Retail Crisis Managers: Today?s Small Business Heroes | Health

Retail Crisis Managers: Today?s Small Business Heroes

When you opened your retail store you never thought you would hear the terms

?liquidation? specialist? or ?retail crisis manager?, much less need the services of one.

You started your small? business from scratch. It grew. It made a profit. It became

established and people began treating you? differently. Much differently than before

and you enjoyed it. What seemed like a miracle and blessing? at the time, has

suddenly turned into your worst nightmare.

After ten, twenty, or thirty years of working 24/7, suddenly, like nearly half of the 27

million small? businesses in America, yours has become unprofitable. More often than

not, a small business (or even? large one) finds itself in turmoil after the fact.

In earlier depressions, this usually meant total liquidation and/or bankruptcy. Today

there is a? professional on the horizon, the retail crisis expert also known as retail

crisis consultant, who can? often, keep one from having to file bankruptcy and in many

cases make your business profitable again.

This profession is known as ?retail crisis management?. Though there are many now

n this field, finding the right one does not have to be difficult.

Many businesses must close but the retail consultant knows ways to keep losses at

]]>

a minimum and? sometimes guide you through profitably (or with minimal losses) in a

closing.

Upon numerous searches on the Internet, I found the name Milton Waldoff and

The Waldoff Group who, at one time or another, has been Yahoo!, MSN, and Google?s

#1 ranked retail crisis manager and turnaround specialist.

I visited the site and read the testimonials. I learned that one of the most

important steps in a retail? crisis is to call the right person early. Even if one has never

heard of a retail turnaround consultant,? more likely than not, one of his/or her

competitors has and has or is using one.

Contacting a retails crisis manager of course is difficult emotionally, but once set

into motion, it is? like couples counseling. Positive things start to happen that you may

not have thought possible. I? won?t sugar-coat the situation. We are in a brutal

economy and there seems to be a ?survival of the? fittest? mentality out there. But

there is a change for many businesses, often when they couldn?t see the

light of day. Again this means finding the right professional.

Again this person you seek will be ranked very high on all three major search engines,

and just as important have a roster of happy clients with testimonials that are

checkable on his/or her site, and if possible, years of business experience behind his

or her own belt.? I decided to interview Mr. Waldoff who was generous with his

information. He operates in? Hattiesburg, Ms as a retail turnaround expert aka

liquidation manager.

Waldoff, who operated his family business for __ years and built it into a 60,000

square foot? retail clothing store, says, ?Even in the case of long established well

operated stores where? management might be considered professional, where they

feel they really know what they are doing? and are good merchants, survival is often

impossible.??Competition is severe and customers don?t have? a sense of loyalty, good

sales associates are difficult to attract and keep, indeed the retail apparel? business is

difficult, at best, and adds, ?We assist in developing realistic goals based on the your

situation, needs and desires.??Working with the stores inventory, sales, mark downs,

etc., developing? sales goals, inventory management, open-to-buy, taking advantage

of the market, merchandising,? merchandise presentation, marketing, advertising, etc.,

to assist retailers achieve realistic goals.

Rick London is the co-founder of America?s premiere full-service seo and web designfirm, and
also founder and co-creator of Google?s #1 ranked offbeat cartoon, Londons Times Cartoons.

Source: http://health.foxxbrain.com/2011/09/27/retail-crisis-managers-todays-small-business-heroes/

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Repositioning cruise aboard the Dawn, Diamond, Gold and Grand ...

Princess Cruises Dawn repositioning.

Princess Cruise Lines, one of the Sun-class ships, is small by the standards Princess Dawn Princess with 1,950 passengers. With features such as the LED Cinema under the stars, a champagne and caviar bar, a promenade with deck chairs and an adults-only Sanctuary, is a favorite of passengers past.

For most of 2010, Dawn Princess will sail roundtrip from Sydney and Melbourne, the ports in New Zealand andAustralia. It has only repositioning cruises in 2010, left Sydney on 7 November, and calls in Tasmania before disembarking passengers in Melbourne.

If you are a return flight from Sydney, is a great way to add your itinerary Tasmania, because it is not difficult to return to Sydney from Melbourne.

Diamond Princess Cruises repositioning.

Princess Diamond uses the latest technology to keep its 2670 passengers to entertain. There are 42LCD screens in the showroom, where all the best seat in the house. A golf simulator allows bungler some of the larger fields play in the virtual world. And the Internet cafe has 29 stations. When you are ready for a fresh breeze, try the balcony outside the lounge Skywalker. It has a beautiful view.

It offers some of the most exotic of all Princess Cruises in Australia and Asia in the winter, then in the summer in Alaska. There are many places that you start or exit fromFebruary and March, and again between October and December, so you can almost create your own repositioning cruise.

She sails from Beijing 30th April 2010 and visits Dalian and Qingdao in China, Pusan ??in South Korea, Vladivostok in Russia. Arrive in Whittier, Alaska, after a while "on the sea, and then call in Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan. The journey ends in Vancouver, British Columbia.

On 1 September 2010, he returned to Asia, operating from Beijing to VancouverTraveling in the opposite direction.

It runs from 5th Bangkok December 2010, and visits to Vietnam, Singapore and Padang Bay before arriving in Australia, where she talks in Darwin, Port Douglas and Airlie Beach. Passengers are permitted to land in Sydney, or remain on board Diamond Princess is in Auckland to nine days later. This is a wonderful opportunity to see many places in Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

Golden Princess Cruises repositioning.

Golden PrincessGrand Class ship cabins with more than 700 balcony. It is a good choice for families as there are programs and areas for children and adolescents. And the adults have an exclusive spa sanctuary just for them, and nine hot tubs, a Lotus Spa fitness center, and three exhibition spaces. Sabatini's Italian restaurant and the Painted Desert, to offer alternatives to the major halls. And the 330-square-foot LED movie screen under the stars in the pool area is very popular.

In late spring,Golden Princess Repositioning for the season in Alaska, Los Angeles, leaving 9th May 2010. They stay in Iceland Catalina and San Francisco and Victoria ask before the end of the tour in Vancouver. It is a beautiful flight of the West Coast and very comfortable.

In the autumn returns to Los Angeles, with 26th in Vancouver September. With two days of sail, passengers have time to relax and enjoy everything it has to offer the Golden Princess,

Grand Princess RepositioningCruises.

Before we went on board the Grand Princess in Barcelona in 1998, the year he has launched. Because she's largest cruise ship in the world at that time, has caused a stir. We drove on back in 2008 and she has lost none of its charm.

Once on board, it's hard to believe that 2,600 passengers will, for there are many quiet places where you can get away from all that are. If you want to read a good book, enjoy aCappuccino, or simply watch the sea, there are many nooks and crannies available.

In early April, he returned to spend the summer in Europe. Let Fort Lauderdale on 9 April, and calls in Bermuda, after two days at sea. After a long day in Bermuda, spends six days in crossing the Atlantic. After the transition, he went to Glasgow, Dublin, Cork, Cornwall, and Le Havre. The journey ends in Southampton. Travellers with more time to stay aboard and exploreSeville, Sardinia, Rome, Florence (Livorno), Cannes, Barcelona, ??Gibraltar before returning to Southampton.

