The Grieving Child-MN. Parent Magazine ? Kelly Jo McDonnell

As I stood in the quiet Iowa cemetery, I watched my 10-year-old son as he flitted around my Father?s tombstone.? Grandpa had suddenly and unexpectedly had an aortic aneurism this year, and before we knew it, was gone from our lives.? My sons Grandpa was a larger than life personality, and while I wrestled with my own grief, I worried about the large void left for my son, who was 10 and had been very close to his Grandpa. The whole experience was so sudden and a blur, and I wondered if I had traumatized his grief process since I was still running to catch up with my own.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Hayden catching the glowing fireflies that had popped out during the twilight hours. He was cupping them to his mouth, saying something, and then releasing them into the air. As I shuffled closer, curious, I over heard him whispering to the fireflies ?Protect Grandpa?, before releasing them.? That bittersweet moment is etched into my memory, and for some reason, left me feeling a bit more peaceful. Perhaps Hayden was coping better than I had thought. Better than his Mother, anyway.

Grief is a tricky business, for both adults and children. And let?s face it; nothing prepares you for this business until your knee-deep in it.? But don?t make the mistake in thinking that kids don?t grasp the grieving process. Kids can grieve at any age, and it depends on their age, developmental stage and life experiences.

Inez Bersie-Mize, a licensed family therapist with Midwest Center in St. Paul, agrees that the child?s age makes a big difference. ?Their cognitive abilities, and the ability to understand and comprehend makes a big difference,? she explained, ?around 7 and 8 they still have that magical thinking, that the person could come back, or that ?Grandpa looks like he?s sleeping?. It?s very common for that age to have that thinking. Their capacity to tolerate pain, and whom they have around them also makes a difference. Their relationship to the person who died comes into play.? Kids are very tuned into their sense of pain, and if they think the person died, had a great deal of pain or trauma, then they?ll have a harder time getting over it then someone who died in their sleep.?

Come to think of it, son Hayden?s first questions about Grandpa?s passing was pain-related.? Questions such as ?Did it hurt??? ?Did Grandpa know what was happening to his heart?? Other kids, who have witnessed someone battle an illness, deal with different questions.? When Molly Sproull lost her Father to bone cancer, her son was 6 and daughter was in 3^rd grade. ?My Father was in hospice, so we all knew it was coming,? Sproull remembered, ?So Ben got to say goodbye. I didn?t really pay much attention growing through the process. He was on his best behavior (during the illness) because of what I was going through. But after the funeral, that?s when he really started acting out.?

Sproull said the calls from teacher started coming soon after the funeral, and involved throwing objects and reacting to other kids. ?I look back, and I realize he was grieving,? said Sproull, ?he was just not himself.? I always tried to answer his questions (about Grandpa) without scaring him. It was hard. My daughter Abby had more tears. She understood a bit more, and I didn?t really see any negative reactions with her. She was more Mothering to me, asking if I was OK. She recognized I was grieving, even as a 3^rd grader.?

Bersie-Mize said that?s the fine line that parents must walk while going through their own grief process. ?It?s better to explain it then to hide it,? stressed Bersie-Mitze, ?they need to know what?s happening, what the wake will look like, and have a choice to go or not to go. They need to be informed. A lot of kids fear crying, but when everyone else is crying, it helps them make that decision. They need to be informed.?

Brent and Christie Cuttell, Cottage Grove, are advocates of being informed. Brent lost his Father last year after an extended illness, and the couple?s three children range in age from 7 to teenagers.?? ?Kids grieve in a similar sense that we do, but it?s more pronounced. Everything a child does is more pronounced?they are louder and faster than we are, and their minds are sharper,? said Brent Cuttell, ?youngest son Camden was 7 and a half when Grandpa died. He?s a visual kid, so whenever he sees a red hat, like his Grandpa Cuttell used to wear, he gets emotional. He?ll say ?I miss Grandpa?, or ?That guy in the red hat looks just like Grandpa?. They figure out that stepping stone ? you have a Grandpa, you might even have a Great Grandpa. Now that Grandpa?s gone, that void is filled with Dad or Mom. That stepping stone and known, rock solid entity is gone.?

Christie Cuttell, who is a social worker at Psyche Recovery, Inc. in St. Paul, says her knowledge of the grief business helped her cope with her own family?s journey. ?Americans are horrible at death and dying,? she explained, ?we don?t like to talk about it, we don?t plan for it, yet it?s the only thing that is absolutely sure. It?s very frustrating when you work on death and dying. The more open we are with our kids and each other, the smoother it is going to go.?

She said youngest son Camden?s grief comes and goes in short waves and bursts, usually associated with visual triggers. ?At first he was very careful not to grieve in front of us,? remembered Christie, ?he didn?t want to upset people more. But when he went back to school and the teacher had given him an assignment to write about feelings, Camden could only get through 2 sentences, before he burst out crying.? I do think kids generally grieve better than adults. They are not at all selfish. Their genuine, and to them, it?s very literal.?

The Cuttell?s said their older teenagers took on a different grieving pattern.? ?Myles, being the boy, was more non-verbal,? remembered Christie, ?but his actions were kinder. He was not causing trouble, and would let things go that he usually wouldn?t. He was just quieter. Daughter Abby just cried her brains out, night and day. The teenaged kids had a very difference connection with Grandpa, as they are so much older than Camden. They saw Grandpa healthy, and he wasn?t sick in their memories.?

?Some of it is really just talking with them,? explained Bersie-Mize, ?it really is. It?s OK that it hurts or that it?s scary. It?s OK to say those things to kids. The more they are involved in the planning, the better. It?s important not to exclude them from your own grief. Explain how you feel inside, so they don?t feel alone or isolated.?

Through the whole process, watch for warning signs of something deeper than ?healthy? grief. ?Watch how long they are staying in grief,? explained Bersie-Mize, ?and if they are functioning in school and with friends. Are they isolating, or getting angry. Things like that should not be ignored, and sometime professional support is needed.?? Other factors to watch include inability to sleep, or loss of appetite, acting much younger for an extended period, repeated statements for wanting to join the dead person, or excessively imitating the deceased family member.

She went on to explain that it wasn?t until around the 1950?s or later that children were included at all in the whole grieving process, and until then was kept very separated from the whole ordeal. ?Including them in the process, perhaps picking out flowers, or writing poems to put in the casket, are all closure activities. Talk about how sad it feels, and the hurt inside. Let them see the tears.?

