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Speaking today at a news conference on derivatives, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) raised the possibility of proposing an amendment to Sen. Blanche Lincoln’s (D-Ark.) derivatives reform proposal that might force banks to separate their commercial and investment banking functions.

“I’m a purist,” Cantwell said, in response to a question regarding whether she supported the Volcker Rule (a proposal by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker to ban “proprietary trading,” effectively banning any bank with federal backing from speculating with its own money). “If you want to take fuel out of the fire, I would also personally say that you should break up the big banks and not have investing and commercial banking in the same bucket. I will offer that amendment on the floor.”

The portions on derivatives trading offer a more specific iteration of that same idea. Section 106 of Lincoln’s derivatives reform proposal bans banks from receiving “federal assistance (including federal deposit insurance, and access to the Federal Reserve discount window)” if they contain desks that trade swaps, one currently unregulated type of derivative.

Cantwell, who did not clarify when asked a follow-up, seemed to indicate that her amendment hopes to go further — preventing banks from forgoing federal backing if they deal not only in swaps, but in any sort of speculative trading. This winter, Cantwell and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) were due to propose a return to the Glass-Steagall rules, rescinded in 1999, that prevented combined commercial and investment banks. But that provision has not made it into the final bill.

Wait! Don’t click away from this post yet!

Most defense secretaries find themselves frustrated by the labyrinthine system in place to approve military sales to partner countries. Export controls are complex, bureaucratic things designed to place multiple tiers of checks to err on the side of keeping technologies that the U.S. military relies on for dominance out of foreign hands. As with classification, it routinely goes too far, leading to vexed allies who can’t understand why the U.S. won’t sell them the weapons or spare parts it promised and a glut of restrictions that make it difficult to determine which truly dangerous technology needs to stay in U.S. hands.

So this afternoon, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is giving a speech — the press embargo just lifted — to a business/defense partnership forum about changing the export control system. His recommendations, which he says reflect interagency consensus, focus on centralization and streamlining. Instead of multiple lists controlled by multiple agencies requiring rules for which technologies can be sold without obtaining special licenses, the Obama administration will create a new standard list, placing tiers of importance around technologies that are and aren’t crucial to U.S. military supremacy:

This single list, combined with a single licensing agency, would allow us to concentrate on controlling those critical technologies and items – the “Crown Jewels” – that are the basis for maintaining our military technology advantage, especially technologies and items that no foreign government or company can duplicate.  Items that have no significant military impact, or that use widely available technology, could be approved for export quickly.  We envision a more dynamic, tiered control system where an item or technology would be “cascaded” from a higher to a lower level of control as its sensitivity decreases.

That’s inevitably going to prompt criticism that the Obama administration is selling too much stuff to too many people. Gates’ reply:

By consolidating most export licensing functions in one agency and creating an enforcement coordination agency, we can focus our energies and scrutiny on technologies that truly threaten American security, making it is far less likely that these critical items will fall into the wrong hands. It is also important to bear in mind that the U.S. government will retain the ability to impose economic sanctions on any foreign country or group, to include prohibiting the export of any equipment, material, or technologies that could have military use.

Still, the administration will require congressional approval for creating a single licensing agency for defense exports — a “fundamental change,” in Gates’ view — as well as a new agency to coordinate enforcement. Will Congress endorse Gates’ proposal?

If legislators balk, they’ll be faced with a problem.

“Not too long ago, a British C-17 spent hours disabled on the ground in Australia – not because the needed part wasn’t available, but because U.S. law required the Australians to seek U.S. permission before doing the repair,” Gates related to Business Executives for National Security. ”These are two of our very strongest allies for God’s sake!”

We all marvel at Facebook and its number of users, which at last check stood at around 400 million. For context, consider Skype, which at the end of the fourth quarter of 2009 had 560 million registered users, a data point Skype’s chief technology strategist, Jonathan Rosenberg, shared with the attendees of the eComm conference currently under way just south of San Francisco.

