The Czech economy has moved into its third quarter of contraction, while Romania is now in recession and Hungary has swung to negative growth. The fresh first-quarter gross domestic product data show how austerity measures at home in central and southeastern Europe weigh on domestic demand and raise the specter of monetary easing.

This all comes despite better-than-expected economic growth in Germany, the largest export market for the regions manufacturers. The German economy expanded 0.5% in the first quarter from the previous quarter.

The news we are getting in terms of growth in central Europe is not good. The trade channel is having its impact, and that comes on top of an ongoing process of deleveraging, said Thomas Mirow, president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, commenting on the data.

The Czech quarterly economic contraction accelerated to a full 1% in the first three months of this year after contracting 0.1% on a quarterly basis in both the third and fourth quarters of last year.

Its the third consecutive quarter of GDP decline in the Czech Republic and, given the depth of recession, it brings monetary easing back on the agenda, said Michal Dybula, economist at BNP Paribas. Mr. Dybula said that the governor and vice-governor of the Czech central bank voted to lower interest rates by 25 basis points at the banks last meeting.

The Czech central banks benchmark interest rate has been at the historic low of 0.75% since May 2010 and the next policy meeting is scheduled for June 28.

Economist Michal Brozka of Raiffeisen said that the only growth factor for the Czechs is foreign trade, while domestic demand is being severely dampened.

“With such weak GDP data, the government should think twice about their budget cuts, especially regarding investments, he said.

The Czech government of Prime Minister Petr Necas, having reduced government expenditure for the last two years while increasing sales taxes and slowing the growth rate of the state-funded pension system, has been under pressure from union leaders and the public to end the steps they call asocial.

In Romania, the economy shrank 0.1% quarter-on-quarter in January through March after contracting 0.2% in the fourth quarter. This puts the country officially in recession.

And in Hungary, gross domestic product dropped 1.3% in the first quarter from the fourth quarter of 2011, following quarterly stagnation in the fourth quarter and a 0.1% quarterly contraction in the third quarter.

Mr. Dybula, the BNP Paribas economist, said that in Hungary and Romania, monetary easing is likely, though the weak Romanian currency and Hungarys efforts to get a credit line from the International Monetary Fund may make monetary easing difficult.

Despite the negative news, analysts said the GDP figures may be revised upward when details are released in early June.

Whats more, Slovakia posted GDP figures showing its economy is still growing, 0.8% in the first quarter.

Poland, the largest economy in the European Unions eastern flank, is set to present its first-quarter growth figures on May 31. Its expected to have continued growing at a healthy rate due to its large consumer market after robust growth of 4.3% in 2011 and quarterly expansion in all quarters of last year. The country in May raised its interest rates, with the benchmark now at 4.75%, due to elevated consumer price inflation.

Regional currencies have seen mixed trade following the data, and risk appetite got a boost Tuesday on data showing Germanys economy grew far more than expected in the first quarter amid a surge in net exports and on reports Greece will repay a EUR430 million bond that matures Tuesday.

At 1100 GMT the Hungarian forint was 0.5% firmer on the day to the euro and Romanias leu was 0.1% firmer.

The Czech koruna, however, has been unable to fend off losses and at the same time was 0.4% weaker on the day at CZK25.47 to the euro.

Details and possible revisions to the data will come at the beginning of June.

Contrary to Skolek’s report, Dr. Andrew Kolodny, the president of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing (PROP), is engaging in partisan rhetoric that hobbles the discussion of the treatment of chronic pain.

I have been a volunteer advocate, never a paid employee, working with the Action Network of the American Pain Foundation (APF) for the past 4 years, until the foundation ceased operations this week.

I am a person who’s lived with constant harrowing pain for over 45 years. I am not writing here as a representative of the APF, but as a person with pain and a knowledgeable advocate who has worked for the improved care of people like me who suffer needlessly because of under-treatment and non-treatment of chronic pain.

In my years as an APF volunteer, I never once received any money or gifts from the pharmaceutical industry or was I asked to shill for their products. I don’t know anyone at the APF who was ever contacted by a pharmaceutical representative to do anything on their behalf or advocate for their products, as Kolodny would have the public believe. My work was never to advance one treatment option over another.

Drum Beat to Demonize Opioids

Kolodny and PROP have been part of the drum beat in the press to demonize one of the many legitimate treatments for chronic pain. Yes, I support the careful use of opioid medicines for appropriately diagnosed patients. But I also support evidence-based solutions to protect the public. I support the reasonable use of opioids, as one of many treatments for chronic pain, while also seeking balance between the legitimate needs of people with pain and keeping these medicines out of the hands of those seeking to use them illegitimately.

