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Co Founder and CEO of CBX, Owen W. Coleman, To Start New Venture, The Coleman Alliance L.L.C.

CBX, the international full-service strategic branding firm, has announced the completion of its succession plan.

New York, NY (PRWEB) February 4, 2011

CBX, the international full-service strategic branding firm, has announced the completion of its succession plan. One of the firm's co-founders and CEO, Owen W. Coleman, will be stepping down in February.

Mr. Coleman will be leaving the industry to focus on the growth of his new venture capital firm, The Coleman Alliance, L.L.C., with existing investments in lifestyle and health ventures and expansion into the mobile communications technology development sector. In addition, Mr. Coleman will continue to serve in an advisory capacity on the board of Lindsay, Stone & Briggs in Madison, Wisconsin.

Mr. Coleman opened his first design firm in 1966. In 2003, Mr. Coleman was one of the founding members of a new branding firm, CBX Colemanbrandworx, which has expanded with offices in New York, Minneapolis and San Francisco and partnership offices in Europe, Asia and the Americas.

For more information contact:

CBX -- Tina Rosenbaum, tina(at)cbx(dot)com

The Coleman Alliance -- Amy Rohn, PR Director, Lindsay, Stone & Briggs, arohn(at)lsb(dot)com

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JUDY KALVIN914-693-0123Email Information

Deep Freeze Hits Long Island, N.Y.

Nine degrees. That is the projectedon Jan. 22. The warmest the area is supposed to be by the end of the month is 34 degrees. Old man winter reared his ugly head on Dec. 26 with a massive snowstorm, and has not yet relented. Two other snowstorms hit Long Island after the day after Christmas blizzard, andin the next 10 days. Enough is enough.

After three days of warmer temperatures that were filled with rain, the thermometer plummeted yet again, causing all of the rain to freeze. Roads became treacherous sheets of black ice. After another snowstorm on the night of Jan. 20, schools across Long Island had delayed openings and the Long Island Expressway was at a standstill during rush hour traffic, causing businesses to start their days a little later than usual. By mid-afternoon on Jan. 21, all of the roads were plowed, yet a thin sheet of ice remained.

Rain caused chunks of ice to form in the snow and on snowbanks, making them very heavy and even dangerous. Snow was so heavy that part of .And nothing is worse than trying to use a snow blower in heavy snow on a sheet of ice. I pulled muscles that I didn't even know that I had. Since my husband works for a town on Long Island, he usually has to stay late. I try to make his life easier by clearing out the driveway.

This morning, after another four inches of snow fell on top of that sheet of ice, I attempted to start the snow blower. After 20 minutes of cursing, pulling, yanking and shouting at it, the darn thing finally started. I walked down my driveway, trying to plow a path, and slid on the ice. As I went down, I let go of the snow blower. The handle got stuck and kept it in the "drive" position. The snowblower continued down out steep driveway, me sliding behind it, until it landed in the snowbank at the edge of the driveway, left there by the road plow from the previous two snowfalls. I got up, brushed myself off, turned off the snowblower and went into the house. Needless to say, my husband dealt with it when he got home.

The snow is so deep that I can't even take my twin 3-year-olds outside to play.It goes past their waists, which is pretty terrifying for a pre-schooler. My son won't even go outside-- not even on the deck, which we have shoveled off. My daughter ventures out to the edge of the deck, sees the ocean of white, then hightails it back inside.

I don't blame her. Even if the snow was manageable, it is unbelievably cold. There are no signs of the weather warming up, either. You can make ice cubes without using a freezer in less than three hours-- Just stick your tray outside. Even my chihuahua tries her best to not have to go out to "do her business". She holds it as long as she can, then sits in front of the bathroom door, as though she wants to use the toilet. Unfortunately, I'm too lazy to teach her how, so it's out into the cold she goes. Usually she sniffs around, but not in this weather. Instead, she runs to a place, squats, and runs back inside. I tried to put booties on her, but they slowed her down more than kept her warm.

