banality winfrey: August 2013

Sunday, August 4, 2013

How California Prisons Got To Be So Insanely Overcrowded ?

Jail cells at the Fremont Police Detention Facility in Fremont, California

Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

This post originally appeared in Business Insider.

California has been ordered to release nearly 10,000 inmates by the end of the year to resolve a notorious overcrowding problem that's been brewing for decades. The Golden State's prison crisis reached a fever pitch in 2011?after the Supreme Court said the overcrowding amounted to?"cruel and unusual punishment." Now all eyes are on liberal Gov. Jerry Brown, who insists the public's safety will be jeopardized if he releases the inmates. The mass release would only bring prisons?down to 137 percent of their capacity.

So how did California's prisons get to be so dreadfully overcrowded in the first place? The state actually had a reputation for an ultra-progressive penal system before 1980, according to the radio documentary "Prisons in Crisis: A State of Emergency In California." Then California began aggressively increasing sentencing in the late 1980s and 1990s in response to nationwide fear about high crime rates. Several high-profile crimes by parolees including the murder of 12-year-old Polly Klauss stoked fear in California, according to "Prisons in Crisis."

California enacted more than 1,000 laws that increased sentencing in a five-year span to settle these fears, law professor Jonathan Simon told "Prisons in Crisis" producer JoAnn Marr. "Legislators were competing with each other to see who could be tougher," Marr reported. "Any politician seen as being soft on crime ran the risk of losing his seat."

Once the state started getting tougher on crime, it began doing away with many of its reform programs including education and work training, criminologist Joan Petersilia?told Marr. These days, prisoners get released without any skills and often end up back in prison on parole violations. Nearly 65% of California's inmates go back to prison again within just three years. "We play catch and release," Petersilia told Marr.

The California prison population reached a high of 173,000 by 2007, up from about 20,000 in the mid-1970s. New prison construction just couldn't keep up with that growth. To be sure, Brown has taken some steps to cut back on the state's exploding prison population. Since the Supreme Court ordered the state to reduce its prison capacity in 2011, the state has managed to reduce its prison population to 120,000.? But a three-judge panel of federal judges ruled in June that wasn't enough.

"We are compelled to enforce the Federal Constitution and to enforce the constitutional rights of all persons," the panel wrote, "including prisoners."

Source: http://www.slate.com/blogs/business_insider/2013/08/04/california_prison_overcrowding_how_did_it_get_that_way.html

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Vardon Golf Club is open for business

A very distinctive sound the crack of the driver striking flush against a golf ball once again can be heard through the trees and across the water at old Minot Country Club.

Renamed, reseeded and reopened, the Vardon Golf Club is ready for public use. After a lengthy hiatus forced by flood damage, the course opened for play Saturday.

The scenic layout was on the front line of the disastrous 2011 flood. Dikes protecting the facility were topped or torn apart by the rampaging Souris River. Deep floodwater inundated the course for so long that it killed grass on tees, fairways and greens.

When the water receded, it left behind a heavy layer of silt covering much of the course. The flood's current wreaked havoc on sand traps, too. Repair seemed improbable, too distant to comprehend.

What was once a picturesque mixture of brilliant green hues had been turned to pale gray. Hundreds of evergreens, trees sensitive to too much water, began to turn brown and die. The signature clubhouse, where golfers gathered to discuss shots made and missed and holiday buffets attracted numerous customers, was mangled so badly that it had to be torn down. The swimming pool was damaged beyond repair.

Facing a seemingly impossible task of rebuilding, the Minot Country Club sold the grounds to a group of Minot investors who are passionate about golf and the course they long enjoyed. Months of hard work followed. Remarkably, the golf course that has been part of Minot since 1929, is hosting golfers once again.

"The history of the course is one thing that appealed to us," said John Zimmerman, co-owner. "It has 85 years of history in Minot and still has ties to a lot of the old founders. We kind of look at this as a privilege to put this back together. We think this is going to be a real asset to the community. We are open to the public."

A familiar face at the Vardon Club is Todd Lee, long-time professional who served the old Minot Country Club. Lee has been busy helping oversee renovation projects at the new course, including the restoration and restocking of the Pro Shop, but he is most impressed with the condition of the renovated course.

"There's better conditions on tee boxes and fairways than there was pre-flood. No doubt," said Lee this past week. "I haven't seen grass like this here as long as I can remember. I think we've enhanced the layout and it's going to be a better golf course. Every time I come out here now it is amazing."

