A Moment of Limelight

Saturday evening hundreds of U.S. Senate staff and colleagues gathered on the Capitol steps to honor the late Senator Edward Kennedy.The senators' flag-draped coffin was brought by for a brief ceremony led by House Chaplain Rev.Daniel Coughlin,who described the senator as exhibiting true contemplative leadership.Across the street from the Capitol,members of the public assembled.The U.S. Capitol Police estimated the crowd to be about 1,000 people.As the police paced,the crowd chattered and sometimes laughed,lively despite the tropical heat of Washington in August.
Many of the staffers carried small American flags,or stuck them in their pockets.Several of them wore business suits in spite of the oppressive conditions.At least one staffer sported a Boston Red Sox cap-the late senators' favorite team.It was a rare glimpse of just how many people it takes to run the daily operations of the U.S. Senate.Representative Patrick Kennedy(D-Rhode Island),Senator Kennedy's son,told the staffers his father would be very proud to see you all out here today,and I thank you on behalf of my family.After a few prayers and patriotic songs,the cortege moved on to Arlington National Cemetery for a twilight interment,sent off by applause and cheers from the steadfast hard workers.

Health Uncle:Hand Washing Works

A study in the Journal of Clinical Outcomes Management shows the importance of hand washing by health care workers.Conducted at a medical center near Baltimore,the study tracked an effort by the hospital to reduce the spread of the deadly MRSA infection,caused by an antibiotic-resistant staph bacterium.Certain staff members acted as enforcers of the hand washing regimen,reminding offenders of their responsibility.In consequence,during a three year time frame,hand washing increased from about 40% to more than 90%,and the number of hospital-transmitted MRSA infections went down by 49%,in spite of MRSA admissions going up.The unnecessary usage of antibiotics contributes to the resistance shown by MRSA bacteria in recent years.
The study also serves to remind everyone of the necessity of hygiene for good health.

Fund Manager Sees Overextension

Barbara Marcin,fund manager of the PIMCO Blue Chip Value Fund,thinks we're about 6-9 months ahead of ourselves.You should be a little more defensive,buying high quality companies with global exposure that pay a dividend,such as PepsiCo,Kraft Foods or Johnson and Johnson.They have good balance sheets with strong cash flow.Their relative performance is what's gonna stand out in the next year or two,Ms.Marcin believes.Her colleague at PIMCO,Mohamed El-Erian,says that the market and economics are not reconciled right now.

Early Edition:Manufacturing Picks Up

The Empire State Manufacturing Index showed a big jump in new orders and shipments for July.The index rose 13% to a reading of 12.1.It is the first time the Empire State showed regional growth since February 2007.At the same time,the Philly Fed index showed a reading of 4.2 for July,versus -7.5 for June.A reading above 0 indicates expansion in Mid-Atlantic manufacturing.These positive readings are probably due to inventory replenishment,rather than a spike in consumer demand.As such,they may be only a temporary improvement.

Health Uncle:Businesses Asked to Prepare

The U.S. government is asking the business community to prepare now for what could be an autumn resurgence of the H1N1 virus,or swine flu.Businesses are being urged to administer the regular flu shot early this year,and to encourage vaccination of those at risk with the swine flu vaccine as soon as possible.At risk groups include pregnant women,younger workers and those with weakened immune systems.Businesses should also ask those with flu symptoms to stay home.Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said let's not play wait-and-see.We are asking the business community to be proactive.Should numerous workers fall ill,the economic impact would be substantial.Each business should develop unique contingency plans.
The government expects 45 million doses of swine flu vaccine,produced by GlaxoSmithKline,Novartis and others,to be available by mid-October.The vaccine is currently in clinical trials,some of them for children.One father remarked that his child might as well get the free trial shot now,rather than have to pay for it later.Two injections may be required,in addition to the regular flu vaccine.The pediatric trials are being held at 11 sites in 9 states.Each child gets a 40 dollar gift card for participating.
The World Health Organization is warning that the number of swine flu cases worldwide could double every three days for several months.The total could reach two billion cases.So far,more than 14,000 deaths from swine flu have been reported.

NASA Budget Won't Fly

Norm Augustine,former Lockheed Martin CEO,says that NASA's current human spaceflight program isn't executable with the resources we have.Mr.Augustine is leading a panel evaluating the program for NASA and President Barack Obama,the Review of Human Spaceflight Plans Committee.We are short four billion dollars;plus there are formidable technical challenges to consider.One of them is cosmic rays,which may be dangerous to the astronauts.The lengthy missions ahead would involve exposure to the rays for long periods of time,and the result of that is unknown.As well,the astronauts would be weightless for extended periods,and that is known to be harmful.
Going to Mars is an even greater challenge than returning to the Moon.It takes radio signals 20 minutes to travel from Mars back to earth.The astronauts would really be on their own out there.We spent a lot of money on the Apollo Moon missions.Going to Mars would be much more expensive.
Mr.Augustine's panel started out with over 3,000 options.They have narrowed them down to four-plus the basic program.One of the options is to delay the new Aries program,extending the shuttle program to fill in the gap.The routine transport of goods and people should be commercialized while the astronauts focus on scientific work.A 20% increase in NASA's budget would get us to Mars,the asteroids,and back to the Moon.
Today we are partnered with our former space rivals the Russians,Mr.Augustine observed.Many of our spacecraft use Russian engines.Space is one of the few areas where America still leads.If we don't lead,someone else will,he warned.
The committee met with NASA and White House officials on 14 August.The final report of the committee is being prepared.

Early Edition:Ivanka Trump Assesses Situation

Ivanka Trump of The Trump Organization says she isn't totally sure the recent stock market gains are based on fundamentals.I just don't know how to believe this is a V-shaped recovery,as opposed to a W.Commercial real estate hasn't really entered the system yet.I have a feeling that we're going to be coming out of this very slowly.Our consumers are still coming,but people are much more tentative in real estate and jewelry.We launched our jewelry line two years ago,Ms.Trump noted,wearing some costume earrings from the collection.
A massive deleveraging has to occur in commercial real estate,Ms.Trump believes.There has to somehow be a rationalization of that system.When people aren't hiring,they don't need office space.There's much more vacancy in the New York midtown core.Bankers are starting to call again to solicit business,but nobody's making substantial or reasonable loans,Ivanka Trump observed.A willowy blond,Ms.Trump has appeared with her father Donald on The Apprentice reality T.V. show.