Liberty Newspost Oct-26-2011

Curated News Edition
- 26/10/11
http://www.LibertyNewspost.com
Social media companies 'friend' politics

(USATODAY.com News)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 3:46:36 AM
By Fredreka Schouten, USA TODAY Updated WASHINGTON Some hightech and social media companies are paying big bucks to "friend" Washington's power brokers. File photo by Paul Sakuma, AP Facebook, based in Palo Alto, Calif., has spent more money on lobbying Congress and federal agencies this year than in 2010. File photo by Paul Sakuma, AP Facebook, based in Palo Alto, Calif., has spent more money on lobbying Congress and federal agencies this year than in 2010. While spending on lobbying has slowed for some sectors, it has surged for fast-growing high-tech firms that have faced increased scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators over their privacy policies and other business
(Christianpost.com > Politics)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:38:19 PM
practices, lobbying reports filed recently with Congress show. Facebook spent $910,000 to lobby Congress and federal agencies during the first nine months of the year, more than twice what it spent on lobbying in all of 2010. Google pumped nearly $2.4 million into lobbying in the July-to-September period, record spending for the company. The search-engine giant now employs nearly two dozen lobbying firms. Microsoft, meanwhile, spent nearly $1.9 million in the third quarter, according to the lobbying reports filed last week. "For all the newness, creativity and entrepreneurship that these social media companies have displayed, this is a recognition that the game of politics is played the same old way," said Ellen Miller, executive director of the non-partisan Sunlight Foundation, which tracks lobbying activity. "You hire lobbyists. You make
Submitted at 10/26/2011 10:49:18 AM
works as well as the important actions we take to protect people who use our service and promote the value of innovation to our economy," Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes said in an e-mail. Facebook has lobbied on a slew of privacy bills this year, including a measure pushed by contributions. You do your best to Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., influence all aspects of that would require online Washington to support your companies to receive parental permission before collecting industry." As part of Facebook's expanding information from minors. political footprint, the company Google spokeswoman Samantha recently launched a political S m i t h s a i d l o b b y i n g h e l p s action committee. Last month, the "policymakers understand our company's chief operating officer, business and the work we do to Sheryl Sandberg, hosted a keep the Internet open, to $35,800-per-person fundraiser for encourage innovation and to President Obama at her California create economic opportunity." home. The company also will co- Silicon Valley executives will sponsor a Republican presidential have another chance to meet lawmakers this week. The debate . T h e i n c r e a s e d l o b b y i n g Democratic Senatorial Campaign "represents a continuation of our Committee hosts a fundraising efforts to explain how our service conference Friday with executives from Google, Facebook,
Submitted at 10/26/2011 9:51:23 AM
Microsoft and other tech firms, a Sunlight Foundation post shows. For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com. We've updated the Conversation Guidelines. Changes include a brief review of the moderation process and an explanation on how to use the "Report Abuse" button. Read more. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
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Headline/
Middle class' share of the nation's income is shrinking

(USATODAY.com News)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 9:38:58 AM
By Noah Berger, for USA TODAY Victoria Froelicher's income is considered middle-class by the Census, but she is underwater on her house, supports her elderly mother and has a daughter in college. She's living hand to mouth and barely making it, she says. By Noah Berger, for USA TODAY Victoria Froelicher's income is considered middle-class by the Census, but she is underwater on her house, supports her elderly mother and has a daughter in college. She's living hand to mouth and barely making it, she says. For Reno car salesman Tim Ticknor, the squeeze on his middle-class existence gradually has turned into a chokehold. In 2005, he was making more than $90,000 a year selling used cars to people who had moved to the Southwest for its booming economy. It was an income that allowed him to rent a townhouse with his wife and daughter in a gated community. Over the next six years, as the economy slowed, so did his income. First, it dropped to
$70,000, then after a time it fell to $30,000. By Scott Sady, for USA TODAY The car dealership where Ticknor last worked, making $90,000 a year, is bankrupt, and he is hustling as a day laborer for a temp agency. Today, the car dealership where Ticknor last worked is bankrupt, and he is hustling as a day laborer for a temp agency. He and his family had to move into his mother-in-law's mobile home because they couldn't afford to pay rent. The top fifth of households collected half of U.S. income in 2010. Share of U.S. household income, 2010: Note: Percentages do not add to 100 due to rounding Sources: Census Bureau, American Community Survey Ticknor's story reflects how, across the nation, the middle class' share of the nation's income is shrinking. Reno, which has among the highest rates of unemployment and foreclosures in the United States, is a stark example: The share of income in the metro area that was collected by the middle class fell from 49.8% in 2006 to 45.8% in 2010, the year after the 18-month recession ended. A USA TODAY analysis of
income, down from 3.4% in 2006. That leaves the three-fifths of households in between a common definition of a broad middle class. It collected 46.3% of the income last year, down from 46.7% in 2006. Analysts call it the middle-class squeeze. Census data found the Reno area The data are the latest signs of a was among 150 nationwide where trend that dates to the 1970s, says the share of income going to the Heidi Shierholz, an economist middle class generally made w i t h t h e E c o n o m i c P o l i c y up of households that make Institute. Back then, 53% of the $20,700 to $99,900 a year nation's income went to the shrank from 2006 to 2010. Metro middle class. areas where the middle class' She says that during the 2000s, s h a r e o f i n c o m e d r o p p e d households in the middle class outnumbered those where it grew began losing ground because their incomes were not growing. The by more than 2-to-1. "The lower share of income is a recent recession made it worse as way of saying income inequality e m p l o y e r s c u t w o r k h o u r s , is growing in the middle," says furloughed workers, froze salaries Paul Taylor, executive vice or imposed layoffs. At the same president of the Pew Research time, the value of family assets, Center, who has studied the shift. such as homes, went down. "The vast middle has less of the "Families are taking substantial losses," Shierholz says. "The pie than it had before." Income is shifting to the top tier really scary thing is, there's no of households, especially those in relief in sight." the top 5%, Taylor says. The top A 'humbling' experience 5% earn more than $181,000 In Reno, a metropolitan area of 425,000 people, unemployment annually. In 2010, the top one-fifth of U.S. jumped from 4% in 2006 to 14% households collected 50.3% of all last year. Adjusted for inflation, the nation's income, up from the median income dropped 10% 49.9% in 2006. The lowest- in the same period, to $50,699. earning one-fifth of households Rows of for-sale signs in every collected just 3.3% of the nation's n e i g h b o r h o o d a n d e m p t y
storefronts tell the story of a city whose middle class has been hit hard. Ticknor, 45, says he is one of those casualties. Six years ago, he was a car salesman, earning close to a sixfigure salary that allowed him to afford a two-story condo in a private community. He drove an off-white Dodge Charger with heated leather seats. And his baby girl, Ashlee, "never wanted for anything." As the recession took hold, fewer people bought cars, and Ticknor felt it in his wallet. At first, he and his wife cut back on restaurants and movies. As their financial squeeze got tighter, Ticknor and his family moved out of the townhouse in 2008 because they couldn't afford the $1,200 monthly rent. They lived with a relative for a while and last year moved into an $800-a-month duplex. Then this year, after the car dealership he worked for went bankrupt and he lost his job, they had to leave that apartment and move into his mother-in-law's single-wide trailer. Along the way, they have sold off their possessions. Today, the sports car is gone; so is much of their furniture. They sold their MIDDLE page 3
MIDDLE
continued from page 2
Apple computer recently for $150. Ticknor checks in every day at 5:30 a.m. with a temp agency. "You hope they have a job for you," he says. He has worked for minimum wage as a receptionist, cashier and manual laborer. "The biggest word is humbling," he says. "It does a mental thing on you. I used to make big money. I was like a big shot. You take it for granted." In Reno's downtown, bookstore owner Christine Kelly, 49, sees firsthand what the loss of income has meant for the middle class. She says sales are down at least 25% compared with what they were before the recession. "Those are numbers we'll probably never see again," she says. She moved her store, Sundance Books and Music, downtown this year because the strip mall where they had been was largely empty. "There were no other businesses around us," she says. She hasn't given raises in several years, but she has been able to keep all eight of her employees, some of whom have been with her for more than a decade. It's a source of pride for her, but it's meant her own income has gone down. She says she spends less, and when she does buy something she pays cash. If the economy picked up, the first thing she'd do is give raises. "And buy myself a new a pair of jeans," she says. Middle-income jobs fall New Bern, N.C., couldn't be more different from the gambling
hub and neon lights of Reno. Yet like Reno, New Bern a community tucked into the Neuse River in the center of the state's coastline saw one of the biggest shifts in the middle class' share of income during the recession of any area with a population of more than 20,000. The middle class in New Bern collected 51.6% of the income in 2006. In 2010, the share went down to 43.9 %. "The bulk of our middle class are retirees who came from New York or New Jersey, and they retired on fixed incomes and investments," says Mayor Lee Wilson Bettis. Those investments have suffered because of the volatile stock market, and many of those retirees have had to go back to work, he says. At the same time, the area's job base, made up in part of manufacturing and trucking, has also been hurt, he says. Large companies such as Hatteras Yachts, which makes luxury boats, and BSH Home Appliances, which makes highend appliances, have cut hundreds of jobs. The number of manufacturing jobs in Craven County, where New Bern is located, fell 36% from 2007 to 2010, says James Kleckley, director of the Bureau of Business Research at East Carolina University. By comparison, manufacturing jobs in the state fell by 20% during that time. "You look at those jobs and most
are middle-class jobs," Kleckley says. Stacy Kendall, 46, found a roommate after she lost her job at a senior citizens center last year. Even though she found another job six months later, she says, the expense of paying for an apartment was too much to keep up with. So now she shares a house with a mom and her two daughters. "A lot more people are sharing homes," she says. She started a support group last year for the unemployed and underemployed. One of those who attends is Russ Whittaker, 49. He says he, his wife and three children were comfortably middle class. They moved to New Bern in 2005 from Cape Cod, Mass. Their old house sold at a profit, allowing them to pay cash for their $300,000 house. Without the expense of a mortgage, his wife could retire as a teacher; they paid off their car loans and sent their children to private school. Then last year, Whittaker lost his $46,100-a-year job working as a researcher for the First Church of Christ, Scientist. "We were looking pretty good," he says. "I had a nice Northern salary in a Southern economy, and without it, it's been hard." Now, instead of one job, he works five part-time jobs, earning anywhere from a minimum wage of $7.25 to $10 an hour. His wife is working again, too, providing day care for children and working in their church. Together, they earn about $1,800
a month, Whittaker says. Their children are still in private school, for now, with help from his father, savings and financial aid from the school. But the Whittakers have changed their habits. They now shop at the dollar store, where they can buy a name-brand loaf of bread for onehalf or one-third of its price at a supermarket. They used to pay for their children, ages 8, 11 and 14, to take gymnastics classes. Now the children take part in free activities, such as basketball, volleyball and baseball leagues. They've cut their cable service to only basic channels. "We are getting by, and we have everything we need," he says. "But it's not what we had before. We've gotten a crash course in the difference between wants and needs." 'Juggling everything I can' Even in communities that have not seen massive income shifts, the middle class is feeling the squeeze. In Napa, Calif., known for its fertile valleys, wineries and luxury tourism, Victoria Froelicher frets. The divorced mom has a career as a creativeservices supervisor for an agricultural company, making $80,000 a year. That puts her squarely in the middle class in Napa, where middle-class households earn $26,000 to $121,000. But Froelicher, 53, finds it more and more difficult to make ends meet. She says she owes about
30% more on her home than it is worth, she has to pay to put her daughter through college, and she cares for her elderly mother. She pays $2,300 a month on a three-bedroom house she bought in 2007 for $420,000, but is now worth about $285,000. She also pays $400 a month on a loan she and her daughter took out to help pay for the $17,000-a-year college tuition and room and board. To bring more money in, she cut her 401(k) contribution from 8% to 1%. "I'm juggling everything I can," Froelicher says. "I don't feel I am middle-class. I feel I am lowermiddle-class and teetering on poor. If I lost my job, I could see how I could end up homeless." Froelicher is like a majority of Americans who say they haven't moved forward or have fallen backward in the past five years, says Paul Taylor of Pew Research. A Pew study of the middle class in 2008 found 56% of Americans felt they either fell behind or haven't progressed, the most downbeat short-term assessment of personal progress in nearly half a century of polling by the center. In Napa, the median income has gone from $72,136 in 2006 to $64,401 in 2010 when adjusted for inflation. Median housing values have plummeted from $657,300 in 2006 to $424,100 in 2010. Froelicher rattles off a list of how MIDDLE page 4
Headline/ World News/ Food/
Afghan officials: Truck bomb kills 5, wounds 45

(USATODAY.com News)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 11:58:42 AM
MIDDLE
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) A bomb hidden inside a fuel truck in a central Afghan province exploded as scores of people gathered around the vehicle to collect fuel that was leaking, killing at least five in a blast that shattered a period of relative quiet in the war-ravaged nation, officials said Wednesday. By Muhammed Muheisen, AP Afghan youths stand near a fuel truck that exploded in Parwan province on Wednesday. The explosion, around 8 p.m. Tuesday, occurred in Parwan province, about 25 miles north of the capital, Kabul. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the blast represents the first major attack since an assault on the U.S. Embassy in Kabul last month. Dozens had gathered around the fuel truck to collect fuel that was leaking, said Kabir Ahmad, the district chief of Parwan province's
Bagram district. Suddenly, the truck exploded, he said. At least three people were killed at the scene, said Khalil Farhangi, the province's hospital chief. Kabir Amiri, who oversees all of Kabul's hospitals, says 47 people were wounded and two of them subsequently died, raising the death toll to five so far. He said at least about 10 people suffered extensive burns. The al-Qaida and Taliban-linked Haqqani network, which operates out of Pakistan, have been blamed for many of the recent spectacular attacks in and around Kabul. The U.S. and Afghanistan have urged Pakistan to do more to rein in or combat the network, and NATO earlier this month launched a major operation involving tens of thousands of coalition and Afghan forces to target insurgents along Afghanistan's eastern border with Pakistan. Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com. We've updated the Conversation Guidelines. Changes include a brief review of the moderation process and an explanation on how to use the "Report Abuse" button. Read more. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
she makes do: no smartphones, flat screens or Netflix subscriptions. She brings leftovers for lunch, shops at consignment stores when she needs something and refinanced her used-car loan from 4.35% to 2.99%. "Food costs so much more, and medical, dental and glasses, and everyday expenses," she says. She's learning to do house repairs herself, using how-to instructions on the Internet. And the molar she cracked that needs a new crown? She says she's flossing and keeping the tooth clean until January when her dental benefits from work kick in again. She used the maximum coverage allowed this year for a root canal. Froelicher says she always thought by the time she reached her 50s she would be living a
comfortable middle-class life and have enough savings for retirement. "But instead, it seems I have less and less all the time," she says. "There is no safety net or security in my life." Contributing: Barbara Hansen in McLean, Va., and Jeff DeLong at the Reno Gazette Journal This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Superfast Peanut Butter Smoothies

