One good story of 2011- of Ecuadorian proportions

World pays Ecuador not to extract oil from rainforest | Environment | guardian.co.uk: "An alliance of European local authorities, national governments, US film stars, Japanese shops, soft drink companies and Russian foundations have stepped in to prevent oil companies exploiting 900m barrels of crude oil from one of the world's most biologically rich tracts of land.

According to the UN, the "crowdfunding" initiative had last night raised $116m (£75m), enough to temporarily halt the exploitation of the 722 square miles of "core" Amazonian rainforest known as Yasuní national park in Ecuador.

The park, which is home to two tribes of uncontacted Indians, is thought to have more mammal, bird, amphibian and plant species than any other spot on earth. Development of the oilfield, which was planned to take place immediately if the money had not been raised, would have inevitably led to ecological devastation and the eventual release of over 400m tonnes of CO2."

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Let's Face(book) it...

Facebook blamed for one-third divorces across globe - The Economic Times: "LONDON: Social networking website Facebook has been blamed for one-third of divorces across the world, according to a law firm.

The social network is increasingly being used as a source of evidence in divorce cases, the Daily Mail reported citing law firm Divorce-Online.

The firm said it has seen a 50 percent jump in the number of "behaviour-based" divorce petitions that contained the word "Facebook" over the past two years.

At least 33 percent of the 5,000 petitions filed with the firm in the past year mentioned the website.

"Facebook has become the primary method for communicating with friends for many people. People contact ex-partners and the messages start as innocent, but lead to trouble. If someone wants to have an affair or flirt with the opposite sex then it's the easiest place to do it," said Mark Keenan, managing director of Divorce-Online. "

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The Chinese Rich...and Rich Foods

In China, Finding A New Way To Eat In Times Of Plenty : The Salt : NPR: "Still, fast food has become a habit for a lot of people. KFC first opened its doors in Beijing back in 1987 and now operates more than 3,000 stores in China. McDonald's has about half that many, and there are dozens of Chinese chains, too. It's no surprise, then, that Chinese people are getting fat.

But fast food is only part of the problem. People are also just eating more.

"More, more, more of everything — larger portions, with more ingredients, more salt, more sugar, more oil, more fats," says Paul French, a market analyst in Shanghai who has written a book called Fat China. "Breakfast and lunch and dinner and supper and grazing with snacks during the day. And drinking fizzy drinks rather than tea."


Public-health experts in China say obesity has become a serious problem: Twenty-five percent of adults are overweight or obese, according to a 2008 study published in Health Affairs. But Cai Meqin, a nutritionist at Shanghai Jiaotong University, says all the overeating is partly a reaction to the food shortages under Chairman Mao a generation ago."

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The goods on foods

MediaPost Publications Lempert: Boomers, Men Will Shape Food Trends 12/29/2011: "Avoiding added sugars. Given the rates of obesity and diabetes, Americans are becoming more reluctant to consume empty sugar calories (as opposed to naturally occurring sugars in healthy foods). Lempert expects “reduced-sugars” to be the biggest health claim in the coming year, supported by a revised Nutrition Facts Panel that goes beyond just stating the total sugars per serving.
Among related trends: The rapid growth of plant-based (natural) stevia sweeteners (see “Cargill’s Truvia Now #2 Sugar Substitute”), and growing pressure on food makers to reduce sugar levels in kids’ foods, in particular (see “Study: Many Kids’ Cereals Still High in Sugar”).

The ethnic food revolution. Food trucks “more often than not manned by descendants of the actual cuisines and cultures being offered” have paved the way for mainstream food makers and retailers to market authentic ethnic foods and ingredients in affordable, convenient ways, sums up Lempert.
Better leveraging the multi-sensory nature of foods.

• The sounds associated with food and its packaging, as well as foods’ taste, look and texture, influence our eating and buying decisions. In 2012, “multisensory perception will be one of the new ‘food sciences,’ as psychologists and food scientists join forces to design, create and influence the sounds of our foods to convey freshness, taste and even health attributes,” says Lempert.

• The checkout and shopper-marketing revolutions. Retailers are pushing hard to leverage mobile and other technologies that enable customers to all but skip the front-end checkout process, as well as access customized, transaction-driven offers/rewards and in-depth product information while shopping. As Lempert points out, however, a variety of new (sometimes conflicting) technologies involve major investment decisions for retailers and suppliers.

seeing red over meat

Red meat lovers have more kidney cancer | Reuters: "Researchers found that middle-aged adults who ate the most red meat were 19 percent more likely to be diagnosed with kidney cancer than those who ate the least. A higher intake of chemicals found in grilled or barbecued meat was also linked to increased risk of the disease, they reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
"

Pizza + Beer, in Indian Huts

Pizza Hut to open more stores that offer wine and beer - The Economic Times: "NEW DELHI: Encouraged by the popularity of its stores that serve not only pizzas but also wine and beer, restaurant chain Pizza Hut plans to open 25 more such joints across the country next year, a senior company official said.

"We are planning to open 25 stores in this particular format including in Mumbai. We have received tremendous response to this new format of our business," Sunay Bhasin, marketing head, Pizza Hut India, told media.

The company currently operates 10 such stores in Delhi, Bangalore, Agra and Puducherry.

"We have seen a growth of nearly 20-to-25 percent in this format. The expansion will also help us in diversifying our offering and adding a more value-added service," said Bhasin. "

The Tide-ings of Pantene

One-upmanship costs Tide, Pantene and Olay skincare maker P&;G dear, posts biggest ever loss - The Economic Times: "MUMBAI: The Indian unit of Procter & Gamble posted its biggest-ever loss last year that wiped off all the profit made in the past six years, recent regulatory filings by the unlisted company reveal. 

P&G Home Products recorded 333.5-crore losses in the yePanar ended March 2011 after spending more than one-third of its revenues on marketing and advertising, reflecting the true scale of the world's largest consumer goods maker's efforts to establish itself in India. 

Being an unlisted company, P&G's largest arm does not publish its results and has nine months to file annual statements with the Registrar of Companies (RoC). The 2010-11 results were filed on December 24. 

The maker of Tide detergent, Pantene shampoo andOlay skincare range slipped into the red despite a 31% growth in sales, mainly because of its aggressive drive to take on market leader Hindustan Unilever (HUL) by investing heavily in manufacturing, distribution and advertising. 

P&G SAYS IT'S IN LINE WITH LONG-TERM STRATEGY 

Brewing in Princeton...

