By Steve Keating ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Rory McIlroy's decision to skip the Arnold Palmer Invitational surprised the tournament host, who expressed his disappointment on Wednesday that the world number one was not at Bay Hill this week. The 83-year-old Palmer said he had jokingly suggested he might break McIlroy's arm if he did not show up but did not try to force the young Northern Irishman into making an appearance. "Frankly, I thought he was going to play, and I was as surprised as a lot of people when he decided he was not going to play," said Palmer. ...
TAUNTON, Mass. (WPRI) -- Dozens of people joined the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to discuss casino gaming in the Bay State.
The commission will be deciding whether the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribe will retain exclusive rights to gaming in the region or if the area's casino license will be opened up to commercial bidding.?
Cedric Cromwell of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe was the first person to speak at Thursday?s meeting.
?We are literally years ahead of any other project in the commonwealth and? we are poised to bring thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars of economic growth to Southeastern Massachusetts in the very near future,? he said.
The tribe plans to build its casino in Taunton, but some state lawmakers say they are skeptical that the land will ever be put into trust by the federal government.
Those lawmakers say in the meantime, Massachusetts is losing out on revenue and jobs.
?The commercial gaming license for region C starts the process of creating the economic environment which creates jobs now,? said Representative Alan Silvia.
The gaming commission expects to take a vote on the issue within the next few weeks. ?
Grading in home schooling is done by the teacher-in-charge. In most of the cases, this means Mother! In this situation, grading can get a bit tricky because it can be a little difficult to grade your own child. There is no benchmark against which you can evaluate your child's performance. In most cases, you also have no awareness of how well other children are doing. So, obviously the traditional method of grading is perhaps not the best method to follow.
When grading a child undergoing homes schooling, it is more important to assess whether the child has understood the subject that is being taught. Inherent in this is the fact that if the child has not understood something, you will need to go over it again.
This will work in your child's favor in two ways. Firstly, the child knows that if he or she fails to catch on, the topic will be repeated till it is mastered. Secondly, the child also knows that once the topic has been mastered, he or she will get full credit for his hard work. Getting full reward for the hard work put in is a great motivational factor, especially for kids.
When assessing your child's abilities, do not allow emotions to overcrowd your rationale. Do not yield to the cries and tears of your child if he or she resists certain topics or subjects. If mastering these skills is necessary, then you as the teacher (and not as the parent alone) have to go over the topic over and over till it sinks in. When dealing with tougher concepts, the child may get restless and may even show frustration or belligerence. When the child is still young and unable to understand the importance of his lessons, it is your responsibility to see to it that the child develops the skill set necessary for future growth.
In case you belong to a state that requires yearly tests, this will help you to judge your child's ability vis-?-vis his peers. Even if it is not mandatory, you may want to test your child every year. These tests will reveal the variations in the child's learning pattern. It may show up unexpected areas of strength and hitherto unknown areas of weakness. This enables you to structure your teaching to cover the areas that are weak, and build upon the areas that are strong.
In case your state requires a home school report card, keep a record of the yearly development and scores of your child. Include pertinent areas like punctuality, discipline etc in the report. You may also need to keep a record of the number of working days and attendance schedules. While grading your child, make sure that you use as many external tests as possible. There are several websites that deal with the various age groups, and allow free downloading of question papers. This is an excellent and cost-effective method to assess your child. Home schooling, if done in the proper manner, will boost the child's confidence because he will be studying to satisfy his natural curiosity. You will be able to be sure that your child's test scores will truly reflect their true intelligence.
For more information about techniques to improve memory, have a look at the Good Grades Guide Review. I'm sure that you will like it!
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - If Brazil's business leaders could vote in Venezuela's election next month, they would cast their ballots for Hugo Chavez's political heir, acting president Nicolas Maduro.
They never supported the anti-capitalist bluster of Chavez, who died of cancer last month, but they hope to hold on to lucrative contracts for food exports and construction projects that he signed with Brazil's former leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his successor, Dilma Rousseff.
"In the near term, a Maduro win would be best," said Jose Augusto de Castro, head of Brazil's Foreign Trade Association.
Brazil, the world's seventh largest economy, has emerged as regional powerbroker in Latin America with moderate center-left policies that it hopes can influence more stridently left-wing neighbors such as Venezuela.
With Brazil's economy slowing to a crawl, the last thing its entrepreneurs want to do is forfeit growing markets.
Over the past decade, Brazil's exports to Venezuela soared by 533 percent to some $5 billion, making it Brazil's second largest market in Latin America after Argentina, both major buyers of Brazilian manufactured goods. Economists say Brazil's investments in Venezuela are around $20 billion.
Venezuela, an oil producing nation that imports some 70 percent of its food, is now the third largest consumer of Brazilian beef and an important buyer of its chicken.
Key infrastructure projects launched during the 14 years of Chavez's government, from the Caracas metro expansion to bridges across the Orinoco river that divides Venezuela, are run by Brazilian firms like Odebrecht.
Polls ahead of Venezuela's April 14 election should relieve Brazilians with commercial interests there. One independent survey shows Maduro, who as Chavez's former foreign minister is already known in Brazil, with a 14.4 percent lead over his opponent, Henrique Capriles.
"Many see his election as favorable to Brazil's presence in Venezuela," said Pedro Silva Barros, an economist at Brazil's Institute for Applied Economic Research (IPEA) in Caracas.
"Businesses are working with this scenario."
Chavez's close ties with Lula protected Brazilian firms from Venezuela's frequent nationalizations, foreign exchange controls and barriers to repatriating profits that scared competitors out of the oil producing OPEC nation.
"We have a good relationship with Venezuela and Chavez's death should not harm business there," said Ricardo Santin, market director at Brazil's Poultry Union.
Odebrecht's presence is so strong that Chavez even joked that he had tried to convert the firm's president to socialism. The company has 8,000 employees in Venezuela, with nine projects, including a 2.15 megawatt dam in the Amazon.
Andrade Gutierrez, another Brazilian construction firm, has its largest project on the continent in Venezuela: a $3.8 billion steel plant.
While businesses from other countries see Venezuela as a hostile environment, the willingness of Brazilian companies to do business there can be explained in part by the backing they get from Brazil's state BNDES development bank, which absorbs part of the risk by providing financing for projects.
Despite the close ties, Chavez's death has generated some uncertainty for deals that haven't been finalized yet.
In his last visit to Brazil in July 2012, Chavez bought six E-190 planes from Embraer for $271 million. The option for Embraer to sell an additional 14 planes for $630 million is still up in the air.
The most ambitious uncompleted project is the Abreu e Lima oil refinery in northeast Brazil. Eight years after Chavez and Lula signed off on the project to symbolize their alliance, Venezuela's state-run PDVSA still hasn't put up the 40 percent financing promised to Brazil's Petrobras.
Some in Brazil's business community say Maduro lacks the charisma needed to take the relationship to the next level and close such deals. They expect Maduro to basically continue Chavez's policies, to the benefit of Brazil.
"If you look at the economic returns, a Maduro victory would - in theory - be better for Brazil," said foreign trade lobbyist de Castro.
