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Monday, December 31, 2012
A Few of My Favorite 2012 Things
As I look back on 2012, a number of products stand out as memorable. I figured I'd use my last column of the year to look back and take a moment to recall each one and what made it special. For years I wondered why someone didn't use the technology that was used to cool astronauts and race drivers in consumer clothing and beds. This is important to me.
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Wall Street tries to see past 'cliff'; outlook clouded
6 hrs.
As investors gaze across the "fiscal cliff," some see a better economy on the far side, making stocks and risk assets more appealing and bonds less so in the year ahead.
But there are many caveats to that scenario and some of them will be decided in the next few days as politicians struggle to strike a deal that would avert a fall off the "fiscal cliff." The cliff is the double-barreled blow to the economy from the reversal of dozens of tax breaks and the onset of automatic spending cuts, agreed as a solution to the contentious 2011 debt- ceiling debate.
Congress meets Sunday evening and may consider the latest proposals.
Stocks were spooked in the past week by the lack of movement in discussions between Congress and President Barack Obama. As the market closed Friday, the absence of new developments during talks underway at the White House provided a void for selling. The Dow fell 1.2 percent to 12,938, giving it a loss of 1.9 percent for the week. The S&P 500 fell 1.1 percent to 1402, for a one week loss of 1.9 percent. The Nasdaq lost 2 percent for the week to 2960.
Congressional leaders late Friday left the White House without a deal, setting the stage for a weekend of raw nerves. Obama said he was still optimistic the Senate leadership could come up with a deal that would?pass both houses, but he also laid out a second plan for a straight up-or-down?vote on middle class tax cuts if they can't reach an agreement.
The president repeated that strategy in an exclusive interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday in which he scolded House Republicans for not having come to an agreement sooner.
"They say that their biggest priority is making sure that we deal with the deficit in a serious way, but the way they're behaving is that their only priority is making sure that tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans are protected," Obama said. "That seems to be their only overriding, unifying theme."
Obama said if Congress failed to agree on a deal and if the straight up-or-down vote was blocked, the first bill introduced in the new year would propose a cut in taxes for the?middle class.?
"Now I think that over the next 48 hours, my hope is that people recognize that, regardless of partisan differences, our top priority has to be to make sure that taxes on middle-class families do not go up. That would hurt our economy badly," Obama said.?
He warned that if there was?no deal by Jan. 1, it could hurt financial markets.?
"What's been holding us back is the dysfunction here in Washington," he said. "And if people start seeing that on January 1st this problem still hasn't been solved, that we haven't seen the kind of deficit reduction that we could have had had the Republicans been willing to take the deal that I gave them, if they say that people's taxes have gone up, which means consumer spending is going to be depressed, then obviously that's going to have an adverse reaction in the markets."
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) dismissed the president's criticism, and pointed the finger of blame at Obama.
"Republicans made every effort to reach the 'balanced' deficit agreement that the president promised the American people, while the president has continued to insist on a package skewed dramatically in favor of higher taxes that would destroy jobs," Boehner said in a statement reacting to the 'Meet the Press' interview.
"We've been reasonable and responsible. The president is the one who has never been able to get to 'yes,'" Boehner said.?
Obama: GOP's insistence on halting tax hikes for the wealthy is blocking 'cliff' deal
Stock futures fell sharply after the market closed Friday.?
"You could tell a lot of people were very skittish about their trades," said Patrick Kernan of Cardinal Capital. "Everybody is fearful of what exposure they have right now. Right now, we're thinking if they reach a deal we go back to around where we were a week ago, right around 1440" on the S&P 500. If there's no deal, "we think it goes down 30 to 50 points."
Kernan, who trades S&P 500 options, said the market was swarmed by investors seeking portfolio protection Friday.?
"The other side of this thing from an investment standpoint, is if there's a deal, I don't know what the number is but is it a five-percent rally from here? Is it a three-percent rally?" said?said James Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management.? "There's risk on both sides of the trade, and I think that's been helping keep this reaction more muted than it otherwise might be."
"The cliff isn't December 31. The real cliff is somewhere down the line when the tax bite and spending cuts start to hurt," he said. "The most optimistic agreement was not that we got this done before the deadline.The most optimistic was we get it done right on deadline, and I think it was fully expected it would get really ugly right before that?the other reality is if it doesn't get done until mid-January it's not going to hurt anything."
Paulsen said the market's anxiety will increase the longer it goes on. "If we go over, the market reaction will start to build?I don't think it will fall apart if we go over. I think if we start to get to the second half of January, I think they'll get way more concerned."
Wait, There's More
Besides the action on Capitol Hill, there is the December employment report Friday and some other key data to look forward to in the week ahead. That includes Thursday's December car sales and chain-store sales and Wednesday's ISM manufacturing data. The minutes of the Fed's last meeting are also expected Wednesday afternoon.
But the outcome of the cliff discussion and congressional votes will be what drives markets in the week and months ahead, and what will ultimately decide whether the U.S. can be a driver of the global economy or a drag on it in 2013.
"I don't think the story is over yet," said Citigroup economist Steven Wieting. "We all expected agony . It just seems we keep adding to it."
"There's compromise that's needed and now seemed like a good time, but they already let the window substantially pass. The opportunity to have a really big framework has passed," Wieting added.
He?described a another possible scenario. "They're going to completely leave the debt ceiling out of this, and they're going to leave any signs of structural reform out of this. Then we have a deal that includes future cliff dates. That would leave uncertainty in play."
Yet, analysts and economists also see a possible optimistic outcome, where the cliff is fixed, at least in part, either by New Year's or several days later, and the debt ceiling and remaining issues are dealt with in the first part of the year. If that's the case, it might unleash economic growth, as consumer and business confidence improve.
"I think the global economy is going to surprise on the upside," said Ed Keon, portfolio manager with Quantitative Management Associates. Keon believes Congress will make a deal to avoid the cliff, and he sees gains in the U.S. economy as well as improvement in the European debt crisis and a pickup in the emerging world. "I think in the European situation, time is on our side and everyday things look a little better."
