Report: Louisiana's poor pay higher tax rate than the rich ... - The Lens

Jindal

The poor in Louisiana pay twice as much of their income in state and local taxes as do the rich, a new study shows.

The report, released Wednesday by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a liberal, Washington, D.C.-based group, will likely raise more questions about Gov. Bobby Jindal?s plan to eliminate income and corporate taxes and replace them with additional sales taxes. That plan is already facing criticism that it would hit the poor hardest.

Though virtually all states tax the poor at higher rates than the wealthy, the disparity in Louisiana makes for one of the most regressive tax systems in the country, the report found. A regressive tax structure results in the poor paying a higher percentage of their income than do middle-class residents and the rich. The Jindal plan seems likely to make Louisiana even more regressive because of its mounting reliance on sales taxes, an impost that falls most heavily on the poor.

?It is a standard finding in the public finance literature that the sales tax is the most regressive, the income tax the most progressive and the property tax falls in between,? said Steven Sheffrin, a Tulane economics professor who is director of the university?s Murphy Institute.

The 20 percent poorest of non-elderly families in Louisiana paid 10.6 percent of their family?s income in state and local taxes while the richest 1 percent paid 4.6 percent, the ITEP study found.

?The study says we already have a regressive system in Louisiana,? said Jan Moller, director of the Louisiana Budget Project, a liberal Baton Rouge-based research and advocacy group. Under the Jindal plan, ?it would get worse. The only question is how much worse. You can make a bad plan somewhat better, but that doesn?t solve the problem.?

Tim Barfield, executive counsel to Jindal?s Revenue Department, has said the governor plans to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit for the poor to offset the higher sales taxes. The credit amounts to a negative tax rate for low-income residents.

About 70 days before the Legislature convenes on April 8, Jindal, ?has yet to reveal details of his plan to Louisiana taxpayers. He has been busy speaking to Republican groups around the country.

Eliminating income and corporate taxes would cost the state about $3 billion a year, state figures show. To offset the lost revenue?which Jindal says he intends to do?he is expected to favor raising ?the state sales tax and imposing taxes on some activities and purchases that are currently exempt. His aides have said, however, that Jindal won?t touch the exemptions on groceries, prescription drugs and home utility bills.

Jindal and Barfield have indicated that they want to focus not on whose taxes will be lowered or raised but on how the plan will spur investment and job creation in Louisiana.

Greg Albrecht, the chief economist for the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Office, published a commentary Wednesday that questions how much extra tax revenue the Jindal plan might produce.

The ?macroeconomic effects of such a tax swap are likely to be small, if they exist at all,? Albrecht wrote. ?States in general do not really have macroeconomic policy?capability. States cannot manipulate the money supply or interests rates, and have to balance their budgets annually. Elimination of income taxes will increase disposable income, but the spending of total disposable income will be subject to higher taxation.?

The Jindal administration responded to the report Wednesday evening with a written statement:

We have a fundamental philosophical disagreement with ITEP about how to help the poor and improve job opportunities for all Louisianans. Contrary to ITEP?s definition of fairness, we believe that the less money the government takes from people?s incomes, the better.

The best way to alleviate poverty is to create jobs, and the way to create jobs is by structuring a tax code that is fairer and simpler so that Louisiana can continue to foster an environment where businesses want to invest and create job opportunities for all of Louisiana?s citizens. Study after study has shown that companies move to places where taxes are lower, and job creation is the only sustainable way to combat systemic poverty.

The ITEP study overall found that virtually every state taxes the poor at higher rates than the wealthy. The states with the 10 most regressive tax systems include Texas and Florida, which don?t have income taxes and rely on sales taxes for their revenue. Jindal has said he wants to model Louisiana?s tax system on those two states.

Source: http://thelensnola.org/2013/01/30/report-louisianas-poor-pay-higher-tax-rate-than-the-rich/

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Japan Office Market Review ? Real Estate Japan | Tokyo, Osaka ...

Vacancy Rates Decline Nationwide as Demand Spreads to a Wider Range of Buildings; Rents Rising Primarily Among Large Buildings in Select Cities and Areas

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

As the Europeon economic slowdown and?worsening tensions contribute to a weakening of exports, the GDP growth rate for the fourth quarter of 2012 is expected to show a decline of 0.2 points quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) to 0.3%, According to the Bank of Japan, the Tankan Large Manufacturing Enterprise Diffusion Index (DI) 9 paints from the previous survey period To -12 points. However, the forecast DI is expected to recover by 2 points. Going forward, economic conditions are expected to recover gradually from the current downturn as there are hopes that the change in government will have a favorable?economic impact. Furthermore, domestic demand continue to be supported by recovery measures trom the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 and effects from the previous emergency economic stimulus packages. Demand from overseas can also be anticipated to increase as emerging economies?recover.

DEMAND

Demand in Osaka is currently being driven and?absorbed by a new, large-scale building. In Tokyo, however, demand was seen to have spread io mid-scale and smaller buildings, while large sca|e relocat?ons seem to have run their course, Demand for upgrades in the location and quality ot buildings have been firming up nationwide. Scattered cases of?companies relocating to take more space have?been observed, as well as relocations away?from aging company-owned buildings with the?result being an increase in occupied floor?space. Available space in prime buildings?which meets tenants requirements (i.e. BCP?planning, earthquake resistance) is becoming?scarce in many cities, and in cities such as Fukuoka and Yokohama, demand has spread to buildings that are relatively further away from?train stations, or older buildings with?competitive rents that previously struggled to?find tenants. There are concerns of demand?becoming restrained with the lack of prime?buildings that tenants seek in regional cities?such as Sapporo, Hiroshima, or in Saitama?where supply is already tight.

NEW SUPPLY/VACANCY RATES

The Grade A vacancy rate in Tokyo fell 0.5?points to 8.8% as a new Grade A building was completed at almost full occupancy. The vacancy rate For Tokyo?s 23 Wards, however, remained flat at 7.5%. The Grade A vacancy rate in Osaka declined by 2.9 paints io 8.7%, improving significantly after a landmark Grade A was compieted this quarter at high occupancy. The vacancy rate of the overall city was down by 0.4 points In Nagoya, where?no new Grade A buildings have been completed in the last three years, the Grade A?vacancy rate dropped by 0.9 point to 18%, reflecting the?tight supply. The overall vacancy rate also fell by 0.1 points.?In other regional cities where supply has been limited, demand is?being concentrated in the city center areas. Saitama and Kobe led?the way as the vacancy rate throughout the country improves, with?Saitama dropping 1.5 points and Kobe dropping by 1.4?points Saitama?s vacancy rate at 4.1% is now the lowest in?the notion.

RENT

The Grade A assumed achievable rent in Osaka increased?marginally, while in Nagoya and Tokyo they were flat. Average asking rents are slightly weakening in some including Kyoto, which increased last quarter, and Sendai. On the other hand, Kobe recorded its second consecutive increase, with Sapporo, Saitama and Hiroshima following with overall average asking rents varying from flat to slightly increasing.

TOKYO

TOKYO GRADE A BUILDINGS

Vacancy rates decline for two consecutive quarters after peaking in?Q2/2012

The Grade A vacancy rate in Q4/2012 tell 0.5 points to 8.8%. While the quantity of new supply has been relatively low, the completion ol a Grade A building at almost full occupancy, and scattered cases ot large relocations mostly at newer existing buildings seems to have contributed to the improved vacancy Nihonbashi and?other areas are seeing very tight supply with the vacancy rate below?1%.

Rents down slightly

Average assumed achievable rent fell 03% to per tsubo,?showing virtually no change in The borlom?ng of rental levels since the beginning of the year. Although vacancy rares have declined after?overcoming the mass of new supply during the first half of the year, the market still lacks the strength to push rental up. There were cases where rents were pulled up in some buildings due to their favorable location and high specifications. However, the opposite?case was also observed, and the market overall is seeing flat rents.

