The Surprising Style Item Adam Levine Likes to Wear




Style News Now





01/25/2013 at 02:00 PM ET



Adam Levine Men's HealthCourtesy Men’s Health


While some stars are repeat Fashion Faceoff offenders (we’re looking at you, Kim Kardashian), Adam Levine is determined to never be one of them. (Though the man really never should say never.)


In fact, his desire to have singular style is so strong that he won’t even pick up a plain old tee at a regular store for fear that another dude owns it. “I don’t want to buy a T-shirt and then go out to lunch and see someone else wearing the same thing,” Levine says in the new issue of Men’s Health. “I want my clothes to be unique. Not necessarily expensive, just one of a kind.”


So with that in mind, Levine puts a lot of thought into selecting those T-shirts. And even though they might look like basic Hanes to everyone else, what’s important to him is that he knows they’re not. The singer usually finds the tops at vintage shops because, “I also want them to have a story, a history, some meaning.”


In addition to his tees with history, the Maroon 5 frontman loves formalwear, saying, “[At] night I’ll throw on a suit and go out looking like a businessman.”



But it’s what he wears when he’s not on the red carpet or taping The Voice that really left us surprised — when he relaxes at home, Levine prefers something a bit, well, tighter. “I love waking up, throwing on some yoga pants, and hanging out all day looking like a psycho,” the singer reveals. His words, not ours.


For more Levine, pick up the March issue of Men’s Health, on newsstands Feb. 5. Tell us: Do you like Levine’s style? What do you think of guys wearing yoga pants?


Adam Levine Men's Health CoverCourtesy Men’s Health


–Jennifer Cress


PHOTOS: SEE MORE STAR STYLE IN ‘LAST NIGHT’S LOOK’


Read More..

CDC: Flu seems to level off except in the West


New government figures show that flu cases seem to be leveling off nationwide. Flu activity is declining in most regions although still rising in the West.


The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says hospitalizations and deaths spiked again last week, especially among the elderly. The CDC says quick treatment with antiviral medicines is important, in particular for the very young or old. The season's first flu case resistant to treatment with Tamiflu was reported Friday.


Eight more children have died from the flu, bringing this season's total pediatric deaths to 37. About 100 children die in an average flu season.


There is still vaccine available although it may be hard to find. The CDC has a website that can help.


___


CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/


Read More..

Wall Street Week Ahead: Bears hibernate as stocks near record highs

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks have been on a tear in January, moving major indexes within striking distance of all-time highs. The bearish case is a difficult one to make right now.


Earnings have exceeded expectations, the housing and labor markets have strengthened, lawmakers in Washington no longer seem to be the roadblock that they were for most of 2012, and money has returned to stock funds again.


The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> has gained 5.4 percent this year and closed above 1,500 - climbing to the spot where Wall Street strategists expected it to be by mid-year. The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> is 2.2 percent away from all-time highs reached in October 2007. The Dow ended Friday's session at 13,895.98, its highest close since October 31, 2007.


The S&P has risen for four straight weeks and eight consecutive sessions, the longest streak of days since 2004. On Friday, the benchmark S&P 500 ended at 1,502.96 - its first close above 1,500 in more than five years.


"Once we break above a resistance level at 1,510, we dramatically increase the probability that we break the highs of 2007," said Walter Zimmermann, technical analyst at United-ICAP, in Jersey City, New Jersey. "That may be the start of a rise that could take equities near 1,800 within the next few years."


The most recent Reuters poll of Wall Street strategists estimated the benchmark index would rise to 1,550 by year-end, a target that is 3.1 percent away from current levels. That would put the S&P 500 a stone's throw from the index's all-time intraday high of 1,576.09 reached on October 11, 2007.


The new year has brought a sharp increase in flows into U.S. equity mutual funds, and that has helped stocks rack up four straight weeks of gains, with strength in big- and small-caps alike.


That's not to say there aren't concerns. Economic growth has been steady, but not as strong as many had hoped. The household unemployment rate remains high at 7.8 percent. And more than 75 percent of the stocks in the S&P 500 are above their 26-week highs, suggesting the buying has come too far, too fast.


MUTUAL FUND INVESTORS COME BACK


All 10 S&P 500 industry sectors are higher in 2013, in part because of new money flowing into equity funds. Investors in U.S.-based funds committed $3.66 billion to stock mutual funds in the latest week, the third straight week of big gains for the funds, data from Thomson Reuters' Lipper service showed on Thursday.


Energy shares <.5sp10> lead the way with a gain of 6.6 percent, followed by industrials <.5sp20>, up 6.3 percent. Telecom <.5sp50>, a defensive play that underperforms in periods of growth, is the weakest sector - up 0.1 percent for the year.


More than 350 stocks hit new highs on Friday alone on the New York Stock Exchange. The Dow Jones Transportation Average <.djt> recently climbed to an all-time high, with stocks in this sector and other economic bellwethers posting strong gains almost daily.


"If you peel back the onion a little bit, you start to look at companies like Precision Castparts , Honeywell , 3M Co and Illinois Tool Works - these are big, broad-based industrial companies in the U.S. and they are all hitting new highs, and doing very well. That is the real story," said Mike Binger, portfolio manager at Gradient Investments, in Shoreview, Minnesota.


The gains have run across asset sizes as well. The S&P small-cap index <.spcy> has jumped 6.7 percent and the S&P mid-cap index <.mid> has shot up 7.5 percent so far this year.


Exchange-traded funds have seen year-to-date inflows of $15.6 billion, with fairly even flows across the small-, mid- and large-cap categories, according to Nicholas Colas, chief market strategist at the ConvergEx Group, in New York.


"Investors aren't really differentiating among asset sizes. They just want broad equity exposure," Colas said.


The market has shown resilience to weak news. On Thursday, the S&P 500 held steady despite a 12 percent slide in shares of Apple after the iPhone and iPad maker's results. The tech giant is heavily weighted in both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 <.ndx> and in the past, its drop has suffocated stocks' broader gains.


JOBS DATA MAY TEST THE RALLY


In the last few days, the ratio of stocks hitting new highs versus those hitting new lows on a daily basis has started to diminish - a potential sign that the rally is narrowing to fewer names - and could be running out of gas.


Investors have also cited sentiment surveys that indicate high levels of bullishness among newsletter writers, a contrarian indicator, and momentum indicators are starting to also suggest the rally has perhaps come too far.


The market's resilience could be tested next week with Friday's release of the January non-farm payrolls report. About 155,000 jobs are seen being added in the month and the unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 7.8 percent.


"Staying over 1,500 sends up a flag of profit taking," said Jerry Harris, president of asset management at Sterne Agee, in Birmingham, Alabama. "Since recent jobless claims have made us optimistic on payrolls, if that doesn't come through, it will be a real risk to the rally."


A number of marquee names will report earnings next week, including bellwether companies such as Caterpillar Inc , Amazon.com Inc , Ford Motor Co and Pfizer Inc .


On a historic basis, valuations remain relatively low - the S&P 500's current price-to-earnings ratio sits at 15.66, which is just a tad above the historic level of 15.


Worries about the U.S. stock market's recent strength do not mean the market is in a bubble. Investors clearly don't feel that way at the moment.


"We're seeing more interest in equities overall, and a lot of flows from bonds into stocks," said Paul Zemsky, who helps oversee $445 billion as the New York-based head of asset allocation at ING Investment Management. "We've been increasing our exposure to risky assets."


For the week, the Dow climbed 1.8 percent, the S&P 500 rose 1.1 percent and the Nasdaq advanced 0.5 percent.


(Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Additional reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Jan Paschal)



Read More..

Dozens Killed in Clashes at a Venezuelan Prison


Diario el Informador, via Reuters


A rescue worker assisted a man injured during a riot at the Uribana prison in Barquisimeto, a northwestern city in Venezuela.







CARACAS, Venezuela — Dozens of people have been killed in fierce clashes between inmates and National Guard soldiers at a Venezuelan prison, local news media accounts said Saturday.




It was the latest in a series of bloody riots over the past year in overcrowded prisons here, where guns and drugs abound and inmates control many aspects of prison life.


Newspapers reported that more than 50 people had been killed at the Uribana prison in Barquisimeto, a northwestern city, citing the director of a hospital where the wounded and the dead were taken. The reports said that more than 80 people had been injured.


The minister of prisons, Iris Varela, said the violence broke out Friday when National Guard troops entered the prison to conduct an inspection, with the aim of taking weapons away from prisoners and establishing order.


