Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/244790578?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Friday, August 31, 2012
Randy Jackson Off 'American Idol' Panel?
Only remaining original judge reportedly shifting to mentor role.
By Gil Kaufman
Randy Jackson
Photo: Getty Images
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1693000/randy-jackson-leaving-american-idol.jhtml
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Thursday, August 30, 2012
#Pre-PoppedCorn #PopcornIndiana Healthy Alternative to Toxic ...
Chemical threats seem to come from all angles in the kitchen these days.? From BPA to non-stick cookware consumers need to be wary of what they are bringing into their homes and putting into their mouths. It appears a new toxin may come from a couch potato classic ? microwave popcorn!
The United States National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has suggested that Diacetyl, an artificial butter flavoring that is used in many consumer foods, may be hazardous when heated and inhaled over a long period.? Diacetyl has been deemed an irritant to the eyes, skin, and respiratory system, while also being suspected of causing bronchiolitis obliterans, a rare and serious disease of the lungs, only curable through a lung transplant.?
In an effort to increase consumer safety and heighten consumer-awareness, Popcorn, Indiana, an innovator among the snacking industry, is offering a healthier and safer option for at-home snacking with the introduction of Warm Your Corn? Diacetyl-free, ready-to-eat popcorn in a microwave safe bag.?? Warm Your Corn is the first pre-popped bag that can actually be heated up in the courtesy of your own home.
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Wall Street falls, tests support ahead of Bernanke speech
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell on Thursday, following several sessions of muted trading, as investors closed out positions and looked ahead to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech to central bankers Friday for fresh trading incentives.
Bernanke is due to speak at a symposium of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where he is expected to stoke expectations for a third round of quantitative easing, though he may not detail the timing of the Fed's action.
All 10 S&P sectors were lower, with energy <.gspe> off 1.1 percent as the worst performing S&P sector. The index was once again testing the 1,400 mark, which has acted as a support level recently.
Over the past three weeks, the index has traded in a tight range between 1,400 and the April 2 high of 1,422.38, which has acted as a resistance point. The index has appreciated nearly 7 percent since the end of May.
"The market is somewhat extended but you could blow in the wrong direction and something is going to happen," said Stephen Massocca, managing director of Wedbush Morgan in San Francisco.
"It's hard to draw a lot of conclusions given how thin the markets are," he said.
Indeed, volume was anemic, with a combined 1.96 billion shares traded near the midpoint of the session on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Amex and Nasdaq, well below the average pace for this time in the session.
The daily trading volume, which has been at 2012 lows this week in a reflection of investors' reluctance to place big bets before Bernanke's speech, could weigh on profits at exchanges and brokers.
Fueling further caution among investors was the impending European Central Bank meeting on September 6 and a host of economic data scheduled for next week, including the Labor Department's payrolls report for August.
The S&P had barely budged over the prior three sessions - resulting in a decline of merely 0.05 percent - and hasn't closed with a 1 percent move in either direction since August 3.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> dropped 99.96 points, or 0.76 percent, to 13,007.52. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> lost 10.34 points, or 0.73 percent, to 1,400.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> fell 27.77 points, or 0.90 percent, to 3,053.42.
Nearly all retailers posted better-than-expected sales gains in August at stores open at least a year as parents and students wrapped up back-to-school purchases, setting the stage for a strong third quarter. Even with the surprising sales numbers, the Morgan Stanley retail index <.mvr> dipped 0.4 percent as it was weighed down by a drop in Sears Holdings Corp
S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC said it will replace Sears with chemical maker LyondellBasell Industries NV
Economic data showed consumer spending enjoyed its biggest rise in five months while the number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits held steady last week.
Pandora Media Inc
(Editing by Bernadette Baum)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stock-index-futures-point-lower-open-075923342--finance.html
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Financing and Tax Implications of Selling Your Business
This is from an article by Mike Handelsman, General Manager of BizBuySell.com.
Each payment approach provides either you or the buyer - but rarely both of you - an advantage, which means every decision translates to a financial benefit to one or the other, and therefore a point of negotiation.
Here's where your advice from your accountant can really pay off. Before agreeing to the payment approach and price allocation, be sure to get professional advice on the following topics:
The value of furniture and fixtures, buildings, land, vehicles, and equipment that is transferring as part of the sale. The buyer will benefit from allocating as much as possible to assets in this class, which will qualify as business expenses or to which short-term depreciation rates apply. Conversely, you'll benefit from allocating as much as possible toward appreciated assets you've held long-term, which qualify for taxation as capital gains. Class VI assets: Intangible assets not including goodwill
The value of the all the non-physical assets of your business (not including goodwill), such as workforce, business books and records, systems and procedures, intellectual property, customer lists, and other assets that the IRS details in Form 8594 instructions (see link on this page). Frequently intangible assets are purchased in return for a non-compete agreement and/or a personal services contract, each of which offer different tax implications. Payment for a personal services contract allows the buyer to deduct the price as a business expense, while it will be taxed as ordinary income on your return for the year the payment is received. Payment for a non-compete agreement must be amortized or deducted over 15 years even if the agreement is for a much shorter time period, making it less attractive to buyers but more attractive to sellers. Class VII assets: Goodwill and going-concern value
Taking the time to research the financing and tax implications of a sale can provide you with a strong advantage come negotiation time.
Before you can understand the importance of negotiating a final small business sale agreement, it pays to brush up on facts about how sales are financed and how proceeds are taxed. Why? Because every decision regarding the payment structure affects when and how money transfers from the buyer to the seller and how the payments are taxed.
No one is asking you to become a financing or tax pro. That's what your sale advisors do, and you'll want to call on their advice through every step from here through to the closing of your deal and the transition of your business to its new owner.
But knowing some basic information will help you understand the advice you're receiving from those who are trained and up-to-date on the legal, financial, and tax implications of small business sales.
This topic is particularly important today with the pending debate on whether the Bush-era tax cuts will be extended beyond the end of 2012.
Step 1. Understand the implications of each purchase-payment approach.
Each payment approach provides either you or the buyer - but rarely both of you - an advantage, which means every decision translates to a financial benefit to one or the other, and therefore a point of negotiation.
The following provides an overview of the approaches for funding and paying off small business purchases. Your broker or your accountant will be able to provide more in-depth information and descriptions for how the approaches affect your particular sale.