(Writing by Caroline Stauffer; Editing by Anthony Boadle and Andrew Hay)
At the entrance of a closed Laiki Bank graffiti sprayed on the pavement reads in Greek "thieves" as man walks in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Wednesday, March 20, 2013. Cypriot officials rushed Wednesday to find new ways to stave off financial ruin, including asking Russia for help, after Parliament rejected a plan to contribute to the nation's bailout package by seizing people's bank savings.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
At the entrance of a closed Laiki Bank graffiti sprayed on the pavement reads in Greek "thieves" as man walks in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Wednesday, March 20, 2013. Cypriot officials rushed Wednesday to find new ways to stave off financial ruin, including asking Russia for help, after Parliament rejected a plan to contribute to the nation's bailout package by seizing people's bank savings.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
During a crucial top level meeting of Cypriot leaders including from left to right, Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades, ruling DISY party deputy leader Averof Neophytou, DIKO party boss Marios Garoyian, EVROKO party leader Demetris Syllouris, Cyprus Central Bank Governor Panicos Demetriades, and Central Bank Deputy Governor Spyros Stavrinakis, during a crucial meeting to find an alternative plan to raise 5.8 billion euros to finance a bailout at the Presidential palace in Nicosia Wednesday, March 20, 2013. Cypriot lawmakers have rejected a critical draft bill that would have seized part of people's bank deposits in order to qualify for a vital international bailout. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Cypriot Archbishop Chrysostomos II speaks to the media outside Presidential Palace after his meeting with Cypriot president Nicos Anastasiades, in Nicosia, Wednesday, March 20, 2013. Following the talks with President Anastasiades, the head of Cyprus' influential Orthodox church Archbishop Chrysostomos II said on Wednesday that he will put the church's assets at the country's disposal to help pull it out of a financial crisis. Cypriot lawmakers have rejected a critical draft bill that would have seized part of people's bank deposits in order to qualify for a vital international bailout. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Delia Velculescu, head of Troika (IMF), leaves the presidential palace after meeting with Cyprus' President Nicos Anastasiades, not pictured, in the capital Nicosia, Wednesday, March 20, 2013. Cypriot lawmakers on Tuesday rejected a critical draft bill that would have seized part of people's bank deposits in order to qualify for a vital international bailout, with not a single vote in favor. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) ? Searching for a way out of a crippling financial crisis, officials in Cyprus on Wednesday pursued a new bailout strategy that could include a loan from Russia in exchange for natural gas leases and selling off assets from its most troubled banks.
Cyprus needs to come up with 5.8 billion euros ( $7.5 billion) on its own in order to secure 10 billion euros in rescue loans from international creditors. But the country's first plan to seize up to 10 percent of people's bank accounts failed miserably. Now officials are trying to limit the amount of money they need to take from customer's deposits.
The new "Plan B" could be voted on as early as Thursday, three top government officials said.
The latest move came a day after lawmakers voted overwhelmingly against the earlier plan ? a rejection that threw Cyprus' entire bailout into question. That raised the possibility the country's banks could collapse, the government would be unable to pay its bills and Cyprus could be forced out of the euro.
That could roil global financial markets as well as endanger deposits in the country even further.
The new "Plan B" was described by three top government officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the proposal were not being released until party officials had a chance to review them at a meeting Thursday morning.
The package includes a proposal to restructure Cyprus' heavily indebted second-largest lender, Laiki. The idea would be to isolate the bank's bad assets, which would be taken over by the government, from its good assets, which could be sold off to raise money. That strategy could also be applied to the country's biggest lender, Bank of Cyprus.
To avoid bank runs and give officials time to push the package through, the country's banks, which have been shuttered since Saturday, will remain closed for the rest of the week, said the central bank spokeswoman, Aliki Stylianou. Monday is a bank holiday, so banks will not reopen before Tuesday.
Cyprus has turned to long-time ally Russia for help, and Finance Minister Michalis Sarris was in Moscow on Wednesday to discuss a range of aid options and vowed to remain there until he secured a pledge of support. "We will be here until some kind of agreement is reached," Sarris said.
Nearly a third of the total amount of deposits in Cyprus' banks is believed to be held by Russians. The idea that authorities could dip directly into people's bank accounts had outraged Cypriots and Russians alike.
A Cypriot government official said the new proposal still includes some tax on deposits, but at a percentage far lower than those originally proposed. The official said the EU had given Cyprus until Monday to come up with an alternative, so speed was of the essence.
The European Union and Germany in particular, have long argued that they should not have to ask their own taxpayers to contribute to bailing out a country when it was Russian oligarchs who would benefit.
While the economy of Cyprus is tiny ? a mere 0.2 percent of the eurozone ? its exit from the shared currency could raise speculation that other, larger countries could leave, roiling global financial markets.
Cypriot political leaders held emergency meetings throughout the day Wednesday to try to find an alternative plan and seemed inclined to rely on Russia to help them out.
Russia is a longtime ally and also has skin in the game ? Russians own about a third of the 68 billion euros in deposits with Cypriot banks. It was unclear however, how much it would help and the Russians appeared to be balking at pouring any more money into the country.
Russia could extend a 2.5 billion euro loan that it gave Cyprus in 2011 and lower repayment rates. It could also provide a fresh loan, have one of its banks take over one of Cyprus' ailing lenders, or demand an interest in natural gas fields that Cyprus has discovered in the Mediterranean.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev criticized the eurozone and Cypriot officials for their plan to seize deposits, comparing them to Soviet-style autocrats.
"So far, the actions of the European Union, the European Commission and the government of Cyprus have resembled that of an elephant in a china shop," Medvedev said in remarks carried Wednesday by the Interfax news agency.
Scrambling to avert a financial meltdown, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades held talks Wednesday with European and IMF officials. The eurozone and IMF must sign off on any Plan B the Cypriots come up with if it is to be approved as part of the bailout.
Some sort of deal must be approved within days because Cyprus is running on borrowed time ? literally.
The European Central Bank is keeping the Cypriot banks alive by allowing them to draw on emergency support from the local central bank. But the ECB has said it would cut off that aid if there was no bailout deal soon and it became clear the banks had no hope of becoming solvent again.
In Nicosia, residents waited anxiously to see what lay in store for them.
Avetis Bahcecian has been running his Armenian restaurant in Nicosia for years. Now, with the uncertainty swirling around Cyprus, he's worried about his business.
"Whatever they do, they have to do it quickly because this uncertainty is hurting business," the 41-year-old said as he kneaded dough to make lahmacun, a traditional Armenian pizza-style food. "Our business is down by 40 percent in the last couple days."
ATMs have been dispensing cash and debit and credit cards have been working, so Cypriots have not faced any immediate cash shortage for day-to-day living.
Tensions remained high as Cypriots wondered whether the country's final rescue deal would include the hated bank deposit seizures.
Under the initial bailout plan conceived in Brussels last weekend, Cyprus was to have funded its part of the bailout by seizing 6.75 percent of all deposits up to 100,000 euros and 9.9 percent of those above that threshold. That caused outrage, leading the government to propose an amended version that would have spared deposits up to 20,000 euros. That plan was rejected by lawmakers on Tuesday.
As uncertainty grew over the country's future, even the country's influential Orthodox church offered to help.