“There was a tragic situation of confusion that we lament very much,” Vice President Nicolás Maduro said on television early Saturday. Mr. Maduro spoke after returning to Venezuela from Cuba, where he had gone to visit the country’s ailing president, Hugo Chávez, who has been out of sight since undergoing surgery in Havana for cancer more than six weeks ago.


Mr. Maduro is running the country in Mr. Chávez’s absence.


He described the prison as one of the country’s most dangerous, and he promised an investigation. “The prisons must be governed by the law,” he said.


There were conflicting reports about the episode but it appeared that inmates had resisted efforts by the National Guard to enter areas of the prison. The local news media reports indicated that some of the inmate bosses, known as prans, had been killed in the raid. The reports said that most of the dead were prisoners.


Ms. Varela said that two days before the raid the authorities received information of an increase in violence inside the prison, involving a settling of scores between different factions vying for control.


At that point, she said, the decision was made to have the troops enter the prison.


But she said that word of the operation leaked out and that it was reported by a television station, Globovision, on the Web site of a local newspaper and on social networking sites.


She called the reports “a detonator of the violence” and blamed them for setting off the riot inside the prison.


Last August, 25 people were killed and dozens were wounded in gunfights between inmates battling for control of the Yare I prison south of Caracas, according the official reports.


Also last summer, 30 people were killed in a prison riot in Merida, in the Andes Mountains, according the Venezuela Prison Observatory, a nongovernmental watchdog group. Outside the prison on Saturday morning a few hundred people, including many anguished relatives of prisoners, waited for news. Some sang the national anthem and some held signs that said “We want peace” and “No more deaths.”


“This happens all the time and nothing changes,” said Yolanda Rodríguez, 57, who was waiting for information about her 24-year-old son, an inmate in the prison. “We know nothing about what’s happening inside.”


Girish Gupta contributed reporting from Barquisimeto, Venezuela.



Read More..

New purported Galaxy Note 8.0 images confirm S-Pen support







Earlier this week, images that were purportedly of Samsung’s (005930) upcoming Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet leaked onto the Web. The slate looked like an oversized Galaxy S III smartphone and included the company’s physical home button, which had perviously been omitted from earlier Galaxy tablets. French blog Frandroid posted additional images of the tablet on Friday that confirmed it will include an S-Pen stylus, similar to the Galaxy Note II and Galaxy Note 10.1.


[More from BGR: Sony’s PS Vita: Dead again]






[More from BGR: The Boy Genius Report: Apple’s iMac takes desktop crown]


The Galaxy Note 8.0 is rumored to be equipped with a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution display, 1.6GHz quad-core processor and a 5-megapixel rear camera. The slate is also believed to include 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, a microSD slot and Android 4.2.


Samsung is expected to announce the Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet next month at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.


This article was originally published on BGR.com


Wireless News Headlines – Yahoo! News





Title Post: New purported Galaxy Note 8.0 images confirm S-Pen support
Url Post: http://www.news.fluser.com/new-purported-galaxy-note-8-0-images-confirm-s-pen-support/
Link To Post : New purported Galaxy Note 8.0 images confirm S-Pen support
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment




Read More..

Newark Mayor Cory Booker Comes to Freezing Dog's Aid















01/25/2013 at 12:55 PM EST



Have no fear, Cory Booker is here!

When Eyewitness News reporter Toni Yates spotted several dogs left outside in the cold in Newark, N.J., on Thursday afternoon, she Tweeted at Newark's mayor to let him know.

"Make pet owners get their dogs out of the cold. Saw 2 dogs freezing," Yates wrote – and Booker answered.

Less than four hours later, the mayor was on the scene, arriving with a police escort to help secure the shivering animal.

"This is brutal weather; this dog is shaking really bad and you just can't leave your dogs out here on a day like this," Booker told Eyewitness News. "Hypothermia on any animal including a human animal will set in pretty quickly. So this is very sad."

After loading the dog into a police car to warm it up, Booker contacted the dog's owner, who was reached on the phone and said he had no idea how his pet, named Cha Cha, had managed to get outside, but that he would be there soon to reclaim him.

The mayor's latest act of heroism comes less than a year after he rescued his neighbor from a house fire. Booker had come home to find the house ablaze, and despite protests from his security officers, ran into the home and carried the woman to safety from the second floor.

Read More..

Penalty could keep smokers out of health overhaul


WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of smokers could be priced out of health insurance because of tobacco penalties in President Barack Obama's health care law, according to experts who are just now teasing out the potential impact of a little-noted provision in the massive legislation.


The Affordable Care Act — "Obamacare" to its detractors — allows health insurers to charge smokers buying individual policies up to 50 percent higher premiums starting next Jan. 1.


For a 55-year-old smoker, the penalty could reach nearly $4,250 a year. A 60-year-old could wind up paying nearly $5,100 on top of premiums.


Younger smokers could be charged lower penalties under rules proposed last fall by the Obama administration. But older smokers could face a heavy hit on their household budgets at a time in life when smoking-related illnesses tend to emerge.


Workers covered on the job would be able to avoid tobacco penalties by joining smoking cessation programs, because employer plans operate under different rules. But experts say that option is not guaranteed to smokers trying to purchase coverage individually.


Nearly one of every five U.S. adults smokes. That share is higher among lower-income people, who also are more likely to work in jobs that don't come with health insurance and would therefore depend on the new federal health care law. Smoking increases the risk of developing heart disease, lung problems and cancer, contributing to nearly 450,000 deaths a year.


Insurers won't be allowed to charge more under the overhaul for people who are overweight, or have a health condition like a bad back or a heart that skips beats — but they can charge more if a person smokes.


Starting next Jan. 1, the federal health care law will make it possible for people who can't get coverage now to buy private policies, providing tax credits to keep the premiums affordable. Although the law prohibits insurance companies from turning away the sick, the penalties for smokers could have the same effect in many cases, keeping out potentially costly patients.


"We don't want to create barriers for people to get health care coverage," said California state Assemblyman Richard Pan, who is working on a law in his state that would limit insurers' ability to charge smokers more. The federal law allows states to limit or change the smoking penalty.


"We want people who are smoking to get smoking cessation treatment," added Pan, a pediatrician who represents the Sacramento area.


Obama administration officials declined to be interviewed for this article, but a former consumer protection regulator for the government is raising questions.


"If you are an insurer and there is a group of smokers you don't want in your pool, the ones you really don't want are the ones who have been smoking for 20 or 30 years," said Karen Pollitz, an expert on individual health insurance markets with the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. "You would have the flexibility to discourage them."


Several provisions in the federal health care law work together to leave older smokers with a bleak set of financial options, said Pollitz, formerly deputy director of the Office of Consumer Support in the federal Health and Human Services Department.


First, the law allows insurers to charge older adults up to three times as much as their youngest customers.


Second, the law allows insurers to levy the full 50 percent penalty on older smokers while charging less to younger ones.


And finally, government tax credits that will be available to help pay premiums cannot be used to offset the cost of penalties for smokers.


Here's how the math would work:


Take a hypothetical 60-year-old smoker making $35,000 a year. Estimated premiums for coverage in the new private health insurance markets under Obama's law would total $10,172. That person would be eligible for a tax credit that brings the cost down to $3,325.


But the smoking penalty could add $5,086 to the cost. And since federal tax credits can't be used to offset the penalty, the smoker's total cost for health insurance would be $8,411, or 24 percent of income. That's considered unaffordable under the federal law. The numbers were estimated using the online Kaiser Health Reform Subsidy Calculator.


"The effect of the smoking (penalty) allowed under the law would be that lower-income smokers could not afford health insurance," said Richard Curtis, president of the Institute for Health Policy Solutions, a nonpartisan research group that called attention to the issue with a study about the potential impact in California.


In today's world, insurers can simply turn down a smoker. Under Obama's overhaul, would they actually charge the full 50 percent? After all, workplace anti-smoking programs that use penalties usually charge far less, maybe $75 or $100 a month.


Robert Laszewski, a consultant who previously worked in the insurance industry, says there's a good reason to charge the maximum.


"If you don't charge the 50 percent, your competitor is going to do it, and you are going to get a disproportionate share of the less-healthy older smokers," said Laszewski. "They are going to have to play defense."


___


Online:


Kaiser Health Reform Subsidy Calculator — http://healthreform.kff.org/subsidycalculator.aspx


Read More..

Earnings lift Wall Street; S&P 500 advances for eighth day

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Friday as strong Procter & Gamble Co's earnings trumped weak housing numbers and helped carry the Standard & Poor's 500 index higher toward its longest winning streak in more than eight years.


Procter & Gamble shares rose 3.9 percent to $73.15 and gave the biggest boost to both the Dow and S&P 500 after the world's top household products maker's quarterly profit soared past expectations. The company also raised its sales and earnings outlook for the fiscal year.


