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Monday, May 31, 2010

Foreclosure..not of properties but of ethics

It appears that for a broad cross-section of society, from President Obama to bankers to oily execs to people avoiding payment of their contractual debts, words don't mean much and don't have to be honored.


For Some Homeowners in Foreclosure, a Rent-Free Approach - NYTimes.com: "For Alex Pemberton and Susan Reboyras, foreclosure is becoming a way of life — something they did not want but are in no hurry to get out of.

Foreclosure has allowed them to stabilize the family business. Go to Outback occasionally for a steak. Take their gas-guzzling airboat out for the weekend. Visit the Hard Rock Casino.

“Instead of the house dragging us down, it’s become a life raft,” said Mr. Pemberton, who stopped paying the mortgage on their house here last summer. “It’s really been a blessing.”
...

Foreclosure procedures have been initiated against 1.7 million of the nation’s households. The pace of resolving these problem loans is slow and getting slower because of legal challenges, foreclosure moratoriums, government pressure to offer modifications and the inability of the lenders to cope with so many souring mortgages.

The average borrower in foreclosure has been delinquent for 438 days before actually being evicted, up from 251 days in January 2008, according to LPS Applied Analytics.

While there are no firm figures on how many households are following the Pemberton-Reboyras path of passive resistance, real estate agents and other experts say the number of overextended borrowers taking the “free rent” approach is on the rise.

There is no question, though, that for some borrowers in default, foreclosure is only a theoretical threat for a long time.

More than 650,000 households had not paid in 18 months, LPS calculated earlier this year. With 19 percent of those homes, the lender had not even begun to take action to repossess the property — double the rate of a year earlier.

In some states, including California and Texas, lenders can pursue foreclosures outside of the courts. With the lender in control, the pace can be brisk. But in Florida, New York and 19 other states, judicial foreclosure is the rule, which slows the process substantially.

In Pinellas and Pasco counties, which include St. Petersburg and the suburbs to the north, there are 34,000 open foreclosure cases, said J. Thomas McGrady, chief judge of the Pinellas-Pasco Circuit. Ten years ago, the average was about 4,000. “The volume is killing us,” Judge McGrady said.

Mr. Pemberton and Ms. Reboyras decided to stop paying because their business, which restores attics that have been invaded by pests, was on the verge of failing. Scrambling to get by, their credit already shot, they had little to lose.

“We could pay the mortgage company way more than the house is worth and starve to death,” said Mr. Pemberton, 43. “Or we could pay ourselves so our business could sustain us and people who work for us over a long period of time. It may sound very horrible, but it comes down to a self-preservation thing.”'

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Passage of Another Year

One more Commencement. Last year I had some stellar students graduate, including JB, MS, ZJ and KL. This year I had a phenomenal class of students graduate. MF, KC, VM, TG, AD, and EC- a group like this comes along once rarely. It has been four wonderful years with these folks. KP, MM, JK, NS, DM, and AC, though not my advisees, were also close to me and it was a great pleasure to see them get their degrees.

Enjoy life, is my message to them.

Truth, with a pinch (or a cup) of Salt

Sugar and salt- the key ingredients for the processed food industry, are both under pressure.

Pushed to Lower Salt Use, Food Industry Pushes Back - NYTimes.com: "With salt under attack for its ill effects on the nation’s health, the food giant Cargill kicked off a campaign last November to spread its own message.
“Salt is a pretty amazing compound,” Alton Brown, a Food Network star, gushes in a Cargill video called Salt 101. “So make sure you have plenty of salt in your kitchen at all times.”
The campaign by Cargill, which both produces and uses salt, promotes salt as “life enhancing” and suggests sprinkling it on foods as varied as chocolate cookies, fresh fruit, ice cream and even coffee. “You might be surprised,” Mr. Brown says, “by what foods are enhanced by its briny kiss.”"

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Leading the Country- Louisiana, Alabama, Texas

Three great stories point to the rising power of the ignorant class...

Despite Oil Leak, Public Backs Offshore Drilling - US - CBN News - Christian News 24-7 - CBN.com: "As Congress and the White House look into what caused the devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, new polls show most Americans still support more drilling for oil off America's coasts.

In an NBC-Wall Street Journal poll, 60 percent said they support more drilling for oil of the U.S. Coast while 34 percent oppose it.

And in an Associated Press poll, 50 percent of people surveyed support more drilling at home but 38 percent oppose it."

Op-Ed Columnist - Alabama Goes Viral - NYTimes.com: "The trend goes back to Demon Sheep, the legendary ad for Carly Fiorina’s campaign for the Senate nomination in California. It had regular sheep and then cartoon sheep and then a guy crawling around the ground disguised as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He had on a cardboard mask with red light bulbs for eyes. I believe the message was supposed to be fiscal responsibility, but really, all you got was Demon Sheep. Red eyes. Carly Fiorina.

The man who made it, Fred Davis III, then took up the cause of Tim James, a deeply unremarkable Alabama businessman who wants to be governor. To separate James from the crowd, Davis came up with “Language,” a 30-second ad in which the candidate stared at the camera and demanded to know why “our politicians make us give driver’s license exams in 12 languages.” (The actual answer is: a federal court ruling.)

“This is Alabama. We speak English. If you want to live here, learn it,” James said irritably. “We’ll only give the test in English if I’m governor. Maybe it’s the businessman in me, but we’ll save money.”"


