* Raises per-share price to 10 rand from 8.55 rand * Plans to delist Cipla Medpro when sale complete MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian drugmaker Cipla Ltd on Thursday sweetened its offer by 17 percent to take over South Africa's third-largest drugmaker, Cipla Medpro South Africa Ltd, ending the uncertainty of an earlier offer that had been put on hold by the Indian company. Cipla, India's fifth-largest drugmaker by sales, said it would spend about $512 million, or 10 rand a share, to acquire Cipla Medpro and then delist the South African drugmaker. ...
If you're dissatisfied with your dead-end job, watching this new Code.org video might push you over the edge and have you quitting before the end of the work day. The way professional coders like Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates (who have made billions typing out ones and zeros) talk about it, coding is the most creatively fulfilling job you could have.
The video, posted by the computer education nonprofit Code.org, features shots of Facebook's incredible offices and cameos from Miami Heat center Chris Bosh and The Black Eyed Peas' Will.i.am. (Money quote from the singer: "Great coders are today's rockstars.") It's all quite glamorous, and it's a far cry from the "code monkey" image that some Americans probably have of coders. Computer programmers are no longer wearing suits and languishing in cubicles, they're running around Facebook's gorgeous Menlo Park campus wearing hoodies, instead, and making tons of money.
The reality is that coding is generally not much more glamorous than any other job, but it's also not a career path that many young people consider. Making computer engineering alluring certainly can't hurt, especially since there seems to be so many vacant coding jobs out there.
With that in mind, the video saves their most important point for last: "1 million of the best jobs in America may go unfilled... because only 1 in 10 schools teach students how to code." Code.org promotes free online coding programs and encourages people to fight to get coding taught in schools across America.
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Chinese Buyers Snapping Up U.s. Real Estate Rate Topic:
#1 ? The Masked Tulip?
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Posted Yesterday, 11:15 AM
Same thing to happen here as the Pound tanks?
http://live.wsj.com/...6A-1A00D72E51D0
The success or failure of your deeds does not add up to the sum of your life. Your spirit cannot be weighed. Judge yourself by the intention of your actions and by the strength you faced the challenges that have stood in your way.
The people closest to you have been trying to tell you that you have made a difference. That you did change things for the better. The Universe is vast and we are so small. There is really only one thing that we can ever truly control - whether we are good or evil.
The political triumph of the American Right has been to advance relentlessly the economic interests of the country's richest people, while emphasising a swath of moral, social and foreign policy issues that motivate and certainly distract middle-class and poor voters.
#2 ? Mrs Bear?
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Posted Yesterday, 11:28 AM
The Masked Tulip, on 27 February 2013 - 11:15 AM, said:
Isn't it happening already? Particularly shiny newbuild flats - I gather they're not much interested in older property unless it's prime or super-prime.
#3 ? Bloo Loo?
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Posted Yesterday, 11:35 AM
estate agent says business is booming.
with 10m houses for sale, I think the Yanks had better get borrowing and buying...just in case they miss the boat...course the chinese will be blissfully unaware that legal title to millions of US properties is blighted by the bankers MIRS fiasco.
WARNING Your country is at risk if you do not keep up repayments on a gilt or other loan secured on it
#4 ? Venger?
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Posted Yesterday, 12:14 PM
Mrs Bear, on 27 February 2013 - 11:28 AM, said:
Isn't it happening already? Particularly shiny newbuild flats - I gather they're not much interested in older property unless it's prime or super-prime.
It has already significantly happened, in the boom years, and desperate stimulus years.
The more interesting question I think is whether the foreign owners who already own in UK, with the pound sliding a bit, the prospects going forward, together with fragile weak growth, will jolt more foreigners into putting their UK homes on the market.
If so, more supply onto market, perhaps with more motivated sellers... and remaining foreign wealth not already committed facing stamp duty changes, with choice of investing in many other countries as well, including the USA. The resulting sentiment change were that to occur likely to be felt keenly.
Quote
The Smith Institute estimated that 60% of homes in central London were bought by overseas investors in the first half of 2011. Figures from Jones Lang LaSalle suggested that only 19% of central London developments during an unspecified time period were bought by British people.
This extends beyond the so-called prime postcodes, where stereotypes of Russian oligarchs come to mind. According to Jones Lang LaSalle, many of those buyers were snapping up one- and two-bed homes in new developments across London, often without even looking at the property, propping up the market where first-time buyers are priced out.
Foreign buyers are one part of a bigger picture of under-occupation in London. The 2011 census revealed that there are an astonishing 229,803 second homes in London, many of which will be owned by British residents. Put very crudely, that is seven times the mayor's annual housebuilding target.
http://www.guardian....vestors-housing
#5 ? ToughEgg?
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Posted Yesterday, 12:55 PM
#6 ? Bruce Banner?
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Posted Yesterday, 12:57 PM
The Masked Tulip, on 27 February 2013 - 11:15 AM, said:
Let's hope so. The less properties owned by "hard working families", when the music stops, the better.
.
See Below:
It looks to me like there is a massive coordinated attempt by the various VIs to engineer a spring bounce by press releases and trolling popular Internet forums such as this.
Following the reported 1.9% monthly rise from a government controlled lender and the (expected) 0.5% rate cut, this forum seems to be targeted by bulls, many joining in the last few day to talk up the market.
The general drift seems to be... 'Savings accounts are paying a pittance so get into property now and pick up a bargain'.
I wonder if the various EA and lenders associations are emailing their members, suggesting that joining this forum to talk up the market would be a good idea.
Note: The above was posted in late January 2009, the following is updated as and when required.
#7 ? wherebee?
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Posted Yesterday, 01:34 PM
What amazes me in that in the US, UK, and Australia foreigners are allowed to buy property with very little difficulty. Try that in China or any country with a half decent idea of how the world works, and you will soon be given short shift.
