Quinn signs bills to help ex-offenders get jobs

SARA BURNETT,Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) ? Gov. Pat Quinn signed a series of bills Saturday he said will help ex-offenders get jobs so they can stay out of prison and become productive members of society.

The Chicago Democrat said the measures also will give judges and prosecutors more options for sentencing non-violent criminals. He noted more than half of Illinois inmates return to prison within three years of their release, many because they go back to committing crimes to provide for themselves or their families.

"Formerly incarcerated individuals shouldn't face a life sentence of no job prospects and no opportunities to better themselves just because they have served time in prison," Quinn said during a ceremony at a church on Chicago's South Side. "These?new?laws will help them get back on their feet, contribute to their communities and keep one offense from becoming a life-long barrier."

The measures also could help Quinn gain support among progressive voters in advance of a 2014 Democratic gubernatorial primary. Former White House chief of staff Bill Daley, also a Chicago Democrat, has said he's running against Quinn. Four Republicans have announced they're running: state Sens. Bill Brady and Kirk Dillard, venture capitalist Bruce Rauner and state Treasurer Dan Rutherford.

The three bills signed into law Saturday were approved by the Democrat-controlled Legislature with bipartisan support.

One measure increases a tax credit for employers who hire qualified ex-offenders to $1,500 per employee. It previously was capped at $600. Employers may take the credit for up to five years. It applies to any ex-offender hired within three years of their release from prison.

Rep. Art Turner, a Chicago Democrat and lead sponsor of the bill, said he's hopeful more employers will take advantage of the credit.

"Programs like this must be part of a creative approach to reducing recidivism and addressing the larger challenges of unemployment and violence in our communities," he said.

Another bill creates a "second-chance probation" option for non-violent offenders. It allows some convictions to be cleared from a person's record after successful completion of at least two years of probation. It was sponsored by Rep. Tom Cross of Oswego, the Republican leader in the Illinois House, and Sen. Linda Holmes, an Aurora Democrat.

The other legislation ensures motions to seal or expunge a criminal record are heard in a timely manner and that court orders are delivered to the proper authorities.

Saturday's bill signings come one day after Quinn signed legislation to add several non-violent felonies to the list of offenses for which records may sealed. The offenses include theft, retail theft, forgery, possession of burglary tools and possession with intent to manufacture or deliver a controlled substance. Previously records were only eligible to be sealed for people convicted of prostitution or drug possession.

The measure also easily passed the Democrat-controlled Legislature, despite concerns from some critics that it would prevent employees from knowing whether they may be hiring someone with a criminal history.

The?new?law requires a person to wait four years from the termination of their last sentence before asking for their records to be sealed. They also would have to pass a drug test within 30 days before filing their petition to seal. If a judge grants the petition, the sealed records can no longer be seen by most potential employers or other members of the public, except by court order. Law enforcement agencies, however, still have access, and if the person is later convicted of another crime the court may order their sealed records to be unsealed.

State Sen. Kwame Raoul, a Chicago Democrat and a chief sponsor of the bill, said in a statement the legislation will help people who have been convicted of crimes to leave behind the stigma of a criminal conviction.

"When people have served their sentences, public safety and a sense of humanity demand that we give them the opportunities they need to stay out of prison ? a genuine chance at an education, a job and a future," Raoul said.

The lead sponsor in the Illinois House was Rep. LaShawn Ford, also a Chicago Democrat. Ford is under indictment for bank fraud but those charges were filed in federal court, so the legislation would not apply to him if he is convicted. He has pleaded not guilty.

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Information from the General Assembly's website about the bills is available online here:?SB1659, HB3010, HB2470 and HB3061.

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Source: http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2013-08-03/quinn-signs-bills-help-ex-offenders-get-jobs.html

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Double Fine's Dropchord entrances iOS, Android and Ouya users

Double Fine's rave simulator rhythm-driven Dropchord launched for iOS, Android and the Ouya this week for $3.

Dropchord assigns ends of a line to each of a player's fingers and tasks them with gathering notes and dodging scratches. The game focuses on getting the highest score possible and its leaderboards encourage competitive play with friends. Dropchord's neon visuals pulse to the beat of its electronic soundtrack and switch styles with each song.

