Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Pregnant? ?Congrats, Now Clean Out Your Desk.?

Culture

Disdain for pregnant women in the workplace is at a record high in our nation. ?Pregnancy Discrimination cases are on the rise.?In the past ten years the Equal Employment?Opportunity?Commission?or EEOC??has resolved pregnancy discrimination?cases totaling $150.5 million in damages for over 52,000 women. Some say this is because of a?competitive?labor market that shows little mercy to moms. ?I believe this is yet another tragic byproduct of our acceptance of abortion.

While abortion does not cause this discrimination, it has lead to a widespread devaluing of motherhood in society. How can we expect a nation that encourages women to kill their children to also respect the?vocation?of motherhood? Motherhood is being mocked, belittled, and demolished with every baby sacrificed at the altar of?convenience. ?Abortion is an evil root that bears the fruit of ?dishonor towards women.?Women are continually pressured to choose abortion to enable them to continue pursuing education and career goals.?Children are thought of ?as burdensome, unworthy investments that hinder productivity. ?If mothers think that way, why wouldn?t employers and bosses do the same?

Women who bravely balance family and career?responsibilities are struggling because of?scrutiny?in the workplace. ?Dr. Mary Beamer is a chiropractor who was fired from her job after missing 11 days of work because of ?Hyperemesis Gravidarum? ? a severe case of morning sickness that causes dehydration. Beamer?s employer was given documents from her emergency room and doctor?s appointments. Before returning to work, Mary got an unpleasant phone call from the?practice?s?owner. She was told, ?I don?t want you coming back to the office because I don?t like how you are running it.? Mary was fired and her health insurance benefits were canceled within days.

In an attempt to get justice, she sued for pregnancy and sex discrimination in 2007. Her employer counter-sued for $50,000, claiming that Beamer was required to pay for lost patient services and training per her employee agreement. ?In May 2012, her case will finally be brought before a judge. Beamer told ABC News that she ?lost almost everything.? Her family lost their home and had to move into her sister?s basement. She is now living with her husband and daughter in another city, awaiting trial.

We have laws that protect pregnant women in the workplace. Mainly the?1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act. The 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act provides some employees with three months of unpaid leave to care for their child.?Last month, the U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission held a public meeting in Washington, D.C. to discuss pregnancy discrimination. A question was raised as to why pregnancy discrimination continues to increase after the Act was passed to prohibit it. Joan Williams, director of the Center for Work Life Law at the University of California-Hastings, said it may be because the stereotypes regarding gender and caregiving are very strong. ?Although nobody says, ?This is not a suitable job for a woman,? they say, ?This is not a suitable job for a mother.??

Mary Beamer?s lawyer told ABC News?that pregnant women are losing their jobs because they might need to use the bathroom more frequently than ?normal,? pump breast milk, or sit down periodically.

Donnicia Venters claims she?lost her job because she asked if she could pump breast milk in the backroom. She called the company president to talk about her return to work. After mentioning the breast pump, He said, ?Well, we filled your spot.? When she questioned, he replied, ?Well, we thought you were not coming back.??Venters said she was willing to pump at home if?necessary. Her case was brought to court, and a Texas judge ruled in favor of her employer, stating that ?firing someone because of lactation or breast-pumping is not sex discrimination.?

Some cases are even stranger. A pregnant nursing home?activities?worker was fired for not being able to lift a table, and a retail worker was fired because she needed to drink water on the job.

Physically?weaker, pregnant women are being mistreated. Companies are?prioritizing?production over people. Loyal workers are being pushed out with little or no remorse from their employers. Women wonder if announcing their pregnancy will cost them their job. People cling to contraceptives and silently head to abortion centers because of ?fear. ?What type of culture has Roe v. Wade produced? A selfish,?individualistic, money-hungry, unjust nation.

A society that allows abortion is one that unwittingly suffers the consequences of ?generations?of?disempowered and devalued women. The fight for women?s rights begins in the womb.

About Christina Martin

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Tuesday, April 3, 2012

March Manufacturing ISM Report On Business ... - AZ Venture Capital

-Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in March for the 32nd consecutive month, and the overall economy grew for the 34th consecutive month, say the nation?s supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business?.

?We have been experiencing 6 percent annual growth and expect that to continue in the near term.?

The report was issued today by Bradley J. Holcomb, CPSM, CPSD, chair of the Institute for Supply Management? Manufacturing Business Survey Committee. ?The PMI registered 53.4 percent, an increase of 1 percentage point from February?s reading of 52.4 percent, indicating expansion in the manufacturing sector for the 32nd consecutive month. The Production Index increased 3 percentage points from February?s reading of 55.3 percent to 58.3 percent, and the Employment Index increased 2.9 percentage points to 56.1 percent. Of the 18 industries included in the survey, 15 are experiencing overall growth. Comments from the panel remain positive, with several respondents citing increased sales and demand for the next few months.?

PERFORMANCE BY INDUSTRY

Of the 18 manufacturing industries, 15 are reporting growth in March, in the following order: Apparel, Leather & Allied Products; Nonmetallic Mineral Products; Primary Metals; Petroleum & Coal Products; Paper Products; Machinery; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Wood Products; Furniture & Related Products; Transportation Equipment; Plastics & Rubber Products; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Printing & Related Support Activities; Fabricated Metal Products; and Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components. The two industries reporting contraction in March are: Computer & Electronic Products; and Chemical Products.

