A major moment for data privacy | European Voice

Companies recognise that robust privacy protections are necessary; the challenge is getting the regulation right.

Imagine a world where, when you are about to run out of milk, your refrigerator sends you an instant message and then alerts the grocery store to have a carton ready for you. As you drive to the store, your car notifies local governments of icy roads or potholes that need to be filled. And, if you are running late to the next appointment in your calendar, your car re-routes you to save time based on changes in traffic.

This world is not so far off. In fact, aspects of it are already here. A future where devices increasingly share data and applications with one another promises to revolutionise not only daily errands, but the ways that companies do business and manage their work.

Given the right conditions, this digital economy will continue to expand, bringing with it enormous opportunities for innovation and economic growth. Yet achieving this future will require more than technological advances; it will depend on our ability to keep increasingly large and free-flowing amounts of data private and secure ? for individuals as well as organisations.

As connectivity continues to grow, modern economies are increasingly driven by consumer and business confidence in the security of their information. Online privacy is no longer a regulatory hurdle for companies to clear ? something corporations are forced to do ? but, rather, is a crucial component of business. Trust is as important to making our products work as electricity.

There is already evidence that privacy and security concerns may be hurting consumers' trust in the internet.

Today, 28 January, is Data Protection/Privacy Day. Events around the world will reflect how rapidly debates about privacy are evolving.

At one time, there was little common ground between the business community and European regulators on this issue: the former insisted any regulation at all would hamper growth, while governments advocated strict oversight.

There is, however, already evidence that privacy and security concerns may be hurting consumers' trust in the internet. In 2010, a study found that 56% of respondents had changed their minds about buying something online because of a privacy or security concern and a 2011 survey found that one-third of the smartphone users who did not use geo-location applications did not use them because of privacy concerns. Many companies now recognise that robust privacy protections are necessary for innovation and participation in the economy.

At the same time, the European Commission has set about updating its outdated regulatory regime on data protection. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to get things right in this area and unlock a future of greater innovation and investment in European economies.

There is much to applaud in the Commission's recently released proposed regulation. It avoids mandating specific technological solutions and attempts to help companies meet the challenge of doing business in various EU member states and around the world.

Yet there are also significant shortcomings in the proposal. To address these issues, the global business community took the unprecedented step of coming together under the auspices of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) to express concern that the current direction of the regulation would chill innovation and discourage investment in Europe. The ICC provided recommendations to improve the effectiveness of regulations governing data transfers outside of the EU, ensure administrative requirements are not overly burdensome and harmonise implementation and enforcement of the regulations.

The decisions ahead are important ones that will have a lasting impact on Europeans and on the companies that do business in Europe ? as such, we urge legislators to consider these recommendations.

On 28 January 1981, the Council of Europe issued the ?Convention for the protection of individuals with regard to automatic processing of personal data?. Behind that long title was a landmark step in setting down rules for privacy and protection of information. The world of technology has changed many times over since 1981. It will change many times more in the years to come ? and in ways that cannot be predicted. However, as was true in 1981, in 2013, Europe has an opportunity to show the world both how to protect the privacy of individuals and how to encourage economic development and innovation.

David Hoffman is director of security policy and global privacy officer for Intel Corporation and co-chair of the International Chamber of Commerce's taskforce for the protection of personal data and privacy in the digital economy.

? 2013 European Voice. All rights reserved.

Source: http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/2013/january/a-major-moment-for-data-privacy-/76267.aspx

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Team flag waves as 49ers arrive for Super Bowl

San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh talks with reporters during a news conference on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013, in New Orleans. The 49ers will face the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL Super Bowl XLVII football game on Feb. 3. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh talks with reporters during a news conference on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013, in New Orleans. The 49ers will face the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL Super Bowl XLVII football game on Feb. 3. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

A flag is seen outside the plane carrying the San Francisco 49ers as they arrive at the Louis Armstrong International Airport for the NFL Super Bowl XLVII football game Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh makes a face on the team bus after arriving at the Louis Armstrong International Airport for the NFL Super Bowl XLVII football game Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Pat Semansky)

The San Francisco 49ers arrive at the Louis Armstrong International Airport for the NFL Super Bowl XLVII football game Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Street performer Ruben Moten, a San Francisco native, wears a San Francisco 49ers visor as he performs as a robot on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013, in New Orleans. The 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens are scheduled to play in the NFL Super Bowl XLVII football game on Feb. 3. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? Jim Harbaugh stepped to the podium, smirked a bit, and greeted his first news conference as a Super Bowl coach.

