What was it about the law of diminishing Fed stimulus returns again? But don't worry: "the market is up." Because if $165 billion in Q4 stimulus could not even generate a positive GDP return, at least it sent the Russell 2000 soaring.
Source: BEA, Treasury Direct
(23 votes)
Source: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-01-30/chart-quarter-312-billion-debt-adds-negative-5-billion-gdp
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Many full-time state workers are moonlighting with second jobs in the same department, California jobs records show.
January state jobs data revealed that nearly a dozen state departments have allowed hundreds of employees to hold more than one job, according to the Sacramento Bee.
Click to read more.
Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/50637916/ns/local_news-sacramento_ca/
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Whitney Houston’s Brother Michael Houston Introduced Her To Crack (VIDEO)
Michael Houston dropped a bombshell as he sat down for an interview on OWN with Oprah Winfrey and his mother Cissy Houston. Michael admits getting his sister, late singer Whitney Houston, started on drugs years ago. He said he lives with that guilt every day. During the Oprah interview on OWN, the host discussed singer ...
Whitney Houston’s Brother Michael Houston Introduced Her To Crack (VIDEO) Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News
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Acer's ChromeOS-based?Chromebooks, the company's?president?Jim Wong told Bloomberg today, accounted for "5 percent to 10 percent of Acer's U.S. shipments since being released there in November." Google itself has generally been reluctant to share any information about shipments of devices with its browser-centric Linux-based operating system and we haven't heard any concrete numbers from Samsung, Google's other main Chromebook manufacturer either. Acer currently only offers one Chromebook, the WiFi-only $199 C7 model.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/z5_nu9mVOYI/
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The video-sharing app released by Twitter on Thursday is off to a bumpy start for hosting pornographic content. Vine could get the boot from the App Store if it does not clean up its content.
Twitter launched a Vine app today.
Vine
EnlargeJust days ago, Vine was getting praise from the Apple App Store as an Editor?s Choice pick. Now the mobile video-sharing app released by Twitter could get taken down for its plethora of pornographic content.
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Vine, which launched Thursday, hosts six-second videos, similar to Twitter?s 140-character-long tweets. Since its release, the app has come under scrutiny for allowing pornographic videos, many of them under hashtags like #porn, #nsfw, and #porno.
One risqu? video briefly made the Editor?s Picks list on Vine early Monday morning, according to CNET. It was quickly taken down, but the damage was done.?
A statement released by Twitter attributes the incident to human error.
?A human error resulted in a video with adult content becoming one of the videos in Editor?s Picks, and upon realizing this mistake we removed the video immediately,? the statement reads. ?We apologize to our users for the error.?
In response to concerns regarding sexual content, Twitter states it will remove all content that is flagged as inappropriate.
?Users can report videos as inappropriate within the product if they believe the content to be sensitive or inappropriate (e.g. nudity, violence, or medical procedures). Videos that have been reported as inappropriate have a warning message that a viewer must click through before viewing the video. Uploaded videos that are reported and determine to violate our guidelines will be removed from the site, and the user that posted the video may be terminated.?
The incident comes just days after the app received praise from Apple.?The App Store tweeted?on Friday that Vine was an Editor?s Choice app, mainly because of its ability to share six-second looping videos.
But Apple could remove Vine from the App Store if the app continues to feature sexual content. At least that is what happened to 500px, a photo-sharing startup based in Toronto. TechCrunch reported last week that the app was removed from the App Store due to concerns over nudity being featured in some of its images.
Rebecca Jeschke, a digital rights analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, says she is not totally comfortable with Apple being the gatekeeper of her applications.
"Some people do want a highly curated environment on their phone,? she says. ?On the other hand, if you did a quick Google search for ridiculous app removals from the store, you?ll see unbelievable stuff.?
One instance Jeschke points to is the App Store?s ban of Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist Mark Fiore?s app, which featured cartoons satirizing public figures. Apple?s reasoning? Fiore violated rules that prohibit making fun of public figures, according to Wire.
While Apple has the right to curate the products in the App Store, Jeschke says, users have the right to use another phone or to jailbreak the device. She also says it is another example of why the jailbreak exemption, which allows people to jailbreak their phones without violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, should be renewed.
?One of the reasons why that exemption is so important is because if you are in Apple?s nice, safe universe, they get to decide which apps you put on your phone and you should decide which apps you put on phone,? she says.
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WASHINGTON (AP) ? A bipartisan group of leading senators has reached agreement on the principles of sweeping legislation to rewrite the nation's immigration laws.
The deal, which was to be announced at a news conference Monday afternoon, covers border security, guest workers and employer verification, as well as a path to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants already in this country.
Although thorny details remain to be negotiated and success is far from certain, the development heralds the start of what could be the most significant effort in years toward overhauling the nation's inefficient patchwork of immigration laws.
President Barack Obama also is committed to enacting comprehensive immigration legislation and will travel to Nevada on Tuesday to lay out his vision, which is expected to overlap in important ways with the Senate effort.
The eight senators expected to endorse the new principles Monday are Democrats Charles Schumer of New York, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Michael Bennet of Colorado; and Republicans John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marco Rubio of Florida and Jeff Flake of Arizona.
Several of these lawmakers have worked for years on the issue. McCain collaborated with the late Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy on comprehensive immigration legislation pushed by then-President George W. Bush in 2007, only to see it collapse in the Senate when it couldn't get enough GOP support.
Now, with some Republicans chastened by the November elections which demonstrated the importance of Latino voters and their increasing commitment to Democrats, some in the GOP say this time will be different.
"What's changed, honestly, is that there is a new, I think, appreciation on both sides of the aisle ? including maybe more importantly on the Republican side of the aisle ? that we have to enact a comprehensive immigration reform bill," McCain said Sunday on ABC's "This Week."
"I think the time is right," McCain said.
The group claims a notable newcomer in Rubio, a potential 2016 presidential candidate whose conservative bona fides may help smooth the way for support among conservatives wary of anything that smacks of amnesty. In an opinion piece published Sunday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Rubio wrote that the existing system amounts to "de facto amnesty," and he called for "commonsense reform."
According to documents obtained by The Associated Press, the senators will call for accomplishing four goals:
?Creating a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already here, contingent upon securing the border and better tracking of people here on visas.
?Reforming the legal immigration system, including awarding green cards to immigrants who obtain advanced degrees in science, math, technology or engineering from an American university.
?Creating an effective employment verification system to ensure that employers do not hire illegal immigrants.
?Allowing more low-skill workers into the country and allowing employers to hire immigrants if they can demonstrate they couldn't recruit a U.S. citizen; and establishing an agricultural worker program.
