Thursday, January 31, 2013

Green Blog: A One-Stop Shop for Water Worries

Water, or the lack thereof, is one of the defining challenges of the 21st century. As temperatures rise and droughts become more frequent, the threat of dwindling water resources worries not just environmentalists and governments but companies and their investors, too.

Nearly every industrial sector, from food and beverages to mining to pharmaceuticals, depends on water for its operations. Figuring out which places are likely to be hit hardest can help a company either steer clear of a certain region or plan ahead to minimize damage to its business or supply chain.

Now, a new interactive tool is at hand to help clarify those risks.

The Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas, just unveiled online by the nonprofit World Resources Institute?s Aqueduct project, maps the state of freshwater globally. The interface allows companies, investors, governments or any other interested party to visualize and compare water conditions, from the continental scale to the local one.

?As important as water is, we give it very little attention,? said Betsy Otto, the project?s director. ?We haven?t invested as we should in pricing, tracking and locating water in ways that make most sense for human economies.?

Ms. Otto?s working assumption is that if companies have the means to take water risks into consideration, they will do so. Many companies have already made that commitment, and some are partners on the Aqueduct project, including Goldman Sachs, General Electric, Bloomberg, Talisman Energy and Dow.

?For us, water is a strategic issue,? said Kyung-Ah Park, head of the environmental markets group at Goldman Sachs. ?We look at supply chain issues and disruptions which could have an implication on our client?s bottom line.?

The full version of the atlas, three years in the making, harnesses the latest geo-tagged scientific data to create 12 different indicators of water quality, including drought, flood and seasonal variability. The indicators visually overlay one another to create a composite view of aggregate water stress. The ecosystems layer, for example, highlights fragile habitats where freshwater fishes, amphibians and birds may live, while the groundwater supply layer ? the first of its kind to be included in such an analysis ? indicates places where aquifers might be drying up.

Not every user, however, defines risk in the same way, and the tool enables you to weight different indicators accordingly. Aqueduct also provides preset water scenarios tailored to 10 different sectors, including semiconductor manufacturing, textiles, and oil and gas. More advanced users can shape the maps to fit individual needs.

?Once a company develops a map to perfectly reflect its scenario, it can compare which places expose its operation to the highest risk,? said Robert Kimball, an associate at the World Resources Institute. ?We want the information to be out there in an easily usable, accessible way.?

The institute acknowledges that the maps are not perfect. Information is far from complete on global groundwater conditions, for example, and very few real-time monitoring efforts are in place for freshwater. The organization plans to gradually incorporate new findings, however, including remote sensing data and monitoring results from NASA satellites.

In April, it plans to release maps predicting the water situation for 2020; projections for 2030 and 2040 will follow.

Source: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/30/a-one-stop-shop-for-water-worries/?partner=rss&emc=rss

donald driver donald driver robin thicke mariana trench transcendental meditation trayvon martin obama care

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

From gulags to dusty donkeys, Google Maps reveals Earth's mysteries

1 day

On Monday, Google officially updated North Korea on Google Maps. Thanks to crowd-sourced data, the area is no longer blank, but instead includes markings for just about everything???right down to the locations of its prison camps. This isn't the first time Google Maps (and its 3-D counterpart, Google Earth) helped reveal previously obscured ??or even unknown ??geography.

In late 2011, Google Maps images called attention to strange patterns etched into the surface of China's Gobi Desert. There were speculations that the patterns were related to weapons-testing sites or even messages from aliens,?but?the?consensus,?according?to?Natalie Wolchover?of?Life's?Little?Mysteries,?was?that?they?were?satellite?calibration?patterns.?

Another pattern found not far from there, a?"Stonehenge-like arrangement of objects radiating outward, with fighter jets parked at its center,"?is?likely?used to test radar from space.

A year later, yet another mysterious pattern was spotted in yet another Chinese desert.?LiveScience's?Tia Ghose?reported?that?these?were?the?result?of?geological surveys for nickel mines.

Google Earth, another aspect of Google's geo project,?has also?helped an?archaeologist discover ancient Egyptian ruins.Much of the excitement over that discovery evaporated though as ? after some initial confusion regarding whether they ruins were previously undiscovered pyramids or other formations ? it turned out that at least some other researchers were already aware of this point of interest.

Thanks to Google Maps' Street View, folks have been exploring areas they may never see in person. For example, thousands of images from Australia's Great Barrier Reef and other coral locales were stitched together into 360-degree panoramas, so that anyone can take a trip from the comfort of his or her own desk.

"This will allow the 99.9 percent of the population who have never been diving to go on a virtual dive for the first time," said Richard Vevers, project director for the Catlin Seaview Survey (which worked in partnership with Google to capture images for these panoramas), told NBC News?when the project was first publicized.

Ancient Mexican monuments such as Teotihuacan, Chichen Itza and Palenque are also included in virtual tours, along with?countless businesses which, as part of an extension to the Google Street View project, allow users to virtually explore building interiors.

Sometimes Google's mapping products can cause controversy. When?a data glitch related to Google Earth's underwater seafloor imagery led to the appearance of a grid-like pattern, some proclaimed it?must indicate the existence of Atlantis. The "evidence" of the mythical city's presence disappeared as soon as Google incorporated fresh data and smoothed over imaging artifacts.

At least one mapping controversy ended with new research, however.?When a Nicaraguan general?alleged that Google Maps displayed erroneous borders between his country and Costa Rica. The secretary general of the Organization of American States was sent in to examine the area and resolve the cartographic drama.

And then there was that time a?Google Street View car ran over a donkey ? or at least appeared to. ?"Over the last 24-hours concerned members of the public and the media have been speculating on the fate of a donkey pictured in Street View in the Kweneng region of Botswana,"?wrote?Google's?Kei?Kawai?in?a?blog?post.?Fortunately?for?Google,?the?car?took?many?photos,?and?a?review?of?them?clearly?showed?the?donkey?moving?aside?safely.?"I'm pleased to confirm the donkey is alive and well."

Google's not above showing us what's behind the curtain in its own data centers, either. Thanks to Street View tours of the interiors of the company's previously unseen buildings, we now know that Stormtroopers and R2 units guard our precious data.

Want more tech news?or interesting?links? You'll get plenty of both if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on?Twitter, subscribing to her?Facebook?posts,?or circling her?on?Google+.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/gulags-dusty-donkeys-google-maps-reveals-earths-mysteries-1B8166498

in plain sight hunger games movie review bats hunger games review jeff saturday jason smith jon corzine

Senate confirms Kerry nomination for State Dept.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., emerges after a unanimous vote by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approving him to become America's next top diplomat, replacing Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. Kerry, who has served on the Foreign Relations panel for 28 years and led the committee for the past four, is expected to be swiftly confirmed by the whole Senate later Tuesday. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., emerges after a unanimous vote by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approving him to become America's next top diplomat, replacing Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. Kerry, who has served on the Foreign Relations panel for 28 years and led the committee for the past four, is expected to be swiftly confirmed by the whole Senate later Tuesday. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., emerges after a unanimous vote by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approving him to become America's next top diplomat, replacing Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. Kerry, who has served on the Foreign Relations panel for 28 years and led the committee for the past four, is expected to be swiftly confirmed by the whole Senate later Tuesday. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., emerges after a unanimous vote by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approving him to become America's next top diplomat, replacing Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. Kerry, who has served on the Foreign Relations panel for 28 years and led the committee for the past four, is expected to be swiftly confirmed by the whole Senate later Tuesday. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

(AP) ? The Senate overwhelmingly confirmed President Barack Obama's choice of five-term Sen. John Kerry to be secretary of state, with Republicans and Democrats praising him as the ideal successor to Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The vote Tuesday was 94-3. One senator ? Kerry ? voted present and accepted congratulations from colleagues on the Senate floor. The roll call came just hours after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously approved the man who has led the panel for the past four years.

No date has been set for Kerry's swearing-in, but in a letter to Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, Kerry says his resignation is effective at 4 p.m. Friday. The State Departments plans a welcoming ceremony for Kerry on Monday.

