WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An Olympics ticket broker whose company apologized last week for distribution problems at the London Games is co-hosting a fundraiser for Republican U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney in Indiana this week.
An invitation to the fundraiser in Evansville, Indiana, scheduled for Saturday, lists Sead Dizdarevic, founder and owner of the ticket-selling companies Jet Set Sports and CoSport, as one of 24 "event co-chairs."
The invitation lists ticket prices for the fundraiser ranging from $2,500 for a "Minute Man contributor" to $75,800 for "Romney Victory Max Out Contributor."
The invitation, for what is described as a reception at the home of Steven Chancellor, a coal mining executive, also lists as hosts Indiana native and former U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle and U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.
Listed as "celebrity guests" for the event are actress Bo Derek and actor Ricky Schroder, both of whom have been active in Republican Party politics.
Precisely how Dizdarevic will be involved in the event is unclear. The Romney campaign did not responded to e-mails requesting comment and a representative of Jet Set and CoSport had no immediate comment.
Last week, a woman who answered the phone at Jet Set Sports' head office in Far Hills, New Jersey, said that Dizdarevic was in London for the Olympics, where his company CoSport was designated by the United States Olympic Committee and several other national Olympic committees, including those of Canada and Australia, as an "authorized ticket reseller" for the Games.
Last week, CoSport apologized for delays that forced some customers arriving in London to spend up to six hours lined up in sweltering heat to collect their tickets. The company also said that it was "very sorry" that some customers had not received the bloc seating ticket arrangements they had requested.
Dizdarevic, the owner of CoSport and Jet Set Sports, was a figure in the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics scandal that led to Romney's successful takeover of the running of those games.
The scandal focused on allegations that Salt Lake officials bidding to lure the Olympics there had spent millions of dollars on gifts, cash payments and other benefits for IOC members involved in deciding whether to award the Games to Salt Lake City.
The scandal also involved payments that prospective vendors made to Salt Lake Olympics officials. An indictment accused two officials of receiving $130,000 from Jet Set Sports, of which CoSport is a part.
The charges eventually were tossed out by a federal judge, but not before Dizdarevic testified against the suspects after receiving immunity from prosecution.
Afterward, Romney recruited Jet Set as a sponsor after he took over as chief of the Salt Lake Games, according to Mark Lewis, who worked on the Games as an aide to Romney.
Reports filed with the U.S. Federal Election Commission indicate that since last year, Dizdarevic, his wife and their company have contributed $200,000 to Restore Our Future, a political action committee, or PAC, that supports Romney's bid to oust President Barack Obama in the November 6 general election.
In case you are with out medical health insurance Nike 2012 rather than certain what choices are perfect for you available in the market, there are certainly things that you want to look at before you get started buying the industry. With these tips, you can find out what health insurance choices finest and the best way of seeking your coverage.
Should your health care insurance coverage is about to end, usually do not delay until the very last minute to identify an a different one. Be sure that your new health care insurance begins covering you as soon as your recent policy comes to an end. Tend not to go without insurance coverage, even when it is only for a few days.
When a representative from an insurance firm requests a query you do not know the response to, you need to refer those to your medical history. Usually do not speculate a solution or Nike 2012 provide an not complete a single. Odds are, your approx . response is not going to complement what your record claims, and you may enter difficulty when your insurance provider notices it.
If you have selected buying personalized health insurance, you should get a duplicate of specifically what the prepare will look like prior to making the last purchase. Make certain you read every one of the small print, exceptions and clauses, in order that you know what precisely you?re acquiring and what protection you may become declined.
In no way believe that the insurer is right once they refute an insurance claim in your health insurance. Usually ask questions concerning the reasons behind the denial. There is lots of documents that is put into Nike Pas Cher every single declare and there are numerous prospects for mistakes to become produced. Check with your insurance firm for any written outline and appearance your plan to determine if it seems sensible.
If you need or want health care insurance which is provided by your company, then it might be the best choice to get it via them. Numerous businesses pay out a specific amount of the monthly premiums, creating insurance coverage less costly via them than it could be if acquired within the exclusive industry. It might be worthy of having a work with lower pay if this boss offers an a healthy body insurance reward.
Make an indicate aspect in your preferred physicians before you decide to invest in any adverse health insurance policy. Many individuals Nike 2012 have a standard doctor which they like. When picking any adverse health insurance plan, make sure you check out and make certain that they are paid by it. A brief check can save you a lot of headache down the road.
Should you be in between tasks, make an effort to get brief-expression health insurance, as opposed to waiting around to get included in a business-subsidized plan. It could take you quite some time to discover the up coming job and the danger of without well being coverage is way too wonderful. One particular disastrous function can devastate you financially. Brief-expression protection can be quite a great momentary solution, for now.
Prior to starting Nike Pas Cher your buying health care insurance, you desire to be sure that you understand the true secret technique to having the finest insurance policy for both you and your spending budget too. Go ahead and take proper steps using the appropriate tips, by using these medical insurance ideas supplying the right start.
Reputable Nike Store Outlet supplies a lot of discounted Nike Air Jordan Shoes straight away with Prompt Delivery service, Protected Payment & Extraordinary Support Services.
Fitness experts (as what you will read more about fitness pump in this article) all agree that exercising is key to maintaining a healthy body and an active lifestyle. Even with your busy lifestyle, you should try to find time, or even make time, to exercise routinely. This article features many tips that can help you workout quickly and efficiently so you can spend the least amount of time yet get all the benefits of exercising.
In addition to following a heart-healthy diet, try regular aerobic exercise, the kind that makes your heart beat fast, because it is one of the best ways to lower cholesterol levels. Aerobic exercise, such as walking briskly, will also help you reduce fatigue, reduce weight, lower blood pressure and reduce stress levels.
If you find that your calves are tight when you wake up you should consider altering your sleeping method. Consider sleeping on your stomach with your feet hanging off of the bed. Gravity will slowly and gently stretch your calves throughout the night which should reduce any tightness you feel.
A great tip to help you get fit is to join an ultimate Frisbee league. Ultimate Frisbee is very similar to football except when you catch the Frisbee, everyone has to freeze. It can be a great way to get fit because of all the running and jumping you have to do.
Try doing dips that use double the energy to give your triceps a more effective workout during your routine. Start by doing your dips like you usually would, but with your elbows turned inward and keeping your body straightened.Then lean forward and force them outward to focus on your chest muscles.
Summer heat can really make it hard to get out and get the exercise that you want and need to get. Try to drink a low calorie slushie before or after your run. It will cool your body temperature down and give you a refreshing way to rehydrate after a long run.
Weight training is vital in a well-rounded fitness program. While not every program needs to concentrate on building muscle mass like a pro weightlifter, some attention to weight training is necessary for every fitness regimen. Weight training tones the muscles and makes them work efficiently. This has a positive impact on overall health and fitness at even the most modest levels of weight training.
In order to maximize your fitness potential, be sure to lightly exercise sore muscles the next day. This will allow blood to flow into the muscles at a much higher rate, therefor speeding up the healing process. Be sure to do more repetitions, but at a lighter weight or lighter strain.
Choose fitness activities you enjoy. There are enough activities to choose from that you are bound to find something you really enjoy and look forward to. If you don?t enjoy what you?re doing, you?re less likely to stick with it, so find something that you can see yourself doing regularly without resistance.
Diet greatly affects your body in the matter of fitness. A great way to eat healthy is to eat 4 to 8 ounces of meat every day. This will help you to grow muscle since meat is a good source of protein. Studies show that people who do this tend to be stronger as well.
