Friday, August 31, 2012

Classic PS2 RPG Blazing Souls Accelate lands on Android for ?9.66

Classic PlayStation 2 role-playing game Blazing Souls Accelate is now available on Google Play for your Android-powered smartphone or tablet, providing you're willing to pay more than you perhaps normally would for a mobile game.

Blazing Souls Accelate is ?9.66, you see, which is a pretty ballsy price for a title on Google's digital store. Due to the rate of piracy on Google Play, developers and publishers generally charge as little as possible, or simply opt for a free-to-play model.

Anyway, this Spectral Souls sequel is a tactical RPG in the same vein as Final Fantasy Tactics. According to the Blazing Souls Accelate description, you can explore the in-game world and complete missions in any order you wish.

Along the way, you can unlock over 200 different items and skills, and capture colourful monsters that can be trained to fight alongside your teammates.

If that all sounds right up your street, you can download Blazing Souls Accelate from Google Play now for ?9.66 [buy].

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PocketGamerLatestAdditions/~3/Jz9zSjY3EJo/news.asp

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Lindsay Lohan Accused of Trashing Vintage Elizabeth Taylor Trailer


Another day, another Lindsay Lohan controversy.

This time, the 26-year-old walking nightmare is being accused of trashing a vintage 38-foot trailer once belonging to the legendary Elizabeth Taylor herself.

Wait ... what?

Lindsay Lohan Elizabeth Taylor Photo

According to CNN, Taylor fan Angel Alger bought the lavish 38-foot travel trailer, where Taylor's romance with Richard Burton began, for $50,000 in June.

However, due to previous contracts, Alger was obligated to allow the use of Taylor's trailer for the Lifetime film Liz & Dick, starring Lohan, for two days.

When the trailer was given back to Alger, there was an estimated damage of over $100,000 from cigarette burns, broken mirrors and missing furniture.

Yup, sounds about right.

"I was specifically told that it would come back in pristine condition and in even better condition than it was at that time," she said of the vandalism.

Alger adds, "Only a psychotic and rebellious person or people would steal irreplaceable museum belongings and leave it in this vandalized condition."

Yup, sounds about right too.

Lindsay's rep Steve Honig slams the idea that his client, a huge fan of Taylor, would do such a thing, saying, "You should ask the producers about it."

It does seem hard to believe LiLo would do that, or stiff a hotel out of $46,000, or steal $100,000 in valuables from a guy's house, or rob a jewelry store, or crash into an 18-wheeler and lie about it, or pass out so hard people call 911, or ...

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/08/lindsay-lohan-accused-of-trashing-vintage-elizabeth-taylor-trail/

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Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Federal Agencies Hold Safety and Environmental Regulations ...

Federal Agencies Hold Safety and Environmental Regulations Meeting

Posted on Tue, Aug 28, 2012

The Department of Labor, Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), Department of Interior, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), United States Coast Guard (USCG), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) invite interested parties to participate in a co-sponsored stakeholder meeting on the use and implementation of performance-based regulatory models for enhanced safety and environmental performance in the United States oil and gas industry. The meeting will be held at the College of the Mainland and hosted by the Gulf Coast Safety Institute. Speakers will address the current regulatory landscape and discuss the challenges and benefits of non-prescriptive, outcome-based approaches to reduce the frequency and severity of harmful events.

On January 18, 2011, President Obama issued Executive Order 13563, which called for improvements in the nation's regulatory system to promote predictability and reduce uncertainty and to use the best, most innovative, and least burdensome tools for achieving regulatory ends. Consistent with these objectives, BSEE, EPA, OSHA, PHMSA and USCG wish to solicit views from the public regarding opportunities to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of safety and environmental regulations in the oil and gas industry while enhancing interagency coordination. The goal of such improvements is to, further the safety of oil and gas industry operations while increasing environmental and economic benefits to society. BSEE, EPA, OSHA, PHMSA, and the UCSG are particularly interested in stakeholder views regarding the most effective regulatory model to address the issues.

