Monday, December 30, 2013

New Normal Agriculture

AgriNews: New agriculture normal positive but challenging: " . . . issues on food safety, animal welfare, traceability, sustainability and environmental regulations are not only going to expand, they’re going to go global, as well as domestic,” he said. “That’s probably going to add to your cost structure. . . . Barr expects major tax code changes in the future, and new rules on depreciation, 1031-like exchanges, accounting options, estate taxes will alter previously optimal business structures and strategies. . . . Investments in equipment, land ownership and rental commitments will need to be reassessed in a new market environment. “Agriculture is used to this — but that doesn’t mean it’s not disruptive, at least in the short term. But we will have to realign kind of where that new normal is as it begins to emerge,” Barr said. . . ." (read more at link above)

more New Normal News below



Friday, December 27, 2013

New Normal Demography, Abnormally Low Economic Growth

A New ‘New Normal’ In Demography And Economic Growth - JOI Articles: " . . . In studying past and future demographic trends, we discover that the coming head winds may be more serious and nuanced than previously thought. Our findings show that we'll first experience a strong "demographic tax" as our senior citizen support ratios soar. Until we reach a new—and highly speculative—"steady state," with births equaling deaths and with fertility ratios matching the "replacement rate" of about 2.1, economic growth rates are likely to be abnormally low. . . ."

more New Normal News below



Wednesday, December 25, 2013

New Normal, Slow Growth, Expectations Gap

A New ‘New Normal’ In Demography And Economic Growth - JOI Articles: "The danger is not in the slower growth. Slow growth is not a bad thing; it's still growth. The danger is in an expectations gap, in which slower growth is believed to be unacceptable. If we expect our policy elite to deliver implausible growth, in an environment in which a demographic tail wind has become a demographic head wind, if we resist the necessary policy changes that can moderate these head winds, we risk magnifying their impact." (read more at link above)

more New Normal News below



Monday, December 23, 2013

Sub-New Normal Growth Possible

JPMorgan Sub-New Normal Growth Seen
Businessweek
The next chairman of the Federal Reserve faces an alarming possibility: the new normal for the economy is even worse than advertised. The long-run potential ...

more New Normal News below



Friday, December 20, 2013

El Erian, New Normal, New Look

'Time running short' for 'new normal': El-Erian
CNBC.com
There's about to be a new look for the "new normal," and investors ought to be prepared, according to the expert who coined the term. At the height of the Great ...

CNBC.com

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Wednesday, December 18, 2013

New Normal, Part-Time Work, Part-Time Lawyers

Is part-time work the new normal?
Battle Creek Enquirer
Derrick George . . .  is an attorney and the owner of an energy drink business in Birmingham, photographed at his office. He has many people working for him, but mostly as part-time attorneys, which he says is kind of the new normal for companies today. He stands with a few of his part-time employees who are all practicing attorneys with other jobs as well.  ...

more New Normal News below



Monday, December 16, 2013

Lack of Curiosity in Youth, New Normal

Lack of Curiosity in Youth Is Becoming the New Normal, But Why?
Decoded Science
As teenagers cross from childhood to adulthood, learning to think critically is a skill they must master for success later in life. The times ...

Decoded Science

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Friday, December 13, 2013

Global Economy, New Normal

The global economy's long climb back to the new normal
The Globe and Mail
There is perhaps no more potent symbol of the post-Lehman Brothers global collapse than what happened in Detroit. A bankrupt city. A crippled auto industry....


PwC prepares for new normal as revenues rise
CITY A.M.
ACCOUNTANCY giant PwC has said it is adjusting to a “new normal”, where the economy grows more slowly and the group faces the prospect of losing out on ...

CITY A.M.

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Wednesday, December 11, 2013

New normal, 4 hours to get through US airport customs

New normal: 4 hours to get through airport customs
MarketWatch
...To accommodate these delays, airports and airlines have had to make concessions to travelers. Earlier this year, the Miami airport had to put cots in an auditorium so people could sleep and began handing out water to travelers waiting in those lines. American Airlines had to rearrange its Miami flight schedule to increase connection time between flights....

MarketWatch

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Monday, December 9, 2013

China New Normal, Slow Growth

Slow growth inevitable for China, 7% GDP rate the new normal: S&P
Economic Times
Slow growth inevitable for China, 7% GDP rate the new normal: S&P ...just 7%-7.5% for 2013 and beyond, a level that it believes will become the "new normal."...

Economic Times

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Friday, December 6, 2013

New Normal 72 hour Work Week

Why a 72-Hour Work Week is the New Normal
The Fiscal Times
A new study, Always on Never Done, by the Center for Creative Leadership finds that workers who use a smartphone for work are connected to the office an ...

The Fiscal Times

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Wednesday, December 4, 2013

The New Normal, Crowded Uncomfortable Skies

The New Normal: Crowded, Uncomfortable Skies
SmarterTravel.com (blog)
The U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics yesterday released performance data for the U.S. airlines through the first month of ...

