Professional Business Marketing ? Five Critical Team Members For ...

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The right team is key to success.

You know your customers. You have a killer product to sell. The business plan is set, strategy thoughtfully documented and funds are in place. You?re ready to go to market or even poised for explosive growth. But, are you surrounded by the best possible teammates to make the dream a reality?

In my 40 plus years as a successful entrepreneur, angel investor and venture capitalist, I have learned that business owners cannot grow an enterprise singlehandedly. ?Michael Jordan once said ?Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.? ?A championship team begins with an inspired coach who has a world class plan to be number one.? To achieve his dream, he recruits, trains and motivates skilled athletes who are willing to set egos aside for the good of the team. ??Working in harmony with a single purpose and a dedicated effort, the coach and the players are able to achieve greatness in their sport. The same model applies to starting and growing an award winning business.

I view a business founder as a coach.? A leader who knows what has to be done, when and where.? Every growing company has multiple tasks that have to be performed for an enterprise to succeed and flourish.? The job of the coach is to recruit and hire the right people to accomplish given assignments.? From my own experiences as a serial entrepreneur and from what I have seen from other business founders I have supported financially, I have learned that exceptional organizations engage a cadre of talented business people who perfectly fit five vital areas of the organization.? ?Today I am pleased to share with you what I feel are the most critical team members any entity must have to win in business.

The leader.

It all starts with the leader. The best business coaches are servant leaders.? They recognize their businesses will soar if they hire great people and let them ?own? their assignments. In this light, the business founder is there to support the employee?s efforts with needed resources, guiding principles and agreed upon priorities.? He or she encourages, motivates, rewards and provides feedback on job performance.? He corrects with kindness and celebrates achievement.? This leader knows if he takes care of his employees, they will provide superior service to customers, who will, in turn, continue to buy and tell their friends to do the same.? He is forgiving of mistakes.? He lets people learn and grow.? He provides a culture of integrity, honor, self reliance, innovation and camaraderie.? They daily play their best game.? Their output is superior to the competition. They are happy people and look forward to work every day.? In fact, the leader is loved by his employees and they will do any for him or her.

The expert.

Great business leaders succeed because they hire people who know the industry, the trends, the competitors, the market place, the customers, the products they sell, the vendors and investors.? They surround themselves with workers, managers and other leaders who have years of experience.? They bring vital information and deep knowledge to their assignments and are willing to share what they know with the business founder, peers and subordinates.? These expert employees mentor others who are learning the business.? They are vigilant and continue to watch and learn.? They provide guidance and wisdom on what works and what does not work in the organization; the results -mistakes are few, productivity is high. I speak from experience on this important topic. I have scars on my back from numerous failed start ups because I hired a team of inexperienced and unseasoned workers who had little knowledge and therefore couldn?t perform.

The financial guru.

Successful businesses all have an experienced and talented financial officer.? The importance of this critical leader can?t be overstated.? No company can survive or prosper without a person who understands accounting, finance, strategy and cash flow management.? There must be someone in the organization that can be trusted with the funds that are received and dispersed by the company.? He or she who owns this key responsibility must know at every minute the health of the company; the availability of cash should be top of mind.? I have learned that regular meetings between the financial guru, peers and the founder are critical to staying afloat.? All leaders and managers need to know where the company is financially and what must be done to sustain viability.? Again, from personal experience, I have watched many companies go out of business because leaders failed to put a competent financial player on their team.? Most planned to do it, but did so too late.

The strategist.

Having a strategist on the team is another critical element that ensures prosperity.? Why? Most entrepreneurs are busy taking care of day to day business.? They have their heads down making sure the company is making money and that the right products are being made and that employees and customers are happy.? They don?t notice the world is changing.? They lack intelligence on emerging industry trends, changes in customer behavior, new competitors and disruptive product innovations. ?They are buried with huge tasks and pressing deadlines.? They don?t have time to lift their eyes to the horizon and learn what tomorrow will bring.? I know this life style.? I have been there many times.? I never had time to put my put my feet up on the desk and gaze into space and see the future.? Yet, the future is heading directly at business founders at high speed.?? To maintain and grow, someone in the organization should be assigned to carry the crystal ball and report on what he or she sees.? Yes, growing companies? need a visionary to research, comprehend and report on opportunities and challenges down the road.? Failing to have this key leader on the team will be catastrophic to the company.? No owner wants to wake up one morning to learn they are now headed to the cemetery of expired businesses.? Having learned this lesson more than once, I now have a strategist on my team that guides our enterprise into the future.

The executer.

Every great company has a leader that owns the responsibility to execute or implement company plans.? These assignments may encompass research, inventory management, manufacturing, distribution, human resources, IT, and marketing and sales.? In many businesses, the person who oversees these critical tasks bares the title of chief operating officer.? To carry out these responsibilities, he or she will hire an expert staff of employees with specific duties that must be accomplished for the enterprise to flourish.? These workers are the heart of the organization and deliver what customers want and buy.? Companies that fail don?t have this key person on the team.? Those firms that do, have found and hired a highly talented executive who know what needs to be done, when and how.

In conclusion, as an owner, shareholder or board director, does your organization have these five critical executives? Are they performing as expected or do they need to be hired, developed or replaced? I would appreciate hearing from you about your organization and its leadership.? I can be reached at @AskAlanEHall or via my personal website,?www.AlanEHall.com.

