angelic cope: June 2012

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Hearst Magazines to Offer All 20 of Its Titles on Google Play

ELLE DECOR, Harper?s Bazaar, House Beautiful and Popular Mechanics to Offer Interactive Editions

NEW?YORK, June 27, 2012 -- With today?s launch of magazines on Google Play, Hearst Magazines, one of the world?s largest publishers of monthly magazines, announces that all 20 of its popular magazine brands are now available for purchase and reading on Android smartphones and tablets. Readers can buy single issues or annual subscriptions to Hearst titles such as Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Esquire, the newly launched HGTV Magazine and Marie Claire, and enjoy digital magazines in full-color with a clickable table of contents.

Hearst will offer single copies of select titles?Esquire, ELLE, Good Housekeeping, House Beautiful and Seventeen?at $0.99 for a limited time to celebrate the launch of its magazines on Google Play. Four Hearst magazines?ELLE DECOR, Harper?s Bazaar, House Beautiful and Popular Mechanics?will have interactive editions on Google Play, fully optimized for the tablet experience, with enhanced features such as video, tap-to-view large images and scrolling text. ELLE DECOR, Harper?s Bazaar and House Beautiful will make their interactive debuts on Google Play.

?We?re thrilled to be partnering with Google on the launch of magazines on Google Play and that we?ll have every one of our titles available, several of which will offer interactive features that really bring the pages to life,? said Chris Wilkes, VP of the Hearst App Lab. ?This development dovetails with our philosophy at Hearst to make our magazines available to consumers on every tablet and digital newsstand platform.?

Readers can buy new issues, back issues and subscriptions to customize their reading experiences on their Android tablets or phones. Purchased magazines will be stored and accessible in-the-cloud, meaning you can keep your magazine stacks organized and easily browsed in a digital carousel, then pick up and flip through them wherever you are using the Google Play Magazines mobile app for Android devices.

Hearst magazines are currently available on Google Play in the U.S.

About Hearst Magazines
Hearst Magazines is a unit of Hearst Corporation (www.hearst.com, @HearstCorp), one of the nation's largest diversified communications companies. Hearst Magazines is the largest publisher of monthly magazines in the U.S. (ABC 2011), reaching 82 million adults (Spring 2012 MRI) with its 20 titles. In addition, the company publishes more than 300 editions around the world. Hearst Magazines Digital Media, dedicated to creating and implementing Hearst Magazines? digital strategy, has more than 28 websites and 14 mobile sites for brands such as Cosmopolitan, Popular Mechanics, ELLE, ELLE DECOR, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Marie Claire and Seventeen, as well as digital-only sites such as Delish.com, a food site in partnership with MSN; MisQuinceMag.com; and RealBeauty.com.Hearst Magazines has published more than 150 applications and digital editions for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, as well as the Droid platform. In addition, the company includes iCrossing, a global digital marketing agency.

Source: http://www.hearst.com/press-room/pr-20120627a.php

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Video: Bank of England attacks ?deceitful? bank culture

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/48013252/

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NFC Is Great, But Mobile Payments Solve A Problem That Doesn?t Exist

For the past few years, we’ve been told over and over again that NFC will eventually replace the common wallet. And yes, NFC is a great technology. Parts of Europe and China are using it for public transport transactions, and the sharing of content between devices is incredibly cool (just check out this commercial). And moreover, the ability to ditch all of your loyalty cards and combine them in one place (potentially) PassBook-style would be highly convenient. But where mobile payments are concerned, there is no problem to be solved. Let’s just start with the small stuff. For one, the motion itself should be no different. It’s not like contactless payments via mobile is a more physically efficient form of living and transacting. You grab your credit card out of your wallet in your pocket, and swipe it through the reader (or in some cases tap it, just like the phone). In the case of NFC, you grab your phone out of your pocket, open Google Wallet (or whatever), and tap it to the reader. It’s the same exact motion. But that doesn’t even matter when we start to consider the real obstacles for NFC mobile payments. There are two issues: the smaller is that, along with not being any faster or easier physically, no one is actually getting rid of their wallet. For one, everyone needs an ID and an ID isn’t safe in a pocket or loose in a bag. So, until I can use my phone as a form of identification at the airport, with the police, or to go to a Dr.’s appointment, my wallet will still remain. And it’s fair to assume that at least some people prefer to have a little cash on them, just in case. I took a quick Twitter poll using PopTip (a newly launched TechStars company), and it turns out that the few respondents I had mostly feel comfortable without any cash. But, I also assume that the majority of my Twitter followers are generally tech-savvy early adopters, so I still stand behind the fact that you’ll continue carrying a wallet, or some other carrier of small, valuable pieces of paper like insurance cards, IDs, etc. Moreover, all merchants would need to be set up for NFC transactions to allow the consumer to ditch their wallet, not just forward thinking giants like American Eagle, Macy’s and OfficeMax. It’s not like

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/gcxLdzjhiYI/

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Friday, June 29, 2012

U.S. college students hijack drone

Undated file photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy shows a RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle conducting tests over Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. REUTERS/U.S. Navy/Erik Hildebrandt/Northrop Grumman/Handout

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OTTAWA -- College students in Texas stunned officials when they hijacked a domestic drone with under $1,000 of gear that could be bought at Radio Shack.

With Department of Homeland Security officials watching, the small group of techies from the University of Texas at Austin's Radionavigation Laboratory showed the security experts how to mimic a dummy GPS controller, aim it at the drone and start controlling it. It worked within minutes, and the students had control of the unmanned aircraft.

For a nation that has an exponentially increasing number of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles cruising its skies, the demonstration was sobering.

For privacy watchdogs, the fact that a domestic drone could so easily become a remote controlled missile is only one of myriad concerns over the use of the flying robots.

"This is a concern because they can be taken over, hacked into, what could happen if the controls were ceded?" said Micheal Vonn, policy director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association.

She warns that the technology is a very powerful tool for the U.S. to watch us.

"We know that surveillance is always introduced in the narrowest possible, most benign form." In Canada, the RCMP in B.C. are using the hovering video cameras to take pictures of car crashes, vowing they won't be used for surveillance, but privacy groups are urging Canadians to be vigilant about their terms of use because privacy laws can change.

