All insurance data and more information.

Auto-insurance researchers: 'Cell phone bans don't help reduce crashes'

2011-12-20T02:23:00.000-08:00

All those fancy in-car docks and voice navigation? Utterly pointless. At least according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, who reckons that it's not the phone that's the issue, but "the full spectrum of things that distract." The IIHS (funded by a group of car insurers) compared crash data between states that had instituted cell phone bans and those that hadn't. According to its research, while the ban had reduced phone use (whoa, really?), it hadn't helped reduce crash rates. The National Transportation Safety Board has presented several studies linking cell phone use to an increased chance of crashing and their latest proposals would ban most hands-free systems found in major car makers' vehicles today. Hear that? That was the sound of hundreds of third-party accessory manufacturers recoiling in horror.

Be Extra Careful When you Collect Data for Car Insurance

2011-11-29T06:37:00.001-08:00

All insurance companies make sure that their insurance data is available online and in detail. This data explains the policies and coverage for each plan online and offers the customers an option of purchasing insurance online.

The purchase of the online insurance is considered cent percent legal. The online version of the document is considered legal and can be accessed any time of the day or night. It is a valid proof of a purchased insurance policy. This document is digitally signed by the company and the terms and conditions of the insurance plan are very clearly stated in the document.

The car insurance data that you collect online should be right and genuine and it is not an easy task to ensure that. A complete research of all the available insurance policies like car insurance India, 4 wheeler insurance+, etc. have to be checked and according to your requirements a policy can be selected. For example, you might need only third party insurance or an additional cover for the driver of the vehicle. There are certain factors which you should be extremely careful about while selecting the insurance policy online. Before you get your quote, enter all details correctly and mention the car model you own.

As car insurance is easily available online, day by day more and more customers prefer to purchase insurances online. The insurance companies offer them other benefits like advanced search tools. The customer can also use the premium calculator to calculate the premium in long run and thus save money. Many companies offer policy-renewal options as well as policy claim form online, which again is very beneficial to the user.

The main reason behind purchasing car insurance or two wheeler motor vehicle insurance online is that you are not bound by time. Insurance is available 24 hours and the form to get a quote can be filled anytime and there is no working-hours restrictions. After the completion of the formalities the digitally signed policy is produced immediately within no time.

But most importantly there is one thing you have to ensure that the car insurance should be purchased only from a legitimate and registered insurance provider. Make sure that you ensure that the service provider is authentic before you part with any personal information and make the online payment as there are high chances of being tricked.

Promise of Renewed Battle Over Reach of Health Care

2010-11-04T06:27:00.000-07:00

While Republicans cannot fulfill their campaign promise to repeal the new health care law any time soon, they can lead Congress in a sweeping re-examination of its more unpopular provisions, including new taxes and a requirement for most Americans to carry health insurance.

Joyful over Republican gains in the midterm elections, Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the man in line to become speaker, told reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday: “The American people are concerned about the government takeover of health care. I think it’s important for us to lay the groundwork before we begin to repeal this monstrosity.”

The election results promise a continuing battle over the health care law, not only on Capitol Hill but also at the state level, where many changes are scheduled to take effect in coming years. The partisan divide on this issue is likely to be a prominent feature in the run-up to the 2012 presidential election, perhaps making it more difficult for President Obama and the Democrats to secure broad public acceptance of the law.

The results will also probably complicate efforts to carry out the complex measure, which is expected to provide coverage to more than 30 million people by 2019. At a news conference on Wednesday, Mr. Obama delivered a stout defense of the health care law, saying, “This was the right thing to do.”

He acknowledged that the process of enacting it had been “an ugly mess,” and he said he would consider Republican ideas to modify the law, provided they “deliver faster and more effective reform” to the health care system. Mr. Obama mentioned one example, saying he would accept changes in a provision that imposes a huge information-reporting burden on small businesses. Under the provision, businesses would generally have to file 1099 tax forms identifying anyone to whom they had paid $600 or more for goods or services in a year.

James P. Gelfand, director of health policy at the United States Chamber of Commerce, said Wednesday: “I don’t think we’ll see a repeal of the health care law tomorrow. But I believe Congress got the message that we need serious changes. The question now is, what kinds of changes are realistic?”

A top priority, Mr. Gelfand said, would be to alter or eliminate a provision that will require many employers to contribute to the cost of coverage for employees. The requirement, he said, would hurt job creation and increase the cost of hiring workers.

Some labor unions may join employers in trying to roll back a new tax on high-cost, employer-sponsored health plans, scheduled to take effect in 2018. Several Republicans said they would try to reduce or repeal a new tax on manufacturers of medical devices.

Wall Street and many employers do not expect sudden changes. “Reform is here to stay,” said Andrew Webber, the chief executive of the National Business Coalition on Health, which represents employer groups that buy health care coverage for workers. Les Funtleyder, a portfolio manager and health care strategist at Miller Tabak in New York, agreed. “We place the chances of outright repeal at virtually nil, given the Democratic Senate and president,” he said in a note to investors on Wednesday.

But with Republicans winning control of many governors’ mansions and making gains at the state legislative level, they will be able to determine how the new law is carried out locally.

Republicans in Congress said they would try to give states more latitude and discretion on issues like the design of health insurance exchanges. The law calls for creation of an exchange in each state and says only government-approved insurance plans can be sold on the exchange.

The new rules, though stricter than in the past, may well be less stringent than they would have been if Democrats had not taken what Mr. Obama described as “a shellacking.” In addition, Republicans said they would try to cut the budget for federal enforcement of the law and related rules.

House Republicans said they would also try to reverse some of the law’s cuts in Medicare, particularly cuts in payments to Medicare Advantage plans run by private insurers, though they will be hard-pressed to find ways to offset the cost of such changes.

Republicans said they might agree to keep popular provisions of the new law, like protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions, while trying to scrap unpopular provisions, like the requirement for people to carry insurance. However, administration officials and insurance executives said such a combination would not work in practice.

Greek anarchists claim insurance company bombing

2009-12-28T22:46:00.000-08:00

A radical Greek anarchist group has claimed responsibility for a bomb attack that damaged an insurance company headquarters in central Athens.

Nobody was hurt in the strong explosion late Sunday at the Ethniki Insurance building. The blast caused extensive damage to the building's lower floors.

The Conspiracy Nuclei of Fire group says in an online statement posted Monday that it attacked the company to protest the "Christmas consumer spirit" and display of wealth.

The group has targeted several politicians in recent months with small bombs, causing no injuries. Since the end of September, Greek police have arrested and charged five suspected group members with terrorism.

LBSU Softball Wins Two Behind Ace Pitching

2009-02-22T03:59:00.000-08:00

Story by Mike Guardabascio

Behind a pair of strong performances in the circle, the Long Beach State softball team (6-7) bounced back from an 0-2 start at the University of San Diego Tournament to defeat the host Toreros, 1-0, and Boise State, 3-1, on Saturday afternoon.

Against The Toreros

In her first collegiate start, freshman Taylor Petty tossed a one-hit, complete-game shutout against USD. Petty struck out a season-high eight batters as she improved to 2-0 on the season. Junior Ashley Weber led the 49er offense, going 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Classmate Kristen Pocock also doubled, while freshman Megan Denio scored the game-winning run for The Beach.

Long Beach State put runners on base in three of the first four innings but was unable to push a run across until the bottom of the fifth. Denio led off with a pinch-hit infield single and senior Brianna Goad followed with a walk. Senior Danielle Linke then flied out to center field, but it was deep enough to advance a speedy Denio to third base. Weber singled in the 49ers' next at bat to score Denio for what ended up being the game-winner.

Petty retired USD (1-6) in order in all but two innings, allowing just two Toreros to reach base with a hit and a walk.

Against Boise State

In the nightcap, Long Beach State avenged an earlier loss to Boise State as the 49ers topped the Broncos, 3-1. Sophomore Brooke Turner (4-3) threw the second one-hitter of the day, allowing one unearned run while striking out seven.

Senior Danielle Linke led a trio of 49ers who recorded multiple hits, going 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI. Senior Jonae Perez was also 2-for-3 with a run scored and classmate Jennifer Griffin connected for two hits and an RBI. Long Beach State jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Perez led off with a single before junior Ashley Levine was hit by a pitch. With one out, senior Brianna Goad moved both runners up a base with a sacrifice bunt, setting up a two-run single by Linke.

The Broncos (3-5) responded in the next half inning as Lexi Straton opened with a bunt single. Straton was able to make her way to third on a sacrifice bunt and a groundball before she came around to score on an error by Griffin. The Beach added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when junior Ashley Weber started a two-out rally with a single up the middle. Griffin then drove in Weber with a double to left field.

Long Beach State closes out action at the USD Tournament tomorrow when it takes on Colorado State at noon.

Labour welfare adviser defects

2009-02-15T02:45:00.000-08:00

The architect of Labour's controversial welfare reform programme is to join the Conservative party, it has been reported.

In a serious blow to the government's welfare credentials, David Freud has reportedly resigned in order to become a Tory frontbench spokesman.

He is expected to be given a peerage and named shadow welfare minister by David Cameron next week.

A source told the Guardian: "David and George [Osborne] have been talking to him a lot about the economy, but also obviously about welfare

Stashing your cash? Hide it in a safe place

2009-01-25T02:35:00.000-08:00

BY SUSAN CARPENTER
Los Angeles Times Service
Mattresses are so obvious. If you really want to keep cash in the house, stash it in a child's toy or a cereal box or a curtain rod. Don't hide it anywhere you've seen in a movie. And don't put it in a sock. Those are some of the suggestions circulating among cash stashers online as increasing numbers of Americans grow ever more wary of the global financial system.

Never mind that in 2009, U.S. bank and credit union accounts of up to $250,000 are covered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

As Americans face a triple whammy of declines in the stock, housing and job markets, they're looking for financial security. And some of them are indulging their fears by stuffing bills that had been destined for savings accounts into repurposed peanut-butter jars and tampon boxes and fire-resistant safes.

For Georg Lindsay, 22, it's her Kia that's become a quasi bank -- specifically, the pull-out ashtray and the pocket of space beneath the driver's seat. She also has stashed cash in an old purse and a hand-me-down bamboo cup from her grandmother. Lindsay started hiding money four years ago when she found herself out of work for several months.

''I was like, OK. You better stash whatever money you come across,'' said Lindsay, from Oak Grove, Ala., who was recently discussing money-hiding strategies on the social networking site Gaia Online.

A teddy bear, a picture frame and a narcotics safe from an old hospital were among the suggestions from the cadre of teenagers and twentysomethings who participated in the discussion.

As the economy crumbles and fiscal safety nets disappear, cash stashing is crossing generational and psychological divides, the behavioral pattern expanding beyond what had long been the domain of seniors and paranoiacs.

The world's largest safe manufacturer, SentrySafe, has seen a 30 percent to 50 percent increase in sales since September 2008. Hollandia International, which incorporates Safe-T safes on its ''extreme luxury beds,'' has sold more than 400 of the $800 add-ons since they became available last summer.

Online retailer Keeping Women Safe has seen a 15 percent jump in sales of its ''diversion safes'' -- money hideaways that are disguised to look like everyday household products, such as carpet cleanser, deodorant sticks and cans of potato chips. Paint buckets and soda cans are the site's bestselling diversion safes, said owner Ted Kollins.

''I'm not sure why,'' he said. ``If I were a criminal or the IRS coming to look in a house, paint cans and jars are the first place I would look.''

Cash stasher Shawn Forno, 26, said he tries to choose locations that seem obvious to him but ridiculous to someone who might be looking for money.

''If it tickles your fancy and yours alone, it is a great hiding place,'' he said. ``If you ever need a map or a string tied around your finger to remember it, try harder.''

Forno's first stash for cash was a tin can buried under something few would want to touch: a heaping pile of dirty laundry. That was two years ago, when Forno was working as a bartender and couch surfing with roommates. Since then, he has used a disco ball, an old VHS case and the lining of some never-to-be-worn-again raver pants.

Just be sure to remember where you hid the money. In October, a woman nearly lost $10,000 when she accidentally returned a box of crackers -- with an envelope stuffed full of $100 bills.

Financial researcher Jack Marrion understands the impulse to stash cash.

'It's the old, `If the bank fails and I can't get my money' logic,'' said Marrion, who finds the idea unwise.

The loss of money inside a home is not covered by homeowner's insurance, and banks and credit unions covered by the FDIC have never lost a penny of covered funds, said Marrion, who is also the president of SafeMoneyPlaces.com.

''The odds are much, much, much higher of having the money stolen than having the money lost,'' Marrion said. ``There are no FDIC failures, but there are burglaries.''

Hedging gasoline, calling the White House home

2009-01-17T23:14:00.000-08:00

It takes an enormous staff to maintain the White House. But do any of the mansion's butlers, chefs or handymen actually call the residence of presidents home?

That's one of the questions in this edition of "Ask AP," a weekly Q&A column where AP journalists respond to readers' questions about the news.

If you have your own news-related question that you'd like to see answered by an AP reporter or editor, send it to newsquestions@ap.org, with "Ask AP" in the subject line. And please include your full name and hometown so they can be published with your question.

Q: Now that prices for a barrel of oil and a gallon of gasoline have dropped so sharply, is there something the average consumer can do to "hedge" the price of fuel, the way the airlines do? Is there any sort of mechanism for this that's at a scale appropriate for individuals and families? Douglas Olson, Laurel, Md.

A: Airlines and other energy-intense industries use a complex system of financial instruments to protect themselves against rising fuel costs by locking in prices as early as possible. Their hedging methods have been described as everything from gambling to buying insurance.

Because even a price change as small as a penny could cost millions when buying enormous amounts of fuel, the complexity of hedging is worth it for large companies. But for individual consumers it doesn't make much sense to constantly troll through trading data.

The average American could, in theory, buy a year's supply of gasoline at current prices and stockpile it. Though local planning boards, not to mention the FBI, might frown on having a storage tank next to your kids' swing set.

There are other options, though. Through an exchange traded fund, or ETF, retail investors can pool resources to buy crude oil and reap the benefits - or suffer the repercussions - when prices change.

Many ETFs, such as the U.S. Oil Fund, tend to mirror the price of crude, and could in theory be sold for a profit if prices flirt with $150 per barrel again. That way investors can offset price jumps at the pump.

"When you know you have these expenses, you can use the ETF to hedge them out," said Paul Justice, an ETF strategist at Morningstar. "You just have to anticipate how much you are going to spend."

Buying a five-year ETF might seem like a good move, but like any investment it's a risk because no one knows where crude prices could go in the future, he said. Justice cautions that oil-related ETFs can be a "risky proposition" and should only be used by those confident enough to ride the market. Ernest Scheyder, AP Energy Writer, New York

Q: Does anyone live in the White House other than the president and his family? Members of the White House staff, for example? Felix Jimenez, Los Angeles

A: President George W. Bush and his family are the only residents of the White House, according to first lady Laura Bush's spokeswoman. The next inhabitants are expected to follow that tradition. President-elect Barack Obama's mother-in-law will also be living at the White House with Michelle Obama and the two children, at least temporarily.

But that's not to say the two-century-old compound is ever empty or dark. Military aides assigned to the president work in shifts; the family quarters have butlers and valets available at all hours. And it's not uncommon to find White House political aides at their desks late into the evening or very early in the morning.

The White House encompasses a small army of workers, from the four florists and five chefs to the four calligraphers and four curators. The payroll also includes 33 handymen who tend to the six-level, 132-room mansion and its 31 bathrooms, 28 fireplaces, three kitchens, three elevators, movie theater and bowling alley. And they're available 24 hours a day.

The White House compound also features sleeping quarters across Pennsylvania Avenue at Blair House, the official government guest house. Other visitors sometimes stay in the private residence of the White House itself. But only the president's family calls 1600 Pennsylvania home. Philip Elliott, Associated Press Writer, Washington

Q: We recently returned from a vacation in Mexico. On Jan. 3-4, we spent 15 hours to cross the border into the U.S. at the Columbia Bridge outside Laredo, Texas. This leads me to suspect that the highest volume of border crossing into Mexico probably happens the weekend before Christmas, and the highest volume into the U.S. happens the weekend after New Year's.

When does the highest volume of crossings across the U.S.-Mexico border occur, so we can avoid those days in the future? Richard Capestani, Texas City, Texas

A: The busiest traffic days crossing the Colombia-Solidarity Bridge in Laredo come around the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Heading south into Mexico traffic peaked on Dec. 20, the Saturday before Christmas, when it was five times higher than any other day in 2008, according to the City of Laredo Bridge System. The next busiest days were Dec. 19 and Dec. 21. Returning north into the United States, the heaviest traffic came the day after New Year's and the day after Christmas, followed by Jan. 3, Jan. 4 and Dec. 27, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Not surprisingly, other heavy traffic days on the bridge track other holidays, especially Holy Week, leading up to Easter.

Similar holiday traffic snarls are common at crossings all along the U.S.-Mexico border. Last Memorial Day, border traffic kept an AP reporter in El Paso from getting to work; she called in "stuck in Mexico." Christopher Sherman, Associated Press Writer, Harlingen, Texas

Federal government posts $603M deficit in October

2008-12-23T20:01:00.001-08:00

Economy 'is weakening significantly,' Flaherty says

The federal government posted a $603-million deficit in October as tax revenues fell, according to figures released by the Finance Department on Tuesday.

Ottawa's October shortfall was $87 million higher than the deficit for the same month last year and almost totally eliminated the government's surplus for the April-to-October period.

For those seven first months of fiscal 2008, the government posted a surplus of $200 million, down from an excess of revenue over expenses for the same period last year of $6.1 billion.

The figures indicate that the amount Ottawa accumulates in tax revenue is falling faster as the year — and the global recession — progresses.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty acknowledged Tuesday that the economy "is weakening significantly."

The Canadian government will run a deficit as it strives to fend off a looming recession, Flaherty said, but it will offer detailed measures in the January budget on how it plans to balance the books once the ongoing economic crisis settles.

"We will ensure that spending that puts us into deficit is temporary, is for finite purposes, so that we will not be into a permanent deficit," Flaherty said Tuesday before meeting with his newly assembled economic advisory panel in Toronto.

The finance minister said no decisions had yet been made about what exactly will be included in the 2009-2010 budget, to be presented Jan. 27, except that it will contain some sort of stimulus measures.

Nevertheless, he said it will show "how we'll come out of deficit, so that it'll be clear to Canadians that as the economy recovers the deficit will disappear and we'll be in surplus again."

Canada's expanding pool of red ink in October was mostly attributable to falling tax revenues.

The government pulled in $18.76 billion in total revenue for the month, an increase of 3.7 per cent compared with October 2007.

Tax intake down
Considering only tax monies, however, the federal government actually gathered 1.6 per cent less for the public treasury this October compared with a year earlier. Ottawa posted tax revenue of $15.59 billion in those 31 days.

In this case, the goods and services intake was down a hefty 17 per cent, to $2.3 billion, in the month. The federal cut to the GST was the reason for lower revenues in this category throughout 2008, the Finance Department said.

"GST revenues were down $2 billion, or 11 per cent (for April to October), reflecting the one-percentage-point reduction in the GST rate effective January 1, 2008," the department noted.

For the April-to-October period, Ottawa's overall tax take stood at $111.6 billion, down 0.3 per cent compared with the same seven months a year earlier.

Of the $15.59 billion the government levied from Canadians in October, only 12.8 per cent, or $1.99 billion, came from corporate income taxes, down from 14.4 per cent for the same period one year earlier.

Corporate income taxes were off 23 per cent in the month and 12.6 per cent in the April-to-October period, compared with one year earlier.

Corporate taxes can be volatile in a single month. But shrinking corporate tax figures over a longer period can indicate a slowing economy.

Costs up
What Ottawa gives back to Canadians in the form of transfer payments to provinces and individuals rose in October.

The federal government had program expenses of $16.77 billion in the month, up 5.9 per cent versus October 2007. For the April-to-October period of 2008, Ottawa spent an additional 7.2 per cent compared with the same period one year earlier.

Welfare payments and higher medical transfers to provincial governments were the categories exhibiting the biggest increases in October.

In addition, employment insurance payments rose by 4.2 per cent in the April-to-October span, reaching $8.1 billion. For October, however, EI costs fell to $1.05 billion.

Still, the number of Canadians without work increased by slightly less than 110,000 in November compared with January. As a result, fiscal experts believe Ottawa might need to fork out more in terms of unemployment benefits in the coming months.

Insurance fraudsters? We shall sight them from the bushes

2008-12-14T00:56:00.000-08:00

The world's most exciting insurance job is also a booming area of business. Under cover of foliage, Paul Kendall joins the intrepid claim investigators.

By Paul Kendall
Last Updated: 12:53AM GMT 14 Dec 2008

It is just after six on a bitter December morning and I am lying in the mud on a strip of scrubland next to a bush. All is quiet, save for a handful of reeds whistling in the breeze. Suddenly, out of the gloom, the bush speaks. "Sierra, this is Hotel," it says. "We are in position."

A video camera appears from within the vegetation and points towards a handsome, whitewashed house 200 yards away. "Dwelling is in darkness," says the bush. "No sign of subject."

Then, silence again. "Hotel" – not actually a bush, but a burly former member of the Special Forces – squats next to me, dressed head to foot in camouflage gear, not moving. The minutes tick by. It starts to rain. As the early-morning sky turns slowly from dark blue to a pale, frosty white, we continue to scan the house for any signs of life.

"You know," my companion whispers eventually, "people don't realise the lengths you have to go to in this job. No one sees that."

Hotel is an insurance fraud investigator, a specialist in "static control", which means he spends his working life hiding in trees, undergrowth and ditches, spying on people who claim to be injured and unable to work.

In his time, he has caught out hundreds of fraudsters: men who had said they couldn't walk playing a round of golf; enthusiastic ramblers who had claimed they were confined to a wheelchair; even workers blinded in an accident who could miraculously drive a car. He investigates an average of two or three cases a week, and thanks to the current recession, he has never been busier.

For, while other employers are laying off staff, the fraud investigation business is booming as companies look to cut down on the vast amounts they pay out in personal injury claims. Local authorities that are sued by people who have tripped over broken pavements or potholes are also good customers.

Business is so buoyant, in fact, that Hotel's employer, the surveillance firm CIA Excel, is advertising for recruits for the first time in its 19-year history. More than 300 people have applied for the two available posts, 15 of whom will attend a series of intense military-style boot camps, where they will be assessed in nine areas, including observation, driving skills and their ability to react under pressure. Anyone who thinks insurance is a dull, desk-bound job needs to think again.

"This is one of the most challenging civilian jobs you could do," says Alan D'Ambrosio, CIA Excel's managing director, when I speak to him on the phone from his home in Scotland. "Operators have to be prepared to work long and irregular hours in unfamiliar and often dangerous environments. It is an extremely tough job, and those applicants who are successful will need to be both extraordinarily patient and, at the same time, very quick-witted."

Investigators also need to look "grey" – in other words, they must have the kind of face that blends into a crowd. Both Hotel and his partner, Sierra, a former policeman and one of the most unprepossessing men I have ever met, score perfectly on all fronts.

At 7.48am, after a display of stillness that puts me in mind of a Buddhist monk, Hotel snaps into action. A light has come on in the "target" property. The subject, a businessman in his late 40s who is suing a motor insurance company after sustaining back and neck injuries in a motorbike accident, has appeared in his dressing gown in the kitchen. The fact that Hotel has spotted the subject at all impresses me. I'm also dressed in camouflage, but can't see anything through all the foliage.

"Sierra, this is Hotel. Light on in property. Repeat, light on in property," he says, talking into a two-way radio.

"Is there?" I whisper, "Where?" Too late, I realise I'm talking to a mound of grass. Hotel has moved to some higher ground 30 yards to my right to gain a better view. I curse and desperately rearrange my headpiece.

Ten minutes later, foliage out of the way, I glimpse our man outside his house. He has told doctors he can hardly walk, but despite this, he pushes a wheelie bin up the drive, through a gate and out on to the street.

Hotel whips out his camcorder again. "Subject is pushing a wheelie bin and showing no signs of discomfort," he says into the microphone. Then, turning to me: "OK, move out."

Together – in the sort of manoeuvre that would convince Macbeth that Birnam Wood had moved to Dunsinane – we scurry across the scrubland towards the shelter of some trees. Once there, we remove our bush suits, place them in rucksacks and, when the coast is clear, jump over a fence and walk along the road back to Hotel's car. This, I am told, marks the second phase of the operation.

The man we are watching has said he cannot drive, but 'local intelligence' has assured Hotel and Sierra, who is parked down the road in a surveillance van, that he can. Sure enough, before long he pulls out of his driveway in a silver 4 x 4.

"Stand by, stand by, stand by," says Hotel. "That's the subject's vehicle in your direction. We're in pursuit."

Weaving in and out of traffic, the two investigators take it in turns to tail the man. In the event, he drives only as far as the local petrol station before returning home. It's not enough to prove he is faking.

But 20 minutes later, he is off again. And this time he drives much farther, first to the local school, where he drops off his daughter, then to a café, where he has a coffee and reads the paper, and then to a secondary school in a neighbouring village.

While we wait outside the school for the man to reappear, Hotel tells me about a recent case. It is obvious that he takes great pride in what he does. "Last year, we investigated a man who was claiming a quarter of a million pounds a year for care," he says. "He had lost half a leg in an industrial accident, which entitled him to some compensation, obviously, but he was claiming for four carers and grossly exaggerating his disability."

Hotel watched him 12 hours a day for seven days, mostly from an observation point in a canal, using a pair of high-powered binoculars. "It was one of the most difficult surveillance jobs I've ever done. But we established that the subject was more or less independent. He could walk on his own, cook on his own, and go to the lavatory on his own – all things he'd said were impossible."

The evidence collected by the investigators is expected to reduce the subject's claim by at least £200,000 a year.

And that was just one of more than 1,000 cases that CIA Excel investigated last year. Altogether, D'Ambrosio says he saves his clients tens of millions of pounds. I wonder, however, whether Hotel ever feels uncomfortable about snooping on people.

"Why should I?" he says. "I mean, it's you and me who pay for these people through higher premiums. We are staying within the law and trying to do a difficult job, while these people break the law and try to get money by deception. We are here to make sure that everyone pays a fair price for insurance."

As he says this, the man we have been following reappears in his silver 4 x 4, with his older daughter in the passenger seat. This time he sets off on a 35-mile journey to a dental surgery. He parks and gets
out the car. It is about 100 yards to the door of the surgery, over frosty ground, but he covers the distance with consummate ease.

"There he is! There he is!" exclaims Hotel, as we watch from a safe distance. "He's walking!" Everything is recorded on video. "OK, job done," says Hotel. "Let's get breakfast." There is an unmistakable note of glee in his voice.

'Misfits' add diversity to singles branch

2008-12-08T03:36:00.000-08:00

By Beth Palmer
Monday, Dec. 08, 2008

One of the most reassuring aspects of the gospel is the fact that the church is fundamentally the same everywhere you go. What's perhaps even more beautiful, though, is the reality that no two LDS wards have the same fundamental character. Some are marked by a vigorous missionary spirit, some by intellectualism, some by service.

Then there's mine, which happens to be distinguished most by our striking resemblance to a population that exists only in a beloved Christmas special.

We stumbled upon this realization when a group of friends from the singles branch I attend gathered for dinner one Sunday after church. One astute member jokingly compared us to the Island of Misfit Toys, which prompted one of those moments usually only seen in sitcoms: Everyone stopped mid-bite, looked up at one other and glanced around furtively. Then, simultaneously, half the group laughed, and the other half groaned.

Yes, as unglamorous as it is to admit, the Chicago 8th Branch is the living embodiment of that arctic outpost from the stop-motion "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Only instead of a Jack-in-the-Box named Charlie and a train with square wheels, we've got an eclectic mix of characters you'd be hard-pressed to find anywhere else, all of whom have somehow managed to land on Chicago's Island of Misfits together.

Why this happy confluence in Hyde Park? Well, our stake draws from the entire South Side of Chicago, but our congregation meets just a mile away from the University of Chicago, a school so devoted to its lofty ideals of academia that its students wear T-shirts sporting slogans like "If I'd wanted an 'A' I would have gone to Harvard" and "That's great in practice, but how does it work in theory?"

Throw those students in with the Chicago natives in the branch, plus the random smattering of students at other schools and working professionals, and you've got one of the most intellectually, economically and racially diverse congregations I've ever witnessed.

And then there are the characters.

One branch member spent weeks slowly moving his possessions out of his apartment on his bike, often hauling two backpacks at a time, with extra cargo balanced across the handlebars. He then squirreled them away in various locations around the neighborhood, including an unused office in our church building, just to avoid what he saw as the injustice of his building's move-out fee.

Another is a student at one of the top-ranked medical schools in the country, yet spends his spare time responding to e-mails from international fraudsters for the express purpose of toying with them.

Rudolph's Island of Misfits had a cowboy who rode an ostrich. We've got a South Side native who drives a truck and works odd jobs in construction, but is just as likely to be found attending the opera with his mom, at home baking a fantastic loaf of bread or dressing up as a wizard to teach chess lessons. Another Chicago misfit used Excel to determine the critical mass of Branch Boringness -- measured in "borons" -– necessary to field a pickup football game after his fellow branch members failed to turn out in droves for a Thanksgiving-weekend game.

Remember the misfit bird that didn't fly, it swam? Well, we've got a graduate student in marriage and family therapy who has no qualms about filing his nails while watching college football and who possesses that specific brand of chivalry that involves telling female friends that if their cars break down, they should call him so he can call AAA.

We've got a Sunday School teacher who's considered to be having a tame day when all he does is launch into a lengthy tirade on the ridiculously long time it's been since an American won the gold medal in the 100-yard dash. There are farm girls from Canada who talk about their family's hail insurance in the context of Sunday lessons, and a Relief Society president who, confused by the story gaps created while watching a movie on a ClearPlay DVD player, was heard to cry out for "more smut!"

We're the type of people who make a wish on a Thanksgiving wishbone and pull, only to see the top inexplicably pop off and shoot across the room, leaving both with a "no-wish-for-you" bone left in their hands. If that's not the quintessential misfit moment, I don't know what is.

We meet in one of the few Mormon meetinghouses in America where it's not unusual to find an "Obama '08" hat in the lost and found, among people who aren't surprised to learn that a fellow branch member, a graduate student in his late 20s, also owns an NGO based in India. This same student is also infamous for adopting the role of "Dad" at branch FHEs, insisting that every one of his grumbling "children" tell everyone the best thing that happened to them that day.

It was in the midst of this very ordeal that a relatively new branch member remarked, "It's like we really are a family -- we're all awkward, but we're all awkward together." Exactly. We've found our fellow misfits, and we're sticking with them.

Of course, our comparison isn't a perfect one; the original Island of Misfit Toys had a boat that couldn't float, and that's where the analogy breaks down. You see, every misfit in Chicago will do whatever it takes to keep the rest of the misfits afloat. This is a congregation sincerely devoted to one other, in which virtually every member is willing to reach outside the busyness of his or her life to help out a fellow misfit in need.

Ultimately, that's probably the real beauty of the gospel's social organization; however off-center we may be, we all have somebody to care for, and somebody to care for us. So what if my crew happens to be a bit more off-center than most? Like Rudolph and his wannabe-dentist elf friend proclaimed, "What's the matter with misfits? That's where we fit in."

Clintons' Neighbor to Be Sentenced for Murder

2008-12-02T06:44:00.000-08:00

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) -- A man who lived down the street from Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton in a New York City suburb when he shot and killed his wife could get life in prison.