But the stock market's gains were curbed after economic data showed new U.S. single-family home sales fell in December, although expectations for a continued housing sector recovery remain intact. The PHLX housing sector index <.hgx> edged up 0.15 percent.


Apple Inc dropped 2.1 percent to $441.24. The stock of the iPhone maker has dropped more than 17 percent since the start of the year on growth concerns. Friday's decline knocked the tech giant from its perch as the most valuable U.S. company, making it No. 2 after ExxonMobil Corp .


Helping to lift the Nasdaq index, Starbucks Corp , rose 4.3 percent to $56.94 after the coffee retailer reported stronger-than-expected sales in the United States and Asia.


The benchmark S&P 500 index is up 5.2 percent so far in January. The equity market's strong start this year has been attributed to solid corporate results, an agreement in Washington to extend the government's borrowing power, encouraging signs from the global economy and seasonal inflows into stocks.


Those factors helped the S&P 500 rally for a seventh day on Thursday to reach a five-year peak. But the index has struggled to convincingly climb above 1,500, a level it surpassed briefly on Thursday for the first time since December 2007.


"It looks like we are encountering a little short-term resistance. The market always likes whole numbers and 1,500 seems like as good as any," said Doug Foreman, co-chief investment officer at Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management in Los Angeles.


"The earnings are coming in pretty good overall. Expectations had been pretty low for the quarter given the 'fiscal cliff' concerns, etc., so some of the stocks are acting pretty well even with numbers that are a little bit better than people had feared."


If the S&P 500 rises for an eighth day on Friday, it will be its longest winning streak since late 2004, when it rallied for nine straight days.


The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> gained 55.58 points, or 0.40 percent, to 13,880.91. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> climbed 5.81 points, or 0.39 percent, to 1,500.63. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> rose 14.49 points, or 0.46 percent, to 3,144.88.


Honeywell International Inc posted fourth-quarter earnings just above Wall Street's estimates, reflecting the diversified U.S. manufacturer's campaign to boost profit margins in the face of sluggish sales growth. Honeywell's stock edged up 0.1 percent to $68.33.


The initial portion of earnings season has been encouraging relative to recent expectations. Overall, S&P 500 fourth-quarter earnings growth is on track for a 2.9 percent rise, up from the forecast of a 1.9 percent gain at the start of the earnings season but well below the 9.9 percent increase in an October 1 forecast.


Thomson Reuters data through Friday showed that of the 147 S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings, 68 percent exceeded expectations. Since 1994, 62 percent of companies have topped expectations, while the average over the past four quarters stands at 65 percent.


Halliburton Co shares jumped 5.1 percent to $39.72 after the world's second-largest oilfield services company reported higher-than-expected earnings and sales for the fourth quarter. Strong international drilling activity offset a slowdown in onshore North America work, Halliburton said.


(Editing by Jan Paschal and Kenneth Barry)



Read More..

15,000 Crocodiles Escape From South African Farm


Associated Press


Some recaptured crocodiles on South Africa's Rakwena Crocodile Farm on Wednesday.







JOHANNESBURG — About 15,000 crocodiles escaped from a South African reptile farm along the border with Botswana, a local newspaper reported Thursday.




Driving rains forced the Limpopo River over its banks on Sunday morning near the Rakwena Crocodile Farm. The farm’s owners, fearing that the raging floodwaters would crush the walls of their house, opened the gates, springing the crocodiles, the report said. About half of the reptiles have been captured, with thousands still on the loose.


“There used to be only a few crocodiles in the Limpopo River,” Zane Langman, whose father-in-law runs the farm, told the newspaper Beeld. “Now there are a lot.”


“We will catch them as the farmers call us and say there are crocodiles,” Mr. Langman was quoted as saying. Efforts to reach the farm and the local police directly were unsuccessful, with no one answering the phones.


Many of the captured crocodiles were found in the brush and orange groves that line the Limpopo. Most of the animals are captured at night, according to Mr. Langman, who said they were easier to spot because their eyes reflect light.


One of them was found on a school’s rugby field in Musina, nearly 75 miles from the farm.


During the floods Mr. Langman set out in a boat to rescue his neighbors. “You want to get them, but you wonder the whole time if you’ll make it there,” he said, according to the Beeld report. “When we reached them, the crocodiles were swimming around them. Praise the Lord, they were all alive.”


Recent flooding has killed at least 10 people in South Africa’s Limpopo Province, which has seen heavy rains for the past week. Local officials are recommending that some regions be declared disaster areas. The authorities in neighboring Mozambique have evacuated tens of thousands of people.


Both the South African and Zimbabwean air forces have had to rescue villagers in areas isolated by the floodwaters.


The land along the Limpopo is home to dozens of game reserves and crocodile farms, some housing tens of thousands of reptiles.


Read More..

DUST 514, Online Shooter Set in EVE Online Universe, Enters Open Beta






First announced in 2009, CCP Games’ online first-person shooter tie-in to its popular sci-fi MMO, EVE Online, was finally released as an open beta on Tuesday. Called DUST 514, it allows PlayStation 3 owners to play in the same world as EVE Online, fighting ground battles while EVE Online pilots contest star systems. The results of DUST 514 matches affect worlds and in-game corporations in EVE Online, and EVE Online players can even use starship weaponry to bombard the planets DUST 514 matches take place on.


Introducing New Eden






EVE Online and DUST 514 take place in a distant star cluster called New Eden. In a scenario sort of like ” Stargate” meets ” Star Trek: Voyager,” human space explorers found themselves trapped in New Eden, impossibly far from Earth, after using a one-way portal. Many thousands of years later, their descendants have formed completely new nations and ethnicities, and fight each other in space and on the ground over resources or ideology.


The most difficult MMO ever?


Widely regarded as very difficult — a popular infographic depicts EVE’s learning curve as a sheer cliff littered with stick figure bodies — EVE Online is also known for its byzantine politics, which take place completely between players. Player-run alliances sink years into building enormous spacecraft, which can vanish in a single battle or thanks to one person’s treachery.


A study in contrasts


DUST 514 is only available on the PlayStation 3 console, whereas EVE Online is for Windows PCs and Macs. DUST 514 is free to play and has no monthly fee, while EVE costs money to start and up to $ 14.95 per month (although there’s an expensive in-game item which can be used to offset this fee). But perhaps the biggest contrast is the level of commitment required. Instead of managing a whole spacecraft and needing to keep track of where it’s docked, DUST 514 players can just jump into instant battles, and are rewarded with experience and in-game currency each time.


Since the two games were linked together just a few weeks ago, however, EVE Online politics are beginning to affect DUST 514, and groups of players are getting drawn into its conflicts — or being sent by EVE in-game alliances to fight for them.


A work in progress


DUST 514 still bears the “beta” tag, and the end-user license agreement reminds players of this, even pointing out that CCP Games may choose to reset players’ gear and experience points at some time in the future. It has a very limited number of planet environments and only two styles of play, which basically amount to capture the flag and team deathmatch. CCP continues to develop DUST, however, promising that even more content will be available in the future.


Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.


Linux/Open Source News Headlines – Yahoo! News





Title Post: DUST 514, Online Shooter Set in EVE Online Universe, Enters Open Beta
Url Post: http://www.news.fluser.com/dust-514-online-shooter-set-in-eve-online-universe-enters-open-beta/
Link To Post : DUST 514, Online Shooter Set in EVE Online Universe, Enters Open Beta
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment




Read More..

North Carolina Women Roofers Fix Homes Free of Charge















01/24/2013 at 01:05 PM EST







The crew of roofers led by Lori Herrick (front right) and Susie Kernodle (front left).


Jeffery Salter


When she heard about a member of her church congregation who couldn't afford to have her roof fixed, Nell Bovender had an idea.

It was a Sunday in October 2002, she remembers, and "'Make a Difference' day [at the church] was coming up. I said, 'Why don't we redo a roof?' "

Inspired, the husbands and wives in her Sunday school class quickly agreed. But when it came time to do the project, only classmates Lori Herrick, 48, and Susie Kernodle, 64, showed up.

"We expected Billy Honeycutt (the parishioner in charge of the project) to say, 'Let's wait for the guys,' " recalls Herrick, of Rutherfordton, N.C. "What he said was, 'Pick up your hammers and get to work!' "

Ten years and 67 roofs later, the all-volunteer group of 80 moms, grandmothers and widows called the Women Roofers is still going strong, repairing and replacing roofs for the elderly and disabled in and around Forest City, N.C.

Founded by Herrick and Kernodle after that first project, the group pools their own resources to purchase supplies and fix roofs free of charge.

