Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/3208047/device/rss/rss.xml
grammys miguel frank ocean Justin Timberlake Grammys adam levine mumford and sons prince
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
For Devices, Your Brain as Control Pad - NYTimes.com
Last week, engineers sniffing around the programming code for Google Glass found hidden examples of ways that people might interact with the wearable computers without having to say a word. Among them, a user could nod to turn the glasses on or off. Taking a picture might be accomplished with a single wink.
But don?t expect these gestures to be necessary for long. Soon, we might be interacting with our smartphones and computers simply by using our minds. In the next couple of years, we could be turning on the lights at home just by thinking about it, or sending an e-mail from our smartphone without even pulling the device from our pocket. Further into the future, our robot assistant will appear by our side with a glass of fresh lemonade simply because it knows we?re thirsty.
Researchers in Samsung?s Emerging Technology Lab are testing tablets that can be controlled by your brain, using a cap that resembles a ski hat studded with monitoring electrodes, the MIT Technology Review, the science and technology journal of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, reported this month.
The technology, often called brain computer interfaces, was conceived to enable people with paralysis and other disabilities to interact with computers or control robotic arms, all by simply thinking about such actions. Before long, these technologies could well be in consumer electronics, too.
Some crude brain-reading products already exist, letting people play easy games or move a mouse around a screen with their mind.
NeuroSky, a company based in San Jose, Calif., recently released a Bluetooth-enabled headset that can monitor slight brain movements and allow people to play concentration-based games on computers and smartphones. These include a zombie-chasing game, archery and a game where you dodge bullets ? all these apps use your mind as the joystick. Another company, Emotiv, sells a headset that looks like a large alien hand and can read brain waves associated with thoughts, feelings and expressions. The device can be used to play Tetris-like games or search through Flickr photos by thinking about an emotion the person is feeling ? like happy, or excited ? rather than searching by keywords. Muse, a lightweight, wireless headband, can engage with an app that ?exercises the brain? by forcing people to concentrate on aspects of a screen, almost like taking your mind to the gym.
Car manufacturers are exploring technologies packed into the back of the seat that detect when people fall asleep while driving and rattle the steering wheel to awaken them.
But the products commercially available today will soon look archaic. ?The current brain technologies are like trying to listen to a conversation in a football stadium from a blimp,? explained John Donoghue, a neuroscientist and director of the Brown Institute for Brain Science. ?To really be able to understand what is going on with the brain today you need to surgically implant an array of sensors into the brain.? In other words, to gain access to the brain, for now you still need a chip in your head.
Last year, a project called BrainGate pioneered by Dr. Donoghue, enabled two people with full paralysis to use a robotic arm with a computer responding to their brain activity. One woman, who had not used her arms in 15 years, could grasp a bottle of coffee, serve herself a drink and then return the bottle to a table. All done by imagining the robotic arm?s movements.
But that chip inside the head could soon vanish as scientists say we are poised to gain a much greater understanding of the brain, and, in turn, technologies that empower brain computer interfaces. An initiative by the Obama administration this year called the Brain Activity Map project, a decade-long research project, aims to build a comprehensive map of the brain.
Miyoung Chun, a molecular biologist and vice president for science programs at the Kavli Foundation, is working on the project and although she said it would take a decade to completely map the brain, companies would be able to build new kinds of brain computer interface products within two years.
?The Brain Activity Map will give hardware companies a lot of new tools that will change how we use smartphones and tablets,? Dr. Chun said. ?It will revolutionize everything from robotic implants and neural prosthetics, to remote controls, which could be history in the foreseeable future when you can change your television channel by thinking about it.?
There are some fears to be addressed. On the Muse Web site, an F.A.Q. is devoted to convincing customers that the device cannot siphon thoughts from people?s minds.
These brain-reading technologies have been the stuff of science fiction for decades.
In the 1982 movie ?Firefox,? Clint Eastwood plays a fighter pilot on a mission to the Soviet Union to steal a prototype fighter jet that can be controlled by a brain neurolink. But Mr. Eastwood has to think in Russian for the plane to work, and he almost dies when he cannot get the missiles to fire while in the middle of a dogfight. (Don?t worry, he survives.)
Although we won?t be flying planes with our minds anytime soon, surfing the Web on our smartphones might be closer.
Dr. Donoghue of Brown said one of the current techniques used to read people?s brains is called P300, in which a computer can determine which letter of the alphabet someone is thinking about based on the area of the brain that is activated when he sees a screen full of letters. But even when advances in brain-reading technologies speed up, there will be new challenges, as scientists will have to determine if the person wants to search the Web for something in particular, or if she is just thinking about a random topic.
?Just because I?m thinking about a steak medium-rare at a restaurant doesn?t mean I actually want that for dinner,? Dr. Donoghue said. ?Just like Google glasses, which will have to know if you?re blinking because there is something in your eye or if you actually want to take a picture,? brain computer interfaces will need to know if you?re just thinking about that steak or really want to order it.
tupelo honey limp bizkit stations of the cross nike foamposite galaxy bill maher seabiscuit dingo
Monday, April 29, 2013
More bombing victims leave Boston hospitals
BOSTON (AP) ? Boston hospitals say the number of patients being treated for injuries sustained in the marathon bombing continues to drop, two weeks after the attack that killed three and hurt more than 260.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center said Sunday morning that it has six patients with bombing injuries, down from more than 20 immediately following the April 15 attack.
All six are in good or fair condition.
Beth Israel also treated bombing suspect Dzhohkar Tsarnaev (joh-KHAR' tsahr-NEYE'-ehv) for injuries authorities say he suffered during an attempt to elude police. Tsarnaev was moved Friday to a federal prison medical center.
Nine victims are still at Brigham and Women's Hospital, down from 36 after the bombing. Seven are in good condition.
In all, 26 hospitals have treated people injured in the bombing.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/more-bombing-victims-leave-boston-hospitals-150709620.html
NFL scores week 3 kat dennings Steve Sabol Yom Kippur 2012 Aaron Paul packers Dancing With The Stars All Stars
Nintendo's refurb shop is now selling refurbished DSi XL and 3DSs for $100 up.
Nintendo's refurb shop is now selling refurbished DSi XL and 3DSs for $100 up. Leaves some change for games!
Source: http://gizmodo.com/5995496/
Rivals Kaepernick Eddie Vanderdoes puppy bowl national pancake day bar refaeli Paul Harvey
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Affirmations for Self-Improvement | tmcelvany
This article talks about how ?the more we practice having thoughts or beliefs that benefit our well-being, the more naturally those thoughts and beliefs will play themselves out in our everyday life,? as long as these affirmations you repeat to yourself are ?congruent with reality, and aligned with your core values.?