Cash Payoff at Closing Though rare, all-cash at closing eliminates concern about the buyer's ability to make after-closing payments. An all-cash payoff has the potential to move you into a higher tax bracket, since you receive all proceeds as revenue during a single tax year. It also limits the buyer pool to those with cash resources or the ability to obtain cash through third-party loans. Research shows that cash-at-closing sales generally result in lower selling prices.Third-Party Financing
Third-party loans allow the buyer to obtain the required down payment or to pay for the business at closing. Bank loans are increasingly hard to come by and time-consuming to obtain. If during prescreening a buyer indicates need for a third-party loan, request a prequalification letter from a lender prepared to provide the funding. Also, in advance of the sale, contact your bank or SBA office to learn whether and how the purchase of your business sale might qualify for an SBA loan.Home Equity Loan
Homeowners can self-finance purchases by tapping the equity in their residences through a second mortgage. If the buyer requires a home equity loan to provide the source of the closing-day down payment, and if you provide a seller-financed loan for all or some of the outstanding balance, don't accept the buyer's home as loan security since you'll have a subordinated position should you need to call on the asset. Seller-Financed Loan By offering to accept deferred payments through a seller-financed loan you attract more prospective buyers, ease and speed up the purchase transaction, convey faith in the future of your business, and, as a result, tend to obtain a higher purchase price. You also spread sale proceeds over multiple years, which may spare you from taxation at higher rates. A seller-financed loan is detailed in a promissory note that explains the repayment promise and loan terms. By signing a secured promissory note the buyer gives you legal right to valuable assets - collateral - you can seize as recourse if loan repayment terms aren't met. Beware of collateral in which you take a subordinated or secondary position. Also beware of accepting business assets as collateral, as they can become devalued before you seize them. Should we mention that the business itself is often collateral for the seller loan, which means the seller gets the business back if the buyer defaults? By requesting a personal guarantee as loan security (and buyer's spouse's personal guarantee as well, if they live in a community property state) you obtain a personal repayment promise that allows you to pursue personal assets as recourse if necessary. Earnout Payments By agreeing to accept part of the purchase price based on how well the business does in the future you enhance business attractiveness by demonstrating faith in its future. You also reduce closing day cash requirements and provide yourself with a negotiating chip that often protects sale pricing. Further, you spread sale income over multiple years, which may provide a tax advantage. The earnout must be defined in the purchase and sale agreement, including when payments are to be made, how they're to be calculated, and whether earnout payments are subject to minimum and maximum amounts. Most agreements stipulate that "calculations must be made by an independent certified public accountant mutually agreeable to the parties." Yet, this approach is risky, as your loan payments are subject to default, if the new owner fails at sustaining the business. Stock Exchange If your business sells to a corporation, the buyer may want to execute the purchase using stock rather than cash. Be aware that there are typically process and time restrictions that limit when you can sell the stock you receive, and that unless the stock is widely and heavily traded a sale at a high price may be difficult.Step 2. Understand the tax implications of how you receive and allocate purchase price payments.
Here's where your advice from your accountant can really pay off. Before agreeing to the payment approach and price allocation, be sure to get professional advice on the following topics:
- How you can qualify for tax deferrals by accepting part of the purchase price in installment payments over upcoming years and by allocating deferred payments to assets that will be taxed at capital gains rates.
- How you can allocate the purchase price among IRS-defined asset classes to avoid taxation at the highest rates. The IRS requires that you and the buyer both report the price allocation identically, using Form 8594. The allocation must follow IRS stipulations, and it also must win agreement from you and the buyer (second part of this sentence, after the comma seems awkward, redundant from previous sentence?). Price allocation becomes a point of negotiation because tax advantages hang in the balance. Some allocations will benefit you. Some will benefit the buyer. None benefit you both at once. Again, don't proceed without professional advice from your accountant.
Class I assets: Cash and general deposit accounts
All cash that is transferring as part of the sale.Class II assets: Actively traded personal property
The current-market value of all certificates of deposit, foreign currency, government securities, and publicly traded stock that will be transferring as part of the sale.Class III assets: Accounts receivable and debt instruments
Accounts receivable, credit card receivables and loans due to your business if those assets are transferring as part of the sale.Class IV assets: Inventory and stock in trade
The value of inventory and stock, which must be defensible based on cost or fair market value. The buyer may want to allocate as much as possible to this asset class because it qualifies as a deductible business expense. Class V assets: Tangible/Physical assetsThe value of furniture and fixtures, buildings, land, vehicles, and equipment that is transferring as part of the sale. The buyer will benefit from allocating as much as possible to assets in this class, which will qualify as business expenses or to which short-term depreciation rates apply. Conversely, you'll benefit from allocating as much as possible toward appreciated assets you've held long-term, which qualify for taxation as capital gains. Class VI assets: Intangible assets not including goodwill
The value of the all the non-physical assets of your business (not including goodwill), such as workforce, business books and records, systems and procedures, intellectual property, customer lists, and other assets that the IRS details in Form 8594 instructions (see link on this page). Frequently intangible assets are purchased in return for a non-compete agreement and/or a personal services contract, each of which offer different tax implications. Payment for a personal services contract allows the buyer to deduct the price as a business expense, while it will be taxed as ordinary income on your return for the year the payment is received. Payment for a non-compete agreement must be amortized or deducted over 15 years even if the agreement is for a much shorter time period, making it less attractive to buyers but more attractive to sellers. Class VII assets: Goodwill and going-concern value
The value of goodwill is determined by math and negotiation. This asset class equals the purchase price minus the amount allocated to all other classes. You'll want to allocate as much as possible to goodwill because the proceeds will likely be taxed as capital gains.
-------------------------------------------------?
The information contained herein is necessarily detailed and extremely important since taxes, and therefore net dollars to you as the seller, hang in the balance.
Source: http://blog.certifiedbb.com/2012/08/financing-and-tax-implications-of.html
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Wednesday, August 29, 2012
SM Entertainment and the birth of the Hallyu @ HanCinema :: The ...
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Source: http://www.hancinema.net/sm-entertainment-and-the-birth-of-the-hallyu-46815.html
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Bill Clinton: Brazil No. 1 among rising economies
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil appears to have the best long-term prospects among rising economic powers, thanks to its stable policy framework, ample natural resources and good relationship with its neighbors, former U.S. President Bill Clinton said on Tuesday in a ringing endorsement of an economy that has struggled lately.
"If I were just sitting in a room betting on the future of rising countries, I'd bet on Brazil first," Clinton said.
Brazil's economy has been stagnant for the past year and is expected to grow only 1.7 percent in 2012 - less than half the projected average in Latin America. Some business leaders believe the country's credit and commodities-led growth model has been nearly exhausted and are calling on the government to cut taxes and take other urgent steps to stimulate investment.
Clinton, speaking at a forum of bankers in S?o Paulo, acknowledged some problems but said Brazil still "looks really good" compared to crisis-ridden economies in Europe and the United States.
He said Brazil also compared favorably to India, which is struggling with a stagnant economic reform agenda, and China, which has tensions with some of its neighbors and is at risk of suffering from water scarcity and other depletion of natural resources, he said.
China "would kill to have the environmental problems you guys do," Clinton told the mostly Brazilian audience.
Clinton spoke alongside two other prominent leaders who also championed free markets and globalization during the 1990s - former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Brazilian ex-President Fernando Henrique Cardoso.
Blair cited Brazil's progress in reducing poverty and inequality over the past two decades, saying they were an inspiration for African countries where he has been spending his time lately -- and also proof that liberal capitalism still works, despite the extended crises in the European Union and other rich nations.