Obama tapped Kerry, 69, the son of a diplomat, decorated Vietnam veteran and 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, to succeed Clinton, who is stepping down after four years. The Massachusetts Democrat, who had pined for the job but was passed over in 2009, has served as Obama's unofficial envoy, smoothing fractious ties with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"Sen. Kerry will need no introduction to the world's political and military leaders and will begin Day One fully conversant not only with the intricacies of U.S. foreign policy, but able to act on a multitude of international stages," said Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., who will succeed Kerry as committee chairman.

Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the panel's top Republican, called Kerry "a realist" who will deal with unrest in Egypt, civil war in Syria, the threat of al-Qaida-linked groups in Africa and Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Kerry, a forceful proponent of climate change legislation, also will have a say in whether the United States moves ahead on the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada, a divisive issue that has roiled environmentalists.

Obama had nominated Kerry after Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, removed her name from consideration following criticism from Republicans over her initial comments about the attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Voting against Kerry were three Republicans ? Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma and John Cornyn and Ted Cruz of Texas. Absent from the vote were Sens. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and John Hoeven, R-N.D.

"Sen. Kerry has a long history of liberal positions that are not consistent with a majority of Texans," Cornyn said in a statement. The senator is up for re-election next year and could face a tea party challenge.

Kerry's smooth path to the nation's top diplomatic job stands in stark contrast to the harsher treatment for Obama's other national security nominees ? Chuck Hagel to be defense secretary and John Brennan to be CIA director.

Hagel, the former two-term Republican senator from Nebraska, faces strong opposition from some of his onetime GOP colleagues who question his support for reductions in the nuclear arsenal and cuts in defense spending. Lawmakers also have questioned whether he is sufficiently supportive of Israel and strongly opposed to any outreach to Iran.

Democrats have rallied for Hagel, and he has the announced support of at least a dozen members in advance of his confirmation hearing on Thursday. Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi will support Hagel, a spokesman said Tuesday, making him the first Republican to signal he will vote for the nomination.

Six Republicans have said they would vote against him, with some opposing Obama's choice even before the president's announcement.

Brennan faces questions from the GOP about White House leaks of classified information and from Democrats about the administration's use of drones.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., threatened to block the nomination of both men until he gets more answers from the Obama administration about the assault on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

Graham, who earlier this month signaled he would delay Brennan's pick, said in an interview Monday night with Fox News' "On the Record" the he would "absolutely" block Hagel unless Defense Secretary Leon Panetta testifies about the attack in Benghazi, Libya.

Clinton testified for more than five hours last Wednesday before the House and Senate, but that wasn't sufficient for Graham.

"Hillary Clinton got away with murder, in my view," he said. "She said they had a clear-eyed view of the threats. How could you have a clear-eyed of the threats in Benghazi when you didn't know about the ambassador's cable coming back from Libya?"

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., told reporters Tuesday that a hearing with Panetta on Libya is planned though the date is uncertain. Graham welcomed that news and said he would not thwart a committee vote on the nomination.

"Happy as a clam. News to me," said Graham, who met with Hagel for 20 minutes on Tuesday.

Pentagon spokesman George Little said Panetta had not responded yet to the request but that the department has been forthcoming with information. He insisted that the Hagel confirmation process move as quickly as possible.

Two former chairmen of the committee ? Democrat Sam Nunn of Georgia and Republican John Warner of Virginia ? plan to introduce Hagel, according to officials close to the confirmation process. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the committee has not formally made an announcement.

As a White House emissary, Kerry has tamped down diplomatic fires for Obama. He also has stepped ahead of the administration on a handful of crises. He joined Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., as an early proponent of a more aggressive policy toward Libya, pushing for using military forces to impose a "no-fly zone" over Libya as Moammar Gadhafi's forces killed rebels and other citizens. He was one of the early voices calling for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to step down as revolution roiled the nation two years ago.

During his tenure, Kerry has pushed for reducing the number of nuclear weapons, shepherding a U.S.-Russia treaty through the Senate in December 2010, and has cast climate change as a national security threat, joining forces with Republicans on legislation that faced too many obstacles to win congressional passage.

He has led delegations to Syria and met a few times with President Bashar Assad, now a pariah in U.S. eyes after months of civil war and bloodshed as the government looks to put down a people's rebellion. Figuring out an end-game for the Middle East country would demand all of Kerry's skills.

The selection of Kerry closes a political circle with Obama. In 2004, it was White House hopeful Kerry who asked a largely unknown Illinois state senator to deliver the keynote address at the Democratic convention in Boston, handing the national stage to Obama. Kerry lost that election to President George W. Bush. Four years later, Obama was the White House hopeful who succeeded where Kerry had failed.

___

Follow Donna Cassata on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/DonnaCassataAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-29-Kerry-State/id-89fe7c230df64a658f380812e024ff48

A Gay Lesbian daylight savings time 2012 Where To Vote james harden breeders cup Mitch Lucker Red Cross

The Limits to Outsourcing: Beware of the Consequences for Market ...

By Masaaki Kotabe, Michael J. Mol, Janet Y. Murray & Ronaldo Parente

Over the past few decades, outsourcing, in particular offshore outsourcing, has become a widely used means for firms to improve their performance. Outsourcing helps lower the firm?s breakeven point and improve its return on investment. As a result, many firms have increased their outsourcing activities. In our studies we find that although firms may be able to improve their market performance through increased outsourcing, this is only true up to a point, beyond which market performance actually decreases. But we also find that firms that have a weak internal resource base or are facing strong competition can afford to outsource more. As a marketer you should be aware of the marketing implications of outsourcing strategy so that you can proactively shape your firm?s outsourcing strategy.

Outsourcing may be a good way to cut costs in the short run, but do you know how it affects the success of your firm in the marketplace over the long term? This is a question we have been trying to tackle. In this article we will share our insights with you and hope to provide you with guidance on how to achieve a balanced outsourcing strategy for your organization.

Outsourcing helps reduce fixed investment in in-house manufacturing facilities and thus lower the breakeven point, making an outsourcing company less susceptible to recessionary sales declines and potentially helping to boost its return on investment (ROI). Thus, if corporate executives? performance is evaluated on the basis of their contribution to the company?s ROI, then they tend to have an incentive to increase outsourcing, especially in the current business environment where pressures for cost reduction are everywhere. This financial logic has appealed in particular to U.S. corporate executives who tend to be evaluated on relatively short-term results.

But marketers, at the other end of the value chain, and top executives, may not have considered the marketing consequences of outsourcing strategy to the same extent. So does an outsourcing strategy help sustain your firm?s competitiveness in the marketplace in the long run? Although the marketing performance impact of various strategic issues, such as market structure, brand equity, market share, and competitive strategies, has been widely studied, the outsourcing-marketing performance nexus has eluded executives? attention.

But we have strong reasons to believe that it matters and should be considered alongside these other issues. A series of studies1 that we have conducted point to the fact that although firms may be able to improve their profitability as well as their market share through outsourcing, this is only true up to a point, beyond which market share actually decreases as a consequence of further outsourcing. Furthermore, we have found large-scale outsourcing to be a suitable strategy only for firms that have weak internal resources and face intense competition in the marketplace.

Before getting into the practical implications of our research, let?s consider the following three historical cases from the personal computer industry. First, Michael Dell had established Dell Computer in the 1980s because he had seen a burgeoning market potential for IBM-compatible personal computers in the United States. After his immediate success at home, his company began exporting Dell PCs to Europe and Japan, followed by foreign production and subsequently by outsourcing more of its production to Quanta, a major Taiwanese computer contract manufacturer just as other PC brand companies did. In the process, Dell?s computers have lost their uniqueness in the eyes of consumers in the competitive market. Second, think about a notebook-size Macintosh computer called the PowerBook 100 that Apple introduced in 1991. Apple enlisted Sony, the Japanese consumer electronics giant, to design and manufacture this notebook computer for both the U.S. and Japanese markets. Sony was long known for its expertise in miniaturization and has been a supplier of disk drives, monitors, and power supplies to Apple for various Macintosh models. In an industry such as personal computers, where technology changes quickly and the existing product becomes obsolete in a short period of time, a window of business opportunity is naturally limited. Therefore, Apple?s inclination was to outsource production of its notebook computer so as to introduce it in markets around the world as soon as it could, before competition picked up. However, this outsourcing relationship did not last long as Apple became concerned about a technology loss to Sony. Third, take a look at Sony?s own more recent struggle with its worldwide recall of lithium-ion batteries for notebook computers used by Dell, Apple, and Lenovo and its postponement of the European release of the PlayStation 3 game system due to delays in production of blue laser diodes, a key component of Blu-ray Disc players. Sony was once the symbol of technological excellence and product creativity in the highly competitive Japanese electronics industry. One explanation for Sony?s recent crises is attributed to the trend of outsourcing to electronic manufacturing services (EMS) companies to cut costs. As a result, Sony has lost consumer confidence and market share.

