Category: News

Almost all of us who drink will fight the beast that is the hangover at some point — some of us more often than not. A pounding headache, churning stomach, and extreme thirst are the last things we want to feel in the morning after a crazy night out, but many swear by their own cures as they stumble through life, weekend after weekend. From the basic (crackers and water) to the crazy (drinking even more), we’ve sifted through all kinds of “cures.” Most of what’s out there may be completely bogus, but these are the 15 greatest foods for when you’re hungover that will make a difference.



Breakfast Sandwich

Image Source

The breakfast sandwich is a classic hangover food, whether your favorite is an egg McMuffin, a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit or even something homemade. There’s little to no work on your part — this grease bomb will ease your suffering. It covers the carbs and protein needed to clear your head and get back to work.



Pho

Image Source

While pho (pronounced “fuh”) may not be the first thing that comes to mind when considering how to cure a miserable hangover, this Vietnamese noodle soup does wonders. The broth in pho is a constant, but there are many choices available on the meat front, though sliced rare beef and chicken are surefire, tasty choices. The winning key to pho is the broth though — it helps replace the salt and potassium your body loses by the boatload when you drink.



Macaroni and Cheese

Image Source

There’s nothing like the warmth of good comfort food, and macaroni and cheese really hits the spot when you’re hungover. It doesn’t matter if it’s from Kraft in a box or if it’s that recipe your mom sent you, macaroni and cheese is a great option. The noodles allow easy digestion and provide plenty of carbs, while the cheese gives a decent amount of protein to help your body repair all the damage you caused.



Pizza

Image Source

Pizza is another classic hangover food for those that swear by the greasy cures. It’s also one of the few hangover foods that’s likely to already be on your table when you wake up. Carbs are in no short supply with pizza, though things like macaroni and cheese will give you more — but pepperoni will boost that protein and even add to the grease factor. Pizza is easy and cheap to come by — cue the stampede of college students — so we don’t see it losing its popularity amongst other hangover foods any time soon.



Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

Image Source

Yes, it’s a simple solution, but sometimes simple is all you need. This little sandwich is a concoction of some powerhouse hangover fighters — peanut butter for protein, bread for carbs, and jelly for sugars. It’s easy on the stomach, kind to the taste buds, and extremely quick to prepare. On whole wheat, it also has the “healthy” effect on your already guilty conscience.



Full English Breakfast

Image Source

Enjoying a full English breakfast, if you have the time, is highly recommended when hungover (and even when you’re not). Breakfast sandwiches are a quick solution, but the full English breakfast will cover all your bases, and then some. A full English breakfast traditionally consists of: Bacon, eggs, fried or grilled tomatoes, fried mushrooms, fried bread or toast and sausages,  black pudding, fried potato cakes, and is usually served with a mug of tea. Granted, this may not be the easiest thing to come by if you’re outside the UK and not in a big city elsewhere, but if it’s available it’s a good choice.



Bananas

Image Source

Yes, really. Bananas are like nature’s own little hangover cures. Not only are bananas full of fructose (natural fruit sugar), to help with energy, they contain a nice amount of potassium. See, when you drink excessively, potassium is one of those minerals that gets depleted. Bananas are also natural antacids — which will help your nausea and stomach pain — and they also contain magnesium, which helps to relax pounding blood vessels in your head. Don’t be afraid to go the sandwich route either — peanut butter and bread only help.



Crackers

Image Source

Though not the most flavorful food of the bunch, crackers can be a life saver to those folks who are so bad off that they’re unable to keep anything down. Crackers are mostly carbs — with a teensy bit of protein — and will help to calm a rowdy bout of nausea while offering some form of sustenance. It’s great to pair saltine crackers with some ginger ale or other carbonated, caffeinated beverage to both ease nausea and help with that hangover headache.



Bacon

Image Source

We love to love bacon, and the Internet has pretty much gone bonkers over these slices of pork — now we have yet another reason to sing its praises. Bacon has been, yes, proven to help fight hangovers. Not only is bacon packed with proteins that break down into amino acids your body needs to recover, but the high amount of aminos contained aids in clearing your head altogether. So go ahead, make that bacon sandwich you’ve always dreamt of. It’s one case where it’s absolutely healthy to do so.



Bagel with Cream Cheese and Lox

Image Source

A warm, toasted bagel is appealing enough to the severely hungover, but add cream cheese and lox — you’ve got a winning combo. The bagel clearly satisfies the need for carbs, but the cream cheese and lox (cured salmon fillet) give a vital protein boost. If you’re not into salmon, or if your stomach can’t handle the fishy smell, then simply leave it out — the cream cheese can hold it’s own.



Chinese Take-Out

Image Source

Tried and true, any kind of Chinese take-out is usually a favorite amongst boozers. Opening up a box of Chinese take-out would reveal anything from rice or noodles to a variety of chicken, beef, pork or shrimp in greasy glory. Both rice and noodles help kick start the metabolism into gear, speeding up the digestion of that evil alcohol, while chicken, beef, pork and shrimp all contain the protein any hungover body craves.



Biscuits and Gravy

Image Source

Biscuits and gravy is another comfort food that serves as an amazing counterpart to a hangover. Again, carbs come to the rescue here — biscuits have a decent amount. The sausage gravy provides a tiny bit of protein, but loads on the fat that many find helpful in curing hangovers. It’s a heavy dish, so be wary if your stomach is feeling queasy.



