Category: News

Boston GlobeHigh-tech's hand-me-downsBoston Globe… said Michael Raab, a cofounder of Agrivida, a Medford company that is developing crop varieties better suited for biofuel production. …and more »

Deccan HeraldIOC wants 50000 acres for biofuel cultivation in UPBusiness StandardThe new policy may consider financial incentives such as subsidies and grants for biofuel production. The policy also envisages setting up of a National …For greener bio…

By Mark Alexander, MD, associate in Cardiology

I was asked to write this post just before a 17-year-old hockey player died after a practice in Haverhill. While we don’t know exactly why this young man died, it’s indicative of a typical case of sudden cardiac arrest. He seemed healthy and vibrant and collapsed suddenly just after exercising.

In addition to the personal and community grief, this event focuses attention on the cardiac risks athletes (or any child) face, and whether more intensive screening can prevent these tragedies. The call for increased screening gained steam after the release of a recent study from Texas, in which high school athletes were screened with an electrocardiogram (ECG) using a specially designed laptop. Just under 10 percent were then referred for more formal testing, with 12 of the 2,100 disqualified from sports and another dozen identified as having potentially important cardiac conditions. The authors suggest that all athletes should be screened and that using the laptop technique the ECGs can be performed for a mere 50 cents.

So is wider – even mandatory – screening of athletes warranted?The answer is complicated, but the discussion shares themes that have been discussed in recent weeks related to breast cancer screening and how we organize health care. At the core of both issues is the question: How do you prevent a very low-risk but tragic event with tests that aren’t perfect?

1. Do we know what causes problems like this in young athletes?
   Fortunately, we have a very good sense of what causes sudden cardiac arrest in school-age children, and about half of at-risk children are identified early in childhood. Of those without a prior diagnosis, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, Long QT syndrome and coronary problems lead the list of hidden life-long diseases, along with acute heart infections. Not all of those children will have symptoms prior to a cardiac arrest. Asthma and other non-cardiac diseases can also lead to sudden death.

2. Do organized athletics increase risk of cardiac arrest in children more than active play, dancing or other activities?
   Many cardiac events, at every age, occur during exercise. At the same time, exercise has enormous long-term benefits that over years may actually decrease risk of coronary disease, hypertension, obesity and other long-term adult problems. In children and teens, we think that if exercise increases risk, that increase is quite small. Even for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the most common disease identified in the death of young athletes, most cardiac arrest occurs at rest and in non-athletes.
3. Do stimulants used for ADHD cause cardiac arrest?
   There is little doubt that overdoses of those medications can be dangerous. There are suggestions that in rare cases, normal doses increase the risk of sudden cardiac arrest in children, but at the same time, they may decrease the risk of car accidents in teenage drivers with ADHD (which are very common).
4. Is there something unique about the teenage athlete that makes them appropriate for extra testing?
   The death of an athlete almost always produces headlines in the local papers that make those deaths seem more common. The families of the dancer, violinist or video-gamer are just as devastated at the loss of their child, but those families typical share their grief in private. In Massachusetts, up to 70 percent of high school students participate in at least one sport, so screening athletes really means not screening 30 percent of the students. It’s very difficult to create a moral context in which we elevate any group for special care.
5. Does the ECG find things?
   Absolutely. ECG screening identifies important diseases on a regular basis. In the older teen, it’s pretty good at making us suspect hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, though in the younger child it may not find anything. ECGs aren’t always right, of course. They can neither identify all the patients nor all the diseases.
6. Would it only cost 50 cents to screen athletes? And if so, should we do it?
   If it sounds too good to be true it probably is. The Texas study calculated costs using donated computers, ECGs done for free by the school trainer, read for free by the authors and probably dramatically under-estimates the costs of a careful consultation. Commercial ECG screening companies typically charge about $50 paid by the parent with a reasonably prompt report and further testing determined by the primary care physician. While ECGs alone are relatively inexpensive, careful consultation regarding abnormal findings can take several visits and be expensive.
7. Aren’t my child’s physical and the forms I need for sports screening tests?
   Absolutely. The questionnaires ask important questions, not just about cardiac disease, but asthma, concussions and orthopedic concerns. When families and physicians pay attention to these issues during annual physicals, the primary care doctor can help get appropriate referrals or additional testing. For those children who have an important cardiac symptom or family history an ECG is almost always part of the evaluation.
8. I’m still worried.
   As parents, we worry, that’s part of our job. As a parent of three college students and a cardiologist taking care of survivors of cardiac arrest, though, I worry more about car accidents, depression and suicide, alcohol and drug abuse (and how those relate to car accidents). We know that cardiac arrest probably happens in only two to four children per year in Massachusetts, compared to 70 deaths from car accidents and 21 from suicide.
9. What if a family member had a cardiac arrest or unexplained drowning?
   Families who have experienced unexplained sudden cardiac arrest should start with getting evaluation of  those closest (parents and siblings) to the family member who died. That may involve evaluating the parents and siblings. Autopsy is reasonable for excluding many diagnoses, but can’t find the 10 to 20 percent of those caused by Long QT.
10. So should we be getting ECGs on all children?
    I don’t think so, at least not yet. No test is perfect at preventing rare events. Making the decision to add ECG screening for athletes, or all children (70,000 students/grade in Massachusetts) is complicated. Most of the children we are trying to identify will either have symptoms or an important family history that already deserves investigation.