This is a very corny article on the surface, but the message about mindfulness and the list of affirmations are great. Really try to give this article a chance and see what it has to offer for your own life.
Trisha McElvany
Like this:
Loading...
Source: http://tmcelvany.wordpress.com/2013/04/27/affirmations-for-self-improvement/
uss enterprise white house easter egg roll 2012 andy cohen andy cohen mozambique oosthuizen great expectations
North Korea says detained American tourist to face trial
By Jane Chung
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Saturday that a Korean-American tourist, jailed by the reclusive state since late last year, will face trial for "committing crimes" against the North.
The move comes amid a diplomatic standoff between North Korea and the United States, and as Pyongyang has threatened to attack U.S. military bases in the Pacific and the South.
A number of U.S. citizens of Korean descent have run into trouble in North Korea over the years, and Pyongyang has tried to use their detention to extract visits by high-profile American figures, most notably former President Bill Clinton.
In the latest case, Kenneth Bae, 44, has been held by police since arriving in the northeastern city of Rajin on November 3. He was among a group of five tourists.
"In the process of investigation he admitted that he committed crimes aimed to topple the DPRK with hostility toward it," KCNA state media reported, using North Korea's official title of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"His crimes were proved by evidence," it said, adding he would soon be taken to the Supreme Court "to face judgment". It did not provide further details.
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the United States was aware of reports that an American citizen would face trial in North Korea. She said representatives of the Embassy of Sweden, which acts as the protecting power for U.S. citizens in North Korea, visited Bae on Friday.
South Korean rights workers said that Pyongyang may have taken issue with some of his photographs, including those of homeless North Korean children.
A South Korean newspaper published by an evangelical family said he may have been carrying footage of North Korea executing defectors and dissidents. It was impossible to verify this.
According to North Korean law, the punishment for hostile acts against the state is five to 10 years of hard labor.
Clinton flew to Pyongyang in 2009 and met then-leader Kim Jong-il before securing the release of two American media workers who had been charged with entering the country illegally.
Former U.N. ambassador Bill Richardson, who has made numerous trips to North Korea, some to seek the release of detained Americans, said he hoped the trial might help lead to Bae's release.
Richardson delivered a letter regarding Bae to officials during a trip to North Korea in January, although he was unable to meet him.
"Hopefully the conclusion of the legal process for Kenneth Bae will set the stage for a release on humanitarian grounds," Richardson told Reuters in an email.
But he said Bae "should not become a pawn in the current American-North Korean friction."
Tensions between North Korea and South Korea and its ally the United States have spiraled in recent weeks since the United Nations tightened sanctions after North Korea's third nuclear weapon test in February.
The toughening of those sanctions led to Pyongyang threatening nuclear strikes against South Korea and the United States.
North Korea has a long record of making threats to secure concessions from the United States and South Korea, only to repeat the process later. Both the United States and the South have said in recent days that the cycle must cease.
On Friday, Pyongyang rejected a call for formal talks to end a standoff that forced operations at a joint industrial complex shared by the North and South to be halted.
South Korea in turn said it would pull out all its remaining workers from the Kaesong factory complex, which is just inside North Korea and is one of the North's few sources of ready cash.
Of the 175 remaining South Korean workers, 126 workers left the factory zone on Saturday. The rest are scheduled to return on Monday.
A representative of the South Korean firms at the complex urged the government to hold inter-Korean talks and to authorize their visit to North Korea on Tuesday, South Korea's news agency Yonhap said.
(Additional reporting by Jack Kim in Seoul and Deborah Charles in Washington; Editing by Paul Tait, Jeremy Laurence and Sandra Maler)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/north-korea-says-american-tourist-holding-face-trial-035954456.html
wichita brian wilson storm chasers david blaine gotye divine mercy cabin in the woods
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Military grooms new officers for war in cyberspace
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) ? The U.S. service academies are ramping up efforts to groom a new breed of cyberspace warriors to confront increasing threats to the nation's military and civilian computer networks that control everything from electrical power grids to the banking system.
Students at the Army, Navy and Air Force academies are taking more courses and participating in elaborate cyberwarfare exercises as the military educates a generation of future commanders in the theory and practice of computer warfare.
The academies have been training cadets in cyber for more than a decade. But the effort has taken on new urgency amid warnings that hostile nations or organizations might be capable of crippling attacks on critical networks.
James Clapper, director of national intelligence, called cyberattack the top threat to national security when he presented the annual Worldwide Threat Assessment to Congress this month. "Threats are more diverse, interconnected, and viral than at any time in history," his report stated. "Destruction can be invisible, latent, and progressive."
China-based hackers have long been accused of cyber intrusions, and earlier this year the cybersecurity firm Mandiant released a report with new details allegedly linking a secret Chinese military unit to years of cyberattacks against U.S. companies. This year, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post all reported breaches in their computer systems and said they suspected Chinese hackers. China denies carrying out cyberattacks.
On Tuesday, hackers compromised Associated Press Twitter accounts and sent out a false tweet. AP quickly put out word that the report was false and that its accounts had been hacked. AP's accounts were shut down until the problem was corrected.
Once viewed as an obscure and even nerdy pursuit, cyber is now seen as one of the hottest fields in warfare ? "a great career field in the future," said Ryan Zacher, a junior at the Air Force Academy outside Colorado Springs, Colo., who switched from aeronautical engineering to computer science.
Last year the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., began requiring freshmen to take a semester on cybersecurity, and it is adding a second required cyber course for juniors next year.
The school offered a major in cyber operations for the first time this year to the freshman class, and 33 midshipmen, or about 3 percent of the freshmen, signed up for it. Another 79 are majoring in computer engineering, information technology or computer science, bringing majors with a computer emphasis to about 10 percent of the class.
"There's a great deal of interest, much more than we could possibly, initially, entertain," said the academy's superintendent, Vice Adm. Michael Miller.
Since 2004, the Air Force Academy has offered a degree in computer science-cyberwarfare ? initially called computer science-information assurance ? that requires cadets to take courses in cryptology, information warfare and network security in addition to standard computer science. The academy is retooling a freshman computing course so that more than half its content is about cyberspace, and is looking into adding another cyber course.
"All of these cadets know that they are going to be on the front lines defending the nation in cyber," said Martin Carlisle, a computer science professor at the Air Force Academy and director of the school's Center for Cyberspace Research.
About 25 Air Force cadets will graduate this year with the computer science-cyberwarfare degree, and many will go on to advanced studies and work in their service's cyber headquarters or for U.S. Cyber Command at Fort Meade, Md., the Defense Department command responsible for defensive and offensive cyberwarfare.
Almost every Army cadet at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., takes two technology courses related to such topics as computer security and privacy. West Point also offers other cyber courses, and a computer security group meets weekly. One of the biggest cybersecurity challenges is keeping up with the head-spinning pace of change in the field.
