The money behind the Newtown massacre - Fortune Finance ...

FORTUNE -- Do you know who owns more than a 6% stake in the maker of .223 Bushmaster rifles, like the one used last Friday to murder 20 first graders and seven adults in Newtown, Connecticut? California public schoolteachers.

The company in question is Freedom Group, a privately-held firearms conglomerate formed by private equity and hedge fund group Cerberus Capital Management. Cerberus created the platform in April 2006 via the acquisition of Bushmaster, after which it added another 10 makers of firearms, ammunition and accessories (including Remington, Marlin Arms and Barnes Bullets).

The California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) committed to invest a whopping $500 million into a $7.5 billion Cerberus fund that has helped bankroll Freedom Group. That means that it effectively could own a 6.67% stake in the gun maker, which filed to go public in late 2009 before pulling the offering in early 2011. In fact, the figure could be even higher since CalSTRS also committed $100 million to a $1 billion predecessor fund, which likely made the original investment.

What I honestly don't understand, however, is why. Check out the following part of the pension system's statement on investment responsibility:

Non-economic factors will supplement profit factors in making investment decisions. Non-economic factors are defined as those considerations not directly related to the maximization of income and the preservation of principal. The consideration of non-economic factors is for the purpose of ensuring that the Retirement System, either through its action or inaction, does not promote, condone or facilitate social injury.

Does Freedom Group not facilitate social injury? I'm not suggesting that social injury is its mission, but it certainly is a foreseeable consequence.

Moreover, CalSTRS has identified?21 risk factors "that should be included within?the financial analysis of any investment decision." Here is the one titled Human Health:

The risk to an investment's long-term profitability from business exposure to an industry or company that makes a product which is highly detrimental to human health so that it draws significant product liability lawsuits, government regulation, United Nations sanctions and focus, and avoidance by other institutional investors.

Pretty sure the manufacture of semi-automatic rifles would apply here as well.

To be sure, there is a difference between buying a listed company's stock and investing in a private equity fund that promises to build out a diversified portfolio. Direct versus indirect. But it also is true that certain institutional investors either, (a) Only invest in private equity funds that pledge not to make certain types of investments (e.g., firearms, tobacco, etc.), or (b) Insist that its money be carved out of any such offending investment, so that the institution does not become an indirect shareholder.

MORE:?Private equity's European land grab

Unfortunately, CalSTRS has not taken either tack.

"Clearly you can make a case that this company's products fall within the 21 risk factors, particularly the one regarding human health," says CalSTRS spokesman Ricardo Duran. "But there are a lot of products that can be used responsibly or irresponsibly, and in this case it was used irresponsibly... Now that a tragic event like this has occurred, I'm sure that it is something that we will be discussing going forward."

When I followed up by asking if CalSTRS had such a discussion after a Bushmaster rifle was used in the Aurora movie theater shooting, Duran said he did not know. Also worth noting that Cerberus itself is not returning requests for comment.

There has been a lot of talk in the past several days about how to prevent the next massacre, with suggestions ranging from strengthened gun control legislation to improved mental health infrastructure. And, for the record, I support both.

MORE:?Post-financial crisis milestone: Banks beat market

But I also think that it's time for our large nonprofit institutions to put some of their money where their mission is. Profit should be the primary goal of their investment offices, but not at the expense of their broader purposes. If a schoolteachers union or university endowment or nonprofit foundation truly cares about stopping the next mass killing, then they should not provide capital that produces the instruments of such destruction.

For many gun enthusiasts, semi-automatic rifles like the?.223 Bushmaster is about sport and individual liberty. For Freedom Group, they are about profit. If the company were unable to find private investors unless it changed internal policy -- perhaps by only supplying such weaponry to police departments and military -- then Freedom most likely would do so. Capital is, of course, the root of capitalism.

Cerberus did not return repeated requests for comment. Also not commenting was private equity firm?Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill & Co., which sold Remington to Cerberus and still owns firearms peripherals company?Magpul Industries.