Golfers familiar with the previous Country Club will notice changes throughout the course. Some of the changes are subtle; others more obvious. A big change is the mixture of grasses on the fairways. Golf balls sit up on lush landing areas, producing an excellent lie for iron shots. A few sand traps have been added in challenging locations. The overall length of the course has also changed.

"From the back tees it will play a little over 6,600 yards," said Lee. "That's about 300 yards more than what it was before from the championship tees."

Ironically, for the time being, par at the Vardon Club is 71, not 72 as was the old layout. The difference comes from a change on the eighth hole, where a tee box has been moved up as a safety precaution, changing a par 5 to a par 4.

"I think golfers will see a very similar course, at least in elements," said Zimmerman. "The front nine is very similar with some small tweaks on a few holes. Some greens are a little bit larger. On the back nine, where it was hit harder by the flood, we made some changes on some holes. We'll let the golfers experience it. We're interested in what people think about the changes. This is a work in progress."

The contour of several greens has been changed, a process that would normally involve the shutting down of play for several months to allow grass to grow. However, with an entire course to be replanted, the opportunity and time was there to make grade adjustments.

"We know there's going to be some rough edges, but we're fine with that," explained Zimmerman. "Our focus has always been, first and foremost, on the course. We've worked hard to make sure it was ready to go. The integrity of the old course is still very much there."

Floodwater took a toll on trees throughout the course. Many succumbed to sitting in water for too many days. Some were older trees that had grown so large that, over time, golfers had to adjust their shots to avoid them. In all, 550 trees were removed from the course.

"Maybe, in a strange way, Mother Nature was doing some extreme pruning for us," said Zimmerman. "In the same way, it gives us a fresh start on the course. I think we'll see a better quality of play, speedier play as well. The chances of getting caught in a pine tree is a lot less now."

While veteran players of the previous Minot Country Club course will almost certainly notice the absence of some trees, newcomers to the layout are likely to marvel at tree-lined fairways and treed backdrops to greens. Despite the losses, thousands of trees remain throughout the course, giving it a very pleasant and protected appearance.

Even with fewer possibilities of a golf ball ending up on pine straw underneath low, overhanging limbs, the course still delivers an excellent balance of challenging shots for golfers of all skill levels. Additionally, many of the trees that were removed had begun to "choke" certain points on the course. With those trees gone, new grass is responding quickly to additional sunshine.

Although the old clubhouse was razed due to flood damage, the newer Pro Shop building fared far better. It has been completely renovated. The front portion of the building has a similar appearance to the old one, but the back portion has changed significantly. It now houses a bar and grill, complete with an outside deck.

"That gives us a gathering place for golfers to relax before and after a round of golf," said Zimmerman. "The restaurant is open to the public as well."

Source: http://www.minotdailynews.com/page/content.detail/id/577301.html

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Saturday, August 3, 2013

The Sun News Tragedy hits Enugu family

?3 children of same mother die after cassava meal in one day

?Father passed on same way 2 yrs ago

From Kassidy Uchendu, Nsukka.

Three children of the same mother, have reportedly died after taking cassava meal suspected to be poisoned. The tragedy, which occurred at the Amokwe Enu-Obukpa on the outskirts of Nsukka Urban in Enugu State, has thrown the entire village and the vicinity into mourning and confusion.

The trio died one after the other same day when they ate fermented cassava meal last Sunday.

Two of them died at the University of Nigeria Medical Centre while the youngest also passed on almost immediately. The siblings, according to neighbours, who do not want to be named, said that before their demise, they were stooling profusely as they battled against death.

The mother was said to be away from home when the tragedy occurred. The late Mr. Lawrence Ugwuanyi, who married three wives and a former staff of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), died less than two years ago, with his eldest son dying few months later.

Daily Sun gathered that there was no love lost among the three widows of the late Ugwuanyi, prompting speculations that the three children might have died of food poisoning. The elder brothers of the deceased siblings were also suspected to have died through a similar circumstance.

When Daily Sun visited the home of the bereaved parents, the younger brother to the deceased, Mr. Hyginus Ugwuanyi, a postgraduate student of UNN, was still in shock.

?I cannot tell you anything now until the children are buried. I am the younger brother of Mr. Lawrence Ugwuanyi, father of the three dead children. Three of them died under my care. My brother, Lawrence, also died two months after and now three of his children have died in one day. The shock is too much for me to bear, so I cannot tell you details.

