March 3, 2011
By ANNA HOLMES
FORTY-THREE minutes into his “special live edition” with Charlie Sheen on Monday night, Piers Morgan finally got around to asking his guest a real question. Before that, Mr. Morgan and Mr. Sheen had mostly traded chuckles and anecdotes about multiday benders, inflated network salaries and meet-ups in Aspen, Colo. But then, after three commercial breaks, Mr. Morgan inquired, “Have you ever hit a woman?”
Two minutes later, with Mr. Morgan apparently satisfied with the actor’s answer that no, women should be “hugged and caressed,” that line of questioning was over.
That Mr. Morgan didn’t press the issue of domestic violence shouldn’t have come as any surprise. CBS executives, not to mention the millions of viewers of his “family” sitcom “Two and a Half Men,” have consistently turned a blind eye toward Mr. Sheen’s history of abusing women. Part of this, of course, is about money. The actor’s F-18 of an id — to borrow a metaphor from Mr. Sheen himself — had long provided the show a steady stream of free publicity. It also helped make Mr. Sheen the highest-paid actor on television, at $1.2 million an episode.
But it’s also about apathy. Even now — after Mr. Sheen began carpet-bombing his bosses in radio rants, prompting CBS to shut down production on the show — observers still seem more entertained than outraged, tuning in to see him appear on every talk show on the planet and coming up with creative Internet memes based on his most colorful statements. And while his self-abuses are endlessly discussed, his abuse of women is barely broached.
Our inertia is not for lack of evidence. In 1990, he accidentally shot his fiancée at the time, the actress Kelly Preston, in the arm. (The engagement ended soon after.) In 1994 he was sued by a college student who alleged that he struck her in the head after she declined to have sex with him. (The case was settled out of court.) Two years later, a sex film actress, Brittany Ashland, said she had been thrown to the floor of Mr. Sheen’s Los Angeles house during a fight. (He pleaded no contest and paid a fine.)
In 2006, his wife at the time, the actress Denise Richards, filed a restraining order against him, saying Mr. Sheen had shoved and threatened to kill her. In December 2009, Mr. Sheen’s third wife, Brooke Mueller, a real-estate executive, called 911 after Mr. Sheen held a knife to her throat. (He pleaded guilty and was placed on probation.) Last October, another actress in sex films, Capri Anderson, locked herself in a Plaza Hotel bathroom after Mr. Sheen went on a rampage. (Ms. Anderson filed a criminal complaint but no arrest was made.) And on Tuesday, Ms. Mueller requested a temporary restraining order against her former husband, alleging that he had threatened to cut her head off, “put it in a box and send it to your mom.” (The order was granted, and the couple’s twin sons were quickly removed from his home.) “Lies,” Mr. Sheen told People magazine.
The privilege afforded wealthy white men like Charlie Sheen may not be a particularly new point, but it’s an important one nonetheless. Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears are endlessly derided for their extracurricular meltdowns and lack of professionalism on set; the R&B star Chris Brown was made a veritable pariah after beating up his equally, if not more, famous girlfriend, the singer Rihanna. Their careers have all suffered, and understandably so.
This hasn’t been the case with Mr. Sheen, whose behavior has been repeatedly and affectionately dismissed as the antics of a “bad boy” (see: any news article in the past 20 years), a “rock star” (see: Piers Morgan, again) and a “rebel” (see: Andrea Canning’s “20/20” interview on Tuesday). He has in essence, achieved a sort of folk-hero status; on Wednesday, his just-created Twitter account hit a million followers, setting a Guinness World Record.
But there’s something else at work here: the seeming imperfection of Mr. Sheen’s numerous accusers. The women are of a type, which is to say, highly unsympathetic. Some are sex workers — pornographic film stars and escorts — whose compliance with churlish conduct is assumed to be part of the deal. (For the record: It is not.)
Others, namely Ms. Richards and Ms. Mueller, are less-famous starlets or former “nobodies” whose relationships with Mr. Sheen have been disparaged as purely sexual and transactional. The women reside on a continuum in which injuries are assumed and insults are expected.
“Gold diggers,” “prostitutes” and “sluts” are just some of the epithets lobbed at the women Mr. Sheen has chosen to spend his time with. Andy Cohen, a senior executive at Bravo and a TV star in his own right, referred to the actor’s current companions, Natalie Kenly and Bree Olson, as “whores” on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program on Tuesday. Arianna Huffington sarcastically tweeted that Mr. Sheen’s girlfriends “symbolize modesty, loyalty and good taste.” Mr. Sheen’s own nickname for Ms. Kenly and Ms. Olson — “the goddesses” — is in its own way indicative of their perceived interchangeability and disposability.
It’s these sorts of explicit and implicit value judgments that underscore our contempt for women who are assumed to be trading on their sexuality. A woman’s active embrace of the fame monster or participation in the sex industry, we seem to say, means that she compromises her right not to be assaulted, let alone humiliated, insulted or degraded; it’s part of the deal. The promise of a modern Cinderella ending — attention, fame, the love and savings account of a rich man — is always the assumed goal.