He also sees the U.S. ending the year with stronger growth. "It's hard to believe Washington would want to hurt the economy with malice of foresight," he said. "Doing a small deal will be viewed that they might be able to do a bigger deal."
Kind of a Small Deal
"We'll get a deal," said Steven Stanley, chief economist at Pierpont Securities. "It will be a small deal that will address some of the more onerous aspects of the cliff. Tax rates, they're going to have to address the AMT, and they're going to have to do something with sequestration cuts,?either delay them or rejigger them. I think they'll probably do something on state and dividend tax rates, the Medicare doc fix and they'll probably extend the unemployment benefits."
It's the bigger deal, on the debt ceiling, that will be most difficult and most important in terms of the longer term strength of the economy. Treasury secretary Tim Geithner warned this past week that the U.S. will reach the debt ceiling limit Monday, but that the Treasury can make some adjustments to keep the government funded for a couple months while Congress works out a deal. The hope is that Congress would find a way to deal with bigger tax reform and entitlement spending issues as part of that debate.
Forget the 'fiscal cliff," the debt ceiling is much scarier
Avoiding the cliff, even with scaled back tax increases,?will not leave the economy unscathed but it should not trigger the recession expected if the cliff were hit. "Basically if we let the payroll tax expire it's going to blunt consumer spending in the beginning of the year, even if we know about it," Stanley said. "The upper income tax increases are not a free lunch either. It's substantially lower than the full cliff."
One of the most public points of contention is at what income level, Bush-era tax cuts are reversed. Both Republicans and Democrats agree tax rates should remain the same for 98 percent of taxpayers, but the disagreement is over taxing the rich and that's what the Senate leadership will have to tackle this weekend.
Obama did not specify on "Meet the Press" which income level he would accept. He has consistently promoted $250,000 as the dividing line between those who would continue to benefit from Bush-era tax cuts and those who would see their taxes increase. But the figure has been a bargaining chip in the negotiations.
The economy could handle that and move on, Wieting said. "If it's a fiscal tightening between 1 and 1.5 percent of GDP, the economy would absorb that in a discrete way and probably move on to stronger growth in the second half of the year. It could be better. It could be clearer. It could be sooner," he said.?
Wieting said, however, the more unresolved issues and pushed-out deadlines there are, the worse it will be for the economy because business spending would remain constrained.
Here's what happens to you if we go over the fiscal cliff
Wieting expects growth in the beginning of the year of about 1 percent, and assuming a resolution of the cliff and debt ceiling issues,?growth could accelerate to 3 percent by the end of the year.
The economic data this week should continue to show the same slow growth in employment, but possibly stronger auto sales and improved manufacturing. Economic data, particularly housing-related data, has been largely better than expected.
Stanley expects the December nonfarm payrolls to be about the same as November's 146,000. "I have 150,000 but that includes a couple of special factors that I think will push the number up a little bit," said Stanley. One of those factors is the addition of couriers, temporarily hired to deliver holiday gifts. Last year, that category gained 40,000 in December, and lost the same amount in January, he said.
The week's economic events:
Monday
- ?Final trading day of 2012
- "Fiscal Cliff" deadline
Tuesday
- New Year's Day, markets closed
Wednesday
- 10:00 am: ISM manufacturing
- 10:00 am: Construction spending
- 2:00 pm: FOMC minutes
Thursday
- ?Monthly vehicle sales
- Monthly chain store sales
- 8:15 am: ADP employment
- 8:30 am: Jobless claims
Friday?
- 8:30 am: Employment report
- 10:00 am: ISM nonmanufacturing report
- 10:00 am: Factory orders
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Sunday, December 30, 2012
US troops sent to aid African diplomat evacuation
Map locates the Central African Republic
Map locates the Central African Republic
WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama says 50 U.S. troops have deployed to the African country of Chad to help evacuate U.S. citizens and embassy personnel from the neighboring Central African Republic's capital of Bangui in the face of rebel advances toward the city.
Obama informed congressional leaders of Thursday's deployment in a letter Saturday citing a "deteriorating security situation" in the Central African Republic.
The evacuation of the U.S. diplomats comes in the wake of criticism of the Obama administration's handling of diplomatic security at its consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The ambassador and three other Americans were killed in a Sept. 11 attack.
In the Central African Republic, rebels have seized at least 10 northern towns. On Saturday they continued their advance, seizing the city of Sibut, 114 miles from Bangui.
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Saturday, December 29, 2012
Russia's Putin signs anti-U.S. adoption bill | FOX6Now.com ... - WITI
(CNN) ? Aaron and Jenny Moyer already consider a Russian orphan named Vitali as their own. But a controversial Russian law that bans the adoption of Russian children by U.S. families may keep the boy from his new home in the United States.
The Moyers have photos of their visits with Vitali in Russia, and the adoption process was under way.
?He?s our son,? Aaron Moyer said. ?In our hearts, he is our son.?
Russian President Vladimir Putin may have put an end to that when he signed the controversial measure Friday.
The action could affect hundreds of American families seeking to adopt. Americans adopted close to 1,000 Russian children last year, according to U.S. State Department figures.
Though the number has been dropping in recent years, Russia remains the third most popular country for U.S. citizens to adopt, after China and Ethiopia.
The U.S. State Department said it ?deeply regrets? the new Russian law.
?The Russian government?s politically motivated decision will reduce adoption possibilities for children who are now under institutional care,? it said in a statement. ?We are further concerned about statements that adoptions already underway may be stopped and hope that the Russian government would allow those children who have already met and bonded with their future parent to finish the necessary legal procedures so that they can join their families.?
Jenny Moyer says she knows there is an orphan crisis in Russia, especially for children with special needs, an undertaking she is willing to accept. The boy she wants to adopt, Vitali, has Down syndrome.
The couple, who have two biological children and one adopted American child, said they are relying on their faith to see them through this tough time.
?We want not just our son, but all the kids over there to have families and to grow up and know the love of a mom and dad,? Aaron Moyer said.