Brazil has lifted more than 30 million people - or roughly 15 percent of its population - into the middle class during the past decade.
The most bearish of the speakers was Cardoso, who is widely credited with laying the groundwork for Brazil's recent boom by getting rid of endemic inflation that peaked above 2,500 percent before he became president in 1995.
Cardoso, whose party is now in opposition, said President Dilma Rousseff and her predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, have relied too much on stimulating public and private-sector credit, while slipping on the fiscal rigor that helped his government establish Brazil's credibility in global markets.
"There's an impression that things are the same (as in the 1990s) but in reality there has been a lot of change," Cardoso said.
The forum was held by investment bank Itau BBA, a unit of Itau Unibanco Holding, Brazil's largest private-sector bank.
(Editing by Todd Benson and Bill Trott)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bill-clinton-brazil-no-1-among-rising-economies-170823632--business.html
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Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Oldies but Goodies- Two of my Favorite Vegan Recipes ? Bliss ...
Good Morning and Happy Monday!
I hope everyone had a great weekend. ?We survived the Vancouver Soccer Slam, as well as, the Cathlamet Downhill Corral. ?We divided and conquered. ?Steve took Emmet to the 3-Day Longboarding event in Cathlamet and Zoe and I learned our way around Vancouver/Camas, WA.
Now the countdown begins, we have one more full week of summer before school starts. ?The kids are ready for school and I am too! ? I am working on a few projects that need a bit more attention and feel like I may get that once the kids are safely ensconced in school again : ) ? One of the projects I am working on is my next webinar series: ?The Art of Eating: ?Eat Your Way to Health and Happiness. ?This webinar is all about adding joy and pleasure to your eating experience and will include my 20 Pantry Essentials, 5 Simple Tips to Get Healthy and Slender, The Magic of Greens, as well as a bunch of healthy recipes!
Speaking of webinars, my Introduction to a More Earth Friendly Diet is going well and we are having a lot of fun experimenting with plant-based meals. ?A few of our favorite recipes so far are:
The ?Best? Beet Burgers and The Butternut and Tri-Bean Burrito.
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The ?Best? Beet Burgers
Ingredients
1 1/2 cup cooked quinoa?
2 cup raw beets, peeled and grated
1? onion (finely diced)
4 cloves of garlic (grated or finely diced)
1 cup sunflowers seeds
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup rolled oats
2-3 tbsp whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 tablespoons of Bragg?s Liquid Amino Acids
2-3 dashes hot sauce
Dash of smoked sea salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
Directions?
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine, beets, cooked quinoa, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, oatmeal, flour,oil, parsley, and seasonings. Form the mixture into patties and bake at 350-degrees for about 25 minutes, carefully flipping the burgers halfway through.? Serve the burgers on a whole wheat bun or sandwich thin with your favorite toppings.? I suggest a heart healthy serving of avocado!? You can freeze the rest of the burgers and heat them up as needed.?
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The Best Butternut Squash and Tri-Bean Burritos
- 1 medium butternut squash, peeled, cubed, & roasted
- 1.5 cups cooked brown rice
- 1 cup chopped sweet onion
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 red pepper, chopped
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 dashes of hot sauce
- One 15-oz can tri-beans, drained and rinsed (1/2 cup red kidney beans, 1/2 cup black beans, 1/2 cup navy beans)
- 3/4 cup Daiya Vegan Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- 4? whole wheat tortillas
- Garnish with fresh avocado, sunflower seeds and salsa
?
1. Preheat oven to 425F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Drizzle olive oil on squash and sprinkle salt and pepper. Toss to coat squash. Roast chopped butternut squash for 45 mins. or until tender.
2. Cook brown rice
3. In a large skillet over medium-low heat, add oil, onion, and minced garlic. Saute for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Now add in salt and seasonings and stir well.
4.? Add chopped red pepper, tri-color beans, and cooked rice and saut? for another 10 mins. on low.
5. When squash is tender remove from oven and cool slightly. Add cooked butternut squash to the skillet and stir well. Add cheese and heat another couple minutes.
6. Add bean?filling to tortilla along with toppings.? I highly recommend adding the sunflower seeds for a little extra crunch. Wrap and serve.?
Oh my, these are both so good and real crowd pleasers. Yay!
In between soccer games, Zoe and I have been busy de-cluttering the house. ?One of our main accomplishments was cleaning out the refrigerator. ?We literally took everything out, disinfected the fridge and organized the contents. ?I can?t tell you what a difference this made. ?We are able to see what we need to eat down on, what we need to replenish and realize that we have a lot of condiments! ?We have a whole shelf of asian condiments that range from miso pastes to curries to soy sauces. ?
Today?s project is to de-clutter the pantry- wish me luck!
Since all of my family is going back to school next week (including my husband who is in law school) we have decided that each member of the family gets to pick their favorite restaurant to go out to eat this week. ?We have a busy Fall schedule and we are trying to eek out a little more fun before we fall into our school routine. ?
So far Emmet wants to go back to?Boke Bowl.
Zoe wants to go and have Indian food. ?Does anyone have any recommendations in PDX?
Steve is still contemplating his pick
and I have a new vegan place that I want to try called Kitchen Dances!
Okay, I am off to work now but I hope you all have a great day!
Source: http://blissholistichealth.com/2012/08/27/oldies-but-goodies-two-of-my-favorite-vegan-recipes/
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International Business and Types of International Business | Rachel ...
Define International Business?? What are the types of International business?
Ans : business is increasingly becoming international or global in its competitive environment, orientation, content and strategic intent.? This is manifested or necessitated or facilitated by following :
(a) ? The competition can be in a firm local, national or foreign-now encounters, in many cases, is global, i.e. besides the competition from the domestic it has to competitive with products manufactured in India by foreign firms and imports.
(b) ? Because of liberalization, a firm has the challen ging opportunity to improve its competitiveness and scope of business by global sourcing of technology, material, finance, human resources etc.
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(c) ? Globalisation is facilitating globalization of operations management to optimize operations and to improve competitiveness.? Global value chain management is indeed a key factor of success.
(d) ? The universal liberalization and the resultant global market opportunities are taken advantage of by the firms to consolidate and expand of business.? Growing competition at home pushing many companies overseas.
(e) ? The global orientation of an increasing number of companies I evident from their mission statements and corporate strategies.
Types : International business is divided into following :
(a) ? Trading : Import and exports of goods and services have been very fast.? In countries like Japan, there are international trading houses, which transact enormous volume of business.? The export house, trading house, stare trading houses and superstar trading houses are merchant exporters they buy and resell goods.? They are comparatively small in size from giant trading house of Japan.
http://www.govindam.org/
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(b) ? Manufacturing and Marketing : ? The manufacturing exports are those who export goods manufactured by them.? Many MNCs and other firms both small and large do manufacturing and marketing
(c) ? Sourcing and Marketing : ? There are many MNCs and firms which outsource their products which they market at home and abroad.
