Federal agencies must protect America's Pacific Island monuments from illegal fishing now

Posted on 22nd February 2012 in The monuments of world

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Contact: Bill Chandler
bill.chandler@marine-conservation.org
202-546-5346
Marine Conservation Biology Institute

NOAA and Fish and Wildlife Service now 3 years behind schedule on banning commercial fishing

Washington, DC (February 22, 2012) � Today, Marine Conservation Institute filed a formal petition to the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce, asking them to prohibit commercial fishing in America’s sensitive and pristine Pacific Island marine national monuments, a ban that President George W. Bush declared when he established the monuments over three years ago.

In January 2009, President Bush established three marine monuments in the central Pacific and prohibited commercial fishing in them because they are incredibly rich marine ecosystems that have been damaged by commercial fishing and in the past. Collectively, the monuments cover 193,000 square miles, an area larger than the state of California. These are the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (a collection of isolated coral island possessions), the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument in American Samoa, and the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument. The three monuments wrap around a number of National Wildlife Refuges, most of which existed prior to the creation of the monuments.

William Chandler, Vice President for Government Affairs at Marine Conservation Institute, said, “When President Bush designated these magnificent areas for preservation, he specifically directed that commercial fishing be prohibited in them immediately. But now, over three years later, the fishing ban and associated penalties for illegal fishing within the monuments have yet to be put into place. As a result, and despite evidence of illegal fishing in the monuments, the Coast Guard won’t enforce the ban. This is inexplicable. We’re just trying to get the Administration to do what the presidential designation documents say. There is simply no justification for delay.”

Marine Conservation Institute actively supported the designation of the Pacific Remote Islands National Monument, and remains an advocate for conservation of natural resources within all of the Pacific monuments. Illegal fishing within the monuments threatens these relatively pristine marine ecosystems and their populations of corals, rare reef fish, overfished tuna, sea turtles, whales, and seabirds.

Chandler said, “It is hard to believe a clear directive of the president has gone unimplemented for so long. The responsible federal agencies have had three years to establish fishing rules that ban commercial fishing and leave recreational and indigenous intact, but they have not yet delivered. Without such a ban, these unique ecosystems with their sensitive populations could be damaged by fishermen or their vessels. The world’s largest population of giant clams, nesting sea turtles, and areas of tremendous biological diversity are all at risk.”

###

The full text of the Marine Conservation Institute petition to the Secretaries of the Interior and Commerce is available at: www.marine-conservation.org

About Marine Conservation Institute
“Saving wild ocean places, for us and future generations”

Marine Conservation Institute is a nonprofit organization dedicated to saving our living oceans. We work with scientists, politicians, government officials and other organizations around the world to protect essential ocean places and the wild species in them. We use the latest science to identify important marine ecosystems around the world, and then advocate for their protection, for us and future generations.

Find Marine Conservation Institute online at www.marine-conservation.org, Twitter, Facebook and on the blog Marine Conservation News.

About the Pacific Islands Monuments

On January 6, 2009, President George W. Bush proclaimed the Pacific Remote Islands (PRIM), Rose Atoll, and Marianas Trench to be Marine National Monuments with Presidential Proclamations 8335, 8336 and 8337 (collectively, “the Proclamations”). This designation of the three Pacific Monuments extended protection to nearly 200,000 square miles of unique natural resources and was the largest act of marine conservation in history. The President’s designation of the Pacific Monuments recognized their ecological, scientific and cultural importance, biological diversity and other unique characteristics, and the need to protect them.

The Proclamations invoke the authority of the Antiquities Act of 1906, which authorizes the President of the United States to designate lands and waters of the United States as National Monuments. Exercising this authority, President Bush established the Pacific Monuments, prohibited commercial fishing, and delegated management authority to the Departments of the Interior and Commerce. Subsequently, FWS and NOAA have affirmed their management authority for the Monuments.

For the PRIM, DOI, through FWS, has responsibility for management of the Monument (including out to 12 nautical miles (“nmi”) from the mean low water lines of Baker, Howland, and Jarvis Islands, Johnston, Palmyra, and Wake Atolls, and Kingman Reef) and the National Wildlife Refuges contained therein, pursuant to the Proclamation, the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. � 668dd-668ee) (“National Wildlife Refuge System Act”), and other applicable legal authorities. Commerce, acting through NOAA, has primary management responsibility seaward of 12 to 50 nmi with respect to fishery-related activities pursuant to the Proclamation, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (“MSA”), and other applicable legal authorities.

For the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument, management responsibility was assigned to the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce. NOAA was assigned primary management responsibility for fishery-related activities in the Monument’s marine areas located seaward of the mean low water line of Rose Atoll, pursuant to the MSA and other applicable authority.

For the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument, the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, has responsibility for management of the Monument; except that the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, has primary responsibility for management with respect to fishery-related activities regulated pursuant to the MSA, the Proclamation, and other applicable legal authorities.

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[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 22-Feb-2012
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Contact: Bill Chandler
bill.chandler@marine-conservation.org
202-546-5346
Marine Conservation Biology Institute

NOAA and Fish and Wildlife Service now 3 years behind schedule on banning commercial fishing

Washington, DC (February 22, 2012) � Today, Marine Conservation Institute filed a formal petition to the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce, asking them to prohibit commercial fishing in America’s sensitive and pristine Pacific Island marine national monuments, a ban that President George W. Bush declared when he established the monuments over three years ago.

In January 2009, President Bush established three marine monuments in the central Pacific and prohibited commercial fishing in them because they are incredibly rich marine ecosystems that have been damaged by commercial fishing and in the past. Collectively, the monuments cover 193,000 square miles, an area larger than the state of California. These are the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (a collection of isolated coral island possessions), the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument in American Samoa, and the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument. The three monuments wrap around a number of National Wildlife Refuges, most of which existed prior to the creation of the monuments.

William Chandler, Vice President for Government Affairs at Marine Conservation Institute, said, “When President Bush designated these magnificent areas for preservation, he specifically directed that commercial fishing be prohibited in them immediately. But now, over three years later, the fishing ban and associated penalties for illegal fishing within the monuments have yet to be put into place. As a result, and despite evidence of illegal fishing in the monuments, the Coast Guard won’t enforce the ban. This is inexplicable. We’re just trying to get the Administration to do what the presidential designation documents say. There is simply no justification for delay.”

Marine Conservation Institute actively supported the designation of the Pacific Remote Islands National Monument, and remains an advocate for conservation of natural resources within all of the Pacific monuments. Illegal fishing within the monuments threatens these relatively pristine marine ecosystems and their populations of corals, rare reef fish, overfished tuna, sea turtles, whales, and seabirds.

Chandler said, “It is hard to believe a clear directive of the president has gone unimplemented for so long. The responsible federal agencies have had three years to establish fishing rules that ban commercial fishing and leave recreational and indigenous intact, but they have not yet delivered. Without such a ban, these unique ecosystems with their sensitive populations could be damaged by fishermen or their vessels. The world’s largest population of giant clams, nesting sea turtles, and areas of tremendous biological diversity are all at risk.”

###

The full text of the Marine Conservation Institute petition to the Secretaries of the Interior and Commerce is available at: www.marine-conservation.org

About Marine Conservation Institute
“Saving wild ocean places, for us and future generations”

Marine Conservation Institute is a nonprofit organization dedicated to saving our living oceans. We work with scientists, politicians, government officials and other organizations around the world to protect essential ocean places and the wild species in them. We use the latest science to identify important marine ecosystems around the world, and then advocate for their protection, for us and future generations.

Find Marine Conservation Institute online at www.marine-conservation.org, Twitter, Facebook and on the blog Marine Conservation News.

About the Pacific Islands Monuments

On January 6, 2009, President George W. Bush proclaimed the Pacific Remote Islands (PRIM), Rose Atoll, and Marianas Trench to be Marine National Monuments with Presidential Proclamations 8335, 8336 and 8337 (collectively, “the Proclamations”). This designation of the three Pacific Monuments extended protection to nearly 200,000 square miles of unique natural resources and was the largest act of marine conservation in history. The President’s designation of the Pacific Monuments recognized their ecological, scientific and cultural importance, biological diversity and other unique characteristics, and the need to protect them.

