work with other countries to use emerging science and technology to track the problem and prepare communities to adapt. It will continue to share NASA Earth Science and satellite data about water supply throughout the world to help detect and prepare for future threats. It will also help nations translate that data into decision-making for aid and how to better alert communities about likely food shortages. At the hearing, House members pressed speakers for information on tools they might need to better address the problem. Answers, however, are challenging to come by, says Holmes, "It really doesn't lend itself to easy fixes." Moreover, when water shortages threaten to elevate tensions where the supply is scarce it can be challenging to provide assistance. "Many countries view water as a sovereign issue and discourage outside intervention," Salzberg says. Last year the U.S. government invested more than $700 million in global water activities as part of its congressionally mandated requirement to make global water aid a specific policy objective of U.S. foreign assistance. About 27 percent of those funds went to sub-Saharan Africa, where needs continue to be particularly dire. In 20 African countries, more than 30 percent of the population does not have access to safe water, and in seven of those countries more than half the people lack access to safe water, according to Salzberg. China and India are also experiencing unprecedented strain on water supplies, due to water shortages fueled by climate change, urbanization and massive industrial growth. Indeed, rising demand for water-hungry foodstuffs like beef coupled with already scarce water resources paint a stark picture. Despite a continued focus on water issues, barely a dent has been made in the problem, says Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D), who today introduced new legislation with Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) geared toward furthering U.S. water assistance and ensuring that work will have measurable impact. "We've just moved the needle a little bit, and in some cases--like the area of sanitation--we are at risk of falling behind because of rapid urbanization. But the key here, and part of what we are trying to do with the new legislation, is to leverage money that is already being spent." Follow Scientific American on Twitter @SciAm and @SciamBlogs. Visit ScientificAmerican.com for the latest in science, health and technology news.
? 2013 ScientificAmerican.com. All rights reserved.
? 2013 ScientificAmerican.com. All rights reserved.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/global-water-shortages-grow-worse-nations-few-answers-020700619.html
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Hagel: Budget cuts could harm nation's defense
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel pauses during a news conference at the Pentagon, Wednesday, July 31, 2013. Hagel is warned that the Pentagon may have to mothball up to three Navy aircraft carriers and order more sharp reductions in the size of the Army and Marine Corps if Congress does not act to avoid massive budget cuts beginning in 2014. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel pauses during a news conference at the Pentagon, Wednesday, July 31, 2013. Hagel is warned that the Pentagon may have to mothball up to three Navy aircraft carriers and order more sharp reductions in the size of the Army and Marine Corps if Congress does not act to avoid massive budget cuts beginning in 2014. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, accompanied by Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Adm. James Winnefeld, speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon, Wednesday, July 31, 2013. Hagel warned that the Pentagon may have to mothball up to three Navy aircraft carriers and order more sharp reductions in the size of the Army and Marine Corps if Congress does not act to avoid massive budget cuts beginning in 2014. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon, Wednesday, July 31, 2013. Hagel warned that the Pentagon may have to mothball up to three Navy aircraft carriers and order more sharp reductions in the size of the Army and Marine Corps if Congress does not act to avoid massive budget cuts beginning in 2014. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Pentagon officials insist they are not crying wolf when they say proposed budget cuts could severely harm the military.
In a detailed and stark warning, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said about $500 billion in automatic budget cuts scheduled to take effect over the next decade could leave the nation with an ill-prepared, underequipped military doomed to face more technologically advanced enemies.
If Congress doesn't act to avoid the cuts, he said, the Pentagon may be forced to mothball up to three Navy aircraft carriers and order additional sharp reductions in the size of the Army and Marine Corps ? shortfalls the military hasn't seen since World War II.
"I know there's politics in all this," Hagel said Wednesday. "But what we're trying to project here is not crying wolf or not trying to overstate or overhype."
Speaking to Pentagon reporters, and indirectly to Congress, Hagel laid out a worst-case scenario for the U.S. military if the Pentagon is forced to slash more than $50 billion from the 2014 budget and half a trillion over 10 years as a result of congressionally mandated cuts.
His remarks were the latest in a persistent Pentagon drumbeat about the dire effects of the budget cuts on national defense as Congress continues to wrangle over spending bills on Capitol Hill.
Sitting alongside Hagel, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Navy Adm. James Winnefeld, said a major frustration is that the Pentagon doesn't know how much money Congress eventually will allocate to defense, or when lawmakers will make a decision.
