Bill Moyers: The Party People of Wall Street

A week or so ago, we read in the New York Times about what in the Gilded Age of the Roman Empire was known as a bacchanal -- a big blowout at which the imperial swells got together and whooped it up.

This one occurred here in Manhattan at the annual black-tie dinner and induction ceremony for Kappa Beta Phi. That's the very exclusive Wall Street fraternity of billionaire bankers and private equity and hedge fund predators. People like Wilbur Ross, the vulture capitalist; Robert Benmosche, the CEO of AIG, the insurance giant that received tens of billions in bailout money; and Alan "Ace" Greenberg, former chairman of Bear Stearns, the failed investment bank bought by JPMorgan Chase.

They got together at the St. Regis Hotel off Fifth Avenue to eat rack of lamb, drink and haze their newest members, who are made to dress in drag, sing and perform skits while braving the insults, wine-soaked napkins and petit fours -- those fancy little frosted cakes -- hurled at them by the old guard. In other words, a gilt-edged Animal House, food fight and all.

This year, the butt of many a joke were the protesters of Occupy Wall Street. In one of the sketches, the bond specialist James Lebenthal scolded a demonstrator with a face tattoo, "Go home, wash that off your face and get back to work." And in another, a member -- dressed like a protester -- was told, "You're pathetic, you liberal. You need a bath!"

Pretty hilarious stuff. The whole affair's reminiscent of the wingdings the robber barons used to throw during America's own Gilded Age a century and a half ago, when great wealth amassed at the top, far from the squalor and misery of working stiffs. Guests would arrive in the glittering mansions for costume balls that rivaled Versailles, reinforcing the sense of superiority and the virtue of a ruling class that depended on the toil and sweat of working people.

That's consistent with the attitude expressed by several of these types after Occupy Wall Street sprung up; bankers told the Times on the record that they could understand the anger of the protesters camped on their doorstep; but privately, a hedge manager said, "Most... view [it] as ragtag group looking for sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll."

So sayeth the winners in our winner-take all economy. The very guys who were celebrating at the St. Regis because they were too big to fail. Even when they fell flat on their faces, the government was there to dust them off, bail them out and send them back to fight the class war with nary a harsh word or punishment. Talk about a nanny welfare state.

None of this was by accident. The last three decades have witnessed a carefully calculated heist worthy of Robert Redford and Paul Newman in The Sting -- but on a massive scale. It was an inside job, politically engineered by Wall Street and Washington working hand-in-hand, sticky fingers with sticky fingers, to turn the legend of Robin Hood on its head -- giving to the rich and taking from everybody else. Don't take our word for it -- it's all on the record.

The biggest of the big boys was Citigroup, at one time the world's largest financial institution. When the meltdown hit in 2008, the bank cut more than 50,000 jobs and you and other taxpayers shelled out more than $45 billion to save it. And how are Citigroup executives doing? Nicely, thank you. Last year, its CEO, Vikram Pandit, took home $1.75 million in base salary, and was awarded $3.7 million in deferred stock.

According to the Times, "Citigroup is expected to disclose the rest of his pay, cash, be it upfront or deferred, in March. In addition, while not necessarily for work performed in 2011, Mr. Pandit last year was awarded a $16.7 million retention bonus, plus stock options that could add $6.5 million to the package's overall value." Makes you want to cry out, "Retain me! Retain me!"

To be fair, Vikram Pandit was at the World Economic Summit in Davos, Switzerland last week, where he told Bloomberg News, "It's important for the financial system to acknowledge that there's a great deal of anger directed at it... Trust has been broken. Banks have to serve clients, not serve themselves." What's more, he has said that the "sentiments" expressed by Occupy Wall Street demonstrators were "completely understandable."

This, in contrast to the financial industry official who told a reporter that the protesters' issues were "a lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing." Or, as they used to say while partying down at the court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, let them eat petits fours.

See more at BillMoyers.com, including his most recent full show on how big banks are rewriting the rules to our economy, featuring a candid interview with former Citigroup CEO John Reed.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-moyers/the-party-people-of-wall_b_1241843.html

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Senator's stroke shows they can hit the young, too (AP)

WASHINGTON ? When a stroke hits at 52, like what happened to Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois, the reaction is an astonished, "But he's so young."

The reality is that strokes don't just happen to grandma. They can happen at any age, even to children ? and they're on the rise among the young and middle-aged.

That makes it crucial to know the warning signs no matter how old you are.

"Nobody's invincible," warns Dr. Ralph Sacco, a University of Miami neurologist and past president of the American Heart Association.

Every year, about 795,000 people in the U.S. have a stroke. While some strokes are caused by bleeding in the brain, most are like a clogged pipe. Called ischemic strokes, a clot blocks blood flow, starving brain cells to death unless that circulation is restored fast.

Make no mistake, the vast majority of strokes do occur in older adults. But up to a quarter of them strike people younger than 65, Sacco says.

In the so-called stroke belt in the Southeast, that figure can be markedly worse. At Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina, a stunning 45 percent of stroke patients are young or middle-aged, says stroke center director Dr. Cheryl Bushnell.

More ominous, recent government research found that nationwide, hospitalization rates for ischemic strokes have jumped by about a third among people ages 15 to 44 over the past decade.

Sometimes younger-age strokes are flukes with no warning signs, impossible to predict ? like Kirk's appears to be. The Republican senator is a Navy Reserve commander and avid swimmer, but dizziness sent him to the hospital. It turns out he had a tear in the carotid artery in his neck which blocked blood flow to his brain, triggering a stroke. Trauma usually causes such tears, although doctors haven't been able to say what caused Kirk's. His doctor at a Chicago hospital said Monday that Kirk was continuing to improve from the stroke, which affected his left side.

Heart birth defects, such as a little hole in the heart known as a PFO, and blood-clotting disorders also tend to cause strokes more often in younger people than in seniors.

But just like strokes at older ages, a lot of younger strokes are preventable. The increase seems to be part of a troubling trend: As Americans get fatter, high blood pressure, diabetes and other artery-corroding consequences set in at an earlier age ? meaning resulting strokes can hit earlier, too.

Indeed, research reported in Annals of Neurology last fall found nearly 1 in 3 of the 15- to 34-year-olds hospitalized for a stroke, and over half of those ages 35 to 44, already had high blood pressure.

More women are having strokes during or right after pregnancy, too, the government reported last summer. That's because more of them start out with unhealthy conditions like high blood pressure even before the hormonal changes kick in.

Whatever the cause or the age, anyone with stroke symptoms needs emergency care: Sudden numbness or weakness in the face, arm or leg, especially on one side; sudden difficulty speaking or understanding speech; trouble seeing or walking; a sudden super-severe headache.

Younger adults are less likely than seniors to know those symptoms, and tend to try to shrug them off, Bushnell says. She points to a recent 50-something patient who twice ignored temporary episodes of weakness on one side. Called TIAs, for transient ischemic attacks, such episodes are a big red flag that a full-fledged stroke may be imminent. A third TIA finally brought him to the emergency room. By then, aggressive treatment wasn't enough to avoid a stroke that left him with impaired speech.

"As people get older, they have more and more direct contact with people who had strokes," and learn what to watch for, Bushnell says. But at younger ages, "there's just a gap in awareness."

Who is at increased risk for a younger-than-usual stroke? African-Americans and Hispanics, more than whites. Someone whose parent had a stroke before age 65 is at extra risk.

But mostly, the same things that are bad for your heart are bad for your brain, making it crucial to control blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol, to stop smoking and to keep active. At www.powertoendstroke.org the American Heart Association offers a seven-step online test called "My Life Check" that can help assess your risks.

Younger people do tend to survive strokes more than older people, and to recover better.

