Greening up your home is not only good for the environment it is also good on your wallet. According to the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. generates about 208 million tons of municipal solid waste a year, that?s more than 4 pounds per person per day.
Here are some minor changes you can implement at home that will add up to real benefits.
Green up your appliances
Replace your old refrigerator and save as much as $150 a year. Appliances are the biggest drain on a home?s total energy bill. Replace appliances older than 10 years with energy-efficient models that bear the ?Energy Star? logo. Energy Star-qualified appliances use 10%-50% less energy and water than standard models.
Take Your Temperature
Use a programmable thermostat to keep your home?s temperature on a schedule. Program the thermostat in cold weather and keep it higher in warm weather. Set the timer to only change the temperature when you are home. During the colder months, each degree below 68?F saves 3%-5%. You may also want to consider replacing older furnaces. Today?s furnaces are about 25% more efficient than they were in the 1980s.
Use Water Wisely
Save every time you flush by installing low-flow toilets. They use only 1.6 gallons per flush, compared to 3.5 gallons per flush for pre-1994 models. Save water at your faucets by installing aerators. This could cut your annual water consumption by 50%.
Let there be Light
Using Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (CFLs) will consume 66% less energy. CFLs may cost a little more but they last 10 times longer than a standard incandescent bulb. In dollars and cents, replacing a 100-watt incandescent bulb with a 32-watt CFL can save $30 in energy costs over the life of the bulb.
Practice Plastic Placement
Did you know Americans throw away some 100 billion polyethylene plastic bags? ? Plastics (grocery, trash and sandwich bags to name a few) are made from petroleum. Plastics are considered one of the main contributors to global warming. Always make sure to reduce, re-use and recycle your plastics.
There are many more ways to live green. If you are looking for more ideas check out National Geographic?s Green Guide.
Please share your tips for saving money, energy and living green.
Increasing federal match funds for states boosts enrollment of kids in health-care programsPublic release date: 7-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Mary F. Masson mfmasson@umich.edu 734-764-2220 University of Michigan Health System
Federal funding plays a central role in whether more children get health care coverage through Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance Program
Ann Arbor, Mich. Significantly more children get health insurance coverage after increases in federal matching funds to states for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), according to new research from the University of Michigan.
The research, published Monday in the journal Health Affairs, showed that a 10-percentage-point increase in the federal match for Medicaid and CHIP, similar to the increase that occurred with the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, is associated with an increase of 1.9 percent in the number of children enrolled in Medicaid nationwide, or approximately 500,000 additional children.
"Throughout the past decade, Medicaid and CHIP enrollment for children has increased, while the level of uninsurance has decreased. Our study suggests that these combined federal and state programs have succeeded in providing health insurance coverage for children, even as the number of children in poor and low-income families has increased," says Stephen Patrick, M.D., M.P.H., M.S., the study's lead author and a neonatal-perinatal medicine fellow in the Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital at the University of Michigan.
Patrick is a 2010-12 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar at the University of Michigan.
"Medicaid and CHIP work as a partnership between states and the federal government that benefits children," says Matthew M. Davis, M.D., M.A.P.P., associate professor in the Child Health Evaluation and Research Unit and the Division of General Medicine at the U-M Medical School and associate professor of public policy at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.
"We found a strong relationship between the federal share of funding, called the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage, and Medicaid enrollment for children over the past decade," says Davis, who is senior author on the paper.
"Congress can change the federal match at any time, and they have increased the match to help states during tough economic times," explains Davis. "The match was increased during our recent recession, but returned to previous levels in June 2011. We found that changes in FMAP are associated with significant changes in children's health care coverage through Medicaid and CHIP, even after accounting for state-level factors such as government revenues and proportion of children living in poverty."
It is not yet clear what effect the federal match decrease in 2011 will have on children's health care coverage.
"When states receive reduced federal funds for Medicaid, they may be forced to limit their outreach to enroll eligible children, restrict optional benefits, or otherwise reduce activities in their Medicaid programs that they might pursue," Patrick says. "It is clear from decades of research that children with coverage have better access to timely health care than children without coverage.