The Russian measure also bars any political activities by nongovernmental organizations receiving funding from the United States, if such activities could affect Russian interests, Russia?s semiofficial RIA-Novosti news agency said.
It also imposes sanctions against U.S. officials thought to have violated human rights.
The law, which goes into effect on January 1, envisages the drafting of a list of U.S. citizens who will be prohibited from entering Russia, and will suspend the activity of any legal entities controlled by these individuals in the country.
A vote this week in the Federation Council, Russia?s upper house, was unanimous, but Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticized the bill ahead of its signing.
Lawmakers in the State Duma, Russia?s lower house of parliament, adopted it last week.
The move by Russian politicians is widely seen as retaliation for a law that U.S. President Barack Obama signed on December 14. That bill, called the Magnitsky Act, imposes U.S. travel and financial restrictions on human rights abusers in Russia.
The Magnitsky Act is named in honor of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who uncovered the largest tax fraud in the country?s history in the form of rebates claimed by government officials who stole money from the state. Magnitsky died in 2009 after a year in a Moscow detention center, apparently beaten to death.
The Russian bill?s implementation nullifies a recent agreement between the United States and Russia in which the countries agreed to additional safeguards to protect children and parties involved in inter-country adoptions.
Backers of the Russian bill said American adoptive parents have been abusive, citing 19 deaths of Russian children since the 1990s.
In 2010, an American woman caused outrage after she sent her adopted son back to Russia alone on a one-way flight, saying the boy, then 7, had violent episodes that made her family fear for its safety.
Konstantin Dolgov, the Russian Foreign Ministry?s special representative for human rights, said Wednesday on Twitter that Russians are ?well aware of, and have pointed out more than once, the inadequate protection of adopted Russian children in the US.? He also said the United States is one of three nations that have not signed the 1989 U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Anthony Lake, executive director of the U.N. Children?s Fund, touted the importance of ?inter-country adoption.?
?While welcoming Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev?s call for the improvement of the child welfare system, UNICEF urges that the current plight of the many Russian children in institutions receives priority attention,? he said.
UNICEF asked that Russia let children?s ?best interests? guide the ?design and development of all efforts to protect children.?
?We encourage the government to establish a robust national social protection plan to help strengthen Russian families. Alternatives to the institutionalization of children are essential, including permanent foster care, domestic adoption and inter-country adoption,? he said.
The United States has signed but not ratified the convention, which has sparked concerns from conservatives about its effect on U.S. sovereignty and parental rights.
Groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch had urged lawmakers to reject the bill.
?This bill hits back at Russia?s most vulnerable children and could deprive them of the loving families they desperately need,? Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said last week.
John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International?s Europe and Central Asia program director, has said that ?this bill is frankly a childish response to the Magnitsky Act.?
Source: http://fox6now.com/2012/12/28/russias-putin-signs-anti-u-s-adoption-bill/
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2 Texas players suspended after sex assault report
SAN ANTONIO (AP) ? Texas suspended two players Friday and sent them home on the eve of the Alamo Bowl, hours after police said they were investigating a report of a sexual assault at a San Antonio hotel.
Coach Mack Brown did not identify the players, but he referred to a KENS-TV report (http://tinyurl.com/cw8dcj3) that police were investigating two unidentified Texas players in the alleged assault.
"This has been reported: We had a couple young men that broke team rules last night. They have been suspended from the team and they will be sent home," Brown said at a previously scheduled news conference. "They will not be available for the game and I will not address any more questions in that matter."
Sgt. Javier Salazar, a San Antonio police spokesman, said only that detectives are in the early stages of investigating a case of alleged sexual assault in the downtown area. Investigators are interviewing witnesses and collecting forensic evidence, he said.
"It's a very meticulous process," Salazar said. "As far as these investigations go, it's very early."
A heavily-redacted police report says a 21-year-old woman told police she believed she was assaulted around 2 a.m. Friday after inviting two men to her hotel room. The report shows only that the men are students and that one is 21 and the other is 20. The woman told police that she had had several drinks when she invited the men to her hotel.
Police said they observed bruises on the woman's right knee and left bicep.
After talking to police, the woman was taken to a San Antonio hospital, where she was seen by a sexual assault nurse examiner, according to the report. The two suspects also were taken to the hospital and examined by the nurse, the report says.
Ben Turner, acting general manager at the Holiday Inn on San Antonio's Riverwalk, said police were summoned to the hotel between 2 and 3 a.m. Friday to investigate an alleged sexual assault. He said hotel staff was cooperating with police.
Athletic department spokesman John Bianco said he could not say more than Brown's comment at the news conference.
Texas (8-4) plays Oregon State (9-3) in Saturday's game at the Alamodome. The Longhorns' walk-through at the stadium Friday afternoon was closed to the media.
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Putin signs law banning American adoptions
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law a ban on Americans adopting children from Russia. Many Americans, and many Russians, see the ban as a political maneuver that comes at the expense of children. Channel Four's Jane Deith reports.
By NBC News staff and wire reports
President Vladimir Putin signed a law on Friday that bans Americans from adopting Russian children and imposes other measures in retaliation for new U.S. legislation meant to punish Russian human rights abusers.
The law, which has ignited outrage among Russian liberals and children's rights advocates, enters into force on Jan. 1 and is likely to strain U.S.-Russia relations.
As well as banning U.S. adoptions, it will also outlaw some non-governmental organizations that receive U.S. funding and impose a visa ban and asset freeze on Americans accused of violating the rights of Russians abroad.
The law could block dozens of Russian children expected to be adopted by American families from leaving the country and cut off one of the main international routes for Russian children to leave orphanages that are often dismal. Russia is the single biggest source of adopted children in the United States, with more than 60,000 Russian children being taken in by Americans over the past two decades.
The bill is retaliation for an American law that calls for sanctions against Russians deemed to be human rights violators and part of an increasingly confrontational stance by the Kremlin against the West.
