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Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Investing Like Buffett?A Follow-up - Pragmatic Capitalism

It looks like a lot of people got the wrong impression from my post about how to invest like Warren Buffett. ?So here are a few clarifications:

The post was written with a pretty heavy dose of sarcasm. ?I know I?m not very funny and you?re probably used to the boring and serious version of me so maybe I should have made that clear up front. ?Sorry about that. ?

I have a huge amount of respect for what Warren Buffett has accomplished. ?I did not mean to imply that I do not respect his strategy or accomplishments.

The main message from the post was to illustrate the complexity of the operation Warren Buffett has created and why anyone who says you can ?invest like Buffett? is vastly exaggerating how easy it is to replicate his approach.

Sorry for the confusion.

Source: http://pragcap.com/investing-like-buffett-a-follow-up

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Snail shell coiling programmed by protein patterning

May 28, 2013 ? Snail shells coil in response to a lopsided protein gradient across their shell mantles, finds research in BioMed Central's open access journal EvoDevo. In contrast the shell mantle of limpets, whose shells do not coil, have a symmetrical pattern of the protein Decapentaplegic (Dpp).

There are many hundreds of different kinds of gastropods (slugs snail and limpets) -- second only in number of species to insects. They have adapted to live on land as well as in fresh water and marine environments, and have altered their physiology to survive in different habitats and to exploit different niches. The ancestral snail is thought to have had a coiled shell but during evolution some snails have lost their shells to become slugs, and some, limpets and false limpets, have independently lost the ability to coil their shells.

In order to find out why some gastropods have straight and some have coiled shells researchers from the University of Tokyo looked at the pattern of Dpp during shell growth. Dpp was first identified in fruit flies where it is necessary for the correct development of limbs, wings and other organs -- decapentaplegic describes the 15 things missing in the absence of the gene dpp. Dpp is also found in the shell gland of gastropods, an early structure which begins to form a developing shell. However its presence in the mantle, which takes over shell production as the animal develops, was unknown.

In all four animals tested, limpets Patella vulgata and Nipponacmea fuscoviridis, and the right-hand coiled pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis along with a sinistral coiled lab-developed snail, dpp expression matched shell shape. There was also a Dpp protein gradient spreading away from this which was also symmetrical in limpets but had left/right asymmetry for the pond snails, matching the handedness of shell coiling.

Keisuke Shimizu, who led this study, commented, "This molecular mechanism driving for shell coiling persists from early developmental stages though adult life as the shell is replaced. It also provides an explanation for how shell coiling has been lost several times during the evolution of gastropods by the relatively easy loss of asymmetric Dpp."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by BioMed Central Limited, via AlphaGalileo.

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

Journal Reference:

Keisuke Shimizu, Minoru Iijima, Davin HE Setiamarga, Isao Sarashina, Tetsuhiro Kudoh, Takahiro Asami, Edi Gittenberger, Kazuyoshi Endo. Left-right asymmetric expression of dpp in the mantle of gastropods correlates with asymmetric shell coiling. EvoDevo, 2013; 4 (1): 15 DOI: 10.1186/2041-9139-4-15

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/tJ-n3xjO6ms/130527231800.htm

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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Oklahoma, other tornado-hit states brace for more

Alli Christian, left, helps Jessica Wilkinson as she looks for her dog Bella after Wilkinson returned to find her home near 156th street and Franklin Road destroyed by a tornado, Sunday, May 19, 2013, in Norman, Okla. (AP Photo/The Oklahoman, Steve Sisney)

A flag flies in the debris of a mobile home after a tornado struck a mobile home park near Dale, Okla., Sunday, May 19, 2013. (AP Photo Sue Ogrocki)

A tornado touches down southwest of Wichita, Kan. near the town of Viola on Sunday, May 19, 2013. The tornado was part of a line of storms that past through the central plains on Sunday. (AP Photo/The Wichita Eagle, Travis Heying)

Debris is scattered in what was a mobile home park where a tornado struck near Dale, Okla., Sunday, May 19, 2013. (AP Photo Sue Ogrocki)

The frame of a mobile home is pictured with debris after a tornado hit a mobile home park near Dale, Okla., Sunday, May 19, 2013. (AP Photo Sue Ogrocki)

SHAWNEE, Okla. (AP) ? When Lindsay Carter heard on the radio that a violent storm was approaching her rural Oklahoma neighborhood, she gathered her belongings and fled. When she returned, there was little left.

