Article Tags: Dennis T. Avery

CHURCHVILLE, VA – India is setting up its own climate research unit because it no longer trusts the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. I’ve been predicting such a move for years – partly due to the IPCC’s biased science, but more because India simply cannot afford to curtail its desperately needed and energy-powered economic growth. India’s government’s stability depends on expanding prosperity for the all of its people. That means more energy, and over half of India’s electricity comes from coal.

Carried to its extreme, the global warming scare would pressure India to give up the nitrogen fertilizer that feeds nearly half its population – and even slaughter its 200 million sacred cows, which daily produce huge amounts of the greenhouse gas methane. Either would cause widespread rioting.

The warming alarmists have predicted awful things for India unless fossil fuels are curbed, including submergence of its coastal lands, lack of water for irrigation, increased cyclone activity, and forced shifts in rice production that would threaten hunger for millions.

Source: americandaily.com

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CareerBuilder revealed the big winner in its HireMyTVAd contest by airing 27-year-old Matt Gahan’s advertising idea during the second quarter of the Super Bowl Sunday evening.

This is CareerBuilder’s sixth time in the big game and the first time it put its advertising creative in the hands of consumers by hosting an online contest inviting people to create their own original TV ad idea.

Gahan’s “Casual Friday” idea was awarded $100,000 and a coveted spot during the most watched TV event of the year.

The 30-second spot explores the idea that some office workers indeed go too far on casual Friday, as Gahan’s idea features office workers of all shapes and sizes scurrying around the office in nothing but their underwear.

Gahan’s hilarious concept reflected the company’s signature use of humor during past big games and reinforced CareerBuilder’s tagline – START BUILDING.

“CareerBuilder has had a successful track record advertising during the last six big games and we are confident that Casual Friday will resonate well with this year’s audience,” said Richard Castellini, Chief Marketing Officer at CareerBuilder.

“We congratulate and thank Matt for his idea and are happy to be able to provide him a real-life advertising experience for his resume.”

Gahan, a surfing enthusiast and freelance video editor from San Clemente, CA, plans to use the prize money and experience to launch his own production company.

“This is truly the chance of a lifetime,” said Gahan.  ”This windfall of cash really helps to jump start my career and allows me to pursue what I love to do.”

To view “Casual Friday” and the other winners’ spots, visit careerbuilder.com/tv.

About CareerBuilder®

CareerBuilder is the global leader in human capital solutions, helping companies target and attract their most important asset – their people.

Its online career site, CareerBuilder.com®, is the largest in the United States with more than 23 million unique visitors, 1 million jobs and 32 million resumes. CareerBuilder works with the world’s top employers, providing resources for everything from employment branding and data analysis.

More than 9,000 websites, including 140 newspapers and broadband portals such as MSN and AOL, feature CareerBuilder’s proprietary job search technology on their career sites.

Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), Tribune Company, The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT), CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in the United States, Europe, Canada and Asia.

For more information, visit www.careerbuilder.com.

A Kane County man surprised three burglars who had broken into his house and sheriff’s police are now looking for the men.

The incident happened Saturday on Whispering Trail in unincorporated St. Charles.

Nobody was hurt.

The Kane County Sheriff says the homeowner found three men in his kitchen and confronted them.  The suspects ran away.

A K-9 search of the area turne up nothing, and police are asking for the public’s help in finding the suspects.

Read the original article from FOX Chicago News.

Article Tags: Michael Beenstock

GLOBAL warming is set to become global cooling this century, a leading analyst claimed yesterday.

Professor Michael Beenstock said theories of climate change are wrong. He warned climatologists have misused statistics, leading them to the mistaken conclusion global warming is ­evidence of the greenhouse effect.

He told London’s Cass Business School that the link between rising greenhouse gas emissions and rising temperatures is “spurious”, adding: “The greenhouse effect is an illusion.”

The economics professor from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem said that just because greenhouse gases and temperatures have risen together does not mean they are linked.

He claims that the real cause of ­rising temperatures is the sun, which he says is at its hottest for over 1,000 years but is “beginning to stabilise”.

Source: express.co.uk

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Michelle Evoy can vouch for the foul air pollution in Chicago.

When she used to work downtown years ago, it aggravated her asthma and sometimes force her to use her inhaler.

When she moved to Florida for a time, she felt much better.

Now, even as a resident of semi-rural Plainfield, she notices the effects of air pollution, and uses her inhaler more often.

“It’s one reason we don’t live in the city,” said Evoy, a mother of three. “You wouldn’t think you’d have to worry about breathing there.”