The principles being released Monday are outlined on just over four pages, leaving plenty of details left to fill in. What the senators do call for is similar to Obama's goals and some past efforts by Democrats and Republicans, since there's wide agreement in identifying problems with the current immigration system. The most difficult disagreement is likely to arise over how to accomplish the path to citizenship.
In order to satisfy the concerns of Rubio and other Republicans, the senators are calling for the completion of steps on border security and oversight of those here on visas before taking major steps forward on the path to citizenship.
Even then, those here illegally would have to qualify for a "probationary legal status" that would allow them to live and work here ? but not qualify for federal benefits ? before being able to apply for permanent residency. Once they are allowed to apply they would do so behind everyone else already in line for a green card within the current immigration system.
That could be a highly cumbersome process, but how to make it more workable is being left to future negotiations. The senators envision a more streamlined process toward citizenship for immigrants brought here as children by their parents, and for agricultural workers.
The debate will play out at the start of Obama's second term, as he aims to spend the political capital afforded him by his re-election victory on an issue that has eluded past presidents and stymied him during his first term despite his promises to the Latino community to act.
"As the president has made clear for some time, immigration reform is an important priority and he is pleased that progress is being made with bipartisan support," a White House spokesman, Clark Stevens, said in a statement. "At the same time, he will not be satisfied until there is meaningful reform and he will continue to urge Congress to act until that is achieved."
For Republicans, the November elections were a stark schooling on the importance of Latino voters, who voted for Obama over Republican Mitt Romney 71 percent to 27 percent, helping ensure Obama's victory. That led some Republican leaders to conclude that supporting immigration reform with a path to citizenship has become a political imperative.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senators-reach-deal-immigration-changes-050551602.html
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In this video filmed in Australia?s Sunshine Coast, an amateur filmmaker records a clip of sea foam that has risen up to cover a nearby road. Two friends are heard off-camera discussing a public transportation bus that is slowly making its way through the wall of foam while two traffic cops observe the situation.
About 10 seconds into the video, one of the observers says, ?Oh, look, there?s a wave.?
Except, it?s not. What appeared to be a tide of sea foam is actually a previously unseen car plowing through the water. It suddenly bursts through the foam and nearly collides with the two police officers.
There is some mild adult language near the end of the clip, but thankfully no one is hurt in the unusual and entertaining video.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/car-bursts-wave-sea-foam-nearly-hits-police-210152919.html
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WASHINGTON (AP) ? A bipartisan group of leading senators has reached agreement on the principles for a sweeping overhaul of the nation's immigration laws, including a path to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants already in this country.
The deal, to be announced at a news conference Monday, also covers border security, non-citizen or "guest" workers and employer verification of immigration status.
Although thorny details remain to be negotiated and success is far from certain, the development heralds the start of what could be the most significant effort in years toward overhauling the nation's inefficient patchwork of immigration laws.
President Barack Obama also is committed to enacting comprehensive immigration legislation and will travel to Nevada on Tuesday to lay out his vision, which is expected to overlap in important ways with the Senate effort.
Passage of legislation by the full Democratic-controlled Senate is far from assured, but the tallest hurdle could come in the House, which is dominated by conservative Republicans who've shown little interest in immigration reform.
Still, with some Republicans chastened by the November elections which demonstrated the importance of Latino voters and their increasing commitment to Democrats, some in the GOP say this time will be different.
"What's changed, honestly, is that there is a new, I think, appreciation on both sides of the aisle ? including maybe more importantly on the Republican side of the aisle ? that we have to enact a comprehensive immigration reform bill," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Sunday on ABC's "This Week."
"I think the time is right," McCain said.
Besides McCain, the senators expected to endorse the new principles Monday are Democrats Charles Schumer of New York, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Michael Bennet of Colorado; and Republicans Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marco Rubio of Florida and Jeff Flake of Arizona.
Several of these lawmakers have worked for years on the issue. McCain collaborated with the late Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy on comprehensive immigration legislation pushed by then-President George W. Bush in 2007, only to see it collapse in the Senate when it couldn't get enough GOP support.
The group claims a notable newcomer in Rubio, a potential 2016 presidential candidate whose conservative bona fides may help smooth the way for support among conservatives wary of anything that smacks of amnesty. In an opinion piece published Sunday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Rubio wrote that the existing system amounts to "de facto amnesty," and he called for "commonsense reform."
According to documents obtained by The Associated Press, the senators will call for accomplishing four goals:
?Creating a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already here, contingent upon securing the border and better tracking of people here on visas.
?Reforming the legal immigration system, including awarding green cards to immigrants who obtain advanced degrees in science, math, technology or engineering from an American university.
?Creating an effective employment verification system to ensure that employers do not hire illegal immigrants in the future, including requiring prospective workers to verify legal status and identity through a non-forgeable electronic system.
?Allowing more low-skill workers into the country and allowing employers to hire immigrants if they can demonstrate they couldn't recruit a U.S. citizen; and establishing an agricultural worker program.
The principles being released Monday are outlined on just over four pages, leaving plenty of details left to fill in. What the senators do call for is similar to Obama's goals and some past efforts by Democrats and Republicans, since there's wide agreement in identifying problems with the current immigration system. The most difficult disagreement is likely to arise over how to accomplish the path to citizenship.
In order to satisfy the concerns of Rubio and other Republicans, the senators are calling for the completion of steps on border security and oversight of those here on visas before taking major steps forward on the path to citizenship.
Even then, those here illegally would have to pass background checks and pay fines and taxes in order to qualify for a "probationary legal status" that would allow them to live and work here ? but not qualify for federal benefits ? before being able to apply for permanent residency, a critical step toward citizenship. Once they are allowed to apply they would do so behind everyone else already in line for a green card within the current immigration system.
That could be a highly cumbersome process, but how to make it more workable is being left to future negotiations. The senators envision a more streamlined process toward citizenship for immigrants brought here as children, and for agricultural workers.
The American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement that the framework agreed on by the senators could provide important protections for illegal immigrants who are exploited by employers and live in "constant fear" over their immigration status.
But the ACLU took issue with the proposal to require employers to use an electronic employment-verification system, calling it "a thinly disguised national ID requirement" that would undermine employees' privacy and lead to discrimination against those "who look or sound 'foreign.'"
The debate will play out at the start of Obama's second term, as he aims to spend the political capital afforded him by his re-election victory on an issue that has eluded past presidents and stymied him during his first term despite his promises to the Latino community to act.
