Zinc: The Goldilocks metal for bioabsorbable stents?

Public release date: 30-Apr-2013
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Contact: Marcia Goodrich
mlgoodri@mtu.edu
906-487-2343
Michigan Technological University

Some materials dissolve too quickly in the body, and some hang around forever -- zinc, however, may be just right

In 2012, more than 3 million people had stents inserted in their coronary arteries. These tiny mesh tubes prop open blood vessels healing from procedures like a balloon angioplasty, which widens arteries blocked by clots or plaque deposits. After about six months, most damaged arteries are healed and stay open on their own. The stent, however, is there for a lifetime.

Most of the time, that's not a problem, says Patrick Bowen, a doctoral student studying materials science and engineering at Michigan Technological University. The arterial wall heals in around the old stent with no ill effect. But the longer a stent is in the body, the greater the risk of late-stage side effects. For example, a permanent stent can cause intermittent inflammation and clotting at the implant site. In a small percentage of cases, the tiny metal segments that make up the stent can break and end up poking the arterial wall.

"When the stent stays in place 15, 20 or 25 years, you can see these side effects," says Bowen. "It's not uncommon to have a stent put in at age 60, and if you live to be 80, that's a long time for something to remain inert in your body."

That's why researchers are trying to develop a bioabsorbable stent, one that would graduallyand harmlesslydissolve after the blood vessel is healed.

Many studies have investigated iron- and magnesium-based stents. However, iron is not promising: it rusts in the artery. Magnesium, on the other hand, dissolves too quickly. "We wondered, 'Isn't there something else?'" Bowen said. "And we thought, 'Why not zinc?'"

So they placed tiny zinc wires in the arteries of rats. The results were amazing. "The corrosion rate was exactly where it needed to be," Bowen said. The wires degraded at a rate just below 0.2 millimeters per yearthe "magic" value for bioabsorbable stentsfor the first three months. After that, the corrosion accelerated, so the implant would not remain in the artery for too long. On top of that, the rats' arteries appeared healthy when the wires were removed, with tissue firmly grasping the implant.

"Plus, zinc reduces atherosclerosis," he added, referring to zinc's well-known ability to fight the development of plaque in the arteries. "How cool is that? A zinc stent might actually have health benefits."

There is one drawback. "A stent made of conventional zinc would not be strong enough to hold open a human artery," he said. "We need to beef it up, double the strength."

"The good news is that there are commercial zinc alloys that are up to three times stronger," Bowen said. "We know we can get there. We just don't want to ruin our corrosion behavior."

The researchers have filed a provisional patent on their discoveries and are now testing new zinc-based stent materials.

An article on their work, "Zinc Exhibits Ideal Physiological Corrosion Behavior for Bioabsorbable Stents," was recently published in the journal Advanced Materials.

Bowen's research is supported by a two-year, $52,000 predoctoral fellowship from the American Heart Association. Initial research was supported by a summer fellowship from the DeVlieg Foundation.

Bowen's advisor is Jaroslaw Drelich, a professor of materials science and engineering, and they work in close collaboration with Jeremy Goldman, an associate professor of biomedical engineering. Undergraduates Jacob Braykovich and Matt Tianen are also working on material development and corrosion testing related to the project.

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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: 30-Apr-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Marcia Goodrich
mlgoodri@mtu.edu
906-487-2343
Michigan Technological University

Some materials dissolve too quickly in the body, and some hang around forever -- zinc, however, may be just right

In 2012, more than 3 million people had stents inserted in their coronary arteries. These tiny mesh tubes prop open blood vessels healing from procedures like a balloon angioplasty, which widens arteries blocked by clots or plaque deposits. After about six months, most damaged arteries are healed and stay open on their own. The stent, however, is there for a lifetime.

Most of the time, that's not a problem, says Patrick Bowen, a doctoral student studying materials science and engineering at Michigan Technological University. The arterial wall heals in around the old stent with no ill effect. But the longer a stent is in the body, the greater the risk of late-stage side effects. For example, a permanent stent can cause intermittent inflammation and clotting at the implant site. In a small percentage of cases, the tiny metal segments that make up the stent can break and end up poking the arterial wall.

"When the stent stays in place 15, 20 or 25 years, you can see these side effects," says Bowen. "It's not uncommon to have a stent put in at age 60, and if you live to be 80, that's a long time for something to remain inert in your body."

That's why researchers are trying to develop a bioabsorbable stent, one that would graduallyand harmlesslydissolve after the blood vessel is healed.

Many studies have investigated iron- and magnesium-based stents. However, iron is not promising: it rusts in the artery. Magnesium, on the other hand, dissolves too quickly. "We wondered, 'Isn't there something else?'" Bowen said. "And we thought, 'Why not zinc?'"

So they placed tiny zinc wires in the arteries of rats. The results were amazing. "The corrosion rate was exactly where it needed to be," Bowen said. The wires degraded at a rate just below 0.2 millimeters per yearthe "magic" value for bioabsorbable stentsfor the first three months. After that, the corrosion accelerated, so the implant would not remain in the artery for too long. On top of that, the rats' arteries appeared healthy when the wires were removed, with tissue firmly grasping the implant.

"Plus, zinc reduces atherosclerosis," he added, referring to zinc's well-known ability to fight the development of plaque in the arteries. "How cool is that? A zinc stent might actually have health benefits."

There is one drawback. "A stent made of conventional zinc would not be strong enough to hold open a human artery," he said. "We need to beef it up, double the strength."

"The good news is that there are commercial zinc alloys that are up to three times stronger," Bowen said. "We know we can get there. We just don't want to ruin our corrosion behavior."

The researchers have filed a provisional patent on their discoveries and are now testing new zinc-based stent materials.

An article on their work, "Zinc Exhibits Ideal Physiological Corrosion Behavior for Bioabsorbable Stents," was recently published in the journal Advanced Materials.

Bowen's research is supported by a two-year, $52,000 predoctoral fellowship from the American Heart Association. Initial research was supported by a summer fellowship from the DeVlieg Foundation.

Bowen's advisor is Jaroslaw Drelich, a professor of materials science and engineering, and they work in close collaboration with Jeremy Goldman, an associate professor of biomedical engineering. Undergraduates Jacob Braykovich and Matt Tianen are also working on material development and corrosion testing related to the project.

###

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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.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-04/mtu-ztg043013.php

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'Illumiroom' system is like a Holodeck for your living room

Devin Coldewey , NBC News ? ? ? 10 hrs.

If you've ever wanted a more immersive gaming experience, this prototype from Microsoft Research should pique your interest. It uses a Kinect and a projector to extend the scene from your TV onto the room itself, enabling some mind-blowing effects.

It's called "Illumiroom," and as yet it is only a proof of concept (presented at the Computer-Human Interaction conference in Paris), but the idea is extremely compelling. First, the Kinect does a comprehensive scan of your TV setup ? shelves, wall color, distance and all. The projector can then superimpose an image onto those items, either extending your screen or adding virtual elements to the room itself.

