Stanwood Fred Elkus, 75, of Lake Elsinore who was arrested Monday, Jan. 28, suspected of killing Dr. Ronald Franklin Gilbert, 52, of Huntington Beach at the medical office in Orange County on Jan. 28.
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By Gillian Flaccus and Robert Jablon, Associated Press
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. ?-- A retired barber accused of shooting a California urologist to death in his Newport Beach exam room was charged Wednesday with murder.
Calif. DMV via AP
Ronald Franklin Gilbert, 52, of Huntington Beach, Calif., who was allegedly shot and killed by a 75-year-old retired barber, Stanwood Fred Elkus, on Jan. 28, at his office in Newport Beach, Calif.
It's unclear if Dr. Ronald Franklin Gilbert, the 52-year-old victim of Monday's shooting, was the physician who treated Stanwood Fred Elkus, 75, for prostate problems. Neighbors said Elkus was angry about his incontinence following a recent surgery.
He was jailed on $1 million bail after police say Elkus shot Gilbert multiple times Monday in the affluent coastal city in suburban Orange County.
Elkus, of Lake Elsinore, was charged with one felony count of special circumstances murder by lying in wait, NBCLosAngeles.com reported. Arraignment is scheduled for Wednesday in a Santa Ana courtroom.
If convicted, he faces a minimum sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole.
The urologist appeared to be the only target of the attack, police spokeswoman Kathy Lowe said.
Elkus was plagued by prostate troubles and was upset by a surgery that left him running to the bathroom constantly, sometimes in mid-conversation, neighbors said.
"One day we were talking about other things outside and he says, 'Oh hold it right there!' and he was rushing to his house and when he came back, he said, 'I have a problem with my prostate,'" recalled Miguel Soto, who lives across the street.
"He said, 'I had surgery and now I am worse than before the surgery.'"
Soto said Elkus never named his doctor, and Soto did not know if it was Gilbert.
A few weeks ago, Elkus said he would be away from home because he was checking into a hospital again, but when Soto saw him last week, he didn't mention his health, the neighbor said.
Another neighbor, James Lord, said Elkus mentioned Sunday that "he wasn't going to be around much longer."
"I told him, 'No Stan, you're gonna outlive me,'" Lord said.
Elkus handed the weapon to a staff member before surrendering to officers, according to the district attorney.
Detectives found additional evidence at Elkus' home in Lake Elsinore, but police declined to provide details.
Gilbert worked in general urology, sexual dysfunction and related surgical techniques, including vasectomies, bladder and prostate cancer, according to his biography on the website of the Orange Coast Urology Group, which he joined in 1993.
One of his specialties involved using a laser to vaporize prostate tissue blocking the urinary tract.
He decided to become a doctor mainly because his late father was a doctor, the biography said, adding that Gilbert had been a stockbroker and a singer in a rock band. He had worked for 20 years at Hoag Hospital and was its former urology chief.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC Los Angeles
? 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Some families could get priced out of health insurance due to what's being called a glitch in President Barack Obama's overhaul law. IRS regulations issued Wednesday failed to fix the problem as liberal backers of the president's plan had hoped.
As a result, some families that can't afford the employer coverage that they are offered on the job will not be able to get financial assistance from the government to buy private health insurance on their own. How many people will be affected is unclear.
The Obama administration says its hands were tied by the way Congress wrote the law. Officials said the administration tried to mitigate the impact. Families that can't get coverage because of the glitch will not face a tax penalty for remaining uninsured, the IRS rules said.
"This is a very significant problem, and we have urged that it be fixed," said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, an advocacy group that supported the overhaul from its early days. "It is clear that the only way this can be fixed is through legislation and not the regulatory process."
But there's not much hope for an immediate fix from Congress, since the House is controlled by Republicans who would still like to see the whole law repealed.
The affordability glitch is one of a series of problems coming into sharper focus as the law moves to full implementation.
Starting Oct. 1, many middle-class uninsured will be able to sign up for government-subsidized private coverage through new health care marketplaces known as exchanges. Coverage will be effective Jan. 1. Low-income people will be steered to expanded safety-net programs. At the same time, virtually all Americans will be required to carry health insurance, either through an employer, a government program, or by buying their own plan.
Bruce Lesley, president of First Focus, an advocacy group for children, cited estimates that close to 500,000 children could remain uninsured because of the glitch. "The children's community is disappointed by the administration's decision to deny access to coverage for children based on a bogus definition of affordability," Lesley said in a statement.
The problem seems to be the way the law defined affordable.
Congress said affordable coverage can't cost more than 9.5 percent of family income. People with coverage the law considers affordable cannot get subsidies to go into the new insurance markets. The purpose of that restriction was to prevent a stampede away from employer coverage.
Congress went on to say that what counts as affordable is keyed to the cost of self-only coverage offered to an individual worker, not his or her family. A typical workplace plan costs about $5,600 for an individual worker. But the cost of family coverage is nearly three times higher, about $15,700, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
So if the employer isn't willing to chip in for family premiums ? as most big companies already do ? some families will be out of luck. They may not be able to afford the full premium on their own, and they'd be locked out of the subsidies in the health care overhaul law.
Employers are relieved that the Obama administration didn't try to put the cost of providing family coverage on them.
"They are bound by the law and cannot extend further than what the law provides," said Neil Trautwein, a vice president of the National Retail Federation.
Understanding the historical probability of droughtPublic release date: 30-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Caroline Schneider cschneider@sciencesocieties.org American Society of Agronomy
Droughts can severely limit crop growth, causing yearly losses of around $8 billion in the United States. But it may be possible to minimize those losses if farmers can synchronize the growth of crops with periods of time when drought is less likely to occur. Researchers from Oklahoma State University are working to create a reliable "calendar" of seasonal drought patterns that could help farmers optimize crop production by avoiding days prone to drought.
Historical probabilities of drought, which can point to days on which crop water stress is likely, are often calculated using atmospheric data such as rainfall and temperatures. However, those measurements do not consider the soil properties of individual fields or sites.
"Atmospheric variables do not take into account soil moisture," explains Tyson Ochsner, lead author of the study. "And soil moisture can provide an important buffer against short-term precipitation deficits."
In an attempt to more accurately assess drought probabilities, Ochsner and co-authors, Guilherme Torres and Romulo Lollato, used 15 years of soil moisture measurements from eight locations across Oklahoma to calculate soil water deficits and determine the days on which dry conditions would be likely. Results of the study, which began as a student-led class research project, were published online Jan. 29 in Agronomy Journal. The researchers found that soil water deficits more successfully identified periods during which plants were likely to be water stressed than did traditional atmospheric measurements when used as proposed by previous research.
Soil water deficit is defined in the study as the difference between the capacity of the soil to hold water and the actual water content calculated from long-term soil moisture measurements. Researchers then compared that soil water deficit to a threshold at which plants would experience water stress and, therefore, drought conditions. The threshold was determined for each study site since available water, a factor used to calculate threshold, is affected by specific soil characteristics.
