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Thursday, September 27, 2012
300 Million Year Old Insects Pictured In 3D
New mareacaspica writes with this snippet from Nature: "Researchers have constructed 3D models of two different insects, in their nymph stage by scanning their fossils with a novel technique called X-ray microtomography. They obtained sections, two centimeters long, and from the sections constructed the models. Such fossils of juvenile insects are very rare during that ancient period, and the research could provide a better understanding not only of insects, but also other animals, as the technique develops." Original Paper.
Mobile Web Ready To Dominate E-Commerce Market | North of 85th
September 26th, 2012
With the extensive popularity and explosion of iPhone applications and capabilities a strong market called ?m-commerce? may soon overpower traditional e-commerce. A majority of the retail industry will likely be altered substantially over the next couple of years with the competitive elements behind popular smart phone technologies. Its a shared concept by many analysts who constantly review growth statistics that a large share of the e-commerce market will likely be up for grabs and is expected to create record levels of revenue worldwide in the near future. One of the reasons for this tremendous shift to mobile purchases is consumers have already shown significant increases in portable purchases when compared to e-commerce stats. Plus m-commerce users are encountering and enjoying a new feeling of control in their mobile shopping habits which is unparalleled to standard online habits. So far the figures suggest that total online sales may equal over fifty percent of all revenue sold by online stores. According to HeraldOnline.com, mobile sales profits in 2014 will hit over ten billion dollars just here in the States and nearly 120 billion globally the year after.
It?s obvious that online stores are aware of this growing trend considering that mobile web site optimization has exploded incredibly since 2010. A more common new trend is many people won?t buy from businesses with terrible mobile versions. This is just another monitoring figure of how the Internet sales segment is growing. The businesses most adversely impacted are brick and mortar locations that are already seeing a significant drop in sales. Many of the brick and mortar local companies are noticing a very common breed of customer now known as ?showroomers.? They like to visit the physical store to touch and feel products and later on order them on the store?s website, as they are used to getting better prices. One of the most prominent factors adding to these e-commerce trends is competitive pricing. Now m-commerce is enabling customers to experience even more power with their newly acquired technology. Shoppers are not confined to a laptop or PC, usually kept at home. To get a final run down on the article, head on over to Sarge Knives. Mobile technology has created a convenience which has become imperative in our fast paced lifestyle of ever increasing technical innovation. It is strongly recommended to proprietors of all retail locations to be proactive in preparing for the evolving trends in the highly competitive universe of e-commerce.
Major retail stores even allow clients to review and rate items they bought. There are many unique blogs that host buyer reviews for a host of goods and services. Compared with traditional retail shopping, the information environment of virtual shopping is enhanced by lists of available products in addition to various buyer options. In the mid-90s, Amazon started its e commerce-site for web-based buying, and before the smoke settled, EBay was founded. In general, higher levels of occupation for the consumer relates to a more flexible notion of buying online. Also, a more advanced exposure to computers boosts the likelihood of having a favorable attitude towards new stores. Online shops are normally available 365 days a year permitting buyers access from anywhere in the world. The absence of full disclosure with regards to the total price of goods and services is just one of the more important concerns of the web-based shopper.
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Source: http://northof85th.com/2012/09/26/mobile-web-ready-to-dominate-e-commerce-market/
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Crude Oil ETF Investing 101 - Zacks.com
Persisting worries about Europe's sovereign debt crisis crippling the continent?s economy, high U.S. crude stocks and worries about China?s growth outlook have been weighing on investor sentiment. The concern has weakened oil prices to a seven-month low of around $90 a barrel.
This unfavorable view has been partly offset by a tightening global supply picture in view of the geopolitical fallout over Iran's alleged nuclear ambitions and strong demand from developing countries (Commodity ETFs Plunge on Supply Forecast).
As such, crude oil?s near-term fundamentals remain mixed, to say the least. The long-term outlook for oil, however, remains favorable given the commodity?s constrained supply picture.
In particular, while the Western economies exhibit sluggish growth prospects, global oil consumption is expected to get a boost from continued strength in the major emerging powers like India and Brazil that continue to grow at a healthy rate.
According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), which provides official energy statistics from the U.S. Government, world crude consumption grew by an estimated 0.8 million barrels per day in 2011 to a record-high level of 87.9 million barrels per day (Inside The Forgotten Energy ETFs).
In 2010, oil demand increased by over 2 million barrels per day to 87.1 million barrels per day, which more than made up for the losses of the previous two years, and surpassed the 2007 level of 86.3 million barrels per day (reached prior to the economic downturn).
Global demand of crude oil for 2009 was below the 2008 level, which itself was below the 2007 level ? the first time since the early 1980?s of two back-to-back negative growth years (Three ETFs for The Unconventional Oil Revolution).
The agency, in its most recent Short-Term Energy Outlook, said that it expects global oil demand growth of 1.0 million barrels per day in 2012 and 1.2 million barrels per day in 2013. EIA?s latest forecasts assumes that demand will decline in North America and Europe but this will be more than made up by impressive consumption surge coming from China, the Middle East, Central and South America.
Separately, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) -- which supplies around 40% of the world's crude -- predicts that global oil demand would increase by 0.9 million barrels per day annually, reaching 88.7 million barrels a day in 2012 from last year?s 87.8 million barrels a day.
Lastly, the third major energy consultative body, the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA), the energy-monitoring body of 28 industrialized countries, said that it expects world oil consumption to grow by 0.8 million barrels per day in 2012 to 90.0 million barrels per day.
In our view, crude oil prices in 2012 are likely to witness more upside rather than downside, given the considerable supply tightness in the market. While domestic demand is relatively soft and the global economy still shows signs of weakness, the fact that demand is outpacing supply appears to be evident.
As long as growth from developing nations continues and the global output is unable to keep up, we are likely to experience a surge in the price of a barrel of oil. With a world population of seven billion people and all the easy oil being already discovered and drilled for, we assume that crude will trade in the $90-$100 per barrel range in the near future as newer supplies of the key commodity become harder to come by.
Thanks to these trends, some investors are looking to push into this oil space (SWM Enters ETF World with Oil Sands ETF (SNDS)). For investors seeking to play this trend in ETF form, the following series of crude oil ETFs could make for interesting picks:???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
United States Oil Fund (USO)
The United States Oil Fund LP is a domestic exchange-traded security designed to track the movements of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) light, sweet crude oil. USO issues units that may be purchased and sold on the NYSE Arca.????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
The objective of the fund is to track the daily changes in percentage terms of the net asset value of the unit to reflect the daily changes in percentage terms of the spot price of light sweet crude oil.
This is as measured by the changes in price of the futures contract on light sweet crude oil traded on the NYMEX that is the near month contract to expire, except when the near month contract is within two weeks of expiration, in which case it is measured by the futures contract that is the next month contract to expire.
The fund appears to be liquid and trades with the volume of more than 9 million shares a day. USO manages assets under management of $1,264.7 million. The investment is in a portfolio consisting of listed crude oil futures contracts and other oil-related futures and may consist of forwards and swap contracts.
These investments will be collateralized by cash, cash equivalents and U.S. government obligations with remaining maturities of two years or less (Play an Oil Bull with These Three Emerging Market ETFs).
The fund charges an expense ratio of 45 basis points making it a relatively low cost choice in the space.
