chesapeake energy dick clark death yom hashoah yolo liquidmetal gsa scandal kelis
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Roche immune therapy cancer drug shows promise in early study
By Bill Berkrot
(Reuters) - An experimental drug that spurs the immune system to fight cancer appeared to be safe and demonstrated anti-tumor activity against a variety of cancers in a small early stage study, researchers said on Tuesday.
The drug, called MPDL3280A, was discovered and is being developed by Roche's Genentech unit. The Phase 1 trial of the drug in 30 patients with advanced cancer was designed as a dose escalation study to test for toxicity at higher doses.
But researchers were also pleased to find early signs of effectiveness of the drug.
"We saw clear evidence of anti-tumor activity in a broad range of diagnoses, including lung cancer, kidney cancer, colon cancer and gastric cancer," said Dr. Michael Gordon, who presented the data on Tuesday at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting in Washington, D.C.
The drug is an engineered antibody that targets a protein called PD-L1, for programmed death-ligand 1, and enables T cells of the immune system to more effectively attack cancer cells. PD-L1 is found on the surface of many cancer cells and impairs the immune system's ability to fight the disease.
The drug was administered intravenously every three weeks, beginning with a dose of just 0.01 milligrams per kilogram of weight and increased up to a maximum dose of 20mg/kg.
"There were no dose limiting toxicities," Gordon, research director at Pinnacle Oncology Hematology in Scottsdale, Arizona, said in a telephone interview. "We achieved our highest deliverable dose without any undue toxicities."
Researchers and Genentech believe the PD-L1 approach may be more selective and safer than a similar promising class of immunotherapy called PD-1 inhibitors being developed by several other companies. The PD-1 drugs impact not only the intended target but potentially another receptor on healthy cells called PD-L2 and may cause lung inflammation that was not seen with the Roche drug, researchers said.
Although the study was very small, Gordon said he was impressed by the lasting effect of the drug in some of the advanced cancer patients in the trial, who were still alive for more than a year.
"The responses have been durable," he said. "In at least two cases there were near complete responses and patients are sustaining those responses in the absence of continued therapy and doing very well."
Roche is working on developing a diagnostic aimed at helping to better identify the patients most likely to respond to the PD-L1 drug. "It's efficacy and use will be defined by future clinical trials," Gordon said.
While the value of the Roche drug must also be determined in much larger clinical trials, Gordon was excited about the use of new immunotherapies in the war against cancer.
Bristol-Myers Squibb's Yervoy, which was approved in 2011 and uses a different mechanism to help the immune system fight cancer, was the first drug to significantly extend survival in patients with advanced melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer.
"I think the field of oncology is going to change dramatically with regard to their inclusion and incorporation in cancer care," Gordon said.
(This story has been fixed to correct drug identifier in the second paragraph to MPDL3280A from MPDL320A)
(Reporting by Bill Berkrot in New York; Editing by Grant McCool)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/roche-immune-therapy-cancer-drug-shows-promise-early-153233597--finance.html
axl rose google earnings pat burrell hilary rosen grilled cheese allen west north korea missile
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
New York proposes new laws against public corruption
By Daniel Trotta
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed three new laws on Tuesday aimed at stopping government corruption, after federal prosecutors brought two criminal cases against elected officials in the state last week.
Decrying a culture of political corruption in New York and describing the two recent cases as "especially brazen and arrogant behavior," Cuomo promised to introduce the so-called Public Trust Act to the state legislature.
The act would create laws to punish bribery, scheming to corrupt the government, and failure to report corruption, he told a joint news conference with several chief prosecutors from the New York City area. It would also increase penalties for violations of existing laws.
New York state has gained a special reputation for political corruption.
Since 1999, 20 state legislators in New York have been ousted because of criminal or ethical issues, according to the good government group Citizens Union. The New York Public Interest Research Group found that, since 2007, state senators have been more likely to be arrested than to lose their seats in a general election.
"There have been too many incidents for too many years," Cuomo said. "They paint a truly ugly picture of our political landscape."
Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, brought the two cases last week. Cuomo thanked him, adding that he wanted to empower the state's 62 district attorneys to more easily prosecute public corruption.
As attorney general, before becoming governor, Cuomo sometimes passed corruption cases over to federal authorities because the U.S. laws were more stringent, he said.
Under the Public Trust Act, anyone convicted of a felony would be permanently barred from holding elected or civil office, serving as a lobbyist or doing business with the state.
"I want to strike while the iron is hot. A crisis is a terrible thing to waste," Cuomo said, referring to the scandals of last week.
On Thursday, New York State Assemblyman Eric Stevenson was charged with corruption on suspicion of taking more than $22,000 in bribes in exchange for official acts, and another state assemblyman was forced to resign after agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors as a secret informant.
On Tuesday, in a separate case, Democratic New York State Senator Malcolm Smith was arrested and charged with trying to buy a slot on the Republican ticket in New York City's mayoral race, in what prosecutors said was his central role in a series of bribery schemes that reflected pervasive corruption in New York politics.
Five other politicians - three Republicans and two Democrats - were also arrested and charged with collectively accepting more than $100,000 of bribes in meetings that took place in parked cars, hotel rooms and state offices, according to court papers.
Bribery of a public servant is currently illegal, but state prosecutors must prove there was a corrupt agreement between the person paying and the person receiving the bribe, said Mylan Denerstein, counsel to Cuomo. The proposed law would remove that "corrupt understanding" loophole and make it easier to prosecute, she said.
The "corrupting the government" provisions would introduce a new class of crime that would hold public officials and private citizens accountable for defrauding the government, Denerstein said.
The Public Trust Act would for the first time make it a crime for any public official or employee to fail to report bribery, Denerstein said.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta in New York; Editing by Toni Reinhold)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/york-proposes-laws-against-public-corruption-172249194.html
romney etch a sketch jeb bush sherry arnold snooty fox el debarge portland weather clintonville
Look for Less: Fergie?s Casual Cool
On Feb. 9, the pregnant singer really bumps it up in a chic maternity ensemble including a Salvatore Ferragamo python clutch. Check her out, plus our look for less.
Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/B2MeLG7CxHQ/
dalai lama tamera mowry slow jam the news madden cover obama slow jams the news metta world peace ron artest
TV watchers multitasking, viewing more online -global poll
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Consumers are multitasking and using other electronic devices such as phones and tablets while they watch television, according to a survey released on Monday.
The online poll of 3,501 consumers in France, Brazil, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States showed that an overwhelming majority, 90 percent, said they watched some video content over the Internet, with the tablet seeing the biggest increase.
"Consumers can't just watch TV anymore," said Francesco Venturini, of the management consulting and technology services firm Accenture's Media & Entertainment industry group.
"The rise in multitasking while watching TV suggests that scheduled programming, also known as Linear TV, may be losing its appeal for sophisticated users, presenting both challenges and opportunities for broadcasters and content providers," Venturini added.
According to the third annual Video Over Internet survey, 77 percent of consumers said they regularly use their computer while watching television, an increase of 16 percentage points from just a year ago.
