Green Blog: In India, Solar Ambitions Are Suddenly Outsize

After years of lagging behind China and the West in the adoption of solar power, some states in India are proposing to build solar farms at a galloping pace that leaves them at risk of falling short of electricity (a familiar problem here) or of paying higher prices for it.

In just the last five months, five Indian states have announced plans to bring giant amounts of solar power online within five years, including 1,000 megawatts in Andhra Pradesh, 350 megawatts in Rajasthan, 800 megawatts in Madhya Pradesh, 1,000 megawatts in Chhatisgarh and a whopping 3,000 megawatts in Tamil Nadu.

By comparison, the entire nation of India currently has just over 1,000 megawatts of solar power, and California, the leader in solar power in the United States, has around 2,000. India has more than 300 sunny days a year and much of the nation lies near the equator ? ideal conditions, geographically speaking, for harnessing solar power.

The central government has a goal of producing 22 gigawatts of solar power by 2022. Proponents say that solar energy might reduce the country?s dependence on coal, which is always in short supply, and slow the effects of climate change, including sea-level rise, which endangers the country?s coastal cities.

The national government, known here as the Center, intends to lean heavily on the states in working toward that target. And in the last few months a handful of states have emphatically responded.? ?The momentum is shifting from the Center to the states,? said Vineeth Vijayaraghavan, who publishes a?newsletter?on the Indian clean tech industry.

Recent events in Tamil Nadu underline the risks of trying to build out solar power too quickly.

Rolling blackouts are a fact of life here because of a 4,000-megawatt deficit in power production. In response, the government announced in October that it was seeking bidders to build 1,000 megawatts of solar power each year until 2015.

Tamil Nadu modeled its bidding process after one that worked out strongly in the central government?s favor. In 2011, the center sought bids for solar power and was overwhelmed by suitors ? it received 5,000 megawatts? worth of proposals for 1,000-megawatt projects. The government held a novel reverse auction that made solar developers compete with one another to see who could sell power to the state more cheaply. The resulting rates saved the utility and its customers significant money.

Tamil Nadu introduced its own 1,000-megawatt offer last October, and initial interest by solar developers was intense. But some companies grew wary when they examined the fine print. Rules were vague about when payments would be made; the state?s power distributor, known as Tangedco, is in poor financial health, which makes it harder for solar builders to secure loans; and the utility took no responsibility for transmitting the electricity that the developers created.

Furthermore, the projects had to be unveiled at a punishing pace: companies had to acquire land, line up financing, build the solar farms and switch on the power by the end of this year.

As of Friday?s deadline, the state had received bids for just 499 megawatts, less than half its target.

Energy officials maintained in a press report that the response was ?by no means discouraging.??But Tobias Engelmeier, the managing director of Bridge to India, a solar research and consulting firm, said that since many of the bids won?t meet the state?s criteria, Tamil Nadu may end up getting only 150 megawatts of solar power this year.

?I think that Tangedco was expecting a lot more enthusiasm,? said Madhavan Nampoothiri, a solar consultant in Chennai, Tamil Nadu?s capital. ?They weren?t able to allow an extension, and now they?re going to have to.?

Source: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/09/in-india-solar-ambitions-are-suddenly-outsize/?partner=rss&emc=rss

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Birchbox Rebrands In The UK, Hopes To Take A Little Shine Off Glossybox And Other Beauty Box Rivals

Screen shot 2013-01-10 at 12.17.12 AMIf you're familiar with Birchbox -- the subscription service that delivers boxes of cosmetics and beauty products to your doorstep -- you know that the New York City-based startup has taken off in the U.S. since launching in September 2010. The service, which was initially targeted only at women and beauty product-centric, has begun to expand its scope into new verticals, launching a subscription service for men (grooming kits) and moving into entertaining and design.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/nmrsBt7QN6Q/

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How to Start a Chinese Language Club ? For the Love of Languages

Editor?s note: This article was originally published on the website Learn Chinese Business. Although it is specifically in reference to my experience with Chinese language clubs, it is more than adaptable to clubs for any language.