S&P GSCI Crude Oil Total Return Index ETN (OIL)
S&P GSCI Crude Oil Total Return Index ETN has been designed to provide investors with cost effective exposure to crude oil as measured by the S&P GSCI Crude Oil Tot Return Index.
The S&P GSCI Crude Oil Total Return Index reflects the returns that are potentially available through an unleveraged investment in the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures contract plus the Treasury bill rate of interest that could be earned on funds committed to the trading of the underlying contracts.
The fund offers liquidity to investors as over 2 million shares trades in a day. The fund has assets under management of $449.4 million and charges an expense ratio of 75 basis points annually.
PowerShares DB Oil Fund (DBO)
The PowerShares DB Oil Fund is based on the DBIQ Optimum Yield Crude Oil Index Excess Return managed by DB Commodity Services LLC. The Index is a rules-based index composed of futures contracts on Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) and reflects the performance of crude oil (Beyond Corn: Three Commodity ETFs Surging this Summer).
The fund trades with the volume of 81,600 shares a day and has assets under management of $601.3 million. The fund charges an expense ration of 79 basis points suggesting that it could be a relatively high cost product in the space.
PowerShares DB Energy Fund (DBE)
The product tracks the DBIQ Optimum Yield Energy Index Excess Return, which is a rules-based benchmark consisting of some of the most heavily traded energy commodities on Earth.
Currently, the basket consists of just five commodities with the vast majority tied up in oil and oil-derivatives. In fact, natural gas accounts for just seven percent of the portfolio while light crude, heating oil, Brent crude, and RBOB Gasoline account for roughly 23% each of the fund. Investors should note that this product is structured as a limited partnership for tax purposes.
Liquidity is low in the ETF with volume of 18,200 shares in a day (Guide to the 25 Most Liquid ETFs).The fund has managed to build an asset base of just $158.1 million, while fees come in at 78 basis points a year.??
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Source: http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/83636/crude-oil-etf-investing-101
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Green ideas for green manufacturing | Eco-Business.com
The Fujisawa City project in the Kanagawa Prefecture near Tokyo brought together nine companies and the government to develop an energy-smart community. Image: Panasonic
In this interview by Singapore?s Energy Market Authority, Panasonic Asia Pacific managing director Yorihisa Shiokawa reveals how manufacturers can contribute to an energy efficient society through innovation, collaboration and careful management.
Energy Market Authority: Panasonic?s ambition is to be the leading ?Green Innovation Company? in the electronics sector. What steps is Panasonic undertaking to achieve this target? What impact will this have on consumers and the environment?
Yorihisa Shiokawa: We want to become the number one Green Innovation Company in the electronics sector by 2018. Through our ?eco ideas? strategy, we create innovative businesses, products and services that are energy-efficient or have smart energy features, and therefore are more environmentally-friendly. But they also help consumers save money. We are on track to achieving 80 per cent of our total sales in Asia Pacific from these eco products.
Panasonic Group is also focused on developing Total Energy Solutions that involve energy creation, storage, savings and management. We set up the Panasonic Energy Solutions Development Centre Singapore in July this year to develop total energy solutions not only for the region, but also to commercialise them globally. Panasonic is working closely with the local authorities in Singapore to test-bed some of our urban solutions at the?Punggol Eco-Town project.
We have a Panasonic Eco Learning Programme, which will help 200,000 students across Asia Pacific to develop environmental awareness and an understanding of how virtually zero CO2 emissions can be achieved through technology. We will continue to spread the word so that more will come together to create a positive impact on the environment.
Panasonic applies the ?eco ideas? strategy to our own business. We aim to reduce the environmental impact of our business operations by making the best use of resources and energy through green innovation. We have set a goal of a 600,000-tonne CO2 reduction in our operations versus a ?business-as-usual? level (based on our fiscal year ending March 2005).
We are also developing three more ?eco ideas? factories by March 2013, which will demonstrate our sustainability solutions and capabilities. These factories adopt green solutions and exemplify how reductions in CO2 emissions, managing waste generation and chemical substance releases and maintaining energy efficiency can be achieved in manufacturing facilities.
EMA: In difficult economic times, some consumers may not be inclined to pay for green-certified appliances. What role can global manufacturers play in raising the awareness of the importance of such appliances?
YS: Global manufacturers can take the lead to help imbue eco-consciousness among consumers though championing environmental awareness programmes and education initiatives. Industry players must work with governments worldwide to ensure their products are compliant with the energy regulations of each country. In Singapore, Panasonic?s air conditioners and refrigerators meet the standards which are required for The Energy Label, mandated by the National Environment Agency (NEA).
Asia Pacific also has many environmental challenges in emerging and rapidly growing markets. Economic growth can create environmental pressures ? especially in creating and providing a stable supply of energy and meeting the demand for improved living standards. Product customisation for particular markets is important. In India, for example, the CUBE air-conditioner takes into account specific Indian climatic conditions and space limitations. This kind of product customisation will encourage customers to purchase green-certified appliances.
EMA: Businesses, especially manufacturing companies, are some of the biggest consumers of energy. How do you think businesses can and should conserve energy through their own business practices?
YS: Business growth must be achieved with an eye on conserving the planet for future generations. We are committed to promoting environmental sustainability and reducing the impact of our business operations. There are two ways to achieve this:
First, look at reducing CO2 emission. Panasonic has been using meters and gauges to manage energy consumption during production, as well as replacing fluorescent lights with energy-efficient Light-Emitting Diode (LED) lights in our factories. By doing so, we have been able to reduce CO2 emissions by 560,000 tonnes in our Asia-Pacific operations as of the end March this year.
Second, companies should set assessment criteria on the environmental impact of their products. This needs to be done right from the planning and design stage. Improved environmental performance can be based on criteria such as energy savings, resource savings and chemicals management.
EMA: There is much being said about public-private partnerships in developing solutions that lower energy consumption. How have Japanese companies, for instance, collaborated with the Japanese government to help meet nationwide energy intensity goals?
YS: In Japan, such collaborations are increasingly important for a nation that is dependent on imports of virtually all fossil fuels. For decades, Japanese energy policy has focused on efficiency, diversity and development of indigenous energy sources.
One such recent project is Fujisawa City in Kanagawa Prefecture, situated about 50km west of Tokyo. This collaboration sees nine companies coming together with the government to build an innovative smart town deploying services and energy systems based on Panasonic?s ?eco ideas? for green lifestyles. The companies include developers, manufacturers and service providers and will see an eventual actual operation of the town with about 1,000 households. The smart town is to be built on the vacant lot of Panasonic?s former factory site and is targeted to open in the fiscal year ending in March 2014.
Apart from these large-scale collaborations, there are other ways to contribute to the nation, especially in times of crisis. At the end of March 2011, Panasonic donated a Life Innovation Container to the Miyagi Prefecture, which suffered widespread devastation in the Great East Japan Earthquake. The container is a standalone power system equipped with solar panels and rechargeable batteries to deliver electricity to areas without access to electricity.
But such collaborations are picking up in other parts of Asia as well. For example in Singapore, we are partnering with the Housing Development Board (HDB), Energy Market Authority (EMA) and Economic Development Board (EDB) to test-bed total energy solutions on an existing public residential building in Punggol Eco-Town. This project aims to achieve zero CO2 emissions for common areas of public housing in Singapore, and provide residents with a complete total energy solutions package that helps monitor and better manage their energy consumption.