Its head, Archbishop Chrysostomos II, said the church was willing to mortgage its assets to invest in government bonds. The church has considerable wealth, including property, stakes in a bank and a brewery.
"The wealth of the church is at the disposal of the country," Chrysostomos said.
___
Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow and David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany, contributed to this report.
GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt's defense team rejected charges he allowed the slaughter of civilians in Guatemala's civil war, as his country became the world's first to prosecute an ex-head of state for genocide and crimes against humanity.
For decades, Rios Montt, 86, was not prosecuted for alleged atrocities committed during his 1982-1983 rule in a particularly bloody phase of the country's long civil war, protected as a congressman by a law that grants immunity to public officials.
Rios Montt, who left Congress last year, was finally ordered to stand trial in January when a judge found sufficient evidence linking him to the killing of more than 1,700 indigenous people in a counterinsurgency plan executed under his command.
Prosecutors allege Rios Montt turned a blind eye as soldiers used rape, torture and arson against leftist insurgents and targeted indigenous people in a "scorched earth" offensive that killed at least 1,771 members of the Mayan Ixil group.
The defense team had until now stalled the process with a series of appeals, arguing he did not control battlefield operations and that there was no genocide in Guatemala.
Rios Montt, who sat calmly listening to testimony through large earphones because of hearing problems, made it clear he would have little to say, on the first day of the trial.
"Whatever I say or don't say will be used against me," Rios Montt told reporters before the trial. "I have to keep quiet. I am staying quiet."
In opening statements, prosecutors argued that Rios Montt's government put indigenous people in concentration camps while employing rape and torture to terrify the population.
Nicolas Bernal, one of two eyewitnesses to testify for the prosecution, described the massacre of 35 men, women and children in the village of Nebaj in northwestern Guatemala in March 1982, just days after Rios Montt took power.
"Soldiers came and killed the ones who were working, the ones who didn't manage to escape," he said. "They took out these peoples' hearts, went to their homes and set fire to them."
Rios Montt's lawyer Francisco Garcia said he was innocent.
"We will demonstrate and you all will confirm that there was never a genocide in Guatemala. General Rios Montt is not guilty. He did not participate in the crimes that have been attributed to him," Garcia told the packed court.
In a bizarre twist, Garcia was later dismissed from the case by Chief Judge Iris Yasmin Barrios, citing Garcia's friendship with another judge on the panel. Other lawyers continued with Rios Montt's defense.
A prosecutor said that up to 130 victims and 75 experts are expected to testify during the trial, which is due to resume on Wednesday.
HISTORY MADE
Roughly 200,000 civilians, most of them of Mayan descent, were killed during the 1960-1996 conflict as a string of right-wing governments attempted to rid Guatemala of leftist guerilla fighters suspected of being in league with communists.
An additional 45,000 people went missing.
Victims and human rights advocates applauded the start of the trial over Rios Montt's 17-month rule.
"Finally we're going to know the truth. It's justice for the survivors and for the world," said Sandra Moran, 53, who was laying flowers outside the court before the trial started. Her uncle was tortured during Rios Montt's government, she said.
A United Nations-backed truth commission report released after the 1996 peace accords found that the army and paramilitary groups were responsible for more than 90 percent of the hundreds of massacres carried out during the war.
"Until quite recently, no one believed a trial like this could possibly take place in Guatemala," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in a statement.
Pillay said it was the first-ever national trial of a former head of state on genocide charges.
Spanish human rights jurist Baltasar Garzon, who tried to prosecute ex-Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, also praised the trial, saying it was a big step forward for Guatemala.
"Finally, the principal of equality has become visible in a country where impunity has been the norm for a long time," he said, speaking at an event in El Salvador.
However, Guatemalan President Otto Perez, a retired general, reiterated that there was no genocide in the country and said the trial must be fair. "We insist that there be true justice, that there isn't pressure from one side or the other."
SCARS OF PAST
A three-judge panel must debate the material and set a date on whether to sentence or exonerate Rios Montt.
Born in Huehuetenango, a province in Guatemala's rural western highlands dotted with indigenous communities, Rios Montt took power in March 1982 when he led a military coup that toppled President Angel Guevara.
He remained politically active after being overthrown in a coup in August 1983, serving in Guatemala's legislature and launching an unsuccessful bid for the presidency in 2003.
Genocide trials have been rare for ex-leaders in Latin America, which was scarred by bloody civil conflicts and repression. Multiple charges were raised against Chile's Pinochet, but he died in 2006 before standing trial.
Often sporting thick glasses and a gray mustache, Rios Montt has been under house arrest for more than a year. The right-wing party that he founded changed its name this year to distance itself from its past.
Human rights groups filed a complaint against Rios Montt for genocide in 2001 and prosecutors will present hundreds of testimonies, videos and military documents in the trial against the former dictator, a process that could take months.
(Additional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva, Nelson Renteria in San Salvador; Editing by Dave Graham, Eric Beech, Cynthia Osterman, Lisa Shumaker and Paul Simao)
What kind of mother would send her young son off to die in a suicide bombing of children?knowing he would die?and then rejoice and pass out candy after his death and the deaths of other innocents he took with him? What kind of mother would lobby her other sons to become ?martyrs,? too?
A religious mother, of course. And you know what religion we?re talking about.
Umm Nidal?(?mother of the struggle?: real name Maryam Farhat), who died three days ago at the age of 64, is a hero to Palestinians. That?s because three of her six sons were ?martyrs?. The youngest, Muhammed, was only 17 when he died in a ?suicide attack against an Israeli military academy (the mother had encouraged him to engage in this ?jihad?), another made explosives targeting civilians and was blown up by one of his drones, and the third was killed by Israeli intelligence.
After Muhammed died (taking with him five Israeli students and wounding 23), she thanked Allah and handed out boxes of chocolates and halvah. She was later elected to the Palestinian parliament.
Nidal?s funeral was attended by thousands of Palestinians and many dignitaries, including the Palestinian prime minister.
On the eve of Obama?s visit, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas paid homage to Nidal?and gave her a special award, the ?Order of Sacrifice.?
Watch this video of Nidal being interviewed in 2005, after Muhammed?s death, and tell me if it?s not the most chilling interview you?ve ever seen: the pure poison of religion in action. The interview was aired by Dream2 TV, and you can read excerpts here:
In the first part of the next video, Nidal is shown praising Muhammed, who stands next to her as she sends him off to die:
And a transcript of her statement from the Hamas website, rejoicing at ?the best day of [her] life?:
?How do I feel, as I promise my son Paradise, and as I offer something (my son) for Allah? By Allah, today is the best day of my life. I feel that our Lord is pleased with me, because I am offering something (my son) to His sake. I wish to offer more [sons] for Allah?s forgiveness, and for the flag [of Islam], ?There is no god but Allah,? to fly over Palestine. That?s what we want. We want the rule of Islam. I?m not parting from him [as he goes] to his death, but rather I?m parting from him as he goes to a better life, the Afterlife, which our Lord has promised us. By Allah, if I had 100 children like [my son] Muhammad, I would offer them with sincerity and willingly. It?s true that there?s nothing more precious than children, but for the sake of Allah, what is precious becomes cheap.? [Hamas website, Jan. 1, 2006]
No normal mother is glad to send her sons off to war, and any normal mother hopes that they?ll come back alive. ?For a mother to send her son off at the age of 17 to kill civilians, to actually hope that he (and his brothers) will die, to rejoice at his death, and to lobby her other sons to follow in those footsteps?well, that takes religion.
