Waiting for a thaw

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Imagine waking up in the small, rural home you share with your aunt. You get up and vote in the election everyone has been so hopeful about, the election that will bring much-anticipated change in your country. Then you hop on a bus and take the long, bumpy drive to the plane that will take you to another country for a year. But as you arrive at the airport, you sense the mood of your country has changed to one of anxiety. There are no election results yet and the delay cannot be explained.

You climb on the plane and fly halfway around the world, far from …

Study Findings from University of Kagoshima Broaden Understanding of Japan and Agricultural Research.

According to recent research from Kagoshima, Japan, "The anthelmintic effects of Japanese bead-tree (Melia azedarach var. subtripinnata) leaves and fruits on gastrointestinal nematodes and coccidia in goats were investigated. Fecal samples were taken from three naturally nematode-infected goats and their EPG (eggs per gram) count was analyzed."

"Another fecal sample was cultured at 25 degrees C for 10 days with water extracts of M. azedarach leaves and fruits separately, and the larvae of the nematodes were counted. The water extracts of leaves and fruits significantly depressed the development of larvae compared to control (water) (P < 0.05). Oral administration of three …

His vision endured; Blake overcomes blindness, has dream job as crew chief.(Sports)

Byline: PETE IORIZZO Staff Writer {FACTBOX} HHRA Drag Racing When: Concludes today; gates open at 8 a.m. Where: Lebanon Valley Dragway Cost: $15, or $5 for children age 11 and younger More information: http://www.dragway.com

WEST LEBANON - Everything changed the day Jay Blake stepped into his garage and found his toolbox. He opened it, reached inside and ran his finger along the curves of a wrench. A combo wrench, he thought. He replaced the wrench and pulled out one of the box's drawers. He grabbed a thumbnail-sized part. A distributor module, he knew right away. His smile grew.

"I can do this," he thought. Piece by piece, Blake rifled through his collection of tools, then felt the underbelly of his car. His mental map of an automobile, crafted through a lifetime of tinkering, never steered him off course. An accident robbed his senses of sight, taste and smell, but that night in his garage, Blake refused to …

Market Maker Surveillance Report. CMCSA, NOK, GE, NWSA, ALU, QQQ, Bearishly Biased Price Friction For Monday, July 11th 2011.

M2 PRESSWIRE-July 12, 2011-BUYINS.NET: Market Maker Surveillance Report. CMCSA, NOK, GE, NWSA, ALU, QQQ, Bearishly Biased Price Friction For Monday, July 11th 2011(C)1994-2011 M2 COMMUNICATIONS

RDATE:12072011

BUYINS.NET / www.buyins.net, announced today its proprietary Market Maker Friction Factor Report for Monday. Since October 2008 market makers are now required to be on the bid as much as they are on the offer and for like amounts of stock. This Fair Market Making Requirement is designed to prevent market makers from manipulating stock prices. On Monday there were 3916 companies with "abnormal" market making, 1557 companies with positive Friction Factors and 5452 companies with negative Friction Factors. Here is a list of the top companies with Abnormal Price Friction (bearish bias) in their stock prices. This means that there was more buying than selling in the stocks and their stock prices dropped. COMCAST CORP-CLASS A (NASDAQ:CMCSA), NOKIA CORP-SPON ADR (NYSE:NOK), GENERAL ELECTRIC CO (NYSE:GE), NEWS CORP-CL A (NASDAQ:NWSA), ALCATEL-LUCENT-SPONSORED ADR (NYSE:ALU), (NASDAQ:QQQ). To access Friction Factor, Naked Short Data and SqueezeTrigger Prices on all stocks please visit http://www.buyins.net .

Market Maker Friction Factor is shown in the chart below:

Symbol Change Percent Buy Volume Buy %% Sell Volume Sell %% Net Volume Friction

CMCSA $-0.480 -1.88% 11,949,042 58.69% 8,333,025 40.93% 3,616,017 Abnormal

NOK $-0.240 -3.86% 11,926,688 40.39% 9,622,708 32.59% 2,303,980 Abnormal

GE $-0.350 -1.84% 14,238,543 30.98% 11,502,485 25.03% 2,736,058 Abnormal

NWSA $-1.190 -7.10% 48,494,092 54.32% 40,326,707 45.17% 8,167,385 Abnormal

ALU $-0.310 -5.27% 8,564,974 39.14% 5,840,899 26.69% 2,724,075 Abnormal

QQQ $-1.070 -1.81% 27,602,805 53.04% 23,710,771 45.56% 3,892,034 Abnormal

Analysis of the Friction Factor chart above shows that each of the six stocks mentioned above had more buying than selling on Monday and their stock prices dropped. The Friction Factor displays how many more shares of buying than selling are required to move a stock higher by one cent or how many more shares of selling than buying moves a stock lower by 1 cent.

For example, the chart above shows CMCSA with 3,616,017 greater shares of buying than selling (NetVol) and the stock price was down $-0.48000. This means the Market Makers were trading the stock in a way inconsistent with normal supply and demand (Economics 101); more buying than selling should cause prices to rise.

COMCAST CORP-CLASS A (NASDAQ:CMCSA) - Comcast Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides consumer entertainment, information, and communication products and services to the residential and commercial customers in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Cable and Programming. The Cable segment manages and operates cable systems, including video, high-speed Internet, and phone services, as well as regional sports and news networks. Its video services include analog, digital, on demand, and high-definition television and/or digital video recorders. This segments high-speed Internet service consists of an interactive portal, Comcast.net, which provides multiple email addresses and online storage, as well as various proprietary content, and value-added features and enhancements. Its phone services include voice over Internet protocol digital phone service that provides local and domestic long-distance calling with various features, such as voice mail, caller ID, and call waiting services. The Programming segment operates national programming networks consisting of E!, The Golf Channel, VERSUS, G4, and Style. The company also develops and operates Internet businesses focused on entertainment, information, and communication, including Comcast.net, Fancast, thePlatform, Fandango, Plaxo, and DailyCandy; and owns two professional sports teams and a multipurpose arena, as well as provides facilities management services, including food services, for sporting events, concerts, and other events. As of December 31, 2009, Comcast Corporation served approximately 23.6 million video customers, 15.9 million high-speed Internet customers, and 7.6 million phone customers, as well as approximately 50.6 million homes in 39 states and the District of Columbia. The company was founded in 1969 and is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

NOKIA CORP-SPON ADR (NYSE:NOK) - Nokia Corporation manufactures and sells mobile devices, and provides Internet and digital mapping and navigation services worldwide. Its Devices & Services segment develops and manages a portfolio of mobile devices; and services comprising applications and content. It also offers Internet services focusing on navigation, applications and games, music, and mail, as well as on the tools that enable developers to create applications under the Ovi brand name. The companys NAVTEQ segment provides various digital map information and related location-based content and services to mobile device and handset manufacturers, automobile manufacturers and dealers, navigation systems manufacturers, software developers, Internet portals, parcel and overnight delivery services companies, and governmental and quasi-governmental entities. Its map database enables its customers to offer advanced driver assistance systems, dynamic navigation, route planning, location-based services, and geographic information-based products and services to consumer and commercial users. Its Nokia Siemens Networks segment provides mobile and fixed network solutions and related services to operators and service providers. This segment offers various business solutions, such as consulting and systems integration; service management, and charging and billing software; and subscriber database management. It also provides managed services, including network planning, optimization, and network operations; software and hardware maintenance, proactive, and multi-vendor care, as well as competence development services; and project management, turnkey implementations, and energy efficient sites. In addition, this segment offers fixed and mobile network infrastructure comprising Flexi multiradio base stations, packet core products, optical transport systems, and broadband access equipment, as well as network solutions. Nokia Corporation was founded in 1865 and is based in Espoo, Finland.