SmarterTravel.com (blog)

more New Normal News below



Monday, December 2, 2013

New Normal, Gun Violence

The 'new normal' in gun violence
Sentinel and Enterprise
We know some people will say it's wrong to draw parallels between the mass shooting ... at Washington's Navy Yard and those in Aurora, Columbine, ...

Washington Post

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Friday, November 29, 2013

New Normal? LGBT Characters Drop on Primetime TV

LGBT Characters Drop on Primetime Broadcast TV, Study Finds
TheWrap
Thanks to shows like “The New Normal,” “Glee” and “Happy Endings,” gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender characters were given bigger primetime roles than ...

TheWrap

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Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Phubbing, New Normal

Phubbing: Rude or new normal?
CBC.ca
Phubbing: Rude or new normal? Are you guilty of phubbing? It's the habit of snubbing those around you and staring at your smartphone instead. To some, it's another example of how smartphones are ruining social interaction. But could the devices actually be bringing us closer together? ...

CBC.ca

more New Normal News below



Monday, November 25, 2013

War as New Normal in America

Why War Is the "New Normal" in America
Mother Jones
There is a new normal in America: our government may shut down, but our wars continue. Congress may not be able to pass a budget, but the US military can ...

Mother Jones

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Friday, November 22, 2013

Scary new normal, School Shootings, Teaching kids what to do

The scary new normal: Teaching kids what to do in a school shooting
Salon
The scary new normal: Teaching kids what to do in a school shooting Police secure the scene near Sparks Middle School after a shooting in Sparks, Nev., ...

Salon

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Monday, November 18, 2013

Hypersexed, Hollywood New Normal

Is hypersexed the new norm in Hollywood?
KTAR.com
Has the sexual nature of Hollywood gone too far or is it just the new normal? According to USA Today, as more young stars (think Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj, ...

First Coast News

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Friday, November 15, 2013

Washington DC New Normal, Quarterly Budget Cycles

Washington's New Normal: Quarterly Budget Cycles
DefenseNews.com
Get used to it, say lawmakers and analysts, because every indication is: Governing and budgeting from crisis to crisis is the new normal in Washington....

more New Normal News below



Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Welfare Dependency is the New Normal

Welfare, Not Full-Time Work, Is Now America's No. 1 Occupation
Investor's Business Daily
Dependency: "Is Welfare The New Normal?" we wondered in an editorial last Thursday, and we didn't have long to wait for an answer. On Friday an answer ...

Town Hall

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Monday, November 11, 2013

Obama, Politics of Oppression, New Normal

Is this the new normal? Obama's politics of oppression and ...
Fox News
As pundits and politicians dissect the carnage of ObamaCare, a serious question demands an honest answer: At what point did the president know his plan to ...

more New Normal News below

Friday, November 8, 2013

Disability Studies, New Normal

Disability Studies: A New Normal
New York Times
THE temporarily able-bodied, or TABs. That's what disability activists call those who are not physically or mentally impaired. And they like to remind them that ...

New York Times

Girls Pubing Earlier Is the New Normal
Jezebel
Girls Pubing Earlier Is the New Normal. Girls have been developing breast buds and getting pubic hair as early as seven or eight years old, which, according to ...

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Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Pathologies, Reality TV, New Normal

When did white trash become normal?
New York Post
White Trash is the new normal — and you don't have to tune in to reality TV to rub elbows with pathologies that once stayed put in Skunk Hollow. White Trash ...

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Monday, November 4, 2013

Hamptons New Normal, High-End Home Tear-Downs

Hamptons Sales Surge Fuels High-End Home Tear-Downs - Bloomberg: "Rich Perello tore down a $4.25 million house on 3 acres (1.2 hectares) in Bridgehampton to make room for two 8,000-square-foot houses with pools and tennis courts that he plans to sell for about $8 million each. The 2,500-square-foot house he leveled was built in 1804 and was “unlivable,” he said. The purchase price “was all land value,” said Perello, a Southampton-based developer, who’s using flooring and beams from the house he demolished in the new homes. “The fact that there was a house on it actually decreases the property value because you have to pay to knock it down.”" (read more at link above)

So, 2013 Has Been A Pretty Average Year For Stocks
Business Insider
Five years ago, the phrase “the new normal” began to be coined to describe the investment environment of the years that were to follow. Prognosticators claimed ...

Wall Street Journal

Procurement officials explain new normal to contractors
FCW.com
Just as civilian agencies have been doing, the Defense Department is assuming the already tight purse strings for acquisition budgets are likely to be pulled ...

Eugene Robinson: Obstruction as the new normal
The Reporter
WASHINGTON-- The bad news is that approval ratings for both the president and Congress are sinking, with voters increasingly frustrated at the bitter, partisan ...

Washington Post

Living with Technology / The new normal: Always connected, all the ...
Westport-News
Being a parent teaches you a lot. Kids see the world through vastly different eyes than adults do. Yet, sometimes their observations really catch me by surprise.

Stupid Is the New Normal
Town Hall
The 2,300 page healthcare law that took several days from writing to passage, and five years from passage to rollout will apparently take 50 years just to sign ...