Exercising increases the oxygen to the brain. Studies have proven that incorporating an exercise program to your daily routine will decrease the chance of getting dementia in up to 60% in older adults. Exercising releases proteins that strengthens the brain?s neurons and cells which is directly related to memory and learning.
When performing crunches, you should try and put your tongue on the roof of your mouth. A common problem people face when doing a lot of crunches is that their neck can get injured. Putting your tongue on the roof of your mouth can align your neck so that it won?t strain.
Fitness Pump
A great workout tip is to perform dips. Dips can work out both your triceps and your chest. To hit the triceps you should do dips with elbows in and your body straight. To hit the chest you should lean forward and flare your elbows out. You will feel a great Pump at the end.
Swing your arms while walking. You can burn up to 15 percent more calories while walking by simply pumping your arms as you walk. Bend your elbows 90 degrees and Pump you arms along with your stride, this automatically speeds up your pace and allows you to burn more calories.
There are many different types of classes available at most gyms these days and many of them can actually be very fun and entertaining. There is a whole line of Body Pump classes which try to integrate music and lights into the workout which causes the experience to be a much better one.
Increase the effectiveness of your walking workout. Bend your elbows at a 90 degree angle and Pump your arms with every step you take. This encourages you to walk faster, increases your heart rate, and can burn 15% more calories than if you keep your arms by your side. Try to walk for at least 30 minutes a day, and you will see the results in no time.
Do not think that you have to quickly Pump weights to impress others. This actually provides very little muscle building benefits, as the movement relies more on momentum than on actual strength. Instead, control the contraction of your muscle with a slow, steady movement; hold the position briefly; and then slowly release the muscle for a full repetition.
Exercise can really change your life for the better. Apply these easy tips to make your workout easy and fast, while achieving great results. Although you might not appreciate the importance of exercise in your daily routine, once you start, you won?t be able to go back. You feel younger, more energetic, and even in a better mood.
Discover the secrets and be the first to know by joining the community
We respect your privacy. All the communications will be done via the community admin
Saturday, July 28th, 2012 | Posted by CSIS Commission By CSIS Commission
Share
A session at the International AIDS Conference entitled ?Dynamics of the Epidemic in Context? was a study in contrasts. The first three presentations were a reminder of the similar challenges faced by sex workers, intravenous drug users and MSM (Men who have Sex with Men). Within specific countries, each of these groups has an HIV prevalence that is usually significantly greater than that of the general population of their country. Individuals in these groups are often stigmatized, sometimes including rejection by their own families
The rest is here: Most-at-Risk-Populations (MARPs) Face Challenges beyond Access to Treatment
Related posts:
MOST AT RISK POPULATIONS ADVISOR (MARPS) | IAP World Services, Inc.
MOST AT RISK POPULATIONS SENIOR ADVISOR (MARPS) | IAP World Services, Inc.
Mapping populations at risk: improving spatial demographic data for?
Further Study Needed to Help Those Living With HIV Face the Challenges of?
NGOs, Government Face Challenges In Preventing Fistula In DRC
Posted by CSIS Commission on Jul 28 2012. Filed under Policy & Systems. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
Tracking down your Twitter buddies among Instagram's 80 million users is now tougher than ever?? because the photo-sharing service's "Find Your Friends" feature is kaput. And Twitter appears to be at fault.
As TechCrunch's Alexia Tsotsis reports,?the "Find Your Friends"?feature ? which is buried within your Instagram app's settings ? is now useless "due to API restrictions from Twitter's end."
In plain terms??In order to find your Twitter friends, Instagram needed to snag some data from Twitter. And for some reason, Twitter decided to change the locks.
In fact, if you stubbornly?do try to find your Twitter friends on Instagram right now, a little pop-up message will offer that very?same explanation:
Unable to Find Friends?
Twitter no longer allows its users to access this information in Instagram via the Twitter API. We apologize for any?inconvenience.
We reached out to Twitter to see if the social network had anything to say about this change?? which is pretty darn awkward if you consider that Twitter founder Jack Dorsey happens to be an Instagram investor?? but we have not heard back yet. We?will update once we do.
In the meantime, we'll just point out that this isn't the first time something like this has happened. As Tsotsis recalls, "Facebook has done similar to Twitter in past years. For example, it blocked Twitter?s access to Facebook?s in-app friend finder feature in June of 2010."?
Amusingly, Instagram was recently acquired by Facebook. Guess what goes around?comes around.
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+.
ScienceDaily (July 26, 2012) ? During a recent oceanographic expedition off San Diego, graduate student researchers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego discovered convincing evidence of a deep-sea site where methane is likely seeping out of the seafloor, the first such finding off San Diego County.
Such "methane seeps" are fascinating environments because of their extraordinary chemical features and often bizarre marine life. The area of interest, roughly 20 miles west of Del Mar, is centered on a fault zone known as the San Diego Trough Fault zone. Methane, a clear, highly combustible gas, exists in Earth's crust under the seafloor along many of the world's continental margins. Faults can provide a pathway for methane to "seep" upward toward the seafloor.
The Scripps graduate students made the discovery during the recent San Diego Coastal Expedition a multidisciplinary voyage conceived and executed by Scripps graduate students. The cruise was funded by the University of California Ship Funds Program, which supports student research at sea and provides seagoing leadership opportunities.
While conducting surveys in search of methane seeps aboard Scripps' research vessel Melville, the graduate students mapped a distinct mound on the seafloor at 1,036 meters depth (3,400 feet), spanning the size of a city block and rising to the height of a two-story building. The area had been recommended by Jamie Conrad, Holly Ryan (U.S. Geological Survey) and Charles Paull (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute), who surveyed the faults in 2010.
"Below the mound," described Scripps geosciences graduate student Jillian Maloney, "we observed a disruption in subsurface sediment layers indicative of fluid seepage."
The Scripps researchers then deployed instruments to collect sediment cores, gathering further evidence such as seep-dwelling animals, sulfidic-smelling black mud and carbonate nodules. These samples are currently being analyzed in Scripps laboratories for chemical clues and other telling elements of the environment.
Organisms collected from the site include thread-like tubeworms called siboglinids and several clams. Siboglinids lack a mouth and digestive system and gain nutrition via a symbiotic relationship with bacteria living inside them, while many clams at seeps get some of their food from sulfide-loving bacteria living on their gills.
While food is scarce in much of the cold, dark ocean depths, it is abundant at seeps due to the bacteria that proliferate around the methane source. Microbes there are eaten by worms, snails, crabs and clams, leading to a rich and productive community that helps sustain the surrounding deep-sea ecosystem.
"These chemosynthetic ecosystems are considered 'hot spots' of life on the seafloor in an otherwise desert-like landscape," said San Diego Coastal Expedition team member Alexis Pasulka, a Scripps biological oceanography graduate student. "New forms of life are continuously being discovered in these environments. Therefore, it is important to study these ecosystems not only to further appreciate the diversity of life in our oceans, but also so that we can better understand how these ecosystems contribute to overall ocean productivity and the carbon cycle."
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, and researchers don't yet fully understand the magnitude to which seeping methane in the ocean contributes additional carbon to the atmosphere. Moreover, on many continental margins, frozen methane hydrates could represent a future energy source. Along the West Coast, methane seeps are known to exist off Oregon, California (near Eureka, Monterey Bay, Point Conception and Santa Monica), in the Gulf of California and off Costa Rica.
