If you're a gamer and love you some bright colors, Nintendo's got just the bundle of joy with a couple of new 3DS models. "Pink Gloss" and "Light Blue" colors will arrive to the handheld console on March 20th along with a boost in memory from the usual 2GB to 4GB for 15,000 yen (about $160). The rug might be pulled from under your brightly-hued dreams if you're not in Japan, though -- only players in that country will be able to nab it.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) ? Dale Robertson, an Oklahoma native who became a star of television and movie Westerns during the genre's heyday, died Tuesday. He was 89.
Robertson's niece, Nancy Robertson, said her uncle died at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, Calif., following a brief illness.
Dale Robertson had bit parts in films including "The Boy with the Green Hair" and the Joan Crawford vehicle "Flamingo Road" before landing more high-profile roles such as Jesse James in "Fighting Man of the Plains."
In the 1950s, he moved into television, starring in series such as "Tales of Wells Fargo" (1957-62), "Iron Horse" (1966) and "Death Valley Days" (1968-70).
Robertson continued to work in TV in the 1970s, and in the 1980s he landed roles in the popular night-time soap operas "Dallas" and "Dynasty."
In 1993, he took what would be his final role, as Zeke in the show "Harts of the West," before retiring from acting to spend more time at his ranch in Yukon, Okla., where he lived until moving to the San Diego area in recent months, Nancy Robertson said.
Dale Robertson would want to be remembered as a father, a grandfather and an Oklahoman, she said.
"He came back a lot when he was in Hollywood, and he came back (to Oklahoma) after retiring," she said.
"I remember him as a larger-than-life fellow," she said. "When he was in town it was always very exciting. It always meant something magical was going to happen," such as another actor or performing artist accompanying him on his visits.
Born Dayle Lymoine Robertson to Melvin and Vervel Robertson in Harrah, on July 14, 1923, Robertson attended Oklahoma Military College at 17 and boxed in professional prize fights to earn money.
He joined the U.S. Army and fought in North Africa and Europe during World War II. Robertson was wounded twice and awarded the Bronze and Silver Stars and the Purple Heart.
While stationed at San Luis Obispo, Calif., he had a photograph taken for his mother. A copy of the photo displayed in the photo shop window attracted movie scouts, and the 6-foot-tall, 180-pound Robertson soon was on his way to Hollywood.
Will Rogers Jr., son of fellow Oklahoma-born actor and writer Will Rogers, once told Robertson to avoid formal training and keep his own persona.
Robertson received the Golden Boot Award in 1985, and was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers and the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City.
He was married several times, most recently in 1980 to Susan Robbins, who survives him along with two children.
Nancy Robertson said her uncle will be cremated and that a memorial service will be held in a few weeks.
_____
Former Associated Press writer Rochelle Hines contributed to this report.
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Elephant seals wearing head sensors and swimming deep beneath Antarctic ice have helped scientists better understand how the ocean's coldest, deepest waters are formed, providing vital clues to understanding its role in the world's climate.
The tagged seals, along with sophisticated satellite data and moorings in ocean canyons, all played a role in providing data from the extreme Antarctic environment, where observations are very rare and ships could not go, said researchers at the Antarctic Climate & Ecosystem CRC in Tasmania.
Scientists have long known of the existence of "Antarctic bottom water," a dense, deep layer of water near the ocean floor that has a significant impact on the movement of the world's oceans.
Three areas where this water is formed were known of, and the existence of a fourth suspected for decades, but the area was far too inaccessible, until now, thanks to the seals.
"The seals went to an area of the coastline that no ship was ever going to get to," said Guy Williams, ACE CRC Sea Ice specialist and co-author of the study.
"This is a particular form of Antarctic water called Antarctic bottom water production, one of the engines that drives ocean circulation," he told Reuters. "What we've done is found another piston in that engine."
Southern Ocean Elephant seals are the largest of all seals, with males growing up to six meters (20 feet) long and weighing up to 4,000 kilograms (8,800 lbs).
Twenty of the seals were deployed from Davis Station in east Antarctica in 2011 with a sensor, weighing about 100 to 200 grams, on their head. Each of the sensors had a small satellite relay which transmitted data on a daily basis during the five to 10 minute intervals when the seals surfaced.
"We get four dives worth of data a day but they're actually doing up to 60 dives," he said.
"The elephant seals ... went to the very source and found this very cold, very saline dense water in the middle of winter beneath a polynya, which is what we call an ice factory around the coast of Antarctica," Williams added.
Previous studies have shown that there are 50-year-long trends in the properties of the Antarctic bottom water, and Williams said the latest study will help better assess those changes, perhaps providing clues for climate change modeling.
"Several of the seals foraged on the continental slope as far down as 1,800 meters (1.1 miles), punching through into a layer of this dense water cascading down the abyss," he said in a statement. "They gave us very rare and valuable wintertime measurements of this process."
(Reporting by Pauline Askin, Editing by Elaine Lies and Michael Perry)
Vince Cable this month launched our new publication on helping small and medium sized businesses access stock market finance. Here, I?d like to concentrate on three tax changes that could address the broader challenge of ?rebalancing the economy? away from an over-reliance on debt and unproductive investment.
I?m all for a highly progressive tax system that doesn?t privilege ?capital income?, but that doesn?t mean the current system works in a fair or sensible way, as these three bizarre distortions show.
Corporation tax
As George Osborne said in opposition:
Our corporate sector?s excessive dependence on debt is deep rooted in the structure of our economy. In particular, economists have long pointed out that our corporate tax system favours debt financing over equity. Interest costs are fully deductible with very limited restrictions, while the returns on equity receive little or no tax relief.
We should indeed ?look again at the generosity of [this] interest deductibility? and the party?s tax policy working group is doing so. But this is not ideal and would kill off many investments that would otherwise go ahead, debt finance being indispensable for many firms. An economically ideal alternative would be to add an equivalent for the cost of equity finance, as is done in Belgium and elsewhere. A revenue-neutral approach, however, may be to partially reduce the debt relief generosity while introducing an equivalent for equity at the same level. We should also look at measures to tackle particular abuses of interest deductibility.