Town Hall

more New Normal News below



Saturday, November 2, 2013

New Normal ALICE Americans, slipping middle class

ALICE Americans, slipping out of the middle class - The Washington Post: " . . . ALICE is an acronym developed in a report for the United Way of Northern New Jersey. It stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained and Employed. ALICE Americans live on the jagged edge of the middle class. But by virtue of their economic situation and outlook on the future, they are becoming as distinct from the relatively more comfortable parts of the middle class as they are from those living in poverty. . . ." (read more at link above)

Harold Morgan: 'New Normal' of lower national growth to hurt NM
Carlsbad Current Argus
A "new normal" of lower national economic growth appears ahead. That's bad news here because our economy, nearly always a mediocre performer, depends ...

Pakistan's new normal
Indian Express
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has finally "normalised" Pakistan's relations with the US, after two years of rupture caused by an incident on the ...

Telegraph.co.uk

Funeral selfies: Narcissistic or the new normal?
HLNtv.com
Funeral selfies: Narcissistic or the new normal? While funeral photography is nothing new, teens are now taking the 'selfie' to a whole new level of ...

The Guardian

Is This the New Normal?
Wunderground.com (blog)
Alaska and California seem to be stuck in a pattern since last May. A high pressure aloft over the eastern Pacific has brought abnormally warm weather to Alaska ...

more New Normal News below



Monday, October 28, 2013

New Normal, Mediocrity

IBM's 'New Normal' of Mediocrity
TheStreet.com
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- "Quicksand" was the best way I could describe IBM's (IBM) recent revenue performances, which have been in a perpetual decline over ...

Memphis airport figuring out new normal after Delta
Memphis Business Journal
Although flights are down, Memphis International Airport is seeing a slight bump in passengers whose journey either starts or ends in the Bluff City.

Georgia's Surprising New Normal - by Michael Cecire
Foreign Policy (blog)
Georgia's Surprising New Normal. For the first time in recent memory, Georgia's presidential race isn't about the big names....

more New Normal News below



Friday, October 25, 2013

Train Disasters, New Normal

Ottawa must improve rail safety or disasters will be the 'new normal ...
The Globe and Mail
Train disasters such as Saturday's derailment in Alberta will become the “newnormal” unless Ottawa tightens safety rules for shipping dangerous goods by rail, ...

The Globe and Mail

Train disasters the 'new normal' unless rail safety rules are changed ...
The Province
TORONTO — Train disasters such as Saturday's derailment in Alberta will become the “new normal” unless Ottawa tightens safety rules for shipping dangerous ...

Train disasters could become the 'new normal', Greenpeace ...
CTV News
Train disasters could become the 'new normal', Greenpeace Canada warns ... this will become thenew normal," he said Saturday in a phone interview from ...

Train disasters the 'new normal': group
Cambridge Times
TORONTO - Train disasters such as Saturday's derailment in Alberta will become the "new normal" unless Ottawa tightens safety rules for shipping dangerous ...

more New Normal News below



Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Henry Evans, mute quadriplegic, robotics pioneer

Q&A with Henry Evans, mute quadriplegic and robotics pioneer - SiliconValley.com: " . . . .In the next few hours, Evans' life would change dramatically. Diagnosed with a strokelike brainstem disorder, the father of four was left mute and quadriplegic, his mental faculties fully intact, but able to move only one finger. After years of therapy, Evans has thrived. Using a head-tracking device and a laser pointer to spell out words on a letter board, he has written a cookbook, launched a small winery that his wife tends to, and started working with researchers on using robots to help the severely disabled become more self-sufficient. . . ." (read more at link above)

more New Normal News below



Monday, October 21, 2013

New Normal Low Return World

Living in a low return world | Abnormal Returns: " . . . Two points. The first is that technology and demography are not destiny. One can come up with any number of scenarios (good and bad) that would disturb this trend towards lower returns. The second is that a low-return world has huge implications for personal financial planning for society as a whole. US pension plans continue to project what seem to be too-high nominal financial market returns. If investors, both large and small, are unable to generate a return on their savings then it may be the case that savings, in addition to lifestyle changes, need to occur to allow for comfortable retirements. As Bernstein notes technology certainly plays a positive role here but so would a mandatory savings regime. These trends are longer term in nature and much will happen in the meantime to perturb financial markets. However as you go about thinking about working and financial lives keep in mind that while much in our lives has improved we cannot assume that financial market returns will provide us with abundant returns to boot."

more New Normal News below



Friday, October 18, 2013

American Police Now Look Like Military in the Obama Police State

America's police are looking more and more like the military | Michael Shank and Elizabeth Beavers | Comment is free | theguardian.com: "America's streets are looking more and more like a war zone. Last week, in a small county in upstate New York with a population of roughly 120,000 people, county legislators approved the receipt of a 20-ton Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle, donated by the US Defense Department to the county sheriff. Between the Armored Personnel Carriers locking down main streets in major American cities – mimicking our MRAPs in Afghanistan – or Special Weapons and Tactics (Swat) and Special Forces units canvassing our country, if we're not careful, this militarization of our domestic policing will make-over America, and fast. Here's how it all happened. A little-known Pentagon program has been quietly militarizing American police forces for years. A total of $4.2bn worth of equipment has been distributed by the Defense Department to municipal law enforcement agencies, with a record $546m in 2012 alone. . . ."