(Cooking Light: Editor's Picks)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 3:00:00 AM
content] Mix up a batch of these tasty, high-protein smoothies for a quick breakfast or hearty snack.
[unable to retrieve full-text
The European Project in the Balkans, Part I

(World Politics Review: Articles)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 7:14:00 AM
Editors note: This is the first in a two-part series examining the European Unions approach
toward the integration of the Balkans into the union. Part I examines the record of EU integration to date. Part II will examine the road ahead. The European Commission's
(EC) recent progress reports on the Western Balkan countries, released in October, mark the latest stage in a long process designed to bring a region devastated by post-Communist
conflict into the European fold. ... This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-
only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Top News/
Steve Jobs Biographer: Apple Founder Was Driven By Simplicity, Mystical Thinking, And Occasional LSD Use
Gregory Ferenstein (Fast Company)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 11:35:03 AM
Walter Isaacson talks with Fast Company about the method and philosophy that made Steve Jobs
better than his competitors at innovation, products, and design. Bill Gates would "be a broader guy if he had dropped acid once or gone off to an ashram when he was younger, Jobs said. "His whole life is a combination
of mystical enlightenment thinking with hardcore rational thought," Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs' biographer, tells Fast Company. "He has an intuition for connecting artistry with technology and that allows you to
make imaginative leaps." Jobs leveraged a combination of both the humanities and sciences to fold highly sophisticated products into intensely simple designs. In essence, Steve Jobs, the book, is an extroardinary tale of the
excruciating obsessiveness behind simplicity. The motivation for every product detail, as Isaacson tells it--from rounded corners on desktops to the open architecture STEVE page 7
Top News/
Analysts Just Can't Get Apple Right, It's Too Innovative

Kit Eaton (Fast Company)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 1:55:50 PM
Apple is, according to several financial analysts, on the verge of becoming the first trillion-dollar company in history. Oddly, those who predict the rise of Apple are the same analysts who were " disappointed" by Apple's most recent quarterly earnings report. The quarter in question included a net income rise of 54% yearover-year, a 39% revenue increase, and a 21% boost in iPhone sales--Apple's flagship product. Because, among other things, Apple shifted "just" over 17 million iPhones in the quarter, versus the 20 million that analysts by consensus expected, they gave the stock lower marks--and the company experienced an immediate 7% drop in its share price. What's Going On Here? Apple is one of the world's biggest companies. Its tech dominance and influence is global in reach. When firms get to this size, the harsh statistics of large numbers, the effects of scale and other tricky market forces mean it's generally hard to deliver large percentage growth on sales or profits. Yet Apple manages to do both, as well as boosting sales of its key iPhone product, quarter after quarter. You'd expect the
Street would be pleased by this. When analysts build a prediction for a firm like Apple, they look at its past performance to see if they can identify trends or habits. And yes, we know this flies in the face of the usual "past performance cannot guarantee future performance"--that irksome
warning that is quoted as sharebuying advice. They also look at context in the industry, and global trends. They make inquiries with key figures who may be able to reveal snippets of manufacturing plans that could infer growth or decline, and they do some careful number-
crunching to try to predict how the target company will behave. It's an art form, with intuition and math at the core. On top of their mathematical models, analysts may try to guess how the market (which is influenced by emotion and perception as well as fact) will
react to news from the company itself, such as Steve Jobs' resignation and sadly, his death, or influential factors from outside of the company--like the price of rare earths, which would impact tech manufacturers, Apple ANALYSTS page 10
STEVE
of Apple retail stores--springs from an initially mundaneseeming episode of Jobs's life, from auditing calligraphy classes at Stanford to studying the Frank Lloyd Wright architecture of his boyhood suburb. Jobs applied these life lessons with a famously controlling, strong-armed approach, obsessing over the tiniest details and lambasting his closest competitors for their oversights, which appear as gossip-worthy quotes peppered through the biography--a biography that comes loaded with as much buzz and curiosity as the next iPhone. Isaacson tells Fast Company what he learned about innovation and simplicity from the master of new product launches. Intuition "Im one of the few people who understands how producing technology requires intuition and creativity, and how producing something artistic takes real discipline," Jobs told Isaacson. But his intuition was not inherited. "He called it experiential wisdom," says Isaacson, who writes that Jobs's believed that everything from his Buddhist training to his recreational use of LSD contributed to this sixth sense. These experiences "form certain patterns and values that you have to be attuned to," Jobs believed. "[Bill Gates would] be a broader guy if he had dropped acid once or gone off to an ashram when he was younger, Jobs once said, in one of his more memorable
quotes from the book. Isaacson says that these intuitionpowered decisions "might mean he wouldn't be able to explain why you needed a handle on top of the desktop iMac or why you needed the certain curve you did on the bottom of the iPad, but he trusted his artistic intuition as much as he trusted rational thinking." Clearly, though, Jobs didn't think teachers should hand out exams on acid-laced Scantrons, so what lessons where there for the rest of us who didn't have time to visit an ashram? "The insight is not just to nurture the science, math and engineering side of your self, but also the creative side," Isaacson says. Simple Sophistication "He truly believed that simplicity was a virtue," says Isaacson. Indeed, a statement often attributed to Leonardo De Vinci adorned the early Mac manual: "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." "Jobs spent days agonizing over just how rounded the corners should be," writes Issacson about Jobs's obsessions over the Apple II, one of many perfectionist tendencies that would irk his colleagues into sustained brooding and often lead them to quit. But he inspired those who weathered his tirades and searing criticism. During his micromanagement of the iPod creation, Isaacson writes, "If he couldnt figure out how to navigate to something, or if it
took more than three clicks, he would be brutal. "There would be times when we'd rack our brains on a user interface problem, and think we'd considered every option, and he would go, 'Did you think of this?'" said [Apple Engineer, Tony] Fadell. "And then wed all go, 'Holy shit.' Hed redefine the problem or approach, and our little problem would go away." Rigid Control, Sort Of "Steve's genius is that he knows how to make things simple, and that sometimes requires controlling everything, long-time partner Steve Wozniak is quoted as saying. Jobs's control would manifest itself in Apple's notorious fights with Google over Android's open app store and his refusal to license the Mac operating system to other hardware developers, like Windows does. "Bill Gates said to me at the end that Steve's closed system worked. But, it only worked when you had a maestro like Steve orchestrating it," recalls Isaacson. As leader of Apple, the sense of control was both a mix of dictatorial control and an openminded exchange of ideas--if employees could match Jobs's wit. "It works both ways," Isaacson recalls Jobs explaining to him, "I can tell people in a meeting that they're full of shit, but they can bark back at me and tell me I'm full of shit. And then we have the most rip-roaring arguments and that's why we work together well."
For example, Isaacson, notes, Jobs did not want the iPod to work on Windows. "They argued about it for months--rip roaring arguments. And, you know what, Steve conceded." Isaacson argues that collaboration is essential at Apple because all of the products are so interconnected, a modification to something as simple as a screw would affect multiple devisions at the company. "At Apple there was sort of the deep collaboration, because there were no divisions and because the engineers and the marketers and the designers had to work together from the very beginning." Despite awards and promotions given for standing up to Jobs, Isaacson admits, "Obviously, Steve's tastes were commanding at all times," which gives some context to this famous interview (below) he had with Walt Mossberg. [youtube f60dheI4ARg] "The Magic of Technology" "Unlike most kids who grew up in Eichler homes, Jobs knew what they were and why they were so wonderful. He liked the notion of simple and clean modernism produced for the masses," writes Isaacson, regarding the Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired homes of Jobs's boyhood suburb. "Eichler did a great thing," said Jobs. "I love it when you can bring really great design and simple capability to something that doesnt cost much," noting that this philosophy was the "original vision for Apple."
Jobs's vision for products were driven by his ultra-ambitious beliefs in what technology for the masses could achieve, as described by Isaacson in a telling example of when Jobs wanted to motivate an engineer to decrease the Macintosh boot time. "If it could save a persons life, would you find a way to shave ten seconds off the boot time?" [Jobs] asked. Jobs went to a whiteboard and showed that if there were five million people using the Mac, and it took ten seconds extra to turn it on every day, that added up to 300 million or so hours per year that people would save, which was the equivalent of at least 100 lifetimes saved per year." [Engineer, Larry Kenyon] was suitably impressed, and a few weeks later he came back and it booted up twentyeight seconds faster," [Bill] Atkinson recalled. "Steve had a way of motivating by looking at the bigger picture." "He believed that technology was individually empowering," says Isaacon. "For him, that was the theme of the 1984 ad, that the the personal computer was not big brother, it would individually empower you. That, for him, was the magic of technology." The biography was clearly a work of great effort: roughly three years of work, more than 40 interviews with Jobs himself, and many more with friends, colleagues, and adversaries. Isaacson had to leave his own conference, the Aspen Institute STEVE page 15
Top News/
The buzz behind 7 billion people: A milestone and a warning - CNN (blog)
(Top Stories - Google News)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 11:47:03 AM
Trying to assess the importance of the United Nations' upcoming celebration of the global population reaching 7 billion is sort of like trying to assess the meaning of life. As the countdown clock to the date keeps ticking, and people keep buzzing about the number, many are trying to figure out the real importance of hitting that marker. The Wall Street Journal proposed the question: "How Do You Get to 7 Billion People?" The article raised the question: Exactly how do you know that we are reaching this symbolic number on a date set by the United Nations, given that some countries don't have full census data? "The world's population will hit seven billion on Oct. 31. Or maybe not until next year. Or maybe it has already happened. "No one knows for sure. But that hasn't stopped the United Nations from picking the last day of the month as the symbolic date, christening it as 7 Billion Day." Perhaps the occasion will allow us to realize that we need to pay more attention to better tracking our growth and impact - our literal footprint on Earth. For some, there will be the typical
celebrations: a baby wrapped in a blanket declared the 7 billionth person to enter this world as hospitals debate which baby was actually the one that hit the marker, similar to what has happened with milestones in the past.(If you're curious where you fall in the mix, Population Action International has a handy"What's your number?" interactive based on your birth date.) But it seems like this time around, if social media and traditional media are any indication, this milestone is about a little more than just balloons and fanfare. The Wall Street Journal wrote: "While seven billion is a nice round number, knowing the identity of the lucky baby or the exact moment the threshold is crossed isn't really any more important than pulling over to the side of the road to bask in your car's 100,000th mile. But the building blocks for world population estimates national demographic statistics and characteristics are used by governments, businesses and aid groups to plan spending and spot potential trouble spots." In a growing and ever-changing economic and technological world, this may be the time to look at where we've been, what we're going through now and
what challenges lie ahead for such a massive population. And with movements like Occupy Wall Street spreading across the globe to share growing discontent about government institutions' ability to deal with our problems and growing debt, the 7 billion mark poses questions about whether those concerns will be passed on to future generations. "The milestone of 7 billion is marked by achievements, setbacks and paradoxes," a United Nations Population Fund report begins.(Read the report in PDF form) The U.N. says it believes the world can thrive as it reaches the milestone, but the report also looks at the ways that countries are growing and changing, as well as how they can tackle critical challenges and prepare for the
arrival of billions more people this century. Those challenges include empowering young people with economic opportunities; planning for the growth of cities; developing programs to share and sustain the Earth's resources; and improving education, including sexual education. The U.N. has teamed up with the company SAP to help make those decisions easier by creating a widget on the site 7billionactions.org that allows you to assess the world's population by age, socioeconomic status and education levels, and to compare trends from country to country. The goal is to help governments assess their needs for the future. After all, with more people comes the need for more resources.
Jeffrey D. Sachs, the director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University, writing for CNN, says the occasion marks a huge task for us. "The arrival of the 7 billionth person is cause for profound global concern. It carries a challenge: What will it take to maintain a planet in which each person has a chance for a full, productive and prosperous life, and in which the planet's resources are sustained for future generations? "How, in short, can we enjoy 'sustainable development' on a very crowded planet?" That crowded planet may cause some global issues. Those include the health concerns caused by the waste that 7 billion people create, according to a LiveScience report on MSNBC.com. MSNBC's photo blog takes a visual look at the effect that we have on the world each day and how we tax the environment: through deforestation, pollution from developing countries and traffic jams, as well as the struggle to cultivate all of the food and crops necessary to feed our growing population. That imprint will only grow as more of us inhabit the planet, the accompanying article says. BUZZ page 14
Top News/
Occupy Oakland: Calm returns after protests - San Jose Mercury News
Submitted at 10/26/2011 11:53:52 AM
By Kristin J. Bender, Scott Johnson, Sean Maher, and Cecily Burt and Angela Woodall Oakland Tribune OAKLAND -- Stacks of barricades, a broken window and a handful of protesters and police are the only signs early Wednesday in downtown Oakland of a melee that broke out the night before after Oakland Occupy's tent city was dismantled by police. By morning, calm had returned to Oakland's downtown, a contrast to Tuesday evening, when police lobbed tear gas to disperse 1,000 protesters. A few protesters lingered this morning across the street from Frank Ogawa Plaza at Broadway and 14th Street, where the tent city was broken up by police in an early Tuesday raid. Crews were power-washing the plaza. One visible sign of the melee was a broken window on a vacant storefront on the 1300 block of Broadway. Demonstrators, however, are vowing to return in a 6 p.m. rally tonight. On Tuesday, Occupy Oakland demonstrators clashed with police, who used tear gas at least three times in futile attempts to
fully disperse the more than 1,000 people who took to the streets after the early-morning raid of the movement's encampment. The rolling protest came about 12 hours after hundreds of police from across the Bay Area rousted about 300 people from the twoweek old camp at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza. Tensions escalated after protesters vowed to return to the plaza, which was left with tents overturned and food, carpet, personal belongings and mounds of trash strewed on the lawn. "We had to deploy gas to stop people from throwing rocks and bottles at police," said Interim Police Chief Howard Jordan, adding that he was unsure about what other crowd control methods were used by outside police agencies. There were unconfirmed reports that flash-bang grenades and wood dowels were launched at protesters. Following the pre-dawn raid, about 500 protesters initially met at the main branch of the Oakland library at 4 p.m., chanting that they would "reclaim" what they now call Oscar Grant Plaza named for the unarmed man who was killed in 2009 by a BART police officer. The demonstrators sparred with hundreds of police for more than six hours forcing police to close streets, reroute traffic and launch
four rounds of bean bags into the crowd of protesters. At one of the most tense moments near Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, sparks from explosives thrown at police by protesters and tear gas canisters could be seen exploding over the scattering crowd. The number of protest injuries were not immediately known, but two officers were hurt when protesters splattered them with paint. As of late Tuesday, the crowd had not dispersed and an earlier tweet by Occupy Oakland organizers gave locations where the group wanted people to congregate and urged demonstrators to "bring bottles." Chief Jordan said 102 people were arrested Tuesday, the majority taken into custody before dawn. Many were taken to Santa Rita Jail in Dublin and held on $10,000 bail each. Occupy Oakland organizers flooded the office of Mayor Jean Quan and the Alameda County Sheriff's Office with demands the protesters be cited and released. Those arrested included people from as far away as Florida and Illinois, a city official said. Police said the protesters would likely be out of jail by Wednesday. On Tuesday evening, the group
wound its way from the main branch of the Oakland Public Library to the city's jail and then to Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, which had been the epicenter of Occupy Oakland and the site of a tent city where about 300 people lived for two weeks. "This movement seems to come from a much deeper place. It fills me with hope for the first time in years," said Garry Lambrev, a 30year resident of Oakland, who said he visited the camp many times since it sprung up on Oct. 10. Ordering the campers to leave with their belongings or risk arrest, before dawn Tuesday, at least 200 law enforcement officers from agencies across the Bay Area amassed around the plaza, moving in and overturning tents, ripping down cardboard signs, and within 30 minutes clearing out the occupiers. Protesters tried to hold police off with firecrackers, a fire extinguisher, the Police Department's own barriers, metal Dumpsters, and even the City Hall Christmas wreath, police and protesters said. One man walked around carrying a giant shield he had fashioned out of duct tape. One officer said that during the camp shutdown, protesters threw bottles, skillets, other kitchen utensils and rocks at police. They
also "threw plates at us like Frisbees," the officer said. Police confirmed that protesters had set off a fire extinguisher and several low-level explosives to try to deter oncoming police. Frank H. Ogawa Plaza will remain closed until public health and safety conditions can be improved; this includes debris, human waste and hazardous materials removal. A spokesman for the National Lawyers Guild said two people suffered broken hands and one other was hospitalized with a head injury following the morning raid. Occupy Oakland began on Oct. 10 in support of Occupy Wall Street and was originally in protest of widespread unemployment and what protesters called corporate greed. Soon, the encampment grew to encompass support for state prison inmates who are on hunger strikes, housing rights, fair wages and opposition to social oppression. With the growing list of causes, the "tent city" also grew to an estimated 300 campers, with hay bales everywhere and stalls for medical aid, food, art and community meetings. Along with the makeshift city came problems. City officials reported rats in the OCCUPY page 14
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Finance/
ANALYSTS
included. Common Sense Many industry watchers--from the casually interested, to nearly Apple-obsessed tech writers-could and actually did predict that the growth rate of sales of Apple's iPhone last quarter would fall slightly. We knew that Apple was going to delay its iPhone update this year, and we suspected so months before Apple's habitual earlySummer update window. That's a human factor: The likely delays wouldn't have gone unnoticed by the smartphone-coveting, Applefollowing public. Numerous press reports (spurred by, just possibly, official Apple " leaks") helped spread this expectation of a delay. We also knew that any potential iPhone buyer, considering the status of the iPhone as an expensive luxury item, would likely hold off buying one, over the last couple of months so that the same money would secure them a better, brighter, snazzier upgraded phone when Apple did get around to its launch. But laypeople and tech press are armed with common sense from a wide variety of academic and professional backgrounds, more than financial models. Analysts' Focus On Econ, Math Here are some of the most-quoted Apple analysts: Gene Munster, from Piper Jaffray has a
bachelor's degree in "financial managment and new venture strategies;" Sean Wu has a BSc in economics; Atlantic Equities' James Corwell, given five stars by Yahoo's finance page for his accuracy in predicting Apple's stock performance holds a first class degree in mathematics from Cambridge; Toni Sacconaghi from Sanford C. Bernstein has a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from Brown University; and RBC's Mike Abramsky, has an MSc in engineering from MIT. Though these weren't the only analysts whose opinion drove Apple's " rare miss" headlines this quarter, a lack of high-tech, communications and scientific degrees (or training) underscores something, here. Centering on economics and finance, many analysts seem to ignore common sense and technological aspects of Apple's business that have led the company down the path of enduring success. As Fortune remarked after Apple reported its quarterly figures in April--across a long list of industry analysts, data seemed to confuse them, and no consensus was reached. Their expectations, on average, fell some 13% adrift of the actual data Apple published. Last week, again, Munster predicted Apple would sell 2 to
2.5 million iPhone 4S's on its first weekend, Abramsky suggested "nearly" 3 million would be sold, and then Apple reported actually over 4 million had gone through its sales inventory system. The over-delivery versus analyst expectations represented at least a million units. That actually eats up a massive chunk of the imaginary "underdelivery" on Apple's last quarter's sales that left the analyst industry "disappointed." The Apple Enigma Perhaps it's a question of Apple's secretive and unconventional business model--a system, crafted by Jobs and Cook, that's so unusual it's propelled the company even as its peers have faltered. One could assume that all the usual tricks and tropes analysts use to predict the future of a firm like, say, Toshiba, would fall over when faced with trying to work out what Apple's up to, thanks to this unconventionality. Other Apple anomalies include the secrecy with which its supply partners, prototypes and employees are guarded; and the all-out fanaticism of Apple hardware buyers (fanbois); along with the way Apple manipulates the media, simultaneously courting and holding bloggers at bay. Last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook took time out of the
earnings call to specifically criticise media hype surrounding the expected iPhone 5 upgrade, saying that it hurt sales of the existing hardware. The Downgrade As Compliment Some downgrades of Apple may have been influenced by doubts about the future of the company in a post-Steve Jobs era. That's a compliment for the company's founder. Because the company released an upgraded iPhone 4 (the iPhone 4S) instead of a full, hotly anticipated redesigned iPhone 5, analysts are talking about Apple's recent hardware moves as more station-keeping than worldexpanding. Tech press and fanbois see that as part of a bigger, long-term plan, right now. Could that tempt an analyst to be cautious, and to advise short- or medium-term investors, looking for returns sooner rather than later, to invest less in Apple? Sure. But in the longer term the Apple world beyond the Street expects great things in 2012, with the rumored iPhone re-format, an iPad 3, refreshed signature Macs and, just possibly a full-blown Apple television. Maybe It's Impossible Perhaps there's just no way to get a read on Apple because the company is so very innovative and unpredictable in terms of its
products, use of media and hype, and its Tim Cook-polished production models. So many variables go into the mix, and so many of them are hidden from outside view behind carefully-devised screens, so that everyone from the public to media to analysts and crucially, competitors, are in the dark, and one step behind its performance. We'll know next quarter exactly how adrfit analysis is getting, though, because Apple itself has taken a slightly new step and is predicting record growth in iPhone sales, with figures dwarfing this quarter's. Barrons analysts, at least, suggest that Apple's share price could leap 25% over the next year. Tech and business press tends to support headlines like those from the quinetessential Apple fan, blogger and nascent VC, MG Siegler, who wrote after the earnings call: "If you sold your Apple stock today, you're an idiot." We're pretty sure of one thing: Apple will surprise everyone, including the analysts, probably very soon. Chat about this news with Kit Eaton on Twitter and Fast Company too. [Image: Flickr user rickz]
Italian MPs in fist-fight over pensions

