Budweiser maker AB InBev reports lower Q4 profit

AMSTERDAM (AP) ? Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, the world's largest brewer, said Wednesday that profit fell 4.9 percent in the fourth quarter due to higher financing costs, and it forecast weak first quarter sales volumes in the United States and Brazil.

The maker of Budweiser, Bud Light, Stella Artois and Beck's said net profit was $1.76 billion (?1.35 billion), down from $1.85 billion in the same period a year ago. Exchange rate-linked losses in the fourth quarter of 2012 and gains on derivatives a year earlier caused a combined $400 million downward swing.

Revenues rose 8.8 percent to $10.3 billion, due to price hikes, and operating profit rose 10.7 percent, thanks to cost-cutting, the company said.

AB InBev said it expects weak first quarter volumes in the U.S., its most profitable market, as consumers there have less disposable income and weather has been worse than a year ago.

But the company, based in Leuven, Belgium, reported that sales volumes had grown in the U.S. in 2012 for the first time since 2008 and "market share is showing signs of stabilizing."

It also expects first quarter "softness" in Brazil, where it has a 68.5 percent market share with brands Skol, Brahma and Antarctica, due to an early carnival and wet weather.

Volumes in China, the company's third-largest market, grew 1.9 percent and AB InBev said it gained market share in the fourth quarter, with Budweiser becoming the best-selling "premium" beer in the country. AB InBev expects better growth in China this year.

More than half of Budweiser sales now take place outside the U.S., the company said.

AB InBev didn't outline whether it expects to increase profits in 2013, saying only it expects its revenue per gallon sold to increase faster than the rate of inflation, and costs to rise "in the mid-single digits."

Shares erased early losses to rise 0.5 percent to ?70.15 in Brussels.

The numbers were "below market expectations at the earnings level," but better than expected in terms of revenues, said Jonathan Jackson, head of equities at Kilik & Co. He said the company is "well positioned to capture rising emerging market incomes and recovering Western economies." However, he repeated a "neutral" rating on shares, because those strengths are already reflected in the share price.

AB InBev has been attempting since June to take over the half of Corona maker Grupo Modelo it doesn't already own for $20.1 billion, but the deal was challenged by the U.S. Department of Justice over concerns it would make the company too dominant in the U.S.

In response, AB InBev announced a side-deal this month to sell the rights to market Corona in the U.S. to smaller competitor Constellation Brands, hoping that would appease regulators. For now the deal "remains subject to the existing challenge," AB InBev said Wednesday.

The company's U.S. subsidiary, Anheuser-Busch of St. Louis, Missouri, is facing a lawsuit from consumers who on Tuesday accused it of watering down its beers, including Budweiser and Michelob, so that they carry a lower alcohol percentage than their label suggests.

"Our beers are in full compliance with all alcohol labeling laws. We proudly adhere to the highest standards in brewing our beers, which have made them the best-selling in the U.S. and the world," said Peter Kraemer, vice-president of brewing and supply, in a statement.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/budweiser-maker-ab-inbev-reports-lower-q4-profit-124632780--finance.html

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Gun control fight entering final round in Senate (cbsnews)

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Close encounters with the popes over 3 decades

Rome Bureau Chief Victor Simpson, left, shakes hands with Pope Benedict XVI during the flight from Beirut to Rome, Sept. 16, 2012. Simpson has chronicled four papacies in 35 years covering the Holy See. A Vatican institution in his own right, Simpson has had a unique vantage point on history, enjoying the ear of Vatican insiders and chatting with the pope himself on foreign pilgrimages. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano, ho)

Rome Bureau Chief Victor Simpson, left, shakes hands with Pope Benedict XVI during the flight from Beirut to Rome, Sept. 16, 2012. Simpson has chronicled four papacies in 35 years covering the Holy See. A Vatican institution in his own right, Simpson has had a unique vantage point on history, enjoying the ear of Vatican insiders and chatting with the pope himself on foreign pilgrimages. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano, ho)

This June 2, 1979 photo shows then Associated Press correspondent Victor Simpson, left, interviewing Pope John Paul II aboard the airplane in flight from Rome to Warsaw, June 2, 1979. Rome Bureau Chief Victor Simpson has chronicled four papacies in 35 years covering the Holy See. A Vatican institution in his own right, Simpson has had a unique vantage point on history, enjoying the ear of Vatican insiders and chatting with the pope himself on foreign pilgrimages. (AP Photo)

VATICAN CITY (AP) ? The Middle East Airlines jetliner had barely taken off from Beirut when I was escorted down the aisle to the first-class section and seated beside Pope Benedict XVI. He had just ended a delicate two-day visit to Lebanon as civil war raged in neighboring Syria, and he looked and sounded weary.

It was my 92nd trip aboard a papal plane ? first with the master of papal globetrotting John Paul II, then over the past eight years with Benedict.

As I was planning to retire, the pope's journey in September was to be my last, and Vatican officials thought I should share the moment with him.

I sat beside the pope and shook his hand. "Congratulations on your retirement," he said in Italian as a Vatican photographer recorded the occasion. Speaking in a soft voice, he asked me how many years I had been covering the Vatican. When I told him more than 30, he looked surprised and said my retirement "is much-deserved." Did his thoughts drift to important plans of his own that he was concealing from the world?

There's no way to tell.

But Benedict appeared pleased with our conversation and in no rush to end it. It was his aides who motioned to me that it was time to return to my seat.

The encounter did not prepare me for his stunning announcement five months later that he planned to retire on Feb. 28 ? the exact date I had chosen to retire myself.

___

EDITOR'S NOTE: Rome Bureau Chief Victor Simpson has chronicled four papacies in 35 years covering the Holy See. A Vatican institution in his own right, Simpson has had a unique vantage point on history, enjoying the ear of Vatican insiders and chatting with the pope himself on foreign pilgrimages. He looks back on a storied career.

___

I know a bishop who says he is jealous of the "Vaticanisti" ? reporters on the Vatican beat ? because we get to ask the pope questions that no bishop would dare to broach. And we're often rewarded with a remarkable response.