"You know American history is pretty much the same" every year, said Lt. Col. David Raymond, who teaches a cybersecurity course. "In this domain, it's really tough to keep up with how this thing evolves."
In his congressional report, Clapper noted that the chance of a major attack by Russia, China or another nation with advanced cyber skills is remote outside a military conflict ? but that other nations or groups could launch less sophisticated cyberattacks in hopes of provoking the United States or in retaliation for U.S. actions or policies overseas. South Korea accused North Korea of mounting a cyberattack in March that shut down thousands of computers at banks and television broadcasters.
Gen. Keith Alexander, head of U.S. Cyber Command, told Congress in March the command is creating teams to carry out both offensive and defensive operations. A spokesman said the command is drawing cyber officers from the service academies, officer schools and Reserve Officer Training Corps programs.
Teams from the three academies compete in events such as last week's National Security Agency Cyber Defense Exercise, in which they try to keep simulated computer networks running as an NSA "aggressor team" attacks. Teams from the U.S. Coast Guard and Merchant Marine academies also took part, along with graduate students from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School and Canada's Royal Military College.
Air Force won among undergraduate schools. The Royal Military College won among graduate schools.
That hands-on experience is invaluable, said 2nd Lt. Jordan Keefer, a 2012 Air Force Academy graduate now pursuing a master's degree in cyberoperations at the Air Force Institute of Technology.
"You can't just go out there and start hacking. That's against the law," he said. The competitions, he said, "gave me actual experience defending a network, attacking a network."
Counterterrorism expert Richard Clarke, noting that really high-level computer skills are rare, suggested the military might have to re-examine some of its recruiting standards to attract the most adept cyberwarriors.
"Hackers are the 1 percent, the elite and the creators," said Clarke, who served as White House cybersecurity adviser during the Clinton administration. "I wouldn't worry a whole heck of a lot (about whether they) can they run fast or lift weights."
Cyber's appeal was enough to get Keefer to put aside his dream of becoming a fighter pilot, a job with undeniable swagger. "It's a challenge, and for people who like a challenge, it's the only place to be," Keefer said.
___
Witte reported from Annapolis, Md. Associated Press Writer Michael Hill in Albany, N.Y., contributed to this report.
___
Follow Dan Elliott at http://twitter.com/DanElliottAP. Follow Brian Witte at http://twitter.com/APBrianWitte . Follow Michael Hill at http://twitter.com/MichaelTHill
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/military-grooms-officers-war-cyberspace-083354456.html
polling place comedy central philadelphia eagles obamacare Todd Akin Register To Vote Obama 2016
New excavations in Sweden indicate use of fertilizers 5,000 years ago
Apr. 26, 2013 ? Researchers from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have spent many years studying the remains of a Stone Age community in Karleby outside the town of Falk?ping, Sweden. The researchers have for example tried to identify parts of the inhabitants' diet. Right now they are looking for evidence that fertilisers were used already during the Scandinavian Stone Age, and the results of their first analyses may be exactly what they are looking for.
Using remains of grains and other plants and some highly advanced analysis techniques, the two researchers and archaeologists Tony Axelsson and Karl-G?ran Sj?gren have been able to identify parts of the diet of their Stone Age ancestors.
'Our first task was to find so-called macrofossils, such as old weed seeds or pieces of grain. By analysing macrofossils, we can learn a lot about Stone Age farming and how important farming was in relation to livestock ranching,' says Axelsson.
Another aim has been to collect animal bone material -- or simply 5,000 year old food remains. The researchers know that pieces of bones from cattle, pigs and sheep can be found at the site.
'By studying the levels of isotopes in the bones, we can for example find out where the animals were raised, which in turn can give important information about their role in trade,' says Sj?gren.
The results of the first grain analyses have now been presented, and besides revealing that both barley and wheat were farmed at the site, they point to elevated levels of the isotope N15 (nitrogen 15). The elevated levels may indicate that fertilisers were used in the area of Karleby already 5,000 years ago.
'We will continue our analyses both in the field and in the lab, and are hoping to find more macrofossils. Hopefully we'll find some weed seeds, as they may help confirm that fertilisers were indeed used since the type of weeds found in a field can signal whether fertilisers or some other method was used,' says Axelsson.
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Gothenburg.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
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.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/ogiJ5EtLo7Q/130426114853.htm
Selena Gomez ariel winter Paige Butcher David Petraeus Petraeus Mia Love wall street journal
Friday, April 26, 2013
24 Birmingham area organizations honored for work with diabetes ...
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - Today 24 local organizations have been selected for awards for helping expand resources for people living with diabetes in Birmingham.
The American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation with support from Sanofi US announced Cities for Life Collaboration Awards for providing programs and services to those living with diabetes or who are at risk.
Cities for Life is a diabetes management program led by the physician's foundation which started in the city one year ago. Birmingham was selected for the program from more than 50 cities as a pilot partly because Alabama has one of the highest rates of diabetes in the county.
The announcement comes on the heels of a presentation Tuesday at Birmingham City Council about the program that detailed how it had recruited more than 150 patients to the clinical side of the program and has helped educate more than 600 Birmingham residents at 25 events throughout the community.
"I am so proud of the progress that Cities for Life has made in the past year," Birmingham City Councilman Jay Roberson said in a news release. "This program has given Birmingham residents the opportunity to live healthier lives by connecting them to resources in the community to help them better manage diabetes."
Programs and services can be found by going to mydiabetesconnect.com.
Collaboration Awards were awarded to:
? Jefferson County Library Cooperative, Inc., Health InfoNet of Alabama-UAB Lister Hill Library and Birmingham Public Library System: Will provide materials on diabetes for the community and house informative displays in each library; host an estimated 35 programs at area libraries on diabetes education involving experts from local universities and health organizations; purchase approximately 100 additional diabetes education titles that will circulate between the 40 public libraries; distribute diabetes education materials via library staff to other community venues (e.g., senior centers).
? The Bethesda Life Center, Faith Chapel Christian Center, West End Community Garden and AARP: Will provide the Eat, Move, Rejoice program to educate the community about lifestyle modification and nutrition; provide cooking classes and access to physical fitness activities and equipment.
? Black People Run Bike Swim, Thurgood Memorial CME Church and 5th Episcopal District of the CME Church: Will target 80 individuals for a 12 Weeks-of-Change program that will feature a combination of fitness, healthy eating and health education sessions; encourage 21 churches to grow and share vegetables in their community; host healthy cooking sessions that will incorporate vegetables grown in local gardens.
? American Diabetes Association and YMCA of Greater Birmingham: Will deliver the Live Empowered program, which develops culturally appropriate materials and community-based activities that empower, educate and aim to create measurable differences in the prevalence of diabetes and its complications among African Americans, in the YMCA's Downtown, Western and Northeast branches.
