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Sunday, December 30, 2012
Camila Alves & Matthew McConaughey Welcome A Baby Boy!
Christmas was extended for?Camila Alves and Matthew McConaughey who welcomed their third child, a boy on Friday. That is right the?McConaughey’s ended 2012 with a brand new addition to their family. People magazine broke the story that Matthew and his wife of less than a year have become parents for the third time. Their son was born yesterday morning in Austin Texas. Details of the new bundle of joy’s arrival had been kept private until now, including the name which was just revealed by the actor in the below Tweet. “Camila gave birth to our third child yesterday morning. Our son, Livingston Alves McConaughey, was born at 7:43 a.m. on 12.28.12.?”He greeted the world at 9 lbs., and 21 inches. Bless up and thank you for your well wishes.” The actor who is pretty good about keeping his private life private kept the details of their son’s birth quiet for a whole day. I guess they were looking for some private time with their new little one. I am sure at some point a reputable magazine will showcase the family with their baby boy who joins big brother Levi, age 4 and big sister Vida, age 2. There were reports [...]
Animal rights group pays settlement in circus elephant case ...
(CNN) ? A circus producer said Friday that an animal rights group has paid it $9.3 million to settle two federal court cases claiming elephant abuse.
Feld Entertainment, Inc., trumpeted the settlement with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) as a victory for its Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
?These defendants attempted to destroy our family-owned business with a hired plaintiff who made statements that the court did not believe,? said Kenneth Feld, chairman and CEO of Feld Entertainment, in a statement.
?Animal activists have been attacking our family, our company, and our employees for decades because they oppose animals in circuses,? Feld said. ?This settlement is a vindication not just for the company but also for the dedicated men and women who spend their lives working and caring for all the animals with Ringling Brothers in the face of such targeted, malicious rhetoric.?
The ASPCA was one of several animal rights groups that sued Feld Entertainment in 2000, alleging that circus elephants were abused.
Both parties filed dismissal papers in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The matter has been in litigation for more than a decade.
The ASPCA confirmed the settlement, saying in a statement that ?the organization does not admit to any liability or wrongdoing.? The court never ruled on the merits of the elephant abuse allegations, it said.
?After more than a decade of litigating with Feld Entertainment, the ASPCA concluded that it is in the best interests of the organization to resolve this expensive, protracted litigation,? said ASPCA President and CEO Ed Sayres in the statement.
Feld?s cases, which include allegations of litigation abuse and racketeering, will continue against the other defendants ? the Humane Society of the United States, the Fund for Animals, the Animal Welfare Institute, the Animal Protection Institute United with Born Free USA and Tom Rider, a former circus employee who testified against Ringling Bros.
U.S. District Judge Emmett G. Sullivan deemed Rider?s testimony tainted because he had been paid by animal rights activists and did not have standing to sue.
?The court finds that Mr. Rider is essentially a paid plaintiff and fact witness who is not credible, and therefore affords no weight to his testimony regarding the matters discussed herein, i.e., the allegations related to his standing to sue,? he wrote in a December 2009 opinion.
CNN was not able to reach Rider on Friday.
ASPCA spokeswoman Elizabeth Estroff would not comment on specifics of the case.
Friday?s settlement did not placate Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States.
?While HSUS was not a party to the original case against Ringling, we agree with so many critics of the circus that its treatment of elephants is deplorable and unacceptable. We?ll continue to make our case to the public, even as Ringling files frivolous and retaliatory legal actions to divert and distract from its abuse of elephants,? he said in a statement.
John Simpson, lead counsel for Feld and a partner at Fulbright & Jaworski in Washington, said Feld?s legal costs since July 2000 have exceeded $20 million, but that settlements with other defendants may be reached.
?We?re going to see this through to conclusion, whether it ends in a verdict or whether it ends in a settlement,? he said in a telephone interview. ?But they know where to find me.?
The toll of the case has gone beyond a financial one, he said. ?It gets very personal and nasty out there on the line when the company?s employees are handling the elephants in public on walks,? he said. ?I think the people who have cared for these animals have suffered and been unjustly accused.?