?Firms that outsource component technologies may start to forget their own existing knowledge as well as incurring the opportunity costs of no longer being able to learn about changes in these technologies.?

These examples point to some negative consequences of outsourcing strategy. Our research seems to show that there is an optimal level of outsourcing for all companies, whether in manufacturing or in services, although exactly what that optimum is differs significantly from one firm to the next and over time. Indeed, we found that initial outsourcing helped improve profitability, and as a result of this initial success, companies tended to overdo it, resulting in lower performance, thus forcing them to reconsider the virtue of their outsourcing strategies. Of course neither executives nor academics can get it right all the time, but we still believe there are important lessons to be learned.

How Does Outsourcing Affect Market Performance?
So what is the right outsourcing strategy for a given firm? In observing that many firms do not outsource all their activities but instead use both insourcing and outsourcing, one could argue that these firms are attempting to strike the most effective balance between insourcing and outsourcing to leverage their benefits and mitigate their costs. We know outsourcing can provide advantages, especially when a firm cannot perform certain activities as well as potential suppliers. But outsourcing has drawbacks, too. First, firms often compete for and enter the most promising outsourcing options first, thus leaving less productive outsourcing options when they engage more intensively in outsourcing. Second, as increased outsourcing demands more managerial attention and frequently constrains managerial resources, it may lead to inadequate oversight of the outsourcing activities. Third, increased outsourcing leads to an increase in transaction and bureaucratic costs to a point where these start to exceed production cost gains. And firms that outsource component technologies may start to forget their own existing knowledge as well as incurring the opportunity costs of no longer being able to learn about changes in these technologies. These all result in a slower and inadequate response to the changing needs (or demands) of consumers.

Furthermore, although firms can potentially gain access to a new technology by outsourcing, it does not guarantee that they can integrate this technology into their existing business processes and deploy it in the marketplace. The first reason is that internal capabilities cannot be substituted by outsourcing, since passive capability accumulation is unlikely to occur. Second, comprehending customers? user experience with a new technology depends on various interdependent, tacit processes, which may be interrupted when activities are decoupled across internal and external suppliers. Also, learning about customers? preferences requires successive modifications, which demands frequent updating and renegotiation of outsourcing contracts.

As the examples of Dell, Apple, and Sony presented at the beginning of this article amply attest, upstream outsourcing strategy affects downstream marketing performance, including product quality, product delivery, consumer confidence, brand equity, and even corporate reputation. Academic literature equally suggests that a misalignment (i.e., a wrong governance choice in the circumstances facing the firm) leads to a decrease in performance. In other words, making the wrong decision by outsourcing activities that are best kept in-house, or integrating activities that are best outsourced, is a costly mistake. Our research attests to that and proves that any firm is best off by choosing a mix of insourcing and insourcing. More specifically, we show that outsourcing has a negative curvilinear, U-shaped relationship to marketing performance. This implies that as firms outsource more and more of their activities, they improve their performance, first by quite a lot but gradually by less and less, until they reach the optimal point, beyond which more outsourcing leads to lower performance, first a little lower but eventually a lot lower.

The Role of Firm Resources and the Level of Competition
Firm Resources. Our studies show that the optimal level of marketing performance varies with the strength of a firm?s internal resources. As you would expect, firms with a stronger resource base tend to rely more on their internal resources and thus outsource less for their optimal performance. Firms with weaknesses in their resource base vis-?-vis their competitors are better off by outsourcing, whereas those with stronger resources can afford to keep more activities in-house. In measuring those resources, we examined whether firms have highly productive resources and whether they manage to create the kinds of products that sell well in competitive overseas markets.

Level of Competition. Competition effectively represents the seriousness of challenges facing the firm when it seeks to market its products. In general, where competition is more intense, firms tend to and should outsource more. It is so because competition forces firms to constantly search for cost efficiencies, which may be obtained through outsourcing. But equally, some research also suggests that outsourcing increases levels of competition. As shown in the Dell Computer case, the latter effect arises as outsourcing tends to remove the distinctiveness of a firm?s product offerings. Thus, its product differentiation capability is reduced because all competing firms rely on a similar set of suppliers for their inputs.

We found optimal outsourcing levels to be lower with high R&D investment and marketing-related expenditures, as these tend to reduce competition in the industry by building innovative capability and brand reputation. Similarly, the more concentrated (i.e., oligopolistic) the industry is, the less competitive it is, and the less firms in the industry should outsource. So any reduced competitive pressure alleviates firms? need to outsource activities in order to seek cost efficiencies.

As noted above these are not the only factors that determine how much firms should outsource. The best outsourcing strategy also depends on the context. Over time, with standardizati on of components and lower transportation and communication costs, firms are able to outsource more. And location matters a great deal too. U.S. companies tend to believe that knowledge is divisible. Out of curiosity, one of the authors went to Japan and did a study with executives there and found that they tend to believe that knowledge is not as divisible. Similarly, European executives also tend to think that knowledge is less divisible. From an American point of view, Europeans and Japanese appear risk-averse as they do not outsource as much.

?Our research shows that the impact of making the ?wrong? outsourcing decision is significant, as firms? predicted market shares sink substantially both at the bottom and the top end of outsourcing levels.?

How Bad is a ?Wrong? Outsourcing Decision?
Using a firm?s market share as a proxy for its marketing performance, we conducted a further analysis to explore how outsourcing levels affect a firm?s market share. This helps us better understand how strongly a firm?s outsourcing decisions affect its market share. We did this by statistically predicting the firm?s market share with all the variables at their means, and then varying outsourcing from very low to very high levels (i.e., all the way from the bottom 2.3% to the top 2.3% levels).

The results demonstrate that the impact of making the ?wrong? outsourcing decision is significant, as firms? predicted market shares sink substantially both at the bottom and the top end of outsourcing levels, and the predicted market shares drop by over 20% in some extreme cases. For a large majority of firms, the results are rather less dramatic of course. In all, among our sample of firms, the optimal outsourcing strategy for the ?average? firm was actually to outsource slightly more than it did.

Executives? Perspectives from our Fieldwork
Our recent qualitative fieldwork2 in the automobile industry presents a similar picture to this statistical research and is in line with our main idea that as firms deviate further from their optimal degree of outsourcing, by either insourcing or outsourcing too much, their performance will suffer disproportionately. As stated by one top executive from Ford, ?we need to constantly monitor our relationship with our module suppliers it is complicated to figure out what is too much or too little when it comes to restructure a traditional manufacturing plant to implement a modular production approach that involves high degree of outsourcing activities.? It seems that pushing to higher levels of outsourcing may also have negative outcomes. ?These higher levels of outsourcing are taking up most of our managers? time ? It requires extremely high levels of supervision to keep our suppliers performing at higher levels for all the activities we have suppliers performing for us ? there are many unanticipated costs we are dealing with ?.?

Yet another plant manager at Volkswagen, although emphasizing the importance of outsourcing as a way to save costs, suggested that it is very important to know the optimal level of outsourcing: ?We developed a modular consortium [using outsourcing] ? that requires us to know what activities to outsource and what not to outsource.? In general, our respondents recognized the benefits of outsourcing but were also concerned about its potential downside and their ability to decide on the optimal level of outsourcing.

We found in our interviews that there seems to be evidence of diminishing returns to outsourcing in the automobile industry. In general, the managers whom we interviewed suggested that their firm?s competitive advantage seems to be linked to decisions regarding how well the firm arranges its methods of production and supply chain. As one respondent said, ?it is hard to completely evaluate all costs involved with outsourcing and the potential for product quality problems, delivery schedule problems, and large price adjustments on the supply side.? Therefore, there seems to be an optimal level of outsourcing activities beyond which diminishing returns set in. As stated by another respondent, ?we have a daily meeting with all our suppliers, so that we predict and identify any potential problems ? and make quick [fine tuning] adjustments to the extent we depend on our suppliers?. The key is to find the optimal level of dependency [in outsourcing] that we can afford.?

