Blog

Pro football players sought lawmakers’ help Wednesday in preventing NFL owners from imposing a lockout after next season and said a league victory in a Supreme Court antitrust case could affect free agency and ticket prices.

“We want Congress to know that management is pushing us toward a lockout,” said Kevin Mawae, the union president and one of about 30 current and former players who were on Capitol Hill.

A league official said the players’ time would be better spent negotiating with the owners than lobbying Congress. Mawae, a Tennessee Titans center, said in an interview that he hopes Congress will exert its leverage over the league to help prevent a lockout, which players fear the owners plan to do following the 2010 season. He cited comments by New York Giants co-owner John Mara to The New York Times this week that the two sides might be moving further apart in negotiations for a new deal.

Owners contend the existing agreement, which calls for players to receive about 60 percent of revenues, is too favorable for players.

“We like the agreement the way it is,” Washington Redskins wide receiver Antwaan Randle El told The Associated Press. He said owners “want us to go back to the ’70s,” before the current free agency system started.

Several players said they told lawmakers how a lockout would affect workers who depend on games, such as employees of football stadiums and nearby restaurants. They said Congress has leverage over the league, including an antitrust exemption for broadcasting contracts that helped turn the NFL into the economic powerhouse it is today.

“I want Congress to review why they gave the exemption,” Houston Texans guard Chester Pitts said. Holding his fingers a half-inch apart, he added, “Right now, the NFL has that much oversight. We want more.”

League Vice President Joe Browne said in an e-mail that the union’s new executive director, DeMaurice Smith, won election on a platform “that included ‘using’ Congress to exert influence on our labor talks. Kevin’s comments — and the visits by dozens of players to the Hill today — are consistent with that promise. The owners and players are going to negotiate a deal. The only question is when. Having the union and its player reps spending more time in the negotiating room and less time lobbying Congress would be a good start.”

The players also brought up a Supreme Court case in which the NFL argues it should be considered one business when it comes to selling NFL-branded items. The court heard arguments on the case last week.

Apparel maker American Needle claimed that the league’s exclusive contract with Reebok International Ltd. for headgear violated antitrust laws. Players fear a broad ruling from the court that would go beyond merchandise.

“A judgment in favor of the NFL could severely damage the system that we’ve had in place for the last 20-something years,” Mawae said, predicting such a decision could affect free agency for players and help owners control ticket prices. He made the same point in testimony before a House Judiciary subcommittee.

Browne said the case simply deals with the licensing of intellectual property.

Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia, who heads the subcommittee, wondered why the NFL needs “special antitrust immunity? The NFL is seeking indirectly from the courts what it could not get from Congress. ”

Read the original article from Tribune News Services.

Federal regulators said today they are taking a closer look at concerns about noise, vibrations, and train delays along the former Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway line.

The Surface Transportation Board will survey all 33 suburbs along the rail line, now owned by the Canadian National Railway, to ask them whether they feel the CN is accurately and completely reporting problems along the line.

The chairman of the Surface Transportation Board, Daniel Elliott III , ordered the action after making two recent tours of the suburbs on the rail line with local officials.

The transportation board is sending out questionnaires to officials in the 33 communities in Illinois and Indiana affected by CN’s controversial acquisition last year of the 198-mile EJ&E line, which runs in an arc from Waukegan to Joliet to Gary.

The board is asking about train noise and vibration, train volumes and street blockages, vehicle delays and traffic congestion at selected rail/highway at-grade crossings, operational accidents, and identification signs at crossings.

– Richard Wronski

Read the original article from Tribune News Services.

About 1.5 million Graco strollers have been recalled after at least five children had their fingertips cut off by strollers’ hinges.

The Graco stroller recall was announced on Wednesday by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The stroller recall came after Graco Children’s Products Inc. of Atlanta, Ga., received at least five reports of child fingertip amputations and two reports of fingertip lacerations.

The strollers have a hinge on the canopy which can cut off a child’s fingertip when the canopy is being opened or closed. Only models with the specific hinge mechanism are affected, including the Graco Passage, Alano and Spree Strollers and Travel Systems. All of the recalled strollers have a plastic, jointed hinge mechanism with indented canopy positioning notches.

A complete list of model numbers is available in the CPSC Graco stroller recall notice. The strollers were manufactured between October 2004 and February 2008. The model number and manufacture date are located just above the wheels on the lower inside portion of the rear frame.

