By Jennifer Coburn

This holiday season, lets not overstuff ourselves with toys, trinkets, and gifts. The gluttony of consumerism adversely affects our health and our childrens health.

The average American spends more than $1,000 during the holiday season, according to Buy Nothing Christmas, an organization that advocates simplifying the holiday. Although the United States represents only 4.5 percent of the worlds population, we consume 40 percent of its toys. The typical first grader is able to recognize 200 brands and acquires 70 new toys a year.

Those toys may be harming your child. In Born to Buy, one of the most comprehensive analyses of consumerism in kids, professor Juliet Schor explains that the more kids buy into the commercial culture, the more likely they are to suffer from depression, anxiety, headaches, stomachaches, and boredom. Adolescents with more materialistic values, meanwhile, are more likely to engage in risky behavior, such as smoking, drinking, and illegal drug use. They are also more likely to suffer from personality disorders such as narcissism, separation anxiety, paranoia, and attention deficit disorder.

Lavishing our children with gifts deprives them of something far more valuable: shared time and experiences. In our overscheduled lives, we are often too busy or tired to do a family art project, play a board game, or bake cookies. I cant remember ever roasting chestnuts on an open fire, but its always sounded like a lovely idea. Most families say that what they need more of is time – not stuff. And getting in and out of shopping centers steals your time.

An overabundance of holiday gifts offers a short-term payoff, but the long-term consequences are high. Mary Bellis Waller, the author of Crack-Affected Children, likens materialism to cocaine addiction. Buying stuff stimulates the pleasure centers of the brain, which creates a temporary high, but ultimately leaves one unsatisfied. The bottom line is that substance abuse is substance abuse.

Not surprisingly, kids who are overindulged materially tend to have the worst relationships with their parents. Money cant buy love, but it sure seems to finance some serious familial discord.

I dont advocate doing away with all holiday gift-giving. A few thoughtful gifts can add a lot to a childs holiday. But we need to redefine giving by shopping less and doing more. Our kids will remember the bread-baking, the snowball fights, and the family time long after theyve tired of this years must-have gadget.

Presents are part of the holiday experience, but they have come to eclipse the greater meaning of the season. Whether it is Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or winter solstice, the season offers us all a period to reflect on what makes life beautiful and meaningful. And that usually doesnt come in wrapping paper.

Jennifer Coburn is the author of four novels. She wrote this for Progressive Media Project, and it was distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Tags : Shopping

Asymmetrical haircuts rule in for youths in Ireland

I find Irish hair fascinating.

I should preface this by saying that I generally find hair fascinating, so perhaps it isnt unusual that Ive fixated on it while abroad. Hair is a wonderful modicum of expression and artistry, and Ive always loved the most exotic of contemporary styles (remember Natalie Portmans bald era? I can’t be the only person who misses it. What a diva).

Or perhaps Im just sensitive to it at the moment – after years of short, wild, colorful haircuts ranging from black pixie cuts to cranberry A-lines, Im finally growing my own hair out again, and letting it return to brown, which feels painfully tame.

As a result, I have wretched hair envy.

And the exotic Irish youths are definitely making it worse.
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This country seems to be a home for some of the craziest styles Ive ever seen outside of a boutique folio. True, its not universal – but these wild cuts are far, far more common than they are back home. I have a theory that it might be partly due to the pressures of “secondary school” (read: high school), during which teenagers are almost universally forced to wear conservative uniforms. Maybe thats why so many have turned to their scalps as an alternative way to stand out.

Tags : Artistry

The Couture Council of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) will honor Oscar de la Renta with its 2012 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion on Wednesday September 12, 2012 at a benefit luncheon at the David H. Koch Theater, Lincoln Center, New York City. As has become the tradition, this luncheon heralds the arrival of Fall Fashion Week.

Dr. Valerie Steele, director and chief curator of The Museum at FIT, announced, Oscar de la Renta is a true fashion superstar who has long served as one of the greatest ambassadors of American style. His clothes, which draw on the heritage of Spain and the French haute couture, as well as on the dynamism of contemporary New York high fashion, convey a sense of luxury and drama that have earned him acclaim throughout the world.

