Jan28

BP fails to shift $15 billion oil spill costs onto Transocean (Reuters)

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BP fails to shift $15 billion oil spill costs onto Transocean (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? Oil giant BP has lost its attempt to shift over $15 billion of costs related to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill onto contractor Transocean, increasing the possibility BP may have to foot the entire $42 billion clean up bill.

A U.S. federal judge on Thursday said BP must uphold a clause in its contract with Transocean Ltd that would shield the Swiss-based driller from compensatory damage claims related to the 2010 disaster.

That means London-based BP may have to shoulder alone compensation claims brought by the likes of fishermen and hoteliers whose livelihoods were affected by largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

However, U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier left open the possibility that Transocean might still have to pay all or part of any punitive damages and civil penalties imposed by the U.S. government under the federal Clean Water Act.

Barbier, who oversees multistate litigation over the spill, ruled that BP need not indemnify Transocean for these.

BP has estimated civil fines of around $3.5 billion related to the spill, although maximum possible fines could top $20 billion if gross negligence was established on the part of BP or its contractors.

BP has made no provision for punitive damages because it says there is no legal basis for them. Barbier has limited the cases in which claims for punitive damages can be brought.

Thursday’s decision means Transocean’s potential liability over the April 20, 2010 Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion that caused 11 deaths, was “materially diminished” analysts at UBS said in a research note.

BP had previously sought to shift the whole cost of the disaster, currently estimated at around $42 billion, onto Transocean.

Shares of Transocean rose 8.2 percent at 0856 GMT, while BP shares fell 1.7 percent.

RESPONSIBILITY

Transocean owned the rig, while BP owned a majority of the Macondo well whose blowout led to the spill.

BP has said it would like to reach an out of court settlement with Transocean but Barbier’s ruling makes its negotiating position weaker.

Both sides claimed victory over the ruling, which Transocean spokesman Lou Colasuonno said “discredits BP’s ongoing attempts to evade both its contractual and financial obligations.”

BP said the decision “holds Transocean financially responsible for any punitive damages, fines and penalties flowing from its own conduct.

“As we have said from the beginning, Transocean cannot avoid its responsibility for this accident,” spokesman Daren Beaudo said in an emailed statement.

LEGAL ARGUMENTS

BP has already paid out $7 billion in claims to third parties who have suffered losses and has an outstanding provision of $8.2 billion for further claims and litigation, suggesting third party claims are expected to top $15 billion.

However, plaintiffs lawyers say compensatory claims could even end up totaling more than the $20 billion BP has set aside in its gulf coast restoration fund.

Two U.S. government probes have put most of the blame for the disaster on BP, suggesting BP is likely to face the largest share of any fines levied.

The New Orleans-based judge has set a February 27 start date for a trial to apportion blame.

The case is In re: Oil Spill by the Oil Rig “Deepwater Horizon” in the Gulf of Mexico, on April 20, 2010, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, No. 10-md-02179.

(Writing by Tom Bergin; Additional reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Jodie Ginsberg)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/environment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120127/bs_nm/us_bp_transocean

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Jan27

Report: US seeks military expansion in Philippines

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Report: US seeks military expansion in Philippines

By msnbc.com staff

Philippine officials are in?talks with the Obama administration about expanding the U.S.?military presence in the archipelago as part of the strategy to counter China in the Pacific.

Report of the talks first appeared on the Washington Post website on Wednesday, which said the negotiations are in the early stages but that both governments “are favorably inclined toward a deal.”

Additional talks are scheduled on Thursday and Friday in Washington, the Post reported, with higher level meetings set for March.

“We can point to other countries: Australia, Japan, Singapore,” an unnamed senior Philippine official?involved in the talks told the Post. ?We?re not the only one doing this, and for good reason. We all want to see a peaceful and stable region. Nobody wants to have to face China or confront China.?

Other recent agreements related to Obama?s China strategy include basing Marines in?Australia as well as?Navy ships in Singapore.

China’s ministry of defense warned earlier this month that the United States needs to be “careful in its words and actions” about rethinking its defense posture across Asia in?response to China’s rise.

US to keep 11 aircraft carriers to show sea power

China has been expanding its naval might in the Pacific, adding submarines and an aircraft carrier, and it?has also increased its missile and surveillance capabilities.