WHAT RESPONDENTS ARE SAYING ?

  • ?Business is robust, driven by a healthy demand for exports and relatively stable raw materials [pricing].? (Chemical Products)
  • ?Our customers are reporting a potential 10 percent to 13 percent increase in purchases for 2012. Actual orders continue to be slow to appear, but expectations continue to be high.? (Machinery)
  • ?Business conditions [are] very strong and so is outlook.? (Fabricated Metal Products)
  • ?We have been experiencing 6 percent annual growth and expect that to continue in the near term.? (Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products)
  • ?Business continues to be brisk ? if not robust ? [this] month and looking forward.? (Miscellaneous Manufacturing)
  • ?Business remains essentially stable, with some concerns regarding continued slowdown in China.? (Computer & Electronic Products)
  • ?Business remains strong.? (Primary Metals)
  • ?Business improved year over year for the first quarter.? (Plastics & Rubber Products)
  • ?Generally increasing sales/demand [is] driving higher capacity utilization.? (Transportation Equipment)
  • ?Sales appear to be picking up over last year at this time, but still have a ways to go.? (Wood Products)
MANUFACTURING AT A GLANCE

MARCH 2012
Index ? ?

Series
Index
Mar

 ? ?

Series
Index
Feb

 ? ?

Percentage
Point
Change

 ? ? Direction ? ?

Rate of
Change

 ? ?

Trend(a)
(Months)
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
PMI ? ? 53.4 ? ? 52.4 ? ? +1.0 ? ? Growing ? ? Faster ? ? 32
New Orders ? ? 54.5 ? ? 54.9 ? ? -0.4 ? ? Growing ? ? Slower ? ? 35
Production ? ? 58.3 ? ? 55.3 ? ? +3.0 ? ? Growing ? ? Faster ? ? 34
Employment ? ? 56.1 ? ? 53.2 ? ? +2.9 ? ? Growing ? ? Faster ? ? 30
Supplier Deliveries ? ? 48.0 ? ? 49.0 ? ? -1.0 ? ? Faster ? ? Faster ? ? 2
Inventories ? ? 50.0 ? ? 49.5 ? ? +0.5 ? ? Unchanged ? ? From Contracting ? ? 1
Customers? Inventories ? ? 44.5 ? ? 46.0 ? ? -1.5 ? ? Too Low ? ? Faster ? ?

4
Prices ? ? 61.0 ? ? 61.5 ? ? -0.5 ? ? Increasing ? ? Slower ? ? 3
Backlog of Orders ? ? 52.5 ? ? 52.0 ? ? +0.5 ? ? Growing ? ? Faster ? ? 3
Exports ? ? 54.0 ? ? 59.5 ? ? -5.5 ? ? Growing ? ? Slower ? ? 5
Imports ? ? 53.5 ? ? 54.0 ? ? -0.5 ? ? Growing ? ? Slower ? ? 4
OVERALL ECONOMY

?

Manufacturing Sector

 ? ? Growing ? ? Faster ? ? 34
? ? Growing ? ? Faster ? ? 32

(a) Number of months moving in current direction

COMMODITIES REPORTED UP/DOWN IN PRICE and IN SHORT SUPPLY

Commodities Up in Price

Aluminum Products (2); Copper; Crude Oil; Fuel; Gasoline; HDPE; Lumber; Oil; Plastic Components; Plastic Resins (2); Polypropylene (2); Rubber; Rubber Products; Steel(b) (4); and Whey Protein.

Commodities Down in Price

Natural Gas (8); and Steel(b).

Commodities in Short Supply

No commodities are reported in short supply.

Note: The number of consecutive months the commodity is listed is indicated after each item.

(b) Reported as both up and down in price.

MARCH 2012 MANUFACTURING INDEX SUMMARIES

PMI

Manufacturing continued its growth in March as the PMI registered 53.4 percent, an increase of 1 percentage point when compared to February?s reading of 52.4 percent. A reading above 50 percent indicates that the manufacturing economy is generally expanding; below 50 percent indicates that it is generally contracting.

A PMI in excess of 42.6 percent, over a period of time, generally indicates an expansion of the overall economy. Therefore, the PMI indicates growth for the 34th consecutive month in the overall economy, as well as expansion in the manufacturing sector for the 32nd consecutive month. Holcomb stated, ?The past relationship between the PMI and the overall economy indicates that the average PMI for January through March (53.3 percent) corresponds to a 3.6 percent increase in real gross domestic product (GDP). In addition, if the PMI for March (53.4 percent) is annualized, it corresponds to a 3.7 percent increase in real GDP annually.?

THE LAST 12 MONTHS

? ? ? ? ? Month ? ? ? ? ? PMI ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Month ? ? ? ? ? PMI
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
? ? ? ? ? Mar 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 53.4 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Sep 2011 ? ? ? ? ? 52.5
? ? ? ? ? Feb 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 52.4 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Aug 2011 ? ? ? ? ? 52.5
? ? ? ? ? Jan 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 54.1 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Jul 2011 ? ? ? ? ? 51.4
? ? ? ? ? Dec 2011 ? ? ? ? ? 53.1 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Jun 2011 ? ? ? ? ? 55.8
? ? ? ? ? Nov 2011 ? ? ? ? ? 52.2 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? May 2011 ? ? ? ? ? 54.2
? ? ? ? ? Oct 2011 ? ? ? ? ? 51.8 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Apr 2011 ? ? ? ? ? 59.7
? ? ? ? ?

