British government backs plan to restructure banks (AP)

LONDON ? The British government will restructure the country's banks by separating their retail activities from riskier investment banking operations, Business Secretary Vince Cable said Sunday.

Cable said the government will comply with the recommendations of an independent commission set up after the 2008 banking crisis and "proceed with the separation of the banks."

"It's absolutely right that we make the British economy safe," Cable told the BBC. "We just cannot risk having a repetition of that financial catastrophe that we had three years ago."

Treasury chief George Osborne is due to lay out the government's plans in Parliament on Monday. Cable told the BBC that the necessary legislation would be passed before the government's term ends in 2015.

The British government bought up large chunks of the country's banking system after it ran into major financial difficulties during the 2008 credit crunch. The British taxpayer now fully owns mortgage lenders Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley, along with 83 percent of Royal Bank of Scotland and 41 percent of Lloyd's Banking Group.

Northern Rock, however, is due to be sold to Richard Branson's Virgin Money.

The Independent Commission on Banking recommended in September that the banks be restructured by 2019 to reduce the risks of taxpayers having to bear the cost of any future bailouts.

The commission, chaired by former Bank of England chief economist John Vickers, said retail banks should be "legally, economically and operationally separate" from the parent companies.

It also recommended that retail banks should be required to boost the amount of equity capital they hold.

The commission estimated its proposals would cost the banks up to 7 billion pounds ($11 billion) a year, and critics of the plan say it could slow lending at a time when the economy is in danger of sliding back into recession.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111218/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_britain_banks

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Video: Boehner: Two months extension ?nonsense?

October 30: Plouffe, roundtable

Nearly a year away from the 2012 election, we?ll talk to the president?s 2008 campaign manager, now White House Senior Adviser, David Plouffe. Then author of the definitive new biography on the late Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson; Author of the new book ?The Time of Our Lives,? NBC News Special Correspondent, Tom Brokaw; Former Governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm; and Republican strategist, Mike Murphy.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/vp/45714394#45714394

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Agreement near on $1 trillion spending bill (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Bipartisan agreement is near on a massive $1 trillion-plus year-end spending package and should be reached in time avert a possible government shutdown this weekend, Senate leaders said Thursday.

The optimism came hours after Republicans said they planned to push the legislation through the House with only GOP votes. Overnight, they unveiled details of the bill, which curbs agency budgets but drops many policy provisions sought by GOP conservatives.

Democrats had been holding up the huge bill, seeking leverage in talks on extending payroll tax cuts and unemployment insurance, two pillars of Obama's jobs agenda.

But Thursday morning, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he had talked to top Senate Democrats who helped write the spending bill and that remaining issues "should be resolvable." He and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., expressed optimism that disputes over that bill and a separate measure extending a payroll tax cut were near an end.

The spending bill contains language to roll back President Barack Obama's loosening of restrictions on the rights of Cuban immigrants to send money to relatives in Cuba or travel to the island to visit them. Earlier this year, the White House promised a veto over the restrictions on travel and gifts, which are supported by many in the GOP-leaning Cuban-American community, a powerful political force in the swing state of Florida.

Release of the legislation came just a couple of hours after the White House issued a statement saying that Obama "continues to have significant concerns about a number of provisions" in the legislation.

White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer called for another stopgap funding bill to buy time for talks on both the spending bill and the payroll tax measure. Funding runs out Friday at midnight.

The underlying bill has bipartisan backing but could encounter turbulence with conservative tea party lawmakers seeking far more significant cuts to government agencies. The measure pays for day-to-day operating budgets of 10 Cabinet departments and programs ranging from border security to flood control to combating AIDS and famine in Africa.

Changes are still possible in the bill before a vote.

On spending, the measure implements this summer's hard-fought budget pact between President Barack Obama and Republican leaders. That deal essentially freezes agency budgets, on average, at levels that were approved back in April for the recently completed budget year.