I promise if you come back on Sunday, I will give you the details,? Ugwuanyi pleaded. Mrs. Ugwuanyi, mother of the three children, Chinechere Ugwuanyi, Ikenna Ugwuanyi (students) and Nnenna Ugwuanyi, was unable to utter a word when Daily Sun called at her residence, she sat on a bed surrounded by some sympathisers. She was overwhelmed by anguish. Since the death of the three siblings, tongues have been wagging.

A villager, who doesn?t want to be named, told our reporter that the demise of the children who are from one mother has thrown the villagers into confusion. She said that they have started to suspect that all is not well with the late Ugwuanyi family.

We will get at the root of this strange occurrence in this village and anybody found to have a hand in what had been happening in the Ugwuanyi family since his death will be seriously dealt with. Even the death of Lawrence is also suspicious,? he said.

Source: http://sunnewsonline.com/new/cover/tragedy-hits-enugu-family/

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Two killed in clashes between rival factions in Yemeni army

SANAA (Reuters) - Soldiers once loyal to Yemen's ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, protesting against what they say is neglect by the new leadership, clashed with a rival faction of the military in Sanaa on Friday, police and witnesses said.

The hundreds of soldiers protesting were former members of Yemen's elite Republican Guard, which was run by Saleh's powerful son and which Saleh's successor, President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, abolished last year in a bid to unify the army.

Yemen's military remains divided between allies and opponents of Saleh, who stepped down in a Gulf-brokered deal in 2012 after a year of protests against his rule, but still looms large in Yemen.

The former Republican Guards gathered on a parade ground near the presidential palace in central Sanaa, demanding that the ministry of finance pay them a bonus for the holy month of Ramadan.

Shots were fired between them and the Presidential Guard, a force which is loyal to Hadi, and five people were wounded, a police source said.

Demonstrations by soldiers against poor or late salaries from the cash-strapped government are common in Yemen, and often end in violence. A third of Yemenis live under the poverty line of $2 a day and unemployment is estimated at about 35 percent, with youth joblessness at 60 percent.

The clashes ended when heavily-armed riot police and military police arrived on the scene, a witness said, although the demonstration continued.

Stability in Yemen is a priority for the United States and its Gulf allies, concerned about al Qaeda militants operating in a country that adjoins top oil exporter Saudi Arabia and overlooks major global shipping lanes.

(Reporting by Mohamed Ghobari and Khaled Abdullah; Writing by Raissa Kasolowsky; Editing by Andrew Roche)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rival-factions-yemeni-army-clash-capital-121024358.html

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Friday, August 2, 2013

Berlusconi finally falls. Could he take Italy's government with him?

The ex-premier's sentence for tax evasion - one of many in the past two decades - was upheld Thursday, putting Italy's ruling coalition at risk.

By Sara Miller Llana,?Staff writer / August 2, 2013

Italian media mogul Silvio Berlusconi in a television appearance broadcast last night comments on the Italian highest court sentence that affirmed his four-year sentence for tax fraud yesterday. The sentence for Mr. Berlusconi ? his first to be upheld through all appeals ? could upend Italy's government.

Enlarge

Italians are accustomed to seeing their three-time former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in the courtroom: The most recent trial over tax fraud was one of some two dozen in 20 years.

Skip to next paragraph Sara Miller Llana

Europe Bureau Chief

Sara Miller Llana?moved to Paris in April 2013 to become the Monitor's Europe Bureau?Chief. Previously she was the?paper's?Latin America Bureau Chief, based in Mexico City, from 2006 to 2013.

Goldman blinks but no relief for Wall Street's commodity traders

By David Sheppard and Susan Thomas

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs' effort to diffuse intensifying pressure over its commodity business by throwing open its metal warehouse doors likely comes too late to head off further scrutiny of Wall Street's commodity trade.

Two weeks of escalating criticism of banks that own commodity assets and trade raw materials has shaken executives and the industry, with little sign of the pressure relenting. Britain's financial watchdog is considering its own investigation of metals warehouses, sources said, and two lawmakers questioned whether power regulators were tough enough.

Years of growing frustration over long waiting times and rising prices at metals warehouses across the world spilled into Washington this month, with lawmakers questioning why financial banks are so deeply involved in commercial activity and metal users including American brewer MillerCoors calling for a clamp-down.

In its first major effort to appease consumers, Goldman offered on Wednesday to immediately swap aluminium for any end-users holding metal at its Metro International warehouses, allowing them to avoid year-long waits and high premiums. It also refuted the notion that it was causing a shortage of metal, saying none of its customers had yet taken up the offer.

