1000 Posts at Omega HR Solutions

Michael D. Haberman, SPHR, consultant, writer, coach, teacher and all around curious guy.

Today is a special day at Omega HR Solutions. This is the 1000th post. I pondered what I should write about and decided to take the advice of my friend Bill Ramsey. He suggested that not everyone who reads my blog really knows who I am and thus I should make this post biographical. So here is my brief autobiography.

Early life

I grew up the oldest of four boys, a father in the military for my first 18 years and a mother who took on the challenge of handling four boys all within 9 years of age. I had the opportunity to live in a variety of places and went to about 12 different schools. This gave me the opportunity to learn how to make friends quickly, but also to learn how to forget them just as quickly, since the likelihood of seeing them again was slim. My father retired in Southern California so I did have the opportunity to go to high school and college in one place.

A significant influence in my high school life was my psychology teacher, so when I headed off to the University of California I majored in Psychology, studying monkeys. I had a particular interest in Lana the chimpanzee, a project being conducted at the Yerkes?Primate Center in Atlanta, Georgia, so I applied to go to school at Georgia State University in order to work with the Ph.D. who was conducting the research. Although the work was interesting, for a variety of reasons I opted to not continue my education in psychology and stepped away after 3 years. By this time my wife, Sherry, and I had started a family and I thought it best to enter the business world.

My HR beginnings

Having no business experience I was not qualified to do anything so an employment agency put me to work placing clerks and that is what got me interested in HR. I decided I wanted to be on the other side of the phone and ended up working for a packaging company in the personnel department as a trainee. I was sent to a Chicago plant to become their first personnel manager in the only unionized plant in the company. This was invaluable experience that has served me well today. After 3 years I was brought back to corporate to take on the role of Corporate Recruiting Manager where I was responsible for all hiring of exempt employees. Again this was invaluable experience. During this time I returned to college working on a graduate degree in Human Resources and was successful getting?a Master?s Degree.

One day I received a call from a recruiter wondering if I might be interested in an opportunity with a software company. After 10 years at the packaging company it was time to move on so I took the opportunity and moved to?a fast growing company. Unfortunately in such a rapid changing industry as software things can go wrong as quickly as they were going good. So after a year and a half I found myself in the position of looking again.

Beginning consulting

I lived in a neighborhood where my neighbors were business managers and owners. Playing tennis with these men on a tennis team they would ask me questions about what I thought they should do with problem employees. One of the owners suggested I should start a consulting practice focused on small business. So when the software company collapsed I said ?That is my sign, so here is my sign.? I started MDH Consulting in 1991 and have not looked back. I helped form Omega HR Solutions in 2000 and after a number of changes in the company it is what it is today. We still focus on small business.

The Blog

Six years ago I started writing and it has developed into what you see today. I write heavily on compliance issues but I like writing about all things HR, so you will find posts on talent, recruiting, engagement, compensation, and leadership. I am a voracious reader, but I am not a recluse, so I enjoy networking opportunities. I teach HR and have done so for 15 years or so. I am working on developing my speaking career and I am working on publishing my first book by the end of 2012. I am a major advocate of using social media to advance the field of HR and I am passionate about companies doing ?great? HR.

This has turned into a longer post than I intended, so I will end with this ?Thank you.? Thank you for reading. Thank you for commenting. Thank you for refering me to other readers. We have some exciting things that will be happening in the next couple of months so stay tuned.

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Omega HR Solutions, Inc. uses creative human resource solutions to provide answers to time, money and service issues with employers and their employees. Visit our Products and Services page for more information or contact us to learn how we can help your organization.

Tagged as: human resources consultant, speaker, sphr, teacher

Source: http://omegahrsolutions.com/2012/10/1000-posts-at-omega-hr-solutions.html

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Boys should be sent to jail at a young age to control crimes: Baap ...

Jind, Haryana. After Khap Panchayat advocated marriage at a younger age for girls to control incidents of rape in Haryana, another Panchayat has advocated jail to boys at a younger age so that all kinds of crimes could be controlled in the society.

?Girls being married off at a young age might stop rape, but what about murders, abductions, theft, riots, and other crimes that are mostly committed by men, irrespective of their marital status?? posed Buddhi Tau, an elderly person claiming to represent ?Baap Panchayat? ? an association of concerned fathers.

Baap Panchayat has suggested that the society should stop outraging at such scenes when a minor boy is beaten up for petty theft as this could control crimes in the country

?That?s why we believe that these young felons should be reined in as early as possible,? Buddhi said, ?Put these guys in jail when they commit their first crime, say at the age of 8 or 9, when they steal money from their fathers? pockets or beat up younger boys while playing cricket.?

Just like Khap Panchayat demanded a change in legislation to allow marriage of young girls, Baap Panchayat too demands a constitutional change that does away with ?juvenile homes? for boys.

?Put them straightaway into jails with hardened criminals and beat the crap out of them,? Buddhi Tau suggested the remedy for controlling crimes in the society.

When asked if this won?t destroy the childhood and emotional growth of boys, Tau told Faking News, ?Do you think marriage at an early age won?t have that effect on girls? If politicians and even women?s organizations can find merit in early marriage for girls, why not early jail for boys??

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Source: http://www.fakingnews.com/2012/10/boys-should-be-sent-to-jail-at-a-young-age-to-control-crimes-baap-panchayat/

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Discipline in parenting: Take charge over your child

Disciplining needs to be done fearlessly ? natural authority is advantageous and parents should build on it when drawing the line with their offspring.

