Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/302407345?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Monday, April 29, 2013
Analysis: Tax strategy may be key to Verizon Wireless deal
By Kevin Drawbaugh and Nanette Byrnes
(Reuters) - Verizon Communications Inc's chances of buying the 45-percent stake in Verizon Wireless owned by the UK's Vodafone Group Plc will hinge, at least in part, on the quality of tax advice it is getting.
Verizon, the No. 2 U.S. telecommunications company, may have found a way to structure a purchase of the stake so that Vodafone can avoid a multi-billion dollar U.S. capital gains tax bill, sources familiar with Verizon's plans said. The possibility of a huge tax bill has previously been regarded by analysts as a big hurdle to any such deal.
Reuters reported last Wednesday that Verizon was preparing a bid worth about $100 billion to take full control of Verizon Wireless - it already owns the other 55 percent - by buying the stake, according to people familiar with the matter. There are no guarantees that Vodafone will want to sell its stake or that Verizon will pursue the plan.
Vodafone declined to comment on the possibility of a Verizon bid for its stake or on the tax question.
One person familiar with the situation said Vodafone cannot consider the size of any tax payout in a possible transaction until the company has received an offer, which it has not.
A Verizon spokesman declined to comment.
Verizon hopes that if it structures a transaction to eliminate much of the tax bill, it can encourage Vodafone to come to the table for talks. Some analysts and investors say Verizon may have to pay as much as $130 billion to clinch the deal.
The tax bill on $100-billion deal, based on a simple acquisition of the stake, would be about $38 billion, according to UBS Investment Research. It could be much higher if the deal's price-tag rises above that figure, UBS noted.
That tax bill is based on the massive growth Verizon Wireless has experienced since it was established 13 years ago. The 45-percent stake that Verizon Communications wants to buy is owned by Vodafone Americas, a U.S. holding company. Given it is a U.S. entity, if Vodafone Americas were to sell that stake outright it would have to pay the full capital gains tax on the stake.
But the sources said Verizon Communications is contemplating a two-part deal that could avoid this. Instead of buying the stake outright, the sources said, Verizon Communications would buy the Delaware-based Vodafone Americas. Analysts said the seller of Vodafone Americas would not be a U.S.-based entity, so no U.S. capital gains tax would be due.
Vodafone's international structure is complicated, involving many holding companies, and the precise ownership of some assets is unclear. Vodafone Americas also owns some of Vodafone's non-US assets, the sources said, probably including some in Germany and Spain. These would be sold back to Vodafone by Verizon Communications, which would keep the Verizon Wireless stake, they said.
The two transactions could be done simultaneously or one after the other.
While the sale of the Verizon Wireless stake would not incur capital gains tax, the sale of the international assets back to Vodafone would. This is because it would involve the sale of assets by Verizon Communications, a U.S. entity.
Compared to Verizon Wireless, the smaller international assets are thought to have gained little in value. Analysts estimated their sale could hit Verizon Communications with a U.S. tax bill of about $5 billion or less.
The sources said that Verizon would seek to pass any tax hit onto Vodafone in the two-part transaction.
LONG COURTSHIP
Verizon has long coveted its partner Vodafone's stake in the Verizon Wireless joint venture, which started operations in 2000.
The last time the two came close to a deal was in 2004, when Vodafone bid for AT&T Wireless. The British company, the world's second-largest mobile operator, however, lost that bid to Cingular and has since held on to the Verizon Wireless stake for its exposure to the U.S. wireless market.
Wall Street analysts had previously seen it as unlikely that Verizon would want to do a deal involving Vodafone Americas' international assets. But those assets have underperformed in recent years when compared with the growth of Verizon Wireless, and are now a smaller part of the holding company, reducing the potential tax hit.
However, the timing of Verizon's interest in doing the deal has more to do with the gains in its stock price and low interest rates, the sources stressed.
Verizon is considering paying about half of the purchase price in cash and half in stock, Reuters reported on Wednesday. That means it may look to raise around $50 billion in debt.
UK TAX QUESTION
The kind of deal structure envisaged would still leave Vodafone with another tax question, said UK academics and analysts: Should it leave the proceeds from any sale offshore or bring them home to the UK?
Leaving the money offshore might invite scrutiny from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, which sometimes questions transactions if they seem designed solely to avoid tax and are not based in an underlying economic logic, said Prems Sikka, professor of accounting at the University of Essex in the UK.
If the transaction were shaped the way the sources have described it, Vodafone would probably repatriate the proceeds into Britain, said Charles Merriman, managing director at Merriman Capital Transactions, a consultancy in London.
Once that was done, he said, the company might be able to reduce its tax bill by taking advantage of the UK's substantial shareholdings exemption. Under certain conditions, this exempts from UK corporation taxation any gains realized when one company disposes of shares in another company.
More broadly, though, Vodafone could face a political backlash in the UK from any deal that was clearly structured to avoid taxation, said Robin Bienenstock, senior analyst at Bernstein Research.
U.S. companies such as Starbucks, Amazon and Google have come under fire from British lawmakers for using legal maneuvers to cut their tax bills in the UK.
"The problem with tax is not just the technical ability to avoid it, but the scorched earth that trying to avoid it could leave with the UK government afterwards," said Bienenstock. "Recent tax cases in the UK ... suggest that an attempt to avoid tax on such a large and high profile deal would be very badly received."
(Reporting by Kevin Drawbaugh in Washington, D.C. and Nanette Byrnes in Chapel Hill, N.C.; Additional reporting by Kate Holton and Tom Bergin in London; So Young Kim and Paritosh Bansal in New York; Editing by Martin Howell)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-tax-strategy-may-key-verizon-wireless-deal-050341644.html
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Lawyers, public chant "hang him" as Bangladesh building owner led to court
By Ruma Paul and Serajul Quadir
DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladeshi lawyers and protesters chanted "hang him, hang him" on Monday as the owner of a factory building that collapsed last week killing nearly 400 people was led into court dressed in a helmet and bullet-proof jacket, witnesses said.
The drama came as rescue officials said they were unlikely to find more survivors in the rubble of the building that collapsed on Wednesday, burying hundreds of garment workers in the country's worst industrial accident.
Heavy cranes were being used to lift huge concrete blocks from the wreckage of Rana Plaza, where 385 people are now confirmed to have been killed. The building housed factories making clothes for Western brands.