The strollers, made in China, were sold at AAFES, Burlington Coat Factory, Babies “R” Us, Toys “R” Us, K-Mart, Fred Meyer, Meijers, Navy Exchange, Sears, Target, Wal-Mart and other retailers nationwide from October 2004 and December 2009.

The Graco recall is similar to a Maclaren stroller recall announced in November. About one million Maclaren strollers were also pulled after Maclaren USA, Inc. received reports of at least 12 children having their fingertips amputated in the stroller’s hinges after it was being opened or closed.

The CPSC recommends that consumers immediately stop using the recalled Graco strollers and contact Graco to receive a free protective cover repair kit.

YouTube is trying everything these days to bring revenue numbers up and movie rentals shouldn’t come as any surprise to anyone. The site is now announcing that it will begin renting movies starting with a small trial run of five movies being featured in the famous indie Sundance Film Festival which gets underway next week…. (read more)

Other Great AndroidGuys Posts

• January 8, 2010 — Flash for “Most” Android Devices in 2010? (15)
• November 10, 2009 — The Too-Fast Aging G1 (67)
• January 23, 2010 — Did Google Shoot itself in the Foot with Nexus One? (12)
• January 23, 2010 — How My Life Was Ruined by the Nexus One (52)
• January 14, 2010 — Motorola: Multi-Touch on “Majority of Devices Going Forward” (16)

I’M NOT a political analyst, but from where I sit one upside to the Democratic loss in the Massachusetts special Senate election is that it may have convinced the majority party to move forward on an issue that’s likely to prove politically popular—bank regulation. To wit:

President Obama on Thursday will publicly propose giving bank regulators the power to limit the size of the nation’s largest banks and the scope of their risk-taking activities, an administration official said late Wednesday.

The president, for the first time, will throw his weight behind an approach long championed by Paul A. Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve and an adviser to the Obama administration. The proposal will put limits on bank size and prohibit commercial banks from trading for their own accounts — known as proprietary trading.

The news has been greeted with cautious optimism by many financial bloggers, though all will depend on the specifics of the policy to emerge. But it should be absolutely clear that banks which are too big to fail must be shrunk, and that using government-guaranteed consumer deposits to trade securities for profit is a terrible idea. It is a relief to see these holes in the regulatory structure get some attention.

This week federal officials said they want to ban the importation of nine large and exotic snake species. The move is designed to quell the spread of those slithering reptiles that have gotten loose and thrived in Florida and especially in the Everglades, and that threaten to spread further across the country.

More than a million of these snakes—including the giant Burmese python, boa constrictors, and several kinds of anaconda—have come to the United States in the last 30 years as pets. But invariably, over the years, some slithered loose — or were released by owners who found their reptile[s] more than they could handle. Today, many thousands nest wild in Florida’s suburban yards, parks and the Everglades [Science News]. At least one of the species, the northern African rock python, is considered dangerous to humans.

The importation ban is not all: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar also said the government would like to ban interstate sales of these snakes already inside the United States. That means someone couldn’t drive down to Texas and buy a baby python and then legally bring it home to Maryland. It would even become illegal to tote a long-owned boa across states lines — from New York to New Jersey, for instance — when someone moved [Science News]. Whether dedicated snake lovers would ditch their pets upon moving just because the government says so, however, remains to be seen.

Florida officials, for their part, have adopted the typical response to an animal reaching out-of-control numbers: hunting season. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission already allows licensed hunters to kill snakes they encounter during small-game and other hunting seasons in wildlife management areas. But the agency also intends to create a two-month season specifically for the troublesome snakes, said spokeswoman Gabriella Ferraro [Miami Herald].

The Interior Department hopes to formally propose the new rules in February. We’ll see whether it’s too little too late for the Everglades’ ecological balance. As conservation expert Stuart Pimm wrote for National Geographic, the Burmese python could be emerging as the top predator, displacing the famous alligators there.