Source: http://myfox8.com/2012/12/28/animal-rights-group-pays-settlement-in-circus-elephant-case/
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Culver troop to appear in Obama inaugural parade, marking centennial of its first appearance
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CULVER, Indiana ? Students from northern Indiana's Culver Academies are preparing to take part in President Barack Obama's inaugural parade, an event that marks the 100th anniversary of the school's first inaugural parade appearance.
Culver's Black Horse Troop made their first ride down Pennsylvania Avenue in January 1913. That year, the mounted unit served as the official escort for Vice President Thomas Marshall during Woodrow Wilson's inaugural parade. Marshall was governor of Indiana from 1909-13.
The South Bend Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/W5MRQD ) that 59 cadets from Culver Military Academy's Black Horse Troop and 24 members of the Culver Girls Academy Equestriennes will make the trip to Washington for the Jan. 21 inauguration of Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. Ninety horses will also make the trip.
___
Information from: South Bend Tribune, http://www.southbendtribune.com
Source: http://www.tribtown.com/view/story/58eb4d8a1b094df4a996ad16caebe02e/IN--Culver-Obama-Inauguration
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Saturday, December 29, 2012
The Breakfast Meeting: Tighter Internet Rules in China, and ...
New rules issued by the Chinese government Friday will make it easier to monitor who is using the Internet and tamp down some of the vibrant discourse on the country?s Twitter-like microblogs, Keith Bradsher reported. That discourse in recent weeks has publicized sexual and financial scandals that have led to the resignations or dismissals of at least 10 local officials, as well as accounts in Bloomberg News and The New York Times about the wealth of the country?s top leaders. The rules, which come with much greater legal force than earlier regulations, require Internet users to provide their real names to service providers, while assigning Internet companies greater responsibility for monitoring what appears online. The government also included a mandate for businesses in China to be more cautious in gathering and protecting electronic data.
The nation?s public libraries are shifting with the times, recognizing that lending out physical books is only the beginning of their engagement with users, Karen Ann Cullotta writes. In part, the libraries are trying to fill the void left by disappearing book stores ? which can mean highlighting best sellers like ?50 Shades of Grey? in order to serve the public, who are viewed as ?customers.? But also, they have become minor technology centers, both by providing high-speed Internet connections and classes.
- On Room for Debate, there is a discussion of what role libraries should play as books are increasingly read digitally and are stored in the ?cloud.? One commenter, Susan Crawford, notes ruefully that for many people, the library is the only way to connect to the Internet ? a heavy burden for libraries to bear; another, Matthew Battles, writes of libraries:
They?ve acted as gathering points for lively minds and as sites of seclusion and solace. For making knowledge and sharing change, we still need such places ? and some of those, surely, we will continue to call ?the library.?
Gerry Anderson, the British filmmaker behind the futuristic marionettes-based TV series ?Thunderbirds,? died on Wednesday at age 83, William Yardley reports. The series made its debut in 1965, employing a technique Mr. Anderson called ?Supermarionation,? combining the words super, marionette and animation to describe his process, which was later imitated by the ?South Park? creators in ?Team America: World Police.? Mr. Anderson?s characters were part of an international rescue team that enthralled a generation in Britain.
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Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Simple tweaks to speed up your computer | Nepal IT | A Blog For ...
Helpful Article? Let your friends know too. Share!
Windows computer are the ones that tend to slow down after a certain period of purchase. This situation can be avoided by certain tweaks, here are few of the tips that you can follow to prevent your computer from slowing down.
Too many start-up items! Turn off few of them
Every time you install a program, it may ask for a permission of starting up after the booting is completed. If you do not need them as soon as Windows start, then do not add them to the start-up items.
Also, if there are too many startup programs, you can use ?msconfig? command and uncheck the startup items that you do not need.
Get rid of unnecessary files
Whenever you?re making use of any file, the information related to that file gets stored in the Registry of your system, be it a temporary file or a corrupted file or any website URLs. Piling up of certain unwanted files in the registry slows down the computer performance. You can avoid such kind of fuss, by using a registry cleaner that will detect the unnecessary files and remove them from your system. Many registry cleaners have a feature of ?undo?, so you can undo any action you want.