? Equal Access Birmingham's Diabetes Education Initiative, Pathways of Birmingham and UAB Diabetes Research and Training Center: After understanding the barriers to healthy nutrition in transitional populations, the partners will develop and compile nutritional resources and implement an educational intervention focused on the dietary content of meals in Pathways' population.
? Congregational Health Program, Ida V. Moffett's School of Nursing-Samford University, Baptist Health System and the Birmingham area of the 9th District African Methodist Episcopal Church: Will engage congregation members to attend classes on diabetes education based on New Hope: New Life, a six week program focusing on understanding diabetes, nutrition, medication management, physical activity and weight control as well as smoking cessation. At the conclusion of the program, the partners will host a New Hope Celebration to encourage continued compliance of program lessons.
? Friends of the West End, Jefferson County Department of Health, Birmingham Citizens' Advisory Board and Jefferson County Health Workers Association: Build a comprehensive calendar of already-scheduled diabetes management events; distribute diabetes management information at events and provide speakers and cooking demonstrations; provide seven nurses to lead a Chronic Disease Self-Management Course to help participants make weekly action plans, share experiences and provide peer support; train additional trainers to lead these courses throughout the community.
? Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority and UAB School of Medicine, Department of Family and Community Medicine: Will host interactive seminars for the transit authority's 270 employees and patrons about type 2 diabetes and making healthy eating choices and engaging in physical activity. The partners will also distribute educational information and encourage the formation of peer support groups and walking groups.
Source: http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2013/04/24_birmingham_area_organizatio.html
nj transit PSEG hocus pocus hocus pocus mta schedule PECO Hurricane Sandy update
Why These 2016 Democratic Hopefuls Aren't Shying Away From Gun Control (Atlantic Politics Channel)
Britain avoids recession with faster than expected growth
By David Milliken and William Schomberg
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain skirted a "triple dip" recession by growing faster than expected in the first three months of the year, providing some cover for a government under fire over its austerity drive.
The Office for National Statistics said on Thursday that Britain's gross domestic product rose 0.3 percent in the first quarter, above forecasts for a 0.1 percent rise.
It shrank 0.3 percent quarter-on-quarter in late 2012, and another quarterly contraction would have put Britain into its third recession in less than five years.
The data will have come as relief to Prime Minister David Cameron's coalition government. It is banking on an economic upturn before the next general election but has been accused by critics of stifling growth with too much budget cutting.
The International Monetary Fund - previously supportive of Britain's approach to deficit reduction - has also suggested some cuts may need to be deferred given the weakness in demand.
Thursday's data was also released just days after ratings agency Fitch stripped Britain of its top-notch credit status.
Chancellor George Osborne said the GDP data was encouraging and showed his strategy was working. He promised to stay the course on fixing Britain's budget problems.
"We all know there are no easy answers to problems built up over many years, and I can't promise the road ahead will always be smooth, but by continuing to confront our problems head on, Britain is recovering and we are building an economy fit for the future," he said in a statement.
The opposition Labour Party said the figures were "lacklustre" and showed the economy had only got back to where it was six months ago.
"David Cameron and George Osborne have now given us the slowest recovery for over 100 years," Ed Balls, Labour's economics spokesman, said in a statement, a complaint amplified in a new party political poster.
Sterling hit its highest level in two months against the dollar after the data and British government bond prices fell.
Britain's preliminary GDP figures are one of the first for a major advanced economy, and based mostly on estimated data. But it would be rare for a reading this high to be revised down into negative territory.
Year-on-year, the latest GDP reading was 0.6 percent higher, very low, but still the strongest rise since the end of 2011.
PITFALLS AHEAD
Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister in the coalition government, said it was too early to declare an end to the country's economic crisis.
"I don't want anyone to think somehow we're out of the woods yet," he told a London radio station.
Osborne is sticking to his commitment to eliminate Britain's underlying budget deficit in five years. The stronger-than-expected GDP reading may help him when he tries to convince visiting economists from the IMF next month that Britain's economy is on track for recovery.
Analysts, however, warn of a broader problem of stagnation that has led some to warn that Britain risks a Japanese-style 'lost decade of near-zero growth.
Britain's GDP remains 2.6 percent below its peak in the first quarter of 2008 and even with Thursday's data, has stagnated for the past 18 months.
Rob Wood, an economist at Berenberg Bank, said a recovery appeared to be on the horizon but pitfalls lay ahead.
"The economy seems to have done a little better than the main surveys suggested but it is hardly a picture of rude health right now," he said. "We suspect there will be another couple of disappointing quarters to get through before the UK can see a return to sustainable growth."
The first-quarter rise in output was driven by a broad-based increase in services output, building on a strong January, with the motor trade particularly strong.
Industrial output was lifted by the biggest rise in the mining and quarrying sector since 2002, as some North Sea oil and gas fields came back on line after lengthy maintenance that depressed output in 2012.
(Additional reporting by Li-mei Hoang and Andrew Osborn; Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/uk-learn-entered-triple-dip-recession-042332800--business.html
power ball livan hernandez soledad o brien mega ball lottery winner lottery numbers mega millions lottery
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Dems, GOP talk up deficit reduction, but don't act
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Liberals' loud objections to White House proposals for slowing the growth of huge social programs make it clear that neither political party puts a high priority on reducing the deficit, despite much talk to the contrary.
For years, House Republicans have adamantly refused to raise income taxes, even though U.S. taxes are historically low, and the Bush-era tax cuts were a major cause of the current deficit.
And now, top Democrats are staunchly opposing changes to Medicare and Social Security benefits, despite studies showing the programs' financial paths are unsustainable.
Unless something gives, it's hard to see what will produce the significant compromises needed to tame the federal debt, which is nearing $17 trillion.
"There's not much of an appetite for deficit reduction," said Bob Bixby of the Concord Coalition, which pushes for "responsible fiscal policy."
There might be a few small steps this year, he said, when the government again needs to raise its borrowing limit. But a "grand bargain" involving significant spending cuts and revenue increases seems unlikely, Bixby said.
He added, "It's a little depressing to hear the reactions to the president's budget, from both sides."
There was nothing surprising about Republican denunciations of Obama's proposed tax increases, which he wants to combine with spending cuts to reduce the deficit.
The newer wrinkle was the left's sharp criticism of his proposals to slow the growth in Medicare and Social Security benefits, provided Republicans agree to new revenues. Obama has offered Republicans such a deal before. But this month's budget proposal gave it a new imprimatur.