And they're having a ball doing it: A typical repair takes a day, which leaves a lot of time for girl talk.

"I've often said our grandmothers used to do quilting bees," says Bavender, 59, "and that's what we're doing up there on the roof."

It's especially satisfying to see the fruits of their labor after a hard day's work, adds Herrick.

"Besides being a mother, this is the most rewarding thing I've ever done," she says.

One grateful homeowner is Irenabell MacAdoo, 74, who says her Forest City, N.C., house was sprouting leaks everywhere before the ladies got to work.

Says MacAdoo: "I don't know what I would have done without them."

More Heroes Among Us:

• Pediatrician Wendy Ross Makes Flying Easier for Kids with Autism

• Dennis Tyler Finds Homes for More Than 7,000 Retired Greyhounds

Know a hero? Send suggestions to heroesamongus@peoplemag.com. For more inspiring stories, read the latest issue of PEOPLE magazine

Read More..

CDC: New version of stomach bug causing US illness


NEW YORK (AP) — Health officials say a new strain of stomach bug that's sweeping the globe is taking over in the U.S.


In the last four months, more than 140 outbreaks in the U.S. have been caused by the new Sydney strain of norovirus. These kinds of contagious bugs cause bouts of diarrhea and vomiting.


The new strain may not be unusually dangerous; some scientists don't think it is. But it is different, and many people might not be able to fight off its gut-wrenching effects.


It often spreads in places like schools, cruise ships and nursing homes. The new strain was blamed for a recent outbreak on the Queen Mary 2.


The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on the new strain Thursday.


____


Online:


CDC report: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr


Read More..

Wall Street edges up in face of Apple decline


NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Dow and S&P 500 advanced on Thursday, with the benchmark S&P index on track for its first seven-day streak of gains in over six years as solid economic data managed to outweigh a steep decline in Apple shares.


Apple Inc dropped 10.4 percent to $460.69 after the technology giant missed Wall Street's revenue forecast for a third straight quarter as iPhone sales were poorer than expected, lending credence to recent concerns its days as the dominant player in consumer electronics may be on the wane.


The drop wiped out roughly $50 billion in Apple's market capitalization to $432 billion, leaving the company vulnerable to losing its status as the most valuable U.S. company to second place ExxonMobil Corp, at $417 billion.


A trio of economic reports helped buoy the market, with data showing a decline in weekly jobless claims and an increase in manufacturing, while a gauge of future economic activity climbed.


"The claims numbers are clearly a big surprise and were very good numbers - they imply we may have a good employment number for the month of January," said Hugh Johnson, chief investment officer of Hugh Johnson Advisors LLC in Albany, New York.


"You have Apple and technology on the one side and the rest of the market on the other side."


The gains marked the first time the S&P 500 had risen above 1,500 since December 12, 2007 and put the index on pace for its seventh straight advance, its longest streak since October 2006.


The advance for the S&P, and muted declines in the Nasdaq in spite of the decline in Apple, were viewed as a positive sign, as investors take encouragement from an improving global economy and move into stocks more closely tied to economic fortunes, such as industrials.


General Electric rose 0.5 percent to $22.06 and United Parcel Service gained 2.4 percent to $82.30. Of the 10 major S&P sectors, only technology, off 1.5 percent, was lower.


The Dow Jones industrial average gained 58.82 points, or 0.43 percent, to 13,838.15. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 1.78 points, or 0.12 percent, to 1,496.59. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 14.25 points, or 0.45 percent, to 3,139.42.


The domestic data meshed with those overseas showing growth in Chinese manufacturing accelerated to a two-year high this month and a buoyant Germany took the euro zone economy a step closer to recovery.


Apple's disappointing results drew a round of price-target cuts from brokerages. At least 14 brokerages, including Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank, cut their price target on the stock by $142 on average. Morgan Stanley removed the stock from its 'best ideas' list.


In contrast to Apple, Netflix Inc surprised Wall Street Wednesday with a quarterly profit after the video subscription service added nearly 4 million customers in the U.S. and abroad. Shares surged 37.6 percent to $142.10, its biggest percentage jump ever.


Diversified U.S. manufacturer 3M Co reported a 3.9 percent rise in profit, meeting expectations, on solid growth in sales of its wide array of products, which range from Post-It notes to films used in television screens. The shares slipped 0.2 percent to $99.28.


Corporate earnings have helped drive the recent stock market rally. Thomson Reuters data through early Thursday showed that of the 133 S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings, 66.9 percent have exceeded expectations, above the 65 percent average over the past four quarters.


(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Nick Zieminski)



Read More..

IHT Rendezvous: Kissinger: Political Threats to Global Economy Abound

DAVOS, Switzerland — Henry A. Kissinger has never shied from unvarnished political assessments and during an hour-long address to the World Economic Forum on Thursday, the former American secretary of state delivered a list of sober warnings about rising threats on the world stage.

Executives and policymakers here, fixated on economic gyrations and the environment for deals, sat riveted as the elder statesman, speaking in his trademark slow and sonorous tone, warned of political threats to the world order. And a nuclear Iran, Mr. Kissinger said, poses perhaps the biggest near-term threat to stability and diplomacy in the Middle East.

The United States and other Western countries have accused Iran of developing a nuclear weapons program, while Iran has insisted its nuclear program is peaceful. Mr. Kissinger urged President Barack Obama to give negotiations with Iran a chance. At the same time, he said, Iran must ask itself whether a failure to build nuclear capability is truly a challenge to the Iranian national identity.

A nuclear Iran “is approaching,” he told the gathering. So in a few years, people will have to come to a determination of how to react, or the consequences of non-reaction,” he said.

Unilateral intervention by Israel would be a “desperate last resort,” Mr. Kissinger added. But if Iran continues to use negotiations simply to buy time to advance its nuclear program, “the consequences will be extremely dangerous.” Surrounding Arab and Gulf states, which already have nuclear power programs, could make nuclear weapons their arsenal of choice.

“If a nuclear conflict arises,” Mr. Kissinger said, “that would be a turning point for human history. So negotiations must move forward.”

The tension is building as conflicts elsewhere in the region rage. The war in Syria remains a challenge for Western powers. He called on the United States and Russia to work together to resolve the crisis, but to step gingerly. If the outside world intervenes militarily, he said, “it will be in the middle of a vast ethnic conflict; and if it doesn’t intervene militarily, it will be caught in a humanitarian tragedy.”

A number of outcomes are possible in Syria, he added, including President Assad remaining in power, a victory by Sunni rebels, or the emergence of a loose coterie of ethnic groups. Whatever the outcome, “the more the outside world competes, the worse it gets,” he said referring to Russia and the West, who have often worked at cross purposes.

Turning to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Mr. Kissinger said that while a consensus has developed on a desired outcome, “no one has been able to determine how to get there.”

Only one thing was clear, he added. Any settlement would “require significant sacrifices on the Israeli side from the position they now hold,” he said. And “there has to be some reciprocity from the Arab side other than uttering the word ‘peace.’”

As for the festering European crisis, Mr. Kissinger advocated a political solution if an economic one ultimately stumbles. “The issue that needs to be resolved is the relationship between austerity and growth. And if there is no growth, how the economic void will be
filled,” he said. In diplomacy terms, the question is the extent to which countries with money are willing to help those that are still flagging.

“If the answer is negative” then the idea of European unity is called into question, he said. Europe may need to shift its approach to unity through an economic construction to one of “political construction,” he said.

At the end of the day, he added, “Europe should be maintained as an idea even if the ideal solution does not emerge.”

Read More..

TSX near 18-month high, buoyed by Agrium, RIM






TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada’s main stock index hit a near 18-month high on Thursday, as shares of Agrium Inc rose after the fertilizer maker raised its profit forecast and as U.S. manufacturing and labor data drove optimism on the economic outlook of Canada’s largest trade partner.


Shares of Research In Motion Ltd also boosted the market, rising more than 3 percent after a report that China’s Lenovo Group said a bid for the BlackBerry maker was among the options available to boost its mobile business.






Canadian stocks were also supported by data that showed Chinese manufacturing growth hit a two-year high this month. Gains were kept in check by falling gold stocks, which slipped with the price of the precious metal.


In the United States, a private survey showed that factory activity advanced at the fastest pace in nearly two years this month, while the government reported the number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits hit a five-year low last week.


“There’s a growing feeling that we’re heading in the right direction. The U.S. economy is showing a little bit of life, and that’s spilling over into Canada,” said Fred Ketchen, director of equity trading at ScotiaMcLeod.