And yet the voters do not seem to care....
There is always death and taxes; however, death doesn't get worse every year.....
my predictions for H1 2012 were: UK Houseprices vary by +/-5% in GDP, but fall another 20% in currencies that hold their value, such as AUD, CHF !TICK! 1 or more countries exit the Euro by end June 2012 !LOSE! Riots/civil unrest cause +10 deaths in european countries !TICK! gold reaches $2000 by end June 2012 !LOSE!
predictions for H2 2012: UK national houseprice average down by -10% in GDP on YOY average !TICK! 1+ more round of QE in UK, 1 more round of helicoptering in US !TICK! Obama win in US elections !TICK! gold reaches $2300 by end December 2012 !LOSE!
predictions for H1 2013 UK national houseprice average stays steady by +-3% in GBP 1+ more round of QE in UK, 1+ more round of helicoptering in US !TICK! IPCC issues some statements that 'global warming' is in a hiatus period, but will come back, oh yes gold reaches $2000 by end June 2013
#8 ? okaycuckoo?
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Posted Yesterday, 04:33 PM
Beware! There was a fuss in Canada a couple of weeks ago about EAs posing as Chinese buyers to big-up the Vancouver market.
There was a TV expose etc. and the ultimate point is that domestic buyers drive the market, not outsiders.
Reference to it from a Chinese news source here: http://vreaa.wordpre...falling-prices/
They think everyone's stupid, but that's not really true.
The bankers rubbed their palms together, and the economy went up in flames."If the government is big enough to give you everything you want, it is big enough to take away everything you have." Gerald Ford.
#9 ? SeeYouNextTuesday?
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Posted Yesterday, 04:53 PM
?okaycuckoo, on 27 February 2013 - 04:33 PM, said:
Beware! There was a fuss in Canada a couple of weeks ago about EAs posing as Chinese buyers to big-up the Vancouver market.
There was a TV expose etc. and the ultimate point is that domestic buyers drive the market, not outsiders.
Reference to it from a Chinese news source here: http://vreaa.wordpre...falling-prices/
They think everyone's stupid, but that's not really true.
http://www.greaterfo...he-myth-of-ham/
JustYield, on 30 September 2006 - 02:00 PM, said:
Zanu Bob, on 21 September 2012 - 09:00 AM, said:
love is getting a cup of tea with yer morning hand job everything else is noise.
#10 ? Sledgehead?
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Posted Yesterday, 06:28 PM
Seen it all b4. Mum was looking to sell her childhood home in Bath in the early / mid nineties. Her brother kept holding out for the rich Hong Kongese flocking to the London market. When the ink had finally dried on the handover documents in 97 her brother capitulated - having ridden the bear right to the bottom with not one member of the former colony expressing even the slightest interest.
Bubble Thinking & The Wisdom of the Property Bulls (click the pink arrow to see it in full!):
QUOTE(BTLlondon @ Jun 13 2005)
QUOTE(nodumsunreader @ Aug 10 2005, 03:48 PM)
QUOTE(TheLittleGuy @ Aug 13 2005, 02:16 PM)
#11 ? wherebee?
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Posts:894
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Posted Today, 12:32 AM
Sledgehead, on 27 February 2013 - 06:28 PM, said:
Seen it all b4. Mum was looking to sell her childhood home in Bath in the early / mid nineties. Her brother kept holding out for the rich Hong Kongese flocking to the London market. When the ink had finally dried on the handover documents in 97 her brother capitulated - having ridden the bear right to the bottom with not one member of the former colony expressing even the slightest interest.
If it is all a myth, why is my postbox in Hong Kong full EVERY DAY with multiple flyers for London property? Why is the South China Morning Post printing large, half and full page adverts EVERY DAY for London property? Why have I seen dozens and dozens of small offshore companies owned by mainland Chinese owning property in Australia and the UK? Why, when I lived in Australia, of the 15 houses in my street, I knew of 4 that were owned by Chinese or Singaporeans (didn't know about the rest), of which two lived in and two were rented out.
Some myth.
This post has been edited by wherebee: Today, 12:32 AM
There is always death and taxes; however, death doesn't get worse every year.....
my predictions for H1 2012 were: UK Houseprices vary by +/-5% in GDP, but fall another 20% in currencies that hold their value, such as AUD, CHF !TICK! 1 or more countries exit the Euro by end June 2012 !LOSE! Riots/civil unrest cause +10 deaths in european countries !TICK! gold reaches $2000 by end June 2012 !LOSE!
predictions for H2 2012: UK national houseprice average down by -10% in GDP on YOY average !TICK! 1+ more round of QE in UK, 1 more round of helicoptering in US !TICK! Obama win in US elections !TICK! gold reaches $2300 by end December 2012 !LOSE!
predictions for H1 2013 UK national houseprice average stays steady by +-3% in GBP 1+ more round of QE in UK, 1+ more round of helicoptering in US !TICK! IPCC issues some statements that 'global warming' is in a hiatus period, but will come back, oh yes gold reaches $2000 by end June 2013
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BAMAKO, Mali (AP) ? An official with a militia group fighting with the Malian army says that a suicide car bomber killed six fighters in the northern city of Kidal.
Ag Alghabas Intalla, a leader of the Islamic Movement of Azawad, or MIA, said the suicide bomber exploded his car Tuesday evening at a checkpoint at an entrance to Kidal. He said he counted six dead and others wounded. The MIA group is fighting with the Malian army and French troops against Islamic extremists.
The suicide attack has not been claimed, but it is suspected to be the work of the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, or MUJAO.
Feb. 27, 2013 ? The largest randomised study of the vitamin niacin in patients with occlusive arterial disease (narrowing of the arteries) has shown a significant increase in adverse side-effects when it is combined with statin treatment.