"We're super happy to be here," he said Sunday night as his NFC champion San Francisco 49ers arrived in the Big Easy for the big game.

"I think this team has the best focus on unity and winning I've ever been a part of."

Considering that Harbaugh was an NFL quarterback for 14 seasons and a successful college coach before joining the 49ers, he knows something about winning.

Under Harbaugh, San Francisco has been to two NFC title games and, now, to its first Super Bowl in 18 years. The Niners (13-4-1) will play Baltimore (13-6), coached by Harbaugh's older brother, John, in next Sunday's Super Bowl.

He is certain his team is ready for the task as the 49ers seek their sixth Vince Lombardi Trophy; they are 5-0 in Super Bowls.

"These are uncharted waters for a rookie Super Bowl coach," Harbaugh said. "But that's exciting. It's a great thrill, and we have a desire to be in uncharted waters. We always strive for that kind of challenge."

Earlier in the evening, with a team flag waving from an open window of their chartered plane, the 49ers arrived in a businesslike manner. The players calmly walked off the airplane ? no video recorders or cameras, no waves to onlookers.

Most of the team's veteran players disembarked first, including center Jonathan Goodwin, who won a Super Bowl three years ago with the Saints.

"You get to go to the Super Bowl with your childhood team, so that's something special to me," he said. "So hopefully I can find a way to win the Super Bowl with my childhood team."

Quarterback Colin Kaepernick, wearing a red wool cap sporting "49ers" on it, mouthed the words to a song on his headphones as he walked on the tarmac.

He seemed just as relaxed 90 minutes later as he met the media.

"Pressure comes from a lack of preparation," said Kaepernick, who took over as the starter when Alex Smith got a concussion in November and has been sensational in keeping the job. "This is not a pressure situation. It's a matter of going out and performing."

Harbaugh said the 49ers came to New Orleans on Sunday to simulate a normal week. He likened their trip to his strategy the last two seasons when the 49ers spent a week in Youngstown, Ohio, between Eastern games rather than return to the Bay Area.

He liked the way the players and coaches bonded during that experience.

"Same approach," Harbaugh said. "Enjoy the moment and the preparation. I think our team enjoys that the most: the meetings, the preparation and then, especially, the competition."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-01-28-FBN-Super-Bowl-49ers-Arrive/id-486b9847e0234a6f9455d1a1a13ec361

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Refugees again, Palestinians flee Syria's war

EIN EL-HILWEH, Lebanon (AP) ? When Syrian warplanes bombed a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus last December, Umm Sami rounded up her three sons, shut the windows and locked the doors so they could neither hear nor heed the call to arms by rebels and pro-government gunmen fighting in the streets.

Then she told her sons they were leaving their home in the Yarmouk refugee camp in the Syrian capital for neighboring Lebanon, where they would wait out Syria's civil war.

"There will be no more martyrs for Palestine in my family," the 45-year-old widow said. "This war is a Syrian problem."

Now safe in Lebanon, Umm Sami and her family have joined thousands of other Palestinian refugees who have found shelter in the country since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad erupted nearly two years ago. The conflict has left more than 2 million people internally displaced, and pushed 650,000 more to seek refuge abroad.

Umm Sami's resolve to keep her sons out of the fight in Syria ties into a deep-rooted sentiment among a generation of Palestinian refugees who say they are fed up with being dragged into the region's conflicts on a promise of getting their own state.

The Palestinian exodus from Syria has also revived a decades-old debate over the refugees' right of return to their homes that are now in Israel. That has added another layer of complexity to a conflict already loaded with sectarian and ethnic overtones that have spilled over into neighboring countries, raising fears of a regional war.

Palestinians living in Arab countries ? including the half-million refugees in Syria ? are descendants of the hundreds of thousands who fled or were driven from their homes in the war that followed Israel's creation in 1948. Having scattered across the Middle East since then, Palestinians consistently have found themselves in the middle of the region's conflicts.