But Arnold Springs, 48, of Winston-Salem, N.C., knows it was his friends' fast 911 call that made the difference for him earlier this month.

"All of a sudden, my right arm went numb. The next thing I knew I was on the floor," Springs recalls.

The ambulance got him to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in time for a clot-busting drug to stop his stroke. Springs left the hospital three days later with some loss of vision and trouble walking, problems that his sister says are expected to improve ? plus orders to lower his blood pressure to stave off future strokes.

___

EDITOR'S NOTE ? Lauran Neergaard covers health and medical issues for The Associated Press in Washington.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_he_me/us_med_healthbeat_strokes

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Glitzy new AU headquarters a symbol of China-Africa ties (Reuters)

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) ? Standing on what was once Ethiopia's oldest maximum security prison, the new African Union headquarters funded by China is a symbol of the Asian giant's push to stay ahead in Africa and gain greater access to the continent's resources.

Critics point to an imbalance in what they see as the new "Scramble for Africa." But the prospect of growing Chinese economic influence is welcomed by African leaders, who see Beijing as a partner to help build their economies at a time when Europe and the United States are mired in economic turmoil.

And Africans are hoping for more Chinese largesse.

"The future prospects of our partnership are even brighter," Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said Saturday at the new headquarters' multi-storey amphitheatre, where an African heads of states' summit will take place Sunday and Monday.

"China - its amazing re-emergence and its commitments for a win-win partnership with Africa - is one of the reasons for the beginning of the African renaissance," he said.

The brown marble and glass monolith was fully paid for by China, right down to the office furniture, and cost $200 million. The office complex and almost 100 metre (330 foot) tower is Addis Ababa's tallest building by far.

For the past decade, Africa has recorded economic growth of an average of 5 percent but its under-developed infrastructure has in part hindered its capacity to develop further.

Chinese companies are changing that. They are building roads and investing in the energy sector, and are active in areas such as telecoms technology.

China's most senior political adviser, Jia Qinglin, said trade between the two partners had grown to $150 billion, and the unveiling of the headquarters was a "milestone" in the ties between China and Africa.

As the biggest consumer of iron-ore, China has a relentless hunger for African minerals and energy.

Beijing now appears keener to flex its diplomatic muscle in the continent. It has also contributed $4.5 million for the African Union peacekeeping force battling Islamist militants in Somalia.

Outside the complex, hundreds of Chinese support staff, delegates and officials snapped pictures of their country's most ostentatious presence yet in Africa.

Critics point to land grabs and mistreatment of African workers on Chinese-funded projects. Even when it comes to job opportunities, in some instances China brings in teams of workers and technical experts.

Yet African officials insist they aren't being manipulated by China, and say the relationship is not based on aid but on trade and development.

"There are people who still consider Africans like children who can be easily manipulated. The good thing about this partnership is that it's give and take," the Democratic Republic of Congo's ambassador to Washington, Faida Mitifu, told Reuters.

(Editing by James Macharia and Alessandra Rizzo)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120128/wl_nm/us_africa_china

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Celebrity pot busts put tiny Texas county on map

FILE - In this Nov. 4, 2011 file photo, actor Armie Hammer poses for photographers after the Young Hollywood Panel during AFI FEST 2011 in Los Angeles. The town of Sierra Blanca, Texas, which is losing more and more residents every year, is attracting nationwide attention as a magnet for pot-toting celebrities who have been arrested for possession at a Border Patrol checkpoint outside town. Hammer was arrested Nov. 20, 2011, at a border patrol checkpoint in West Texas after a drug sniffing dog discovered marijuana in his car. The 25-year-old, who starred with Leonardo DiCaprio in "J. Edgar," spent about a day in jail before paying a $1,000 bond. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, file)

FILE - In this Nov. 4, 2011 file photo, actor Armie Hammer poses for photographers after the Young Hollywood Panel during AFI FEST 2011 in Los Angeles. The town of Sierra Blanca, Texas, which is losing more and more residents every year, is attracting nationwide attention as a magnet for pot-toting celebrities who have been arrested for possession at a Border Patrol checkpoint outside town. Hammer was arrested Nov. 20, 2011, at a border patrol checkpoint in West Texas after a drug sniffing dog discovered marijuana in his car. The 25-year-old, who starred with Leonardo DiCaprio in "J. Edgar," spent about a day in jail before paying a $1,000 bond. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, file)

SIERRA BLANCA, Texas (AP) ? Nestled among the few remaining businesses that dot a rundown highway in this dusty West Texas town stands what's become a surprise destination for marijuana-toting celebrities: the Hudspeth County Jail.

Willie Nelson, Snoop Dogg and actor Armie Hammer have been among the thousands of people busted for possession at a Border Patrol checkpoint outside town in recent years, bringing a bit of notoriety to one of Texas' most sparsely populated counties.

"Once I was in Arizona, and when I said where I was from, they said, 'That's where Willie Nelson was busted,'" said Louise Barantley, manager at the Coyote Sunset souvenir shop in Sierra Blanca.

Hudspeth County cameos aren't only for outlaws: Action movie star Steven Seagal, who's already deputized in Louisiana and Arizona for his reality show "Steven Seagal Lawman" on A&E, has signed on to become a county officer.

Locals already have found ways to rub shoulders with their celebrity guests.

Deputies posed for pictures with Snoop Dogg after authorities said they found several joints on his bus earlier this month. When Nelson was busted here in 2010, the county's lead prosecutor suggested the singer settle his marijuana charges by performing "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" for the court. Nelson paid a fine instead, but not before county commissioner Wayne West played one of his own songs for the country music legend.

West acknowledged he's a big fan of Nelson and wanted to capitalize on a golden chance to perform for such a noted "captive audience."

"Willie loved the song, he is a real outgoing individual" he added.

The once-thriving town of Sierra Blanca began to shrink to its current 1,000-person population after the construction of nearby Interstate 10 ? a main artery linking cities from California to Florida ? offered an easy way to bypass the community.

Now the highway is sending thousands of drug bust cases Sierra Blanca's way, courtesy of a Border Patrol checkpoint just outside of town where drug-sniffing dogs inspect more than 17,000 trucks, travelers ? and tour buses ? daily for whiffs of contraband that may have made its way inland from the border.

Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West, younger brother of the musically inclined commissioner, said his office handled about 2,000 cases last year, most of them having to do with drugs seized at the checkpoint.

Border Patrol agents say people busted with small amounts of pot often say they have medical marijuana licenses from California, Arizona or New Mexico ? three states along I-10 that, unlike Texas, allow for medicinal pot prescriptions ? and claim to believe the licenses were valid nationwide.

Nelson's publicists declined to comment about the specifics of the singer's case. Representatives for Snoop Dogg, who will pay a fine and court costs after being cited for possession of marijuana paraphernalia, did not return several messages seeking comment.

County authorities have not yet decided whether to prosecute or issue a citation for Hammer, who starred in the 2010 film "The Social Network" and more recently played the FBI's number two man in "J. Edgar" He was arrested in November on his way to his wife's bakery in San Antonio after authorities said they found marijuana-laced brownies and cookies. His attorney Kent Schaffer has called the case a "total non-issue."

Local officials say they're not on a celebrity witch hunt, but some residents are enjoying the publicity from the high-profile arrests. They say the once forgotten town of Sierra Blanca should take pride in not pandering to famous people caught breaking the law.

"We get attention because something is being done right," resident Adolfo Gonzalez said while shopping at a local convenience store. "It'd be worse if we'd let them go because they are celebrities."

That's not expected to change when Seagal comes to town. Sheriff West insists the "Under Siege" star hasn't indicated any plans to film his show here ? but the sheriff isn't ruling it out.