Cheeseburger

Image Source

Cheeseburgers are a common choice when asking for favorite hangover foods, but the McDonald’s Double Cheeseburger — and many other varieties — seem to win (just ask for a Drunk Special). Though the buns provide some carbs, we suspect that the greasiness (instead of the meat protein) is what does it for most people. They’re cheap and fast, so if you’re not queasy, a cheeseburger is the way to go.




Mexican Food

Image Source

Mexican food can be anything from Taco Bell and frozen burritos, to real Mexican food, like fresh Chicken Mole or Menudo. The key with Mexican food is that it’s dense, sometimes greasy, and packed with protein and carbs. While Taco Bell and frozen burritos seem to be the safer choices, if you’d rather fight evil with a greater evil, Menudo (tripe soup) will do just the trick.




Water

Image Source

Alright, so water isn’t exactly a food, but it is the thing you need when fighting a hangover. No matter what foods you choose to help combat your churning stomach and pounding head, water is still the ace in the hole. Drinking alcohol drains your body of all sorts of things, and that headache you’re feeling has a lot to do with a bad case of dehydration. So make it easier on yourself and drink water before you pass out, keep it next to your bed, and keep drinking it in the morning. If plain old water isn’t your thing, try some fortified water, like Vitamin Water or Gatorade. However you dress it up, the water is the key, so get drinking.


There’s one thing Democrats and Republicans can agree on: their hatred of Goldman Sachs.

That fact couldn’t have been clearer through the nearly 11 hours of testimony yesterday when a Senate subcommittee aggressively questioned past and present Goldman bankers. Senators from Carl Levin (D-MI) to Susan Collins (R-ME) to Claire McCaskill (D-MO) to John McCain (R-AZ) all angrily censured these executives for their role in the financial crisis. The hearing amounted to little more than a modern-day witch trial.

Did Goldman Sachs play a part in inflating the housing bubble? Absolutely. But so did JP Morgan, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Wells Fargo, Wachovia, and every other bank involved in the mortgage business. So did the rating agencies, foolish investors, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Congress, the Federal Reserve, the Treasury, the SEC, mortgage brokers, house flippers, and dozens of other actors. To be fair, some of those parties have been grilled by Congress as well, but none were the subject of a singular hearing lasting half a day that contained so much anger and even some vulgarity.

But maybe Goldman deserves it. They did, after all, come out a lot better than most banks, due to their earlier recognition of housing’s decline than their competitors. And then they continued to sell mortgage securities to investors who wanted them. That was the crime that was investigated for 11 hours. Yet, each and every other bank would have done the same. If you believe that a market is changing, you have a duty to protect your shareholders. You can’t do that without lessening your exposure to a shock. How do you lessen your exposure? By purchasing protection against it or selling your long position in assets that you believe will decline.

Anyone who purchased something from Goldman that went bad didn’t do so under any false premises, despite what the Senators believe. These were sophisticated investors who were provided ample information about the securities Goldman sold. By definition, if you’re selling something, that means you don’t want it. If you did, you’d keep it for yourself. For every security that Goldman sold because the bank believed its value would decline, there was an investor who bought it because they thought it wouldn’t. Good or bad, that’s the way the market works. This is the story of every stock or bond that’s sold every day.

Does Congress really fail to understand this? Perhaps. But it’s more likely that yesterday served as a rare opportunity to gather up some nice political capital. Main Street clearly has no love for Goldman Sachs, so that makes the bank an easy scapegoat.

The hearing might help fuel some more populist anger about the importance of financial reform. Quotations will almost certainly be used on the floor of Congress to argue for the need to crack down on Wall Street. But while it might have been politically convenient to use Goldman Sachs as a punching bag for 11 hours, nothing substantial was accomplished. Going into the hearing, we thought that Goldman Sachs consisted of a bunch of really smart guys who made winning bets about the housing market and made a lot of money. Coming out of the hearing, we believe the same thing. There were no “aha!” moments, no interesting facts uncovered, no sudden realization of how the financial crisis could have been avoided.

Some form of new financial regulation will eventually pass. Goldman will have to adjust. Congress may even be naïve enough to believe that its multi-billion dollar quarters and many million-dollar bonuses will be limited. But they won’t be. If there’s one thing that’s fairly certain, it’s that smart people will always find a way to work around the system and make a lot of money. And make no mistake: there are quite a few very smart people working at Goldman Sachs.

A landmark decision on the fate of America’s first offshore wind farm will be announced today. U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has scheduled a press conference for noon in Boston from Beacon Hill.

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick is an adamant supporter of the Cape Wind project and the announcement will be made from the Governor’s press office.

Salazar will announce whether or not final federal approval will be granted to Cape Wind. The battle over the company’s proposal to construct 130 turbines in the waters off Cape Cod has been nine years long. Dozens of public hearings, protests for and against, political wrangling and environmental concerns have combined to make the regulatory process slow and arduous.

“I think the decision is going to be very high stakes and significant either way,” said Mark Rodgers, spokesperson for Cape Wind. “If it’s favorable, it will be huge for Cape Wind. We’ll be the first off-shore wind project in country to get this federal permit.”