"The fact that it requires an act of Congress to respond to states' economic downturns through the federal match mechanism suggests that the match needs to be modernized," says Patrick.
The researchers analyzed publicly available data from all 50 states from 1999 to 2009.
###
Journal citation: doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2011.0988 HEALTH AFFAIRS 31,
NO. 8 (2012)
Funding: This work was supported by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program.
Additional author: From the University of Michigan: Hwajung Choi, research analyst, Department of Internal Medicine.
About the University of Michigan Health System:
For more than 160 years, the University of Michigan Health System has been a national leader in advanced patient care, innovative research to improve human health and comprehensive education of physicians and medical scientists. UMHS includes the U-M Hospitals & Health Centers, with its three hospitals and dozens of outpatient health centers and clinics throughout Michigan; the U-M Medical School with its Faculty Group Practice and research laboratories; and the Michigan Health Corporation.
The three U-M hospitals -- University Hospital, C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, and Von Voigtlander Women's Hospital have been recognized numerous times for excellence in patient care, including 17 years on the U.S. News & World Report honor roll of "America's Best Hospitals."
Learn more at www.mottchildren.org
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Increasing federal match funds for states boosts enrollment of kids in health-care programsPublic release date: 7-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Mary F. Masson mfmasson@umich.edu 734-764-2220 University of Michigan Health System
Federal funding plays a central role in whether more children get health care coverage through Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance Program
Ann Arbor, Mich. Significantly more children get health insurance coverage after increases in federal matching funds to states for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), according to new research from the University of Michigan.
The research, published Monday in the journal Health Affairs, showed that a 10-percentage-point increase in the federal match for Medicaid and CHIP, similar to the increase that occurred with the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, is associated with an increase of 1.9 percent in the number of children enrolled in Medicaid nationwide, or approximately 500,000 additional children.
"Throughout the past decade, Medicaid and CHIP enrollment for children has increased, while the level of uninsurance has decreased. Our study suggests that these combined federal and state programs have succeeded in providing health insurance coverage for children, even as the number of children in poor and low-income families has increased," says Stephen Patrick, M.D., M.P.H., M.S., the study's lead author and a neonatal-perinatal medicine fellow in the Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital at the University of Michigan.
Patrick is a 2010-12 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar at the University of Michigan.
"Medicaid and CHIP work as a partnership between states and the federal government that benefits children," says Matthew M. Davis, M.D., M.A.P.P., associate professor in the Child Health Evaluation and Research Unit and the Division of General Medicine at the U-M Medical School and associate professor of public policy at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.
"We found a strong relationship between the federal share of funding, called the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage, and Medicaid enrollment for children over the past decade," says Davis, who is senior author on the paper.
"Congress can change the federal match at any time, and they have increased the match to help states during tough economic times," explains Davis. "The match was increased during our recent recession, but returned to previous levels in June 2011. We found that changes in FMAP are associated with significant changes in children's health care coverage through Medicaid and CHIP, even after accounting for state-level factors such as government revenues and proportion of children living in poverty."
It is not yet clear what effect the federal match decrease in 2011 will have on children's health care coverage.
"When states receive reduced federal funds for Medicaid, they may be forced to limit their outreach to enroll eligible children, restrict optional benefits, or otherwise reduce activities in their Medicaid programs that they might pursue," Patrick says. "It is clear from decades of research that children with coverage have better access to timely health care than children without coverage.
"The fact that it requires an act of Congress to respond to states' economic downturns through the federal match mechanism suggests that the match needs to be modernized," says Patrick.
The researchers analyzed publicly available data from all 50 states from 1999 to 2009.
###
Journal citation: doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2011.0988 HEALTH AFFAIRS 31,
NO. 8 (2012)
Funding: This work was supported by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program.
Additional author: From the University of Michigan: Hwajung Choi, research analyst, Department of Internal Medicine.
About the University of Michigan Health System:
For more than 160 years, the University of Michigan Health System has been a national leader in advanced patient care, innovative research to improve human health and comprehensive education of physicians and medical scientists. UMHS includes the U-M Hospitals & Health Centers, with its three hospitals and dozens of outpatient health centers and clinics throughout Michigan; the U-M Medical School with its Faculty Group Practice and research laboratories; and the Michigan Health Corporation.
