Bloomberg.com: U.S.

July 29 (Bloomberg) -- Starbucks Corp., the world's largest chain of coffee shops, will cut another 1,000 jobs and eliminate the chief operating officer position as the company seeks to reverse slumping sales.

Operating chief Martin Coles will take over as president of Starbucks Coffee International, the Seattle-based company said today in a statement. Jim Alling, the previous international chief, is leaving the company.

Starbucks founder Howard Schultz, 55, resumed the position of chief executive officer in January to revitalize the chain's cafes after U.S. customer visits declined. Earlier this month, he announced plans to close 600 stores in the U.S. and eliminate as many as 12,000 positions, or 7 percent of the workforce.

``They're just streamlining a lot of their overhead business units at this point,'' said Sharon Zackfia, an analyst at William Blair & Co. in Chicago. She recommends investors buy the shares.

About 550 of the latest jobs being eliminated are non- store positions, spokeswoman Bridget Baker said. The company employed about 172,000 as of last September

Starbucks climbed 76 cents, or 5.3 percent, to $14.99 at 4 p.m. in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. The shares have dropped 18 percent since Schultz took over again.

Australia Cuts

Earlier today, the coffee-shop chain said it will shut three-fourths of its 84 stores in Australia within the next five days, backing away from a market it entered eight years ago.

Starbucks probably will concentrate more of its growth in China and Japan, Zackfia said. Mexico and South America have also been ``very good markets,'' she said.

``They've just started to scratch the surface in Brazil, which has a lot of people, and a lot of people drinking coffee,'' Zackfia said.

Schultz has called the company's problems ``self- induced,'' and vowed to introduce more innovative products and clean up aging stores. Since January, Starbucks has introduced a milder blend of coffee, new drinks and consumer-loyalty cards, and is tinkering with breakfast-sandwich recipes so their smell doesn't overwhelm coffee aromas.

Management Appointments

Starbucks also named Michelle Gass to oversee marketing, food and beverage; Dorothy Kim to run global strategy; and Peter Gibbons to head the company's supply-chain operations. Vivek Varma will manage communications.

Starbucks opened its first store in 1971 in Seattle's Pike Place Market as a place to sell beans and coffee-making equipment. The company was named for the coffee-drinking first mate in the novel ``Moby Dick.''

Starbucks reports third-quarter financial results tomorrow.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lauren Coleman-Lochner in New York at llochner@bloomberg.net.

Vonage names former AT&T executive as new CEO

NEW YORK (Associated Press) - Struggling with tough competition, Internet telephony provider Vonage Holdings Corp. has turned to a former marketing executive from AT&T Inc. to polish up the company's image as its new CEO.

The Holmdel-based company said Tuesday that its board of directors has selected Marc Lefar as the company's new chief executive.

He replaces company founder Jeffrey Citron, who has served as interim CEO since April 2007, when Michael Snyder stepped down as the company's legal challenges and financial losses mounted.

Lefar served as chief marketing officer of Cingular Wireless, now AT&T Mobility, for more than four years, and later founded a technology and media consultancy called Marketing Insights.

Vonage is one of the leading providers of Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, services, which allows people to make cheap or free calls over a broadband Internet connection. With 2.6 million customers, Vonage is the leading independent Internet phone service, but its once rapid growth has lost steam as cable companies like Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Inc., have rolled out competing services.

Due to high marketing costs and patent-infringement lawsuits from phone companies, Vonage has lost more than $967 million over the past five years.

Lefar said in a statement that he will focus on improving the customer experience, and that "meaningful, intuitive features will accelerate growth and improve loyalty."

Vonage shares gained 3 cents to $1.45 in after-hours trading Tuesday. They had closed the regular trading session down 4 cents, or 2.7 percent, at $1.42. News of the appointment of a permanent CEO leaked last week. 

Surgical Errors Cost Almost $1.5B a Year - washingtonpost.com

MONDAY, July 28 (HealthDay News) -- Preventing medical errors that occur during or after surgery could save lives and almost $1.5 billion a year, according to U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) study.

The researchers analyzed data on more than 161,000 patients in employer-based health plans who underwent surgery between 2001 and 2002.

The study found that insurers paid an additional $28,218 (52 percent more) and an additional $19,480 (48 percent more) for each surgery patient who suffered acute respiratory failure or post-operative infections, respectively, compared to patients who didn't suffer those complications.

Among the other findings:

Nursing care associated with medical errors, including pressure ulcers and hip fractures, cost an additional $12,196 (33 percent more) per patient.Metabolic problems, such as kidney failure or uncontrolled blood sugar, linked to medical errors cost an additional $11,797 (32 percent more) per patient.Blood clots or other vascular or pulmonary problems associated with medical errors cost an additional $7,838 (25 percent more) per patient.Wound opening tied to medical errors cost an additional $1,426 (6 percent more) per patient.

In addition, the study found that one out of every 10 patients who died within 90 days of surgery did so due to a preventable error, and one-third of the deaths occurred after the initial hospital discharge.

The study was published in the July 28 issue of the journalHealth Services Research.

"Like the physical and emotional harm caused by medical errors, the financial consequences don't stop at the hospital door. Eliminating medical errors and their after-effects must continue to be top priority for our health care system," AHRQ director Dr. Carolyn M. Clancy said in an agency news release.