By John Rosemond,?Associated Press / October 10, 2012

Hopewell Elementary teacher Milena Jimenez teaches Spanish words to her first-grade class in Trinity, N.C.

Sonny Hedgecock/The Enterprise/AP

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One of the greatest ironies of our time: Today?s women have inherited from their mothers the freedom to claim authority in the military, corporations, churches, the professions, politics, and higher education, but have been persuaded, largely by their own gender, to all but completely abdicate their authority over their children.

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Sixty years ago this month, I entered first grade in Charleston, S.C. The class picture shows 50 children. There are no names under the picture save the teacher?s, so I only know that 50 kids showed up the day the photo was taken. I am certain that my first grade teacher had fewer problems out of us during the entire school year than today?s first grade teacher, with half the number of students and an aide, is having during the first week or two of any given school year. Oh, and by the way, most of us early baby boomers came to grade one not knowing our ABCs, yet by the end of that first school year we were outperforming today?s kids (most of whom learn their ABCs at age 3 and have started reading by the time they enter first grade) in every subject. And we continued to do so through college. And our?parents?did not give us regular help with our homework!

The reason we learned so effectively within such ?overcrowded? (and ?underfunded?) conditions is simple: We came to school having already learned that women possess a natural authority. We had already learned that when a woman said, ?This is the way it?s going to be,? that was the way it was going to be. Period. Today?s kids do not come to school with these same understandings, and that, not IQ, is what defines a successful student.

Sixty years ago, the American child was afraid of his mother. Oh, and by the way, all the statistics clearly indicate that child mental health was a whole lot better back then than it is now. Being afraid of one?s mother (while at the same time secure in her unconditional love) is a good thing for both parties, but especially the child.

Being afraid of one?s mother has nothing to do with spanking, by the way. My mother (a single?parent?during most of my early years) never spanked. I don?t even remember her yelling. And yet, I was afraid of her. All she needed to do was look at me a certain way and my spine began tingling.

All too many of today?s mothers are afraid of their children. They are intimidated by their children?s tantrums, disrespect, disobedience, petulance, and so on. I submit that this, not any other ?liberation? issue, is the biggest problem facing women today.

Women once wore their authority over their children like it was the most natural of habits. They no longer do. When they talk to their kids, they squat down and look like they?re petitioning the king for a favor. And they sound like it, too!

?Billy, how about helping Mommy pick up these toys before the real estate agent gets over here, okay? Do you think you can help me with that like a big boy? How about if we do it together, and while we pick them up we can sing the ?I?m Helping Mommy? song!?

And then this same mother complains that her son doesn?t obey her. Fancy that!

It?s high time America?s mothers reclaimed the authority their grandmothers had over their children. They can start by giving instructions in ten words or less, as in ?It?s time for you to pick up these toys, now.? And then, to the inevitable question, saying ?Because I said so, that?s why.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/Oovg7aB_7A0/Discipline-in-parenting-Take-charge-over-your-child

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WHY IT MATTERS: Labor unions

The issue:

A unionized job once meant a secure path to a middle-class life. Labor unions are still big political players, but they have seen a steady decline in membership and clout since their heyday in the 1950s.

___

Where they stand:

President Barack Obama has signed a series of executive orders that encourage the use of union labor in federal construction projects, ease union financial reporting requirements and more. He has also appointed labor-friendly members to the National Labor Relations Board, which has approved new rules to help union organizers and has more strictly enforced laws against anti-union misconduct.

Republican Mitt Romney says he will reverse all of Obama's executive orders that help unions, seek to prohibit unions from using automatic dues deductions for politics and strive for national right-to-work legislation that prohibits unions from collecting dues from nonmembers.

___

Why it matters:

Unions long have been viewed as a way for workers to gain job protections, boost wages and achieve benefits. Many business leaders see unions as limiting employer flexibility and sapping profits.

About 14.8 million Americans are members of labor unions. The number has been declining for decades as domestic manufacturing jobs go overseas and businesses take a tougher approach in opposing union organizers.

Organized labor now makes up just 11.8 percent of the work force ? down from about a third of all workers in the 1950s. Union leaders have looked to the White House and Congress for help in organizing new members and increasing their influence in the workplace.

But favorable union organizing rules approved by Obama's appointees at the National Labor Relations Board have been tied up in the courts. And an effort to get Congress to pass card-check legislation, which would let unions organize new members simply by signing cards instead of holding elections, went nowhere during Obama's first term.

Obama didn't do much to push the card-check law, which faced vigorous business opposition, but he did please unions with his federal bailout of the auto industry and passage of a huge stimulus package ? both credited with saving thousands of union jobs. Romney opposed both moves.

Last year, the labor board's general counsel outraged business groups when he filed a lawsuit against Boeing Co., saying the company was punishing union members in Washington state by opening a new plant in right-to-work South Carolina. While both sides ultimately settled the dispute, Romney says he wants to amend labor laws to prevent the board from interfering with business investment decisions.

In the public sector, where unions had seen some of their steadiest growth in recent years, Republican governors in states such as Wisconsin and Ohio have pushed laws seeking to curb collective bargaining rights for state workers. They argue that such limits are necessary to roll back generous pension and benefit packages that cash-strapped governments no longer can afford.

Romney has praised efforts to limit collective bargaining rights for public workers, while Obama has denounced them. In fact, the Obama administration for the first time granted limited union rights to more than 40,000 federal workers who screen passengers at the nation's airports.