Objectification and abuse, it follows, is not only an accepted occupational hazard for certain women, but something that men like Mr. Sheen have earned the right to indulge in. (Mr. Sheen reportedly once said that he didn’t pay prostitutes for the sex; he paid them “to leave.”) One can’t help but think that his handlers might have moved more quickly to rein in their prized sitcom stallion if his victims’ motivations weren’t assumed to be purely mercenary. (Or if they enjoyed parity and respect with regards to their age, influence and earning power.)
These assumptions — about women, about powerful men, about bad behavior — have roots that go way back but find endorsement in today’s unscripted TV culture. Indeed, it’s difficult for many to discern any difference between Mr. Sheen’s real-life, round-the-clock, recorded outbursts and the sexist narratives devised by reality television producers, in which women are routinely portrayed as backstabbing floozies, and dreadful behavior by males is explained away as a side effect of unbridled passion or too much pilsner.
As Jennifer Pozner points out in her recent book “Reality Bites Back: The Troubling Truth About Guilty-Pleasure TV,” misogyny is embedded within the DNA of the reality genre. One of the very first millennial shows, in fact, “Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire,” was notable in that it auctioned off what producers called the “biggest prize of all”: a supposedly wealthy B-movie writer named Rick Rockwell — who was later revealed to have had a restraining order filed against him by a woman he’d threatened to kill. According to Ms. Pozner, the reaction of one of the producers of “Multimillionaire” was, “Great! More publicity!”
On reality television, gratuitous violence and explicit sexuality are not only entertainment but a means to an end. These enthusiastically documented humiliations are positioned as necessities in the service of some final prize or larger benefit — a marriage proposal, a modeling contract, $1 million. But they also make assault and abasement seem commonplace, acceptable behavior, tolerated by women and encouraged in men.
Which brings us back to Mr. Morgan, who, like many of Mr. Sheen’s past and present press enablers, showed little to no urgency in addressing the question of violence against women. “You’re entitled to behave however the hell you like as long as you don’t scare the horses and the children,” Mr. Morgan said at one point. Scaring women, it seems, was just fine.
During the interview, a series of images played on a continuous loop. One of them was a defiant and confident-looking Charlie Sheen, in a mug shot taken after his 2009 domestic violence arrest.
Anna Holmes is a writer and the creator of the Web site Jezebel.
Friday, March 4, 2011
01/03 Japan Phone Makers See Opportunity in Android
March 1, 2011
By HIROKO TABUCHI
TOKYO — Japanese mobile phones are a gadget lover’s dream. They double as credit cards. They can display digital TV broadcasts. Some are even fitted with solar cells.
And yet, for all their innovations, Japanese-made handsets have had little impact overseas. They account for just a sliver of a global mobile phone market dominated by the likes of Apple, Research In Motion and Samsung.
But now the Japanese phone industry hopes to go global — by adopting Google’s red-hot Android mobile operating system.
“We have the technology to compete in the United States,” said Naoki Shiraishi, who led software development for a new line of Android smartphones from Sharp, the largest Japanese cellphone maker. “It’s finally time for Sharp phones to go play in the major leagues.”
Sony Ericsson, NEC and Kyocera are among the other Japanese handset makers also betting on Android as their path to international sales.
While Android was initially overshadowed by the popular iPhone from Apple, its user numbers are now soaring. In 2010, global sales of Android phones reached 67.2 million units, ahead of iPhones, which sold 46 million units, according to the research company Gartner.
And Sharp, clearly hoping to edge onto Apple’s iPad turf, has introduced in the United States a lineup of tablet computers running a version of Android — the sort of competition Apple is hoping to stay well in front of with new versions of the iPad like the one it introduced Wednesday in San Francisco. For the Japanese phone makers, cashing in on Android’s popularity will mean learning some new skills, like marketing, while unlearning some old habits, like paying too much attention to the hardware and too little to the software.
Because Japan’s phone industry remains highly fragmented, no company so far has been large or savvy enough to make a strong overseas push. Instead, handset makers have long been content to serve as suppliers to Japan’s three largest mobile networks, which command a market of more than 100 million users, most of them on advanced 3G networks.
And in their hardware fixation, Japanese manufacturers have tended to bog down their handsets with clunky software platforms and fenced-in Web services that do not emphasize downloads of third-party applications.
That has put them at odds with the trend in much of the rest of the world, where attention has swung to devices like the iPhone, which runs software much as an ordinary computer does and lets users download apps from independent developers.
In fact, the success of the iPhone in Japan — together with Apple’s popular App Store, with hundreds of thousands of applications for download — has opened eyes.
