Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Daniel Craig Calls the Kardashians "Idiots"

Daniel Craig is known for being an intensely private man -- and his new wife Rachel Weisz is careful not to say anything about their marriage after a comment she made about children was construed as a big revelation. In a new interview with British GQ the James Bond star explains that the Kardashians are an example of why he's so tight-lipped about his personal life.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/daniel-craig-calls-kardashians-idiots/1-a-406660?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Adaniel-craig-calls-kardashians-idiots-406660

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India's quarterly growth skids to 6.9 percent (AP)

MUMBAI, India ? India's economic growth skidded to 6.9 percent in the July-September quarter, its lowest in over two years, and is forecast to slow further amid delayed economic reforms and a worsening global outlook.

High inflation has weakened demand and prompted the central bank to hike interest rates 13 times, crimping growth as a dour global economy squeezes credit and exports. Policy inertia and corruption scandals have also slowed the flow of crucial investment and helped push the rupee to record lows.

The growth figure released Wednesday was in line with expectations and put pressure on the central bank to arrest ? and perhaps reverse ? its streak of rate hikes.

"There is clearly a momentum to deceleration setting in, largely driven by a declining investment cycle," said HDFC Bank chief economist Abheek Barua. "The manifestations of that will be far more acute next year."

Fixed capital formation ? a measure of investment in big ticket items such as machinery ? posted a contraction for the first time since fiscal year 2009, according to Citigroup.

Barua predicts growth will be about 7.3 percent for the year, down from 8.5 percent last fiscal year ended March. Next fiscal year, he anticipates growth will slow even further, to 7.0 percent ? a real worry in a country where policy makers have said that growth near 10 percent is required to absorb millions of young job seekers and lift tens of millions out of poverty.

With monetary policy largely tapped out and a deficit that gives the government little room for fiscal stimulus, economists and business leaders say broad reform is required to rekindle investment and growth ? no easy task in India's cacophonous coalition democracy. The furor over the government's long-delayed decision to give foreign retailers greater access underlines the difficulty of implementing meaningful policy changes.

"If the government makes some progress toward fiscal consolidation and gets some infrastructure projects ? particularly power and roads ? off the ground, we could avoid a sharp slowdown next year," Barua said.

Fights over land acquisition and flip-flopping environmental approvals have stalled some big-ticket projects and dampened investor sentiment. Such bottlenecks contributed to the 2.9 percent contraction in mining during the quarter, down from an 8.0 percent expansion a year earlier.

Europe's sovereign debt crisis has also prompted European banks ? which provide some $150 billion, or over 50 percent, of foreign currency loans to Indian companies, according to Barua ? to pull back, making it harder to fund expansion.

Meanwhile, bruising inflation has hurt domestic spending, helping drive manufacturing growth for the quarter to 2.7 percent, down from 7.8 percent a year earlier.

Agricultural output expanded 3.2 percent for the quarter, down from 5.4 percent a year earlier.

"The cost of capital in India is one of the highest in the world and only some strong positive developments would induce industry to invest," said Chandrajit Banerjee, the director general of the Confederation of Indian Industry, a business lobby. "The corrective actions are very much in the hands of domestic policy makers."

Markets took the news in stride, with the benchmark Sensex index closing up 0.7 percent at 16,123.46.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111130/ap_on_bi_ge/as_india_economy

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NASA confiscates web-auctioned rocket engine

You can buy anything on the internet ? even, until recently, a rocket engine. NASA has since confiscated the engine, which contains technology that could form the basis of missiles as well as spacecraft. But the incident highlights security concerns at the space agency .

Called the RL-10, this type of engine powered NASA's Saturn-I rocket in the 1960s. That was a precursor to the larger Saturn-V, which took astronauts to the moon.

In a recent report, NASA's Office of Inspector General (OIG) described how in July, it confiscated an RL-10 from a man who had put the engine up for sale on an internet auction site.

The agency sometimes sells surplus space hardware to the public, but it seems this engine left NASA without permission. The person trying to sell the engine told investigators he bought it from someone, who in turn got it from a NASA employee, says the report, which does not describe how the NASA employee acquired it. The engine is worth about $200,000.

Rocket engines are supposed to be under particularly tight control at NASA: the US is keen to avoid its rocket technology winding up in the hands of countries with which it has a tense relationship, such as China.

"Security at NASA is not adequate in my opinion," says Joseph Gutheinz, a former investigator for OIG.