With our family, we included all the grandsons as much as we could in the planning, and communicated what would be going on during the wake and the funeral itself. Hayden had the choice of viewing Grandpa during the wake. He sat in the back of the church in the last pew for a short time before making up his mind and marching up the aisle resolutely next to me. We also let each of the grandsons choose a ?Grandpa treasure? from his dresser, and they all carried them in their pockets during the funeral. I noticed Hayden rubbing his Grandpa?s favorite pocketknife during the funeral.

After our visit to the cemetery that day, Hayden asked if Grandpa had known we were there visiting him, or if he was too busy up in heaven.

I guess only the fireflies and my dad really know the answer to that question.

Side Bar:

Kids books that help cope with grief:

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The Fall of Freddie the Leaf ? Leo Buscaglia

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The Next Place ? Warren Hanson

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The Old Coyote by Nancy Wood

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Papa?s New Home ? Jessica Lynn Curtis

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Source: http://kellyjomcdonnell.com/2013/01/31/the-grieving-child-mn-parent-magazine/

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Diplomats: Iran prepared to up nuclear program

FILE - In this Sept. 2007 file picture an anti-aircraft gun position is seen at Iran's nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz, Iran. Iran is poised for a major technological update of its uranium enrichment program, allowing it to vastly increase production of the material that can be used for both reactor fuel and nuclear warheads, diplomats told The Associated Press Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013. The diplomats said that Iran last week told the International Atomic Energy Agency that it wants to install thousands of high-technology machines at its main enriching site at Natanz, in central Iran. The machines are estimated to be able to enrich up to five times faster than the present equipment. (AP Photo/Hasan Sarbakhshian, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 2007 file picture an anti-aircraft gun position is seen at Iran's nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz, Iran. Iran is poised for a major technological update of its uranium enrichment program, allowing it to vastly increase production of the material that can be used for both reactor fuel and nuclear warheads, diplomats told The Associated Press Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013. The diplomats said that Iran last week told the International Atomic Energy Agency that it wants to install thousands of high-technology machines at its main enriching site at Natanz, in central Iran. The machines are estimated to be able to enrich up to five times faster than the present equipment. (AP Photo/Hasan Sarbakhshian, File)

VIENNA (AP) ? The U.N. nuclear agency has told member nations that Iran is poised for a major technological upgrade of its uranium enrichment program, in a document seen Thursday by The Associated Press. The move would vastly speed up Tehran's ability to make material that can be used for both reactor fuel and nuclear warheads.

In a statement that described the project as "a cause for concern," the British Foreign Office confirmed that Iran had informed the International Atomic Energy Agency of its plan to install a new generation of uranium-enriching centrifuges.

In an internal note to member nations, the IAEA said it received notice last week from Iran's nuclear agency of plans to mount the high-tech devices at its main enriching site at Natanz, in central Iran. The machines are estimated to be able to enrich up to five times faster than the present equipment.

The brief note quoted Iran as saying new-generation IR2m "centrifuge machines ... will be used" to populate a new "unit" ? a technical term for an assembly that can consist of as many as 3,132 centrifuges.

It gave no timeframe and a senior diplomat familiar with the issue said work had not started, adding it would take weeks, if not months, to have the new machines running once technicians started putting them in. He demanded anonymity because he wasn't authorized to divulge confidential information.

Phone calls seeking comment from Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's chief IAEA delegate, went to his voicemail.

The planned upgrade deals a further blow to international efforts to coax Tehran to restore confidence in its aims by scaling back its nuclear activities and cooperating with agency attempts to investigate allegations of secret weapons work.

It complicates planned talks next month during which the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany are expected to press Tehran to cut back on uranium enrichment, and Iran is likely to seek relief from sanctions cutting into its oil sales and financial transactions.

Iran may be hoping that its tough line on enrichment will force further concessions from the six, which over the past year have scaled down their demands from a total enrichment freeze to a stop of Iran's higher enrichment program.

Yousaf Butt, a consultant to the Federation of American Scientists, said Iran was "using the only leverage it has ? its enrichment program ? as a means to coax some sanctions relief." But Tehran's tough stance may instead backfire and dash any chance that the six will offer to ease sanctions.

Indirectly criticizing the Iranian plan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted Thursday that Moscow and its fellow U.N. Security Council members "have called on Iran to freeze enrichment operations during the negotiations."

Separately from those talks, IAEA experts are scheduled to visit Tehran on Feb. 13 in their more than year-long effort to restart a probe of the weapons allegations.

Iran insists it does not want nuclear arms and argues it has a right to enrich uranium for a civilian nuclear power program. But suspicion persists that the real aim is nuclear weapons, because Iran hid much of its program until it was revealed from the outside more than a decade ago and because of what the IAEA says are indications that it worked secretly on weapons development.

Defying U.N. Security Council demands that it halt uranium enrichment, Iran has instead expanded it. Experts say Tehran already has enough enriched uranium to be able to turn it into weapons-grade material for several nuclear weapons.

Non-proliferation expert Mark Fitzpatrick described the planned upgrade as a potential "game-changer."

"If thousands of the more efficient machines are introduced, the timeline for being able to produce a weapon's worth of fissile material will significantly shorten," said Fitzpatrick, of the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

"This won't change the several months it would take to make actual weapons out of the fissile material or the two years or more that it would take to be able to mount a nuclear warhead on a missile, so there is no need to start beating the war drums," he said. "But it will certainly escalate concerns."

A Western diplomat accredited to the U.N. agency said IAEA delegation heads from the U.S. and its allies exchanged views over Iran's plans Thursday and agreed to await further developments. He, too, demanded anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about the issue.

Iran says it is enriching only to power reactors and for scientific and medical purposes. But because of its nuclear secrecy, many countries fear that Iran may break out from its present production that is below the weapons-grade threshold and start enriching uranium to levels of over 90 percent, used to arm nuclear weapons.

Tehran now has more than 10,000 centrifuges enriching uranium at its main plant at Natanz, 225 kilometers (140 miles) southeast of Tehran, to fuel grade at below 4 percent. Its separate Fordo facility, southwest of Tehran, has close to 3,000 centrifuges ? most of them active and producing material enriched to 20 percent, which can be turned into weapons-grade uranium much more quickly.