Sign up for Dan's daily email newsletter on deals and deal-makers:?GetTermSheet.com

Source: http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/12/17/the-money-behind-the-massacre/

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Survival of the females: Horse embryo study provides important new information

Dec. 18, 2012 ? It is well known that many mammals are able to adjust the ratio of male and female young depending on the surrounding conditions at the time of conception but how precisely this is accomplished remains a matter for debate. A recent study in the group of Christine Aurich at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna has provided important information on how the survival of female embryos may be enhanced under conditions that would otherwise tend to favour the birth of males.

The work is published in the journal Theriogenology.

Because of the process involved in the formation of sperm cells, there should be an equal chance that a mammalian egg will be fertilized by "male" sperm, carrying a Y chromosome, as by a "female" sperm, carrying an X chromosome. The symmetry of the system ensures that roughly the same number of males and females are born, which is clearly helpful for the species' long-term survival. Surprisingly, though, many mammals do not produce equal numbers of male and female offspring.

The discrepancy could theoretically be explained by differential fertilization efficiencies of male and female sperm (Y chromosomes are smaller than X chromosomes so perhaps male sperm can swim faster?) or by different rates of survival of male and female foetuses in the uterus. Indeed, it does seem as though male embryos are better able to survive under conditions of high energy intake. But how does this work?

Jana Beckelmann in Christine Aurich's laboratory at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna now presents provocative evidence that a particular protein, insulin-like growth factor-1 or IGF1, might somehow be involved. From an examination of about 30 embryos, Beckelmann noticed that during early pregnancy (between eight and twelve days after fertilization) the level of messenger RNA encoding IGF1 was approximately twice as high in female embryos as in male embryos.

The difference could relate to the fact that female embryos have two X chromosomes, which might produce more of a factor required for the expression of the IGF1 gene (which is not encoded on the X chromosome) than the single X chromosome in males is able to generate. Beckelmann was also able to confirm that the IGF1 protein was present in the embryos, confirming that the messenger RNA is actually translated to protein.

IGF1 is known to have important functions in growth and to inhibit apoptosis, or programmed cell death. As IGF1 treatment of cattle embryos produced in vivo improves their survival, it is likely that the factor has positive effects on the development of the early embryo in the horse. So why should female embryos contain more of the factor than males?

Losses in early pregnancy are unusually high in the horse and it is believed that female embryos are especially prone to spontaneous abortion. Male embryos are known to be better able to survive under high glucose concentrations, so well-nourished mares preferentially give birth to male foals.

As Beckelmann says, "We think the higher IGF1 concentrations in female embryos might represent a mechanism to ensure the survival of the embryos under conditions that would otherwise strongly favour males." If this is so, the ratio of the sexes in horses is the result of a subtle interplay between environmental and internal factors, including insulin-like growth factor-1.

The paper "Sex-dependent insulin like growth factor-1 expression in preattachment equine embryos" by Jana Beckelmann, Sven Budik, Magdalena Helmreich, Franziska Palm, Ingrid Walter and Christine Aurich in the journal "Theriogenology" is available online and will appear in print in the issue of January 1, 2013 (Volume 79, Issue 1, 1 January 2013, pp. 193-199)."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Veterinary Medicine -- Vienna.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. J. Beckelmann, S. Budik, M. Helmreich, F. Palm, I. Walter, C. Aurich. Sex-dependent insulin like growth factor-1 expression in preattachment equine embryos. Theriogenology, 2013; 79 (1): 193 DOI: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2012.10.004

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/O50JSrOzlZE/121218112015.htm

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Nokia reiterates: Windows Phone 7.8 update not arriving on Lumia devices until 2013

While an early leak might have hopefully suggested that Nokia was ready to offer an OS refresh to its first-generation Lumia owners, the company has now explained to Tweakers that those early glimpses of Windows Phone 7.8 were for pre-production models and, presumably, all part of the software testing process. We've stopped clicking the update button, (reluctantly) unplugged our Lumia 800 and are waiting on that Q1 refresh. However, if you're willing to tinker with your Windows Phone's inner workings for the taste of a new OS, there are ways.

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10 holiday gift ideas for the food obsessed

Holiday Gift Guide FoodFor those like me who are still searching for the perfect gift for that food-obsessed person on their list ? take a cue from these local food and drink purveyors who shared with me the gifts they're hoping to receive this holiday season.