It?s a mercy that this monstrous woman died before she had the chance to turn her grandsons into martyrs as well.
This up-swing in Real Estate prices has helped the Real Estate market in many parts of the Country. I have been reading some very optimistic?forecasts?regarding where home prices will end up this year, anywhere from zero to 20% or more. No one is sure, all good educated guess based on their own?interpretation?of the data and the level of intervention.
Here is what we do know thus far:
Due to rising home prices : At the end of 2012 ? 200,000 more homes moved out from the ?Under Water??category?(per CoreLogic)
So here are the numbers: ?38.1 US homeowners now have equity
10.5 Million of all homeowners that have a mortgage are still underwater (that is 21.5% of all US ?home with a mortgage)
Nevada has the highest percentage of homes with negative equity. Florida has 40.2 %
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Tagged as: negative equity, Reggie Lal, reggielal, reggielal blog, San Diego investment club, underwater homes
Mar. 18, 2013 ? University of Oregon chemists have synthesized organic molecular structures that move both positive and negative electrical charges -- a highly desired but often difficult combination to achieve in current efforts to create highly flexible electronic devices and other new-age technologies.
The research utilized a family of readily available and inexpensive hydrocarbons known as indenofluorenes to build molecular scaffolding for integrative circuitry. An indenofluorene-derivative framework, said co-author Michael M. Haley, head of the UO Department of Chemistry, offers more simplicity, flexibility and affordability than that available using many other hydrocarbon-based approaches.
Haley's lab in the UO's Materials Science Institute reported a linear version of the new molecular structure in the Journal of the American Chemical Society last June. For the new paper -- placed online in advance of regular publication in the ACS journal Organic Letters -- Haley's team manipulated that infrastructure into a more bent architecture and tested some of its fundamental optical and electronic properties.
Using organic molecules is helping materials scientists move beyond silicon semiconductor technology, said Aaron G. Fix, a doctoral student in Haley's lab and lead author of the new paper. "You don't need to lay the molecules on silicon. They can be laid on plastics and other materials, as long as you have the necessary metallic or graphite contacts," he said. "These new materials will allow for electronics that can take on stresses at levels traditional silicon, which is brittle, cannot handle. We will be able to make stretchable and bendable devices."
A lot of different materials can be used in organic electronic devices, Fix said. Most of them, he added, move positive charges well but not negative charges. "We are trying to fill that niche by developing materials that can do that well," he said.
Researchers pursuing devices utilizing organic semiconducting technology already are envisioning applications from roll-up computers to synthetic skin for robotic and prosthetic applications. Similar research done elsewhere with such approaches has surfaced in some smart phones and television screens.
"Specifically, we are doing research on transporting electrons using these indenofluorene materials for building integrated circuits for computers," said co-author Parker E. Deal, who worked in Haley's lab on both projects as an undergraduate chemistry major in the Robert D. Clark Honors College at the UO. "This is fundamental research in that these are new molecules that nobody has made before, and we are studying them to see how effective they are and how they may further our improvement of these materials to build cheap, flexible devices."
The project, Haley said, is "old-school chemistry" and uses no precious metals. These hydrocarbons, he said, are cheap and easily manipulated for creating artificial materials. "And we have shown that we are able to prepare the materials in gram quantities with good overall yields and excellent purity using methodologies that should work in large-scale production," he said.
Haley's team is about to work with an outside collaborator to test the new scaffolding in an electronic device. If successful, Haley said, work on the approach can move forward.
"This research by Dr. Haley and his team promises to open a whole new world of possibilities for scientists and innovators," said Kimberly Andrews Espy, vice president for research and innovation at the University of Oregon. "Researchers at the University of Oregon continue to solve today's challenges through the development of tools and technologies that will redefine our future."
The National Science Foundation supported the research (grants CHE-1013032, CHE-0923589 and OCI-0960354). Co-author Bradley D. Rose, a doctoral student, worked on both projects under the Emmanuil Troyansky Fellowship of the American Chemical Society.
Additional co-authors were graduate student Chris L. Vonnegut and Lev N. Zakharov of the UO-based Center for Advanced Materials Characterization in Oregon (CAMCOR).
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Journal Reference:
Aaron G. Fix, Parker E. Deal, Chris L. Vonnegut, Bradley D. Rose, Lev N. Zakharov, Michael M. Haley. Indeno[2,1-c]fluorene: A New Electron-Accepting Scaffold for Organic Electronics. Organic Letters, 2013; 15 (6): 1362 DOI: 10.1021/ol400318z
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Private companies and state governments are establishing spaceports across the United States that directly or indirectly support the satellite launch industry. For example, SpaceX is looking at building its own launchpad in Texas, Florida is planning a private spaceport near Cape Canaveral, and Indiana hopes companies will arrive to flight-test space-bound hardware.
Russia, Commerical Payloads in 2012: 15
The leader in commercial space launches, Russia operates several spaceports. The nation pays Kazakhstan $115 million a year for use of its most active launch site, the Soviet-built Baikonur cosmodrome. The emergence of new players is forcing the Russians to look for opportunities elsewhere. For example, they collaborate with the European Union to launch satellites on Soyuz rockets from a dedicated, Russian-built pad in French Guiana.
European Union, Commercial Payloads in 2012: 12
France built its launch facilities in French Guiana in the 1970s, using Earth?s equatorial spin to sling hundreds of additional pounds of payload into orbit. The European Union spaceport is now one of the planet?s most active, and it?s growing. Since 2012 Italian-made rockets have been launching from French Guiana; the mix of Russian, EU, and Italian rockets provides flexibility and some redundancy to customers. The EU is designing new rockets to improve reliability and reduce prices; the tried-and-tested spaceport operation in South America is a major selling point. China, Commerical Paylods in 2012: 5
The Chinese are now a leading commercial launch provider, blasting cargo to orbit inside Long March rockets from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.
India, Commerical Payloads in 2012: 1
India is in the midst of a major push to strengthen its spaceflight capabilities. The nation has, within the past six years, become competitive in the commercial launch market, lofting customers? sats (and its own) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in southeastern India.
Switzerland, Commercial Payloads in 2012: 0
Sea Launch, headquartered in Bern, Switzerland, launches satellites from a 660-foot ship. The vessel leaves Long Beach, Calif., for launch sites in the Pacific Ocean. In 2010 a Russian launch company bought a controlling interest in Sea Launch as it came out of bankruptcy. The company, which launched three sats in 2012, offers competitive prices but has a low capacity.
Japan, Commericial Payloads in 2012: 0
A May 2012 launch of a South Korean satellite marked more than a successful mission; it initiated the official privatization of the satellite launch business of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
Brazil, Commercial Payloads in 2012: 0
Brazil?s tough entry into the launch industry is a reminder of how technically difficult?and dangerous?this business can be. Two prototypes of its four-stage satellite launch vehicle failed to launch. The third exploded on the launchpad in 2003, killing 21 people. The agency expects to launch a new version in 2013.