"As the president has made clear for some time, immigration reform is an important priority and he is pleased that progress is being made with bipartisan support," a White House spokesman, Clark Stevens, said in a statement. "At the same time, he will not be satisfied until there is meaningful reform and he will continue to urge Congress to act until that is achieved."
For Republicans, the November elections were a stark schooling on the importance of Latino voters, who voted for Obama over Republican Mitt Romney 71 percent to 27 percent, helping ensure Obama's victory. That led some Republican leaders to conclude that supporting immigration reform with a path to citizenship has become a political imperative.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senators-reach-agreement-immigration-reform-085239296--politics.html
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In order to pay for the Nation?s new healthcare program, the IRS hopes to raise $30 billion and they don?t plan on having a bake sale to get the cash. Under the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act (P.L. 111-152) a 2.3% excise tax will be levied on medical equipment starting January 1st, 2013. Amid growing fears that the tax will have far reaching and negative impacts on the healthcare system, both Democrats and Republicans are coming together in hopes of repealing the excise tax.
Known as the Medical Device Tax, its aim is to generate revenues to help pay for the addition of health care benefits to millions of new Obamacare recipients. But how could a seemingly innocuous 2.3% tax hike on manufacturers of medical equipment have any impact on the citizen at large? At least they aren?t increasing my taxes you might think, right? Like a Trojan horse, this tax is being ushered into our cities but once inside the proverbial gates, it could destroy many of the innovative companies that develop and build the machines which make modern medicine possible, lead to job losses and an increase in health care costs, according to John A. Sparks from the Washington Times.1
We take for granted the wondrous, beeping, chirping and dripping, life-saving machines that fill our hospital room floors and stand vigil at our bedsides when we are sick. We have come to expect that scanning MRI, Ultra Sound and X-Ray devices will help our doctors see into our bodies, diagnose, and treat our medical conditions. As my boss likes to quote from the Pearson, Sabin, Emanuel book, ?No Margin ? No Mission?, the Medical Device Tax slices over half of the margin, or profit, from the companies hard at work, creating and manufacturing the equipment that make American modern medicine possible.
The attentive reader might ask how could a measly 2.3% tax confiscate over half of a business?s profits? First, this tax is imposed on revenue, not profit, like most commerce taxes. To understand, if a business develops and makes an MRI machine that generates $1 million in its first year of sales, but has only seen an actual profit, after all business expenses, of $40,000 the company would be taxed on that $40,000. The government would take its share of the profits. However, this tax is levied on revenue, not profits. Instead of taking a percentage of the $40,000 profit, the government will take 2.3% off the $1 million in revenue or $23,000. That?s 58% ? more than half the company?s profits ? if they even have profits. It may take years for the revenue from a new device to generate a profit but the company is required to pay out 2.3% on revenue, regardless, ensuring many companies could be forced to close their doors.
Foreseeing the negative impact, the tax will have on the financial future of the medical technology industry, investment in health care technology companies has already begun to retreat, reaching anemic levels. Elizabeth McDonald, noted business journalist explains that capital funding for the medical equipment industry during the third quarter of 2012 reached the lowest it has been in almost a decade.1 According to a Price Waterhouse Coopers paper published August 2011 a broad coalition of medical technology companies and leading associations consisting of over 400 companies, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other investment firms all believe the new tax will lead to job losses, reduction in research and development and burdensome administration. The tax will ?harm patient care and thwart innovation and job creation at a time when we can least afford it, ? said Mark Leahey, President and CEO of the Medical Device Manufacturers Association (MDMA).2 Bruce Josten, Executive Vice President for Government Affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce echoes Leahey?s statement saying that, ?Allowing the medical device excise tax to take effect would undermine patient care, stifle innovation in medical technology, and further damage our economy.?3
The Medical Equipment Tax has US manufacturers of medical products scrambling to raise prices, eliminate jobs and revise their business strategies. Congress wants you to think the tax won?t affect the general consumer since it?s not imposed directly on you. Remember, ?No Margin ? No Mission? and without profits, the medical device industry will languish,? irreparably damaging healthcare on the whole.? Although it?s aim was to raise money to pay for Obamacare, the Medical Device Tax may hobble the health care system it is intended to fund.
How do you think the Medical Device Tax will impact you and your healthcare?
Craig Hood is Executive Vice President of Scrip Companies and Founder of Allegro Medical (AllegroMedical.com), the leading online supplier of medical equipment and home health care supplies.
Sources:
1The Washington Times ? ?Obamacare tax on medical devices hurts jobs and health?
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jan/15/obamacare-tax-on-medical-devices-hurts-jobs-and-he/
2Medical Device Manufacturers Association (MDMA) ? ?Broad Coalition Urges Congressional Leaders to Repeal Medical Device Tax?, July 18, 2011
http://medicaldevices.org/node/1039
3Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) ? Medtechfocus, ?Med tech companies further debate over US competitiveness, raise question about impact of excise tax on innovation?, August 16, 2011 http://pwchealth.com/cgi-local/hregister.cgi/reg/medtech-focus-on-excise-tax.pdf
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WASHINGTON (AP) ? Republican and Democratic lawmakers were cautiously optimistic Sunday that a long-sought overhaul of the nation's immigration system that includes a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants currently in the country will clear Congress this year, the result of changes in the political landscape shown in November's election.
"We are trying to work our way through some very difficult issues," said Illinois' Sen. Richard Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate. "But, we are committed to a comprehensive approach to finally, in this country, have an immigration law we can live with. We have virtually been going maybe 25 years without a clear statement about immigration policy. That's unacceptable in this nation of immigrants."
Sen. Robert Menendez, who along with Durbin and Sen. John McCain, is part of the six-member, bipartisan Senate group working on a framework for immigration legislation to be announced this week, said current politics dictate that a pathway for citizenship must be included.
"Let's be very clear: having a pathway to earned legalization is an essential element. And I think that we are largely moving in that direction as an agreement," said Menendez, D-N.J.
But the package "will have the enhancement of the border security," he said, nodding to Republicans' priority to tighten borders to prevent future illegal immigration.
He also said the package would have to crack down on employers hiring undocumented workers.
Arizona Republican McCain has returned to the issue after having led a failed push to fix the nation's broken immigration system ahead of his 2008 bid for the White House.
McCain said: "What's changed is, honestly, is that there is a new, I think, appreciation on both sides of the aisle ? including, maybe more importantly on the Republican side of the aisle, that we have to enact a comprehensive immigration reform bill."