Related: Americans may lose right to adopt Russian children
Putin said U.S. authorities routinely let Americans suspected of violence toward Russian adoptees go unpunished ? a clear reference to Dima Yakovlev, a Russian toddler for whom the bill is named. The child was adopted by Americans and then died in 2008 after his father left him in a car in broiling heat for hours. The father was found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
Children's rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov on Wednesday said that 46 children who were about to be adopted in the United States would remain in Russia if the bill came into effect. On Thursday, he petitioned the president to extend the ban to other countries.
Courtesy Thomas family
John and Renee Thomas with their son, Jack, 7, who was adopted from Russia at the age of 3. Jack is hoping for his brother, Nikoly, now in a Russian orphanage, to join him in the United States.
Would-be adoptive parents in the United States are left hanging by Putin's signing of the bill, which was passed by Russian lawmakers last week.
Among them are John and Renee Thomas of Minnetonka, Minn., Kari Huus of NBC News reported.?The Thomases have already adopted Jack, 7, from Russia. When they found out he had a little brother, they began the process to try to adopt him, too. The wait has stretched to four years, and now the adoption may be in danger.?
"When Jack is asked about his family, he talks about his brother," John Thomas said. "He always asks, 'When is he coming home?' We just tell him we?re waiting for the call."
More: Adoption of little brother caught in US-Russia spat
UNICEF estimates that there are about 740,000 children without parental custody in Russia, while only 18,000 Russians are now waiting to adopt a child.
Russian President Vladamir Putin has said he'll sign a proposed law that would halt adoptions of Russian children to Americans. NBC's Duncan Golestani reports.
The U.S. State Department on Thursday repeated its opposition to the Russian measure.
"The welfare of children is simply too important to tie to the political aspects of our relationship," State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said. "Additionally, we are deeply troubled by the provisions in the bill that would restrict the ability of Russian civil society organizations to work with American partners." ?
Critics of the bill left dozens of stuffed toys and candles outside the parliament's lower and upper houses to express solidarity with Russian orphans.?
An online petition urging the Kremlin to scrap the bill garnered more than 100,000 Russian signatures.?
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Friday, December 28, 2012
Home Improvement and Remodeling Repair Business Loans, #2 ...
27Dec
www.merchantloans.com How to obtain small business loans, credit lines, or equipment leasing for home repair, improvement, remodeling contractors in Boston, Chicago and New York City? Part two about asset based lending.
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Source: http://www.cohocton.org/172-home-improvement-and-remodeling-repair-business-loans-2
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Pope Argues For Marriage Equality - Freethought Blogs
Okay, not really. But as Alex Ross points out, the pope?s Christmas homily about the importance of the family unwittingly makes a powerful argument in favor of marriage equality ? which is what always happens when people begin waxing eloquent about how wonderful marriage is for the people involved. The pope said:
?The question of the family is not just about a particular social construct, but about man himself?about what he is and what it takes to be authentically human. The challenges involved are manifold. First of all there is the question of the human capacity to make a commitment or to avoid commitment. Can one bind oneself for a lifetime? Does this correspond to man?s nature? Does it not contradict his freedom and the scope of his self-realization? Does man become himself by living for himself alone and only entering into relationships with others when he can break them off again at any time? Is lifelong commitment antithetical to freedom? Is commitment also worth suffering for? Man?s refusal to make any commitment?which is becoming increasingly widespread as a result of a false understanding of freedom and self-realization as well as the desire to escape suffering?means that man remains closed in on himself and keeps his ?I? ultimately for himself, without really rising above it. Yet only in self-giving does man find himself, and only by opening himself to the other, to others, to children, to the family, only by letting himself be changed through suffering, does he discover the breadth of his humanity.
The inevitable and obvious question: why doesn?t this apply to gay people? If making lifelong commitments is so profoundly good for us as individuals and for humanity in general, why does this magically not apply to gay people who want to make such a commitment? Because this is all a bunch of bullshit, a pretext for bigotry and discrimination.
Source: http://freethoughtblogs.com/dispatches/2012/12/28/pope-argues-for-marriage-equality/
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Kenya hospital imprisons new mothers with no money
In this photo taken Friday, Dec. 14, 2012, Maimouna Awuor, 44, speaks to The Associated Press In Nairobi, Kenya. The director of the Pumwani Maternity Hospital, located in a hardscrabble neighborhood of downtown Nairobi, freely acknowledges what he's accused of: detaining mothers who can't pay their bills. Lazarus Omondi says it's the only way he can keep his medical center running. Awuor and another mother told The Associated Press that Pumwani wouldn't let them leave after delivering their babies. (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)
In this photo taken Friday, Dec. 14, 2012, Maimouna Awuor, 44, speaks to The Associated Press In Nairobi, Kenya. The director of the Pumwani Maternity Hospital, located in a hardscrabble neighborhood of downtown Nairobi, freely acknowledges what he's accused of: detaining mothers who can't pay their bills. Lazarus Omondi says it's the only way he can keep his medical center running. Awuor and another mother told The Associated Press that Pumwani wouldn't let them leave after delivering their babies. (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)
In this photo taken Friday, Dec. 14, 2012, Margaret Anyoso, 35, speaks to The Associated Press In Nairobi, Kenya. The director of the Pumwani Maternity Hospital, located in a hardscrabble neighborhood of downtown Nairobi, freely acknowledges what he's accused of: detaining mothers who can't pay their bills. Lazarus Omondi says it's the only way he can keep his medical center running. Anyoso and another mother told The Associated Press that Pumwani wouldn't let them leave after delivering their babies. (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) ? The director of the Pumwani Maternity Hospital, located in a hardscrabble neighborhood of downtown Nairobi, freely acknowledges what he's accused of: detaining mothers who can't pay their bills. Lazarus Omondi says it's the only way he can keep his medical center running.
Two mothers who live in a mud-wall and tin-roof slum a short walk from the maternity hospital, which is affiliated with the Nairobi City Council, told The Associated Press that Pumwani wouldn't let them leave after delivering their babies. The bills the mothers couldn't afford were $60 and $160. Guards would beat mothers with sticks who tried to leave without paying, one of the women said.