Schedule a disk clean up
To use a registry cleaner, you need to download or purchase it online. However, ?disk cleanup? is a utility that comes embedded in the package of Windows. This utility runs and checks for the unused files and bad files that are unnecessarily occupying the space in the hard drive, it removes such clutter and empties space in the hard drive, which also enhances hard drive?s performance.
Defrag the disk partitions
Do you have any idea about the file storing method in the hard disk of your PC? The files store themselves in a random manner, wherever they find a place. This makes the retrieval of files little difficult, when requested by the user. Fetching files could be easy, if they are more organized in a single place. This can be performed by a Windows utility ?Defrag?, running it periodically will organize the data on your hard drive and speeds up the PC performance.
Nothing could be more disappointing than waiting for a long time in front of your computer to get what you have been looking for. At times, users are not left with any option other than hitting their fist on the desk. However, you have an option to follow few of the above practices to avoid such frustrations.
This post is sponsored by AmyClaus, she is a blogger and she has a peak suggestion to fix your computer problems remotely with mytechgurus Online Support. Also mytechgurus reviews makes waves in the Android Market by Offering Android Support for Tablets and Devices.
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Source: http://www.nepalit.com/2012/12/26/simple-tweaks-to-speed-up-your-computer/
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Tuesday, December 25, 2012
From war with love: Christmas letters span centuries
Courtesy of the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center
Gen. Sidney Berry offered a Christmas update to his wife from Vietnam in 1966.
By Bill Briggs, NBC News contributor
Across three pages ??typed on Christmas Eve 1966 from a village in South Vietnam???the soldier?s words to his wife dance seamlessly from a description of singing carols in the jungle to his latest enemy kills to, finally, a vow of eternal affection.?
?Last night we had a candle-lighting ceremony ... Gasoline drums welded together end to end with a white Noel on the side. Electric light on top covered by red cellophane ... Reindeer and Santa Claus at front. It was raining,? Army Gen. Sidney B. Berry wrote to his wife. He next reveals how he recently had perched in a helicopter door, firing his rifle at men below: ?We all were shooting. And we killed several ...?
?Lovely Anne, I love thee,? Berry closed. ?Perhaps the best aspect of this whole period of separation is our increased appreciation and understanding of each other. I love thee, and I will devote the rest of my life to making love to thee.? He signs off: ?Thy wearied professional, Sid.?
This time of year, communication from combat lines has long provided a poignant piece of Christmas.
Today's troops, for the most part, send their holiday wishes via email or Skype video chat sessions. But life was much different before technology began shadowing ?service men and women so far from home.
At the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle, Pa., thousands of notes, authored by service members from conflicts past, are painstakingly stored in acid-free folders, tucked inside protective boxes, and categorized by family, forming numerous narrow rows flanked by shelves 10 feet high. Many of the correspondences, once jammed in attic boxes, have been donated to the archive. Museum directors retrieved several dozen Christmas missives for NBC News to review.
From the Civil War to the Vietnam War, troops ranging from privates to a general struck the same literary chords???no matter the success of their conflict, their era, or the location of their last battle. They often chronicle violence during a moment meant to celebrate peace. They typically express humor, perhaps to put families at ease. And they reveal yearnings to be back with gathered families and friends.
?A lot of people wrote letters to their mothers at Christmas. I guess it?s a time you really start to think about home, really start to think about where you come from,? said Conrad Crane, chief of historical services at the Army Heritage and Education Center.
Some of the letters offered to NBC News were were originally mailed to nieces, parents and wives.?
Courtesy of the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center
John T. Cheney, an officer in the U.S. Army during the Civil War, wrote to his wife from Mississippi in 1862.
On Dec. 28, 1862, five months before the U.S. Army?s siege of Vicksburg, 1st?Illinois Light Artillery Capt. John T. Cheney sat at a humid encampment, he wrote, near the Tallahatchie River in Mississippi and scribbled some lines to ?My Dear Wife.? Her name was Mary. He also had two children at home at the time, including an 11-year-old son, military archives show. On now-yellowed paper in cursive style, Cheney mentioned to Mary that he was, ?waiting to retreat????revealing, however, he believed his unit ?ought not to be compelled to do so.? He told her that he and his men were living off of half bread rations and three-quarter meat rations but he reassured her that he was ?not yet out of medicine.? And he acknowledged that on Dec. 24 he had procured three gallons of whiskey for his men: ?We had a very pleasant Christmas Eve.?