Opposing Views: Texas School Board Approves Bogus Social Studies Curriculum: "Before the Texas State Board of Education voted on the controversial social studies curriculum, Dunbar prayed for what she hoped students would learn in public schools.

“I believe no one can read the history of our country without realizing that the Good Book and the spirit of the savior have from the beginning been our guiding geniuses,” she said. “Whether we look to the first charter of Virginia, or the charter of New England…the same objective is present – a Christian land governed by Christian principles.

“I believe the entire Bill of Rights came into being because of the knowledge our forefathers had of the Bible and their belief in it,” she continued. “I like to believe we are living today in the spirit of the Christian religion. I like also to believe that as long as we do so, no great harm can come to our country.”

Dunbar’s prayers were soon answered – the right-wing fundamentalist bloc succeeded in approving, by a 9-5 vote, social studies standards that left in place a provision that questions the legitimacy of church-state separation."


No punishment for abusing the language

President Obama said that he takes responsibility for dealing with the "once in a century" disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Does it mean he will quit office if the work is done poorly? Will he contribute his personal assets to the cleanup effort? What are the responsibilities of Tony Hayward, the Clown Executive Officer of BP, and other managers who contributed to this disaster? The Board of Directors and the Shareholders who funded this management team?

Anyone can say that he or she will take responsibility. Words are free. How the person actually acts reveals a lot about the character, not the words.


Documents Show Early Worries About Safety of Rig - NYTimes.com: "Internal documents from BP show that there were serious problems and safety concerns with the Deepwater Horizon rig far earlier than those the company described to Congress last week.

The problems involved the well casing and the blowout preventer, which are considered critical pieces in the chain of events that led to the disaster on the rig.

The documents show that in March, after several weeks of problems on the rig, BP was struggling with a loss of “well control.” And as far back as 11 months ago, it was concerned about the well casing and the blowout preventer.

On June 22, for example, BP engineers expressed concerns that the metal casing the company wanted to use might collapse under high pressure."

Friday, May 28, 2010

A debt-full story about Students In Debt

Student debt is a big worry- to students as well as to the few educators. It is very worrisome to see young people graduate without a job and having to pay the interest on the loans. Of course, students can save money and avoid unnecessary expenses- like the expensive phones, ipods, and other gadgets and activities.


Your Money - Another Debt Crisis Is Brewing, This One in Student Loans - NYTimes.com: "Ms. Munna does not want to walk away from her loans in the same way many mortgage holders are. It would be difficult in any event because federal bankruptcy law makes it nearly impossible to discharge student loan debts. But unless she manages to improve her income quickly, she doesn’t have a lot of good options for digging out.

It is utterly depressing that there are so many people like her facing decades of payments, limited capacity to buy a home and a debt burden that can repel potential life partners. For starters, it’s a shared failure of parenting and loan underwriting.
"But perhaps the biggest share lies with colleges and universities because they have the most knowledge of the financial aid process. And I would argue that they had an obligation to counsel students like Ms. Munna, who got in too far over their heads.

How many people are like her? According to the College Board’s Trends in Student Aid study, 10 percent of people who graduated in 2007-8 with student loans had borrowed $40,000 or more. The median debt for bachelor’s degree recipients who borrowed while attending private, nonprofit colleges was $22,380.

The Project on Student Debt, a research and advocacy organization in Oakland, Calif., used federal data to estimate that 206,000 people graduated from college (including many from for-profit universities) with more than $40,000 in student loan debt in that same period. That’s a ninefold increase over the number of people in 1996, using 2008 dollars..."

Thursday, May 27, 2010

One can safely BANK on egregious exploitation by unethical, crooked bankers

"Many a man may look respectable, and yet be able to hide at will behind a spiral staircase." --He was so crooked he could hide at will behind a spiral staircase...P.G. Wodehouse

How BofA, Deutsche Bank and Citi Masked Risk - Deal Journal - WSJ: "Last month the WSJ reported that banks are routinely reducing their short-term borrowings at the ends of quarters so it appears that they are carrying less risk to investors and customers.

Today, the Journal named some the most active “window dressers.” They are BofA, Deutsche Bank and Citi. Over the past 10 quarters, the three banks have lowered their net borrowings in the repo market by an average of 41% at the ends of the quarters, compared with their average net repo borrowings for the entire quarter, according the WSJ reports based on an analysis of Fed data."
Big Banks Move to Mask Risk Levels - WSJ.com: "Major banks have masked their risk levels in the past five quarters by temporarily lowering their debt just before reporting it to the public, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

A group of 18 banks—which includes Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc.—understated the debt levels used to fund securities trades by lowering them an average of 42% at the end of each of the past five quarterly periods, the data show. The banks, which publicly release debt data each quarter, then boosted the debt levels in the middle of successive quarters."

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Healthy Frugality

An interesting piece in the NYTimes..

The Link Between Frugality and Health - Bucks Blog - NYTimes.com: "The majority of middle-class Americans say they are healthier because of frugal behaviors during the last year, including cooking at home or spending less on junk food, according to the results of a survey that the financial planning firm First Command Financial Services plans to release this week.

Nearly half of those responding to the survey said their frugal behaviors were making them healthier, while another 45 percent said at least a portion of their frugal behaviors were making them healthier...
According to the results, 45 percent of respondents said they have cut back in the last year by cooking at home more often; 30 percent said they were spending less on junk food; 13 percent said they have reduced driving costs by walking or riding a bicycle to work; 10 percent said they have reduced spending on alcohol; and 7 percent said they were growing their own food.""