"If he wants to, we can do it but that's not what he said this was about," West said.

West's spokesman, Rusty Flemming, said Seagal will patrol the area and train colleagues in martial arts and weapons techniques. The actor is expected to arrive in Hudspeth County within months, once he's done filming a new movie in Canada.

Seagal's management agency did not return calls and emails seeking comment about his plans in Texas.

Commissioner West, meanwhile, is keeping his musical skills sharp ? just in case another performer pays a surprise visit to the county jail. The lead guitarist and vocalist of a local band, West said he regrets not having a chance to sing for Snoop Dogg, but wasn't sure if the rapper would have enjoyed the performance anyway.

"Our stuff is laid back," he said. "Mas o menos (more or less) country."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-01-28-Celebrity%20Checkpoint/id-d235deb65c194acbbb9fa24a82322fd2

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300 arrested in daylong Occupy Oakland protests

Occupy Oakland protestors burn an American flag found inside Oakland City Hall during an Occupy Oakland protest on the steps of City Hall, Saturday, January 28, 2012, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Beck Diefenbach)

Occupy Oakland protestors burn an American flag found inside Oakland City Hall during an Occupy Oakland protest on the steps of City Hall, Saturday, January 28, 2012, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Beck Diefenbach)

A woman pleads with Occupy Oakland protestors to not burn an American flag found inside Oakland City Hall during an Occupy Oakland protest, Saturday, January 28, 2012, in Oakland, Calif. Police were in the process of arresting about 100 Occupy protesters for failing to disperse Saturday night, hours after officers used tear gas on a rowdy group of demonstrators who threw rocks and flares at them and tore down fences. (AP Photo/Beck Diefenbach)

Oakland Police block the entrance to City Hall after Occupy Oakland protestors gained access into the building during an Occupy Oakland protest, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, in Oakland, Calif. Oakland officials say police are in the process of arresting about 100 Occupy protesters for failing to disperse on Saturday. (AP Photo/Beck Diefenbach)

Oakland police block off a street in downtown Oakland during an Occupy Oakland protest, Saturday, January 28, 2012, in Oakland, Calif. Police were in the process of arresting about 100 Occupy protesters for failing to disperse Saturday night, hours after officers used tear gas on a rowdy group of demonstrators who threw rocks and flares at them and tore down fences. (AP Photo/Beck Diefenbach)

An Oakland City police officer stomps out a burning American flag after Occupy Oakland protestors set City Hall's flag on fire during an Occupy Oakland protest, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Beck Diefenbach)

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) ? About 300 people were arrested Saturday during a chaotic day of Occupy protests that saw demonstrators break into City Hall and burn an American flag, as police earlier fired tear gas and bean bags to disperse hundreds of people after some threw rocks and bottles and tore down fencing outside a nearby convention center.

Dozens of police officers remained on guard outside City Hall around midnight following the most turbulent day of protests since November, when Oakland police forcefully dismantled an Occupy encampment. An exasperated Mayor Jean Quan, who faced heavy criticism for the police action last fall, called on the Occupy movement to "stop using Oakland as its playground."

"People in the community and people in the Occupy movement have to stop making excuses for this behavior," Quan said.

Protesters clashed with police throughout the day, at times throwing rocks, bottles and other objects at officers. And police responded by deploying smoke, tear gas and bean bag rounds, City Administrator Deanna Santanta said.

"These demonstrators stated their intention was to provoke officers and engage in illegal activity and that's exactly what has occurred today," Santana said.

Interim Police Chief Howard Jordan said about 300 arrests were made.

The group assembled outside City Hall late Saturday morning and marched through the streets, disrupting traffic as they threatened to take over the vacant Henry Kaiser Convention Center.

The protesters walked to the vacant convention center, where some started tearing down perimeter fencing and "destroying construction equipment" shortly before 3 p.m., police said.

Police said they issued a dispersal order and used smoke and tear gas after some protesters pelted them with bottles, rocks, burning flares and other objects.

The number of demonstrators swelled as the day wore on, with afternoon estimates ranging from about 1,000 to 2,000 people.

A majority of the arrests came after police took scores of protesters into custody as they marched through the city's downtown, with some entering a YMCA building, said Sgt. Jeff Thomason, a police spokesman.

Around the same time police were taking people into custody near the YMCA, about dozens of officers surrounded City Hall, while others swept the inside of the building looking for protesters who had broken into the building, then ran out of the building with American flags before officers arrived.

The protest group issued an email criticizing police, saying "Occupy Oakland's building occupation, an act of constitutionally protected civil disobedience was disrupted by a brutal police response today."

Michael Davis, 32, who is originally from Ohio and was in the Occupy movement in Cincinnati, said Saturday was a very hectic day that originally started off calm but escalated when police began using "flash bangs, tear gas, smoke grenades and bean bags."

"It was very emotional. I thought it was a very good day for the movement because it brought us back together," Davis said. "We all were here in spirit and everybody actually helped everyone today.

"What could've been handled differently is the way the Oakland police came at us," Davis said. "We were peaceful."

Quan blamed the destruction on a small "very radical, violent" splinter group within Occupy Oakland.

"This is not a situation where we had a 1,000 peaceful people and a few violent people. If you look at what's happening today in terms of destructing property, throwing at and charging the police, it's almost like they are begging for attention and hoping that the police will make an error."

Quan said that at one point, many forced their way into City Hall, where they burned flags, broke an electrical box and damaged several art structures, including a recycled art exhibit created by children.

"City Hall is closed for the weekend. There is no excuse for behavior we've witnessed this evening," City Council President Larry Reid said during a news briefing Saturday. "It's just unacceptable and makes absolutely no sense for the type of behavior we've seen on the streets in the city of Oakland today."

Oakland Councilman Ignacio De La Fuente, echoed Reid's sentiments and said that what was going on amounts to "domestic terrorism."

"This is domestic terrorism and we cannot allow this to continue because something even more worse could really happen," De La Fuente said.

The demonstration comes after Occupy protesters said earlier this week that they planned to move into a vacant building and turn it into a social center and political hub. They also threatened to try to shut down the port, occupy the airport and take over City Hall.

Oakland officials said Friday that since the Occupy Oakland encampment was first established in late October, police have arrested about 300 people.

The national Occupy Wall Street movement, which denounces corporate excess and economic inequality, began in New York City in the fall but has been largely dormant lately.

Oakland, New York and Los Angeles were among the cities with the largest and most vocal Occupy protests early on. The demonstrations ebbed after those cities used force to move out hundreds of demonstrators who had set up tent cities.

In Oakland, the police department received heavy criticism for using force to break up earlier protests. Among the critics was Mayor Jean Quan, who said she wasn't briefed on the department's plans.

On Saturday, Quan seemed to have changed her tune on how police have been handling the demonstrations and protests.

"Our officers have been very measured," Quan said. "Were there some mistakes made? There may be. I would say the Oakland police and our allies, so far a small percentage of mistakes. "But quite frankly, a majority of protesters who were charging the police were clearly not being peaceful.

Earlier this month, a court-appointed monitor submitted a report to a federal judge that included "serious concerns" about the department's handling of the Occupy protests.

Interim Police Chief Howard Jordan said late Saturday that he was in "close contact" with the federal monitor during the protests.