Author:?Alan Hall?|?Google+

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Source: http://lowbrowse.org/five-critical-team-members-for-business-success.html

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Happy Easter! (Michellemalkin)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

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OUYA's Julie Uhrman Unveils The Android Console's Interface And Games

Today is a big day for OUYA, the Kickstarter-backed, Android-based game console. The company is announcing that its $99 console will be available on June 4 (the news leaked a little early), and it's also holding a big unveiling party in San Francisco tonight. We actually met with founder and CEO Julie Uhrman yesterday, where she gave us a quick peek at the final hardware and at the actual interface. My main impression of the (Yves Behar-designed) hardware: Despite the low price point, it looks great. My main impression of the interface: OUYA really is trying to make it as easy-to-use as possible. That simplicity is important because OUYA isn't just aiming for hardcore gamers, but also trying to create a console for a broader audience, and to offer a more diverse set of games.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/4mPt8Z3eLLM/

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These Awesome Floating Vases Are Practically Invisible

An expensive, ornate vase can be as much of a centerpiece as the flowers that are in it. These floating vases designed by the Japanese group oodesign take things in the opposite direction by making them look like water ripples. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/S6Esb1T4g1U/these-awesome-floating-vases-are-practically-invisible

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Venture Investing Remains Soft In First Quarter | peHUBpeHUB

The first quarter won?t close till Sunday, but an early look finds the soft venture-investment environment continued.

Venture capitalists in the United States put $6.2 billion to work in the quarter fueling 707 deals, according to a tally by PitchBook. This is largely unchanged from the fourth quarter in dollars terms, when PitchBook says $6.3 billion was invested. It is down 11% in number of deals.

PitchBook?s numbers for past quarters diverge quite noticeably from those in the MoneyTree Report, issued by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the National Venture Capital Association and Thomson Reuters. So a final pronouncement on the quarter will likely have to wait for several weeks until all the various investment studies come out.

Still, the early peek suggests an industry still consolidating as a weak fundraising environment makes investment capital more precious.

In its early look at the quarter, PitchBook says median early stage and late stage pre-money valuations slipped compared to the fourth quarter?a result that appears consistent with chatter about a Series A crunch facing entrepreneurs. But they rose for seed and angel deals.

The median pre-money valuation for early stage transactions was $14.33 million?while for late stage deals it was $66.69 million, according to PitchBook. The number for seed and angel deals was $5.38 million.

The top five deals in the quarter were:

• Pinterest?s $200 million funding;
• AirWatch?s $200 million funding;
• SevOne?s $150 million funding;
• LivingSocial?s $110 million funding; and
• Lynda.com?s $103 million funding.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

Source: http://www.pehub.com/193837/venture-investing-remains-soft-in-first-quarter/

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Robotic ants provide path to real ant brains

John Roach , NBC News ? ? ? 25 min.

Robots built to mimic ants suggest that real ants waste little, if any, mental energy deciding which way to go when they reach an uneven fork in the road, according to a new study. Instead, the ants just take the easiest route as dictated by geometry.

"The shape of their network relieves some of the cognitive load for the ants; they don't need to think about it," Simon Garnier, a biologist at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, told NBC News. "The shape of their networks has constrained their movement in a way that is more efficient for them."

The findings have implications for understanding ant biology as well as how humans design transportation networks for the flow of people, information and goods.

Garnier and colleagues have spent several years pursuing questions about the movement of ants around the environment ? how they establish complicated networks that efficiently link their nests with food, for example.

The scientific literature well documents that ants use chemical markers called pheromones to line their trails. Less clear is what goes on inside an ant's brain when it reaches an uneven fork in a built network. Does it spend a lot of time measuring angles and weighing options? Or does it just go with the flow?

The question gave the researchers a good excuse to put to work some ant-like robots they'd been building.

"We programmed our robots so that they would not actively measure the angle of the (fork in the road), they would just move and carry on," Garnier explained. And they were programmed to carry on, so to speak, in the same general direction.

Real ants carry on in this manner, which is called "exploratory behavior," in order to prevent them from running in circles around their nests, establishing a well-traveled, pheromone-laced path that leads nowhere.

The robots, called Alice, laid their own version of pheromones in the form of light, thanks to a system of cameras and projectors coordinated to illuminate the wake of each robot's path. In addition, each robot is equipped with two light sensors that mimic ant antennae so that they can follow established trails.

The experiment showed the robots, like ants, rather quickly find and establish the quickest route through a maze from point A to point B with the aid of the pheromone-like light trails, and that they can do so without weighing options when they reach a fork on the road.

Instead, ants appear programmed, like the robots, to take the easiest path ? the one with the lowest deviation from straight ahead ? without thinking about it. The combination of pheromones and networks with asymmetrical forks, the research suggests, allows ants to navigate efficiently without mentally taxing decision-making.

We humans do a similar thing when walking down a crowded street, noted Garnier. "You're just going to go wherever there is an open space, but you're not going to take into account all of the individuals one by one and everything that is around you," he said.

For people, this automated decision-making allows the brain to focus on other issues, such as the road not taken, as did the poet Robert Frost when he penned the famous lines, "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, / I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference."

The findings are reported online Thursday in the journal PLoS Computational Biology.

John Roach is a contributing writer for NBC News. To learn more about him, visit his website.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2a1c63b9/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Cfutureoftech0Crobotic0Eants0Eprovide0Epath0Ereal0Eant0Ebrains0E1C9132388/story01.htm

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Member of SEAL Team 6 killed, another SEAL injured in parachute accident

By Jim MIklaszweski and Courtney Kube, NBC News

A ?Navy SEAL from the elite SEAL TEAM 6 was killed and another SEAL injured Thursday night during a parachute training accident in Marana, Arizona, the military said. Details of the accident are not immediately available.

One SEAL was pronounced dead on arrival at the University of Arizona Hospital. The second remains hospitalized in stable condition.

Members of SEAL TEAM 6 carried out the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden. All SEAL teams receive extensive parachute training, which is often required for hostage rescue or anti-terrorist operations.

The names of the two SEALS involved in the fatal training mishap have not been released pending notification of next of kin.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2a24ed9f/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C290C17520A3710Emember0Eof0Eseal0Eteam0E60Ekilled0Eanother0Eseal0Einjured0Ein0Eparachute0Eaccident0Dlite/story01.htm

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Lawsuit claims Ford 'design defect' can cause sudden acceleration

Paul A. Eisenstein , The Detroit Bureau ? ? ? 7 hrs.