But people also said their simultaneous computer usage is mostly unrelated to the programs they are watching.
An exception was the use of tablets, which correlated more closely with what consumers were watching compared to laptops or smartphones.
Only 17 percent of people using tablets during TV time said their activity was unrelated to the TV content they were viewing.
Tablet use during television viewing also saw the biggest increase in the past year, soaring from 11 percent to 44 percent, despite fewer people owning them compared to computers or smartphones.
The survey also found that consumers are increasingly using local online video service providers, an increase from 37 percent to 40 percent, a similar amount to the decrease in use by global providers like Netflix and YouTube.
And a majority of respondents identified traditional TV broadcasters as the providers they trusted most to offer video over the Internet on their TV screen.
Accenture consulting firm conducted the survey in February and March, with Brazil's sample disproportionately represented by urban populations. No margin of error was provided.
(Reporting by Chris Michaud; Editing by Patricia Reaney and Doina Chiacu)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tv-watchers-multitasking-viewing-more-online-global-poll-213337806.html
mariners mets shades of grey pittsburgh penguins record store day jennie garth space needle
Louisville beats Michigan to capture its third NCAA title
Montrezl Harrell and Chane Behanan celebrate Louisville's national title (Getty Images)
ATLANTA --- Two seconds still remained in Monday night's national title game when the party began.
As a sea of delirious red-clad Louisville fans pumped their fists, exchanged high-fives and raised their arms in victory, the Cardinals players and coaches did the same on the floor in celebration of a victory more than a year in the making.
Three hundred seventy-three days after its unexpected Final Four run came crashing to a halt against a superior Kentucky team last March, Louisville experienced the same joy its rival had at the Cardinals' expense. Behind 22 points from Luke Hancock, 18 from Peyton Siva and 15 from Chane Behanan, Louisville edged Michigan 82-76 in a scintillating national title game, delivering the school's third national championship and its first since 1986.
If just getting to the Final Four for the first time in seven years made last season a clear-cut success for Louisville, the Cardinals faced greater pressure this March to finish the job. Not only did they return five of their top seven players from last season, they also entered the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 overall seed after catching fire in the second half of league play and rolling to the Big East tournament title.
Louisville won't be remembered as a dominant champion in the mold of a 2012 Kentucky or a 2009 North Carolina, but the Cardinals did not collapse under the burden of high expectations. They used Kevin Ware's gruesome broken leg as inspiration to swat away Duke in the Elite Eight, they rallied from 12 down in the second half to survive Wichita State in the Final Four and they survived an otherworldly 17-point first half from reserve Spike Albrecht to beat Michigan.
Louisville's championship bolsters the legacies of those who achieved it.
Rick Pitino elevated his status among college basketball's all-time great coaches, capturing his second national title and becoming the first coach to win a championship at two different schools.
Hancock earned the honor of most outstanding player in the Final Four, another moment for his ailing father to treasure.
Siva and NBA-bound junior Gorgui Dieng ended their college careers in an ideal fashion, celebrating a title that will ensure they'll be welcomed as heroes whenever they return to Louisville.
If the past few national title games haven't always been scintillating, this one was electric from the opening tipoff until the final buzzer.
The first half was the stuff of fairytales.
Albrecht, a 5-foot-11 freshman only in the game because of early foul trouble for Trey Burke, erupted for 17 points before halftime, allowing the Wolverines to build a 12-point lead. Hancock, another reserve playing with a heavy heart because of his father's poor health, sank four 3-pointers in two minutes to bring the Cardinals all the way back.
Some semblance of normalcy returned in the second half when stars Burke and Siva stepped to the forefront. Burke scored 17 of his 24 points in the second half and kept Michigan competitive, but Siva answered with forays to the rim of his own to keep Louisville out in front.
The game swung on a critical call against Michigan with Louisville leading by three points and only five minutes to go.
Burke appeared to cleanly block Siva on a transition dunk attempt, but referees called the Michigan guard for a foul. Siva sank the free throws, sparking a quick 9-2 blitz that gave Louisville the breathing room it needed to close out the win.
The sight of Louisville players singing along with "We Are the Champions" after the game was a stark contrast to the scene in the Louisville locker room a year ago.
Speaking in hushed tones in a somber locker room after last March's crushing loss to Kentucky, Louisville players each lamented that they couldn't replay the six minutes when their title hopes slipped through their fingers after they had rallied to tie the score at 49.
One year later, the Cardinals have atoned for that loss and finished what they started.
NCAA tournament video from Yahoo! Sports
More NCAA tournament coverage from Yahoo! Sports
? Freshman's crazy alley-oop punctuates Cardinals' first-half comeback
? Rick Pitino caught off guard by celebration fireworks
? Little-known Spike Albrecht lights up first half of title game for Michigan
? Chris Webber arrival completes Fab Five appearance at final Four
celtics nba playoffs rosario dawson young jeezy world wildlife fund gsa keith olbermann
Monday, April 8, 2013
CA-BUSINESS Summary
Canada posts worst monthly job losses in more than four years
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada posted its worst monthly jobs loss in more than four years in March, another sign the economy is struggling to cope with weak foreign markets and a strong Canadian dollar. Canada shed 54,500 positions in March, more than wiping out the 50,700 jobs that were added in February, Statistics Canada said on Friday. Market operators had expected a modest gain of 8,500 jobs.
Canada's Flaherty: big March job losses just a snapshot in time
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's job losses in March are disappointing, Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Friday, but he described the broader performance of employment since the global recession as much more positive. "After strong job growth in February I am disappointed with the job numbers announced by Statistics Canada today," Flaherty said in a statement, referring to the loss of 54,500 positions in the month.
Judge approves BofA $2.43 billion settlement over Merrill
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp
TSX in five-day losing streak on lackluster jobs data
TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index capped a five-day losing streak by slumping to its lowest in more than 3-1/2 months on Friday, led by declines in the financial sector, as gloomy Canadian and U.S. jobs data suggested the North American economy could be losing steam. The economic uncertainty weighed on oil prices, which fell to a five-month low, but a rising bullion price took gold shares higher.
China's big banks "faking" their micro loans: researcher
BOAO (Reuters) - China's big banks are not delivering on their promise to lend more to the smallest firms and are instead "faking" their micro loans, a researcher said on Saturday, suggesting a government drive to increase micro-lending is struggling. Ba Shusong, a researcher from the Development Research Center, a think-tank that advises China's cabinet, said the biggest Chinese banks are still setting tough collateral standards for small firms, who often cannot meet the demands.
IKEA halts moose lasagne sales after pork traces found
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Furniture retailer IKEA said on Saturday it had halted sales of moose lasagne after traces of pork were found in a batch of the product. Sales of the lasagne, of which about 10,000 tonnes has been produced by a Swedish supplier for IKEA, were stopped at its stores in 18 countries across Europe after tests by Belgian authorities late last month revealed traces of pork.