Eight people have been arrested - four factory bosses, two engineers, building owner Mohammed Sohel Rana and his father, Abdul Khalek. Police are looking for a fifth factory boss, David Mayor, who they said was a Spanish citizen.
Rana, a local leader of the ruling Awami League's youth front, was shown on television being brought to Dhaka in handcuffs after he was seized in the border town of Benapole by the elite Rapid Action Battalion following a four-day manhunt.
Rana was arrested by police commandos on Sunday, apparently trying to flee to India.
"Put the killer on the gallows, he is not worth of any mercy or lenient penalty," one onlooker outside the court shouted.
The court ordered that Rana be held for 15 days "on remand" for interrogation.
Khalek, who officials said was named in documents as a legal owner of the building, was arrested in Dhaka on Monday. Those being held face charges of faulty construction and causing unlawful death.
Bangladesh does carry out the death penalty for murder and for most serious categories of manslaughter.
Hundreds of the mostly female workers who are thought to have been inside the building when it caved in remain unaccounted for. A fire overnight further hampered the last desperate efforts to find survivors.
"We are giving the highest priority to saving people, but there is little hope of finding anyone alive," army spokesman Shahinul Islam told reporters at the site.
About 2,500 people have been rescued from the wrecked building in the commercial suburb of Savar, about 30 km (20 miles) from the capital, Dhaka.
Late on Sunday, sparks from rescuers' cutting equipment started a fire in the debris as they raced to save a woman who may have been the last survivor in the rubble. Her body was recovered on Monday afternoon.
"We could not save her, even though we heard her voice this morning," a tearful rescue worker told reporters at the scene.
Officials said the eight-storey complex had been built on swampy ground without the correct permits, and more than 3,000 workers - most of them young women - entered the building on Wednesday morning despite warnings that it was structurally unsafe.
A bank and shops in the same building closed after a jolt was felt and cracks were noticed on some pillars on Tuesday.
The collapse was the third major industrial incident in five months in Bangladesh, the second-largest exporter of garments in the world behind China. In November, a fire at the Tazreen Fashion factory in a suburb of Dhaka killed 112 people.
Such incidents have raised serious questions about worker safety and low wages in the poor South Asian country, which relies on garments for 80 percent of its exports. The industry employs about 3.6 million people, most of them women, some of whom earn as little as $38 a month.
In a development that may raise questions about the authorities' handling of the rescue operation, a spokesman at the British High Commission on Monday confirmed that an offer of technical assistance from Britain had been declined.
Anger over the disaster has sparked days of protests and clashes, and paramilitary troops were deployed in the industrial hub of Gazipur as garment workers took to the streets again on Monday, smashing cars and setting fire to an ambulance.
The unrest forced authorities to shut down many factories, which had reopened on Monday after two days of closures. Police fired teargas to disperse protesters.
The main opposition has called for a national strike on May 2 in protest over the incident.
Emdadul Islam, chief engineer of the state-run Capital Development Authority, said last week that Rana had not received the proper construction consent for the building, and had illegally added three stories to the original five.
(Writing by Alex Richardson and Nick Macfie)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/little-hope-more-survivors-bangladesh-toll-nears-400-080033210.html
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Friday, April 26, 2013
Facebook to acquire Parse, promises easier cloud-based app development
Hot on the heels of its Mobile Developer Conference, Facebook today announced its intentions to buy cloud-based app development service Parse, a company with which the site has collaborated in the past. According to a post on Facebook's Developers blog, the purchase will go a ways toward helping devs, "rapidly build apps that span mobile platforms and devices." The acquisition will bring a number of cloud-based tools like data storage, user management and notifications to Facebook developers. For each company's take on the news, check out the source links below. We also spoke to a Facebook spokesperson, who told us, "This is an acquisition, not a talent deal." As for financial terms, they wouldn't say.
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Syria says backing rebels risks new attacks on America
By Michael Stott and Samia Nakhoul
DAMASCUS (Reuters) - U.S. support for Syrian rebels may lead to more attacks on American soil like those of September 11, said a senior Syrian official who warned that Islamist fighters would spread "the fire of terrorism" around the world.
Western powers are alarmed at al Qaeda militants joining a revolt that began two years ago with rallies for democracy and President Bashar al-Assad has seized on that unease; now, 10 days after the Boston Marathon bombings, Syria's deputy foreign minister told Reuters that U.S. aid to the rebels may backfire.
"Once the fire of terrorism spreads in Syria it will go everywhere in the world," Faisal Mekdad said in an interview.
Referring to foreign jihadists whose presence has made the United States and European allies wary of arming Syrian rebels, he said: "These chickens will go back to roost where they came from because encouraging terrorism definitely backfires ... Once these terrorists succeed in Syria, they will go everywhere."
Speaking in fluent English at the heavily guarded white, stone-clad complex in central Damascus which houses the Foreign Ministry and prime minister's offices, Mekdad drew a comparison, made also by Assad himself, with the U.S.-backed Muslim holy war against Soviet occupiers in Afghanistan that fostered al Qaeda.
And asked whether the Boston bombings, blamed on radicalized Muslim immigrants, might change American views of a Syrian conflict that Assad has long painted as a war on terrorism, he replied: "I hope the American administration will remember again the September 11 attack - which we strongly condemned in Syria - and not repeat these policies which encourage terrorism."
Of 37 nationalities of "terrorist" he said were fighting in Syria, many were European, Mekdad said, including some from Russia's Chechnya region, ancestral home of the Boston suspects.
Assad's critics have argued that he himself is paying a price for helping Islamists from Syria and elsewhere - letting them cross into Iraq to fight U.S. forces there; some of those seasoned fighters have now joined the campaign to overthrow him.
Like other senior officials interviewed lately in Damascus, Mekdad projected a breezy confidence in Syrian forces' ability to win the civil war and denied the rebels were gaining ground.
While condemning support for the mainly Sunni Muslim rebels from Sunni neighbors such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, as well as the Western powers, he said his government enjoyed broad international support, not limited to Russia or to Iran, whose Shi'ite branch of Islam is close to Assad's Alawite minority.
"I would like to say, with all confidence, that all Syria is controlled by the government but there are places where armed groups have been armed, financed, by certain circles - namely Qatar, Saudi Arabia, France and the UK and other European countries - who due to logistical reasons may control this or that part of Syria," he said. "But this is moving every day."