Govindam Business School
?
(d) ? Global Sourcing for Production : There are many firms that outsource globally their raw material, intermediates etc required for their manufacturing.
(e) ? Services : Services is an enormous and fast growing sector of international businesses.? There is a large variety of services rendered Sinternationally.? The broad segment includes tourism and transportations, IT, banking, insurance, consultancies etc.
(f) Investments : International portfolio investment has been growing fast, as a result of globalization.
FDI are associates with establishment of manufacturing or marketing facilities abroad.
So, in short we can say that every business in today?s world is growing internationally and world is coming closer and with this there are greater chances of revenue generation.
Govindam Business School
Govindam Business School offers you an unparallel opportunity to study at advance level, to work within a challenging, stimulating and rewarding environment, to develop skills and competencies which will last throughout life, and most importantly, it will empower you intellectually to face the ever-evolving management world. http://www.govindam.org/
Recommended Products:
Source: http://rachel-long.com/international-business-and-types-of-international-business/
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Series of earthquakes rattle Southern California
SAN DIEGO (AP) ? Dozens of small to moderate earthquakes struck southeastern California on Sunday, knocking trailer homes off their foundations, shattering windows and rattling nerves in a small farming town east of San Diego.
The largest quake, at 1:57 p.m., registered at a magnitude 5.5 and was centered about three miles northwest of the town of Brawley, said Robert Graves, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey. Another quake about an hour and a half earlier registered at magnitude 5.3.
No injuries were reported.
More than 30 additional earthquakes with magnitudes of at least 3.5 jiggled the same area near the southern end of the Salton Sea, Graves said.
"The type of activity that we're seeing could possibly continue for several hours or even days," Graves said.
The quakes pushed 20 mobile homes at a trailer park off their foundations, displacing the families that lived in them, said Maria Peinado, a spokeswoman for the Imperial County Emergency Operations Center.
Sporadic power outages affecting 2,500 Imperial Irrigation District customers also prompted authorities to evacuate some patients from one of the county's two hospitals.
At the El Sol Market in Brawley, food packages fell from shelves and littered the aisles.
Several glasses and a bottle of wine crashed to the floor and shattered at Assaggio, an Italian restaurant in Brawley, said owner Jerry Ma. The shaking was short-lived but intense, he said.
"It felt like there was quake every 15 minutes. One after another. My kids are small and they're scared and don't want to come back inside," said Mike Patel, who manages Townhouse Inn & Suites in Brawley.
A TV came crashing down and a few light fixtures broke inside the motel, Patel said.
A Brawley police dispatcher said several downtown buildings sustained minor damage.
The first quake, with a magnitude of 3.9, occurred at 10:02 a.m. The USGS said more than 100 aftershocks struck the same approximate epicenter, about 16 miles north of El Centro.
Some shaking was felt along the San Diego County coast in Del Mar, some 120 miles from the epicenter, as well as in the Coachella Valley, southern Orange County and parts of northern Mexico.
USGS seismologist Lucy Jones said earthquake swarms are characteristic of the region, known as the Brawley Seismic Zone.
"The area sees lots of events at once, with many close to the largest magnitude, rather than one main shock with several much smaller aftershocks," Jones said.
The last major swarm was in 2005, following a magnitude-5.1 quake, she said.
Sunday's quake cluster occurred in what scientists call a transition zone between the Imperial and San Andreas faults, so they weren't assigning the earthquakes to either fault, Graves said.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/series-earthquakes-rattle-southern-california-215023392.html
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Monday, August 27, 2012
Burger boom as fast food finds fans in Baghdad
BAGHDAD (AP) ? Baghdad's embattled residents can finally get their milkshakes, chili-cheese dogs and buckets of crispy fried chicken. Original recipe or extra spicy, of course.
A wave of new American-style restaurants is spreading across the Iraqi capital, enticing customers hungry for alternatives to traditional offerings like lamb kebabs and fire-roasted carp.
The fad is a sign that Iraqis, saddled with violence for years and still experiencing almost daily bombings and shootings, are prepared to move on and embrace ordinary pleasures ? like stuffing their faces with pizza.
Iraqi entrepreneurs and investors from nearby countries, not big multinational chains, are driving the food craze. They see Iraq as an untapped market of increasingly adventurous eaters where competition is low and the potential returns are high.
"We're fed up with traditional food," said government employee Osama al-Ani as he munched on pizza at one of the packed new restaurants last week. "We want to try something different."
Among the latest additions is a sit-down restaurant called Chili House. Its glossy menu touts Caesar salads and hot wing appetizers along with all-American entrees like three-way chili, Philly cheesesteaks and a nearly half-pound "Big Mouth Chizzila" burger.
On a recent afternoon, uniformed servers navigated a two-story dining room bustling with extended families and groups of teenagers. Toddlers wandered around an indoor play area.
The restaurant, located in the upscale neighborhood of Jadiriyah, is connected to Baghdad's only branch of Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken, a U.S. chain concentrated in a handful of Midwestern and Southern states.
Azad al-Hadad, managing director of a company called Kurdistan Bridge that brought the restaurants to Iraq, said he and his fellow investors decided to open them because they couldn't find decent fried chicken and burgers in Iraq. He called the restaurants a safe investment for companies like his that are getting in early. He already has plans to open several more branches in the next six months.
"Everybody likes to eat and dress up. This is something that brings people together," he explained. "People tell us: 'We feel like we're out of Baghdad. And that makes us feel satisfied.'"
Baghdad's Green Zone and nearby U.S. military bases once sported outposts of big American chains, including Pizza Hut, Burger King and Subway, but they shut down as American troops left last year. Because they were hidden behind checkpoint-controlled fortifications, most ordinary Iraqis never had a chance to get close to them, anyway.
Yum Brands Inc., owner of the Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and KFC chains, has no plans to return to Iraq for now, spokesman Christopher Fuller said. Burger King declined to comment on its Iraq plans, and Subway did not respond.
Dining out in Iraq is not without risk. Ice cream parlors, restaurants and cafes were among the targets of a brutal string of attacks that tore through Iraq on Aug. 16, leaving more than 90 people dead.
Iraqis say the chance to relax in clean surroundings over a meal out is worth the gamble. For them, the restaurants are a symbol of progress.
"This gives you a feeling the country's on the right track," said Wameed Fawzi, a chemical engineer enjoying Lee's fried chicken strips with his wife Samara.
Baghdad's Mansour district is the heart of the fast-food scene.
At the height of sectarian fighting in 2006 and 2007, it was tough to find shops open along the neighborhood's main drag. Militants targeted shop owners in a campaign to undermine government efforts to restore normality.
These days, roads are packed with cars. The traditional Arabic restaurants long popular here now find themselves competing against foreign-sounding rivals such as Florida Fried Chicken, Mr. Potato, Pizza Boat and Burger Friends.
There is even a blatant KFC knockoff called KFG, which owner Zaid Sadiq insists stands for Kentucky Family Group. He said he picked the name because he wanted something similar to the world-famous fried chicken chain. And he believes his chicken is just as good.