Now, a New York-based group has filed a lawsuit on the women's behalf in hopes of forcing Pumwani to stop the practice, a practice Omondi is candid about.
"We hold you and squeeze you until we get what we can get. We must be self-sufficient," Omondi said in an interview in his hospital office. "The hospital must get money to pay electricity, to pay water. We must pay our doctors and our workers."
"They stay there until they pay. They must pay," he said of the 350 mothers who give birth each week on average. "If you don't pay the hospital will collapse."
The Center for Reproductive Rights, which filed the suit this month in the High Court of Kenya, says detaining women for not paying is illegal. Pumwani is associated with the Nairobi City Council, one reason it might be able to get away with such practices, and the patients are among Nairobi's poorest with hardly anyone to stand up for them.
Maimouna Awuor was an impoverished mother of four when she was to give birth to her fifth in October 2010. Like many who live in Nairobi's slums, Awuor performs odd jobs in the hopes of earning enough money to feed her kids that day. Awuor, who is named in the lawsuit, says she had saved $12 and hoped to go to a lower-cost clinic but was turned away and sent to Pumwani. After giving birth, she couldn't pay the $60 bill, and was held with what she believes was about 60 other women and their infants.
"We were sleeping three to a bed, sometimes four," she said. "They abuse you, they call you names," she said of the hospital staff.
She said saw some women tried to flee but they were beaten by the guards and turned back. While her husband worked at a faraway refugee camp, Awuor's 9-year-old daughter took care of her siblings. A friend helped feed them, she said, while the children stayed in the family's 50-square-foot shack, where rent is $18 a month. She says she was released after 20 days after Nairobi's mayor paid her bill. Politicians in Kenya in general are expected to give out money and get a budget to do so.
A second mother named in the lawsuit, Margaret Anyoso, says she was locked up in Pumwani for six days in 2010 because she could not pay her $160 bill. Her pregnancy was complicated by a punctured bladder and heavy bleeding.
"I did not see my child until the sixth day after the surgery. The hospital staff were keeping her away from me and it was only when I caused a scene that they brought her to me," said Anyoso, a vegetable seller and a single mother with five children who makes $5 on a good day.
Anyoso said she didn't have clothes for her child so she wrapped her in a blood-stained blouse. She was released after relatives paid the bill.
One woman says she was detained for nine months and was released only after going on a hunger strike. The Center for Reproductive Rights says other hospitals also detain non-paying patients.
Judy Okal, the acting Africa director for the Center for Reproductive Rights, said her group filed the lawsuit so all Kenyan women, regardless of socio-economic status, are able to receive health care without fear of imprisonment. The hospital, the attorney general, the City Council of Nairobi and two government ministries are named in the suit.
___
Associated Press reporter Tom Odula contributed to this report.
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Thursday, December 27, 2012
?Rescue Me? Singer Fontella Bass Dead At 72 (VIDEO)
“Rescue Me” Singer Fontella Bass Dead At 72 (VIDEO)
Soul singer Fontella Bass has died at the age of 72. Bass, who topped the R&B charts with her song “Rescue Me” in 1965, passed away on Wednesday night at a St. Louis hospice of complications from a heart attack she suffered three weeks ago. Fontella’s daughter, Neuka Mitchell, said her mother had also suffered ...
“Rescue Me” Singer Fontella Bass Dead At 72 (VIDEO) Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News
Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2012/12/rescue-me-singer-fontella-bass-dead-at-72-video/
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Obama cuts vacation short to deal with fiscal crisis
HONOLULU (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is cutting short his Hawaiian holiday to leave for Washington on Wednesday to address the unfinished "fiscal cliff" negotiations with Congress, the White House said on Tuesday.
As the clock ticks toward a January 1 deadline, efforts to avert a sharp rise in taxes and deep spending cuts have stalled, worrying world financial markets.
Obama and congressional lawmakers left Washington on Friday for the Christmas holidays with talks to avert the fiscal disaster in limbo.
When Obama arrives back in Washington early on Thursday, the focus will shift to the U.S. Senate after Republicans in the House of Representatives failed to pass their own budget measures last week.
Obama is expected to turn to a trusted Democratic ally, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, to help craft a quick deal.
White House aides began discussing details of the year-end budget measure with Senate Democratic counterparts early this week, a senior administration official said on Monday
The president will also need at least tacit approval from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to insure Republicans will permit passage of what is likely to be a stripped down bill that prevents taxes from rising on all Americans.
The measure may not, however, contain difficult spending cuts both parties had sought to speed deficit reduction. It is unclear how the president will seek to address the draconian across-the-board government spending reductions set to go into effect early in the year without a deal.
McConnell, who is up for re-election in 2014, has been a cautious participant in the process. His spokesman has said it was now up to Democrats in the Senate to make the next move.
Once clear of the Senate, the fiscal cliff legislation must also win enough bipartisan support to pass the House of Representatives, which failed last week to approve Speaker John Boehner's proposal to extend tax breaks for all Americans earning less than $1 million a year.
Conservative Republicans balked at any tax increases at all and withdrew support for the measure, which never came to a vote. Some Republican votes will be needed to pass any Senate bill.
BIG DAY THURSDAY
The next session of the Senate is set for Thursday, but the issues presented by the fiscal cliff - across-the-board tax increases and indiscriminate reductions in government spending - were not on the calendar.
The House has nothing on its schedule for the week, but members have been told they could be called back with 48 hours notice, making a Thursday return a theoretical possibility.
Obama and his family arrived in Hawaii early on Saturday and have devoted their time to spending the Christmas holiday together. First Lady Michelle Obama and the couple's two daughters are to remain in Hawaii, suggesting the president hopes to rejoin them if a deal is struck
Before the talks ran into trouble, Obama had originally been expected to stay in Hawaii - where he was born - until well into the first week of January.