Princeton Brews Trouble for Us 1 Percenters: Michael Lewis - Bloomberg: "The committee has been reconvened in haste to respond to a disturbing new trend: the uprisings by students on elite college campuses.
Across the Ivy League the young people whom our Wall Street division once subjugated with ease are becoming troublesome. Our good friends at Goldman Sachs, to cite one example, have been forced to cancel their recruiting trips to Harvard and Brown. At Princeton, 30 students masquerading as job applicants entered a pair of Wall Street informational sessions, asked many obnoxious questions (“How do I get a job lobbying the U.S. government to protect Wall Street interests?”), rose and chanted a list of charges at bankers from JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, and, finally, posted videos of their outrageous behavior on YouTube.
The committee views this latter incident as a sure sign of trouble to come. The whole point of going to Princeton for the past several decades has been to get a job at Goldman Sachs or, failing that, JPMorgan. That Princeton students are now identifying their interests with the Lower 99 percenters is, in its way, as ominous as the return of the Jews to Jerusalem."

Whaley Numbers!

Gray whales arriving early in record numbers - latimes.com: "Gray whales have shown up so early for their migration through Southern California waters that they are astounding many longtime observers.

Whale spotters stationed at Point Vicente in Rancho Palos Verdes have logged a record 163 sightings so far in December, more than they have seen at this point in 28 years.

By this point in December last year, the observers had spotted 26 gray whales. The previous record was 133, observed in 1996.

PHOTOS: Whale-watching gallery

The season doesn't typically start until the end of December, but the huge number of early arrivals is delighting tourists, boaters and divers as the animals travel south along the coast to Mexico.

"I've seen some pretty good years but never anything like this," said Joyce Daniels, a volunteer who heads the whale census from noon to dusk."

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Ovarian Conflicts

Vitals - Avastin slows advanced ovarian cancer's progress, report says: "For women with advanced cases of ovarian cancer, the drug Avastin adds about four months to the time it takes for the cancer to worsen, according to a new report.
Patients treated with Avastin in addition to chemotherapy had about 14 months before their advanced ovarian cancer progressed, compared to about 10 months for those in the study who were treated with chemotherapy and a placebo.
An early analysis of the trial's results was presented in June 2010 at the meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology; the complete report from the trial appeared Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine."

Avastin disappoints against ovarian cancer - Yahoo! News: "Avastin, the blockbuster drug that just lost approval for treating breast cancer, now looks disappointing against ovarian cancer, too. Two studies found it did not improve survival for most of these patients and kept their disease from worsening for only a few months, with more side effects.
The Genentech drug won approval in Europe last week for advanced ovarian cancer. But its maker has no immediate plans to seek the same approval in the United States. After talking with the Food and Drug Administration, "we do not believe the data will support approval" although no final decision has been made, said Charlotte Arnold, a spokeswoman for Genentech, part of the Swiss company Roche.
Results of the studies are in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.
In November, the FDA revoked Avastin's approval for breast cancer because it did not meaningfully extend life and can have serious side effects. Without approval, doctors can prescribe the drug but insurers may not pay. Treatment with it can cost $100,000 a year."

Giving students extra credit...for humourous "words of wisdom"

This is said to be due to the trend in popularity of healthier snack foods which are now being chosen by the time conscience consumer.  


Grosse Margin


but it gives us piece of mind that the product will be taken from our production plant 


Brazil dominates the region in terms of whiskey sales in litters


Bikoff a self-confessed health nut conceived the idea of vitamin enhanced water


Along came a guy from Queens named Mike and because Mike hads a gift for gab, it's no wonder word got around, thus emerged Glacéau, a fresh new approach to bottled water.


Glacéau is all about helping thirsty people hydrate responsibly with products that are free of sodium and artificial ingredients. It means no artificial sweeteners, no artificial colours and especially no artificial intelligence


Due to rising obesity rates and complications such as diabetes resulting from being overweight have led consumers to seek healthier beverages.


Due to its incredible timing as our society becomes increasingly health conscience, Vitaminwater’s success is understandable. 


We asked consumers to fill out a quick questionnaire on their buying habits. We conducted this research on ... Participants were both make and females, all aged roughly between 17-30. 

We have an agreement with ...  to take our VitimanWater from the ..... and distribute it throughout ..... in there wholesale outlets and in there affiliated stores.

This is in relation to weather people buy and use a product, as well as how often and how much they use it. 

People started to purchase coffee machines for their homes or workplace and this leaded  to people developing different coffee tastes

Chocolate cafe has a patented  brand name and it is illegal for any other person or persons to copy of use the name without permission of the owner. 

A heavy burden off Coloradans' bodies

Coloradans can make money by losing weight - Yahoo! Finance: "Insurance company Kaiser Permanente Colorado is offering cash to Coloradans to lose weight and keep it off.
Companies have been making similar offers to their employees for years as a way to reduce obesity in the workplace and lower health care costs.
But Kaiser is taking it one step further and making the offer to any adult in Colorado through its Weigh and Win program. It's one of the first programs in the nation to make such an offer to all adults.
Participants earn anywhere from $15 to $150 every three months to lose weight and keep it off.
Twelve kiosks with scales and a video camera to record progress are located throughout the state. They're in medical facilities, recreation centers, libraries and even a furniture store."

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Shears to Sears...yet another chapter in the Eddie Saga

Sears to close 100 to 120 Kmart, Sears stores - latimes.com: "NEW YORK— NEW YORK — At a time when holiday season sales overall have turned out better than expected, Sears Holdings Corp. was an exception: It said Tuesday that it will close 100 to 120 Sears and Kmart stores after disappointing holiday sales.

Its stock, having already lost 37 percent of its value this year, tumbled 20 percent to $36.61 in early trading, making it the biggest percentage decliner in the S&P 500.

One of its key suppliers, Whirlpool Corp., was down 5.6 percent.

The final list of stores to be closed hasn't yet been determined, Sears said."

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millions do not go far enough, in Arizona

Economic Downturn Took a Detour at Capitol Hill - NYTimes.com: "Mr. Pastor, the Arizona congressman, said he never relied on fancy stock investments to make money. He said the key to his good fortune was watching what he spends, paying off debts and, at age 68, collecting Social Security and a pension from his days as a county supervisor.

“I don’t see myself as a man of great wealth,” he said. “To say that I’m enjoying a millionaire’s lifestyle — well, I can tell you, I guess a millionaire’s income doesn’t go very far these days.”"

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Congress- a license to mint money

Economic Downturn Took a Detour at Capitol Hill - NYTimes.com: "Today, Mr. Pastor, a miner’s son and a former high school teacher, is a member of a not-so-exclusive club: Capitol Hill millionaires. That group has grown in recent years to include nearly half of all members of Congress — 250 in all — and the wealth gap between lawmakers and their constituents appears to be growing quickly, even as Congress debates unemployment benefits, possible cuts in food stamps and a “millionaire’s tax.”

