Gamesss: May 2012

Thursday 31 May 2012

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Wednesday 30 May 2012

Could sarcastic computers be in our future? New math model can help computers understand inference

ScienceDaily (May 30, 2012) ? In a new paper, the researchers describe a mathematical model they created that helps predict pragmatic reasoning and may eventually lead to the manufacture of machines that can better understand inference, context and social rules.

Language is so much more than a string of words. To understand what someone means, you need context.

Consider the phrase, "Man on first." It doesn't make much sense unless you're at a baseball game. Or imagine a sign outside a children's boutique that reads, "Baby sale -- One week only!" You easily infer from the situation that the store isn't selling babies but advertising bargains on gear for them.

Present these widely quoted scenarios to a computer, however, and there would likely be a communication breakdown. Computers aren't very good at pragmatics -- how language is used in social situations.

But a pair of Stanford psychologists has taken the first steps toward changing that.

In a new paper published recently in the journal Science, Assistant Professors Michael Frank and Noah Goodman describe a quantitative theory of pragmatics that promises to help open the door to more human-like computer systems, ones that use language as flexibly as we do.

The mathematical model they created helps predict pragmatic reasoning and may eventually lead to the manufacture of machines that can better understand inference, context and social rules. The work could help researchers understand language better and treat people with language disorders.

It also could make speaking to a computerized customer service attendant a little less frustrating.

"If you've ever called an airline, you know the computer voice recognizes words but it doesn't necessarily understand what you mean," Frank said. "That's the key feature of human language. In some sense it's all about what the other person is trying to tell you, not what they're actually saying."

Frank and Goodman's work is part of a broader trend to try to understand language using mathematical tools. That trend has led to technologies like Siri, the iPhone's speech recognition personal assistant.

But turning speech and language into numbers has its obstacles, mainly the difficulty of formalizing notions such as "common knowledge" or "informativeness."

That is what Frank and Goodman sought to address.

The researchers enlisted 745 participants to take part in an online experiment. The participants saw a set of objects and were asked to bet which one was being referred to by a particular word.

For example, one group of participants saw a blue square, a blue circle and a red square. The question for that group was: Imagine you are talking to someone and you want to refer to the middle object. Which word would you use, "blue" or "circle"?

The other group was asked: Imagine someone is talking to you and uses the word "blue" to refer to one of these objects. Which object are they talking about?

"We modeled how a listener understands a speaker and how a speaker decides what to say," Goodman explained.

The results allowed Frank and Goodman to create a mathematical equation to predict human behavior and determine the likelihood of referring to a particular object.

"Before, you couldn't take these informal theories of linguistics and put them into a computer. Now we're starting to be able to do that," Goodman said.

The researchers are already applying the model to studies on hyperbole, sarcasm and other aspects of language.

"It will take years of work but the dream is of a computer that really is thinking about what you want and what you mean rather than just what you said," Frank said.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Stanford University. The original article was written by Brooke Donald.

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

Journal Reference:

M. C. Frank, N. D. Goodman. Predicting Pragmatic Reasoning in Language Games. Science, 2012; 336 (6084): 998 DOI: 10.1126/science.1218633

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.

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PHILIPPINES: Proudly ?Pinoy? Views on Attachment Parenting ...

Photo of the author and her then 5-month old son

I won?t go into the old news that is Time?s controversial ?mom enough? mid-May issue. We all know they sold enough copies on that matter.

Instead, I wanted to share some views on attachment parenting and breastfeeding expressed by fellow Filipino moms.

To begin, let me say that I am a babywearing,?formerly nursing mom (my son recently weaned?after being breastfed for two years and six months). In fact, here?s a photo of me a year and a half ago, when my son was just five months old.

Here in the Philippines, we are not new to the concept of babywearing and breastfeeding.

Velvet?Escario?Roxas, a breastfeeding counselor and representative of Arugaan (ah-roo-ga-an), a non-governmental, WHO-funded organization that conducts breastfeeding training for the Philippine Department of Health, gave a good picture of this when she posted a recent ?Facebook status update on the fan page of the popular breastfeeding blog, Chronicles of a Nursing Mom:

?Our Pinoy [colloquialism for "Filipino] ancestors have been doing these things since the beginning of time. We call it the Filipino way of living or raising of children. They on the other hand modernized it and called it attachment parenting. Look at the indigenous folks of the mountain provinces.

