UPDATED 6:15 PM ET:?Hostess Brands,?the bankrupt maker of Twinkies snack cakes, received court permission to wind down its 82-year-old business on Thursday but revealed "furious" interest in its iconic brands from potential buyers.
New York Bankruptcy Court Judge Robert Drain approved the final orders that cleared the way for the company to begin selling its assets, everything from brands such as Ding Dongs and Twinkies to baking equipment and real estate.
"It's undisputed they will be worth more moving down this path," Drain said of the wind-down plan.
Around 110 potential bidders have contacted the company about bidding for at least part of its business, and 70 had enough interest to sign confidentiality agreements, Hostess' banker told the hearing in White Plains, N.Y.
Joshua Scherer of Perella Weinberg, who was hired by Hostess to sell its assets, said that six potential bidders have hired large investment banks to help them.
"It's very significant because it indicates to me that not only are these buyers serious, but they are expecting to spend substantial sums," said Scherer. He said the liquidation could raise $1 billion.
Scherer described the level of incoming calls from potential bidders as "fast and furious." Interested parties include large national retailers and overseas buyers that wanted to bring Hostess brands to India, he said.
By early January, the company expects to have initial bids for its various brands, which will then be put to auction.?
Hostess Brands also?is asking for a judge's approval to give its top executives bonuses totaling up to $1.8 million as part of its wind-down plans.
The company?says the incentive pay is needed to retain the 19 corporate officers and "high-level managers" during the liquidation process, which could take about a year. Two of those executives would be eligible for additional rewards depending on how efficiently they carry out the liquidation. The bonuses would be in addition to their regular pay.
The bonuses do not include pay for CEO Gregory Rayburn, who was brought on as a restructuring expert earlier this year. Rayburn is being paid $125,000 a month.
Hostess is seeking final approval for its wind-down, which was approved on an interim basis last week.
The company's shuttering means loss of about 18,000 jobs.
In court Thursday, an attorney for Hostess noted that the company is no longer able to pay retiree benefits, which come to about $1.1 million a month. Hostess stopped contributing to its union pension plans more than a year ago.
The company's demise came after years of management turmoil, with workers saying the company failed to invest in updating its products. In January, Hostess filed for its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy in less than a decade, citing steep costs associated with its unionized work force.
Although Hostess was able to reach a new contract agreement with its largest union, its second biggest union rejected the terms and went on strike Nov. 9. A week later, Hostess announced its plans to liquidate, saying the strike crippled its ability to maintain normal production.?
Information from the Associated Press and Reuters was included in this report.
Related story: Bankruptcy judge OKs Hostess liquidation
Mayo Clinic inducted into 2012 Healthcare Internet Hall of FamePublic release date: 29-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Ginger Plumbo newsbureau@mayo.edu 507-284-5005 Mayo Clinic
Mayo also receives 5 2012 national eHealthcare Leadership Awards
ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Mayo Clinic has been inducted into the Healthcare Internet Hall of Fame Class of 2012 at the 16th Annual Healthcare Internet Conference in Las Vegas. Mayo is one of two organizations that received the honor for Innovative Products and Services. Additionally, Mayo Clinic was honored with five eHealthcare Leadership Awards, presented by eHealthcare Strategy & Trends.
"When I think of trailblazing organizations that were doing things unheard of at the time, the Mayo Clinic immediately comes to mind. Mayo has always been ahead of its time in patient education, including online offerings, and continues to set the standard that others emulate," says Kathy Divis, president of Greystone.net and a judge for the Hall of Fame. "They greatly deserve a spot in the Healthcare Internet Hall of Fame for their innovations in online education and the use of social media."
Mayo Clinic's five eHealthcare Leadership Awards include platinum awards for "Best Overall Internet Site" (Healthcare System category) and "Best Health/Healthcare Content" (for both Healthcare System and Consumer General Health Site categories), a gold award for "Best Overall Internet Site" (Consumer General Health Site category), and a silver award presented to Mayo Clinic Health System for "Best Overall Internet Site" (Healthcare System category). The awards were presented in mid-November.
Patient and consumer education has been part of Mayo Clinic's mission since the organization's beginning nearly 150 years ago. In the early 1980s, Mayo Clinic began publishing consumer health information for the public in newsletters and books. By the early 1990s, Mayo Clinic recognized the importance of electronic media and began producing CD-ROM titles, including The Mayo Clinic Family Health Book. In 1996, Mayo Clinic started Mayo Health Oasis, one of the first health information websites. The name changed to MayoClinic.com in 2000. Now, in 2012, the site receives nearly 30 million unique visits per month from all over the world. Proceeds from the advertising and syndication of the site support medical education and research at Mayo Clinic.
A team of Web and publishing professionals and medical experts work together to produce Mayo Clinic's health information. Through this collaboration, consumers everywhere have access to the experience and knowledge of the more than 3,700 physicians, scientists and researchers of Mayo Clinic.
The Healthcare Internet Hall of Fame honors men, women and organizations that have made outstanding, long-lasting contributions to the health care Internet industry. The organization's purpose, while honoring innovation, is to ensure that the history of the industry is preserved for future generations. Inductees are selected by an independent Board of Judges. Other 2012 inductees include PatientsLikeMe, Community Health Network of Indianapolis, Ed Bennett and Mark Gothberg.