"In the future my restaurant will be as famous as KFC. Why not?" he said.
One of Mansour's newest additions is Burger Joint, a slick shop serving up respectable burgers and milkshakes to a soundtrack that includes Frank Sinatra. It is the creation of VQ Investment Group, a firm with operations in Iraq and the United Arab Emirates.
Its Mansour store is outfitted with stylish stone walls and flat-screen televisions. Another branch just opened across town in the commercial district of Karradah.
The group also runs the Iraq franchises of Pizza Pizza, a Turkish chain, and is planning to launch a new hot submarine sandwich brand called Subz.
Mohammed Sahib, VQ's executive manager in Iraq, said business has been good so far.
Even so, running a restaurant in Iraq is not without its challenges.
Burger Joint's servers had to give up the iPads they originally used to take orders because the Internet kept cutting out, he said. Finding foreign ingredients such as Heinz ketchup and year-round supplies of lettuce is also tricky, and many customers need help understanding foreign menu items like milkshakes and cookies.
Health experts are predictably not thrilled about the new arrivals.
"The opening of these American-style restaurants ... will make Iraqis, especially children, fatter," said Dr. Sarmad Hamid, a physician at a Baghdad government hospital. But even he acknowledged that the new eateries aren't all bad.
"People might benefit psychologically by sitting down in a quiet, clean and relatively fancy place with their families, away from the usual chaos in Iraqi cities," he said.
Purveyors of traditional Iraqi specialties, who might be expected to oppose the foreign-looking imports, don't seem to mind at all.
Ali Issa is the owner of fish restaurant al-Mahar, which specializes in masgouf, the famous Iraqi roasted carp dish. He said every country in the world has burger and fried chicken restaurants, so why shouldn't Iraq?
Besides, he said, he and his family are fans of "Kentucky," the name Iraqis use for fried chicken, regardless of where it's made.
"Sometimes we need Kentucky. Not just fish, fish, fish," he said.
___
Associated Press writers Sameer N. Yacoub, Sinan Salaheddin and Bushra Juhi contributed reporting.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/burger-boom-fast-food-finds-fans-baghdad-070423086.html
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Oculus cracks away at Rift VR gaming goggles in new South Korean ...
Oculus is using its Kickstarter windfall to bring the VR hardware to South Korea, suggesting a connected future for the technology.
Oculus, the startup company behind the Oculus Rift virtual reality goggles,?has just hired Dillon Seo to open an Oculus Korea office,?which will work with South Korean game developers to integrate the Oculus Rift into South Korean games.
Oculus has been going from high to higher lately: First it became the futuristic tech project of choice for high-profile code monkey John Carmack and indie darling Markus ?Notch? Persson. ?Then it won the Game Critics Award for Best of E3 2012. ?Now its Kickstarter campaign raised a million dollars over its stated goal. Throw in public displays of affection by gaming superstars like Gabe Newell and Cliff Bleszinski, and you have a company whose futuristic product is starting to look less like a fantasy and more like an inevitability.
Suddenly swimming in a lot more cash than it had planned for, it was natural for Oculus to open some new offices. But making South Korea its first target is a surprise, and it implies some interesting directions for the Rift hardware.
The Rift promises to be the first great virtual reality headset. It?s basically a set of giant goggles that not only display a huge field of vision in stereoscopic 3-D, but also track the player?s head movements and translate them into in-game look commands. It?s basically ?mouselook? translated into real motion, coupled with one of the most immersive displays imaginable. That makes it a perfect fit for first-person shooters, which explains the support of developers like Carmack and Newell, who?ve focused on the FPS genre for their entire careers.
But while the FPS is a popular genre in South Korea, running and gunning isn?t the distinguishing characteristic of the country?s game industry. South Korea has been called ?the Mecca of e-sports,??because its games are defined by their focus on multi-player connectivity. Every major game in South Korea, whether it?s a shooter, a?kart racer,?a 2D side-scroller,?or even a music game, is first and foremost an MMO, where players complete or collaborate with each other online. Starcraft tournaments are prime-time television events, four million people are playing online games at any given moment, and taking a date to a PC cafe for some death-match is as normal as sharing a milkshake at the sock hop.
So Oculus beginning collaboration with South Korean developers before it even has a product for sale suggests a few things about the company?s goal for the hardware. On a technical level, it means Oculus is confident that it can make the Rift display refresh quickly enough to meet the demands of competitive online play. One of the first development hurdles the Rift had to overcome was the lag between head movement and display refresh; a delay of even a few milliseconds in a VR display can cause serious nausea, which has crushed many previous company?s hopes for face-mounted technology.
And from a marketing perspective, it suggests that Oculus wants to make the Rift part of a social gaming experiences. There?s undeniably something creepy about watching a person strap blinders over their face and interact with a world where he (and it?s usually a he) is the sole inhabitant. If the Rift catches on, it could inspire a whole new wave of moral panic over video games and the isolation they engender. But if the Rift is part of a connected social-gaming ecosystem, it becomes a way of plugging in rather than dropping out.
Source: http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/oculus-rift-opens-south-korean-office/
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Sunday, August 26, 2012
Adelphi NY Statewide Breast Cancer Hotline & Support Program ...
For the ninth year, the Adelphi NY Statewide Breast Cancer Hotline & Support Program is a beneficiary of the Long Island 2 Day Walk To Fight Breast Cancer, receiving a grant of $37,500.
The funds received assist the breast cancer program in its Paths to Wellness Program, a series of workshops for breast cancer patients.
Since its inception in 2004, LI2DAY has raised and awarded over three million dollars to local breast cancer nonprofit organizations such as the Adelphi program, scientific research and the LI2DAY Scholarship Fund.
For further information, the Long Island 2 Day Walk to Fight Breast Cancer can be contacted at 631-863-2DAY (2329) or visit www.li2daywalk.org. For the Adelphi hotline, call 800-877-8077 or visit? www.adelphi.edu/nysbreastcancer.
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Work at Home and Accomplish Money | Home And Family
For abounding of us it?s a dream to assignment at home and accomplish money. The accuracy is, you can do it too. It is a abundant ambition to have! Be your own boss, actuate the bulk of your own pay analysis and absorb added time with your family, your children, accompany and go to those anniversary destinations you accept consistently capital to visit. The catechism for abounding is; ?How do I get started with this??
First of all, you charge to acquisition yourself a business to accompany or a artefact to sell. Accept article you feel adequate with. Ensure to accept an affection with the artefact and that there is a bazaar for. Think about the accessories that you charge in adjustment to assignment at home, such as a computer with an internet affiliation and an email account, telephone(s). Conceivably you demand to accede purchasing a faxmachine, a nice board and board chair, printers, a webcam and a agenda camera is not a affluence either. I am aloof authoritative a few suggestions here, so absolutely there is added accessories or appliance you may demand to acquire.