A new lawsuit claims that nearly a decade?s worth of vehicles produced by the Ford Motor Co. suffer from a ?design defect? that can make them susceptible to suddenly and unexpectedly racing out of control.

The lawsuit, filed in West Virginia federal court on behalf of 20 different owners in 14 states, is seeking class-action status that could, if approved, come to involve the owners of millions of Ford vehicles produced between 2002 and 2010.

"For too long, Ford has put its own financial interests ahead of its consumers' safety," said lead attorney Adam Levitt. "We hope this lawsuit sheds light on this important situation and requires Ford to correct its ways, compensate its customers and put them first."

Chevy Rolls Out New 2014 Camaro

Ford is the latest in a string of manufacturers whose vehicles have been accused of experiencing so-called ?unintended acceleration,? dating back to the late 1980s when Audi?s U.S. subsidiary became embroiled in a case involving its old Audi 5000 model. In 2009 and 2010, Toyota recalled nearly 8 million vehicles due to a variety of problems including sticky accelerators and loose floor mats that could jam gas pedals wide open.

Audi ultimately was vindicated by federal regulators who largely put the blame on driver error. The automaker eventually redesigned the layout of its pedals to make it more difficult for consumers to inadvertently hit the gas instead of the brake. And Toyota is turning to so-called brake interlock systems that automatically throttle back if a motorist hits both pedals simultaneously.

In the lawsuit, attorneys insist Ford should have used a similar override as a ?failsafe.?

Subaru Plans More Hybrids, Battery Cars ? Eventually

According to the lawsuit, a 2011 report by the U.S. Department of Transportation found that Ford products racked up 22 percent of the complaints involving unintended acceleration between 2003 and 2009. Ford not only ?concealed? the defects cited in the lawsuit, but ?could have and should have? used a brake override system, the lawsuit alleges.

In response, Ford issued a statement asserting that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ?has investigated alleged unintended accelerations many times over many years and has concluded that driver error is the predominant cause of these events. NHTSA's work is far more scientific and trustworthy than work done by personal injury lawyers and their paid experts. In rare situations, vehicle factors, such as floor mats or broken mechanical components, can interfere with proper throttle operation, and manufacturers have addressed these rare events in field service actions."

Virtually every automaker has, at one point or another, fielded complaints related to unintended acceleration. While a few, notably including Toyota, have been forced to take actions to deal with defects that could cause cars to race out of control, NHTSA has largely echoed Ford?s contentions.

The federal agency authorized two separate studies, one by the National Academy of Sciences, the other by NASA, that essentially cleared Toyota of electronic problems ? though NASA researchers did note that it can be next to impossible to track some digital issues that may not be repeatable.

Mercedes Plugs In With B-Class Electric Drive

Nonetheless, Toyota recently reached a $1.1 billion settlement involving owners who claimed the unintended acceleration scandal resulted in lower trade-in values for their vehicles. And it has negotiated settlements involving some claims of wrongful death and injury.

Among the Ford models targeted in the new lawsuit are the 2008-2010 Taurus sedan, 2007-2010 Edge Crossover and 2004 to 2010 Explorer, as well as the 2006-2010 Lincoln MKZ luxury sedan. A number of models produced by the now-abandoned Mercury division, such as the 2005 to 2009 Grand Marquis, also are cited.

(Ford official wants EPA to come up with more accurate mileage numbers. Click here for that report.)

Copyright ? 2009-2013, The Detroit Bureau

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Artist paints history of Florida | StAugustine.com

St. Augustine Record

You can sit in front of painter Christopher Still?s ?La Florida? triptych and get a pretty fair idea of Florida?s history. It pays, however, to have the artist as guide.

On Wednesday night, an audience in the Flagler Room at Flagler College got to hear from the artist and watch a video on what it took to create the three paintings which took four years and trips to Spain, Cuba and various locations in the state, including St. Augustine.

Still, who had already signed the paintings, added the March 27, 2013, date as the audience watched.

?People wanted to know why I was so insistent about March 27,? Still said. ?That was the day Easter fell on in 1513.?

As any Florida fourth grader can tell you, on April 2, 1513, Spaniard Ponce de Leon discovered the landmass he named La Florida. And, the name, Still explained, ties directly into the Easter season, what the Spanish termed Pascua Florida or Festival of Flowers.

?? Ponce de Leon would have just celebrated Easter before he named Florida,? explained Still as he and friends Ray Poynor and Don Dohrman put the finishing touches on the exhibit late Wednesday morning. Poynor designed the wooden showcase that unites the paintings.

?You can have ideas. My friends make it happen,? Still said of the finishing piece for his vision.

His work of art is a nod to Florida?s history as well as painting techniques from the 1500s to present. A triptych consists of three pieces and the form goes back to early Christian art. Those folding triptychs often served as altar pieces.

Still?s paintings are separate in this triptych, but the box setting draws them together. On the left and right ?where paintings of saints would normally go,? Still placed a kneeling Ponce de Leon on one panel and Susie Henry, the daughter of Seminole Indian medicine man Bobby Henry, on the other. The center painting features items that tie into the state and 500 years of history.

When friends joked the painting took 500 years to paint, Still replied it ?wouldn?t have been possible without these 500 years.?

For the Seminoles and other Indians, the arrival of Ponce de Leon wasn?t much of a cause for celebration, Still noted. The walls that form the background in the painting of Henry are modeled on those in the cell in the Castillo where Seminole leader Osceola was held prisoner.

The triptych now goes to Tallahassee and the governor?s mansion. It will be there during the month of April, as the state celebrates the 500th anniversary of Ponce de Leon?s discovery. Eventually the triptych will end up in a private collection, although it may make an appearance at several locations around the country.