Despite weak demand, positive?minded relocation have increased;?rents at turning point

New demand this quarter was approximately 19,000 tsubo, down?16% Foreign relations disputes, the continuing strong yen, and the uncertain global economic forecast withered the corporate mindset, which led to the drop in demand. While some relocations related to cost-cutting and operational consolidations continue to be observed, cases of corporate relocotions to expand operations, and improve the location and specs ot the buildings have been increasingly observed. Despite the lack of a single industry leading corporate relocations, a wide range of domestic and foreign manufacturing, financial and IT companies led relocations in the fourth quarter. Although new supply during the quarter consisted of o single building in the Otemachi area, a relatively large amount of supply consisting of approximately 57,000 tsubo is expected to be coming into the market in Q1/2013. Pre-leasing activities seem to be firm overall, with one building having already secured 90% of its?tenants.

TOKYO?S 23 WARDS

Vacancy rate flat at 7.5%

The vacancy rate for Tokyo?s 23 Wards remained flat from the previous quarter at 7.5%. New supply in Q4 was approximately?30,000 tsubo, comparable to the level in the previous quarter. The?risk of oversupply was minimal, and redevelopment of large buildings resulted in the demolition of over 30,000 tsubo. This helped keep vacancy rate flat despite the fact that the growth in demand rose little more than 15,000 tsubo. The demand absorbed by existing buildings this quarter was approximately 120,000 tsubo, which is at similar levels from the previous quarter?s 150,000 absorbed tsubo. With the lack of large scale relocation activities, the overall demand ended up being sluggish in terms of net-absoprtion. There were an increased number of buildings with more than 1,000 tsubo of vacant space this quarter, which was a result of impending vacancies becoming realized from the past large scale relocations. While these buildings are receiving inquiries, it appears to be taking time to finalize deals.

Vacancies of 100 to 1,000 tsubo decline

Mid-scaled relocations have been active this quarter. Filing of vacancies in the 100 to 1,000 tsubo range increased q-o-q from 73,000 tsubo to 78,000 this quarter. This exceeds the amount of vacancies emerging in the same scale by more than 20,000 tsubo. While there seems to be fewer large-scale relocations this quarter, mid-scale relocations are being observed by a wider range of tenants for BCP purposes. These mid-scale relocations are anticipated to push demand in the future.

Focus is on the 2013 pre-leasing activities

The pre-leasing status of new buildings coming online in 2013 is high, companies considering large scale relocations may make decisions faster once there are signs of macroeconomic improvement. This brings anticipation of an increase in the rate of demand in the market. In some areas, rents have already increased, with rental increases centering on large buildings. Rents are expected to increase in a wider range of areas once demand is sustained.

OSAKA

Vacancy rate decreases in Grade A buildings, and Osaka overall

The vacancy rate in Osaka during the fourth quarter of 2012 was 9.4%, a decline of 0.4 This is the fifth consecutive drop. The Grade A vacancy rate was down 2.9 to 8.7% as a Grade A building was completed ai high occupancy this quarter, and anoiher large building secured a ienani that would lease over 3,000 isubo of available space.

Large building completed at high occupancy

A large office building was completed Nakanoshima this quarter.?This is a mixed-use building which has the capacity to lease out office?space in addition to the owner-occupied space, along with a music hall and retail complex. Its landmark status has drawn demand from existing buildings in the vicinity to achieve high occupancy upon completion. While there are concerns of the vacancy rate increasing resulting from these tenant moving, the effects are thought to be minimal as some of these buildings are subject for redevelopment due to their age. Other trends within Osaka include scattered cases of relocation from aging company-owned buildings to newer large buildings, integration of company offices that had been dispersed at multiple locations including company-owned suburban buildings, and other moves that tend to increase leasing activity in the office market.

Corporate mindset towards relocation is firm; demand expected to be

Tenant demand tended to concentrate at buildings of a certain grade?and level of competitiveness, particularly those in favorable locations, built relatively recently, and meeting the latest seismic resistance standards, With rents at newer and larger buildings at levels compatible with the of cost tenants are able to bear, corporate attitudes toward relocation have been improving, so that demand is expected to remain strong at newer and larger buildings in the near future.

NAGOYA

Nagoya?s citywide vacancy rate falls for 10th straight quarter

The vacancy rate in Nagoya fell 0.1 points this quarter to 11.3%,?which was its 10th consecutive decline. Having reached a peak of 14.3% during the second quarter of 2010, the vacancy rate has improved by 3.0 points during the intervening two and a half years.?A trend ?oward companies expanding is a|ready under way, including relocations for expansion of existing offices and the establishment of new offices. This is part of the overall trend of the vacancy raie declining, but discrepancies have been observed between different areas. With demand tending to concentrate in the
Meieki-area, progress in improving vacancy rates has been at a standstill in other areas such as Fushimi, Marunouchi and Sakae. Efforts to attract tenants with relatively competitive rents and other incentives in these areas have been ongoing. In the Meieki station area, meanwhile, vacancies at newer buildings have been decreasing, putting a stop to declines in rent levels.

Grade A vacancy rate improves further

The vacancy raie at Grade A buildings fell 0.9 points io 1.8%.?Demand for space at Grade A buildings was strong, due in part To BCP efforts, and large scale vacancy spaces were filled by the opening of new offices. With no new Grade A supply during the three years since 2010, supply remains tight. While assumed achievable rents remained flat during the quarter, Grade A rents in the Meieki area are at their tipping point.

No new supply this quarter; low level of new supply expected in?201 3

There was no new supply during the review quarter, and new supply?is expected to remain low throughout 2013. Until the scheduled completion in 2015 of multiple large-scale development projects fronting Nagoya Station, new supply is forecast to remain low.?Barring any alteration of economic trends, vacancy rates are therefore expected to continue their gradual decline throughout 2013.

ADDITIONAL JAPAN MARKETS

SAPPORO

Office market characterized by continuing declines ?vacancy rates

Call centers continued to relocate in order to expand operations.?Furthermore, relocations to landmark and newer existing buildings were?observed, as well as scattered cases of companies relocating to better?locations. Large scale vacancies are becoming scarce as a result, and those?impending vacancies were quickly filled in some buildings. It is particularly?difficult to secure large scale spaces in the city centers, and demand has?spread to the Sapporo Station North Exit and Nishi 11-chrome areas, where?inquiries are concentrated on buildings with large vacant space available.?The vacancy rate in Sapporo fell 0.5 points to 8.3%. Although the vacancy?rate was Flat in the Sosegawa-h?gashi area, the rates for central Sapporo,?as well as the areas around the Sapporo Station North Exit and Nishi 11-chrome all declined. As vacancy rates continue to decline, there is some?concern that demand will run up against a lack of appropriate supply.

SENDAI

Major decline in vacancy in Minamimachi Dori area

With space being scarce around Sendai Station, tenants are increasing the?range of locations which they will consider. There has also been an?increase in the number of inquiries for spaces of 50 tsubo or less, as?companies open new offices as well as expand, and this trend? expected?to continue into the beginning of 2013. Furthermore, the change in the?government is anticipated to speed up the disaster recovery measures,?which would be a plus for office demand. The vacancy rate in the Minami-dori area saw a major decline, leading The overall vacancy rate in Sendai to drop 0.9 ?to 12.0%. The vacancy declines in the Minami-dori area?were due to select consolidating into two large buildings, occupying?spaces of over 300 tsubo each, over multiple floors.

SAITAMA

Vacancy rate in Saitama falls to mid-4% range

Although relocation activity has been sluggish due to the scarcity of large scale vacant space, one company in Omiya relocated 500 tsubo from the station?s East Exit area to the West Exit area in order to improve its location. In the East Exit area, there are scattered cases of new service oriented?businesses opening, such as esthetic salons and cram schools. Overall,?many tenants are looking to expand, but lack the resources to relocate to?large buildings, leading them to make due with expanding within their?existing building. With firm demand continuing, impending vacancies are?expected to till relatively easily, and owners of some large buildings intend?to raise asking rents when new vacancies emerge. The vacancy rate in?Saitama dropped 1.5% q-o-q points to 4.1%. This is by far the lowest?vacancy rate of any major city in the country. With such? space?available, the issue is the extent to which demand can be matched up the?space which is available.