BizJet officers charged with bribing Latin American officials
(Reuters) - Two officers of a Lufthansa
Boeing completes 787 Dreamliner test flight for battery fix
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Boeing
Big funds pick sides as Agrium-Jana battle nears climax
TORONTO (Reuters) - Agrium Inc's fierce battle with activist investor Jana Partners could go down to the wire as Agrium's large institutional investors look to be split on who they are backing ahead of a shareholder vote at Agrium's annual meeting next week. The big Canadian fertilizer maker and farm products retailer has been locked in a war of words for months with Jana Partners, a New York-based hedge fund, over the direction the company should take. Jana has named a slate of five nominees for election to Agrium's board and the battle is now set to come to a head at Agrium's AGM on its home turf in Calgary, Alberta, on April 9.
Boeing finishes 787 testing, focus shifts to regulators
NEW YORK (Reuters) - With a successful flight on Friday, Boeing moved closer to proving that a revamped safety system can prevent batteries on its new 787 Dreamliner from catching fire or overheating, and getting back the plane into service. Friday's test flight concludes testing after little more than three weeks, and moves the Dreamliner closer to resuming passenger flights, restarting jet deliveries, and stemming millions of dollars in losses that have piled up at airlines and Boeing since the jet was grounded more than two months ago.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-business-summary-000057342--finance.html
jeremy lin game winner chocolate covered strawberries shrimp scampi kate upton si cover lobster recipes hearts flower delivery
Saturday, April 6, 2013
"Hannibal" review: The lambs have a lot on their minds
By Tim Molloy
NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - A lot of thought has gone into NBC's "Hannibal." Maybe too much thought.
Hannibal Lecter's world has always teemed with life, death, and the animalistic passions in between: death's head moths, man-eating pigs, and of course, the man-eating doctor himself. "Hannibal" builds out that world with deer that double as accessories to murder, fungi that want desperately to connect, and still more macabre insects.
The new series from "Pushing Daisies" creator Bryan Fuller, which debuts tonight, is a sort of prequel to "Red Dragon," the 1981 Thomas Harris novel that introduced us to Lecter and FBI profiler Will Graham. The story spawned the movie adaptation "Manhunter," a 1980s time capsule that is nonetheless engrossing; the unnecessary 2002 remake "Red Dragon"; and the flat-out flawless "Silence of the Lambs." It also led to the not-bad 2001 film "Hannibal" and 2007's dull "Hannibal Rising."
The TV series "Hannibal" fits into a time period somehow unexplored in any of those films or the novels that inspired them. By the time we met Lecter in "Red Dragon," he was a middle-aged prisoner, long ago locked up for murdering young women and eating them.
The delicious idea behind "Hannibal" is that we're meeting him when he's still young, free, and full of life - mostly other people's lives.
"Hannibal" is a prequel, like A&E's new "Bates Motel," that takes place in the present day despite occurring before a story we first heard decades ago.
The time-shift turns out to be a great idea. It signals to us that what we're about to see isn't necessarily part of the established Lecter canon, and may reduce some of the burden of trying to live up to "Silence of the Lambs."
"Hannibal" could have leaned on the Lecter legacy by just letting its titular character, played by Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen, make culinary puns and eat people from time to time. With his Hitler haircut, fastidious suits and slightly difficult-to-follow accent, Mikkelsen's Hannibal would demand your attention even if you didn't know about his unusual hobbies.
But the show puts Lecter in the background at the beginning - which turns out to be another good idea. It opens with the focus on Graham, played by an outstanding Hugh Dancy.
Graham is an FBI profiler - he's too unstable to be an agent - with a gift for imagining murders through the eyes of those who commit them. Would you believe he has a lot of bad dreams?
In "Silence," Lecter famously taunted Jodie Foster's Clarice Starling about her girlhood failure to save lambs from a slaughter. It's dogs, not lambs, who have Graham's sympathy on "Hannibal." We're told that he has both signs of Asperger's and "pure empathy," which may explain why he has trouble relating to people but lots of mercy for strays. He also begins to dream of deer, because of a new serial killer's particularly horrible ritual with his victims.
The focus on Graham, counterintuitive as it may seem given the show's title, is the best idea on "Hannibal."
Graham, not Lecter, seems unbalanced. The celebrated psychologist is summoned by FBI mastermind Jack Crawford (a not-so-good Laurence Fishburne) to take care of the brittle Graham.
That setup alone would be fodder for a richly entertaining show. In one scene, we watch Lecter serve Graham a protein scramble that probably contains human lungs as the two discuss their situation.
"I don't find you that interesting," says Graham.
"You will," Lecter gently replies.
It's a moment full of all the dark understatement that makes Hannibal so amusing at his best. ("I'm having an old friend for dinner," he once told Clarice, while preparing to kill and eat his former jailer.)
Mikkelsen gets a few such moments to shine, but he's at an early disadvantage, since he's playing a man trying to seem unsuspicious. Dancy has the meatier role: he's barely hanging on. Dancy's take on the character recalls William Peterson's in "Manhunter," but Dancy is more vulnerable.
He makes us admire Graham's gifts even as we pity him. And not just because we know he's walking blindly into Lecter's mental maw.
Dancy's talents are most clear in a moment with Fishburne in an FBI men's room. It's that rarest of scenes where one actor is very good and the other pretty bad. Dancy's every breath and tic feel authentic, but Fishburne tries to blow the doors off. He sets his over-the-top tone by screaming, "Use the ladies room!" at someone who walks in on their talk.
"Hannibal" has several moments that feel similarly off, in part because it's trying to do so much. Its fresh ideas include artisanal killings aplenty, involving antlers, fungus, and sometimes plain-old guns. One of the show's many intelligent touches is how jarring it is every time one of those guns is fired. For all the nightmarish violence - and there's a lot of it - it doesn't treat death lightly.
Sometimes the killings are too hard to keep straight, especially when Lecter gets in on them. This isn't a procedural, thank God, where Graham and Lecter work together to solve a crime each week. Instead, the crimes bleed across episodes and help build characters. It's a challenging approach, but one that deserves time to play out.
The problem with "Hannibal" - too many ideas - is infinitely preferable to the one that plagues similar dramas. Fox's "The Following," which also takes lots of inspiration from Harris' stories, borrows the blood and guts from "Silence," but forgets the brain and heart.
The first two Lecter books are all about empathy. Lecter understands everything, but feels little. Graham and Starling understand little, but feel too much. Starling cracks the Buffalo Bill case not with her analytical prowess, but by knowing where to look for secrets in a young girl's room.
"Hannibal" also rewards those who look closely. At one point, for example, someone points out that Graham is an expert at using insects to detect time of death.
Petersen's CSI character, Gil Grissom, did just that on "CSI." (And Fishburne replaced Petersen on "CSI." Maybe Lecter could tell us what it all represents.)
Director David Slade makes sure to provide lots of alternately gorgeous and ghastly visuals, and the show is already one of the best cast on television: Every actor has a unique and interesting look, giving the show a more realistic tone. Even some of the small roles are filled with great performers, notably "Kids in the Hall" comic genius Scott Thompson as - what else? - a CSI.