GENERAL ELECTRIC CO (NYSE:GE) - General Electric Company (GE) operates as a technology, media, and financial services company worldwide. Its Energy Infrastructure segment produces gas, steam, and aero derivative turbines; generators; combined cycle systems; and renewable energy solutions, as well as provides water treatment services and equipment. This segment also sells surface and subsea drilling and production systems, floating production platform equipment, compressors, turbines, turboexpanders, and high pressure reactors to oil and gas companies. The companys Technology Infrastructure segment manufactures jet engines, turboprop and turbo shaft engines, and its replacement parts for use in military and commercial aircraft, as well as provides repair and maintenance services. This segment also produces healthcare products, including diagnostic imaging systems; offers transportation products and maintenance services; provides enterprise solutions using sensors for temperature, pressure, moisture, gas and flow rate, as well as non-destructive testing inspection equipment. GEs NBC Universal segment engages in the production and distribution of films and television programs; operation of television stations and cable/satellite television networks, as well as theme parks. The companys Capital Finance segment offers commercial lending and leasing products to manufacturers, distributors, and end-users of equipment and capital assets; consumer financial services to consumers and retailers; capital and investment solutions for real estate; commercial finance to the energy and water industries; and commercial aircraft leasing and finance, and fleet and financing solutions. Its Consumer & Industrial segment produces various home appliances, lighting products, and electrical equipment and control products, as well as provides related services. The company has a joint venture with Shenhua International Limited. The company was founded in 1892 and is based in Fairfield, Connecticut.

NEWS CORP-CL A (NASDAQ:NWSA) - News Corporation operates as a diversified media company worldwide. Its Cable Network Programming segment engages in producing and licensing programming distributed through cable television systems and direct broadcast satellite operators primarily in the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. The companys Filmed Entertainment segment produces and acquires live-action and animated motion pictures for distribution and licensing in various formats in entertainment media, as well as produces and licenses television programming worldwide. Its Television segment broadcasts network programming and operates 27 broadcast television stations in the United States. The companys Direct Broadcast Satellite Television segment distributes programming services via satellite and broadband directly to subscribers in Italy. Its Publishing segment involves in the publication of 4 national newspapers in the United Kingdom; approximately 146 newspapers in Australia; and a metropolitan newspaper and a national newspaper in the United States, as well as in the provision of information services. This segment also publishes English language books worldwide; and publishes free-standing inserts and offers in-store marketing products and services in the United States and Canada. The companys Other segment provides display advertising in outdoor locations, primarily in the Russian Federation and eastern Europe. News Corporation was founded in 1922 and is based in New York, New York.

ALCATEL-LUCENT-SPONSORED ADR (NYSE:ALU) - Alcatel-Lucent offers products, solutions, and transformation services that enable service providers, enterprises, governments, and strategic industries to deliver voice, data, and video communication services to end-users worldwide. It engages in the development and sale of software and related services to manage customer interactions. The company offers a software suite that connects customers with the resources to fulfill customer requests and meet customer care goals. It also provides software and related services, which support service provider business priorities in the areas of application innovation, enhanced communications, digital media, real-time rating and charging, and subscriber data management, as well as offers tools for providers to enable consumers set up and manage their mobile devices and services at-home. In addition, the company offers voice telephony and data networking solutions; and end-to-end communications networks and individual network elements, as well as designs and sells a suite of radio frequency products, such as cable, antenna, tower systems, and their related electronic components. Further, the company designs, integrates, manages, and maintains networks. Alcatel-Lucent is headquartered in Paris, France.

(NASDAQ:QQQ) -

About BUYINS.NET

BUYINS.NET, www.buyins.net , monitors trading in all US stocks in real time and maintains massive databases of short sale and naked short sale time and sales data, short squeeze SqueezeTrigger prices, market maker price movements, shareholder data, statistical data on earnings, sector correlation, seasonality, hedge fund trading strategies, comparable valuations. Reports include:

REGULATORY & COMPLIANCE NEWS

Friction Factor -- market maker surveillance system tracking Level II market makers in all stocks to determine Price Friction and compliance with new "Fair Market Making Requirements"

RegSHO Naked Shorts -- tracks EVERY failure to deliver in all US stocks and tracks all Threshold Security Lists daily for which stocks have naked shorts that are not in compliance with Regulation SHO

INVESTMENTS & TRADING

SqueezeTrigger -- 29 billion cell database tracks EVERY short sale (not just total short interest) in all US stocks and calculates volume weighted price that a short squeeze will begin in each stock.

Earnings Edge -- predicts probability, price move and length of move before and after all US stock earnings reports.

Seasonality -- predicts probability, price move and length of move based on exact time of year for all US stocks.

Group Trader -- tracks sector rotation and stock correlation to its sector and predicts future moves in ALL sectors and industry groups.

Pattern Scan -- automates tracking of every technical pattern and predicts time and size of move in all stocks.

GATS (Global Automated Trading System) -- tracks all known trading strategies and qualifies and quantifies which are working best in real time.

DISCLAIMER:

BUYINS.NET is not a registered investment advisor and nothing contained in any materials should be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell any securities. BUYINS.NET has not been compensated by any of the above mentioned companies. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Please visit our web site, www.buyins.net , for complete risks and disclosures.

Contact:

BUYINS.NET

Thomas Ronk

800-715-9999

tom@buyins.net

www.buyins.net

CONTACT: Buyins.netThomas Ronktom@buyins.netwww.buyins.net

((M2 Communications disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to info@m2.com)).

Market Maker Surveillance Report. MU, CSCO, INTC, RIMM, CHRS, AXAS, Bearishly Biased Price Friction For Friday, June 17th 2011.(Report)

M2 PRESSWIRE-June 20, 2011-BUYINS.NET: Market Maker Surveillance Report. MU, CSCO, INTC, RIMM, CHRS, AXAS, Bearishly Biased Price Friction For Friday, June 17th 2011(C)1994-2011 M2 COMMUNICATIONS

RDATE:18062011

BUYINS.NET / www.buyins.net, announced today its proprietary Market Maker Friction Factor Report for Friday. Since October 2008 market makers are now required to be on the bid as much as they are on the offer and for like amounts of stock. This Fair Market Making Requirement is designed to prevent market makers from manipulating stock prices. On Friday there were 4571 companies with "abnormal" market making, 3456 companies with positive Friction Factors and 2893 companies with negative Friction Factors. Here is a list of the top companies with Abnormal Price Friction (bearish bias) in their stock prices. This means that there was more buying than selling in the stocks and their stock prices dropped. MICRON TECHNOLOGY INC (NASDAQ:MU), CISCO SYSTEMS INC (NASDAQ:CSCO), INTEL CORP (NASDAQ:INTC), RESEARCH IN MOTION (NASDAQ:RIMM), CHARMING SHOPPES (NASDAQ:CHRS), ABRAXAS PETROLEUM CORP (NASDAQ:AXAS). To access Friction Factor, Naked Short Data and SqueezeTrigger Prices on all stocks please visit http://www.buyins.net .

Market Maker Friction Factor is shown in the chart below:

Symbol Change Percent Buy Volume Buy %% Sell Volume Sell %% Net Volume Friction

MU $-0.030 -0.45% 27,546,034 60.40% 18,060,389 39.60% 9,485,645 Abnormal

CSCO $-0.080 -0.53% 54,415,530 65.89% 39,468,882 47.79% 14,946,648 Abnormal

INTC $-0.250 -1.17% 82,925,167 82.41% 27,852,526 27.68% 55,072,641 Abnormal

RIMM $-7.530 -21.31% 63,805,286 56.59% 50,686,797 44.95% 13,118,489 Abnormal

CHRS $-0.010 -0.24% 13,192,395 86.04% 2,138,082 13.94% 11,054,313 Abnormal

AXAS $-0.120 -3.48% 11,361,620 86.48% 1,775,633 13.52% 9,585,987 Abnormal

Analysis of the Friction Factor chart above shows that each of the six stocks mentioned above had more buying than selling on Friday and their stock prices dropped. The Friction Factor displays how many more shares of buying than selling are required to move a stock higher by one cent or how many more shares of selling than buying moves a stock lower by 1 cent.