One popular regulatory model in the U.S., the "management-based" regulation, falls somewhere on the spectrum between prescriptive and performance-based. Regulators using this model generally require the implementation of management systems and practices that are intended to ensure a desired outcome. Regulations and standards developed under this model may specify the elements of the management system, but do not prescribe specific technical requirements.

The Federal agencies sponsoring this stakeholder meeting are exploring a number of topics that will help inform whether and how to further incorporate performance-based regulatory approaches into their current regulatory systems. These topics include:

  • the advantages and disadvantages of performance-based, prescriptive, and management-based regulatory approaches;
  • whether these models could create synergies between multiple agencies; and
  • what types of models or combinations of models could result in long-term economic benefits.

To elicit specific feedback on these topics, participating agencies are requesting comment from stakeholders regarding the following questions:

  1. What are some benefits of using a performance-based regulatory regime to regulate the oil and gas industry? What are some drawbacks? In making this evaluation, consider health, safety, environmental, and economic impacts, as well as implementation challenges, cost to regulatory agencies, and long-term hazard-reduction effectiveness. Refer to specific models and provide data, when appropriate.
  2. Could there be a balance of performance vs. prescriptive regulations and standards in the U.S. oil and gas industry and, if so, what should it be? Does this balance vary for certain types of operations, business sizes, etc.?
  3. Is there a way to advance the use of performance-based regulations and standards in the U.S. oil and gas Industry? If so, what is the best way? Consider means, cost to regulatory agencies, cost for industry, and expected changes in developing your response.
  4. Could uniform implementation of performance-based regulations and standards improve efficiency and reduce duplication in a hazardous industry regulated by multiple agencies? If so, how?
  5. What are the biggest challenges to successful implementation of performance-based regulations in the U.S. oil and gas industry?
  6. How can risk assessment best be used in performance-based regulations while still ensuring adequate levels of safety? If risk assessments are used in a performance-based regulation, should acceptable risk levels be established?
  7. How have authorities that currently use performance-based regulatory models ensured effective oversight (e.g., use of metrics, audit programs)?
  8. Are there limits to the use of performance-based regulatory models? For example, do performance-based regulatory models increase or decrease challenges for small businesses in comparison to prescriptive models? Are prescriptive components needed/desirable, and if so, under what situations?

For general and technical information about the meeting contact: Ms. Lisa Long, Director, Office of Engineering Safety, OSHA, Directorate of Standards and Guidance, Room N-3609, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 693-2222; e-mail: long.lisa @ dol.gov.

For copies of the Federal Register notice [Docket No. OSHA-2012-0033]. Electronic copies of this Federal Register document are available at http://www.regulations.gov. This document, as well as news releases and other relevant information, also are available at OSHA's Webpage at http://www.osha.gov.

Location Details: College of the Mainland, Learning Resource Center, Room 131, 1200 Amburn Road, Texas City, Texas 77511. On-site parking will be available. Seating will be limited to the first 150 registrants.

Source: http://eaglemap.com/news/bid/81780/Federal-Agencies-Hold-Safety-and-Environmental-Regulations-Meeting

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Verizon Turbine 7.0 in the works, likely to be ZTE V66 tablet

Verizon Turbine 70 appears to be in the works, likely to be ZTE V66 tablet

What you see above isn't a whole lot to go off of in terms of details, but it's still a bit significant for tablet fans regardless. The image, which displays a page hiding deep within Verizon's internal system, offers the first confirmation of the ZTE V66 tablet's destiny: it shall ride onto Big Red's LTE network as the Verizon Turbine 7.0. We guess the latter name is the catchier of the two. Few other details are known at this point -- hence, the incredibly bare product page -- but the tablet was originally rumored to sport a 7-inch (1,280 x 800) display, a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM and a 4,000mAh battery. We'd venture to guess that an OS jump to ICS or Jelly Bean should be in the works as well, unless Verizon wants its brand new slate to be dead in the water before it even launches.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Filed under: ,

Verizon Turbine 7.0 in the works, likely to be ZTE V66 tablet originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Aug 2012 11:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/qI-LYtidT2c/

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Thursday, August 23, 2012

Jefferson Regional ready to expand; community embraces Highmark union

Marvin Levin, like much of Allegheny County, learned that Jefferson Regional Medical Center was affiliating with insurer Highmark when he read about it in the newspaper.