Robert Pearlman, who runs collectspace.com reckons the recovered engine is the same one that appeared on eBay in 2010.

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Oil rises above $99 in Asia as stock markets gain (AP)

BANGKOK ? Oil prices rose above $99 a barrel Monday in Asia, taking a cue from gains in stock markets after a strong start to the U.S. holiday shopping season.

Benchmark crude for January delivery was up $2.49 to $99.30 a barrel at midday Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 60 cents to settle at $96.77 on Friday.

In London, Brent crude was up $2.13 at $107.99 on the ICE futures exchange.

Oil took its cue from Asian and European stocks, which were mostly higher Monday after record 226 million shoppers visited stores and websites during the four-day U.S. holiday weekend starting on Thanksgiving Day. That was up from 212 million last year, according to early estimates by The National Retail Federation.

Reports that France and Germany might circumvent European bureaucracy to get nations using the euro common currency to comply with strict rules for budget discipline also boosted sentiment.

Crude has fallen from above $103 more than a week ago amid investor concern that Europe's debt crisis will undermine global economic growth and oil demand.

In other Nymex trading, natural gas was up 0.3 cent at $3.545 per 1,000 cubic feet. Heating oil added 4.8 cents to $2.99 a gallon and gasoline rose 6.6 cents to $2.52 a gallon.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111128/ap_on_bi_ge/oil_prices

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Dolphin Pregnancy Is a Drag, Literally (LiveScience.com)

The extreme physical changes that come during pregnancy may be most evident in humans, but they plague other animals as well. New research shows that pregnant dolphins are so hefty the increased drag on the body makes them swim slower.

"They have this huge body and that creates a large frontal surface area and that drag is going to pull at them," study researcher Shawn Noren, of the University of California, at Santa Cruz, told LiveScience. "Swim performance is lower as well."

It's possible that this extra effort to swim fast could have an impact on the species' survival. If the pregnant dolphins can't escape predators or keep up with their group when chased by tuna fishermen, it could explain why the population isn't rebounding as quickly as expected, Noren said. (Groups of dolphins and groups of tuna tend to live in close proximity, so tuna fishermen chase down dolphins to get to the tuna that usually live below them.)

Dolphins in action

Noren filmed two pregnant dolphins at Dolphin Quest in Hawaii. They were nearly full term. She compared these videos with video taken two years after the pregnancy and found that not only did the larger fully pregnant females produce more drag as they swam through the water, their swimming technique was also altered.

An analysis showed that by having a greater surface area due to their pregnant bellies, which meant more water for the dolphins to push out of their way as they swam, the drag on their bodies increased by about 50 percent compared with their svelte, non-pregnant state.

"When this animal is not pregnant it can swim exactly twice as fast and get the same drag," Noren said.

Because of where the baby dolphin sits (near the mama's tail) during development, the mothers also didn't have as much flexibility at near full-term. They couldn't flip their tails up and down as far as they could after giving birth, so they compensated by flipping their tails about 14 percent more often. [Infographic: How Long Are Animals Pregnant?]

"That whole second half of the animal's body is what the dolphins use to swim, and that fetus is sitting back there toward the back part of the tail," Noren said. "We measured the same animals after birth [of their baby], and they were moving their tail flukes higher when they weren't pregnant than when they were."

Predator chases

These weighed-down mamas might have more trouble outrunning predators (or tuna fishermen) in the wild. Noren notes that their wild predators, which include sharks and some whales, can reach speeds faster than these pregnant dolphins and so might be able to overtake them in a chase.

During these chases, fleeing either aquatic or human predators, young, sick or pregnant dolphins may lose their group, which, Noren said, "could explain why the population isn't recoveringat the expected rate."

This kind of pregnancy drag is likely present in every animal. Birds and land animals (and even insects) need to fight against gravity to keep moving, and as they grow larger this gets more difficult.

"Every animal has shown reduced performance [during pregnancy] and becomes quite sedentary," Noren said. Not many studies have been able to show exactly how much of a drag pregnancy can be.

The study was published Nov. 24 in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

You can follow LiveScience staff writer Jennifer Welsh on Twitter @microbelover. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience and on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/parenting/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20111128/sc_livescience/dolphinpregnancyisadragliterally

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Democrats preempting revival of Rev. Jeremiah Wright (Daily Caller)

In an effort to preempt what could be damaging political issue for President Barack Obama?s re-election campaign, Democrats are warning Republicans against reviving the issue of his relationship with controversial ex-pastor Jeremiah Wright.

