Supporters of tax increase for medical school in Austin raising far more money than opponents

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Foes of a tax increase for a proposed medical school, teaching hospital and other health-related projects in Austin are far behind supporters in raising money to get their message out to Travis County voters.

Political action committee reports filed this week show that the Travis County Taxpayers Union PAC has raised just $2,343 to fight Proposition 1 the property tax increase proposed by Central Health for the Nov. 6 ballot compared with $293,088 from supporters of the Keep Austin Healthy PAC.

Medical school supporters, led by state Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, have backing from a variety of groups, including businesses, physicians and Democratic Party organizations. One of the largest donors to the PAC was Watsons campaign committee, which donated $36,725, most of it for polling data.

A broad cross section of the community is supporting this, said Clarke Heidrick, a member of the Central Health board. He added that he donated $1,000 to pro-Proposition 1 campaign, which will show up on a future PAC report. His law firm, Graves, Dougherty, Hearon & Moody donated $5,000 during the five-week fundraising period that ended Sept. 27.

Central Health is asking voters to raise the tax rate from 7.89 cents per $100 of assessed value to 12.9 cents, a 63 percent rate increase. The increase would bring in an estimated $54 million and cost the average Travis County homeowner an additional $107.40 in 2014, for a total average tax bill of $276.79 for health services.

Don Zimmerman, treasurer of the anti-Proposition 1 campaign, said he was disappointed in his groups showing, even though he knew fundraising would be tough.

I was hoping to have least $5,000 and we didnt even make half that, said Zimmerman, a former Republican candidate for state and county offices.

He loaned the campaign $1,000, which is not counted as a donation. Zimmerman also paid his company, ZimWin Communications, $1,000 to distribute about 50 campaign signs against the tax.

Keep Austin Healthy reported spending $84,619 on advertising, yard signs and contract labor.

Other large donations came from the Real Estate Council of Austin, which gave $50,000; the Downtown Austin Alliance and Luminex Corp., which gave $25,000 each; and Wells Fargo Bank, BuildASign LLC and Daniel Graham (owner of BuildASign), which gave $10,000 apiece.

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Supporters of tax increase for medical school in Austin raising far more money than opponents

TSA audit finds major security flaws at Newark Liberty Airport

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NEWARK, N.J. An internal audit by the Transportation Security Administration gave failing grades to agents at Newark Liberty Airport, adding to a long list of security concerns the New Jersey airport has dealt with.

The recently released audit found that Newark TSA agents followed proper pat-down procedures just 16.7 percent of the time and confiscated banned items from carry-on luggage just 25 percent of the time, according to CBS New York affiliate WCBS.

"Obviously that's a big problem," David Katz of the Global Security Group told CBS correspondent Marcia Kramer Monday. "Newark does seem to have more than its fair share of security issues."

Last May, Homeland Security officials said Newark Liberty was the worst of six major airports when it came to security breaches.

In June, TSA screeners were fired for sleeping on the job when they were supposed to be searching for explosives.

And in August, more than 100 flights were cancelled after a passenger made it through a checkpoint without being screened properly. The airport was similarly shut down for over an hour in April after it was discovered a baby wasn't properly screened.

Katz said he is worried the vulnerabilities exposed in the latest audit may be an open invitation to terrorists looking for a place to strike.

"If they see an area when perhaps we are not doing as good a job as we could, that's where they're going to go," he told WCBS.

The TSA said the report was a "snapshot in time" and that it was working on improving its security.

"This is an agency that evaluates its workforce constantly with an eye toward continuous improvement," a TSA spokesman said.

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TSA audit finds major security flaws at Newark Liberty Airport

Malone: After Spin, Starz Could Use A 'Big Brother'

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By Mike Farrell, Multichannel News -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/10/2012 5:07:38 PM New York - Liberty Media chairman John Malone added fuel to speculation that its Starz premium channel may merge with another larger programmer after a planned spin-off later this year.

"Everybody can use a big brother," Malone said at Liberty's annual Investor Day meeting here Wednesday. "There are substantial synergies for Starz working together with various potential media partners. One of the opportunities that we are creating by separating it is for [Starz CEO] Chris [Albrecht] and the board to explore other relationships. Unfortunately, other than financial synergies, Liberty really can't provide Starz with much in the way of operational synergies in this space in the U.S."