At the end of the summer season, left Europe to return to the United States. On 25 September 2010, and sails from Southampton asks Bergen, Shetland Islands, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Nova Scotia and the first landing of the passengers in Fort Lauderdale. This tour includes a lot of off-the-beaten path destinations that you visit otherwise. This is agood choice for those who want to go somewhere else. And with 10 days at sea, is too loose.

Source: http://travel-first-time-cruising.chailit.com/repositioning-cruise-aboard-the-dawn-diamond-gold-and-grand-princess.html

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Health insurance costs soar 9% this year

Employers? spending on health coverage for workers spiked abruptly this year, with the average cost of a family plan rising by 9 percent, triple the growth seen in 2010.

Family plan premiums hit $15,073 on average, while coverage for single employees grew 8 percent to $5,429, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust. (KHN is an editorially-independent program of the foundation.)

Workers paid an average of $921 toward the premium of single coverage and $4,129 for family plans.

The results mark a sharp departure from 2010, when the same survey found average family premiums up only 3 percent.

Although many benefit analysts say the federal health law?s requirements played only a small part in the rise, the results could provide political fodder for both supporters and opponents of the law.

?It?s problematic,? said Democratic pollster Celinda Lake, because the No. 1 concern cited about the health law is a fear that it will increase costs. Still, Lake notes that many Americans don?t know much about the law, so the news of rising premiums ?could also fuel support for provisions in the law that require insurance premiums of 10 percent or more to be reviewed.?

Premium increases have played a starring role throughout the debate over the health care law.

Before the law?s passage in 2010, for example, insurer WellPoint?s effort to raise rates by as much as 39 percent for some of its California customers drew sharp rebukes from the Obama administration and helped build support for the law in Congress. Proponents of the law also point to this spring?s decision by Aetna to lower premiums for individual policies in Connecticut as an effect of the health law.

But opponents say the law adds costly new mandates ? and has not shown results yet.

"Despite the president?s repeated promises that the Democrats? health care law would lower the cost of health insurance, employers are still facing higher health costs,? said Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Wally Herger, R-Calif., in a written statement Friday.

1. 2. NFIB Asks High Court To Strike Down All Of The Health Law
   3. Costs Of Premiums For Employer-Provided Health Insurance Jump

Many factors drive premium growth, the main one being actual spending on medical care, including jumps in prices charged by hospitals and doctors and growing use of expensive new drugs and technologies. State regulators have widely varying authority over premium increases for policies sold to individuals and small businesses. Currently, 26 states and the District of Columbia have the authority to veto rates deemed excessive for at least some types of health insurance. Additionally, seven states have the power to review rate increases in advance but not to block them.

Over the past decade, premiums have risen steadily, with double-digit increases seen from 2000-2004, the Kaiser survey and other tracking reports show.

The benefits firm Mercer reported earlier this year that per-worker health spending by employers rose at about 6 percent annually for about the past five years, rising to nearly 7 percent last year. Projecting future increases is harder, as many surveys estimate based on initial negotiations between insurers and employers, before changes to benefits are made to slow premium costs. In a study out last week, Mercer projected that employers may see their health spending rise 5.4 percent next year, while a similar survey released in May by accounting firm PwC estimated an 8.5 percent rise next year.

Insurers often set rates well before they go into effect, using data to estimate coming expenses, including how much policyholders are expected to use medical services. Analysts have noted a slowdown in doctor office visits, births and elective surgeries they say is related to the economy.

One factor in this year?s increases was that ?employers and insurers expected a faster economic recovery and geared premiums to higher levels of utilization,? said Drew Altman, president and CEO of the Kaiser Foundation.

The growth of premiums far outpaced the growth in workers? wages ? as it has for the past decade. Wages grew by 2 percent this year.

Although premiums rose, employers kept the percentage of the premium workers? pay about the same: An average of 18 percent for single coverage and 28 percent for family plans. Still, with rising costs, workers paid more, up an average of $132 a year for family coverage. Since 1999, the dollar amount workers contribute toward premiums nationally has grown 168 percent, while their wages have grown by 50 percent, according to the survey.

The results from Tuesday's survey were drawn from the responses of more than 2,000 large and small businesses. The survey was done from January to May ? well before the September start date of a rule requiring states to scrutinize rate increases of 10 percent or more for policies sold to individuals and small businesses.

Other provisions of the federal law were in effect, including those that allow parents to keep their children on their coverage until age 26, a ban on lifetime benefit limits and a requirement that preventive services, such as some cancer screenings, be offered without co-payments. Insurers are also barred in most cases from cancelling policies of those who fall sick.

Altman said the foundation's research found that current rules in effect "could only have had a modest impact on premiums,? accounting for about 1.5 to 2 percentage points of the 9 percent increase. Other surveys, including a government analysis, also estimated the early rules? effect on premiums in a similar range.

Michael Thompson, a principal at PwC, said his work with employers found that the new provisions had a negligible effect on premium costs, often because employers were already making benefit changes that shifted more costs to workers in order to slow premium growth.

The one provision of the new law that ?had an almost universal impact? on employers was the one allowing parents to keep their adult children on their policies, Thompson said, although ?interestingly it didn?t necessarily raise their per-head cost? because young people don?t cost as much to insure.

Based on employer responses, the Kaiser survey estimated that employers added 2.3 million young adults to their coverage. Last week, the government?s National Center for Health Statistics found that the number of uninsured people ages 19 to 25 dropped by almost 1 million in the first three months of this year.

Premiums ? and increases ? vary widely around the country. Average increases for small businesses in Maine, for example, rose 17 percent this year, according to state data. Regulators in Oregon, meanwhile, approved small business increases up to 15.6 percent, depending on the insurer. This month, Kaiser Permanente in California told 360,000 small businesses that it would reduce their already-in-effect increases by 1.2 percent immediately, following discussions with regulators. (KHN is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.)

Marge Kraskouskas, vice president of human resources for the Hockomock Area YMCA in North Attleboro, Mass., says 10 years ago, family coverage cost her firm $567 a month; now it?s $1,455.

Her rates rose 7 percent this year, ?one of the lowest increases in years,? she said. ?Still, I don?t care if you?re talking 7 percent or 13 percent, it?s a killer in the budget.?

? 2011 This information was reprinted with permission from KHN. KHN is an editorially independent news service and a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy organization that isn?t affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44686762/ns/business-personal_finance/

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Wildlife Conservation Society study uncovers a predictable sequence toward coral reef collapse

Public release date: 28-Sep-2011
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: John Delaney
jdelaney@wcs.org
718-220-3275
Wildlife Conservation Society

Research identifies 8 factors that can alert managers to the threat of overfishing in otherwise healthy-looking reefs

Coral reefs that have lots of corals and appear healthy may, in fact, be heading toward collapse, according to a study published by the Wildlife Conservation Society and other groups.