But as president of the Jefferson Regional Community Health Council, Mr. Levin had a keener interest than most. The council, a group of 19 South Hills residents, is both supporter and monitor of all health care matters in their community, and Jefferson Regional is the leading hospital in their coverage area.

It was council members, he said, who pushed to get a traffic light installed at the busy Clairton Boulevard intersection so people could more safely get to the hospital. And when someone mentioned they'd had an exceptionally long wait in Jefferson's emergency room one time, the council went directly to hospital officials to voice their concern.

Long waits in the Jefferson Regional emergency room should not be an issue at future council meetings.

Pending approval from the state attorney general and Allegheny County Orphans' Court, Highmark has committed $75 million to the Jefferson Regional Medical Center Foundation, with plans to expand the emergency department, add clinical services such as neurosurgery, as well as fund expansion at the Bethel Park campus.

So, after emceeing Jefferson Regional's annual community recognition dinner Wednesday, Mr. Levin of Castle Shannon said he's hearing nothing but favorable comments from fellow South Hills residents about the Highmark-Jefferson affiliation, which will turn control of the hospital board to Highmark but infuse the Jefferson Hills hospital with the money to expand and improve.

"They will have the influx of money to do what they want to do," he said.

Jefferson may be turning over board control to Highmark, but Mr. Levin and others see the transaction as way for their community hospital to keep its identity. "I think what we've done is preserve health care for all of us in this room and the people in this community," Jefferson Regional president and CEO John Dempster told the audience Wednesday night.

Source: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/business/news/jefferson-regional-ready-to-expand-community-embraces-highmark-union-650163/

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Thursday, August 16, 2012

Facebook 'lock-up' ends, putting pressure on stock

Facebook's early investors and a handful of directors become eligible today to sell stock they own in the social networking company, putting downward pressure on the stock as up to 1.9 billion more shares could flood the stock market over the next several months.

So-called "lock-up" periods, which prevent insiders from unloading shares too close to an initial public offering, generally start to expire 90 days after a stock makes its public debut.

Lock-ups are designed to prevent a stock from experiencing the kind of volatility that might occur if too many shareholders decide to sell a newly traded stock all at once.

"If all of these founders try to get their money out too rapidly, the stock will be driven down, because, first of all, all that excess stock would naturally drive down the price, but also because what it signals about the future prospects of the company," Dave Valliere, a business professor at Ryerson University in Toronto, told CBC News.

"Certainly if any of the people at the very top start to sell ? and they clearly don't need the money right now ? then that's a signal that something is not good at Facebook, and maybe we're heading for a train wreck of sorts."

The progressive phasing-in of various shareholders allows early owners to shed their stock and make way for new investors, Peter Zaleski, a professor of economics at the Villanova School of Business in Pennsylvania, told the Associated Press.

That's a problem the company can't afford. On Wednesday, the stock closed at $21.20 US, down 44 per cent from its IPO price of $38.

In all, 271 million shares will become eligible this week, according to Facebook's regulatory filings. Firms ranging from Accel Partners to Goldman Sachs, Zynga CEO Mark Pincus and Facebook board members James Breyer, Peter Thiel and Reid Hoffman are among those free to sell stock they own. Microsoft Corp., another early Facebook investor, will be eligible to sell, too.

Zynga Inc., the company behind "FarmVille" and other games played largely on Facebook, was sued last month for waiving lock-up restrictions for insiders, including Pincus, before the company's first-quarter results in April.

Facebook's 28-year-old chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, won't be able to sell his shares until mid-November. Facebook hasn't explained why Zuckerberg didn't become eligible this week. He controls about a third of the 1.22 billion shares and stock options that will become unlocked on Nov. 14.

Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter believes it's unlikely that top executives will sell their shares as soon as they can. It would look bad for the company, Pachter says, if Facebook's No. 2 executive and operating chief Sheryl Sandberg or finance chief David Ebersman decide to sell.

"The only people who would sell are people who need the money," Pachter says. "I would be very worried if Sheryl Sandberg or Ebersman sell, but they are not that dumb."