Despite making little progress on immigration in his first term, President Barack Obama won more than 70 percent of the Latino vote, in part because of the conservative positions on immigration that Republican nominee Mitt Romney staked out during the GOP primary. Asians, who immigrated to the U.S. in higher numbers than Hispanics in 2010, also overwhelmingly backed Obama. Latino voters accounted for 10 percent of the electorate in November.
Obama is to press his case for immigration changes during a trip to Las Vegas Tuesday: a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants that includes paying fines and back taxes; increased border security; mandatory penalties for businesses that employ unauthorized immigrants; and improvements to the legal immigration system, including giving green cards to high-skilled workers and lifting caps on legal immigration for the immediate family members of U.S. citizens.
In an opinion piece published online Sunday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Sen. Marco Rubio, also a member of the bipartisan Senate group, laid out his proposal to address the issue. The Florida Republican, son of Cuban immigrants, wrote that "significant progress" on enforcing immigration laws must be certified before unauthorized immigrants now in the country are allowed to apply for residency and "get in the back of the line."
Rep. Paul Ryan, the 2012 Republican candidate for vice president, said he backs Rubio's proposal.
"Immigration is a good thing. We're here because of immigration. We need to make sure it works," Wisconsin's Ryan said.
If Republicans fail to act, they will pay the price in elections for generations, McCain warned.
"Well, I'll give you a little straight talk: Look at the last election... We are losing dramatically the Hispanic vote, which we think should be ours for a variety of reasons," McCain said.
McCain and Menendez spoke with ABC's "This Week," Durbin appeared on "Fox News Sunday" and Ryan was on NBC's "Meet the Press."
___
Associated Press writer Philip Elliott contributed to this report.
___
Follow Michele Salcedo on Twitter at http://twitter.com/michelesalcedo.
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Source: http://watchoutyourback.blogspot.com/2013/01/back-pain-latest-news-on-business.html
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CAIRO/ISMAILIA, Egypt (Reuters) - Seven people were shot dead in the Egyptian city of Suez during nationwide protests against President Mohamed Mursi on Friday, underlining the country's deep divisions on the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak.
One of the dead was a policeman, medics said. Another 456 people were injured across Egypt, officials said, in unrest fuelled by anger at Mursi and his Islamist allies over what the protesters see as their betrayal of the revolution.
Mursi said the state would not hesitate in "pursuing the criminals and delivering them to justice". In a statement, he also called on Egyptians to respect the principles of the revolution by expressing their views peacefully.
The January 25 anniversary laid bare the divide between the Islamists and their secular rivals.
The schism is hindering the efforts of Mursi, elected in June, to revive an economy in crisis and reverse a plunge in Egypt's currency by enticing back investors and tourists.
Inspired by the popular uprising in Tunisia, Egypt's revolution spurred further revolts across the Arab world. But the sense of common purpose that united Egyptians two years ago has given way to internal strife that already triggered bloody street battles last month.
Thousands of opponents of Mursi massed in Cairo's Tahrir Square - the cradle of the revolt against Mubarak - to rekindle the demands of a revolution they say has been hijacked by the Muslim Brotherhood, the group from which Mursi emerged.
In Suez, the military deployed armored vehicles to guard state buildings, witnesses and security sources said, as symbols of government were targeted across the country.
Street battles erupted in cities including Cairo, Alexandria, Suez and Port Said. Arsonists attacked at least two state-owned buildings. An office used by the Muslim Brotherhood's political party was also torched.
"Our revolution is continuing. We reject the domination of any party over this state. We say no to the Brotherhood state," Hamdeen Sabahy, a popular leftist leader, told Reuters.
The Brotherhood decided against mobilizing for the anniversary, wary of the scope for more conflict after December's violence, stoked by Mursi's decision to fast-track an Islamist-tinged constitution rejected by his opponents.
The Brotherhood denies accusations that it is seeking to dominate Egypt, labeling them a smear campaign by its rivals.
DEATH IN SUEZ
There were conflicting accounts of the lethal shooting in Suez. Some witnesses said security forces had opened fire in response to gunfire from masked men.
News of the deaths capped a day of violence that started in the early hours. Before dawn in Cairo, police battled protesters who threw petrol bombs and firecrackers as they approached a wall blocking access to government buildings near Tahrir Square.
Clouds of teargas filled the air. At one point, riot police used one of the incendiaries thrown at them to set ablaze at least two tents erected by youths, a Reuters witness said.
Skirmishes between stone-throwing youths and the police continued in streets around the square into the day. Ambulances ferried away a steady stream of casualties.
Protesters echoed the chants of 2011's historic 18-day uprising. "The people want to bring down the regime," they chanted. "Leave! Leave! Leave!" chanted others as they marched towards the square.
"We are not here to celebrate but to force those in power to submit to the will of the people. Egypt now must never be like Egypt during Mubarak's rule," said Mohamed Fahmy, an activist.
There were similar scenes in Suez and Alexandria, where protesters and riot police clashed near local government offices. Black smoke billowed from tires set ablaze by youths.
In Cairo, police fired teargas to disperse a few dozen protesters trying to remove barbed-wire barriers protecting the presidential palace, witnesses said. A few masked men got as far as the gates before they were beaten back.
Teargas was also fired at protesters who tried to remove metal barriers outside the state television building.
Outside Cairo, protesters broke into the offices of provincial governors in Ismailia and Kafr el-Sheikh in the Nile Delta. A local government building was torched in the Nile Delta city of al-Mahalla al-Kubra.
BADIE CALLS FOR 'PRACTICAL, SERIOUS COMPETITION'
With an eye on parliamentary elections likely to begin in April, the Brotherhood marked the anniversary with a charity drive across the nation. It plans to deliver medical aid to one million people and distribute affordable basic foodstuffs.
Writing in Al-Ahram, Egypt's flagship state-run daily, Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie said the country was in need of "practical, serious competition" to reform the corrupt state left by the Mubarak era.
"The differences of opinion and vision that Egypt is passing through is a characteristic at the core of transitions from dictatorship to democracy, and clearly expresses the variety of Egyptian culture," he wrote.
Mursi's opponents say he and his group are seeking to dominate the post-Mubarak order. They accuse him of showing some of the autocratic impulses of the deposed leader by, for example, driving through the new constitution last month.
"I am taking part in today's marches to reject the warped constitution, the 'Brotherhoodisation' of the state, the attack on the rule of law, and the disregard of the president and his government for the demands for social justice," Amr Hamzawy, a prominent liberal politician, wrote on his Twitter feed.
The Brotherhood says its rivals are failing to respect the rules of the new democracy that put the Islamists in the driving seat via free elections.
Six months into office, Mursi is also being held responsible for an economic crisis caused by two years of turmoil. The Egyptian pound has sunk to record lows against the dollar.