Stamp duty on shares
The UK already has a financial transaction tax in the form of stamp duty on shares. This is a tax with no economic rationale; only that ? along with the ?hat tax? ? it was once the best the taxman could manage.
What?s worse, this transaction tax applies only to certain assets ? shares in UK (or UK-listed) companies. This ?has helped fuel the market for derivatives contracts, which don?t attract the same tax. [...] By promoting trade in share-substitutes, the tax increases ?financial leverage and risk??. Whether the aim is higher taxes on UK companies, pensions, ISAs, or ?bankers?, this is an absurd way to do it.
The reasons why this hasn?t yet been abolished or reduced are simply public perception and possible cost (though Osborne has found money for the poorer choice of corporation tax cuts). In our report, we suggested a cheap, next-best option would be abolition of stamp duty only for smaller, high-growth companies.
Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on shares
I support taxing capital gains at the same rates as labour, provided that we don?t tax the ?normal? rate of return. But there?s a strong case that shares should get a preferential rate to take account of corporation tax ? just as is done for dividend income.
To illustrate this, imagine someone invests ?100 in gold: it gains in value by ?50 and they pay, say, 28% CGT on that gain, getting back ?136. If they invest in a company and it makes ?50 profit, the profit is taxed under corporation tax at 24%, and then the remaining capital gain taxed again at 28%: they get back ?127. So ? even ignoring stamp duty ? an expanding company making exactly the same return as some unproductive asset speculation is made unattractive to investors.
Depending on what broader CGT reforms we opt for, fixing this bias could mean lowering rates for shares (and again we could do this just for small and medium enterprises (SMEs)), or increasing them for second homes and other non-share assets.
It?s not easy to ?rebalance the economy? or improve the tax system at a time of budget-tightening and poor growth, but we must rise to the challenge. On this same theme, in another post I?ll look at ending the taxation of regular bank account interest, and later at the favoured investment treatment of real estate. In the meantime, our report looking especially at SME finance is available at centreforum.org.
Brandeis University study finds public policy, institutional barriers are pushing racial wealth gapPublic release date: 27-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Charity Adams cadams1@brandeis.edu 781-736-8685 Brandeis University
Same gain in income produces far greater wealth for white households than black families
New research shows the dramatic gap in household wealth that now exists along racial lines in the United States cannot solely be attributed to personal ambition and behavioral choices, but rather reflects policies and institutional practices that create different opportunities for whites and African-Americans.
So powerful are these government policies and institutional practices that for typical families, a $1 increase in average income over the 25-year study period generates just $0.69 in additional wealth for an African-American household compared with $5.19 for a white household. Part of this equation results from black households having fewer opportunities to grow their savings beyond what's needed for emergencies.
"Public policies play a major role in widening the already massive racial wealth gap, and they must play a role in closing it," said Dr. Thomas Shapiro, director of the IASP and a principal author of the report "We should be investing in prosperity and equity, instead we are advancing toxic inequality. A U-turn is needed."
The study, "The Roots of the Widening Racial Wealth Gap: Explaining the Black-White Economic Divide," was conducted by the Institute on Assets and Social Policy (IASP) at Brandeis University.
"The gap presents an opportunity denied for many African American households and assures racial economic inequality for the next generation," said Tatjana Meschede, a co-author of the policy brief.
The research is unique in that it has followed nearly the same 1,700 working-age households over what is now a 25-year period from 1984 to 2009. Unlike standard statistical comparisons, the authors of the study say this approach offers a unique opportunity to understand what happens to the wealth gap over the course of a generation and the effect of policy and institutional decision-making on how average families accumulate wealth.
In gross terms, there is no question that the difference in median wealth between America's white and African- American households has grown stunningly large. The new study found the wealth gap almost tripled from 1984 to 2009, increasing from $85,000 to $236,500. The median net worth of white households in the study has grown to $265,000 over the 25-year period compared with just $28,500 for black households.
The dramatic increase in the racial wealth gap has accelerated despite the country's movement beyond the Civil Rights era into a period of legal equality and the election of the first African-American president. The resulting toxic inequality now threatens the U.S. economy and indeed, American society, the study concludes.
"All families need a financial cushion to be economically secure and create opportunities for the next generation," said Shapiro. "Wealth what we own minus what we owe allows families to move forward by moving to better and safer neighborhoods, investing in businesses, saving for retirement and supporting their children's college aspirations. Our economy cannot sustain its growth in the face of this type of extreme wealth inequality."
Setting out to determine what was driving the disparity today, researchers were able to statistically validate five fundamental factors that together account for two-thirds of the proportional increase in the racial wealth gap. Those five factors include the number of years of home ownership; average family income; employment stability, particularly through the Great Recession; college education, and family financial support and inheritance. While marriage is another factor, its impact is quite small, the study found.
"In the context of the social sciences, whenever you can isolate the factors that really explain what's happening, that's a huge step forward," said Shapiro. "And what these particular factors provide is compelling evidence that various government and institutional policies that shape where we live, where we learn and where we work propel the large majority of the widening racial wealth gap."
Each of the factors highlights a number of specific reasons that whites and African- Americans accumulate wealth at different rates. When it came to housing, for example, home equity rose dramatically faster for whites due to the following:
White families buy homes and start acquiring equity eight years earlier than black families. Due to historical wealth advantages, white families are far more likely to receive family assistance or an inheritance for down payments.
The ability to make larger up-front payments by white homeowners lowers interest rates.
Residential segregation places an artificial ceiling on home equity in non-white neighborhoods.
Based on these and other historical factors, the home ownership rate for white families is 28 percent higher.
"The report shows in stark terms that it's not just the last recession and implosion of the housing market that contributed to widening racial wealth disparities," said Anne Price, director of the Closing the Racial Wealth Gap Initiative at the Insight Center for Community Economic Development. "Past policies of exclusion, such as discriminatory mortgage lending, which continues today, ensure that certain groups reap a greater share of all America has to offer while others are left out." ?
