February 27, 2013? | ? Posted by : jerseypt? | ? General News ? | ? 0 Comment?
SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ ? Like a typical 12-year-old boy, Edward Migliore loves to climb trees. The thought this South Brunswick sixth grader ? the son of Paul and Carol Migliore ? could today pull himself up the branches of a neighborhood tree, however, would seem to be no short of a miracle to those who know his story.
Two years ago, two-thirds of Edward?s femur was removed after he was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer. Following surgery, 14 rounds of chemo and more than a year of rehabilitation at Jersey Physical Therapy, Edward is out of his wheelchair and ? most importantly ? free of cancer.
His journey was literally taken one step at a time.
?When I first came to physical therapy, I couldn?t have really walked without someone being right next to me while I was on my crutches,? Edward said. During surgery, most of his cancerous femur was replaced by a metallic rod. ?By the last treatment (about a year later), I needed no crutches, no cane ? nothing.?
According to physical therapist (and co-founder) of Jersey Physical Therapy, Marc Rubenstein, physical therapy played a vital role in more than building strength, flexibility, comfort and improving function in Edward?s right leg. It also served to maintain Edward?s strength and stamina through his final chemo treatments ? a common benefit physical therapy offers patients of all ages and various types of cancer.
?We?ve helped a number of patients with cancer restore strength and functionality,? Rubenstein said. ?There?s a large population that can benefit from these physical therapy treatments, and perhaps it?s underutilized.?
In Edward?s case, physical therapy also offered him a sense of empowerment.
?That?s really how I felt,? he said. ?There were so many complications with surgery and chemo treatments, but with physical therapy, I could have at least some control over my health.?
Edward said his initial prognosis suggested he?d do little more than walk following surgery. But today, he?s climbing trees again, an activity he says ?gives me a whole new perspective on things.?
Coincidentally, Edward?s journey from patient to survivor is one that has offered a fresh perspective to those around him, including the Jersey Physical Therapy staff members who worked with him for more than a year to restore a sense of normalcy in his life. Jersey Physical Therapy had already been long-time supporter of the Hugs for Brady Foundation, a local group that helps children (and their families) who are dealing with childhood cancer.
Edward was recently honored as a survivor at this year?s Hugs for Brady Foundation winter gala, an event at which his father, Paul, was asked to speak. Paul took the occasion to offer some sobering facts about pediatric cancer:
One in 320 kids will be diagnosed with cancer, with 40 kids diagnosed each day. Of these 40 children, seven will not survive the battle.
Just 3 percent of all funds raised for cancer research goes toward the research of childhood cancer.
To learn more about the Hugs for Brady Foundation, visit www.hugsforbrady.org.
About Jersey Physical Therapy
Jersey Physical Therapy was founded in 2002 in Kendall Park by South Brunswick natives Marc Rubenstein, PT, DPT, OCS, and Geoffrey Hunt, BS, PT, OCS. The clinic expanded in 2006 with partner Sean Moore, PT, MPT, and the opening of a second office in Milltown/East Brunswick. Both practices ? and a soon-to-be-announced third location ? strive to deliver the highest quality in physical therapy services with a focus on evidence-based, one-on-one therapy. To learn more about their Be Positive campaign, visit: www.jerseypt.com/events/bepositivein2013.
Seth MacFarlane's Oscar hosting gig, full of low-brow and sexist jokes, received mixed reviews. The Academy struggles to reach a younger audience and remain a family-friendly show.
By Gloria Goodale,?Staff writer / February 25, 2013
Oscar host Seth MacFarlane speaks on stage at the 85th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Calif, on Sunday. After a performance full of sexist and racist jokes, viewers wonder if he will be asked to host again.
Mario Anzuoni/Reuters
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As Oscar host Seth MacFarlane is surely learning Monday, helming the annual awards ceremony dwarfs all other challenges. Rescue hostages from under the nose of armed revolutionaries? Piece of cake! Free American slaves amidst a young nation?s bloody civil war? In my sleep!
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But host a three-hour industry telecast to the satisfaction of a global audience of a billion and counting? The faint-hearted need not apply.
Mr. MacFarlane, the creator of Fox?s ?Family Guy,? has been criticized for making sexist, racist, homophobic, and anti-Semitic jokes (does this miss any groups?) as well as general bad taste and lousy clock control (the show ran until midnight EST, a half hour over schedule).
But pop culture audiences seem to be as divided as political ones. According to Fizziology, a social media research firm, 13 percent of Facebook and Twitter users discussing the show ranked MacFarlane as ?the best host ever.? And early Nielsen ratings show the broadcast up nearly 20 percent over the 2012 show with some 37 million US viewers.
But there is one question that all Oscar viewers are asking: Will he be back?
Not if the Academy is a tad more careful next time, suggests Thelma Adams, Yahoo! Movies contributing editor. The ?central conundrum? is having a show that remains true to its film industry audience.
?Watch an episode of ?Family Guy? and you?ll know it?s not a good match for Hollywood honchos sitting in stiff chairs in tuxes and tiaras,? she says. The first thing to acknowledge is that the audience inside the Dolby Theater, where the show is held in Hollywood, ?is a tough and tense crowd.?
There are several groups on whom MacFarlane?s humor was wasted.
Gwendolyn Foster, a film professor at University of Nebraska at Lincoln, says her female students were ?appalled? at what they consider MacFarlane?s outdated and sexist routines.
?Everyone agrees it was like watching an old sexist 'Dating Game' episode,? she says via e-mail. ?Seth McFarlane was as smarmy as the host of the 'Dating Game,' which is perfect because the Dating Game, if memory serves me, was on during the Vietnam War, when many Americans preferred to bury their heads in the sand and pretend the war was not happening, or pretend the war was a good thing.?
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) issued its own rebuke of MacFarlane?s bit in the guise of his animated Teddy Bear persona, the main character in his 2012 film, ?Ted.??A computer-animated Ted, presenting with actor Mark Wahlberg, made the joke that Jews controlled Hollywood, and that being Jewish was required to work in the industry. "I was born Theodore Shapiro and I would like to donate to Israel and continue to work in Hollywood forever," he said.