Results from the HPS2-THRIVE study (Heart Protection Study 2 -- Treatment of HDL to Reduce the Incidence of Vascular Events), including the reasons patients stopped the study treatment, are published online February 27 in the European Heart Journal [1].
Niacin has been used for decades to help increase levels of "good" HDL cholesterol and to decrease levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol and triglycerides (fats) in the blood in people at risk of cardiovascular problems such as heart disease and stroke. However, it has a number of side-effects including flushing of the skin. Another drug, laropiprant, can reduce the incidence of flushing by blocking the prostaglandin D2 receptor that is involved in the process. Therefore, the HPS2-THRIVE study investigated whether combining extended-release niacin with laropiprant (ERN/LRPT), given in addition to an LDL cholesterol-lowering statin, simvastatin, could reduce the risk of cardiovascular problems in people at high risk due to existing occlusive arterial disease.
A total of 25,673 patients from China, the UK and Scandinavia were randomised between April 2007 and July 2010 to receive either 2g of extended release niacin plus 40 mg of laropiprant or matching placebo. In addition, all participants received intensive LDL cholesterol-lowering therapy with simvastatin (with or without ezetimibe). Researchers from the Clinical Trial Service Unit & Epidemiological Studies Unit (CTSU) at the University of Oxford (UK), who were responsible for designing and conducting the trial and analysing the results, followed the patients for an average of 3.9 years.
By the end of the study, 25% of patients taking ERN/LRPT had stopped their treatment, compared with 17% of patients taking placebo.
Jane Armitage, Professor of Clinical Trials and Epidemiology & Honorary Consultant in Public Health Medicine at the CTSU, said: "The main reason for patients stopping the treatment was because of adverse side-effects, such as itching, rashes, flushing, indigestion, diarrhea, diabetes and muscle problems. We found that patients allocated to the experimental treatment were four times more likely to stop for skin-related reasons, and twice as likely to stop because of gastrointestinal problems or diabetes-related problems.
"We found that, in the trial as a whole, participants in the experimental arm had a more than four-fold increased risk of myopathy (muscle pain or weakness with evidence of muscle damage) compared with the placebo group. This is highly significant. It appeared that this effect was about three times greater among participants in China than those in Europe, for reasons that are not clear. In the placebo arm (i.e. those on statin-based treatment alone), the statin-related myopathy was more common among participants in China than those in Europe. Therefore -- in combination with the greater effect of ERN/LRPT on myopathy in China -- the excess number of cases of myopathy caused by ERN/LRPT (though low in both regions) was over ten times greater among participants in China than those in Europe (0.53 percent per year compared to 0.03 percent per year)."
Dr Richard Haynes, Clinical Coordinator at the CTSU, said: "This is the largest randomised trial of extended release niacin treatment and it provides uniquely reliable results on adverse side-effects and the ability of patients to tolerate them. Although 25 percent of patients stopped the treatment early, 75 percent continued on it for approximately four years. Currently, we are analysing the final data on the cardiovascular outcomes from the trial, and once we have these we will know whether or not the benefits of the treatment outweigh the myopathy, skin and gastrointestinal problems."
The researchers will be presenting full results on the cardiovascular outcomes at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology in March and these will be published in another paper afterwards [2].
The co-principal investigator of the study, Dr Martin Landray, Reader in Epidemiology and Honorary Consultant Physician at the CTSU, said: "Previous research had suggested that improving cholesterol levels in high-risk patients might translate into a 10-15 percent reduction in major vascular events such as heart attacks and strokes. In the HPS2-THRIVE study, 3,400 of the 25,673 participants suffered a major vascular event over an average of four years of follow-up. This means the study has excellent statistical power to discover the effectiveness or otherwise of the treatment."
In an accompanying editorial [3], Professor Ulf Landmesser, of the University Hospital Zurich (Switzerland), points out that although the study showed an increase in myopathy, it also showed that the ERN/LRPT substantially lowered LDL cholesterol and triglycerides by nearly 20%. He writes that these observations "raise important questions as to why niacin/laropiprant did not reduce major cardiovascular events," and he wonders whether laropiprant "is really biologically inert with respect to atherosclerosis and thrombosis."
He concludes that "niacin has failed as a valuable 'partner' of statin therapy in lipid-targeted approaches to further reduce major cardiovascular events in high-risk patients." He continues: "At present, statin therapy has been clearly shown to reduce vascular events effectively and is reasonable well tolerated in most patients. We will still have to wait for the results of ? ongoing studies to see whether another lipid-targeted intervention can further reduce vascular events in addition to statin therapy."
Notes:
[1] "HPS2-THRIVE randomized placebo-controlled trial in 25 673 high-risk patients of ER niacin/laropiprant: trial design, pre-specified muscle, and liver outcomes and reasons for stopping study treatment," by Richard Haynes, Lixin Jiang, Jemma C. Hopewell, Jing Li, Fang Chen, Sarah Parish, Martin J. Landray, Rory Collins, and Jane Armitage, The HPS2-THRIVE Collaborative Group. European Heart Journal.
[2] In December 2012 the pharmaceutical company Merck, which manufactures ERN/LRPT under the trade name Tredaptive and which funded the HSP2-THRIVE study, issued a statement saying the trial had failed to meet its primary endpoint and that "the combination of extended-release niacin and laropiprant to statin therapy did not significantly further reduce the risk of the combination of coronary deaths, non-fatal heart attacks, strokes or revascularizations compared to statin therapy." ERN/LRPT is not approved for use in the USA, and on January 11, Merck announced that it was "taking steps to suspend the availability of TREDAPTIVE? (extended-release niacin/laropiprant) tablets worldwide."