The report recommends that policymakers take steps such as strengthening and enforcing fair housing, mortgage and lending policies; raising the minimum wage and enforcing equal pay provisions; investing in high- quality childcare and early childhood development, and overhauling preferential tax treatments for dividend and interest income and the home mortgage deduction.
"By disaggregating the factors that lead to the wealth gap, this research is informing leaders and helping them to focus their advocacy efforts toward policy solutions," said Angela Glover Blackwell, founder and CEO of PolicyLink, a national research and action institute advancing economic and social equity.
###
The Institute on Assets and Social Policy is a research institute at Brandeis University's Heller School for Social Policy and Management, dedicated to promoting a better understanding of how assets and asset-building opportunities improve the well-being of individuals and families left out of the economic mainstream.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Brandeis University study finds public policy, institutional barriers are pushing racial wealth gapPublic release date: 27-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Charity Adams cadams1@brandeis.edu 781-736-8685 Brandeis University
Same gain in income produces far greater wealth for white households than black families
New research shows the dramatic gap in household wealth that now exists along racial lines in the United States cannot solely be attributed to personal ambition and behavioral choices, but rather reflects policies and institutional practices that create different opportunities for whites and African-Americans.
So powerful are these government policies and institutional practices that for typical families, a $1 increase in average income over the 25-year study period generates just $0.69 in additional wealth for an African-American household compared with $5.19 for a white household. Part of this equation results from black households having fewer opportunities to grow their savings beyond what's needed for emergencies.
"Public policies play a major role in widening the already massive racial wealth gap, and they must play a role in closing it," said Dr. Thomas Shapiro, director of the IASP and a principal author of the report "We should be investing in prosperity and equity, instead we are advancing toxic inequality. A U-turn is needed."
The study, "The Roots of the Widening Racial Wealth Gap: Explaining the Black-White Economic Divide," was conducted by the Institute on Assets and Social Policy (IASP) at Brandeis University.
"The gap presents an opportunity denied for many African American households and assures racial economic inequality for the next generation," said Tatjana Meschede, a co-author of the policy brief.
The research is unique in that it has followed nearly the same 1,700 working-age households over what is now a 25-year period from 1984 to 2009. Unlike standard statistical comparisons, the authors of the study say this approach offers a unique opportunity to understand what happens to the wealth gap over the course of a generation and the effect of policy and institutional decision-making on how average families accumulate wealth.
In gross terms, there is no question that the difference in median wealth between America's white and African- American households has grown stunningly large. The new study found the wealth gap almost tripled from 1984 to 2009, increasing from $85,000 to $236,500. The median net worth of white households in the study has grown to $265,000 over the 25-year period compared with just $28,500 for black households.
The dramatic increase in the racial wealth gap has accelerated despite the country's movement beyond the Civil Rights era into a period of legal equality and the election of the first African-American president. The resulting toxic inequality now threatens the U.S. economy and indeed, American society, the study concludes.
"All families need a financial cushion to be economically secure and create opportunities for the next generation," said Shapiro. "Wealth what we own minus what we owe allows families to move forward by moving to better and safer neighborhoods, investing in businesses, saving for retirement and supporting their children's college aspirations. Our economy cannot sustain its growth in the face of this type of extreme wealth inequality."
Setting out to determine what was driving the disparity today, researchers were able to statistically validate five fundamental factors that together account for two-thirds of the proportional increase in the racial wealth gap. Those five factors include the number of years of home ownership; average family income; employment stability, particularly through the Great Recession; college education, and family financial support and inheritance. While marriage is another factor, its impact is quite small, the study found.
"In the context of the social sciences, whenever you can isolate the factors that really explain what's happening, that's a huge step forward," said Shapiro. "And what these particular factors provide is compelling evidence that various government and institutional policies that shape where we live, where we learn and where we work propel the large majority of the widening racial wealth gap."
Each of the factors highlights a number of specific reasons that whites and African- Americans accumulate wealth at different rates. When it came to housing, for example, home equity rose dramatically faster for whites due to the following:
White families buy homes and start acquiring equity eight years earlier than black families. Due to historical wealth advantages, white families are far more likely to receive family assistance or an inheritance for down payments.
The ability to make larger up-front payments by white homeowners lowers interest rates.
Residential segregation places an artificial ceiling on home equity in non-white neighborhoods.
Based on these and other historical factors, the home ownership rate for white families is 28 percent higher.
"The report shows in stark terms that it's not just the last recession and implosion of the housing market that contributed to widening racial wealth disparities," said Anne Price, director of the Closing the Racial Wealth Gap Initiative at the Insight Center for Community Economic Development. "Past policies of exclusion, such as discriminatory mortgage lending, which continues today, ensure that certain groups reap a greater share of all America has to offer while others are left out." ?
The report recommends that policymakers take steps such as strengthening and enforcing fair housing, mortgage and lending policies; raising the minimum wage and enforcing equal pay provisions; investing in high- quality childcare and early childhood development, and overhauling preferential tax treatments for dividend and interest income and the home mortgage deduction.
"By disaggregating the factors that lead to the wealth gap, this research is informing leaders and helping them to focus their advocacy efforts toward policy solutions," said Angela Glover Blackwell, founder and CEO of PolicyLink, a national research and action institute advancing economic and social equity.
###
The Institute on Assets and Social Policy is a research institute at Brandeis University's Heller School for Social Policy and Management, dedicated to promoting a better understanding of how assets and asset-building opportunities improve the well-being of individuals and families left out of the economic mainstream.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? A lawsuit brought by a lesbian Army veteran and her wife over the denial of disability benefits can move forward over the objections of the Department of Justice, a federal judge in California ruled Monday.
U.S. District Judge Consuelo Marshall refused to dismiss Tracey Cooper-Harris' challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act and to two other laws that make same-sex spouses of military veterans ineligible for benefits available to straight spouses. Marshall did not explain her reasoning in court, but said she would issue a written ruling at a later date.
The Justice Department under President Obama has refused to defend the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, and argued that the U.S. Supreme Court should strike it down as unconstitutional when it hears arguments in another lawsuit next month.