The group MoveOn.org said Wednesday that supporters "who are outraged at President Obama's proposal to cut Social Security benefits will protest and deliver petitions" this week.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, a liberal independent from Vermont, is leading a similar petition drive, opposing "any benefit cuts to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid." The deficit, his letter says, "was primarily caused during the Bush years by two unpaid-for wars, huge tax breaks for the rich and a prescription drug program" for Medicare, funded through borrowing. He suggests that higher taxes on the wealthy are the fairest way to tackle the deficit.
Democrats cite several reasons to raise taxes on high-income households. Obama campaigned for such tax increases in 2008 and 2012 but accomplished them only partially with the "fiscal cliff" resolution of Jan. 1.
Major tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 played big roles in turning a federal budget surplus into soaring deficits, according to research by the Congressional Budget Office and others. And by many measures, the U.S. tax burden in near historic lows.
Households earning roughly the national median income paid, on average, 11.1 percent of their income in total federal taxes in 2009, the most recent year for such data. That's the lowest level in more than 30 years, the CBO says.
Nonetheless, House Republicans have placed their highest priority on refusing to raise income tax rates, effectively ranking it above all other goals.
"The president got his tax hikes on Jan. 1," House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, is fond of saying. It's a reference to the $620 billion in new revenues, over 10 years, that Republicans were unable to stop because of the "fiscal cliff" law, resolved on New Year's Day.
If it's easy to make a case for higher revenues, the same is true for slowing the growth of Social Security and Medicare benefits. For decades, studies have warned of approaching trouble in these popular but costly programs, as health care costs rise and baby boomers begin to retire.
"Both Medicare and Social Security cannot sustain projected long-run program costs under currently scheduled financing, and legislative modifications are necessary to avoid disruptive consequences for beneficiaries and taxpayers," the Social Security Administration says, summarizing findings by the two programs' trustees.
"The early detection light has been going on for a while, and there has been a failure to act," Social Security trustee Charles P. Blahous recently told a House panel. If lawmakers are to preserve the programs for future retirees, he said, they will have to accept much more "political pain" than officials endured during a 1983 overhaul that included "several extremely controversial measures."
Obama has proposed an often-discussed step, which deals with government accounting in general, not just entitlement programs. If Congress agrees to higher tax revenues, the president said, he would back a slower growth calculation for cost-of-living increases for Social Security benefits, plus higher Medicare premiums for higher-income seniors.
Interest groups have criticized both ideas. AARP calls the slower cost-of-living formula a "harmful change," and urges seniors to oppose it.
American voters can largely blame themselves when Congress is more talk than action on deficit reduction. Americans routinely say they want a smaller federal debt, but not at the cost of programs they hold dear ? including Social Security and Medicare.
A CBS News poll in March found that most Americans want to cut spending and raise taxes to reduce the deficit. But 4 in 5 oppose cuts to Social Security or Medicare. And two-thirds are unwilling to have their own taxes raised in the name of deficit reduction.
When Pew Research asked which was more important ? reducing the national debt or keeping Social Security and Medicare benefits as they are now ? the public sided with safeguarding the benefits programs, 53 percent to 36 percent.
The deficit-spending partisanship continued Wednesday. On a party-line vote, House Ways and Means Committee Republicans passed a bill to protect Social Security recipients and investors in Treasury bonds if the government hits its borrowing limit and can't pay all its bills later this year. Democrats say if the federal government starts reneging on any obligations ? even if it pays bondholders ? financial markets will lose faith and the economy will tank.
Some Democrats fear a lose-lose situation if they support Obama's proposals. First, they could be attacked from the left for tweaking the programs that many Democrats see as their party's greatest legacy. And second, Republicans might accuse them of "raiding Medicare" in next year's congressional elections. That battle cry proved effective in 2010 after Obama's health care overhaul bill was passed.
Democrats call such tactics shamelessly hypocritical. Republicans, they note, have long called for reining in entitlement spending.
Boehner rebuked a top GOP campaign figure for hinting at a renewal of the "raiding Medicare" attacks. But Reince Priebus, the national Republican Party chairman, seemed eager to revive the question of whether Democratic trims to Medicare's costs amount to an unfair cut in benefits.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dems-gop-talk-deficit-reduction-dont-act-070757688--finance.html
tiger woods adam scott Chi Cheng xbox live aurora borealis Psy Cat Zingano
Wife of China's jailed Nobel winner: I'm not free
BEIJING (AP) ? Liu Xia, under house arrest in China's capital since her imprisoned husband Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize, made a rare appearance Tuesday at a trial, yelling out a car window: "I'm not free."
Liu was allowed to leave the Beijing apartment where she has been held for two-and-a-half years to attend the trial of her brother on fraud charges that his lawyers said are trumped up to punish the family. Taken by car to the court in Beijing's suburbs, she sat through the morning-long proceedings, and when she came out accompanied by her lawyer, she shouted from an open window at diplomats and reporters.
"I'm not free. When they tell you I'm free, tell them I'm not," she said.
Her trip to the Huairou People's Court is one of the few instances when Liu has broken the security cordon that has surrounded her. A poet and activist in her own right, Liu became an exponent for democracy and freedom of expression after her husband was jailed in late 2008 for authoring and disseminating a program for political reform called Charter '08.
Liu Xiaobo was later sentenced to 11 years in prison, his fourth prison term in 20 years of political activism. Since he was awarded the Nobel in 2010, authorities have tried to turn Liu Xia into a non-entity to prevent her from becoming a rallying point for Chinese seeking democratic change. She has been allowed out of her apartment once a week to buy food and see her parents and once a month to visit her husband in prison.
Authorities in China routinely put pressure on family members of political activists and government critics to cow them into falling in line.
On her way to the court Tuesday morning, Liu Xia told Hong Kong reporters that the case against her brother was aimed at her.
"They want to break one leg and then break another. But I am demanding to stand up straight and not be afraid," said Liu. She added later: "My heart feels weary because my younger brother is very important to me. Though I am his older sister, he has been taking care of me for so many years."
The charges against the brother, Liu Hui, relate to a real estate deal in which prosecutors said Liu and a partner pocketed 3 million yuan ($500,000) that was claimed by another party to the transaction.
His attorneys said the funds have been returned and the dispute does not rise to the level of crime. Investigators previously looked into the dispute last year and did not pursue charges, reviving them only in February. In the weeks before that, outsiders ? a group of Associated Press reporters and separately five political activists ? twice managed to slip past the police and visit Liu Xia in her apartment, embarrassing the security forces.
Being able to leave the apartment for her brother's trial, Liu said, was welcome change from house arrest. "I hope that from today on every day can be like this," she said.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wife-chinas-jailed-nobel-winner-im-not-free-062344520.html
Johnny Pesky spice girls justin theroux Bumbo recall USA Basketball taio cruz taio cruz
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
NTSB probes safety testing of Boeing 787 batteries
WASHINGTON (AP) ? As airlines prepare to resume flying Boeing's beleaguered 787 Dreamliners, federal investigators looked Tuesday at how regulators and the company tested and approved the plane's cutting-edge battery system, and whether the government cedes too much safety-testing authority to aircraft makers.
