SRC directive hits Tennis Zimbabwe | David Coltart (Official Website)

Originally published in

Wednesday ? January 30, 2013 ? by David Coltart

News Day

By Daniel Nhakaniso

30 January 2013

TENNIS ZIMBABWE (TZ) is set to engage the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) as one of the sports associations set to be affected by a directive which requires selectors to have played at their highest level of competition in the particular discipline.

The directive comes into effect on Friday and could see TZ being forced to overhaul its selection committee.

Initial reports had suggested that only cricket, triathlon and lawn bowls would be affected by the directive, but tennis also looks set to be affected.

TZ has a selection committee assigned to selecting the Davis Cup team and representative junior sides for various regional and international tournaments.

The current TZ selection committee is headed by the association?s former TZ vice-president Tanya Chinamo as the convener.

Other members of the committee include Martin Lock, Petty Tshatedi, Martin Dzuwa, Freeman Nyamunokora and Petros Ndlovu.

While Lock and Dzuwa represented Zimbabwe in the Davis Cup, other members of the committee did not represent the country at the highest level.

Selection convener Chinamo played at junior level in the ?80s, the same level played by coaches Nyamunokora and Ndlovu, while Tshatedi did not represent Zimbabwe at any stage.

This is in conflict with the recently amended directive which states that: ?not less than fifty percent (50%) of the selectors shall have represented Zimbabwe as athletes/players at the senior level in the particular sport discipline?.

The directive further states that: ?All conveners shall be former national team players and where there is none former national team players on the selection panel, he/she shall have coaching experience or some technical expertise in the particular sport discipline.?

In the case of junior teams, the directive states that ?. . . a person should have represented Zimbabwe as a player/athlete at a level not lower than the one to which the selection pertains?.
In an interview with NewsDay Sport yesterday, TZ vice-
president Regis Bhunu said they would seek audience on the directive with the SRC.

?There are still some ongoing deliberations on the issue and we are still engaging the SRC. We feel that while the directive is workable in other disciplines, it might be a different case with local tennis. For instance, the composition of the selection committee is guided by our constitution which is approved by the SRC, so before we make any changes we would have to consult them and see if we can map out the way forward together.?

Current convener Chinamo said dialogue was the way forward.

?I think dialogue is the way forward. We are not resisting the directive. In fact, we have always enjoyed very good working relations with the SRC. We are going to use dialogue in order to reconcile the SRC directive and our current selection criteria. I cannot make any further comments beyond that until we have met with the SRC,? Chinamo said.

Zimbabwe Cricket convenor Givemore Makoni has cried foul over the directive, insisting it is aimed at sidelining him from the game and has accused Education, Sport, Arts and Culture minister David Coltart of a deliberate plot to deny ZC a chance to appoint a black coach for the senior team.

Coltart has adamantly denied the charge.

Posted in: Approved, Press reports, Sport

Source: http://davidcoltart.com/2013/01/src-directive-hits-tennis-zimbabwe/

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Evernote intros Penultimate 4 for iPad, explores synced and searchable handwriting

Evernote acquired the Penultimate app for iPad last year with the conspicuous goal of making handwritten notes as easy to synchronize as to-do lists and snippets from the web. After several months of silence, the newly reworked Penultimate 4 is the result. The drawing tool now treats Evernote not just as a sharing option, but an integral part of its being. While it's possible to skip the sign-in, those who link their account get both cross-platform access to their work as well as cloud-based searches of their more legible writing. There's likewise a simpler interface with more realistic pen input. Truth be told, however, we suspect that many of Penultimate 4's would-be adopters will just care that the app is now free -- as of today, the biggest cost is that of an optional Evernote Premium account. As long as they're using an iPad running iOS 6, note takers yearning for the flexibility of a pad and paper in an era of cloud syncing and tablets can give Penultimate a try at the source link.

Filed under: Tablets

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Source: App Store

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/31/evernote-intros-penultimate-4-for-ipad-explores-synced-handwriting/

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Inauguration 2013: 10 highlights from previous second-term addresses

After Barack Obama takes the oath of office at his inauguration Monday, he will join the ranks of 16 other US presidents who have delivered second inaugural addresses. These second speeches usually include the triumphs and trials of a president's first term, as well as his vision for the next four years. Among them are the shortest such address (by George Washington), Lincoln's premonition of the end of the Civil War, and George W. Bush's "freedom" speech.?

Here are highlights from 10 previous second inaugural addresses, culled from the records of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, which keeps records of speeches, details of the ceremonies, and historical moments.?

- Allison Terry,?Correpsondent

The 1889 painting by Ramon de Elorriaga entitled "The Inauguration of George Washington" hangs in New York's Federal Hall in 2001. In his second inauguration, George Washington gave the shortest address for such a speech: 135 words. (Mark Lennihan/AP/File)

George Washington

On March 4, 1703, George Washington set the record for shortest second inaugural address.

Standing in the Senate Chamber of the Philadelphia Congress Hall, dressed in a black velvet suit, silk stockings, and diamond knee buckles, Washington delivered his 135-word speech:?

"Fellow Citizens:

I am again called upon by the voice of my country to execute the functions of its Chief Magistrate. When the occasion proper for it shall arrive, I shall endeavor to express the high sense I entertain of this distinguished honor, and of the confidence which has been reposed in me by the people of united America.?

Previous to the execution of any official act of the President the Constitution requires an oath of office. This oath I am now about to take, and in your presence: That if it shall be found during my administration of the Government I have in any instance violated willingly or knowingly the injunctions thereof, I may (besides incurring constitutional punishment) be subject to the upbraidings of all who are now witnesses of the present solemn ceremony."