Subic Bay Naval Base in the Philippines was one of the largest U.S. military installations in the Pacific until it closed in 1991.

More from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Source: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/25/10236329-report-us-seeks-greater-military-presence-in-philippines

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Jan26

Use This Awesome Website to Find Out How Big Phones Are [Phones]

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Use This Awesome Website to Find Out How Big Phones Are [Phones]

Phone-size.com is a useful little website that compares the size of phones against each other. Can your weeny hands handle a gargantuan Galaxy Nexus? Are your skinny jeans too tight for a Nokia Lumia 800? You’ll find out!. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/TCPV-djeoAk/use-this-awesome-website-to-find-out-how-big-phones-are

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Jan26

Analysis: Shipping signal gnaws at market optimism (Reuters)

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Analysis: Shipping signal gnaws at market optimism (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? A nightmare on world freight markets, where shipping prices have been decimated over the past four years, is gnawing at New Year optimism about a stabilizing world economy and shows how adept investors can be at tuning out ‘inconvenient’ information.

Global markets have staged an impressive start to 2012 after a dire second half to last year when economists talked openly of global depression, euro zone collapse and systemic shocks. World equities, commodities and even Italian government debt have all rallied to return between five and 10 percent so far this month.

And there’s plenty of supporting news to back that up — a wave of more positive business surveys across developed economies, improving labor markets and consumer credit in the United States, huge and cheap long-term bank financing from the European Central Bank and some benign Chinese growth numbers.

The world economy is not in freefall after all, it seems, and overpessimistic markets have re-adjusted to reflect that.

Yet, one market has so far refused to play ball. The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index (.BADI), which measures the cost of shipping dry commodities and is seen by many as a lead indicator of global trade activity, has shed more than 50 percent in just one month and is plumbing three-year lows.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Baltic Index vs equities: http://link.reuters.com/waw26s

Global Asset performance in 2012: http://link.reuters.com/nyw85s

Asset performance vs volatility: http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/12/01/RiskReturn.html

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>

BUM STEER?

For many, it’s tempting to dismiss the signal as a bum steer from a market that experts say faces a glut of new vessels due to over-optimism about demand a couple of years back. Given the long lead time it takes to build new ships, the resultant excess capacity is kicking in now and overwhelming subdued demand.

What’s more, a slowing Chinese economy — whose sudden emergence as the world’s second largest has been responsible for some of the most dramatic movements in the index over the past decade — and demand for iron ore — which accounts for almost a third of the volumes on larger cargo ships — are major factors.

Yet, if you subscribe to its predictive nature, then it’s difficult to ignore that as equity markets tumbled through late summer and autumn of last year, shipping prices were more sanguine and jumped 70 percent between August and October, which may well have heralded the stream of good economic news.

Defenders of its leading signal status also point to the fact that the rigidities related to market capacity reduce the speculative element that creates so much short-term noise in other financial markets and make it less prone to the ebb and flow of monetary liquidity and central bank policy.

As a result, the doldrums in the Baltic Freight index may merely be a reality check for other markets and more accurately reflect a widespread investor view of sub-par global economic growth for years to come rather than any new signal per se.

“The global economy is very likely to slow sharply this year. Quite how sharply it slows and why will define how risky assets will perform,” said Richard Cookson, Global Chief Investment Officer at Citi Private Bank.

The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday reinforced the slowdown thesis, cutting its 2012 world growth forecast to a sub-trend 3.3 percent from as high as 4 percent last September.

If the shipping market divergence is then simply to do with perspective and length of horizon, it’s revealing how market behavior and its often weekly bipolar swings between pessimism and optimism — or “risk on” and “risk off” in market parlance — is adept at choosing information to suit its prevailing mood.

HARDWIRED

Societe Generale strategist Dylan Grice, who along with long-term market bear Albert Edwards advocate the bank’s “Alternative View” of a looming economic Ice Age, cites several studies showing how people are always biased toward believing information that reinforces their existing view and markets were little different in this respect.

“We’re hardwired to think we’re right more often than we are right,” Grice told clients this week. “The problem isn’t that we have an optimistic disposition per se. It’s that we’re impervious to evidence telling us we’re wrong, and are steadfast in our refusal to incorporate such evidence.”