"The soil water contents differ across sites and depths depending on the sand, silt, and clay contents," says Ochsner. "Readily available water is a site- and depth-specific parameter."
Upon calculating soil water deficits and stress thresholds for the study sites, the research team compared their assessment of drought probability to assessments made using atmospheric data. They found that a previously developed method using atmospheric data often underestimated drought conditions, while soil water deficits measurements more accurately and consistently assessed drought probabilities. Therefore, the researchers suggest that soil water data be used whenever it is available to create a picture of the days on which drought conditions are likely.
If soil measurements are not available, however, the researchers recommend that the calculations used for atmospheric assessments be reconfigured to be more accurate. The authors made two such changes in their study. First, they decreased the threshold at which plants were deemed stressed, thus allowing a smaller deficit to be considered a drought condition. They also increased the number of days over which atmospheric deficits were summed. Those two changes provided estimates that better agreed with soil water deficit probabilities.
Further research is needed, says Ochsner, to optimize atmospheric calculations and provide accurate estimations for those without soil water data. "We are in a time of rapid increase in the availability of soil moisture data, but many users will still have to rely on the atmospheric water deficit method for locations where soil moisture data are insufficient."
Regardless of the method used, Ochsner and his team hope that their research will help farmers better plan the cultivation of their crops and avoid costly losses to drought conditions.
###
The full article is available for no charge for 30 days following the date of this summary. View the abstract at https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/aj/abstracts/0/0/agronj2012.0295.
A peer-reviewed international journal of agriculture and natural resource sciences, Agronomy Journal is published six times a year by the American Society of Agronomy, with articles relating to original research in soil science, crop science, agroclimatology and agronomic modeling, production agriculture, and software. For more information visit: www.agronomy.org/publications/aj
The American Society of Agronomy (ASA) www.agronomy.org, is a scientific society helping its 8,000+ members advance the disciplines and practices of agronomy by supporting professional growth and science policy initiatives, and by providing quality, research-based publications and a variety of member services.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Understanding the historical probability of droughtPublic release date: 30-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Caroline Schneider cschneider@sciencesocieties.org American Society of Agronomy
Droughts can severely limit crop growth, causing yearly losses of around $8 billion in the United States. But it may be possible to minimize those losses if farmers can synchronize the growth of crops with periods of time when drought is less likely to occur. Researchers from Oklahoma State University are working to create a reliable "calendar" of seasonal drought patterns that could help farmers optimize crop production by avoiding days prone to drought.
Historical probabilities of drought, which can point to days on which crop water stress is likely, are often calculated using atmospheric data such as rainfall and temperatures. However, those measurements do not consider the soil properties of individual fields or sites.
"Atmospheric variables do not take into account soil moisture," explains Tyson Ochsner, lead author of the study. "And soil moisture can provide an important buffer against short-term precipitation deficits."
In an attempt to more accurately assess drought probabilities, Ochsner and co-authors, Guilherme Torres and Romulo Lollato, used 15 years of soil moisture measurements from eight locations across Oklahoma to calculate soil water deficits and determine the days on which dry conditions would be likely. Results of the study, which began as a student-led class research project, were published online Jan. 29 in Agronomy Journal. The researchers found that soil water deficits more successfully identified periods during which plants were likely to be water stressed than did traditional atmospheric measurements when used as proposed by previous research.
Soil water deficit is defined in the study as the difference between the capacity of the soil to hold water and the actual water content calculated from long-term soil moisture measurements. Researchers then compared that soil water deficit to a threshold at which plants would experience water stress and, therefore, drought conditions. The threshold was determined for each study site since available water, a factor used to calculate threshold, is affected by specific soil characteristics.
"The soil water contents differ across sites and depths depending on the sand, silt, and clay contents," says Ochsner. "Readily available water is a site- and depth-specific parameter."
Upon calculating soil water deficits and stress thresholds for the study sites, the research team compared their assessment of drought probability to assessments made using atmospheric data. They found that a previously developed method using atmospheric data often underestimated drought conditions, while soil water deficits measurements more accurately and consistently assessed drought probabilities. Therefore, the researchers suggest that soil water data be used whenever it is available to create a picture of the days on which drought conditions are likely.
If soil measurements are not available, however, the researchers recommend that the calculations used for atmospheric assessments be reconfigured to be more accurate. The authors made two such changes in their study. First, they decreased the threshold at which plants were deemed stressed, thus allowing a smaller deficit to be considered a drought condition. They also increased the number of days over which atmospheric deficits were summed. Those two changes provided estimates that better agreed with soil water deficit probabilities.
Further research is needed, says Ochsner, to optimize atmospheric calculations and provide accurate estimations for those without soil water data. "We are in a time of rapid increase in the availability of soil moisture data, but many users will still have to rely on the atmospheric water deficit method for locations where soil moisture data are insufficient."
Regardless of the method used, Ochsner and his team hope that their research will help farmers better plan the cultivation of their crops and avoid costly losses to drought conditions.
###
The full article is available for no charge for 30 days following the date of this summary. View the abstract at https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/aj/abstracts/0/0/agronj2012.0295.
A peer-reviewed international journal of agriculture and natural resource sciences, Agronomy Journal is published six times a year by the American Society of Agronomy, with articles relating to original research in soil science, crop science, agroclimatology and agronomic modeling, production agriculture, and software. For more information visit: www.agronomy.org/publications/aj
The American Society of Agronomy (ASA) www.agronomy.org, is a scientific society helping its 8,000+ members advance the disciplines and practices of agronomy by supporting professional growth and science policy initiatives, and by providing quality, research-based publications and a variety of member services.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
As a semi-mobile professional I often think about the ways in which technology has allowed much of the working world to redefine the workplace. With my office laptop and smartphone, plus tools like Xerox Mobile Print, Cisco WebEx, MS Office Communicator, and others, I?m able to work from home or anyplace else with an Internet connection as if I?m in the office.
But when I began my career in the mid 90?s, working remotely was unheard of. Had the thought even crossed my mind to insist that my employer allow schedule and workplace ?flexibility,? I likely would?ve been told to be flexible in my new job search.
Fast forward to today when, at least in my industry and my part of the country, mobility and workplace flexibility are not only prevalent, but often insisted-upon conditions of employment by new hires.
Something I?d never really considered regarding the trend toward greater job mobility and the technologies that enable it?until reading this TribeHR blog post?are the implications from a Human-Resources-policy standpoint for businesses that offer such workplace flexibility perks.
Obviously, your Human Resources policies need to cover office technology best practices. But have your HR policies evolved to address the potential ramifications related to allowing your employees to use office technology, and/or their own personal technology, for business purposes?
In general, I?m curious about how today?s small businesses are addressing the shift toward worker mobility. Do you allow and/or encourage your staff to work offsite? If so, do you provide the hardware and software necessary for your staff to work remotely?