And in one case, a Democratic operative is getting ahead of any discussion of Wright by implying that raising the issue?amounts to playing the race card.

Ted Devine, a Democratic operative who worked for Al Gore and John Kerry, recently accused Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney?s campaign of using a images of a black church in an ad ?to bring back Rev. Wright and race.?

?As someone who does this for a living, there is absolutely no way that?s not intentional,? Devine told The Hill about the video, which doesn?t include any mention of Wright but does feature two brief cutaway shots to an all-black audience. ?There is no other rational explanation for that scene other than to suggest a racial reference, and most likely invoke Jeremiah Wright.?

Drew Westin, a professor at Emory University and a prominent progressive commentator, also saw racial overtones in the Romney ad.

?There are three things about the racial composition of the people in the background: For Obama, whenever they?re shown clearly, they?re a mix of whites and blacks. Whenever they?re either presented in dark light so you can?t see, or presented at a speed that makes them subliminal, they?re all black,? Westin told the Huffington Post last week.

?For Romney, there isn?t a black person in the background in any of the scenes he?s in. It?s inconceivable that his team didn?t think to make sure there was at least some diversity in the crowds he was speaking to unless the goal was to juxtapose subliminal black people against white people for Romney,? Westin said.

Pollster Doug Schoen, a Democrat who has been critical of Obama?s performance as president, told The Daily Caller that it would be ?wrong-headed? for Republicans to discuss Wright because the issue has ?no relevance to this campaign or to Obama?s first term.? (RELATED: Exclusive video: Obama in 2006: I ?stole? book title ?Audacity of Hope? from ?my pastor?)

?[It] would be over-reaching and could well backfire against the Republicans,? he added.

During the 2008 election, videos showed Wright famously denouncing the U.S. government during religious services, even saying at one point, ?Not God bless America, God damn America!?

The title for Obama?s book, ?The Audacity of Hope,? came from a sermon delivered by Wright. Before controversy erupted during the 2008 election over Wright, Obama praised his former pastor, including in a new video from 2006 published by TheDC this week.

If Democrats are able to remove the issue of Wright from the table by associating it with playing the race card, it could be a major win for the White House and their efforts to appeal to white voters.

A recent study by the liberal Center for American Progress found that Obama would have to win either 47 percent of college-educated white voters or 41 percent of all white voters in order to be re-elected.

Obama won 47 percent of college-educated white voters and 43 percent of all white voters in 2008. But if he fails to meet at least one of the thresholds outlined in the study; white working-class voters could doom his re-election campaign if they turn out for the GOP nominee like they did for Republican candidates in 2010.

However, in terms of strategy, one Republican operative said it?s not necessary to revive the issue.

?Honestly it?s probably not a useful or productive line of attack at this point,? Michael Goldfarb, a former 2008 McCain campaign aide, told TheDC.

?It strikes me that bringing up Wright is not just unnecessary, but a distraction from Obama?s egregious record,? Goldfarb said.

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Read more stories from The Daily Caller

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Democrats preempting revival of Rev. Jeremiah Wright

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Ask Matt Labash: Blood on his hands: Why gramps should be blamed for fishing out our rivers

Settlement bars Facebook from making 'further deceptive privacy claims'

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/democrats/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/dailycaller/20111129/pl_dailycaller/democratspreemptingrevivalofrevjeremiahwright

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Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Afghan officials: Fire from Pakistan led to attack

Afghan troops and coalition forces came under fire from the direction of two Pakistan army border posts, prompting them to call in NATO airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, Afghan officials said Sunday. The account challenges Islamabad's claims that the attacks, which have plunged U.S.-Pakistan ties to new lows, were unprovoked.

It also pointed to a possible explanation for the incident Saturday on the Pakistan side of the border. NATO officials have complained that insurgents fire from across the poorly defined frontier, often from positions close to Pakistani soldiers, who have been accused of tolerating or supporting them.

Pakistan's political leaders and military establishment, still facing domestic criticism following the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May, have reacted with unprecedented anger to the soldiers' deaths. They closed the country's Western border to trucks delivering supplies to coalition troops in Afghanistan, demanded the U.S. vacate a base used by American drones within 15 days and said they were reviewing all cooperation with the U.S. and NATO.