Skype, when it was still part of eBay, issued quarterly updates but those have now stopped. Nevertheless, here are the latest numbers:

• Skype added 39 million registered users in the fourth quarter to end the year with a total of 560 million.
• The number of Skype-to-Skype call minutes totaled 36.1 billion in the final three months of 2009.
• Skype users made more the 250 billion minutes worth of Skype-to-Skype calls from the time the service was launched through the end of 2009.
• Skype in 2009 accounted for 12 percent of the world’s international calling minutes, a 50 percent increase over 2008 when it accounted for 8 percent of international calling, according to TeleGeography Research.
• 36 percent of Skype-to-Skype calls as of the end of the fourth quarter included video — in other words, Skype is going to figure prominently in the video conferencing business, challenging more established players with its no-cost solution. Skype CEO Josh Silverman in a guest post for GigaOM explained why he views video as the future of Skype.

Here are some other random Skype stats:

• At peak times, 23 million users are logged into Skype (as of March 2010).
• Skype is available in 29 languages and is used in almost every country around the world.
• 35 percent of Skype users utilize it for business purposes.

Filed under: Coupe, Budget, Hybrid, Hatchback, Honda

Honda has officially flooded the interwebs with a wave of photos of the Euro-spec CR-Z Hybrid. Surprisingly enough, our cousins across The Pond will be able to get their hatchback hybrid as a 2+2 like their JDM counterparts, meaning the car will have two small back seats just for children, briefcases or other cargo. When not in use, the rear thrones fold down to make room for your most recent Ikea purchase.

Other than those rear seats, the car doesn’t appear to differ significantly from the version we’ll see Stateside. Power still comes from a 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine mated to a small electric motor with around 122 horses combined and 124 lb-ft of torque.

The European CR-Z will also feature the same three-mode efficiency system we’re likely to see in our version. Drivers will be able to choose between Sport, Normal and Economy modes, all accessible via the push of a button. Each will offer different levels of electric motor assist and will also monkey around with the electric power-steering to provide a different driving feel depending on the mode. Hit the jump for the full press release, and wade through the massive gallery of high-res images below.

[Source: Honda]

Continue reading Pics Aplenty: Honda releases boatload of new CR-Z shots… in Europe

Pics Aplenty: Honda releases boatload of new CR-Z shots… in Europe originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 20 Apr 2010 12:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The S&P hits 1206. The Goldman gap is filled.

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When the Group of 20 nations (G-20) meets in Washington this week, it will consider an International Monetary Fund (IMF) proposal to tax financial companies to recoup bailout costs resulting from the crisis. Bloomberg reports that the IMF’s recommendation is for non-deposit liabilities or profits and compensation to be taxed — not financial transactions. How will the nations react?

It’s fairly likely that some will embrace the proposal. Great Britain and France have already adopted such measures. Canada, however, rejected a global bank tax. In the U.S., the fate of such a tax is unclear. President Obama supports a punitive bank tax, but Congress hasn’t been as willing to go along.

In the U.S. it could also depend on the details. Such a tax would likely be less controversial if it took the form of a tax on non-deposit liabilities instead of profits and compensation. That way, it would target risk instead of success. Washington arguing that big banks should pay for the bailout is something of a hard sell, since they have all paid back their bailout money. Any cost related to the bailout will likely result from AIG, the auto companies, smaller banks and the Treasury’s mortgage modification program.

A bank tax should also be considered in the context of financial reform. The Dodd proposal essentially calls for a preemptive bank tax, administered as an assessment to pay for a fund which would be used to resolve large institutions that fail. The proposal, however, is also very controversial and remains one of the major sticking points in the financial reform battle.

The IMF’s suggestion will make for an interesting aspect of the G-20’s meeting to keep an eye on. The nations will likely be divided, given what we know from their previous actions explained above. But the G-20 could still issue some fuzzy language supporting the idea of a bank tax. That’s what it did back in September when it endorsed financial compensation guidelines, but failed to put in place specific rules or an enforcement mechanism.

(Nav Image Credit: Craig-Photography/flickr)

Neal Baer, executive producer of long-running NBC crime drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, has revealed details of Sharon Stone’s upcoming guest role on the show.

The Golden Globe-winning, Oscar-nominated actress will plays Jo Marlowe, an Assistant District Attorney and former police officer with a wiry sense of humor and history with Stabler (Christopher Meloni), in a four episode guest arc kicking off April 28.

Bauer tells Entertainment Weekly: “She trained him when he was a rookie. He finds out she’s the new ADA and goes, ‘Oh, man.’”