I'd like to talk to Al Gore about global warming. Let him come visit Long Island this weekend. I can't remember the last time we had single digits more than two days in a row. And, I swear to God, if one more person says to me, "But this is a part of global warming," I am going to tackle them into a snow bank.

The enduring greatness of JFK

New York – Fifty years after his inaugural, John F. Kennedy's words continue to enlarge America

We are as far removed in time from the inauguration of John F. Kennedy as that day was from the presidency of William Howard Taft. To those of us who were young in 1961, Taft seemed like ancient history.

Yet as the nation marks the 50th anniversary of JFK's summons to a new generation, his presence and his presidency still speak, at times powerfully, to succeeding generations. In part, this is because the medium constantly gives new life to the message and the man — in film, on television, nowhere more vividly than in the sights and tones of his own speeches and press conferences and almost singularly in the inaugural address.

This resonance is a possibility of modern presidency, but not a certainty. Many of Kennedy’s successors, fairly or unfairly, already exist far more in scholarly precincts than in the popular consciousness.

Nor is his endurance, as glib critics and the resentful right suggest, simply an artifact of "image." That notion reaches back to a myth about the first Kennedy/Nixon debate, which frustrated partisans invoked to console themselves in defeat: The majority of Americans who saw the debate thought Kennedy won, but they must have been distracted by his charm and his opponent’s on-camera perspiration because the minority who only listened on radio gave the victory to Nixon. It’s an easy analysis — and a rationalization repeated to this day. It also ignores a decisive reality. Who would choose to listen on radio to the first presidential debate in history rather than watch it on television? Almost entirely those who didn’t have television service: They were disproportionately remote, rural, Protestant — and inclined to favor Nixon in the first place.

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AP: Pilot duped AMA with fake M.D. claim

MILWAUKEE – He seemed like Superman, able to guide jumbo jets through perilous skies and tiny tubes through blocked arteries. As a cardiologist and United Airlines captain, William Hamman taught doctors and pilots ways to keep hearts and planes from crashing.

He shared millions in grants, had university and hospital posts, and bragged of work for prestigious medical groups. An Associated Press story featured him leading a teamwork training session at an American College of Cardiology convention last spring.

But it turns out Hamman isn't a cardiologist or even a doctor. The AP found he had no medical residency, fellowship, doctoral degree or the 15 years of clinical experience he claimed. He attended medical school for a few years but withdrew and didn't graduate.

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His pilot qualifications do not appear to be in question - he holds the highest type of license a pilot can have, a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman said. However, United grounded him in August after his medical and doctoral degrees evaporated like contrails of the jets he flew. He resigned in June as an educator and researcher at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., after a credentials check revealed discrepancies, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Doctors who worked with the 58-year-old pilot are stunned, not just at the ruse and how long it lasted, but also because many of them valued his work and were sad to see it end.

"I was shocked to hear the news," said Dr. W. Douglas Weaver, who was president of the cardiology group when it gave Hamman a training contract for up to $250,000 plus travel a few years ago. "He was totally dedicated to what he was doing, and there is a real need for team-based education in medicine," said Weaver, a pilot himself from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

Even after learning of Hamman's deception, the American Medical Association was going to let him lead a seminar that had been in the works, altering his biography and switching his title from "Dr." to "Captain" on course materials. It was canceled after top officials found out.

Now, groups that Hamman worked for are red-faced that they hadn't checked out the tall, sandy-haired man who impressed many with his commanding manner and simple insights like not taking your eyes off a patient while talking with other team members about what to do.

"This is Your Captain Speaking: What can we learn about patient safety from the airlines?" is how his training sessions typically were billed.

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Journals that printed articles listing Hamman with M.D. and Ph.D. degrees are being contacted in case they want to correct the work. Beaumont removed him from a U.S. Department of Defense medical simulation contract that a physician at the hospital had obtained.

Doctors who attended Hamman's sessions don't have to worry - the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education will not revoke any education credits they earned.

"That just makes the learners more of a victim," said the council's executive director, Dr. Murray Kopelow, adding that this is a first in his 15 years on the job. "Sounds like there's lots of victims in this case ^aEUR" the learners, the accredited providers, the whole CME system."

