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RM Auctions revealed that a rare example of Ferrari 400 Superamerica, one of only six SWB examples coachbuilt by Pininfarina, is set to go under the hammer in Monaco on May 1, 2010. The Sporting Classics of Monaco auction will offer 80 of the world’s finest motor cars, among which there will also be the aforementioned 1962 Ferrari 400 Superamerica Cabriolet Pininfarina.

During the model’s lifetime, only 46 examples were built, with only six being short wheelbase convertibles. The car is the … (read more)

Budding US-based Ghanaian fitness and sports model, Evans Amoako is committed to working hard, staying in shape and becoming one of the best fitness models out of Africa. Born in Ghana, Evans was always very passionate about sports. It is therefore no surprise that at age 24 he has been involved in college cross-country, track & field as well as soccer. He has been working out for nine years with dreams of becoming a fitness and sports model, drawing inspiration from fellow models, Obi Obadike and Sebastian Siegel.

Evans Amoako

His love for fitness and sports began during his school years in Hawidu Agogo back in Ghana, where he started playing neighborhood football matches. His skills made him very popular and his physical education teacher took a special interest in him. Evans soon joined the school soccer team and made a little magic until he moved to the United States at the age of 12 years.

In Houston, Texas he attended Fondren Middle School where he joined the soccer team and, at age 13, won the Most Valuable Player Award. When he began high school at Westbury, he played for a year and quit because he noticed that soccer wasn’t given as much attention as it was back home in Ghana. He decided to join cross-country and the track & field team instead. It was on the track team that he developed his commitment to hard work, dedication and discipline.

“Because I wanted to be the best at Westbury School, I woke up at 4 a.m to practice before I went to school. People began to notice me so I got more disciplined and dedicated; I was running 10 miles and doing 600 push-ups a day and spending one hour at the gym”, comments Evans. Due to such determination, his teammates named him ‘The Machine’.

Jamati Online got in touch with ‘The Machine’ to find out more about sports and fitness models, his aspirations as well as some quality tips to stay in shape and live a healthy life generally.

Jamati: What exactly does a sports and fitness model do?

Sports and fitness models can be used for all types of jobs like fitness magazine, sports TV commercials, sports advertising; and general TV commercials, pop videos, film, theatre, advertising. They are the kids that usually work for companies like Nike, Adidas, and Under Armor. Basically, you have to stay on your game and be in top physical condition all year round to be a sports and fitness model.

Jamati: How long have you been doing it?

I have been doing fitness and sports modeling for about 6 months. I’m still new to the game. I’m trying to get my name out there so companies can notices me. In this short period some of my highlights including winning second position as fitness model in my first competition, Fame USA in Houston, Texas. I also did some few sports stock photos ad and some locate ad. My biggest accomplishment is the people all over the world that I have inspired to start exercising, and that lot to me.

Jamati: Have you modeled for any sports company?

Since I started, I have not gotten any opportunity to work for any company as fitness and sports model. I am currently seeking agency representation that will allow me to work in the commercial print field as well as TV and web advertising. Still very new to the industry so I pray that one day, a company or agency gives me an opportunity to work with them.

Evans Amoako

Jamati: What else do you do beside modeling?

I just started my own business called Body Fitness. Body Fitness principally runs a strengthening and conditioning program for people of all shapes and sizes. I educate, motivate and support my clients with a positive attitude in a relaxed atmosphere throughout the entire program. Body Fitness is dedicated to serving my clients and providing them with the motivation to stay fit, have fun, and further their health and fitness education.

Jamati: What is a routine day like for you?

I wake up early in the morning at about 5 a.m and I go for 4 miles and hit the gym for 2 hours. After the workout I will get ready to train my clients. When I get home from work I go to the gym and spend one hour doing 500 push ups and 500 sit ups.

Jamati: How do you stay fit all year round?