Rodgers believes a thumbs-down decision would lead to serious repercussions throughout America’s fledgling off-shore wind industry, scaring away investors and discouraging projects.

“A negative decision would have a really chilling effect,” said Rodgers. “It would make everybody think twice about whether they want to make significant investments in time and money.”

Proponents of Cape Wind say the project will create jobs and provide clean energy.

Opponents of Cape Wind have argued the environmental impact to Nantucket Sound would be too great, that migrating birds or the fragile marine eco-system could be harmed. Some have argued air and sea navigation would be affected. Others say the Cape’s thriving tourism industry would be stunted and that long-treasured ocean views would be destroyed.

Sailors, scientists, and nearby home owners have had their say. Local, state and federal authorities have weighed in. From the Coast Guard to the U.S. Energy Department to the Federal Aviation Administration and the Minerals Management Service, agencies focused on both land and sea, have filed hundreds of documents, reviewed thousands of pages and slowly moved the project forward.

Politically, Cape Wind has not been a project that divides along party lines.

The late Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, who’s Hyannis Port home overlooked Nantucket Sound, argued voraciously against the project prior to his death. Fellow Democrat, Senator John Kerry said he will support the project if it is approved by Salazar. Recently elected Republican Senator Scott Brown is opposed.

Even the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation weighed in on the hotly contested energy project earlier this month, arguing against Cape Wind, citing the Kennedy Compound as one of many historical properties that would be affected. In total, the ACHP claims 34 historic sites on Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Island will be adversely impacted.

Six Governors from nearby states fired back at the ACHP’s attempt to influence Salazar’s decision writing in a letter “we are troubled by the implications for all offshore wind” if council’s approach is adopted.

Signed by Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, Governor Jack Markell of Delaware, Governor David Paterson of New York, Governor Don Carcieri of Rhode Island, Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey and Governor Martin O’Malley of Maryland the letter to Secretary Salazar reads in part:

“Processes and standards must be transparent, predictable and applied fairly. Adopting the ACHP’s recommendation sets a much more strict standard for offshore wind project compared to other types of development, thwarting the compelling national priorities President Obama has set and you have embraced- lowing our greenhouse gas emissions and regaining economic leadership through the development of clean, renewable energy.”

Salazar’s decision is one being watched closely far beyond the borders of Massachusetts.

At the end of last month, Cape Wind announced the company had agreed to buy the 130 wind turbines needed for their project from Siemens. The global company installed the world’s first offshore wind farm in Denmark in 1991.

The ground work is underway and with approval Cape Wind hopes to be making energy by 2012.

“Our goal would be to begin construction by the end of this year,” said Rodgers.

European countries operate over a dozen offshore wind farms and China’s first goes online within weeks.

TomTom today previewed a new generation of navigation devices designed to offer real-time services to drivers. The first example of the new generation is the GO LIVE 1000, which uses an ARM 11 500 Mhz processor and comes with several new features, including the ability to run downloadable third party apps, IQ Routes™ which applies historical travel time data to calculate the fastest route and HD Traffic™ which gives accurate real time traffic information for all major and secondary roads. The unit’s software and service delivery platform have been optimised for rapid integration of third party applications and easy localisation to match the needs of specific markets or applications. The TomTom GO LIVE 1000 will be available mid year…
Continue Reading TomTom reveals nextgen GO LIVE 1000 Sat Nav with real time services

Tags: GPS,
Satellite Navigation,
TomTom

Related Articles:

• TomTom Start2 puts a savvy co-driver in your satnav
• TomTom simplifies user interface with the new GO 950 LIVE
• Cell phone traffic yielding real-time road traffic info
• TomTom unveils new car navigation products
• TomTom’s new flagship navigation device – the GO 920 T
• Homer Simpson tells you where to go

China’s oil demand is projected to grow by 80 percent between 2010 and 2030 due to its rapidly developing economy and in particular its growing middle class and exploding auto market.

CAP has a new map out showing where China is securing oil rights around the world.

China’s largest national, government-owned oil companies—CNPC, CNOOC, and Sinopec—have taken aggressive action over the last several years to secure oil abroad in an effort to cope with this growth and a looming global oil crunch. China’s recent overseas oil deals have the potential to deliver more than 7.8 billion barrels of oil to the country over the next several years.

This figure shows some of China’s largest, most recent oil deals, with a focus on 2009 and 2010 contracts. Highlighted among those are countries currently on the U.S. Department of State’s travel warning list for “dangerous or unstable” nations.

For more information, see:

• Quenching Our Thirst for Oil: Growing Global Oil Demand Harms U.S. Security and Economy

Citations

1. Bo Kong, “Appendix 3.1: Foreign Upstream Investment by Chinese Oil Companies, 1992-2007.” In China’s International Petroleum Policy (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC CLIO, 2010).

2. Monica Hatcher, “Oil sands sale brings more than expected,” Houston Chronicle, April 12, 2010, available at http://www.chron.com/ disp/ story.mpl/ business/ 6956022.html.

3. Suzanne Goldberg, “Canada looks to China to exploit oil sands rejected by US,” The Guardian, February 14, 2010, available at http://www.guardian.co.uk/ business/ 2010/ feb/ 14/ canada-china-investment-oil-sands.