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

NABBED - No Accountability Ben is BAD

Ben "helicopter" Bernanke, who pushed real interest rates to zero (or negative) is complaining that politicians might push him for lower rates. While he is dropping interest rates he is climbing up the heights of unethical and disingenuous behavior! Then again, he is a banker.

Fed Chief Bernanke Continues to Fight Against Greater Political Scrutiny of Central Bank - WSJ.com: "With Congress getting close to finalizing an overhaul of the nation's financial-regulatory system, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke weighed in against provisions in the proposed legislation that would subject the central bank to more political scrutiny.

In a speech at the Bank of Japan on Wednesday, the Fed chief argued before an international audience that central banks independent from politics were better at managing the economy. He also detailed the steps the Fed had taken to become more transparent and accountable to the public, two conditions he said were needed in return for greater independence.

The Fed is waging a battle against a proposal approved by the House in December that would subject the U.S. central bank's decisions to audits by the Government Accountability Office, an investigative arm of Congress.

Mr. Bernanke is strongly opposed to the measure, which is part of the government's broader efforts to overhaul financial regulation.

A central bank subject to political influence could be pressed to keep interest rates low in order to boost the economy and employment, Mr. Bernanke said. While that could be popular at first—and helpful in an election campaign—it will lead to higher inflation in the future, hurting the economy's long-term prospects."

Monday, May 24, 2010

Internships to Jobs- Notes from the front

Some parents also are sticking their noses into the salary negotiation process.

Late last year, Lisa Fedrizzi-Hutchins, a hiring manager for an environmental company in New York, made a job offer to an entry-level candidate and asked her to review it and call if she had any questions.

“The following day, I received a phone call from her mother because she felt her negotiation skills were far better than her daughter,” Fedrizzi-Hutchins recalled. “She had explained to me that the salary was far too low for her daughter to live comfortable in New York City and wanted to know what we needed to do to bring her salary up.”"

Job Prospects Improve Slightly for Graduates - NYTimes.com: "The study by the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that 24 percent of 2010 college graduates who applied for a job have one waiting after graduation, up from 20 percent last year. But the average salary offered to graduates with a bachelor’s degree has slipped 1.7 percent from last year, to $47,673.

Salaries for finance majors rose 1.6 percent, to $50,546, while those for liberal arts majors fell 8.9 percent, to $33,540. For graduates with computer-related degrees, salary offers rose 5.8 percent, to $58,746.

Patricia Rose, director of career services at the University of Pennsylvania, said that students had more choices this year. “Last year, people found employment, but there was a sense of musical chairs, that if there’s an empty seat, take it,” she said. “This year, there’s a little more sense of ease.”"

Sunday, May 23, 2010

This computes...

Anyone visiting India will be blown away by India's scorching growth, in addition to scorching temperatures. The confidence and ebullience permeates the air, in addition to pollution.

India's computer sales up 33 per cent in first quarter-Hardware-Infotech-The Economic Times: "NEW DELHI: India's personal computer sales touched 2.2 million in the first quarter of this year, registering a growth of an impressive 33 percent, says IDC, a leading technology consultancy and think tank.

Among the various segments, desktop computers accounted for nearly two-thirds of the total sales at 1.44 million units, representing an 18 percent growth, while notebook sales were up 72 percent with 803,000 thousand.

Overall, the impressive performance in the January-March quarter saw the sales of personal computers during fiscal 2009-10 log a 7.6 percent growth, on the back of a 8.1-percent decline in the previous fiscal."

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Cries in the wilderness..drowned by the Slick Oil(y) Execs

A few people, including this writer, have been consistently pointing out the "we keep the profits, but shift the losses and the risk to the public" mentality of Corporate America, especially the large corporations. We have been calling for more accountability in our systems, something that politicians of both parties are refusing to pursue and push. Obama's tacit support of BP's moves in containing the oil spill is an example. It does not appear likely that anyone from BP or the government will face criminal charges, even after committing one of the biggest crimes against Nature.

BP CEO Tony Hayward: Oil Spill Impact 'Very Modest' | Video Cafe: "The chief executive of BP has told Sky News he believes the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill will end up having only a 'very, very modest' environmental impact.

Experts had feared the Deepwater Horizon disaster could have led to one of the worst environmental catastrophes in US history.

But the British oil giant has risked outrage along the Gulf Coast by predicting a far smaller impact.

Dr Tony Hayward said: 'I think the environmental impact of this disaster is likely to have been very, very modest.

'It is impossible to say and we will mount, as part of the aftermath, a very detailed environmental assessment but everything we can see at the moment suggests that the overall environmental impact will be very, very modest.'"


AIG Executives Won't Face Criminal Charges - WSJ.com: "Federal prosecutors will not bring criminal charges against current and former American International Group Inc. executives for their role surrounding financial contracts that nearly brought down the insurer about two years ago, according to people familiar with the matter.

The decision brings to a close a criminal investigation that, while mostly under wraps, was widely followed. The September 2008 bailout of AIG was one of the biggest and most shocking of the financial crisis, as trading by a noninsurance unit brought down one of the most iconic financial companies world-wide."

Friday, May 21, 2010

Students Pay the Price...a steep price at UI

It is disheartening to see absolutely no restraint by the leaders, even at a not-for-profit state educational institution like U of I.