EMA: Do you think companies can combine making contributions to the environment with business growth? Do you think legislation, such as those enacted in Japan and soon to be enacted in Singapore, will push companies to be more energy-efficient?
YS: Our belief is that we must integrate environmental conservation with business growth.? As such, we strive to achieve the highest achievement levels in reducing CO2 emissions, recycling resources, the size of our energy systems business and the sales ratio of environmentally-friendly products. These are our ?Green Indexes? and they are just as important as our Global Excellence Indexes, which look at sales, operating profit and return of equity.
Legislation also has a role to play in driving mindset changes in energy consumption and the nation?s energy mix.? In July 2012, the Japanese government rolled out feed-in tariffs (FiTs) for renewable energy. The Japanese FiTs are significantly higher than those offered in both Germany and China. Such clean energy investments shift Japan?s reliance on nuclear energy. Government subsidies benefit solar panel makers such as Panasonic, spurring them to manufacture even more energy-efficient products and services.
We also applaud the Singapore government for introducing the Energy Conservation Act, which comes into effect in 2013, to improve energy efficiency across different sectors. It will also drive energy efficiency in business. The legislation requires factories that consume more than 15GWh of energy a year to implement minimum energy management standards, such as the appointment of an energy manager, reporting of energy use and submission of energy efficiency improvement plans.
This is likely to help households make more informed choices about purchasing energy-efficient appliances since the legislation stipulates the minimum energy performance standards and energy labelling scheme for common household appliances such as air-conditioners and refrigerators.
Yorihisa Shiokawa is Managing Executive Officer, Regional Head for the Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa of Panasonic Corporation, as well as Managing Director of Panasonic Asia Pacific. He assumed his role from April 2011, after three decades of building the brand name Panasonic in markets such as Europe, notably its digital audio-visual product and home appliance businesses.
This article was originally published on the Singapore International Energy Week 2012 website, and has been republished with permission.
Source: http://www.eco-business.com/features/5qs-with-panasonics-yorihisa-shiokawa/
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Ahmadinejad: Iran 'could have behaved better'
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last night insisted his country was ready to make concessions on its controversial nuclear program, but again accused Israel of fomenting tension in the Middle East and criticized international atomic regulators for what he called ?double-standards.?
Mixing blustery rhetoric with conciliatory remarks, the Iranian leader also told a dinner of academics and students at a New York hotel that the violent protests that erupted in many Muslim countries over a YouTube video mocking the prophet Muhammad were indicative of the ?negative mindset? of many Muslims toward the US.
?Iran has made mistakes, Iran could have behaved better,? he said, speaking through a translator. ?We are ready for transparent dialogue?. We are ready to help to eliminate negative mindsets.?
RELATED ? Iran's nuclear program: 4 things you probably didn't know
Mr. Ahmadinejad?s discussion was one in a long list of media and public speaking events for the Iranian leader ahead of his speech before the United Nations General Assembly tomorrow. The Iranian leader had interviews with CNN, PBS, and a long list of US media outlets.
NUCLEAR CONCERNS
His remarks come as rhetoric has reached alarming levels in the Middle East, with Israeli officials claiming that Iran is nearing a ?zone of immunity,? when a military attack on its nuclear facilities will be impossible and Iran will be able to manufacture nuclear weapons without restriction.
Tehran has repeatedly said its nuclear program is for peaceful energy and research purposes. However, International Atomic Energy Agency officials have documented some moves by Iran that suggest it is keeping its options open, for example, for making highly enriched uranium that could be used in a bomb.
?Iran is entitled to domestic uranium enrichment,? Ahmadinejad said. ?It is a legitimate right?. And what rights do you have if you do not use them??
He claimed that negotiators from the so-called P5+1 ? the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany ? have told Iran that they are confident Iran hasn?t moved toward nuclear weapon manufacture. But he said that the IAEA had made ?illegal requests? and its list of requests had ?only gotten longer and longer.?
He also insisted the IAEA?s lack of oversight of Israel?s purported atomic weapons program ? Israel is not a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and does not allow the IAEA access to the facility believed to house Israel's nuclear weapons program ? was indicative of a double-standard.
Ahmadinejad said Iran supports a proposal to create an international consortium to oversee Iran?s enrichment program, saying US companies could be involved in building and engineering the program.
'ZIONIST REGIME'
As in the past, Ahmadinejad repeatedly derided Israel, calling it a ?Zionist regime,? though he did not repeat earlier inflammatory remarks that he made in other venues. At a high-level UN meeting earlier in the day, he reportedly said Israel should be ?eliminated.? Israel?s delegation to the meeting walked out of the hall in protest.
?[The Israelis] want to provoke the situation and give rise to more tensions and get themselves out of a dead end,? he said at the dinner. ?We are for eradicating the foundations, the reason these tensions. For a regime to threaten to bomb Iran, this must be condemned by the world.?
?Are the Western governments willing to rein in this regime?? he asked.
He also suggested he thought the 1979 takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran, and the subsequent 444-day hostage crisis, was wrong, telling the room, "I don't want to say this was the right action to take, but I want to put ourselves in their shoes." And he ducked a question about relations between Israel and the Palestinians, saying only that the Palestinians deserved to have a vote about self-determination.
Outside the Warwick Hotel, where Ahmadinejad spoke, a heavy presence of New York police and Secret Service agents added to the already snarled traffic that occurs when dozens of world leaders descend on the city for the UN General Assembly meetings.
Earlier, sporadic groups of protesters gathered on the sidewalks nearby the hotel. One man walked by yelling that the Iranian leader was a ?deranged genocidal nutjob.? In another group of black-clad ultra-Orthodox Jewish men, at least one wore a sign that read ?I?m a Jew, not a Zionist.?
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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ahmadinejad-iran-could-behaved-better-iaea-double-standards-181840008.html
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Thursday, September 13, 2012
France steers careful path to labor reform
PARIS (Reuters) - France's Socialist government may clinch a deal on labor reform by the end of this year but its cautious approach means the outcome may fall short of business leaders' hopes for a "competitiveness shock" to revive the economy.
President Francois Hollande wants a quick agreement that will help companies adjust more nimbly during economic downturns, ease labor costs and simplify layoff procedures, while giving unions guarantees against job losses.
Even without signatures from hardline unions FO and CGT, both of which oppose the measures, talks could produce a deal to be approved in a Socialist-controlled parliament in early 2013.
A reform could soothe France's conflict-prone labor relations, helping firms hamstrung by regulation to claw back some competitiveness in export markets by allowing them to cut costs more efficiently when demand fluctuates.
However, efforts to please all parties may leave some sensitive issues untouched, disappointing critics hoping for an overhaul on a par with Germany's "Agenda 10" reform launched in 2003 by former Social Democratic Chancellor Gerhard Schroder.
In particular, draft plans unveiled on Friday look unlikely to dismantle the highly-protective, long-term "CDI" job contract that makes it expensive for businesses to lay off staff.
"There will be some sort of compromise between unions and management but it will be a deal that leaves in place certain sacred cows like the CDI," said Jean-Louis Dayan, head of the CEE public think-tank on employment.
"There is a risk the final product turns out to be less potent than some might have hoped for, due to a desire to avoid conflict with unions or employers."
Economic worries are setting a dark backdrop for talks, with unions and employers locking horns over planned mass layoffs at firms like carmaker Peugeot PSA, retailer Carrefour and pharmaceutical group Sanofi.