Staying fit requires a lot of hard work and commitment. I work out 5 days a week. I’m very disciplined when it comes to nutrition because food plays a very important part for me to stay in top shape. It is about eating healthy as well. My meals include low calories, low fat, lots of vegetables and fruits, fiber and lean protein and I drink plenty of water. Sleep and rest is another vital aspect for me in staying fit and healthy so I make sure that I get 8 hours of sleep everyday. I stay in shape all year round with 1 to 3% body fat. I always want to make sure that am ready for a photo shoot. One thing I don’t do is protein shakes or supplements; I’m 100% all natural.

Jamati: what benefits have you gained from staying fit?

Staying in shape has prevented me from getting all kind of sicknesses. For me, taking care of my body gives me higher self-esteem which leads me to feel good physically and mentally. Most importantly, my goal as a fitness and sports model is to inspire others to stay in shape and lead a healthy lifestyle. The benefits are endless. Being fit is just a great way to live your life.

Jamati: what kind of food do your recommend for staying fit?

The quote I go by when it come to healthy food is: “Those who think they have no time for healthy eating will sooner or later have to find time for illness.”

1) Brown Rice, 2) Oatmeal, 3) Salad and Vegetables, 4) Baked Chicken, 5) fish

Jamati what are some 5 basic exercises to do to stay in shape?

1) Push ups, 2) Abdominal exercises, 3) Running or Walking, 4) Sports, 5) Maintain a healthy diet

Jamati: what are some quick  dos and don’ts in staying healthy?

Do’s

Try to exercise at least 4 to 5 times per week, drink plenty of water, eat a healthy diet, and get enough sleep.

Don’t’s

No fried food, no smoking, no alcohol.

At the 2010 Chicago Auto Show next month, Kia will unveil a new concept called Ray (teased above), a study that looks into the plug-in future of the automaker.

“Styled by the team at Kia Design Centre America, the Kia Ray project was undertaken to demonstrate how Kia’s evolving design direction would be applied in the packaging of a plug-in hybrid vehicle,” Kia said in a statement. ‘The actual car will form the centre-piece of the Kia Motors America display at Chicago and the vehicle will contribute to Kia’s on-going development of alternative-fuel vehicles.”

Kia said that it has already “pioneered potentially real-life fuel cell vehicles and has working prototypes operating in California and Korea.” It also has various test-hybrid vehicles providing feedback in various locations around the world and plans to commercialize Liquefied Petroleum Gas hybrid vehicles in Korea within the next 12 months.

Kia Ray Concept:

– By: Kap Shah

Anupam Chander has posted International Trade and Internet Freedom on SSRN.  From the abstract:

Can trade liberalization serve the cause of political liberalization in authoritarian states? In this short essay, I suggest that trade law might bolster political freedoms by liberalizing Internet trade. Trade law puts pressure on state repression of information through two principal mechanisms.

First, GATS transparency obligations require what is often absent in authoritarian states – a set of public rules that governs both citizens and governmental authorities. WTO member states must publish regulations governing services and establish inquiry points where foreign service providers can obtain information about such regulations. A publication requirement written for the benefit of foreigners may prove even more useful for local citizens, who will be given the opportunity to understand the rules that bind them – and the opportunity therefore to challenge those rules or their interpretation.

Second, the market access and national treatment commitments provide opportunities for foreign information service providers to disseminate information that local information service providers might eschew. While censorship by itself may not necessarily constitute either a market access or a national treatment violation, it might do so if it is operationalized in ways that effectively discriminate against foreign service providers.

And from the paper:

Censorship by itself may not necessarily constitute either a market access or a national treatment violation. But consider three scenarios: what if a country (1) declared foreign blogging sites off-limits, or (2) required foreign information service providers to route their offerings through special traffic cops, or (3) required local Internet service providers to deny access to certain foreign services in toto? In cases like these, the censorship measures would likely run afoul of a country’s market access and national treatment obligations.