But many observers are pessimistic that lawmakers, who have repeatedly come close to agreement only to see negotiations collapse, can wrap up a deal in the few days left before the end-of-year cut-off point.
The impact of a blown deadline would likely be first seen in financial markets, which wobbled last week after House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner's "Plan B" tax and spending effort fell flat.
Obama had offered a deal early last week that would have let tax rates rise for those making more than $400,000 a year, a higher threshold than the $250,000 income level he originally wanted to subject to higher tax rates. However, Boehner was unimpressed with the offer and pursued his alternative instead.
The president appears to have set consideration of fiscal cliff issues aside during his four days in Hawaii. His only public events have been to attend the funeral of long-time Hawaiian Senator Daniel Inouye on Sunday and a Christmas Day visit to soldiers at a Marine Corps base near the vacation home his family is using in Kailua, Hawaii.
He has spent his time with family and friends, with excursions to play golf, exercise, go hiking or to the beach.
(With additional reporting by Jade Eckhardt in Kailua, Hawaii; editing by Alistair Bell and Todd Eastham)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/president-obama-may-return-washington-soon-wednesday-aide-014403713.html
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Fees undermine fliers' ability to compare fares - seattlepi.com
WASHINGTON (AP) ? For many passengers, air travel is only about finding the cheapest fare.
But as airlines offer a proliferating list of add-on services, from early boarding to premium seating and baggage fees, the ability to comparison-shop for the lowest total fare is eroding.
Global distribution systems that supply flight and fare data to travel agents and online ticketing services like Orbitz and Expedia, accounting for half of all U.S. airline tickets, complain that airlines won't provide fee information in a way that lets them make it handy for consumers trying to find the best deal.
"What other industry can you think of where a person buying a product doesn't know how much it's going to cost even after he's done at the checkout counter?" said Simon Gros, chairman of the Travel Technology Association, which represents the global distribution services and online travel industries.
The harder airlines make it for consumers to compare, "the greater opportunity you have to get to higher prices," said Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition, whose members include corporate travel managers.
Now the Obama administration is wading into the issue. The Department of Transportation is considering whether to require airlines to provide fee information to everyone with whom they have agreements to sell their tickets. A decision originally scheduled for next month has been postponed to May, as regulators struggle with a deluge of information from airlines opposed to regulating fee information, and from the travel industry and consumer groups that support such a requirement.
Meanwhile, Spirit Airlines, Allegiant Air and Southwest Airlines ? with backing from industry trade associations ? are asking the Supreme Court to reverse an appeals court ruling forcing them to include taxes in their advertised fares. The appeals court upheld a Transportation Department rule that went in effect nearly a year ago that ended airlines' leeway to advertise a base airfare and show the taxes separately, often in smaller print. Airlines say the regulations violate their free-speech rights.
At the heart of the debate is a desire by airlines to move to a new marketing model in which customers don't buy tickets based on price alone. Instead, following the well-worn path of other consumer companies, airlines want to mine personal data about customers in order to sell them tailored services. You like to sit on the aisle and to ski, so how would you like to fly to Aspen with an aisle seat and a movie, no extra baggage charge for your skis, and have a hotel room and a pair of lift tickets waiting for you, all for one price? You're a frequent business traveler. How about priority boarding, extra legroom, Internet access and a rental car when you arrive?
"Technology is changing rapidly. We are going to be part of the change," said Sharon Pinkerton, vice president of Airlines for America, which represents most U.S. carriers. "We want to be able to offer our customers a product that's useful to them, that's customized to meet their needs, and we don't think (the Transportation Department) needs to step in."
If airlines have their way, passengers looking for ticket prices may have to reveal a lot more information about themselves, such as their age, marital status, gender, nationality, travel history and whether they're flying for business or leisure. The International Air Transport Association, whose 240 member airlines cover 84 percent of global airline traffic, adopted standards at a meeting earlier this month in Geneva for such information gathering by airlines as well as by travel agents and ticketing services that would relay the data to airlines and receive customized fares in return.
"Airlines want, and expect, their (ticket) distribution partners to offer passengers helpful contextual information to make well-informed purchase decisions, reducing the number of reservations made based primarily or exclusively on price," said a study commissioned by the association.
Consumer advocates question how airlines would safeguard the personal information they gather, and they worry that comparison shopping for the cheapest air fares will no longer be feasible.
"It's like going to a supermarket where before you get the price, they ask you to swipe your driver's license that shows them you live in a rich zip code, you drive a BMW, et cetera," Mitchell said. "All this personal information on you is going out to all these carriers with no controls over what they do with it, who sees it and so on."
The airline association said consumers who choose not to supply personal information would still be able to see fares and purchase tickets, though consumer advocates said those fares would probably be at the "rack rate" ? the travel industry's term for full price, before any discounts.
It's up to individual airlines whether they price fares differently for travelers who don't provide personal information, said Perry Flint, a spokesman for the international airline association.
The stakes, of course, are enormous. Since 2000, U.S. airlines have lost money for more years than they've made profits. Fee revenue has made a big difference in their bottom lines. Globally, airlines raked in an estimated $36 billion this year in ancillary revenue, which includes baggage fees and other a la carte services as well as sales of frequent flyer points and commissions on hotel bookings, according to a study by Amadeus, a global distribution service, and the IdeaWorksCompany, a U.S. firm that helps airlines raise ancillary revenue. U.S. airlines reported collecting nearly $3.4 billion in baggage fees alone in 2011.
One expense airlines would like to eliminate is the $7 billion a year they pay global distribution systems to supply flight and fare information to travel agents and online booking agents like Expedia. Airlines want to deal more directly with online ticket sellers and travel agents, who dominate the lucrative business travel market. Justice Department officials have acknowledged an investigation is underway into possible anti-trust violations by distribution companies.
Airlines also have been cracking down on websites that help travelers manage their frequent flier accounts. The sites use travelers' frequent flier passwords to obtain balances and mileage expiration dates, and then display the information in a way that makes it easier for travelers to figure out when it makes more sense to buy a ticket or to use miles.