This time out, he doesn't crack any jokes.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hannibal-review-lambs-lot-minds-213342245.html
david decastro aj jenkins shea mcclellin nfl draft 2012 whitney mercilus 2012 nfl draft picks andrew luck
Madonna?s Daughter Lourdes Dating ?Homeland? Star Timothee Chalamet
Madonna’s Daughter Lourdes Dating “Homeland” Star Timothee Chalamet
Madonna’s 16-year-old daughter, Lourdes Leon, is reportedly dating Timothee Chalamet of the Showtime series “Homeland”. The teens are both attending the esteemed LaGuardia High School of Music & Performing Arts. Lourdes’ new beau plays the role of Finn on the show, the son of vice-president Walden. A source said it’s “common knowledge at the school ...
Madonna’s Daughter Lourdes Dating “Homeland” Star Timothee Chalamet Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News
marco rubio marco rubio Zero Hour Funny Valentines Chris Kyle Russian meteor Meteor Hits Russia
Shakira?s Main Men Practice Waiting Patiently
"Daddy and son waiting for Milan's passport!" Shakira captions this photo she Tweeted Friday of boyfriend Gerard Piqu? and their 10-week-old son.
Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/SO79Ym6rRMw/
duggars peter facinelli bobby rush supreme court justices 19 kids and counting danny o brien alicia silverstone
Friday, April 5, 2013
Ohio judge sentences convicted 'Craigslist' killer to death
By Kim Palmer
AKRON, Ohio (Reuters) - An Ohio judge sentenced Richard Beasley to death on Thursday for the murder of three down-on-their-luck men who responded to an ad on the Craigslist website for a non-existent job.
After Summit County Common Pleas Judge Lynne Callahan imposed the sentence, Beasley, 53, told her he believed the convictions would be reversed and he would be found innocent.
"I want to make sure you understand: I have killed nobody," said Beasley, who was wearing prison red and white stripes and sitting in a wheelchair.
Beasley was convicted in March of kidnapping and killing David Pauley, 51, of Norfolk, Virginia; Ralph Geiger, 56, of Akron; and Timothy Kern, 47, of Massillon, Ohio.
He also was convicted of the attempted murder of Scott Davis, 49, a South Carolina man who answered a Craigslist ad and was shot in the arm while escaping after meeting Beasley and a teenage accomplice, Brogan Rafferty.
Jurors had unanimously recommended that Beasley be sentenced to death. Under Ohio law, the judge had the option of imposing the death penalty or sentencing him to life in prison.
(Reporting by Kim Palmer; Writing by David Bailey; Editing by Scott Malone and Doina Chiacu)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ohio-judge-sentences-convicted-craigslist-killer-death-142010846.html
American Airlines the Who jon bon jovi jon bon jovi Kliff Kingsbury Amish Mafia Dave Grohl
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Too early for 2016? Not for Hillary Clinton's fans
Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton addresses the Vital Voices Global Partnership 2013 Global Leadership Awards gala at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Tuesday, April 2, 2013. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton addresses the Vital Voices Global Partnership 2013 Global Leadership Awards gala at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Tuesday, April 2, 2013. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Vice President Joe Biden and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton appear onstage at the Vital Voices Global Partnership 2013 Global Leadership Awards gala at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Tuesday, April 2, 2013. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Vital Voices Global Partnership 2013 Global Leadership Award recipients raise their arms at the end of the gala at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Tuesday, April 2, 2013. From left, Melanne Verveer, co-founder of Vital Voices, Tep Vanny, of Cambodia, Leadership in Public Life Award, Sandra Gomes Melo, Brazil, Human Rights Award, and Manal Yaish Zraig, Palestine, Economic Empowerment Award. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Vice President Joe Biden addresses the Vital Voices Global Partnership 2013 Global Leadership Awards gala at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Tuesday, April 2, 2013. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Hillary Rodham Clinton stayed on safe political ground Tuesday, advocating women's rights globally in a 12-minute speech, but that was enough to excite fans imploring the former first lady, senator and secretary of state to run again for president three years from now.
Clinton, perhaps as popular as ever in her 22 years in national politics, said she has "unwavering faith in the untapped potential of women and girls." She spoke at the Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards, at Washington's Kennedy Center. The event, highlighting efforts such as expanding education for girls and fighting domestic violence worldwide, marked her first public speech since ending her much-praised stint as secretary of state.
As members of the group Ready for Hillary cheered outside, the 2016 political buzz was inevitable. Vice President Joe Biden ? another potential Democratic candidate ? spoke later at the same event.
If Clinton has any jealousy, she didn't show it. She praised Biden effusively, especially for his role in Congress' recent renewal of the Violence Against Women Act.
Biden returned the compliment a half-hour later, after Clinton had left the stage, telling the mostly female audience of more than 2,000 that "there's no woman like Hillary Clinton."
Biden said Clinton's declaration in China nearly two decades ago ? "Women's rights are human rights," she said at the time ? "still echoes forcefully around the world." Women everywhere, he said, "are entitled to every single opportunity that any man is."
Clinton, 65, has said she has no plans for a second presidential bid, but she hasn't ruled it out. Democrats argue among themselves whether she has the desire and energy to go through the grueling campaign process she knows so well. But many see her as a prohibitive favorite whose head start would be so big that other potential candidates might starve for funds and attention.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll in January found that 67 percent of Americans held a favorable view of Clinton. That's her highest rating since the poll began measuring her popularity in the 1990s. It spans her eight years in the Senate.
"It's hard to overstate the breadth and depth of enthusiasm for a Hillary run," said Doug Hattaway, a former Clinton campaign aide and now a Washington-based consultant. She built a national base of supporters in 2008, when she lost a hard-fought nomination fight to Barack Obama, and she's widely respected after her turn heading the State Department, Hattaway said.
"A lot of donors, volunteers and potential campaign workers will wait to hear what she decides before committing to other candidates," he said, although "anyone with their eye on 2016 is already working on it."
Mo Elleithee, a top spokesman for Clinton's 2008 campaign, said it's much too early to press her for an answer.
"My advice to everyone is to chill out," Elleithee said. "There's no need for all this breathless anticipation at this point," he said, and political activists should focus on next year's mid-term elections.
Noting that Clinton said she has no intention of running, he said, "I think that's where her head is." But he said he shares "the enthusiasm" for a Clinton candidacy.
There may be no one in America with a clearer view of what it takes to run for president.
Clinton was a highly visible adviser and defender of her husband, Bill, then the Arkansas governor, when he was elected president in 1992 in 1996. Her eight years as first lady included the excruciating Monica Lewinsky scandal and her husband's impeachment.
On the same day her husband's successor was elected, Clinton handily won a Senate seat from New York. She breezed to re-election in 2006 and was the early favorite for the 2008 presidential nomination.
But Obama used his early opposition to the Iraq war, plus a keen understanding of how to win small states' delegates, to outmaneuver the Clinton team. Obama promptly tapped his former rival to be secretary of state, assuring Clinton another prime post at the center of national policy and politics.