The parties that called for Friday's protests list demands including a complete overhaul of the constitution.
Critics say the constitution, which was approved in a referendum, offers inadequate protection for human rights, grants the president too many privileges and fails to curb the power of a military establishment supreme in the Mubarak era.
Mursi's supporters say enacting the constitution quickly was crucial to restoring stability needed for economic recovery.
(Additional reporting by Ahmed el-Shemi, Ashraf Fahim, Marwa Awad, Shaimaa Fayed and Yasmine Saleh in Cairo and Abdel Rahman Youssef in Alexandria; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Robert Woodward and Peter Cooney)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/seven-die-egypt-violence-anniversary-uprising-003521804.html
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Silver Price Close Today : 31.18
Silver Price Close 18-Jan-13 : 31.90.2
Change : -0.722 or -2.3%
Gold Silver Ratio Today : 53.124
Gold Silver Ratio 18-Jan-13 : 52.868
Change : 0.26 or 0.5%
Silver Gold Ratio : 0.01882
Silver Gold Ratio 18-Jan-13 : 0.01891
Change : -0.00009 or -0.5%
Dow in Gold Dollars : $ 173.11
Dow in Gold Dollars 18-Jan-13 : $ 167.30
Change : $5.81 or 3.5%
Dow in Gold Ounces : 8.374
Dow in Gold Ounces 18-Jan-13 : 8.093
Change : 0.28 or 3.5%
Dow in Silver Ounces : 444.86
Dow in Silver Ounces 18-Jan-13 : 427.86
Change : 17.00 or 4.0%
Dow Industrial : 13,870.75
Dow Industrial 18-Jan-13 : 13,649.70
Change : 221.05 or 1.6%
S&P 500 : 1,500.67
S&P 500 18-Jan-13 : 1,485.98
Change : 14.69 or 1.0%
US Dollar Index : 79.748
US Dollar Index 18-Jan-13 : 80.030
Change : -0.282 or -0.4%
Platinum Price Close Today : 1,693.90
Platinum Price Close 18-Jan-13 : 1,672.10
Change : 21.80 or 1.3%
Palladium Price Close Today : 740.25
Palladium Price Close 18-Jan-13 : 722.00
Change : 18.25 or 2.5%
The GOLD PRICE lost $13.10 today to close near the low at $1,656.40. Silver lost 51.5 cents to 3118c.
The silver and GOLD PRICE are not at a point -- $1,655 and 3100c -- where they must either catch or fall further, to $1,640 and 2975c.
Clearly, jumping over $1,700 will take some work.
Looking at it through the optimist's lens, today's gold retreat did no more than take gold down for a final kiss good-bye to the downtrend line from the high from mid-November. That's $1,656. Final kiss good-bye, I remind y'all, occurs after a market breaks through resistance, peaks, then corrects and touches back to that resistance line before it once again takes off.
I've been through these long soul-harrowing times before. You think metals have begun to take off again, only to disappoint you again. It can last a long time. Why shouldn't silver and gold go lower? The low on 4 January was too complete from a lot of angles. Most likely outcome will see silver and gold trading sideways next week, then attempting that $1,700 mark in a week or two.
Y'all think this is bad because you weren't watching the gold and SILVER PRICE in October and November 2008. Gold dropped 32% from its 2008 peak and silver gave up 105% of its preceding gain. Brutal, but by no means the end of the bull market. From an 880 cent and $704.50 low silver and gold rallied for 3 years. As I keep on telling y'all, the bull is always working to shake off as many riders as possible.
Wise words for today: "Keep about your work. Do not flinch because the lion roars. Do not stop to stone the devil's dogs. Do not fool away your time chasing the devil's rabbits. Do your work."
Again today stocks reached new high closes for the move. Dow added 45.42 (0.33%) to 13,870.75 while the S&P500 moved about the same, up 5.85 (0.39%) to 1,500.67. That close over 1,500 offers big round number support to morale, and never mind that it's only 2/3 of a point over 1,500.
Should you take a ruler and draw a line across the 12,875 Dow high in May 2011, the 13,238 in May 2012, and the October 2013 high at 13,662, you have an upward slope that defines the upper Jaw of Death, the upper boundary of a broadening top. (Lower boundary runs from May 2011 at 12,876 through 12,035 in June 2012.) Against that backdrop, within those Jaws of Death, all the present stock rally is playing out. Keep that in mind. (S&P500 backdrop is about the same.)
It is possible the Dow might punch through that upper jaw and reach for the 14,000 high made in October 2007. Witnessing against that is a VERY overbought RSI (75.69 today when 70 is overbought), more so than it was in 2007. MACD -- market's distance above its moving averages -- isn't quite that bad, but strongly overbought.
Stocks have also traded in a rising wedge since November, and the last three days have taken them above that wedge's point. Generally a rising wedge resolves by dropping. Stocks have also risen 8 days running.
It's also possible that stocks will break here for a correction, then renew their rise into March before their final breakdown, assuming that the next one isn't the big one.
But in the teeth of all the Fed's manipulation and the President's Plunge Protection Team and all the twitching and tweaking they can do, stocks are locked in a primary down trend (bear market), and those who have been seduced into believing that a new bull market is arrived and Dow 36,000 lies just around the corner will be undeceived in dust, sackcloth, ashes, weeping and wailing.
Dow in gold has broken above resistance and has an upward target of about 9.12 oz (G$188.53). Today it stands at 8.39 oz (G$173.44). Dow in silver was trying to break down but last two days has rallied no, gapped, above the 200 DMA and the 20 DMA and penetrated the downtrend line. Target here is about 475 oz, from today's 445.3.
US dollar index has a tee-tiny uptrend working, but today lost 23.7 basis points (0.3%) to 79.748. Euro finally burst through $1.3400 resistance to $1,3460, up 0.64%. Target now becomes $1.3486, the Feb. 2012 high. Yen made ANOTHER new low for the move today at 109.98 (-0.69%). I reckon you could take a sauna in the offices of the Federal Reserve and the ECB today, they are so mad at the Japanese for their jawboning competitive devaluation. Lower the yen falls, more it steams the other central banks. I reckon the proverb is true, there is no honor among theives.
Argentum et aurum comparenda sunt -- -- Gold and silver must be bought.
- Franklin Sanders, The Moneychanger
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? 2013, The Moneychanger. May not be republished in any form, including electronically, without our express permission.