Carlos Perez-Olivo is due in Westchester County Court for sentencing Tuesday, two months after his second-degree murder conviction. The maximum sentence is 25 years to life.

The 59-year-old disbarred lawyer was found guilty of shooting his wife, Peggy, in the back of the head as they drove home to Chappaqua in November 2006. Prosecutors say he wanted his wife's life insurance.

Perez-Olivo blamed the attack on a carjacker. But a witness testified he saw Perez-Olivo handling a gun just like the murder weapon, which was fished from a lake near the scene of the killing.

Abu Dhabi concludes second annual Diabetes awareness walkathon

2008-11-29T03:20:00.000-08:00

Abu Dhabi -The second annual Diabetes awareness walkathon concluded in the capital yesterday with more than 7,500 participants pledging their support to nationwide Diabetes prevention and management.

WALK UAE 2008 is part of the largest public health awareness campaign in the UAE under the patronage of H. H Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak. The walkathon is an annual initiative organised by Abu Dhabi's Imperial College London Diabetes Centre (ICLDC) to mark World Diabetes Day.

Mubadala's CEO, His Excellency Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, led the Diabetes awareness walk for the second year, joined by Dr Michael Bitzer, CEO of Daman, and Maytha Al Habsi from the Emirates Foundation.

Dr Maha Taysir Barakat, Medical & Research Director and Consultant Endocrinologist at ICLDC acknowledged the support of partners and response of the community as critical factors of the campaign's success.

"We thank our partners and supporters for their continued belief in this public health awareness initiative, and we are truly encouraged by the community's engagement of WALK UAE.

"The embrace of the walkathon is outstanding and we urge the public to adopt an active lifestyle to assist prevention of Diabetes," she concluded.

ICLDC's WALK UAE 2008 is in partnership with the Emirates Foundation, with the exclusive sponsorship of The National Insurance Company - Daman.

- Ends -

About Imperial College London Diabetes Centre
The Imperial College London Diabetes Centre is a state-of-the-art specialised out-patient one-stop facility that specialises in Diabetes Treatment, Research, Training and Public Health. Located in Abu Dhabi (next to the Zayed Military Hospital), ICLDC allows the highest level of specialised patient care, from first diagnosis to the continued management of all complications associated with Diabetes.

Imperial College London holds a renowned history and expertise in the study of Diabetes, bringing one of the leading medical academic institutions in the world to Abu Dhabi as a core working partner. Under ICLDC practices, one of the Centre's primary objectives will be to provide continuing education for health professionals and the general public. For more details visit: www.icldc.ae

About the Emirates Foundation
The Emirates Foundation is a United Arab Emirates philanthropic organisation, established by the Government of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in 2005 to facilitate new public-private initiatives for social betterment.

The Foundation represents a unique multi-sector effort that offers a channel for individuals and organisations to give back to the community through six major programme areas. It manages an independent capital fund with donations from the private sector, the government and private individuals interested in philanthropy.

The Emirates Foundation contributes to UAE society by supporting people, institutions and community organisations that contribute to the nation's long-term progress and sustainability. It addresses important educational, cultural, environmental and social issues affecting people's lives and aspirations. Its philanthropy helps to groom socially responsible individuals and to empower them to achieve their full personal and intellectual potential.

The Foundation focuses on six core areas: Education, Science & Technology, Arts & Culture, Social Development, Environment, and Public Awareness. In each area, the Foundation supports programmes that aim to achieve social balance and individual fulfillment. As a national initiative, the Foundation uses a variety of mechanisms to identify and support qualified individuals, organisations, and community projects in every region of the United Arab Emirates.

The Foundation also administers key strategic projects directly - such as Takatof, which promotes volunteerism among young Emiratis - and Tawteen, which helps to improve occupational qualifications of young Emirati professionals.

The UAE is a country with a great legacy of social and cultural values. The Emirates Foundation strives to promote these, as well as other traditions that can combine with today's prosperity to engender a highly motivated, informed and goal-oriented nation. The Foundation also actively encourages the spirit and practice of volunteerism, while working to promote and build a commitment to service, particularly among young men and women.

Through institutional grants, fellowships, research awards, and philanthropy-led initiatives in various key areas, the Emirates Foundation aspires to raise the profile of UAE peoples and their institutions, as well as the reputation of its corporate citizens. Its mission is consistent with the ideals of the nation's founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

About National Health Insurance Company - Daman
The National Health Insurance Company - Daman, was established on 01 May 2006. Today it is the region's leading health insurance company, providing comprehensive healthcare solutions to over 1.1 Million customers in the UAE via the largest network of private hospitals and pharmacies available.

With affordable health insurance for people of all income levels, Daman offers international standard healthcare insurance cover for both individuals and companies. A 24-hour dedicated Medical Authorisation Center, staffed by a team of doctors and nurses, ensures that patient enquiries are dealt with speedily and efficiently using the most sophisticated technology available. A second customer hotline, also open 24/7 and manned by multilingual staff, guarantees that UAE residents can access information about plans and their insurance cover whenever and wherever they want.

With an international network, Daman's customers have access to healthcare provision in 35 countries across the world, depending on the terms of their personal cover www.damanhealth.ae

For more information, please contact:
Anu Bhatnagar, Strategic Solutions for ICLDC
Tel.: + 9714 3903018
Mobile: + 97150 7286803
Email: anu@strategicsolutionsonline.com

Oliver Letwin drafted in to rescue George Osborne

2008-11-15T20:05:00.000-08:00

By Melissa Kite, Deputy Political Editor
Last Updated: 11:31PM GMT 15 Nov 2008

Mr Letwin has been drafted in by David Cameron to draw up a key plank of the Tory fightback on the economy as concerns over Mr Osborne's performance intensify, The Sunday Telegraph has learned.

The plans, to be announced in the next 10 days ahead of the Alistair Darling's pre-budget report, are likely to focus on cutting Whitehall bureaucracy and other spending which does not boost the economy. Infrastructure projects such as school building will remain untouched.

Mr Letwin, chairman of the Conservative research department, is devising cuts to get public spending beneath Labour figures, senior sources said.

It is the latest action plan from the Tory leadership in the face of growing demands from within the party for a sharper economic rescue package to rival Labour's.

The decision of Labour MPs to advocate tax cuts, and heavy hints from Gordon Brown that he will unveil a substantial package of cuts in the pre-budget report, have plunged the Conservatives into a major rethink.

The fact that Mr Letwin, Mr Osborne's predecessor as shadow chancellor, has been charged with drawing up the spending cuts will fuel the impression that Mr Osborne is being sidelined as the party's ratings on the economy falter.

After weeks of damaging headlines, Mr Osborne courted further controversy this weekend by warning that Mr Brown's borrowing strategy could lead to a "collapse of sterling". Such comments breach the protocol that senior politicians do not comment on the strength of sterling in case they precipitate a crisis.

Yesterday Lord Kalms, a former Conservative treasurer and founder of the Dixons retail empire, called for Mr Osborne to be replaced with David Davis, the former shadow home secretary. He told The Daily Telegraph: "I am informing everyone who will listen that change needs to happen."

The comments are damaging for Mr Osborne, who has fought hard in recent days to rescue his reputation which was battered by the Deripaska affair. He moved to silence his critics, who claim that he has been outmanoeuvred by Mr Brown, with the announcement of a £2.6 billion tax break plan for companies last week, but it met with a mixed response.

Desperate to regain the initiative, Mr Osborne was mindful that a turning point for the party last year, when it was flagging, was his announcement at the party conference of cuts in inheritance tax.

He devised a tax cut, which was briefed to this newspaper last weekend as "ingenious", and announced it in full the following Tuesday. The party offered a £2,500 National Insurance break for companies for every new worker taken on who has been unemployed for more than three months. David Cameron said the £2.5 billion scheme would pay for itself by reducing unemployment benefit.

The CBI responded by saying it would help some small businesses keep people in work, but the British Chambers of Commerce said firms were not in a position to start recruiting. Mr Brown dismissed it as "unfunded".

The Tories also point out that Mr Brown's decision to fund tax cuts through borrowing and to "spend his way out of recession" will only lead to more debt and higher taxes in the future. Tony McNulty, the employment minister, admitted last week that taxes might have to go up once the economy emerges from the downturn.

The Prime Minister kept up the pressure this weekend by using the G20 financial summit in Washington to call for co-ordinated tax cuts across the world's major economies to help reduce the effect of the downturn.

Labour produced a dossier titled "Osborne's judgement under scrutiny" in which it accused the shadow chancellor of "schoolboy errors".

Tory insiders, however, insist that Mr Osborne is safe, and that that Mr Cameron will never break the political "axis" he has formed with his Notting Hill friend.

A senior insider admitted that Mr Osborne's job had been diluted to take him out of the firing line: "It has been decided that he should do less of the general politics."

It has been reported that Mr Osborne is suspending his work as election coordinator until next March to allow him to concentrate on completely rewriting his economic plans. A series of u-turns, first revealed by this newspaper months ago and denied at the time, have now been confirmed by Tory officials, including ditching green taxes. Mr Osborne is also searching for a way out of his policy of "sharing the proceeds of growth between tax cuts and public spending", since there now isn't any growth. Depending on what Mr Letwin decides, he may need to water down his commitment to match Labour's spending plans.

But rumours of Mr Osborne being replaced with William Hague, Mr Davis, or even Ken Clarke are "very wide of the mark", insiders say.

Mr Hague is understood to have told colleagues that he does not want the job. Another senior MP had a different theory for why Mr Osborne is safe: "George is not going to move because David won't move him. There is an element of lightning conductor in George."

NHL roundup: Monday's action on the ice

2008-11-04T00:38:00.000-08:00

Kevin Weekes was stellar, but Ryan Miller was perfect.

Miller had 24 saves in registering his second straight shutout and Jason Pominville ended a 20-shot first-period barrage against Weekes with a power-play goal to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 2-0 win over the New Jersey Devils Monday night.

Weekes had the thankless task of replacing injured all-star Martin Brodeur in the Devils' goal, and he performed admirably.

"I thought he (Weekes) made the difference early or we would have run away with the game," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "Kevin played a great game in the first period he probably made I'd say seven quality saves and kept them in the game."
Miller was better though.

"Most of the time he is the best player on the ice, pretty much every game," said Patrick Kaleta, who scored the insurance goal in the third period. "He comes to play every night and gives us a chance to win."

The Sabres also won for the eighth time in 12 games (8-2-2) because they got two assists from Jaroslav Spacek and a perfect 7-for-7 from their penalty killers.

The loss was the Devils' fourth in five games.

Brodeur, a four-time Vezina Trophy winner, suffered a bruised elbow on Saturday.

Devils president and general manager Lou Lamoriello said before the game the team was awaiting test results. He gave no indication how long the 15-year veteran would be sidelined.

Brodeur's absence Monday marked the first time in 57 games dating to last season that he did not start. It also marked only the 21st time in his career that he did not dress for a game.

Elsewhere in the NHL, the New York Islanders ended a six-game losing streak by beating Columbus 4-3 in overtime, and Chicago remained unbeaten in regulation at home with a 6-2 win over Colorado.

At Newark, N.J., the Devils basically didn't show up for the first period. They were called for five penalties and were outshot 20-3.

"We didn't play at all in the first," Devils centre John Madden said. "We stood around and watched and then the penalties. We didn't get anything going."

Only Weekes kept them in the game, and he nearly escaped the period without a goal.

Pominville got his fourth goal of the season with 34 seconds left in the period, just seconds after a 5-on-3 power play ended.

Spacek set up the goal with a pass from the right side to Pominville in the left circle. He found the top of the net as Weekes came across low to stop a shot along the ice.

"We moved the puck really well and Spacek made a great play," Pominville said. "He faked the shot and slid the puck over to me. I just had to one-time it in."

Earlier in the period, Weekes had stopped Pominville twice in close, Thomas Vanek in close on a power-play shot and Tim Connolly after a great rush up ice.

"I thought we did a great job in that period to be only down one," Weekes said. "We put ourselves in a position to win and that's what it is all about, giving yourself a chance to win."

Miller, who stopped 29 shots in shutting out Washington on Saturday, was at his best in the second period when the Devils had three power plays. He stopped three good point shots by rookie Anssi Salmela, two by fellow defenceman Johnny Oduya and a chance straight on by Zach Parise, who also had a good opportunity on a wraparound in the third period.

Until the Devils got the power plays, fans booed and had derisive cheers for shots on goal.

Kaleta stretched the lead 2-0 just under eight minutes into the final period with his first goal of the season. Standing about halfway between the goal and the blue line, he redirected a point shot Andrej Sekera between Weekes' pads.

Islanders 4 Blue Jackets 3 (OT)

At Uniondale, N.Y., Chris Campoli had his first two goals in nearly a year, the second coming 3:13 into overtime, and the Islanders overcame another blown three-goal lead in the third period to beat Columbus.

-

Blackhawks 6 Avalanche 2

At Chicago, Patrick Sharp and Andrew Ladd each had two goals and an assist, leading the Blackhawks over Colorado for their third straight victory.

Long-term care providers, lawmakers meet

2008-10-22T21:16:00.001-07:00

By Russ Mitchell, Daily Reporter Staff

Less than three months are left before the 2009 session, but expect long-term care concerns to be on the agenda when state Sen. David Johnson and state Rep. Mike May return to Des Moines.
They were on hand at Longhouse-Northshire to talk with health care providers.

"We're holding 28 of these legislative forums throughout the state of Iowa and we want to really stress to the legislators the importance of access to health care," said Steve Ackerson, the executive director of the Iowa Health Care Association and Iowa Center for Assisted Living. "Right now, we see some barriers out there. One is that we have a really heavy regulatory process that sometimes curtails admissions."

The lack of Medicare reimbursement in Iowa has sometimes made if difficult for Iowans with acute needs to be admitted for long-term care, Ackerson said.

"Our Medicaid reimbursement system is 48th in the country," he said. "That's about $41 per day below the national average."

Ackerson's group represents about 75 percent of the state's long-term care organizations. He would like to see lawmakers implement a quality assurance fee. When the state reimburses the industry for the fee through Medicaid, the process captures a critical federal match.

The excess from the federal matching funds would allow providers to enhance services, increase access for health care for low-income individuals and create a fund for nursing home employees who lost possessions in the eastern Iowa floods. Funds would also go toward infrastructure. Ackerson said Iowa has some of the oldest facilities in the country. He'd also like to see the insurance premiums for nursing home employees to go down.

May, a Spirit Lake Republican, said he would make a concerted effort to push through provider increases through Medicaid in the 2009 session.

"Everyone knows it's just not adequate to maintain the kind of health care staff and specialists that we need in rural Iowa," May said. "If we're not willing to make that commitment, then rural Iowa is in deep trouble. Frankly, we know that we're aging. We know that we have health issues because of that. But we need to simply make that commitment to rural Iowans."

Garrison trample Lester Vaughan

2008-10-10T01:21:00.000-07:00

by Justin Marville

THE FAIRY TALE is over!

And the pecking order of the United Insurance Schools Basketball Division 2 Tournament has been restored.

Behind the "Big Three" of John Jones, Justin Maloney and Jodi Williams, title contenders Garrison Secondary thrashed Lester Vaughan 63-35 on Wednesday to put an end to the visitors' Cinderella run in the competition.

Hopes dashed

Playing unbeaten through the season's first three games, Lester Vaughan (3-1) had high hopes of contending for the school's first championship after soundly dispatching their earlier opponents.

But those title aspirations were dashed within the first four minutes of the Dayrells Road encounter as the Garrison (5-0) were anything but hospitable to their road-weary guests.

With the backcourt pair of Williams and Maloney feasting in the open court, a 14-0 Garrison start to the contest quickly dispelled any myths about the true class of the competition.

The duo's exploits in transition were a direct result of Jones' dominance at the other end of the floor, as the 6ft. 6in. athletic centre controlled the defensive boards while registering several blocks.

Jones was no slouch offensively either, scoring a series of baskets in the low post late in the first quarter to extend the home side's lead to 24-3 heading into the second period.

Despite missing leading scorer, Ashley Smith, in that ensuing quarter, Lester Vaughan responded valiantly with Raphael Hinds, Elvis Forde and Kareem Neblett forcing the issue in transition.

The trio were allowed to get out in the open court for several easy scoring opportunities as the Garrison got sloppy, with Williams and Jones sitting out the majority of the second period.

Halted rally

However, the visitors were still forced to contend with an unrelenting Maloney, who halted Lester Vaughan's rally with a pair of baskets to the end the quarter – the last one coming on a nimble step-back jumper as the half-time whistle sounded.

Trailing 32-13 entering the second half, Lester Vaughan were undaunted by Jones and Williams' re-entry, and managed to keep themselves in the contest by changing the game into a track meet.

With Neblett and Forde pushing the ball in the open floor once more, the visitors traded baskets back and forth with Williams and Maloney keeping the deficit to a respectable 21 points (47-26) entering the fourth quarter.

But it was there that Jones stamped his authority on the game's proceedings as the visitors had no answer in the paint to the towering Garrison centre.

Pounding away

Continually pounding away in the low blocks against the smaller opposing frontcourt, Jones effectively put an end to the contest, pouring in eight fourth quarter points to stretch the hosts' lead past 30 points with less than two minutes remaining.

Williams led the way with a game-high 19 points while Jones and Maloney added 17 and 16 points, respectively. For Lester Vaughan, Neblett scored 14 points and Forde ended with 11.

http://www.nationnews.com/story/323828434189293.php

No time to spare

2008-09-21T03:53:00.000-07:00

By Doug Caruso, Martin Rozenman and Jim Woods

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
In a race against a house fire, which can double in size every minute it burns, firefighters should strive to get there in six minutes.

That improves their chances of saving lives and property, according to a widely accepted national standard.

But the farther you live from central Ohio's urban centers, the less likely it is that your fire department will make it in time, according to a Dispatch analysis of state fire-run data.

As the region has grown, especially in the counties surrounding Franklin County, departments have tried to keep up, bringing on professional, full-time firefighters and adding stations. Still, response times in some of the fastest-growing areas -- including Pickerington, Powell, New Albany and the eastern part of Reynoldsburg -- meet the standard less than half the time.

The National Fire Protection Association wants departments to get to a fire within six minutes 90 percent of the time. Only two of 84 departments in the region -- Grandview Heights and Lancaster -- met that standard, according to a Dispatch analysis of more than 14,000 runs to building fires between 2003 and 2007.

The six-minute standard allows one minute for dispatchers to handle the call, one minute for four firefighters to get out the door and four minutes to travel to the fire. Not included in the six minutes is the time the fire has been burning before the call.

"The fire-growth curve shows that, beyond eight minutes, it's beyond the room of origin," said Carl Peterson, assistant director of the association's public fire protection division. People are eight times as likely to die in a building fire after eight minutes, he said, and "dollar loss jumps from $3,200 per fire to $22,000."

Prairie Township firefighters took nine minutes, 31 seconds to arrive at a fire that killed 10 people at the Lincoln Park West apartments on Sept. 12, 2004. The first cell call to 911 went to the wrong dispatchers, and it took two minutes to sort out. Then, because of other fires, the nearest firefighters were 2 miles -- and seven-and-a-half minutes -- away. No one was saved that night.

Contrast that with a fire on April 13, 2003, at a three-story rooming house near Ohio State University. Columbus firefighters were there within two minutes of the alarm.

As many as 20 people were inside, said Doug Smith, a Columbus battalion chief who was there. Most got out on their own, but five died. Firefighters made it in time to rescue three people, he said.

Both Prairie Township and Columbus come close to meeting the association's standard for fire response: Columbus made it to building fires within six minutes nearly 89 percent of the time, and Prairie Township made it 85 percent of the time, according to an analysis of the departments' reports to the Ohio fire marshal's office for the last five years.

But of 84 departments in the region, 49 make it to building fires within six minutes less than half the time.

The NFPA acknowledges that rural, volunteer fire departments take more time. It gives those in the most sparsely populated areas 10 to 14 minutes to get to a fire. But that's little comfort if it's your house that's burning.

The big slowdowns
Several factors slow down fire response, central Ohio chiefs agree. They include:

• Distance. Grandview Heights' compact 1.4 square miles means the fire department can make it to most calls in the city in about three minutes, said Fire Chief Hank Kaufman. West Licking Fire Chief Jim Weber, whose district sprawls over 109 square miles and includes the Licking County portions of Reynoldsburg, said it's unfair to compare his department's median response time of seven minutes to the six-minute standard.

"The cost would be astronomical to do what they think you ought to do," Weber said.

• Staffing. If the closest station is busy, response times climb. When lightning hit the Baran family's home in Hilliard on the morning of the first day of school in 2003, the nearest Norwich Township fire company was already at another lightning fire. It was 10 minutes after Bob Baran called 911 on his cell phone to report smoke that the first fire engine arrived. The family got out safely. The house was destroyed.

• Road conditions . Firefighters battle the same traffic problems you do: Congestion, weather and roadwork all slow them down.

"Everybody wants to push, run to the trucks, drive faster," Prairie Chief Stephen Feustel said. "The third-leading cause of firefighter deaths is traffic accidents."

All departments slow down for both red and green lights to avoid accidents.

"A ladder truck weighs 28 tons with a 100-foot platform," Jackson Township Chief Gilbert Sheets said. "You take a Ferrari, you can get to Orders Road pretty fast. You take a 28-ton truck "

• Cell - phone calls . The tower that picks up your phone's signal may be near, but it doesn't tell the dispatcher where to find you, Upper Arlington Fire Division spokesman Dan Kochensparger said.

"We've heard of 911 calls going to the sheriff's department or Columbus," which is what happened in the Lincoln Park West fire.

The Federal Communications Commission has required that all wireless carriers be able to pinpoint your location for the 911 dispatchers, but there are plenty of exceptions, Kochensparger said.

A national problem
Experts say these are nationwide problems.

"Fire protection in America is myth," said Vincent Dunn, a retired New York City deputy fire chief and the author of four books on fire safety. "The response times outside the center cities are too great, and the personnel responding inside and outside the center cities are too few."

When cities were developing a century ago, they tried to build firehouses within 1.5 miles of most homes. That standard figured it would take five minutes for a horse-drawn wagon to arrive. In rural areas, the firehouse was built where the most volunteers could gather.

As cities grow outward, challenges mount. Since the 1970s, Franklin County departments on the edge of I-270 have evolved from volunteer units into full-time professional outfits.

Upgrading fire and emergency services is important but costly, said professor Hazel Morrow-Jones of Ohio State University, who specializes in city planning.

"We are reluctant to hold up development until we have the extra fire station, or extra vehicle or extra personnel. What we have done in central Ohio is we have outgrown our capacity to provide the services," she said.

Violet Township is one of the fastest-growing areas in central Ohio. Its fire department covers Pickerington and the surrounding township, which has grown to 35,000 people today from 15,000 in the 1980s.

It hired its first full-time firefighter, Chief Kenn Taylor, in 1986. In 1987, his budget was $400,000. In 2007, that budget had grown to $5.4 million, Violet Township had 39 full-time firefighters and they handled more than six times as many calls for fires, rescues and medic runs, the chief said.

State records show that the department reached building fires within six minutes 40 percent of the time from 1987 through 1991. Amid the growth, from 2003 to 2007, the rate was nearly the same: 38 percent.

Taylor realized that congestion on Rt. 256 was blocking his firefighters and paramedics. So he brokered a $2,000-a-month deal to put a small station behind an electronics store at Rt. 256 and I-70. It's designed to cut response times, and it's a lot cheaper than a new firehouse, he said.

Other chiefs are feeling the same pressure.

"People move out of Columbus to live in a rural setting but they still want the services of the city," said Terry Gill, chief in Bloom Township in Fairfield County, which became a full-time department in 1991.

Those moving out might not realize that their fire department's performance can affect their insurance rates.

The Insurance Services Office assigns areas "public protection" ratings of 1 to 10, with 1 being the best. Half of the score is based on fire-alarm response concentrating on departments' equipment and personnel. Forty percent is based on hydrants and their condition. Ten percent is based on fire-alarm and communication systems.

In central Ohio, for example, Washington Township and Lancaster score among the best at 2. Upper Arlington, Violet Township and Mifflin Township are at 3. Worthington is a 4. Some areas covered by Norwich Township firefighters in Brown Township, and by Plain Township firefighters, who serve New Albany, have fire ratings of 8 and 9 because they lack hydrants.

Costly solutions
The most expensive ways to reduce response times are building more firehouses and hiring more firefighters. Many departments outside of I-270 have built firehouses or plan to build more soon.

"If we had five firehouses, response time would be great," said former Truro Township Fire Chief James Sharps, who opened a second firehouse in 2007.

Columbus needs more stations, too, said Battalion Chief Smith. The Fire Division has good overall response times with its current 32 stations, he said. Over the past five years, the newspaper's analysis shows, the division reached a majority of building fires in four minutes or less.

Still, it is stretched on the Northwest Side in the Cosgray Road area; on the Northeast Side near Central College Road; and on the Far East Side near Waggoner Road, Smith said.

"There are some areas we could not reach within six minutes," he said. "We have those three areas right now in need of stations but, due to budget constraints, they've been put on hold."

Each station would cost about $4 million to build and about $3 million in annual salaries and benefits to staff with three officers and 25 firefighters, Smith said.

Liberty Township Chief John Bernans has 19 years of experience in rapidly growing southern Delaware County, where the population -- mostly in Powell -- has grown to more than 15,000 from 3,400. The department's five-year master plan includes a third station.

"We're urban," he said. "We're not that rural anymore."

Some central Ohio departments are banding together to share dispatching operations, which they say saves money and speeds response.

In 2003, Mifflin, Plain and Jefferson townships obtained a $700,000 federal grant that helped launch the Metropolitan Emergency Communications Center, said Mifflin Chief Jim DeConnick.

Since then, Truro and Violet townships and Whitehall have joined, providing coverage for 125,000 people. Departments save money, and response time has improved, especially when departments dispatch crews to help one another, said Crystal Dickerson, assistant Jefferson Township fire chief.

Taking that one step further, Gill, the fire chief in Fairfield County's Bloom Township, said that the county's fire departments -- outside of Lancaster and Violet Township -- should combine.

Others have turned to technology.

To improve response time, Violet Township's Taylor has equipped engines and ambulances with devices that turn the traffic lights green. Columbus, Lancaster and Upper Arlington also have the technology at some lights, Upper Arlington Fire Chief Mitch Ross said.

"We still come to a rolling stop for green, but it eliminates maneuvering around traffic."

What you can do
Residents can help reduce fire damage, too.

They can install smoke alarms and call as soon as possible. But the ultimate solution would be more in-home sprinkler systems, several central Ohio fire chiefs said.

Sprinkler systems cost from $2,400 to $16,000 in a study of 30 homes, Columbus' Smith said.

The state doesn't require such systems in new homes, said David Vandeyar, spokesman for the National Fire Sprinkler Association, but Maryland, Illinois, California and Arizona have many communities that require them.

"Scottsdale, Ariz., has a 22-year history," he said. "If you build it, you sprinkle it."

The Building Industry Association of Central Ohio opposes mandating sprinklers in homes because of the expense and questions about maintenance and water pressure, said Jim Hilz, the association's executive director. New homes are required to have hardwired smoke detectors in every room.

But fire chiefs say sprinklers save lives.

"They find fire fastest, fight it while the fire department is en route and sometimes extinguish it," said Grandview's Kaufman. "Just flat out, people don't die in sprinkled buildings."

dcaruso@dispatch.com

jwoods@dispatch.com

mrozenman@dispatch.com

Dispatch interactive producer Victor Black contributed to this story.

Last house standing: Hurricane Ike's £7bn trail of destruction

2008-09-15T04:39:00.000-07:00

It stands alone as if protected by divine intervention.

While its neighbours - as far as the eye can see - were ripped from their foundations and obliterated, this house amazingly escaped the force of a brute called Ike.

Today the death toll from the hurricane had risen to 25 across nine states one of the biggest search and rescue operation in U.S. history got under way.

Nearly 2,000 people were plucked to safety from their flooded homes with hundreds more awaiting rescue.
The confirmed death toll from Hurricane Ike stood at 13.

But search teams stocked with body bags were scouring communities including Galveston, where 20,000 ignored a mandatory evacuation order.

‘We hope for the best but I want to prepare people for the fact that we may have some fatalities,’ said

Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff. Some told remarkable stories of survival.

Denis Covington, 63, of Port Bolivar, southeast of Houston, had his home smashed in two by a falling pylon.

Both halves crashed into 14ft of floodwater. ‘I had to spend the second half of the hurricane in a tree just clinging on. The rain was like nails sticking in to me,’ he said.

Insurers estimate Gustav claims as high as $10B

2008-09-02T16:29:00.001-07:00

By MARK WILLIAMS and IEVA M. AUGSTUMS –

BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) — Residential and commercial damages from Hurricane Gustav will trigger an estimated $4 billion to $10 billion in insurance claims, a third of which could affect the energy industry.

While Gustav's force paled in comparison to Hurricane Katrina, which cost insurers $41 billion, oil workers, utility crews, fishermen and other business owners fanned out across the Gulf Coast Tuesday to assess the damage. Retailers began restocking their shelves in anticipation of the cleanup effort, and power crews worked to restore electricity to more than 1 million customers across the region.

"We will be addressing our hardest-hit policyholders first," said Elizabeth Stelzer, spokeswoman for Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. "Those homes with a tree through a wall, an exposed roof, or other claims in which the home has become uninhabitable are the priority."

Power outages from Hurricane Gustav continued to grow Tuesday with utility giant Entergy Corp. now saying it has the second largest number of outages in the company's 95-year history, trailing only the devastation wrought by Katrina three years ago. The loss of power brought down cellular and Internet service in parts of Louisiana.

Residential and land-based commercial losses were expected to total between $3 billion to $7 billion and oil-drilling damage at about $1 billion to $3 billion, Newark, Calif.-based Risk Management Solutions Inc. estimated. Catastrophe risk-modeling firm AIR Worldwide Corp., based in Boston, placed preliminary losses on land ranging between $2 billion and $4.5 billion.

"It's still really early and we're definitely evaluating the damage that happened," said Matt Bordonaro, spokesman for The Travelers Group. "We are seeing more of a wind event, than a flood event."

Insurance industry analysts warned that computerized data on insurance losses may understate actual costs because the figure don't include damage to uninsured property or destruction caused by actions excluded from some policies, such as flooding. Total losses won't be known for months.

Katrina, which struck three years ago last month, was the single largest natural disaster loss in the history of the insurance industry. Insurers paid $41 billion arising from 1.7 million claims for damage to homes, businesses and vehicles to policy holders in six states. Hurricane Andrew — the previous record holder — produced $15.5 billion in losses in 1992 and 790,000 claims.

Preliminary indications were that Gustav caused little damage to the region's abundance of onshore and offshore oil facilities, though the full impact of wind and wave damage to platforms and pipelines likely won't be known for a couple of days.

The price of oil tumbled nearly $7 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, suggesting traders were confident that the energy complex suffered only a glancing blow.

Port of New Orleans spokesman Chris Bonura said damage appeared to be light, and that the Mississippi River was already open to some traffic Tuesday morning.

"Our transmission system has had massive damage," Entergy spokesman Mike Burns said, noting damage to 191 transmission lines and 210 substations that affected 825,000 customers, mostly in Louisiana.

Eastbound traffic on Interstate 10 toward Louisiana picked up considerably as people who had evacuated started to make their way home, and retailers began to reopen stores.