The game's Standard Mode moves players through stages while gradually adding new gameplay mechanics, while a Full Mix Mode supplies an endless session that gradually becomes more difficult.

Dropchord previously launched on PC and Mac for the hands-oriented Leap Motion.Double Fine's Dropchord entrances iOS, Android and Ouya users originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 03 Aug 2013 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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UNICEF Supply Annual Report 2012 : India is the Largest Supplier

UNICEF recently released its Supply Annual Report for 2012. The Report is an yearly assessment of the UNICEF supply programme which provides women and children with an equitable access to life-saving supplies. The?UNICEF Supply Division recently moved its base to Copenhagen, Denmark with a state of the art warehouse to ensure timely reach of life-saving supplies all over the world. Its activities in influencing markets, innovation and supporting supply chain strengthening continued apace during the year, with substantial achievements in terms of reduced prices, reduced supply chain costs and the introduction of new products. Regarding encouraging innovation, the program has several innovation projects in the pipeline. These are mainly aimed at development of low-cost diagnostic devices that make accurate diagnosis under extreme environmental conditions.?

UNICEF procured $1.86 billion worth of supplies globally for children and women during the year. In addition, $608 million worth of services were procured. The major commodities procured were: vaccines, pharmaceuticals, nutrition, medical supplies and equipment, international freight, bed nets, construction, water and sanitation, education, printed educational supplies. Vaccines accounted for $1053 million, and pharmaceuticals trailed at $226 million.

India was the largest supplier country in 2012, with ?$558 million worth of services and supplies. Belgium came in second, contributing less than half of India's supplies with a figure of $349 million. Serum Institute of India Ltd supplied vaccines/biologicals worth $254 million dollars, making it the largest supplier in India. Mylan Laboratries (pharma company) is at?a distant second spot, with supplies worth $ 45 million. Other significant suppliers are Ranbaxy Labs, Hetero Labs, Aurobindo Pharma, Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceutical Corporation, Biological E and Micro Labs Pharma. UNICEF makes great efforts to buy supplies where they are used. Almost two-thirds of the top 33 supplier countries are countries where UNICEF has development programmes.

Close to two-thirds of the UNICEF supplies delivered went to Sub-Saharan Africa. 24% of the supplies went to Southern and Eastern Asia, and the Pacific. India absorbed commodities worth $23 million and procured services worth $52 million. India's neighbours Pakistan and Bangladesh used supplies worth $231?million and $64 million respectively.?

India has consistently been the largest supplier since 2007. UNICEF has recognised India's contribution to glocal aid, and international groups have lauded India's role in increasing access to medicines in the developing world. In fact, India is not only the largest supplier to UN groups, but also to the M?decins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and International Dispensary Association. Indian medicines are also extremely affordable. Anti RetroViral (ARV) treatment in Europe was $10,000 per patient a year, until Indian manufactured drugs brought it down to $95 patient a year. India happens to be the largest supplier of generic ARVs to low and middle income countries. Paul Cawthome (MSF Access Campaign Coordinator-Asia)?highlighted the the worldwide dependency on India as a drug supplier best, when he said : 'It comes as a great relief to millions around the world who depend on a continuous supply of Indian generic medicines that the Indian Supreme Court has ruled against Novartis.' In another instance, when Big pharma threatened legal action against the South African government in the latter's efforts to bring down prices for HIV-AIDS treatment, Indian pharma major Cipla stepped in and offered to supply drugs at just $350 per patient per year. This exposed inflated rates of medicines in the global market, and the case against SA government was withdrawn.?

These scenarios demonstrate India's inclination to increase global accessibility to medicines. Hopefully the efforts will also be emulated by other nations in the wake of rising healthcare costs, especially in the developed countries.

