Gold remained stuck in the doldrums on Thursday, staying near four-month lows of around US$1,660 an ounce.?
With little news to move the gold price amid thin holiday trading, spot gold finished at an even $1,663, up $3.60 from Boxing Day. Gold futures also increased marginally, with the February gold contract last trading?up $3.40 an ounce , at $1,664.10.
The precious metal was lifted slightly by short covering and bargain hunting, even reaching $1,666 at one point during the day, but those gains were limited by the US Labor Department?s news that applications for unemployment benefits fell to one of the lowest levels of the year. The US dollar gained as a result, putting pressure on gold.
Gold investors and traders are also increasingly leery of stalled negotiations over the US ?fiscal cliff? deadline, with many preferring to sit on the sidelines and wait and see. Lawmakers in Washington have until January 1 to come up with a deal that will avoid?$600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts slated to kick in come the new year. Economists predict that the measures will push the country into a recession.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Thursday did not inspire any hope of a resolution, and was quoted by The Independent as saying it ?looks like? the US is heading over the fiscal cliff.
Company news
Randgold Resources (NASDAQ:GOLD) announced that production at its Tongon gold mine in?Cote d?Ivoire was impacted due to a mill fire. The incident occurred on December 24 during a planned shutdown. ?The fire has been fully extinguished and no injuries have been reported but both cyclone clusters, flotation cells and blowers along with associated infrastructure for both milling circuits suffered damage,? Randgold said in a statement. The company?s stock suffered a 0.54-percent decline on Thursday.
Al Jazeera?reported?that 4,000 miners suffering from lung disease have launched South Africa?s largest-ever class-action lawsuit against?AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU), Goldfields (NYSE:GFI) and Harmony Gold Mining (NYSE:HMY). The plaintiffs claim to have contracted severe lung ailments such as tuberculosis and silicosis while working in underground gold mines and are demanding millions of dollars in compensation from the defendants, which are some of the world?s biggest mining companies.
Kinross Gold (TSX:K) Canada?s third-largest gold producer, denied a statement from Southridge Enterprises (OTC Pink:SRGE) that says the two companies are working together to develop properties in Mexico. In a statement quoted by Bloomberg, Toronto-based Kinross said the company ?has not entered into a joint venture agreement with Southridge Enterprises, and is not actively pursuing any such agreement at this time.?
Focus Minerals (ASX:FML)?completed a AU$225-million private placement with Shandong Gold Mining (SSE:600547), which will take a 51-percent equity stake in the?Australian gold miner.
Funds from the deal, approved by shareholders earlier this month, will be put towards developing Focus? existing gold projects in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia.
?This is one of the largest mining deals for an emerging mid-tier Australian gold producer in recent times and underscores the importance of Australia-China mining interests,? said Don Taig, Focus Minerals? chairman.
The Australian Federal Court has?approved?a AU$426-million merger between Silver Lake Resources (ASX:SLR) and Integra Mining (ASX:IGR). Under terms of the agreement, Silver Lake will hand over one of its own shares for every 6.28 Integra shares held.
Meanwhile, Silver Lake also?reported?that commissioning of its Murchison gold project, in Western Australia, is on track, with production expected to begin in March. The project will ramp up to 100,000 oz per year by 2014.
?We are looking forward to commissioning the Murchison gold project, bringing it into production and ramping up to 100,000 ounce per annum rates on time and in line with budget,? said Silver Lake?s managing director, Les Davis.
Junior company news?
Santacruz Silver Mining (TSXV:SCZ) announced the?completion of an updated NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate on its Rosario project?in Mexico.
?This resource classification upgrade provides us with more certainty that the Rosario Project will be an emerging silver producer that will be the foundation of the Company as we advance towards becoming a mid-tier silver producer. We remain on schedule to achieve commercial production at the Rosario Project within the first quarter of 2013,? said Santacruz?s president, Arturo Pr?stamo. The deposit hosts 270,000 tonnes of mineralization containing 210 grams per tonne silver, 0.94 g/t gold, 3.69 percent zinc?and 1.17 percent lead.
Northern Gold Mining (TSXV:NGM) and Champagne Resources?entered into?a letter of intent under which Champagne has granted Northern Gold the right to acquire all of its mining claims located in each of the Guibord, Michaud and Holloway Townships in Ontario, Canada.
Related reading:?Gold Sell-off as Fiscal Cliff Deadline Approaches
Securities Disclosure: I, Andrew Topf, do not hold equity interests in any of the companies mentioned in this article.
The housing market?showed continued improvement in December with the National Association of Home Builders' latest Housing Market Index rising to 47.
By SoldAtTheTop,?Guest blogger / December 18, 2012
This graph shows the National Association of Home Builders' Housing Market Index since 1992. Conditions still remain fairly distressed by historic standards, according to SoldAtTheTop.
SoldAtTheTop
Enlarge
Today, the?National Association of Home Builders?(NAHB) released their?latest Housing Market Index (HMI)?showing continued improvement in December with the composite HMI index rising to 47 while the "buyer traffic" index improved to 36, a level not seen since early 2006.
Skip to next paragraph SoldAtTheTop
Writer, The PaperEconomy Blog
'SoldAtTheTop' is not a pessimist by nature but a true skeptic and realist who prefers solid and sustained evidence of fundamental economic recovery to 'Goldilocks,' 'Green Shoots,' 'Mustard Seeds,' and wholesale speculation.
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While all indicators have made truly spectacular improvements this year, it's important to note that conditions still remain fairly distressed by historic standards.
Although, looking at the data, it is fairly clear that the last few months of results indicate a major change in builder sentiment likely coming as a result of improvements in confidence given the notable rise in buyer traffic, reduced inventory and a more balanced monthly supply.?
The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here.To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on paper-money.blogspot.com.
Experts in NFL Concussion Suits join together to tackle industry trends, litigation challenges, and the science in sports injuries on Jan. 8.
Berwyn, PA ? Perrin Conferences? teleconference series presents ?NFL Concussion Litigation ? The Science of Sport,? ?a program bringing together leading attorneys, doctors and other experts to discuss the issues dominating the headlines of the concussion cases against the NFL, NCAA and equipment manufacturers.? The teleconference will be hosted on Jan. 8 at 2:00 p.m.- 4:00 p.m. EST.
The program provides an overview of the current allegations and defenses in NFL concussion litigation, an update on the latest scientific studies, and tackles other issues including:
The potential legal and economic impact of concussion litigation for players, sports leagues and uniform equipment manufacturers
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy ? what is it and how does the science fit into the current litigation strategies?