Home improvement chain The Home Depot Inc. said more than half of the 31 stores closed because of Gustav will reopen Tuesday and Conn's Inc., which operates a chain of appliance stores in Texas and Louisiana, also began reopening stores Tuesday.

Lowe's Cos. Inc. and Home Depot said hundreds of trucks carrying generators, chain saws, bleach, brooms, tarps and roofing supplies were moving into the region.

In Mississippi, regulators say the 11 casinos along the Gulf Coast will remain closed until crews finish cleaning up from the storm and an adequate number of employees return to work. Larry Gregory, executive director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission, said Tuesday that none of the casinos suffered any structural damage from Gustav.

Associated Press Writers John Porretto in Houston, Ashley Heher in Chicago, Peter Svensson in New York and Kevin McGill in New Orleans contributed to this report. Ieva M. Augstums reported from Charlotte, N.C.

'My human rights have been breached': Glitter flies back to Britain and claims HE is a victim

2008-08-22T16:25:00.000-07:00

Gary Glitter finally arrived in Britain yesterday – claiming he was the victim of a ‘show trial’ and that his human rights were breached.

The shamed pop star paedophile was given VIP treatment at Heathrow and smirked as he was fast-tracked through the airport with a six-strong police escort.

He avoided the cameras and even ducked out of a court appearance, sending a lawyer in his place to argue he should not have to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register.

Glitter, 64, convicted of molesting two Vietnamese girls aged ten and 11, brazenly insisted he was innocent and called his 2006 trial in Vietnam a ‘travesty of justice’.

He trotted out a series of pleas for sympathy, including claiming he might have contracted tuberculosis while in prison in the Far East.

He is demanding round-the-clock police protection because he fears he could be attacked to avenge his crimes against children.

It could cost taxpayers £50,000 a year to protect him if police decide there are credible threats against his life.

Over the next few days, Scotland Yard will carry out a risk assessment.

Despite fears that he could re-offend, Glitter had vanished within hours of arriving in the UK.

An airport insider said he had been led through a tunnel before leaving by car, while police sources said he was now ‘no longer in London’.

He has three days to provide police with a permanent address. Officers are understood to be aware of his current location.

In theory, there is nothing to stop him going abroad again.

If he went to Europe he would have free movement with his UK passport. Alternatively, he could be staying with a friend in Britain.

His lawyer David Corker said: ‘I have no information about whether he will travel abroad but, realistically, what country is going to accept him?

'I know where he is – but I’m not going to say.’

Glitter landed at Heathrow shortly after 7am but hid in the terminal building for hours. He dispatched Mr Corker to Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court where a hearing was scheduled to deal with a Notification Order applied for by the Metropolitan Police to help them monitor Glitter, real name Paul Gadd.

Mr Corker argued that his client should not immediately be put on the Sex Offenders’ Register because his Vietnam conviction was flawed and passed in a country with an abysmal human rights record.

He said: ‘Mr Gadd wants me to say that he didn’t commit the offences for which he was convicted.

'It was a show trial and he had no opportunity to put his defence forward.’

Mr Corker applied for a six-week postponement but District Judge David Simpson rejected the claims and ordered Glitter to sign the register within three days.

The judge said ‘Mr Gadd has sought to avoid the jurisdiction of this court’, referring to Glitter’s attempts to dodge deportation to Britain.

He now has three days in which to register with police his name, address, date of birth and National Insurance number.

He must tell them if he intends to stay at any other address for more than seven days. He can travel abroad without restriction for up to three days, but for any longer he is required to give police details.

Nonetheless, he remains free to travel anywhere in the world that will have him – making a mockery of tough talk by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith who exploited Glitter’s return to trumpet new measures to clamp down on paedophiles indulging in ‘sex tourism’.

NBAD moves into Egypt with $4 million brokerage deal

2008-08-19T06:28:00.000-07:00

Abu Dhabi Financial Services said it has snapped up 70 per cent of Egypt-based Al Salam Brokerage. The deal is thought to have cost the UAE-based company, which is owned by National Bank of Abu Dhabi, around $4 million.

A notice posted in the ADX’s website said that move by ADFS would be the first step towards “the fulfillment of a wider scope of development” including the modernisation of the Egyptian company’s IT infrastructure, the enhancement its human resources and would help it with its plans for increased regional and international expansion.

In May Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank's Egyptian arm and Amlak Finance signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Arab Orient Insurance Company, a member of the Al Futtaim group of companies to launch a new joint venture insurance company in Egypt called Arab Orient Takaful Insurance.

OSC to raise $4bn to finance fleet expansion programme

2008-08-11T17:23:00.000-07:00

By Staff Writer on Monday, August 11, 2008

State-owned Oman Shipping Company (OSC) is aiming to raise $4 billion (Dh14.69bn) by year-end to finance its proposed fleet expansion programme, according to a senior government official.

The company is looking to add between 15 and 20 refined product tankers to its fleet in order to cope with the increasing demand for energy transportation.

The raised amount will be partly used to finance existing vessels already on order and to purchase more ships.

OSC's major stakeholders include Oman's Ministry of Finance and Oman Oil Company.

Ahmed Al Abry, COO of BankMuscat, said: "The amount was too big for local financial institutions to wholly finance the deal but added that a collaboration could be made with foreign banks to raise the money."

BankMuscat, Oman's largest lender would 'go for the role of a lead arranger' on the deal.

Part of OSC's multi-billion dollar expansion includes an order to build 10 very large crude carriers (VLCC), chief financial officer Kuldeep Mathur said earlier.

In February, OSC placed two separate orders with South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world's largest shipbuilder, to build five supertankers, and with Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Company to build another five VLCCs.

The deals were valued at about $770m each.

Financing for the company's fleet expansion could likely come via loan arrangements from the North Asian institutions, Japan Bank for International Co-operation, Korea Export Insurance Corporation, or European banks like BNP Paribas and Societe Generale, Mathur said.

Oman Shipping Company is a closed joint stock company incorporated in May 2003. It is owned by the Government of the Sultanate of Oman through Ministry of Finance (80 per cent) and Oman Oil Company SAOC (20 per cent).

OSC was incorporated by the government to use its own fleet to export Omani products, to get involved in the whole LNG value chain and to develop shipping industry in Oman as one way of creating jobs.

At present, OSC has invested in six LNG ship-owning companies.

Six LNG vessels are in operation. Other than LNG vessels, the company has recently invested in owning a product tanker with Mitsui OSK Lines and is looking into expanding and diversifying its fleet of VLCCs, Product Tankers, Petrochemical Carriers, Bulk Carriers, LPG Tankers, Methanol Tankers and Containers.

Last year, OSC, UAE's Vitol International, part of Vitol Group, and Oman International Trading Company (OITC) signed memorandums of understanding in Dubai to form a joint venture (JV) to transport methanol from Salalah Methanol Company (SMC).

Under the JV, which is 80 per cent owned by Oman Shipping Company and 20 per cent by Vitol, three tankers would be bought and leased to Oman International Trading Company for 15 years for transporting methanol.

The UAE was the leader among countries trading in non-oil products with Oman during the first quarter of this year as the sultanate's foreign trade experienced a 50.4 per cent rise in the total value of commodity exports to Dh30.72 billion as of the end of March, compared to the same period in 2007.

It's Graverobber Tirade Friday!

2008-08-09T04:11:00.000-07:00

Graverobber has been a regular PCH Tirade™ machine in recent weeks, and we thought it would be convenient for all PCHT™ aficionados to see his greatest hits all together in one convenient location. That way you can approach the prospect of your personal Hell Project with the knowledge that you might end up much like one of the victims in Graverobber's vivid (yet no doubt accurate) imagination.

Aston Martin DB5 vs Jensen FF

Jensen FF. The Aston, even in this condition the Aston is worth some scratch. There were only 1,021 DB5s ever produced, and today they can go for six figures. As a wise man once said: "Thars gold in them thar hills!" so you might be able to even eke out a profit, but probably not. You would earn the respect of other Aston owners and auto enthusiasts for being a respectful steward of the car, and saving it from ruination.
So, the Jensen FF. FF, Ferguson Formula. First all-wheel-drive production car. Gotta' be worth something right? And this one seems pretty intact, the fact that it is being consigned by an expert on the brand is a good sign, isn't it? Jeepers, you should just face the fact now that buying this car is a one-way trip to the poor house. And you ain't gonna be getting there in the Jensen.

There's now way in hell that this car is ever going to be valued at more than what you'd have to put into it just to avoid having Nelson Muntz wannabes point at you and shout "Ha-ha."

You'd go through your vacation fund, pissing off the rest of your family who really did want to go see that civil war reenactment, and it wouldn't be done. You'd blow through your oldest kid's college fund and he'd just stare at you, all puffy haired, and zit-faced and cry. Still, it wouldn't be done.

You'd cash in those bonds that your aunt Eunice gave you for being such a good boy on your birthdays all those years ago, and it still wouldn't be done.

Your wife would start feeding the family generic hamburger helper without cheese, substituting plain-wrap cat food without telling anyone, and still the shop would call every week and ask for another check.

When you finally run out of money, and get banned from eBay for trying to sell a kidney, you tell them that they'll have to stop working on it. You'd then get a bill for the storage.

Pulling out your hair, you decide to sell the thing, but your so far in debt with the shop that they won't let any prospective buyers in to see the car. You offer it to them and the owner's eyes get really big and he says "thanks, but I already have an ulcer."

At your wits end, and soon to be evicted from your house, you concoct a plan to burn down the shop, and the car within. The insurance money will cover your debt with the shop owner, and you can move to a different state, change your name and start anew.

The plan goes off without a hitch except that you find out that the shop has moved the Jensen out into the yard to make room for cars not owned by deadbeats, and it is the only thing left standing. You troubles compound when the source of the fire- a gas can with your name and address on it (damn your wife and her dymo labeler!) is discovered.

You are arrested two days later, hiding on skid row, having attempted to mask your identity by wearing one of your wife's dresses and a wig you stole from Kmart.

The trial is quick, and your public defender inept, but eventually you are relaxing in the county lockup, enjoying the promise of 5 years of three squares a day and free clothes. It's not too bad, and you even are allowed mail every week.

Everything looks like it's finally turning around for your until one day you get a letter from the shop owner- it's a bill for two years of yard storage for the Jensen. And you start thinking you may still have some gold fillings left in your back molars...

OPEN HERO WOOD TURNS PRO

2008-07-28T05:30:00.001-07:00

Chris Wood, the towering 20-year-old amateur from Bristol who finished a brilliant joint fifth at The Open eight days ago, has turned professional.

Wood has signed for the International Sports Management group and becomes a stablemate of Ernie Els, Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley and David Howell - and also last year's Open silver medal winner Rory McIlroy.

After taking a week to consider his future, the 6ft 5in Wood said: "Royal Birkdale was the best week of my life and now I am looking forward to an equally exciting and successful future in the professional ranks.

"If I was going to play amateur golf for another year, I'm not sure that at the end of it I would be in a better position than I am now.

"I played with Darren Clarke yesterday and I've spoken to another two professionals and they've all said that I'll be a better player after a year on the tour."

Wood has already received an invitation to the Quinn Insurance British Masters at The Belfry on September 25-28. His management company are the promoters of that event.

McIlroy made his professional debut there last season and a week later came third in the Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews.

Wood is allowed seven sponsor's invites and if he earns around ฃ150,000 from them, he will avoid November's European Tour qualifying school.

"We are thrilled and delighted that Chris has chosen to join ISM when he had several options," said managing director Andrew Chandler.

"He is an extremely talented and likeable young man and proved at The Open that he can perform at the highest level."

Wood partnered Ian Poulter in the final round of The Open and at the start of the back nine was only two off the lead.

Although he slipped back into a tie for fifth, seven strokes behind Padraig Harrington, his performance was easily the best by an amateur in any major since Justin Rose's fourth-place finish on the same course 10 years ago.

Travel advice: Driving abroad

2008-07-22T05:59:00.000-07:00

Keep an eye on the road - and your car insurance, says travel expert Sophie Butler.

If you plan to drive your own car on holiday this summer, it’s important to know where things can go wrong. I recently heard from two readers who came a cropper on a long motoring trip in Europe. Because they were touring and only wanted to stay one or two nights in each place, they knew that there would be times when their luggage would be left in the boot.

Aware that some insurance policies won’t cover unattended luggage in cars – even if the boot is locked and the bags are out of view – they were anxious to make sure they would be properly compensated in the event of a break-in. So they talked through their requirements carefully with their insurer before they set off.

Unfortunately, their fears were confirmed and, despite leaving their car locked, alarmed and parked in a residential area, it was broken into in Sicily. The window was smashed and some of their personal belongings were stolen. They contacted the police to obtain a theft report so they could make a claim once they got home.

“We firmly believed we were fully covered on our insurance,” they said. However, this turned out not to be the case. The insurer rejected the claim on two counts: first, because their vehicle was UK-registered and therefore “a target for thieves”; and second, because Sicily is – according to the insurer – one of the poorest places in the world, making cars there particularly vulnerable to theft.

But the readers decided to pursue their claim because nobody from the company had pointed out these exemptions when they bought the insurance. After they threatened to take the case to the Small Claims Court, their insurer eventually agreed to settle the claim.

Good news for these readers, but it could have turned out differently had the insurer decided to dig its heels in. So what other potential pitfalls should you be aware of before you take your car abroad?

To avoid the sort of problem these readers encountered, it’s worth asking your travel insurer whether there are any factors that may disqualify you for cover in the specific countries you are planning to visit. Make a note of whom you speak to and what they advise. If there is any aspect of the cover that is particularly important to you, or needs clarifying, put it in writing.

You should also tell both your travel insurer and your car insurer of your travel dates. Note that some ask for at least two weeks’, or even a month’s notice of departure.

British motor insurance policies are obliged by law to provide third-party cover in all EU countries, but unless you’ve made special arrangements with your insurer, you’re unlikely to have full comprehensive cover, even if you have it at home. Most insurers also provide a European “accident statement” form, which might come in useful for noting on-the-spot details if you have an accident involving another motorist.

Third-party cover won’t cover damage or loss of your car or the cost of getting it home, so you’ll also need separate breakdown cover. This should include roadside assistance, emergency repairs, car hire, the cost of returning your car to Britain and emergency accommodation. Also bear in mind that most insurers will only cover you for a limited amount of time. If you are away for a few weeks, you may need to request an extension to cover the duration of your trip.

Driving abroad: a checklist

Take your driving licence, insurance certificate and vehicle registration document.
Plan your route in advance. There are good online route-finders which are free to use and can save the bother of poring over maps. Visit www.greenflag.co.uk/routeplanning.
Service your car and do the essential checks on oil, tyres, petrol, battery and water (these are the most common causes of breakdown).
Buy headlamp deflector strips and a warning triangle (many countries make this a legal requirement).
Check you have a spare wheel and a jack, first-aid kit, jump leads, a torch, fuse kits, reflective jacket and spare car light bulbs (these are compulsory in some European countries).
Blood-alcohol limits vary and are not always the same as in Britain (typically around 50mg or a single glass of wine on the Continent, compared with 80mg at home). In some countries the limit is 20mg.
Most European Union countries allow higher maximum speeds than Britain but limits are lowered during wet weather.
Readers' queries

PQ, Kent, writes
What are your tips for finding the best-value short ferry crossings this summer? Have I left it too late to find a bargain?

Sophie Butler replies
Fares rise as the ferries fill, so the earlier you book the better. You can find lower prices by booking midweek on late-night or early-morning crossings. Even if you book an hour or two either side of the peak times it can be far cheaper. Compare prices on websites such as www.ferrysavers.com and www.aferry.co.uk.

TO, by email, writes
My friend thinks there’s a hotel dedicated to puddings in the UK.

Sophie Butler replies
She may mean Three Ways House Hotel in Gloucestershire (01386 438429; www.puddingclub.com; from £135), which is the Pudding Club’s headquarters and a good place to sample a range of classic puddings.

KL, by email, writes
Inspired by a recent visit to Vindolanda near Hadrian’s Wall, I’d like to try an archaeological holiday abroad. Can you suggest any operators that organise such trips?

Sophie Butler replies
Try Andante Travels (01722 713800; www.andantetravels.co.uk) or Martin Randall Travel (020 8742 3355; www.martinrandall.com). Digs worldwide are listed at www.archaeology.co.uk.

Armed robbers busted

2008-07-18T04:57:00.000-07:00

An effective collaboration between the Greater Accra and Ashanti Regional Police Commands has led to the arrest of four members of a suspected armed robbery syndicate who have since last month been allegedly terrorising and robbing people of their properties and monies at gun point in Kumasi, Ejisu, Bekwai, Nkawkaw and their environs.

The suspects, Sadat Mohammed, 23, Abdulai Adamu alias Awudu, 23, Rashid Nuru 21, and Kwame Appiah 20 are said to have committed ten robberies in three separate nights from 23rd May, 25th May and 27th June, 2008 in the Ashanti and Eastern Regions.

The robbers, according to the police after committing the robberies immediately flee to Accra, cool off and resurface in Kumasi to continue their acts.

The four have already been remanded to re-appear on July 25 while efforts have been intensified by the police to apprehend those at large.

Kwame Appiah and Nuru Rashid were said to be among a number of suspected armed robbers rounded up by the Nima Police at their hideout on 25th June 2008 in Accra where the police retrieved two pump action guns from them.

At a press briefing yesterday by the out-going 2nd In-Command of the Ashanti Regional Police Service, Bright Oduro disclosed that even though four of the robbers have been arrested, the leader whose name was known to the police as Mayi, alias Burger remains at large.

According to the Police, two other accomplices who also belong to the robbery syndicate are also at large. They are Ramani and Hamidu who are believed to be hiding in Mamobi and Nima in Accra. The police have posted a reward of GH¢2,000.00 for information on Mayi and the others.

Sadat Mohammed, the police stated was arrested by the Accra Regional team together with his girl-friend Agnes Asiem (Hajia) on June 28, 2006 on a tip-off. Hajia has been identified as the source of supply of the weapons from her other boy friend, Moses now in Police custody in Accra.

Bright Oduro further added that Awudu who was in the company of Sadat and Mayi, driving in a snatched Taxi cab for their last operation got arrested by the Kumasi police when the police became suspicious at the extent at which the snatched taxi was speeding which resulted in a hot chase by the police therefore arresting Awudu but the two managed to escape.

After a search by the police, a pump action gun, and an Israeli made 9mm KAREEM MK II pistol were recovered in the abandoned taxi cab.

Enumerating some of the robbers' activities, Mr. Bright Oduro said on the 23rd May at about 2:15 am, Mayi, Rashid Nuru and Sadat Mohammed with two pump action guns as well as a foreign made pistol attacked lodgers at Pink Panther Hotel located at Adiembra in Kumasi and succeeded in robbing them of their 6 mobile phones, 2 lap top computers, and a DSTV decoder. The victims, according to the police were auditors of Cal Bank in Accra and were in Kumasi on assignment.

Another operation by the robbers, according to the police also took place three days later but this time with the inclusion of Abdulai Adama and Kwame Appiah. The police said the robbers attacked one Emmanuel Acquah, driver of a KIA Pride taxi cab with registration No. AS1495Y at Aboabo and later attacked workers of K Ofori Cement and Iron rods Company at Kwamo near Kumasi and took away cash of GH¢4800.

The robbers, the police say, then drove to Nkawkaw in the same night and attacked workers of Galaxy Oil Ghana Ltd, taking away an amount of GH¢15,000.00. They later abandoned the cab and boarded an Accra bound bus.

Mr. Oduro said about a month later, three members of the syndicate, this time made up of Mayi, Awudu and Sadat returned to Kumasi, snatched a taxi at Aboabo from Mark Abedu, driver of car with registration No. AS 2276 W and proceeded to Bekwai with the taxi where they attacked Amansie International Hotel.

He said the robbers, posing as prospective guests succeeded in robbing a foreigner and his workers of their 4 different mobile phones, GH¢3,400 and US$150.00 at the hotel. Mayi also took one of the lady workers into one of the rooms and raped her. The robbers, he said seized a KIA truck with registration No. GT 5561V belonging to the Whiteman and drove off.

Mr. Bright Oduro added that the victims were at Bekwai to install generators for the district office of the National Health Insurance Scheme and would have left for Accra after completing their work later in the day.

One Way to Higher Fertility Rates: Support Working Mothers

2008-07-01T16:05:00.000-07:00

Posted by John J. Edwards III

Yesterday’s New York Times magazine ran a fascinating and disturbing cover story about the deep decline in Europe’s birthrates, which threatens to leave its countries economically stagnant and socially moribund in coming decades. As the article lays out, the entire continent is below the “replacement” birthrate of 2.1 on average per woman, in some places far below. Among the many possible reasons for the baby bust, particularly interesting is a combination of differences in government support for working mothers and social mores about motherhood.

In short, the more juggle-friendly the country, the higher the birthrate tends to be. The article, by Russell Shorto, notes that Scandinavian countries have a relatively high birthrate of 1.8, while southern European countries have some of the world’s lowest rates — 1.33 in Italy, for example. In Norway, the government guarantees 54 weeks of maternity leave and six weeks of paternity leave, plus a payment of €4,000 (about $6,300) upon the birth of a child. In Italy, there’s less state child-care support, and only 50% of women work outside the home, compared with 75% to 80% in Scandinavia, the article says.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has a healthy birthrate of 2.1, despite offering relatively little government child-care assistance. The key here seems to be the flexibility of our labor market and workplaces, coupled with social mores that increasingly encourage fathers to take an active role in child rearing, says the article. Motherhood is thus more attractive to women in the U.S. than in the more economically rigid and socially traditionalist Europe.

Arnstein Aassve, a Norwegian sociologist quoted in the article, sums up the situation this way: “You might say that in order to promote fertility, your society needs to be generous or flexible. The U.S. isn’t very generous, but it is flexible. Italy is not generous in terms of social services and it’s not flexible. There is also a social stigma in countries like Italy, where it is seen as less socially accepted for women with children to work. In the U.S., that is very accepted.”

Readers, what’s your take on this theory and how you’ve seen it play out in your lives and communities? I’m especially curious to hear from readers who’ve lived and worked in Europe, or are there now.

Call for pensions tax relief to fund Irish universal pension

2008-06-26T05:06:00.000-07:00

IRELAND – Ireland should significantly reduce tax incentives for occupational and private pension schemes in order to pay for a higher, and universal, state pension, a joint paper from Trinity College and the Think tank for Action on Social Change (TASC) has claimed.

The response to the consultation on the Green Paper on Pensions argued the public pension system is much easier to operate than the private sector system, while the cost of tax reliefs on private pensions is "now as large as the cost of direct expenditure on the public system".

As a result, the TASC and the Trinity College Pensions Policy Research Group (PPRG) outlined two alternative options for pension reform:

To eliminate pensioner poverty by increasing social welfare pensions paid for by a reducing private pension subsidies – rather than increasing retirement age
To introduce a universal state pension similar to the New Zealand model – including a 'top-up' second tier social insurance pension based on contributions.
The report argued a universal pay-as-you-go (PAYG) system is "lower cost and lower risk than a funded system organised in a pensions industry which is not competitive and locked into high risk investment strategies".

It claimed the Green Paper – which closed to consultation on May 30, 2008 – "implicitly" suggested the key to providing adequate retirement incomes and reducing pensioner poverty is to "continue to limit the role of the public system and to increase tax incentives for private pensions".

However, the TASC and PPRG claimed a further shift towards private pensions system over the public system would be "ill-advised" as they argued "this approach has not worked in the past and that it is unlikely to be successful in the future".

Instead, it said the trend should be reversed in favour of a public system, with subsidies for private schemes "significantly reduced and targeted at low and middle income earners".

The report claimed most of the benefits of the pension tax reliefs have been "appropriated by the very highest earners" – as the bulk of tax incentives are received by the top 20% of earners, while the bottom 20% receive "virtually nothing", for example these lower earners benefited from just 1.1% of tax reliefs in 2000.

In addition, the response argued the policy of providing generous tax reliefs to encourage the growth of occupational pension schemes "has not been very effective" as the coverage of occupational schemes fell by 4% between 1985 and 2006.

It also said the most important contribution to the total income of pensioners is made by social welfare pensions and other social benefits, with the public pension system accounting for 60% of pensioners’ total income.

As a result, it claimed its options for reform "draw on the strengths of the public system and begin to correct the inequitable treatment of taxpayers who gain little from tax reliefs for private pensions".

It argued a New Zealand-style universal state pension "could be adopted in Ireland at less cost to the Exchequer than the present pension arrangements", while a universal pension would eliminate means-testing as well as address the problems of women's irregular contribution records and provide security for the 20% of older people currently receiving no state pension.

That said, the report highlighted the development of a universal system would have to include "a significant curtailment of the tax incentives for occupational pensions, Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs), Retirement Annuity Contracts (RACs) and Approved Retirement Funds (ARFs)".

The report claimed the recommendation to reduce tax reliefs are "not as dramatic as they might seem" as the state pension is already providing the bulk of retirement income for the majority of pensioners, while tax reliefs have "not succeeded in increasing coverage of occupational schemes" and incentives for PRSAs "have had little effect on coverage especially at the lower end of the income distribution".

The response from the TASC/PRRG follows recent submissions against the introduction of a mandatory pension saving system from the Society of Actuaries in Ireland and the Irish Association of Pension Funds (IAPF). (See earlier IPE articles: Higher state pension 'more cost-effective' and IAPF warns of compulsory pensions 'havoc')

Meanwhile, Life Strategies, an actuarial consultancy, claimed in its response to the consultation diverting tax relief towards a higher state pension - one of the potions outlined in the Green Paper – would be "fundamentally unsound" as the figures in the paper had been "overstated". (See earlier IPE article: Diverting tax reliefs to state pension is "unsound")

If you have any comments you would like to add to this or any other story, contact Nyree Stewart on + 44 (0)20 7261 4618 or email nyree.stewart@ipe.com

Author: Nyree Stewart

Butler’s pharmacy addition just what the doctor ordered

2008-06-22T06:25:00.000-07:00

New $14M building will help college meet increasing demand for graduates

Scott Olson - solson@ibj.com
Mary Andritz, dean of Butler University’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, bursts into laughter when asked how long her department’s been short on space.

“I’ve only been here for two years, but I think it’s been for some considerable amount of time,” she guessed. “Probably for 10 years.”

Lilly Endowment Inc., however, is filling the prescription in the form of a grant to fund a 40,000-square-foot addition under construction and scheduled to open by the fall 2009 semester.

The $14 million, four-story building is included in a $25 million gift the endowment gave to Butler and will double current space at the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Connected to the existing structure built in 1951, the new addition will include larger classrooms, two laboratories and project rooms for future pharmacists, who are in great demand.

Both Butler and Purdue University, which hosts the state’s only other pharmacy program, say their pharmacy students typically receive two to three solid job offers each after graduation.

“It’s more an issue of where they want to locate,” said Craig Svensson, dean of Purdue’s College of Pharmacy, Nursing and Health Sciences, “because they have so many choices.”

A consortium of pharmacy groups called the Pharmacy Manpower Project issued a report in 2002 that experts still cite because of its thoroughness. It predicted 157,000 unfilled pharmacy openings by 2020.

Several factors are fueling the shortage, including changes in insurance policies and federal regulation of pharmaceuticals, making drugs available to more people. An aging population and the increasing practice of drugmakers advertising directly to the public has helped cause the number of prescriptions to rise from 2 billion to 3.2 billion annually in the last decade.

In Nashua speech, McCain promises victory with honor in Iraq

2008-06-13T05:17:00.000-07:00

By JOHN DISTASO
Senior Political Reporter
Nashua – In his second visit in three months to the state that sent sparked his successful run to the Republican presidential nomination, John McCain said today he is the true agent for the “right kind of change” and compared his general election opponent to Jimmy Carter.

The White House must not return “to the failed policies of the Sixties and Seventies -- not a second term of Jimmy Carter,” McCain told a crowd of about 700 at a gymnasium on the campus of Daniel Webster College.

McCain urged Obama to meet him face-to-face in a town hall-style meeting. He again pledged that would return U.S. troops from Iraq “with victory and with honor.

“We will do it and we will do it the right way,” McCain said.

He also said families should make health care decisions.

“If you want government-run health care, which will result from Senator Obama’s plan, please go to England and Canada and other countries, where the governments run the health care programs,” said McCain.

McCain, who won the first-in-the-nation primary in January, sandwiched the New Hampshire campaign visit between stops in Boston and New York City, where he held a town hall meeting at Federal Hall last night.

In Nashua, he spoke to a friendly audience, and took questions for more than an hour. He addressed topics ranging from education to health care to Social Security to national security.

McCain also strongly advocated a resurgence of a nuclear power program in the United States in order to address the nation’s long-term energy needs. But he admitted that there is no quick fix.

A full report on McCain’s visit to Nashua will appear in the New Hampshire Union Leader and on UnionLeader.com tomorrow.

Ten Reasons to Use Global Sourcing

2008-06-03T16:20:00.000-07:00

by Gail Dutton
June 3, 2008

“Made in America.” The imprint means innovation, high quality, safety and reliability. So why should companies even consider exchanging that stamp for “Assembled in USA” and components manufactured in other nations? Not so long ago, the main reason was to gain lower prices for labor-intensive goods. That’s still a good reason, but there are several other circumstances in which “Made in America” isn’t the best choice. Here are ten, culled from the experience of Mark Thompson, global commodity leader at Pioneer Hi-Bred International, an international leader in plant genetics.

Material is available only from global sources

Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche experienced this a few years ago to produce the flu medication Tamiflu, which at that time, was the only medication effective against the deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu. A key ingredient of Tamiflu, shikimic acid, is extracted from wild star anise, which is only available from four provinces in China. Star anise from other countries provides lower yields and inferior purity, according to Roche spokesman Darien Wilson.

For a historical example, consider diamonds. Once found only in India, nearly 50 percent of the diamonds mined today come from Africa, although significant deposits are being mined in Brazil, Canada, Australia and Russia. The U.S. has no reliable source of industrial or consumer-grade diamonds. (Colorado’s Lake Kelsey diamond mine opened in the 1990s with sporadic operations, and Arkansas boasts a public diamond field—Crater of Diamonds State Park near Murfreesboro, Arkansas—that has yielded some multi-caret stones.)

Sometimes the issue isn’t materials, but expertise and geography that can’t be found in the right combination in the U.S. Ireland, for example, has become a primary location for call centers, especially for European operations. The country is attracting a young, multi-lingual population of native speakers that can serve all of Europe and much of America during normal business hours before handing off calls to their North American counterparts.

Call centers are tapping into linguistic expertise, while technology companies are accessing high level scientific knowledge. With the economic collapse of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact nations in the early 1990s, many Eastern European scientists who had been assigned to government-funded, generally defense-related projects, found themselves out of work or woefully under paid. Western companies were able to thus hire some of the brightest scientific minds for their commercial applications at lower salaries than comparable U.S. scientists would command, if they were willing to work commercially, and to use the time difference to their advantage.

This “follow-the-sun” working strategy lets teams in different time zones provide round-the-clock service. Some firms, including Xerox, split some project teams among time zones, ensuring that a particular technical challenge is resolved faster because someone is always working on it.

Technology is available only from global sources

It’s hard to believe, but there actually are some things the U.S. doesn’t make. “Except for a firm’s core, strategic technologies, access to materials and process technology is gained through the supply chain,” according to Richard Weissman, assistant professor at Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts. It’s also true, though, that bright ideas originating offshore may be adapted to improve products, services and efficiency, developing broader appeal or additional applications.