YOKOHAMA

Vacancy rates decline moderately with multiple large relocations

Despite no new supply coming? in the review quarter, the market was?very active, including not JUst an increase in large relocations, but? an?increase in activity involving smaller floor areas. Large buildings at the?station?s West Exit have been successful at filling vacancies, and large scale?space in this area is no longer available. Yokohama?s vacancy rate was at?10.2%, falling by 0.1 points? Demand has been so firm that even?buildings farther from the station which have struggled in the past have?been able to reduce their vacancy by attracting an increasing proportion of?small-scale tenants. There was an active inflow and outflow of tenants in the?Minato-mirai area. While large scale vacancies emerged in existing?buildings resulting from tenants moving out, there was also a rare case?where a company made a large scale move from Tokyo. Although?companies relocating in the Kannai area are from within the same area, an?influx of demand from surrounding areas has also been seen, pushing?down vacancy. Demand is active in the Yokohama Station East Exit area,?with large scale vacancies expected to be filled going forward. While?demand is anticipated to improve, vacancy rates will need to decline further?before there is any turnaround in rental rates.

KANAZAWA

Demand firm in Kanazawa Station area

Office demand was concentrated in the Kanazawa station area, with the?vacancy rate improving in the station area. In the Minamimachi area,?however, there were scattered cases of buildings with large scale vacancies?remaining unfilled, and the vacancy rate is diverging between?Minamimachi and the Kanazawa Station area. Demand was mainly driven?by tenants relocating to improve the location and specs of their buildings,?as well as cases of tenants moving to increase leasing space. The vacancy rate in Kanazawa declined for the third straight quarter to 17.7%. This is a?decline to 1.3 points? While the |eve| of demand decreased during the?quarter, this affected the vacancy rate less than otherwise would be?expected as buildings were converted to other uses, and were therefore?excluded from the statistics.

No new supply is expected in 2013, and the vacancy rate is expected to keep improving. The opening of the Hokuriku Shinkansen high-speed?railway line is expected to continue concentrating demand around the?Kanazawa station area.

KYOTO

Although vacancy rates decline, companies still cautious on relocation

Amid declining rental levels in Kyoto, demand increased from companies?relocating out of their own buildings as rents declined, and companies?consolidating their operations from the suburbs to the city center. There was?also an influx of demand coming from established companies newly?entering the rental market. This led the vacancy rate to decrease to 8.2%, a?decline of? points? Vacancy declines were also supported by?numerous small scale expansions from companies expanding within their?existing buildings. The first quarter of 2013 is expected to see multiple?large tenants, each occupying over 100 tsubo, withdrawing from the?market, which may push the vacancy rate up. These large scale spaces?opening up may provide an opportunity for tenants to become active, but?companies are showing caution towards relocating, which lead to a more?measured market recovery.

KOBE

First signs seen of activities that lead companies to expand

In the fourth quarter of 2012, companies continued relocating from?suburban locations to the city center, and from company owned buildings to?rental space, pushing the vacancy rate down to 9.8%, a q-o-q decline of?1.4 points. This was the fourth consecutive quarter of declining vacancy?rates. Declining rents stoked demand, with some companies relocating to?better locations, or expanding on the back of their strong business?performance. The number of companies relocating to more expensive space?is limited, but the low level of new supply coming online is expected to?continue to push the vacancy rote lower. Furthermore, a building that held?large vacancies was removed from the market supply as part of the change?in its building management, which contributed to the decline in Kobe?s overall vacancy rate.

HIROSHIMA

Changes in management and organizational structure lead demand

In the fourth quarter of 2012 demand in Hiroshima was propelled by?companies relocating due to corporate restructuring, as well as revised?organizational and administrative structures This helped Hiroshima?s?vacancy rate decline for the fifth consecutive quarter to l 1.2%, a decline of0.2 points? q-o-q. New leases, companies relocating as their business?expands, companies relocating from the suburbs to the city, and companies?moving out of their own buildings also account For the increased demand.?The low vacancy rates at prime buildings have led companies to delay?expansion plans, and therefore the vacancy rate is expected to decline?moderately.

TAKAMATSU

Demand For buildings with new seismic standards remains strong

Demand in Takamatsu came mainly from companies moving into buildings?with a higher? of earthquake resistance, This included companies?relocating out of their own buildings in the suburbs, as well as companies?moving to buildings with higher specifications within the same?neighborhood. The vacated company owned buildings are expected to be?sold or rented. This is an indication of the priority that tenants are putting on?buildings with a high level of earthquake resistance. Additionally, buildings?seeing high demand have a frontage on the main streets. Tenants continue?to remain very cost conscious when relocating, and therefore any?turnaround in rents is expected to be measured, although new leases and?companies that are taking more space have continued to increase since the?previous quarters Demand is expected to continue to be concentrated at?newer buildings with competitive rents and a high level of earthquake?resistance. While one large vacancyI resulted from the withdrawal of one?tenant occupying over 100 tsubo, the vacancy rate remained flat q-o-q? at?18%.

FUKUOKA

Tenant attitudes toward relocation remain firmly positive

Although the market was subdued in the review quarter, tenant activity?included new leases, expansion relocations, and relocations from the?suburbs to the city center. Some buildings that had previously been holding?out for higher rental levels saw their vacancy decline as they became more?flexible, and more competitive rental levels attracted tenants regardless of?the age of the building. The fourth quarter of 2012 saw Fukuoka?s vacancy?rate decline slightly to 10.6%. This is the first time in tour years that the?vacancy rate decreased below 11%, and the 0.6 points? decline was?the fifth consecutive quarter the vacancy rate dropped. With new supply?continuing to be limited in the next two quarters, and a lack of available?space in newer and prime buildings, the key to whether Fukuoka can?sustain this declining vacancy is the extent to which older buildings can?absorb demand with more competitive rents.

MARKET OUTLOOK

NATIONWIDE

Trend toward reduced vacancy rates continues; Rents Flat overall?despite increases in certain areas

Tenants continue to be open-minded to relocating, with the first signs?seen of activities that lead companies to expand and the trend of?relocating to higher quality buildings continues nation-wide. Business?performance is anticipated to improve, backed by the both the?recovering foreign demand and expanded domestic demand.?Vacancy rates can be seen to improve as demand is expected to?become more active. The current affordable rent levels are the main?drivers and motives for corporate relocations As of result, rents are?expected to be flat for the time being, despite scattered instances of?rental increases in areas with low vacancy, as companies will need?more time to bear substantial increase in the rents they pay.

TOKYO

Vacancy rates steadily improve; Rent increases may spread to more areas

In Tokyo, the? pre-leasing status of new buildings expected to be?completed in 2013 are at high levels.?A gradual economic recovery is expected to prompt a wider range of?companies To be more amenable to relocating. If This is the case, a?steady improvement is anticipated in the vacancy rates not just for the?Grade A market, but for Tokyo?s 23 Wards as a whole. With Grade?A rents expected to have bottomed out in the Fourth quarter of 2012,?they are expected to rise by 3% to 5% from its current? in a year?from now. Rents in some areas of Tokyo?s 23 Wards have already?started to increase, particularly at large buildings. It demand is?sustained, more areas are expected to see rents to start rising, with?rents of Tokyo?s 23 Wards anticipated to rise midyear or during?autumn 2013.

OSAKA

Vacant space is being absorbed; Grade A rents rise slightly

In Osaka, demand has been led by companies relocating to expand,?with demand being concentrated at high quality buildings with improved earthquake resistance. Although Grade A rents are?trending slightly upward, with the large quantity of new supply?scheduled to arrive in spring 2013, more time may be needed before?there is sustained upward pressure on rents. Companies continue to?be open-minded regarding relocation, with a sustained level of?demand and a lack of new supply in the second half of 2013, it is?possible that rents may turn around 2013.