If not, is workplace flexibility against your company?s overall philosophy, or is it impractical and/or problematic from a logistical standpoint?
Tuesday brought potential delays in the bankruptcy case of Bob Cook's 7 percent of the Sacramento Kings franchise. That could be a blessing ... or not.
The Bee reported Tuesday that the trustee running Sacramento Kings minority owner Bob Cook's bankruptcy will bring in a special litigation counsel to pursue the right of first refusal issue. The trustee, David Flemmer, is trying to sell Cook's assets for the highest price possible. The 7 percent stake in the Kings that Cook owned and used as collateral for a loan he's defaulted on is much more valuable, says Flemmer, if there is a right of first refusal that is respected in the sale of the team.
Legitimizing that right of first refusal would be extraordinarily good news for Sacramento, because that would provide a strong path to purchase by a current minority with potential investor (Burkle/Mastrov) backing despite what the NBA wants. But while most seem to be saying delaying the sale of the 7 percent helps Sacramento, that is, I believe, a short-sighted view. The best path at this point is not infinite delay of the purchase of the team by Chris Hansen. The best path is purchase of the team by Mark Mastrov and Ron Burkle. And if the NBA determines that keeping the Kings in Sacramento is the way to go, and a court drags the sale of the Kings to anyone through a tar pit ... that's not good for Sacramento.
The 7 percent stake is an important piece of the puzzle because it can force resolution on the right of first refusal. But the city's best chance at winning this war remains producing a viable plan that includes a strong local ownership component with the whales and a viable downtown arena plan and potentially the stake of a current major minority owner, like the Benvenuti family.
Of course, if Chris Hansen wants to withdraw the purchase agreement and yank his $30 million out of escrow before Friday because of Flemmer's muckraking, I'm A-OK with that. I just think this news about potential delays is more a nuisance to Seattle than a real threat. The real threat is in the news about the special counsel looking into right of first refusal, which despite the deepest wishes and assertions of the Seattle crowd is a very legitimate issue.
Not quite content with the release of its Grand S earlier this month, ZTE looks to be preparing a new tablet to go along with that aforementioned flagship handset. The V81 -- which will presumably make its official debut at this year's Mobile World Congress -- is, according to the company's own website, said to be boasting an 8-inch (1,024 X 768) display with a dual-core, 1.4GHz CPU (mum's the word on chipset specifics), 1GB RAM and 4GB of internal storage that can be expanded to up to 32GB via microSD. Speaking of which, other listed incisions include a full-size USB and HDMI, while a 3,700 mAh battery and Android Jelly Bean are also part of the relatively decent spec sheet. Naturally, pricing and availability details are still slim, but it shouldn't be too long before we learn more on that front -- in the meantime, there's a gallery filled with V81 press shots after the break for you to peruse over.
Jan. 29, 2013 ? Working with patients with electrodes implanted in their brains, researchers at the University of California, Davis, and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) have shown for the first time that areas of the brain work together at the same time to recall memories. The unique approach promises new insights into how we remember details of time and place.
"Previous work has focused on one region of the brain at a time," said Arne Ekstrom, assistant professor at the UC Davis Center for Neuroscience. "Our results show that memory recall involves simultaneous activity across brain regions." Ekstrom is senior author of a paper describing the work published Jan. 27 in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
Ekstrom and UC Davis graduate student Andrew Watrous worked with patients being treated for a severe seizure condition by neurosurgeon Dr. Nitin Tandon and his UTHealth colleagues.
To pinpoint the origin of the seizures in these patients, Tandon and his team place electrodes on the patient's brain inside the skull. The electrodes remain in place for one to two weeks for monitoring.
Six such patients volunteered for Ekstrom and Watrous' study while the electrodes were in place. Using a laptop computer, the patients learned to navigate a route through a virtual streetscape, picking up passengers and taking them to specific places. Later, they were asked to recall the routes from memory.
Correct memory recall was associated with increased activity across multiple connected brain regions at the same time, Ekstrom said, rather than activity in one region followed by another.
However, the analysis did show that the medial temporal lobe is an important hub of the memory network, confirming earlier studies, he said.
Intriguingly, memories of time and of place were associated with different frequencies of brain activity across the network. For example, recalling, "What shop is next to the donut shop?" set off a different frequency of activity from recalling "Where was I at 11 a.m.?"
Using different frequencies could explain how the brain codes and recalls elements of past events such as time and location at the same time, Ekstrom said.
"Just as cell phones and wireless devices work at different radio frequencies for different information, the brain resonates at different frequencies for spatial and temporal information," he said.
The researchers hope to explore further how the brain codes information in future work.
The neuroscientists analyzed their results with graph theory, a new technique that is being used for studying networks, ranging from social media connections to airline schedules.
"Previously, we didn't have enough data from different brain regions to use graph theory. This combination of multiple readings during memory retrieval and graph theory is unique," Ekstrom said.
Placing electrodes inside the skull provides clearer resolution of electrical signals than external electrodes, making the data invaluable for the study of cognitive functions, Tandon said. "This work has yielded important insights into the normal mechanisms underpinning recall, and provides us with a framework for the study of memory dysfunction in the future."
Additional authors of the study are Chris Connor and Thomas Pieters at the UTHealth Medical School. The work was supported by the Sloan Foundation, the Hellman Foundation and the NIH.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - Davis.
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Journal Reference:
Andrew J Watrous, Nitin Tandon, Chris R Conner, Thomas Pieters, Arne D Ekstrom. Frequency-specific network connectivity increases underlie accurate spatiotemporal memory retrieval. Nature Neuroscience, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nn.3315
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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.
DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co is reconsidering its emerging-market strategy, Chief Executive Dan Akerson said in an interview, in remarks that could dent the international ambitions of its Chinese partner, SAIC Motor Corp .
Top executives of the global automaker had begun indicating about three years ago that it would use SAIC, which produces affordable no-frills cars in joint ventures with GM, as its preferred partner to expand into emerging markets worldwide.
But in recent months, GM has been looking to also partner with France's PSA Peugeot Citroen, not only in Europe where the U.S. auto maker is trying to fix its troubled Opel unit but also in Russia and Latin America.
"Our first obligation to one another is to fix our European operations, and potential exists - and it's a real potential - for other areas where they operate and we operate too," Akerson said in a recent interview in Detroit.
"It doesn't mean that we cannot have a relationship in another part of the world," he added, noting PSA lacked scale in Latin America and that "we could help one another" there.
Asked if SAIC would be GM's sole partner globally, Akerson said: "I don't have an answer to that question right now. That's a work in progress."
His comments are the clearest sign yet that GM is hedging its bet on SAIC as it builds its strategy for emerging markets, which offer the fastest sales growth and, according to Jakarta-based auto consultant Michael Dunne, account for more than half of the 81 million vehicles purchased worldwide each year.