But the department had asked for Cooper-Harris' case to be tossed out on the grounds that veterans' claims can only be heard by an administrative Board of Veterans' Appeals.
Cooper-Harris suffers from multiple sclerosis and receives disability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs. She and her wife, Maggie Cooper-Harris, got married in California during the brief period in 2008 when same-sex unions were legal in the state.
Citing the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits the government from recognizing same-sex marriages, and veterans' benefits laws that define a spouse as a person of the opposite sex, the VA denied the couple's application for additional money and benefits that married veterans are entitled to receive.
In the case of the couple, they would receive about $150 more a month in disability payments, and Maggie Cooper-Harris would be eligible for about $1,200 a month in survivor's benefits if her wife died, said Southern Poverty Law Center deputy legal director Christine Sun, who is representing the couple.
Even though the Supreme Court is set to examine the Defense of Marriage Act, the justices could end up issuing a narrow decision that does not settle the question of whether the act is constitutional, in which case it would remain important for Cooper-Harris' case to remain active, Sun said. Marshall has scheduled the next hearing for April 1.
"The significance of the court's ruling today is it vindicates the right of Tracie and Maggie Cooper-Harris to go forward to have their day in court," she said.
If you watch offensive lineman Garrett Gilkey working out at the Scouting Combine, you?d never believe he ever got bullied: He?s 6-foot-6 and 318 pounds and bench presses 225 pounds 28 times. But Gilkey says there was a time when he was a scrawny kid who didn?t belong on the football field ? and it was a former NFL player who helped him turn it all around.
Howard Balzer of the Sports Xchange has a good profile of Gilkey, who is starting to draw attention from NFL teams after playing at a small school, Chadron State College. Gilkey got there after having a tough time at his first high school, then blossoming after transferring to a different high school ? which just happened to have a football team coached by former Bills receiver Don Beebe.
?I was undersized and I was actually bullied and ostracized by my entire school,? Gilkey said. ?Going into my freshman year, I had a heart operation ? very simple, but it prevented me from playing in any sports and doing anything. So, I excelled academically. With that, some of the guys ? especially on the football team and the upper cliques ? distanced [themselves] from me because I wasn?t able to do the running in the summer and the workouts. . . . I was constantly bullied, constantly picked on. It was a very hard year. Really, I like to tell people that I was just the little redheaded, gingery, skinny-looking [kid]. I was pear-shaped. I had these wide hips and this skinny-looking upper body. I was just a prime target for many of the cruel kids.?
But transferring and working both with Don Beebe and his brother, Dave Beebe, made Gilkey realize he had a passion for football. It also helped that a growth spurt had him up to 240 pounds. By his senior year he was good enough that small colleges wanted him, and Dave Beebe told him he?d eventually be good enough to play in the NFL.
Now Gilkey is showing that his high school coaches had a reason to believe in him, and he says he wants to use his status as a pro athlete to reach out to bullied kids.
?I?m starting an anti-bullying campaign,? Gilkey said. ?I have such a great opportunity to be proactive and be encouraging and be a strong force within the community of the west suburbs of Chicago. I plan on being proactive with schools and junior highs and YMCAs, and talking about bullying. I think I have a great position, being my size, and standing up and talking about my experience being bullied, being ostracized and being made fun of. People see me now and think, ?How could this person ever be bullied?? I have a great voice and great platform to share those experiences and share my faith, as well.?
Gilkey is viewed as a likely late-round pick. It remains to be seen whether he can make the transition from Chadron State to the NFL, but the team that drafts him will be getting an impressive young man.
Nepalese woman mountaineer Chhurim who has been recognized by Guinness World Records for climbing Mount Everest twice in the same climbing season poses with the certificate issued to her in Katmandu, Nepal, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. 29-year-old Chhurim scaled the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) summit on May 12, 2012, and again a week later on May 19. (AP Photo)
Nepalese woman mountaineer Chhurim who has been recognized by Guinness World Records for climbing Mount Everest twice in the same climbing season poses with the certificate issued to her in Katmandu, Nepal, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. 29-year-old Chhurim scaled the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) summit on May 12, 2012, and again a week later on May 19. (AP Photo)
KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) ? Nepalese mountaineer Chhurim entered the record book by scaling Mount Everest twice in the same climbing season. In fact, she did so a week apart.
Guinness World Records said she is the first woman to climb the world's highest mountain twice in the same season ? the brief window of good weather each year that allows climbers to reach the summit.
Nepal's Tourism Minister Posta Bahadur Bogati handed over the Guinness World Records certificate issued to 29-year-old Chhurim on Monday.
She scaled the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) summit on May 12, 2012, descended to the base camp for a couple of days' rest and then scaled the peak again a week later on May 19.
Chhurim, who uses only one name like most Sherpas, said she is not ready to quit.
"Everest is the first of the highest mountains that I have climbed, but I will continue mountaineering and hope to scale more peaks," she said.
Chhurim said there are not many women mountaineers and only a few of them have records.
"The male mountaineers have set many records but women have fallen behind. It can be difficult for women because they are considered not as strong as men and face many problems like finding toilets," she said.
The Nepal Mountaineering Association said Everest has been climbed by nearly 4,000 people since New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal did so in 1953. Women are a small number of them.
The extremely harsh weather conditions that batter the highest Himalayan peaks limit the climbing season to just a few weeks every year. Spring is the most popular season on Everest when hundreds of mountaineers attempt every year. The climbers generally reach the mountain in March or April, acclimatize to the higher elevation and low oxygen and train for climbing the snowy trail to the peak. The weather usually improves for a few days in May when they line up to the summit.
Palestinian Youth Injured After Being rammed By Military Jeep
Sunday Evening January 24, 2013; A Palestinian youth man suffered a fracture in his led after being rammed by an Israeli military jeep during clashes that took place between the soldiers and several Palestinian youths near the Al-Jalama Israeli military roadblock, north of the northern West Bank city of Jenin.
File - Image rb2000.ps
The clashes took place after the army attacked Palestinians protesting the death of detainee Arafat Jaradat in an Israeli detention facility, and in support of Palestinian detainees holding hunger strike in Israeli prisons.