"What we were doing here is teeing up choices. We haven't made those choices yet," Winnefeld said. "When we finally get an answer on what the financial outlook is going to look like, we will then begin to make those choices."
Going from 11 to eight or nine carrier strike groups would bring the Navy to its lowest number since World War II. And the troop cuts could shear the Army back to levels not seen since 1940, eroding the military's ability to keep forces deployed and combat-ready overseas.
Detailing options, Hagel said America may have to choose between having a highly capable but significantly smaller military and having a larger force while reducing special operations forces, limiting research, and cutting or curtailing plans to upgrade weapons systems.
That second option, he said, likely would result in the U.S. military using older, less effective equipment against more technologically advanced adversaries. And it would have a greater impact on the nation's private defense companies.
Hagel said the U.S. risks fielding a military force that in the next few years would be unprepared due to a lack of training, maintenance and upgraded equipment.
And even if the Pentagon chooses the most dramatic cuts, Hagel said it still would "fall well short" of meeting the reductions required by the automatic budget cuts, particularly during the first five years.
While noting that no final decisions have been made, Hagel laid out a few specific ideas under consideration.
He said that to achieve the savings by shrinking the force, the Pentagon might have to cut more than 100,000 additional soldiers from the Army, which is already planning to go from a wartime high of about 570,000 to 490,000 soldiers by 2017. The current plan to reduce the size of the Marine Corps to 182,000 from a high of about 205,000 could also be changed, cutting it to as few as 150,000 Marines.
He added that the Air Force could lose as many as five combat air squadrons as well as a number of other bomber and cargo aircraft.
"This strategic choice would result in a force that would be technologically dominant, but would be much smaller and able to go fewer places and do fewer things, especially if crises occurred at the same time in different regions of the world," Hagel said.
Another option, he said, would be to make fewer cuts in the size of the force, and instead cancel or curtail many modernization programs.
In addition he said that the Pentagon was taking a close look at cuts to health care benefits, military housing allowances, cost-of-living adjustments and civilian pay raises.
Hagel repeated his plans ? announced two weeks ago ? to cut top Pentagon and military staff and spending by 20 percent. The savings, which will apply to his office, that of the Joint Chiefs chairman and the Pentagon headquarters offices of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps, could total between $1.5 billion and $2 billion over the next five years and will target personnel, including civilians and contractors.
The details Hagel described Wednesday were the result of a review by top Pentagon and military leaders that looked at the impact of budget cuts on the department and developed a series of options to deal with them.
The cuts stem from a law enacted two years ago that ordered the government to come up with $1.2 trillion in savings over a decade. The law included the threat of annual automatic cuts as a way of forcing lawmakers to reach a deficit-reduction deal, but they have been unable to do so.
As a result, come January, the Pentagon faces a cut of $54 billion from current spending, according to calculations by Capitol Hill budget aides. The base budget must be trimmed to $498 billion, with cuts of about 4 percent, hitting already reduced spending on defense, nuclear weapons and military construction.
Congress has shown little inclination to undo the so-called sequester cuts, though talks between the White House and a handful of Senate Republicans have intensified in recent weeks.
Some lawmakers and staff aides say the new, deeper Pentagon reductions could be the jolt that prompts lawmakers to step back from the automatic cuts.
Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., blamed the problem on GOP lawmakers who refuse to stop the automatic cuts. Smith, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said that refusal is forcing the Pentagon to make "unacceptable cuts to force structure, modernization and benefits for our military personnel and retirees."
The committee's chairman, Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., said the Pentagon review was budget-driven and not a substitute for real strategic planning. But he said it makes clear the cuts will cause catastrophic damage.
"We will lose our workforce and ability to recruit and retain the all-volunteer force, and our influence around the world will continue to diminish," McKeon said. "Our enemies will feel emboldened."
___
Associated Press writers Donna Cassata and Robert Burns contributed to this report.
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Study highlights possible new approach to prostate cancer treatment
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Public release date: 1-Aug-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Nick Miller
nicholas.miller@cchmc.org
513-803-6035
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
CINCINNATI -- A study in the Journal of Biological Chemistry identifies a new therapeutic approach to treat prostate cancer.
Conducted at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, the research shows that expression of the FoxM1 protein is essential for prostate cancer to develop in mouse models. The study appears in the journal's Aug. 2 edition.