The three U-M hospitals -- University Hospital, C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, and Von Voigtlander Women's Hospital have been recognized numerous times for excellence in patient care, including 17 years on the U.S. News & World Report honor roll of "America's Best Hospitals."
Learn more at www.mottchildren.org
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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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.
On Monday, following the defection of Syria's Prime Minister Riad Hijab to Jordan fighting continued, particularly in Damascus and Aleppo. Though Hijab's departure?was high-profile, it does not appear to be a threat to Assad's closest allies.?
By Hannah Allam and Sheera Frenkel,?McClatchy Newspapers (MCT) / August 6, 2012
In this undated photo, Syrian Prime Minister Riad Hijab, center, speaks under the portrait of the Syrian President Bashar Assad during a meeting in Damascus, Syria. Hijab defected and fled to Jordan, a Jordanian official and a rebel spokesman said.
AP Photo/SANA
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Syrian President Bashar Assad?s administration struck a defiant tone Monday, renewing its counterattack on rebel forces in the country?s largest cities and vowing to stay in place, despite the defection of the country?s prime minister.
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As Aleppo shudders under a barrage of shellfire, the desertion of Syria's PM marks one of the most high-profile defections from President Bashar al-Assad's government.
The defection of Prime Minister Riad Hijab to Jordan was the highest-profile departure from Assad?s government so far, but analysts said it was unlikely to indicate a fatal fissure in his inner circle. Hijab, who?d been appointed just two months ago, is a Sunni Muslim, while Assad?s most ironclad allies are fellow members of his minority Alawite sect. Assad appointed a successor within hours.
Sectarian rhetoric has worsened on both sides of the nascent civil war in recent weeks, with the regime portraying the rebels as Sunni terrorists and the rebels calling Alawites heretics and blaming them for Assad?s ability to withstand international isolation and sanctions for 17 months. Human rights groups already are raising concern that Alawites will face bloody reprisal attacks should Assad fall.
About five Alawite clans, all linked through intermarriage and business interests, control the real power bases in?Syria?? such as the security apparatus and the military ? and there have been no notable defections from their ranks, said Ammar Abdulhamid, an exiled opposition member who is on the?Syria?Working Group at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy, a think tank in Washington.
?They control the key decision-making process in tactical terms,? Abdulhamid said of the powerful Alawite dynasties. ?The defection shows that the regime has lost control of an old game: the Sunni fig leaf.?
Other reported defectors ? including at least two more Cabinet ministers, members of the security apparatus, and?Syria?s?first astronaut ? were said to have left the regime over the weekend, according to opposition activists. The claims couldn?t be independently verified and their strategic significance was unknown. The government denied that others had defected.
Assad?s government has lost control of much of?Syria?s?rural north and has been battling opposition guerrillas in at least six urban areas, including the capital, Damascus, since four of the president?s top security aides were killed in a bombing at the state security headquarters July 18.
It was difficult to determine, however, who had the upper hand in fighting in Damascus and Aleppo, the country?s largest city and its business hub.
Opposition activists and journalists on the ground reported that fighter jets and helicopter gunships pounded rebel targets in Aleppo, and there were signs that the rebels were giving up ground. A reporter for the Turkish newspaper Zaman wrote Monday that rebels had abandoned their headquarters in Aleppo on Saturday after government planes dropped bombs nearby. The reporter said Syrian government aircraft also could be seen bombing the Salahadin neighborhood two miles away, but that it was impossible to reach the neighborhood because of the presence of loyalist troops.
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Another method of aerating a pond is by installing a fountain or a waterfall0 One word choice does not work in every circumstance But according to the payout schedule and the Urban Institute analyses, this couple can expect, on average, to receive only $555,000 in Social Security benefits Most financial advisors will tell you to ?diversify? your money and investments
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?The web is a powerful resource that can easily help you learn new skills.? You just have to know where to look.? Sure, you can use Google, Yahoo, or Bing to search for sites where you can learn new skills, but I figured I?d save you some time.
Here are the top 40 sites I have personally used over the last few years when I want to learn something new.