Following this week's lock-up expiration date, about 243 million more Facebook shares and stock options will enter the public stock market between Oct. 15 and Nov. 13. That's when current and former Facebook employees will be able to sell stock they earned as compensation.

Then there's the Nov. 14 expiration, and another a month later. Next May, a year after Facebook's IPO, the Russian internet company Mail.ru Group and DST Global ? both of which made early investments in Facebook ? will be able to sell their shares.

The early investors who sold their stock to the public as part of Facebook's IPO did so at $38 each. If they sell now, they will make far less money from each share than they did in the IPO. Facebook's stock has not hit its IPO price since its first day of trading. As a result, the company's market value has plummeted from $104 billion to $59.1 billion in roughly three months.

Goldman Sachs and a few other investors are in an unusual position to profit if they sell Facebook's stock at its current price. A January 2011 investment round from Goldman Sachs and others valued Facebook at $50 billion.

Even before Facebook's IPO, Silicon Valley merchants ? those who sell real estate, cars and other luxury items ? had been expecting a boost to the local economy from rank-and-file Facebook employees who received stock options as part of their compensation. Now, experts are cautioning those merchants to temper their expectations.

"In light of the company's market value being half of what was expected, and the fact that the big gainers are not in Silicon Valley year-round, I would not expect a new boom in Silicon Valley resulting from this," Villanova economist Peter Zaleski says.

Jon Burgstone, professor at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology at the University of California, Berkeley, points out that many of Facebook's shareholders had already been able to sell their stock through private stock markets before the company's IPO. In many ways, he added, "Facebook's IPO was really a secondary public offering. A number of large shareholders and early employees have already been cashing out."

As for flashy cars and fancy clothes?

"People here generally don't spend their money on expensive clothing, jewelry, etc.," Burgstone says. "The ethos of Silicon Valley remains ? what have you done, and what can you do now? ? not what label are you wearing."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/facebook-lock-ends-putting-pressure-stock-111013579--finance.html

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Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Persistent and loud snoring in young children linked to problem behaviors

ScienceDaily (Aug. 13, 2012) ? Persistent and loud snoring in young children is associated with problem behaviors, according to a new study published online in Pediatrics.

These behaviors include hyperactivity, depression and inattention, according to Dean Beebe, PhD, director of the neuropsychology program at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and lead author of the study.

"The strongest predictors of persistent snoring were lower socioeconomic status and the absence or shorter duration of breastfeeding," says Dr. Beebe. "This would suggest that doctors routinely screen for and track snoring, especially in children from poorer families, and refer loudly-snoring children for follow-up care. Failing to screen, or taking a 'wait and see' approach on snoring, could make preschool behavior problems worse. The findings also support the encouragement and facilitation of infant breastfeeding."

The study is believed to be the first to examine the relationship between the persistence of snoring and behavior problems in preschool-age children. Persistent, loud snoring occurs in approximately one of every 10 children.

Dr. Beebe and colleagues at Cincinnati Children's studied 249 children. The researchers surveyed the children's moms about their kids' sleep and behaviors. The study showed that children who snored loudly at least twice a week at the age of 2 and 3 had more behavior problems than children who either don't snore or who snored at 2 or 3 but not at both ages.

"A lot of kids snore every so often, and cartoons make snoring look cute or funny. But loud snoring that lasts for months is not normal, and anything that puts young kids at that much risk for behavioral problems is neither cute nor funny," says Dr. Beebe. "That kind of snoring can be a sign of real breathing problems at night that are treatable. I encourage parents to talk to their child's doctor about loud snoring, especially if it happens a lot and persists over time."

Infant breastfeeding, especially over longer periods of time, seemed to protect children against persistent snoring, even after taking into account other factors, including family income.

The study was supported by grants from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (R01 ES015517-01A1, P01 ES11261).

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/NGhEa1dgJY4/120813074132.htm

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Saturday, August 11, 2012

Briefing Report: The Status of California's Workers' Compensation ...

?

One of the first things Arnold did as Governor, and among the few good things, was a very effect reform of the Workers Compensation system?saved California businesses north of $10 billion, so far.

