Monday, November 29, 2010

New bidding study: 'Things are not all fine and dandy' - HME News

New bidding study: 'Things are not all fine and dandy' - HME News:

"As soon as CMS announced the winning bidders Nov. 3, Invacare began analyzing them. While the results are still preliminary, Bachenheimer said she's 'comfortable' saying that 40% of the winners fall into one or more of the following categories: they have credit limits of less than $10,000; they are on credit hold; they have no homecare account with Invacare; or they are so far behind on their payments that their accounts have been turned over to collections.

'We are the largest (HME) manufacturer, and if we haven't heard of them or they don't have an account with us, some of them are new companies spun out of nowhere, and that doesn't bode well for financial viability,' she said."

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Stem cells could help blind patients to see within six weeks - Science, News - The Independent

Stem cells could help blind patients to see within six weeks - Science, News - The Independent:

"The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given the go-ahead for the controversial transplant of embryonic stem cells into the eyes of patients with Stargardt's macular degeneration, where the light-sensitive retina cells at the back of eye are destroyed.

The announcement follows the first injection of embryonic stem cells into a patient in the US who is partially paralysed as a result of a spinal cord injury. Last October, a US biotechnology company, Geron, announced the start of the first clinical trial of embryonic stem cells with the hope of repairing damaged nerves."

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Gravity to Release Personalized Newspaper App Orbit | Liz Gannes | NetworkEffect | AllThingsD

Gravity to Release Personalized Newspaper App Orbit | Liz Gannes | NetworkEffect | AllThingsD

Today Gravity is unveiling its plans to be an information filtering service. The idea is to combine social and semantic understanding of users to identify content they are likely to be interested in.

Morphing Border Map Shows Europe Over The Last 1000 Years

Watch Germany's WW2 expansion at the end of the 5 minute video.

Tina Fey's Censored Palin Joke (VIDEO) | Mother Jones

Tina Fey's Censored Palin Joke (VIDEO) | Mother Jones:

Tina Fey rips Palin to shreds, PBS says the the show was running long. Weak excuse, why didn't they cut the bland stuff?

"And, you know, politics aside, the success of Sarah Palin and women like her is good for all women—except, of course, those who will end up, you know, like, paying for their own rape kit 'n' stuff. But for everybody else, it's a win-win. Unless you're a gay woman who wants to marry your partner of 20 years—whatever. But for most women, the success of conservative women is good for all of us. Unless you believe in evolution. You know—actually, I take it back. The whole thing's a disaster."

Friday, November 05, 2010

FTC may allow debt collectors to target deceased's family members | Credit.com

FTC may allow debt collectors to target deceased's family members | Credit.com:

"'The plain language of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act does not allow collectors to contact friends, neighbors or relatives except to obtain contact information for debtors,' NCLC debt collection expert and attorney Robert Hobbs said. 'This proposed rule could open the door for collectors to seek money by prodding and misleading grieving relatives and friends into thinking they have obligations that they don't.'"

HAMP Fails: Pushes Consumers Into Foreclosure

HAMP Fails: Pushes Consumers Into Foreclosure:

"“Many homeowners end up facing foreclosure solely on the basis of the arrears accumulated during a trial modification,” Julia Gordon, senior policy counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending told Congress, according to Bloomberg. “One incomplete payment or one accounting mistake can land you on an apparently unstoppable conveyor belt to eviction.”

So far, HAMP has approved fewer than 467,000 borrowers for permanent loan modifications, the report said."

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Charles Gasparino: Wall Street Still Doesn't Love the GOP - WSJ.com

Charles Gasparino: Wall Street Still Doesn't Love the GOP - WSJ.com

The reasons to expect this about-face are partly ideological: People like Larry Fink at BlackRock, Jamie Dimon at J.P. Morgan Chase, Brian Moynihan at Bank of America, and Lloyd Blankfein and Gary Cohn at Goldman Sachs are all social liberals who largely support the president's agenda on health care, taxes and the environment. That's why they like Mr. Bloomberg so much—he's Mr. Obama without the rhetoric of class warfare.

But backing the president is also good business. Wall Street leaders know that despite the public chastising and name-calling ("fat-cat bankers," etc.), and July's signing into law of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, they've benefited disproportionately from Mr. Obama's policies.

Monday, November 01, 2010

India predicts 40% leap in demand for fossil fuels - Yahoo! News

India predicts 40% leap in demand for fossil fuels - Yahoo! News:

"The country of more than 1.1 billion people already imports nearly 80 percent of its crude oil to fuel an economy that is expected to grow 8.5 percent this year and at least nine percent next year.

Demand for hydrocarbons -- petroleum, coal, natural gas -- 'over the next 10 years will increase by over 40 percent,' Singh told an energy conference in New Delhi."