Despite massive public protests against measures limiting union rights and some court successes by organized labor, polls find unions less popular than in past decades. They were viewed favorably by 52 percent of Gallup respondents in August.

Even Democratic leaders in New York, California and other states have sought to limit pensions for state employees and make union members contribute a greater share of health benefits.

___

Follow Sam Hananel on Twitter: http://twitter.com/SamHananelAP

EDITOR'S NOTE _ One in a series examining issues at stake in the election and their impact on people

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/why-matters-labor-unions-173633800--election.html

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Fools and knaves, part 7 (Powerlineblog)

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Important Things To Consider During E-commerce Web Development

Miscellaneous Written by Anonymous ??Monday, 08 October 2012 04:19 The trend for majority of businesses today is using the internet to capitalize on returns. The increasing use of e-commerce web development is one that cannot be overlooked. Every business wants to be identified with a shopping cart or website application shop. E-commerce development in essence, isone of the most reliable and efficient ways for a business to get ahead. While this is the case, in order to get the most out of it, there are a couple of things that must be taken into consideration. Some of these are as highlighted below.

??? Product information: The aim of e-commerce development is to help you sell your products. For this reason, you need to provide all relevant information needed by your clients and this includes the materials, sizes, weights and dimensions of the product. If you have any other information that is relevant to the product, make sure it is included in the product information.
??? Checkout process: Every e-commerce web development needs a checkout process. An ideal one is where the procedure includes single web page. If you have one that has more than this, it is going to be a hustle for your customers.
??? Contact information: You should give your customers enough contact information. This is the only way to build their confidence in your business. In this respect, you should include your contact number, email, fax and any other contact information that they might consider essential. This also proves that you are committed towards serving them in the best way possible.
??? Sign in: Any e-commerce web design is incomplete if it does not include the sign in. This helps your business collect information about your customers and also proves that you are a professional and reputed website.
??? Search option: Majority of customers who use e-commerce websites do not want to waste time looking for a product. For this reason, make sure that you include a search option on your site. Ideally, this should be addressed during the e-commerce web design process in order to avoid any inconveniences that might arise at a later date.
??? Product image: Since your clients are not able to see the product physically, you should include high quality product image on your website. In order to pull this off, it is advisable to work with a reputable e-commerce web development company. This is the only way to ensure that the web design overland park you end up with meets your e-commerce development needs to perfection.

All these factors are essential for the purpose of ensuring you end up with a reputable ecommerce site. However, it is also important to ensure that you hire an e-commerce web design company that is known for delivering high quality work.

We are provider of the most comprehensive and customized SEO serviceses, Web design services, Web development services and also provide e-commerce web design and e-commerce development services in overland park, lees summit and Kanas city.

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Last Updated on Monday, 08 October 2012 04:19

Source: http://www.workoninternet.com/business/reviews/miscellaneous/219166-article.html

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Video: New Report: China Tech Giants Pose US Security Threat

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F1: Game On - Vettel Wins In Japan, Closes Points Gap

Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel won the Japanese Grand Prix from pole on Sunday to close within four points of the top of the Formula One championship standings as leader Fernando Alonso of Ferrari crashed out of the race at the first turn.

Vettel, who also won the previous race in Singapore, is moving within sight of a third straight title ? something only previously achieved by Juan-Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher ? with five races left.

"It was an important step today," Vettel said. "There is still a long way to go. I don't know what happened behind me today but Alonso was very unlucky. We never know what is going to happen in the next race so it was important to take points today."

Alonso's Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa was second, 20.6 seconds behind Vettel for his first podium since Korea in 2010, putting in a performance that should boost his chances of retaining his place in the team.

"It's a huge relief to be back on the podium," Massa said. "It was a great race and shows we are here to fight for the victory and the podium."

Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi delighted home fans by taking third place ? holding off a strong late challenge from McLaren's Jenson Button ? for his first-ever F1 podium, becoming the first Japanese driver on a podium here since 1990.

"It was a very tough race," Kobayashi said. "I got off to a good start but really had to fight and it took everything I had to hold off Jenson. To get a podium here in Japan in front of these great fans is fantastic."

The race got off to a tumultuous start with a series of collisions in the first corner sequence. Alonso made contact with the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen and appeared to sustain a puncture, fishtailing off the track and the car stalled, leaving a disconsolate Alonso to trudge back on the short walk to the pits.

Despite the setback, Alonso remained positive about the position he's in.

Fernando Alonso wrecked on the opening lap of the Japanese GP. (Photo: Getty Images) "Clearly, this result has practically wiped out the advantage I had before," Alonso said. "But if I'd been told at the start of the season that we would have been in this situation five races from the end, I'd have happily signed for it."

Also on the first bend, Lotus' Romain Grosjean rammed into the Red Bull of Mark Webber, forcing the Australian to the back of the field after starting from second. Grosjean was given a drive-through penalty for causing the collision, and given he was suspended for a race for doing the same in Belgium, the Frenchman may well receive further punishment.

Webber, who started from the front row, wasn't pleased with Grosjean's move.

"I haven't seen what happened at the start, but it's been confirmed that it was Grosjean who hit me," Webber said. "We're trying to fight for results each weekend and it doesn't help so, yeah, it's frustrating as a few of the big guys suffered out there today."

Also at the first corner, Mercedes' Nico Rosberg came together with Williams' Bruno Senna, ending the German's race.