The eHealthcare Leadership Awards program was developed and first presented 13 years ago by eHealthcare Strategy & Trends, an industry resource published by Health Care Communications in Rye, N.Y. Approximately 240 health care organizations, representing a broad industry spectrum, were recognized for their outstanding websites and digital communications at a special presentation during the conference. Winners of the 2012 eHealthcare Leadership Awards were selected from nearly 1,100 entries. A total of 115 individuals familiar with health care and the Internet judged the entries.
###
About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit www.mayoclinic.com and www.mayoclinic.org/news.
Journalists can become a member of the Mayo Clinic News Network for the latest health, science and research news and access to video, audio, text and graphic elements that can be downloaded or embedded.
[ | 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.
Mayo Clinic inducted into 2012 Healthcare Internet Hall of FamePublic release date: 29-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Ginger Plumbo newsbureau@mayo.edu 507-284-5005 Mayo Clinic
Mayo also receives 5 2012 national eHealthcare Leadership Awards
ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Mayo Clinic has been inducted into the Healthcare Internet Hall of Fame Class of 2012 at the 16th Annual Healthcare Internet Conference in Las Vegas. Mayo is one of two organizations that received the honor for Innovative Products and Services. Additionally, Mayo Clinic was honored with five eHealthcare Leadership Awards, presented by eHealthcare Strategy & Trends.
"When I think of trailblazing organizations that were doing things unheard of at the time, the Mayo Clinic immediately comes to mind. Mayo has always been ahead of its time in patient education, including online offerings, and continues to set the standard that others emulate," says Kathy Divis, president of Greystone.net and a judge for the Hall of Fame. "They greatly deserve a spot in the Healthcare Internet Hall of Fame for their innovations in online education and the use of social media."
Mayo Clinic's five eHealthcare Leadership Awards include platinum awards for "Best Overall Internet Site" (Healthcare System category) and "Best Health/Healthcare Content" (for both Healthcare System and Consumer General Health Site categories), a gold award for "Best Overall Internet Site" (Consumer General Health Site category), and a silver award presented to Mayo Clinic Health System for "Best Overall Internet Site" (Healthcare System category). The awards were presented in mid-November.
Patient and consumer education has been part of Mayo Clinic's mission since the organization's beginning nearly 150 years ago. In the early 1980s, Mayo Clinic began publishing consumer health information for the public in newsletters and books. By the early 1990s, Mayo Clinic recognized the importance of electronic media and began producing CD-ROM titles, including The Mayo Clinic Family Health Book. In 1996, Mayo Clinic started Mayo Health Oasis, one of the first health information websites. The name changed to MayoClinic.com in 2000. Now, in 2012, the site receives nearly 30 million unique visits per month from all over the world. Proceeds from the advertising and syndication of the site support medical education and research at Mayo Clinic.
A team of Web and publishing professionals and medical experts work together to produce Mayo Clinic's health information. Through this collaboration, consumers everywhere have access to the experience and knowledge of the more than 3,700 physicians, scientists and researchers of Mayo Clinic.
The Healthcare Internet Hall of Fame honors men, women and organizations that have made outstanding, long-lasting contributions to the health care Internet industry. The organization's purpose, while honoring innovation, is to ensure that the history of the industry is preserved for future generations. Inductees are selected by an independent Board of Judges. Other 2012 inductees include PatientsLikeMe, Community Health Network of Indianapolis, Ed Bennett and Mark Gothberg.
The eHealthcare Leadership Awards program was developed and first presented 13 years ago by eHealthcare Strategy & Trends, an industry resource published by Health Care Communications in Rye, N.Y. Approximately 240 health care organizations, representing a broad industry spectrum, were recognized for their outstanding websites and digital communications at a special presentation during the conference. Winners of the 2012 eHealthcare Leadership Awards were selected from nearly 1,100 entries. A total of 115 individuals familiar with health care and the Internet judged the entries.
###
About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit www.mayoclinic.com and www.mayoclinic.org/news.
Journalists can become a member of the Mayo Clinic News Network for the latest health, science and research news and access to video, audio, text and graphic elements that can be downloaded or embedded.
[ | 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.
Portable. Affordable. Works without an external power supply. Tethered cable can't be misplaced. Bus overvoltage protection protects your computer from short-circuiting.
Cons
No USB 3.0 connectivity. No AC adapter included. Chassis prone to smudging. Design lends itself to ports being crowded out. Feels a bit flimsy.
Bottom Line
The Satechi Ultra Portable 4 Port USB Strip is an economical solution for users who find themselves running low on available USB ports, but better choices in the same price range are worth checking out.
By Ahmer Kazi
Like the optical drive before it, spare USB ports are becoming an increasingly rare species as the endless pursuit of smaller and slimmer laptops and ultrabooks continues to steamroll ahead. Consequently, USB hubs have undergone a sort of low-key renaissance, with an ever-growing number of shapes and form-factors emerging to fill this newly-created void. The Satechi Ultra Portable 4 Port USB Strip ($9.99 direct) is the latest entrant in the arena. While its portability and inexpensive price tag make up for its lack of USB 3.0 connectivity and lack of an AC adapter, better choices exist and are worth checking out.
