- Look the hell out, Ecuador. President Rafael Correa had barely
finished celebrating news the he had secured a landslide second re-election
before he vowed to deepen the "citizen's revolution" that has lifted
tens of thousands of Ecuadoreans out of poverty as he expanded the welfare
state. Correa promised that bigger changes were on the way and sounded very
much like the leftist U.S.-trained economist he is in spelling out what his
country could expect. "In this revolution the citizens are in charge, not
capital," the president proclaimed after winning 56.9 percent of the vote
Sunday against 23.8 percent for his closest challenger, longtime banker Guillermo
Lasso. Former President Lucio Gutierrez was a distant third with 6 percent and
with 57 percent of the vote counted, Lasso conceded defeat late Sunday. Correa,
known for his explosive rhetoric, has managed to stabilize the oil-exporting
nation of 14.6 million and despite his bombastic ways, he has actually brought
calm to a country with a history of unruliness that cycled through seven
presidents in the decade before him. As oil prices have stabilized at around
$100 a barrel, Correa he has raised lower-class living standards and widened
the welfare state with region-leading social spending. In a not-so-touching
moment, he dedicated his victory to his cancer-stricken friend and Venezuelan
despot Hugo Chavez. "We are only here to serve you. Nothing for us.
Everything for you," Correa proclaimed to cheering supporters from the
balcony of the Carondelet presidential palace Sunday shortly after polls
closed. Sure, the haters will point out that he is wholly intolerant of dissent
and economists question whether his economic policies are sustainable, but just
because the number of government employees has ballooned from 16,000 to 90,000
during Correa's current term in office is no cause for alarm. The people of
Ecuador, many of whom now work for Correa’s government, seem to like what he’s
doing because the percentage of votes he received this time around was a
massive upgrade from the 51.7 percent that he won in his first re-election in
April 2009. Haters can rejoice over the fact that he is barred by the constitution
from another 4-year term, but in between now and then he can do more wacky sh*t
like grant asylum at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London to embattled WikiLeaks
founder Julian Assange………
- It literally went without saying, but former New York Jets
General Manager Mike Tannenbaum said it anyhow. Tannenbaum constructed a
terrible team that stumbled to a 6-10 record and that was enough to get him
fired, so obviously there are certain decisions he would change if he had a
do-over. Acquiring über-bust quarterback/personal punt protector Tim Tebow from
the Denver Broncos for two draft picks would likely be at the top of the list,
but signing incumbent starting quarterback Mark Sanchez to a long-term contract
extension last year would have to be close behind. Teams generally don’t throw
big money at QBs who throw 13 touchdown passes while tossing 18 interceptions
and losing nine fumbles for a tidy 2-to-1 TD-to-INT ratio. “I don’t think I
would have signed a quarterback to an extension knowing that he’d have 26 turnovers,”
Tannenbaum said. “That might be one of the reasons I’m right sitting here with
you guys.” Hey-oh, good one Mike. Maybe there is a touch of bitterness toward
Sanchez because his terrible season hobbled a Jets offense that was the primary
reason the team only won six games, but the ironic fact is that Sanchez
actually had 26 turnovers in 2011, so he really wasn’t any worse than in 2012.
The positive news for Tannenbaum is that he no longer has the stress of
attempting to build a contender in the media-crazed pressure cooker that is New
York and can now enjoy a better night’s rest than he has probably gotten in a
long time. He did defend some of his other moves and did his best to
counter-balance the Sanchez deal with repeatedly raising the point that he made
decision to draft All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis. If there are any
NFL teams out there who need an executive with no feel whatsoever for picking a
good quarterback, feel free to give Tannenbaum a call…….