Domestic drones are increasingly common in the U.S., and recently some countries and police departments that use them are considering adding tasers and tear gas to the unmanned, constantly watching aircraft.

Earlier this year in North Dakota, police used a predator drone to help storm Rodney Brossart's 3,000-acre farm and arrest him. Brossart allegedly refused to return six cows that had wandered on to his property and is accused of chasing police off of his property with a rifle. He is the first American citizen to be arrested with the help of a drone.

Source: http://www.torontosun.com/2012/06/29/us-college-students-hijack-drone

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Oil soars 9 pct as Europe moves to tackle crisis

A man moves a fuel hose into position to begin loading gasoline into a tanker truck, Friday, June 29, 2012, at a North Little Rock, Ark., fuel distribution terminal. Oil soared the most in more than three years, on Friday, after European leaders took surprisingly aggressive steps meant to halt a debt crisis that has undermined the regional economy. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)

A man walks from a gasoline tanker truck at a North Little Rock, Ark., fuel distribution terminal, Friday, June 29, 2012. Oil soared the most in more than three years, on Friday, after European leaders took surprisingly aggressive steps meant to halt a debt crisis that has undermined the regional economy. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Oil soared the most in more than three years after European leaders took surprisingly aggressive steps to halt a debt crisis that has undermined confidence in the global economy.

Benchmark U.S. crude jumped by $7.27, or 9.4 percent, on Friday to end the week at $84.96 per barrel in New York. Brent crude, which helps set the price of imported oil, rose by $6.44, or 7 percent, to $95.51 per barrel in London.

The surge could end a nearly three-month decline in U.S. gasoline prices. The national average for gas had declined from $3.94 per gallon in the first week of April to $3.35 on Friday.

Oil rose after eurozone leaders unveiled a plan to rescue ailing banks, relieve debt-burdened governments in Italy, Spain and elsewhere and restore the confidence of markets. The progress in dealing with Europe's lengthy debt crisis is good news for that continent's ? and the world's ? economy. Economic growth drives energy consumption.

The deal was struck as borrowing rates in Spain and Italy surged to levels that were considered unsustainable. Leery investors were surprised and energized by the breakthrough ? they rushed to buy riskier assets like oil and stocks and sold ultra-safe U.S. Treasuries. Stock in the U.S. rose more than 2 percent, while European stock markets posted even loftier gains.

"All of a sudden we're not worried about the Spanish and Italian banks going bankrupt over the weekend," said Phil Flynn, an oil analyst with Price Group.

U.S. drivers might not share in oil traders' relief. Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service, said gasoline should get a little more expensive next week as stations price in the jump in oil, which accounts for two-thirds of the cost of a gallon of gas.

Oil plunged around 25 percent from May 1 through Thursday. At $3.35 per gallon, the national average was the lowest since Jan. 6, according to auto club AAA, Wright Express and OPIS. Gas could still fall a few cents over the weekend ? pump prices usually lag the action in the markets.

"That's probably the bottom until after Labor Day," Kloza said. He expects the average to waver between $3.30 and $3.50 per gallon for the rest of the summer.

Friday's percentage rise in benchmark U.S. crude was the biggest since March 12, 2009. The dollar gain was the largest since Sept. 22, 2008.

Oil added to its ded stronger c The crisis its gains in the afternoon on reports that Norway's Statoil shut down production of another platform in the North Sea due to a tanker leak. Statoil previously said that daily production will fall 10 percent after oil workers went on strike at four North Sea fields.

North Sea oil supplies much of Europe. The loss of production will squeeze stockpiles just as Europe prepares to stop buying Iranian oil on Sunday. Europe announced an embargo earlier this year in an effort to pressure Iran to open its nuclear facilities to inspection. Western nations fear that Iran is building a nuclear weapon; Iran denies the claim.

International sanctions already have cut Iranian exports by about 700,000 barrels per day. Experts said it's unclear how much more of Iran's oil will be taken off the market once the embargo goes into effect. But a further reduction in global supply could cause oil prices to rise.

Friday's rise in oil prices boosted shares for major petroleum companies, trimming some of their losses for the quarter. On Friday, shares of BP jumped 4.7 percent, Apache Corp. rose by 2.3 percent, Exxon Mobil Corp. jumped 2.2 percent and Chevron Corp. rose by 1.4 percent.

In other futures trading, heating oil added 14.41 cents, about 6 percent, to finish at $2.696 per gallon and wholesale gasoline added 11.3 cents, or nearly 5 percent, to end at $2.7272 per gallon. Natural gas rose by 10.2 cents, nearly 4 percent, to finish the week at $2.824 per 1,000 cubic feet.

___

Follow Chris Kahn on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ChrisKahnAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-06-29-Oil%20Prices/id-f10222a4538d4a1f9e3ab65bea77ba10

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Sexuality, health and democracy in constructing Early Childhood ...

Prof Veronica McKay, Mrs Jane Sethusha, Prof Ana Raposo Torres, Ms Hellen Phajane, Dr Ellen Lenyai and Ms Maphetla Machaba

On 21 June 2012, Prof Ana Raposo Torres from Federal University of Paraiba, Jo?o Pessoa, Brazil visited the newly established Department of Early Childhood Education in the College of Education.? She shared her experiences of doing research with and teaching children on sexuality-related matters sensitively.? It was so interesting to note that Brazil faces challenges similar to South Africa, particularly with regards to the handling of the subject in the family, community and at school.? Colleagues in the Department of ECD noted the importance of teaching sexuality issues to young children, especially on thinking about sensitive ways of presenting such a topic to the young ones. Colleagues in the college audience were very interested to learn that teachers in Brazil have very similar problems to our local teachers and were happy when she offered to collaborate and share from her experiences to help the ECE team where possible.

Prof A Torres listens to a question from the audience during Q&A times after her presentation about her research on early childhood sexuality which was aimed at helping teachers deal with the topic more sensitively.