For example, the chart above shows MU with 9,485,645 greater shares of buying than selling (NetVol) and the stock price was down $-0.03000. This means the Market Makers were trading the stock in a way inconsistent with normal supply and demand (Economics 101); more buying than selling should cause prices to rise.

MICRON TECHNOLOGY INC (NASDAQ:MU) - Micron Technology, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and marketing of semiconductor devices worldwide. Its products include dynamic random access memory (DRAM) products that provide data storage and retrieval, which include DDR2 and DDR3; and other specialty DRAM memory products, including DDR, SDRAM, DDR and DDR2 mobile low power DRAM, pseudo-static RAM, and reduced latency DRAM. The company also offers NAND flash memory products, which are electrically re-writeable and non-volatile semiconductor devices that retain content when power is turned off. In addition, it provides NOR flash memory products that are electrically re-writeable and non-volatile semiconductor memory devices; phase change memory products; and image sensor products. Micron Technologys products are used in a range of electronic applications, including personal computers, workstations, network servers, mobile phones, flash memory cards, USB storage devices, digital still cameras, MP3/4 players, and in automotive applications. It sells its products to original equipment manufacturers and retailers through internal sales force, independent sales representatives, and distributors, as well as through a Web-based customer direct sales channel. The company was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Boise, Idaho.

CISCO SYSTEMS INC (NASDAQ:CSCO) - Cisco Systems, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells Internet protocol (IP)-based networking and other products related to the communications and information technology industry worldwide. It offers routers that interconnect public and private IP networks for mobile, data, voice, and video applications; switching products, which offer connectivity to end users, workstations, IP phones, access points, and servers; application networking services; and home networking products, such as adapters, gateways, modems, and home network management software products. The company also provides security products comprising span firewall, intrusion prevention, remote access, virtual private network, unified client, Web, and email security products; storage area networking products that deliver connectivity between servers and storage systems; unified communication products to integrate voice, video, data, and mobile applications on fixed and mobile networks; video systems, including digital set-top boxes and digital media products; and wireless systems. In addition, it offers optical networking products, cable access and flip video products, service provider VoIP services, Cisco TelePresence systems, Cisco Unified Computing Systems, physical security and video surveillances, digital media systems, and building systems. Further, the company provides technical support services; and responsive, preventive, and consultative support services for its technologies. Cisco Systems, Inc. has strategic alliances with Accenture Ltd; AT&T Inc.; Cap Gemini S.A.; EMC Corporation; Fujitsu Limited; Intel Corporation; International Business Machines Corporation; Italtel SpA; Johnson Controls Inc.; Microsoft Corporation; Nokia Corporation; Nokia Siemens Networks; Oracle Corporation; SAP AG; Sprint Nextel Corporation; Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.; VMware, Inc.; BMC Software Inc.; and Wipro Limited. The company was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.

INTEL CORP (NASDAQ:INTC) - Intel Corporation engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of integrated circuits for computing and communications industries worldwide. It offers microprocessor products used in notebooks, netbooks, desktops, servers, workstations, storage products, embedded applications, communications products, consumer electronics devices, and handhelds. The company also provides system on chip products that integrate its core processing functionalities with other system components, such as graphics, audio, and video, onto a single chip. In addition, it offers chipset products that send data between the microprocessor and input, display, and storage devices, including keyboard, mouse, monitor, hard drive, and CD, DVD, or Blu-ray drives; motherboards designed for desktop, server, and workstation platforms, and that has connectors for attaching devices to the bus; and wired and wireless connectivity products consisting of network adapters and embedded wireless cards used to translate and transmit data across networks. Further, the company provides NAND flash memory products primarily used in portable memory storage devices, digital camera memory cards, and solid-state drives; software products comprising operating systems, middleware, and tools used to develop, run, and manage various enterprise, consumer, embedded, and handheld devices; and software development tools that enable the creation of applications. Additionally, it develops computing platforms, which are integrated hardware and software computing technologies designed to offer an optimized solution. The company sells its products principally to original equipment manufacturers, original design manufacturers, PC components and other products users, and other manufacturers of industrial and communications equipment. It has a strategic alliance with Scientific Conservation Inc. Intel Corporation was founded in 1968 and is based in Santa Clara, California.

RESEARCH IN MOTION (NASDAQ:RIMM) - Research In Motion Limited (RIM) designs, manufactures, and markets wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. The company, through the development of integrated hardware, software, and services, provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information, including email, phone, short messaging service, and Internet and Intranet-based applications and browsing. Its products and services principally comprise the BlackBerry wireless platform, the RIM Wireless Handheld product line, software development tools, and other software and hardware. The companys BlackBerry smartphones use wireless, push-based technology that delivers data to mobile users business and consumer applications. Its BlackBerry smartphone portfolio includes BlackBerry Bold series, the BlackBerry Torch, BlackBerry Curve series, the BlackBerry Style, BlackBerry Storm series, the BlackBerry Tour, BlackBerry Pearl series, and the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. The companys BlackBerry enterprise solutions comprise BlackBerry enterprise server, BlackBerry enterprise server express, BlackBerry mobile voice system, and hosted BlackBerry services. Its technology also enables third party developers and manufacturers to enhance their products and services through software development kits, wireless connectivity to data, and third-party support programs. In addition, the company offers BlackBerry technical support services, non-warranty repairs, and nonrecurring engineering services. Further, it provides BlackBerry App World that offers BlackBerry smartphone users an electronic catalogue that aids in the discovery and download/purchase of applications directly from their BlackBerry smartphone. The company markets and sells its BlackBerry wireless solutions primarily through global wireless communications carriers, and third party distribution channels. Research In Motion Limited was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Waterloo, Canada.

CHARMING SHOPPES (NASDAQ:CHRS) - Charming Shoppes, Inc. operates as a specialty apparel retailer primarily for women in the United States. The company operates retail stores and related e-commerce Web sites under the LANE BRYANT, LANE BRYANT OUTLET, FASHION BUG, and CATHERINES PLUS SIZES names. Its retail stores offer plus-size, misses, sportswear, dresses, coats, and intimate apparel, as well as accessories and casual footwear. The company also sells food and specialty gifts through its FIGIS catalog and related e-commerce Web site. As of January 30, 2010, it operated 2,121 retail stores. The company was founded in 1940 and is headquartered in Bensalem, Pennsylvania.

ABRAXAS PETROLEUM CORP (NASDAQ:AXAS) - Abraxas Petroleum Corporation, an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, development, exploration, and production of oil and gas primarily in the Rocky Mountain, Mid-Continent, Permian Basin, and Gulf Coast regions of the United States. The company was founded in 1977 and is based in San Antonio, Texas.

About BUYINS.NET

BUYINS.NET, www.buyins.net , monitors trading in all US stocks in real time and maintains massive databases of short sale and naked short sale time and sales data, short squeeze SqueezeTrigger prices, market maker price movements, shareholder data, statistical data on earnings, sector correlation, seasonality, hedge fund trading strategies, comparable valuations. Reports include:

REGULATORY & COMPLIANCE NEWS

Friction Factor -- market maker surveillance system tracking Level II market makers in all stocks to determine Price Friction and compliance with new "Fair Market Making Requirements"

RegSHO Naked Shorts -- tracks EVERY failure to deliver in all US stocks and tracks all Threshold Security Lists daily for which stocks have naked shorts that are not in compliance with Regulation SHO

INVESTMENTS & TRADING

SqueezeTrigger -- 29 billion cell database tracks EVERY short sale (not just total short interest) in all US stocks and calculates volume weighted price that a short squeeze will begin in each stock.