The Proclamations invoke the authority of the Antiquities Act of 1906, which authorizes the President of the United States to designate lands and waters of the United States as National Monuments. Exercising this authority, President Bush established the Pacific Monuments, prohibited commercial fishing, and delegated management authority to the Departments of the Interior and Commerce. Subsequently, FWS and NOAA have affirmed their management authority for the Monuments.

For the PRIM, DOI, through FWS, has responsibility for management of the Monument (including out to 12 nautical miles (“nmi”) from the mean low water lines of Baker, Howland, and Jarvis Islands, Johnston, Palmyra, and Wake Atolls, and Kingman Reef) and the National Wildlife Refuges contained therein, pursuant to the Proclamation, the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. � 668dd-668ee) (“National Wildlife Refuge System Act”), and other applicable legal authorities. Commerce, acting through NOAA, has primary management responsibility seaward of 12 to 50 nmi with respect to fishery-related activities pursuant to the Proclamation, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (“MSA”), and other applicable legal authorities.

For the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument, management responsibility was assigned to the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce. NOAA was assigned primary management responsibility for fishery-related activities in the Monument’s marine areas located seaward of the mean low water line of Rose Atoll, pursuant to the MSA and other applicable authority.

For the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument, the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, has responsibility for management of the Monument; except that the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, has primary responsibility for management with respect to fishery-related activities regulated pursuant to the MSA, the Proclamation, and other applicable legal authorities.

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African-American Museums Rising to Recognize Civil Rights

Posted on 19th February 2012 in The monuments of world
By KIM SEVERSON
Published: February 19, 2012

ATLANTA — Drive through any state in the Deep South and you will find a monument or a museum dedicated to civil rights.

A visitor can peer into the motel room in Memphis where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was staying when he was shot or stand near the lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C., where four young men began a sit-in that helped end segregation.

Other institutions are less dramatic, like the Tubman African American Museum in Macon, Ga., where Jim Crow-era toilet fixtures are on display alongside folk art.

But now, a second generation of bigger, bolder museums is about to emerge in a handful of major cities.

Atlanta; Jackson, Miss.; and Charleston, S.C., all have projects in the works. Coupled with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, which breaks ground in Washington this week, they represent nearly $750 million worth of plans.

Collectively, they also mark an emerging era of scholarship and interest in the history of both civil rights and African-Americans that is to a younger generation what other major historical events were to their grandparents. “We’re at that stage where the civil rights movement is the new World War II,” said Doug Shipman, the chief executive officer for the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, a $100 million project that is to break ground in Atlanta this summer and open in 2014.

“It’s a move to the next phase of telling this story,” he said.

The collection at the museum, which is to be set on two and half acres of prime downtown real estate donated by Coca-Cola, will include 10,000 documents and artifacts from Dr. King and a series of paintings based on the life of Representative John Lewis, Democrat of Georgia, by the artist Benny Andrews, who died in 2006.

Like many of the new museums, the Atlanta center aims higher than the first wave of monuments to the period. It will link the civil rights movement to global human rights, exploring how, for example, Dr. King’s speeches helped fuel the Arab Spring.

Although the momentum for the new museums is strong, the recession has shaved the size and shape of some of the projects, and raising money can be a challenge.

John Fleming, the director of International African American Museum planned for Charleston and a former president of the Association of African American Museums points to the United States National Slavery Museum in Fredericksburg, Va. That project, led by former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, was supposed to open on 38 acres in 2004. It recently went into bankruptcy, and people who donated money and artifacts are upset.

Although exactly what went wrong is still being debated, Mr. Fleming said that in part the project aimed too high and did not adjust as the economy softened. Mr. Fleming’s own project began as an $80 million, 70,000-square-foot museum. Now, it is smaller by $30 million and 20,000 square feet.

“Most black museums have difficulty raising funds,” Mr. Fleming said. “Being truthful, I don’t think people in the African-American community have stepped up to the plate in terms of making significant donations to these projects.”

Other directors disagree, saying a generation whose parents or grandparents lived through the 1950s and 1960s are now elected officials and on foundation boards, where they have influence over where cultural dollars are spent.

“The folks who actually participated in the civil rights movement are getting to an age where legacy is important,” said Lonnie G. Bunch III, director of the Smithsonian’s African-American museum.

Interpreting history requires the passage of time, and the museums show a maturation of a movement whose seminal events are now a half-century past — enough time, scholars say, for a new interpretation of what they mean.

The election of President Obama, Mr. Shipman says, “caps the civil rights era and opens up the next chapter. There is a distance that allows new questions to be asked.”

As with the Holocaust and other historical events that eventually moved from painful reality to memorials and then to museums and academic scholarship, the importance of the civil rights movement gets heightened as the last of the participants begin to die.

“In some ways, it’s very much like the old Civil War veterans passing from the scene. Suddenly, the Civil War became more important,” said Philip Freelon, the architect who has designed most of the major civil rights museums in the country, including the projects at the Smithsonian and in Atlanta and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, a long-stalled project that finally secured $20 million from the State Legislature last April after Gov. Haley Barbour, a Republican, spoke in its favor.

The package also comes with an additional $18 million to build a state history museum next door.

That Mississippi would commit money to a civil rights museum at a time when the recession has put a tourniquet on state spending speaks to its cultural importance, backers said.

“These museums throughout the South are really a sea change,” said William Ferris, a University of North Carolina folklorist who edited the Encyclopedia of Southern Culture. “In Mississippi, to see a major civil rights museum is heartening in every sense.”

For some, however, there is concern that the movement to isolate the era in bigger and better museums helps people avoid meaningful conversations about the day-to-day racism that still expresses itself in everything from interactions at a grocery store to the presidential election.

“All of these efforts are important, but we still have not addressed the issue of race in America, and until we do, that hydra is going to keep raising its ugly head,” said Ayisha Cisse-Jeffries, vice president for global affairs and international policy at the African American Islamic Institute.

And then there is the question of attendance. With so many new museums with similar themes, are there enough interested visitors to go around?

“This is part of the larger museum boom globally,” Mr. Freelon said. “The business of cultural tourism is on the rise as baby boomers get older. They want to go places where history happened. They want to go back home.”

Directors say the idea is to create a network of institutions that enhance each other rather than detract. And each place intends to have a specific focus. In Charleston, where fund-raising is beginning for a museum dedicated to slavery, visitors will be able to walk the ground where 40 percent of the Africans who would be sold as slaves arrived.

The museum in Washington will be the most prominent of them all. An estimated four million visitors are expected to walk through the doors each year. The National Museum of American History sees about five million people.

Its vast collection will be more archival, and will include the original “Soul Train” sign, the dress that Rosa Parks wore the day she refused to give up her seat on the bus and the gospel hymn book that belonged to Harriet Tubman.

As with many museums and collections dedicated to African-American history — there are more than 200 in the country — the goal is to use black history as a lens on America.

“It is a new day, and the new day means this isn’t a time to remedy prior omissions,” Mr. Bunch said. “It really is a time to say this is how to understand who we are as Americans.”

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How to See a Tree

Posted on 10th February 2012 in The monuments of world
By MICHAEL KIMMELMAN
Published: February 10, 2012

For little more than a year, Mitch Epstein has been photographing trees around New York City, often setting out before dawn with an assistant and a 1985 parks-department list of arboreal landmarks. The idea grew out of an earlier series about energy production and consumption in America, in which trees served as foils for oil refineries and coal plants.

That was the America that Epstein found. The tree series shows the world, specifically the city where Epstein and his family live, as he prefers to see it. It also proves that you don’t have to travel far to go on a journey or to be awed by nature.

Coolly romantic and in black and white like Muybridge or Atget photographs, the pictures invert how most of us see the city. Without the focus on buildings and people, New York emerges as a wild place in plain sight, populated by eccentric creatures: Hangman’s Elm in Washington Square Park; a Caucasian wingnut in Brooklyn; an eastern cottonwood on Staten Island; an American elm in Central Park, growing from the rocks along Literary Walk like some giant hand reaching skyward out of the earth.