Maglev trains are a good example. The U.S. abandoned maglev transportation research in the 1960s. Germany and Japan carried on. So when the U.S. Transportation Administration began considering high-speed maglev trains, the technology had to come from Germany, Japan or Korea, which began research somewhat later.

German firm Transrapid pioneered the technology, opening an exhibition line in Hamburg in 1971 and repeatedly winning world maglev speed records. It designed and built the only currently operating commercial maglev transportation system in existence, in Shanghai, China. So, when Lockheed Martin became involved in maglev transportation in 2000, it teamed with Transrapid International, the U.S. subsidiary of the German firm. Under their agreement, Transrapid provides the technology and Lockheed Martin oversees the projects, ensuring they meet U.S. specifications and codes. Marketing is being conducted jointly.

Likewise, in the 1970s, Gummi Bears candy was only made by Haribo in Bonn. It became a global hit. Later, Trolli and a few other German manufacturers acquired the gummi technology and began making other shapes including, in the U.S., gummi worms. Notably, Thompson says, “it was the last new candy product category.” Since those early days, the technology has been exported to the U.S. and Mexico, he says.

For Oregon-based Leupold & Stevens, need for high quality combined with cost pressures was behind the decision to find Asian sources for the optical glass it uses in his rifle scopes and binoculars. The glass is mainly found in Asia, with a few very high end manufacturers in the U.S. and Germany. Sourcing in Asia allowed the company to have the desired level of quality at a price its customers can afford.

Lower total cost of goods

Even with the price of the goods, transportation, taxes and import duties, some goods can be acquired cheaper abroad, as Leupold & Stevens found with optical glass. This is one of the major reasons companies first consider offshore sourcing. Generally, any labor intensive item can be produced abroad and delivered to the U.S. for less than the cost of making it here and delivering it domestically.

Early in his career, Thompson found this was true with toys and birthday cake novelty items. It’s still true today with a wide range of goods, including stone tiles from India and garments from southeast Asia and Central America and computer components from Korea.

“You really have to be careful in determining total costs,” though, Thompson emphasizes. It’s more than just the cost of the goods plus transportation. Total costs include direct and indirect costs like insurance, carrying excess inventory, which Thompson says is needed because of the increased shipping time, as well as quality and communications with suppliers.

Additional factors may also come into play, though, that obviates any advantage in cost. For example, one electronics manufacturer a few years ago found that air pollution in Shanghai registered 800 ppb of hydrogen sulfide. Inside its supplier’s factory, the level nearly doubled to 1500 ppb, versus 7 ppb in the U.S. Such high levels of hydrogen sulfide corrodes electronics, substantially shortening the lifespan of computers and other electronics coming from that area.

The total costs of goods may also include direct and indirect costs throughout the items life. Germany, for examples, requires cradle-to-grave attention, with plans for recycling at the end of the item’s life. So, if components aren’t recyclable, a lower upfront cost may result in higher end of life costs. Also consider the risks to intellectual property, a concept that often isn’t fully understood even by high level execs. To guard against that, Leupold & Stevens, Coca-Cola and other firms keep their most valuable intellectual property at home.

To meet quality requirements

Sometimes quality matters, and sometimes “good enough” is just fine. It’s important to know the difference. A slipped stitch on a $6 shirt doesn’t really matter. Corroded circuit boards or inferior optics, however, make a big difference.

NASA knew when it sent astronauts into space that the quality of the still photos they took truly mattered, not only for science but to capture the imaginations of people throughout the world and thus garner support for continuing the space program. For those missions, the Polaroid camera that was fine for backyard barbeques wouldn’t do. Neither would the Nikons or Leicas used by professional photographers. NASA needed the best of the best. It needed Swedish-made Hasselblad, the Stradivarius of cameras. Perfection, of course, isn’t cheap. The digital, SLR H3DII model, released September 2007, retails for just under $34,000.

The tradition of quality that surrounds Hasselblad extends to other industries, too, and other countries. The printing industry typically sources its presses from companies like Germany’s Koenig & Bauer AG. For centuries, the finest analog watches, like those from Phillipe Patek, were handmade in Switzerland.

It’s important to note, though, that the definition of the term “quality” may vary by country and by region, as Mickey North Rizza, Boston-based analyst at AMR Research, points out. So, when discussing quality issues with suppliers, it may be better to discuss specifications and the reasons for such exacting specifications “as well as the definition of any confusing words, as it is better to error on the side of clarity,” she says. Also look at the supplier’s track record to ensure that company really does understand your product, specifications and overall business goals.

To establish additional sources of supply

From childhood, we’ve been admonished, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” That’s why we make contingency plans, and that’s why working with multiple suppliers is a good thing.

When Thompson was a buyer in the food industry in the 1990s, a California drought severely hurt the garlic industry. He and other American buyers turned to China and to obtain the supplies they needed. That was a good stop-gap strategy, but since then, China has been charged with dumping garlic onto the U.S. market. The U.S. Department of Commerce is investigating.

Pistachio growers did this in reverse in the 1970s. At the time, Iran was the sole source of pistachios, Thompson says. American growers planted their own trees and have since become a dominant player in that market—a smart move in light of the Iranian Revolution and our subsequent embargo against Iran.

Shoe and athletic apparel giant Nike, is another example. It contracts with more than 700 factories in 52 nations. Having such a broad supplier base ensure that supply chain disruptions in one factory or region can be absorbed by suppliers in other regions, and thus minimize the impact to Nike.

There are indirect benefits, too. These contracts employ some 800,000 workers throughout the world, decreasing the influence of any one supplier or region while increasing the base of skilled workers and making it possible for plants suppliers to work together to develop their own best practices and therefore continue to improve product quality, factory productivity and workers’ quality of life.

Anticipation of actual material shortages

Right now, the American energy industry doesn’t have the production capacity it needs to meet the energy requirements of this country. Although America has vast resources of oil and coal, much of it remains untapped in regions that are declared off limits to extraction or that are in difficult to access formations, like oil sands. Wind energy, one alternative, too often meets a NIMBY mentality, as evidenced by last autumn’s debacle off Cape Code. The result is a perennial shortage that forces us to import oil from Canada and the OPEC nations, and to buy coal from Asia.

Although that particular shortage is imposed by politics and technological hurdles, other shortages may be sparked by labor unrest, bad weather, warfare, disease, industrialization of other countries and other issues, which may cause delays in the supply chain or put regions temporarily out of the market.

For example, when ‘mad cow disease’ (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) threatened the Canadian been industry in 2003, grocery store meat sections augmented their selections with Australian beef. And, when U.S. citrus crops are damaged by periodic freezes, buyers can augment their supplies with produce from Mexico or India and, during the shoulder seasons, from Australia and Brazil.

Sometimes, though, a shortage is global, making good relations with multiple suppliers even more important. Right now, there’s a global shortage of steel and, according to Tom Johnstone, president and CEO of Stockholm-based SKF, it will likely continue into 2008. For the world’s largest bearings manufacturer, the shortage leads to steadily increasing costs and “negative effects on production, service to the market and operating margins,” Johnstone said in the third quarter report.

Texas general contractor Brasfield & Gorrie planned for steel shortages, buying 4,200 tons of concrete reinforcing steel in advance, to help minimize delays while building a $169 million Galveston condo complex. That’s the same strategy companies used during the steel shortage of 2004 and during the 2005 shortage of tires for construction equipment. Sometimes that’s all you can do, but it’s easier if you have multiple suppliers.

Support in global markets for domestic products

The imprint “Made in America” isn’t as important as it once was, as other nations develop increasingly sophisticated, high quality products. And, the backlash against globalization encourages consumers and manufacturers to buy locally. An American-made product that incorporates components from the local country increases its local acceptance and support. Or, as Thompson says, “Buying from other nations helps you sell your own products there.” In some cases, it may be required, he adds. “It’s also a way to create awareness and to reduce costs,” Rizza adds.

The globally-sourced, Made in America business model is particularly true in the aviation industry, Thompson says, which uses it as a sales point. Boeing Corporation’s 787 Dreamliner, for example, is being constructed in Everett, Washington, but includes components from 43 of the world’s top aviation suppliers and electronically inks more than 130 supplier sites around the world. Major orders have been placed by airlines throughout the world.

NASA took the same approach in developing the International Space Station. Dominated by the U.S., it’s built from modules developed in many countries. The Canada Arm, for example, has been a source of Canadian pride for nearly three decades and appears prominently in many photos of the station. Last October (2007), NASA was preparing to launch an Italian component called “Harmony” to link the U.S-made Destiny lab with the European Space Agency’s Columbus module and Japan’s Kibo module. International cooperation, in this instance, shares the glory as well as the financial costs of exploring space.

Support in global markets for domestic products

The imprint “Made in America” isn’t as important as it once was, as other nations develop increasingly sophisticated, high quality products. And, the backlash against globalization encourages consumers and manufacturers to buy locally. An American-made product that incorporates components from the local country increases its local acceptance and support. Or, as Thompson says, “Buying from other nations helps you sell your own products there.” In some cases, it may be required, he adds. “It’s also a way to create awareness and to reduce costs,” Rizza adds.

The globally-sourced, Made in America business model is particularly true in the aviation industry, Thompson says, which uses it as a sales point. Boeing Corporation’s 787 Dreamliner, for example, is being constructed in Everett, Washington, but includes components from 43 of the world’s top aviation suppliers and electronically inks more than 130 supplier sites around the world. Major orders have been placed by airlines throughout the world.

NASA took the same approach in developing the International Space Station. Dominated by the U.S., it’s built from modules developed in many countries. The Canada Arm, for example, has been a source of Canadian pride for nearly three decades and appears prominently in many photos of the station. Last October (2007), NASA was preparing to launch an Italian component called “Harmony” to link the U.S-made Destiny lab with the European Space Agency’s Columbus module and Japan’s Kibo module. International cooperation, in this instance, shares the glory as well as the financial costs of exploring space.

Support to other organizational global operations

“Setting up factories helps you get local buy in and support, too,” Thompson says. Arranging joint ventures and research partnerships also can help swing buying decisions in your direction.

Boeing is a case in point. That company has a 60-year relationship with India and has become “the mainstay of the country’s domestic and intercontinental commercial fleets,” according to Boeing’s news releases. Air India bought its first Boeing jetliner in 1960 and within two years because the world’s first all-jet airline. It continued adding Boeing jets to its fleet, and so did other Indian airlines. The market was strong enough that by 2003, Boeing established a subsidiary in India to “strengthen its local presence” and to find “new ways to pursue growth and productivity initiatives.” Those ways include projects with India’s leading companies and research organizations.

Even before it established a subsidiary, Boeing began working closely with India’s leading software development companies on information technology projects and engineering data analysis projects. It since has partnered with the Indian Institute of Science to conduct research on aerospace materials, structures and manufacturing technologies, which are then integrated into Boeing’s aircraft. Some 2,000 Indian researchers are actively involved. Boeing’s R&D division also is collaborating with India’s national Aerospace Laboratory and has contracted with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. to manufacture some components and assemblies and to digitize engineering drawings.

Additionally, Boeing plans to invest up to $75 million for training facilities, mainly for Indian pilots and, working an Indian partner, another $100 million to build a maintenance, repair and overhaul facility in central India for Boeing planes.

Boeing is there because the market is strong the company can benefit from Indian expertise. A case can be made that India would have purchased Boeing planes anyway, so perhaps its coincidental that in 2006, Air India ordered 68 Boeing commercial jets—the largest commercial airline order in India’s history, worth $11 billion. Between now and 2026, Boeing projects that India will need 856 new commercial jets at a price tag of about $72 billion. Boeing spokespersons won’t draw any linkages between the company’s investment in India and sales of planes. Draw your own conclusions.

Global sources can be more reliable

This isn’t a given, but “it’s always a possibility,” Thompson says. Reliability has two aspects—that of the product and that of the supplier.

“I was buying candles from a supplier in China, and the order always arrived on time and in the proper quantities,” Thompson says. “This really is about finding a good supplier with a good reputation and then working with them to develop a deep understanding of your needs and their constraints and, oftentimes, a personal relationship.

The relationship can be at least as important as the actual business deal, particularly in countries in which the rule of law is still evolving, and suppliers will take care to get to know the potential buyers and their values. Without strong courts to enforce decisions, the deal is enforced by the relationship. “You have to travel and meet with them, and lay out your expectations,” he emphasizes. With that in mind, don’t expect to confine your conversations to the phone and Internet.

Sometimes the product itself is more reliable. Take the coatings industry as an example. Right now, red lead paint is the standard for coating steel to prevent corrosion. There are some challenges, though. Lead-based paint isn’t accepted in all locations because of environmental concerns. Additionally, steel that needs to be coated while in service—bridges, for example—can’t necessarily be cleaned sufficiently to allow the paint to adhere, and the paint also can’t always penetrate the crevices, joints and overlap points inherent in construction.

To address those problems, the Swedish firm Introteknik AB developed a coating system called Isotrol that penetrates the existing paint, rust and grime to protect the steel. Independent tests indicate the coating protects for 15 to 20 years in highly corrosive environments, which is far longer than competing products, according to the just-released Frost & Sullivan report, “Advances in Corrosion Protection Technologies.”

Joint ventures

Joint ventures may help firms access local expertise and talent, advance a product or take advantage of trade agreements. They’re a mainstay in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, which rely on joint ventures to get innovative products to market. In those industries, typically the biotech firm develops a drug into or through the clinical trials stage and then partners with a larger pharmaceutical company to bring the drug to market. In recent news, German pharmaceutical giant Boehringer Ingelheim and U.S. biotech firm Vitae Pharmaceuticals, Inc., launched a collaboration to develop and commercialize a compound to treat diabetes and other metabolic diseases.

The benefit to Vitae Pharmaceuticals is the upfront and near-term payments of $35.6 million, in the form of cash, research funding and an equity investment, plus the possibility of up to $300 million in future payments as predetermined milestones are met, with royalties also coming from future sales as Boehringer Ingelheim leads the development and commercialization of the compound. Vitae Pharmaceuticals maintains the right to develop the research for other indications. In exchange, Boehringer Ingelheim gets access to an innovative compound without the intensive, early stage development work.

Collaborations like the Boehringer Ingelheim/Vitae Pharmaceuticals agreement make business sense because they exploit the skills of both companies to do something neither could do easily alone.

When joint ventures are formed mainly to access local markets, however, they may not be such good deals. As companies become increasingly globalized and source from many nations, international joint ventures can actually muddle operations. Research from Harvard University and the University of Michigan indicates the value of working alone has a better financial outcome than collaborating when companies have global production or sourcing operations or when they want to leverage a global network of affiliates.

In those scenarios, the interests of the local partner—getting more business from the company—may conflict with those of the multinational firm. Oftentimes, the expertise companies seek through joint ventures can be accessed through other vehicles that allow the firms to retain ownership. So, before forming a join venture, look carefully at what each partner offers as well as at the potential pitfalls before proceeding. wt

Sidebar: The Sweet Life

Mark Thompson is the global commodity leader for Pioneer Hi-Bred International, the world’s leader in advanced plant genetics. His background, though, is in candy.

“Practically all candy comes from outside the U.S.,” Thompson says. “Look at the fine print on the candy bag or box. It usually says ‘distributed by’ rather than ‘made by,’” he says.

That change occurred shortly after Thompson entered the candy business in the late 1980s. “U.S. subsidies to sugar farmers drove the price up,” he says, so that it was nearly double world prices. Candy companies balked, but Congress didn’t budge. Consequently, most U.S. candy companies closed their U.S. factories and moved offshore. As purchasing manager for the aptly named Foreign Candy Company, he purchased candy mainly from Mexico, which he says is still a major supplier for the U.S. candy market.

But eventually, Thompson decided that man could not live by candy alone. He needed some spice in his life. What he found was the world of garlic, vanilla, cinnamon, which he sourced for Tone’s Spices, searching out the combination of quality and price that has made Tone’s Durkee, Spice Islands and French’s brands household names. Many of these spices grow only in well-defined regions, but plant geneticists have been working for decades to extend their growing conditions. Thompson is working with them now, at the world leader in advanced plant genetics, Hi-Bred International, Inc., which conducts research in 25 countries and production facilities throughout the world. Ironically, he says, “Now I don’t do a lot of global sourcing.”

Murder charge, but no body

2008-05-20T00:31:00.000-07:00

Victoria Cherrie, Martha Quillin and Gary L. Wright, McClatchy Newspapers
The body of Sallie Jordan Rohrbach hasn't been found, but Charlotte-Mecklenburg police have charged a Union County man with murdering the state insurance examiner from Angier.
Rohrbach, who worked for the N.C. Department of Insurance in Raleigh, disappeared while in Charlotte last week to audit the Dilworth Insurance Agency.

The owner and operator of the agency, Michael Arthur Howell, 40, of Indian Trail, a Charlotte suburb, was being held in the Mecklenburg County jail without bail. He will make his first court appearance today. He has no criminal record in North Carolina.

Charlotte police, citing the continuing investigation, released little information Monday about the case. Homicide Sgt. Ricky Robbins would not say how police know Rohrbach is dead or how they linked Howell to her disappearance.

Robbins said police don't need a body to charge someone with murder. "If we have evidence to prove they committed a crime, we can charge them with the crime," the sergeant said.

Rohrbach, 44, had been assigned to look through the Dilworth agency's files, review Howell's books and interview him, said Chrissy Pearson, a Department of Insurance spokeswoman in Raleigh.

"We had absolutely no indication this would be anything but routine," Pearson said. "It wasn't anything egregious. There was no red flag that suggested we needed to treat this case different than any other."

Details of the complaint about the insurance agency, which are normally public record, are not being released because of the police investigation, Pearson said.

On Monday morning, the Insurance Department called in a minister to help with grieving employees.

"One of the prevailing sentiments here today is, of course, you look back and wonder what you could have done differently," Pearson said.

Investigators are trained to call in if they feel threatened or unsafe while in the field, Pearson said. In fact, Rohrbach had done so in the past.

"If only she'd called in for backup [this time]," Pearson said.

Last seen Wednesday

Rohrbach worked for years in the insurance industry, in underwriting and claims adjustment. She had been at the Department of Insurance for eight years, serving for the past five as an examiner, responsible for auditing insurance agencies and making sure they met licensing requirements for continuing education.

Rohrbach was last seen between 3 and 4 p.m. Wednesday -- apparently at the Dilworth agency on South Boulevard in Charlotte. State insurance department staff members reported Rohrbach missing Friday night to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police after being unable to find anyone who had seen her, Pearson said.

On Sunday morning, the state-owned vehicle that Rohrbach had been driving, a Chevrolet Malibu, was found in the parking lot of a Bojangles' restaurant on West Boulevard in Charlotte -- less than a half-mile from the insurance agency.

Police said Monday that they had searched Rohrbach's vehicle as well as Howell's business and vehicle.

Rohrbach was the daughter of a tobacco farmer who became a planter of a different kind -- sowing flowers around her house and kindnesses among her neighbors.

"I just don't have enough adjectives to describe her," said Jerry Smith, who lives next door to the home Rohrbach shared with her husband, Tim, in Angier. "She was just a great person. She tried to do everything she could to help anybody, her neighbors all around."

Rohrbach was a 1981 graduate of Garner Senior High School. In 1995, she graduated from Meredith College in Raleigh with a bachelor's degree in sociology.

Since moving into a remodeled 1920s-era Colonial-style home on Chalybeate Springs Road, the Rohrbachs had set a standard for the neighborhood, Smith said, in the way they cared for the house and yard.

Smith's wife, Jean, said the Rohrbachs always worked as a pair.

"Tim's real handy, and Sallie was right there to help him," she said. "They were a very loving couple. What one was doing, the other was doing also."

Rohrbach was known for her love of animals, both the cats and dogs she kept and those that wandered up. She kept food and water in dishes on her front porch, Jean Smith said. Stray animals who needed it knew right where to go.

Pearson, of the Insurance Department, said Rohrbach had a reputation for being a thorough and conscientious employee.

"Right now we are in a grieving period," Pearson said. "It's going to take us some time to get over the shock of it, and we have a lot of work ahead of us."

martha.quillin@newsobserver.com or (919) 829-8989

Mom's gift to kids: 'No!'

2008-05-08T07:24:00.001-07:00

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach of TLC's "Shalom in the Home" says we can't just blame kids for acting bratty or spoiled. Kids today, he says, are exhibiting a lot of anger because they feel neglected by parents who may put careers ahead of family.

"The one thing that kids need in huge doses is love," Rabbi Shmuley says. "They're insatiable for it. They're not getting it."

Rabbi Shmuley says parents have a hard time teaching discipline and respect for others because of three factors affecting many families.

1. Exhaustion: Parents can't say no because they don't have the energy to do so.

2. Guilt: Not being able to give more of their time, parents often give material gifts instead.

3. A loveless society: Shmuley says "we don't live in a very loving society. People come from broken childhoods; they often have loveless marriages. The only love they get is from their children, so they're afraid to discipline them because they think their children won't love them."

Parents, Rabbi Shmuley says, need to realize that discipline is love. "'No' is just as loving as saying 'yes,'" he says.

Rebecca, a divorced mother of two who works, knows that she spoils her kids. Since she works a full-time job, she cannot spend as much time with her son and daughter as she would like. "A lot of times I feel like I am Mom and Dad to both of my children," she says.

Because she feels guilty about not spending enough time with them, Rebecca says she tends to "overcompensate when they ask me for things ... so I overindulge."

Rebecca's children have developed certain techniques to get the things they want. Her 5-year-old son, Brandon, uses "sad eyes." Her daughter, Stephanie, uses peer pressure. "If I really want to get something from my mom," Stephanie says, "I'll come home and I'll be like, 'Mom, all my friends have [it].'"

Rebecca says her inability to deny her children's every want is getting out of control. "I want to say no, but it comes out yes," she says.

Dr. Robin Smith says Rebecca is trying to make up for her perceived inadequacy as a single working mom by showering Brandon and Stephanie with gifts. This places so much emphasis on material goods that the children are learning to define themselves by material things.

"If they were to lose everything -- if the rug gets pulled from underneath us -- you've got to be able to still know that you are good enough," Dr. Robin says. "Right now, if they lose things, they're going to feel empty."

The solution to feelings of guilt, Dr. Robin says, won't come from stuff. "I want you to really recognize that what you're trying to do, which is to love them, to make up for your not being there, you can't do it with things. Things will never satisfy and never fill the sacred hole that only a mom and dad can do."

As for Rebecca's struggles as a single mom, Dr. Robin says, "You can't be Dad, just be a good mom. Or if you're a dad, just be a good dad. Fill your own sense of being good enough and satisfied and that it's not about what you have ... and then you can feel good about yourself."

Do you think your inability to say no is harming your kids? These are three questions you need to ask yourself.

Railroad Modelers Create ‘Own Little World'

2008-05-05T04:02:00.000-07:00

Fairgrounds Show Promotes Hobby and Trains

By Jeff Mellott
HARRISONBURG - Browsing through the displays at the Model Train and Railroading Show on Sunday, Michael Strawderman looked for something that would fit into the project he's working on at home.

Strawderman, 40, is building a scale model railroad community in his basement. The Harrisonburg resident was among the people indulging their hobby at the Rockingham County Fairgrounds.

Different Stage

Strawderman said his interest in railroading took a different turn after working with building miniatures for drama productions.

The drama teacher at Thomas Harrison Middle School began creating a miniature community to compliment his model train track.

The model railroad community is a work in progress, but he has already derived satisfaction from the project that includes buildings with detailed interiors.

"It's fun to have people come over and peer inside the building and see the people in there and the detail," he said.

Fun Outing

Strawderman visited the show, sponsored by the Shenandoah Valley Railroad Club and the local chapter of the National Railroad Historical Society, because it offers a chance to find additions for his model community without driving far from the city.

Strawderman's sons, Andrew, 11, and Benjamin, 8, found lots of items that interested them.

Andrew's modeling interest is a little different than his father's. He focused his attention on the model cars and how different they are from each other.

Benjamin found model layouts the most interesting, including a train that sprouted smoke.

"It's really fun," he said.

Long Run

The club has been running the event for about 20 years, said Jim Suter, 67, who lives just west of Harrisonburg.

A member of the board of directors of the Shenandoah Valley Railroad Club, Suter's interest in railroading is real trains.

The vast majority of people who come are those who want to buy something for their model train layout, said Suter, who is retired from Walker Manufacturing.

"We do the show mostly to promote interest in trains and modeling," he said.

Attendance figures for Sunday's event was not available, but Suter said 48 dealers bought 140 tables for the show.

"We really don't know until the end of the show what affect the price of gasoline had on attendance," Suter said.

Railroad Life

Club member Paul Graham, 72, of Bridgewater, has the same interest in railroading as Suter.

He worked around railroads most of his life beginning in 1956 when he took a job with the old Erie Railroad. He continued to work with the company's successors over 22 years.

Graham then went to work for the federal Interstate Commerce Commission. His job was making sure railroad companies complied with federal regulations.

Standing behind a table covered with train magazines and calendars he was selling, Graham said last year's event drew about 1,000 people, including dealers and about 230 children, who got in free.

"We like to promote the youngsters," he said.

‘Own Little World'

Building scale models is just one of the interests of people who attend the club's meetings, said club president Randall Reichenbach.

Some of them like watching trains and others like riding them, he said.

Reichenbach's interest includes scale models, even though he has never constructed a layout.

But that hasn't stopped the 64-year-old Harrisonburg resident from collecting rolling stock, buildings and other pieces for layouts over the past 40 years.

"I haven't had the time or situation to set up a layout," said Reichenbach, who is in the insurance business.

The layouts provide a chance to "make your own little world," he said.

Personal Touch

The world that Strawderman is creating is full of personal touches.

He paints and personalizes model kits he buys.

The theater in his model community is named after one that he once worked with.

The level of detail for the grocery he is working on includes shopping carts, he said.

Model shows like Sunday's event are places for him to explore. "You never know what is out there," he said.

Contact Jeff Mellott at 574-6290 or jmellott@dnronline.com

Daphne du Maurier festival, Cornwall, £316 a week at a cottage; three nights on Isle of Skye, £210; Majorca, £300 for a week; three nights in Riga, £1

2008-05-01T05:49:00.000-07:00

British Isles

The Daphne du Maurier Festival, starting in a week's time and running until May 17, provides an extra reason to visit the charming and historic town of Fowey in Cornwall. Perched above an estuary, with elegant houses alongside stone cottages, the town welcomes guests as diverse as Lord Owen or Rick Wakeman, Pam Ayres and Brian Sewell to celebrate the work of the county's most evocative writer with talks, walks, drama, music and art. Cornish Traditional Cottages has properties for four to six available close to the town for a week from May 2/3 and 10 starting at £316, including Long Cottage on the opposite bank with harbour views. 01208 821666

Fowey Hall, the von Essen hotel next to the main festival marquee, has a special rate during the event of a room for two with B&B and a pre-event supper from £155 a night. The Old Quay House in the town centre, with views of the estuary and du Maurier's home, has rooms for two with breakfast from £145 a night. 01726 833866/ 01726 833302 (hotels); 0845 0940428 (festival tickets)

The Chichester Festival Theatre season has just begun with a lively production of Funny Girl and The Cherry Orchard to follow. Midweek breaks with B&B for two and theatre tickets start from £72 a night through visitchichester.org. Two nearby hotels of character, Bailiffscourt on the coast at Climping and the Spread Eagle at Midhurst, have midweek rates of dinner, B&B for £99 and £85 a person a night. 01243 775888 (visit chichester); 01903 723511/ 01730 816911 (hotels)

Outlook by name, outlook by nature sums up a period property with a circular lounge, two bedrooms and bathrooms in the Victorian resort of Saltburn-by-the-Sea, north Yorkshire. It is on offer for a week from May 10 with Yorkshire Cottages for £440 with no charge for pets. 01228 406701

Fresh fish from local waters and game from the hills are on the menu at Ullinish Country Lodge, dating back 300 years in a quiet corner of the Isle of Skye. Short breaks are on offer for the next week with dinner, B&B for three nights from £210. 01470 572214

Enjoy the late May Bank Holiday week cycling along the lanes of north Norfolk, or walking along the beach to the crab fishing village of Overstrand, while staying at Poppyland Holiday Cottages. A home for four is £575 for a week from May 23. 01263 577473

Short haul

A week on the small, delightful, pine-covered and shingle-beach Greek island of Skopelos is on offer for £155 with Olympic Holidays. The package includes a flight from Gatwick on May 9, ferry transfers and self-catering at Julie Studios, near Skopelos Town. 0844 4994448

Libra Holidays is marking the launch of a new Friday flight to the Egyptian resort of Hurghada from Birmingham with discounted deals. Prices start at £348 with B&B for a week from May 9 and rise to £473 for the late May Bank Holiday week. 0871 2267825

Savings of between 25 and 40 per cent are available on properties near the north coast of Majorca in the next three weeks with Best Villas Pollensa. A simple villa for six with a pool is £300 for a week from May 10 or 17 and a stylishly converted old house for eight with a large pool is £600 for a week from Saturday and May 10. Flights extra. 0844 5611217

If you missed last year's events to mark the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele, a new exhibition opening today in Ypres offers a further chance to examine the conflict and how it was perceived on all sides. VFB Holidays has three-day breaks in the town, rebuilt almost as it was before the war, from £141 with B&B, tickets to Man-Culture-War at Flanders Fields Museum and Channel crossings. 01452 716831

A week on Madeira for £369 is available with Atlantic Holidays. Fly from Gatwick on May 12 for B&B at the three-star Hotel Dom Pedro Garajau with a pool in a residential area on a protected coast six miles (9.5km) from Funchal. 01242 361888

The Latvian capital, Riga, is an increasingly popular short break destination and Cities Direct has a deal starting on a Sunday. Three nights' B&B at a five-star hotel a short walk from the Old Town, costs £199, flying from Bristol on May 18. 01242 536900

Long haul

Fly from Manchester to Orlando on May 18 and Travel City Direct offers a choice of two-week bargain breaks. A fortnight at Days Inn, International Drive, handy for all the city's theme parks, stats at £369, based on four sharing and with car hire; a two-centre holiday in Orlando and St Petersburg starts at £389 and the flight plus car hire only is £279. Prices are with third-party car insurance. 0871 9112415

Another good deal from Manchester is to Bali: a week from May 11 for £655. The offer with Hayes & Jarvis includes a Singapore Airlines' flight and a room at the three-star Bali Rani Resort, with a large landscaped pool, bars and restaurants in Tuban, south of the lively town of Kuta. 0871 6640246

All prices are per person and based on two travelling together and sharing a room, unless stated otherwise.

Anti-abortion group pushes for amendment

2008-04-27T05:40:00.001-07:00

Associated Press
Friday, April 25, 2008 (Mexico City)
Anti- and pro-abortion groups marked the first anniversary since lawmakers voted to legalise abortion in Mexico City.

A year ago, lawmakers approved the proposal by a vote of 46-19, with one abstention, requiring city hospitals to provide the procedure in the first twelve weeks of pregnancy.

Girls under 18 would have to get their parents' consent.

The bill was ground breaking for this predominantly Roman Catholic country and set a milestone for the discussion of abortion laws in other Catholic countries in Latin America.

Elsewhere in Mexico, abortion is allowed only in cases of rape, severe birth defects or if the woman's life is at risk, and doctors sometimes even deny the procedure under those circumstances.