[3] "The difficult search for a 'partner' of statins in lipid-targeted prevention of vascular events: the re-emergence and fall of niacin," by Ulf Landmesser. European Heart Journal. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/eht064
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by European Society of Cardiology (ESC), via AlphaGalileo.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Richard Haynes, Lixin Jiang, Jemma C. Hopewell, Jing Li, Fang Chen, Sarah Parish, Martin J. Landray, Rory Collins, and Jane Armitage, The HPS2-THRIVE Collaborative Group. HPS2-THRIVE randomized placebo-controlled trial in 25 673 high-risk patients of ER niacin/laropiprant: trial design, pre-specified muscle, and liver outcomes and reasons for stopping study treatment. European Heart Journal, 2013 DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/eht055
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In this Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, photo, a woman sits on an eCooltra Connected electric scooters at the Mobile World Congress, the world's largest mobile phone trade show, in Barcelona, Spain. The first wave of the wireless revolution was getting people to talk to each other through cellphones. The second, it seems, will be getting things to talk to each other, with no human intervention: cars that talk to your insurance company?s computers, bathroom scales that talk to your phone, and electric meters that talk to your air conditioners. So-called machine-to-machine technology all the buzz at this year?s largest wireless trade show, and some analysts believe these types of connection will outgrow the traditional phone business in less than a decade. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
In this Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, photo, a woman sits on an eCooltra Connected electric scooters at the Mobile World Congress, the world's largest mobile phone trade show, in Barcelona, Spain. The first wave of the wireless revolution was getting people to talk to each other through cellphones. The second, it seems, will be getting things to talk to each other, with no human intervention: cars that talk to your insurance company?s computers, bathroom scales that talk to your phone, and electric meters that talk to your air conditioners. So-called machine-to-machine technology all the buzz at this year?s largest wireless trade show, and some analysts believe these types of connection will outgrow the traditional phone business in less than a decade. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) ? A car that tells your insurance company how you're driving. A bathroom scale that lets you chart your weight on the Web. And a meter that warns your air conditioner when electricity gets more expensive.
Welcome to the next phase of the wireless revolution.
The first wave of wireless was all about getting people to talk to each other on cellphones. The second will be getting things to talk to each other, with no humans in between. So-called machine-to-machine communication is getting a lot of buzz at this year's wireless trade show. Some experts believe these connections will outgrow the traditional phone business in less than a decade.
"I see a whole set of industries, from energy to cars to health to logistics and transportation, being totally redesigned," said Vittorio Colao, the CEO of Vodafone Group PLC, in a keynote speech at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. The British cellphone company has vast international interests, including its 45 percent ownership stake in Verizon Wireless.
Companies are promising that machine-to-machine, or M2M, technology will deliver all manner of services, from the prosaic to the world-changing. At U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm Inc.'s booth here at the show, there's a coffeepot that can be ordered to start brewing from a tablet computer, or an Internet-connected alarm clock. A former president of Costa Rica is also at the show, talking about how M2M can save massive amounts of greenhouse gases by making energy use more efficient ? enough to bring mankind halfway to the goal of halting global warming.
The M2M phenomenon is part of the larger drive to create an "Internet of Things" ?a global network that not only links computers, tablets and phones but that connects everything from bikes to washing machines to thermostats. Machina Research, a British firm, believes there will be 12.5 billion "smart" connected devices, excluding phones, PCs and tablets, in the world in 2020, up from 1.3 billion today.
But how does this transformation happen, and who stands to profit?
First, the devices have to be able to connect. That's not a trivial undertaking, especially considering that people don't upgrade washing machines or renovate their homes as often as they change cellphones and PCs. One company at the show, a Los Angeles-based startup named Tethercell, has an ingenious solution for battery-powered devices: a "fake" AA battery that houses a smaller AAA battery in an electronic jacket. It can be placed in a battery compartment with other batteries. Within a distance of 80 feet, some smartphones and tablets can then signal the "battery" to turn the device on or off. For instance, parents whose kids have a lot of noisy toys can turn all of them off with touch of a single button. A fire alarm could send a text-message warning that its battery is running low, rather than blaring an audio signal.
Unfortunately, a Tethercell from the first production run costs $35. Co-founder Kellan O'Connor believes the price can come down to $10, but that's still a non-trivial cost, and symptomatic of the high price of building out the Internet of Everything. For devices that need to connect at long range over a cellular network, the cost of radio components alone ranges from $10 to $70, according to analyst Dan Shey of ABI Research.
That's not expensive in the context of some big-ticket items, like cars, which have been forerunners when it comes to non-phone wireless connections. General Motors Corp. started equipping cars with OnStar wireless calling and assistance services in the mid-90s. At the show, it announced it is updating the service for faster data connections, enabling services like remote engine diagnostics and upgrades to the control software. AT&T Inc., which has been aggressive about getting into the M2M business, is ousting Verizon Wireless as the network provider for OnStar.
Colao, the CEO of Vodafone, gave an example of another "smart" car application that might seem intrusive to some: the company has been trying out a service in Italy that lets an auto insurance company know how much a car is being used, and charges premiums accordingly. It can also score the driver based on his or her driving style, and give pointers on how to handle the car more safely.
Cellular connections are creeping into smaller, cheaper devices. Ecooltra, which rents out electric scooters by the day in Spain, wants to connect them to the Internet, which would let renters figure out through their phones where there's a scooter for rent and how much of a charge is in its battery. The feature is perfect for quick, impromptu rentals by the hour. Adding "smarts" to the scooters in the shape of a cellular modem would turn the company from a conventional rental service to a "scooter-sharing" business, much like car-sharing services like Zipcar.