?

Tokyo Apartments For Sale | Tokyo Apartments For Rent | Real Estate Japan

Source: http://www.realestate.co.jp/2013/01/31/japan-office-market-review/

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AP Source: Rudy Gay headed to Toronto

Rudy Gay is on his way to Toronto in the latest and most dramatic move in the Memphis Grizzlies makeover, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.

The Grizzlies agreed to trade their star swingman to the Raptors on Wednesday, parting with the leading scorer on a team that has aspirations of making a run in the powerful Western Conference. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deal had not yet been announced.

The Raptors gave up point guard Jose Calderon and forward Ed Davis in the deal, and another person familiar with the negotiations said the Grizzlies were in discussion with the Detroit Pistons to swap Calderon for Austin Daye and Tayshaun Prince.

The moves surprised many around the league, including Calderon.

"It's been my home for eight years," Calderon said in Atlanta, shortly before leaving the arena. "I've done everything possible for this team. It's tough. The fans have been with me since Day 1. It's tough."

Prince and Daye were both listed as inactive for the game against the Pacers in Indiana on Wednesday night, but a Pistons spokesman decline to comment.

Gay, averaging 17.2 points and 5.9 rebounds, signed a five-year, $82 million maximum contract in July 2010 with Memphis. The 6-foot-8 small forward is due $16.5 million this season with $37 million more over the next two years. That's a big number for new owner Robert Pera, who took over the franchise last November and has quickly started addressing the team's salary situation.

Just over a week ago, the Grizzlies sent valuable reserve Marreese Speights and two other players to Cleveland in a move that cleared $6.4 million in salary and avoided a $4 million luxury tax hit this season. Team officials said that move put the Grizzlies in position not to have to make a move this season.

Memphis coach Lionel Hollins had been lobbying to keep his five starters together the rest of this season, but he apparently lost that fight. It's a significant move for a team that was fourth in the Western Conference and three games behind the third-place Clippers.

"Wow," Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley tweeted.

Trading away Gay also eases a luxury tax hit due next season, while concentrating the team around center Marc Gasol and All-Star forward Zach Randolph. The Grizzlies had their best playoff run in 2011 when they knocked off then-No. 1 seed San Antonio before losing to Oklahoma City in seven games in the Western semifinals ? all with Gay on the bench after needing season-ending shoulder surgery.

"Wow that was 1 crazy trade today," Oklahoma City center Kendrick Perkins tweeted. "Are you serious Rudy Gay is right there under KD, Lebron, Kobe, and Melo. (hashtag)badtrade."

They do run the risk of upsetting the chemistry on a tight-knit group, even if there were some questions of how Gay's scoring fit in with the ball-dominant frontcourt of Gasol and Randolph.

But there may be more deals like this one coming in the new NBA economy.

The collective bargaining agreement negotiated after last year's lockout makes the penalties for exceeding the salary cap far more punitive, and the system begins in earnest next season. Playing in a smaller market, the Grizzlies don't have the extra revenue from lavish television contracts like teams in Los Angeles or New York, which makes it that much more difficult to go over the cap. But even teams such as the Lakers and Bulls will likely have to be more responsible with their spending under the new deal, where repeat offenders are taxed at rates that multiply with each consecutive year they go over the cap.

All told, the Grizzlies will save nearly $40 million over the next three years after the two trades.

They'll get a hard-nosed defender in return in Prince, the 32-year-old forward who was the last holdover from the proud Pistons championship team in 2003-04. He is averaging 11.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game this season.

Calderon joined the Raptors from Spain in 2005 and has been a fan favorite and trusted veteran on the team. He is averaging 11.1 points and 7.4 assists this season for the Raptors (16-29), who are desperately trying to scratch their way into the playoff picture. Toronto was in 11th place before the games were played Wednesday, but still only 2? games behind Philadelphia for the eight seed.

Calderon and Davis had both been starting for the Raptors, but they do have Kyle Lowry waiting in the wings at point guard and likely see Gay's scoring punch as the key to vaulting back into the discussion in a mediocre conference.

Coach Dwane Casey will have to deal with a bit of a log jam with Gay, DeMar DeRozan, Terrence Ross, Landry Fields and Alan Anderson as wing players with similar skill sets. But getting a player with Gay's natural scoring talent, even at the expense of parting with a valued player like Calderon, proved too enticing to pass up.

"Hopefully this team is back to the playoffs as soon as possible," Calderon said.

___

AP Sports Writers Teresa Walker in Nashville, Tenn., Larry Lage in Detroit and freelance writer Amy Jinkner-Lloyd in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-source-rudy-gay-headed-toronto-232100067--spt.html

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Automating business processes with cloud services | TechRepublic

For eight years, Eccentex has maintained its goal of allowing organizations to automate business processes using cloud services to reduce risk, increase efficiency, and improve customer service. The founders cut their teeth as pioneers of business process automation and electronic document management when the cloud was still in its infancy. This year, according to Gartner, the aggregate of cloud services is expected to hit the $150 billion mark, while annualized Software as a Service growth is now over 40%.

The Eccentex business model is based on its proprietary service platform, AppBase, which allows rapid development and deployment of enterprise business applications in the cloud. I talked with Glen and Alex about how their business is changing, and the specific value of having a platform like AppBase as a starting point.

10 Questions with Glen Schrank, CEO?and Alex Stein, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Eccentex - Knowledge Worker Apps

# 1 Jeff: With a business whose clients are regularly repeating their decision to renew subscription-based services, as opposed to the multi-year, high-commission sales pitch, licensing purchase model, how do you evaluate ongoing customer satisfaction?

Alex: Our primary success measure is the number of users we have benefiting from the system, but we do also track specific customer benchmarks on an ongoing basis.

Glen: Our IT clients? executives have the ability to analyze objectives based on business intelligence built into each of our dashboards. We set custom ROI objectives for each business, like normal services uptime and SLAs for availability. For more specific feedback, we also do detailed quarterly surveys of all our users both on the customer side and for us internally, polling a different set of employees each quarter.

#2 Jeff: What does your typical customer look like, and how has that been changing over the last couple years?

Alex: Within the area of dynamic case management, our job is automating workflows for the customer. That is typically going to be a midsize company with regular processes that require knowledge workers to organize data and make some kind of complex decision based on that data, such as insurance or financial information. It?s often a company that uses technology broadly all through the stack to the customer, but not always.

Glen: Honestly, businesses in every industry can use this next-wave family of applications we work with to manage service requests from work orders to employee onboarding to fraud investigations, which all have a great deal of knowledge worker input. If you look at the classical core applications like ERP by comparison, they are much more structured and automated, and don?t require as much employee interaction.

#3 Jeff: With the downturn in the economy and the general uncertainty of developments like the fiscal cliff and changing benefits requirements, has there been a reaction in terms of a reluctance to move as quickly?

Alex: The primary effect has been a greater need for efficiency among technology companies and knowledge workers. In a tight financial climate, demand has become even greater for increased productivity.

Glen: One of the drivers has been the productivity of the knowledge worker with this family of applications. The cloud affects everything from delivery to maintenance and the cost to make changes, particularly in getting the applications up and running faster. The old way is more expensive, more structured, and takes too long. At the knowledge worker level, people are happier because they have a tool that is more like a consumer product. At the business level, management is glad that the workers are more productive. The IT department has an easier job managing all this on the cloud because it is much more dynamic and accessible.

#4 Jeff: What has been the effect of offshore outsourcing, where the knowledge worker jobs are being done from a distance?

Alex: Case management systems make it much easier to distribute task assignments or even entire parts of the process broadly among workers in remote locations around the world, in India, Ukraine, or Russia.

# 5 Jeff: In terms of business metrics and ROI, do you see the IT department being run more like an independent profit center than it has been in the past?

Alex: The cloud has made the biggest change in the direction this is taking. In mid-size companies where the cloud is more accepted, the solutions are now driving the requirements. In the future, with companies using platform as a service and acquiring more soft technologies, there is a trend toward IT becoming the link between the business and the solutions because they don?t need to worry about the infrastructure. They need to know that it can meet the business requirements for managing this project.