Photo courtesy of Francisco Guerrero Photography, from The Painters? Wife blog.

They breastfeed their children to 7 years, co-sleep with their kids, use the baby slings (to feed, to protect the children from rice field snakes/rats etc). I have so much respect for our ancestors ? of their wisdom and knowledge and most especially on the care for infants/children.?

I try to be a good mom. I decided to become a work-at-home mom not because I believe that every mom should work from home so that she can care for her kid, but because?for me, this is what works.?I do not discount those women who choose to hold full-time jobs outside the home; in fact, I admire them for being able to do what I myself was not able to to effectively. I breastfed for a total of two years and six months, which I am?hugely?proud of. I know of other women who?ve worked full-time and have managed to raise happy, healthy and whole kids. ?The point is: We, as parents, will instinctively desire to be the best parents that we can be for our children.?Neva Santos of the popular parenting blog, Manila Mommy, summarizes this very well:

The [attachment parenting] style is instinctive. Not to trivialize how hard parenting is, but sometimes listening to your gut is the best, right? Follow your intuition, I say. But even with the emphasis on [attachment parenting] in discussions as a result of the Time cover, it also got people talking on other parenting styles and the only conclusion to all that talk is that?there is no one type that works for parents and children. Heck for different kids in the same family, different styles could? work.

Indeed. In the end, the only parenting ?style? that works is one that is grounded on love. Parents work hard to be the best providers, caregivers and educators they can for their kids. The end result ? the so called ?success? of one?s parenting ? is relative. ?Fellow blogger, breastfeeding, babywearing and attachment parenting advocate?(and also a friend), Eliza Santiago-Ypon of The Painters? Wife, was interviewed by a local broadsheet regarding her views on this matter, and she does a great job of encapsulating the fact that breastfeeding, in particular, is not the measure of success of a healthy family:

?No one should be made to feel they?re less if they don?t breastfeed. As a breastfeeding advocate, I will always try to promote breastfeeding and its benefits to anyone I meet, but at the end of the day, we?re all just trying to be good parents. I?ve met some who express regret and guilt that they didn?t breastfeed but have learned to move past it. They have great, healthy children. No one should make them feel they didn?t do the best they could.?

I don?t have much to add to what these ladies have said. ?I just wanted to say that, as moms, we?re not competing for a medal or honor or accolade.?We?re all part of one, big, global community, and we look out for our families based on what works for our families. The choices that make up my definition of parenting are what?work for me ? and that?s fine. I?m not a 100 percent attachment parenting practitioner, and I don?t intend to be, but this doesn?t make me any less of a successful mom.?Ultimately, I am beholden to my child for one thing only, and that is to love him wholly, unconditionally.

Whether people agree with my version of parenting or not, is fine. Just don?t ask me if I am ?mom enough?? because I will tell you?I am not just enough, I?m the only mom who can love my kid the way I can.

This is an original World Moms Blog post by Martine de Luna in Manila, Philippines. ?Martine blogs over at?Dainty Mom, and can be found daily on Twitter?@Dainty_Mom, and on?Facebook.

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Tuesday 29 May 2012

Angry Birds and PES 2012 join Skype: won't work on Windows Phones with 256MB RAM (updated)

Putting the squeeze on those hardware specifications has lead to several more app casualties on Microsoft's ever-growing mobile platform. Unfortunately, it includes one of mobile gaming's biggest hitters: Angry Birds. We gave installation a go on our own Lumia 610 and were met with the unfortunate message seen above. According to WindowsPhoneApps Spanish, it's not the only one affected by the reduction in RAM on these lower-priced smartphones. PES 2012 won't run on the lower-specced smartphone, while videocall app Tango also joins its rival Skype on the no-go list.

Update: Nokia's confirmed that Rovio is, indeed, working on an optimized version of Angry Birds for the Lumia 610, though an exact release date is still up in the air.

Angry Birds and PES 2012 join Skype: won't work on Windows Phones with 256MB RAM (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 May 2012 06:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Budget Subcomm says use fed special ed $ for student med therapy ...

Desaulnier Recommending that schools pay for student medical programs with federal special education monies, state Sen. Mark De Saulnier, at left, chair of Senate Budget Committee #3, rejected Gov. Brown's proposed cut to the state's?Children's Services' Medical Therapy Program?(CCS- MTP) last Thursday.?Marisa Lagos reported on the story for the?San Francisco Chronicle.