Admittedly, I’m eagerly anticipating Google’s Chrome OS later this year. In fact, I couldn’t wait that long, so I installed an early build on my netbook to poke and prod. Not all of you live in the ether between cloud and browser like I do, and that’s fine. We each have different computing needs and tasks to do — it’s only fitting that we have differing opinions on a browser-based operating system. But I believe that some are drawing conclusions too early in the game. Google’s operating system for the future just might not be as limiting as you think.

I felt that way prior, but after reading a very lengthy, candid interview over at Ars Tehnica, I have even more faith that Chrome OS could easily meet my needs — and maybe yours too. The engineering director for the Chrome OS project, Matthew Papakipos, and Eitan Bencuya from Google PR sat with Ars to chat about Chrome OS, HTML 5 and where this is all heading. I recommend reading the entire interview if you’re even remotely interested in Google’s operating system efforts, but this tidbit solidified the hope I have for the platform:

“Another big aspect to what we’re doing is we’re integrating a whole media player into Chrome and into Chrome OS. People often get confused about this, and it’s a fairly subtle but important point. Because in a sense what we’re doing is integrating the equivalent of Windows Media Player into Chrome itself… …[f]or example, you might just have a USB key that has a bunch of MP3s on it, so you want to be able to plug that in and listen to those MP3s. There might not be any controlling webpage for that activity, but it’s clearly something you need to be able to do in any reasonable operating system or browser. So we’re doing a lot of work to make Chrome and Chrome OS handle those use cases really well.”

Many folks figured that media playback wouldn’t be possible on Chrome OS because it’s considered to be just a browser. But it’s not — there are actually two platforms at play here: Chrome and Chrome OS. We know that Chrome is the browser, because it exists today. However, that browser sits atop a Linux kernel and those two combined are the Chrome OS. That means Google can add what we consider to be standard operating system functions outside of the browser. Perhaps the client to control those functions is the browser, but you have to think beyond what a browser can do today.

That example aside, the entire article is fascinating. Not only does it explain where Google is heading with the Chrome OS, but also how it’s getting there. Around 200 Google employees are using devices powered by Chrome OS and their usage is tracked at detailed levels. As new features or builds arrive, the engineers see if Chrome OS usage has increased or decreased. It’s like a mini-focus group that indirectly provides requirements which in turn get coded for the test cycle to begin again — iterative development on steroids, if you will.

And while I might look to use a Chrome OS device for most of my workday, that doesn’t mean it can’t be an “every now and then” device for others. In fact, Google isn’t trying to define the target user, which is a very different approach from historical computer design methods. Papakipos explains his personal use-case:

“I have three different machines at home, and I started leaving them in different rooms: one in the kitchen, one in the living room, and one in the family room. And it’s amazing how often you just pick it up, look up one piece of information, and shut it off. And you’re done with that whole transaction in 45 seconds. Which is awesome, because sometimes that’s all you want.”

A fast boot, good browser and usable keyboard might go a long way, no? I’m not going to claim that Google’s Chrome OS will save the planet or be the best operating system on the market — that would be silly. But it is shaping up to be basic, simple and effective for many of the activities we all do daily. There are still plenty of challenges, and therefore potential limitations — JavaScript and HTML 5 access to peripherals are mentioned specifically — but I see plenty to be hopeful about, even with this early build as a primary operating system.

Related Research: Google Chrome OS: What to Expect“

Last night it seemed like a surprise when the WSJ reported that Obama was about to wage war on Wall Street with new limitations on bank size, leverage, and prop trading.

But it wasn’t a surprise to everyone!

Regional banks made a monster move yesterday — defying the market selloff — and though it was hard to explain at the time, in retrospect it makes absolutely perfect sense.

A crackdown on big, conglomerate financial institutions benefits smaller, plain-vanilla banks, and boring trust companies.