“Japanese companies have been so pioneering in many fields, but they have failed to build a global business” of handsets, said Gerhard Fasol, chief executive of Eurotechnology, a Tokyo firm that advises companies on global mobile and telecommunications strategy. “What you need is a global infrastructure,” Mr. Fasol said, “and Japanese handset makers have nothing.”
Global scale is what the Japanese hope to build with Android.
Certainly the price is right: Google offers Android free to manufacturers. And Android has caught on since its introduction in 2007, as a growing community of software developers has written apps, sold via Google’s Android Market.
It took a while, but Japanese handset makers are now rushing to introduce Android devices, each married with cutting-edge technology. That includes Sony Ericsson, which dabbled with other platforms like Symbian and Windows Mobile for its high-end Xperia smartphones, but has used Android for its latest models.
And just last week, NEC introduced what it said was the world’s thinnest smartphone. At 8 millimeters thick, equivalent to about four stacked nickels, its Medias N-04C runs on Android and also comes with an electronic wallet function, digital terrestrial television and a five-megapixel camera. Although the phone is for sale only in Japan for now, NEC is planning an overseas push, focusing first on Mexico and Australia.
Another Japanese manufacturer, Kyocera, is planning soon for the United States release of an Android-based smartphone that comes with two screens, capable of running separate apps at once.
Sharp, for its part, intends to start with the fast-growing Chinese market, although officials say they also intend to bring phones to North America. Most global operators are preparing to use advanced LTE networks, which could make it easier for the Japanese phones to work on networks anywhere.
Sharp’s latest smartphones, like its IS03 model, a sleek device with a high-resolution touch screen, have overseas gadget bloggers drooling. “The smartphone de facto standard is fast becoming Android,” said Shigeru Kobayashi, who is in charge of product planning for Sharp’s new smartphone line. “We don’t plan to keep on building the same kind of phones that we used to.”
Working with Android has meant an overhaul of Sharp’s tightly controlled development process. In one big change, Sharp has invited outside developers to its labs to test prototypes and develop apps — a rare move for a Japanese manufacturer.
And late last year, Sharp hosted two “hackathons” — programming jamborees — to encourage more developers to make apps optimized for its smartphones. At one of these sessions, in mid-December, a group of about two dozen outside developers worked on apps at Sharp’s usually top-secret research lab near Hiroshima.
And in an unprecedented move, Sharp last year released a phone that was deliberately “jailbroken” — letting programmers freely tweak some of the phone’s core software controls.
Google itself, meantime, has urged more handset makers to use Android. Although Google earns no commission from any Android handsets sold, it takes a substantial cut — 30 percent — of the apps sold in the Android Store.
“Japan has great hardware, great R.& D., great engineers,” said John Lagerling, director of Android Global Partnerships at Google. “Now they can also get the best software.”
Besides helping Japanese phone makers reduce their software development costs, the globally recognized Android standard could also help them achieve worldwide economies of scale that could further reduce overall costs.
Working with Google could also give the handset makers better leverage with Japan’s powerful domestic network operators: NTT DoCoMo, KDDI and Softbank. The carriers have long dictated product cycles and phone features. Each network requires that phones be tweaked especially for it. And the carriers — not the handset makers — have been the main marketers for the phones.
The handset makers “need to stop worrying about the carriers and start thinking more globally,” said Shuichi Iizuka, a telecommunications analyst at the ISB Institute, based just south of Tokyo. Android can help them do that, he said.
Japan’s phone makers may need to become nimbler, too. Their love for continual fine-tuning of their hardware has meant they have had trouble keeping up with Google’s frequent Android updates.
Many of the smartphones released this season, like the Sharp IS03, still run on Android version 2.1, which was announced more than a year — and two updates — ago. Google is soon expected to release Android version 2.4.
And even as Android is helping Japanese phone makers lay their overseas plans, it has also opened the Japanese market to foreign competitors. Samsung, of South Korea, for example, has made inroads in Japan with its slick Android-based Galaxy smartphone.
And Mr. Fasol of Eurotechnology warns that even with good Android phones, Japanese companies could cede some of the most lucrative parts of the business, selling apps, to Google.
Google, in addition to retaining nearly a third of the applications revenue, has recently introduced other revenue-enhancing measures, like letting software developers accept payments within apps. But phone makers would receive none of this income.
“Android gives the Japanese an opportunity, that’s for sure, but it places them at a relatively low position,” Mr. Fasol said. “It makes them one of many soldiers in the Google army, with Google as king.”
By HIROKO TABUCHI
TOKYO — Japanese mobile phones are a gadget lover’s dream. They double as credit cards. They can display digital TV broadcasts. Some are even fitted with solar cells.
And yet, for all their innovations, Japanese-made handsets have had little impact overseas. They account for just a sliver of a global mobile phone market dominated by the likes of Apple, Research In Motion and Samsung.
But now the Japanese phone industry hopes to go global — by adopting Google’s red-hot Android mobile operating system.