Some Democrats want the party to look to younger candidates, noting that Clinton will turn 69 shortly before Election Day 2016, and Biden will turn 74 soon after. Those drawing notice include New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, 55, and Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, 50.
As runner-up in the 2008 Democratic primary, Clinton arguably is the party's heir apparent. Republicans, not Democrats, typically nominate the next-in-line contender.
With the early GOP presidential picture wildly scrambled, it's possible that Republicans will tap a newer, younger nominee while Democrats consider one of the nation's best-known figures, and certainly the most high-profile female politician.
Clinton is scheduled to speak Friday at the Women in the World Summit in New York.
Associated Presswal mart happy thanksgiving Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade 2012 Turkey Cooking Times Butterball mashed potatoes Apple Black Friday
Monday, April 1, 2013
Mike McLelland, Kaufman County District Attorney, Found Dead With Wife In Texas Home
Sandy Hook Elementary
Molly Delaney, left, holds her 11-year-old daughter, Milly Delaney, during a service in honor of the victims who died a day earlier when a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., as people gathered at St. John's Episcopal Church , Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012, in the Sandy Hook village of Newtown, Conn. The massacre of 26 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary school elicited horror and soul-searching around the world even as it raised more basic questions about why the gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, would have been driven to such a crime and how he chose his victims.
Clackamas Town Center
A security guard looks over the food court at the Clackamas Town Center mall as it opens, on Friday, Dec 14, 2012 in Portland, Ore. The mall is reopening, three days after a gunman killed two people and wounded a third amid a holiday shopping crowd estimated at 10,000. The shooter, Jacob Tyler Roberts, killed himself after the attack Tuesday afternoon.
St. Vincent's Hospital Shooting
Birmingham police arrive at the scene of a shooting at St. Vincent's Hospital on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012 in Birmingham, Ala. Authorities in Alabama say a man opened fire the hospital, wounding an officer and two employees before he was fatally shot by police. Birmingham Police Sgt. Johnny Williams says the officer and employees suffered injuries that are not considered life-threatening.
Sikh Temple Shooting
Mourners attend the funeral and memorial service for the six victims of the Sikh temple of Wisconsin mass shooting in Oak Creek, Wis., Friday, Aug 10, 2012. The public service was held in the Oak Creek High School. Three other people were wounded in the shooting last Sunday at the temple. Wade Michael Page, 40, killed five men and one woman, and injured two other men. Authorities say Page then ambushed the first police officer who responded, shooting him nine times and leaving him in critical condition. A second officer then shot Page in the stomach, and Page took his own life with a shot to the head. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)
July 2012: Aurora, Colorado
A policeman stands outside a Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colo., where a heavily armed man opened fire, killing at least 12 people and injuring 50 others.
May 2012: Seattle, Wash.
Friends, family and employees react after a shooting at Cafe Racer in Seattle on May 30, 2012. A lone gunman killed four people Wednesday -- three were shot to death at a cafe, and a fourth in a carjacking. The gunman later killed himself.
April 2012: Oakland, California
Alameda County Community Food Bank workers move a memorial from a parking spot next to Oikos University in Oakland, Calif., Monday, April 23, 2012. Some students and staff members have arrived to resume class at Oikus University, the small California Christian college where seven people were shot to death earlier in April.
November 2010: Fort Hood, Texas
Panou Xiong, center, is comforted by family and friends following a Remembrance Ceremony commemorating the one-year anniversary of the worst mass shooting on a U.S. military base, where 13 people were killed and dozens wounded,, Nov. 5, 2010 in Fort Hood, Texas. Xiong's son, Pfc. Kham Xiong, was killed in the shooting.
March 2009: Kinston, Alabama
The charred Kinston, Ala. living room where suspected gunman Michael McLendon allegedly killed his mother Lisa McLendon, is photographed Wednesday, March 11, 2009. Authorities were working Wednesday to learn why a gunman set off on a rampage, killing 10 people across two rural Alabama counties.
August 2007: Blacksburg, Va.
An unidentified family member of slain Virginia Tech student Daniel Alejandro Prez Cueva, pauses at his memorial stone after the dedication of the memorial for the victims of the Virginia Tech shooting in Blacksburg, Va., Sunday, Aug. 19, 2007. More than 10,000 people gathered on the main campus lawn as Virginia Tech dedicated 32 memorial stones for those killed by a student in a mass shooting on campus last April.
April 1999: Littleton, Colo.
This aerial shows the news media compound near Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., April 21, 1999. Media from around the world poured into the area after 15 people were killed during a shooting spree inside the school.
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/30/mike-mclelland-found-dead_n_2986663.html
jim irsay the new ipad apple announcement indianapolis colts joseph kony joseph kony ipad 3 release date
Okay, April Fool's 2013 Is Happening
Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/3Z8-o85hsD4/okay-april-fools-2013-is-happening
Serena Williams beats Sharapova in Sony Open final
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP) ? Serena Williams danced to the crowd's roar, spinning and grinning, hopping and waving, then spinning some more.
If her victory celebration on the stadium court seemed well-rehearsed, it was. She earned a record sixth Key Biscayne women's title Saturday by beating familiar foil Maria Sharapova 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 at the Sony Open.
Sharapova set a new standard for futility in finals. She completed a career Grand Slam by winning the French Open last year, and won Indian Wells two weeks ago, but she's now 0-5 in Key Biscayne finals.
Sharapova playing nearly flawless tennis for an hour, before her serve and groundstrokes began to lose steam. Williams swept the last 10 games and faltered only during the trophy ceremony.
"I felt good today," she told the crowd with the smile. "It's so good to be No. 6 now ? I mean, the six-time ? oh, gosh. Thank you."
At 31, the No. 1-ranked Williams became the oldest female champion at Key Biscayne. She won the tournament for the first time since 2008 and surpassed Steffi Graf, a five-time champion.
"Serena played a great match," Sharapova said. "I'm sure we'll be playing a few more times this year."
Sharapova didn't sound thrilled by the prospect, with good reason. She has lost 11 consecutive matches against Williams and hasn't beaten her since 2004.
The men's finalists are familiar foes, too. On Sunday, 2009 champion Andy Murray will play frequent practice partner David Ferrer, who is trying to become the first Spaniard to win the men's title.
The women's final began at high noon in sunny, mild weather, and the quality of shotmaking matched the conditions in the early going. The aggressive style of both players made for slam-bang points, and the occasional long rallies had a near-capacity crowd gasping at their ferocity.
As they battled from the baseline, Sharapova built a lead by keeping Williams on the defensive, and kissed the line with a winner on consecutive points to break for a 3-2 advantage in the second set.
"I just was like, 'Serena, are you really going to get to the final and not play up to your potential?'" Williams said. "I don't think I was as energized as I could be."
Then came the turnaround. Williams ratcheted up the power, began feasting on Sharapova's tentative second serve and broke back at love, then took advantage of two double-faults by Sharapova to break again.
Williams lives 2 hours up I-95 in Palm Beach Gardens, and she made herself right at home in the final set, losing only 10 points.
