Liberty Media set to complete spinoff; revenue rises

Posted on by

Liberty Media Corp. said it expects to complete the spinoff of its cable business Tuesday as the media company also reported its third-quarter revenue and operating earnings improved, mostly thanks to contributions from its stake in SiriusXM Holdings Inc.

"We expect to complete the spin-off of Liberty Broadband today and look forward to the focus and clarity that it will provide for both Liberty Broadband and Liberty Media," Liberty Media Chief Executive Greg Maffei said.

In the spinoff, eligible holders across several series of Liberty Media stock will receive one-fourth of a share of the corresponding series of Liberty Broadband common stock for each Liberty Media share.

The media conglomerate, which owns a majority stake in SiriusXM, highlighted strong results at the satellite-radio provider. Last week, Sirius XM reported its third-quarter profit more than doubled as it added more subscribers. The company also raised its 2014 revenue outlook again. Earlier in October, Sirius authorized a $2 billion increase to its stock buyback program.

Liberty Media reported a profit of $33 million, compared to $76 million a year earlier.

Read more:

Liberty Media set to complete spinoff; revenue rises

Bastrop-area candidates show spirit in gubernatorial, house elections

Posted on by

Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Kathie Glass of McDade and Democratic candidate for District 17 state representative Carolyn Banks of Bastrop were each defeated Tuesday night after mounting grassroots campaigns against well-known challengers, but they didnt lose the spirit that led them to run for office.

While watching the votes trickle in on Tuesday, both women said they had wanted to give voters an alternative choice to the status quo, and had done their best to raise awareness with limited resources.

Unofficial voting totals with 54.66 percent of precincts reporting showed Glass with 44,688 votes, or 1.27 percent in an election where headlines were largely dominated by Democrat Wendy Davis and Reublican Greg Abbott, who won the governors race with 2,115,137 votes (60.46 percent).

Glass, who said she visited every county in Texas in an effort to raise awareness about her candidacy and conservative platform, said she believed the lack of media attention to Libertarian and Green candidates contributed to Abbotts landslide win.

That Texas had a Libertarian or Green candidate in nearly every race offered Glass little solace, she said. Running on a platform based on pushing back against what she called a tyrannical federal government, the attorney and business owner said she was disappointed in the returns and had hoped to present more of a challenge to Davis and Abbott.

Its good that there are more candidates here, she explained. But the media makes it look like there are only two people running. How do we break out? People need to know that they have three or four choices, not just two.

Its very frustrating. I went to 254 counties to try to get the word out. Many people who heard me speak agreed with me, but until I visited, didnt know who I was. They thought there were only two candidates.

Banks fared a little better in her bid to unseat incumbent Tim Kleinschmidt. Banks unofficially had 7,709 votes (34 percent) with 47 percent of precincts reporting, according to unofficial totals.

The 73-year-old retiree had hopes but no expectations of winning, she said. She said just wanted to make sure Kleinschmidt didnt run unopposed. She took issue with his voting record, including his support of doing away with the free breakfast program in schools, she explained.

I was hoping to be in a position to offer a different point of view in the House, said Banks, whose resume includes being an erstwhile regular contributor to the Bastrop Advertiser. I said at the outset, Im not a politician. I hope the Democratic party has already begun fielding candidates for 2016.

See the rest here:

Bastrop-area candidates show spirit in gubernatorial, house elections

Wyllie: election was about more than two parties

Posted on by

CLEARWATER (FOX 13) -

Libertarian Gubernatorial candidate Adrian Wyllie spent election night with his supporters at Sea Dog Brewing Company in Clearwater.

Though he was a distant third in the race for Governor, he still called Tuesday night a "victory party."

The crowd of 60-plus knew coming into it that a win was a long-shot. Still, they celebrated a win they call progress.

There were cheers and a few beers as Wyllie took the final sip in his run for governor, and thanked his supporters.

"This was about a mission, a message, restoring prosperity to and freedom to the people of Florida," Wyllie said. "And, it was you guys that made this happen."

The gathering at Sea Dog was the culmination of two years and 100,000 miles of campaigning.

"The guy is dynamic and he is genuine," said Patrick Kerr, a Wyllie supporter.

While the Libertarian didn't come close to winning the election, Wyllie still calls it a victory in showing voters that there are more than two parties in Florida.

"It shows that although we may not be all the way there with them on a level playing field, that we are beginning to break through the glass ceiling, beginning to break down the barriers put in our way by the Republican and Democratic parties," Wyllie said.

Here is the original post:

Wyllie: election was about more than two parties

US Senate candidate and pizza delivery man reflects on campaign

Posted on by

By Sharon Nunn | Published 11/03/14 12:57am

Sean Haugh, North Carolina Libertarian Senate candidate, has the power to swing the vote in this year's election between Republican candidate Thom Tillis and Democrat candidate Kay Hagan who are currently in a statistical dead heat.