?I am quite well and could I only know that you were well at home I would be thankful,? Cheney wrote. Less than two years later, he would accompany Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman?s famous march on Atlanta. ?I wish I could step in and stop with you all tonight ... Give my love to all of the friends and kiss the little ones for me a time or two ... Good night.?
Courtesy of the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center
While training to head to combat in World War I, Adam F. Glatfelter offered some soothing words to a niece.
Not surprisingly, the intended audience of each letter, Crane said, generally shaped the tone of words from the front. The museum has ?steamy? notes from husbands to wives, he said, and fatherly notes to children.?
On Dec. 26, 1917, Adam F. Glatfelter penned some thoughts to his niece, Carrie, from Camp Gordon in Atlanta. The training center was built to prepare men to head to the trenches of Europe to fight during World War I. In cursive hand, using a pencil, he told her of spending Christmas Day playing music with his military orchestra for the local bishop. He joked that his ensemble was quickly becoming ?pretty popular? with folks in Atlanta. He listed his holiday meal: two turkey dinners. And he thanked her for sending a spool of thread.
?Do not worry about me,? he wrote, signing as ?Uncle Frank.?
Holiday menus???and pleas not to fret???color many Christmas letters home. On Dec. 25, 1944, Navy Pfc. Clark S. Crane dashed off a one-page note to his parents in a V-mail, short for ?Victory Mail.? The system offered troops templates bordered by red ink. Their words would be censored by the military???a stamp in one corner validated the content had been approved???then copied to film and printed back to paper before being placed in the U.S. mail.
Courtesy of the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center
A V-Mail from Navy sailor Clark Crane, sent at Christmas 1944 to his parents.
Crane was anchored near the Philippines at the time, according to the Army Heritage and Education Center, although his letter notes he was ?Somewhere at Sea.? He tells his parents how he had ?just finished extending season?s greetings ... good natured but well felt? to other men on board via a Christmas poem that he authored with another sailor. He offered one line for his folks.?
??Shed a tear in your Christmas beer since there ain?t gonna be no egg in it this year.? Pretty corny, eh?? Crane wrote, noting that was his third Christmas spent at war and away from his parents? house at 285. N. Maple Ave. in Kingston, Pa.
?Lined up ... for Christmas dinner with tender turkey and cranberries on the menu,? he wrote. ?All of it was very good but there was a deficit of brown skin and the savory smell of a Christmas turkey at good old 285 North Maple. Lots of Love, Clark.?
Another poem???albeit a modern, bloody take on the classic ?A Visit from St. Nicholas????formed a Christmas letter home from Douglas G. Anderson, then stationed in Korea. Neatly hand-written on green paper, the note contained no date or location. Records show he was an Army sergeant who would have been about 23 at the time.
Courtesy of the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center
A Christmas poem - about a battle - penned by Douglas G. Anderson from Korea.
?Twas the night before Christmas and all through the tent was the odor of fuel oil. The stovepipe was bent. The shoe pacs were hung by the oil stove with care in hope that they?d issue each man a new pair. The weary GIs were sacked out in their beds. Visions of sugar babes danced through their heads,? Anderson wrote.
?When up on the ridge-line there arose such a clatter, a Chinese machine gun had started to chatter. I rushed to my rifle and threw back the bolt, the rest of my tent mates arose with a jolt.? Staying in rhyme, Anderson described the orders shouted by his platoon sergeant, Kelly. ? " 'Get up on that on hilltop and silence that red and don?t you come back till you?re sure that he?s dead.' Then putting his thumb in front of his nose, Sergeant Kelly took leave of us shivering Joes. But we all heard him say in a voice soft and light ?Merry Christmas to all, may you live through the night."