Epstein’s pictures are portraits of these trees, but only sort of. The trees are not archetypes. They’re neighborhood characters, metaphors for urban life and architectural monuments. Before a strip of Korean stores in Flushing, a stubbly bald cypress on Northern Boulevard stands on a windswept sidewalk — as with many of the trees Epstein picks out, it’s an immigrant in New York. In La Plaza Cultural garden in the East Village, a weeping willow, like some shambling teenager, hunches toward a clutch of young people as if trying to join their conversation. And on St. Nicholas Avenue at 163rd Street in Manhattan, an ancient English elm, “a totem in the neighborhood,” as Epstein puts it, with its aged limbs supported by steel cables, plays the cranky old man before an audience of dull gray buildings.

Then there’s the picture of a tulip tree in Queens. Said to be hundreds of years old, the tree is partly obscured by smaller, young tulips, but it has become a pilgrimage site for nature lovers who meditate on an abandoned milk crate next to the tree’s slim, craning trunk. Supplicants tune out the din from Douglaston Plaza and sometimes jot down thoughts in a notebook stuffed inside a plastic bag tied to a chain-link fence nearby. It’s Walden Pond beside the Long Island Expressway.

Unspoiled by digital effects, the photographs luxuriate in pregnant details. It is possible to make out each of the superfine branches of a silver linden in Prospect Park, caught like porcupine quills in the gap between seasons, and to take in all of the tattooed majesty of a massive weeping beech in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Into the beech — a wild behemoth, with weird orifices, not an inch of bark unspoiled — some vandal, we can see, has aptly carved Epstein’s implicit message across an upper branch. “HEAVEN,” it says.

Michael Kimmelman is the chief architecture critic for The Times.   

Editors: Kathy Ryan, Sheila Glaser

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Knoll Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2011 Results Announces acquisition of FilzFelt and Richard Schultz Design …

Posted on 7th February 2012 in The monuments of world

EAST GREENVILLE, PA, February 7, 2012 – Knoll, Inc. (NYSE: KNL – News) today announced results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2011.  Net sales were $223.1 million for the quarter, a decrease of 7.0% from fourth quarter 2010.  Operating profit was $27.8 million, or 12.5% of net sales, an increase of 14.9% from the fourth quarter of 2010.  The fourth quarter of 2011 includes a $5.4 million curtailment benefit associated with the modification of the Company`s pension and other post-retirement benefits.  Excluding this benefit operating profit was $22.4 million, or 10.0% of net sales, a decrease of 7.4% from the fourth quarter 2010.  Net income was $17.4 million, an increase of 61.1% when compared with the fourth quarter of 2010.  Diluted earnings per share was $0.37 for the quarter compared to $0.23 per share in the prior year. 

For the full year, net sales were $922.2 million, an increase of 13.9% when compared to 2010.  Operating profit was $97.1 million, or 10.5% of net sales, an increase of 50.1% when compared to 2010.  Net income was $58.0 million for 2011, an increase of 107.1% when compared to 2010.  Diluted earnings per share was $1.24 for the year compared to $0.61 per share in the prior year. 

“We are pleased with our overall performance in 2011,” commented Andrew Cogan, CEO. “We grew sales and profits, expanded our operating margins, reduced our debt and returned more cash through an increased dividend to our shareholders. We won the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award for Corporate and Institutional Achievement and made significant progress in putting in place robust strategies to improve the profitability of our core Office business while simultaneously investing in our high margin, high design content Specialty platform. The acquisitions we are announcing today of FilzFelt and Richard Schultz Design will serve to strengthen the portfolio of products that we can offer architects and designers and consumers through our Specialty businesses.”

 ”The sales decline that we experienced in the 4th quarter was the direct result of lessened project activity in our Government business and significantly reduced purchases from a single commercial client. While we expect challenging comps to continue at least through the first half of 2012, we believe that the recent softness in industry demand is more indicative of a transient lull than a broad based decline and that improving fundamentals as demonstrated in the recent Architectural Billing Index data should drive better industry conditions later in the year.” 

Fourth Quarter Results

Fourth quarter 2011 financial results highlights follow:

 
Dollars in Millions Except Per Share Data
 Three Months Ended Percent
12/31/11 12/31/10 Change
Net Sales $ 223.1 $ 239.8   (7.0) %
Gross Profit 70.7 77.2 (8.4) %
Operating Expenses 48.3 51.3 (5.8) %
Curtailment Benefit 5.4 -
Restructuring Charges - 1.7
Operating Profit 27.8 24.2 14.9 %
Net Income    17.4 10.8 61.1 %
Earnings Per Share – Diluted .37 .23 60.9 %

Beginning this quarter, we will report net sales and operating income by three defined reporting segments.  Our three reporting segments consist of Office, which includes systems, seating, storage, tables, desks and KnollExtra®  ergonomic accessories as well as the International sales of our North American Office products; a Studio segment which includes KnollStudio® and Knoll Europe (where over half our sales consist of KnollStudio®  products); and a Coverings segment encompassing  KnollTextiles®, Edelman®Leather, Spinneybeck®, and FilzfeltTM. For more information regarding these segments, see “Business Segment Results” below.

Net sales for the quarter were $223.1 million, a decrease of $16.7 million, or 7.0%, when compared with the fourth quarter of 2010.  Net sales for the Office segment were $157.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2011, a decrease of $13.0 million, or 7.6% when compared with the fourth quarter of 2010.  Net sales for the Studio segment were $40.1 million, a decrease of $4.6 million, or 10.3%, when compared with the fourth quarter of 2010.  The decline in the Studio segment during the fourth quarter of 2011 was entirely attributable to our European business.  Net sales for the Coverings segment were $25.7 million, an increase of $0.9 million, or 3.6%, when compared with the fourth quarter of 2010. 

Gross profit for the fourth quarter of 2011 was $70.7 million, a decrease of $6.5 million, or 8.4%, from the same period in 2010.   Gross margin decreased from 32.2% in the fourth quarter of 2010 to 31.7%.  The decrease in gross margin from the fourth quarter of 2010 was largely the result of lower absorption of our fixed costs in conjunction with our lower sales volumes and materials and transportation inflation. 

Operating expenses for the quarter were $48.3 million, or 21.6% of net sales, compared to $51.3 million, or 21.4% of net sales, for fourth quarter of 2010.  The decrease in operating expenses during the fourth quarter of 2011 was in large part due to lower commissions and incentive compensation as a result of our lower sales volumes when compared with the fourth quarter of 2010.

Our operating profit for the fourth quarter of 2011 was $27.8 million, an increase of $3.6 million, or 14.9%, when compared to the same period in 2010.  Operating profit for the fourth quarter of 2011 includes a $5.4 million curtailment benefit.  Excluding this benefit operating profit as a percentage of net sales was 10.0% for the fourth quarter of 2011.  Operating profit for the Office segment was $10.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2011, a decrease of $3.2 million, or 23.0% when compared with the fourth quarter of 2010.  Operating profit for the Studio segment was $6.0 million, a decrease of $1.2 million, or 16.7% when compared with the fourth quarter of 2010.  Operating profit for the Coverings segment was $5.7 million, an increase of $0.9 million, or 18.8% when compared to the fourth quarter of 2010.

During the fourth quarter 2011, other income included $0.6 million of foreign exchange gains and $0.6 million of miscellaneous expense related to a negative judicial ruling.  Other expense for the fourth quarter 2010 included $2.9 million of foreign exchange losses and $0.1 million of miscellaneous expense.

The effective tax rate was 34.7% for the fourth quarter of 2011, as compared to 37.2% for the same period last year.  The decrease in the effective tax rate is largely due to the mix of pretax income between the countries in which we operate.

Net income for the fourth quarter 2011 was $17.4 million, or $0.37 diluted earnings per share, as compared to $10.8 million, or $0.23 per share, for the same quarter in 2010. 