Flattr launched back in July 2010 as a sort of 'Facebook Like' but with real money involved. A user that sets up a Flattr account pays a monthly fee ? a minimum of $2 ? that they are willing to contribute for any kind of online content. When the user finds something they like that has a Flattr button nearby, they can click the button to reward the content provider. The trouble is, flattr needs publishers. They got a few, but still there were scaling issues. Now they may have hit upon the correct model: Allowing users to connect social accounts.
By David Beasley ATLANTA (Reuters) - An Atlanta woman who says basketball legend Michael Jordan is the father of her 16-year-old son has dropped her paternity suit against him. Pamela Smith, 48, filed a paternity suit against Jordan last month seeking child support. Jordan denies he is the father of the child and has also filed a counterclaim seeking sanctions against Smith for making false claims. Smith acknowledged in a previous divorce proceeding that her now ex-husband is the father of the child, according to Jordan's lawyers. ...
Well, I was thinking that I of making a Starcraft 2 Roleplay. But I have to pick between Wings Of Liberty or Heart of the Swarm. (which just came out) If any of you know some stuff about SC2 or have an idea on what version I should make a RP on, please reply or private message me. ^w^
Walter De Brouwer wants to make the tricorder a reality. The Scanadu founder and CEO took some time away from his Trekkie toiling at NASA's Ames Research Park to join our panel on the future of technology and made his way backstage shortly after to discuss his vision of things to come with Sharif Sakr. For the full interview, covering everything from implantable health sensors to semiotics and the possibility (or not) of time travel, check out our video after the break.
Follow all of Engadget's Expand coverage live from San Francisco right here!
Contact: Nick Seaver nseaver@burnesscommunications.com 301-280-5727 Burness Communications
Diana H. Wall, Ph.D., recognized for her work on the important role of soil biodiversity in climate change, ecosystems and human life; Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement celebrates its 40th anniversary
Los Angeles, CA (March 17, 2013) The Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement today named Diana H. Wall, PhD, of Colorado State University the recipient of the 2013 Tyler Prize for her research documenting and exploring the complex and fragile soil ecosystem. Her research extending from more than 20 years in Antarctica's deserts, to the plains of Kansas and New York City's Central Park has explored the dynamics of species like nematodes, small worm-like organisms, living in the soil and their impact on life above ground. Wall's work in the Antarctic continues to demonstrate the critical links between climate change and soil.
Wall's research has shown that changes in climate can fundamentally alter the ecology of soil life. This, in turn, changes the way that soil is able to transfer and store carbon from sources such as plant roots and decaying organic matter. When soil holds more organic carbon, less carbon dioxide, a driver of climate change is released into the atmosphere. This cycle of plant uptake and breakdown of carbon impacts the rate of climate change.
"I hope winning the Tyler Prize helps bring awareness that soil is more than dirt that feeds our crops, it also plays a major role in storing carbon globally," said Wall, a University Distinguished Professor, Professor of Biology, and Director of the School of Global Environmental Sustainability. "We've learned that there is an astonishing amount of life hidden underground that is critical to sustaining our planet. It is an amazing honor to receive this prestigious award and have the research results generated by my lab, students and collaborators, recognized in this way."
Since its inception 40 years ago as one of the world's first international environmental awards, the Tyler Prize has been the premier award for environmental science, environmental health and energy.
"Just as we came to understand the importance of preserving our oceans and air, Diana Wall has helped move the global community to recognize the incredible importance of the biodiversity of our soil," said Tyler Prize Executive Committee Chair Owen T. Lind, Professor of Biology at Baylor University. "Her work shows us the delicate balance that exists under our feet and the impact climate change will have on soil and our quality of life."
As the winner of the Tyler Prize, Wall will receive a $200,000 cash prize and a gold medal. The Prize, awarded by the international Tyler Prize Executive Committee with the administrative support of the University of Southern California, honors exceptional foresight and dedication in the environmental sciences qualities that mirror the prescience of the Prize's founders, John and Alice Tyler, who established it while the environmental debate was still in its infancy.
Previous laureates include Edward O. Wilson, recognized for his early work on the theory of island biogeography; Jane Goodall, selected for her seminal studies on the behavior and ecology of chimpanzees and her impact on wildlife awareness and environmental conservation; Jared Diamond, a renowned author who gave birth to the discipline of conservation biology; and Thomas Lovejoy, a central figure in alerting the world to the critical problem of dwindling tropical forests. A full list of past winners is available at http://tylerprize.usc.edu/pastlaureates.html.
Governments Turn Their Attention to Soil
Wall's research places her at the center of policy efforts to protect soil and address climate change. Efforts in the European Union and the United States, along with other regions, to protect soil in the face of urbanization have been largely informed by the work of Wall and her colleagues. Governments and international organizations increasingly see soil as a frontline of climate change, in addition to being central to sustainable agriculture. Degradation of soil and land is playing an increasingly large role in discussions at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.
"We know that we've got extensive soil problems globally," said Wall. "From the increasing spread of deserts, to decreasing soil fertility, to more frequent and severe droughts, we have things happening to land that affect the species that live in soil and the ability of that soil to help sustain plant life, purify water and store carbon."
"Soil ecology and its essential biodiversity is just now beginning to get the level of attention that the oceans, rivers, lakes and wetlands receive when it comes to protecting our environment," said Wall. "This is the new frontier of climate change and environmental preservation."
Analyzing Soil: From Antarctica to Central Park
Wall's career started in horse country Kentucky where she worked a summer analyzing parasites infecting horses. After an offer to study soil nematodes, Wall moved into the study of plant pathology. From there, her research took her south to the Dry Valleys of Antarctica. It was here that she was first able to study all the animal species living in soil and their relationships in a less complex ecosystem.
"I can see two to three animal species in the soils of Antarctica and 250 in a handful of soil elsewhere," said Wall. "By working in an isolated and extreme environment like Antarctica, without people and plants, we can study what happens when we make very specific changes to moisture or temperature to better understand soil ecology and the importance of individual species."
Lessons learned over more than 20 years in cold deserts like the Dry Valley have been applied to the hot, dry climates of deserts like the Sahara.
Today, Wall's work now spans the globe to include projects in Africa, the grasslands of Kansas, and, most recently, New York City's Central Park.
Working with colleagues around the world, Wall plans for the first time to map the biodiversity in soils and relate it to above-ground diversity to examine what connections exist.
"We assume that if we're in the Amazon and we have great biodiversity above ground, we're going to have great biodiversity below-ground. But that isn't necessarily so," explained Wall. "This will help us to identify the hotspots of biological diversity so we can be savvy about agriculture, development and habitat restoration."
Changing Soil and Changing Climate
Wall's work has shown that slight changes to temperature or moisture of soil can have dramatic impacts on relationships between species in soil even to the point of altering which bacteria or invertebrates dominate soil ecosystems. These shifts, she explains, have far-reaching reverberations in all climates.
"The soil of the prairies of Kansas, for example, will be fundamentally altered by climate change and that will most likely mean that different types of plants will grow there," said Wall. "In turn, these new types of plants will further change life in soil. This process isn't limited to Kansas; it will happen everywhere."