Bullish or bearish then, the best strategy may be a refusal to get caught in either prevailing short-term narrative and an attempt to see through another likely volatile year by sticking with tried and tested blue chip equities and top quality bonds.

As ever, billionaire U.S. investor Warren Buffett seems to be doing just that again this year — seeking long-term value from short-term market swings.

Just a day after a profit warning on January 19 sparked a 15 percent drop in the shares of blue-chip British supermarket firm Tesco (TSCO.L), Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway boosted its stake to 5.08 percent from 3.21 percent.

For Buffett, the fact that Tesco shares, along with other high dividend blue chips, have more than doubled in price over the past 12 years as the broader FTSE 100 index (.FTSE) shed 30 percent, will not have been lost.

(Writing by Mike Dolan; graphics by Scott Barber; editing by Ron Askew)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120125/bs_nm/us_investment_strategy_ships

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Jan25

USDA sets guidelines for healthier school meals (Reuters)

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USDA sets guidelines for healthier school meals (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? Millions of schoolchildren will have more fruit and vegetables and less fat in their meals under U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) standards unveiled on Wednesday aimed at reducing childhood obesity.

In the first major changes to school meals in more than 15 years, the new USDA guidelines will affect nearly 32 million children who eat at school. They will cost about $3.2 billion to implement over the next five years.

“Improving the quality of the school meals is a critical step to building a healthy future for our kids,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement.

The new meal requirements are part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act championed by first lady Michelle Obama and aimed at reducing childhood obesity. President Barack Obama approved the measure in 2011.

About 17 percent of U.S. children and teenagers are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About one-third of U.S. adults are obese.

The new guidelines include offering fruits and vegetables every day and substantially increasing offerings of whole grain-rich foods, the USDA statement said.

Schools may offer only fat-free or low-fat milk varieties and must assure that children are getting proper portion sizes.

The new standards will be largely phased in over a three-year period, starting in the 2012-13 school year.

As part of the new standards, schools will receive another 6 cents a meal. Food and beverages sold in vending machines and other school sites “will also contribute to a healthy diet,” the statement said.

The USDA administers 15 nutritional assistance programs, including the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs.

(Reporting By Ian Simpson. Editing by Paul Thomasch)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120125/us_nm/us_school_food

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Jan25

49ers lead Giants 7-0 after 1st in NFC title game

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49ers lead Giants 7-0 after 1st in NFC title game

BC-FBN–NFC Championship, 1st Ld-Writethru,1102Giants top 49ers 20-17 in OT to reach Super BowlAP Photo NFC193, NFC146, NFC135, NFC205, NFC194Eds: Giants 20, 49ers 17, OT. With AP Photos. Adds AP Video.By JANIE McCAULEYAP Sports Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? In a season of fabulous finishes, Eli Manning and the Giants had another one in them.

And now New York is headed toward the ending that matters most: another trip to the Super Bowl.

Five plays after the 49ers’ Kyle Williams fumbled a punt, Lawrence Tynes kicked a 31-yard field goal in overtime, sending the Giants to the Super Bowl with a 20-17 victory over San Francisco in the NFC championship game on Sunday.

“Guys never quit, never ever have any doubts,” Manning said. “They keep believing and fighting until the very end no matter what the circumstances are. I think everybody knew we were going to get a break, we were going to get a chance to win this game.”

In another tight contest in this decades-old postseason rivalry, both defenses made key stops before New York capitalized on a rare mistake in San Francisco’s resurgent season. Williams’ blunder put the Giants in perfect position for another sensational finish in a season full of them.

The first three possessions in overtime ended in punts before Williams fumbled. The Giants won it moments later and silenced ? for good this time ? the towel-waving, poncho-wearing sellout crowd at cold, rainy Candlestick Park.

“It was one of those situations where I tried to turn it upfield and it just didn’t work out,” Williams said.

Manning and the Giants (12-7) will face the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl on Feb. 5 in Indianapolis as 3?-point underdogs. The last time the teams met for the NFL title, 2008, the Giants ended the Patriots’ bid for a perfect season.

Tynes had a hand, er, foot in getting the Giants to that one, too, kicking a field goal in overtime.

Devin Thomas put the Giants in position this time by recovering his second fumble of the game after Jacquian Williams stripped the ball from fill-in return man Kyle Williams, who also fumbled earlier to set up a New York touchdown.