Measuring 0.7 by 3.3 by 0.7 inches (HWD) and weighing a negligible 0.9 ounce, the 4 Port USB Strip is the lightest hub we've seen thus far, weighing less than both the Satechi Ultra Portable 4 Port USB Pocket Hub (1.4 ounces) and the Satechi 3.0 4-Port USB Hub (1.6 ounces). Whether it's in your pocket or on your desk, the 4 Port USB Strip is barely noticeable. At the same time, however, it's noticeably flimsier than the rest, so while you can carry it around without adding any heft, you'd have to do so with care, lest you find yourself pulling the remnants of a shattered hub out of your laptop bag.
Aesthetically, the 4 Port USB Strip shares a fair amount of design cues with the USB Pocket Hub: Both are constructed out of plastic and sport a black finish alongside glowing blue LED lights. Also, both sport a tethered cable along the lines of the Targus Ultralife USB Hub with Ethernet Port, though the latter's three-inch cable is more ergonomically sound than the two-inch cord found on the 4 Port USB Strip. That said, the 4 Port USB Strip's design has its share of shortcomings. Unlike the other hubs, all of which come with a matte-finished design, the 4 Port USB Strip's glossy black finish practically begs to be smudged. More problematically, all four of its USB 2.0 ports are situated on one side, giving rise to the probability that some will be crowded out when all ports are loaded. The USB Pocket Hub, on the other hand, sidesteps this problem by divvying up its four ports between two different sides.
As is the case with most USB hubs, the 4 Port USB Strip is plug-and-play ready, so setting it up doesn't involve much beyond plugging it in to your computer and waiting for the system to detect it. Like the Ultralife USB Hub, the Satechi 3.0, and the USB Pocket Hub, the 4 Port USB Strip is compatible with Mac (OS 9.1 or later) and Windows (98SE/ME/2000/XP/Vista/7/Windows 8). Moreover, transferring our 1.22GB folder showed no noticeable slowing down in data transmission rates.
Like the USB Pocket Hub, the 4 Port USB Strip's sub-$10 price tag is tempered by the fact that it doesn't ship with an AC adapter despite featuring an input designed to accommodate one. While external power won't be necessary for connecting most basic peripherals (keyboards, mice, most external drives, and smartphones), users looking to simultaneously charge several devices will most likely have to spring for a compatible adapter. On a related note, the 4 Port USB Strip features bus overvoltage protection, which supposedly protects your computer in the event that one of the connected peripherals short-circuits. We weren't able to test this claim out, so we'll have to take Satechi at its word. Still, it's reassuring that your system will be protected in the event that of electrical spike. If the 4 Port USB Strip does somehow wind up frying out at the same time, it's covered by a one-year warranty.
The Satechi Ultra Portable 4 Port USB Strip is an economical solution for users looking for a quick way to expand their USB connectivity options. However, better options exist and are worth pursuing. For the budget-conscious consumer, the USB Pocket Hub features a more effective port layout while coming at the same price. Power users, on the other hand, should check out the Satechi 3.0 4 Port USB Hub, whose included AC adapter and USB 3.0 connectivity justify its higher price tag.
By Ahmer Kazi
Ahmer Kazi is a junior analyst for the PCMag Hardware team. He has a Bachelor's Degree in Television and Film from St. John's University, where he also minored in English. He additionally holds a Juris...
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If Republicans want to score victories over the Democrats in presidential elections, they need to improve their standing among minorities, particularly Latinos.
When George W. Bush ran for re-election in 2004, he got 44 percent of the Latino vote. Bush was a champion of sweeping immigration reform; the first country he visited upon becoming president in 2001 was Mexico, not the UK, as is traditional. He wanted to be filmed riding horses at the ranch of then-President Vicente Fox. Bush and his ?strategerist? Karl Rove were determined to make Latino-Americans a GOP constituency.
The Republican far right torpedoed that plan and the post-Bush party became virulently anti-illegal immigrant ? which was widely seen as anti-Latino in general ? so much so that GOP nominee Mitt ?Self-Deportation? Romney mustered just 27 percent of the Latino vote on Nov. 6. Meanwhile, Latinos grew to 12 percent of the vote, a percentage that will increase because of natural population growth among Latino-Americans.
So how does the Republican Party change directions? One painless way to start is to claim the cause of Puerto Rico?s statehood. What? You?re not familiar with this issue? That?s because it received very little coverage on the mainland.
Puerto Ricans voted Nov. 6 in a nonbinding, two-question referendum. They voted 54 percent to 46 percent to reject the continuation of commonwealth status, under which Puerto Ricans have been American citizens since 1917. Many enlist in the armed forces, but they lack the right to vote in mainland elections and aren?t subject to the U.S. income tax.
Puerto Rico sends voting delegates to the Republican and Democratic conventions and sends a nonvoting delegate to Congress.
On the second question, 61 percent voted for statehood, 33 percent voted for something called ?free association,? and 6 percent voted to become an independent nation.
This is the first time voters on the island of 4 million have OK?d statehood in a referendum. One reason they did is the quest for more jobs. Puerto Ricans have been leaving for work on the mainland for decades. Now, 5 million Puerto Ricans live in the continental U.S.