Sprung from Vatican confines, airborne popes seem to feel freer to speak out.

John Paul II used just such a papal flight in 1988 to issue a ringing endorsement, one of the strongest of his papacy, of fellow Poles striking against communist authorities in the Gdansk shipyard.

It was on a trip to Uruguay, and the pope came to the back of the plane to take questions. When asked about the Solidarity strikes, he responded that the journalist should read his encyclical on work, which lays out his views on the dignity of labor. At that point, the plane was rocked by turbulence and the pilot advised over the loud speaker that the pope needed to return to his seat.

When calm returned, I complained that the pope had never reached my section.

A few minutes later the pope's secretary, Monsignor Stanislaw Dziwisz (now a cardinal) came and brought me to the pope. He turned off my tape recorder, suggested I ask about the strikes, then turned the recorder back on.

So I asked. John Paul launched into a broadside against communist authorities and lent his full papal support to the strikes.

"Here we are touching the heart of the problem," the pope said. "It is not easy to bring democracy to a system that is by definition dictatorial and totalitarian."

No mention of the encyclical.

The statements, exclusive to AP, hit front pages of newspapers around the world the next day. They were later seen as a landmark in the pope's role in bringing down communism in eastern Europe.

___

Two years earlier, I was asked to join John Paul for dinner in his cabin of a Qantas 747 on the final leg to Rome ? after a two-week trip to Bangladesh, Singapore, Fiji Islands, New Zealand, Australia and the Seychelles.

I was embarrassed at the way I looked: lots of stubble from having shaved at dawn that morning and in a sloppy safari jacket soaked by a monsoon in the Seychelles.

But the pope put me at ease. When I apologized for "my working clothes," he gripped his white robes and said, a twinkle in his eye: "These are my working clothes."

We were joined at dinner by a papal aide and the Australian ambassador to the Holy See.

That's when I found myself in the middle of a diplomatic incident.

The Qantas steward brought wine to the table and the ambassador grabbed a bottle of red and announced we would be having that. But John Paul protested that he didn't drink red wine and wanted white.

After that, the ambassador could get nothing right ? always finding himself on the wrong side of papal opinions (judgments, after all, that are supposed to be infallible!).

John Paul sought to line me up on his side of arguments ranging from the role of young people in the church to the plight of Aborigines. One debate, in particular, became rather lively: Are Australians more like Americans or Europeans? The pope saw them as more like Americans.

What could I do but agree?

___

More recently, Benedict, flying to Africa, defended church policy that handing out condoms is not the answer in the fight against AIDS. The pope, who promotes marital fidelity and abstinence, said condoms only increased the problem. The Vatican transcript did not include that line, but we all had it recorded ? and the news soon made the rounds of the world.

The resulting controversy, including complaints from priests dealing with the AIDS problem in Africa, cast a shadow over Benedict's first trip to Africa.

Benedict's diplomatic tone-deafness on that trip was a big contrast to the media-savvy John Paul's introduction to Africa in 1980.

When his plane touched down in Kisangani, in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, hundreds of dancers surrounded the plane and began swaying to music. Caught up in the exuberant moment, the pope stood atop the stair-ramp beside the plane in the sweltering heat and made some halting dance moves himself, flashing a broad grin as the press corps watched and the crowd cheered wildly.

Not all arrival scenes were as pleasant.

On a visit to Syria in 2001, a pilgrimage to retrace the biblical travels of St. Paul, John Paul listened impassively through a translator as President Bashar Assad urged him to take the Arabs' side in their dispute with Israel ? and referred to what he called Jewish persecution of Jesus Christ.

The Syrian president said Jews "betrayed Jesus Christ and (in) the same way they tried to betray and kill the Prophet Muhammad."

Those views were anathema to John Paul, who made strong efforts at interfaith healing throughout his papacy.

And in his address before Assad spoke, John Paul called for a "new attitude of understanding and respect" among Muslims, Christians and Jews.

Ten years later, Benedict made a sweeping exoneration of the Jewish people for the death of Christ ? one of the key achievements of his pontificate.

___

One thing that sets the Vatican apart from other places is that you can't just stroll around and poke your head in everywhere. As many as 18 million people pass through Vatican territory each year, but their visits are effectively limited to St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican museums. Aside from the Vatican's 492 residents and its 4,700 employees, everyone else needs a pass, even to drop by the Vatican pharmacy for medicine not sold in Italy (bring a doctor's prescription please) or to buy back copies of the Vatican paper at the offices of L'Osservatore Romano.

After all these years, I still feel a tingle of excitement to be let in through the Bronze Door, escorted past Swiss Guards in full regalia, and taken up to the pope's apartment on the third floor of the Apostolic Palace for a papal audience with a dignitary. These meetings have given a rare peek inside Vatican diplomacy.

Years ago, during the height of the Cold War, when Vatican contacts with Moscow were rare, Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko came calling.

As I was led into the meeting, past guards with plumed helmets and halberds, papal aide Monsignor Jacques Martin mused aloud for anyone who was listening: "And they said Stalin asked, 'How many divisions does the pope have?'" ? a dig at the huge Soviet military machine.

In 1989, reformist Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev made an official visit to the Vatican and invited John Paul to Moscow. The pope didn't take him up on it, and no pope has yet made the visit to the Russian capital.

When Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Rome in June 2000 a month after his inauguration, he showed up to a papal audience 20 minutes late ? a severe breach of protocol.

But the gaffe didn't seem to upset the businesslike atmosphere.

When reporters were ushered into the pope's study after the private talks, the Russian was heard telling John Paul that Gorbachev's old invitation for a papal visit to Moscow still stood.

___

Most people who cover an institution as long as I have see a changing of the guard more often. Over more than three decades, there's only been Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II and Benedict.

So after Benedict's shock announcement, how could I resist letting him go first and hanging around another month to cover one more papal transition?

After all, I never thought I'd see a pope resign: It hasn't happened in 600 years!