“It’s my second NFC championship game, my second game-winner,” Tynes said of his kick 7:54 into overtime. “It’s amazing. I had dreams about this last night. It was from 42, not 31, but I was so nervous today before the game just anticipating this kind of game. I’m usually pretty cool, but there was something about tonight where I knew I was going to have to make a kick. Hats off to Eli, offense, defense. Great win.”

Holder Steve Weatherford celebrated with a slip-and-slide on his back down the soggy field. Victor Cruz fell to his knees. Tynes quickly found his crying wife for a warm hug. Manning tossed his gloves into the temporary seats with a big smile, then received a surprise visit from big brother, Peyton, in the locker room.

Manning went 32 of 58 for 316 yards and two touchdowns and overcame six sacks in his record fifth road playoff win, New York’s fifth in a row overall. Manning orchestrated five fourth-quarter wins during the regular season.

He threw a go-ahead 17-yard touchdown pass to Mario Manningham with 8:34 remaining after Kyle Williams fumbled for the first time.

The Giants challenged that the ball touched Williams’ right knee and Thomas recovered with 11:06 left and coach Tom Coughlin won, giving the Giants the ball back at the 29.

“That was a tremendous football game for those that really enjoy football at it’s very basic element,” said Coughlin, who matched former Cowboys coach Tom Landry for most road playoff wins with seven. “Just a classic football game that just seemed like no one was going to put themselves into position to win it. Fortunately, we were able to do that.”

A 12-point underdog in the 2008 title game, the Giants battered Brady and got a last-minute TD pass from Manning to Plaxico Burress to win their third Super Bowl. Five months ago, Manning declared he was in the same class as Tom Brady. Now, he’ll get another chance to outdo him on the NFL’s biggest stage.

During this playoff run, he’s already outplayed Aaron Rodgers and the defending champion Packers, and fellow former No. 1 pick Alex Smith.

Cruz set the tone Sunday with eight of his 10 receptions in the first half and finished with 142 yards.

“It’s just been a tremendous effort by all of us, man,” Cruz said. “We understand that any one of us can get hot at any moment. As long as we’re all on the same page and just playing together, man, we’ve got a great group of guys.”

The Giants appeared on the verge of collapsing and Coughlin’s job status in jeopardy just a month ago, when they fell to 7-7 with an embarrassing loss to the Washington Redskins on Dec. 18.

They were facing elimination the following week against the Jets and Rex Ryan, but the Giants won 29-14. They followed with a 31-14 win over Dallas in the regular-season finale to win the NFC East and get to the playoffs for the first time since 2008.

New York dominated Atlanta at home in the opening round, and then came another stunner: a 37-20 victory at Green Bay.

Vernon Davis caught touchdown passes of 73 and 28 yards for the NFC West champions (14-4), who went from 6-10 a year ago to a contender and ended an eight-year playoff drought.

“It will be a tough one. It will take a while to get over,” coach Jim Harbaugh said. “There were a lot of ways in which we played well enough to win. We just didn’t come away with it.”

Smith completed just 12 of 26 passes for 196 yards, connecting on only one short throw to a wide receiver. With no threats on the outside, San Francisco managed one third-down conversion, coming on the final play of regulation. The offense was unable to overcome Williams’ blunders.

“You hate to be the last guy that had the ball, to give it away in that fashion and to lose a game of this magnitude,” Williams said. “It is what it is. We’re going to move forward as a team. Everyone has come to pat me on the back and the shoulder to say it’s not me.”

Notes: Davis joined Jerry Rice as the only 49ers with at least two touchdowns receiving in back-to-back playoff games. … Cruz caught a 36-yard pass from Manning on the first play of the second quarter, then Manning hit Bear Pascoe for a 6-yard touchdown seven plays later. … Giants C David Baas beat his former team. … Manningham missed the potential game-tying TD in a 27-20 loss here on Nov. 13.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-23-NFC%20Championship/id-3dbd47155d0e4f47b5c19210eae212a8

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Jan24

“Invisible War” exposes widespread rape in U.S. military (Reuters)

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“Invisible War” exposes widespread rape in U.S. military (Reuters)

PARK CITY, Utah, Jan 22 (TheWrap.com) ? Rape in the American armed forces is an issue that has quietly been gathering attention over the past decade. But it exploded with the power of suppressed fury at the Sundance festival’s Friday afternoon screening of the documentary “The Invisible War,” a devastating indictment of the government’s inaction on the issue.

