US officials join 787 investigation in Japan

U.S. officials, center, inspect a All Nippon Airways jet which made an emergency landing Wednesday, at Takamatsu airport in Takamatsu, western Japan, Friday, Jan. 18, 2013. An official with Japan?s transport safety board says four U.S. officials, including two Boeing Co. representatives, have arrived at the airport in western Japan to inspect the troubled Boeing 787 jet. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE

U.S. officials, center, inspect a All Nippon Airways jet which made an emergency landing Wednesday, at Takamatsu airport in Takamatsu, western Japan, Friday, Jan. 18, 2013. An official with Japan?s transport safety board says four U.S. officials, including two Boeing Co. representatives, have arrived at the airport in western Japan to inspect the troubled Boeing 787 jet. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE

This Jan. 17, 2013 photo provided by the Japan Transport Safety Board shows the distorted main lithium-ion battery of the All Nippon Airways' Boeing 787 which made an emergency landing on Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013 at Takamatsu airport in Takamatsu, western Japan. U.S. safety officials and Boeing inspectors joined a Japanese investigation Friday into the 787 jet at the center of a worldwide grounding of the technologically advanced aircraft. The pilot of the ANA plane made an emergency landing Wednesday morning after he smelled something burning and received a cockpit warning of battery problems. All passengers evacuated the plane on emergency slides. (AP Photo/Japan Transport Safety Board) EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES

This Jan. 17, 2013 photo provided by the Japan Transport Safety Board shows the distorted main lithium-ion battery and its lid, left, of the All Nippon Airways' Boeing 787 which made an emergency landing on Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013 at Takamatsu airport in Takamatsu, western Japan. At right are the model in normal condition. U.S. safety officials and Boeing inspectors joined a Japanese investigation Friday into the 787 jet at the center of a worldwide grounding of the technologically advanced aircraft. The pilot of the ANA plane made an emergency landing Wednesday morning after he smelled something burning and received a cockpit warning of battery problems. All passengers evacuated the plane on emergency slides. (AP Photo/Japan Transport Safety Board) EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES

A representative of the U.S. investigation team is surrounded by the reporters as they arrived at Takamatsu airport, following an emergency landing of a Boeing 787 exposed a battery fire risk in Takamatsu, western Japan, Friday, Jan. 18, 2013. Boeing, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration were sending representatives to work with the Japanese government on the investigation, NTSB spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE

Representatives of the U.S. investigation team arrive at Takamatsu airport, to investigate an emergency landing of a Boeing 787 which exposed a battery fire risk in Takamatsu, western Japan, Friday, Jan. 18, 2013. Boeing, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration were sending representatives to work with the Japanese government on the investigation, NTSB spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE

TOKYO (AP) ? U.S. safety officials and Boeing inspectors joined a Japanese investigation Friday into the 787 jet at the center of a worldwide grounding of the technologically advanced aircraft.

Japanese TV footage showed the American investigators ? one each from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board and two from Boeing Co. ? inspecting the All Nippon Airways jet on the tarmac at Takamatsu airport in western Japan.

The investigation is being led by the Japan Transport Safety Board.

The pilot of the ANA plane made an emergency landing Wednesday morning after he smelled something burning and received a cockpit warning of battery problems. All passengers evacuated the plane on emergency slides.

The American inspectors were expected to examine the battery later Friday, said Mamoru Takahashi, a JTSB official. Photos of the battery provided by JSTB show a blackened mass of wires and other components within a distorted blue casing.

In the wake of the incident, nearly all 50 of the 787s in use around the world have been grounded. Aviation authorities in Japan have directed ANA, which owns 17 of the planes, and Japan Airlines, with seven, not to fly the jets until questions over their safety have been resolved.

The 787, known as the Dreamliner, is Boeing's newest jet, and the company is counting heavily on its success. Since its launch after delays of more than three years, the plane has been plagued by a series of problems including a battery fire and fuel leaks.

An initial inspection by Japanese officials of the 787 in Takamatsu found that a flammable battery fluid known as electrolyte had leaked from the plane's main lithium-ion battery beneath the cockpit. It also found burn marks around the battery.

The 787 relies more than any other modern airliner on electrical signals to help power nearly everything the plane does. It's also the first Boeing plane to use rechargeable lithium-ion batteries for its main electrical system.

GS Yuasa Corp., the maker of the lithium-ion batteries used in the 787s, said it was helping with the investigation but that the cause of the problem was unclear.

The FAA has required U.S. carriers to stop flying 787s until the batteries are demonstrated to be safe. United Airlines has six of the jets and is the only U.S. carrier flying the model.