Under Browns' proposal, families with annual incomes over $40,000 would no longer be eligible for MTP services?unless medical expenses exceed 20% of their income; currently there is no financial eligibility requirement.

From the Subcommittee agenda, May 24, 2012:

If Brown's proposal is approved, an estimated 4,779 children would lose MTP services...it would result in annual savings of $21.9 million ($10.9 million General Fund and?$11 million county funds).

Instead it is recommended to use available federal special education funds to cover the costs?of providing services to the 14,273?children with?Individual Education Programs (IEPs) [under the federal?Individuals with Disabilities Education Act]?who receive medical therapy.

Currently state and county funds cover the medical therapy services included in the IEP.

A conservative estimate of these costs is $24.6 million ($12.2 million General Fund?and $12.4 million county funds).

The subcommittee staff recommendation would require schools to pay for all therapies?included in a child?s IEP, including medical, (as required by federal law) and to provide schools?with this additional special education funding to cover the increased cost. Under this scenario,?the state would continue to require [the clinics] to provide medically necessary therapies, but?placeholder language would specify that medically necessary therapies included in an IEP?would not be the financial responsibility of the CCS, but would be funded by the schools.

The CCS-MTP provides physical, occupational, and medical?therapy to handicapped children with neurological and musculoskeletal disorders, such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida, muscular dystrophy, head and spinal cord injuries;?24,433 children receive services in 125 mobile?outpatient clinics located on school campuses and run by county CCS programs.

Written for California's Children by Elizabeth J Carlyle.

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UN agency appoints Mugabe as a 'leader for tourism'

Joseph Mwenda / AFP - Getty Images

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe signs an agreement on Tuesday calling for the 2013 UNWTO General Assembly to be co-hosted by Zambia and Zimbabwe.

By msnbc.com staff

The United Nations has appointed Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe as a "leader for tourism,"?sparking criticism from human rights activists, the Guardian reported.

The UN World Tourism Organization endorsed Mugabe, 88, along with his political ally, Zambian President Michael Sata, 75, as international envoys for the tourism initiative. The two African leaders will also co-host the organization's general assembly in August 2013.

Speaking in Victoria Falls, UNWTO Secretary General Taleb Rifai endorsed Zimbabwe as a safe tourism destination, according to The Herald, Zimbabwe's state-owned newspaper.

"I was told about the wonderful experience and the warm hospitality of this country," Rifai said.??By coming here, it is recognition, an endorsement on the country that it is a safe destination."?

Mugabe and Sata also attended and?signed the?UNWTO agreement.

The development came as a shock to human rights activists. Widely regarded as a pariah in the West, Mugabe is blamed for running Zimbabwe's economy into the ground and for massive human rights abuses to keep his grip on power. He is also subject to a travel ban.

"I can't see any justification for the man being an 'ambassador.' An ambassador for what? The man has blood on his hands. Do they want tourists to see those bloody hands?" The Guardian quoted Kumbi Muchemwa, a spokesman for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change party, as saying.

Advocacy officer Dewa Mavhinga of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition also criticized the appointment, telling the British newspaper: "It sends the wrong message to Mugabe that he is now acceptable to the international community. This is the same guy who last week was bashing gays and lesbians, who he says are worse than dogs."

Critics have also said that Mugabe's appointment damages the UNWTO's credibility.

"It undermines the reputation of the UNWTO as being detached from the reality on the ground in terms of human rights violations and political instability," University of Zimbabwe politics professor John Makumbe told The Guardian.

UNWTO said it had not awarded Mugabe an official title.

"Correct would be to say UNWTO has presented both presidents with an open letter which calls for them to support tourism as a means to foster sustainable development in their countries to the benefit of their people and consequently ask them to support the sector in this respect," communications coordinator Sandra Carvao told The Guardian.

More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world

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Monday 28 May 2012

Tech Roundup: Windows 8 Boot, Windows 7 Tweaks, And More

This week on Pureinfotech: Learn the three new ways to access Windows 8 boot options menu when you need to troubleshoot your system and in the process get to know what the new set of tools has to offer.

Also give Windows 7 a boost by installing two Microsoft hotfixes that aren?t?available in Windows Update when they should. Learn how to assign a folder path to a drive, and for this week Desktop Fun, we have some great wallpapers of circle pattern designs.