SAIC, one of China's biggest auto makers, is keen to become a major global brand, using its strength in building vehicles as cheap as $4,500 as a platform to tackle emerging markets in Asia and beyond. It also makes cars for joint venture brands in China with Volkswagen and its own brands such as Roewe.
The GM-SAIC venture began in 2010 to export Chevy Sail compacts designed and made in China to Chile and Peru. It also exports Chinese-made Wuling microvans and in most cases uses GM's dealer networks to sell the vans in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Egypt, according to GM, though the volumes are relatively small.
A SAIC spokeswoman declined to comment on Akerson's comments but said, in relation to partnerships generally: "Like in any good marriage, the most important thing for a successful partnership is to communicate everything, including what we can do and what we cannot do, always with respect."
DIVIDING THE WORLD
Akerson's remarks indicate GM is now trying to divide the emerging world between its two partners. SAIC in Asian markets outside China and PSA in Russia and Latin America - though GM and PSA do not yet have specific emerging-market projects.
He said Southeast Asia and India were "a natural for SAIC" and that GM was indeed in talks with SAIC to establish a manufacturing and sales joint venture in Indonesia.
He described the Chinese firm as GM's foremost Asia partner and dismissed the notion that GM and PSA, which also operates in China, could cooperate in the world's biggest auto market.
"China is China and that's SAIC. We're not going to jeopardize our relationship with SAIC," Akerson said.
GM, which first formed a manufacturing and sales joint venture with SAIC in 1997 to gain access to China, began signaling the importance of SAIC as a global partner in late 2009 when it announced the pair was forming a venture to produce and market their Chinese-made Wuling-branded micro vans as Chevy cars in India.
In 2011, Akerson said China was central to GM's global strategy and described its joint ventures with SAIC as among its keys to success, "not just in China but globally".
However, GM's Shanghai-based spokeswoman, Lori Arpin, denied that the partnership with SAIC was ever meant to be exclusive.
"While we highly value our partnership with SAIC, it has never been our intention to partner with them exclusively," she said in an emailed response to questions.
In expanding outside China, there are already signs of change in the GM-SAIC relationship.
In October, SAIC passed up an opportunity to significantly boost capital in the India joint venture, which was marred by sales declines and a delay in key products - a choice that cut SAIC's stake in the venture to 9 percent from 50 percent.
In December, SAIC said it would make and sell cars in Thailand by teaming up with Thai firm CP Group Co Ltd, not GM.
TARGETING INDONESIA
Akerson said SAIC's cold feet in India and move in Thailand did not cause GM any heartache, saying the partnership was excellent, "like a good marriage".
"We are going to see things differently from time to time, but going forward we will be aligned and we will grow together," he said, adding that GM believed in India's long-term potential while SAIC became a little nervous over short-term returns.
GM's India car sales fell 21 percent in the six months to end-September from a year earlier, according to data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. Overall industry car sales dipped 0.3 percent in the same period.
On the Thai deal, Akerson said SAIC had "vetted it all out with us beforehand".
GM's international operations chief, Tim Lee, said in a separate interview that exploring partnerships with a variety of carmakers would be important in meeting what he described as the auto industry's "insatiable appetite to find great low-cost products" for emerging markets.
"Just add up the R&D budgets of the top 10 OEMs (auto makers), and it is a staggering number. It is twice as much as what's needed. If there could be more collaboration, it would be an effective way to solve incremental problems," Lee said.
For SAIC and GM, the next emerging-market target is Indonesia, a country of about 240 million people with a young population and burgeoning economy where Japan's Toyota and affiliate Daihatsu control 60 percent of the auto market
"It's not like Toyota has a right to that level of share," Lee said. "I think they're actually vulnerable," he said, referring in part to the untapped segment for super low-cost micro-cars and vans that sell for well under $10,000.
"Our portfolio of products we have sitting there in China is in some ways perfect for what we want to do in Indonesia."
Bundesbank announced last week that they?ll repatriate 674 metric tons of their total 3,391 metric tonne gold reserves from vaults in Paris and New York to restore public confidence in the safety of Germany?s gold reserves. The transfer from the Federal Reserve is set to take place slowly over a seven year period and will only be completed in 2020.
The Bundesbank, the central bank of Germany is to store half of its gold reserves in its own vaults in Frankfurt.
It is planning a phased relocation of 300 tonnes of gold to Frankfurt from New York and 374 tonnes to Frankfurt from Paris by 2020.
In doing so, the Bundesbank will have 50% of its gold reserves in Frankfurt, 37% in New York and 13% in London.
The Bundesbank said that it is focusing on the two primary functions in relocating its gold reserve, to build trust and confidence domestically, and the ability to exchange gold for foreign currencies at gold trading centers abroad within a short space of time.
Germany is the second largest gold holding country with 3,391.3 tonnes, behind the US with 8,133.5 tonnes.
Germany?s central bank will repatriate part of its $200 billion gold reserves stored in vaults in the Federal Reserve in New York and the Banque de France in Paris.
Before German reunification in 1990, 98% of Germany?s gold was stored abroad. The Bundesbank then started to bring its gold home and in 2000 transferred 931 tonnes from the Bank of England to Germany. It will continue to hold about 13% of its gold reserves in London, even after 2020.
With the introduction of the euro (12 years ago) the Bundesbank sees no need to hold any reserves at the Banque du France as it will no longer need them there for exchange for foreign currency, after all France uses the same currency now.
"This is above all a historical anomaly which is now being corrected," said David Marsh, chairman of think tank OMFIF, which issued a report earlier this month in which it foresaw growing importance for gold due to uncertainty stemming from the rise of China?s Yuan as an alternative to the dollar.
Why?
There have been widespread stories that the Fed does not have the gold to return as gold held for governments is usually, ?unallocated?. This suggests that the German gold reserves were not ?allocated?. Ordinarily, central bank monetary reserves should be held in an ?allocated? format to evidence to whom they belong. As it is, held in an ?unallocated? form, in simplistic terms, this means that should the Fed fail, foreign central banks holding their gold there would be that unsecured creditors. This concern has been voiced inside Germany. It has been noted that the gold of Germany has not been audited in the past and it should be, on a regular basis. The German Court of Auditors told legislators that the gold had "never been verified physically" and ordered the Bundesbank to secure access to the storage sites. It called for repatriation of 150 tons over the next three years to test the quality and weight of the gold bars. But Germany has decided to move more than in this recommendation. It is said that Frankfurt has no register of the numbered gold bars.
We noted that it is going to take 7 years or 10 shipments a year to move it to Germany. This is odd because it can be done much faster. Are they allowing the banks from which it is being drawn to pull it back from those to whom it has been leased? If this is the case and they have to go out and buy the gold to supply Germany with, will we see the three central banks [the Fed, the Bank of England and the Banque de France] enter the open gold market as buyers of the gold they can?t access in that time or has seven years been decided on because this matches the maturation of the leases?