After the birth of the Internet and as modern service members waged war in Iraq during two conflicts and, now, in Afghanistan, the art of the Christmas letter home has largely been replaced by Skype sessions, said Col. Matt Dawson, director Army Heritage and Education Center.
In historic missives from combat zones, ?people bared their souls,? Dawson said. Some of the authors couldn?t be sure that those words wouldn?t be the last their families would receive from them.
Today, such intimate moments are shared during one-one-one cyber chats that rarely, if ever, are saved???unless the troops use a new service called TroopTree.com in which they can record, upload and send personal video messages for family or friends, and do so at no cost.
In most cases, however, sweet sentiments shared during Skype sessions from war zones are simply here and gone.
?So in 20, 30 or 40 years," Dawson said, "when we?re looking for this kind of stuff from the war in Iraq or Afghanistan, it will be more difficult to find," ? unless a service member takes time to mail a post card home, as Marine Sgt. Brian Snell?did this month. He sent the card to his wife Liz and their two daughters. The front shows a red Christmas ornament stamped with an ?Operation Enduring Freedom? logo, atop an American flag.
"Hey love, Hope you girls have a Merry Christmas and New Year. I miss you all,? Snell, 30, wrote to his family, who live in the San Diego area. This is his first deployment. He was sent to Afghanistan in autumn.
?There is something about being able to read his handwriting to make the world feel a little smaller, like he isn't on the other side of it,? Liz Snell said. ?Unlike a phone call, a letter lingers. You can have a bad day, pick up the card, and he is here.?
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2012: A Memorable Year for Weather
Drought, wildfire, hurricanes, a deadly typhoon and cold snap ? this year had a lot to offer in terms of weather news.
Weather historian Christopher C. Burt, who blogs for the meteorological website Weather Underground, has been keeping tabs on events this year, and the headliner is clear, he said: Unusually warm temperatures, most notably across the continental United States. ?
We take a look back at the most significant weather of 2012:
Record-breaking warmth: The data for the last of the year isn't in yet, but this year looks "virtually certain" take the title of warmest year on record for the lower 48 states, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Burt follows temperature observations for 300 evenly disbursed U.S. cities or sites with records going back into the 19th century. Of these, 22 reached their all-time highs this year, most during the heat wave that hit much of the country in late June and early July. Only the Pacific Northwest did not share in this year's exceptional warmth, Burt said.?
It was also a warm year for the planet, though not to quite the same degree. As of November, 2012 ranked as the eighth warmest for global average temperature, NOAA reported on Thursday (Dec. 20).
Burt also tracks temperatures for countries, and he noted all-time high records in July and August for five countries, three in Europe, one in Asia and one in Africa.
Summer in March: One notable heat wave this year hit the Great Lakes, Midwest, northern New England, New Brunswick and Novia Scotia in March, bringing scores of record-breaking temperatures for this time of year. In "The Nation's Icebox," International Falls, Mich., the low temperature during this heat wave ? which bottomed out at 60 degrees Fahrenheit (15.6 degrees Celsius) on March 20 ? tied the previous high for that date, according to the Weather Underground.?
Hottest month on record in the U.S.: Until this year, July 1936, during the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression, held the record for hottest month on record in the lower 48 states going back to 1895, but this July's heat surpassed even that record, surprising Burt, who told LiveScience in July, "1936 is probably unassailable frankly."
Drought: The unusually warm weather contributed to drought across much of the country this year, in some places, such as Texas, for the second consecutive year. While devastating, particularly to agriculture, this year's drought has not been unprecedented. It is the most extensive since the 1930s, affecting over half of the country for a majority of the year, NOAA reported on Dec. 20. [Dried Up: Photos Reveal Devastating Texas Drought]
A fiery year: In turn, drought and heat this year contributed to the third worst wildfire season for the western United States, where more than 9 million acres (3.6 million hectares) burned. Colorado and Oregon saw some of the worst fires.