Here is all of what you might have missed:

We need your input to help us bring you more good content

Do you have a tech question, suggestion or some feedback? Send us an email at?tips@pureinfotech.com?or better yet?ask in the forums.

Follow us on?

The posting of advertisements, profanity, or personal attacks is prohibited.

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Music Business: WATCH eLDee HipOnTV Interview Part II ? ?The ...

eLDee Interviews with Nigerias HIP TV Music Business: WATCH eLDee HipOnTV Interview Part II The First Shows for Trybesmen, we literally Had to Pay to Perform (Video) Often, emerging artists I speak with have this weird idea that established artists just coasted through and had things come very easy for them. I don?t even try explaining the basic law of nature, especially where it comes to business. ?Time is money, money is time. I?ve gotten very stingy over time with how I spend my time. At the end of the day, some people just gotta go through the trials and get the scars like everyone else because obviously they learn better that way.

In this video, however, eLDee helps those who are willing to listen. AML emerging artists, do listen and do not think success happens overnight. Whether you are within or outside the music industry, you gotta put in the time. It just is what it is, no shortcuts.

eLDee does not sugar coat the challenges he went through to get to where he is today. He reveals the realities of what his journey was like:

1) People did not believe in him and did not give him a chance;
2) He arrived on the music scene at a time many people thought Nigerian music was not good enough to be on the radio;
3) He had to pay people to perform;
4) He had serious challenges with the distribution of his music;
5) It took one radio station to really believe in and give him a chance on air. He built success but left Nigeria to relocate to the USA. When he returned to Nigeria, he had to basically start all over again to establish his relevance.

Bottom line, nothing good comes easy. You gotta roll your sleeves and put in the work. It just is what it is.

Watch Part I of the interview here. Check out Part II below:

-Uduak
@uduaklaw

Certified Game Changer, Practicing Attorney, Businesswoman, Consultant, Journalist, Publisher and Blogger. Africa Music Law.com ? is a revolution taking place right before your eyes. It has never been done before. Buckle up for the ride! To solicit me for speaking engagements, consulting offers, press interviews and/or radio/television legal commentary, email (africamusiclaw@gmail.com).

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Top 10 Tips for Successful hCG Weight Loss | Body Health & Fitness

HCGBlog.com?s vast experience helping hCG dieters lose weight has led it to create a list of the top 10 tips for successful weight loss using the hCG weight loss program.

(PRWEB) May 25, 2012

As an hCG weight loss expert, hCGBlog.com knows that when executed correctly, the hCG diet can help users drop 1-2 pounds per day. While this weight loss program can work for anyone, many users sabotage their diets by making mistakes and not following the instructions carefully. In an effort to help as many users as possible lose weight with hCG drops or injections, hCGBlog.com has created a list of the top 10 tips for successful hCG weight loss.

HCGBlog.com?s Top 10 Tips for Successful hCG Weight Loss

1. Do Not Skip Phase 3 of the hCG Diet

? Phase 3 is essential to reset the metabolism and prevent post-hCG diet weight gain.

2. Do Not Cheat

? While many users think they are following the hCG guidelines correctly, they are often making small errors and inhibiting their weight loss. Be sure not to use oil when cooking, to only eat the approved food items, and not to drink anything but water, tea and coffee.

3. Do Not Engage in Any High Calorie Burning Activities

4. Keep a Food and Weight Loss Journal

? Make sure you weigh yourself each morning and monitor the foods you eat throughout the day. Oftentimes, users that keep a detailed food journal find that eating certain foods helps to accelerate their weight loss.

5. Join an hCG Forum

6. Diet with a Friend

7. Drink Plenty of Water

8. Do Not Skip the Loading Phase

9. Do Not Use Lotion or Oil on the Skin

10. Do Not Consume Vitamins or Supplements that Contain Oil

Click here to learn more about the hCG weight loss program.

Editor?s Notes: hCGBlog.com was founded to help provide answers and support for both those on the hCG diet and others who are simply interested in learning about weight loss with hCG.