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Despite those actions, a total rupture in what both sides acknowledge is an imperfect relationship is considered unlikely. Pakistan still relies on billions of dollars in American military and civilian aid, and the U.S. needs Islamabad's help to push Afghan insurgents to engage in peace talks.

The Afghan officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said it's unclear who attacked the forces taking part in the joint operation before dawn Saturday, but that the soldiers were fired upon from the direction of the Pakistani border posts that were hit in the strikes.

NATO officials have previously said a joint Afghan-NATO operation was taking place close to the border and that airstrikes were called in. All airstrikes are approved at a higher command level than the troops on the ground.

The alliance has said it is conducting an investigation to determine the details. It has not commented on Pakistani claims the attacks killed 24 soldiers, but it has not questioned them.

On Sunday, Pakistan army chief Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani and regional political leaders attended the funerals of the victims, including an army major and another senior officer. Soldiers took the coffins, draped with the green and white Pakistani flag, from army helicopters before praying over them.

"The attack was unprovoked and indiscriminate," said army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas. "There was no reason for it. Map references of all our border posts have been passed to NATO a number of times."

The attack sparked popular anger in Pakistan. There were protests in several town and cities across the country, including Karachi, where around 500 Islamists rallied outside the U.S. Consulate.

A Reuters reporter at the scene said the angry crowd shouted "Down with America". One young man climbed on the wall surrounding the heavily fortified compound and attached a Pakistani flag to barbed wire.

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NATO's top official, Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, offered his deepest condolences and said the coalition was committed to working with Pakistan to "avoid such tragedies in the future."

"We have a joint interest in the fight against cross-border terrorism and in ensuring that Afghanistan does not once again become a safe-haven for terrorists," Rasmussen said in Brussels.

Video: White House treads lightly around Pakistan situation

The U.S.-Pakistan relationship took a major hit after the covert American raid that killed bin Laden in a Pakistani garrison town. Islamabad was outraged it wasn't told about the operation beforehand. The U.S. has been consistently frustrated by Pakistan's refusal to target militants using its territory to attack American and other NATO troops in Afghanistan.

A year ago, a U.S. helicopter attack killed two Pakistani soldiers posted on the border. A joint U.S.-Pakistan investigation found that Pakistani troops fired at the two U.S. helicopters prior to the attack, a move the probe said was likely meant to notify the aircraft of their presence after they passed into Pakistani airspace.

Islamabad closed one of the two border crossing for U.S. supplies for 10 days to protest that incident.

There was no indication of how long Islamabad could keep the border closed this time.

On Sunday, around 300 trucks carrying supplies to U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan were backed up at the Torkham border crossing in the northwest Khyber tribal area, the same crossing that was closed last year, as well as Chaman in southwestern Baluchistan province

Militants inside Pakistan periodically attack the slow-moving convoys, and took advantage last year when the trucks were waiting for days to enter Afghanistan, torching 150.

"We are worried," said driver Saeed Khan, speaking Sunday by telephone from the border terminal in Torkham. "This area is always vulnerable to attacks. Sometimes rockets are lobbed at us. Sometimes we are targeted by bombs."

Some drivers said paramilitary troops had been deployed to protect their convoys since the closures, but others were left without any additional protection. Even those who did receive troops did not feel safe.

"If there is an attack, what can five or six troops do?" said Niamatullah Khan, a fuel truck driver who was parked with 35 other vehicles at a restaurant about 125 miles (200 kilometers) from Chaman.

Video: Pakistan blaming NATO for soldiers' deaths

NATO ships nearly 50 percent of its non-lethal supplies like fuel, food and clothes to its troops in Afghanistan through Pakistan. Critical supplies like ammunition, are airlifted directly to Afghan air bases.

A NATO official closely involved with the Afghan war said there will likely be no immediate negative effect from Pakistan's decision to close its border crossings. NATO has built up a large stockpile of military and other supplies that could enable operations to continue at their current level for several months, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

NATO has reduced the amount of non-lethal supplies it ships through Pakistan from a high of around 80 percent by using routes through Central Asia. The northern logistics link could be expanded to make up for the Pakistani closure, but it would leave NATO heavily dependent on Russia at a time when ties with Moscow are increasingly strained.