Cash generated from operations during the fourth quarter 2011 was $35.8 million, compared to $38.1 million in the same period of 2010.  Cash generated from operations was lower during the fourth quarter of 2011when compared with the fourth quarter of 2010 because of changes in assets and liabilities, primarily accounts payable.  Capital expenditures for the fourth quarter 2011 totaled $5.7 million compared to $4.4 million for 2010.  We repaid $5.0 million of debt during the fourth quarter of 2011 compared to $10.0 million during 2010.  The Company also paid dividends of $4.6 million, or $0.10 per share during the fourth quarter of 2011 compared to $2.8 million, $0.06 per share during the fourth quarter of 2010.

Full Year Results

2011 financial results highlights follow:

Dollars in Millions Except Per Share Data
 Twelve Months Ended Percent
12/31/11 12/31/10 Change
Net Sales $ 922.2 $ 809.5 13.9 %
Gross Profit 294.4 264.3 11.4 %
Operating Expenses 202.1 192.1 5.2 %
Curtailment Benefit 5.4 -
Restructuring Charges 0.7 7.6 (90.8) %
Operating Profit 97.1 64.7 50.1 %
Net Income 58.0 28.0 107.1 %
Earnings Per Share – Diluted 1.24 0.61 103.3 %

For the year, net sales totaled $922.2 million, an increase of $112.7 million, or 13.9%, from 2010 net sales of $809.5 million.  Net sales for the Office segment were $664.1 million, an increase of $101.7 million, or 18.1% when compared with the 2010.  Net sales for the Studio segment modestly increased to $152.7 million from $151.9 million during 2010.  Less large project activity in Europe tempered growth in our Studio segment during 2011.  Net sales for the Coverings segment were $105.4 million, an increase of $10.2 million, or 10.7%, when compared with 2010. 

During the full year 2011, gross margin decreased from 32.7% in 2010 to 31.9% in 2011.  The largest contributors to this decline were transportation and materials inflation, particularly steel.    The strengthening of the Canadian dollar during 2011 when compared to 2010 also negatively affected our gross margin.  Gross profit dollars increased 11.4% from $264.3 million in 2010 to $294.4 million in 2011. 

Operating expenses for 2011 were $202.1 million, or 21.9% of net sales, compared to $192.1 million, or 23.7% of net sales, for 2010.  The increase in operating expenses during 2011 was in large part due increased commissions and incentive compensation based upon the higher sales volumes as well as expenses related to infrastructure upgrades. 

Our operating profit for 2011 was $97.1 million, an increase of $32.4 million, or 50.1%, when compared with the same period in 2010.  Operating profit as a percent of net sales was 10.5% for 2011 and includes restructuring charges of $0.7 million and a curtailment benefit of $5.4 million.  Operating profit for the Office segment was $46.7 million in 2011, an increase of $13.8 million, or 41.9% when compared with 2010.  Operating profit for the Studio segment was $23.0 million, an increase of $2.1 million, or 10.0% when compared with 2010.  Operating profit for the Coverings segment was $22.7 million, an increase of $4.3 million, or 23.4% when compared to 2010.

Interest expense for 2011 decreased $7.7 million when compared with the full year 2010.  The decrease in interest expense is due to our lower outstanding debt and the expiration of two interest rate swap agreements that expired on June 9, 2011.  Other income in 2011 included $2.7 million of foreign exchange gains, $1.6 million of miscellaneous expense related to a negative judicial ruling, and $0.3 million of miscellaneous income.  Other expense in 2010 included $5.5 million of foreign exchange losses, a $1.2 million non-cash expense related to the ineffective portion of our interest rate swaps, and a $0.3 million gain on miscellaneous income. 

The effective tax rate was 34.7% for the year, as compared to 31.4% for the same period last year.  Our effective tax rate is dependent upon the mix of pretax income between the countries in which we operate.  In addition, during 2010 we recorded a $2.5 million tax benefit related to foreign tax credits.

We generated 2011 net income of $58.0 million, or $1.24 diluted earnings per share, compared to $28.0 million, or $0.61 diluted earnings per share, in 2010. 

Annual cash generated from operations in 2011 was $66.9 million, compared to $89.6 million the year before. Cash generated from operations was lower during 2011when compared with the 2010 because of changes in assets and liabilities, primarily accounts payable.  Capital expenditures in 2011 totaled $15.3 million compared to $8.3 million for 2010. During 2011 we repaid $33.0 million of debt compared to $50.0 million in 2010.  We also paid dividends of $16.7 million in 2011 compared with $5.5 million in 2010.

“Over the past twelve months we reduced our debt by $33.0 million bringing our total debt outstanding to $212.0 million at year end. Additionally, in order to take advantage of the current interest rate environment, we recently negotiated a new $450.0 million all revolver bank facility that will give us the flexibility we need through 2017″ commented Barry L. McCabe, EVP & CFO.

Business Segment Results

The following information categorizes the Company`s results into its defined reporting segments.
The Office segment serves corporate, government, healthcare, retail and other customers in the United States and Canada providing a portfolio of office furnishing solutions including systems, seating, storage and other products. The Studio segment includes KnollStudio® and the Company`s European subsidiaries which primarily sell KnollStudio® products.  The KnollStudio® portfolio includes a range of lounge seating; side, café and dining chairs; barstools; and conference, dining and occasional tables.  The Coverings segment includes, KnollTextiles®, Spinneybeck®, Edelman®Leather, and FilzfeltTM. These businesses serve a wide range of customers offering high quality textiles and leather. 

Three Months Ended
           December 31,
Net Sales (in millions) 2011 2010
  
Office $     157.3   $     170.3
Studio 40.1 44.7
Coverings 25.7  24.8
  
Total Sales  $ 223.1      $    239.8
Twelve Months Ended
           December 31,
2011 2010
  
Office $     664.1 $    562.4
Studio 152.7 151.9
Coverings 105.4  95.2
  
Total Sales  $ 922.2  $    809.5



Three Months Ended
           December 31,
Operating Profit (in millions) 2011 2010
  
Office $       10.7 $      13.9
Studio 6.0 7.2
Coverings 5.7  4.8
  
Total Segment Operating Profit 22.4 25.9
Curtailment Benefit 5.4 -
Restructuring Charges - (1.7)
Total Operating Profit $    27.8       $ 24.2



Twelve Months Ended
           December 31,
2011 2010
  
Office $       46.6 $          32.9
Studio 23.0 20.9
Coverings 22.7  18.4
  
Total Segment Operating Profit 92.3 72.2
Curtailment Benefit 5.4 -
Restructuring Charges (0.7 ) (7.6)
Total Operating Profit  $        97.1 (1)  $        64.7(1)

 (1) Results do not add due to rounding

Conference Call Information

Knoll will host a conference call on Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 10:00 A.M. EST to discuss its financial results.

The call will include slides; participants are encouraged to listen to and view the presentation via webcast at http://www.knoll.com; go to “About Knoll” and click on “Investor Relations”.

The conference call may also be accessed by dialing:

North America 800 510-0178
International    617 614-3450
Passcode           29061054

A replay of the webcast can be viewed by visiting the Investor Relations section of the Knoll corporate website.

In addition, an audio replay of the conference call will be available through February 14, 2012 by dialing 888 286-8010. International replay: 617 801-6888 (Passcode: 68938769).

About Knoll

Knoll is the recipient of the 2011 National Design Award for Corporate and Institutional Achievement from the Smithsonian`s Copper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. Since 1938, Knoll has been recognized internationally for creating workplace and residential furnishings that inspire, evolve and endure. Today, our commitment to modern design, our understanding of the workplace and our dedication to sustainable design has yielded a unique portfolio of products that respond and adapt to changing needs. Knoll is aligned with the U.S. Green Building Council and the Canadian Green Building Council and can help companies achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design LEED workplace certification. Knoll is the founding sponsor of the World Monuments Fund Modernism at Risk program.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements regarding Knoll, Inc.`s expected future financial position, results of operations, revenue levels, cash flows, business strategy, budgets, projected costs, capital expenditures, products, competitive positions, growth opportunities, plans and objectives of management for future operations, as well as statements that include words such as “anticipate,” “if,” “believe,” “plan,”  “goals, ” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “could,” “should,” “will,” and other similar expressions are forward- looking statements. This includes, without limitation, our statements and expectations regarding any current or future recovery in our industry.  Such forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain, and readers must recognize that actual results may differ materially from the expectations of Knoll management. Knoll does not undertake a duty to update such forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include corporate spending and service-sector employment, price competition, acceptance of Knoll`s new products, the pricing and availability of raw materials and components, foreign currency exchange, transportation costs, demand for high quality, well designed office furniture solutions, changes in the competitive marketplace, changes in the trends in the market for office furniture, the financial strength and stability of our suppliers, customers and dealers, access to capital, and other risks identified in Knoll`s annual report on Form 10-K, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Many of these factors are outside of Knoll`s control.