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Learning Mandarin Chinese is best done with friends; Photo by Laura Sun

If you?ve ever thought about learning Mandarin Chinese, you?ve probably also heard that the language is one of the toughest in the world. You?ve likely been told about the madness that is thousands of Chinese characters needed for daily functionality, multiple tones, and syllables that are sometimes difficult to distinguish, never mind pronounce.

But you can relax. You?ve been taking advice from the wrong people. Chinese isn?t the monster that it?s made out to be. However, it does have its unique areas, so you should seek out as much help as you can get. Films, websites, books, this disturbing hand puppet/bondage lady?? all acceptable resources. But keep in mind that not all methods are created equal. Memorizing the dictionary won?t help you construct a sentence. But watching a mini-series might, and the vocabulary will tend to stick because you?re seeing it as it?s really spoken.

However, the absolute best way to go about learning Chinese is simply to talk with people. Pushing yourself to do this will reap great rewards, and much sooner than you might think! But maybe you don?t know any native speakers ??this is where a Chinese Language Club can come in.

This is an invaluable learning tool because every participant has one of two specific goals, either learn Chinese or teach Chinese, and these clubs aren?t too difficult to find, if you know where to look. The several in which I?ve been involved have been constructed in one of two ways: either a pre-formed group that I have joined, or else a ?start-up? group that helped to fill a gap.

When I was in university, several classmates and I found this gap at our school. There were a lot of Chinese clubs, but these were attended mostly by Chinese people who focused on social activities (not language learning), so the obvious solution was to start a club of our own.

It was simple, really. Four of us, a president, a vice-president, a marketing director (myself), and a finance director, devised a plan for how we wanted to extend Chinese language learning to other students, came up with a set of activities to do from week to week, and then marketed our ideas through social media outlets, on posters, and by word of mouth.

We always focused on fun and participation, regardless of an individual?s skill level. It was just important that people were having fun while learning ??the main key to mastering a language! This helped our group to grow to more than 100 members in only several years ??we even made a few student films!

We were also lucky enough to receive funding from the local Chinese consulate, which we got (like anything else in China) from having good contacts, or guanxi. Some of our members had previously emceed a few events that were sponsored by the consulate, and one thing naturally led to another. The Chinese government is in the business of promoting Mandarin Chinese, so it was an obvious move for them to take, and with extremely little investment (about $300 per semester).

Now that I?m some years out of university, I have had to look in other areas for organizations in which to participate. One has been the Vancouver Mandarin Chinese Club, a club that organizes itself through the larger website www.meetup.com.

Almost immediately I realized it to be very well-organized, with the potential for me to learn a lot (and indeed I have). It also happens to be attached to the larger Confucius Institute, a non-profit public institution of the Chinese government with the aim of promoting Chinese language and culture internationally, and now found in over 300 cities throughout the world.

Depending on the specific meet-up that one might attend, activities could include a classroom setting with a specific topic like how to tackle tones or how to improve your knowledge of Chinese idioms. Other meet-ups are more informal where you can just talk with friends. Participants come from all sorts of backgrounds, from students to businessmen, bankers to retirees, new immigrants to teachers.

You can easily pick the brains of the native speakers here and their knowledge of the language during these informal weekly chats ??a great opportunity to have any confusing questions answered, or to review what you?ve already learned.

And so it is through these channels that I would suggest looking if you are interested in attending a Mandarin language club. Search the internet for existing organizations, check for Facebook groups, put up advertisements, or ask your local Confucius Institute.

Above all though, do not feel intimidated if you think that your level is currently too low to have any business starting up or participating in such a group. Language learning is a continuous process, and any and all participants will just be glad that there is a place to practice with like-minded individuals.