Using data from coral reef systems across the western Indian Ocean, an international team of researchers identified how overfishing creates a series of at least eight big changes on reefs that precipitate a final collapse. This information can help managers gauge the health of a reef and tell them when to restrict fishing in order to avoid a collapse of the ecosystem and fishery.

The study appears this week in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The authors of the study include: Tim R. McClanahan and Nyawira A. Muthiga of the Wildlife Conservation Society; Nicholas A.J. Graham and Joshua E. Cinner of James Cook University, Queensland, Australia; M. Aaron MacNeil of the Australian Institute of Marine Science; J. Henrich Bruggemann of Laboratoire d'Ecologie Marine, Universit de la Runion, La Runion, France; and Shaun K. Wilson of the Department of Environment and Conservation, Perth, Western Australia.

The authors say these changes are like a series of light switches, each of which make the reef more degraded and dims the chances of sustained fishery production and recovery.

"The study identifies eight changes before all of the ecological lights go off and the reef and fishery are gone" said Dr. McClanahan, the lead author on the study and the head of WCS's coral reef research and conservation program.

The study shows that in well-protected areas, there are typically 1000-1500 kilograms of reef fish of various species per hectare of coral reef. As the volume is fished down below 1000 kilograms, the early warning signslike increased seaweed growth and urchin activitybegin to appear. The researchers found that between 300-600 kilograms per hectare, there appeared to be a "window" of what is known as maximum sustainable yield, but when the fish stock drops below 300 kilograms per hectare, the reef is in real trouble, they said.

"Below 300 kilograms per hectare we see a series of dramatic changes on reefs. This is where you get on a real slippery slope," McClanahan noted. "Strangely, the metric used by most managers to gauge the health of reef systemscoral coveris the last threshold before ecosystem failure. Overfished reefs can appear healthy and then shift to algae dominated seascapes."

The authors recommend measuring the biomass of fish instead of coral cover to identify the early warning rather than the final sign of reef collapse.

"The good news is that a reef can likely provide sustainable fisheries even after the first three warning switches are turned off, but it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain a healthy fishery and restore reefs when the final five switches have been turned off," said Dr. McClanahan. "This study provides managers and policy makers with a tangible target of where to maintain their fishery."

Dr. Joshua Cinner from James Cook University in Australia added: "Of course, having a target is one thing, but achieving it is, well, another kettle of fish. So we also assessed how well different reef management schemes did at maintaining reefs."

Reef fisheries with no regulations tended to perform poorly, with some passing all the switches and completely collapsing. No-take marine reserves, where fishing was prohibited, were the best performers and tended to maintain key ecosystem processes such as predation.

"People depend on reefs for their livelihoods, so we can't prohibit fishing everywhere," noted Dr. Cinner. "A key finding from our study was that even easily enforceable regulations that restrict gear or the types of species that can be caught helped maintain biomass. These regulations are often more agreeable to fishermen than no-take closures and consequently receive higher levels of support and compliance."

"There is no one size fits all solution to save the world's coral reef ecosystems. To be politically and socially sustainable, tangible and objective management targets are critical to help managers make difficult near-term decisions of restricting or altering fishing practices for long-term social and ecological gain," said Dr. Caleb McClennen, Director of WCS's Marine Program. "This exhaustive research helps identify critical metrics and methods for sustainable management of coral reefs across the true gradient of ecological condition and management reality."

###

From Fiji to Kenya to Glover's Reef, Dr. McClanahan's research has been examining the ecology, fisheries, climate change effects, and management of coral reefs at key sites throughout the world. This work has been supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and The Tiffany & Co. Foundation.

---

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 28-Sep-2011
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: John Delaney
jdelaney@wcs.org
718-220-3275
Wildlife Conservation Society

Research identifies 8 factors that can alert managers to the threat of overfishing in otherwise healthy-looking reefs

Coral reefs that have lots of corals and appear healthy may, in fact, be heading toward collapse, according to a study published by the Wildlife Conservation Society and other groups.

Using data from coral reef systems across the western Indian Ocean, an international team of researchers identified how overfishing creates a series of at least eight big changes on reefs that precipitate a final collapse. This information can help managers gauge the health of a reef and tell them when to restrict fishing in order to avoid a collapse of the ecosystem and fishery.

The study appears this week in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The authors of the study include: Tim R. McClanahan and Nyawira A. Muthiga of the Wildlife Conservation Society; Nicholas A.J. Graham and Joshua E. Cinner of James Cook University, Queensland, Australia; M. Aaron MacNeil of the Australian Institute of Marine Science; J. Henrich Bruggemann of Laboratoire d'Ecologie Marine, Universit de la Runion, La Runion, France; and Shaun K. Wilson of the Department of Environment and Conservation, Perth, Western Australia.

The authors say these changes are like a series of light switches, each of which make the reef more degraded and dims the chances of sustained fishery production and recovery.

"The study identifies eight changes before all of the ecological lights go off and the reef and fishery are gone" said Dr. McClanahan, the lead author on the study and the head of WCS's coral reef research and conservation program.

The study shows that in well-protected areas, there are typically 1000-1500 kilograms of reef fish of various species per hectare of coral reef. As the volume is fished down below 1000 kilograms, the early warning signslike increased seaweed growth and urchin activitybegin to appear. The researchers found that between 300-600 kilograms per hectare, there appeared to be a "window" of what is known as maximum sustainable yield, but when the fish stock drops below 300 kilograms per hectare, the reef is in real trouble, they said.

"Below 300 kilograms per hectare we see a series of dramatic changes on reefs. This is where you get on a real slippery slope," McClanahan noted. "Strangely, the metric used by most managers to gauge the health of reef systemscoral coveris the last threshold before ecosystem failure. Overfished reefs can appear healthy and then shift to algae dominated seascapes."

The authors recommend measuring the biomass of fish instead of coral cover to identify the early warning rather than the final sign of reef collapse.

"The good news is that a reef can likely provide sustainable fisheries even after the first three warning switches are turned off, but it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain a healthy fishery and restore reefs when the final five switches have been turned off," said Dr. McClanahan. "This study provides managers and policy makers with a tangible target of where to maintain their fishery."

Dr. Joshua Cinner from James Cook University in Australia added: "Of course, having a target is one thing, but achieving it is, well, another kettle of fish. So we also assessed how well different reef management schemes did at maintaining reefs."

Reef fisheries with no regulations tended to perform poorly, with some passing all the switches and completely collapsing. No-take marine reserves, where fishing was prohibited, were the best performers and tended to maintain key ecosystem processes such as predation.

"People depend on reefs for their livelihoods, so we can't prohibit fishing everywhere," noted Dr. Cinner. "A key finding from our study was that even easily enforceable regulations that restrict gear or the types of species that can be caught helped maintain biomass. These regulations are often more agreeable to fishermen than no-take closures and consequently receive higher levels of support and compliance."

"There is no one size fits all solution to save the world's coral reef ecosystems. To be politically and socially sustainable, tangible and objective management targets are critical to help managers make difficult near-term decisions of restricting or altering fishing practices for long-term social and ecological gain," said Dr. Caleb McClennen, Director of WCS's Marine Program. "This exhaustive research helps identify critical metrics and methods for sustainable management of coral reefs across the true gradient of ecological condition and management reality."