After the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq toppled Saddam Hussein, hundreds of Palestinians were killed as the Sunni and Shiite militias fought for dominance of the country. Iraq's Shiite majority saw Saddam, who like most Palestinians was a Sunni Muslim, as a patron of the stateless Palestinians, granting them rights the dictator denied his own citizens because they were of the rival sect.

About 1,000 Palestinians fled the 2004-07 sectarian bloodshed in Baghdad, living in a refugee camp near the Syrian border before being resettled in third countries.

During Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war, Palestinians played a major role, fighting alongside Muslim militiamen against Christian forces.

Umm Sami, who was born in a refugee camp in Lebanon before the war, was twice forced to flee the fighting, most notably in 1982 when her family escaped the Sabra and Chatilla camps during the notorious massacre of Palestinians there by Christian militias.

She would eventually bury her father, two brothers and her husband ? all fallen fighters ? before leaving for Syria and settling with her four sons in Yarmouk, one of nine Palestinian camps in Syria.

Her youngest son died in a traffic accident while serving in the Palestinian unit of the Syrian army just weeks before the anti-Assad revolt started in March 2011. None of her other sons joined the revolution, she said, because "they don't want to die."

Unlike in Lebanon, where Palestinians are cramped into notoriously lawless camps, banned from all but the most menial professions and barred from owning property, Palestinians in Syria are well integrated and enjoy full citizenship rights, except for the right to vote.

But when the uprising against Assad erupted in the southern province of Daraa in March 2011, some Palestinians living in a camp there joined in the peaceful protests. When the fighting spread to the northern city of Aleppo in last summer, some took up arms against the regime.

In Damascus, most stayed on the sidelines, but as the civil war reached Yarmouk late last year, a densely populated residential area just 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the heart of the capital, most residents backed the rebels. Some groups, however, such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, opted to fight alongside Assad's troops.

Palestinian officials say more than 700 Palestinians have been killed in the Yarmouk fighting. Most of the camp's 150,000 inhabitants have fled, according to the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. Some of them have found safe haven in areas of Damascus and other Syrian cities, but most have escaped to camps in Lebanon.

"We go from catastrophe to catastrophe, from refugee camp to refugee camp, but at least we are alive," Umm Sami said in Ein el-Hilweh, Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp, near the southern port city of Sidon. She and her sons, who are all in their 20s and university graduates, fled Yarmouk with only the clothes on their backs, leaving behind a two-bedroom apartment and jobs that paid the bills.

Now, they are jobless in Lebanon, officially barred from legal employment, and left to live off help from relatives and handouts from the camp's mosques.

Ein en-Hilweh normally houses 65,000 people, but since mid-December, when a flood of refugees from Yarmouk started arriving, the population has steadily grown by several hundred a day, putting a further strain on resources.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he asked U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon last month to seek Israeli permission to bring Palestinians caught in Syria's civil war to their homeland. Last week, he said that Israel agreed to allow 150,000 Palestinians refugees from Syrian into the West Bank and Gaza ? as long as they relinquished the right of return to what is now Israel. Abbas said he refused.

With no end to the Syria conflict in sight, residents of Ein el-Hilweh have started building a camp within a refugee camp for their compatriots escaping the violence across the border.

They've converted the camp's children's library into housing for dozens of families. Reading rooms, offices, hallways and even bathrooms have been partitioned with makeshift walls, boards and even blankets as families try to carve out space to cook, eat and sleep.

In the library's front yard, a new structure is being built to house at least 10 more families.

"We do what we can to help and find them a home, because they are not going back to Syria soon," said Sheik Jamal Khatab, who oversees the registration of refugees and distribution of aid.

The biggest challenge facing the Palestinian refugees, Khatab said, is not to be dragged into the Syrian civil war ? on either side. He also warned that the hardship awaiting Palestinians after the war ends will be tougher than the one they have been living as stateless people.

"It's in our interest not to interfere in this conflict, even though the Syrian regime is a tyrannical regime," he said. "We are not Syrians, and any side that will win this war will consider us enemies."

___

Associated Press writers Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah, West Bank, and Sameer N. Yacoub in Baghdad contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-28-ML-Syria-Palestinian-Exodus/id-fb971bc692a24ba591851ea8d0e47d7c

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Sybil's Death On 'Downton Abbey' ? Will Cora & Robert Divorce ...