Nick Squires (Finance News Business news from the UK and
MPs exchange blows and insults over a pension reform plan.
Top News/
11
Thousands flee Thai capital as prime minister says flooding likely - Washington Post
Submitted at 10/26/2011 11:54:19 AM
By Associated Press, BANGKOK Tens of thousands of Bangkok residents jammed bus stations and highways Wednesday to flee Thailands flood-threatened capital as the citys governor ordered official evacuations in two swamped northern districts for the first time since the crisis began. Floodwaters bearing down on the metropolis have killed 373 people nationwide since July, causing billions of dollars in damage and shutting down Bangkoks second largest airport. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatras government had repeatedly vowed to protect the capital, which has so far mostly escaped unscathed. But official assessments have turned grim in recent days, and everywhere people are preparing for flooding that seems all but inevitable. Gov. Sukhumbhand Paribatra said residents of two of the citys 50 districts Don Muang and Bang Phlat, both already partially submerged should leave for safer city shelters. This is the first time I am using
the term evacuation, the first time Im really asking you to leave, Sukhumbhand said. Elsewhere in the city, thousands of people packed Bangkoks Mo Chit bus terminal, trying to leave town on their own. Many appeared to be taking advantage of a government-declared fiveday public holiday to avoid a possible watery siege. The holiday runs Thursday through Monday in flood-affected areas, including Bangkok. Some waited for hours on the sidewalk outside Mo Chit because there was no space inside the terminal, the main departure point for buses to Thailands north. The mass exodus included thousands of migrants from neighboring Myanmar, workers dependent on low-paying jobs so desperate to leave they are willing to brave a return to their intensely repressive nation to do so. Authorities were also forced to move hundreds of inmates from three prisons many on death row to facilities in other provinces. Satellite maps of Bangkok showed a city almost entirely surrounded by water. Most of the vast pools of runoff now submerging a third of the country
are flowing from the north toward Bangkok southward toward the Gulf of Thailand. The amount of water is gigantic, Yingluck said. Some water must spread into Bangkok areas but we will try to make it pass through as quickly as possible. In the district of Sai Mai, located on the capitals northern outskirts, waist-high water turned roads into virtual rivers and swamped gas stations and homes. Hundreds of residents clamored aboard packed military trucks with their belongings, desperate to leave. But help was in short supply. We havent been able to get on one (military truck) yet, we have been waiting for almost an hour, said 71-year-old Saman Somsuk. There arent many trucks. Others got out any way they could in paddle boats, plastic tubs, inner tubes and rubber rafts. Several men floated down a flooded road in a makeshift boat made of empty oil barrels tied to a rectangular plank. As fears of urban disaster set in, some residents built cement walls to protect their shops and homes. Websites posted instructions on the proper way to stack sandbags.
Many residents fortified vulnerable areas of their houses with bricks, gypsum board and plastic sheets. Walls of sandbags or cinderblocks covered the entrances of many buildings. Concern that pumps would fail prompted a run on plastic containers in which to hoard water. Anticipating worse, one woman traveling on Bangkoks Skytrain system carried a bag of life vests. On Tuesday, floods breached barriers protecting the capitals Don Muang airport, shutting it down hours later. The airport is used primarily for domestic flights, but its closure dealt a major psychological blow to efforts to protect the capital. The countrys main international airport is still functioning normally. Panic has gripped parts of the city as more and more of it is affected by the advancing water. Residents stocking up on food and other necessities have emptied supermarket shelves. Bottled water and toilet paper were in especially short supply. Yingluck urged everyone in the capital to move their belongings to higher ground and warned that the citys fate rested on three key
flood barriers. If the three spots ... remain intact, the situation will improve, Yingluck said. However, in the worst case, if we cant protect all three spots, all of Bangkok will be flooded. A day earlier, Yingluck had warned that the floods could range from 4 inches to 5 feet (10 centimeters to 1.5 meters) deep in the capital. Residents living near Mahasawat Canal in western Bangkok evacuated on Wednesday after a rapid overnight rise in water. I decided to leave because the water came in very fast, said Jong Sonthimen, a 57-year-old factory cleaner. A boat carried her and two plastic garbage bags with her belongings to a Buddhist temple, where pickup trucks waited to take residents to a safer area. Last week, Yingluck ordered key floodgates opened in Bangkok to help drain runoff through urban canals to the sea, but there is great concern that rising tides in the Gulf of Thailand this weekend could slow critical outflows and flood the city. ___ THOUSANDS page 16
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Top News/ Technology/
The Fickle Blessing Of "Senior" Debt

(The Front Page)
Gambling is a lot less nervewracking when you know taxpayers are standing by to cover In a politicized economy, it helps your losses! to know the right people. On the bright side, Obamas 10/26/2011 busted green-energy flush will One of the more controversial soon be selling off its physical aspects of the Solyndra disaster assets, which should bring in a was the Obama Administrations few million dollars. That should decision to put private investors help ease the pain for taxpayers a h e a d o f t a x p a y e r s . T h i s who oh, no, wait, sorry. We happened when the massive wont be getting one thin dime of Solyndra loan was restructured in that money. Its all going to January 2011. The idea was that private investors. Once their in order to attract new private senior debt is made whole, you investors to Obamas floundering and I might have a chance of green energy flagship, it would getting paid back from a future be necessary to guarantee they auction. Maybe. This is Obama could recover their investments in green-energy junk were talking t h e e v e n t o f b a n k r u p t c y . about. I wouldnt make any bets Politicians are always happy to on how much enduring value it double down on failed bets, but has. Especially since taxpayers private investors are risking their dont cover my bets. own money, which makes them a How was this remarkable good deal more cautious. arrangement arrived at? Simple: As it turns out, Solyndra did the Energy Department re-wrote indeed go bankrupt, and taxpayers the law. No one has ever seen were forced to eat $385 million in anything like it before. Treasury losses, while those late-arriving officials testified before the House private investors skated off with Energy committee that taxpayers $75 million in senior debt have never been held inferior to covered. Only $150 million of the private investors in such a money Barack Obama forced s i t u a t i o n . A n i n c r e a s i n g l y taxpayers to give his good friend panicked White House has been and top donor George Kaiser was hoarding Solyndra paperwork, but treated as senior to the money in one of their classic Friday night provided by private investors. document drops, we learned the
Submitted at 10/26/2011 2:01:00 AM
Office of Management and Budget questioned the very legality of the Solyndra loan restructuring as far back as December 2010. I have never seen anything like this in all my years in Congress, said Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns (RFL).Here we have one cabinetlevel agency concerned that another has broken the law, and taxpayers are on the hook for half a billion dollars as a result. But dont worry the Obama Administration says only the riskiest government loans, to the most distressed companies, will be treated this way. Crony capitalism requires cronies. No one should be more astonished by the unprecedented consideration shown to Solyndra investors than General Motors bondholders. Remember them? When the government stepped in and bailed GM out, the bondholders were given a back seat to the U.S. government, the auto-workers union, and even the Canadian government. This was really more of a union bailout, as the United Auto Workers not only got 17.5% of the company, but also billions in stock options. Common stockholders lost about $12 billion in value. The
bondholders, who loaned $27 billion to General Motors before it became Government Motors, only got 10% of the company. The bondholders were not happy about this arrangement. When they insisted their long-standing investments should give their debt senior status, the White House called them vultures and threatened them with public destruction. As bondholder attorney Thomas Lauria reported, one of my clients was directly threatened by the White House and in essence compelled to withdraw its opposition to the deal, under the threat that the full force of the White House Press Corps would destroy its reputation if it continued to fight. The White House Press Corps didnt seem terribly upset by Obamas assumption they would be willing to serve as his attack dogs upon command. As for the taxpayers, well, we lost about $14 billion on the governments $80 billion bailout, which seems like a small price to pay for the United Auto Workers to keep their incredible compensation packages. At the time of the bailout, union employees were costing the Big Three automakers about $70 per hour in wages and benefits. They
got profit-sharing checks averaging $4000 last year, which the UAW described as a good example of how we are sharing in the success of Government Motors. When do the taxpayers get to share in that success by recovering their $14 billion loss? Sometimes the governments partners have senior debt, and sometimes they dont. In an environment of politicized economics and institutionalized corruption, it all depends on who you know. The one constant is that taxpayers always get a raw deal. John Hayward is a staff writer for HUMAN EVENTS, and author of the recently published Doctor Zero: Year One. Follow him on Twitter: Doc_0. Contact him by e m a i l a t jhayward@eaglepub.com. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
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House GOP Calls Janet Napolitano to Hill on Immigration Questions