# # #

Wendy Miles
http://www.hcgblog.com
1-800-365-1129
Email Information

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Sunday 27 May 2012

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AP Photos: Americans honor troops for Memorial Day

A Marine salutes as motorcycles drive past during the annual Rolling Thunder parade ahead of Memorial Day in Washington, Sunday, May 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Members of Rolling Thunder salute during the presentation of colors during the annual Rolling Thunder rally on the National Mall ahead of Memorial Day in Washington, Sunday, May 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

The Elite Honor Guard from the McGuire Air Force Base begin the military honor's ceremony inside St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church as family and members of the community attend a funeral mass for Tech. Sgt. William Kevin Colwell of Glen Cove, whose remains were found 46 years later in Vietnam, Saturday, May 26, 2012, in Glen Cove, New York. The remains of Colwell were recently identified at a military lab in Hawaii. He disappeared in 1965 when his plane crashed in Laos. He was 44 at the time of his disappearance. (AP Photo/Newsday, Steve Pfost)

World War II veteran Jesse R. Turner salutes while being comforted by Helen Marie Misel at a display of more than 1700 United States flags in Shawnee, Kan., Saturday, May 26, 2012. Turner served in the Army Air Corps. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

American Robert Dryfoos, left, from Conn., with Khalil Diallo walks around layers of tombs after attending Memorial Day rites at the American Cemetery in suburban Taguig, south of Manila, Philippines on Sunday May 27, 2012. The cemetery site contains the largest number of U.S. military dead of World War II. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Boy Scouts carry a large American flag through the Memphis National Cemetery in Tennessee, where scouts also placed flags on 42,000 graves. In Little Rock, Ark., a 4-year-old girl fills her arms with flags to place on gravesites.

Across the U.S. this weekend, Americans are honoring the fallen, veterans and military personnel in ceremonies and private remembrances.

Here's a gallery of AP photos from Memorial Day weekend.

Associated Press

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Memorial Day: Among post-9/11 veterans, deepening antiwar sentiment

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Saturday 26 May 2012

Death Threats Force Human Rights Lawyer To Leave Mexico

Published at 10:09 pm EST, May 25, 2012

A Mexican attorney who specializes in human rights cases announced he is leaving the country temporarily because of death threats.

Vidulfo Rosales Sierra, legal counsel for the Tlachinollan Mountain Human Rights Center, is the second rights activist in less than a month to flee Mexico.

?I am leaving the country to protect my life, but I demand from authorities an investigation of the recent threats and acts of harassment against me,? Rosales said at a Mexico City press conference arranged by Amnesty International.

He denounced the government for a ?lack of will? to protect human rights defenders in the southern state of Guerrero, where the Tlachinollan Center is based.

?The threats to my person began in 2009 due to the effort we headed to obtain justice for the murder and extrajudicial execution of indigenous people who were tortured,? the attorney said.

The Tlachinollan Center was founded in 1992 to document police and military abuses against Mixtec, Nahuatl, Amusgo and Tlapaneco Indians in the Tlachinollan Mountain region.

As the center?s legal counsel, Rosales has played a key role in important cases such as the February 2002 rape of two indigenous women by soldiers, AI?s Mexico representative, Alberto Herrera, said at the press conference.

Rosales is currently representing the families of two students slain after taking part in a Dec. 12 demonstration in Chilpancingo, Guerrero?s capital.

The lawyer?s departure comes less than two weeks after a Catholic priest who runs a shelter for Central American migrants said he was leaving Mexico after learning that someone had put a price on his head.

The Rev. Alejandro Solalinde founded the Hermanos del Camino shelter in the southern state of Oaxaca, where some 200 Central American migrants arrive each day.

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Greek euro exit would be a recipe for hardship

ATHENS, Greece (AP) ? As Greece creaks under its untenable debt and a shrinking economy, the possibility that it could stop using the euro is becoming increasingly likely. The effects of such a move would be as quick as they would be brutal for ordinary Greeks, who would essentially take a 50-percent pay cut just as prices soar.

Here's a look at what else could happen:

THE RETURN OF THE DRACHMA

No other country has ever left the 17-country eurozone before and there are no procedures in the EU's vast rulebook that would push any country out. But one fear is that the Greeks could decide to vote in an anti-austerity government on June 17 that may then decide to renege on the terms of the multi-billion-euro bailout which has been keeping the country afloat. Greece could be then forced into a messy exit from the euro bloc. It would then have no choice but to start printing its own currency ? the drachma ? to pay its way.

According to the Greek think tank Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE), such a move would hit the Greek people hard ? and quickly. The new drachma would lose half or more of its value relative to the euro. This would drive up inflation and sap the purchasing power of the average Greek. At the same time, the country's economic output would drop, putting more people out of work where one in five is already unemployed. The prices of imported goods would skyrocket, putting them out of reach for many.