"What the airlines are trying to do right now is reinvent the wheel so they can hold all their information close to their chest," said Charles Leocha, founder of the Consumer Travel Alliance. "As we move forward in a world of IT, the ownership of passenger data is like gold to these people."
By withholding information like fee prices, he said, "we are forced to go see them, and then we are spoon-fed what they want to feed us."
___
Airlines for America http://www.airlines.org
Travel Technology Association http://www.traveltechnologyassociation.org
Business Travel Coalition http://businesstravelcoalition.com/
___
Follow Joan Lowy at http://www.twitter.com/AP_Joan_Lowy
Source: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Fees-undermine-fliers-ability-to-compare-fares-4146445.php
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Wednesday, December 26, 2012
The Best "White Christmas": Otis vs. Elvis
Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/uazwCHfRllg/the-best-white-christmas-otis-vs-elvis
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By Request, My Family Eggnog Recipe - - Portland Food and Drink
Re-posted from 2009
This is a recipe my father used back in the 40?s. Many years ago, I found it among his things, but never made it until tonight. Now I will never make any other version. It?s really airy yet creamy, with just the right balance of booze.
I Twitter/Facebooked about this tonight, and am posting it here after several requests, after all, we still have New Year?s to go through!
Note that this recipe uses raw eggs. If this scares you, I doubt you?d be on this site anyway, but normal warnings apply. Use good, clean eggs and break them correctly (not on the side of a bowl).
Egg Nog
Beat 8 egg whites until stiff peaks.
Add 1/2 cup sugar and beat until incorporated. Set aside for a moment.
Beat 8 egg yolks and 1/2 cup sugar.
Put the whites back on the mixer, and fold in the beaten yolks
At a slower speed, add 1 qt heavy cream, 1 pt whole milk, beat some more.
Add 2 cups rum and 1/2 cup bourbon.
Take 20 mg Lipitor.
Pour into glasses, dust with freshly ground nutmeg
Call cab.
*uses raw egg. Follow normal precautions i.e. not drinking if you are pregnant (not that you would!) etc. Google for information if you are uncertain.
"I have a wide-range of food experience - working in the restaurant industry on both sides of the house, later in the wine industry, and finally traveling/tasting my way around the world. Whether you agree or disagree, you can always count on my unbiased opinion. I don't take free meals, and the restaurants don't know when, or if, I am coming."
Source: http://portlandfoodanddrink.com/by-request-my-family-eggnog-recipe/
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Allergies, Obesity an Open Goal for Bullies
Bullying over health issues is common, according to two studies looking at kids with food allergies and those going through weight-loss programs.
In one study, almost 32% of children with food allergies reported bullying or harassment specifically related to their allergy, often involving threats with food, Eyal Shemesh, MD, of Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, and colleagues found.
In a second study, 64% of teens at weight-loss camps reported weight-related victimization, not just by schoolmates but often by friends, coaches, teachers, and parents too, Rebecca Puhl, PhD, of Yale University, and colleagues reported.
Both studies appeared online in Pediatrics.
Because of the immediate and long-term physical and emotional effects, pediatricians and other clinicians should get involved in concrete ways, advised Mark Schuster, MD, PhD, of Boston Children's Hospital, and Laura Bogart, PhD, of Harvard Medical School in Boston, in an accompanying commentary.
They recommended anticipatory guidance for children and parents by describing bullying and its consequences and teaching parents how to recognize clues that it's occurring.
"In addition, clinicians can learn to recognize indicators of possible bullying such as unexplained bruises, cuts, and scratches, as well as school avoidance, social isolation, anxiety, depression, substance use, and chronic physical symptoms (e.g., headaches, stomachaches). They should be particularly alert when patients have stigmatizing characteristics that could lead to bullying (e.g., obesity, disabilities, gender nonconformity)."
Bus Bullies Get Harassed in Wake of Viral Video Watch VideoShemesh's group analyzed surveys of 251 established food allergy patients, ages 8 to 17, and their parents at a single allergy clinic in the Enhancing, Managing, and Promoting Well-Being and Resiliency program.
Any bullying or harassment of these children was reported by 45% of them and 36% of their parents, although with poor agreement when related to reasons other than the food allergy.
Being victimized due specifically to food allergies accounted for most of these cases, with 32% of the food allergic kids and about 25% of their parents reporting such bullying.
Almost all the bullies were classmates (80%), and most bullying happened at school (60%).
The most common form was teasing (42%), followed by waving the allergen in front of the child (30%).
Notably, 12% had been forced to touch the food they are allergic to and 10% had food thrown at them.
Bullying was significantly associated with poorer quality of life scores and greater anxiety, which the researchers noted was independent of allergy severity.
While most of the bullied kids said they had told someone about what happened, parents knew in only about half of the cases.
When parents did know, though, it was associated with better quality of life and less distress in the bullied children.
To increase disclosure of bullying, "clinicians might consider asking a screening question about bullying during encounters with children with food allergy," Shemesh's group suggested.
While it's hard to compare the results with those of other studies, general population rates appear to be 17% to 35%, suggesting that food-allergic children may be bullied or harassed more than their peers, they pointed out.
"This finding, although alarming, is not surprising, given that children with food allergies have a vulnerability that can be easily exploited," they wrote.
Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Allergies/allergies-obesity-open-goal-bullies/story?id=18065534
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Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Video: For Newtown, a somber holiday
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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/50294318/
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Valuable Ideas For Residence Remodeling | Audio Video
There are several different kinds of home remodeling ventures that you might want to think about. Unless you plan to completely renovate your home, however, you have to make some decisions about where to start. Directing your attention toward compulsory repairs first is important and later you can redirect your attention to the things that will make your home more cozy and appealing. You may want to put into practice some of the following suggestions for home remodeling.