The history of the dangers of head injuries and the timeline of NFL-sponsored studies/concussion rules
Medical monitoring and other potential damages
Duty to defend, trigger, occurrence and other insurance issues
Speakers include former 7-year NFL player, Scott Thomas Peters and Dr. Andrew Blecher, Medical Director for the Southern California Orthopedic Institute in Van Nuys, CA. who will lead a faculty including attorney David Langfitt of the Locks Law Firm in Philadelphia and defense attorney Timothy Liam Epstein, Chair of the Sports Law Practice Group of SmithAmundsen, LLC in Chicago.? In addition, Charles Mullin, Ph.D. of Bates White LLC in Washington, D.C., will provide an update on current insurance litigation and discuss potential emerging coverage issues.? Paul Anderson, Esq., of the NFL Concussion Litigation Blog and Dustin Fink, MS, ATC, of The Concussion Blog in Shelbyville, IL will moderate this sports litigation conference.
For more information about the event and to register, visit www.perrinconferences.com.
Perrin Conferences sets the precedent in legal conferences.? The conference company hosts insurance and law conferences, with CLE-accreditation, and delivers a balanced plaintiff and defense perspective, working with renowned in-house counsel, plaintiff and defense attorneys, and other insurance and litigation experts.? Perrin Conferences delivers outstanding agendas and meaningful business networking opportunities.?? For more information, please visit www.PerrinConferences.com or contact Lynnsey Perrin Hee at 610-804-6165.
FCC to honor inventors of accessible communications technology ? Dec 19
Americas Dec 17, 2012
WASHINGTON, D.C.: Eight projects representing significant innovation in communications technology benefitting people with disabilities will receive the FCC?s Chairman?s Awards for Advancement in Accessibility, presented by Chairman Julius Genachowski during a ceremony at 2 pm on Dec. 19 at FCC headquarters.
Now in their second year, the awards are intended to encourage technological innovation in communication-related areas and to recognize engineers, researchers, and other technologists whose energies and perseverance contribute to technologies that help people with disabilities to obtain and succeed at jobs and participate more actively in the community.
?The awards are a project of the FCC?s Accessibility and Innovation Initiative, which is based on a recommendation from the FCC?s 2010 National Broadband Plan.? The A&I Initiative seeks to facilitate dialogue among industry, assistive technology companies, app developers, government representatives, and consumers to allow stakeholders to share best practices and solutions for accessible communications technologies.
Awards will be presented for the development of mainstream or assistive technologies, the development of standards, and the implementation of best practices that foster accessibility. The awards focus on six categories: Consumer Empowerment Information; Mobile Applications;
Civic Participation Solutions; Education: College or University; Video Programming;? and GeoLocation Solutions.? In addition to the winners in these categories, two honorable mentions will also be recognized.
The Chairman?s 2012 AAA Winners are:
? Consumer Empowerment Information ? Project StAR: Accessible Radio 2012/The Narrator
? Mobile Applications ? WGBH National Center for Accessible Media: ?Media Access
Mobile?
? Civic Participation Solutions ? Prime III:? A Universally Designed Voting Machine
? Education: College or University ? Project:? Possibilities SS12:? Code for a Cause? Video Programming ? Accessible Media Inc. (AMI)
? Geo-Location Services ? Tiramisu Transit
The Chairman?s 2012 AAA Honorable Mentions are:
? Civic Participation ? Google+ Hangouts
? Mobile Applications ? Virtual Braille Keyboard
The winning projects will be displayed in the FCC?s Technology Experience Center along with other cutting-edge technologies that provide access to persons with disabilities from Dec. 19-31.
The Technology Experience Center is open to the public and offers the opportunity for visitors to experiment with these technologies.
The awards ceremony is free and open to the public. Individuals interested in attending this event are asked to send an RSVP to ChairmansAAA@fcc.gov. Please include your name, title, organization affiliation (if any), and contact information in the e-mail. Audio/Video coverage of the meeting will be broadcast live with open captioning over the Internet from the FCC?s web page at fcc.gov/live.? The FCC?s webcast is free to the public and does not require pre-registration.
Reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities are available upon request.? Include a description of the accommodation you will need and tell us how to contact you if we need more information.? Make your request as early as possible.? Last minute requests will be accepted, but may be impossible to fill.? Send an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432 (TTY).
For more information about the FCC, visit FCC.gov.
Last week, we had a question from a reader: ?My dad is nearing his retirement goal of having $2 million in investments. ?Most of his portfolio is in stocks now, but once he reaches that goal, what should he do? ?If he were to cash out, he?d have a bunch of taxable gains which would set him back on the $2 million. ?Leaving it in those investments seems risky too.?
Can your retirement portfolio handle another correction like this?
Capital Preservation
First of all, when you?re fully retired and you are spending down the retirement fund, the main goal should be capital preservation. We don?t really know what percentage of his portfolio is in stocks, but we?ll assume 80% for simplicity sake. This is way too much stock for someone who is soon to be fully retired. The stock market is a great investment in the long run, but it?s too volatile in the short term. If you are withdrawing from your retirement fund and we have another big recession, the $2 million portfolio could take a big dive. During the Great Recession, many retirees sold at the bottom and never got back in to take advantage of the recovery.
How much investment in stock?
I believe a retiree should have some investment in stocks for some growth, but most of their portfolio should be in stable fixed income investments like bonds. Experts recommend anywhere from 0-40% stock holding after you retire. That?s not very helpful, is it? One rule of thumb is to take 100 and minus your age. So if you?re 65, you should have at most 35% invested in stocks (100-65.) While it depends on your risk tolerance, I think the rule of thumb is a good guideline.
Nobody likes to pay tax
The big concern above is the taxable gain. The S&P500 doubled since the bottom of the market in February 2009 to December 2012. If he wants to reduce his portfolio from 80% to 40% stock, he would have to pay a ton of taxes and probably have to put off retirement for a few years. That could be true if all his investments are in his taxable brokerage account. However, I suspect he must have some tax deferred and tax protected accounts as well. Nearly 50% of our net worth is stashed in our IRAs. If his accounts are similar, then he could convert his stock holdings to bonds in his IRAs. This way, he?ll have more stability and defer the tax payment until later.
Alternatives to stock market
It?s risky to have too much investment in the stock market, but we definitely don?t want to keep it in cash either. Inflation will erode the value every year and pretty soon $2 million will be worth a lot less. Here are some alternatives to the stock market.