The function of gold reserves is to ensure the flow of trade in such critical times that it is the last remaining asset a nation has that is acceptable to overseas creditors, when other national assets fail. As Greenspan put it, it is ?money in extremis?. But is it necessary to keep all a nations gold outside the country for this purpose? The decision to repatriate half the gold only leaves gold available in the world?s financial centers for such purposes, while the gold held at home is available to be sent elsewhere. The problem of holding gold at home is that if it is needed for creditor payment it resides in the jurisdiction of the debtor, not a happy position.
As we said above, it appears reasonable to think that as France is in the same currency, there seems little point in holding any of Germany?s gold in France. With the U.K. still using the pound sterling, keeping Germany?s gold there still makes sense. The same applies to the U.S. which remains the wealthiest nation in the world, at the moment.
Are the nations where the gold is held the right places to store it? What if they face crises themselves? Is the move being made because of expectations of crises in those countries? What future monetary scene did Germany see that prompted the moves we see now? Nearly all the world?s nations are acknowledging that China is headed to the top of the wealthy nations pile and is going to take the Yuan to a major global reserve currency, but the prospect of holding German or any other developed nation?s gold in the People?s Bank of China takes a leap of faith and an admission that power and wealth has moved East into politically unknown waters that is just too much at this time.
As we said above, the move of this gold to Frankfurt will allow time to ensure the central banks where the gold is held, to get hold of the gold if they do not have it at the moment. The prospect of developed world central banks now competing with those of the emerging world in the gold market may well start the next leg of the gold bull market because this new, persistent, price-insensitive buying has the power to take gold to a whole new level! We watch to see. If this does happen, then the whole nature of gold in the money system will change even before the changes are ?officially? accepted. Gold will be in a ?de facto? pivotal position in the monetary system again. It will be a short time from that point before it is ?officially? accepted then. The way will have been paved for China to arrive on the scene and gold to have a vital function in the monetary system between two very different and unconnected, politically and economically, power blocs, the developed world and the emerging world with China as its hub.
The last time the world was divided on this basis was at the start of both world wars. The consequences to the monetary world then were so devastating and saw the destruction of national currencies on both sides, in Europe.
History teaches us another lesson. Ahead of the second war, when it became apparent that extremists had taken power in Germany and war became a probability again, gold came into the picture very forcefully. We? are all aware of the 1933 confiscation of gold then, with the stated objective of expanding the money supply through the devaluation of the dollar in the U.S. but one side of that event has not been the subject of full public examination.
What Happened to European Gold From 1935+?
Is the fear of future crises in those countries a motive for the move of Germany?s gold back home? It certainly was so in Venezuela?s case, fearful of the U.S.?s power over its gold and reserves. We don?t expect any further statement on the reasons from Germany because that?s the nature of central banks. But history tells us that there are other reasons which discount the future. These confirm the move of gold back to the monetary system and why confiscation of private gold has become a probability in the future too.
When the U.S. dollar was devalued in 1935, it was done so only in terms of gold. It was not devalued against foreign currencies. Exchange rates were then fixed against each other. Other governments did not devalue their currencies against gold. The result was that while gold was trading outside of the U.S. in the foreign currency equivalent of $20, there it was trading at $35 in the U.S.
With markets relatively unsophisticated in those days, alongside limited communication abilities the original ?arbitrageurs? [dealers between two markets] found they could buy gold at the foreign currency equivalent of $20 and sell it into the U.S. for $35. Is it any wonder that they U.S. gold stocks roared up to 26,000+ tonnes?
Was this a financial error in an undeveloped world? We have no doubt it was not. It was the ideal quick way to shift the gold reserves of Europe away from the war zone to the relative safety of the U.S. The war arrived in Europe four years later.
But foreign governments weren?t stupid. European governments permitted this move, even though it was seen as a market event. Remember that gold was the basis of money then so such a shift had to happen with government approval. This had to happen within the monetary system in force at the time. The fact that it happened so smoothly implied total government cooperation.
We see it also as an example of how the banks work completely with monetary authorities to ensure complete control over the monetary system. The same is true today as we see the efforts of governments primarily directed at repairing the banking system and government finances with scant attention to the national economies below them.
With a war on the way Europe sent its gold to the U.S. without governments being seen to do it. The move came about as a result of ?market forces?.
But you may rightly say that surely that wasn?t the end of the story? Of course not!
With a huge U.S. army based in Europe after the war, the flood of dollars from the U.S. to Europe happened from the forties right through to the sixties [Eurodollars] continued. European nations, including France, Italy, Switzerland and Germany led by President de Gaulle, kept selling their U.S. dollars for gold. Once Europe?s gold returned to it [as the war was out of the way and reconstruction just about complete], Europe had its gold back. Then the change in the monetary system changed and the dollar, the exclusive currency in which nations could buy their oil to run their economies with closed the gold window and excluded gold from the day-to-day system but remained in national vaults. It was then that the experiment, now 42 years old, in un-backed paper currencies began. European central banks were then rewarded by the extraordinary rise in the gold price in the seventies and eighties.
This two-way process of gold to and from the U.S. only became visible with hindsight.
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WASHINGTON (AP) ? Thousands of people, many holding signs with names of gun violence victims and messages such as "Ban Assault Weapons Now," joined a rally for gun control on Saturday, marching from the Capitol to the Washington Monument.
Leading the crowd were marchers with "We Are Sandy Hook" signs, paying tribute to victims of the December school shooting in Newtown, Conn. Washington Mayor Vincent Gray and other city officials marched alongside them. The crowd stretched for at least two blocks along Constitution Avenue.
Participants held signs reading "Gun Control Now," ''Stop NRA" and "What Would Jesus Pack?" among other messages. Other signs were simple and white, with the names of victims of gun violence.
About 100 residents from Newtown, where a gunman killed 20 first-graders and six teachers, traveled to Washington together, organizers said.
Participant Kara Baekey from nearby Norwalk, Conn., said that when she heard about the Newtown shooting, she immediately thought of her two young children. She said she decided she must take action, and that's why she traveled to Washington for the march.
"I wanted to make sure this never happens at my kids' school or any other school," Baekey said. "It just can't happen again."
Once the crowd arrived at the monument, speakers called for a ban on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition and for universal background checks on gun sales.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan told the crowd it's not about taking away Second Amendment gun rights, but about gun safety and saving lives. He said he and President Barack Obama would do everything they could to enact gun control policies.
"This is about trying to create a climate in which our children can grow up free of fear," Duncan said. "This march is a starting point; it is not an ending point ... We must act, we must act, we must act."
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C.'s non-voting representative in Congress, said the gun lobby can be stopped, and the crowd chanted back, "Yes, we can."