“We have the technology to compete in the United States,” said Naoki Shiraishi, who led software development for a new line of Android smartphones from Sharp, the largest Japanese cellphone maker. “It’s finally time for Sharp phones to go play in the major leagues.”
Sony Ericsson, NEC and Kyocera are among the other Japanese handset makers also betting on Android as their path to international sales.
While Android was initially overshadowed by the popular iPhone from Apple, its user numbers are now soaring. In 2010, global sales of Android phones reached 67.2 million units, ahead of iPhones, which sold 46 million units, according to the research company Gartner.
And Sharp, clearly hoping to edge onto Apple’s iPad turf, has introduced in the United States a lineup of tablet computers running a version of Android — the sort of competition Apple is hoping to stay well in front of with new versions of the iPad like the one it introduced Wednesday in San Francisco. For the Japanese phone makers, cashing in on Android’s popularity will mean learning some new skills, like marketing, while unlearning some old habits, like paying too much attention to the hardware and too little to the software.
Because Japan’s phone industry remains highly fragmented, no company so far has been large or savvy enough to make a strong overseas push. Instead, handset makers have long been content to serve as suppliers to Japan’s three largest mobile networks, which command a market of more than 100 million users, most of them on advanced 3G networks.
And in their hardware fixation, Japanese manufacturers have tended to bog down their handsets with clunky software platforms and fenced-in Web services that do not emphasize downloads of third-party applications.
That has put them at odds with the trend in much of the rest of the world, where attention has swung to devices like the iPhone, which runs software much as an ordinary computer does and lets users download apps from independent developers.
In fact, the success of the iPhone in Japan — together with Apple’s popular App Store, with hundreds of thousands of applications for download — has opened eyes.
“Japanese companies have been so pioneering in many fields, but they have failed to build a global business” of handsets, said Gerhard Fasol, chief executive of Eurotechnology, a Tokyo firm that advises companies on global mobile and telecommunications strategy. “What you need is a global infrastructure,” Mr. Fasol said, “and Japanese handset makers have nothing.”
Global scale is what the Japanese hope to build with Android.
Certainly the price is right: Google offers Android free to manufacturers. And Android has caught on since its introduction in 2007, as a growing community of software developers has written apps, sold via Google’s Android Market.
It took a while, but Japanese handset makers are now rushing to introduce Android devices, each married with cutting-edge technology. That includes Sony Ericsson, which dabbled with other platforms like Symbian and Windows Mobile for its high-end Xperia smartphones, but has used Android for its latest models.
And just last week, NEC introduced what it said was the world’s thinnest smartphone. At 8 millimeters thick, equivalent to about four stacked nickels, its Medias N-04C runs on Android and also comes with an electronic wallet function, digital terrestrial television and a five-megapixel camera. Although the phone is for sale only in Japan for now, NEC is planning an overseas push, focusing first on Mexico and Australia.
Another Japanese manufacturer, Kyocera, is planning soon for the United States release of an Android-based smartphone that comes with two screens, capable of running separate apps at once.
Sharp, for its part, intends to start with the fast-growing Chinese market, although officials say they also intend to bring phones to North America. Most global operators are preparing to use advanced LTE networks, which could make it easier for the Japanese phones to work on networks anywhere.
Sharp’s latest smartphones, like its IS03 model, a sleek device with a high-resolution touch screen, have overseas gadget bloggers drooling. “The smartphone de facto standard is fast becoming Android,” said Shigeru Kobayashi, who is in charge of product planning for Sharp’s new smartphone line. “We don’t plan to keep on building the same kind of phones that we used to.”
Working with Android has meant an overhaul of Sharp’s tightly controlled development process. In one big change, Sharp has invited outside developers to its labs to test prototypes and develop apps — a rare move for a Japanese manufacturer.
And late last year, Sharp hosted two “hackathons” — programming jamborees — to encourage more developers to make apps optimized for its smartphones. At one of these sessions, in mid-December, a group of about two dozen outside developers worked on apps at Sharp’s usually top-secret research lab near Hiroshima.
And in an unprecedented move, Sharp last year released a phone that was deliberately “jailbroken” — letting programmers freely tweak some of the phone’s core software controls.
Google itself, meantime, has urged more handset makers to use Android. Although Google earns no commission from any Android handsets sold, it takes a substantial cut — 30 percent — of the apps sold in the Android Store.
“Japan has great hardware, great R.& D., great engineers,” said John Lagerling, director of Android Global Partnerships at Google. “Now they can also get the best software.”
Besides helping Japanese phone makers reduce their software development costs, the globally recognized Android standard could also help them achieve worldwide economies of scale that could further reduce overall costs.
Working with Google could also give the handset makers better leverage with Japan’s powerful domestic network operators: NTT DoCoMo, KDDI and Softbank. The carriers have long dictated product cycles and phone features. Each network requires that phones be tweaked especially for it. And the carriers — not the handset makers — have been the main marketers for the phones.