Earnings Edge -- predicts probability, price move and length of move before and after all US stock earnings reports.

Seasonality -- predicts probability, price move and length of move based on exact time of year for all US stocks.

Group Trader -- tracks sector rotation and stock correlation to its sector and predicts future moves in ALL sectors and industry groups.

Pattern Scan -- automates tracking of every technical pattern and predicts time and size of move in all stocks.

GATS (Global Automated Trading System) -- tracks all known trading strategies and qualifies and quantifies which are working best in real time.

DISCLAIMER:

BUYINS.NET is not a registered investment advisor and nothing contained in any materials should be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell any securities. BUYINS.NET has not been compensated by any of the above mentioned companies. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Please visit our web site, www.buyins.net , for complete risks and disclosures.

Contact:

BUYINS.NET

Thomas Ronk

800-715-9999

tom@buyins.net

www.buyins.net

((M2 Communications disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to info@m2.com)).

Global Crossing to Participate in World IPv6 Day, Supplies Numerous Avenues for Customer Interaction.

Company Provides IPv6 Assistance via Social Media Platforms

FLORHAM PARK, N.J., June 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- As a leading global networking provider that has been delivering IPv6 for more than a decade and as part of its participation in World IPv6 Day, Global Crossing (NASDAQ: GLBC) is broadening its technical support for customers and visitors testing their ability to connect that day to the company's IPv6-enabled website.

Global Crossing, which turned up the IPv6 capability on its website on May 31 in preparation for the industry-wide event on June 8, has been delivering IPv6 over its global, MPLS-based Tier 1 backbone in a dual-stack configuration for more than half a decade. Drawing on its longstanding IPv6 expertise and desire to help any user who experiences difficulties that day with the Global Crossing website, the company will provide real-time assistance and advice via its corporate Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/GlobalCrossingLtd) and has established a special hashtag on its Twitter page (#IPv6Day >>) to communicate with users for the day. Users also may email Global Crossing at webmaster@globalcrossing.com; discuss issues with Global Crossing IPv6 experts via ipv6@globalcrossing.com or post a comment to the company's IPv6 blog at http://blogs.globalcrossing.com/?q=blogs/dsiegel.

Existing customers also can reach a company representative via Global Crossing's award-winning uCommand(TM) customer portal.

"We felt it was important to participate in World IPv6 Day because IPv6-only networking is imminent and it's imperative that users begin planning now," said Anthony Christie, chief technology and information officer for Global Crossing. "By providing multiple ways to communicate with us that day, we're underscoring our commitment not only to integrate new technologies into current network environments but to consistently enhance our overall customer experience."

To make the transition easier, Christie advises businesses to choose a network provider that operates a dual-stack network. A dual-stack network has the ability to route IPv6 and IPv4 side by side on the network, so that a wide area network or Internet connection behaves as an IPv4 and IPv6 path simultaneously. Global Crossing does this for its customers because it allows them to test a fully functioning IPv6 implementation without turning off any of their old IPv4 setup. This also allows the customer to retain access to the parts of the Internet that have not yet transitioned to IPv6.

"If your equipment is not IPv6-capable today, make a minimal investment to get some IPv6-capable equipment," added Dave Siegel, vice president of IP services product management, who spearheaded Global Crossing's World IPv6 Day team. "Come up with an addressing plan, architecture and design. Test with a dual-stack network provider to make sure your setup meets your specifications. Note that migration to IPv6 could take a few months or years, depending on how aggressive your migration plan is, the types of network features you need and the hardware you need to replace. You have time to make the switch from IPv4 to IPv6, but don't put your organization in jeopardy by delaying further."

To learn more about Global Crossing's IPv6 capabilities visit http://www.globalcrossing.com/ipkc/ipkc_ipv6.aspx .

World IPv6 Day is a networking event being conducted by the Internet Society (ISOC) on June 8. Global Crossing will be among several service providers who will offer their content over IPv6 for a 24-hour "test flight." The goal of the Test Flight Day is to motivate organizations across the industry -- Internet service providers, hardware makers, operating system vendors and web companies -- to prepare their services for IPv6 to ensure a successful transition as IPv4 addresses run out, and to help accelerate the momentum of IPv6 deployment.

An Internet Protocol (IP) address is a long series of numbers that identifies a computer on the Internet. Recent news has raised concerns because all of the current IP addresses -- IP version 4 or IPv4 -- have been deployed. That means 4.3 billion possible 32-bit IPv4 addresses have been allocated. IPv6 is the next version of Internet Protocol. IPv6 are 128-bit numbers and will provide 340 trillion trillion trillion Internet addresses for future use.

ISOC is a nonprofit organization founded in 1992 to provide leadership in Internet related standards, education and policy. It also provides leadership in addressing issues that confront the future of the Internet; acts as the "organizational home" for the groups responsible for Internet infrastructure standards, such as the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the Internet Architecture Board (IAB); acts as a global clearinghouse for Internet information and education, and facilitates and coordinates Internet-related initiatives around the world.

ABOUT GLOBAL CROSSING

Global Crossing (NASDAQ: GLBC) is a leading global IP, Ethernet, data center and video solutions provider with the world's first integrated global IP-based network. The company offers a full range of data, voice, collaboration, broadcast and media services delivered with superior customer service.

Global Crossing provides services to enterprises (including approximately 40 percent of the Fortune 500); government departments and agencies; and 700 carriers, mobile operators and ISPs. It delivers converged IP services to more than 700 cities in more than 70 countries, and has 17 world-class data centers in major business centers around the globe.

Please visit www.globalcrossing.com for more information about Global Crossing.

Website Access to Company Information

Global Crossing maintains a corporate website at www.globalcrossing.com, and you can find additional information about the company through the Investors pages on that website at http://investors.globalcrossing.com. Global Crossing utilizes its website as a channel of distribution of important information about the company. Global Crossing routinely posts financial and other important information regarding the company and its business, financial condition and operations on the Investors web pages.

Visitors to the Investors web pages can view and print copies of Global Crossing's SEC filings, including periodic and current reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, and in respect of GCUK's Forms 20-F and 6-K, as soon as reasonably practicable after those filings are made with the SEC. Copies of the charters for each of the standing committees of Global Crossing's Board of Directors, its Corporate Governance Guidelines, Ethics Policy, press releases and analysts presentations are all available through the Investors web pages.

Please note that the information contained on any of Global Crossing's websites is not incorporated by reference in, or considered to be a part of, any document unless expressly incorporated by reference therein.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR INVESTORS

This communication shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a solicitation of any vote or approval. The proposed amalgamation involving Level 3 Communications, Inc. ("Level 3") and Global Crossing Limited ("Global Crossing") announced on April 11, 2011 will be submitted to the stockholders of Level 3 and the stockholders of Global Crossing for their consideration. Level 3 and Global Crossing have filed with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-4 that includes a preliminary joint proxy statement of Level 3 and Global Crossing that also constitutes a preliminary prospectus of Level 3, and may in the future file with the SEC other relevant documents concerning the proposed transaction. Level 3 and Global Crossing will each provide the final joint proxy statement/prospectus to its respective stockholders. Investors and security holders are urged to read the registration statement and the joint proxy statement/prospectus and any other relevant documents filed with the SEC when they become available, as well as any amendments or supplements to those documents, because they contain and will contain important information about Level 3, Global Crossing and the proposed transaction. Investors and security holders may obtain a free copy of the registration statement and joint proxy statement/prospectus, as well as other filings containing information about Level 3 and Global Crossing, free of charge at the SEC's Web Site at http://www.sec.gov. In addition, the joint proxy statement/prospectus, the SEC filings that are or will be incorporated by reference in the joint proxy statement/prospectus and the other documents filed or to be filed with the SEC by Level 3 may be obtained free of charge by directing such request to: Investor Relations, Level 3, Inc., 1025 Eldorado Boulevard, Broomfield, Colorado 80021 or from Level 3's Investor Relations page on its corporate website at http://www.Level3.com and the joint proxy statement/prospectus, the SEC filings that are or will be incorporated by reference in the joint proxy statement/prospectus and the other documents filed or to be filed with the SEC by Global Crossing may be obtained free of charge by directing such request to: Global Crossing by telephone at (800) 836-0342 or by submitting a request by e-mail to glbc@globalcrossing.com or a written request to the Secretary, Wessex House, 45 Reid Street, Hamilton HM12 Bermuda or from Global Crossing's Investor Relations page on its corporate website at http://www.globalcrossing.com.