I started taking OxyContin four years ago, before switching to Suboxone, a prescription medication designed to ease detox from opiates. Over the years I’ve undergone countless medical procedures, including a dozen surgeries to deal with the fallout from a set of incredibly painful diseases: a broken spine, Behcet’s Disease, microscopic colitis, chronic epididymitis, fibromyalgia, dozens of kidney stones, arthritis and arachnoiditis. During treatment of the latter, my spine was nicked in surgery, causing irreparable inflammation of the arachnoid layer of my spinal cord. I am not alone in having such an awful list of medical conditions that cause relentless pain.

18 years ago I had to give up my professorship, my practice of psychotherapy, consultation and public speaking in the face of grinding pain; none of which I imagine Kolodny and other PROP members has had to struggle with. It was not until my involvement with the APF and my decision to use opioid medicines that I got some semblance of my life back. As with countless others, my use of an opioid medication is NOT the only treatment I use. I have used psychotherapy, physical therapy, therapeutic massage, acupuncture, acupressure, guided imagery, meditation, hypnosis and a daily spiritual practice.

The constant drum beat of biased articles without the entire context, such as those by ProPublica, needs to be challenged. All we as people living with pain want is balance. Yes, there is a growing incidence of people illegitimately using opioid medicines. Legitimate patients using these medicines under a physician’s care also run the risk of becoming addicted, but not the 40% that Kolodny recently claimed. It would be nice if these wildly inflated figures were backed up by well-crafted research producing reliable and valid evidence.

Critics claim that the number of deaths due to the “over prescribing” of opioid medicines is climbing yearly. What is rarely reported is that the cause of death among recreational or addicted users is often complicated by the person combining the opioids with other medicines, such as benzodiazepines, and washing them down with alcohol. Yes, that combination often leads to respiratory failure and death. But which of the three is the culprit? One or all of them?

Under-Treatment of Chronic Pain

There are 100 million Americans who live in chronic, miserable pain. Many go untreated and easily fall into depression and, scandalously, thousands die from suicide. My heart goes out to people who have lost a loved due to opioids. But untold thousands die yearly from pain. Whose heart goes out to them?

Because of this hysteria in the press and the constant drum beat from people like PROP many people are being dropped or denied service by their providers and left in the hell of their pain.

The state of Washington is a horrible example. After they passed draconian measures against pain treatment in that state, the number of abandoned pain patients has steadily climbed, subjecting people with chronic pain to unmitigated torture. Pharmacies are becoming increasingly more reluctant to fill legitimate opioid prescriptions. How is this effective in treating the millions of us in need of help? It must be noted that we have not seen any evidence yet that these types of draconian measures will protect the public, while providing good treatment to people in pain.

We need reasoned, evidence based solutions that will reduce illegal use of opioids while protecting the millions like me who are no longer sitting on the sidelines of our lives thanks to the use of these legal medicines. Opioids are not the only arrow in the medical quiver. But to restrict or eliminate these medicines will subject millions of us to medieval torture.

Mark Maginn lives in the east bay of San Francisco where he is a poet, writer and social justice activist. Marks blog can be found here.

The views, opinions and positions expressed in this column are the author’s alone. They do not inherently or expressly reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of American News Report, Microcast Media Group or any of its employees, directors, owners, contractors or affiliate organizations. American News Report makes no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information in this column, and is not responsible or liable for any errors, omissions, or delays (intentional or not) in this information; or any losses, injuries, and or damages arising from its display, publication, dissemination, interpretation or use.

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As the battle for talent gets fiercer, employers are using new ways of engaging with and retaining the best talent. And non-monetary rewards can often be just as effective as monetary rewards, a new study has found.

The study by Edenred, a loyalty solution organisation, in association with the Great Place to Work Institute (which primarily does work place studies), found that Indias top corporate organisations for best practises in rewards and recognition use a healthy mix of money rewards and non-monetary rewards and social recognition.

The study points to the under-utilised potential of non-monetary recognition practices in the Indian workplace. Recognition can be provided not only by senior leaders, but also by peers and juniors, the study noted.

The report is based on survey data taken from more than 13,000 employees, and human resource managers from more than 70 companies across 11 industries.

To create excitement around their rewards and recognition programmes, these organisations come up with creative names to brand these rewards. A case in point is American Express, which ranked third all-India in the survey.

‘RewardBlue was created as an internal American Express brand, where messages were delivered through its corporate Intranet. Brand signages were also used throughout major offices, during celebratory events, and in leadership training and communication. Typically using imagery from the system, such as an eCard, eButton or an image of Blue Awards to create a sense of familiarity, RewardBlue used fun and engaging aesthetics to impact employees.

At TPG Software, which topped the survey rankings for its rewards programme, managers personally congratulate people for a good job by writing personal notes about good performance on the company Intranet, as well as social and professional networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn.