A recent report out suggests there is reason for worry. Downtown Chicago has the highest peak levels of nitrogen dioxide in the country, and is the only site in violation of new stricter guidelines against the irritant, which inflames asthma and other lung conditions.

That news raised the question of how bad is the Chicago area’s overall air quality, 40 years after the Clean Air Act as we know it was created.

Several recent rankings may make sensitive readers choke:

Forbes magazine recently rated the Chicago metropolitan area as having the second-worst air quality of any big city in the nation, based on a federal 2007 report on the number of days with unhealthy air.

The Chicago area also ranked the third-most toxic, with more facilities releasing toxic chemicals than anywhere else.

One recent EPA analysis found Cook County was the worst in the country in terms of the relative potential health risk from industrial air pollution alone, excluding motor vehicles.

According to the American Lung Association, analyzing EPA statistics, the Chicago metro area is the ninth-most polluted city for short-term particle pollution, which causes early death, stroke, heart attacks and emergency room visits.

Though suburban air quality is generally better, the suburbs aren’t immune.

The lung association gave an “F” grade last year for ozone pollution in Cook, Kane, Lake and McHenry counties.

Cook also got an F for particle pollution, while the collar counties got C’s.

And anyone who lives near a busy highway, whether in the city or the suburbs, faces higher risks for heart attack, allergies, and infant death.

That’s in part why the EPA is setting new tighter standards and monitoring for highway pollution.

Getting better

The new report that Cook County had the worst nitrogen dioxide in the country should be tempered by the fact that only one monitor, in downtown Chicago near the Circle expressway interchange and Union Station, registered an unhealthy reading.

Six other monitors in the county, including those in Northbrook and Schiller Park, showed nowhere near that level.

Overall, the Environmental Protection Agency points out the air here is better than some other cities by several measures, and has been getting steadily better.

Chicago does much better in annual measurements of fine particles and ozone than other cities like Los Angeles, Houston, Atlanta, New York and the East Coast, said Laurel Kroack, air bureau chief at the Illinois EPA.

Annual emissions of ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxides, particulates, sulfur dioxide, and volatile organize material have all been curtailed drastically since 1981, to roughly one-third to one-quarter of previous levels.

In 2008, the last year for which there are certified statistics, there were no days when air quality in Illinois was considered unhealthy.

And many preliminary measurements of local air pollution were down in 2009, partly because it was a cool, wet year.

Those who fight for clean air, like Brian Urbaszewski, director of environmental health programs for the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago, says there is no good single measure of overall air quality.

But, he says, the transportation hub of the country has serious air quality issues.

“Chicago needs to do more,” he said, “to clean up the air we’re all breathing.”

A history of pollution

A century ago, Chicago was known nationally for its foul, sooty air, thanks to coal, slaughterhouses, and manufacturing, but became a leader in regulating cleaner air, according to the Chicago Historical Society.

Still, air quality didn’t improve significantly until people started burning less coal after World War II. By 1967, the federal government still ranked Chicago’s air as second worst in the nation, behind only New York City.

The closing of numerous steel plants helped reduce industrial pollution, but as manufacturing left the city, it sprang up increasingly in the suburbs.

Today, the number one cause of air pollution is traffic.

Clearing the air

Cleaner burning gas and engines, most recently for new diesel engines, have improved the situation. But old diesel trucks and buses still don’t face the emission controls passenger cars do, and continue to belch black smoke filled with particles that can cause heart attacks and strokes.

So clean air advocates are focusing on ways to clean up diesel.

One easy way to cut down is to stop idling. Hybrid vehicles do this by switching off their combustion engines when stopped.

Diesel trucks and buses often sit and idle for extended periods, sometimes hours at a time, out of concern they may be hard to restart in cold weather.

For most newer engines, that old wives’ tale no longer applies, Urbaszewski said.

Last year, the state of Illinois passed a law to ban idling for more than 10 minutes. Chicago shortened that to three minutes.

Clean air advocates believe the laws are having a positive effect, but did not know if it’s being enforced with any tickets.

At the same time, the American Lung Association is also trying to cut down on diesel emissions by working with commercial fleets to install exhaust filters and other pollution control devices on trucks and buses.

The retrofits cost $2,500 to $13,000 per vehicle, but federal stimulus funds pay for 70 to 100 percent of the cost, association CEO Harold Wimmer said.

He’s worked with Pace, the suburban bus system, Black Horse Carriers in Carol Stream, ComEd, Durham School Services in Downers Grove, and Olson Transportation Inc. in Gurnee.

The Lung Association also advocates for E-85 fuel, which is 85 percent ethanol, now available for mixed-fuel vehicles at 35 gas stations in the Chicago area.