4. Dan Molinski and John Lyons, “China’s $20 Billion Bolsters Chávez,” The Wall Street Journal, April 18, 2010, available at http://online.wsj.com/ article/ SB10001424052748703594404575191671972897694.html.

5. Will Grant, “China in huge Venezuela oil deal,” BBC News, September 17, 2009, available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8260200.stm.

6. ABC News, “Venezuela, China sign $US16b oil deal,” September 17, 2009, available at http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/17/2688335.htm (last accessed April 2010).

7. John Lyons, “Brazil Turns to China to Help Finance Oil Projects,” The Wall Street Journal, May 18, 2009, available at http://online.wsj.com/ article/ SB124259318084927919.html.

8. Jad Mouawad, “Deal for South American Oil Fields Extends China’s Global Quest for Energy,” The New York Times, March 14, 2010, available at http://www.nytimes.com/ 2010/ 03/ 15/ business/ global/ 15oil.html.

9. CNOOC Limited, “CNOOC Acquires 45 % Stake in OML 130 Offshore Nigeria,” Rigzone, January 9, 2006, available at http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=28369.

10. Yvonne Lee, “Sinopec to Acquire Angolan Oil Assets,” The Wall Street Journal, March 29, 2010, available at http://online.wsj.com/ article/ SB10001424052702303429804575149714050757630.html?mod=googlenews_ws.

11. Sameera Anand, “China’s CNOOC and Sinopec Pay $1.3 Billion for Angola Oil,” Bloomberg Businessweek, July 20, 2009, available at http://www.businessweek.com/ globalbiz/ content/ jul2009/ gb20090720_097528.htm.

12. V. Phani Kumar, “Cnooc, Sinopec shares up on Angola stake buy,” Market Watch, July 29, 2009, available at http://www.marketwatch.com/story/cnooc-sinopec-shares-up-on-angola-field-stake-buy (last accessed April 2010).

13. PBS NewsHour, “China-Sudan Trade Relations Complicate Darfur Crisis,” April 25, 2006, available at http://www.pbs.org/ newshour/ updates/ china-darfur_04-25-06.html.

14. Guy Chazan and Shai Oster, “Sinopec Pact For Addax Boosts China’s Buying Binge,” The Wall Street Journal, June 25, 2009, available at http://online.wsj.com/ article/ SB124584068908746803.html.

15. BBC News, “Iraq in third overseas oil deal,” November 5, 2009, available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8344067.stm.

16. BP, “BP and CNPC to Develop Iraq’s Super-Giant Rumaila Field,” Press release, November 3, 2009, available at http://www.bp.com/genericarticle.do?categoryId=2012968&contentId=7057650 (last accessed April 2010).

17. SOCO International, “Sinochem to Buy SOCO Yemen for $465M,” Rigzone, February 4, 2008, available at http://www.rigzone.com/NEWS/article.asp?a_id=56202.

18. The World Tribune, “Iraq awards China major oil deal near Iran border,” March 11, 2010, available at http://www.worldtribune.com/ worldtribune/ WTARC/ 2010/ me_oil0191_03_10.asp.

19. RIA Novosti, “Iran, China sign $1.76 bln contract to develop Iranian oil field,” January 15, 2009, available at http://en.rian.ru/ world/ 20090115/ 119506131.html.

20. David Barboza, “China Starts Investing Globally,” The New York Times, February 20, 2009, available at http://www.nytimes.com/ 2009/ 02/ 21/ business/ worldbusiness/ 21yuan.html?_r=1.

In The New York Times, University of Chicago economist Casey Mulligan offers some housing-market optimism:

Recent reports on housing starts, new home sales and housing prices show that the housing recovery continues….

Although the housing inventory exceeded the demand in 2007 and 2008, we have known for a while that the fundamental supply and demand ingredients would permit a genuine housing recovery to begin in 2009. As demand caught up, housing prices stopped falling and stabilized at more normal levels.

Although housing prices should not be expected to return to their 2005 peak any time soon, housing sector data released last week suggest that housing prices can head somewhat higher. Housing permits and housing starts have continued higher in the last couple of months. New home sales were higher in March than they had been for a while.

These seems overly sunny to me. First, the demand side of the equation. Massive governmental interventions underpinned much of the housing recovery in the past year, including the $12.6 billion in tax credits for home-buyers and the $1.1 trillion mortgage-backed securities buy-up program by the Federal Reserve. Economists have pooh-poohed the tax credits for simply providing a subsidy to people who would have bought a house anyway, but the Treasury says they might have accounted for up to a quarter of housing demand. And with those programs sunsetting — the Fed program last month, the tax credits at the end of the week — demand looks certain to fall, particularly since it will not be buoyed by declining joblessness or growing wages any time soon.

On the supply side of the equation, there were 930,000 houses in the foreclosure pipeline in the first quarter. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac own a further 500,000. (S&P says the shadow inventory of homes might take three years to clear.) On top of that, housing starts are rising.

I don’t consider it unlikely that the housing market might stabilize nationally. But, in many markets, the pressures to the downside remain extraordinary. And housing starts do not a real recovery make.

As we predicted in March, Microsoft has strong-armed HTC into signing a licensing agreement to pay Microsoft royalties for HTC’s Android phones.

The good news here is that an Apple-style lawsuit is unlikely now that HTC has agreed to cough up the money. The bad news is that we’ll all be paying Microsoft a bit for each HTC Android phone we buy.