Mindful of the tensions, the government is striving to please both parties at once, notably by excising from a roadmap published last week words like "flexibility" and "competitiveness" which unions despise.
LEGAL LIMITS
France has so far largely escaped punishment in the euro zone's crisis, but its status as one of the region's strong "core" economies is undermined by a private sector that analysts say may struggle to compete and grow for years to come.
The government is striving to find 30 billion euros in budget cuts to bring next year's deficit down to the EU's 3-percent of GDP ceiling, potentially driving the economy into recession. Against that the labor reform will have little immediate effect, but it remains one of Hollande's main election promises and a symbolic issue for financial markets.
Leaning toward employers, the government has called for making layoff procedures more legally secure.
Firms complain that restructuring is too vulnerable to legal challenges which pile up costs and delays. A reform may limit individual rights to contest layoffs once a collective deal is struck, a senior labor ministry official told Reuters, asking to remain anonymous.
In exchange for ceding some legal power, unions may get more say in companies' strategic decisions, with options including giving works councils rights to inspect long-term plans or putting union members on company boards. That would help soothe suspicions, though experts say secretive French executives are unlikely to accept German-style co-management.
"Companies cannot ask for more flexibility without being truly responsible for their workers' careers," Bernard Thibault, head of the hardline CGT union, told Le Monde.
Firms may also get help to become more competitive on wage costs, which are among the highest in Europe. The source says up to 8 billion euros ($10.3 billion) in social charges may be transferred to other levies, notably the CSG tax, a contribution paid by all employees.
In unions' favor, the roadmap calls for a widening of the use of the long-term CDI, or "contract of undetermined duration", raising the possibility of increasing social charges on various types of temporary contracts to discourage their use.
More generally, critics say that limiting the scope of talks to labor relations and wage costs without curbing benefits to encourage the unemployed to find jobs is problematic.
Much of the bite in Schroder's 2003 reforms was in incentives to work like shortening access to benefits and forcing workers to accept job proposals, which are absent from French plans.
OPPOSITION
The moderate CFDT, France's largest union, the Christian CFTC and smaller groups are willing to move ahead with reforms, as is the Medef business lobby. Only FO and CGT are opposed.
"The CGT is completely closed to a deal," Philippe Louis, head of the CFTC union, told Reuters.
Yet thanks to a 2008 reform by former president Nicolas Sarkozy, the CGT and FO can no longer block a national deal alone. Approval by unions that together won 30 percent of votes in the latest national round of union elections is sufficient.
Once a deal is struck, however, Hollande has to shepherd it through parliament, at which time CGT and FO could call street protests, a tactic that has scuppered past reform attempts in France, to pressure him into scrapping it or watering it down.
The fallout from Germany's "Agenda 10" reforms offers a warning to Hollande. Protests against the plan drew some 500,000 people, and workers deserted Schroder's SPD in droves.
By the time it started to yield results for the economy, the party had been voted out of power.
(Reporting By Nicholas Vinocur; Additional reporting by Emmanuel Jarry and Jean-Baptiste Vey; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Patrick Graham)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/france-steers-careful-path-labor-reform-115731275--business.html
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Platinum up on South African mine unrest, gold flat
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Platinum rose almost 3 percent on Wednesday, its biggest one-day rally in a month, boosted by supply fears after sprawling labor unrest halted production at some mines in top platinum producer South Africa.
Gold was up by just pennies, retreating after hitting a six-month high during the session. Some investors scaled back their bullish bets before a Federal Reserve decision on Thursday about new economic stimulus.
Machete-wielding strikers forced No. 1 platinum producer Anglo American Platinum to shut down some South African operations, widening the labor unrest sweeping the country's mines. South Africa has 80 percent of the world's platinum reserve.
The price of platinum, mostly used as an autocatalyst to clean auto emissions, has soared 11 percent in the last eight sessions. The metal's relative strength index (RSI) rose above 80 on Wednesday to its most overbought level since early 2008.
"Platinum's rally is very strike-specific at this point, and it may pull back when the supply worries are over, as platinum is now getting significantly overdone," said Frank McGhee, head precious metals trader Integrated Brokerage Services LLC.
Spot platinum rose 2.8 percent to $1,644.74 an ounce by 2:10 p.m. EDT (1810 GMT), its biggest one-day percentage gain since August 16. Wednesday's high of $1,654.49 marked its best level in five months.
U.S. NYMEX October platinum futures settled up $42.60 at $1,649.60 an ounce, with volume almost double its 250-day average, preliminary Reuters data showed.
Palladium rose 1.6 percent to $676.47 an ounce.
The price of platinum has risen nearly 20 percent since a strike at the world's third-largest producer, Lonmin
Despite rising supply fears in South Africa, a forecast surplus in platinum due to faltering demand from the European car industry could limit further price gains, analysts said.
"Prior to this, this was a market that was in surplus this year. It might move toward balance, but it's not a market that is going to be in a significant deficit this year," said David Jollie, analyst at Mitsui Precious Metals.
ALL EYES ON FOMC
Gold retreated as some investors took profits after an 8.5 percent rally since August on hopes for new Fed stimulus.
A Reuters poll showed chances are increasing that the Fed will act on Thursday to energize a U.S. economy that is struggling to gain momentum in the face of a lackluster labor market and uncertain fiscal policy.
Spot gold inched up 6 cents to $1,731.34 an ounce, sharply below a session high of $1,746.20, which marked its loftiest level since February 29.
U.S. COMEX December futures settled down $1.20 at $1,733.70 an ounce, with volume heavier than usual, about 25 percent above its 30-day average.
Silver was down 0.8 percent at $33.22 an ounce. It has gained more than 9 percent in the last nine sessions.
"There isn't enough physical demand to sustain prices above $30, both from investors and fabricators," said Erica Rannestad, precious metals analyst at CPM Group.
(Additional reporting by Amanda Cooper in London; Editing by David Gregorio)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/platinum-hits-five-month-high-south-africa-unrest-114024857--finance.html
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Delayed deportations approved ahead of elections
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Less than two months before a presidential election in which both parties are fighting for the key Hispanic vote, the Obama administration has approved the first wave of applications from young illegal immigrants hoping to avoid deportation and get a work permit.
The Homeland Security Department is notifying a small group of people this week that they have been approved to stay in the country for two years as part of President Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The first approvals come just three weeks after U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services started accepting applications for the program that Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano first announced June 15.
In an internal document obtained by The Associated Press, the government had estimated previously that it could take months for each application to be reviewed and approved. So far, about 72,000 people have applied to avoid deportation.
"Following a thorough, individualized case review, USCIS has now begun notifying individuals of the determination on their deferral requests," DHS spokesman Peter Boogaard said in a statement Tuesday.
DHS said background checks, including fingerprinting, are being conducted on each immigrant before an application can be approved. The average wait time for approval is expected to be about four months to six months.
Most applications for immigration benefits take several months for USCIS to process. In certain circumstances, people can pay extra fees to speed up the process. There currently is no such option for deferred action applications.
To be eligible for deferred deportation, applicants must have come to the U.S. before they turned 16, be 30 or younger, be high school graduates or in college, or have served in the military. The immigrants could not have a serious criminal record. Successful applicants can avoid deportation for up to two years and get a work permit.