Now under Jerry Brown and Democrat leadership, the rates are going up by 45%.? How many jobs will that cost?? How many more businesses will not start or leave the State?

?Many observers of California?s workers? compensation system attribute the increase in workers? compensation costs to litigation, including the litigation over medical liens, legal rulings,[1] and the rapidly rising costs and overutilization of pharmaceuticals (particularly in the use of opioids) and surgeries.

These increased costs are reflected in increased workers? compensation rates. In fact, with the combined rate increases approved by the Insurance Commissioner, Dave Jones, in January and May of this year, some employers renewing their workers? compensation policies in July faced a 45.3% rate increase.?

Add the flailing Workers Comp system as another reason California will stay in a Depression.

?

Briefing Report: The Status of California?s Workers? Compensation System: Reforms and Rumors of Reforms

Republican Caucus, California State Senate, 8/8/12

?? medical utilization appears to be the main driver of overall cost increases?workers? compensation system changes are needed to control and reduce cost. ?
California Insurance Commissioner, Dave Jones

A System, Once Again, in Need of Reform

Workers? compensation costs in California are on the rise once again. In fact, according to the Workers? Compensation Institute, costs have risen to the levels that existed prior to the reforms of 2003 and 2004. These spiraling costs are putting substantial pressure on the system. Many observers of California?s workers? compensation system attribute the increase in workers? compensation costs to litigation, including the litigation over medical liens, legal rulings,[1]and the rapidly rising costs and overutilization of pharmaceuticals (particularly in the use of opioids) and surgeries.

These increased costs are reflected in increased workers? compensation rates. In fact, with the combined rate increases approved by the Insurance Commissioner, Dave Jones, in January and May of this year, some employers renewing their workers? compensation policies in July faced a 45.3% rate increase.

Given the state of the economy, the increase in expenses related to new regulations and the potential for new taxes, the increase in worker?s compensation rates could not come at a worse time.

Who Is Up for Reform?

Obviously, increasing workers? compensation costs and rising rates are causing concern among employers and insurers, who argue that the increases are a result of an erosion of the 2003 and 2004 reforms and the unintended consequences of people exploiting loopholes in the system. Accordingly, employers (which can be divided?between large self-insured employers and those who are not self-insured) and insurers would like to see reforms enacted to bring down unnecessary costs.

Labor groups would also like to see reforms to the workers? compensation system, but they are mainly concerned with increasing permanent disability (PD) payments, arguing that the reforms of the last decade went too far in reducing PD payments and injured workers are still owed more reasonable benefit levels.

While the Brown Administration has expressed concern about what it believes to be inadequate PD benefit payments, it has also expressed concerns about increasing the workers? compensation costs of employers in this economic climate.? Accordingly, it has expressed a desire to see some sort of agreement between labor and management that would combine both PD benefit increases with cost saving reforms.

Other interested groups, which include the applicant attorneys and representatives of various medical providers, are mostly interested in reforms unrelated to bringing down cost.? These reforms include eliminating delays in treatment and speeding up the process for payments.

An Environment Favorable for Reform?

Employer groups and insurers concede that PD benefits in some circumstances are inadequate.? As a result, these employer groups are reported to be willing to support some increases to PD benefits as long as it does not increase overall cost to the system and as long as other reforms are enacted to reverse the spiraling up costs within the system.? It has also been reported that labor groups may be willing to support cost cutting reforms to the system that will simultaneously reduce costs and offset any PD benefit increase.

As alluded to above, the Administration has signaled that it favors this approach.? In fact, last year, the Governor vetoed a number of Democrat authored bills that would have raised costs to the system.? In his veto messages, he said that he favored comprehensive reform over a piecemeal approach.? The Governor is also reported to be concerned about raising costs to employers in this bad economic climate, especially given his desire to close the budget gap with voter approved tax increases in the Fall.

With the apparent willingness of employer groups, insurers, labor groups and the Administration to strike a deal balancing PD increases with cost cutting reforms, it should not be a surprise that there are reports of an effort underway by labor groups and large self-insured employers to work out some sort of a deal by the end of this session.[2] Accordingly, no one should be surprised by the introduction of a significant workers? compensation reform bill package in the waning weeks of this session.

