Author: Serkadis

We’re long overdue for a good, solid post on whey protein. I include it in my Responsibly Slim shake mix, a number of readers asked about it after last week’s dairy post, and it’s one of the more commonly used nutritional supplements around, so it’s a no-brainer of a post.

What is Whey?

Whey is a byproduct of cheese production. It’s that pseudo-clear liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained that used to be tossed aside as waste material. Today, we know that it houses an impressive array of proteins: beta-lactoglobulin, alpha-lactalbumin, and serum albumin. These are complete proteins, comprised of the essential amino acids central to protein synthesis and increased muscular hypertrophy. Our bodies can produce non-essential amino acids from lesser amino acids, but we cannot produce the essentials ourselves; we must eat quality protein sources. Whey is a naturally occurring, essential protein that satisfies the body’s protein requirements – hence its popularity.

Can Dairy-Sensitive People Use Whey Protein?

Whey contains trace elements of lactose, so the extremely intolerant may have problems digesting it properly. Because whey is, by definition, the stuff that separates from the casein when it curdles, it has even less casein (save for trace amounts), rarely enough to be noticeable to anyone but the most casein-intolerant. But that’s pure whey; whey protein powder has even less of both.

Lactose may pose a problem, but casein almost certainly will not.

Isolate vs. Concentrate vs. Hydrolysate

As for whey protein powder, you’ve got a couple options. Whey protein concentrate contains some fat and lactose, while whey protein isolate is pretty much pure protein with very little of the other dairy elements remaining. Concentrate is less processed and more whole, but has less protein. Isolate is about 90-94% protein, but it’s subjected to a more rigorous refinement process. Bodybuilders are drawn to the “purity” of whey isolate, lured by the moderately higher protein counts. Isolate is also considerably more expensive than concentrate, and the purported boost in beneficial effects on protein synthesis are overstated; drinking any kind of whey protein shake will have a beneficial effect on your muscle recovery and protein synthesis. Whey protein is whey protein, and concentrate allows you to get more for your money. Go with concentrate unless you’re terribly sensitive to dairy (in which case it might be a better idea to just eat a steak instead).

Whey hydrolysate is predigested whey protein that’s easily absorbed and virtually free of any potential allergens, but it’s (in my opinion) horribly overpriced. Whey in general is already highly bioavailable and easily absorbed by our bodies, so absorption is rarely an issue with whey. Hydrolysate is great marketing. That’s about it. The elite of the elite – those hulking magazine cover superheros with tanned, smiling faces atop straining, veiny necks – may have actual cause to maximize protein absorption, but you guys definitely don’t need to fuss over that stuff.

Is it Primal?

Whey protein falls into the 80/20 category. It isn’t strictly Primal (and certainly not paleo) in that it wasn’t available to Grok, but it can be an effective, occasional high-protein meal replacement with most – if not all – of the potential allergens mitigated or negated. It’s an analog, a bit like dairy itself. If you can’t handle any dairy, skip it (or try whey isolate) and take the time to prepare a meal. If you can handle dairy without a problem, a whey protein powder is a pretty good way to shuttle nutrients into your body, especially if you’ve chosen to go the post-workout nutrition route  – which I usually don’t.

Going Primal means acknowledging both the limitations and the advantages of modern life. I wish I could laze around on the savannah for days following a successful kill. I wish I had ten hours of leisure time every day. The reality is that we’re a busy bunch of people, and if we’re truly serious about maximizing our quality of life, slamming down a quick protein shake so we can get to the office a little earlier might mean we can leave earlier, too, and get home in time for a date with the significant other, a hike at dusk, or an extra couple chapters on that great book we’ve been meaning to read. If that isn’t a feature of modern life that can help us follow the Primal ways more easily, I’m not sure what qualifies.

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Related posts:

1. Protein Powders: How Do They Measure Up?
2. Dear Mark: Vegetarian Protein Possibilities
3. Dear Mark: Pondering Protein

Some of the greatest innovators and innovations of the education industry will be on hand and on display in Phoenix, Arizona at EduRG Conference 2010. Hosted by EDU Research Group and featuring a keynote address by former Vice-President and Nobel Prize winner, Al Gore, the event will bring the latest in education technology under one roof at the Phoenix Convention Center, February 27-28, 2010.