The bill's approval stirred a bitter and emotional debate in the country that has continued one year later.

An anti-abortion group, Pro-Vida (Pro-Life), held a demonstration on Thursday morning in front of Mexico City's Assembly.

The group lit 7,200 candles on the steps of the building, representing what it said was the number of abortions practiced in Mexico City's hospitals during the past twelve months.

The demonstration began at 5 am and lasted for an hour.

On Wednesday, officials from the city government celebrated the first anniversary of the bill's approval.

''I hope nobody has ever next to him an adolescent that has to stop a pregnancy, and cannot do it due to moral issues or because of family principles and can't make valid their right to decide, so here we are celebrating a whole year of been able to exercise our right to decide,'' said Marta Lucia Micher, the director of the Women's Institute in the capital.

At the time the bill was published into law, the city's health secretary Manuel Mondragon said that except in cases of medical emergency, women would have to prove residency in the capital.

Mondragon was addressing the widespread belief that the law would make the capital a magnet for women across Mexico seeking abortions.

Mexico City has a population of almost 20 (m) million people.

The city and its suburbs are home to about one-fifth of the country's population, and many Mexicans travel to the capital for medical treatment.

The procedure is almost free for poor or for city residents without health insurance.

The only countries in Latin America and the Caribbean with legalised abortion for all women are Cuba and Guyana.

Most others allow it only in cases of rape or when the woman's life is at risk.

Nicaragua, El Salvador and Chile ban it completely.

Coventry Health Care Earnings Match Lowered Guidance [CVH]

2008-04-25T06:31:00.000-07:00

4/25/2008 8:23:21 AM Coventry Health Care (CVH) announced a profit for the first quarter on Friday that rose from last year and matched the lowered forecast the company released in March.

The operator of health plans and insurance companies reported first-quarter net earnings of $125.03 million, or $0.81 per share. This compared to $121.74 million, or $0.76 per share, in the same period last year.

Total operating revenues increased to $2.94 billion from $2.24 billion a year ago.

Analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial had expected earnings of $0.81 per share on revenues of $2.98 billion.

In mid-March, the company slashed its first-quarter earnings forecast, blaming higher influenza-related medical costs and lower net investment income. At that time, the company said it expected a first-quarter profit of $0.81 per share, below its previous forecast of $0.85-$0.87 per share.

In Friday's release, the company predicted earnings in the range of $1.03 - $1.04 per share on revenues of $2.95 billion - $3.10 billion. Analysts are looking for earnings of $1.10 per share on revenue of $3.07 billion for the second quarter.

For the full-year 2008, the company still expects earnings in the range of $4.39 - $4.50 per share on revenue of $11.99 billion - $12.49 billion. Analysts expect earnings of $4.43 per share on revenue of $12.37 billion.

Dale Wolf, chief executive officer of Coventry, said in a press release, "We are on track for another year of industry leading revenue growth and remain very confident about our strategic positioning and growth prospects for the future."

Falling pensions

2008-04-24T05:48:00.001-07:00

Nearly one in three IFAs expects investors to be saving less into their pensions this year as stock market volatility and the credit crunch hit home, according to new research from global insurance and financial services organisation MetLife Europe.

The research also revealed that the average predicted reduction in pension investment is a substantial 21 per cent.

The analysis shows that the FTSE 100 has lost around 7.6 per cent since the start of 2008 and at one point in mid-March was more than 16 per cent lower than its 2008 starting level of 6,456.9.

Dominic Grinstead, strategic development and marketing director at MetLife, says, ‘Stock market volatility has been one of the biggest concerns in the past year, with the impact of the credit crunch beginning in 2007 adding to the pressure on people’s finances.

‘Market volatility looks set to continue throughout 2008, and this appears to be making some pension savers reconsider their decision to invest. However, if they reduce investment in pensions because of stock market volatility, they will see retirement income fall.’

Coronation Street - Paul threatens Leanne

2008-04-23T05:06:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, 23 April 2008

Leanne (Jane Danson) is delighted to discover that the insurance company are issuing a cheque for nearly the full amount they requested and Dan (Matthew Crompton) suggests the sooner she gives Paul (Tom Hudson) his share the better so they can all move on and start afresh.

However, Paul's still bitter about how she duped him and when she hands over the cheque he asserts it's no consolation for her manipulating and using him.

Angered and hurt, Paul suggests if she really wants to make amends with him she should give him her share of the money.

After all, he committed the crime so he deserves the money. Leanne's shocked but Paul gives her an ultimatum - if he doesn't get all the money, he'll go to the police. What will Leanne do?

An upbeat Kirk (Andrew Whyment) arrives back from Cyprus and as Fiz (Jennie McAlpine) awkwardly accepts an affectionate hug, he reveals he has something important he needs to talk to her about.

Fiz is worried he's going to suggest they get back together and puts off the chat until later. She arrives home from work and bites the bullet, telling him she doesn't want to get back with him.

Bemused, Kirk explains he wanted to tell her that he's met someone on holiday and he's in love. Fiz is amazed and relieved as he tells her all about his holiday romance, Julie, who lives in Manchester!

Audrey (Sue Nicholls) has been distracted since hearing about Ted's phone call and lies to an unconvinced Bill that she's just worried about David.

Later, in the café, she gives Rita (Barbara Knox) the full history of her relationship with Ted. It was a very turbulent time of her life and she used him, getting pregnant with Gail (Helen Worth) to force him into marriage and then changing her mind.

She never loved him even though he was besotted with her. Audrey doesn't know if she can open such an old can of worms, especially given Gail's situation at present, but she is curious as to what he wants? Will she drag up the past?

Elsewhere, Jason (Ryan Thomas) and Becky (Katherine Kelly) both had a good time last night and arrange to go out again.

Insurance worry for health tourists

2008-04-16T17:17:00.000-07:00

Going abroad for dentistry and cosmetic or minor surgery is increasingly popular, but your travel insurance won't help if it all goes wrong.

The health tourism industry is growing by 30% each year, as breast implants, heart surgery and hip replacements cost between 20% and 50% less overseas than private treatment in the UK.
But if you go abroad for medical treatment, then you may not be covered for a claim under your travel policy.

Any complications arising from the surgery, the cost of a new flight because you were hospitalised for longer than expected or missing your appointment because of flight delays are not covered under standard travel policies.

But it is not just claims arising from your treatment that can be turned down. Most travellers do not realise that they might not be able to claim for lost luggage, theft or an accident if they did not reveal that the purpose of their trip is to have treatment. Some insurers won't issue travel policies for these trips.

Insurance broker Marcus Hearn has brought out a special travel insurance policy that will provide cover for health tourists. A week's single-trip policy to Europe costs £17.90, rising with your age. It is unavailable for the over-70s.

But even this policy will extend only to the non-medical elements of your insurance: any claim in connection with the medical condition for which you are travelling will be excluded.

Marcus Hearn managing director Jeffrey Klipp says: 'It simply doesn't occur to people that they may not be covered under their existing travel policy. And the consequences could be very costly.'

Research by the Post Office, the largest independent travel insurer, reveals that over a third of those who had travelled abroad for cosmetic or elective surgery failed to check if their insurance policy covered them.

The findings highlight the growing trend of people looking for lower cost treatments abroad - 126,000 Britons are expected to travel overseas for medical procedures this year. India is currently the top destination, closely followed by Hungary, Turkey, Malaysia and Spain.

The Post Office and Saga would pay out for lost baggage or delayed flights and cancellations, but not for claims relating to the medical treatment.

All travel policies are invalidated if you do not declare pre-existing medical conditions - though you can find policies that will cover existing illnesses for a premium.

You should always check the position with your travel insurer before going abroad for treatment.

Cashing in on growth in Asian consumer demand

2008-04-13T17:16:00.001-07:00

In Asia, a growing middle class, changing consumption patterns arising from the new Asian wealth, and changing social behaviour enlarging disposable income have combined to boost consumer spending and create many investment opportunities.

While the rest of the world either stagnates or contracts, growth in Asia continues to accelerate. Invesco’s Asian Consumer Demand Fund, launched on March 25, aims to tap into this increased Asian consumer activity, and at its helm is William Yuen. Excerpts from an interview:

Invesco already has nine funds investing in Asia. Why another?

We would like to offer our investors the “choice” of participating in the exciting growth outlook of the Asia region depending on their investment objective and risk tolerance levels. Within the product offering there are broad-based regional funds, sub-regional funds, country-specific funds, thematic funds and more conservative balanced funds. Each of the Asia-related products will be different to each other and will offer exposure to the fast growing Asia region through very different channels. So, in a way, the choice is there for our many investors.

We have been offering new products that are tied specifically to investible Asian themes such as Asian infrastructure and now Asian consumer demand, as we firmly believe we are only at the beginning of each of these unique secular trends.

What is different about this fund?

The Invesco Asia Consumer Demand Fund specifically targets the dramatic rise of the three billion Asian consumers living in the Asia (excluding Japan) region and how such Asian companies can benefit from this fast moving reality.

The difference of this fund is that we look to invest in Asian companies that directly deal with the end consumers through either goods or services. We invest in Asian consumer demand related companies that don’t depend on global growth conditions, which are weakening fast, and the financially stretched global consumers.

Instead, we are riding on a fast growing Asian economic region, where not only are government finances strong (which can provide more stimulus to the already strong consumer spending trends), but Asian corporate and Asian consumers are equally powerful and strong. Asian consumers have been saving too much and borrowing too little relative to their income earning capabilities. Even at such an early stage of the uptrend, we expect the Asian consumers will be contributing close to $3 trillion (Dh11trn) to the Asian economies.

What exactly are the investment themes of the consumer demand fund?

We take a broad definition in what is considered stocks that will benefit from the booming Asia consumer demand trend. We take the view that any consumers, such as you and I, with direct access to either through goods or services on a regular basis are investment candidates. This will stretch from the day-to-day necessities such as food, to discretionary spending such as cars, fashion, electronics and all the way up to lifestyle needs such as healthcare and leisure.

In addition, we will focus on financial services companies that will enhance, protect and prolong not only current spending of Asian consumers, but future spending as well. The selection is there, as we join the rise in purchasing power from the three billion Asian consumers. We are looking at three distinct themes.

First is the rise of the China consumer. Consumer spending in China is growing alongside rising income levels from better job prospects from the sustainable economic growth. The middle-income group is on the rise and the shift away from necessity spending to discretionary lifestyle spending is propelling a new wave of consumer spending. Equally, the current generation is spending on things that the previous generation has only dreamed of.

Second is the Indian wireless services. Penetration is still low at around 20 per cent – or 200 million subscribers – as at the end of 2007 relative to the world and China. Assuming India can reach the level we are seeing in China as at the end of 2007 – around 40 per cent penetration – there will be an addition of more than 200 million subscribers.

The third is financial services in Asia. Similar to many products and services targeting Asian consumers, the adoption rate of financial services is generally low relative to the developed world. Asian consumers are saving too much and borrowing too little relative to their income earning capabilities – potential will be there for a consumer to enhance consumer spending through credit. Also, insurance services are a new concept to the majority of Asian consumers – the potential to protect their assets. Finally, the introduction to wealth management services and brokerage services will prolong their spending well into the future.

Other themes that can be applied across Asia are: travel and leisure, healthcare services and specific educational services.

What is your approach to selecting companies? Do you rely on local expertise or does your team make visits to selected companies?

The portfolio will be constructed by applying a rigorous bottom-up stock selection process. We don’t have country constraints or sector constraints; we don’t aim to replicate any benchmarks – although we have a reference benchmark, the MSCI AC Asia-Pacific ex Japan index, for monitoring and risk management purposes.

Top-down outlook will also be observed, but as a way of complementing our focus on bottom-up stock selection. We will typically look for firms that exhibit characteristics such as EPS growth that is higher than the reference benchmark, strong balance sheet, industry-leading business franchise and superior management. In selecting Asian consumer demand related companies, we will use the investment professionals based in our Hong Kong office to complement the two fund managers of the Asia Consumer Demand Fund.

Each of the investment professionals will have specific Asia country coverage that we can tap into and analyse industry trends and specific fundamentals of the companies. Ultimately, the lead fund manager, me, and co-manager Samantha Ho, will find the best consumer demand stocks for the fund.

A strong part of our investment process is our strong belief in visiting and meeting companies on a regular basis.

Through the 13-plus investment professionals, we will make regular visits to our targeted companies to get an in-depth understanding of what is happening to the company on the ground.

We will also make visits to the markets and end-points that these companies target within the Asia region.

We want to ensure the end-customers these consumer demand companies are targeting are a worthwhile in an investment sense. Finally, we believe strong fundamentals will drive share price performances.

What is the outlook for Asia, and which sectors of the economy will continue to grow irrespective of the economic slowdown in the United States?

Despite negative headwinds arising from the US economy, we feel Asia is relatively more resilient and will continue to offer growth higher than many developed countries. Asian economies are generally fast growing, government finances are in good shape; together with healthy Asian corporate and consumers, the outlook remains bright.

We feel sectors that are driven by domestic demand, and not global economic conditions, are the best way to mitigate the impact of a US economic slowdown. Asia Infrastructure and Asia Consumer Demand sectors are the most obvious choices that are predominantly driven by the strong domestic economic conditions.

How will the slide in the US dollar affect earnings and growth?

The general slide in the US dollar is more of a function of the weakening fundamentals of the US economy and the expectation of easing of US monetary policy. Against this backdrop it is generally perceived to be mildly positive for the Asia region, as the easing environment and weakening dollar will add liquidity to the region, at a time when Asian fundamentals are strong.

There will be a different impact to Asian earnings as a result of the weakening of the dollar, but we don’t see it as any major driver, either way. A strengthening Asian currency against the dollar will have a positive impact on a consumer.

What is your take on the recent gyrations in the Asian stock markets? If the US sneezes will Asian markets catch a cold?

Unfortunately, Asian stock markets still take clues from the direction of the US stock markets, despite the very clear positive trend that Asian economies, corporate and consumers are all in far better shape than their counterparts in the United States.

The recent correction seen in the Asian markets have meant that, while fundamentals remain firm, Asian stocks are trading at much more attractive levels on a valuation basis. In particular, the consumer demand related companies continue to exhibit strong earnings growth potentials that are more than two times the average of the Asia-Pacific region.

Most of these companies depend on our own three billion Asian consumers.

PROFILE: William Yuen, Head of Invesco’s Asian Consumer Demand Fund

Yuen has an overall investment expertise of eight years. He is on the Asian investment team of Invesco.

Yuen is based in Hong Kong and has bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Sydney, Australia. He also holds a Master of Commerce degree from the same university and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

South Dakota Student Battles Bone Cancer

2008-03-09T17:21:00.000-07:00

A child with cancer is something you never want to hear. Besides the trauma of dealing with the disease, the expense of fighting it can be overwhelming.

For the past 10 weeks, Amber Hudelson has been going through chemotherapy, fighting a rare form of bone cancer. However, it's even more rare that she stops smiling.

Lorie Hudelson, Amber's Mother, "Amber has a fabulous attitude about it all. She knows that she's going to be OK and she knows her hair is going to grow back, and that's what she's focusing on."

Amber explains, "It just makes me feel good that I know that so many people care about me. And so many people showed up to help me get through this."
Hundreds of people packed St. Peter's Community Center in Jefferson, South Dakota on Saturday night, spending their money on a spaghetti dinner and a silent auction, money the Hudelsons desperately need.

Lorie says, "All food, travel, and medical bills, because, I can't go back to work until Amber's done."

Much of Amber's medical costs will be covered by insurance, but the Hudelsons will end up paying thousands of dollars out of pocket. This benefit will help with that a lot.

Lorie explains, "I don't even know how to begin to thank everyone, make sure that everyone gets a thanks that they deserve."

The cancer started in Amber's ribs, collapsed a lung, and spread to her shoulder. But it hasn't affected her smile, which is what is getting her parents through this.

Lorie believes, "If she weren't as strong as she is, I think it would be a lot harder for us."
Amber says the hardest part is spending less time with her friends. And she never knew she had so many.

Doctors hope to operate on Amber's tumor in about a month. Then she'll continue chemotherapy and possibly radiation. In time, doctors expect Amber to be cancer-free.

French surgeons rebuilt Adam McGrath's knee after a snowboarding accident last month, but he hopes to be back on his board next season

2008-03-07T15:38:00.000-08:00

Adam McGrath is 29 and has snowboarded since he was 15. He broke his leg snowboarding in Tignes on February 24.

"It was the last day of a lads’ snowboarding weekend and four of us were in a board park above Tignes Val Claret. I was feeling cocky – I’ve had boarding accidents before – twice cracking my skull – but it’s never dented my confidence.

There’s always a big jump at the end of these parks, and this one had an “Experts Only” sign. My friend Adie went ahead with a camera and egged Chris and I to have a go. I went first and got far too much air and not enough distance so landed on the flat instead of the slope.

My front leg landed straight and took the impact.

I didn’t hear any cracks but my knee felt like things were in the wrong place. I got out of my board and realised I couldn’t stand. My friends carried me to a restaurant 20 yards away and after a few minutes it was clear I’d need help getting down. I still didn’t realise it was broken– I thought it was dislocated.

I’d hoped to get a skidoo down but a blood wagon appeared - so it was headfirst down the mountain to the Tignes medical centre. An Aussie was towing me – a nice guy called Ed. He packed my leg in this beanbag contraption that you squeeze the air from, then it goes solid around the break.

An ambulance took me to the centre where there were others with broken arms and legs. It took 30 minutes for an x-ray to confirm that I’ve pulverised (the doctor’s phrase) the top of my tibia where it meets my knee, the tibial plateau. But before that was the painful part – getting my board boots and trousers off.

The doctor said I’d need surgery in Bourg St Maurice, but he didn’t sound optimistic. By this time my parents had arrived – they own the chalet in Tignes Les Brevieres where we were staying. The surgeon said we’d be better off in a specialist clinic in Aix les Bains, but said we’d have to pay a surcharge to get there because the Carte Neige insurance that comes with the ski pass only covers transport to the nearest available hospital.

We paid the E316 but had to wait for four hours until the ambulance would take us. They couldn’t leave Tignes until the lifts had closed in case someone else had an accident. Finally, with sirens and lights blaring we got to Clinique Herbert at 10pm and the doctor chastised the ambulance drivers for not getting me there sooner.

Surgery was scheduled for the next afternoon. I was told an epidural would be best to aid my recovery and avoid DVT, but in hindsight a general anaesthetic would have saved me the worst ordeal of my life.

I had a reaction to the drug and my skin crawled – to stop me twitching they strapped down my arms and then for five hours I could smell burning flesh, feel the tourniquet tight around my leg and hear drilling and the odd “merde” among the French chatter. In the end they sedated me because I became so anxious.

Aix les Bains is a picturesque French spa town, full of hospitals and convalescents, but I couldn’t get home sooner. I’m now staying with my parents – my London flat is up five flights of stairs.

It’ll be three months until I can put weight on my leg but within a week I was already up and about on crutches and I’ve started physio.

It’s probably a blessing to have had the surgery in France because although the language barrier was frustrating and at times distressing, the hospital was clean, I had a private room, and I had faith in the surgeons.

Since getting back I’ve found the English health system reluctant – I’ve been told I don’t need drugs I was prescribed in France, unless something goes wrong. It seems best practice in England is “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, whereas in France they’re more precautionary.

The insurance company has been great – never thought I’d say that – but they helped get me home and will cover the £8,000-odd cost of the accident.

The long term prognosis is that I won’t be running marathons again, but I hope to be back snowboarding next season. You can forget the big jumps, though, I doubt I’ll be such a risk taker again."

Car Crash Fatalities Too Often Young Teens

2008-03-05T16:25:00.000-08:00

By MedHeadlines • Mar 4th, 2008 • Category: Adolescents, Children's Health, Editor's Picks, Lifestyle, Prevention

Car crashes are more likely to claim the lives of passengers aged 12 to 16 than younger passengers. Each year the teen’s age increases, so does the risk. This is the finding of an on-going collaborative study involving State Farm Insurance Companies and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The complete details of their findings have just been released in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.Reviewing 45,560 car crashes that involved passengers aged 8 to 17, researchers isolated the 9,807 deaths of passengers in the study’s age group. All crashes in the study occurred between 2000 and 2005. Children aged 12 to 14 suffered more fatalities than those younger and older.

Statistical analysis of the findings presents some very revealing insight into the events surrounding the crashes. Researchers hope the study will lead to better passenger safety through education and awareness.

For example, 54.5% of the children killed were in vehicles driven by someone younger than age 20. In almost 2 out of every 3 fatalities, passengers were not using seat belts or other approved safety restraints. Seventy-five percent of the fatalities occurred in areas where the speed limit was higher than 45 miles per hour. Twenty percent of the fatal crashes involved alcohol.

Adolescents frequently ride in cars driven by someone other than their parents, according to previous studies. Instead, drivers are often older siblings, classmates, and friends.

Three key risk factors identified for auto safety for young teens are riding in vehicles driven by a driver younger than age 16, high-speed roadways, and not wearing seat belts.

Describing the teen deaths as preventable, the research team offers five guidelines for optimum child safety when riding in any vehicle:

1. Wear seat belts everybody, every ride, every time.

2. Set the example for safety standards. Obey speed limits, avoid cell phones, and never drink and drive.

3. Discuss the safe behaviors that mark a good passenger and set rules accordingly.

4. Pay attention to your child’s travel plans. Always know where they are going, with whom and how they plan to get there, who’s the driver, and when to expect them home.

5. Never let your child ride in a car with someone you don’t know or trust. Avoid inexperienced drivers, especially those with less than one year of experience.

The research team would like to see policy changes and strengthened enforcement measures that will help improve the safety of teenage drivers and their passengers.

Source: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Sensex gains most in three weeks

2008-02-14T16:51:00.000-08:00

MUMBAI: Indiaâ€™s Sensitive Index rose the most in nearly three weeks as faster Japanese economic growth and better-than-expected US retail sales eased concern the worldâ€™s two biggest economies are sliding into a recession.
The Bombay Stock Exchangeâ€™s Sensitive Index, or Sensex rose 817.49, or 4.8%, to 17,766.63, its biggest rise since January 25 and the largest fluctuation among indexes included in global benchmarks.

The S&P CNX Nifty added 272.55, or 5.5%, to 5,202 and Nifty Futures for February delivery advanced 5.7% to 5,187.
Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, Indiaâ€™s top maker of thermal power equipment, rose the most in 20 months after winning a contract. DLF Ltd, the nationâ€™s largest developer, rose the most in more than a week after it won the title sponsorship rights for the Indian Premier League Twenty20 cricket series.
â€œUltimately this day had to happen sooner than later,â€‌ said Gajendra Nagpal, chief executive officer at brokerage Unicon Financial Intermediaries. â€œValuations had become attractive and a lot of insurance money was waiting on the sidelines as this quarter is the peak business time for insurance companies who are flush with funds.â€‌
Private refiners Reliance Petroleum Ltd and Essar Oil Ltd along with Centurion Bank of Punjab Ltd and state-run Steel Authority of India Ltd advanced on the announcement of their inclusion in a number of MSCI Inc indexes.
Bharat Heavy gained Rs250.25, or 12.6%, to 2,232, its biggest percentage gain since June 15, 2006. It said it had won a Rs2bn ($50mn) contract from Indiaâ€™s largest explorer Oil & Natural Gas Corp Construction company Punj Lloyd Ltd rose Rs34.9, or 10.5%, to 366.5, its biggest gain in almost four months, after it said it bagged an order worth Rs11.2bn.
DLF rose Rs49.85, or 6.1%, to 864.85. Reliance Energy Ltd, the nationâ€™s second largest utility by market value, rose Rs150.05, or 9.6%, to 1,708.15, its biggest gain in three weeks.
State-run refiners gained after the government announced an increase in retail pump prices for gasoline and diesel after a gap of 20 months to lower the impact of record crude oil costs on such companies.
The Indian rupee meanwhile advanced by the most in almost four months on speculation gains in the nationâ€™s stocks will lure overseas investors to local equities.
The currency rose after the central bank said Asiaâ€™s third- largest economy can sustain â€œhighâ€‌ growth in the coming years.
The rupee rose 0.4% to 39.6175 per dollar at the close in Mumbai, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It may rise to as much as 39.5 in coming days, analysts said. â€“ Bloomberg

Four out of five of PPI claims upheld

2008-02-13T16:23:00.000-08:00

The financial ombudsman has seen an explosion of complaints about payment protection insurance and has called for banks and other firms to compensate wronged customers sooner.

The Financial Ombudsman Service says it received 1,499 complaints about payment protection insurance (PPI) in January alone. This compares with 1,832 for the whole of the 2006/07 financial year.
What's more, the Ombudsman reported that 80% of the PPI complaints it received from customers were being upheld. This compares with 32% for insurance complaints overall, 32% for buildings insurance, 43% for motor insurance and 34% for travel insurance.

PPI is supposed to cover repayments on loans, mortgages and credit cards when the holder is unable to fund them because of accident, sickness or unemployment.

It has been criticised for being overpriced and difficult, sometimes impossible, to claim on. The Competition Commission is conducting an investigation into the market after the Office of Fair Trading decided there may be evidence of detriment to consumers.

Separately, the Financial Services Authority has been tightening the guidelines that sellers of PPI must follow and has fined several firms for pushing PPI onto customers who do not want or need it.

This is Money has been at the front of the campaign to overhaul the PPI market and has produced template letters to help customer claim their money back. The high proportion of complaints being upheld by the Financial Ombudsman Service suggests companies are too often ignoring valid complaints of mis-selling.

Emma Parker, a spokeswoman for the Financial Ombudsman Service, said: 'There was a record number of complaints about PPI in January and the number is increasing month-on-month. The fact that so many are being upheld suggests that firms aren't doing enough to deal with these complaints before they come to us.

'It bares comparison with the early days of endowment policy complaints, where firms were simply turning complaints down and leaving it to the Ombudsman to deal with. We will talk with trade bodies and firms to ensure they follow our guidance on processing these claims and deal with more of them before they get to us.'

Brian Capon, head of media relations for the British Banker's Association, said: 'Banks' customer relations departments are well-staffed with people who are experienced in looking at a situation with particular regard for the customer's point of view. All claims are considered carefully, but as in the case of any complaint, the customer is entitled to ask the Financial Ombudsman Service to look at their case if they are unhappy with the bank's decision. In some cases the customer might approach the Ombudsman direct before giving their bank the opportunity to look at it first.'

Hong Kong stocks skid influenced by US economy

2008-02-06T03:33:00.000-08:00

By Margarita Snegireva. Hong Kong stocks skidded on heavy selling during a shortened session ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays on declines in HSBC Holdings and China Life, while Japanese stocks plunged on financials such as Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance and shipping forms such as Mitsui O.S.K. Lines.

Australian shares were dragged lower by mining giant BHP Billiton after it made a sweetened stock offer for rival Rio Tinto and proposed a $30 billion buyback offer.

Stock markets in South Korea, China, Taiwan and Vietnam are closed Wednesday through Friday for Lunar New Year holidays, while Hong Kong , Singaporean, Malaysian and Indonesian markets are closed Thursday and Friday.

Analysts said an unexpected contraction in the U.S. service sector announced by the Institute for Supply Management Tuesday renewed worries that the U.S. economy is entering a recession.

"The Hong Kong market is affected by the recession and financial crisis in the U.S. and Europe . The bear market will continue for a period until it reaches the bottom," said Francis Lun, a general manager at Fulbright Securities Ltd.

Hurleys look forward to retirement

2008-02-05T16:34:00.000-08:00

CUSHMAN — Finally, the phone has stopped ringing day and night.

Sam and Mary Jo Hurley recently sold their liquid petroleum gas company, Hurley’s Gas, to Heritage Propane, a division of Titan Energy Co.

They were busy this week helping with the transition and, in their spare time, taking photos and country artifacts off the log walls of their office building. They’re keeping the building and property, and Heritage is working to move all the LP gas tanks and trucks to a Batesville location which will serve as its local headquarters.

“Christmas days, I guess I’ve worked all of them,” Sam said. “Not all day. Sometimes all day. Usually, just part of the day.”

“Somebody would always call on Christmas and Thanksgiving,” Mary Jo said. “They’d be out of gas.”

The same went for nights and weekends, since the business phone rang in at their home.

The Hurleys started the business in 1985 after Sam had spent 24 years working for another gas company. Knowing the business well, he decided to strike out on his own.

“I started out with nothing,” he said. “I didn’t have a gas customer.”

But, he said, being in his hometown of Cushman, “I knew everybody and everybody knew me. I built a little log building for an office.

“I didn’t even have a phone number (listed) for six months.”

Sam said Jimmy Hughes, then production manager for the Batesville Daily Guard, told him, “When you get your truck, come on down by the Guard office and we’ll take a picture and get you some publicity.”

“That little piece in the Guard kept us in business,” he said, until after the next telephone directory came out.

Business just kept picking up. The Hurleys expanded the building twice and had at least 5,000 customers in four counties when they sold out.

Family members and others went to work for the company as it expanded to seven gas trucks and three service trucks. At one point, 14 family members were among the employees, the first ones being son Kenny Hurley and daughter Debbie Covington.

“All of our grandkids worked (here) during their growing up,” Mary Jo said. Some then went on to other careers. One, Kyle Covington, practically grew up in the office, she said.

Both Sam and Mary Jo were raised within a mile of Cushman. She went to college after Hurley Gas got under way and, after graduating, taught school at Cushman for more than 20 years.

Heritage is keeping all of Hurley’s employees, including family members, who want to stay.

Sam said he and Mary Jo decided to sell for a variety of reasons. One factor was getting a good offer for the business.

Another was the Department of Homeland Security’s continual issuing of new regulations, which made for more and more governmental red tape.

Expenses, as with all businesses, also continue to climb, which could make any business less profitable and, finally, Sam said, “As far as I know, we’re in good health now and we don’t need to work right up till we die.”

“We built us a good business,” Mary Jo said. “But everything comes to an end,” Sam added.

“The timing was right,” he said.

The two spent all of their lives around Cushman except for three years in Tulsa, Okla., right after they married. He worked for an oil field equipment company there and she worked for an insurance firm.

When the 1959 recession hit and Sam was laid off, they left Tulsa and came home. Sam admits he was a bit homesick.

“We didn’t like it. Too many people there for me,” he said.

Sam plans to spend more time taking care of his cattle and, in the summer, putting up hay.

“I enjoy that. It relaxes me to do that,” he said.

Mary Jo said she will do more canning and freezing garden produce and just enjoying the freedom of being outdoors.

“I like the country and I like the outdoors,” she said.

“She may have to drive a tractor this summer,” Sam said, grinning.

“I don’t know about that,” she said, looking at him pointedly.

Sam said he used to like to hunt and fish but hasn’t had the time for years. “I may wet a hook this summer,” he said.

“With this gas business, you never have any spare time — nights, weekends, Sundays, there’s always something going on.”

And every time something was going on, well, that ringing sound was the telephone again.

They may travel a bit as they become accustomed to having some time of their own. They had only three vacations in the past 23 years, but enjoyed them, Sam said, listing some of the places they went — Yellowstone Park, the Black Hills and Pike’s Peak on one trip, and to California on another.

For now, though, the couple plans to just be homebodies and maybe spend a little extra time with their first great-grandchild.

Mary Jo’s even got a new apron to use for one of the things she enjoys most — cooking.

“I’m a country girl. Wayne Stout sent me an apron the other day. It’s made of denim. I like to cook and I like to play the piano. I play the piano at church.”