Sunday's tornado that tore part of the roof from Carter's frame house ? one of few such homes in the Steelman Estates Mobile Home Park near Shawnee ? laid waste to many of her neighbors' places, and killed two people and injured several others.

"Trees were all gone. I walked further down and all those houses were gone," she said of her return home to the neighborhood.

The tornado was one of several that touched down Sunday in the nation's midsection, concentrating damage in central Oklahoma and Wichita, Kan. Two people were killed in or near the mobile home park, which is outside of Shawnee, a community about 35 miles southeast of Oklahoma City. At least 39 people throughout Oklahoma were injured, according to the state's emergency management director, Albert Ashwood.

The National Weather Service was forecasting more of the same for the region ? including Oklahoma City and Tulsa ? Monday afternoon and evening, warning of the possibility of tornadoes and baseball-sized hail. Residents of Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri were also warned to watch for bad weather Monday.

Gov. Mary Fallin began touring the hardest-hit areas early Monday, including Carney, in Lincoln County, and a mobile home park near Shawnee, 35 miles southeast of Oklahoma City, that suffered a direct hit and was where the two confirmed deaths happened.

"It took a dead hit," resident James Hoke said of the Steelman Estates Mobile Home Park. Emerging from a storm cellar where he sought refuge with his wife and two children, Hoke found that their mobile home had vanished. "Everything is gone."

Hoke said he started trying to help neighbors and found his wife's father covered in rubble.

"My father-in-law was buried under the house. We had to pull Sheetrock off of him," Hoke said.

Forecasters had been warning of bad weather since Wednesday and on Sunday said conditions had ripened for powerful tornadoes. Wall-to-wall broadcasts of storm information spread the word Sunday, leaving Pottawatomie County Sheriff Mike Booth grateful.

"There was a possibility a lot more people could have been injured," Booth said. "This is the worst I've seen in Pottawatomie County in my 25 years of law enforcement."

Booth said a 79-year-old man, who was later identified as Glen Irish, was found dead out in the open at Steelman Estates. The state medical examiner's office said Monday that a 76-year-old man, Billy Hutchinson, was found dead in a vehicle. The office said both men lived in Shawnee, but the city wasn't hit by the tornado and it wasn't immediately clear if either or both lived in the mobile home park, which is near the city.

"You can see where there's absolutely nothing, then there are places where you have mobile home frames on top of each other, debris piled up," Booth said. "It looks like there's been heavy equipment in there on a demolition tour.

"It's pretty bad. It's pretty much wiped out," he said.

Tornadoes were reported Sunday in Iowa, Kansas and Oklahoma as part of a storm system that stretched from Texas to Minnesota.

Emergency officials traversed the neighborhoods struck in Oklahoma in an effort to account for everyone. Keli Cain, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management, said that, many times in such situations, people who are not found immediately are discovered later to have left the area ahead of the storm.

A storm spotter told the National Weather Service that the tornado left the earth "scoured" at the mobile home park. At the nearby intersection of Interstate 40 and U.S. 177, a half-dozen tractor-trailers were blown over, closing both highways for a time.

"It seemed like it went on forever. It was a big rumbling for a long time," said Shawn Savory, standing outside his damaged remodeling business in Shawnee. "It was close enough that you could feel like you could reach out and touch it."

Fallin declared an emergency for 16 Oklahoma counties because of the severe storms and flooding. The declaration lets local governments acquire goods quickly to respond to their residents' needs and puts the state in line for federal help if it becomes necessary.