Related Content:
80beats: New, Extra-Vicious Python Species Is on the Loose in Florida
80beats: How to Control Florida’s Invasive, Occasionally Killer Pythons?
80beats: Everglades Restoration Plan Is Failing, Report Says
Discoblog: When Animals Invade, Part II: Pythons Taking Over South Florida
DISCOVER: The Truth About Invasive Species
DISCOVER: Humans vs. Animals: Our Fiercest Battles With Invasive Species (photo gallery)

Image: flickr / benjgibbs

There have been three Porsche Design products awarded by the Industry Forum Hannover (iF) jury this year: the P’8810 Reading Tool, the P’1700 Shoe Collection and the P’9522 Mobile Phone. Each product received the iF Product Design Award thanks to their design quality, workmanship, material selection and level of innovation.

We choose to focus on products inspired by technology with a timeless, functional and purist design, Juergen Gessler, Porsche Design Group CEO, said in a release.

It … (read more)

Human Rights Program exhibit focuses attention on land mine survivors

The University’s Human Rights Program is launching a photography series aimed at exploring how photography is used in human rights discourse.

The first exhibit in the Looking at Human Rights series will feature Canadian photographer V. Tony Hauser’s portraits of children who survived land mine injuries.

Taken in Siem Reap, Cambodia, in May 2006, the 16 stark, life-sized portraits are intended to humanize the continued suffering caused by armed conflicts across the globe.

Hauser will introduce his exhibition, Living with Land Mines, at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 22 at Harper Commons‘ Stuart Reading Room. The images will be on display through Winter Quarter.

Upcoming exhibits in the series will include photographs made by youth in a project in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as well as a human rights photo competition open to UChicago students.

A UChicago Arts Council grant has funded the series, and fourth-year Jasmine Heiss has curated it, with the support of the Human Rights Program.

Hauser’s work was selected because it illustrates the potential of the medium to bring marginalized groups and individuals to public attention. The children in his photographs live at the Cambodia Land Mine Museum, which also serves as a rescue center for land mine amputee children.

It provides a dormitory and a school, and has a medical clinic, rehabilitation center and a training facility for land mine accident prevention and safety.

“I purposely chose to isolate them from their natural surroundings,” says Hauser, who photographed the children using a 4 x 5-inch view camera, Polaroid film and a seamless canvas backdrop.

“I hoped this would elevate them and, at the same time, reveal my admiration for their strength.”

Living with Land Mines is the first exhibit to be displayed in the recently revamped Harper Commons, which is working to build a permanent and circulating artwork and photography collection as part of its reprogrammed space.

This event is free and open to the public. Stuart Reading Room is located at 1116 E. 59th St.

We had some very sad news recently. The founder of Taco Bell passed away at the age of 86. There is still no word on whether he’s going to have a funeral or a funeral supreme.

Some FHA lenders out there had feared that the potential changes that HUD and FHA could make to their program would be their funeral. That turned out not to be the case, and there has been a good amount of analysis of the changes. The underwriting changes by the FHA include increases in the MI premium, an increased down-payment requirement for low FICO borrowers, a reduction in the ability to roll closing costs into the loan, and increased lender recourse to FHA lenders. What they don’t include, of course, is a program-wide minimum FICO, or program-wide increase in the down payment. Generally speaking, most agree that the changes announced to FHA underwriting seem to be less restrictive than anticipated and more supportive of mortgage credit availability and the housing market at the expense of minimizing losses to the MI fund.

There continues to be confusion on broker compensation. One lender in California, Reunion Mortgage, sent out their policies, set to match regulatory changes, which will hopefully clear things up for their clients.  “The maximum broker compensation allowed is: The broker’s origination Fee (including all broker fees): < 3.5% for Conventional, 4.5% for FHA; the broker’s Origination Fee (including all broker and lender fees): < 4% for VA; the total of all fees paid to broker if the loan amount is greater than $500,000, the greater of < 2% or $22,500; YSP is capped at 3%, unless otherwise indicated on rate sheet.” Reunion goes on to say that “all fees must be reasonable and customary, all fees must comply with State, Federal and agency requirements, individual loan programs may have additional restrictions, and broker funds are sent to title for disbursement at funding.” There you have it!