Level 3, Global Crossing and their respective directors, executive officers, and certain other members of management and employees may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies in favor of the proposed transaction from the stockholders of Level 3 and from the stockholders of Global Crossing, respectively. Information about the directors and executive officers of Level 3 is set forth in the proxy statement on Schedule 14A for Level 3's 2011 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which was filed with the SEC on April 4, 2011 and information about the directors and executive officers of Global Crossing is set forth in the proxy statement on Schedule 14A for Global Crossing's 2011 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, which was filed with the SEC on April 29, 2011. Additional information regarding participants in the proxy solicitation may be obtained by reading the joint proxy statement/prospectus regarding the proposed transaction.

This press release contains statements about expected future events and financial results that are forward looking and subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially, including: the failure to occur of any condition to the closing of the acquisition of Global Crossing by Level 3 and uncertainties as to the timing of the closing; the failure to achieve or any delay in achieving expected synergies and other financial benefits from the acquisition; changes in Global Crossing's risk profile resulting from the acquisition; limitations on Global Crossing's financial and operational flexibility that arise under the covenants in the amalgamation agreement that could restrict it from taking advantage of opportunities to strategically enhance its business or improve its capital structure; delays or reductions in purchases from Global Crossing by customers because of their perceived uncertainty about its ability to meet their needs after closing of the acquisition; disruptions in Global Crossing's business due to current and prospective employees experiencing uncertainty about their future roles with the company and the diversion of their time and attention from ongoing business operations; Global Crossing's history of substantial operating losses and the fact that, in the near term, funds from operations will not satisfy cash requirements; the availability of future borrowings in an amount sufficient to pay Global Crossing's indebtedness and to fund its other liquidity needs; legal and contractual restrictions on the inter-company transfer of funds by Global Crossing's subsidiaries; Global Crossing's ability to continue to connect its network to incumbent carriers' networks or maintain Internet peering arrangements on favorable terms; the consequences of any inadvertent violation of Global Crossing's Network Security Agreement with the U.S. Government; increased competition and pricing pressures resulting from technology advances and regulatory changes; competitive disadvantages relative to competitors with superior resources; political, legal and other risks due to Global Crossing's substantial international operations; risks associated with movements in foreign currency exchange rates; risks related to restrictions on the conversion of the Venezuelan bolivar into U.S. dollars and to the resultant buildup of a material excess bolivar cash balance, which is carried on Global Crossing's books at the official exchange rate, attributing to the bolivar a value that is significantly greater than the value that would prevail on an open market; potential weaknesses in internal controls of acquired businesses, and difficulties in integrating internal controls of those businesses with Global Crossing's own internal controls; exposure to contingent liabilities; and other risks referenced from time to time in Global Crossing's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Global Crossing undertakes no duty to update information contained in this press release or in other public disclosures at any time.

CONTACT GLOBAL CROSSING: Press Contacts Michael Schneider + 1 973 937 0146 Michael.Schneider@globalcrossing.com

Paula Vivo Latin America + 55 11 3957 2424 Paula.Vivo@globalcrossing.com

Michael Schneider UK and Europe +44 1270 534204 Michael.Schneider@globalcrossing.com

Analysts/Investors Contact Mark Gottlieb + 1 800 836 0342 glbc@globalcrossing.com

GEN/PR1

http://www.globalcrossing.com/ipkc/ipkc_ipv6.aspx

https://www.ucommand.com/ucommand/login/login.aspx

http://isoc.org/wp/worldipv6day/

http://www.isoc.org/isoc/

SOURCE Global Crossing

Confessions of a technophobe.

Hi. My name is Henry, and I don't own a cell phone.

This reactionary stance is getting harder and harder to maintain, so I feel compelled to examine my motives. They're not simple. They're a mixture of principle and personal psychology. It's not just age. I'm pushing 60, but there are people much older than I who are more tech-savvy.

It's not because I'm a loser. Really. I'm an important person doing good things for the cause of sustainability. Maybe I should get with the program. This is the electronic information age. It's how we have to work--phoning and driving and flying and laptopping. This modus operandi is a short-term, high-carbon investment in a low-carbon future.

When are we going to get down to the real thing?

The personal

In part, it's fear of my own incompetence. I'm not a practical or mechanical person. Technophobia isn't so much fear of technology as fear of myself. Anyway, buying and mastering all this electronic gear feels like an imposition on me. I didn't ask for all this. I was doing fine without it.

I can see the advantages of cell phones, but I hate the way people use them. After all these years I still find it strange to see people walking down the street talking to themselves. Some can't go three minutes without checking their cell or Blackberry. Is something wrong with me or them?

I'm tired of being constantly subjected to conversations, not to mention the occasional screaming argument on the bus or train. Cell phones have certainly increased the amount of talk in the world. I don't think that's a good thing. Maybe it's the main reason people seem too busy for the political action and self-transformation that need to be done. Similarly, the internet encourages people to live in an unreal world, gaming while the planet burns.

Is it really more distracting to hear half a conversation than to overhear two people chatting with each other? An experiment by psychologists at Cornell University found that hearing a "halfalogue" (one side of a dialogue) impaired the cognitive function of subjects performing tasks on the computer, while hearing a whole conversation did not. Halfalogues were never normal before, so we notice them; or maybe we just want to hear the whole story.

The principle of the thing

The paperless office--we all know that's a myth. Modern electronics are supposed to be part of the sustainability revolution. But this is big business, and big business--the kind that aims at exponential growth compounding year after year--is not sustainable. There are billions, maybe tens of billions, of cell phones, PDAs, desktop computers, laptops--the whole panoply. This sector of the economy is the fastest growing consumer of fossil-fueled electricity. A lot of materials go into making those gadgets. A lot of pollution comes out.

These devices have some pretty exotic inputs. Their capacitors are made using tantalum, which is found in the mineral coltan. A lot of coltan comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The militias in eastern Congo finance themselves with the mining, smuggling and extortion of coltan. The Congolese army, unable to defeat them, settles for a cut of the profits. Coltan is a blood mineral.

Rare earths have been in the news lately. The rare earths are a set of 17 elements used in electronics, electric car batteries and wind turbines. They're concentrated in a handful of countries. For the time being, China has cornered the market on available supplies and is threatening to cut its export quotas. This has the makings of a trade war, and maybe even a war if competing countries get desperate enough down the road.

Electronic devices obsolesce fast and have to be thrown out or recycled. Old computers are sent to Asia, where unprotected workers rip into the innards and are exposed to toxic components like lead.

Someone remind me how this differs from the capitalist exploitation of old.

What are we waiting for?

Activists enthuse about the organizing and communication capabilities of the new technology. How much better off we are than in the days of the rotary dial telephone, snail mail and the mimeograph machine!

It's an arms race, and our corporate opposition still has the big bucks. We're running just trying to stay in place.