Although he set the precedent for two-term limits, future presidents did not follow his example for pithy second inaugural addresses.

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Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/rXhakMzqVrk/Inauguration-2013-10-highlights-from-previous-second-term-addresses

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Warmer soils release additional CO2 into atmosphere; Effect stabilizes over longer term

Jan. 20, 2013 ? Warmer temperatures due to climate change could cause soils to release additional carbon into the atmosphere, thereby enhancing climate change - but that effect diminishes over the long term, finds a new study in the journal Nature Climate Change. The study, from UNH professor Serita Frey and co-authors from the University of California-Davis and the Marine Biological Laboratory, sheds new light on how soil microorganisms respond to temperature and could improve predictions of how climate warming will affect the carbon dioxide flux from soils.

The activities of soil microorganisms release 10 times the carbon dioxide that human activities do on a yearly basis. Historically, this release of carbon dioxide has been kept in check by plants' uptake of the gas from the atmosphere. However, human activities are potentially upsetting this balance.

Frey and co-authors Johan Six and Juhwan Lee of UC-Davis and Jerry Melillo of the Marine Biological Laboratory were curious how increased temperatures due to climate change might alter the amount of carbon released from soils. "While they're low on the charisma scale, soil microorganisms are so critically important to the carbon balance of the atmosphere," Frey says.

"If we warm the soil due to climate warming, are we going to fundamentally alter the flux of carbon into the atmosphere in a way that is going to feed back to enhance climate change?"

Yes, the researchers found. And no.

The study examined the efficiency of soil organisms - how completely they utilize food sources to maintain their cellular machinery - depending upon the food source and the temperature under two different scenarios. In the first short-term scenario, these researchers found that warming temperatures had little effect on soils' ability to use glucose, a simple food source released from the roots of plants. For phenol, a more complex food source common in decomposing wood or leaves, soils showed a 60 percent drop in efficiency at higher temperatures.

"As you increase temperature, you decrease the efficiency - soil microorganisms release more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere - but only for the more complex food sources," Frey explains. "You could infer that as the soil warms, more carbon dioxide will be released into the atmosphere, exacerbating the climate problem."

That effect diminishes, however, in the second scenario, in which soils were warmed to 5 degrees Celsius above the ambient temperature for 18 years. "When the soil was heated to simulate climate warming, we saw a change in the community to be more efficient in the longer term," Frey says, lessening the amount of carbon dioxide the soils release into the atmosphere and, in turn, their impact on the climate. "The positive feedback response may not be as strong as we originally predicted."

The research team also examined how changes in soil microorganism efficiency might influence long term storage of carbon in soils as predicted by a commonly used ecosystem model. Models of this type are used to simulate ecosystem carbon dynamics in response to different perturbations, such as land-use change and climate warming. These models generally assume that efficiency is fixed and that it does not change with temperature or other environmental conditions. The team found a large effect on long-term soil carbon storage as predicted by the model when they varied carbon use efficiency in a fashion comparable to what they observed in their experiments. "There is clearly a need for new models that incorporate an efficiency parameter that is allowed to fluctuate in response to temperature and other environmental variables," Six says.

The researchers hypothesize that long-term warming may change the community of soil microorganisms so that it becomes more efficient. Organism adaptation, change in the species that comprise the soils, and/or changes in the availability of various nutrients could result in this increased efficiency.

This study was based on work done at the Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research site in Petersham, Mass., where Frey and Melillo have been warming two sites - one 9 meters square, the other 36 meters square -- with underground cables for two versus 18 years. "It's like having a heating blanket under the forest floor," Frey says, "allowing us to examine how this particular environmental change -- long-term soil warming -- is altering how the soil functions."

This work was supported by an NSF Faculty Early Career Development Award, the NSF Long-term Ecological Research (LTER) Program, a DOE National Institute for Climatic Change Research (NICCR) grant, and a Harvard Forest Bullard Fellowship to Frey.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of New Hampshire. The original article was written by Beth Potier.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Serita D. Frey, Juhwan Lee, Jerry M. Melillo, Johan Six. The temperature response of soil microbial efficiency and its feedback to climate. Nature Climate Change, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/NCLIMATE1796

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/9gjzRphqMlw/130120150029.htm

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Gas pistol pointed at Bulgaria party leader

Image grab from video shows a man identified as Oktai Enimehmedov, 25, as he points a weapon at Ahmed Dogan, left, leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, during his speech at his party's congress in Sofia, on Saturday Jan. 19, 2013. Dogan struck the man before other delegates wrestled the assailant to the ground, and no shots were fired. Police took the man away.(AP Photo/ BTVnews)

Image grab from video shows a man identified as Oktai Enimehmedov, 25, as he points a weapon at Ahmed Dogan, left, leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, during his speech at his party's congress in Sofia, on Saturday Jan. 19, 2013. Dogan struck the man before other delegates wrestled the assailant to the ground, and no shots were fired. Police took the man away.(AP Photo/ BTVnews)

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) ? Bulgarian police detained a man after he pointed a gas pistol at an ethnic Turkish party leader as he was delivering a speech at a party caucus in the capital Saturday. No shots were fired.

The video from the Saturday event in Sofia shows the man climbing the podium where Ahmed Dogan, the leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, was speaking, and pointing the gun to his face.

Dogan struck the man before he could pull the trigger, while other delegates wrestled the assailant to the ground. TV footage showed several people punching, kicking and stomping on the man when he was on the ground.