For instance, in a racing game, the projector could show an extended field of view to see if you're being passed, or it could add realistic weather to the room, with snow appearing to fly past the player and even accumulating on the floor and furniture.

It can also modify how the room looks, adding an effect like desaturation and cel shading to real-world objects, or simulating the lighting from the game ? adding virtual shadows and illumination.

No doubt many gamers would love to get their hands and eyes on the system, but it does have downsides. The projector-Kinect setup is expensive, for one thing: A wide-throw HD projector bright enough to work in moderate light could cost thousands of dollars, and even then sunlight makes it all but useless. It may also be difficult to integrate with existing games, and the extra computing power necessary could cause a framerate hit.

It's still a fascinating demonstration, though it's unlikely to figure in Microsoft's new console, due to be unveiled May 21. More info on the Illumiroom and its creators can be found at the Microsoft Research page.

Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. His personal website is coldewey.cc.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2b526814/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Cingame0Cillumiroom0Esystem0Eholodeck0Eyour0Eliving0Eroom0E6C9671363/story01.htm

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Robert David Jaffee: Jesse Jackson Jr.'s 'Bipolar Disorder' Should Be Evaluated by Prosecutors

To paraphrase the late Ronald Reagan, there they go again. Reagan, who used that line in a completely different context against Jimmy Carter in 1980 and Walter Mondale in 1984, could not have imagined a time when another Democratic politician would join a list of bad actors in attributing his atrocious behavior to mental illness, specifically bipolar disorder.

The latest news on the Jesse Jackson Jr. front is that the former Illinois Congressman's attorneys may attempt to bar federal prosecutors from having their own medical experts evaluate Jackson. This scenario could end up occurring if Jackson's attorneys raise his supposed bipolar disorder as a mitigating factor in sentencing.

As we all recall, Jackson pleaded guilty on federal charges of pilfering for personal use $750,000 in campaign funds. He resigned from Congress this past November.

Jackson could face 46 to 57 months in prison, while his wife, Sandi, a former Chicago alderwoman, could face one to two years after pleading guilty to filing false income taxes.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported that the former Congressman's attorney Reid Weingarten objected to the possibility of Jackson's being evaluated by the prosecution's experts at the upcoming July 1 sentencing. Weingarten stated that Jackson's mental illness is "not controversial."

That is funny.

If Jackson were so comfortable with his supposed bipolar disorder, if his condition was truly lacking in controversy, then why, as I wrote last year, was his admission of mental illness so "tortured"? Why did Jackson first reveal that he was suffering from "exhaustion," then later "mood disorder," then finally "bipolar disorder"?

While it is possible that Jackson does indeed have such a diagnosis, I am quite skeptical about it and believe that the prosecution should by all means use its own experts in assessing Jackson's condition.

As I wrote last year, it is appalling that so many celebrities including former Rep. Jackson, former Rep. Patrick Kennedy, Mel Gibson and others have tried to excuse their violent and/or irresponsible acts by citing their supposed bipolar disorder. The reason I keep using the word, "supposed," is because so many of these celebrities have never indicated that they had a mental disorder until after they behaved badly.

At best, they are cowards for failing to reveal their diagnosis long before their criminal or destructive acts. At worst, they are liars too. Either way, they defame those of us who actually have a diagnosis and have never committed a crime, let alone been violent in our lives.

As I have written numerous times before, I was once diagnosed with schizophrenia, a diagnosis that may not have been correct but one that reflected the severity of my psychosis, in which I thought that I was being framed for a series of murders sweeping the nation. It is more likely that my diagnosis is major depression with psychotic features. In any event, I have never been violent in my life. And that is true of the vast majority of people who have been diagnosed with a psychotic disorder.

Still, as I wrote last year, it never ceases to amaze me that people like Jackson, Kennedy, Gibson and others never admit to having a psychotic illness such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder or major depression with psychotic features. The reason is obvious. They know that words like "schizo" and "psychotic" have historically terrified everyday citizens, including constituents, whereas "bipolar disorder" and "manic depression" sound relatively palatable and innocuous.

In fact, all of these conditions, when they are legitimate, are severe and can lead to suicide. No one should ever wish to have such a condition. I have tamed my illness, but not before coming close to taking my life in 1997 and 1999, when I had psychotic breaks.

Incidentally, I have met numerous people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other serious mental illnesses. To the extent that they have ever been violent, it has typically been when they have misread a situation. Rarely have they planned acts of violence, let alone federal crimes. This is another reason why I have my doubts about Jesse Jackson, Jr.'s diagnosis.

Perhaps, I am wrong. Perhaps, I am being overly skeptical. Yet I wonder how the ex-Congressman and his wife could engage in "3,100 illicit transactions," according to federal authorities, as the Sun-Times reported. One mistake is one thing. But 3,100 illegal acts is another.

To cite Bob Dylan, Jackson may just be "another politician pumping out the piss." And federal prosecutors have every right to evaluate him with their own medical experts.

?

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-david-jaffee/jesse-jackson-jrs-bipolar_b_3172068.html

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Manchin: Gun bill to be reintroduced

WASHINGTON (AP) ? One of the architects of failed gun control legislation says he's bringing it back.

Sen. Joe Manchin on Sunday said he would re-introduce a measure that would require criminal and mental health background checks for gun buyers at shows and online. The West Virginia Democrat says that if lawmakers read the bill, they will support it.

Manchin sponsored a previous version of the measure with Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. It failed.

Manchin says there was confusion over what was in the bill.

In the wake of last year's school shooting in Newtown, Conn., Congress took up gun control legislation, but it was blocked by supporters of the powerful pro-gun lobby, the National Rifle Association.

Manchin appeared on "Fox News Sunday."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/manchin-gun-bill-reintroduced-170200855.html

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Plants moderate climate warming

Apr. 28, 2013 ? As temperatures warm, plants release gases that help form clouds and cool the atmosphere, according to research from IIASA and the University of Helsinki.

The new study, published in Nature Geoscience, identified a negative feedback loop in which higher temperatures lead to an increase in concentrations of natural aerosols that have a cooling effect on the atmosphere.

"Plants, by reacting to changes in temperature, also moderate these changes," says IIASA and University of Helsinki researcher Pauli Paasonen, who led the study.

Scientists had known that some aerosols -- particles that float in the atmosphere -- cool the climate as they reflect sunlight and form cloud droplets, which reflect sunlight efficiently. Aerosol particles come from many sources, including human emissions. But the effect of so-called biogenic aerosol -- particulate matter that originates from plants -- had been less well understood. Plants release gases that, after atmospheric oxidation, tend to stick to aerosol particles, growing them into the larger-sized particles that reflect sunlight and also serve as the basis for cloud droplets. The new study showed that as temperatures warm and plants consequently release more of these gases, the concentrations of particles active in cloud formation increase.