Quan added, "If the demonstrators think that because we are working more closely with the monitor now that we won't do what we have to do to uphold the law and try keep people safe in this city, they're wrong."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-29-Occupy%20Oakland/id-9b72d1b0b9954fbfa2dc86fe47dd9c35

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The Best Time to Change All Your Passwords [User Manual]

February 1 is change your password day. But don't make it a one-time thing. Password changing should be a routine you practice regularly. Like hand-washing, or trolling Facebook. Especially ones you've shared. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/JZ4EjQOLCrI/the-best-time-to-change-your-all-your-passwords

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Why trust matters so much in business - Fortune Features

Our Weekly Read column features Fortune staffers' and contributors' takes on recently?published books about the business world and beyond. We've invited the entire Fortune family -- from our writers and editors to our photo editors and designers -- to weigh in on books of their choosing based on their individual tastes or curiosities. In this installment, reporter Caitlin Keating reviews Smart Trust, The Trustworthy Leader, and The Progress Principle, three new books that address the role that trust and related emotional issues play in business success.

FORTUNE -- In business as in private life, all successful relationships run on trust. Yet we often get trust wrong, giving it either too readily or too stingily. From Bernie Madoff to the mortgage industry, con artists have always operated by persuading na?ve investors to give their trust. On the other hand, relationships often fail because one or both parties are afraid to give trust.

That's the premise of Stephen M.R. Covey's Smart Trust: Creating Prosperity, Energy and Joy in a Low-Trust World. "[T]hose who live in blind trust eventually get burned; those who live with distrust eventually experience financial, social, and emotional losses," writes Covey, the son of Stephen R. Covey of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People fame.

Successful companies and people find a middle way that Covey and co-authors Greg Link and Rebecca R. Merrill call "smart trust." For example, eBay's (EBAY) 235 million registered users are mostly strangers to each other. Yet they engage in one million financial transactions a day. According to former eBay CEO Meg Whitman: "[M]ore than a decade later, I still believe ? the fundamental reason eBay worked was that people everywhere are basically good."

So how do successful companies manage risk in a low-trust world? Among many other examples, the authors point to Netflix (NFLX), which built a thriving movie rental business on trust. Netflix trusted all customers to mail back their DVDs, occasionally eliminating unreliable customers as a cost of doing business. If Netflix hadn't extended this original trust, they wouldn't have nearly as many subscribers. Less happily, Netflix's business suffered last year when it abruptly changed its pricing structure, which many customers viewed as a violation of trust.

A related topic is how successful leaders inspire trust. Amy Lyman, cofounder of the Great Place to Work Institute, has been studying this question for about 30 years. In The Trustworthy Leader, Lyman argues that trustworthy leaders inspire cooperation from their employees, which in turn produces a strong sense of commitment and loyalty throughout the organization.

While Covey and co. highlight the important of trust in general, Lyman focuses on the workplace. She presents detailed examples from many industries, including healthcare, retail and real estate, using her institute's Trust Index to measure the quality of relationships between employees and their leaders. (Fortune partners with the Great Place to Work Institute to produce our annual list of the Best Companies to Work For. The Trust Index is a pillar of our ranking methodology.)

Finally, Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer wrote The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement and Creativity at Work to try and understand how various aspects of an employee's work and personal life affect performance and motivation at work. Amabile teaches at Harvard Business School. Kramer is an independent writer and researcher, as well as Amabile's husband. In the course of their research the authors analyzed nearly 12,000 diary entries from hundreds of employees at many organizations.

Although Amabile and Kramer pile up an impressive mound of data, their conclusions are generally unsurprising. For example, they found that "participants ? experienced much more positive emotion when they made progress than when they had setbacks." They also found that happy employees tend to perform better. Strikingly, managers are often clueless about the importance of these "small wins". In a survey conducted for the book, only 35 out of 669 managers ranked progress as the number-one motivator, after recognition, incentives, interpersonal support, and clear goals.

Source: http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2012/01/27/trust-business-books/

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Prevalence of oral HPV infection higher among men than women

Thursday, January 26, 2012

The overall prevalence of oral human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is approximately 7 percent among men and women ages 14 to 69 years in the United States, while the prevalence among men is higher than among women, according to a study appearing in JAMA. The study is being released early online to coincide with its presentation at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium.

"Oral HPV infection is the cause of a subset of oropharyngeal [relating to the mouth and pharynx] squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC). Human papillomavirus?positive OSCC are associated with sexual behavior in contrast to HPV-negative OSCC that are associated with chronic tobacco and alcohol use. At least 90 percent of HPV-positive OSCC are caused by high-risk (or oncogenic) HPV type 16 (HPV-16), and oral infection confers an approximate 50-fold increase in risk for HPV-positive OSCC. The incidence of OSCC has significantly increased over the last 3 decades in several countries, and HPV has been directly implicated as the underlying cause," according to background information in the article. "Although oral HPV infection is the cause of a cancer that is increasing in incidence in the United States, little is known regarding the epidemiology of infection."

Maura L. Gillison, M.D., Ph.D., of the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, and colleagues examined the prevalence of oral HPV infection in the United States. The researchers used data from a cross-sectional study as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2009-2010, a statistically representative sample of the U.S. population. Men and women ages 14 to 69 years examined at mobile examination centers were eligible. Participants (n = 5,579) provided a 30-second oral rinse and gargle with mouthwash. For detection of HPV types, DNA purified from oral exfoliated cells was evaluated via testing methods.

The researchers found that the overall prevalence of oral HPV infection was 6.9 percent, and the most prevalent HPV type detected was HPV-16 (1.0 percent). The prevalence of oral HPV infection had peaks in different age ranges, with a first peak in prevalence observed among those 30 to 34 years of age (7.3 percent) and a second, higher peak among those ages 60 to 64 years (11.4 percent). Men had a significantly higher prevalence than women for overall oral HPV infection (10.1 percent vs. 3.6 percent). Prevalence of HPV was higher among current smokers and heavy alcohol drinkers and among former and current marijuana users.

The authors also found that oral HPV prevalence was associated with several measures of sexual behavior, including higher prevalence among individuals who reported ever having had sex vs. not (7.5 percent vs. 0.9 percent). Prevalence of HPV increased with lifetime or recent number of partners for any kind of sex, vaginal sex, or oral sex.

In analysis inclusive of individuals 14 to 69 years of age, factors independently associated with prevalent oral HPV included age, sex, lifetime number of sexual partners, and current number of cigarettes smoked per day.

The researchers write that their data provide evidence that oral HPV infection is predominantly sexually transmitted. "Taken together, these data indicate that transmission by casual, nonsexual contact is likely to be unusual."

"Our results have important research as well as public health implications. Natural history studies of cervical HPV infection were essential for the development of public health interventions, such as HPV vaccination to prevent and HPV detection to screen for cervical cancer," they write. "Natural history studies of oral HPV infection are therefore necessary to understand the effects of age, sex, and modifiable risk factors (e.g., smoking and sexual behavior) on the incidence and duration of oral HPV infection."

"Vaccine efficacy against oral HPV infection is unknown, and therefore vaccination cannot currently be recommended for the primary prevention of oropharyngeal cancer. Given an analysis of U.S. cancer registry data recently projected that the number of HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancers diagnosed each year will surpass that of invasive cervical cancers by the year 2020, perhaps such vaccine trials are warranted. Such trials could inform ongoing discussions regarding the benefits of HPV vaccination for males, given the higher prevalence of oral HPV infection demonstrated here as well as higher incidence of HPV-positive OSCC among men," the authors conclude.

(JAMA. 2012;307[7]doi:10.1001/JAMA.2012.101.

###

JAMA and Archives Journals: http://www.jamamedia.org

Thanks to JAMA and Archives Journals for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/117091/Prevalence_of_oral_HPV_infection_higher_among_men_than_women

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As iPhone brings in record profits for Apple, AT&T and Verizon see losses (Appolicious)

AT&T and Verizon reported selling huge numbers of iPhones during the October through December quarter of 2011, but that didn?t stop the nation?s two biggest carriers from seeing losses.