The Toronto Stock Exchange‘s S&P/TSX composite index <.gsptse> was up 41.36 points, or 0.32 percent, at 12,835.41, after touching 12,863.47, its highest since August 2, 2011.</.gsptse>


Seven of the 10 main sectors on the index were trading higher.


The materials sector, which includes mining stocks, slipped 0.1 percent as declines in gold stocks offset a rise in shares of fertilizer giants Agrium and Potash Corp .


Agrium rose 3.5 percent to C$ 114.55 after it raised its fourth-quarter earnings forecast as strong grain and oilseed prices spurred demand for its fertilizer products over the fall season.


Ketchen, noting the activity in Agrium shares over the past few days, said, “People are taking another look at it, thinking maybe it’s time to get back in.”


Potash was up 2.1 percent at C$ 42.77.


The energy sector gained 0.6 percent and was the biggest contributor to the market’s gains as U.S. crude oil prices rose.


Canadian Natural Resources Ltd rose 1.5 percent to C$ 30.62.


Financials, the index’s weightiest sector, added 0.4 percent. Toronto Dominion Bank


was up 0.4 percent at C$ 83.51, and the Royal Bank of Canada rose 0.3 percent to C$ 61.62.


(Editing by Jeffrey Hodgson and Leslie Adler)


Wireless News Headlines – Yahoo! News





Title Post: TSX near 18-month high, buoyed by Agrium, RIM
Url Post: http://www.news.fluser.com/tsx-near-18-month-high-buoyed-by-agrium-rim/
Link To Post : TSX near 18-month high, buoyed by Agrium, RIM
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment




Read More..

PHOTO: Uma Thurman's Beau Puckers Up to Baby




Celebrity Baby Blog





01/23/2013 at 11:00 AM ET



What are you doing, Daddy? Luna Thurman-Busson looks on quizzically as papa Arpad Busson blows her kisses while waiting for a flight Tuesday in Paris. The 6-month-old‘s mom, actress Uma Thurman, recently shared that her daughter actually goes by a derivitive of her many middle names — with five monikers in all, it’s just too long to recite the whole thing!


“[My 14-year-old daughter Maya] came up with the best excuse, [which] was that I probably wouldn’t get to have any more children, so I just put every name that I liked into it,” Thurman, 42, told Jimmy Fallon of their choice of Rosalind Arusha Arkadina Altalune Florence. “We couldn’t quite agree.”


Samantha Brown Welcomes Twins Ellis James and Elizabeth Mae
Bauer-Griffin


RELATED: Uma Thurman: Why My Daughter Has Five Names


Read More..

Sickening fog settles over Salt Lake City area


SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A group of Utah doctors is declaring a health emergency over the Salt Lake City area's lingering air pollution problem.


Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment planned to deliver a petition Wednesday demanding immediate action by elected officials.


The group wants Gov. Gary Herbert and mayors of northern Utah cities to cut the pollution.


The doctors suggest lowering highway speed limits, making mass transit free for the winter and curbing industrial activities. They want a permanent ban on wood-burning. And they want large employees to let people work from home.


The doctors are advising people to avoid the outdoors. They say people can help their bodies fight toxic exposure by introducing anti-oxidants in their diet, like fish oil or chocolate.


Read More..

Dow, Nasdaq boosted by tech; S&P flat

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Dow and Nasdaq edged higher on Wednesday, lifted by IBM and Google whose stronger-than-expected profits helped to soothe investors' concerns about the tech sector.


IBM's and Google's earnings, released after Tuesday's close, were the latest reassuring fourth-quarter results that pushed the Dow and S&P 500 to five-year highs as worries about the "fiscal cliff" and euro zone debt crisis faded and earnings became the market's main focus.


International Business Machines Corp forecast better-than-anticipated 2013 results and also posted fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that beat expectations.


Shares in the world's largest technology services company, climbed 5.5 percent to $206.87, its biggest advance since July, making it by far the largest boost to the Dow.


Worries about the profit potential in the tech sector had increased amid questions about waning demand for Apple Inc products and a weak outlook from Intel Corp last week.


Also helping to boost the tech sector was a 6.1 percent jump in Internet search company Google Inc to $746.02. The Internet search company reported its core business outpaced expectations and revenue was higher than expected.


Despite a 1.3 percent gain in the S&P technology sector <.splrct>, gains on the broader S&P 500 index were limited a day after the benchmark index closed at a fresh 5-year high.


The recent gains have been largely fueled by a stronger than expected start to the earning season, pushing the benchmark S&P index near the 1,500 level, last reached on December 12, 2007, and may make additional gains harder to come by after a 4.6 increase for the month.


"This certainly is new air up here, you have to give it some time at this level," said Troy Logan, managing director and senior economist at Warren Financial Service in Exton, Pennsylvania.


"More fundamentally, there is less concern about Europe. You need less noise on the political front and the focus back on corporate American growing earnings."


With tech earnings strong, Thomson Reuters data through Wednesday shows that of the 99 S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings so far, 67.7 percent have topped expectations, above the 62 percent average since 1994 and the 65 percent average over the past four quarters.


The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> gained 43.27 points, or 0.32 percent, to 13,755.48. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> shed 1.32 points, or 0.09 percent, to 1,491.24. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> added 8.82 points, or 0.28 percent, to 3,152.00.


McDonald's slipped 0.3 percent to $92.63 after reporting a rise in fourth-quarter earnings, lifted by an increase in same-store sales. Fellow Dow component United Technology Corp's earnings fell from the prior year, hurt by large restructuring charges. Shares edged up 0.4 percent to $87.86.


On the downside, leather-goods maker Coach Inc plunged 14.8 percent to $51.75 as the S&P's worst performer after reporting sales that missed expectations. The S&P consumer discretionary sector <.splrcd> lost 0.5 percent.


After the market closes, investors will scour Apple's results for signs it can continue to grow at an accelerated pace. The stock has been pressured recently by questions raised about demand for Apple's products. The stock has fallen 5 percent since the start of the year, compared with gains of 4.6 percent in the S&P 500. It rose 0.4 percent to $507.04 on Wednesday.


"Pretty much all eyes are on Apple to see what they are going to do this evening. What happened to Apple is they had some misses in the second and third quarters of 2012 and the explanation was anticipation of the new iPhone 5, so this quarter they really have to deliver on that story," Logan said.


Overall, S&P 500 fourth-quarter earnings rose 2.8 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data. That estimate is above the 1.9 percent forecast from the start of earnings season, but well below the 9.9 percent fourth-quarter earnings forecast from October 1, the data showed.


Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives aim on Wednesday to pass a bill to extend the U.S. debt limit by nearly four months, to May 19. The White House welcomed the move, saying it would remove uncertainty about the issue.


The debt limit issue has hung over the market for weeks, with many investors worried that if no deal is reached to raise the limit, it could have a negative impact on the economy.


(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Kenneth Barry)



Read More..

The Lede Blog: Clinton Testifies on Benghazi Attacks

The Lede followed Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s testimony Wednesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks on the American Consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi, Libya, that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

Mrs. Clinton will appear before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs at 2 p.m. Eastern.

At a House Committee hearing last October investigating the attack, as reported on The Lede, State Department officials and security experts who served on the ground offered conflicting assessments about what resources were requested and made available to deal with growing security concerns in Tripoli and Benghazi.

Mrs. Clinton had been scheduled to testify before Congress last month, but an illness, a concussion and a blood clot near her brain forced her to postpone her appearance.

As our colleagues Michael R. Gordon and Eric Schmitt reported, four State Department officials were removed from their posts on last month after an independent panel criticized the “grossly inadequate” security at a diplomatic compound in Benghazi.

Read More..

Three reasons to root for RIM






I have expressed skepticism that RIM (RIMM) will really be able to pull off an epic comeback and reestablish BlackBerry as a legitimate contender with the iPhone and the barrage of Android smartphones that get released every year. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want it to happen. Quite the contrary, I’m hoping that RIM proves all us nasty skeptics wrong, defies the odds and produces a big hit with the BlackBerry Z10 that’s set to be released over the next couple of months.


[More from BGR: As data gets cheaper for Verizon to transmit, customers are paying more]






So why am I rooting for RIM even if I’m dubious of its prospects for success? Three specific reasons come to mind.


[More from BGR: Success with BlackBerry ‘diehards’ isn’t the key to BlackBerry 10′s future]


First, I think the mobile market will benefit from having a third option besides iOS and Android, and it doesn’t look as though Microsoft (MSFT) is up to the task just yet. Sure, Windows Phone devices have started to make some progress in Europe, but in North America the platform’s market share has remained largely flat despite the large piles of money Microsoft is spending to promote it. This gives RIM an opportunity to elbow itself into the discussion in the United States and Canada as a legitimate contender for consumers who have moved on to iOS or Android but who still miss their BlackBerry phones of old.