THE DASH FOR CASH

The prospect of Greece leaving the euro and dealing with a devalued drachma has already prompted many people to start withdrawing their euros out of the country's banks.

"Fear has gripped many who are withdrawing their money," said IOBE head of research Aggelos Tsakanikas.

Although the latest bank deposit figures aren't yet available, Greek President Karolos Papoulias last week said about ?700 million ($898 million) in deposits was taken out of banks the week after the May 6 election. What's more, according to central bank data, Greek banks have been hemorrhaging money for almost three years now ? from a high of ?237.8 billion ($302.5 billion) worth of deposits in Sept. 2009 down to ?165.3 billion ($210.3 billion) in March this year.

A victory for anti-bailout lawmakers in the June 17 election would likely trigger an even bigger bank run, said Dimitris Mardas, associate professor of economics at the University of Thessaloniki. Greek authorities, Mardas predicts, would respond by imposing controls on the movement of money for as long as it takes for the panic to subside.

WHAT ABOUT HOMES AND SAVINGS?

As the new drachma quickly loses its value against other currencies, ordinary Greeks' savings and pensions will shrink just as rapidly. Analyst Vangelis Agapitos estimates that inflation under the new drachma would quickly reach 40 to 50 percent to catch up with the fall in the new currency's value. This would make everything much more expensive.

"People are going to need five times the amount of money they would have needed to purchase something," Agapitos said.

To stop the falling value of the drachma, interest rates would have to be increased to as high as 30 to 40 percent, according to Agapitos. People will then be unable to pay off their loans and mortgages and the country's banks would have to be nationalized to stop them from going under, he predicts.

FEW BENEFITS FOR BUSINESS

Some Greeks believe quitting the euro would boost the country's economy as a devalued drachma would make Greek exports cheaper.

But Constantine Michalos, president of the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry, says Greece doesn't have a strong enough export-oriented economy to take advantage of a devalued currency. The country currently imports twice as much as it exports.

"Without any real heavy industry, the Greek economy can't exploit this advantage," Michalos said. "Our main industry is tourism, but in a chaotic situation, which tourist would choose to come to Greece right after the country goes back to the drachma?"

To get its international bailouts, Greece had to embark on a series of economic and market reforms such as reducing a bloated public sector and cutting red tape. Agapitos warns that if Greece dumps the euro, the incentive to carry out these reforms would evaporate, hurting Greece's competitiveness.

GETTING IT ON THE BLACK MARKET

A drachma that is dwindling in value means that even basic, foreign-produced goods such as medicines or fuel will cost much more. Almost inevitably, a thriving black market would emerge, taking more steam out of the economy just as bank loans become much more difficult to pay off.

Vangelis, a 58-year-old former customs official who didn't want to give his full name, worried that going back to the drachma would return Greece to the abject poverty of 1940s when it was under Nazi occupation.

"We'll be paying half our salary for a can of olive oil ... Greeks can't be thinking about returning to the drachma. It would be a catastrophe, a catastrophe," Vangelis said.

TURNING TO A LIFE OF CRIME?

With all the pain a drachma-based economy would induce, IOBE head of research Aggelos Tsakanikas foresees an increase in crime as people struggle to pay bills. "We won't see tanks in the streets and violence, we won't see people starving in the streets, but crime could very well rise," he said.

Others reject the apocalyptic scenarios altogether, saying Greeks will fall back on their resourcefulness to overcome hard times and lend a hand to those less well off.

"The way things are now, it can't get any worse," says Athens resident Tasos Schinas, 37. "Sure, the transition to the drachma will be difficult (but) average people will find a way to survive, many will probably go back to the village and start growing produce ... We just won't go back to the lifestyle we've led all this time."

Agapitos, the analyst, thinks that attitude is too cavalier.

"Desperate people do desperate things, but I can't predict what will happen," he said. "There will be rage and people will want to vent it but it may not be done in a civilized way."

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Friday 25 May 2012

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Governor: NJ will start sports bets on its own

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) ? New Jersey will defy a federal ban and let people bet on the outcomes of football, basketball and other games this fall, Gov. Chris Christie said Thursday.

Speaking at a news conference highlighting efforts to reinvigorate Atlantic City, Christie said the regulations his administration will issue next week make no attempt to overturn a 1992 federal law that limits sports betting to four states.