Iran has depended on domestically made and breakdown-prone IR-1 centrifuges whose design is decades-old at both locations up to now, but started testing more sophisticated prototypes in the summer of 2010.

David Albright, whose Washington-based Institute for Science and International Technology serves as a resource for some U.S. government branches, estimated in a 2011 report that 1,000 of the advanced machines "would be equivalent to about 4,000-5,000 IR-1 centrifuges" in production speed.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-31-Iran-Nuclear/id-2b9eb7d6a4324740bbed46db66c5c83e

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RIM Is Dead, Long Live BlackBerry

Starting today, RIM is rebranding itself as BlackBerry. With the official name change, you can say so long to all your RIM-related innuendo. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/k3FGakwT4SE/rim-is-dead-long-live-blackberry

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The Sieve Hypothesis: Clever Study Suggests an Alternate Explanation for the Function of the Human Stomach

You have a stomach. I have a stomach. It is one of our few universals. Humans, mate, sing, talk, and raise their children in many different ways, but we?ve all got stomachs. The question is why.

Stomachs help to digest food; they get the process rolling, boiling and grinding by coating our food in slime, enzymes and acid. This is the textbook explanation and no one is saying it is wrong, but in one of my treasured meanders through the library, I recently stumbled upon a paper suggesting this explanation is incomplete, perhaps woefully so. Just as important to our survival may be the stomach?s role in separating, sieving one might say, bacteria that are good for our guts from those that are bad. The study I found was led by Dr. Orla-Jensen, a retired professor from the Royal Danish Technical College. Orla-Jensen tested this new idea about the stomach by comparing the gut bacteria of young people, healthy older people and older people suffering from dementia. What Orla-Jensen found is potentially a major piece in the puzzle of the ecology of our bodies.

Image 1. A diagram of the human stomach. The stomach may act as a sieve, allowing only some kinds of microbes through to the small intestines.

Orla-Jensen and colleagues began by positing, or perhaps assuming is the better word, that a key function of the stomach is to kill bad bacteria with acid. The acid, they argue, serves as a sieve. It stops bad bacteria, particularly the most opportunistic of pathogens, but it does not stop all bacteria. It lets those beneficial bacteria that have adaptations for dealing with stomach acid?adaptations honed over many thousands of generations?on down the gastrointestinal road. In their model, if the stomach fails to kill bad bacteria, pathogens dominate the intestines. They do so in place of the beneficial microbes that help our bodies to digest food and produce nutrients. And when they do? death or at least the failure to thrive is nearly inevitable.

Orla-Jensen and colleagues knew from earlier work that the pH of the human stomach increases with age; the stomach becomes less acidic. This effect is most acute in individuals over seventy years of age. In these individuals Orla-Jensen predicted that the stomach?s effectiveness as a killer of bad microbes might be compromised. In turn, the intestines, recipients of everything that leaves the stomach, living or dead, might become dominated by pathogenic species such as the weedy and deadly Clostridium dificile or by oral species, that while beneficial in the mouth can become a pathogen in the gut. It was a simple enough prediction, but perhaps too simple. The biota of the gut is complex. It can contain thousands of species and is influenced by many, many factors which have proven in many ways intractable. Could the stomach?s pH really matter enough to make a measurable difference? As I read Orla-Jensen?s paper, I was skeptical, but I was curious enough to read through to the results. I sat down on the floor in the library and prepared to stay a while.

Image 2. Micrograph of Clostridium dificile. Image courtesy of CDC/ Lois S. Wiggs (PHIL #6260), 2004.

To test their hypothesis, Orla-Jensen and colleagues cultured bacteria they had collected from fecal samples of ninety human participants, one third of whom were between 30 and 40 years old and two thirds of whom were over seventy. They then compared the microbes found in the samples from these different age groups. Again, they would expect that in the older individuals that the bad bacteria and oral bacteria should be more common and, in their abundance, displace the good necessary bacteria, such as Bifidobacterium.

Remarkably, the authors? predictions from the sieve hypotheses held up. I have reproduced and slightly modified their main table below. Nine percent of the individuals over seventy had more than a million cells of the bad news?Clostridum bacteria per gram of feces; none of the thirty to forty-year-olds did. What was more, a third of the individuals over seventy had more than a billion cells per gram of feces of the oral bacteria, Streptococcus salivarius. Again, none of the thirty to forty-year-olds did. But were these pathogenic and oral bacteria doing well enough to actually compromise the success of good bacteria in the gut? Yes. While all of the thirty to forty year olds had at least a million cells of the good gut bacteria Bifidobacterium per gram of sample, less than half of the individuals over seventy did.

Interestingly, the guts of those individuals over seventy years of age who had dementia were in the worst shape, by far. Nearly each and every one of their guts was dominated by Clostridium and oral bacteria. Other studies seem to lend support to these general findings, albeit from different angles. A study comparing healthy individuals and individuals with low stomach acidity found that those with low stomach acidity were less likely to have Bifidobacterium even though their total density of intestinal bacteria, particularly the pathogens, increased. Another study found that individuals with low stomach acidity tend to be more likely to suffer from diarrhea, as would be expected if their guts were being taken over by pathogens.

The ?differences seen here as a function of age are much more pronounced than those seen in another study, recently published in the journal Nature. The Nature article compares the gut microbes of more than ?five hundred individuals of different ages and ethnicities. In the Nature study the authors found little effect of age on gut microbes after the first few years of life (during which there was a large effect as newborns slowly acquired adult microbes). However, the Nature study only considered four individuals over seventy years of age (they also did not specifically look for shifts in beneficial versus problematic species, perhaps they will in the future). Orla-Jensen?s work suggests that it is precisely the very old individuals in whom the differences begin to be pronounced. ?Sometimes it takes the perspective of many studies and time to see the full picture.?This is probably where I should point out that the Orla-Jensen study I?m discussing was published in 1948. Interesting ideas can get lost in unread scientific articles; many, perhaps most, are. Orla-Jensen?s paper has only rarely been cited and never in the context of the discussion of the function of the stomach or even in the context of aging and the microbial wilderness of our bodies.

Table 1. Reproduced (with updates) from Orla-Jensen et al., 1948. Sample size for each group = 30 individuals. The author of this paper, Prof. Orla-Jensen was 77 at the time of the publication of this paper in 1948 and so had a personal interest in these results. One wonders if he sampled himself.