But the effort met with a sceptical response among some traders who said the bank had failed to address the big financial incentives paid by warehouses to attract metal into their facilities, which critics say have stoked prices.

They also took issue with the bank's decision to limit the offer to end-users, excluding the hedge funds and other traders who are believed to account for most of the stockpiled metal.

"It sounds to me like they're offering ice in the winter," said U.S. anti-trust lawyer Robert Bernstein, a partner at New York-based Eaton & Van Winkle LLP, who works on behalf of U.S. copper fabricators.

The move is the latest effort by Wall Street's biggest banks to fend off a barrage of criticism of their role in the raw materials supply chain, where they do everything from stockpiling metal for clients to shipping gasoline to New York.

Last week JPMorgan Chase & Co said it was getting out of the physical commodity business, quitting a sector it paid billions of dollars over five years to build.

But Goldman's Chief Operating Officer Gary Cohn defended the bank's role in commodities and J Aron, its commodities trading arm, calling it a "core" business.

"Commodity hedging is a core competence and one of the most important things we do in the firm and our clients really need us to be in that business," Cohn, who once ran J Aron, said on CNBC. "We are staying in the commodity hedging business."

It is unclear whether the measures will ease pressure from Washington, where a handful of lawmakers are pressing regulators including the Federal Reserve and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to bring banks to account.

DOUBTS

Goldman's move will intensify scrutiny of other merchants and banks, including Glencore Xstrata and JPMorgan Chase & Co that have bought warehouses in the past three years, and also the London Metals Exchange itself, which is in the midst of its third effort to resolve the issue.

The lengthy waits to receive metal shipments are "a systemic problem which goes broader than Metro International," said American Beverage Association spokesman Christopher Gindlesperger.

In London, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is weighing whether to launch a probe of the London Metal Exchange (LME) warehousing system, an about-face from the past few years when the agency said it did not have authority to delve beyond derivative markets into the physical trade.

In practice industrial clients needing metal sometimes have to queue for up to a year while warehouse companies - increasingly owned by banks or trading houses - benefit from rents they charge during the wait or traders focus on using metal in finance deals rather than providing it to clients.

One source at a competing warehousing company was critical of Goldman's offer: "If they had said we're going to deliver out faster, that would be a different story."

WHEN SEPTEMBER COMES

While the commotion over commodities trade has focused most intensely on the warehousing issue, lawmakers are also looking more broadly at whether banks should be allowed in the commercial business of crude oil cargoes and power plants.

While welcoming Goldman's effort as "great news", Democrat CFTC commissioner Bart Chilton said the "the larger issue of banks owning physical commodities, warehousing and delivery mechanisms" remained unresolved.

After two weeks of increasingly frenetic activity and vocal debate, many industry officials expect the din to subside during August, typically a slow month for the markets and also a five-week hiatus for legislators in Washington.

But it may again reach fever pitch in September, with Senator Sherrod Brown expected to call Federal Reserve and bank officials to another hearing of the powerful banking committee.

That month also marks the end of a five-year grace period granted to Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to comply with commercial banking regulations after they gave up their independence at the height of the financial crisis.

While Goldman has already sold its power plants and trades little physical oil, Morgan Stanley faces an unknown outcome for its massive global oil business, its 49 percent share in oil tanker firm Heidmar and its cherished U.S. logistics and pipelines business TransMontaigne.

Although the banks say they should be allowed to trade and invest in commodity businesses more broadly than their rivals because of an exemption granted to investment banks in a 1999 law, it is unclear how much the Fed will allow.

The Fed announced earlier this month that it was "reviewing" the landmark 2003 decision that first allowed banks to trade physical commodities, a shock decision that raised the spectre of even deeper restrictions than banks had been bracing for. It is unclear when that review may conclude.

"The banks went a little bit too far with the Fed's authorization to get into the commercial side of commodities business and I think that the Senate is more than shocked about what they saw when they started investigating into this situation," said Richard Bove, a veteran banking analyst currently working as an equity research analyst for Garden City, New York-based Rafferty Capital Markets LLC.

"I doubt that any bank will have any, if you will, commercial commodities business in 12 to 18 months from now."

OPENING THE DOOR

Separately on Wednesday, two Democratic senators questioned whether a landmark $410 million settlement with JPMorgan earlier this week over alleged power market manipulation had included "adequate refunds to defrauded ratepayers."