A patient sits on her hospital bed as she talks with her doctor at St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor hospital in Ypsilanti, Mich., Dec. 21, 2012.
Photo by Rebecca Cook/Reuters
Steven Brill?s 24,000-word magnum opus in Time on health care billing practices in the United States is remarkably easy to summarize: American health care costs a lot because the prices Americans pay for health care services are very high. And hospitals charge those high prices for the same reason any other business would?because they can.
It?s easy to see why a health care provider is almost uniquely well-positioned to bilk you. If you don?t get treatment, you or someone you love might die. It?s a high-pressure emotional situation that makes it extremely difficult to bargain, comparison shop, or just decide to cut back. Most of us, fortunately, get to outsource most of that bargaining to our insurance companies. Cold-blooded executives, not stressed-out patients, cut the deals that determine how much actually gets paid. This means that the real price of health care services is driven largely by the purchasing clout of the buyer. An uninsured individual gets totally screwed. A big insurance company can drive a harder bargain and get a better deal. But as Brill shows, the best deal of all goes to the biggest insurer around: the federal government, whose Medicare program for senior citizens is such a large purchaser that it and it alone can drive a truly hard bargain and squeeze provider profit margins to the bone.
The policy upshot of this seems clear enough. Rather than cutting Medicare as is currently all the rage in deficit-hawk circles, we ought to be expanding it and enlarging the cheapest and most cost-effective part of the American health care system.
But of course only left-wing crazies think that, so though Brill concedes that this is precisely the reason that more-statist foreign health care systems have much lower costs than ours, he rejects the idea out of hand.
But Brill?s reason for rejecting the idea is interesting. He doesn?t care a fig for the hospitals, which are the villains of his story. Rather he rejects Medicare expansion because if Medicare expanded, ?no doctor could hope for anything approaching the income he or she deserves (and that will make future doctors want to practice) if 100% of their patients yielded anything close to the low rates Medicare pays.? It?s true that many American doctors do believe that they would be crushed if they were paid only Medicare rates. They insist they?re hard-pressed as it is, barely getting by, and practically treat these Medicare cases as acts of charity. There?s no way they could swallow those reimbursement rates without the whole system collapsing.
But that?s not remotely true. The last time the OECD looked at this (PDF), they found that, adjusted for local purchasing power, America has the highest-paid general practitioners in the world. And our specialists make more than specialists in every other country except the Netherlands. What?s even more striking, as the Washington Post?s Sarah Kliff observed last week, these highly paid doctors don?t buy us more doctors? visits. Canada has about 25 percent more doctors? consultations per capita than we do, and the average rich country has 50 percent more. This doctor compensation gap is hardly the only issue in overpriced American health care?overpriced medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, prescription drugs, and administrative overhead are all problems?but it?s a huge deal.
Doctors aren?t as politically attractive a target as insurance companies, hospital administrators, or big pharma, but there?s no rational basis for leaving their interests unscathed when tackling unduly expensive medicine.
If doctors earned less money, fewer people would want to be doctors. We could offset some of that impact by helping doctors out with medical malpractice reform and more government funding for medical school tuition. But a shortage of people wanting to enter the medical pipeline is the last thing we should be worrying about. As it stands, medical school is getting harder to get into (continuing a longtime trend) even as it gets harder for medical school graduates to find residency slots. What?s more, in the 18 states where lesser-paid nurse practitioners are allowed to do primary care without a doctor?s supervision, their treatment is just as good in terms of health outcomes and better in terms of patient satisfaction. Any shortage of primary caregivers, in other words, is about bad rules limiting the number of people who can practice, not a lack of monetary incentives. We need more residencies and more scope for nurses to work unsupervised, not higher-paid doctors.
When it comes to the federal budget, Medicare is a problem. An uncapped commitment to finance the health care needs of elderly Americans is a big challenge for an aging country. But when it comes to the question of health care costs overall, Medicare is the solution. Its vast bargaining clout lets it get much better prices than any private insurer, and we should be relying on it more to pay our bills, not less.
Britain has participated in several military interventions of varying duration, extent and political controversy in recent years. This article analyses public opinion towards the most recent intervention in Libya in 2011, looking at three different aspects of the topic. First, it examines differences in cross-national attitudes towards military action in Libya amongst NATO countries. Secondly, it then looks in detail at which social groups were more or less likely to approve of British involvement, comparing this with group attitudes towards Britain's role in Afghanistan and Iraq. Thirdly, it assesses how public opinion shifted during the course of the action in Libya, looking at three key indicators of the popular mood: whether Britain was right or wrong to take military action; how well the war is going; and assessments of David Cameron's handling of the conflict. Broader reflections are then made about public opinion towards British involvement in future military action.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were little changed on Wednesday amid investor caution after the S&P 500 index briefly hit its highest intraday level since November 2007.
The benchmark index got a boost from Comcast Corp, which said it will buy the rest of NBC Universal for $16.7 billion from General Electric Co .
Equities have been strong performers until recently, buoyed largely by healthy growth in corporate earnings, which helped the S&P 500 to rise 6.5 percent so far this year. The Dow industrials are about 1 percent away from an all-time intraday high, reached in October 2007.
Those gains have left the market vulnerable to a pullback as investors are likely to take profit amid a dearth of new catalysts. While analysts see an upward bias in stocks, recent daily moves have been small and trading volumes light with indexes at multi-year highs.
"I was expecting a 12-15 percent return on the S&P for the whole year of 2013, and we have done about half of that in just 5-6 weeks," said Jack De Gan, principal at Harbor Advisory in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
"We will hit resistance, but the fundamentals and (microeconomic) picture are looking good, so if there is a correction, it's going to be a brief one."
The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> was down 39.17 points, or 0.28 percent, at 13,979.53. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> was up 0.80 points, or 0.05 percent, at 1,520.23. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> was up 7.01 points, or 0.22 percent, at 3,193.50.
Investors shrugged off the latest economic data, which showed that retail sales rose just 0.1 percent, as expected, in January as tax increases and higher gasoline prices restrained spending.
The S&P 500 was well above its 50-day moving average of 1,460.92, a sign the market could be overbought.