Heavy rains and straight-line winds hit much of western Oklahoma on Saturday. Tornadoes were also reported Sunday at Edmond, Arcadia and near Wellston to the north and northeast of Oklahoma City. The supercell that generated the twisters weakened as it approached Tulsa, 90 miles to the northeast.

In Wichita, Kan., a tornado touched down near Mid-Continent Airport on the city's southwest side shortly before 4 p.m., knocking out power to thousands of homes and businesses but bypassing the most populated areas of Kansas' biggest city. The Wichita tornado was an EF1 ? the strength of tornado on the enhanced Fujita scale ? with winds of 110 mph, according to the weather service.

Golf ball-sized hail slammed homes in the area. Jim Raulston, of Wichita, said the ferocious winds slammed the hailstones into his home.

"It was just unbelievable how the hail and everything was just coming straight sideways," Raulston said.

Sedgwick County Emergency Management Director Randy Duncan said there were no reports of fatalities or injuries in Kansas.

The weather service reported two tornadoes touched down in Iowa ? near Huxley and Earlham. Damage included the loss of some cattle when the storm blew over a barn on a farm in Mitchell County. Some 6,000 customers were without power Monday, including in the hardest-hit areas where the tornado sirens were also rendered silent. In the event of new impending strikes, first responders planned to use their emergency vehicles' sirens to warn residents.

___

Associated Press writers Ken Miller in Shawnee, Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Mo., and Kelly P. Kissel in Little Rock, Ark., contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-05-20-Severe%20Weather/id-20c0350b5be5461d9f609b89e5deb584

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Small Fla. city anxious to learn jackpot winner

The highest Powerball jackpot worth an estimated $590.5 million was sold recently at this Publix supermarket located in Zephyrhills, Fla. (AP Photo/Scott Iskowitz)

Satellite trucks line the parking lot where the highest Powerball jackpot worth an estimated $590.5 million was sold recently at this Publix supermarket located in Zephyrhills, Fla. on Sunday May 19, 2013. (AP Photo/Scott Iskowitz)

Satellite trucks line the parking lot where the highest Powerball jackpot worth an estimated $590.5 million was sold, at a Publix supermarket in Zephyrhills, Fla. on Sunday, May 19, 2013. (AP Photo/Scott Iskowitz)

ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. (AP) ? It could be an anxious wait of up to two months for people in a small Florida city to find out who won the highest Powerball jackpot in history: an estimated $590.5 million.

The lucky ticket was bought sometime Saturday or earlier at a Publix supermarket in Zephyrhills, a city of about 13,000 people best known around the state for its brand of spring water with the same name.

The winner has 60 days to claim the lump-sum cash option, estimated around $376.9 million, at the Florida Lottery's office in Tallahassee. Under Florida law, lottery winners in the state cannot remain anonymous; their names and city of residence must be made publicly available to anyone who asks, according to the state's lottery website. No one had come forward as of Monday morning.

"It never happens this quickly," lottery spokesman David Bishop said. "If they know they won, they're going to contact their attorney or an accountant first so they can get their affairs in order."

The winner wasn't Matthew Bogel. On Sunday, he loaded groceries into his car after shopping at the Publix. He shook his head when asked about the jackpot.

"It's crazy, isn't it?" he said. "That's so much money."

It's an amount too high for many to imagine. Compare it to the budget for the city of Zephyrhills: This year's figure is just more than $49 million. The winning Powerball jackpot is 12 times that.

Publix spokeswoman Maria Brous said there are a lot of rumors about who won, but the store doesn't know. "We're excited for the winner or winners," she said.

Plenty of people in Zephyrhills are wondering whether it's someone they know.

Joan Albertson drove to the Publix early Sunday morning with her camera in hand, in case the winner emerged. She said she bought a ticket at a store across the street, and the idea of winning that much money was still something of a shock.

"Oh, there's so much good that you could do with that amount of money." Albertson said. "I don't even know where to begin."

Zephyrhills is a small city in Pasco County, about 30 miles northeast of downtown Tampa. Once a rural farming town, it's now known as a hotbed for skydiving activity, and the home to large retiree mobile home parks and the water bottled from the natural springs that surround the area.