###

From Fiji to Kenya to Glover's Reef, Dr. McClanahan's research has been examining the ecology, fisheries, climate change effects, and management of coral reefs at key sites throughout the world. This work has been supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and The Tiffany & Co. Foundation.

---

[ | 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.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-09/wcs-wcs092811.php

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September 27, 2011 | Philanthropy in the News

First Things First: A Short Journey From Excitement to Humility

RE:Philanthropy

By Jessica Janssen
9/26/11

I was incredibly inspired during last week?s fall conference after leaving the remarkable session ?Once Upon a Time: Reaching Beyond Your Windows Through Storytelling,? which shared the amazing success story of the Pittsburgh Foundation?s outreach through community video storytelling. I had several initial thoughts: ?How do I start a video storytelling program in Fremont?? ?Who could be a partner?? ?What are the stories we might want to cover?? ?Could we implement a contest approach to activate community participation??
Read full text.

Community Foundations Face ?Strategy? Gap

Philanthropy Journal

9/26/11

CEOs of community foundations believe strategy is important but few actually use it in their foundations? work, a new report says. CEOs who are strategic in working with donors ?are guided by a focus on how their work with donors will benefit the community,? while CEOs who are strategic in their programmatic work ?build their understanding of community need through research and data,? says Rhetoric Versus Reality: A Strategic Disconnect at Community Foundations, a report by the Center for Effective Philanthropy.
Read full text.

Nonprofits Express Concerns Over Proposal to Cap Itemized Deductions at 28 Percent

Philanthropy News Digest

9/27/11

Nonprofits in New York ? and much of the country ? are campaigning hard against a provision in a White House jobs bill that would limit itemized deductions, including charitable contributions, for individuals with an annual income of at least $200,000, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Read full text.

SOCAP 11 ? Where Money Meets Meaning

Alliance Magazine

By Ekta Kothari
9/26/11

Bringing together over 1,500 people from 75 countries, SOCAP 11 was a rendezvous for social impact investing, entrepreneurship and innovation. It lived up to its tag of ?Where money meets meaning?, and saw a global gathering of everyone: NGOs, investors, foundations, social enterprises, consultants ? in other words, almost everyone who is interested in this space.
Read full text.

Charities and Social Investment: The Risks and Rewards

The Guardian

By Sarah Hedley
9/27/11

At New Philanthropy Capital (NPC), some of the most common questions we?ve been getting from charities recently are about social investment. This is hardly surprising: social investment is a hot topic at the moment. In the face of dwindling donations, the sector is looking for new ways to ask donors to fund its work ? this time from their capital funds, rather than from disposable income. Government, too, is touting the potential of loans, bonds and other types of repayable finance in the face of massive spending cuts.
Read full text.

Source: http://www.cofinteract.org/news/index.php/2011/09/27/september-27-2011/

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Hedge funds seen sticking with gold despite sell-off (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? The recent sell-off in gold may not be enough to make some hedge funds with long-term bull positions change their views that the metal is still one of the best bets for profit in a perilous global economy.

Gold has dropped around 11 percent since the start of last week as liquidity-strapped investors scrambled to convert gold into cash amid fears over Greece's near-bankruptcy, likely hitting a number of hedge funds which have profited from its bull run in recent years.

However, the yellow metal is still around 7 percent above its level at the start of July, and is up 14 percent this year, leaving long-term holders comfortably in the black for now.

"I don't think... people who hold it as another currency... are changing their view," said Morten Spenner, chief executive of $2.8 billion fund of funds firm International Asset Management (IAM).

"For some people who are long-term holders ... and who have banged that drum, they're likely to take it (the price fall)," Spenner said, adding that short-term market volatility that put pressure on the price of gold would not sway managers to abandon their positions.

Some big-name hedge fund managers have been successfully betting on the gold price this year, including John Paulson and Paul Tudor Jones.

Meanwhile, some managed futures funds -- whose investment decisions are dictated by computer models -- such as Man Group's (EMG.L) AHL and Winton Capital may have been hit by the fall in gold, although profits in other areas have offset the damage.

The AHL fund has sold down much of its long position in gold in recent weeks -- one of the $23.9 billion fund's best-performing trades in 2011 -- after its models showed that the metal's price was losing its momentum, although it still has a small long position.

"If you look at the price action in precious metals, particularly over the last four weeks, it's been pretty sideways and choppy. That is the sort of scenario where we actually start reducing our positions because it does indicate to us that there is no strength in that trend," Kevin Chuah, senior client portfolio manager at AHL, said.

The fund, which has also taken out a small short position on base metals including copper recently, gained last week after profiting from short positions on equities and crude oil and long positions on bond markets, Chuah said.

Winton, which manages $25 billion in assets and whose flagship fund is up around 1 percent this month, declined to comment.

Coast Sullenger, managing director of Gaia Capital, which buys commodity-related stocks, said gold equities had performed well recently, despite last week's sell-off, and he may buy more gold equities if prices continue to fall.

"Gold equities is one of the only sectors that has been performing," he told Reuters. "If the sell-off continues, it will probably create more of a buying opportunity... Gold shares are trading at a very, very low valuation, vis-a-vis their own history.

"We're of the opinion that gold shares is an asset class you should be overweight."

(Editing by Sinead Cruise and Mike Nesbit)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110926/bs_nm/us_hedgefunds_gold

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Risk Management Process- Preparing organizations for contingencies

Posted By: thmswhite33

Every business whether it?s a large conglomerate or a small and medium enterprise, risk is an integral part of any business process. Organizations plan their business strategies keeping in mind the risks involved in the industry sector. Risk management thus is a part and parcel of the business operations. With the advent of technology and businesses spanning across the globe, risk management has become more than necessary and is generally a part of the Application Lifecycle management process in a techno savvy business environment.

Risk management, a process through which the companies control their level of risk is often a part of the compliance function. Risk management system includes functions such as Risk Identification, Assessment and Control.?Policy, procedures and standards are the key elements of an effective risk management programme. Policy describes the objectives, procedures determine the process of implementation and standards provide guidance on particular issues.??

This simple in-built process for managing the potential risks in a project constitutes activities such as:

????????? Identify Risk Area: identification of risk prone areas in Technical field, Business operations, Marketing, Legal, Financial, HR, and Admin.

????????? Assess and Prioritize: The identified risk is assessed and prioritized according to its severity.

????????? Preventive Action: Documentation of the preventive action and this need to be effected before the occurrence of the risk.

????????? Establish and Implement Corrective Action: Implementing corrective actions reduces the impact of the risks

????????? Monitor and Track

????????? Associate Issue: Tracking, recording the issues creating the risks.

?

The technological evolution, have facilitated the development of web based and configurable risk management solutions. With a wide array of features these are easy to use, flexible and customer friendly entry-level solutions. Through these solutions it becomes easy to view the existing risks in the system, trace the risk linked elements and its relational dependencies. In case of real-time cases, the risk management software facilitates multiple operations such as updating the priority and severity listing of multiple risks, cloning of multiple risks at the same time.