A man living near the Foreign Ministry, who did not want to be identified, told Reuters the complex had been attacked four times in recent months, twice with mortars and twice by men firing machineguns: "We are very frightened," he said, recalling how he took cover during the last mortar attack 10 days ago.
Asked when the government might win, Mekdad said it was combating "terrorist groups and usually in all those countries which have suffered the plague of terrorism it takes time".
"Once this support from neighboring and European countries ceases we can easily deal with it," said Mekdad, who hails from Deraa where protests began in March 2011 after teenagers were jailed for pro-democracy graffiti inspired by the Arab Spring.
He cited apparent success in offensives in Homs and near the western border, where rebels say Lebanese Hezbollah fighters are supporting Syrian troops. Going was also slow, he said, due to "the care practiced by the government with civilians".
The United Nations has said more than 70,000 people, have been killed and many countries have condemned shelling and aerial bombing by Syrian forces of residential areas.
CHEMICAL "LIE"
Mekdad dismissed Western and Israeli claims that government forces had used chemical weapons, saying it was a "big lie" that Syria was blocking a U.N. investigation into the allegations.
He said Damascus had an initial agreement with the U.N. to look into claims that chemical weapons were used in the Khan al-Assal area near Aleppo but matters were complicated when the U.N. wanted to broaden the probe to include other allegations:
"We are ready to receive immediately the team to investigate the case of Aleppo, to provide all the logistics, help and support and protection and it is the responsibility of the U.N. secretariat if this delegation doesn't arrive in Syria."
A former Syrian ambassador to the United Nations, Mekdad accused Britain and France of trying to complicate the U.N. investigation to prevent evidence emerging of rebel use of chemical shells, but did not offer evidence for the allegation.
The United Nations wants inspectors to investigate claims of chemical weapons use in Homs in December; France and Britain say the mission should look into a third alleged case in Damascus.
President Barack Obama has warned Assad that deploying chemical weapons would cross a "red line" that could prompt the United States to intervene in unspecified ways in the conflict - so far, however, Washington has said firm evidence is lacking.
Mekdad denied that Damascus was receiving arms and military support from Russia or fighters from Iran or Hezbollah, Tehran's Lebanese Shi'ite ally; foreign supporters were providing only humanitarian aid and Syria had ample reserves of its own.
"We are not isolated, we don't feel isolated," he said of efforts to impose international sanctions. "Besides Russia, we have China, India, South Africa and we have almost all Latin American countries, and Africa and other Asian countries."
He warned the EU against helping rebels sell oil from captured fields in the north: "That is a direct theft of Syrian property," he said. "We are still a government and a strong government. We will stop them," he added without elaborating.
Mekdad reflected the government's contention that Syria has been targeted by U.S.-allied Sunni Arab powers because it was part of "an axis of resistance", along with Iran and Hezbollah, and accused Sunni-led states of secretly supporting Israel: "We believe the main objective in attacking Syria is to weaken it as a major power and to implement Israel's policies in the region in connivance with the United States and Western interests."
Asked how he believed the conflict would end, Mekdad sketched two scenarios: "Either we opt for a political solution as projected by President Assad in his speech on January 6 ... or the other scenario where the main objective of arming, harboring and smuggling armed groups into Syria will continue."
"In this case, we have a strong army, we have a strong country, we have determination by the majority of Syrians to combat terrorism. But our preference and the preference of the Syrian leadership is to work for a political settlement."
Assad offered in that speech in January to negotiate with the opposition if they laid down their arms but he refused dialogue with "gangs recruited abroad" and his foes dismissed the offer out of hand as it did not mention Assad stepping down.
(Editing by Alastair Macdonald)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syria-says-backing-rebels-risks-attacks-america-162137596.html
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BBC plans 'Tweet of the Day,' radio for birds
LONDON (AP) ? Remember when tweeting was for the birds?
The BBC is hoping to revive that simpler time with "Tweet of the Day" ? an early-morning radio program dedicated to British birdsong.
Veteran naturalist David Attenborough will host the 90-second show, which will feature the song of a different bird each weekday, along with background on the species' behavior and habits.
The show on the BBC's main speech station, Radio 4, may be best appreciated by those who rise with the birds. "Tweet of the Day" will be broadcast at 5:58 a.m.
The BBC said Wednesday that 265 different birds will be featured during the year-long series, which begins next month with a recording of the cuckoo. Attenborough will host for the first month, and be followed by other BBC presenters.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bbc-plans-tweet-day-radio-birds-112446764.html
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Thursday, April 25, 2013
Former government lawyer charged with espionage
By Lawrence Hurley
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors on Thursday alleged that a former federal government lawyer helped the Cuban intelligence service recruit a woman who was later sentenced to 25 years in prison for spying.
An indictment filed in 2004 was unsealed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia charging Marta Rita Velazquez with conspiracy to commit espionage for her alleged role in recruiting Ana Belen Montes to the Cuban intelligence service and helping her get a federal government job.
Velazquez and Montes became friends while studying together at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C. in the early 1980s, according to the indictment.
In 1984, Velazquez took Montes to New York, where they met with a Cuban intelligence officer, the government alleged. Velazquez, who the Justice Department said kept in contact with Cuba via encrypted messages, also traveled with Montes to Cuba in 1985, according to the indictment.
Velazquez now lives in Sweden and is unlikely to ever face trial, a federal law enforcement official said. During her government career, Velazquez worked as a lawyer at the U.S. Agency for International Development, where she had top secret security clearance.
Montes, who worked at the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency for 16 years, was arrested in 2001 and later pleaded guilty to an espionage offense. She is still serving her prison sentence.
The indictment against Velazquez was originally filed in 2004 but kept sealed until Thursday.
Velazquez, who is from Puerto Rico, left the United States in 2002 after news of Montes's guilty plea, according to the Justice Department.
A Justice Department official said Velazquez was aware of the charge and that there was no longer any reason to keep the indictment sealed. The extradition treaty between the United States and Sweden does not allow for extraditions for espionage, the official added.
(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Howard Goller and Cynthia Osterman)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-announces-espionage-charge-against-former-government-lawyer-211714192.html
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Thinx upgrades the video monitor with embedded LTE and SMS alerts; ships in Q3 for around $500
As part of our tour through Verizon's Waltham, Ma.-based Innovation Center this week, we were able to see a brief demo of the Thinx 4G LTE video monitor -- a product that was briefly teased at CES, but we've heard precious little about since. Essentially, this is a rather sophisticated 1080p video monitor, designed for small businesses that would prefer that their monitors do more than just capture reels of archived footage. Thinx's solution throws in an admin panel and a smartphone app; users can install the camera and then define hot zones for the sensor to keep tabs on. If and when a specific event occurs (e.g. 50 individuals cross a virtual line), owners can be alerted via SMS -- and, of course, they can then view only the footage pertaining to said event with merely a click.