Liberty announced its intention to spin out Starz into a separate publicly traded entity in August. The transaction would involve the distribution of shares in a new subsidiary to be called Liberty Media that would consist of all Liberty assets other than Starz -- including interests in Sirius XM Radio, Live Nation and Barnes & Noble, as well as its stake in the Atlanta Braves Major League Baseball team -- to current Liberty shareholders. Starz, about $1.5 billion in debt and an undetermined amount of cash would remain in the old entity, which would be renamed Starz and would trade under the symbols "STRZA" and "STRZB." The spin is expected to be completed before the end of the year.

Click here to read the full story at Multichannel.com.

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Malone: After Spin, Starz Could Use A 'Big Brother'

Replanting Efforts Sprout Results on Liberty University Mountain Property

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Lynchburg, Va. (PRWEB) October 10, 2012

Liberty University is now in the top 10 colleges in the country for most acreage, with nearly 7,000 acres, including Liberty Mountain, Ivy Lake in Bedford County, and island property on the James River.

Liberty has been planting and cultivating several pine plantations, including 130 acres on Liberty Mountain, in an effort to protect and responsibly manage its property.

A majority of our land holdings are undeveloped, left in their natural state, said Lee Beaumont, vice president for Auxiliary Services. We have a forest management plan in place, in which we do management cuttings followed by plantings.

Beaumont said this helps to create productive land, thus keeping the mountain ecosystem healthy.

The university is committed to doing its replanting and forest management efforts right, and works closely with Donald Parris, a professional forestry consultant and owner of Timber Consultants, Inc. Parris has nearly 30 years experience in forest management, timber appraising, and timber sales.

What we are trying to do is take something that Liberty has and utilize the land they have been given responsibility for and try to be good stewards of it, Parris said.

He coordinates with Beaumont and Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr., who Parris said is very knowledgeable about the mountain property, to decide how to best allocate plots of land. Parris advises on the right species to plant in the proper soil type. This includes converting poor hardwood sites to pine and allowing nature to advance the good hardwood sites.

Due to past history of insect infestation and harvesting methods, the mountain property lacks a good mixture of pine timber, Parris said. We are trying to get a good mixture up there. It gives it diversity for the wildlife and for the environment, too. We look to put the right species on the right site to grow good timber.

Libertys early replanting efforts are beginning to flourish, while some newer ones are just sprouting. A 130-acre, 6-year-old pine plantation is one of the bigger tracts and is teeming with life as trees are beginning to surpass 12 feet tall.

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Replanting Efforts Sprout Results on Liberty University Mountain Property

Liberty Cablevision of Puerto Rico Launches beIN SPORT

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MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

beIN SPORT, the new independent 24-hour global network dedicated to live and exclusive coverage of the worlds best international sports, today announced that Liberty Cablevision of Puerto Rico will offer the network to sports fans.

Liberty Cablevisions customers will now see beIN SPORTs exclusive coverage of all the top soccer leagues and tournaments from Europe and South America, including games from Spains La Liga, Italys Serie A, Frances Ligue 1, South American World Cup Qualifiers and Copa America 2015.The network will also carry the away games for the U.S. Mens National Soccer Team in the qualifying rounds of the 2014 World Cup.

beIN SPORTs English and Spanish networks will be available as part of Libertys basic service package on standard definition channels 94 and 95, respectively. The networks will also be part of the cable providers premium HD package on channels 224 and 225. In addition to its linear TV networks, select beIN SPORT content will be available on demandvia Liberty Cablevisions website.

beIN SPORT is a new, unprecedented sports network that guarantees first row access to the electrifying stars and unmatched play of international competition with games that cant be seen on any other channel, said Yousef Al Obaidly, managing director ofbeIN SPORT. Our original and exclusive programming is designed to let viewers be in the game and feel they are part of the international sports community. Once they experience our network, we know Puerto Rican sports fans wont want to miss a minute of their favorite teams and players.

About beIN SPORT

beIN SPORT, the English-language 24/7 international sports network, and beIN SPORT en Espaol are the multi-platform sports destinations that brings to the passionate fan all the live game action, news and analysis of the top leagues around the planet, as well as exclusive and never available-before content. From American, European and Latin American live games to general sports news and in-depth analysis, beIN SPORT guarantees first row access to top leagues and major sports properties through TV, on-line and mobile platforms with games that cant be seen on any other channel. For more information, please visit http://www.beinsport.tv and follow us on Twitter @beINSport1USA for breaking news and real-time updates.