Medical sources reported that an Israeli military jeep rammed the youth, Odai Hatem Zakarna, 16, in the leg after chasing him.
Also, dozens of Palestinians have been treated for the effects of teargas inhalation, while several others have been shot by rubber-coated metal bullets fired by the soldiers.
The detainee, Jaradat, from the southern West Bank city of Hebron, died Saturday, after being subject to harsh interrogation methods and torture since he was kidnapped a week ago, the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) reported.
Several injuries have been reported during clashes that took place in different parts of the occupied West Bank after Israeli soldiers attacked similar protests.
?The department of trade and industry?together with the department of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, has raised its objection with the French Embassy in South Africa as?well?as with the European Commission Delegation in Pretoria. These engagements will be further intensified to seek an acceptable resolution to the matter,? the department said in a statement on Thursday.
The?Business Day?reported?earlier this month that the ?rooibos industry is fighting to protect its intellectual property after a French company applied to?register?a number of trademarks incorporating the terms ?South African Rooibos? and ?Rooibos? last year.
The report added?if?the company was?successful??it would own the exclusive rights to the names of any rooibos products sold in France, a key market in the European Union, which is the biggest export market for rooibos?.
In a response, Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies on Thursday said, ?The [department]?stands ready to defend South Africa?s trade and intellectual property interests vigorously. However, the issues in this particular matter will require an urgent assessment of the legal options to strengthen protection of the Rooibos name in South Africa.
This is not the first time a?foreign?firm has attempted to capture the intellectual property associated with Rooibos. As in the 2005 case that took place in the United States, the [department] will support the local industry to protect our mutual trade and economic interests.?
Staple in SA
?As all South Africans know, Rooibos tea is made from the leaves of a unique shrub, indigenous only to South Africa. In addition, a number of Rooibos products in South Africa are already protected by South Africa?s domestic trademark legislation. The registration of such a trademark in France could have a significant negative impact on South Africa?s exports of Rooibos products to France, and the [department]?is co-operating with the local Rooibos industry to ensure that South Africa?s trade interests are not unfairly compromised,? the department said.
A staple tea in many homes in South Africa, the health benefits of rooibos, long part of South African cultural lore, are only beginning to be properly verified through rapidly growing scientific research,?reported the?Mail & Guardian?last year.
The tea, which is closer to a herbal infusion known as a tisane, has been linked to the prevention of certain types of cancer as well as heart disease. It grows in hardy bushes amid the Cape?s uniquely diverse fynbos floral kingdom.
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WASHINGTON (AP) ? Washington's protracted budget stalemate could seriously undermine the economy and stall gains made since the recession, exasperated governors said Saturday as they try to gauge the fallout from impending federal spending cuts.
At the annual National Governors Association meeting, both Democrat and Republican chief executives expressed pessimism that both sides could find a way to avoid the massive, automatic spending cuts set to begin March 1, pointing to the impasse as another crisis between the White House and Congress that spooks local businesses from hiring and hampers their ability to construct state spending plans.
Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie, a former congressman, noted that the cuts ? known in Washington-speak as "the sequester" ? could lead to 19,000 workers laid off at Pearl Harbor, site of the surprise attack in 1941 that launched the United States into World War II.
"That will undermine our capacity for readiness at Pearl Harbor. If that doesn't symbolize for the nation ... what happens when we fail to meet our responsibilities congressionally, I don't know what does," he said.
The budget fight came as many states say they are on the cusp of an economic comeback from the financial upheaval in 2008 and 2009. States expect their general fund revenues this year to surpass the amounts collected before the Great Recession kicked in. An estimated $693 billion in revenues is expected for the 2013 budget year, nearly a 4 percent over the previous year.
At their weekend meetings, governors were focusing on ways to boost job development and grow their state economies, measures to restrict gun violence and implement the new health care law approved during Obama's first term.
Some Republican governors have blocked the use of Medicaid to expand health insurance coverage for millions of uninsured while others have joined Democrats in a wholesale expansion as the law allows. The Medicaid expansion aims to cover about half of the 30 million uninsured people expected to eventually gain coverage under the health care overhaul.
Yet for many governors, the budget-cut fight remains front-and-center and fuels a pervasive sense of frustration with Washington.
"My feeling is I can't help what's going on in Washington," Gov. Terry Branstad, R-Iowa, said in an interview Saturday. "I can't help the fact that there's no leadership here, and it's all politics as usual and gridlock. But I can do something about the way we do things in the state of Iowa."
Indeed, right now no issue carries the same level of urgency as the budget impasse.
Congressional leaders have indicated a willingness to let the cuts take effect and stay in place for weeks, if not much longer.
The cuts would trim $85 billion in domestic and defense spending, leading to furloughs for hundreds of thousands of workers at the Transportation Department, Defense Department and elsewhere.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said the cuts would harm the readiness of U.S. fighting forces.
The looming cuts were never supposed to happen. They were intended to be a draconian fallback intended to ensure a special deficit reduction committee would come up with $1 trillion or more in savings from benefit programs. It didn't.
"We should go back and remember that sequestration was originally designed by both the administration and Congress as something so odious, so repellent, that it would force both sides to a compromise. There can't be any question, this is something that nobody wants," said Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat.
Obama has stepped up efforts to tell the public about the cuts' negative impact and pressure Republicans who oppose his approach of reducing deficits through a combination of targeted savings and tax increases. House Republicans have said reduced spending needs to be the focus and have rejected the president's fresh demand to include higher taxes as part of a compromise.
Governors said they are asking the Obama administration for more flexibility to deal with some of the potential cuts.
"We know that the cuts are coming, but we also don't want to suffer disproportionately," said Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, a Democrat and chairman of the National Governors Association.
"We're just saying that as you identify federal cuts and savings, allow the states to be able to realize those savings, too," said Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, a Republican and the association's vice chairwoman. "Give us the flexibility to be able to make the cuts where we think it will be the less harm to our citizens."
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Follow Steve Peoples at: http://twitter.com/sppeoples and Ken Thomas at: http://twitter.com/AP_Ken_Thomas
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Online:
National Governors Association: http://www.nga.org
Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty issued a note (via Business Insider) to clients on Friday after her meeting with Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer.