Originators are still grappling with the GFE and RESPA changes. One wrote and said, “This week we sat down with a borrower that is doing an FHA loan. The seller is paying all of the closing costs and as usual the borrower is financing the upfront MIP. Essentially the borrower is coming in with their 3.5% down payment. Our GFE was filled out correctly and yet it showed that the borrower needed $13,850 for closing. Unfortunately the new form does not take into account the fact that the borrower is financing the MIP or the seller credit of $10,000.  When we arrived at the bottom line on the GFE form, the client saw they needed $13,850 to close; they were shocked to say the least. They looked us right in the eye and said, ‘You want us to sign this official looking form, and you’re telling us to trust you that what is written here is not correct?’ We were speechless and must have looked equally as shocked as the borrower seeing a number that was not part of the discussion.  All we could think about was HUD put us in this very uncomfortable position. Ultimately we had to show the borrower a version of the old GFE that shows the seller credit and the upfront MIP being offset by the loan amount. The only benefit for the consumer on this new form is the information on the lock expiration; otherwise we have taken about two steps backward with respect to making the closing process more understandable.” Well said.

more news on Fifth Third, Chase correspondent, GMAC, Wells wholesale, Wells correspondent, the markets and economy, and joke of the day … <<< CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE

What does the end of life look like in prison?

Over the past three years, photographer Lori Waselchuk has visited the hospice at Louisiana’s Angola State Penitentiary to document the prison’s groundbreaking hospice program. Her images are an illustration of the system of cooperation and compassion between prisoners that can exist, and I’m glad they’re touring the world to open people up to that reality.

Angola’s hospice, started more than a decade ago, is still one of only a few such programs in the nation. It is overseen by a nurse, but run mostly by prisoners who take care of one another. A quilting program helps the hospice raise money for basic needs.  And prisoner by prisoner, it’s helping change perspectives inside the system.

At first, as Waselchuk told the Morning News, prison staff thought the hospice “was a scam; they thought these guys were going to abuse the system. It was all suspicion. ” But in the past 10 to 12 years, he says, the prisoners working there have “really convinced a lot of people,” and also taught many staff members “about compassion and that crime does not define the person.”

“I wanted to make pictures,” she says, “that rose to how much I felt they could share.”

To view Waselchuk’s moving images, you can check out the exhibition website here. As I’ve previously written, the documentary The Farm: 10 Down includes interviews about the hospice program and some footage of the program, and is also very much worth checking out.

Photo Credit: Lori Waselchuk

Most of the overnight’s freezing rain has passed through the Chicago area, but motorists on their morning commutes still could face some hazardous driving conditions.

“Untreated roads are still going to be pretty nasty,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Eric Lenning. “It’s going to be a surprise to people, unfortunately.”

Today’s forecast still calls for patchy light freezing drizzle in the morning, then a chance of light freezing rain or drizzle in the afternoon. Highs will be in the lower 30s.

There were no significant problems this morning on Chicago-area expressways as the freezing rain moved out of the area and into northwest Indiana, according to Illinois State Police.

But side streets that haven’t been treated with salt like the expressways may pose problems for motorists.

The National Weather Service on Wednesday had issued a freezing rain advisory for much of northern Illinois and northwestern Indiana that still is set to expire at 6 a.m.

The weather service warned that periods of freezing rain or drizzle would cause roads to get slippery and create other travel difficulties. Temperatures in the area were slightly below the freezing mark overnight, the weather service said.

Metra similarly warned its riders.

“Please be advised that, as always, we will make every reasonable effort to assure your timely and comfortable commute,” Metra said in an online service alert. “Unfortunately, weather conditions beyond our control often create unanticipated delays or service disruptions.”

– Staff report

Read the original article from Tribune News Services.

Here is a little something to make your dull morning a little more exciting. Audi TV has just posted a commercial of the new 2010 Audi R8 Spyder V10 5.2 FSI quattro.

Believe us, it’s definitely worth taking out 3 minutes for (because you’ll watch it twice).

Refresher: Power for the Audi R8 Sypder 5.2 FSI quattro comes from a 5.2L FSI direct-injected V10 making 525-hp and a maximum torque of 391 lb-ft. Mated a 6-speed manual (with an available 6-speed R tronic automatic), 0 to 62 mph in 4.1 seconds with a top speed of 194 mph. Fuel-economy comes in at an estimated 16 mpg when mated to manual transmission and 17 mpg when mated to an automatic.