Our fieldwork indicated that auto suppliers are currently providing more and more complete systems through outsourcing and are also taking up more of the engineering design and development. According to a plant manager at General Motors, ?our strategy focuses on leveraging our capabilities with the suppliers? capabilities through outsourcing ? in our case many suppliers ? have been involved in the project since the design phase [and] are working together from the project conception.? But while outsourcing seems to be necessary and has some positive implications, the risk of overexposure through a lack of balance between insourcing and outsourcing is also clear according to another executive: ?It is important that we leverage our capabilities [with those of suppliers] through the codesign of components and systems, ? but we must find the balance between how much to transfer to the supplier side and how much to keep in-house ? any miscalculations can lead to problems and compromise our competitiveness.?

Lessons Learned
We believe that there is a relationship between outsourcing and marketing performance in the form of a firm?s market share. Therefore, from a decision maker?s perspective, it is important to understand how outsourcing affects the firm?s market share and to know that firms can only benefit form outsourcing up to a point.

The first lesson is that firms that do not properly balance their outsourcing and insourcing levels will suffer in terms of their market shares, regardless of whatever other efforts they may undertake in marketing their products. The rationale for this is that if a firm clearly outsources too little, it does not obtain the cost levels its customers are seeking, while outsourcing too much leads to a loss of distinctiveness in the eyes of the customer.

Second, marketers and other decision makers in a firm with strong resources can afford to outsource relatively little, and this is also true if the firm operates in a less competitive environment.

Third, we would strongly urge marketers to have some direct involvement in outsourcing decisions. Firms that decide on their outsourcing levels without properly considering the consequences of those decisions for their market-oriented activities are likely to come to misguided conclusions; therefore, some level of integration of information between the different functions of the firm is essential.

For marketing managers. the key practical implication of our research is to be wary about the effects of either far too much or too little outsourcing, as it will have a detrimental impact on their firm?s market share, and ultimately its chances of survival in the marketplace. Our theory suggests that the optimal amount of outsourcing is highly context-dependent, both temporally and spatially, and in addition, varies from one firm to another. Perhaps firms in our sample have now, on average, gone beyond their optimal degree of outsourcing and are suffering performance losses as a consequence. And of course few firms, if any, are ?average,? and therefore an individual firm should always consider its own idiosyncrasies.

About the Authors
Masaaki Kotabe holds the Washburn Chair Professorship in International Business and Marketing at the Fox School of Business at Temple University. Dr. Kotabe served as the Vice President of the Academy of International Business in 1997-98. In 1998, he was elected a Fellow of the Academy of International Business for his significant contribution to international business research. For his research he has worked closely with various leading companies around the world, and has written more than 100 scholarly publications, including the following books, Global Supply Chain Management (with Michael J. Mol) (2006), and Global Marketing Management (2013).

Michael J. Mol is Professor of Strategic Management at Warwick Business School. His work focuses on sourcing strategy and management innovation. Dr. Mol has advised private and public organizations on these issues and speaks in business events across Europe. He has published widely in leading academic journals and practice oriented outlets and has (co-)authored four books, including Outsourcing: Design, Process and Performance (2007) and Giant Steps in Management: Creating Innovations that Change the Way we Work (2008). He has won several awards including the prestigious best article award from Academy of Management Review.

Janet Y. Murray is E. Desmond Lee Professor for Developing Women Leaders and Entrepreneurs in International Business and Professor of Marketing at the University of Missouri-St. Louis in the U.S. In 2009-2011, Dr. Murray served as the President of the Women in the Academy of International Business (WAIB) which has 1,600 members worldwide. Her 2004 paper (with Masaaki Kotabe) titled ?Global Sourcing Strategy and Sustainable Competitive Advantage,? published in Industrial Marketing Management, is among the 2012 top 10 most downloaded Industrial Marketing Management articles that were published during the 1971-2011 period.

Ronaldo Parente is associate professor of strategy and international business at Florida International University. Dr. Parente?s research has appeared in many leading academic journals and he currently serves on the editorial board of the Thunderbird International Business Review (TIBR), Global Strategy Journal (GSJ) and the Journal of International Management (JIM). He currently serves as National Representative in the board of the European Academy of International Business (EIBA) and is a guest editor of the Global Strategy Journal 2013 Special Issue titled ?Strategic Modularity & the Architecture of the Multinational Firm.?

References
1
. M. Kotabe, M. J. Mol, J.Y. Murray, and R. Parente, ?Outsourcing and its Implications for Market Success: Negative Curvilinearity, Firm Resources, and Competition,? Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 40 (2), 2012, 329-346.
M. J. Mol and M. Kotabe, ?Overcoming Inertia: Drivers of the Outsourcing Process,? Long Range Planning, 44 (May), 2011, 160-178.
M. Kotabe and M. Mol, ?Outsourcing and Financial Performance: A Negative Curvilinear Relationship,? Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, 15 (4), 2009, 205-213.
M. Kotabe, M.J. Mol, and S. Ketkar, ?An Evolutionary Stage Model of Outsourcing and Competence Destruction: A Triad Comparison of the Consumer Electronics Industry,? Management International Review, 48 (1). 2008, 65-93.
M. Kotabe, M. J. Mol, and J. Y. Murray, ?Outsourcing, Performance, and the Role of E-Commerce: A Dynamic Perspective,? Industrial Marketing Management, 37 (1), 2008, 37-45.
2
. M. Kotabe, R. Parente, and J. Y. Murray, ?Antecedents and Outcomes of Modular Production in the Brazilian Automobile Industry: A Grounded Theory Approach,? Journal of International Business Studies, 38 (1), 2007, 84-106.

Source: http://www.worldfinancialreview.com/?p=2715

calipari national archives brock lesnar kentucky jayhawks wwe wrestlemania oakland shooting

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Scores hurt as Islamists take to Bangladesh streets over tribunal

DHAKA (Reuters) - At least 50 people including policemen were injured in Bangladesh on Monday as Islamist activists protested against the prosecution of their leaders on charges stemming from a war of independence 40 years ago, police and witnesses said.

Protesters set off crude explosives and threw bricks at police who tried to disperse them with teargas, batons and some shots in the air, witnesses said.

"The Islamists vandalized dozens of vehicles and set fire to two buses in Motijheel commercial area and other places in the city," a police officer said.

Islamist party spokesman were not available for comment.

Police detained about 20 activists, reporters on the scene said, and the disturbances disrupted traffic on city-centre roads. Similar protests broke out in the northern town of Rajshahi, Chittagong in the southeast and several other towns across the country.

Bangladesh became part of Pakistan at the end of British rule in 1947 but it broke away from Pakistan in 1971 after a war between Bangladeshi nationalists, who were backed by India, and Pakistani forces.

Some factions in Bangladesh opposed the break with Pakistan.

A Bangladeshi war crimes tribunal began work in mid-2011 to investigate some of the violence during the nine-month war when up to three million people were killed and thousands of women were raped.

Last week, the tribunal reached its first verdict, sentencing a former member of the Jamaat-e-Islami party and a popular Islamic preacher, Abul Kalam Azad, to death in absentia.

Azad has been missing since April last year but the government says it is trying to find him.

Azad was charged with collaborating with Pakistani forces in the murder of Hindus, a minority in the majority-Muslim state. In one case, he was accused of killing at least 12 Hindus while shooting indiscriminately along with Pakistani soldiers.

Jamaat has been accused of helping the Pakistani army in acts of violence, which it denies.

Another 11 people, nine of them Jamaat leaders, are facing trial.

"TRIED AND PUNISHED"

In Dhaka, the protesters said the trials were politically motivated and should be stopped, witnesses said.

In Rajshahi, protesters chanted "we shall avenge the harassment of our leaders", said an official in the town.

Human Rights Watch has said the law under which the accused were being tried fell short of international standards of due process. It cited defense lawyers, witnesses and investigators as saying they had been threatened during the trial.