"We also see several signs that a lower priced iPhone makes sense," Huberty said. "1) iPad Mini is expanding Apple's customer base with 50% of purchases in China/Brazil representing new customers to the ecosystem. 2) Chinese consumers show a desire to purchase the latest version of iPhone (instead of discounted older generations.) 3) iPhone 4 demand surprised to the upside in the December quarter. Even at a low 40% gross margin and 1/3 cannibalization rate, we see an 'iPhone Mini' as incremental to revenue and gross profit dollars."
Two years ago this month, Apple CEO Tim Cook (then COO) told Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi that Apple was doing "clever things" to attack the prepaid market. He said he wanted Apple to be "for everyone," not "just for the rich." Cook also said "price is big factor in the prepaid market" but Apple is not "ceding any market," noting how China is "a classic prepaid market."
These analyst notes align well with recent rumors about Apple's cheaper iPhone in development. In January, a slew of reports from supply chain sources, and even major US news sites like the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg, took notice of a new iPhone in development strategically targeted toward lower-income, emerging markets like China and?India.
Why Apple Should Release The Low-Cost iPhone In 2013
Apple?s Q1 2013 earnings, despite breaking all previous quarterly earnings records held by the company, was still not sufficient enough to assuage the concerns of investors and analysts, and its diminishing stock has been a reflection of that. To reverse its poor stock fortunes, Apple needs to prove it can still expand. Releasing a cheap, low-cost iPhone 6 in 2013 might be the key.
?One of our sources claims that Apple?s iPhone prices remain too high for most mainland Chinese customers -- the iPhone 5 hardware alone starts at $849 there, versus the iPhone 4 at $500, in a country where the average annual salary is around $3,000 per person,? iLounge editor-in-chief Jeremy Horwitz wrote in a January report. ?The source has said that mainland Chinese iPhone 5 sales are already tapering off as a result of the pricing, which is higher than in Hong Kong. A budget iPhone model would help sales in populous but underdeveloped countries to grow.?
Thanks to newer, smaller, cheaper and more power-efficient chipsets, Apple can afford to build an entry-level to mid-range smartphone on top of its current iPhone -- either bigger like the Samsung Galaxy S3 or a smaller "iPhone Nano" -- to appeal to markets that can?t quite afford Apple?s most popular product, including many in China. Furthermore, if Apple?s iPhone 6 was not only cheaper but also smaller too, the phone would greatly appeal to the Asian markets where small devices are not only chic, but better to hold in their (smaller) hands.
Apple definitely wants to make inroads in China. The company is reportedly trying to?strike a deal?in 2013 with China Mobile, the largest telecommunications carrier in the world with 703 million active subscribers, to build a TD-LTE version of the iPhone to work on the carrier?s high-speed networks. On Jan. 10, Apple CEO Tim Cook?stopped by?China Mobile headquarters to meet and discuss ?matters of cooperation? with Xi Guohua, the company?s chairman.
Reports of Apple's desires to build multiple iPhone models has been echoed on Wall Street. On Jan. 2,?Topeka Markets analyst Brian White said?Apple will likely release its next iPhone in more colors and screen sizes, implying Apple might sell an iPhone smaller or larger than the current iPhone 5 or even previous-generation iPhone 4S or 4 units.
"Although Apple offers a 4-inch screen on the iPhone 5 and a 3.5-inch screen on the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4, the company has never offered multiple screen sizes for a single model," White said. "We believe this is about to change with the next iPhone offering different screen dies that we believe will allow Apple to better bifurcate the market and expand its reach."
Considering Apple?s urgency to strike a deal with China Mobile, in addition to the growing number of rumors pointing to a 2013 release date for an iPhone 6 supported by that popular carrier, it?s very likely that we could see Apple release both the iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 later this year.
iPhone 6: What Might It Look Like?
Jeremy Horwitz, the editor-in-chief at iLounge, released a report in January detailing what he called the "budget iPhone 5," which will allegedly look like the iPhone 5 but feature several new design elements and tweaks.
?Yes, it will be made substantially from plastic,? Horwitz wrote, echoing an earlier report from DigiTimes that said the iPhone 5S or 6 would feature a hybrid chassis made of both plastic and metal. ?No, it won?t just be a Retina- and Lightning-equipped refresh of the?iPhone 3G or 3GS, Apple?s last plastic iPhones, nor will it look just like an all-plastic version of the iPhone 5. This new model is actually a cross between the iPhone 5, fifth-generation iPod touch and -- wait for it -- the iPod classic. Yes, really. It will have a 4? screen, like the iPhone 5, a bottom like the latest iPod touch and a shape that?s most similar to the iPod classic.?
The original DigiTimes report about the low-cost iPhone 6 said the new iPhone?s internal parts could ?be seen from the outside through a special design." If this rumor is accurate, the finished design for the iPhone 6 might look like an iPhone 5 mixed with the plastic enclosure of the iPhone 3GS from 2009 mixed with the final design for the?Bondi blue iMac?in 1998, which was characterized by its brightly colored, translucent plastic casing, letting users see the inside of their desktop computer for the first time.
Horwitz believes the low-cost iPhone 6 will feature nearly identical specs to the iPhone 5 but "a half-millimeter taller and a half-millimeter wider," as well as a full millimeter thicker. While these changes are minimal, Horwitz noted the biggest design change in the iPhone 6 will be the curves.
?Apple?s budget housing looks closest to the iPod classic in shape, though not in materials,? Horwitz said. ?Unlike the plastic iPhone 3G/3GS, which featured soft curves on all sides, the budget iPhone?s curves start and end at flat surfaces, so each side and the back are flat. This seems like a trivial change, until you realize that it allows Apple to use flat rather than curve-matched parts: the right side has a flat, centered SIM card tray just like the iPhone 5?s, while all of the buttons and ports are on flat rather than curved surfaces. A flat-backed iPhone won?t rock on a flat surface when it vibrates, either.?