Applicants must pay a $465 paperwork fee that is expected to cover the cost of processing the work permit and fingerprint collection. Homeland Security has estimated that as many as 1.04 million immigrants could apply to avoid being deported in the program's first year, with about 890,000 being immediately eligible. According to the department document, it could cost between $467 million and $585 million to process applications in the first two years of the program, with revenues from fees estimated at $484 million. That means the cost to the government could range from a gain of $17 million to a loss of more than $101 million.
The policy change came just months before what is shaping up to be a tight presidential election. Wooing Hispanic voters has been considered key to helping Obama win a second term.
The plan to halt deportations for as many as 1.7 million illegal immigrants closely mirrors the failed DREAM Act, a bill that would have provided a path to legalization for many of the same immigrants expected to benefit from the government's deferred action policy. The new policy does not provide legal status for the immigrants.
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has not said what he would do with Obama's policy if he is elected. He has previously pledged to veto the DREAM Act should it cross his desk. DREAM stands for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors.
Republicans have uniformly criticized Obama's policy, as well as previous DHS decisions to stop deporting many illegal immigrants who do not have criminal records or otherwise pose no threat to national security or public safety.
Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has derided the policy as "backdoor amnesty."
"It's astounding that the president's administration can move so quickly to grant work authorization to illegal immigrants yet his jobs council hasn't met in over eight months to find solutions to put unemployed Americans back to work," Smith said Tuesday. "Such a quick turnaround for these amnesty applications raises serious concerns about fraud and a lack of thorough background checks. President Obama and his administration continue to put illegal immigrants ahead of the interests of the American people."
Last month a group of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents sued the department in federal court in Dallas, accusing the administration of violating federal law and forcing ICE employees to break the law by not arresting certain illegal immigrants. Napolitano and ICE Director John Morton were named as defendants.
An informal adviser to Romney on immigration, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, filed the suit on behalf of the agents.
"It places ICE agents in an untenable position where their political superiors are ordering them to violate federal law," Kobach said at the time. "If they follow federal law, they will be disciplined by their superiors."
On Tuesday, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., sent a letter to Morton questioning the new policy and how it is being implemented. He cited reports of immigration officers being threatened with punishment for trying to enforce immigration laws, an allegation outlined in Kobach's suit.
"The speed at which the deferrals are being granted continues to raise severe concerns about fraud and the administration's ability to verify items like age of entry, educational status and even current age," Sessions said. "But the bigger issue is that the administration has effectively nullified existing federal law with the stroke of a pen. Moreover, it is a pure fiction that its non-enforcement policy is limited to those theoretically eligible for DREAM."
___
Follow Alicia A. Caldwell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/acaldwellap
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/delayed-deportations-approved-ahead-elections-064745574--politics.html
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Chicago teacher strike a high-profile test for unions
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The massive teachers' strike in Chicago offers a high-profile test for the nation's teachers' unions, which have seen their political influence threatened as a growing reform movement seeks to improve ailing public schools.
The reforms include expanding charter schools, getting private companies involved with failing schools and linking teacher evaluations to student test scores.
Union leaders are taking a major stand on teacher evaluations, one of the key issues in the Chicago dispute. If they lose there, it could have ripple effects around the country.
The American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association ? the nation's two largest teachers' unions ? have been playing defense in jurisdictions around the country as Republicans and Democrats alike seek greater concessions in a bid to improve ailing public schools.
After decades of growth in membership and influence, the unions now are in a weaker position, said Rick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute, a nonpartisan think tank.
"They are playing on more hostile terrain and they are facing opponents the likes of which they have not had to face before," Hess said.
The strike also has implications for the presidential race because it pits the Chicago Teachers Union ? the AFT's oldest local ? against Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, former chief of staff to President Barack Obama. Obama is counting on the strong support of unions to help his re-election campaign, but his administration has sided with some of the reforms unions are railing against.
Teachers walked off the job Monday for the first time in 25 years over issues that include pay raises, classroom conditions, job security and teacher evaluations. Emanuel is trying to extract more concessions from teachers while the school district faces a nearly $700 million deficit.
Major teacher strikes have been rare in recent years, compared with the 1960s and 1970s, when teachers went on strike frequently for better pay and improved bargaining rights. While unions generally got what they wanted in the past, they face a tougher climate today.
With the weak economy, unions have seen massive teacher layoffs, increased class sizes and school districts unable or unwilling to boost teacher salaries. Like other public employee unions, they are also under attack from Republican governors like Scott Walker of Wisconsin, who signed a measure last year to curb collective bargaining rights and limit benefits for state workers.
The 2.2-million member NEA has lost more than 100,000 members since 2010, as fewer public school teachers are hired and more charter schools open, most of which are not unionized. At the 1.5 million-member AFT, years of steady growth have leveled off.
"They certainly are on the defensive," said Richard Ingersoll, a professor of education and sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. "They are under attack. A lot of times they are demonized. On the other hand there's really smart and progressive elements in the teacher's movement who want to get out ahead of this and do it in a way that's fair."
In the past, teachers unions could count on a Democratic White House to fight back on their behalf. But Obama's education secretary, Arne Duncan, is a former head of Chicago Public Schools who has pushed for many of the changes that unions oppose.
"In many ways the Obama administration has signed onto the very conservative set of reforms that the education community is imposing on teachers," said Richard Kahlenberg of the Century Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington.
Both the NEA and the AFT have strongly endorsed Obama's re-election despite his administration's support of policies to expand charter schools, weaken tenure and base teacher evaluations on how much student performance improves. The Chicago strike could test that alliance, as Obama declines to take a public stand supporting the union.
Evaluating teachers on how much their students improve is a key component of Obama's education policy. His administration has approved waivers freeing many states from the most onerous requirements of the Bush-era No Child Left Behind law. In order to get a waiver, each state had to promise to show in other ways that its students and schools are improving, and to more closely link teacher evaluations to student test scores.
The Chicago union argues that the new teacher evaluation system relies too heavily on standardized test scores without considering outside factors such as student poverty, violence and homelessness that can affect performance.
Hess said the Chicago strike has become an important test case after unions lost their effort to recall Wisconsin's governor.
"If it looks like the union folds, especially on the heels of Wisconsin, it's a huge blow for the unions," Hess said. "If the union seems to win, that's going to be a blow to reform-minded mayors and puts some wind into the sails of unions."
There are major differences, though, between the cases in Wisconsin and Chicago.
While Walker effectively challenged public employee unions' collective bargaining rights, both sides in Chicago have been negotiating over traditional labor-management issues. The district proposed a 16 percent raise over four years and the two sides have essentially agreed on a longer school day. But job security and a new teacher evaluation system remained in dispute.
AFT President Randi Weingarten said the union didn't want to strike, but did so only as a last resort after negotiations "that left CTU members feeling disrespected." Among the issues she cited was the mayor's decision this year to strip teachers of an agreed-upon 4 percent raise.
"This is a long-term battle that everyone's going to watch," said Eric Hanuskek, a senior fellow in education at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University. "Other teachers unions in the United States are wondering if they should follow suit."
Teacher unions also are growing nervous about how they are portrayed in an upcoming Hollywood movie called "Won't Back Down," set to open in theaters on Sept. 28. The film tells the story of a mother's quest to take control of her daughter's failing elementary school.
Weingarten has blasted the movie as "using the most blatant stereotypes and caricatures I have ever seen" and unfairly blaming unions for the nation's school woes. Union leaders were even more outraged that the movie was screened at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., and that Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa ? the convention chairman ? attended the screening.