Once devices are connected, the next problem is getting them to talk to each other, and making sense of what they're saying. ABI's Shey says this is the real business opportunity in M2M, more valuable than making the modems or providing the wireless connections. He believes that's driving a behind-the-scenes scramble of deal-making at the show, as companies like AT&T seek to bolster their ability to support M2M by acquiring companies that provide a "middle layer" of software between the devices and their owners.
For connections between devices in the home, like that remote-controlled coffee-pot, Qualcomm touts its AllJoyn project, which it seeks to make an industry standard. Currently, the main ways for devices to connect to each other and figure out what they can do, like Bluetooth and DLNA, are too limited and difficult to use, said Rob Chandhok, president of Qualcomm Innovation Center.
With AllJoyn, "there's nothing to stop you from making a speaker that listens for notifications and turns them into speech, so you hear, 'Hey, you left the refrigerator door open!'" Chandhok said. "You take very simple things and connect them, and people build experiences on top of them. That's what we're trying to do."
Jose Maria Figueres, the former president of Costa Rica, is now the president of the Carbon War Room, an organization co-founded by billionaire Richard Branson to promote cutbacks in greenhouse-gas emissions through smart private enterprise. Figueres believes M2M has huge potential to wring efficiency out of energy-guzzling activities, and could reduce emissions equivalent to 9.1 billion tons of carbon dioxide by 2020 ? roughly equal to the combined emissions of India and the U.S. today.
Vodafone provided one example of how this might be done. The city of Groningen in the Netherlands has put sensors in the trash containers that serve public-housing units. They alert trash haulers when they need to be emptied, saving on unnecessary trips and reducing fuel use by 18 percent.
With M2M, "in many cases you have information moving instead of us moving," Figueres said.
In another example, Dutch authorities started controlling their street lights wirelessly rather than with "dumb" timers. They save on energy by dimming the lights if traffic is scant, but can also turn them on early if the day is dark.
Could M2M be overhyped ? a promise that won't deliver? The wireless industry is no stranger to rosy projections that don't pan out. Shey, the ABI analyst, thinks M2M will deliver, but perhaps not in a sexy, flashy way. When machine-to-machine connections are created, he said, it's usually not because someone is making a big bet on the future, but because they save money.
"It's about gaining more out of the asset that you have, like a truck. When it needs maintenance it gets maintenance at the right point. Or ensuring that the vending-machine guy only goes to the vending machine when it's empty," he said.
WASHINGTON -- The Washington Capitals shut down former teammate Alexander Semin, scored a goal with a one-of-a-kind combo and put together a second consecutive impressive performance, beating the Carolina Hurricanes 3-0 Tuesday night in their quest to make a quick last-to-first move in the Southeast Division.
Nicklas Backstrom scored in the first period and supplied the pass for John Erskine's goal in the second ? the first Backstrom-to-Erskine score in their six seasons as teammates. John Carlson scored in the third and Braden Holtby, who signed a two-year contract extension Monday, made 33 saves for his fifth career shutout for the Capitals.
After a miserable start to the season, Washington has back-to-back wins by more than one goal for the first time this season. The victory moved the Capitals within four points of the Hurricanes, who led the NHL's weakling division at the start of the day's play.
Cam Ward, under pressure for much of the game, kept it from turning into an ugly rout by making 37 saves for the Hurricanes, who have lost four of five and are 0-5 against Southeast Division opponents.
Making his debut on the visitor's bench at the Verizon Center was Semin, who was booed and whooped derisively whenever he touched the puck. He ranks as the Capitals' No. 5 all-time goal-scorer and was often touted as having more natural talent than two-time league MVP Alex Ovechkin, but his seven seasons in Washington were marred by criticisms about his work ethic, a complaint voiced again by Washington forward Troy Brouwer on Monday.
The Capitals allowed Semin to depart via free agency last summer, and he appeared determined to show up his old team. He shot the puck more than anyone else in the first period ? three on goal, two wide of the net. He had a solo breakaway on a penalty kill early that was thwarted when his shot ricocheted off Holtby's glove, giving the fans another excuse to let out a huge cheer.
Semin finished with nine shots, including four on goal.
The second period brought a moment as unusual as the sight of Semin in an opposing uniform ? one that was years in the making. Backstrom had 278 assists since entering the NHL with the Capitals in 2007, but none of them set up Erskine, who had only nine goals in his seven seasons in Washington.
But the pair produced just 31 seconds into the period, when Backstrom found Erskine trailing the rush. Erskine, who also signed a two-year contract extension Monday, teed up a slap shot that beat Ward on the stick side.
Ward was otherwise on top of his game, making point-blank saves on Brouwer and Joel Ward in the second period. The Ward-on-Ward save was an incredible piece of glove work, with the goalie reaching back to deflect the puck just as it was about to cross the goal line.
The Capitals opened the scoring on a power-play goal by Backstrom, who perched in front of the crease to receive a pass from Mike Ribeiro. Washington has scored first in eight straight games.
Notes: The Capitals had a season-high 40 shots on goal. ... Washington D Mike Green returned after missing three games with a lower-body injury. ... Because of uncertainty over the availability of Backstrom (illness) and LW Jason Chimera (lower body) after Monday's practice, the Capitals recalled F Casey Wellman from Hershey of the AHL. ... Carolina F Jeff Skinner (concussion) missed his fifth consecutive game, and D Jamie McBain (upper body) sat out his fourth straight.
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Follow Joseph White on Twitter: http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP
First Name: Gordon Age: 81 (8/3/1927). I have been married over 60 years (7 children & 14 grandchildren) Height: 5? 10? Waist: 38? Occupation: Retired Hometown: Los Banos, California Starting Weight: 155 pounds Current Weight: 203 pounds Body Stats: Arms: 18+ inches. Chest: 49+ inches. Neck 17+ inches.
