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Quick note: If you purchased a Belkin TuneBase iPod dock after April 1, 2009, click here to see if your model has a thing for starting fires. You probably don’t want that feature.

President Obama signed a law Thursday to grease the Veterans Affairs Department’s troubled budgeting process by changing the schedule to allocate funds a year in advance, the Washington Post reports. The Veterans Health Care and Budget Reform and Transparency Act “means timely, sufficient and predictable funding from year to year. For VA hospitals and clinics, it means more time to budget, to recruit high-quality professionals, and to invest in new health care equipment,” Obama said (Shear, 10/22).

The VA budget has emerged from Congress late 20 of the past 23 years, which, for the department’s health system, has led to “delays in replacing medical equipment or insufficient staff to handle their work,” the Associated Press reports. “The VA provides health care for more than 23 million American veterans; as many as a quarter of the nation’s population qualifies for VA coverage, either as veterans or family members of veterans” (10/22).

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And here we have another Motorola phone powered by Android. This little bugger was spotted over in China and claims to be the world’s first Android GSM/CDMA phone whenever it launches. The Zeppelin is said to pack the standard Motorola Android kit with a 5MP camera, 802.11 b/g, GPS, Bluetooth, a 3.1-inch 320×480 touchscreen, plus an FM radio and HDMI output. It’s just too bad that we can’t see the front side.

Lawmakers are excluding undocumented immigrants from health care reform legislation and barring them from receiving any government benefits.

Kaiser Health News interviews Dr. Antonio Falcon, a Texas physician, about the care of illegal immigrants in border communities. “Falcon, a member of the Texas Medical Association and the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission, … worries that lawmakers in Washington are failing to address several important border health issues, including illegal immigrants’ health care … [and] warned that failure to recognize the high, unreimbursed costs of caring for this population could undermine hospitals and providers along the border and open the door to public health risks for the entire nation.” Falcon says: “It seems like policy makers want to isolate [the issue of] illegal immigrants’ care as something that’s kind of standing out there on its own and it’s not. It’s mixed in with the rest of the soup. Like it or not” (Marcy, 10/23).

Kaiser Health News also provides an explainer on immigrants and health care in the United States and how health reform bills may affect them (Evans, 10/23).

Meanwhile, KQED Public Radio in San Francisco explores the effects of immigration reform on public health and looks at “what it’s like for undocumented and seasonal workers to get health care under the current system, and how immigration reform could change things.” The station specifically reports on the Immigration Reform & Control Act (IRCA), information about the H1N1 vaccine and barriers that undocumented immigrants face in receiving health care in California. The program is part of a series called Health Dialogues (10/23).

Although “[h]ealth insurers insist they’re still committed to getting a health care overhaul bill passed this year,” many people in Washington are “wondering if — or when — the industry will change its mind and try to kill it,” The Associated Press reports.

“The industry’s chief lobbyist, Karen Ignagni, said Thursday that insurers ‘can continue to make a major contribution to the overhaul effort.’ … But her comments came in the midst of mounting tensions between her industry and majority Democrats. …” 

“Some in Washington … argue that Democrats’ nonstop attacks make it obvious the industry has already been carved out of the legislative process — unlike the pharmaceutical industry, hospitals and doctors, with whom lawmakers are working. … Should the insurance industry opt for a broader attack, it would not take long to launch a TV ad campaign” (Fram, 10/22).

One company is already making its case to Congress. “WellPoint Inc., the nation’s largest health insurer by members, is striking out against proposed health-overhaul legislation with new data it presented to members of Congress Thursday,” The Wall Street Journal reports. “The insurer’s conclusions, building on a study the insurance lobby put out last week, purport to show state by state how proposed changes to the nation’s health-care system would drive up premiums for some individuals and small businesses” (Johnson, 10/22).

Meanwhile, “hundreds of people” protested the insurance industry outside the Washington, D.C., hotel where America’s Health Insurance Plans, the industry’s trade group, was holding a conference, USA Today reports. “The event was organized by Health Care for America Now, a group that supports a government-run ‘public’ health insurance option as part of health care reform.” Several families “shared stories of denied care” and “signed a letter asking AHIP’s president and CEO, Karen Ignagni, to meet them at the hotel to ‘hear firsthand the ways in which the entities you represent have disrupted our lives.’ The letter was used as a print ad in several Capitol Hill newspapers. They did not receive a response, according to Health Care for America Now” (Gaudiano, 10/22).

NPR: “No one in the insurance industry group was interested in commenting on the protest, including their spokesperson” (Seabrook, 10/22).