Vettel avoided all the trouble behind him at the first turn, and quickly established a comfortable lead.

Massa overtook Kobayashi after the first set of pit stops and managed to close the gap slightly but Vettel maintained a strong lead to the checkered flag.

Vettel blocked Alonso during the final moments of qualifying on Saturday when the Ferrari driver was arriving at a chicane. Race officials reviewed the incident and reprimanded Vettel but allowed him to maintain pole position. That decision may have been a factor in Alonso's aggressive start.

Sauber driver Sergio Perez's day came to an end when he spun off the track on the 19th lap trying to pass Lewis Hamilton at the hairpin turn. Perez will replace Hamilton next season at McLaren as the Briton moves to Mercedes.

With the winner decided early on, the focus for many of the fans became third place where Kobayashi was battling it out with Button, who won here last year.

Kobayashi, who started third on the grid, prevailed by half a second to become the first Japanese since Aguri Suzuki in 1990 to celebrate on the podium in front of home fans.

Hamilton finished fifth, 20 seconds behind Button, and in front of a chain of cars fighting out the lower points positions. Raikkonen took sixth ahead of Force India's Nico Hulkenberg, with Pastor Maldonado of Williams eighth and Webber recovering for ninth. Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo held off Michael Schumacher of Mercedes to take the last point.

In the drivers' championship, Alonso and Vettel look like fighting it out for the title. Raikkonen is 33 points behind Vettel in third and five points in front of Hamilton. Webber and Button are 59 and 63 points off the lead, respectively.

Red Bull extended its lead in the constructors' championship to 42 points ahead of McLaren, with Ferrari a further 20 points behind.

Source: http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/f1-game-on-sebastian-vettel-wins-in-japan-closes-points-gap/

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T-Mobile USA in talks to buy MetroPCS

FILE-In this Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012, file photo man using a cellphone passes a T-Mobile store, Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012 in New York. The parent of cellphone company T-Mobile USA on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2012, said it's in talks to buy smaller MetroPCS Communications Inc., a deal that could shore up two struggling smaller players in the U.S. wireless industry. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

FILE-In this Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012, file photo man using a cellphone passes a T-Mobile store, Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012 in New York. The parent of cellphone company T-Mobile USA on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2012, said it's in talks to buy smaller MetroPCS Communications Inc., a deal that could shore up two struggling smaller players in the U.S. wireless industry. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

NEW YORK (AP) ? The parent of cellphone company T-Mobile USA on Tuesday said it's in talks to buy smaller MetroPCS Communications Inc., a deal that could shore up two struggling smaller players in the U.S. wireless industry.

Deutsche Telekom AG, the German company that owns T-Mobile USA, said "significant issues have not yet been finalized" and no decision has been made on a deal. MetroPCS also confirmed the talks.

T-Mobile USA is the country's fourth-largest cellphone company, with 33.2 million subscribers. Adding the 9.3 million subscribers of Dallas-based MetroPCS, the industry's No. 5, would still leave T-Mobile trailing No. 3 Sprint Nextel Corp.

However, the deal would give T-Mobile access to more space on the airwaves, a critical factor as cellphone carriers try to expand their capacity for wireless broadband. Last year, AT&T struck a deal to buy T-Mobile USA for $39 billion for much the same reason. That deal was shot down by regulators, who believed competition would suffer if the second-largest cellphone company were to gobble up the fourth-largest.

Regulatory concerns would be much milder over a T-Mobile-MetroPCS combination. Both companies are relatively small, and Bellevue, Wash.-based T-Mobile USA has been losing subscribers for the last two years.

Bloomberg News reported earlier on the deal, and said Deutsche Telekom's board was set to vote on it Wednesday. Before the report, MetroPCS had a market capitalization of $4.2 billion. Its shares rose to $1.95, or 17 percent, to $13.47 in afternoon trading after rising earlier as high as $14.51, the highest level in more than a year.

Deutsche Telekom shares rose 2 percent in European trading. It has a market capitalization of $54.5 billion.

A linkup would be complicated by the fact that MetroPCS and T-Mobile USA use different network technologies. That means MetroPCS phones would not work on T-Mobile USA's network, and vice versa. However, both companies are deploying the same "fourth-generation" or "4G" technology, so they're on a path to harmonizing their networks.

Analyst Kevin Smithen at Macquarie Securities said the combination of the two networks would be "very complicated," and would still leave T-Mobile as a relatively small player struggling against industry leaders Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc.

"A combination of two subscale struggling competitors will not result in a credible long-term competitor," he said.

Sprint shares fell 25 cents, or 4.8 percent, to $4.93. There had been speculation that Sprint would buy MetroPCS. If the T-Mobile deal is consummated, Sprint would instead face tougher competition, particularly in the market for cheap, no-contract "prepaid" service.

"Now Sprint is left at the altar and is facing what is almost certainly a more challenging industry structure," said Sanford Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2012-10-02-T-Mobile-MetroPCS/id-78d81902c39242f5bd9996b4f107b0bf

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Feds charge 91 people in $430 million Medicare fraud

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Syria urges restraint after Turkish strike

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Shikun & Binui, Israel's leading construction group, won a contract worth $390 million from the government of Nigeria to pave and widen a highway in the Sagamu-Benin region. The work will be carried out over three years. Shikun & Binui is controlled by the Arison Group, the investment arm of billionaire Shari Arison. Its shares were up 3.3 percent in morning trade in Tel Aviv.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syria-urges-restraint-turkish-strike-213417889.html

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Acoustic cell-sorting chip may lead to cell phone-sized medical labs

ScienceDaily (Oct. 2, 2012) ? A technique that uses acoustic waves to sort cells on a chip may create miniature medical analytic devices that could make Star Trek's tricorder seem a bit bulky in comparison, according to a team of researchers.