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Source: http://fortheloveoflanguages.wordpress.com/2013/01/09/how-to-start-a-chinese-language-club/

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Pain and skin cancer ? Skin Cancer Doctors

I discussed this with a few people last year and came across this?article?during the holidays. ?I do not believe their pain figures for BCC and SCC as they seem far too high. It?s probably because it is a hospital setting and they see more advanced cases.

Regards

Ian

?

Pain and Skin Cancer

Pain is a significant predictor of squamous cell carcinoma compared to basal cell carcinoma, according to results of a recent study.

Investigators with Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center conducted an?institutional review board-approved study, analyzing data on 576 nonmelanoma?skin cancers?(NMSC) from 478 patients with a mean age of 68.8,?. Of those patients, 353 had basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and 223 had squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). The patients used a visual analogue scale to rate the pain and itch they experienced.

For both types of NMSC, itch was the most reported symptom, at 43.5% in SCC and 33.4 % in BCC. The pain prevalence was 39.8 % for patients with SCC, compared to 17.7 % of patients with?BCC.

With each one-point increment in visual analogue scale for pain, the odds of having SCC rather than BCC increased by 30 %, according to the study. There was nearly a fourfold increase in the likelihood of a patient having SCC versus BCC when the score for pain was greater than two (odds ratio=3.94; 95 % confidence interval, 2.49-6.23).

?With an increasingly aging population, patients often present with numerous BCCs and SCCs, and it is often difficult for the clinician to prioritize lesion biopsy and removal,? the study authors wrote. ?Thus, there is a need for better clinical tools to aid the physician in selecting lesions most likely to be SCCs.?

The study was published in the December issue of?JAMA Dermatology, formerly?Archives of Dermatology.

?

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This entry was posted on January 9, 2013, 11:41 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Source: http://skincancerdoctor.wordpress.com/2013/01/09/pain-and-skin-cancer/

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California teachers' pension fund begins divesting from gun companies

The California State Teachers' Retirement System has begun the process of divesting from gun companies. The pension fund, one of the nation's largest, has investments in Cerberus Capital Management, the private equity fund that is trying to sell off the company that manufactured the gun used by Adam Lanza to kill 20 children and six adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, as well as in two other gun-makers. Divesting will take time, as much as a couple of years, but if large funds begin that process now, it certainly exerts pressure on gun manufacturers.

The specific investments in question are important. But this also shows something important about pension funds where regular people have a voice:

Harry Keiley, a high school teacher with the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District and chairman of the board's investment committee, said before Wednesday's vote that the pension board has the power to change its investments.

After the shooting, Keiley said: "I sat there with all of my thoughts and feeling very powerless knowing that I don't sit on the Supreme Court, I don't cast a vote in the United States Congress, I don't sit in the state Legislature. I'm a school teacher and dad. And then it dawned on me ... that I and this board are not powerless."

So this'll be one more reason the corporate right hates teacher pensions. But for the rest of us, it's a reminder that when you have strength in numbers, you can gain new kinds of leverage in the economy.

Originally posted to Daily Kos Labor on Thu Jan 10, 2013 at 10:10 AM PST.

Also republished by Shut Down the NRA.

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Source: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/01/10/1177880/-California-teachers-pension-fund-begins-divesting-from-gun-companies

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New Workshops on Public Speaking and Writing | BGSA

Looking to improve your writing or public speaking skills this winter semester? Well look no further than the links below.

Public Speaking -?2013 Winter Schedule

Writing workshops -?2013 Winter Schedule

This entry was posted in Workshops by admin. Bookmark the permalink.

Source: http://www.biology.ualberta.ca/bgsa/2013/01/10/new-workshops-on-public-speaking-and-writing/

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Venezuela court: Chavez swearing-in can be delayed

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) ? Venezuela's Supreme Court chief on Wednesday endorsed putting off President Hugo Chavez's inauguration, siding with the government in a heated dispute with the opposition while the ailing leader struggles with complications a month after cancer surgery in Cuba.