The handset makers “need to stop worrying about the carriers and start thinking more globally,” said Shuichi Iizuka, a telecommunications analyst at the ISB Institute, based just south of Tokyo. Android can help them do that, he said.
Japan’s phone makers may need to become nimbler, too. Their love for continual fine-tuning of their hardware has meant they have had trouble keeping up with Google’s frequent Android updates.
Many of the smartphones released this season, like the Sharp IS03, still run on Android version 2.1, which was announced more than a year — and two updates — ago. Google is soon expected to release Android version 2.4.
And even as Android is helping Japanese phone makers lay their overseas plans, it has also opened the Japanese market to foreign competitors. Samsung, of South Korea, for example, has made inroads in Japan with its slick Android-based Galaxy smartphone.
And Mr. Fasol of Eurotechnology warns that even with good Android phones, Japanese companies could cede some of the most lucrative parts of the business, selling apps, to Google.
Google, in addition to retaining nearly a third of the applications revenue, has recently introduced other revenue-enhancing measures, like letting software developers accept payments within apps. But phone makers would receive none of this income.
“Android gives the Japanese an opportunity, that’s for sure, but it places them at a relatively low position,” Mr. Fasol said. “It makes them one of many soldiers in the Google army, with Google as king.”
02/03 When Abuse of Older Patients Is Financial
March 2, 2011
By ELIZABETH OLSON
DOCTORS with older patients hear clues all the time. Elderly people mention, in passing, that they are missing money or that they signed forms they did not understand. Or maybe they can’t find a treasured possession like a watch or a wedding ring.
But doctors traditionally have not been trained to recognize that confusion or forgetfulness can be signs that the patient is at financial risk, said Dr. Robert W. Parker, chief of community geriatrics in the family medicine department at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.
“We give them another pill, device or test. We don’t always spend time with patients so we get to know their concerns,” said Dr. Parker. “And medical doctors have not wanted to mix medicine and money.”
But now he, along with thousands of other doctors and medical professionals across the country, are taking part in a new effort to screen older patients for financial vulnerability as well as indications they are being exploited financially by family members, friends or strangers.
Although the case of Brooke Astor, the New York philanthropist whose son was convicted of misusing her financial assets alerted people that exploitation can occur at any level of society, most still think of elderly abuse as physical harm. But losing savings or a home to the unscrupulous also can be a severe blow to health and well-being. Three out of five older Americans fear death less than they fear running out of money before they die, according to a study last year by the AARP, the lobby for older Americans.
“Of course, I’ve routinely heard hints from my patients over the years,” said Dr. Parker, “but it wasn’t until I participated in the training that I put those together with early signs of memory loss or confusion.”
Red flags for investment swindles or other financial fraud can be social isolation, bereavement, alcohol or drug abuse or depression, according to the education program being introduced this year in 25 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. It is modeled after a 2008 pilot project at the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas and is being paid for by the Investor Protection Trust, a nonprofit organization that is financed by fines levied against companies for financial misconduct.
After spotting elderly people at risk, doctors can refer them to state securities regulators and adult services providers for help. The North American Securities Administrators Association and the National Adult Protective Services Association, the group for social workers who handle abuse cases, are backing the program, which provides medical professionals with specific resources to aid their patients.
Each doctor receives a laminated four-page pocket guide listing the names and Web sites for groups including the National Center on Elder Abuse and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.
Bilking old people is not new, said Steve Irwin, commissioner of the Pennsylvania Securities Commission, which is participating in the program. “Financial fraud is abuse, but it is less recognized and less reported.”
Among the signs listed in the guide of potential financial abuse are overly protective caregivers, changes in ability to take medications, cognitive problems and being fearful, distressed or excessively suspicious.
Some form of cognitive impairment afflicts one-third of people over age 71 in the United States, according to a 2008 Duke University study. Mental impairment makes people more likely to make financial errors and more willing to gamble with their money, said Dr. Robert E. Roush, director of the Texas Consortium Geriatric Education Center at the Baylor College of Medicine.
“People become less risk-averse and become victims of unscrupulous family, friends, people they know from church or real estate agents,” said Dr. Roush, who spearheaded the program.
Dr. Parker agreed, noting that “about half the patients referred to us are cognitively impaired. They may come across as having normal social skills, but when we look more closely, we find they have lost their executive function, or their ability to plan, organize and remember details.”
That loss, according to the National Institute on Aging, can be a precursor of Alzheimer’s disease, the most common cause of dementia, where thinking, memory and reasoning deteriorate.
A result of the training, Dr. Parker said, is that “the first thing we now ask on our patient questionnaire is who is managing the money every day and who is paying the bills. Those are important patient signs.”