	Percent of individuals with > than 1 billion cells of each bacteria per gram of feces, or, in parentheses, percent of individuals with > 1 million cells per gram.
Volunteers	Mutualist Bifidobacterium	Pathogen Clostridium	Oral bacteria, Streptococcus salivarius
Aged 30-40 (Healthy)	57? (100)	0	0
> 70 years (Healthy)	25 (44)	9	31
> 70 years (w/ Dementia)	7 (9)	48	35

More than sixty-five years later it is now up to us to figure out what other predictions the sieve hypothesis might make <sup>2/<sup>. Perhaps the most obvious prediction is that as one travels the body, from the skin to the mouth to the stomach and on into the intestines, that one should encounter, at each step, diminishing subsets of microbial lineages. Is this true? It seems hard to believe. After all, a huge number of studies have proudly announced the great diversity of microbes in the gut, a terrible diversity. Let?s look.

The best study I know of included samples from mouth and gut, and considered which taxa of microbes were found in the different habitats. The diversity of major lineages drops by half as you go from the mouth to the stomach AND the lineages present in the gut, particularly the colon, are a subset of those in the stomach which are a subset of those in the mouth (see Figure 2). Comparing the results of this studies with those of others suggests the mouth itself also serves as a kind of filter, winnowing the species that land on the skin and lips or in the mouth to the subset that are most beneficial. From this subset, the stomach further cleaves.

If the sieve hypothesis holds, there must be additional predictions. I have not thought this through terribly well, but I think I would probably expect differences in the stomachs of animals eating different foods. Animals that eat foods that are more likely to include pathogens ought to have filters that are more finely tuned to weeding out bad microbes; they ought, I think, to err on the side of killing too many. This does appear to be the case for some vultures. The stomach of the white-backed vulture has a pH of 1! Conversely it seems plausible to predict that animals that eat diets less likely to lead them to pathogens, fruit eaters for example, should be expected to relax the sieve, open it up a little to make sure that many good microbes make it through. ?I don?t know that it has been tested. There must be more predictions for the differences one expects among species. A broad survey of the evolution of the stomach seems in order.

Image 3. White backed vultures feeding on a wildebeest. These vultures need to very actively fight the pathogens in the dead meat on which they indulge. One way they do so is by having very, very, acidic stomachs. Photo by?Magnus Kjaergaard.

Modern living also presents us with another testable prediction about the stomach and its effects on microbes. Bariatric surgery is an ever more common medical intervention in which the size of a patient?s stomach is reduced so as to reduce the amount of food he or she can eat in one sitting. The surgery also has the consequence, however, of increasing the pH in the stomachs of those who have the surgery, making their stomachs less acidic. If the sieve hypothesis is right these individuals ought to have gut bacteria that look more like those of seventy years old than those of thirty year olds. They do. Recently a study has found that good Bifidobacterium species become more rare after bariatric surgery while oral bacteria (in this case Prevotella) and? E. coli, which can be a pathogen, become more common. These results seem to be what the sieve hypothesis would predict.

I am sure there are more predictions. I?ll leave you to them. The good news is that if there are more predictions now is a great time to look, to test them. The study of the microbes of our body is now hip, as sexy as a field of study that often involves the word fecal can be (see Image 4 or check out your own sexy fecal bugs at American Gut). New data are published every day. If we can develop good predictions they can be tested. We might finally figure out what the stomach does, or rather the complex mix of its roles, its churning melange of duties. No one denies that the stomach helps to break down proteins, it just might not be its most important job.

Image 4. Microbiologist Jonathan Eisen wearing his microbiome. Image courtesy of Jonathan Eisen.

Meanwhile, there is an interesting coda to this story. In addition to considering the difference between old and young individuals, Orla-Jensen, as you might remember, considered the difference between healthy individuals over seventy and individuals over seventy with dementia. The individuals with dementia had even more pathogens and oral microbes in their guts than did the healthy seventy-year-olds. This is interesting, but what is the cause and what is the effect here? Could a poorly functioning stomach lead to a pathogen heavy microbe community in the gut and could that gut community in turn lead to dementia??Could our minds really fail because our stomachs do? A few recent studies have begun to explore the possibility that dementia might result from infection, but it is WAY too soon to say anything conclusive. One is left to imagine the mechanism behind such a decline. I have some ideas, but I?ll need to think them over some more. Meanwhile, you can offer your hypotheses too, and I?ll go back to the library and see what other gems I can find, old studies that are as revolutionary as the new ones you read about in the press, studies that whether right or wrong confirm just how little we know and how slow and circular progress can be.

Footnotes (more to be added)

1- They did not sequence the genes of these microbes?now a common technique?and so their results represent just part of what was going on in the sampled guts, a few kinds of common trees in a diverse forest, and yet it was probably a reasonable measure of those trees.

2- Which, I will confess, I?ve named here. Orla-Jensen and colleagues thought the idea so obvious as to not even deserve a name.

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Implications of Cell-Phone in Contemporary Society | Power of Words

Exploring the Implications of Cell-Phone in Contemporary Society

Introduction

??????????? Looking into the history of communication, it dates back to many of decades ago when societies used drums and smoke signals in America, Africa, and in Asia to communicate. Conventional patterns of the smoke signals or the beat of drums conveyed particular messages which were inherently interpreted according to the conventions in these societies. Given the need to ensure message is transmitted over long distance within the shortest time, telecommunication began to develop. In Europe, semaphore systems which were fixed appeared for the first time in 1790s. Significant breakthrough was however seen come 1830s where systems of electrical telecommunication came to limelight. The electrical telecommunication started with the invention of the classical telephone which transmitted the analog voice signal from person to another. The telephony was basically focused majorly on voice communication where it carried human voice from one person to another over along distance unlike the smoke signals or drum beats. Notably, the telephone then was specifically designed for the analog transmission but not the digital communication which entails video, data or music. In order to ensure all elements of transmission are included in communication, scientists have continued to bring new inventions which have taken communication a notch higher especially with wireless communication of cell phone.