This is the latest in a string of licensing agreements Microsoft has reached with companies that use Linux-based code, which Microsoft claims to hold patents on. Since no one to date has challenged Microsoft on these claims, it’s unclear whether they would hold up in court.

Might We Suggest…

• Will Microsoft Hold Android Hostage?
  Right now, we’re all worrying about Apple’s patent claims against HTC, but Android may face a similar attack from Microsoft.

  It’s not terribly well known that Microsoft claims that it owns signific…

WASHINGTON–President Obama is in Quincy, Ill. today to deliver a speech on Wall Street reform–where he will probably beat up Senate Republicans for blocking the Democratic financial reform bill. To push back, Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) who represents a neighboring district, will be part of a conference call to comment on Obama’s Illinois visit.

Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee on Wednesday released an Illinois-specific memo (click below) slamming the impact of Obama policies.

Below, release from the Republican National Committee….

JUST A GLIMPSE AT WHAT WHITE HOUSE TO MAIN STREET REALLY MEANS

JOB LOSSES
Since The Stimulus Was Passed, Over 187,000 Jobs Have Been Lost In Illinois. (U.S. Bureau Of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, Accessed 4/26/10)

Since The Stimulus Was Passed, Unemployment Has Increased By Over 32 Percent In Illinois, From 8.7 Percent To 11.5 Percent. (U.S. Bureau Of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, Accessed 4/26/10)

WASTE, FRAUD AND ABUSE
Cost-Of-Living Adjustments Are Being Counted As Jobs In Illinois. “Hilary Freeman, vice president of quality and performance at the society, said 34 employees got cost-of-living adjustments from stimulus funds. But that’s been counted as 34 jobs created or saved.” (James Janega, “Billions In Stimulus Cash For Illinois, But Jobs Harder To Quantify,” The Chicago Tribune, 11/24/09)

Biden Held Chicago Factory Up As “Poster Child” For Green Stimulus Jobs, But Few Jobs Have Been Created. “Vice President Biden visited the factory in April, holding it up as a poster child for green jobs created by the $787 billion stimulus act. … But months after Serious Materials chief executive Kevin Surace planned to be churning out windows, the factory still has very few customers and has hired back fewer than 20 workers. In fact, Surace said the company is spending $100,000 a week just to keep the factory open.” (Kari Lydersen, “Stimulus Funds Yet To Open Many Windows,” The Washington Post, 10/18/09)

A HEALTH CARE AGENDA THAT WILL CRUSH ILLINOIS JOBS
Peoria Based Caterpillar Inc. Said Obama’s Bill Would Increase Their Costs By $100 Million In First Year, “Place [Them] At A Disadvantage Versus [Their] Global Competitors.” “Caterpillar Inc. said the health-care overhaul legislation being considered by the U.S. House would increase the company’s health-care costs by more than $100 million in the first year alone. … ‘We can ill-afford cost increases that place us at a disadvantage versus our global competitors,’ said the letter signed by Gregory Folley, vice president and chief human resources officer of Caterpillar. ‘We are disappointed that efforts at reform have not addressed the cost concerns we’ve raised throughout the year.’” (“Caterpillar: Health Care Bill Would Cost It $100M,” Dow Jones Newswires, 3/19/10)

Chicago Based Exelon Corp. Expects $65 Million Hit In Q1 As A Result Of Obama’s Government-Run Health Care Experiment. “Exelon Corp., the largest operator of nuclear plants in the United States, expects a non-cash charge of about $65 million in the first quarter of 2010 due to the recently passed healthcare reform law. The reduced income tax deductions are also estimated to increase Exelon’s total annual income tax expense by about $10 million to $15 million, the company said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.” (“Exelon To Take $65M Hit From Healthcare Reform,” Reuters, 4/1/10)

Moline’s John Deere, Is Losing $150 Million This Year Because Of Dems’ Government-Run Health Care Law. “Deere & Company, Iowa’s largest manufacturing employer, said in a statement this morning that the recently-passed health care legislation will cost the company $150 million after tax this year… Golden said Deere and other companies warned congress in a letter last December that the imposition of a tax on the prescription costs would force publicly-traded corporations like Deere to publicly account for the extra costs. Deere said the impact of the legislation had not been included in its forecast for a profit of $1.3 billion for this year…” (Dan Piller, “Deere Says Health Care Bill Will Cost It $150 Million,” The Des Moines Register’s “Green Fields” Blog, 3/25/10)

“Instead of travelling half way across the country on a ‘Main Street’ tour, maybe the President should have stayed home and thought about some new initiatives to get Americans back to work instead of the same old tax and spend policies that Americans reject.” – Ryan Tronovitch, RNC Spokesman

Ana Caistor Arendar visits the Corail re-settlement camp just outside Port au Prince, where Oxfam’s water and sanitation programme is providing essential services to thousands of people.

Carlos Mansilla and a camp resident using Oxfam water facilities at Corail resettlement camp, Port au Prince. Photo: Ana Caistor Arendar

The humidity in Haiti is intense. Along with the gathering clouds, it signals the coming storms as the rainy season begins in earnest here. It’s really difficult to know exactly how many people have been left homeless by the 12 January earthquake – there is an official figure of 1.3 million but unofficially people think as many as 2 million people might be living in settlements in and around the capital, Port au Prince. For these people the rain means added misery as the fear of landslides and flooding in the camps threatens to cause even greater suffering and loss of life.