COOKWARE

In my stocking I'd love to find mini kitchen supplies like colourful silicone muffin cups or a mini grater. They're cute and available at Nella Cucina.
Hassel Aviles, Toronto Underground Market

That's easy, I asked Santa for a Le Creuset skillet. The iconic, cast iron pieces are known for their colourful enameled finishes and are available from Good Egg in Kensington Market.
Lora Bertolo, Popover Girl

ARTISANAL PRODUCTS

Locally produced goodies like a dozen donuts from Dough by Rachelle, any of the beautiful chocolates from Laura Slack's Christmas Collection, cookies from Cookie Martinez or even an order from West Side Beef.
Hassel Aviles, Toronto Underground Market

COOKBOOKS

It's expensive, but I'm hoping for the book Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking. The six volume set is an authority on the science of contemporary cooking and goes for $599 at The Cookbook Store in Yorkville.
Aidan Pascoe, chef at Voodoo Child and line cook at the newly opened Rose and Sons

CHARITABLE GIVING

I like to receive intangible gifts like a Kiva Card that provides microloans to support entrepreneurs. Gifting a microloan allows the recipient to reinvest once the initial loan is paid off, so this gift has the potential to make a lot of impact.
Len Senater, The Depanneur

A charitable donation made in my name to The Stop. The community food centre strives to increase access to healthy food through its many programs and services. It was also host to some great summer events like The Stop's Beer Garden and Night Market.
Hassel Aviles, Toronto Underground Market

EXPERIENTIAL GIFTS

A gift certificate for the Rusholme Park Supper Club at The Depanneur to enjoy an informal, family-style dinner party hosted by a rotating cast of chefs.
Hassel Aviles, Toronto Underground Market

Or, how about tickets for an upcoming Dishcrawl? That would be an awesome gift and there are three scheduled in the new year; a King West martini pairing, a Beaches foodie/shopping crawl and an Ossington Dishcrawl.
Yashy Murphy, DIshcrawl

OLIVE OIL

As an alternative to all the David's Tea changing hands this season (there really is such a thing as too much tea), I'll be gifting lovely bottles of olive oil from the Spice Trader. It's something that everyone uses and even on a modest budget you can get a good bottle that's still a luxury.

Happy Holidays! Liora Ipsum

Source: http://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2012/12/10_holiday_gift_ideas_for_the_food_obsessed/

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Egypt's opposition gears up for new protests

CAIRO (AP) ? Egypt's opposition alliance says it is gearing up for mass rallies across the country against the highly contentious Islamist-backed draft constitution and to denounce violations that they claim were rife during a first round of voting.

Tuesday's protests follow closely on new salvos in the conflict between Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and the judiciary.

On Monday, Egypt's most prestigious tribunal, the Supreme Constitutional Court, denounced a top Morsi aide who distributed a statement labeling the court as an "anti-revolutionary" force. It said the "spreading of false news" was punishable by law.

Meanwhile, another branch of the judiciary announced its boycott of the second round of referendum voting, while the embattled Morsi-appointed prosecutor general submitted his resignation.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-opposition-gears-protests-104413378.html

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Tourette syndrome and other tic disorders in children

Dec. 17, 2012 ? More than one in every ten schoolchildren suffers from a transient tic disorder, and 1% have a particular type of tic disorder known as Tourette syndrome. In this issue of Deutsches ?rzteblatt International, Andrea G. Ludolph of the Universit?tsklinikum Ulm and her coauthors report on the available modes of diagnosis and treatment for these disorders.

Tic disorders usually take a benign course; in about 90% of patients, the tics regress spontaneously in adolescence. Specific treatment is indicated only if the tics are severe or cause evident psychosocial stress. On the other hand, 80% to 90% of all patients with Tourette syndrome have comorbid disorders such as attention deficit?hyperactivity disorder, depression, anxiety, or obsessive-compulsive disorder. These comorbidities often impair patients? quality of life more than the tics themselves do, and their treatment is, therefore, a priority.