Average for 12 months ? 53.6
High ? 59.7
Low ? 51.4

New Orders

ISM?s New Orders Index registered 54.5 percent in March, which is a decrease of 0.4 percentage point when compared to the February reading of 54.9 percent. This represents a continuation of growth for the 35th consecutive month, but at a slightly slower rate. A New Orders Index above 52.3 percent, over time, is generally consistent with an increase in the Census Bureau?s series on manufacturing orders (in constant 2000 dollars).

The 15 industries reporting growth in new orders in March ? listed in order ? are: Apparel, Leather & Allied Products; Nonmetallic Mineral Products; Plastics & Rubber Products; Primary Metals; Wood Products; Printing & Related Support Activities; Transportation Equipment; Furniture & Related Products; Paper Products; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Machinery; Petroleum & Coal Products; Fabricated Metal Products; and Chemical Products. The two industries reporting decreases in new orders in March are: Computer & Electronic Products; and Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components.

New Orders ? ? ? ? ? %Better ? ? ? ? %Same ? ? ? ? %Worse ? ? ? ? Net ? ? ? ? Index
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Mar 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 34 ? ? ? ? 53 ? ? ? ? 13 ? ? ? ? +21 ? ? ? ? 54.5
Feb 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 37 ? ? ? ? 45 ? ? ? ? 18 ? ? ? ? +19 ? ? ? ? 54.9
Jan 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 35 ? ? ? ? 45 ? ? ? ? 20 ? ? ? ? +15 ? ? ? ? 57.6
Dec 2011 ? ? ? ? ? 29 ? ? ? ? 44 ? ? ? ? 27 ? ? ? ? +2 ? ? ? ? 54.8

Production

ISM?s Production Index registered 58.3 percent in March, which is an increase of 3 percentage points when compared to the 55.3 percent reported in February. This indicates growth for the 34th consecutive month. An index above 51.2 percent, over time, is generally consistent with an increase in the Federal Reserve Board?s Industrial Production figures.

The 15 industries reporting growth in production during the month of March ? listed in order ? are: Apparel, Leather & Allied Products; Primary Metals; Petroleum & Coal Products; Nonmetallic Mineral Products; Furniture & Related Products; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Paper Products; Plastics & Rubber Products; Machinery; Printing & Related Support Activities; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Transportation Equipment; Fabricated Metal Products; Chemical Products; and Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components. The only industry reporting a decrease in production in March is Computer & Electronic Products.

Production ? ? ? ? ? %Better ? ? ? ? %Same ? ? ? ? %Worse ? ? ? ? Net ? ? ? ? Index
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Mar 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 35 ? ? ? ? 51 ? ? ? ? 14 ? ? ? ? +21 ? ? ? ? 58.3
Feb 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 35 ? ? ? ? 50 ? ? ? ? 15 ? ? ? ? +20 ? ? ? ? 55.3
Jan 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 27 ? ? ? ? 53 ? ? ? ? 20 ? ? ? ? +7 ? ? ? ? 55.7
Dec 2011 ? ? ? ? ? 27 ? ? ? ? 54 ? ? ? ? 19 ? ? ? ? +8 ? ? ? ? 58.9

Employment

ISM?s Employment Index registered 56.1 percent in March, which is 2.9 percentage points higher than the 53.2 percent reported in February. This is the 30th consecutive month of growth in the Employment Index. An Employment Index above 50.5 percent, over time, is generally consistent with an increase in the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data on manufacturing employment.

Of the 18 manufacturing industries, 12 reported growth in employment in March in the following order: Apparel, Leather & Allied Products; Paper Products; Wood Products; Petroleum & Coal Products; Nonmetallic Mineral Products; Primary Metals; Machinery; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Transportation Equipment; Fabricated Metal Products; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; and Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products. The three industries reporting a decrease in employment in March are: Computer & Electronic Products; Chemical Products; and Plastics & Rubber Products.

Employment ? ? ? ? ? %Higher ? ? ? ? %Same ? ? ? ? %Lower ? ? ? ? Net ? ? ? ? Index
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Mar 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 25 ? ? ? ? 63 ? ? ? ? 12 ? ? ? ? +13 ? ? ? ? 56.1
Feb 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 26 ? ? ? ? 58 ? ? ? ? 16 ? ? ? ? +10 ? ? ? ? 53.2
Jan 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 23 ? ? ? ? 59 ? ? ? ? 18 ? ? ? ? +5 ? ? ? ? 54.3
Dec 2011 ? ? ? ? ? 23 ? ? ? ? 58 ? ? ? ? 19 ? ? ? ? +4 ? ? ? ? 54.8

Supplier Deliveries

The delivery performance of suppliers to manufacturing organizations was faster in March as the Supplier Deliveries Index registered 48 percent, which is 1 percentage point lower than the 49 percent reported in February. This is the second consecutive month supplier deliveries have been faster than the previous month, following 31 consecutive months in which supplier deliveries slowed. A reading above 50 percent indicates slower deliveries.