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Liberty Cablevision of Puerto Rico Launches beIN SPORT

Liberty Silver Comments on SEC Order of Suspension

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TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Oct. 10, 2012) - Liberty Silver Corp. (LSL.TO)(LBSV) ("Liberty Silver" or the "Company") today is providing further commentary on the Order of Suspension of Trading (the "Order") imposed by the US Securities Exchange Commission ("SEC") on Friday, October 5, 2012. The Company has been in contact with regulatory authorities in both Canada and the US, and is currently working diligently to resolve the matter. Pursuant to the Order the Company's shares will remain halted on the OTCBB until 11:59 pm EDT, on October 18th, 2012. The Company believes that it is in compliance with all applicable disclosure and regulatory requirements, and is firmly committed to being fully compliant and transparent in the Company's governance. The Company will work closely and cooperatively with the SEC to resolve this matter as soon as possible for the benefit of our shareholders. As additional information becomes available, the Company will use its best efforts to communicate that information to our shareholders.

About Liberty Silver

Liberty Silver Corp. is focused on exploring and developing mineral properties in North America. The company is committed to creating value for its shareholders by advancing its projects using its mitigated risk approach to production, developing new resources on its existing properties, and acquiring new properties with potential to expand their resource base. The Trinity Silver property in Pershing County, Nevada is the company's flagship project. Liberty Silver has the right to earn a joint venture interest in the 10,576 acre Trinity property from Renaissance Gold Inc. For more information, go to http://www.libertysilvercorp.com.

Cautionary Statements

This News Release includes certain "forward-looking statements". These statements are based on information currently available to the Company and the Company provides no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements that describe the Company's future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Company or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by such terms as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "estimates", "may", "could", "would", "will", or "plan". Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results relating to, among other things, results of exploration, project development, reclamation and capital costs of the Company's mineral properties, and the Company's financial condition and prospects, could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements for many reasons such as: changes in general economic conditions and conditions in the financial markets; changes in demand and prices for minerals; litigation, legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; technological and operational difficulties encountered in connection with the activities of the Company; and other matters discussed in this news release and in filings made with securities regulators. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements. These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by the Company or on its behalf, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

The Toronto Stock Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

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Liberty Silver Comments on SEC Order of Suspension

Does the Left Favor A More Activist Government?

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"Why do intellectuals support government solutions?" My friend Julian Sanchez asks that question in a new essay for the Cato Institute's Libertarianism.org. Intellectuals, he says, seem "disproportionately attracted to 'progressive' political views and government-centric means of remedying social ills." He suggests this is because "if the best solutions to social [...]

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Does the Left Favor A More Activist Government?

Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson makes a hometown visit

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Posted at: 10/09/2012 6:43 PM By: Stuart Dyson, Eyewitness News 4

Gary Johnson brought his long-shot Libertarian campaign for president to New Mexico Tuesday, with a rally at the University of New Mexico Tuesday evening and a fundraiser high in the Sandia Mountains foothills earlier in the day.

It was barbecue and bucks at the County Line restaurant on Tramway, a fundraising luncheon for the former two term New Mexico governor.

Johnson, still steaming over his exclusion from the first Obama-Romney debate, is sticking with his message: cut federal spending, bring the troops home, legalize marijuana and gay marriage - live free.

"It's a message that resonates all across the country," Johnson said. "There are no weak spots anywhere. There's solid support and it's growing. I'm here to tell you, it's absolutely growing!"

It isn't a big bucks campaign, but the contributions keep rolling in from Americans who can't find meaning with the Republicans or Democrats. And don't try the argument that a vote for Johnson is a wasted vote.

"A wasted vote is voting for somebody you don't believe in," Johnson said. "That's a wasted vote. You vote for the person you believe in and that's how you change things in this country. if everybody wastes their vote on me - guess what? - I'm the next President of the United States!"

Johnson is polling at about 6 percent right now, when the pollsters bother to include him. Still, that's way ahead of where other Libertarians that have been in other races for the presidency.

Johnson's hometown visit will not last long. He is due to fly out of Albuquerque Wednesday, heading for Virginia and Washington D.C. to continue his tour of American college campuses.