Comcast agreed late Tuesday to buy General Electric Co's remaining 49 percent stake in NBC Universal for $16.7 billion. Comcast jumped 4.4 percent to $40.70 as the S&P's top percentage gainer while Dow component GE was up 3.3 percent to $23.33.
Deere & Co reported earnings that beat expectations and raised its full-year profit outlook. After initially rallying in premarket trading, the stock fell 3 percent to $91.13.
According to the latest Thomson Reuters data, of the 353 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported results, 70.3 percent have exceeded analysts' expectations, above a 62 percent average since 1994 and 65 percent over the past four quarters.
Fourth-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 5.3 percent, according to the data, above a 1.9 percent forecast at the start of the earnings season.
Industrial and construction shares fell, though President Barack Obama, in his State of the Union address late Tuesday, called for $50 billion in spending to create jobs by rebuilding degraded roads and bridges.
The Dow Jones Home Construction index <.djushb> was off 0.5 percent.
In this Dec. 28, 2012 photo, corn stalks stand in a snowy field near La Vista, Neb. Despite getting some big storms in December, much of the U.S. is still desperate for relief from the nation?s longest dry spell in decades. And experts say it will take an absurd amount of snow to ease the woes of farmers and ranchers. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
In this Dec. 28, 2012 photo, Bales of corn stalks are covered with a dusting of snow near La Vista, Neb. Despite getting some big storms in December, much of the U.S. is still desperate for relief from the nation?s longest dry spell in decades. And experts say it will take an absurd amount of snow to ease the woes of farmers and ranchers. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
Severe Drought Threatens Midwest Corn Crops
PRINCETON, IN - JULY 17: Drought-damaged corn grows in a field on July 17, 2012 near Princeton, Indiana. The corn and soybean belt in the middle of the nation is experiencing one of the worst droughts in more than five decades. Indiana was the nation's fourth largest corn producer in 2011. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Severe Drought Threatens Midwest Corn Crops
FRITCHTON, IN - JULY 17: Corn plants dry in a drought-stricken farm field on July 17, 2012 near Fritchton, Indiana. The corn and soybean belt in the middle of the nation is experiencing one of the worst droughts in more than five decades. Indiana was the nation's fourth largest corn producer in 2011. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
In this July 26, 2012 photo, dead fish float in a drying pond near Rock Port, Mo., as a turkey vulture paces the shore. Multitudes of fish are dying in the Midwest as the sizzling summer dries up rivers and raises water temperatures in some spots to nearly 100 degrees. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
Severe Midwest Drought Continues
WYATT, MO - JULY 18: A buoy used to help guide barges rests on the bank after the water level dropped on the Mississippi River July 18, 2012 near Wyatt, Missouri. Some barge operators have lightened their loads or stopped running altogether on the lower Mississippi because of low water levels. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Midwest Farmers Continue To Struggle Against Extended Drought
CUBA, IL - AUGUST 03: Grass, dried from heat and drought, struggles to survive in a cattle pasture August 3, 2012 near Cuba, Illinois. Cattle being raised in the pasture used to be self-sustaining. This summer's drought has forced the farmer to truck in water, after the pond dried up, and extra feed, to supplement the dry grass, from another farm nearly 20 miles away. Farmers in the Midwest and elsewhere continue to struggle after than half the counties in the United States have been designated disaster areas, mostly due to drought conditions throughout the Midwest. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Midwest Farmers Continue To Struggle Against Extended Drought
NEW HARMONY, IN - AUGUST 03: Corn dead from drought sits in a field August 4, 2012 near New Harmony, Indiana. More than half of the counties in the United States have been designated disaster areas, mostly due to drought conditions throughout the Midwest. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
The last remaining water in a drought-stricken rural pond reflects the sky and clouds near Calumet, Okla., Friday, July 20, 2012. The nation's widest drought in decades is spreading. More than half of the continental U.S. is now in some stage of drought. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Cattle graze in a dry field near Calumet, Okla., Friday, July 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Rows of corn stalks stand under a cloudless sky south of Blair, Neb., Monday, July 23, 2012. The drought-damaged field was cut down for silage. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
Central Illinois cattle stand in a pasture struggling from lack of rain and a heat wave covering most of the country, Friday, July 20, 2012, in Farmingdale, Ill. The nation's widest drought in decades is spreading. More than half of the continental U.S. is now in some stage of drought, and most of the rest is abnormally dry. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)
In this July 19, 2012 photo, a herd of cattle belonging to Kendal Grecian drink from a water tank at his ranch in Palco, Kan. Grecian spent years meticulously breeding his cows to improve the genetics in each generation, but with Kansas in one of the worst droughts seen in decades, he's struggling to find enough grazing to feed 300 cows, plus their calves. He hopes to get by with selling only a quarter of his herd, but there are no guarantees with the drought expected to linger through October. (AP Photo/John L. Mone)
A field of corn withers under triple-degree heat north of Wichita, Kan., in Sedgwick County Monday, July 16, 2012. The drought gripping the United States is the widest since 1956, according to new data released Monday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Fifty-five percent of the continental U.S. was in a moderate to extreme drought by the end of June, NOAA's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C., said in its monthly State of the Climate drought report. That's the largest percentage since December 1956, when 58 percent of the country was covered by drought. (AP Photo/The Wichita Eagle, Mike Hutmacher)
Boats sit on the bottom in a dry cove at Morse Reservoir in Noblesville, Ind., Monday, July 16, 2012. The reservoir is down nearly 6 feet from normal levels and being lowered 1 foot every five days to provide water for Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
A Great White Egret looks for food on a lake drying up from lack of rain Saturday, July 21, 2012 in Chandlerville, Ill. Wildlife as well as livestock, and crops are struggling from the dry weather and a heat wave covering most of the country. The nation's widest drought in decades is spreading. More than half of the continental U.S. is now in some stage of drought, and most of the rest is abnormally dry. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)
Boats sit on the dry, cracked bottom in a dry cove at Morse Reservoir in Noblesville, Ind., Monday, July 16, 2012. The reservoir is down nearly 6 feet from normal levels and being lowered 1 foot every five days to provide water for Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
A cow looks for something to eat as it grazes in a dry pasture southwest of Hays, Kan., in a July 6, 2012 photo. The nation's widest drought in decades is spreading. More than half of the continental U.S. is now in some stage of drought, and most of the rest is abnormally dry. (AP Photo/The Hays Daily News, Steven Hausler)
Corn stalks struggling from lack of rain and a heat wave covering most of the country lie flat on the ground Monday, July 16, 2012, in Farmingdale, Ill. The nation's widest drought in decades is spreading. More than half of the continental U.S. is now in some stage of drought, and most of the rest is abnormally dry. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)