In Texas, 130 doctors participated in the pilot — with a guarantee that neither they nor their patients would be identified — and found that 55 percent of their patients displayed signs of financial vulnerability and needed a follow-up by other professionals. Dr. Roush cautioned, however, that “we do not know if fraud actually occurred.”
The program encourages doctors to ask patients whether they have trouble paying bills, feel confident about making big financial decisions, give loans or gifts they can not afford or believe their money is dwindling.
Also, the pocket guide lists other indicative questions, like whether the patient runs out of money at the end of the month, whether he or she regrets or worries about recent financial decisions, whether the patient has been asked to change a will or sign over power of attorney to someone else. Patients are provided with a brochure listing concerns and questions to help assess themselves.
While few elders like to admit they have been scammed, victims of telephone, mail or Internet schemes are numerous. An Investors Protection Trust survey last year found that one in five Americans over 65 years old had been defrauded. Nearly 40 percent said they had received phone call solicitations or letters asking for money, but only 19 percent said their adult children knew about it.
Dr. Parker was among those who missed signs of financial misadventures involving his mother, Rosalee, who sent $40,000 to enter a lottery in Jamaica, at the behest of friendly phone sales representatives. He discovered the swindle just as his mother, who died last September, was about to send an additional $70,000 to receive her “prize” of a Mercedes-Benz automobile.
She was furious, he noted, when he stepped in to take control of her finances.
Mr. Irwin, at the Pennsylvania Securities Commission, said fraud cases involving elderly people were not uncommon, especially in his state, which has a large number of Social Security recipients.
“We often step in get the cease-and-desist orders,” he said. “But now we are trying to get people alerted earlier, and this program casts the net wider.”
By ELIZABETH OLSON
DOCTORS with older patients hear clues all the time. Elderly people mention, in passing, that they are missing money or that they signed forms they did not understand. Or maybe they can’t find a treasured possession like a watch or a wedding ring.
But doctors traditionally have not been trained to recognize that confusion or forgetfulness can be signs that the patient is at financial risk, said Dr. Robert W. Parker, chief of community geriatrics in the family medicine department at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.
“We give them another pill, device or test. We don’t always spend time with patients so we get to know their concerns,” said Dr. Parker. “And medical doctors have not wanted to mix medicine and money.”
But now he, along with thousands of other doctors and medical professionals across the country, are taking part in a new effort to screen older patients for financial vulnerability as well as indications they are being exploited financially by family members, friends or strangers.
Although the case of Brooke Astor, the New York philanthropist whose son was convicted of misusing her financial assets alerted people that exploitation can occur at any level of society, most still think of elderly abuse as physical harm. But losing savings or a home to the unscrupulous also can be a severe blow to health and well-being. Three out of five older Americans fear death less than they fear running out of money before they die, according to a study last year by the AARP, the lobby for older Americans.
“Of course, I’ve routinely heard hints from my patients over the years,” said Dr. Parker, “but it wasn’t until I participated in the training that I put those together with early signs of memory loss or confusion.”
Red flags for investment swindles or other financial fraud can be social isolation, bereavement, alcohol or drug abuse or depression, according to the education program being introduced this year in 25 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. It is modeled after a 2008 pilot project at the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas and is being paid for by the Investor Protection Trust, a nonprofit organization that is financed by fines levied against companies for financial misconduct.
After spotting elderly people at risk, doctors can refer them to state securities regulators and adult services providers for help. The North American Securities Administrators Association and the National Adult Protective Services Association, the group for social workers who handle abuse cases, are backing the program, which provides medical professionals with specific resources to aid their patients.
Each doctor receives a laminated four-page pocket guide listing the names and Web sites for groups including the National Center on Elder Abuse and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.
Bilking old people is not new, said Steve Irwin, commissioner of the Pennsylvania Securities Commission, which is participating in the program. “Financial fraud is abuse, but it is less recognized and less reported.”
Among the signs listed in the guide of potential financial abuse are overly protective caregivers, changes in ability to take medications, cognitive problems and being fearful, distressed or excessively suspicious.
Some form of cognitive impairment afflicts one-third of people over age 71 in the United States, according to a 2008 Duke University study. Mental impairment makes people more likely to make financial errors and more willing to gamble with their money, said Dr. Robert E. Roush, director of the Texas Consortium Geriatric Education Center at the Baylor College of Medicine.
“People become less risk-averse and become victims of unscrupulous family, friends, people they know from church or real estate agents,” said Dr. Roush, who spearheaded the program.
Dr. Parker agreed, noting that “about half the patients referred to us are cognitively impaired. They may come across as having normal social skills, but when we look more closely, we find they have lost their executive function, or their ability to plan, organize and remember details.”
That loss, according to the National Institute on Aging, can be a precursor of Alzheimer’s disease, the most common cause of dementia, where thinking, memory and reasoning deteriorate.
A result of the training, Dr. Parker said, is that “the first thing we now ask on our patient questionnaire is who is managing the money every day and who is paying the bills. Those are important patient signs.”