Changes in the community of organisms living in soil also affect how carbon is transferred and stored in the environment. Invertebrates and bacteria are responsible for processing and collecting carbon from the environment from sources like dead leaves and plant roots and making nutrients available for plants. Soil stores more carbon than the air and trees combined, but when the balance of invertebrates and bacteria in soil is altered, the ability to store carbon is disrupted.
"Climate change drives soil change and soil change drives climate change," explained Wall. "These issues are deeply intertwined and research must look at climate and soil biodiversity together."
###
Lecture and Award Ceremony
On Wednesday, April 17, at 1:30pm, Wall will deliver a public lecture on her work at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. This lecture will be open to the public.
And in a private ceremony, on Wednesday, April 17, at 7 p.m., the Tyler Prize Executive Committee and the international environmental community will honor Wall at a banquet and ceremony at The Willard InterContinental in Washington, DC.
About the Tyler Prize
The Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement is one of the first international premier awards for environmental science, environmental health and energy.
It was established by the late John and Alice Tyler in 1973 and has been awarded annually to sixty-one individuals and four organizations associated with world-class environmental accomplishments. Recipients encompass the spectrum of environmental concerns including environmental policy, health, air and water pollution, ecosystem disruption and loss of biodiversity, and energy resources.
For more information on the Tyler Prize and its recipients, go to: http://www.tylerprize.usc.edu/laureates.html
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Contact: Nick Seaver nseaver@burnesscommunications.com 301-280-5727 Burness Communications
Diana H. Wall, Ph.D., recognized for her work on the important role of soil biodiversity in climate change, ecosystems and human life; Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement celebrates its 40th anniversary
Los Angeles, CA (March 17, 2013) The Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement today named Diana H. Wall, PhD, of Colorado State University the recipient of the 2013 Tyler Prize for her research documenting and exploring the complex and fragile soil ecosystem. Her research extending from more than 20 years in Antarctica's deserts, to the plains of Kansas and New York City's Central Park has explored the dynamics of species like nematodes, small worm-like organisms, living in the soil and their impact on life above ground. Wall's work in the Antarctic continues to demonstrate the critical links between climate change and soil.
Wall's research has shown that changes in climate can fundamentally alter the ecology of soil life. This, in turn, changes the way that soil is able to transfer and store carbon from sources such as plant roots and decaying organic matter. When soil holds more organic carbon, less carbon dioxide, a driver of climate change is released into the atmosphere. This cycle of plant uptake and breakdown of carbon impacts the rate of climate change.
"I hope winning the Tyler Prize helps bring awareness that soil is more than dirt that feeds our crops, it also plays a major role in storing carbon globally," said Wall, a University Distinguished Professor, Professor of Biology, and Director of the School of Global Environmental Sustainability. "We've learned that there is an astonishing amount of life hidden underground that is critical to sustaining our planet. It is an amazing honor to receive this prestigious award and have the research results generated by my lab, students and collaborators, recognized in this way."
Since its inception 40 years ago as one of the world's first international environmental awards, the Tyler Prize has been the premier award for environmental science, environmental health and energy.
"Just as we came to understand the importance of preserving our oceans and air, Diana Wall has helped move the global community to recognize the incredible importance of the biodiversity of our soil," said Tyler Prize Executive Committee Chair Owen T. Lind, Professor of Biology at Baylor University. "Her work shows us the delicate balance that exists under our feet and the impact climate change will have on soil and our quality of life."
As the winner of the Tyler Prize, Wall will receive a $200,000 cash prize and a gold medal. The Prize, awarded by the international Tyler Prize Executive Committee with the administrative support of the University of Southern California, honors exceptional foresight and dedication in the environmental sciences qualities that mirror the prescience of the Prize's founders, John and Alice Tyler, who established it while the environmental debate was still in its infancy.
Previous laureates include Edward O. Wilson, recognized for his early work on the theory of island biogeography; Jane Goodall, selected for her seminal studies on the behavior and ecology of chimpanzees and her impact on wildlife awareness and environmental conservation; Jared Diamond, a renowned author who gave birth to the discipline of conservation biology; and Thomas Lovejoy, a central figure in alerting the world to the critical problem of dwindling tropical forests. A full list of past winners is available at http://tylerprize.usc.edu/pastlaureates.html.
Governments Turn Their Attention to Soil
Wall's research places her at the center of policy efforts to protect soil and address climate change. Efforts in the European Union and the United States, along with other regions, to protect soil in the face of urbanization have been largely informed by the work of Wall and her colleagues. Governments and international organizations increasingly see soil as a frontline of climate change, in addition to being central to sustainable agriculture. Degradation of soil and land is playing an increasingly large role in discussions at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.
"We know that we've got extensive soil problems globally," said Wall. "From the increasing spread of deserts, to decreasing soil fertility, to more frequent and severe droughts, we have things happening to land that affect the species that live in soil and the ability of that soil to help sustain plant life, purify water and store carbon."
"Soil ecology and its essential biodiversity is just now beginning to get the level of attention that the oceans, rivers, lakes and wetlands receive when it comes to protecting our environment," said Wall. "This is the new frontier of climate change and environmental preservation."
Analyzing Soil: From Antarctica to Central Park
Wall's career started in horse country Kentucky where she worked a summer analyzing parasites infecting horses. After an offer to study soil nematodes, Wall moved into the study of plant pathology. From there, her research took her south to the Dry Valleys of Antarctica. It was here that she was first able to study all the animal species living in soil and their relationships in a less complex ecosystem.
"I can see two to three animal species in the soils of Antarctica and 250 in a handful of soil elsewhere," said Wall. "By working in an isolated and extreme environment like Antarctica, without people and plants, we can study what happens when we make very specific changes to moisture or temperature to better understand soil ecology and the importance of individual species."
Lessons learned over more than 20 years in cold deserts like the Dry Valley have been applied to the hot, dry climates of deserts like the Sahara.
Today, Wall's work now spans the globe to include projects in Africa, the grasslands of Kansas, and, most recently, New York City's Central Park.
Working with colleagues around the world, Wall plans for the first time to map the biodiversity in soils and relate it to above-ground diversity to examine what connections exist.
"We assume that if we're in the Amazon and we have great biodiversity above ground, we're going to have great biodiversity below-ground. But that isn't necessarily so," explained Wall. "This will help us to identify the hotspots of biological diversity so we can be savvy about agriculture, development and habitat restoration."
Changing Soil and Changing Climate
Wall's work has shown that slight changes to temperature or moisture of soil can have dramatic impacts on relationships between species in soil even to the point of altering which bacteria or invertebrates dominate soil ecosystems. These shifts, she explains, have far-reaching reverberations in all climates.
"The soil of the prairies of Kansas, for example, will be fundamentally altered by climate change and that will most likely mean that different types of plants will grow there," said Wall. "In turn, these new types of plants will further change life in soil. This process isn't limited to Kansas; it will happen everywhere."
Changes in the community of organisms living in soil also affect how carbon is transferred and stored in the environment. Invertebrates and bacteria are responsible for processing and collecting carbon from the environment from sources like dead leaves and plant roots and making nutrients available for plants. Soil stores more carbon than the air and trees combined, but when the balance of invertebrates and bacteria in soil is altered, the ability to store carbon is disrupted.