The bill chips away at the Pentagon budget, foreign aid and environmental spending but boosts funding for veterans programs. The Securities and Exchange Commission, responsible for enforcing new regulations under last year's financial overhaul, won a 10 percent budget increase, even as the tax-collecting IRS absorbs a more than 3 percent cut to its budget.

Popular education initiatives for special-needs children and disadvantaged schools were basically frozen and Obama's cherished "Race to the Top" initiative, which provides grants to better-performing schools, would absorb a more than 20 percent cut.

Environmentalists scored clear wins in stopping virtually every significant GOP initiative to roll back Environmental Protection Agency rules. Most importantly, industry forces seeking to block new greenhouse gas and clean air rules, as well as a new clean water regulation opposed by mountaintop removal mining interests, were denied. But Republicans succeeded in blocking new energy efficiency standards for light bulbs and won delays to a new Labor Department rule requiring a reduction of coal dust responsible for black lung disease.

Drafted behind closed doors, the proposed bill would provide $115 billion for overseas security operations in Afghanistan and Iraq but give the Pentagon just a 1 percent boost in annual spending not directly related to the wars. The Environmental Protection Agency's budget would be cut by 3.5 percent. Foreign aid spending would drop and House lawmakers would absorb a 6 percent cut to their office budgets.

The measure generally consists of relatively small adjustments to thousands of individual programs. Agencies like the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement will get a boost within the Homeland Security Department, while GOP defense hawks won additional funding to modernize the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal. The troubled, over-budget, next-generation F-35 fighter plane program would be largely protected.

Social conservatives won a ban on government-funded abortions in Washington, D.C., and restored a longstanding ban on funding for needle exchange programs used to prevent the spread of HIV. But efforts to take away federal funding for Planned Parenthood failed, as expected.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111215/ap_on_go_co/us_congress_spending

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Kessler Foundation tests Ekso exoskeletal device in 6 patients with traumatic spinal cord injury

Public release date: 15-Dec-2011
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Carolann Murphy
CMurphy@KesslerFoundation.org
973-324-8382
Kessler Foundation

Results encourage researchers planning clinical study for rehabilitation

West Orange, NJ. December 14, 2011. Monitored by scientists at Kessler Foundation, six people with traumatic spinal cord injuries tested Ekso, the robotic exoskeleton from Ekso Bionics that enables wheelchair users to stand and walk. The six participated in one week of preliminary testing in October 2011. Five patients have paraplegia and one has quadriplegia; they ranged in age from 27 to 45 and had durations of injury from 4 months to 2 years. This video highlights their experiences: http://www.youtube.com/user/KesslerFoundation#p/u/0/HcSEL4FDAVs

In early 2012, the research team, headed by senior research scientist Gail Forrest, PhD, will commence a clinical study in collaboration with Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation.

The week of preliminary testing provided key information that will guide protocol development, including selection criteria for individuals with spinal cord injury. "We will look at the effects of standing and walking for people with paralysis due to spinal cord injury," said Dr. Forrest. "Whether there are physiologic changes taking place, and what those changes mean in terms of functional improvement." While the study at Kessler will focus on the benefits of Ekso in rehabilitation settings, Ekso Bionics also plans to explore the potential for home and community use.

###

Kessler is one of ten US partners of Ekso Bionics that are developing clinical protocols aimed at measuring gains in overall health among users of individuals using Ekso.

About Kessler Foundation

Kessler Foundation is the largest public charity in the field of disability. Kessler Foundation Research Center advances care through rehabilitation research in its six specialized laboratories under the leadership of noted research directors. Research focuses on improving function and quality of life for persons with injuries of the spinal cord and brain, stroke, multiple sclerosis, and other chronic neurological conditions. Kessler Foundation Program Center fosters new approaches to the persistently high rates of unemployment among people disabled by injury or disease. Targeted grant making funds promising programs across the nation. Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, people recovering from catastrophic injuries and stroke, and young adults striving for independence are among the thousands of people finding jobs and training for careers as a result of the commitment of Kessler Foundation.