Police arrested him and took him to a hospital. It wasn't immediately clear if he sustained serious injuries, or how he got past security to enter the hall with nearly 3,000 people attending.

Eventually, the attacker was identified by police as 25-year-old Oktai Enimehmedov, a Bulgarian national and ethnic Turk, from the coastal city of Burgas. He was carrying the gas pistol and two knives. A gas pistol is a non-lethal weapon used for self-defense, but experts say when fired from close range it can cause life-threatening injuries.

Interior Minister Tsvevtan Tsvetanov told journalists that the assailant had a criminal record for drugs possession, robberies and hooliganism.

The liberal MRF party mainly represents ethnic Turks and other Muslims in Bulgaria, who make up 12 percent of its 7.3-million population.

The conference had to elect a new leader to succeed Dogan, who is one of the Balkan country's most influential political figures. The 58-year-old has been at the helm of the party since founding it in 1990.

Lyutvi Mestan, who was expected to become the new party leader, said "the true reason for the assault was the language of hatred and confrontation."

Saturday's assault was the gravest attack on a politician in post-communist Bulgaria after the 1996 killing of ex-prime Minister Andrei Lukanov.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-19-Bulgaria-Threat/id-0320f77100274304acf7471e68ca17c9

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Basic Risk Management in Project Management | Business Blog

Risks can come from a variety of factors and identify one of the main goals of risk management in project management, evaluation and risks associated with a project or a portfolio project assigned priorities. To assess project managers and officers often risk management software risk probability of risks and other risk factors. In an effort to effectively manage the risks of any project In fact, good results are achieved with a single method of risk analysis, but different methods are combined to achieve the best results, usually with software risk management.

Project management is often the risks at an early stage of the project is to assess if the risk can not be completely avoided. The methods and techniques to assess and manage the risk in the project will be divided into four categories, including avoidance, reduction, sharing and storage. In general, the method of tax evasion on a concept not in a program, project or organization where the risks are not acceptable based involved. Other techniques are risk reduction (optimization) risk sharing or risk-transfer and storage of risks, most applications of risk management with options for risk analysis and concept suggests the problem.

Software risk management helps managers to plan the project activities in order to minimize the risks and resources can successfully map the hazards involved. In addition, require a complex approach to management of the project risk, the use of project risk databases collect and maintain information about the likelihood of significance and a brief description of the potential risks.

Modern applications of risk management and collaboration tools, the. The team about the risks in real-time reports and information on the measures to reduce the risk, allow to assess in power. The research phase of a project typically include a thorough analysis of all risks, risk managers identify and assess hazards start and end of the project. Adequate risk management in the management of the project will be used should be able to help assess the vulnerability of critical resources and identify opportunities to reduce or eliminate the identified risks. Therefore, the risk of creating value for the entire process of project management, or, in other words, the application of management techniques can do anything.

Accepts used on the other side, the distribution and use of software risk management in line with the broader business strategy and organizational processes and procedures within an organization reflect. These systems are active in the decision making process, but may only after a careful evaluation of the interoperability of the various departments in the areas of risk management and software compatibility were involved. In addition, risk reduction is an important part of any project, with appropriate controls to monitor and manage risk without. The entire project or a series of projects Therefore, the risk of the project follow a plan with care and attention to detail in order to avoid further complications if the risk materializes.

Source: http://besplatnesmsporuke.net/basic-risk-management-in-project-management.html

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Address: Obama looks to turn a page on first term

A painter touches up an entrance post outside the White House in Washington, Friday, Jan. 18, 2013, in preparation for this weekend's 57th Presidential Inauguration, where President Barack Obama will be sworn in for a second term. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

A painter touches up an entrance post outside the White House in Washington, Friday, Jan. 18, 2013, in preparation for this weekend's 57th Presidential Inauguration, where President Barack Obama will be sworn in for a second term. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Graphic shows inauguration details and election results; UPDATES with additional seating details

A cyclist prepares to pass visitors standing in front of the Inaugural Parade Reviewing Stand outside the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, Friday, Jan. 18, 2013, in preparation for this weekend's 57th Presidential Inauguration" where President Barack Obama will be sworn in for a second term. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama has been looking to historians for guidance on how to shape his second inaugural's words into a speech for the ages, eager to make good use of his twice-in-a-lifetime opportunity to command the world's attention.

He will take the oath of office Sunday in an intimate White House ceremony witnessed by family, and then again Monday at the Capitol before a crowd of hundreds of thousands on the National Mall. Washington will also play host to the traditional inaugural parade and formal balls Monday, as well as a day of service Saturday that kicks off the festivities.

But it's Obama's inaugural address that will be the centerpiece of the three-day affair. The president will seek to turn the page on a first term consumed by economic turmoil and set an optimistic tone for four more years that will help define his legacy.

The president has been working on his speech since early December, writing out draft after draft on yellow legal pads, aides say. He's read several second-term inaugural addressed delivered by his predecessors. And last week, he invited a small group of historians to the White House to discuss the potential ? and the pitfalls ? of second-term inaugurals.

Heading into his speech, Obama does have history on his mind, particularly two of the great American leaders he most deeply admires, Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. The start of Obama's second term coincides with the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and the 50th anniversary of King's March on Washington, and he has chosen to take the public oath with his hand on both their bibles stacked together.

"Their actions, the movements they represented are the only reason it's possible for me to be inaugurated," Obama said of Lincoln and King in a video released Friday by the Presidential Inaugural Committee. "It's also a reminder for me that this country has gone through very tough times before but we always come out on the other side."