EduRG Conference 2010 will highlight the industry’s leaders in bringing state-of-the-art technology to the classroom. New nanofabrication tools and curriculum from NanoProfessor, call center technology from EducationRecruiting.com, mobile device and SMS platforms from Globaltel Media and classroom projector systems from Lex Lawson Associates are just a few of the products to be featured at the event.

Register now at http://vbedurg2010.eventbrite.com to see the future of education firsthand. The first 50 VentureBeat subscribers to register will receive free tickets to the event. For more information on EduRG Conference 2010, or to become an exhibitor or sponsor, contact Kyle Gale at 480-228-3264, or online at [email protected]. www.edurg.com/events

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Article Tags: Ian Plimer

Here is an excellent Speech by Dr. Ian Plimer. See PDF attachment.

Every person, (especially politicians and Journalists), interested in the GW/CC debate ought to read this carefully.

A couple of small typos are of no consequence.

Ronald Kitching

ESSINGTON LEWIS LECTURE by Professor Ian Plimer

The current ice age started 34 million years ago with the covering of Antarctica by an ice sheet. This great climate change was driven by the separation of South America from Antarctica thereby establishing a circum polar current that isolated Antarctica from warm water.

Water contains 22 times as much heat as the atmosphere and it is the oceans that are the bellwether to climate change, not the atmosphere. The Antarctic ice sheet has waxed and waned and did not disappear during long periods of warmth. During periods of ice sheet waning, Antarctica isostatically rose. When the ice sheet thickened, Antarctica sank.

Download PDF file to read FULL speech by Dr. Ian Plimer

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File attachment: EssLewisAusIMM1109.pdf
  

From NYT:

So Chinese currency manipulation is starting to get the heat it deserves. Good.

But, um, what’s this about?

Exchange rates are an arcane subject, harder to explain than a meeting with the Dalai Lama.

Gah. The renminbi thing isn’t at all hard to explain — it’s just supply and demand.

Read the rest at The Conscience of a Liberal –>

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Krugman’s China Hit-Job Is More Blame-The-Victim Nonsense
• Chinese Manufacturing Blows Away Past Expectations, Hits A 20-Month High
• Why Krugman’s "Blame China" Mentality Is Completely Wrong

 

To Our Clients, Colleagues and Friends, 

We mentioned recently that Google was sitting on $24.5 billion in cash.  Apple has $40 billion in cash, and even after paying out huge dividends, Microsoft still has $37 billion in the green stuff.

For all you baseball fans, here are the all-time leaders in at bats:

1.  14,053      Pete Rose

2.  12,364     Hank Aaron

3.  11,988      Carl Yastrzemski

4.  11,551      Cal Ripken

5.  11,434      Ty Cobb

It would be interesting to make some assumptions about the seasons that guys like Ted Williams and Willie Mays lost while in the military and see where they rank.

From a friend at the FDIC:  “We are doing a LOT of hiring right now, in case you want to make your readers aware.  These are temporary jobs (2+ years) mainly located in So. California , No. Florida , Chicago , Dallas and some other spots here and there.  These are bank resolutions jobs – closing banks and liquidating them. Jobs link:  https://jobs1.quickhire.com/scripts/fdic.exe/runuserinfo?Haveusedbefore=5   Okay, you guys. This may be a great way to get back on the merry-go-round!

Unless you think California will default on its bonds, you can buy California Lease Revenue Bonds maturing in 19 years and yielding 5.82%.  Since they’re tax exempt, this is the equivalent of about 9.5%.Since we mentioned movies last week (1) Avatar has now grossed $594 domestically and $2.04 billion worldwide, and (2) The Sound of Music sure does have its fans.  We’ve got about 15 e-mails defending it, about half of which were mildly sarcastic, as in “Are you out of your mind?  I hope you know more about banking than you do about movies.”

Writing this Report is easy, but it’s editing it that’s hard.  Oscar Wilde once wrote out editing one his works: ”I was working on the proof of one of my poems all the morning, and I took out a comma. In the afternoon I put it back in again.” 