Supreme Court President Luisa Estella Morales made the statement after the opposition urged the top court to rule that the government was violating the constitution by delaying the swearing-in for a new term, which had been scheduled for Thursday. Lawmakers voted Tuesday to delay the ceremony, allowing Chavez to take the oath of office at an unspecified later date before the Supreme Court.

Morales also said the Supreme Court hasn't considered appointing a panel of doctors, as opposition politicians have demanded, to evaluate whether Chavez is fit to remain in office after remaining out of public view since before his Dec. 11 operation.

Her announcement seemed to pre-empt any opposition attempt to challenge the postponed inauguration. She announced the decision saying the inauguration can be performed before the Supreme Court, at a time and place to be determined.

"We know it's necessary, and undoubtedly the inauguration is going to be carried out, but at this time we can't anticipate when," Morales told reporters at a news conference.

Opposition leader Henrique Capriles condemned the Supreme Court's endorsement of delaying the inauguration. "Institutions should not respond to the interests of a government," he said at a news conference.

The case that prompted the decision was brought not by the opposition but by a private lawyer, Marelys D'Arpino, a columnist for the pro-Chavez newspaper Vea. D'Arpino told The Associated Press that she decided to file the case last month because "it was necessary to straighten out" the matter before the court.

The constitutional debate takes place against a backdrop of complaints that the government isn't giving complete information about the condition of Chavez, who hasn't spoken publicly since his fourth cancer-related surgery in Cuba four weeks ago.

"It's very evident that he isn't governing, and what they want us to believe is that he's governing, and they're lying," opposition leader Ramon Guillermo Aveledo told the television channel Globovision. He insisted that the National Assembly president should take over temporarily as interim leader and that the Supreme Court should appoint a panel of doctors to determine Chavez's condition.

It was unclear how the opposition would respond to Morales' statement.

Venezuela's constitution says the oath of office should be taken before lawmakers in the National Assembly on Jan. 10. But the charter adds that if he is unable to be sworn in by the National Assembly, the president may take the oath before the Supreme Court, without explicitly stating a date.

Opponents maintain that even if the oath is taken before the Supreme Court, it should be on Jan. 10.

The opposition has argued that the only legal way to postpone the ceremony is for congress to approve a "temporary absence" for the president, leaving the head of the National Assembly as interim president for 90 days, a period that could be extended for an additional 90 days.

But Morales said that as of now, "there is not even a temporary absence."

Vice President Nicolas Maduro broke the news that Chavez would not be able to attend the scheduled inauguration in a letter to National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello, which he announced he had received on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Maduro hosted a meeting with top leaders, foreign ministers and other officials from 19 Latin American and Caribbean nations. He said they planned to discuss issues related to Petrocaribe, a pact that has boosted Venezuela's influence in the region. The South American nation created Petrocaribe in 2005 to sell fuel to member countries at preferential terms.

Visiting leaders and foreign ministers are expected to attend an event Thursday to show their support for Chavez.

Chavez said before his operation that if he were unable to continue as president, Maduro should take his place and run in an election to replace him. Speculation that his illness might be entering its final stages grew on Tuesday when the proposal for a postponement came in a letter signed by Maduro, not Chavez.

The government said earlier this week that Chavez was in a "stable situation" receiving treatment due to a severe respiratory infection. The government has said he is coping with "respiratory deficiency," but hasn't said how severe it is.

The stances of the government and the Supreme Court have been criticized by legal scholars such as Vicente Gonzalez de la Vega, a law professor at Central University of Venezuela, who said the Supreme Court has effectively consummated a sort of "coup d'etat."

"How can it say that the president isn't absent and he's in his duties when he can't even sign a letter?" Gonzalez told the AP.

Francisco Madrid, a businessman and opposition supporter, called the Supreme Court's decision "shameful."