The National Transportation Safety Board is also asking how problems with the aircraft's lithium-ion battery system that led to a fire aboard one plane and smoke in another escaped the notice of regulators and company officials who certified the plane's safety.
"We are here to understand why the 787 experienced unexpected battery failures following a design program led by one of the world's leading manufacturers and a certification process that is well-respected throughout the international aviation community," NTSB's Chairman Deborah Hersman said at the opening of a two-day board hearing. Officials with the FAA, Boeing and Boeing subcontractors responsible for the battery system were scheduled to testify.
"We are looking for lessons learned not just for the design and certification of the failed battery, but also for knowledge that can be applied to emerging technologies going forward," Hersman said.
To save manpower, the FAA designates employees at aircraft makers to oversee the safety testing of new planes. Every item that is part of an airplane, down to its nuts and bolts, must be certified as safe before the FAA approves that type of plane as safe for flight. Boeing won FAA safety certification for the 787 in August 2011.
"In a way, the designee system is admitting the FAA doesn't have the manpower to do what is required, and also that they may not have the expertise," said John Goglia, a former NTSB board member and aviation safety expert.
The FAA has used designated company employees to oversee and validate some safety testing for more than two decades, a practice critics complain has inherent conflicts of interest. The agency significantly expanded its use of designees in recent years under pressure from manufacturers, who complained it was taking the agency too long to approve new planes because they didn't have enough staff.
"If industry had to wait for government employees to be available to do the testing" and to develop enough technical knowledge to assess new aviation technologies, "we would just never get any products certified," Goglia said.
The 787, Boeing's newest and most technologically-advanced plane, is the first airliner to make extensive use of lithium-ion batteries. It has long been known that lithium batteries are more susceptible than conventional nickel-cadmium batteries to extreme, uncontrolled temperature increases and fires that are very different to put out. But lithium batteries weigh less, store more energy and recharge faster than conventional batteries, making them attractive to airlines.
Boeing did some of the safety testing on the 787 battery system, but much of the testing was done by a subcontractor, Thales of France, which made the 787's electrical system, and by battery maker GS Yuasa of Japan, according to a previously released NTSB report. The testing concluded there was no chance that short-circuiting would lead to a fire, and the odds of a smoking battery were one in every 10 million flight hours.
Instead, there were two battery failures when the entire 787 fleet had clocked less than 52,000 flight hours. The first was on Jan. 7 aboard a Japan Airlines 787 parked at Boston's Logan International Airport shortly after landing following an overseas flight. Firefighters reported two small flames and dense clouds of white smoke streaming from the battery. It took over an hour before they declared the incident under control.
Nine days later a smoking battery aboard an All Nippon Airways 787 led to an emergency landing in Japan. The Federal Aviation Administration ordered all U.S.-registered 787s grounded the same day, and aviation authorities in other countries swiftly followed suit.
The NTSB, which is investigating the Boston incident, hasn't yet determined the root cause of the fire and may never be able to do so. The insides of the battery were severely charred, leaving few clues for investigators.
Boeing has since developed and tested a revamped version of the battery system, with changes designed to prevent a fire or to contain one should it occur. FAA officials approved the revamped batteries last week and agreed to lift the grounding order. The company has been working furiously to install the new system on the 50 Dreamliners in service worldwide. Boeing has orders for 840 of the planes from airlines around the globe.
What the NTSB uncovers regarding the FAA's safety certification program could have important implications for the agency's ability to handle other technology challenges, including the transition to a new air traffic control system and the introduction of unmanned aircraft into the national airspace, said Jim Hall, a former safety board chairman.
"It's important to know that the government has oversight capability," Hall said. "Our aviation safety, which is unparalleled at the moment in the world, has been built on having active oversight by the FAA."
___
Follow Joan Lowy on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/AP_Joan_Lowy
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ntsb-probes-safety-testing-boeing-787-batteries-071419182--finance.html
Texas A&m cotton bowl Fiscal cliff deal kathy griffin jadeveon clowney orange bowl Rose Parade 2013
Scripts help novice instructors teach pediatric CPR
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 24-Apr-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: John Ascenzi
ascenzi@email.chop.edu
267-426-6055
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Teaching tool could improve emergency training worldwide
New, low-tech teaching techniques used by novice instructors may improve training for healthcare providers in performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on children who suffer cardiac arrest. Researchers in a large multicenter study say their findings hold the potential to standardize and upgrade life support training by hundreds of thousands of instructors around the world.
"In the U.S. alone, over 8,000 children a year have a cardiac arrest, but providers may encounter such a catastrophic event only once or twice in their careers," said the study's senior author, Vinay M. Nadkarni, M.D., a critical care and resuscitation science specialist at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "So it's crucial to keep those front-line providers trained and ready to respond. This new approach will assist with that."
The research team carried out the EXPRESS study in 14 research centers in North America, publishing their results online April 22 in JAMA Pediatrics. The EXPRESS (Examining Pediatric Resuscitation Education Using Simulation and Scripted Debriefing) researchers found that trainees in simulation exercises using a child-sized mannequin retained more knowledge if the crisis simulation leaders used scripted debriefings.
"A debriefing is the most important part of a simulation experience, and gives participants an opportunity to reflect on what they did right and what needs improvement," said Adam Cheng, M.D., of Alberta Children's Hospital and the University of Calgary. Cheng, the study's principal investigator, added that, "In a scripted debriefing, the words and sentences are phrased in a very deliberate way that helps learners reflect and think analytically about their performance and about handling emergency situations."
Nadkarni noted that the teaching method, called "advocacy inquiry," is designed to pull out a rationale from students to explain their decisions. "This avoids the common teaching technique of 'guess what I'm thinking.' We've taken a sophisticated interactive teaching method and distilled it into a script that can be readily used by novice instructors."
Many of the instructorsphysicians, nurses, emergency medical technicians and paramedicsare not highly experienced teachers. But they have a broad reach: some 280,000 instructors teach these programs around the world, typically to a group of 10 trainees each. In North America, about half a million health care workers take the Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) course per year, featuring emergency simulations on lifelike mannequins.
In the current study, the largest ever conducted involved pediatric simulation, 387 participants in 90 teams followed a 12-minute long scenario in which a 12-month-old infant suffers cardiac arrest. After the teams responded to the simulated emergency, half the instructors debriefed their group with an assigned script, and the other led unscripted debriefings. The debriefing session lasts 20 minutes. As assessed in tests and quizzes, participants in the scripted groups had improved medical knowledge and rated their instructors more highly, compared to unscripted groups.