Malcolm Gladwell said, "The revolution will not be tweeted." He may want to revise that after the events in Tunisia and Egypt. What remains to be seen is how those peoples will replace their old regimes starting from such an amorphous beginning.

I don't know what revolution Gladwell meant, but I know the one I mean. It's the one that leads to a world where we're not stealing resources from future generations.

I say "we" advisedly. We may not have much choice in the matter, but we're all complicit. The corporate globalized growth economy hides its dirty work, but it gets exposed. We know it's there behind the facade of advertizing. Still, we take the conveniences and sometimes very real benefits it offers, goods and services that would have been the envy of kings, queens and tycoons less than a century ago. We're (I'm) reluctant to give them up. They bind us with chains more comfortable than self-reliance. A lot of lip service gets paid to this revolution some of us are now calling for. It's an odd sort of revolution. As the British journalist George Monbiot put it, "We must riot for austerity."

Downsize, localize, power down.

In that world we may not be maxed out on our credit cards, we may not be manically "excited" about everything, but if we get it right and avoid another dark age, if we adjust our expectations to reality, we can be satisfied and even happy.

Oil is getting harder to find and more expensive. This trend will accelerate. Before long the era of mechanized agriculture will be over. What machines can no longer do for us we'll have to do for ourselves--grow our own food. Need a job? Try farming.

There's the real phobia we face--low-technophobia.

Henry Robertson is an environmental lawyer and activist in St. Louis. He drafted this essay in longhand

Wells Fargo Insurance Services Names Patrick Conway Managing Director of Kentucky.

Wells Fargo Insurance Services USA, Inc. - part of Wells Fargo & Company - has named Patrick Conway Managing Director of its insurance operations in Kentucky. Working with local offices and bank partners, Conway will manage distribution of the company's insurance products and services. He is based in Louisville and reports to John Meehan, Regional Managing Director for Wells Fargo Insurance Services Mid-Atlantic region.

"As an industry veteran, Patrick brings over 21 years of extensive sales and management experience," said Meehan. "He will help grow Wells Fargo Insurance Services and strengthen our commitment to serving our customers in Kentucky."

Prior to joining Wells Fargo, Conway was the former head of Wachovia's Insurance office in Louisville. He was instrumental in developing an insurance program for the auto dealer industry and will continue to specialize in that segment in his new role. Conway graduated with a degree in Business Administration from Kentucky Wesleyan College. He also earned his CIC designation in 1999. About Wells Fargo Insurance Services Wells Fargo Insurance Services is the fifth largest insurance brokerage in the world and the largest bank-owned insurance brokerage in the U. S. (Business Insurance, 2009) with more than 200 offices in 37 states. Its 6,000 insurance professionals place more than $16 billion of risk premiums with experience in property, casualty, benefits, international, personal lines, and life products.

Wells Fargo & Company is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.3 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 9,000 stores, 12,000 ATMs, the Internet (wellsfargo.com and wachovia.com), and other distribution channels across North America and internationally. With approximately 280,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in America. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 19 on Fortune's 2009 rankings of America's largest corporations. Wells Fargo's vision is to satisfy all our customers' financial needs and help them succeed financially.

Wells Fargo Third Party Administrators and Wells Fargo Disability Management are ranked as the third largest multiline third party administrators that offer employee benefits, and property and casualty claims administration (Business Insurance.) For more information about Wells Fargo Insurance Services, visit www.wellsfargo.com/wfis.

Keywords: Finance, Financial Services, Investing, Investment, Mortgage, Real Estate, Wells Fargo & Company.

This article was prepared by Real Estate Weekly News editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2011, Real Estate Weekly News via VerticalNews.com.

Lenco Mobile Inc. Announces the Closing of Jetcast, Inc. Acquisition.

Lenco Mobile Inc. (LNCM:PK) today closed its previously announced acquisition of Jetcast, Inc., a leading provider of monetization solutions for Internet radio and television broadcasters.

Jetcast will be operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Lenco. The acquisition expands Lenco's advertising outlets which currently includes mobile phone advertising conducted through its Lenco International Ltd. subsidiary and traditional Internet advertising conducted though its AdMax Media Inc. subsidiary.

Reflecting on the transaction, Michael Levinsohn, chief executive officer of Lenco, stated, "We have set out to develop an advertising company that provides brand owners with global access to new media channels and compelling technology. Jetcast expands that reach from mobile phones and traditional online advertising to Internet radio and television. We have watched John Williams and his team for some time and have been impressed with their product development and their rapid reach into the marketplace."

Keywords: Advertising, Lenco Mobile Inc.

This article was prepared by Marketing Weekly News editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2010, Marketing Weekly News via VerticalNews.com.

Breathing new life into a 'Shofar' tale: Wayland author's Jewish stories.(HOLIDAY SECTION)

The tale of Barcelona's secret shofar may have arrived in America via a rabbi's listserv, speculates Wayland author Jacqueline Dembar Greene. However it came, the legend of Don Fernando Aguilar, the conductor of the Royal Symphony of Barcelona, has spread from congregation to congregation.

As the story goes, Don Fernando lived in the time of the Spanish Inquisition--when he and other Jews had to hide their faith or face death. So determined was Don Fernando to bring the shofar to the secret Jews, that he worked it into a symphony performance on the eve of Rosh Hashanah--even as the enforcers of the Inquisition sat in attendance.

Greene has weaved the old yarn into a children's book, "The Secret Shofar of Barcelona." It is the seventh book she has had published this year; the others are about a fictional Russian Jewish immigrant featured in the American Girl series.

Raised during the '50s in Bloomfield, Conn., Greene attended a large Sephardic congregation that included many members of her mother's extended family. She's not quite sure where they all were born. Sometimes her grandmother would say she was from Greece, other times she said Turkey--it all depended on the story she was telling. The elders spoke Ladino, an amalgamation of Spanish and Hebrew, with Arabic, Turkish, French and Greek tossed in.

Her imagination enlivened by her family's laissez-faire attitude toward their history and her facility for language nurtured by their myriad dialects, Greene majored in French literature in college.

She's not quite sure what launched her writing career. It may have been her search for a children's Hanukah book that she could read aloud to her son's classroom without feeling as if she were preaching the story of the Maccabees.

Unable to find one, she wrote her own and published it herself in 1980. It is about a boy named Nathan who swallowed a tooth on Hanukah. Nathan lamented his lost tooth-fairy opportunity until his grandfather told him about the tradition of Hanukah gelt--which turned out to be far more lucrative than a visit from a fairy.

Alternatively, Greene says, she may owe her career to the children's literature professor at the University of Connecticut. Intrigued by the old Yankee folk tale of Tom Cooke, New England's own Robin Hood, Greene wrote a short story and sent it back to her alma mater in hopes of receiving some useful feedback. She got some.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"She told me, 'I'm going to tell you something you don't want to hear. You're wasting your time. This story should be a novel, and you are just afraid to do it.' She told me I needed to stop everything and write. So I did," said Greene.

"The Leveler," in young adult novel format, went on to become a Pick of the List for Booklist, the American Library Association's review journal.

Real people don't live in Greene's stories, but they do drop by--such as the way "The Hanukah Tooth" was inspired by one of her two sons. "What His Father Did" grew out of a joke her father told her. Refused a meal by an innkeeper, a vagabond warns: "I hope I won't have to do what my father did." In response, the innkeeper scrambles to prepare a meal. When Greene first read the book to a room full of kindergartners, she arrived at the punchline--about what the man's hungry father was forced to do--and looked out at a sea of deadpan faces. She thought the joke had fallen flat. But then the room erupted into a fit of giggles the likes of which only a horde of 5-year-olds can produce: floor slapping, rolling around, full-on hysterics. That book, published in 1992, has been translated into five languages. The version on Greene's shelf is in Swahili.