"That's why she's No. 1 in the world," Sharapova said. "She's really capable of doing that. I was controlling a lot of the points in the first set and the beginning of the second. Then toward the end, I wasn't there."
Williams' late surge won cheers from the crowd, which included her sister, three-time champion Venus.
Sharapova made 80 percent of her first serves early on but finished at 63. Williams converted all seven break-point chances and had a 35-13 advantage in winners.
But Williams' standards are high, and in her postmatch news conference, she sounded as though she had lost.
"Today wasn't my day, I don't think," she said. "Maria played really the best I have seen her play, and I think she was moving unbelievable, and she was hitting winners from everywhere."
It wasn't Williams' first test this week. She trailed Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 4-1 before rallying in the fourth round, and was annoyed to hit six double-faults in the quarterfinals.
"I'm happy to be holding the championship," she said. "It's definitely not my best tournament. I think everyone here can agree. But those are the moments that count ? when you can still come out on top."
She'll remain No. 1 and Sharapova No. 2 next week. Williams is the first No. 1-seeded woman to win the title since she was champion in 2004.
Williams' other titles at Key Biscayne came in 2002, '03, '07 and '08. Sharapova was runner-up in 2005, '06, '11 and '12.
"It's tough to lose in the final stage, because you work so hard to get there," Sharapova said. "But the more I give myself this opportunity, the better chance I have of winning."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/serena-williams-beats-sharapova-sony-open-final-183546746--spt.html
What is a Jesuit nbc news pi day Samsung Galaxy S4 St Francis Anquan Boldin Pope Benedict
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Bank of Cyprus big savers to lose up to 60 percent
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) ? Big depositors at Cyprus' largest bank may be forced to accept losses of up to 60 percent, far more than initially estimated under the European rescue package to save the country from bankruptcy, officials said Saturday.
Deposits of more than 100,000 euros ($128,000) at the Bank of Cyprus will lose 37.5 percent in money that will be converted into bank shares, according to a central bank statement. In a second raid on these accounts, depositors also could lose up to 22.5 percent more, depending on what experts determine is needed to prop up the bank's reserves. The experts will have 90 days to figure that out.
The remaining 40 percent of big deposits at the Bank of Cyprus will be "temporarily frozen for liquidity reasons," but continue to accrue existing levels of interest plus another 10 percent, the central bank said.
The savings converted to bank shares would theoretically allow depositors to eventually recover their losses. But the shares now hold little value and it's uncertain when ? if ever ? the shares will regain a value equal to the depositors' losses.
Emergency laws passed last week empower Cypriot authorities to take these actions.
Analysts said Saturday that imposing bigger losses on Bank of Cyprus customers could further squeeze already crippled businesses as Cyprus tries to rebuild its banking sector in exchange for the international rescue package.
Sofronis Clerides, an economics professor at the University of Cyprus, said: "Most of the damage will be done to businesses which had their money in the bank" to pay suppliers and employees. "There's quite a difference between a 30 percent loss and a 60 percent loss." With businesses shrinking, Cyprus could be dragged down into an even deeper recession, he said.
Clerides accused some of the 17 European countries that use the euro of wanting to see the end of Cyprus as an international financial services center and to send the message that European taxpayers will no longer shoulder the burden of bailing out problem banks.
But German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble challenged that notion, insisting in an interview with the Bild daily published Saturday that "Cyprus is and remains a special, isolated case" and doesn't point the way for future European rescue programs.
Europe has demanded that big depositors in Cyprus' two largest banks ? Bank of Cyprus and Laiki Bank ? accept across-the-board losses in order to pay for the nation's 16 billion euro ($20.5 billion) bailout. All deposits of up to 100,000 are safe, meaning that a saver with 500,000 euros in the bank will only suffer losses on the remaining 400,000 euros.
Cypriot officials had previously said that large savers at Laiki ? which will be absorbed in to the Bank of Cyprus ? could lose as much as 80 percent. But they had said large accounts at the Bank of Cyprus would lose only 30 to 40 percent.
Asked about Saturday's announcement, University of Cyprus political scientist Antonis Ellinas predicted that unemployment, currently at 15 percent, will "probably go through the roof" over the next few years.
"It means that (people) ... have to accept a major haircut to their way of life and their standard of living. The social impact is yet to be realized, but they will be enormous in terms of social unrest and radical social phenomenon," Ellinas said.
There's also concern that large depositors ? including many wealthy Russians ? will take their money and run once capital restrictions that Cypriot authorities have imposed on bank transactions to prevent such a possibility are lifted in about a month.
Cyprus agreed on Monday to make bank depositors with accounts over 100,000 euros contribute to the financial rescue in order to secure 10 billion euros ($12.9 billion) in loans from the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund. Cyprus needed to scrounge up 5.8 billion euros ($7.4 billion) on its own in order to clinch the larger package, and banks had remained shut for nearly two weeks until politicians hammered out a deal, opening again on Thursday.
But fearing that savers would rush to pull their money out in mass once banks reopened, Cypriot authorities imposed a raft of restrictions, including daily withdrawal limits of 300 euros ($384) for individuals and 5,000 euros for businesses ? the first so-called capital controls that any country has applied in the eurozone's 14-year history.
The rush didn't materialize as Cypriots appeared to take the measures in stride, lining up patiently to do their business and defying dire predictions of scenes of pandemonium.
Under the terms of the bailout deal, the country' second largest bank, Laiki ? which sustained the most damaged from bad Greek debt and loans ? is to be split up, with its nonperforming loans and toxic assets going into a "bad bank." The healthy side will be absorbed into the Bank of Cyprus.
On Saturday, economist Stelios Platis called the rescue plan "completely mistaken" and criticized Cyprus' euro partners for insisting on foisting Laiki's troubles on the Bank of Cyprus.
____
AP business correspondent Geir Moulson in Berlin and APTN reporter Adam Pemble in Nicosia contributed.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bank-cyprus-big-savers-lose-60-percent-135608668--finance.html
joe biden michelle obama lupe fiasco jason wu jason wu Mavericks Surf Stonewall
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Sony speakers combine NFC and WiFi / Bluetooth for minimal streaming effort
The whole syncing thing proving too much effort for your music listening habits? Fear not -- two new streaming speakers from Sony are embracing the world of near field communication to take some of the trouble out of playback. The speakers come in two flavors -- the CMT-BT60B does Bluetooth streaming and the similarly alphanumeric CMT-BT80WB will stream via Bluetooth, WiFi or AirPlay. Both speakers feature aux inputs and USB for charging (and playback, in the case of the BT80WB). As for, you know, making sound, both feature Magnetic Fluid Speakers and S-Master amplifiers. They'll be hitting parts of Europe in May and the UK in June.