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-02-26-Papal%20Encounters/id-28a950e852d24d89bfef05f9d892a1fb

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Tracing pollution links to asthma, allergy

Bad air tied to disabled immune-regulating cells

By Nathan Seppa

Web edition: February 25, 2013

SAN ANTONIO ? Bad actors in air pollution may contribute to asthma and allergy by subverting protective cells in the body that tone down immune reactions, researchers report. The pollution components also seem to rev up overactive immune warriors ? already linked to allergies ? that need no such prompting.

The airborne culprits are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, the products of incomplete burning of fuel in diesel engines, furnaces, wood fires, wildfires and even barbeque grills. Air pollution has been tied to asthma and allergy in past research, but the link between PAHs and these immune problems is still unclear.

In the new report, researchers show that children exposed to high levels of PAHs had poorly functioning T-regulatory cells, or T-regs, which normally ratchet down immune-caused inflammation as needed. ?T-regs are peacekeeper cells,? says Kari Nadeau, a physician and biochemist at Stanford University, who presented the findings February 23 at a meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. ?But in asthma, T-regs are impaired.?

The team also found that kids exposed to a lot of PAHs made excess amounts of an antibody called immunoglobulin E, or IgE. The IgE antibody normally helps the body fight parasites. But in developed countries, where parasitic infections are largely a thing of the past, IgE has become better known for its role in allergy. The body often cranks out IgE as part of a misguided immune reaction against noninfectious substances in the environment. IgE also shows up in asthma, which can be triggered by allergy.

To study the effect of air pollution on these immune players, Nadeau and her colleagues obtained blood tests, lung function readings and health information from 153 children, median age 14, in Fresno, Calif. The researchers used airborne PAH sampling to estimate exposure to PAHs, and chose Fresno because of its relatively high air pollution levels. Children with high exposure to PAHs, based on air sampling in and around their homes, made high amounts of IgE and had lower T-reg function than children exposed to low levels. High PAH exposure during the most recent three months was linked to 51 percent higher risk of being diagnosed with asthma.

?I think this is a very interesting and thought-provoking study,? says Todd Rambasek, an allergist at Ohio University in Athens. He notes that other studies had linked air pollution with asthma and allergy but failed to discern between PAH and ozone or particulate matter that could contribute to the conditions.

Nadeau also reported that consistent PAH exposure coincided with changes in a gene called Foxp3. As reported in Nature in 2010, Foxp3 seems to be a master regulator of T-reg populations in the body. Unfortunately, Nadeau says, the changes observed in the Foxp3 gene seem irreversible and widespread.

The asthma rate is 22 percent among children in Fresno, Nadeau says, compared with 12 percent in the United States as a whole. Up to 70 percent of people in Fresno have an allergy, she notes, more than double the average lifetime risk of having an allergy in California. The new study adds PAHs to a known pollution problem in the area: in 2012, Fresno County had the second-highest number of days with unhealthy air particulate matter among California counties.

---

Citations

E. Noth et al. A spatial-temporal regression model to predict daily outdoor residential PAH concentrations in an epidemiological study in Fresno, CA. Atmospheric Environment. Vol. 45, May 2011, p. 2394. doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2011.02.014. [Go to]

A. Walker et al. Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons is associated with higher levels of total IgE, decreased function of T regulatory cells and an increase of asthma occurrence in children. Abstract #197. American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology meeting. San Antonio, Texas, February 22-26, 2013.

Y. Zheng et al. Role of conserved non-coding DNA elements in the Foxp3 gene in regulatory T cell fate. Nature. Vol. 463, February 11, 2010, p. 808. doi:10.1038/nature08750. [Go to]

Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/348592/title/Tracing_pollution_links_to_asthma_allergy

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How dangerous are near-Earth asteroids? 5 key questions answered.

On Feb. 15, asteroid 2012 DA14, discovered a year ago, cleared Earth by a scant 17,200 miles. The same day, a smaller, unrelated asteroid that no one saw coming exploded 12 to 15 miles above Russia?s Chelyabinsk region. The shock wave shattered windows, injuring more than 1,000 people. Events that day highlight the risk that near-Earth objects (NEOs) can pose ? although to some extent, humans can counter them.

- Pete Spotts,?Staff writer

This image shows a simulation of asteroid 2012 DA14 approaching from the south as it passes through the Earth-moon system, last Friday. (JPL-Caltech/NASA/AP)

1. What are near-Earth objects, and how big are they?

NEOs are asteroids and comets whose orbits bring them close to Earth. They range in size from about three feet to several miles across. The asteroid or comet that punched a 110-mile-wide crater in the Yucat?n Peninsula 65 million years ago, doing in the dinosaurs, has been estimated at six miles across.

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Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/7AWYc4SXofY/How-dangerous-are-near-Earth-asteroids-5-key-questions-answered

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Graphene: A material that multiplies the power of light

Feb. 24, 2013 ? Bottles, packaging, furniture, car parts... all made of plastic. Today we find it difficult to imagine our lives without this key material that revolutionized technology over the last century. There is wide-spread optimism in the scientific community that graphene will provide similar paradigm shifting advances in the decades to come. Mobile phones that fold, transparent and flexible solar panels, extra thin computers... the list of potential applications is endless.

The most recent discovery published in Nature Physics and made by researchers at the Institute of Photonic Science (ICFO), in collaboration with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Germany, and Graphenea S.L. Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain, demonstrate that graphene is able to convert a single photon that it absorbs into multiple electrons that could drive electric current (excited electrons) -- a very promising discovery that makes graphene an important alternative material for light detection and harvesting technologies, now based on conventional semiconductors like silicon.

"In most materials, one absorbed photon generates one electron, but in the case of graphene, we have seen that one absorbed photon is able to produce many excited electrons, and therefore generate larger electrical signals" explains Frank Koppens, group leader at ICFO. This feature makes graphene an ideal building block for any device that relies on converting light into electricity. In particular, it enables efficient light detectors and potentially also solar cells that can harvest light energy from the full solar spectrum with lower loss.

The experiment consisted in sending a known number of photons with different energies (different colors) onto a monolayer of graphene. "We have seen that high energy photons (e.g. violet) are converted into a larger number of excited electrons than low energy photons (e.g. infrared). The observed relation between the photon energy and the number of generated excited electrons shows that graphene converts light into electricity with very high efficiency. Even though it was already speculated that graphene holds potential for light-to-electricity conversion, it now turns out that it is even more suitable than expected!" explains Tielrooij, researcher at ICFO.