Aides say the president will touch on some of the challenges he'll take on in a second term but won't delve deeply into the policy objectives he'll tackle in the next four years. Those details will be saved for his Feb. 12 State of the Union address.

But the tone and theme of Monday's speech will set the stage for the policy fights to come. Obama may in some way to reference the Connecticut elementary school shooting that pushed gun control to the top of his agenda. He may also speak of a need to tackle comprehensive immigration reform, another second-term priority, and to bring U.S. troops home from Afghanistan.

Obama's speech won't be overly political. But aides said he will make the point that while the nation's political system doesn't require politicians to resolve all of their differences, it does require Washington to act on issues where there is common ground. And he will speak about how the nation's core principles can still guide a country that has changed immensely since its founding.

The president was still working on his speech heading into inauguration weekend. He's been hammering out the details for many weeks with longtime speechwriter Jon Favreau, who worked with the president on his first inaugural address and nearly every other high-profile speech he's given since.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the president takes the responsibility of a second term "enormously seriously."

"He didn't seek re-election just to be re-elected," Carney said. "He believes that we have work to do, and he believes that both the agenda he has put forward so far and the agenda he will put forward in the future will help this country move forward in a variety of ways. This is something he feels very deeply."

The crowd spread before Obama is expected to be much smaller than the record 1.8 million who packed the National Mall four years ago to see him sworn in as the nation's first black president. But the estimates of 600,000 to 800,000 this time still would make it the largest attendance ever for a second presidential inauguration.

Obama has cut back on some of the reveling from four years ago ? there will be no concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and only two balls instead of 10. But there will still be elaborate celebration ? a long list of top entertainment acts including Beyonce, Katy Perry and Brad Paisley have signed on to perform at the weekend's events, including the two official balls that are expected to draw around 40,000 people to the Washington Convention Center.

Part of Obama's weekend also will involve thanking the donors who are contributing toward his committee's $50 million fundraising goal to put on the celebration. The president and first lady hosted supporters Friday at the White House, and he planned to attend a Sunday night reception at the National Building Museum with more donors.

Obama is trying to expand the National Day of Service that begins the weekend's events Saturday ? a call for Americans across the country to honor King's legacy by serving their communities. He is hoping the day will become an inaugural tradition and also is looking toward his legacy with the speech.

The president sought advice from a small group of historians during a dinner at the White House last week. Beyond just the mechanics of second inaugural addresses, the dinner focused broadly on how presidents manage their second terms.

Perhaps more than any of his predecessors, Franklin D. Roosevelt's second inaugural address could serve as a model for Obama.

Each man took office amid economic turmoil that eased during his first four years in the White House. When Roosevelt spoke to the nation after taking the oath of office a second time, he reported economic progress but cautioned that there was more work to do. Obama has often voiced similar sentiments, using the signs of improvement as his justification for re-election throughout the 2012 campaign.

Obama may aim for brevity in Monday's speech. Still, he's certain to speak longer than Lincoln, who offered the nation just 700 words in his acclaimed second inaugural.

Douglas Brinkley, one of the historians who met with Obama, endorsed the "brief is better" strategy. But he also said that with Obama scaling back some of the grandeur of the broader inaugural celebration, there is an opportunity for his speech to become the focal point.

"This time around, I think the inaugural speech has to carry the day," Brinkley said. "There are less balls, fewer people. There's a chance to make this stand out."

The inaugural ceremonies are a national tradition but not constitutionally required. The 20th Amendment says the president and vice president automatically start their new terms at noon on Jan. 20.

Obama plans to take the oath officially shortly before noon Sunday in the White House's Blue Room, an oval space with majestic views of the South Lawn and the Washington Monument. Named for the color of the drapes, upholstery and carpet, it is not typically used for ceremonies and instead has primarily been a reception room as well as being the site of the only presidential wedding held in the White House, between Grover Cleveland and Frances Folsum in 1886.

___

Follow Julie Pace on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC and Nedra Pickler at http://twitter.com/nedrapickler

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-01-18-Obama-Inauguration-Expectations/id-0a856581cdd54610bb1cbdf08e8e0f76

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INSPIRED LIVING: How I created a Lasting, LOVE, Relationship

Every time you take an action to achieve what you want coming from the fear of not having what you want, you are sabotaging yourself, you are undermining yourself, you are hating yourself.?

I should know, so much of what I did in my life to achieve what I wanted came from the fear of not having what I wanted.. All fear every did for me was push away from me what I wanted. This is especially true in the areas of relationships. I had a graveyard filled with so many failed relationships that the EPA wanted to fine me for polluting the environment.

From my first relationship through fifteen other serious relationships, everything I did in those relationships came from the fear of losing those relationships and because I feared losing them, I lost all of them.?

My current relationship turned out way differently,?

I entered this relationship 9 years ago and from day one, I have come totally from love.? That means I never say or do anything for Vona coming from fear.? I am always true to myself even if that means, from time to time, she doesn't like me being true to myself, which is rare.

After losing my last relationship before meeting Vona, my fear of losing relationships was burned out of my system forever.

After my last relationship failed (caused by fear) I made up my mind I wouldn't chase, pursue or convince a woman to be with me. I made up my mind that I didn't want to spend one more second around any woman who didn't want to be around me.???

By the time Vona met me, she felt the same way about men,? As a result, we are with each other every sacred moment of our lives by choice, not by default or out of fear of being alone.?