Hack a Day ? Hack a Day serves up fresh hacks (short tutorials) every day from around the web and one in-depth ?How-To hack? guide each week.
eHow ? eHow is an online community dedicated to providing visitors the ability to research, share, and discuss solutions and tips for completing day-to-day tasks and projects.
Wired How-To Wiki ? Collaborate with Wired editors and help them build their extensive library of projects, hacks, tricks and tips.? Browse through hundreds how-to articles and then add to them, or start a new one.
MAKE Magazine ? Brings the do-it-yourself (DIY) mindset to all of the technology in your life.? MAKE is loaded with cool DIY projects that help you make the most of the technology you already own.
50 Things Everyone Should Know How To Do ? While not totally comprehensive, here is a list of 50 things everyone should know how to do.? It?s a great starting point to learn new skills.
wikiHow ? A user based collaboration to build and share the world?s largest, highest quality how-to manual.
Lifehacker ? An award-winning daily blog that features tips, shortcuts, and downloads that help you get things done smarter and more efficiently.
100+ Google Tricks That Will Save You Time ? Today, knowing how to use Google effectively is a vital skill.? This list links out to enough Google related resources to make you an elite Google hacker.
Instructables ? Similar to MAKE, Instructables is a web-based documentation platform where passionate people share what they do and how they do it, and learn from and collaborate with others as the tackle new projects and learn new skills.
Merriam-Webster Online ? In this digital age, your ability to communicate with written English is paramount skill.? And M-W.com is the perfect resource to improve your English now.
Lumosity ? Learn to improve your memory by playing a series of fun and educational brain training games.
100 Skills Every Man Should Know ? Another compilation article with instructions to help you learn new skills.? This one says it?s geared for men, but I think most of these skills are applicable to women as well.
5min Life Videopedia ? Lot?s of great tutorials and DIY videos.
HowStuffWorks ? Knowledge is power.? While this site isn?t exactly geared to help you learn new skills, it contains so much useful information that you?re bound to learn a skill or two while you browse.
StumbleUpon ? A collective set of recommendations from thousands of hours of searching by web users who share your interests.? It?s basically a recommendation engine.? Users add to this engine by providing their personal recommendations on what sites are worth your time.? If you select topics and tags of interest like ?Self-Improvement? and ?DIY,? you?ll be learning new skills in no time.
Work.com ? An extensive directory of how-to guides for beginning entrepreneurs.
Howcast ? Hosts professional how-to videos as well as how-to wiki tutorials.? Howcast combines user ideas with the expertise of professional studio video to deliver what is nothing short of amazing, informative content.
VideoJug - The video content on this site covers a variety of topics including informative ?How To? and ?Ask The Expert? films that guide you step-by-step through everything and anything in life.
MakeUseOf ? A booming daily blog that features cool websites, computer tips, and downloads that make you more productive.? Lot?s of insightful tips and tricks to learn.
WonderHowTo ? This site is focused on one clear organizing principle: aggregating and linking to truly great, free how-to videos from which you can learn new skills.
SuTree ? Another useful aggregator of how-to videos from all around the web.
Zen Habits ? The ultimate productivity and self-improvement blog.? Zen Habits is about finding simplicity in the daily chaos of our lives.? It?s about clearing the clutter so we can focus on what?s important, create something amazing, and find happiness.? Lot?s of learning material here.
Academic Earth ? Online degrees and video courses from leading universities.
About.com Videos ? Another solid collection of how-to video tutorials.
PCWorld How-To ? Lot?s of useful tutorials and guides related to fixing and modifying computers and other electronic gadgets.
Spreeder ? This site is focused on teaching you one new skill:? speed reading.? And it does a great job of doing so.
Woopid ? Watch free technology training videos.? Get help and answer your computer and gadget questions with thousands of video tutorials for PCs, Macs, and various software applications.
DIY Network ? A go-to destination for rip-up, knock-out home improvement projects.? The site offers expert answers the most sought-after questions regarding creative projects for DIY enthusiasts.
Scitable ? A free science library and personal learning tool that currently concentrates on genetics, the study of evolution, variation, and the rich complexity of living organisms.? The site also expects to expand into other topics of learning and education.