To avoid confusion, please remember that the comments above have a very short time horizon. Always invest with the primary trend. Gold's primary trend is up, targeting at least $3,130.00; silver's primary is up targeting 16:1 gold/silver ratio or $195.66; stocks' primary trend is down, targeting Dow under 2,900 and worth only one ounce of gold; US$ or US$-denominated assets, primary trend down; real estate bubble has burst, primary trend down.
WARNING AND DISCLAIMER. Be advised and warned:
Do NOT use these commentaries to trade futures contracts. I don't intend them for that or write them with that short term trading outlook. I write them for long-term investors in physical metals. Take them as entertainment, but not as a timing service for futures.
NOR do I recommend investing in gold or silver Exchange Trade Funds (ETFs). Those are NOT physical metal and I fear one day one or another may go up in smoke. Unless you can breathe smoke, stay away. Call me paranoid, but the surviving rabbit is wary of traps.
NOR do I recommend trading futures options or other leveraged paper gold and silver products. These are not for the inexperienced.
NOR do I recommend buying gold and silver on margin or with debt.
What DO I recommend? Physical gold and silver coins and bars in your own hands.
One final warning: NEVER insert a 747 Jumbo Jet up your nose. No, I don't.
Source: http://silver-and-gold-prices.goldprice.org/2013/01/the-gold-price-lost-1310-closing-near.html
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NEW YORK (AP) ? Stocks opened higher on Wall Street after Procter & Gamble and Starbucks posted strong earnings reports.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 37 points to 13,863 as of 10:15 a.m. EST. The Standard & Poor's 500 advanced five points to 1,499. The Nasdaq gained 16 points to 3,146.
Procter & Gamble, world's largest consumer products maker, gained $2.52 to $72.97 after reporting that its quarterly income more than doubled. P&G also raised its profit forecast for its full fiscal year. Starbucks rose $2.37 to $56.96 after reporting a 13 percent increase in profits.
The S&P 500 broke through 1,500 Thursday for the first time since December 2007, following a drop in claims for unemployment benefits that added to evidence that the labor market is healing. The index fell back but still ended the day fractionally higher and extended its streak of gains to seven days, the longest since October 2006.
The index has advanced 5.3 percent this month. It jumped at the start of the year when lawmakers reached a last-minute deal to avoid the "fiscal cliff." Stocks built on those gains on optimism that the housing market is recovering and the labor market is healing. The Dow Jones is up 5.9 percent on the year.
Homebuilder stocks didn't react much to a government report that sales of new homes fell in December but posted the first annual gain since 2005. PulteGroup edged up 12 cents to $21.10 and KB Home rose 4 cents to $18.33.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, climbed 7 basis points to 1.93 percent.
Among other stocks making big moves.
? Green Mountain Coffee Roasters rose 91 cents to $44.69 after an analyst noted that sales of a competing coffee brewer introduced by Starbucks were getting off to a weak start.
? Halliburton gained $1.71 to $39.52 after posting a loss that was smaller than analysts had expected. The oilfield services company said fourth-quarter profits declined 26 percent to $669 million on increasing pricing pressure in the North American market and one-time charges from the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Wall Street had expected worse.
?Hasbro fell $1.56 to $36.90 after the toy maker said its fourth-quarter revenue failed to meet expectations because of poor demand over the holidays. The company plans to cut about 10 percent of its workforce and consolidate facilities to cut expenses.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stocks-gain-boosted-p-g-starbucks-earnings-153530667--finance.html
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SAP has made two announcements today on sustainability and entrepreneurship.
As the World Economic Forum?s annual meeting in Davos is underway, SAP made two announcements today covering how the company will encourage both entrepreneurship and sustainability. SAP has a strong record of working on social and environmental issues, and today?s unveiling of these new programs builds on SAP?s reputation as a corporate social responsibility leader.
The two new programs are, in part, the result of SAP?s long term strategy. SAP has been keen on emerging markets such as the BRICs India and Brazil. But in order to have clients to whom a firm can pitch enterprise software, that same firm, not surprisingly, needs enterprises. And with youth employment a pesky program in both emerging and developed economies, the world?s largest companies must show they can participate within the solution, not be part of the problem. Furthermore, as climate change gains prominence on multinationals? radar, investment in climate change and poverty?or in programs that tackle both problems concurrently?can help build a company?s reputation as an engaged local stakeholder seeking to improve people?s lives. To that end, today?s announcement that SAP will partner with organizations including Endeavor and the Livelihoods Fund is welcome news.
On the entrepreneurship front, SAP will invest $5 million over the next three years in Endeavor Global, Endeavor Brasil and India?s National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN). Endeavor, an anti-poverty movement the New York Times? Thomas Friedman hailed as ?the best anti-poverty program of all,? has screened over 30,000 entrepreneurs who, in turn, generated $5 billion in revenues during 2011, and created over 200,000 jobs.
Endeavor, SAP and their partners will choose emerging companies that have a robust business model, focus on social innovation and have the capacity to scale with their technologies. In Brazil, Endeavor Brazil and SAP will grant 50 emerging entrepreneurs access to programs such as mentorships and access to Endeavor?s online platform. In India, SAP will work within a similar initiative that involves the training 30 mentors across the country who will in turn support 300 emerging entrepreneurs. Up to five of these entrepreneurs will then receive a package of technologies to help meet their goals as well as a grant from SAP.
In addition, as of today, SAP has joined the Livelihoods Fund, an NGO that funds carbon sequestration, biodiversity and anti-poverty projects. Among the goals of this carbon investment fund is to build economic opportunities in rural communities and bolster food security. Among SAP?s strategies for partnering with Livelihoods Fund is to find new ways to decrease the company?s energy consumption, boost its purchase of electricity from clean energy sources and find new ways to offset the company?s emissions.
According to an email exchange program I had yesterday with SAP?s Evan Welsh, this one-two investment punch offers new opportunities to meet its sustainability commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the company?s 2000 levels by 2020?as well as create new businesses who can employ the world?s newest trained workers. When companies talk about ?sustainability,? the social side of this movement deserves as much attention as the attention paid to the environment. SAP?s two-pronged approach may very well be one from which other multinationals can learn.
Leon Kaye, based in Fresno, California, is a sustainability consultant and the editor of?GreenGoPost.com. He also?contributes to?Guardian Sustainable Business; his work has also appeared on Sustainable Brands,?Inhabitat and Earth911. You can follow Leon and ask him questions on?Twitter or Instagram (greengopost). He will explore children?s health issues in India next month with the International Reporting Project.