"We are all culpable if we do nothing now," Norton said
James Agenbroad, 78, of Garrett Park, Md., carried a handwritten sign on cardboard that read "Repeal the 2nd Amendment." He called it the only way to stop mass killings because he thinks the Supreme Court will strike down any other restrictions on guns.
"You can repeal it," he said. "We repealed prohibition."
Molly Smith, the artistic director of Washington's Arena Stage, and her partner organized the march. Organizers said that in addition to the 100 people from Newtown, buses of participants traveled from New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia. Others flew in from Seattle, San Francisco and Alaska, they said.
While she's never organized a political march before, Smith said she was compelled to press for a change in the law. The march organizers support Obama's call for gun control measures. They also want lawmakers to require gun safety training for all buyers of firearms.
"With the drum roll, the consistency of the mass murders and the shock of it, it is always something that is moving and devastating to me. And then, it's as if I move on," Smith said. "And in this moment, I can't move on. I can't move on.
"I think it's because it was children, babies," she said. "I was horrified by it."
After the Connecticut shootings, Smith began organizing on Facebook. The group One Million Moms for Gun Control, the Washington National Cathedral and two other churches eventually signed on to co-sponsor the march. Organizers have raised more than $50,000 online to pay for equipment and fees to stage the rally, Smith said.
Lawmakers from the District of Columbia and Maryland rallied the crowd, along with Marian Wright Edelman of the Children's Defense Fund and Colin Goddard, a survivor from the Virginia Tech massacre.
Goddard said he was shot four times at Virginia Tech and is motivated to keep fighting for gun control because what happened to him keeps happening ? and nothing's been done to stop it.
"We are Americans," he said, drawing big cheers. "We have overcome difficulties when we realize we are better than this."
Smith said she supports a comprehensive look at mental health and violence in video games and films. But she said the mass killings at Virginia Tech and Aurora, Colo., and Newtown, Conn., all began with guns.
"The issue is guns. The Second Amendment gives us the right to own guns, but it's not the right to own any gun," she said. "These are assault weapons, made for killing people."
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March on Washington for Gun Control: http://www.guncontrolmarch.com/
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Follow Brett Zongker at https://twitter.com/DCArtBeat
With all the BlackBerry 10 leaks as of late, it seems inevitable that pricing info would get ousted in the lead up to January 30th. Thanks to an anonymous tipster, it appears that the SIM-free version of RIM's Z10 will cost UKers a cool £480 at Carphone Warehouse (for perspective, a 16GB iPhone 5 would run you just roughly £30 more). The leak comes from what's said to be a snapshot of the company's internal database, listing the white variant. The attached BLAZ10WHI model number also syncs up nicely with the previous slip from the retailer. At this rate, not much is going to be left to the imagination when RIM officially unveils its devices come Wenesday -- who likes surprises anyway, right?
Update: We've updated the post to reflect that the phone was touted to us as "SIM-free," specifically.
DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - International bankers and finance ministers warned on Saturday that Europe's crisis was not over even though the euro currency is now stabilized, it will take years to overcome economic malaise and mass unemployment in Europe.
After a private meeting of leading commercial bankers, government officials, central bankers and trade union officials, Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg told Reuters: "There is a clear divide between the financial markets, who think a lot of this is fixed, and the people in the real economy and particularly from our side as the governments."
Unemployment in Europe would only fall from 11.8 to 11.7 percent this year, growth was stagnant, real wages were not rising in most countries and it would take countries such as Sweden and France years to reform their labor markets, he said.
"So it is very dangerous to declare that the crisis is over because that would undermine the crisis insight that we need to have among the companies, among the population, among the unions, to be able to go through this process," Borg said.
Sweden is not a member of the 17-nation euro zone and Borg has been among the strongest critics of the bloc's handling of its sovereign debt crisis since late 2009.
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde and Deutsche Bank co-chief executive Anshu Jain, who co-chaired the closed-door meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, declined to speak to reporters.
Participants said the mood this year was far more relaxed than 12 months ago, when there was a sense of emergency about saving the single currency from break-up.
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi left Davos for home before the meeting and EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn, who was in Davos, did not attend.
Lagarde said in a speech on Thursday it was vital for Europe, the United States and Japan to keep up the momentum for economic reform and put their public finances in order at an appropriate pace, without crushing growth.
Chinese central bank deputy governor Yi Gang, who attended the session, said he had voiced most concern about trade protectionism and the negative consequences of money-printing by the U.S., Japanese, British and other central banks.
"Protectionism is a big problem and also you see quantitative easing of developed economies is generating uncertainties in financial markets in terms of capital flow," he told Reuters in an interview.
"There is too much liquidity, a glut of global liquidity. Competitive devaluation is certainly one aspect of that. If everybody is QE or super QE and you want to depreciate, what currency do you depreciate against?"
One senior European commercial banker, who declined to be identified, said financial market optimism that the risk of a break-up of the euro was over had gotten ahead of reality.
"The crisis is not over and the notion that tail risk is gone is a dangerous one," the banker said.
The economic term "tail risk" refers to the possibility of an asset suddenly losing value due to a rare event.
Rehn told Reuters the conclusion of this year's Davos meetings about the euro was "no tail risk, growing confidence, no complacency, stay the course".
However, a larger-than-expected early repayment of cheap three-year loans by some euro zone banks to the European Central Bank on Friday fuelled sentiment that the worst of the single currency's debt crisis is now over and markets are stabilizing.
Banks are expected to repay more than 130 billion euros of crisis loans to the European Central Bank next week in a sign that at least some parts of the financial system are returning to health.
The ECB made over 1 trillion euros in ultra-cheap three-year loans to banks in lending operations in December 2011 and February 2012, a process which ECB President Mario Draghi said had "avoided a major, major credit crunch".
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? Iran's oil ministry spokesman says all crude oil and gas exports have been banned to the 27-nation European Union, which has already imposed its own boycott on Iranian energy imports as part of sanctions over Tehran's nuclear program.
It is unclear what practical effect the Iranian decision would have. But Sunday's announcement by spokesman Ali Reza Nikzad Rahbar could be a symbolic act designed to reflect anger at Western unity over economic pressures on Iran.
The semiofficial Mehr news agency quotes Rahbar as saying the Iranian ban will remain as long as "hostile decisions" are made by the EU.
Before the EU bans last year, the bloc represented about 18 percent of Iran's oil sales.
The U.S. and allies fear Iran could seek a nuclear weapon, a charge Tehran denies.
ST. LOUIS (AP) ? Stan Musial was remembered during a funeral and memorial outside Busch Stadium on Saturday as a Hall of Famer and a St. Louis icon embraced by generations of fans who never had the privilege of watching him play.
Broadcaster Bob Costas, his voice cracking with emotion at times, pointed out during a two-hour Mass that in 92 years of life, Stan the Man never let anyone down.