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Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson makes a hometown visit

Libertarian Dymowski offers alternative in House race

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Dundalkian is nominee of Libertarian Party

by Ben Boehl

Dundalks Leo Dymowski wants to go to Washington as the 2nd Districts next representative in Congress. While his chances are remote, the 55-year-old Stanbrook resident is on the ballot as a member of the Libertarian Party and has the backing of the Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson. He will be facing Democratic Congressman C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger and Republican Nancy Jacobs and believes there isnt much difference between Democrats and Republicans. Im running to give more people a choice, Dymowski said. I want to be able to give people an option away from both parties. Dymowski said that some of the key differences between him and the major-party candidates are that he doesnt believe in giving foreign aid, wants to repeal the Patriot Act and wants Congress to audit the Federal Reserve. According to Dymow-ski, he doesnt believe the country needs to still have a military presence in Germany, since World War II has been over for 65 years, and he doesnt want the United States to remain as the worlds policeman. Eighty percent of the people are against foreign aid and 80 percent of the politicians are for it. Dymowski added that he gets a positive response when he speaks to voters about the repeal of the Patriot Act and elimination of the Transportation Security Administration.

I dont support the Patriot Act. There is nothing patriotic about it, he said. Libertarians have opposed the Patriot Act and similar national security measures as unwarranted intrusions on citizens rights and expansion of government power. Dymowski has been critical of the fact that Congress wont approve a measure to audit the Federal Reserve System, and he feels that too much money is being spent by the government, but there is no accountability. A lot of Dymowskis agenda might sound familiar, as he agrees with the platform of former Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul. Dymowski ran for office in 1978 as a Democrat and again in 1991 as a Republican, but said Paul inspires him. Ron Pauls ideas appeal to me. Thats what got me to become a Libertarian. Paul was the Libertarian Partys nominee for president in 1988. Dymowski also claimed that Ruppersberger caters to special interest groups, starting when he was Baltimore county executive from 1994 to 2002, pointing to how Ruppersberger used the power of eminent domain to take land away from residents in the Essex-Middle River area in a deal widely alleged to have benefited developers. Dymowski believes that Ruppersberger hasnt changed and now only listens to the leaders of his Democratic Party. Instead of showing leadership and independence, Dutch does what he is told. He has gone along with Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic leadership nearly 100 percent of the time, whether its voting for Obamacare or sending our sons to war. Dymowski has met Jacobs at a few functions, but doesnt approve of her and the Republicans stance on defense. We had a few debates, and I respect her because Dutch didnt attend, but she doesnt think we should cut the military at all, Dymowski said.

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Libertarian Dymowski offers alternative in House race

Top China delegate pulls out of IMF meet amid islands row

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TOKYO (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday that China's central bank governor will not lead the Chinese delegation at the IMF's semi-annual meeting this week, in what appeared to be a snub to host Japan.

Zhou Xiaochuan's failure to attend the meeting comes after relations between China and Japan have slumped to their worst in years over their competing claims to sovereignty of some islands in the East China Sea.

The row has been marked by violent protests and calls for boycotts of Japanese products in China. Japanese car makers, including Toyota Motor, later reported a tumble in auto sales in the world's biggest car market.

"We were informed two days ago that Governor Zhou's schedule might require him to cancel his lecture in Tokyo," an IMF spokeswoman said. "It has now been confirmed that his deputy Yi Gang will represent him."

Zhou had been set to deliver what amounted to a closing keynote lecture on Sunday.

"The Tokyo meeting is an extremely important international summit," Japanese Finance Minister Koriki Jojima said at a press conference. "It is deeply regrettable that the representatives of the (Chinese) authorities are not participating."

The IMF comments confirm a report on Tuesday by Chinese state news agency Xinhua that China's delegation will not be led by its most senior finance officials.

According to Chinese protocol, only the most senior officials usually lead such trips. China's delegation will be led by Yi Gang, vice head of the People's Bank of China, and Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao, Xinhua said.

The disputed group of islands, called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, are located near rich fishing grounds and potentially huge oil-and-gas reserves. Taiwan also asserts its sovereignty over the uninhabited islets.

Japan is scheduled to host the IMF and World Bank annual meetings for the first time in nearly half a century. About 20,000 people are expected to attend the events, which end on Sunday, making it one of the world's largest international conferences.

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Top China delegate pulls out of IMF meet amid islands row

Claim that Links Economic Success and Genetic Diversity Draws Criticism

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Genoeconomists' use of population-genetic data to predict economic success is sparking a war of words, including charges of racism

By Ewen Callaway and Nature magazine

The United States has the right amount of genetic diversity to buoy its economy, claim economists. Image: D. ACKER/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY

Showcasing more than fifty of the most provocative, original, and significant online essays from 2011, The Best Science Writing Online 2012 will change the way...