Most mortgage bankers we speak to are planning to expand and do even more volume in 2010 than in 2009. We don’t want to name names, but we spoke to one Orange County (CA) owner whose company closed about $530 million last year who told us that that “We’ll close $400 million in 2010 if we’re lucky, and will probably do $350 million.”  It’s so refreshing to see such a realistic approach.  And it’s no wonder that their warehouse lender likes them so much.
·         Look at some of these Neighborhood Watch scores. Kate Berry of American Banker did some excellent investigative reporting on this.  Notice how poor the scores are for the homebuilder controlled companies?

41%    Bank of America

76%    U.S. Bank

115%    GMAC Bank

129%    Lennar Homes (Universal)

136%    DR Horton Homes

160%    CTX Mortgage (Centex)

These numbers are as a percentage of the national average.  This means that Bank of America’s loans default only 41% as often as the national average. HUD has made it clear that every three months it will review all FHA loans originated over the preceding two years.  It also said that it can terminate any lender whose default and claims rate was more than triple that of its region.
·         A friend got a massage recently and we guessed “The masseuse told you that you were really tight, isn’t that right?” They must teach that in massage school.  Same thing with fishing guides. Probably the only thing they learn in Guide School is that whenever the clients aren’t catching anything, you just say “I can’t believe it.  Yesterday we limited out by noon.”

Wizard of Oz didn’t make the top ten grossing movies of all time, but here’s the original ending before the Hays Commission censors forced MGM to make it more acceptable.  

We were looking at Obama’s new budget and we have a few thoughts on dealing with the deficit:  $135 billion for the Dept. of Agriculture? Except for food stamps, do we even need this department? What do they do, teach farmers how to farm?  Let farmers hedge their production with futures and forward sales.  $82 billion for the Education Department?  Education is run at the state end local level, so what does this department even do?   Have schools gotten better since this department was formed 25-30 years ago? NASA ($18 billion) and Commerce ($14 billion) are small potatoes, but would anyone even notice if we cut their budgets by half?  And $206 billion for a Labor Department? What do they do there?  They might need a little to run the National Labor Relations Board and a few things like that. If part of their budget is for unemployment, keep that but dump everything else they do.  As Ronald Regan once said, there may not be easy solutions, but there are simple ones.

We get asked every so often about accounting packages, and we pretty much like them all. QuickBooks is kind of weak on security, but it works.  We like Great Plains , MAS-90, and maybe our favorite is AMB, the only one we know of which is designed specifically for mortgage banking.

Leakage:  One company tells us they have a hard time tracking leakage loan by loan.  They asked if it would work to track it in the aggregate month-by-month. Absolutely yes. Even  if you can’t do it at a loan level detail, you’ll learn a lot if, say, you know you build in a profit of 150 bps on FHA loans and over a trailing three months, you averaged only 139 bps. That’s almost as good as doing it loan by loan.

A new group we just discovered: Vampire Weekend.  Good music from the U.K.

We wrote about Bob Gibson last year, and here’s what Hank Aaron had to say about him:  “Don’t dig in against Bob Gibson or he’ll knock you down.  He’d knock down his own grandmother if she challenged him.  Don’t stare at him, don’t smile at him, and don’t talk to him.  He doesn’t like it.  If you happen to hit a home run, don’t run too slow, and don’t run too fast.  If you want to celebrate, do it in the clubhouse. And if he hits you, whatever you do, don’t charge the mound.”  We spoke with Willie Mays once, and he said he never dug in against Gibson.  “It just made him even angrier.”  Here’s a rare photo of Gibson actually smiling.
We once sent the above quote (”Don’t stare at him, don’t smile at him, and don’t talk to him……”) to a friend who wrote back, saying “My wife shares some of those same characteristics.”
·         One of our clients is looking to sell its retail mortgage bank.  The Company has its full HUD Eagle and is located in California .  Please contact Corky Watts 408-395-5540.”

·         You know about DiTech, right? The fellow who founded it, Paul Reddam, initially built a company called SC Funding which really cracked the code on getting mortgages from credit unions. It was fabulously successful. He then founded DiTech and then sold it to GMAC. And if you’ve ever seen those TV ads for Cash Call, we hear that’s his company as well.  We haven’t seen Paul in years, but he really had the knack.  By the way, before going into mortgage finance, he was a professor of philosophy at USC.  And a nice guy, as well.