It is important to note that there is a huge impetus for employers and insurers to get behind a reform effort this year as the political climate may not be as favorable in subsequent years.? There are basically two reasons for this.? First, the economy is in such a dire condition that there is a reluctance by the Governor to increase workers? compensation cost to employers. Second, next year, there will be a large group of incoming legislators who are new to the complex world of workers? compensation.? Each one of these new legislators will have to be educated about the workers? compensation system and then convinced that reforms to the system must reduce frictional costs. This could be a daunting task.

The Anatomy of a Good Deal

While reports of negotiations occurring between large self-insured employers and labor groups may be an encouraging sign that California?s workers? compensation system is on the verge of important, timely and necessary reform, the fact that insurers, and non-unionized, non-self-insured/smaller employers are not at the negotiating table[3] should be cause for some concern. Unionized large self-insured employers would be able to better absorb an increase in costs associated with an increase in PD payments that is not sufficiently offset by reforms to the system that reduce unnecessary costs. With this in mind, it is important to contemplate what consideration should go into an agreement that would reform the system enough to stop the spiraling unnecessary increases in costs for all employers (not just large unionized self-insured employers) while at the same time offsetting the increased cost related to an increase in PD payments.

Generally speaking, the ultimate goal for any agreement reforming California?s workers? compensation system would be to promote a balance that provides fair benefits to injured workers at reasonable costs to employers, while minimizing fictional and unnecessary costs to the system. To accomplish this goal, the agreement should include the following: 1) two dollars in reduction of unnecessary costs for every one dollar of benefit increase;[4] 2) savings that are quantifiable and scored based upon empirical data; 3) provisions that ensure quality, effective medical treatment according to evidence-based standards; 4) provisions that promote the resolution of claims with fewer disputes and litigation to reduce costs and speed resolution; 5) provisions to improve the return to work process; 6) a provision to eliminate the abuse of liens and reduce the burden of liens on the court system; 6) provisions to improve consistency and predictability for permanent disability benefits; and, 7) provisions to close loopholes that prompt abusive practices.[5]

A Zero Sum Game

Any agreement that reforms California?s workers? compensation system without increasing cost to employers will mean that some ?stakeholders? within the system will be very unhappy. Simply put, the money to pay for PD benefit increases has to come from somewhere, and if it is not going to come from employers then it has to come from within the $15 billion system, a system that is comprised of employers, insurers, injured workers, advocates for injured workers (e.g. applicant attorneys), and providers.? Reducing benefits to workers is a non-starter and insurers would simply pass any increased costs targeted at them on to employers.? This leaves applicant attorneys and providers as the ?stakeholders? who may be the targets of reforms that reduce frictional and unnecessary cost within the system.

Conclusion

There is little disagreement that California?s workers? compensation system is in need of reform.? The question remains as to the timing of the reform and what the reform will include. As mentioned above, employers and insurers would like to see reforms done this year and there are reports suggesting that there is such an effort underway to this end.? This would mean the introduction of a very significant workers? compensation reform bill package in the waning weeks on this session.? In the event that such a package is introduced, policy makers must evaluate whether the reform package actually accomplishes the goal of promoting balanced benefits to injured workers at reasonable costs to all employers (not just large unionized self-insured employers), while minimizing fictional and unnecessary costs to the system.

For more information on this report or other tax related issues, contact Cory Botts, Senate Republican Office of Policy at 916/651-1501 or cory.botts@sen.ca.gov.

[1] In two recent decisions (commonly known as the Almaraz/Guzman) the Workers? Compensation Appeals Board undermined the savings that resulted from previous reforms by allowing parties to rebut their permanent disability (PD) ratings.

[2] An April 12, 2012 Los Angeles Times article by Marc Lifsher, an April 10, 2012 article in the Insurance Journal and two recent Worker?s Comp Executive articles discuss the effort by labor and large employers to hammer out an agreement that would reform the workers? compensation system to reduce frictional costs and to allow for PD increases.