Although there are some issues for direct applications, such as graphene's low absorption, graphene holds the potential to cause radical changes in many technologies that are currently based on conventional semiconductors. "It was known that graphene is able to absorb a very large spectrum of light colors. However now we know that once the material has absorbed light, the energy conversion efficiency is very high. Our next challenge will be to find ways of extracting the electrical current and enhance the absorption of graphene. Then we will be able to design graphene devices that detect light more efficiently and could potentially even lead to more efficient solar cells." concludes Koppens.

Scientists, industries and the European Commission are so convinced of the potential of graphene to revolutionize the world economy that they promise an injection of ?1.000 million in graphene research.

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---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by ICFO-The Institute of Photonic Sciences, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. K. J. Tielrooij, J. C. W. Song, S. A. Jensen, A. Centeno, A. Pesquera, A. Zurutuza Elorza, M. Bonn, L. S. Levitov, F. H. L. Koppens. Photoexcitation cascade and multiple hot-carrier generation in graphene. Nature Physics, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nphys2564

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/electricity/~3/5QHhG2DLkpc/130224142831.htm

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Affymax, Takeda recall anemia drug Omontys after deaths

TOKYO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S.-based Affymax Inc and Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical Co said they are voluntarily recalling all lots of anemia treatment Omontys (peginesatide) in the United States due to reports of serious hypersensitivity reactions, including some deaths.

As of Sunday, fatal reactions to the injection have been reported in about 0.02 percent of 25,000 patients after receiving their initial injection of the treatment, Affymax said in a statement.

The drug is used to treat anemia in adult dialysis patients, and has resulted in reports of serious allergic reactions known as anaphylaxis in some recipients.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Sunday alerted healthcare providers about the recall, and said it had received 19 reports of anaphylaxis from dialysis centers in the United States.

"Due to the severity of the public health risk, we want to be certain that healthcare providers stop using Omontys," said Howard Sklamberg, who heads the compliance office at the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

Sklamberg said the agency is investigating the products and facilities related to the recall and will provide updates once it receives more information.

(Reporting by James Topham in Tokyo and Aruna Viswanatha in Washington; Editing by Nick Macfie and Dale Hudson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/affymax-takeda-recall-anemia-drug-omontys-deaths-042415864--finance.html

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Pope Benedict XVI's last Sunday blessing from window on St. Peter's Square draws crowd

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI has given his pontificate's final Sunday blessing from his studio window to the cheers of tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square.

Benedict says even though he's retiring on Thursday from the papacy, the first pope in 600 years to do so, he's "not abandoning the church." Instead he says he'll serve the church with the same dedication he has till now, but will do so in a way "more suitable to my age and my strength." Benedict, 85, will spend his last years in prayer, meditation and seclusion in a monastery on Vatican City's grounds.

He has one more public appearance, at his weekly audience on Wednesday in the square.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pope-benedict-xvis-last-sunday-blessing-window-st-111340573.html

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Oil Magnet runs streak to seven in Survivor Series final

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Source: xwebapp.ustrotting.com --- Saturday, February 23, 2013
Oil Magnet won his seventh straight start since joining the stable of Ron Burke, scoring in a time of 1:53.1 over a sloppy track in the $86,700 Winter Survivor Series final for claiming pacers on Saturday night at Meadowlands Racetrack. ...

Source: http://xwebapp.ustrotting.com/absolutenm/templates/?z=1&a=52424

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Do You Believe In Quick Golf Fixes? | Content for Reprint

Author: RoseannaLeaton | Total views: 58 Comments: 0
Word Count: 597 Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2013 7:48 PM

One of the key aspects about the sport called golf is that without a considerable amount of practice you can find hitting the ball as you wish is a somewhat elusive dream!? This tends to hold true for both beginners and the more seasoned golfer.? Thus it is no wonder that so many golfers avidly seek to find any or every type of quick golf fix that they can feast their eyes or lay their hands upon.

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The million-dollar question is whether or not such quick golf fixes have a hope of working.? I suspect that the majority of golfers soon discover that whilst their currently favored fix might work to a degree for a short period of time, its effectiveness quickly fades and disappears.?

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Fewer golfers hold an appreciation of the very real potential for the supposed "quick fix" to morph into a golf nightmare.? Unless you fully understand the how and why of a swing change, be it related to rhythm, tempo, swing plane, wrist cock, length of backswing or follow through, etc., you are running the risk of making a change that puts you further off course than on.??

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Additionally most "quick" golf fixes are not actually quick to apply.? The various parts of your golf swing are linked together like a row of dominoes.? As you change one tiny little component, be it by just a fraction of a millimeter, it will inevitably affect every domino along the line.? Most golfers will be only too aware of those times when they feel like their swing has totally collapsed.? You do not ever want that to happen again.

?

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The exception to this rule applies to mental focus.? You can in fact change your mind about something literally "at a moment's notice".? Women are frequently accused of this; it is a woman's prerogative to change her mind!?

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In golf, the application of correct mental focus will prove to be a very effective fix indeed.? With your attention correctly placed and your emotions kept under control, the numbers written upon your scorecard are likely to be very pleasing indeed.? What is even better is that there is no negative side effect.? Correct mental focus simply cannot cause your game to fall apart!

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But, if you forget to focus or apply your mind correctly, then you will miss out upon the advantages that this confers to your current shot.?? Even though you can change your mind in an instant, and gain good mental focus simply by thinking about it, what really pays off is to make this ideal focus into a habit.?

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The creation of a habit, even one that is mental in nature, is not a quick fix.? It takes time and effort.? But this time and effort put into the mental side of golf is worth its weight in gold.? It is also something that can be worked upon at home or in the dark and for just a few minutes at a time.

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Roseanna Leaton, golf addict and specialist in golf hypnosis mp3s and author of the GolferWithin golf mind training system.

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P.S.? Discover how to focus your golf mind and play winning golf through golf hypnosis.? Check out my website now.