Now that the appraisals have been done, Still admitted he?s having some second thoughts about additional travel for the paintings. And no matter what the value, he said, the paintings ?couldn?t be redone.?

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Art matters

Art has always mattered to Still who was born in Clearwater and grew up in colleges around Florida and Georgia as his father pursued academic degrees.

He was in the second- grade when he entered his first show. That was with other children; by the age of 17 he held his first one-man show. He won a full scholarship to Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and served an apprenticeship in traditional techniques in Florence, Italy. That training and attention to detail show through in his work, including his rich use of color and intricate compositions.

The three paintings that make up ?La Florida? are smaller than usual for Still. His murals hang in the Florida House among other places.

?La Florida? is about half-life size and that, he said, made painting more difficult as he worked out the details.

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Connections

Those details feature several salutes to St. Augustine including maps, a coin the citizens of St. Augustine gave Henry M. Flagler and an alligator, the models for which were courtesy of the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park.

St. Augustine and Flagler College also solved one of his painting problems.

Still?s original plan was for the background of the middle painting to feature a window with a view. But what could he use for the view without slighting another part of the state?

Then he saw a half-circle Tiffany glass that was part of the original decoration at the Ponce de Leon Hotel, now Flagler College. He used that for the background. If you look carefully at the window, you can make out a very light shadow in the shape of the Castillo de San Marcos.

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In Heade?s Studio

When artist Christopher Still came to St. Augustine he painted in the same ?cottage? once used by Martin Johnson Heade, one of the artists Henry Flagler set up in a studio on the grounds of his Ponce de Leon Hotel.

Heade, who died in St. Augustine in 1904, is now considered one of the major contributors to American representational art. Flagler College now maintains the studio.

Seminole Susie Henry posed in the studio for Still as he worked on one of the panels of his triptych ?La Florida.? He also used her as one of his models for his 2012 entry into the Viva Florida 500 poster contest.

His was the winning submission for the contest.

In 2010, Still was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. In 2012, the Tarpon Springs artist was designated artist in residence of the Florida Legislature.

***

Getting It Right

For Christopher Still, his ?La Florida? was a chance to accurately portray the state?s natural elements.

Often, he notes, artists who have come to Florida quickly painted their pictures and then moved on, not always getting the details right.

Still went out of his way to get those details right. The green manchineel tree apple in his painting featuring Ponce de Leon was painted from nature. He went to the Everglades to get the poisonous apple and has the ?burn? marks on his left wrist to prove it.

The Calusa Indians used the sap and bark from the tree to coat their weapons. An arrow coated with the poisonous sap eventually caused Ponce de Leon?s death in 1521.

Source: http://staugustine.com/news/local-news/2013-03-27/artist-paints-history-florida

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The Weirdest Thing on the Internet Tonight: The Universe in 100 Heartbeats

For those of you unfamiliar with the notion of our Universe, here's a quick overview of the entirety of creation. We Are Yeti produced this 100-frame short. More »

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Fewer children mean longer life?

Mar. 27, 2013 ? New research into ageing processes, based on modern genetic techniques, confirms theoretical expectations about the correlation between reproduction and lifespan. Studies of birds reveal that those that have offspring later in life and have fewer broods live longer. And the decisive factor is telomeres, shows research from The University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Telomeres are the protective caps at the end of chromosomes. The length of telomeres influences how long an individual lives. Telomeres start off at a certain length, become shorter each time a cell divides, decline as the years pass by until the telomeres can no longer protect the chromosomes, and the cell dies. But the length of telomeres varies significantly among individuals of the same age. This is partly due to the length of the telomeres that has been inherited from the parents, and partly due to the amount of stress an individual is exposed to.

?This is important, not least for our own species, as we are all having to deal with increased stress,? says Angela Pauliny, Researcher from the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences at the University of Gothenburg.

Researchers have studied barnacle geese, which are long-lived birds, the oldest in the study being 22 years old. The results show that geese, compared to short-lived bird species, have a better ability to preserve the length of their telomeres. The explanation is probably that species with a longer lifespan invest more in maintaining bodily functions than, for example, reproduction.

?There is a clear correlation between reproduction and ageing in the animal world. Take elephants, which have a long lifespan but few offspring, while mice, for example, live for a short time but produce a lot of offspring each time they try,? says Angela Pauliny.

The geese studied by researchers varied in age, from very young birds to extremely old ones. Each bird was measured twice, two years apart. One striking result was that the change in telomere length varied according to gender.

?The study revealed that telomeres were best-preserved in males. Among barnacle geese, the telomeres thus shorten more quickly in females, which in birds is the sex with two different gender chromosomes. Interestingly, it is the exactl opposite in humans,? says Angela Pauliny.

The journal BMC Evolutionary Biology has classified the research article ?Telomere dynamics in a long-lived bird, the barnacle goose? as ?Highly Accessed?.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Gothenburg, via AlphaGalileo.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Angela Pauliny, Kjell Larsson, Donald Blomqvist. Telomere dynamics in a long-lived bird, the barnacle goose. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 2012; 12 (1): 257 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2148-12-257

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/wo_0G9jQGjg/130327103045.htm

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Study: Health overhaul to raise claims cost 32 pct

FILE - In this March 23, 2010 file photo, Marcelas Owens of Seattle, left, Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., right, and others, look on as President Barack Obama signs the health care bill in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Medical claims costs _ the biggest driver of health insurance premiums _ will jump an average 32 percent for individual policies under President Barack Obama?s overhaul, according to a study by the nation?s leading group of financial risk analysts. Recently released to its members, the report from the Society of Actuaries could turn into a big headache for the Obama administration at a time when many parts of the country remain skeptical about the Affordable Care Act. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - In this March 23, 2010 file photo, Marcelas Owens of Seattle, left, Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., right, and others, look on as President Barack Obama signs the health care bill in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Medical claims costs _ the biggest driver of health insurance premiums _ will jump an average 32 percent for individual policies under President Barack Obama?s overhaul, according to a study by the nation?s leading group of financial risk analysts. Recently released to its members, the report from the Society of Actuaries could turn into a big headache for the Obama administration at a time when many parts of the country remain skeptical about the Affordable Care Act. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Map shows projected change in medical claim costs by

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Insurance companies will have to pay out an average of 32 percent more for medical claims on individual health policies under President Barack Obama's overhaul, the nation's leading group of financial risk analysts has estimated.