But for statehood to become reality, Congress must approve it. Republicans have a golden opportunity to seize this issue and make it theirs. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is on board. Democrats, who fancy themselves as a rainbow coalition party, could hardly be seen standing in the way of statehood, so they?d be forced to go along.
Traditionally, pro-statehood Puerto Ricans have been conservative and pro-business, so they?d be a natural fit to become continental Republicans. But will the GOP shed its xenophobia and embrace statehood for a primarily Spanish-speaking population?
I doubt it. Too bad, though.
Ald. Bill Timm, R-9th, has taken his job very seriously over the 16 years he?s been advancing the ward?s interests at the City Council. Now Timm, 82, is packing it in. And guess what? No Democrat filed to run in the February primary. No Republican filed, either. Maybe an independent or two will step forward.
Timm has been a first-rate alderman. Retired from a career at Smith Oil, he used his time driving daily around the ward, observing the condition of streets and alleys, block by block, talking to residents about problems and riding herd on nuisance businesses, homeowners and landlords.
Timm had a close working relationship with police and with the Public Works Department, and he teamed with community service officers to nip problems in the bud. Now he laments that those officers are few and far between.
?To be very honest, we are very short of police officers,? he said. ?I don?t get time to spend with a community service officer anymore to keep the lid on my ward.?
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Kate White and Judi Diamond in NickMom's MFF: Mom Friends Forever.
Photo by Peter Newcomb/NickMom.
Poor NickMom. Like a real-life mom, Nick Jr.?s new nightly comedy programming block geared toward matriarchs is getting complaints from all sides. Mothers in Western states who used to plunk their toddlers down in front of the tube after dinner were shocked, shocked! to find that Dora the Explorer reruns had been replaced by foul-mouthed comediennes joking about their saggy boobs. (NickMom starts at 10 p.m. ET, but for families west of the Appalachians, it can begin as early as 7.) These furious mamas have started a protest movement with a professional-looking website and a simple list of demands: Either cancel the programming or move it to an entirely new network. And East Coast elitist television writers are whining about NickMom?s ?I.Q. lowering gravitational pull.?
Or at least one writer is. Though the shows have not been very widely reviewed (or watched, according to Nielsen ratings), the New York Times devoted a feature to NickMom in early November, in which critic Neil Genzlinger claimed that the shows? combination of penis jokes and potty-training anecdotes appealed to ?the baser regions of the female neocortex? the same way sports and jiggle TV appeal to men.
I?m about to have a child, and even though the descriptions of NickMom?including ?a faux commercial for the boy band Sons II Moms ? scored with the hysterical would-be hit ?The Dishes (Let Me Wash Them)? ??make it sound like distinctly not my thing, both the hysterical sancti-mommies? protest movement (one commenter says the executive in charge of NickMom is ?no better then a pedophile in my book?) and the condescending sneer of the Times review (caring about parenting is as gendered and inconsequential as ogling cleavage?) annoyed me.
And so I wanted to watch NickMom to see for myself what the programming block had to say about modern mommyhood. I wanted to stand up for it. Also, given that I am about to be housebound most evenings and likely not permitted by my blessed infant to sleep, I wanted to see if it was any good. I?m going to be watching a lot of TV.
There?s a unified group of activists irked by NickMom?s raunch, so I figured I could at least enjoy it for that. But unfortunately NickMom relies on the same parenting platitudes that are as outmoded and cringeworthy as the modified Kate Gosselin haircut that so many women on the channel sport. According to the shows on NickMom, mothers are sexless, frumpy nags who are doing the ?hardest job on earth.? (Yes, that old chestnut was uttered more than once.)
One of the pillars of the programming block so far is NickMom Night Out, a stand-up comedy show. In the episode I watched, host Caroline Rhea did a bit about her daughter having a meltdown on an airplane. She cried. She wanted chocolate. Etc. Unless your child maimed a flight attendant, there really is nothing new or funny to say on this topic. Worse was comic Michelle Miller Harrington, who said she liked being pregnant because she could eat for two and not get dirty looks. HA! She also talked about her first Pilates class, during which she did only one position, ?face on floor crying.? Rimshot.
Then there?s MFF: Mom Friends Forever, about two St. Louis moms named Judi and Kate who started a Web show together, which morphed into this semiscripted reality show. The filming of their vlog frames MFF, and sets the theme for each episode. The one I watched was called ?Control Freak.? The opener has Judi asking Kate, ?Are you a control freak?? to which Kate replies, ?Yes!? Judi then asks Kate, ?Are you a control freak about cleaning?? I won?t give the answer to that one away.
At one point in the episode, Kate and her husband take their son on a college tour, and later express sticker shock at the price of a year?s tuition. This would be mildly relatable, and maybe even entertaining, if the exchange between Kate and her spouse felt even remotely authentic. Instead they mumble clich?s like, ?I don't understand how the average person sends their child to college,? and say that their kid only wants to go to a four-year college ?to get away from us,? while barely making eye contact.
The best show in the current lineup is Parental Discretion With Stefanie Wilder-Taylor. It?s part stand-up monologue from Wilder-Taylor, who used to blog about that funny intersection of drinking and parenting until she decided to give up the drinking, part sketch comedy, and part Candid Camera-style secretly filmed trickery. Though many of Wilder-Taylor?s bits are hackneyed (?Like all working moms, I carry around a lot of guilt. ... I also carry around a lot of water weight.?), she at least has some spark and comic timing.