___
Follow Sam Hananel's labor coverage at http://twitter.com/SamHananelAP
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chicago-teacher-strike-poses-test-unions-071221549.html
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Saturday, September 8, 2012
Ryan says jobs report sign of failed leadership
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan says the latest unemployment report shows the economy is "limping along" as a result of failed leadership and bad fiscal policy coming from the Obama administration.
Ryan says news that employers added just 96,000 new jobs in August "is not even close to what a recovery looks like."
He commented during an interview with CNBC before a campaign appearance in Nevada.
The unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent in August, down from 8.3 percent in July. But the drop was only because more people gave up looking for work.
Ryan says he and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will push for low tax rates, economic growth and regulatory reform to help employers create jobs.
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Friday, September 7, 2012
News: Sony's Halo-beater given HD makeover for Killzone Trilogy release
Killzone Trilogy will be released for PS3 on October 24, Sony and Guerilla Games have announced.
The box set includes the two PS3 Killzone titles, complete with all map pack DLC, plus an HD version of the PS2 original which started the franchise.
Killzone HD will be presented with a "stunning HD makeover" and full trophy support.
Killzone 2 Map Pack Bundle
- Steel & Titanium Map Pack
- Flash & Thunder Map Pack
- Napalm & Cordite Map Pack
Killzone 3 Map Pack Bundle
- Killzone 3 Steel Rain Map Pack
- Killzone 3 Retro Map Pack
- Killzone 3 From The Ashes Map Pack
Killzone Trilogy will launch at a RRP of ?49.99.
Source: http://www.videogamer.com/news/sonys_halo-beater_given_hd_makeover_for_killzone_trilogy_release.html
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McIlroy, Woods together again in playoffs
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, left, shakes with Tiger Woods between interviews during the Pro-Am of the BMW Championship PGA golf tournament at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind., Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, left, shakes with Tiger Woods between interviews during the Pro-Am of the BMW Championship PGA golf tournament at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind., Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Tiger Woods waits to putt on the eighth green during the Pro-Am tournament of the BMW Championship PGA golf tournament at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind., Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Tiger Woods tees of on the ninth holeduring the Pro-Am tournament of the BMW Championship PGA golf tournament at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind., Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland checks yardage on the 12th tee during the Pro-Am tournament of the BMW Championship PGA golf tournament at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind., Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, bottom left, listens to Tiger Woods at a news conference during the Pro-Am of the BMW Championship PGA golf tournament at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind., Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
CARMEL, Ind. (AP) ? This was a role reversal in more ways than one.
Two weeks ago when the FedEx Cup playoffs began, Rory McIlroy was just starting his interview when he noticed Tiger Woods waiting his turn at the back of the room. It prompted the 23-year-old from Northern Ireland to jokingly say he would like to go off first against Woods in the Ryder Cup and "kick his (behind)." They both laughed, and later had lunch together at Bethpage.
On the day before the BMW Championship at Crooked Stick, it was McIlroy who came into the back of the room to wait on Woods. And while there were no playful exchanges, a question that came McIlroy's way after Woods had left showed how much times are changing.
Woods is 36. Do you still look for him to be back winning majors?
"He's old, huh?" McIlroy said. "Yeah, for sure. ... He's had his chances in the majors going into the weekend, and it just hasn't quite happened for him. But for sure, he's going to keep putting himself up there in position, and he's going to have a lot of chances to win tournaments and majors."
These are the questions no one ever asked about Woods.
But then, there hasn't been another player since Woods went on the first of several big runs who was worthy of getting such a question. McIlroy elevated his position even more last week when he closed with a 67 to win the Deutsche Bank Championship.
The victory put him at No. 1 in three categories ? the world ranking, the PGA Tour money list and the FedEx Cup, which could set up a showdown in two weeks at the Tour Championship.
Both have three wins, although McIlroy became the heavy favorite as PGA Tour player of the year because one of his wins was a major; that eight-shot win at Kiawah Island in the PGA Championship last month. Majors are big in the minds of players, who do the voting on this award, and Woods might have to win the next two events to be considered.
For now, they will be in the same group for the opening two rounds at the BMW Championship, which starts Thursday. Players are grouped based on the FedEx Cup list, so Woods and McIlroy also played together at The Barclays. Woods got him by five shots, though McIlroy had the better weekend and finished ahead.
"I think it definitely creates some more interest for the fans and for golf in general," McIlroy said. "I don't see any challenge in it. I mean, it's just good fun. It's good fun to be out there and have such an atmosphere and such a buzz around a grouping like that, and it's just nice to be a part of."
Barclays winner Nick Watney will be joining them.
The buzz might have existed even without Woods and McIlroy in the same group. The highest level of golf returns to Crooked Stick for the first time since the 1991 PGA Championship, when a PGA Tour rookie who was the ninth alternate ? John Daly ? drove up from Arkansas and overpowered the Pete Dye design.
No one in the 70-man field at the BMW Championship played in that PGA. Davis Love III and Billy Mayfair were around back then, but both were eliminated in the first round of the FedEx Cup playoffs.
Ernie Els remembers, even if he was a thousand miles away.
"I was in Tulsa that week for the Hogan Tour," Els said. "We were all watching, because it was like a family. John came from the Hogan Tour."
That's where the similarities between those two end.
The size of the gallery for the Wednesday pro-am was not as large as expected because of a severe storm that blew through Indianapolis, chasing fans back to their cars and dumping even more rain on a course that really didn't need it.
No course is too long for these guys, and the soft, pure greens should mean low scoring.
"You can be pretty aggressive," Woods said. "I think the guys will be firing at a lot of flags this week."
They should be used to that by now. After an opening playoff event at Bethpage Black, they went after the TPC Boston last week. McIlroy won at 20-under 264 to beat Louis Oosthuizen, while Woods was third, making a birdie on the last hole for a 66 to finish two shots behind at 266.
For Woods, it was the 12th time in his career that he shot all four rounds in the 60s without winning, and the first time since Dubai Desert Classic in 2007. The only other time he had a lower score than that without winning was at Disney ? twice ? at 265.
"It was advantageous to hit the ball a long way," Woods said after playing 16 holes in the pro-am before rain interrupted. "But you've got to hit the fairway. If you do hit the ball in the fairway, driving it out there, you can attack a lot of these flags. A lot of these corners don't really come into play with it being this soft. The ball is just going to hit and plug."
Anytime a player says "soft," that usually means low scoring. Woods did not disagree.
"But we've never played here," he said. "With that said, guys will start getting a feel for it, and I'm sure you'll see some low scores. But then I think the guys will start going lower and lower."
What matters this week is getting higher and higher ? at least in the FedEx Cup.
The top 30 from the 70-man field advance to the Tour Championship, a reward in itself because that comes with an exemption into the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open (and with rare exception, the PGA Championship). Then, everyone in the field at East Lake has a crack at the $10 million bonus for winning the FedEx Cup.
The top five players going into this week are McIlroy, Watney, Woods, Brandt Snedeker and Oosthuizen. The idea is to stay in the top five, for those are the players who would be assured the $10 million by winning the Tour Championship no matter what anyone else does.
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Thursday, September 6, 2012
PFT: Former Browns, Ravens owner Modell dies
ReutersThe league is responding with sadness to the death of former Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens owner Art Modell.
While known most for moving his team away from Cleveland, Modell?s impact on the game was far-reaching, as he helped drive the league toward becoming the televised spectacle it is today.