That's likely to increase premiums for at least some Americans buying individual plans.

The report by the Society of Actuaries could turn into a big headache for the Obama administration at a time when many parts of the country remain skeptical about the Affordable Care Act.

While some states will see medical claims costs per person decline, the report concluded the overwhelming majority will see double-digit increases in their individual health insurance markets, where people purchase coverage directly from insurers.

The disparities are striking. By 2017, the estimated increase would be 62 percent for California, about 80 percent for Ohio, more than 20 percent for Florida and 67 percent for Maryland. Much of the reason for the higher claims costs is that sicker people are expected to join the pool, the report said.

The report did not make similar estimates for employer plans, the mainstay for workers and their families. That's because the primary impact of Obama's law is on people who don't have coverage through their jobs.

The administration questions the design of the study, saying it focused only on one piece of the puzzle and ignored cost relief strategies in the law such as tax credits to help people afford premiums and special payments to insurers who attract an outsize share of the sick. The study also doesn't take into account the potential price-cutting effect of competition in new state insurance markets that will go live on Oct. 1, administration officials said.

At a White House briefing on Tuesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said some of what passes for health insurance today is so skimpy it can't be compared to the comprehensive coverage available under the law. "Some of these folks have very high catastrophic plans that don't pay for anything unless you get hit by a bus," she said. "They're really mortgage protection, not health insurance."

A prominent national expert, recently retired Medicare chief actuary Rick Foster, said the report does "a credible job" of estimating potential enrollment and costs under the law, "without trying to tilt the answers in any particular direction."

"Having said that," Foster added, "actuaries tend to be financially conservative, so the various assumptions might be more inclined to consider what might go wrong than to anticipate that everything will work beautifully." Actuaries use statistics and economic theory to make long-range cost projections for insurance and pension programs sponsored by businesses and government. The society is headquartered near Chicago.

Kristi Bohn, an actuary who worked on the study, acknowledged it did not attempt to estimate the effect of subsidies, insurer competition and other factors that could mitigate cost increases. She said the goal was to look at the underlying cost of medical care.

"Claims cost is the most important driver of health care premiums," she said.

"We don't see ourselves as a political organization," Bohn added. "We are trying to figure out what the situation at hand is."

On the plus side, the report found the law will cover more than 32 million currently uninsured Americans when fully phased in. And some states ? including New York and Massachusetts ? will see double-digit declines in costs for claims in the individual market.

Uncertainty over costs has been a major issue since the law passed three years ago, and remains so just months before a big push to cover the uninsured gets rolling Oct. 1. Middle-class households will be able to purchase subsidized private insurance in new marketplaces, while low-income people will be steered to Medicaid and other safety net programs. States are free to accept or reject a Medicaid expansion also offered under the law.

Obama has promised that the new law will bring costs down. That seems a stretch now. While the nation has been enjoying a lull in health care inflation the past few years, even some former administration advisers say a new round of cost-curbing legislation will be needed.

Bohn said the study overall presents a mixed picture.

Millions of now-uninsured people will be covered as the market for directly purchased insurance more than doubles with the help of government subsidies. The study found that market will grow to more than 25 million people. But costs will rise because spending on sicker people and other high-cost groups will overwhelm an influx of younger, healthier people into the program.

Some of the higher-cost cases will come from existing state high-risk insurance pools. Those people will now be able to get coverage in the individual insurance market, since insurance companies will no longer be able to turn them down. Other people will end up buying their own plans because their employers cancel coverage. While some of these individuals might save money for themselves, they will end up raising costs for others.

Part the reason for the wide disparities in the study is that states have different populations and insurance rules. In the relatively small number of states where insurers were already restricted from charging higher rates to older, sicker people, the cost impact is less.

"States are starting from different starting points, and they are all getting closer to one another," said Bohn.

The study also did not model the likely patchwork results from some states accepting the law's Medicaid expansion while others reject it. It presented estimates for two hypothetical scenarios in which all states either accept or reject the expansion.

Larry Levitt, an insurance expert with the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, reviewed the report and said the actuaries need to answer more questions.

"I'd generally characterize it as providing useful background information, but I don't think it's complete enough to be treated as a projection," Levitt said. The conclusion that employers with sicker workers would drop coverage is "speculative," he said.

Another caveat: The Society of Actuaries contracted Optum, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, to do the number-crunching that drives the report. United also owns the nation's largest health insurance company. Bohn said the study reflects the professional conclusions of the society, not Optum or its parent company.

___

AP White House Correspondent Julie Pace contributed to this report.

Online:

Society of Actuaries __ http://www.soa.org/NewlyInsured/

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-03-26-Health%20Overhaul%20Costs/id-71f9eb44c0d2421eaed52447477199d6

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Indiana court upholds broadest school voucher program

By Stephanie Simon

(Reuters) - The Indiana Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously upheld the nation's broadest school voucher program, which gives poor and middle-class families public funds to help pay private school tuition.

Opponents, including the state teachers' union, had sued to block the program on grounds that nearly all the voucher money has been directed to religious schools.

Voucher systems have drawn criticism across the United States from critics who say they drain money from public schools and subsidize overtly religious education. Supporters say they offer families greater choice on where to educate their children.