Mr. Pastor buys a Powerball lottery ticket every weekend and says he does not consider himself rich. Indeed, within the halls of Congress, where the median net worth is $913,000 and climbing, he is not. He is a rank-and-file millionaire. But compared with the country at large, where the median net worth is $100,000 and has dropped significantly since 2004, he and most of his fellow lawmakers are true aristocrats"

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Calling Africa

Africa's burgeoning middle class brings hope to a continent | World news | guardian.co.uk: "Around a 10th of Africa's land mass is covered by mobile-internet services – a higher proportion than in India. This has allowed Africans to leapfrog poor landline infrastructure, which had been a brake on progress. Many will get their first internet experience on a mobile rather than a desktop computer, using services that are revolutionising commerce, farming and healthcare. Almost 18 million Kenyans use their mobiles as a bank account to deposit or transfer money and pay their accounts – contributing 8% of GDP.

Technology startup companies are flourishing in hubs in Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and South Africa.Internet penetration is still relatively low at 120 million users, but catching up fast: the growth rate between 2000 and 2011 was 2,527%, compared with a world average of 480%. These include around 32 million Facebook users. In all, 27% of African internet users have Facebook profiles, compared with 18% of users in Asia."

Why put labels on everything?

The Hindu : Arts / Dance : Sublime creativity: "And she has sung and danced all over the world. The West is a fantastic place to dance, she says, referring to audiences abroad. But she feels that the way in which Indian classical dance is dissected, categorised and labelled at the hands of academicians and theoreticians who have missed its essence, but claim authority, is deeply distressing. Also disturbing is the fact that many Indian dancers are re-inventing their dance to suit these parameters. “It is a culture that we are surrendering body and soul,” laments Alarmel."

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Obama gets into the Holiday Spirit- gambles online

Web gambling gets boost from Obama administration - Yahoo! Finance: "The Obama administration cleared the way for states to legalize Internet poker and certain other online betting in a switch that may help them reap billions in tax revenue and spur web-based gambling.
A Justice Department opinion dated September and made public on Friday reversed decades of previous policy that included civil and criminal charges against operators of some of the most popular online poker sites.
Until now, the department held that online gambling in all forms was illegal under the Wire Act of 1961, which bars wagers via telecommunications that cross state lines or international borders."

Doing business, Bloomberg and friends

New York City taps Donald Trump to run golf course - Yahoo! Finance: "New York City has chosen Donald Trump's company to run a new public golf course in the Bronx.
Trump says he hopes to bring prestigious tournaments to the Ferry Point Golf Course. The city plans to open the golf course in 2014 on 222 acres of parkland near the Whitestone Bridge.
Parks and Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe (BEHN'-uh-pee) says the Trump Organization has a good record of running golf courses nationwide. It has granted the company a 20-year license agreement to operate the course. The company will build a $10 million clubhouse as part of the deal."

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Pigeon (math) brained

Pigeons Are Brilliant in Math : Discovery News: "Pigeons may be ubiquitous, but they're also brainy, according to a new study that found these birds are on par with primates when it comes to numerical competence.

The study, published in the latest issue of the journal Science, discovered that pigeons can discriminate against different amounts of number-like objects, order pairs, and learn abstract mathematical rules. Aside from humans, only rhesus monkeys have exhibited equivalent skills."

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Jordan flies, public crashes to a new low

New Air Jordans cause nationwide shopping frenzy - Yahoo! Finance: "Scuffles broke out and police were brought in to quell unrest that nearly turned into riots across the nation Friday following the release of Nike's new Air Jordan basketball shoes — a retro model of one of the most popular Air Jordans ever made.
The mayhem stretched from Washington state to Georgia and was reminiscent of the violence that broke out 20 years ago in many cities as the shoes became popular targets for thieves. It also had a decidedly Black Friday feel as huge crowds of shoppers overwhelmed stores for a must-have item.
In suburban Seattle, police used pepper spray on about 20 customers who started fighting at the Westfield Southcenter mall. The crowd started gathering at four stores in the mall around midnight and had grown to more than 1,000 people by 4 a.m., when the stores opened, Tukwila Officer Mike Murphy said. He said it started as fighting and pushing among people in line and escalated over the next hour."

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Turning off

BBC News - Volkswagen turns off Blackberry email after work hours: "The move follows criticism of internal emails by Thierry Breton, chief executive of the French information technology services giant, Atos. He said workers at his firm were wasting hours of their lives on internal messages both at home and at work. He has taken the more radical step of banning internal email altogether from 2014.

Last month the maker of Persil washing powder, Henkel, also declared an email "amnesty" for its workers between Christmas and New Year saying messages should only be sent out as an emergency measure.

Industry watchers say the moves reflect growing awareness of a problem.

"It's bad for the individual worker's performance being online and available 24-7. You do need downtime, you do need periods in which you can actually reflect on something without needing instantaneously to give a reaction," said Will Hutton, chair of the Big Innovation Centre at The Work Foundation.

"Secondly it has a poor impact on an individual's well-being. I think that one has to patrol quite carefully the borderline between work and non-work."

Mind-Bogle-ing views

Bogle: Time for speculators to pay fair tax share - Yahoo! Finance: "Here are excerpts from a recent interview with Bogle:
Q: What do you think about the ongoing discussion over tax fairness?
A: I believe the rich should pay more, but that's not a good platform for tax policy. What has gone wrong is that we've failed to recognize the difference between earned income and unearned income. Is it really fair for gamblers on Wall Street to pay a 15 percent rate when they make a winning investment, and an honest working person — a bricklayer for example — may pay an equal or higher tax on their wages than a gambler? That's absolute absurdity.
Rates may have to be changed, but we also need to look at what is taxed, and how. Dividend income should be taxed at the same rate as ordinary income. As for capital gains, there ought to be some distinction between capital made by people who start businesses, and contribute value to society, and capital made by gamblers on Wall Street, some of whom win. Earned capital income should carry the regular dividend rate, but capital income gains by trading, and particularly short-term trading, should pay a higher tax, even than the present ordinary income rate."

Q: What's your take on the Occupy movement?

A: I'm happy to say that my current income puts me in the 99 percent group. So maybe I'm not so happy, I don't know.

This movement has brought to the surface some very serious problems in our country about disparities in opportunity and income. So many young people are having a terrible time getting a job.

Young people have great idealism, and the Occupy movement has been a bit unrealistic at times. So what? I can't imagine a worse America if our younger generation didn't have great idealism. I salute them for their enthusiasm, and their mission.

The negative side is that they just pushed too hard for too long. It's very difficult for any movement without any seeming leadership — other than a good idea — to have any sense of taste or judgment. Who's to say, 'This is going too far'? In some places, it's just gone on too long, and it's been too disruptive. So I think it's good that we've been cleaning up the plazas where the Occupy movement set up.

Q: What's the focus of the book you're writing?

A: That our financial system has gone off the rails. It's something we think of as providing capital for new businesses, that will enable people to finance new companies or add to the capital of existing companies. We do that to the tune of about $200 billion a year in financing through Wall Street, or through the financial system. And yet we do some $40 trillion worth of trading every year. I'm selling my investment to you, and you're buying it from me, and it creates no value for society. Indeed, it subtracts value, because the guy in the middle gets his piece.

Many mutual funds turn over 100 percent of their portfolios each year. When I got into this business, it was maybe 18 percent a year. It's amazing. This industry is a big part of the problem. What we need is a transfer tax on trading. We need to tame the trading and speculative element in our financial system.

Q: What's your investment outlook heading into 2012?

A: If you're investing in stocks with idea of a one-year outcome, you should not invest. You can lose a lot. If you invest in stocks with a five-year outlook, I would think it is highly debatable if you should do that. You have to think about more than just the probabilities of a market crash. You have to consider the consequences for your savings, and whether you'd be decimated.

As for bonds, with interest rates and yields so low now, you just have to take those for what they are — a lot lower than what they have been historically.

With the economy, I'm cautious. I don't expect a boom in consumer spending over the next two or three years. People don't have the wherewithal to spend a lot more, and in today's world, they don't have the confidence. Confidence can change overnight, but wherewithal cannot.

Not the sky, but is the Island is the limit?

Latest fad of richie rich; wedding planners book entire islands for top clients - The Economic Times: "Wedding planners such as Meher Sarid of Delhi are also island hunting for their high-profile clientele in a trend that may help the wedding market keep up its 10-15% growth rate despite the global economic slowdown.

This is an extravaganza that promises it all - from flying in acrobats, international circus artists, percussionists and chefs to arranging private charters and private boat services for guests. "The exclusivity and fairytale charm of doing it first makes clients love this new option," says Anuj Bidani, founder of Space Hospitality.

Beach weddings best

Space Hospitality facilitates such mega weddings in exotic locations such as Yasawa Island Resort and Spa in Fiji. Neeta Raheja, a Delhi-based wedding planner who recently did a recce in Bintan islands near Singapore, says, "The feeling of having an island completely to you is very romantic. "

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Chickens better be afraid...KFC India frying on all cylinders

KFC overtakes Pizza Hut as Yum!'s largest brand in India - The Economic Times: "KFC, which almost quit India due to protests from health and animal rights activists after its debut in 1995, has overtaken Pizza Hut as the largest-selling fast food chain of Yum! Restaurants, riding on the country's increasing appetite for chicken.

World's largest quick-service restaurant (QSR) chain McDonald's, domestic fried chicken chain Bangs and T.G.I. Friday's restaurant chain too have reported a spike in chicken sales this year, confirming the widening appeal of the meat as eating out becomes a habit across the country.

"KFC is growing faster than Pizza Hut," says Sandeep Kataria, chief marketing officer of Yum! Restaurants India, while McDonald's says the McSpicy chicken burger range is the fastest growing product across its 240 stores.

Driving this chicken mania is a number of factors including rising number of nuclear families, youngsters staying away from home, travel, rising incomes, changing lifestyles and mall culture that has boosted accessibility, competition and innovations. "

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The Private Enterprise and Job Creators

Shell companies steal millions from Medicare - US news - Crime & courts - msnbc.com: "By the time authorities busted a fake AIDS clinic in Miami, it had bilked Medicare of more than $4.5 million. Still, the man behind the scheme remained far ahead of the agents pursuing him.
Michel De Jesus Huarte, a 40-year-old Cuban-American, hadn't simply avoided arrest. He had hatched a plan to steal millions more from Medicare by forming at least 29 other shell companies — paper-only firms with no real operations. Each time, he would keep his name out of any corporate records. Other people — some paid by Huarte, some whose identities had been stolen — would be listed in incorporation papers.
The shells functioned as a vital tool to hide the Medicare deceit — and not only for Huarte. Hundreds of others have used the veil of corporate secrecy to help steal hundreds of millions of dollars from one of the nation's largest social service programs, a Reuters investigation has found."

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Not giving a thought to giving

India most uncharitable in South Asia - The Times of India: "LONDON: India has earned the dubious distinction of being South Asia's most uncharitable country in 2011, if one goes by the ranking in the Charities Aid Foundation's World Giving Index. In the South Asia region, India is the worst performer with a global ranking of 91. In 2010, India ranked at 134.

Pakistan, which was ranked at 142 last year, has made it to 34th position this year. Sri Lanka is ranked 8th while Bangladesh is 78 and Nepal 84.

Thailand was the most generous, with 85 per cent of Thais making regular charitable contributions. The UK was the second most generous, with 79 per cent regularly giving to charity..."

Ring one for President Obama

Surrender by AT&T is victory for consumers and regulators - chicagotribune.com: "In a move that would have been unimaginable under the Bush administration, which seemingly never met a corporate merger it didn't like, the Justice Department filed suit in August against AT&T on grounds that the deal with T-Mobile would result in "higher prices, fewer choices and lower-quality products for wireless services."

Not to be outdone, the FCC then took the virtually unprecedented step of publicly releasing a staff report in November that tore the merger to shreds.

AT&T and T-Mobile getting hitched "would substantially lessen competition and its accompanying innovation, investment, and consumer price and service benefits," the report concluded."

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Science review of 2011

Science review of 2011: the year's 10 biggest stories | Science | The Observer: "Science review of 2011: the year's 10 biggest stories
Neutrino particles appeared to prove Einstein wrong by travelling faster than light, while the discovery of an Earth-like planet raised hopes of finding life on another world"

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The Myth of the Job Creators; the Reality of Crooked Swindlers

As Romney's firm profited in SC, jobs disappeared - Boston.com

GAFFNEY, S.C.—More than two decades ago, Mitt Romney's business venture came to town with a bounty of highly anticipated manufacturing jobs. The new plant, just past the gas station off Interstate 85, needed skilled workers to churn out thousands of photo albums.

Four years later, the Holson Burns Group Inc. -- the company controlled by Romney's Bain Capital LLC -- closed the factory and laid off about 150 workers. Some jobs were sent north, where months later many of those were also eliminated. Other operations went overseas.

But Bain walked away with millions in profits.

A review by The Associated Press of financial and regulatory documents in the case of Holson Burnes contrasts with statements Romney has made during his presidential campaign about his success creating jobs in the private sector. It shows how Bain, then headed by Romney, wrung profits out of the company by slashing costs and trimming its work force.

By coincidence, the economic fallout from Bain's decisions struck hardest in South Carolina and New Hampshire, early primary states that will shape the Republican race and Romney's White House prospects. Romney knows President Barack Obama -- not to mention the other Republican hopefuls -- will be picking apart his record at Bain.

"He's going to go after me and say, you know, in businesses that you've invested in, they didn't all succeed," Romney said at last week's Republican debate. "Some failed. Some laid people off. And he'll be absolutely right." Yet Romney said that, overall, his investments produced tens of thousands of jobs. "In the real world, some things don't make it," Romney added.

Under Romney, Bain Capital earned a reputation for turning around struggling companies and establishing well-known brands such as Domino's Pizza and the Staples office supply retailer.

But the little-known story of Holson Burnes shows the human toll in this town of about 12,000 people touched by Bain's pursuit of profit.

For Bain, the plan was a financial success: Holson Burnes raised $24 million from its initial public offering on the over-the-counter trading market, with Bain executives retaining the majority of the company's shares. Bain, in the end, reaped more than double the return on its initial investment. But workers were left jobless just as the local economy began to slump.

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LURING INVESTORS

In 1987, Bain Capital pounced on a golden opportunity: It set its sights on Hallmark's Burnes of Boston, having bought the Holson Co. the year before. Executives organized the companies under the Holson Burnes Group, which by 1992 was one of the nation's largest makers of photo albums and picture frames.

Company executives quickly went to work growing their new venture. They foresaw "significant growth" for their products in the South, a local newspaper reported, so South Carolina officials lured the company to Gaffney with more than $5 million in industrial bonds. Officials in Cherokee County, about 60 miles from Charlotte, N.C., pushed for $200,000 in utility upgrades.

Within months, Holson Burnes opened its 114,000-square-foot factory, using land on the outskirts of Gaffney once owned by a farm-supply company. By April 1988, about 100 workers were fastening together photo albums for the growing business.

"It was a new, state-of-the-art plant with lots of people," recalled Robert Weaver, who worked there in the late 1980s and later became a county official.

But in time, the red ink grew. Although Holson Burnes' sales nearly doubled from 1987 to 1991 -- to more than $110 million-- it posted consecutive operating losses, reports stated. Executives blamed the recession and a shift in consumer habits.

To stem the losses, Holson Burnes closed the plant and sold the property in July 1992 for $2.8 million, county records show. The company paid off its mortgage and transferred a small number of remaining jobs to New Hampshire.

Undoubtedly, Bain executives had their eye on the bottom line as they were preparing to close the Gaffney plant. Just six months before, the company touted "improved efficiencies" and "stronger cost controls" in its regulatory filings, just as it reported losses in early 1992.

The cost-cutting worked, just as the company prepared its initial public offering. By 1993, Holson Burnes brought in more than $3 million in after-tax profit, a stark turnaround from its $12.4 million loss the year before.

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JOB CUTS A PATTERN

Holson Burnes had brought new jobs to Gaffney amid a downtrodden economy. It was no surprise when county development officials worked quickly to find a surrogate after Bain closed up shop. The local plant manager formed a small spinoff company and rehired about 20 to 30 workers.

In the end, Holson Burnes saved millions of dollars. Yet its squeeze on Gaffney was hardly unique.

Just as executives closed down operations here and sold its South Carolina factory to the Bic Corp., residents 900 miles away in Claremont, N.H., were preparing for the new jobs. The company said in spring 1992 that the expansion in Claremont "will allow us to focus our attention on our rapidly growing base" of products.

But the prospect of new jobs -- similar to expectations in Gaffney -- was short lived.

Within seven months, Holson Burnes began issuing furloughs to half its Claremont employees. Even if things looked up, the company told its workers, it would not rehire most of its clerical or managerial staff.

Exact numbers of layoffs were never announced. Some workers estimated that 85 to 100 employees were affected, telling the local Claremont Eagle Times that entire departments had been "decimated."

The cost-cutting continued at Holson Burnes. By 1992, the company manufactured nearly 75 percent of its photo frames overseas, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. One of the company's clock-making divisions also shipped work overseas from a Rhode Island plant.

But the business decisions didn't come without risk or public scrutiny.

Two clockmakers sued Holson Burnes in U.S. District Court in August 1992, claiming executives convinced them to hold off on demanding $1.9 million in IOU payments so that Holson Burnes could pull its Cuckoo Clock Manufacturing Co. out of a financial tailspin. A judge dismissed the case three years later.

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TENDING A `GOLDEN GOOSE'

Since announcing his candidacy for the White House, Romney has touted his business experience to convince voters that he's a better alternative to Obama as the country grapples with a weak economy.

"This president doesn't know how the economy works," Romney said last week. "I believe to create jobs, it helps to have created jobs."

After working as a top official for Bain & Co., Romney founded Bain Capital, where he largely made his personal fortune of $190 million to $250 million. He headed Bain Capital for more than 15 years before leaving to run the Salt Lake Olympic organizing committee.

Under Romney, Bain Capital invested millions of dollars into dozens of private-equity ventures. Some produced staggering profitability -- one company showed a return rate greater than 1,000 percent -- and by the late 1990s Bain targeted tech firms that specialized in software and telecommunications.

Romney insists now that he was never about "buying things, taking them apart, closing them down," as he told "Fox News Sunday."

"My business was associated with trying to make enterprises more successful. Not always was I able to succeed. But in each case, we tried to grow an enterprise, and in doing so, hopefully provide a better future for those associated with that enterprise."

Holson Burnes was one of Romney's lesser-known investments. In 1986, just as it bought smaller companies to form the Holson Burnes Group, Bain sank roughly $10 million in its new project under Romney's leadership.

By 1992, Holson Burnes' photography products lined the shelves in major American department stores. Bain eventually earned roughly $22 million from its initial investment -- an average rate of return that a Deutsche Bank financial prospectus said surpassed 20 percent.

Indeed, it was Bain's investment in Holson Burnes and other ventures that made Romney undoubtedly wary about leaving the company he founded -- it now manages about $66 billion in assets -- to organize the 2002 Winter Olympics.

"How could I walk away from the golden goose," Romney wrote in his 2004 book, "especially now that it was laying even more golden eggs?"

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Venezuela honours Simon Bolivar with new coffin

BBC News - Venezuela honours Simon Bolivar with new coffin: "Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has unveiled a new coffin containing the remains of 19th Century South American independence hero Simon Bolivar.

The mahogany coffin, encrusted with diamonds, pearls and golden stars, was revealed at a ceremony to mark the anniversary of Bolivar's death in 1830.

"You live on in us," Mr Chavez said in a speech beside the coffin.

President Chavez often draws parallels between his socialist revolution and Bolivar's liberation struggle."

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Fa(c)t Genes

Got 'Fat Genes'? You Can Still Lose Weight : Discovery News: "On the genetics side, there’s an element of inherited predisposition toward (or increased risk factor for) obesity. Researchers have identified a “fat mass and obesity associated” (or FTO) gene that increases the likelihood that a given person with that gene will be obese by about 23 percent.

News about this so-called “fat gene” has given some overweight or obese individuals the idea that the dice are loaded and there’s little point in even trying to lose weight; dieting is difficult enough without our heredity fighting against us.

However, before you throw up your arms and blame your genes for your growing girth, there’s good news from a new study published in PLoS Medicine titled, “Physical Activity Attenuates the Influence of FTO Variants on Obesity Risk: A Meta-Analysis of 218,166 Adults and 19,268 Children."

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How to drive gender equality- a highly desirable goal?

More needed to tackle women's Dáil under-representation - The Irish Times - Fri, Dec 16, 2011: "Women earn less than men – and getting into politics is expensive. Women do most of the caring work in Irish society – we have abysmally low State support for childcare and the budget will see low-paid care workers lose jobs and the slack taken up by unpaid women at home.

Gender equality isn’t just good for women – it is good for society and for the economy. It will only work to bring about a fairer and more equal society, however, if deep gender inequalities which hold women back are tackled, and if women, once elected, take responsibilities to other women seriously. Those few currently in the citadel might start by protesting against the strong anti-equality aspects of the new Government’s first budget."

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Awash in rupees

Rupee falls: Students abroad uncertain about future - The Economic Times: "My family planned to finance the first year of my education in the US. However, now with the falling rate of the rupee, I plan to approach a bank for an education loan. Even daily living expenses will go up. My parents work in the service sector. Initially we agreed on them funding the first year, but now we don't know how much it will come to by the time I start with the course. So we may look at the loan option," said Narayanan. "Since the rupee value is falling every day, we do not know where we are heading to," he added.

Parents of another student from Ghatkopar, Bhavin Shah, had plans to keep Rs 5 lakh in store for additional costs the family may incur due to the falling value of the rupee.
"

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Schools in bed with brands...how will the children turn out?

Schools prescribing branded uniform; asking students to wear Adidas shoes and Reebok backpacks - The Economic Times: "The Ghoshals are used to the daily scramble of school mornings. Only, these days they have become more branded. Their 15-year-old daughter, Tridha, slips on Adidas socks and shoes before heading out for school with a Reebok backpack - these are part of her uniform at Delhi Public School, Kolkata.
"By providing good-quality shoes to students at a young age, at a time it is most important, we would gain a prominent space in their mind," according to Subhinder Singh Prem, managing director of Adidas Group India. The company offers subsidised Adidas and Reebok shoes, uniform and sports gear to more than six lakh students in the country through deals with chain schools like Modern School and DPS, International Baccalaureate schools, and some new-age schools.

Besides uniforms, some schools such as Kolkata's South City International School plan to make tablets such as the Apple iPad their medium of study. Reliance Retail, an Apple product reseller, says 4-5 schools across Delhi and Mumbai have picked iPads in bulk for students as part of their curriculum.

Child Experts Criticise Trend

Schools say there are no monetary transactions in such deals and discounts are mostly offered directly to students. "We wanted a uniform pair of shoes for students aged six to 17 through the year. More so because we are particular about navy blue colour," says Nalini Ponappa, principal of Bangalore-based Vidya Niketan, which recommends Adidas for its uniform. Child experts are, however, critical of this trend.

"Such dalliance with brands at an early age will increase the child's pester power and corrupt their mind on commercial aspects," says Dr Jairanjan Ram, consultant psychiatrist at Kolkata's Apollo Gleneagles Hospital. "When such children grow up, they would become much more brand conscious, which may be good for consumerism but there is a risk of them becoming compulsive brand shoppers, which is a disease in itself," he says.

But then, that is exactly what brands want and many parents are already brand conscious. "Earlier, people used to say that kids outgrow their shoes and apparel quickly, and would shy away from costly products. But now parents are not ready to compromise on quality," says Harkirat Singh, MD of premium shoemaker Woodland Shoes, which recently launched shoes for children and now plans to enter the branded school uniform segment.

The pie is big. Technopak Advisors estimates the uniform market at more than Rs 9,000 crore: boys' atRs 4,980 crore and girls' at Rs 4,230 crore. Institutional sales teams of several marketers are spending more time on campuses as schools are opening up to the use of brands for either durability or benefit of educational content, in the case of tablet PCs and laptops.


"We would build educational content around the tablets, so that it can be of greater value to students," says Anand Ekambaram, VP at HCL Learning, a part of HCL Infosystems. The company is in talks with schools to offer its ME tablets to students at subsidised prices. Samsung, another tablet PC maker, has already tied up with schools in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. Essar Group-owned Mobile Store, India's largest mobile phone retailer, too eyes schools to sell tablets and mobile phones.

It already reaches college students through temporary pop-up stores on campuses. "Today, children use gadgets such as mobile phones from the age of 10-12," says Mobile Store CEO Himanshu Chakrawarti, adding the retailer plans to preload mobiles and tablets with learning tools. Kolkata's South City International School Principal John A Bagul says the school plans to make iPad a medium of study while Delhi's GD Goenka World School Principal Neeta Bali too says the school will go for tablets as children already use e-resources like smart boards and laptops.

"It will widen their horizon," she says. Marketing experts say tapping schools will not be a game changer for brands in the short term because the market is much smaller than it appears. "While the absolute value of that segment is large, absolute penetration is low and limited to urban schools," says Debashish Mukherjee, partner and VP at management consultancy AT Kearney. Brands such as Titan Industries' accessories brand Fastrack do not sense any value in such partnerships.

"It's most uncool for a school to be prescribing our brand. This goes against our DNA, as we believe in creating desire," says Simeran Bhasin, marketing head of Fastrack. Jeans brand Lee, meanwhile, is scouting for more tie-ups after a Bangalore institute recommended the brand's custom-made jeans for its students, says Chakor Jain, business head, Lee, at VF Arvind Brand.

Arvind Lifestyle Brands and Retail CEO J Suresh, however, says, "Such associations typically work better in a school environment as brands get taken back home to the target buyer, mostly the mother." The firm's relaunch of Flying Machine brand a few years ago by roping in college students to play brand ambassadors and recommend it to their classmates did not have the desired impact.
Down south in Bangalore, a management and sciences institute has prescribed Lee jeans for its 3,000 students. Brands such as Adidas, Reebok, Lee, Woodland, HCL and Samsung are now reaching out to schools and colleges not only to expand revenue channels by tapping a captive audience, but also to build brand among future consumers, even as the trend has raised eyebrows among child experts. "

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Time to Take Sulfur Out of Jet Fuel : Discovery News

Time to Take Sulfur Out of Jet Fuel : Discovery News: "It’s a win-win situation: Take sulfur out of jet fuel and you can improve air quality and cool climate at the same time.

That’s good news, considering that air transportation is the fastest-growing fossil-fuel-based sector of the global economy: heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions from jet planes are projected to double over year 2005 values as soon as 2025.

Until now, the push to remove sulfur from jet fuel has been motivated by a need to improve air quality around airports. Sulfur-rich exhaust particles get lodged in the lungs and can cause respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses. Since 2006, when the U.S. introduced an ultralow sulfur standard for emissions from diesel trucks on the nation’s highways, the Federal Aviation Administration has been interested in setting similar sulfur-reduction standards for jets.

So, if doing the right thing is so easy, why isn’t it already being done? One reason has been the fear that improving air quality might actually worsen global warming. Here’s why:"

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Grand Canyon To Ban Plastic Water Bottles | News | Manufacturing.net

Grand Canyon To Ban Plastic Water Bottles | News | Manufacturing.net: "FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Disposable plastic water bottles in shops, vending machines, hotels and grocery stores at Grand Canyon National Park will disappear early next year under a plan by park officials to ban the sale of them.

But first they'll have to demonstrate they've met guidelines issued late Wednesday by the National Park Service that require a review of water availability, visitor health and safety, cost and benefits, and get the approval of the regional director. Grand Canyon spokeswoman Shannan Marcak said Thursday that the park believes it already is positioned to comply with the guidelines.

"

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Netflix:RIMmed and Kodak'd

5 brands most likely to be gone by 2015 - Business - Forbes.com - msnbc.com: "Prophet recently conducted a spot survey of some 5,000 U.S. consumers to see which brands they’d put on the deathwatch for anytime between now and 2015.
Anyone who even skims the news headlines will find their rankings no big surprise: Eastman Kodak topped the list with 27 percent of the group, with Netflix and the U.S. Post Office coming in with 19 percent and 18 percent of the vote. RIM (Blackberry) came as fourth most likely to fail (14 percent), and Sears came in fifth (11 percent).
Forbes.com slideshow: See the 5 brands most likely to be gone by 2015
But what struck me about this exercise was less the polled group’s choices and more their observations about these brands’ failings:
About Netflix: “They have shown they don’t know their own clients. They are not even clear with what they want as a company. It is a mess.”
U.S. Post Office: “Inefficient and obsolete.”"

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Morgan Stanley will cut, but the CEO will be banking on a big bonus

Morgan Stanley will cut 1,600 jobs early next year - BusinessWeek: "Morgan Stanley will cut about 1,600 jobs across all levels of company, becoming the latest bank to slash payrolls against a backdrop of extreme volatility in financial markets.

The cuts, which amount to 2.6 percent of the bank's workforce, will be made in the first three months of 2012, a spokesman for the New York investment bank said Thursday. The bank had more than 62,000 employees as of the end of September."

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Student comments

I thank you for all you have done in the class, helping us with the assignment etc., you are an inspirational lecturer...I now read the Financial Times and am watching how things progress in China with a view to teaching English as a foreign language there.Thank you for the wealth of knowledge you have imparted and enjoy the holidays.. AOL

Really enjoyed your lectures and will see you in the new year...PP

Really enjoyed your class....AMH

Well thank you, believe it or not, this is the first time I have looked at our yelp reviews. I look forward to dinner with you in two weeks. : ) MS

Hi Professor Gopal, How are you? I just wanted to send you a job update in my life to get your opinion on a few things....Any thoughts on either of these companies/ career paths? AM

Haven’t talked to you in a while – how are things going?...JB

Thanks so much for thinking of me and pursuing this. I'm going to schedule a meeting with her right away. Are you going to be at the retreat?

this is JS. I am writing you sir regarding a personal professional situation that I am facing right now....
I would like to know your opinion sir based on your experience.

You have always gone above and beyond any expectation I could have had for an advisor...Denis M.

Thank you for a wonderful class, I enjoyed it..Merissa M.

Thank you for all your insight and the great real applications!  Elizabeth F.

It couldn't have been half as much fun without you as our professor! Thank you so much for opening my eyes to the world of Marketing. It's been a blast...Aja R.

Dr Gopal, For sure! Bring a camera!! But I guarantee that a lot of us will look like we were up ALL night studying for your amazing exams!!! So please beware!..Theodora A.

By focusing on metrics that lead back to the ultimate customer, I have begun to alter my approach when initially reviewing potential suppliers, especially from overseas. They are sometimes caught of guard when asked about what they measure and realize it is not conducive to our company's needs. Recently DuPont Teijin completely changed their management structure. When asked, they replied they were too internally focused and disconnected with their customers objectives. Thanks for excellent class....Mike C.

I just want to drop off a little note of thanks! You are awesome!    Christine S.

Maggie (my sister) really enjoyed your class.  She said she liked the atmosphere and she liked how you incorporated commercials during the powerpoint. Thanks for the personal attention that you gave her during
class...Joe F.

Time has passed since our International Marketing class, but I wanted to let you know the dividends your class continues to provide. Last Friday I was in Dunnhumby training (they do store loyalty cards) and we discussed their relationship with "Tesco", and their "50/50 Joint venture" with Kroger. All of which I was able to relate to because of your class. Thank You!.. Craig J.

Thanks for all you've done in class this semester too, I really enjoyed Business 271, and I hope to have you as a teacher again sometime!. Nikol B.

It's been a great 4 months session, and thank you for making the subject interesting. Meifang  C.

On a personal note, I thought you were one of the best professors I had at Elmhurst. There were times I was frustrated with the workload you gave us but I knew then, and understand more today you were challenging us to think and get the most out of our time together. I thoroughly respect and appreciate that as a former student. Eric S.


I looked for you amongst the teachers, but I didn't see you. I just wanted to let you know that you were one of the most enthusiastic, inspiring professors that I had at Elmhurst and you left me with fond memories of the college and your class. Thank you again for your confidence in me! Antoinette C.

Bankrupt American Airlines= morally bankrupt

Bankrupt American Airlines owns $30 million London town house - chicagotribune.com: "Buried deep in American Airlines' Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing is a striking asset -- a town house in one of London's most expensive residential streets that property experts say could be worth up to $30 million.

The five-bedroom house in London's high-end Kensington district is a throwback to the airline's expansion two decades ago and stands a 10 minute walk from the former home of Princess Diana, with gentry and diplomats as neighbors."

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Bankrupt American Airlines= morally bankrupt

Bankrupt American Airlines owns $30 million London town house - chicagotribune.com: "Buried deep in American Airlines' Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing is a striking asset -- a town house in one of London's most expensive residential streets that property experts say could be worth up to $30 million.

The five-bedroom house in London's high-end Kensington district is a throwback to the airline's expansion two decades ago and stands a 10 minute walk from the former home of Princess Diana, with gentry and diplomats as neighbors."

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Wedding bells toll for less, but will the "Right" accept?

U.S. News - Where is Mr. or Mrs. Right? Matrimony suffers slump, report shows: "There’s been a retreat from marriage going on for awhile now," says Bradford Wilcox, director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia. "The economic fallout from the Great Recession has made the retreat from marriage accelerate. That’s just because even today, Americans see marriage at least in part as an economic undertaking. So particularly when partners, especially men, don’t have decent stable work they are more likely to postpone or forego marriage."
More dramatic news from the report was a 5 percent decrease in the number of new marriages between 2009 and 2010, an unusually sharp one-year drop that “may or may not be related to the sour economy,” according to the Pew study.
Over the long haul, the marriage rate for the 18-29 age group has fallen from 59 percent in 1960 to 20 percent today. Divorce rates soared in the 1960s and '70s, becoming a major factor in the growing contingent of singles in the United States but then leveled off in the last two decades."

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The right call...

U.S. News - US calls for ban on in-car phone use ... even with Bluetooth: "The government's transportation safety experts recommended Tuesday to ban all American drivers from using portable electronic devices — including cell phones, even if you use a hands-free device.
The recommendation, which isn't binding but which is likely to influence the decisions of Congress and state legislatures in writing new safety laws, makes only two exceptions: You could still use GPS navigation devices, and you could use your cell phone in an emergency.
Besides calling for government action, the NTSB also urged consumer electronics manufacturers to figure out a way to "disable the functions of portable electronic devices within reach of the driver when a vehicle is in motion" while at the same time allowing the driver to make a call in an emergency."

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Job Creators? Another nickname for gross moneygrabbers

The Most Outrageous Acts of Corporate America: November’s Highlights (and Lowlights) | Daily Ticker - Yahoo! Finance: "Every day Michelle Leder and her crew at Footnoted.com comb through Securities and Exchange Commission filings in search of telling nuggets about deals, transactions, and executive compensation. Every month, she stops by our studios to share some of the highlights. November's crop included a familiar mix of private jets, large retirement packages, and, in one instance, a strange resolution of a dispute over $12.1 million in antique maps."

Bob Pittman, Yet Again. Bob Pittman is a longtime media high-flyer: a founder of MTV, a top executive at Time Warner and now CEO of radio giant Clear Channel's broadcasting and advertising business. Pittman's high-flying also translates to his choice of aviation. In October, Footnoted.comreported that Pittman's deal stipulated that he would have a plan available to him — preferably a Dassault-Breguet Mystere Falcon 900 — for business and personal use. In November, Clear Channel filed a new disclosure, noting that the company would pay a leasing company owned by Pittman $3 million per year for the use of the jet that will ferry Pittman around the country. The name of the leasing company? Yet Again.

Not Hot in Cleveland. When Wendy's sold its Arby's unit, it decided to do a little corporate reshuffling. Specifically, it decided it no longer needed the Atlanta base where Arby's had been headquartered, and decided that top executives should work out of the Wendy's offices in Dublin, Ohio, which is northwest of the state capitol Columbus. Not all executives were eager to swap Hotlanta for a colder, and less-happening town, among them CEO Roland Smith. As an army veteran and veteran corporate executive, Smith had moved plenty of times in his career. And he essentially decided that he's rather relinquish the post of CEO of a large public company than move to Ohio. Smith invoked a clause in his employment agreement that the company wouldn't move him from the Atlanta area without his consent. That move triggered $12.57 million in compensation. Note: this perk is not widely available for executives who prefer not to move to Ohio.

ADP's Payroll Shrinks. On November 9, payroll processing giant made what seemed to be a routine executive announcement: CEO Gary Butler, a 37-year veteran of the company, was stepping down as CEO and was to be replaced by President Carlos Rodriguez. The company said this was simply the execution of a previously established succession-planning plan. Among the retirement perks: $30 million in deferred compensation and options, $1.55 million in severance, and office and secretarial support for another seven years. But, responding to a reader tip, Footnoted.com unearthed a factor that ADP didn't discuss that may have contributed to Butler's career move. On November 6, three days before the retirement announcement, Butler had been arrested in South Carolina on a charge of domestic violence after an incident with his wife.

Take Two Mill and Call me in the Morning. Mergers and acquisitions can be stressful times for top executives. They have to work hard to get the deal done, and then face the prospect that the merged company may not have use for their services. Medco, the giant prescription management company that is hoping be acquired by ExpressScripts in a $26 billion deal, has tried to assuage such fears by making some extravagant promises to top executives. If he is terminated within a year after the merger closes, Medco Chairman and CEO David B. Snow, Jr., will receive $38.96 million, including $12.6 million in cash severance. Other C-Suite execs received lesser promises: $15.7 million for President and Chief Operating Officer Kenneth O. Klepper, and $10.33 milion for Chief Financial Officer Richard J. Rubino.

$23.5M? No heart problem for Medtronic.

Medtronic to pay $23.5M to settle kickback claims - Yahoo! Finance: "MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Medtronic Inc., the world's largest maker of medical devices, has agreed to pay $23.5 million to settle allegations that it paid kickbacks to doctors to implant its pacemakers and defibrillators, the U.S. Justice Department said Monday.
The government alleged that Medtronic caused false claims to be submitted to Medicare and Medicaid by using two post-market studies and two device registries as vehicles to pay illegal kickbacks to doctors."

Each of the studies and registries required a new or previous implant of a Medtronic device in each patient. In each case, Medtronic paid doctors a fee ranging from about $1,000 to $2,000 per patient. The government contended that Fridley, Minn.-based Medtronic solicited doctors for the studies to get them to use its devices.

Post-market studies are intended to assess the clinical performance of a medical device or drug after it's been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

"Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries depend on their physicians to make decisions based on sound medical judgment, especially when they are choosing which pacemaker or defibrillator to implant," B. Todd Jones, U.S. attorney for Minnesota, said in a statement. "Medical device manufactures must not be permitted to use improper payments to cloud that judgment."

Medtronic didn't admit wrongdoing as part of the civil settlement.

"Medtronic is happy to have this investigation behind us, so we can continue designing and executing clinical trials that generate evidence to improve patient care, outcomes, and cost effectiveness," Dr. Marshall Stanton, vice president of clinical research and reimbursement for the Cardiac and Vascular Group at Medtronic, said in a statement

Over the past three years, the Justice Department has reached settlements with two other major medical devices makers — Boston Scientific and St. Jude Medical Inc. — over similar kickback allegations.

In January 2009, heart device maker Boston Scientific agreed to pay $22 million to resolve allegations its Guidant division paid kickbacks to doctors to get them to use its heart devices. St. Jude Medical, based in St. Paul, Minn., agreed last January to pay $16 million as part of a settlement over allegations it paid kickbacks to physicians to implant its pacemakers and defibrillators. Neither company admitted wrongdoing in those settlements.