When Prof Ana Torres first began doing research into the aspect of a child?s sexual curiosity and how this fits with the responsibilities of a teacher, she began by looking at the language and vocabulary that children use to talk about their bodies, gender and sexuality. Children use popular words, not the scientific ones. She noted the challenges of soliciting sexuality related information from young children, but indicated that with patience and the help of pictures and dolls much information can be obtained. Also the researcher needs to be sensitive to the special ways in which children express themselves and act flexibly.? She carried out her second study at a public school run by Catholics (the nuns) where the religious aspect also played a crucial role. ?To my surprise I received enormous support from the nuns because some of the children were known to have experienced sexual violence and/or were living in a vulnerable situation, something that was not expected?, she said.?? Her third study was on sexuality matters amongst young children living in (heterosexual) families and schools where she included in her interviews, perspectives of 16 families living in a rural city in a poor area of Brazil.

Dr Ana?s work is driven by a desire to help teachers address issues of sexuality with younger children because they are the most vulnerable to sexual abuse, and most importantly they are sexual beings. However, as adults we tend to restrict them from expressing their sexual feelings.? She also noted that children do not hide the truth when they play.? She quoted the words of a German researcher, Walter Benjamin, as he said ?children?s play is a much more true reflection of their reality.? Adults and teachers in particular have a moral responsibility to guide children?s lives and deal with this aspect in a proper way.? She further highlighted that children in Brazil are exposed to unrealistic soap opera realities through the television programs they watch and she would also like to see Early Childhood Education (ECE) material that presents a more realistic reflection of reality which shows how people really experience the world they live in.? In conclusion, Dr Ana indicated that Early Childhood Education is also a very young discipline in Brazilian universities and remarked that it is important for teachers to read more on this topic so that they can be better informed about the reality which they work in.

Prof Carlos Torres shares his thoughts during his short presentation on Neoliberal Commonsense.

The famous Prof Carlos Torres connected to the Paulo Freire Institute, and UCLA in California,? took the floor after the presentation of his wife. He shared in brief his thinking on the topic of Neoliberal Common Sense. Prof Torres is a Professor of Social Sciences and Comparative Education and Director of the Paulo Freire Institute (UCLA), is a political sociologist of education and?has published 65 books and has written over 200 published articles.

Prof Ana Raposo Torres, Prof Veronica McKay, Prof Carlos Torres, Dr Ellen Lenyai and Dr Pinkie Mabunda

Source: http://www.unisa.ac.za/cedu/news/index.php/2012/06/sexuality-health-and-democracy-in-constructing-early-childhood-education/

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Thursday, June 28, 2012

Terabits by Twisted Light: The Optical Communications Revolution

Twisted infrared light beams have propelled wireless data transmission to a dazzling 2.56 terabits per second via a system developed by a multinational team of researchers led by the Optical Communications Laboratory at the University of Southern California. The process essentially twists beams of light so that they can carry more data, more quickly than ever before.

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News and Society Blog-Economics: The Conscience Of A - Typepad

Roll Up Your Sleeves, America; Let's Get Back To Work

What happened to us, America? We built the strongest, most prosperous nation in the history of the world by being home to the hardest-working people in history. You used to hear so much about the American Work Ethic, about how people came to the United States, worked crazy-hard, built businesses and created opportunities for entire families and generations of new Americans. That work ethic now seems to be more a part of America's history than a key feature of the nation today.

Today, labor unions have run amok, "bargaining" for sweet-but-unsustainable deals for their memberships and driving otherwise-healthy enterprises into the ground. The very definition of "hard work" has changed; many (not all) young people today think they've worked hard if they've been on the premises of their workplace for longer than six hours. They've slaved especially hard if they've been too busy to finish personal calls or get in all the smoke-breaks to which they feel entitled. A job is more like a possession today than a calling; it's something you have, not something you do. A paycheck is an entitlement. And now, if your employer can no longer afford you, you get years of unemployment compensation from the big-government nanny state that's more out-of-control than the unions.

When I was in my twenties, I expected to pay my dues (and I don't mean union dues). If I wanted to have kids, I knew I'd better be prepared to work my tail off - and I did. Hume's Rule of Economics back then was that, since Mom stayed at home with the kids, Dad must work "one job per kid." For me, that meant four jobs - two "full time" (around forty hours a week) and two part-time jobs. Sleep was optional. Recreation was unheard-of.

These days, I'm proud to say that my kids are probably the hardest-working twenty-somethings around - they all have jobs, and they all work harder than do their friends. And I wouldn't wish the life I had in my twenties on them, or on anyone... but even the hardest-working among them don't have the grindstone-marks on their noses that I bore for decades.

The nanny-state is the enabler of the general lazing of America... but a societal trend is the enabler of the state. That is the trend toward greater "victimhood" than this country's ever seen. There are two types of person out there, and in each of us: our self-entitled inner "Victim," and our self-reliant inner "Entrepreneur." Over the years, more people have been more dominated by their inner Victim than was ever the case before in America - and the resulting societal sense of entitlement has grown so big as to threaten the fabric of our society and the foundation of our nation.

The "progressive" movement by statists in America has helped feed this victimization trend. Statists have slowly taken over every major institution of influence in America, from the labor union to the news media and from the classroom to the movie theater. Taken together, these institutions form a powerful sort of "brain ray" for the statists, and they use it to imprint their far-Left messages on people from an early age. Young people today feel entitled to a job, a good paycheck, and a pretty easy life. You'd expect the same things if you had been raised to believe you should.

The statists have vandalized the American Constitutional republic almost beyond recognition. America needs restoration, and that's going to be a daunting project indeed. But the good news is that none of us has to restore America alone - and, if each of us takes on our own little restoration project, we can still do it. The Entrepreneurs still outnumber the Victims in America, and it's still a land of opportunity. We just have to roll up our sleeves and get to work - real, hard work - on our restoration projects.

What can you do? Can you start a business? Run for office? Support a campaign or petition drive? Donate to restorationist causes? Be a citizen journalist? Whatever you choose, start by choosing and nourishing your own better self - your inner Entrepreneur - and start by simply working harder. Life doesn't have to be a drudgery - but in America, we've partied for a while now, and it's time to get back to work. The restoration of our country - and of the engine for most of the world's strength and prosperity - depends on it.