Even more satisfying was the hidden camera bit. The actress in it posed as a bitchy, demanding pregnant woman interviewing prospective nannies at her office. She asks these sweet-faced women increasingly absurd questions like, ?I'm having professionals make a mask of my face. Would you be willing to wear it around the baby?? She tells one woman that she?s a ?tiger mom? and makes the potential nanny say, ?You?re fat. What?s wrong with your face?? as if she were giving a baby tough, disapproving love.
That one half-hour of goodness nestled in hours of mediocrity made me realize what?s the matter with NickMom?s other shows. What worked about the nanny hidden camera was that, while of course embracing mommy culture simply by being a part of the NickMom block, it was also pointed criticism of the absurdity of it all, rather than bland, soppy reassurance that whatever you?re doing is just great because you?re part of that exalted category of human known as MOM. It?s the hardest job on earth, didn?t you know?
The biggest problem with NickMom, though, is that it?s purporting to fill a need that doesn?t exist. Moms already have an outlet to hear other moms be funny and edgy and real. It?s called the Internet, and last time I checked the stats, there are almost 4 million moms who blog out there in the great U.S. of A, whose insights, both raunchy and sappy, are available 24/7 without commercial interruption. These wildly different sites are arguably saying something much more true about motherhood than a single channel with a fairly unified vision ever could: that moms are not a monolith.
The Eco-Innovation Observatory (EIO) would like to invite you to share your views on the role of eco-innovation in the shift towards a resource-efficient, low-carbon Europe. We would like to consult representatives from academia, business, civil society and public administration by taking part in our questionnaire. Your insights will be used in the upcoming reports of the Observatory, including our final flagship annual publication. The survey has only three questions and is entirely anonymous.
Please follow this link to the questionnaire.
For more information on the Eco-Innovation Observatory, see www.eco-innovation.eu
ISLAMABAD (AP) ? Pakistan's information minister says the government plans to hold landmark national elections next May.
Qamar Zaman Kaira's comments on Tuesday were the first indication of a timing for the vote.
The election would be a milestone for Pakistan because it would represent the first time that a civilian government has completed a full five-year term.
Past governments have either been deposed in military coups or dismissed by presidents allied with the generals.
Pre-fabricated model home built with sustainable materials, by Method Homes. Source:Dwell
Greenbuild 2012?an annual sustainable construction trade show?kicked off in San Francisco on November 11th, showcasing the industry?s most exciting trends and innovations over 5 days. Upwards of 35,000 attendees browsed the wares of the world?s leaders in green technology?everything from electric cars to eco-friendly textiles.
Cork surfacing. Photo Source: Dwell Magazine
San Francisco?s own Dwell Magazine sought out the best new products and designs from the event, praising everything from Method Homes? artfully designed, environmentally-conscious prefabricated home to a vertical gardening system made out of colorful recycled plastic developed by Kul.
The show unveiled new textile product lines made from recyclable materials in an array of colors and patterns. Green builders have an ever-expanding number of options?from different shades and finishes for green countertops, high-end cork surfacing, and?beautiful FSC-certified flooring alternatives to suit every taste and style. New developments in insulation and lighting technology were also on display, as were alternative-powered vehicles such as Audi?s A3 e-tron electronic car.?See more of Dwell?s favorite items from Greenbuild 2012 in their full report and slideshow.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers have made little progress in the last 10 days toward a compromise to avoid the harsh tax increases and government spending cuts scheduled for January 1, a senior Democratic senator said on Sunday.
However, lawmakers in both the Democratic and Republican parties have been working hard to convince the public - and financial markets - that they are willing to compromise and can reach a deal before the end of the year.
The United States is on course to slash its budget deficit nearly in half next year. Closing the gap that quickly, which in Washington is referred to as going over a "fiscal cliff," could easily trigger a recession.
"Unfortunately, for the last 10 days, with the House and Congress gone for the Thanksgiving recess ... much progress hasn't been made," Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, told ABC's "This Week" program.
A deadline is looming. Absent action by lawmakers and President Barack Obama, roughly $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts will start to hit households and companies in early January.
Republicans and Obama's Democrats are at an impasse over the president's wish to raise income tax rates on the wealthiest Americans, which Republicans say would hurt job creation.
Republicans also want to cut spending on social programs more than Democrats say they will accept.
Still, a growing group of Republican lawmakers are loosening their ties to Grover Norquist, the anti-tax lobbyist famous for getting elected officials to sign a pledge that they will vote against any tax increases.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said Republicans will allow tax revenues to rise as long as social spending programs are reformed. "I will violate the pledge, long story short, for the good of the country, only if Democrats will do entitlement reform," he told "This Week."
Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss said last week he "cared more about the country" than a 20-year-old pledge, and on Sunday Republican Representative Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, told NBC's "Meet the Press" he agreed "completely" with Chambliss.
Durbin said Democrats are willing to allow small changes to parts of the country's entitlement programs, including public health insurance programs for the elderly and poor, but the Social Security government pension program should not be on the table.