Because I have no fear of losing Vona and she has no fear of losing me, we never do anything for each other we don't truly want to do. We both know in our relationship, we love ourselves first and love each other second. And the more we learn to love ourselves, the more love we have to give each other.?

In our relationship, love is allowing the person we love to be totally unlike ourselves. And because we allow each other to be totally unlike ourselves, our relationship has a passion and richness to it that few people enjoy in their relationship with the person they love... This is a result of? not letting fear dictate our actions. In fact, in our relationship,? the person with the least fear leads. Sometimes it is mean I lead, others times it is Vona leading, coming from love..

This is a recent picture of Vona at her son's wedding.

Source: http://encwor.blogspot.com/2013/01/how-i-created-lasting-love-relationship.html

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Experts Urge Caution As $50 Billion In Sandy Aid Passes House

Much of the money from the Hurricane Sandy relief bill the House of Representatives passed will fund beach and infrastructure restoration projects in areas such as Mantoloking, N.J., seen on Oct. 31.

Doug Mills/AP

The House of Representatives passed a bill this week to spend $50 billion to help states struck by Hurricane Sandy. The action comes more than two months after the storm, and the measure now goes to the Senate.

The delay outraged politicians and residents from the Northeast, who blamed Washington for playing politics with desperately needed aid. But some scientists and engineers say there's danger in rushing ahead to rebuild a coastline that's sure to get hit again.

Tough talk in the House from Republican Peter King and Democrat Jerrold Nadler of New York and Democrat Bill Pascrell, Jr. of New Jersey paid off. The total aid package is now looking to run about $60 billion, compared to more than $80 billion for Hurricane Katrina.

Most of the money is to help people whose homes or businesses have been lost or damaged, or for infrastructure, including bridges and roads.

Hurricane Sandy exposed weaknesses in New York City's electricity grid. Experts say work can be done to revamp it so it's more tolerant to support backup solar power. Here, the New York City skyline, seen from the Brooklyn Bridge, on Nov. 3.

John Moore/Getty Images

Hurricane Sandy exposed weaknesses in New York City's electricity grid. Experts say work can be done to revamp it so it's more tolerant to support backup solar power. Here, the New York City skyline, seen from the Brooklyn Bridge, on Nov. 3.

John Moore/Getty Images

But several billion dollars are pegged for projects to reduce risk of future storms. Some scientists are alarmed, like Rob Young, a geologist at Western Carolina University who studies what happens to structures built along coastlines.

"What in the world are they going to spend that on?" he asks.

It looks like a lot of the money will go to things like trucking sand back onto beaches or rebuilding beachfront property the way it used to be. But Young says that's a ton of taxpayers' money for projects that may not make the coast more resilient.

"You have this massive government subsidy for development in vulnerable coastal areas, particularly on the immediate coast, on the oceanfront, in resort communities," he says.

Spending tax dollars to rebuild coastal communities isn't new. Young points to Dauphin Island along the Gulf Coast ? it's been rebuilt numerous times after storms, to the tune of tens of millions of tax dollars. Most insurance companies shy away from these places. So the taxpayer pays.

And as the climate warms, all the scientific models predict more storms, bigger storms and more devastation. In fact, the insurance industry says giant disasters are becoming more common.

"So we're going to have to do these projects over and over again," Young says. "We're going to have to do it more frequently in the future and it's going to get more expensive."

Young is among many scientists and engineers who say: Slow down. Find out if more sand really saves beaches. Maybe wetlands are better. Do floodgates work? And who should pay for this?

New Yorkers like Andrew Darrell are thinking along the same lines.

"I live here in New York City. I'm raising kids here in New York City. I also believe that if there's any place that can get this right, it's a place like New York," he says.

Darrell is an energy analyst at the Environmental Defense Fund and an adviser to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He is focused on how the city's electricity grid gets rebuilt. He saw part of it go down from his apartment during Sandy at the 14th Street power station in Manhattan.

"A wave crested a 12-foot wall that surrounds the substation and caused a huge electricity arc, and it lit up the sky," Darrel says. "In the arc of that light, you could see quite clearly all of the buildings in lower Manhattan that night."

Darrell says rebuilding the grid means doing things differently. Take solar power, for example. After Sandy, a few buildings with solar panels had power when the sun came back out. But most did not ? for a strange reason.

"Those solar panels largely work by feeding into the electric grid," Darrell says. "So when the grid goes down, those solar panels go down too."

Darrell says it costs building owners more money to get their solar panels to work independently of the grid. He says people should get paid to be independent from the grid, so they can provide a safety net for the power company during disasters.

Experts like Darrell and Young say little changes like that could reduce the cost ? and the pain ? of the next big storm. And the money's on the table right now to do it.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2013/01/18/169636598/experts-urge-caution-as-50-billion-in-sandy-aid-passes-house?ft=1&f=1007

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What the Manti Te'o Hoax Says about Big-Time College Sports

Heisman finalist linebacker Manti Te'o (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

There are no virgins in big-time collegiate athletics.

That?s a favorite phrase of a good friend of mine who grew up in the collegiate athletic world and knows it well. Let me add one caveat.

Except for Manti Te?o. Until now.

Only days ago Te?o was hailed as what collegiate athletics is supposed to be all about ? a gifted athlete, team leader, good student as well as one who radiated true character. He also may turn about to be, if not a fraud, then less than truthful.

Last September the story about the death of his girlfriend and his grandmother within days of one another but did not deter Te?o from playing. After their deaths Te?o?s play improved and that kick started talk of him winning ?the Heisman Trophy.