The gate is closed on a boat ramp leading to a dry cove at Morse Reservoir in Noblesville, Ind., Monday, July 16, 2012. The reservoir is down nearly 6 feet from normal levels and being lowered 1 foot every five days to provide water for Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Farmer Joe Fischer holds ears of corn showing the variety of kernal development Thursday, July 12, 2012, at Fischer Farms Inc. in Owensboro, Ky. Normally the silks would already be brown, Fischer said. "There is no pollen left because the silks were delayed. . . because it has been too hot and dry," Fischer said. All five Owensboro-area counties have been designated primary disaster areas because of drought. (AP Photo/The Messenger-Inquirer, John Dunham)
Devin Davis of Paul Tree Farms uses a special water canon to water 30,000 trees on the 60 acre farm Saturday, July 21, 2012 in Pleasant Plains, Ill. The trees as well as livestock, wildlife and crops are struggling from lack of rain and a heat wave covering most of the country. The nation's widest drought in decades is spreading. More than half of the continental U.S. is now in some stage of drought, and most of the rest is abnormally dry. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)
A pontoon is anchored on a mud flat as the owner could not reach their dock at Morse Reservoir in Noblesville, Ind., Monday, July 16, 2012. The reservoir is down nearly 6 feet from normal levels and being lowered 1 foot every five days to provide water for Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
This Thursday, July 5, 2012 photo shows dry soil in a corn field in western Kentucky. Persisting drought conditions have endangered corn fields in western Kentucky. (AP Photo/The Paducah Sun, Allie Douglass)
Illinois Farms Hurt By Continued Midwest Drought
OLMSTED, IL - JULY 26: A corn plant grows in a field parched by drought on July 26, 2012 near Olmsted, Illinois. The field, farmed by Kevin Ulrich, was one of several in the drought stricken region of Southern Illinois that were visited by officials from the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Farm and Foreign Agriculture Services (FFAS) department and Farm Service Agency (FSA). Seventy percent of Illinois, the nation's number two corn producing state, is classified as experiencing some level of drought.(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Burnt stalks lie on the ground among rows of corn damaged by drought in a parched field in Louisville, Ill. on Monday, July 16, 2012. Over ten days of triple digit temperatures with little rain in the past two months is forcing many farmers to call 2012 a total loss. Rows of corn sit under high temperatures, burning and crisping until the stalks eventually fall, burning into the dry soil. (AP Photo/Robert Ray)
Four rows of corn left for insurance adjusters to examine are all that remain of a 40-acre cornfield in Geff, Ill. that was mowed down Monday, July 16, 2012. Over ten days of triple digit temperatures with little rain in the past two months is forcing many farmers to call 2012 a total loss. (AP Photo/Robert Ray)
Jack Maloney checks on corn on his farm in Brownsburg, Ind., Monday, July 16, 2012. With no significant rainfall since May 3 and the bleak outlook for rain, Maloney expects a total loss on his corn and soybean crop. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
A dry field of corn is seen near Fremont, Neb., Monday, July 16, 2012. The drought gripping the United States is the widest since 1956, according to new data released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
Jack Maloney displays a drought-damaged ear of corn on his farm in Brownsburg, Ind., Monday, July 16, 2012. With no significant rainfall since May 3 and the bleak outlook for rain, Maloney expects a total loss on his corn and soybean crop. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
An empty dock sits on the bottom of a dry cove at Morse Reservoir in Noblesville, Ind., Monday, July 16, 2012. The reservoir is down nearly 6 feet from normal levels and being lowered 1 foot every five days to provide water for Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Leaves become dry and brittle on stalks of corn in a parched field outside Effingham, Ill., Monday, July 16, 2012. The drought gripping the United States is the widest since 1956, according to new data released Monday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This summer, 80 percent of the U.S. is abnormally dry, and the report said the drought expanded in the West, Great Plains and Midwest last month with the 14th warmest and 10th driest June on record. (AP Photo/Robert Ray)
A dry field of corn is seen near Fremont, Neb., Monday, July 16, 2012. The drought gripping the United States is the widest since 1956, according to new data released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
The sun rises Sunday, July 15, 2012, in Pleasant Plains, Ill. Corn stalks are struggling in the heat and continuing drought that has overcome most of the country. All of Illinois is officially in a drought, and Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn plans a trip to southern Illinois to discuss the state's plans for responding to dry conditions. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)
Joe Fischer checks on his corn field Thursday, July 12, 2012, at Fischer Farms Inc. in the 3700 block of Fisher Road in Owensboro, Ky. "We've been in a drought for the last three weeks," he said. Fischer farms the property with his brother Tony Fischer. They planted 900 acres of corn with 30,000 plants per acre. "We have no idea what our yield will be," Joe Fischer said. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has designated 26 Kentucky counties among more than 900 counties in 29 states as disaster areas. (AP Photo/Messenger-Inquirer, John Dunham)
In this photo taken June 27, 2012, farm worker Juan Carlos walks to an irrigated soybean field near England, Ark. The U.S. Agriculture Department has granted a disaster declaration for 69 of Arkansas' 75 counties due to the drought. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)
Midwest Farmers Continue To Struggle Against Extended Drought
CUBA, IL - AUGUST 03: Cattle try to keep cool in the remains of a farm pond in a pasture heavily damaged by drought August 3, 2012 near Cuba, Illinois. Farmers in the Midwest and elsewhere continue to struggle after than half the counties in the United States have been designated disaster areas, mostly due to drought conditions throughout the Midwest. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Midwest Farmers Continue To Struggle Against Extended Drought
CUBA, IL - AUGUST 03: Cattle nibble the remains of grass in a pasture heavily damaged by drought August 3, 2012 near Cuba, Illinois. Farmers in the Midwest and elsewhere continue to struggle after than half the counties in the United States have been designated disaster areas, mostly due to drought conditions throughout the Midwest. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Steve Niedbalski chops down his drought and heat stricken corn for feed Wednesday, July 11, 2012 in Nashville Ill. Farmers in parts of the Midwest are dealing with the worst drought in nearly 25 years. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, second left, peels away the husk of a drought-ravaged ear of corn, only to find it had no kernels, as Illinois Farm Bureau President Philip Nelson, right, looks on during visit to the Laird Family Farm in Waltonville, Ill. on Monday, July 16, 2012. Quinn says the state will offer an array of debt restructuring and loan programs to farmers and ranchers affected by the drought. Drought is affecting much of the Midwest, where almost a third of the nation's corn crop has been damaged by heat and drought so severe that some farmers have cut down crops midway through the growing season. (AP Photo/Jim Suhr)
Also On The Huffington Post...