The risk management process involves a practice of systematically selecting cost effective approaches for minimizing the effect of threat to the organization. The strategies to manage risk include transferring the risk to another party, avoiding, reducing the probability of the risk, and also accepting some the consequences of a particular risk, as at times the financial and practical limitations come in way of risks mitigation. Use of various testing tools facilitates monitoring of the IT environment, analysis of security data, risk evaluation & prioritization of remedies.

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Based Business Home Work | Home Based Business, How to Get ...

Monday, September 26th, 2011 at 4:33 am ?

Working from home ideas or home based business, ideas or make money at home, have been around since the advent of Internet, but the people actually availing work at home environment were few and far between. That was because folks never trusted anyone if they hear anyone blurting out working from home ideas or make money at home, on his website. Invariably, the first thought that came across one?s mind was: ?He must be either crazy or a big scam

Home based business, or Online Home Based Business Opportunity for Better Life Modern lifestyle demands multiple streams of income for a safe and secure life. Online Home Based Business Opportunity or , home based business : For A Better LifeYou can start online home based business entirely on your own if you have some innovative idea on launching or marketing a. Online home based business made simple through turnkey business opportunity, where you can utilize small business website development and have an online turnkey business opportunity in almost no time at all.

You know your niche, and now you need to market your online home based business to those that will use it the most. Yet, you need to understand that the first days of your online home based business will probably require you to work more hours than you originally wanted to work. Moreover, I want to know that you?re seriously interested to start an online home based business, interested enough to take the extra step for earning online and sign up for the information & make money at home.

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John Reese is the Author of this Article, he is doing internet marketing and home based business from last 7 years, he is one of the few internet?s millionaire , who build their business on internet. Every time when ever he see any best home based business opportunity he tells it to the world. Because once someone also helped him to start his home based business.
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Social Media Management and Social Media Consulting | gsid

ba href=?http://www.4socialmediaconsulting.com/?Social Media Consulting/a/b is one of the best kept secrets as far as how to increase a business? online presence. Contractors that comprehend the best way to use social media to its greatest promoting likely can help organizations to make certain that they?re getting traffic off of internet sites besides the search engines like google. Organic search engine optimization can take a very long time to improve but, with the right tools, proper social media usage can increase traffic very quickly, which offers a significant benefit to businesses and one that can come with fast rewards.

Powerful Social Media Consulting

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Social media consulting occasionally suggests teaching your enterprise the etiquette and the most successful ways to utilize this technological innovation to your benefit. Many organizations merely go ahead and start a page for their business around the social networks and commence employing the services devoid of genuinely thinking of the fact that you can find particular ways to utilize the services which can be far additional successful than others. In some instances, employing these technologies incorrectly can end up in fact costing your enterprise favorability within the eyes in the men and women you advertise to. Producing selected that your enterprise is aware in the greatest ways to utilize these mediums is important for any firm that supplies successful consulting.

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a href=?http://www.internets-marketing-consultant.com/?Internet Marketing Consultants/a also suggests explaining to your business the most effective method to make selected that the efforts which you make, and the budget which you dedicate, toward social media promoting are followed via on and which you have the opportunity to reap steady rewards from them. Without having doing so, you may discover on your own inside a position exactly where you are investing income into an marketing system but not getting any actual rewards out of it. Mastering the best way to use social networks to offer sustained rewards is probably the most important services that consultants can offer.

If you?re enthusiastic about moving in to the planet of social media consulting, you need to contact an expert and decide how they might help your enterprise. A professional consulting firm can make selected that your enterprise gets the most effective outcomes out of a social media marketing campaign devoid of becoming inside a position exactly where you are spending an incredible deal of income on it devoid of getting all of the rewards which can be possible from this tremendously strong and easy to utilize service. With one particular of these companies behind you, there isn?t any restrict to what you may do. Get a Social Media Consulting expert now!

Source: http://www.gsid.info/social-media-management-and-social-media-consulting/

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How To Generate Traffic Using Only Free Methods | Oval Egg Articles

This article sheds a little light on "How To Generate Traffic Using Only Free Methods". Not a lot of people recognize about "Traffic Building" topic for the reason that media has not bothered along with public associated with this subject matter have not been vocal enough. Although that is shifting at present, more people are coming to appreciate concerning Traffic Building because of expansion of media outlets. Experts recommend that if the subject matter is crucial to you then you got to study it with full attention and not scan over the writing.

This and numerous additional content pieces here are written by Abraham David. If you would like to take this piece of writing please link back to this page. Article on "How To Generate Traffic Using Only Free Methods" starts after this.

Article Starts from Here:

Putting up a company would of course require a lot of things, to get straight to the point, you need a capital. To make money requires money as well. But of course, with the versatility the internet offers, there are many ways you could find that could help optimize the potential of your site or business in generating traffic.

While there are ways to jumpstart your traffic flows, many sites don?t have the resources that others have to generate more traffic for your site. Well, you don?t have to spend a cent; all you need is the proper mindset and a lot of eagerness. You also must have the drive and perseverance to do hard work and research to generate more traffic for your site.

How sweet it is to have more traffic for your site without spending a single cent. Now it?s a sure thing that many sites have articles that offer tips and guidelines in how to generate traffic using only free methods. Because it is possible, you don?t need to speed a single cent, it may take time, to say honestly, I?m not going to beat around the bush with you. You get better chances by paying for your advertisements, but at least you get a fighting chance with some of these free methods I?m about to tell you.

Take advantage of online forums and online communities. The great thing about forums and online communities is that you can target a certain group that fits the certain demographic that you are looking for. You can discuss about lots of things about the niche that you represent or offer. Another great advantage is that you know what you are getting into and you will be prepared.

Before we carry on with the piece of writing allow me express that anything in this write-up on "How To Generate Traffic Using Only Free Methods"is my view, please perform your exploration ahead of taking any action. Please ask a specialist of the relevant field. OvalEgg.com is not responsible for any damages of any kind that may arise from applying information contained in this article.

With online communities and forums you can build a reputation for your company. Show them what you are made of and wow them with your range of expertise about the subject, with that you can build a reputation and build trust with the people in your expertise and knowledge.

You can also make use of newsletters. Provide people with a catalog of your products and interesting and entertaining articles. If you make it really interesting and entertaining, more people will sign up for your newsletter and recommend it to other people. The more people who signs up for your newsletter, the more people there will be that will go to your site increasing your traffic.

Another great idea is trading links with other sites. You don?t have to spend a cent. All you have to do is reach an agreement with another webmaster. With exchanging links, the efforts both sites do will benefit both sites. Every traffic that goes to the site could potentially click on the link of your site and visit your site as well. This works well especially when both sites feature the same niche.

Write articles that could pique the attention of people that have interest in your product. Try writing articles that will provide tips and guides to other aficionados. Writing articles that provide good service and knowledge to other people would provide the necessary mileage your traffic flow needs.

Many sites offer free submission and posting of your articles. When people find interest in your articles they have a good chance of following the track by finding out where the article originated. Include a link or a brief description of your company with the article and there?s a great probability that they will go to your site.