Here, take a look at the state of financials as of 2:00 yesterday. You’ll notice that all the winners are winners of today’s news:

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Tim Geithner: Now Officially A Lame Duck Until November 3, 2010
• Is The New Battle Against Wall Street Why Elizabeth Warren Met With David Axelrod Today?
• Obama’s Assault On Wall Street Begins: New Limits On Size, Leverage, And Prop Trading Coming

The pause and play radio introduced by GM in 2008 allows drivers (and passengers, of course) to record live transmissions and listen to them later.

GM’s pause and play radio is integrated in the high navigation radio in the Chevrolet Equinox, Buick LaCrosse, GMC Terrain and Cadillac SRX and, of course, on the Cadillac CTS Jukebox and Navigation radio, on which it made its world premiere in 2008. The feature is also on its way to the Buick Regal and the Chevrolet Cruze.

In a similar way th… (read more)

Phil Levy of AEI tries to define modern protectionism:

To better recognize protectionism in its modern guises, we offer three broad categories of protectionist measures: Intentional protectionism encompasses measures that are explicitly intended to favor domestic industry over imports. Incidental protectionism occurs when measures can be readily justified on other grounds but also have the effect of obstructing import competition. Instrumental protectionism describes a burgeoning set of policies in which trade actions are used as a lever to change another country's policies.

He then explains each category in detail.

I think this is a great article.  I may not agree with all of the specific points, but in my view the definition of protectionism is an important issue that is often overlooked.  The term gets thrown around a lot, and I'm not sure people are always using it the same way.  Most people would probably agree that fighting protectionism is a core purpose of trade agreements.  But what exactly is the protectionism that we are fighting?

And then there's the question of what the full scope of trade agreements should be.  In addition to protectionism, what else should be included?  I'll leave that one for another day.

from freedompress, 16 January 2010: “A 33-year old has been sentenced to nine months imprisonment for refusing to decrypt his personal computer files. Judge Hetherington declared that the man, in spite of initial police suspicions, poses no threat to national security, and made it clear that his failure to cooperate with the police and to comply with a section 49 notice to provide passphrases to his encrypted computers was the reason the harsh sentence was handed down… more

From China Daily:

Spain will propose that the European Union (EU) consider lifting an arms embargo on China and grant full market economy status to the country, Madrid's top envoy to Beijing has said.

Elaborating on Spain's tasks during the six months it holds the EU rotating presidency, Carlos Blasco Villa told China Daily that Madrid will also promote the signing of a comprehensive cooperative partnership between China and the EU.

…

Spain, which holds the rotating presidency from Jan 1 to June 30, will ask the EU to consider lifting the ban on arms exports to China, he said.

"We hope to deepen discussions on lifting the ban," he said.

Imposed two decades ago, the ban is cited by a number of analysts as an obstacle to China-EU ties.

Madrid is also keen to put on the EU's agenda the granting of full market economy status to the world's largest exporter, Blasco said.

As a compromise to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, China allows WTO members not to recognize it as a full market economy until 2016.

But the lack of such a status has made China the victim of a growing number of dumping charges.

…

More than 80 countries and regions, including Australia and New Zealand have granted the status to China.

But China needs to further open up its service sector and make the yuan fully convertible to convince all EU members, Blasco said, adding that he understood the country's gradual and steady approach in opening up.

I'm assuming that making the yuan "fully convertible" means an exchange rate set by the market, but I could be wrong about that.

from imc-uk, 15 January 2010: “It will be suggested that the threat of surveillance we outline here is exaggerated and paranoid. So we thought it necessary to clarify our stance. We choose to prepare for the worst case scenario. We accept that, for instance, the chance of the police both bothering to, and being able to obtain CCTV from third parties in the event of most “public order” situations is low. However, we believe to prepare for the fact that they may is cautious. We would be paranoid if our fears stopped us from acting, but careless if we did not let our fear inform us to prepare…” more

Weekly jobless claims came in at 482,000, vs. expectations of 435,000.

The number was 36,000 higher than last week.

It’s the first sequential increase after 19 straight declines.