[3] As reported in the June 20th edition of the Workers? Comp Executive.

[4] This is the ratio that employers and insurers have stated is necessary to ensure that the system is reformed in a manner to stop the spiraling increase in costs while offsetting the costs associated with an increase in PD benefits.

[5] While this list mostly lacks specific proposals, Christine Baker, the director of Department of Industrial Relations, has suggested that resolving the liens crisis, eliminating the pass through for implantable spinal hardware (SB 959 (Lieu) from this year), and changing the methodology for ambulatory surgery centers will eliminate major cost drivers that do not help injured workers.

?

Source: http://capoliticalnews.com/2012/08/10/briefing-report-the-status-of-california%E2%80%99s-workers%E2%80%99-compensation-system-reforms-and-rumors-of-reforms/

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Monday, August 6, 2012

Clinton lunches with Mandela in rare visit at his home

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Nelson Mandela Monday at his rural homestead where South Africa's first black president is living out retirement far from the public eye.

Her private lunch with the Nobel Peace Prize winner, the first event of her South African visit, is an honour that few receive as Mandela's health has become more fragile with age.

Mandela did not speak but smiled as he and his wife Graca Machel posed for a picture with Clinton inside his home in the village of Qunu, in the rural Eastern Cape province.

"That's a beautiful smile!" Clinton said.

"Madiba's smile is a trademark," Machel added, using Mandela's clan name.

Mandela was elected president in South Africa's first all-race elections in 1994, after spending 27 years as a political prisoner under the segregationist apartheid regime.

Clinton's husband, Bill Clinton, was the US president when Mandela took office. Their two families developed close ties, with Bill Clinton paying a visit to Qunu last month on the eve of Mandela's 94th birthday.

"Madiba not only represents all that there is great in the world, but (is someone) who to the secretary is a close friend... somebody who she has learned a lot from," a US official said ahead of the top US diplomat's meeting.

A dozen police stood guard outside the homestead. As the town is long accustomed to high-profile international guests, Clinton's motorcade attracted little attention as it rolled through.

Hillary Clinton last met Mandela almost exactly three years ago at his Johannesburg home, when she praised the influence that he had on her own life.

"It of course inspires in me an even greater admiration for his public work but an even greater affection for the man," she said after viewing the mementoes in his home in August 2009.

She also hailed the "discipline that he brought to a life filled with so many great achievements, not only for him personally but for South Africa and the world."

After meeting Mandela, Clinton flew to Johannesburg to address a gathering of American and South African business leaders, including representatives of top companies such as Boeing, Chevron, EMD/Caterpillar, FedEx Express, GE and Walmart.

"Looking across Africa, we see enormous economic growth even as the global economy continues to struggle. Seven of the world's 10 fastest-growing economies are in this region," Clinton said.

"These emerging markets present enormous opportunity for American trade and investment."

South Africa is the largest US trade partner in the region at $22 billion (18 billion euros) annual trade between them, she added.

On Tuesday the US Export Import Bank is set to sign a $2 billion deal to support South Africa's ambitious plans for renewable energy, a key component of the country's drive to double its electricity supply.

Clinton is set to leave South Africa on Thursday for Nigeria and then Benin. She is also expected in Ghana for the state funeral of late president John Atta Mills, before heading to Istanbul for talks on the crisis in Syria.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/clinton-lunches-mandela-rare-visit-home-145144141.html

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Wednesday, August 1, 2012

GOP Rep. LaTourette of Ohio not running again

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A nine-term Republican lawmaker and close confidant of House Speaker John Boehner, congressman Steven LaTourette of Ohio, has decided not to seek re-election.

Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett says that LaTourette has told him that he won't be a candidate in November. Bennett wouldn't comment on LaTourette's reasons for retiring.

LaTourette has scheduled a news conference Tuesday at his district office in Painesville, Ohio.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that LaTourette decided to retire over a dispute with leadership on committee assignments.

LaTourette was elected to Congress during the GOP wave in 1994 when the party seized control of the House after decades in the minority. He is a member of the House Appropriations Committee.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gop-rep-latourette-ohio-not-running-again-005420367.html

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