Write good content for your site. Many search engines track down the keywords and keyword phrases your site uses and how they are used. It is not a requirement that a content should be done by a professional content writer. You could do your on but you have to make content for your site that is entertaining as well as informational. It should provide certain requirements as well as great quality.
Generally, internet users use search engines to find what they are looking for. Search engines in return use keyword searching in aiding their search results. With the right keywords, you could get high rankings in search engine results without the costs.

All of these methods and more will drive more traffic to your site for free. All it takes is a bit of effort and extended man hours. Learn all you can about the methods depicted here and you will soon have a site with a great traffic flow without the usual costs that come with it.

.

Thanks for reading this article. Please link to this webpage if you want to use this article anywhere. I hope you appreciated what I wrote on "How To Generate Traffic Using Only Free Methods". I would be glad to know what you think about it, negative or optimistic. Please leave a comment below and show me you're alive.

Article Source with Title: How To Generate Traffic Using Only Free Methods
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The Importance of Property Taxes for Schools ? Eye on Housing

In federal policy debates, the role of housing as a source of funding for education and other public services is often neglected. According to Census data and NAHB calculations, the average homeowner pays annual property taxes of 1.04% of the value of their home or $1,917. A significant portion of these tax payments?goes to finance education.

Using data from the Census Bureau?s 2009 Annual Survey of Local Government Finances (School Systems), we are able to track the importance of property tax revenues for education funding. For 2009, $591 billion of revenue was collected in the United States for elementary and secondary education (pre-kindergarden through high school).?Of that total, 44% originated from local taxation and fees, 47% from states sources, and the remaining 9% from the federal government.

The following map plots the share of total?elementary and secondary?funding?that is due to property taxes that are directly collected for schools.

On a national basis, these directly targeted property taxes are responsible for 65% of local school revenue and 29% of all school funding. As the map above indicates, five states rely on such direct property taxes for more than 45% of total school revenue: Illinois, Florida, New Hampshire, Nebraska, and New Jersey.

However, many states rely on property tax revenues that are collected by local governments and appropriated for education purposes (?parent government contributions,??mostly from?property tax collections). Adding these taxes into the analysis produces total shares of education funding provided by local property taxes, as mapped below.

As seen above, a few additional?states are added into top states for which property tax revenue finances elementary and secondary education. The list is now New Hampshire. Rhode Island, Illinois, Connecticut, New Jersey, Virgina, Maryland, Florida, and Nebraska for states with more than 45% of total education revenues due to property tax collections.

States with less importance?placed on local?property tax collections typically received a greater share of financing from the federal government. For example, Alaska, California, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Dakota, and South Dakota all receive more than 14% of all education financing from the federal government. A number of states also received substantial shares of funding?from state tax revenues, with Arkansas, Hawaii, and Vermont all receiving more than 75% of elementary and secondary education revenues from state sources.

Finally, it is useful to note the relationship between direct property tax revenues for education and the size of the school system. As the graph above demonstrates, in general such property tax collections are relatively more important for small school districts.

Overall, these data demonstrate how important property tax revenues?are for the financing of schools in the United States. However, as housing prices continue to fall, raising the effective property tax rate on homeowners, and policy debates continue that have the potential to weaken housing further, it is important to keep in mind the larger benefits of a healthy housing market on communities, including education.

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Source: http://eyeonhousing.wordpress.com/2011/09/23/the-importance-of-property-taxes-for-schools/

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Americans freed from Iran prison arrive in Oman | The World News ...

MUSCAT, Oman (AP) ? Two Americans released from jail in Iran have landed in the Gulf state of Oman.

• 

  May 2010 AP photo

  American hikers Shane Bauer, left, and Josh Fattal are shown in Tehran. Iran released the two men from prison Wednesday.

May 2010 AP photo

American hikers Shane Bauer, left, and Josh Fattal are shown in Tehran. Iran released the two men from prison Wednesday.

AP reporters saw the arrival of the plane carrying Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, who were released Wednesday from a Tehran prison after a $1 million bail was posted. They were imprisoned on charges of spying for more than two years.

Their families and Sarah Shourd, who was arrested with the two men but was released earlier, were in Oman to meet them.

Earlier Wednesday, the overjoyed families said in a statement that their joy and relief ?knows no bounds? and they are looking forward to a new beginning. President Obama called it ?wonderful news? and said he was thrilled.

?Today can only be described as the best day of our lives,? the family members said in a joint statement. ?We have waited for nearly 26 months for this moment,? it added. ?We now all want nothing more than to wrap Shane and Josh in our arms, catch up on two lost years.?

Shourd, who was arrested with Fattal and Bauer but released a year ago, signed onto the families? statement. Shourd received a marriage proposal from Bauer while in prison.

Although the fate of the prisoners gripped America, it was on the periphery of the larger showdowns between Washington and Tehran that include Iran?s nuclear program and its ambitions to widen military and political influence in the Middle East and beyond. But ? for a moment at the United Nations at least ? U.S. officials and rights group may be adding words of thanks in addition to their calls for alarm over Iran.

Iran?s state news agency IRNA said Bauer and Fattal left Iran just as darkness fell in the capital Tehran. The fast-moving final steps ? from the gray prison gates to Tehran?s urban Mehrabad airport in a diplomatic convoy ? came after a week of mixed signals and political brinksmanship within Iran?s leadership.

It began last week with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad promising their release within days. But then came the voice of the hard-line ruling clerics, who have waged a stinging campaign against the president and his allies in recent months as part of power struggle.

The clerics? appeared to be sending a message that only they have the power to set the timing and ground rules to release the men, who were detained along with Shourd along the Iran-Iraq border in July 2009. The three strongly denied the charges of espionage and said they were merely hikers in Iraq?s relatively peaceful Kurdistan region who wandered close to Iran?s border.

An Omani official did not say how long the two men will stay in the Gulf state before heading home to America.

This was the same route followed by last September by Shourd. Oman has close relations with Tehran and Washington and has acted as mediator in the releases and the apparent transfer of the bail money because of U.S. economic sanctions on Iran. Oman plays a strategic role in the region by sharing control with Iran of the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, which is the route for 40% of the world?s oil tanker traffic.

In one possible parting shot by Iran, the release came just minutes before Obama addressed the U.N. General Assembly. There was no direct evidence that Iran timed the Americans? freedom to overshadow Obama?s speech, but Iran has conducted international political stagecraft in the past.

Most famously, Iran waited until just moments after Ronald Reagan?s presidential inauguration in January 1981 to free 52 American hostages held for 444 days at the former U.S. Embassy after it was stormed by militants backing Iran?s Islamic Revolution. The timing was seen as a way to embarrass former president Jimmy Carter for his backing of Iran?s former monarch.

Associated Press reporters saw a convoy of vehicles with Swiss and Omani diplomats leaving Evin prison bound for Mehrabad airport, which is near Tehran?s massive Azadi Square. The site is used for military parades but also was a temporary hub for protesters after Ahmadinejad?s disputed re-election in 2009.