[Image credit: SAP]
Source: http://www.triplepundit.com/2013/01/davos-update-sap-investing-66m-entrepreneurship-sustainability/
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(Reuters) - Hostess Brands Inc
Heather Lennox, an attorney for Hostess, told a court in White Plains, New York, that Hostess was also in advanced discussions with a number of parties for the remainder of its snack business, which includes Twinkies, according to a spokesman for Hostess.
Lennox also told the court that Hostess expects to file an agreement for the other brands in the near term, according to the spokesman, Thomas Becker.
It was not immediately clear who the agreements would be with, but private equity firm C. Dean Metropoulos said earlier this week that it was working on a deal for some Hostess brands.
"We continue to be very engaged in the bidding process," Daren Metropoulos, a principal at the firm, which also owns Pabst Brewing Co, confirmed in an email. "We are working to get a deal done."
Sources familiar with the situation have said that Metropoulos is working with Apollo Global Management . Apollo declined to comment on Friday. Metropoulos was not immediately available.
Hostess shut down its baking business and is liquidating assets after a strike by its baker's union crippled the 82-year-old company.
The sale of its assets, which range from Wonder Bread and Ding Dongs to baking equipment and real estate, is being run by bankers at Perella Weinberg, who have said they expected to pick initial bidders, or "stalking horses," for various assets this month.
According to so-called stalking horse deals, the bidders set a baseline bid to acquire some of the bankrupt company's assets, and are often entitled to a breakup fee if another buyer trumps the offer later.
Earlier this month, Hostess chose Flowers Foods
The case is In re: Hostess Brands Inc et al, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, No. 12-22052.
(Additional reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York, Editing by Gary Crosse and Bob Burgdorfer)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hostess-says-near-deal-sell-drakes-cake-unit-192407555--sector.html
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Tip 1: Be clear about the changes you want to make and why.
People often establish a testamentary trust to provide inheritances to those who cannot govern them themselves, such as minor children who cannot directly own property. If you want to change the terms of the trust you need to be sure why you are doing so and if changing the trust terms is the right course. You should speak to an attorney about this because there may be other alternatives you have not considered that could fit your desires better.
Tip 2: Consider the effect the change will have on your other property.
A significant change to the terms of your testamentary trust could impact the other gifts or conditions you included in your will. If, for example, you direct that additional property gets transferred to the trust, that property might affect the inheritances you directed in the will.
Tip 3: Make your changes in writing.
The most common way to update or alter the terms of a testamentary trust is to create a codicil or a new will. A codicil is a document that alters the terms of your existing will, while a new will allows you to completely rewrite it. Both documents must be printed and comply with the laws of your state. These laws are the same laws that applied when you made your original will, and failing to meet them will render the updated document invalid.
Byrd : Garrett, PLLC is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.
Source: http://www.byrdgarrett.com/blog/wills-and-trusts/change-terms-testamentary-trust-3-tips/
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Now that the Pentagon is lifting its ban on women in combat, does this mean that women could potentially be drafted, too?
And as a practical matter: When women turn 18, will they now need to register, as men do, so that they can be conscripted in the event of a World War III, or any military emergency where the US government decides it needs troops quickly?
It?s a thorny question, raising what may be a difficult prospect societally. But the legal implications are obvious, analysts argue.
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?The answer to that question is clearly yes,? says Anne Coughlin, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law in Charlottesville. ?The legal argument is clear: If it comes to that kind of wrenching emergency where we have to press young people into service, there is no legal justification for saying that men alone need to shoulder that burden.?
The wars of the past decade in Iraq and Afghanistan have been fought by an all-volunteer force, since the US military discontinued the draft in 1973. Males between the ages of 18 and 25, however, are still required to register for the Selective Service.
Once the combat exclusion policy is lifted, ?My belief is that if we open up combat arms to women, even on a voluntary basis, if there is a draft, we should be able to force women into those positions,? says retired Col. Peter Mansoor, a professor of military history at the Ohio State University in Columbus and a former US Army brigade commander who served two tours in Iraq.
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?If women are acceptable to serve in combat, they are acceptable to serve whether they volunteer or not. You can?t have the frosting on the cake and not the cake underneath,? he says.
Legal precedent backs this up, adds Professor Coughlin, who has advised plaintiffs in lawsuits to overturn the Pentagon?s combat exclusion policy ? in particular a US Supreme Court case in 1981, Rostker v. Goldberg. In that suit, men argued that the draft is unconstitutional because only men are required by law to register. The Supreme Court rejected the premise of lawsuit.
?The court ruled that the Selective Service process is designed to assemble combat-ready people, and right now women are excluded from combat arms,? Coughlin says. ?Therefore they can?t participate in the very thing that the draft is for. Hence, it?s appropriate and constitutional to continue to exclude women from the draft.?
Yet in overturning combat exclusion for women, ?The male-only draft falls as well, no question about it,? she adds.
Critics of women in combat argue that culturally, the prospect of women being drafted might make the country reluctant to go to war.
To that, Professor Mansoor says, ?It should be: That?s exactly the debate the country needs to have.?
But while the notion of women being drafted ?may add some measure of hesitancy to the decision, I don?t see it as swinging the decision,? he says.
Even so, ?Congress and the president should agonize over going to war. Questions of war should be difficult,? Mansoor adds. ?They should not be as easy as they?ve been in the past 10 years.?
RECOMMENDED: Are you smarter than a US Marine? Take the recruitment quiz
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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/women-combat-register-draft-225900518.html
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Jan. 23, 2013 ? Estrogen levels drop dramatically in menopause, a time when the risk of urinary tract infections increases significantly.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found new evidence in mice that the two phenomena are connected by more than just timing. If further research confirms these links, boosting estrogen levels may get a second look as an approach for reducing urinary infections in menopausal women.
"Scientists tested estrogen as a treatment for post-menopausal women with urinary tract infections in the 1990s, but the results were either ambiguous or negative," says senior author Indira Mysorekar, PhD, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology and of pathology and immunology. "With the mouse model of menopause that we've created, we can more completely understand how estrogen levels affect infection susceptibility, bladder health and the inflammatory response to infection. That should point the way to better treatment strategies."
The findings appear online in Infection and Immunity.
Urinary infections are a significant cause of illness in many women throughout their lives and are particularly prevalent after menopause. The bacteria that cause these infections can spread to the kidney and bloodstream, with the potential for serious complications.
To simulate menopause in mice, scientists surgically remove their ovaries. Like menopausal women, the mice no longer make estrogen.
To rule out the possibility that the stress of surgery affects the risk of urinary tract infections, the researchers conducted the same surgery in other mice but put the ovaries back in, maintaining their ability to make estrogen.