more New Normal News below



Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Tax Subsidies, Plant and Equipment, Anti-Growth

RealClearMarkets - Why Tax Subsidies For Plant & Equipment Are Anti-Growth" . . . when the tax code is written to encourage equipment buys through subsidy of same, the availability of capital goods is distorted. While FedEx may hold off on buying new delivery trucks absent tax subidies that lower the cost of doing so, it may enter the market for new capital goods if the subsidy is offered. If so, FedEx's accession of always limited equipment may deter a future Dennis Washington from buying what's needed to start a business thanks to the tax subsidy making competition for capital goods greater than it would otherwise be. . . ." (read more at the link above)

 more New Normal News below



Monday, October 14, 2013

Broken American Dream, New Normal

America’s Broken Dream by Carol Graham - Project Syndicate: " . . . Reducing inequality will require long-term, comprehensive solutions, such as fiscal-policy reforms that reward public investment in health and education without adding disincentives to an already cumbersome tax code. But pursuing such measures requires significant political will, which the US seems to be lacking. Indeed, given political paralysis at the national level, initiating a constructive debate about an issue as divisive and consequential as inequality will depend largely on the American public. If more people recognized the constraints that inequality places on their future prospects, they would be likely to press policymakers to confront it. . . . " (read more at link above)

more New Normal News below



Friday, October 11, 2013

Scared Workers, New Normal

RealClearMarkets - In Today's World, Workers Are Scared: "The weak job market has a semi-permanence unlike anything seen since World War II, and the effects on public opinion extend beyond the unemployed. "People's expectations have been really ratcheted down for what they can expect for themselves and their children," says EPI economist Lawrence Mishel. There's a sense "that the economy just doesn't produce good jobs anymore." Possible job loss becomes more threatening because finding a new job is harder. Says Paul Taylor of the Pew Research Center: "Security is valued more than money because it's so fragile.""

more New Normal News below



Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Keynes, Old Keynesians, New Keynesians, New Normal

Why Keynes wouldn’t have too rosy a view of our economic future: "The technical term for this sickness is the output gap, or the gap between what we could be producing and what we are producing. It’s been remarkably constant through the “recovery.” As Neil Irwin wrote earlier this year, professional projections from the Federal Reserve have argued for several years now that a recovery — in which the economy closes this output gap and job growth soars — is just around the corner. And as of this year, they’re still insisting a turnaround is imminent. Once again they are saying that economy is weak right now, but it’ll close the gap in a year or two. But what if the gap never closes? What if it could stay on this parallel track forever? The answer matters. It matters for how, or whether, the Great Recession will end. Thus it matters for government policy. But it also matters because this question has historically been one of the most contentious in economic theory. It is what separates John Maynard Keynes from his predecessors, and it is what separates “Old Keynesians” from “New Keynesians.”"

more New Normal News below



Monday, October 7, 2013

Fall of Lehman, What Might Have Been, New Normal

What Might Have Been, and the Fall of Lehman - NYTimes.com: "The decision not to rescue Lehman has been called a mistake and worse. Christine Lagarde, the French finance minister at the time, called it “horrendous.” No one suggested Lehman deserved to be saved. But the argument has been made that the crisis might have been less severe if it had been saved, because Lehman’s failure created remarkable uncertainty in the market as investors became confused about the role of the government and whether it was picking winners and losers. The government had bailed out Bear Stearns and then nationalized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac but left Lehman for dead only to turn around and save A.I.G. Henry M. Paulson Jr., the Treasury secretary at the time, has suggested that the government didn’t have a choice because it lacked the proper tools to take over Lehman without a willing buyer. The British government pulled the plug on Barclays’s 11th-hour bid, a brilliant decision in retrospect." (read more at link above)

more New Normal News below



Friday, October 4, 2013

New Normal, Vacant Buildings

Downtown St. Louis already has a relatively high office vacancy rate: 13.8 percent of higher-end "Class A" space sits empty, according to brokerage firm CBRE.

ST. LOUIS: AT&T to vacate downtown St. Louis building - Business Breaking News - MiamiHerald.com: "One of the largest office buildings in downtown St. Louis will be mostly vacant by 2015 after AT&T announced plans to move employees out of the building and relocate them elsewhere around the St. Louis area. AT&T announced Thursday that it will move about 2,000 workers out of the 44-story building to other buildings downtown and to west St. Louis County. The company says it no longer needs the space as more employees work from home."

more New Normal News below




Wednesday, October 2, 2013

New Normal, Obamacare Effects, Who is getting hired?