The device uses two beams of acoustic -- or sound -- waves to act as acoustic tweezers and sort a continuous flow of cells on a dime-sized chip, said Tony Jun Huang, associate professor of engineering science and mechanics, Penn State. By changing the frequency of the acoustic waves, researchers can easily alter the paths of the cells.

Huang said that since the device can sort cells into five or more channels, it will allow more cell types to be analyzed simultaneously, which paves the way for smaller, more efficient and less expensive analytic devices.

"Eventually, you could do analysis on a device about the size of a cell phone," said Huang. "It's very doable and we're making in-roads to that right now."

Biological, genetic and medical labs could use the device for various types of analysis, including blood and genetic testing, Huang said.

Most current cell-sorting devices allow the cells to be sorted into only two channels in one step, according to Huang. He said that another drawback of current cell-sorting devices is that cells must be encapsulated into droplets, which complicates further analysis.

"Today, cell sorting is done on bulky and very expensive devices," said Huang. "We want to minimize them so they are portable, inexpensive and can be powered by batteries."

Using sound waves for cell sorting is less likely to damage cells than current techniques, Huang added.

In addition to the inefficiency and the lack of controllability, current methods produce aerosols, gases that require extra safety precautions to handle.

The researchers, who released their findings in the current edition of Lab on a Chip, created the acoustic wave cell-sorting chip using a layer of silicone -- polydimethylsiloxane. According to Huang, two parallel transducers, which convert alternating current into acoustic waves, were placed at the sides of the chip. As the acoustic waves interfere with each other, they form pressure nodes on the chip. As cells cross the chip, they are channeled toward these pressure nodes.

The transducers are tunable, which allows researchers to adjust the frequencies and create pressure nodes on the chip.

The researchers first tested the device by sorting a stream of fluorescent polystyrene beads into three channels. Prior to turning on the transducer, the particles flowed across the chip unimpeded. Once the transducer produced the acoustic waves, the particles were separated into the channels.

Following this experiment, the researchers sorted human white blood cells that were affected by leukemia. The leukemia cells were first focused into the main channel and then separated into five channels.

The device is not limited to five channels, according to Huang.

"We can do more," Huang said. "We could do 10 channels if we want, we just used five because we thought it was impressive enough to show that the concept worked."

Huang worked with Xiaoyun Ding, graduate student, Sz-Chin Steven Lin, postdoctoral research scholar, Michael Ian Lapsley, graduate student, Xiang Guo, undergraduate student, Chung Yu Keith Chan, doctoral student, Sixing Li, doctoral student, all of the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Penn State; Lin Wang, Ascent BioNano Technologies; and J. Philip McCoy, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health.

The National Institutes of Health Director's New Innovator Award, the National Science Foundation, Graduate Research Fellowship and the Penn State Center for Nanoscale Science supported this work.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Penn State.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Xiaoyun Ding, Sz-Chin Steven Lin, Michael Ian Lapsley, Sixing Li, Xiang Guo, Chung Yu Chan, I-Kao Chiang, Lin Wang, J. Philip McCoy, Tony Jun Huang. Standing surface acoustic wave (SSAW) based multichannel cell sorting. Lab on a Chip, 2012; 12 (21): 4228 DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40751E

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/od2vxyiMkCI/121002161953.htm

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Countrywide: It's baaack - The Term Sheet: Fortune's deals blog - CNN

PennyMac CEO Stanford Kurland, who spent most of career at Countrywide, is recreating his old firm.

FORTUNE --The Federal Reserve's recent decision to buy mortgage bonds until the economy recovers has made home lending more attractive than it has been in years. The spread between what it costs to fund a mortgage loan and what borrowers actually pay is nearly three times as large as usual. So it's perhaps no surprise that one of the first firms to rush into this profit-filled fun house is headed by the former executives of the most notorious subprime lender of the era that led to the financial crisis.

Last month, PennyMac (PMT), a finance company run almost entirely by alumni of Countrywide Financial, opened its first retail branch. The company expects to hire as many as 100 employees for the office, which is in Pasadena, California, including loan officers and underwriters.

To head the office, PennyMac has tapped Stephen Brandt, who, according to a Congressional report released in July, ran Countrywide's "Friends of Angelo" program. The report found that Brandt's former unit handed out hundreds of?sweetheart loans to members of Congress, their staffs and other government employees. One of the main thrusts of the division, according to the report, which was nicknamed after Countrywide's former CEO, Angelo Mozilo, was to soften anti-predatory lending laws.

MORE: Card companies keep low rates for themselves

"There's free money on the table and you don't have to work that hard to get it, especially if you are the former executives of Countrywide," says Michael Widner, an analyst who covers PennyMac at brokerage firm Stifel Nicolaus. "You've done this before."

PennyMac has been around for a couple of years. But when it was started in 2008 by a dozen former executives of Countrywide, including Stanford Kurland, who was Countrywide's No. 2 executive before leaving in 2006, PennyMac's stated business plan was to buy up delinquent mortgage loans on the cheap, offer modifications and make some money in the process.