When researchers gave both groups of mice urinary tract infections, the menopausal mice had higher levels of infectious bacteria in their urine. Most of the bacteria came from barrier cells, which line the interior of the bladder. These cells are the first to be infected by the bacteria.
"When the barrier cells are lost, they need to be replaced immediately," Mysorekar says. "In the menopausal mice, we found that this replacement process was stopping short of completion. That left cells under barrier cells exposed, and they are much more vulnerable to infection."
The menopausal mice had more bacterial reservoirs, which are pockets of infection that may provide a place for the bacteria to hide during antibiotic treatment. After treatment stops, the reservoirs can reseed the infection.
In earlier research, Mysorekar had identified an important regulator of the barrier cell repair process. In the new study, she showed that low estrogen levels disable this regulator.
The bladders of the menopausal mice also had higher levels of immune inflammatory compounds known as cytokines.
"The cytokines caused inflammation that left the bladder in bad shape," Mysorekar says. "It's possible that damage caused by inflammation increases the bacteria's ability to break into bladder tissue and create reservoirs of infection."
In the control mice, which had normal estrogen levels, cytokine levels and inflammatory damage were both significantly lower. When researchers gave the menopausal mice estrogen, their cytokine levels and inflammatory damage also decreased significantly, as did reservoirs of infectious bacteria.
Mysorekar notes that earlier clinical trials of estrogen's usefulness against urinary infection evaluated the treatment's success by tracking levels of bacteria in the urine. The researchers say their new results suggest that bacteria levels alone may not provide a complete picture of estrogen's effectiveness against the infections.
"If we can find ways to look at other aspects of the infectious process in humans, we may find that estrogen is more helpful than we previously realized," Mysorekar says. "We need to look for other indicators, such as cytokines in the urine, to more fully assess estrogen's potential role in treatment."
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Washington University in St. Louis. The original article was written by Michael C. Purdy.
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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/zfSJvojEOGc/130123221411.htm
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Jan. 23, 2013 ? The massive Tohoku, Japan, earthquake in 2011 and Sumatra-Andaman superquake in 2004 stunned scientists because neither region was thought to be capable of producing a megathrust earthquake with a magnitude exceeding ? 8.4.
Now earthquake scientists are going back to the proverbial drawing board and admitting that existing predictive models looking at maximum earthquake size are no longer valid.
In a new analysis published in the journal Seismological Research Letters, a team of scientists led by Oregon State University's Chris Goldfinger describes how past global estimates of earthquake potential were constrained by short historical records and even shorter instrumental records. To gain a better appreciation for earthquake potential, he says, scientists need to investigate longer paleoseismic records.
"Once you start examining the paleoseismic and geodetic records, it becomes apparent that there had been the kind of long-term plate deformation required by a giant earthquake such as the one that struck Japan in 2011," Goldfinger said. "Paleoseismic work has confirmed several likely predecessors to Tohoku, at about 1,000-year intervals."
The researchers also identified long-term "supercycles" of energy within plate boundary faults, which appear to store this energy like a battery for many thousands of years before yielding a giant earthquake and releasing the pressure. At the same time, smaller earthquakes occur that do not to any great extent dissipate the energy stored within the plates.
The newly published analysis acknowledges that scientists historically may have underestimated the number of regions capable of producing major earthquakes on a scale of Tohoku.
"Since the 1970s, scientists have divided the world into plate boundaries that can generate 9.0 earthquakes versus those that cannot," said Goldfinger, a professor in OSU's College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences. "Those models were already being called into question when Sumatra drove one stake through their heart, and Tohoku drove the second one.
"Now we have no models that work," he added, "and we may not have for decades. We have to assume, however, that the potential for 9.0 subduction zone earthquakes is much more widespread than originally thought."
Both Tohoku and Sumatra were written off in the textbooks as not having the potential for a major earthquake, Goldfinger pointed out.
"Their plate age was too old, and they didn't have a really large earthquake in their recent history," Goldfinger said. "In fact, if you look at a northern Japan seismic risk map from several years ago, it looks quite benign -- but this was an artifact of recent statistics."
Paleoseismic evidence of subduction zone earthquakes is not yet plentiful in most cases, so little is known about the long-term earthquake potential of most major faults. Scientists can determine whether a fault has ruptured in the past -- when and to what extent -- but they cannot easily estimate how big a specific earthquake might have been. Most, Goldfinger says, fall into ranges -- say, 8.4 to 8.7.
Nevertheless, that type of evidence can be more telling than historical records because it may take many thousands of years to capture the full range of earthquake behavior.
In their analysis, the researchers point to several subduction zone areas that previously had been discounted as potential 9.0 earthquake producers -- but may be due for reconsideration. These include central Chile, Peru, New Zealand, the Kuriles fault between Japan and Russia, the western Aleutian Islands, the Philippines, Java, the Antilles Islands and Makran, Pakistan/Iran.
Onshore faults such as the Himalayan Front may also be hiding outsized earthquakes, the researchers add. Their work was supported by the National Science Foundation.
Goldfinger, who directs the Active Tectonics and Seafloor Mapping Laboratory at Oregon State, is a leading expert on the Cascadia Subduction Zone off the Pacific Northwest coast of North America. His comparative studies have taken him to the Indian Ocean, Japan and Chile, and in 2007, he led the first American research ship into Sumatra waters in nearly 30 years to study similarities between the Indian Ocean subduction zone and Cascadia.
Paleoseismic evidence abounds in the Cascadia Subduction Zone, Goldfinger pointed out. When a major offshore earthquake occurs, the disturbance causes mud and sand to begin streaming down the continental margins and into the undersea canyons. Coarse sediments called turbidites run out onto the abyssal plain; these sediments stand out distinctly from the fine particulate matter that accumulates on a regular basis between major tectonic events.
By dating the fine particles through carbon-14 analysis and other methods, Goldfinger and colleagues can estimate with a great deal of accuracy when major earthquakes have occurred. Over the past 10,000 years, there have been 19 earthquakes that extended along most of the Cascadia Subduction Zone margin, stretching from southern Vancouver Island to the Oregon-California border.
"These would typically be of a magnitude from about 8.7 to 9.2 -- really huge earthquakes," Goldfinger said. "We've also determined that there have been 22 additional earthquakes that involved just the southern end of the fault. We are assuming that these are slightly smaller -- more like 8.0 -- but not necessarily. They were still very large earthquakes that if they happened today could have a devastating impact."
Other researchers on the analysis include Yasutaka Ikeda of University of Tokyo, Robert S. Yeats of Oregon State University, and Junjie Ren, of the Chinese Seismological Bureau.
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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/-OIRBTJHGkE/130123133901.htm
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