The six industries reporting slower supplier deliveries in March ? listed in order ? are: Petroleum & Coal Products; Fabricated Metal Products; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Transportation Equipment; Machinery; and Computer & Electronic Products. The four industries reporting faster deliveries in March are: Plastics & Rubber Products; Printing & Related Support Activities; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; and Chemical Products. Eight industries reported no change in supplier deliveries in March compared to February.

Supplier Deliveries ? ? ? ? ? %Slower ? ? ? ? %Same ? ? ? ? %Faster ? ? ? ? Net ? ? ? ? Index
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Mar 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 9 ? ? ? ? 83 ? ? ? ? 8 ? ? ? ? +1 ? ? ? ? 48.0
Feb 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 7 ? ? ? ? 82 ? ? ? ? 11 ? ? ? ? -4 ? ? ? ? 49.0
Jan 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 9 ? ? ? ? 84 ? ? ? ? 7 ? ? ? ? +2 ? ? ? ? 53.6
Dec 2011 ? ? ? ? ? 8 ? ? ? ? 79 ? ? ? ? 13 ? ? ? ? -5 ? ? ? ? 51.5

Inventories(c)

The Inventories Index registered 50 percent in March, which is 0.5 percentage point higher than the 49.5 percent reported in February. This month?s reading, at 50 percent, indicates that respondents are reporting inventories are unchanged from last month. An Inventories Index greater than 42.8 percent, over time, is generally consistent with expansion in the Bureau of Economic Analysis? (BEA) figures on overall manufacturing inventories (in chained 2000 dollars).

The seven industries reporting higher inventories in March ? listed in order ? are: Machinery; Nonmetallic Mineral Products; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Computer & Electronic Products; and Petroleum & Coal Products. The six industries reporting decreases in inventories in March ? listed in order ? are: Primary Metals; Chemical Products; Paper Products; Transportation Equipment; Plastics & Rubber Products; and Apparel, Leather & Allied Products.

Inventories ? ? ? ? ? %Higher ? ? ? ? %Same ? ? ? ? %Lower ? ? ? ? Net ? ? ? ? Index
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Mar 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 20 ? ? ? ? 60 ? ? ? ? 20 ? ? ? ? 0 ? ? ? ? 50.0
Feb 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 20 ? ? ? ? 59 ? ? ? ? 21 ? ? ? ? -1 ? ? ? ? 49.5
Jan 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 21 ? ? ? ? 57 ? ? ? ? 22 ? ? ? ? -1 ? ? ? ? 49.5
Dec 2011 ? ? ? ? ? 21 ? ? ? ? 49 ? ? ? ? 30 ? ? ? ? -9 ? ? ? ? 45.5

Customers? Inventories(c)

The ISM Customers? Inventories Index registered 44.5 percent in March, which is 1.5 percentage points lower than in February when the index registered 46 percent. Customers? inventories have registered at or below 50 percent for 36 consecutive months. A reading below 50 percent indicates customers? inventories are considered too low.

The two manufacturing industries reporting customers? inventories as being too high during March are: Fabricated Metal Products; and Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components. The nine industries reporting customers? inventories as too low during March ? listed in order ? are: Plastics & Rubber Products; Paper Products; Transportation Equipment; Apparel, Leather & Allied Products; Computer & Electronic Products; Machinery; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Chemical Products; and Nonmetallic Mineral Products. Seven industries reported no change in customer inventories in March compared to February.

Customers? Inventories ? ? ? ? ?

%
Reporting

 ? ?

% Too
High

 ? ?

% About
Right

 ? ?

%Too
Low

 ? ? Net ? ? Index
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Mar 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 72 ? ? 14 ? ? 61 ? ? 25 ? ? -11 ? ? 44.5
Feb 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 65 ? ? 15 ? ? 62 ? ? 23 ? ? -8 ? ? 46.0
Jan 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 64 ? ? 17 ? ? 61 ? ? 22 ? ? -5 ? ? 47.5
Dec 2011 ? ? ? ? ? 73 ? ? 10 ? ? 65 ? ? 25 ? ? -15 ? ? 42.5

Prices(c)

The ISM Prices Index registered 61 percent in March, 0.5 percentage point lower than the 61.5 percent reported in February. This is the third consecutive month the index has reflected an increase in the price of raw materials since September 2011, when the index registered 56 percent. In March, 36 percent of respondents reported paying higher prices, 14 percent reported paying lower prices and 50 percent of supply executives reported paying the same prices as in February. A Prices Index above 49.4 percent, over time, is generally consistent with an increase in the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Index of Manufacturers Prices.

Of the 18 manufacturing industries, 15 industries report paying increased prices during the month of March in the following order: Textile Mills; Furniture & Related Products; Nonmetallic Mineral Products; Wood Products; Printing & Related Support Activities; Chemical Products; Primary Metals; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Plastics & Rubber Products; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Transportation Equipment; Computer & Electronic Products; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Paper Products; and Machinery. The two industries reporting paying lower prices on average during the month of March are: Petroleum & Coal Products; and Fabricated Metal Products.