Annuity ? We can pay a lump sum in return for a guaranteed monthly annuity payment. The annuity payout is tied to interest rate, so the return is not very good now that the interest rate is so low. We will probably be better off waiting until the interest rate is higher. I need to do more research on different types of annuities to see which one makes the most sense for us.
Bonds ? Bonds are a great alternative to the stock market. When the stock market goes south, investors turn to bonds. To diversify further, we can invest in a mix of US government bonds, TIPS (inflation protected), US corporate bonds, and international bonds.
CD ? CD yields are very low at the moment and I will be holding off until the interest rate improves. Once the rates are better, I?m planning to build a CD ladder for a nice guaranteed income.
Real Estate ? Rental properties are a great way to generate income in retirement, but they can be a lot of work. Investing in an REIT (real estate investment trust) is much easier and the payout is usually very competitive.
Gold and other precious metals ? Gold is a good alternative to the stock market as well because the price always goes up when there is economic turmoil. Personally, I don?t have any investments in gold, but will keep an eye out when the price comes down.
P2P Lending ? Peer to peer lending is another way to generate some extra retirement income. My P2P investments are returning nearly 13% and I?m very happy with that. However, if we have a recession and people lose their jobs, I fully expect the return to drop precipitously. P2P lending is risky and I wouldn?t invest more than 5% of our portfolio there.
Long Term Care Insurance ? Let?s think a bit differently for this last one. What can devastate your retirement portfolio even if all your investments are safe? Yeap, it?s health care. A long term care facility can cost anywhere from $4,000 to $10,000 per month. If your family has any history of Alzheimer?s, dementia, or Parkinson?s disease, long term care insurance can offset that risk.
Invest more conservatively after retirement
As some financial advisers say ? why keep playing the game if you already won? It?s not worth the risk to have most of your portfolio invested in the stock market after you retire. When the next big correction hits, your portfolio will lose a lot of value and it will be difficult to recover. Investing conservatively will preserve that $2 million portfolio. At this point, our reader?s dad should probably talk to a professional financial planner, perhaps one at Personal Capital if he just wants a free checkup. It will give him an idea of what to invest in and how to retool his portfolio for post retirement.
As always, I would love to hear how retirees invest their savings. How much of your portfolio is invested in the stock market? Would you be fine if the stock market take a 30% drop?
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GENEVA, Switzerland, December 13, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The United Nations Independent Expert on foreign debt and human rights, Cephas Lumina, urged world governments not allow ?vulture funds' to paralyze debt relief for heavily indebted countries, while expressing his concern about the continued impounding of the Argentinian navy training ship ?ARA Libertad'.
The Argentinian naval vessel has been impounded since 2 October 2012 in the port of Tema in Ghana on the basis of a court order obtained by the ?vulture fund' NML Capital Limited, a Cayman Islands-based subsidiary of the US investment firm Elliot Capital Management. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea is expected to announce a decision on the case between Argentina and Ghana on 15 December 2012.
??Vulture funds,' such as NML Capital, should not be allowed to purchase debts of distressed companies or sovereign States on the secondary market, for a sum far less than the face value of the debt obligation and then seek repayment of the nominal full face value of the debt together with interest, penalties and legal costs or impound assets of heavily indebted countries in an attempt to force repayment,? Mr. Lumina stressed.
?From a human rights perspective,? the UN expert said, ?reduced debt burdens and increased fiscal capacity contribute to the creation of the conditions necessary for the realization of all human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights.?
NML Capital has been suing Argentina on the basis of debt arising from the country's defaulted bond swaps in 2005 and 2010. On 11 October 2011, the Commercial Division of the Accra High Court upheld the restraining orders placed on the Argentine naval vessel. NML Capital was only willing to release the frigate against a payment of USD 20 million in Argentinian bonds, and demands that Argentina settles USD 370 million of its debt.
The firm bought bonds from the heavily indebted Argentinian Government in 2000, a year before the country's USD 100 billion sovereign default. ?While the majority of creditors accepted a repayment at a lower nominal value (30 per cent) of sovereign debt, enabling the country to recover economically, NML Capital refused to participate in the debt restructuring offered by Argentina,? Mr. Lumina noted.
In 2001, the country successfully reduced its public debt from about 160 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Argentina's total public debt currently stands at around 40 per cent of the country's GDP.
The UN Guiding Principles* on Foreign Debt and Human Rights, endorsed by the Human Rights Council in June 2012, underscore that States, international financial institutions and private companies have an obligation to respect human rights, including the duty to refrain from formulating, adopting, funding, and implementing policies and programmes that directly or indirectly contravene the enjoyment of human rights.
According to the principles, ?loan agreements should impose clear restrictions on the sale or assignment of debts to third parties by creditors without the prior informed consent of the Borrower State concerned. Every effort must be directed towards achieving a negotiated settlement between the creditor and the debtor.? They also state that ?creditors should not sell sovereign debt on the secondary market to creditors that have previously refused to participate in agreed debt restructuring.?
?Successful debt restructuring for deeply indebted countries will be made impossible if vulture funds are allowed to paralyse debt relief,? Mr. Lumina warned, recalling that ?NML Capital already won a case against Peru in 2000, recovering 400% of what the fund paid for the country's distressed debt.?
The UN Independent Expert on foreign debt and human rights urged States to follow the example of the Channel Island of Jersey and the United Kingdom. Both recently adopted legislation to prevent vulture funds from pursuing excessive claims against heavily indebted countries before their national courts.
(*) Check the UN Guiding Principles on Foreign Debt and Human Rights: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Development/IEDebt/Pages/GuidingPrinciples.aspx
Deciding to invest in anything isn?t the easiest decision in life. After all, you know how much you have worked to accumulate your current riches and the penny-pinching day-to-day lifestyle options you had to make just so you could put more and more zeroes to your savings report. But investing, once done properly, can be a rather rewarding financial decision. In fact, despite a fluctuating worldwide economy, there are some investment prospects that can help you pull through all these shifts in the financial landscape. Take for example, gold and silver investment.
?Photo: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2771485
Before we go to the details of this financial prospect, let us first discuss some of its major benefits.
Gold and silver are not directly affected by currency devaluations, therefore, even if the dollar plummets, you are rest assured that your precious and physical treasures remain intact.
Despite the worsening inflation rate, you can forge through with your gold and silver stocks.
Should another major financial crisis occur, suppose the bankruptcy of a major bank, your gold and silver investment will not suffer in the wake of the disaster.