Find us at www.KesslerFoundation.org
Like us at http://www.facebook.com/KesslerFoundation
Follow us @KesslerFound http://twitter.com/#!/KesslerFound
View us at www.YOUTUBE.com/KesslerFoundation

---

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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.

Public release date: 15-Dec-2011
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Carolann Murphy
CMurphy@KesslerFoundation.org
973-324-8382
Kessler Foundation

Results encourage researchers planning clinical study for rehabilitation

West Orange, NJ. December 14, 2011. Monitored by scientists at Kessler Foundation, six people with traumatic spinal cord injuries tested Ekso, the robotic exoskeleton from Ekso Bionics that enables wheelchair users to stand and walk. The six participated in one week of preliminary testing in October 2011. Five patients have paraplegia and one has quadriplegia; they ranged in age from 27 to 45 and had durations of injury from 4 months to 2 years. This video highlights their experiences: http://www.youtube.com/user/KesslerFoundation#p/u/0/HcSEL4FDAVs

In early 2012, the research team, headed by senior research scientist Gail Forrest, PhD, will commence a clinical study in collaboration with Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation.

The week of preliminary testing provided key information that will guide protocol development, including selection criteria for individuals with spinal cord injury. "We will look at the effects of standing and walking for people with paralysis due to spinal cord injury," said Dr. Forrest. "Whether there are physiologic changes taking place, and what those changes mean in terms of functional improvement." While the study at Kessler will focus on the benefits of Ekso in rehabilitation settings, Ekso Bionics also plans to explore the potential for home and community use.

###

Kessler is one of ten US partners of Ekso Bionics that are developing clinical protocols aimed at measuring gains in overall health among users of individuals using Ekso.

About Kessler Foundation

Kessler Foundation is the largest public charity in the field of disability. Kessler Foundation Research Center advances care through rehabilitation research in its six specialized laboratories under the leadership of noted research directors. Research focuses on improving function and quality of life for persons with injuries of the spinal cord and brain, stroke, multiple sclerosis, and other chronic neurological conditions. Kessler Foundation Program Center fosters new approaches to the persistently high rates of unemployment among people disabled by injury or disease. Targeted grant making funds promising programs across the nation. Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, people recovering from catastrophic injuries and stroke, and young adults striving for independence are among the thousands of people finding jobs and training for careers as a result of the commitment of Kessler Foundation.

Find us at www.KesslerFoundation.org
Like us at http://www.facebook.com/KesslerFoundation
Follow us @KesslerFound http://twitter.com/#!/KesslerFound
View us at www.YOUTUBE.com/KesslerFoundation

---

[ | 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.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-12/kf-kft121511.php

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Obama to speak to Reform Jews (The Arizona Republic)

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NTSB recommends that states ban all cell phone use in cars

The National Transportation Safety Board has recommended that states ban the use of cell phones and other portable electronic devices by drivers of vehicles, except for in an emergency. That doesn't mean you have to immediately stop using your Android smartphone for navigation or music playback -- there's still some legislating that needs to be done for that to happen. But a recommendation from the NTSB certainly holds some water.

The recommendation stems from a crash in Missouri in 2010 that involved a pickup truck, two school busses and a teenage driver who apparently had sent 11 text messages in as many minutes before the crash, which killed two and injured 38. 

It's tough to say that phones don't distract drivers -- they most certainly can. But is a blanket ban too much? And would it even be effective?

Source: Associated Press

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/9p3eMdK3rDs/story01.htm

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[OOC] Submission Thread

Forum rules
This forum is for OOC discussion about existing roleplays.

Please post all "Players Wanted" threads in the Roleplayers Wanted forum!

This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?Gods; A New Age.?. 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.

This is where you can publicly submit your sample for the Co-GMs and GM to see and evaluate.

Saxious

Member for 3 years

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