The aforementioned apps (available for iOS and Android) will allow owners to look in live at any time, with recorded video automatically stored on the included 4GB SD card, a personal NAS or a cloud storage facility like Dropbox. Better still, the control panel supports multiple cameras for those trying to cast eyes over an entire office complex, and there's room for a 12V battery that'll keep it humming along "for a few hours" should the power cut out. Tom Thomasson, vice president of marketing at Thinx, told us that the product is slated to go on sale in the US during the third quarter of this year, and it's one of "over 30" new products that Verizon will help launch during the 2013 / 2014 time frame.
Filed under: Cameras, Wireless, Mobile, Verizon
Source: Thinx
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HR and Admin Executive, Business Development Mgr Jobs in Kenya
Human Resources and Administration Executive
Job Purpose:
To attract, develop and retain a skilled and motivated employee base that will drive the business to achieve its strategic objectives, while enhancing employee development through performance management and training.
Key Responsibilities and Tasks:
- Develop and implement the annual HR business plan derived from the Corporate Strategic Plan;
- Cascade the HR business plan through performance contracts to all staff in the department;
- Proactive manpower planning and recruiting staff;
- Develop and implement staff training and development programs;
- Coordinate, monitor and evaluate performance management and appraisal processes;
- Develop and implement staff motivation and retention initiatives to ensure staff are highly engaged;
- Develop, review and maintain appropriate HR practices, policies and procedures;
- Assist in corporate strategy development and implementation.
- Manage employee relations and grievance process;
- Manage the administration and periodical review of compensation and benefits for all staff;
- Oversee the activities directed at employee welfare, safety and health;
- Ensure an efficient and conducive work environment, housekeeping and general cleanliness;
- Ensure all administrative matters related to staff are dealt with in accordance with laid down policies; and
- Coach, mentor and develop the HR and Administration team to ensure excellent performance and effective succession planning in the Department.
Academic Qualifications
- Must possess a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration, Strategic Management or Human Resources Management
Experience
- At least 3 years? experience in HR management,
Skills and competencies
- Proven intellectual leadership in managing people and operations;
- Proven ability to think strategically and design long term plans;
- Strong organisation and coordination skills;
- Superior Communication skills both written and oral;
- Superior analytical skills;
- Superior interpersonal skills;
- Good negotiation skills;
- Conflict resolution skills
- Counseling skills
Business Development Manager
Reporting to the General Manager? ? Strategy, he successful candidate will be responsible for developing and maintaining Marketing strategies; overseeing all marketing, and promotional activities, proposal writing with key concentration on the public sector.
Key Responsibilities;
- Overall accountability for the organization?s Marketing Strategies and performance of the marketing function;
- Overseeing and growing client portfolio,
Minimum Requirements
- Bachelors degree Marketing and at least 3 years experience in a senior management position in Marketing, Marketing firm or agency.
- Good proposal writing skills
Key skills include;?
- Effective team management,?
- Interpersonal skills and ability to work across functions,?
- Excellent strategic marketing.
Interested and qualified individuals should forward their applications enclosing detailed curriculum vitae, current salary, expected remuneration,? availability? and three references with a day time telephone contact and send to the following email address: otungakaranja@gmail.com to reach the undersigned not later than April 28, 2013.
Only successful candidates will be contacted.
Source: http://kenyanjobs.blogspot.com/2013/04/hr-and-admin-executive-business.html
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Wednesday, April 24, 2013
100 years later, a time capsule is opened
The First Lutheran Church of Oklahoma City dug up and opened its Century Chest, a time capsule that was buried under the church 100 years ago.
The artifacts inside the copper chest were remarkably well intact. Credit for that goes to the church's Ladies Aide Society, the group that buried the capsule a century ago. The group buried the chest in double concrete walls and under 12 inches of concrete, according Fox News. It also left guidelines on how to unearth the capsule.
The chest was full of treasures. Among the finds: a newspaper from the day the capsule was buried (April 22, 1913); a dress; a telephone; a flag; a pen used by President William McKinley; a camera; and a pair of women's shoes that still had their shine. Perhaps most remarkable was a phonograph record featuring voices of citizens from the era.
The Oklahoma Gazette reported that the project was the brainchild of Virginia Sohlberg. Her great-granddaughter, Virginia Eason Weinmann, was especially moved by a book that contained family photos and poetry.
Experts from the Oklahoma Historical Society worked with the church to make sure the objects were handled with care. All of the items will be displayed at the Oklahoma History Center.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/100-years-later-time-capsule-opened-185852550.html
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Saving abandoned animals, one ride at a time
The nonprofit Operation Roger is matching truck drivers with abandoned animals, transporting them to families that are willing to adopt. NBC's Mark Potter reports.
By Erika Angulo, Producer, NBC News
For former trucker Sue Wiese, obstacles don?t get in the way of her drive to save pets? lives.??
The 69-year-old Texas grandmother is the founder of Operation Roger, a group of volunteer truck drivers who transport animals from kill shelters and rescue groups to families willing to adopt them. ?
?We?re a ragtag group of pet lovers who want to help pets who already have a home to go to, give them some T.L.C., and a hitchhike to get there,? she said.?
Now retired, Wiese started the nonprofit, named after her late Manchester Terrier, Roger, after listening to grim stories coming out of Hurricane Katrina?s devastation in August 2005.? As she drove one night, Wiese said she prayed for guidance on how to help the pets stranded by the storm.?
She says she remembered saying, ?Lord, I am just a truck driver, is there anything I can do to help??
Then it came to her: transportation.
At the advice of loved ones, Wiese called into Bill Mack?s XM Satellite talk show, a favorite with truckers, to ask for support to transport abandoned pets.?
Courtesy of Toni Bowser
Toni Bowser, one of the coordinators for Operation Roger, helped rescue several dogs from a crowded shed in Oklahoma.
She described her idea on the air -- and although no one volunteered right away, by the end of the program her phone had voicemails from a dozen other truckers wanting to participate.