(The Front Page)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 2:01:00 AM
Homeland Security officials say the border is more secure than ever, but the House Judiciary Committee wants to know why work-site enforcement has plummeted and whether hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens facing deportation will be granted amnesty. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will face these and other questions when she appears before the panel Wednesday morning, which follows on the heels of her contentious testimony before the Senate counterpart last week where she revealed that 396,906 illegal aliens were deported in the 2011 fiscal year. Rep. Lamar Smith (R. Texas), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, says the Obama administration inflated the numbers by including voluntary removals, a process he says will also make it easier for illegal immigrants to return to the U.S., illegally. In other words, the Obama administration is cooking the books to make it look like they are enforcing immigration laws, when in reality they are enacting amnesty through inaction, Smith said.
criminal illegal aliens while giving those who are merely illegal aliens a free pass, FAIR said in a statement. As commander-in-chief, President Obama should be enforcing all immigration laws, not picking and choosing which are most politically advantageous. House Republicans are also expected to ask Napolitano about a report by the Government Accountability Office, which found that only 44% of the Southwest border is under the operational control of the Border Patrol. Additionally, questions will focus on a working group established by Homeland Security for the purpose of overruling or preventing orders of removal for illegal immigrants. Audrey Hudson, an awardwinning investigative journalist, is Even President Obama admitted American people, Smith said. In 2011, only 45% of illegal a Congressional Correspondent to Hispanic voters that his According to the Federation of immigrants were deported for for HUMAN EVENTS. A native administrations deportation American Immigration Reform immigration violations, compared of Kentucky, Mrs. Hudson has worked inside the Beltway for numbers are deceptive, Smith (FAIR), fewer aliens are also with 65% in 2009, FAIR said. said. being removed for violating The downward trend represents a nearly two decades -- on Capitol With 14 million people out of immigration laws. new hands-off policy for most Hill as a Senate and House work and seven million illegal By shifting their priorities, illegal aliens living in the U.S. spokeswoman, and most recently immigrants working in the U.S., Immigration Custom Enforcement and is a core component of this a t T h e W a s h i n g t o n T i m e s Smith said millions of Americans mostly targets those aliens who administrations affirmative covering Congress, Homeland could get those jobs if the nations have committed a crime other dismantling of most interior Security, and the Supreme Court. immigration laws were enforced. than being in the U.S. illegally, immigration enforcement, said Follow Audrey on Twitter and Facebook. Its disappointing that the Obama and that breaking immigration law FAIR. administration continues to put is no longer the chief deportable The President should not be HOUSE page 15 illegal immigrants before the offense, FAIR says. expecting a gold star for deporting
14
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BUZZ
OCCUPY
And Roger Martin's article in the UK's Guardian newspaper says the growing population could cost us the planet we live on in the way we now know it. "Every additional person needs food, water and energy, and produces more waste and pollution, so ratchets up our total impact on the planet, and ratchets down everyone else's share the rich far more than the poor. By definition, total impact and consumption are worked out by measuring the average per person multiplied by the number of people. Thus all environmental (and many economic and social) problems are easier to solve with fewer people, and ultimately impossible with ever more." "On a finite planet, the optimum population providing the best quality of life for all, is clearly much smaller than the maximum, permitting bare survival. The more we are, the less for each; fewer people mean better lives. TV One in New Zealand took a
look at the meaning of the number, but from the perspective of the tax burden it may bring on a growing population of aging people. "Richard Bedford, an expert on population changes from Waikato University, told TV ONE's Breakfast, that young taxpayers' ability to cope is 'the big $64,000 question.' "By 2030, more than a third of the population in a number of Western countries will be aged over 65." For some, the projection has come with gloom and doom and questions of "are we prepared?" for the population growth ahead. A National Geographic cover story from January, titled "Population 7 Billion," examined the history behind the global moment and fascination with how well and how long our civilization can continue to coexist with our surroundings. "For centuries population pessimists have hurled
apocalyptic warnings at the congenital optimists, who believe in their bones that humanity will find ways to cope and even improve its lot. History, on the whole, has so far favored the optimists, but history is no certain guide to the future. Neither is science," Robert Kunzig wrote. "It cannot predict the outcome of People v. Planet, because all the facts of the case how many of us there will be and how we will live depend on choices we have yet to make and ideas we have yet to have." This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
camp, fights, sexual harassment and assaults, drug use and violence against members of the media. In an interview Tuesday, Quan -who is in Washington, D.C., on city business -- said City Hall "has been trying to walk a fine line between free speech and public safety." But by the second week, she said, "it was apparent that neither the demonstrators nor the city could maintain safe or sanitary conditions, or control the ongoing vandalism." Oakland wasn't the only place where police clashed with protesters Tuesday. San Jose Police Officer Jose Garcia said that about 3:30 a.m., seven protesters were arrested; four were taken to jail on charges of illegal camping and three were cited and released for trespassing. This brings the total number of arrests in San Jose to about two
dozen since Friday, the first day the city began arresting protesters. According to police, Shaun O'Kelly, the 27-year-old out-ofwork irrigation worker who scaled a 36-foot wall outside San Jose City Hall on Monday morning, spent the night up on a five-foot wide ledge. "I'd be afraid of rolling off," Garcia said. When O'Kelly comes down, Garcia said, it's highly likely he will be arrested on illegal camping and trespassing charges. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Profit Growth Slows at Bank of China, AgBank - Wall Street Journal

(china - Google News)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 11:36:39 AM
Bloomberg Profit Growth Slows at Bank of China, AgBank
Wall Street Journal SHANGHAIProfit growth slowed at two of China's largest state-owned banks as they set aside more money to cover potential bad loans due to the
cooling economy. Bank of China Ltd.'s third-quarter net profit rose 9% from a year earlier to 29.79 billion... Bank of China Net Income Growth Slows, Missing Analyst
Estimates BusinessWeek China says hopes EU takes effective debt measures Reuters Bank of China Reports ThirdQuarter Net of 29.8 Billion Yuan Bloomberg
San Francisco Chronicle- Fox Business all 599 news articles
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15
What Your Home Will Look Like In 2015

Ariel Schwartz (Fast Company)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 11:26:27 AM
It's not the house of the future. More like the house of the nearfuture. It will be smaller and more energy efficient (but don't worry, you can keep your walk-in closet). Here at FastCompany we often write about futurist predictions of life in 20, 30, even 100 years down the line. But the National Association of Home Builders is offering up a vision of how we'll live in just four years--and it's a little different than what you might expect. The NAHB sent out a survey last year that asked members-designers, architects, manufacturers, and more-- what
they think homes will look like in 2015. Some of the results aren't that surprising. The survey reveals that the average single-family home is likely to drop to 2,150 square feet from 2,400 square feet today, probably as a result of tough economic times and rising energy prices. That drop in square footage will lead to the living room disappearing altogether, instead being swallowed up by the kitchen or family room to form a single "great room." Other features that may become increasingly uncommon include sunrooms, dining rooms, media rooms, mudrooms, and skylights. Laundry rooms and walk-in closets aren't going anywhere but
popularity. Solar systems may also become popular features, but wind and geothermal energy won't be widespread--unsurprising since there are already so many cashsaving ways for homeowners to install solar systems, but not for other renewable energy sources. We have a few other "home of the future" predictions that aren't included in the survey: increased use of"smart" appliances, sexy thermostats, and if we're lucky, self-cleaning kitchen counters. on the whole, it looks like the use of resource-efficient [Image: Flickr user Jeremy Levine Americans will scale back. f e a t u r e s . N A H B m e m b e r s Design] McMansions may give way to imagine that dual flush toilets, Reach Ariel Schwartz via Twitter m o r e s e n s i b l e l i v i n g low-flow faucets, low-E windows, or email. arrangements. powerful insulation, and Energy A more important future trend is Star home ratings will all grow in
STEVE
Washington Ideas Forum, the day Jobs passed away, ironically excusing himself from an interview with Henry Kissinger, the subject of one of Isaacson's previous biographies. Appropriately enough, in 2004, Jobs asked Isaacson to write his biography, presciently arguing that, "he would make a good subject." Isaacson politely dismissed the request, only to accept the offer five years later, finally seeing an extraordinary
story in the making. One more time, Jobs got his way because he was right. Follow Greg Ferenstein on Twitter, Google+, or Facebook. Also, follow Fast Company on (china - Google News) Twitter. Submitted at 10/26/2011 11:59:50 AM [Top image: Patrice Gilbert; BBC News homepage image: acaben] Emerging Stocks Advance as China Signals End to Rate Increases BusinessWeek Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Emerging -market stocks gained for a fourth day after China's prime minister signaled interest-rate increases may be ending, raising speculation that demand for
Emerging Stocks Advance as China Signals End to Rate Increases - BusinessWeek

commodities from the... China May Cut Reserve Ratio for Smaller Banks, Mizuho Says Bloomberg Asian Shares End Mostly Higher On China Policy Hopes Wall Street Journal Asian Stocks Pare Loss as Wen Comments Spur Bets on China Easing San Francisco Chronicle Reuters- Reuters UK all 56 news articles
HOUSE
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Uncommon Knowledge China Calls Rapid Interview with Larry Yuan Rise Impossible Arnn (Part Three) - Wall Street Journal
(The Front Page)
right way, it prepares for a next step in which more of that stuff would be local or private. It is a good plan and it is in the This entry passed through the longer term interest of everyone, Full-Text RSS service if this is that plan. The retirement benefits your content and you're reading it that we get will be protected. The on someone else's site, please read entitlement state, it is promises, the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentwill be vindicated. And it would only/faq.php#publishers. Five be terrible to invest all that money Filters recommends: Donate to and all that expense in this system Wikileaks. and then squander it. Better to save it. If you do save it in the
Submitted at 10/26/2011 2:01:00 AM
Work collectively for harmony and development: Modi - MSN India

(Nation - Google News)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:55:00 PM
(china - Google News)

Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:35:29 PM
Bloomberg China Calls Rapid Yuan Rise Impossible Wall Street Journal BEIJING China said that rapid yuan appreciation in the near term is out of the question as it would harm China's economic growth, in one of the strongest responses yet
to US pressure for a faster rise in the currency.... China signals 'selective easing' policy MarketWatch China to Adjust Economic Policy at 'Suitable Time' Bloomberg Brokers Predict Policy Easing as China's Premier Signals Change BusinessWeek Reuters- Financial Times (blog) all 170 news articles
THOUSANDS
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Removal of AFSPA not an effort to undermine the Army: Omar Abdullah - Times of India
Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:49:40 PM
Chairman steps down at scandal-hit Olympus