Michael Hume is a speaker, writer, and consultant specializing in helping people maximize their potential and enjoy inspiring lives. As part of his inspirational leadership mission, he coaches executives and leaders in growing their personal sense of well-being through wealth creation and management, along with personal vitality.

Michael and his wife, Kathryn, divide their time between homes in California and Colorado. They are very proud of their offspring, who grew up to include a homemaker, a rock star, a service talent, and a television expert. Two grandchildren also warm their hearts! Visit Michael's web site at http://michaelhume.net

Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert

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Investing in project bonds to support infrastructure development may ...

Although costly for public authorities, construction projects undertaken through the private finance initiative (PFI) tend to be well-managed on the private sector side, delivering predictably high returns to investors. Against this background, and despite the desire of policy-makers to invest in infrastructure, the sector is facing a severe credit crunch. Mark Hellowell?argues that, while EU-backed project-bonds may offer a solution by allowing projects to be funded by institutional investors, they may undermine the very disciplines that have led to PFI?s impressive record of delivery.

Everybody knows that major infrastructure projects tend to be managed badly. From the Channel Tunnel to Edinburgh?s ill-fated tram network, estimates of costs and benefits during the planning stage prove to be absurdly optimistic once shovels are in the ground. Societies ? and economies ? suffer greatly but there is little accountability. Professor Bent Flyvbjerg, of Oxford University?s S?id Business School, is the world?s chief chronicler of this problem. He blames ?strategic misrepresentation? in project business cases ? ?lying?, in more direct terms. ?Some forecasts are so grossly misrepresented that we need to consider not only firing the forecasters but suing them, too ? perhaps even having a few serve time?, he says.

Even if the Professor gets his wish, there is one group of managers who are likely to retain their liberty ? those working for the firms in charge of private finance initiatives (PFIs). For, while expensive for public authorities, due to the high cost of capital and transaction costs relating to these projects, the PFI has an admirable record of project delivery from the perspective of investors like Carillion, Balfour Beatty and John Laing. These sponsors know how to deliver projects to time and to budget, and they usually achieve the profit margins they initially thought they would when they signed their contracts. A recent survey of 118 operational projects by the National Audit Office found that in three-quarters of cases, investors were earning an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) at or above that which they had projected at financial close.

Their creditors have also had a pretty easy ride. In a study of 805 PFI-like projects from around the world, the ratings agency Moody?s found that lenders had a maximum 0.5% probability of default (defined as a scheduled debt or interest payment not paid within 90 days of the due date) in any given year. Only 18 of the 805 projects in the survey (which included deals from across the world, not just the mature project finance markets of Western Europe, North America and Oceania) had witnessed a default. And in most of these cases, creditors eventually got the vast majority of their money back anyway.

Against this background, it is a curious fact that the infrastructure sector is in the midst of a severe and prolonged credit crunch. Almost four years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, banks in Europe still face capital and liquidity constraints that undermine their ability to provide long-term project finance. This is highly inconvenient for policy makers in both London and Brussels, whose attempts to stimulate economic growth via infrastructure spending are being frustrated. Many have come to the conclusion that, to get credit flowing into projects, the wounded banks need to be bypassed, with their role in project funding taken on by other financial institutions ? such as pension funds, insurance companies and sovereign wealth funds.

In a world of perfect capital markets, this would happen naturally. Capital is supposed to flow to projects and companies offering the highest return, but instead these institutions are channelling a considerable proportion of their resources into government gilts ? which offer a stable yield but one that is, at the time of writing, strongly negative in real terms. No-one who pays into a pension fund can view this investment strategy with satisfaction. I for one would rather see my savings going into projects that have, as Moody?s has shown, close to zero default risk and yet typically pay a return about twice the rate of inflation ? even if, as a taxpayer and public service user, I may be less thrilled.

The salience of infrastructure investment for growth plans in the UK and the Eurozone has long been clear, and it is at last receiving due attention from policy-makers. George Osborne is due to make a speech on the topic before the summer recess (though details are likely to be sparse). When Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, talks about preparing a ?massive? increase in state-backed investment in infrastructure, it is the current failure of markets to do this independently that he is talking about ? though his focus is wider than those sectors associated with PFI (like healthcare, education, defence, transport, social housing), and incorporates other elements of economic infrastructure such as energy, water and digital networks.

The idea is to use the UK government?s ?balance sheet? ? coalition code for its abundant capacity to borrow ? to guarantee payments to creditors and thus enable risk-averse players to lend into projects. Yet, if the state is standing behind projects, the potential to shift the risks and rewards of projects out of the public sector is curtailed. The trick is to do this without adding to the official estimates of government indebtedness, which means that, despite bringing risks and rewards back into the public sector, debt must be continue to recorded as a private liability, not a public one.

On this difficult issue, the European Commission is playing a leading role. Under its ?project bonds? initiative ? a pilot for which was approved by finance ministers at the end of May ? EU funds will be used to back new bond issues by the European Investment Bank, with the money raised providing the resources necessary to provide guarantees to lenders and/ or some risk capital for projects. Initially, projects with a trans-European flavour are likely to be prioritised, but eventually it is envisaged that a broad range of domestic social and economic infrastructure projects will benefit.

The aim is to enhance the credit of the project, allowing the bulk of a project?s capital requirement to be financed by bonds, which will then be snapped up by institutional investors. The key to this is to improve the rating of bonds from BBB to ?single A?, for which the market is deeper for a variety of reasons ? partly to do with the institutional investor culture, and partly to do with regulations which make anything less than A-rated paper very expensive in capital charge terms.

Mr Clegg and the eurocrats are struggling to find a way through a classic chicken and egg dilemma. The complexity of project finance transactions means institutional investors will need to make a substantial investment in qualified people. They might not be willing to make that investment until they see a market develop. But the market is unlikely to develop until they make the investment. See the challenge? Especially after the election of Francois Hollande to the French presidency, there is a huge amount of political will underpinning the project bond initiative ? yet in the face of such an apparently insoluble problem, there is no guarantee that it will succeed.