Prices ? ? ? ? ? %Higher ? ? ? ? %Same ? ? ? ? %Lower ? ? ? ? Net ? ? ? ? Index
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Mar 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 36 ? ? ? ? 50 ? ? ? ? 14 ? ? ? ? +22 ? ? ? ? 61.0
Feb 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 31 ? ? ? ? 61 ? ? ? ? 8 ? ? ? ? +23 ? ? ? ? 61.5
Jan 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 30 ? ? ? ? 51 ? ? ? ? 19 ? ? ? ? +11 ? ? ? ? 55.5
Dec 2011 ? ? ? ? ? 21 ? ? ? ? 53 ? ? ? ? 26 ? ? ? ? -5 ? ? ? ? 47.5

Backlog of Orders(c)

ISM?s Backlog of Orders Index registered 52.5 percent in March, which is 0.5 percentage point higher than the 52 percent reported in February. Of the 84 percent of respondents who reported their backlog of orders, 26 percent reported greater backlogs, 21 percent reported smaller backlogs, and 53 percent reported no change from February.

The nine industries reporting increased order backlogs in March ? listed in order ? are: Plastics & Rubber Products; Apparel, Leather & Allied Products; Petroleum & Coal Products; Nonmetallic Mineral Products; Transportation Equipment; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Furniture & Related Products; Paper Products; and Fabricated Metal Products. The five industries reporting decreases in order backlogs during March are: Computer & Electronic Products; Printing & Related Support Activities; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; and Machinery.

Backlog of Orders ? ? ? ? ?

%
Reporting

 ? ? %Greater ? ? %Same ? ? %Less ? ? Net ? ? Index
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Mar 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 84 ? ? 26 ? ? 53 ? ? 21 ? ? +5 ? ? 52.5
Feb 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 84 ? ? 25 ? ? 54 ? ? 21 ? ? +4 ? ? 52.0
Jan 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 80 ? ? 23 ? ? 59 ? ? 18 ? ? +5 ? ? 52.5
Dec 2011 ? ? ? ? ? 87 ? ? 20 ? ? 56 ? ? 24 ? ? -4 ? ? 48.0

New Export Orders(c)

ISM?s New Export Orders Index registered 54 percent in March, which is 5.5 percentage points lower than the 59.5 percent reported in February. The New Export Orders Index has registered 50 percent or above for the past 33 consecutive months.

The eight industries reporting growth in new export orders in March ? listed in order ? are: Textile Mills; Furniture & Related Products; Transportation Equipment; Fabricated Metal Products; Paper Products; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Chemical Products; and Machinery. The four industries reporting a decrease in new export orders during March are: Nonmetallic Mineral Products; Computer & Electronic Products; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; and Apparel, Leather & Allied Products.

New Export Orders ? ? ? ? ?

%
Reporting

 ? ? %Higher ? ? %Same ? ? %Lower ? ? Net ? ? Index
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Mar 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 80 ? ? 18 ? ? 72 ? ? 10 ? ? +8 ? ? 54.0
Feb 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 79 ? ? 26 ? ? 67 ? ? 7 ? ? +19 ? ? 59.5
Jan 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 74 ? ? 20 ? ? 70 ? ? 10 ? ? +10 ? ? 55.0
Dec 2011 ? ? ? ? ? 76 ? ? 18 ? ? 70 ? ? 12 ? ? +6 ? ? 53.0

Imports(c)

ISM?s Imports Index registered 53.5 percent in March, which is 0.5 percentage point lower than the 54 percent reported in February. The Imports Index reflects four consecutive months of growth after only two months of contraction in the past 31 months.

The eight industries reporting growth in imports during the month of March ? listed in order ? are: Petroleum & Coal Products; Plastics & Rubber Products; Nonmetallic Mineral Products; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Furniture & Related Products; Machinery; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; and Fabricated Metal Products. The five industries reporting a decrease in imports during March are: Primary Metals; Transportation Equipment; Computer & Electronic Products; Chemical Products; and Apparel, Leather & Allied Products.

Imports ? ? ? ? ?

%
Reporting

 ? ? %Higher ? ? %Same ? ? %Lower ? ? Net ? ? Index
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Mar 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 81 ? ? 15 ? ? 77 ? ? 8 ? ? +7 ? ? 53.5
Feb 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 80 ? ? 19 ? ? 70 ? ? 11 ? ? +8 ? ? 54.0
Jan 2012 ? ? ? ? ? 80 ? ? 14 ? ? 77 ? ? 9 ? ? +5 ? ? 52.5
Dec 2011 ? ? ? ? ? 77 ? ? 16 ? ? 76 ? ? 8 ? ? +8 ? ? 54.0

(c) The Inventories, Customers? Inventories, Prices, Backlog of Orders, New Export Orders and Imports Indexes do not meet the accepted criteria for seasonal adjustments.

Buying Policy

Average commitment lead time for Capital Expenditures decreased by 2 days to 118 days. Average lead time for Production Materials decreased by 2 days to 56 days. Average lead time for Maintenance, Repair and Operating (MRO) Supplies increased by 4 days to 30 days.

Percent Reporting
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Capi

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The Truth About the Interconnectedness of the Food and Health Care

Last week, I keynoted a healthcare conference in Boston.

And with that, I had the opportunity to hear stats from an industry that has not spent a whole lot of time in dialogue with those who are part of the food revolution. And it was fascinating.

Before the opening address, a welcome was delivered by Amy Cueva, the Chair of the conference.