Cora Crawley is beyond right to blame her dolt of a husband, Robert, for the unnecessary death of Downton?s most beloved character.

Cora Crawley experienced an earth-shattering tragedy on last night, Jan. 27?s episode of?Downton Abbey. Just at a time that should have been full of happiness ? her daughter Sybil is expecting a baby and the family?s estate has been saved by Matthew Crawley?s inheritance ? there is an unexpected death and Robert is to blame!

Cora?s beautiful ?baby,? youngest daughter Sybil, who is just 24, dies minutes after childbirth due to a severe case of eclampsia. Now Cora is in agony experiencing what no parent ever should have to endure- the death of a child.

But what is particularly tearing apart Cora is that Sybil?s death could likely have been prevented.

Why Robert?s To Blame For Sybil?s Tragic Death

And the person most responsible for Sybil?s death was her own father and Cora?s husband ? Robert Crawley, Lord Grantham.

Despite Cora?s pleas to her husband to take Sybil immediately to the hospital for a Cesarian section which could have possibly saved her life ? Robert refuses.

Robert is so caught up in his upper crust snobbery that he refuses to listen to the advice from distressed, local Dr. Clarkson, who urgently warns the family that Sybil is suffering from dangerous toxemia during childbirth.

Dr. Clarkson has been pitted against some fancy doctor brought in from London by Robert ??Sir Philip Tapsell.

Sir Philip may look good in tails for dinner but he barely pays attention to Sybil who is in agony as she suffers in a difficult labor upstairs while the Crawleys and Sir Philip dine below.

Why Doesn?t Anyone Listen To Dr. Clarkson?

Meanwhile Dr. Clarkson points out first to Cora ? who is all ears ? and then to the rest of the Crawleys, that Sybil has all the classic symptoms of a dangerous state of toxemia, which can lead to deathly eclampsia.

Poor Sybil complains of excruciating headaches, has mental lapses from reality, and hallucinates that she is still nursing at a hospital. Dr. Clarkson points out that her ankles are swollen and that her baby appears to be on the small side.

I?ve checked out the symptoms of toxemia, which is a pregnancy complication affecting 2-6 percent of first-time mothers according to the American Pregnancy Association.

And just like Dr. Clarkson said ? Sybil had textbook symptoms of toxemia: headaches, fatigue, swelling in the feet and too much protein in her urine. All symptoms that Dr. Clarkson pointed out to fancy Sir Philip and to know-nothing Robert Crawley. The symptoms are caused by dangerously high blood pressure in the expectant mother.

Did Robert Crawley?s Pride Kill His Daughter?

But Robert, who naturally had so little medical knowledge that he didn?t even want the issue discussed in front of his mother, the Dowager, ignores Cora and Dr. Clarkson and refuses to allow Sybil to be moved to the hospital.

Robert doesn?t seem to understand that his daughter could die as the result of his refusal to listen to the country doctor.

Furthermore, he also leaves Sybil?s distraught husband?Thomas, the former chauffeur, out of the decision, even though he is obviously Sybil?s next of kin.

Instead, Robert overrules Cora and Dr. Clarkson?s pleas and insists that he won?t allow Sybil to be exposed to germs in a public hospital.

Obviously, his concerns about cleanliness are warranted ? this is the early ?20s before the era of antibiotics which made surgery safe.

But as Dr. Clarkson knew, toxemia would likely lead to the fatal eclampsia if Sybil didn?t get an immediate C-section and that would be a certain death sentence.

How Eclampsia Can Cause Death

Eclampsia results when toxemia (also called preeclampsia) isn?t treated quickly, causing liver or kidney failure and also massive bleeding, according to the American Pregnancy Association.

The reason that Sybil?s baby was small is because toxemia can prevent the placenta from getting enough blood, so the fetus gets less oxygen and food.

As Sybil?s condition quickly deteriorates and Dr. Clarkson and Sir Philip argue, Cora can barely contain herself, especially when Dr. Clarkson repeats that they must do a Cesarean before it is ?too late.?

The only thing that can save her is an immediate delivery of the baby which will relieve her high and escalating blood pressure.

He warns that once ?seizures? start, nothing can be done to prevent her death.

A Decision That Splits A Family

Cora, like any normal mother, owed her strongest allegiance to her child ? in this case Sybil. That bond overruled even her loyalty and deference to her longtime husband.