In the past year, though, PennyMac has morphed into something that more resembles Countrywide.?In recent investor presentations, Kurland and other PennyMac executives have talked up the company's unit that finances new mortgage loans made by outside brokers and small banks. The unit was launched a year ago, and now accounts for about a third of the company's profits.

PennyMac has been more tight-lipped about its direct lending operation, which is still relatively small. A number of analysts who follow the company were unaware of it. PennyMac spokesman Kevin Chamberlain, and Countrywide alumni, says PennyMac's retail operation is focused on refinancing delinquent borrowers whose mortgages have been acquired by PennyMac into affordable loans. He says the Pasadena office is not for walk-ins. Chamberlain says the firm has no plans to make subprime loans.

MORE: The housing pick up won't produce much economic growth

What's more, Chamberlain says direct lending is not a part of PennyMac's investor presentations because the division is part of the company's private operations, not its publicly traded company. On Brandt, Chamberlain says the executive oversaw 700 to 800 employees at Countrywide, including "one to three employees whose partial responsibility was to take loans for the VIP unit."

PennyMac, though, doesn't seem to be hiding its lending operations from potential customers. The company is using direct mail to solicit customers. The company's website advertises new home loans with rates as low as 3.5%, and has an 800-number to call. The person who answers says he works for PennyMac.

PennyMac's odd corporate structure has worried some Wall Street analysts. PennyMac runs a public mortgage REIT, but not all of the company's business and profits go to the REIT. For instance, PennyMac's mortgage REIT is not approved to sell loans to Ginnie Mae, which is the government entity that backs FHA loans. So when PennyMac finances those loans - $1.6 billion in July and August alone - the public REIT passes them along to a private division of the company, which is owned and operated by PennyMac's executives and its two outside investors, asset manager Blackrock and private equity firm Highfields Capital. The REIT makes a small fee, just 0.03%, on those deals and the private entity pockets the rest, which is the bulk of the profits.

"Kurland definitely has aspirations to grow the company into something that is substantial and in the end will probably look something like Countrywide," says Widner, who rates PennyMac a hold. "But with the stock what you are getting is a subdivision of the company."

MORE: Young workers earn $10,000 less than in 2005

To meet those aspirations, Kurland has recruited many of the same executives who helped him build Countrywide into a mortgage behemoth. Of the 313 PennyMac executives who are listed on professional networking site LinkedIn, 75 had spent some time at Countrywide. Along with Kurland, PennyMac's chief operating officer, chief financial officer and chief credit officer all hail from Countrywide, as do the firm's head of marketing, head of consumer lending and head of human resources.

So far it appears to be working. PennyMac has funded over $9 billion in mortgages this year, up from less than $1 billion in 2011. Executives say they hope to be on pace to finance $30 billion in mortgage loans next year. That would make the PennyMac the 12th largest mortgage lender in the country, according to trade publication Inside Mortgage Finance. Still, that would be a fraction of what Countrywide was, which at its height financed about $500 billion in home loans a year, and regularly ranked as the nation's largest mortgage lender.

A recent analysis by the Wall Street Journal found that Countrywide has cost Bank of America, which acquired the giant mortgage lender in 2008, nearly $40 billion in additional costs since the deal was completed, much of it due to subprime and other high-risk loans that Countrywide made at the height of the housing bubble that have since gone bad.

In December, Bank of America agreed to pay $335 million to settle charges that Countrywide loan officers regularly charged minority borrowers higher rates and fees than those paid by similar white borrowers. In the past year, a number of former Countrywide employees have come forward to say they tried to warn regulators about abusive or lax lending practices at the firm but were either silenced by their superiors, or fired.

None of the executives at PennyMac are directly linked to any of the alleged wrongdoing at Countrywide. Unlike Mozilo and other high-ranking Countrywide executives, Kurland was not charged with fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Kurland has been sued by former shareholders of Countrywide, but PennyMac spokesman Chamberlain says Kurland left Countrywide before much of the practices alleged in the suits occurred.

Either way, PennyMac's current investors don't seem to be bothered by Kurland and his team's past, or by the company's complicated structure. Shares of the REIT have risen nearly 50% in the past year. It doesn't hurt that PennyMac has a 9.3% dividend yield at a time when investment income is hard to come by.

More surprising is the reaction PennyMac gets from consumer advocates. John Taylor, who heads the National Community Reinvestment Coalition and has been a frequent critic of subprime lenders, welcomes the firm. He says mortgage rates have stayed frustratingly high, and that there is a huge number of borrowers who are still having trouble refinancing. Taylor thinks PennyMac and firms like it could help.

"These are not the type of people I want to have over my house for dinner," says Taylor. "But competition is good."

Source: http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/10/02/countrywide-is-back-pennymac/

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No relief for relief workers: Humanitarian aid work raises risk of depression and anxiety

ScienceDaily (Oct. 1, 2012) ? Humanitarian workers are at significant risk for mental health problems, both in the field and after returning home. The good news is that there are steps that they and their employers can take to mitigate this risk.

These findings, from a new study by scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and collaborators, including Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, are published online in the journal PLOS ONE.

Researchers surveyed 212 international humanitarian workers at 19 NGOs. Prior to deployment, 3.8% reported symptoms of anxiety and 10.4%, symptoms of depression, broadly in line with prevalence of these disorders in the general population. Post-deployment, these rates jumped to 11.8% and 19.5%, respectively. Three to six months later, while there was some improvement in rates of anxiety -- they fell to 7.8% -- rates of depression were even higher at 20.1%.