In the event of economic catastrophes in major countries like China, US, and the European Union, you can better safeguard your finances with physical gold or silver reserves as opposed to paper money.
Government entities follow a rather ludicrous debt paying method: they print more valueless money that leads to more debt. Someone is bound to pay for these debts and with a gold and silver reserve you can be spared from unnecessarily having to pay the price of the government?s financial mishap.
Counterparty risk is staple to paper money or assets. Gold and silver investments, on the other hand, are conveniently off the hook.
Financial trends show that gold and silver investment is currently gaining clout in the financial sector.
The Trends
In recent years, financial trends show that there is quite a promising prospect in gold and silver investment. Here are some of the telltale signs.
1. For the past decade, silver and gold stock prices have seen a consistent upward trend.
2. United State?s debt limit corresponds to increased gold and silver prices.
3. As gold demands more and more US dollars, other currencies become weaker and weaker.
4. There is an observable growing demand for physical gold from Central Banks from all parts of the globe.
5. Currently, gold and silver supply is lagging behind demand hence; early investors are bound to reap the eventual rewards for simply catching the investment bug earlier than the rest.
6. Less than 1% of all known investments in the world are assigned to silver and gold stocks.
7. Bull market has three stages: 1.denial, 2. Worry wall, 3. Euphoria. Gold bull market is said to be in stage 2 which is the best time to invest.
?Possible Disadvantages
Of course if there are the come-ons, we can?t deny the turnoffs. According to some experts there are also known disadvantages to silver and gold investment. These include shortage of rental profit or dividend earnings, low leverage buffer funds, and storage expenditures among others.
Now that you have learned a thing or two about gold and silver investment, the next move would be to either take the plunge or wait it out. Which move are you willing to make?
About Sharon Sussman
As a jeweler and gemologist, guest author Sharon Sussman is well-versed in the intricacies of silver, gold and diamond trading. She is also Director of Products at Brilliance, a company which specializes in the creation of custom diamond engagement rings.
Studying for the MCAT has never been easier. With McGraw-Hill?s MCAT Exam Prep app, enjoy a wealth of essential information in a variety of formats and right at your fingertips. This app is the ideal way to sharpen your skills and prepare for the exam.
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What do you think of the new logo? Pretty fancy, eh? It's almost as fancy as the Engadget Mobile Podcast itself, with Myriam Joire and Brad Molen on the mics. As usual, there's plenty of stuff to talk about, so tune in live with us as we explore the mobile universe!
VATICAN CITY (AP) ? The Vatican's top astronomer has some assurances to offer: The world won't be ending in 10 days, despite predictions to the contrary.
The Rev. Jose Funes, director of the Vatican Observatory, wrote in Wednesday's Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano that "it's not even worth discussing" doomsday scenarios based on the Mayan calendar that are flooding the Internet ahead of the purported Dec. 21 apocalypse.
Yes, Funes wrote, the universe is expanding and if some models are correct, will at one point "break away" ? but not for billions of years. But he said Christians profoundly believe that "death can never have the last word."
The Mayan Long Count calendar begins in 3,114 B.C., marking time in roughly 394-year periods known as Baktuns. The Mayans wrote that the significant 13th Baktun ends Dec. 21.
It's almost that time again! Time for office Christmas parties and family gatherings to bring back the classic look-out-for-No.1 holiday gift swap, White Elephant. But before we all find ourselves forced to surrender perfectly good gifts for gag gifts, a new game show is set to bring that same theme to the small screen.
In "Take It All," contestants will vie for a shot at a lot of great loot at the expense of their fellow players. If it sounds a little ruthless -- well, it is. But don't worry. During a Monday morning visit to TODAY, host Howie Mandel assured that it doesn't really bring out the worst in people.
"I don't think it's the worst," he said. "You can be ... a cunning gamesman -- it's gamesmanship. The prizes they get, it's like Secret Santa or White Elephant, but (there are) hundreds of thousands of dollars, cars, hovercrafts, submarines that they can take from each other."
In this twist on White Elephant, or Yankee Swap as some call it, the contestants left holding the bad gifts don?t get to keep them -- or even stay in the game -- and the ones with the best items can agree to keep them for themselves or attempt a take-it-all coup.
"The deal is whoever has the least valuable prize gives it back and goes home until two are left," Mandel explained. "And they've accumulated hundreds of thousands in prizes, and now they face off against each other. And they have a choice: Keep the money or take it all. So (one player could) be cunning and gamesman-like and say, 'You know what? I have no money. I've lost my job. I have three kids. I'm just going to keep my car and my hovercraft and my money. It's a deal right? You'll do that?' And then I say, 'Lock it in,' as the host. (But it turns out that contestant) was playing, because (he chooses) 'Take it all,' (and the other player) said, 'Keep mine.'"
So the first player would get all the loot and the other one wouldn't get a thing.
"It's 'The Price is Right' meets 'Deal or No Deal' meets 'Jerry Springer,"" Mandel said, summing up the game's vibe. "There's a lot of anger, emotion, fainting, laughing and screaming."
The fun starts Monday night at 9 p.m. just after "The Voice" on NBC.
What do you think of White Elephant-themed swaps like this? Unfair or just fun? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page.
Please support us in our fight against Professor Michael Mann.
By?Jack Fowler
We?re being sued, and we need your help.
Let me recap: A lawsuit has been formally filed by Professor Michael Mann against National Review and Mark Steyn. You know Mann: The Penn State academic and self-proclaimed (and bogus) Nobel Peace Prize awardee best known, famously and infamously, for the ?hockey stick? graph that allegedly proves that recent years were the hottest on record for more than a millennium.
Of course, he is also known for the scandal about embarrassing e-mails, pried out of the University of East Anglia?s Climate Research Unit.
(Anything you want to know about ?Climategate? can be found at the great site WattsUpWithThat.com. And if you want to get a load of Mann, visit his Facebook page for kicks and giggles and a look at self-promotion on steroids.)
In July, Mark wrote on the Corner about Penn State, much in the news for its institutional cover-ups, and Professor Mann. It was a Steyn classic, so it must have really smarted, and soon thereafter NR received notification of a pending lawsuit (here?s our response).
Like his claim to be a Nobel laureate, the charges against NR are baseless and very much worth fighting. National Review doesn?t look to get itself sued, but neither does it shy from a fight, especially one like this. Rich Lowry?s response to Mann?s legal threats exactly captures our mood and determination.