Jonathan Russell (Finance News - Business news from the UK and world)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:27:04 PM
wake a scandal over advisory fees triggered by the sacking of the camera maker's British chief executive Michael Woodford.
The Hindu Removal of AFSPA not an effort to undermine the Army: Omar Abdullah Times of India PTI | Oct 26, 2011, 10.55PM IST SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said withdrawal of the Armed Forces pecial Power Act (AFSPA) from certain areas of the state was in no
way an effort to undermine the role of the Army... AFSPA Removal No Reflection On Army's Role: Omar Kashmir Observer Four terror strikes in 24 hours in J&K IBNLive.com Removal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act not to 'undermine role of Army': Omar NDTV.com Daily News & Analysis- Calcutta Telegraph- Hindustan Times all 427 news articles
IBNLive.com Work collectively for harmony and development: Modi MSN India Ahmedabad, Oct 26 (PTI) Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today said people of the state had shown the path of inclusive growth and ''Sadbhavana'' (harmony) to the country. Greeting people on the occasion of Diwali and the Gujarati New Year,... Modi calls upon people of Gujarat to work collectively for harmony The Hindu Modi calls upon people of Guj to work collectively for harmony IBNLive.com Congress to change tack to counter Narendra Modi Economic Times Daily News & Analysis- Times of India- TruthDive all 14 news articles
Tsuyoshi Kikukawa has stepped down as Olympus chairman in the
Business/
17
Read This Before Getting Your Business Involved With 'Daily Deal' Websites
Jim McCarthy (Business Insider)
a single instrument. And if youre marketing a business, you probably want different Submitted at 10/26/2011 1:03:00 PM instruments for different A l t h o u g h m y c o m p a n y ( moments. Perhaps its a bass Goldstar) isnt in the daily deal drum moment for you, but business, we live in an adjacent maybe its not. Here are some neighborhood. Its a less crowded thoughts on both how to figure it place, and the neighbors arent as out and what to do about it. likely to be in foreclosure on their First, figure out if the program is houses or dodging collection going to make you money now, phone calls. And because we only later or never. The idea of daily sell tickets to live entertainment, deals, in the words of Groupon the block parties are a lot more CEO Andrew Maso n, is that they f u n . T h e y r e l e s s a b o u t o i l dont make you money right changes, laser hair removal, 2 hot away. In fact, you might lose dogs for $4, and botox. More money in the short term, but you likely someones singing show m a k e i t u p b y i n c r e a s e d tunes, playing basketball, or awareness. Ok, possibly true, but balancing on top of a wheel of heres some simple math to do: if death. Its a good group. every daily deal you sold were Anyway, that and a decade of e- redeemed, how much money commerce experiences means I would you lose? To make up for can be helpful to merchants who it, how many new customers are evaluating whether or not to would you need to get? work with one of the many daily For example, suppose you plan to deal providers. Done right, it can sell 1000 vouchers for buy 1, get be a very strong marketing tool, one free Giant Cupcakes that and done wrong, it can break a normally cost $5 apiece. small business. Youve probably The offer is $5 for two cupcakes, heard the stories. normally worth $10. Think of it this way. Daily deal The $5 from the voucher gets sites are like a band composed of split down the middle between one instrument: a great big bass you and the daily deal site, so you drum. It plays one note: loud. Big collect $2.50. email, big discount, potentially Making and selling them costs big volume sales, for a single day. you $6 but thats normally fine Impressive. Powerful. Strong. because you charge $10. Theres But most bands arent limited to plenty of profit margin.
But in this case, you still have $6 in costs and the $2.50 in revenue means your net loss per voucher is $3.50. Thats still ok as long as the new business that comes AFTER your deal is done exceeds the $3500 (1000 vouchers x $3.50 loss each). Will it? Keep it simple and estimate what a customer is worth to you in a single year. In this case, lets say its $15, since you figure most customers buy from you 3 times a year or so and pick up a Giant Cupcake each time. $3500 divided by $15 is about 230 new customers youd need to get from this campaign to break even. Does that seem realistic? Only you can judge that, but if your analysis told you that you needed 10,000 new customers to break even, I can tell you from here that thats not going to happen. In other cases, the deals might make you money now, if you dont lose any money on the sale. Either way, you should know if the daily deal is going to make you money now, later or never. Now and later are both ok. Never is not. Second, control the number and timing of the sales. Selling an unlimited number is not usually a good idea because the promotional value of doing one of
these doesnt change all that much whether you sell 300 or 600, but your costs sure do. The daily deal site may decline your deal altogether if you dont give them the opportunity to make enough money, and fair enough, but if the value is in the promotion and not the sales, push back on the number youre offering to the lowest number possible, especially if youre losing money marginally on each sale. Another way is to create rules about when the sales can happen. If you have slow or shoulder times for sales, try to create limits on redemption or use of the vouchers. This helps because most likely, youve got fixed costs in staff, rent, etc. that youre going to be spending anyway, and you might as well put them to use to serve these customers with the vouchers then. Suppose lunch is a slow part of the day in the cupcake shop. Maybe your voucher is $5 for a $10 cupcake lunch combo. Youre slow then anyway because people dont go to a cupcake shop for lunch, for reasons that I cannot imagine. Building your lunch business might be great for your bottom line, so its easier to justify the short term loss. Control both the total volume and the timing of your sales and create a compelling offer and a daily
deal could be great for you. Third, negotiate the revenue share. Hard. The daily deal business has been in a honeymoon period as merchants learn what it is. During this honeymoon, these sites have collected 50% or sometimes even more of a merchants revenue. For example, if our cupcake baker sold $10 worth of cupcakes for $5, shed only end up with $2.50, giving the other $2.50 back to the daily deal publisher. Its only fair that the daily deal publisher should get paid, but 50% is not written in stone. Traditionally, sales commissions are much closer to 5 to 15% on sales of retail items. 1-5, not 5-0. The difference is massive. Google, recognizing this, asks far, far less of merchants, close to the traditional commission rate for stuff like this. There are even agents who now work on behalf of merchants to make this part easier. Theyre used to negotiating with these sites, so use them if you can find one to work with you. In our example, each voucher was losing the baker $3.50, but thats at 50% rev share. Taking it down to a more traditional 15% means that the READ page 19
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Business/
Here's Why The Government Is Not Going To Force Banks To Write Down Your Mortgage Principal
Megan McArdle (Business Insider)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 1:03:00 PM
On Monday, I saw a lot of disappointment over the Obama administration's new housing plan, because it didn't do principal reduction. Felix Salmon made one of the better cases, I think: "The best that Dudley can bring himself to say about HARP II is basically that it's a start. Most importantly, it doesn't do principal reductions -- if you're underwater when you get your HARP refinance, you'll be underwater afterwards, too. The FHFA itself, in its press release, helpfully points out that for someone with a loan worth 25% more than their house, they won't start building equity in their home for ten years if they refinance into a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. But the sad fact is that anything more substantive than this is likely to require Congressional approval, and therefore be a political non-starter between now and November 2012. The government's done almost nothing to address the housing mess, and will continue to do
almost nothing for the foreseeable future. Which, as Dudley says, bodes very ill for the economy as a whole." The drumbeat for principal reductions is understandable: underwater homeowners are more likely to default, and of course, the ones that don't are shoveling a whole lot of disposable income into closing their negative equity. It's a policy that seems win-win at first glance, since foreclosures are very costly to the bank. But of course as the Atlanta Fed has pointed out(and, cough, some bloggers), only a minority of underwater homeowners are going to default, and the banks have no reliable way of distinguishing those people from the underwater mortgagees who won't default. That means it's not win-win, it's win-lose, because if the banks offer reductions to everyone who's underwater, most of the people who are underwater are probably going to take them. They'd far rather offer "principal reductions" in the form of short sales, which have a cost to the homeowner as well as the bank. Okay, so they won't do it voluntarily. Maybe the social benefits are large enough that the
government should force banks to offer those principal reductions: after all, there would not just be benefits from falling foreclosures, but from freeing up all that cash flow. (Well, sort of. You've also impaired bank capital and investment assets, which presumably means you spend less.) That is, I take it, the argument that a lot of people like Felix are making. I never thought it was going to happen, and after emailing with some lawyers, I'm now certain of it. Here's why: The government will have to pay nearly the full cost of any principal reduction it mandates. Obviously, this holds for Fannie and Freddie, because the government owns them. But it also holds for private banks. According to the expert I heard from "Contract interests are property for purposes of the Takings Clause." So the government can mandate that banks write the mortgages down. But eventually, a judge will order them to pay those banks back. Yes, they will, even if those banks are full of bad, irresponsible people who gambled with money that wasn't theirs.
I take it this is in fact broadly true of interest rate reductions as well. Last I heard, there was about three quarters of a trillion dollars worth of negative equity in American homes. There is not anything close to $750 billion available to spend on writing. And even if there were, there's reasonable debate over whether that's how you'd spend the money. That's why all of these programs are functionally voluntary for the banks: if they're not voluntary, the government is going to eat the full bill. And the government is out of money. There are ways around this, of course--as the expert who emailed me said, "The devil is in the details". You can offer some sort of quid-pro-quo and say that you returned fair value but a) this is expensive, and b) the banks will probably litigate and there's a chance that you'll lose, plus maybe even suffer a political black eye over your "unconstitutional" program. You can also extract promises to write down these loans as part of a deal with the banks over things like robo-signing. Problem: not all mortgage securities are actually owned by banks, and not all banks are implicated in robo-
signing or similar. Plus, there are limits to what you can extract in a settlementyou cannot force banks to offer more than they will likely lose in a suit. And when assessing how much that might be, it is helpful to keep in mind that even Rudy Giuliani and Eliot Spitzer lost most of the high-profile securities cases they took to trial. The banks certainly will, when you're claiming that they need to do this to save themselves from a trillion dollar verdict. It would take a lot of record jury awards to get to $750 billion. Then you have to consider that bank capital impairment. If you hit the banks too hard, some of them will go under, and then the FDIC will have to pay off their depositors. The FDIC is already a mite overstretched at the moment. In other words, there simply is never going to be what I think a lot of pundits are envisioning: a broad based, mandatory program in which banks are forced to "do what's right for the country" and write down all that horrid underwater principal. Legally it can't be done except at enormous cost to the government. HERE'S page 19
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HERE'S
There is one thing that has been proposed that you could do: principal write-downs on mortgages in bankruptcy. Adam Levitin wants a special "Chapter M" that would efficiently just strip mortgage debt. He's a legal expert and I'm not, so I'll defer to him on the question of whether we can create a whole chapter of the bankruptcy code that only deals with one creditor, rather than fairly allocating the debtor's assets or income between all of them. But even if we do this, it's at best a very limited solution. Bankruptcy drops an atom bomb on your credit (and makes your
personal finances public record). It requires hiring a lawyer. The number of people who would avail themselves of this is going to be far lower than the number of people with underwater mortgages. So I'll go back to what I said above: there is not going to be broad-based mortgage equity relief, because your neighbors do not want to pay $750 billion to relieve you of that burden. HARP isn't a panacea, but it will actually do some limited good, which is probably about all we can expect. This post originally appeared at The Atlantic. Please follow Clusterstock on
Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story See Also: The 1% Ain't What It Used To Be 16 Examples Of Steve Jobs Being A Huge Jerk EXCLUSIVE: A Porn Star Tells Us How An MLB Agent Used Her To Recruit Potential Clients
LIVE COVERAGE: Europe Tries To Save Itself At Huge Summit

Simone Foxman (Business Insider)
READ
baker is keeping $4.25 instead of $2.50. The loss per voucher is just $1.75, and the baker only needs 115 customers or so to break even. Big difference. In conclusion, do those three things and you should be fine. Ignore this stuff, and its a chancier affair. Dont expect the daily deal companies to figure this out for you because, although they are flexible and are happy to negotiate, theyre not going to negotiate against themselves. They assume youve done your
homework by the time youre talking to them. So put that bass drum to work as a highlight of the beautiful symphony your marketing is performing. Thats so much better than having it shatter your windows and deafen your employees. This post originally appeared on Live 2.0, the official blog of Jim McCarthy, CEO of half-price live entertainment ticketing website Goldstar.com. Please follow War Room on Twitter and Facebook.
Join the conversation about this story See Also: Small Business Credit Cards Could Put You At Risk 10 Tips On How To Become A Fabulous Entrepreneur The Ten Best Management Books For Small Business Owners
Click here for more details on that schedule. But we'll be hearing lots of news Submitted at 10/26/2011 1:05:00 PM about a new plan all day. Follow EU leaders are meeting today at a it here by refreshing. highly anticipated summit to Please follow Money Game on discuss important changes to their Twitter and Facebook. July agreement to expand the Join the conversation about this European Financial Stability story Facility and bail out Greece. See Also: Expectations are really negative UK Confirms Fin Mins Won't for the summit, with rumors M e e t T o m o r r o w : R E A L L Y circulating that few numbers will S o u n d s L i k e N o E u r o z o n e actually be released on the R e s o l u t i o n W e d n e s d a y amended plan. However, we still This Is The Progress We Can think some important progress Expect From The Big EU Summit will come from this meeting. Today The European Council leaders Here's Where We Stand Right of all 27 EU states will meet at Now On The Europe Crisis 12 PM EST in Brussels. That will be followed by a meeting of eurozone leaders at 1:15 PM.
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News Wire/
EXCLUSIVE: Ex-ACORN OperativesBehind the Scene of 'Occupy' Protests

(FOXNews.com)
prompted Congress to cut off federal funds. Submitted at 10/26/2011 1:15:58 PM NYCCs connection to ACORN isnt a tenuous one: It works from Fox News Oct. 17, 2011: the former ACORN offices in M e m b e r s o f N e w Y o r k Brooklyn, uses old ACORN Communities for Change, in office stationery, employs much orange t-shirts with orange of the old ACORN staff and, banner, attend a press conference according to several sources, in New York with union leaders, engages in some of the old including United Federation of organizations controversial Teachers president Michael t e c h n i q u e s t o r a i s e m o n e y , Mulgrew. interest and awareness for the protests. The former New York office for Sources said NYCC has hired A C O R N , t h e d i s b a n d e d about 100 former ACORNcommunity activist group, is affiliated staff members from playing a key role in the self- other cities paying some of them proclaimed leaderless Occupy $100 a day - to attend and support Wall Street movement, organizing Occupy Wall Street. Dozens of guerrilla protest events and New York homeless people hiring door-to-door canvassers to recruited from shelters are also collect money under the banner of being paid to support the protests, various causes while spending it at the rate of $10 an hour, the on protest-related activities, sources said. sources tell FoxNews.com. At least some of those hired are The former director of New York being used as door-to-door ACORN, Jon Kest, and his top canvassers to collect money thats aides are now busy working at used to support the protests. protest events for New York Sources said cash donations C o m m u n i t i e s f o r C h a n g e collected by NYCC on behalf of (NYCC). That organization was some unions and various causes created in late 2009 when some are being pooled and spent on ACORN offices disbanded and Occupy Wall Street. The money is reorganized under new names used to buy supplies, pay staff and after undercover video exposes cover travel expenses for the ex-
ACORN members brought to New York for the protests. In one such case, sources said, NYCC staff members collected cash donations for what they were told was a United Federation of Teachers fundraising drive, but the money was diverted to the protests. Sources who participated in the teachers union campaign said NYCC supervisors gave them the addresses of union members and told them to go knock on their doors and ask for contributionsand did not mention that the money would go toward Occupy Wall Street expenses. One source said the campaign raked in about $5,000. Current staff members at NYCC told FoxNews.com the union fundraising drive was called off abruptly last week, and they were told NYCC should not have been raising money for the union at all. Sources said staff members also collected door-to-door for NYCCs PCB campaign which aims to test schools for deadly toxins but then pooled that money together with cash raised for the teachers union and other campaigns to fund Occupy Wall Street. We go to Freeport, Central Islip,
Park Slope, everywhere, and we say were collecting money for PCBs testing in schools. But the money isnt going to the campaign," one source said. "Its going to Occupy Wall Street, and were not using that money to get schools tested for deadly chemicals or to make their kids safer. Its just going to the protests, and thats just so terrible. A spokesman for the United Federation of Teachers told FoxNews.com, "The UFT is not involved in any NYCC fundraising on the PCB issue. Multiple sources said NYCC is also using cash donations through canvassing efforts in New Yorks Harlem and Washington Heights neighborhoods for union-backed campaigns to fund the Wall Street protests. All the money collected from canvasses is pooled together back at the office, and everything weve been working on for the last year is going to the protests, against big banks and to pay peoples salariesand those people on salary are, of course, being paid to go to the protests every day, one NYCC staff member told FoxNews.com. Those who contribute don't know
the money is going to fund the protests, the source said. They give contributions because we say if they do we can fix things - whatever specific problem theyre having in their area, housing, schools, whatever ... then we spend the contributions paying staff to be at the protests all day, every day. Thats where these contributions - the communitys money is going, the source said. Theyre doing the same stuff now that got ACORN in trouble to begin with. And yes, were still ACORN, there is a still a national ACORN. Another source, who said she was hired from a homeless shelter, said she was first sent to the protests before being deployed to Central Islip, Long Island, to canvass for a campaign against home foreclosures. I went to the protests every day for two weeks and made $10 an hour. They made me carry NYCC signs and big orange banners that say NYCC in white letters. About 50 others were hired around my time to go to the protests. We went to protests in and around Zuccotti Park, then to the big EXCLUSIVE: page 26
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Eurozone gets ECB boost, summit deal uncertain