Making rewards and recognition more individualised or personalised, takes them higher on the motivation quotient. TPG Software, for instance, lays a lot of emphasis on connecting with the families of the employees being recognised. All the prizes won by the employees in routine events are chosen to suit the personalised needs of the families of the employees. Also, the compensation has a component of Leave Travel Assistance (LTA) and Mediclaim, which is family focused towards entertainment and medical exigencies respectively.

Sandeep Banerjee, Managing Director amp; CEO, Edenred India said, Companies have realised that increased compensation or monetary incentives are no longer the critical differentiator. Organisations are engaging and retaining their key talent with innovative and structured rewards and recognition programmes. They are going beyond the HR process as a business strategy to motivate, retain and engage their talent.

Best workplaces are using methods such as salary increases, bonus awards and Restricted Stock Units (RSUs), holiday packages and extra leave, among others to recognise efforts.

TPG Software for instance differentiates outstanding performers from the rest in terms of compensation, promotions, rewards and recognition. Increments sanctioned to outstanding performers are about 50 per cent more than an average performer in fixed compensation. Another committed component is added as Performance Bonus — 50 per cent of the fixed increase of the average performer is sanctioned additionally to the outstanding performer at the end of the year.

Moreover, TPG Software has aligned its Performance Review amp; Appraisal Cycle in a manner that they are able to revisit compensation and designation of its high performing employees every six months and take corrective-preventive measures if required.

Qualcomm also conducts full reviews for all employees twice a year. Components of each review cycle include the opportunity to earn performance-based bonus rewards, stock awards, as well as a promotion.

Reliance Commercial has identified what it calls DNA for success. Thus, it rewards every year The DNA Employee. He/she is the one who exhibits the behaviour which reflects the organisation DNA (value system). It also gives out an award for the Best Collaborator, to a person who brings all people together to arrive at a solution ensuring business continuity and decision.

The payback for companies can often outstrip the outlay on the rewards. As Nikhil Arora, Intuit Technologies Indias Vice-President and Managing Director, said, the goal of these awards is to inspire all employees into getting involved in innovation.

heena.k@thehindu.co.in

This is a sensational report, given the hype and excitement created by stories regarding a done deal involving MVila. The France international has been identified by many as one of those names who represent a magical and immediate solution to all of Arsenals woes.

In fact, manager Arsene Wenger is being rather patronisingly commended for finally waking up to the need to spend big money on established targets. These gestures of approval seem to ignore Wengers recent assertion that the signing of Lukas Podolski will be followed by a period of reflection and assessment regarding the current squad.

It seems odd that Wenger is praised for spending a reported fee in excess of pound;17 million on a 21-year-old, who is relatively unproven at the top level. Usually, Wenger could expect to be criticised for favouring young, French players.

Thats not to say that MVila is not a talent worth watching. However, a similar player could be found at a cheaper cost, which is an important consideration for an Arsenal team in need of help in several key areas.

After already paying more than pound;10 million for Podolski, securing MVila for the fee mentioned represents the kind of splurge that goes against the financial restraint Wenger has championed. The MVila saga will likely become clearer one way or another at Wengers pre-match press conference.

If the deal does turn out to be moot, it wont represent disaster for Arsenal. Disaster will only follow if the club isnt concentrating everything on winning their last game.

May 10, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ — EIN News has developed one of the worlds leading real time news indexing services. Its systems continuously scan the web, indexing news from thousands of worldwide sources. The data is then filtered according to specific needs, and the processes are supervised by a team of professional news editors.

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Who knows how or where they met? And it doesnt really matter. The 25-year-old rapper and the 38-year-old Americas Next Top Model mogul were recently spotted at Disneyland hanging out and flirting with each other… Reportedly, Drake and Tyra tried to keep their date discreet. They even went so far as to don disguises. Drake, who has often professed his love for older women, actually wore a fake mustache on a rollercoaster ride with Tyra, but it didnt work. Everyone saw and recognized the couple. So the question is: how long will this new couple remain a couple? Time will tell.

Stay tuned.

 Hope Carson 2012

Hope Carson is the author of 2 books: A Roaring Girl: An Interview with the Thinking Mans Hooker and A Thousand and One Night Stands: The Life of Jon Vincent. You can follow her on Twitter.

Posted at 10:19 AM ET, 05/03/2012

TheWashingtonPost

Newt’s future; the new BlackBerry; and Obama’s college romances (read-this roundup)
By Emily Heil

What’s the Loop reading this morning?

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich announced that he is suspending his presidential campaign.
(Evan Vucci – AP)

A new day for Newt — After bidding adieu to Newt Gingrich, who certainly livened up the GOP presidential scramble (moon colonies! zoo visits!), the Fix ponders what’s next for the former House Speaker. Is it the end or a new beginning?

The new black(berry) — All those Hill folks still toting around clunky BlackBerrys whilst quashing iPhone envy will want to read about BlackBerry10, the revamped operating system for the devices that will debut next year. Joshua Topolsky has the early look: more virtual keyboards, better camera, etc.