Sam said he’s been asked to grow some sugar cane and make molasses this fall. “I doubt if I do that.” But, he said, “I might.”

When he was a teenager, he worked in the Cushman manganese mines and enjoys telling mining stories.

His folks also had him doing migrant work, picking cotton in south Arkansas, tomatoes in Indiana and working with various crops, including asparagus, in Michigan.

But now, it’s time to relax a little.

“We’ve been tied down for so many years, we won’t know what it’s like to be footloose,” Mary Jo said.

Principal Financial Q4 Profit Plunges, Revenues Rise; Backs FY08 EPS View [PFG]

2008-02-04T16:26:00.000-08:00

Insurance services provider Principal Financial Group Inc. (PFG) Monday reported a sharp decline in fourth quarter earnings, hurt by substantial capital losses amounting to nearly $211 million. However, revenues for the quarter increased from last year on continuing strength of the company's major business segments. Principal Financial reaffirmed its earnings forecast growth for fiscal 2008. Additionally, the company repurchased 1.1 million shares of its common stock for $70 million, during the quarter.

Fourth Quarter

Net income available to common shareholders for fourth quarter fell to $34.1 million or $0.13 per share from $284.1 million or $1.04 per share in the fourth quarter of the previous year. Quarterly operating income, excluding capital losses and other adjustments, decreased to $225.8 million or $0.86 per share from $252.0 million or $0.93 per share in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2006. Thirteen Wall Street analysts polled by First Call/Thomson had a consensus earnings estimate of $1.01 per share.

The company said its income from continuing operations for the recent quarter plunged to $21.8 million from $262.4 million in the year ago quarter.

The Des Moines, Iowa-based company recorded total GAAP revenues of $2.564 billon for the fiscal quarter, higher than $2.560 billion in the prior year quarter. Non-GAAP operating revenues for the quarter were $2.902 billion, compared to $2.537 billion in the year ago quarter. The Street expected fourth quarter revenues of $2.89 billion.

Net investment income for the quarter advanced to $1.038 billion from $924.1 million in the same quarter last year.

Operating revenues from the U.S Asset Accumulation segment for the fourth quarter increased to $1.300 billion from $1.085 billon in the last year quarter. Global Asset Management revenues for the quarter advanced to $174.1 million from $149.5 million in the comparable quarter last year. The company posted International Asset Management and Accumulation revenues of $255.4 million for the quarter, compared to $128.6 million in the comparable quarter of the prior year. Operating revenue from the Life and Health Insurance segment improved to $1.222 billion from $1.210 billion in the fourth quarter of 2006.

Results for the quarter included net realized/unrealized capital losses of $211.5 million, including $134.8 million of losses related to impairments of fixed maturity securities, $33.5 million of impairments on equity securities, unrealized capital losses of $26.3 million and $21.3 million of realized capital losses related to derivative positions.

Barry Griswell, Chairman of Principal Financial commented, “In 2007, our three key growth engines - U.S. Asset Accumulation, Principal Global Investors and Principal International - continued to demonstrate strong fundamentals. Total company assets under management (AUM) increased $54 billion, or 21 percent, including nearly $20 billion of net cash flows, and each of our three asset management and accumulation segments delivered record earnings, improving $111 million or 15 percent for the year on a combined basis.”

On January 23, 2008, analysts at Credit Suisse downgraded Principal Financial shares to “Underperform” from “Neutral” and lowered its price target to $57 from $69. The brokerage reduced its 2008 EPS estimate for the company to $4.25 from $4.45.

During fourth quarter, Principal Financial repurchased 1.1 million shares of its common stock for $70 million, completing the previously announced share repurchase authorization of up to $250 million.

Prior Quarter

For third quarter, the company reported net income of $240.5 million, compared to $259.2 million for the year-ago quarter. Net income available to common shareholders for the third quarter was $232.3 million or $0.87 per share, compared to $251.0 million or $0.92 per share in the prior year quarter.

Excluding special items, operating earnings for third quarter were $312.9 million or $1.17 per share, compared to $254.7 million or $0.94 per share in the third quarter of last year.

Total operating revenues for third quarter increased 20% to $2.94 billion from $2.46 billion in the same quarter last year.

Full Year

For fiscal 2007, the company reported net income available to common shareholders of $827.3 million or $3.09 per share, compared to $1.031 billion or $3.74 per share in the previous year. Operating income for the year rose to $1.058 billion or $3.95 per share from $972.1 million or $3.74 per share a year earlier. Analysts expected the company to earn $4.10 per share for the year.

GAAP revenues for the year grew to $10.907 billion from $9.87 billion in fiscal 2006. On a non-GAAP basis, the company posted annual operating revenues of $11.250 billion, compared to $9.826 billion in 2006. Wall Street analysts were looking for annual revenues of $11.23 billion.

Outlook

Looking ahead, Principal Financial reaffirmed its projection for fiscal 2008 earnings growth between 11% and 13%, while annual operating ROE is still estimated to grow by nearly 50 basis points.

Competitors

Amongst others in the market, investment services provider Nationwide Financial Services Inc. (NFS) is scheduled to release its fourth quarter financial results on Thursday. Analysts expect NFS to post earnings of $1.12 per share for fourth quarter. Insurance services provider Manulife Financial Corp. (MFC) will be announcing its fourth quarter results on February 14, 2008, with analysts expecting earnings of $0.73 per share.

Another sweep for LU

2008-02-03T02:32:00.000-08:00

This time, most of the drama between the Lakehead Thunderwolves and the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks was served up on the ice.
Delayed airplanes, a snowy tarmac and league appeals stepped aside as the two bitter OUA hockey rivals got together for a penalty-ridden, goal-happy 7-5 Lakehead win on Saturday night at Fort William Gardens. The victory leaves the No. 5-ranked Thunderwolves one win or a Western Mustangs‘ loss shy of clinching the top seed in the West conference.
“You want to be playing your best hockey at the end of the season going into the playoffs,” said Thunderwolves centre Tobias Whelan, who scored twice and added two assists. “With nine wins in a row now against some pretty good teams, it‘s good confidence for us.”
Whelan, scoring one of his team‘s five powerplay goals on the night, and Brock McPherson, who set the team points record in a regular season with his 43rd, scored to open the third period and erase a 3-2 Golden Hawks lead. Kris Hogg pushed the lead to 5-3, but J.M. Rizk and Riley Moher of the Golden Hawks scored late to nullify Andrew Brown‘s would-be insurance empty net goal.
Whelan wrapped up Lakehead‘s 21st win of the season – tying a team record – with one last goal into the empty cage.
“We needed two late empty-netters there,” Lakehead coach Don McKee said. “We‘re pretty confident all night long we were taking the play to them.”
Many on both sides, namely McKee, tried to move on from Friday‘s sticky situation when the Golden Hawks arrived at the arena an hour before the scheduled game time due to travel delays and asked for a postponement of the game.
McKee refused, forcing Golden Hawks coach Kelly Nobes, who told reporters after their 3-2 loss on Friday that the Thunderwolves pushed through with the game to continue for monetary purposes over the well-being of his players, to file an appeal to the OUA.
Twenty-four hours and another road loss later, he was short with the media.
“I believe it‘s already gone to the (Laurier athletic director). The process has already started,” he said of the appeal. “It leaves a bad taste in your mouth. I said what I said (Friday) and I‘m not going to get into it now.”
Thanks to the 22 total powerplays handed out by referee Grant Sherred, Saturday‘s win posed another test to the Thunderwolves in another tight game: Don‘t get burned on late penalties. Lakehead killed two of three Golden Hawks man-advantages to survive.
“Late in the game we had to bear down,” defenceman Mitch Maunu said.
Mark Soares and Dan Speer also scored for the Thunderwolves while Kyle Moir made 26 saves, including a stretching block on Luke Girard‘s breakaway attempt in the second period, for the win.
“All in all in the second period, Moir gave us some big saves while they were pressing a little,” McKee said. “I give him a lot of credit for his patience and we were able to get it going in the third.”

Dog Tags: Mike Wehrstedt and Matt Jacques had their families ushered onto centre ice before the game while they were honoured on seniors night. Wehrstedt added an assist – his 100th point in a Lakehead uniform – in the win. . . . Lakehead (21-3-1) wraps up the regular season on the road next weekend with a game against Toronto and two games against Western. Should they clinch the top seed, they wouldn‘t open the playoffs until the conference semifinals on Feb. 20. . . . Hogg left the game late in the third period after colliding with a Laurier player. He was favouring his left leg, but returned to watch the end of the game from the bench.

Migrants are China's 'factories without smoke'

2008-02-02T15:44:00.000-08:00

HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- In the crowds still stranded by snow at train stations around China stand some of the country's most valuable economic assets: migrant workers.

This group of 150 million to 200 million farmers -- more than the population of the United Kingdom, France and Australia combined -- account for the majority of employees in China's world-beating manufacturing sector, the bulk of its coal miners and most of its construction workers.

During the past two decades, according to a conservative estimate from UNESCO and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, migrants have contributed 16 percent of gross domestic product growth.

Living for years at a time in coastal cities, China's migrant workers have built the country's skyscrapers and assembled its exports, sending tens of billions of dollars in earnings home to their families in poor inland provinces. For the workers known as "factories without smoke," the Chinese New Year holiday that starts in less than a week is often their only annual vacation.

The forces that brought these smokeless factories to the cities took shape in the early 1980s, when Beijing, as part of an easing of central controls on the economy, loosened internal mobility regulations. Farmers have been pouring out of the countryside ever since, in what is believed to be the world's largest internal migration.

They leave for mostly economic reasons: wages in the cities are higher than what workers could earn at home. And life there, many find, is more exciting than back on the farm.

Today, migrants dominate the Chinese labor force in dirty and dangerous trades: 70 percent of construction workers, 68 percent of manufacturing employees, and 80 percent of coal miners are migrant workers. But not all are on their hands and knees. More than 60 percent of staff in the service trade, according to state media, are migrants as well.

On average, migrants tend to be among the best educated people in their villages. Still, many have little more than a junior high school diploma. Many migrate as teenagers, often with friends or neighbors, leaving behind their family in the countryside. More than half are men, but the toy and shoe factories of southern China prefer women -- they are easier to control, managers say, and their fingers more nimble.

Wages vary by city and company, but many migrants in export factories in the south take home about Rmb1,000 a month ($139) -- or even more. They sleep 12 to a room in bunkbed dormitories furnished by their employers, working six and sometimes seven days a week for months at a time. Wages are not always paid on time, occasionally not at all.

Victims of occupational disease, lacking of insurance

As little as a fifth of migrant workers in southern China's Guangdong province, according to one Hong Kong non-governmental organization, have medical insurance. China's household registration or hukou system links social benefits to the place where one is registered, and most migrants are still registered in their rural hometowns, hundreds of miles away from where they work. About 90 percent of the victims of occupational disease in China are migrants.

These migrants' schedules are dictated by the fluctuations of demand from their foreign customers: winter is peak season for lawn furniture factories, for example. But most of the factories in southern China are busiest in summer, as they fill orders for the Christmas season.

Many of these plants close for the first months of the year and take the Chinese New Year holiday off, triggering an exodus of migrants as those who can afford the train and bus tickets travel home to see their families.
Much has changed since Chinese farmers began arriving in the cities two decades ago. Some of today's migrant workers are "second generation" -- the sons and daughters of the first generation of migrant workers. Most were born after China introduced a family planning policy in 1979, so they come from smaller families. Second generation migrants tend to be more demanding employees: they are pickier about where they work, preferring factories with better facilities and wages.

Their preferences, along with a rapid growth in factories in the Yangtze River Delta around Shanghai and a rise in rural incomes, have contributed to labor shortages in Guangdong province in the last several years. In response, the government is raising the minimum wage and strengthening labor laws. Forced to compete for workers for the first time in more than a decade, factory managers are building basketball courts and libraries, installing air conditioners and improving their cafeteria menus.
Beijing, too, is realizing the importance of migrant workers as a political constituency. The state-controlled labor union, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, is targeting migrants in a recruitment drive. The government is expanding insurance coverage for migrant workers.

State media cover their hardships regularly. "Migrant Workers: We Need Them Just Like They Need Us," read one headline in the China Daily last March. As the appearance of premier Wen Jiabao at the packed Guangzhou train station this week illustrated, migrants are crucial to keeping China's economic development on track.

Clinton Advisers Criticize Obama Mailer

2008-02-01T15:54:00.000-08:00

(AP) Advisers to Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton Friday complained vehemently about a Barack Obama campaign mailer that criticizes Clinton's health plan, with one adviser likening the mailer to "Nazis marching through Skokie, Illinois."

Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson disavowed the analogy leveled by Len Nichols, a health policy expert at the New America Foundation who has consulted with Clinton and other candidates on their proposals.

But the remark still reflected the emotional dispute over how best to achieve universal health care, a key concern of many Democratic primary voters.

The Obama mailer, which the Clinton campaign traced to mailboxes in North Dakota and Alaska, shows a young couple sitting at a table, appearing to puzzle over a stack of bills.

"Hillary's plan forces everyone to buy insurance, even if you can't afford it," the headline reads.

On a conference call with reporters, Clinton advisers complained the image and the message closely resembled the $100 million "Harry and Louise" TV ad campaign waged by the insurance industry in 1994 to kill the former first lady's effort to reshape the health care system. In those ads, a middle class couple sat at a table worrying about the Clinton plan's complexities and wondering if they might lose the right to choose their own doctors.

Clinton campaign policy director Neera Tanden said the mailer falsely suggests that the New York senator's plan wouldn't bring down costs. She noted that Clinton would offer tax subsidies to help pay for insurance and would seek other cost controls before enforcing a mandate to buy coverage.

Obama, Tanden said, "betrays the cause of universal health care. For a potential Democratic nominee to be attacking universal care is quite stunning."

Nichols of the New America Foundation went farther.

"I am personally outraged at the picture used in this mailing," Nichols, a supporter of the so-called universal mandate said. "It is as outrageous as having Nazis march through Skokie, Illinois."

In late 1970s, the American Nazi party won a court battle over the right to march through the predominantly Jewish Chicago suburb of Skokie, home to many Holocaust survivors. Despite their victory, the white supremacists decided to hold their demonstration in a Chicago park instead.

While both Clinton and Obama have outlined detailed plans to make health care more affordable and accessible, Clinton would require everyone to carry insurance while Obama would make enrollment voluntary. The two have clashed repeatedly over the matter, with Obama saying people cannot be required to buy insurance if they can't afford it, and Clinton saying universal enrollment is the only way to bring down insurance costs.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton responded by pointing to comments by Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy, a longtime champion of universal health care who endorsed Obama earlier this week.

"It's the passion of my life, universal comprehensive health care, and I wouldn't support Barack Obama unless I was absolutely convinced that he was for universal comprehensive health care as well," Kennedy said in a television interview. "I've tried for 38 years to get the universal comprehensive health care. I've supported 12 different proposals to try to get there. Elect Barack Obama and we will get there."

Ohio Supreme Court: Traffic cameras are legal

2008-01-31T16:33:00.000-08:00

The streetside traffic-enforcement cameras in Akron, Cleveland and several other Ohio towns aren't going away any time soon.
The Ohio Supreme Court refused to snap a lens cap on the cameras Thursday, ruling unanimously that the cities that use the cameras as the basis for ticketing motorists aren't overstepping their municipal authority.

A "fundamental misunderstanding"

The camera-challenging plaintiffs took a clever tack, implying they should actually be treated more harshly for breaking the law. Moving violations are criminal offenses, their lawsuit claimed, with traffic-court hearings, points assessed against one's license and even license revocation as possible consequences. But snapshot-caught violations get treated more like parking tickets -- civil cases, with no penalty beyond a fine.

That, the suit contended, "decriminalizes" speeding and red-light running, which clashes with state laws, so municipalities overstepped their authority. Nonsense, replied the court. Akron's speeding and red-light laws remain intact, and police can still enforce them. "The Akron ordinance complements, rather than conflicts with, state law," wrote Justice Judith Ann Lanzinger.

Due next: Due process

"This case isn't over," declared Warner Mendenhall, an Akron attorney who filed the challenge on his defendant wife's behalf. Opponents are still fighting the cameras on the grounds that the hearings set up for motorists to challenge their citations trounce the U.S. Constitution's due-process protections. U.S. District Judge David Dowd will decide that in a process that could take months to resolve.

Studies: Camera enforcement works

Studies consistently show that bad driving abates near camera surveillance. One example in a study released Thursday by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety: Montgomery County, Md., saw a 70-percent plunge in the proportion of vehicles speeding more than 10 mph faster than the posted speed limits in areas where cameras were installed. The mere specter of cameras worked, the Maryland study found: Where camera warnings were posted, speeding dropped by 39 percent even when the cameras weren't in place. Another example: A yearlong test of red-light cameras in two Virginia cities showed red-light running was slashed by 69 percent after camera deployment, according to an Old Dominion University study published a year ago. The risk of a red-light violation at the target intersections was 3.59 times higher within a year after the cameras were yanked in July 2005, that study found.

Don't shake the moneymaker

Cleveland and other cities often deny they use the cameras as revenue machines, but it's certainly in their fiscal best interest that the programs survive challenges. Cleveland, where cameras now generate nearly 120,000 citations a year, collected more than $14 million in fines from its program in the last two years, including $8.28 million in 2007. But, said Cleveland Law Director Robert Triozzi, the cameras aren't about revenue. "This program is designed to make our neighborhoods safer," he insisted Thursday. "Nobody in this town should feel the right to break the law with impunity."

Banks cream £1,200 profit from every £20 PPI policy sold with loans

2008-01-30T04:23:00.001-08:00

UK banks and insurance companies are making profits of up to 982 per cent on payment protection insurance(PPI) policies sold with loans, according to a report by The Competition Commission.

The findings of the latest investigation, presented as a Working Paper, found that lenders are making in excess of £2.6 billion a year from the controversial PPI scheme, with the average revenue from a single premium personal loan PPI policy for banks coming in at £1,200.

Along with the two main consumer regulators, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the Competition Commission is carrying out investigations into high-pressure selling tactics that have resulted in many polices being inappropriately and unfairly sold to customers.

With common complaints such as back pain and mental health failing to secure a payout, it has since been revealed that cash earned from PPI that has helped the personal loan remain profitable for banks and other providers. In its report, the Competition Commission stated that: "The personal loans business has suffered from declining profits in recent years to the point where in 2006 it appears to have been loss making before taking into account income from PPI."

Further research by the Post Office has also found that PPI linked to a loan can cost five times more than standalone PPI, saving on average £705 over the period of the loan. Post Office Head of Protection Products, Duncan Caesar-Gordon, has called for a "more transparent" and "fairer marketplace."

The Post Office found average monthly PPI premiums stood at £28.05 – or £14.88 for every £100 of cover. "The Post Office has been calling for an open market for PPI sales since 2006, where providers are honest with customers that other, cheaper, standalone products are available, and has contributed to the Competition Commission's investigation to this effect," said Mr. Caesar-Gordon.

"Many customers continue to have little understanding of PPI and some do not even realise they have this insurance in force. Others, who have been at the hands of aggressive sales tactics, can feel they have no choice but to take the expensive policy tied to a loan or credit card if they want their application to be accepted," he added.

Tim Moss, Head of Loans at moneysupermarket.com, has also critisised the current trend of mis-selling PPI: "This study may well bring a return to old-fashioned banking where the headline rate told you everything about a loan. Lenders may have to go back to the days where they made their money out of the interest rate they charged, rather than the additional products they sell."

However he warned that a change in the regulations could be reflected in a new pricing structure: "There will be more transparent pricing, but market-leading loans could well go from six or seven per cent up to eight or nine per cent, if PPI is clamped down on. Rates would have to go up to replace lost profits."

Lift Canada bank, insurance merger limits: Manulife

2008-01-28T15:26:00.000-08:00

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada should allow its financial services companies -- banks and insurers -- to merge, subject to some conditions, Dominic D'Alessandro, the chief executive of Manulife Financial Corp , the country's biggest insurer, said on Monday.

"We should be looking at allowing cross-pillar mergers ... provided the widely held rule was preserved, and competition remained vigorous," D'Alessandro said during a panel discussion organized by the Conference Board of Canada in Toronto.

"Cross-pillar mergers" refers to tie-ups between banks and insurance companies, but D'Alessandro later hinted that barriers that stop banks uniting with banks and insurers joining up with their peers in Canada should also be scrapped.

Within Canada, there are now 10 or 11 "sizable" financial institutions, he said.

"Maybe, with a small population base like ours, we can't support 10 or 11. But we can support six or seven," he said.

In 1998, the Liberal government rejected two proposed bank mergers. Current Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, of the ruling Conservative Party, has repeatedly said bank mergers are not a priority for his government.

Flaherty repeated that position on Monday despite a resurgence in pressure recently from several quarters, including Canada's big banks, to end merger restrictions. The banks argue that without takeovers the country's institutions are becoming uncompetitive globally.

Under the "widely held" rule, ownership of Canada's big banks and life insurance companies is limited to 20 percent.

Manulife this month bought C$500 million worth of shares, in a private placement by Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce , making it one of the biggest shareholders in Canada's fifth biggest bank.

(Reporting by Jonathan Spicer; writing by Nicole Mordant; editing by Renato Andrade)

Step up efforts in AIDS campaign

2008-01-27T15:36:00.000-08:00

When Wen Jiabao and then Hu Jintao visited AIDS patients in Beijing hospitals in 2003 and in 2004 respectively, the Chinese government seemed prepared to confront the virus head on. But, such action has come too late and has proved to be as weak as the disease is virulent.
Foreign and local businesses in China, with a special role to play, are similarly tardy even as the virus is increasingly landing on their own doorsteps.

Official and unofficial statistics differ, but taking a median position, it's likely there are around one million Chinese infected with HIV, the virus leading to AIDS. Infection rates are climbing at a rate of around 30 percent annually and the most affected group is between 15-29, the country's key productive and consumer demographic and, essentially, China's future.

It looks dire, a conviction confirmed in a report by the United Nations AIDS office. In 2002, UNAIDS published a report on the disease on the mainland called, dramatically, "China's Titanic Peril."

It argued: "A potential HIV/AIDS disaster of unimaginable proportion now lies in wait to rattle the country, and it can be feared that in the near future, China might count more HIV infections than any other country in the world."

Part of the rationale for that gloomy projection is the manner of the virus' spread. In South Africa, for instance, it has been noted that when the virus first took hold in the early 1990s, its prevalence rate was at just 1 percent. By 2003, it was at 20 percent and rising fast.

The shape of HIV's establishment in a population puts the onus on officials to act quickly. This China has not done. The first AIDS case in the mainland was detected in 1985.

Despite this, as with SARS outbreaks some years later, Beijing buried its head. It was not until 2003 that Beijing initiated assistance packages and prevention measures, such as the "Four Free and One Care" policy. It was not until 2006 that the State Council launched the government's first real preventative legislation and admitted AIDS was an issue needing such high profile attention. Beijing's laxity has clearly left many gaps in the AIDS landscape in China. This puts both a moral and an economic obligation on to the private sector.

Unfortunately, in general, the corporate sector has followed Beijing's poor lead and has tended to find the same sand pit for its troubled head. The moral case is clear. Morality is deemed to come at a cost.

In an article on the business response to AIDS in the Harvard Business Review published in 2006, authors Mergen Reddy and Boetie Swanepoel noted: "The root constraint for companies trying to manage HIV, we believe, is not the inadequacy of therapies or education, but cost." The question of direct cost comes down to a balance between losing workers, both existing and potential and consumers, and the cost of finding ways to lessen the impact of the disease.

Reddy and Swanepoel have devised risk-trading measures, via already existing corporate insurance policies, and a schedule of investment instruments allowing employers (in the mining sector, which was the target industry) to cut the costs of employee treatment by up to 40 percent, leading to a halving of employee absenteeism rates.

Any such programs must be founded on excellent stakeholder communications with relevant bodies.

In China, this would include government and any of the many civil groups active in the field.

A new report from the World Economic Forum showed 47 partnerships have been set up in around one million workplaces around the world.

Businesses in China therefore have plenty of models. They have had plenty of warning.

But action is so far limited.

There is no time to waste on AIDS in China, which just makes it all the more bizarre as to why that commodity is indeed being squandered.

Ex-WellPoint Exec Accused of Womanizing

2008-01-26T03:13:00.000-08:00

INDIANAPOLIS -- David Colby was one of corporate America's most admired executives before he was abruptly fired last spring for what was vaguely described at the time as misconduct of a "non-business nature." Now details about his personal life are spilling out, and it's clear he was more than just Wall Street's darling.

In a cluster of lawsuits gathered up by The Associated Press, the former chief financial officer of health insurance giant WellPoint Inc. is depicted as a corporate Casanova _ a world-class, love-'em-and-leave-'em sort of guy who romanced dozens of women around the country simultaneously, made them extravagant promises and then went back on his word with all the compassion of a health insurance company denying a claim.

One woman says Colby got her pregnant and harangued her via text message ("ABORT!!") to terminate the pregnancy. He also allegedly gave some of his girlfriends sexually transmitted diseases, and proposed to at least 12 women since 2005.

The allegations are contained in lawsuits filed before and after Colby's departure by three women who say they were ill-used by the businessman.

Colby and his attorneys have refused to comment, though in court papers he has disputed some of the allegations, and one of the lawsuits was thrown out a few months ago by a judge who found insufficient grounds for legal action.

By all accounts, the 54-year-old Colby _ a pudgy, bespectacled figure with salt-and-pepper hair _ charmed attractive women by showering them with compliments and gifts. While at least one of his accusers was a WellPoint underling, it appears he met many of the other women outside of work, via online dating sites, and he has not been accused of workplace sexual harassment.

"I'm not surprised that there are women who would come forward with the same story, because that appears to be Dave's modus operandi," said Mark Hathaway, a lawyer for two of the women who sued. "We've been contacted by a number of women."

His ouster is the latest, and perhaps the most lurid, in a string of cases in which corporate chieftains were bounced for alleged misbehavior outside the boardroom.

Last year, HBO's chief executive was forced out after being charged with throttling his girlfriend. Before that, a Boeing CEO lost his job after admitting to an affair with a female underling.

"There's no question companies are much more sensitive to ethical conduct on the part of their executives," W. Michael Hoffman, executive director for the Center for Business Ethics at Bentley College in Waltham, Mass., said after Colby's ouster.

It was Colby who helped put together the $16.4 billion deal that created Indianapolis-based WellPoint in 2004. He was named best CFO in managed care for four years in a row by Institutional Investor magazine. Stockholders and Wall Street professionals saw the Columbia University graduate as someone who "gave it to you straight," said stock analyst Thomas Carroll.

"He would give you the good news along with the bad news," Carroll said. "If he said something, you could really hang your hat on it."

A Look at the 2008 Presidential Race

2008-01-25T15:39:00.000-08:00

Clinton picks up emotional endorsements from black women in SC ... Obama looks to appeal to women ahead of SC primary ... Republican officials: Florida Sen. Mel Martinez to endorse McCain ... Edwards aims at Clinton-Obama fight on trail and in ads ... Huckabee focuses on widening Interstate 95 ... Kucinich quits presidential race ... Romney says his business background better qualifies him to fix the economy

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Clinton gains black endorsements in S.C.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton gathered emotional endorsements Friday from two prominent black women who implored blacks to set aside their excitement about her rival Barack Obama's campaign to be the first black president.

In the run-up to Saturday's South Carolina Democratic primary, the first in which blacks could play a pivotal role, Clinton has spoken to mostly white audiences while her husband, Bill, the former president, has courted blacks. But that changed Friday when she made an explicit pitch for black support in a speech at a historically black college in South Carolina's state capital, surrounded by prominent black supporters.

Polls show blacks strongly supporting Obama in the state, while Clinton and John Edwards roughly split the white vote.

Meanwhile, Clinton and the Florida Democratic Party clamored to restore the state's convention delegates. The national party eliminated Florida's 185 delegates after the state broke party rules against holding their primary before Feb. 5.

Clinton leads almost 2-to-1 in the Sunshine State. She said Friday — just four days before Florida's primary — that she wants the convention delegates from there and Michigan reinstated.

Michigan also lost its Democratic delegates for moving up its contest. Clinton could claim most of its delegates because she won the state's primary after the other major candidates pulled their names from the ballot.

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Obama focuses on women's concerns in SC

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Democrat Barack Obama looked to appeal to women's concerns, vowing to boost government spending on preschool, preventive health care and other programs.

Obama held consecutive events with small groups of women in South Carolina's two largest cities a day ahead of the state's Democratic presidential primary. He hopes to cut into rival Hillary Rodham Clinton's support among women, who were crucial to her victory in New Hampshire.

Sitting at a table with four women in Charleston, and then another four in Columbia, Obama said the Bush administration has reduced social programs vital to working families and single parents.

At his Columbia stop, the Illinois senator said he wants the federal government to work more actively with states to prevent mortgage foreclosures for struggling families.

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Florida senator to endorse McCain

MIAMI (AP) — Florida Sen. Mel Martinez endorsed Republican John McCain on Friday, a move that is likely to give the Arizona senator a crucial boost with the state's Cuban-Americans before the state's primary on Tuesday.

"I understand that he is ready on Day One to lead this nation, and I would trust the future and the security of this nation to this man," Martinez said in his introduction of McCain at the Latin Builders Association.

The decision is a blow to Rudy Giuliani, who's competing with McCain for support of voters in the Cuban-American community. Martinez, who was born in Cuba, emigrated to the United States as a teenager and is popular in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood.

McCain told the builders group that there is no need for a national catastrophic insurance fund in hurricane-weary Florida, saying he could bring the industry and government together to protect homeowners.

"I can ... get governors, legislatures and all of the people together, and insurance companies, and we can sit down and make insurance possible across state lines, establish risk pools and make sure every homeowner has the ability to insure their home for the future from national disaster," McCain said.

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Edwards aims at rivals' fight in ads

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Democrat John Edwards sought to underscore squabbling between his rivals that has intensified in the days leading to South Carolina's primary vote.

Making light of the clash between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, Edwards joked Friday that he had considered asking the two to have dinner with him at a relative's house. That changed after Monday night's debate, he said.

"We saw all of the petty, personal bickering," Edwards told several hundred people at a restaurant. "That may be the way they do politics in New York, that may be the way that they do politics in Chicago. But South Carolina's better than that."

Edwards' campaign on also launched a radio and a television ad focused on the "personal attacks" between his rivals.

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Huckabee talks of widening I-95

MIAMI (AP) — Republican Mike Huckabee said the nation's economy would benefit from improved highways and transportation, including his proposal to widen the major East Coast artery — Interstate 95.

Huckabee said better roads would enable parents to spend less time stuck in traffic and more with their children — leading to stronger family ties.

"There is a direct economic correlation between the strength of marriage and family and the strength of America's economy," Huckabee told an audience of Christian business people on Friday. He mentioned no studies on that relationship.

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Kucinich abandons White House bid

CLEVELAND (AP) — Democrat Dennis Kucinich Friday abandoned his presidential bid to focus on a tough race for re-election to Congress.

Speaking at a union hall, Kucinich told supporters who chanted "Dennis, Dennis," that he would work to keep his campaign promises, not as president, but as a member of the U.S. House.

"I won't be president, but I can continue to fight for these important issues as the United States congressman representing the community that is first in my heart, Cleveland, Ohio," he said.

Kucinich made an urgent appeal on his Web site this week for congressional campaign contributions as "the only candidate who can't be bought — 'cause he's not for sale."