"Everyone knows the scent of the forest," says Ari Asmi, University of Helsinki researcher who also worked on the study. "That scent is made up of these gases." While previous research had predicted the feedback effect, until now nobody had been able to prove its existence except for case studies limited to single sites and short time periods. The new study showed that the effect occurs over the long-term in continental size scales.

The effect of enhanced plant gas emissions on climate is small on a global scale -- only countering approximately 1 percent of climate warming, the study suggested. "This does not save us from climate warming," says Paasonen. However, he says, "Aerosol effects on climate are one of the main uncertainties in climate models. Understanding this mechanism could help us reduce those uncertainties and make the models better."

The study also showed that the effect was much larger on a regional scale, counteracting possibly up to 30% of warming in more rural, forested areas where anthropogenic emissions of aerosols were much lower in comparison to the natural aerosols. That means that especially in places like Finland, Siberia, and Canada this feedback loop may reduce warming substantially.

The researchers collected data at 11 different sites around the world, measuring the concentrations of aerosol particles in the atmosphere, along with the concentrations of plant gases, the temperature, and reanalysis estimates for the height of the boundary layer, which turned out to be a key variable. The boundary layer refers to the layer of air closest to the Earth, in which gases and particles mix effectively. The height of that layer changes with weather. Paasonen says, "One of the reasons that this phenomenon was not discovered earlier was because these estimates for boundary layer height are very difficult to do. Only recently have the reanalysis estimates been improved to where they can be taken as representative of reality."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Pauli Paasonen, Ari Asmi, Tuukka Pet?j?, Maija K. Kajos, Mikko ?ij?l?, Heikki Junninen, Thomas Holst, Jonathan P. D. Abbatt, Almut Arneth, Wolfram Birmili, Hugo Denier van der Gon, Amar Hamed, Andr?s Hoffer, Lauri Laakso, Ari Laaksonen, W. Richard Leaitch, Christian Plass-D?lmer, Sara C. Pryor, Petri R?is?nen, Erik Swietlicki, Alfred Wiedensohler, Douglas R. Worsnop, Veli-Matti Kerminen, Markku Kulmala. Warming-induced increase in aerosol number concentration likely to moderate climate change. Nature Geoscience, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/NGEO1800

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/dddfaVbmvBk/130428144921.htm

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In a first, black voter turnout rate passes whites

WASHINGTON (AP) ? America's blacks voted at a higher rate than other minority groups in 2012 and by most measures surpassed the white turnout for the first time, reflecting a deeply polarized presidential election in which blacks strongly supported Barack Obama while many whites stayed home.

Had people voted last November at the same rates they did in 2004, when black turnout was below its current historic levels, Republican Mitt Romney would have won narrowly, according to an analysis conducted for The Associated Press.

Census data and exit polling show that whites and blacks will remain the two largest racial groups of eligible voters for the next decade. Last year's heavy black turnout came despite concerns about the effect of new voter-identification laws on minority voting, outweighed by the desire to re-elect the first black president.

William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, analyzed the 2012 elections for the AP using census data on eligible voters and turnout, along with November's exit polling. He estimated total votes for Obama and Romney under a scenario where 2012 turnout rates for all racial groups matched those in 2004. Overall, 2012 voter turnout was roughly 58 percent, down from 62 percent in 2008 and 60 percent in 2004.

The analysis also used population projections to estimate the shares of eligible voters by race group through 2030. The numbers are supplemented with material from the Pew Research Center and George Mason University associate professor Michael McDonald, a leader in the field of voter turnout who separately reviewed aggregate turnout levels across states, as well as AP interviews with the Census Bureau and other experts. The bureau is scheduled to release data on voter turnout in May.

Overall, the findings represent a tipping point for blacks, who for much of America's history were disenfranchised and then effectively barred from voting until passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965.

But the numbers also offer a cautionary note to both Democrats and Republicans after Obama won in November with a historically low percentage of white supporters. While Latinos are now the biggest driver of U.S. population growth, they still trail whites and blacks in turnout and electoral share, because many of the Hispanics in the country are children or noncitizens.

In recent weeks, Republican leaders have urged a "year-round effort" to engage black and other minority voters, describing a grim future if their party does not expand its core support beyond white males.

The 2012 data suggest Romney was a particularly weak GOP candidate, unable to motivate white voters let alone attract significant black or Latino support. Obama's personal appeal and the slowly improving economy helped overcome doubts and spur record levels of minority voters in a way that may not be easily replicated for Democrats soon.

Romney would have erased Obama's nearly 5 million-vote victory margin and narrowly won the popular vote if voters had turned out as they did in 2004, according to Frey's analysis. Then, white turnout was slightly higher and black voting lower.

More significantly, the battleground states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Florida and Colorado would have tipped in favor of Romney, handing him the presidency if the outcome of other states remained the same.

"The 2012 turnout is a milestone for blacks and a huge potential turning point," said Andra Gillespie, a political science professor at Emory University who has written extensively on black politicians. "What it suggests is that there is an 'Obama effect' where people were motivated to support Barack Obama. But it also means that black turnout may not always be higher, if future races aren't as salient."

Whit Ayres, a GOP consultant who is advising GOP Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a possible 2016 presidential contender, says the last election reaffirmed that the Republican Party needs "a new message, a new messenger and a new tone." Change within the party need not be "lock, stock and barrel," Ayres said, but policy shifts such as GOP support for broad immigration legislation will be important to woo minority voters over the longer term.

"It remains to be seen how successful Democrats are if you don't have Barack Obama at the top of the ticket," he said.

___

In Ohio, a battleground state where the share of eligible black voters is more than triple that of other minorities, 27-year-old Lauren Howie of Cleveland didn't start out thrilled with Obama in 2012. She felt he didn't deliver on promises to help students reduce college debt, promote women's rights and address climate change, she said. But she became determined to support Obama as she compared him with Romney.

"I got the feeling Mitt Romney couldn't care less about me and my fellow African-Americans," said Howie, an administrative assistant at Case Western Reserve University's medical school who is paying off college debt.

Howie said she saw some Romney comments as insensitive to the needs of the poor. "A white Mormon swimming in money with offshore accounts buying up companies and laying off their employees just doesn't quite fit my idea of a president," she said. "Bottom line, Romney was not someone I was willing to trust with my future."

The numbers show how population growth will translate into changes in who votes over the coming decade:

?The gap between non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black turnout in 2008 was the smallest on record, with voter turnout at 66.1 percent and 65.2 percent, respectively; turnout for Latinos and non-Hispanic Asians trailed at 50 percent and 47 percent. Rough calculations suggest that in 2012, 2 million to 5 million fewer whites voted compared with 2008, even though the pool of eligible white voters had increased.