In a 5-0 vote, the Indiana justices said that it did not matter that funds had been directed to religious schools, so long as parents - and not the state - decide where to use the tuition vouchers.

"Whether the Indiana program is wise educational or public policy is not a consideration," Chief Justice Brent Dickson wrote. The program is constitutional, he wrote, because the public funds "do not directly benefit religious schools but rather directly benefit lower-income families with school children."

The U.S. Supreme Court used similar reasoning in a 2002 ruling upholding a voucher program in Cleveland. Since then, voucher programs have been challenged in state, rather than federal, court. But opponents have found it an uphill climb.

Just last month, a state appeals court in Colorado upheld a voucher program that helped parents in one of the wealthiest U.S. counties pay private school tuition. The case is on appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court. Another closely-watched voucher case is pending in the Louisiana Supreme Court; a ruling is expected soon.

The Indiana voucher program is considered the broadest in the United States because it is not limited to low-income students or those attending failing schools - and because it is available to children statewide. A family of four with a household income of $64,000 a year is eligible for vouchers worth up to $4,500 per child.

Though more than half a million students in Indiana are eligible for the vouchers, just 9,000 enrolled this school year. Most are from urban communities with struggling public schools, but a sizeable slice live in rural and suburban neighborhoods as well.

Republican Governor Mike Pence has pushed to expand the program by opening eligibility to special-needs students and children in military families if their household income is as high as $85,000 for a family of four.

The Indiana legislature is also considering a bill that would give vouchers to kindergarten students who meet the income guidelines. The program currently requires students to spend a full year in public schools before they are eligible for a voucher.

Nationwide, vouchers are used by more than 100,000 students in a dozen states, including Florida, Georgia, Ohio and Wisconsin. Several other states use tax credits or education savings accounts to help families pay private school tuition.

Public school advocates have complained that the vouchers subsidize parochial schools that use an explicitly faith-based curriculum.

"Just because the Indiana Supreme Court said it's OK by our constitution doesn't mean this is a good idea," said Teresa Meredith, vice president of the Indiana State Teachers Association and a plaintiff in the case. "I don't believe it's a wise use of public money. It's still, at the end of the day, funding religious instruction" with tax dollars.

Supporters of the voucher program predicted that the ruling would clear the way for a rapid expansion of vouchers in Indiana and nationwide.

"Kids and parents won today," said Robert Enlow, president of the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, which supports voucher programs nationally. "Other states should look at this victory and see that the education establishment's ability to obstruct families' freedom to choose is waning."

(Reporting by Stephanie Simon; Editing by Scott Malone, Andrew Hay and Tim Dobbyn)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/indiana-court-upholds-largest-u-school-voucher-program-164056235.html

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Lawyer: Murtha-linked Pa. brothers to plead guilty

Mar 26 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $3,787,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $2,859,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,154,500 4. Steve Stricker $1,820,000 5. Phil Mickelson $1,650,260 6. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 7. John Merrick $1,343,514 8. Dustin Johnson $1,330,507 9. Russell Henley $1,313,280 10. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 11. Keegan Bradley $1,274,593 12. Charles Howell III $1,256,373 13. Michael Thompson $1,254,669 14. Brian Gay $1,171,721 15. Justin Rose $1,155,550 16. Jason Day $1,115,565 17. Chris Kirk $1,097,053 18. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lawyer-murtha-linked-pa-brothers-plead-guilty-151120477.html

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Cleverly designed vaccine blocks H5 avian influenza in animal models

Mar. 25, 2013 ? Until now most experimental vaccines against the highly lethal H5N1 avian influenza virus have lacked effectiveness. But a new vaccine has proven highly effective against the virus when tested in both mice and ferrets. It is also effective against the H9 subtype of avian influenza. The research is published online ahead of print in the Journal of Virology.

The strength of the new vaccine is that it uses attenuated, rather than "killed" virus. (Killed viruses are broken apart with chemicals or heat, and they are used because they are safer than attenuated viruses.) Killed virus vaccines against avian influenza are injected into the bloodstream, whereas this vaccine is given via nasal spray, thus mimicking the natural infection process, stimulating a stronger immune response.

The danger of current attenuated virus vaccines is that they might exchange dangerous genetic material with garden variety influenza viruses of the sort that strike annually, potentially rendering a lethal but very hard to transmit influenza virus, such as H5, easily transmissible among humans. To mitigate those dangers, the study authors, led by Daniel Perez of the University of Maryland, came up with an ingenious design. Influenza viruses carry their genetic material in eight "segments," explains coauthor and University of Maryland colleague Troy Sutton. When viruses reassort, they exchange segments. But each segment is unique, all eight are needed, and the viruses are unfit if they contain more than eight segments.

The vaccine is based on an attenuated version of the H9 virus, with an H5 gene added into one of the H9 virus' segments, to confer immunity to the H5 virus. Segment 8, which is composed of the so-called NS1 and NS2 genes, was split apart, and the NS2 gene was moved into segment 2, adjacent to the polymerase gene, which copies the virus' genetic material during replication. Placing NS2 next to the polymerase gene slowed its function, interfering with the virus' replication. That makes the vaccine safer.

The next step was to engineer the H5 gene into the vaccine. It was inserted into segment 8, where the NS2 gene had been.