She began highlighting these facts:

  • The United States spends more per capita on healthcare than any other nation in the world. But we?re ranked 37th in performance.
  • Two-thirds of all bankruptcies in the U.S. are related to healthcare costs.
  • 34% of American adults are overweight. Another 34% are obese.
  • And 1 in 3 Americans born after 2000 will contract early onset diabetes. Among minorities, the rate is 1 in 2.
  • With these growing rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, the American diet has been in the spotlight more and more.
  • And we?re realizing, it isn?t just about how much we eat. What we eat and the way it?s produced is actually making us sick.
    • Only 35% of Americans agreed strongly with the statement, ?I am confident in the safety of the food I eat.?
    • Although the Food Safety Modernization Act was signed in January of 2011, budget cuts and lobbying by interest groups threaten many of the provisions designed to keep our food safe and uncontaminated.
    • In July, 2011, the USDA identified over 6,000 food deserts in the U.S. A ?food desert? is defined as a place where people must travel more than 1 mile in urban communities and 10 miles in rural communities to access fresh fruits and vegetables.

She went on to say, ?The old adage ?you are what you eat? rings true. It?s crystal clear that what we eat, how we live, and how we feel affects our health.? But as we discussed, very few dialogue about how interconnected are food system and healthcare systems are.

Yet thankfully, there is a growing awareness and some amazing statistics that she highlighted that indicate remarkable change that has happened in the past year.

  • A survey showed that 98% of physicians are using mobile devices in their work.
  • The new 3rd generation ipad includes a button that allows users to dictate. For physicians, this can mean significant time savings in recording patient notes and entering EMR data.
  • The U.S. Surgeon General challenged developers to submit their health, wellness, and fitness mobile apps for review in its Healthy App challenge. They received 88 submissions.

As Amy said, ?This is all exciting work. We feel good about it. But, we want to take it further.?

And with a call to action, ?focused on human centricity, collaboration, the desire to explore different avenues, the knowledge that sometimes the simplest answer is the best answer, this thinking, which she called ?design thinking?, won?t just design excellent physical spaces, and interfaces, and communication strategies?, it could also help us address the greater issues we are seeing today about food insecurity, food waste and food technology.

The conference was inspiring on many levels.? We came together not as members of different industries that had not yet established a working dialogue, but as citizens sitting down together at our national dinner table together. ??We came together as a family.

And as attendees approached the stage one after the other, sharing their stories of their daughter with diabetes, the wife they?d lost to cancer, or their son?s autism, I was once again reminded of the fact that we are a national family, sitting down to our national dinner table, and that diseases like cancer, diabetes and autism, don?t know party lines, geographic location of socioeconomic status.? And that together, leveraging all of our collective talents, we can begin to restore the health of our families for the future of our country as seen in the short interview below:

?

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Free Debt Management Suggestions About Personalized Financial ...

Posted by mocmocy on April 2, 2012

When you have excessive medical charges that you can not necessarily realistically pay back ? this is often one in the only cases where bankruptcy should be used. This is due to unexpected medical costs in order to save someones living can get until it is just entirely unrealistic that you may ever pay it off. When you have personal debt because of things like credit card debt via overspending. There are many things that that you can do to eliminate this specific debt with out bankruptcy and your credit history can be entirely repaired following process using easy credit repair. Their are many avenues you can take to accomplish this.

Free debt management is one selection you have to remove credit card debt. It is a process that you stop paying creditors and deal with the libraries process until finally your creditors are willing to settle with you for anywhere from 20% to 60% within your balance then you owe them. This is sometimes a difficult along with embarrassing approach to get although. Collection agencies work just like fun while some of us recognize all too well. But this is often a great way to entirely eliminate your credit card debt by saving the money that you were paying creditors every month until you have saved adequate to settle.

Consumer credit counseling is another avenue that you can assist you to avoid bankruptcy. It is a company which enables you control your money much better. They try to reduce financing charges, later fee?s, and other costly debt service fees that are holding you back from affording back your balance.

Another option you might have for handling personal debt that has become an excessive amount of to handle should be to borrow money towards your home. Once you get a loan towards a home. Diverse rules utilize when you get a borrowing arrangement like this. Conventional unsecured loans have got loan terms providing 84 Months. In which home loans you will get loan terms providing 360 many weeks. This makes a significant difference in the amount of cash you are required to pay out every month. Which means on many weeks when you can?t buy to pay around you do you will not have far too. For example to obtain an equity line of credit intended for $50,000 at 9.875% Annual percentage rates. Your bare minimum payment will be about $411.00 awareness payment. That you are only needed to pay your interest using a home equity line of credit monthly. This quantity will decrease to $100 as being the principle quantity gets paid along. Now that is way less then you will pay out credit card corporation to borrow this sort of money. To learn more about where you can obtain a loan resistant to the equity at home visit the website intended for free debt management tips.

For anyone who is really puzzled by all this details and you wish to talk to a professional regarding how you can logically avoid bankruptcy yet still get rid of all of this debt making it impossible that you should live. Visit My Cash Mechanic?s guide intended for fixing your credit history problems with our website for personal financing tools.

One more really tidy personal financing tool that you ought to know about is actually free debt management . You can get all the bad stuff that are on your credit score changed to good things or perhaps removed from your credit score.

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quality gaming computer . Flight Simulator Games ? Exhilarating ...

Flight simulator games are monstrous sport and also very realistic.The big rest of these television games vie below stress another and are conveniently updated on an ordinary basis.They remain versatile in addition riotous games that provide squeaky toy enthusiasts less than an amazing real danger closer to watch genuine flying conditions.These games yield a single beneath a heady are witness to of soaring below the sky despite the fact that calm below the friendliness of your house.