The ruling party of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who set up the tribunal, has denied the accusations of bias.

Mohammad Nasim, a senior leader of Hasina's Awami League party and a former home minister, brushed off the protesters' calls for the tribunal to stop and said those responsible for abuses during the independence war had to face justice.

"They won't be able to stop it through acts of violence and lawlessness," Nasim said.

Hasina has also said those trying to derail the work of the tribunal would not succeed.

"Most of the Bangladeshi people want the war criminals tried and punished," Hasina said on Sunday.

(Additional reporting by Ruma Paul; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/scores-hurt-islamists-bangladesh-streets-over-tribunal-085355294.html

calvin johnson calvin johnson festivus festivus nfl playoff picture nfl playoff picture Peter Billingsley

Enlightened, Season 2

Every week in Slate?s Enlightened TV club, Jeffrey Bloomer will have an IM conversation with a different fan of the show. This week, he rehashes episode 2.3 with David Haglund, the editor of Slate's culture blog, Brow Beat.

Jeff Bloomer: When Helen tried to read Amy's letter from Levi in the sunlight?in very Helen fashion?I thought we might spend another full episode chez Jellicoe. But then we took a welcome trip to Hawaii, where we learned that "some animals like to party." Best defense of needing to bury a six pack ever?

David Haglund: Ha. Maybe if, for you, like Levi, God is a beer on the beach. Either way, I was awfully glad to see Levi again, who for me was one of the brightest parts of a very bright first season, but who had been sadly absent so far. I've never quite understood why Luke Wilson hasn't had a bigger career; I've loved him ever since his hilarious performance in "Bad Blood," possibly the very best episode of The X-Files. He's great on this show?and especially in this episode.

Jeff: I was going to point to his heartfelt vampire hick on The X-Files as an early highlight too! I don't think he's ever been more convincing than he is on this show. It helps that there's a stolid, bruised integrity to Levi buried under all those pills and coke. He wasn't really buying Amy's paradise, or as he calls it, the "Hawaiian prison." What do you make of his stint in rehab?

David: I found it genuinely moving. One of the things I love about Enlightened is how it manages to be downright sincere about simple but essential human experiences without being sentimental. It helps in this instance that the show got so much about recovery right, from the physical (the "headaches, and phlegm, and farts," in Levi's words, that can take over a body that's been abused for so long) to the emotional (mostly, in Levi's case, the seemingly bottomless anger?about his dad, his mom's death, and about the things he thought he would get, and hasn't).

Jeff: Right?and Levi's inevitable relapse, then eventual peace with the program, almost make up a microcosm of the drama playing out in the series. His about-face with his roommate was lovely, and I was especially taken with his second letter to Amy, telling her that he was going to keep looking for the sea turtles. This show has its metaphors, and it's sticking with them.

David: It certainly is?and they're becoming pretty effective shorthand. "There was no turtle," Levi says. "Just a bunch of garbage at the bottom of the ocean."

Jeff: I am starting to feel for poor Christopher Abbott, also Charlie on Girls, who here befriends Levi as a prototypical addict who's nowhere near rock bottom. Those sad eyes may doom him to roles like this.

David: His crying jag after their night of debauchery slayed me; that self-hatred ("Dude, I'm such a piece of shit") was heartbreaking. And I thought Ashley Hinshaw, as the comely, troubled blonde, was excellent, too?as was Christopher Douglas Reed as Levi's flatulent but good-hearted roommate Tony. As for Levi, I do worry that picking Amy as his "higher power" could cause trouble down the road. I know that the higher power doesn't have to be God, but it probably shouldn't be your ex-wife, should it?

Jeff: No, especially not one as unstable as Amy. I also was struck by the way he described her in this episode: "She's not a bitch," he tells that curious blonde, which is apparently the best he can do. But he seems to be holding on to an earlier incarnation of Amy: the one from their marriage. Do you think Amy was different before? We know she was self-destructive before her breakdown, but who was she with Levi? Anything like she is now?

David: Good question. I guess my sense is that she hasn't changed much. She's still a "do-gooder," right? That's the other term Levi uses for her. And she really had an anger management problem, didn't she? Not a substance abuse problem?

Jeff: True?we?ve seen her party hard in flashbacks, but that wasn?t her undoing.

David: As an aside, this episode did make me wonder what kind of establishment Open Air is, in that it would treat such a wide range of issues. Also: How does Levi afford it? Does he have any money? Or just the best health insurance money can buy? A very niggling question, I realize, but one I couldn't totally shake.

Jeff: Yeah, it?s unlike Enlightened to pass off unexamined wealth as a means to an end. Amy still lives with her mother, after all, and others fear losing their jobs out loud. My sense is that his vague former life in semi-professional sports explains how he funds both his habits and his oceanside Hawaii treatment, but that?s just a guess.

David: Oh, right, the pro-sports background. I confess I'd forgotten about that. I'd also forgotten the exact cost of that bill Amy got from Open Air in Season 1; Google tells me it was $24,745. Levi must have been quite the prospect. (Granted, his expenses otherwise seem to be pretty low these days.) You're right that, for a show that generally takes economic reality seriously, the series kind of nudged it off the stage in this episode. On the other hand, it seemed to affect Ashley Hinshaw's character?s decision-making: Even after some coke and several drinks, that creepy older guy must have still looked terrible. But he apparently had his own plane, and she was "practically homeless," so ... Man, this episode was sad.

Jeff: Yes it was?but also appropriately cleansing, given how much time we've spent so far this season in the bowels of Abaddon. I suspect we'll return there next week, so for now, I say we accept what little peace Levi found by the end. Thanks for joining me!

David: Thanks, Jeff! I don't believe in much, but I believe in you.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=98d3db872d12f3b8d9c0be62383c857b

Medal Count 2012 London 2012 Fencing olympics chariots of fire nbc Medal Count Sam Mikulak

Join Me for a Free Platform University Q&A Teleseminar | Michael ...

Please join me for a free, LIVE Platform University Q&A Teleseminar on Tuesday, January 29, 2013 at 8:00 pm Eastern Time (7:00 pm Central, 6:00 pm Mountain, 5:00 pm Pacific).

Join Me for a Free Platform University Q&A Teleseminar

As you may have heard, last week we opened the doors to Platform University. So far, almost one thousand people have joined. The level of engagement has been incredible.

One of the monthly features is a live Q&A call for our members. I am opening this first teleseminar up to everyone?member or not?so you can sample Platform University for yourself.

During the call, I?ll share briefly what a platform is, why you need one if you are going to get your product, service, or brand noticed in today?s noisy world, and how to take your platform to the next level.

I?ll spend the bulk of our time together answering questions LIVE?a perfect opportunity for you to ask me anything about platform-building. But you must register to participate.

What You?ll Learn

During this teleseminar, I?ll share:

  • The three components of my social media framework. If you feel overwhelmed, this model will help you prioritize your time and focus your efforts.
  • A list of my favorite platform-building tools, including the ones I use day-in and day-out. They will save you hours every week!
  • How you can find time to build a platform, even if you have a full-time job and a crazy-busy life.
  • The pros and cons of building a personal brand vs. corporate brand. I, too, struggled with this at the beginning.
  • The one thing you must do to succeed. If you don?t do this, you will fail. If you do this, you can survive any mistake you make.

And, as I mentioned, I will also answer your questions. The call will last one hour.

How to Register

This call is FREE. You can access it LIVE by phone or a streaming web audio player.

Please note: I only have room for 3,000 people on this teleseminar. (That?s the limit imposed by our hosting company.) Therefore, you must register now to participate.

Register for the FREE Platform University Q&A Teleseminar

I am really excited about this online event. I want to help you take your platform to the next level and sample what we have to offer at Platform University. I know personally what this can mean for your future.

If you still have questions, read the FAQs below.

FAQs

Q: What is a teleseminar?

A: Think of it as a giant conference call. You dial in (or listen via streaming web audio), along with others and listen while I share and answer questions.

Q: How much does this cost?

A: It?s free. If you choose to access the LIVE call via phone, you may incur standard long-distance charges if you choose a dial-in number that is not local to you (there are multiple dial-in number options). Other than that, no fee at all.