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For parents, a phone dilemma -- chicagotribune.com

NEW YORK — It's a signature parenting dilemma of the wireless age: Should kids have cell phones?

It pits parents' desire to keep tabs on their offspring against the feeling that it's wrong for youngsters to spend time chatting and texting.

Now there's further ammunition: The warning last week by the head of a prominent cancer research institute to his faculty and staff. Limit cell phone use, he said, because of the possible cancer risk — especially when it comes to children.

The warning from Dr. Ronald Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, was based on early, unpublished data and came despite studies that have not found a link between increased tumors and cell phone use. But it's struck a nerve among parents.

"Now we hear about this possible medical risk," said Marybeth Hicks, mother of four. "I couldn't possibly know if it's real or not."

It's hard to gauge but in 2004, 21 percent of those ages 8 to 10 and 36 percent of the 11 to 14 group had phones, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Should the latest medical news cause huge concern? "If you've got good reasons for them to have it, I'd go ahead," said Frank Barnes, a professor who chaired a recent report on the subject. However, he added, "they've probably got other things they should be doing."

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Industry says granite countertops are safe to use

MONDAY JULY 28, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- The Marble Institute of America on Friday responded to the studies by Rice University physics professor W.J. Llope saying that granite countertops pose no significant health risk.

Earlier, Llope was cited by Houston Chronicle as finding that some granite countertops generate gamma radiation and radon gas at a level that is considered dangerous by the U.S. government.

In its statement, the MIA categorized the studies as junk science and cited new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) statements to say that radon gas and radiation released from granite countertops do not pose a risk.

The MIA represents producers and quarriers, fabricators, installers, distributors and contractors worldwide in the natural dimension stone industry.

"While natural minerals such as granite may occasionally emit radon gas, the levels of radon attributable to such sources are not typically high," the EPA statement was quoted by MIA as saying.

"EPA believes the principal source of radon in homes is soil gas that is drawn indoors through a natural suction process.”

In an EPA statement cited by the industrial organization, the EPA acknowledges that the "it is possible for any granite sample to contain varying concentrations of uranium that can produce radon gas.  Some granite used in countertops may contribute variably to indoor radon levels.”

But the government agency goes on to say that it "has no reliable data to conclude that types of granite used in countertops are significantly increasing indoor radon levels."

The MIA also quoted a statement by the EPA to discount worry about the radiation from granite countertops. "Construction materials such as concrete, cinder blocks, bricks, and granite contain small amounts of radioactive materials that are found naturally in the materials used to make them," meaning that radiation is not unique with granite countertops.

"Every time researchers have applied rigorous scientific standards to testing, the results have found that granite countertops pose no risk," said Jim Hogan, president of the MIA.

"Repeated studies have found that granite is safe. Unfortunately, some recent junk science being reported as fact only serves to panic the public, not inform it. Our goal is to end this fear mongering by facilitating the creation of a real scientific standard for testing granite countertops."

Llope tested 55 stones of 25 varieties of granite stones purchased from local dealers and found some homeowners would be exposed to 100 millirems of radiation in just a few months, exceeding the annual exposure limit set by the Department of Energy for visitors to nuclear labs.

Llope did not publish the names of the granite countertops that he found are most dangerous, but he was cited as saying that the highly radioactive varieties include striated granites from Brazil and Namibia.

In a document published on his website, Llope said there is no safe threshold for radiation and the general guideline is that each rem of radiation would cause cancer in 4 people in a population of 10,000.

Some granite countertops he tested released one rem of radiation in just 250 hours or 10 days.

But the MIA cited two recent studies by researchers at the University of Akron and Consumer Reports as finding no grounds to fear granite countertops because radon gas did not seem to be an issue.

It is not immediately clear if these two studies tested radiation from granite countertops.

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Central Valley air quality suffers from fires - San Jose Mercury News

FRESNO, Calif.—Smoke from a fire burning out of control near Yosemite National Park has prompted air quality warnings as far south as Kern County.

Officials from the San Joaquin Valley Air District say particulate levels from the fire, and another one near in Fresno County, are expected to be high from San Joaquin County south through Bakersfield.

Particulate in smoke can cause health problems, asthma attacks and acute bronchitis and increase the risk of respiratory infections. Air district officials warn people to avoid prolonged exposure and heavy exertion outdoors.

The fire near Yosemite fire has destroyed 12 homes and forced the evacuation of about 200 others. Fire officials say it has charred more than 40 square miles since a target shooter sparked a flame Friday.

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WTF? damn, she is madd late-90's FOXNews.com - Britney Spears Nominated for Video Music Award - Celebrity Gossip | Entertainment News | Arts And Entertainment

Britney Spears is in the running for a 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, it was announced on Friday.

After thousands of votes on VMA.MTV.com (along with ballots from select industry insiders), the 26-year-old VMA veteran is up for Best Female Music Video for "Piece of Me."

At last year's VMAs, Spears appeared nervous, out-of-shape and just plain out-of-it on stage, botching what was supposed to be her "comeback performance."

Spears will compete in the category against Katy Perry for "I Kissed a Girl," Rihanna for "Take a Bow," Mariah Carey for "Touch My Body" and Jordin Sparks for "No Air."

The 25th annual awards will be hosted by British actor/comedian Russell Brand. The show will air live on Sept. 7 at 9 p.m. ET/PT from Paramount Studios in Hollywood.

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