As many of you know, National Review is not a non-profit ? we are just not profitable. A lawsuit is not something we can fund with money we don?t have. Of course, we?ll do whatever we have to do to find ourselves victorious in court and Professor Mann thoroughly defeated, as he so richly deserves to be. Meanwhile, we have to hire attorneys, which ain?t cheap.
The bills are already mounting.
This is our fight, legally. But with the global-warming extremists going all-out to silence critics, it?s your fight too, morally. When we were sued, we heard from many of you who expressed a desire to help underwrite our legal defense. We deeply appreciated the outpouring of promised help.
Now we really need it.
Please help National Review in its fight to kick Professor Michael Mann?s legal heinie.
Barnes & Noble have kept its "early December" promise to bring the Nook Video service to the UK. The company has signed deals with heavy-hitters like the BBC, HBO and Warner Bros., so Game of Thrones and The Dark Knight Rises are ready and gagging to be seen. It's also the first to arrive in Blighty with full-fat UltraViolet access, enabling you to watch your (compatible) purchased DVDs and Blu-Rays without all of that fiddly ripping and re-encoding. If you haven't snapped up one of the company's Nook HD tablets yet, you'd better get writing that letter to Santa.
Some of these fake, Photoshopped Instagrams of dead rock stars—created by Brazilian designer Butcher Billy—are really good. My favorite are these two, Cash and Mercury, but there are more. More »
Editor's note: CultureMap Austin is proud to partner with?Leadership Austin?? the region's premier provider of civic and community leadership development ? in this series of editorial columns meant to inform Austinites about the upcoming?City of Austin proposition elections?to be held Nov. 6.
This is the first of two articles spelling out arguments for and against the City of Austin's Proposition 1 election on funding the University of Texas Medical School. This article advocates voting yes; the second article, opposing Proposition 1, will be published Thursday.
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Central Health, the owner of University Medical Center Brackenridge (UTMB), placed Proposition 1 on the ballot to transform the way healthcare is delivered to the poor and uninsured in Travis County. It will ensure more efficient systems and effective healthcare plans. And it will focus on prevention and wellness, on helping those with chronic conditions maintain their health, and on paying for care based on the outcomes for patients.?
Prop 1?s passage will mean improved health care for more of the 200,000 Travis County residents without insurance. It will result in healthier and more productive families, better-utilized clinics by the uninsured and underinsured, more access for mental health treatment and less-crowded emergency rooms that are better able to focus on families and individuals with real emergencies.?
Central Health will procure some of these services through the faculty, medical students and residents at a new Austin medical school ? providing a revenue stream to help cover some of the med school?s costs. Approximately 90 percent of the funding for the medical school will come from UT System, Seton, research grants and other identified funding sources.
Projections show we will need 770 more doctors in Central Texas by 2016 just to keep up with population growth. Already, a lack of physicians who accept Medicaid and Medicare means many of us must wait weeks or months to see a specialist. That leads some families and individuals to travel to other cities to get care.?
And our senior population, of which I am a member, is growing at record rates. Between 2000 and 2010, Travis County had the second fastest growing senior population in the country. And we had the fastest growth rate in the U.S. among baby boomers between the ages of 55 and 64. And, as I?m very aware, people over 65 access health care services twice as much as those under 65.
A new medical school and teaching hospital will create a pipeline of doctors and other health care professionals, trained to work together in teams, who will likely practice in the region after they train here. Studies show that 80 percent of doctors that study and train in Texas remain in Texas to practice medicine ? most within 50 miles of their training site.
Travis County residents also will gain access to cutting-edge treatments developed by medical school faculty through clinical trials. Almost everyone I know has a close friend or family member who has traveled to Houston, Dallas or out of state to receive complex treatments ? like liver transplants ? or for clinical trials that are not available in Austin. Imagine Austin becoming a medical destination for cutting-edge treatment.
With the new medical school and teaching hospital, our region stands to gain 15,000 new permanent jobs and $2 billion in annual economic activity. Those jobs are not just for MDs and PhDs ? 60 percent of them are expected to require less than four-year degrees and they will be spread across many industries.
We can?t forget who Prop 1 is serving ? the uninsured and those most vulnerable in our society. The surprising fact is that almost six in 10 of those folks are employed.?
In an entrepreneurial, creative city like Austin, these are our friends and neighbors ? they live in our neighborhoods, and we probably see them every day. When they become ill, they face impossible choices ? needing health care they can?t begin to afford.
What Prop 1 does not do is build buildings. UT will pay for the bricks and mortar and many operating expenses of the medical school. The Seton Healthcare Family will pay to build a new teaching hospital and to expand the number of residency slots in Central Texas.????
Prop 1 will raise our health care tax by 5 cents ? a nickel ? per $100 valuation. That is approximately $100 a year for a $200,000 home. For the average Travis County property owner, that is less than $9/month.
By accessing federal health care funds ? tapping $1.46 from Washington for every dollar our region raises ? our community can expand the capacity of the healthcare system and catalyze investments in infrastructure and services at a level we?ve previously only imagined. Prop 1 is an investment in our community and in health care for you and your family.
Central Health Tax Ratification Election
PROP. 1: Approving the ad valorem tax rate of $0.129 per $100 valuation in Central Health, also known as the Travis County?Healthcare District, for the 2013 tax year, a rate that exceeds the district?s rollback tax rate. The proposed ad valorem tax rate?exceeds the ad valorem tax rate most recently adopted by the district by $0.05 per $100 valuation; funds will be used for improved healthcare in Travis County, including support for a new medical school consistent with the mission of Central Health, a site for a new teaching hospital, trauma services, specialty medicine such as cancer care, community-wide health clinics,?training for physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals, primary care, behavioral and mental healthcare, prevention?and wellness programs, and/or to obtain federal matching funds for healthcare services.
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Former Mayor Pro Tem Betty Dunkerley?was a panelist at the Oct. 10?ENGAGE Breakfast Town Hall?event with KXAN News. The opinions of Leadership Austin alumni and faculty members are their own, and do not represent an official position of the organization.