?Unlike other minority groups, the rise in voting for the slow-growing black population is due to higher turnout. While blacks make up 12 percent of the share of eligible voters, they represented 13 percent of total 2012 votes cast, according to exit polling. That was a repeat of 2008, when blacks "outperformed" their eligible voter share for the first time on record.

?Latinos now make up 17 percent of the population but 11 percent of eligible voters, due to a younger median age and lower rates of citizenship and voter registration. Because of lower turnout, they represented just 10 percent of total 2012 votes cast. Despite their fast growth, Latinos aren't projected to surpass the share of eligible black voters until 2024, when each group will be roughly 13 percent. By then, 1 in 3 eligible voters will be nonwhite.

?In 2026, the total Latino share of voters could jump to as high as 16 percent, if nearly 11 million immigrants here illegally become eligible for U.S. citizenship. Under a proposed bill in the Senate, those immigrants would have a 13-year path to citizenship. The share of eligible white voters could shrink to less than 64 percent in that scenario. An estimated 80 percent of immigrants here illegally, or 8.8 million, are Latino, although not all will meet the additional requirements to become citizens.

"The 2008 election was the first year when the minority vote was important to electing a U.S. president. By 2024, their vote will be essential to victory," Frey said. "Democrats will be looking at a landslide going into 2028 if the new Hispanic voters continue to favor Democrats."

___

Even with demographics seeming to favor Democrats in the long term, it's unclear whether Obama's coalition will hold if blacks or younger voters become less motivated to vote or decide to switch parties.

Minority turnout tends to drop in midterm congressional elections, contributing to larger GOP victories as happened in 2010, when House control flipped to Republicans.

The economy and policy matter. Exit polling shows that even with Obama's re-election, voter support for a government that does more to solve problems declined from 51 percent in 2008 to 43 percent last year, bolstering the view among Republicans that their core principles of reducing government are sound.

The party's "Growth and Opportunity Project" report released last month by national leaders suggests that Latinos and Asians could become more receptive to GOP policies once comprehensive immigration legislation is passed.

Whether the economy continues its slow recovery also will shape voter opinion, including among blacks, who have the highest rate of unemployment.

Since the election, optimism among nonwhites about the direction of the country and the economy has waned, although support for Obama has held steady. In an October AP-GfK poll, 63 percent of nonwhites said the nation was heading in the right direction; that's dropped to 52 percent in a new AP-GfK poll. Among non-Hispanic whites, however, the numbers are about the same as in October, at 28 percent.

Democrats in Congress merit far lower approval ratings among nonwhites than does the president, with 49 percent approving of congressional Democrats and 74 percent approving of Obama.

William Galston, a former policy adviser to President Bill Clinton, says that in previous elections where an enduring majority of voters came to support one party, the president winning re-election ? William McKinley in 1900, Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936 and Ronald Reagan in 1984 ? attracted a larger turnout over his original election and also received a higher vote total and a higher share of the popular vote. None of those occurred for Obama in 2012.

Only once in the last 60 years has a political party been successful in holding the presidency more than eight years ? Republicans from 1980-1992.

"This doesn't prove that Obama's presidency won't turn out to be the harbinger of a new political order," Galston says. "But it does warrant some analytical caution."

Early polling suggests that Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton could come close in 2016 to generating the level of support among nonwhites as Obama did in November, when he won 80 percent of their vote. In a Fox News poll in February, 75 percent of nonwhites said they thought Clinton would make a good president, outpacing the 58 percent who said that about Vice President Joe Biden.

Benjamin Todd Jealous, president of the NAACP, predicts closely fought elections in the near term and worries that GOP-controlled state legislatures will step up efforts to pass voter ID and other restrictions to deter blacks and other minorities from voting. In 2012, African-Americans were able to turn out in large numbers only after a very determined get-out-the-vote effort by the Obama campaign and black groups, he said.

Jealous says the 2014 midterm election will be the real bellwether for black turnout. "Black turnout set records this year despite record attempts to suppress the black vote," he said.

___

AP Director of Polling Jennifer Agiesta and News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this report.

EDITOR'S NOTE _ "America at the Tipping Point: The Changing Face of a Nation" is an occasional series examining the cultural mosaic of the U.S. and its historic shift to a majority-minority nation.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/first-black-voter-turnout-rate-passes-whites-115957314.html

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Syrian TV reports blast near Damascus school

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) ? Syrian state-run TV says an explosion has taken place near a school in the capital, Damascus.

The TV says the blast struck on Monday in the capital's western neighborhood of Mazzeh. State-run news agency said there are casualties.

Damascus has been hit by a string of explosions in recent months that has left hundreds of people dead or wounded.

The Syrian government says Muslim extremists trying to overthrow President Bashar Assad are to blame for the attacks.

Syria's conflict started with largely peaceful protests against Assad's regime in March 2011 but eventually turned into civil war. The United Nations says that more than 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict so far.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-tv-reports-blast-near-damascus-school-072333342.html

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NY officials seek human remains amid plane debris

This Friday, April 26, 2013, photo provided by the New York City Police Department shows a piece of landing gear that authorities believe belongs to one of the airliners that crashed into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, that was found wedged between a mosque and another building, in New York. Police say the medical examiner's office will complete a health and safety evaluation to determine whether to sift the soil around the buildings for possible human remains. (AP Photo/New York City Police Department)

This Friday, April 26, 2013, photo provided by the New York City Police Department shows a piece of landing gear that authorities believe belongs to one of the airliners that crashed into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, that was found wedged between a mosque and another building, in New York. Police say the medical examiner's office will complete a health and safety evaluation to determine whether to sift the soil around the buildings for possible human remains. (AP Photo/New York City Police Department)

Crime scene tape and a New York City police officer block the service entrance to the site of a proposed Islamic community center in New York City, after a 5-foot-tall piece of landing gear has been discovered wedged between it and a luxury high-rise apartment building, Friday, April 26, 2013. The wreckage is believed to be from one of the hijacked planes destroyed in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. (AP Photo/Tom Hays)

In this Friday, April 26, 2013, photo provided by the New York City Police Department, police investigate the space between a mosque and another building in New York where authorities believe a piece of landing gear belonging to one of the airliners that crashed into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001 was found. Police say the medical examiner's office will complete a health and safety evaluation to determine whether to sift the soil around the buildings for possible human remains. (AP Photo/New York City Police Department)

NEW YORK (AP) ? The medical examiner's office plans to search for Sept. 11 human remains in an alley behind a mosque near the World Trade Center where airplane landing gear was suddenly discovered.

The rusted landing gear piece is believed to be from one of two hijacked airliners that decimated the twin towers in 2001, exploding with fiery debris and killing thousands of people.

On Saturday, yellow police tape blocked access to a metal door that leads to the hidden alley behind 51 Park Place.

The chief medical examiner's spokeswoman, Ellen Borakove, said the area first will be tested as part of a standard health and safety evaluation for possible toxicity. She said sifting for human remains is to begin Tuesday morning.