UI trustees OK tuition hike, $620,000 Hogan salary - Yahoo! Finance: "CHICAGO (AP) -- University of Illinois trustees voted Thursday to raise tuition for new students by 9.5 percent and approved a contract that pays the school's incoming president approximately $620,000 a year -- about $170,000 more than the man he'll replace.

The decision to increase tuition as trustees were also agreeing to a hefty pay package for incoming President Michael Hogan prompted harsh criticism from protesters who marched outside the meeting, including state Sen. Martin Sandoval, a Chicago Democrat.

....For instance, the university agreed to buyouts this year with more than 600 employees and is trying to cut costs through department consolidations, among other measures, he said.With the vote, tuition for students starting school this fall at the University of Illinois' flagship campus in Urbana-Champaign will increase to $10,386 a year. In Chicago, the figure will be $9,134, and $8,108.50 in Springfield. Only new students will be affected because Illinois guarantees students at public universities the same tuition for four years.But critics said they were angry that even as the trustees were emphasizing the school's dire finances, they were still approving a high salary for Hogan, who resigned as the University of Connecticut's president last week. He starts at Illinois in July."People are having difficulty paying their mortgages, putting food on their tables, sending their kids to school," said Sandoval. "It's insulting on the day that the university of Illinois is voting to raise tuition on the backs of working people in Illinois by almost 10 percent, they are going to give a salary increase to the new president,"Sandoval pointed out that Hogan will be making more than Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, Gov. Pat Quinn or President Barack Obama."What country is President Hogan going to govern?" Sandoval asked.Ikenberry defended the salary, noting Hogan's experience working with a major university hospital at the University of Connecticut like the one that he'll be responsible for at the University of Illinois.Hogan is a former history professor who also served in leadership positions at the University of Iowa and Ohio State University. He will be taking over a university system with more than 70,000 students at a critical time.He will replace B. Joseph White, who resigned last year after news reports about and a state probe of the influence political connections have on admissions at the school. White was paid $450,000 a year.Illinois' financial situation tops Hogan's list of priorities. The state government has a $13 billion budget deficit and is behind on payments to public universities, and has yet to set a budget for next year.The decision to raise tuition was expected; most public universities raise tuition in most years, and Ikenberry has warned for months that a big increase was coming. But the size dwarfs last year's 2.6 percent bump.However, it's also bigger than many other in-state schools. Eastern Illinois is raising its tuition by 6.2 percent, while Southern Illinois is taking the unusual step of freezing tuition. Outside Illinois, Ohio State will raise tuition by 7 percent next fall.Ikenberry, though, noted that the University of Illinois plans to increase the supplemental financial aid it provides next year, from this fiscal year's $35.8 million to $42.3 million.Associated Press Writer David Mercer in Champaign, Ill., contributed to this report."

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Teachers get a schooling

Teaching Candidates Aplenty, but the Jobs Are Few - NYTimes.com: "The recession seems to have penetrated a profession long seen as recession-proof. Superintendents, education professors and people seeking work say teachers are facing the worst job market since the Great Depression. Amid state and local budget cuts, cash-poor urban districts like New York City and Los Angeles, which once hired thousands of young people every spring, have taken down the help-wanted signs."

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Reporting...the 'Fair and Balanced' way

Today, a group from the National Academy of Scientists issued a report on climate change.
Even while reporting this "unpleasant" fact, the Murdoch paper had to add the "nontheless" comment. It should come as no surprise since science is being ambushed by the "right" people.


Climate-Change Study Points to Man's Role - WSJ.com: "'Climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks,' the academy report concludes. The peer-reviewed study was done by 55 scientists from academia, industry and elsewhere vetted by the academy.

The next IPCC report will be in 2014. In some areas, the study provides a more up-to-date assessment of climate change. 'We carefully looked at the scientific literature of the last five years, our own [academy] research,' plus other sources, said Pamela Matson, dean of Stanford University's school of earth sciences, who helped compile the report.

Nonetheless, the academy acknowledged that there is significant uncertainty when attempting longer-term predictions about climate change."

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Drugs are not IT

Pfizer Cutting 6,000 Jobs and Closing Eight Plants - NYTimes.com: "The drug maker, Pfizer, will cut 6,000 jobs, or 18 percent of its work force, at its 78 manufacturing plants over the next five years as it pares operations following last year’s purchase of its smaller rival, Wyeth.

Pfizer, the world’s biggest drug maker, plans to close eight plants in Ireland, Puerto Rico and the United States by late 2015 and reduce activities at six factories in those countries, Germany and Britain.

Pfizer had 40 manufacturing plants before buying more than three dozen Wyeth operations in the acquisition last October.

The affected plants make conventional pills, injectable medicines, biotech drugs and consumer health care products. Pfizer will wind down their operations over the next 18 months to five years, depending on business considerations like the time required to transfer manufacturing.

The company said in November it would close six research sites and trim jobs in the United States and Britain as part of its absorption of Wyeth. Pfizer then began a six-month study of how to reconfigure its manufacturing."Drugs

IT buys more space, 15,000 jobs coming soon-ITeS-Infotech-The Economic Times: "Four of the world's leading tech and telecom firms — Accenture, Oracle, Nokia and Capgemini — are expanding operations at a rapid pace, as leasing deals for office space of close to 15 lakh sqft in Bangalore have been signed for in the past two months.

It is estimated that absorption of the new space will result in the creation of about 15,000 jobs. In office leasing parlance, one person is equated with an area of 100 sqft. During the downturn, companies had reduced the space allotted to an individual to around 65 sqft. Even by this revised figure, 15 lakh sqft of office space means 23,000 new jobs."