A few weeks ago the government identified a temporary relocation site for those most vulnerable to the rain in the settlement camps. The site is a dusty, desert-like plain about 40 minutes drive from the capital city. Last week people began to be relocated there. The camp now houses 5,000 people.

I went to the site on Friday. Rows of white tents are lined up in blocks, with people beginning to personalise what have become their new temporary homes by hanging colourful patterned materials from the tents and sticking leafed branches into the dusty gravel to add some greenery amidst the dust.

Aimee Ansari, Policy, Advocacy and Communications Manager, and a camp resident hold an Oxfam bucket with water at Corail resettlement camp in Port-au-Prince. Photo: Ana Caistor Arendar

Oxfam had been given just one week to prepare the site for the new residents by equipping it with latrines, showers and drinking water. All are now operational and providing the essential services needed for the camp to function. Oxfam has also set up a free telephone helpline for those living in the camps, through which they can report any faults with the services and provide any feedback.

As we were walking through the camp, a little girl no older than four came up behind me, put her arms around my waist and grabbed onto my hand tightly. She held on to me while we toured the camp. As we left I was told that young girls often cling on to female visitors in this way, these usually being the girls who lost their mothers in the earthquake.

As we drove back through Port au Prince there were signs throughout the streets of how economic activity has begun to spring back into life. The pavements are lined with makeshift vending stalls, as people lay out any goods they have to sell to generate some form of income. You can find anything here, from clothes and shoes to car parts and bits of scrap metal. Most striking are the hundreds of paintings on sale by local artists – depictions of romantic coastal landscapes painted before the earthquake are exhibited alongside a growing number of fresh paintings of houses crumbling into the ground.

Oxfam has begun working with a group of local artists in one of the biggest camps, the Golf Course, where up to 25,000 sleep (including Hollywood film star Sean Penn, who is managing the camp!). These artists work with a group of children in the camp, using art as a way of teaching them about public health and recycling issues. The children were also given a small canvas and invited to paint whatever they wanted. The overwhelming majority of the pictures they painted were of houses. One of the girls, Melissa, 11, explained that she had painted “an earthquake proof house” unlike the one she had lived in, which collapsed.

Where we work: Haiti

This is something that not many people have seen: A close up of the fiery engines of the Saturn V rocket starting up July 16, 1969. The eight apocalyptical minutes in HD are simply awesome. More »

It smashed Box Office records worldwide to become the highest grossing film in history, now James Cameron’s Avatar is setting new benchmarks in the Blu-ray market. Around 1.5 million Blu-ray discs were snapped-up on the first day of release in the U.S. – more than previous record holder The Dark Knight – and that’s just the 2D version, without special features. The Blu-ray release also triggered an avalanche of illegal downloads, with the sci-fi epic now well on its way to becoming the most pirated Blu-ray film ever.
..
Continue Reading Avatar sets two Blu-ray records: most illegal downloads, most bought discs

Tags: Avatar,
Blu-ray

Related Articles:

• Six-month anti-piracy strategy delays Dark Knight piracy for just 38 hours
• Batman Begins now available on Blu-ray
• The Godfather Collection gets release date for Blu-ray
• UK retailers create logo for promoting DRM free MP3s
• Windows 7 Release Candidate available to the public
• Sony PSX details revealed at CEATEC

Act One: Obama and the the Middle East

Cohen – Beating the Mideast’s Black Hole – NYTimes.com

…. That meeting concluded with Mitchell saying: “You asked if I think Netanyahu is serious. They ask the same question. You are an expert on Palestinian and Israeli politics. They are the same. But no one in the world knows American politics better than me, and this I will say. There has never been in the White House a president that is so committed on this issue, including Clinton who is a personal friend, and there will never be, at least not in the lifetime of anyone in this room.” …

Act Two: Obama: Transportation and transparency

In the Obama administration, there’s an official blog from the Department of Transportation with with a post about bike and pedestrian infrastructure highlighting a March 15 policy statement on bicycle and pedestrian accommodation:

… The establishment of well-connected walking and bicycling networks is an important component for livable communities, and their design should be a part of Federal-aid project developments. … transportation agencies should plan, fund, and implement improvements to their walking and bicycling networks, including linkages to transit…

… transportation agencies should give the same priority to walking and bicycling as is given to other transportation modes. Walking and bicycling should not be an afterthought in roadway design

… children should have safe and convenient options for walking or bicycling to school and parks..

… DOT encourages bicycle and pedestrian accommodation on bridge projects including facilities on limited-access bridges with connections to streets or paths… 

..Current maintenance provisions require pedestrian facilities built with Federal funds to be maintained in the same manner as other roadway assets. State Agencies have generally established levels of service on various routes especially as related to snow and ice events…

… The Secretary shall not approve any project or take any regulatory action under this title that will result in the severance of an existing major route or have significant adverse impact on the safety for nonmotorized transportation traffic and light motorcycles, unless such project or regulatory action provides for a reasonable alternate route or such a route exists.” 23 U.S.C. 109(m)….

There is a difference between Obama and the GOP alternative. A vast, huge, multifaceted, every day in every way difference.