Source: http://spicyipindia.blogspot.com/2013/08/unicef-supply-annual-report-2012-india.html

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Russian Sports Minister: We will arrest pro-gay ?Sochi 2014? Olympic athletes, guests (Americablog)

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Vodafone may have to sell $1 billion Bharti stake under India licence rules

NEW DELHI | Fri Aug 2, 2013 5:39pm BST

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Vodafone Group Plc may be forced to sell its 4.4 percent stake in India's top telecom services provider Bharti Airtel Ltd - worth about NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Vodafone Group Plc may be forced to sell its 4.4 percent stake in India's top telecom services provider Bharti Airtel Ltd - worth about $1 billion (654.6 million pounds) - billion (654.6 million pounds) - after rules published on Friday outlawed crossholdings in rival telecom companies.

Under the rules, no carrier can own a direct or indirect equity stake in another operating in the same of any of India's 22 telecom service areas. Bharti and Vodafone provide services in all of them.

The telecoms ministry's new licensing rules also say that no stakeholder other than the government, banks and financial institutions, which owns 10 percent or more in a carrier will be allowed to own a stake in any other carrier.

Companies must comply with the rules within a year from the date of grant of new licences, the ministry said. Applications for the licences may take months to process.

Vodafone, which owns a majority stake in Vodafone India - India's No. 2 phone carrier, has owned its Bharti stake for years. At Bharti's stock price of about 345 rupees, the stake is worth roughly $1 billion.

Bharti declined to comment and Vodafone did not reply to an email seeking comment.

(Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy; Editing by Louise Ireland)

Source: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/08/02/uk-vodafone-india-idUKBRE9710W020130802?feedType=RSS&feedName=internetNews

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Parents cheer as Florida schools chief resigns | Video

Parents and education activists across South Florida hailed the departure of Florida's Education Commissioner Tony Bennett, saying they strongly disagreed with his emphasis on high-stakes testing and data driven reforms.

Bennett resigned Thursday, three days after reports alleged that while he was Indiana's education commissioner he pushed top staffers to raise from a "C" to an "A" the grade of charter school run by a friend and campaign donor. The grade was raised by changing the way high school scores are counted in schools without a senior class.

But Bennett had turned down calls by the Indianapolis schools superintendent a year before to make a similar change on behalf of two non-charter schools, according to the Indianapolis Star.

"If he tweaked [the scores in Indiana]," said Clare Kirchman, a parent in Jupiter, "what can we really count on?"

Bennett, who was appointed to the Florida job in December, on Thursday did not deny acting on the charter school's behalf. "I believe we did the right thing for Indiana schools," he said.

But he said he was stepping down because he didn't want to be a distraction and "it was not fair to Gov. Scott and his pursuit and his very hard work in making Florida the greatest in the country. I end my tenure with my head held high."

But even before the controversy, South Florida teachers and parents had campaigned hard in letters to elected officials and through social media against Bennett coming to the state.

"That man has been distraction since the day he walked into the state," said Lisa Goldman, founder of Testing is not Teaching, an advocacy group in Palm Beach County. "He shouldn't have come."

Debra Wilhelm, president of the Classroom Teachers Association in Palm Beach County, said Bennett often made decisions without consulting the teachers he'd be impacting.

"It seemed like every other day decisions were being made on behalf of educators," she said. "But you have to get the advice from the educators themselves."

Last month Bennett recommended schools not be allowed to drop more than one letter grade to safeguard them from several changes to the grading formula. Many criticized the move.

"If you keep arbitrarily changing the grades and the rules, they have no meaning whatsoever," said Goldman.

Some saw Bennett's exit as an opportunity to turn around the state of public education.

"This is going to be a tipping point that could get worse or it could get better," said Mark Halpert, founder of the Florida Advocacy Coalition on Learning Disabilities. "It's most likely to mobilize those who want to see public schools succeed.''

Andy Ford, president of the Florida Education Association, said the resignation is proof the state's school-reform and accountability policies are "incoherent and unsound."

"These policies have no value advancing education in this state and have lost the public's trust," Ford said Thursday. "It's past time that we include teachers, parents and administrators in developing solutions, not just listen to the 'reformers' who have an approach that has been a disaster for public education in Florida."

Sharon Glickman, president of the Broward Teachers Union, said it was time for voters to once again elect Florida's school chief.

"These are our children and their education," she said. "It's got to be an elected official so we can pick the right person for the job."