The Ravens have collected many statements, and you can view them all here. But here are a few of them:
Ravens Owner Steve Bisciotti:
?He was my friend, my mentor. We will miss him so much. How lucky are all of us to have had Art in Baltimore? How fortunate I am to have had him teach me about the NFL. His generosity, his love, his humor, his intelligence, his friendship ? we were all blessed by this great man. We will strive to live up to his standard.?
Ravens General Manager & Executive Vice President Ozzie Newsome:
?Art was a giant in our industry. He was my boss ? but he wouldn?t let me call him that ? my mentor, and most importantly, my friend. He was the most caring, compassionate person I?ve ever known. The opportunities he gave me are historic, and I will be forever humble and grateful.?
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell:
?Art Modell?s leadership was an important part of the NFL?s success during the league?s explosive growth during the 1960s and beyond. As the longtime chairman of the league?s Broadcast Committee, Art was a visionary who understood the critical role that mass viewing of NFL games on broadcast television could play in growing the league. Art played important roles in many other league matters as a key advisor to Pete Rozelle and Paul Tagliabue, and also built championship teams in Cleveland and Baltimore.
?His skills as an owner and league contributor were matched only by his great sense of humor. Any conversation with Art included laughs. He always left you with a smile on your face. We extend our condolences to John, David and the rest of the Modell family.?
Former NBC-TV President Dick Ebersol:
?I believe very strongly that Art Modell is one of the most important figures in the history of the modern NFL. He and Pete Rozelle developed the magic formula that married the potential of television to the game. Those funds from this marriage propelled the game into what it is today. Art was there with Pete, and Art made it happen. Those two, along with Well Mara ? who convinced other owners about the power of shared revenue ? are the three men who pushed the NFL into what we know today.
?My good fortune is that I met Art when I was a 20-year-old intern for Roone Arledge, and he was creating the first Monday night game. He treated that intern the same as he treated a 60-something TV executive many years later. He always made me feel special. He was open and natural, and there was not a phony bone in his body. His humor could solve the biggest obstacles. When I first became president of NBC Sports, I went to Cleveland to visit with Art. The thoughts he shared with me about television helped me gain success. His efforts in three-plus decades of steering the NFL?s TV committee are monumental. The debt owed by his fellow owners, the current owners and everyone else who has made a living off the NFL, is incalculable. The good news is that Pat [Modell] will now be back with her Art.?
Former Browns, Chiefs and Chargers Head Coach Marty Schottenheimer:
?No, no, this is sad news. I loved Art Modell, and I was just thinking of him yesterday. He was a man?s man, someone you wanted to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with. He gave me my first head coaching job, and we had the most fun working together. We didn?t win the biggest prize, but we were awfully close, and we had a ball trying to get there. Art made it fun. His humor was the best, and my wife, Pat, always said what a gentleman he is ? classy, and he ran his franchise that way. I have only good memories of Art.?
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Israel faces off with African migrants on Egyptian border
A weeklong standoff between a group of Eritreans seeking entry to Israel and a get-tough Israeli government policy on African migrants ended today with the deportation of most of the Eritreans.
An Israeli soldier checks on African immigrants behind the newly-built fence at Israel-Egypt border, after they arrived a week earlier at the spot and got trapped between the old and new fences, Thursday.
Ahikam Seri/AP
EnlargeA weeklong standoff between Eritrean asylum seekers trapped at the Israeli-Egyptian border and soldiers ordered to block their entry ended today, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu forced most of the Eritreans back to Egypt except for two women and a teenager.
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The border standoff dramatized as never before Israel?s dilemma over how to stop the influx of tens of thousands of Africans fleeing repressive governments who are seeking illegal entry to Israel and the Jewish state?s collective memory as a nation built by refugees. Although similar border confrontations have occurred in the past, this was the first caught on camera.?
It was also a visceral test of Israel?s resolve to defend a newly built border fence for the express purpose of blocking militants and African migrants.
"This issue is very divisive. It goes to the roots of what it means to be a Jewish state," says Oren Persico, a columnist at the Seventh Eye, an Israeli media magazine.
Although the debate over the African migrants has gone on for most of this year, never before have Israelis watched a life-threatening confrontation play out at the border. "You got the sense that the media uproar could have changed the outcome," Mr. Persico says.?
Photographs showed a small group of Africans huddled under a tarp just outside the border fence while television footage showed soldiers blocking human rights workers seeking to provide food and medicines to the migrants, who they feared might perish?after days of exposure in the desert. The media reported that one of the women suffered a miscarriage at the border.
Their?plight was taken up by the Israeli Supreme Court in an emergency session today, but it adjourned until Sept. 9 with no decision.
The compromise ? allowing the women and teenager to stay while sending back all the men ? allowed Netanyahu to show his resolve to enforce a get-tough policy against the migrants, while allowing for humanitarian exceptions. The three who will be allowed to stay in Israel will be kept in a detention center.
"It is important that everyone will understand that Israel is not another destination for infiltrators," Mr. Netanyahu said in a statement, which noted that there has been a 90 percent drop in the arrivals. "We are determined to stop the deluge of infiltrators."
In recent years, tens of thousands of Africans, mostly from Sudan and Eritrea, have reached Israel by illegally crossing the border on foot from Egypt. Israel has given those from Sudan's Darfur region, a fraction of the total refugees, permanent residency, and the rest have been given provisional approvals to live and work in the country without being recognized as refugees, which means the state could swiftly revoke their status at any time.
Netanyahu has called the unchecked influx of African migrants a top national threat to Israel, claiming it threatens to erode the country?s Jewish majority and weaken the economy. He has tried to highlight efforts to reduce the number of asylum seekers arriving to play to public opinion, which supports blocking entry,?and has even forced several hundred South Sudanese to leave the country.
His government has sponsored legislation permitting the Africans ? which it considers migrant workers, not asylum seekers ? ?to be detained for three years, and is building a large detention center near the border for those who are caught crossing.
Israeli human rights advocates have argued that Israel has a moral and legal obligation to look after anyone who reaches its soil and to allow them to work. They have criticized Israel?s government for not considering giving them political asylum.?
Sigal Rozen, a spokeswoman at the Hotline for Migrant Workers, said the move to return the Africans to Egypt was a violation of international law. She argued that even though numbers of migrants are down after the construction of the fence, the barrier will not completely stop the flow.
"People will keep on coming," she says. "There will be some that will try their luck."
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FM's poser: Paying Tax = Civilised; Tax Breaks = Uncivilised - Firstpost
Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram is always good for unusual quotes or observations.
On Monday, he said: ?Paying taxes is a mark of civilisation. I don?t know why people who make less money pay more tax and those who make more money pay less tax.? Or so Business Standard quoted him as saying.
He said this at a meeting he had with income tax commissioners in Delhi, and one of the things he mentioned was that they needed to raise more taxes from companies that paid less than the average corporate tax rate of 30 percent.
The average effective tax rate on corporations, though, is more like 24 percent, and Chidambaram believes that if this average can be raised to 26 percent, he can raise Rs 30,000 crore.
Is it the act of paying less tax the problem, or the legislation that allows it? PTI
Good luck to him on that, but it?s the quote one should focus on.