Now that you are accessible and accept set up your home appointment you?re all set to get into business. Time to alpha acquirements about your business. As with any business there is a acquirements curve. For some this is aloof one week, for others a ages or conceivably alike a little longer. There are abounding sources accessible on the internet about sales and business such as webinars, eBooks, DVD?s, tapes, CD?s etc. Another acceptable abstraction is to get in blow with some colleagues that are in the aforementioned business as you are and ask them for tips, tricks and accepted advice. All of this requires a assertive akin of conduct and determination. You accept got to stick with it, be austere about it and amusement your business like a absolute business! Write bottomward your goals and the acumen why you accept to assignment at home. Try to abstain accepting absent with added things that are activity on in your house. Abstain the television and alone use the blast for business purposes. Don?t absorb time on exceptionable buzz calls or bodies calling at your door. Concentrate on the purpose of your business day to day and try to accomplish that a accepted with anchored hours. In my claimed opinion, this works best and will accord bigger after-effects faster in your assignment at home job or business.
You will charge to access some absolutely acceptable business abilities to advance and cast not alone your product, but yourself too. Article I accept begin actual accessible is accepting accustomed with some software bales to do assertive promotional activities yourself. Desktop publishing, Graphic Design, Web Design, Article Writing, Video Production and Editing, Key Word research, Programming, Content Development, Telemarketing etc?, aloof to name a few. Absolutely there are abounding added areas in which you can accept to familiarise yourself with. One can artlessly not be acceptable in all areas. Another acceptable abstraction is to attending at outsourcing some of your (marketing)activities. There are assorted websites on the internet such as GetaFreelancer.com or Freelance.com. Actuality you can acquisition awful accomplished and able contributor for any affectionate of job you ambition to get done. This could save you a lot of time and money!
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Source: http://www.proctrust.org/446-work-at-home-and-accomplish-money.html
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George and his Disney Cars | Love Home Grow Garden
Hi! I am Mel Cole. I like to take care of my home, family and garden. I like to learn many new things in my life specifically about my home making and gardening in this blog. I have a new guest writer in this blog and he is no other than my brother, Johnjohn. Have a good look around and leave us your kind thoughts!
Source: http://www.lovehomegrowgarden.info/2012/08/24/george-and-his-disney-cars/
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Saturday, August 25, 2012
Utilize These Suggestions When Marketing Real-estate | Contacts ...
You must be acquainted with the market if you intend to offer a bit of property. Numerous info at on hand. Naturally, not everybody provides the time for you to discover every single issue there is to know,. This informative article has advice that will assist you make better property choices.
Your home?s appraised value doesn?t automatically reflect its genuine value don?t have the mistake of supposing they?re the identical. All appraisals can provide different types of final results. Comparative market examination provides you with a more comprehensive image of your own home?s importance, based on several different types of evaluation. Inquire your realtor to perform this type of examination to assist you to figure out your home?s correct worth.
In numerous areas of the country, the seasons travel the real estate market. You can decorate your own home to fit the period, like selecting fall hues in September. Also, keep lawn maintenance up-to-date, including taking away fallen foliage, in order that the consumers are more inclined to consider shopping for it.
Employ many sources of media when listing your real estate to optimize your promoting probable. In the event you benefit from sites, realtors, newspaper listings, and even street indicators, you?ll be capable of achieve a massive volume of people. It?s very best to think about all the possibilities in order to improve you success at discovering the right purchaser for your property or home.
A bidding war, even though somewhat overwhelming, is an ideal situation for yourself, since the vendor. By pricing the home competitively thinking about the location it really is in, fascination is going to be demonstrated by much more possible buyers. A bidding war in between a number of customers could lead to a greater marketing value for you personally.
When marketing your own home, it is actually a much better and even more cost effective tactic to merely clean up your garden, as opposed to select extravagant landscape designs. The blossoms and landscaping capabilities you choose will be your individual taste instead of automatically anything the newest owners will like. Only bushes and mature shrubs ought to keep on being. However, you must keep the lawn seeking clean.
Coping with real-estate can be overpowering, particularly if you?ve never ever enjoyed a requirement for it prior to. Selling your residence is risky should you be not properly well informed. Ideally, using the ideas presented in this article, you are able to stay away from the problems that lots of people make, and revenue from the real estate property transaction.
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Friday, August 24, 2012
Rock sparrows react to infidelity by singing louder
ScienceDaily (Aug. 23, 2012) ? Rock sparrows indicate their age and their reproductive success with their songs and react to infidelity with a higher song volume.
The song of male songbirds is multifaceted and has two main functions: to repel rivals and to attract mates. Females often pay attention to certain features within a song, such as the presence of special syllables, to assess the quality of the singing male. A team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen and the University of Copenhagen has now found that the tempo, the pitch, and the amplitude of song reflect male reproductive success in rock sparrows. Surprisingly, the more successful and older males sang their songs with a higher pitch and a slower tempo than yearling males. However, older males lost paternity more often in their own nest but could more than compensate this by a larger number of extra-pair young, resulting in the highest reproductive success. Cuckolded males regardless of whether they were young or old, sang louder -- perhaps as a response to the absence of their unfaithful mate.
Female birds often have a hard job to do in order to assess the quality of a prospective mate. Many males literally dress up their feathers to impress females. For songbirds, it is apparently easier as they are able to modify their songs in a sensational manner. However, the question remains as to which song trait a female should pay particular attention -- should she perhaps monitor the number of all song syllables a male is able produce? For species with large song repertoires this would take quite long. Therefore females are better off to listen to special features within male song, such as the so-called "sexy syllables" in the songs of canaries. This means, the more a certain song trait a male is able to sing, the higher its quality, and the female can look forward to healthy and strong offspring. This also might hold true for the trait song amplitude, as in some species loud song is more attractive than silent song.
An international team of researchers headed by Henrik Brumm from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen apparently has now found the opposite scenario in a population of rock sparrows in the French Alps. The researchers recorded the songs of male rock sparrows in two subsequent breeding seasons with a special emphasis on the amplitude. The conditions in the field make measurements of amplitude relatively difficult, making it a rather neglected topic in behavioural research. The birds were nesting exclusively in wooden nestboxes that were attached to utility poles and which they also used as singing posts. In this way the researchers were able to attach the microphones to the pole in a defined distance to the singing bird, which is essential for a reliable determination of the sound pressure level. Additionally, the researchers conducted a paternity analysis by means of the microsatellite method.
Rock sparrows sing a very simple song that consists of only one element that is repeated several times to form a song bout. This is in clear contrast to other birds such as the nightingale, which has a huge repertoire of different song types. Surprisingly, the researchers found that those birds that were singing at a lower rate and a higher pitch sired a larger number of extra-pair young in other nests. Successful males, which were mostly older, could be distinguished from their younger, yearling rivals by their slower song tempo. Older males had a higher status and probably they did not need to advertise it by their song.