"It's proof that all branches of the state respond to the government's interests," Madrid said while walking in downtown Caracas. He also complained that while the government is focused on such issues, there are shortages of foods such as sugar, chicken and flour.

___

Associated Press writers Vivian Sequera and Christopher Toothaker contributed to this report.

___

AP Interactive: http://hosted.ap.org/interactives/2012/venezuela/

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/venezuela-court-chavez-swearing-delayed-173542182.html

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Some Facts About the Pre Workout Supplement / Gym And Fitness ...


If someone works out regularly, then they understand that a person?s body needs to be energized and fueled so that they can get the most out of their gym and fitness times. In order to do that, it?s helpful to consume pre-workout supplements.

What is a Pre-Workout Supplement?
These special supplements used prior to a workout are something a person eats or drinks right before undergoing an expected hard workout session. It?s a method of getting all energized prior to starting so that the exerciser can work out harder and last longer without tiring out.

There are several types of nutrition and supplements that can be used by the exerciser. Some are in the form of special drinks, while others are special nutritional bars. In order to get the most out of these pre-workout supplements, the user needs to carefully read the list of ingredients and make sure that they are all healthy and it?s not just a fancy candy bar.

What Ingredients are Best in Supplements?
Some of the best ingredients to look for in supplements used prior to a workout are things like creatine, protein, nitric oxide and caffeine. The creatine and protein work to help build muscle tissue, while the nitric oxide enhances the person?s endurance and helps burn up excess body fat and the caffeine gives the user the energy they need to work out hard and long, if they so desire to do so.

One should also be sure to drink enough water when consuming any sort of supplements prior to a workout. These supplements can be used by people from 18 through middle age to help them to get more out of their workouts. The bottom line is that these special made supplements are a good product to use to help people to get more out of their workouts and get fit faster.
If someone works out regularly, then they understand that a person?s body needs to be energized and fueled so that they can get the most out of their gym and fitness times. In order to do that, it?s helpful to consume pre-workout supplements.

What is a Pre-Workout Supplement?
These special supplements used prior to a workout are something a person eats or drinks right before undergoing an expected hard workout session. It?s a method of getting all energized prior to starting so that the exerciser can work out harder and last longer without tiring out.

There are several types of nutrition and supplements that can be used by the exerciser. Some are in the form of special drinks, while others are special nutritional bars. In order to get the most out of these pre-workout supplements, the user needs to carefully read the list of ingredients and make sure that they are all healthy and it?s not just a fancy candy bar.

What Ingredients are Best in Supplements?
Some of the best ingredients to look for in supplements used prior to a workout are things like creatine, protein, nitric oxide and caffeine. The creatine and protein work to help build muscle tissue, while the nitric oxide enhances the person?s endurance and helps burn up excess body fat and the caffeine gives the user the energy they need to work out hard and long, if they so desire to do so.

One should also be sure to drink enough water when consuming any sort of supplements prior to a workout. These supplements can be used by people from 18 through middle age to help them to get more out of their workouts. The bottom line is that these special made supplements are a good product to use to help people to get more out of their workouts and get fit faster.


Source: http://www.gymandfitness.com.au/blog/diet-and-nutrition/some-facts-about-the-pre-workout-supplement

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APNewsBreak: $5M paid to Iraqis over Abu Ghraib