Verizon and AT&T both had earnings calls in the past week in which they ran down the last quarter?s numbers, with both noting big iPhone sales figures ? and big losses. Verizon?s net losses for the quarter were $2.02 billion, which it blames on several things: employee pensions, severance payments, and an increase in what the carrier pays to Apple in subsidies for the privilege of carrying the iPhone.

As MacWorld reports, despite the payments and the losses, Verizon?s mobile revenues still grew during the quarter. Mobile revenue increased 13 percent in the last quarter of 2011 as compared to the same period in 2010, hopping up to $18.3 billion. Revenue from mobile data was up even more, increasing by 19.2 percent.

The iPhone effect hit AT&T as well, which reported that some 80 percent of all the smartphones it sold during the quarter were iPhones, according to a ZDNet report. AT&T said it sold 9.4 million smartphones in the quarter, of which 7.6 million were iPhones. But AT&T still had a pretty big loss for the quarter, at $6.7 billion, due mostly to the fizzling of its planned merger with T-Mobile, pensions and losses in the company?s directory business. The carrier also felt the squeeze of higher subsidies from Apple, which cut its smartphone sales profit margins, just like Verizon.

Meanwhile, Apple reported an insane record quarter: $46.3 billion in revenue and $13.8 billion in profits. Apple?s huge numbers had a lot to do with the popularity of the iPhone 4S, which helped its iOS operating system to overtake Google?s Android in the U.S., if only by a margin of 0.1 percentage points. Still, it?s an interesting snapshot of Apple?s success in negotiation. Two of the major U.S. companies that carry Apple?s smartphone are finding that doing so is squeezing their profits, while Apple is turning its gains around for the best quarter it has ever seen.

The popularity of the iPhone means carriers want to have it, if only because their customers want to buy it. But even so, the iPhone?s success is not necessarily a giant success story for all involved. It also gives Apple room to increase carrier subsidies like it did last quarter. One wonders if Apple leaning on AT&T and Verizon might result in those companies pushing more Android products instead, where subsidies are lower and more profits can go to the carriers.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/applecomputer/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/appolicious_rss/rss_appolicious_tc/http___www_appolicious_com_articles10882_as_iphone_brings_in_record_profits_for_apple_at_t_and_verizon_see_losses/44316923/SIG=13std8enc/*http%3A//www.appolicious.com/finance/articles/10882-as-iphone-brings-in-record-profits-for-apple-at-t-and-verizon-see-losses

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Can Low Birth Weight Raise Autism Risk? (HealthDay)

TUESDAY, Jan. 24 (HealthDay News) -- After studying data on more than 3,700 pairs of identical twins, researchers from Northwestern University found that low birth weight was associated with more than triple the risk for autism spectrum disorder among twins in which autism only affected one of the children.

"That only one twin is affected by ASD [autism spectrum disorder] in some identical twin pairs suggests that environmental factors may play a role either independently or in interaction with autism risk genes," study author Molly Losh, director of Northwestern's Neurodevelopmental Disabilities Laboratory, said in a university news release.

"Our study of discordant twins -- twin pairs in which only one twin was affected by ASD -- found birth weight to be a very strong predictor of autism spectrum disorder," she added.

The study, which was released online in advance of publication in an upcoming print issue of the journal Psychological Medicine, used data from the Swedish Twin Registry's Child and Adolescent Twin Study.

In analyzing twins in which one baby was more than 14 ounces, or at least 15 percent heavier at birth than the other, the researchers found the risk for autism rose 13 percent for every 3.5 ounce drop in birth weight.

The study results suggested that birth weight could play a role in the complex causes of autism by interacting with a child's underlying genetic predisposition, or likelihood, of developing the condition, the researchers said.

Losh added that because autism is a developmental disorder involving early brain development, prenatal and perinatal environmental factors, such as birth weight, may be especially important.

The researchers noted, however, their findings may not apply to children who are not part of a multiple-birth pregnancy.

While the study found an association between birth weight and autism risk, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has more about autism.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/parenting/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20120125/hl_hsn/canlowbirthweightraiseautismrisk

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Netflix says Amazon to launch standalone video

SAN FRANCISCO?? Netflix said on Wednesday that it expects Amazon.com to brand its video streaming offering as standalone service.

Netflix also said it expects Amazon's standalone service to be priced below its own service.

Netflix made the prediction in a letter to shareholders that was posted on its website Wednesday.

The company warned in the letter that it will face increased competition from Amazon, Hulu and other businesses as viewing solutions for TV shows and movies proliferate and improve.

"One class of competitors is the other over-the-top pure plays such as Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime," Netflix said in the letter. "We expect Amazon to continue to offer their video service as a free extra with Prime domestically but also to brand their video subscription offering as a standalone service at a price less than ours."

Amazon Prime is a $79-a-year service that provides two-day free shipping in the U.S. and free access to thousands of TV shows and movies streamed over the Web and via devices like the popular Roku TV box.

A spokesman at Netflix declined to comment, as did a spokeswoman at Amazon.

Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46139631/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/

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Bird-Watchers Revel in Unusual Spike in Snowy Owl Sightings

[unable to retrieve full-text content]High numbers of the white birds have been spotted from coast to coast, stirring speculation about the cause of the spike.

Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=4bcd0a59296931261b339a02ecc3270c

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Even With Insurance, Unemployed Have Worse Health Outcomes ...

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Jan. 24 (HealthDay News) ? People without jobs who have health insurance are less likely to get medical care or prescription drugs than people with jobs who have such coverage, U.S. health officials reported Tuesday.

During the depths of the recent recession, unemployment reached 9.6 percent, a level not seen since 1983. Because health insurance affects access to care and most people rely on getting insured through their employer, researchers wanted to look at the effect of unemployment and lower income on access to health care, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

?Insurance without a job is a difficult position to be in,? said report author Anne Driscoll, a senior fellow at the CDC?s National Center for Health Statistics.

In the study, Driscoll and her colleague, Amy Bernstein, wanted to find out whether having private, public or no insurance mattered if you were employed or unemployed.

They found that private insurance, which experts think is the most comprehensive, was no guarantee of better health care.

?If you had private insurance but weren?t employed, you had worse mental health, worse physical health and were less likely to get prescriptions you needed or care that you needed than if you had a job,? Driscoll said.

Cost of care appears to be the overriding factor why having private insurance and no job was associated with lack of access to care, she said.

?Because you don?t have a job, deductibles and co-payments are the reasons you can?t use your insurance to the fullest. You?re better having insurance than no insurance, but it?s not a panacea. A job and insurance is the most advantageous category to be in, not just being insured,? Driscoll said.

For their study, the authors used data from the 2009 and 2010 U.S. National Health Interview Survey and compared the health insurance status, health and access to health care of employed and unemployed adults aged 18 to 64.

Highlights of the report include:

• 48 percent of unemployed adults had health insurance, compared with 81 percent of employed adults.
• More of the unemployed had public insurance than those employed.
• The unemployed had worse physical and mental health than the employed, whether they had insurance or not.
• The insured unemployed were less likely to get medical care because of cost than the insured employed.
• The insured unemployed were less likely to get prescription drugs because of cost than the insured employed.
• The uninsured were less likely to get medical care and prescription drugs because of cost than people with public or private insurance, regardless of whether they had jobs or not.
• The unemployed were more likely to be black, have less than a high school education and have an income below the poverty level.

Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, a visiting professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program, doesn?t hold out hope that health care reform will make things better for the unemployed.

?During the recession, the use of health care plummeted. We had a 19.5 percent drop in primary care in the United States,? she said.

This study shows that even if people lost their jobs and held onto their insurance, they couldn?t afford to use health care, Woolhandler said.