And now, one lucky lottery ticket.

"I'm getting text messages and messages from Facebook going, 'uh, did you win the lottery?'" Sandra Lewis said. "No, I didn't win, guys. Sorry."

Sara Jeltis said her parents in Michigan texted her with the news Sunday morning.

"Well, it didn't click until I came here," she said, gesturing to the half-dozen TV live trucks humming in the Publix parking lot. "And I'm like, 'Wow I can't believe it, it's shocking!' Out of the whole country, this Publix, in little Zephyrhills would be the winner."

With four out of every five possible combinations of Powerball numbers in play, lottery executives said Saturday that someone was almost certain to win the game's highest jackpot, a windfall of hundreds of millions of dollars ? and that's after taxes.

The winning numbers were 10, 13, 14, 22 and 52, with a Powerball of 11.

Estimates had earlier put the jackpot at around $600 million. But Powerball's online site said Sunday that the jackpot had reached an estimated $590.5 million.

The world's largest jackpot was a $656 million Mega Millions jackpot in March 2012.

Terry Rich, CEO of the Iowa Lottery, initially confirmed that one Florida winning ticket had been sold. He told The Associated Press that following the Florida winner, the Powerball grand prize was being reset at an estimated jackpot of $40 million, or about $25.1 million cash value.

The chances of winning the prize were astronomically low: 1 in 175.2 million. That's how many different ways you can combine the numbers when you play. But lottery officials estimated that about 80 percent of those possible combinations had been purchased recently.

The longshot odds didn't deter people across Powerball-playing states ? 43 plus Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands ? from lining up at gas stations and convenience stores Saturday.

Clyde Barrow, a public policy professor at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, specializes in the gaming industry. He said one of the key factors behind the ticket-buying frenzy is the size of the jackpot ? people are interested in the easy investment.

"Even though the odds are very low, the investment is very small," he said. "Two dollars gets you a chance."

Lewis, who went to the Publix on Sunday to buy water, said she didn't play ? and she isn't upset about it.

"Life goes on," she said, shrugging. "I'm good."

___

Rodriguez reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press Writer Kelli Kennedy in Miami contributed to this report.

___

Follow Tamara Lush at http://twitter.com/tamaralush .

Follow Barbara Rodriguez at http://twitter.com/bcrodriguez .

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-05-20-Powerball%20Jackpot/id-2880a38ce7a74de394b0a88a1b4f27a6

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Maldives Green Fund to merge ?scattered? climate ... - Minivan News

Maldives Green Fund to merge ?scattered? climate finance thumbnail

Transparency Maldives has called for stronger anti-corruption climate finance safeguards, following the government?s declaration it would establish a ?green fund? that would merge all climate change, conservation, and sustainable development project trust-funds.

President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik?s cabinet proposed a Maldives ?Green Fund? be established, which would merge all the currently established trust funds in accordance with the government?s Biosphere Reserve sustainable development policy.

The purpose for merging the funds would be to enable cost reductions and strengthen operational efficiency for foreign investments for waste management, water management and renewable energy projects.

Shortly following this April 30 announcement, Transparency Maldives called for ?stronger anti-corruption safeguards in climate finance? as part of the civil society recommendations presented to the Minister of Environment and Energy Dr Mariyam Shakeela during the ?NGO Forum on Environment and Sustainable Development 2013? held May 5.

During the NGO forum, Transparency Maldives Chairperson Mohamed Rasheed Bari called on the government to strengthen governance mechanisms by including stronger standards of transparency, accountability and integrity.

Currently, climate funds are ?scattered? because there is no consolidated national governance mechanism with a proper internationally governed governance structure in the Maldives, Transparency Maldives Climate Governance Senior Project Manager Azim Zahir told Minivan News today (May 19).

?In principle establishing a ?green fund? to consolidate climate change mitigation and adaptation money is ?ok? as long as it adheres to international best practices and good governance standards,? said Zahir.

The Environment Ministry had not responded to inquiries at time of press.