Slidell Police?Chief Randy Smith released the following information from Tuesday:
Tuesday
Norman G. Shephard Jr., age 30 of 220 Cross Gates, Slidell, was arrested for possession of a schedule I and III controlled dangerous substance
James Davis, 21, of no listed address, was arrested on three counts of distribution of a schedule I controlled dangerous substance
William E. Frazier, 30, of 224 Bilten Avenue, Slidell, was arrested for possession of a schedule I controlled dangerous substance
Joshua P. Loyacano, 30, of 33699 Sylve Road, Slidell, was arrested for possession of a schedule I controlled dangerous substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and creation of a clandestine lab
Skyler E. Branton, 22, of 1260 Road 326, Pearlington, Miss., was issued a summons for theft under $300 by shoplifting merchandise from Wal-Mart on Natchez
Devin P. Hart, 24, of 1940 Sixth Street, Slidell, was arrested for possession of a schedule I controlled dangerous substance and possession of drug paraphernalia
Now that you have a website, you naturally want people to visit your site. This means that you need to attract qualified visitors to your web site. So what better way to Internet marketing or online marketing? Internet Marketing covers many different methods you want to get visitors to visit your site. So let's Search Engine Marketing, which is one of the most effective ways to achieve these qualified visitors. One Internet sources that can bring qualified visitors to your website in the search engines. A search engine can generate more visitors to your web site valid after searching using the right keywords and keyword phrases relevant to your business. check this out
Commissioning If this is your first time to try the search engine optimization, then it would be better to appoint a SEO specialist who can guide you and who is also an expert in pay per click advertising, and keywords to Use Internet Marketing Search Engine Optimization mechanical In optimizing your search engine marketing consultant will review your website and demographics of visitors Based on the search engine consultant will develop a plan fully optimize your website, which includes the use of the relevant page titles, research and the use of meta tags with appropriate keywords, keyword density recommending and keyword phrases in the content of individual pages and elements of your website Before that he had studied the frequency of occurrence of these keywords in the content and keywords on the search terms that people use in different search engines In some cases, may recommend other landing pages you create This review is based on his experience and knowledge of the algorithms of the search engines use different page ranges to rank pages So there are pages optimized for search engines A landing page is a page in a website that is reached when a visitor clicks on a link that is out of place where the linked page Pay Per Click Marketing in SEO Some search engines accept a paid inclusion, where there will be a link to your website high on the search results page Alternatively, you can purchase keywords so that the page is high when a search These keywords are usually auctioned by search engines and are valid for a period of time or clicks Another option that is available where you only pay when someone clicks on your ad or notice This is known as pay per click list At the end of the In conclusion SEO marketing is probably due to better yields of investment of time and resources than other methods of promotion A good bet is to seek professional advice before entering into a referral program Visitors are waiting to meet you! The author is an online marketing professional with Info media check this out Direct Technologies Ltd - specializing in Internet marketing in the UK the Company provides innovative solutions for internet marketing for small, medium and large Prepayment offer per click, search engine optimization and search engine marketing solutions for your business with a full money back guarantee James Doons is experienced internet marketing consultant and writes articles on , search engine ranking, , ,seo uk, seo services, seo company uk, seo services uk, seo company, seo services london etc check this out
Are you great at golf? Crazy about cupcakes? Passionate about podcasting? Then starting an internet marketing business based around your hobby could be the perfect outlet for you.
Now I?m not suggesting for one second that you give up the day job if you are currently employed (or self-employed). Not just yet anyhow.
But increasingly, more people are turning to niche marketing to enjoy a comfortable second income whilst focusing on a subject that?s close to their heart. Something that genuinely doesn?t feel like hard work.
What?s particularly great about niche marketing is that you can set up your business with a domain name and website hosting that needn?t cost you more than $50 a year. Let?s face it, what other business can you start from home with less than $50?
So what sort of niches or subjects make for ideal niche marketing businesses? Let?s start with the ?evergreen? niches:
Making money
Health
Dating (and relationship issues)
These are ?universally popular? subjects that will always attract human interest no matter what else is going on in the world.
But you don?t want to grab a niche that?s too wide ? too big.? A narrow focus is better, so you can explore every facet of your subject matter over the coming months ? and years.
Instead of the generic theme of ?making money?, you could focus on: ?Selling Your Ebook On Kindle?.
Rather than a general health website, how about: ?Triathlon Training??
Instead of a one-size-fits-all dating site, what about ?Date A Doc??
If the evergreen niches don?t appeal, then making money around your hobby is a strong possibility. Hobbies are a very personal thing. I happen to know someone who is now making a very comfortable living through internet marketing, whose very first niche website was . . . wait for it . . . metal lunch boxes. Yes, honestly! And I know he won?t mind me mentioning it here because he?s still making money from his site even though he hasn?t updated it for quite some time.
But generally speaking, with hobby blogs you should avoid niches that only attract limited interest and look to subjects which people are ?irrationally passionate? about. Most people are irrationally passionate about their pets. So if you are too, then a blog about dog training or dog accessories could be perfect for you. Again, keep your niche narrow ? but deep.
So a blog on ?How To Train Your Tibetan Spaniel? would be preferable to a general dog training site, as would ?Accessories For The Airedale Who Has Everything.?
So how do you actually make money from your niche blog?
You could:
Sign up to Google AdWords to allow text ads to be placed on your site which will attract a revenue for you each time they are clicked on.
Allow selected private advertisers in your niche to rent a space on your blog.
Become an affiliate for products relating to your blog theme and earn a commission whenever someone makes a purchase through your link.
Sell your own products: ebooks, training courses, memberships, and so on.
By narrowing your focus to attract people who are ?irrationally passionate? about your particular niche, you are much more likely to attract proven buyers rather than casual browsers, which will be great for business.
?
About the Author
Chris Jenkinson is a UK based internet marketing consultant increasing online enquiries and sales for business owners and directors. He also writes marketing? related articles on his GizTheBiz? blog.
Amelia Bedelia is the main character in a series of children's books written by Peggy Parish, an American author. The main character of the series starts out as an older housekeeper, sort of a Miss Marple looking character. The first book in the series was published in 1963. As a housekeeper, Amelia Bedelia has a problem in that she takes everything that is asked of her literally. If you ask her to make a sponge cake - you will get a cake with a sponge in it. Or if she is asked to dust the furniture, she does just that with enthusiasm and liberal amounts of dust sprinkled all over the furniture. Children love her and she provides a delightful basic entry into the difficulties of the English language.
The young Amelia series
After Peggy Parish died in 1988, her nephew, Herman Parish, began the series again this time with a much younger Amelia Bedelia. The series has now been around for more than thirty years and has morphed into an excellent training module for children. There are Amelia Bedelia lesson plans for teachers which provide an entertaining method of teaching children all sorts of things including reading comprehension. The comical series of books together with lesson plans for teachers has become a staple of teachers in the early school grades including kindergarten. The books feature warm illustrations that are perfect with the humorous tone of the stories. The new series of books featuring Amelia Bedelia as a child doing all the things children do make the series perfect for young children.