Finding their 'forever family'
Almost eight years later, Operation Roger has 50 truck drivers. Their two coordinators locate a driver who will be traveling near the pet?s destination, or they locate a series of truckers who can do a relay to move the rescued animal from one state to the other until finally arriving at the home of the adoptive family.
?Dogs, cats, ferrets, hamsters, gerbils, chinchillas, anything a driver can put in the cab of their truck they will take,? said Wiese.
Chihuahua owner and trucker Tony Hamilton said the drivers treat the dogs like they are family, carrying one animal at a time.?
?We?re all pet lovers,? he said.
Pekingese?Shelby is the 692nd pet to ?hitchhike? to his "forever family." He lived under a tin shed crowded with some other 30 dogs and at least two dozen cats in Buffalo, Okla., for years until the local sheriff stepped in and labeled it a hoarding situation.
Courtesy: David Binz
Washington State-based truck driver David Binz transported this rescue dog named Shelby to his new family in Alaska, a nine-day journey from Oklahoma.
Rescue groups Furever Friends?and W.O.O.F. Pet Rescue?took in the pets.?
?The feces and the urine were inches thick,? said Melba Shawn Evans of Furever Friends. ??
Alaska family adopts Shelby
Then a family in Tok, Alaska spotted dog Shelby on a pet rescue website and decided to adopt him. Operation Roger coordinator Toni Bowser found Washington State-based driver David Binz who had been assigned to pick up goods in Texas bound for Alaska.?
As a volunteer for the group, Binz has transported nine dogs and one cat since he joined Operation Roger.? ?
?It's a good way that truck drivers in America can give back to society because we're not home a lot,? he said. ?We can't do a lot of volunteer projects, but this is something that we can do.?
For nine days Shelby rode with Binz and his own dog Izzy for 4,579 miles. Saturday they arrived in Tok, Alaska, where the Kern family anxiously awaited Shelby's arrival. Morgan, 11, and her twin sister Madison met the Pekingese?with big smiles and hugs.?
?I?m very excited,? Morgan said.
NBC News
The Kern family poses with their new dog, Shelby, who was rescued from Oklahoma.
Shelby?s new dad said the family is proud of being able to provide a good home for the dog.
?He was in a bad situation and it was just our duty to do something like that, to give him a good home,? said Todd Kern.
Operation Roger drivers are not just transporting pets, said Bowser, they are also helping the animals heal from abuse and abandonment trauma.?
?They?re being loved on during the ride, the drivers try to meet the pets? needs? she said.??
To this day, Wiese is surprised and impressed at how many people have joined her cause.
?I feel in awe," she said. "It?s been a whirlwind."?
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Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Monday, April 22, 2013
Antares rocket makes test flight
21 April 2013
Last updated at 18:05 ET
A new rocket has launched from the US eastern seaboard to prove its readiness to help service the International Space Station (ISS).
The 40m-tall Antares vehicle lifted clear of the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia at 1700 local time (2100 GMT).
The apparently flawless 10-minute ascent should lead to it being allowed to propel an unmanned cargo ship towards the ISS later this year.
Antares has been developed by the Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC).
The Dulles-based company is one of a number of commercial outfits that have partnered with the US space agency (Nasa) to create cheaper technologies for getting payloads and astronauts into orbit.
The agency has so far invested some $275m (?180m) in OSC to help it advance its rocket and cargo-vessel concepts.
A contract worth $1.9bn (?1.2bn), covering eight re-supply missions to the station, will be triggered once the company has satisfactorily demonstrated its designs.
Sunday's test-flight required the two-stage Antares rocket raise itself to an altitude of about 255km where it jettisoned a dummy payload.
That 3.8-tonne test mass was intended to simulate the Cygnus cargo ship, which will make its maiden outing on the next launch of the rocket.
Orbital is an established Nasa contractor, which has been building satellites and smaller rockets for more than 30 years.
The company was chosen by the agency to pick up some of the ISS servicing capability lost by America when it retired its space shuttles two years ago.
A second firm, SpaceX of California, is further along in its development schedule, having already completed its test flights and begun commercially contracted missions to the ISS.
OSC packed Sunday's Antares full of sensors to gather as much data as possible on its performance.
Everything on the flight appeared to proceed extremely smoothly. All the major events such as rocket-stage separation, fairing separation, and the ejection of the dummy payload occurred on cue.
"We will obviously go in and analyse it much more carefully in the coming days and replay everything to make sure we get maximum information from the data. But at first glance, it all looked really good," observed Frank Culbertson, an Orbital executive vice-president and a former astronaut.
Nasa too will want to review the flight data before deciding whether to release more seed funding to Orbital, and to clear the company for a Cygnus freighter demonstration mission to the ISS. All being well, this next demonstration could occur in late June or early July.
The early message from the agency was that it was very happy with Sunday's outcome.
"It was an amazing achievement for Orbital today," said Alan Lindenmoyer, the manager of Nasa's Commercial Crew and Cargo Program.
"The flight was just beautiful. It looks like - the preliminary data says - that all the objectives we established for the flight were 100% met."
Italian jobOne interesting aspect of the Antares design is its use of two Aerojet AJ-26 engines on its liquid-fuelled first stage.
These are modified, Ukrainian-built power units that were originally developed for the ill-fated Soviet Moon rocket, the N-1.
The Antares second-stage - the segment that deploys the payload at the target altitude - is powered by a solid-fuel motor. This was provided by ATK, the company that used to make the solid-fuelled boosters for the shuttles.
OSC hopes to use the Antares for other ventures besides keeping the space station stocked with food and equipment.
It has worked with an economic development agency in Virginia to bring the Wallops launch facility up to a standard that would permit many more flights from the coastal spaceport, which in the past has been used for small research rockets.
OSC has developed its Cygnus freighter with Italian company Thales Alenia Space (TAS).
The pressurised segment of this cargo ship is based on TAS's Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, or MPLM. This was the "packing box" put in the back of space shuttles when they hauled supplies to the ISS.
Two versions of Cygnus are being built. One can carry two tonnes, the other nearly three tonnes.
Unlike SpaceX's Dragon capsule, the OSC freighter cannot bring materials back to the Earth's surface.
Instead, Cygnus will be filled with rubbish from the ISS and allowed to burn up in the planet's atmosphere.
Sunday's demonstration flight also released three "nano-satellites" controlled by smartphones. These mini-spacecraft, which only measure 10cm across, will operate for a few weeks before falling back to Earth.
The dummy Cygnus will also begin its descent to Earth in about a fortnight.