"We intend to go forward," the Republican governor said. "If someone wants to stop us, then let them try to stop us. We want to work with the casinos and horse racing industry to get it implemented.

"Am I expecting there may be legal action taken against us to try to prevent it? Yes," the governor said. "But I have every confidence we're going to be successful."

The U.S. Justice Department did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Thursday afternoon.

A federal law called the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act limits sports betting to four states that approved it by a 1991 deadline: Nevada, Delaware, Oregon and Montana. At the time, New Jersey was given the chance to become the fifth but failed to act during a prescribed window.

But for the past two years, New Jersey has been moving toward implementing sports betting. A state senator from northern New Jersey tried to sue to overturn the law, but the case was dismissed.

In the fall, voters indicated by a 2-to-1 margin in a nonbinding referendum that they want the ability to bet on sporting events.

Earlier this year, the legislature passed a sports betting law, and Christie signed it. It would allow bets to be taken at Atlantic City casinos and the state's four horse tracks.

Casino executives generally supported Christie's approach, even as they cautioned that none of them wanted to be the first to set up an expensive sports betting operation, only to risk having the federal government shut it down on a moment's notice.

"I love the idea of playing offense and having the federal government have to play defense against us," said Tony Rodio, president of Tropicana Entertainment, which owns the Tropicana in Atlantic City, as well as casinos in several other states. "But I don't know who's going to want to be the first to open knowing they can shut you down. We'd need a lot more clarity before we invested lots of money in a sports book."

Likewise, Aaron Gomes, vice president of Resorts Casino Hotel, said the concept of moving ahead unilaterally is appealing but risky.

"It's going to be hard to find someone willing to take the first jump," he said. "Particularly for companies that do business in multiple jurisdictions, they might not want to jeopardize their licenses in other states."

Robert Griffin, CEO of Trump Entertainment Resorts, said he personally favors Christie's approach. The Casino Association of New Jersey, of which Griffin is president, has not yet considered the matter, he added.

"The voters of New Jersey have spoken, and he's listening to them," Griffin said.

Sports betting proponents want to help Atlantic City's 12 casinos and the state's four racetracks: the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, Monmouth Park in Oceanport, Freehold Raceway and Atlantic City Race Course in Mays Landing. They say legal sports betting also would provide a new source of revenue from a huge pool of money that now flows untaxed to unlicensed offshore Internet sites or to illegal bookmakers, many of whom are allied with organized crime.

Casino executives say the main benefit to their bottom line would come not from new sports betting revenue, but by drawing more customers, who would presumably gamble and spend money on other things.

Christie said 50 percent of the revenue generated by sports betting would go toward treatment programs for compulsive gamblers.

A national gambling study in the 1990s pegged sports betting ? legal and otherwise ? as a $380 billion industry. The Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association, an online gambling association pushing for Internet betting to be legalized in New Jersey, says that figure now is closer to a half-trillion dollars.

Sen. Raymond Lesniak, the Democratic lawmaker who tried to sue to overturn the federal ban, predicted the law would be overturned.

"To those with a vested interest in the status quo ? the professional sports organizations who take a hypocritical stance that wagering will 'ruin the purity of the game,' and the Nevada-based gaming conglomerates that have enjoyed that state's stranglehold on sports wagering for the last 20 years ? I respectfully say, 'Bring it on,'" he said in a statement. "The sooner you make an issue of New Jersey's noncompliance with an unconstitutional federal ban, the sooner we can defeat that ban in the courts, and put New Jersey on the same competitive footing as the rest of the nation when it comes to sports wagering."

Christie would not comment on New Jersey's efforts to legalize Internet gambling, saying the legislature has yet to pass and send him a bill this year. They did so last year, but Christie vetoed it, voicing concerns over its constitutionality and the possible proliferation of illegal backroom online betting parlors.

___

Wayne Parry can be reached at http://twitter.com/WayneParryAC

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Bankia, Catalonia pile on Spanish debt worries

MADRID (Reuters) - Financial troubles at a big Spanish bank and one of the country's richest regions, Catalonia, piled on problems on Friday for the Madrid government and for investors who question whether it can pay its debts without help from euro zone allies.

Bankia SA , Spain's fourth biggest bank and newly nationalized, asked for a bailout of 19 billion euros ($24 billion) to repair losses caused by a burst property bubble, a financial sector source said - more than double what the finance minister said just days ago would be the least that was needed.