Monday, May 17, 2010

Chennai...HOT in many ways

Chennai is full of wonderful places and people including IIT, one of the great educational institutions in the world. It has incredible temples, brilliant Carnatic singers, and a populace steeped in music and other arts. A hot place to live and enjoy life. But...

Chennai becoming much hotter in summer-Global Warming-Environment-The Economic Times: "CHENNAI: As concern mounts over the effects of global warming, Chennai metropolis is turning much hotter with the average temperature during summer witnessing a significant rise over the past century.

Data collected by Regional Meterological Office (RMC) here has revealed from 1906 to 2009 there has been a significant rise in the average temperature in the city during the summer."

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Weblines..the missing art of interesting and creative headlines

A thought-provoking piece on the headlines today- written to be ranked highly by the search engines rather than to be meaningful and erudite.

The Media Equation - Taylor Momsen Did Not Write This Headline - NYTimes.com: "Keep in mind that all of the things that make headlines meaningful in print — photographs, placement and context — are nowhere in sight on the Web. Headlines have become, as Gabriel Snyder, the recently appointed executive editor of Newsweek.com, “naked little creatures that have to go out into the world to stand and fight on their own.”

Some of them are a little more naked than others.
"“Taylor Momsen Goes Pantsless, Curses on Morning Television” suggested a headline on The Huffington Post’s “most popular” feature on Friday. She didn’t actually appear bottomless, but that’s part of the trick of writing digitally snappy headlines. It seems almost tasteful next to an MSN take: “Taylor Momsen Vomits On-Stage, Wants to Be Kurt Cobain.”

The Huffington Post knows its way around search engine optimization, or S.E.O. as it’s known. A story about whether the president would play golf with Rush Limbaugh was headlined: “Obama Rejects Rush Limbaugh Golf Match: Rush ‘Can Play With Himself.’” It’s digital nirvana: two highly searched proper nouns followed by a smutty entendre, a headline that both the red and the blue may be compelled to click, and the readers of the site can have a laugh while the headline delivers great visibility out on the Web."

Saturday, May 15, 2010

A Re-(a)warding Day, United's sloppiness notwithstanding.

This morning, I went to the airport to pick up my brother. United showed that his flight was coming to Terminal 2. After going to Terminal 2 and waiting for quite a while, another check with United gave the same information. Meanwhile the plane had already landed in terminal 1. Eventually my brother called and we figured it out, but United wasted a lot of my time, and my brother's precious vacation time. Can't get terminal information right. United should be Untied.


Later today Our department hosted its annual awards ceremony. It is always a great pleasure to see the students get their awards, and talking to the parents is a rewarding experience. Simple pleasures in life.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Fox guarding the chicken coop

Fox News is rabidly anti-Democratic, anti-liberal and fear mongering. It has been on a crusade against regulation. Of course, many economics and business books tout the virtues of deregulation.
However the reality is quite different.

Humana CEO complains
It’s On! WellPoint, Obama Administration Swap Barbs - Health Blog - WSJ: "n his Saturday radio address, Obama said his administration had asked an insurer to stop “systematically dropping the coverage of women with breast cancer.” That’s an obvious swing at WellPoint, which has been taking heat from HHS head Kathleen Sebelius following a Reuters story about the company’s alleged rescission practices.

WellPoint has denied the story’s allegations, and late Sunday CEO Angela Braly issued a letter to Obama taking issue with his repetition of “false information regarding WellPoint’s coverage of breast cancer,” reports Dow Jones Newswires. “To be absolutely clear: Despite your claims, WellPoint does not single out women with breast cancer for rescission,” Braly wrote."

An administration spokesman had this comment: “When we hear disturbing reports that an insurance company is systematically targeting women with breast cancer, we won’t hesitate to speak out. The Affordable Care Act makes rescinding health care illegal beginning next fall, and we’re glad insurance companies have pledged to end this practice before they are required to by law. We’ll be watching them closely to ensure they keep their word.”

WellPoint has also been taking heat for miscalculations in its requested rate increases in California. Last week Sebelius urged other states to also check the insurer’s math for errors. Obama said in his address that his administration has established a new Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight to help make sure insurers don’t game the system, Dow Jones reports.


Oil minerals regulation weak:

The Environmental Destruction caused by the oil spill. U.S. Oil Regulator Ceded Safety Oversight to Drillers - WSJ.com: "The small U.S. agency that oversees offshore drilling doesn't write or implement most safety regulations, having gradually shifted such responsibilities to the oil industry itself for more than a decade.

Instead, the Minerals Management Service—now caught up in the crisis of the Deepwater Horizon rig that for weeks has sent crude oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico—sets broad performance goals for the industry. Oil producers and drilling companies are then free to decide for themselves how to meet those goals, industry executives and former regulators say."
That's not all.

Reports Show BP Opposed New Safety Rules - WSJ.com: "As BP PLC defended its handling of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, documents show it argued against new, stricter safety rules proposed last year by the U.S. agency that oversees offshore drilling.

The British oil giant was one of several companies that wrote to the U.S. Minerals Management Service this past September saying additional regulation of the oil industry was unnecessary. In a letter, BP said the current voluntary system of safety procedures was adequate.

BP said Tuesday that the scale of its emergency response to the crude spill was unprecedented in the history of the oil industry. 'All accidents are avoidable and when they occur you are judged by how you respond,' BP's chief executive, Tony Hayward, told reporters."