No overarching climate policy

?The government lacks an overarching climate change policy,? a civil society source familiar with the challenges facing climate governance in the Maldives, told Minivan News. ?There are no specific goals, which has resulted in project-based, ad hoc and climate change mitigation and adaptation initiatives.?

The source explained that conflicting ministerial mandates and unclear rules have created redundancies and left civil servants ?confused?.

?The root cause of the problem is administrative ? the lack of clear mandates between who is doing what,? the source said. ?There are also ministerial rivalries regarding certain projects because clear mandates are lacking.?

?I find it strange the Ministry of Environment does not have a climate change department, considering they are the people in charge of the entire amount of funds,? the source added.

?One person is in charge of massive [amounts] of funds. There is a lack of human resources within the Environment Ministry. Only a couple of people have dominated [climate change projects] since the 1990?s,? claimed the source.

Some people within the ministry working on foreign aid projects write themselves in as project staff as well to in order supplement their ?really low? monthly government salaries of MVR 6000 to MVR 8000 (US$ 389 to US$ 519), alleged the source.

?The same people work on each project, they don?t have new people,? the source claimed.

?These senior civil servants say the Environment Ministry lacks capacity and young people with knowledge and technical skills, however they are not providing training and opportunities [to the newer civil servants].

?They have a complete monopoly on knowledge? which is not being properly diffused, the source added.

Politics and bureaucracy

After the Foreign Ministry has signed a bilateral agreement the funds are transferred to the Finance Ministry, which then allocates the money to the applicable ministry or government agency, according to the source.

Most climate projects were handled under the Ministry of Housing and Environment during former President Mohamed Nasheed?s administration, the source explained. Additionally, the President?s Office also undertook many climate change initiatives and established the Presidential Advisory Council on Climate Change in 2009.

?The council still exists on paper and while some people within the President?s Office said the council members have been changed [following the controversial transfer of power February 7, 2012], no one has been informed if they have been fired. They have no idea what?s going on,? alleged the source.

Additionally, the National Planning Council (NPC) ? chaired by the president and consisting of various ministers and civil society representatives ? was formed in February 2009 to coordinate equitable sustainable development nationwide.

Currently the NPC website states: ?Due to the change of the Government , the work of the National Planning Council is currently under reform. Therefore all proposals and issues submitted to Department of National Planning/ National Planning Council is on hold for the time being.?

Under President Waheed?s government the Ministry of Housing and Environment was split to form two new entities, the Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure as well as Energy and Environment.

Due to the these changes and ongoing government instability ?There has been a significant change in the process of how the project [cycle] works,? explained the source.

?For various political reasons ? and the delicate nature of politics since February 2012 ? climate?change funds have not been consolidated,? the source continued. ?It takes a lot of work to channel climate funds. Even under Nasheed?s previous administration there were the same problems.?

An additional reason Waheed?s administration ?differs? from Nasheed?s is the current government ?has not been ?very keen? on cooperating with civil society,? alleged the source.

?Previously they behaved really unprofessionally toward certain NGOs, however since the latter half of 2012, the government has started to try and engage NGOs and civil society ? maybe to increase the administration?s legitimacy,? the source continued.

?A positive is the Environment Ministry under Waheed?s administration has been very active. They actually try to do things,? the source noted.

?However, the government consults civil society stakeholders after they?ve already decided everything. They invite NGOs to listen to their opinions, but do not seek their input during the project planning phase,? the source added.

?Ultimately, most [climate finance] problems apply to both administrations, under Nasheed and Waheed,? the source added.

Existing trust funds

?There are three umbrellas ? the Maldives Environmental Management Project (MEMP), the Climate Change Trust Fund (CCTF), the Sustainable Renewable Energy Project (SREP) ? under each there are different components,? Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Environment and Social Safeguards Coordinator Ibrahim Mohamed told Minivan News earlier this month.

?The idea is that these projects be developed in such a way that the entire nation becomes a biosphere reserve, that?s the overall goal,? he added.

The MEMP umbrella is a US$ 13.88 million World Bank loan, approved in 2008 and set to close in 2014.