Google has added some new things to Google Reader in order to deliver a more personalized experience for the user. The company compares the features to how personalized search improved search results based on search history. Google thinks the new changes will have a similar affect on users’ reading experience.

In Google Reader, there is a new "Explore" section that appears under the "People You Follow" section. Within this section are the previously existing recommendations feature and a new one – "Popular items."

"We use algorithms to find top-rising images, videos and pages from anywhere (not just your subscriptions), collect them in the new Popular items section and order them by what we think you’ll like best," explains Google’s Beverly Yang. "Now you don’t have to be embarrassed about missing that hilarious video everyone is talking about — it should show up in your ‘Popular items’ feed automatically."

"And to make it easier to find interesting feeds, we’re moving recommendations into the new Explore section and giving it a new name — ‘Recommended sources,’" she adds. "Like always, it uses your Reader Trends and Web History (if you’re opted into Web History) to generate a list of feeds we think you might like."

Apart from the new Explore section, Google has also added personalized ranking to feeds. There is a new sort option called "magic," that re-orders items in the feed based on your personal usage and overall activity in Google Reader. This can be accessed by clicking "sort by magic," under the "feed settings," menu of a particular feed or folder.

"Unlike the old ‘auto’ ranking, this new ranking is personalized for you, and gets better with time as we learn what you like best — the more you ‘like’ and ‘share’ stuff, the better your magic sort will be," says Yang. "Give it a try on a high-volume feed folder or All items and see for yourself!"

It’s going to be interesting using Google’s new personalization features in Reader moving forward. It should be a good way to determine just how well Google really does know users. Unlike searches, which are prone to be much more random, Reader is a more intimate experience, where users frequently return to specific topics and sources. This does occur in search to some extent, but the very nature of searching means you’re looking for something wherever you can find it in most cases (not counting just being lazy and searching for specific domains).

President Obama will not talk about the Massachusetts health care program to cover the uninsured or even talk about health reform for the country on a trip to that state today, focusing instead on clean energy and fundraising, The Washington Post reports.

“The president’s critics say his reluctance to spotlight the Massachusetts model is real-world evidence that his vision would not work on a national scale. High costs have forced the state to trim benefits for legal immigrants and prompted one safety-net hospital to sue over a $38 million shortfall. Obama’s allies — and even one prominent adversary — see a more nuanced picture that offers guideposts for federal lawmakers as they finalize decisions on a bill that could reshape one-sixth of the economy.”

Massachusetts has sparked much debate in America over covering 97 percent of residents in a system where there are serious cost containment issues, though it enjoys popularity among doctors and residents (Connolly, 10/23).

The Associated Press, in the meantime, reports that Obama’s cabinet members often stop in Nevada — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s home state — to help the senator in his campaign for re-election. “‘The president will continue to send his Cabinet members to Nevada and across the country to find the best ways to repair our economy, reform our health insurance system and build upon Nevada’s efforts to create green energy jobs,’ said White House spokesman Adam Abrams” (Freking, 10/23).

There was a lot of news a few days back when notorious pranksters, Yes Men, set up a fake press conference pretending to be the US Chamber of Commerce, announcing that it had changed its controversial stance on climate change — which had recently driven some large companies, including PG&E and Apple, to leave the CoC. The fake press conference, along with a fake website and fake press release, apparently fooled some in the media — including Reuters — until someone from the real Chamber of Commerce burst into the room and confronted the pranksters. The video is great:

Part of the hoax was a fake website at www.chamber-of-commerce.us, and apparently the real Chamber of Commerce has sent a DMCA takedown on the site. The EFF is responding in support of Yes Men, saying that the site is a parody, which is protected fair use. While I think that the Chamber of Commerce is pretty dumb to issue the takedown — only giving the Yes Men more attention — I’m not sure that the parody defense will stick here. While the site is for the purpose of criticism, the site is most certainly not an obvious parody. It’s designed to look real. Thus, the bigger issue may actually be trademark infringement, not copyright infringement, as the site could certainly confuse users, but there are other ways to deal with such things that don’t involve a DMCA takedown.

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Here’s the First Family portrait, released by the Photo Office this morning:

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Comedian Soupy Sales has passed away at the age of 83, reportedly at a Hospice in New York. 

Provide your condolences at the Famous Dead website — www.FamousDead.com …

The web is abuzz with fond memories and sadness of his death.  The rate at which the Tweets about him are rolling in provide evidence to that.

Soupy Sales is the number one query on Google’s Hot Trends list.

Soupy was known for his children’s television show, Lunch with Soupy Sales, in which he was frequently received a pie in his face, which became his trademark.