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22193330#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
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Boston mayor says authorities may never question bomb suspect
(Reuters) - Boston Mayor Tom Menino said on Sunday authorities may never be able to question the Boston Marathon bombing suspect, who lies seriously injured and unable to speak after eluding police for 24 hours.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, was in "very serious" condition at a Boston hospital after being captured Friday night, Menino told ABC's "This Week" program.
"And we don't know if we'll ever be able to question the individual," he said without elaborating.
Tsarnaev's brother, Tamerlan, 26, was killed in a firefight with police earlier on Friday as officers hunted them for the twin blasts on Monday that killed three and injured 176.
U.S. Senator Dan Coats, a member of the Intelligence Committee, said it was questionable whether Tsarnaev would be able to talk again.
"The information that we have is that there was a shot to the throat," Coats told the ABC program.
"It doesn't mean he can't communicate, but right now I think he's in a condition where we can't get any information from him at all," said Coats, an Indiana Republican.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Susan Cornwell; Editing by Vicki Allen and Philip Barbara)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/boston-mayor-says-authorities-may-never-bomb-suspect-151354409.html
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Wash New Jeans with Vinegar to Increase Their Lifespan
You don't need to wash jeans as often as some of your other clothes, but when you do, a little vinegar can help keep them the right shade of blue.
One Good Thing By Jillee offers up this tip to prepare your jeans for a long lifespan. On your first laundry load with the new pants, add one cup of distilled white vinegar to your washing machine, and let it mix in well before adding the jeans. The vinegar helps set the dye, which is most vulnerable during that first wash cycle. She also suggests using vinegar in every other wash cycle from that point forward, but the first one is really the most critical.
Be sure to check out the source link for some more tips to preserve your pants.
How To Make Your Jeans Last Longer | One Good Thing By Jillee
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Sunday, April 21, 2013
Affidavit: Maine hermit carried bacon, syrup, $395
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) ? A state police affidavit says a Maine man who lived in the woods as a hermit for nearly three decades was carrying bacon, marshmallows and $395 in cash when he was arrested on burglary charges.
An affidavit obtained by the Kennebec Journal (http://bit.ly/13oW4cH ) lists the items 47-year-old Christopher Knight possessed when he was arrested this month on charges he stole food from a camp for children with special needs.
The items also include keys, pliers, electrical tape, a watch, a baseball hat, coffee, hamburger patties, chicken nuggets, cheese, corn syrup and potato chips.
Since his arrest, Knight has attracted a telephoned marriage proposal and a stranger's offer to bail him out. Knight rejected the bail offer and remains jailed.
Police say he may have been responsible for 1,000 burglaries overall.
___
Information from: Kennebec Journal, http://www.kjonline.com/
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Japan wins approval from member countries to join Trans-Pacific trade talks
By Kaori Kaneko
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan won approval from participating countries to join talks on a U.S.-led Asia Pacific free trade agreement, central to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's plans to open the economy to more competition and revive growth.
The formal invitation for Tokyo to join the negotiations was extended at a meeting of members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on Saturday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering in Surabaya, Indonesia, according to a joint statement.
Japan will join 11 nations already in talks on the TPP: the United States, Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Australia and New Zealand. Members hope to reach a deal by the end of this year.
With the world's third-largest economy on board, the final TPP pact would cover nearly 40 percent of global economic output and one-third of all world trade.
Abe has prescribed a three-part economic plan of hyper-easy monetary policy, big fiscal spending and steps to spur longer-term growth, including deregulation and government backing to beat deflation and engineer lasting recovery. Joining the TPP talks is seen as the first, key element of that growth strategy.
"Japan's participation in the negotiation will underscore the economic significance of TPP and its promise as a pathway toward a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific," said the joint statement by trade ministers of the TPP member nations.
Japan hopes to participate in the July round of negotiations, which would require the White House to quickly give Congress 90-day notice of its intention to begin trade talks with Tokyo.
A 17th round of talks is currently scheduled for May in Peru. The dates and location of the 18th round in July have not yet been announced.
Last week, Japan struck a deal with the United States to get Washington's support to join the TPP talks.
The TPP talks are officially slated to conclude this year, although many trade experts expect them to stretch into 2014.
Japan is hoping to protect key agriculture goods such as rice, wheat and dairy products to appease its politically powerful farm lobby.
"Japan will aim to secure tariffs on agricultural products after entering the TPP talks. The situation is quite tough but we have not given up," a senior government official said.
Kazuhito Yamashita, research director at the Canon Institute for Global Studies, said Japan should be looking beyond the TPP to boost broader trade ties.
"Japan can have bargaining power as the nation is the only one involved in trade talks such as the TPP, Japan-EU, Japan-China-Korea, and the RCEP," he said.
Talks on a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership trade block include the 10-nation Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) along with Japan, China, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India, but not the United States.
"Japan is in a very interesting strategic position. Japan could become a hub in South East Asia and a bridge between the region and the West if the authorities clearly understand this."
(Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
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Fandango?s entrance tune gets remixed
All WWE programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, trademarks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE, Inc. and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. ? 2013 WWE, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This website is based in the United States. By submitting personal information to this website you consent to your information being maintained in the U.S., subject to applicable U.S. laws. U.S. law may be different than the law of your home country. WrestleMania XXIX (NY/NJ) logo TM & ? 2013 WWE. All Rights Reserved. The Empire State Building design is a registered trademark and used with permission by ESBC.
Source: http://www.wwe.com/inside/wwemusic/fandangoing-remix-released
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Saturday, April 20, 2013
Obama: Bombers have ?already failed?
"Tonight, our nation is in debt to the people of Boston and the people of Massachusetts," Obama said in hastily arranged public remarks in the White House briefing room. "After a vicious attack on their city, Bostonians responded with resolve and determination. They did their part as citizens and partners in this investigation.
"Obviously, tonight, there are still many unanswered questions. Among them: Why did young men who grew up and studied here as part of our communities and our country resort to such violence? How did they plan and carry out these attacks? And did they receive any help?" he said, in the clearest-yet suggestion that violence might have had roots overseas. The families of those killed and those who were wounded "deserve answers," he said, and federal law-enforcement agencies will deploy "all the necessary resources" to give them that satisfaction.
"We will determine what happened. We will investigate any associations that these terrorists may have had. And we?ll continue to do whatever we have to do to keep our people safe," Obama said.