"This is a significant and exciting discovery in part because of the possibilities for future research at Scripps," said biological oceanography graduate student Benjamin Grupe, a member of the seep contingent on the San Diego Coastal Expedition. "The existence of a methane seep just a few hours from San Diego should allow Scripps scientists to visit frequently, studying how this dynamic ecosystem changes over days, months and years. Such regular data collection is difficult at most cold seeps, which rarely occur so close to ports or research institutions."
Grupe will lead a follow-up cruise in December that will revisit the newly discovered seep to collect additional samples and learn more about this ecosystem. The team of graduate students hopes to raise funds to employ technologies such as video-driven coring instruments and towed video cameras that will give them an up-close look at the methane seep.
The search for local seeps was one focus area of the multidisciplinary San Diego Coastal Expedition, which included teams of students investigating the oceanography and marine ecosystems off San Diego and led by chief scientist Christina Frieder. In addition to Grupe, Pasulka and Maloney, other members of the seep team included geophysics graduate students Valerie Sahakian and Rachel Marcuson.
R/V Melville, the oldest ship in the U.S. academic fleet, is owned by the U.S. Navy and has been operated by Scripps Oceanography for all of its 41 years.
"The students should be congratulated on their hard work and perseverance leading to this exciting find," said Lisa Levin, a Scripps professor who has studied methane seep ecosystems in most of the world's oceans. "Other scientists have suspected that methane seeps were present in the San Diego region, but these new data and samples provide the first convincing evidence. We know very little about what lives in deep waters-the planet's largest ecosystem-so it is not unexpected to find surprises on the deep-sea floor right in our own backyard. Having a 'local' seep should be a great boon to deep-sea research, education and public outreach at Scripps."
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California, San Diego.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
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.
Contact: A'ndrea Elyse Messer aem1@psu.edu 814-865-9481 Penn State
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Microbes that convert electricity into methane gas could become an important source of renewable energy, according to scientists from Stanford and Penn State universities.
Researchers at both universities are raising colonies of microorganisms -- methanogens -- with the remarkable ability to turn electrical energy into pure methane, the key ingredient in natural gas. The goal is to create large microbial factories to transform clean electricity from solar, wind or nuclear power into renewable methane fuel and other valuable chemical compounds for industry.
"Most of today's methane is derived from natural gas, a fossil fuel," said Alfred Spormann, professor of chemical engineering and civil and environmental engineering at Stanford. "And many important organic molecules used in industry are made from petroleum. Our microbial approach would eliminate the need for using these fossil resources."
He added that all of the carbon dioxide released during combustion is derived from the atmosphere, and all of the electrical energy comes from renewables or nuclear power, which are also carbon dioxide free.
Methane-producing microbes could help solve the problem of what to do with surplus electricity generated by photovoltaic power stations and wind farms.
"While conceptually simple, there are significant hurdles to overcome before electricity-to-methane technology can be deployed at a large scale," said Bruce Logan, Evan Pugh Professor and Kappe Professor of Environmental Engineering, Penn State. "That's because the underlying science of how these organisms convert electrons into chemical energy is poorly understood."
Burning natural gas accelerates global warming by releasing carbon dioxide that's been trapped underground for millennia. The researchers wanted to take a "greener" approach to methane production. They envision large bioreactors filled with methanogens single-cell organisms that produce methane.
Methanogens cannot grow in the presence of oxygen. Instead, they regularly dine on atmospheric carbon dioxide and electrons borrowed from hydrogen gas. The byproduct of this microbial meal is pure methane, which methanogens excrete into the atmosphere.
The researchers plan to use this methane to fuel airplanes, ships and vehicles. In the ideal scenario, cultures of methanogens would be fed a constant supply of electrons generated from emissions-free power sources, such as solar cells, wind turbines and nuclear reactors. The microbes would use these clean electrons to metabolize carbon dioxide into methane, which can then be stockpiled and distributed via existing natural gas facilities and pipelines when needed.
Microbial methane is much more ecofriendly than ethanol and other biofuels, the researchers noted. Corn ethanol, for example, requires acres of cropland, as well as fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation and fermentation.
Methanogens are much more efficient, because they metabolize methane in just a few quick steps.
For this new technology to become commercially viable, a number of fundamental challenges must be addressed.
In 2009, Logan's lab was the first to demonstrate that a methanogen strain known as Methanobacterium palustre could convert an electrical current directly into methane. For the experiment, Logan and his Penn State colleagues built a reverse battery with positive and negative electrodes placed in a beaker of nutrient-enriched water.
"The microbes were about 80 percent efficient in converting electricity to methane," Logan said.
At Penn State, Logan's lab is designing and testing advanced cathode technologies that will encourage the growth of methanogens and maximize methane production. The Penn State team is also studying new materials for electrodes, including a carbon-mesh fabric that could eliminate the need for platinum and other precious metal catalysts.
"Many of these materials have only been studied in bacterial systems but not in communities with methanogens or other archaea," Logan said. "Our ultimate goal is to create a cost-effective system that reliably and robustly produces methane from clean electrical energy. It's high-risk, high-reward research, but new approaches are needed for energy storage and for making useful organic molecules without fossil fuels."
###
A three-year grant from the Global Climate and Energy Project at Stanford funds this project.
Contact:
A'ndrea Elyse Messer (814) 865-9481 aem1@psu.edu
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Contact: A'ndrea Elyse Messer aem1@psu.edu 814-865-9481 Penn State
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Microbes that convert electricity into methane gas could become an important source of renewable energy, according to scientists from Stanford and Penn State universities.
Researchers at both universities are raising colonies of microorganisms -- methanogens -- with the remarkable ability to turn electrical energy into pure methane, the key ingredient in natural gas. The goal is to create large microbial factories to transform clean electricity from solar, wind or nuclear power into renewable methane fuel and other valuable chemical compounds for industry.
"Most of today's methane is derived from natural gas, a fossil fuel," said Alfred Spormann, professor of chemical engineering and civil and environmental engineering at Stanford. "And many important organic molecules used in industry are made from petroleum. Our microbial approach would eliminate the need for using these fossil resources."
He added that all of the carbon dioxide released during combustion is derived from the atmosphere, and all of the electrical energy comes from renewables or nuclear power, which are also carbon dioxide free.
Methane-producing microbes could help solve the problem of what to do with surplus electricity generated by photovoltaic power stations and wind farms.
"While conceptually simple, there are significant hurdles to overcome before electricity-to-methane technology can be deployed at a large scale," said Bruce Logan, Evan Pugh Professor and Kappe Professor of Environmental Engineering, Penn State. "That's because the underlying science of how these organisms convert electrons into chemical energy is poorly understood."
Burning natural gas accelerates global warming by releasing carbon dioxide that's been trapped underground for millennia. The researchers wanted to take a "greener" approach to methane production. They envision large bioreactors filled with methanogens single-cell organisms that produce methane.
Methanogens cannot grow in the presence of oxygen. Instead, they regularly dine on atmospheric carbon dioxide and electrons borrowed from hydrogen gas. The byproduct of this microbial meal is pure methane, which methanogens excrete into the atmosphere.
The researchers plan to use this methane to fuel airplanes, ships and vehicles. In the ideal scenario, cultures of methanogens would be fed a constant supply of electrons generated from emissions-free power sources, such as solar cells, wind turbines and nuclear reactors. The microbes would use these clean electrons to metabolize carbon dioxide into methane, which can then be stockpiled and distributed via existing natural gas facilities and pipelines when needed.
Microbial methane is much more ecofriendly than ethanol and other biofuels, the researchers noted. Corn ethanol, for example, requires acres of cropland, as well as fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation and fermentation.
Methanogens are much more efficient, because they metabolize methane in just a few quick steps.
For this new technology to become commercially viable, a number of fundamental challenges must be addressed.