But some greeted Bennett's announcement with sadness, including Gov. Rick Scott, who encouraged him to stay.

Scott made an appearance Thursday in Delray Beach and said Bennett "did a great job" and gave him credit for helping with such initiatives as increased funding, teacher raises and debit cards for teachers to buy classroom supplies.

The state Board of Education will meet Friday to begin discussing a successor.

Both Bennett and Scott said they want to see Chancellor of Public Schools Pam Stewart appointed as interim commissioner.

Talk of a succesor also prompted some to highlight the need for stability in that job.

The previous education commissioner, Gerard Robinson, resigned abruptly one year ago after facing criticism from local educators about the state's accountability system.

"Florida has not been able to maintain an education commissioner for a long time. That's a poor reflection on the state," said Robert Mayersohn, a Parkland parent. "It puts a stain on education in Florida."

kyi@tribune.com, 954-747-3033 or Twitter @karen_yi

Source: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/fl-florida-tony-bennett-resigns-2-20130801,0,1708536.story?track=rss

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The US Student Loan Problem ? Facts, Charts, & Thoughts ...

By Walter Kurtz, Sober Look

The US Congress is nearing a compromise on the issue of student loan interest rates. Apparently loan rates will be changed from fixed to floating with an overall cap (see story). While rates are important, there is a much bigger issue at hand. Now with the help of some great data from Barclays Research let?s take a quick look at where we stand with the overall student loan problem and how we could move forward. Here are six facts to consider:

1. There is about a trillion dollars worth of student loans outstanding with all but 15% of that owned or guaranteed by the federal government. The chart below shows the student loan amount held directly by the federal government. That balance is rising at about $110 bn per year.

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2. Higher education still provides a clear financial advantage, with the unemployment rate among college graduates at about half that of those with just a high school diploma. However when you add student loans into the mix, the financial situation of graduates is not as compelling. For example, while homeownership has declined across the board, the decline has been much sharper for those with student loans.

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3. Not surprisingly, since 2008, the credit score of young people with student loans increasingly lags the score of those without this type of liability.

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4. Based on the expected repayment schedule of outstanding student debt, an increasingly large volume of loans is forecast to be repaid each year. Yet since 2007 the actual repayments keep falling further behind the repayment expectations. Based in this trend, the situation for 2013 looks a bit scary.

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5. Student loans now have the highest delinquency rate among all major consumer credit asset classes. Based on the latest data, the trend isn?t encouraging.

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6. While there is a perception that student loan delinquencies are limited to generation-Y borrowers, delinquencies are rising across all ages.

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The data clearly shows that the risk to the taxpayers is on the rise and the strain on US consumers from student loans isn?t going to improve any time soon. The unlimited availability of student loans has allowed colleges to sharply raise tuition and fees over the past few years ? often simply because they could (as they?kept on hiring). Rising cost for higher education in turn forced students to take out larger loans and in greater numbers, increasing the overall loan balances. This feedback loop is clearly unsustainable, particularly as household income growth remains weak. Higher delinquencies are inevitable and as long as the government funds this program, there really is only one way to arrest rising levels of student debt.

Consider the fact that Social security recipients in the US have their pay increases linked to the inflation rate. Of course the actual inflation rate that retirees experience is often higher than it is for younger generations. Pension recipients often don?t benefit to the same extent from declining prices of electronics, apparel, and a number of other products. The planned adjustment to increases using the so-called ?chained CPI? will make the increases even smaller (see story). But American retirees will have to make due.

Why then is it so difficult to ask US colleges and universities who benefit from taxpayer-funded loans to live by the same standards as the social security recipients? The taxpayers funding this program should insist that if a college accepts over a certain percentage of students paying with federally backed student loans, that college must agree to cap tuition and fees. It?s time for institutions of higher learning to start living by the concept of ?chained CPI? rather than to just keep writing research papers on it.

Sober Look

Sober Look was founded by Walter Kurtz, a New York based hedge fund manager and credit markets specialist.

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Source: http://pragcap.com/the-us-student-loan-problem-facts-charts-thoughts

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