Filed under: Sony
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/X-QV-BeET9E/
meryl streep oscars school shooting ohio billy crystal oscar winners 2012 billy crystal oscars 2012 angelina jolie oscars chardon high school
Friday, March 29, 2013
My Purchases Shows You the Android Apps You've Bought (Because Google Won't)
Android (2.2+): For whatever reason, Google can't or won't filter the apps you've installed in your orders & settings to show just the paid-for apps. If you want to see what you've spent, for guilt or accounting purposes, the My Purchases app does the job.
My Purchases could definitely stand to improve in its next few updates. There only a few minimal options, to filter out canceled purchases or apps you have installed at that moment. And the only sorting is reverse chronological, though the app did catch everything I had bought from my primary account. For those simply looking to check up on their buying history, it's an app that does just what it should.
My Purchases' free version has advertising, while the $1.29 paid version removes the advertising.
Update: Whoops! Looks like we already posted this app yesterday. Sorry about the duplicate news, everyone!
My Purchases | Google Play
tax day april 17 boston marathon tu pac hologram shuttle pippa middleton space shuttle discovery
The World's Debts Shall Not Be Repaid - The Bullet | Socialist Project
?On the eve of the crisis, the bourgeois, with the self-sufficiency that springs from intoxicating prosperity, declares money to be a vain imagination. Commodities alone are money. But now the cry is everywhere: money alone is a commodity! As the hart pants after fresh water, so pants his soul after money, the only wealth.?
? Capital, Karl Marx.
When bankers, industrialists and their lobbyists talk about debt, they have state debt in mind. When politicians of powerful states talk about debt, they have the debt of less powerful states in mind. This is how the concentrated power of money and politics push countries like Ireland, Greece, Italy, and now Cyprus, toward the precipice of collapse, force changes of government and the sale of public assets to foreign creditors. That a debt problem exists in these countries is beyond doubt. Yet this is not just a problem of public, but also of private indebtedness. Indeed other countries, among them some of Italy's and Greece's creditors, are themselves even deeper in the red.
In 2009, the year of the global economic crisis, the debt-to-GDP ratios of Greece and Italy were 243 and 315 per cent, respectively. This comprises not only state debt but also the accumulated debts of industrial and financial corporations, as well as that of households. In other words, in order to free itself from debt, the entire net production of the Greek economy of the next two and a half years would need to flow into debt servicing. In Italy more than three years of economic production would be required exclusively for debt reduction. This is of course not possible. Even the austerity commissars in Berlin, Brussels and Paris realize that at a minimum necessary repairs to capital stocks and infrastructure must be undertaken, if the repayment of outstanding debts is not to come to a standstill.
For the same reason, workers must at least receive some minimal payment for their labour, and, in any case, the profits of Greek and Italian capitalists are not being targeted for elimination. Accordingly, only a portion of current production can be put toward debt reduction. Even the sale of state assets contributes little to this end since the market for such assets at a time of debt crisis is glutted and the going prices are correspondingly low. That all the efforts at savings and austerity contribute little to reductions in debt is of course also due to the fact that such measures lead to reduced demand and with it to further contractions in the economy. Value creation, from which the largest portion of debt service must be diverted, is reduced.
The 2009 recession in Greece, due not the least to a considerable expansion in state expenditure, resulted in a relatively mild economic contraction of -3.2 per cent. In Germany economic growth contracted by -5.1 per cent. While most countries of the capitalist north once again recorded slightly positive economic growth in 2010, the austerity measures decreed by the EU and IMF drove the Greek economy further downwards: -3.5 per cent in 2010, -2.8 per cent in 2012, and for this year a contraction of -5.1 per cent is predicted. It is to be expected that these estimates will be revised further downwards.
Haircuts?
In view of such dim prospects, demands for a debt haircut are also being heard from creditor circles. Indeed it's better to write-off a portion of outstanding debt while still being able to pocket repayment and interest on the rest, than to risk state bankruptcy and lose it all. The latest rescue package agreed upon by the EU for Greece, that is to say, for its creditors, even provides for debt relief of 50 per cent. Though concretely on this score, in contrast to the required budget cuts also negotiated, debt relief is still not in the cards. One reason why is that private creditors are still haggling over the assistance from state coffers granted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former French President Nicolas Sarkozy. So long as this keeps working for them, any planned debt relief transforms into a detour of debt servicing from Greece to the taxpayers of Germany and France ? for the benefit of Deutsche Bank, Soci?t? G?n?rale and Co.
With corresponding demands the bankers are creating the type of debtor liability within the Eurozone, which according to the Maastricht Treaty ? the blueprint for European monetary union ? was not at all to be permitted, and against which right-wing populist politicians zealously shriek. Finance capital, which Europe created in the 1980s in the name of free trade and democracy, is fostering a right-wing populist surge, which promises to halt the transfer of debt from one country to another in the name of national sovereignty.
Debt Redistribution
A hopeless undertaking, to say the least. Compared to the total debts accrued during the decades of neoliberal capitalism, the state debts of Greece and Italy look rather modest. A few figures help to illustrate the point. Japan's debt-to-GDP ratio was 471 per cent in 2009, for the United Kingdom it was 466 per cent, of which 194 per cent comprised that of the financial sector, for France it was 323 per cent, for the United States 296 per cent, and for Germany 285 per cent. As noted above, Greece's debt-to-GDP ratio stood at 243 per cent. If we take a glance at the growth of this mountain of debt over time, it becomes clear that this mountain cannot be paid off. In 1980, at the beginning of the neoliberal era, Japan's total indebtedness was 244 per cent of GDP, ten years later it was 391 per cent; Japan's economy has been stagnant since the start of the 1990s but its debt load increased to the already indicated level of 471 per cent. Instead of debt reduction, a redistribution of debt has taken place in the last decade. While private households, industrial and financial corporations managed to reduce their share of total debt, the portion of state debt has steadily increased.
To take another example: during the twenty years of Japanese stagnation China recorded economic growth rates of between 7 and 14 per cent. Yet even these world record growth rates sufficed only to prevent debt levels from increasing further. In 2000 they stood at 156 per cent of GDP, in 2009 they were at 159 per cent. Compared to other countries this is a very modest level. When we consider however that it was only in the 1980s that China set out on its long march toward capitalism, when the older capitalists in other countries had already laid the foundations for the accumulation of debt, this 159 per cent also appears in a different light.
However we may wish to twist or turn it the fact remains that in neoliberal capitalism, though the talk is of debt reduction, the actual practice has been the accumulation of debt. As long as stock markets continued their upward trajectory this fact could be concealed, or rather, sugar-coated. The more credit that one took on, the more stocks and financial securities one could buy. Rising stock markets were taken as proof of growing wealth. That the increase in the prices of stocks and financial securities was, in the first instance, the result of credit-financed demand for such investments; and secondly, at best an expression of the increasing creation of value (economic growth), disturbed no one in the heat of the stock market surge. Debt service? Not a problem. One could simply borrow against the rising value of stock market wealth and with this money meet every payment obligation ? at least until things become too hot for some banks and they demanded higher interest for further credit. At this point the demand for credit for the purchase of stocks and financial securities collapsed, as well as the readiness of banks to extend such credit. All at once borrowers ? be they private companies, households or the state ? realized that their wealth and income no longer sufficed to fulfil their existing payment obligations. This realization struck at the beginning of the crisis as incomes sank, and attempts to meet debt service obligations with money raised from the sale of assets failed, as all at once the entire world tried to hawk its junk assets. Only the bold absorption of new loans by the paternal state, and the stated promise to service outstanding loans with tax money as required, prevented the total collapse of the global economy; or rather, confined the economic crisis to smaller countries like Greece.