A devastating drought in southwestern China's Yunnan province is entering its third year.
Severe Midwest Drought Continues
WYATT, MO - JULY 18: Corn plants struggle to survive in a drought-stricken farm field on July 18, 2012 near Wyatt, Missouri. The corn and soybean belt in the middle of the nation is experiencing one of the worst droughts in more than five decades. All 114 of Missouri's counties have received disaster designations because of drought. Last year this area, which sits across the Mississippi River from Illinois, was ravaged by flooding after the Army Corps of Engineers blasted a hole in a levee to save the town of Cairo, Illinois from the rising Mississippi. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Severe Midwest Drought Continues
VINCENNES, IN - JULY 18: Corn plants struggle to survive in a drought-stricken farm field on July 18, 2012 near Vincennes, Indiana. The corn and soybean belt in the middle of the nation is experiencing one of the worst droughts in more than five decades. Indiana was the nation's fourth largest corn producer in 2011. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
In this July 26, 2012 photo, dead fish decompose in a drying pond near Rock Port, Mo. Multitudes of fish are dying in the Midwest as the sizzling summer dries up rivers and raises water temperatures in some spots to nearly 100 degrees. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
This photo from July 31, 2012 shows a beached air boat as bathers walk in the nearly dry Platte River near Yutan, Neb., Tuesday, July 31, 2012. The latest U.S. Drought Monitor survey shows an increase in extreme drought conditions in four Plains states but a slight decrease in the overall area of the lower 48 states experiencing some form of drought. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
President Obama recognized the promise of a new high school that The City University of New York helped create ? the Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) ? in his 2013 State of the Union address.
?Let?s also make sure that a high school diploma puts our kids on a path to a good job,? the President told Congress at a joint session on Feb. 12. ?Right now, countries like Germany focus on graduating their high school students with the equivalent of a technical degree from one of our community colleges, so that they?re ready for a job. ?At schools like P-TECH in Brooklyn, a collaboration between New York Public Schools, the City University of New York, and IBM, students will graduate with a high school diploma and an associate degree in computers or engineering.?
CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein said, ?The President spoke directly to what we are striving to accomplish with Brooklyn?s P-TECH. The future of America?s global competitiveness depends on the critical connection between education and employment. Ensuring that our children receive an education that is academically rigorous and economically relevant is not a partisan issue. It is an issue of immediate national importance.?
P-TECH, sponsored by the New York City College of Technology (City Tech), is one of 20 public high schools that the University sponsors. Twelve are ?early college? high schools; starting in sixth, seventh or ninth grade, their students can earn up to two years of college credit and possibly an associate degree, along with a high school diploma. In the coming years, CUNY intends to create three more early-college high schools with business partners to prepare students for technical careers.
P-TECH opened in the economically disadvantaged Crown Heights area in Fall 2011 with grade 9 and is adding a grade each year until it is a full high school. Students do college-level work in high school and can earn a City Tech associate degree in grades 13 and 14. It focuses on information technology (IT), computers, engineering, math and science. IBM and other corporations provide all students with one-on-one mentoring, internships and training opportunities.
The school has an open-admissions policy. After just two semesters, half the students met CUNY?s college readiness criteria and virtually all were promoted to 10th?grade. Half of the 10th?graders already have completed at least one college course at New York City College of Technology, logic and problem-solving, the introductory course to the electromechanical engineering associate degree. By the end of 10th?grade, students will have completed an average of 14 college credits en route to their associate degree and career readiness.
Who are these students? ?We do not look at averages or tests for admission to this school, but get a wide range of students and abilities,? says Principal Rashid Ferrod Davis. ?We take students who may not have seen themselves as college material and are telling them from Day One they are college students. They?re taking a chance on us, and we want to make sure we do right by them and give them the best opportunity we can.?
City Tech was able to start P-TECH and bolster a sister school, City Polytechnic High School (City Poly High), when in 2011 it won two of the 16 statewide ?Smart Scholars Early College High Schools (ECHS)? grants funded by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Each of the two grants was for $450,000, the largest amount awarded, and covers a three-year period. City Poly High launched in 2009 in Downtown Brooklyn.
The Chicago school system has replicated the P-TECH model in partnership with IBM and other companies. Similar schools are under development in New York and other states.
?
About The City University of New York: The City University of New York is the nation?s leading urban public university. Founded in New York City in 1847, the University is comprised of 24 institutions: 11 senior colleges, seven community colleges, the William E. Macaulay Honors College at CUNY, the CUNY Graduate School and University Center, the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, the CUNY School of Law, the CUNY School of Professional Studies and the CUNY School of Public Health at Hunter College. The University serves more than 269,000 degree credit students and 218,083 adult, continuing and professional education students. College Now, the University?s academic enrichment program, is offered at CUNY campuses and more than 300 high schools throughout the five boroughs of New York City. The University offers online baccalaureate degrees through the School of Professional Studies and an individualized baccalaureate through the CUNY Baccalaureate Degree. Nearly 3 million unique visitors and 10 million page views are served each month via www.cuny.edu, the University?s website.