The death of Sales is just the latest in a seemingly never-ending stream of celebrity deaths this year.

EverBank Financial Corp., a Jacksonville, Fla.-based financial services firm, has agreed to acquire Tygris Commercial Finance Group, a commercial finance and leasing company. The stock-for-stock transaction is expected to increase EverBank’s capital base by about $470 million. EverBank has raised approximately $100 million in private equity funding from Sageview Capital. Tygris was formed in 2007 with more than $1.75 billion in equity commitments from Aquiline Capital Partners, New Mountain Capital, TPG Capital, Diamond Castle Holdings and Hamilton Lane.

PRESS RELEASE

EverBank Financial Corp®, one of the nation’s largest privately-held financial services firms, announced today it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Tygris Commercial Finance Group, Inc., a commercial finance and leasing company.

The stock-for-stock acquisition will increase EverBank’s capital base by approximately $470 million, and is expected to have a positive impact on earnings.  EverBank’s capital position will be significantly enhanced upon consummation of the acquisition, resulting in expected Tier 1 (core) capital and risk based capital ratios of approximately 11% and 19%, respectively. The acquisition agreement also includes a $65 million pre-acquisition cash investment by Tygris into EverBank designed to provide EverBank with growth capital prior to the consummation of EverBank’s acquisition of Tygris. 

“The Tygris acquisition will provide EverBank with substantial growth capital to continue its successful approach of offering high-credit-quality residential loan and retail deposit products to the “mass affluent” market as well as pursue other strategic acquisition opportunities,” stated Rob Clements, Chairman and CEO of EverBank.  “As a result of EverBank’s deployment last year of approximately $150 million of growth capital, the company has recognized record year-to-date earnings of $26.0 million through the second-quarter of 2009, resulting in earnings growth of 41% over the comparable period in 2008.  We believe that by continuing to pursue attractive lending and deposit opportunities, while offering business leasing products, EverBank can further enhance its financial position and provide competitive lending and banking solutions to customers in the current market environment.”
 

“As a healthy, growing bank, EverBank was fortunate to be able to consider a variety of potential strategic acquisition opportunities before deciding to partner with Tygris,” stated Blake Wilson, President and CFO of EverBank.  “We chose to partner with Tygris based on the quality of its people, leasing products and platform, and the potential future opportunities available to the combined organization.  By bringing Tygris together with our credit, capital and funding infrastructure, our customers will benefit by having another stable lending source available to them.”
 

The acquisition, which is expected to close in late 2009, has been approved by both parties’ boards of directors and remains subject to regulatory approvals, among other customary conditions.  EverBank was advised by the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.  Tygris was advised by the investment banking firm of Goldman Sachs & Co. and the law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP.

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cVidya Networks, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based provider of telecom data integrity revenue assurance and dealer management systems, has agreed to acquire ECtel Ltd. (Nasdaq: ECTX), a Rosh Ha’ayin-based provider of provider of integrated revenue management solutions for communications service providers. The deal is valued at just under $21 million in cash. cVidya has raised around $22 million in VC funding, from firms like Battery Ventures, Carmel Ventures, Hyperion, Stage One and Star Ventures.

PRESS RELEASE
ECtel Ltd. (NASDAQ: ECTX) (”ECtel”), a leading provider of Integrated Revenue Management(TM) (IRM(R)) solutions for communications service providers, announced today that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement for the acquisition of the Company by cVidya Networks Inc. (”cVidya”), a global leader in telecom revenue management, risk management, and dealer management solutions, in a cash transaction valued at $21 million (less transaction expenses of approximately $430,000).

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010807/FLTU015LOGO )

Under the terms of the agreement, ECtel shareholders will receive approximately $1.26 per share in cash upon the closing of the transaction, representing a premium of approximately 58% over ECtel’s average closing share price over the 90 trading days ended October 21, 2009. There is no financing condition to the obligations of cVidya to consummate the transaction. The definitive agreement contains customary representations and warranties, covenants, closing conditions, termination provisions, exclusivity requirements and arrangements to handle superior proposals.

The Board of Directors of ECtel unanimously approved the agreement and recommend that ECtel’s shareholders vote in favor of the transaction. The closing of the transaction is subject to the approval of ECtel’s shareholders, certain regulatory approvals and notifications and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions. It is currently anticipated that the transaction will be consummated following the satisfaction of all closing conditions which is anticipated to occur by the end of 2009. Upon the closing of the transaction, ECtel’s ordinary shares will be delisted from NASDAQ.