As communication technology continues to gain pace, old methods and technology has been rendered obsolete with the advancement of modern telecommunication technology which has significantly made immense strides. Microelectronic technology where scientists were able to use small chip, PC, and computer technologies have been the marvel of the modern telecommunication in transmitting, switching, and receiving video, data, and voice communications modes using diverse transmission media like electromagnetic, copper, and the latest fiber optic transmission. PC technologies and wireless communications have merged to take communication to the advanced mode. Gone were the times when people used to walk miles before they could access the fixed lines of communication. Wireless communications have no doubt revolutionalized communication not only in the society but also in workplace. The cell phone has significantly redefined social dynamics leading nomadic working, social interaction as well as continued communication.

Background Information

??????????? With PC technologies and wireless communication becoming more pervasive and portable, the capacity of people in the contemporary society to be connected has significantly improved in new settings of connectivity, coordination, and responsiveness. Woodsworth (2010) explains communication as a result of cell phones has predominantly played significant role in personalizing the network environment. This research paper delves into the implications of the widespread use of cell phone in communication in the contemporary society. Inevitably, the cell phone has brought new modes of social networking and coordination, relatively personalizing the public spaces and budding the emergent youth culture using the cell phone.

??????????? Certain periods in the history of technological breakthroughs have been quite phenomenon and trademark in world of invention. These periods have been the 1950s marking the invention of television, 1990s which saw the exponential rise of Internet, and the most defining invention of the contemporary society ? the mobile telephony.?

??????????? Mobile communication has by far been the most phenomenal invention which has seen a widespread embrace by both the young and the old generation who are fascinated by its personalized applications and features. Billions of people are being witnessed in mobile subscriptions worldwide and still continues in the exponential curve in growth. It is not surprising that the burgeoning use and adoption of cell phones communication technology has vehemently contributed to the stockpile of social implications, which includes the new representations of new social connection, self, and private expression ? the undeterred use of the public forum created.

??????????? Mobile communication has significantly merged well with the Internet platform and taken wireless communication by storm. In the widespread adoption of cell phones in the contemporary society, there has been apparent change in the social dynamics in which it can be argued that cell phone has brought the significant progression from old mass media leading to the personalized communication trend in the society today. Undoubtedly, the in vogue communication via cell phones has shaped social and cognition organization. The new mobile communication has seen a new social order which has made the world a global village; talking to people across continents has been just a touch of the screen away. Ling (2008) asserts that the changes in the adoption of wireless communication have nourished the particular changes in the present social order which is primarily rooted on the prevalent social conditions. The cell phone communication today serves as the lenses for examining the prevalent social order, how it has been produced and continues to be reproduced in this communication system.

??????????? According to Kavoori and Arceneaux (2006), the communication of the mobile phones has led to the modern era to be referred as the age of personal communication. The social implication of the cell phone cannot be ignored because they have in a great way influenced the way people behave, communicate with others as well as deal with others business wise. Such are the consequences of the use and adoption of the wireless communication. Nowadays, information sharing has tremendously increased as opposed to the ages of telephone lines whose accessibility was only in the urban centers. The GPRS and the satellite phones have significantly made remote communication possible even in areas that lack social amenities.

Literature Review

??????????? According to Woodsworth (2010), the invention and proliferation of cell phones together with other wireless communication gadgets has significantly challenged the traditional modes of communication and sharing information. In comparing the mobile communication with telephone line communication, differences have been seen in the way each influenced communication. Whereas telephony enabled the communication of people over long distances, mobile communication has increased the interconnectedness as well as improved accessibility of communication equipment in society. Like other PC technologies, the cell phone is portable, personalizes communication, and has immensely increased flexibility that was initially not provided by telephony.?

Ling and McEwen (2010) have explained that, ?? using a mobile phone involves the simultaneous engagement with more senses. ?we simultaneously touch, hear and see via the mobile phone in order to keep in touch with our friends.? Through the cell phone communication has been more than just mere conversation because the integration involved brings senses as well as the corporeal attachment which coincidentally unfolds the emotional attachment and the achievement of social identity of the very self. Cell phones have overtime been regarded as stylish and hold a certain prestige. This has always been because of the personal nature attached to the cell phones. Mobile communication has at times brought the social status of a person in focus because it leads to one connecting with friends always as opposed to the telephony which is fixed. The cell phone to be precise is as the personal artifact which someone attaches to his or her body and not like the shared domestic landlines which can only be found in certain physical locations.

Symbolically, a cell phone characterizes the self as portrayed in the color, ring tones, brand, shape and adornment ornaments. Beth (2011) clearly points out that the youth are among the clich? of people embracing and celebrating the advent of cell phones which are to them a mode of symbolic communication. As much as one would acknowledge on the use of cell phones in communication, the personal flair and the physical appearance of cell phones to many a youth represent an elevated status in the society as well as the group association. The cell phones? fashion has thus been determined via the social interactions over the net. The cell phone?s fashion has been pointed out as integral by many users especially the young where it has been associated to essentially intersect with technology function. For instance, Campbell and Park (2008) explain of there being positive link between views of cell phone as a viable fashion and the resultant utilization of this technology as a way of relational expression. On the other hand, the two scholars found no empirical relationship between cell phone use and fashion especially in the use for purposes as an instrument in safety and logistical coordination. Redmayne et al (2010) further pointed out that users of cell phones are ready to exchange certain functionalities so that they could get the style they want on of the handset. Thus cell phones have had significant implications especially the technology fashion which influences the expression and formation of one?s identity.

??????????? In addition, scholars have found out that fashion was a significant tenet that empirically influenced efforts of users of cell phones and in their bid to at times communicate with other people. In the gratifications theory and applying uses, Ling and McEwen (2010) comment on the particular motives for cell phone use which are status and fashion for they inherently give the phone the aspect that it?s a valued symbol in the social identity expression. Other scholars (e.g. Kavoori & Arceneaux, 2006; Marsden, 2010) have followed the suggestion that the flair of the cell phone influence the personal outlook in the resultant self presentation. Woodsworth (2010) in this view was quick to assert that people have innately share the universal bid especially in communication and this has overtime being expressed in the way people use and think about the PC technologies, mobile phones included.

??????????? The social change in the mode of communication has in the recent past been attributed to the very human desire to unabatedly contact with one another. In the views of Marsden (2010), the human theoretical framework in this case is accentuated by the flair increasing in the nature of people to communicate with the new gadgets. The perpetual contact notion as the Science Daily (2010) claims emanate with sociability and the pure desire for communication and thus the cell phones have increased the ability of people in moving towards social interaction worldwide. Similarly, symbolic importance of the cell phone communication has been wholly integrated in mass media as a trend where the society has progressed toward a personalized and increased social interaction.