Glen: Personally, I don?t believe the role will change that much in terms of what IT was evolving toward before the cloud. It really is a service center for the lines of business. That is under pressure in terms of delivering the solutions more quickly, with greater flexibility, and with lower costs. With any one of our projects, we might start off talking with the line of business manager and then IT gets involved or vice-versa, but we see them both collaborating toward the same goals. I don?t see the cloud changing that aspect of the relationship. The value to IT is that they are able to deliver service to their internal constituents more quickly, and at a lower cost. Even more importantly, they can prototype solutions very quickly, and say, ?Let me just build something for you right away and show it to you.? So in other words I don?t think cloud is affecting the need for IT as much as changing the rules.

# 6 Jeff: Among the customers you work with, do you see more interest in the public cloud or private cloud or in a hybrid?

Alex: It depends on the size of the business and on the particular solution, but most clients we work with are more interested in private cloud. Right now, it can be contingent on whether the application is mission-critical. I see that changing and moving more toward the public cloud over time. Government agencies are the ones more consistently interested in public cloud right now.

# 7 Jeff: Are most of your clients already aware of the costs and benefits, or do you find yourself educating them on those things?

Alex: I have to say it?s much better today than it was two years ago, but we still need to educate on the specifics. A lot of companies are already well on their way in the adoption process. For smaller companies, it is much easier to communicate. The larger companies are always going to require more proof points around things like infrastructure and security, especially when the applications are mission-critical.

Glen: These days almost every company has adopted some type of cloud solution, whether it?s Salesforce or SAP?s Success Factors or Workday, so the conversation is not so much around doing cloud or not. It?s more around the added value of case management being delivered through the cloud.

#8 Jeff: Where does that type of offering make the biggest difference?

Glen: Forrester?s Wave Report on Case Management applications describes them as a wrapper around other types of core applications like ERP. The organizations that need this kind of wrapper and have a high number of knowledge workers are the ones that see the biggest value; industries like financial services, healthcare, government agencies, and energy and utilities. The opposite of that is an industry where every piece of work is completely automated, from the factory worker down on the floor to accounts receivable, more and more machines are doing the work. What?s left there is the work where you need archive tools, application templates, and libraries, and those are the jobs where there is an immediate and significant return on their P&Ls.

A major impact is the change in mobility going on and that has to be a big part of our solution. Work when, where, and how you want is our mantra in terms of how we address business. At one point a few years ago, the enterprise was saying, you can?t bring that smartphone or that laptop to work. I don?t see that so much now. I see organizations establishing policies around it, but allowing these devices and they are primarily empowered by cloud technology. They don?t really work very well through the old client-server arrangement.

# 9 Jeff: What kind of impact on information management do you see from government control, for example, since Sarbanes-Oxley? How have you seen regulation changing the way you do business?

Alex: That is a major reason companies need our solutions, because regulations are only going to do two things: increase and change. They are never going to go away. The technology has to be dynamic because of the frequency of change in regulation and the need to comply with things like the housing of data or data encryption. Those are the things that affect all vendors. The cloud becomes a huge advantage when you need to adapt quickly.

Glen: In the world where some of the alternative solutions were architected in the mid-90?s, the knowledge workers were sitting behind a firewall and on a client-server system. That?s not the world we have now. We are a litigious society, and that can create precedents in an industry. When we use the word regulatory, it isn?t necessarily limited to government. It?s everything that goes into corporate governance. For example, there are new expectations in the social media world, where if a customer gets angry it can immediately affect a brand. It becomes more important for the ability to support changing requirements in your audience to drive the solutions.

# 10 Jeff: When you look at the three- to five-year window and the changes we are seeing now, what kinds of things do you see coming about that will be the potential business drivers?

Alex: The first thing I see is analytics playing a major role in applications in the near future with quicker analysis, prediction, and resolution being possible with enormous amounts of data. It?s already playing a role, but I think this is becoming one of the key components. Also creating a metasystem to allow all of these SaaS applications to work together is very important ?I would say in the next two years or so. From our perspective, it is important to be able to link both internal and external resources to our solutions for critical tasks.

Glen: To build on what Alex is saying, bring your own device and the social enterprise are big trends right now. What we create are knowledge worker applications, so what we are experiencing on the consumer side is the ability to look for the thing that will help you to be more productive, click to find it on my smart device, download it, and start using it. That?s a trend that?s going to happen in the B2B world, and we are enabling that. Where someone who is looking for a certain purchase now goes to Amazon because they have what you are looking for, we want to be the company where a knowledge worker goes for the apps he needs. There are three different kinds of cases we describe: investigative work, incident processing, and service requests. Let?s say a customer wants to build a solution around one of these areas. Our platform allows you to build and configure each of these types of application from the ground up, or to go to our application library and find a solution germane to your situation that has already been built. It is completely dependent on the skill level of the person and how much customization they are looking for.

Glen Schrank and Alex Stein are CEO and Founder & Chief Strategy Officer of Eccentex, which offers its platform-as-a-service, AppBase for the development of enterprise case management solutions related to incident processing, investigative work and service requests.

With its AppLibrary of knowledge worker apps and pre-built templates, similar to salesforce.com?s AppExchange, Eccentex combines all input media with collaboration and technology into milestone, business rule and meta data-driven tasks. See more about the company at www.eccentex.com

Source: http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/datacenter/automating-business-processes-with-cloud-services/5983

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Can Kim Dotcom's Mega beat the law where Megaupload failed ...

By Karl Schaffarczyk, University of Canberra

Just 12 months after being arrested for copyright infringement, racketeering and money laundering for his involvement with now-defunct cyberlocker Megaupload, and despite facing extradition from New Zealand to the US to face such charges, Kim Dotcom has launched Megaupload?s successor: Mega.

Flamboyant internet mogul Kim Dotcom

The site went live on January 19 with more than 100,000 users signing up in the first hour and more than 1 million registrations in the first 24 hours.

While there are obvious similarities between Mega and Megaupload, a key point of difference, according to Dotcom, is the fact Mega and its users are protected by a solid legal framework.

So is Dotcom right? Will Mega be able to avoid the legal issues that led to Megaupload?s demise?

Wait, what is Mega even for?

Mega is a file storage service similar to Dropbox, Google Drive, and Apple?s iCloud.

The idea behind such cloud services is simple: users may upload data and then access that data from elsewhere. Most services (including Mega) permit sharing of the uploaded files with others.

It is through this sharing mechanism that users can commit acts of piracy by sharing copyrighted material such as music, movies, books and so on.

Engaging in or facilitating copyright piracy is outlawed in many countries, and offenders face sanctions including liability to pay damages or disgorge profits to rights holders.

Safe harbour

Content hosts and internet providers usually have access to ?safe harbour? provisions limiting their liability when user behaviour infringes copyright. These provisions are generally conditional on the content host removing the infringing material as soon as they are aware of it, and having a policy of disciplining users who repeatedly break the rules.

The indictment of Kim Dotcom and others in the ?Mega Conspiracy? claims instead that Megaupload actively supported users who used the service to share infringing material.

According to the indictment, Megaupload was the single largest piracy repository on the internet. And by facilitating piracy the service apparently cost copyright owners US$500 million in lost revenue while making US$175 million in profits.

Same, but different

One of the the features that sets Mega apart from its predecessor is the encryption of files during the upload process.

Encrypting files in this way means all files stored on Mega are useless to anyone who doesn?t have the decryption key. This means the administrators of Mega cannot view the contents of a file, and so they cannot determine whether a file contains business material or the latest Hollywood blockbuster.

A simple legal argument can then be made: if Mega doesn?t know what it?s hosting, then it cannot be held responsible if that content is infringing, or otherwise illegal.

But like most simple arguments, this one is wrong.

Infringement notices

Most content hosts have no idea what content they are hosting, but instead rely on notices from copyright owners to identify content which may be infringing. In the case of Mega, any links that are distributed for the purpose of sharing copyright material will still result in infringement notices being sent.