Big storms: Hurricane Isaac made landfall at the end of August in southeastern Louisiana, seven years after Hurricane Katrina's arrival, which flooded New Orleans. This time, however, the city, with its fortified protection system, was spared the devastation. Later in the year, Superstorm Sandy, a hybrid hurricane and winter storm, pummeled the East Coast, bringing an unprecedented storm tide to The Battery at the southern tip of Manhattan. A sustained cluster of violent thunderstorms, called a derecho event, over central, eastern and northeastern states also made NOAA's list of billion-dollar-plus disasters; 28 people died as a result of these storms in late June and early July.
Biggest killers: The deadliest weather event of the year goes to Typhoon Bopha, which struck the Philippines in early December. The death toll has surpassed 1,000, with hundreds more missing, including fishermen who were out to sea when the typhoon ? a tropical cyclone in the western Pacific or Indian Oceans ? struck, according to media reports. But by comparison, the deadliest recorded tropical cyclone hit Bangladesh in November 1970, killing half-a-million people, Burt said. The cold wave that hit central and eastern Europe early in the year ranked as the second deadliest event of 2012, killing 824 people, Burt said.
Cold, but not unprecedented: In spite of its severity, this cold wave failed to set records. In fact, Burt said he is not aware of any significant cold records that were set during 2012. However, the coldest temperature for the year worldwide was recorded on Sept. 16 at Vostok, Antarctica, at minus 119.6 degrees F (minus 84.2 degrees C), according to Burt.
A slow year for tornados: After the devastation caused by tornados in 2011, this year has been relatively quiet. In fact, 2012 is on track to have the lowest tornado death count in a couple of decades, Burt said.
Follow LiveScience on Twitter@livescience. We're also on Facebook?& Google+.
Copyright 2012 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Source: http://news.yahoo.com/2012-memorable-weather-151125475.html
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Monday, December 24, 2012
Rugby Social Media Chief Fired For Cussing - Business Insider
If you want to keep your job as a company's social media chief, you probably shouldn't go around insulting and cussing out said company's Facebook fans on your not-so-private profile.
Holleh Nowrouz, a 26-year-old who ran the social media for the struggling Sale Shark rugby team, learned this obvious lesson the hard way after posting on her own personal Facebook:
"Oh, the joys of managing a sport club's social media when we've lost the last seven Premiership home games. To the Sale Sharks fans who comment about the club needing to spend less time blogging and tweeting and more time coaching, the staff who create content for the website and social media platforms are not the same members of staff who coach the team. You absolute f---wits."
Although the rant was posted in October, a fan noticed it and placed it on the team's page last week. The British team fired Nowrouz shortly after discovering the post.
Employees need to learn that their Facebook identities will be used against them in the workplace.
A staff member for the social media agency working on the Montana Tourism account was recently fired for writing "F this job" on the state's Facebook page?instead of her own.
She wrote: "F this job. I just want to live in Whitefish with my future husband. Leaving Bozeman for good tomorrow. I love you with all my heart and you are not leaving me. Never. Thanks for the good times MercuryCSC!"
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/rugby-social-media-chief-fired-for-cussing-2012-12
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Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Why quantitative easing isn't working - The Term Sheet: Fortune's ...
Ben Bernanke
FORTUNE -- The Federal Reserve may soon steal a catch phrase from Buzz Lightyear: To infinity and beyond.
The Federal Reserve is meeting this week, and it looks likely that Bernanke & Co. will announce that it will boost its latest bond buying effort, which has been dubbed QE Infinity. So called quantitative easing, which is what happens when a central bank buys its own country's debt, is supposed to drive down interest rates. And low interest rates are supposed to stimulate the economy.
But it hasn't quite worked out that way. The economy is indeed improving, but not nearly as fast as one might have expected given that Bernanke kicked off the first round of quantitative easing more than three years ago. Companies are indeed borrowing, taking advantage of the lower rates. So that part of the Fed's plan seems to be working.
MORE:?The Fed is backing foreign banks into a corner
The problem is that companies appear to be using that cheap money to pay off old debts, or just hoarding it, instead of spending it on new hires, building factories or other types of business investments, which is normally the way low-interest rates boost the economy.
The question is, why? Robert Buckland, the chief global equity strategist at Citigroup (C), has an interesting answer. In short, Bernanke is turning the stock market into the bond market, or at least it may be starting to feel that way.