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Grab a free hypnosis mp3 from http://www.RoseannaLeaton.com and check out the acclaimed GolferWithin series of golf mind training aids.

Related to: golf mind training - golf hypnosis mp3 - golf hypnosis - golf mind - mental golf - play better golf

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by: uniformconnection on: Sun, 4 Jan 2009

5: How To Drive A Golf Ball Farther More Consistently

Learning how to hit the driver can be a significant challenge. Discover some useful golf driving tips to help you learn how to become a better golfer.

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Source: http://www.content4reprint.com/recreation-and-leisure/sports/golf/do-you-believe-in-quick-golf-fixes.htm

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Defining Success On Your Terms | Care2 Healthy Living

When I was a child, my parents led me to believe that success looked like learning my times tables, following the rules, and being polite to strangers.

When I was a teenager, success looked like making straight A?s, steering clear of cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs, and guarding my virginity until I got married.

When I was a medical student and resident, my professors led me to believe that success looked like showing up early, staying late, sacrificing my personal needs for the needs of my patients, coming to work when I was sick, prioritizing my work over my family or friends, overdelivering, curing patients without ever screwing up, and helping out my fellow residents, even if it was long past when I wanted to go home.

When I was a practicing physician, my colleagues led me to believe that success looked like a schedule full of patients, 72 hour call shifts during which I worked my ass off without ever making mistakes, efficiency in the exam room so I could blow through 40 patients a day, billing enough to bring in my fair share of revenue, perfection in the operating room, the adoration of my patients, a six-figure income and a house with an ocean view, and being voted among San Diego?s Top Doctors.

When I was forging ahead in my art career, people led me to believe that success looked like being represented by many galleries, getting my art shown in museums, big ticket art sales, and name recognition for my work.

Now I work in an industry where there?s no limit to the amount of external success you can achieve ? books, blogs, online programs, public speaking, conferences, magazine articles, television talk shows ? the big leagues.

In the past, I let other people define success for me. But this time around, I?m committed to doing it differently.

Success On My Terms

My new motto is ?Just because you can doesn?t mean you should.?

Just because I can publish 20 books doesn?t necessarily mean I should.

Just because I?m invited to speak at a big conference doesn?t mean I should say yes.

Even if the opportunity to host my own TV show arises, it doesn?t mean doing so is necessarily aligned with my priorities.

But? I can?t create the life I dream of living unless I know what success on my terms looks like. So let me take a stab at it?

Success looks like feeling how I want to feel.

My core desired feelings (hat tip to Danielle?s LaPorte?s?Firestarter Sessions) are to feel connected, influential, generous, and easeful. Every opportunity that comes my way ? even ones others might deem ?successful?? ? gets screened through that filter. Will it make me feel connected to loved ones and Source? Will it lend me influence so others will hear my message, and if I shine a spotlight on other people doing great work in the world, will people listen? Will it allow me to take all my friends out to dinner and when the bill comes, say ?It?s on me?? And most importantly, will it feel graceful, effortless,?eggy and playful?

Success looks like making the world a better place.

I dream of?healing health care,?opening hearts,?training doctors to reclaim their true nature as healers, helping people tap into the truth of their?Inner Pilot Lights, inspiring them to cleanse their bodies, minds, and souls,?helping people find their callings,?aiding visionaries who long to change the world,?mentoring those who will help me make the world a better place in their own unique way, writing and?speakingabout what matters to me, and raising funds for?charities I support.

Success looks like following a calling and fulfilling a mission.

After years of floundering around, I now know what I?m here on this earth to do, and I will devote myself to serving that calling ? but only on my terms. Success does not look like writing New York Times bestselling books, reaching millions of people with my message, influencing how people think and act, and fulfilling a dream, only to realize I?ve missed the whole point.

Success looks like prioritizing those I love above achievement.

Last year, I turned down the opportunity to appear on Good Morning America because I had been away from my daughter all week, promising I?d be all hers during her Spring Break. Then Good Morning America called the day before our ski trip and asked me to fly to New York. I said no. My daughter is more important.

Success looks like living from a place of trust, not fear.

I don?t want to say ?Yes? just because I?m afraid it?s my one and only shot.? I want to trust that if saying yes requires me to sacrifice my priorities, the opportunity will arise at some future point, God willing.? Good Morning America hasn?t called me back (yet), but I don?t have a single regret.

Success looks like making room for self care in my life.

Almost every day, I hike or do yoga. I meditate for 20-30 minutes. I drink 4-5 green juices per day.? I treat myself to spa days and retreats at hot springs resorts. I devote whole days to being with friends in my inner circle. I prioritize quality time and physical intimacy with my husband.? I read with my daughter. I take long baths. I get pedicures. I won?t sacrifice these things for any amount of money, fame, or kudos. Period.

Success looks like allowing myself to be a vessel for Divine work in the world.

Success is not unbridled ambition. It?s allowing myself to be used, to be of service, to fully self-actualize, to lift up my gifts and talents so they may be utilized for Divine work in the world. When I first met Martha Beck, she said, with delight in her voice, ?You?re one of us ??a stealth agent for God!? If I am, that looks like success to me.

Success looks like spending a lot of time in nature.

I already live in a small coastal town in the San Francisco Bay area in West Marin County, where the mountains and the redwoods meet the ocean. Success does not look like being on airplanes too much or stuck in big cities or inside closed walls all the time, tied to a computer. Success looks like dancing under a full moon, skiing down a mountain slope, wading in the crystalline waters of a Bali beach, soaking in hot springs under the stars, and frolicking in fields of wildflowers.

Success looks like deep intimacy.

I?m not satisfied with lots of superficial relationships. I?d rather have a smaller number of super intimate ones. I value being brave enough to be vulnerable with the precious beings in my inner circle. I treasure the talks I have with my seven year old about how she used to be a fairy and why she decided to choose me as her Mama. I cherish the deep inner work I do with my mentoring clients and the doctors in the?Whole Health Medicine Institute. When I get to witness the Inner Pilot Lights of others and have my Inner Pilot Light witnessed in return, I feel whole.