The six-term House member got only 1 percent of the vote in the New Hampshire presidential primary and was shut out in the Iowa caucuses.

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Romney touts his economic credentials

MIAMI (AP) — Former venture capitalist Mitt Romney asserted Friday he is better equipped than his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination — who all have more government experience — because "the only way to get America on track economically is to have a president who actually understands how the economy works."

With fear of a recession growing, Romney tried to build on a strong debate performance the prior evening by reiterating his outsider's credentials as a businessman. He blamed government paralysis in Washington for failure to expand health insurance coverage, end illegal immigration and wean the country from foreign oil.

"And part of what we're seeing right now in our economy is one of the manifestations of failing to act on the part of Washington," Romney told a breakfast meeting of the Latin Builders Association Inc.

Speaking to reporters on his bus elsewhere in Florida, rival John McCain insisted his service on the Senate Commerce Committee is better preparation for overseeing the U.S. economy than Romney's private-sector experience.

"Running an investment company is probably a good thing to do. Making national policy concerning our economy is probably more beneficial to the nation," the Arizona senator said.

___

Weather forecast for parts of South Carolina on Saturday:

Conditions in Greenville: Cloudy skies early to partly cloudy later. High 50, low 31.

Conditions in Charleston: Rain showers early, then mostly cloudy skies. High 54, low 37. Chance of precipitation, 40 percent.

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THE DEMOCRATS

Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards campaign in South Carolina. Dennis Kucinich held an afternoon news conference in Ohio to announce plans for quitting the presidential race.

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THE REPUBLICANS

Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Mike Huckabee campaign in Florida.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"Senator Clinton has a record that can feed everybody. And we need to be fed." — Richland County Councilwoman Bernice Scott, who endorsed Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton, at an event in South Carolina.

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STAT OF THE DAY:

Jimmy Carter was the last Democrat to win South Carolina in a presidential election. In 1976, Carter garnered 450,807 votes compared with Gerald Ford's 346,149 votes.

House, Bush stimulus deal on fast track

2008-01-24T16:55:00.000-08:00

By Ron Scherer and Gail Russell Chaddock
Staff writers of The Christian Science Monitor

(AXcess News) New York and Washington - The roughly $150 billion spending package hammered out by the House leaders and President Bush will add some pop to the sluggish US economy by the spring and may be enough to avert or end a recession.

The plan is relatively simple for individuals, a tax rebate targeted at those who are likely to spend the money rather than save it. It will hit the economy at about the right time, say many economists of the bipartisan deal announced Thursday.

The Senate plans to put its own stamp on the plan, while respecting the goal of getting a bill to the president's desk by the President's Day recess next month.

The tentative deal calls for giving $300 to $600 for an individual filer and up to $1,200 per family, plus more for children. No rebates would go to those earning more than $75,000 ($150,000 per household). Small businesses will get a tax incentive to spend as well.

"It is no doubt positive for the economy," says Richard DeKaser, the Washington-based chief economist for National City Corp. in Cleveland. "It's a serious stimulus package, and I have little doubt its effect will be meaningful." The fiscal stimulus comes even as the Federal Reserve is aggressively dropping interest rates. On Tuesday, the nation's central banker lowered rates by 0.75 percent and is expected to drop rates again next Wednesday.

"By itself, the fiscal spending package is probably not enough to keep the economy from going into a downturn," says Mr. DeKaser. "But combined with the Federal Reserve's rate-cutting, it should be enough to keep the economy from dipping into a recession." Other economists are not so sanguine, but they say the fiscal stimulus will help to give the economy a jolt in the second quarter, which starts in April. The package could mitigate the effects of the downturn or jolt the economy out it, says economist Mark Zandi of Economy.com.

Congress and the Fed may yet have some leeway because the economic indicators are not yet tilting toward recession. For example, new claims for unemployment remained steady at 300,000 for the week ending Jan. 19, the Department of Labor reported Thursday. This indicates that so far there are no widespread layoffs, says economist Bob Brusca of Fact and Opinion Economics.

In December, concerns heightened that the economy had already slipped into recession because new jobs grew at a low rate and unemployment jumped to 5 percent. "So far it looks like January is reversing some of the dim economic statistics from December," says DeKaser.

However, on Thursday, homeowners also received news that existing sales of homes dropped 2.2 percent in December and were down 12.8 percent for all of 2007. Median home prices dropped 1.8 percent for the year, the first nominal decline in any year since the Great Depression.

However, as part of the House and Bush deal, the tax-rebate package includes a one-year temporary increase in the loans that can be purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Both of them could buy loans up to $625,000, up from $477,000 currently. This should help spur mortgage lending in such states as California and Florida, where high real estate prices have held back lending.

The deal worked out by bipartisan House leaders and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson represents significant compromises across the board for a Congress typically in gridlock - with all sides dropping elements seen as derailing the plan.The plan is on a fast track on Capitol Hill, where leaders on both sides of the aisle are promising quick action.

Republicans agreed to recalibrate the program to include more lower-income families, while Democrats gave up cherished spending programs. Democrats also urged and won relief for families caught up in the subprime mortgage debacle and expanded the plan to include wage-earning households that do not file income taxes.

Republicans claimed credit for including tax relief for employers, including a 50 percent bonus deduction on new equipment, and for holding the line on extraneous spending and tax hikes.

"I can't say I'm totally pleased with the package," said Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a briefing announcing the deal on Thursday.

"Let us praise this for what it does and not disrespect it for what it does not: It is timely targeted and temporary, and it was done in record time since our conversation with the president [on Tuesday]," she added.

Meanwhile, Senate leaders say they will give the House plan prompt but thorough consideration. "When it comes over here, we're going to take another look at it," said Senate majority leader Harry Reid. He says that he expects votes on elements that dropped out of the House version of the stimulus plan, including extended unemployment benefits.

"Every dollar spent on unemployment insurance produces $1.87 in additional spending, whereas tax rebates produce only $1.17," says Sen. Charles Schumer (D) of New York, who chairs the Joint Economic Committee.

Sen. Patty Murray (D) of Washington is urging a summer youth program and infrastructure projects to create jobs.

But even strong objections to the proposed plan are taking a back seat to the sense of urgency on Capitol Hill to be seen as as doing something on a front-burner issue.

"I'm not enthusiastic about rebates for people who don't pay income taxes, but if that's what it takes to get a bipartisan compromise, I'll probably support it," said Sen. Chuck Grassley (R) of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. "I'm not taking anything off the table."

A similar tax-rebate plan in 2002 took about 10 weeks to finish distributing $38 billion in stimulus payments. If it takes that long again, much of recipients' spending will take place in March, April, and May. The tax cut could add about 0.8 percent to the economy's growth rate in the second quarter and 0.25 percent in the next quarter, estimates economist Drew Matus of Lehman Brothers.

"If it's targeted to the right people, it could be enough to reduce the risk of recession, particularly in the light of Fed action," says Mr. Matus.

An extraordinary gift from a friend

2008-01-22T16:12:00.000-08:00

With 13 percent kidney function left, Dr. William Bennett said Richard Stafford was on his “last tank of gas.” At this rate, he would soon need dialysis.

Richard, 60, is the worship pastor at Damascus Community Church. He and his wife, Marj, share a passion for music and their faith—two gifts that brought them together in the late 1960s as students at Multnomah Bible College in Portland.

Their college friend, Dwight Hires, 59, is the pastor at La Center Evangelical Free Church in La Center, Wash. He was in the Portland area one day and thought of his old friend, so he gave him a call. He knew about Richard’s condition, but when Marj told him that it was to the point where he needed a kidney transplant or go on dialysis, Hires didn’t hesitate—he told her, “I can do that.”

“I would love for people to hear that donating a kidney is far easier than we understand,” Hires said. “It is a way that you can give extravagantly, and it costs you hardly anything.”

Richard and Marj were moved by their friends offer, but didn’t want to impose. It was Dwight who repeatedly called them about it.

“He wanted to do it,” Richard said. “He kept calling me, ‘Is this OK with you?’ He became very aggressive.”

One reason: goodness, the direction of the Lord, said Richard. The other reason: Hires’s desire to be a donor. Thirty-five years ago, he was put on the bone marrow transplant list when his sister was diagnosed with leukemia. Another family member was chosen as a better match, but it was something he passionately wanted to do.

“Richard is very thoughtful of other people,” Hires said. “He will work his fingers to the bone as opposed to asking somebody else to help him. He is very careful not to impose on anybody. When I knew that he needed a kidney I had to re-offer three times before they sent me the information, they were so worried that they may have imposed on me. They would not presume upon anybody—that shows the kindness that both Rich and Marj have.”

Bennett, who is a nephrologist (kidney specialist) and medical director of transplant services at Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital, said that it is increasingly common for friends to offer to donate, but many do not qualify. “Richard’s situation is special because a donor was found prior to him requiring dialysis,” he said, adding that finding a transplant prior to needing dialysis gives the best long term result.

A kidney donor was sought for two years, and no one in Richard’s family was a good match. A donor must have a compatible blood type, be medically acceptable and want to do it voluntarily, said Bennett. “The latter is insured by having a separate donor nurse advocate.

“If someone qualifies as a donor, medically the risks are minimal,” he said. “A donor at a given age has a greater life expectancy than a person of the same age who does not donate because they know all systems are normal—no high blood pressure, cancer, heart disease, diabetes.”

Hires was released from the hospital two days after the operation, which was on Monday, Jan. 14. Richard’s insurance paid all of Hires’s medical expenses, and will cover future costs, if any, that are a result of the donation.

“Rich couldn’t ask somebody to give him a kidney—you can’t ask for that,” Hires said. “But it’s really not a gift unless it’s given freely. All I’ve done is follow the example that Jesus set in sacrificing for others. This is small potatoes stuff.”

By donating one of his kidneys, Hires said his kidney function dropped to 50 percent, but his remaining kidney will grow large enough that within two years he’ll have 60 to 75 percent function.

One week after the operation, Dwight feels “fantastic. It’s nowhere near the operation they say it is. I’ve also had so many people praying for me—I have to give God credit for healing me this way.”

Approximately 90 kidney transplants are performed at Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital each year. “Legacy transplant was the first program in the region to offer laparoscopic donor operations (quick recovery),” Bennett said, “and provide individualized care by a dedicated team of professionals from all related disciplines—doctors, nurses, financial people, dieticians, pharmacy and social work.”

As Richard woke up after the surgery, he saw Hires in the hallway on his recovery bed. “He said, ‘I love you, man.’ And I said, ‘Thanks again, Dwight,’” Richard said. Two days later he could tell he was feeling much better than he had in a long time.

Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital transplant program specializes in kidney transplants. For more information about their program, call 503-413-6555.

J.D Power - Results of South Africa Automotive Customer Satisfaction Index Study

2008-01-21T05:11:00.000-08:00

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, January 21, 2008; Honda and Toyota models capture four segment awards each, earning more awards than any other manufacturer, according to the J.D. Power and Associates/CAR Magazine 2007 South Africa Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) Study(SM) released today.

Honda models receiving awards include the Civic, CR-V, FR-V and Jazz. Toyota models ranking highest in their respective segments are the Avensis, Hilux, Land Cruiser Prado and Tazz. Also receiving awards are the BMW X5, Fiat Panda and Opel Corsa Utility.

Now in its fourth year, the independent CSI study is a comprehensive measurement of customer satisfaction after 10 to 21 months of ownership that covers 77 attributes grouped in four factors (the importance of each factor is shown as a percentage): vehicle quality and reliability (32%); vehicle appeal (29%)-- which includes performance, design, comfort, styling and features; dealership service satisfaction (19%); and cost of ownership (20%)-- which includes fuel consumption, insurance and cost of service/repair. Importance weights are based on survey responses from vehicle owners, thus reflecting what is more important to motorists in South Africa. CSI performance is reported as an index score based on a 1,000-point scale, with a higher CSI score indicating a more satisfying ownership experience.

At the brand level, Honda ranks highest in the South Africa market for a second consecutive year, improving by 9 index points since 2006. Mercedes-Benz improves by 21 index points -- more than any other top-five ranked nameplate -- to follow Honda in the nameplate rankings. Rounding out the top five nameplates are Audi, BMW and Volvo, respectively. In addition, Honda performs particularly well in the areas of quality/reliability and Service satisfaction, while Mercedes-Benz performs well in vehicle appeal and Audi performs particularly well in ownership costs.

"Honda and Toyota models continue their strong performance in satisfying customers in South Africa," said Brian Walters, vice president of J.D. Power and Associates Europe, Middle East and Africa operations. "In both 2006 and 2007, four Toyota models ranked highest in their respective segments, while Honda has led in nameplate rankings in both years. These results are a testament to the commitment to high quality that both brands demonstrate. In addition, Mercedes-Benz maintains its ranking in the top five for a second consecutive year and improves in an impressive manner since 2006."

Overall satisfaction continues to improve steadily in the South Africa market and reaches a record-high level for a second consecutive year. Improving by 5 points since 2006, overall customer satisfaction averages 795 in the 2007 study.

"The consistent improvement in overall satisfaction in the South Africa market is good news for consumers, franchised dealers and manufacturers," said Walters. "However, there is still significant room for improvement. While customers seem to be more satisfied with vehicle quality and reliability as well as vehicle appeal, service satisfaction and ownership cost satisfaction levels are not on par."

"We are pleased to publish the latest independent J.D. Power and Associates South Africa CSI research findings, covering the overall vehicle ownership experience," said John Bentley, editor of CAR Magazine. "These findings provide our readers with quantified information from current owners, further assisting them with their vehicle purchase decisions."

In addition to South Africa, the CSI study is currently conducted in 15 other markets: Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States.

J.D. Power and Associates is recognized across the globe as the leading independent authority on customer satisfaction in the automotive industry. The firm's primary role is to help automotive manufacturers further improve their product quality and service levels through a better understanding of consumer behaviour and preferences. J.D. Power and Associates also provides topline results of its automotive studies to consumers for use as a reference point when purchasing a new vehicle.

The 2007 South Africa Customer Satisfaction Index Study is based on a representative sample of more than 8,700 new-vehicle owners who registered their vehicles between October 2005 and September 2006. The study was funded by J.D. Power and Associates as part of its global research programs in cooperation with the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), and includes a section of questions to assist the Corporation and the Department of Transport (DOT) in measuring the performance of its vehicle and drivers licensing program.

CSI Nameplate Index Ranking
(Based on a 1,000-point scale)
Honda 873
Mercedes-Benz 856
Audi 852
BMW 832
Volvo 827
Toyota 824
Daihatsu 808
Hyundai 806
Chevrolet 801
Land Rover 801
Industry Average 795
Renault 791
Mazda 790
Peugeot 788
Opel 787
Ford 786
Mitsubishi 781
Volkswagen 772
Kia 771
Citroen 764
Nissan 762
Fiat 753
Jeep 752
Tata 633

Included in the study, but not ranked due to small sample size are: Alfa
Romeo, Chrysler, Isuzu, Jaguar, Lexus, MINI and SsangYong.

Top Models per Segment in CSI
(Based on a 1,000-point scale)

Lower Compact Car
Fiat Panda 826
Ford Ka 809
Kia Picanto 804

Upper Compact Car
Toyota Tazz 773

Lower Small Car
Honda Jazz 876
Toyota Yaris 855
Hyundai Getz 837

Upper Small Car
Honda Civic (new) 886
Mercedes-Benz A-Class 859
Toyota Corolla 837

Medium Car
Toyota Avensis 870
Toyota Camry 867
Audi A4 863

Compact MPV
Honda FR-V 860
Toyota Corolla Verso 838
Volkswagen Touran 825

Compact SUV
Honda CR-V 859
Kia Sportage 813

Medium SUV
Toyota Land Cruiser Prado 856
BMW X3 854
Mitsubishi Pajero 835

Luxury SUV
BMW X5 863
Mercedes-Benz ML-Class 848
Land Rover Discovery3 844

Compact Pickup
Opel Corsa Utility 788
Ford Bantam 773
Fiat Strada (tie) 772
Nissan 1400 (tie) 772

One-Ton Pickup
Toyota Hilux 805
Nissan Navara 801
Isuzu KB 779

Customer Satisfaction Index Component Weights
Vehicle Quality and Reliability: 32%
Problems experienced with the vehicle since
delivery

Vehicle Appeal: 29%
Satisfaction with the vehicle's performance,
design, function and styling

Ownership Costs: 20%
-- Fuel consumption
-- Insurance
-- Cost of service/repairs

Service Satisfaction: 19%
-- Service initiation
-- Service adviser
-- Dealership facility
-- Vehicle pick-up
-- Service quality
About J.D. Power and Associates

Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is an ISO 9001-registered global marketing information services firm operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, performance improvement, training and customer satisfaction. The firm's quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually. For more information on car reviews and ratings, car insurance, health insurance, cell phone ratings, and more, please visit JDPower.com. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.

ABOUT CAR MAGAZINE

CAR magazine is read by an average of 915000 people each month. CAR magazine also publishes http://www.cartoday.com. The results of the J.D. Power and Associates/CAR Magazine 2007 South Africa Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) Study(SM) are published exclusively in the February 2008 issue of CAR, on newsstands Monday, 21 January 2008.

About The McGraw-Hill Companies

Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies is a leading global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, BusinessWeek and J.D. Power and Associates. The Corporation has more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2006 were US$6.3 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com.

Man dies after being shot by Taser in domestic dispute

2008-01-20T05:08:00.001-08:00

Police have confirmed the death of a man who was shot by a Taser following a domestic dispute yesterday.

A spokeswoman for Bedfordshire police said the man, in his 30s, died in hospital after the stun gun was deployed at a residential address in The Spinney, Goldington.

She said officers had been called to investigate reports of a domestic dispute involving a mother and son.

On arrival at about 19:00 GMT on Saturday, they found a man, who was already suffering unspecified injuries, wielding a knife.

He threatened the Bedfordshire police officers and a Taser was discharged, the force said.

The man subsequently retreated into the house and when located by officers was found to be "in need of urgent medical attention".

He died at Bedford hospital later on Saturday night.

The incident has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which will decide whether to launch an investigation into the incident.

The deceased man is not expected to be named until an inquest into his death is opened later this week, while a post-mortem is due to be carried out tomorrow.

Vitamin minefield

2008-01-19T03:29:00.000-08:00

Experts disagree on whether we need vitamin supplements, and the confusion is driving some people to spend big money on a daily cocktail
Marian Scott, The Ottawa Citizen; Montreal Gazette
Published: Saturday, January 19, 2008
Your eyes glaze at the bewildering display of bottles. From A to zinc, the choice is endless. Should you choose single vitamins and minerals or a multivitamin? Or how about a special formula for stress, fitness, women, men or seniors?

Wouldn't it be great to know exactly which supplements are right for you? That's what laboratories that specialize in "body chemistry balancing" promise. For several hundred dollars, they claim to identify vitamin and mineral deficiencies from a simple blood and urine test.

For David and Cheryl Solomon of Dollard des Ormeaux, Que., nutritional testing takes the guesswork out of the perennial question of whether they're getting the proper vitamins.

Six months ago, the couple and their three sons, ages six to 11, underwent testing by NutriChem, an Ottawa company founded by pharmacist Kent MacLeod that sells personalized nutritional supplements.

"The beauty of it is he'll customize the vitamin for the individual," says David Solomon, 38, who takes 20 capsules a day.

His wife and sons each take between seven and 10 capsules a day of custom-made supplements.

"This is not a jack-of-all-vitamins," says Solomon, an advertising manager for a community newspaper. "Until you get tested, you don't know what's right and what's wrong."

The family spends $1,000 a month on supplements. The initial test cost $600 per person. Most public and private health insurance plans don't cover these expenses.

"In the last few months I've been taking (the supplements), I feel fabulous," says Solomon, who used to suffer from chronic indigestion and also takes prescription medication for his digestive problems. He says the nutritional supplements have helped him digest food better and boosted his energy.

Solomon, who regards the cost of the vitamins as a long-term investment in his health, says MacLeod provides personalized care that is sorely lacking in the health care system.

"It's about get in, get out as fast as possible," he says of mainstream medicine. "We wait until we break down before we take care of something."

"This is the future," says pharmacist MacLeod, who founded NutriChem in 1981 and now provides nutritional testing and supplements to 20,000 families around the world. The company mails out kits for blood and urine samples, which customers return to Ottawa for testing, which in most cases costs about $500.

Many people are vitamin-deficient because of poor diet or problems absorbing nutrients from food, says MacLeod, whose customers range from middle-aged women with depression to professional hockey players. They hear about NutriChem from the Internet, referrals by alternative health practitioners and word of mouth.

"Ninety per cent of the Canadian population is not getting one or more (essential micronutrients)," MacLeod says. "There are people running around with no gas in the tank."

MacLeod got into the nutritional-supplement business 27 years ago by creating vitamin cocktails for children with Down syndrome. He later expanded his practice to include children and adults with conditions from autism to depression, high-performance athletes and people simply seeking optimum health.

Hundreds Attend Job Fair In Pittsfield

2008-01-18T16:16:00.000-08:00

Despite the snowy weather, hundreds of people attended a job fair in Pittsfield Thursday and Friday.

It was for Global Contact Services, a company that's looking at opening up an office in the central Maine town. The company, town and state hosted the fair. More than 350 people submitted applications.

The company says it would hire as many as 200 people to work in its call center. "The company is looking for experienced contact center representatives, licensed insurance agents and people with call center management and supervision," said Kathryn Ruth, Piitsfield's Town Manager. "We're very, very pleased with the quality of the applications that we're receiving."

Ruth says the town should find out within the next two months whether GCS will be opening a center in Pittsfield.

Bush, Fed Chairman Both Back Lift for Economy

2008-01-17T15:44:00.000-08:00

A consensus that the struggling U.S. economy needs rescue emerged on Thursday as the powerful Federal Reserve chairman backed the idea and President George W. Bush urged a quick and temporary fiscal package.
Amid worries that the United States may already be in a recession, Bush held a conference call with Democratic and Republican lawmakers in which he discussed the principles of what he would like to see in a stimulus plan.

Tax rebates, credits for business investment and extensions of unemployment insurance are among ideas being discussed.

"The most important thing is that they should be temporary, they need to be effective, they need to be things that we can get done quickly," said White House spokesman Tony Fratto.

Bush will make remarks about his ideas for boosting the economy on Friday, said Fratto, who added that the president would discuss what types of approaches he favors but not give any dollar figures or other specifics.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told a congressional committee he supported the idea of a short-term fiscal stimulus measure.

A proposal in the range of $100-150 billion would help, Bernanke said, stressing that it was "critically important" any legislation be designed to kick in quickly.

The sentiment toward rapid action was echoed by legislators.

House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, said she hoped a package could be hammered out and agreed upon by mid-February. "We have every reason to think, to be hopeful ... that we can get this job done," Pelosi said.

Before the call between Bush and the lawmakers, the White House made clear Bush had shifted from weighing the possibility of an economic package to deciding such action was warranted.

House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio said the White House and Congress were talking about a package in the $100-150 billion range.

RARE COOPERATION

Just a few weeks ago, the prospect of an agreement between Bush and the Democratic-led Congress seemed slim. The two sides engaged in fierce battles last year over issues from health care and the budget to the Iraq war.

Bush, who just returned from a nine-day Middle East tour, had indicated before the trip that he was looking at economic options but also signaled he might include in any proposal the idea of making permanent his 2001 and 2003 tax cuts.

Such a proposal would be a non-starter with Democrats.

In a sign that reaching an agreement on specifics may still be hard to achieve, one congressional aide described the president as having taken a "hard line" in the call.

But other Democrats described the conversation in more favorable terms.

"I was encouraged by the conversation with President Bush today that there is broad agreement to act quickly and in a bipartisan manner on an economic stimulus package," said House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer.

Pelosi said Bush's acknowledgment that a package was needed was "significant progress." She reiterated her view that the plan should focus on financial help for the middle class.

As the discussion in Washington has evolved since the beginning of the year, the economic news has grown bleak, with gloomy reports this week on retail sales and housing.

There have been loud calls for a measure to boost the economy from the campaign trail, where candidates are vying to succeed Bush in the Nov. 4 election.

All three major Democratic candidates -- Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards -- have offered plans containing spending and tax-cut ideas.

Republican Sen. John McCain on Thursday laid out a proposal for cuts in corporate tax rates and incentives for companies to invest in new equipment and research. One of his main Republican rivals, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, is also getting ready to unveil a plan.

Deal Watch: Gwinnett firm scores another sports deal

2008-01-16T15:47:00.000-08:00

The emergence of Gwinnett County as a home for professional sports teams—the latest being the Atlanta Braves' top minor-league affiliate—has been a boon for the Lawrenceville law firm Mahaffey Pickens Tucker.

Co-founding partner R. Lee Tucker Jr. and associate Christopher T. Wilson were lead counsel to the Gwinnett Convention and Visitors Bureau on its negotiations with the Braves on moving the team's AAA International League franchise to Gwinnett from Richmond, Va.

Tucker and Wilson said they've been in talks with the Braves on behalf of their client since October and there is much more legal work left to be completed, such as finalizing a long-term agreement between the Braves and Gwinnett and hammering out the details of a lease agreement on a new stadium. The Gwinnett Braves are slated to play their first game in Georgia in 2009.

It's the latest sports deal that Mahaffey Pickens Tucker has handled for the Gwinnett Convention and Visitors Bureau. The 10-attorney firm, which Tucker founded with two partners in May 2006, also worked on two relocations of the Georgia Force franchise of the Arena Football League—the first from Nashville, Tenn., to Gwinnett and the second from Philips Arena to the Arena at Gwinnett Center— and the deal that brought the Gwinnett Gladiators minor-league hockey team to Gwinnett from Mobile, Ala.

“It's exciting that we've been in a position to work on these kinds of deals,” Tucker said. “We think it's somewhat unique that a firm of our size has done this many sports deals.”

Now that the Braves have signed a letter of intent with Gwinnett, Tucker and Wilson said they will turn their attention to working on the financing of the Braves' new stadium that will be located on state Highway 20, a few miles south of the Mall of Georgia near Buford. The $45 million stadium will be financed through a $12 million commitment from Gwinnett's recreation fund and $33 million in bonds that will be backed by Braves ticket sales, parking revenue, and naming rights for the stadium, Tucker said.

As is the case with the Arena at Gwinnett Center, the county will own the Braves' new stadium and the land where the stadium will be located, Tucker said. The Gwinnett Convention and Visitors Bureau will operate the stadium on behalf of the county. Initial plans for the stadium call for a hotel and retail to be located at the stadium.

The Braves were represented in the talks by in-house counsel Gregory J. Heller, Tucker said. Liberty Media, the Braves' parent company, did not have legal counsel on the Richmond Braves' move, he said. Gwinnett County Attorney Karen G. Thomas represented the county's interests.

________________

Arnall Golden Gregory partner Scott A. Fisher was counsel to Pollack Partners on the formation of a $56 million real estate investment fund with affiliates of Goldman, Sachs & Co.

Fisher said the venture, a limited partnership called Pollack Real Estate Fund I, will focus on funding condominium and apartment buildings, including some of Pollack Partners' ongoing projects in Atlanta and Florida. The fund will combine its assets with other investors to pool about $1 billion available for investments in real estate.

Arnall Golden partner Cleburne E. Gregory III and associate Heather L. Preston advised Pollack Partners on tax matters related to the venture. Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson advised Goldman Sachs.

________________

Rogers & Hardin partner Alan C. Leet was an adviser to Rock-Tenn Co. on its $993 million acquisition of Southern Container Corp., according to a regulatory filing.

Rock-Tenn General Counsel Robert B. McIntosh worked with Leet on the transaction. Latham & Watkins partner Howard A. Sobel in New York advised Southern Container.

Rock-Tenn, of Norcross, manufactures paper cartons and other types of packaging. Southern Container, of Hauppauge, N.Y., makes corrugated boxes.

________________

Morris, Manning & Martin partner Heath D. Linsky advised Beecher Carlson on its purchase of Alliance Insurance Group, the company said.

Morris Manning associates Mark Zisholtz, Christopher E. Maxwell and Lisa L. Scheid also worked on the deal, as did Beecher Carlson general counsel Adam S. Meyerowitz and corporate paralegal Christine Alligood, the law firm said.

Both Beecher Carlson and Alliance are commercial insurance brokers. Atlanta-based Beecher Carlson said the purchase of Phoenix-based Alliance will allow it to expand in the Southwest.

________________

Miller & Martin partner Carlos C. Smith in Chattanooga advised the Tennessee Valley Public Power Association on the creation of a new company to finance power plants with the Tennessee Valley Authority, the association said.

The new venture, called Seven States Power Corp., will partner with TVA to provide financing for natural gas-fired plants. The Tennessee Valley Public Power Association is comprised of electricity distributors who purchase power from TVA, including North Georgia Electric Membership Corp. in Dalton.

Beyond the Values of the Dolls

2008-01-15T17:04:00.001-08:00

The Cabbage Patch dolls drooled all over the ballots and ate the hanging chads, the Bratz have criminal records and are ineligible to vote, but the American Girl dolls are taking the upcoming presidential elections ultra-seriously. After all, just because someone is 18 inches tall and has a head made of vinyl doesn't mean she's given up her right to the franchise. When your very name is "American Girl," doesn't that guarantee your right to be as excited about the primaries as the next inanimate object?
These dolls may all have exactly the same face, but their political opinions are all over the map. Their views are as varied as their extensive backstories, all of which are provided in excruciating detail by the American Girl company, backed up by a merchandise line that includes books, movies, and accessories ranging from weaving looms to school lockers, velvet theater seats to desktop computers, wooden sleds to canopy beds.

Though the company declines to reveal which doll is leaning toward which candidate, pollsters deep inside the flagship store on Fifth Avenue have leaked this information to the Voice, and, as with all campaigns, there are some surprises.

For instance, according to americangirl.com, the doll named Julie Albright is "a fun-loving San Francisco girl who faces big changes." Julie, who grew up in Sodom-by-the-Sea in the '70s, is shown wearing bell-bottoms, a peasant blouse, and a macramé skullcap. So who is she voting for? After spending her childhood under a cloud of marijuana smoke and being forced to sit through interminable underground films, eat tofu, and chant "om" in an orgone box, Julie has become a born-again Christian, throwing away her belief in evolution along with her mood ring, and is now busy picketing abortion clinics with Mike Huckabee.

Addy Walker, the doll with by far the most harrowing history, is facing her own endorsement dilemma. According to the AG website, Addy's family, enslaved on a plantation in 1864, endures horrible hardships: "Addy's family must run away if they hope to be free. When Poppa and her brother, Sam, are sold away, Addy and her mother make the wrenching decision to escape to Philadelphia—to freedom—on their own. But that means leaving Addy's baby sister behind—her cries could cost them their lives." You might assume that with these tribulations, Addy is a solid Obama fan, but Addy, an early supporter of tough-through-her tears Senator Clinton, now wonders whether she should switch to Barack or stick with the Hill.

Which is not to say that no dolls are solidly for Barack. (In fact, all the American Girls—who have a surprisingly trashy side their website doesn't begin to acknowledge—got a little thrill when Obama acknowledged that in his early years: "Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it." The AGs, too, have been known to indulge in a bit of recreational drug use, to dull the long hours spent languishing on toy-store shelves.)