In addition to comparing scripted to nonscripted debriefing, the researchers also compared "high-realism" to "low-realism" simulation. In the high-realism groups, the instructors used SimBaby, a computerized infant mannequin, with all the functions active, such as heart sounds, blood pressure, and breath sounds; in the low-realism groups, most of SimBaby's functions were turned off.
Using the high-realism simulation didn't provide educational advantages over the low-realism simulation. This may have important practical implications, said Nadkarni, because the high-realism simulators cost roughly $30,000 each as opposed to $300 to $400 for the simplest model. "If these results are generalizable, they imply that we can improve resuscitation training with less investment in expensive simulators," he added.
One limitation of the current study, concluded Nadkarni, is that it measured educational outcomes, not clinical outcomes in patients. Further research will determine how well the improvements in education translate into better care and better outcomes for children.
###
The American Heart Association funded this study. Co-authors with Nadkarni from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia were Aaron Donoghue, M.D., an emergency medicine physician, and Akira Nishisaki, M.D., a critical care physician.
Cheng et al., "Examining Pediatric Resuscitation Education Using Simulation and Scripted Debriefing," JAMA Pediatrics, published online April 22, 2013.
doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2013.1389
About The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals and pioneering major research initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country, ranking third in National Institutes of Health funding. In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 516-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents. For more information, visit http://www.chop.edu.
[ | 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.
Public release date: 24-Apr-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: John Ascenzi
ascenzi@email.chop.edu
267-426-6055
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Teaching tool could improve emergency training worldwide
New, low-tech teaching techniques used by novice instructors may improve training for healthcare providers in performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on children who suffer cardiac arrest. Researchers in a large multicenter study say their findings hold the potential to standardize and upgrade life support training by hundreds of thousands of instructors around the world.
"In the U.S. alone, over 8,000 children a year have a cardiac arrest, but providers may encounter such a catastrophic event only once or twice in their careers," said the study's senior author, Vinay M. Nadkarni, M.D., a critical care and resuscitation science specialist at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "So it's crucial to keep those front-line providers trained and ready to respond. This new approach will assist with that."
The research team carried out the EXPRESS study in 14 research centers in North America, publishing their results online April 22 in JAMA Pediatrics. The EXPRESS (Examining Pediatric Resuscitation Education Using Simulation and Scripted Debriefing) researchers found that trainees in simulation exercises using a child-sized mannequin retained more knowledge if the crisis simulation leaders used scripted debriefings.
"A debriefing is the most important part of a simulation experience, and gives participants an opportunity to reflect on what they did right and what needs improvement," said Adam Cheng, M.D., of Alberta Children's Hospital and the University of Calgary. Cheng, the study's principal investigator, added that, "In a scripted debriefing, the words and sentences are phrased in a very deliberate way that helps learners reflect and think analytically about their performance and about handling emergency situations."
Nadkarni noted that the teaching method, called "advocacy inquiry," is designed to pull out a rationale from students to explain their decisions. "This avoids the common teaching technique of 'guess what I'm thinking.' We've taken a sophisticated interactive teaching method and distilled it into a script that can be readily used by novice instructors."
Many of the instructorsphysicians, nurses, emergency medical technicians and paramedicsare not highly experienced teachers. But they have a broad reach: some 280,000 instructors teach these programs around the world, typically to a group of 10 trainees each. In North America, about half a million health care workers take the Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) course per year, featuring emergency simulations on lifelike mannequins.
In the current study, the largest ever conducted involved pediatric simulation, 387 participants in 90 teams followed a 12-minute long scenario in which a 12-month-old infant suffers cardiac arrest. After the teams responded to the simulated emergency, half the instructors debriefed their group with an assigned script, and the other led unscripted debriefings. The debriefing session lasts 20 minutes. As assessed in tests and quizzes, participants in the scripted groups had improved medical knowledge and rated their instructors more highly, compared to unscripted groups.
In addition to comparing scripted to nonscripted debriefing, the researchers also compared "high-realism" to "low-realism" simulation. In the high-realism groups, the instructors used SimBaby, a computerized infant mannequin, with all the functions active, such as heart sounds, blood pressure, and breath sounds; in the low-realism groups, most of SimBaby's functions were turned off.
Using the high-realism simulation didn't provide educational advantages over the low-realism simulation. This may have important practical implications, said Nadkarni, because the high-realism simulators cost roughly $30,000 each as opposed to $300 to $400 for the simplest model. "If these results are generalizable, they imply that we can improve resuscitation training with less investment in expensive simulators," he added.
One limitation of the current study, concluded Nadkarni, is that it measured educational outcomes, not clinical outcomes in patients. Further research will determine how well the improvements in education translate into better care and better outcomes for children.
###
The American Heart Association funded this study. Co-authors with Nadkarni from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia were Aaron Donoghue, M.D., an emergency medicine physician, and Akira Nishisaki, M.D., a critical care physician.
Cheng et al., "Examining Pediatric Resuscitation Education Using Simulation and Scripted Debriefing," JAMA Pediatrics, published online April 22, 2013.
doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2013.1389
About The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals and pioneering major research initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country, ranking third in National Institutes of Health funding. In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 516-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents. For more information, visit http://www.chop.edu.
[ | 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.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-04/chop-shn042413.php
michelin tires rett syndrome where the wild things are birdsong teresa giudice atlanta hawks 2012 white house correspondents dinner
Euro zone slump moderates but German worries appear: PMIs
By Andy Bruce
LONDON (Reuters) - A sharp drop in German business activity overshadowed an easing downturn in France in April, surveys showed on Tuesday, raising concerns over a further economic contraction in the euro zone.
Markit's flash euro zone services PMI, an early gauge of business activity each month, rose to 46.6 in April from 46.4 in March, below the 50 line that divides growth from contraction but matching the forecast of economists.
Survey compiler Markit cautioned against taking the rise as a clear sign the region's recession has bottomed out, pointing to a surprise decline in German companies that form the backbone of the euro zone economy.
"Previously, we've seen Germany expand while other countries have contracted - notably Spain, Italy and France," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit.
"Now it seems those contractions are being accompanied by a downturn in the largest economy, Germany, and that will no doubt act as a drag on growth."
There was some respite for French companies, which in March endured their worst month since the depths of the deep recession in 2009, and that helped to support the latest wider euro zone PMI.
Williamson said officials at the European Central Bank, which meets next week to decide monetary policy, may be relieved to see the euro zone PMIs at least did not signal a further deterioration this month.
However, that could change.
"The forward-looking indicators suggest there's risks to the downside for the contraction to gather pace," said Williamson.
The euro zone economy shrank 0.6 percent quarter on quarter in the last three months of 2012.
Comments by European Central Bank policymakers on Monday stressing falling inflation and poor growth prospects in the euro zone suggest the ECB may be leaning towards a further cut in its main interest rate.