Director Kirby Dick brought a powerful weapon to his film: victim after eloquent victim, Navy, Marine, Coast Guard, Army and Air Force veterans who were assaulted by fellow officers, supervisors or recruits.

They tell their stories in courageous detail, and it quickly becomes clear that these are not isolated incidents but a pattern reflective of a widespread rot within America’s military institution, one that betrays its essential values.

The individuals Dick chose as the principal characters in his film — there were so many to choose from — were among the best of their class. They were women (and in some cases, men) who joined the military out of devotion to country and a desire to serve.

One Marine, Ariana Klay, was raped by a fellow officer in the elite Marine Barracks in Washington, D.C.

A Navy officer, Trina McDonald, was drugged and raped repeatedly by fellow officers on a remote base in Alaska.

Coast Guard recruit Kori Cioca was raped and then assaulted — smacked so hard in the face that it dislocated her jaw, causing her permanent damage and pain for which the Veterans Administration declines to provide medical coverage.

One woman who was assaulted had previously been a military investigator of crimes. Rape investigations were always steered away from the women, she recounted, because they would be “too sympathetic.”

Every woman in the film has had her life shattered by this event — not necessarily because of the rape, but because of the response by the military establishment.

After lodging complaints, the women were met with indifference or targeted retaliation. They have had to leave the military. Some were threatened with violence.

For each, the betrayal by their colleagues and by an institution they trusted deeply has been a wound that, as one military psychologist affirms, cuts to “the soul.”

Almost none of the alleged perpetrators were brought up on charges or punished in any way. Some have gone on to rape again, in the military or the private sector.

Kirby, who took on the Catholic Church’s indifference to sexual abuse in “Twist of Faith,” hopes the film will mobilize change in a way that lobbying and newspaper journalism so far have not.

Two obvious policy changes are necessary: better screening of new recruits to winnow out potential predators, and moving the authority for investigating and prosecuting rape into indendent hands. At the moment, local commanders have nearly all the power in these matters.

The military “has to admit they have a problem,” Dick said at the Q&A after the screening, where more than a half-dozen victims stood and received applause.

“They need another mind-set to attack this issue.”

The movie, which does not yet have distribution, profoundly shocked the audience. One military recruiter stood and asked for the names of the bases involved so she could steer female enlistees away from known risk areas. A 17-year-old girl stood up in tears and thanked the women for speaking out.

But there was one inspiring surprise after the screening. A couple in the audience approached Cioca and told her they will pay for the surgery to repair her jaw, which causes her pain every day. The cost is around $60,000, and without V.A. medical coverage she cannot afford it.

Cioca was overwhelmed. The couple, an investment banker and his wife, said they preferred to remain anonymous.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120122/film_nm/us_sundance_military

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Jan15

Couples’ friendships make for happier marriages, relationships

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Couples’ friendships make for happier marriages, relationships

ScienceDaily (Jan. 13, 2012) ? While the value of friendship has been well established for individuals, little had been known about the impact of married couples’ forming and keeping friendships with other couples. These relationships often make for happier marriages and also improve the bonds between adults who are unmarried partners, concludes a new book, “Two Plus Two: Couples and Their Couple Friendships.”

Co-authors Geoffrey Greif, DSW, MSW, professor at the University of Maryland School of Social Work, and Kathleen Holtz Deal, PhD, MSW, associate professor at the School, have found that when couples agree on how they spend their time alone and with others, they are more likely to have a happy marriage or relationship. The book offers language that couples can use to talk with each other to find a balance that works for them.

The findings are based on interviews with 123 couples with both partners present, 122 individuals who were alone when questioned about their relationships, and 58 divorced individuals. To identify and interview subjects for the study, the professors began with the work of 58 master’s students in an advanced research course and then interviewed more than 20 couples themselves. The stories of these couples, who remain anonymous, are highlighted in the book.

The research found differing motivations behind couples’ friendships, with some people preferring to share emotions while others see the purpose as fun and recreation. The ways the friendships get started also vary, with the majority growing out of a typical friendship between two people that widens to encompass all four. Say the men were pals are work, or the women met at college and decided to see if their spouses might get along, too.