Each of Koor Industries and Clal Electronic Industries, the owners of an aggregate of approximately 38% of ECtel’s outstanding ordinary shares, has entered into a voting undertaking with cVidya under which it has agreed to vote all of its shares in favor of the proposed transaction, subject to customary terms and conditions. The voting undertaking will terminate upon termination of the merger agreement in accordance with its terms.

Yair Cohen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ECtel, commented on the transaction: “Our focus, as a Board, has always been to maximize long term shareholder value. At the Board we evaluated our strategy going forward and, while evaluating the opportunities, we also recognize the challenges of continuing the path as an independent public company operating in a competitive and consolidating market that is limited in its size. After careful and thorough analysis, and with the completion of extensive negotiations with the buyers, the Board of Directors has decided to endorse this transaction as being in the best interest of our shareholders and recommends that it be approved by the shareholders.”

Itzik Weinstein, President and CEO of ECtel added: “This merger, which brings together two key players in the industry, enables us, as part of a unified group, by leveraging inherent synergies, to further expand our product offering, customer base and geographic breadth. Furthermore, it grants us the necessary tools to further strengthen and grow our standing in the global marketplace. As demand for revenue assurance and fraud management products rises, solutions such as ECtel’s become ever more critical by offering both tangible benefits and a competitive edge to communications service providers. This transaction presents substantial opportunities for our customers, employees and partners, and we will work towards completing the transaction in a swift and efficient manner. Our success is driven by the hard work, commitment and dedication of our capable employees around the world and I thank them for their invaluable contribution.”

Alon Aginsky, President, CEO and Founder of cVidya Network, concluded: “We look forward to having the ECtel team join us. ECtel is a great company, with an impressive talent pool, top notch customer base and leading quality products. This strategic acquisition marks another significant milestone in our growth strategy of expanding our foothold in the communication, media and entertainment markets, by creating the largest and most innovative company in the world offering revenue management, fraud management, dealer management and clearinghouse services. We are excited about the many and varied opportunities presented by this move, and believe it will lead to accelerated growth and profitability.”

About ECtel

ECtel (NASDAQ:ECTX) is a leading global provider of Integrated Revenue Management(TM) (IRM(R)) solutions for communications service providers. A pioneering market leader for nearly 20 years, ECtel offers carrier-grade solutions that enable wireline, wireless, converged and next generation operators to fully manage their revenue and cost processes. ECtel serves prominent Tier One operators, and has more than 100 implementations in over 50 countries worldwide. Established in 1990, ECtel maintains offices and has a presence in the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit http://www.ectel.com.

About cVidya

cVidya Networks is a global leader in telecom Revenue Management, Risk Management, and Dealer Management solutions. Based on highly-advanced revenue assurance technologies, full compliance with industry standards, and market proven methodologies, cVidya`s MoneyMap platform has already helped to reduce costs and reclaim hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenues for leading fixed, mobile and triple-play communication service providers. cVidya’s customers include British Telecom, Telefonica, Vodafone, Swisscom, Telecom Italia, Cable & Wireless, and more. cVidya received the Best Revenue Assurance and Management Project Award at the World BSS Awards 2008. For more information, visit http://www.cvidya.com

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OMG. When I asked our Japanese readers to send in a pic of the Burger King Windows 7 burger, I was half hoping that it really didn’t exist. But nope, here it is. You probably shouldn’t look at this before breakfast, btw.

It blows my mind that some marketing guru would think that slapping the Windows 7 name onto a seven patty burger would improve the Windows image. Of course it took an equally moronic Burger King suit to agree to sell out and show the world that Burger King is willing to create the world’s most unhealthy foods. Look at that thing. It’s a tower of cardiac arrest. The meal better come with a voucher for a buy one bypass, get one free. Gross. Just gross.

[thanks for the pics, Christoph]

MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR) has agreed to acquire SunEdison LLC, a Beltsville, Md.-based solar energy services provider. The deal is valued at $200 million, which would be paid 70% in cash and 30% in MEMC stock. SunEdison has raised over $140 million in private equity funding, plus more than $30 million in debt financing. Backers include Greylock Partners, HSH Nordbank AG, Applied Ventures, Black River Commodity Clean Energy Investment Fund, MissionPoint Capital Partner and Allco Renewable Energy Ltd.

PRESS RELEASE
MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. (NYSE: WFR), a leading provider of silicon wafers to the semiconductor and solar industries, has reached a definitive agreement to acquire privately held SunEdison LLC, a developer of solar power projects and North America’s largest solar energy services provider. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of 2009, subject to customary closing conditions and receipt of regulatory approvals.