As HuffPo puts it:

A coalition of former regulators, left-leaning economists and Democratic insiders have slammed the Senate’s version of regulatory reform in a letter to the parties’ two leaders, warning that the current bill won’t prevent a future financial crisis.

One of the signers is liberal think-tank economist Dean Baker. I e-mailed him and asked about the letter’s claim that the Dodd reform bill does not “eliminate a perpetual system of government sponsored corporate bailouts financed by the government or private industry.”

His speedy response:

To my view, the biggest failing is that it does not end TBTF banks. As a practical matter, I really doubt that any regulator is going to stand up to Goldman, Citi or any of the other big banks and tell them they can’t do something that is making them lots of money, but poses serious risks to the system. It would have helped if we had fired Bernanke, so that regulators understood that there was downside risk from failing to do their job and crack down on the big banks when necessary. But if Bernanke can get reappointed, even after allowing the worst economic disaster in 70 years, there is little hope that future regulators will take large personal risks to confront major banks when there is no downside to ignoring their practices.

New orders of the iPad 3G won’t ship until May 7 but Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) confirmed ahead of today’s earnings that earlier preorders will start shipping April 30, giving it bragging rights on meeting the promise of “late April.” The confirmation comes a few days after Apple admitted it would have to postpone the tablet’s international launch until late May. The company blamed heavier-than-expected sales of the WiFi-only iPad.

Sales start at 5 p.m. that Friday in Apple retail stores at prices about $130 a device higher than the WiFi-only units ($629 for 16GB, $729 for 32GB and $829 for 64GB.) No promise of units that day at Best Buy or other Apple sales channels. Also no sign yet that it will be sold by data-plan provider AT&T (NYSE: T) at all.

Still no international pricing. That comes May 10, which is also when preorders start for the UK, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, and Switzerland. Availability is still slated for the end of May. We may get some new numbers on the iPad this afternoon, when Apple reports Q1 results but the sales won’t be reflected until the second quarter.

It’s not too late to register for our State of Gadget Media event tomorrow in NYC.

Related

• Weekend Video: Can iPad Save Newspapers & Magazines?
• No Overseas iPad, But Vodafone, Orange, O2 Announce Price Plans
• The Latest iPad And iPhone Stats
• Apple Sold More Than 300,000 iPads On Day 1; Users Downloaded 1 Million Apps, 250,000 E-Books

Reader David E. Lich has submitted a great article on his GTD system with webOS, Basecamp, and Backpack. If you’re looking to be more productive with your Pre or Pixi, read on!

Like many who have written in the PreCentral forums, I have struggled with the lack of full-featured, sync-able task and memo apps on the Palm Pre. I experimented with several solutions, but each left me less than satisfied. Some sync over Wi-Fi to the desktop, but that didn’t work for me because I use multiple desktops and was unable to figure out how to keep that all straight. Others sync via USB cable, but those require user intervention, and that seems so passé in the new world of cloud computing.

I finally settled on a combination of desktop and mobile solutions that do the trick – quite well, in fact. They sync (two-way) over the internet without user intervention. The synergy among the products is superior to the legacy Palm OS task and memo apps that we have all missed. The best part – all these apps and services have free versions that are not time-limited, and they will be adequate for most users. Power users may upgrade to the paid versions if their needs exceed the limitations of the free plans.

The combination of software upon which I have settled is:

• Outline Tracker Free on the Pre, produced by Hominid Software and available in App Catalog;
• Basecamp by 37Signals (download at http://37signals.com/) as the cloud based back-end service for tasks and memos, which is also accessible from the desktop;
• Backpack, also from 37Signals, for reminders, also accessible from the desktop.

Here is how I use them together.

read more

(Photo: Getty Images)

If you’re like most Americans, you probably have a stockpile
of old cell phones, laptops, or other electronics taking up valuable space in
your home. It’s hard to know what to do with working gadgets you no longer need.

Luckily there are more options than ever for those who don’t
want to fill landfills with stuff that others can use. In fact, it’s possible
to earn a few extra bucks in the process.

How? A growing number of websites allow you to easily sell
your old electronics for cash. They all work in the same basic way, although
there are differences in details such as which products they buy, and, of
course, in how much they’re willing to shell out.