Story: Woman named Pakistan envoy to United States

In addition to closing its border crossings, Pakistan gave the U.S. 15 days to vacate Shamsi Air Base in Baluchistan. Washington uses the base to service drones targeting al-Qaida and Taliban militants in Pakistan's tribal region when they cannot return to their bases inside Afghanistan because of weather conditions or mechanical difficulty, U.S. and Pakistani officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

The drone strikes are very unpopular in Pakistan, and Pakistani military and civilian leaders say publicly that the U.S. carries them out without their permission. But privately, they allow them to go, and even help in the targeting for some of them.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45452110/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/

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Fox: Newt Snags Union Leader Nod (TIME)

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Google Maps 6.0 hits Android, adds indoor navigation for retail and transit

Google's already put its stamp on the great outdoors, what with its Street View fleet chronicling the well-trodden ways of our world for Maps. Which is precisely why Mountain View's turning its attention inward for that next, great navigation innovation, as it attempts to chart a course through the wilds of indoor spaces. Hitting the Android Market in the U.S. and Japan today, the company's ever-popular app gets a full version bump to 6.0, bringing with it the inclusion of retail and airport floor plans.

The newly added indoor maps don't quite offer the turn-by-turn navigation you've come to know and depend upon (that's outside-only for now), but the provided layouts should help usher you along to the nearest bathroom, clothing shop or elevator. There's no fancy equipment at use, either. All of your positioning information is culled from the same set of data (including GPS) used for "My Location," although here it's been optimized to detect movement along the z-axis. What does that mean for you, dear end user? Try a nifty feature called "Automatic Floor Detection" that'll keep track of your progress as you move about from escalator to escalator. Google's also endeavoring to extend its indoor reach, opening up its mapping inventory with a self-service tool (currently in beta) that'll allow business owners to upload floor plans directly to Maps.

If you're itching to test the tech out, you'll want to find yourself at one of the dozen-plus airport partners scattered across the country, in addition to transit hubs and major retail outlets both stateside and in Japan. Familiar commercial forces like Macy's and Takashimaya have opted-in to the indoor location service, but your best bet's going to be IKEA -- which has agreed to roll the feature out to all of its stores nationwide. So, whether you're rocking Android 2.1 or the forward-facing 4.0, prepare to let your Googlefied smartphone almost always be your guide. Follow past the break for additional shots and a video demo of the indoor geo-location in action.

Continue reading Google Maps 6.0 hits Android, adds indoor navigation for retail and transit

Google Maps 6.0 hits Android, adds indoor navigation for retail and transit originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/29/google-maps-6-0-hits-android-adds-indoor-navigation-for-retail/

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Good intentions may hamper progress in pursuit of global reproductive health and rights

Good intentions may hamper progress in pursuit of global reproductive health and rights [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 28-Nov-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Pathika Martin
pmartin@rhmjournal.org.uk
44-207-267-6567
Elsevier

London, November 28, 2011 - Serious global discussions have begun in the lead-up to the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) deadline of 2015. Governments and international agencies are asking what has been achieved, what still needs to be done and how best to proceed after the deadline. Against this backdrop, a new paper published in the November issue of Reproductive Health Matters finds that "quick impact" strategies, which may have solved some problems, have created others.

The paper, 'Sub-Saharan Africa and the health MDGs: the need to move beyond the quick impact model' is lead authored by Fabienne Richard of the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium. It finds that emphasis on achieving quick impacts has sometimes diverted resources away from the neediest patients. The three health MDGs have not benefited equally from quick impact interventions, and the very poorest people have not benefited as much as those in more privileged socioeconomic brackets.

"Evidence shows that most countries are making progress, but that few are managing to achieve inclusive and equitable progress," Richard and co-authors write. "Instead, most of the gains are taking place among the top socioeconomic quintiles, while the lower quintiles are seeing little or no progress." Poverty and the alleviation of its negative consequences are the main aim of the MDGs.

Richard explains how such a situation has come about: "Since 2000, donors have largely supported selective quick win/quick impact approaches to health development which have allowed the picking of several 'low-hanging fruits' in many settings." Looking to the future, she says, "further progress will depend largely on developing medium-term and long-term strategies that pay more attention to the development of health systems."

In another paper published in the same issue, 'Perpetuating power: some reasons why reproductive health has stalled,' Berit Austveg, Senior Advisor to the Norwegian Board of Health Supervision, identifies several areas in which the drive towards achieving goals and using indicators to measure progress has actually had a negative impact on people's lives. Since the number of births attended at delivery by a "skilled birth attendant" is one of the main MDG indicators of maternal health, approaches to reducing maternal deaths have sometimes been narrowed to focus mainly on this indicator. In the most extreme cases, women who would otherwise have delivered at home have been paid to do so in hospital clinics even while the services have seen little improvement or investment.