At present, tics cannot be cured, nor is there any treatment aimed at their cause, which remains unknown. Moreover, there is no available treatment that can improve all of the potential symptoms of Tourette syndrome simultaneously while also treating all of its comorbidities. Atypical neuroleptic drugs are the agents of first choice in the treatment of tics, but, before any drug treatment is begun, all patients should first undergo a trial of behavior therapy, whose beneficial effect has been documented by sound scientific evidence. The state of the evidence regarding pharmacotherapy for Tourette syndrome is still poor.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Deutsches Aerzteblatt International, via AlphaGalileo.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. Ludolph AG, Roessner V, M?nchau A, M?ller-Vahl K. Tourette syndrome and other tic disorders in childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Dtsch Arztebl Int, 2012; 109(48): 821%u20138 DOI: 10.3238/arztebl.2012.0821

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/KLMixt8_Kcg/121217110647.htm

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US Magnitsky Law draws Kremlin ire ? but many Russians support it

Russia's State Duma will take up a stern new bill Tuesday, the Dima Yakovlev List, aimed at punishing US officials who are implicated in human rights violations against Russians, including adoptive children who die at the hands of American parents and others allegedly abused by the US justice system.

The Duma bill appears to be pure retaliation for the Magnitsky List, targeted against Russian officials involved in the 2009 prison death of Russian anti-corruption whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky, which was signed into law by President Obama on Friday.

The Yakovlev List, named after one of about 15 Russian children to die at the hands of their adoptive US parents in the past two decades, will levy tough economic and visa sanctions against American officials perceived to be involved in mistreatment of Russians.

Do you know anything about Russia? A quiz.

While most Americans seem likely to ignore the Yakovlev List, a recent poll suggests that a plurality of Russians may be delighted to see their own officials squirm under the pressure of the Magnitsky Act. A late November survey by the independent Levada Center in Moscow found that 39 percent of Russians fully or mostly agree with the import of the US law, while just 14 percent reacted negatively toward it. Another 48 percent of Russians said they were undecided.

"This suggests that as much as people may dislike the idea of the US interfering in our internal affairs, they hate their own officials more," says Masha Lipman, editor of the Moscow Carnegie Center's Pro et Contra journal.

"Apparently much of the public would be happy to see corrupt Russian officials punished, however and by whomever.... What we see at work here is growing public anger against [the bureaucracy]. It may not show up as street protests, but it's a very real factor," she adds.

This cold war-style legislative tit-for-tat is erupting at what might have been a positive moment in US-Russia relations. After nearly four decades of hexing ties between Moscow and Washington, the much-resented Jackson-Vanik amendment was abolished by the US Senate in early December, and along with it the humiliating requirement that Russia obtain annual certification of its human rights record in order to enjoy normal trade relations with the US.

But senators replaced Jackson-Vanik with the Magnitsky List, which more narrowly targets Russian officials implicated in Mr. Magnitsky's case and other alleged human rights violators. The reaction of official Russia last week was white hot. Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday that the Magnitsky List amounts to "open meddling in our internal affairs and is a blind and dangerous position." President Vladimir Putin told Russian TV viewers last week that the US law was a "purely political, unfriendly act."

"The [Magnitsky List] is a crazy precedent, because a legislative body has taken over the functions of a court," says Andrei Klimov, deputy chair of the Duma's international affairs commission, which was responsible for drafting the retaliatory Yakovlev List.

"For the first time in human history they presume to nominate the 'guilty' and then keep the list secret.... This is already influencing our relationship [with the US], all this past year while it was being discussed," he adds.

WHO WAS MAGNITSKY?

Magnitsky was a lawyer working for the London-based Hermitage Capital ? once the largest foreign investor in Russia ? when he uncovered what he alleged was a vast scam by top Russian police and tax officials to embezzle $230 million in taxes paid by Hermitage firms in 2006.

He went to the State Investigative Committee, Russia's top investigative body, and testified that officials had falsely re-registered Hermitage companies under other names, using company seals and charters seized in an earlier police raid, and subsequently received a full tax rebate with the help of highly-placed accomplices in the tax department.

The Investigative Committee has apparently never looked into Magnitsky's evidence. Instead, Magnitsky was soon arrested by the very same police officers who had conducted the earlier raid on Hermitage's Moscow office and charged, ironically, with tax evasion. Within a year, Magnitsky was dead. A report by the Kremlin's own human rights commission concluded in 2011 that Magnitsky had been systematically denied medical attention, was illegally prosecuted by the same officials he had implicated, was almost certainly beaten to death, and the whole affair was subsequently covered up.