Retired fire department deputy chief Jim Riches, who lost his son in the terror attack, visited the site on Saturday. He said the latest news left him feeling "upset."

"The finding of this landing gear," he said, "just goes to show that we need federal people in here to do a comprehensive, full search of lower Manhattan to make sure that we don't get any more surprises," as happened in 2007 when body parts were discovered in nearby sewers and manhole covers.

Of the nearly 3,000 victims, Riches noted, about 1,000 families have never recovered any remains.

The New York Police Department has declared the alley, between the mosque site and a luxury loft rental building, a crime scene where nothing may be disturbed until the medical examiner's office completes its work. It's unclear how long that may take, Borakove said.

The piece of wreckage was discovered Wednesday by surveyors inspecting the planned Islamic community center, known as Park51, on behalf of the building's owner, police said.

The landing gear was wedged between the back walls of the apartment building and the mosque, which once prompted virulent national debate about Islam and free speech.

An inspector on the mosque site's roof noticed the debris, which includes a clearly visible Boeing Co. identification number, police spokesman Paul Browne said.

Chicago-based Boeing spokesman John Dern could not confirm whether the ID matched the American Airlines plane or the United Airlines plane hijacked by Islamic extremists on Sept. 11, 2001. He said Boeing has been asked to take part in the examination of images of the airplane part by the National Transportation Safety Board, which is providing assistance to New York authorities overseeing the probe.

The twisted metal part ? jammed in an 18-inch-wide, trash-laden passageway between the buildings ? has cables and levers on it and is about 5 feet high, 17 inches wide and 4 feet long, police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Friday.

"It's a manifestation of a horrific terrorist act a block and a half away from where we stand," he said after visiting the alley.

The commissioner noted that a piece of rope intertwined with the part looks like a broken pulley that may have come down from the roof of the Islamic community center.

When plans for the center became public in 2010, opponents said they didn't want a mosque so close to where Islamic extremists attacked, but supporters said the center would promote harmony between Muslims and followers of other faiths.

The building includes a Muslim prayer space that has been open for three years. After protests died down, the center hosted its first exhibit last year. The space remains under renovation.

___

AP radio correspondent Julie Walker and AP reporter Jennifer Peltz contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-04-27-US-Sept-11-Landing-Gear/id-7f0facf5e5f046ae92dc56c08db28524

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PHOTOS: Politics, press and stars mix at dinner

AAA??Apr. 27, 2013?11:58 PM ET
PHOTOS: Politics, press and stars mix at dinner
By The Associated Press??By The Associated Press

First lady Michelle Obama and late-night television host and comedian Conan O'Brien gesture to his tie at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

First lady Michelle Obama and late-night television host and comedian Conan O'Brien gesture to his tie at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Late-night television host Conan O'Brien, from left, first lady Michelle Obama, Michael Clemente, Executive Vice President of Fox News, and President Barack Obama attend the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Director Steven Spielberg uses his smart phone during the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Christi Parsons, White House correspondent for the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and Tribune newspaper chain, from left, Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, Michael Scherer, White House correspondent for TIME, late-night television host Conan O'Brien and first lady Michelle Obama attend the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama speaks at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

There were Republicans mixing with Democrats, journalists talking to Hollywood celebrities who play reporters or politicians and, of course, President Barack Obama. The president and headliner Conan O'Brien traded barbs about each other and many of those attending the annual star-studded White House Correspondents' Association dinner. Here are some images from the evening's festivities:

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-04-27-Obama-Correspondents-Photo%20Gallery/id-c8c9f944b67344da80bd735b300b242c

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Anything But Simple

Ok I'm a decent RPer but lets put it this way i'm way toasted and read over the rules a bazillion times to be honest but i'm missing where the first password is for reservations?

Apartment 2B || Mildly terrifying. The only female in the Red Building. In college majoring in ____. || FC: Taylor Momsen || Open

I'd like her, my favorite song is Black by Pearl Jam <3 <3
Hey, i want to take a male at some point, just need to figure out which

EDDITT:
Apartment 2B || [Ben Barnes]'s (adopted) younger brother. Quite...eccentric, to say the least. || FC: Ezra Miller || Open

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/VjwtK6r4pHA/viewtopic.php

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With planes waiting, Congress fixes delays

(Boston Globe/Getty Images)

We learned this week, yet again, that if you make enough noise (and have the ear of members of Congress and a well-funded lobby shop in the nation's capital) you can be spared the pain caused by government belt-tightening.

As part of sequestration, which has forced the federal government to slow the growth of spending by just over 2 percent through the current fiscal year, the Federal Aviation Administration furloughed 1,500 air traffic controllers. The FAA's attempt to comply with the budget mandate has caused hundreds of costly and frustrating delays to flights across the country, prompting a swift vocal backlash against sequestration.

Airline employees, a group constantly taking blame for delays, took pains to let people know that, this time, it wasn't their fault. "I don't want to get political," one pilot announced to a plane full of passengers, including NBC News' Luke Russert, who documented the announcement. "But we're being delayed an hour and 15 minutes due to sequester."

Never fear, jet-setters, members of Congress have heard your cries. On Thursday, the Senate approved a measure by unanimous consent to give the FAA more leg room to spread out the $637 million depleted by sequestration. On Friday, the House approved the same measure, thereby effectively ending the horror of sequestration for those who travel by air. (Meanwhile, those who benefit from federal programs like Head Start, Children?s Health Insurance Program and Meals on Wheels, which also had to make adjustments because of the sequester, are just going to have to suck it up.)

After voting, many of the members strolled down the steps of the Capitol building toward their SUVs and private cars that promptly drove them to Ronald Reagan National Airport to catch their flights home.

?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/lawmakers-fix-flight-delays-caused-sequestration-going-airport-164454939.html

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Federal Helium Program: How temporary becomes forever (Washington Post)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/301798742?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Heavy fighting reported north of Syrian capital

BEIRUT (AP) ? Syrian government troops pushed into two northern Damascus neighborhoods on Friday, triggering heavy fighting with rebels as they tried to advance under air and artillery support, activists said.

The drive was the latest in a days-long offensive by government forces in and around the capital, an apparent bid to secure President Bashar Assad's main stronghold against rebel challenges.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the fighting between rebels and soldiers backed by pro-government militiamen was concentrated in the Jobar and Barzeh areas. The Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, said troops also bombarded the nearby neighborhood of Qaboun with mortars and multiple rocket launchers.

State-run news agency SANA said troops killed five rebels in clashes near the main mosque in Jobar. It added that many other "terrorists," the term the government uses for rebels, were killed in the area and the nearby neighborhood of Zamalka.

The regime has largely kept the rebels at bay in Damascus, although opposition fighters control several suburbs of the capital from which they have threatened the heart of the city. Last month, government troops launched a campaign to repel the opposition's advances near the capital, deploying elite army units to the rebellious suburbs and pounding rebel positions with airstrikes.