·         We’d like to have a serious poll. Can you send us your best estimate of the average cost (i.e. loss) to you of a re-purchase? If you have a sense of what it is in dollars, can you translate that into your best guess in basis points and send that in as well?  We really appreciate your help.

Garrett, Watts & Co.

Bonus:  How To Use Return On Capital To Determine Profitability

“Helping lenders increase revenues, control costs, and better manage risk.”
Corky Watts      ([email protected]) 
Mike McAuley   ([email protected])
Joe Garrett      ([email protected])

areview.co.cc: Google is finalizing an agreement with the National Security Agency to help the search giant ward off cyberattacks, according to the Washington Post. The electronic surveillance organization is expected to help analyze a cyberattack on Google that the company said originated in China, so that the company can better defend itself against future attacks, the newspaper reported Wednesday. The arrangement is reportedly being designed to allow the two groups to share information without violating Google’s privacy policies or laws governing online communications. Google declined to comment on the report, and the NSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Google disclosed in January that e-mail accounts belonging to human rights activists in China had been compromised and said the attacks originated in China. The company said it discovered the attacks in mid-December. And while it did not specifically implicate the Chinese government, Google said it may withdraw from doing business in China. China’s government responded by reiterating that companies doing business in that country must respect and adhere to its laws and later issued statements denying any state involvement in the cyberattacks, as well as defending its Internet censorship. China also warned of strained U.S.-China relations after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton formally denounced Internet censorship in a speech. White House Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair said Wednesday that the attacks on Google were a wake-up call and that the U.S. is severely under threat of greater cyberattacks. Blair detailed a laundry list of adversaries on the cyberwarfare front, including other nations, terrorist networks, and organized crime groups, all of whom have the knowledge and means to attack U.S. networks to disrupt operations and steal sensitive information. Those comments came after a recent McAfee report found that critical infrastructure networks around the world were subject to repeated cyberattacks from foreign governments and other high-level adversaries that could lead to down time costs of more than $6 million per day.

With the S&P 500 tanking, we decided to pull up the 20 biggest losers so far based on percentages. Here they are below:

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• The Bears Showed The Markets Who’s Boss This Week As Stocks Continue To Fall
• MARKETS IN FREEFALL
• Whoops: Stocks Now 20%+ Overvalued

Areview.co.cc: Sportska verzija novog Citroena DS3 će svoju zvaničnu premijeru imati početkom marta i to na Salonu automobila u Ženevi, mada je francuska fabrika ovaj model odabranom krugu ljudi nedavno već pokazala na zatvorenoj prezentaciji. Par slika sa tog događaja je pre nekoliko dana ipak nekako dospelo u javnost, a one pokazuju novi DS3 Racing u crno-narandžastoj kombinaciji (u istoj kombinaciji su i točkovi od 18 inča) i aero body paketom (spojleri, pragovi, proširenja blatobrana). U međuvremenu su procureli novi podaci o njegovom 1.6 THP turbo benzinskom motoru sa 147kW/210 pri 5800 o/min.(što je više od Renault Clia RS, Minija Cooper S i Opelove Corse OPC) i 275 Nm obrtnog momenta (u rasponu od 2500 do 4000 o/min.). To je dovoljno da 1165 kg težak DS3 Racing od 0-100 km/h ubrza za 6,8 sekundi i postigne najveću brzinu od 231 km/h. DS3 Racing je inače dugačak 3937 mm, širok 1737 mm, visok 1451 mm, međuosovinsko rastojanje iznosi 2460 mm, zapremina prtljažnika je 280 litara, rezervoar za gorivo ima 50 litara, a gume su Michelin Pilot Sport 2 (205/40 R18). Potrošnja još nije poznata a emisija CO2 iznosi 155 grama po kilometru. Deo Racing paketa kod DS3 biće i trkačka sedišta, novi sportski izduvni sistem i niže ogibljenje. Prodaja DS3 Racinga treba da startuje u septembru ove godine a po nezvaničnim informacijama, proizvodiće se u limitiranoj seriji od 1000 komada godišnje. Ranije objavljene slike (sa pomenute prezentacije) Posted by: Mfarhanonline

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Yes, Art Scatter looks different this morning than it did yesterday.

Since those ancient days almost two years ago when we began, we’ve been working on a design template called artsemerging, by Nathaniel Stern. But lately we’ve been thinking we want to shake things up. So we’ve been looking at some alternatives.