Typically, if you wish to make sizable improvements to your home, than you need a permit. This varies from place to place, so it is important that you check into this before beginning any home improvement projects. If you choose not to, then you open up the possibility of being fined by the city or county when someone sees what you have done. All you really need to do is pick up your phone and call the local government offices to learn what is necessary. If a licensed contractor will be doing the work for you, he will usually deal with this for you however if you are hiring a general laborer or handyman, it is something you will have to deal with. Typically, ascertaining a permit is not a hurdle, although it is one thing you do not want to forget about if you wish to steer clear of any hurdles in the future.
All right, we have gone over the first couple of points regarding home remodeling, of course you recognize they play a significant role. Of course we strongly suggest you learn more about them. It is difficult to ascertain all the various means by which they can serve you. However, we always emphasize that anyone takes a closer look at the general big picture as it applies to this subject. Continue reading because you do not want to miss these critical knowledge items.
One way to add a cozy new area for you and your family to gather is to build a deck. If you want to do this yourself, you have to consider all of the specifications first. You?ll want to make your deck as convenient and comfortable as possible, and also located in a spot that you?ll want to spend a lot of time. The best spot for a deck is usually where you?ll have some shade during the day. When planning the location of your deck, you may also want to think about the matter of privacy. If you want a new deck, you have to make the decision of hiring help or making it a DIY project. Just be aware that building a deck is a time consuming project that takes a certain amount of skill.
No matter what kind of home remodeling you?re planning, look for ways to make your home more energy efficient. Every step you take in this area will save you money on bills and also make your home more valuable and up to date. It?s not a good idea to rely on a fireplace for heating your home, and if you do have one make sure the damper is closed when you?re not using it. If this isn?t working properly, your chimney will be a constant source of drafts entering your home. Windows are another area of your home to examine for energy efficiency. Look for windows with a low U-value, which indicates better insulation. How your windows are installed is also a big factor, so make sure this is done by someone who?s an expert.
There are so many types of home remodeling possibilities, so you have to consider your needs and resources. Whether you?re doing your own home improvements or hiring help, don?t underestimate the cost or the amount of time it will take. It?s best to approach home improvement with a workable plan, but also have some flexibility in case you need to make changes.
The author is an internet marketing specialist ? who writes on numerous roofing related subjects such as Dallas roof coatings, roofing contractors Dallas TX and Dallas commercial roofing companies.
Source: http://audiovideo.au.pn/2012/12/24/valuable-ideas-for-residence-remodeling/
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Is the Amazon Rainforest Drying Out?
The trees and vegetation of the Peruvian Amazon are adapting to a warmer, drier future?but can they adapt fast enough?
LAND CLEARING: Smoke rises from a fire set to clear land for farming or pasture outside Tarapoto, Peru. Roads and fields fragment the forest, drying it faster, changing precipitation patterns and making it more difficult for species to shift their ranges to adapt to climate change. Image: © BARBARA FRASER
TARAPOTO, Peru?For tropical ecologist Gregory Asner, flying over the Peruvian Amazon from the town of Tarapoto is like traveling back in time. Modern houses, rice paddies and oil palm plantations give way to steep, forested mountains and then to green, unbroken forest that curves toward the horizon.
Suddenly the tree canopy below the twin-engine plane turns a mottled gray-brown, a sign of drought damage that he estimates may affect as many as half the trees.
In this remote corner of Peru?s Ucayali region, Asner, a tropical ecologist at the Carnegie Institution for Science at Stanford University, is afraid he is seeing the future. In the last few years this patch of forest has been hit by two ?once-in-a-century droughts??one in 2005 and another in 2010. These dry spells may become more frequent as temperatures in the tropical North Atlantic Ocean rise and as humans burn thousands of square kilometers of forest for farming. Although it has seen warmer temperatures in the past, the western Amazon is under siege now from a combination of a warming climate and human population growth that it has never faced before, and scientists are scrambling to determine whether existing protected areas will be enough to buffer against the changes to come.
Behind the plane Asner glimpses smoke rising from fires set to clear land for farming. Migration from the Andean highlands has boosted Peru?s Amazonian states to the top of the population growth chart, and the influx of people is taking a toll on the forest.
Peru?s Ministry of Environment?using satellite images and Carnegie-provided software?calculates that the country lost about 6,475 square kilometers of forest, an area the size of Delaware, between 2005 and 2009, up from some 4,550 square kilometers in the five previous years. Losing forest reduces precipitation, further stressing the remaining trees. ?About 50 percent of the rain that falls in the Amazon is generated by the forest itself, through transpiration and evaporation,? Asner says. ?Deforestation exacerbates the drought problem, because it removes that internal engine.?
Clearing fields and pastures also leaves more exposed forest edges, drying out the interior and making it more likely to burn if an agricultural fire escapes. Fires during the 2005 and 2010 droughts added 3.8 gigatons of carbon to the atmosphere, according to Simon Lewis, a forest ecologist at University College London. In recent genetic studies Lewis found that Amazonian trees have weathered past climatic warming, but the changes were slower then and were not exacerbated by humans, he says.
Faced with warmer, drier conditions, trees have three options:
?Individuals can acclimate, species can adapt or migrate, or they go extinct,? says Kenneth Feeley, a biologist at Florida International University. A floral species can expand its range into a cooler region, but only as fast as seed dispersal allows. Feeley, who studies trees on the eastern slope of the Peruvian Andes, was surprised to see range changes there in just a few years. ?Species are moving upslope about three vertical meters a year?that?s really fast,? he says, although perhaps not fast enough. ?Based on the climate change that?s already happening, they need to move nine or 10 vertical meters a years.?
In the lowlands, deforestation reduces the areas to which species can move, and fields, pastures and roads create barriers to dispersal. Peru has some large protected areas, such as Man? National Park, where Feeley does his work, but scientists don?t know if they are big enough?or in the right places?to allow species to migrate in a rapidly changing climate.
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=d787679a7aed8e93d6445cdf81ea874f
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News Analysis: Scientists to Seek Clues to Violence in Genome of Gunman in Newtown, Conn.
[unable to retrieve full-text content]As geneticists plan to study the DNA of a mass killer in hopes of eventually preventing rampages, some researchers question what good could come of the findings.
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