In 2009, Logan's lab was the first to demonstrate that a methanogen strain known as Methanobacterium palustre could convert an electrical current directly into methane. For the experiment, Logan and his Penn State colleagues built a reverse battery with positive and negative electrodes placed in a beaker of nutrient-enriched water.
"The microbes were about 80 percent efficient in converting electricity to methane," Logan said.
At Penn State, Logan's lab is designing and testing advanced cathode technologies that will encourage the growth of methanogens and maximize methane production. The Penn State team is also studying new materials for electrodes, including a carbon-mesh fabric that could eliminate the need for platinum and other precious metal catalysts.
"Many of these materials have only been studied in bacterial systems but not in communities with methanogens or other archaea," Logan said. "Our ultimate goal is to create a cost-effective system that reliably and robustly produces methane from clean electrical energy. It's high-risk, high-reward research, but new approaches are needed for energy storage and for making useful organic molecules without fossil fuels."
###
A three-year grant from the Global Climate and Energy Project at Stanford funds this project.
Contact:
A'ndrea Elyse Messer (814) 865-9481 aem1@psu.edu
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Augie T brings his hilarious local humor to the stage Saturday for a night of laugh-out-loud fun. Photo courtesy of MACC.
By Sonia Isotov
Shows
Kalama Brothers & Friends with Willie K. Friday, July 27, 7:30 p.m. at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center, McCoy Studio Theater.
The Kalama Brothers are Kai and Ryan Keau Kalama, who were raised in California, and perform a variety of music that embraces the music that their father and uncle performed as the original Kalama Brothers.
Their talents go beyond their singing voices as they play a variety of instruments to recreate cover songs that appeal to all ages. They also compose original songs with music that suits the ears and lyrics that bring the story home.
Kalama Brothers are touring Hawai?i to promote their new CD,?Keau?produced by Maui Tribe Records with ?Uncle? Willie K. Their hit single is ?Come Back to Hawaii.?
The Kalama Brothers are Kai and Ryan Keau Kalama. Photos courtesy of MACC.
Tickets:?$20 (plus applicable fees). Preshow dinner is provided by Mulligen?s on the Blue. Tickets are available for purchase by calling the MACC Box Office at 242-SHOW or online at MauiArts.org.
Augie T?s Summer of LOL, Saturday 28, 7:30 p.m. at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center, McCoy Studio Theater.
Hawaii?s popular comedian and on-air personality?Augie T?brings his hilarious local humor to the stage this summer for a night of laugh-out-loud fun. Special guest is?Brad Starks, an edgy stand-up comedian, video/film producer, social media guru and impressionist with an already-famous character, Bethesda Jackson.
Tickets: $20/standard, $35/premium with meet-and-greet after show (plus applicable fees). Preshow dinner provided by AK?s Caf? serving from 5:30 p.m. in the McCoy Courtyard. Tickets are available for purchase by calling the MACC Box Office at 242-SHOW or online at MauiArts.org.
The Producers. July 6 to July 29 at the Historic Iao Theatre in Wailuku.
Presented by Maui OnStage, The Producers, a musical by Mel Brooks, is based on Mel Brooks? 1968 film The Producers about Max Bialystock, a once great Broadway Producer grabs Leo Bloom, his accountant, and attempts to produce the biggest flop in history! ?Springtime for Hitler,? their masterpiece, turns out to be a smash hit, ruining all the plans they had for their success with a failure.
The production runs Friday and Saturday evenings starting at 7:30 p.m. with a matinee starting at 3 p.m. on Sunday.
Paia Town Friday Party. Photo courtesy of PaiaTown.
Tickets: $17 to $28 available from the Maui OnStage box office at (808) 242-6969. The Historic Iao Theatre is located at 68 North Market Street in Wailuku.
Parties
July?s Paia Fourth Friday Town Party. Friday, July 27, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m in Paia.
This Friday, the Paia Town Music Fest will feature world famous DJs down the street from folk performs. Dance to experimental electronic only minutes away from a harp performance. Entertainment features fashion shows, fire dancing, drink and food specials, and celtic music, live art demonstrations, and more.
Charley?s will present DJ Sabo and?Sandwich Island Bass.?Tickets for this event are $15 in advance, $20 at the door (Portions of the proceeds benefit Town of Paia)
Tickets: Entry is free and a street festival atmosphere is enjoyed. Check out?www.paiamaui.com?or?www.facebook.com/paiatown?for up to the minute updates and schedules.
ArT=Mixx, Saturday, July 28, 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. in the Maui Arts & Cultural Center, Schaefer International Gallery and Pavilion/Courtyard.
Explore the?Schaefer International Gallery with the black and white themed affair. The event pays tribute to the early artistic media of op art and film noirPlay features performance art and a black and white costume contest, along with a preshow dinner by Three?s Bar & Grill and dancing to DJ Tunes.
The event pays tribute to the early artistic media of op art and film noir featuring video and performance art. Photo courtesy of MACC.
Tickets: Admission is free.
Community Events
Maui Mall Family Sundays, Sunday July 29 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Maui Mall in Kahului.
This free?monthly event includes educational-themed hands-on workshops,?activities, exhibits,?entertainment and games, Bingo, and prize giveaways. Each?month will follow a specific theme such as Science & Agriculture and?Language & Culture.?This month?s theme will be Music & Performing Arts.
Maui Mall will also award one iPad and iPod at each?event for the student drawing. As part of Maui Mall Family Sundays, Maui County teachers are encouraged to nominate one student per?month, even during the summer months, who stand out in academics and?character to be recognized and rewarded at?each Maui Mall Family Sundays event.
Select students will be presented with?Maui Mall gift certificates as well?as be entered to win an iPod or iPad.?Additionally, students who are chosen from April through November will?be re-entered?in a cumulative drawing for a chance to win a MacBook Pro at the Maui?Mall Family Sundays finale event on January 6, 2013.
Tickets: Admission is free. Student nomination forms and more?information can be found on the Family Sundays link at?www.MauiMall.com.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) ? Low-cost airline AirAsia says it is buying Indonesian budget carrier Batavia Air to expand in Southeast Asia's biggest economy.
AirAsia founder and CEO Tony Fernandez said Thursday the $80 million acquisition will strengthen his airline's position in Indonesia's lucrative air travel market.
AirAsia will have a direct 49 percent stake in Batavia and its Indonesia subsidiary PT Fersindo Nusaperkasa will own the remaining 51 percent.
Fernandez said the acquisition would be completed in the second quarter of next year and be paid for from AirAsia's cash reserves.
The subsidy for onshore wind energy generation is to be cut by 10%, the government has announced.
The Treasury is thought to have favoured a larger cut of up to 25%.
It is one of a number of cuts which the Department for Energy and Climate Change said should encourage up to ?25bn in new investment in energy generation between 2013 and 2017.
The measures should also reduce the impact on household energy bills, it said, saving ?5-?6 a year on average.
Under the current arrangements ?44 of the average household bill would go towards renewables in 2013-14, rising to ?50 in 2016-17.
Under the new subsidy levels, that will be ?6 less in 2013-4, ?5 less in 2014-5, but will be ?1 higher in 2015-6 and ?3 higher in 2016-7.
Energy firms pass on the cost of investing in new cleaner generation to consumers, and MPs on the Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee warned earlier this month that cutting subsidies too fast could increase bills.
Energy Secretary Ed Davey said the projected investment of ?20-25bn could also encourage the creation of "hundreds of thousands of jobs".
Continue reading the main story
?Start Quote
Treasury arm-twisting has forced [Ed Davey] to give his backing to new gas-fired power stations - which is completely at odds with his fuzzy rhetoric on clean British energy?