Costas noted that even though Musial, who died Jan. 19, was a three-time NL MVP and seven-time batting champion, the pride of Donora, Pa., lacked a singular achievement. Joe DiMaggio had a 56-game hitting streak, Ted Williams was the last major leaguer to hit .400, and Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle soared to stardom in the New York spotlight. Musial didn't quite reach the 500-homer club ? he finished with 475 ? and played in his final World Series in 1946, "wouldn't you know it, the year before they started televising the Fall Classic!"
"What was the hook with Stan Musial other than the distinctive stance and the role of one of baseball's best hitters?" Costas said. "It seems that all Stan had going for him was more than two decades of sustained excellence as a ballplayer and more than nine decades as a thoroughly decent human being.
"Where is the single person to truthfully say a bad word about him?"
There was enough room in the large Roman Catholic church for a handful of fans. One of them wore a vintage, No. 6 Musial jersey. Another clapped softly as pallbearers carried the casket from the church to the hearse to the tune of bagpipes.
Among those in attendance were baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, former St. Louis standout Albert Pujols and Hall of Famers Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Ozzie Smith, Bruce Sutter, Whitey Herzog and 90-year-old Red Schoendienst, who once roomed with Musial. Joe Torre, a former MVP and manager in St. Louis, and Tony La Russa, who became close with Musial during his 16 seasons managing the Cardinals, sat near the front along with current manager Mike Matheny.
Pujols, who had been on track to challenge many of Musial's franchise records before signing with the Angels 13 months ago, exchanged hugs with Fred Hanser, a member of the Cardinals ownership team, before taking his seat.
Jim Edmonds, a star center fielder for two World Series teams in the 2000s, has the same last name as one of Musial's sons-in-law. He said Musial informed him that they were distant relatives, and greeted him as "Hey, Cuz!"
"I thought he was kidding at first," Edmonds said. "That's pretty cool."
Jack Clark, a slugging first baseman for the Cardinals during the 1980s, said he perhaps respected Musial most for his decency during baseball's sometimes difficult period of integration in the 1940s and 1950s.
"Stan kind of crossed that color barrier. When people were getting on the African-American players, he stuck up for them. It was a time when you could kind of get your finger pointed at you for that stuff," Clark said. "People loved him, and he loved them right back."
Bishop Richard Stika, pastor at Musial's' church in suburban St. Louis for several years, speculated during the homily about why Musial was never ejected from a game during his career: "I think deep down, that was because he didn't want to go home and face Lil."
Musial's wife of nearly 72 years, Lillian, died last year.
Grandson Andrew Edmonds said the public Musial was no different from the private Musial, the grandpa who bought McDonalds for the family every Sunday. He recalled a fan telling him, "Your grandpa's best attribute is he made nobodies feel like somebodies."
Pallbearers included Cardinals President Bill DeWitt III, Musial grandsons Andrew Edmonds and Brian Schwarze, and the retired star's longtime business partner in Stan the Man Inc., Dick Zitzmann.
After the service, the hearse and vans filled with the Cardinals' delegation drove to Busch Stadium, where Musial's family laid flowers at the base of one of his statues ? the one that made the move across the street from the old Busch ? while being serenaded by "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." Color guards from the city's fire and police departments flanked the statue, along with more than a dozen ballpark ushers. A single Clydesdale walked slowly down the street.
Cardinals closer Jason Motte shook his head.
"This is nothing like I've ever seen," he said.
During a funeral that was almost entirely upbeat, son-in-law Martin Schwarze got the biggest laugh when he recounted a 1995 radio interview with Jack Buck during which Musial was asked how good of a hitter he'd have been had he played in the modern era. Musial, who finished with a .331 career batting average, replied he probably would have batted about .275, and Buck said "Whoa, whoa, whoa," that's way too low.
Then Musial added with a chuckle, "Hey, Jack, I'm 75!"
Thousands filed through the Cathedral Basilica at Musial's six-hour public visitation on Thursday, and hundreds more attended the service.
Hundreds more were waiting at the more prominent of the two Musial statues outside Busch Stadium, where fans have gathered since Musial died after several years of declining health. Next to the statues were flowers, balloons, teddy bears, helmets, autographed items and a homemade sign that read "Thanks for the memories. You live in our hearts, No. 6."
"He's been a hero to us for four generations," Kathy Noorman of Wentzville, Mo., said, speaking near the statue. "He was such a good man, somebody you can hold up to grandkids and your own kids as an example of who they should be."
Mark Springman, 57, of Alton, Ill., brought a bottle of champagne to the statue shrine. He saw Musial play in 1963, Stan the Man's final season, and has been a season-ticket holder for about 15 years.
"He was more than a ballplayer," Springman said. "He was the man."
Postdoctoral Fellowship Opportunities at Do=F1ana Biological Station (EBD= ),=20 Sevilla, Spain.
Funded by the =93Severo Ochoa=94 Excellence Program awarded by the Spanis= h=20 Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, we seek applicants for seven two= - year postdoctoral fellowships. The Do=F1ana Biological Station, belonging= to=20 the Spanish Council for Research (CSIC), is currently made up of 43 facul= ty=20 members working in the following research lines:
Plant-Animal Interactions Evolutionary Biology Molecular Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics Conservation Biology and Global Change Biological Invasions Ecological Synthesis Wetland Ecology
=09=09 Both junior and senior postdoctoral candidates with an outstanding=20 publication record are encouraged to apply. Postdoctoral fellows at EBD=20=
typically interact with several lab groups and are expected to participat= e=20 in seminars, discussion groups, training courses and workshops. Candidat= es=20 are encouraged to contact potential collaborating faculty members at EBD=20=
(www.ebd.csic.es) to inquire about current and potential research=20 activities and projects. Selected candidates will be mentored by one or t= wo=20 faculty members designated by the Steering Committee of the Severo Ochoa=20=
Program.
Starting date: Summer 2013 approx. Salary: 39,000 =80 approx. per yr. before taxes
Candidates should send curriculum vitae, two letters of reference, and a=20=
statement of overall scientific goals and interests (approximately 1500=20=
words). Please also indicate the research line, among the seven ones cite= d=20 above, which better fit your expertise. You may also name faculty members= =20 with whom you may like to interact, and who may act as mentors. Selected=20=
candidates will participate in ongoing projects led by their mentors.
Applications and Reference letters should be sent to the email or FAX=20 address below. Reference letters must be sent directly by the referee. severo.ochoa@ebd.csic.es or Fax: 34 954621125 Closing date for application, 24 February 2013.
Do=F1ana Biological Station hires on the basis of merit and is an equal=20=
opportunity employer. We encourage all qualified candidates to apply.
On behalf of the Steering Committee of the =93Severo Ochoa=94 Program at = Do=F1ana=20 Biological Station, Juan J. Negro, Director
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The hacker-activist group Anonymous says it hijacked the website of the U.S. Sentencing Commission to avenge the death of Aaron Swartz, an Internet activist who committed suicide.