Aviation authorities in other countries usually follow the lead of the country where the manufacturer is based.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-18-Japan-Boeing%20787/id-34a39834a1e34473b8fb45b003528139

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J.G. Wentworth Abandons Plans To Sell its Structured Settlement ...

The last few years have been a rollercoaster for J.G. Wentworth, the financial services firm that injected itself into public consciousness with a series of humorous commercials featuring the catchphrase, ?It?s my money and I need it now!?

Earlier this week Bloomberg reported that the owner of the company, New York private equity firm J.L.L. Partners, has reconsidered plans to auction off the company due to bids falling below the $1 billion asking price. The auction was reportedly handled by Deutsche Bank and Moelis & Co.

The $1 billion price tag is nearly ten times the company?s pretax profit.

The move to sell came after the company entered Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection in 2009, citing ?liquidity problems amid a tightening credit market.? The structured settlement company laid off 120 of its 200 employees, and its general corporate bonds were deemed ?almost worthless? by industry insiders during this period.

Less than six months after the layoffs, J.L.L. Partners invested $100 million in the company, and increased its staff to 178.

In 2011, J.G. Wentworth merged with Peachtree Settlement Funding. J.L.L. Partners retained control of both companies. J.G. Wentworth and Peachtree Settlement Funding reportedly control anywhere from 50-75% of the structured settlement market.

The decision to auction off the company came on the heels of several setbacks for the Radnor, PA, company. Earlier in 2012 J.G. Wentworth faced a lawsuit stemming from its acquisition of Peachtree Settlement Funding, alleging that the company was engaging in deceptive trade practices. The point of contention in the suit was that J.G. Wentworth was deceiving customers into believing that it and Peachtree were competing against each other, when in reality the companies were commonly owned and staffed.

One Ripoff Report told the story: the writer?s sister went back and forth between J.G. Wentworth and Peachtree, trying to find the best quote for the sale of her payments. After a while of this, the Peachtree representative told her that the deal Wentworth was offering was a good deal, and that Wentworth was a great company to sell to. A phone call from a different company some time later informed her that Wentworth and Peachtree were the same company, and that a conservative estimate of how much her payments were worth was $22,000 more than what she received from J.G. Wentworth.
?My sister is now in complete shock and depressed to the point where I had to take time off work to be with her during this terrible period.? She writes, ?She paid dearly for this settlement (the wrongful death of her child) and now she feels like she has been victimized all over again by J.G. Wentworth and Peachtree Financial. J.G. Wentworth is clearly using their recent purchase of Peachtree Financial as a means to deceive people just like my sister. I don?t care what they want to call it but it is just plain disgusting and criminal to steal from people who have already suffered terribly already.?

There have also been allegations that the company engages in ?bait-and-switch? tactics with their customers, wherein sales representatives and clients agree to a deal only to have the terms of the deal altered by J.G. Wentworth when the client is locked into the sale. ?One complainant on the Ripoff Report website detailed a situation in which the structured settlement company offered them $58,250 for their payments, had them sign a sales contract, then, just when the client?s court date had been set, informed them that a mistake had been made, and they could only pay them $51,000.

The structured settlement company has also been accused of anti-consumer practices by illegally preventing consumers from selling settlement payments to anyone other than J.G. Wentworth/Peachtree. In November of 2012, a Texas district court ruled against the company?s attempt to prevent a single mother from selling her structured settlement to a company other than Wentworth.

In July 2012 the company was accused of failing to pay Federal excise taxes on $550 million.

J.L.L. Partners paid around $170 billion for a 70% stake in the company back in 2005, which has since increased to 100%.

J.G. Wentworth was founded in 1991 as a merchant bank for the healthcare industry. Their first foray into buying payments was in 1992, when the company began buying auto insurance deferrals. They began focusing on the structured settlement and annuity market in the late 1990s.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 14th, 2013 at 12:41 pm and is filed under J. G. Wentworth. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

Source: http://www.rslfundingllc.com/blog/j-g-wentworth-abandons-plans-to-sell-its-structured-settlement-business.html

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Apple offers last 'Downton' episodes before PBS

By Ree Hines, TODAY contributor

If you're a fan of "Downton Abbey" but not a fan of the long wait between the U.K. broadcast and the U.S. broadcast, there a little good news. In just two weeks, you can finish up the entire season before the final three episodes even air on PBS.

But of course, a perk like that comes at a premium price -- $19.99, to be exact.

On Monday, Apple announced that "Downton" devotees who purchase a "season pass" for the series from the company's iTunes store will be privy to the early viewing in the form of "the unedited U.K. edition."