"One thing we do know is that whatever hateful agenda drove these men to such heinous acts will not, cannot prevail. Whatever they thought they could ultimately achieve, they?ve already failed," the president said. "They failed because the people of Boston refused to be intimidated. They failed because as Americans we refuse to be terrorized. They failed because we will not waive from the character, and the compassion, and the values that define us as a country, nor will we break the bonds that hold us together as Americans."
Obama received repeated briefings from his national security team all week?ever since bombs ripped through the crowd near the Boston Marathon's finish line on Monday. On Friday, the White House let it be known that he had been briefed overnight and throughout the day. There was one major shift: CIA Director John Brennan for the first time was numbered among the top officials who discussed the crisis with Obama. And the president also discussed the crisis with Russian President Vladimir Putin?likely because the suspects were apparently of Chechen origin. Russia has waged war on Chechnya for decades, and the conflict served as a training ground for Islamist extremist fighters.
Earlier, Obama called Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Tom Menino on Friday afternoon to express his condolences for an MIT police officer killed overnight during a manhunt for the suspects, according to a White House official.
MIT police officer Sean Collier, 26, of Somerville, Mass., was shot and killed during the manhunt, and another police officer, Richard H. Donahue Jr., 33, was shot and is in stable condition at Mt. Auburn Hospital, according to the Boston Globe.
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New wrinkle on personality tests ? Business Management Daily ...
The ?H? factor, missing from most models of personality such as Myers-Briggs, refers to honesty and humility. It?s part of a model developed more than a decade ago by two Canadian psychology professors immersed in the ?Big Five? personality traits.
Noting that the Big Five were based on hundreds of traits identified in the English language, the two wondered whether the same model would emerge using different languages. When they looked at research from other cultures, they found a sixth group of traits, honesty/humility.
The HEXACO personality model is an acronym for honesty/humility, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to experience.
HEXACO adds a dimension to other fields, such as social sciences and neuroscience. By emphasizing honesty, humility, empathy and altruism, HEXACO points beyond psychology to virtue.
? Adapted from The H Factor of Personality, Kibeom Lee and Michael Ashton, Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
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Friday, April 19, 2013
CSN: Brewers finally reach Zito, outslug Giants
BOX SCORE
MILWAUKEE ? There is a basic statistical concept called regression to the mean. Barry Zito gave it fangs and a temper Tuesday night at Miller Park.
Zito?s celebrated deeds from last October cannot, should not and will not be erased because of one bad start in mid-April. But his perfect 0.00 ERA got taken out for a good spanking in his third assignment of 2013.
In a park that has shown Zito no good cheer, the Milwaukee Brewers filled their liter steins to the brim in an eight-run third inning that ranked as the biggest of the left-hander?s career. He was charged with nine earned runs in a 10-8 loss ? matching the most he?s allowed in 397 career starts.
And yes, despite their persistent efforts to rally, the stage went dark on the Giants? long-running streak of victories in Zito starts. It ended at 16, when you include his three postseason outings.
The team lost on Zito?s day for the first time since Aug. 2 against the Mets.
Starting pitching report
Zito recorded four outs before Carlos Gomez smacked the fair pole with a solo home run, ending the left-hander?s streak at 15 2/3 scoreless innings to begin the season. It was the longest by a Giants starting pitcher in the San Francisco era, better than Ryan Jensen?s 14 1/3 innings in 2002.
It looked as if Zito might escape in the third after the Brewers loaded the bases with no outs on pitcher Wily Peralta?s single, a hit batter and an infield hit. Zito managed to strike out Ryan Braun with a gutsy, 3-2 cutter, and the rest of Milwaukee?s lineup hasn?t exactly posed a threat this season.
But Zito?s day disintegrated from there. Rickie Weeks hit a ground-rule double, and Jonathan Lucroy?s tiebreaking, two run hit was the first of three consecutive singles. That loaded the bases for Yuniesky Betancourt, who sent Bernie Brewer down the slide with a grand slam.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy clearly wanted to coax Zito through the inning, especially since the club was down a reliever with Jeremy Affeldt headed to the disabled list and Jean Machi en route from the West Coast. But after Zito issued a two-out walk to Norichika Aoki, Bochy had to come out for the baseball.
Zito jogged off the field, and at least Chad Gaudin stranded his runner to prevent a 10th?earned run from hitting the ledger. Zito ended the day with a 4.86 ERA.
He had allowed nine runs just two other times in his career ? July 12, 2009 vs. the Padres and April 23, 2004 for the A?s vs. the Angels at Oakland.
Bullpen report
It didn?t impact the final outcome, but the relievers performed well and gave the Giants a chance to rally. Gaudin, Jose Mijares and George Kontos combined to allow just one run over 5 1/3 innings, and that came when Norichika Aoki hit a home run in the eighth.
The relievers didn?t issue a walk, either.
One more observation: Gaudin has a pretty good swing for a guy who?s 1 for 41 in his career as a hitter. You?ve gotta respect him for not wearing batting gloves, too.
At the plate
The Giants and Brewers combined for 18 runs on 24 hits, yet Ryan Braun and Buster Posey combined to go just 1 for 9 with a walk, one run and no RBI.
Braun was 0 for 5 with four strikeouts ? the first golden sombrero of his career. It might have been even more surprising to see an unproductive game from Posey, who thrives at Miller Park. He entered 12 for 24 with six home runs and 15 RBI in seven career games.
But Posey had another quiet night in the middle of the Giants lineup, striking out to strand the tying runs on base in the sixth and not collecting a hit until a double to start the ninth.
It was Pablo Sandoval who did most of the damage, driving in four runs on a double, a single and a sacrifice fly. Sandoval extended his hitting streak to nine games and so did Brandon Crawford, who singled in the third and hit a solo home run in the fourth. Crawford has reached base in 12 consecutive games, too.
Crawford?s homer was the second of his career at Miller Park, where he also hit a grand slam for his memorable first big league hit in 2011 ? two days after Buster Posey sustained his ankle injury in a home-plate collision.
Crawford owns as many career homers at Miller Park as he does at AT&T Park (and Coors Field, too).
Nick Noonan hits everywhere. He had another pinch single, making the wunderkind 7 for 13 to start his career. He scored on Sandoval?s sacrifice fly in the sixth.
The Giants made more hard contact than the Brewers, but had less to show for it even though they scored in five of the last seven innings.