FILE - In this Sept. 2, 2006, file photo, an Iraqi army soldier closes the door of a cell, in Abu Ghraib prison after the Iraqi government took over control from U.S. forces, on the outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq. A defense contractor whose subsidiary was accused in a lawsuit of conspiring to engage in torture at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq has paid $5.28 million to 71 former inmates held there and at other U.S.-run detention facilities between 2003 and 2007. The settlement in the case involving Engility Holdings Inc. of Chantilly, Va., marks the first successful effort by lawyers for former prisoners at Abu Ghraib and other detention centers to collect money from a U.S. defense contractor in lawsuits alleging torture. Another contractor, CACI, is expected to go to trial over similar allegations this summer. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 2, 2006, file photo, an Iraqi army soldier closes the door of a cell, in Abu Ghraib prison after the Iraqi government took over control from U.S. forces, on the outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq. A defense contractor whose subsidiary was accused in a lawsuit of conspiring to engage in torture at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq has paid $5.28 million to 71 former inmates held there and at other U.S.-run detention facilities between 2003 and 2007. The settlement in the case involving Engility Holdings Inc. of Chantilly, Va., marks the first successful effort by lawyers for former prisoners at Abu Ghraib and other detention centers to collect money from a U.S. defense contractor in lawsuits alleging torture. Another contractor, CACI, is expected to go to trial over similar allegations this summer. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 2, 2006, file photo, Iraqi army soldiers stand guard at the Abu Ghraib prison, after taking over from U.S. soldiers, on the outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq. A defense contractor whose subsidiary was accused in a lawsuit of conspiring to engage in torture at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq has paid $5.28 million to 71 former inmates held there and at other U.S.-run detention facilities between 2003 and 2007. The settlement in the case involving Engility Holdings Inc. of Chantilly, Va., marks the first successful effort by lawyers for former prisoners at Abu Ghraib and other detention centers to collect money from a U.S. defense contractor in lawsuits alleging torture. Another contractor, CACI, is expected to go to trial over similar allegations this summer. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A defense contractor whose subsidiary was accused in a lawsuit of conspiring to torture detainees at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq has paid $5.28 million to 71 former inmates held there and at other U.S.-run detention sites between 2003 and 2007.

The settlement in the case involving Engility Holdings Inc. of Chantilly, Va., marks the first successful effort by lawyers for former prisoners at Abu Ghraib and other detention centers to collect money from a U.S. defense contractor in lawsuits alleging torture. Another contractor, CACI, is expected to go to trial over similar allegations this summer.

The payments were disclosed in a document that Engility filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission two months ago but which has gone essentially unnoticed.

The defendant in the lawsuit, L-3 Services Inc., now an Engility subsidiary, provided translators to the U.S. military in Iraq. In 2006, L-3 Services had more than 6,000 translators in Iraq under a $450 million-a-year contract, an L-3 executive told an investors conference at the time.

On Tuesday, a lawyer for the ex-detainees, Baher Azmy, said that each of the 71 Iraqis received a portion of the settlement. Azmy declined to say how the money was distributed among them. He said there was an agreement to keep details of the settlement confidential.

"Private military contractors played a serious but often under-reported role in the worst abuses at Abu Ghraib," said Azmy, the legal director at the Center for Constitutional Rights. "We are pleased that this settlement provides some accountability for one of those contractors and offers some measure of justice for the victims."

Jennifer Barton, a spokeswoman for L-3 Communications, the former parent company of L-3 Services, said the company does not comment on legal matters.

Eric Ruff, Engility's director of corporate communications, said the company does not comment on matters involving litigation.

The ex-detainees filed the lawsuit in federal court in Greenbelt, Md., in 2008.

L-3 Services "permitted scores of its employees to participate in torturing and abusing prisoners over an extended period of time throughout Iraq," the lawsuit stated. The company "willfully failed to report L-3 employees' repeated assaults and other criminal conduct by its employees to the United States or Iraq authorities."

One inmate alleged he was subjected to mock executions by having a gun aimed at his head and the trigger pulled. Another inmate said he was slammed into a wall until he became unconscious. A third was allegedly stripped naked and threatened with rape while his hands and legs were chained and a hood was placed on his head. Another said he was forced to consume so much water that he began to vomit blood. Several of the inmates said they were raped and many of the inmates said they were beaten and kept naked for extended periods of time.

In its defense four years ago against the lawsuit, L-3 Services said lawyers for the Iraqis alleged no facts to support the conspiracy accusation. Sixty-eight of the Iraqis "do not even attempt to allege the identity of their alleged abuser" and two others provide only "vague assertions," the company said then.