The design you see today is called veryplaintext 3.0, and it’s created by Scott Allan Wallick.

In the next couple of days we’ll switch to a pair of other formats that have caught our eye:

Copyblogger, designed by Chris Pearson.

Modern, designed by Ulf Petterson.

Serendipitously, this very morning we saw this statement by landscape designer Steve Straub, quoted by our old friend Kym Pokorny in The Oregonian’s HGNW: “There are two elements of design. Making it look right and making it work right.”

Bearing that in mind, we’re asking all of you to help us out. Take a look as the format changes over the next three days. Tell us what you like and what you don’t like. We’re in a muddle. Lots of new clothes in the shop, and we can’t quite decide. So, please, hit that comment button and let us know what you think. Does this design make us look fat?

Friends, Romans and Scatterers, lend us your eyes.

Twenty-year-old songbird Taylor Swift may have taken home four trophies at last weekend’s 52nd Grammy Awards, but the starlet’s less than impressive Grammy Night duet with rock legend Stevie Nicks has been the subject of many a biting remark on the blogosphere.

The New York Times called Swift “painfully out of tune” and The San Diego Union-Tribune quipped that “her karaoke-level singing made a good argument in favor of using Auto-Tune.”

Now the head of Taylor’s label is coming to Blondie’s rescue.

“This is not American Idol. This is not a competition of getting up and seeing who can sing the highest note,” Big Machine Records CEO Scott Borchetta told The Associated Press in a telephone interview on Wednesday. “She is the voice of this generation. She speaks directly to (her fans), and they speak directly back to her. This is not American Idol,” he added. “This is not a competition of getting up and seeing who can sing the highest note. This is about a true artist and writer and communicator. It’s not about that technically perfect performance.”

You gotta love snarky legal filings. We’ve already covered the ongoing saga between the clothing company behind The North Face and a teenager who started a parody line of clothing called The South Butt (short version, TNF got mad and despite lots of public outcry in favor of TSB, TNF’s parent company sued). You already knew that the folks behind The South Butt wouldn’t necessarily respond in a conventional manner. They had already set up a Facebook app to see if people could tell the difference between a face and a butt.

But reader Dez points us to the news that the South Butt folks have filed their response and it’s well worth reading in its entirety:

The response is definitely snarky in tone. It talks up the “cherubic” teenager “Jimmy” behind the site (and includes a photo of him for good measure) who it compares to Mad Magazine’s Alfred E. Newman mixed with “Skippy the Punk” and notes that despite being 19-years-old, he “looks 14” and “acts 12.” It mocks the claim of “piracy” wondering what parody clothing has to do with “high crime on the high seas, perhaps the South Seas, as contrasted with its oft explored polar opposite.” It goes on to deny or affirm the various claims made against The South Butt, and does so mockingly at times. But my favorite may be:

The “half ass” design portion of The South Butt logo is comprised of two stripes curved in a butt-like fashion upward from the left side of the “The South Butt” text, while the “half dome” design mark of the North Face is comprised of three thinner lines curved downward from the right side of the text “The North Face.”

I’m not sure how the judge will take the filing, but it’s definitely amusing. Either way, it still amazes me that The North Face thought that filing this lawsuit made any sense at all. Someone got bad advice.

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On ne parle que d’elles ces jours-ci; les petites premium. La Citroen DS3 n’est pas en reste de ses copines, puisque voici qu’on reparle de sa version « méchante », la Racing. Quant-au cabriolet, ce n’est pour l’instant qu’une rumeur, mais insistante et qui fait sens…

Fiat 500 Abarth, Mini Cooper S, Alfa MiTo QV et peut-être un jour GTA, Audi S1 dans les tuyaux… Citroen ne sera pas en reste avec sa DS3. Déjà elle aussi dans les tuyaux depuis quelques temps, alors qu’on pensait qu’il n’y aurait qu’un GT de 180cv, ce sont finalement 2 DS3 sportives qui se préparent; la GT et la Racing. On reste en attente pour la GT, mais les choses se précisent sérieusement pour la Racing…

DS3 Racing: Au menu, une carrosserie revue, du carbone de ci de là, des jantes de 17 en série, ou de 18 en option, mais surtout le 1.6 THP en version 200cv. et 275 Nm. à 2500 tours, associé à une boite manuelle 6 rapports, pour s’attaquer aux futures S1 et autres Clio RS. Côté chassis, abaissement de 15 mm. et voies élargies de 30 mm.