End QuoteAndrew PendletonFriends of the Earth
"The economy needs that investment and our climate change challenge needs this green energy," he told the BBC.
Uncertainty over the direction of government energy policy has been criticised by the industry and has lead to delays in investment.
Wind farm company RES, which generates about 10% of the UK's onshore wind energy, said the subsidy announcement showed the government's commitment to renewables.
"The timescales associated with planning and developing much-needed infrastructure projects such as wind farms require stable, long-term policies to ensure investor confidence and engagement," said Gordon MacDougall from RES UK.
"RES is now more confident that we will be able to progress with our plans to bring forward ?1.7bn of projects vital to UK energy security in the next five years, and deliver significant benefits to communities across the UK."
Target fears
Continue reading the main story
Analysis
On the face of it this is a win for Ed Davey - angrily fighting off the chancellor who was under pressure from right-wing rural conservatives who don't like wind turbines in the countryside.
They wanted subsidies reduced radically, but in the end the cut will be just 10%. But the deal comes at a price. The Treasury has insisted that if there is a global gas boom, British consumers should share the benefits.
And Mr Davey has agreed that if gas proves cheap it will play a major role in electricity generation past 2030.
He says the UK can keep gas on the system and still meet its world-leading climate change laws.
But the government's official advisers, the Climate Change Committee, say that won't happen unless unproven technology is advanced to clean up emissions from gas.
And some economists warn that adding gas to the electricity sector is a mistake because gas prices are so volatile. The row is likely to continue.
BBC environment analyst Roger Harrabin said there had been a long-running battle between Mr Davey's Energy Department and the Treasury over the size of the cuts.
The 10% cut appears to be a victory for the Liberal Democrat energy secretary, our correspondent says, against some Conservative MPs who had lobbied for a much bigger cut.
The Energy Department has also said that if gas "proves cheap" it will play a major role after 2030, by which time the UK should have substantially reduced its carbon emissions from energy generation.
This follows insistance from the Treasury that UK consumers should benefit from any falls in gas prices, Roger Harrabin said.
The announcement also included ?500m in tax breaks to try to encourage investment in shallow-water gas fields, which have relatively low profit margins.
The continued role of gas in the energy strategy has raised fears that the UK could breach renewable energy targets as well as concerns about the volatility of gas prices.
"Treasury arm-twisting has forced [Ed Davey] to give his backing to new gas-fired power stations - which is completely at odds with his fuzzy rhetoric on clean British energy," said environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth.
"George Osborne's plans for more gas-fired power stations would be a costly disaster for households, businesses and the environment," said Andrew Pendleton from the campaign group.
"It's time for David Cameron, the self-styled leader of the greenest government ever, to intervene."
The government's official advisers on the Climate Change Committee have said that the increased use of gas could lead to targets being breached unless carbon capture technology is advanced to clean up emissions from gas.
Shadow energy secretary Caroline Flint claimed government in-fighting was harming the drive to get companies to invest in greener energy generation.
"George Osborne's meddling in energy policy is more to do with courting his anti-clean energy backbenchers, than securing the jobs and growth low carbon investment offers, which Britain badly needs," she said.
Alternative sports all within a few miles of Preston Hollow ? and a few in
Did you know that tug-of-war, hand tennis and live-pigeon shooting have been Olympic sports? Well, the bird-shooting thing was held just once, in 1900. But doesn?t it go to show that what is considered a sport is subjective? And sports ? even ones with funny names like cornhole or mushball ? can be life-enhancing. Whether you?re looking for improved physical fitness, healthy competition, camaraderie or pure silliness, there?s a sport for you. You just might not know it exists.
Archery
Archery at Elm Fork Shooting Sports by Danny Fulgencio.
Preston Hollow resident and Southern Methodist University alumnus Clint Montgomery has been practicing archery since his mom said ?no? to the BB gun, he says. He has played other sports ? tennis, football, basketball ? but he always liked the bow and arrow, despite the fact that it wasn?t exactly mainstream. As the director of the Dallas Archery Club, he hopes to make it more accessible.
Many years ago, you could find people practicing archery at public parks and bowling alleys all around Dallas, Montgomery says, but times have changed. Now, we?re in an era where we must be protected from ourselves. The Dallas Archery Club, which started long ago in Lake Highlands as a benefit for Texas Instruments employees and recently opened facilities in Plano and North Dallas, aims to change all that and make archery available to everyone. To that end, they offer opportunities to try the sport at little or no cost.
The sport has enjoyed a surge in popularity, thanks in part to the teen drama ?The Hunger Games,? Montgomery says.
?Since we?ve made [archery] accessible, every race, creed, size and age and ability ? a kid in a wheelchair, even ? can be seen side by side here at the range. Everyone is the same on the [shooting] line.?
The club is working with the Dallas Park and Recreation Department to create mobile ranges at public parks around the city. Montgomery says he hopes the club will have 50 or so ranges throughout the region in the near future. Once you take up the sport seriously, the equipment ? a bow and arrows ? runs around $200. But it?s sort of like golf in that you can spend what you want to spend ? the fancy stuff is upward of $2,000.
Start shooting //An intro to archery class is held 11 a.m.-noon Saturdays and 6-7 p.m. Wednesdays at the Texas Archery Academy Indoor Range, 600 Accent Drive, Suite B, in Plano. It?s $10 per person, and all equipment is included. You can try archery for free 9 a.m.-noon Saturdays at the Elm Fork Shooting Range, 10751 Luna. It?s $5 to practice longer. Visit dallasarchery.com to learn more.
?
Silk
Lone Star Circus School. Photo by Can T?rkyilmaz
Becky Foster was 49 when she donned her first sparkly unitard.
Having never practiced gymnastics or ballet as a child, the middle-aged mom joined the Lone Star Circus School, dangling on the silk alongside spry 20-year-olds.
?People think you?re crazy,? Foster says.
Lone Star is a local nonprofit organization founded by Fanny Kerwich, an eighth-generation circus performer. It was originally created for children, but four years ago, Preston Hollow resident Stephanie Stewart convinced Kerwich to open the school to adults.
?It?s kind of a lost art,? Stewart says. ?I had such a passion for it, and I thought there had to be other adults interested in it, too.?
Photo by Can T?rkyilmaz
The silk involves two long pieces of fabric that hang from the ceiling. Performers climb the silk while moving their bodies into different positions. The first step is to master the climb.
?Most people can?t climb at first, so we start out slow. It may feel intimidating, but everyone else is in the same boat. Once people realize how it really is, the intimidation goes away.?
Stewart says people will notice a difference in their bodies after three weeks of practice, building strength and endurance. Serious students such as Foster develop a dancer?s body with long, lean muscles.
?It?s all-encompassing. You feel energized and not so eager to just go home and watch TV.?
In addition to the silk, advanced students can learn other circus tricks ? most of which involve suspending the body in the air on the trapeze or the lyra (a hoop).
Kerwich says she hesitated to make circus performing accessible to everyone, fearing that the art form would become watered down. After all, it?s not just a pastime ? it?s her heritage.
?You don?t give that away,? she says.
She came around after considering the impact it could have on people?s lives in a world overrun with technology and endless streams of information.
?In this time, we don?t know what to feel anymore. This is very, very pure. It?s a beautiful way to be happy.?
Perform silk //The summer session runs through Aug. 25. Adult classes meet on weekdays at the Palaestra Gym, 4335 N. Beltwood. The cost is $20-$22 per class or $140 per month for unlimited classes. Private lessons also are available. For details and to register, call 214.206.1449 or visit lonestarcircus.org.