Anyone who thinks otherwise is a willing servant of Rupert Murdoch, owner operator of the Wall Street Journal and Fox news.

Harbinger Capital partners has reportedly hired Sanjiv Ahuja, the former chief executive of Orange — the wireless unit of France Telecom — to run its proposed Long Term Evolution wireless network, according to the Wall Street Journal. Harbinger, a private equity firm, wants to construct a next generation wireless network using both satellite and terrestrial components. SkyTerra, a Harbinger portfolio company, would provide the satellites, but Harbinger still needs a partner or billions of dollars to build out the terrestrial network.

According to the WSJ, Harbinger is in talks with potential investors such as Qwest Communications International and SK Holdings, and is attempting to raise between $1 billion and $2 billion to fund the venture, but there have been disputes over how much equity each partner will get in the entity. Harbinger has spent four years and more than $2 billion on the venture so far, and wants to keep as large a stake as it can, the Journal said. But without backing from industry partners, it is unlikely that Harbinger’s ambitious project — estimated to require at least $6-billion — will get off the ground.

It’s not clear whether Qwest’s impending merger with CenturyLink would make it more or less likely to be a partner in the project. The deal creates a giant telecom company, but one without a wireless division to backstop its existing wired business. Getting access to wireless from Harbinger’s proposed LTE network would be one way of filling that gap, but CenturyLink’s CEO has said the company has no plans to get into wireless.

Harbinger has said that it plans to use its combined satellite and terrestrial network to offer wholesale wireless that telecom and cable companies can use to bolster their high-speed offerings in areas their existing networks don’t cover. In addition to the satellite network and all that entails, the plan would require a phone and data card that supported the service, as well as a terrestrial cellular network to handle the calls.

If Harbinger has hired Ahuja, a former IBM executive who ran the Orange mobile network from 2004 to 2007, it would help to show investors and potential partners that the venture has some operating experience at the helm. One of the biggest hurdles for Harbinger is the perception of satellite wireless as a money pit with a history of failure: the 1990s saw two companies — Iridium and GlobalStar — soak up billions of dollars trying to build satellite networks.

Post and thumbnail images courtesy of NASA

I am on record as saying that I think that the Constellation rocket program should be axed, and replaced with a system that is more cost-effective and less likely to run overbudget as Constellation has. President Obama’s speech recently made it clear that Constellation’s days are numbered, and that he is urging NASA to look into a better heavy-lift vehicle.

Not everyone agrees, of course. Jeff Hanley — the manager of the Constellation Program — has apparently sent out an email that is an attempt to save at least part of the current system. I have not seen this email, but it’s alleged to try to use Obama’s idea of continuing with the Orion space capsule concept to save even more of Constellation.

Obama wants NASA to keep developing the Orion capsule as a lifeboat for the space station (and, I assume, a crew capsule for future deep space missions). Of course, to test such a capsule it has to be lofted to orbit. How do you do that? This is where Hanley’s email comes in: the best way to get Orion into space is aboard the Ares 1 rocket, the first such vehicle to be built under Constellation.

As schemes go, that’s pretty clever. Hanley is leveraging Ares — which will be canceled under Obama’s plan — using Orion. In other words, the Ares 1 rockets will have to continue to be developed and built if we are to get Orion up and running. That way, even if Constellation is canceled, at least part of it will live on.

It may be clever, but is it wise? I’m not sure. The Ares 1 has been tested once, and a lot of folks outside of NASA took a very dim view of it… Buzz Aldrin essentially called it a fraud, saying it was nothing more than a dog-and-pony show by NASA to make it look like progress was being made, when in reality it was a failure. That doesn’t make me hopeful that Ares 1 is what we want to throw our support behind.

I’ve been pretty clear on this: Constellation is basically a good idea, but is off to such a rocky start that it may be best to stop throwing money at it. NASA needs to do these things, in this order:

1) Figure out what its Next Giant Leap is — asteroid rendezvous, Moon base, mission to Mars;

2) Figure out just what is needed to not only accomplish this goal, but to sustain it with an eye toward the next big goal;

3) Start cutting metal.

The problem, as usual, is in Step 2. Sure, that first step (ironically) is sometimes fuzzy and vague, but Obama laid out at least a place to start in his speech last month (even if I disagree strongly with him about the Moon). But politics, public relations, whatever — NASA always stumbles (with plenty of help from Congress) at that dreaded Step 2, drawing up plans that seem to over-reach and not be realistic in terms of budget, goals, and timelines. That’s why we have the Shuttle, the space station, and no future plans.

Before I get the usual anti-Obama comments, remember that it was the Bush Administration that called for the retiring of the Shuttle before we had a working follow-up vehicle. So no matter what we have to rely on other countries and private industry until we get that next-gen rocket. But what happens next is perhaps the most critical thing NASA has ever done since the Apollo program was first announced. Political maneuvering and white-elephant saving are the last thing NASA needs.

What NASA needs is a clear goal, a clear vision, and a clear way to make those happen.

Joseph says Time Warner Cable can’t get his service working again because it’s too difficult to access his house. He needs cooperation from a neighbor but can’t get it.