Adjusting to home life is often difficult. "It is quite common for people returning from deployment to be overwhelmed by the comforts and choices available, but unable to discuss their feelings with friends and family," says Alastair Ager, PhD, study co-author and Professor of Clinical Population & Family Health at the Mailman School.

Even tuning into one's own family can be a challenge. "I remember one highly capable humanitarian worker struggling because the time she spent with her children simply didn't give the same 'buzz' as leading emergency operations in the field," adds Dr. Ager. "She felt guilty in this, but her nervous system had become 'wired' for emergency settings."

It was continual exposure to a challenging work environment that increased risk for depression, not the experience of particular dangerous or threatening situations. Weak social support and a history of mental illness also raised risks. On the plus side, aid workers who felt highly motivated and autonomous reported less burnout and higher levels of life satisfaction, respectively.

The paper outlines several recommendations for NGOs: (1) screen candidates for a history of mental illness, alert them to the risks associated with humanitarian work, and provide psychological support during and after deployment; (2) provide a supportive work environment, manageable workload, and recognition; and (3) encourage and facilitate social support and peer networks.

The well-being of humanitarian workers can be overshadowed by the needs of the populations they serve. "It has been challenging to get mental health care for workers onto the agendas of agencies employing them -- and even onto the radar of workers themselves," says Dr. Ager. "Depression, anxiety and burnout are too often taken as an appropriate response to the experience of widespread global injustice. We want them to know that the work they are doing is valuable and necessary and the situations difficult, but this doesn't mean they need to suffer." The study, he notes, provides "the first robust research evidence to establish the case that good staff care can make a real difference."

Dr. Ager and colleagues are also looking at the experience of those working as humanitarian workers in their own country. Results are due later this year.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Barbara Lopes Cardozo, Carol Gotway Crawford, Cynthia Eriksson, Julia Zhu, Miriam Sabin, Alastair Ager, David Foy, Leslie Snider, Willem Scholte, Reinhard Kaiser, Miranda Olff, Bas Rijnen, Winnifred Simon. Psychological Distress, Depression, Anxiety, and Burnout among International Humanitarian Aid Workers: A Longitudinal Study. PLoS ONE, 2012; 7 (9): e44948 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0044948

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/iql3Ya7EIFM/121001132152.htm

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Some "Curious" US And French Military Deployments

Regular readers are aware that periodically, usually weekly, Zero Hedge presents critical naval updates demonstrating the positioning of key US maritime assets, primarily strategic aircraft carriers. The location of these indicates far more what US foreign policy is focused on at any moment, than propaganda distributed for general consumption via the coopted media. Today, however, instead of focusing on aircraft carriers, using Stratfor analysis, we present several broad "curious" US and French military developments.

What the ultimate purpose of these movements is for now unclear - they may be perfectly normal deployments or they may be a precursor to something more. Remember: we know that both CVN-74 (which is currently just briefly caught up in that whole Senkaku Snafu between Japan and China) Stennis and Marine force LHA-1 Peleliu are en route to Iran, where following last week's modestly paliative Netanyahu comments, the military strategists believe the tide has turned and there will be no war with Iran in the immediate future. Ironically, following a spike in war chatter in the early summer, we said that precisely because of that there will be no conflict imminently as the Israeli military will never telegraph what it plans on doing in advance.

And, as always when dealing with military data originating from "sources", reader beware. Ultimately, even if untrue, the information will provide hints about whose agenda it is to foment military tensions.

Analysis, via Stratfor

According to a worldwide network of aircraft spotters and trackers, at least a dozen MC-130H, HC-130N, HC-130P and AC-130U military transport planes and gunships crossed the Atlantic Ocean on Sept. 13 heading eastbound. These aircraft are typically used for a variety of special tasks, including in close cooperation with special operations forces. The last reported stop for the aircraft was Souda Bay, Crete. It is unclear whether the aircraft have left Crete, but we are working on tracking them down.

A week and a half later, on Sept. 24, the same network of aircraft spotters noted 12 U.S. Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets arriving in two waves at Moron air base in Spain. It is not known where the squadron is heading, though it could be en route to Afghanistan to reinforce elements there. The Harrier squadron that suffered heavy losses in the Sept. 14 attack on Camp Bastion has already been replaced by another Harrier unit, so it is unlikely that the squadron's deployment is directly linked to that event. It is also possible that the F/A-18s are heading to the Gulf Cooperation Council region. A number of air superiority squadrons, including an F-22 Raptor squadron, have already deployed to the region. If that is the case, the squadron is intended simply as reinforcements or replacements for assets currently deployed there.

Also on Sept. 24, The New York Times published an article stating that Iraq and the United States were negotiating an agreement that could result in the return of small units of U.S. soldiers to Iraq on training missions. At the request of the Iraqi government, according to U.S. Gen. Robert Caslen, a unit of Army special operations soldiers was recently deployed to Iraq to advise on counterterrorism and to help with intelligence. It is possible that at least some of the MC-130 aircraft previously mentioned were delivering these special operations troops to Iraq.

Another report on Sept. 24, this one by the Le Figaro French-language newspaper, said some 100 French special operations troops had been deployed in the sub-Saharan region to counteract militants in northern Mali. Le Figaro also reported that maritime patrol aircraft that can be used to collect intelligence will be deployed to the region and that commandos of the French navy will reinforce the French special operations troops.