?That?s a uniquely American issue because we have such high co-payments, deductibles and uncovered services that people can?t afford to use care,? she said.

Woolhandler noted that health care reform will help some people because the number of uninsured is expected to be cut by over half.

?While there will still be 23 million uninsured after health reform is fully implemented, it?s a whole lot less than it would be otherwise,? she said.

But, having health insurance will not mean that you can afford care if you lose your job, Woolhandler added.

?It will be a little worse after health reform, because the new policies that will be offered will be quite a bit skimpier than an employer policy is now. And there will be high co-pays, high deductibles. So even if you hang on to your insurance you likely won?t be able to afford care,? she said.

More information

For more on health insurance, visit the Commonwealth Fund.

SOURCES: Anne K. Driscoll, Dr.P.H., senior fellow, National Center for Health Statistics, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Steffie Woolhandler, M.D., M.P.H., visiting professor, medicine, Harvard Medical School, and co-founder, Physicians for a National Health Program; Jan. 24, 2012, Health and Access to Care Among Employed and Unemployed Adults: United States, 2009-2010

Last Updated: Jan. 24, 2012

Copyright ? 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Source: http://news.health.com/2012/01/24/even-with-insurance-unemployed-have-worse-health-outcomes/

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In Paterno death apology, a lesson for CEOs

Companies screw up all the time, and have to write up statements to apologize for their mistakes. But all too frequently, the apologies are weak, conditional and completely insincere.

Saturday night, a kid from a little student-run website at Penn State showed everybody how you're supposed to apologize for a terrible mistake.

It started when the site, Onward State, reported on its Twitter account that Penn State coach Joe Paterno, who is in the hospital and near death, had passed away.

The news was picked up by CBS Sports without attribution, and published an obituary of Paterno. It spread nationally from there (check out Poynter's full breakdown of how things went down).

Turns out, it wasn't true. The Paterno family debunked the report, and Onward State made an official retraction. Paterno died Sunday morning, following the incident.

21-year-old Onward State managing editor and Penn State senior Devon Edwards then published a letter on the Onward State website and Facebook page that every CEO and PR pro needs to read.

This is how you apologize for a mistake:

A Letter from the Managing Editor of Onward State
Earlier this evening, Onward State reported that Joe Paterno had passed away; however, the mountain of evidence stacked opposite that report became too much to ignore. At this time, I would like to issue an official retraction of our earlier tweets.

I never, in a million years, would have thought that Onward State might be cited by the national media. Today, I sincerely wish it never had been. To all those who read and passed along our reports, I sincerely apologize for having mislead you. To the Penn State community and to the Paterno family, most of all, I could not be more sorry for the emotional anguish I am sure we at Onward State caused. There are no excuses for what we did. We all make mistakes, but it?s impossible to brush off one of this magnitude. Right now, we deserve all of the criticism headed our way.

In this day and age, getting it first often conflicts with getting it right, but our intention was never to fall into that chasm. All I can do now is promise that in the future, we will exercise caution, restraint, and humility.

I can only hope and pray that the outstanding work our writers and photographers do on a day-to-day basis is not overshadowed by the events of tonight. I understand that our reputation is in serious question, but I hope you will continue to stand by us as we do everything in our power to make amends.

To begin that process, I will be stepping down from my post as Managing Editor, effective immediately. I take full responsibility for the events that transpired tonight, and for the black mark upon the organization that I have caused.

I ask not for your forgiveness, but for your understanding. I am so very, very, sorry, and we at Onward State continue to pray for Coach Paterno.

Sincerely,

Devon Edwards

There's not a line of bull in there.

Did he need to resign? Perhaps not. Either way, it's sincere, heartfelt and human. There are no conditions set, no distancing and no excuses. He screwed up, and he accepted full responsibility.

Why is it so hard for big-time CEOs (and media folks, for that matter) to do the same when something happens on their watch?

Please follow War Room on Twitter and Facebook.

Copyright 2012 by Business Insider, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission from Business Insider, Inc.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46091333/ns/business-us_business/

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New Zealand authorities shut down 'Occupy' camps (AP)

AUCKLAND, New Zealand ? Authorities have effectively shut down the Occupy movement in New Zealand's largest city after more than 100 days of protest.

Auckland Council officers and police Monday confiscated cars, tents and camping gear from more than 50 protesters at four sites in Auckland. The raid came after a local court ruled authorities could remove property from people who were illegally camping.

Police arrested three people in Aotea Square during the raids.

Occupy encampments remain in other New Zealand cities. Protesters in this country joined the movement that began last September in New York as a protest against social and financial inequality.

Auckland Council spokesman Glyn Walters said protesters can return to the sites but are no longer allowed to camp there.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/oceania/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_re_as/as_new_zealand_occupy_ends

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Polar Mobile Raises $6 Million For HTML5-Based Publishing Platform, MediaEverywhere

Polar Mobile, a digital media platform provider that builds apps for some of the biggest media companies, today announced it has secured an additional $6 million in funding. The new round, led by growth equity firm Georgian Partners, joins more than $3 million invested in the company previously from private investors, bringing its total funding to $9 million. The company is also announcing its plans for a new product line called MediaEverywhere, an HTML5-based content distribution solution for smartphones, tablets and desktops.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/IVczpSbDo3c/

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Strong start for stocks, but what's changed? (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Stocks rising, bulls rampant are motifs you might pick if designing a coat of arms for Wall Street at the moment. But the motto should read: Caveat emptor. Yes, buyer beware.

The S&P 500, a broad measure of the market valuation of the biggest U.S. publicly traded companies, is up 20 percent from its October closing low. It keeps climbing on a mixed bag of fourth-quarter earnings, improving U.S. economic data, and easing credit conditions in Europe. It now stands at its highest level since early last August.

We have already seen what is probably the first upgrade of a target level for the index this year courtesy of Credit Suisse.

The CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX (.VIX), a measure of what investors are paying to protect themselves against the risk of losses, is at its lowest level in seven months.

So it raises the question: Is this another Jackson Hole moment for risk assets?

At the Wyoming retreat in late August 2010, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke sparked what was the second major leg of the stock market's rally from bear market lows the year before.

Is this the start of the third?

FRIENDLIER FOOTING FOR STOCKS

For Andrew Garthwaite, the Credit Suisse analyst behind the firm's more bullish stance, there are big changes afoot that are creating a more benign environment for stocks.

First, the European Central Bank's long-term repo operations are succeeding in reducing stresses in the region's banking sector. This week, three-month dollar Libor, the cost at which European banks can borrow dollars, marked its ninth straight day of declines.

Analysts say heavy cash infusions from the European Central Bank since late last year and signs of revived willingness to lend by U.S. investors in the new year show the banking system is flush with cash.

The U.S. economy is looking stronger than thought, with notable movement in the long-dormant housing market, where sales of previously owned homes just rose to an 11-month high.

In China, the engine of global growth whose manufacturing sector has been showing worrying signs of slowing, policymakers have demonstrated willingness to make conditions easier by lowering banks' reserve requirements.

"As we approach our year-end target two weeks into January, we have to ask ourselves the following questions: What has changed? Will equities rally further?," Garthwaite said in a research note.

His answer to the second question was yes. Credit Suisse raised its year-end S&P 500 target to 1,400 from 1,340. Critically, however, the firm did not overweight equities, saying the risks of a more severe recession in Europe and a slowdown stateside were still there.

HEALTHY DOSE OF SKEPTICISM

For Nicholas Colas, chief market strategist at the ConvergEx Group in New York, the rally remains largely untested. More scary headlines from Europe or any signs that the global economy is deteriorating could spark a sharp reversal.