YouTube is an example of a site on which all uploaded content is checked via an automated content-matching process. This process is in place to detect unauthorised copies of video material or soundtracks. By providing this tool to copyright owners, YouTube avoids most claims of piracy.

Mega, on the other hand, uses across-the-board encryption, and because of this it is technically impossible to proactively filter or check content.

Without these automated tools, content owners are left with the Sisyphean task of locating and reporting infringing content to Mega.

Nothing has changed in the legal landscape with respect to liability of content hosts. In order to use the ?safe harbour? provisions, Mega must remove infringing content as soon as it becomes aware of it, and must also discipline the person responsible. Without the ?safe harbour? provisions Dotcom can expect another raid in the near future.

Legally watertight?

The Mega site help files and terms of service are very copyright focused. They require users to not infringe on anybody else?s intellectual property, nor do anything illegal.

All responsibility for content is with the user. The help files and terms of service also set out processes for the handling of copyright notices, and how to make counterclaims.

In all, it?s fairly standard legal boilerplate comparable to most other content services ? with the bonus that it invokes Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That is:

No-one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

In theory, Mega is a model content host which appears to comply with best practice. User content is kept private through encryption, procedures are in place to take down infringing content upon notices being filed, and Mega promises to terminate the accounts of repeat infringers.

What now?

Those with a stake in Hollywood and the music industry are furious with Mega?s launch. Anti-piracy lobby group StopFileLockers has already commenced a successful campaign to cut off funding to Mega. They claim that the new Mega is simply a re-launch of Megaupload.

StopFileLockers has highlighted that as Mega only holds encrypted files, automated processes cannot be used to locate infringing material, and so will be a haven for copyright pirates.

The behaviour of Mega over the coming months will send a clear signal to copyright holders and those who file-share. The question remains: can Dotcom?s latest venture stick to the rules, or will the entrepreneur again find himself in hot water?

Dotcom is using privacy as the reason to offer a service which automatically encrypts all content. While privacy is important, it appears that the purpose of the automatic encryption is primarily to provide Mega with excuses to not proactively co-operate with rights holders.

By structuring their service to technically preclude co-operating with rights holders, Mega is a distinctly copyright unfriendly service.

Karl Schaffarczyk does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.

This article was originally published at The Conversation.
Read the original article.

Source: http://sciblogs.co.nz/guestwork/2013/01/30/can-kim-dotcoms-mega-beat-the-law-where-megaupload-failed/

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Economics and Investing: - SurvivalBlog.com

This page contains a single entry by Jim Rawles published on January 30, 2013 1:07 AM.

Odds 'n Sods: was the previous entry in this blog.

Letter Re: California as a Precursor: Thoughts on Feinstein's Ban Bill is the next entry in this blog.

Find recent content on the main index or look in the archives to find all content.

Source: http://www.survivalblog.com/2013/01/economics-and-investing-1424.html

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At a glance: 3 months later, Sandy losses mount

The hurricane that merged with another weather system to form Superstorm Sandy spun ashore three months ago Tuesday, devastating coastal New Jersey and New York and spreading its winds, rain, snow and waves over parts of more than 20 states. The latest tallies from the second most expensive storm in U.S. history, after 2005's Hurricane Katrina:

DEATHS

The toll continues to fluctuate as causes of death are determined or changed, but as of Monday, the storm was behind the deaths of at least 146 people in the United States, according to government counts. That includes at least 98 in New York and New Jersey. There were 71 additional deaths in the Caribbean.

DAMAGE AND LOSSES

Sandy damaged or destroyed 305,000 housing units and disrupted more than 265,000 businesses in New York. In New Jersey, 346,000 housing units were destroyed or damaged, and 190,000 businesses affected.

Loss estimates in the affected states vary. Earlier this month, leading insurance company Munich Re Ag estimated insured losses at $25 billion and total losses at $50 billion. In December, state governments reported a total of $62 billion in damage and other losses.

FEDERAL AID

Congress on Monday passed a $50.5 billion emergency package of relief and recovery aid. Added to $9.7 billion previously approved for a federal flood insurance program, the total is roughly in line with the $60.4 billion President Barack Obama requested in December.

HOMELESS AND HEATLESS

At least 3,500 families in New York and New Jersey are still living in hotels and motels on the dime of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. As winter has settled in, people who still have homes but no means to heat them have taken refuge in tents set up by aid workers.

LEGACY

Redrawn federal maps indicating flood-prone areas may force many property owners, especially in New York or New Jersey, to pay exorbitantly for flood insurance, raise their homes or move away altogether. In New Jersey, flood insurance premiums could cost as much as $31,000 a year.

In New York, a commission formed to examine ways to guard against future storms has called for flood walls in subways, water pumps at airports and sea barriers along the coast. It's unclear whether enough money can be found for all the expensive recommendations.

___

Sources: State government agencies and officials; AP reporting

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/glance-3-months-later-sandy-losses-mount-074624901.html

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THE RESET: Obama now must move on 2nd-term agenda

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama arrive to dance together at an Inaugural Ball, Monday, Jan. 21, 2013, at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, during the 57th Presidential Inauguration. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama arrive to dance together at an Inaugural Ball, Monday, Jan. 21, 2013, at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, during the 57th Presidential Inauguration. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Bundled up people arrive in below freezing temerpatures to attend the National Prayer Service at Washington National Cathedral in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013. President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and their families plan to attend a prayer service, a day after the 57th Presidential Inauguration. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Siobhan Palmore uses her phone to take a photo in the crowd on the National Mall during the inauguration events in Washington, D.C., Jan. 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Parker Michels-Boyce, The News & Advance)

President Barack Obama now faces the heavy lifting of trying to move ahead on the lofty second-term vows and declarations he laid out in his inaugural address.

He presented a muscular retooled agenda that includes addressing climate change, controlling health care costs, advancing gay rights and tax fairness, overhauling the immigration system and curbing gun violence. And it comes amid a series of looming new fiscal fights.

The president will outline specifics in his State of the Union address Feb. 12.

The day after his second and final inauguration, Obama on Tuesday attended the National Prayer Service at Washington National Cathedral. He did not speak.

He and first lady Michelle Obama also were to preside over a final inaugural ball in the evening for White House and campaign staffers. It was to feature singer Lady Gaga.

Meanwhile, the House is to vote Wednesday on a GOP leadership-proposed measure that could keep the government ? temporarily ? from running out of borrowing authority.

The government already has hit its $16.4 trillion debt ceiling, and Treasury Department officials say ways to pay all the bills will be used up as early as mid-February. The congressional measure would suspend the debt ceiling until May 17, and it appears to have wide support in both House and Senate.

Meanwhile, leaders of both parties are urging political reconciliation.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., denounced the "sharp political divides" of the last Congress and said in a Senate speech that he hoped the new 113th Congress "will be characterized not by our divisions but by our renewed commitment to cooperation and compromise."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said, "Republicans are eager to work with the president" on achieving common goals. And House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said it's time to "renew the old appeal to better angels."

____

Follow Tom Raum on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tomraum

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-01-22-The%20Reset/id-3c4ac8f71a5e4f999d701b9a057ab0c9

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Report: Schwarzenegger says he still loves Shriver

BERLIN (AP) ? Arnold Schwarzenegger is quoted in an interview in Germany's top-selling newspaper saying he's still in love with his estranged wife, Maria Shriver.

The actor and former California governor is quoted in Tuesday's Bild newspaper as saying that despite their separation, he spent Christmas with Shriver and their children.

Schwarzenegger is cited as saying "we're not fighting any war: I still hope for reconciliation; I still love Maria."

Shriver filed for divorce last year after 25 years of marriage following Schwarzenegger's admission he fathered a child with the family's housekeeper.