Companies may overreact when confronted by activists, according to Baylor studyPublic release date: 14-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Frank Raczkiewicz frank_raczkiewicz@baylor.edu 254-710-1964 Baylor University
WACO, Texas (Feb. 14, 2013) - Companies may overreact to social or environmental activists protesting their business practices, according to a Baylor University article in the Academy of Management Review. The article examined why some firms are more likely to change such practices than others, as well as whether and how targeted firms and other industry members will change.
Although activists like Greenpeace, RAN, and PETA have successfully changed corporate practices in diverse industries (e.g., home-improvement retail, fast food, home-building, and clothing production), these organizations do so without significantly impacting their corporate targets' operations, according to Theodore L. Waldron, Ph.D., assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship at Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business and co-author of the study.
Co-authors of the study were Chad Navis, Ph.D., assistant professor in management and human resources at the Wisconsin School of Business, and Greg Fisher, Ph.D., assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship at Indiana University.
"Targeted companies are not losing consumers, suppliers, or other transaction partners in large numbers," Waldron said. "So the question is, what do executives fundamentally consider when they are deciding how to deal with activists?"
A large part of what activists do is to try to harm their targets' reputations by publicly portraying those companies in a negative, morally problematic light. The reason is simple, said Waldron. Activists hope that embarrassing the biggest companies in an industry will turn away those firms' important stakeholders, ultimately pressuring them to change in desired ways and thus prompting other industry members to imitate their peers.
The reality of firms' reactiveness to activism is somewhat more complex. "We suggest that although activists' efforts are extremely visible, their publicity campaigns have littleif any impacton the majority of their targets' key stakeholders," Waldron said. "Interestingly, this 'noise' might cause company executives to overestimate the impact of the campaign on their operations, and as a result, to respond more willingly to activists' demands. As a result, we are starting to see more of these companies accommodate activists' demands, even in the absence of any noteworthy financial or operational impact."
The paper also reports that when targeted companies do respond to activism, the nature of the responses can depend on fundamental beliefs about business espoused by those firms' decision-makers. On one hand, company executives concerned with the fiscal bottom line are more likely to string activists along by simply promising to change. But in reality, this reaction is little more than lip service, or "greenwashing" and leads to sustained pressure from the activists.
"On the other hand, if companies' executives want to do 'the right thing' while making money, they are more likely to respond in a serious fashion and maybe even implement changes that go beyond what the activists want from them," Waldron continued.
Activists' objectives, however, are often much grander than simply getting a few big players in an industry to change their objectionable practices. Namely, they want similar change to spread throughout the industry, and contrary to popular belief, other industry members do not always just "follow the leader" in such scenarios.
Waldron reports that activists' pressure on targeted firms generates attention from other firms in the industry, forcing these 'non-targets' to rely on the nature of their targeted peers' reactions when deciding if they should ignore, imitate, or exceed such reactions. In other words, non-targets adopt a 'wait-and-see' approach for dealing with activism against prominent members of their industry.
For their part, activists seem to select corporate targets based mainly on the their size and visibility, rather than their fundamental beliefs and values. An important lesson for activists is that by pursuing companies with deep moral convictions, such organizations have a better chance of getting the company's attention and encouraging them to change in serious ways. Corporate executives with such values intrinsically care about how their firms operate, not just how much their firms make, and consequently are more likely to work with activists, according to Waldron.
On the corporate side, firms can alter or eliminate potentially contestable practices to reduce unfavorable attention from activists, and in the process, to generate competitive benefits. Another is to promote distinct, contestable organizational practices as generic practices common to many industry members.
"Doing so may shift the burden of activist campaigns from individual firms to a broader array of industry members and lessen the relative impact of such threats on any given company," said Waldron. "Finally, firms can welcome activists' input about how to reduce the contentiousness of their practices, which may in turn reduce the potential for future protests."
The consumer also plays an important role in the dynamic between companies and activists.
"A growing number of people want products that are produced in a socially responsible manner," Waldron said. "Companies can play on that consumer desire and be a kinder, more compassionate kind of business and may increase their revenue in the process. Activists can use those messages when they vilify companies, because it is inconsistent with society's values."
###
ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
Baylor University is a private Christian university and a nationally ranked research institution, characterized as having "high research activity" by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The university provides a vibrant campus community for approximately 15,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating university in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 11 nationally recognized academic divisions. Baylor sponsors 19 varsity athletic teams and is a founding member of the Big 12 Conference.
ABOUT HANKAMER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business provides a rigorous academic experience, consisting of classroom and hands-on learning, guided by Christian commitment and a global perspective. Recognized nationally for several programs, including Entrepreneurship and Accounting, the school offers 24 undergraduate and 13 graduate areas of study. Visit www.baylor.edu/business and follow on Twitter at twitter.com/Baylor_Business.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Companies may overreact when confronted by activists, according to Baylor studyPublic release date: 14-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Frank Raczkiewicz frank_raczkiewicz@baylor.edu 254-710-1964 Baylor University
WACO, Texas (Feb. 14, 2013) - Companies may overreact to social or environmental activists protesting their business practices, according to a Baylor University article in the Academy of Management Review. The article examined why some firms are more likely to change such practices than others, as well as whether and how targeted firms and other industry members will change.
Although activists like Greenpeace, RAN, and PETA have successfully changed corporate practices in diverse industries (e.g., home-improvement retail, fast food, home-building, and clothing production), these organizations do so without significantly impacting their corporate targets' operations, according to Theodore L. Waldron, Ph.D., assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship at Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business and co-author of the study.
Co-authors of the study were Chad Navis, Ph.D., assistant professor in management and human resources at the Wisconsin School of Business, and Greg Fisher, Ph.D., assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship at Indiana University.
"Targeted companies are not losing consumers, suppliers, or other transaction partners in large numbers," Waldron said. "So the question is, what do executives fundamentally consider when they are deciding how to deal with activists?"
A large part of what activists do is to try to harm their targets' reputations by publicly portraying those companies in a negative, morally problematic light. The reason is simple, said Waldron. Activists hope that embarrassing the biggest companies in an industry will turn away those firms' important stakeholders, ultimately pressuring them to change in desired ways and thus prompting other industry members to imitate their peers.