Obama Vows End to ‘Cozy’ Oversight of Oil Industry - NYTimes.com: "President Obama angrily denounced the finger-pointing among the three companies involved in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill as a “ridiculous spectacle,” and vowed on Friday to end what he called the “cozy relationship” between the government and the oil industry that has existed for a decade or more.

In sharp remarks during an appearance in the Rose Garden, Mr. Obama announced a review of environmental safeguards for oil and gas exploration to prevent future spills. He said that he “will not tolerate any more finger-pointing or irresponsibility” from the industry or the government over who made the mess or how to fix it.

“This is a responsibility that all of us share,” Mr. Obama said. “The oil companies share it. The manufacturers of this equipment share it. The agencies and the federal government in charge of oversight share that responsibility.”

Mr. Obama said that he, too, feels the “anger and frustration” expressed by many Americans, and particularly by residents and business people in the gulf region."

The law, enacted after the Santa Barbara oil spill in 1969, mandates that federal agencies must complete a thorough environmental assessment before approving any major project, especially one including offshore drilling.

The minerals service short-circuited the process when it granted hundreds of recent drilling permits, according to documents and current and former government officials. The BP well that blew in the gulf last month was granted an exemption from the assessment process because company officials assured regulators that it carried little hazard. Officials went along with the company and granted the permit.

Cablevision broadband regulation competitive

FCC Aims for Middle Ground on Regulating Web - WSJ.com: "Big phone and cable companies, which provide much of the nation's broadband service, expressed dismay at the FCC chairman's decision to extend his regulatory authority to broadband, predicting it would damp investment and lead to court battles that could last years.

'We are very concerned about the direction this is going,' said Grant Seiffert, chief executive of the Telecommunications Industry Association, an industry lobbying group."

FCC Aims for Middle Ground on Regulating Web - WSJ.com: "Under questioning from an analyst on a conference call after its first-quarter earnings release Thursday, Cablevision Systems Corp. Chief Operating Officer Tom Rutledge said a move to reclassify broadband lines under '1930s laws, utility-type regulation' would be disappointing. 'We operate in a highly competitive environment,' he said."

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Degreed--but not educated

How much education does one need? One of the ideas put out these days is that a four-year degree is not appropriate for quite a few youngsters, who should be pursuing two year vocational training.
Then there are economists who benefited from public subsidies turn around and suggest that the public should not subsidize the education of others.

The disconnect between learning (education) and working in a job, is the primary global issue of the day- a point completely missed by Mr. Friedman in his "Hot, Flat, and Crowded.." book.

College for all? Experts say not necessarily - Yahoo! Finance: "Sue Popkes doesn't hide her disappointment over her younger daughter's decision. At the same time, she realizes that Hodges may achieve more financial security than a college degree could ever provide.

'It's sad to know she's going to miss that mind-opening effect of an undergraduate degree,' Popkes said. 'To discover new ideas, to become more worldly.'

Ohio University economics professor Richard Vedder blames the cultural notion of 'credential inflation' for the stream of unqualified students into four-year colleges. His research has found that the number of new jobs requiring college degrees is less than number of college graduates."

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Sacked or Sachs

Goldman Traders Had Full Quarter of Up Days - WSJ.com: "NEW YORK—Goldman Sachs Group Inc. traders didn't lose any money at the end of each trading day during the first quarter, a first for the Wall Street firm, which typically loses funds on at least a handful of days in the period.

Traders raked in more than $100 million daily for 35 days and made no less than $25 million daily during the rest of the three-month period, according to a regulatory filing."

The New Poor - The Economy Shifts, Leaving Some Behind - NYTimes.com: "With so few local job prospects and most of her possessions of value already liquidated she has considered selling her blood to help pay for the move. But she says she cannot find a market for that, either; blood collection agencies, she said, told her they do not buy her blood type.

“Sometimes I think I’d be better off in jail,” she says, only half joking. “I’d have three meals a day and structure in my life. I’d be able to go to school. I’d have more opportunities if I were an inmate than I do here trying to be a contributing member of society.”"

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Vice- Versed

Wall Street Banks took the States to the cleaners, now the States are taking the citizens to "vice."



Strapped States Find New Virtues in 'Vice'

"...Nationwide, the public-funding crisis has led many state and local leaders to similarly reverse course. Hampered by withering funds for law enforcement, health care and other public services, a growing number of officials are condoning activities and businesses they'd be apt to restrict in better economic times.

For fiscal 2011, 38 states project combined budget shortfalls of $89 billion, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, a bipartisan policy research group. Thirty-one states expect budget gaps totaling $73.5 billion in 2012. As a result, says Todd Haggerty, an analyst at the group, lawmakers are "trying anything and everything in order to bring their budgets into balance."

Oakland, Calif., began taxing sales of medical marijuana last year. Now at least a half- dozen states are weighing measures to allow some legal pot sales. Others have loosened decades-long restrictions on Sunday alcohol sales. And about a dozen, like Ohio, have discussed or passed plans to ease restrictions on gambling.

California legislators are debating whether to allow and tax Internet poker, even though such gambling is prohibited by federal law. "It is generally easier to pass something like this in a recession," says Lloyd Levine, a political consultant working for the pro-poker effort. As a state assemblyman in 2008, before the economic crisis, Mr. Levine introduced a similar initiative that failed.."

Oil pollution- of water and air

Oil firms doing their part.