"Climate change drives soil change and soil change drives climate change," explained Wall. "These issues are deeply intertwined and research must look at climate and soil biodiversity together."
###
Lecture and Award Ceremony
On Wednesday, April 17, at 1:30pm, Wall will deliver a public lecture on her work at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. This lecture will be open to the public.
And in a private ceremony, on Wednesday, April 17, at 7 p.m., the Tyler Prize Executive Committee and the international environmental community will honor Wall at a banquet and ceremony at The Willard InterContinental in Washington, DC.
About the Tyler Prize
The Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement is one of the first international premier awards for environmental science, environmental health and energy.
It was established by the late John and Alice Tyler in 1973 and has been awarded annually to sixty-one individuals and four organizations associated with world-class environmental accomplishments. Recipients encompass the spectrum of environmental concerns including environmental policy, health, air and water pollution, ecosystem disruption and loss of biodiversity, and energy resources.
For more information on the Tyler Prize and its recipients, go to: http://www.tylerprize.usc.edu/laureates.html
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Many hospitals, health systems and physician groups across the country are pursuing accountable care organizations ? as of January 2013, there were 428 total ACOs in every state except Delaware. However, the success of these organizations has yet to be determined, and many hospitals and health systems are still deciding if they should enter the ACO space.
Even though there is no perfect formula for ACO success that will work for all organizations, there are a few important strategies that, if developed properly, are proven to contribute greatly to the success of an ACO. Aegis Health Group highlighted three key ACO readiness strategies in a thought paper, "Accountable Care: The Focus of Reform." Here, Pearson Talbert, Aegis' president and CEO, discusses them further.
Physician integration
ACOs need a wide patient base to support the quality and cost-saving measures that come along with accountable care. In order to achieve and then manage a large patient base, it is necessary to have a large number of aligned physicians. "[Patients] don't just come to the hospital of their own free will," says Mr. Talbert. "No one is self-admitting." Organizations looking to form an ACO need supporting, aligned physicians in the community to bring patients into the organization to receive any necessary care.
While having a solid physician alignment strategy is a step in the right direction, hospitals and health systems on the path to become an ACO need to go beyond alignment to truly integrate physicians into the process. Physicians can offer important input into how to manage patient care across the continuum. "By all means include them in leadership positions and give them a voice," Mr. Talbert urges. He recommends integrating physicians into the executive team and having them be involved in strategic planning during ACO development. "From the start of their medical education physicians are taught to think differently than business people. This perspective must be represented to be effective as an ACO."
Population health management
Being able to manage the health of a population is the "holy grail" of coordinated care strategies, according to Mr. Talbert. "The organizations that prepare for population health will be prepared for the new payment model," he says, because hospitals and systems that demonstrate cost savings through population health management will get better reimbursements under a pay-for-performance model.
Managing the health of a patient population saves money by keeping chronic diseases in check by helping patients avoid expensive hospital or emergency room visits.
One way organizations can prepare for population health management is to begin with their own employee base, according to the Aegis report. There is less risk involved in rolling out new tactics on one's own employee base, and both the employees and the organization benefit: the health of employees improves and the organization can achieve savings through healthcare cost reductions. Additionally, physicians gain experience working on preventive care that can be transferred from the hospital's own employee population to the patient base of an ACO.
Health information technology
Having strong HIT and electronic medical records systems is the backbone of providing coordinated, accountable care. Data ties into every aspect of ACOs, from categorizing high-risk patients to collecting patient data to tracking health improvements. Having a strong HIT system assists with all of these important parts of accountable care.
Additionally, a developed system can help physicians and administrators develop best practices and report their progress on quality metrics to government or commercial payors, which is part of being in an ACO.
It is important to note that being strong in all three of these areas is important because they work together and feed off of one another, according to Mr. Talbert. For instance, an EMR system helps aligned physicians share information and be on the same page, influencing integration. Data can also help hospitals and health systems effectively manage a population's health by creating database marketing campaigns to proactively reach out to individuals who may not even know they need screenings or a check-up, thus accelerating the care continuum from sick care to healthcare. And when physicians are integrated in the system, they can coordinate better to implement disease prevention, resulting in a healthier population.
More Articles on ACOs:
19 Questions to Ask on the Road to Accountable Care ACO Patient Population Attribution: Prospective vs Performance Year Methods Pioneer ACOs Want CMS to Delay Pay-for-Performance Obligations
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I?ve spoken about my influences here on the blog before, and I?ve mentioned it in my TEDx talk too ? one of my biggest early writing influences was Sassy Magazine. My classmate?s cousin would send down her well thumbed, slightly tattered copies in care packages alongside mixtapes featuring artists I?d never heard of at the time, like Bjork and Radiohead. Picture me as a young, Trinidadian teenager, discovering songs like Human Behavior and Creep at the same time as I was reading the words of Jane Pratt and her contributors.
From left, @Corynnes, Jane, and me!
I just saw Jane Pratt speak at SXSW, and she was so right about one point she made ? her magazine did have GREAT pass along rates. Her magazine, Sassy, taught me that I could write the same way I talked, and that people would love me for my voice if I did. Sassy gave me the courage to speak my own truth, quietly and clearly (shoutout to the Desiderata). Sassy showed me I could keep it 100% on paper and in real life ? I didn?t have to put on an artificial voice to find a place in the writing world. Sassy gave me journalistic goals to aspire to. Sassy and Jane magazine made me start to read magazines with a different eye. I started thinking that I could grow up to be just like Mitzi Miller, or Christina Kelly or Jauretsi Saizarbitoria. I started reading other magazines with the same eye, too. Why couldn?t I grow up to be Peter Travers of Rolling Stone, if my writing and my critical eye was sharp enough?
Audacious thinking for a girl growing up in Trinidad. I didn?t know anyone who was doing this kind of thing in my real life, but the seed was planted. I realized that a future in writing was remote but still, somehow, a possibility. And when I started writing poems under a pen name for the Sunday Guardian?s teen section ? and getting letters in response ? that cemented it. I?d found my life?s path.
My dreams centered around print for a long time, but I came to realize that it wasn?t that easy ? not unless you lived in NYC and had the right internship/connections/name. My attempts to reach out to writers at publications in my era didn?t go far. I met Debbie Stoller of Bust years ago, but the connection never gelled and I second guessed my potential of writing for them (eventually they?d write an article on natural hair and include my name in it, which was awesome). I never made a connection at Essence or Ebony until I was well into my blogging career. Blogs changed the game for me. Suddenly being an incredible writer and content creator was all you needed to make a name and an impact. The walls that seemed insurmountably high, weren?t as insurmountable as I thought. I built my own platform. And that platform has led to all kinds of amazing things that I never could have dreamed of before.
Take for example, this Tuesday when I got to see my teenage idol, Jane Pratt, speak at SXSW and share the lessons she learned from creating Sassy, creating Jane, and BEING Jane. Now she?s building an online empire with xoJane.com (which yours truly contributes to, but not often enough). Jane just launched a new beauty site, xoVain.com, which takes her signature approach to beauty. You won?t find writers referring to their hair as ?tresses? or ?locks? or any other flowery synonym. xoVain will be keeping beauty and style 100%, and I?m honestly excited about it.