Success looks like staying in integrity with myself.

I recognize that integrity is very personal, and it?s never black and white.? I view it as a spectrum from 0% integrity to 100% integrity, with 0 being ?total sell out? and 100 being ?impeccable integrity.? Success looks like staying mostly over 80% aligned with my own unique definition of integrity and never, ever going below 50%.

Success looks like easeful, graceful, eggy financial abundance.

I spent too many years?giving until I was depleted, failing to value myself enough or set clear enough boundaries to charge what my time was worth. Then I declared to fill myself first and everything shifted. Now, the comfortable income I generate allows me to be generous with others (back to one of my core desired feelings.) And it allows my husband and I freedom from anxiety about how the bills will get paid and how I?ll continue to fund the work I do at no cost in the world through the?Daily Flame,?my blog, and?OwningPink.com.

But I?m no longer willing to ?sperm? my way to financial abundance. If it doesn?t flow in easily, it?s not meant to be mine. And I?m unwilling to push, strive or strong arm my way to ?make it happen? anymore. Nope. That?s not success on my terms. On my terms, money flows in generously and effortlessly, and the more I believe this, the more the Universe conspires to prove to me that it?s true.

Success looks like being sovereign.

Nobody owns me. I am never a victim of my circumstances. I have no right to bitch and moan about anything in my life ? ever ? because I always get to choose how I respond to my circumstances, even if my circumstances are beyond my control. I am responsible for and in charge of my life, even as I cede control to the Universe (my choice to let go of the reins and trust.) Success looks like owning my choices and claiming my life as my own. Success does not look like being a prima donna, but it does look like being brave enough to stand before those who might think they know what success looks like more than I do ? and to stay true to who I am and what I care about.

Success looks like beauty.

I love creating beautiful art, surrounding myself with beautiful design, wearing beautiful clothes, immersing myself in the beauty of nature, relishing the beauty of gourmet food arranged beautifully on a plate, and living in a beautiful home. Life is to be relished, savored, appreciated.

Success looks like being a student for life.

If I ever think I?ve learned all there is to learn, I?ve stopped being successful. I will be taking workshops, reading books, studying, and satisfying the kind of intense curiosity that led me to research and write?Mind Over Medicine for the rest of my successful life. As I write this, I?m on an airplane, heading to New York City to speak at the Hay House ?I Can Do It Ignite? conference with inspirational colleagues like Wayne Dyer, Louise Hay, Cheryl Richardson, Doreen Virtue, Kris Carr, Gabrielle Bernstein, and Anita Moorjani. These people are my teachers in this course called life. Success looks like surrounding myself with inspiring people.

Success looks like fully self-actualizing.

No longer will I wear masks, pretending to be something I?m not so I?ll appear perfect to others. Success looks like being unapologetically ME, even as I strive for continual self-improvement. Success look like fully expressing my gifts in the world, being authentic, and being brave enough to be completely vulnerable and imperfect with those I trust.

Success looks sexy.

Success doesn?t require that I sell out?the sexy and feminine within me in order to appear ?professional.? In fact, success embraces all the fluid, curvy, hip-swaying, pole-dancing, bump-and-grinding, skinny-dipping, thigh-high boot-wearing parts of me.

Success looks like FUN.

My old story ? success looks like sacrifice. My new story ? success is FUN and playful. Success involves a great deal of pleasure, laughter, touch, good food, adventures, and checking things off my bucket list. Hot air ballooning, here I come!

Success looks like inner peace.

No matter how many generous acts I perform, no matter how much I make the world a better place, no matter how much money I earn or how much fame I achieve, no matter how many people I love, who love me in return, it doesn?t really matter if I?m plagued with turmoil.? Success looks like freedom, wisdom, and deep abiding joy.

I?m Not There Yet, But I?m There

When I look at this list, I realize I still haven?t fully achieved the success I dream of achieving, mostly because I?m still learning and growing and figuring out my life. But that doesn?t mean I?m not ?there? yet.?As I wrote about here, I finally realized that there is no ?there,? that there is only here, and that right here, right now, I love my life and I celebrate the present moment, while simultaneously setting intentions that everything on this list will come to pass in its own perfect time.

Clarity is key. We can?t create success on our own terms if we let someone else define success for us. And we can?t create success on our own terms if we don?t know what it is.

What Does Success Look Like To You?

Tell us how YOU define success so you can create it for yourself.

Standing fiercely for success on our own terms,

Lissa Rankin

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Source: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/defining-success-on-your-terms.html

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House GOP?s VAWA proposal nixes LGBT, American Indian protections

Supporters of the Violence Against Women Act rally in Washington, DC. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

After effectively stonewalling the once bipartisan Violence Against Women Act in the last Congress, House Republicans are at it again.

On Friday, the GOP countered a Senate version of VAWA that passed through the upper chamber with bipartisan support last week with their own far less inclusive bill that continues to block protections for LGBT domestic violence victims, American Indians, and undocumented immigrants.

Coverage for gay and lesbian domestic violence victims is never mentioned in the bill. The House version essentially makes it harder for illegal immigrants who were abused to reach legal status, and makes it easier for non-American Indians who are charged with abusing American Indian women on tribal land to get their cases excused from tribal courts. It says it will expand assistance to ?adult and youth victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.?

The House bill was written to ?protect all women from acts of violence and help law enforcement prosecute offenders to the fullest extent of the law,? Eric Cantor spokeswoman Megan Whittemore, who helped craft the bill, told TPM.

The Senate bill passed last week with bipartisan support in a vote of 78-22. Every Republican and Democratic woman in the Senate voted in favor of its passage.

VAWA was first passed in 1994 but expired at the beginning of this year. Vice President Joe Biden, then the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, helped author the legislation. The bill provides funding to aid and counsel victims of domestic violence while implementing stronger penalties for their abusers. Some of its components included maintaining that a woman?s past sexual history cannot be used against her in a trial of her abuser and that women?shouldn?t?be forced to pay for their own protection or rape exam.