?
Cornhole
Get the bag in or near the hole. Players, two per team, take turns throwing beanbags at a hole located at one end of an elevated platform. Though it is one of the few sports that allows you to hold a beer in one hand as you compete, it can get serious.
Play cornhole // You can find a cornhole league any season of the year. Dallas Sport and Social offers a league that plays weekly at Draft Picks, 703 McKinney. The cost is $68.50 for a team and $38.50 for an individual player. For details, visit dallassportsleagues.com/leagues/cornhole.
?
Dodgeball
Photo provided by Dallas Dodgeball
Getting smacked in the face with a speeding foam ball doesn?t hurt that bad, says Tom Wakefield, commissioner of Dallas Dodgeball.
?We had a lady get hit right in the face, and she just laughed,? he says. ?It?s a sport that anyone can play. It?s the most natural sport there is.?
The group hosts co-ed, open-play games every other week near the Galleria for children and adults ? including soccer moms and 6-year-old girls ? with plans to launch a league later this year.
Wakefield and his son formed the group eight years ago, inspired by the 2004 comedy ?Dodgeball.? After watching the movie, they searched the internet for local leagues. They didn?t find any, so they started their own.
?Other people must have been looking for leagues, too, because we had 40 or 50 people sign up in the first week.?
The rules of dodgeball are lengthy, but the objective is simple: Grab a ball, and hurl it at an opposing team member to try and eliminate him or her from the game. Repeat. The last team standing wins.
Most people play recreationally, but there a few serious athletes. Wakefield took his best players to the Toronto Dodgeball Tournament in February 2011 where they placed fifth out of 20 teams from the United States and Canada.
Play dodgeball // Dallas Dodgeball hosts recreational games 4:30-6:30 p.m. Saturdays at alternating venues: Sole Roll Indoor Soccer, 4435 McEwen by the Galleria, and the Dunford Recreation Center in Mesquite. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children 12 and under. The Dallas Dodgeball Shootout is an open tournament for ages 17 and up, set for 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Oct. 13 at Sole Roll. Registration is $200 per team with a cash prize. For details, visit dallasdodgeball.com.
?
Ultimate Frisbee
Photo by Can T?rkyilmaz
Photo by Can T?rkyilmaz
When you think Frisbee, do you imagine a couple of college-age dudes, all smiles, tossing colorful disks on a windswept beach? Sure, that?s Frisbee. But it ain?t Ultimate Frisbee. The formations look a little like football, and the objective is to move the disk into the end zone. There?s a lot of running, passing, jumping and falling, but it is non-contact ? at least that?s what the rules dictate. Ultimater Mike Ahern has been playing since 1993 and says he likes not only the athleticism involved, but also the ?camaraderie of the Ultimate community.? It?s different from many other team sports in that, in general, individuals sign up for the league and then are drafted onto a team as opposed to a bunch of people forming a team and then joining a league.
?The Ultimate way makes for more of a sense of community because you get to know more people, and you?re less likely to develop deep grudges,? Ahern says. ?That guy you?re mad at one season may be your teammate in the next.?
The Ultimate Frisbee demographics skew younger, Ahern says, but there is a significant subset of older people playing these days, and that stereotypical Frisbee guy ? ?the protohippie, let?s say? ? is an endangered species. And it?s not just the guys. About one-third of the players are female, Ahern says.
Play disk // Beginners can find pick-up games at 6:30 p.m. Mondays at The Village Apartments (8303 Southwestern) or Wednesdays alternating among Glencoe Park near SMU, Norbuck Park at Northwest Highway and Buckner, and Lake Highlands Park. Winter league is popular among Dallas players, though the games are held at Prestonwood Polo Club in Oak Point. The cost is $70 per player and includes a disc and T-shirt. Visit dallasultimate.org.
?
Table tennis
Hit the hollow ball back and forth across the table with small paddles. Keep the ball in-bounds but try to get it past your opponent. It?s like miniature tennis ? but don?t call it ping-pong. The King of the Court Table Tennis League takes the fast-paced sport seriously. But the players still know how to have fun. The league, offered by the umbrella group Big D Sports and Entertainment, includes prizes, happy hours and post-game socials.
Play table tennis //The King of the Court League plays Thursday nights at Heights Recreation Center, 711 W. Arapaho. Registration is $160 per team. The summer league is in session. For details on the fall league, visit bigdfun.com/sports/richardson/table-tennis.
?
Indoor rock climbing
Climb to the top of an artificial rock wall, using the climbing holds that jut out from the wall. Try not to look down. We may not have any mountains around Dallas, but you can still experience what it?s like to climb one. Indoor rock climbing engages all your muscle groups and promotes balance. It can get competitive, though. Exposure Rock Climbing in Carrollton oversees Team Texas, a youth climbing team that has won four USA Climbing national championships.
Climb //Exposure Rock Climbing is at 2389 Midway. Day passes are available for $20, including all the necessary equipment. Private lessons are $50 per one-hour class. Visit exposurerockclimbing.com.
?
Flag football
Move the ball into the end zone without losing the flag attached to your waist. It?s a non-contact version of mainstream football. Flag football still involves the same skill and athleticism ? minus the part where you are slammed to the ground. Instead, each down ends when a defensive player grabs the flag of the offensive player.
Play flag football // Big D Sports offers co-ed and men?s recreational, upper recreational and intermediate leagues that play Wednesdays and Saturdays at Glencoe Park at Central Expressway and Martel. The cost is $575-$600 per team. For details on the fall league, visit bigdfun.com/sports/flag-football.
?
Bike polo
Photo by Danny Fulgencio
?
Hit the ball with a mallet into the opposing team?s goal ? all while riding a bicycle. It?s like horse polo for the urban athlete. It may seem like a new fad, but bike polo actually was invented in 1891 by Irish cyclist Richard Mecredy. There are more than 160 registered teams in the United States, and the sport recently gained popularity in Dallas.
Play bike polo // Dallas Bicycle Polo plays at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays at Norbuck Park at Buckner and Northwest Highway near White Rock Lake. There usually is extra gear available for newbies. Visit leagueofbikepolo.com/club/dallas-bicycle-polo.
?
Roller derby
Skate counterclockwise around a circuit track in two teams of five players. Each team?s designated ?jammer? scores points by lapping the opposing team while ?blockers? use physical force to stop them. This is the quintessential contact sport for women, so you have to be willing to take an elbow to the jaw every now and then. Besides, in roller derby, bruises are badges of honor. Plus, you get to adopt a clever, tough-sounding name such as Babe Ruthless.
Roll //Assassination City Roller Derby league plays at Fair Park Coliseum, and Dallas Derby Devils play at NYTEX Sports Centre in North Richland Hills. For details about fall leagues, visit acderby.com or derbydevils.com.
?
Pole dancing
Hold on to a pole, and wrap your body around it, forming different acrobatic positions. It?s not just for exotic dancers. Pole dancing is considered performance art and requires a great deal of strength, flexibility and stamina. In fact, the U.S. Pole Dance Federation hosts a national championship in September. But most people pole dance for exercise.
Start pole dancing // Zensual Dance offers classes at MoveStudio, 17062 Preston, Suite 108. The cost is $15 for an introductory class. Call 469.426.5090 or visit zensualdance.com.
?
Kickball
Kick the big red ball. Run the bases without getting tagged. Think baseball, but the bat is your foot. Seriousness ranges from just-out-here-to-meet-people to no-mercy-in-it-to-win-it. Far North Dallas-based Dallas Sport and Social offers mostly year-round kickball leagues. A season is typically seven regular-season games plus playoffs, if you?re good enough.