Available lesson plans
The book Amelia Bedelia's First Day of School, shows us a young Amelia trying to figure out all sorts of new words and terminology. In her usual way, when the teacher tells her to stay glued, she does just that gluing herself to the chair. The book allows teachers to point out the kinds of misunderstandings and double meanings of words to children. There are lesson plans available for each book full of activities and games that teachers can use to keep children motivated and engaged with the reading material while they are learning idiomatic expressions and the meanings of words. In addition, all of the Amelia Bedelia books teach children its okay to make a mistake, and that you will learn from it. It is also fun to create new lesson plans based on the series of books, just let your imagination go.
Teaching children how to read can sometimes be difficult, particularly if the children are not engaged in the material. The popularity of the Amelia Bedelia books and the accompanying lesson plans for teachers, help teachers with organizing activities to accompany reading material. The lesson plans include exercises in phonics awareness, oral reading suggestions, crafts activities to go along with the stories, and word searches to increase vocabulary.
The books also give children a sense of confidence as they learn the meanings of words. They end up knowing more than Amelia does as she continues to follow the literal meanings of the words. So children feel good about themselves and their knowledge of the written word.
Enrichment Activities
Some of the activities in the lesson plans that work along with the Amelia Bedelia books include doing things like making puppets, theatrical activities such as pretending to be Amelia, and acting out how she would react to things, making items that could explain what words mean to Amelia, such as making a scrapbook or posters.
Other activities in lesson plans include word games where children can try and think of words or phrases that would be a problem for Amelia. Other suggested things to do are cooking. One of the things that Amelia always gets right at the end of the book is cooking. Cooking with children teaches them about words, vocabulary, math skills, cooperation, and how to follow directions.
To follow up the cooking experience, a suggestion is to come up with cooking directions in cookbooks that could be confusing to Amelia. Make it a contest among the students, and see who can come up with the best or the funniest directions. Give the students examples like a drop of oil, or a pinch of salt, or beat butter until soft. Visual aids can be fun to create to help Amelia Bedelia get through all the confusion. Have the children make pictures with examples of the right way to cook and the wrong way to cook based on an understanding of the cooking terminology.
Travis Blackstone is a well travelled blogger and journalist who specializes in education, and particularly in the area of teaching children reading comprehension strategies via the http://readingcomprehensionlessons.com site. He keeps latest breakthroughs in teaching resources and is especially interested in the creation of online resources for teachers.
A Mississippi river diversion helped build Louisiana wetlands, Penn geologists findPublic release date: 21-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Katherine Unger Baillie kbaillie@upenn.edu 215-898-9194 University of Pennsylvania
PHILADELPHIA The extensive system of levees along the Mississippi River has done much to prevent devastating floods in riverside communities. But the levees have also contributed to the loss of Louisiana's wetlands. By holding in floodwaters, they prevent sediment from flowing into the watershed and rebuilding marshes, which are compacting under their own weight and losing ground to sea-level rise.
Reporting in Nature Geoscience, a team of University of Pennsylvania geologists and others used the Mississippi River flood of the spring of 2011 to observe how floodwaters deposited sediment in the Mississippi Delta. Their findings offer insight into how new diversions in the Mississippi River's levees may help restore Louisiana's wetlands.
While scientists and engineers have previously proposed ways of altering the levee system to restore some of the natural wetland-building ability of the Mississippi, this is among the only large-scale experiments to demonstrate how these modifications might function.
The study was headed by Douglas Jerolmack, an assistant professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science at Penn, and Federico Falcini, who at the time was a postdoctoral researcher in Jerolmack's lab and is now at the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche in Rome. Benjamin Horton, an associate professor in the Earth and Environmental Science Department; Nicole Khan, a doctoral student in Horton's lab; and Alessandro Salusti, a visiting undergraduate researcher also contributed to the work. The Penn researchers worked with Rosalia Santoleri, Simone Colella and Gianluca Volpe of the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche; Leonardo Macelloni, Carol B. Lutken and Marco D'Emidio of the University of Mississippi; Karen L. McKee of the U.S. Geological Survey; and Chunyan Li of Louisiana State University.
The 2011 floods broke records across several states, damaged homes and crops and took several lives. The destruction was reduced, however, because the Army Corps of Engineers opened the Morganza Spillway, a river-control structure, for the first time since 1973 to divert water off of the Mississippi into the Atchafalaya River Basin. This action involved the deliberate flooding of more than 12,000 square kilometers and alleviated pressures on downstream levees and spared Baton Rouge and New Orleans from the worst of the flood.
For the Penn researchers, the opening of the Morganza Spillway provided a rare look into how floods along the Mississippi may have occurred before engineered structures were put in place to control the river's flow.
"While this was catastrophic to the people living in the Atchafalaya Basin, it was also simulating accidentally the sort of natural flood that used to happen all the time," Jerolmack said. "We were interested in how this sort of natural flooding scenario would differ from the controlled floods contained within levees that we normally see in the Delta."
To capitalize on this opportunity, the team began examining satellite images showing the plume of sediment-laden water emerging from the mouths of the Atchafalaya and Mississippi rivers. They calculated the amount of sediment in the plumes for the duration of the flood based on the ocean color in the satellite images and calibrated these data to field samples taken from a boat in the Gulf of Mexico. Their boat sampling also allowed them to gather data on the speed of the plume and the extent to which river water mixed with ocean water.
From the satellite images, researchers observed that the Mississippi River unleashed a jet of water into the ocean. In contrast, the waters diverted into the Atchafalaya Basin spread out over 100 kilometers of coastline, the sediment lingering in a wide swampy area.
"You have this intentionally flooded Atchafalaya Basin and when those flood waters hit the coast they were trapped there for a month, where tides and waves could bring them back on shore," Jerolmack said. "Whereas in the Mississippi channel, where all the waters were totally leveed, you could see from satellite images this sort of fire hose of water that pushed the sediment from the river far off shore."
The researchers used a helicopter to travel to 45 sites across the two basins, where they sampled sediment cores. They observed that sediment deposited to a greater extent in the Atchafalaya Basin than in any area of the Mississippi Basin wetlands, even though the Mississippi River plume contained more total sediment.
The recently deposited sediments lacked plant roots and were different in color and consistency from the older sediments. Laboratory analyses of diatoms, or photosynthetic algae, also revealed another signature of newly deposited sediments: They contained a higher proportion of round diatoms to rod-shaped diatoms than did deeper layers of sediment.