Gordon?s Senior Fitness Success Story! For over fifty years Gordon Borges has been fighting the aging process through weightlifting. In 1944 at age 17, Borges began a routine of lifting weights for health benefits. ?I wouldn?t have done it for 56 years if I didn?t love it,? said Borges. Now at age 72, Borges swears by the healthy lifestyle he has lived by for so many years. His wife of 52 years has been working out for eight years as well.
Not only does Borges feel the health benefits but says working out can contribute to mental health as well. Working out can make you feel better about yourself and build self-confidence said Borges. He also feels it improves your people skills by making you feel more confident in yourself.
In his younger days Borges was constantly challenging himself to lift more and achieve more but now he has a set routine that works for him. He walks and uses a stationary bike along with a regimen of weights. Borges works out four or five times a week for 30-60 minutes at a time. He considers his workout a maintenance program to sustain his health.
Besides keeping himself in shape, Borges hopes to reach out to the seniors in the community. It?s never too late to start a workout program. Borges does recommend that anyone starting a new exercise program check with their doctor first.
Borges hopes to give seminars to prospective seniors about the benefits of weight training. Although many senior citizens are afraid of getting hurt, the benefits of weight lifting can be great. Among the medical benefits Borges sited, some included preventing osteoporosis, adult diabetes and colon cancer. Other obvious benefits are a leaner body mass and decreased obesity. Borges added that weight training could help alleviate mental depression and increase strength and flexibility.
This healthy senior citizen plans to continue working out until he is no longer able. ?I am very alert mentally. Weight training and exercise have contributed to that?, said Borges. Gordon?s Senior Fitness Questions/Answers!
At what age did you start exercising? Age 17.
What made you decide to start exercising? Football.
What is your primary fitness goal? Good health & a decent appearance.
How many days per week do you workout? 3 days for 1 hour each day.
What is your favorite body part to train? Arms.
What is the most challenging thing about working out as you get older? Maintaining a regular consistent regimen.
How has your life changed from starting a fitness program? Better health & international recognition.
What advice can you give seniors who think they are too old to exercise? It?s never to late.
How has ShapeFit helped you reach your fitness goals? By reminding me that other seniors have an interest & motivation to embrace good health through exercise.
Gordon?s Senior Fitness Tips! Senior Fitness Tip #1: Weight training is essential to foster strength. This is a glaring shortcoming with many seniors. Senior Fitness Tip #2: Train in moderation. Senior Fitness Tip #3: Train with light weight. Senior Fitness Tip #4: Cardiovascular workout every day for 15 to 30 minutes. Senior Fitness Tip #5: Train alone. Socializing will distract from your purpose.
Gordon?s Senior Fitness Eating Plan! Breakfast: A bowl of oatmeal. Lunch: Lean protein and good carbs. Dinner: Lean protein and good carbs. Snacks or Mini Meals: I occasionally have snacks.
Gordon?s Senior Fitness Workouts! Weight Training: 3 days a week for 1 hour each day. Cardiovascular: Cardiovascular workout every day for 15 to 30 minutes. Gordon?s Senior Fitness Supplements! Supplements Used: MultiVitamin/Mineral.
Air Force personnel salute as Air Force One, with President Barack Obama on board, arrives at in the rain at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. The president was returning from Newport News, Va., for an event on the automatic budget cuts. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Air Force personnel salute as Air Force One, with President Barack Obama on board, arrives at in the rain at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. The president was returning from Newport News, Va., for an event on the automatic budget cuts. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Standing in front of a ships propeller, President Barack Obama gestures as he speaks about about automatic defense budget cuts, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, at Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Following a closed-door party caucus, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, accompanied by fellow GOP leaders, meet with reporters, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, to challenge President Obama and the Senate to avoid the automatic spending cuts set to take effect in four days. Speaking at the Republican National Committee headquarters, Boehner complained that the House, with Republicans in the majority, has twice passed bills that would replace the across-the-board cuts known as the "sequester" with more targeted reductions, while the Senate, controlled by the Democrats, has not acted. From left are, Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kansas, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., Boehner, and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Va. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, accompanied by fellow members of the House GOP leadership, responds to President Barack Obama's remarks to the nation's governors earlier today about how to fend off the impending automatic budget cuts, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? America's leaders have threatened to shut the government down, drive it over a cliff and bounce it off the ceiling. Now they're ready to smack it with a "sequester." And it sounds like they mean it this time.
If no one backs down, big cuts in federal spending begin Friday. Should Americans be worried?
A primer on the nation's latest fiscal standoff ? how we got here, who could get hurt and possible ways to end this thing:
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What, again?
Like life in a bad Road Runner cartoon, the United States has survived the New Year's "fiscal cliff," double rounds of debt-ceiling roulette and various budget blow-ups over the past two years. Now the threat is $85 billion in indiscriminate spending cuts that would hit most federal programs and fall hardest on the military.
By law, these cuts known as the "sequester" will begin unfolding automatically at week's end unless President Barack Obama and Congress act to stop them.
Why did they agree to a law like that? In hopes of finally getting the nation's trillion-dollar-plus annual budget deficits under control.
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Isn't deficit-cutting good?
Obama, nearly all of Congress and plenty of economists say two things:
1) The budget deficit needs to be reduced.
2) The sequester is the wrong way to do it.
"Only a fool would do it this way," says Paul Light, a budget expert at New York University. "Primordial. It's beyond belief."
It makes him think of the movie "Dr. Strangelove," with Slim Pickens riding bronco on an atomic bomb, waving his cowboy hat.
The sequester was designed to land with a mighty splat ? to create such a mess if allowed to occur that lawmakers would do the right and honorable thing and negotiate a measured, meaningful and discerning package of deficit reduction to head it off. But that didn't happen, so the sequester is about to.