?The MEMP is a soft loan in the sense the interest is very less, and this project also has several components,? said Mohamed.

?Only one component is solid waste management, focused in Ari Atoll. Other areas include environmental monitoring, training and capacity building, and a bachelor of environmental science was established at the Maldives National University (MNU),? he continued.

?There is also a renewable energy component to install solar roofing of public buildings on Thinadhoo [Island in Huvadhoo Atoll], so at least 25 percent of their energy will come from solar. That component also has awareness and training on energy efficiency and conservation of energy.

The US$ 9.5 million CCTF picks up where MEMP left off, according to Mohamed.

?Under the CCTF umbrella we have three components: clean energy for climate mitigation, wetland conservation and coral reef monitoring, as well as solid waste management,? Mohamed explained.

?The World Bank is managing the donor money from the CCTF. They don?t finance directly to the government, because they want it to be managed by a reliable, transparent, international fiduciary system.

?The CCTF idea is that the project(s) we develop becomes an exemplary example for other small island states,? he added.

The CCTF was established in 2010 after the signing of an MOU between the Maldives government, the World Bank Group and the European Union with the aim of targeting solid waste management, capacity building for environmental management, and technical assistance for monitoring and managing key natural assets.

The US$138 million SREP was established in 2012 to generate 16 megawatts of renewable energy on 50 islands in the next five years.

The SREP scheme was directly related to the Scaling-up Renewable Energy Program (SREP) originally planned to be submitted to the World Bank in February 2012, but was not due to the political upheaval that resulted from Nasheed?s controversial resignation February 7, 2012.

Additionally, the Maldives has received Global Environment Facility (GEF) grants totaling US$14,443,426 ? that leveraged US$35,176,820 in co-financing resources ? for 10 national projects, four regional projects, and eight small grants. The project areas focus on climate change, biodiversity, international waters, land degradation, persistent organic pollutants, and the ozone layer.

The GEF is an independently operating financial organisation that supports national sustainable development initiatives and addresses global environmental issues by working in partnership with the United Nations, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and Asian Development Bank (ADB) as well as civil society organisations and the private sector.

The GEF ?unites? 183 countries with these actors and claims to be the largest public funder of projects to improve the global environment.

?The EU has suggested that the Maldives? government look at one atoll with the potential for populations to move and to live and do more projects there ? such as waste management, clean energy, protection, preservation, adaptation ? all things in one big area, so that these things will be more visible,? said Mohamed.

?If all the components go into one atoll they will become more climate resilient,? he added.

Source: http://minivannews.com/politics/maldives-green-fund-to-merge-scattered-climate-finance-58141

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Monday, May 20, 2013

A tour of the Jolla phone with company co-founder Marc Dillon (video)

Say hello to the Jolla Phone. Preorders for the world's first Sailfish OS device started today and we've called into Helsinki to get the whole story from Jolla's co-founder and software head Marc Dillon. While we know there's a 4.5-inch "high definition" screen (resolution TBC), dual-core processor and 8-megapixel camera, we were kept at arms length during our meeting with an early prototype of final hardware. So, unfortunately, our full hands-on treatment will have to wait until later today. For now, Marc takes us through the thinking behind the hardware -- and what the notion of the "other half" really means -- right after the break.

Gallery: Jolla launch event

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/7QdOwQJhCuM/

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Travel: A visit to a Cambodian pepper plantation (+video)

Starling Farms outside of Kampot, Cambodia, grows and harvests by hand the black, red, and white pepper that has become a culinary delicacy among chefs around the world.

By Owen Thomas,?Staff writer / May 19, 2013

A Cambodian worker in a traditional headscarf hoes among the pepper towers at Starling Farms pepper plantation near Kampot, Cambodia.

Owen Thomas

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?Bong ? how much farther?? Our oldest son, Roswell, was asking our tuktuk driver how much longer we?d be bouncing along this potholed dirt road somewhere in Cambodia. In Khmer (pronounced ?k?MAI,?), you address any male older than you as ?bong?: it means ?older brother.?

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