The Observatory also reported clashes in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria's largest, between rebels and Kurdish gunmen in the contested Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood. It also said there was fighting around the sprawling Abu Zuhour air base in the northwestern Idlib province.

Syria's conflict started with largely peaceful protests against Assad's regime in March 2011 but later degenerated into a civil war. More than 70,000 people have been killed, according to the United Nations.

On Thursday, the White House and other top Obama administration officials said that U.S. intelligence has concluded with "varying degrees of confidence" that the Syrian government has twice used chemical weapons in the civil war, which has dragged on for two years.

However, officials also said more definitive proof was needed and the U.S. was not ready to escalate its involvement in Syria beyond non-lethal aid despite President Barack Obama's repeated public assertions that Syria's use of chemical weapons, or the transfer of its stockpiles to a terrorist group, would cross a "red line."

There was no immediate comment from Syrian authorities on the U.S. statement.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/heavy-fighting-reported-north-syrian-capital-090505792.html

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Las Vegas hospital to be disciplined for 'patient dumping'

By Ronnie Cohen

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Federal authorities have taken disciplinary action against a Las Vegas hospital cited for improperly sending newly released psychiatric patients by bus to neighboring California and other states in a practice called "patient dumping."

The Rawson Neal Psychiatric Hospital was warned that it was in violation of Medicare rules governing the discharge of patients and could lose critical funding under the federal healthcare insurance program if it failed to correct the problem.

The notice came in a letter on Friday from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, an agency under the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, to the Southern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services agency, which is licensed to run the hospital for the state.

The hospital has come under increasing scrutiny since the Sacramento Bee newspaper last month documented that Rawson Neal had given one-way Greyhound Bus tickets to as many as 1,500 patients for destinations in California and 46 other states over the past five years.

Some of those patients - how many remains the subject of multiple investigations - were put on buses without sufficient food, medicine or plans for housing and continued medical treatment.

The letter said that a March compliance survey, which remains confidential, "reported serious deficiencies" in discharge planning and governance. Rawson Neal has until May 6 to furnish a plan to remedy the problems or face further actions to terminate its Medicare provider agreement, the letter said.

Rufus Arther, a Medicaid operations branch chief for Nevada and California, said he was unable to quantify the amount of money at stake for Rawson Neal, but said it would account for a "significant" portion of the hospital's revenue.

Dr. Tracey Green, Nevada's top state health officer, told Reuters earlier this week that the hospital had tightened its discharge policies to ensure that patients released to other states had appropriate after-care treatment plans in place. She also said all psychiatric patients would from now on be chaperoned when put on Greyhound buses.

LOST IN SACRAMENTO

The Bee's expose grew from its story about one particular discharge, that of James Flavy Coy Brown, 48, who was put in a taxi to a Greyhound Bus station with a ticket for a 15-hour ride to Sacramento in February and a three-day supply of pills to treat his schizophrenia, depression and anxiety.

Staff at a Sacramento homeless shelter described him as arriving frightened and disoriented, without money or medication, though Brown eventually was reunited with a daughter from the East Coast who had not heard from him for several years.

A state review of the matter led to discipline against two employees, and Nevada health and human services spokeswoman Mary Woods said earlier this week that an ongoing probe has uncovered violations of hospital policy in four or five discharges.

While vowing to fully investigate the issue, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval and state health officials have denied that illegal, out-of-state busing of patients is rampant or that the state condones or practices patient-dumping.

In the meantime, local officials in San Francisco and Los Angeles have said they are looking into the matter. The Bee found that one-third of the patients given bus tickets went to California, the bulk of them arriving in Los Angeles, while 36 ended up in San Francisco.

On Thursday, California Congresswoman Doris Matsui called for investigative hearings by the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over healthcare issues, into "patient dumping."

Dr. Green described the incident with Brown as a mistake. "The intent was never to dump this client," she said. "The intent was to accommodate this client's request, to have this patient involved in his own discharge plan. There's never been the intent to just put a person on a bus and wave goodbye."

Federal law requires hospitals participating in Medicare to treat their patients until their condition is resolved or stabilized and to plan for after-care following discharge.

Built at a cost of $35.5 million, Rawson-Neal opened in 2006 with 190 beds. A Southern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services website said the agency also runs eight clinics serving the Las Vegas area and rural communities in the region.

(Editing by Steve Gorman and Cynthia Osterman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-agency-moves-against-nevada-hospital-cited-patient-233157954.html

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NBC gives full-season renewals to 5 of its dramas

NEW YORK (AP) ? Television producer Dick Wolf will be busy next season.

NBC said Friday that it has renewed five of its dramas for next season. Two of them ? the long-running "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and "Chicago Fire" ? are made by Wolf and his team.

"Revolution," ''Parenthood" and "Grimm" were also given the guarantee that they will go on for another year. Each was given a full-season order of 22 new episodes.

It's less than a month before broadcast networks reveal next season's schedule to advertisers. NBC's announcement gives makers of these series some extra time to map out the stories going forward and to write scripts.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-04-26-TV-NBC%20Dramas/id-e2e6c29acdf644e39a0e93f89dd0b508

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RolePlayGateway?

Q: So how does this Sponsor thing work?

A: Well, Sponsorship was set up to allow vampires the opportunity to become equal citizens. In our roleplay, we have a minimum requirement of one Sponsor needed to start the game. Ideally, however, we?ll have five different Sponsors for each vampire type. Instead of the usual RP thing where people get paired, this is more like each Sponsor is responsible for their group, but will still be interacting quite a bit with the other vampires and Sponsors. However, it may turn out as a pairing if their?s only one vampire of a specific type.

I?m mostly having it set up so that the roleplay?s Sponsors-to-be come to the University in this year?s batch of transfer students, unfamiliar with the ways of vampire segregation. However, if you ask, I?ll be allowing one or two people to already be Sponsors at the start of the game.

Q: So how does the human Gift work?

A: Unlike Normal Vampires, who's powers are strictly elemental, a human Gift could be anything. A magic touch in the garden, better with numbers than a calculator, super-endurance. This is normally an extremely buffed-up skill/talent.

Q: So how does the Witch Vampire's craft type work?

A: It's sorta like how different types of magic-casters in different cultures use their craft differently. Some use voodoo, others use runes, and others use alchemy. It's very open, and largely up to the player to decide the individual strengths and weaknesses of their craft. However, no god-modding, of course. Every strength results in a weakness.

Q: Do the pictures have to be anime?

A: Technically, no. However, they cannot be real people. I, personally, prefer anime (easier to find pictures), but I have done face-claims and such before. I?ve noticed that the different types of roleplays (real, realistic, and anime) all have different kinds of ?feels?. This roleplay in particular is going to have a light-hearted anime feel most of the time, but will also have it?s real/realistic moments and undertones. For example, the characters in this RP are capable of comically eating massive amounts of food, but I?m not going to allow them to do so when the mood is serious.