Two Oil Firms Tie Rig Blast to 'Plug' - WSJ.com: "Executives from BP PLC, Transocean Ltd. and Halliburton Co. began pointing fingers on Monday over who bears ultimate responsibility for the April 20 oil-rig explosion that took 11 lives and is spilling oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The question will loom large at a Senate hearing Tuesday that will hear from executives of the three companies."

Airlines doing theirs.

Continental flight safely returns to Newark airport after 'hydraulic problem' | - NJ.com: "Bergen said the jet, loaded with fuel for what is normally a 14-hour flight, circled above central New Jersey for an hour to dump the fuel, making it light enough for a safe landing.
'By ‘dumping,’ it does not come gushing out of the plane,' she said. 'It comes out in a mist, which evaporates in the air.'
About 170,000 pounds of jet fuel was released, and a strong odor led residents of several Somerset County communities to contact police and the state Department of Environmental Protection, said Lawrence Ragonese, a DEP spokesman.
'The DEP is taking a look at it,' he said. 'But at this point, there is no known health risk or danger.'"

Monday, May 10, 2010

The winning touchdown...Randolph way

A Football Coach Used to Tests Insists Her Players Pass Theirs - NYTimes.com: "When Randolph, who was born and raised here, gave her presentation to the hiring committee, she was clear about her goals.

“I hope that they know that I really don’t care about winning football games,” she said. “But I do care about school. My players will be productive citizens someday, not delinquents on a curb. Athletes are just not made to do academics enough, and that’s nationwide. But I’m going to change that.”

In some ways, a coach that emphasizes academics over athletic achievement may be even rarer than a woman coaching at this level, said Derrick Mickels, the director of school programs for Friends of Bedford, a private management organization that works with Coolidge."

Sunday, May 09, 2010

let's Face(Book) It -- Privacy is so Public

Glitch Brings New Worries About Facebook’s Privacy - NYTimes.com: "For many users of Facebook, the world’s largest social network, it was just the latest in a string of frustrations.

On Wednesday, users discovered a glitch that gave them access to supposedly private information in the accounts of their Facebook friends, like chat conversations.

Not long before, Facebook had introduced changes that essentially forced users to choose between making information about their interests available to anyone or removing it altogether."

Saturday, May 08, 2010

Job Sob

The mainstream media just reports the government numbers on jobs, but never digs deeper into them.

U.S. economy added 290,000 jobs in April - Economy at a Crossroads- msnbc.com: "U.S. employment grew at the fastest pace in four years in April as private sector businesses ramped up hiring, showing the labor market recovery gaining steam.

President Barack Obama called the news 'very encouraging.'

Employers added 290,000 jobs in April, the Labor Department said Friday, far more than analysts had expected. The department also revised figures for February and March to show 121,000 more jobs were added than previously estimated." Who is hiring, and what types of jobs are these?


Law Graduates Face a Tough Job Market - WSJ.com: "Morrison & Foerster LLP, a 1,000-lawyer San Francisco-based firm, hired about 30% fewer graduates this year than in the prior year. 'It would not surprise me if all firms cut back on hiring law graduates for a couple of years,' said Keith Wetmore, its chairman. Saul Ewing LLP, a 250-lawyer Philadelphia firm, cut hiring of law graduates this year by about two-thirds."

Friday, May 07, 2010

Round Up with Roundup- NOT!

Even though we don't use Roundup or other chemicals in our garden we find many of of neighbors spraying these on their lawns and gardens. There is enough data now to show the emergence of "superweeds" resistant to these herbicides. Eventually these get into the human or animal systems. Rather than working with nature, the focus is on spraying nature into submission.

U.S. Farmers Cope With Roundup-Resistant Weeds - NYTimes.com: "Just as the heavy use of antibiotics contributed to the rise of drug-resistant supergerms, American farmers’ near-ubiquitous use of the weedkiller Roundup has led to the rapid growth of tenacious new superweeds.

To fight them, Mr. Anderson and farmers throughout the East, Midwest and South are being forced to spray fields with more toxic herbicides, pull weeds by hand and return to more labor-intensive methods like regular plowing.

“We’re back to where we were 20 years ago,” said Mr. Anderson, who will plow about one-third of his 3,000 acres of soybean fields this spring, more than he has in years. “We’re trying to find out what works."

Thursday, May 06, 2010

Let's wash this off our hands...

Washing Hands Makes Tough Choices Easier : Discovery News: "Now, scientists report that when people wash their hands immediately after making a decision, they are less likely to rationalize its merits -- possibly making them less content with the decision but more objective about the option they rejected.

While the finding doesn't necessarily offer any obvious practical advice, it adds to a growing body of evidence that washing is both literally and figuratively cleansing and that sensory experiences often reflect abstract"

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

To Bee or Not to Bee

Elephants Fear Bees, Not Mice : Discovery News: "Lore has it that elephants are afraid of mice, but scientists have now discovered that elephants are truly afraid of bees -- and that the pachyderms even sound an alarm when they encounter them. The researchers hope this discovery can help save farmers' crops from elephants.

And they hope it will save elephants too.

Conflict between humans and elephants in countries like Kenya occur often. A single hungry elephant can wipe out a family's crops overnight. Farmers will huddle by fires all night during the harvest season. When an elephant nears, the farmers spring up with flaming sticks while their children bang on pots and pans. Not all fields can be guarded, and sometimes the elephants aren't frightened off.