One of Bernanke's hopes from quantitative easing is to push investors who normally would buy bonds and other less-risky assets into riskier assets, namely stocks. And that appears to be happening. The S&P 500, which is up nearly 13% this year, is performing much better than the actual economy. That's supposed to make us all feel better about the actual economy, and spend more money.
Unfortunately, Buckland says that pushing all those risk-averse bond investors into the stock market has a downside, too. Corporate executives get more risk-averse, too, not wanting to alienate their new more conservative investors. That's why they haven't been spending money on acquisitions or expansions.
MORE: Wall Street's Italy problem isn't just Berlusconi
It's an interesting argument, but I don't fully agree with it. If this was the case, you would see more CEOs returning cash to their shareholders. Instead, the amount of cash on corporate balance sheets has continued to grow. What's more, as my colleague Scott Cendrowski recently pointed out, despite talk of companies rushing to do shareholder payouts ahead of the fiscal cliff, dividends are not up that much.
Most CEOs are pretty confident people, and it would be hard to suddenly make them overwhelmingly afraid of risk. A new group of shareholders could throw out corporate management teams that they thought were taking on too much risk. But that would take time. And stocks have only truly become interesting to income investors within the last year or so. So if what Buckland describes is happening, it's probably only happening at the margin, which might matter, but isn't a great explanation why the economy is only producing 146,000 jobs, nearly three and a half years after the recession ended.
I think the reason companies aren't spending money is probably the obvious one - because executives think the economy will continue to be weak. That makes it harder to pin the weak recovery on Bernanke and his loose money policies. And it's less interesting than Buckland's theory, but that doesn't mean it's incorrect.
Source: http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/12/11/federal-reserve-qe/
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Syrian opposition leader calls on Alawites to rise up
MARRAKECH, Morocco (Reuters) - The leader of Syria's opposition coalition called on the country's Alawite minority on Wednesday to launch a campaign of civil disobedience against President Bashar al-Assad, an Alawite who faces a mainly Sunni Muslim uprising against his rule.
Mouaz Alkhatib also told a meeting in Morocco that the opposition would hold world powers, particularly Russia, responsible if Assad uses chemical weapons against rebel fighters. He urged Iran to withdraw personnel he said were supporting Assad in the 20-month-old Syrian conflict.
"We send a direct message to the Alawite brethren. The Syria revolution is extending its hand to you, so extend your hand back and start civil disobedience against the regime because it repressed you like it repressed us," Alkhatib told the "Friends of Syria" ministerial meeting in Marrakech.
"We hold the international community, and especially Russia, fully responsible, if the regime uses chemical weapons against our people," he added, calling on Moscow to end its political and military support for Assad.
Alkhatib, elected last month as leader of the National Coalition for Opposition Forces and the Syrian Revolution, also called on Assad's allies Iran and Hezbollah to withdraw their support.
"We demand that Iran withdraws all of its experts from Syria and we demand the leadership of Hezbollah to withdraw all of its fighters if found in Syria, because their blood must not be spilt defending callous and antiquated regime," he said.
(Reporting by Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Samia Nakhoul; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-opposition-leader-calls-alawites-rise-111335011.html
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Big Labor targets only non-union resort/casino in Las Vegas; Plus: countering the demonization of the 1 percent (Michellemalkin)
Friday, December 7, 2012
EARTH PHOTO GALLERY: Photos of Earth since 1960s
President John F. Kennedy spelled out the mission clearly in his 1961 speech committing the United States to send humans to the moon and back by the end of the decade. He left no doubt about the definition of success and laid out a clear vision.
Now, five decades after his challenge, a panel of space, science and engineering experts said in a stinging report that NASA does not have a goal.
While the future of the space agency may be unclear, its past missions produced some iconic images that gave us all a view of the world that makes it seems not quite so big, including newly released photos that include city lights at night.
Here's an Associated Press photo gallery with some of those images.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/earth-photo-gallery-photos-earth-since-1960s-223905776.html
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Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Easy And Simple Advice On Home Improvement
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Source: http://ivybotreviews.net/?p=20
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