As such, and because I understand anime images make some people uncomfortable, I?ll also be allowing either an extensively-written description or a semi-realistic image as a substitute.

Q: Clarify the Empathic Vampire's power?

A: Here?s how it works, using our anger/fire guy as an example.The more angry he is personally, the hotter/higher quality the flame will be. The more angry the people around him are, the more quantity of that flame there?ll be.

Let?s say he wants to use his power, but he?s not angry. His flame will be pretty wimpy. Okay, so what if if he?s not angry, but the people around him are? The power backing his flame will increase, but it?s amount will increase much more. If he?s the only one who?s mad, however, his flame would be super hot, but there would only be a little bit of it. However, it does NOT have to be an elemental power. More often, it's something psychic-related (like telepathy), or in a category of of it's own (like light or moving dust particles).

Q: Do have any certain way you want them to be changed into a vampire?

A: Well there?s a number of ways you could go about doing it. Involving venom, blood, and genes.

One could have the change forced upon them if bitten by a Demonic Vampire. Demonic Vampires are the only vampires that have the venom capable of doing so, and they can use this venom at will. However, the venom is a lot like saliva, and is known to just kinda come out by itself, causing accidents. The transformation would be incredibly painful. Demonic vampires are the only true immortal vampire and are essentially the undead. The human would die and then be reanimated.

One could change willingly if they share blood with a vampire. It can be any type of vampire, but it has to be willing. This change is extremely dangerous for both parties, however, because it involves sucking out the majority of the human?s blood, then replacing it with vampiric blood.

Finally, one could change by accident, or just out of the blue if vampirism runs in the family. And I?m not saying Mom or Dad, more like a Great-great-great Aunt. It has to be a distant relation, otherwise they simply would?ve been born a vampire. This change often comes out of nowhere, soon after puberty?s over, or during.

Q: Are vampires immortal?

A: Yes and no, it really depends on the type. Vampires, in general, live longer and are harder to kill than humans. This is nature?s response to the fact that there are fewer vampires than humans.

Empathic and Witch Vampires are the most similar to humans, they don?t even really need blood. They live for hundreds of years, but it?s rare to see one over 500. Normal and Human-Turned Vampires can expect to live twice that amount, but since they rely on blood (which they can?t really get this day and age) they typically die sooner. A Shapeshifting Vampire can expect to live a life much like their animal; if they transform into a rabbit, they?ll probably live only to 100. If they transform into a turtle, they'll probably live for a very, very long time. Demonic Vampires, however, live forever if not killed. Even without blood, though that?s an withered existence that can be likened to that of a fate worse than death.

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/RolePlayGateway

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Country superstar George Jones dead at 81

FILE - In this Jan. 10, 2007 file photo, George Jones is shown in Nashville, Tenn. Jones, the peerless, hard-living country singer who recorded dozens of hits about good times and regrets and peaked with the heartbreaking classic "He Stopped Loving Her Today," has died. He was 81. Jones died Friday, April 26, 2013 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville after being hospitalized with fever and irregular blood pressure, according to his publicist Kirt Webster. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, file)

FILE - In this Jan. 10, 2007 file photo, George Jones is shown in Nashville, Tenn. Jones, the peerless, hard-living country singer who recorded dozens of hits about good times and regrets and peaked with the heartbreaking classic "He Stopped Loving Her Today," has died. He was 81. Jones died Friday, April 26, 2013 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville after being hospitalized with fever and irregular blood pressure, according to his publicist Kirt Webster. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, file)

FILE - In this Nov. 7, 2001 file photo, Garth Brooks, left, and George Jones, center, perform their duet "Beer Run" at the Country Music Association Awards show in Nashville, Tenn. The fiddle player at right is unidentified. Jones, the peerless, hard-living country singer who recorded dozens of hits about good times and regrets and peaked with the heartbreaking classic "He Stopped Loving Her Today," has died. He was 81. Jones died Friday, April 26, 2013 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville after being hospitalized with fever and irregular blood pressure, according to his publicist Kirt Webster.(AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, file)

FILE - In this June 16, 1997 file photo, Country music veteran George Jones bends an ear toward 14-year-old newcomer LeAnn Rimes during the opening segment of the TNN-Music City News Country Awards show in Nashville, Tenn., Jones, the peerless, hard-living country singer who recorded dozens of hits about good times and regrets and peaked with the heartbreaking classic "He Stopped Loving Her Today," has died. He was 81. Jones died Friday, April 26, 2013 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville after being hospitalized with fever and irregular blood pressure, according to his publicist Kirt Webster. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, file)

FILE - In this Jan. 10, 2007 file photo, George Jones is shown in Nashville, Tenn. Jones, the peerless, hard-living country singer who recorded dozens of hits about good times and regrets and peaked with the heartbreaking classic "He Stopped Loving Her Today," has died. He was 81. Jones died Friday, April 26, 2013 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville after being hospitalized with fever and irregular blood pressure, according to his publicist Kirt Webster. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, file)

FILE - In this April 1996 file photo, George Jones is shown in Nashville. Jones, the peerless, hard-living country singer who recorded dozens of hits about good times and regrets and peaked with the heartbreaking classic "He Stopped Loving Her Today," has died. He was 81. Jones died Friday, April 26, 2013 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville after being hospitalized with fever and irregular blood pressure, according to his publicist Kirt Webster. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, file)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) ? When it comes to country music, George Jones was The Voice.

Other great singers have come and gone, but this fact remained inviolate until Jones passed away Friday at 81 in a Nashville hospital after a year of ill health.

"Today someone else has become the greatest living singer of traditional country music, but there will never be another George Jones," said Bobby Braddock, the Country Music Hall of Fame songwriter who provided Jones with 29 songs over the decades. "No one in country music has influenced so many other artists."

He did it with that voice. Rich and deep, strong enough to crack like a whip, but supple enough to bring tears. It was so powerful, it made Jones the first thoroughly modern country superstar, complete with the substance abuse problems and rich-and-famous celebrity lifestyle that included mansions, multiple divorces and ? to hear one fellow performer tell it ? fistfuls of cocaine.

He was a beloved and at times a notorious figure in Nashville and his problems were just as legendary as his songs. But when you dropped the needle on one of his records, all that stuff went away. And you were left with The Voice.

"He just knows how to pull every drop of emotion out of it of the songs if it's an emotional song or if it's a fun song he knows how to make that work," Alan Jackson said in a 2011 interview. "It's rare. He was a big fan of Hank Williams Sr. like me. He tried to sing like Hank in the early days. I've heard early cuts. And the difference is Hank was a singer and he was a great writer, but he didn't have that natural voice like George. Not many people do. That just sets him apart from everybody."