Discussion 2

??????????? Although at many times restrictions have been put in the use of cell phones in certain designated areas, cell phones have arguably remained the effective mode of communication that has ever permeated the society so far. Everyday actions and decisions have been confirmed socially in the interpretation of the social conventions, norms, and rules as either wrong or right. The social interactions as a result of the cell phones in the contemporary society cannot be ignored as they have led to certain actions and decisions, more so from the involvement of others in the social networking. The way wireless technology has played in the society has been significant given that people have been able through such interactions able to influence major decisions in the lives of other after all. The cell phone implications in the society have both had positive and negative impacts.

??????????? Among the advantages is the fact that cell phones have brought about what can today be called the mediated interaction which has added new dimensions on the societal ethical considerations. Think about the persecutions that would have gone unnoticed in the world today. The modern cell phone embraces video recording and this scenes has been uploaded on supporting social networks leading to activism which has significantly influenced the ethical considerations.

??????????? Wireless communication has brought about social networking and coordination which are ways in which mobile technology has manifested itself in the society. Communication through the cell phone has had immense impacts on the society where coordination efforts have been minimal and a call away. The coordination is done in two fronts where there is the hyper-and micro-coordination. Mobile users have been able to use the applications on their mobiles to connect with other and coordinate basic logistics for humanitarian charities, organize trips and save lives. Business communication has never been smooth than during this era of mobile telephony. The applications have enabled business people to conduct business communication online and even in remote offices. A good case is the Kenyan Safaricom MPesa where a business transaction can be conducted through the mobile phone as well as the payments. Such is the revolution of the mobile communication which has not only enabled people work away from offices but also make payments without going to banks as was the case before. On the hyper-coordination, this has been possible because it involves the relational and expressive dimension where cell phone communication has enabled families and friends living apart to chat and talk through text messaging.

??????????? Social and cultural constraints which have impeded free expression have been overcome through the cell phone due to the personal nature. Restrictions of time and space have also been overcome in order for individuals in the society to effectively coordinate with others doing the same thing for the same cause. This is because of the nature of cell phones and their applications which have brought network convergence and resulted to purpose. This can be done anywhere, anytime virtually and the issue of time is limitless making people?s lives more constructive. Cell phones have made the society stronger by being able to support social networking sites where personal bonds are strengthened through tweeting, chatting, and text messaging. Singles have been able to meet their better halves through social networks supported by mobile phones.

??????????? However, the disadvantages of the cell phones have also shad significant impact in the lives of people in the society. Beth (2011) claims that mobile phones have led people in committing fraud. As a myriad for public settings, the mobile communication has been preyed by fraudsters who trick and at times ruin the lives of innocent people. Anonymous callers have preyed on unsuspecting victims and robbed, raped and even killed them after wooing them to meet. Pedophiles have even used mobile phones to ensnare young children ending up abusing them.

??????????? Furthermore, the personalized nature of the mobile communication has been also abused by other people in society. There are those people who take and post pictures and videos in the social sites and yet such sites can be accessed by the underage. The underage have also access to the mobiles which further corrupts the young minds in case they come across such uncensored images.

Findings 2

??????????? Cell phones have in the recent past being used by organizations because of the portability and flexibility to ensure communication is maintained even by those working in outreach departments like the sales and marketing. This ensures control and easy supervision is achieved. Communication with customers and employees is key to any success for the organization. Mobile communication even to some extend personalizes the interaction such that the clients do not feel as complete strangers but rather as friends to the organization.

??????????? Another major finding in cell phone communication indicates that families and friends have enjoyed close and tighter ties. This is because even when the family members and friends are away, it is a matter of a call and one knows how they are doing. A research conducted in the US on understanding youth behaviors indicates that those teens who have access to mobile communication are less stressed that those who cannot because they are in constant touch with friends and thus have a social network of friends who help them relax through talking and chatting over the mobile phone anywhere anytime. In addition, teens without mobile phones had low esteem of themselves while those possessing mobile phones had a higher self-esteem simply because it gave them a sense of style and social status among peers. Even adults it is evident that cell phones depict as certain status in society and this further cement the social structure in the society and give confidence in self identity.

??????????? Further findings indicate that mobile communication has achieved the status of being standard feature among people in the society. Mobile communication has been ideal to many people because if they do not wish to talk to the other people they can effectively text them and thus do their work during the interlude before they can reply the message back. Seeking clarification can be done either way because one while talking or chatting can ask a question. Mobile communication over the social media has been quite effective where large sums of humanitarian money and other assistance commodities have been raised. The modern cell phone has all the qualities of a mini-computer and thus people in society have been able to log into social networks and through micro-coordination drummed for support of certain causes (Ling, 2008). Although there are negative things about cell phones in the contemporary society, the positive aspects outweigh the negatives.

Conclusion

Telecommunication evolution has been able to rise from the need of man to communicate with one another starting with drums and smoke signals, telephony, to the modern cell phone. The cell phone communication has been a blessing to the society because communication has overtime become flexible and personalized resulting to stronger bonds in our families and society because of its utilization as association tool. The contemporary society has much to praise the advent of mobile phones because the feats it has been able to achieve through mobile communication could not be achieved with other forms of communication after all.

Source: http://bonnie-power-of-words.blogspot.com/2013/01/implications-of-cell-phone-in.html

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Israeli researchers to participate in European Commission flagship

Public release date: 28-Jan-2013
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Contact: Yivsam Azgad
news@weizmann.ac.il
972-893-43856
Weizmann Institute of Science

The European Commission has officially announced the selection of the Human Brain Project (HBP) as one of its two Future Emerging Technologies (FET) Flagship projects. The new project will federate European efforts to address one of the greatest challenges of modern science: understanding the human brain.

The goal of the Human Brain Project: Pull together all our existing knowledge about the human brain and reconstruct the brain, piece by piece, in supercomputer-based models and simulations. Such models offer the prospect of a new understanding of the human brain and the diseases that affect it, as well as advancing completely new computing and robotic technologies. The European Commission supported this vision, announcing that it has selected the HBP as one of two projects to be funded through the new FET Flagship Program, which supports highly innovative technology.