Second, I think CEO Thorsten Heins has some interesting and ambitious ideas for where he’d like to take the company in the future. Sure, there are times when I can’t tell whether he really has a plan to boldly remake BlackBerry or is just insane, but when I hear him talk about integrating BlackBerry 10 into cars, I am intrigued. Heins is also easy to root for when you consider how well he’s played the thoroughly lousy hand he was dealt when he took over as RIM CEO last year — the fact that he’s generated significant support from both carriers and app developers at a time when it looked like the company could collapse at any moment has been impressive.


And finally, I’ve come to really love RIM’s crazy fans over the past year, even if they don’t like me all that much. Every time I’ve written a post critical of RIM or BlackBerry, they were there to immediately pounce on me, declare me a hopeless “iSheep” and tell me how stupid I’ll feel when RIM emerges triumphant and stomps all over the iPhone and Android. I’m not sure such dedication to a product is emotionally healthy, but it is something I have to respect and I hope that BlackBerry 10 will, at the very least, make RIM’s loyal and long-suffering fans happy.


So now’s the time, RIM. Next week will be your chance to make me look like a fool for ever doubting the power of BlackBerry 10. And for all the reasons I listed above, I hope you take it.


This article was originally published on BGR.com


Wireless News Headlines – Yahoo! News





Title Post: Three reasons to root for RIM
Url Post: http://www.news.fluser.com/three-reasons-to-root-for-rim/
Link To Post : Three reasons to root for RIM
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment




Read More..

New Kids on the Block Hit the Road with 98 Degrees & Boyz II Men






Only on People.com








01/22/2013 at 12:00 PM EST







New Kids on the Block: Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, Jordan Knight, Danny Wood and Jonathan Knight


Angela Weiss/WireImage


The New Kids on the Block are back!

The band plans to bring some heat this summer when they hit the road for a brand new headlining tour – and they're bringing along a few famous friends: 98 Degrees and Boyz II Men will open all shows on the jaunt, which kicks off May 31 in Uncasville, Conn.

"It just seems like we are getting better and better," Joey McIntyre, 40, tells PEOPLE. "We're excited to get out there, rock out and have fun."

Along with the announcement of their tour, the multi-platinum selling group will release 10 – their first new album in over four years – on April 2.

"We have been doing this for almost 25 years," says McIntyre. "So it's important that the music and the lyrics speak to who we are as grown men – and the album reflects that."

But that doesn't mean fans won't see some familiar moves.

"There is a lot of nostalgia and we embrace that," says the singer. "But it always feels young and fresh. I guess that's one of the great things about being in the music business is that you never have to quite grow up."

Read More..

Flu season fuels debate over paid sick time laws


NEW YORK (AP) — Sniffling, groggy and afraid she had caught the flu, Diana Zavala dragged herself in to work anyway for a day she felt she couldn't afford to miss.


A school speech therapist who works as an independent contractor, she doesn't have paid sick days. So the mother of two reported to work and hoped for the best — and was aching, shivering and coughing by the end of the day. She stayed home the next day, then loaded up on medicine and returned to work.


"It's a balancing act" between physical health and financial well-being, she said.


An unusually early and vigorous flu season is drawing attention to a cause that has scored victories but also hit roadblocks in recent years: mandatory paid sick leave for a third of civilian workers — more than 40 million people — who don't have it.


Supporters and opponents are particularly watching New York City, where lawmakers are weighing a sick leave proposal amid a competitive mayoral race.


Pointing to a flu outbreak that the governor has called a public health emergency, dozens of doctors, nurses, lawmakers and activists — some in surgical masks — rallied Friday on the City Hall steps to call for passage of the measure, which has awaited a City Council vote for nearly three years. Two likely mayoral contenders have also pressed the point.


The flu spike is making people more aware of the argument for sick pay, said Ellen Bravo, executive director of Family Values at Work, which promotes paid sick time initiatives around the country. "There's people who say, 'OK, I get it — you don't want your server coughing on your food,'" she said.


Advocates have cast paid sick time as both a workforce issue akin to parental leave and "living wage" laws, and a public health priority.


But to some business owners, paid sick leave is an impractical and unfair burden for small operations. Critics also say the timing is bad, given the choppy economy and the hardships inflicted by Superstorm Sandy.


Michael Sinensky, an owner of seven bars and restaurants around the city, was against the sick time proposal before Sandy. And after the storm shut down four of his restaurants for days or weeks, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars that his insurers have yet to pay, "we're in survival mode."


"We're at the point, right now, where we cannot afford additional social initiatives," said Sinensky, whose roughly 500 employees switch shifts if they can't work, an arrangement that some restaurateurs say benefits workers because paid sick time wouldn't include tips.


Employees without sick days are more likely to go to work with a contagious illness, send an ill child to school or day care and use hospital emergency rooms for care, according to a 2010 survey by the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center. A 2011 study in the American Journal of Public Health estimated that a lack of sick time helped spread 5 million cases of flu-like illness during the 2009 swine flu outbreak.


To be sure, many employees entitled to sick time go to work ill anyway, out of dedication or at least a desire to project it. But the work-through-it ethic is shifting somewhat amid growing awareness about spreading sickness.


"Right now, where companies' incentives lie is butting right up against this concern over people coming into the workplace, infecting others and bringing productivity of a whole company down," said John A. Challenger, CEO of employer consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.


Paid sick day requirements are often popular in polls, but only four places have them: San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and the state of Connecticut. The specific provisions vary.


Milwaukee voters approved a sick time requirement in 2008, but the state Legislature passed a law blocking it. Philadelphia's mayor vetoed a sick leave measure in 2011; lawmakers have since instituted a sick time requirement for businesses with city contracts. Voters rejected a paid sick day measure in Denver in 2011.


In New York, City Councilwoman Gale Brewer's proposal would require up to five paid sick days a year at businesses with at least five employees. It wouldn't include independent contractors, such as Zavala, who supports the idea nonetheless.


The idea boasts such supporters as feminist Gloria Steinem and "Sex and the City" actress Cynthia Nixon, as well as a majority of City Council members and a coalition of unions, women's groups and public health advocates. But it also faces influential opponents, including business groups, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who has virtually complete control over what matters come to a vote.


Quinn, who is expected to run for mayor, said she considers paid sick leave a worthy goal but doesn't think it would be wise to implement it in a sluggish economy. Two of her likely opponents, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Comptroller John Liu, have reiterated calls for paid sick leave in light of the flu season.


While the debate plays out, Emilio Palaguachi is recovering from the flu and looking for a job. The father of four was abruptly fired without explanation earlier this month from his job at a deli after taking a day off to go to a doctor, he said. His former employer couldn't be reached by telephone.


"I needed work," Palaguachi said after Friday's City Hall rally, but "I needed to see the doctor because I'm sick."


___


Associated Press writer Susan Haigh in Hartford, Conn., contributed to this report.


___


Follow Jennifer Peltz at http://twitter.com/jennpeltz


Read More..

Dow, S&P 500 edge higher as earnings eyed


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks mostly edged up on Tuesday after ending last week at five-year highs, but gains were limited with investors showing caution as the earnings season picks up speed.


Both the Dow and the Standard & Poor's 500 closed at five-year highs on Friday, boosted by better-than-expected results in the early part of the earnings season. Although major companies have issued bullish statements, many investors remain wary that economic uncertainty in the fourth quarter dented earnings and revenues.


"The market is playing wait-and-see to see the way the earnings come in this week because you've got some biggies," said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co., in Lake Oswego, Oregon.


Recent concerns about waning demand for Apple Inc products and a weak outlook from Intel Corp have diminished optimism about the tech sector's prospects. The S&P technology sector index, down 0.4 percent, was the worst performing of the 10 major S&P 500 sectors on Tuesday.


Major tech companies scheduled to report results after the market's close on Tuesday include Google Inc, International Business Machines and Texas Instruments. Tech bellwethers Apple and Microsoft Corp are also set to report earnings this week.


"Any one of those, if there is a big surprise up or down, could shift the balance in the markets. So investors are being far more cautious than normal, especially with the market averages having broken out to five-year highs," Dickson said.


The Dow Jones industrial average gained 31.32 points, or 0.23 percent, to 13,681.02. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 1.48 points, or 0.10 percent, to 1,487.46. The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 4.42 points, or 0.14 percent, to 3,130.29.


Four Dow components reported early on Tuesday, and three rose on the results. Insurer Travelers Cos was the standout, climbing 2.6 percent to $78.33 and giving the biggest boost to the Dow after the company forecast higher premiums across its business.