If the Chicago area continues to violate new standards for ozone and nitrogen dioxide in future years, officials may consider fixes like car pool lanes, traffic restrictions at peak travel times, and cleaner-burning fuels.

On a personal level, people can try to protect their lungs by checking the EPA’s daily air quality reports at airnow.org.

If pollution levels are unhealthy, experts say, stay indoors and limit outdoor exercise. And avoid any unnecessary travel where you’ll be most exposed and contributing to the bad air.

And to cut down on your local carbon footprint, of course, taking public transportation, walking, biking, conserving energy and not burning yard waste all help clear the air.

If that’s not enough incentive, Green Pays on Green Days, at cleantheair.org, offers prizes to those who pledge to do something environmentally friendly.

Susan Adams of Crystal Lake planted native landscape in her yard last year, reducing the need to water and mow, and won a drawing for a Toyota Prius hybrid.

Read the original article on DailyHerald.com.

The use and effectiveness of red-light cameras increasingly are being called into question.

State Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, has proposed legislation that would regulate how the cameras could be used and would reduce the fines for red-light camera tickets from $100 to $50.

Meanwhile last month, Lake in the Hills took down two of the three red-light cameras it had installed. Lake in Hills was the first McHenry County community to use the devices.

“From the start, we looked at this as experimental,” said Lake in the Hills Director of Public Safety Jim Wales, adding that there were not enough violations at the two intersections – Algonquin and Hilltop roads and Miller and Randall roads – to justify continued camera use.

From December 2008 until December 2009, the number of violations combined at the intersections was 457. By comparison, the village’s third camera at Randall Road and Acorn Lane by itself had 596 violations during the same time period.

The cameras were meant to target problem areas and improve safety, Wales said, which was why the Acorn Lane camera was staying.

Wales said he was aware of critics who said the cameras were as much about revenue as they were about safety. He said that in Lake in the Hills that was not the case, emphasizing that the village did not use the cameras to issue citations for right-on-red violations.

“If it was about the revenue, we’d be going after the right-on-red violations,” Wales said. “We’re not because it’s not about [revenue].”

People who are turning right often pull up a little farther into an intersection before stopping in anticipation of making the turn. Sometimes motorists do not stop until they are past the painted line at the intersection. Technically, this is a violation.

Wales said Lake in the Hills was most concerned about a vehicle racing through an intersection and striking another vehicle broadside, something that is not a concern when a vehicle makes a right turn at an intersection.

“In a T-bone accident, there is a significant potential for great injury or property damage,” Wales said.

The right-on-red issue was one that Franks specifically was targeting in his legislation.

“[Many] of the violations are for right on red, when the real danger is someone running the red light,” Franks said. “The cameras are not serving the purpose they were intended for. This is quite a moneymaker. They say it is for public safety. If it is, then reduce the fines.”

Franks said changes had to be made if the cameras were going to continue to be used.

“I think its arguable whether it makes an intersection safer,” Franks said. “Let’s assume there are some benefits. We have to get rid of the right-on-red and reduce the fines.”

Unlike Lake in the Hills, Algonquin uses red-light cameras to ticket vehicles for right-on-red violations. However, Algonquin traffic Sgt. Jeff Sutrick said potential violations were reviewed before a ticket was issued.

“The standard we apply is ‘would an officer at the intersection have given a ticket,’ ” Sutrick said. “If someone pulls up and pauses before making a right turn, they probably are not going to get a ticket. We look at all of these cases individually.”

Sutrick said the department was evaluating whether right-on-red violations should be part of how the cameras are used.

Algonquin has a camera at Randall and Bunker Hill roads, two cameras at Algonquin and Randall roads, and one at Algonquin Road and Route 31. Between January and October 2009, Algonquin issued 5,768 red-light camera citations.

Through the first six months of fiscal 2009, revenues related to red-light violations totaled $340,504.

In Lake in the Hills, red-light cameras last year generated about $87,300 in revenue.

Wales said the costs of having a red-light cameras was about $4,500 a month for each camera. He said that the company that Lake in the Hills used, Lasercraft, essentially waived part of the bill if the cameras did not generate enough violations to pay for themselves.

Lasercraft had suggested that the village consider right-on-red violations, which would have boosted the overall number of tickets being issued, Wales said. The village decided against it.

Ultimately, the cameras are meant to be used as preventive, targeted enforcement. Wales said that after a year, it was determined that two of the three cameras in Lake in the Hills were not justified.

Wales said red-light cameras could be an effective tool if used properly and at the right location, he said, but it was difficult to quantify the safety impact the cameras had.