(Reuters: Top News)
powerful Bundesbank for the ECB to end the bond-buying program which prompted the By Luke Baker and James resignation of the two most senior Mackenzie German ECB policymakers this BRUSSELS/ROME| Wed Oct year. 26, 2011 1:45pm EDT The second euro zone summit in (Reuters) - The incoming head of four days, due to start at 1730 the European Central Bank threw GMT, seems unlikely to produce the euro zone a lifeline hours a detailed masterplan despite before a crucial summit on Franco-German assurances that a Wednesday which looked set to "comprehensive solution" to two fall short of a definitive plan to years of debt turmoil would be tackle the bloc's debt crisis. found. Mario Draghi signaled the ECB Bank of Canada chief Mark would go on buying troubled Carney said he had received states' bonds as leaders of the 17- guidance that "that there will need nation single currency area to be subsequent meetings to struggled to agree a convincing provide more detail." set of measures. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte "The Eurosystem (of central urged decisive action now. banks) is determined, with its non "We need a real solution, we - c o n v e n t i o n a l m e a s u r e s , t o won't buy anything with mediocre prevent malfunctioning in the compromises," he told reporters money and financial markets upon his arrival in Brussels. "We creating an obstacle to monetary are in this job to take decisions. transmission," he said in typically It's not easy, but it really has to coded ECB language in a speech happen." text released in Rome. Greek debt needed to be made Draghi, who will succeed Jean- sustainable, the bloc's rescue fund Claude Trichet on November 1, must be made strong enough to made clear that measures could convince markets and Europe's only be a temporary expedient banks had to be shepherded and said it was up to governments through "this difficult phase," to tackle the roots of the debt Rutte said. crisis that began in Greece two The leaders may agree on broad years ago. outlines but leave crucial details, However, his statement appeared including the numbers on a Greek to rebuff pressure from Germany's debt write-down and on funds
Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:45:56 PM
available for financial firefighting, for later negotiation among finance ministers. A European Commission spokesman said there would not be detailed numbers on all aspects of the political agreement. While there is consensus on the need for European banks to raise around 110 billion euros ($150 billion) in extra capital to withstand a potential Greek debt default and wider financial contagion, two other critical parts of the plan remain unclear. Governments and banks are still haggling over the scale of writeoffs private bondholders will have to take on their Greek debt holdings, sources familiar with the negotiations said. "There will be give and take with the banks until the last minute," a Greek government source involved in the Brussels negotiations said. "As far as now, the talks are going on." Uncertainties also remain around complex plans to scale up the region's 440 billion euro ($600 billion) bailout fund, known as the European Financial Stability Facility, without allowing it to draw on the ECB. Investors stayed cautious, with the euro surrendering earlier gains and inching higher against the dollar and European shares flat on the day.
50 PERCENT "HAIRCUT?" One proposal set to be adopted involves creating a special purpose investment vehicle (SPIV) to tap foreign sovereign and private investors, such as Chinese and Middle Eastern wealth funds, to buy bonds of troubled euro zone countries. The EFSF said its chief, Klaus Regling, would visit China to meet with investors on Friday. But Chinese and European officials said there was no word yet on whether Beijing, which holds AAA-rated EFSF bonds and an estimated 600 billion euros in euro-denominated debt, would also put money into the SPIV. The other proposed method for scaling up the EFSF involves using it to offer partial guarantees to purchasers of new euro zone debt. The two options may be used in combination. German Chancellor Angela Merkel won a parliamentary vote of support for strengthening the rescue fund after warning in a dramatic speech that Europe was facing its most difficult situation since the end of World War Two. "If the euro fails, then Europe fails," she declared, saying there was no certainty that the continent would then enjoy another 60 years of peace. Merkel earlier told parliament that private bondholders would
have to take a substantial writedown so that Greece's debt could be reduced to 120 percent of gross domestic product by 2020 from 160 percent this year. Experts say that implies a 50 percent "haircut" for private investors, which Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos was reported to have told Greek banks was the most likely outcome. Jean-Claude Juncker, the chairman of euro zone finance ministers, forecast an eventual deal on a 50 percent write-off but officials said it might not be sealed on Wednesday and the banks wanted a menu of options for the bond swap rather than a single solution. European leaders' pattern of responding too little, too late has spawned a wider economic and political crisis that threatens to undermine the euro single currency and the European Union project. EU sources said detailed figures may not materialize until November 7-8, when EU and euro zone finance ministers hold their next regular meeting. LETTER OF INTENT Also weighing on the summit was deep concern about Italy, which is now in the bond market EUROZONE page 28
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News Wire/
Ex-Goldman director Gupta charged in insider case

(Reuters: Top News)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:33:15 PM
By Grant McCool and Basil Katz NEW YORK| Wed Oct 26, 2011 1:33pm EDT (Reuters) - Rajat Gupta, who sat on the boards of some of America's most prestigious companies, was arrested and charged on Wednesday with being the "illegal eyes and ears" for his friend Raj Rajaratnam, the central figure in a broad U.S. crackdown on insider trading at hedge funds. Gupta, 62, a former director of Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Procter & Gamble and former global head of McKinsey & Co consultancy, is the most prominent executive to face charges since Rajaratnam was arrested in October 2009. He faces five counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy tied to what prosecutors say were his leaks of Goldman and P&G secrets to Rajaratnam in 2008 and 2009. Galleon Group hedge fund founder Rajaratnam, 54, was sentenced to 11 years in prison this month after an overwhelming insider-trading conviction. The sweeping Galleon case caught many of his associates on secretly recorded phone calls, and many of them have also been prosecuted in the case.
Gupta's lawyer, Gary Naftalis, said in a statement that there were legitimate reasons for communications between his client and Rajaratnam, including a $10 million investment that Gupta had in a fund managed by the Galleon founder. Gupta lost the entire amount, Naftalis said. "We are confident that these accusations -- which are based entirely on circumstantial evidence -- cannot withstand scrutiny and that Mr. Gupta will be completely exonerated of any wrongdoing," Naftalis said. He said Gupta did not trade in any stocks and did not tip Rajaratnam so he could trade. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement on Wednesday that Gupta had been entrusted by top companies. "As alleged, he broke that trust and instead became the illegal eyes and ears in the boardroom for his friend and business associate, Raj Rajaratnam, who reaped enormous profits from Mr. Gupta's breach of duty," Bharara said. Gupta surrendered to FBI agents and will appear in federal court in New York later on Wednesday. He also faces civil charges brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC said Rajaratnam's funds made more than $23 million on Gupta's
information. The criminal charges carry a maximum prison sentence of 25 years. MCKINSEY'S GLOBAL HEAD Gupta was global head of McKinsey for nine years until he retired in 2007. He won a seat on the board of directors of powerful Wall Street bank Goldman in 2006 and left in May 2010, seven months after Rajaratnam's arrest. He was also a director at P&G and American Airlines Corp. Stephen Cohen, a spokesman for Goldman Sachs, declined to comment on Wednesday. Representatives from Procter & Gamble, American Airlines and McKinsey also declined comment. Gupta was born in India but made his name in the U.S. corporate world after graduating with an MBA from Harvard Business School. The SEC said Gupta had business dealings with Rajaratnam and "stood to benefit from his relations" with him; Gupta was an investor in Galleon entities that "traded -- and handsomely profited -- based on Gupta's illegal tips." The government contends that Gupta provided Rajaratnam with advance knowledge of Warren Buffett's $5 billion investment in Goldman at the height of the 2008
financial crisis, as well as information about Goldman's surprise fourth-quarter loss in 2008 and its first as a public company, and P&G quarterly earnings in late January 2009. The accusations had already been revealed ahead of Rajaratnam's trial or during the two month-long trial. Prosecutors had previously described Gupta as an unindicted co-conspirator but had not lodged formal charges. Rajaratnam, who was born in Sri Lanka and became a billionaire through his hedge fund business, was convicted in May of 14 insider-trading related charges. His 11-year sentence is the longest recorded for insider trading. Goldman Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein testified at the trial for the prosecution about Gupta's conduct on the bank's board. Prosecutors also played secretly recorded telephone conversations to the jury in which Rajaratnam told Galleon employees about information he had received from Gupta about Goldman Sachs. Wednesday's indictment said that on October 23, 2008 Gupta called Rajaratnam 23 seconds after disconnecting from a Goldman board call and spoke to Rajaratnam for 13 minutes, disclosing negative interim
earnings results. In one recording played at the trial, Rajaratnam was on a call with David Lau, chief of Galleon's Singapore branch, on October 24, 2008. They discussed a tip he got from a board member that Goldman was on its way to a surprise fourth-quarter loss, its first as a public company. "I just heard from somebody who's on the board of Goldman Sachs, they are gonna lose $2 per share," Rajaratnam was heard saying. "So what he (the board member) was telling me was that, uh, Goldman, the quarter's pretty bad." The Rajaratnam trial punctured McKinsey's reputation for closely guarding client confidentiality. Former McKinsey executive Anil Kumar, also a one-time friend of the hedge fund manager, pleaded guilty and testified against Rajaratnam. (Reporting by Grant McCool, Basil Katz and Jonathan Stempel, editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Lisa Von Ahn, Dave Zimmerman and Robert MacMillan) This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
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23
Obama Turns AttentionTo Student Loan Relief

(FOXNews.com)
the College Board. It shows average in-state tuition and fees at four-year public colleges rose $631 this fall, or 8.3 percent, AP October 6, 2011: Gan compared with a year ago. Golan, of Los Angeles, dressed as Nationally, the cost of a full credit the "Master of Degrees," holds a load has passed $8,000, an allball and chain representing his time high. college loan debt, during Occupy Obama said he will use his DC activities in Washington. executive authority to provide student loan relief in two ways. WASHINGTON President First, he will accelerate a measure O b a m a o u t l i n e d a p l a n passed by Congress that reduces Wednesday to allow millions of the maximum required payment student loan recipients to lower on student loans from 15 percent their payments and consolidate of discretionary income annually their loans, in hopes of easing the to 10 percent. Obama wants it to burden of the No. 2 source of go into effect in 2012, instead of household debt. 2014. In addition, Obama said the The move to assist struggling remaining debt would be forgiven graduates and students could help after 20 years, instead of 25. Obama shore up re-election About 1.6 million borrowers support among young voters, an could be affected. important voting bloc in his 2008 Second, he will allow borrowers campaign, and appeal to their who have a loan from the Federal parents, too. Student loan debt Family Education Loan Program also is a common concern voiced and a direct loan from the by Occupy Wall Street protesters. government to consolidate them T h e l o a n s h a v e b e c o m e into one. The consolidated loan particularly painful for many amid would carry an interest rate of up the nation's economic woes, high to a half percentage point less unemployment and soaring tuition than before. This could affect 5.8 costs. They are second only to million borrowers. mortgages as a portion of Education Secretary Arne Americans' debt, coming in ahead Duncan told reporters on a of credit cards. conference call that the changes Obama's announcement in could save some borrowers Denver comes the same day as a hundreds of dollars a month. new report on tuition costs from "These are real savings that will
Submitted at 10/26/2011 1:15:58 PM
help these graduates get started in their careers and help them make ends meet," Duncan said. The White House said the changes will carry no additional costs to taxpayers. Last year, Congress passed a law that lowered the repayment cap and moved all student loans to direct lending by eliminating banks as the middlemen. Before that, borrowers could get loans directly from the government or from the Federal Family Education Loan Program; the latter were issued by private lenders but basically insured by the government. The law was passed along with the health care overhaul with the anticipation that it could save about $60 billion over a decade. The law change was opposed by many Republicans. At a hearing Tuesday, Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-
published price of college over the past four years, the average student has not seen commensurate increases in the net price of college, defined as the published price minus grants, scholarships and tax benefits," the report said. Meanwhile, the Education Department and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced a project Tuesday to simplify the financial aid award letters that colleges mail to students each spring. A common N.C., who chairs a subcommittee complaint is that colleges obscure w i t h o v e r s i g h t o v e r h i g h e r the inclusion of student loans in education, said it had resulted in financial aid packages to make poorer customer service for t h e i r s c h o o l a p p e a r m o r e b o r r o w e r s . A n d S e n a t e affordable, and the agencies hope Republicans issued a news release families will more easily be able with a compilation of headlines to compare the costs of colleges. that showed thousands of workers Separately, James Runcie, the in student lending, including those Education Department's federal from Sallie Mae Inc., had been student aid chief operating officer, laid off because of the change. told Foxx's congressional panel Today, there are 23 million that the personal financial details borrowers with $490 billion in of as many 5,000 college students loans under the Federal Family were temporarily viewable on the Education Loan Program. Last department's direct loan website year, the Education Department earlier this month. made $102.2 billion in direct Runcie said site was shut down loans to 11.5 million recipients. while the matter was resolved, Increases in federal aid have and the affected students have h e l p e d e a s e t h e b u r d e n o n been notified and offered credit students dealing with tuition monitoring. Related Stories increases, the White House President Obama on Watching Council of Economic Advisers said in a report Wednesday. OBAMA page 25 "Despite large increases in the
24
News Wire/
Dems Balk at Non-Defense Cuts, Consider Alternative

(FOXNews.com)
numbers that roughly correspond to a reported $1.3 trillion proposal. Another source told Fox News A P T u e s d a y : R e p . J e b that the figure had been "batted Hensarling, R-Texas, right, says around" but wouldn't really the so-called supercommittee describe it as a full-blown which he co-chairs still has plenty proposal. Still, another source said of time to find a solution to the it indeed was a formal proposal by nation's debt crisis with the Baucus and others. deadline for answers a month According to two congressional away. sources, the Democratic proposal would get to $1.3 trillion in Democrats suggested Wednesday federal budget savings by hiking that too much has already been revenues to raise half of the cut from non-defense spending to money. The plan would cut about come up with $1.2 trillion in cuts $400 billion from Medicare -- half over the next 10 years, as sources through benefits cuts and half offered a few details about a through provider savings -- and Democratic proposal to collect proposes raising another $300 $1.3 trillion via tax hikes, billion through stimulus spending. stimulus spending and benefits Reuters reported that while the cuts. proposal was a Democratic plan, As a joint hearing concluded of Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., a the Super Committee tasked with member of the Super Committee, finding $1.2 trillion in savings by balked at the Medicare cuts. Thanksgiving or facing automatic Asked about the details of the cuts on domestic spending and plan, Rep. Chris Van Hollen, Ddefense, Sen. Max Baucus, D- Md., another member of the Mont., a member of the 12-person panel, responded, "We'll know deficit-cutting panel, was vague about that later." about whether a Democratic offer Two congressional officials who had been proposed. spoke to Fox News said despite Offering conflicting responses, the descriptions of the proposal as sources told Fox News that the the new plan, it is neither the first S e n a t e F i n a n c e C o m m i t t e e plan put forward nor the only plan chairman had thrown out a few on the table.
Submitted at 10/26/2011 1:15:58 PM
"The only thing new here is the leak," said one source. A Democratic source told Fox News that any "purported offer was not reflective of any one member but of Democrats reaching out to Republicans," adding that it is "safe to, at a minimum, characterize it as from a majority of Democrats on the committee." The source added that any framework, and specifically cuts in purported offer are similar to or based upon "where (President) Obama was in the grand bargain discussions. At the rare hearing convened by the panel to discuss options publicly, Democrats said Congress keeps returning to the same pool of options to find
Education has grown at 180.6 percent at a time when the economy has actually seen negative economic growth and family paychecks have shrunk," he said. Testifying at the hearing, Congressional Budget Office Director Doug Elmendorf said whatever the committee decides, spending on entitlements like Medicare is unsustainable. "Entitlement programs, mandatory spending is a growing share of federal outlays, in some additional cuts. cases. Growing rather rapidly and "Congress has gone to this without addressing that path of relatively small pot with cuts and spending, it would be extremely sending caps again and again, difficult to put the budget on a while leaving many other pieces sustainable path," he said. of the budget essentially Elmendorf has warned the untouched," said Sen. Patty committee that he needs its Murray, D-Wash., co-chair of the recommendations much sooner panel. than that in order to officially Republicans, however, say they - score the savings. Like the - and many defense analysts -- beginning of November-- which is worry about any further cuts to next week. defense. Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R- This entry passed through the Texas, the other co-chair of the Full-Text RSS service if this is group, said government spending your content and you're reading it has bubbled over in the last two on someone else's site, please read years even as the recession drags the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contenton. only/faq.php#publishers. Five "The (Environmental Protection Filters recommends: Donate to Agency) has grown 130.8 percent, Wikileaks. the Energy Department has grown 178.7 percent with the stimulus.
News Wire/ World News/
25
Durable goods demand shows economy strengthening