Most economists polled by Reuters earlier this month did not think the European Central Bank would cut its main rate from 0.75 percent, already a record low, although the poor German PMI readings may alter that view.
Confidence in services companies about the coming year slipped to the lowest level this year, with the business expectations index slipping to 55.7 from 56.2 in March.
Consumer morale in the euro zone improved in April, the European Commission said on Monday, but remained well below the currency area's long-term average.
FACTORY GATES IN THE RAIN
Euro zone factories suffered another grueling month in April, with the manufacturing PMI falling to 46.5 from 46.8, its worst showing this year.
There seems little prospect of much improvement next month, with the new orders index dropping to its lowest since December, at 44.9 from 45.3.
Philips
The composite euro zone PMI, which groups both the services and manufacturing surveys together, held at 46.5 in April.
Disappointingly, it showed euro zone companies cut jobs at a faster rate this month, after the March survey showed firms laid off staff at a slower pace.
"The overriding evidence we're getting on the future outlook perspective is that the debt crisis is really acting as a dampener on business and consumer confidence," said Markit's Williamson.
"There's a lack of clarity about the outlook. As long as that persists, we think there's going to be a big drag on growth, and the downturn is going to persist."
- Detailed PMI data are only available under licence from Markit and customers need to apply to Markit for a licence.
To subscribe to the full data, click on the link below: http://www/markit.com/information/register/reuters-pmi-subscriptions
For further information, please phone Markit on +44 20 7260 2454 or email economics@markit.com
(Editing by Ron Askew)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/euro-zone-slump-moderates-german-worries-appear-pmis-090221774--business.html
nascar bristol narwhal st louis university mario manningham mario manningham williams syndrome hoya
New York City aims to ban cigarette sales for under age 21
April 22 (Reuters) - Pep Guardiola is not the only connection between Bayern Munich and Barcelona, who meet in their Champions League semi-final, first leg at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday. Both teams are dominating their leagues to an almost embarrassing extent, have won the Champions League four times apiece, share an acrimonious rivalry with Real Madrid, and owe part of their success to the flamboyant Dutchman Louis van Gaal. Both have also been in two Champions League finals in the last four years, though the Catalans won both of theirs and the Bavarians came out losers on each occasion. ...
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/york-city-aims-ban-cigarette-sales-under-age-142530178--sector.html
gotye divine mercy cabin in the woods the legend of korra three stooges the three stooges the bee gees
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Kenny Scharf Arrested & NYPD Asks Him For Autographs
Art Sucks:
One of NYC's own living art legends, Kenny Scharf was arrested in Williamsburg, Brooklyn on Friday night for spray painting a black and white cartoon drawing of a snake in his signature style on private property.
Kenny is one of the last of a dying breed of graffiti artist-cum-art stars of the 1980s, and arresting him for graffiti at this point is almost laughable. I can only speculate that the ultra-high police presence, in connection with the entire city of Boston being in lockdown may have had New York's Finest a little more hypervigilant than usual.
Read the whole story: Art Sucks
"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });roger ebert north korea Daddy Yankee jay leno Brian Banks amber alert LucasArts
Was that the president in my Beijing taxi?
A rumor that Chinese President Xi Jinping traveled undetected among the commoners of Beijing sparked enormous interest, echoing popular lore of?Chinese emperors moving about in disguise.
China's President Xi Jinping speaks during a meeting with Bill Gates (not in picture), on April 8, 2013.
Tyrone Siu/Reuters
EnlargeWhen was the last time the Chinese president hailed a Beijing taxi?
Skip to next paragraph Peter FordBeijing Bureau Chief
Peter Ford is The Christian Science Monitor?s Beijing Bureau Chief. He covers news and features throughout China and also makes reporting trips to Japan and the Korean peninsula.
Recent posts
' +
google_ads[0].line2 + '
' +
google_ads[0].line3 + '
Subscribe Today to the Monitor
Just a few weeks ago, if taxi driver Guo Lixin is to be believed. Mr. Guo told a Hong Kong newspaper on Thursday that President Xi Jinping took an incognito ride in his cab last month, and chatted about ? what else? ? air pollution.
The news sparked enormous interest on the Chinese Internet, with most of those posting comments on Twitter-like social media platforms apparently believing the tale, but many skeptical about the value of the president?s alleged outing.
Stories about Chinese emperors passing disguised amongst their subjects, so as to learn first hand about their lives, are a staple of Chinese TV soap operas. The official media have recently made a point of presenting Mr. Xi as a ?man of the people.?
According to Ta Kung Pao, the Hong Kong daily to whom Mr. Guo gave his account, two men got into his taxi on the evening of March 1. One of them, he said, looked uncommonly like Xi, head of China?s ruling Communist Party and on the verge of being elected the country?s president.
When he commented on the fact, his mystery passenger replied ?you are the first taxi driver to recognize me,? Guo said, before writing a note wishing the driver ?safe and smooth journeys.?
There are those who saw the story as a PR exercise, pointing out that Ta Kung Pao is a strongly pro-Beijing paper. Official Chinese websites ran the story, too, giving it a degree of credibility, or at least of government approval.
Other observers were dubious about the real identity of Guo?s passenger because the handwriting of his note had nothing in common with handwriting that the verified President Xi has left in visitors? books around the country.
The story sat well, however, with the Communist Party?s propaganda efforts to build the president?s image as a forthright, honest fellow with the common touch. Xi has attracted attention by ordering the police not to block the traffic near places he is visiting just to let his motorcade past. Last week he mingled with fisherfolk on the southern island of Hainan, discussing their catch in the same way that a Western politician might on a flesh-pressing jaunt.
Not everyone is impressed, however. ?The most effective plainclothes visit is to look at Weibo every day,? commented Feng Xincheng, a well known newspaper editor, referring to Sina Weibo, a censored but nonetheless lively Twitter-like service where public criticism of the authorities is common.
It did not seem from taxi driver Guo?s account that Xi (if it was indeed he) learned much that he did not already know. As soon as he recognized his passenger Guo broke out in a cold sweat, he said, and told the distinguished man in the front passenger seat that he thought the Communist Party and government policies were correct, if not always well implemented.
?Xi,? meanwhile, fed his ordinary citizen interlocutor the same pap as government officials feed the public about how long it will take and how hard it will be to clean up Beijing?s pollution.
Neither the alleged president nor his driver ended up much the wiser, it seems. And then on Thursday evening, the official Xinhua news agency stamped on all the speculation with a terse one line announcement.
Ta Kung Pao?s report, said Xinhua, ?has proven to be a fake story.??
Masters Leaderboard 2013 How Animals Eat Their Food pga tour Aereo Masters 2013 Lone Star College 42
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)