Another aspect of the new vaccine's design makes it safer still, by rendering successful reassortment less likely. Both NS1 and NS2 are needed for viral replication. Since the two genes are now separated into different segments, any reassortment will have to include both segments, instead of just segment 8, in order for a reassortant virus to be viable. This greatly reduced the probability of successful reassortment.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes avian influenza subtypes H5, H7, and H9 as potential pandemic viruses, because they all have in rare instances infected humans, and because they circulate in wild birds. Single reassortants could be sufficient to breach the species barrier, and since they do not circulate among us, we lack any immunity. Moreover, H5 is unusually lethal, having killed roughly half of those few it is confirmed to have infected.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Society for Microbiology.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. L. Pena, T. Sutton, A. Chockalingam, S. Kumar, M. Angel, H. Shao, H. Chen, W. Li, D. R. Perez. Influenza viruses with rearranged genomes as live-attenuated vaccines. Journal of Virology, 2013; DOI: 10.1128/JVI.02490-12

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/mfBeja0RPaM/130325125649.htm

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Britain sets out plans for nuclear future

By John McGarrity and Oleg Vukmanovic

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain spelled out its aims for nuclear power on Tuesday, committing funds to a sector it expects to create 40,000 jobs while lowering the country's carbon emissions and its reliance on costly energy imports.

This month's late blast of winter cold has exposed Britain's reliance on imported natural gas, triggering wholesale price spikes and concerns that stored supplies could run dry.

In its long-term Nuclear Industrial Strategy the government sets out the opportunities it sees for economic growth and job creation in the industry.

Britain's plans to build up to 16 gigawatts of new nuclear power capacity could create 40,000 new jobs, the report said.

Opportunities span research and development, construction, waste management, decommissioning, operation and maintenance.

The government also committed more than 40 million pounds for research and development.

"We have some of the finest workers, research facilities and academics in the world. But we need to sharpen those competitive advantages to become a top table nuclear nation," said Vince Cable, secretary of state for business, innovation and skills.

While Germany and others have turned away from nuclear in the wake of Japan's Fukushima disaster in 2011, Britain remains intent of building new atomic capacity.

EDF won planning approval last week to build Britain's first new nuclear power station in almost 20 years but warned the project would only move forward if the French company and the British government can agree a guaranteed minimum "strike" price for the power produced.

EDF wants to build two reactors but at an estimated cost of some 14 billion pounds it wants assurances that it can recoup its investment with a government guarantee to support energy prices.

British companies could be awarded between 44 and 64 percent of the construction work, a report by consultancy Oxford Economics said on Tuesday.

STRIKE PRICE

EDF wants a strike price of at least 100 pounds per megawatt-hour (MWh) while the government would prefer a price around 80 pounds, according to industry sources and analysts.

Chancellor George Osborne told a panel of parliamentarians on Tuesday that both sides aimed to reach a deal.

"Obviously we have a hard commercial bargain between EDF and the government about the right strike price and so on. But I think both EDF and the British government want to see the project go ahead on the right terms for both of us," Osborne said.

Japan's Hitachi also has plans to build in Britain, which needs to replace ageing coal-fired and nuclear sites and meet environmental targets in 2020 and beyond.

Two ageing coal-fired power plants were mothballed this month, part of a series of closures that will strip Britain of around 20 percent of its power capacity by 2020.

Energy regulator Ofgem has warned that Britain faces a challenge to keep the lights on as plants close. It has forecast spare generating capacity will shrink to just 4 percent by 2015/16 from 14 percent last year.

Details to be worked out with EDF over the strike price include how long it would last, how to deal with future regulatory changes, and whether a strike price would be indexed to inflation.

"You will have a lower or higher (strike price) based on who takes the construction risk," said Roland Vetter, head of research at CF Partners.

British government ministers have also spoken of the need to avoid using taxpayers to underwrite cost overruns. EDF's Flamanville reactor in France is running four years behind schedule and costs have more than doubled.

EDF could expect revenues of about 88 billion pounds from its two planned 1,600-megawatt reactors in Britain based on a strike price of 100 pounds per MWh over 35 years and other assumptions, CF Partners' Vetter estimated.

The government hopes the two new reactors, to be built at Hinkley Point C in southwest England, will come online in the first half of the 2020s.

(Additional reporting by Henning Gloystein and William Schomberg; editing by Jason Neely)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/british-government-publishes-long-term-nuclear-strategy-131525701--sector.html

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Cancer survivor's legal fight for EI sickness benefits drags on | CTV ...

CTVNews.ca Staff
Published Monday, Mar. 25, 2013 7:55PM EDT
Last Updated Tuesday, Mar. 26, 2013 9:33AM EDT

A mother and cancer survivor says she doesn?t understand why the federal government is appealing a decision that awarded her employment insurance sickness benefits worth $5,000 while she was on maternity leave.

Jane Kittmer, 41, of Stratford, Ont., told CTV?s Power Play that just a few weeks after a court ruled that she was entitled to the sickness benefits, she received a notice that Ottawa was appealing the decision.

?I found out just before Christmas that I had won my case and then a couple of weeks later I received a file,? she said. ?I just assumed that it would be ?This is how much you?re entitled to,? but it was actually the appeal coming from the government.

?I was very surprised to receive that and I?m still surprised that they?re going through and appealing this.?

Kittmer?s fight for the sickness benefits began in 2010, when during her maternity leave she was diagnosed with cancer.

Her claim for the benefits was denied because the law at the time required her to be available for work. Kittmer said the side effects from her chemotherapy treatments left her unable to return to her place of employment.

She appealed the decision, using a precedent-setting case of Toronto mother Natalyal Rougas. Rougas, like Kittmer, was diagnosed with cancer during her maternity leave.

Rougas took her case to court and in 2011 a judge ruled that she was eligible for the benefits and awarded her 15 weeks of worth of them.

Ottawa did not appeal Rougas? case and even introduced a bill correcting the issue, called the ?Helping Families in Need Act.? The act allows parents to collect EI sick benefits if they fall ill while taking parental leave.

Parliament passed the act last November. At the time the government said the act would help around 6,000 families a year.

The changed laws became effective on Sunday, meaning that anyone in Kittmer?s situation who applies for sick benefits today will be awarded them. People who applied before the laws changed are left to fight for their benefits.

Armed with the Rougas decision, Kittmer appealed her case and won. But now she?s wondering why the government is appealing her decision.