(Reuters: Top News)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:34:33 PM
OBAMA
A woman shops for refrigerators at a store in New York July 28, 2010. Credit: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON| Wed Oct 26, 2011 1:34pm EDT (Reuters) - The economy appears to be heading into the fourth quarter with solid momentum with demand for a range of longlasting U.S.-made goods rising at the fastest pace in six months in September and businesses stepping up spending plans. Other data on Wednesday also underscored the economy's improved tone, with new homes sales in September the strongest in five months and mortgage applications rising last week. "The worries about a double-dip recession were a bit overdone, but slow growth is likely to be with us for some time to come," said Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities in Charlotte, North Carolina. Orders for durable goods, excluding transportation items, rose a stronger-than-expected 1.7
percent last month after falling 0.4 percent in August, a Commerce Department report showed. The gain was the largest since March. At the same time, non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft -- a closely watched proxy for business spending -- jumped 2.4 percent, which was also the biggest rise in six months. "Most businesses feel a little bit better about the economy than consumers do right now," said Vitner. "That means investment spending and economic growth are likely to hold up reasonably well." While shipments of non-aircraft, non-defense capital goods fell, economists said that did not materially change their expectations for a pick-up in growth in the third quarter. The government is expected to report on Thursday that GDP grew at an annual pace of 2.5 percent in the July through September period, according to the median of a Reuters poll. That would mark a sharp acceleration from the 1.3 percent logged in the second quarter. NEW HOME SALES RISE In a second report, the Commerce Department said new home sales
increased 5.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted 313,000-unit annual rate. But the median price for a new home fell 3.1 percent to $204,400 last month, the lowest since October 2010, indicating the market was far from recovering. Prices were down 10.4 percent from a year earlier. "While the housing market still has a pulse it will not be back on its feet until there is significant job growth," said Mitchell Hochberg, Principal, Madden Real Estate Ventures in New York. Applications for U.S. home mortgages rose last week as demand for both purchases and refinancing perked up, the Mortgage Bankers Association said in separate report. U.S. financial markets were little moved by the data ahead of a meeting of European leaders to tackle the region's debt crisis. Stocks on Wall Street were mostly up, while prices for Treasury debt fell. The dollar rose against a basket of currencies. TRANSPORTATION FALLS Though demand for transportation equipment fell last month, reflecting weak autos and
civilian aircraft, gains in new orders for durable goods -- items meant to last three years or more - were broad-based. Economist said this should continue to aid manufacturing, a sector that has been the pillar of support for the recovery despite a 0.8 percent drop in overall orders. "Demand for big-ticket items seems to be alive and well," said John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ Economics in New York. Transportation orders fell 7.5 percent, the largest decline since April. Orders for motor vehicles and parts fell 2.7 percent, while civilian aircraft bookings tumbled 25.5 percent. Orders for machinery, primary metals, electrical equipment and computers and electronic products all rose solidly. (Editing by Andrea Ricci) This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
GOP 2012 Field: Waiting "Until Everyone is Voted off the Island" This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Diwali's lights and colors Washington Post

Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:17:13 PM
USA Today Diwali's lights and colors Washington Post Millions of Hindus around the world are celebrating Diwali, also known as Deepawali or Tihar. Members of a Hindu family place earthen lamps on and near a rangoli, a hand-decorated pattern on the floor, ahead of the upcoming festival of Diwali in... Diwali at the world's top universities Hindustan Times US Senate passes resolution on Diwali, prays for peace and prosperity Times of India Cameron hails British Indians on Diwali IBNLive.com Zee News- Reuters India- Indian Express all 240 news articles
26
World News/ Technology/
EXCLUSIVE:
Times Square protest, she said. But now they have me canvassing on Long Island for money, so I get the money and then the money is being used for Occupy Wall Streetto pay for all of it, for supplies, food, transportation, salaries, for everything ... all that money is going to pay for the protests downtown and thats just messed up. Its just wrong. Neither Kest, NYCC executive director, nor his communications director returned repeated email and telephone requests for comment, nor did his communications director. A Fox News producer who visited the Brooklyn office on Tuesday was told, "The best people to speak to who are involved with Occupy Wall Street aren't available." In a phone interview on Tuesday, Harrison Schultz, an Occupy Wall Street spokesman, said he knew nothing about NYCCs involvement in the Occupy movement. Havent seen them, couldnt tell you, he said.
He said he couldnt comment on the Occupy the Boardroom websites relationship to the movement and to NYCC. Its a horizontal organization, a leaderless organization, its difficult to explain it, Schultz said, difficult to explain it to people who havent worked in this, who havent been part of it. Kest publicly threw his organizations support behind the movement in a Sept. 30 opinion piece on HuffingtonPost.com. But top ex-ACORN staff members and current NYCC officials have been planning events like the Occupy Wall Street protests since February, a source within the group told FoxNews.com. Thats when planning began for May 12 protests against Chase bank foreclosures, which were followed by the formation of the Beyond May 12 campaign, targeting Wall Street and big banks. That campaign was rolled out by a coalition of community groups and unions and led by the revamped former ACORN group. What people dont understand is
that ACORN is behind this and that this, whats happening now, is all part of the May 12 and Beyond May 12 plans to go after the banks, Chase in particular, a source said. Sources said NYCC was a key player behind a series of recent Occupy Wall Street events, including the Oct. 11 Millionaires March, which brought protests and union and community groups on walking tours of Upper East Side homes of wealthy New Yorkers; and the launch of the Occupy the Boardroom website, registered to Kest, which encouraged protesters to contact high-profile bankers, among others. Fox News Shira Bush contributed reporting. Related Video Occupy Wall Street Tied to Former ACORN Officials New questions about protest movement Related Video Tear Gas Fired at 'Occupy' Protesters Clashes, arrests in Oakland and Atlanta Related Slideshow
ACORN Plays Key Role in 'Occupy Wall Street' Movement Former New York office for ACORN, the disbanded community activist group, is playing a key role in 'leaderless' Occupy Wall Street movement, organizing 'guerrilla' protest events and hiring canvassers to collect money for various causes while spending it on protestrelated activities, sources tell FoxNews.com. Related Stories New York Man Wants To Trademark Occupy Wall Street Atlanta Police Arrest 50 Wall Street Protesters Occupied Neighborhood Better Get Used to Noise This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
60 Badass Biker Babe Editorials From CycleCentric Couture to Dainty Dominatrix Designs (TrendHunter.com)
(TREND HUNTER - The Latest Trends)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:07:03 PM
( TrendHunter.com) Hot models wearing leather outfits and sensually posing with a bike puts fashion in the high-speed lane, as these badass biker babe editorials show. The combination of masculinity and aggressive femininity...
Queen arrives in Perth for CHOGM Sydney Morning Herald

Submitted at 10/26/2011 10:34:50 AM
Telegraph.co.uk Queen arrives in Perth for CHOGM
Sydney Morning Herald The Queen has arrived in Perth ready to officially open the Commonwealth leaders' meeting on Friday. She touched down in the West Australian capital on
Wednesday to be greeted by hundreds of wellwishers before being whisked to Government House in... Queen touches down in Perth ABC Online
Queen estimated to have brought $35m in global media exposure but not to Sydney The Daily Telegraph Queen arrives in Perth Ninemsn Perth Now- Telegraph.co.uk
all 125 news articles
News Wire/ Technology/ World News/
27
Chinese Communist Film Premiere at Lincoln Center a Big Flop

(Epoch Times | All headlines)
Pm 'regrets' Hillsborough comment - The Press Association

Submitted at 10/26/2011 1:00:00 PM
spent a large amount of money promoting the 2011 China Film Submitted at 10/26/2011 8:56:01 AM Culture Week in New York, the The Chinese communist regimes first movie, Founding of a U n i t e d F r o n t s o f t - p o w e r Republic, playing at Lincoln propaganda war aimed at shaping Centers Walter Reade Theater, world opinion through culture, had no audience showing up, so film, and media, has just fired an the opening banquet there was embarrassing dud, with not a canceled and changed to the night single audience member showing of Oct. 18 at Columbia University up at the 2011 China Movie Auditorium. Culture Week opening night at A China-U.S. Scholar Seminar New Yorks Lincoln Center. on Oct. 18 was also canceled. The The 2011 China Movie Culture topic of the seminar was on the Week, hosted by Chinas Ministry development of the Chinese film o f C u l t u r e , t h e S t a t e industry and its contribution to Administration of Radio Film and w o r l d f i l m c u l t u r e . T h i s T e l e v i s i o n , a n d C o l u m b i a cancellation was not announced U n i v e r s i t y , e n c o u n t e r e d a n either. embarrassment--no one showed State controlled media up at its Oct. 17 premiere of the People.com.cn quoted reports movie Founding of a Republic, from Guangming Daily, which not even anyone from the hosting didnt mention the premiere flop organizations. at all. It only said the 2011 China The flop has become a joke on Movie Culture Week started on international Chinese media. Oct. 17, and that its aim was to let Taiwans Want Daily said, Americans enjoy a rich retreat of although the communist regime authentic Chinese culture through
excellent movies made in China in recent years. Patriotic Communist Propaganda Founding of a Republic was financed by the Chinese communist partys (CCP) largest state owned film company, China Film Corporation. The movie is a patriotic propaganda piece set in Beijing between 1945 and 1949, glorifying the communist takeover of China. When the movie was released in mainland China in 2009, it received many negative comments from netizens there. They found it most ironic that the regime had utilized so many foreigners, overseas Chinese actors, in this patriotic film. Most celebrity figures of Chinas entertainment industry have immigrated to foreign countries, such as the U.S., Canada, U.K., and Singapore. One netizen said it was hilarious to have people who abandoned Chinese nationality educate
Chinese people on patriotism. Another said it demonstrated the failure of 60 years of patriotism, and was a huge irony! Some went so far as saying the film shames modern Chinese movies. Internet commentator Ku Dan, said the Founding of a Republic is actually about the Chinese communist partys founding of the regime. Ku said the Chinese characters Da Ye in the movies title, which means the grand founding in Chinese, can also be interpreted as big, bad karma in Buddhism. Read the original Chinese article. chinareports@epochtimes.com This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
BBC News Pm 'regrets' Hillsborough comment The Press Association David Cameron "regrets" any offence he caused to the families of the Hillsborough victims by comparing their search for closure to a "blind man, in a dark room looking for a black cat that isn't there". A Downing Street spokeswoman said Mr Cameron was... Liverpool wants Cameron apology over Hillsborough comments Yorkshire Post Prime Minister's 'offensive' Hillsborough comments criticised in Parliament Mirror.co.uk Row over PM's Hillsborough remark BBC News The Guardian (blog)- Labour Party- Liverpool Echo all 18 news articles
Keith Colmer becomes first commercial astronaut

Duncan Geere
Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:13:00 PM
Virgin Galactic has selected Keith Colmer as the first astronaut pilot to join its commercial
spaceflight team, beating more than 500 other applicants. Virgin says that Colmer was selected due to his 12 years of operational, developmental and experimental aircraft test flight
experience, as well as more than
10 years of combined military experience in US air force spacecraft operations and flying. He's spent more than 5,000 hours in more than 90 different types of aircraft, and will be helping to test
-fly Virgin Galactic's ships -WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo. By: Duncan Geere, Edited by: Nate Lanxon Continue reading...
28
News Wire/ Obituaries
New York Real Estate Update

EUROZONE
has gotten stronger, stronger and stronger, Daria Salusbury told Renting in Manhattan? Good the New York Times. Salusbury is luck. the national head of leasing for According to The New York Related, which owns and operates Times, rents in Manhattan have 18 buildings in New York City not only rebounded from the with a total of 5,000 tenants. depths of two years ago, but are Over the past few months, we also surpassing the record high of are exceeding our 2007 rents. 2007 during the real estate boom, The average rent for a 2-bedroom according to figures from Citi in a non-doorman building is now Habitats, a large rental brokerage, $4,137, up from $3,560 last and other surveys. September, according to an MNS T h a t m e a n s a p e r e n n i a l l y survey cited by The New York frustrating process has become Times. In doorman buildings, the almost frenzied. Brokers say average rent for a 2-bedroom is prospective renters need to come $5,857, compared with $5,321 a prepared to close a deal on the year ago. same dayready to write a check The low vacancy rate means that for thousands of dollars to cover a p a r t m e n t h u n t e r s w h o a r e the first and last months rent and pressed for timeand on a the brokers fee. For desirable b u d g e t h a v e p r e c i o u s f e w apartments, forget about open o p t i o n s . housesthe best places are One consequence of rising rents snapped up within a few days or historically is that more people less through private showings by c o n s i d e r b u y i n g , t h u s brokers. strengthening the sales Several factors are conspiring to marketand eventually driving keep rents high, brokers and real down rents again. But that is not estate analysts said, citing the proving to be the case this time virtual disappearance of any around, said Pamela Hannigan, an incentives, a vacancy rate in assistant professor at the Schack Manhattan that is hovering around Institute of Real Estate at New 1 percent, and a shortage of new York University. developments on the horizon. Despite record low interest rates, Over the past year, the market tightened lending standards have
denied mortgages to many people who might have succeeded several years ago. With few qualified buyers and a stubbornly high unemployment rate, new home prices across the country have stagnated or fallen. There are new households forming all the time, Hannigan told the New York Times, and people need a place to live, so given these circumstances, it is not surprising rents are rising. The New York Real Estate Section is a practical guide to finding and searching for properties in New York. If you are interested in searching the 10,000 properties for sale or rental in Manhattan, register online and select Suzun Bennet as your b r o k e r : h t t p s : / / www.townrealestate.com/ members/register_mem.html or email me directly at sbennet@townrealestate.com This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
firing line. Rome's inability to deliver a substantive plan for reforming its pensions system has raised doubts about Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's seriousness in tackling a crisis that threatens the euro zone's third largest economy. Berlusconi was bringing to Brussels a "letter of intent" to his European partners on long awaited reforms, aides said, after his government nearly collapsed on Tuesday over their demands that Rome fulfill a pledge to raise the retirement age. The letter was expected to contain only vague promises of economic reform rather than the firm undertakings sought by exasperated EU leaders in return for support for Italy's bonds. Italy has the euro zone's largest sovereign bond market, with a public debt of 1.8 trillion euros, 120 percent of GDP. If it went the same way as Greece, Ireland and Portugal, the rescue fund does not have enough money to bail Rome out. Draghi's statement appeared to supersede a dispute between Germany and France over how
the ECB, the ultimate defender of the euro, should be involved in trying to resolve the crisis. Paris had wanted the summit to endorse a continuation of the ECB's "non-standard measures" as long as Europe faces exceptional circumstances. Merkel said Germany opposed a line in the draft summit conclusions urging the ECB to continue these measures. A euro zone source said the phrase would be dropped. (Additional reporting by Annika Breidthardt and Sarah Marsh in Berlin, Daniel Flynn and Harry Papachristou in Athens, Barry Moody in Rome; Writing by Luke Baker and Mike Peacock; editing by Janet McBride) This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Dan Burke, Capital Cities co -founder, dies at 82 (AP)