Here’s how it generally works:

• Search for the product you want to unload.
• Answer a few simple questions about its overall
  condition and which additional accessories you have.
• Company will calculate an offer for you.
• If you decide to sell, you can print out a
  pre-paid shipping label. Some will send a box for you to ship in.
• Payment options vary, but most allow you to
  choose between receiving a check in the mail or a credit to your PayPal
  account. In some cases, you can choose to donate the payment to charity.

Some tips before you get started:

• Shop around to find the best prices. For an
  iPhone 3G, 8GB, in good condition bids ranged from $119 to $186, so it’s
  definitely worth the extra time it takes to visit a few websites.
• Be sure to check what the terms are if the item
  you send isn’t in the expected condition. Some websites will offer you the
  chance to change your mind and have the product sent back to you. Others will send products with no value to be responsibly recycled.
• Don’t wait too long to sell your old gadgets
  because the prices decrease as they get older.
• Remove your personal data before shipping out
  your product.

Below is a sampling of websites that will pay cash for your
castaways.

Gazelle buys a large
assortment of products — everything from cell phones, PDAs, and MP3 players to
laptops, digital cameras, gaming systems, and more. You can even sell old
movies, games, and camera lenses.

Choose between a check, credit to your PayPal account, an
Amazon gift card (pays an extra 5%), or a donation to a charity (you choose
from a list of organizations). If a gadget has no value, they’ll recycle it for
you. Gazelle says it removes all personal data from every item it receives (you
may still choose to erase data before you drop it in the mail). The company
also has a program with Costco where
you can receive a Costco cash card in exchange for old devices.  

You Renew buys or
recycles cell phones, MP3 players, digital cameras, calculators, laptops,
gaming devices, external drives, and tablet eReaders. If your device has no
value, you can still ship it for free to YouRenew for safe recycling. As an
added bonus, the company will either plant a tree or give a donation towards a domestic
renewable energy product.

NextWorth
purchases iPods, iPhones, cell phones, cameras, e-Readers, laptops, video
games, game console, GPS, DVD, and movies. Your choices for payment include:  PayPal,
check in the mail, Target gift card, or donation to the Red Cross for Haiti relief. The site tells you exactly how to remove all the data from your iPhone, which is
a nice touch.

Flipswap offers a set
price for cell phones only. No questions are asked, but the company says phones need to be in “working condition.” If they don’t meet conditions,
Flipswap will either pay you a portion of the money promised or they’ll recycle
it.

Payment choices include: Check or donations to Susan G.
Komen for the Cure, Sierra Club, or ASPCA. Several cell phones are listed as
“no value,” in which case the company pays your postage to send it back for
recycling. It plants a tree for every phone that’s recycled.

Cell for Cash, as
its name suggests, only buys old cell phones. They offer a set price without
asking questions, but expect the phones to be in good condition. It wasn’t
entirely clear in the terms and conditions how the company handles phones that
don’t meet its expectations, so it’s worth checking out before you commit. Cell
for Cash will send you a check in the mail.

Just interested in recycling your old electronics?

• Search for local
  recycling events or visit Earth911.

• Major manufacturers will often take back their
  products, and some will even offer you a discount on buying a new product.
  Apple, for example, will give you a 10 percent discount on a
  new iPod when you bring in your old one to be recycled.

• Several retailers
  will allow you to bring in your gadgets for free recycling. And some, such as Radio Shack,
  allow you to trade in old devices for store credit.

Environmental journalist Lori Bongiorno shares green-living tips and product reviews with Yahoo! Green’s users. Send Lori a question or suggestion for potential use in a future column. Her book, Green Greener Greenest: A Practical Guide to Making Eco-smart Choices a Part of Your Life is available on Yahoo! Shopping and Amazon.com.

Check out Yahoo! Green on Twitter and Facebook.