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From Nature magazine

The invalid assumption that correlation implies cause is probably among the two or three most serious and common errors of human reasoning. Evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould was referring to purported links between genetics and an individuals intelligence when he made this familiar complaint in his 1981 book The Mismeasure of Man.

Fast-forward three decades, and leading geneticists and anthropologists are levelling a similar charge at economics researchers who claim that a countrys genetic diversity can predict the success of its economy. To critics, the economists paper seems to suggest that a countrys poverty could be the result of its citizens genetic make-up, and the paper is attracting charges of genetic determinism, and even racism. But the economists say that they have been misunderstood, and are merely using genetics as a proxy for other factors that can drive an economy, such as history and culture. The debate holds cautionary lessons for a nascent field that blends genetics with economics, sometimes called genoeconomics. The work could have real-world pay-offs, such as helping policy-makers to set the right level of immigration to boost the economy, says Enrico Spolaore, an economist at Tufts University near Boston, Massachusetts, who has also used global genetic-diversity data in his research.

But the economists at the forefront of this field clearly need to be prepared for harsh scrutiny of their techniques and conclusions. At the centre of the storm is a 107-page paper by Oded Galor of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and Quamrul Ashraf of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It has been peer-reviewed by economists and biologists, and will soon appear in American Economic Review, one of the most prestigious economics journals.

The paper argues that there are strong links between estimates of genetic diversity for 145 countries and per-capita incomes, even after accounting for myriad factors such as economic-based migration. High genetic diversity in a countrys population is linked with greater innovation, the paper says, because diverse populations have a greater range of cognitive abilities and styles. By contrast, low genetic diversity tends to produce societies with greater interpersonal trust, because there are fewer differences between populations. Countries with intermediate levels of diversity, such as the United States, balance these factors and have the most productive economies as a result, the economists conclude.

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Claim that Links Economic Success and Genetic Diversity Draws Criticism

Economics and genetics meet in uneasy union

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The United States has the right amount of genetic diversity to buoy its economy, claim economists.

D. ACKER/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY

The invalid assumption that correlation implies cause is probably among the two or three most serious and common errors of human reasoning. Evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould was referring to purported links between genetics and an individuals intelligence when he made this familiar complaint in his 1981 book The Mismeasure of Man.

Fast-forward three decades, and leading geneticists and anthropologists are levelling a similar charge at economics researchers who claim that a countrys genetic diversity can predict the success of its economy. To critics, the economists paperseems to suggest that a countrys poverty could be the result of its citizens genetic make-up, and the paper is attracting charges of genetic determinism, and even racism. But the economists say that they have been misunderstood, and are merely using genetics as a proxy for other factors that can drive an economy, such as history and culture. The debate holds cautionary lessons for a nascent field that blends genetics with economics, sometimes called genoeconomics. The work could have real-world pay-offs, such as helping policy-makers to set the right level of immigration to boost the economy, says Enrico Spolaore, an economist at Tufts University near Boston, Massachusetts, who has also used global genetic-diversity data in his research.

But the economists at the forefront of this field clearly need to be prepared for harsh scrutiny of their techniques and conclusions. At the centre of the storm is a 107-page paper by Oded Galor of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and Quamrul Ashraf of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts1. It has been peer-reviewed by economists and biologists, and will soon appear in American Economic Review, one of the most prestigious economics journals.

The paper argues that there are strong links between estimates of genetic diversity for 145countries and per-capita incomes, even after accounting for myriad factors such as economic-based migration. High genetic diversity in a countrys population is linked with greater innovation, the paper says, because diverse populations have a greater range of cognitive abilities and styles. By contrast, low genetic diversity tends to produce societies with greater interpersonal trust, because there are fewer differences between populations. Countries with intermediate levels of diversity, such as the United States, balance these factors and have the most productive economies as a result, the economists conclude.

The manuscript had been circulating on the Internet for more than two years, garnering little attention outside economics until last month, when Science published a summary of the paper in its section on new research in other journals. This sparked a sharp response from a long list of prominent scientists, including geneticist David Reich of Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, and Harvard University palaeoanthropologist Daniel Lieberman in Cambridge.