Switzerland represents American interests in Iran because the U.S. has no diplomatic relations with Tehran since after the storming of the embassy.

?I have finished the job that I had to do as their lawyer,? said their defense attorney Masoud Shafiei. He obtained signatures of two judges on a bail-for-freedom deal. A $1 million bail ? $500,000 for each one ? was posted.

Though the release eases one point of tension between Iran and the U.S., major conflicts still persist.

Washington and European allies worry Iran is using its civilian nuclear program as cover to develop atomic weapons and have urged for even stronger sanctions to pressure Tehran. Iran denies any efforts to make nuclear weapons. Iran, in turn, is deeply concerned about the U.S. military on its borders in Iraq and Afghanistan, and sharply denounces U.S. influence in the Middle East.

Bauer and Fattal, both 29, were sentenced last month to eight years each in prison.

The London-based rights group Amnesty International called the release of the Americans a ?long overdue step.?

?Iranian authorities have finally seen sense? and have agreed to release Bauer and Fattal, said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International Deputy Director for Middle East and North Africa. ?They must now be allowed to leave Iran promptly to be reunited with their families.?

The three Americans ? friends from their days at the University of California at Berkeley ? have maintained their innocence and denied the espionage charges against them.

Their families and the U.S. government said they were just hiking in northern Iraq?s scenic and relatively peaceful Kurdish region when they may have accidentally strayed over the unmarked border with Iran.

The last direct contact family members had with Bauer and Fattal was in May 2010 when their mothers were permitted a short visit in Tehran.

It was not clear where the two men will be reunited with their families after their release.

Phone messages left for Fattal?s mother and brother in Philadelphia were not immediately returned Wednesday.

Since her release last year, Shourd has lived in Oakland, Calif. Bauer, a freelance journalist, grew up in Onamia, Minn., and Fattal, an environmental activist, is from suburban Philadelphia.

Last week, Oman again dispatched a plane belonging to the Gulf country?s ruler to the Iranian capital to fetch the two men if the freedom-for-bail was reached.

Their case of the three Americans closely parallels that of freelance journalist Roxana Saberi, an Iranian-American who convicted of spying before being released in May 2009. Saberi was sentenced to eight years in prison, but an appeals court reduced that to a two-year suspended sentence and let her return to the U.S.

In May 2009, a French academic, Clotilde Reiss, also was freed after her 10-year sentence on espionage-related charges was commuted.

Last year, Iran freed an Iranian-American businessman, Reza Taghavi, who was held for 29 months for alleged links to a bombing in the southern city of Shiraz, which killed 14 people. Taghavi denied any role in the attack.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Americans freed from Iran prison arrive in Oman

Americans freed from Iran prison arrive in Oman

Americans freed from Iran prison arrive in Oman
Americans freed from Iran prison arrive in Oman

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Source: http://theworldnews.info/americans-freed-from-iran-prison-arrive-in-oman.html

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North Korea says wants to more talks with U.S. (Reuters)

SEOUL (Reuters) ? North Korea wants to hold a second round of dialogue with the United States, possibly next month, as part of renewed efforts to restart talks on disabling the North's nuclear weapons program, a South Korean official said on Thursday.

In a sign that the long-stalled regional talks are now firmly back in the picture, foreign ministry spokesman Cho Byung-jae told reporters in Seoul that the two Koreas were closing in on agreement to reconvene the forum.

As part of the process to restart six-party talks involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia, officials expect shuttle diplomacy to pick up.

The South's nuclear envoy met his Chinese counterpart in Beijing on Thursday and urged him to persuade the North to halt its nuclear activities to allow for the resumption of the talks, the South's Yonhap news agency reported.

Cho said the North's nuclear envoy Ri Yong-ho had also proposed another U.S.-North Korea meeting.

Yonhap quoted an unnamed South Korean official as saying that a meeting could take place in a third country, with the cities of Singapore, Berlin and Geneva among the possible choices.

"North Korea is pushing to hold the next round of bilateral talks with the U.S. in Pyongyang, but Washington is strongly against it," said the senior South Korean official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

"Currently, the two sides are discussing the possibility of meeting in a third country."

In July, U.S. envoy Stephen Bosworth held two days of talks with veteran North Korean nuclear negotiator Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan in New York, their first such interaction since 2009.

Most experts say the mercurial North is unlikely to ever give up its pursuit of nuclear weapons, but the six-party process is useful as it serves to contain the North's nuclear program and hinders proliferation.

AGREEMENT EXPECTED

On Wednesday, the two Koreas' nuclear envoys met for the second time in two months in Beijing, amid a thaw in tensions on the divided peninsula.

Both sides said the talks were productive and useful, but did not produce any breakthroughs to allow for a restart of the regional nuclear talks, which the North walked out of more than two years ago.

Seoul and Washington insist that Pyongyang must first halt its nuclear activities, including its uranium enrichment program, and allow the return of international nuclear inspectors before talks can restart.

"Our government believes the two sides were able to expand the scope of mutual understanding of each other's overall position on the nuclear issue, and has come to expect that further dialogue will lead us to reach a point of agreement," Cho said.

Analysts expect it will take a few more months of diplomacy before an agreement can be reached on restarting the regional talks which offer the impoverished North economic and energy aid in return for disabling its nuclear weapons program.

(Editing by Daniel Magnowski and Sanjeev Miglani)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110922/wl_nm/us_korea_north

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Sony's 'Smurfs,' 'Friends' to be UltraViolet-ready

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Sony Corp.'s movie studio said Tuesday that "The Smurfs" and "Friends With Benefits" will be the first movies it releases on home video that will be compatible with the UltraViolet view-anywhere system.

The movies will arrive in stores Dec. 2. The high-definition Blu-ray versions will be UltraViolet compatible.

Under the UltraViolet system, home movie purchases are recorded on an online account. Users will then be able to access those movies on other computers, Web-connected TVs, tablet computers and smartphones.

Studios hope the system will encourage purchase of digital copies of movies because it removes the hassle of transferring copies between devices or maintaining a library of discs. They are trying to offset the steady decline of DVD sales.

UltraViolet is backed by major studios including Sony, Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros., Comcast Corp.'s Universal, Viacom Inc.'s Paramount, and News Corp.'s 20th Century Fox.

The Walt Disney Co. has been developing a similar system which it calls KeyChest and is not participating in the UltraViolet system.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2011-09-21-US-Sony-Pictures-UltraViolet/id-abd4762faecf44dea3b26704782b2ee2

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The Public-Interest Patent Option ? Slaw

September 19, 2011

John Willinsky

The Public-Interest Patent Option

by John Willinsky ? September 19, 2011

On July 29th, 2011, the U.S. federal appeals court reaffirmed, in effect, the right to patent genes, if in limited cases. The court?s ruling overturned a lower court decision that voided a patent held by Myriad Genetics on BRCA1 and BRCA2, two human genes used in determining the risk that women face with breast and ovarian cancer. Much hinges on the outcome of such patent challenges, given the thousands of genes that have been patented in the United States and elsewhere.