He has also acknowledged other affairs.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-22-EU-Germany-Schwarzenegger/id-c057c5fe056c437e849c26e926e4de54

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Obama: Privilege to use King's Bible in inaugural

President Barack Obama says it was a privilege to take the oath of office using a Bible that had been owned by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Obama paused by a statue of King in the Capitol Rotunda after a luncheon hosted by members of Congress. He was accompanied by his wife, Michelle, and Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill.

"You know this is the first time I have seen this," he said.

The King bust ? a bronze sculpture 36 inches high on a 66-inch high Belgian black marble base ? has been in the Capitol Rotunda since 1986, according to the Architect of the Capitol.

King's Bible was one of two Obama used for the ceremonial inauguration.

"I had the great privilege that the Bible we used was his Bible and they asked for it to be inscribed," Obama said. The other Bible belonged to President Abraham Lincoln.

Monday was the federal celebration of King's birthday.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-01-21-US-Obama-MLK/id-94e497261bfd422ca65a61559a8d1de4

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Of course the Tooth Fairy's real: How parents lie in the U.S. and China

Jan. 21, 2013 ? Almost everyone teaches their children that lying is always wrong. But the vast majority of parents lie to their children in order to get them to behave, according to new research published in the International Journal of Psychology.

The study by Gail Heyman of the University of California-San Diego and her colleagues found certain variations but generally similar trends in the way parents from the US and China use the slippery concept of 'truth' to their advantage:

The percentage of parents who reported lying to their children for the purpose of getting them to behave appropriately was higher in China (98%) than in the U.S. (84%), but rates for other types of lies were similar between the two countries. A possible explanation for this difference is that Chinese parents are more likely than in the U.S. to demand compliance from their kids, and will go to greater lengths to make it happen.

Both Chinese and American parents seem to be comfortable lying to their children in order to promote positive feelings, and to support belief in the existence of fantasy characters like the Tooth Fairy.

Parents in both countries reported telling lies about a wide range of similar topics, including ones designed to influence their children's eating habits, or to dissuade children's pleas for toys or treats when shopping!

Certain specific lies are extremely common among parents in both countries, such as a false threat to abandon a child who refuses to follow the parent while away from home.

There are good reasons however to be cautious about lying to children. Previous studies have shown that when young children are deciding whom to trust they are sensitive to people's history of being honest or dishonest with them personally, so when parents lie to their children it may undermine the child's sense of trust.

These findings suggest parents should choose their battles wisely: is it really that important for them to finish all their peas? Alternative ways to encourage children to behave -- such as a system of rewards -- might have less risk of confusing them with conflicting ideas about honesty. Above all this study shows the need to stimulate debate about the acceptability of lying under different circumstances, and how children should be best raised to understand the value of honesty.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Taylor & Francis, via AlphaGalileo.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Gail D. Heyman, Anna S. Hsu, Genyue Fu, Kang Lee. Instrumental lying by parents in the US and China. International Journal of Psychology, 2012; : 1 DOI: 10.1080/00207594.2012.746463

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/CQLnbhWHwxg/130121083219.htm

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Chastain horror film "Mama" takes big box office win

(Reuters) - Jessica Chastain overpowered Mark Wahlberg, Arnold Schwarzenegger and others as her low-budget horror flick emerged as the North American weekend box office champ and her Oscar-nominated "Zero Dark Thirty" captured the second spot as well.

Chastain's supernatural thriller, "Mama," pulled in $28.1 million from Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to studio estimates, beating out a crop of new testosterone-fueled, male-targeted releases that finished far back in the pack.

"Zero Dark Thirty," for which Chastain is a leading best actress Oscar contender, took in $17.6 million, while another late 2012 release and Oscar favorite, "Silver Linings Playbook," finished third with $11.35 million.

"Broken City," a crime thriller starring Wahlberg and Russell Crowe, finished fifth with $9 million behind "Gangster Squad's" $9.1 million, while Schwarzenegger's new action film, "The Last Stand," earned $6.3 million for a dismal 10th place.

"Mama" stars Chastain as a guitarist who doesn't want children but is forced to take care of two orphaned nieces who have been living in the woods. She and her husband try to re-adjust the little girls to normal life.

Based on a 2008 short film, the movie was produced for roughly $15 million.

"This is a great result, one we never would have expected especially for a film of this genre," said Nikki Rocco, Universal's president for domestic distribution.

"The timing was perfect," she said, noting "the key was it's a PG-13 movie that appealed to the under-25 female audience."

The studio said it was hopeful that as the only PG-13 film in release this month it would continue to find an audience.

Chastain is a best actress Oscar nominee for her role as a dogged CIA agent in "Zero Dark Thirty," the weekend's second-place film about the decade-long manhunt for Osama bin Laden. The movie has taken in $55.9 million since late December.

"Silver Linings Playbook," an Oscar-nominated romantic comedy about a former mental patient trying to rebuild his life, expanded nationwide for a strong third-place finish and a $55.3 million total since the movie starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence opened in late autumn.

Both Oscar contenders handily beat out a pair of new, male-oriented films, as did crime thriller "Gangster Squad."

"The Last Stand" features Schwarzenegger's return to a starring, big-screen role after a seven-year break while he was serving as governor of California, but managed only $6.3 million to finish 10th. The former "Terminator" will star in three movies over the next 12 months.

Schwarzenegger plays a retired Los Angeles policeman who works to protect a tiny border town from a notorious drug kingpin. The film was produced for about $45 million.

The studio noted that the weekend was crowded with several movie-going choices, and that two films were competing for the same audience, referring to the weekend's other new movie, "Broken City," which stars Wahlberg as a former New York cop who uncovers a scandal involving the mayor, played by Russell Crowe.

The top 10 movies were rounded out by "A Haunted House," "Django Unchained," "Les Miserables" and "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey."

"Zero Dark Thirty" was released by Sony Corp's movie studio.

"The Last Stand" was distributed by Lions Gate Entertainment.

"The Hobbit" and "Gangster Squad" were released by Warner Bros, a unit of Time Warner Inc.

"A Haunted House" was released by Open Road Films, a joint venture between theater owners Regal Entertainment Group and AMC Entertainment Inc.

"Django Unchained" and "Silver Linings Playbook" were distributed by Weinstein Co.

"Broken City" was distributed by 20th Century Fox, a unit of News Corp.

"Les Miserables" and "Mama" were distributed by Universal Pictures, a unit of Comcast Corp.

(Reporting By Lisa Richwine and Chris Michaud; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chastain-horror-film-mama-tops-wahlberg-schwarzenegger-muscle-174821251--sector.html

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Officials: Pirates seize oil tanker in Ivory Coast

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) ? Armed men have hijacked a tanker carrying 5,000 tons of jet fuel from an Ivory Coast port and taken it off the coast of Ghana, though its precise whereabouts are unknown, government authorities and maritime officials said Monday.

The Panamanian-flagged vessel ITRI was first seized Wednesday as the tanker was preparing to deposit the Jet A1 fuel at the port of Abidjan, Ivory Coast's commercial capital, according to a statement Monday from Ivory Coast's government ? its first communication on the case. It said officials had located the vessel off neighboring Ghana, without specifying.

Shipowner Brila Energy, a petroleum distributor based in Nigeria, said it was monitoring the situation.

"The vessel is still missing and the hijackers whose sole objective is to steal the cargo of Jet A1 on board the vessel are yet to make any demands," Chairman Rowaye Jubril told The Associated Press in an e-mail. He said all 16 crew members were Nigerian, and said the possibility of the fuel leaking into the water was "remote" because the vessel had not been in any accident.

Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's pirate reporting center in Malaysia, said in many previous cases, the pirates released the crew after they had siphoned out the oil and obtained any valuable cargo.

The ship initially had trouble docking because a sand storm reduced visibility, a government statement said. Later, the ship's captain radioed the port manager to report difficulty maneuvering. Shortly afterward, contact was lost with the vessel. Then ship consignee Koda Maritime informed port officials that armed men had taken control of the tanker.

Most hijackings in the region occur near oil-rich Nigeria.