2010 Audi R8 Spyder:

2010 Audi R8 Spyder:

– By: Omar Rana

[JURIST] The North Korean government is holding approximately 200,000 dissidents in six prison camps spread throughout the country, according to a report released Wednesday by the South Korean government’s National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK). According to the report, punishments for dissidents have increased significantly for common offenses such as attempting to escape. The report also said that five of these six prisons are death camps and that prisoners sent to them are never released. This is the first time a state agency has conducted a review of human rights in North Korea.
In October, UN Special Rapporteur for North Korea Vitit Muntarbhorn criticized North Korea for human rights violations. Muntarbhorn said North Korea was responsible for a broad range of egregious human rights violations including torture, public executions, and widespread hunger. North Korea’s deputy UN ambassador Pak Tok-Hun has condemned the report and defended the country’s rights record before the council.

Simon Monjack and Sharon Murphy, the grief-stricken husband and mother of late actress Brittany Murphy, brought their campaign to clear the actress’ name to The TODAY Show on Thursday. Brittany died suddenly after suffering cardiac arrest in her Los Angeles mansion last month. She was 32. In an interview with NBC’s Matt Lauer this morning, Sharon and Simon vehemently denied tabloid rumors that the shockingly-frail Brittany had been abusing drugs or suffering from an eating disorder in the last years of her life. Monjack, who married the Clueless star in 2007, blames the rumors for destroying the actress’ once promising career.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Monjack has accused film producers of firing the actress from the Happy Feet sequel because of tabloid rumors about her lifestyle.

“There was a great deal of stress in her career. A week before she died… unfortunately Warner Brothers pulled the offer (for Happy Feet) based off rumors, which were untrue.”

He’s now urging actors to withdraw from the sequel in protest.

“So any actress that takes the role is terrible. And I would say to Brad Pitt and Matthew Damon, who are considering doing the movie, to rethink your friendship with Brittany before you do it.”

Bears running back Matt Forte had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee within the last two weeks, according to multiple sources.

The clean-up procedure followed a post-season MRI. Forte sprained the medial collateral ligament in his knee during the Bears’ 25-19 victory at Seattle in Week 3, but it is unclear if the surgery stems from that specific injury.

Although Forte ran better toward the end of the season, he averaged just 3.6 yards per carry, down from his 3.9-yard average as a rookie.

He finished with 929 rushing yards on 258 carries as the Bears ranked 29th in the league. Forte ran for 1,238 yards on 316 carries as a rookie the year before. As a receiver, he had 57 catches for 471 yards in 2009 against 63 for 477 in his first season.

Forte also suffered a partially torn hamstring during offseason workouts before the ‘09 season.

With Forte recovering from surgery, the Bears have at least three running backs on the mend.

Garrett Wolfe had shoulder surgery almost two weeks ago while Kevin Jones continues his extensive rehab from torn ligaments in his left ankle. Jones missed the entire regular season.

Also, punter Brad Maynard had his right hip scoped, a source said. His recovery time is unclear.

Maynard was listed as questionable with a groin injury before the last home game against the Vikings. He handled the punt duties that night despite the Bears’ decision to sign Richmond McGee as insurance.

The first day teams can start the offseason workout program is March 15.

[email protected]

Read the original article from Tribune News Services.

If Scott Brown’s Massachusetts upset sends health care reform into a free fall, Democrats will start looking for something that feels more solidly populist — like bank regulation, or job creation. If the unemployment rate is the next object of the Democrats’ reform agenda, here’s a graph they should probably pay attention to. It’s the CBO’s jobs-per-dollar analysis of 11 employment-boosting ideas.

Sorry if the graph is a little difficult to read. You can open up the full report here.

 
Here’s the good news: Increasing aid to the unemployed is the big winner because the jobless are strapped for cash and more likely than almost anybody else to spend what their checks quickly, sending the money back into the economy. To Congress’s credit, they just extended unemployment benefits in November.

Here’s the bad news: The CBO doesn’t seem to put much stock* in reducing income taxes or extending the AMT exemption, even though Obama’s early budget called for reducing income taxes for everybody except the top 5 percent of tax payers. 

Paul Krugman points to this report to hail the job creation tax credit but it’s noteworthy that the CBO admits they don’t really know how well this policy works in practice. After the 1973-5 recession, the authors note, the New Jobs Tax Credit gave firms a tax break if they increased total employment by at least two percent. The policy was too complex for many firms to apply, and later studies struggled to agree that the tax credit boosted jobs by a significant number. A Department of Labor report ultimately concluded that it was impossible to observe what hiring would have been done without the credit.

It’s an important reminder that the CBO is a group of very, very smart individuals, but their
conclusions are only as good as their models.