The penalty is the second-largest ever by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), but is "equal to roughly 1.3 percent of JPMorgan's 2012 profits", Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey, both of Massachusetts, wrote to the FERC chairman. They also questioned why JPMorgan executives were not punished.

The crack-down is opening opportunities for less-restricted competitors, particularly foreign banks not overseen by the Fed, potentially leading to the biggest reshuffling of market power since the 1990s era of the "Wall Street refiners."

Brazil's Grupo BTG Pactual SA, the privately held bank run by billionaire Andr? Esteves, is forging ahead with a $300 million-plus expansion plan to create a global powerhouse.

Just months after hiring former Noble Group Chief Executive Ricardo Leiman to lead the drive, BTG has recruited nearly a dozen traders, managers and analysts in London, Geneva and New York to cover everything from freight to grains to natural gas, according to headhunters and a source familiar with the plans.

"From a regulatory perspective they may try to become like Macquarie, a representative of a foreign bank," said Peter Henry, senior consultant at Commodity Search Partners in New York. "There's an angle there."

(Editing by Jonathan Leff and Lisa Shumaker)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/goldman-blinks-no-relief-wall-streets-commodity-traders-040659178.html

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LG's OLED display production plant is taking shape, will fire up second half 2014

To us, installing some factory equipment doesn't seem like much cause for celebration. To LG, however, it's the first piece of tangible progress made towards getting its new OLED manufacturing line up and running. At a shindig held to welcome the equipment to LG's plant, the company said it expects to begin mass production of panels for 50-inch plus HDTVs in the second half of next year -- a little later than the original plan of first half 2014. Hopefully there won't be any more delays, as we'd quite like to see the production line flowing and the mammoth prices of those gorgeous curved sets come down a little.

Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment, HD, LG

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Via: OLED-Info

Source: The Korea Times

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/08/02/lg-oled-plant-2h-2014/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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NASA looks at Tropical Storm Jebi in South China Sea

Public release date: 1-Aug-2013
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Contact: Rob Gutro
Robert.j.gutro@nasa.gov
301-286-4044
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Tropical Storm Jebi developed on July 31 and NASA satellite data on Aug. 1 shows the storm filling up at least half of the South China Sea.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured an infrared image of Tropical Storm Jebi on August 1 at 6:11 UTC or 2:11 a.m. EDT when it passed overhead from space. Strongest storms and heaviest rains appeared south of the center and in a large band of thunderstorms wrapping into the center from the southwest. Additionally, fragmented bands of thunderstorms are also east of the center of the system.

AIRS showed that thunderstorms in the band of thunderstorms southwest of the center had cloud top temperatures that exceeded-63F/-52, indicating heavy rainfall. Infrared data also showed the stronger winds were displaced over the periphery of the storm.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center noted that the low-level circulation center is consolidating as deep central convection is quickly developing.

At 1500 UTC/11 a.m. EDT on Aug. 1, Tropical Storm Jebi had maximum sustained winds near 40 knots/46 mph/74 kph. It was located near 17.0 north and 112.8 east, about 483 nautical miles east-southeast of Hanoi, Vietnam, but its cloud cover fills up a good deal of the South China Sea. Jebi is moving to the northwest at 7 knots/8 mph/13 kph.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center expects Jebi to strengthen slightly before moving over Hainan Island, China, move through the Gulf of Tonkin, and make a final landfall over northern Vietnam within the next two days.

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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.

NASA looks at Tropical Storm Jebi in South China Sea Public release date: 1-Aug-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Rob Gutro
Robert.j.gutro@nasa.gov
301-286-4044
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Tropical Storm Jebi developed on July 31 and NASA satellite data on Aug. 1 shows the storm filling up at least half of the South China Sea.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured an infrared image of Tropical Storm Jebi on August 1 at 6:11 UTC or 2:11 a.m. EDT when it passed overhead from space. Strongest storms and heaviest rains appeared south of the center and in a large band of thunderstorms wrapping into the center from the southwest. Additionally, fragmented bands of thunderstorms are also east of the center of the system.

AIRS showed that thunderstorms in the band of thunderstorms southwest of the center had cloud top temperatures that exceeded-63F/-52, indicating heavy rainfall. Infrared data also showed the stronger winds were displaced over the periphery of the storm.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center noted that the low-level circulation center is consolidating as deep central convection is quickly developing.

