Slovenia to turn centre right for economic lift (Reuters)

LJUBLJANA (Reuters) ? Slovenia votes for a new government Sunday with the center-right opposition set to return to power on a pledge of painful reforms to halt the European Union member's slide back into recession.

Once a model of successful post-communist transition, euro zone member Slovenia is facing renewed economic contraction, rising unemployment and a potential credit rating downgrade.

The opposition Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) led by former prime minister Janez Jansa is eying a return to office, promising to cut the budget deficit, create jobs and hike the retirement age.

The outgoing government led by center-left Prime Minister Borut Pahor's Social Democrats lost its majority in May amid internal policy squabbles and was ousted by parliament in September.

Polls suggest Jansa, who was prime minister of the former Yugoslav republic from 2004 to 2008, will return to the post but

will need the support of smaller parties to secure a majority.

"If ever Slovenia needed a government with a strong majority ... it is in the period coming up," Jansa said on Pop TV.

RECESSION

An Alpine state of 2 million people, Slovenia was the fastest growing euro zone member four years ago, but its export-driven economy was badly hit by the global crisis and contracted by 8 percent in 2009.

After a modest recovery, data released this week suggests another recession is on the way after the economy shrank 0.5 percent in the third quarter of 2011. [ID:nL5E7MU2PX]

Jansa's SDS has pledged to cut Slovenia's deficit by trimming public administration and accelerating privatization. He proposes to ease a credit crunch by establishing a "bad bank" that would take over state-owned banks' non-performing loans.

The party would raise the retirement age, currently among the lowest in the EU at 57 for women and 58 for men.

Center-left Ljubljana mayor Zoran Jankovic is seen as Jansa's closest challenger for the premiership.

Polls open at 7 a.m. (01:00 a.m. EST) and close at 7 p.m. (1:00 p.m. EST). Preliminary results are expected by 4:00 p.m. EST.

(Editing by Matt Robinson and David Cowell)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111203/wl_nm/us_slovenia_election

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Are doing harm and allowing harm equivalent? Ask fMRI

ScienceDaily (Dec. 2, 2011) ? Individuals and courts deal more harshly with people who actively commit harm than with people who willfully allow the same harm to occur. A new study finds that this moral distinction is psychologically automatic. It requires more thought to see each harmful behavior as morally equivalent.

People typically say they are invoking an ethical principle when they judge acts that cause harm more harshly than willful inaction that allows that same harm to occur. That difference is even codified in criminal law. A new study based on brain scans, however, shows that people make that moral distinction automatically. Researchers found that it requires conscious reasoning to decide that active and passive behaviors that are equally harmful are equally wrong.

For example (see below), an overly competitive figure skater in one case loosens the skate blade of a rival, or in another case, notices that the blade is loose and fails to warn anyone. In both cases, the rival skater loses the competition and is seriously injured. Whether it is by acting, or willfully failing to act, the overly competitive skater did the same harm.

The neuroscience of ethical dilemmas Fiery Cushman employs behavioral experiments, online surveys, and functional magnetic resonance imaging to figure out how the brain has evolved to process moral dilemmas and make moral judgments."What it looks like is when you see somebody actively harm another person that triggers a strong automatic response," said Brown University psychologist Fiery Cushman. "You don't have to think very deliberatively about it. You just perceive it as morally wrong. When a person allows harm that they could easily prevent, that actually requires more carefully controlled deliberative thinking [to view as wrong]."

In a study published in advance online in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Cushman and his co-authors presented 35 volunteers with 24 moral dilemmas and lapses like the one involving the figure skaters. For specific lengths of time the volunteers would read an introduction to the incident, a description of the character's moral choices, and a description of how the character behaved. Then they'd rate the moral wrongness of the behavior on a scale from 1 to 5. All the while, Cushman and his co-authors, who were at Harvard University at the time, tracked the blood flow in the volunteers' brains with functional magnetic resonance imaging scans.

Cushman expected to confirm what he had observed in behavioral experiments and published in 2006: that people employed conscious reasoning to arrive at the usual feeling, which is that actively caused harm is morally worse than the passively caused harm.

Figuring he had a clever way to prove it physiologically, he and his team compared the brain scans of people who judged active harm to be worse than passive harm to the scans of people who judged them as morally equal. His assumption was that those who saw a moral difference did so by explicit reasoning. Such people should therefore have exhibited greater activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex than those who saw no moral distinction. But to Cushman's surprise, the greater levels of DPFC activity lay with those who saw active harm and passive harm as morally the same.

"The people who are showing this distinction are actually the ones who show the least evidence of deliberative, careful, controlled thinking," he said, "whereas the people who show no difference between actions and omissions show the most evidence of careful deliberative controlled thinking."