"This diatom ratio can now serve as an indicator for freshwater floods," Horton said. "With longer sediment cores and analyses of the diatoms, we may be able to work out how many floods have occurred, how much sediment they deposited and what their recurrence intervals were."
Taken together, the researchers' findings offer a large-scale demonstration of how flooding over the Atchafalaya's wide basin built up sediment in wetland areas, compared to the more-focused plume of water from the Mississippi River. Jerolmack says this "natural experiment" provides a convincing and reliable way of gathering data and information about how changes in the Mississippi's levees and control structures could help restore marsh in other areas of the Delta.
"One of the things that we found here is that the Atchafalaya, which is this wide, slow plume, actually produced a lot of sedimentation over a broad area," Jerolmack said. "We think that what the Atchafalaya is showing us on a field scale is that this is the sort of diversion that you would need in order to create effective sedimentation and marsh building."
###
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Luquillo Critical Zone Laboratory, European Commission and University of Pennsylvania's Benjamin Franklin Fellowship.
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?
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.
A Mississippi river diversion helped build Louisiana wetlands, Penn geologists findPublic release date: 21-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Katherine Unger Baillie kbaillie@upenn.edu 215-898-9194 University of Pennsylvania
PHILADELPHIA The extensive system of levees along the Mississippi River has done much to prevent devastating floods in riverside communities. But the levees have also contributed to the loss of Louisiana's wetlands. By holding in floodwaters, they prevent sediment from flowing into the watershed and rebuilding marshes, which are compacting under their own weight and losing ground to sea-level rise.
Reporting in Nature Geoscience, a team of University of Pennsylvania geologists and others used the Mississippi River flood of the spring of 2011 to observe how floodwaters deposited sediment in the Mississippi Delta. Their findings offer insight into how new diversions in the Mississippi River's levees may help restore Louisiana's wetlands.
While scientists and engineers have previously proposed ways of altering the levee system to restore some of the natural wetland-building ability of the Mississippi, this is among the only large-scale experiments to demonstrate how these modifications might function.
The study was headed by Douglas Jerolmack, an assistant professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science at Penn, and Federico Falcini, who at the time was a postdoctoral researcher in Jerolmack's lab and is now at the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche in Rome. Benjamin Horton, an associate professor in the Earth and Environmental Science Department; Nicole Khan, a doctoral student in Horton's lab; and Alessandro Salusti, a visiting undergraduate researcher also contributed to the work. The Penn researchers worked with Rosalia Santoleri, Simone Colella and Gianluca Volpe of the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche; Leonardo Macelloni, Carol B. Lutken and Marco D'Emidio of the University of Mississippi; Karen L. McKee of the U.S. Geological Survey; and Chunyan Li of Louisiana State University.
The 2011 floods broke records across several states, damaged homes and crops and took several lives. The destruction was reduced, however, because the Army Corps of Engineers opened the Morganza Spillway, a river-control structure, for the first time since 1973 to divert water off of the Mississippi into the Atchafalaya River Basin. This action involved the deliberate flooding of more than 12,000 square kilometers and alleviated pressures on downstream levees and spared Baton Rouge and New Orleans from the worst of the flood.
For the Penn researchers, the opening of the Morganza Spillway provided a rare look into how floods along the Mississippi may have occurred before engineered structures were put in place to control the river's flow.
"While this was catastrophic to the people living in the Atchafalaya Basin, it was also simulating accidentally the sort of natural flood that used to happen all the time," Jerolmack said. "We were interested in how this sort of natural flooding scenario would differ from the controlled floods contained within levees that we normally see in the Delta."
To capitalize on this opportunity, the team began examining satellite images showing the plume of sediment-laden water emerging from the mouths of the Atchafalaya and Mississippi rivers. They calculated the amount of sediment in the plumes for the duration of the flood based on the ocean color in the satellite images and calibrated these data to field samples taken from a boat in the Gulf of Mexico. Their boat sampling also allowed them to gather data on the speed of the plume and the extent to which river water mixed with ocean water.
From the satellite images, researchers observed that the Mississippi River unleashed a jet of water into the ocean. In contrast, the waters diverted into the Atchafalaya Basin spread out over 100 kilometers of coastline, the sediment lingering in a wide swampy area.
"You have this intentionally flooded Atchafalaya Basin and when those flood waters hit the coast they were trapped there for a month, where tides and waves could bring them back on shore," Jerolmack said. "Whereas in the Mississippi channel, where all the waters were totally leveed, you could see from satellite images this sort of fire hose of water that pushed the sediment from the river far off shore."
The researchers used a helicopter to travel to 45 sites across the two basins, where they sampled sediment cores. They observed that sediment deposited to a greater extent in the Atchafalaya Basin than in any area of the Mississippi Basin wetlands, even though the Mississippi River plume contained more total sediment.
The recently deposited sediments lacked plant roots and were different in color and consistency from the older sediments. Laboratory analyses of diatoms, or photosynthetic algae, also revealed another signature of newly deposited sediments: They contained a higher proportion of round diatoms to rod-shaped diatoms than did deeper layers of sediment.
"This diatom ratio can now serve as an indicator for freshwater floods," Horton said. "With longer sediment cores and analyses of the diatoms, we may be able to work out how many floods have occurred, how much sediment they deposited and what their recurrence intervals were."
Taken together, the researchers' findings offer a large-scale demonstration of how flooding over the Atchafalaya's wide basin built up sediment in wetland areas, compared to the more-focused plume of water from the Mississippi River. Jerolmack says this "natural experiment" provides a convincing and reliable way of gathering data and information about how changes in the Mississippi's levees and control structures could help restore marsh in other areas of the Delta.
"One of the things that we found here is that the Atchafalaya, which is this wide, slow plume, actually produced a lot of sedimentation over a broad area," Jerolmack said. "We think that what the Atchafalaya is showing us on a field scale is that this is the sort of diversion that you would need in order to create effective sedimentation and marsh building."
###
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Luquillo Critical Zone Laboratory, European Commission and University of Pennsylvania's Benjamin Franklin Fellowship.
[ | 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.
Gold remained stuck in the doldrums on Thursday, staying near four-month lows of around US$1,660 an ounce.?
About Sharon Sussman
Are you great at golf? Crazy about cupcakes? Passionate about podcasting? Then starting an internet marketing business based around your hobby could be the perfect outlet for you.![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 21-Oct-2012
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