Felicity Merriman, who is described as "a girl who's as spirited and independent as the American colonies she lives in [and who] believes the colonies should be free, not ruled by a king who lives far away," is a fervent Obama supporter, though "her grandfather and her best friend, Elizabeth, support the king's rule." Grandpa and Liz, with their weakness for royalty and other guys who are full of themselves for no apparent reason, are rooting for Rudolph Giuliani.

And then there is Kirsten Larson, who "must leave all she's ever known to come with her family to the New World. They settle on the Minnesota frontier, where people don't speak her language or understand her traditions. Yet in time, Kirsten discovers the richness of her new land—and the true meaning of home." What the website doesn't tell you is that the adults in Kirsten's family become founding members of the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party, a left-wing institution that fought for the rights of farmers and labor unions in the early 20th century. Kirsten has inherited this progressive bent and has jumped aboard a UFO with Dennis Kucinich.

So many dolls, so many primaries! Mia St. Clair—the company's "Girl of the Year 2008" and a figure skater who purportedly "loves skating . . . but with three hockey-obsessed older brothers, she usually has to enjoy the kind that requires a puck"—is twirling on a frozen pond in Utah, and she's that rare thing, a groovy Romney voter. (In this enthusiasm she is joined by the stalwart Barbie, who thinks the candidate looks exactly like Ken.) Josefina Montoya, worrying about learning to read and starting a weaving business in New Mexico circa 1824, is planning to write in the name of state-mate Bill Richardson; Molly McIntire, saving scrap metal during World War II, says she's thrilled that Mac is back; Kit Kittredge, struggling in the depths of the Great Depression, is a sucker for the militant health-insurance rap falling from the pretty lips of John Edwards. (In case any of the dolls are under the weather, American Girl offers a miniature wheelchair for $30 and a pair of tiny crutches for $20.)

But it is Samantha Parkington—an orphan being raised by her wealthy grandmother in 1904 who is "excited by the new ideas and inventions that are changing everyone's lives"—and her friend the servant Nellie ("while some think wealth matters most, Samantha befriends Nellie, knowing that true friendship is worth even more . . . "), who has perhaps the most intriguing backstory. Here's what the website leaves out: Samantha Parkington was born Sadie Parkowitz, and despite her family's protestations that they are members of the Society for Ethical Culture, she and Granny are crossing their fingers for Bloomberg.

And what of Nellie, the loyal servant girl? As it turns out, Samantha only thinks they're BFFs. When Nellie is holed up in her garret, she's poring over this week's issues of Workers World, The Militant, and Challenge-Desafío—and wondering whether Lenora Fulani is on the ballot.

Firefighters Battle Blaze at Construction Site

2008-01-14T05:46:00.000-08:00

DENVER (Manny Gonzales / Denver Post).- Flames gushed from the top floor of a large residential building under construction in unincorporated Arapahoe County on Sunday, creating a huge plume of smoke that could be seen for miles.

Flames shot more than 50 feet into the air, wowing dozens of onlookers, some who came with cameras in hand. Damage was estimated at $1 million.

No one was reported injured. The 32-unit, six-story building was one of at least six buildings that make up the Ballantyne Apartments, a sprawling complex expected to open soon at 10001 E. Dry Creek Road, said Andy Lyon, spokesman for South Metro Fire and Rescue.

No cause had been determined, but there were construction workers inside the building who were installing drywall when the fire broke out, Lyon said. The fire was reported just after 5 p.m., and was finally under control by 8:30 p.m.

It took 50 firefighters from area fire departments more than two hours before the flames on the roof of the building died down, he said.

"The chief declared it a defensive fire pretty early on, and we didn't want to put firefighters inside the building like this because parts of it can collapse," Lyon said.

Laura Hoeppner and her husband, Kevin Singel, of Centennial said they could smell the smoke from their home more than a mile away, on the other side of Interstate 25.

"I'm glad there were no people living here yet and that no one got hurt," Hoeppner said.

Marilynn Hill, an insurance adjuster who came with her daughter to marvel at the fire, said it appeared the building would need to be torn down. "I'm sure it'll be a total loss," she said.

McCanns keen to speak to police

2008-01-13T15:47:00.000-08:00

Kate and Gerry McCann are willing to be re-interviewed in order to help the police rule them out as suspects in their daughter's disappearance.

The parents of missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann and British expatriate Robert Murat are the only people to be officially investigated by Portuguese police in the case.

The McCann's spokesman Clarence Mitchell said the couple were "anxious" for the police to complete the investigation into their alleged role in their child's disappearance and to officially eliminate them from the inquiry.

Mr Mitchell said: "If that means the police coming to Britain in the near future to re-interview Gerry and Kate and their friends, [they] are very keen for that to happen."

He added that the couple had no plans at the moment to visit Portugal but emphasised that they were willing to cooperate with the police.

In a statement on his blog, Gerry McCann said he was "extremely disappointed" that the couple had not been ruled out as official suspects as he felt that it was distracting from the effort to find Madeleine.

He said that he had now been back at work full-time for the last ten days, adding that he and his wife were still very busy with the campaign.

The McCann's recently spent their first Christmas without their daughter, who went missing from the Praia Da Luz resort on May 3rd.

Sub Prime Mortgage Workshops Throughout California

2008-01-12T01:20:00.000-08:00

In keeping with Governor Schwarzenegger's efforts to keep Californians in their homes, his interdepartmental task force has scheduled a series of nine workshops throughout the state aimed at helping subprime borrowers avoid foreclosure.

The workshops bring lenders and consumers together to discuss options available to homeowners with rate increases looming or those who've already defaulted on payments due to interest rate increases.

The schedule is as follows:

Saturday, January 12th - Oakland

Thursday, January 24th - Bakersfield

Saturday, January 26th - Fresno

Tuesday, January 29th - Roseville

Saturday, February 2nd - Stockton

Saturday, February 9th - Downey

Wednesday, February 13th - San Diego

Saturday, February 16th - Sacramento

Saturday, February 23rd - Riverside

Homeowners are asked to bring their loan documents and other relevant financial information to the workshops to take advantage of on-site loan counselors.

The workshops last approximately two to three hours, and have been scheduled on evenings and weekends to encourage participation and are always free of charge.

For detailed information about the workshops, please visit www.yourhome.ca.gov/events or sucasa.ca.gov/events-sp.

Last month, Governor Schwarzenegger joined the OneCalifornia Foundation to announce a bridge loan fund for homeowners facing foreclosure in Oakland, which has the tenth highest foreclosure rate in the nation. The OneCalifornia Foundation Bridge Loan Fund is designed to assist homeowners that don't qualify for other assistance.

Governor Schwarzenegger launched a $1.2 million public awareness campaign - funded through existing consumer education efforts within the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency and the State and Consumer Services Agency - to help educate homeowners about options that can help them avoid losing their homes to foreclosures. He also announced an agreement with four loan servicers - representing 25 percent of the market - to streamline the loan modification process for subprime borrowers living in their home.

Earlier this year, Governor Schwarzenegger signed legislation to increase protections for Californians who own or plan to purchase homes and to expand affordable housing opportunities. The Governor has also lobbied Congress to raise federal loan limits so that more California families can take advantage of these secure products, rather than relying on subprime loans.

UK Surfers launch British Stand Up Paddle Association

2008-01-11T03:23:00.000-08:00

The British Stand Up Paddle Boarding Association is launched
The British Stand Up Paddle Surfing Association (BSUPA) has been set up to provide information, organisation, training and contests for this new sport in the UK. It was set up in September 2007 by Olaus Macleod and since then has started to grow from strength to strength.

BSUPA’s objectives are to help promote the sport by running a series of events through out the UK to find a national champion by the end of 2008. Alongside this will be a number of distance events which this season will be individual contests, next season we hope to be running a series. The other core activities will include developing a teaching program, training coaches and accreditation for SUP schools.

On the BSUPA website there are forums, general information and information on where to ride your SUP. BSUPA will also be working with other organizations to promote SUP riding, safety conduct and deal with any access issues on certain locations.

BSUPA membership provides up to £5 million, worldwide, third party insurance, as well as a free T-shirt, a car sticker, membership card and e-zine. You will also be able to enter any of the BSUPA competitions. Membership prices are as follows: Family Membership: £50, Adult Membership: £37, Junior (under 18): £25. You can join online via the BSUPA website or call our membership hotline on 07752 398933 or email grant.winter@bsupa.org.

Olaus MacLeod is the president of the BSUPA, Bill Fitzhugh is Chairman, Grant Winter is Treasurer and runs the membership, Matt Argyle is the Secretary and deals with marketing and PR, Simon Bassett is the director of training and events. The reason that we are all involved with BSUPA is that we are all passionate about the sport and when we are not talking about it you can find us on the water riding.

The first BSUPA national event will be held at West Wittering beach, hosted by 2XS on 17th and 18th May 2008. This will be a surf and distance event. Paddle round the pier at Brighton will also be holding a SUP distance race from Brighton Pier to Worthing Pier. The Isle of Wight Air Festival (20th and 21st September 2008) will be running a surf and distance event. There will be two others events later in the year to be announced.

Hospitals in Europe: pain in the wallet

2008-01-10T05:00:00.000-08:00

A guide to social security the French way (to help avoid a head-ache or heart attack when you check your bank balance)

The French social security system presents many peculiarities to the inhabitants of other EU countries. Despite the worrying reasons for being admitted to a hospital, we ought to pay attention to the health of our purse or wallet, which can become weakened by bureaucratic fees and multiple payments, even if part of these are reimbursed by the French government.

The notorious E111

Be it through illness or an accident, all foreign students or workers have the opportunity to rest their bones in any hospital bed. What do you need to do? The first line of defence in making sure you don’t suffer further worry is to have with you the European Health Insurance Card (the former 'E111').

The process for getting one is very simple and needs to completed before leaving your country of origin. It usually takes a few minutes in your local social security office. In the case of foreign workers, they already have a French social security number thanks to the 'Carte Vitale', supplied by the French Ministry for Health. Both cards allows treatment, as for as the costs are concerned.

The hospitals themselves

Imagine the scene: a hospital. To give it a name, we move to the Hospital Saint Joseph-Saint Luc, in the centre of Lyon, southern France. A modern building, with fantastic views of the Rhone. Televisions and a library service (mens sana in corpore sano, or 'a sound mind in a sound body'), 350 beds and more than 1, 300 employees. On the other hand, muggins here, who, during a visit to see some Spanish Erasmus friends, decided one night to climb a statue in the rain. Not a good idea following a bolletón drinking session!

Gaining access to the emergency services - I had to fill in a form (an obligatory process) within the first 48 hours of my stay. Luckily for me, the treatment was a success, and I managed to understand from hospital staff, albeit with my level of French (knocked a bit due to the reason for being there in the first place), that it was time to say goodbye, with my discharge papers under my arm (bulletin d’hospitalisation in French). An 80 euros lighter welcome to the world of bureaucracy.

The patient patient?

To a Spaniard, German or Brit, accustomed to the fact that post-medical treatment bureaucracy ends the moment you walk out the hospital doors, the idea of having to battle with further bureaucracy and pay fees is not met with enthusiasm.

In the majority of European countries, such as Spain, Germany, Scandinavia and the UK, social security covers the vast majority of areas related to health, from hospitalisation through to out-patients and post-discharge treatment, with neither of the two causing explicit damage to your bank balance.

It’s comforting to know that the French state reimburses the majority of fees paid during hospitalisation. The reimbursement of fees totals 80% of the total paid. Then, should we require post-discharge treatment, we have to choose, quite freely, a medical consultant from more than 110, 000 medical offices around France. Then, the patient continues in the same way as those newly admitted; payment upfront and reimbursements after … the same as the vast majority of treatments offered in pharmacies! Sometimes, the French consider their healthcare system – though not only their healthcare system – the most advanced in the world! Everyone chooses which doctor they want to see. But let’s be honest, it’s awkward and (surprise, surprise!) extremely bureaucratic!

Step onto the property ladder in Lancashire

2008-01-07T05:29:00.000-08:00

First-time buyers in Lancashire have got a final chance to get onto the property ladder in Chorley with Redrow’s innovative Debut range. Just a handful of properties remain at Debut II, which is part of the award-winning Buckshaw Village, in Euxton.

The collection of affordable, yet stylish properties has proved extremely popular with young homebuyers in the area, who have been struggling to buy a home of their own.

Lesley Myers, area sales manager for Redrow Homes (Lancashire), says: “It has become increasingly difficult for first-time buyers to purchase homes, with rising interest rates and house prices and this is something that Redrow has tackled with its Debut range.

“Debut offers stylish homes and a quality living environment but without the big price tag, so don’t miss out on this opportunity to get a foot on the property ladder.”

There are just 11 homes remaining at Debut II, with available properties including the one-bedroom, two-storey ‘D3’ design and the two-bedroom, two-storey ‘D4’ and ‘D4a’.

All properties offer modern open-plan living areas, which are becoming increasingly popular as more people choose to entertain at home rather than go out, and come with a single parking space.

The D4 homes are set on top of single-storey Debut homes in a three-storey building, while the D4a homes are situated in a two-storey mews block.

Buyers can take advantage of the Easi-buy scheme which allows them to defer 10 per cent of the initial purchase price of their new home for up to 10 years on a fixed sum basis. This interest free sum can be paid back via occasional lump sums, monthly repayments or in whole at any time.

And if that is not enough to whet your appetite enhanced Easi-buy is available on selected D3 homes, offering buyers the chance to defer 15 per cent of the price – making home ownership even more affordable.

Debut home owners also benefit from having a single fixed monthly service charge which covers the cost of water, electricity, gas and buildings insurance, as well as all external maintenance and window cleaning.

Lesley adds: “The Debut properties are built with practicality, affordability and quality in mind – but this doesn’t mean we have scrimped on the style. All of the Debut properties are really fresh and modern and designed to maximise the potential of every inch of space.

“Though not restricted solely to first time buyers, Debut homes can only be bought by owner occupiers and we have a legal framework in place to prevent buy-to-let investors from snapping them up. Again, this helps first time buyers by ensuring a supply of homes they can afford.”

Carefully landscaped communal grounds cared for by Redrow’s own management company help to create a sense of place.

And just when you thought it couldn’t get any better the attractive properties, which are constructed using light-weight structural steel frames and other modern methods of construction, are designed to achieve an Eco-rating of “excellent”, so new home-owners can do their bit for the environment as well

The Debut II development forms part of Buckshaw Village – a mixed use, sustainable community that incorporates a wide range of residential properties as well as leisure and retail facilities and more employment for the area.

The D3 is available from £79,995,* while a single D4 is on offer for £93,995** and the last remaining D4a is priced at £97,395***.

Located directly between the M6 and M61, at Euxton, near Chorley, Buckshaw Village also features a range of more traditional homes for people at every stage of the property ladder. There’s also a business park and proposals for a district shopping centre, provision for a new railway station with park and ride facilities, a primary school, health centre and outdoor sports amenities.

For more information on Redrow’s Debut range, including video walk-throughs of each design, go online at Debutbyredrow.co.uk.

For general information about Redrow and its developments log onto Redrow.co.uk.

*The price of £79,995 is with Debut ‘Easi-buy’ assistance of 15%. The total cost without Easi-buy is £94,995.

**The price of £93,995 is with Debut ‘Easi-buy’ assistance of 10%. The total cost without Easi-buy is £103,995.

***The price of £97,395 is with Debut ‘Easi-buy’ assistance of 10%. The total cost without Easi-buy is £107,995.

Sachse woman hospitalized since being hit by go-cart on Christmas

2008-01-05T15:54:00.000-08:00

SACHSE – It was a Christmas present no one would want, but Gloria Williams considers herself fortunate, nonetheless.

"The doctors told me I'm lucky to be alive," said Ms. Williams, who was run down by a child on an out-of-control go-cart as she stood outside her Sachse home on Christmas Day. "I am lucky."

MICHAEL AINSWORTH/DMN
Gloria Williams has a plate in her face, a cast on her shattered wrist and a broken hip after a Christmas accident in her Sachse neighborhood in which she was hit by a go-cart driven by two girls, 12 and 13. In this post-holiday season where many kids are testing out the gifts they found under the tree or in the driveway, Ms. Williams' accident is a reminder that go-carts aren't toys.

Experts say the vehicles – which can be designed to go up to 150 mph – should never be driven by children on the street or without adult supervision.

Ms. Williams, 43, has been in the hospital since the accident Dec. 25. She has a plate in her face, a cast on her shattered wrist and a broken hip.

She can eat only pureed food – mashed potatoes and applesauce, mostly – and doctors tell her she'll be in the hospital for another week, at least, as they evaluate her hip. She undergoes physical therapy twice a day.

"I just want to get to eat my Christmas dinner," Ms. Williams said from her hospital bed at Methodist Dallas Medical Center.

Ms. Williams said she was finishing up dinner preparations when she walked outside her house to say goodbye to visiting friends. She had crossed the street to reach the friends' car and was about to return home when she saw two girls in a large go-cart with a metal roll cage speeding down the street.

She said she stepped back, but the girls, 13 and 12, were weaving in and out of parked cars and didn't appear to see her. She said they hit her at full force – many witnesses said the kart was going between 30 and 40 mph – and she flew into the air before landing against the pavement.

She blacked out momentarily and opened her eyes to see neighbor Kris Alexander kneeling at her side. He told her not to move.

Seeing the crash

Mr. Alexander had been smoking a cigarette in his open garage when the accident occurred. He saw the go-cart slam into Ms. Williams' body and speed forward into his yard, where it got caught on brick edging around his bushes. The two girls tried to dislodge the vehicle, but when they couldn't, they ran to a nearby house.

"It was horrible," Mr. Alexander said. "I couldn't hardly recognize her because of the blood. It looked like she got hit by a semi."

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, about 15,600 people were sent to the hospital in 2006 from go-cart accidents, although the vast majority of the injuries were to go-cart drivers and their passengers.

Go-carts come in many shapes, sizes and prices. Some reach top speeds of only a couple miles an hour while others, designed for racing on tracks, can go 150 mph or faster.

Many of the mass-market go-carts reach about 30 mph, but they can be tweaked to go faster.

Keep off streets

No matter the speed, no one should be driving the unlicensed vehicles on the road, experts say. Like "pocket bikes" – a fad that city councils across North Texas banned from streets a couple years ago – they are too light and too difficult for other cars to see.

"You should never, ever, ever drive a go-cart on a public street," said Ray Williams, who has been selling go-carts since 1988. He owns Reliable Go-Karts in Waxahachie and is not related to the injured woman.

"It is not safe, and it is not legal," he said

Mr. Williams stressed that children should always be supervised when riding go-carts. Parents should also buy carts that require a key to turn on the engine and unlock the steering wheel, so children cannot use them unattended.

After the Sachse accident, the girls returned to the scene with their families. Witnesses said members of the Williams family were arguing with the girls' families as Ms. Williams lay on the ground, waiting for the police and an ambulance to arrive. Ms. Williams was flown to Methodist.

Ms. Williams said that her husband has been trying to reach the girls' families to discuss the costs of the hospital treatment but that he has not been able to contact them since the accident.

Calls by The Dallas Morning News to the go-cart's owner, who is listed on the Sachse police's accident report, were not answered, and no one came to the door at the home Thursday.

A man answering another phone number – given to police by the 13-year-old – said he knew the driver, but she had no telephone at home and had given his number instead. He then hung up.

Ongoing investigation

Sachse Police Chief Dennis Veach said the investigation into the accident is ongoing.

Ms. Williams, an adjuster at an insurance company, said she doesn't blame the children for the accident.

"They're just kids, but the parents shouldn't have let them run the bikes in the street," she said.

Mr. Alexander said he would have never imagined such an accident could happen in his newly built, quiet neighborhood in the suburbs.

"It's a place you would like to live in," he said.

However, since the accident, he's seen other children in the neighborhood riding go-carts in the street, and he's cautioned them of the dangers.

The 27-year-old said he doesn't want to be a curmudgeon because he enjoyed riding go-carts as a kid in a field beside his house, but his father never let him ride them in the street.

"We usually listened to what my dad said," he said.

Buzz Off On A Brightly Coloured Bee

2008-01-03T16:20:00.000-08:00

Sachs have given their retro-styled 125cc Bee scooter a colourful makeover that is sure to create a buzz on the street.

Now available with a choice of metallic orange-and-white or metallic red-and-white body panels, the chrome trim on the headlight and deeply valenced front mudguard give the classically styled Bee a timeless appearance.

Powered by a reliable and economical 125cc automatic 4-stroke engine, the Bee is learner legal for anyone age 17 or older. Its low weight of just 96 KG combined with a 770mm seat height ensure that the Bee is as easy to manoeuvre on the road as it is in the parking bay.

These head-turning new colour schemes cost no more than the standard silver and at only £1,299 the price is sure to create a buzz too. The Bee 125 is available from Sachs dealers nationwide with a 2-year factory warranty included in the price for peace of mind.

Sachs offers a very competitive insurance scheme through their long-term insurance partner MCE, telephone 0870 01 01 125.

For more information call 01202 823344 or visit www.sachsmotorcycles.co.uk.

Satellite office offers new choices

2008-01-02T15:29:00.000-08:00

EDWARDSBURG - A satellite office in Edwardsburg not only makes it easier for his chiropractic patients, but for Dr. Toby Mitchell as well.

The new Edwardsburg Clear Choice Chiropractic office on M-62 is much more convenient for Michelle Gruver of Edwardsburg than driving to Niles. She is shown with her children Aubrey, 2, and Marie, 5, whom Dr. Toby Mitchell is adjusting.
Clear Choice Chiropractic and Holistic Wellness Center, based in Niles, has a new office in Kieser's Crossing, on M-62.

With his own three children in Edwardsburg schools, Mitchell himself is frequently in Edwardsburg, picking them up. He is also a soccer coach in Edwardsburg.

"I have always had an attachment to the community," he said. He also has many patients who "live here and have to drive to Niles," he added.

Mitchell is not only making visits easier for his Edwardsburg patients, another satellite will open in Dowagiac in just a few weeks.

Niles patients shouldn't feel left out as a major project there will be completed in the spring.

Mitchell opened his first office in Niles in 1997. "It wasn't even 900 square feet," he recalled. Now that facility is 13,000.

He and his wife Kimberly, of 16 years, have homes in Niles and Granger, Ind., where he is heavily involved in the Granger Community Church and have property on Portage.

Their daughter Taylor Rae is 14 and a freshman at Edwardsburg High School. Jacqulyn Hunter, 12, is in seventh grade and their son, Zane Jordan, 10, is in fourth grade.

Mitchell studied and had his internship in Marietta, Georgia, the home of Life University.

"I was able to work with Olympic athletes at the training facility," he said.

A 1985 graduate of Niles High School, he returned to Niles to open a practice.

His wife, he teases, is a "Buchanan Buck," graduating in 1990. She is the executive administrator of all his offices.

"I own this, but I am not the boss," he added.

In all he employs about 26 people, including massage therapists, who have special rooms to help take the stress out of patients.

The new rooms at the Edwardsburg office have fireplaces to give a cozy atmosphere.

Massages can be for medicinal purposes or for therapeutic stress reduction. "It's a safe, clinical environment," he added.

While doing adjustments, the doctor also gives advice on how the patient can take care of their own health.

"Proper sleeping, walking," he explained, all make a difference, including keeping a bulging wallet in a back pocket.

He also offers nutritional advice, exercises and stretching, which can be done at home.

"These empower them to take responsibility for their own health," he said.

Comparing spinal health with dental health, he suggests merely cleaning your teeth twice a year isn't enough, you must also brush and floss.

Instead of age being the cause of many health problems, often it is "the bad things we do over time. If we use our body improperly, it breaks down sooner," he added.

"Once they learn the importance of spinal hygiene, most people choose to periodically come back," he said.

Mitchell is not one to lecture, though, giving information in "short, concise amounts."

He is proud of his success rate, which he puts at 98 percent.

"We do what we are supposed to do," he added.

Chiropractors do not prescribe drugs, which Mitchell adds often have side effects which are worse than what is being cured.

"The spine is the housing for the nervous system," he said.

Chiropractic medicine looks to help where it is compromised.

Often, he said, patients have problems areas clear up which hadn't even been mentioned to him, after any interference is removed.

"If the nervous system is allowed to express itself fully, it knows how to fix the body," he added.

His center takes virtually all insurance and about 60 percent of his patients come in with some type of injury or after an accident. Many others are referrals from pleased family members of other patients.

Chiropractic care is "absolutely the safest, most effective, form of health care," he said.

The Edwardsburg office is open on Tuesday and Thursday.

The one in Dowagiac will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Niles office is open Mondays, Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday and Friday and also on Saturday by appointment.

He does take new patients and walk-ins, but they may have a short wait while those with appointments are treated. In Edwardsburg, Clear Choice may be reached at 663-6600.

Palm Beach County Human Rights Council: Florida attorney general opens door for domestic partner benefits

2007-12-26T05:54:00.000-08:00

(Tallahassee, Florida) Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum's Office has implemented a policy that allows his employees to use sick leave to care for their domestic partners.

"With this pro-family policy, Attorney General McCollum has become the second constitutional officer in Florida history to recognize the needs of non-traditional families," said Rand Hoch, President of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council.

The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council is a non-profit organization that has been in the forefront of domestic partnership issues in Florida for more than 15 years.

At the Council's request, Florida CFO Alex Sink instituted a policy permitting her office's employees to use sick leave to care for domestic partners.

On October 17, shortly after Sink's policy went into effect, Hoch wrote to Attorney General McCollum asking him to consider implementing a similar policy.

"By doing so, in times of family emergencies, all of your employees will have the same opportunities to care for their family members," Hoch wrote.

By letter dated December 17, Cathy Christensen, McCollum's Human Resources Administrator, notified the Hoch that the Attorney General's sick leave policy would would not specifically address domestic partners per se, it would "provide enough latitude" for employees to use their sick leave to care for their domestic partners.

"While CFO Sink's policy specifically addressed domestic partnerships, Attorney General McCollum's policy is more circumspect," said Hoch.

"Since the Office of the Attorney General is, in effect, the state's law firm, I can understand his reluctance to formally recognize domestic partnerships," said Hoch.

"Still, the effect of both pro-family policies is the same," said Hoch. "Employees working for two of our state's constitutional officers now may use sick leave to care for their domestic partners in times of emergency,

Currently, the University of Florida, Florida International University, Broward Community College, Florida Keys Community College, Hillsborough Community College and Miami-Dade College are the only state employers offering the full range of domestic partner benefits. Those benefits include health insurance, as well as sick leave and bereavement leave.

The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council has not yet heard from Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles Bronson, who also was asked to revise his office's policy.

Early next year, the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council intends to ask Governor Crist to direct Department of Management Services Secretary Linda South to investigate the possibility of offering domestic partner benefits to all state employees.

Indian CEOs fail to counter stress: Assocham

2007-12-24T15:22:00.000-08:00

New Delhi: Corporate India executives may be adept at managing businesses, but are a majority of them are inept at handling stress, says a survey by Assocham.

The study by the industry body found that 68 per cent of Indian CEOs, managing businesses with a turnover exceeding Rs 1,000 crore, were unable to beat stress and other related issues.

In its report on 'CEOs Ways to Manage Stress', Assocham said of the 400 Indian CEOs surveyed, only 32 per cent succeeded in countering stress and fatigue through yoga, sports, morning stroll and music.

"CEOs in the age-group of 50-65 take time off in morning for yoga and prefer to play golf, visit hill stations and parks to overcome their day to day stress and fatigue," Assocham President Venugopal Dhoot said in a statement.

The report observed that younger CEOs in the age group of 30-45 years are more health conscious as compared to those in the age group of 50-65 years.

"Going to gym motivates and inspires the younger CEOs to handle pressure and encounter stress and fatigue," it said.

Lot of pressure generates as the CEOs set ambitious targets for themselves within a time bound period, Dhoot said.

However, young entrepreneurs are now choosing a new way to overcome the stress by watching movies with close ones, listening to music and driving, Dhoot said.

"Over 40 per cent of the CEOs are taking to ayurvedic treatments like naturopathy, massage, acupuncture and acupressure," Assocham said, adding that metros and towns in the coming 5-6 years would have huge ayurvedic centres for treating stress related disorders.

Twilight gloom

2007-12-23T15:24:00.000-08:00

Seventy-two-year-old Nikhil Mukherjee had approached The Telegraph in April when he got to know that his insurer was going to charge him Rs 26,000 as premium this year against Rs 13,500 he paid last December to renew the medical insurance policy he bought eight years ago.

Many elderly people, including Mukherjee, started thinking of discontinuing their medical insurance policies as one insurer after another started making health insurance unaffordable for what they called the “high risk category” by raising premium rates by more than 100 per cent.

Panel formed

Concerned about the situation, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) had constituted a committee to look into various issues, including incidents where people above 60 years were denied cover by many insurers, particularly the private sector ones.

The committee submitted its report early this month.

The report, however, has nothing much to offer to senior citizens, except for the fact that it had recommended that no senior citizen should be denied a health insurance policy by any insurer.

The committee has recommended that insurers should look at a base premium of Rs 3,000 (per annum) per Rs 1 lakh sum assured at an entry age of 50 years.

The renewal premium for each subsequent year with no claim would be increased by an age loading factor of 2 per cent of the base premium. A 60-year-old person who wants a health insurance with a sum assured of Rs 1 lakh will have to pay a premium of Rs 3,600.

No change

The premium rate suggested by the IRDA-appointed panel is not very different from what National Insurance Company or United India Assurance Company is charging for its senior citizen medical insurance schemes. Both the public sector insurers charge a premium of between Rs 4,100 and Rs 4,200 on a sum assured of Rs 1 lakh for a 60-year-old who wants to buy a fresh policy.

Another public sector insurer, New India Assurance, is also coming out with a medical insurance policy exclusively for senior citizens with a premium rate of around Rs 3,800 per Rs 1 lakh sum assured. Private insurers that offer individual health insurance plans exclusively to senior citizens, however, charge a higher premium in the range of Rs 5,000 or more per Rs 1 lakh sum assured.

Therefore, even if the committee’s recommendations are implemented, the premium cost for senior citizens won’t come down appreciably.

Low-cost plans

The panel has, however, suggested low-cost limited benefit plans instead of existing mediclaims that are mostly indemnity plans in nature. Benefit policy plans provide lump sum amounts on diagnosis of a specified disease for treatment or surgery.

For example, in a hospital cash plan, an insurer pays a fixed amount for each day of hospitalisation.

Benefit plans cost low because they come with in-built controls such as less policy administration and claim settlement costs on the part of the insurer. Misuse of insurance money is also low in these kind of plans as the insured gets a fixed pay regardless of the actual expenditure — any expenditure over and above the amount would have to be borne by the insured.

Cost control

Though the committee has identified affordability and accessibility as the two most important issues in senior citizen health insurance, it dealt more with cost control measures such as co-payment by the insured, capping entitlements under expenditure heads, introducing deductibles and co-insurance.

Co-payment, deductible and co-insurance mean the insured also pays part of the expense(s) covered under the insurance plan. According to the committee, these are all in-built measures to control costs and misuse of insurance policies. Once these excess costs are controlled, the premium will come down.

According to B.D. Banerjee, a member of the committee, a restructuring of existing products is a more likely outcome rather than an all-round reduction in premium rates if the panel’s recommendations are accepted.

So, if you don’t want to pay much, you will have to be satisfied with plans that offer limited benefits such as only the cost of getting treatment in a general ward.

If you would like to get your prostate operation covered during the first year itself of the policy commencement, you will have to pay higher.

In short, senior citizens will be offered a variety of products, but will have to choose the benefits according to their paying capacity.