The 53-year-old pizza-delivering Libertarian candidate running for U.S. Senate against Thom Tillis and Kay Hagan says he doesnt want any part of the campaigns negativity and attack ads.

In light of a recent analysis that found North Carolinas Senate race has featured more negative ads than any other state, Sean Haugh said in an interview on Friday that his campaign has focused on the positive reasons N.C. residents should vote for him.

Haugh, a Durham resident, thinks Tilliss and Hagans negative ads will help him in the race.

People look at that, and theyre just so disgusted by it, and then they find out they have a third choice on the ballot, he said. Ive been getting a tremendous response from people who are turned off by all that negativity.

It is Haughs sixth time running for political office. He said he has always stood for Libertarian views.

We need to balance the budget at a much lower level, get out in front of this debt and let people keep more of the money that they earn, he said.

AlthoughHaugh has garnered at most 8 percent of the vote in polls this fall, he said the people who vote for him send a strong message to Democrats and Republicans that theyre going to have to start holding more Libertarian views.

He said he ran on an act of conscience because neither Hagan nor Tillis would try to curb war.

Excerpt from:

US Senate candidate and pizza delivery man reflects on campaign

Islands Of Chill – No.16 Sicilia, Selected by DJ Maretimo, Beautiful Chillout Flight – Video

Posted on by


Islands Of Chill - No.16 Sicilia, Selected by DJ Maretimo, Beautiful Chillout Flight
Every 14 days new mixes, subscribe to my Youtube-Channel ! Become a Facebook fan: https://www.Facebook.com/DJMaretimo Islands Of Chill - No.16 Sicilia, Selected by DJ Maretimo Enjoy this...

By: Islands Of Chill

More here:

Islands Of Chill - No.16 Sicilia, Selected by DJ Maretimo, Beautiful Chillout Flight - Video

10 Days to see Bali in 360 : Seminyak – Ubud – Gili Islands – Sanur – Video

Posted on by


10 Days to see Bali in 360 : Seminyak - Ubud - Gili Islands - Sanur
10 Days to see Bali : - 3 nights in Seminyak - 1 night in Ubud - 3 nights in Trawengan - Gili Islands - 2 nights in Sanur Seminyak : surfing, shopping, swimming, parties, beach and restaurants...

By: Didie #39;s Songs

Read the original here:

10 Days to see Bali in 360 : Seminyak - Ubud - Gili Islands - Sanur - Video

Small islands may amplify tsunamis study

Posted on by

The findings are of concern, for many coastal communities have settled in areas traditionally believed to be shielded from waves by offshore islands

A tsunami warning center for the Indian Ocean area. Photo from AFP

PARIS, France Small islands, long thought to be natural tsunami barriers for coast-dwellers, may in fact amplify the waves they are supposed to break, researchers warned Wednesday, November 5.

The findings are of concern, for many coastal communities have settled in areas traditionally believed to be shielded from waves by offshore islands.

But simulations of wave motion found that some of these communities may be at higher risk from tsunamis of the kind that devastated villages in the Indian Ocean in 2004 and in northeastern Japan in 2011.

The study is published in a British journal, Proceedings of the Royal Society A.

In 200 computer simulations, not one concluded that the presence of an island defended the coastal area behind it, they found.

Instead, the tsunami's energy was amplified "by as much as 70%," co-author Frederic Dias of France's Center for Mathematical Studies and their Applications (CMLA) told Agence France-Presse.

An island "often acted as a lens, focusing the wave's destructive power," he said.

The simulations varied the island and beach slope, the water depth, the distance between the island and the beach, and tsunami wavelength.

See more here:

Small islands may amplify tsunamis study

Ottawa hospital challenges patent on human genes (with video)

Posted on by

Saying no one should be able to patent human DNA, the Childrens Hospital of Eastern Ontario is asking the Federal Court to declare patents on genes linked to an inherited heart condition called Long QT Syndrome invalid.

The potential implications of the legal challenge, the first of its kind in Canada, are huge.

If the court agrees with the hospitals argument that the patents should never have been issued in the first place, there would be a ripple effect on other such patents and pending patents on human DNA. TheU.S. Supreme Court has already made a similar ruling invalidating patents on human DNA.

Our position is very straightforward, hospital CEO Alex Munter told a press conference held just after court documents were filed in Toronto on Monday. No one should be able to patent human DNA, it would be like patenting air or water. Doing so, he said, has a negative impact on the future of medicine, on patients access to their own genetic information and on the quality of care.

CHEO is taking on the first Canadian case because it is a major centre for genetics research and clinical applications. Patents on genetic materials, such as the ones that touch on Long QT Syndrome, Muntersaid, are a major obstacle to research and treatment of genetic diseases. The patents in question, five of them, are held by the University of Utah, Genzyme Genetics and Yale University.

