Congressional budget experts say the health care bill on the Senate floor would lower the average price of insurance premiums if it passes, although millions would face higher costs.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the legislation would raise premiums on non-group policies by an average of 10 percent to 13 percent …
Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, chosen to be President Bush's "war czar," in his own words:
"In summary, so far, so good. But we're in the very early days of what will be a very deliberate campaign that will unfold only over several months. And we should not expect quick, easy or dramatic results." - Lute at a Pentagon news conference Feb. 9, 2007, after the Bush administration started moving more U.S. troops into Iraq to quell the violence.
"If you are in an Army brigade today, you're either in Iraq or you're heading to Iraq. Those are the two choices." - Lute at an Institute for Land Warfare breakfast Nov. 15, 2006, as reported by Inside the Pentagon.
"You have to undercut the perception of occupation in Iraq. It's very difficult to do that when you have 150,000-plus, largely Western, foreign troops occupying the country." - Lute, as reported by the Financial Times on Aug. 25, 2005.
"We are largely fighting today's global counterinsurgency with a force that was not designed for a global counterinsurgency." - Lute, as reported by The Tampa (Fla.) Tribune, Aug. 26, 2004.
"We can bomb training camps, and we can hunt down the enemy, but we can't bomb the Internet." - Lute, as reported by the American Forces Press Service April 24, 2007.
"There's not a clear and compelling sharing of shared understanding that the Taliban is as threatening to Pakistan as we believe it is and as we believe it is to Afghanistan, as well." - Lute, on March 1, 2007, at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.
Auto Business News-December 8, 2010--Toyota Motor Corporation to cut global sales forecast for 2011(C)1994-2010 ENPublishing - http://www.enpublishing.co.uk
Auto Business News - 08 December 2010(c)2005 - Electronic News Publishing - http://www.enpublishing.co.uk
Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE: TM) (LSE: TYT) (TYO: 7203), a Japan-based automaker, has reduced its global sales forecast for 2011.
The automaker has taken this step because of recent …
COLLEGE STATION, Texas, April 5 -- Texas A&M University issued the following news release:
Survivor Buddy, a rescue robot that was invented by Texas A&M University computer science and engineering professor Dr. Robin R. Murphy and her colleagues at Stanford University, will be part of National Robotics Week at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.
National Robotics Week, an initiative of the Congressional Robotics Caucus, aims to educate the public about how robotics technology impacts society, past, present and future.
The week will kick off Tuesday (April 5) with an event at the museum that will include a demonstration of Survivor Buddy. Texas A&M students Vasant Srinivasan and Aaron Rice will be at Tuesday's event, while Murphy, who is currently in Japan assisting with the Fukushima reactor robots, is scheduled to be interviewed during the event through the video capabilities of Survivor Buddy.
National Robotics Week will conclude on April 16, and Survivor Buddy will again be part of the demonstrations that will take place in the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation's Spark!
Lab at the museum.
A&M students Jessica Gonzales and Zachary Henkel will be on hand on the 16th to take part in the demonstrations.
Survivor Buddy is a search-and-rescue robot designed to aid disaster victims and specializes in robot-human interaction. It also helps keep and injured or a trapped victim calm, and enables communication directly to the rescue team as well as to family and the Internet. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com
Byline: BRUCE A. SCRUTON Staff writer
Those seeking a chance at winning $90 million, the second-largest lottery prize in state history, have until 11 o'clock tonight to get in on the Millennium Millions drawing.
State lottery officials said Friday they believed the jackpot would probably remain at $90 million and not bump up to the $100 million level of the first Millennium Millions drawing last New Year's Eve.
``Sales are pouring in,'' said lottery spokeswoman Carolyn Hapeman. ``We're doing about a half-million (sales) per hour and figure that to rise'' in the hours leading up to the drawing, set for 11:27 p.m. tonight
Lottery officials were trying to clear up confusion Friday about this drawing date. Because last year's Millennium Millions drawing was on New Year's Eve, some people, even retailers, believed the drawing again will be in December, according to Lottery Director Margaret R. DeFrancisco.
``But the simple truth is we purposely changed the date of the drawing based on requests and other input we received from players and retailers, who told us they thought there were too many other distractions at that time of the year -- with or without the dawn of a new millennium,'' she said.
Last December's jackpot of $100 million, won by a single ticket, was the largest in the state's history. Today's $90 million jackpot ties for second with a 1991 ``Super Lotto.''
Unlike the regular Lotto, players select five numbers from a field of 50, and one ``Millennium'' number from a field of 25. The jackpot will be won by a ticket that has all six numbers.
But there are also seven other prize levels. In the first Millennium drawing, lottery officials said there were nearly 720,000 prize winners.
If there is no winning ticket tonight, tickets will go on sale again and another drawing will be made on Nov. 4.
Officials said there is a 1-in-47 chance of winning a prize, and a 1-in-53 million chance of winning the jackpot.
INDIALANTIC, Fla. Tim VeArd jogs down Bahama Avenue three times aweek.
But until recently, the Navy veteran and software entrepreneur hadno idea he was jogging past a house owned by one of the buddies hehad been trying, in vain, to find.
"I was trying to find anybody who had served with me," said VeArd,55, who was on the Robert E. Lee, a Polaris submarine, from 1965 to1970. So he turned to the Internet for help.
He found one of his shipmates, Mike Hartung, online.
As it turns out, Hartung had become a postal carrier after hissubmarine service.
In fact, he had delivered mail to VeArd's house without everseeing his old pal. And VeArd had jogged past Hartung's house threetimes a week without ever knowing Hartung lived there.
"It blew me away," said VeArd, former president of VeArd ComputerResearch (www.veard.com). "It stunned me that we were less than twoblocks from each other, and we were both upset that it took all thoseyears to find one another."
