A federal judge has sentenced a former New Orleans police officer to 25 years in prison for his role in the shooting death of a man and the burning of his body after Hurricane Katrina. David Warren was convicted in December of shooting 31-year-old Henry Glover without justification outside a…
Continue reading …Indiana’s House voted overwhelmingly yesterday to approve one of the country’s strictest anti-abortion laws, but not before some emotional battles with Democrats trying to temper it, the Indianapolis Star reports. One fight that caught Think Progress ’ eye: On Tuesday, Democrat Gail Riecken introduced an amendment that would exempt women…
Continue reading …My wife has admitted to once experimenting with a threesome, but how do I stop myself from obsessing about what she did years ago? I’m in love with a wonderful woman. Our sex life is healthy but she told me (quite flippantly) she had experimented with a threesome before we met, and it’s really troubling me. I wonder about the gory details. It makes me feel incredibly uncomfortable and I wish she had never told me. She said she wasn’t ashamed of it, it was years ago, and that she loves me and would never do anything to hurt me. Initially she suggested a threesome with me, gauged my reaction, then never mentioned it again. How do I put this irrelevant stuff out of my mind? Or is it irrelevant? My level-headed self tells me that it is. It is not uncommon for a person to find threesomes highly erotic. At some level you know this was nothing to do with you, but you are battling with two aspects of your psyche. First, jealously is a natural human emotion and we are wired to feel uncomfortable about the idea of a lover being with someone else against our wishes. Second, there is an obsessional part of your brain that gets locked into thinking about this subject. This requires urgent attention, so I recommend this thought-stopping technique: whenever the subject enters your mind, 1) notice it, 2) interrupt that thought and 3) replace it with something more positive and realistic – such as “I love her, and the past is unimportant”. Some people wear an elastic bracelet they can snap to jolt them into awareness. Eradicate these negative thoughts before they sabotage your relationship. • Pamela Stephenson Connolly is a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist who specialises in treating sexual disorders. • Email your problem to private.lives@guardian.co.uk Sex Relationships Pamela Stephenson Connolly guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …You may have heard that Beyoncé recently broke up … with her dad. Father Matthew Knowles had been her manager ever since the Destiny’s Child days, but rumors recently surfaced that the daddy-daughter relationship was strained after Matthew had a baby with another woman and divorced Beyoncé’s mom. (Even so,…
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Struggling wine retailer becomes victim of triple threat of credit crunch, supermarkets and tax collectors Oddbins looks likely to become the retail sector’s latest victim after the struggling wine retailer caved in to the combined forces of the credit crunch, supermarkets and tax collectors, and went into administration. All 400 jobs at the 128-strong chain are at risk, although the company said it remained optimistic that some could be saved. Simon Baile, the managing director who took control of the firm in 2008, said: “We very much regret the need to make so many staff redundant and we are working diligently to find a buyer for the majority of the business so that as many jobs as possible may be saved.” Oddbins, which started life in 1963 and was once celebrated for its expertise and eccentric staff, was forced to give up the fight after HM Revenue & Customs – a key creditor, to which the chain owes about £8m in taxes and duties – opposed a rescue plan which the firm believed was essential to its survival. It is now likely to be wound up and sold off in chunks, with the cash raised going to owners and creditors. Despite its feted past, Oddbins was loss-making for most of this century, squeezed by the might of the supermarkets which now account for 70% of UK wine sales and can deliver sancerres and shirazes to the door along with the weekly groceries. Former competitors such as Unwins, Wine Cellar and First Quench Retailing – owner of Threshers, Wine Rack and The Local – have already gone. Only Majestic Wine has thrived, carving out a successful upmarket niche that occupies similar ground to Oddbins in its heyday. Following a difficult Christmas and with the retail environment showing signs of getting even tougher, Oddbins was unable to secure sufficient backing for a rescue plan that would have seen landlords agree to a 30% cut in rents, and payment in monthly rather than quarterly instalments. The deal equated to a payment to landlords of about 21p in the pound. An Oddbins spokesman said Baile reported that “a number of potential investors have come forward to buy the business, or parts of it, as a going concern and although nothing is certain he remains optimistic”. The news came amid another grim day for the sector, which has seen shoppers retrench in the face of rising prices, higher VAT and the uncertainty created by government cuts. Mothercare and Laura Ashley both warned that trading had deteriorated considerably in recent weeks while Easy Living Furniture, a 20-strong chain in the south of England, also went into administration. H&M, the Swedish fashion chain with a large presence in the UK, announced a surprise 30% dip in its profits in the three months to February, as it suffered from the widespread decline in consumer spending. The prospect of any recovery on the high street was further dented as the Bank of England reported that the number of people defaulting on their mortgages rose unexpectedly in the first three months of the year. Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, said: “Consumer confidence remains extremely weak, thereby maintaining concern that consumers will be very cautious in their spending over the coming months in the face of serious headwinds. “Consumers’ purchasing power is currently being increasingly squeezed by high and rising inflation in tandem with ongoing muted wage growth overall. In addition, the weak housing market has adverse repercussions for consumer spending,” he added. The developments continued the bad news in what has been one of the gloomiest weeks for retail announcements in years, causing the spotlight to shine even brighter on the government’s public spending cuts. It emerged on Tuesday that Britons’ spending power fell last year for the first time in three decades. So-called real household disposable income – the total income of Britain’s working and unemployed populations after taxes and adjusted for inflation – dropped by 0.8% in 2010, according to the Office for National Statistics. On Wednesday, the boss of electricals group Dixons said that the government’s cuts were having a “chilling effect” on consumers as the group announced that like-for-like sales at its Currys and PC World stores in Britain and Ireland tumbled by 11% in the last 11 weeks. Signet announced weak trading at its H Samuel and Ernest Jones stores in the UK. DFS, the sofa retailer, said growth had slowed and even Domino’s Pizza, the stock market darling, was forced to admit that it was being dragged down by its Irish stores where like-for-like sales dropped more than 10% in the first quarter. Retail industry Dixons Retail Mothercare Laura Ashley Wine Tom Bawden Fiona Beckett guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Struggling wine retailer becomes victim of triple threat of credit crunch, supermarkets and tax collectors Oddbins looks likely to become the retail sector’s latest victim after the struggling wine retailer caved in to the combined forces of the credit crunch, supermarkets and tax collectors, and went into administration. All 400 jobs at the 128-strong chain are at risk, although the company said it remained optimistic that some could be saved. Simon Baile, the managing director who took control of the firm in 2008, said: “We very much regret the need to make so many staff redundant and we are working diligently to find a buyer for the majority of the business so that as many jobs as possible may be saved.” Oddbins, which started life in 1963 and was once celebrated for its expertise and eccentric staff, was forced to give up the fight after HM Revenue & Customs – a key creditor, to which the chain owes about £8m in taxes and duties – opposed a rescue plan which the firm believed was essential to its survival. It is now likely to be wound up and sold off in chunks, with the cash raised going to owners and creditors. Despite its feted past, Oddbins was loss-making for most of this century, squeezed by the might of the supermarkets which now account for 70% of UK wine sales and can deliver sancerres and shirazes to the door along with the weekly groceries. Former competitors such as Unwins, Wine Cellar and First Quench Retailing – owner of Threshers, Wine Rack and The Local – have already gone. Only Majestic Wine has thrived, carving out a successful upmarket niche that occupies similar ground to Oddbins in its heyday. Following a difficult Christmas and with the retail environment showing signs of getting even tougher, Oddbins was unable to secure sufficient backing for a rescue plan that would have seen landlords agree to a 30% cut in rents, and payment in monthly rather than quarterly instalments. The deal equated to a payment to landlords of about 21p in the pound. An Oddbins spokesman said Baile reported that “a number of potential investors have come forward to buy the business, or parts of it, as a going concern and although nothing is certain he remains optimistic”. The news came amid another grim day for the sector, which has seen shoppers retrench in the face of rising prices, higher VAT and the uncertainty created by government cuts. Mothercare and Laura Ashley both warned that trading had deteriorated considerably in recent weeks while Easy Living Furniture, a 20-strong chain in the south of England, also went into administration. H&M, the Swedish fashion chain with a large presence in the UK, announced a surprise 30% dip in its profits in the three months to February, as it suffered from the widespread decline in consumer spending. The prospect of any recovery on the high street was further dented as the Bank of England reported that the number of people defaulting on their mortgages rose unexpectedly in the first three months of the year. Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, said: “Consumer confidence remains extremely weak, thereby maintaining concern that consumers will be very cautious in their spending over the coming months in the face of serious headwinds. “Consumers’ purchasing power is currently being increasingly squeezed by high and rising inflation in tandem with ongoing muted wage growth overall. In addition, the weak housing market has adverse repercussions for consumer spending,” he added. The developments continued the bad news in what has been one of the gloomiest weeks for retail announcements in years, causing the spotlight to shine even brighter on the government’s public spending cuts. It emerged on Tuesday that Britons’ spending power fell last year for the first time in three decades. So-called real household disposable income – the total income of Britain’s working and unemployed populations after taxes and adjusted for inflation – dropped by 0.8% in 2010, according to the Office for National Statistics. On Wednesday, the boss of electricals group Dixons said that the government’s cuts were having a “chilling effect” on consumers as the group announced that like-for-like sales at its Currys and PC World stores in Britain and Ireland tumbled by 11% in the last 11 weeks. Signet announced weak trading at its H Samuel and Ernest Jones stores in the UK. DFS, the sofa retailer, said growth had slowed and even Domino’s Pizza, the stock market darling, was forced to admit that it was being dragged down by its Irish stores where like-for-like sales dropped more than 10% in the first quarter. Retail industry Dixons Retail Mothercare Laura Ashley Wine Tom Bawden Fiona Beckett guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Struggling wine retailer becomes victim of triple threat of credit crunch, supermarkets and tax collectors Oddbins looks likely to become the retail sector’s latest victim after the struggling wine retailer caved in to the combined forces of the credit crunch, supermarkets and tax collectors, and went into administration. All 400 jobs at the 128-strong chain are at risk, although the company said it remained optimistic that some could be saved. Simon Baile, the managing director who took control of the firm in 2008, said: “We very much regret the need to make so many staff redundant and we are working diligently to find a buyer for the majority of the business so that as many jobs as possible may be saved.” Oddbins, which started life in 1963 and was once celebrated for its expertise and eccentric staff, was forced to give up the fight after HM Revenue & Customs – a key creditor, to which the chain owes about £8m in taxes and duties – opposed a rescue plan which the firm believed was essential to its survival. It is now likely to be wound up and sold off in chunks, with the cash raised going to owners and creditors. Despite its feted past, Oddbins was loss-making for most of this century, squeezed by the might of the supermarkets which now account for 70% of UK wine sales and can deliver sancerres and shirazes to the door along with the weekly groceries. Former competitors such as Unwins, Wine Cellar and First Quench Retailing – owner of Threshers, Wine Rack and The Local – have already gone. Only Majestic Wine has thrived, carving out a successful upmarket niche that occupies similar ground to Oddbins in its heyday. Following a difficult Christmas and with the retail environment showing signs of getting even tougher, Oddbins was unable to secure sufficient backing for a rescue plan that would have seen landlords agree to a 30% cut in rents, and payment in monthly rather than quarterly instalments. The deal equated to a payment to landlords of about 21p in the pound. An Oddbins spokesman said Baile reported that “a number of potential investors have come forward to buy the business, or parts of it, as a going concern and although nothing is certain he remains optimistic”. The news came amid another grim day for the sector, which has seen shoppers retrench in the face of rising prices, higher VAT and the uncertainty created by government cuts. Mothercare and Laura Ashley both warned that trading had deteriorated considerably in recent weeks while Easy Living Furniture, a 20-strong chain in the south of England, also went into administration. H&M, the Swedish fashion chain with a large presence in the UK, announced a surprise 30% dip in its profits in the three months to February, as it suffered from the widespread decline in consumer spending. The prospect of any recovery on the high street was further dented as the Bank of England reported that the number of people defaulting on their mortgages rose unexpectedly in the first three months of the year. Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, said: “Consumer confidence remains extremely weak, thereby maintaining concern that consumers will be very cautious in their spending over the coming months in the face of serious headwinds. “Consumers’ purchasing power is currently being increasingly squeezed by high and rising inflation in tandem with ongoing muted wage growth overall. In addition, the weak housing market has adverse repercussions for consumer spending,” he added. The developments continued the bad news in what has been one of the gloomiest weeks for retail announcements in years, causing the spotlight to shine even brighter on the government’s public spending cuts. It emerged on Tuesday that Britons’ spending power fell last year for the first time in three decades. So-called real household disposable income – the total income of Britain’s working and unemployed populations after taxes and adjusted for inflation – dropped by 0.8% in 2010, according to the Office for National Statistics. On Wednesday, the boss of electricals group Dixons said that the government’s cuts were having a “chilling effect” on consumers as the group announced that like-for-like sales at its Currys and PC World stores in Britain and Ireland tumbled by 11% in the last 11 weeks. Signet announced weak trading at its H Samuel and Ernest Jones stores in the UK. DFS, the sofa retailer, said growth had slowed and even Domino’s Pizza, the stock market darling, was forced to admit that it was being dragged down by its Irish stores where like-for-like sales dropped more than 10% in the first quarter. Retail industry Dixons Retail Mothercare Laura Ashley Wine Tom Bawden Fiona Beckett guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Struggling wine retailer becomes victim of triple threat of credit crunch, supermarkets and tax collectors Oddbins looks likely to become the retail sector’s latest victim after the struggling wine retailer caved in to the combined forces of the credit crunch, supermarkets and tax collectors, and went into administration. All 400 jobs at the 128-strong chain are at risk, although the company said it remained optimistic that some could be saved. Simon Baile, the managing director who took control of the firm in 2008, said: “We very much regret the need to make so many staff redundant and we are working diligently to find a buyer for the majority of the business so that as many jobs as possible may be saved.” Oddbins, which started life in 1963 and was once celebrated for its expertise and eccentric staff, was forced to give up the fight after HM Revenue & Customs – a key creditor, to which the chain owes about £8m in taxes and duties – opposed a rescue plan which the firm believed was essential to its survival. It is now likely to be wound up and sold off in chunks, with the cash raised going to owners and creditors. Despite its feted past, Oddbins was loss-making for most of this century, squeezed by the might of the supermarkets which now account for 70% of UK wine sales and can deliver sancerres and shirazes to the door along with the weekly groceries. Former competitors such as Unwins, Wine Cellar and First Quench Retailing – owner of Threshers, Wine Rack and The Local – have already gone. Only Majestic Wine has thrived, carving out a successful upmarket niche that occupies similar ground to Oddbins in its heyday. Following a difficult Christmas and with the retail environment showing signs of getting even tougher, Oddbins was unable to secure sufficient backing for a rescue plan that would have seen landlords agree to a 30% cut in rents, and payment in monthly rather than quarterly instalments. The deal equated to a payment to landlords of about 21p in the pound. An Oddbins spokesman said Baile reported that “a number of potential investors have come forward to buy the business, or parts of it, as a going concern and although nothing is certain he remains optimistic”. The news came amid another grim day for the sector, which has seen shoppers retrench in the face of rising prices, higher VAT and the uncertainty created by government cuts. Mothercare and Laura Ashley both warned that trading had deteriorated considerably in recent weeks while Easy Living Furniture, a 20-strong chain in the south of England, also went into administration. H&M, the Swedish fashion chain with a large presence in the UK, announced a surprise 30% dip in its profits in the three months to February, as it suffered from the widespread decline in consumer spending. The prospect of any recovery on the high street was further dented as the Bank of England reported that the number of people defaulting on their mortgages rose unexpectedly in the first three months of the year. Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, said: “Consumer confidence remains extremely weak, thereby maintaining concern that consumers will be very cautious in their spending over the coming months in the face of serious headwinds. “Consumers’ purchasing power is currently being increasingly squeezed by high and rising inflation in tandem with ongoing muted wage growth overall. In addition, the weak housing market has adverse repercussions for consumer spending,” he added. The developments continued the bad news in what has been one of the gloomiest weeks for retail announcements in years, causing the spotlight to shine even brighter on the government’s public spending cuts. It emerged on Tuesday that Britons’ spending power fell last year for the first time in three decades. So-called real household disposable income – the total income of Britain’s working and unemployed populations after taxes and adjusted for inflation – dropped by 0.8% in 2010, according to the Office for National Statistics. On Wednesday, the boss of electricals group Dixons said that the government’s cuts were having a “chilling effect” on consumers as the group announced that like-for-like sales at its Currys and PC World stores in Britain and Ireland tumbled by 11% in the last 11 weeks. Signet announced weak trading at its H Samuel and Ernest Jones stores in the UK. DFS, the sofa retailer, said growth had slowed and even Domino’s Pizza, the stock market darling, was forced to admit that it was being dragged down by its Irish stores where like-for-like sales dropped more than 10% in the first quarter. Retail industry Dixons Retail Mothercare Laura Ashley Wine Tom Bawden Fiona Beckett guardian.co.uk
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Irish finance minister Michael Noonan said country had been left with an ‘appalling legacy’ as a result of the banking crisis Europe’s debt crisis deepened on Thursday night as Ireland was forced into another €24bn (£21bn) rescue of its banking system and jittery financial markets pushed Portugal closer to a bailout. In a furious attack on the previous government, the Irish finance minister Michael Noonan said the country had been left with “an appalling legacy: a legacy of debt, of unemployment, of emigration, of falling living standards and of low morale” as a result of the banking crisis. After stress tests to assess the vulnerability of the banks to a drastic worsening of the economy, Noonan announced that the government would take a majority stake in all the major lenders. These are to be radically reduced in size and focused on just two players. Ireland’s banks have been crippled by the bursting of a house price and commercial property bubble, created when they took advantage of the country’s membership of the single currency to lend recklessly on low interest rates. The collapse caused an economic crisis that has seen output shrink for three years in a row. “We are now in the third year of the banking crisis. The previous government failed to act. They ducked and dived and procrastinated as they lurched from one crisis to the next. They went through periods of denial and periods of self justification. They paved the road to disaster with good intentions,” Noonan said. “They never fixed the broken banks, however.” Ireland’s central bank governor, Patrick Honohan, said the country was saddled with “one of the costliest banking crises in history”. The total bill has now reached €70bn – equal to €17,000 for each citizen. Analysts said that while Ireland’s latest bank bailout had provided the country with breathing space, time was running out for Portugal, where the government admitted that it would miss its target for deficit reduction in 2010 and revised up its budget deficit figure from 7% of GDP to 8.6%. The poor figures triggered a fresh sell-off of Portuguese bonds and analysts said it would now be cheaper for the country to borrow from the International Monetary Fund and EU, as Ireland is doing, rather than access the international markets. Ireland pays 6% interest on its seven-year loans while bond investors want to charge Portugal 9% to borrow for just five years. As a result of the Irish and Greek bailouts, EU partners have now set up the European financial stability facility (EFSF) as a long-term provider of funds for troubled members of the eurozone. “The key question is when will Portugal need to access the EFSF because it has run out of money. Portugal faces two bond redemptions, one on 15 April (€4.3bn) and one on 15 June (€4.9bn). This week, a government official said that Portugal had sufficient reserves to cover both of these. It is hard to see how this can be the case,” said Emilie Gay from the research consultants Capital Economics. However, Portugal’s finance minister, Teixeira dos Santos, said: “The government is not irresponsible and will guarantee that there is the necessary financing so the country can live up to its responsibilities and honour commitments to its creditors.” Lisbon said the change in its deficit figures was the result of an accounting change demanded by Europe’s statistics agency but bond markets feared it was an effort to deceive investors about the true picture in the past. An auction of €1.5bn of bonds has been scheduled for Friday and will be a test for the market. As a result of the announcement in Dublin, all the Irish banks are now likely to be state-owned. Two new universal banks are expected to be created from existing institutions – Bank of Ireland will remain while Allied Irish Banks and building society