Since we know that the population has grown by over 13,000,000 since 2007 yet we have 1.8 million less jobs since then, what does this tell us?  Jobs were lost in every age bracket but the 55+ group, with 16-19 dropping 22.6%, 20-24 falling 2.6%, 25-54 going down 5.9% and 55+ going up 22.7%. (source infra)

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Where are the Jobs? Who Has Them? Who's Likely to Get Them?: " . . . Ironically, older part-time workers remaining in or reentering the labor force will be cheaper to hire in many cases than younger workers. The reason is Boomers 65 and older will be covered by Medicare (not Obamacare) and will not require as many benefits as will younger workers, especially those with families. . . ." (read more at link above)

The New Normal: All of the net increase in jobs in the Obama Presidency is going to the 55+ age group. So how's that Hope and Change working out for you?

more New Normal News below



Monday, September 30, 2013

New Normal, Bernanke Terrified

Bernanke Is Terrified Of Higher Mortgage Rates And The Debt Ceiling Debate - Forbes: "In his post-FOMC press conference, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke made it clear that he had lost control of the market, causing a tightening of financial conditions that directly hit the highly supported housing market through higher mortgage rates.  Trouble is also brewing in Washington, with possible fights over a government shutdown as Speaker Boehner puts pressure on President Obama, and the specter of another debt ceiling fight, which also spooks Bernanke and the FOMC.  The Chairman appears to have boxed himself in, as the market roars higher on any indication of monetary stimulus, and could tank if the training wheels come off."

The Age of Amerisclerosis: Are jobless recoveries here to stay? | AEIdeas: "It’s not just Obamanomics. The US is stuck in its third-straight “jobless recovery,” just like after the 1990 and 2001 recessions. And new research suggests this “persistence of unemployment” could mean future US recessions and recoveries will continue to resemble Europe’s 1980s downturn. Even after growth recovered, hiring didn’t. That’s when “Eurosclerosis” was coined. . . ."

Class Is Seen Dividing Harvard Business School - NYTimes.com: "Many of the school’s top donors and alumni are members of the same ultramoneyed culture that some students criticize. And because many students attend business school in the specific hope of building a network of influential contacts, they tend to fear offending anyone, especially wealthy classmates who might one day provide connections and financing."

more New Normal News below



Friday, September 27, 2013

New Normal, Change, The Lawyer

The new normal | Analysis | The Lawyer: "Change can come in many forms, from largescale changes to our working environment – such as a merger or acquisition, an expansion into a new market or even a restructuring – to smaller changes such as new team members, new processes or even new management. All of these can bring opportunities for a firm to reassess how it goes about its day-to-day business. Both internal and external change can have a huge impact on how we operate as individuals and as a firm. It can be proactive and owned, directed by strategic thought. Or it can be forced on us through having to react to events. For most people, this is the worst sort of change to deal with."

more New Normal News below



Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Unprotected Sex, the New Normal

Dick Keiser Jr., Ph.D.: Is Unprotected Sex the New Normal?: "In a way, I share Mark S. King's opinion that gay men are over condoms. Unfortunately, the potential consequences of unprotected sex are not mentioned, and they are huge. I am surprised that he does not direct his energy in a more productive way. Why not press for release of those microbicides that he mentions? Meanwhile, the gay health organizations remain totally complacent in the midst of this epidemic. There is presently no economic incentive for anyone in the HIV field to reduce HIV infections. Are 50,000 new inflections per year accepted as the new normal?"

more New Normal News below



Monday, September 23, 2013

Flexible Freelancers, New Normal

Flexible freelancers now considered the ‘new normal’: Comment by UK umbrella company, Tarpon | allmediascotland…Your key to the media: "CONTRACTORS and flexible working in the UK has recently been branded as the ‘new normal’ within the labour market. The recent statement carries weight as it was cited during the launch of a new guide created by the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo). The newly published APSCO Guide to the Flexible Workforce 2013 offers practical help and advice on the hiring and deployment of contract workers, including the legal and operational aspects that will differ between permanent and flexible workers. But most importantly Tarpon believe the guide’s best feature is the tips provided that demonstrate the value contractors can provide to a business...."

more New Normal News below



Friday, September 20, 2013

American Cities, Tragic New Normal

The Tragic New Normal in American Cities » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names: " . . . . What is the plan for our nation’s cities? Are they simply to simmer with a growing divide between the affluent financial district and the impoverished slums? Will another generation be lost while we wait for the inevitable explosions? The gulf between the realities of our cities and the foolishness of our politics has seldom been wider. Consider gun violence. Over the Fourth of July weekend, Chicago surpassed 200 homicide deaths for the year. On that weekend alone, 10 people were killed and several dozen wounded in gun violence, including 5- and 7-year-old boys. The only grim salvation in the savage toll is that the city’s year-to-date homicide rate is rising at a somewhat slower rate than last year. . . " (by Jesse Jackson --read more at link above)

more New Normal News below



Wednesday, September 18, 2013

New Normal, Private Equity

A 'New Normal' for Private Equity - Forbes: "Some $200 billion of new capital went to private equity and venture capital management partnerships (collectively referred to here as PE) throughout the world in 2012. For the first time, 20% of that total, some $40 billion, went to fund managers in emerging market countries. Surprisingly, of that $40 billion, only $15 billion went to the subset of emerging economies known as the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China). That leaves $25 billion that went into the non-BRIC emerging markets. So where did the rest of it go? Countries like Columbia, Chile, Peru and Mexico have seen remarkable growth. Several African countries, such as South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria — indeed, the whole of sub-Saharan Africa — have witnessed growth in the number of fund managers and the capital under management. Turkey also has emerged as a destination, as have Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and now Indonesia."