What were the best nuggets of life advice from Jane Pratt?s SXSW speech? Here were the messages that lingered with me.
? ?If someone asks you to water down your vision then you risk losing your passion for what you?re doing.?
? ?Someone else?s loss isn?t your gain & someone else?s gain isn?t your loss. But a victory for women is a victory for all of us.?
? ?Ignore anyone ? even the little voice inside you ? that says you?re under qualified to do something. Never outgrow your blind ambition?
? ?People?s default setting is to not like you.? And how does Jane deal with that? By responding, by sharing her personal issues and problems, and letting people know they aren?t alone in being screwed up and adrift and unhappy and flawed.
After hearing Jane Pratt speak ? which would have delighted teenage Patrice to bits anyway ? I got to meet Jane Pratt. We sat on the terrace at the Intercontinental Hotel, basking in the beautiful Austin sunshine and chatting about our first SXSW experience, writing, xoJane, xoVain, and more. And at the end of our encounter, I got to tell my teenage writing and editing idol how much her work has meant to me, that Sassy also changed my life, and that I learned my path and discovered my writing voice because of her. What did Jane say to all of that? ?I taught you well.?
She sure did.
It?s one thing to have an encounter and think of it in a certain light, and it?s another thing to have that feeling completely confirmed.
I mean?wow. My heart is so full.
I went into SXSW expecting amazing adventures, but I didn?t expect to close the whole thing out on such a special, full circle moment in my life. I wish I could write a letter to my angst-ridden, self-loathing 16 year old self and tell her about it!
My first SXSW was amazing. Totally going back next year. Who knows what adventures will await me then?
Tags: Featured, full-image, inspiration, Inspiring Women, Jane Pratt, Life, life lessons, SXSW, xoJane
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co ignored risks, misled investors, fought with regulators and tried to work around rules as it dealt with mushrooming losses in a derivatives portfolio, a Senate report alleged in a damning review of the largest U.S. bank's management.
Senior managers at the bank were told for months about the bad derivatives bets that ended up costing the bank more than $6.2 billion but did little to rein them in, according to the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations report on Thursday.
The Senate report came on the same day the U.S. Federal Reserve separately asked JPMorgan to improve its capital planning process as part of an annual "stress tests" of banks.
The barrage of bad news for JPMorgan, long seen as the safest and best-managed U.S. bank, could taint the reputation of the bank, as well as Chief Executive Jamie Dimon. Dimon has been one of the most outspoken critics of Washington's attempts to tightly regulate Wall Street after the 2007-2009 financial crisis.
The report also gives ammunition to advocates calling for stricter financial reform regulations. In particular, the 301-page Senate report will likely give new energy to regulators crafting the Volcker rule, which proposes to put limits on banks betting with their own funds.
A JPMorgan spokeswoman said, "While we have repeatedly acknowledged mistakes, our senior management acted in good faith and never had any intent to mislead anyone."
Committee sources said the losses from the trades appeared to total more than $6.2 billion. But these sources said they could not determine how much because the trades originally made by the bank's Chief Investment Office were moved to other parts of the bank. They said JPMorgan declined to provide them more information about the values of the positions.
The Senate subcommittee will hear directly from senior JPMorgan executives - but not from Dimon - at a hearing on Friday morning on the derivatives bets that came to be known as the "London whale" trades.
Senator Carl Levin, who chairs the subcommittee, said he had not yet decided whether to refer the report to criminal or civil authorities. He said the panel could hold further hearings and left the door open to calling Dimon for the hearing.
CLASHES WITH REGULATORS
Dimon publicly criticized lawmakers for creating onerous new rules for banks after the crisis, but the report shows JPMorgan also frequently clashed with regulators behind the scenes as the losses mounted last year.
At one point, Dimon ordered the bank to stop sending daily trading profit and loss reports to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, one of its main regulators, Senate investigators said. The bank feared that information from the reports was being leaked.
Douglas Braunstein, the bank's chief financial officer at the time, resumed sending the reports to the OCC a few days later. When Dimon found out that Braunstein had done so, at a meeting with an OCC examiner, the CEO "raised his voice in anger at" the CFO, the report said. Braunstein left his CFO spot early this year, moving to a spot as vice chairman of JPMorgan, focusing on clients.
Another senior bank executive, Chief Investment Officer Ina Drew, complained to the OCC that the agency was trying to "destroy" JPMorgan's business. In another episode, bank executives yelled at OCC examiners and called them "stupid."
The Senate report also accused the bank of changing its risk models to work around capital rules. The report includes emails from a quantitative analyst for the bank in which he explained how he could rearrange its modeling procedures to mask the ballooning risk inside the chief investment office.
But bank employees were also cautious when it came to leaving evidence of those efforts.
"I think, the, the email that you sent out, I think there is a, just FYI, there is a bit of sensitivity around this topic," a member of the bank's central risk modeling group warned the analyst afterward in a phone call.
The bank "increased risk by mislabeling the synthetic credit portfolio as a risk-reducing hedge when it was really involved proprietary trading," the subcommittee's top Republican, John McCain, said in a briefing with reporters.
Senate investigators also faulted regulators at the OCC for missing red flags and failing to be aggressive in monitoring problems at the bank.
The agency was informed of JPMorgan's risk limit breaches and of changes to the model the bank was using to calculate its risk, yet raised no concerns at the time, the report said.
An OCC spokesman said the agency recognizes shortcomings in its supervision and has taken steps to improve its supervisory process. The spokesman also said the agency is continuing to investigate the matter and "will take additional action as appropriate."
'LET THE BOOK SIMPLY DIE'
In 2011, the bank's large credit bets surprisingly paid off after American Airlines filed for bankruptcy, generating $400 million in unexpected revenue for the bank.
The employees most closely associated with the trades were among the highest paid that year. Drew made $29 million in 2010 and 2011, and Achilles Macris, who reported to her, made $32 million during the same time frame.
So in January 2012, when the strategy began producing sustained losses and traders began warning of additional losses, managers decided to stay the course.
The trader responsible for the position, Bruno Iksil pushed for the bank to take the losses and let the existing positions expire, according to emails in the report.
He wrote to his boss that in his view the "only" course of action was "to stay as we are and let the book simply die."
But the traders continued to add to the positions, and by March supervisors were urging them to mark the values at levels that portrayed them in the most positive light, even if it meant skirting the bank's normal valuation practices.
"I don't know where he wants to stop, but it's getting idiotic," Iksil wrote in an instant message, referring to his supervisor who had ordered the marks.
On March 23, Iksil estimated in an email that the portfolio had lost about $600 million using midpoint prices and $300 million using the "best" prices, but it reported a daily loss of only $12 million.
Drew ordered a halt in the derivatives trading that same day.
But the group continued to understate the extent of losses in the position through May, the report said.
(Reporting by Aruna Viswanatha and Emily Flitter; Editing by Steve Orlofsky, Paritosh Bansal, Andre Grenon and Ryan Woo)
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Public release date: 17-Mar-2013
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there are a few important strategies that, if developed properly, are proven to contribute greatly to the success of an ACO. Aegis Health Group highlighted three key ACO readiness strategies in a thought paper, "Accountable Care: The Focus of Reform." Here, Pearson Talbert, Aegis' president and CEO, discusses them further.