Read more at MarketWatch >

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• CHART OF THE DAY: A Jobless Recovery? Not For The Financial World
• Rising Unemployment And Obama’s Hard Turn To The Left Should Freak Out Owners Of Bank Stocks

An Illinois woman has named Wal-Mart as a defendant in a wrongful death lawsuit filed over her husband’s fatal fentanyl overdose caused by a pain patch he received after a slip and fall at one of the company’s stores.

The complaint was filed on January 6 in Madison County Circuit Court by Kara S. Manley over the death of her husband, Gary Manley, who died from fentanyl toxicity on June 11, 2008. According to a report in The Madison Record, Manley named Wal-Mart, as well as Dr. Oscar F. Florendo and Osbec Medical of Southern Illinois, as defendants.

The wrongful death lawsuit alleges that Gary Manley slipped on an oily substance in a Wal-Mart in O’Fallon, Illinois on Feb. 22, 2008, resulting in a back injury. Gary Manley then saw Dr. Florendo, who gave him a prescription for the fentanyl pain patch in June 2008. A month later, Gary Manley was dead from a fentanyl overdose caused by the pain patch.

Fentanyl is a powerful opioid pain killer that is often prescribed to patients suffering from chronic, severe pain. It is considered 100 times more powerful than heroine and over-exposure to the fentanyl gel contained in the patch can cause a fatal overdose.

Problems with the fentanyl patch have been linked to hundreds of deaths since the brand name Duragesic patch was first introduced by Johnson & Johnson in 1994. The deaths have mostly occurred among those who either used the drug incorrectly or never should have received the powerful painkiller, but there have also been a number of fentanyl patch recalls issued due to various manufacturing defects which allowed the fentanyl gel to leak out of the patch and come into direct contact with the skin.

The FDA has issued several warnings to the medical community about the dangers associated with the fentanyl patch, which is only supposed to be used to treat severe, chronic pain among those who are already tolerant of opioid therapy.

A number of product liability lawsuits have been filed against manufacturers of the fentanyl patch alleging design defects, manufacturing problems and inadequate warnings contributed to fatal overdoses. Of the first four fenrtanyl patch lawsuits to go to trial, plaintiffs won every case and juries returned verdicts that combined to exceed $36 million.

It’s still unclear what the Dems are going to do about the health-care overhaul, now that they’ve lost their filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. So much of the health coverage this morning (including the lead stories in the WSJ and New York Times) keys on an interview President Obama gave to ABC News on Wednesday.

Here’s a passage from the interview that gets lots of play in the morning news:

I would advise that we try to move quickly to coalesce around those elements of the package that people agree on. We know that we need insurance reform, that the health insurance companies are taking advantage of people. We know that we have to have some form of cost containment because if we don’t, then our budgets are going to blow up and we know that small businesses are going to need help so that they can provide health insurance to their families. Those are … some of the core elements of … this bill.

As the papers note, this list notably excludes a mandate that everyone buy health insurance — a contentious provision that was included in the health bills passed by both the House and the Senate.

Insurers have argued that the only way they can sell insurance to all-comers — including those with pre-existing medical conditions — is to have a mandate requiring everyone to buy insurance. Otherwise, there’s an economic incentive for people to wait until they get sick to buy insurance.

Obama raised this issue later in the interview:

If you ask the American people about health care, one of the things that drives them crazy is insurance companies denying people coverage because of preexisting conditions. Well, it turns out that if you don’t … make sure that everybody has health insurance, … you can’t stop insurance companies from discriminating against people because of preexisting conditions. Well, if you’re going to give everybody health insurance, you’ve got to make sure it’s affordable. So it turns out that a lot of these things are interconnected.

And he talked about the long slog of trying to get a health-care bill through Congress, and how it’s drawn attention away from other issues:

I wish we had gotten it done faster … I think that what’s happened is, is over the course of this year, there’s been a fixation, an obsession in terms of the focus on the health care process in Congress that distracted from all the other things that we’re trying to do to make sure that this economy is working for ordinary people.

Photo: Associated Press