DuPont, the largest U.S. chemical company by market capitalization, reported revenue that exceeded Wall Street's expectations, while Verizon Communications Inc also posted revenue that beat forecasts.


Shares of DuPont shot up 1.6 percent to $47.75 while Verizon's stock rose 0.9 percent to $42.94.


On the downside, shares of Johnson & Johnson, the diversified health company, slipped 0.6 percent to $72.79 after the Dow component forecast 2013 earnings below expectations.


According to Thomson Reuters data through Tuesday morning, of the 74 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings so far, 62.2 percent have topped expectations, roughly even with the 62 percent average since 1994, but below the 65 percent average over the past four quarters.


Overall, S&P 500 fourth-quarter earnings are forecast to have risen 2.6 percent. That estimate is above the 1.9 percent forecast from the start of earnings season, but well below the 9.9 percent fourth-quarter earnings forecast from October 1, the data showed.


Economic data from the National Association of Realtors showed existing-home sales unexpectedly fell 1 percent in December, which was below expectations, but not a big enough dip to suggest the housing market's recovery may be in jeopardy.


Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives said they aim on Wednesday to pass a nearly four-month extension of the U.S. debt limit, allowing the government to borrow enough to meet its obligations during that period.


Markets have recently been pressured by uncertainty stemming from Washington about the federal debt limit and spending cuts that could hamper U.S. growth.


U.S.-listed shares of Research in Motion jumped 9.6 percent to $17.36 a day after its chief executive said the Canadian company may consider strategic alliances with other companies after the launch of devices powered by RIM's new BlackBerry 10 operating system.


(Editing by Jan Paschal)



Read More..

The Lede Blog: Prince Harry Compares War to PlayStation and Taliban Is Not Amused

A Taliban spokesman said on Tuesday that Prince Harry must have “mental problems,” following the broadcast of remarks by the royal in which he said that killing militants from an Apache helicopter was similar to playing video games.

As soon as Britain’s ministry of defense announced on Monday that Prince Harry had left Afghanistan, ending his four-month deployment there, the British news media rushed to broadcast video of the royal officer at war, which was recorded with his cooperation on the condition that it not be released until his tour was over.

Britain’s Channel 4 News broke into its bulletin on Monday night just minutes after the announcement to broadcast its edit of the footage, which was shot last month at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province by the British Press Association.

A video report from Britain’s Channel 4 News shot during Prince Harry’s recent deployment to Afghanistan.

The Channel 4 News report drew attention to how frequently the prince, whose mother was being chased by photographers when she died in a fatal car accident, mentioned his distaste for the British press.

At one stage in the interview, Prince Harry said that he was not troubled by killing militants. “Take a life to save a life,” he said. “If there’s people trying to do bad stuff to our guys, then we’ll take them out of the game.”

In another edit of the footage, posted online by The Guardian, Prince Harry, who is known as Captain Wales in the army, explained that he was glad to have been “pushed forward to the front seat,” the one reserved for the attack helicopter’s gunner. That was, he said, “a joy for me because I’m one of those people that loves playing PlayStation and Xbox, so with my thumbs I like to think I’m probably quite useful — if you ask the guys I thrash them at FIFA the whole time,” referring to a popular video game series.

“This is a serious war, a historic war, resistance for us, for our people,” a Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, told Agence France-Presse in response, “and now this prince comes and compares this war with his games, PlayStation or whatever he calls it.”

But the spokesman added, “we don’t take his comments very seriously, as we have all seen and heard that many foreign soldiers, occupiers who come to Afghanistan, develop some kind of mental problems on their way out.”

In another part of the interview, posted online by The Telegraph, Prince Harry said that his brother, Prince William, was jealous of him. “He’d love to be out here and, to be honest with you, I don’t see why he couldn’t,” Harry said. “No one knows who’s in the cockpit. Yes you get shot at, but, you know, if the guys who are doing the same job as us are being shot at on the ground, then I don’t think there’s anything wrong with us being shot at as well. Yeah, people back home might have issues with that, but we’re not special.”

Video of remarks by Prince Harry about how much his brother would like to serve in Afghanistan.

Read More..

Is Facebook envy making you miserable?






LONDON (Reuters) – Witnessing friends’ vacations, love lives and work successes on Facebook can cause envy and trigger feelings of misery and loneliness, according to German researchers.


A study conducted jointly by two German universities found rampant envy on Facebook, the world’s largest social network that now has over one billion users and has produced an unprecedented platform for social comparison.






The researchers found that one in three people felt worse after visiting the site and more dissatisfied with their lives, while people who browsed without contributing were affected the most.


“We were surprised by how many people have a negative experience from Facebook with envy leaving them feeling lonely, frustrated or angry,” researcher Hanna Krasnova from the Institute of Information Systems at Berlin’s Humboldt University told Reuters.


“From our observations some of these people will then leave Facebook or at least reduce their use of the site,” said Krasnova, adding to speculation that Facebook could be reaching saturation point in some markets.


Researchers from Humboldt University and from Darmstadt’s Technical University found vacation photos were the biggest cause of resentment with more than half of envy incidents triggered by holiday snaps on Facebook.


Social interaction was the second most common cause of envy as users could compare how many birthday greetings they received to those of their Facebook friends and how many “likes” or comments were made on photos and postings.


“Passive following triggers invidious emotions, with users mainly envying happiness of others, the way others spend their vacations and socialize,” the researchers said in the report “Envy on Facebook: A Hidden Threat to Users’ Life Satisfaction?” released on Tuesday.


“The spread and ubiquitous presence of envy on Social Networking Sites is shown to undermine users’ life satisfaction.”


They found people aged in their mid-30s were most likely to envy family happiness while women were more likely to envy physical attractiveness.


These feelings of envy were found to prompt some users to boast more about their achievements on the site run by Facebook Inc. to portray themselves in a better light.


Men were shown to post more self-promotional content on Facebook to let people know about their accomplishments while women stressed their good looks and social lives.


The researchers based their findings on two studies involving 600 people with the results to be presented at a conference on information systems in Germany in February.


The first study looked at the scale, scope and nature of envy incidents triggered by Facebook and the second at how envy was linked to passive use of Facebook and life satisfaction.


The researchers said the respondents in both studies were German but they expected the findings to hold internationally as envy is a universal feeling and possibly impact Facebook usage.


“From a provider’s perspective, our findings signal that users frequently perceive Facebook as a stressful environment, which may, in the long-run, endanger platform sustainability,” the researchers concluded.


(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith, editing by Paul Casciato)


Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News





Title Post: Is Facebook envy making you miserable?
Url Post: http://www.news.fluser.com/is-facebook-envy-making-you-miserable/
Link To Post : Is Facebook envy making you miserable?
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment




Read More..

Michelle, Sasha and Malia Obama Don Colorful Coats at Inauguration















01/21/2013 at 12:15 PM EST







From left: Sasha, Malia and Michelle Obama on Jan. 21, 2013


Mark Wilson/Getty


It's a big day for the Obamas.

While watching President Barack Obama be sworn in publicly for his second term in office, Michelle Obama and their daughters, Sasha and Malia, looked on proudly from the platform in front of the Capitol.

But not all eyes were on the Commander in Chief, who officially started his term on Sunday. Many Inauguration watchers are eager to see what the women in his life are wearing.

The First Lady, who is sporting a new do, dressed in a navy Thom Browne coat and dress with the fabric inspired by the textures of a man's silk tie.

She accessorized with Reed Krakoff boots and a jeweled belt and gloves from J. Crew and earrings designed by Cathy Waterman. At the end of the Inaugural festivities, Michelle's entire outfit will go to the National Archives.

Malia, 14, also wore an ensemble by J. Crew, including the Double-cloth Lady coat in plum. And her sister Sasha, 11, wore a Kate Spade coat and dress.

Read More..

Flu season fuels debate over paid sick time laws


NEW YORK (AP) — Sniffling, groggy and afraid she had caught the flu, Diana Zavala dragged herself in to work anyway for a day she felt she couldn't afford to miss.


A school speech therapist who works as an independent contractor, she doesn't have paid sick days. So the mother of two reported to work and hoped for the best — and was aching, shivering and coughing by the end of the day. She stayed home the next day, then loaded up on medicine and returned to work.


"It's a balancing act" between physical health and financial well-being, she said.


An unusually early and vigorous flu season is drawing attention to a cause that has scored victories but also hit roadblocks in recent years: mandatory paid sick leave for a third of civilian workers — more than 40 million people — who don't have it.