Download the the complete 2013 Wharton Private Equity Review here.

more New Normal News below



Monday, September 16, 2013

New Normal, Rape Culture

Is ‘Rape Culture’ the New Normal? | The Hartford Guardian: "...I would say that in high school, the concept of rape culture has become normal. If a girl is intoxicated, it’s almost expected for a boy to take advantage of her. It would be weird if he didn’t take advantage of her. To me, that kind of thinking is sick. Human beings have to be able to respect other human beings or the whole world will fall apart. Rape culture exists in America, in California, and right here in Merced. What is frightening is that most people don’t know what it is, and don’t know they contribute to it. We need to face this because it directly affects people in our community, and the battle starts with raising awareness...."

more New Normal News below



Friday, September 13, 2013

New normal, State Department, Benghazi-phobia

Doyle McManus commentary: New normal is tough on U.S. diplomats | The Columbus Dispatch: "But for U.S. diplomats in embassies overseas, the new normal is a serious problem — as much for their ability to do their work as for their safety. “There’s a serious case of Benghazi-phobia going on,” one government official told me. After terrorists attacked the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, killing Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, Congress demanded tougher security measures. (Last) month’s closure of embassies for more than a week was, in part, a response. The State Department said the action was taken “out of an abundance of caution.” But working diplomats worry that if embassies close in response to every threat, their work will be impossible. “Washington makes decisions on a zero-risk basis, (but) there has been a level of risk for years,” noted Ronald E. Neumann, a former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan. Put more bluntly: If a bomb maker in Yemen can close U.S. embassies just by making plans for his next attempt, doesn’t that mean the terrorists have won?"

more New Normal News below



Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Bradley Manning, New Normal for Whistleblowers

Bradley Manning Verdict Shows the New Normal For Whistleblowers
PolicyMic
Bradley Manning Verdict Shows the New Normal For Whistleblowers. . . . . Army Private First Class Bradley Manning was convicted on 19 of 22 counts ... (read more at link above)

PolicyMic

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Monday, September 9, 2013

Free Markets, Government Interference, New Normal

Opinion: Blatant interference is the new normal
Asharq Alawsat English
Opinion: Blatant interference is the new normal. Industrialized countries often show pride in their free markets, and the non-interference of the governments in ...

Asharq Alawsat English

Is extreme weather really becoming the new normal?
Yahoo! News Canada (blog)
There's a temptation to brush off such claims as 'overblown' or 'sensational' — it's hard to take something called "Snowmageddon" seriously, after all. However ...

Yahoo! News Canada (blog)

Business cycle or new era? How are you approaching today's ...
Washington Technology (blog)
Many call it the new normal, and one person I spoke with recently described it as a “lasting dynamic.” The elements and signs of this lasting dynamic revolve ...

more New Normal News below



Friday, September 6, 2013

New Normal, healthcare, part-time work, wildfires, rudeness

The new normal?
ModernHealthcare.com
Three years ago, Henry Ford Health System began to overhaul how its doctors and nurses care for patients outside the Detroit-based system's six hospitals.

The New Normal
Huffington Post
They say "truth is stranger than fiction" and we certainly have some incredible examples as of late, so much so that it makes you wonder if recent headlines ...

Notable & Quotable: Part-Time Is the New Normal in East Hampton
Wall Street Journal
Part-time is the new normal for most of the 100 or so employees at the Waldbaum's supermarket on Newtown Lane in East Hampton. Back in April, after rumors ...

NASA Satellites Track Wildfires From Space and Predict a 'New ...
University Herald
NASA Satellites Track Wildfires From Space and Predict a 'New Normal' For Dry Seasons....


University Herald

Has Rude Behavior Become Our New Normal?
Patch.com
Has Rude Behavior Become Our New Normal? Of those who expect civility to worsen in the next few years, 34 percent blame Twitter. Posted by April Chan ...

12 Things That Annoy Me About The iPhone With iOS 7 (AAPL)
Houston Chronicle
It's become the new normal. With that said, it could still be better. I'm not talking about bugs in the beta either. Those are to be expected, after all. What I'm talking ...

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Wednesday, September 4, 2013

al-Qaida, New Normal, diplomats

Doyle McManus: 'New normal' for al-Qaida presents serious threats
Omaha World-Herald
But for U.S. diplomats working in embassies overseas, the new normal is a serious problem — as much for their ability to do their work as for their safety....