So they went looking for the others online. They found 15 wholived within a few miles of them and 35 more who lived in Florida.
VeArd went one step further, starting a Web site last month, DeckLog (www.deck log.com), to help other Navy veterans find their lostpals.
Deck Log contains information about every Navy ship that hassailed since 1930. Visitors can search the database using thesailor's name, but they must fill out a free registration form to seethe sailor's full address information, before and after pictures,highlights of their Navy service, what they did after the Navy andwhat they're doing now.
There already are nearly 13,000 names in the database.
Using the Internet to find lost comrades is a growing trend, saidRon Martini, a Navy veteran in Sheridan, Wyo., who runs a Web site,U.S. Submarine Veterans Inc. (www.ussvi.org). The Web site, whichrequires free registration, is geared toward submarine veterans only.
Sites maintained by U.S. governmental agencies are not allowed toprovide information on private citizens because of privacy laws.
For instance, while the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation has a largeWeb site (www.lonesailor.org/locate.html) designed to help Navyveterans find lost shipmates, it can by law list only the names ofits donors.
There are no such constraints on private individuals, however.Already, a handful of Web sites have been put up to fill the void.
In addition to the efforts of VeArd and Martini, they include theLost and Found (grunt.space.swri.edu/lostfnd.htm), a site gearedtoward Vietnam veterans, and the Veterans Alumni Association (www.webstart.net/va/), which includes all veterans.
Lynda Schauf is leading the movement to encourage shoppers tokeep their money at home.
In September, Schauf, owner of Laura's Travel Service inRedlands, joined with Hatfield Buick owner Bill Hatfield to createthe Redlands Independent Business Owners, which has since beenstressing the benefits of patronizing small, locally-ownedbusinesses.
The group, along with the Chamber of Commerce and the city ofRedlands has been promoting the 3/50 Project in Redlands, which askspeople to spend $50 a month at three locally-owned businesses not tosupport those businesses and the local economy.
Wednesday, the founder of the 3/50 Project, Cinda Baxter, willcome to Redlands to speak about the project.
Schauf first heard about the project over the internet and themessage of local support being integral to the survival of smallbusinesses hit home. She said she wants people to realize thatdollars spent in Redlands stay in Redlands.
According to a 2008 Civic Economics study cited by the project,roughly $68 from every $100 spent at a locally-owned business goesback into the local community. Only $43 from every $100 spent at achain store gets filtered back into the local economy. The return is$0 on online purchases.
Not only does the community benefit from the tax revenue, butsupporting local businesses provides employment opportunities,Schauf said. Local businesses also support nonprofits in thecommunity.
Schauf is also a member of the Rotary Club of Redlands and serveson the Redlands Symphony Board.
In the past, she served with the Redlands YWCA, YMCA of the EastValley, Redlands Community Hospital Foundation Board, Montessori inRedlands Board, Business Improvement District Board, RedlandsChamber of Commerce Board, and the Redlands Bicycle Classic.
How did you get involved?
I read about the project in an e-mail communication. I had heardabout it a couple of years ago, but when I learned about it thistime I was keenly aware that many of the businesses in our communitywho were struggling and had the fear that if we did not make theresidents aware of what they could do to help, the business theyenjoyed patronizing could disappear.
What is the mission of your work?
I am concerned most people who do not operate a business thinkabout how important it is to support local businesses and have anunderstanding of how tax dollars are generated coupled with theemployment opportunities that keep our community the type of placewe in which we wish to live.
It is important to remember the contributions from localbusinesses also provide the financial support the nonprofitorganizations in Redlands need to continue to operate and supportthe good work they do.
How is that mission carried out?
A group of local business owners gathered together to discussthese same concerns and concluded the message was important. Theythen tried to determine to whom and how this message needed to becommunicated.
It was decided the city of Redlands, as well as other employersin the area, needed to remind their employees of the importance ofsupporting locally owned businesses. The Redlands Daily Facts wasthen asked to help communicate the message through the paper andthey agreed to print posters that would be distributed around townto remind people of the project.
The Chamber of Commerce then offered their support and thefounder of the 3/50 Project, Cinda Baxter, was invited to come toRedlands to educate about the philosophy and assist business ownersand community leaders of how to reach out and spread the message.This will happen on March 2.
Is that mission successful?
Cinda Baxter is coming to town. Through various newspaperarticles, posters, communication on Facebook, Chamber of Commercecommunications and personal contact and communication to thecitizens seem to be aware of the project.
What are the challenges?
The challenge will be to keep this message in the forefront ofpeople's minds. To continue to educate and remind business ownersand especially citizens they can make a difference in the appearanceand financial well-being of our city by spending at least $50 inthree locally owned businesses every month or more frequently ifpossible.
What is in your future?
Continue to engage more and more business people in communicatingthis message by placing posters in their businesses and utilizingflyers in bags or letter communications they give to their customersand clients. This is a positive movement that can do nothing butimprove the financial picture and community spirit we all want forRedlands.
If you had a magic wand, what would you make happen?
I would encourage everyone to spend their dollars locally as muchas possible.
The big box stores, chain businesses and internet purchasescannot make the same positive impact that locally owned businessescan make on our community. Especially internet purchases, theycontribute nothing to creating jobs, improving our tax base orsupporting our nonprofit organizations.
3/50 Project founder
Cinda Baxter
in Redlands:
When: 9 a.m. Wednesday
Where: Krikorian Premiere Theatres, 340 N. Eureka St., Redlands
Price: No charge, reservations required
Contact: Redlands Chamber of Commerce, 909-793-2546
For information about Redlands Independent Business Owners, callLynda Schauf at Laura's Travel, 909-793-7551
E-mail Staff Writer Chantal M. Lovell atclovell@redlandsdailyfacts.com s"