Finally, Italian journalist Guido Olimpio reported in September that U.S. unmanned aerial vehicles are currently tracking militants in Cyrenaica, the historical name for eastern Libya. He also said "reliable sources" had confirmed that U.S. special operations forces were planning to carry out intelligence operations that could be in preparation for surgical strikes in North Africa, including in Libya and in Mali.

All these deployments could be previously scheduled movements for training or part of ongoing operations. They also do not necessarily mean any one mission is imminent. The United States and France could simply be positioning military assets in a region that is rife with conflict and that may eventually require rapid military intervention or action.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blacklistednews/hKxa/~3/IgxZNsNl_5A/M.html

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Bo Xilai's son defends disgraced Chinese politician

Bo Guagua (left) defended his father, Bo Xilai, in a statement he posted to his Tumblr.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Bo Guagua said "it is hard for me to believe the allegations"
• NEW: The 24-year-old is the son of disgraced politician Bo Xilai
• He posts a statement on Tumblr defending his father
• Bo Xilai is accused corruption, abuse of power and adultery

(CNN) -- The son of disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai says the laundry list of allegations leveled against his father contradicts "everything I have come to know about him throughout my life."

Bo Xilai was once considered a top contender for the Politburo Standing Committee, the team of nine politicians who effectively rule China. But last week, the Communist Party relieved him of his duties and expelled him.

He also faces possible criminal charges in connection with the murder of a British businessman, a crime for which is wife has been convicted.

On Saturday, Bo's son, Guagua, posted a statement on Tumblr, a microblogging site, where he defended his "upright" father. The statement made no mention of his mother.

"Personally, it is hard for me to believe the allegations announced against my father, because they contradict everything I have come to know about him throughout my life," the younger Bo wrote.

"Although the policies my father enacted are open to debate, the father I know is upright in his beliefs and devoted to duty."

In an e-mail to CNN on Sunday, the son declined to comment further on the case. He said his statement posted to Tumblr was all he could say at the moment.

The statement followed news Friday by the state-run Xinhua new agency that the elder Bo had been expelled from the Communist Party and faced prosecution on criminal charges. The Xinhua report on his expulsion painted a portrait of corruption, abuse of power and improper sexual relationships.

The party said the politician made "severe mistakes" in the killing of the British businessman and a diplomatic incident involving a police official, Xinhua reported.

Investigators cited influence peddling, bribery and womanizing, new details found in the course of the party's investigation.

"Bo had or maintained improper sexual relationships with a number of women," the state news agency said.

He also took advantage of his power to seek profits and received bribes, and his family "accepted a huge amount of money and property from others," Xinhua said.

The son said he could not reconcile the man accused of such acts and the man he knows as his father.

"He has always taught me to be my own person and to have concern for causes greater than ourselves. I have tried to follow his advice," he said in the statement.

"At this point, I expect the legal process to follow its normal course, and I will await the result."

The elder Bo is a charismatic, albeit controversial, politician who launched a "smashing black, singing red" campaign in the southwestern city of Chongqing that promoted Communist ideology and zealously cracked down on organized crime.

His economic programs, which included millions spent on social welfare, made him a popular leader in Chongqing. But analysts say his populist policies and high-profile personal style were seen as a challenge to the more economically liberal and reform-oriented faction that dominates the current party leadership.

The politician's fortunes changed when news surfaced this year that his wife, Gu Kailai, was a suspected accomplice in the poisoning of businessman Neil Heywood.

Heywood died in November in Chongqing, where the elder Bo was the Communist Party chief. His death was originally blamed on excessive alcohol consumption.

The politician was soon stripped of his top posts for "serious breach of discipline." In August, his wife received a suspended death sentence after a seven-hour trial.

The case also put the son under scrutiny as reports emerged over his lavish student lifestyle. Photographs of him bare-chested with his arms around women at a party at the University of Oxford were widely published and received badly in China.

The father defended his son when the reports first came out, accusing people of trying to make the 24-year-old look bad.

The younger Bo graduated from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government in May. He previously attended the University of Oxford, graduating in 2010.

Wang Lijun, the former police chief of Chongqing, set off the controversial story on February 6, when he fled to the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu and told American diplomats that Gu was a suspected accomplice in a murder case.

After his request for asylum was turned down, Wang left the consulate and was taken away by Chinese officials. But his accusations rocked the world's most populous nation.

Wang last week was sentenced to 15 years for defection, cover-up, bribe taking and abuse of power.

CNN's Jason Kessler and Paul Armstrong contributed to this report.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/30/world/asia/china-bo-xilai-son/index.html?eref=edition

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Korean singer Psy tops UK charts with Internet hit

LONDON (Reuters) - South Korean singer Psy jumped to the top of the British pop charts on Sunday with the quirky dance track "Gangnam Style", an Internet phenomenon that has clocked up more than 300 million views on YouTube.

The 34-year-old became the first Korean artist to top the weekly UK chart, helped by the success of a video shot in locations around Gangnam, an upmarket neighborhood in the South Korean capital, Seoul.

Psy, whose real name is Park Jai-sang, spawned hundreds of online imitators with his unusual dance move, where he pretends to ride an invisible horse. It topped the U.S. digital songs chart earlier this week.

Last week's UK number one, Irish band The Script, slipped to second place with "Hall of Fame". Third place went to U.S. rapper Flo Rida's "I Cry".

There was a new entry at the top of the album chart for English folk rock band Mumford & Sons and "Babel".

(Reporting by Peter Griffiths; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/korean-singer-psy-tops-uk-charts-internet-hit-180138411.html

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