FIT president, Dr. Joyce F. Brown, noted, We are so pleased to honor this great American designer, who, through his timeless and elegant designs, is a legend to all those who love fashion. Oscar de la Renta is an inspiration, not only to students of fashion, including FITs talented students, but to his fellow designers as well.

I am honored to receive this award from the Couture Council of The Museum at FIT, said Mr. de la Renta. It is an extraordinary acknowledgement celebrating artistry in fashion, a craft that defines my work as a designer and drives our industry as a whole. FIT is an institution dedicated to the future of fashion. I greatly admire their work and am happy to be a part their efforts.

Born in the Dominican Republic, Oscar de la Renta left at the age of eighteen to study painting at the Academy of San Fernando in Madrid. While living in Spain, he became interested in design and began sketching for leading Spanish fashion houses, which led to an apprenticeship with Spains renowned couturier, Cristóbal Balenciaga. Later, he left Spain to join Antonio Castillo as a couture assistant at the house of Lanvin in Paris. Mr. de la Renta came to New York in 1963 to design the couture collection for Elizabeth Arden and in 1965 began his signature ready-to-wear label. When he was appointed as designer to the French couture house of Pierre Balmain in 1992, it was the first time that an American had been chosen for such a prestigious position at the heart of the haute couture.

Today, the company also produces a bridal collection, a fragrance line, a home collection, and a complete range of accessories, including handbags, shoes and jewelry. In 2008, Oscar de la Renta opened its first international stores in Athens and Madrid, and has continued its expansion with the opening of Dubai in 2009.

Mr. de la Renta was chosen to receive The Couture Council Artistry of Fashion Award by the Couture Council Advisory Committee, an independent group consisting of curators, editors, and retailers. Members include Pamela Golbin, curator of the MusÃe de la Mode; Akiko Fukai, director and chief curator of the Kyoto Costume Institute; Caroline Milbank, independent curator and author; Glenda Bailey, editor-in-chief of Harpers Bazaar; Hamish Bowles, European editor-at-large of Vogue; Ken Downing, fashion director of Neiman Marcus; Linda Fargo, senior vice president of Bergdorf Goodman; Nicole Fishcelis, vice president and fashion director at Macys; and many distinguished others. Dr. Steele serves as chair.

Oscar de la Renta is one of the leading design houses in the world. The company has seen an influx of great young talent, as it continues to grow and expand as a global brand. De la Renta has also brought in many of his own family members to help build continuity and a foundation for the labelâ??s future success. His son-in-law Alex Bolen operates as Chief Executive Officer, step-daughter Eliza Bolen serves as Vice President of Licensing, and his son Moises de la Renta works in the Design Studio.

Tags : Artistry

Enbridge, Enterprise Join Forces to Alleviate U.S. Crude Glut
November 18, 2011, 1:02 PM EST

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• KKR to Buy Samson for $7.2 Billion to Add Shale-Based Oil, Gas
• KKR Said to Be Near $7 Billion Deal to Buy Most of Samson
• Keystone XL and Other Pipelines Needed, TransCanada CEO Says
• ‘Inappropriately Cozy’ U.S. Ties on Keystone, Group Says
• Oil May Decline Next Week on European Debt Concern, Survey Shows

By Mike Lee

Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) — Enbridge Inc. and Enterprise Products Partners LP said they will team up to increase the ability of U.S. refineries on the Texas coast to get oil from a storage depot in Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for most U.S. crude.

Oil climbed above $100 a barrel in New York to a five-month high on the news yesterday. HollyFrontier Corp., Marathon Petroleum Corp. and other U.S. refiners declined on concern that their profits will fall.

“The producers think this is great, because now you have enhanced connectivity and enhanced transportation into the largest area and concentration of refiners in the U.S,” Darren Horowitz, an analyst with Raymond James & Associates in Houston, said in an interview.

Enbridge, based in Calgary, said it will pay $1.15 billion for ConocoPhillips’s share of a north-flowing pipeline that extends from Houston-area refineries on the Gulf of Mexico to Cushing. Enbridge and Enterprise, the line’s other owner, will then reverse the flow.