He writes:

Long story short I’ve had numerous issues with my cable for the last 3 years, and it has just keeps getting worse. Repairmen are here constantly, we’re on our 4th cable box. Most recently my box just turns off and on in a continuous cycle, the repair men that came to fix this issue told me that they had what they called a “Access Issue” and they need to go into my neighbors back yard, another house 3 doors down from my own to fix the problems.

I’ve spoken with my neighbor and he won’t let them in apparently he’s had issues with them before, and is just flat out refusing to let them in end of story. Time Warner has said they can’t do anything until they get into the yard but since that isn’t going to happen what can I do?

It’s really bugging me and I hate to cancel the cable as I work in media and kind of need it.

What should Jeff do?

At the Fiscal Summit in Washington DC, noted deficit scold Peter Peterson made something of a Kinsley gaffe: saying the truth in a way that sounds like a mistake. “We must unencumber ourselves of promises,” he said.

On Tuesday, Apple announced that late last month, they closed a deal to acquire Intrinsity — the Texas-based chip maker responsible for the A4 chip used in the iPad.

Word has it that Intirinsity cast the voodoo that allowed the A4 chip in the iPad to clock up to 1Ghz without destroying battery life.

This dark magic is obviously attractive to other mobile device manufacturers, so it makes business sense for Apple to acquire this company.

Having wizards like this working for Apple would obviously help Apple develop chips in the future, too, and also helps keep future hardware developments “in house” and under the watchful eye of The Apple Secret Police.

This isn’t the first time that Apple have purchased a chipmaker: Apple purchased PA Semi in 2008. And with rumours of Apple considering purchasing ARM, it probably won’t be their last.

A more detailed dissection of the issue is over at TechCrunch.

[via The New York Times]

The health-care reform bill signed by President Obama on March 23 continues to leave its (so far) modest imprint on corporate filings. A few of the sightings over the last week or so illustrates the wide range of responses by companies in different circumstances:

• Intuitive Surgical (ISRG), a surgical-equipment maker, warned in its April 20 10-Q filing that a 2.3% sales tax on medical devices in the legislation “does apply to all of the Company’s products and product candidates” and “may result in decreased profits to us, lower reimbursements by payors for our products, reduced medical procedure volumes, all of which may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations, possibly materially.”
• In the 10-Q Centene Corp. (CNC) filed on Tuesday, the company bemoaned the fact that the legislation would increase competition for the company: “Subject to limited exceptions by federally approved state applications, the federal government requires that there be choices for Medicaid recipients among managed care programs. Voluntary programs, increases in the number of competitors and mandated competition may limit our ability to increase our market share.”
• Several more companies disclosed the first-quarter impact of the health-reform law’s change to the tax treatment of federal subsidies under Medicare for companies that provide prescription benefits to retirees — an issue we looked at more closely in Footnoted Pro at the beginning of this month (that report is here for subscribers). Among them: Abbott Laboratories (ABT) said in the earnings release it filed April 21 that it would take a $53 million charge for the change — or 4 cents a share, less than the $115 million, or 7-cent-a-share, charge it took for the devaluation of the Venezuelan Bolivar. Other companies reporting charges included Kimberly-Clark (KMB) at $20 million; The New York Times (NYT) at $10.9 million; PepsiCo (PEP) at $40 million; Altria Group (MO) at $12 million; United States Steel (X) at $27 million; and Johnson Controls (JCI) at $18 million.
• By contrast, AMR Corp. (AMR), the parent of American Airlines, was more equivocal, concluding in the 10-Q it filed April 21 that “the extent of [the] impact, if any, cannot be determined until regulations are promulgated.” Among other uncertainties are rules that “include the elimination of lifetime limits on retiree medical coverage.” Like AT&T, the company warned that “the Company may consider plan amendments in future periods that may have accounting implications.”
• Then there’s Microsoft (MSFT), which spent 117 words in the 10-Q it filed April 22 to conclude that:

“We do not expect any short term impact on our financial results as a result of the legislation. One provision that will impact certain companies significantly is the elimination of the tax deductibility of the Medicare Part D subsidy. This provision does not affect us as we do not provide retiree health benefits.”

Image source: Andres Rueda via Flickr.

[JURIST] The UN Security Council on Tuesday unanimously approved Resolution 1918, calling on member states to criminalize piracy under their domestic laws and urging Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to consider an international tribunal for prosecuting piracy. In the resolution, the Security Council noted its previous resolutions regarding piracy, particularly piracy off the coast of Somalia, as well as the continuing security issues posed by piracy. The ineffectual nature of past resolutions, combined with the lack of action by the Somali government and the difficulties faced by Kenya, one of the few African nations to attempt to prosecute piracy, may have led to the inclusion of the request that the secretary-general investigate options for UN prosecution of piracy. Russia, a permanent member of the Security Council, had previously proposed that the UN establish a special court for Somali pirates. The resolution asks that the Secretary General’s report on prosecutorial options be completed within three months.
The Security Council resolution comes the same week the UN announced that a trust fund established to combat piracy will be funding five projects aimed at piracy committed in the waters around Somalia. The same day, unsealed indicments revealed that the US had filed charges against 11 Somali pirates in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Earlier this month, Kenya announced that it would no longer accept referred piracy cases, which have overburdened its judicial system, an announcement that may have spurred the Security Council to act. In January, the International Chamber of Commerce released a report indicating that maritime piracy had reached its highest levels since 2003.