Social judgment

Cushman emphasized that his research does not suggest which moral judgment is right. But it is notable that our legal system enshrines the belief that active harm is worse than passive harm.

As one example, he cites a 1997 U.S. Supreme Court decision (Vacco v. Quill) in which the court ruled that given explicit permission from a patient, a doctor cannot directly euthanize the patient, such as with an overdose of morphine, but the doctor can follow a patient's directive to cease life support or other treatment. In the case, the district court in New York initially ruled the way the Supreme Court ultimately did, but the appeals court in between ruled that euthanasia and ending life support were essentially the same.

Cushman said his new findings may be useful because they describe the mechanisms underlying how they, and perhaps society in general, arrive at moral judgments. Drawing on the metaphor offered by authors Max H. Bazerman and Ann E. Tenbrunsel in their ethics book Blind Spots, he suggests that the extra thought required to judge passive harm as morally wrong might be analogous to a blind spot.

Much as drivers learn to look over their shoulder before changing lanes, he said, people may want to examine how they feel about passive harm. Especially in specific, real-life situations, they may still conclude that active harm is worse, but they'll at least have compensated for the automatic bias his research suggests is there.

In addition to Cushman, other authors include Dylan Murray, Shauna Gordon-McKeon. Sophie Wharton, and Joshua Greene. The research was supported by the Arete Initiative and the National Science Foundation.

Full example: Active or passive

Setup

Kelly is a figure skater trying out for the Olympics. The final spot on the team will go to either her or Jesse, depending on the outcome of a competition. When Kelly goes to the pro shop to pick up her skates, she sees Jesse's skates lying on the counter.

Harmful act

• Kelly realizes that she could loosen the screws on Jesse's skates, causing her to fall during the competition and lose. It is likely that Jesse would also seriously injure herself during the fall.
• Kelly loosens the screws on Jesse's skates. Sure enough, Jesse falls during the competition and Kelly makes the team. Jesse also severely injures herself.

Harmful omission

• Kelly sees that the screws are loose on Jesse's skates, which will cause her to fall during the competition and lose. It is likely that Jesse would also seriously injure herself during the fall.
• Kelly doesn't warn anybody about the loose screws. Sure enough, Jesse falls during the competition and Kelly makes the team. Jesse also severely injures herself.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/i70t9XImDkc/111202155531.htm

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Video: Matthews on World AIDS Day

NYT: Sandusky tells his side, denies charges

In a four-hour interview, Jerry Sandusky, in addition to denying charges that he molested young boys, shed light on several key aspects of the investigation and the actions, or inaction, of officials at Penn State University and the Second Mile charity.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/45516110#45516110

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Biden: Sacrifices of troops allow Iraq war to end (San Jose Mercury News)

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Welcome To The 20 Best Connected Cities In ... - Business Insider

When it comes to fast Internet, Eastern Europe seems to reign.

According to Net Index half of the countries with the top ten fastest download speeds come from this corner of the world. The world's average download speed is 9.43 megabytes per second (Mbps); in Lithuania, the country with the world's fastest download speed, that figure is 31.52 Mbps.

To put that into further perspective, the EU's average download speed is 12.99 Mbps while the U.S. has a speed of 12.12 Mbps.

But let's get more specific, Net Index also lists the cities with the fastest download speeds, gathering information from millions of consumers across the world regarding their Internet connections. Cities have to have at least 75,000 unique IP addresses to qualify for the sampling.

We've listed the top European metropolises here and ranked them based on their download speeds. So, where's the fastest??

NB: The results produced by Net Index are rolling, meaning that the download speeds and consequently rankings may change over time.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/europe-fastest-connections-2011-11

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Verizon confirms CEO Lowell McAdam will succeed Ivan Seidenberg as Chairman

It certainly doesn't come as the biggest of surprises, but Verizon confirmed today that its current CEO, Lowell McAdam, will succeed its former CEO, Ivan Seidenberg, as Chairman when the latter retires on December 31st. McAdam, as you may recall, took over as CEO when Seidenberg stepped down from the position in July of this year, with Seidenberg remaining on as Chairman at that point to aid in the transition, which has apparently gone just as planned. In related news, the carrier also announced today that Melanie L. Healey of Proctor & Gamble will be immediately joining the board, which will stand at twelve members following Seidenberg's departure. Head on past the break for the official press release.