In contrast, one-year old males were not able to compensate for the lower attractiveness by a higher song rate and a lower pitch. Moreover, those males that sang louder were more likely to lose paternity in their own nest; but again there were age-dependent differences: Older males had a higher loss of paternity in their own nest and sang at higher amplitudes compared to their younger rivals. "The high amplitude song of males that lost paternity is not a quality characteristic but rather the desperate attempt to tighten the pair bond to the unfaithful partner," says Erwin Nemeth, first author of the study. The older males were able to compensate their paternity loss in their own nest by gaining more extra-pair young, whereas there is nothing else for the younger yearling males but to wait for better times in the next year.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Max-Planck-Gesellschaft.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Erwin Nemeth, Bart Kempenaers, Giuliano Matessi, Henrik Brumm. Rock Sparrow Song Reflects Male Age and Reproductive Success. PLoS ONE, 2012; 7 (8): e43259 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0043259
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/DImNgGiPIqM/120823175404.htm
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Insight: Debt risks lurk in Vietnam's unreformed state giants
Today, Vietnam's sole retail power supplier, known as EVN, looks badly overextended, according to a senior industry official with knowledge of its business. It is the latest state behemoth to face scrutiny in the wake of debt blowouts that have shaken investor confidence and symbolized the decline of a country once tipped as Southeast Asia's next economic star.
Some fear that the debt problem at EVN could dwarf that at shipbuilder Vinashin, whose default on a $600 million loan damaged Vietnam's reputation among foreign investors, although the monopoly has garnered far less international attention.
"I can tell you that its debt is far worse than Vinashin, maybe hundreds of trillions dong," said the industry official with first-hand knowledge of EVN's debts who asked not to be identified.
The arrest this week of high-profile tycoon Nguyen Duc Kien, the multi-millionaire founder of Vietnam's fourth-most valuable bank, Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB), adds to deepening fears of financial malaise in the Communist-run country of around 90 million people.
His detention inflamed worries about a sector strained by ties to debt-laden state companies, including many like EVN that have strayed well beyond core businesses as policymakers sought to build world-beating conglomerates in the mould of South Korea's "chaebol".
The central bank was forced to make a rare public assurance that funds in ACB were safe as depositors queued up to withdraw their money, while Vietnam's main stock index has fallen around 9 percent this week.
The near-collapse of Vinashin in 2010 and deep troubles at shipping line Vinalines this year, with combined debts of $6.5 billion, prompted a government vow to redouble reforms of state firms, which take up a third of the economy and crowd out private investment.
But the latest proposals announced in July appear to fall short of tackling the cronyism and muddled priorities that have allowed the 100 largest state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to run up debts of $50 billion - equal to nearly half Vietnam's annual economic output in 2010.
The problems, say bankers and industry experts, extend well beyond Vinashin and Vinalines.
"They are the tip of the iceberg," said David Koh, a Vietnam expert at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.
A failure at EVN, for example, could have a far bigger impact on the overall economy by disrupting the cheap energy supply that is the lifeblood of the its manufacturing sector.
A report in the Saigon Times in May citing a State Audit body document said that EVN had debts of 240 trillion dong ($11.5 billion) at the end of 2010, nearly three times that of Vinashin at the same time.
The Tuoi Tre newspaper reported in December that EVN had losses from production of 8.4 trillion dong, more than 12 times the amount reported by EVN itself, according to the same report.
Those and other unflattering figures on SOEs were omitted from the State Audit's official report sent to media in July.
EVN officials did not respond to several calls from Reuters seeking comment.
The true financial health of EVN, Vietnam's fifth-largest company with revenues reported by state-run media at nearly $5 billion in 2011, is hard to know. The monopoly reported losses of 3.5 billion dong in 2011, but many economists doubt the accuracy of its financial announcements.
EVN announces some results to local media, but does not publish detailed financial accounts.
FADING PROMISE
Despite its problems, Vietnam remains a manufacturing powerhouse, emerging over the past decade from the hangover of war to play a central role on Asia's factory floor, producing everything from footwear to computer parts. An economy once built around carpet-bombed rice paddies now boasts gleaming shopping malls and imposing skyscrapers.
But in recent years its problems have overshadowed its promise - from spiraling inflation to red tape, creaking infrastructure and towering debts in an opaque financial system.
Credit growth has slowed sharply this year and the economy is growing at an annual pace of around 4 percent, down from nearly 7 percent in 2010.
The central bank said in July that bad loans in the banking system stood at 8.6 percent, nearly double its previous estimate and the highest ratio among major Southeast Asian countries, according to ratings agency Moody's Investors Service.
The central bank cited "investigative results" from its inspectors for the big rise. State Bank of Vietnam Governor Nguyen Van Binh was quoted by state-run newspapers in June as saying the bad loan ratio was 10 percent, and some analysts believe the figure could be higher still.
"It's hard to pinpoint which number it is that we should accept," said Christian de Guzman, a senior analyst at Moody's in Singapore who believes that more disruptive state-debt revelations are a possibility.
Most of Vietnam's economic headaches can be traced back to mismanagement of SOEs.
A huge injection of cheap credit was channeled through the SOEs from 2009 as the government sought to cushion the effects of the global financial crisis. The SOEs went on a spree, expanding into areas where they had scant expertise.
The government has portrayed the two debt blowouts as anomalies caused by criminal mismanagement. Nine Vinashin executives were jailed this year for mismanaging state resources, including its former chairman Pham Thanh Binh, who got 20 years. Six Vinalines executives have been arrested and its former chairman is on the run.
"They attached personal interests to investment decisions ... there was corruption," Nguyen Duc Kien, deputy head of the National Assembly's economic committee, told Reuters.
Yet many observers say the type of mismanagement at Vinashin and Vinalines is endemic at SOEs, whose managers and board tend to be chosen based on political connections rather than business acumen. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung personally championed Vinashin's expansion and made a rare apology to lawmakers after its collapse, which prompted a series of humiliating credit downgrades for Vietnam.
But no one in the government has been brought to trial or punished over the firms' downfall.
The arrested 48-year-old bank executive Kien, whose family is among the 30 wealthiest in Vietnam, could be a sign of growing tensions in the Communist leadership over economic policy.
"There's quite a lot of dissatisfaction in the way the prime minister has helped these favored sons, these state-owned enterprises," said Steve Norris, a Vietnam analyst at Control Risks Group in Singapore.
TIMID REFORMS
The latest set of reforms announced last month appear bold at first glance. SOEs will have to withdraw from non-core businesses by 2015 and submit restructuring plans by the third quarter of the year. The government says it will subject the firms to "market mechanisms", select managers more rigorously, give them more authority to fend off political interference, and set up a special body to oversee SOEs' use of assets.
But Nguyen Duc Kien of the National Assembly's economic committee acknowledged changes would take longer than 2-3 years to bear fruit. In the meantime, analysts want to see the quarterly financial reports SOEs are obliged to release under new directives to determine if transparency is really improving.