Farmers sometimes kill"

Tuesday, May 04, 2010

The entire world has lost a luminary in Prof. Keith McKee

Prof. Keith McKee, Director of Industrial Technology and Management at IIT (Chicago) passed away on Saturday May 1st. I met him fortuitously a few years ago. Over an early dinner he convinced me to create a course on E-Commerce. We had several discussions over lunch and dinner since then. A couple of years ago he organized a virtual program on Supply Chain Management for professionals in four locations in China- the program was done through real-time video over high bandwidth links. I taught a module in that program. After the program we had dinner one evening and I remember Keith telling me that he appreciated my patience wit h students- I would wait for quite a while and force the Chinese students to participate in discussions. Last year Keith and I had a number of discussions about Industrial Engineering- what it was about and what should be taught in an IE course. I learnt a lot about Keith and his manufacturing background during those dinners. Keith was great at getting people to define their vision, and then implement that vision. Very skillfully he motivated me to volunteer and try my hand at the IE course. Unfortunately before I could show him my course outline and topics and get his views, he passed away.

Keith dedicated his entire life to education and students. He was indefatigable, full of energy, and his observations were always insightful and penetrating. I have never met anyone as committed to education as Keith. Students in the E-Commerce courses I have taught raved about Keith and the support he gave them in the program. His passion for education and supporting students was remarkable and difficult to emulate. He was always concerned about providing a well-trained employee base for industry. Last year he proposed ideas for conducting special events to get high school students excited about logistics and supply chain management. Keith was lively and entertaining, and we always had great conversations. I would always leave every meeting with Keith thinking 'If only I had a fraction of his energy and passion!" His approach was scientific- to experiment and try- and he looked at every experience as an opportunity for learning.

Prof. McKee, I am blessed and very fortunate to have met you. I, like many others, will miss you deeply. I hope you are happy and joyous, wherever you are, and working as hard as ever.

Trevor's Magic

Had the good fortune of attending an outstanding CSO concert. Trevor Pinnock, conductor, chose selections of Hayden Cello Concerto in C major and Mozart's Symphony No. 40 in G Minor. Beautiful music.

Monday, May 03, 2010

Unbundling...is all the rage.

Hotels Follow Airlines’ Lead on Fees - NYTimes.com: "Over the last few years, the airlines have been adding and increasing fees on checked bags, exit row seats and more, much to the benefit of their bottom lines. And for similar reasons, hotels are likely to add more fees and more stringently enforce or even raise existing charges for cutting a stay short, for example, or for storing luggage."

A Redgrave is gone

Sir Michael Redgrave gave brilliant performances in many movies, inclujding the Hitchcock classic "The Lady Vanishes." It is sad to note that one of his daughters passed away. Jemma Redgrave, one of her nieces, is a brilliant actress as well.

Lynn Redgrave, Actress, Dies at 67 - NYTimes.com: "NEW YORK (AP) -- Lynn Redgrave, an introspective and independent player in her family's acting dynasty who became a 1960s sensation as the unconventional title character of ''Georgy Girl'' and later dramatized her troubled past in such one-woman stage performances as ''Shakespeare for My Father'' and ''Nightingale,'' has died. She was 67."

Sunday, May 02, 2010

How the Once-Mighty Merge...

Delta and Northwest, now United and Continental. This is like the telcom business, where the once-monopoly AT&T was broken up and competition entered and a quarter century later the monoply has become a duopoly- AT&T and Verizon.
Perhaps American and USAir will merge, reducing the big carrier list to three.

United, Continental boards OK merger: sources - Yahoo! News: "CHICAGO/NEW YORK (Reuters) – UAL Corp (UAUA.O), parent of United Airlines, will buy Continental Airlines Inc (CAL.N) for $3.2 billion, forming the world's largest carrier in a merger that further shrinks the embattled U.S. airline industry and could drive up air fares, sources said on Sunday.
The boards of directors of both companies unanimously approved the deal, which was expected to be announced by the carriers on Monday morning, sources familiar with the discussions said. UAL and Continental declined to comment and neither airline has confirmed the votes."

Nuclear headlines

Just became aware of "nuclear data."

U.S. Releasing Nuclear Data on Its Arsenal - NYTimes.com: "U.S. Releasing Nuclear Data on Its Arsenal
By DAVID E. SANGER.
"The Pentagon on Monday will release long-classified statistics about the total size of America’s nuclear arsenal, part of an effort to make the case that the country is honoring its treaty commitments to shrink its inventory of weapons significantly, senior administration officials said Sunday..."

Saturday, May 01, 2010

Globalization with Social Networking

Social Networks are having enormous global effects. Facebook and Twitter are drawing users from around the globe, and this is changing the nature of entertainment and work.


Social networking forces companies to rethink strategies-Corporate Trends-News By Company-News-The Economic Times: "NEW DELHI: A few days ago, a customer from Jammu & Kashmir wrote on M&M vice chairman and managing director Anand Mahindra’s Twitter page about the delayed delivery of a Mahindra Scorpio. The effect was instantaneous. Mr Mahindra replied with just two words ‘Arun, Vivek?’, referring to his senior executives Arun Malhotra and Vivek Nayer. That’s the power of social networking.

As online social networks become an integral part of our lives, it is also changing consumer behaviour like never before, and making marketers sit up. Thanks to blogging, Facebook, Orkut, Twitter and the like, people have begun making choices based on interactions and feedback from friends who also visit the online world. They are also generating content, usingit to get information on purchase plans and, of course, air grievances to a truly large and spread out audience."