In an open letter, the group said that it is worried about the political implications of the economists work: the suggestion that an ideal level of genetic variation could foster economic growth and could even be engineered has the potential to be misused with frightening consequences to justify indefensible practices such as ethnic cleansing or genocide, it said.

Our study is not about a nature or nurture debate.

The critics add that the economists made blunders such as treating the genetic diversity of different countries as independent data, when they are intrinsically linked by human migration and shared history. Its a misuse of data, says Reich, which undermines the papers main conclusions. The populations of East Asian countries share a common genetic history, and cultural practicesbut the former is not necessarily responsible for the latter. Such haphazard methods and erroneous assumptions of statistical independence could equally find a genetic cause for the use of chopsticks, the critics wrote.

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Economics and genetics meet in uneasy union

Health Care REIT, Inc. Announces Date of Third Quarter 2012 Earnings Release, Conference Call and Webcast

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TOLEDO, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Health Care REIT, Inc. (HCN) announced today that it will release its third quarter 2012 financial results before the market opens onNovember 6, 2012. The company will also host a conference call onNovember 6, 2012at10:00 a.m. Eastern Timeto discuss these results. The information to be discussed on the call will be contained in the company's earnings release, which will be available in the News section of the companys website atwww.hcreit.com.

The conference call will be accessible by telephone and through the Internet. Telephone access will be available by dialing (888) 346-2469or(706) 758-4923(international). For those unable to listen to the call live, a taped rebroadcast will be available beginning two hours after completion of the call throughNovember 20, 2012. To access the rebroadcast, dial (855) 859-2056or (404) 537-3406(international). The conference ID number is 40018571. To participate in the webcast, log on towww.hcreit.com15 minutes before the call to download the necessary software. Replays will be available for 90 days.

About Health Care REIT, Inc.

Health Care REIT, Inc., an S&P 500 company with headquarters in Toledo, Ohio, is a real estate investment trust that invests across the full spectrum of seniors housing and health care real estate. The company also provides an extensive array of property management and development services. As of June 30, 2012, the companys broadly diversified portfolio consisted of 1,010 properties in 46 states and Canada.

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Health Care REIT, Inc. Announces Date of Third Quarter 2012 Earnings Release, Conference Call and Webcast

Red Cross launches new round of nurse assistant classes

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For weeks, Tammy Schooley watched as health care providers ignored her father as he lay in a hospital bed suffering from cancer.

If she told them he needed a bed pan, for instance, Schooley said they told her to let him go in the bed. If he needed help during the night, I couldnt get anybody to come in and help me.

There was just such a lack of care and concern, and thats putting it nicely, Schooley said recently. Her father, a semiretired physicist, died at age 82 in August 2011.

What her dad went through, along with how her mother was treated when hospitalized with Alzheimers years earlier, motivated Schooley to train to be a certified nurse assistant.

In many ways, her story underscores the need for more qualified health care workers, a shortage that has been deepening in the past few years as the nations baby boomers age into retirement by the millions and fall in need of care.

I told myself as soon as I could find a program, I was going into the health care field, she said. I had to try and make a difference.

According to the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute, by 2020 the nation will need 1.1 million additional direct care workers a category that includes certified nurse assistants.

With the increasing need in the health care field, the American Red Cross recently launched a second round of classes to train certified nurse assistants to provide basic care such as feeding, dressing, bathing and monitoring to patients.

It was exactly what Schooley, 51, of Conyers had hoped for, and when she happened upon the program in July, she signed up immediately.

Schooley would bring with her the compassion she believed her parents deserved, and the CNA instructors would teach her how to properly provide the care they needed.

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Red Cross launches new round of nurse assistant classes

Coventry Expands Healthways SilverSneakers® Fitness Program to Its Medicare Advantage Beneficiaries in 13 States

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BETHESDA, Md. & NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Coventry Health Care, Inc. (CVH) and Healthways (HWAY) today announced an agreement to offer the award-winning SilverSneakers Fitness Program to Coventrys eligible Medicare Advantage beneficiaries in 13 states. This three-year agreement, effective January 1, 2013, makes SilverSneakers available to beneficiaries in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.

For those plans with Silver Sneakers benefits, Coventrys Medicare Advantage beneficiaries will have full access, at no cost to them, to SilverSneakers programs and locations across the country. SilverSneakers is the nations leading exercise program designed to keep older adults active and healthy.