At 1500 UTC/11 a.m. EDT on Aug. 1, Tropical Storm Jebi had maximum sustained winds near 40 knots/46 mph/74 kph. It was located near 17.0 north and 112.8 east, about 483 nautical miles east-southeast of Hanoi, Vietnam, but its cloud cover fills up a good deal of the South China Sea. Jebi is moving to the northwest at 7 knots/8 mph/13 kph.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center expects Jebi to strengthen slightly before moving over Hainan Island, China, move through the Gulf of Tonkin, and make a final landfall over northern Vietnam within the next two days.

###
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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.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-08/nsfc-nla080113.php
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China shares lifted by upbeat official PMI, Hong Kong firmer too

Thu Aug 1, 2013 5:51am BST

* HSI +0.6 pct, H-shares +0.4 pct, CSI300 +1.2 pct

* Volumes modest as China HSBC PMI divergence spawns doubt

* Rongsheng soars after plans for convertible bonds

* Cheung Kong cuts 2013 losses ahead of H1 earnings

By Clement Tan

HONG KONG, Aug 1 (Reuters) - China shares may post a third-straight daily gain, with Hong Kong markets also firmer on Thursday, as better-than-expected official manufacturing data and a second cash injection by the central bank gave cyclical sectors a lift.

Gains came in volumes that were only modestly stronger from recent levels, however, reflecting a lack of conviction after a separate private survey weighted more to smaller companies showed factory activity at its lowest in nearly a year.

By midday, the CSI300 was up 1.2 percent, while the Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.9 percent. The China Enterprises Index of the top Chinese listings in Hong Kong gained 0.4 percent.

The Hang Seng Index climbed 0.6 percent to 22,010.3 points, after earlier testing its highest since June 5. All four indexes went into the midday break off their respective intraday highs.

"The positive official PMI shows corporate confidence improved after official comments in the last few weeks provided some assurance on growth, which along with the cash injections this week, is helping markets," said Jackson Wong, Tanrich Securities' vice-president for equity sales.

Angang Steel spiked 4.4 percent in Hong Kong and 1.4 percent in Shenzhen after the official PMI, which focuses on big and state-owned firms, rose to 50.3 in July from 50.1 in June, surpassing expectations for 49.9.

The HSBC PMI, which covers small and private companies, dipped to 47.7 in July from June's 48.2 - the weakest reading since August 2012 and matching a preliminary figure published last week.

Thursday's China data came after the State Council again pledged to step up spending on urban infrastructure projects and public services in a statement after a regular meeting late on Wednesday.

While the country's Iron and Steel Association said on Wednesday that steel demand was expected to remain weak in the second half, Angang is likely seen as an outlier, expecting a return to profitablity for a second successive quarter.

China shipping, another sector suffering from chronic overcapacity, also had some respite.

Shares of China Rongsheng, the country's largest private shipbuilder, surged 9.8 percent after announcing plans to issue HK$1.4 billion ($180.52 million) in convertible bonds. Barclays said conversion would result in a 20 percent increase in outstanding shares, while pointing out the subscriber of the issue to be a member of a private equity VMS Investment Group.

The embattled shipbuilder had appealed to the government and large shareholders for financial assistance last month, after cutting its workforce and delaying payments amid a global shipping downturn.

Sentiment was further buoyed by a second cash injection by the People's Bank of China this week, bringing the week's total to 136 billion yuan ($22.19 billion).

This is its first time it has actively injected cash into the money markets via reverse repos since February, in another sign that Beijing is ready to support growth via targetted steps as it shifts its focus towards quality growth.

CHINA PROPERTY STRONG AGAIN

Property and cement A-shares were also buoyed by a private survey that showed new home prices in China rising 7.8 percent in July from a year earlier.

The official China Securities Journal reported an official with the National Development and Reform Commission as saying that home price increases in first tier cities are not serious and the trend will continue.

Poly Real Estate climbed 2 percent in Shanghai, while Anhui Conch Cement climbed more than 2 percent each in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Cheung Kong Holdings climbed 1.8 percent ahead of its interim earnings due after markets shut on Thursday. Down 6.7 percent on the year, it is currently trading at a 34 percent discount to its historical median 12-month forward earnings multiple, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine.

Source: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/08/01/markets-hongkong-china-stocks-idUKL4N0G20CQ20130801?feedType=RSS&feedName=rbssFinancialServicesAndRealEstateNews

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Webinar - How to Prevent MSDs and Maximize ... - Ergonomics Plus

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are a common and costly problem. Watch the video below to learn how to prevent MSDs and maximize human performance. No matter how mature your ergonomics and MSD prevention process is, there are countless opportunities to improve the human performance at your facility.