The advance screening kicks off on Jan. 29.

As for viewers who prefer their TV favorites free, PBS will air the last three episodes of the series on Feb. 3, 10 and 17 respectively.

Would you pay to see any of your favorite shows before they air? Tell us on our Facebook page.

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Source: http://theclicker.today.com/_news/2013/01/15/16528374-apple-offers-final-downton-abbey-episodes-before-they-air-on-pbs?lite

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Tata Jaguar Land Rover to add nearly 800 new jobs at UK plant

Tata Motors is living up to its reputation as one of Britain's biggest manufacturing employers and is set to add hundreds of new jobs at one of its UK plants.

Just days after the news came that Japanese car major Honda was to cut 800 jobs at its Swindon factory, Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will announce just as many new jobs at its Solihull plant in the Midlands.

JLR already employs as many as 24,000 people in the UK.

According to the Sunday Times, an announcement of the latest recruitment drive is expected in time for the Detroit Motor Show which begins tomorrow.

The investment, which defies a general slowdown in the auto industry, is largely down to a surge in demand for JLR brands in China, Russia and the US.

The iconic British car giant, taken over by Tata in 2008, registered record profits of 1.5 billion pounds last year due to this overseas boost.

It marks a significant reversal of fortunes for JLR under the stewardship of Tata Motors, which had announced 1,000 new jobs at its Halewood plant on Merseyside last year and now employs nearly 24,000 staff in the UK.

Following a period of uncertainty as the credit crunch hit soon after Tata's takeover from Ford, the sales of most JLR brands rebounded considerably to result in an ambitious expansion plan two years ago.

The company wants to launch 40 new models in the next five years and has a target of making 60,000 cars a year.

... contd.

Tags: Tata Jaguar Land Rover, tata jobs, tata UK jobs, business news

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Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/tata-jaguar-land-rover-to-add-nearly-800-new-jobs-at-uk-plant/1058820/

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Colin Powell says GOP having `an identity problem' (The Arizona Republic)

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Used coffee grounds are a rich source of healthful antioxidants

Jan. 9, 2013 ? To plant food, insect repellant and other homespun uses for spent coffee grounds, scientists are adding an application that could make the gunk left over from brewing coffee a valuable resource for production of dietary supplements. Their new report in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry concludes that used coffee grounds are a rich source of healthful antioxidant substances.

Maria-Paz de Pe?a and colleagues explain that people around the world drink millions of cups of coffee every day, generating about 20 million tons of used grounds annually. Although some spent coffee grounds find commercial use as farm fertilizer, most end up in trash destined for landfills. Coffee itself is a rich source of healthful antioxidants. De Pe?a's team wondered about the amount of antioxidants that remained in used coffee grounds from different coffee-making methods.

They found that filter, plunger and espresso-type coffeemakers left more antioxidants in coffee grounds, while mocha coffeemakers left the least. Because filter and espresso coffeemakers are more common in homes and commercial kitchens, the authors report that most grounds are likely to be good sources of antioxidants and other useful substances. They note that after these compounds are extracted, the grounds can still be used for fertilizer.

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Journal Reference:

1. Jimena Bravo, Isabel Ju?niz, Carmen Monente, Bettina Caemmerer, Lothar W. Kroh, M. Paz De Pe?a, Concepci?n Cid. Evaluation of Spent Coffee Obtained from the Most Common Coffeemakers as a Source of Hydrophilic Bioactive Compounds. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2012; 60 (51): 12565 DOI: 10.1021/jf3040594

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/nutrition/~3/AttD4HYTXHE/130109110057.htm

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Obama returns to capital after Hawaii vacation

President Barack Obama walks with daughter Malia on the first family's return from vacationing in Hawaii, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Barack Obama walks with daughter Malia on the first family's return from vacationing in Hawaii, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Barack Obama waves to the media as he walks with daughter Malia on the first family's return from vacationing in Hawaii, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama has returned to Washington after a winter vacation in Hawaii that was interrupted by the "fiscal cliff" crisis.

Obama arrived at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on Sunday morning after an overnight flight.

The president's annual end-of-year visit to his native state was disrupted just after Christmas when he was forced to return to the capital to help broker a solution on a plan to avert a combination of tax increases and spending cuts that could have sent the economy back into recession.

He returned to Hawaii on New Year's Day.

Obama faces a full agenda in Washington, including possible appointments of a new defense secretary and CIA director and a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai (HAH'-mihd KAHR'-zeye).

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-01-06-Obama/id-cf2894872062411893d19f9bb70cbf28

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