[JURIST] The Chief Legal Counsel to the UN, Under-Secretary-General Patricia O’Brien, and Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister Sok An said Monday that the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) needs financial support from the international community. In a joint statement, O’Brien and Sok expressed concern about the financial situation of the UN-backed tribunal charged with trying alleged Khmer Rouge war criminals, but also emphasized the great success that the tribunal has had:
The ECCC has confirmed its ability to conduct complex international criminal trials to international standards, and is living up to the hope for it to be a model court. The proceedings have attracted unprecedented interest and support, as witnessed by the fact that over 30,000 Cambodians have attended the court proceedings since its inception.As of December, UN member countries had contributed nearly $77 million in support of the Khmer Rouge trials. The ECCC’s approved budget for 2010-2011 amounts to $87.1 million, of which $42.9 million is for 2010 and $44.2 million is for 2011. The international component of the ECCC budget is $65.4 million, of which $32.2 million is for 2010 and $33.2 million is for 2011.In December, the ECCC charged former Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Thirith with genocide, torture, and persecution, adding to previous charges that include war crimes and murder. Ieng Thirith, the wife of ECCC defendant Ieng Sary, served as social affairs minister for the regime. Ieng Thirith is the fourth former official to be charged with genocide. Also in December, the ECCC brought genocide charges against former head of state Khieu Samphan, former deputy leader and chief ideologist Nuon Chea, and former foreign minister Ieng Sary in connection with the same events. In November, the court heard final arguments in its first trial, that of Kaing Guek Eav, also known as “Duch.” Kaing was the first of eight ex-Khmer Rouge officials to be tried before the ECCC. Members of the Khmer Rouge allegedly killed 1.7 million people between 1975 and 1979.

Posted by Monique Garcia at 12:15 p.m.

Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn released his tax returns today and turned his disclosure into a campaign issue by calling on Republican rival Sen. Bill Brady to do the same or drop out.

The governor said there is “something not right” about Brady’s refusal to release his tax information, suggesting Brady is trying to hide business interests that could conflict with holding the state’s top office.

Asked to offer up proof, Quinn acknowledged he had none, but said the situation sets itself up for a conflict of interest. Brady is the oldest of three brothers in a family real estate, development and construction business.

Seeking to sway voters before the November election, Quinn said the tradition of politicians releasing tax information is about transparency, and added taxpayers deserve to know the financial situation of those running for office, particularly given’s Illinois’ political history and the public’s lack of faith in elected officials.



“As everyone knows we’ve had two governors preceding me that got into a lot of trouble, one’s in jail, one’s under indictment,” Quinn said, referring to predecessors George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich. “ Illinois doesn’t need a shady governor. I think it’s very important we have a governor that’s open, direct, and accessible.”



“I think anybody who wants to aspire to this office and doesn’t want to disclose their tax return really should re-think their candidacy, because I think this is fundamental to making sure the governor of our state does not have any conflicts of interest that would in any way harm the people of Illinois.”

Brady said last week that he didn’t think there was a reason to release his tax forms. Brady’s campaign could not immediately be reached for comment.

Brady won’t release his income tax returns or reveal his net worth.
The Tribune reported earlier this year that state economic interest
statements outline holdings that include property management, an Amish
furniture store, a Days Inn in Danville and an interest in the
Bloomington indoor football team. Florida records showed he owns a Fort
Lauderdale condominium that he said he bought in recent years for
$380,000.

Quinn reported an adjusted gross income of $157,122 in 2009, including his salary as governor, interest income and withdrawal from his pension account. He paid $27,547 in federal income tax and $4,468 in state income tax. Quinn became governor in late January after Blagojevich was impeached and removed by the General Assembly.



Running mate Sheila Simon, a Carbondale law instructor, filed jointly with husband Perry Knop. They reported an adjusted gross income of $152,507, including $13,121 in business income from musical performances and consultation work. The couple pain $22,894 in federal income tax and $4,117 in state income tax.

 

Simon, who was not at Quinn’s Chicago news conference, plays banjo and bassoon in a band.

Fans of David Lynch know the man likes his coffee. His affinity for the drink pops up in his work from time to time. In particular, special agent Dale Cooper, the protagonist of the early ’90s TV series Twin Peaks, was known to enjoy a good cup of joe. And who can forget the scene in Mulholland Drive in which a creepy mafioso spits out an espresso, to the horror of others gathered in a conference room, when it doesn’t meet his exacting standards? If that kind of behavior makes sense to you, you might be ready for David Lynch Signature Cup, a new brew from the oddball/genius director, available over at his Web site. There’s no advertising at the moment, but if that comes to pass, Lynch might consider tapping one of Cooper’s classic lines: "Harry, I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don’t plan it. Don’t wait for it. Just let it happen. It could be a new shirt at the men’s store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot black coffee." (Via PSFK.)