The first recorded vessel hijacking off Ivory Coast was in October, when 14 men armed with knives and AK-47s boarded a tanker carrying 30,000 tons of gasoline. The tanker was released three days later in Nigerian waters with the crew unharmed, but the pirates allegedly made off with about 2,500 tons. The IMB said that attack was the farthest ever from Nigeria in the Gulf of Guinea, calling it a "potential game changer" in piracy in the region.

___

Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten contributed from Dakar, Senegal.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/officials-pirates-seize-oil-tanker-ivory-coast-104604072.html

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Cuba fights to contain cholera in Havana

Roberto Leon

Arismael Nieto's job is to pour a diluted bleach solution over the hands of every commuter at this Havana bus station, and make sure everyone steps on a cloth soaked with the solution to clean the bottom of their shoes.

By Mary Murray, Producer, NBC News

Camilo, my 7-year old grandson in Cuba, has never been shy about asking for presents ? especially when he knows I?m heading to Havana from that big shopping mall 90 miles away. His usual list includes a massive bag of M&M peanut candy, additions to what?s become a pretty pricey collection of Schleich resin animals, and goofy gags second-grade boys find funny, such as hand buzzers or that classic snake-in-a-can. When Camilo got on the phone with me last weekend, he only rattled off one item.

?Aba,? (that?s what he calls me?short for "abuela", which is "grandma" in Spanish), ?bring me soap.?

?Soap? You want soap?? I repeated, convinced I must have heard him wrong.

?Si?, he insisted. ?Jabon!?

Now he has me worried that I need to make an emergency supply-run for detergent, shampoo, dishwashing soap and other basics. The last time soap was in short supply in Cuba was in the 1990s but, if this kid is asking for soap, the situation must be dire. He?s about as germaphobe as your average stray puppy. Like a lot of little boys, he needs to be reminded that taking a shower means actually standing under the water.

Camilo, however, didn?t want just any soap. He was looking for what he calls ?the soap that melts.? He wanted me to bring him an alcohol-based instant hand sanitizer.

Then he made it clear why. ?Aba, there?s cholera here,? he said.

As it turns out, Camilo had spilled the beans a full 72 hours before the Cuban Health Ministry issued a formal communiqu? on what had been rumored since the start of the year -- cholera had surfaced in the city of Havana, home to 2.2 million people.

The announcement explained that 51 new cases of cholera had been diagnosed in the Cuban capital along with a spike in the number of people suffering from "diarrheal diseases." The ministry made no mention of any fatalities. The public was being advised to be more careful with personal hygiene, boil all drinking water or use purification drops and thoroughly wash all fruits and vegetables, but to stay assured that Cuba?s massive public health machine was implementing preventive measures meant to ?contain? and ?eradicate? the disease.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, cholera is a bacterial infection in the intestine that can range from mild to severe. In the latter case, an infected person will experience ?dehydration and shock" that, if left untreated, can lead to death "within hours.? The CDC estimates that every year there are up to 5 million cases and more than 100,000 deaths from cholera worldwide.

In most cases, the disease takes about a week to run its course, and during that time, warns the CDC, cholera is highly contagious. Spread hand to mouth, the bacteria is usually found in water or food sources contaminated by an infected person?s feces.

Contamination
A single food vendor at a baseball game appears to be the cause of the Havana outbreak. In early January, apparently, contaminated sandwiches or soda were sold during a packed game in the city?s main sports arena, the Latin American Stadium, located in a neighborhood called Cerro.

"That's why people from different parts of the city tested positive for cholera at the same time,? said a medical source, not authorized to speak on the record but who claims to have first-hand knowledge of the findings from the epidemiological task force assigned to trace the origins of the outbreak.

Roberto Leon

Officials from Cuba's Health and Epidemiology department inspected this pizza parlor located not too far from where the outbreak started in Havana and closed it down.

At Wednesday's nighttime game between Havana's beloved Industriales and last year's national champs, Los Tigres de Ciego de Avila, hawkers should have been making a killing on what had been one of the season's most sought-after tickets. Instead, 80 percent of the seats remained empty. Those die-hard fans who did show up were not allowed into the stadium until they sterilized their shoes and hands. Benches were wiped down with a disinfectant, and the floors hosed down with the same 0.5 percent bleach solution. And there was nothing to munch on during the three-and-a-half-hour game. All food stands have been temporarily shut down.

The same goes for many mom-and-pop cafeterias across the capital. "Last week, officials from Health and Epidemiology inspected our place and then they closed us down," said one owner of a pizza parlor not too far from where the outbreak started. "They said it's to stop the spread of cholera but no one?s saying how long we have to stay closed." His only consolation is that this month he doesn?t have to pay taxes or his monthly licensing fee.

Upset about his loss of income, he is also irked by the fact that some state-run food establishments passed the inspections, so they are being allowed to stay open. Many though are only authorized to sell bottled water, canned drinks and commercially packaged food.

Arismael Nieto usually changes the light bulbs and fixes broken chairs at Havana?s Bus Terminal. For the last two weeks, he?s been drafted on the city?s anti-cholera campaign. He stands by the one door opened at the station and his job is to pour a diluted bleach solution over the hands of every commuter, and make sure everyone steps on a cloth soaked with the solution to clean the bottom of their shoes. No one gets on a bus or leaves the building without Nieto?s OK.

Now, picture this procedure happening at every school from kindergarten to college, every public building, factory, lunch room, hospital, health clinic, department store, train depot and movie theater.

Chlorine a "necessary inconvenience"
Over the summer, two people who live in the Havana neighborhood of Fontanar thought they had the flu but tested positive for cholera. It was believed that they were exposed on the bus ride from eastern Cuba, an area of the country that had an outbreak earlier last year. In late August, Cuba revealed that cholera had killed three people and infected 417 in Granma province, some 450 miles east of Havana.

Roberto Leon

Signs such as this one are posted everywhere in Havana, alerting people to go to the hospital as soon as they experience any of the symptoms of cholera.

Cuba?s cholera treatment protocol has doctors knocking on doors and testing anyone with possible cholera symptoms. A positive test means an automatic trip to one of the city hospitals for a more comprehensive test. While most suspected cases go to Havana?s Tropical Medicine Institute, known by its initials IPK, a pediatric hospital and a maternity hospital have also been designated to admit cholera cases. In addition, the protocol mandated that all of Havana?s 85 neighborhood health clinics set aside a room with ventilation and a closed door as a place to quarantine suspected cholera cases until an ambulance arrives to transport the patient to the hospital.

Once hospitalized, a comprehensive history is taken that focuses on identifying all the people the patient has come in contact with over the past weeks. Health workers are dispatched to locate those persons to test them for cholera and administer a free prophylactic dose of doxycycline.

Although none of the guidelines cited by the CDC recommend using antibiotics for cholera prevention, the Cuban Health Ministry believes otherwise. Hundreds of thousands of Doxycycline tablets, apparently readied in warehouses for just such an emergency, were distributed to hospitals and health clinics one morning earlier this week?another sign that Cuba is well-prepared to tackle this outbreak.

Are people complaining? You bet. They hate the chlorine smell. They say the solution stings but many would agree with Angela Linares, a nurse raising a 13-year old daughter alone, who said: ?It?s a necessary inconvenience.?

?No one wants cholera, especially since we know so little about this disease,? she said.

Linares was right. Until last year, the last reported cholera outbreak in Cuba was recorded almost a century ago.

Upon learning this fact, I became even more baffled that my 7-year-old grandson mentioned cholera days before the government admitted the outbreak.

As it turns out, his primary school had been put on alert early last week, and the kids learned about the intestinal bug and prevention at a school assembly. Community physicians were dispatched to all of the city?s 650 schools to not only give a crash course on cholera but hand out soap to every classroom.

Still, it wasn?t until after the Health Ministry?s warning that Cuban state media began running public service announcements -- considerably behind the curve of Havana's second graders.

Related content:

Cuba scrambling to contain cholera outbreak in Havana

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Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/19/16589204-after-a-century-without-the-disease-cuba-fights-to-contain-cholera?lite

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