 

Contacts

Investors:        Barry L. McCabe
                        Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
                        Tel 215 679-1301
                        bmccabe@knoll.com

Media:             David E. Bright
                        Senior Vice President, Communications
                        Tel 212 343-4135
                        dbright@knoll.com

KNOLL, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
 (Dollars in thousands, except per share data)

Three Months Ended
                   December 31,		 Twelve Months Ended
                   December 31,
2011 2010 2011 2010
Sales $ 223,148    $ 239,784 $ 922,200    $ 809,467
Cost of sales 152,498    162,588 627,803    545,118
Gross profit 70,650    77,196 294,397    264,349
Selling, general, and administrative expenses 48,281    51,301 202,075    192,122
Restructuring and other charges - 1,690 696 7,565
Curtailment benefit (5,445 ) - (5,445 ) -
Operating profit 27,814    24,205 97,071    64,662
Interest expense 1,138    3,996 9,753    17,436
Other (income) expense, net (35 )    3,010 (1,508 ) 6,379
Income before income tax expense 26,711    17,199 88,826    40,847
Income tax expense 9,268    6,406 30,815    12,823
Net income $ 17,443    $ 10,793 $ 58,011    $ 28,024
Earnings per share:      
Basic $ .38    $ 0.24 $ 1.25    $ 0.61
Diluted $ .37    $ 0.23 $ 1.24    $ 0.61
Weighted-average shares outstanding:      
Basic 46,339,443    45,814,226 46,249,571    45,600,043
Diluted 46,767,149    46,130,869 46,835,712    45,970,680

KNOLL, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
 (Dollars in thousands, except per share data)

   December 31,
 2011		 December 31, 2010
ASSETS   
Current assets:   
Cash and cash equivalents    $ 28,263 $ 26,935
Customer receivables, net    126,078 126,780
Inventories    89,244 85,216
Prepaid and other current assets    21,308 22,229
Total current assets    264,893 261,160
Property, plant, and equipment, net    121,792 122,219
Intangible assets, net    297,250 298,347
Other noncurrent assets    4,156 5,706
Total Assets    $ 688,091 $ 687,432
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS` EQUITY
Current liabilities:   
Current maturities of long-term debt    $ - $ 135
Accounts payable    83,824 101,206
Other current liabilities    99,304 90,577
Total current liabilities    183,128 191,918
Long-term debt    212,000 245,000
Other noncurrent liabilities    127,540 124,128
Total liabilities    522,668 561,046
Stockholders` equity    165,423 126,386
Total Liabilities and Stockholders` Equity    $ 688,091 $ 687,432

KNOLL, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(Dollars in thousands)

Year Ended December 31,
2011 2010
Net income    $ 58,011 $ 28,024
  
Cash Flows provided by Operating Activities    66,921 89,632
Cash Flows used in Investing Activities    (16,332 ) (9,037 )
Cash Flows used in Financing Activities    (49,913 ) (57,487 )
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents    652 (2,134)
Increase in cash and cash equivalents    1,328 20,974
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period    26,935 5,961
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period    $ 28,263        $ 26,935




This announcement is distributed by Thomson Reuters on behalf of Thomson Reuters clients.

The owner of this announcement warrants that:
(i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and
(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the
information contained therein.

Source: Knoll, Inc. via Thomson Reuters ONE


HUG#1583109

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Madonna, Clint and a Surreal Super Bowl Halftime

Posted on 7th February 2012 in The monuments of world

I went into last night’s Madonna Super Bowl halftime show expecting to hate it: yet another performer whose appeal can charitably be described as “nostalgic” (see The Rolling Stones, The Who, etc.) blasting out a set of oldies while trying to hit that big squishy target of something-for-everyone. (“Dad, what’s Lady Gaga’s mom doing at the Super Bowl?”) I ended up—well, not loving it, maybe, but admiring it, respecting Madge’s continued ability to strike a pose and put on a show and learning a thing or two about Fake Roman-Egyptian History in the process.

A lot of the immediate complaints about the performance were that Madonna lip-synched her show. This didn’t bother me, because Madonna has never really been a singer; she’s a performer. At the height of her powers she was more about her ability to move, posture and provoke than to sing, and that’s an advantage in a way, because it means she can not-sing just as well in her 50s as she could in her 20s. What Madonna did, and does, instead is what a lot of great pop performers do: erect and occupy massive monuments to herself. And she put on a glittering one, a gold-encrusted, Egyptofabulous beefcake fantasia of antique decadence and lighting special effects, wearing an age-appropriate-ish pharaoh-valkyrie miniskirt and keeping up with a bevy of dancers. (That, my friends, is why you do yoga.)

Part of gracefully accepting the role of elder pop stateswoman is being able to delegate, and Madonna shared the spotlight (here’s the “something for everyone” part) with a crew of singers who might have carried off a halftime show on their own: Cee-Lo Green in a shimmery black caftan, an antic Nicky Minaj, and M.I.A., who apparently briefly flipped off the camera in a gesture so shocking that I had no idea she even did it until NBC issued an apology for it. (She also performed a snippet of “Party Rock Anthem” with LMFAO, the only part of the entire show that the Tuned In Jrs. looked up from the iPad to pay attention to.) The set list—a medley of hits, plus obligatory new song “Give Me All Your Luvin’”—wasn’t surprising, and the closing image (“World Peace” spelled out in lights on the field) was like a parody of a lame pop message. But it all could have been so much worse. Have we forgotten the Black-Eyed Peas already?

The other big event at halftime was Clint Eastwood‘s commercial for Chrysler, the most stark, arresting Super Bowl ad since, well, Eminem’s ad for Chrysler a year ago. (Claire Suddath, Glibert Cruz and I tag-teamed the Super Bowl ads this year, and you can see the results here; I got the first quarter, arguably the most boring stretch of ads of the night.) Beginning with Clint rasping at us in a dark alley, as if he’s about to ask us if we feel lucky, punk, it lays out an unpretty but grittily optimistic picture of an America at “halftime,” talking itself back up after a rough few years and making comeback plans—much like, the ad suggests, the automaker, which was on the verge of failing just a few years ago.

No joke, for the first fifteen seconds or so, I actually thought that someone had bought air time for an election ad in the Super Bowl: it had all the hallmarks, from the shot of a front porch in early morning light to the “[Time of day] in America” construction to the shots of protest signs and talking heads on TV. And even given that it was actually a car commercial, it was nonetheless one of the most political feeling apolitical ads I’ve ever seen—even if it didn’t take a position, it prodded directly at the themes of hard times and recovery that candidates will most likely be hitting come fall. What complicated things were the different political valences of the spot: on the one hand, Eastwood is a well-know Hollywood Republican, and on the other, the ad was a pretty blatant argument for the value of the bailout of American automakers by the Obama administration. (A move that Mitt Romney, for one, has said we should never have made, in a 2008 New York Times op-ed titled, “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.”)

Chrysler, I’m sure, made the ad purely in its own interests, which just happen to overlap with the politics of 2012. But I’m guessing that President Obama would not mind if this ad campaign was on the air in, say, Michigan in October.

How do you vote on this year’s halftime show? Clint? Madge? Or none of the above? And who/what would you like to see on stage next year?