Federating more than 80 European and international research institutions, the Human Brain Project are slated to continue for ten years (2013-2023). The total cost is estimated at 1.19 billion, to be supplied from various sources. The project will be coordinated at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, by neuroscientist Prof. Henry Markram and co-directors Profs. Karlheinz Meier of Heidelberg University, Germany, and Richard Frackowiak of Clinique Hospitaliere Universitaire Vaudoise (CHUV) and the University of Lausanne (UNIL).

Israeli scientists have been involved in the Project from its inception; their significant role is testament to the high position Israeli science holds at the forefront of international brain research. Indeed, Markram, the Project leader, is an alumnus of the Weizmann Institute's Feinberg Graduate School who completed his Ph.D. research in the Institute's Neurobiology Department and later served on its faculty before moving to Lausanne.

Additional research groups may join as the HBP initiates an open call for further research projects. The scientific coordinators of the Israeli section of the HBP are Prof. Idan Segev of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Prof. Yadin Dudai of the Weizmann Institute of Science. Dr. Mira Marcus-Kalish of Tel-Aviv University will coordinate medical data mining.

The selection of the Human Brain Project as a FET Flagship is the result of more than three years of preparation and a rigorous, multi-stage evaluation by an independent panel chosen by the European Commission. In the coming months, the partners will negotiate a detailed agreement with the Community for the initial first two-and-a-half-year ramp-up phase ("testing" that will go until mid-2016). The project will begin working in the closing months of 2013.

###

For more information, please contact:

Weizmann Institute Publications and Media Relations Department 972-8-934-3856

Hebrew University Spokesman's Office: 972-2-5882875

Tel Aviv University Spokesman's Office: 972-3-640-8983, 972-3-640-5050

The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, is one of the world's top-ranking multidisciplinary research institutions. Noted for its wide-ranging exploration of the natural and exact sciences, the Institute is home to 2,700 scientists, students, technicians and supporting staff. Institute research efforts include the search for new ways of fighting disease and hunger, examining leading questions in mathematics and computer science, probing the physics of matter and the universe, creating novel materials and developing new strategies for protecting the environment.

Weizmann Institute news releases are posted on the World Wide Web at http://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/, and are also available at http://www.eurekalert.org/

---

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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.

Public release date: 28-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Yivsam Azgad
news@weizmann.ac.il
972-893-43856
Weizmann Institute of Science

The European Commission has officially announced the selection of the Human Brain Project (HBP) as one of its two Future Emerging Technologies (FET) Flagship projects. The new project will federate European efforts to address one of the greatest challenges of modern science: understanding the human brain.

The goal of the Human Brain Project: Pull together all our existing knowledge about the human brain and reconstruct the brain, piece by piece, in supercomputer-based models and simulations. Such models offer the prospect of a new understanding of the human brain and the diseases that affect it, as well as advancing completely new computing and robotic technologies. The European Commission supported this vision, announcing that it has selected the HBP as one of two projects to be funded through the new FET Flagship Program, which supports highly innovative technology.

Federating more than 80 European and international research institutions, the Human Brain Project are slated to continue for ten years (2013-2023). The total cost is estimated at 1.19 billion, to be supplied from various sources. The project will be coordinated at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, by neuroscientist Prof. Henry Markram and co-directors Profs. Karlheinz Meier of Heidelberg University, Germany, and Richard Frackowiak of Clinique Hospitaliere Universitaire Vaudoise (CHUV) and the University of Lausanne (UNIL).

Israeli scientists have been involved in the Project from its inception; their significant role is testament to the high position Israeli science holds at the forefront of international brain research. Indeed, Markram, the Project leader, is an alumnus of the Weizmann Institute's Feinberg Graduate School who completed his Ph.D. research in the Institute's Neurobiology Department and later served on its faculty before moving to Lausanne.

Additional research groups may join as the HBP initiates an open call for further research projects. The scientific coordinators of the Israeli section of the HBP are Prof. Idan Segev of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Prof. Yadin Dudai of the Weizmann Institute of Science. Dr. Mira Marcus-Kalish of Tel-Aviv University will coordinate medical data mining.

The selection of the Human Brain Project as a FET Flagship is the result of more than three years of preparation and a rigorous, multi-stage evaluation by an independent panel chosen by the European Commission. In the coming months, the partners will negotiate a detailed agreement with the Community for the initial first two-and-a-half-year ramp-up phase ("testing" that will go until mid-2016). The project will begin working in the closing months of 2013.

###

For more information, please contact:

Weizmann Institute Publications and Media Relations Department 972-8-934-3856

Hebrew University Spokesman's Office: 972-2-5882875

Tel Aviv University Spokesman's Office: 972-3-640-8983, 972-3-640-5050

The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, is one of the world's top-ranking multidisciplinary research institutions. Noted for its wide-ranging exploration of the natural and exact sciences, the Institute is home to 2,700 scientists, students, technicians and supporting staff. Institute research efforts include the search for new ways of fighting disease and hunger, examining leading questions in mathematics and computer science, probing the physics of matter and the universe, creating novel materials and developing new strategies for protecting the environment.

Weizmann Institute news releases are posted on the World Wide Web at http://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/, and are also available at http://www.eurekalert.org/

---

[ | 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/2013-01/wios-irt012713.php

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Judge OKs $4B BP oil spill criminal settlement

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? A federal judge on Tuesday approved an agreement for BP PLC to plead guilty to manslaughter and other charges and pay a record $4 billion in criminal penalties for the company's role in the 2010 oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

Before she ruled, U.S. District Judge Sarah Vance heard testimony from relatives of 11 workers who died when BP's blown-out Macondo well triggered an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and started the spill.

BP agreed in November to plead guilty to charges involving the workers' deaths and for lying to Congress about the size of the spill from its broken well, which spewed more than 200 million gallons of oil. Much of it ended up in the Gulf and soiled the shorelines of several states. The company could have withdrawn from the agreement if Vance had rejected it.

Neither the Justice Department nor BP presented arguments to the judge before her decision in New Orleans.

Vance said the plea deal was "just punishment" considering the risks of litigation for BP and the alternatives to the settlement. She told victims' relatives who were in court that she read their "truly gut-wrenching" written statements and factored their words into her decision.

"I've heard and I truly understand your feelings and the losses you suffered," she said.

She said she also believes BP executives should have personally apologized to family members.