Continue reading Verizon confirms CEO Lowell McAdam will succeed Ivan Seidenberg as Chairman

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Anaheim Ducks fire Carlyle, hire Bruce Boudreau

FILE - In this April 6, 2010 file photo, Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin, right, of Russia, cools down on the bench with coach Bruce Boudreau, during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, in Pittsburgh. Boudreau isn't blaming his newfound unemployment on Ovechkin. The Capitals coach spoke publicly Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011, for the first time since being fired on Monday. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

FILE - In this April 6, 2010 file photo, Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin, right, of Russia, cools down on the bench with coach Bruce Boudreau, during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, in Pittsburgh. Boudreau isn't blaming his newfound unemployment on Ovechkin. The Capitals coach spoke publicly Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011, for the first time since being fired on Monday. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

Anaheim Ducks' head coach Randy Carlyle looks toward the scoreboard in the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Montreal Canadiens in Anaheim, Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011. The Ducks won 4-1. (AP Photo/ Christine Cotter)

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) ? Randy Carlyle appeared relieved after his Anaheim Ducks snapped a seven-game skid Wednesday night, figuring his talented club had turned a corner.

If only the winningest coach in franchise history had known what was waiting for him around that corner.

Fed up with the Ducks' inexplicably slow start, the club fired the Stanley Cup-winning coach and his staff late Wednesday night. Anaheim swiftly replaced Carlyle with former Washington coach Bruce Boudreau, who was dismissed by the Capitals just two days earlier.

The Ducks made the abrupt moves after beating Montreal 4-1 on Wednesday night for just their third victory in 19 games. Despite the presence of league MVP Corey Perry, captain Ryan Getzlaf, 41-year-old scorer Teemu Selanne and All-Star goalie Jonas Hiller, the Ducks are off to a 7-13-4 start, ahead of only Columbus in the 15-team Western Conference.

"Randy is a terrific head coach, and did a tremendous job for us for six-plus seasons," Anaheim general manager Bob Murray said. "We thank him greatly for his hard work and dedication to our franchise, not the least of which was a Stanley Cup championship. At this time, we simply felt a new voice was needed. Bruce is a proven winner with a great track record, and we are optimistic we can turn this season around under his leadership."

Carlyle coached the Ducks to the franchise's only Stanley Cup title and Pacific Division championship in 2007, but the longtime NHL defenseman struggled to get his talented club's attention this fall after agreeing in August to a three-year contract extension through the 2013-14 season.

After Anaheim's seventh straight defeat last Sunday night, a dispassionate 5-2 loss to Toronto, Carlyle lamented that his players sometimes seemed to be "dead between the ears." He was in a better mood after the Ducks handled the Canadiens, praising their tenacity and his stars' leadership through a tough stretch.

A few minutes later, Carlyle was dismissed from the job he had held since August 2005. Anaheim cleaned house Wednesday night, also firing assistant coaches Dave Farrish and Mike Foligno and video coordinator Joe Trotta.

The Ducks hired Brad Lauer as an assistant coach to Boudreau, and will add another assistant soon.

Carlyle is the fourth coach to be fired in the always-impatient NHL's young season, and the third this week. Paul Maurice was also dismissed on Monday by the Carolina Hurricanes, while Davis Payne was let go by the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 6.

Boudreau, after doing a round of interviews Wednesday morning in which he said the Capitals made the right move by firing him, took a new job less than 72 hours after leaving a remarkably similar situation in Washington, which dropped him Monday after a slow start with a talented roster that's had little recent playoff success.

Boudreau will run the Ducks' practice on Thursday before his formal introduction, and his new players will be in for a major change from the sometimes-crusty Carlyle to the personable Boudreau, nicknamed "Gabby" for his garrulous style. Anaheim hosts Philadelphia on Friday night for Boudreau's debut.

Carlyle was behind Anaheim's bench for many of the 1993 expansion franchise's biggest moments. He had compiled a 273-182-6 record after taking over for Mike Babcock as the seventh head coach in club history.

Carlyle led Anaheim to the postseason in five of his first six seasons, winning more playoff games during that stretch than any coach except Babcock in Detroit. But Anaheim won just one playoff round in the past four years since winning the Cup, losing to fifth-seeded Nashville in the first round last season.

Boudreau led Washington to the last four Southeast Division titles and the 2010 Presidents' Trophy while winning 201 games in just four years on the job, but the Caps' lack of playoff success helped to seal his fate when they slumped following a 7-0 start to this season.

He won the Jack Adams award as the NHL's best coach in 2008, but never got past the second round of the playoffs despite a roster featuring Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin and talented supporting casts. Boudreau favors an attacking offensive style that should suit the Ducks' talented forwards, although Carlyle also gave his players plenty of freedom for offensive creativity.

Lauer was promoted from the Ducks' AHL affiliate in Syracuse, where he had been an assistant since July. He spent the previous two seasons on the Ottawa Senators' staff.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-12-01-Ducks-Carlyle%20Fired/id-b7b2677103d844d7bcf4939fbb44a985

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