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Madonna, Clint and the Rest of Super Bowl XLVI Halftime

Posted on 6th February 2012 in The monuments of world

I went into last night’s Madonna Super Bowl halftime show expecting to hate it: yet another performer whose appeal can charitably be described as “nostalgic” (see The Rolling Stones, The Who, etc.) blasting out a set of oldies while trying to hit that big squishy target of something-for-everyone. (“Dad, what’s Lady Gaga’s mom doing at the Super Bowl?”) I ended up—well, not loving it, maybe, but admiring it, respecting Madge’s continued ability to strike a pose and put on a show and learning a thing or two about Fake Roman-Egyptian History in the process.

A lot of the immediate complaints about the performance were that Madonna lip-synched her show. This didn’t bother me, because Madonna has never really been a singer; she’s a performer. At the height of her powers she was more about her ability to move, posture and provoke than to sing, and that’s an advantage in a way, because it means she can not-sing just as well in her 50s as she could in her 20s. What Madonna did, and does, instead is what a lot of great pop performers do: erect and occupy massive monuments to herself. And she put on a glittering one, a gold-encrusted, Egyptofabulous beefcake fantasia of antique decadence and lighting special effects, wearing an age-appropriate-ish pharaoh-valkyrie miniskirt and keeping up with a bevy of dancers. (That, my friends, is why you do yoga.)

Part of gracefully accepting the role of elder pop stateswoman is being able to delegate, and Madonna shared the spotlight (here’s the “something for everyone” part) with a crew of singers who might have carried off a halftime show on their own: Cee-Lo Green in a shimmery black caftan, an antic Nicky Minaj, and M.I.A., who apparently briefly flipped off the camera in a gesture so shocking that I had no idea she even did it until NBC issued an apology for it. (She also performed a snippet of “Party Rock Anthem” with LMFAO, the only part of the entire show that the Tuned In Jrs. looked up from the iPad to pay attention to.) The set list—a medley of hits, plus obligatory new song “Give Me All Your Luvin’”—wasn’t surprising, and the closing image (“World Peace” spelled out in lights on the field) was like a parody of a lame pop message. But it all could have been so much worse. Have we forgotten the Black-Eyed Peas already?

The other big event at halftime was Clint Eastwood‘s commercial for Chrysler, the most stark, arresting Super Bowl ad since, well, Eminem’s ad for Chrysler a year ago. (Claire Suddath, Glibert Cruz and I tag-teamed the Super Bowl ads this year, and you can see the results here; I got the first quarter, arguably the most boring stretch of ads of the night.) Beginning with Clint rasping at us in a dark alley, as if he’s about to ask us if we feel lucky, punk, it lays out an unpretty but grittily optimistic picture of an America at “halftime,” talking itself back up after a rough few years and making comeback plans—much like, the ad suggests, the automaker, which was on the verge of failing just a few years ago.

No joke, for the first fifteen seconds or so, I actually thought that someone had bought air time for an election ad in the Super Bowl: it had all the hallmarks, from the shot of a front porch in early morning light to the “[Time of day] in America” construction to the shots of protest signs and talking heads on TV. And even given that it was actually a car commercial, it was nonetheless one of the most political feeling apolitical ads I’ve ever seen—even if it didn’t take a position, it prodded directly at the themes of hard times and recovery that candidates will most likely be hitting come fall. What complicated things were the different political valences of the spot: on the one hand, Eastwood is a well-know Hollywood Republican, and on the other, the ad was a pretty blatant argument for the value of the bailout of American automakers by the Obama administration. (A move that Mitt Romney, for one, has said we should never have made, in a 2008 New York Times op-ed titled, “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.”)

Chrysler, I’m sure, made the ad purely in its own interests, which just happen to overlap with the politics of 2012. But I’m guessing that President Obama would not mind if this ad campaign was on the air in, say, Michigan in October.

How do you vote on this year’s halftime show? Clint? Madge? Or none of the above? And who/what would you like to see on stage next year?

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Hilton HHonors Reveals Top 10 Happiest Winter Travel Destinations in the U.S.

Posted on 6th February 2012 in The monuments of world

MCLEAN, Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

Despite this year’s mild weather, many are still eager to escape winter; and with good reason. According to Happiness Expert Dr. Aymee Coget, traveling during the winter months can provide more than just a suntan; it can also increase personal happiness during the most depressing time of the year. To help beat the winter blues, Hilton HHonors, the loyalty program for Hilton Worldwide’s 10 distinct brands, commissioned a study to identify the happiest U.S. cities to travel to during the winter months. In addition, HHonors is offering its More Points promotion, rewarding members who travel through March 31 with extra Bonus Points.

“Research shows that the anticipation and savoring that comes from an upcoming vacation often increases a person’s level of happiness,” said Dr. Aymee Coget, happiness expert and CEO of the American Happiness Association. “In fact, spending money on other people and experiences, versus material objects, boosts personal contentment – and travel is a great time to do that.”

The destinations, selected by Sperling’s BestPlaces, were judged by their ranking in a number of categories, including relaxation, nature, culture, climate, uniqueness, accessibility and urban appeal. Furthermore, each of the cities was rated on its annual number of sunny days; average winter temperatures; number of restaurants; number of cultural institutions; number of bars, lounges and nightclubs; and number of ice cream shops.

Hilton HHonors Happiest Winter Travel Destinations in the U.S.

                 
Rank   City   Highlight       Where to Stay*
    With 286 annual sunny days, 39 golf courses and above   –   Hilton El Conquistador Golf
1 Tucson, Arizona average temperatures, Tucson stands out as the top & Tennis Resort
        U.S. winter destination.  

–

   Hampton Inn Tucson – North
St. Petersburg, Fort De Soto Park, home of “America’s Top Beach” for – Hilton St. Petersburg
2 Florida its seven miles of waterfront, is just a short drive away Bayfront
        from this winter hotspot.  

–

   Hampton Inn St. Petersburg
Charleston, Its blend of history, southern charm, and mid-sixties – DoubleTree by Hilton –
3 South Carolina winter temperatures makes Charleston an ideal place to Historic District
        get your hospitality fix.  

–

   Embassy Suites Charleston
Napa-Sonoma, As the off-season for Napa and Sonoma, travelers can – Hilton Sonoma Wine Country
4 California still enjoy the 452 wineries, blooming mustard fields and – Embassy Suites Napa Valley
        temperate weather in both of these cities.        
Forget the rain. Seattle provides the highest – Hilton Seattle
5 Seattle, concentration of coffee shops in the U.S. (612), 26 major – Hilton Garden Inn Seattle
Washington museums, and offers some of the best music and food in
        the country. Just remember an umbrella.        
With its warm, sunny weather (284 days a year), there’s – Hilton Checkers Los Angeles
6 Los Angeles, a reason this cultural empire includes nearly 200 ice – DoubleTree by Hilton Los
California cream shops for vacationers to cool down. Possible Angeles
        celebrity sightings doesn’t hurt either.        
Palm Springs, Hollywood’s former playground has plenty of luxurious – Hilton Palm Springs Resort
7 California desert architecture tours to keep vacationers active – Hilton Garden Inn Palm
        when they aren’t relaxing at the spa.       Springs

Washington,

 Fewer crowds visit America’s capital in the winter, – Capital Hilton
8

D.C.

giving vacationers little waiting time between the 23 national

 –

Hilton Garden Inn
     

monuments and dozens of restaurant stops.

      

Washington DC Downtown
The winner for most sunny days (294), Las Vegas’ – Hilton Garden Inn Las Vegas
9 Las Vegas, weather is more comfortable in the winter and the city’s – Hilton Grand Vacations – Las
Nevada 120+ casinos and countless shows keep visitors both Vegas
        entertained and happy.        
For a southwestern destination with good drinks and – Hilton Americas –Houston
10 Houston, Texas good eats, look to Houston and it’s more than 2,100 – Hampton Inn Houston –
bars, 5,123 restaurants – and for an added “kick” – 12 Northwest
        custom boot makers.        
 

* For additional hotels in these locations, please visit www.hiltonworldwide.com.

Providing travelers extra incentive to book a trip now, the More Points promotion offers Hilton HHonors members a chance to earn 1,000 Bonus Points per night plus an additional 5,000 Bonus Points for every two-night weekend stay at participating properties within the Hilton Worldwide portfolio. From now through March 31, 2012, members can register at HHonors.com/MorePoints.