One of the authors of the Senate bill, Vermont Democrat Patrick Leahy,?issued a strong statement condemning the House version, saying, ?This is simply unacceptable and it further demonstrates that Republicans in the House have not heard the message sent by the American people and reflected in the Senate?s overwhelming vote earlier this month to pass the bipartisan Leahy-Crapo bill.?

Other prominent senators were also quick to blast the bill. ?It?s not a compromise, it?s an unfortunate effort to exclude specific groups of women from receiving basic protections under the law. And we cannot allow that to happen,? said VAWA advocate Patty Murray, D-Wash., in a statement. ?House Republican leadership just doesn?t get it.?

President Obama recently pleaded with Congress to pass the Violence Against Women Act in his State of the Union address, saying, ?We know our economy is stronger when our wives, mothers, and daughters can live their lives free from discrimination in the workplace, and free from the fear of domestic violence. Today, the Senate passed the Violence Against Women Act that Joe Biden originally wrote almost 20 years ago. I urge the House to do the same.?

Seventeen Republican representatives recently signed a letter to House Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor, expressing support for a bipartisan solution to the legislation.

The Senate version includes $659 million in assistance over five years, a number actually down 17% from the last time the bill was reauthorized in 2005.

In her ?Open Letter? Saturday, MSNBC?s Melissa Harris-Perry addressed Republican Rep. John Duncan of Tennessee, who was recently quoted as saying, ?Like most men, I?m more opposed to violence against women than even violence against men because most men can handle it a little better than a lot of women can.?

Harris-Perry responded:

?Is it that lesbians and gay men can just a take punch better than straight women? Or maybe you?ve decided that Native American women are particularly good at handling intimate violence because you and the other House Republicans still refuse to support a bill that gives tribal authorities the ability to prosecute those who commit acts of violence on tribal lands. Maybe your refusal to reauthorize VAWA is actually based on a belief that when some people are abused it?s just not a big deal because they can handle it.?

The House version of the bill is scheduled to come up for a committee vote as soon as this week.

Source: http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/02/23/house-gops-vawa-proposal-nixes-lgbt-native-american-protections/

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Dr Okonjo-Iweala advises Gov?t to address fiscal deficit, domestic debt

You Are Here: Home ? General News ? Dr Okonjo-Iweala advises Gov?t to address fiscal deficit, domestic debt

Page last updated at Saturday, February 23, 2013 7:07 AM //

President John Mahama with Nigeria?s Finance Minister Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Finance Minister of Ghana, Seth Terkper

Nigeria?s Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has commended Ghana for making progress in the management of the economy.

She, however, charged the government to step up efforts to address the fiscal deficit and domestic debt.

Dr Okonjo-Iweala gave the commendation yesterday when she called on President John Dramani Mahama at the Flagstaff House, Kanda in Accra.

She is in the country at the invitation of the John Agyekum Kufuor Foundation (JAK Foundation) to deliver its second lecture on, ?What Africa Must Do to Own the 21st Century?.

Members of the JAK Foundation, led by the acting Chief Executive Officer, Prof Alex Dodoo, led Dr Okonjo-Iweala to the seat of government to pay a courtesy call on the President and hold discussions with him.

Dr Okonjo-Iweala said the passing of laws to manage Ghana?s resources was in the right direction and charged the government ?to try to manage success?.

She also asked it to focus on creating more jobs to reduce the unemployment rate.

She again asked for a more conducive environment for the private sector to play a central role in the economy.

Responding, President Mahama said the challenges facing Ghana and Nigeria were common and stressed the need for the two countries to collaborate to promote trade and finance.

He said the collaboration between Ghana and Nigeria would enhance the integration of the sub-region.

The President lauded former President Kufuor for inviting Dr Okonjo-Iweala to share her rich experience with Ghanaians.

He said he might not be at the lecture because of some engagements but indicated his resolve to read the lecture paper, which he believed would be insightful.

Source: Daily Graphic

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Source: http://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2013/02/23/dr-okonjo-iweala-advises-govt-to-address-fiscal-deficit-domestic-debt/

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Wells Fargo ramps up private equity despite Volcker Rule

(Reuters) - When former Wells Fargo & Co Chief Executive Dick Kovacevich joined Norwest Bank in 1986, he had reservations about its private equity investments as he did not think it was the kind of business a bank needed to be in. He got over it.

"I was skeptical, met with the people and became convinced that they absolutely knew what they were doing and that this was a business we could manage and do well," said Kovacevich, who became CEO of Wells Fargo when it merged with Norwest in 1998, and retired as chairman of the fourth-largest U.S. bank in 2009.

U.S. lawmakers shared Kovacevich's skepticism about private equity when they crafted the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill in 2010. In a section of the law known as the "Volcker Rule," they blocked banks from making big bets with their capital, including sizable investments in private equity funds, fearing taxpayers would be left on the hook when wagers soured.

The fine print of the Volcker Rule - named for former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker - is expected to be finalized as soon as this year. Major banks such as Bank of America Corp and Citigroup Inc are already pulling back from private equity investments ahead of the rules.

But Wells Fargo is taking a different path. The bank invests in buyouts and venture capital deals largely on its own, with capital only from Wells Fargo itself and some employees. By avoiding equity from outside investors, the bank is considered to be engaging in "merchant banking," an activity that is likely to be exempt under the Volcker Rule, lawyers and people familiar with the matter said.

Wells Fargo's private equity investments show how even button-down, staid banks are looking for loopholes in financial regulations as they seek to boost their profits.

Their decisions may run counter to rulemakers' efforts to make the financial system safer. The merchant banking that Wells Fargo is embracing is riskier than investing in private equity funds with outside investors, where a bank shares any losses with others. Some critics warn that the Volcker Rule is banning the safer of the two activities, and allowing the one that could lead to bigger losses for a bank.

Some argue that banks should be blocked from any form of private equity investing. Sheila Bair, the former chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, which guarantees the deposits of banks like Wells Fargo, said private equity and merchant banking are too far removed from regular banking.

"Is that really what you want institutions that have safety net support doing? Is that an appropriate use for a government backstop?" she told Reuters.