Her instincts told her to listen to Dr. Clarkson and save Sybil, while her husband placed his allegiance to a well-titled physician above the wishes of his wife.

His pig-heeled decision meant that the entire family witnessed the horror of Sybil?s agonizing death during a series of seizures.

Her death may NOT have been prevented if she ended up dying from complications of a C-section, but it was absolutely sealed by her father?s refusal to listen to his wife and the doctor who had known Sybil since she was born.

Cora is heartbroken and so haunted by the agony that Sybil?s death may have been prevented that she can?t bear to sleep with Robert, or to barely even be with him in the same room.

And Cora is right. What Robert did IS unforgivable! He #1) didn?t take the risk to Sybil?s life seriously, #2) didn?t put his wife?s urgent concerns over his deference to a titled doctor and #3) didn?t inform Sybil?s husband Tom about the options for her treatment.

Tom of course, when he found out that there was a chance to save Sybil, wanted her rushed to the hospital immediately ? but it was too late!

Where Can Cora Go From Here?

Robert?s role in Sybil?s death is unforgivable. And if Cora does force herself to go through the charade of forgiving him, she?ll never be able to forgive herself.

Living that lie would eat away at Cora for the rest of her life.

As a mother, Cora must stay true to her daughter and act in the best interests of her baby granddaughter and son-in-law, Tom.

That?s the only thing she can do to honor Sybil?s last wishes.

What do you think,?HollywoodLifers?? should Cora forgive Robert for Sybil?s death or not? Let me know!

??Bonnie Fuller

More Downton News:

1. ?Downton Abbey? Recap: Everyone Suffers Sybil?s Labor Pains
2. Matthew Crawley Needs To Save Downton Abbey With His Fortune
3. ?Downton Abbey? Recap: Tom & Sybil ? International Fugitives?

Source: http://hollywoodlife.com/2013/01/28/downton-abbey-sybil-death-cora-robert-divorce/

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Michael J. Petrilli: The Obama Administration Invents a Right to Wheelchair Basketball

Let me acknowledge ? sincerely ? that I love wheelchair basketball. I would vote for candidates to public office who would provide funding for ?inclusive athletics? and would be proud if my sons? schools offered such programs to their special-needs students.

Yet it boggles my mind that the Obama Administration, without an ounce of public debate or deliberation, without an iota of Congressional authorization or approval, could declare by fiat that public schools nationwide must provide such programs or risk their federal education funding. Talk about executive overreach! Talk about a regulatory rampage! Talk about an enormous unfunded mandate!

At issue is the 1973 Rehabilitation Act?s insistence that public schools not discriminate against students with disabilities. Longstanding regulations clarify that this requirement applies to extracurricular activities, too. A 2010 Government Accountability Office report highlighted confusion in the field about what exactly was expected of schools, particularly with regards to participation in sports, and urged the Department of Education to clarify the issue by publishing new ?guidance.?

This is what?s happened today. And some of that guidance (still not on the Department?s website, as far as I can tell) is pragmatic enough. Schools must allow ?reasonable? accommodations for student-athletes with disabilities, such as providing a ?visual cue? to sprinters with hearing impairments. I?ve got no argument there.

But the Department?s Office of Civil Rights went much further, finding a ?right? to separate sports programs in cases when accommodations are impractical. In other words, a right to wheelchair basketball. Read it yourself:

Students with disabilities who cannot participate in the school district?s existing extracurricular athletics program ? even with reasonable modifications or aids and services ? should still have an equal opportunity to receive the benefits of extracurricular athletics. When the interests and abilities of some students with disabilities cannot be as fully and effectively met by the school district?s existing extracurricular athletic program, the school district should create additional opportunities for those students with disabilities.

In those circumstances, a school district should offer students with disabilities opportunities for athletic activities that are separate or different from those offered to students without disabilities. These athletic opportunities provided by school districts should be supported equally, as with a school district?s other athletic activities.

Note especially the phrase ?should be supported equally.? What might that mean? Must districts spend the same amounts on their disability-sports programs as on their regular sports program? Is it enough to offer wheelchair basketball, or must schools also offer wheelchair tennis, wheelchair volleyball, and wheelchair track and field, too? How would this be applied to other extra-curricular activities? Must schools offer special chess programs for students with cognitive disabilities? Special debate programs for students with speech challenges?