Enjoy!

Slides

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Webinar Transcript

If you?d prefer to read the webinar content or read along with the video, the webinar transcript is provided below for your convenience.

Slide 1

Hey everybody!

Matt Middlesworth here with Ergonomics Plus. Welcome to today?s webinar on How to Prevent MSDs and Maximize Human Performance.

Slide 2

Here?s a quick look at the agenda for today.

I?ll be covering why you should care about prevention, what musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are and what causes them, how to identify and remove risk to prevent MSDs and then I?ll go over our 5-part MSD prevention process and human performance framework.

Slide 3

Why should you care about MSD prevention?

It?s really simple. MSD prevention is good for your business and great for your people.

Slide 4

Prevention is good for your business because MSDs are a costly problem.

MSDs account for almost 29% of non-fatal lost-time injuries
The average MSD costs almost $15,000 each
In 2011, MSDs accounted for $50 billion in worker?s compensation costs. That?s about a billion dollars a week in direct costs and doesn?t include indirect costs which can be up to 20 times the direct costs.

Slide 5

So you can see that the cost savings opportunity for companies is pretty obvious. Prevent the injuries, reduce the costs.

But what the prevention process will also do is improve human performance. By removing risk factors, by designing the workplace within the capabilities and limitations of workers, we can improve productivity and product quality while at the same time reducing injury risk and preventing costly injuries.

In other words, the highest levels of human performance are achieved at the intersection of good workplace design and a healthy, fit and engaged workforce. And that?s where we?re heading.

So the MSD prevention process is good for your business in terms of both cost savings and improved human performance.

Slide 6

And prevention is great for your people. Nobody wants to experience a painful injury at work and no one deserves to.

So MSD prevention is simply the right thing to do and it?s great for your people.

Slide 7

Before I get into our injury prevention framework, it?s important you understand what is behind our prevention philosophy.

And that begins with an understanding of what MSDs are and what causes them. Because that?s going to determine our strategy for prevention and how we go about it.

So what are MSDs?

Slide 8

Musculoskeletal Disorders or Movement System Disorders are injuries and disorders that affect the human body?s movement or musculoskeletal system.

This includes muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves, discs, blood vessels, etc.

Slide 9 & 10

MSDs develop over the course of time as the result of a muscle imbalance. This muscle imbalance occurs when the worker?s fatigue outruns their body?s recovery system.

Over time, this results in a musculoskeletal disorder like a muscle or tendon strain, tendonitis, epicondylitis, carpal tunnel, and many more injuries and disorders.

Slide 11

Now that we know what MSDs are, we need to know what causes them in the first place.

So what causes a worker?s fatigue to outrun their recovery system?

Slide 12 & 13

The answer is exposure to MSD risk factors ? both ergonomic risk factors and individual risk factors.

Ergonomic risk factors include force, repetition and posture.

Individual risk factors include poor work practices, a poor level of physical fitness and poor health habits.

So over time, exposure to these risk factors causes fatigue to outrun recovery and eventually this leads to an MSD.

Slide 14

This is the Fatigue vs. Recovery MSD Curve, and you can see that when daily fatigue, when micro trauma to soft tissues, outruns the worker?s recovery system over time, health begins to fade and an MSD eventually forms.

So there is a constant balancing act between the worker becoming fatigued by performing work and their body?s recovering afterward.

The more risk factors a worker is exposed to, the quicker they will become fatigued and the less likely their body can fully recover. And eventually that muscle imbalance will result in a painful injury. In a musculoskeletal disorder. Their body just can?t recover fast enough.

Slide 15

So now that we know what MSDs are and what causes them, we can form a prevention strategy.

Slide 16

At the core of this strategy is identifying and removing ALL MSD risk factors that contribute to MSDs.

Slide 17

Here is the slide from earlier showing how ergonomic and individual risk factors contribute to MSDs.

Slide 18

In order to identify and remove these risk factors, it?s important to have an ergonomics improvement process and education, training and early intervention in place.

The ergonomics improvement process identifies and removes ergonomic risk factors. Education, training and early intervention removes individual risk factors.

Slide 19

This is the ergonomics PLUS methodology for MSD prevention and improved human performance.

Slide 20 and 21

By using this framework and removing all risk factors contributing to MSDs, you can decrease fatigue on the worker?s body and increase their recovery to achieve muscle balance and prevent the injury from happening.

Slide 22

We call our injury prevention and human performance process the E+ System. It includes Establishment, Education, Early Intervention, Ergonomics and Evaluation.