—Posted by Todd Wasserman

You’ve seen Chris Redfield in the Captivate trailer (qjnet/news/watch-chris-redfield-invades-marvel-vs-capcom-3-trailer-released.html) for Marvel vs. Capcom 3, but just in case you were looking for something along the gameplay side, Capcom sent out a press release to fill us

A pesar de que Sergio Marchionne aún no ha hecho un anuncio oficial, el proyecto ya fue aprobado por el directorio de Fiat y puede o no ser anunciado en los próximos días. Sin embargo, ya es algo seguro que Fiat construirá un modelo de cuatro puertas del 500, especialmente concebido para el mercado norteamericano y que, de paso, será vendido también en Europa.

El nuevo modelo se lanzará en Europa en el 2011, siendo fabricada la versión para exportación en la planta turinesa de Mirafiori. Los planes de exportación a EEUU incluyen a tres variantes: el modelo de cuatro puertas, un convertible y el modelo tradicional de dos puertas, junto con el 500 deportivo, bajo la marca Abarth.

El 500 de cuatro puertas entrará dentro del segmento de las minivans por sus características de construcción. Sin duda, Marchionne va a pasos agigantados en su reestructuración de Fiat en el mundo y en levantar la imagen de la marca en EEUU. Y acompañando al 500 en Norteamérica, Chrysler también tendrá su variante de coche pequeño muy al estilo de Fiat y con su tecnología, que será importado desde Serbia por el año 2013, según se estableció en el plan a largo plazo que Chrysler reveló el año pasado.

¿A alguien le queda alguna duda sobre el cinquecento de cuatro puertas? Marchionne piensa que es mejor innovar y arriesgarse, que quedarse estancado en lo ya conocido. Posiblemente gane más clientes con este modelo en Europa, mientras que la reacción del público en EEUU será seguramente una incógnita. En cualquier caso, el año que viene sabremos si esta estrategia de Marchionne dará o no resultado.

Vía | Automotive News

Substitute food stamps for leaner school lunches

Editor, The Times:

I read the April 16 editorial “Funding the end of mystery meat” [Opinion] with irony and anger as I prepared my son’s school lunch —a peanut butter sandwich and chips from an economy-size bag.

It is amazing the folks who promote a nanny state are concerned about this issue. My sons are not obese, as I cannot afford to buy them a hot lunch at school containing those devious fatty foods such as hot dogs and fried chicken.

Of more concern is the tacit admission that the food-stamp program obviously does not work. Otherwise, these children would be eating nutritious meals, both in the morning and evening.

Why don’t we do away with the food-stamp programs and use those savings for leaner school meals?

— Chris Gormley, Everett

For school lunches, $1 billion not a big bite on federal budget

The Seattle Times rightly endorsed investing more to improve the nutritional quality of school meals.

We, the Children’s Alliance, agree that Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln’s bill to reauthorize child-nutrition programs calls for too small of an investment. We do not agree that the Obama administration has asked for too much by requesting $1 billion a year in new funding.

Fundamental changes are needed to improve both nutrition in and access to essential child-nutrition programs. About 42 percent of children in our state signed up for free or reduced-price meals this past fall. Hunger is on the rise in tandem with childhood obesity. Food choices and opportunities for physical activity are severely limited in many low-income communities.

Increasing participation in the federal nutrition programs is one of the healthy eating and physical activity strategies recommended in the Institute of Medicine’s report Local Government Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity. Numerous national research studies applaud the role that nutrition programs play in improving school children’s’ diets.

It is vital that we surround all of our kids with nutritious food where they live, learn and play. Let’s not shortchange a key investment that would get us closer to reaching that goal.

— Linda Stone, senior food policy coordinator, Children’s Alliance, Seattle

Spend now on lunch bill, save later on health-care bills

The Times falls short of calling for an additional $1 billion per year for 10 years, citing concerns about other budget pressures facing Congress.

Washington’s Child Nutrition Reauthorization Coalition asks that Congress fully fund the additional $1 billion per year being requested by President Barack Obama, Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and countless child-hunger and nutrition advocates around the country.

We, Washington’s Child Nutrition Reauthorization Coalition and Northwest Harvest, strongly suggest that without this investment now, the United States will pay a far greater price down the road.