EU taxpayers and citizens should monitor these efforts closely, but perhaps with a degree of ambivalence. Infrastructure investment can be an attractive source of economic stimulus because its effect on demand can be large. In the UK, the Office for Budget Responsibility estimates an impact multiplier of 1 for departmental capital expenditure on infrastructure ? so that spending of ?1 leads to a ?1 increase in demand and thus national income.

And well-conceived and well-structured infrastructure projects can also benefit economies in the long-run, especially in an era of rapid technological progress, climate change, urbanisation and growing congestion. But herein lies the problem. Any attempt by states to stand behind projects will bring risk back into the public sector, reducing the private sector?s motivation to deliver projects well ? in other words, undermining those disciplines that led to the good record of project delivery highlighted by auditors and rating agencies.

The plans being drawn up in London and Brussels might, eventually, lead to new forms of infrastructure-oriented financial instruments, not unlike those seen in North American bond markets. Such instruments could play a role in helping the UK and the eurozone move out of their current economic malaise. But if these instruments are dependent on implicit state aid ? and the political incentives to push ahead with such schemes are pretty clear ? policy-makers might also increase the likelihood of approving deals that should never see the light of day. Professor Flyvbjerg may soon be calling for his gavel once again.

Please read our comments policy before commenting.

Note: ?This article gives the views of the?author, and not the position of EUROPP ? European Politics and Policy, nor of the London School of Economics.

Shortened URL for this post:?http://bit.ly/MoD1c2

____________________________________

About the Author

Mark Hellowell ? University of Edinburgh
Mark Hellowell is a Lecturer in Economics at the Public Policy and Health Care Reform, at the University of Edinburgh. His research programme focuses on the role of markets, competition and private financing in health care systems. He has a specific interest in public-private partnerships (PPPs), an important strand of health sector reform in the UK and across much of the world. His approach is multidisciplinary, incorporating health policy, economics, industrial organisation and finance. In addition to publishing in a diverse array of peer-reviewed journals (see below), he has been successful in disseminating his findings through a variety of media ? most recently the BBC?s Panorama programme, The Guardian and Public Finance.

As Angela Merkel moves to take credit for Europe?s ?growth pact?, German social democrats must remember that their job is not to support the government.
More tourism exports will not lead Greece out of its crisis. But investing in solar energy might.
Without a rise in German wages, 2012 may see the beginning of the breakup of the Eurozone

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Quotes from Exxon CEO speech on climate, energy

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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

HBT: Utley expected in Phillies lineup tonight

Chase Utley is expected to be in the Phillies lineup tonight. And based on how he played for the Iron Pigs last night, he seems ready.

As Reuben Frank of CSNPhilly.com reports, Utley had himself a great game which, more importantly, made him look ready to contribute:

Chase Utley had two hits, smoked the ball three times, smashed a long home run to right-center, fielded two challenging chances flawlessly and sure looked ready to return to the major leagues.

Now.

Charlie Manuel said that Utley has the three-hole when he?s back in the Phillies lineup. Barring something unexpected, that should be this evening.

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WWE Magazine's July issue preview

Out Now! 'WWE Magazine?s' July Issue!

The Legend Of John Cena
John Cena is WWE?s ultimate hero who always manages to save the day for the WWE Universe. 'WWE Magazine' takes a look at The Champ?s rogues? gallery and the opponents who have defined his decade-long career, from Triple H and Edge to The Rock and Brock Lesnar. This issue also includes two very different posters?our current WWE Champion, CM Punk, looking ready for another fight, and our All-American Diva, Eve, ready to celebrate the Fourth of July.

The 25 Most Totally Badass Things About WWE!
Tables on fire. Rings breaking, Beer baths. Ladder Matches. Undertaker. These things are all undeniably badass?and they can be found throughout the history of WWE?and we rank them!?

Meet The New Guys: The Class Of 2012
Ten years ago, John Cena, Brock Lesnar, Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton and Batista made their debuts, and WWE was never the same. Here, we give readers a first look at this year?s newcomers, including Antonio Cesaro, Ryback, Damien Sandow and Tensai!

Money In The Bank/Totally ?Money? Superstar Briefcases
With Money In The Bankon its way, we?ve asked whoever wins to return to personalizing their Halliburton briefcases. We even offer six examples of what Superstars like Cody Rhodes, Big Show and Santino Marella could do to design their own cases.

Plus! In-depth interviews with:

-Kofi Kingston
-Dolph Ziggler
-The Road Dogg Jesse James
-And Zeus!

Bonus:
David Otunga,Raw?s resident legal eagle, teaches the WWE Universe how to sculpt a ripped chest and back with his unique upper-body routine.

Jack Swagger agrees to answer all your Twitter questions about his various titles, Dolph Ziggler and amateur wrestling.

Zack Ryder clues us in on his pre-match workout, and the one thing he has to do every time he steps into the ring.

And?Beth Phoenix glams it up as our Diva of the Month!

Pick up the July issue on newsstands now or SUBSCRIBE TODAY and save 70% off the newsstand sales price!

View Comments

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Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Louis C.K. on Sarah Palin Tweets: Not Sorry!

Louis C.K. is far from apologetic about the profane Sarah Palin Tweets that caused major controversy and cost him his White House Correspondents' Dinner gig.

The Louis star was slated to host the annual D.C. event but bowed out amid the uproar sparked by harsh Tweets he wrote about the ex-Alaska Governor.

So, is he sorry? Mmmnot so much.

"It's caused me some problems that I wrote s--t about her," C.K. admitted on the Today show Monday. "But I also... why not, man? I mean, what is she?"

"She's just a person. I don't think she's some sacred person."

"And, to me," he added of his Tweets, which were written drunk on a plane, "I was writing poems. It was like poetry to me, and I enjoyed writing them."

Poetry comprised of C-bombs, F-bombs and Sarah Palin jokes.

Asked if he would write the same things again, C.K. replied:

"Yeah, I probably would, I think so. It still makes me laugh a little bit, the stuff that I wrote, when I think about it ... I actually thought it was well-written."

Hey, might as well own it. The man does not mince words.

[Photos: Fame/Flynet]

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Nadal, Serena win as Aussies suffer Wimbledon slump

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Home prices up for third straight month

By msnbc.com staff and news wires

The hits keep coming for the U.S. housing market.