And, yes, that should mean progress on the nation's debt. The sequester is one of several developments expected to restrain the nation's red ink after four straight years of deficits topping $1 trillion.
Yee-haw.
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Are the cuts really that bad?
It's unlikely they will be as bad ? or at least as immediate ? as some overexcited members of the Obama administration have made out. But the cuts have the potential to be significant if the standoff drags on.
Early on, about 2 million long-term unemployed people could see a $30 cut in benefit checks now averaging $300 a week. Federal subsidies for school construction, clean energy and state and local public works projects could be pinched. Low-income pregnant women and new mothers may find it harder to sign up for food aid.
Much depends on how states and communities manage any shortfalls in aid from Washington.
Furloughs of federal employees are for the most part a month or more away. Then, they might have to take up to a day off per week without pay.
That's when the public could start seeing delays at airports, disruptions in meat inspection, fewer services at national parks and the like.
An impasse lasting into the fall would reach farther, probably shrinking Head Start slots, for example.
Much of the federal budget is off-limits to the automatic cuts. Among exempted programs: Social Security, Medicaid, food stamps, Pell Grants and veterans' programs.
Even so, officials warn of a hollowed-out military capability, compromised border security and spreading deterioration of public services if the sequester continues. It's "like a rolling ball," said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. "It keeps growing."
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Maybe it's fiscal-crisis fatigue.
Americans are yawning this one off. Only 27 percent of those surveyed for a Pew Research Center/USA Today poll last week said they had heard a lot about the looming automatic spending cuts.
Less than a third think the budget cuts would deeply affect their own financial situation, according to a Washington Post poll. Sixty percent, however, believe the cuts would have a major effect on the U.S. economy.
That's what economists and business people are nervous about.
The political standoff is the factor that economists blame most for the slowing economy, according to the latest Associated Press Economic Survey. The uncertainty about future government spending is causing businesses to hold back on investment and hiring, and it's making consumers less confident about their own spending, economists warn.
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How did it come to this?
Obama and congressional Republicans have been deadlocked over spending since the GOP won control of the House in 2010, with a big boost from tea party activists who champion lower taxes and an end to red-ink budgets.
House Republicans refused to raise the nation's borrowing limit in 2011 without major deficit cuts. To resolve the stalemate, Congress passed and Obama signed the Budget Control Act, which temporarily allowed borrowing to resume, set new spending limits and created a bipartisan "supercommittee" to recommend at least $1.2 trillion more in deficit reduction over 10 years. Republicans and Democrats on the supercommittee failed to compromise, however.
That triggered the law's doomsday scenario ? the so-called "fiscal cliff" package of across-the-board tax increases and spending cuts.
In a New Year's Eve deal, Obama and Congress agreed to raise taxes on some of the nation's wealthiest earners. And they postponed the spending cuts for two months ? until Friday.
That was supposed to buy time to cut a deal.
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But there's still no deal.
As the days before Friday's deadline melt into hours, neither side shows sign of blinking ? or even negotiating.
Obama insists on a blend of targeted spending cuts and tax increases. Republican leaders reject any more tax increases and say the savings must come from spending cuts.
While both sides talk about reducing the deficit, Obama and other Democrats say this must be done gradually, to avoid wounding an already weak economy.
The president is taking his case to the people, blasting Republicans at campaign-style events. GOP leaders, just back from a congressional vacation themselves, are publicly grousing that Obama should be bargaining with them, not grandstanding.
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Is there a way out?
Expect intense negotiations to begin in Washington if enough Americans begin yelping about the pain from reduced federal spending.
Obama and Congress could agree to pare down the budget cuts to a more logical package of reductions, perhaps with some tax changes, too. Such a deal could also retroactively restore spending where they want to.
The "sequester" isn't the only line in the sand, however.
On March 27, legislation that has been temporarily financing the government expires. Without agreement to extend it, the threat of a partial government shutdown looms. Later in the spring, it will be time to raise the nation's debt limit again.
So far, two years of budget crises have been settled with temporary fixes. They have barely dented the underlying disagreement over how to reform Medicare, Social Security, taxes and spending to address the nation's long-term deficit problem.
If those festering questions remain unanswered, the U.S. economy will remain a hostage to politics.
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AP Director of Polling Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report.
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Follow Connie Cass on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ConnieCass
What is it about Emily? She's so happily, totally into dead things. She's got this T-shirt that says "Everything Is Dead"; she's the host of a video series on YouTube called The Brain Scoop, and that's where I saw her the other day, driving around Montana looking for a frozen wolf carcass. The wolf had been hit by a car. In this YouTube episode, she isn't sure about the pickup address, so she pulls out her cellphone and by mistake calls LensCrafters, the eyeglass store, and she says, "Hi ... I'm on my way to pick up a wolf that Liz said she was holding for us." There's a pause. "A wolf," she says, more quietly. "It's in the freezer." Another pause. Then, "Oh ... sorry."
Sipping Alcohol
Emily Graslie is a volunteer curatorial assistant at the Philip L. Wright Zoological Museum at the University of Montana ? which means when she's not taking photos, baking or playing the violin, she's skinning wolves, dissecting or watching beetle larvae eat the dead muscle off a bear skull. She's got these sassy beetle-shaped earrings, and when she's sitting in the museum basement surrounded by jars and jars and jars of dead slugs, turtles, bats, pack rats, fish (including a two-headed one) an elk embryo and a shark, she makes me want to crawl through the screen and sit right next to her because she's having so much fun. (She has real friends, of course, live ones, museum associates and her boss, Dave Dyer, who is briefly seen sipping from an alcohol jar jammed with what look like preserved rodents.) I'll say this for Missoula biologists ? they know how to have fun.