Heading into the weekend, Greece was closing in on an initial deal with private bondholders that would prevent it from tumbling into a chaotic default. Creditors faced to 70 percent of the loans they have given to Athens.

"It's a confidence-based rally with the overhang of several still meaningful events to come," Colas said. "It is all well and good to say that the Greek default is well understood, but we haven't gone through it."

Outside the United States, there are mixed signals from the global economy, too.

China's factory activity likely fell for a third successive month in January. The HSBC flash manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI), the earliest indicator of China's industrial activity, stood below 50.

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index (.BADI), which tracks rates to ship dry commodities and can be a useful gauge of economic activity, fell to its lowest level in three years on Friday on a growing surplus of vessels and a slump in cargo demand.

That is at odds with the work of RBC technical analyst Robert Sluymer. He sees growing outperformance of industrial metal copper to the safe-haven bet of gold as well as an upturn in a basket of Asian currencies as a bullish sign for the economy.

The caution generated by the mismatches in the various data points is perhaps reflected in by U.S. interest rates.

The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note has hovered at 2 percent or just below for the last month despite a brief spike in mid-December. That suggests bondholders are not eagerly embracing the improving economy thesis for the moment.

"There is still a lot of skepticism about recovery, about moving into risk assets, about a lot of things," Colas said.

"If you really wanted to believe this about incrementally economic certainty and expansion ... I would have thought you'd expect to see the 10-year back over 2 percent."

EARNINGS, DATA AND THE FED

A blitz of earnings and economic indicators next week will provide an important gauge of the economy's health.

What's more, the Federal Reserve's policymakers will convene their first meeting of the year with a two-day session that starts on Tuesday. The Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed's rate-setting panel, will release its policy statement on Wednesday. No fireworks are expected, but a decision to release individual policymakers' interest-rate forecasts could alter expectations for rates on the margins.

Monday will start one of the two most hectic weeks of the earnings season. Marquee names due to report earnings on Monday include Texas Instruments Inc (TXN.O) and Halliburton Co (HAL.N), followed by Apple Inc (AAPL.O), DuPont (DD.N), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N), McDonald's Corp (MCD.N), Verizon Communications (VZ.N) and Yahoo! Inc (YHOO.O) - all on Tuesday.

Boeing (BA.N), ConocoPhillips (COP.N) and United Technologies (UTX.N) are set to release results on Wednesday. Thursday's earnings line-up includes 3M Co (MMM.N), AT&T Inc (T.N), Starbucks (SBUX.O) and Time Warner Cable Inc (TWC.N). On Friday, earnings are expected from Chevron Corp (CVX.N), Honeywell International (HON.N) and Procter & Gamble Co. (PG.N)

In the coming week, economic indicators to watch will include December pending home sales data, a key measure of the housing market, on Wednesday as well as the latest weekly claims for jobless benefits on Thursday. December durable goods orders and new home sales for December also will be released on Thursday.

The week will wrap up with the Commerce Department's first look at fourth-quarter U.S. gross domestic product and the final reading for January on consumer sentiment from Reuters and the University of Michigan.

In terms of companies beating expectations, fourth-quarter earnings season has not been as good as previous ones. Of the approximately 70 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings so far, 60 percent have exceeded analysts' estimates, according to Thomson Reuters data.

In comparison, in the third quarter at this early point in the reporting cycle, 68 percent had beaten Wall Street's forecasts - well below the 78 percent in that category in the second quarter, Thomson Reuters data showed.

There have also been some high-profile misses on both revenue and earnings.

General Electric Co's (GE.N) fourth-quarter revenue fell short of Wall Street's expectations, with Europe's weakening economy and weak appliance sales the main culprits.

On the other hand, banks' earnings have served as a positive catalyst for the stock market so far. The sector has been one of the market's leaders despite mixed earnings, a sign that investors' worst fears did not materialize.

(Reporting By Edward Krudy; Editing by Jan Paschal.)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120121/bs_nm/us_usa_stocks_weekahead

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More Americans Practicing Safe Sex, CDC Reports (HealthDay)

THURSDAY, Jan. 19 (HealthDay News) -- The number of Americans who practice behaviors that put them at risk for HIV infection has declined significantly, federal health officials reported Thursday.

The ranks of those engaging in a risky sexual or drug-related behavior dropped from 13 percent of men and 11 percent of women in 2002 to 10 percent and 8 percent, respectively, in 2010, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Generally, these are behaviors that are studied in higher risk populations, but by looking in the household population we can get a better sense of the level of risk that may exist in the general population that you don't normally think about," said report author Anjani Chandra, a health scientist at the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.

Some of the risk factors the researchers looked at were gay and bisexual sex, illicit drug use and having several sexual partners or a partner who injects illegal drugs, she said.

"For women, we don't really see that the decline is due to any variation in sexual risk behaviors, whereas for men we see substantial difference by race," she said.

The reasons for the decline in risk behaviors is not clear, Chandra said. Some of the public health messages might be getting through. It also could be that people are reluctant to disclose that they engage in risky behaviors, she said.

"But, it could be real and reflect actual changes in behavior," she said.

The data in the report was collected on almost 23,000 men and women aged 15 to 44 in households throughout the country and represents 6.5 million men and 4.9 million women.

The decline seems to be due to a drop in risky behaviors such as having unprotected sex and having sex with multiple partners, Chandra said.

There were, however, differences in behaviors in different groups. For example, men who had recently been in prison were more likely to report engaging in one or more HIV risk behaviors, compared with other men, the researchers found.

There were also significant variations based on race and income level, they reported.

Sixteen percent of young black men ages 15 to 24 reported at least one HIV risk-related sexual behavior, compared with 8.7 percent of Hispanic men and 6.5 percent of young white men. Poorer men were also more likely to engage in risky behaviors.

The HIV risk in households is not something one usually thinks about when one thinks about HIV risk, Chandra said.

"In household populations, where you may think these behaviors are nonexistent or very rare, they are occurring and they may be placing people at risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases," Chandra said. "Just focusing on high-risk populations may not take care of the concerns that we have."

Dr. Sten Vermund, director of the Institute of Global Health at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, said that the data used was "a highly valid sample of the American population."

Both sexual and drug-related risk behaviors declined in the study period, and that is a positive trend, he said.

"Risk behaviors remain high and the likelihood of encountering an HIV-infected person has never been higher," Vermund noted. "Nonetheless, there is a strong indication that prevention programs are working or cultural norms are shifting, or both."

Philip Alcabes, an associate professor in the School of Health Sciences at Hunter College/City University of New York, is critical of the report as another example of how the government still avoids the real problem of HIV.

"What a waste of time and taxpayer dollars," he said. "Having failed to advocate for structural changes that would actually reduce risk of HIV acquisition and having failed to implement widespread, easily accessible syringe exchange programs, federal agencies instead spend their time studying personal behavior. It's a shame."

"Even though our officials don't have a clear concept of what really happened 30 years ago, they are still looking at AIDS through the same moralizing lens that was common in 1981. That's sad, and disturbing," he said.