Play kickball //Games are held at Glencoe Park near SMU or Norbuck Park at Northwest Highway and Buckner. The cost is about $75 per person or $630 for a team. To sign up, visit dallassportsleagues.com.
?
Badminton
Hit the shuttlecock or birdie with your racket to your opponent?s side of the court in such a way that he or she cannot return it. The game looks a little like tennis. It is an Olympic sport, so it can get competitive, but many play recreationally. The Dallas Badminton Club, founded in 1988, is active year-round and attracts players from different backgrounds.
Play badminton // The Dallas Badminton Club meets 7-10 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays and has open play 11:15 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays at Reverchon Recreation Center, 3505 Maple. The cost is $60 for individuals and $100 for families. Call 214.670.7720 or visit dallasbadmintonclub.com.
LONDON (Reuters) - The likelihood of intense political and regulatory scrutiny on the new chairman and chief executive of Barclays means both must be untainted by its reputational collapse and are likely to be recruited externally, possibly from Canada or Australia.
The bank has told investors it is looking to have either one external and one internal appointment, or two external appointments, a top 10 shareholder in the bank said.
Another industry source said shareholders want both to be external.
That has left former J.P.Morgan banker Bill Winters as favorite to be CEO and former UK Cabinet Secretary Gus O'Donnell as the front-runner for chairman, according to industry sources and UK media reports.
But an outsider could come up on the rails, such as Mike Pedersen, a former Barclays banker who now heads wealth management for Canada's TD Bank.
Canadian banks have emerged from the financial crisis far better than rivals in the United States and Europe, thanks to their more conservative strategy and risk appetite.
Pedersen, based in Toronto and a past chairman of the Canadian Bankers Association, is head of TD Bank's wealth management and insurance businesses, as well as its IT, real estate and project management.
He joined from Barclays in July 2007, where he ran the private bank and two other international units, after being poached in 2002 from Canada's CIBC.
Pedersen was on vacation and not immediately available for comment. Barclays and the two headhunting firms conducting the searches declined to comment.
"GUARANTEED HOSTILITY"
The new chairman and CEO face stiff challenges.
Barclays was fined $450 million four weeks ago for manipulating Libor interest rates in a scandal which unearthed deep problems in its relations with regulators, who have accused the bank of frequently being too aggressive.
Both jobs look set to face increased scrutiny -- and possibly interference -- from UK authorities. After years of excess, the pay packets on offer are likely to shrink.
"The problem is what has unfolded with Stephen Hester," said one headhunting industry source, referring to political interference in the running of majority state-owned Royal Bank of Scotland, where Hester is CEO.
"They could have to go outside the UK. Who here would want it...there is guaranteed political, media and public hostility."
Bob Diamond quit as Barclays CEO on July 3, a week after the Libor scandal blew, and left immediately. Chairman Marcus Agius has said he will leave when a successor is found.
Barclays on Tuesday picked veteran lawyer Anthony Salz to lead a root-and-branch review of its culture and practices, admitting it "needs to evolve".
The bank is expected to pick its chairman first and is under pressure from the Financial Services Authority and the Bank of England to pick people for both positions in the next three months.
A long list of candidates is being drawn up.
O'Donnell, asked if he had been approached, told BBC radio on Tuesday: "I can safely say nobody has contacted me either from headhunters or from Barclays board about that."
The economist, who was cabinet secretary between 2005 and 2011 and was the UK's representative at the IMF and World Bank, would bring strong connections with government. But he has also been tipped as a candidate to become governor of the Bank of England next year, so may not want the Barclays job.
Winters may not either.
He is a former co-head of J.P.Morgan's investment bank, seen as a key attribute given that investment banking provides more than half of Barclays' profits.
The bank is reviewing all parts of its investment bank, people familiar with the matter said, and the scale of any retreat will be a key issue for the new CEO. [ID:nL2E8INBAT]
Winters, who left the U.S. bank in 2010, was a critic of industry excesses and risk-taking and was part of a UK commission that said banks must separate their UK retail banking arms to shield taxpayers, potentially giving him political and regulatory backing.
Headhunter Spencer Stuart is helping Agius in the search for the CEO and Ana Mann's MWM is helping John Sunderland, a Barclays non-executive director, run the chairman search.
Other CEO candidates could include RBS's Hester; Standard Chartered Finance Director Richard Meddings; and Naguib Kheraj, a former Barclays finance director and current advisor.
Antony Jenkins, head of its retail business, is seen as a strong candidate. But he lacks investment banking experience, so one option could be to make him a co-CEO, potentially with sole control in two or three years.
Mike Smith, CEO of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group was seen as a candidate, but said last week he wanted to see through ANZ's push to become a super-regional bank.
Gary Hoffman, who previously ran Barclaycard and nationalized UK lender Northern Rock, is favorite at bookmakers Ladbrokes and Paddy Power to land the CEO job at odds of 2/1, although few in the industry expect that to happen.
Michael Rake, deputy chairman of Barclays, ruled himself out of contention to be chairman after some shareholders said they wanted an outsider who could implement a far-reaching overhaul.
Possible candidates for the chair include Mervyn Davies, who was CEO and then chairman of Standard Chartered from 2001 until 2009 and a government minister until May 2010; David Roberts, who ran Barclays' international banking and is deputy chairman at Lloyds; Glen Moreno, a former Citigroup banker who stepped down as a director of Lloyds this year; former financial services minister Paul Myners; or UK businessman Roger Carr. (Additional reporting by Raji Menon; Editing by David Cowell)
Yesterday, I began an investigation into the potential causes behind the latest bump in China?s property sales numbers, and whether they portend a genuine turn-around in the nation?s real estate market.? I noted that five basic theories to account for what has been happening, and promised to examine them each in turn:
Lower Prices are Bringing Buyers Back
Looser Restrictions are Unleashing Pent-Up Demand
Optimistic Buyers are Misreading the Market
Government Intervention is Boosting the Numbers
Developers are Fudging Numbers to Stay Afloat
In my last post, I concluded that it was certainly possible that a fall in both real and nominal property prices could explain a recovery in sales, as properties become more affordable to buyers.? However, this theory cannot explain the rebound in property prices reportedly taking place, nor should it offer much comfort to hard-pressed developers, who would may have to endure steep losses to clear their inventories at reduced prices.? Chinese developers and bullish real estate investors much prefer a second theory that promises a return to both higher sales and higher prices.
2. Looser restrictions are unleashing pent-up demand.? The conventional explanation that you will hear for China?s real estate slowdown, from developers and from most of the media, is that it?s a direct result of government policies designed to ?cool? the property market, including tightened rules on mortgages, residency requirements for buying, and ? more than anything else ? restrictions on multiple home purchases.? As a result, many who wish to buy are not allowed to do so.? If the government would only relax these restrictions, the argument goes, all that pent-up demand would come back onto the market.? As the chart below illustrates, in contrast to the first theory we examined, introducing new demand (shifting the entire demand curve to the right) would boost sales for any given price, and cause both quantity and price to rise to a higher equilibrium point.
This is a dream scenario both for developers and for local governments that depend in various ways on a booming property sector, which is why both have been baying for months if not years about the need to relax the restrictions. Some local governments have succeeded in loosening or circumventing the central government?s tightening measures when Beijing wasn?t looking, and May brought a surge of rumors that the central government itself would have no choice but to reverse course as part of its effort to re-stimulate a slowing economy, a belief that prompted one Beijing developer to quip, ?Ducks first know when the Spring river water begins to warm? ? in other words, ?Happy days are here again!?