There region no denying that real education costs under a real aeroplane will produce a pilot from flying, however realizing just what the wheel do, how to learn them accurately, as well as understanding about navigation of the islands review only quick mastered making use of a television play such as these, nonetheless it region as well a lot deeper decent moreover as a reply of this, they stay easily creating additionally improving due closer to secondary fact.They go through become incredibly sophisticated under past period below such a tactic that aircrew make wear of them when it comes to secure familiarity beneath resort airfields, involving path proceeding as well as too toward purchase realizing of diverse jet types.Flight simulator games continue gigantic fun in addition to extremely authentic, even though convincing just one beneath a test plus miscalculation scenario as you struggle when it comes to practiced the instruments and handling an aeroplane beneath flight.

They continue to be only a computer product method harvested on the way to put together just one in the computer of an airplane of your searching for and also to provide just one less than an alcoholic witness of concrete everyday life flying good the security of your home.These plane simulation games experience become opportunity as living as kinetically realistic, if one particular get a higher point one.A uppr quality doll imitates perceptible presence flying temperature thru penning situations which survive less than fact (landing under a storm, flying at night, snow storms etc.

).A Flight Simulator gift remote island without doubt the acceptable add-on involving the gadget better half who region a flying enthusiast.They keep on being stimulating and stimulating.

Some of the gigantic trait games apply a confident moment of night prize that sets the world in front specific session as that in advance your dining room table higher machine.With the really greatest simulator games a person will find out that a single very come near as nonetheless you?re genuinely flying a plane.Today?s games melted it prospective from ordinary folk when it comes to see the fun of flight and that destination the reasons why these video games stay so hot yet there continue numerous trajectory simulator games already into the future the swap that will quit a single dissatisfied.

My bit of advice in opposition to an individual is use a small even more from a model according to the through aspect in addition an individual will follow a squeaky toy that will quit one eager more.

????? ????? 2 quality gaming . Flight Simulator Games ? Exhilarating and Stimulating ?? ???? ???? ?? ??? ?????? quality gaming headphones . Flight Simulator Games ? Exhilarating and Stimulating ????? ??? ?????? quality gaming headsets . Flight Simulator Games ? Exhilarating and Stimulating

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Monday, April 2, 2012

Everything Finance ? Blog Archive ? Financial debt Consolidation ...

All of us incur financial debt at some point within our lives. However, for a few of us there comes a time when we require help finding from financial debt, specifically if our financial debt may be acquired by way of using bank cards. Bank cards can carry particularly high rates of interest that only serve to worsen the individual?s monetary situation. In such cases, credit card debt consolidation will become a necessity. One of the ways to consolidate charge card debt would be to solicit a credit card debt consolidation loan. Picking 1 of these loans can be perplexing as you will discover a few unique varieties offered.

Unsecured Credit card debt Consolidation Loans

An unsecured loan is often a mortgage acquired with out the use of collateral. Mortgages and house equity loans use a borrower?s house as collateral, so there is certainly some consolation for that loan provider should the borrower defaults around the mortgage. Unsecured loans, even so, do not have any collateral to collect on should the borrower fails to pay out, so they are considered to get a lot more risky for your loan company.

As a result of the elevated threat, the interest rate on an unsecured loan is typically greater than that of a secured mortgage. Nevertheless, the charge is generally still reduced than most card rates. If yet another sort of mortgage isn?t offered, an unsecured mortgage is still helpful in reducing the monthly payments of bank card debt.

Unsecured loans can either finish at a predetermined time or they can work like a card having a revolving line of credit. When the loan has a fixed phrase, the rate of interest is going to be fixed too. Even so, in the event the expression just isn?t fixed, the rate of interest are going to be variable. The interest on unsecured loans is not tax deductible.

Secured Financial debt Consolidation Loans

A secured mortgage can be a loan that has been secured with collateral inside the type of some individual asset. The asset might be stock, bonds, jewelry, personal possessions, or actual estate according to the lender?s preferences. This kind of a loan can be quite beneficial in decreasing the payments of these laden with card credit card debt, in particular those who have already completed damage to their credit. Interest rates could be aggressive for those with decent credit, but might be considerably greater for borrowers with credit issues.

Normally, the value of the asset employed should be higher compared to quantity with the mortgage. When you have significant property to make use of as collateral, obtaining this type of mortgage for card financial debt consolidation may be somewhat very simple. Actual estate is often an appropriate asset, and many loan companies will even accept stocks and bonds. It truly is significantly harder, nonetheless, to uncover a financial institution that may accept non-traditional types of collateral.

Deciding on a Loan

If you have no readily available collateral but you?ve good credit score, an unsecured loan might be your only choice. Although the rate of interest will likely be greater than that of a secured loan, in many cases it will still be decrease than what you might be paying out in your credit score. Additionally, for those who pick an unsecured mortgage with a fixed term, you are going to not be tempted to invest additional dollars like you would with a revolving line of credit score.

If you have collateral obtainable, nonetheless, you may be greater off having a secured loan. Irrespective of the sort of bank card credit card debt consolidation you decide on, often store about before creating a last choice. Compare costs and terms from many different lenders so that it is possible to make the best choice feasible.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 2nd, 2012 at 1:48 pm and is filed under Finance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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Art on film

All this week, Ryan is covering the movies and moments of the 50th Ann Arbor Film Festival in the Michigan Theater, sharing his experiences of the festival. Share your thoughts and stories in the comments and enjoy a great week of experimental film!