The agreement calls for $200 million to be paid at closing to SunEdison security holders, which will be paid 70% in cash and 30% in MEMC stock. The agreement also includes an earn-out provision, should SunEdison meet certain performance targets in 2010, of up to an additional $89 million, consisting of cash and stock. In addition, the agreement calls for employee retention payments of $17 million in cash at closing, plus up to $34 million in stock which is subject to SunEdison meeting certain performance criteria and time vesting, the payment of certain transaction expenses and the assumption of net debt.

“This acquisition will provide a third engine of growth for MEMC,” said Ahmad Chatila, Chief Executive Officer of MEMC. “MEMC will now participate in the actual development of solar power plants and commercialization of clean energy, in addition to supplying the solar and semiconductor industries with our traditional silicon wafer products.”

“SunEdison has successfully built about 300 solar power plants representing approximately 80 MW of generating capacity on the rooftops and grounds of customers in the United States, Canada and Europe,” said Carlos Domenech, Chief Operating Officer of SunEdison. “Our business is highly scalable and will be able to grow substantially, capitalizing on our more than 1.5 GW of pipeline, backlog and leads with a financially strong, technically sophisticated partner like MEMC, which also has a competitive cost structure in upstream materials. This combination will greatly accelerate our goal of making solar energy cost competitive with grid prices.”

SunEdison is based in Beltsville, Maryland and employs approximately 300 people worldwide. It “simplifies solar” by managing the development, financing, operation and monitoring of solar power plants for commercial customers, including many national retail outlets, government agencies, and utilities. In a typical structure SunEdison arranges third-party, non-recourse financing for the facility and the customer has no up-front capital outlay.

With one of the strongest brands in solar, SunEdison will continue to operate with the SunEdison name, as a subsidiary of MEMC. Carlos Domenech will continue to lead SunEdison. After the acquisition is complete, he is expected to be named as Executive Vice President of MEMC and President of SunEdison, reporting to Ahmad Chatila.

“By making solar power more affordable and easy to obtain, we expect to tap into a large pent-up demand,” added Mr. Chatila. “We believe this strategy will drive revenue growth for our wafer business while producing a recurring revenue stream from solar-generated electricity. This will also allow us to directly benefit from the technological and cost advances that we are helping to create in the solar industry.”

Mr. Chatila concluded, “In short, we believe MEMC and SunEdison make a powerful combination, and we are excited about having their talented employees around the world join the MEMC team.”

MEMC expects the acquisition to be accretive to earnings, subject to purchase accounting adjustments, by the second half of 2010.

Conference Call

MEMC will host a conference call today, October 22, at 5:30 p.m. ET to discuss the company’s third quarter financial results, as well as the agreement to acquire SunEdison. A live webcast will be available on the company’s web site at www.memc.com. Please go to the web site at least fifteen minutes prior to the call to register, download and install any necessary audio software.

A replay of the conference call will be available from 7:30 p.m. ET today until 11:59 p.m. ET on October 29. To access the replay, please dial (320) 365-3844 at any time during that period, using pass code 118827. A replay will also be available until 11:59 p.m. ET on October 29 on the company’s web site at www.memc.com.

About MEMC

MEMC is a global leader in the manufacture and sale of wafers and related intermediate products to the semiconductor and solar industries. MEMC has been a pioneer in the design and development of wafer technologies over the past 50 years. With R&D and manufacturing facilities in the U.S., Europe and Asia, MEMC enables the next generation of high performance semiconductor devices and solar cells. MEMC’s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “WFR” and is included in the S&P 500 Index. For more information about MEMC, please visit www.memc.com.

About SunEdison

SunEdison is North America’s largest solar energy services provider. The company finances, installs and operates distributed power plants using proven photovoltaic technologies, delivering fully managed, predictably priced solar energy services for its commercial, government and utility customers. In 2008, SunEdison delivered more kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy than any other solar services provider in North America. For more information about SunEdison, please visit www.sunedison.com.

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Are you one of those annoying people who constantly have a Bluetooth earpiece in your ear? Does it make you sad inside that the battery on your mobile device runs out so quickly? Well it looks like Texas Instrument may be looking to change things. TI recentley demoed its “Bluetooth low energy open standard” in Munich, and when they say “low powered” they mean low powered. The technology, based on the CC2540 single-mode system-on-chip, can operate a Bluetooth radio for “over a year” on a single button cell battery; similar to the ones used in watches and hearing aids. While TI insists this will open the doors for Bluetooth enabled kitchen tables, can-openers, and sofas, we’re more excited about the mobile implications. Would this low power option make you use Bluetooth more often?