“It’s like a crime prevention program,” Wales said. “How do you prove how many crimes you prevented?”

By BRIAN SLUPSKI, [email protected]

Read the original article from the Northwest Herald.

SPRINGFIELD – Sick days and vacation days accrued by one spouse at a job cannot be split between a divorced couple, the Illinois Supreme Court has ruled.

In a case that could have implications in divorces across Illinois, the state’s high court ruled against a woman who wanted a share of her husband’s more than 100 sick and vacation days.

He banked them over years while working for the state.

A lower court had awarded Jacquie Abrell $15,000 to account for her share of her husband’s time off when they divorced.

The Supreme Court disagreed, voting 4-3 and arguing that paid time off is not marital property that can be split.

“We find that accrued vacation and sick days are not marital property subject to distribution in a dissolution of marriage action,” the majority of the court wrote.

Jacquie Abrell’s attorney had argued sick days should be treated like income stored in an account. When the couple is divorced, that money gets split a certain way.

But John Abrell’s attorney argued that his client doesn’t get the cash value of that paid time off until he uses the days or leaves his job. Therefore, he argued, his wife shouldn’t get that money up front.

The attorneys did agree, though, that the case could have far-reaching implications for couples in the same situation.

It’s especially true for most state workers, who are allowed to bank lots of sick and vacation days.

“It’s going to be a big issue for them,” said attorney William F. Moran III, who represented John Abrell.

In a dissent, Justice Rita Garman argued that the sick days should be considered deferred compensation and, therefore, should be split between the divorced couple.

Read the original article from Herald & Review.

Article Tags: Cartoon

PASS IT ON TO YOUR LOCAL NEWSPAPER AND CONGRESSMAN THEY WILL SURELY WANT TO KNOW IT’S NOT CO2

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EAST DUNDEE  — A northwest suburban man was charged after he allegedly pushed a firefighter responding to his East Dundee home last Thursday.

Brian J. Backes, 29, of 424 Dunridge Court in East Dundee, was arrested Thursday and charged of aggravated battery to a firefighter, police said.

Backes allegedly pushed a firefighter on Monday while the emergency responder was trying to care for Backes, causing the fireman to fall backward out of an ambulance, police said.

Fire and rescue workers were called to Backes’ home about 5:45 p.m. Monday because Backes was “exhibiting erratic behavior,” East Dundee police Chief Terry Mee said.

It was determined that Backes needed to be transported to a hospital for an evaluation.

As Backes was placed in the back of an ambulance he became combative and pushed the firefighter out, Mee said.

Backes was charged with the felony after he was released Thursday from the hospital.

Backes’ bond was set at $30,000 on Friday. He did not post bail and was taken to the Kane County jail, police said.

His next court date is Feb. 10.

Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.

CHICAGO — The Democratic nominee for Illinois’ lieutenant governor dropped out of the race Sunday night, less than a week after winning the nomination, amid a political uproar about his past.

Announcing his decision at a Chicago bar packed with patrons watching the Super Bowl, a tearful Scott Lee Cohen said the Democrats were not certain they could win with him on the ticket.

He said he was stepping down because he did not want to jeopardize the Democratic Party ticket.

“This is the hardest thing that I ever had to do in my life,” he said before choking up with sobs.

Since Cohen won the Democratic nomination on Tuesday, it has become widely known that he was accused of abusing his ex-wife and holding a knife to the throat of an ex-girlfriend – a woman who was herself charged with prostitution.

He also admits using steroids in the past.

“For the good of the people of the state of Illinois and the Democratic Party, I will resign,” Cohen said in a rambling remarks made as the Super Bowl halftime entertainment blared in the background.

The revelations about Cohen’s past came as Illinois was starting to move on from the scandals of ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn, who inherited the job after Blagojevich’s ouster following federal corruption charges, would have been paired with Cohen on the November ticket.

Quinn, U.S. Rep. Danny Davis and Sen. Dick Durbin all had urged Cohen to leave the race.

Quinn said Cohen had “made the right decision for the Democratic Party and the people of Illinois.

“Now we can continue to focus our efforts on putting our economy back on track and working to bring good jobs to Illinois,” the governor said in a written statement.

Surrounded by his sons, his fiancee and her son, Cohen apologized to his family, his supporters and anyone he may have let down.

“All I ever wanted to do was to run for office and to help the people, not to cause chaos, that was never my intention,” Cohen said.

Until his nomination, Cohen was a political unknown. Democratic leaders had not considered him a threat to win and didn’t highlight his past during the campaign.