A military investigation in 2004 identified 44 alleged incidents of detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib. No employee from L-3 Services was charged with a crime in investigations by the U.S. Justice Department. Nor did the U.S. military stop the company from working for the government.

Fifty-two of the 71 Iraqis alleged that they were imprisoned at Abu Ghraib and at other detention facilities. The other 19 Iraqis allege they were detained at detention facilities other than Abu Ghraib.

The Abu Ghraib prison scandal erupted during President George W. Bush's re-election campaign in 2004 when graphic photographs taken by soldiers at the scene were leaked to the news media. They showed naked inmates piled on top of each other in a prison cell block, inmates handcuffed to their cell bars and hooded and wired for electric shock, among other shocking scenes.

In the ensuing international uproar, Bush said the practices that had taken place at Abu Ghraib in late 2003 were "abhorrent." Some Democrats demanded that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld resign. Eventually, 11 U.S. soldiers were convicted of crimes including aggravated assault and taking pictures of naked Iraqi prisoners being humiliated.

Rumsfeld told Congress in 2004 that he had found a way to compensate Iraqi detainees who suffered "grievous and brutal abuse and cruelty at the hands of a few members of the United States armed forces." But the U.S. Army subsequently has been unable to document a single U.S. government payment for prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib.

This week, the U.S. Army Claims Service said it has 36 claims from former detainees in Iraq, none of them related to alleged physical abuse. From the budget years 2003 to 2006, the Defense Department paid $30.9 million to Iraqi and Afghan civilians who were killed, injured, or incurred property damage due to U.S. or coalition forces' actions during combat.

In the aftermath of Abu Ghraib, lawyers for the Iraqis filed a number of lawsuits against L-3 Services and another company, CACI International Inc. of Arlington, Va., but the cases were quickly hung up on an underlying question: whether defense contractors working side by side with the U.S. military can be sued for claims arising in a war zone. The U.S. government is immune from suits stemming from combatant activities of the military in time of war.

Courts are still sorting out whether contractors in a war zone should be accorded legal immunity from being sued, just as the government is immune.

But a turning point in the cases involving L-3 and CACI came last May. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., ruled 11-3 that more facts must be developed before the appeals court could consider the defense contractor's request to dismiss the lawsuit.

In the case against CACI, four Iraqis who say they were tortured are seeking compensation from the company, which provided interrogators to the U.S. military during the war. CACI has chosen to continue its fight against the lawsuit. Azmy said a trial is expected this summer.

In its defense four years ago against the lawsuit, L-3 said the fact that the claims in the case "cannot be brought against the government means that they also cannot be brought against L-3."

"No court in the United States has allowed aliens ? detained on the battlefield or in the course of postwar occupation and military operations by the U.S. military ? to seek damages for their detention," the company told the federal court four years ago. "Yet these plaintiffs bring claims seeking money damages for their detention and treatment while in the custody of the U.S. military in the midst of a belligerent occupation in Iraq."

Allowing the case to proceed "would require a wholly unprecedented injection of the judiciary into wartime military operations and occupation conduct against the local population, in particular the conditions of confinement and interrogation for intelligence gathering," L-3 added.

___

Associated Press investigative researcher Randy Herschaft contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-01-08-Abu%20Ghraib%20Payments/id-54137c7292364fa2814d86da0355c59f

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Google Makes $200M Equity Investment In Texas Wind Farm, Says Its Investments Now Generate 2 Gigawatts

spinningspurGoogle just announced yet another major investment in renewable energy. The company says that it has made a $200 million equity investment in an existing wind farm in Oldham County Texas. The Spinning Spur Wind Farm currently produces about 161 MW and uses 70 Siemens turbines to generate enough power for about 60,000 U.S. homes. EDF Renewable Energy will manage the project and will remain the owner alongside Google.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/uTKv9NjEWqc/

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