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GenNx360 Capital Partners has agreed to buy GVI Security Solutions Inc. (OTC BB: GVSS), a Carrolton, Texas-based provider of video security surveillance solutions. The deal is valued at approximately $11.6 million, or $0.38 per GVI share.

PRESS RELEASE

GVI Security Solutions, Inc., (OTC Bulletin Board: GVSS), a leading provider of video security surveillance solutions featuring the complete Samsung Electronics line of products, announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired and taken private by investment funds managed by GenNx360 Capital Partners, a leading global private equity firm focusing on middle market opportunities.

Under the terms of the merger agreement, an affiliate of GenNx360 will commence a tender offer to purchase for cash all of the outstanding shares of GVI common stock at a price of $0.38 per share, without interest and less any applicable withholding taxes, for a total equity value of approximately $11.6 million. The tender offer is expected to commence on or before November 4, 2009 and to expire on the 20th business day following and including the commencement date, unless extended in accordance with the terms of the merger agreement and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Following completion of the tender offer, the parties will complete a second-step merger in which any remaining shares of GVI common stock will be converted into the right to receive the same price per share paid in the tender offer. Stockholders representing approximately 22% of GVI’s outstanding shares have entered into tender and support agreements with GenNx360 in connection with the transaction.

Steven Walin, Chairman of GVI, said, “After careful consideration of our strategic alternatives, we are pleased to have reached this agreement with GenNx360, which creates substantial value for our stockholders. This transaction represents a premium of 22.6% over GVI’s closing share price on October 21, 2009, the last trading day before the merger agreement was signed. GenNx360’s desire to add GVI to its portfolio underscores our solid business model, the talent of our people and the significant progress we have made in transforming GVI into an important market player.”

Lloyd Trotter, a Founder and Managing Partner at GenNx360, said, “We are excited about the opportunity for GenNx360 to enter the security industry supporting the strong GVI platform. The security industry presents attractive growth opportunities and we are looking forward to working with the experienced GVI management team to expand the company’s presence in the marketplace.”

The Board of Directors of GVI has unanimously approved the merger agreement and the transactions contemplated by the merger agreement, based upon, among other factors, the approval and recommendation of a Special Committee of the Board of Directors, and has resolved to recommend that GVI’s stockholders tender their shares of GVI common stock in connection with the tender offer contemplated by the merger agreement. The transactions are subject to customary closing conditions, but are not subject to any financing condition.

Imperial Capital, LLC is acting as financial advisor to GVI and has delivered a fairness opinion to the GVI Board of Directors and Special Committee. Cooley Godward Kronish LLP is legal counsel to GVI and Nixon Peabody LLP is legal counsel to GenNx360 Capital Partners.

About GVI Security Solutions, Inc.

GVI Security Solutions, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: GVSS) is a leading provider of video surveillance and security solutions, with sales and service representation throughout North, Central and South America. The company provides Samsung Electronics and GVI branded products, software and services to the Homeland Security and Commercial markets. Customers include governments, major retail chains, leading financial institutions and public and private school systems.

www.samsung-security.com

GenNx360 Capital Partners

New York-based GenNx360 Capital Partners is a private equity investment firm focused on industrial business-to-business companies. Our partners have 100+ years of combined global operating experience with a strong, proven track record in creating true enterprise value through operating excellence and strong leadership. We acquire companies with proven and sustainable business models in expanding industries and implement the required operating efficiencies to accelerate growth and generate strong financial returns.

www.gennx360.com

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Maurice Allen and Michael Goetz have agreed to join law firm Ropes & Gray, after serving as co-heads of the banking and capital markets practice groups of White & Case. The pair will help Ropes & Gray open a London office in January, which will focus on the private equity and debt markets.

PRESS RELEASE

Ropes & Gray LLP announced that leading finance lawyers Maurice Allen and Michael Goetz will join the firm and spearhead the launch of its London office in January 2010. Allen and Goetz will enhance the firm’s ability to serve its sophisticated private equity, private investment fund, and finance-sector clients in the United Kingdom and Europe. Senior U.S. partners Newcomb Stillwell and David Chapin will be helping their new colleagues launch and grow the London office, demonstrating Ropes & Gray’s commitment to establishing a world-class service center in an important market.

“We are delighted that Maurice and Mike have decided to join Ropes & Gray, but our clients are the real beneficiaries,” said Brad Malt, the chairman of Ropes & Gray. “Our expansion into the United Kingdom gives us coverage to execute on our clients’ global mandates, and Maurice and Mike have the experience, service orientation, and business acumen to provide the cutting-edge advice for which our private equity and debt practices are renowned.”