Russia's top prosecutor has announced that the deceased Magnitsky will be put back on trial in January, with his mother standing in for him, even though such a posthumous trial is of dubious legality and has no precedents in Russian law.

"Official behavior in the Magnitsky case is bizarre. They seem convinced that it's all a humiliation of Russia, though there is serious evidence that has been gathered by foreigners about the case, who were basically doing the work that our investigators should have done," says Viktor Kremeniuk, deputy director of the official Institute of USA-Canada Studies in Moscow.

Magnitsky's former boss and head of Hermitage Capital, Bill Browder, has spent the past three years bankrolling private investigators and lobbying foreign governments to enact legislation like the Magnitsky List. He has compiled a 75-page report which summarizes what looks like a devastating case against an alleged crime organization inside Russia's government and the systematic efforts of the Kremlin to protect it.

'A POSITIVE STEP'

"The Magnitsky Act is a positive step; for the first time international legal sanctions are targeting Russian human rights violators," says Yevgeny Ikhlov, an expert with For Human Rights, a grassroots Moscow-based coalition.

"It means that the international community is starting to recognize that the routine conspiracies against justice practiced by Russian officials represent a threat beyond the borders of Russia," he adds.

But Sergei Markov, vice rector of the Plekhanov Economic University in Moscow and a frequent adviser to President Putin, argues that the US has started a diplomatic fight with the Magnitsky Act that can only befoul the relationship and block any productive outcomes in the Magnitsky case.

"An insult has to be answered," he says. "The US law violates the presumption of innocence concerning a number of Russian state officials, it expresses a lack of trust toward the Russian legal system, and there is considerable fear that the number of people added to the list will keep growing.... What worries me most is that this the Magnitsky Act might start a chain of negative reactions."

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-magnitsky-law-draws-kremlin-ire-many-russians-183820089.html

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Grace Coddington Talks About Her Memoir, Alexander Wang And, Of Course, Anna Wintour

When we were offered the chance to interview longtime creative director of Vogue (and the breakout star of "The September Issue"), Grace Coddington, we were thrilled. Even moreso once we read her recently published memoir "Grace." Witty and full of funny anecdotes about her journey from the small town of Anglesey, Wales to the front row of every major fashion show, the book was like gossiping with a colleague about the ins and outs of our industry. In the book, Coddington describes her adventures in modeling in London, her love of cats and, of course, her long tenure at Vogue, working side-by-side with Anna Wintour.

The forthcoming editor didn't disappoint during our chat either, giving straight-forward answers on how the industry has changed over the years, her technophobia, her work marriage with Wintour, and the uncertain fates of designers like Nicolas Ghesqui?re and John Galliano.

We've seen a democratization of the fashion industry in the past 10 years, where, thanks to the Internet, all anyone needs is a camera and a computer and they can be a stylist.

They can but they can't. I have very high standards, so I think it takes more than a cell phone. Bloggers sit in in the front row [at the fashion shows] and all their energy seems to be spent on dressing themselves, which I find a shame. But it's the way things are going; it's not just the fashion business, it's every business. It's super fast for me because I'm English and I tend to be slow. It's quite abrasive for me. I'm still at my snail's pace.

I do and I don't embrace the digital world. I keep saying that if I retire and go to live at home no one's going to talk to me because I don't really use a computer. No one's going to connect: No one writes letters, they don't even telephone anymore. I find it very hard to connect with the photographers I'm working with. You can't phone them because they don't pick up, and now they don't even respond to texts! I don't know why everybody makes it so difficult to communicate. I guess there's so much going on that they don't have time to address; but the quality of life and the quality of work suffers.

In your memoir, you say that your assistant prints out your emails.

(Laughs) Yes, [any digital communication] is connected through her. I can just about type the emails with one finger, and if I'm lucky and push the right button, it goes through.

You must enjoy a level of focus that so many of us don't because we have one eye on our Blackberry and one eye on the computer.

I don't know if "enjoy" is the right word. To me, it's natural. One has a conversation and one focuses, or one has dinner and focuses, instead of always having the phone on the table. I think it's highly bad manners.