Also read a story we did a few years ago about this topic in Children’s Pediatric Views publication.

I’ll go ahead and say it: the fact that this unnamed, mostly undetailed Sony Ericsson touchscreen/QWERTY handset is running Symbian S60 5th Edition rather than Android is a travesty.

We only know that it’s running 5th Edition because of the one leaked shot you see above — and outside of that, we dont know a whole lot. It’s obviously packin’ a touchscreen above a fairly monstrous QWERTY keyboard. As GSM Arena points out, this looks a whole lot like a previously leaked Sony Ericsson handset called the Kurara, which didn’t have a keyboard. What the Kurara does have, however, is an 8 megapixel camera and 600Mhz processor — so if Sony Ericsson’s going for the whole one-with-keyboard-one-without twinsies idea here, we can probably expect something similar from this unnamed piece of kit.

Update: According to SEMC, the handset we’re looking at is called the Kanna and features a 3.2″ 360×640 display, Wi-Fi, 8.1 megapixel camera, and shoots video in full 720p. They say it ought to be announced on February 14th at Mobile World Congress.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

University of Chicago paleontologist Paul Sereno and alumna Gabrielle Lyon, BA’94, MA’94, will accept Project Exploration’s Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Mentoring on Jan. 6 at a White House ceremony.

Sereno and Lyon co-founded the non-profit Project Exploration as a science education organization in 1999 to make science accessible to the public―particularly minority youth and girls―through personalized experiences with science and scientists.

Project Exploration provides a new model for seizing after-school, weekend and summer opportunities to engage young people’s sense of wonder and curiosity.

Activities include interaction and collaboration with scientists and hands-on experiences and fieldwork.

“By fostering and supporting long-term relationships with students, and targeting students who may not be academically successful, Project Exploration is working to change the face of science―one student at a time,” Lyon said.

Nearly 1000 Chicago Public School middle and high school students have participated in programs over the past nine years.

Project Exploration is among 22 organizations and individuals who will receive the Science Mentoring Award, which includes $10,000 to further advance their work.

“There is no higher calling than furthering the educational advancement of our nation’s young people and encouraging and inspiring our next generation of leaders,” President Obama said last July, when the award was announced.

“These awards represent a heartfelt salute of appreciation to a remarkable group of individuals who have devoted their lives and careers to helping others, and in doing so, have helped us all.”

The award recognizes the crucial role that mentoring plays in the academic and personal development of students studying science or engineering and who belong to minorities that are underrepresented in those fields.

Candidates for the Presidential Mentoring Award are nominated by colleagues, administrators and students from their home institutions.

The mentoring can involve students at any grade level, from elementary through graduate school.

Everyone has said that Apple’s next event will occur on Tuesday, January 26th. Now AllThingsD has gone on record correcting the world, saying the “major new product” will be announced on January 27th, at the Yerba Buena Center. [AllThingsD]

Filed under: Safety, Videos, Humor

Our friend Farmer Dave does some crazy stuff with airbags. You may recall that Dave likes to blow up airbags in refrigerators, and the devastation is pretty impressive. Either Dave got bored with blowing up safety devices in kitchen appliances or he was interested in a fresh challenge, because the good farmer’s latest video takes place on a very frozen pond with a passenger side Saturn airbag.