Chill Out Room
The shaken power of money and politics has now reached the point where it knows that the extension of austerity ? la grecque to the rest of the world would lead to global economic collapse, but it is nevertheless at a loss for ideas. A few audacious individuals dream of a new stock market rally. The transformation of state debt into tradable securities, as was discussed in the context of the euro rescue package under the term ?leverage,? points in this direction. Yet the mood is not conducive to inspiring any partying. Most investors are taking their money, which was rescued with state credit and guarantees, off the dance floor of the stock market and into the chill out room. A few stalwart Keynesians are calling for inflation to help reduce debt. But the investors in the chill out room would quickly awaken and demand monetary policies that defend the value of their money; yet nevertheless the total value of their assets already suffered greatly from the crisis. If they were to start screaming bloody murder at the slight loss in value a 5 per cent inflation rate would bring with it, their approval for further debt haircuts is certainly much less to be expected. They would much rather freeze their assets, that is to say, withdraw them from financial circuits than to have them pruned by finance ministries. Outside of these circuits, which after all open access to the surplus values produced annually, these assets are indeed worth nothing, but unsettled investors do not wish to think so far ahead.
The rest of society however might want to take a chance on this. If private financial circuits are unreliable at best, and at worst they collapse and real economic growth gets buried under a stack of newly worthless financial assets, then it is time to build an economy independent of private financial wealth. A first step in that direction would consist in the socialization of the financial sector so that access to financial resources for investments in socially necessary economic sectors no longer depend on the hopes for profit, and the fears of collapse of the holders of private wealth.
One problem with this is of course that sections of the working-class, particularly in the Anglo-Saxon countries where pension contributions flow entirely into financial markets, will be as unenthusiastic about a socialization of the financial sector as the richest ten thousand. Those who prohibit reductions in pensions in the name of socialism, but want to adhere to the idea of debt relief, must also discuss the equitable distribution of socially produced wealth. Socialism in one sector, indeed in one as important as the financial sector, will not work; except as the first step to a socialist transformation of production and distribution of socially necessary goods and services. Until the way there is found, the sword of Damocles of the next financial crisis hangs over Athens, Rome and the rest of the world. ?
Ingo Schmidt is an economist, a writer, and a labour educator. He is the Coordinator of the Labour Studies Program at Athabasca University. His latest book, co-edited with Bryan Evans is Social Democracy After the Cold War, (AU Press, 2012). This article originally appeared in German. Translation by Sam Putinja.
Source: http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/791.php
kowloon walled city ronda rousey vs miesha tate lindsay lohan snl lindsay lohan on snl real housewives of disney awakenings phantom of the opera
NYC appeals ruling striking down soda size limit
NEW YORK (AP) ? New York City is asking appeals judges to reinstate a ban on supersized sodas and other sugary drinks, which was struck down by a Manhattan judge the day before it was to go into effect.
The city had vowed an appeal and said Thursday that lawyers had filed it late Monday.
In his decision on March 11, State Supreme Court Justice Milton Tingling said the 16-ounce limit on sodas and other sweet drinks arbitrarily applies to only some sugary beverages and some places that sell them.
"The loopholes in this rule effectively defeat the stated purpose of this rule," Tingling wrote in his ruling, which was seen as a victory for the beverage industry, restaurants and other business groups that called the ban unfair.
In addition, the judge said the Mayor Michael Bloomberg-appointed Board of Health intruded on the City Council's authority when it imposed the rule.
In its appeal, the city disputed those points.
"The rule is designed to make consumption of large amounts of sugary drinks a conscious and informed choice by the consumer," it said. "Thus, although a consumer is free to consume more than 16 ounces by ordering a second drink, getting a refill, or going to another store, he or she will be making an informed choice."
The city also said the Board of Health had legislative authority, and "is empowered to issue substantive rules and standards in public health."
Said American Beverage Association spokesman Christopher Gindlesperger, referring to the initial decision overturning the ban, "We feel the justice's decision was strong and we're confident in the ruling."
Also on Thursday, the city announced that other organizations had filed legal briefs in support of the city's appeal. Those organizations include the National Alliance for Hispanic Health and the National Association of Local Boards of Health, as well as 30 others.
Bloomberg has made public health a cornerstone of his administration, from requiring calorie counts to be posted on menus and barring trans fats in restaurant foods.
Associated Pressmultiple sclerosis falling skies rodney king Webb Simpson Fathers Day Quotes Stevie J mothers day 2012
Spanning And Mozy Team Up, A Storage Marriage With Investment Questions Galore
Last week, ?Spanning, a Google Apps backup service, announced a $6 million investment from an unnamed strategic investor.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/QUAsYAZqyp0/
abercrombie Aeropostale Jcpenny ohio state football cyber monday lupus iCarly
Zero Motorcycles adds former BMW Mottorad exec de Waal to board ...
Home > News > Zero Motorcycles adds former BMW Mottorad exec de Waal to board 
March 28, 2013
Filed under News, Top Stories
News release
Zero Motorcycles, the global leader in the electric motorcycle industry, today announced an addition to its Board of Directors, naming Pieter de Waal as its newest member. De Waal comes to Zero with more than 30 years of business, engineering and sales experience in both the automotive and motorcycle industries. This includes stints with Nissan, Delta (GM) and Mercedes Benz and, more recently, at BMW Motorrad as North American Vice President. In addition to his Board position, he will also consult Zero on future strategies, including powertrain initiatives.
?We?re thrilled to have someone with Pieter?s wealth of experience with BMW Motorrad, the motorcycle division at BMW, joining the Zero Board of Directors,? said Richard Walker, CEO of Zero Motorcycles. ?His counsel will be invaluable as we enter our next phase of growth to further solidify Zero?s position as market leaders in the electric motorcycle marketplace.?
As the newest member on the Board of Directors, de Waal brings to Zero a passion for motorcycles, an impressive track record and an international perspective, having served as head of BMW?s motorcycle operations in South Africa, the United Kingdom and later in Munich as head of sales and marketing worldwide. ?I am excited to be part of Zero Motorcycles,? said de Waal. ?I believe that electric vehicles will play an important role in our future and Zero has the resources, drive and pioneering spirit to help make that future an exciting reality.?
De Waal?s selection as board member builds to the strength of the team at Zero Motorcycles. Zero Motorcycles has consciously sought to team senior executives with motorcycle industry experience along with leaders from other high tech fields to create the ideal blend of background and experience for success in this dynamic new and emerging consumer market.
pittsburgh steelers seattle seahawks ryan tannehill cispa space shuttle new york courtney upshaw catch me if you can
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)