Coventry has offered fitness programs to its Medicare Advantage beneficiaries since 2009 to help them achieve a healthier lifestyle. Coventry and Healthways began their partnership in 2012 by offering SilverSneakers to eligible Coventry beneficiaries in Florida. In the first seven months of the programs availability, Coventry beneficiaries made more than 37,000 visits to SilverSneakers locations.

Coventry believes strongly in helping people get well and stay well for a better quality of life, said Nancy Cocozza, Senior Vice President, Medicare, at Coventry Health Care. The SilverSneakers model focuses heavily on reaching out to older adults to encourage them to become more active, healthy and fit. We have seen a high level of engagement and excitement from beneficiaries in Florida through this program, and we are pleased to offer SilverSneakers to thousands more nationwide.

Fitness and Flexibility Without Cost to Beneficiaries

Beneficiaries who participate in SilverSneakers have free access to more than 15,000 locations in the Healthways fitness center network nationwide, making it easier to take classes and participate in programs close to home or on the road. Staff members are on site at locations to

help beneficiaries meet their personal wellness goals. Many locations offer amenities, such as exercise equipment, pools, saunas, fitness classes and other activities.

Beneficiaries who cannot get to a fitness location can participate in SilverSneakers Steps, a personalized fitness program that offers kits for general fitness, strength, walking or yoga. Kits are mailed to beneficiaries, and include DVDs and other exercise tools that can be used at home or on the go.

The SilverSneakers online community offers a secure environment that allows beneficiaries to create exercise and nutrition plans, track fitness progress, find health articles and recipes and gain additional support and encouragement.

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Coventry Expands Healthways SilverSneakers® Fitness Program to Its Medicare Advantage Beneficiaries in 13 States

Health Care Reform Impact: More Insured Americans Compared to 18 Months Ago, BusinessOne Technologies, Inc., Reports

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BENSALEM, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Health insurance expanded to cover nearly 13 million more individuals in June 2012 compared with 18 months prior, according to new research from BusinessOne Technologies, Inc. This 5.4 percent increase in total managed lives between Jan. 2011-June 2012 is due in part to already-implemented health care reform measures that are driving greater access to health care and prescription drugs ahead of the 2014 individual mandate roll-out.

These measures include dependent-child coverage up to age 26, small business tax credits, and early Medicaid expansion by some states. While health insurance coverage is on the rise, the national unemployment fell by almost 1 percent over the same 18-month period.

Managed Lives Trends in the Current Health Care Reform Environment is the third in BusinessOnes series of annual managed lives trend reports. The analysis finds the number of insured Americans increased across all third-party payer segments over the 18-month study period, with the exception of State Medicaid (Fee-for-Service).

Medicare lives grew at the fastest rate (12%), followed by Managed Medicaid (10.4%) and commercial insurance (5%). The commercial channel experienced the largest increase in number of insured individuals: 7.6 million people, accounting for more than half of the increase.

Analysis is based on data from BusinessOnes Maestro, which tracks Americas insured by commercial, Medicaid and Medicare plans, along with related benefit design, formulary, co-pay, coverage policy and other metrics.

Among the top 10 states in insured lives by channel:

It is critical for pharmaceutical and biotech manufacturers to understand the implications of health care reform on access and reimbursement, said BusinessOne Technologies President James A. Barone. The combination of health care reform and a sluggish economy will have a dramatic effect on the movement of lives to state insurance exchanges, Medicaid and Medicare. Understanding this landscape is essential to developing appropriate strategies for the new managed care paradigm.

Managed Lives Trends in the Current Health Care Reform Environment shows why even small shifts in insured lives can significantly impact market share. The report:

Managed Lives Trends in the Current Economic Environment provides valuable market information to those interested in staying informed on the impact of health care reform. To obtain a copy of this report, visit BusinessOne Technologies, Inc., at http://www.businessonetech.com.

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Health Care Reform Impact: More Insured Americans Compared to 18 Months Ago, BusinessOne Technologies, Inc., Reports

Baylor Health Care System and HealthLeaders Media to Host Forum on How to Build Successful Cancer Care Program

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DANVERS, MA--(Marketwire - Oct 10, 2012) - HealthLeaders Media, a division of HCPro, Inc., today announced they will join forces with Baylor Health Care System to host a unique live event on November 6, 2012, to provide healthcare executives with insights for how to develop an excellent cancer service line.