After the jump is 3:23 of pure safety dummy pyrotechnic bliss. Farmer Dave puts an airbag in a plastic bag, wires it up to a car battery and places it in the water where he cut out a chunk of the ice with a chainsaw. Since we’re showing you this video, you can probably guess that the airbag went off, but the damage to three inches of ice is pretty impressive. As a bonus, Dave stuck a second air bag in the water for a week in order to let the ice freeze over it. The carnage is far less impressive but still worth a look. Hit the jump to watch both videos and please try to remember that blowing up airbags is dangerous business better left to the Farmer Daves of the world.

[Source: YouTube]

Continue reading Video: Answering the eternal question – will an airbag go off in a frozen pond?

Video: Answering the eternal question – will an airbag go off in a frozen pond? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) said when it comes to smartphones, it will be on par with Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) and RIM (NSDQ: RIMM) by 2011, but hopefully it has more to do with innovation than winning legal battles.

Nokia has filed a third complaint, alleging that Apple’s infringing on several “implementation patents” that covers everything from camera sensors to touchscreens, reports Engadget. The complaint is the second one filed with the International Trade Commission. In the filing with ITC last week, Nokia alleged that “Apple infringes Nokia patents in virtually all of its mobile phones, portable music players, and computers.” Previously, Nokia sued Apple in federal court, as well.

In this complaint, Nokia asks the ITC to consider banning imports of Apple products, including the MacBook and iPhone. The U.S. International Trade Commission hears cases involving imports that allegedly infringe intellectual property rights, and then facilitates an international trading system.

Over Christmas, with little fanfare, two new approaches to climate legislation were introduced, perhaps in response to the possibility that Boxer-Kerry’s prospects are dimming. VentureBeat has a summary. The Kerry-Lieberman-Graham approach is just a “framework” and too vague for me to sink my teeth into. The Cantwell-Collins CLEAR act on the other hand is a real bill. Unlike the 1000-page ACES (Waxman-Markey), it’s just about cap & trade,  so it’s refreshingly brief – 39 pages. CLEAR sets targets,

Source: EPA & EIA STEO

As in Waxman-Markey and other bills, the target trajectory is  mostly linear. That actually doesn’t make much sense, because it implies a much greater proportional effort late in the game. Emissions reductions finish at >6%/year. If GDP growth is 3%/year, that implies a final intensity reduction rate of >9%/year, which is fairly delusional. Unlike Waxman-Markey, which is strictly linear, the first three years are flat, then there’s a race to the 2020 target. It’s good to harvest the low-hanging fruit quickly, but the 2015-2020 trajectory seems a little sporty.

The real emissions trajectory is unknown, because there’s a safety valve price ceiling and floor, initially set at 7 to 21 $/tonCO2eq, and rising at the real interest rate, plus and minus 0.5%, respectively. The resulting prices neatly bracket EPA’s expectations for Waxman-Markey without international offsets (Scn07 on graph):

Source: EPA W-M analysis.

CLEAR is upstream, covering fuels at the minemouth, wellhead, import terminal, etc. This strikes me as a big advantage administratively and improves coverage as well. Offsets, funded by a set-aside from auction revenues, play a much smaller role, which is OK, because with better coverage there won’t be as big a market. International offsets are also assumed to play a much smaller role (a few % of reductions, vs. roughly half of W-M reductions). That makes the true target trajectory much more aggressive, and raises expected permit prices a lot. Whether this is good or bad is ambiguous; one drawback is that there’s potentially less “carrot” for developing countries, and less funding for forestry.

Unlike Waxman-Markey, CLEAR allocates most (75%) permits to citizens as “shares”. That’s bad news for coal-fired electric utilities, but possibly good news for low income residents of coal-intensive areas. My guess is that the totally flat distribution of revenue would more than compensate for regional inequities for the bottom quintile, who would come out ahead. The remaining permits go to a “CERT” fund for worker, business, and community transitions, stranded assets, targeted relief for energy-intensive industries exporting to countries without emissions controls, R&D, offsets and other usual suspects. There’s room for a lot of good here, but also a lot of pork. I think it would make sense to partially phase out the fund in the future, as its revenues would likely rise beyond the need.