Throughout the fall Te?o gave interviews about his late girlfriend who had the misfortune of being in a serious car accident then being diagnosed with leukemia. Te?o stood by her virtually. The operative word being virtual since they conversed over the phone and via text. The two never met but Te?o, a devout Mormon, claimed upon her death that she was the love of his life.

Sad, but untrue. Totally. The story was a hoax, according to Deadspin, the only outlet that bothered to investigate it. Every other media outlet from the TV networks and?Sports Illustrated to major newspapers as well as the South Bend Tribune took Te?o at his word and ran with it.

Was Te?o complicit in this hoax? Notre Dame claims he was not as does Te?o, but questions arise about why he never saw the young woman, never visited her, or attended her funeral yet pledged undying love. He did reveal in interviews that the two would meet again, presumably in heaven. Or now as it turns out maybe some place else, because the voice he was speaking to all this time is still alive. She called him last December, and that?s when he blew the whistle on the hoax to Notre Dame.

The media has been beating itself up over not being more vigilant in probing the story for accuracy. To me that?s not the real issue, the bigger issue that this story, as an article in the Washington Post pointed out, was enhanced and spun by an organization that knows all about spinning. Notre Dame. No other school knows how to blow its own trumpet as well as the Golden Domers do.

Notre Dame?s athletic director, Jack Swarbrick, has backed Te?o?s story. In a recent press conference, Swarbrick claims that an investigation was conducted and shows that Te?o was telling the truth about the hoax. Swarbrick also said, with a catch in his voice, ?There?s a lot of tragedy here. There?s a lot of sorrow here. But the thing I am most sad of [is]? that the single most trusting human being I?ve ever met will never be able to trust in the same way again in his life.?

Cynics might call what Te?o underwent, if he is truly a victim, growing up. Good news is that fictional story died. The tough news is that Te?o and Notre Dame officials must face the music.

But this story is far bigger than egos at Notre Dame. It hits on a theme that gets at the heart of collegiate athletics. Image building, or in reality image pimping.

We ? and by that I mean schools, fans and the media ? want to turn these kids into things they are not. We want to paint them as heroes overcoming incredible odds to excel on the fields of play. But that?s not enough. We want to portray them as humanitarians, too.

Players are encouraged to visit children in hospitals and do volunteer work in their spare time ? that is, when they are practicing, attending class, and exercising in the weight room. To their credit, many athletes do wonderful work in their communities, but that does not make up for the hoax that is collegiate sports.

The real fraud in collegiate athletics is the idea that schools care about their athletes.

What they really are is pawns in a system. Too many football and basketball players at big-time programs never graduate. The schools use them to further their economic ends but care little for the student when eligibility is over. (Note: Notre Dame?s graduation rate for its football players is among the highest.)

And this does not cover the legacy of injuries (bad knees, weak shoulders, arthritic hips, etc.) that football players will carry for the rest of their lives.

As my friend says, there are no virgins in collegiate athletics, but there may be plenty of pimps. We simply call them by another name ? university administrators.

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Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnbaldoni/2013/01/17/what-the-manti-teo-hoax-says-about-big-time-college-sports/

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VIDEO: Apple & China Mobile must keep a deal

posted January 17, 2013 /

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Hostage crisis: Energy needs ensnare Europe in the Sahara

Still reeling from a deadly Algerian military attempt to free hostages held by Islamist militants at a natural gas installation, European governments, resource companies, and other investors are considering how large amounts of personnel on the ground in the region can be protected from future attacks.

Dozens of energy workers remained unaccounted for Friday following the operation to free hostages from at least 10 countries, as well as many local workers at the Ain Amenas plant. Two Japanese, two Britons, and a French national were among at least seven foreigners killed, according to an Algerian source quoted by Reuters Friday.

However, security experts warned of broad implications for protecting hundreds of specialist foreign workers and thousands of locals manning operations across North Africa, where the energy implications for Europe mean that simply pulling out is not an option.

RECOMMENDED: Quiz: How much do you know about terrorism?

?This will be a wake-up call because of the scale of this attack against Amenas,? says Anthony Skinner, an analyst at risk analysis company Maplecroft, which ranks Algeria as one of 22 states where there is an "extreme" risk of kidnapping and the 21st highest risk out of 197 countries.

?I think there is going to be a very significant revision to security measures. There needs to be almost a program put in place by individual investors that goes overboard in terms of security because of the scale of this particular incident.?

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London-based BP, a joint operator of the gas plant, has been evacuating staff from Algeria ? 11 were flown back to the UK Thursday ? and the British government is providing a back-up service. Staff were also being flown out by Norway?s Statoil, which runs the Tigantourine gas field with BP and Algeria's national oil company. Statoil said eight Norwegian employees were still missing.

Spain?s Cepsa was also pulling staff out of Algeria, which produces more than 1.2 million barrels of crude oil daily and is Europe?s third-largest supplier of natural gas.

In practical terms, Mr. Skinner says that corporations could look at increasing the number of perimeters around installation as a step towards protecting workers against the region's militants, whose capabilities have been expanding. Though the militants have always been able to move easily across porous frontiers, they now have access to more sophisticated weaponry following the fall of Libya?s Muammar Qaddafi across the border from Algeria.

Skinner cites Iraq, host to a large amount of foreign oil firms, as an example of how bolstered security can work. ?If you look at the total number of terrorist attacks between 2004 and 2011, 3 percent of all attacks were targeted against energy infrastructure and the bulk of those targeted soft entities ? pipelines, gas stations, and transport.?

?A small minority of that 3 percent actually targeted harder targets, pump stations and the like. So if you have the right security measures in place, the security risks can be mitigated.?