More information

For more on HIV/AIDS, visit the AIDS.gov.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/aids/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20120120/hl_hsn/moreamericanspracticingsafesexcdcreports

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Cuba set to explore offshore as oil rig arrives

An oil rig floats in the distance as fishermen work in Havana Bay, Cuba, Thursday Jan. 19, 2012. The Chinese-built oil rig has arrived to Cuba to start exploratory drilling beneath the waters off Cuba's northern coast. Cuban leaders hope the rig will bring riches to a Communist country that is sorely in need of an economic boost. Spanish company Repsol is carrying out the exploratory effort under a contract with the Cuban government. (AP Photo/Javier Galeano)

An oil rig floats in the distance as fishermen work in Havana Bay, Cuba, Thursday Jan. 19, 2012. The Chinese-built oil rig has arrived to Cuba to start exploratory drilling beneath the waters off Cuba's northern coast. Cuban leaders hope the rig will bring riches to a Communist country that is sorely in need of an economic boost. Spanish company Repsol is carrying out the exploratory effort under a contract with the Cuban government. (AP Photo/Javier Galeano)

In this photo taken on Jan. 12, 2012, a boy sits on a horse drawn carriage while his father, unseen, cuts grass near an oscillating oil pump operated by the state oil company Cuba Petroleos, Cupet, in Santa Cruz del Norte, Cuba. A Chinese-built oil rig has arrived to Cuba in January to start exploratory drilling beneath the waters off Cuba's northern coast. Cuban leaders hope the rig will bring riches to a Communist country that is sorely in need of an economic boost. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes)

In this photo taken on Jan. 12, 2012, a man waves from his classic car as he drives by oscillating oil pumps operated by the state oil company Cuba Petroleos, Cupet, in Santa Cruz del Norte, Cuba. A Chinese-built oil rig has arrived to Cuba in January to start exploratory drilling beneath the waters off Cuba's northern coast. Cuban leaders hope the rig will bring riches to a Communist country that is sorely in need of an economic boost. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes)

In this photo taken on Jan. 12, 2012, Alfonso Arias rides his horse next to an oil pump operated by the state oil company Cuba Petroleos, Cupet, in Santa Cruz del Norte, Cuba. A Chinese-built oil rig has arrived to Cuba in January to start exploratory drilling beneath the waters off Cuba's northern coast. Cuban leaders hope the rig will bring riches to a Communist country that is sorely in need of an economic boost. Spanish company Repsol is carrying out the exploratory effort under a contract with the Cuban government. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes)

In this photo taken on Jan. 12, 2012, oil worker Eduardo Garcia labors next to an oscillating oil pump run by state oil company Cuba Petroleos, Cupet, in Santa Cruz del Norte, Cuba. A Chinese-built oil rig has arrived to Cuba in January to start exploratory drilling beneath the waters off Cuba's northern coast. Cuban leaders hope the rig will bring riches to a Communist country that is sorely in need of an economic boost. Spanish company Repsol is carrying out the exploratory effort under a contract with the Cuban government. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes)

HAVANA (AP) ? A huge drilling rig arrived Thursday in the warm Gulf waters north of Havana, where it will sink an exploratory well deep into the seabed, launching Cuba's dreams of striking it rich with offshore oil.

The Scarabeo-9 platform was visible from Havana's sea wall far off on the hazy horizon as it chugged westward toward its final drill site about 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the capital, and 60 miles (90 kilometers) south of Key West.

Spanish oil company Repsol RPF, which is leasing the rig for about a half-million dollars a day, said it expects to begin drilling within days to find out whether the reserves are as rich as predicted.

"The geologists have done their work. If they've done it well, then we'll have a good chance of success," Repsol spokesman Kristian Rix said by phone from Madrid. "It's been a long process, but now we're at the point where we discover whether our geologists have got it right. It's a happy day."

It's been a long, strange journey for the Scarabeo-9, Repsol and Cuba, a process shadowed at every step by warnings of a possible environmental debacle and decades of bad blood between Cuba and the United States.

The U.S. trade embargo essentially bars U.S. companies from doing oil business with Cuba and threatens sanctions against foreign companies if they don't follow its restrictions, making it far more complicated to line up equipment and resources for the project.

To avoid sanctions, Repsol chose the Scarabeo-9, a 380-foot-long (115-meter), self-propelled, semisubmersible behemoth built in China and Singapore and capable of housing 200 workers. The rig qualifies for the Cuba project because it was built with less than 10 percent U.S.-made parts, no small feat considering America's dominance in the industry.

While comparable platforms sat idle in the Gulf of Mexico, the Scarabeo-9 spent months navigating through three oceans and around the Cape of Good Hope to arrive in the Caribbean at tremendous expense.

Even after the rig is in place, the embargo continues to affect just about every aspect.

The Scarabeo-9's blowout preventer, a key piece of machinery that failed in the 2010 Macondo-Deepwater Horizon disaster, is state of the art. But its U.S. manufacturer is not licensed to work with Cuba so replacement parts must come through secondary sources.

It's also more complicated to do things like the maintenance necessary to keep things running smoothly and decrease the chances of something going wrong.

If it does, Cuba would be hard-pressed to respond to a major spill on its own, and getting help isn't as simple as making a phone call to Washington. The embargo would require licenses to be issued for all manner of equipment and services for an emergency response.

Few U.S. companies so far have gotten permission to work with the Cubans in the event of a spill ? representing just 5 percent of all the resources thrown at the Macondo blowout, according to an estimate by Lee Hunt, president of the International Association of Drilling Contractors.

Two U.S. companies have received licenses to export capping stacks, crucial pieces of equipment for stopping gushing wells, but related services like personnel and transportation have not been green-lighted, Hunt said.

"So what you have is a great big intelligent piece of iron without a crew," he said. "You can't just drop it on the hole and hope (the spill) will stop. It's not a cork."

Even Tyvek suits worn by cleanup crews cannot currently be exported to Cuba because potentially they could be used for the construction of bacteriological or chemical weapons, Hunt added.

Meanwhile cooperation between the two governments, which often struggle to see eye-to-eye on things as basic as delivering each other's mail, has been only bare-bones.

"With any other country ? Mexico, Canada or Russia ? we would already have in place agreements between the coast guards of the two countries," said Dan Whittle, Cuba program director for the Environmental Defense Fund. "There would be contingency plans written and publicly available. There already would have been drills, a comprehensive action plan for responding to a spill."

"We don't have that yet."

There has been some movement.

U.S. inspectors examined the rig last week in Trinidad and gave it a clean bill of health, though notably said that did not constitute any certification. And American representatives at a regional oil meeting last month in the Bahamas were left impressed by their Cuban counterparts' openness and willingness to share information.

But the countries' proximity has increased fears of a disastrous spill with the potential to foul not only Cuba's reefs and gleaming, white-sand beaches, but also, swept up by the Gulf Stream, the coast of Florida and the Atlantic Seaboard up to North Carolina.

Curiously, those fears have been cited by people on both sides of the embargo issue: Some say the prospect of environmental disaster shows the U.S. needs to lift the embargo and work with the Cubans in the interest of safety; others say the fact that the trade ban failed to prevent Cuba from drilling shows it needs to be made even tougher.

Some of the harshest criticism has come from Cuban-American members of Congress such as House Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who recently accused the Obama administration of dropping the ball on Cuban drilling.

"Oil exploration 90 miles off the Florida coast by this corrupt, unaccountable dictatorship could result in horrific environmental and economic damage to our Gulf Coast communities, in addition to enriching the Castro tyranny," Ros-Lehtinen said.

The exact size of Cuba's offshore reserves, estimated at 5 billion to 9 billion barrels, is still unknown. And production would not come online for years, so any windfall is still on the horizon. But island officials are hopeful of a big strike that could inject much-needed cash into their struggling economy, and they're not asking anyone for permission.

"Cuba is going through its own change regardless of American foreign policy," said U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat in the U.S. Senate who met with Cuban officials in Havana this week on oil and other matters.

"This discovery, or potential discovery, of significant amounts of oil could dramatically change the economy of Cuba, and change the relationship with the United States in small ways and large," Durbin said while visiting Haiti on Thursday.

___

Associated Press videojournalist Pierre-Richard Luxama in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-19-CB-Cuba-Oil-Dreams/id-438d7804ff3241df9360ad0d6d47f799

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