“Every day, our employees come to work at our more than 3,800 hotels in 88 countries with the number one goal of making our guests happy,” said Jeff Diskin, senior vice president, global customer marketing, Hilton Worldwide. “During these dreary winter months, we hope to ensure happiness comes even easier with our More Points promotion, allowing travelers to earn more HHonors points with each stay.”

For additional information or to register for the More Points promotion, visit HHonors.com/MorePoints. A weekend stay entails any night Thursday through Sunday, with a minimum of a two-night stay. Bonus Points earned are in addition to the standard points received per night for the length of the stay. To become a Hilton HHonors member, visit HHonors.com.

About Hilton HHonors

Hilton HHonors, the award-winning guest-loyalty program for Hilton Worldwide’s 10 distinct hotel brands, offers its 30 million members more ways to earn and redeem points than any other guest-loyalty program, enabling them to create experiences worth sharing at more than 3,800 hotels in 88 countries. HHonors members can now redeem points for any room, anywhere, anytime, including the most luxurious suites, using any of four room rewards: Premium Room Rewards, Room Upgrade Rewards, Points & Money Rewards and Standard Room Rewards. In addition, HHonors members can use points to purchase unique experience rewards, merchandise and vacation packages, make charitable contributions and more. HHonors is also the only guest-loyalty program to offer ‘No Blackout Dates’ and ‘Points & Miles’ for the same stay at its properties worldwide, including participating Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels& Resorts, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, DoubleTree by Hilton, Embassy Suites Hotels, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Hotels, Homewood Suites by Hilton, Home2Suites by Hilton and Hilton Grand Vacations. Membership in HHonors is free, and travelers may enroll online by visiting www.HiltonHHonors.com or connect with Hilton HHonors at news.hiltonhhonors.com.

About Hilton Worldwide

Hilton Worldwide is the leading global hospitality company, spanning the lodging sector from luxurious full-service hotels and resorts to extended-stay suites and mid-priced hotels. For 93 years, Hilton Worldwide has offered business and leisure travelers the finest in accommodations, service, amenities and value. The company is dedicated to continuing its tradition of providing exceptional guest experiences across its global brands. Its brands are comprised of more than 3,800 hotels and timeshare properties, with 630,000 rooms in 88 countries and include Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, DoubleTree by Hilton, Embassy Suites Hotels, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Hotels, Homewood Suites by Hilton, Home2 Suites by Hilton and Hilton Grand Vacations. The company also manages the world-class guest reward program Hilton HHonors®. Visit www.hiltonworldwide.com for more information and connect with Hilton Worldwide at www.facebook.com/hiltonworldwide, www.twitter.com/hiltonworldwide, www.youtube.com/hiltonworldwide, www.flickr.com/hiltonworldwide and www.linkedin.com/company/hilton-worldwide.

About Sperling’s BestPlaces

For over 20 years, Bert Sperling has been helping people find their own “Best Place” to live. His firm, Sperling’s BestPlaces, puts facts about cities and quality of life in the hands of the public, so they can make better decisions about best places to live, work, retire, play, or relocate. Sperling’s has authored two best-sellers, “Cities Ranked and Rated” and “Best Places to Raise your Family,” published by John Wiley. More information about Bert Sperling and Sperling’s BestPlaces is available at www.bestplaces.net.

About Dr. Aymee Coget

Dr. Aymee Coget, a widely-known happiness expert, has more than 15 years of experience in positive psychology. Her Happiness Makeover™ program teaches people how to achieve inner enduring happiness and handle life’s challenges. She also serves as CEO and is the co-founder of a science backed nonprofit, the American Happiness Association, designed to educate individuals and organizations about how to be happier, and was nominated for CNN Hero of the Year in 2011.

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Restoring a piece of S.C.'s Civil War history

Posted on 22nd January 2012 in The monuments of world

(CBS News) 

As South Carolina Republicans were making history at their primary Saturday, a newly-displayed piece of the state’s Civil War history is attracting attention from all over the country. CBS News correspondent Elaine Quijano takes us on a voyage through time:

No one knows more about the history of the H.L. Hunley than South Carolina Senate president Glenn McConnell.

“When the Hunley went out on Feb. 17, 1864, and sank the U.S.S. Housatonic, it forever changed the rules and game and techniques by which warfare would be fought on the water,” he said.

The Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley completed its mission, but then mysteriously sank four miles off the coast of South Carolina. McConell has worked to salvage the vessel’s legacy since 1995.

“This is not just about South Carolina’s history?” Quijano asked.

“It’s about America now,” said McConnell. “And it’s world history because it’s the world’s first successful combat submarine.”

The submarine was carefully raised from the ocean floor in 2000. Last week, the steel truss that lifted the vessel was removed, allowing the public to see the Hunley unobstructed for the first time.

Quijano and McConnell were looking at the submarine in a pool of water.

“When you look at that, what do you see?” she asked.

“I see a sleek, hydro-dynamically-designed vessel 50 something-years ahead of its time,” said McConnell.

A New Orleans lawyer, Horace Hunley, designed the 42-foot long technical marvel. It was powered by hand crank, and it’s depth-controlled by filling tanks with seawater. An artist’s rendering illustrates how the Hundley sank the Housatonic by ramming it with a 135-pound torpedo.

The reason the Hunley sank is still a mystery. Eight sailors were aboard and their bodies discovered still at their stations 136 years after their final mission. McConnell is one of a select few who’ve sat inside the Hunley.

“It’s like having your head in Darth Vader’s mask,” he said. “You can hear your breathing and the echoing of everything around your head.”

When conservation work is complete, the Hunley will be placed in its own museum — a permanent resting place for what was in its day the only weapon of it’s kind.

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Remarks by the President Unveiling a Strategy to Help Boost Travel and Tourism

Posted on 19th January 2012 in The monuments of world

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

January 19, 2012

Walt Disney World Resort
Orlando, Florida

12:40 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, everybody!  (Applause.)  I am glad to be at Disney World!  (Applause.)  The Magic Kingdom.  This is outstanding.

Well, let me begin by thanking Ruben for that extraordinary introduction.  And he was too bashful — maybe he’s not supposed to do this.  I will do it.  His restaurant is called Zaza [Yaya’s].  (Applause.)  New Cuban diners.  So everybody check it out.  And I told him, he was — on the way out, he was wondering, I don’t know, I don’t do this a lot.  He’s a natural.  (Laughter.)  We’re going to have to run him for something.  (Laughter.) 

But thank you so much for taking the time.  It is great to be here.  It is rare that I get to do something that Sasha and Malia envy me for.  (Laughter.)  That doesn’t happen very often.  Maybe for once they’ll actually ask me at dinner how my day went.  (Laughter.)

And I confess, I am excited to see Mickey.  It’s always nice to meet a world leader who has bigger ears than me.  (Laughter.) 

I want to acknowledge the presence of one of Florida’s outstanding mayors, the mayor of Orlando — Buddy Dyer is in the house.  (Applause.)  We’ve got two outstanding members of my Cabinet — Interior Secretary Ken Salazar — (applause) — and Commerce Secretary John Bryson.  (Applause.)  Because they’re focused on what brings us here today, and that’s creating jobs and boosting tourism. 

You just heard what a huge difference tourism makes for small businesses like Ruben’s.  Every year, tens of millions of tourists all over the world come to visit America.  Makes sense.  You got the greatest country on Earth — people want to come.  As folks in Orlando know, that’s good for our economy.  It means people are renting cars and they’re staying in hotels and they’re eating at restaurants and they’re checking out the sights.  It means people are doing business here in the United States.  In 2010, nearly 60 million international visitors helped the tourism industry generate over $134 billion.  Tourism is the number-one service that we export.  Number one.  And that means jobs. 

More money spent by more tourists means more businesses can hire more workers.  This is a pretty simple formula.  And that’s why we’re all here today — to tell the world that America is open for business.  We want to welcome you, and to take concrete steps to boost America’s tourism industry so that we can keep growing our economy and creating more jobs here in Florida and all across the country.