I?ll very briefly cover each element of the process to give you an understanding of how everything fits together. We could spend days on each of these elements, so if it?s not enough right now or you want further explanations on each ? don?t worry. We?ll be creating webinars on each of them, so stay tuned for that.

Slide 23

The first element of the process is Establishment.

Slide 24

Establishment is the foundation and lasting blueprint for success. It?s important to build your efforts on a solid foundation.

During this part of the process, we help our client?s obtain leadership support and build a custom process from the E+ System framework tailored specifically to their needs.

Slide 25

Another element of the E+ System is ergonomics.

Slide 26 and 27

The ergonomics improvement process will systematically identify ergonomic risk factors (force, repetition and posture) and remove them through ergonomic controls, both engineering and administrative controls.

Slide 28

Education and training is another element of the E+ System.

Slide 29

This includes ergonomics training, MSD prevention training and wellness training.

Slide 30 and 31

Education and training will:

Empower your workforce to implement an effective ergonomics improvement process. So there is ergonomics training.
Empower your workforce to reduce individual risk factors like poor work practices, poor fitness and overall poor health habits through individual controls.

It is really important to have well-trained and well-equipped people to support the process and the right training will get you there.

Slide 32

The next element of the E+ System is Early Intervention

Slide 33

Here is the Fatigue vs. Recovery MSD Curve we looked at a little bit ago. And if you remember, I talked about MSDs developing over the course of time. It?s a balance between being fatigued after each day of work verses recovering afterward.

Slide 34

Because MSDs develop over the course of time, we know that at least the next 2-3 years? worth of MSDs are in development right now. This means that the early warning signs of future MSDs, fatigue and discomfort, are present in your workforce today.

The question is, what are you going to do about it?

Slide 35

Early intervention is a proactive strategy designed to discover early warning signs of MSDs and prevent the early warning signs from developing into an injury.

That means that when a worker is being fatigued, the early warning signs of a future MSD are present. This is why workers need to report these early warning signs of MSDs as soon as possible. The earlier we find out about warning signs, the more likely it is that we can correct the causative factors and prevent the injury from happening.

Once an early report is received, an Ergonomics Plus injury prevention specialist will conduct a one-on-one early intervention consultation.

Slide 36 and 37

During the consultation, the injury prevention specialist will:

1. Listen to the employee and understand the problems they are having.

2. Review the self-care program for the employee and make them aware of the prevention tools available to them.

3. Evaluate the job and remove any causative risk factors present through the ergonomics improvement process and implementing the necessary ergonomic controls.

So with early intervention, you are implementing both individual and ergonomic controls and putting a last line of defense in place to prevent the injury and return the employee to a high level of performance.

Slide 38

Evaluation is the last element of the E+ System, but it?s really the beginning, middle, end and everything else in between of the MSD prevention process.

Slide 39

At Ergonomics Plus, one of our foundational principles is that successful partnerships are built on trust and open communication.

We know that in order to have a long-lasting relationship with you, we need to prove our value to you and your company every month.

We default to over-communication to make sure you?re absolutely thrilled with our services and you know precisely what the plan is for continuous improvement.

That?s why we submit a monthly progress report and we conduct an annual audit of the entire process. Not only does that help you understand how the process is progressing but it also allows us to find continuous improvement opportunities and make the process better and more effective.

Slide 40

So that?s the E+ System. Even if you aren?t an Ergonomics Plus client or you never become one, I hope you?ve found this overview useful and relevant to your situation.

Slide 41, 42, 43

It?s a really unique process and approach. There are a bunch of companies out there who do ergonomics training, ergonomic evaluations and workplace improvements.

And there are a bunch of companies out there who do early intervention, workplace wellness and awareness training.

What?s different about us is that by combining good workplace design with a healthy, fit and engaged workforce, you?re able to achieve the highest levels of human performance. And that?s what we?re passionate about, so I hope this webinar has been helpful to you today.

Slide 44

If you have any questions about the content or need anything else, feel free to give me a shout at matt@ergo-plus.com or reach out to @ErgoPlus on Twitter.

And I?ll see you then! Thanks for watching.

About the Author: Matt Middlesworth is responsible for the marketing & business development of Ergonomics Plus. Get more from Matt and Ergonomics Plus by following @ErgoPlus on Twitter.

Source: http://www.ergo-plus.com/healthandsafetyblog/ergonomics/prevent-msds-maximize-human-performance-webinar/

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