?I used her case to go to the (EI) umpire, that?s how I won my case. But they didn?t appeal hers, but now they?re appealing mine. I don?t quite understand the logic in all that,? she said.

Kittmer, who is now cancer-free, would have received around $5,000 from the sickness benefits.

Lawyer Stephen Moreau represented both women and has filed a $450- million class-action lawsuit for about 60,000 Canadian women who have been denied sickness benefits since 2002.

He told CTV News that Ottawa is resisting payment because it will set a precedent.

?They?re fighting those before the new legislation came into force. They?re saying they can?t get it, but we?re happy to give it up after March 24,? he said.

Kittmer?s case made it to the floor of the House of Commons on Monday.

NDP MP Irene Mathyssen said the case was another example of the Conservatives targeting out-of-work Canadians and restricting EI benefits.

?The Conservatives are taking a mother with cancer to court,? she said. ?For Jane Kittmer it gets worse. Not only does she have to battle cancer, she has to battle the Conservatives too.? She called on the government to drop the ?insensitive and unethical attack.?

Human Resources Minister Diane Finley said that Kittmer?s case was a result of the previous Liberal government?s rules and that the Conservatives were responsible for changing the laws.

?We?ve made tremendous improvements to the system since then,? Finley said.

With a report from CTV?s Richard Madan in Ottawa and CTV Kitchener?s Frank Lynn

Source: http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/cancer-survivor-s-legal-fight-for-ei-sickness-benefits-drags-on-1.1211126

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'The Punk Syndrome' co-director and cast discuss their SXSW-winning documentary

Co-director J-P Passi and two members of Pertti Kurikka?s Name Day, the band featured in 'Punk,' talk about how their movie got started and the niche the band members feel they've found.

By Erin Scherer,?The Film Panel Notetaker / March 25, 2013

Attendees of the South by Southwest Conferences & Festivals, where 'The Punk Syndrome' won the SXGlobal Audience Award, wait in line for events.

Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman/AP

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One-on-Three interview with J-P Passi, Sami Helle, and Toni V?litalo: The Punk Syndrome ? Winner, SXGlobal Audience Award

Skip to next paragraph The Film Panel Notetaker

Since its humble beginnings in December 2005, The Film Panel Notetaker has evolved from one blogger to a team of several bloggers, all of whom contribute to our independent film community in one form or another from filmmakers, to producers, to writers, to editors, to marketers, to publicists, they all have unique backgrounds, but one common interest ? to be a fly on the wall at film discussions and share with you information they?ve learned that will be helpful in your own film endeavors.

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With:
J-P Passi, co-director, The Punk Syndrome
Sami Helle, bassist, Pertti Kurikka?s Name Day
Toni V?litalo, drummer, Pertti Kurikka?s Name Day

Erin: My first question is for J-P. What compelled you to make a movie about this band?

J-P Passi: The anarchy of the guys. We have two directors, and the other one saw them on TV on a news program. It was a news flash on the band, who were still in the very early stages of their career.

Sami Helle: Four years ago.

J-P Passi: He told me about the band and asked if I would be interested.

Erin (to Sami): How did you guys get together, and what made you want to form a band?

Sami: It was Pertti, our guitar player. He has been a punk rock freak for 30 years. Of course, we just do the music. He said, ?Okay, let?s just put a band together,? then we did that. Three guys, me, Toni, Kari, then Pertti started this band, and in 2010, there was a movie called A Little Respect, a Finnish movie. That movie needed a song. So the song was in that movie, and the rest is history.

Erin: It sounds like you guys ascended very quickly.

Sami: It was quick. It came really quickly.

J-P: They have a really long history together. They were already working in that direction.

Sami: We?d known each other for a long time, and so far, so good to be together.

Erin: How do you guys come up with ideas to write songs?

Sami: It?s the other guys who write the songs.

Erin: You just play them.

Sami: Yeah, basically I have no say about the songs! (Laughs.) It?s Pertti who makes the songs. The message is [usually] what?s wrong with the world today, and about their lives.

Erin: So the music comes from the lives you lead, and your frustrations.

Sami: Yes. Pertti?s frustration, mainly. [His ideas] are about sticking it to the government, and everyday things.

Erin: Your band is made up of people who are developmentally disabled?

Sami: Mentally handicapped.

Erin: I am also developmentally disabled. Nobody really knows exactly what I have. When I was three, they thought I was autistic, but the thing was, I could read, whereas normally?

Sami: I am mildly handicapped. Mentally handicapped. And I too didn?t know for a long time what I was. They said I was mildly handicapped when I was 14. For 14 years, I didn?t know what I was. That?s the truth. When they put a label on me, ?You are mentally handicapped, that?s that. That?s what you are.? But sometimes they don?t go through specifically who you are.

Erin: Growing up, I experienced a lot of frustration from my peers because at some point during the day, I would have to leave, and go to another room?

Sami: I know what you?re saying. I was taunted when I was a youngster because there was [a big group of kids who would taunt me]. I had girls who came to me and started to bully me. I went down to the principal?s office. They were like, ?What?s wrong with this? I [reported] the students to the teachers and the principal. But when their parents stepped in, they were like, ?Oh, our girls don?t do that!?

Erin: Even though you don?t necessarily write the songs, how much of your frustration goes into your music?

Sami: When I?m onstage, I [channel] the frustration from the girls who bullied me into the music, and all that stuff comes out. I don?t write the lyrics, but 30, 40 percent of the time, I feel the same. Toni feels the same, we all feel the same. This is our way for us to say, ?Screw it!?

Erin: With the kind of music you play, do you think that being disabled puts you at an advantage? As disabled persons, you?re marginalized to begin with.

Sami: Yes.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/BMEThjQSQfY/The-Punk-Syndrome-co-director-and-cast-discuss-their-SXSW-winning-documentary

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