Let?s look closely at the first part first ? that taxes are a mark of civilisation. If this is so, middle class salary earners must be India?s most civilised taxpayers since their taxes are chopped off at source with little scope for evasion. The rest are uncivilised to varying degrees, by the finance minister?s definition ? from the rural rich farmer, who is not taxed at all, to the poor, who anyway can?t pay taxes, to the corporations and the super-rich who use expensive lawyers to cut their tax bills.
Our parliamentarians, who gifted themselves hefty increases in salaries and allowances last year, must be even less civilised because important allowances ? Rs 40,000 per month for office allowance, and a similar amount for constituency allowance ? is completely free of tax. Out of total earnings of Rs 1.3 lakh a month (salary Rs 50k, and allowances of Rs 80k), the bulk is not taxable. So much for taxes being a ?mark of civilisation,? unless Chidambaram agrees with Team Anna that our MPs are ?murderers, rapists, etc?.
But there?s another issue to consider. Is it the act of paying less tax the problem, or the legislation that allows it?
If rich agriculturists are paying no tax, MPs almost nothing, and companies far below their stipulated brackets, how are they uncivilised if the law itself allows this?
After all, it is the Income Tax Act, which all finance ministers amend at will in the budget every year, that allows citizens to remain ?uncivilised.? By implication, one should say that it is the Income Tax Act, and the ministers who pilot them, who should be blamed for this yearly attack on the foundations of civilisation.
And Chidambaram surely is being coy when he says in the second part of his observation that, ?I don?t know why people who make less money pay more tax and those who make more money pay less tax.?
Does he really not know why the answer? It?s because of loopholes introduced by finance ministers, including Chidambaram himself.
If one were to look at the Receipts Budget of 2012-13, of the Rs 79,173 crore shown as taxes forgone in the previous year by corporate taxpayers, the biggest bulk are accounted for by accelerated depreciation (Rs 36,468 crore in 2011-12), deduction of export profits for units in SEZs (Rs 8,153 crore), and deduction of profits for power companies (Rs 8,316 crore).
The point is this: all these deductions were given to companies to promote important objectives like boosting exports and increasing investments in plant and machinery and power generation. Every deduction, when it is not made specifically to benefit crony capitalists, has broader industrial and job promotion goals as the reason for its existence.
It is to recoup these losses that the government has also legislated a minimum alternate tax of 18.5 percent for those who have lots of tax breaks.
So how can Chidambaram claim he doesn?t know why companies pay only 24 percent tax on an average? It is because these tax breaks are legislated by him and his predecessors ? for good reasons and bad.
Almost exactly a year ago, Chidambaram made similar noises. Speaking at a Delhi event on, he said: ?We must raise the tax revenue to defend (the expected aggregate decline of resources). I know many people won?t like this. But I think, I can summon the courage to make the statement? you must be prepared to pay higher tax rates, especially the rich must be prepared to pay higher tax.?
Here, of course, we are talking about the super-rich, and not corporations.
But is even this something Chidambaram himself has not legislated?
The rich pay less tax because their incomes come more from capital gains and dividends ? both received tax breaks in spades from Chidambaram. Long-terms capital gains on securities carry zero tax, short-term gains invite just 15 percent; the dividend distribution tax rate is just 15 percent (a bit more, if surcharge and cess are added), when the top tax rate for the rich is 30 percent plus surcharge and cess.
This is why salary earners at the top bracket pay nearly 30 percent tax, and a Mr Birla or a Mr Jhunjhunwala may be paying more like 20 percent.
And even as we write this, the Parthasarathi Shome panel is talking about abolishing capital gains tax altogether ? an idea Chidambaram is warming up to in order to attract more foreign investment. And GAAR ? the General Anti Avoidance Rules ? is likely to be postposed for three years. In other words, avoiding tax is going to be treated with kid gloves now.
So, Mr C, if we set aside the aspect of stolen money or completely concealed income, the rich pay less tax because you have allowed them to through legal means.
Maybe, you should revisit your statement. You could say: ?Enabling the rich to pay less tax is not a mark of civilisation. I now know why people who make less money pay more tax and those who make more money pay less tax.?
?
Source: http://www.firstpost.com/economy/fms-poser-paying-tax-civilised-tax-breaks-uncivilised-442849.html
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White Sox top?Twins, boost AL Central lead
Associated Press Sports
updated 5:09 p.m. ET Sept. 5, 2012
CHICAGO (AP) - Staked to a four-run lead in the first inning, there was no way Jake Peavy was letting this one slip away.
Alex Rios homered twice and drove in a career-high six runs to lead the Chicago White Sox to a 6-2 win over the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday.
Rios hit a grand slam in the first inning and a two-run shot in the sixth to help extend Chicago's lead in the AL Central to 1 1/2 games over Detroit, which plays Wednesday night.
"Every night you go out it's a huge challenge in front of you," Peavy said. "The bottom line is to grind and flat-out want it more."
The Twins erupted for 18 runs against Chicago pitching Tuesday, but Peavy (10-10) silenced Minnesota's bats a day later, allowing one run on six hits to win for the first time since Aug. 1.
"(Peavy is) the kind of guy you want after a game like that," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "He came out and battled, did great, and Rios hits a couple homers."
"Things look all right again."
Rios gave Peavy all the support he would need with his first-inning slam. Following Dewayne Wise's leadoff single and walks to Kevin Youkilis and Adam Dunn, Rios ripped a 1-1 pitch from P.J. Walters (2-3) over the left field bullpen for his second career grand slam.
Rios hit his first on Sept. 10, 2011 - a game-winner against Cleveland.
"He's been consistent all year long," Ventura said of Rios. "It's a good day for him to come in here, especially after last night, you get waxed and come back and get something early."
The resurgent 31-year-old then hit a two-run homer in the sixth to chase Walters. It was Rios' third multihomer game this year and sixth of his career.
"I just got a few good pitches and I connected well so that's all you can hope," Rios said. "Hit the ball hard and see what happens."
The White Sox had won just one of their last 10 games against AL Central opponents.
Walters, who tossed his first career complete game at U.S. Cellular Field in May, was not as fortunate this time in his first start since June 13. He made two big mistakes to Rios, but Walters also issued three walks - all of which came around to score.
"I wasn't missing by a whole lot, but enough to be balls," Walters said. "That's the big part of the game - not so much the homers, but the three walks. I don't walk those three guys ... maybe it plays it out a little different."
Walters was charged with six runs over five-plus innings as the Twins lost for the 11th time in 15 games against Chicago this season.
"Take Rios out of the game and we're still playing, but you can't take him out because he took us out," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire quipped.
Ryan Doumit and Chris Parmelee had two hits apiece for Minnesota, and Matt Carson drove in a run with a sac fly in the ninth.
An offense that tormented White Sox pitching a night earlier was virtually nonexistent Wednesday. The Twins had multiple runners on in three of the first six innings, but managed to scratch just one run off Peavy on a sacrifice fly by Eduardo Escobar in the third.
Notes: Twins OF Josh Willingham (hamstring) did not start Wednesday for the second time in three games. He flew out as pinch-hitter in the ninth to end the game. Gardenhire said he hopes Willingham can play in the field Friday in the series opener against Cleveland. ... RHP Liam Hendricks (0-7, 6.11 ERA) will take the hill to open Minnesota's homestand Friday. ... After a day off Thursday, the White Sox continue their homestand against Kansas City with LHP Francisco Liriano (5-11, 5.11) on the mound.
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/48917726/ns/sports-baseball/
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