The American Girl Company, owned by Mattel, showcases a line of dolls based on girls at different points in American history. Each doll is the focus of a six-book series. An editor who had fallen in love with Greene's other historical works asked her to write the books about Rebecca Rubin. After landing at Ellis Island at the start of World War I, Rebecca's family lives in a tenement on Manhattan's Lower East side.

Greene said Rebecca is already getting fan mail. "It's exciting for me to read these letters and find that young readers are engaged and thinking about the issues that Rebecca faces and about how they might respond if they were in her shoes," Greene said.

Writing the Rebecca series connected Greene with her father's heritage. He was the child of Russian-Jewish immigrants who at times had to scrape by. His childhood recollections of the Jewish holidays weren't about the ceremonies but the food: the latkes, the chicken, the family gathered around the table. Greene said his memories made their way into one of the Rebecca books.

To prepare her books, Greene immerses herself in library and Internet research. She tries to visit the locations where her stories are set. She explored the Lower East Side for the Rebecca series and visited a struggling synagogue in Barcelona for "The Secret Shofar." She didn't find anyone who knew the story of Don Fernando, nor any evidence that the Royal Symphony Orchestra ever existed. But she loved the idea of a book that would spotlight Spain's Jewish heritage, which was all but erased by the Inquisition.

Greene has published 25 books and several short stories for children and young adults, most of them rooted in Jewish history. She said she writes with the hope that people of all ages will take something away from her stories. With the "Shofar," for example, a young child may grasp just the plot; an older child may ask why the Spanish Jews had to conceal their faith; and an adult may admire the courage it took to blow the shofar.

For more on Jacqueline Dembar Greene, visit www.jdgbooks.com.

By Dawn A. Swann

Special to the Advocate

RELATED ARTICLE: From the 'Secret Shofar'.

Rafael had an idea. "Since it is Rosh Hashanah, you could add the call of the shofar to the native instruments."

Don Fernando's shoulders slumped. "So many of Barcelona's Jews have longed to hear it. But who would take such a risk?"

"I will," Rafael said. "If you are brave enough to conduct a Rosh Hashanah concert in front of the Duke and the Inquisition, then I will play the shofar." He gave his father a sly smile. "Maybe it's safest to hide the shofar in plain sight."

REPRINTED BY PERMISSION OF KAR-BEN PUBLISHING, A DIVISION OF LERNER PUBLISHING GROUP.

Tempting targets for dramatic energy cuts.(Commentary)

Can we really go "green," to achieve big-time energy saving?

For one solution hidden in plain sight, look outside, any evening, at the streetlight closest to you. Energy-wise, it's probably a Neanderthal--burning significant power dusk to dawn, based on old technology, its glow polluting the night skies.

In just the top 10 U.S. metro areas, the 4.4 million streetlights each year burn roughly 3 billion kilowatts of power, sending 2.3 million metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere.

But the kilowatts, the carbon emissions, and the dollar costs to local governments could be cut in half. That's the claim of Robert Grow, director of government relations for the Greater Washington Board of Trade.

Grow's prescription: Replace all of today's sodium vapor and other older streetlights with the latest light-emitting diodes (LEDs).The payoff for our cities and suburbs: daily energy use, dollar outlays, and carbon emissions would fall dramatically; the LED bulbs would last far longer than current models; and the light could be directional, lowering light pollution in populated areas.

In fact, based on a system now being installed in Oslo, Norway, Internet servers connected to an LED network can log and report energy consumption, collect information from traffic and weather sensors, calculate the availability of natural sunlight and moonlight, and make constant adjustments for optimal driving or walking conditions.

The LED installations are expensive, but could be paid off by energy savings in roughly five years. The yearly savings for the 10 big metros would be the equivalent of taking 213,000 cars off the roads, or consuming 132 million fewer gallons of gasoline, according to Grow, who is currently on a year's fellowship on regional strategies funded by the Ford Foundation through the American Chamber of Commerce Executives.

Are LEDs a rare exception? No way, I concluded after talking with Jim Rogers, CEO of Duke Energy, a major South-Midwest utility Heavily coal-dependent, Duke is the United States' third largest emitter of carbon dioxide, and it currently plans at least one major coal and one nuclear power plant to meet growing demand for electricity.

But Rogers' goal is to "de-carbonize" Duke's supply, not only through solar and wind power (which he expects to fall dramatically in price), but by a radical rewriting of the Charlotte, North Carolina-based firm's mission. Today, he notes, utilities run on a "commodity" model--central power stations (many 40 to 50 years old) that create electric power and ship it out to customers--"the more the meters run, the more money we make."

Instead, Rogers wants a "save-a-watt" plan under which utilities like his would pay for inventive approaches--common-sense and/or high-tech--to help customers cut back radically on their energy use.

The funds could cover home weatherization, energy-efficient appliances, and incentives to contractors to build in more carbon-saving features. He even talks of "putting a portal or dashboard in every home and sensors in every energy-using application, with software to optimize your use." The little energy hogs scattered all over our homes--from standby functions of TVs to idle computers, from chargers for cell phones to lights left on in empty rooms--would be brought to heel.

Duke, Rogers suggests, would make its money by charging customers 85 to 90 percent of the cost of the energy-saving features or devices it has installed for them. It would have power to cycle appliances like air conditioners on and off during the day to save overall system demand. And under the plan he's ask ing regulators in several states to approve, there'd be an independent auditor to assure the utility gets rewarded only for energy it actually saves.

"We'd have a new mission," says Rogers--"to make our customers' energy use the most efficient in the world." If it can come true, Rogers asserts he'd be more than happy to jettison the coal and nuclear expansion that Duke currently plans.

Would most utilities--by nature conservative, typically wedded to half-century old systems of big central power plants and what Rogers calls "dumb" analog grids--actually go "smart" by shifting to digital, decentralized networks and putting conservation first?

It's hard to tell--state deregulation will have to come first. But with a green light, Rogers hopes that as a third of his workforce retires in the near future, Duke can recruit a new generation of workers enthused by the idea of creat ing the world's most energy-efficient systems--a "calling" generation in search of a mission.

The bottom line--with utilities just as with streetlights--is that new technologies and conservation can substitute for vast quantities of fossil-fuel triggered carbon emissions--and produce dollar savings. But there's no doubt: "safe" politics, utilities wed to yesterday's technologies and stuck-in-the-mud regulation, won't get us there. The time to turn a new leaf has never been more urgent.

[c] 2008, Washington Post Writers Group. Reprinted with permission. The views expressed in this column are the author's and do not represent the official position of the GFOA.

NEAL PEIRCE is a syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C. His weekly column, which appears in more than 50 newspapers nationwide, examines trends and innovations in state and local government. E-mail:nrp@citistates.com.

American Airlines Continues to Increase Service From South Florida.

MIAMI, Dec. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Airlines today launched additional routes and new service into several U.S. and Latin American destinations from South Florida. Beginning today, customers flying out of Miami International Airport will have greater access to cities in Colombia, as well as the option to fly nonstop to Santa Cruz, Bolivia; Phoenix, Ariz.; Sarasota/Bradenton, Fla.; and Savannah, Ga., while Fort Lauderdale customers will now be able to fly to Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic without having to make any connections.

"This expansion of service out of Miami and Fort Lauderdale demonstrates our strong commitment to sustained growth and progress in South Florida and Latin America," said Peter Dolara, American Airlines Senior Vice President based in Miami. "These additions help to boost tourism locally. We also recognize the importance of supplementing our extensive national network and facilitating connections to the rest of the Americas."