In Texas, 130 doctors participated in the pilot — with a guarantee that neither they nor their patients would be identified — and found that 55 percent of their patients displayed signs of financial vulnerability and needed a follow-up by other professionals. Dr. Roush cautioned, however, that “we do not know if fraud actually occurred.”
The program encourages doctors to ask patients whether they have trouble paying bills, feel confident about making big financial decisions, give loans or gifts they can not afford or believe their money is dwindling.
Also, the pocket guide lists other indicative questions, like whether the patient runs out of money at the end of the month, whether he or she regrets or worries about recent financial decisions, whether the patient has been asked to change a will or sign over power of attorney to someone else. Patients are provided with a brochure listing concerns and questions to help assess themselves.
While few elders like to admit they have been scammed, victims of telephone, mail or Internet schemes are numerous. An Investors Protection Trust survey last year found that one in five Americans over 65 years old had been defrauded. Nearly 40 percent said they had received phone call solicitations or letters asking for money, but only 19 percent said their adult children knew about it.
Dr. Parker was among those who missed signs of financial misadventures involving his mother, Rosalee, who sent $40,000 to enter a lottery in Jamaica, at the behest of friendly phone sales representatives. He discovered the swindle just as his mother, who died last September, was about to send an additional $70,000 to receive her “prize” of a Mercedes-Benz automobile.
She was furious, he noted, when he stepped in to take control of her finances.
Mr. Irwin, at the Pennsylvania Securities Commission, said fraud cases involving elderly people were not uncommon, especially in his state, which has a large number of Social Security recipients.
“We often step in get the cease-and-desist orders,” he said. “But now we are trying to get people alerted earlier, and this program casts the net wider.”
04/03 Ngọc Quyên khoe ngực tròn, chân dài
Thứ năm, 04/03/2010 09:54
Trong bộ bikini bó sát, siêu mẫu Ngọc Quyên khoe những đường cong gợi cảm của cơ thể cùng đôi chân dài miên man.
Mặc dù còn rất trẻ, nhưng Ngọc Quyên đã có thâm niên gần 6 năm gắn bó với nghề người mẫu và sàn catwalk. Thời gian gần đây, người đẹp này còn lấn sân sang cả điện ảnh với một số bộ phim như:Có lẽ nào ta yêu nhau; 14 ngày phép; Tuyết nhiệt đới... Đến nay, Ngọc Quyên đã phần nào chinh phục được khán giả với lối diễn xuất chân thực.
Chia sẻ về những kế hoạch trong năm mới, Ngọc Quyên cho biết dù có thử sức với bất cứ lĩnh vực nào như điện ảnh hay kinh doanh thì với cô, tình yêu và đam mê dành cho thời trang vẫn không bao giờ thay đổi.
Ngắm Ngọc Quyên nóng bỏng với bikini:
Chia sẻ về những kế hoạch trong năm mới, Ngọc Quyên cho biết dù có thử sức với bất cứ lĩnh vực nào như điện ảnh hay kinh doanh thì với cô, tình yêu và đam mê dành cho thời trang vẫn không bao giờ thay đổi.
Ngắm Ngọc Quyên nóng bỏng với bikini:
Theo KHĐS
24/02 Mạng Việt Nam chính thức dùng Go.vn
24/02/2011 02:00:50 PM
ICTnews - Hôm nay (24/2), Mạng Việt Nam của công ty VTC đã chính thức sử dụng tên miền hai ký tự Go.vn và là website đầu tiên ở Việt Nam được cấp loại tên miền này.
Từ khi ra mắt vào ngày 19/5/2010 đến nay, Mạng Việt Nam sử dụng tên miền goonline.vn. Một đại diện của Mạng Việt Nam cho rằng đây là sự kiện có ý nghĩa, giúp người dùng mạng xã hội này truy cập dễ dàng hơn.
Tính đến thời điểm này, số thành viên đăng ký Mạng Việt Nam đã chạm ngưỡng 3 triệu. Ở Go.vn, với ba kênh Giáo dục – Giải trí – Giao tiếp được tích hợp trên các phân hệ, người dùng chỉ cần đăng ký một tài khoản là có thể sử dụng tất cả các dịch vụ mà Go.vn cung cấp như: goEdu (Giáo dục), goPhotos, goClips, myGo (mạng xã hội trên hệ thống Mạng Việt Nam)…
Sắp tới, Go.vn sẽ cho ra mắt những phân hệ mang tính đặc thù, hướng tới mở rộng cộng đồng, đáp ứng nhu cầu của từng nhóm đối tượng sử dụng.Không ngừng hoàn thiện phong cách, nâng cấp sản phẩm, phiên bản 2 “Dòng chảy thời gian” được xem như một bước ngoặt và gửi gắm nhiều kỳ vọng của đội ngũ lãnh đạo và vận hành Mạng Việt Nam. Với phiên bản này, những chuyển động từ cộng đồng được ưu tiên thể hiện ở trang chủ. Các mối quan hệ Tôi – Bạn Bè – Cộng Đồng được nhấn mạnh trong cách thể hiện trên ba Tab chủ đạo của go.vn. Song song với việc mở thêm những phân hệ mới, Mạng Việt Nam cũng lắng nghe và tiếp thu ý kiến của người dùng, chọn lọc để đưa ra các quyết định nhằm hoàn thiện sản phẩm: một số phân hệ đã được thu gọn, chuyển thành tính năng.