That voice helped Jones achieve No. 1 songs in four separate decades, 1950s to 1980s. And its qualities were admired by more than just his fellow country artists but by Frank Sinatra, Pete Townshend, Elvis Costello, James Taylor and countless others. "If we all could sound like we wanted to, we'd all sound like George Jones," Waylon Jennings once sang.

Word of his death spread Friday morning as his peers paid tribute.

Merle Haggard put it best, perhaps: "The world has lost the greatest country singer of all time. Amen."

"The greatest voice to ever grace country music will never die," Garth Brooks said. "Jones has a place in every heart that ever loved any kind of music."

And Dolly Parton added, "My heart is absolutely broken. George Jones was my all time favorite singer and one of my favorite people in the world."

In Jones' case, that's not hyperbole. In a career that lasted more than 50 years, "Possum" evolved from young honky-tonker to elder statesman as he recorded more than 150 albums and became the champion and symbol of traditional country music, a well-lined link to his hero, Williams.

Jones survived long battles with alcoholism and drug addiction, brawls, accidents and close encounters with death, including bypass surgery and a tour bus crash that he only avoided by deciding at the last moment to take a plane.

His failure to appear for concerts left him with the nickname "No Show Jones," and he later recorded a song by that name and often opened his shows by singing it. His wild life was revealed in song and in his handsome, troubled face, with its dark, deep-set eyes and dimpled chin.

In song, like life, he was rowdy and regretful, tender and tragic. His hits included the sentimental "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes," the foot-tapping "The Race is On," the foot-stomping "I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair," the melancholy "She Thinks I Still Care," the rockin' "White Lightning," and the barfly lament "Still Doing Time." Jones also recorded several duets with Tammy Wynette, his wife for six years, including "Golden Ring," ''Near You," ''Southern California" and "We're Gonna Hold On." He also sang with such peers as Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard and with Costello and other rock performers.

But his signature song was "He Stopped Loving Her Today," a weeper among weepers about a man who carries his love for a woman to his grave. The 1980 ballad, which Jones was sure would never be a hit, often appears on surveys as the most popular country song of all time and won the Country Music Association's song of the year award an unprecedented two years in a row.

Jones won Grammy awards in 1981 for "He Stopped Loving Her Today" and in 1999 for "Choices." He was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1992 and in 2008 was among the artists honored in Washington at the Kennedy Center.

He was in the midst of a yearlong farewell tour when he passed away. He was scheduled to complete the tour in November with an all-star packed tribute in Nashville. Stars lined up to sign on to the show, many remembering kindnesses over the years. Kenny Chesney thinks Jones may have one of the greatest voices in not just country history, but music history. But he remembers Jones for more than the voice. He was picked for a tour with Jones and Wynette early in his career and cherishes the memory of being invited to fly home on Jones' private jet after one of the concerts.

"I remember sitting there on that jet, thinking, 'This can't be happening,' because he was George Jones, and I was some kid from nowhere," Chesney said in an email. "I'm sure he knew, but he was generous to kids chasing the dream, and I never forgot it."

Jones was born Sept. 12, 1931, in a log house near the east Texas town of Saratoga, the youngest of eight children. He sang in church and at age 11 began performing for tips on the streets of Beaumont, Texas. His first outing was such a success that listeners tossed him coins, placed a cup by his side and filled it with money. Jones estimated he made more than $24 for his two-hour performance, enough to feed his family for a week, but he used up the cash at a local arcade.

"That was my first time to earn money for singing and my first time to blow it afterward," he recalled in "I Lived to Tell it All," a painfully self-critical memoir published in 1996. "It started what almost became a lifetime trend."

The family lived in a government-subsidized housing project, and his father, a laborer, was an alcoholic who would rouse the children from bed in the middle of the night to sing for him. His father also noted that young George liked music and bought him a Gene Autry guitar, with a horse and lariat on the front that Jones practiced on obsessively.

He got his start on radio with husband and wife team Eddie & Pearl in the late 1940s. Hank Williams once dropped by the studio to promote a new record, and Jones was invited to back him on guitar. When it came time to play, he froze.

"Hank had 'Wedding Bells' out at the time," Jones recalled in a 2003 Associated Press interview. "He started singing it, and I never hit the first note the whole song. I just stared."

After the first of his four marriages failed, he enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1951 and served three years. He cut his first record when he got out, an original fittingly called "No Money in This Deal."

He had his first hit with "Why Baby Why" in 1955, and by the early '60s Jones was one of country music's top stars.

"I sing top songs that fit the hardworking, everyday loving person. That's what country music is about," Jones said in a 1991 AP interview. "My fans and real true country music fans know I'm not a phony. I just sing it the way it is and put feeling in it if I can and try to live the song."

Jones was married to Wynette, his third wife, from 1969 to 1975. (Wynette died in 1998.) Their relationship played out in Nashville like a country song, with hard drinking, fights and reconciliations. Jones' weary knowledge of domestic warfare was immortalized in such classics as "The Battle," set to the martial beat of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."

After one argument, Jones drove off on a riding mower in search of a drink because Wynette had taken his car keys to keep him from carousing. Years earlier, married to his second wife, he had also sped off on a mower in search of a drink. Jones referred to his mowing days in the 1996 release, "Honky Tonk Song," and poked fun at himself in four music videos that featured him aboard a mower.

His drug and alcohol abuse grew worse in the late '70s, and Jones had to file for bankruptcy in 1978. A manager had started him on cocaine, hoping to counteract his boozy, lethargic performances, and Jones was eventually arrested in Jackson, Miss., in 1983 on cocaine possession charges. He agreed to perform a benefit concert and was sentenced to six months probation. In his memoir, "Satan is Real," Charlie Louvin recounts being offered a fistful of cocaine by Jones backstage at a concert.

"In the 1970s, I was drunk the majority of the time," Jones wrote in his memoir. "If you saw me sober, chances are you saw me asleep."

In 1980, a 3-minute song changed his life. His longtime producer, Billy Sherrill, recommended he record "He Stopped Loving Her Today," a ballad by Braddock and Curly Putnam. The song took more than a year to record, partly because Jones couldn't master the melody, which he confused with Kris Kristofferson's "Help Me Make it Through the Night," and partly because he was too drunk to recite a brief, spoken interlude ("She came to see him one last time/And we all wondered if she would/And it kept running through my mind/This time he's over her for good.")

"Pretty simple, eh?" Jones wrote in his memoir. "I couldn't get it. I had been able to sing while drunk all of my life. I'd fooled millions of people. But I could never speak without slurring when drunk. What we needed to complete that song was the narration, but Billy could never catch me sober enough to record four simple spoken lines."

Jones was convinced the song was too "morbid" to catch on. But "He Stopped Loving Her Today," featuring a string section that hummed, then soared, became an instant standard and virtually canonized him. His concert fee jumped from $2,500 a show to $25,000.

"There is a God," he recalled.

___

Italie contributed from New York.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-04-26-Obit-George%20Jones/id-64fe2b4d00fb49d8b84b72523d1d3de3

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