And the president of Catalonia, one of the wealthiest of Spain's 17 regions, said high interest rates demanded by wary creditors were making it hard for his administration in Barcelona to raise funds.

He called on the central government in Madrid to guarantee joint bonds issued by regional authorities or otherwise underwrite regional financing: "We don't care how they do it," Artur Mas told reporters, saying the Spanish economy would not grow if the regions struggle to pay monthly bills to suppliers.

Investors believe the banks' capital shortfall and a credit crunch for regional governments could force the euro zone's fourth-largest economy to seek international aid - a move that would throw further doubt on the future of the currency union.

Adding to a miserable day for Spanish investors, Standard & Poor's lowered its ratings on the debt of Bankia and four other banks and said it was taking a dimmer view of Spain's economy:

"Spain is entering a double-dip recession that will likely trigger a large increase in the volume of problematic assets that the financial system will accumulate in 2012 and 2013, which in turn will lead banks record high credit provisions."

BANKIA NEEDS RISE

After Bankia's new management team analyzed the financial position of the bank at a board meeting, a financial sector source said it would ask for state aid of 19 billion euros.

Earlier this week, Economy Minister Luis de Guindos, who once pledged that no public money would be used to bail out banks, told a congressional committee only that the state would have to put at least 9 billion euros into Bankia.

The government has already spent 4.5 billion euros to prop up Bankia. De Guindos had pledged in the past that no public money would be put into the banks.

One London-based analyst said the government's handling of Bankia had undermined confidence in whether the figure announced would cover losses. "Whatever they say, people are going to think it's not enough," said the analyst, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "The process has been going on for so long."

Spain is nationalizing the bank, which holds some 10 percent of the country's total deposits, after it was unable to handle heavy losses from a 2008 property crash.

The government insists that Bankia's woes do not reflect the wider financial system in Spain.

Spain will have to go to the markets to raise debt to put into Bankia at a time when its borrowing costs are high.

Spanish banks, flush with cheap liquidity from the Central Bank in the first part of the year, increased their holdings of domestic government debt in April while foreign investors have cut their holdings.

CATALAN WOES

Catalan leader Mas's comment helped to drive the euro currency to a 22-month low. Spain's country risk, as measured by the spread between German and Spanish bonds jumped to 495 basis points from around 460.

Treasury Minister Cristobal Montoro has pledged to come up with a way to back regional debt by July. On Friday, Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said the central government was still looking at options.

"These are complicated mechanisms that must be analyzed," Saenz de Santamaria said at a weekly news conference.

The government was implementing measures to make it faster and cheaper for people to start up small businesses as Spain tries to meet European demands to make its economy more competitive, she said.

The regions have 36 billion euros of debt maturing this year and have been priced out of international bond markets. Catalonia's debt rating has been cut by S&P credit rating agency to one notch above junk.

Mas said Catalonia's options for refinancing were central government bonds or debt guarantees, high-priced short-term bank debt or the limited market for selling patriot bonds to Catalonian residents.

ADDITIONAL SPENDING

While struggling to put a precise number on a banking sector clean-up, Spain has also revised up its 2011 deficit figure several times as additional spending from regional and local governments has come to light.

The conservative government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy plans more than 45 billion euros in savings this year to try to bring the deficit down to 5.3 percent of GDP, a mission many say is impossible.

Spain has gone through four different stages of rescues of its banks, none of which has completely convinced investors that the clean-up has been deep enough.

Now it may end up creating one nationalized bank out of its failed lenders, including Bankia, if the state cannot find buyers for state-rescued banks like mid-sized Catalunya Caixa.

Two sources close to the situation said that the FROB bank restructuring fund, which has taken over several banks to resell them, was considering delaying the auction of Catalunya Caixa and smaller savings bank Banco de Valencia.

Under pressure from the European Union, the government has hired independent auditors to produce a report on the financial system. International institutions such as the European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund will scrutinize the audit to give it credibility.

Bankia shares have fallen 34 percent since its former Chairman Rodrigo Rato stepped down on May 7, in a prelude to the state intervention in the bank. The shares were suspended pending the announcement later on Friday.

(Additional reporting by Jesus Aguado and Sonya Dowsett; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)

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Taiwan's Tsai claims island's richest spot: Forbes

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