Like W-M, CLEAR includes a border adjustment (effectively a tariff on the embodied carbon content of imports). This, plus the potential trade measures in CERT, should make labor happy and infuriate WTO partners like China.

Strategically, CLEAR seems to leave more of the detailed design of the market and related mechanisms to the executive branch. I think that’s a good thing. It’s impossible to have a sensible debate about a piece of legislation the size of the Oxford dictionary. Add in the fact that this proposal is much closer to economic ideals for a cap & trade (upstream coverage, flat rebates, safety valves) and I’m liking this a lot better than ACES.

Long known for their obliterating power, black holes may also have been a creative force: New evidence suggests that they gave order to the chaotic mess produced by the Big Bang.

The jangle of ID tags on your pet’s collar may be a thing of the past thanks to an ingenious use of a simple computer gadget.

The PC Pet ID is a waterproof USB that plugs into your computer, allowing you to customize any information that you want known about your pet in case he or she gets lost, including contact address, vet information, special needs, and even pictures.

The case is waterproof and shock proof and attaches easily to a collar. If you’re not keen on the device being attached to your pet 24/7, consider using it just for vacation or if you’re leaving your pet with someone else while you’re gone for an extended period of time.

The ID tag is available at your local Petco for just under $20, or at Amazon for $17.99.

[image: petco.com]

Post from: Blisstree

Pet Collar ID Goes Hi-Tech

At the Geneva Motor Show this coming March, Audi will pull the curtain back to reveal its new A1 compact model. While Europeans will have the option of purchasing the car afterwards, Americans will have no such luxury as Audi of America President Johan de Nysschen feels the American market is not yet ripe for such a vehicle; he feels that that such a move will damage efforts to build brand recognition and compete head-to-head with BMW and Mercedes-Benz. After spending a week with the 2010 Audi S4, we can say with confidence that Audi is fast on its way to becoming a substantial player in the game that is currently dominated by BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

With the all-new 2010 S4 on the market, BMW faces serious competition for its 335i, long touted as the best high-performance sedan on the market. At egmCarTech, we have generally embraced the philosophy of ‘more horsepower, more cylinders’, but the S4 has certainly made us second guess ourselves. Ditching the 340-hp V8 of generations past, the ‘10 S4 has acquired a supercharged 3.0L TFSI engine which produces 333-hp. Don’t be fooled; the S4 is still as quick off the start and lightening fast as ever before. Make the jump to read our take on the new S4 and see how it stands in comparison to the 335i.

Follow the jump to read more and to view the high-res image gallery (at the bottom of the post).

Review: 2010 Audi S4:

2010 Audi S4 Specification:

Base Price: $45,900.
Price as Tested: $53,450.
Engine: 3.0 TSFI Supercharged V6 – 333-hp / 325 lb-ft of torque.
Transmission: 6-speed manual, 7-speed dual-clutch S Tronic automatic.
Curb Weight: 3,924 (with S Tronic).
0 to 60 mph: 4.9 seconds.
Fuel-Economy: 18/28 mpg (city/highway).

All Photos Copyright © 2009 Omar Rana – egmCarTech.

Exterior:

Like the ‘10 A4, the 2010 Audi S4 offers substantial aesthetic improvement over its predecessor. Differentiating the S4 from its A4 kin are S-design front and rear bumpers and grille, rocker moldings, quad exhaust tail pipes, trunk lid with lip-spoiler, aluminum side-view mirror housing, aluminum front and rear diffuser blades, 18-inch wheels w/high performance tires, super sized brakes with S4 badging, new LED tail lights, and a number of other details. All of the aforementioned exterior amenities come standard on the S4, and optionally available for an additional $900 are 19-inch 5-spoke wheels with 255/35 summer performance tires.

Compared to the BMW 335i, Mercedes-Benz C350, and Lexus IS350, the S4’s exterior design is exceptional. Audi’s brilliant marketing and design (especially the S4 badging) give the car a look and feel that is luxurious but decidedly-sporty; a natural fit for any car in the premium high-performance segment. Audi’s daytime running LED strips positioned in the headlamp housings also add a touch of subtle elegance to the car.