"I think BP should have done that out of basic humanity," she said.

The deal doesn't resolve the federal government's civil claims against BP. The company could pay billions more in penalties for environmental damage.

BP separately agreed to a settlement with lawyers for Gulf Coast residents and businesses who claim the spill cost them money. BP estimates the deal with private attorneys will cost the company roughly $7.8 billion.

For the criminal settlement, BP agreed to pay nearly $1.3 billion in fines. The largest previous corporate criminal penalty assessed by the Justice Department was a $1.2 billion fine against drug maker Pfizer in 2009.

The criminal settlement also includes payments of nearly $2.4 billion to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and $350 million to the National Academy of Sciences.

In a court filing before the hearing, attorneys for BP and the Justice Department argued that the plea agreement imposes "severe corporate punishment" and will deter BP and other deep-water drilling companies from allowing another disaster to occur.

The Justice Department has reached a separate settlement with rig owner Transocean Ltd. that resolves the government's civil and criminal claims over the Swiss-based company's role in the disaster.

Transocean agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of violating the Clean Water Act and pay $1.4 billion in civil and criminal penalties. U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo has scheduled a Feb. 14 hearing to decide whether to accept that criminal settlement. A different judge will decide whether to accept Transocean's civil settlement.

Many relatives of rig workers who died in the blast submitted written statements that were critical of BP's deal. Twenty-eight-year-old Gordon Jones' family members said BP's sentence should include a personal, face-to-face apology to his widow and children by BP executives. A brother of Jones also had urged Vance to consider stiffer penalties that prohibit or limit the company's ability to operate in U.S. waters.

Vance, however, said she couldn't get involved in plea negotiations and only could impose a sentence that adheres to the agreed-upon terms if she accepted it.

Also killed were Jason Anderson, 35, of Midfield, Texas; Aaron Dale "Bubba" Burkeen, 37, of Philadelphia, Miss.; Donald Clark, 49, of Newellton, La.; Stephen Ray Curtis, 40, of Georgetown, La.; Roy Wyatt Kemp, 27, Jonesville, La.; Karl Kleppinger Jr., 38, of Natchez, Miss.; Keith Blair Manuel, 56, of Gonzales, La.; Dewey A. Revette, 48, of State Line, Miss.; Shane M. Roshto, 22, of Liberty, Miss.; and Adam Weise, 24, Yorktown, Texas.

Four current or former BP employees have been indicted on separate criminal charges. BP rig supervisors Robert Kaluza and Donald Vidrine are charged with manslaughter, accused of repeatedly disregarding abnormal high-pressure readings that should have been glaring indications of trouble just before the blowout.

David Rainey, BP's former vice president of exploration for the Gulf of Mexico, was charged with withholding information from Congress about the amount of oil that was gushing from the well.

Former BP engineer Kurt Mix was charged with deleting text messages about the company's spill response.

A series of government investigations have blamed the April 20, 2010, blowout on time-saving, cost-cutting decisions by BP and its partners on the drilling project.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-01-29-Gulf%20Oil%20Spill-Settlement/id-146b5221e8624a49973ede75fe63a821

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France fears Islamist rise in Syria unless opposition helped

PARIS (Reuters) - France's foreign minister said on Monday Syria risks falling into the hands of Islamist militant groups if supporters of the Syrian opposition do not do more to help it in a 22-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.

Addressing the opening of a conference in Paris with senior members of the Syrian National Coalition, Laurent Fabius said the meeting must focus on making the opposition politically and militarily cohesive to encourage international assistance.

"Facing the collapse of a state and society, it is Islamist groups that risk gaining ground if we do not act as we should," he said. "We cannot let a revolution that started as a peaceful and democratic protest degenerate into a conflict of militias."

Western concern over the growing strength of jihadist militants fighting autonomously in the disorganized ranks of anti-Assad rebel forces is rising. This has hindered international aid to the moderate Syrian National Coalition opposition and may push it more into the arms of conservative Muslim backers, diplomatic sources say.

The meeting, which brought together Western and Arab nations and the three vice-presidents of the coalition, aims to tackle the lack of cohesion that has led to broken promises of aid.

Coalition vice-president Riad Seif said "time is not on our side" and that the opposition no longer wanted pledges of support that would not be followed through on.

"We need an interim or transitional government to provide assistance to millions of Syrians in liberated zones and to help bring the collapse of the (Assad) regime," he said.

"From the beginning we said we should be based in Syria, but so far we haven't received any money to run a government."

HALF A BILLION DOLLARS

Since its formation in November, the coalition has failed to gain traction on the ground in Syria and its credibility has been undermined by its inability to secure arms and cash.

Seif said the coalition lacked the financial or military means to set up within Syria and support civilians on the ground. "We are looking with our friends at how we can protect the liberated zones with defensive weapons and we are discussing how to get billions of dollars to create a budget," he said.

"But if we don't have this budget there is no point having a government. It makes no sense."

George Sabra, another coalition vice-president, said the coalition needed at least $500 million to launch a government.

But its disunity - it failed last week to form a transitional government [ID:nL6N0AQ0RX] - has deterred the West from boosting assistance, especially sophisticated arms and ammunition insurgents are crying out for.

"We also need weapons. We needed them from the first minute," Sabra said. "At the last meeting of Friends of Syria, they recognized our rights to defend ourselves. (But) what does that mean if we cannot provide help to victims?"

The insurgents have seized territory in the north and east of Syria, including several border crossings, and made some inroads into Assad's dominance in major cities. But Assad's air power and far superior weaponry have limited rebel advances.

France said last week there was no sign Assad was about to be overthrown, reversing previous statements that he could not hold out long, while Jordan's King Abdullah said the authoritarian Syrian leader would consolidate his grip for now.

Fabius said the Paris meeting had three objectives: to address the needs of the vulnerable Syrian population, pursue internal structuring, bring opposition fighting units of the Free Syrian Army under its political authority and prepare the post-Assad transition.

However, he sidestepped the question of arming the rebels, underlining the wariness of Western countries about spreading weapons to Islamists in Syria and across the volatile region.

The European Union is set to review its arms embargo on Syria at the end of February.

(Reporting By John Irish; Editing by Vicky Buffery and Mark Heinrich)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/france-fears-islamist-rise-syria-unless-opposition-helped-113119963.html

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