So check Emily out ? this is her inspection tour of the museum's storage room, where you learn about exploding lead jars that have sharks in them.
A word about Emily's earrings. For reasons not entirely clear to me, people find it unpleasant to see beetles, wasps or ants hanging off other people's ears, but Emily, in this and many other things, is a pioneer. Her oversized beetle earrings are her way of saying bugs can be beautiful, even when they are three inches from one's mouth. She's celebrating biodiversity.
Which gives me the chance to mention other bold forays into insect-inspired fashion, like this elegant carryall from Japan, called the Backpack Mega-cockroach. It would take a brave soul to wear one of these in a subway or bus. I don't know how you open it, there must be a zipper somewhere, but somehow, I'd rather not look to closely.
And, in a very different vein, here are some insects and spiders ? little jewels ? from Justin Gershenson-Gates of A Mechanical Mind in Chicago. "I take dead old watches," he says, "disassemble and clean them, then rearrange their bits and widgets into whimsical designs." These bugs are extraordinarily beautiful, probably because you can sense that they were once the innards of old timepieces. I especially like the spiders with light bulbs.
Courtesy of Justin Gershenson-Gates
These critters are so fabulous, I can imagine Emily's museum creating a special cabinet to house them, with elaborate scientific names and brief descriptors like "Highly Evolved 'Bulb-Spiders' Found Hiding In Reading Lamps."
Because Justin "found" them, they'd all carry his name, Archaearanea justingershon-gatesiorum. But the wildlife videos, describing their mating habits? They'd all be done by Emily.
I didn't know this until my editor, Andrew, mentioned it; but Emily's sister, Serri, is an NPR employee. Andrew tells me she's Emily's older sister, which probably means the earrings she wears, if she wears any, are a touch more conservative. But in the interest of journalistic transparency, you should know we have a Graslie in the house.
Feb. 11, 2013 ? In a study to be presented on February 14 at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting ?, in San Francisco, researchers will report that variation in a gene involved in inflammation is associated with developmental problems after preterm birth in females, but not males.
This randomized study, Sex-specific genetic susceptibility to adverse neurodevelopmental outcome after early preterm birth, may improve understanding of how developmental problems occur after preterm birth and may help identify prevention strategies.
"Preterm birth is the leading cause of childhood brain injury," said the study's author, Erin Clark, MD. "Compared to preterm girls, preterm boys are more likely to die, and survivors are more likely to have long-term problems, including disability and cerebral palsy. We don't understand why preterm boys are at a disadvantage compared to girls."
Through her study, Clark, assistant professor of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine, determined whether genetic variants influence the risk of developmental problems after a preterm birth, and whether there is a difference in risk factors between males and females.
Clark evaluated patients previously enrolled in a randomized trial of magnesium sulfate before preterm birth for prevention of cerebral palsy. She evaluated children that died before their first birthday, or developed cerebral palsy or other developmental problems by age 2 years, and compared them to healthy children.
The research shows a variant in the inflammation gene, interleukin 6, was associated with developmental problems in females but not in males. Treatment with magnesium sulfate before birth didn't appear to change this risk.
"These results add to the evidence that inflammation genes play a role in risk of brain injury in preterm children. In addition, they suggest that genetic risk factors for brain injury after early delivery may be different in boys and girls," said Clark. "However, the effect of genes and gender on outcomes after preterm birth remains poorly understood. Additional research is necessary in order to better understand the differences in outcomes between males and females born preterm."
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The Nigeria Football Federation said Tuesday that national coach Stephen Keshi has rescinded his resignation and negotiations continue between the two sides following the team's win at the African Cup of Nations.
Keshi and the Super Eagles, who beat Burkina Faso 1-0 Sunday to win the African Cup for the first time in 19 years, are due to return Tuesday to celebrations and a presidential gala in Nigeria's capital, Abuja. Keshi's resignation, which he publicly announced on a South African radio station Monday night, served as yet another major embarrassment for the country's football regime, which has been surrounded by allegations of corruption and mismanagement for years.
The federation issued a statement early Tuesday morning, labeled as being on behalf of Keshi, saying the coach had taken back his resignation letter.
"While I have had cause to express my displeasure over some issues that happened in the course of our participation in the AFCON (African Cup of Nations) 2013, which my team won by the grace of God, especially concerning my relationship with the Nigerian Football Federation, I have since had opportunity to discuss the various issues with all concerned," the statement quoted Keshi as saying. "I am therefore pleased to say that I have reconsidered my position and have decided to continue with my job."
The statement said Keshi thanked Nigeria's Sports Minister Bolaji Abdullahi for "his swift and kind intervention." Abdullahi did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday from The Associated Press.
Keshi's displeasure with the football federation had been hinted at for days. In an interview Monday with Metro FM, a radio station run by South Africa's state broadcaster, Keshi said he turned in his resignation immediately following Nigeria's win over Burkina Faso at Soccer City in Johannesburg.
Keshi told Metro FM his decision step down stemmed from his anger over federation officials threatening to fire him just prior to Nigeria's quarterfinal against Ivory Coast.
The resignation threat means Keshi will now start negotiations with Nigerian officials over what it will take for him to stay on to coach the 52nd-ranked Super Eagles, whose win Sunday sent them into the first-round group with Spain, Uruguay and Tahiti at June's Confederations Cup in Brazil.
Keshi has previously said he has not received his salary payments on time from the federation, and has not been given his official accommodations or a staff car promised to him.
Keshi was Nigeria captain when it won the African Cup of Nations in 1994. The former central defender was the first black African coach in more than 20 years to win the tournament. He earned his chance with Nigeria's national team after spells in charge of Mali and Togo, and also as an assistant coach when Nigeria last made the final, in 2000.
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The Masked Tulip, on 27 February 2013 - 11:15 AM, said: