Workers set up the transfer station and prepare to test the cars on the Zippin Pippin roller coaster ride Friday at Bay Beach Amusement Park in Green Bay. / H. Marc Larson/Press-Gazette
NEW YORK, April 26 (Xinhua) – US stocks rose on Tuesday as corporate earnings reports still provided momentum to the markets. The three major indexes hit highest levels in multiple years.
On economic front, according to the Samp;P/Case Shiller composite index, US single-family home prices dropped 0.2 percent in February on a seasonally adjusted basis. The figure was the eighth straight month drop of the index.
Meanwhile, the Consumer Confidence Index rose to 65.4 in April from a revised 63.8 in March. The market consensus were 64.8.
Moreover, the Federal Reserve began its two-day meeting on Tuesday. The market expected that the Fed will keep interest rates unchanged and end its 600-billion-dollar bond-buying program in June as scheduled.
As of company earning reports, most of them were positive but still some missed Wall Streets expectation. Ford Motor Co. said on Tuesday that its first quarter profit rose to 2.6 billion dollars, the best first-quarter performance since 1998.
United Parcel Service, the worlds largest delivery server, posted a quarterly profit that beat estimates and raised its 2011 forecast, boosting shares in premarket trading.
Coca-Cola, the worlds largest soft-drink maker, said Tuesday its quarterly net income rose to 1.9 billion dollars, or 82 cents per share from 1.61 billion dollars, or 69 cents per share same time last year. The revenue slightly missed the markets expectation.
Delta Air Lines Inc. posted a loss of 318 million dollars in the first quarter due to higher fuel prices. The airline claimed that by raising fares, it might be able to deal with the loss.
Amazon posted a drop in profit for the first quarter as its investment in new businesses ate into earnings. However, the online companys revenue estimate beat the market expectations.
TBM and Intel led the Dows and almost all shares rose on Tuesday.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 115.49 points, or 0.93 percent, to 12,595.37. The Standard amp; Poors 500 was up 11.99 points, or 0.90 percent, to 1,347.24. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 21.66 points, or 0.77 percent, to 2,847.54.
How much digital information does the word consume annually?
Researchers estimate that global information consumption exceeds 9,570,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes (or 9.57 zettabytes) per year.
In other words, if this information were a stack of books, it would measure 5.6 billion miles and would stretch from Earth to Neptune 20 times over.
These staggering data were reported by UC San Diego scientists and reflect information processed by the worlds 27 million business computer servers.
Most of this information is incredibly transient: it is created, used, and discarded in a few seconds without ever being seen by a person, one of the researchers said in a statement. Its the underwater base of the iceberg that runs the world that we see.
The researchers admit that their report may be incomplete because it does not include full estimates from large companies like Google, Microsoft, Yahoo! and other large companies that build their own in-house servers.
Whats even more surprising is that these calculations are based on data from 2008, and researchers said that server loads are doubling nearly every two years. Therefore, an estimate of digital information consumed in 2011 is likely to be far greater than 9.57 zettabytes.
Inventor, entrepreneur will serve as College’s 186th Commencement speaker
(Cazenovia, NY – May 14, 2011)
The Cazenovia College community looks forward to welcoming Jay Walker, the institution’s 186th commencement speaker, on Saturday, May 14, when the College will celebrate the achievements of the class of 2011.
Walker is one of America’s best-known entrepreneurs and inventors. TIME magazine called him one of the 50 most influential business leaders in the digital age. Newsweek cited him as one of three executives at the forefront of the Internet commerce revolution, and Business Week selected him as one of its 25 Internet pioneers.
Founder of a number of successful startups that currently have more than 60 million customers, Walker is chairman of Walker Digital, LLC, the parent company of Walker Digital Management, LLC – a laboratory that invents entirely new ways for businesses to operate and serve consumers.
In addition to being the lead inventor, he is responsible for developing Walker Digitals strategic relationships and long-term vision.
One of a dozen or so living inventors worldwide to hold 200 patents in multiple fields, Walker and his teams have invented over 600 proprietary business systems that solve problems in industries ranging from travel to defense to retail to restaurants to vending to publishing to gaming and entertainment.
Among these are priceline.com, the groundbreaking name-your-own-price company for airline tickets, rental cars and hotel rooms; Synapse, which revolutionized the magazine subscription industry; yappr.com, the world’s leading Web site for English-language learning; and Target Communications, a conference and publishing company, sold to Primedia in 2000.
He has also designed and implemented marketing programs to support Fortune 500 companies such as Federal Express, where he pioneered the concept of using Federal Express delivery for the catalog industry.
He serves on the Board of World Information Transfer, a United Nations NGO; is a frequent speaker on college campuses; and makes numerous appearances on television and radio shows. He holds a bachelor of science degree in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University.
[Update: The section in bold below has been updated to reflect clarifications provided by Michael Rajner.] #
On Monday, the Florida Department of Health will hold the first of several public debates to decide whether to reduce eligibility to Floridas AIDS Drug Assistance Program (aka ADAP) from 400 percent of the federal poverty level to 200 percent. #
In other words: A person who earns $30,000 a year would not qualify for ADAP. HIV/AIDS drugs cost between $10,000 and $20,000 a year. #
Florida already has the longest waiting list in the US for people seeking to receive their HIV/AIDS medication through the state- and federally funded ADAP. #
Michael Rajner, legislative director of the Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus, tells The Florida Independent that if reduced eligibility is approved, anybody above 200 percent of the federal poverty level will have to go off their medications, causing drug resistance. #
Rajner, who relies on ADAP himself, says that if the eligibility reduction is approved he would not qualify for drugs and would not be financially capable of affording his medicine, forcing him to perhaps discontinue all HIV treatment. He says that he is already suffering from an opportunistic infection, and that his health would continue to decline. #
Rajner adds that individuals would have to consider terminating treatment for HIV only in the absence of a pharmaceutical patient assistance programs that may step up to absorb any individuals potentially terminated from ADAP due to changes in the programs eligibility or funding shortfall. #
He says the HIV community has no idea when the pharmaceutical companies would hit their philanthropic breaking point with these patient assistance programs. They are after all, in our capitalistic system, big industry in the business and making profits, Rajner says. #
It is great that the state is allowing an opportunity for public input on these changes to ADAP, Rajner adds, but any changes to the program at the state level will dramatically impact and harm local programs throughout the state. #
As an example of this impact, Rajner says that the state is also looking to reduce eligibility according to the number of a persons T-cells. If your T-cells are below 500, you qualify for treatment, but Florida is looking to reduce this. So unless your T-cells fall below 200, which is a way to define AIDS, you will not receive access to your medications. #
The AIDS Institute released a statement Thursday calling on all Floridians to oppose the Florida Department of Health’s Bureau of HIV/AIDS proposal to reduce eligibility for HIV/AIDS patients. #
Michael Ruppal, executive director of The AIDS Institute, said in a written statement: #
With almost 8,000 people on ADAP waiting lists nationwide and 3,807 of those in Florida alone, it is clear that the need is significant. Reducing the eligibility to further limit the number of people accessing services only compounds the problem and puts many more lives at risk. He went on to say, This is a time to take action and tell the state how reducing the eligibility criteria for HIV/AIDS services will hurt those in need. #
The statement adds that the AIDS Insurance Continuation Program, as well as the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS and possibly more HIV/AIDS programs and services are also looking at reductions. #
Will Rothschild works for Rothschild and Maultsby Media, which handles media relation for Welvista, a South Carolina-based health care network that provides medications at no cost to the uninsured who do not qualify for Medicaid, Medicare or VA insurance, and those who cannot afford to pay for insurance coverage on their own. He says the sustainability of ADAP in Florida and 10 other states is in jeopardy. ADAP ran out of money last year, and the federal allocation is not going up this year. #
It is likely the Florida ADAP will completely run out of money by December or January, Rothschild says. #
In Florida, the legislature is just removing themselves of taking care of their citizens, says Mark King, who manages My Fabulous Disease. I have been living with HIV for 30 years. I know I wouldnt be alive today if it wasnt for medications. We are always telling people know your status, because there are treatments to help you, but then, well you have to be on a waiting list if you want any of those. #
It is astounding that Florida would have such a huge waiting list, King says. Rather than address the waiting list by funding things properly, they decided to get rid of the waiting list by changing the eligibility requirements, by knocking everybody on it off the program all together. #
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You should be fully PC literate and educated to A-Level standard or above, either working towards or having completed your Certificate in Personnel Practice. Prior experience working in a HR environment would also be desirable along with knowledge of employment law and a basic understanding of the role of the Museum as a cultural organisation.
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Closing date 5 May 2011.
Mark Dayton entered the Capitol in January owing its inhabitants very little. The DFL governor spent $3.9 million of his own fortune to win the primary and the narrow election in November, and for the most part conducted his campaign with little help from special interest groups or Democratic legislators. Most of the latter supported former House Speaker and DFL endorsee Margaret Anderson Kellihers campaign from the start.
He got to the governors office, really, on his own, said DFL Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk, who also ran for governor. It is a real luxury for a governor not to have that baggage of having to reward some people for helping get him into his position.
Despite holding political office repeatedly – as state auditor, commissioner, US senator – Dayton has never developed extensive ties to the cast of characters that comprise the Legislature, and he has proven to be an independent political operator since moving into the governors office. He has reached across party lines to work with Republicans on issues that have made some DFLers and labor groups cringe. He has also avoided entanglements with the DFL legislative caucuses, both in his offices day-to-day workings and in his choice to largely pass them by in his Cabinet appointments – moves that have rubbed some veteran Democrats the wrong way.
Preparing for showdown
By most accounts, Daytons strategies have been enormously effective, even as a newcomer to the Capitols long-entrenched political battles. Its invaluable to have knowledge of how any institution runs that youre taking part in, noted House GOP Taxes Chairman Greg Davids. But I think the governor has been a quick study.
Capitol watchers say Dayton has made a few moves early on that will put him in a good position when the budget showdown comes. The first was to hold local government aid (LGA) harmless in his budget. While the governor insists he did so to hold the line against increasing property taxes – the most regressive tax, Dayton has asserted repeatedly – some say the decision also reflected a canny political calculation. LGA cuts are a sticking point in the Republican caucuses – particularly in the House, where many rural GOP members rely heavily on the aid in their districts.
House Republicans whacked LGA by $487 million in their early-session phase one budget omnibus, a move that was tempered for rural members in the House by making the cuts a one-time reduction. When it came time to present their main budget bill, they charted a different course on LGA cuts by concentrating them in the DFL strongholds of Minneapolis, St. Paul and Duluth. But the Senate, meanwhile, kept extensive statewide LGA cuts in its final taxes proposal.
By holding the line on aid to cities and counties, a longtime lobbyist points out, Dayton is apparently bidding to pit rural Republicans against suburban Republicans. Down the road, that friction could cause internal dissension on tough budget votes. For someone who hasnt been around the Legislature for more than a decade, the lobbyist said, he sure knows where its weak points are.
Within the first week of March, Dayton also put his signature on two major pieces of legislation long desired by Republicans: alternative teacher licensure and expedited environmental permitting for businesses. Republicans celebrated the moves, and they painted a public portrait of Dayton as someone who was willing to compromise, the lobbyist said.
When everyone is getting sick of politicians and wants the budget to be resolved, the lobbyist noted, [Dayton] can tell the media and the public that he is someone who is willing to work with the other side and point to those examples. Republicans dont really have anything like that to point to. In fact, the leadership and these freshmen have been quoted in the media regularly saying they wont compromise.
Some DFL legislators critical
Some DFLers are not so keen on Daytons cozy relationship with Republicans. DFL House Rep. Mindy Greiling said he caved too early on both bills. Any of us who have been around the block here know that when youre negotiating a conference committee, you never give a freebie of something they really want unless you get something for it, she said. Obviously he is trying to get good will, but it hasnt worked for [President Barack] Obama, and it wont work for Dayton.
Greiling said in the end, Dayton needs to be a hard bargain driver and cant give in to Republicans on certain issues. The more he shows [himself] not to stick with his own edicts, the better off the Republicans are who want to roll over him.
Greiling and other caucus members also say there is a perception in their caucus that he is available to everyone and their mother more so than he is to actual Democratic legislators. That sentiment is echoed by DFL St. Paul Rep. Alice Hausman, who said its unclear what their role in the minority will be.
I would say my sense is he is working very, very well with the Republicans on their bills, Hausman said. He has been very proactive on that; they have access to his office. In terms of the people he thinks he is going to negotiate with, he apparently has a very open door policy, and thats working quite well.
But Hausman argues that there is also value in having working relationships with your own party in the Legislature. Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty came from the House, so he maintained close ties with the Republican minority. And Kelliher, had she won the primary and the governorship, would have been close to the DFL minority as well, Hausman said.
Thats really the reason to use your own party – so somebody has your back, she said. He doesnt have those relationships, and maybe its because he feels he doesnt need them.
Bakk says the Senate DFL caucus has a good working relationship with Dayton, but he acknowledges the governors closeness with both Republican caucuses. Had Kelliher or GOP gubernatorial candidate and former House Rep. Tom Emmer won the executive job, Bakk said, the Legislature would have been much more involved in creating the governors budget proposals. Under Dayton, Bakk said DFLers had little or no involvement in the development of the governors budget plan released in mid-February.
GOP Rep. Pat Garofalo, who authored the alternative licensure bill that Dayton signed, said the governor is smart to sit outside the zone of traditional Democrats. I think he is being shrewd and staying above the fray, Garofalo said. He doesnt need anything from the legislative Democrats except to uphold his vetoes.
DFL Rep. Ryan Winkler said he thinks Dayton is staying out of the Legislatures day-to-day skirmishes and keeping to the big picture. Kelliher, he said, would have been more tempted to seek advice from legislators and get in the middle of its battles, some of which reach far back and can be personal.
He stays out of the small battles and lets the Legislature look like the squabbling politicians, Winkler said. [Dayton is] not thinking about what happened in the 2007 tax conference committee and out to get someone who did something he didnt like to the bill at that time, he said. He doesnt have that baggage.
Negotiating advantage?
The true test of Daytons political savvy, however, will be behind closed doors in negotiations with the Republicans near the end of session, an area in which most GOPers think they can top the first-term governor. GOP operative Ben Golnik contrasted Dayton unfavorably with Pawlenty, whose experience in the Legislature made him an adept negotiator with the DFL caucuses and leadership.
Golnik thinks Daytons past performances in political positions, namely his one term in the US Senate, offer signs that he will cave in the negotiation process. Its one thing to have a little vibrato in a press release, Golnik said. Its another thing to be sitting at the negotiating table.
But one DFL lobbyist who backed Kelliher for governor says Daytons performance as a senator has little bearing on how he will perform in St. Paul. He has done way, way better than anyone expected, the lobbyist said. He was frustrated and didnt seem to enjoy the Senate much. Governor is just a better job. You have so much more latitude, and you can control the message.
So far he hasnt stumbled, and I think thats what has surprised people. I think he enjoys being in charge.
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A team of computer scientists from the University of San Diego has quantified how much information got crunched by business-related servers around the world in 2008 – and its quite a number: 9.57 zettabytes of information, almost 10 to the 22nd power, or ten million million gigabytes.
Their report, delivered at a trade conference in Silicon Valley earlier this week, marks the first time researchers have put a number on the worlds annual information consumption workload. The study also projects a continuing appetite for server use demand, which it estimates will double roughly every couple of years. Viewed another way, the amount of server data getting processed by the year 2024 will be equivalent to a stack of books extending more than 4.37 light-years to Alpha Centauri, the reports authors estimate.
Having one seems to be the new secret celebrity badge of honour; rule one of Super Injunction Club is that you do not talk about Super Injunction Club. Except, in the modern world, information is hard to bury, even under the weight of a court order.
Andrew Marr is the latest high profile person to admit he used (misused?) privacy legislation to suppress details of an affair he had with a married journalist several years ago. Whether you agree this information should be in the public domain at all is up for debate, after all, Marr is hardly in OK magazine every week positioning himself as a family man. What isnt is that Marr has made things a lot worse for himself and damaged some of his credibility as a leading political journalist.
After all, shouldnt he be the one challenging politicians about the use of privacy laws to gag the press? Marr says he is now embarrassed by the injunction, which is why he has come clean. Well, that and the fact it is being challenged by Private Eye.
It begs the question, how effective are they? Most super injunctions there are currently around 30 in force are applied for because the press already has a story. The traditional way of dealing with such a lsquo;bang to rights media approach was to come clean and strike a deal which saw the celeb lsquo;confess all to a friendly paper in exchange for exclusivity and a slightly more factual version of events. In crisis management terms this is damage limitation and helps to control the media frenzy.
True, it isnt going to stop your other half finding out but, in the long term, neither is the court order. If it achieves anything and this was Marrs argument it may cut down paparazzi harassment of all involved while you sort your marriage out.
The trend for super injunctions stems from taking legal advice over PR consultancy. In terms of killing media interest in a story it is about as effective as leaving your kids at home and saying: lsquo;Your Christmas presents are hidden upstairs, dont go looking for them. Never going to happen.
Once the wheels are in motion, the media is a freight train. They know a story exists, now they know you dont want it published. They know who you are and while they wont publish specific details, they will push the boundaries and create a story around the anonymous married actor or Premier League footballer who doesnt want you to know about their alleged affair. If your reason for a super injunction was to ensure your partner didnt know then youd better hope they dont know how to use Google or Twitter.
Because while the media have to challenge super injunctions in court, the general public tend to discuss the rumours openly. What once would have protected your identity now only fuels the gossip. Whatever you paid your lawyer is not going to keep your name out of the hashtags and, while thats not the Mail on Sunday, the more you are identified online, the greater the media case for lifting the injunction. Either way, your name is still attached to the story, youve lost control of it and youre sleeping in the spare room.
Dont believe me? Try a Twitter search for #superinjunction and take a look at the names that pop up.
Enlightening eh? Specially if you are Mrshellip;hellip;hellip;
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