Hamman did not return several phone calls and e-mails seeking comment. David Nacht, an employment lawyer in Ann Arbor, Mich., acknowledged that his client did not have the medical and doctoral degrees he had claimed from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the 1980s.

"It's Mr. Hamman's desire that he clear up any misconceptions about his background that he has caused. He wants to be completely straightforward about it," Nacht said.

There is no indication Hamman ever treated a patient, though his teamwork training had him videotaping in emergency rooms and other settings where patients were being treated.

Hamman does have an associate's degree in general aviation flight technology and a bachelor of science degree from Purdue University. He also has "type ratings" to fly half a dozen very large commercial planes, according to the FAA.

United would not discuss his job history, citing employee confidentiality. But the company confirmed that he is not currently authorized to fly. Hamman lives in Michigan and is based in Chicago.

As long ago as 1992, an FAA workshop listed Hamman as an M.D. from United's flight center in Denver. In an interview last year with Cath Lab Digest, a publication for heart specialists, Hamman says that being a doctor may have "opened up some doors at United, and I ended up as manager of quality and risk assessment."

In 2004, he joined Western Michigan University, a Kalamazoo school with a big aviation program in nearby Battle Creek, as co-director of its Center of Excellence for Simulation Research. In 2005, the center got a $2.8 million grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to expand simulation training into medical settings. Matching funds from other groups brought the total to $4.2 million.

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Soon Hamman was videotaping heart attack treatment drills and deconstructing what doctors did right and wrong. He spoke at Northwestern University and for the AMA and the American College of Emergency Physicians. In 2009, he joined Beaumont Hospital.

Dr. Sameer Mehta, a Miami cardiologist who runs an annual conference for heart specialists, had Hamman lead sessions in 2009 and earlier this year. He seemed to understand the jobs of the EMS, emergency room and cardiac catheterization lab staffs and how they needed to work together, Mehta said.

"He was able to simulate exactly what we were doing," and to offer suggestions from aviation to help, Mehta said.

It's easy for groups to assume someone else has vetted a popular speaker, said Dr. William O'Neill, a legendary cardiologist who spent 17 years at Beaumont before becoming an executive dean at the University of Miami in 2006.

"Somehow you've gotten the name or seen them in the literature," said O'Neill, who has helped with many conferences. When he heard that Mehta and others had been duped by Hamman's phony degrees, "I thought, `There but for the grace of God go I.'"

Hamman's ambition may have done him in. In checking a grant proposal he wanted to submit in late spring, the Beaumont staff discovered the lack of an M.D. degree, said spokeswoman Colette Stimmell. Hamman resigned June 15.

In hindsight, the careful wording in some of Hamman's comments is apparent.

"I couldn't handle a full-time cardiology practice" with the demands of being a pilot, he told at least two reporters.

Less clear is what, beyond basic principles of teamwork, his training really offered.

"In a sense, he didn't talk about anything medical," said Dr. Stephen Mester, a Florida cardiologist who took one of Hamman's sessions at the cardiology conference in Atlanta last spring. "I did not find it worthwhile, but I believe it could be worthwhile for programs just getting started."

After fessing up, Hamman asked the AMA and the cardiology group to let him continue, saying, "the work is the work."

They decided that a lie is a lie.

"He really didn't need to be a physician to do what he was doing. He could have been successful without titling himself," said Weaver of the cardiology college. "He made a very serious mistake."

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Online:

Hamman video at MDTV:

Newsletter interview:

Michigan grant:

Presentation at Harvard:

Journal article:

Other popular stories on Yahoo!: o o o

Australia welcomes Oprah to the Sydney Opera House

SYDNEY – For a few hours, Sydney swapped opera for Oprah.

Thousands of shrieking, jubilant fans flocked to the Sydney Opera House on Tuesday to watch TV talk show queen Oprah Winfrey tape two star-studded shows for her final series.

There were celebrities, giveaways and screams-a-plenty as 6,000 Oprah devotees jammed the steps of the landmark arts center in Australia's biggest city for the filming. The production marked the finale of her weeklong trip, accompanied by 302 U.S. audience members who took part in "Oprah's Ultimate Australian Adventure."