-Outre les aménagements de chassis, l’amortissement est revu (combinés ressorts/amortisseurs BOS), comme le freinage, avec des disques majorés et étriers 4 pistons à l’avant. La direction est revue pour un meilleur feeling, et l’ESP est déconnectable, comme il se doit (ou plutôt comme il se devrait chez d’autres…).

-Pas encore de photos de l’intérieur, mais la voiture, basée sur la finition Sport Chic, la plus élevée de la gamme DS3, recevra divers inserts en carbone, un bandeau de tableau de bord bleu ou orange, des habillages tissus spécifiques et une plaque numérotée alu. Pas plus de détails pour l’instant.

-Côté performances: 0/100 en 6,8 secondes, kilomètre DA en 26,9 secondes, vitesse maxi de 230 km/h., tout ça pour un poids total à peine supérieur à 1150 kilogrammes… Les émissions de CO² devraient être contenues entre 150 et 160g. par kilomètre. Les tableaux ci-dessous comprennent les caractéristiques & perfs de la THP 150 colonne de gauche et de la Racing colonne de droite:

La DS3 Racing servira de base à la nouvelle monture de Citroen en WRC, qui remplacera la C4 à compter de la saison 2011, la DS3 WRC. Et pour profiter de l’image de ces succès en rallye, une DS3 Racing c’est tout de même plus sérieux qu’une série spéciale Loeb avec trois autocollants et un moteur de 100cv…

La DS3 Racing sera présentée à Genève en mars et commercialisée en série limitée à 1000 exemplaires par an à compter de septembre 2010 au prix approximatif de 26000€. Quant-à la GT, on l’attend pour la fin de l’année également.

Autre grande nouvelle, encore à confirmer, mais logique, l’arrivée en 2011 d’un cabriolet DS3 qui viendrait remplacer la C3 Pluriel. La nouvelle petite star aux chevrons n’a donc apparemment pas fini de faire parler d’elle !…

As the hybrid vehicles gain more and more importance these days, many companies evaluate the option of introducing them in their vehicle line-up. Toyota’s North American sub-brand Scion has decided that hybrids would perfectly suit its clients’ profile but would exceed their financial possibilities, as Ward’s Auto reports.

Youth seem to be very, very cognizant of their environment and the footprint they’re leaving, Jack Hollis, vice president-Scion, Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. told Ward’s … (read more)

Citizen of Mexico sentenced for role in federal sex trafficking conspiracy

ATLANTA, GA — MIGUEL RUGERIO, 28, a Mexican national, was sentenced to federal prison today by United States District Judge Clarence Cooper on charges of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and related immigration offenses, and of transporting one of the victims of the conspiracy, a young Mexican woman identified as “N.M.,” in interstate and foreign commerce for purposes of prostitution.

Acting United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said of today’s sentencing, “This defendant lured young women from Mexico with the promise of money and legitimate jobs and then forced them into prostitution and repulsive living conditions. He is now going to federal prison for five years and then will be expelled from the United States.”

In Washington, D.C., Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, said, “This defendant deprived vulnerable victims of their freedom, their dignity and their civil rights. Today’s sentencing should send a clear message to would-be perpetrators that human trafficking will not be tolerated in the United States.”

“Few crimes are more repugnant than sex trafficking helpless and innocent victims,” said Kenneth Smith, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Immigration and Customs (ICE) Enforcement Office of Investigations in Atlanta.

“This sentencing is gratifying given the horrible conditions the victims in this case were forced to endure. While we can’t erase the suffering these women experienced, by aggressively investigating and prosecuting these cases, ICE and its law enforcement partners are sending a powerful warning about the consequences facing those responsible for such schemes.”

FBI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Greg Jones said, “Today’s sentencing of Mr. Rugerio provides further opportunities for law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, as well as the many and varied victim assistance based agencies, to highlight the growing crime problem known as human trafficking.

Mr. Rugerio will now have five years in federal prison to consider the exploitation and victimization of those that he brought in to the U.S. under false pretenses for purposes of prostitution.”