Now, here’s the good news:  We’ve got the best product to sell.  I mean, look at where we are.  We’ve got the most entertaining destinations in the world.  This is the land of extraordinary natural wonders -– from the Rocky Mountains to the Grand Canyon; from Yellowstone to Yosemite. 

This is the land where we do big things, and so have incredible landmarks, like the Golden Gate Bridge and the Empire State Building; the Hoover Dam; the Gateway Arch.  This is the land of iconic cities and all their sights –- from Independence Hall in Philadelphia to Faneuil Hall in Boston; from the Space Needle in Seattle to the skyline of my hometown in Chicago.  It’s a nice skyline, for those of you who have never been there.  (Laughter.)  All right, a couple of Chicagoans back there.  (Laughter.)

But I’m here today because I want more tourists here tomorrow.  I want America to be the top tourist destination in the world.  (Applause.)  The top tourist destination in the world.  (Applause.)  And this is something that we’ve been focused on for some time.

Two years ago, I signed a bill into law called the Travel Promotion Act.  It had broad support of both Democrats and Republicans.  And as you know, that doesn’t always happen.  (Laughter.)  And it set up a new nonprofit organization called Brand USA.  Its job is to pitch America as a travel destination for the rest of the world to come to visit. 

You guys see advertising for other countries, other destinations, here in the United States, right?  Well, we’ve got to do the same thing, so that when people are thinking about where they want to travel, where they want to spend their vacation, we want them to come here.  And so that’s already in place, but we’ve got to do more.

So today, I directed my administration to send me a new national tourism strategy focused on creating jobs.  And some of America’s most successful business leaders –- some who are here today –- have signed up to help.  We’re going to see how we can make it easier for foreign tourists to find basic information about visiting America.  And we’re going to see how we can attract more tourists to our national parks.  We want people visiting not just Epcot Center, but the Everglades, too.  The more folks who visit America, the more Americans we get back to work.  It’s that simple.   

Now, just as we do a better job of marketing our tourist destinations, we’ve also got to make it easier for tourists to make the visit.  There’s a good reason why it’s not easy for anybody to get a visa to come to America.  Obviously, our national security is a top priority.  We will always protect our borders and our shores and our tourist destinations from people who want to do us harm.  And unfortunately, such people exist, and that’s not going to change. 

But we also want to get more international tourists coming to America.  And there’s no reason why we can’t do both.  We can make sure that we’re doing a good job keeping America secure while at the same time maintaining the openness that’s always been the hallmark of America and making sure that we’re welcoming travelers from all around the world.

So one step we’re taking is the expansion of something called the Global Entry Program.  It’s a program that protects our borders and makes life easier for frequent travelers to and from the United States.  Now, getting into the program requires an extensive background check.  But once you’re in, once you’ve proven yourself to be a solid individual who is coming here for business or recreation purposes, instead of going through long lines at immigration, we can scan your passport, your fingerprints, and you’re on your way. 

So it’s a great example of how we’re using new technology to maintain national security and boost tourism at the same time.  And we’re now going to make it available to almost all international travelers coming to the United States.  If they’re willing to submit themselves to the background checks necessary, we can make sure that we’re facilitating their easy travel into the United States.  (Applause.)

There are some additional steps, though, that we can take.  Right now, there are 36 countries around the world whose citizens can visit America without getting a tourist visa.  After they go online they get pre-cleared by Homeland Security, and there’s only one thing they have to do and that’s book a flight.  And that’s been a great boost for tourism.  Over 60 percent of our visitors don’t require a visa, and in most cases that’s because of this program.

Today, I’m directing my administration to see if we can add more countries to it.  (Applause.)  We want more folks to have an easier time coming to the United States.

And let’s also realize that in the years ahead, more and more tourists are going to come from countries not currently in this program — countries with rapidly growing economies, huge populations, and emerging middle classes; countries like China and India, and especially important here in Florida, Brazil, a huge population that loves to come to Florida.  (Applause.)  But we make it too hard for them.  More and more of their people can now afford to visit America who couldn’t come before, and in fact, over the next four years, the tourists traveling from those countries we expect to more than double.

But we want them coming right here.  We want them spending money here, in Orlando, in Florida, in the United States of America, which will boost our businesses and our economy. 

So today, I’m directing the State Department to accelerate our ability to process visas by 40 percent in China and in Brazil this year.  We’re not talking about five years from now or 10 years from now — this year.  (Applause.) 

We’ve already made incredible progress in this area.  We’ve better staffed our embassies and our consulates.  We’ve streamlined services with better technology.  Waiting times for a visa are down.  But applications keep on going up — they are skyrocketing.  People want to come here.  And China and Brazil are the two countries which have some of the biggest backlogs.  And these are two of the countries with some of the fastest-growing middle classes that want to visit and have disposable income — money that they want to spend at our parks and our monuments and at businesses like Ruben’s.

So that’s what this is all about:  telling the world that America is open for business; making it as safe and as simple as possible to visit; helping our businesses all across the country grow and create jobs; helping those businesses compete and win.

Ultimately, that’s how we’re going to rebuild an economy where hard work pays off, where responsibility is rewarded, and where anybody can make it if they try.  That’s what America is all about.  That’s part of the reason why people want to come here, because they know our history.  They know what the American Dream has been all about.  And a place like Disneyland represents that quintessentially American spirit.  This image is something that’s recognized all around the world, and this weather — (laughter) — is something that people appreciate all around the world, including the northern parts of this country.  (Laughter.)  

So we want everybody to come.  All who are watching, Disney World and Florida are open for business, but we want people all around the world to know the same.  And we are going to do everything we can to make sure that we’re continuing to boost tourism for decades to come. 
    
Thank you very much, everybody.  God bless you.  God bless the United States of America.

END                    
12:53 P.M. EST

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Monograms Asks Travelers To Stop Making Excuses and Simply "Go" In 2012

Posted on 18th January 2012 in The monuments of world

LITTLETON, Colo., Jan. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – This year, Americans are planning to give back 226 million unused vacation days causing nearly 50 million of us to become vacation deprived.  And, while some cite financial worries as the main contributing factor for their “no vacation” philosophies, many Americans blame “lack of planning” as the reason they find it hard to get away.*   Regardless of the excuse, Monograms – the all-in-one packaged vacation travel company and member of the award-winning Globus family of brands – is helping travelers make going now not only possible, but also easy.

To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please click: http://www.multivu.com/mnr/54092-monograms-travel-company-encourages-travelers-to-go-on-vacation

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120118/MM36439 )

“This year, as we create New Year’s resolutions, it’s time to promise ourselves the dreaming will stop and the doing will begin,” said Steve Born, vice president of marketing for the Globus family of brands.  “Monograms is prepared to help.  We have experts on hand to take care of planning, arranging and coordinating all-in-one vacation packages to every corner of the world.  All want-to-be-travelers have to do is go.”

In 2012, Monograms has unveiled a world of choices to travelers with nearly 150 all-in-one vacation packages to Europe, Asia, Africa, the South Pacific, North and South America.  “Travelers can spend a week in the city of their choice for an in-depth discovery or just four days for a relaxing mini-break,” said Born.  “With Monograms, it’s also easy to combine multiple destinations like Paris and London or to explore North and South America.  From the game reserves of Africa and the magical Australian Outback to the extravagant monuments of India, the world is waiting to be discovered and explored.”

In addition to handling such vacation details as booking hotels and transportation between destinations, Monograms also provides travelers an on-site Local Host to act as a personal concierge arranging sightseeing and excursions in cities worldwide.

To showcase the importance and ease of not only planning – but actually going on vacation – Monograms has unveiled a new marketing video.  Further, the company has created “starter guides” that provide helpful insight and tips for first-time travelers to Europe, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy and South America.

“Someday too often means never when we talk about our vacation dreams,” said Born.  “Monograms is helping Americans understand there’s no better time than now to walk the cobblestone streets of Italy, ride an elephant in Asia and have a pint to celebrate 2012 in a genuine pub in Ireland.”

For more information, or to save $400 per couple on a 2012 Monograms Europe vacation, visit www.monograms.com today.

*Expedia 2011 Vacation Deprivation Study

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