All Recipes ? A complete guide to recipes and cooking tips.? If you?d like to learn to be a better cook, this site is for you.
43 Folders ? This site is more about inspiring you to follow-through with your goals than it is about learning new skills.? But I think following-through with your goals is a skill.? Most people never quite get there.
Dumb Little Man ? Another awesome productivity and self-improvement blog hosting lots of useful information.
iTunes U ? Hundreds of universities ? including Stanford, Yale and MIT ? distribute lectures, slide shows, PDFs, films, exhibit tours and audio books through iTunes U.? The Science section alone contains content on topics including agriculture, astronomy, biology, chemistry, physics, ecology and geography.
American Sign Language Browser ? Teach yourself sign language online.
BBC Languages ? Teach yourself a new spoken language online.
Delicious Popular DIY ? Lots of popular DIY articles bookmarked by users from all over the web.
Khan Academy ? Over 1200 videos lessons covering everything from basic arithmetic and algebra to differential equations, physics, chemistry, biology and finance.? Lot?s of educational material to help you learn new skills.
The Happiness Project ? Learn the skills necessary to create happiness in your life.
How To Do Things ? Another solid collection of how-to tutorials.
ShowMeDo ? A peer-produced video-tutorials and screencasts site for free and open-source software.? The large majority are free to watch and download.
Please do leave a comment and let us know if you found this post useful. Thanks
Would you wish you can operate from anywhere in the planet on your own terms and conditions? Would you prefer to possess a small business that runs on automobile pilot for you? Do you need a business where you don?t need to go doorway to doorway, chilly call individuals, or work your so named heat checklist? For those who answered sure to all of these queries then you are on the correct observe. You?ll be able to build your on the net company so you do not even need to speak to any person period for those who don?t would like to.
To become pretty truthful with you, it absolutely was only about 5 years ago that I basically learned the best way to even convert a pc on. Do not laugh; it is accurate. If someone told me I had been going to have a productive Internet marketing small business inside the long term I?d have laughed at them.
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Points you need to know ahead of you start
The quickest strategy to get to the top is always to role design an individual else who is currently performing what you wish to do. Comply with the ?recipe? as it is known as. If somebody else is doing some thing and also you do exactly what they?re undertaking then you will have exactly the same results. Should you attempt and bake a cake and skip fifty percent in the ingredients you?ll not have quite superior outcomes.
You could try and reinvent the wheel like some people and spend a lot of you happen to be tricky earned bucks. Think me you can spend a lot as there is many fluff available.
That you are possibly questioning how you go about getting somebody that is prosperous in the Internet marketing business. For starters, do not squander your time with men and women wanting to drive their merchandise on you. Most of it can be just garbage that only gives you bits and pieces of the puzzle. You would not want somebody to give you the equipment to develop the residence although not the real schemes would you?
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WASHINGTON (AP) ? With Syrian diplomacy all but dead, the Obama administration is shifting its focus on the civil war away from political transition and toward helping the rebels defeat the Syrian regime on the battlefield.
The U.S. still wants to avoid any military involvement, banking on a complicated policy of indirect assistance to the rebels and hope that the ragtag alliance of militias can demoralize President Bashar Assad's better-armed forces and end the war without far greater casualties.
It's a scenario analysts see as unlikely, even as the opposition gains ground in Aleppo, Damascus and elsewhere, and as the cadre of high-level defections from Assad's government grows. Prime Minister Riad Hijab and two other ministers became the latest to abandon Assad on Monday, rebels said.
The defections are "the latest indication that Assad has lost control of Syria and that the momentum is with the opposition forces and the Syrian people," White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said.
"The regime is crumbling," State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said.
In Aleppo, the rebels are exceeding the expectations of military experts. Despite intense bombardment from warplanes, they've now withstood two weeks of regime counterattacks and are clawing toward the city center. Militiamen also are stepping up guerrilla-like forays in central districts of Damascus once firmly in Assad's hands.
Those gains have given the Obama administration hope that the tide of the war is turning ? and without the need for the U.S. to reconsider its opposition to airstrikes, no-fly zones or even weapons sales to the anti-Assad forces.