- LG is looking to lift its smartphone game and the
successor to its Optimus G model with the Optimus G Pro, a phone whose prime attraction
will be its high-definition screen. The new model features a 5.5-inch, full-HD
IPS 1080P display at 440 pixels per inch and because such a screen requires plenty
of power, a relatively massive 3140mAh battery pack. A detailed, high-def
screen and massive power supply also necessitate plenty of processing power and
the Optimus G Pro will be fueled by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600
processor, which clocks in at 1.7Ghz. In an effort to make the phone something
of a multimedia powerhouse, LG has also equipped the phone with a 13 MP
rear-facing camera and a 2 MP front-facing camera with full-HD
capabilities, the latter being hailed by the company as being of "the same
quality found on high-definition TVs.” The high-end camera will also feature
two new camera modes, known as Dual Recording and Virtual Reality (VR)
Panorama. Dual Recording will give users the capability to simultaneously
capture video with both the front and rear cameras for a picture-in-picture
result, which sounds slightly complex for a phone, but new technology need not
be completely useful to excite people; it only needs to be different than
what’s out presently and offer the chance to upload worthless material to
YouTube and Facebook. VR Panorama will enable both horizontal and vertical
360-degree panoramas, similar to the panorama picture capabilities now
available for wider shots using the camera on an iPhone. The Optimus G Pro will
include some of its predecessor’s most notable features, including Quick Memo.
American users won't have a (legal) crack at it until sometime next quarter,
but the
phone will launch on Korean carriers SK Telecom, KT, and LG Uplus first after
it makes its debut at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona later this month………
- A vital ingredient of Wisconsin’s beer-soaked economy is
in short supply and the consequences could be dire if it runs out. No, it isn’t
beer and it isn’t the other logical choice of fried cheese curds or any other
type of dairy product. In fact, that substance is helium. It is one the world's most abundant elements and
is used in life-saving health equipment, but somehow it is now all but
gone in the Badger State. Helium plays
an important role in thousands of Wisconsin jobs and a key part in the state’s
health care system, but medical experts have expressed concern that the ongoing
helium shortage could have a serious impact in Wisconsin. It is a critical part
of magnetic resonance imaging procedures and if the current supply runs out,
the sh*t could hit the fan. Medical imaging uses a high amount of helium and
there is no other substance that can be substituted if it is not available.
Magnetic resonance imaging is used to diagnose muscle and bone injuries and
even serious neurological conditions, but without helium those MRIs cannot
happen. GE Healthcare, based in Waukesha, is one of the world's leading
producers of magnetic resonance devices and the company’s CEO is concerned
about the shortage. "Helium has some special kind of properties. One of
the properties we use is that it is actually getting liquefied at minus 452
Fahrenheit. That's damn cold," GE Healthcare MR president and CEO Richard
Hausmann said. Look at the CEO, go with a “damn cold” blast. It’s a strong
play, but not as strong as someone finding the helium necessary to cool the
coils of the enormous, powerful magnets that fill MRI cylinders. No helium
refills mean no MRIs and no MRIs mean injuries and other medical conditions
can’t be diagnosed. GE Healthcare is doubly agitated because company officials
testified before Congress last year, urging the government to take action, and
in typical government fashion, nothing was done………
- George Lucas will have virtually no voice in the next
round of “Star Wars” movies, but one of the franchise’s familiar off-camera
faces may be around to give the projects a consistent sound. Composer John Williams, who scored the six previous
films in the franchise as well as the “Indiana Jones” movies and a litany of
other famous films, says he would definitely be interested in working on the
next round of “Star Wars” movies that will be directed by J.J. Abrams. Williams
won an Oscar for his score to the original “Star Wars” film in 1977 and even
without his frequent collaborator, Lucas, on hand, he seems open to another run
scoring the outer-space epic. "We're about to play Star Wars and
each time we play it, I'm reminded of the first time we played it decades ago.
Neither I, nor George, nor anyone else involved thought this would go far or in
a few years there would be a sequel and I'd have to revisit the themes… and
years later another trilogy,” Williams said during a recent concert. “Now we're
hearing of a new set of movies coming in 2015, 2016, so I need to make sure I'm
still ready to go in a few years for what I hope would be continued work with
George.” Whether Williams understands how limited Lucas’ role in the films
would be is unclear, but if he is still interested, Abrams could have a
difficult choice to make between Michael Giacchino, the composer he typically
hires to score his TV series and movies, and an industry icon such as Williams.
If Williams does return, he and Harrison Ford would be the two best-known faces
involved with the project who have been a part of the franchise previously.
Ford has reportedly signed up to reprise his iconic role as Han Solo, although
that has not been confirmed………
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