Deal, who has been married 43 years, says she was surprised to find that she and her husband were in the minority because they set out as a pair to make friends with other couples. They established friendships with a group of five other couples that have lasted for over 30 years. They have shared social events and vacations. “We can talk about anything we want to. We have shared sad times, and good times,” she says, calling the group of friends, who met one another at church, “a huge influence on my life.”

Greif says that he and his wife of 36 years “feel very comfortable” in their friendships with other couples and that work on the book has given him the “language to think about how couple friendships are begun and how they are maintained.”

As the author of articles and books on family issues, Greif had previously studied men and their interactions for his 2009 book, “Buddy System: Understanding Male Friendships.” He says a look at friendships among married adults seemed a logical next step. From the outset of the project over three years ago, the co-authors found very little had been written. “Regarding adult long-term relationships across the lifespan, this is it,” says Greif.

Greif and Deal conclude that healthy couple friendships make a marriage more fulfilling and exciting for several reasons, such as increasing partners’ attraction to each other, providing a greater understanding of men and women in general, and allowing partners to observe ways that other couples interact with each other and negotiate differences. However, they found that the topics of sex and money continue to be taboo even among friends.

Couples fall into one of three categories, according to how they approach their friendships with others, the research shows. Readers can ask their partners which one best fits their own profile as a twosome. Seekers? Keepers? Or Nesters? Greif and Deal describe seekers as extroverts who are often looking for another couple with whom to socialize. Keepers have full lives and many friends, and are not necessarily looking for more. Nesters tend to be introverts who have a small number of couple friends and are content with that.

Compromise is required when an introvert marries an extrovert, and a couple’s outlook may change as life stages do. The content of “Two Plus Two” is organized across the lifespan, with chapters including, “The Middle Years: Couples Raising Families and Balancing Friendships,” and “Older Couples and Their Couple Friendships.” The oldest couples are now in their eighties and nineties.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Maryland Baltimore, via Newswise.

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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/BgaRsgHQh9I/120113211028.htm

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Jan14

Exclusive: TPG willing to invest $1 billion in Olympus (Reuters)

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Exclusive: TPG willing to invest $1 billion in Olympus (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) ? Private equity firm TPG Capital is willing to invest about $1 billion in Japan’s Olympus Corp in a joint deal with Sony Corp or another suitor circling the scandal-hit firm, a person familiar with TPG’s thinking said.

TPG has informed executives at Sony, Canon Inc, Fujifilm Holdings and Panasonic Corp of its interest in providing capital and expertise to help revive the maker of medical equipment and cameras, the person said.

Olympus has been seeking a friendly investor to make a minority investment and help its business recover from a $1.7 billion accounting scandal that has crushed its stock price and left a big dent in its balance sheet.

Electronics firms such as Sony, Canon and Panasonic are keen on Olympus’ diagnostic endoscope business as part of their strategies to expand into healthcare, while Fujifilm is already in the profitable endoscope market, banking sources have said.

So far, TPG has not received any indication from these strategic suitors that they would be willing to work with the private equity firm on a transaction, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

But TPG believes it could be an effective partner by putting up capital, offering its experience in management, restructuring and the healthcare field, and by taking over parts of the company the strategic investor does not want, the person said.

A TPG spokesman declined to comment.

“My impression is that the chance of private equity getting involved in Olympus is 50-50,” said Tetsuro Ii, chief executive of Commons Asset Management.

“The strategic partner would need to eventually buy out the fund at a higher price. But the fact is Olympus has made a lot of acquisitions to date, much of which will need to be disposed of or restructured. It probably makes more sense to work with a value-up fund to get that done.”

The list of potential suitors is long and was thought to include Samsung Electronics, though the South Korean technology giant ruled out on Friday any chance of an equity investment in the firm.

Sony, Canon, Fujifilm and Panasonic are seen as strong candidates to invest in and form an alliance with Olympus, attracted by its medical equipment business, the company’s crown jewel boasting operating profit margins of about 20 percent.

Canon said it was not considering an alliance with Olympus. Panasonic declined to comment. Fujifilm said it had not been contacted by TPG, while Sony said it had no comment.