The Amenas incident could also tip the balance towards foreign companies and governments when it came to negotiating future security arrangements with local authorities.

Skinner adds, ?Governments and investors are going to be particularly concerned that they are in control of security measures. Algeria has acted without engaging [diplomatically] with the militants and we have seen the result of that with many deaths. This will also enable multinationals to negotiate their way to ensure that they have greater control over security measures on the ground.?

Some analysts elsewhere suggested that the security challenge could be much less, pointing out that the isolated nature of Algeria?s oil and gas fields make them relatively easy to secure and that local authorities would now be on a higher state of alert.

Amid a still confusing picture at the plant, Britain?s Prime Minister David Cameron said today that the number of British nationals at risk had ?quite significantly reduced" from a figure of less than 30 last night.

He added that he was "disappointed" not to have been told by Algerian authorities about the operation before it began. "I offered UK technical and intelligence support ? including from experts in hostage negotiation and rescue ? to help find a successful resolution,? he told MPs in Parliament after chairing a meeting of Britain?s national security committee, Cobra.

Mr. Cameron's criticism was far more muted than was suggested by reports that he, like other European leaders, was "furious" not to have been informed of the Algerian operation beforehand. But his language was likely tempered by Algeria's importance to Britain and Europe, both as an energy supplier and as a partner in anti-Islamist efforts in the region.

Cameron defended Britain?s involvement in the French-led intervention in Mali and its provision of two C-17 transport aircraft, for which the militants have reportedly claimed the Amenas attack was in revenge.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hostage-crisis-energy-needs-ensnare-europe-sahara-163200314.html

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Voluntourism Tool: Compare Travel Insurance ? Change by Doing

16 Jan

Posted January 16, 2013 by Andrew Mersmann in Vacation Ideas. Tagged: squaremouth, travel insurance, travel insurance compare, voluntourism. Leave a Comment

A lot of the life-changing volunteer gigs people find themselves most passionately pursuing are in some places that are quite a bit different from home. Sure, like all rewarding travel, there is different culture and food and music and maybe language?and sometimes a different sense of personal safety and security. I tend to decide from trip to trip whether I will invest in travel insurance?that?s just me, and I?m not here to make a case either way for or against it?but I do know for some of the tougher regions I?ve gone to, with developing emergency services, spotty law enforcement or medical structure, I?m making sure I can get out if absolutely necessary for my survival or recovery.

Of course, plenty of voluntourism organizations and travel providers (as well as plenty of general group travel providers) require travel insurance as a condition of participation in the trip. Not all travel insurance providers, however, are created equally. It can be daunting to try and surf around from website to website to find the best package, components of coverage that equal what you need, and price. It?s nice to have a service like Squaremouth.com, which analyzes and compares your travel insurance options to find you the best deal. You put in your trip details and get instant quotes chosen from over 250 travel insurance providers, based on your excursion parameters. Do you just want flight insurance? Cancel for any cause? Trip cancellation? Medical evacuation? International medical insurance? All these variables come into play when they search for your best options from which to choose. They?ve been doing this for some time, are covered and recommended in most major press and travel press, and if there is any kind of complaint, they are YOUR advocate, and not working for the insurance companies. They are pretty much (to my knowledge) the most comprehensive search option out there that specializes in travel insurance comparisons.

So tuck that into your travel planning tool chest, and when it is time to book your next trip, as you do with every other detail?make the most informed choice.

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Source: http://changebydoing.wordpress.com/2013/01/16/voluntourism-tool-compare-travel-insurance/

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JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon gets big pay cut

FILE - In this May 11, 2012 file photo, people stand in the lobby of JPMorgan Chase headquarters in New York. JPMorgan Chase reported a 55 percent jump in earnings for the last three months of 2012 as mortgage fees and other income surged. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

FILE - In this May 11, 2012 file photo, people stand in the lobby of JPMorgan Chase headquarters in New York. JPMorgan Chase reported a 55 percent jump in earnings for the last three months of 2012 as mortgage fees and other income surged. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

NEW YORK (AP) ? America's best-known banker is getting a big pay cut.

JPMorgan Chase said Wednesday that it will dock the pay of CEO Jamie Dimon by more than half, to $11.5 million from $23 million.

It's the latest fallout from an embarrassing trading loss at the bank last year, one that eventually ballooned to $6 billion. Its ripple effects have already been numerous, forcing Dimon to appear contritely before Congress and putting the bank squarely in the cross hairs of regulators and lawmakers.

The pay cut didn't come as a surprise on Wall Street. What set it apart was that it amounted to a reprimand from the bank against a CEO who remains popular and well regarded, despite the stain of a trading loss that Dimon once dismissed as a "tempest in a teapot."

And even as it cuts his pay, the board of directors praised Dimon for responding "forcefully" to the trading loss, presiding over an overhaul of the bank's risk management and booting out responsible executives. A report from a bank task force placed most of the blame on other executives and traders who have since left.

Compensation consultant James F. Reda was underwhelmed. He called Dimon's pay cut "ceremonial," a way for the bank to show that it is paying penance.

"He doesn't need the money," Reda said. "He was probably very proactive in accepting this to keep people off his back. To get punished, if you will, so he can then point to that and say, 'Look, I was punished. Isn't that enough? Leave me alone. Let me run my business.'"

Dimon's job was never seriously in danger, even with the trading loss, and the pay cut hasn't changed that perception. Wall Street saw it less as an indictment of Dimon and more as a sign of the board's commitment to taking the trading loss seriously.