Our genetics leadership really is at the leading edge in Canada of moving us toward that era of personalized medicine that everyone is talking about, Munter said. But patents on human DNA, he added, have been identified as an obstacle that will stand in the way of delivering on that promised future.

Long QT Syndrome affects an estimated one in 2,500 newborns. It can lead to life-threatening arrhythmias and is the cause of a significant number of sudden deaths in young adults, sometimes seen in deaths of young athletes playing sports. Sometimes symptoms such as fainting spells during exercise can help doctors diagnose and treat a patient, but in some cases, the first symptom of the syndrome is sudden death, said Dr. Gail Graham, who heads the hospitals department of genetics.

The syndrome is fully treatable with medications once diagnosed, but it can be tricky to diagnose using electrocardiogram alone, Graham said. Genetic testing along with ECG can come up with a conclusive diagnosis.

CHEO was set to become one of Ontarios testing centres for the syndrome but the province received a cease-and-desist order from the holder of the patents that are linked to the disease. Now, because of the patents surrounding the genes involved in the disease, testing must be done in the U.S. at a cost of about $4,500 to $4,800 a patient, said Graham, compared to between $1,500 and $2, 000 if it could be done here. Being able to test here, she said, would save the Ontario health system $200,000 a year. If genes continue to be patented, she said, the cost to the provincial health system will rise into the millions every year.

CHEO is in the final stages of verifying a new genetic test that wouldsimultaneously sequence all of the thousands of genes in an individual that been linked to human genetic diseases. It is something that couldnt even be imagined five years ago, said Graham, chief of the hospitals department of genetics. But such a test creates a potential nightmare scenario for patients with undetected Long QT syndrome, she said. If thetest done on a patient incidentally turned up the genetic mutations for Long QTsyndrome, she said, lab scientistswould be prevented by law from passing that information along to the physician treating the patient, meaning a potentially fatal condition would go untreated.

The rest is here:

Ottawa hospital challenges patent on human genes (with video)

Canada should ban patenting of human genes: Editorial

Posted on by

Should Canadian doctors, using the best science, be able to screen people for potentially fatal genetic diseases without fear of being hauled into court by American interests for violating commercial patents? Yes they should. And a case has just been launched in Federal Court to ensure that they can.

The Childrens Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) is challenging the validity of five patents held here in Canada for genes associated with Long QT syndrome. As the Stars Kate Allen reports, its a rare inherited heart disorder that causes chaotic heart beats and can be fatal. It is treatable. But the University of Utah Research Foundation, Genzyme Genetics and Yale University hold exclusive rights to the genetic sequences and tests involved in diagnosing the disorder.

CHEO is making a principled case that no one should be able to patent human DNA, the deoxyribonucleic acid that has been called the blueprint of life, and its gene segment. The hospital, a leader in genetic research and care, says it could do the screening for less than half the current $4,500 (U.S.) cost, were it not for the patents.

Moreover, it is developing a new test capable of diagnosing 5,000 genetic conditions, but worries that patents on some of that DNA might bar health care providers from sharing the results with patients, leaving potentially fatal conditions untreated. The problem could worsen as more companies patent more genes.

The very idea of patenting genes is offensive. While they can be discovered, chunks of human genetic material arent new scientific or commercial inventions; they are raw products of nature. No one can credibly claim to own such material. Nor should it be patented.

While this case promises to break legal ground in Canada, the courts have long recognized that laws of nature, natural phenomena and abstract ideas lie outside patent protection. Canada is one of the few advanced countries that still allow gene patenting.

Indeed, in a precedent-setting case the U.S. Supreme Court declared just last year that human genes cannot be patented. It ruled unanimously that Myriad Genetics Inc. could not patent naturally occurring BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, linked to a risk of breast and ovarian cancers in women. Physicians, researchers and others had argued, convincingly, that the genes Myriad isolated and extracted werent materially different from native DNA, and that letting the firm patent genes would amount to awarding a patent on nature, giving it a monopoly that could hamper medical innovation, research and testing by others.

Yet despite the decisive U.S. ruling, Canadian policy and law remain sadly behind the times, as Richard Gold, a McGill University law professor, puts it. Prime Minister Stephen Harpers government hasnt seen fit to amend the Patent Act to prevent genes from being patented. And there has been no similar court challenge in this country, until now.

By now Parliament should have been seized of the need to clarify that the Patent Act should not be used to patent genes.

No one should have a monopoly on something that occurs naturally, says Alex Munter, CHEOs chief executive officer. Patenting a gene is like patenting the water we drink and the air we breathe. Genetics is the future of medicine, and we need clarity on this issue.

Continue reading here:

Canada should ban patenting of human genes: Editorial