Wells Fargo declined to comment for this story, noting that the regulations are not yet final. But the bank has said publicly it expects to continue to back its main private equity-type funds - Norwest Equity Partners and Norwest Venture Partners - that buy stakes in or take over smaller companies.

"We believe that we will continue to be able to invest, and we continue to invest today, in Norwest Venture Partners and Norwest Equity Partners, which we believe will be allowed under the Volcker Rule," Wells Fargo Chief Financial Officer Tim Sloan said on a recent conference call.

The Norwest funds account for most of the bank's $3.7 billion of private equity assets, which represent a little more than 3 percent of the bank's Tier 1 regulatory capital.

In the fourth quarter, private equity was a key business for the bank, earning about $715 million before taxes and boosting the bottom line by about 10 percent. The above-average gain came from selling a seed treatment company to chemical maker BASF for $1.02 billion.

Other banks are looking at ways around the Volcker Rule, too. Goldman Sachs Group Inc , for example, had about $16.8 billion of private equity investments as of September 30, representing about a quarter of its regulatory capital. Some assets are merchant banking investments, meaning Goldman may use the same Volcker loophole as Wells Fargo. A Goldman spokesman declined to comment.

FUNDS WITH BENEFITS

Wells Fargo's private equity business is small relative to the bank's overall assets, but it grew 8 percent in 2012 from the prior year, and is more than double its level in 2005. Norwest is still making investments using funds it received from Wells in 2008, and the bank contributed another $250 million to a Norwest pool in 2011, a person familiar with the funds said.

The lure of private equity to companies like Wells Fargo is not only profitable investment returns, but also new business for other parts of the bank. The funds work with small- and mid-sized companies that often also need loans, treasury management, and other financing and services, former CEO Kovacevich said.

In January 2012, for example, Norwest Equity Partners bought rifle maker Savage Sports, teaming up with the company's management. Wells Fargo also arranged senior debt financing for the purchase, which according to Crain's Detroit Business cost the buyers more than $100 million.

Business can go the other way, too - companies that borrow from Wells Fargo can get equity from Norwest Equity Partners.

"It's good for the bank, and it's good for the economy," Kovacevich said. "If you do something well for 50 years why would you not continue doing it?" The funds were founded in 1961.

The business can be good for the bank's shareholders ? Wells Fargo's private equity unit has produced gains every quarter for the last three years ? but it can also be a negative. In 2008 and 2009, Wells Fargo took $1.27 billion in losses from its private equity holdings over the course of three quarters as the financial crisis hit hard and it absorbed assets from Wachovia.

Some Norwest investments have also turned out badly more recently. Norwest turned over Deep Rock Water Co to the bottled water company's creditors before it was sold in 2011, the person familiar with the funds said. The Savage Sports deal may also end up performing poorly, the person added, after the Newtown, Connecticut, school shootings in December hit gun makers' shares. Savage and Deep Rock Water did not return calls seeking comment.

Losses in individual companies are not unusual for a private equity business, but during tough times, the value of the whole portfolio can drop. Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase & Co , and others took big charges on their private equity portfolios in the third quarter of 2011 as stock markets sank.

?IT'S GOT RISK'

The Volcker Rule says that banks cannot hold more than 3 percent of their Tier 1 capital in private equity funds, but the details of the regulations are still being finalized and banks could have as many as 10 years to comply with the regulations.

Inside the Norwest funds, some employees wonder whether regulators will be sanguine about the business as it grows, the source familiar with the funds said.

Tim Keehan, senior counsel with the American Bankers Association, said it appears merchant banking won't be covered by the rule, but it's still unclear until the rules are final.

"The reason it still is a concern is we don't have any sense of boundaries on these definitions," Keehan said. "That's why I think you're seeing some banks go one way, and some banks go the other way."

Kovacevich said Wells Fargo's private equity business has had a solid track record, but the bank should be careful.

"I would never want it to be big," he said. "I don't consider it something you must be in if you are a commercial bank or should be in if you don't know what you're doing. It's got risk to it."

(Reporting By Rick Rothacker in Charlotte, North Carolina; Additional reporting by Lauren Tara LaCapra in New York and Douwe Miedema in Washington; Editing by Dan Wilchins, Paritosh Bansal, Martin Howell and Claudia Parsons)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wells-fargo-ramps-private-equity-despite-volcker-rule-063054661--sector.html

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Billboard, Nielsen include YouTube streams in chart data | Music ...

Billboard and Nielsen have announced the addition of YouTube video streaming data into its platforms in the US.

The move means an update to the methodology for the Billboard Hot 100 with the video site?s data now factored into the chart?s rankings.

The Hot 100 formula also includes Nielsen?s digital download track sales and physical sales, terrestrial radio airplay, on-demand audio streaming and online radio streaming and radio streaming, also tracked by Nielsen.

The Billboard chart will now incorporate all official YouTube music videos captured by the Nielsen streaming measurement including Vevo, as well as user-generated clips that utilise authorised audio.

The change will also affect the Hot 100 formula based genre charts: Hot Country Song, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, R&B Songs, Rap Songs, Hot Latin Songs, Hot Rock Songs and Dance/Electronic Songs.

As a result of the new data incorporation, internet viral sensation Harlem Shake has debuted at No.1 on both the Hot 100 and the Streaming Songs chart, having racked up over 100 million views on YouTube.

The song also jumps from No.12 to No.1 on Dance/Electronic Songs.

According to Nielsen, Harlem Shake has also seen download sales of 262,000, which would placed it within the Top 15 on the Hot 100 without the aid of YouTube streams.

?The very definition of what it means to have a hit is ever-changing these days,? said Billboard?s editorial director Bill Werde. ?The Billboard charts are the ultimate measure of success in music, and they constantly evolve to reflect these new music experiences.

?When the charts launched over 70 years ago, a hit was defined as selling copies of a single or generating airplay. While those avenues are still viable, one needn't look any further than Cee Lo, Gotye, PSY or now Baauer to know that a song can be a massive hit on YouTube alone."

Source: Billboard

Source: http://www.musicweek.com/news/read/nielsen-and-billboard-include-youtube-streams-in-chart-data/053694

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