RUGERIO was sentenced to five years in federal prison.

There is no parole in the federal system. At the conclusion of his sentence, he is expected to be removed from the United States. He pleaded guilty to the charges on October 28, 2009.

According to Acting United States Attorney Yates, the indictment, and information presented in court: RUGERIO admitted in his plea that from July 2006 to August 2008, he conspired with others to use force, fraud and coercion to cause approximately five female victims to come to the Atlanta area from Mexico and to engage in prostitution for the financial benefit of the members of the alleged conspiracy.

RUGERIO further admitted to transporting a victim to states outside of Georgia, including Alabama and Florida to engage her in prostitution.

RUGERIO used false promises of better lives and marriage to lure young, impoverished Mexican women to come to the United States, knowing that he would cause the victims to engage in prostitution upon their arrival.

RUGERIO required his victims to engage in commercial sex with many men per night, seven days a week.

This case resulted from a joint investigation conducted by ICE and the FBI.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Moultrie, Jr., and Trial Attorney Karima Maloney of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.

For further information please contact Sally Quillian Yates, Acting United States Attorney, or Charysse L. Alexander, Executive Assistant United States Attorney, through Patrick Crosby, Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Attorney’s Office, at (404) 581-6016.

The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is usdoj.gov/usao/gan.

Sadly, the women’s health and rights community lost a courageous, loving advocate. Susan Hill, a women’s clinic owner and reproductive rights advocate, died today. Hill was the President and CEO of the National Women’s Health Organization in North Carolina. From the web site of the National Organization of Women:

"She went on to open the first abortion clinic in the state of Florida
and was a founding member of both the National Abortion Federation and
the National Coalition of Abortion Providers."

In fact, at one time, Susan Hill owned five health centers around the country, including the now famous Jackson Women’s Health Center – the last remaining health center providing abortions in Mississippi. For this, she was targeted mercilessly and violently by anti-choice activists.  In fact, in October 2009 RH Reality Check contributor Carol Joffe wrote about Hill’s mission to share the anti-choice movement’s latest strategies against women’s health centers: suing the cities in which the centers reside, along with the police chiefs in these regions often times. Hill was particularly afraid, Joffe wrote, because simultaneously, violence against clinics and staff at clinics seemed to be escalating in the wake of Dr. Tiller’s murder:

“In the old days, at least we knew what they were up to. If they were
blockading us or firebombing us, we knew it. This is more insidious,
more like a stealth strategy. And it is making life a living hell for
the providers.” 

Hill was close friends with Dr. Tiller and remained extremely active working on behalf of clinic owners continually harrassed by anti-choice protestors:

Hill served as plaintiff in over 30 federal and state lawsuits concerning abortion rights, and was a key plaintiff in the NOW v. Scheidler case that charged abortion opponents with using violence, intimidation and extortion to put women’s clinics out of business. 

In an article on Salon’s Broadsheet right after Dr. Tiller was murdered, Hill expressed a realistic sadness about where women who needed later term abortions would end up with Dr. Tiller gone:

Hill last spoke to Dr. Tiller two weeks ago, not long after the Women’s Health Center was vandalized,
and she asked the 67-year-old why he didn’t retire in the face of
increasing harassment, after already having been shot in both arms and
seen his clinic bombed. "Because I can’t leave these women," he told
her. "Those are the words I’m always going to remember from him. He
just believed that when he left, they wouldn’t get any kind of care."
Unfortunately, it seems he may have been right. I asked Hill where
women who need late-term abortions can go now, and her response was
bleak. "There’s Warren Hern,
out in Boulder, Colorado, but he doesn’t go as far as Dr. Tiller went."
When it comes to those "really tragic cases," Hill said the harsh truth
is, "We don’t know where we’re going to send them."

Despite anti-choice activists "praying for her death" in the weeks following Dr. Tiller’s murder, Susan Hill’s dedication to ensuring women’s access to abortion services and the rights of all women to access safe and legal reproductive care never dampened. In March 2009, the Southern Oral History Program recorded a series of interviews with Susan Hill on choice, her life and abortion access. Gratefully, Hill’s words and her legacy of courage and devotion to women’s health live on. 