Một lãnh đạo của Mạng Việt Nam cho biết, sự kiện này sẽ được chào mừng cùng với thời điểm công bố thành viên thứ 3 triệu của go.vn. Theo đó, Mạng Việt Nam sẽ tổ chức một chuỗi các sự kiện lớn để chào mừng thành viên đặc biệt này.
M.Q
Đỗ Đức Dũng - hà nội
VTC làm việc chán như mèo mửa, toàn nhét con ông cháu cha vào làm việc. Hội này toàn chém gió và chơi đế chế, lập trình viên gì mà dùng powerpoint cũng không biết, toàn đi nhặt nhạnh lung tung rồi chắp vá và rồi cuối cùng ra mắt 1 sản phẩm được mọi người mong đợi đó là go.vn.
24/02/2011 06:31:00
Nguyễn Anh Khoa - Hồ Chí Minh
Trời mình không biết nó là cái gì nữa. Cái cơ bản nhất Quán 1 trong 7 nguyên tắc vàng Vậy mà cũng không có. không biết VTC làm sao nữa
28/02/2011 07:48:00
ICTnews - Hôm nay (24/2), Mạng Việt Nam của công ty VTC đã chính thức sử dụng tên miền hai ký tự Go.vn và là website đầu tiên ở Việt Nam được cấp loại tên miền này.
Từ khi ra mắt vào ngày 19/5/2010 đến nay, Mạng Việt Nam sử dụng tên miền goonline.vn. Một đại diện của Mạng Việt Nam cho rằng đây là sự kiện có ý nghĩa, giúp người dùng mạng xã hội này truy cập dễ dàng hơn.
Tính đến thời điểm này, số thành viên đăng ký Mạng Việt Nam đã chạm ngưỡng 3 triệu. Ở Go.vn, với ba kênh Giáo dục – Giải trí – Giao tiếp được tích hợp trên các phân hệ, người dùng chỉ cần đăng ký một tài khoản là có thể sử dụng tất cả các dịch vụ mà Go.vn cung cấp như: goEdu (Giáo dục), goPhotos, goClips, myGo (mạng xã hội trên hệ thống Mạng Việt Nam)…
Sắp tới, Go.vn sẽ cho ra mắt những phân hệ mang tính đặc thù, hướng tới mở rộng cộng đồng, đáp ứng nhu cầu của từng nhóm đối tượng sử dụng.Không ngừng hoàn thiện phong cách, nâng cấp sản phẩm, phiên bản 2 “Dòng chảy thời gian” được xem như một bước ngoặt và gửi gắm nhiều kỳ vọng của đội ngũ lãnh đạo và vận hành Mạng Việt Nam. Với phiên bản này, những chuyển động từ cộng đồng được ưu tiên thể hiện ở trang chủ. Các mối quan hệ Tôi – Bạn Bè – Cộng Đồng được nhấn mạnh trong cách thể hiện trên ba Tab chủ đạo của go.vn. Song song với việc mở thêm những phân hệ mới, Mạng Việt Nam cũng lắng nghe và tiếp thu ý kiến của người dùng, chọn lọc để đưa ra các quyết định nhằm hoàn thiện sản phẩm: một số phân hệ đã được thu gọn, chuyển thành tính năng.
Một lãnh đạo của Mạng Việt Nam cho biết, sự kiện này sẽ được chào mừng cùng với thời điểm công bố thành viên thứ 3 triệu của go.vn. Theo đó, Mạng Việt Nam sẽ tổ chức một chuỗi các sự kiện lớn để chào mừng thành viên đặc biệt này.
M.Q
Đỗ Đức Dũng - hà nội
VTC làm việc chán như mèo mửa, toàn nhét con ông cháu cha vào làm việc. Hội này toàn chém gió và chơi đế chế, lập trình viên gì mà dùng powerpoint cũng không biết, toàn đi nhặt nhạnh lung tung rồi chắp vá và rồi cuối cùng ra mắt 1 sản phẩm được mọi người mong đợi đó là go.vn.
24/02/2011 06:31:00
Nguyễn Anh Khoa - Hồ Chí Minh
Trời mình không biết nó là cái gì nữa. Cái cơ bản nhất Quán 1 trong 7 nguyên tắc vàng Vậy mà cũng không có. không biết VTC làm sao nữa
28/02/2011 07:48:00
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