Nearly all of Olympus’ profits are generated from its dominant 70 percent share of the global market for flexible diagnostic endoscopes. The steady cash flow from that business has allowed it to prop up its digital camera business, which is on course to lose money for a second straight year.

MESSY DEAL

TPG would consider taking over the other less desirable parts of the firm to facilitate a deal. This could include the digital camera operation, which is in need of a major overhaul, including job cuts, the person said.

TPG is one of the world’s largest private equity firms, with about $48 billion of assets under management. It has considerable experience in healthcare, including a leading role in the $4 billion buyout of data provider IMS Health in 2009.

It is also one of several parties interested in bidding for AMR Corp, the bankrupt parent of American Airlines, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Olympus’ medical business appears to have weathered the scandal, but its stock is down 40 percent since the fraud was brought to light in mid-October and the situation remains fluid, adding to the difficulty in getting a deal done.

Samsung Electronics Chief Executive Choi Gee-sung dismissed suggestions his firm, a global leader in smartphones, televisions and memory chips, would want to buy Olympus’ assets or at least invest as an equity partner in the business.

“We’re not interested in what others are already doing very well. Samsung will do what we can do better,” Choi told Reuters on the sidelines of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

An executive at parent Samsung Group, however, said Samsung Electronics was interested in a more modest, non-equity alliance, though he declined to give details.

“We are not that interested in Olympus … Olympus is in a very difficult situation. It may want more than just an alliance or cooperation,” the executive said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Any major foreign investment in Olympus could run into opposition in Japan, where the firm’s endoscope technology is seen as strategic, in part because of the country’s high incidence of stomach cancer.

Medical endoscopes are used to peer inside patients to help diagnose cancer, ulcers and other conditions. Olympus endoscope technology also has strategic industrial applications, such as looking inside dangerously radioactive parts of Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant.

The Japanese government can halt an investment of 10 percent or more in a listed firm, or 1 percent or more in an unlisted company, if foreign ownership would affect national security, a regulation some say might be applied to optical technology.

An analyst in Hong Kong said optical technology was potentially of interest to Samsung Electronics.

“Optical technology is one of the areas where it has not caught up with Japan,” said Hwang Min-seong, a technology analyst at Samsung Securities.

Olympus remains a thorny takeover target for potential bidders because the multinational remains under investigation by police, prosecutors and regulators at home as well as by law-enforcement agencies in the United States and Britain.

Its disgraced senior management and board is also in disarray, with shareholders not expected to vote in a new board, including chairman and chief executive, until March or April when Olympus has said it will convene an extraordinary meeting.

Olympus’ listing status is also under a cloud, though risks of it being delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange appear to be fading with public broadcaster NHK reporting on Friday that the exchange was set to decide to keep Olympus on its boards.

The exchange is likely to hold an extraordinary executive meeting to decide Olympus’ fate as early as January 20, NHK added. The exchange said in a statement that nothing had been decided.

Olympus shares closed down 2.7 percent at 1,236 yen, valuing the company at around $4.4 billion. The stock’s fall was due to investors keen to close out positions ahead of the weekend and lock in gains earlier in the week on growing expectations that it would keep its listing, a trader at a Japanese broker said. ($1 = 76.7550 Japanese yen)

(Additional reporting by Miyoung Kim in LAS VEGAS, Hyunjoo Jin in SEOUL and Yoko Kubota, Mari Saito and Isabel Reynolds in TOKYO; Editing by Mark Bendeich, Neil Fullick and Ian Geoghegan)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120113/bs_nm/us_olympus

michele bachmann west virginia university tim howard west virginia jessica biel rob roy gaslight

Dec21

Devil May Cry HD Collection confirmed for April 2012

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Devil May Cry HD Collection confirmed for April 2012


Unleash Dante’s raging inferno next year when the Devil May Cry HD Collection arrives April 3, 2012. Capcom confirmed the date today for the bundle, featuring the first three games in the series (including the “special edition” version of DMC 3), and reiterated the game will be available on Xbox 360 and PS3 for $39.99.

The package will (naturally) support both Trophies and Achievements, and will include unspecified “bonus content”… like, black hair dye?Gallery: Devil May Cry HD Collection (Comparison)Devil May Cry HD Collection confirmed for April 2012 originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

Thanks to video games