"Bring entitlement reform into the conversation. Social Security, set (it) aside," Durbin said.
Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services committee, said the ability to avoid the "fiscal cliff," depended on the Republicans.
"The key here is whether or not the Republicans will move away from the ideologically rigid position, which has been the Grover Norquist pledge, which most of them signed," he said on "Meet the Press."
(Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle; editing by Todd Eastham)
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Black Friday retail sales online this year topped $1 billion for the first time ever as more consumers used the Internet do their holiday shopping, comScore Inc said on Sunday.
Online sales jumped at least 22 percent on Black Friday - from sales of $816 million on the same day last year, according to comScore data.
E-commerce accounts for less than 10 percent of consumer spending in the United States. However, it is growing much faster than bricks-and-mortar retail as shoppers are lured by low prices, convenience, faster shipping and wide selection.
ShopperTrak, which counts foot traffic in physical retail stores, estimated Black Friday sales of $11.2 billion, down 1.8 percent from the same day last year.
"Online has been around 9 percent of total holiday sales, but it could breach 10 percent for the first time this season," said Scot Wingo, chief executive of ChannelAdvisor, which helps merchants sell more on websites, including Amazon.com and eBay.com.
ComScore expects online retail spending to rise 17 percent to $43.4 billion through the whole holiday season. That is above the 15 percent increase last season and ahead of the retail industry's expectation for a 4.1 percent increase in overall spending this holiday.
It's not clear yet whether strong Black Friday sales online will weaken growth on Cyber Monday, which has been the biggest e-commerce day in the United States in recent years.
"Cyber Monday will be a big day, but not as much of a big day as it has been in the past," said Mia Shernoff, executive vice president for Chase Paymentech, a payment processing unit of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.. "Faster broadband Internet connections in the office used to drive this. But now many consumers have faster connections at home and smart phones and tablets - they don't have to wait."
MOBILE SHOPPING GROWTH
A big source of online shopping growth this holiday season has come from increased use of smart phones, which let people buy online even when they are in physical stores, and by tablet computers, which have spurred more online shopping in the evenings, Wingo and others said.
Mobile devices accounted for 26 percent of visits to retail websites and 16 percent of purchases on Black Friday. That was up from 18.1 percent and 10.3 percent, respectively, on the same day last year, according to International Business Machines, which analyzes online traffic and transactions from 500 U.S. retailers.
Amazon and eBay benefit from increased use of mobile devices for shopping because they are consistently the top two online retail destinations for mobile users, ChannelAdvisor's Wingo said.
Amazon.com was the most visited retail website on Black Friday, with more than 28 million visits, followed by Wal-Mart Stores Inc's website, with 18.4 million and Best Buy Co's site, which had 9.2 million visits, according to Hitwise.
Worth noting: eBay runs one of the largest online marketplaces, rather than being a retailer, so its online traffic was not reported by Hitwise. However, eBay said the volume of mobile transactions on its marketplace jumped 153 percent on Black Friday from a year earlier.
ChannelAdvisor clients' same-store sales on Amazon.com shot up 38 percent on Black Friday, compared with a year earlier. Last year's year-over-year growth was 50 percent.
Client same-store sales on eBay's marketplace rose 31 percent on Black Friday, compared with a year earlier. Last year's year-over-year growth was 15 percent, according to ChannelAdvisor.
PRICE PRESSURE
While mobile devices may be good for sales, they may not be so good for retail profit margins. Smart phones give shoppers real-time access to product prices online, potentially exacerbating the usual holiday discounting and price wars.
Black Friday online transactions jumped almost 30 percent, but the average ticket price was down more than 11 percent, according to Chase Paymentech, which reports data from its 50 largest e-commerce merchant clients.
"It's driving prices down," Shernoff said. "Consumers are checking prices in stores and showing the retailer, and the retailer will succumb to the lowest price online so they don't lose the consumer."
(Reporting By Alistair Barr; Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio and Jan Paschal)
Investing in preventative, data-driven early childhood education is the most cost-effective way to grow the nation?s economy, a Nobel Laureate in economics said Thursday evening.
?It?s more important than ever before to have an empirically grounded public policy,? said James J. Heckman, Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago.
Heckman delivered the keynote address titled ?Building a Productive Workforce and Strengthening the Economy from Birth? to about 275 residents at Unity Temple in Oak Park. He spoke at the invitation of the Collaboration for Early Childhood Education, a public-private partnership made up of more than 40 local agencies.
An expert in the economics of human development, Heckman said politicians who set public policy for the past 50 years have been misguided in their efforts to address social problems one at a time, rather than holistically.
?Fragmented solutions don?t work, and the problems need to be addressed at the core level,? he said.
Armed with statistics looking at income, educational attainment and the role of parents, Heckman said the gap in socially relevant skills between the advantaged and the disadvantaged ?opens up very early in the lives of children.? Attempts to close the gap through anti-poverty initiatives, programs to improve cognition or book learning, and crime interventions haven?t been as successful and have even led to declines in some indicators, such as high school graduation rates.
The skills that need to be developed, Heckman said, are softer skills, such as perseverance, attention, self-discipline, motivation and self-confidence. Investing in programs that develop these skills, he added, would be socially fair, promote equal opportunity and have a greater return on investment.