While the rest of the economy struggles with sluggish consumer spending and a stalled job market,?data recently has been showing housing on the upswing.?Prices for single-family homes rose for the third consecutive month, a widely-watched survey showed Tuesday.

The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas gained 0.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, topping economists' expectations of 0.4 percent. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, prices fared even better, rising 1.3 percent.

Just three out of the 20 cities in the index saw declines in April on a seasonally adjusted basis.

"It has been a long time since we enjoyed such broadbased gains," David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at Standard & Poor's, said in a statement.

"While one month does not make a trend, particularly during seasonally strong buying months, the combination of rising positive monthly index levels and improving annual returns is a good sign."

Compared to a year ago, prices were down 1.9 percent, beating expectations for a decline of 2.5 percent, and an improvement from the 2.6 percent annual decline seen in March.

Reuters contributed to this report.

The latest S&P Case-Shiller results show on average home prices increased 1.3% in April, with David Blitzer, S&P 500 Index committee chairman.

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PFT: Ochocinco sends Goodell a warning

Since it?s supposed to be a slow week, here?s an item that is best suited for consideration during a slow week.

Colts owner Jim Irsay has taken to Twitter to call me out personally for a joke included at the bottom of a Saturday item regarding Irsay?s position that marketing rights aren?t holding up an eventual contract with quarterback Andrew Luck.

Since most of the latest available pictures of Luck show him wearing a mortar board and a gown tied and draped over his shoulders like an Andy Bernard sweater, and given that the topic of the item was Luck?s marketing rights via the poorly-crafted tweets of Jim Irsay, I closed with this:? ?Luck likely will be free to endorse whatever he wants to endorse, including the use of images of his Stanford graduation to be included in a campaign for online courses aimed at teaching rich, middle-aged white guys how to type legibly on Twitter.?

It was a slap at Irsay?s notorious habit of oft-indecipherable Twitter messages, and using the term ?rich, middle-aged white guys? was aimed at describing Irsay?s overall demographic.

Irsay didn?t see it that way.? On Monday morning, Irsay started the debate with this:

Then, without a response, he said this:

I considered not taking the bait; after all, the guy owns an NFL team.? But like I mentioned above, it?s slow right now.? Also, I wasn?t entirely comfortable with the not-so-subtle effort to suggest that I expect only white people to type legible Twitter message.? (For the record, I expect everyone to type legibly on Twitter.)? Besides, Irsay asked a question.? The least I could do was answer it.

A loyal PFT reader (I knew there was at least one) thereafter responded to the kerfuffle. Irsay then replied to Wes LaFever?s tweet with this:

So, basically, Jim Irsay thinks I?m a racist and I don?t like old people (even though I?m now seven years into the legally-protected class of old people) and I don?t like rich people (even though I?d very much like to be one, someday).

Wow.? He really has cracked the code.

Now if only I could crack the code for interpreting 99.8 percent of his Twitter messages, this job would be a lot easier.

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Monday, June 25, 2012

Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H

Component manufacturer Gigabyte is traditionally terrific at giving motherboard shoppers an easy slate of options: You can find a model for any chipset you?re interested in, at practically any price you can pay. We?ve looked at a number of the newer LGA1155 motherboards recently, which can be used with either Intel?s third-generation (?Ivy Bridge?) or second-generation (?Sandy Bridge?) Core families of processors, and many of them have hugged (or even pushed past) the $300 price barrier. The Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H, on the other hand, comes in at just $159.99 (list) and gives you almost what you can get from some of the pricier contenders.

Utilizing Intel?s Z77 Express chipset, the ATX-form-factor GA-Z77X-UD3H has overclocking capability and fully supports Intel?s Smart Response Technology (SRT), which lets you configure a solid-state drive (SSD) to use for data caching. (For more information about this, read our review of the Intel SSD 311 Series.) To aid with the latter feature, there?s an mSATA port right on the motherboard; just plug in a miniature drive and you?re ready to go. (Gigabyte previously did this on last generation?s GA-Z68XP-UD3-iSSD?it?s a nifty feature.)

The GA-Z77X-UD3H has a number of solid capabilities as well. It can house up to four DIMMs of standard-clocked dual-channel DDR3 1600 memory; it also supports overclocked rates up to DDR3 2666, though higher-end (and higher-priced) motherboards like the Editors? Choice Asus P8Z77-V Deluxe and the ECS Z77H2-AX can crank it up to DDR3 2800. Expansion slots are a fairly typical affair. In addition to one standard PCI and three PCI Express (PCIe) x1 slots, there are three PCIe x16 slots: one running at x16, one running at x8, and one running at x4?though if you want to use the last one, you won?t be able to use any of the x1 slots because all four share bandwidth. The GA-Z77X-UD3H does conform to the PCIe version 3.0 standard. You?re limited to a maximum of two video cards, though?you can put three or more in the Asus and ECS boards. And if you do use discrete video, LucidLogix?s Virtu MVP virtualization provides dynamic switching between it and the Intel integrated system.

You have plenty of other installation options on the GA-Z77X-UD3H. In addition to the aforementioned mSATA connector, there are two 6Gbps SATA III ports and four 3Gbps SATA II ports (all of which support RAID Levels 0, 1, 5, and 10) that are driven by the Intel storage controller. A secondary Marvell 88SE9172 chip handles the two 6Gbps eSATA ports on the rear panel.

Speaking of which, back there you?ll find those eSATA ports joined by a decent combination of current and legacy jacks. There?s a single PS/2 port for connecting an old-style keyboard or mouse, six USB 3.0 ports, four display outputs (VGA, DVI, HDMI, and DisplayPort), Gigabit Ethernet, S/PDIF optical out, and six analog audio ports for connecting an eight-channel surround-sound system. Motherboard headers let you add up to six additional USB 2.0 ports as well.