The proportions of the iPhone 6, according to Horwtiz, resemble the latest generation iPod Touch, with its identical proportions and locations for the camera, microphone and rear flash. The headphone jack, Lightning dock, bottom microphone and speaker are in the same location as the iPhone 5, but the new iPhone 6 is said to have an extra microphone on the bottom, as well as four individual holes for the speaker grill, rather than the 26 speaker holes at the bottom of the iPhone 5.
?In summary, the budget iPhone will look a lot like an iPhone 5 from the front, an iPod classic from the side and an iPod touch 5G on the bottom -- only made from plastic rather than glass or metal,? Horwitz concluded. ?It won?t make any bold departures from past Apple designs, but then, it?s supposed to be an inexpensive iPhone and achieves that goal pretty much as expected.?
Besides the form factor, Horwitz believes the next iPhone will feature a processor bump -- possibly an Apple-built A7 chip -- as well as improvements to the camera and flash, integrating a new aperture and 13-megapixel lens.
However, most rumors about the iPhone 6 have revolved around the screen, as Apple is reportedly investing a great deal of time, energy and capital on the display for its next-gen iPhone 5S and iPhone 6.
A?Jan. 3 report?released by the China Times said Apple might switch to a "Touch On Display" panel currently in development at one the company's supply chains, Taiwan-based Innolux Corp., which has?reportedly been licensed?to use Sharp's proprietary IGZO display technology.
Whether or not Apple specifically chooses Innolux to make screens for the next iPhone, however, Apple will most likely feature Sharp's ultra-thin IGZO display technology in its next iPhone, either the iPhone 5S, iPhone 6, or both.
In late December,?DigiTimes?and Apple analyst?Horace Dediu?both mentioned Apple?s alleged investment in the ultra-thin IGZO displays produced by Sharp, predicting the inclusion of the technology in Apple?s next batch of iOS devices, including iPhones and iPads. Dediu also pointed to Apple?s recent $2.3 billion investment in ?product tooling, manufacturing process equipment and infrastructure,? believing the cash was used to help bail out Sharp, which had been in financial straits in 2012. Sharp is reportedly going ?all in? on IGZO technology, so it?s possible Apple saved Sharp to leverage its investment in the next generation of displays.
IGZO display technology is not only thin and tough, but it can even handle higher screen densities than Apple?s Retina display, which is visually stunning on its own. IGZO displays can reportedly handle display densities north of 330 ppi; for a quick comparison, the new iPad 4 can only achieve 264 ppi.
One of the advantages of IGZO display technology is its lower power consumption. Most Apple products, from the iPhone 5 to the iPad 4, require cartoonishly big batteries to achieve just eight hours of power -- this is because current-gen Retina displays are extremely power hungry. If Apple wanted its iPhone 6 to not only last longer during the day but also charge faster when plugged in, IGZO seems to be the way to go for the next generation of iOS devices.
Giving credence to these rumors, Taiwan-based AU Optronics. or AUO, reportedly plans to develop a Retina display for the next-generation iPad Mini, which may require IGZO technology to make such a Retina display feasible.
Apple is facing stiffening competition from its rivals at Google, Samsung and even Microsoft, so the company will need to pull out all the stops for its iPhone 5 successor, as well as this low-cost iPhone 6, in order to keep customer interest in an increasingly crowded marketplace.
Apple?sold?47.8 million iPhones and 22.9 million iPads in Q1 2013.
Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe offered a vision of a new Japan while visiting the U.S.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Japan's new prime minister offered a vision of his country as a reinvigorated Asian power
Shinzo Abe pledges to restore its influence as it is increasingly eclipsed by China
Abe in Washington: "Japan is not, and will never be, a tier-two country"
(CNN) -- Japan's new prime minister on Friday offered the world a vision of his country as a reinvigorated Asian power, pledging to restore its influence in a region where it is increasingly eclipsed by China.
"Japan is not, and will never be, a tier-two country," Shinzo Abe said in a speech to members of the US foreign policy establishment, following his first meeting with President Barack Obama.
"It is high time, in this age of Asian resurgence, for Japan to bear even more responsibility to promote our shared rules and values."
Mr Abe's declaration that "Japan is back" could raise hackles in China, where a new leadership is keen to establish that country as a more dominant political force, befitting its position as Asia's largest economy.
Mr Abe, a conservative nationalist, referred to a rare increase in Japan's military spending and made a forceful reassertion of Tokyo's claim to the Senkaku Islands, whose ownership has been contested by Beijing, saying Japan "simply cannot tolerate any challenge now, or in the future".
But he also tried to assure US leaders that he was working to avoid escalating a dispute which Washington has made clear it does not want to be drawn into, suggesting he might be open to meeting Chinese leaders to try to ease tensions over the islands. "The doors are always open on my side for the Chinese leaders," Mr Abe said.
China on Friday criticised Mr Abe after the Washington Post published an interview quoting him as saying Beijing had a "deeply ingrained" need to challenge its neighbours over territory. Japanese officials said the quote was "misleading" and Mr Abe had not said China sought conflicts with other countries.
Mr Abe came to Washington seeking to erase a perceived ambivalence about Japan's relations with the US that was created by the previous centre-left government, which Mr Abe's Liberal Democratic party defeated in national elections in December.
Japan has swapped prime ministers six times since Mr Abe first held the office in a short and scandal-marred tenure from 2006 to 2007. One of his biggest challenges is to convince the Obama administration that his second stint will last long enough for him to follow through on his promises.
Mr Abe has made a robust start, launching an economic stimulus programme of increased government spending and looser monetary policy that has lifted the Japanese stock market and pushed his poll ratings to around 70 per cent. Washington has been broadly supportive of the effort, even though it has led to a sharp fall in the yen that has alarmed some of Japan's trade partners and prompted concerns about a potential "currency war" of competitive devaluations.
Mr Abe pressed his government's case that a healthier Japanese economy would be good for the rest of the world. "Soon, Japan will export more, but it will import more as well. The US will be the first to benefit, followed by China, India, Indonesia and so on," he said.