The website of the commission, an independent agency of the judicial branch, was taken over early Saturday and replaced with a message warning that when Swartz killed himself two weeks ago "a line was crossed."
The hackers say they've infiltrated several government computer systems and copied secret information that they now threaten to make public.
Family and friends of Swartz, who helped create Reddit and RSS, say he killed himself after he was hounded by federal prosecutors. Officials say he helped post millions of court documents for free online and that he illegally downloaded millions of academic articles from an online clearinghouse.
In this week?s rental industry headlines, find out why rents are predicted to rise even more, and why some think big-city micro-apartments aren?t the solution. Be aware of the latest real estate scams, and know the problems you can?t afford not to fix on your rental property.
Moving On Up: Stage Set for Rents to Go Higher
Tenants pinched by rising rents shouldn?t expect relief soon from the new apartments for a simple reason: Demand is likely to outpace supply for some time.
Who Will Live in Bloomberg?s Micro-Apartments??
City officials said the micro-units will help to meet the changing needs of New Yorkers and are ?critical to the city?s future economic success.??But some have called the micro-units tenements for the 21st century, though at the price, they would certainly not be housing large, low-income families.
Toll Seeks Bigger Stake in Apartment Market
Toll Brothers,?the nation?s largest builder of luxury single-family homes, making a bigger push into the?condo market?with the purchase of land near Washington, D.C. The company is also expanding its rental operations.
Real Estate Agents Scammed, Says BBB
The Better Business Bureau says St. Louis real estate agents are being victimized in a ?shakedown? run by operators of a ?phony? complaint website.
Raw Sewage In Your Apartment: Repairs Your Landlord Can?t Ignore
There are lots of crappy situations you can run into when you?re living in multi-unit housing.?But we can?t think of anything crappier ? literally ? than your apartment filling up with raw sewage.?This raises the question: Doesn?t the landlord?have?to fix this problem?
NEW DELHI (AP) ? In the court of public opinion, the men being tried in the gang rape of an Indian university student should be hanged in a public square.
That demand for swift justice might make it impossible for them to get a fair trial in a court of law. Already there are plenty of portents.
Amid the heightened emotions that have surrounded this case a local bar association has stopped its members from representing the men citing the heinous nature of the crime. The three grandstanding lawyers who have rushed in to represent the accused spent weeks taking potshots at each other instead of coordinating a defense. Two lawyers fought for days over which one was representing one of the defendants.
And the case is being heard by a brand new fast track court, set up in the wake of the rape to deal with sexual assaults in the capital, that is under pressure to reach a verdict within weeks. Finally, whatever is said or submitted in court has to stay in the room -- a gag order by the judge prevents the media from reporting anything about the case.
"However wicked and depraved society may perceive a person to be, he deserves a fair trial. He deserves a good defense," said Markandey Katju, a retired judge of India's Supreme Court.
"That some of those charged are the real culprits and some are innocent ... that is a very real possibility," he said, adding that in India the police "spreads its net wide."
As details of the attack have emerged Katju said he feared the trial may be overrun by emotion rather than the calm voice of reason.
"You can't decide cases on sentiment. That's lynch law."
The specifics of the gang rape are horrifying. According to the police report, the attack lasted at least 45 minutes. There were six attackers, one of whom claims to be a juvenile and is being tried separately. Each of the men raped the 23-year-old woman, with at least two taking turns driving the bus. They penetrated her with two metal rods, causing such severe internal injuries that doctors later found parts of her intestines floating freely inside her abdomen.
The battered woman and her badly beaten male friend were then thrown out of the moving bus and lay naked and bleeding on the side of a busy road on a cold December night.
The attack was so brutal that the woman died two weeks later in a Singapore hospital.
Within two days of the attack the police arrested the six accused. According to the police all six confessed their crimes. The police report said that DNA evidence from the men tied all of them in the rape and murder. According to police documents blood and saliva swabs from the accused matched the DNA found on the victim's injuries. The victim's blood was also found on the clothes, underwear and slippers of the accused.
The attack in the heart of New Delhi brought protesters into the streets demanding the government protect women and ensure those attacked get justice. In response, the city government set up five fast track courts to swiftly handle those cases, keeping them out of India's overburdened regular court system, where trials can drag on for years if not decades.
As the police framed charges against the men and prepared for trial the bar association of Saket, the district where the case is being heard, declared that their members would not represent the men. They were following a precedent set by lawyers' groups across India over the last few years, which have banned their members from representing those accused of terrorism and other heinous crimes.
"This is completely unconstitutional and unethical," said Katju. "Right minded lawyers should defy and ignore such rulings."
Outside the courtroom the cries for a quick trial and execution of the five men have persisted.
"They should be handed over to the public and hanged," said Prakash, a 51-year-old gardener who had come to court on a personal matter but waited to get a glimpse of the accused being whisked into court. She uses only one name.
The three men who rushed forth to represent the accused were not members of the local bar and have spent more time fighting each other than putting up a defense.
One insisted he would ask the Supreme Court to move the trial out of Delhi because emotions were too high to hold a fair trial here. But when a second lawyer made a similar appeal, the first changed his mind and vehemently opposed it.
One lawyer, M.L. Sharma, has accused police of planting the other two defense lawyers to ensure a guilty verdict.
"I'm the only hurdle standing in their way," Sharma said earlier this week. Even as he made his allegations, fellow defense counsel V.K. Anand stepped up to say that Sharma's client had decided to fire his lawyer ? and hire him.
The dispute over who would represent the defendant was only resolved Thursday ? the day the trial started. Sharma dropped out of the trial, saying he feared his client would be tortured to get him to change his lawyer. Anand replaced him.
Sharma has accused police of beating all five men to extract their confessions, then later amended that to say only his client was beaten. He also made unsubstantiated accusations that the victim's male friend was somehow responsible for the deadly assault, only to backtrack later.
Another lawyer, A.P. Singh, said the only reason he agreed to represent two of the accused was because their families had begged his mother for help.
"My mother has a kind heart and an order from her is like an order from God," he said, posing dramatically for the cameras.
Anand hasn't spoken about his strategy, but both Sharma and Singh have claimed at least once that their clients were not even on the bus during the attack.
In the past, courts across the country have criticized the police for coercing confessions and even planting evidence to get convictions.
"We set so little store by how the police functions in this country. There's no reason to accept the police's version of events in this case without thorough legal scrutiny," said Jawahar Raja, a lawyer and activist.
The defense is made even more complicated by the fact the case is being tried in a fast track court. As a result the police has put together its case at rapid speed. The trial has started even as defense lawyers are falling into place.
"Justice takes some time. It's all very easy to talk about fast track courts," said Katju, adding that cases should be tried quickly and efficiently but without a looming deadline.
"A judge has to read all the documents, hear the lawyers, apply his mind. It's not a magic lamp that with a swish you can dispose of a case."
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Public release date: 30-Jan-2013
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