Interior:

“Step inside and you will notice that every interior element comes together for a singular purpose: To enhance the experience of performance,” says Audi of the interior of their 2010 S4.

In our recent poll asking readers which automaker they felt made the best interiors, the overwhelming consensus was Audi. Audi stands atop the luxury segment with regards to interior design and quality, bar none. The very basic interior design and quality of BMW, Lexus, and Mercedes-Benz pale in comparison to the modern and sophisticated interior of the S4, and this reaffirms Audi’s ambition to be recognized as a substantial player in the luxury game.

The 2010 S4 is offered in two different trimlines; Premium Plus and Prestige. With a starting MSRP of $45,900, the Premium Plus package comes complete with brushed aluminum inlays, driver seat memory, electrically adjustable heated front sport seats, S4 aluminum doorsill inlays, 60/40-split folding rear-seats, 3-spoke S4 multifunctional leather steering wheel, three-zone climate control, cruise control, rain and light sensors, and Audi’s exclusive MMI interface.

The MMI interface includes Audi Concert, with SIRIUS Satellite Radio, Audi Music interface with full iPod connectivity, base sound system, Bluetooth connectivity, and their Driver Information System (DIS). For $52,000, one can upgrade to the Prestige Package which adds a navigation system to the MMI, upgrades the audio to a Bang & Olufsen sound system, and adds voice control.

Other interior options include the $900 Driver Assist Package, $3,950 Audi Driver Select Package, $1,000 silk nappa Leather seats, $500 electric rear sunshade, $2,100 adaptive cruise control, $500 carbon or wood decorative inlays, $350 rear side-airbags, and other little amenities.

An optioned out ‘10 S4 will run close to $60,000, but bear in mind that the $45,900 base model already comes much better equipped than any other car in its class.

Performance:

Before we get to the ins and outs of performance, one must bear in mind that the S4 by its very nature does not stand in competition with the BMW M3 or the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG. In fact, it doesn’t even compete with the 335i. Audi’s Quattro technology pits the all-wheel drive S4 against the BMW 335xi.

As any performance-enthusiast would be, we are certainly fans-huge fans- of the 335i’s award-winning twin-turbocharged 3.0L straight 6-cylinder engine. Audi’s new 3.0 TSFI supercharged V6 however, is just a touch more impressive in our eyes. The 333-hp and maximum torque of 325 lb-ft engine, when mated to either the standard 6-speed manual transmission or Audi’s 7-speed S Tronic automatic with paddle-shifters, brings the car from 0-60 mph in a spectacular 4.9 seconds, compared to the 335xi’s 5.3 seconds.

The timing of our test-drive was great for the purposes of review; we enjoyed the car for a few days on clear normal roads, and then in one of the most brutal snow storms the ti-state area has seen in years. While BMW’s all-wheel drive system is undoubtedly sufficient enough to guide novice drivers through moderate snow conditions, Audi’s Quattro system however allowed the S4 to operate flawlessly in the brutal snow. For $1,100, one can opt for the dynamic Sports Rear Differential Package, which varies the torque between the two rear-wheels, allowing enhanced agility and cornering performance. The $3,590 Drive Select option, allows the driver to really tap into the adaptive suspension, dynamic steering, transmission shift characteristics, and engine response with its four distinct driver configurations; Comfort, Automatic, Dynamic, and Individual.

Despite the two-cylinder disadvantage o the new engine, the outgoing V8 is undoubtedly the inferior engine. The supercharged boost of the new engine is certainly nice; so is best-in-class fuel economy with the EPA estimating 18/27 mpg (city/highway) on a vehicle equipped with the 6-speed manual, and 18/28 mpg with the 7-speed S Tronic automatic.

As far as performance is concerned, the Audi S4 blows the competition away; with extreme prejudice.

Overall:

While the S4 has a base MSRP $3,300 higher than that of the BMW 335xi which starts at $42,600, the difference is immediately realized considering the extra performance one will get out of an S4; a standardly equipped S4 at that. As far as aesthetics is concerned, exterior styling is strictly a matter of personal taste, and the two cars are likely to appeal to the same crowd, but the interior is an entirely different story. As we mentioned above, there is no touching the S4 in terms of interior styling, build quality, and available amenities.