"It's bitter medicine, but he swallowed it and is moving on," said James Post, an expert on corporate governance who teaches at Boston University. "I think that still leaves him in a very strong leadership position in both the bank and the industry."

JPMorgan, and Dimon, are essential players in U.S. banking. JPMorgan emerged from the financial crisis as one of the strongest banks in the country, a winner in a meltdown that forced other banks to their knees. Its blockbuster fourth-quarter earnings, which were released Wednesday, will almost certainly cement it as the most profitable U.S. bank of 2012.

Such accomplishments have made Dimon one of the best known, and most outspoken, bank leaders of his generation, even in a time of heightened scrutiny and public anger against the industry.

While some of his peers have tried to stay under the radar, he has spoken out against many new regulations ? including some, the bank's critics say, that could have prevented the trading loss.

Dimon has publicly chafed at criticism of banking's big pay packages, including President Barack Obama's famous "fat-cat bankers" comment. "Acting like everyone who's been successful is bad and because you are rich, you are bad ? I don't understand it, I don't get it," he told an investment conference.

On calls with reporters and analysts Wednesday, he was his usual swashbuckling self, intensely proud of the bank he runs and sometimes impatient with critical questions.

He said the portfolio where the troubled bets were made is "very close to being a non-issue" as far as trading losses are concerned. Asked for thoughts on his pay cut, Dimon said he respected the board's decision. Pressed for his "gut feeling," he replied, "Nope, you're not gonna get it."

When analyst Guy Moszkowski asked about the "exotic investment strategies" of the Chief Investment Office, where the loss occurred, he shot back, "It has got not a damned thing to do with exotic investment strategies ? zero, nada, nothing. OK?"

For 2012, Dimon will get $1.5 million in salary and $10 million in restricted stock awards. It likely means that he'll no longer be the highest-paid CEO among the country's six mega-banks.

Even with the pay cut, and even by the lofty standards of big-time CEOs, the 56-year-old Dimon will still be well paid. The median pay for CEOs of S&P 500 companies for 2011 was $9.6 million, according to the latest data from executive compensation firm Equilar.

Though Dimon made clear that he is eager to put the so-called London whale loss behind him, there could be more reminders in store.

The bank has said it received requests for information related to government inquiries and investigations by Congress, the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the U.K. Financial Services Authority, the state of Massachusetts and others.

On Monday, the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, both bank regulators, slapped sanctions on JPMorgan for the trading loss and ordered it to tighten up its risk management procedures. The bank neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing, but said it was working to correct any issues identified by the regulators.

The bank released two reports Wednesday on the loss, one from bank executives and the other from the board of directors. These said that traders and executives in the Chief Investment Office didn't understand the risks they were taking, didn't adequately question risky decisions and didn't properly report ballooning losses.

The board of directors said executives didn't keep them adequately informed about potential problems and used unapproved models for calculating risk.

Despite the fallout from the trading loss, JPMorgan turned in a strong fourth quarter. Earnings shot up 55 percent over the same period a year ago to $5.3 billion after paying preferred dividends, up from $3.4 billion.

Per share, those earnings amounted to $1.40, blowing away the $1.16 expected by analysts polled by financial data provider FactSet. The bank's stock rose 47 cents to $46.82, up 1 percent.

Revenue also beat Wall Street's forecasts, rising 10 percent to $24.4 billion, after stripping out an accounting charge. Mortgage originations jumped 33 percent.

Dimon said the housing market "has turned," echoing a statement he made in October after the third-quarter earnings report.

___

AP Business Writer Steve Rothwell contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-01-16-Earns-JPMorgan/id-055e6e681ae44aafa24832e5041e4122

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Samsung Galaxy Tab cleared for Netherlands sales, says Dutch court

Despite Apple's attempts to get Samsung's Galaxy Tab 7.7, 8.9, and 10.1 banned from sale in The Netherlands (per ongoing litigation between the two companies), a Dutch court in The Hague struck down that request in a ruling today. Apple claimed Samsung's Galaxy Tab line too closely resembled its own line of iPads, but apparently Dutch officials disagreed -- Apple is paying Samsung €63,678 ($84,755) in court costs as a result. This isn't even the first time a Dutch court sided with Samsung over Apple's claims on its Galaxy Tab line.

The two companies are engaged in a worldwide patent struggle, each trying to get the other company's products banned for sale in various regions. The situation in The Netherlands is particularly contentious, with some serious back-and-forth over various devices across the past several years. Today's news is just one more small step in the ongoing patent saga between Samsung and Apple, sadly, and we'll assuredly see much more minutiae before the two are through.

Filed under: Tablets, Mobile, Apple, Samsung

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Video: Closing Countdown: Dow Finishes Higher

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/50473191/

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Livestrong calls for complete truth from Armstrong

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) ? The Livestrong charity Lance Armstrong founded says it expects the disgraced cyclist was "completely truthful and forthcoming" in his interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Armstrong admitted to Winfrey using performance-enhancing drugs during his career after years of denials. The interview taped Monday is scheduled to be broadcast Thursday and Friday.

Armstrong founded the charity in 1997 but stepped down as chairman and left the board of directors late last year after a U.S. Anti-Doping Agency report detailed a complex doping program on Armstrong's U.S. Postal Service teams.

Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned from sport for life.

In a statement Wednesday morning, Livestrong said it had "charted a strong, independent course forward" and remained confident about its future.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-01-16-CYC-Armstrong-Oprah-Livestrong/id-3cd9fbb326fd4c4da9c7481750415490

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