Winfrey's staffers whipped the already frenzied crowd into a tear-drenched state of hysteria before the host ascended the stage to the sounds of Men At Work's "Down Under," Australia's unofficial anthem.

"HELLOOOO AUSTRALIAAAAA!" she bellowed as the audience's roar reached a deafening pitch. "Now I understand why you call Australia 'Oz,' 'cause we truly are at the end of the yellow brick road!"

Winfrey launched her 25th and final season of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in September by surprising her audience with her ultimate giveaway: an eight-day trip to Australia. For the past week, the lucky chosen have been traveling the continent — snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef, surfing at Sydney's famous Bondi Beach and exploring the rugged Outback.

Winfrey said she had long hoped to travel to Australia, and taking the audience with her made the experience even richer.

"Life is always better when you can share it," she said before the taping.

Four shows from Winfrey's Aussie adventure will screen in January and are expected to be watched by millions of people in 145 countries.

The state and federal governments have spent around $5 million on the trip, a price that has drawn criticism from some Australians. But officials and Winfrey herself insist the shows will bring many millions more in tourism publicity.

"It is immeasurable what four hours of a love festival about your country broadcast in 145 countries around the world can do," Winfrey told reporters.

And a love festival it was, with Winfrey lavishing praise on her Australian hosts, the scenery and the citizens.

"You're so darn friendly, you must go to friendly class!" she told the crowd, who were randomly selected from a pool of 350,000 hopefuls.

Her first guest was Australian actor Russell Crowe, who gave a nod to the surrounding sun-dappled harbor and said, "When you live in a city like this, it's not that hard to be friendly."

The nearby Harbour Bridge had been decorated with a giant "O" made of red lights — first illuminated during a fireworks display thrown in Winfrey's honor earlier in her trip.

"When we (saw) the fireworks and that 'O' came over the bridge, I went into the 'ugly cry,'" she told reporters. "That was a really amazing moment. I had an 'O' on the BRIDGE — on the Sydney Harbour Bridge!"

The show didn't go off entirely without a hitch; during the taping of the second episode, actor Hugh Jackman hurt his eye while rappelling from the top of the Opera House onto the stage. The Australian hit the brakes too late, and smacked his face on a lighting rig. Taping was briefly suspended while he was examined by paramedics and given a glass of red wine to sip, before getting the all-clear.

"That was so much fun until the end," he joked.

The family of the late "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin also made an emotional appearance on the program. Daughter Bindi walked on stage with a python named "Olivia" draped around her shoulders, assuring Winfrey "She's really sweet!" as the host tentatively stroked the reptile.

Seven-year-old Robert Irwin told Winfrey he watches videos of his father — who was killed by a stingray barb in 2006 — every day.

"It's so good because it's like he's actually there," he said, reducing mother Terri Irwin and many in the crowd to tears.

"Living with Steve was like standing in a cyclone," Terri said, eyes watering. "Then we lost him. It was like the wind stopped."

Winfrey, famed for her giveaways, had plenty up her sleeve, including a $250,000 check for a cancer-stricken Australian man and his family, who have been struggling to pay their bills.

Hip hop artist Jay-Z, who also appeared on the show, stopped by a local boys' school after one of their teachers wrote to Winfrey and told her how much the students loved the rapper. The students, most of whom are from low-income families, were invited to watch the show's taping from inside the Opera House, and a live feed shown on the stage caught their reaction as Winfrey told them they would all be receiving free laptops.

"Now, no excuses not to do your homework!" Winfrey shouted as the students began leaping up and down, fists pumped in the air.

She didn't stop there. After the crowd had danced itself to exhaustion during Bon Jovi's performance of "Livin' On a Prayer," all 6,000 were informed they would be receiving a commemorative necklace made of native Australian pearls. (Cue the screaming.)

Winfrey said she plans to return to Australia, calling it a "magical, wondrous, wondrous place."

"It has been an experience unparalleled," she told reporters. "I will be back. And when I come back, you won't know it. I'm going to sneak in next time."