We’ve been talking about sovereign debt for a long time now, but it feels like we’re tipping over today, and that the very real matter of countries defaulting on their debt is starting to get serious attention.

So as a quick review, let’s run through the countries with the 15 most costly credit default swaps.

(For a quick refresher: If a country’s CDS spread is 500 bps, then you’re paying 5% premiums to insure your debt. Or to put it another way, if you have $1 million in debt, you can insure it for $50,000)

See the countries with the most risk ->

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See Also:

• EU Privately Freaking Out About Greece And The PIIGS Breaking Apart The Union
• By Standing Behind Greece, Europe Just Made Portugal The New Sacrificial PIIG
• RBS: There’s No Double Dip, Payrolls Are About To Rise, And A Fed Rate Hike Is Coming In Five Months

It’s official — and ahead of schedule. The Symbian mobile operating system is now completely open source. The Symbian Foundation on Thursday released Symbian 3, the latest version of the platform.

With the open-sourcing of Symbian, along with Google’s Android operating system, the mobile world continues forging an open strategy that invites handset makers to further customize and differentiate their products.

“Open-sourcing a market-leading product in a dynamic, growing business sector is unprecedented,” said Haydn Shaughnessy, CEO of Cogenuity and editor of the Symbian Foundation’s blog. “Over 330 million Symbian devices have been shipped worldwide, and it is likely that a further 100 million will ship in 2010, with more than 200 million expected to ship annually from 2011 onwards.”

Is the Future Open Source?

Symbian’s transition from proprietary platform to open source is the largest in software history. The Symbian Foundation insists the open-sourcing of the platform lays the foundation for unlimited innovations in mobile development.

“The development community is now empowered to shape the future of the mobile industry, and rapid innovation on a global scale will be the result,” said Lee Williams, executive director of the foundation. “When the Symbian Foundation was created, we set the target of completing the open-source release of the platform by mid-2010, and it’s because of the extraordinary commitment and dedication from our staff and our member companies that we’ve reached it well ahead of schedule.”

Under terms of the Eclipse Public License, any individual or organization can use and modify the code for any purpose, whether that be for a mobile device or something else entirely. Symbian’s commitment to openness also includes complete transparency in future plans, including the publication of the platform road map and planned features up to and including 2011. Anyone can now influence the road map and contribute new features.

“It’s increasingly important for…

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Filed under: Hardware, Apple, iPhone

Apple has reportedly signed up with a new manufacturer in China to help produce the next generation of the iPhone — Pegatron will be joining Foxconn in putting together parts for Apple’s next handheld unit, we hear courtesy of the always talkative “industry sources.” The company has been rumored to be working with Apple before, when it was suggested that they’d be working on a smaller version of the iPhone designed to work on Verizon’s CDMA network. Officially, Pegatron hasn’t confirmed any agreement with Apple, but they have said that they plan to substantially increase their output in 2010.

And this might just be part of a good 2010 for Pegatron — the company is also working on parts for Microsoft’s Natal controller, rumored to be releasing this coming holiday season. As for what they’ll be making for Apple, we’ll have to wait and see what gets announced. It’s almost a certainty that we’ll see a new iPhone model sometime this year, but as to what that model will do (and whether it’ll be CDMA enabled or otherwise), it’s all just rumors so far.

[via Apple Insider]

TUAWReport: Apple signs new iPhone manufacturer, rumored to work on CDMA iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Multimedia, Video, iPhone

Well, that took a while. AppleInsider is reporting that AT&T has now agreed to let SlingPlayer for iPhone [US$30, iTunes link] stream over the 3G network.

When the app was released last May, there was great moaning that the SlingPlayer Mobile app only worked on a Wi-Fi connection. That was in contrast to other versions of the Sling app running on other phones like the BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and some Palm devices — all of which were allowed on the AT&T network.

AT&T now says they have worked with the Sling Media developers, and found ways to reduce the bandwidth footprint. Getting it all up and running will require a new version of the Sling App, which should appear shortly. The app will be a free upgrade for current owners. The posted version was released in August of last year.

A source at Sling Media told me this morning they were glad AT&T “finally saw the light.” We’ll keep you posted on developments, and we’ll test the new app when it’s online.

TUAWSlingplayer Mobile will finally be working on the AT&T 3G network originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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