After five days of marathon experimental film viewing at the Ann Arbor Film Festival, your brain feels a bit like it's been turned to mush. Your eyes buzz at night like they've been used as some mad scientist's plasma globes, but there's a sensation too like you're really starting to just "get it."

The whole thing. Why we're there. Why filmmakers fly in from Boston, from Finland, from England, from California to here. Why the festival has survived for 50 years and why people kept coming back to sit in front of a screen and feel elated, confounded, challenged, ecstatic and changed. You sort of start to see patterns of representations, ways that experimental filmmakers can change your perception of the world.

How they can make a regular thing strange and then pluck a entirely new meaning out of it.

It's a singular experience: watching avant-garde art movies in a massive movie auditorium with a crowd of people. You'll get the occasional heckler who feels compelled to express how boring and ordinary he is with an exaggerated yawn or a sarcastic clap. But on the whole its a group of entranced, eager and excited people who, like you, are just "into it."

If you take your eyes away and glance down from the screen during a film and see the light flickering off the sea of faces, there's something almost like a religious experience going on here. Like sitting around a campfire sharing dreams. You wonder: how is everyone else experiencing this? Are they getting any of it? What do they think of this scene?

Or at least I did.

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Still from Jennifer Reeves' "Landfill 16"

I wished at times I could hop through the audience and whisper questions into everyone's ear without pissing off a lot of nicely dressed people and being asked to leave.

I liked to ask myself this question at the end of every short screening: was this something my mind could have even conceived? I'm not at the moment a practicing filmmaker, but I've made short movies in college and tinkering around with video at home.

If I saw this copse of trees in the autumn or that sliver of light reflected through a broken, dusty window, could my mind have found some of these same themes, conceived some of those same images of wonder?

Most of the time the answer is resoundingly no. Which is fantastic.

The best films were the movies that felt so totally outside of the realm of my own thinking, so utterly foreign to the way my brain works and I think creatively, that it felt as if I was encountering some entirely new way of thinking and seeing. And yet, somehow, they remained resolutely recognizable and rich and human. That's great art.

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Still from Robert Todd's "Within"

The films in competition on Saturday night for whatever reason felt to be uniquely evocative, and several of them spoke powerfully to one of the many themes that ran through this year's festival: the death or waning of movies done on actual, physical film.

As one of the essays pointed out in the early pages of this year's program guide, 2012 was the year Eastman Kodak filed for bankruptcy, a year when it seemed that the hopes for celluloid were dim.

And yet at the Ann Arbor Film Festival, there were films that existed only because of the unique and tangible properties of a roll of 16 or 35 or Super 8mm film.

The most powerful example of this was Jennifer Reeve's "Landfill 16." Faced with a mountain of outtakes destined for a landfilm from her previous film, Reeves decided to bury the film stock in her backyard, let the natural process of enzymes and decay work on the face on the film, then dig it back up, chemically stain some parts of it, hand-paint others and feed it through a projector reel sometimes two frames on top of each other to generate incredible images of color and decay.

The prolific Boston filmmaker Robert Todd screened his new film "strong>Within" and revealed afterward on stage in the Q&A how all the editing, the fades and superimpositions where done in the moment, in camera with only a single actual cut in the entire film. What resulted was a recording of his thought process of his sense of discovery peering through the viewfinder and reflections and leaves and light.

While there is obviously a heavy degree of practiced artistry, Todd's technique and the fact that in camera he was able to put together a piece without really seeing the thing as he worked on it lends this organic and personal honesty to the film that would not be as genuinely achievable working in Final Cut Pro on your computer putting together the movie together frame by frame. You lose that sense of "in the moment."

Maybe that's what those people who dread the coming of the digital age are afraid of losing, this ability to work and play and make art from the uniquely filmic properties of a piece of Kodak 16mm film. If so, the Ann Arbor Film Festival remains a bastion of that kind of filmmaking. It's one of the great things the festival has the power to display.

And yet the digital revolution is coming or is here or has long since arrived and people are just gradually coming around to acknowledge it. The beautiful work of movies on film stalwarts aside, clearly every kind of artistic medium has its own physical foibles that can be utilized and tinkered with to make great art.

Semiconductor's "20 Hz" is a great example of that. It's the visualization of data collected as a solar storm hits the Earth's atmosphere. It looked something like a tight series of concentric circles of flower petals, made out of static and jumping light, like watching a pool of water bounce on top of loud speaker, shimmering and shaking with each thwack of the bass.

Another digital work Evan Meaney's "Ceibas: Epilogue - The Well of Representation" was a recreation of 1979 film "Gloria!" made with the ROM files of old video games put on his computer. Meaney programmed in the story, tinkered and played with the code until he learned its idiosyncrasies and all the ways it could fail. So he designed it to mess up, to glitch, to host a whole field of bugs, to crash and go haywire. As he recorded it, the mistakes became part of the narrative and fit into the story and also just looked really, really cool.

We're at a moment then, in the history of film and the film festival where the medium is changing, the old is threatened and the new is trying to find its place. And it's one and all heady and amazing stuff.

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