The appeals court accepted that the chemical structure of DNA, once removed from a cell was ?markedly different? from the DNA found in nature, that is within the chromosone. In this way, the court upheld the general rule that what nature renders remains common to us all, while what is humanly produced is subject to patent. It also upheld in this case the limited nature of patents, by ruling against Myriad?s ability to patent its method of analyzing patient risks levels, declaring that Myriad?s filing involved, ?patent-ineligible abstract mental steps.??

The suit against Myriad?s patents was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Public Patent Foundation (acting on behalf of cancer patients, who can face a $3,000 charge for the breast cancer risk test), as well as medical researchers and societies. The Obama administration filed an amicus curiae arguing against the patenting of DNA. In covering the case for the New York Times, Andrew Pollack has not unreasonably suggested that it may make its way to the Supreme Court. As well, Pollock refers to how ?critics say it is unethical to patent something that is part of the human body or the natural world.?

I would argue that the court respected this stance, by finding that the DNA in question was no longer part of the human body. But then I want to offer a second point of critique, based on a line of research I have underway on how work done in the name of learning (and the learned), in such institutional settings as universities, tends to give rise to a distinct class of intellectual properties, one that differs from commercial properties and places a different set of opportunities and responsibilities on the owners of those learned properties.?

This distinction has a long legal history and is entrenched through fair use clauses, the academic exception, various tax exemptions, Bayh-Dole Act, etc. At the same time, the distinctiveness of the intellectual properties of learning is still very much open to debate and dispute. Let me show how the distinction is both missing and operative in the case of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene patents. The ethical issue here, then, is not the DNA?s relation to the body, before and after it is extracted. It has to do with how the patent is used by those who have rights in it.?

In the U.S., along with Myriad Genetics, which is located in Salt Lake City, the other party with rights to these gene patents is the University of Utah Research Foundation. The Foundation seeks ?to promote, conduct, encourage and facilitate research, development and dissemination of knowledge, and the application of knowledge in all fields of learning.? One way of achieving that goal is to direct a portion of the licensing fees paid to the Foundation for such patents to more research. This might well seem justified until one realizes that there is another way of addressing the responsibilities that arise from the creation of intellectual property in the name of learning and the development of knowledge.?

Seven years earlier, Cancer Research UK won its case to extend its UK patent for the BRCA2 gene (based on the work of Mike Stratton funded by Cancer Research UK) to all of Europe. Many researchers applauded and welcomed this extension of patent rights because Cancer Research UK grants royalty-free access to BRCA2 for publicly owned and non-profit labs. This organization used the patent to protect the public?s right to benefit from BRCA2, while retaining an ability to license it to commercial enterprises.

This is sometimes referred to as ?defensive patenting,? protecting an invention from being patented by others. In this case, a publicly funded agency is using the patent defensively ? should we call it ?ethical patenting? or ?public-interest patenting?? ? to keep this invention in the public realm. By a strange twist in this knowledge-based economy, Cancer Research UK allows for both public and commercial use of its patent, thereby breaking the (seemingly anti-capitalist) monopoly that can lead to undue commercial exploitation.?

Public-interest patenting strikes me as recognizing the distinctive intellectual properties of learning. It responsibly honors the public trust involved in the funding of learning and learned inquiry. It is one way to redirect the university patent race, set off in the U.S. by the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, into a matter of greater public good.

On July 29th, 2011, the U.S. federal appeals court reaffirmed, in effect, the right to patent genes, if in limited cases. The court?s ruling overturned a lower court decision that voided a patent held by Myriad Genetics on BRCA1 and BRCA2, two human genes used in determining the risk that women face with breast and ovarian cancer. Much hinges on the outcome of such patent challenges, given the thousands of genes that have been patented in the United States and elsewhere.

The appeals court accepted that the chemical structure of DNA, once removed from a cell was ?markedly different? from the DNA found in nature, that is within the chromosone. In this way, the court upheld the general rule that what nature renders remains common to us all, while what is humanly produced is subject to patent. It also upheld in this case the limited nature of patents, by ruling against Myriad?s ability to patent its method of analyzing patient risks levels, declaring that Myriad?s filing involved, ?patent-ineligible abstract mental steps.??

The suit against Myriad?s patents was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Public Patent Foundation (acting on behalf of cancer patients, who can face a $3,000 charge for the breast cancer risk test), as well as medical researchers and societies. The Obama administration filed an amicus curiae arguing against the patenting of DNA. In covering the case for the New York Times, Andrew Pollack has not unreasonably suggested that it may make its way to the Supreme Court. As well, Pollock refers to how ?critics say it is unethical to patent something that is part of the human body or the natural world.?

I would argue that the court respected this stance, by finding that the DNA in question was no longer part of the human body. But then I want to offer a second point of critique, based on a line of research I have underway on how work done in the name of learning (and the learned), in such institutional settings as universities, tends to give rise to a distinct class of intellectual properties, one that differs from commercial properties and places a different set of opportunities and responsibilities on the owners of those learned properties.?

This distinction has a long legal history and is entrenched through fair use clauses, the academic exception, various tax exemptions, Bayh-Dole Act, etc. At the same time, the distinctiveness of the intellectual properties of learning is still very much open to debate and dispute. Let me show how the distinction is both missing and operative in the case of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene patents. The ethical issue here, then, is not the DNA?s relation to the body, before and after it is extracted. It has to do with how the patent is used by those who have rights in it.?

In the U.S., along with Myriad Genetics, which is located in Salt Lake City, the other party with rights to these gene patents is the University of Utah Research Foundation. The Foundation seeks ?to promote, conduct, encourage and facilitate research, development and dissemination of knowledge, and the application of knowledge in all fields of learning.? One way of achieving that goal is to direct a portion of the licensing fees paid to the Foundation for such patents to more research. This might well seem justified until one realizes that there is another way of addressing the responsibilities that arise from the creation of intellectual property in the name of learning and the development of knowledge.?

Seven years earlier, Cancer Research UK won its case to extend its UK patent for the BRCA2 gene (based on the work of Mike Stratton funded by Cancer Research UK) to all of Europe. Many researchers applauded and welcomed this extension of patent rights because Cancer Research UK grants royalty-free access to BRCA2 for publicly owned and non-profit labs. This organization used the patent to protect the public?s right to benefit from BRCA2, while retaining an ability to license it to commercial enterprises.

This is sometimes referred to as ?defensive patenting,? protecting an invention from being patented by others. In this case, a publicly funded agency is using the patent defensively ? should we call it ?ethical patenting? or ?public-interest patenting?? ? to keep this invention in the public realm. By a strange twist in this knowledge-based economy, Cancer Research UK allows for both public and commercial use of its patent, thereby breaking the (seemingly anti-capitalist) monopoly that can lead to undue commercial exploitation.?

Public-interest patenting strikes me as recognizing the distinctive intellectual properties of learning. It responsibly honors the public trust involved in the funding of learning and learned inquiry. It is one way to redirect the university patent race, set off in the U.S. by the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, into a matter of greater public good.

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Source: http://www.slaw.ca/2011/09/19/the-public-interest-patent-option/

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