With the 2010 S4, Audi has certainly lit a flame under the feet of Mercedes-Benz and BMW.

Review: 2010 Audi S4:

– By: Stephen Calogera

All Photos Copyright © 2009 Omar Rana – egmCarTech.

AirStash is the world’s first wireless flash drive that enables you to share media files with your friends. Let your iPhone or iPod Touch breathe with unlimited expandable storage that frees up the limited space in your iPhone or iPod Touch for more apps while providing wireless access to your ever expanding music, movies, and photos. Plug AirStash into the USB port of your computer and load up on media and document files. You’ll be able to use your  iPhone or iPod Touch to surf your media collection located on the AirStash instantly and wirelessly.  With the AirStash, you can share documents and presentations quickly and simultaneously to multiple devices without an internet connection.

We can see the endless uses for this little magical stick. Many new applications and more details are supposedly coming, but as per usual, availability and pricing is TBD so far.

Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, has completed its previously announced acquisition of Logical Information Machines, Inc. (LIM), a leading provider of data and analytics for the energy, financial, and agriculture sectors, for $51.5 million, subject to post-closing adjustments.

LIM provides market pricing data, securities reference data, historical event data, predictive analytics, and advanced data management solutions that help customers manage large sets of time-series data.

The company collects, unifies, and conducts quality assurance on data from more than 180 providers in the energy, financial, and agriculture sectors and provides clients with one central source for data intelligence and analysis.

About Morningstar, Inc.

Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company offers an extensive line of Internet, software, and print-based products and services for individuals, financial advisors, and institutions.

Morningstar provides data on more than 325,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 4 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets.

The company has operations in 20 countries and minority ownership positions in companies based in two other countries.

Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is used in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on our current expectations about future events or future financial performance.

Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain, and often contain words such as “may,” “could,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “seek,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” or “continue.”

These statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the events we discussed not to occur or to differ significantly from what we expected.

For us, these risks and uncertainties include, among others, general industry conditions and competition, including the global financial crisis that began in 2007; the impact of market volatility on revenue from asset-based fees; damage to our reputation resulting from claims made about possible conflicts of interest; liability for any losses that result from an actual or claimed breach of our fiduciary duties; financial services industry consolidation; a prolonged outage of our database and network facilities; challenges faced by our non-U.S. operations; and the availability of free or low-cost investment information.

A more complete description of these risks and uncertainties can be found in our filings with the SEC, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2008.

If any of these risks and uncertainties materialize, our actual future results may vary significantly from what we expected. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events.

    MEDIA CONTACT:

     Margaret Kirch Cohen, 312-696-6383
     [email protected]

El último rumor que nos llega desde las oficinas de Silicon Valley sobre General Motors es que el gigante americano estaría interesado en contratar los servicios del actual director general de Apple para ocupar el puesto de CEO de GM.

El director general de Apple no es otro que Tim Cook, un ingeniero industrial con una gran experiencia, entre otras cosas estuvo trabajando 12 años para IBM y en 1998 se unió a Apple. Además, forma parte del consejo directivo de Nike.

Por otra parte, si General Motors llegase a contratar a Tim Cook, contaría con una directiva de lo más renovada y por que no decirlo, llamativa. Seguiremos atentos para ver si este rumor llega a confirmarse.

Related posts:

1. General Motors podría vender Hummer
2. General Motors liquida los modelos de Pontiac y Saturn
3. Sberbank pide una indemnización a General Motors por no vender Opel

According to the founder of Tennenbaum Capital Partners, small businesses generate around 2/3 of new jobs. At the same time, they get their loans from small banks. However, regulators have forced these small banks to have a low debt to capital ratio meaning less loans are made to small businesses.

“Sadly, this is like sand in the gears. For the next couple of years, I think the U.S. economy is going to be sluggish.”

Watch the entire interview below:

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Better Regulation, Not Better Monetary Policy, Is The Key To Preventing Bubbles
• 5 Small Business Marketing Trends For 2010
• Why You Should Be Downright Giddy About 2010