Reproductive Health Matters' November issue focuses on the theme 'Repoliticising sexual and reproductive health and rights' The papers in this issue point out that a truly comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights agenda is being sidelined and only some aspects of the agenda are being given limited attention.

As 2015 approaches the need to create a better plan for making change happen on the ground and in countries becomes imperative.

###

About Reproductive Health Matters

Reproductive Health Matters is an international, peer-reviewed journal published twice a year. It offers analysis of reproductive health matters from a women-centred perspective. It is written by and for women's health advocates, researchers, service providers, policy makers and those in related fields with an interest in women's health. Its aim is to promote laws, policies, research and services that meet women's reproductive health needs and support women's right to decide whether, when and how to have children. For more information go to: http://www.rhmjournal.org.uk/ ; on Twitter: @RHMjournal

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The company works in partnership with the global science and health communities to publish more than 2,000 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and close to 20,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier's online solutions include SciVerse ScienceDirect, SciVerse Scopus, Reaxys, MD Consult and Nursing Consult, which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, and the SciVal suite and MEDai's Pinpoint Review, which help research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.

A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC, a world-leading publisher and information provider, which is jointly owned by Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV. The ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).

Media contact
Pathika Martin
+44 20 7267 6567
pmartin@rhmjournal.org.uk


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Good intentions may hamper progress in pursuit of global reproductive health and rights [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 28-Nov-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Pathika Martin
pmartin@rhmjournal.org.uk
44-207-267-6567
Elsevier

London, November 28, 2011 - Serious global discussions have begun in the lead-up to the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) deadline of 2015. Governments and international agencies are asking what has been achieved, what still needs to be done and how best to proceed after the deadline. Against this backdrop, a new paper published in the November issue of Reproductive Health Matters finds that "quick impact" strategies, which may have solved some problems, have created others.

The paper, 'Sub-Saharan Africa and the health MDGs: the need to move beyond the quick impact model' is lead authored by Fabienne Richard of the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium. It finds that emphasis on achieving quick impacts has sometimes diverted resources away from the neediest patients. The three health MDGs have not benefited equally from quick impact interventions, and the very poorest people have not benefited as much as those in more privileged socioeconomic brackets.

"Evidence shows that most countries are making progress, but that few are managing to achieve inclusive and equitable progress," Richard and co-authors write. "Instead, most of the gains are taking place among the top socioeconomic quintiles, while the lower quintiles are seeing little or no progress." Poverty and the alleviation of its negative consequences are the main aim of the MDGs.

Richard explains how such a situation has come about: "Since 2000, donors have largely supported selective quick win/quick impact approaches to health development which have allowed the picking of several 'low-hanging fruits' in many settings." Looking to the future, she says, "further progress will depend largely on developing medium-term and long-term strategies that pay more attention to the development of health systems."

In another paper published in the same issue, 'Perpetuating power: some reasons why reproductive health has stalled,' Berit Austveg, Senior Advisor to the Norwegian Board of Health Supervision, identifies several areas in which the drive towards achieving goals and using indicators to measure progress has actually had a negative impact on people's lives. Since the number of births attended at delivery by a "skilled birth attendant" is one of the main MDG indicators of maternal health, approaches to reducing maternal deaths have sometimes been narrowed to focus mainly on this indicator. In the most extreme cases, women who would otherwise have delivered at home have been paid to do so in hospital clinics even while the services have seen little improvement or investment.

Reproductive Health Matters' November issue focuses on the theme 'Repoliticising sexual and reproductive health and rights' The papers in this issue point out that a truly comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights agenda is being sidelined and only some aspects of the agenda are being given limited attention.

As 2015 approaches the need to create a better plan for making change happen on the ground and in countries becomes imperative.