?It sounds soft and fuzzy, but we have research that these skills are important and can be produced,? he said.
In fact, the annual rate of return on a proper investment in early childhood education would be between 6 percent and 10 percent, much higher than the 0 percent return of a training program such as Job Corps, he said.
?It?s cheaper and more effective to give the kids money and put it in a passbook account than to reduce classroom size by five students,? he said.
But the family ? particularly the mother ? most influences the outcome of the child, Heckman insisted.
?Any policy investing in children should be investing in families,? he said.
Heckman praised Oak Park and its residents for thinking beyond the usual solutions and trying to think outside the box with initiatives such as the collaborative, which has a goal of spending $1.5 million to bolster early childhood programs. However, Heckman said he feared that even $280 spent on each of the 5,400 pre-school-age children living in Oak Park might not be enough.
During opening comments, Village President David Pope noted that early childhood education could be crucial to reducing Oak Park?s expenditures. Of the police department?s $18 million budget, about 75 percent, or $14 million, is spent on interaction with youth, he said.
?We have a huge challenge in Oak Park with the children who come into our schools with the kind of deficits many of them face,? he said.
SAO PAULO (AP) -The Brazil football federation fired coach Mano Menezes on Friday, a controversial move that pleased many Brazilians who had been calling for his dismissal but worried others who believe the change comes too close to the 2014 World Cup.
Federation director Andres Sanchez, who made it clear that he didn't agree with the decision to fire Menezes, said the decision was made by president Jose Maria Marin after a meeting in Sao Paulo on Friday.
"The president believes that the national team needs to go in a different direction and for that he needs a new coach," Sanchez said. "The president wants new methods and new planning for the national team next year."
World Cup-winning coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, who is without a job, is one of the names touted to replace Menezes, but Sanchez said he doesn't think negotiations for a new coach are under way just yet.
Sanchez, as the federation director, is in charge of the national team. Though he disagreed with the firing, Sanchez said the president was being "brave" and called it a "bold" move to make the change.
"He is looking forward and we have to respect it," Sanchez said. "The president feels that this is not the national team that he wants."
The 80-year-old Marin took over the football federation earlier this year after former president Ricardo Teixeira left his post amid widespread allegations of wrongdoing. Marin had not publicly criticized Menezes' methods, but he always stopped short of guaranteeing the coach would be in charge for next year's Confederations Cup and the World Cup that Brazil will host.
Sanchez said he personally talked to Menezes and the coach "obviously didn't like to hear" that he was being fired.
"Nobody wants to hear that, but he will move on and is ready to coach another club or a national team," Sanchez said.
The director said Menezes wasn't dismissed because of poor results.
"Mano did a good job," Sanchez said. "He faced difficulties but the work being done was improving. If the problem was the lack of good results he would have been fired earlier. He was winning recently."
The news came two days after Brazil beat Argentina on penalties to win the Superclassic of the Americas, a two-leg series in which the South American rivals use players from local clubs. It was Brazil's final match of the year.
Menezes was heavily criticized earlier this year because of the team's lackluster play, but good results recently had helped ease the complaints from fans and local media.
He coached Brazil for 33 matches, leading it to 21 victories, six losses and six draws. The main complaint against Menezes was that his team struggled in games against top teams and only beat the weaker sides.
He revamped the national team, replacing former stars such as Ronaldinho and Robinho by young promising players such as Neymar, Oscar and Lucas.
"The team was about 85 percent set, but what happens now will depend on the new coach," Sanchez said. "I respect the president's decision, but it interrupts the work that was under way and I don't think it came at a right moment."
The calls for Menezes' firing increased significantly after he failed to lead Brazil to the 2012 Olympic gold medal despite having most of his top players available at the under-23 tournament in London. Brazil lost the final to Mexico at Wembley.
Menezes was jeered by fans in Sao Paulo when Brazil struggled in a 1-0 win over South Africa in a friendly in September.
Pele and Romario have been among Menezes' critics.
"Today is a historic day, Brazil needs to celebrate," Romario said on his Facebook page. "Finally the federation did something good for Brazilian football. It took a while to happen, but it did."
Romario called for Scolari's return to the national team.
Scolari, who led Brazil to the 2002 World Cup title in South Korea and Japan, never ruled out coaching Brazil again, but he was tied with Brazilian club Palmeiras until earlier this year.
His contract with Palmeiras ended after he failed to improve the team's situation in the Brazilian league, and fans immediately called for his return to the national squad even though he accepted some of the responsibility for Palmeiras' recent relegation. The team had won the Brazilian Cup under Scolari this year.
When Brazil struggled in a recent match against Argentina, fans chanted "Goodbye, Mano," and "Come back Scolari."
Menezes took over after Brazil's elimination at the 2010 World Cup, when Dunga's team fell to the Netherlands in the quarterfinals.
Muricy Ramalho was the first choice at the time, but the four-time Brazilian league champion turned down the job because of his contract with Fluminense.
Menezes had coached Gremio and Corinthians in Brazil but had no previous international experience.
Ramalho, now with Santos, is also touted to replace Menezes, as is current Corinthians coach Tite and Gremio manager Vanderlei Luxemburgo, who previously had a brief spell as Brazil coach.