Cohen’s resignation from the ticket means state party leaders can replace him on the ballot.

“Now we can move on to find a strong replacement,” said Steve Brown, spokesman for the Illinois Democratic chairman, House Speaker Michael Madigan.

Cohen, a pawnbroker and owner of a cleaning products distribution company, ran against several veteran politicians, spending $2 million – mostly his own money – on his campaign, more than twice as much as all his opponents combined.

He gained strong name recognition with a flurry of advertising featuring people who said they got jobs at employment fairs he held.

The location and timing for Sunday’s announcement – a heated beer garden at a Chicago bar during the Super Bowl – perplexed some patrons who were trying to watch the New Orleans Saints take on the Indianapolis Colts.

“It’s a way to grab some headlines I guess,” said 53-year-old Rick Kokonas wearing a New Orleans T-shirt.

Cohen was arrested in 2005 on domestic battery charges for allegedly pushing his then-girlfriend, Amanda Eneman, against a wall and holding a knife to her throat.

The charges were dropped when she failed to show up for a court date. He has denied the allegations and called that relationship tumultuous.

Eneman had issued a statement Saturday through her attorney saying that, based on her observations and Cohen’s behavior during their relationship, she “does not believe that he is fit to hold any public office including that of lieutenant governor.”

Cohen said Eneman’s statement did not affect his decision.

Read the original article from Herald & Review.

A lot of major U.S. companies have just announced dividend hikes, thus we’re seeing some signs of balance sheet confidence.

Recent dividend increases via 24/7 Wall St.:

• Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM)
• Boardwalk Pipeline Partners (BWP)
• Colgate-Palmolive (CL)
• Hasbro (HAS)
• Hershey (HSY)
• L-3 Communications (LLL)
• Time Warner (TWX)

Some relatively strong, defensive companies offer yields approaching U.S. treasuries even.

Colgate and Hershey’s look particularly interesting to us. We feel such the combination of decent dividend yield and recession-resistant business fits well with a sluggish-U.S.-rebound scenario. Though everyone should do their own due diligence.

24/7 Wall St: Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) is an easy dividend hike because its consumer products make it close to recession-proof. The surprise wasn’t that a dividend hike came, it was by how much. The bump was 20% to $0.53 per quarter. We have over a decade of dividend hikes here and this is actually not the highest payout raise on a percentage basis from the company. Also announced was a 40 million share buyback plan, which comes to about 8% of the outstanding shares. The new yield is 2.67% and at $79.26 it has a 52-week trading range of $54.51 to $87.39.

…

Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) may have been an obvious dividend hike. After all the noise that was being made over whether it would or could participate in a Cadbury-Kraft deal and after being classified as a dead money stock for years this just made sense. This brings up the issue that the company might not be about to pounce on another opportunity despite the company’s intention of looking for mergers. Its quarterly dividend will now be $0.32 per quarter for a 3.45% (3.427% actually). It had paid $0.298 per quarter over the last ten quarters. At $37.35, its 52-week trading range is $30.27 to $42.25. Five years ago this was a $60 stock.

Read more here >

The author may have exposure to Colgate and Hershey through a fund.

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See Also:

• Cash In On Asian Cash Cows With Citi’s Top Dividend Stocks In Asia
• Jamie Dimon: Risk Of A Double-Dip Recession Is Why We’re Not Hiking The Dividend
• TARP Banks Stop Paying The Government Its Dividend

Some might view a potential 2010 pull back in stock prices as an opportunity to buy quality U.S. companies cheaply.

Not Alan Greenspan. To him, cheaper stocks would be a disaster:

Meet the Press:

It’s important to remember that equity values, stock prices, are not just paper profits. They actually have a profoundly important impact on economic activity. And if stock prices start continuing down, I would get very concerned.

By his logic, stock prices should thus be supported in order to stimulate economic activity, which given his track record, isn’t a stretch to guess about the man’s thinking. Yet the quote above shows he was well-intentioned, at least, even if arguably wrong-headed with his easy-money policies.

Problem is, what if stock markets are simply an imperfect appraisal for what companies should be worth at any given moment? If markets are frequently wrong, then market declines aren’t something to be scared of. What would be more important, rather, is that the underlying economy, which markets merely appraise, can still grow over the long-term, sustainably. Mr. Greenspan makes it clears he never thought this way.

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See Also:

• Greenspan: Bernanke Is Out Of Bullets, Now Inflation Is The Big Risk
• Alan Greenspan: The Financial Crisis Wasn’t My Fault!
• Remember, Alan Greenspan Once Warned Of "Irrational Exuberance"

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