But is the conventional story ? that China?s government drove down the real estate market, and can just as easily resuscitate it ? really correct?? The evidence, I believe, demonstrates it is not.
Most of the government?s measures aimed at ?cooling? the property market were adopted in April 2010 ? over two years ago.? I remember it well, because I argued at the time that such top-down restrictions would do little to change the dynamics that drove so many Chinese to pour so much money into vacant, unproductive real estate as a form of savings.? I also distinctly remember the government ordering developers in key cities to take their most expensive units temporarily off the market, in order to (statistically) reduce the average market price and thereby show that the policies were producing immediate results.? ?Mission accomplished? was quickly declared.
The chart below, courtesy of Joanna Dong, the chief China economist at the mining firm Anglo American, shows the number of Chinese cities (out of 70 tracked in the official statistics) where property prices rose (blue) , fell (yellow), or remained the same (orange) each month.? It is not weighted by market size, but it offers a good ?heat map? of rising and falling prices by geography.? And along with the national statistics on property sales and investment, it tells a very interesting story.
After the government?s cooling measures were adopted in April 2010, nationwide property sales did not decline, as one might expect. ? They rose by 18.3% YoY in 2010 and 24.1% YoY in the 1st half of 2011.? Nor did real estate investment, which rose by 33.2% YoY in 2010 and 32.9% in the 1st half of 2011.? In other words, the government?s cooling measures had little appreciable effect on a booming property market for the first 16 months they were applied, at least when measured on a nationwide basis.
The 70-city price map tells a bit more nuanced story.? First you see a drop in about 20 key cities, which corresponds to the politically-engineered withdrawal of high-end units I mentioned.? Then you see ? strangely enough ? a big surge in the number of cities reporting price increases which lasts until the summer of 2011, when the bottom falls out of the whole market.? Again, for the first 16 months or so that ?cooling measures? were in place, property prices continued rising in a large majority of Chinese cities, instead of stabilizing or falling.? What happened?
The fact is, the government?s ?cooling measures? were not terribly effective.? Premier Wen Jiabao admitted as much at the end of 2010.? They were only enforced in a few key cities, and even then, if you really wanted to purchase? multiple apartments in Beijing, you could probably figure out a way to do it (through relatives, nominees, false documents, etc).? What the ?cooling measures? did do, however, was send investors a signal that, if they wanted to see outsized returns, they?d do best to look for them outside high-profile cities like Beijing and Shanghai, when China?s leaders were at least trying to rain on their parade.
Government-imposed restrictions didn?t rein in Chinese demand for real estate, as the national numbers indicate.? But they did shift buyers? attention away from a handful of 1st-tier cities ? where prices stabilized or fell ? towards 2nd and 3rd-tier cities in the provinces ? where, as the chart shows, they surged.? In other words, the party didn?t end when the cops showed up, it just moved down the street.? In the summer and fall of 2010, I visited a number of provincial cities and asked developers there how the central government?s ?cooling? policies were affecting their business.? Every single one of them reported that they had experienced no effective restrictions; to the contrary, investors from other cities were showing up? literally holding sackfuls of cash, looking to buy.? When ?cooling measures? were gradually extended to more cities, developers responded by building luxury condos and villas out in the countryside, whose sole selling point was that they lay outside the restricted zone, permitting investors to buy as many units as they desired.
China?s property market continued booming right through the summer of 2011, when ? as the price chart shows ? the wheels abruptly fell off.? Why the sudden implosion?? Because even as sales grew by 20% or so, investment in property development expanded at an even faster rate, higher than 30%.? The government?s ineffectual ?cooling measures? had lulled developers into a false sense of security: believing that buying restrictions had artificially suppressed demand ? which was not true, except on a very localized basis ? many developers borrowed heavily to build far more than they could sell, reasoning that they would be in a winning position when the government ultimately relented and relaxed its controls, and all that pent-up demand came flowing back onto the market.? To support these rising unsold inventories, however, they needed to borrow more and more money ? at the precisely the time China?s central bank was reining in credit expansion to combat inflation.? By the end of last summer, Chinese developers finally ran out of funding options and were forced to begin liquidating their inventories to generate desperately-needed cash.? The fire sale they initiated quickly undercut existing demand, as would-be buyers who had once rushed to beat rising prices now held back, now that every day brought larger discounts.
So if the government?s ?cooling measures? were NOT the cause of China?s property downturn, is there any way the relaxation ? or anticipated lifting ? of those measures can possibly explain the rally we?ve seen over the past couple of months?? Surprisingly, the answer may be YES ? but the implications are not what struggling developers or China property bulls might like to imagine.
As we?ve seen, the government?s restrictive measures did not suppress overall demand, as many imagined.? They merely redirected that demand away from 1st-tier cities, towards 2nd and 3rd-tier cities, as well as the countryside.? Undoing those measures would have the opposite effect: allowing demand to flow back to 1st-tier cities like Beijing and Shanghai, while cutting the legs out from under the lower-tier (and potentially much more vulnerable) markets that benefited from the earlier diversion.? Prime urban areas would see higher sales and higher prices, but the nationwide effect would be a wash.? That may help explain the apparent disconnect between the rather astonishing statistics we see coming out of Beijing, Shanghai, and other big cities, and the much less impressive results revealed in the national statistics for June.
It?s also interesting to note, as well, that the latest rebound in Beijing, for instance, took place in anticipation of a policy change, even though buying restrictions and other ?cooling? measures remained largely in place.? That accords with my argument that it was the policy signal, rather than the practical effect of the restrictions themselves, that led buyers to shy away from Beijing and similar markets and channel their interest elsewhere.? When the signal was perceived to have changed ? when people came to believe the government would welcome a rebound in the city?s property market ? they rushed back in, revealing the restrictions themselves to be an inconvenience, at most.
Critics will respond that, in fact, it was the government?s restrictive policies ? its efforts to rein in lending ? that brought the real estate market down.? But it?s important to note that China?s leaders had little choice, given the need to combat rapidly rising inflation.? More relevant to my argument, the constraints imposed by credit ?tightening? (relative to developers? spiraling credit needs) fell mainly on developers, not buyers ? it did not create any reservoir of ?pent-up demand? that later could be ?unleashed? to boost the market.
This concept is worth clarifying.? Developers, investors, and analysts often talk about there being ?pent-up demand? in China for buying homes.? But as I hope these last two discussions have illustrated, ?pent-up demand? can mean very different things.? In Theory #1, it means that if prices fall, the quantity demanded increases, although the calculus for demand does not change.? In Theory #2, it means that a change in policy could shift the entire demand curve outwards, increasing the amount demanded at any given price.? I have just argued that, in fact, it could mean demand increases in one location only at the expense of another, with overall demand remaining the same.? All of these are very different dynamics, with different implications for developers, investors, and the Chinese economy.? Very often, people conflate them under the broad and appealing notion that 1.3 billion people in China would really like to buy as nice a home as possible, if only they could.? Of course they would.? The essential question is under what conditions this general desire gets translated into actual purchases and at what price.
Next Installment:? Theory #3, Optimistic buyers are misreading the market.?
Posted by CSIS Commission on Jul 28 2012. Filed under Policy & Systems. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 26-Jul-2012
Share ] 
Hit the ball with a mallet into the opposing team?s goal ? all while riding a bicycle. It?s like horse polo for the urban athlete. It may seem like a new fad, but bike polo actually was invented in 1891 by Irish cyclist Richard Mecredy. There are more than 160 registered teams in the United States, and the sport recently gained popularity in Dallas.