Supporters and opponents are particularly watching New York City, where lawmakers are weighing a sick leave proposal amid a competitive mayoral race.


Pointing to a flu outbreak that the governor has called a public health emergency, dozens of doctors, nurses, lawmakers and activists — some in surgical masks — rallied Friday on the City Hall steps to call for passage of the measure, which has awaited a City Council vote for nearly three years. Two likely mayoral contenders have also pressed the point.


The flu spike is making people more aware of the argument for sick pay, said Ellen Bravo, executive director of Family Values at Work, which promotes paid sick time initiatives around the country. "There's people who say, 'OK, I get it — you don't want your server coughing on your food,'" she said.


Advocates have cast paid sick time as both a workforce issue akin to parental leave and "living wage" laws, and a public health priority.


But to some business owners, paid sick leave is an impractical and unfair burden for small operations. Critics also say the timing is bad, given the choppy economy and the hardships inflicted by Superstorm Sandy.


Michael Sinensky, an owner of seven bars and restaurants around the city, was against the sick time proposal before Sandy. And after the storm shut down four of his restaurants for days or weeks, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars that his insurers have yet to pay, "we're in survival mode."


"We're at the point, right now, where we cannot afford additional social initiatives," said Sinensky, whose roughly 500 employees switch shifts if they can't work, an arrangement that some restaurateurs say benefits workers because paid sick time wouldn't include tips.


Employees without sick days are more likely to go to work with a contagious illness, send an ill child to school or day care and use hospital emergency rooms for care, according to a 2010 survey by the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center. A 2011 study in the American Journal of Public Health estimated that a lack of sick time helped spread 5 million cases of flu-like illness during the 2009 swine flu outbreak.


To be sure, many employees entitled to sick time go to work ill anyway, out of dedication or at least a desire to project it. But the work-through-it ethic is shifting somewhat amid growing awareness about spreading sickness.


"Right now, where companies' incentives lie is butting right up against this concern over people coming into the workplace, infecting others and bringing productivity of a whole company down," said John A. Challenger, CEO of employer consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.


Paid sick day requirements are often popular in polls, but only four places have them: San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and the state of Connecticut. The specific provisions vary.


Milwaukee voters approved a sick time requirement in 2008, but the state Legislature passed a law blocking it. Philadelphia's mayor vetoed a sick leave measure in 2011; lawmakers have since instituted a sick time requirement for businesses with city contracts. Voters rejected a paid sick day measure in Denver in 2011.


In New York, City Councilwoman Gale Brewer's proposal would require up to five paid sick days a year at businesses with at least five employees. It wouldn't include independent contractors, such as Zavala, who supports the idea nonetheless.


The idea boasts such supporters as feminist Gloria Steinem and "Sex and the City" actress Cynthia Nixon, as well as a majority of City Council members and a coalition of unions, women's groups and public health advocates. But it also faces influential opponents, including business groups, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who has virtually complete control over what matters come to a vote.


Quinn, who is expected to run for mayor, said she considers paid sick leave a worthy goal but doesn't think it would be wise to implement it in a sluggish economy. Two of her likely opponents, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Comptroller John Liu, have reiterated calls for paid sick leave in light of the flu season.


While the debate plays out, Emilio Palaguachi is recovering from the flu and looking for a job. The father of four was abruptly fired without explanation earlier this month from his job at a deli after taking a day off to go to a doctor, he said. His former employer couldn't be reached by telephone.


"I needed work," Palaguachi said after Friday's City Hall rally, but "I needed to see the doctor because I'm sick."


___


Associated Press writer Susan Haigh in Hartford, Conn., contributed to this report.


___


Follow Jennifer Peltz at http://twitter.com/jennpeltz


Read More..

European shares test two-year highs, yen volatile before BOJ

LONDON (Reuters) - European shares inched towards two-year highs on Monday, as a political attempt to break a budget impasse in the United States and expectations of aggressive Japanese stimulus bolstered the appetite for shares.


U.S. House Republican leaders said on Friday they would seek to pass a three-month extension of federal borrowing authority in the coming days to buy time for the Democrat-controlled Senate to pass a plan to shrink budget deficits.


European shares <.fteu3> were supported by the news <.eu>, but with no clear response from the Democrats and a thin session expected due to a market holiday in the United States, the impact on assets such as bonds and commodities was limited.


By 1500 GMT London's FTSE 100 <.ftse>, Paris's CAC-40 <.fchi> and Frankfurt's DAX <.gdaxi> were up 0.4 to 0.6 percent, leaving the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 within touching distance of a two-year high and MSCI's world index <.miwd00000pus> steady at a 20-month high. <.l><.eu/>


Expectations that the Bank of Japan will deliver a bold monetary easing plan at the end of its two-day meeting on Tuesday also supported shares and created choppy conditions in the currency market.


According to sources familiar with the BoJ's thinking, the government of new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the central bank have agreed to set 2 percent inflation as a new target, supplanting a softer 1 percent 'goal'.


The yen, which has fallen 13 percent against the dollar over the last two months as the shift in Japanese policy has taken shape, touched a new 2-1/2 year low in early trading but then firmed as traders cut short positions given the BOJ has often fallen short of market expectations.


"Investors are being mindful that the moves we have seen over the course of the last month or two are just worth locking in at least until we understand how the BOJ are really going to play in the future," said Jeremy Stretch, head of currency strategy at CIBC World Markets.


CURRENCY WARS


Japanese equities have surged in recent weeks in anticipation of a more aggressive monetary policy stance, but not everyone is happy.


The slump in the yen has prompted Russia's deputy central bank governor to warn of a new round of 'currency wars' and the medium-term risk of running ultra-loose monetary policies is likely to be a theme of the World Economic Forum in Davos, which opens on Wednesday.


With little in the way of economic data or debt issuance and U.S. markets shut for the Martin Luther King public holiday, the rest of the day was expected to be a fairly quiet for investors.


As the first European finance ministers' meeting of the year got under way, most euro zone government bonds were trading virtually flat and the euro was steady at $1.3316.


Market pressure on Europe is now less intense thanks to the European Central Bank's promise to prevent a collapse of the euro. Policymakers are set to discuss Cyprus's plight and plans for the euro zone's bailout fund to directly recapitalize banks.


French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said as he arrived at the Brussels meeting that a proper recapitalization strategy was very important.


"Negotiations will be complex, and a final decision is unlikely to emerge soon. Risks for sovereign spreads in the periphery should be limited, but we have some concerns that the long-term solution may fall short of what a real banking union needs," said UniCredit economist Marco Valli.


POLITICAL GAME


The efforts by Republican lawmakers to give the U.S. government leeway to pay its bills for another three months dented demand for safe haven assets and pushed German government bond yields near the top of this year's range.


The U.S. Treasury needs congressional authorization to raise the current $16.4 trillion limit on U.S. debt sometime between mid-February and early March. A failure to achieve that could lead to a debt default.


"This is part of the political game, it remains to be seen whether the Democrats will accept it," KBC strategist Piet Lammens said, adding that investors' working scenario was that a solution to raise the ceiling would be eventually found anyway.


One of the key factors that drove 2-year German yields higher last week was also the prospect of sizeable early repayments of the 1 trillion euros euro zone banks took from the ECB roughly a year ago.


The central bank will publish on Friday how much banks plan to return at the optional first repayment date on January 30. A Reuters poll on Monday showed around 100 billion euros are expected to be repaid although some predict it could be as high as 250 billion.


OIL OVERSUPPLY


German markets showed no reaction after the country's center-left opposition party edged Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives from power in a regional election on Sunday, reviving its flagging hopes for September's national election.


The Bundesbank's latest report delivered an upbeat message on the country's economy, saying a recent slump should be short-lived and may have already bottomed out.


Oil prices took their cues from a report in the United States at the end of last week that showed consumer sentiment at its weakest in a year as a result of the uncertainty surrounding the country's debt crisis.


Concerns about demand overshadowed supply disruption fears reinforced by the Islamist militant attack and hostage-taking at a gas plant in Algeria, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.


Brent futures were down by 40 cents to $111.47 per barrel by mid-afternoon. U.S. crude shed 43 cents to $95.13 per barrel after touching a four-month high last week.


"The over-riding fundamental feeling in the market is that crude oil is over-supplied in 2013," said Tony Nunan, an oil risk manager at Mitsubishi.


Last week's data showing a pick-up in the Chinese economy helped keep growth-sensitive copper prices steady at roughly $8,056 an ounce. Gold, meanwhile, reversed Friday's losses to stand at $1,688 an ounce.


(Additional reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta, Marious Zaharia and Anooja Debnath; Editing by Peter Graff)



Read More..