Q: What is the date and time?

A: The LIVE call will take place on Tuesday, January 29th, 2013, at 8:00 pm Eastern Time (7:00 pm Central, 6:00 pm Mountain, 5:00 pm Pacific).

Q: How can I access the LIVE call?

A: You?ll have two options. Our call capacity is 3,000 total. Five hundred can access the call via phone, the rest via streaming web audio (listening via your computer). Access is on a first-come, first-served based on registration and which access option you chose. We will notify you prior to the call with the specific phone number and web address.

Q: I can?t make the LIVE call. Will there be a recording?

A: Yes, I will make the recording available after the LIVE call. You?ll have the option to listen to the replay online or download an MP3 file.

Q: How do I ask a question for you to answer during the call?

A: When you register there will be an option for you to submit a question. I?ll do my best to answer as many questions as possible during the LIVE call. However, I will likely not get to all of them. I?ll try to make sure I address common themes.

Q: Do I need any special equipment?

A: No, you won?t need anything special. You won?t need to download anything to access the call. If you use the dial-in access then you simply make a phone call. If you use the streaming web access then you simply open a web browser, click play, and listen. I will send the instructions to you via email.

Q: When do I get access information after I register?

A: I will send you access information via email tomorrow (Tuesday).

Source: http://michaelhyatt.com/platform-university-teleseminar.html

the bachelor Google Docs Huell Howser Justin Bieber Smoking Weed Katherine Webb Cut for Bieber AJ McCarron

Monday, January 28, 2013

11 Yemen soldiers killed in car bombing

SANAA, Yemen (AP) ? A car bomb exploded Monday next to a military checkpoint in a central town where Yemeni government forces waged their first offensive targeting al-Qaida militants in the area, killing 11 soldiers, security and military officials said.

The officials said that the explosion rocked the town of Radda, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of the capital, Sanaa, when a suicide bomber blew up his car in an attack that bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida.

The bombing came on the same day that the military launched a wide offensive against al-Qaida in surrounding Bayda province, which has become a militant stronghold. Al-Qaida briefly seized Radda last year, giving them their closest ever foothold to the capital, where it is thought to be operating sleeper cells.

A military official said Monday that the first day of shelling left six dead ? four from al-Qaida and two from the army. Four other soldiers were wounded.

Government forces have been deployed to Radda for several days, and tribal leaders had first asked the military to postpone the operation for 48 hours so they could try to persuade the militants to leave town. The military launched its assault after it appeared efforts toward a peaceful solution failed.

All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.

During Yemen's 2011 uprising, al-Qaida occupied large swaths of land and towns in the south before being driven out to mountainous areas by the new government. Since then the group has retaliated for its losses by waging a series of assassinations and bombings of military compounds.

U.S. drone attacks have targeted a large number of militants over the past year. Militants have fled to Radda, the home town of al-Qaida field commanders Qaid al-Dahab and Nabil al-Dahab, who sought refuge in nearby mountains.

Washington considers al-Qaida in Yemen the terror group's most dangerous branch. It has been linked to several attempted attacks on U.S. targets, including the foiled Christmas Day 2009 bombing of an airliner over Detroit and explosives-laden parcels intercepted aboard cargo flights a year later.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/11-yemen-soldiers-killed-car-bombing-182558695.html

Hotel Transylvania eagles nfl schedule 2012 Fox News Suicide Google Ryder Cup Standings Dexter Season 7

dotMobi's top ten trends for 2013 - Mobile Entertainment

Marketing manager Martin Clancy offers his thoughts on what will happen in the mobile web world this year.

ME has recently partnered with mobile web specialist dotMobi for a mini-series, comprising interviews, opinion, and guidance. The company has highlighted how crucial mobile sites are for businesses, the importance of device detection, the issue of mobile web fragmentation and the ten questions businesses should answer before developing a mobile web strategy.

With 2013 underway, dotMobi's marketing manager Martin Clancy has identified some key trends for the year ahead from a mobile web perspective.


The proliferation of a vast array of different device types shows no signs of abating, with connected devices turning up in new contexts all the time ? for example we recently added a web enabled tablet from Toys R Us to our DeviceAtlas platform. One trend we?re noting at the moment is watch phones ? we?ll see if that one gains widespread traction or stays niche. That?s just on the device side of the equation - new operating environments like Mozilla?s mobile OS and Tizen may take further strides in 2013.


Transport of 1?s and 0?s over the internet is increasing. That?s not particularly specific to 2013, but the trend towards moving between multiple devices is most definitely on the increase. It means that marketers and brands need to tailor not only their content to be consumed across different screens but also to report and measure their campaigns on these channels.


TV as a primary source of media continues to be challenged by other device types as noted by Nielsen, the number of US households with TVs is in decline for the last 2 years.


Brands will have to be much more conscious of context, and that goes beyond a simple desktop/mobile dichotomy. Just because you are on a phone, doesn?t mean you are rushing about the place or on public transport ? the vast majority of tablet use is at home, but still it?s difficult to make contextual assumptions unless you know about the characteristics of the accessing device.


We think you?ll hear more about this in 2013, a kind of best of both worlds approach to content adaptation, where an initial identification of the device can determine when to send an adaptive experience. It won?t be right for everyone, but it offers a better way than pure responsive to delivering great experiences without serving massive code payloads to all devices.


We?ve seen a rapid growth in m-commerce ? we?ve seen over 33 per cent of goMobi sites include an m-commerce feature.? Google say 67 per cent of consumers said they?re more likely to make a purchase if a site is mobile-friendly. More proof that mobile web translates to real revenue.


Despite the promise of higher speeds with the roll out of LTE, only the foolhardy would dismiss bandwidth and network usage efficiency as something to aspire to for mobile content. Short version: speed still matters in the UX stakes. Check out this tool to see what page weight you are delivering to mobile devices.


Native apps still have their place but we think that the native app has already reached its high water mark, and there will be a continued shift of emphasis towards HTML5 apps delivered over the web. It just doesn?t make sense to maintain native apps across various platforms for many businesses.


It has exploded over the past couple of years. We think that trend is set to continue as more mobile specific real estate comes on stream.


Mobile phones will become the dominant web accessing device sometime by Q3 this year. Gartner said this, we think they are right and said so back in February 2012 - in any case the genie is well and truly out of the bottle by now.

Source: http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/read/dotmobi-s-top-ten-trends-for-2013/020426

rob lowe peyton manning what is sopa marianne gingrich ibooks author gabrielle union mark wahlberg merle haggard

Two Bumi directors say not supportive of Rothschild's plans: FT

LONDON (Reuters) - Two directors of Bumi Plc whom Nat Rothschild proposed keeping on the board of the Indonesia-focused coal miner said they do not support his plans to take back control of the company, The Financial Times reported.

Speaking to the rest of the board last week, Steven Shapiro and Graham Hearne said they did not back Rothschild who requested a shareholder vote with the aim of replacing 12 of 14 directors at the London-listed company, reported the FT.

According to the newspaper, the pair, who had both been directors of Vallar which later became Bumi, said they would resign if Rothschild secured enough support to oust the board.

Bumi's co-founders Rothschild and Indonesia's influential Bakrie family are locked in a bitter battle over plans for the future of the miner.

The two sides got together in 2010 to bring promising Indonesian assets to London, but their relationship quickly soured. The venture has instead been marked by crumbling shares - not helped by falling coal prices - an investigation into financial wrongdoing and investor battles.

The Bakries said last year they planned to unwind the company, drawing a line under their London venture and taking back the assets they and partners brought in.

(Reporting by Costas Pitas; Editing by Ryan Woo)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/two-bumi-directors-not-supportive-rothschilds-plans-ft-014036275--finance.html

world wildlife fund gsa keith olbermann andrew bynum the time machine michelin tires michelin tires

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Gardeners, businesses prepare for extended drought, water ...

Even though it?s the dead of winter, the drought and the specter of water restrictions have injected a sense of urgency into the way garden-related businesses and gardeners are approaching the coming spring.

Cranmer Grass Farm will increase the number of acres it plants in drought-tolerant Bermuda sod from 14 acres to 66 acres this year. It?s still only a fraction of the 600 acres it has in fescue sod, but it?s an acknowledgment of the increasing demand for a lawn that doesn?t take as much water, company president Josh Cranmer said.