And with U.N. special envoy Kofi Annan quitting his diplomatic efforts and the rebels starting to carve out larger toeholds in Syrian territory, the U.S. focus has changed accordingly.
Whereas once the U.S. hoped to see a cease-fire to end the fighting and then Assad leave office eventually on his own, the talk now is of the rebels driving him out of power by winning the war ? or of Assad's loyalists, in the face of more military setbacks, turning on their leader.
As the rebels gain ground and weaponry, the U.S. has increased its humanitarian aid to $74 million and its "nonlethal" communications assistance to $25 million. The administration has eased restrictions for rebel fundraising in the United States.
It also has softened its support for the transitional plan crafted by Annan, and agreed to by both the United States and Russia after a conference in Geneva in June. The document aimed at establishing an interim government of individuals chosen by both the Assad regime and the opposition. Each would be able to veto candidates.
The arrangement was rejected immediately by many in the Syrian opposition, and Ventrell relegated it on Monday to a "basis for a good framework." He said the transitional authority should be chosen by the opposition and "remnants of the regime that don't have blood on their hands" ? cutting out Assad and his senior government officials.
"The future of Syria is going to be for the Syrians to decide," he said.
Speaking last week, Ventrell said: "We are not at a point where we are negotiating with the Assad regime. We are at a point where the opposition is gaining ground and making plans for the day after."
The statements follow more than a year of Obama administration officials speaking of bringing international diplomatic pressure to drive Assad from office and meeting with multinational groups like the Friends of Syria.
While officials maintain that they'd prefer a "peaceful political transition" take place, they concede privately that the deaths of at least 19,000 Syrians over the past 17 months, the utter refusal by Assad to compromise and the failure of diplomacy means more bloodshed may lie ahead.
With mediation efforts cut off, a rebel victory now appears among the most feasible path forward for an end to Syria's war. And U.S. officials are trying to plan for messier regime change scenarios than the six-point plan advocated by Annan and adopted by no one in Syria.
The U.S. ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, held meetings with opposition leaders in Cairo last week. Those followed consultations that the State Department's Syria envoy, Fred Hof, held with activists and likeminded governments in Europe a week before. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will talk to Syrian activists and Turkish officials in Istanbul this weekend, rejecting proposals to turn her visit into another international diplomatic forum.
Ventrell said the goal of much of the recent diplomacy was to help the opposition come up with a post-Assad plan that would be as cohesive as possible.
"There still has to be water, electricity and all the basic services," Ventrell said. "What will the government look like? How it will function the day after? How will we ensure that (Syria) doesn't descend into further sectarian chaos? How do we make it work? That's some of the things we're working on."
The approach is one that American officials liken to a "soft landing." The goal would be to avoid the power vacuum of post-Saddam Hussein's Iraq by salvaging as many elements of the state as possible, and avoiding new insurgencies from emerging.
"We want to get there in a way that's a softer landing," a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the matter. "We don't want to see the institutions just melt away."
But it's unclear how quick the post-Assad era might come ? and at what cost.
Most assessments see Syria's Assad making his stand in Damascus and battling to the end to hold his capital. Others speculate that regime loyalists could retreat to Alawite strongholds in northwest Syria, taking with them their guns, tanks, helicopters and even chemical weapons. Either situation could be extremely bloody. While Assad's forces are stretched, his Republican Guard units backed by airpower remain formidable.
And even as Clinton and other officials speak of the inevitability of opposition "safe zones" in Syria, the rebels have had to retreat from every major city they've held so far. They've maintained control of some rural areas bordering Turkey in the north, Lebanon in the west and Jordan in the south, according to the American Syrian Coalition.
The effect of the defections could be limited, as well. Like most previous regime members, those who fled Monday to Jordan were majority Sunnis. Assad still has the backing of the minority Alawite clan who hold most senior regime positions.
"It's politically important, but removing Assad and weakening his regime involves a political and military approach," said Andrew Tabler, a Syria expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "And it's the relative success of the military approach to date that has caused this defection."
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Public release date: 7-Aug-2012
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, but I figured I?d save you some time.