###

About Reproductive Health Matters

Reproductive Health Matters is an international, peer-reviewed journal published twice a year. It offers analysis of reproductive health matters from a women-centred perspective. It is written by and for women's health advocates, researchers, service providers, policy makers and those in related fields with an interest in women's health. Its aim is to promote laws, policies, research and services that meet women's reproductive health needs and support women's right to decide whether, when and how to have children. For more information go to: http://www.rhmjournal.org.uk/ ; on Twitter: @RHMjournal

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The company works in partnership with the global science and health communities to publish more than 2,000 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and close to 20,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier's online solutions include SciVerse ScienceDirect, SciVerse Scopus, Reaxys, MD Consult and Nursing Consult, which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, and the SciVal suite and MEDai's Pinpoint Review, which help research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.

A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC, a world-leading publisher and information provider, which is jointly owned by Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV. The ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).

Media contact
Pathika Martin
+44 20 7267 6567
pmartin@rhmjournal.org.uk


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Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-11/e-gim112811.php

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Video: Allison Asks Suze

Allison's husband's business failed and she feels that she is carrying the weight. She wants to know how long she should let this go on before he should quit his dream of running his own business.

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Judge blocks Citigroup-SEC settlement (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? A federal judge angrily blocked Citigroup Inc's proposed $285 million settlement over the sale of toxic mortgage debt, excoriating the top U.S. market regulator over how it reaches corporate fraud settlements.

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission appeared uninterested in actually learning what Citigroup did wrong, and erred by asking him to ignore the interests of the public.

"An application of judicial power that does not rest on facts is worse than mindless, it is inherently dangerous," Rakoff wrote in an opinion dated Monday.

The judge added that it was difficult to discern "from the limited information before the court what the SEC is getting from this settlement other than a quick headline."

He said the proposed settlement was "neither reasonable, nor fair, nor adequate, nor in the public interest."

In response, the SEC's director of enforcement, Robert Khuzami, said in a statement that $285 million "reasonably reflects the scope of relief that would be obtained after a successful trial" but without the "risks, delay and resources required at trial."

Danielle Romero-Apsilos, a Citigroup spokeswoman, declined immediate comment.

In its complaint, the SEC accused Citigroup of selling a $1 billion mortgage-linked collateralized debt obligation, Class V Funding III, in 2007 as the housing market was beginning to collapse, and then betting against the transaction.

One Citigroup employee, director Brian Stoker, was also charged by the SEC. He is contesting those charges. Rakoff consolidated the two cases and set a July 16, 2012, trial date.

Rakoff has been a thorn in the side of the SEC. In 2009 he rejected its initial proposed settlement with Bank of America Corp over its takeover of Merrill Lynch & Co.

Monday's decision throws into question the SEC's policies toward settlements with publicly traded companies, at a time when the regulator is trying to burnish its reputation for tough enforcement amid skeptics in Congress and elsewhere.

NO ADMISSION OF WRONGDOING

Rakoff called the Citigroup accord too lenient, noting that the bank was charged only with negligence, neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing, and could avoid reimbursing investors for more than $700 million of losses. Private investors cannot bring securities claims based on negligence.

"If the allegations of the complaint are true, this is a very good deal for Citigroup; and, even if they are untrue, it is a mild and modest cost of doing business," the judge wrote.

The settlement would have required the third-largest U.S. bank to give up $160 million of alleged ill-gotten profit, plus $30 million of interest. It also would have imposed a $95 million fine for the bank's alleged negligence, less than one-fifth what Goldman Sachs Group Inc paid last year in a $550 million SEC settlement over a different CDO.

Rakoff called the $95 million fine "pocket change" for Citigroup and said investors were being "short-changed."

In the SEC's response to the ruling, Khuzami said the regulator "will continue to review the court's ruling and take those steps that best serve the interests of investors."

Citigroup shares were up 5.1 percent at $24.85 in afternoon trade Monday in a rising market amid optimism that a solution to Europe's debt crisis might be found.

In striking down the SEC's $33 million settlement with Bank of America over Merrill, Rakoff said it punished shareholders. He later approved a $150 million accord.

The Citigroup case is SEC v Citigroup Global Markets Inc, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 11-07387.

(Editing by Matthew Lewis, Gerald E. McCormick and John Wallace)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personalfinance/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111128/bs_nm/us_citigroup_sec

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Monday, November 28, 2011

Mitt Romney portrayed as flip flopper in new DNC ads

Mitt Romney is the target of a new Democratic National Party ad airing in six swing states. The ad portrays Mitt Romney taking different positions on immigration, abortion, health care, and other issues.