The study also shows that depletion of FoxM1 in prostate epithelial cells inhibits tumor cell proliferation, the process by which new blood vessels are formed, and metastasis -- the spread of cancer to other organs of the body.
"It is possible that FoxM1 is important for both cancer initiation and cancer progression," says Tanya Kalin, MD, PhD, a physician-scientist in the division of Pulmonary Biology at Cincinnati Children's and senior author of the study. "Our findings provide the foundation for the development of new therapeutic approaches based on inhibition of FoxM1."
FoxM1 is known to be involved in most solid tumor cancers. Kalin's lab published a study in 2006 showing that increased levels of FoxM1 were associated with the development and progression of prostate cancer in mice. Although the current study focuses primarily on prostate cancer, the findings could also help researchers better understand the pathogenesis of pediatric disease.
In this new study, Kalin and colleagues at Cincinnati Children's studied a novel mouse model of prostate cancer. In this model, loss of FoxM1 decreased tumor growth and metastasis. Without this model, over-expression of FoxM1, either alone or in combination with inhibition of a tumor suppressor known as p19ARF caused a robust proliferation of epithelial cells. This proliferation of cells was not enough to induce progression from proliferation to actual prostate cancer, but it caused small prostate epithelial tubes to shrink.
###
The study was supported by an award from the Department of Defense PC080478 and NIH grant R01 CA142724.
About Cincinnati Children's:
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center ranks third in the nation among all Honor Roll hospitals in U.S.News and World Report's 2013 Best Children's Hospitals ranking. It is ranked #1 for cancer and in the top 10 for nine of 10 pediatric specialties. Cincinnati Children's is one of the top two recipients of pediatric research grants from the National Institutes of Health, and a research and teaching affiliate of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. The medical center is internationally recognized for improving child health and transforming delivery of care through fully integrated, globally recognized research, education and innovation. Additional information can be found at http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org. Connect on the Cincinnati Children's blog, via Facebook and on Twitter.
[ | 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: 1-Aug-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Nick Miller
nicholas.miller@cchmc.org
513-803-6035
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
CINCINNATI -- A study in the Journal of Biological Chemistry identifies a new therapeutic approach to treat prostate cancer.
Conducted at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, the research shows that expression of the FoxM1 protein is essential for prostate cancer to develop in mouse models. The study appears in the journal's Aug. 2 edition.
The study also shows that depletion of FoxM1 in prostate epithelial cells inhibits tumor cell proliferation, the process by which new blood vessels are formed, and metastasis -- the spread of cancer to other organs of the body.
"It is possible that FoxM1 is important for both cancer initiation and cancer progression," says Tanya Kalin, MD, PhD, a physician-scientist in the division of Pulmonary Biology at Cincinnati Children's and senior author of the study. "Our findings provide the foundation for the development of new therapeutic approaches based on inhibition of FoxM1."
FoxM1 is known to be involved in most solid tumor cancers. Kalin's lab published a study in 2006 showing that increased levels of FoxM1 were associated with the development and progression of prostate cancer in mice. Although the current study focuses primarily on prostate cancer, the findings could also help researchers better understand the pathogenesis of pediatric disease.
In this new study, Kalin and colleagues at Cincinnati Children's studied a novel mouse model of prostate cancer. In this model, loss of FoxM1 decreased tumor growth and metastasis. Without this model, over-expression of FoxM1, either alone or in combination with inhibition of a tumor suppressor known as p19ARF caused a robust proliferation of epithelial cells. This proliferation of cells was not enough to induce progression from proliferation to actual prostate cancer, but it caused small prostate epithelial tubes to shrink.
###
The study was supported by an award from the Department of Defense PC080478 and NIH grant R01 CA142724.
About Cincinnati Children's:
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center ranks third in the nation among all Honor Roll hospitals in U.S.News and World Report's 2013 Best Children's Hospitals ranking. It is ranked #1 for cancer and in the top 10 for nine of 10 pediatric specialties. Cincinnati Children's is one of the top two recipients of pediatric research grants from the National Institutes of Health, and a research and teaching affiliate of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. The medical center is internationally recognized for improving child health and transforming delivery of care through fully integrated, globally recognized research, education and innovation. Additional information can be found at http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org. Connect on the Cincinnati Children's blog, via Facebook and on Twitter.
[ | 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/2013-08/cchm-shp080113.php
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