In the book you mentioned the hordes of people at the fashion shows, most of whom you don't know, and the bloggers sitting front row.

It's not that I object to anyone being in the front row. Anyone can be in the front row that the designer deems important enough to put in the front row. I used to find attending the shows so invigorating and exciting, but [now] you have to be there with blinders on. To cut out all the rubbish that's going on around, where the focus seems to be more on the audience than on the clothes that go down the runway. Any old shit can go down the runway and they all sit there and clap.

In "Grace" you also described attending legendary fashion shows in Paris in years past. Now that all the collections are live-streamed and easily accessible on the Internet, do you think runway shows will become obsolete?

[If there were no runway shows,] they'd have to restructure everything. I like a fashion show myself. Yes, I enjoyed John Galliano when you stepped into a forest or whatever it was, because it was a nice break from the treadmill of going from show to show to show [during Fashion Week]. But nothing beats a very straight-forward, very focused show, where it's properly edited and the focus is on the clothes.

The whirlwind production schedules and the revolving door of designers creates a harried environment. In the past year we've seen Stefano Pilati replaced by Hedi Slimane at Saint Laurent, Raf Simons has taken the reigns at Dior and Alexander Wang was just named creative director at Balenciaga, replacing Nicolas Ghesqui?re.

It's a sign of the times. More for me, I'm sad to be going to Paris and not seeing Nicolas Ghesqui?re [in the book, Coddington details her friendship with Ghesqui?re]. Because I love him as a friend, but also because he's the most incredible creative designer. I'm sure Alexander Wang will do really well. He's very well-liked. It's an incredibly difficult thing to take over for Nicolas because there are all the old fuddy-duddy people like me digging their heels in. But you've got to embrace it -- it's happened. I'm sure the Gucci people [Gucci and Balenciaga are both owned by PPR] thought long and carefully, they didn't just pull him out of a hat. And he fit all their criteria.

Alexander Wang has had such commercial success. Do you think that was a factor in naming him creative director of Balenciaga?

[Commercial success] is what they want. Don't think of it as the same house as it was when Nicolas was the creative director; that's everybody's mistake. Don't think of it as a replacement for Nicolas, because it isn't. Alexander has a whole different agenda. He's a very confident young man, he's cute-looking, girls love him, he's an "It" person and he makes very affordable clothes. I haven't spoken to him, but he can only do what he can do. He can't be somebody else, and he certainly can't be Nicolas.

In your opinion, what will Nicolas Ghesqui?re do now?

He will bide his time and come back. He's too brilliant to just disappear. He's very passionate about what he does. He's not caught up in fashion and celebrity at all. I don't think he's going to go off and become a sculptor like Helmut Lang, either.

Speaking of tremendous talents who have disappeared, what do you think about John Galliano?

I hope he will return, but I don't know. That's a tough one to get over. That's tougher than the Gucci people thinking they want a change of face. I love John, I think he's brilliant. He certainly intends to come back -- when he's ready.

In the book you didn't touch on body image or how Vogue is dealing with the new body image. You don't really talk about the obesity epidemic and how that affects the models you choose or how that affects the magazine.

You're asking all the questions that are very taboo, you know that, right? We avoid talking about the fat/thin thing because it's a complicated issue.

If you could wave your magic wand, what would you love to see happen in the fashion industry? How would you like it to change?

Fashion changes all the time, that's the nature of the beast. I'd like fashion shows to be smaller. I'd like all the superfluous people that go to the shows not to be there. And I wish you could just go to a show and just focus on the clothes. I wish the designer would spend more time making the clothes, finding the best fabrics and actually having an idea of their own, instead somebody else's. Because people are driven to do so much, they are always looking at what other people are doing rather than sticking to their own vision.

I find it difficult to parse out the different trends when the collections are presented so closely and the seasons are back-to-back.

Trends are boring, I wouldn't worry about trends. Just look for beautiful clothes.

"The September Issue" piqued the public interest in your working relationship with Anna Wintour. Is working with someone for that long like being married?

It's boring, it's what everyone asks me. I hope it's not like marriage. I've been married twice and each lasted six months, and this relationship with Anna has lasted 26 years.

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