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ScienceDaily (Nov. 23, 2012) ? Using a combination of the new tools of metamaterials and transformation optics, engineers at Penn State University have developed designs for miniaturized optical devices that can be used in chip-based optical integrated circuits, the equivalent of the integrated electronic circuits that make possible computers and cell phones.
Controlling light on a microchip could, in the short term, improve optical communications and allow sensing of any substance that interacts with electromagnetic waves. In the medium term, optical integrated circuits for infrared imaging systems are feasible. Further down the road lies high-speed all-optical computing. The path forward requires some twists on well-known equations, and the construction of structures smaller than the wavelength of light.
Light bends naturally as it crosses from one material to another, a phenomenon called refraction that can be seen in the way a stick seems to bend in water. Illusions, such as mirages in the desert or the shimmer of water on the road ahead on a hot day, are caused by a difference in the refractive index of layers of warmer and cooler air. The new field of transformation optics (TO) uses this light-bending phenomenon in a rigorously mathematical way by applying the 150-year-old Maxwell equations describing the propagation of light onto structures known as metamaterials, artificial constructs with custom-designed refractive indexes. The most famous applications of metamaterials are cloaking devices and perfect lenses, but those are just the tip of the optical iceberg.
In a paper in a new online journal, Light: Science and Applications, published by Nature Publishing Group, Douglas Werner, professor of electrical engineering, and his post-doc Qi Wu and Ph.D. student Jeremiah Turpin present a unified theory for designing practical devices on a single platform using transformation optics. "This field (transformation optics) is in its early stages, so there are many contributions to be made," Werner says. "Our big contribution is in figuring out how to develop TO designs with the simplest material parameters without impacting performance, and linking the devices together to form an on-chip integrated photonic system."
Among their designs are light collimators, which take light from a source and focus it into one or more tightly focused beams, waveguide couplers, which connect different sized waveguides, TO splitters, which divide power from an input waveguide to two or more output waveguides, waveguide crossings, which routes light in compact spaces without loss or crosstalk, and TO benders, which turn the light around corners without loss. These devices are only five to ten microns in size, and therefore many of them could fit on a centimeter-sized chip.
"It has been a joint effort to develop these transformation optics tools and designs," Werner says. "Jeremy wrote the algorithms behind the simulation tools. Qi is developing the designs to be simulated. In order to get the best design for a targeted application, thousands of simulations may have to be performed using powerful optimization techniques developed in our group."
Transformation optics devices that perform diverse, simple functions can be integrated together to build complex photonic systems for optical communications, imaging, computing, and sensing, say the authors. The current, non-TO approach is to design each device using different methods and materials that may not be compatible on a single platform. The Werner group's technique, on the other hand, employs graded index metamaterial structures, such as patterned air holes or rods, on a silicon-on-insulator platform that can be easily integrated into on-chip photonic systems, providing broad bandwidth and low losses.
In order to keep their designs grounded in reality, the group works closely with nanofabricators at Penn State's Nanofabrication Laboratory who are themselves developing new approaches to implement the Werner group's designs. All of the designs described in the paper can be realistically built with current fab processes, says Werner. "It's like a CAD tool," he explains, citing the computer-aided design tools used in manufacturing. "We've developed customized transformation optics simulation and optimization tools for designing optical devices. Beyond that," he continues, "TO is flexible enough that it opens up the possibility of creating all sorts of new devices that don't currently exist."
Partial support for this work was provided by the NSF MRSEC.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Penn State Materials Research Institute, via Newswise.
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Journal Reference:
Qi Wu, Jeremiah P Turpin, Douglas H Werner. Integrated photonic systems based on transformation optics enabled gradient index devices. Light: Science & Applications, 2012; 1 (11): e38 DOI: 10.1038/lsa.2012.38
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The long nights, relentless Christmas adverts and brisk chill in the air are all signs the year is coming to an end, and what better way to see in the next than with British documentary legend Sir David Attenborough? The first episode of his new three-part natural history series Galapagos 3D, written and presented by the man himself, will be airing New Year's Day on Sky 3D in the UK. Like most of his projects, it's sure to be a stunning visual treat that'll make you forget about even the worst of New Year hangovers. So, don't forget to stoke the fire, switch on your 3D TV, and enjoy an educational tour of the Galapagos Islands to start off your 2013.
Looking to browse with the full weight of your 64-bit hardware? Well, if you're a Firefox and Windows user, you're going to have to look elsewhere, as Mozilla has announced it's closing the development of Firefox for the bigger computer architecture. Mozilla manager, Benjamin Smedberg outlined several reasons for the decision, including limited access to 64-bit plugins, a higher propensity for the browser to hang when using available plug-ins and difficulty distinguishing between 32- and 64-bit versions when dealing with stability complaints. After posting the announcement at Bugzilla, it riled plenty of nightly testers, with one Mozilla dev suggesting that around half of them were currently using the now defunct 64-bit version -- presumably due to the fact that an official release never made it out of the gates. What are the options then, if you need your browsing 64-bit? You could return to Internet Explorer or give Opera a try -- both offer a higher bit version, or make a switch to either OS X or Linux, both of which have fully-fleshed versions of the 64-bit web browser. Check out some of the (surprisingly vigorous) debate at the source below.
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Public release date: 29-Nov-2012
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