EBS are to be merged. “We will also ensure that they are fully recapitalised so that the world looks at these core banks with confidence and they in turn help instil confidence in our economy,” said Noonan. The extra bailout cash is within the funding from the EU/IMF support announced last year. Noonan blamed the crisis on the decision made in September 2008 by the former Fianna Fáil government to guarantee the banking sector, and particularly Anglo Irish Bank, during the international banking crisis. Ireland Ireland bailout European debt crisis Euro Currencies Europe Larry Elliott Jill Treanor guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Irish finance minister Michael Noonan said country had been left with an ‘appalling legacy’ as a result of the banking crisis Europe’s debt crisis deepened on Thursday night as Ireland was forced into another €24bn (£21bn) rescue of its banking system and jittery financial markets pushed Portugal closer to a bailout. In a furious attack on the previous government, the Irish finance minister Michael Noonan said the country had been left with “an appalling legacy: a legacy of debt, of unemployment, of emigration, of falling living standards and of low morale” as a result of the banking crisis. After stress tests to assess the vulnerability of the banks to a drastic worsening of the economy, Noonan announced that the government would take a majority stake in all the major lenders. These are to be radically reduced in size and focused on just two players. Ireland’s banks have been crippled by the bursting of a house price and commercial property bubble, created when they took advantage of the country’s membership of the single currency to lend recklessly on low interest rates. The collapse caused an economic crisis that has seen output shrink for three years in a row. “We are now in the third year of the banking crisis. The previous government failed to act. They ducked and dived and procrastinated as they lurched from one crisis to the next. They went through periods of denial and periods of self justification. They paved the road to disaster with good intentions,” Noonan said. “They never fixed the broken banks, however.” Ireland’s central bank governor, Patrick Honohan, said the country was saddled with “one of the costliest banking crises in history”. The total bill has now reached €70bn – equal to €17,000 for each citizen. Analysts said that while Ireland’s latest bank bailout had provided the country with breathing space, time was running out for Portugal, where the government admitted that it would miss its target for deficit reduction in 2010 and revised up its budget deficit figure from 7% of GDP to 8.6%. The poor figures triggered a fresh sell-off of Portuguese bonds and analysts said it would now be cheaper for the country to borrow from the International Monetary Fund and EU, as Ireland is doing, rather than access the international markets. Ireland pays 6% interest on its seven-year loans while bond investors want to charge Portugal 9% to borrow for just five years. As a result of the Irish and Greek bailouts, EU partners have now set up the European financial stability facility (EFSF) as a long-term provider of funds for troubled members of the eurozone. “The key question is when will Portugal need to access the EFSF because it has run out of money. Portugal faces two bond redemptions, one on 15 April (€4.3bn) and one on 15 June (€4.9bn). This week, a government official said that Portugal had sufficient reserves to cover both of these. It is hard to see how this can be the case,” said Emilie Gay from the research consultants Capital Economics. However, Portugal’s finance minister, Teixeira dos Santos, said: “The government is not irresponsible and will guarantee that there is the necessary financing so the country can live up to its responsibilities and honour commitments to its creditors.” Lisbon said the change in its deficit figures was the result of an accounting change demanded by Europe’s statistics agency but bond markets feared it was an effort to deceive investors about the true picture in the past. An auction of €1.5bn of bonds has been scheduled for Friday and will be a test for the market. As a result of the announcement in Dublin, all the Irish banks are now likely to be state-owned. Two new universal banks are expected to be created from existing institutions – Bank of Ireland will remain while Allied Irish Banks and building society EBS are to be merged. “We will also ensure that they are fully recapitalised so that the world looks at these core banks with confidence and they in turn help instil confidence in our economy,” said Noonan. The extra bailout cash is within the funding from the EU/IMF support announced last year. Noonan blamed the crisis on the decision made in September 2008 by the former Fianna Fáil government to guarantee the banking sector, and particularly Anglo Irish Bank, during the international banking crisis. Ireland Ireland bailout European debt crisis Euro Currencies Europe Larry Elliott Jill Treanor guardian.co.uk
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