Ropes & Gray has globally recognized private equity and debt practices, offering an ideal platform for the experienced London practitioners. The firm’s Private Equity practice group is consistently rated among the top PE practices and in 2009 garnered the Chambers Award for Excellence in the category of “Investment Funds.” The firm’s clients include 11 of the 25 so-called “mega fund” firms and more than 20 “mid-market” firms that routinely do transactions in the $100 million to $1 billion range. In the past 12 months, the firm represented private equity sponsors in a third of major North American buyouts.

“Ropes & Gray is an elite firm with an extraordinary platform in the global equity and debt marketplace,” said Allen. “Drawing on our familiarity with the sophisticated London finance market, Mike and I will bring our wealth of experience to bear on behalf of the firm’s clients. This is a terrific fit for us and the firm.”

“With their background in private equity and debt, as well as their proven track record in the competitive London market, Maurice and Mike are uniquely qualified to lead our expansion into the United Kingdom,” said David Chapin, a private equity and M&A partner. “To help our new partners launch and expand the London office, Newcomb Stillwell, a former head of Ropes & Gray’s Private Equity Practice Group, and I will devote a significant amount of time to our London office.”

Allen and Goetz are well-suited to lead Ropes & Gray’s private equity and debt-focused London office, which will open in January 2010. The two lawyers were co-heads of the banking and capital markets practice groups of White & Case, leading that firm’s London office as it grew from 65 to 400 fee earners.

The opening of a London office marks Ropes & Gray’s fourth move into key geographic markets in the past two years, following openings in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Chicago. With a new office in London, Ropes & Gray will be in a better position to serve its existing clients, as well as the clients of the firm’s new partners.

“This is a marvelous opportunity for Maurice and me,” said Goetz. “Ropes & Gray has demonstrated its commitment to growth in markets like London, that are a center of existing and prospective clients. We, in turn, are committed to helping the firm continue its upward trajectory.”

Allen has practiced law for more than 25 years in the London finance market, focusing on complex transactions and cross-border financings. He has advised extensively on matters such as acquisition finance, telecom financings, restructurings and workouts. Goetz, one of the City’s most prominent lawyers, represents clients in leveraged lending and acquisition finance matters, among other complex transactions. He also brings considerable experience in bankruptcies and business reorganizations.

Ropes & Gray is a full-service, global law firm that works with clients across a wide variety of industries to successfully address their greatest legal challenges and achieve their business goals. With more than 1,000 professionals located in leading centers of finance, technology and government, we bring an unparalleled passion for excellence, new ideas and a true team spirit to every project.

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By Tom Foremski
siliconvalleywatcher.com

Hat tip to Danny Sullivan for pointing out the above panel at Web 2.0 Summit, which featured Robert Thomson, Wall Street Journal chief, and Marrissa Mayer head of search products at Google, plus Martin Nisenholtz, The New York Times Company, and Eric Hippeau from the Huffington Post, moderated by John Battelle. Title: “Whither Journalism.”

Video – Web 2.0 Summit 09: “Discussion: Whither Journalism?”

The reason this discussion is interesting is because Mr Thomson is a close confidant of Rupert Murdoch, the head of News Corp and one of the leaders in trying to create new business models for online journalism. One of those ways is to create a paywall – to charge for content.

This has been criticized by many online pundits who believe content should be free and that Mr Murdoch, and others that want to charge for content won’t succeed.

This is a ridiculous argument because it doesn’t address the issue of how content is created and the costs in creating content. An army of citizen journalists won’t be able to fill the gap caused by fewer professional journalists. We have to figure out a way to pay for professional journalism.

At the beginning of the discussion Mr Thomson gets to the point right away, when he makes the distinction between content creators and content aggregators and point out that the cost burden is being shouldered by the content creators. . .

. . . Producing original content is very expensive. Trawling web sites and taking the headline and top paragraph of a story is dirt cheap. The difference between costs for content creators and content aggregators is very large indeed.

The Huffington Post gets a ton of content for free. The New York Times has more people moderating its comments than The Huff Post has journalists on its masthead. Yet the Huff Post couldn’t exist without the content creators. Clearly there is a large mismatch here.