He also moved Japan a step closer to joining an effort to create a trans-Pacific free-trade zone. In a joint statement, Mr Abe and Mr Obama said "all goods would be subject to negotiation" should Japan join the US and a group of mostly Asian countries in talks over the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but that "it is not required to make a prior commitment to unilaterally eliminate all tariffs".
That wording appeared to be broad enough to allow Mr Abe to claim that joining negotiations would not break an election promise to protect Japanese farmers. "It is my understanding that giving up all 'sacred areas' is not pre-condition," he said.
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Japan said a Chinese government ship briefly entered its territorial waters off disputed islands on Saturday, as the Japanese premier vowed he would not tolerate Beijing's incursions into the area.
A Japanese coast guard vessel (bottom) monitors a Chinese fisheries patrol boat in the East China Sea in 2011.
The fisheries patrol boat entered the waters in the East China Sea at 4:48 pm (0748 GMT) and was sailing some 19 kilometres northwest of Uotsuri, one of the Senkaku islands, Japan's coastguard said in a statement.
But the Chinese ship moved out of the zone after about an hour, watched by a Japanese coastguard vessel, it said.
Beijing claims the Japanese-controlled islands, which it calls the Diaoyus.
The incident was the latest in a series, with Japan claiming in one case that Chinese vessels had locked weapons-targeting radar onto a ship and a helicopter. Beijing denied the charge.
Saturday's incident came as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, now on his first visit to the United States since he took office late December, vowed that he would not tolerate any challenge to control over the contested islands.
"We simply cannot tolerate any challenge now and in the future. No nation should make any miscalculation or underestimate the firmness of our resolve," Abe said Friday in Washington.
Speaking after talks with President Barack Obama at the White House, however, Abe cautioned that "I have absolutely no intention to climb up the escalation ladder".
The dispute between Asia's two largest economies intensified in September when Tokyo nationalised three islands in the chain, in what it said was a mere administrative change of ownership.
Annzo Corporation: Do you have those local business strategies that target normal customer on daily basis? Local business owners need to understand what are the consumer ranges that they are going to target such as middle income or high income consumers because it will affect how your business will progress. When you deal with promoting your local business ?locally? most likely you go with banners or ads on local newspapers. Or going a little further you can get on to free community services campaign where you can introduce your business products and services. But the question here is how much effective these offline techniques will be for your ?local? business? When dealing with business today where market is very competitive and it?s much tougher to pull potential customers towards internet marketing has stepped in as a new potential way with more effective techniques. Local search engine optimization is one of the cost effective way when dealing with internet marketing because it?s mostly related to local businesses online. Let see here what are the techniques to promote your ?local? business through Local SEO optimization:
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2)????? On-site optimization for local SEO: Once you?ve put together a list with the right keywords, the next thing you need to do is optimize your site for local search. To let search engines know the location you?re targeting, start by adding geo-specific information and keywords in your title and Meta descriptions.
3)????? Get on all local Directories: Google maps listings is one of the biggest and most successful example of online directories. They say that being not register with Google is like missing a big chunk of successful local SEO and that is actually true. Google covers almost 80% of internet and is the most searched engines use through the world. The first thing you need to do is add or claim your business on Google Places. Add as much information as you can to your profile and be sure to upload photos as well.? After you?ve added all the necessary information about your business, you will need to verify your business. You have two options ? either verify immediately by phone or wait for two to three weeks for a postcard by mail.
4)????? Social engines are a must: Local search engine optimization is a very broad term which accumulates a lot of different sorts of ways online to promote your services organically. But that requires some effort and knowledge in order to get more aware of what?s more in demand by online consumers. Social engines are very beneficial for local businesses in terms of making your business more profound through a direct and more opened business forum. And can help you attain your success through getting involve with your online customers socially.
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On Friday?s broadcast of PBS?s ?NewsHour,? New York Times columnist David Brooks offered a particularly bleak prediction for Republicans in the pending sequestration battle.
With the March 1 deadline to?initiate?massive budget cuts looming, Brooks said there is very little movement on either side, and added that with Republicans down in public opinion, they?re likely to take the hit if they can?t broker an agreement with Democrats.
?There were a couple of phone calls yesterday, but that?s about it ? just phone calls,? Brooks said. ?I certainly don?t see any movement. As Mark [Shields] said, the polls show the Democrats will probably profit. The Republicans still feel trapped, though. They feel they gave up a big tax increase a couple of weeks ago, and they can?t give up another. And that?s sort of the asking price. And so they feel they have got to show they can cut spending. I personally think the likely loser in this is the Republicans. They?re less popular.?
?They?re associated with cut ? with government ? controlling government spending,? he continued. ?And they have basically got a problem. I think they need to show the American people that we like some government programs. We don?t like others. They need to be able to distinguish between the two. Unfortunately, when they embrace this, they are embracing a piece of legislation that makes no distinction between good government and bad government. It just cuts randomly across the board, and, worse, doesn?t even cut the things that actually create the debt problem, which is the entitlement programs. So, to me, this is both a substantive and political serious problem for Republicans.?
The Republican Party has long pledged spending cuts, Brooks said, but when an impasse occurs ? such as the 1995 government shutdown under former President Bill Clinton ? they typically take the hit from public opinion, and then concede.
?Listen, the Republicans have been doing this since 1995, since the government shutdown,? Brooks said. ?They make a big show. They tell themselves, we?re going to control spending. They do something sort of ham-fisted. And it ? when the public reaction, then they cave in, and they come with concessions. So it?s not like we have not been here before. I just wish they had a little smarter strategy. And if I could give them one piece of advice is, don?t worry about discretionary spending. When you are talking about cutting government, domestic discretionary spending, which is stuff for the National Institutes of Health and TSA, that?s small potatoes. They?re always focused on that, which is sort of the sympathetic popular stuff. Focus on the entitlement programs. But they are off doing the wrong thing, in my view.?
Vince Cable this month launched our new publication on helping small and medium sized businesses access stock market finance. Here, I?d like to concentrate on three tax changes that could address the broader challenge of ?rebalancing the economy? away from an over-reliance on debt and unproductive investment. ![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 27-Feb-2013
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