The GA-Z77X-UD3H boasts a number of Gigabyte-specific features as well. It meets the company?s ?Ultra Durable 4? standards for construction, which means additional copper in the PCB, glass fabric material that protects against humidity, electrostatic protection, built-in power surge protection and DualBIOS function that automatically restores from a backup BIOS file in case of a power outage, and all solid caps for reducing operating temperatures. The motherboard uses an entirely digital PWM controller for enhanced precision in power delivery, and an associated utility gives you control over system voltages, phases, and frequencies. EZ Setup simplifies the process of configuring your system to use Intel?s key Ivy Bridge technologies (Smart Response, Rapid Start, and Smart Connect). A couple of technologies aid in the charging of devices: All USB ports on the system pass three times more power than usual, which will help you charge devices faster, and On/Off Charge lets you charge your iOS device even if your computer is asleep.

We also want to call out something else about the GA-Z77X-UD3H. Gigabyte stuck with a hybrid version (UEFI functionality, BIOS look and feel) for a long time?a little longer than it should have, in our book?but now it?s graduated to one of the easiest-to-use and nicest-looking UEFIs out there. The appropriately named 3D Mode lets you click on the various components on a picture of the motherboard and receive the options that apply to that part of the hardware; it?s a great tool for beginners, though Advanced Mode offers the full slate of deeper-dive options for the users who?ll appreciate those. When Gigabyte jumps into the future, it does so with both feet.

Performance tends not to vary a great deal between same-class motherboards; we?ve found that in our recent testing of first-wave Ivy Bridge boards, but even so the GA-Z77X-UD3H routinely finishes near the middle of the pack. It nabbed top honors on only one of our tests (Handbrake 0.9.6 video transcoding, which it finished in 30 seconds?one second less than the Asus P8Z77-V Deluxe required), but it was solid across the board.

When we measured full-system power usage using an Extech Datalogger, the Gigabyte motherboard used the least electricity after 15 minutes of idling (71.1 watts), but the second most under full load (139.1 watts, although well behind the ECS Z77H2-AX?s monstrous 158.5 watts). By comparison, the Intel Desktop Board DZ77GA-70K used 71.2 watts when idle and proved the least power hungry under full load, drawing only 136.3 watts.

The more you crave exotic or powerful extras for your Z77 Express motherboard, the less appropriate the Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H will be for you. Its entry-level pricing has meant some corner cutting, and a lack of functionality that more die-hard users would no doubt appreciate (such as, among other things, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support). You can get those features on more extreme motherboards like the Asus and ECS models?but you?ll also pay as much as twice the GA-Z77X-UD3H?s price. If you don?t need all that additional bling, however, the GA-Z77X-UD3H is a nice little board at a nice little price.

More Chipset and Processor Reviews:
??? Intel Desktop Board DZ77GA-70K
??? Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H
??? ECS Z77H2-AX
??? Asus P8Z77-V Deluxe
??? Intel Core i5-3470
?? more

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Penn St. signals it wants to settle Sandusky cases

BELLEFONTE, Pennsylvania ?? With former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky now behind bars for child sexual abuse, the university has given an unusual signal that it wants to wrap up civil suits as fast as possible, legal observers said on Saturday.

Shortly after Sandusky, 68, was convicted late on Friday on 45 counts of sexual abuse, Pennsylvania State University invited victims to try to resolve claims against the school.

"The purpose of the program is simple - the university wants to provide a forum where the university can privately, expeditiously and fairly address the victims' concerns and compensate them for claims relating to the university," it said in a statement.

Sandusky reportedly on suicide watch

Sandusky's conviction clears a hurdle for potentially big-ticket civil suits since abuse victims suing the school now can point to a crime that was committed, the observers said.

At least two civil suits have been filed already against the school, both in Philadelphia. A filing by Sandusky's lawyers last month put the number of potential victims at almost 20.

"The biggest problem for Penn State is that they want to get these cases closed. They want them behind them and they are going to want to spend some money to make that happen," said Daniel Filler, a law professor at Drexel University.

Video: Sandusky juror: Defense fell short of ?reasonable doubt? (on this page)

Max Kennerly, a Philadelphia lawyer who has handled sex abuse cases, said the university's statement was unusual.

The move is a sign Penn State is willing to stay away from the "usual pattern of deny, delay, defend -- the 'three Ds' of corporate insurance defense," he said.

Penn State's potential damage from civil suits could become clearer with a criminal case against the school's former athletic director, Tim Curley and Gary Schultz, the former vice president for finance and business.

Juror: Sandusky's lack of emotion was 'confirmation'

A former assistant coach, Mike McQueary, testified he told late head coach Joe Paterno, Curley and Schultz about a 2001 incident in which Sandusky abused a boy in a Penn State locker room.

Curley and Schultz face charges of perjury and failure to report suspected abuse in an alleged cover-up of the incident.

"Schultz and Curley will tell us a lot more about what Penn State knew" about Sandusky's pedophilia, Kennerly said.

Fat target
Penn State had $4.6 billion in operating revenue reported for the last fiscal year and an endowment topping $1.8 billion.

The university is involved in a legal battle with its main liability insurer, Pennsylvania Manufacturers' Association Insurance Co, over who should have to pay for any civil suits in the Sandusky scandal. It also owns its own insurer, Nittany Insurance Co of Vermont.

"The real money is in the big institution, Penn State, and insurance companies. The individuals (in the criminal suits) are just conduits to the insurance companies," said Filler.

Pedophilia suits against Roman Catholic priests have generated damages ranging from $50,000 to several million dollars per victim and are a potential guideline for payouts in the Penn State case, Kennerly said.

"It could be $1 million for each of them," he said.

Because of the Sandusky scandal, Penn State is facing investigations by the FBI, the U.S. Department of Education, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, a grand jury and the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

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Egypt's nervous wait for president nears end

CAIRO - Egypt's anxious week of waiting for a president, a week marked by street protests and angry accusations between rivals of subverting the new democracy by force, is finally ending.

On Saturday, the electoral commission set 3 p.m. (1300 GMT) on Sunday as the moment it will announce either that yet another general will fill the post left vacant by last year's overthrow of Hosni Mubarak, or that the Muslim Brotherhood, for decades the army's bitter enemy, will finally hold the highest office.

For many, the latter is more likely. But nothing is certain.

The ruling military council, which pushed Mubarak aside to appease the Arab Spring protesters, has just stripped the post of many powers and dissolved the Brotherhood-led parliament elected in January. Yet the presidency is still a prize, even if the vote will not end the power struggles over Egypt's future.