Radio days — The fantastic yarn behind a longtime National Archives official who’s in court for stealing nearly 1,000 sound and radio recordings from his employer is worth a read. Tune in for a tale by our colleagues Del Quentin Wilber and Lisa Rein involving an obsessive collector, computer sleuthwork, and a duplicitous archivist.

He was that guy — Looking for salaciousness in the early romances of President Obama? Turns out, he was more about quoting T.S. Eliot, staying emotionally distant, and whipping up gourmet meals, report our colleagues at the Reliable Source.

By Emily Heil
 | 
10:19 AM ET, 05/03/2012

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The phenomenon, called Supermoon, this year coincided with Buddha Purnima.

The spectacular view was possible because the full moon came closest to Earth and the distance between celestial bodies was only 357,000 km against a mean distance of 384,400 km.

At 9.05 pm IST, the distance between the Earth and the Moon was 3,56,955 km, the closest this year, while the angular size of the Moon was 0.5515 degrees.

Supermoon occurs because the Moons orbit is not perfectly circular, Arvind Paranjpye, Director of Mumbai-based Nehru Planetarium, said.

This full Moon was nearly 16 per cent brighter than average. Conversely, later this year on Novemver 28, the full moon will coincide with apogee, the moons farthest approach, offering an especially small and dim full moon.

Though the rare appearance of this full Moon was surprising to some, theres no reason for alarm, scientists cautioned.

The slight distance variation was not enough to cause any earthquakes or extreme tidal effects, experts asserted.

However, the normal tides around the world were mostly high and low. At perigee, the moon exerted about 42 per cent more tidal force than it will during its next apogee two weeks later.

The last Supermoon appeared in March 2011.

]]> http://www.teamrdmusic.com/2012/05/18/bigger-and-brighter-supermoon-romances-with-night-sky/feed/ 0 http://www.teamrdmusic.com/2012/05/17/new-book-sheds-light-on-obamas-former-romances/ http://www.teamrdmusic.com/2012/05/17/new-book-sheds-light-on-obamas-former-romances/#comments Thu, 17 May 2012 23:18:28 +0000 Admin http://www.teamrdmusic.com/?p=1583 Washington: A new book sheds light on some of US President Barack Obamas early romances during his college and post-college years.

The revelations came out in a Vanity Fair magazine article featuring excerpts from Washington Post reporter David Maraniss new book Barack Obama: The Story due to be out next month.

According to The New York Post, the book detailsyoung Obamas relationships with two women — Alex McNear and Genevieve Cook — whom he dated while in his early 20s.

Obama met McNear while attending Occidental College in California — at the time she was a co-editor of the colleges literary magazine — before the two reconnected in New York during the summer of 1982. They met up at an Italian restaurant when McNear arrived in the city and quickly started dating, The New York Post added.

McNear told the author that she mainly remembered walking miles through the city with Obama, visiting art museums, eating at restaurants and engaging in deep philosophical conversations about life.

Then in December 1983, Obama met Cook, a 25-year-old elementary school teacher, at a party in New Yorks East Village. The future president was reportedly wearing blue jeans, a T-shirt and a dark leather jacket when he ran into Cook in the kitchen. The two later chatted and bonded immediately over the fact that both had grown up in Indonesia.

Im pretty sure we had dinner maybe the Wednesday after, Cook recalled. I think maybe he cooked me dinner. Then we went and talked in his bedroom. And then I spent the night. It all felt very inevitable, She was quoted by The New York Post as saying.

Cook also recalled how Obama would spend Sundays lounging around bare-chested in a blue and white sarong, while drinking coffee and solving The New York Times crossword puzzle.

Cook kept a journal at the time in which she wrote, I open the door, that Barack keeps closed, to his room, and enter into a warm, private space pervaded by a mixture of smells that so strongly speak of his presence, his liveliness, his habits — running sweat, Brut spray deodorant, smoking, eating raisins, sleeping, breathing, The New York Post quoted Cook as saying.

Obama described Cook without naming her in his memoir Dreams from My Father as a woman in New York that I loved. He wrote, She was white. She had dark hair, and specks of green in her eyes. Her voice sounded like a wind chime. We saw each other for almost a year. On the weekends, mostly.

Obama later said that his description of Cook in the memoir was more of a compression of former girlfriends that also included a girlfriend in Chicago.

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IN TODAYS RADIO REPORT: The deepest well ever dug; Cyber-attacks on the US natgas pipeline industry; Romney makes big promises to Big Oil; RFK Jr. fights Big Coal in Portland; Schizo Fox News now says lower gas prices are a bad thing; PLUS: Its official: the last 12 months were the hottest on record in the US …. All that and more in todays Green News Report!

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