In addition to spending nearly $150 billion annually in obesity-related medical costs in the country, the current child-obesity epidemic seriously threatens our national security. Three out of four 18-to-24-year-olds today are unfit to serve in our military primarily because of obesity or a lack of high school diploma — both outcomes closely tied to child nutrition.

Mission Readiness, a coalition of retired generals, admirals and civilian military leaders recently released the report “Too Fat To Serve,” in which they argue for strong child-nutrition legislation that removes junk food from schools, improves nutritional standards for meals served and increases access to these programs that are known to reduce and prevent child obesity.

Our coalition echoes this call and asks Washington’s federal lawmakers to make it a priority to fight child hunger and obesity with an increased investment of $1 billion per year.

— Josh Fogt, public policy manager, Northwest Harvest, Seattle

Update from the star-studded launch of a new chain of sustainable restaurants.

On the evening of April 14th, WRI filled a role not normally reserved for environmental think tanks: VIP guest at a high-profile New York restaurant opening. Otarian, now open in New York City’s West Village, is a new boutique fast-casual restaurant chain based on the principles of sustainability and vegetarianism. Otarian is also the first global restaurant chain to track the carbon footprint of all of its menu items.

“I am putting myself out there and standing behind my statement that Otarian is the world’s most sustainable chain of restaurants,” said Radhika Oswal, owner and creator of Otarian. “The sustainability of Otarian comes from all aspects of the restaurant, from the way we have decorated, to the ingredients, and much much more.”

WRI Managing Director Manish Bapna, Otarian Owner Radhika Oswal, and WRI Board Member Todd Thomson

Otarian is one of over seventy organizations road testing WRI and WBSCD’s new GHG Protocol standard on Product Life Cycle accounting. This participation will help diners better understand the environmental impact of their food choices in a highly measureable and quantifiable way. The product standard measures the emissions from all parts of a product’s lifecycle. For example, an Otarian VegO burger represents 1.32kg of CO2-equivalent, taking into account the growing, harvesting, and processing of all the ingredients, as well as transportation, packaging, sale and waste disposal.

Around 60 people were in attendance at the Otarian launch. The vibe was intimate and buzzing, the small space packed with a crowd including celebrities, media, influencers and owner Radhika Oswal accompanied by her husband Pankaj Oswal.

The menu at Otarian

Manish Bapna, Managing Director of WRI, attended the event alongside WRI Director Todd Thomson. Manish was invited by Mrs. Oswal to give the only speech of the night after she delivered her welcome and thanks. “We are delighted that Otarian is so dedicated to the cause of measuring the footprint of its food products. A lot of big companies recognize the business case behind measuring and managing emissions, they see that it can improve their profitability,” said Manish. “There are a few organizations, however, that also recognize the need to make a low carbon economy a reality. Otarian is in this category.”

Celebrity guests included Mary Kate Olsen, a regular on the New York scene and star of many movies and TV shows alongside her twin sister Ashley Olsen. Vanessa Williams and Mark Indelicato from the ABC TV show ‘Ugly Betty’ attended along with Judah Friedlander from the popular NBC TV show ‘30 Rock’.

WRI’s Laura Pocknell with 30 Rock’s Judah Friedlander

“I wanted to attend tonight to set precedence for others to uphold and follow suit. I’m very happy that restaurants like Otarian are the new trend.” said Vanessa Williams. Mark Indelicato added “my eyes were opened to vegetarianism and sustainability by Ana Ortiz, who plays my Mom on Ugly Betty. I was shocked to find out that the methane cows emit is a bigger polluter than emissions from planes or trains.” “I’m here tonight because it’s very important to protect the earth,” said Judah Friedlander about what the opening of Otarian means to him. “It is not only good, but important to eat tasty, sustainable food like Otarian is offering.”

For more information about the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and the road-testing process, visit http://www.ghgprotocol.org.

Visitation rights a big step for gay-rights movement

This is a response to “Obama to hospitals: open up on visits for gays” [page one, April 16].

I would simply like to say that I believe this is a big step forward for the gay-rights movement.

Though some people feel President Barack Obama is not doing enough or is not moving fast enough in the area of gay rights, I think that in some cases you have to take things one step at a time. Obama is doing all that he can under the circumstances to make sure that each step is as big as possible.

— Kate Holmes, Seattle