The reality of firms' reactiveness to activism is somewhat more complex. "We suggest that although activists' efforts are extremely visible, their publicity campaigns have littleif any impacton the majority of their targets' key stakeholders," Waldron said. "Interestingly, this 'noise' might cause company executives to overestimate the impact of the campaign on their operations, and as a result, to respond more willingly to activists' demands. As a result, we are starting to see more of these companies accommodate activists' demands, even in the absence of any noteworthy financial or operational impact."
The paper also reports that when targeted companies do respond to activism, the nature of the responses can depend on fundamental beliefs about business espoused by those firms' decision-makers. On one hand, company executives concerned with the fiscal bottom line are more likely to string activists along by simply promising to change. But in reality, this reaction is little more than lip service, or "greenwashing" and leads to sustained pressure from the activists.
"On the other hand, if companies' executives want to do 'the right thing' while making money, they are more likely to respond in a serious fashion and maybe even implement changes that go beyond what the activists want from them," Waldron continued.
Activists' objectives, however, are often much grander than simply getting a few big players in an industry to change their objectionable practices. Namely, they want similar change to spread throughout the industry, and contrary to popular belief, other industry members do not always just "follow the leader" in such scenarios.
Waldron reports that activists' pressure on targeted firms generates attention from other firms in the industry, forcing these 'non-targets' to rely on the nature of their targeted peers' reactions when deciding if they should ignore, imitate, or exceed such reactions. In other words, non-targets adopt a 'wait-and-see' approach for dealing with activism against prominent members of their industry.
For their part, activists seem to select corporate targets based mainly on the their size and visibility, rather than their fundamental beliefs and values. An important lesson for activists is that by pursuing companies with deep moral convictions, such organizations have a better chance of getting the company's attention and encouraging them to change in serious ways. Corporate executives with such values intrinsically care about how their firms operate, not just how much their firms make, and consequently are more likely to work with activists, according to Waldron.
On the corporate side, firms can alter or eliminate potentially contestable practices to reduce unfavorable attention from activists, and in the process, to generate competitive benefits. Another is to promote distinct, contestable organizational practices as generic practices common to many industry members.
"Doing so may shift the burden of activist campaigns from individual firms to a broader array of industry members and lessen the relative impact of such threats on any given company," said Waldron. "Finally, firms can welcome activists' input about how to reduce the contentiousness of their practices, which may in turn reduce the potential for future protests."
The consumer also plays an important role in the dynamic between companies and activists.
"A growing number of people want products that are produced in a socially responsible manner," Waldron said. "Companies can play on that consumer desire and be a kinder, more compassionate kind of business and may increase their revenue in the process. Activists can use those messages when they vilify companies, because it is inconsistent with society's values."
###
ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
Baylor University is a private Christian university and a nationally ranked research institution, characterized as having "high research activity" by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The university provides a vibrant campus community for approximately 15,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating university in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 11 nationally recognized academic divisions. Baylor sponsors 19 varsity athletic teams and is a founding member of the Big 12 Conference.
ABOUT HANKAMER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business provides a rigorous academic experience, consisting of classroom and hands-on learning, guided by Christian commitment and a global perspective. Recognized nationally for several programs, including Entrepreneurship and Accounting, the school offers 24 undergraduate and 13 graduate areas of study. Visit www.baylor.edu/business and follow on Twitter at twitter.com/Baylor_Business.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
My iPad 1 facing crash issues after installed and start running Infinity Blade 2, it?s can?t start up the game even reboot iPad. Then i searching internet and found that lot of Infinity Blade 2 gamers facing same problem as me especially running on iPad 1 and iPod Touch iOS devices.
Chair Entertainment and Epic Games have identify the problem and suspects due to running out of memory on their heavily laden iPad 1 and iPod Touch devices, this message already published on their Epic Games forum, now they are working to fix this issue and will submit a update to iTunes app store as soon as possible.
Well,i can?t wait to fix Infinity blade 2 crash issue and also don?t know when they can having a update on iTunes app store. If you same as me having Infinity Blade 2 crashes issue, you can follow below method fix it by yourself and let you iPad 1 running game smoothly without any problem (at least work for me).
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1.Use ifunbox connect to your iPad 1 and navigate to /var/mobile/Applications/InfinityBlade2/SwordGame.app.
2.There are total 4 MP4 video files in m4v format.
Startup.m4v
Starup_Long.m4v
Logo.m4v
IB2_Prison_Open_cine.m4v
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3.Now delete Startup.m4v,Starup_Long.m4v and IB2_Prison_Open_cine.m4v these three files or rename m4v file extension to others, here i change these three m4v file extension from m4v to m4v2 (Please backup before any amended).
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This method is disable m4v video file and don?t let it play automatically with use less memory. Now i can play the game on iPad 1 without any problem.
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Hope can help you all.
PS: Infinity Blade for iPhone and iPad become free for limited time (14/2/2013), download the game.
The assets sale at Nokia, the world's former number one mobile maker, continues. After selling and leasing back its headquarters in December -- injecting $230 million (?170 million) into its coffers -- the company has now sold its Peltola campus in Oulu to domestic business space provider Technopolis for ?30.5 million ($40.9 million).
(Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)President Barack Obama in his State of the Union address Tuesday night will announce that 34,000 U.S. troops will return from Afghanistan by this time next year, according to a senior administration official.
That plan will reduce troop levels in the country by half.
Further reductions will occur in 2014.
Lawmakers and the public alike have been awaiting a decision by the administration regarding troop levels in Afghanistan, where the U.S. is set to officially end combat operations in 2014.
Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser, revealed last month that the White House is considering fully withdrawing troops after that date.
"That would be an option that we would consider," Rhodes responded on a conference call with reporters when asked if a full drawdown of troops after 2014 is possible. He added that the U.S. objective is not to keep troops in Afghanistan, it's making sure there is no safe haven for al-Qaida in Afghanistan, and ensuring that the Afghan government has a sufficient security force.
But the senior administration official said the president on Tuesday will not be making further announcements about troop levels beyond the 34,000 announcement.
Afghanistan troop level decisions and when and how to reveal them remains much debated in Washington.
Republican Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations committee in an exclusive interview with Yahoo News last week advised the president to wait to decide on the pace of U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan until after the country's 2014 elections.