Critics such as reform-minded economist Le Dang Doanh say the changes do little to tackle the core of the problem - the government's reluctance to relinquish Soviet-style control over the major SOEs, which are crucial levers of the Communist Party's economic and social power.
"The Communist Party still holds the leading role and state enterprises are still instruments for macroeconomic stabilization," said Doanh, who has advised the government. "So long as that exists any reform conception will be very much limited."
Despite a vibrant consumer class, the country is missing out on a resurgence of investor interest this year in fellow Southeast Asian countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia.
Foreign direct investment fell 28 percent in the first half of 2012 from a year earlier, a sign companies are growing wary of policy uncertainty in Vietnam and are seeking out other low-wage countries, such as newly open Myanmar, also known as Burma.
"FDI is looking at Burma, not Vietnam," one Hanoi-based foreign diplomat said. "The low-hanging fruit has been picked in Vietnam."
EVN - DEBT AND CONFUSION
Vietnam has been gradually reforming its SOE sector for years, cutting the number of companies to 1,300 from 6,000 since the turn of the century and turning 3,388 firms and their subsidiaries over to the private sector through so-called "equalization".
But the privatization process has since slowed to a crawl.
Dao Van Hung lost his job at the helm of EVN this year after heavy losses at its telecom unit, shortly before the company and its debts were swallowed up by military-run telecoms rival Viettel. Hung was ushered back to Vietnam's industry and trade ministry where he awaits a possible investigation.
Under Hung, EVN expanded into real estate, telecoms and banking even as the country suffered regular power cuts due to underinvestment in electricity generation.
The industry official who spoke to Reuters said the company's accounting methods were a mystery even to many of those who work there, with no clarity over whether the losses were derived from its core business or from its new ventures.
A bloated, poorly qualified workforce was another big problem, he said.
Despite its other ill-fated business ventures, the bulk of EVN's debts likely come from its inability to charge high enough prices to cover the costs of generation. Vietnam has among the cheapest power prices in Asia, but that has led to underinvestment and a shaky power supply that hurts business.
Hank Tomlinson, the chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam, said that some foreign-invested beverage firms in Vietnam run their operations on generators the whole time as it works out cheaper than facing supply disruptions.
"What businesses need is available and reliable power, not cheap power that requires generator sets running full time for back up," Tomlinson said.
EVN has raised its electricity prices by 5 percent this year but a lack of transparency over the reasons for the hikes has generated suspicion among businesses at a time when there has been a surge in bankruptcies due to a tightening of credit.
"Businesses now suffer from so many fluctuations and economic losses, but so far what can we do? We just have to live with it," said Cao Tien Vi, the chairman of Saigon Paper Corp, adding that EVN had not given warning of its latest price rise.
(Editing by Jason Szep and Alex Richardson)
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Computer System Check Can Help In Hard Drive Data Recovery ...
August 24th, 2012 // 1:33 am @ Editor
Computer diagnostics is generally there for a very specific reason, that is, obviously, to discover any glitch or problem your computer has. This makes it very simple to identify the problem as well as find a solution to it. This works like an internal doctor that releases a summary or data of exactly what your computer status is and if the whole system is performing as intended. The BIOS, memory, software, as well as the hardware are included in this diagnostics.
Most of the time, as your computer diagnostics will yield out, the usual problem on your computer is on low memory, RAM, or disk space. Most of the time also these factors cause your computer to crash and then consequently, you lose the data you have been working on so hard. Fortunately, disk data recovery could easily be done nowadays.
If ever your computer is giving out computer system analysis data that says you have a reduced disk space or low RAM amount, then the best and simplest means to do, as a first aid if you may, is to defrag your computer, if you are working with a PC. Defragging your hard drive will likely make your system check on fragmented files and get them back to their respective spots and even delete unnecessary data. This way you are cleaning your computer of unimportant data that consumes your disk and memory space.
The diagnostics starts on your BIOS structure and from there the diagnosis can give out a number of conflicting data and errors already. The BIOS is your central setting that gives your computer the optimum performance it needs. BIOS settings are executed by experts or have been set by default on your computer upon acquisition. If you are a newbie or has no idea on what to modify on your BIOS then it is better that you find a qualified personnel?s help or assistance. Puttering on your BIOS settings may lead to more complicated concerns if you do not understand what you are doing.
If you do not have the time to take your computer to a professional after a drastic diagnostic result, some programs can aid you in running a good diagnosis and then fix the problem. The Norton System as well as the PC Doctor are some of the best aids out there for this kind of task. These programs provide a diagnosis as well as a fix for the most common types of errors and protect your computer from further problems.
Such programs can do a variety of tasks from disk scanning to a full system browse. After the scan, the programs are going to give you a user-friendly summary which a computer novice can certainly understand. These will also present you options on how to undertake in fixing it. These programs will definitely work just fine provided nothing is seriously wrong with your computer like a broken hardware and complicated software concerns.
Run a computer system check on a regular basis as a method to earlier detect and deal with problems that might in the future trigger more damage to your system. This is the best way to maintain your computer on tip top condition. And since your computer is definitely perfectly running, generally there is no longer a necessity for hard disk data recovery.
Category : Technology
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PFT: Kolb 'not pulling the trigger,' Warner says
APAs the Jets continue to try to figure out how to fix their right tackle spot, the guy they thought would handle it is trying to get his career back on track.
Former Panthers first-round pick Jeff Otah, whose trade to the Jets was negated when he failed a physical, has been working out in Cleveland with LeCharles Bentley to try to get his feet back underneath him.
?I believe he?s definitely going to be ready this season,? Bentley told Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. ?At what point in the season, I?m not sure. As a former player going through my own medical issues, it wasn?t until I took a step back and let some of my own personal baggage go, with my particular situation, [that] my body really started to heal. And I think that?s similar with Jeff.?
Otah played just four games the previous two years because of knee problems, but there were conditioning issues as well. The Jets were willing to risk a conditional seventh-rounder on him, but after a week of standing around, they sent him back to the Panthers, who promptly cut him.
And in what must be a surprise to the Panthers, Bentley said Otah has ?a workman-type mentality, which is what he needs right now.?
?To go through what he?s gone through, it wasn?t exactly easy,? the former Saints and Browns center said.
Bentley said Otah?s already down 12 pounds to 340 since arriving. They prepare three meals a day for him at Bentley?s facility, and he doesn?t work out until he eats breakfast.
He also punches a clock, and watches film of the days when he played to his draft grade in Carolina.
?As good as he was, he wasn?t the best he?s going to be,? Bentley said. ?And once he understands that, I think it really drives home the point that, ?I?m here for a purpose.? Jeff Otah needs time here to get himself, not just back into the league, but back being the best player he can be. When he?s the best player he can be, he?s going to be pretty damn special.?
Getting him back on the field would be an achievement, and a pretty good advertisement for Bentley?s ability as a coach and a mentor.
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Microsoft Digital Image Suite Anniverary Edition - No Serial Needed
Source: http://www.seedpeer.me/details/4621415.html
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