Transportation Sales: Can you adapt to the New Normal?
Truck News
Some experts argue that transportation companies should increase the ratio of telephone sales reps to street reps to adapt to the new normal. But sales is based ...
Energy Collective
This video from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and posted on Peter Sinclair's ClimateCrocks.com describes how decreasing ice has led to a rise in Great Lakes ...
Kearney Hub
HOLDREGE — The new normal in irrigated agriculture requires doing more with less. New technologies and conservation practices are used by some farmers ...
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Monday, September 2, 2013

America, New Normal, Dystopia, Brazilification

America’s Dystopian New Normal - The Daily Beast: "Yes, the unemployment rate has edged down to 7.6 percent, but America is well on its way to becoming a nation of part-timers and full-time temps. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of  involuntary part-time workers rose by 322,000 to 8.2 million in June, while the ranks of temporary-help services employees have swelled to a record 2.68 million. Meanwhile, the employment-population ratio, the percentage of adult Americans who hold a job, has dropped nearly 2 percent to 58.7 percent since Barack Obama took office. Remarkably, both political parties are accommodating to this new reality of “Brazilification,” a term coined by Douglas Coupland in his 1991 novel Generation X and defined as the “widening gulf between the rich and the poor and the accompanying disappearance of the middle classes.” On a good day, Brazilification looks like the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Gala, a party for the well-heeled, well-dressed, and well-coiffed under the dazzle of blinding lights. But, on a bad day, Brazilification is bankrupt Detroit, post-Katrina New Orleans, or the shuttered mining and mill towns 24/7, except bleaker."

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Friday, August 30, 2013

Weather, New Normal, Heatwaves

Insurance Industry Funds Research to Quantify the "New Normal" of ...
Wall Street Journal
Atmospheric and Environmental Research (AER), a Verisk Analytics (Nasdaq:VRSK) company, announced today that its scientists have begun a new emerging ...

Extreme heatwaves are predicted as the new normal for British ...
The Independent
Global temperatures are climbing so rapidly that by 2040 Britain will spend up to a fifth of its summer months in an extreme heatwave, a new report warns...

The Independent

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Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Washington DC, New Normal, Fiscal Chaos

New normal returns to DC this fall: Fiscal chaos
CNBC.com
Congress is headed into its summer recess without a deal on a federal budget, paving the way for a big showdown between Republicans and Democrats and a ...

CNBC.com

"New normal" so normal, some media no longer all that interested
Record-Searchlight (blog)
Back in the late 70s when I still had hair and youth, I was an aspiring journalist thinking I might have a career in the Fourth Estate when -- in a moment of ...

Richmond Hill residents try to find new normal nine months after ...
Since the tragedy nine months ago, residents are returning to a new normal. Homes that were once demolished are rebuilt, the 'For Sale' signs are slowly being ...

Senior execs ponder sequestration: 'Is this the new normal?'
FederalNewsRadio.com
Imagine putting the best and the brightest senior executives in a room and asking them to share their thoughts on the biggest problem facing the SES today, ...

More (or less) with less, the new normal?
FederalNewsRadio.com
Doing more with less seems to be the new normal. Many federal agencies and private sector operations have tightened their belts with mixed results for their ...

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Monday, August 26, 2013

Deconstructing the New Normal

Deconstructing the New Normal
Barron's
This conclusion, contained in a report titled "U.S. future isn't what it used to be," expands on themes previously voiced in the notion of the "New Normal" ....

NASA: Climate change means 'new normal' for wildfires
TucsonSentinel.com
This is the “new normal,” said Doug Morton, research scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. We need to be “planning for a warmer and ...

TucsonSentinel.com

Short sale become nation's “new normal”
STLtoday.com
Short sale become nation's “new normal”. Six years ago, short sales were a rare ...


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Friday, August 23, 2013

New Normal, ObamaCare Killing Full-Time Jobs

Susan Collins and Joe Donnelly: ObamaCare's Definition of a Full-Time Job - WSJ.com: "In Lafayette, Ind., a school district cut the hours of 200 support staff to no more than 29 per week. In Bangor, Maine, the school system is preparing to track and cap the number of hours worked by substitute teachers to ensure that they don't work more than 29 hours a week. Elsewhere, in Portland, Maine, a small business reduced a part-time employee's hours from 35 to 29. We are hearing reports like this from across the country. Why is this happening? It's happening because under the Affordable Care Act a "full-time employee" is defined as anyone working an average of 30 hours a week, rather than the traditionally accepted 40-hour work week. Employers with more than 50 full-time employees or full-time equivalents will be required to provide their employees with health insurance or potentially face a financial penalty, essentially a fine."

The Great Obamacare Workforce Exodus: "The US desperately needs to restart its job-creation machine in order to put millions of sidelined workers back in the workforce, but Washington is instead making it more expensive to hire and making regulation and cost less predictable with its reactionary and arbitrary changes to statutory law. Congress and the White House need to shelve the ACA and come up with a plan that streamlines regulation and cost so that businesses can hire full time employees rather than part-time temps."