And, of course, how are districts supposed to pay for all of this?

Surely there are good answers to these and other questions and workable solutions that can be found. Trade-offs can be considered, priorities identified, compromises made. But the right place to hash out these concerns is in school-board meetings, not in Washington. And if the federal government insists on creating a ?right? to these types of programs, the correct place to do that is on the floor of the House and Senate ? not in the bowels of the U.S. Department of Education.

The step that federal officials are taking today will have wide-ranging consequences for decades to come. It potentially puts school districts on the hook for billions of dollars in new spending. At the very least, the changes should be subject to the regular regulatory process, which allows for public input, demands an accounting of potential costs, and gives all sides to voice their concerns. A better solution is to let legislators take up this question ? and appropriate funds if they decide that wheelchair basketball and the like is a key priority.

The American people are a compassionate lot. I have no doubt that they will support the notion that kids with disabilities should get to play sports, too. But let?s put it to their elected representatives to decide how it might work and how far a federal mandate should go, not the faceless bureaucrats in the Office of Civil Rights.

Originally published on the Fordham Institute's Flypaper blog.

?

Follow Michael J. Petrilli on Twitter: www.twitter.com/MichaelPetrilli

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-j-petrilli/the-obama-administration-_3_b_2550683.html

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Ryan says GOP needs to pick its fights with Obama

Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., arrives at the ceremonial swearing-in for President Barack Obama at the U.S. Capitol during the 57th Presidential Inauguration in Washington, Monday, Jan. 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., arrives at the ceremonial swearing-in for President Barack Obama at the U.S. Capitol during the 57th Presidential Inauguration in Washington, Monday, Jan. 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Rep. Paul Ryan has a message for fellow Republicans: Let's stick together and carefully pick our fights with President Barack Obama.

In a speech Saturday to conservatives, the Wisconsin congressman and 2012 vice presidential nominee outlined a pragmatic approach for dealing with a second Obama administration. Saying that Obama would attempt to divide Republicans, Ryan urged them to avoid internal squabbles.

"We can't get rattled. We won't play the villain in his morality plays. We have to stay united," Ryan said at the National Review Institute's weekend conference on the future of conservatism. "We have to show that if given the chance, we can govern. We have better ideas."

The GOP is reeling from back-to-back presidential defeats and trying to determine whether to oppose Obama at every turn or shape his proposals with conservative principles.

How the party rebounds was a major theme of the three-day meeting of conservative activists, a dominant voice in the GOP. A similar theme dominated the Republican National Committee's winter meeting, which ended Friday in Charlotte, N.C.

With a surging minority population altering the electorate, Republican leaders have discussed the need to attract more women and Hispanics while at the same time standing firm on the values that unite conservatives. Republicans said despite the losses, the party could return to power by projecting optimism and attracting new voters with a message of economic opportunity.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a star among conservatives after surviving a union-led campaign to recall him from office, said government needed "brown-bag common sense," a reference to his frugal practice of packing his own lunch of ham-and-cheese sandwiches every day. Qualities like optimism, staying relevant to voters and showing courage in tackling big problems would be rewarded at the voting booth, he said.

"We've got to learn to be more optimistic. We've got to learn to give a viable alternative to the voters," Walker said.

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said Republicans needed to use upcoming fights over the budget and the deficit as "leverage points" to tame long-term spending and debt. Projecting an upbeat outlook for the party, he said Obama's policies would drive many voters to Republicans just as many Americans turned to Ronald Reagan after the economic turmoil of the late 1970s.

"We're on the verge of a rebirth of conservativism," Cruz said.

Looking ahead, Ryan rejected the notion that Republicans were "in the wilderness," noting that the party controls the House and most statehouses. But he said Obama's victory over Romney meant that Republicans would need to recalibrate their approach to deal with the new political realities.

"If we want to promote conservatism, we'll need to use every tool at our disposal," Ryan said. "Sometimes, we will have to reject the president's proposals ? that time may come more than once. And sometimes we'll have to make them better." He said Republicans should have two main goals for the next four years, namely "to mitigate bad policies" and "to advance good policy wherever we can."