An Islamist president of Egypt, the biggest Arab nation, would be a major milestone for the Middle East, near unthinkable 18 months ago. It is far from confirmed. But the military, Brotherhood and others gave signs of expecting it will happen.

Brotherhood supporters camped out in Cairo's Tahrir Square, where the revolution was won, were generally in festive mood, though fear of disappointment still nagged, after decades of rigged elections. In counterpoint, a few thousand rallied in a middle-class Cairo suburb to declare their support for the army.

The Brotherhood's candidate Mohamed Morsy, the 60-year-old, US-educated engineer and political prisoner under Mubarak, had declared victory within hours of polls closing last Sunday - a move condemned by the generals. He has already met other groups and drafted an accord to form a national coalition government.

His party issued a statement on Saturday saying it had called on "all partners in the nation, from all movements, to take part in this national platform, to guarantee the success of what we have achieved and their active participation in rebuilding the country in the manner it deserves."

One of those involved in the talks, Abdel Gelil Mostafa of the reformist National Association for Change, told Reuters: "We agreed on a general program, especially for if Morsy won.

"That seems probable. But, we will know tomorrow."

Brotherhood, army talks

By contrast supporters of former air force commander Ahmed Shafik, 70, who was Mubarak's last prime minister, kept a low profile, although Shafik said on Thursday has confident.

A victory for Shafik, who won backing in the run-off from voters who decided they liked religious rule even less than a candidate who appeared drawn from the familiar military establishment, could spark protests from well-organized Islamist movements, which security forces might confront on the streets.

Reformist politician Mohamed ElBaradei said he had been in contact with the army and Morsy's camp to avoid a showdown, but said he was worried that, if Shafik were declared winner, "we are in for a lot of instability and violence ... a major uprising." His comments were carried by the CNN website.

However, there have been indications from senior figures in the Brotherhood and military council that they have prepared for a Morsy presidency in meetings since the election.

While officials deny any negotiation over the long drawn out process of tallying the election results themselves, there would be greater scope for compromise to defuse tension over what many have called the army's "soft coup," against parliament and the powers of the president, if Morsy is made head of state.

The Brotherhood has said it will go on protesting until the military council cancels the dissolution and a decree which gave its legislative powers to itself, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). But were its candidate to be confirmed in office, then the wary symbiosis between the two old enemies, seen since Mubarak was ousted, may continue in a new form.

It is a collaboration that irks many of the secular liberals who led the first wave of the uprising against Mubarak but found themselves fragmented and eliminated in last month's first round of voting, left with a difficult choice between army and Islam.

The military's role

Impatient Brotherhood supporters have been out on Tahrir Square day and night since midweek. Thousands were there again on Saturday, chanting "Victory for Morsy!" and "Morsy, Morsy, Allahu akbar!" (God is greatest), while waving national flags.

"We want the military council to announce the real results without forgery," said Hassan Eissa, 43, an accountant from north of Cairo who was demonstrating on the square.

"They have no right," Eissa said. "Egyptians shouldn't be under any kind of guardianship after the revolution."

A few thousand people also gathered with flags in the suburb of Nasr City to praise the army, the institution has run Egypt, amassing wealth and privilege along the way for its upper ranks, since the "Free Officers" toppled King Farouk in 1952.

"We came here to tell all the people that we are standing by our army," one demonstrator told state-owned television channel Nile News. "Our army is the line that cannot be crossed, the red line which we will let no one touch."

The generals, who pushed aside Mubarak when popular protests could not be staunched, have repeatedly said, both to Egyptians and to their close US ally, that they will return to barracks and hand over to civilian rule. But they present themselves as guardians of Egypt's security and long-term interests and moved to block the Islamists from taking more than a share of power.

While they have said that inaugurating the new president by July 1 will meet the deadline they set themselves for civilian rule, their moves in the past 10 days to curb the presidency and hang on to a veto over legislation, as well as to claim a role in drafting a new constitution, mean that the process goes on.

Washington and the European Union, both major aid donors, have expressed concern that the military is backtracking. But both also share its anxiety over a sweeping Islamist takeover, worried about Egypt turning anti-Western and reneging on its peace with Israel, and also voicing concern for civil rights.

Violence by hardline Islamists in Tunisia, whose revolt inspired that in Egypt, has troubled many Egyptian liberals.

Key to the transition to democracy will be drafting a constitution. That work has been hostage to partisan wrangling in the now defunct parliament, where one assembly collapsed after complaints it was too Islamist and a second faces a challenge in court on Tuesday that many expect to trigger a clause in the SCAF decree letting it name a new drafting panel.

The assembly met on Saturday, apparently hoping to prove it can work. But it may soon be replaced.

The Brotherhood has portrayed itself as a modern movement, ready to work with others and willing to respect treaties. Some supporters cite the example of Turkey as a model - a Muslim democracy with a history of military interference in politics, where devout, elected politicians have slowly asserted control.

The bearded, bespectacled Morsy was not a familiar figure to Egyptians. Some ridicule him as the movement's "spare tire"; his campaign began after a more senior leader was barred from the race. Critics say he would be a mere front-man as president, for less visible pillars of the Brotherhood behind the scenes.

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Sunday, June 24, 2012

Microsoft Announces Shift to Windows 8 for Windows Phone

Microsoft expects the first Windows Phones with the Windows 8 operating system to become available later this year, the company announced today at its Windows Phone Summit for developers in San Francisco.

The next generation phones will offer a revamped Start screen, better multitasking, digital wallet and NFC wireless functionality (tap to pay), updated speech functionality, enterprise device management and security features. Windows Phone 8 will also introduce a development model based on C++/C and DirectX to facilitate code sharing with Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 operating system. Windows 8 is expected sometime this fall on Microsoft Surface tablets, announced on Monday, and Windows-based PCs.

?To learn more and to read the entire article at its source, please refer to the following page, Microsoft Announces Shift to Windows 8 for Windows Phone- Virtualization Review News

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Lost Relics

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The first 3 players will become admins. Excluding me.

DarkLancer: Member for 0 years

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