At Hillside Nursery, John Firsching is not sure that the small ?whips? that are planted in the spring to grow into trees will be able to go into the fields this year.

?It?s so dry out there; you need moisture in the ground for them to take hold,? Firsching said. And wells are drying up, too, making it more difficult to supplement what nature provides, he said. ?It makes it critical to plan.?

The City Council will start to discuss watering restrictions in late February, but it could be months before anything is decided, said Ben Nelson, strategic services manager for the city?s Public Works & Utilities department.

The uncertainty makes it hard for gardeners and nurseries to plan, because if the council waits until May or June to impose restrictions, ?then most people will have things planted, but you?re up in the air right now,? Cathy Brady of Brady Nursery said. ?We don?t know what to expect. We hope and pray for rain every night, then you look at Cheney Lake.?

The reservoir, which supplies much of Wichita?s water, is down by more than 40 percent.

Cranmer said that if water restrictions are put in place, ?that?s going to really kill our business ... because fescue?s the main grass.? In addition, because the economy has been bad, houses are not being built, so the demand for grass has been down from that, too, he said.

Garden centers and places with large garden displays such as Botanica ordered their plants last fall for this spring, before talk of water restrictions. Brady Nursery had already slightly increased its offerings of drought-tolerant plants last year, and there will be a bigger increase this year, Cathy Brady said.

?Then you hope they sell. They look a little different; there?s a little more of a gray foliage on some of them.?

Rita Arnold, owner with her husband, George, of Arnold?s Greenhouse in LeRoy, said that they would be helping customers make wise choices on plants that can take dry conditions. ?That is a way we are focusing. ... George is emphasizing native plants.?

Extension agent Bob Neier said people need to start planning long-term for the worst. After two years of drought, ?no one should be caught off-guard by it,? he said.

Even before talk of water restrictions, the Extension Service had decided to base its seminar series at the Outdoor Living & Landscape Show, held at Century II the first weekend of March, on lowering water use, Neier said. A spring gardening workshop on Feb. 9 at the Extension Center will also include seminars on saving water in the garden.

While there was a chance of rain in the forecast this weekend, ?there?s nothing signaling any drought breakage? in the long-range forecast, Scott Smith of the National Weather Service in Wichita said. And above-normal temperatures are forecast in the Climate Prediction Center outlook covering February, March and April, he said.

To put things in perspective, Kay Drennen, environmental specialist in water resources for the city of Wichita, said that the drought now is not much different from the one that Wichita was experiencing when she was hired 20 years ago. It lasted six years.

?There?s always rain in the middle of a drought, there?s just not enough,? Drennen said. ?You work with what Mother Nature gives you. ... I think the biggest thing is we?ve made water so easy to use that we unconsciously waste it. It?s so easy to turn it on and off. In a drought maybe we don?t need to use as much water.?

There are many things that can be done to reduce water usage in the yard, those in the industry said, and frustration has been rising over people who water every day or when their neighbor does, not when their grass or other plants need it.

?The people that work for me, my family, we don?t run our sprinklers the way the public does,? said Brady, who still follows her mother?s practice of saving dishwater to pour on her plants.

?People who have $700 water bills: What are you doing??

The fescue lawn, the most popular grass in these parts because it stays green longer than other grasses and doesn?t rampage into the flower beds, is considered a big culprit when it comes to water usage. Drennen thinks that the lawn may be the thing that takes less priority if the drought continues and water use is restricted.

?Lawns are easy to fix,? she said. ?Even if they die, when the rains come back, you can reseed and everything. The things you don?t want to lose are your trees and your shrubs.?

Firsching of Hillside Nursery said he thinks the sooner people get the message about the drought and any watering restrictions, the sooner they will try to save their trees. ?If they want to save their trees they?ll need to start watering those right away,? Firsching said.

Wichita has lost many large trees already and is in danger of losing more where they haven?t been watered. The city of Wichita removed an estimated 6,000 trees last year, and reforestation money is being used to try to keep trees alive rather than planting new ones, parks and recreation director Doug Kupper said.

?Trees are priorities because the more shade you have you?re going to have a little bit less moisture need for the rest of the lawn and everything else,? Firsching said.

Cranmer and Neier said that fescue needn?t die even in a drought if people water it properly, starting this spring.

?A lot of people way overwater in the spring,? Cranmer said, ?and then in the summer you have no choice,? because the roots have stayed shallow for not having had to grow downward looking for water.

Neier said that the lawn should be given a good watering in the spring when it needs it and then not again until it needs it again, which could take a few weeks. Fertilizing also increases the demand for water, he said, so that can be cut back, and slow-release fertilizer should be used. Dropping grass clippings also helps, as does raising the mowing height, he said.

Mulching with organic mulch ? not rock ? will help other plants retain moisture, Brady said.

Neier said that he wanted to emphasize that Wichita can still be pretty with less water.

?We don?t have to look like a desert. We can look like a prairie, and a prairie is not a desert. You see beautiful pictures of Kansas of the Flint Hills and other areas where they?re not watered.?

Using ornamental grasses in landscapes to replace shrub borders, for example, ?is Kansas,? he said. ?That is our look and it?s very attractive and it?s ... in high-end use all over to reduce water nationally.?

Pat Fowler, who does the landscaping for the Garvey Center downtown, is placing her orders for plants now for the spring and said she was going with all drought-tolerant ones.

?It might not be as gorgeous as last year,? she said, ?but you?ve got to do the best you can do.?

Reach Annie Calovich at 316-268-6596 or acalovich@wichitaeagle.com.

Source: http://www.kansas.com/2013/01/26/2651385/gardeners-businesses-prepare-for.html

home run derby kourtney kardashian kourtney kardashian DNS Changer ernest borgnine ESPYs 2012 venus williams

Sarah Palin vows to fight on without Fox News gig

Sarah Palin has parted ways with Fox News, but says, 'we haven't begun to fight!' even though polls show declining support for the tea party movement. In particular, she promises to 'shake up the GOP machine.'

By Brad Knickerbocker,?Staff writer / January 27, 2013

Former vice presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin addresses a Tea Partly Express Rally in Manchester, N.H., in 2011. Palin is no longer a Fox News contributor, but she vows to fight on for tea party values.

Stephan Savoia/AP

Enlarge

The ?lamestream media,? as Sarah Palin calls it, may have written her off now that the former vice presidential candidate and tea party favorite has lost her principal media voice as a well-paid commentator on Fox News.

Skip to next paragraph

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
' + google_ads[0].line3 + '

'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_adtest = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // -->

But there?s no indication that Ms. Palin will go back to life in Alaska as the former mayor of a small town and then governor for two years, fishing and hunting with her family before Sen. John McCain picked her out of relative political obscurity to be his running mate in 2008.

?I?was raised to never retreat and to pick battles wisely, and all in due season,? she said in the one substantial interview she?s given since Real Clear Politics first reported that Palin and Fox had parted ways. ?When it comes to defending our republic, we haven?t begun to fight!?But we delight in those who underestimate us.?

How well do you know Sarah Palin? A quiz.

The extent to which the conservative-leaning TV enterprise tried to keep her onboard is still unclear.

Fox reportedly offered Palin far less than the million-dollar annual contract that had included a broadcast studio at her home in Wasilla, Alaska. She turned it down, and Fox had no inclination to up the ante.

?What happened, quite simply, is that Palin?s star had faded,? Howard Kurtz wrote in Newsweek?s the Daily Beast. ?She was no longer the rock star of 2008, her future presidential ambitions the subject of constant speculation.?

For Fox News, it seemed to be largely a business decision. Or as CEO Roger Ailes put it in 2011, ?I hired Sarah Palin because she was hot and got ratings.? But there was more to it than that, it seems.