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: An Analysis of July Employment Numbers 1955 to 2013; Full-Time Employment Down Over 5 Million Since 2007: "Full time employment is actually now 5.17 million below the 2007 level. Total employment is 2.2 million below the 2007 level in spite of 13 million more people of working age." (read more at link above)

Obamacare Will Foster A Part-Time Jobs Bonanza For Our Limp Economy - Forbes: "There’s ample evidence that the Obama Administration and most advocates of ObamaCare suspected this would happen; they intended to blame premium hikes on “greedy insurers,” then run them out of business after imposing profit-killing price controls, paving the way for their final solution: a “single payer” (fully nationalized) health care system. But the premium-hike shocks have arrived earlier than the ObamaCare pushers initially expected. They didn’t know insurers plan ahead. Fearing only a possible electoral fallout, Mr. Obama last month delayed the law’s implementation until 2015 – after the 2014 mid-term elections."

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Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Boston Bombing, a Marathoner Comeback, New Normal (video)



A Marathon Comeback: "After the bomb blast at the Boston Marathon that took most of his legs, Jeff Bauman began his own long and painful journey."

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Monday, August 19, 2013

Gross Sees New Normal Intact Amid 7.5% Unemployment

Gross Sees New Normal Intact Amid 7.5% Unemployment: Tom Keene
Businessweek
Mohamed El-Erian, who serves as co-chief investment officer with Gross at Newport Beach, California-based Pimco, coined the term “new normal” in 2009 to describe an era of lower returns, heightened government regulation and shrinking U.S. clout in the ...

The New " Normal " - Analyst Blog
NASDAQ
The New "Normal" - Analyst Blog · Jobless Claims Fall to 5-year Low - Real Time Insight · Sell in May and Go Away? - Real Time Insight. Referenced Stocks ...

A 'New New Normal'
Seeking Alpha
What would a New New Normal look like? 1. After more than a decade-long demand pushed market, commodity prices are supply driven. The message on the state of the global economy is no longer straightforward (see copper prices disconnecting with ...

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Friday, August 16, 2013

Private Equity, Flexibility, and The New Normal

Private Equity: Flexibility Is The New Normal
Financier Worldwide
Firms are beginning to become accustomed to the idea of a “new normal”. This paradigm shift moves beyond the notion that the economy will be “weaker for longer” and that we will see “generally slow growth amid greater uncertainty than in the past”. In ...

Contractors and contracting are the “new normal”, APSCo guide shows clients
Contractor Calculator
The guide contains a collection of themed articles focusing on the benefits of contractors and other flexible knowledge workers, providing insights into the value contractors bring to the UK economy. Guidance is also provided on what clients and ...

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Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Obama's New Normal McJobs

The Only Jobs Obama is Creating Are Low Paying McJobs
FrontPage Magazine
The headline numbers for the May jobs report are about what you would expect for a New Normaleconomy stuck in 2% growth mode: 175,000 net new jobs last month, the unemployment rate ticking up to 7.6%. No broad signs of acceleration; just the ...

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Monday, August 12, 2013

Homeland insecurity and our new normal

Homeland insecurity: What is our new normal?
MSNBC
The Boston Marathon attacks reignited the debate about the balance between civil liberties and security. According to a CNN/TIME poll, 63% of Americans fear terrorists will always find a way to launch a major attack, no matter what the government does.

TAUBE: Rejecting terror's 'new normal'
Washington Times
In an interview with Newsmax, the former CIA and National Security Agency director made this astonishing comment about the April 15 Boston Marathon bombings: “This regrettably, if it does turn out to be al Qaeda-based terrorism, might be the new normal.

Businesses adjust to a 'new normal'
NEWS.com.au
"They appear to be adjusting to the 'new normal' and accepting that massive growth or profit margins are not necessarily realistic, at least not without a change in focus or significant investment," PwC national managing partner for private clients ...

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Friday, August 9, 2013

Smartphone fatigue may become the new normal

Smartphone fatigue may become the new normal
ZDNet
Smartphone fatigue may become the new normal. Summary: When software updates come regularly, the need for new smartphone hardware diminishes. Have smartphones lost their juice? Larry Dignan. By Larry Dignan for Between the Lines | June 10, 2013 ...

Phone record fury just one sign of how privacy is a thing of the past
Charlotte Observer
WASHINGTON Welcome to the new normal, the U.S. national security state that's grown like mad since the 9/11 terrorist attacks nearly a dozen years ago. Personal privacy has shrunk. Government secrecy has grown. Law enforcement intrusions are ...

Why Radical is the New Normal: Get Apocalyptic
American Muslim
Why Radical is the New Normal: Get Apocalyptic. by Robert Jensen. Feeling anxious about life in a broken-down society on a stressed-out planet? That's hardly surprising: Life as we know it is almost over. While the dominant culture encourages ...

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Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Are you normal when it comes to love and sex?

Are you normal when it comes to love, sex?
CBS News
Pepper Schwartz, a Yale sociologist and co-author with Chrisanna Northrup and Harvard sociologist James Witte of "The Normal Bar: The Surprising Secrets of Happy Couples and What They Reveal About Creating a New Normal in Your Relationship," said ...(read more at link above)

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New Normal - Google News

nothinnormal.com