The Democratic National Committee is up with this web advertisement (in addition to a shorter 30-second bit in Virginia, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pittsburgh and Wisconsin) highlighting what they see as Mitt Romney?s changes of heart on a variety of issues (from abortion to the President?s stimulus plan to recent ballot measures in Ohio) all interspersed with TV pundits and late-night talk show hosts taking aim at the GOP frontrunner.

Skip to next paragraph

While Newt Gingrich has garnered headlines - and is in the lead for the GOP nomination, according to some polls ? the DNC still sees Romney as the Republican to beat.?

Of course, political history is a contested place. Just a few days ago, MItt Romney?s campaign?launched an ad targeting Obama for, among other things, saying ?If we keep talking about the economy, we?re going to lose.?

Unfortunately for the Romney campaign, Politifact rated that piece of the commercial thus: "Pants on Fire."

That?s because Obama was explicitly quoting then-opponent John McCain in his statement. Politifact writes:

"We certainly think it?s fair for Romney to attack Obama for his response to the economy. And the Romney camp can argue that Obama?s situation in 2011 is ironic considering the comments he made in 2008. But those points could have been made without distorting Obama?s words, which have been taken out of context in a ridiculously misleading way."

If you see any ?pants on fire? moments in this latest DNC ad, let Decoder know and we?ll note it in a subsequent post.

Go beyond:

Like your politics unscrambled? Check out DCDecoder.com

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/UYLeJVltPSE/Mitt-Romney-portrayed-as-flip-flopper-in-new-DNC-ads

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Black Friday spurs Android growth with record Kindle sales (Appolicious)

Black Friday is known for boosting retail through the remainder of the year, and the new tradition has certainly helped the Android smartphone market. IBM projected that 15 percent of Black Friday sales this year would transact via mobile, and it turns out their expectations were right on track. On Friday evening, IBM Smarter Commerce reported that about 10.3 percent of online sales came through mobile shoppers, and about 17 percent of all shoppers today are using mobile devices.

It really speaks to the importance of mobile marketplaces, with tools like Google Shopper helping to drive advertising and access around online mobile sales. Amazon certainly recognizes the potential behind a mobile economy. Its Android-powered Kindle Fire is the perfect portal for a range of Amazon products, ranging from digital books and magazines to the actual Amazon store. In fact, Amazon saw success on both sides of mobile commerce this Black Friday, selling a record number of Kindle Fire tablets.

Amazon reported this morning that Black Friday resulted in their best-ever sales for Kindle devices, with the Fire leading the pack. Customers purchased ?four times as many Kindle devices as they did last Black Friday?and last year was a great year,? says Dave Limp, vice president for Amazon Kindle. ?In addition, we?re seeing a lot of customers buying multiple Kindles?one for themselves and others as gifts?we expect this trend to continue on Cyber Monday and through the holiday shopping season.? It certainly sounds impressive, but Amazon hasn?t revealed exact sales figures yet. Nevertheless, deep discounts on every Kindle in the product line has consumers snapping up the tablets like hot cakes.

Key to Android commerce is advertising

The success of Android?s tablet sales has incurred rumors that Amazon may venture into the smartphone market next. Facebook is another tech giant that?s expected to soon jump into the smartphone market too, building out its mobile commerce strategy around its social networking platform. Since word of an upcoming Facebook phone emerged about a week ago, speculation on the network?s handset has only grown. They, too, would need an extensive model for extending the Facebook marketplace to the mobile realm, finding more deeply integrated outlets for virtual goods, gaming and advertising.

Advertising is the key to any successful mobile commerce strategy, according to a recent article from The Guardian. This is where Google has the lead. While an Amazon and Facebook phone would likely run on the Android OS, Google is the ultimate winner as this market fleshes out. An Android-powered Facebook phone would be in competition with Google on Google?s own platform, highlighting the impact of the mobile OS and the rise of the smartphone as the most personal of all PCs to date. We could end up with some very different tactics around mobile advertising and commerce should Amazon and Facebook turn to Android for smartphone development, and it will be even more interesting to see how Google continues to maintain some level of control over its ad revenue through extensive mobile commerce and specialized devices.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/appolicious_rss/rss_appolicious_tc/http___www_androidapps_com_articles10307_black_friday_spurs_android_growth_with_record_kindle_sales/43734626/SIG=13bkgbtgh/*http%3A//www.androidapps.com/tech/articles/10307-black-friday-spurs-android-growth-with-record-kindle-sales

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Laszlo: Bohemian Groove (Little green footballs)

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