A bottleneck at the Oklahoma storage hub, created partly by increasing production from the Bakken oil-shale formation, has caused U.S. oil to trade at a discount to imports.

The 500-mile Seaway pipeline may begin shipping 150,000 barrels by the second quarter of 2012, the companies said. Its capacity may be expanded to 400,000 barrels by early 2013, they said.

The two companies said they’re abandoning a previous plan for a larger pipeline called Wrangler between Cushing and Houston.

Link to Canada

Reversing Seaway’s flow will also create the last leg of line from Canada’s oil-sands deposits in the province of Alberta. Enbridge and Enterprise will build an 85-mile extension from Houston to Port Arthur, Texas, where there are more refineries that can process heavy Canadian crude, Rick Rainey, a spokesman for Houston-based Enterprise, said in an interview.

“They absolutely are looking at the Canadian crude,” said Horowitz, who rates Enterprise a “strong buy” and owns none of its units.

Enbridge already has a pipeline that crosses the U.S.- Canada border.

Canada accounts for more than 90 percent of all proven reserves outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said he wants to make Canada a “superpower” in global oil markets.

TransCanada Corp.’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would extend from Alberta to the Gulf refineries, has been delayed because the U.S. State Department asked TransCanada to study alternate routes for the line.

New Route

TransCanada had originally planned to open the Keystone pipeline in mid-2013. TransCanada Chief Executive Officer Russ Girling said yesterday it could take six to nine months to negotiate a new route.

Environmental groups that opposed the Keystone line are likely to fight any similar pipelines because they’re opposed to oil-sands production, Girling said yesterday.

If Enterprise and Enbridge “can fill that gap without the uncertainty, then XL is likely to lose those shippers,” Brian Watson, director of research at Steelpath Capital Management LLC, said in an e-mail.

Shippers may still sign up with TransCanada for competitive reasons, said John Edwards, an analyst at Morgan Keegan & Co. in Houston.

Growth in crude output from Canada’s oil sands and in shale-rock formations in the U.S., including North Dakota, will create a need for both the Keystone XL and Enbridge’s alternative, Jackie Forrest, director of global oil for IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates, said in a Nov. 11 analysis.

Both projects are needed “in order to create enough takeaway capacity to prevent bottlenecks,” she said.

–With assistance from Aaron Clark and Mark Shenk in New York, Bradley Olson in Houston, Jeremy Van Loon in Calgary, Edward Klump in Houston and Doug Alexander in Toronto. Editors: Charles Siler, Susan Warren

To contact the reporters on this story: Mike Lee in Dallas at mlee326@bloomberg.net; Edward Klump in Houston at eklump@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Susan Warren at susanwarren@bloomberg.net

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Tags : Enterprise

Kotak Commodity has come out with its report on base metals. According to the research firm MCX Copper may note gains amid range bound movement in international markets and weakness in rupee, however the bias remains negative.

Tags : Commodity

LAKEWOOD, Colo., Nov. 17, 2011 — /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — To help educate patients with, or at risk for, peripheral artery disease or PAD, the Vascular Disease Foundation (VDF) has launched two new public service announcements (PSAs) on PAD symptoms, risk factors and treatment options.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110303/DC58830LOGO)

These new PSAs feature Michael R. Jaff, DO, medical director of the Vascular Center at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, alerting patients to the dangers of PAD, which increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, leg amputation or even death.

PAD occurs when arteries in the legs become narrowed or clogged with fatty deposits, reducing blood flow to the legs. This can result in leg muscle pain when walking, disability, amputation, and poor quality of life. Blocked arteries found in people with PAD can be a red flag that other arteries, including those in the heart and brain, may also be blocked #x2013; increasing the risk of a heart attack or stroke.

While everyone over the age of 50 is at risk for PAD, the risk increases if a person:

• Smokes, or used to smoke
• Has diabetes
• Has high blood pressure
• Has abnormal blood cholesterol
• Is African American
• Has a personal history of coronary heart disease or stroke

A devastating disease that is often undiagnosed, many with the disease do not even know they have it. Thats because often PAD causes no recognizable symptoms. However, people with PAD may have one or more symptoms such as fatigue, heaviness, tiredness or cramping in the leg muscles (calf, thigh or buttocks) that occurs during activity such as walking and goes away with rest; foot or toe pain at rest that often disturbs sleep; skin wounds or ulcers on the feet or toes that are slow to heal.