The event, "Cancer Service Line Leadership: Baylor Health Care System," will be held at Baylor Health Care System in Dallas, and the event can also be attended virtually from anywhere in the world by logging onto a live simulcast on the Internet.

The rate to participate in the program is $399 for individual attendees. For more information about the event or to register, please go to http://www.hcmarketplace.com/ev-10641/Cancer-Service-Line-Leadership-Baylor-Health-Care-Dallas-TX.html.

"Hospitals need the clinical expertise to tailor treatment for the best possible outcomes, access to the latest clinical trials and experienced navigators to help guide each patient through the treatment process so that every patient has their best chance for a cure," said Jim Molpus, strategic relationships director at HealthLeaders Media and event moderator. "Baylor Health Care System has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years to develop its successful cancer service line by combining the best aspects of academic and private-practice cancer care models to serve patients better."

The Dallas event is part of a series of HealthLeaders Media Rounds focused on various topics of concern to hospitals and health systems nationwide. Live and virtual attendees will also receive free copies of a recently completed white paper, which can also be downloaded at http://www.pages05.net/hcpro/Nov6Rounds/.

The speakers include: John McWhorter, President of Baylor University Medical Center and Senior Vice President of Baylor Health Care System; Alan Miller, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Director of Oncology at Baylor Health Care System and Medical Director of Baylor Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center; Daniel D. Von Hoff, M.D., Physician-in-Chief and Director of Translational Research at TGen (Translational Genomics Research Institute) in Phoenix; Cynthia Robinson, R.N. MBA, Manager of Patient Navigation Program at Baylor Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center; and Steven Paulson, M.D., Chairman and President of Texas Oncology.

HealthLeaders Media Rounds provide healthcare leaders with access to in-depth insights, analysis and recommendations on specific challenges facing the industry. Using a case study format, Rounds events feature an array of leaders from host facilities who collectively share insights on how they have accomplished a particular initiative. This wide-angle view provides healthcare leaders with the ability to incorporate real-world solutions learned from the event into their own systems.

HealthLeaders Media HealthLeaders Media, a division of HCPro, Inc., is a leading multi-platform media company dedicated to meeting the business information needs of healthcare executives and professionals. As an integrated media company, HealthLeaders Media includes HealthLeaders magazine, HealthLeadersMedia.com, the HealthLeaders Media Intelligence Unit, HealthLeaders Media Rounds events, HealthLeaders Media Breakthroughs reports, and California HealthFax. All these platforms may be found online at http://www.healthleadersmedia.com.

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Baylor Health Care System and HealthLeaders Media to Host Forum on How to Build Successful Cancer Care Program

Health-care-reform debate raises question of responsibility

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Need to engage political arena

Ron Sim's emphasis on individual responsibility in this matter is overlooking some major factors that affect public health [Take responsibility for your health-care costs, Opinion, Oct. 7].

The reason for this is that research into health inequalities indicates that there are systematic health differences between societal groups. The findings have uncovered many social factors associated with health outcomes.

One of these is that policy does impact public health. We cannot simply engage individuals, we must engage the political arena as well. Making the right policy decisions can improve public health and keep people out of the emergency room.

Daniel Tuttle, Seattle

Health-care insurance premiums should go down

On Oct. 7, The Seattle Times had two health-care articles with significant points.

The first, Insurers praised parts of health law but gave mostly to Republicans, pointed out that insurance company contributions greatly favor Republicans in their contributions because among other things, they dislike the Obamacare requirement that they spend 80 to 85 percent of their premium dollars on medical care for policyholders [News, Oct. 7].

The second article, an opinion piece by Ron Sims, reported on the New Hampshire Healthcost website that compares what hospitals, surgery centers, physicians and other health-care professionals receive for their services [Take responsibility for your health-care costs, Opinion, Oct. 7]. Such information can help New Hampshire people cut their health-care costs, but the amount of money that CEOs, other administrative personnel and health-care company shareholders receive was not separately mentioned.

Can this give us a clue as to why health-care insurance premiums are not coming down as we hoped? It seems to me that in addition to direct health-care providers, the health-care administrative personnel and insurance shareholders need to ask themselves: Is my involvement in the industry really intended to improve peoples' health? Or is it to increase my financial income? If it is both, which has priority? And, what income would be fair, or enough under public or divine scrutiny?

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Health-care-reform debate raises question of responsibility