?The political climate shifted as well, with Republicans, having been shellacked in their second straight presidential election, debating a future involving [Marco] Rubio and [Chris] Christie and [Paul] Ryan but not Palin,? Kurtz wrote. ?And the atmosphere at Fox shifted as well. It was no longer a network in the throes of a tea party revolt and providing a platform for Glenn Beck. Fox edged a bit closer to the center, and Palin began to seem more the [actor] Julianne Moore of [the HBO movie] ?Game Change? than a political force.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/MHN-m1PoLGM/Sarah-Palin-vows-to-fight-on-without-Fox-News-gig

redskins sugar bowl downton abbey season 3 Buckwild 2013 Calendar chris christie sofia vergara

Bloody turmoil erupts in Egypt over death sentences

PORT SAID, Egypt/CAIRO (Reuters) - At least 22 people died on Saturday when Egyptians rampaged in protest at the sentencing of 21 people to death over a soccer stadium disaster, adding to bloody street turmoil confronting Islamist President Mohamed Mursi.

Armored vehicles and military police fanned through the streets of Port Said after the violence. The state news agency quoted a general as saying the military aimed to "establish calm and stability in Port Said and to protect public institutions".

The unrest began with nationwide rallies on Friday to mark the second anniversary of the overthrow of autocrat Hosni Mubarak, a democratic uprising that protesters now accuse Mursi of betraying by ramming through an Islamist-hued constitution.

While anniversary-related violence subsided, a new flare-up hit Port Said after a court sentenced 21 men to die for involvement in the deaths of 74 people after a local soccer match on February 1, 2012, many of them fans of the visiting team.

Residents ran wildly through the streets of Port Said in rage that men from their city had been blamed for the stadium disaster, and gunshots were reported near the prison where most of the defendants were being held.

State television, citing the Health Ministry, said 22 people were killed and more than 200 wounded. Security sources said at least two of the dead were policemen.

A witness said some men stormed a police station in Port Said, where protesters lit tires in the street, sending black smoke funneling into the air.

At least nine people were killed in clashes with police on Friday, mainly in the port of Suez where the army has also deployed. Hundreds were injured as police rained down tear gas on protesters armed with stones and some with petrol bombs.

The schism between Islamists and secular Egyptians is hurting efforts by Mursi, freely elected in June, to revive an economy in crisis and reverse a slide in Egypt's currency.

The political strife and lack of security that has blighted the Arab world's most populous country over much of the post-Mubarak era is casting a chilling shadow over a parliamentary election expected to start in April.

Highlighting tensions, the opposition National Salvation Front coalition called for a government of national unity and an early presidential vote among other demands. It said it would call for more protests next Friday and could boycott the parliamentary election if its demands are not met.

Mursi's opponents say he has failed to deliver on economic pledges or be a president representing the full political and communal diversity of Egyptians, as he pledged.

His supporters say his critics do not respect the democracy that has given Egypt its first freely elected leader.

VICTIMS' RELATIVES CHEER

At the Port Said soccer stadium a year ago, many spectators were crushed and witnesses saw some thrown off balconies after the match between Cairo's Al Ahly and local team al-Masri.

Families of victims in court cheered and wept for joy when Judge Sobhy Abdel Maguid read a list of 21 names "referred to the Mufti", a phrase used to denote execution, as all death sentences must be reviewed by Egypt's top religious authority.

A total of 73 people have been standing trial. Other rulings will be issued on March 9, the judge said.

One relative in the court shouted: "God is greatest." Outside the Al Ahly club in Cairo, fans also cheered. They had threatened more violence unless the death penalty was meted out.

Thousands took to the streets of Cairo, Alexandria and other cities on Friday to protest against what they call the authoritarianism of Mursi's rule. Protesters in Cairo were again hurling stones at police lines in Cairo on Saturday.

"We want to change the president and the government. We are tired of this regime. Nothing has changed," said Mahmoud Suleiman, 22, in Cairo's Tahrir Square, the cauldron of the 2011 anti-Mubarak revolt and near where youths stoned police.

"PURSUING CRIMINALS"

Ahmed Salama, 28, a protester camped out with dozens of others in Tahrir, said: "The protests will continue until we realize all the demands of the revolution - bread, freedom and social justice."

In a statement in response to Friday's violence, Mursi said the state would not hesitate in "pursuing the criminals and delivering them to justice". He urged Egyptians to respect the principles of the revolution by expressing views peacefully.

The president met on Saturday with the National Defence Council, which includes senior ministers and security officials, to discuss the spate of violence.

In a televised statement, the National Salvation Front said it was holding Mursi responsible.

The Front was formed from disparate groups last year when Mursi awarded himself extra powers and fast-tracked an Islamist-flavored constitution to a referendum, opposed by the Front although the document was passed in the popular vote.

"Egypt will not regain its balance except by a political solution that is transparent and credible, by a government of national salvation to restore order and heal the economy and with a constitution for all Egyptians," prominent opposition politician Mohamed ElBaradei wrote on his Twitter account.

Until the Front was formed, the opposition had struggled to unite and their vote had been split at presidential and parliamentary polls, helping Islamists. The last parliament was dissolved based on court order, demanding a new vote this year.

Mustapha Kamal Al-Sayyid, a professor of political science at Cairo University, said the latest violence reflected the frustration of many liberal-minded Egyptians and others.

"The state of polarization between Islamists and others is most likely to continue and will have a very negative impact on the state's politics, security and economy," he said.

Inspired by the popular uprising in Tunisia, Egypt's revolution spurred further revolts across the Arab world. But the sense of common purpose among Egyptians two years ago has unraveled, triggering bloody street battles last month.

(Additional reporting by Omar Fahmy; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/seven-die-egypt-violence-anniversary-uprising-003521804.html

jessica chastain hugh jackman Amy Poehler Australian Open Girls Hbo adele homeland

Weather keeps search for Antarctica plane grounded

Lynn M. Arnold / National Science Foundation via AP

A De Havilland Twin Otter like the one missing since Wednesday lands at the National Science Foundation's Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in 2003.

By John Newland, Staff Writer, NBC News

Bad weather continued to stop rescuers from searching for a Canadian airplane that went missing in Antarctica with three people on board, officials in New Zealand rescue team said Friday.?

Though winds, which had been blowing at over 100 mph, had calmed to just over 20 mph by 5 p.m. Friday New Zealand time (11 p.m. ET Thursday), conditions would not allow sighting of the downed twin-engine airplane.

?Visibility is down to (1,300 feet) and the snow is almost horizontal,? Kevin Branaghan, an official with Rescue Coordination Center New Zealand, said in a statement. ?The weather is expected to improve slightly after 12-24 hours.?

The plane, owned by Kenn Borek Air of Calgary, Alberta, was on its way from the U.S.-run Amundsen-Scott South Pole station to Italy?s Mario Zucchelli station while supporting an Italian research project, according to the National Science Foundation, which manages U.S. programs on the icy continent.

It took off at about 3 a.m. ET Wednesday and flew for an hour before its emergency locator beacon was detected in New Zealand, which is responsible for monitoring that section of Antarctica.

The beacon was tracked to a spot about 11,000 feet above sea level at the northern end of the Queen Alexandra Mountain range, some 400 miles from the aircraft?s departure point near the South Pole, rescue-team spokesman Michael Flyger said Thursday.

Hours of flyovers by aircraft from the United States, Canada and New Zealand proved fruitless because of cloud cover and blowing snow, he said.

'Extremely cold'
Kenn Borek Air said in a Thursday statement that weather had kept another of its planes from landing at a makeshift airbase 35 miles from the site of the locator beacon.

The company has otherwise released little information, saying it is ?maintaining a respectful silence? until the fate of the plane is known.

If the plane has crashed, any survivors would have faced extreme conditions in the mountains, Rescue Coordination Center spokesman Flyger said Thursday.

?It?s a cold place to start with,? he said. ?The elevation is around 11,000 feet so ... combined with the wind and snow ... it?s going to be extremely cold.?

Flyger noted that the crew was carrying heavy-duty, cold-weather gear and a five-day supply of water.

"We are still operating with the expectation that we will find them alive," his colleague Branaghan said Friday.

The search-and-rescue team's website, however, referred to searching for a "crash site."

Related:

100 mph winds halt search for missing plane

Plane with 3 on board missing near South Pole

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/25/16695865-weather-keeps-antarctic-search-for-missing-canadian-plane-grounded?lite

Sam Bacile sprint britney spears At&t Wireless 9/11 Jerry Lawler godaddy