For Colombia, the service additions include new daily service between Miami and Barranquilla. Existing service into Medellin and Bogota will be increased by one daily roundtrip each, increasing service to two and three daily flights, respectively. Domestically from Miami, American Airlines will fly nonstop to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, while American Eagle will offer passengers two daily roundtrips to Sarasota/Bradenton and one daily roundtrip to Savannah. Service from Fort Lauderdale will grow with the addition of one daily roundtrip flight to San Jose, Costa Rica, and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

American Airlines customers enjoy many additional amenities, including the ability to check up to two pieces of luggage of 50 pounds or less each at no additional cost, complimentary non-alcoholic beverages, and food on many flights. Customers on American and American Eagle also have the opportunity to earn and redeem AAdvantage(R) miles. From South Florida, American and American Eagle offer more flights to more destinations than any other carrier.

   American is a founding member of the global oneworld(R) Alliance.    About American Airlines  

American Airlines is the world's largest airline. American, American Eagle and the AmericanConnection(R) airlines serve 250 cities in over 40 countries with more than 4,000 daily flights. The combined network fleet numbers more than 1,000 aircraft. American's award-winning Web site, AA.com, provides users with easy access to check and book fares, plus personalized news, information and travel offers. American Airlines is a founding member of the oneworld(R) Alliance, which brings together some of the best and biggest names in the airline business, enabling them to offer their customers more services and benefits than any airline can provide on its own. Together, its members serve nearly 700 destinations in over 140 countries and territories. American Airlines, Inc. and American Eagle Airlines, Inc. are subsidiaries of AMR Corporation. AmericanAirlines, American Eagle, AmericanConnection, AA.com and AAdvantage are registered trademarks of American Airlines, Inc. .

                 AmericanAirlines(R) We know why you fly(R)        Current AMR Corp. releases can be accessed on the Internet.                      The address is http://www.aa.com/  

CONTACT: Martha Pantin, Miami Corporate Communications of American Airlines, Inc., +1-305-520-3197, corp.comm@aa.com

Web site: http://www.aa.com/

The Medical Center of Central Georgia Centralizes IT Help Desk and Change/Approval Processes with UniPress Software's FootPrints.

EDISON, N.J. -- Hospital Cites FootPrints' Ease-of-Use, Low Cost of Ownership, 100 Percent Web-Based Architecture, and Email Management Functionality as Top Reasons for Selecting Award-Winning Service Desk Product

E[acute accent]UniPress(R) Software, Inc., a leading mid-market provider of 100% web-based service desk automation software, today announced that The Medical Center of Central Georgia (MCCG) has selected FootPrints(R) to centralize and resolve thousands of IT service and support requests from more than 5,100 full time and part time employees. MCCG also provides IT support for many contract employees, such as private physicians and consultants. To ensure its reputation as one of the more distinguished healthcare facilities in the country, MCCG's IT department proactively manages all technology-related incidents within FootPrints. In addition to its help desk, MCCG is using FootPrints to manage all IT-related change requests and other critical projects, such as security access and pharmacy tracking, to name a few. E[acute accent]FootPrints provides a web-based service desk system that includes centralized, multi-channel issue tracking and a broad range of built-in features, including comprehensive workflow and business rule automation, self-service online, knowledge management, two-way email management, service level management, comprehensive reporting capabilities, and more. The system offers healthcare organizations, such as MCCG, the ability to centrally track and manage all incoming service and support requests received via phone, email, the Internet, chat, and wireless PDAs. FootPrints also offers healthcare organizations its signature ease-of-use and a powerful workflow engine, along with the ability to easily customize the product and create multiple partitioned projects without requiring any programming, consulting, or training. E[acute accent]Using FootPrints as its primary tool for managing service and support requests, MCCG has implemented several business processes to proactively track and manage all change and approval procedures within the organization. MCCG's change management processes allows them to track and automate issues in a controlled, rule-based manner, automating stages of approval to ensure communication workflow and processes are met. E[acute accent]"With FootPrints, we now have a system that allows individuals in our company to handle a work request by submitting them to an approval queue," explained Isaac Ramsingh, systems analyst for the IT department at MCCG. "This way, no one can touch these requests until a manager approves it. This has been a major improvement for us. More importantly, we can retrieve an audit to view the history of each ticket to see who did what, who approved each work order, who closed the ticket, and much more." E[acute accent]MCCG began its search for a new service desk product in January 2005 and narrowed their choice to five solutions: UniPress' FootPrints, FrontRange's HEAT(R), BMC's(R) Remedy(R), and solutions from Touchpaper and Hewlett-Packard. After a thorough review of each product, MCCG selected FootPrints based on its flexibility, email management functionality, web-based technology, and affordability. E[acute accent]"Previously, for technical tracking, we had a homegrown system that was developed by one of our employees," said Mr. Ramsingh. "While the system was useful early on, there was no dynamic functionality, such as web integration and email management. As our service volumes grew, issues and requests were falling through the cracks. We needed a new service desk tool that would allow us to be more efficient, process more requests, and deliver better overall support to our employees and customers, in turn helping us provide better healthcare to our patients." E[acute accent]The IT department is also tasked with managing requests for access to most systems throughout the organization. According to Mr. Ramsingh, "Security management was previously discussed in meetings and via email, but there was no way of tracking approvals and generating reports." In conjunction with the Corporate Compliance and Security department, FootPrints is now being used to manage and control access requests to critical systems, using an automated process whereby requests for access or change of access are tracked from the point of the request on to the point of access. This greatly helps to streamline processes relating to the transitioning of new hires and the management of requests for security access changes for critical systems, among others. E[acute accent]MCCG has recognized a significant number of business benefits since implementing FootPrints. Workflow has been the most important improvement for MCCG - from beginning to end, every technology-related process, as well as many others are now automated and tracked, creating a seamless environment between IT and the outlying departments. The organization has also noticed an 800 percent increase in tickets being logged since implementing FootPrints. In the past, the IT department used to enter an average of 100 tickets per week. Now, they are fielding approximately 900 service requests per week, roughly nine times the volume experienced with their previous homegrown system. E[acute accent]To read more about how the Medical Center of Central Georgia has benefited from FootPrints, please visit: http://www.unipress.com/footprints/mccg.html

E[acute accent]About The Medical Center of Central Georgia

E[acute accent]The Medical Center of Central Georgia (MCCG), a designated Level I Trauma Center and Magnet(TM) hospital, serves the residents of Central and South Georgia, with a primary and secondary service area of 28 counties and representing a population of approximately 750,000. The Medical Center has 4,300 employees and a medical staff of 500 physicians. MCCG's licensed capacity is 603 beds, including medical-surgical, obstetric, pediatric, psychiatric, cardiac intensive care, neurology intensive care, pediatric intensive care, and cardiac surgery intensive care. MCCG is the primary teaching hospital for Mercer University School of Medicine, providing residency programs for approximately 100 residents. MCCG provides a broad range of community-based, outpatient diagnostic, primary care, and urgent-care services, as well as an extensive home health and hospice-care services. www.mccg.org

E[acute accent]About UniPress Software, Inc.

E[acute accent]Headquartered in Edison, New Jersey, UniPress Software, Inc. is a developer of web-based service desk automation software serving the mid-market, as well as large and small organizations. The company's FootPrints(R) product line, launched in 1996, provides a comprehensive range of capabilities to significantly improve help desk and customer support operations, and is used worldwide by more than 2,300 corporate organizations, government offices, and educational institutions, including Prudential Financial(R), BHP Billiton(R) Petroleum, IBM(R), Kampgrounds of America, Hunter Fan Company(R), the IRS, and the University of Pennsylvania. UniPress' FootPrints software is available in numerous versions, along with add-on tools and best-of-breed integrations. The company also offers a complete line of product and best practices training courses and professional services. For more information, contact UniPress Software at 1-800-222-0550, or via the web at http://www.unipress.com.

E[acute accent]UniPress(R) Software and FootPrints(R) are Registered Trademarks of UniPress Software, Inc. All other trademarks are registered trademarks of their respective owners.