These free PSAs can be found on VDFs You Tube Channel: VascularDiseaseFdn. Development of these PSAs was supported by Unetixs Vascular/Cardiac Science.

About The Vascular Disease FoundationThe Colorado-based Vascular Disease Foundation is the only national non-profit organization with the sole purpose of educating the public about vascular diseases. It is the most trusted source of credible, scientific and non-biased information on vascular diseases. For more information, call (888) VDF-4INFO or (888) 833-4463 or visit our Web site at www.vdf.org/

SOURCE Vascular Disease Foundation

Tags : Announcements

Interbank traders targeted stops below parity in the Australian Dollar during the local morning as the signs of a fragile market on the back of weak overnight commodity moves put the fear into the commodity currencies. The minor support at 0.9980 was taken out with the price managing to reach 0.9970 before sovereign names were seen buying across most markets and with that the downward spiral was stopped in its tracks. The following short squeeze has all currencies higher with Euro touching 1.3500 after having found support at 1.3450 earlier in the day whilst Sterling could not move above the reported 1.5800 corporate selling. Reports that Merkel and Morti were holding discussions over the current Italian crisis via phone seemed to help the bullish mid session bias of the market but as the afternoon approached all the majors gave up there gains with AUD back at parity, Euro 1.3475 and Sterling 1.5770.

Reports out of Japan that Toyota would not be able to make a profit on US car sales whilst the Japanese currency was below 90.00 has done nothing to stop the strengthening of the Yen as the pair closes the day just above the next pivot point of 76.80. Reports that stops below in the Interbank market are increasingly becoming a target and we cant see a bounce for the USD until these are cleaned out.

Equity markets remained under pressure through the Asian trading session today as the negative sentiment seen in Europe and the US flowed into the region today. Negative comments about the property sector in China today didnt help either and saw China’s Shanghai Composite weaken by 1.50% to 2,425 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.80% to 18,476. South Koreas KOSPI also came under pressure and is generally the leader or loser in the Asian markets, currently weaker by 2.20% at 1,834. Australia’s ASX 200 performed inline with other major bourses as commodity prices remained weak and the AUDUSD dollar continued to fall. The ASX 200 finished trade weaker by 1.90% at 4,177.

Commodity markets were directionless today with early losses seen as equity markets opened and moved to session lows very quickly but we did see some support return in afternoon trade as shorts were seen covering going into the weekend. Crude prices were relatively unchanged with WTI weaker by 0.10% at $98.70 and Brent crude actually gained 0.20% to $108.41 as the spread narrowed slightly after recent losses. Precious metals remained under pressure with Silver declining by 0.40% to $31.37 and Gold finished the session unchanged at $1,720. Copper was relatively unchanged ending the session at $3.40.

• Download Full Compass Directions – Market Report

Tags : Commodity

A week of capital spending announcements is all about politicking, not just telling taxpayers how the government is spending their money, opposition leaders say.

Last year, the Dexter government released its capital spending plan in December, the first time the province had put it out before the usual budget release in the spring. But starting with the announcement of $22 million for hospital repairs last Thursday, the province has issued eight news releases on capital projects in the 2012-13 plan.

Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil and Tory Leader Jamie Baillie said they both support the early release of the capital budget, but theyd like to see the whole plan.

To release it piecemeal is nothing more than playing politics with it, McNeil said. Lets be honest, this government has been more focused on their slogans and billboards than they have anything else.

Baillie said hed hoped the government would continue releasing the capital budget early.

Im disappointed that theyve obviously succumbed to politick-ing, he said.

Finance Minister Graham Steele said he does intend to release the full plan late this month or in early December. He said the announcements are about highlighting measures that can get lost in the release of a plan with multiple individual projects.

I dont believe that people are properly aware of what their government is proposing to do with their money when its all released all at once, so I quite like spreading the announcements over a period of time, Steele said.

I think the more people know about what government is doing with their money, the better off we all are. . . . This is the way it should have been done all along.