?The biggest factor in the success of Afghanistan likely is to be the elections, and how that?s handled, and who?s elected, and the process,? Corker said. ?I don?t understand why a decision has to be made now as to the number of troops.
?We could wait and decide how many troops are going to be on the ground,? he said. ?But our allies are really?really worried?worried about us making a decision that really takes us to levels that allow the gains that have been put forth to dissipate.?
Corker bluntly declared in that interview that he does not trust Afghan President Hamid Karzai and vowed to make sure the State Department carries out reforms proposed in response to the deadly terrorist attack against the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, last September.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. motorists searching for someone to blame for the highest gasoline prices ever at this time of year have an easy target: hedge funds who have been quietly amassing winning bets on hundreds of millions of barrels of oil.
At a filling station in Midtown New York last week, several people were prepared to blame traders on Wall Street as they paid more than $4 per gallon to fill up their cars.
"It really is not supply and demand. It's definitely speculation," said John Keegan, an exterminator with pest control company Terminate Control, who was filling up his van. A cab driver said he was convinced the price would be just $1 a gallon if the government "stopped Wall Street trading oil."
It is all very reminiscent of the anger in 2008 when gasoline prices were sent surging by a massive oil spike - also a time when there was a lot of speculative interest from investors.
And yet five years on, there is still no consensus among traders, analysts, and regulators over how big of an impact speculators have on the market - and what, if anything, should be done to limit their participation in oil trading.
Stories about booming U.S. oil production help create expectations among consumers for lower prices. But it remains a global market and the United States is still reliant on around 8 million barrels of crude imports every day.
Hedge funds say they are just an easy target and blaming them ignores global reasons for higher oil prices and the benefits they have brought to the U.S. economy.
"Consumers shouldn't complain," said a London-based manager of a commodity hedge fund who declined to be named. "Sustained higher prices led to a massive increase in U.S. production and decreased U.S. demand, which is helping the economy in a big way."
Hedge funds have almost doubled their bets on higher oil prices since December 11, regulatory and exchange data in New York and London show, taking their total position close to the highest level ever reported.
As of last week, speculative traders held paper contracts equivalent to almost 420 million barrels of oil. That's more crude than the United States consumes in three weeks.
At the same time, lower oil production from Saudi Arabia and stronger Chinese demand are just two factors that have boosted the price of the world's most important commodity. U.S. sanctions targeting Iran's disputed nuclear program have further cut supplies.
The way things are going, Americans could spend more on gasoline this year than ever before. The average U.S. household is already spending nearly $3,000 a year on gasoline expenditures, according to a recent government estimate.
That could become a political hot potato for President Barack Obama's administration ahead of the summer driving season, which officially starts on the Memorial Day holiday weekend at the end of May.
Plans by U.S. regulators to curb the number of oil contracts hedge funds can hold are currently on appeal. A judge ruled last year they had failed to demonstrate position limits are necessary because there was not enough evidence linking speculation to big price swings.
On Tuesday, U.S. crude oil traded above $97 a barrel, up from $85 a barrel in mid-December. Brent crude was near a 5-month high above $118, having risen from near $108 a barrel two months ago.
U.S. gasoline prices have closely followed, surging 28 cents to $3.60 cents per gallon on average since December 11, according to data provided by the American Automobile Association (AAA). Gasoline prices can vary widely by region due to local taxes.
"Motorists are paying more for gasoline at this time of year than they've ever paid," said AAA spokesman Michael Green. The average price could rise as high as $3.73 a gallon in May of this year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Tuesday.
UNCERTAIN FUNDAMENTALS
The extent of speculators' impact on oil - and, by extension, gasoline prices - is complicated by the way the commodity is traded.
Unlike stocks or bonds, which are issued by a specific business and only available in limited quantities, companies all over the world can produce oil and sell it against U.S. and European benchmarks.
So even though U.S. production is expected to grow at the fastest pace on record this year, according to the Energy Information Administration, the market is also taking its price cues from elsewhere, analysts say.
"The market is looking at the potential for supply disruptions around the world, not just the U.S.," said Andrew Lipow of Lipow Oil Associates, a Texas-based crude oil consulting firm.
Alongside lower output from Saudi Arabia and growing demand from China, both potential and real supply disruptions in Venezuela, Nigeria, North Africa and the Middle East have also put markets on edge, said James Williams, energy economist at WTRG in London, Arkansas.
"I think in the last three months we've seen certainty about uncertainty," Williams said.
That uncertainty is attractive to speculators, who want to be ready should a big supply disruption hit. Some analysts say that can lead to even more buying as funds don't want to be left behind by their peers.
"The market's going up because (speculators) are buying it and they're encouraged to buy it because the price is going up," said Tim Evans, energy futures specialist at Citi Futures Perspective in New York.
Ultimately, the big bets can backfire.
The rush of funds into the oil market at the start of the year mirrors moves seen in early 2011 and 2012, when speculators' paper bets topped out at 444 million and 422 million barrels' worth of crude oil, respectively.
In both 2011 and 2012, prices rose into the second quarter before collapsing. After topping $110 a barrel in March of last year, U.S. crude oil plummeted below $80 a barrel by late June. Brent fell from above $125 to below $90 over the same period. Gasoline prices followed the market lower.
Many funds booked huge losses when they were caught by the rapid sell-off - especially in 2011 when oil prices dropped $10 during just one day in May.
"It's a wonderful party," said Citi's Evans. "Just don't be the last one to leave."
(Additional reporting by Barani Krishnan in New York and Douewe Miedema in Washington; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)
There are people in this world blessed with the ability to resurrect themselves after they die. Some people believe that they should be granted a permanent death. (Can play as a Hunter or a Resurrected or a Human)
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This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?The Power of Resurrection?. Anything posted here will also show up there.
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Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.
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A patient sits on her hospital bed as she talks with her doctor at St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor hospital in Ypsilanti, Mich., Dec. 21, 2012. 
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The assets sale at Nokia, the world's former number one mobile maker, continues. After selling and leasing back its headquarters in December -- injecting $230 million (?170 million) into its coffers -- the company has now sold its Peltola campus in Oulu to domestic business space provider Technopolis for ?30.5 million ($40.9 million).