Gregor Blanco and Brandon Belt easily could?ve combined for eight hits in their first eight plate appearances. Blanco stung two lineouts to right field and Belt, in an impressive, 10-pitch plate appearance, had to settle for a sacrifice fly in the fifth when Braun made a leaping catch of his drive with the bases loaded.
Belt did finish with his first three-hit game of the season, and he singled home Posey in the ninth to bring the tying run to the plate. But Blanco popped up and pinch hitter Andres Torres narrowly missed a tying, two-run home run while flying out to the track in right-center to end the game.
In field
Yes, Yuniesky Betancourt really started at first base for the Brewers. And he turned into a major asset with the glove ? especially when he started a 3-6-3 double play on Blanco?s hard grounder in the fourth. Betancourt also took a hit away from Marco Scutaro in the first inning.
And Noonan might have learned something in the sixth, when Braun deked him into holding at third base by pretending to have a play on Scutaro?s single down the line.
Attendance
The Brewers announced 29,075, and bless him, the large, semi-renowned fan who wears a too-tight Rally Banana suit was among them.
Up next
The Giants and Brewers continue their series at Miller Park on Wednesday, and bless that retractable roof, because heavy rain is in the forecast. Ryan Vogelsong (1-1. 7.15) is scheduled to take the mound against former Cardinals right-hander Kyle Lohse (0-1, 2.08), whom the Giants will face for the first time since defeating him in Game 7 of the NLCS last October.
Source: http://www.csnbayarea.com/blog/andrew-baggarly/baggs-instant-replay-brewers-10-giants-8
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Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Monkey Island's Creator Describes The Sequel He's Definitely, Positively Not Making (Yet)
With the gash left by the LucasArts shutdown still a bit raw, this one's either going to feel like salt in the wound or a spark of hope. Ron Gilbert, creator of LucasArts' much-loved Monkey Island series, has published a list outlining the sequel he'd make if he could. The bad news: he swears up and down that he's not making it. Yet.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/E_ho7p_u5ic/
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Tobacco companies keep people smoking despite UK cigarette tax increases
Apr. 16, 2013 ? Raising tobacco prices is one of the most effective means of reducing tobacco use, particularly among price-sensitive smokers such as young people and people with low incomes. But when the UK government has been raising cigarette taxes to increase prices and deter smoking, tobacco companies have been absorbing the tax increases on their ultra-low-price (ULP) brands to keep their prices low. As a result, real ULP cigarette prices have remained virtually unchanged since 2006 and their market share has doubled, suggesting that as cigarette taxes rise, many smokers downtrade to cheaper cigarettes and carry on smoking.
Transnational tobacco companies categorise cigarette brands into four price segments: premium, mid-price, economy, and ultra-low-price (ULP). A research report published online today in the journal Addiction reveals that while the real weighted average price of premium, mid-price and economy brands has increased gradually between 2001 and 2009, the real price of ULP cigarettes has barely changed since 2006, greatly reducing the effectiveness of cigarette taxes to deter smoking.
Tobacco companies have achieved this by overshifting taxes on their higher priced brands (increasing cigarette prices on top of the tax increases) and undershifting taxes on their ULP brands (absorbing tax increases so they are not passed on to the consumer) to keep the prices of their cheapest brands low. The former enables tobacco companies to increase their profits while the latter helps keep smokers in the market.
Unsurprisingly, the market share held by price-static ULP cigarettes doubled between 2006 and 2009, while the market share of the other three categories has fallen. But the rising prices of the more expensive brands means that, even with a falling market share, revenue from premium and mid-price brands has increased steadily since 2001.
Says lead author Anna Gilmore, Professor of Public Health & Health Foundation Clinician Scientist in the University of Bath's Department for Health and the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies, "Tobacco companies use their price changes to win two ways in the UK: when tobacco taxes increase each year, the tobacco companies hide their price increases on more expensive cigarettes behind the tax increases, making large profits from smokers who aren't bothered by price increases. Simultaneously, they cut the prices of their cheapest cigarettes so that smokers who would be deterred by price hikes continue to smoke. Tobacco company revenues increase and fewer smokers quit. To increase the effectiveness of cigarette taxes, the UK government must find ways to narrow the price gap between the cheapest and most expensive cigarettes and prevent tobacco companies from discounting their cheapest brands."
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Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Wiley, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Anna B. Gilmore, Behrooz Tavakoly, Gordon Taylor, Howard Reed. Understanding tobacco industry pricing strategy and whether it undermines tobacco tax policy: the example of the UK cigarette market. Addiction, 2013; DOI: 10.1111/add.12159
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/x10OWXqmm20/130416085422.htm
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Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Connections hamper jury selection in Jackson case
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? The extensive connections of Michael Jackson, his family and friends became a challenge Monday for a judge trying to seat an impartial jury for his mother's wrongful death lawsuit against the company that promoted Jackson's ill-fated "This is It" concert.
As individual questioning finally began, some jury prospects who had passed the written portion of the process had to be excused because of personal connections.
Among them was David Walsh, a Canadian singer-songwriter who said he had met members of the musical Jackson family and was friends with Lisa Marie Presley, Jackson's ex-wife. He said his own manager was on the witness list.
"I've had friends in Michael's band and my best friend was a backup singer on the "This Is It" concert," Walsh said.
Walsh said he had formed opinions about the case that were probably unshakable.
Katherine Jackson's suit claims AEG endangered Jackson's life by hiring an incompetent doctor, Conrad Murray, to look after the superstar singer. AEG lawyers are expected to argue that Jackson was complicit in his own demise by insisting on hiring Murray and demanding the anesthetic propofol to help him sleep.
The latest phase of jury selection came after jurors filled out questionnaires about their views on Jackson, his family and his life and death.
A preliminary group of 104 prospects was immediately reduced by six when members reported hardships or acquaintances on the witness list.
A medical student said one of her UCLA professors was on the list, but she was allowed to remain when she said she would have no bias about the testimony.
Another panelist said she and her husband do business with one of the law firms involved in the case and that would get in the way of her impartiality.
Murray is serving a prison term after being convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's death from an overdose of propofol. Jackson died in his bed in June 2009 at the age of 50.
Complicating the case is the fact that neither Jackson nor AEG had signed Murray's $150,000 a month contract. Jackson died before Murray was paid.
Katherine Jackson's lawyers contend AEG was negligent in failing to investigate Murray's qualifications before hiring him.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/connections-hamper-jury-selection-jackson-case-211211752.html
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