The Dexter government started releasing the capital budget in the fall to allow contractors to plan for the coming year.

Thursdays announcements included $2 million for closed-circuit cameras and other security upgrades at courthouses and $750,000 for a design study of the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic in Lunenburg.

( djackson@herald.ca)

Tags : Announcements

Enterprise software pivots to new stacks

By Phil Wainewright | November 17, 2011, 4:38pm PST

Summary: Tomorrows software leaders wont offer old-school ERP and CRM. The enterprise software stack is pivoting to reset around activities that barely existed a decade ago.

Tags : Enterprise

MF Global Commodity Traders Fault Cash-Only Payment Plan
November 17, 2011, 5:25 PM EST

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• MF Global Missing Money May Double, Exceed $1.2 Billion
• U.S. Trustee Faults MF Global Customer Committee Proposal
• MF Global Holdings Asks for Court-Appointed Trustee
• MF Trustee Says ‘No Assurance’ of 100% Collateral Return
• JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs Sued for Alleged MF Global Misstatements

By Linda Sandler

(Updates with hearing in third paragraph.)

Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) — A group of commodity traders faulted a plan by the liquidator of broker-dealer MF Global Inc. to distribute 60 percent of the collateral in so-called cash-only accounts to customers, saying it was unfair to traders who had a small futures position in addition to a large cash MF holding.

Trustee James Giddens also was being too conservative in paying out only 60 percent of the collateral and should raise Com the amount to 85 percent, they said in a court filing yesterday.

U.S. Bankruptcy judge Martin Glenn in Manhattan will hold a hearing today on Giddens’s plan to transfer about $520 million in collateral to commodity customers whose accounts consisted solely of cash on Oct. 31, when the parent company filed for bankruptcy. The judge said at a hearing yesterday he’s “sympathetic” to customers who are suffering as cash is withheld, and held up a folder of filings faxed to his court by MF Global clients.

Royce Corp., which said it trades metals with clearing houses solely to hedge its business, said in a filing its accounts at MF Global now consisted only of cash, as it liquidated copper contracts after the Oct. 31 bankruptcy of the broker-dealer’s parent company. Under Giddens’s plan, Royce wouldn’t get 60 percent of its collateral as its account had open positions as of Oct. 31 to maintain its hedges.

Court Filing

Royce and other companies hedging their exposure in commodities would be “without relief and without access to any of their cash,” Royce said in a court filing yesterday, asking the judge to make a change.

About 15,000 futures customers would receive 60 percent of the $869 million in their accounts, and 6,000 other customers with small accounts may also get collateral, the trustee said. He aims to make one or more additional distributions later, he said in a filing.

Examiners from CME Group Inc. found unexplained wire transfers at the brokerage and a $900 million shortfall in client funds during the weekend the failing parent company was talking with possible buyers, a person briefed on the matter said. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission now is investigating about $600 million that should have been held in segregated accounts, according to a separate person with knowledge of the regulatory probe.

CME Group, the world’s largest futures exchange that’s fallen 8.5 percent this week, may face liability related to concerns it misled regulators over what it knew about MF Global Holdings Ltd., according to a note to clients written yesterday by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analyst Daniel Harris.

U.S. Probe

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald in Chicago issued subpoenas in a probe of MF Global Holdings Ltd., the broker- dealer parent, a person familiar with the matter said.

MF Global Holdings, which was run by former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. co-chief executive officer Jon Corzine, filed for bankruptcy after making bets on sovereign debt and getting margin calls. The New York-based company listed debt of $39.7 billion and assets of $41 billion in Chapter 11 papers. The broker-dealer is being liquidated separately.

The brokerage case is Securities Investor Protection Corp. v. MF Global Inc., 11-cv-7750, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan). The parent’s bankruptcy case is MF Global Holdings Ltd., 11-bk-15059, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

–With assistance from Tiffany Kary, Matthew Leising and Patricia Hurtado in New York and Silla Brush in Washington. Editors: John Pickering

To contact the reporter on this story: Linda Sandler in New York at lsandler@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Pickering at jpickering@bloomberg.net

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Tags : Commodity