The tragedy is that on either side of the equation there isn’t enough money to pay for the content creation. . . READ FULL STORY

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The Urban Institute: Age Rating Under Comprehensive Health Care Reform: Implications for Coverage, Costs, and Household Financial Burdens – The authors of this study brief compare the “financial implications of the premium rating policy,” as outlined in the House Tri-Committee proposal (H.R. 3200), across households of different ages, incomes, and sizes. “While subsidies provided by the federal government to those with incomes below 400 percent of the federal poverty level ameliorate the lion’s share of premium differences due to the choice of rating, rating differences will significantly alter health care financing burdens for the youngest and oldest adults and families with higher incomes,” according to the authors. “In order to make combined premium and out-of-pocket health care burdens affordable by conventional standards for this older middle income population, premium subsidies could be extended to higher incomes than are currently being considered or the variance in age-rating bands could be limited to a maximum of 2:1, perhaps with a plan to phase down further over time” (Blumberg, Buettgens and Garrett, Oct. 2009).

Commonwealth Fund: Supporting Culture Change: Working Toward Smarter State Nursing Home Regulation – This brief examines the growing interest at the state and federal levels to transition away from a traditional regulatory model of nursing homes. The authors of the brief discuss the importance of a model that “strike[s] a balance between the traditional regulatory approach to weed out substandard facilities and a partnership model aimed at promoting high performance” as well as the need to train health providers and regulatory staff in preparation for such changes, according to a Commonwealth Fund description of the brief (Stone, Bryant and Barbarotta, Oct. 2009). An accompanying podcast examines the changing culture of nursing home regulation (Housman, 10/8).

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: The Effect Of Reimbursement On Medical Decision Making: Do Physicians Alter Treatment In Response To A Managed Care Incentive? – An analysis of survey data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) finds physicians spend less time with capitated patients, or those for whom a physician “receive[s] a set fee … that is meant to reflect the actuarial cost of care the patient is expected to require,” compared to noncapitated patients. The article, published in the Journal of Health Economics, reveals the effects of capitation on medical practice (Melichar, Oct. 2009).

Kaiser Family Foundation: The Uninsured: A Primer – “This primer, updated with 2008 data, reviews the basic profile of the uninsured population, how they receive care, the latest trends in health insurance coverage, key issues in increasing coverage and basic statistics on the uninsured,” according to a Kaiser Family Foundation description of the report (Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, 10/13).

Commonwealth Fund: Incremental Cost Estimates For The Patient-Centered Medical Home – “Despite wide and growing interest in the medical home approach, little is known about the costs it entails,” write the authors of this paper, which analyzes data from 35 practices to determine “the relationship, if any, between costs and medical home activities.” The authors report they “do not find evidence of additional costs associated with higher levels of ‘medical homeness,’ with the exception of information technology costs, which show a modest but statistically significant increase with medical home intensity” (Zuckerman et al., Oct. 2009).

UCLA Center for Health Policy Research: African Americans In Commercial HMOs More Likely To Delay Prescription Drugs And Use The Emergency Room – An analysis of data from the 2007 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) finds that African Americans enrolled in commercial HMOs in California are more likely to use the emergency room and delay obtaining medications than other racial/ethnic groups in comparable HMO plans. “In light of the existence of potential barriers to accessing appropriate medical care for African Americans with HMO coverage, greater effort is needed to identify ways to encourage African Americans to obtain needed prescription drugs in a timely manner and avoid ER use if adequate primary or specialty care is available in their community at a reasonable cost,” the authors write (Roby, Nicholson and Kominski, Oct. 2009).

RAND Health: Health and Health Care Among District of Columbia Youth – A study of 100,000 youth living in Washington, D.C., finds that “[d]espite high rates of health insurance coverage among children … [their] access to health care is inadequate and poses a significant health problem for the city’s young residents, particularly those who are publicly insured,” according to a RAND description of the report. Among other things, the researchers recommend the development of strategies to increase children’s access to primary and specialty care, interventions for children with particular health needs and increased efforts to continuously and comprehensively monitor children’s health (Chandra et.al, 10/8).

UCLA Center for Health Policy Research: Migration & Health: The Children Of Mexican Immigrants In The United States – This report examines the barriers the more than 6 million children of Mexican immigrants face in accessing health care in the U.S., compared to native born white children, African American children, and the children of immigrants from other countries. Although most of the children born to Mexican immigrants are U.S. citizens because they were born in the U.S., the study found, among other things, “[t]hey are about three times more likely than other children in the U.S. to be uninsured (19.4 percent vs. 6.8 percent)” and “three times more likely than children of U.S. born whites to have no usual place to obtain regular medical care (13.8 percent versus 3.9 percent),” according to a UCLA Center for Health Policy Research description of the study (Wallace, Leite, Castaneda and Schenken, 10/5).