Ryan acknowledged that "we all didn't see eye to eye" on the recent "fiscal cliff" vote to deal with a combination of spending cuts and higher taxes that were set to take effect at the start of the year. He defended his support for the bill, saying it was the only way to avoid sweeping tax increases and prevent the economy from going into a free-fall.

As chairman of the House Budget Committee, Ryan said Republicans needed to guard against a debt crisis for the country that would undermine the economy. He said he would promote changes to Medicare and Medicaid and would propose a budget "that will balance and pay down the debt."

But November's election results still linger. Ryan said he was "disappointed" by the outcome, saying he was "looking forward to taking on the big challenges" while living at the vice president's residence. "My kids were looking forward to having a pool," he joked.

___

Follow Ken Thomas at http://twitter.com/AP_Ken_Thomas

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-01-26-Republicans/id-cbc2b2829e8a434097a6d9379fe9be11

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NYC mayor tops $1B in gifts to Johns Hopkins Univ.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell ,right, speaks as and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg listens during a news conference to announce plans for the Super Bowl Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell ,right, speaks as and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg listens during a news conference to announce plans for the Super Bowl Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

BALTIMORE (AP) ? New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has pledged $350 million to Johns Hopkins University, mainly to expand its interdisciplinary research on an array of issues including global health and urban revitalization as his lifetime giving to his alma mater eclipses $1 billion.

The university announced the commitment late Saturday saying it believe Bloomberg, who amassed his fortune creating the global financial services firm Bloomberg LP, is now the first person to give more than $1 billion to a single American university.

The $350 million commitment is the largest ever to the Baltimore-based university, Johns Hopkins said in a statement.

Most of the latest gift, $250 million, will be part of a larger effort to raise $1 billion to foster cross-disciplinary work at Johns Hopkins, the statement said. Funds initially will be used toward appointment of faculty for interdisciplinary work on an array of issues that also will include individualized health care delivery, sustainability of water resources and the science of learning.

The remaining $100 million is to be devoted to need-based financial aid for undergraduate students, awarding 2,600 Bloomberg scholarships in the next 10 years, it said.

It added that the latest gift brings Bloomberg's giving to the institution just more than $1.11 billion in the 49 years since he graduated ? including his first gift of $5 in 1965 only a year after he received his bachelor's degree in engineering from Johns Hopkins.

"Johns Hopkins University has been an important part of my life since I first set foot on campus more than five decades ago," Bloomberg said in the statement issued by the university. "Each dollar I have given has been well-spent improving the institution and, just as importantly, making its education available to students who might otherwise not be able to afford it."

Bloomberg added that he hoped the giving would make a difference in people's lives. "I know of no other institution that can make a bigger difference in lives around the world through its groundbreaking research ? especially in the field of public health," he added.

University president Ronald J. Daniels praised Bloomberg for being a "visionary philanthropist" for social good on the order of Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller and the school's founder, Johns Hopkins. Daniels said the chief impact of Bloomberg's gift would be to strengthen the university's multi-disciplinary approach to resolving major societal problems.

"This latest initiative allows us to greatly accelerate our investment in talented people and bring them together in a highly creative and dynamic atmosphere," Daniels added. "It illustrates Mike's passion for fixing big problems quickly and efficiently."

Money from the gift is expected to endow 50 distinguished professors to be recruited worldwide with expertise spanning traditional academic disciplines. The school said the work of those recruited would bridge disciplines and schools such as medicine, the humanities, public health and education, social science and engineering.

The New York mayor has remained closely involved with the university where he graduated in 1964, including stints on its board of trustees from 1996 to 2002 and as chairman of Johns Hopkins Initiative fundraising campaign.

The university said Bloomberg made his first $1 million commitment to the university in 1984, 20 years after his graduation. Later gifts included $120 million toward the construction of a children's section at The John Hopkins Hospital in honor of his late mother. All told, the university said, Bloomberg's philanthropy has benefited Johns Hopkins in many ways including improvements to facilities, research and the quality of its student body.

The latest gift touched off praise and excited reactions online and on the university website following the announcement.

___

Online:

NYC Mayor's website: http://www.nyc.gov/mayor

John Hopkins University: http://www.jhu.edu/

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-01-27-Bloomberg-Johns%20Hopkins/id-7d1dd70615814d9882903922420f53c5

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