(Yahoo! News: Obituaries)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 11:23:06 AM
AP - Dan Burke, whose retirement plan included buying the Portland Sea Dogs after
retiring as president and CEO of ABC/Capital Cities Inc., has died of complications from diabetes. He was 82.
News Wire/ World News/ Culture/
29
Complex Organic Matter Found Throughout Universe

Submitted at 10/26/2011 11:44:24 AM
Spectrum from the Infrared Space Observatory superimposed on an image of the Orion Nebula where these complex organics are found. (NASA, C.R. O'Dell, S.K. Wong/Rice University) Surprisingly complex organic compounds resembling coal and petroleum that are naturally produced by stars have been discovered in space, according to new research detailed in Nature on Oct. 26. The substances comprise both ring-like (aromatic) and chain-like (aliphatic) parts, and are similar to complex organic compounds that occur in meteorites. As coal and oil are the remains of ancient life, such matter was believed to be produced from dead organisms. Two researchers from the University of Hong Kong analyzed infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope and the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) to shed light on unexplained infrared emissions seen in stars,
galaxies, and interstellar space known as "Unidentified Infrared Emission features." Previously, these were believed to be produced from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules, which are simple organic molecules composed of carbon and hydrogen atoms. However, the team found that these spectral signatures have
different features from those expected to be generated by PAH molecules. The astronomers think that these substances are created from much more complex organic components. They studied star dust spectra from exploding stars known as novae, and found that such compounds are produced in only a few weeks and are being spread into interstellar space.
The study suggests that old stars are molecular factories that can generate organic compounds. "Our work has shown that stars have no problem making complex organic compounds under nearvacuum conditions," said Sun Kwok at the University of Hong Kong in a press release. "Theoretically, this is impossible, but observationally we can see it happening." Based on this research, it is possible that stars may have filled our young solar system with organic compounds. Comets and asteroids could have carried this star dust onto Earth's surface and helped to provide the ingredients for the creation of life. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Queen bids farewell to Melbourne after whirlwind visit Courier Mail

Submitted at 10/26/2011 10:01:23 AM
NEWS.com.au Queen bids farewell to Melbourne after whirlwind visit Courier Mail The Queen waves goodbye to Melbourne after her brief visit. Picture: Ellen Smith Source: Herald Sun The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh leave Melbourne after the brief visit. Picture: Ellen Smith Source: Herald Sun The Queen in Fed Square.... The Queen takes the Royal Tram in Melbourne - video The Guardian All aboard for Queen's royal tour Adelaide Now Not the Rolls or Bentley, but a commoner's conveyance gives Her Majesty a... Eastern Riverina Chronicle The Australian- Herald Sun all 521 news articles
My little bacteria: friendship is magic

(Holy Kaw!)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:56:00 PM
Not all bacteria are our mortal
enemies. Some are our friends and, yes, we have been known to go on amazing adventures with them.
They're not as cute as talking ponies, but they help out in pretty cool ways. Let's see just how well you know the world of "good"
bacteria. Show what you know at HowStuffWorks.com. Total aggregation of
HowStuffWorks.com. Photo credit: Fotolia Permalink| Leave a comment
30
World News/ Finance/
In Indonesia, Radical Over the Horizon: Drawing the Right Lessons Islam Threatens Democracy on Airpower from Libya
(World Politics Review: Articles)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 6:34:00 AM
and exclusive religious interpretations to justify the (World Politics Review: Articles) extent that it can win wars with Force F-22 Raptors. Ironically, implementation of Shariah law o n l y a m i n i m a l g r o u n d that aircraft was grounded for Under President Susilo Bambang and the infringement of the rights Submitted at 10/26/2011 7:15:00 AM component. According to retired safety reasons for the bulk of the Y u d h o y o n o , I n d o n e s i a h a s of religious minorities. These The battle to define the lessons of USAF Lt. Gen. David Deptula, Libya campaign. Deptula and emerged as a success story in efforts undermine the spirit of the Western intervention in Libya Whether one agrees or not with Eaglens piece represented a bald many ways. It has waged a m o d e r a t i o n , t o l e r a n c e a n d began almost as soon as the first the intervention, one thing is clear a r g u m e n t o n b e h a l f o f t h e r e s i l i e n t c a m p a i g n a g a i n s t p l u r a l i t y o f I s l a m t h a t a r e Tomahawk missiles started hitting -- and no surprise to objective institutional interests of both the terrorism, achieved the third- embodied by Indonesia and that countrys air defense network observers: Modern air power is U.S. Air Force and Lockheed highest economic growth rate e n s h r i n e d i n t h e c o u n t r y ' s back in March. Many of the the key force that led to the Martin, the producer of the F-22, a m o n g G - 2 0 c o u n t r i e s a n d founding Pancasila principles of arguments have focused on the o v e r t h r o w o f t h e G a d h a f i but when made in less-cartoonish demonstrated dynamic leadership unity and democracy. Experts are viability of the Responsibility to regime. The effect of such a fashion, the case may have an w i t h i n t h e A s s o c i a t i o n o f beginning to wonder aloud Protect doctrine of international conclusion on austerity-afflicted effect on future procurement S o u t h e a s t A s i a n N a t i o n s whether the world's largest humanitarian intervention and military budgets in Europe and decisions. ... ( A S E A N ) . M o r e o v e r , t h i s Muslim-majority nation and thirdhow it might apply to such the United States could be huge This entry passed through the political and economic stability largest democracy could see its countries as Bahrain or Syria. and costly, as it is almost certainly Full-Text RSS service if this is has been achieved in a context of reputation for religious tolerance However, defense analysts also premature. your content and you're reading it d e e p e n i n g d e m o c r a t i c and freedom tarnished by this subjected the military character of In a previous op-ed written on someone else's site, please read consolidation, after a period of vocal and increasingly violent the campaign to scrutiny, with before the intervention with the the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content- suppression of political rights and radical Islamic fringe. ... some now suggesting the fight in Heritage Foundations Mackenzie only/faq.php#publishers. Five civil liberties during the Suharto This entry passed through the Libya indicates that airpower has Eaglen, Deptula notoriously Filters recommends: Donate to era. Full-Text RSS service if this is finally fulfilled its decisive argued that any no-fly zone over Wikileaks. But Yudhoyono's tenure has also your content and you're reading it promise, having matured to the Libya should employ U.S. Air seen the rise of radical Islam, on someone else's site, please read which some view as the greatest the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentthreat to Indonesian democracy. only/faq.php#publishers. Five Groups such as the Hizbut-Tahrir Filters recommends: Donate to I n d o n e s i a a n d t h e I s l a m i c Wikileaks. Defenders Front have used strict
Stobart profits fall 4pc on 'fluctuating consumer demand'

Jonathan Russell (Finance News - Business news from the UK and world)
Transport and property group Stobart saw first-half profits slip 4pc to 14.7m as "fluctuating
consumer demand" held back the company's road transport division.
World News/ Technology/
31
Alex Salmond's secret: Refugee who died 'turned down by security agencies' apps and chutzpah - New Zealand Herald The Guardian
(Nation - Google News) (Nation - Google News)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 11:26:41 AM
Tamil man, who had been detained at the... Not shy, Alex Salmond wrote to... Accepted refugee commits Independent Scotland ' would Submitted at 10/26/2011 1:04:12 PM suicide in detention ABC Online h a v e t o j o i n t h e e u r o ' ABC Online Refugee who died 'turned down Villawood asylum-seeker who The Guardian Telegraph.co.uk committed suicide was security Alex Salmond's secret: apps and As it happened: SNP conference by security agencies' New Zealand Herald risk The Australian chutzpah 2011 BBC News The Guardian Salmond opens door for 'third A Sri Lankan refugee who killed Death no barrier to detention, Alex Salmond runs the Scottish w a y ' t o k e e p i n d e p e n d e n t himself in Sydney's Villawood says Immigration Minister Chris National party with an immense S c o t l a n d w i t h i n U K T h e d e t e n t i o n c e n t r e w a s n o t Bowen The Daily Telegraph c o n s i d e r e d s u i t a b l e f o r NEWS.com.au- Herald Sun- noreply@blogger.com (Ad amount of chutzpah. Photograph: I n d e p e n d e n t ServeRSS) (AdServRSS Feed) Danny Lawson/PA When the Financial Times- The Press community placement by security Sydney Morning Herald agencies, Australia's Immigration all 85 news articles results of the EuroMillions lottery Association- Scotsman Christian World Adoption is one Minister Chris Bowen says. The were announced in July, an all 667 news articles of the largest international Ayrshire couple had won 161m. adoption agencies in the United States. Since 1991, Christian World Adoption has placed thousands of children from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. These children now enjoy the love and security of Contributor (TechCrunch) Creative Targeting. While AIM a forever family. Christian World (Nation - Google News) Ward Sir Christopher Wren's helps advertisers to buy targeted A d o p t i o n c u r r e n t l y o f f e r s masterpiece was closed to the Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:26:27 PM Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:57:30 PM display ads on an impression by adoption programs in Bulgaria, public for the first time since the Onsite targeting solutions i m p r e s s i o n b a s i s , t h i s China, Ethiopia, Guatemala, ABC News Blitz amid... St Paul's Cathedral to reopen on St Paul's 'could reopen on Friday' provider Cognitive Match has collaboration places the solution Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia teamed up with independent in a real-time environment. It and Ukraine. Explore our website Friday despite Occupy London The Press Association protest camp St Paul's protester: Time for advertising technology company provides a dynamic creative to learn more about international A d n e t i k t o i n c r e a s e t h e solution that is capable of adoption. Then, when youre Telegraph.co.uk change BBC News Senior clergy at St Paul's St Paul's closure has 'backfired' effectiveness of online campaigns. targeting different elements of ready, call our friendly adoption T h e p a r t n e r s h i p b u i l d s o n creative for each user. The goal is c o u n s e l o r , t o l l f r e e , a t Cathedral have been forced into Channel 4 News Adnetiks Audience Investment to maximise user engagement and 1 . 8 8 8 . 9 7 A D O P T . a n e m b a r r a s s i n g U - t u r n , Daily Mail- The Guardian Management (AIM) system for increase the effectiveness of announcing that it would reopen all 2,084 news articles display advertising and enhances online campaigns. its doors on Friday. By Victoria its capabilities through combination with Dynamic
Christian World Adoption
St Paul's Cathedral to reopen on Knowing What You Like Friday despite Occupy London Cognitive Match Teams Up protest camp - Telegraph.co.uk On Real-time Targeted Ads
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Technology/
Latest Neo4j NoSQL Release Takes Oracle Head-on

Scott M. Fulton, III (ReadWriteWeb)
Neo Technologies CEO Emil Eifrem explains graph database schemas in an April 2010 Submitted at 10/26/2011 1:00:00 PM discussion at Microsoft The open source NoSQL graph headquarters with blogger Robert database that has perhaps attracted Scoble. the most attention in recent "Neo4j 1.0 had a very powerful months has been Neo4j, a Java- mapping mode based on AspectJ based DBMS with a RESTful API technology," explains Emil that supports multiple languages. Eifrem, lead engineer of Neo4j Earlier this month, Microsoft and CEO of Neo Technology, in embraced Neo4j by enabling its an interview with RWW. "It turns use through the Windows Azure out that when we talked with cloud platform, whose .NET enterprise users out there, AspectJ l a n g u a g e s a r e n ' t t y p i c a l l y was not yet widely adopted by the associated with Java. enterprise. So what [Neo4j] 2.0 N o w , a n e w c o m m e r c i a l does is provide a completely new distribution of Neo4j premiering mapping mode that makes it as this week from Spring Data adds a easy to access Neo4j as to access head-turning new feature for Oracle and MySQL." developers: a mapping mode that It's the culmination of a ten-year enables data to be accessible as effort, says Eifrem, and is not the ordinary Java objects. This means kind of engineering that just any new Java developers won't have company can bolt on with a few to learn the quirks of Neo4j's months' work. Essentially, it's a AspectJ library to access data double-translation, using the much the same way they're process that would normally already doing for Oracle and translate the image of data from MySQL Connector/J. traditional relational tables to Sponsor procedural functions, and For database access libraries, a extending it to translate graph mapping mode is one way that a databases to procedural functions. schematically defined set of data In a traditional relational can be addressed by a procedural database, the relations between language, step-at-a-time. In other f i e l d s a r e p r e s u m e d s e l f words, not by a SQL command explanatory. A customer has a like SELECT but by assignments first and last name, and address, to variables or members of and some contact information. collections All that goes into a table,
indeed representable by a traditional database, but as the size of the problem scales up linearly (as cloud-based maps of every public building in the world tend to make it do), the inner joins and other processes used in generating conventional subsets of data results consume more time exponentially. This problem is already solved in its entirety by the graph database model, which is a more geometric explaining what an RDBMS approach to modeling variable engineer would call a first-order relationships. Unlike the RDBMS relation. A customer orders a model, nodes in a graph database product, which is explained by a are associated with one another record in a second table. That qualitatively. Not only does an forms the second-order relation. association between nods state An invoice is produced based on that a relationship exists, but also all the outstanding second-order describes how. This way, the relations for that client at a given p r o c e s s o f j o i n i n g n e a r b y time. Some call this a third-order restaurants to ratings and ordering relation. by proximity, and others like this, All that seems appropriate for c h a n g e f r o m c o m p l e x most jobs, up to a point. We reorganizations, joins, and sorts to know why invoices are related to something that Emil Eifrem customers and products. All that literally describes as "trivial." is presumed, and specified in the "When we started talking to schema. But what about cases enterprises about what they where the relation between two require from databases, we got columns is not a state, but rather a three main things. One is a very variable? For example: What are rich data model," reports Eifrem. the closest restaurants to my In a veiled reference to Oracle's present location? What are the new NoSQL data store, he highest-rated restaurants close to continues, "There's a bunch of key me, in order of distance? What /value stores out there, for are the least recently visited, high- example, which have a very rated restaurants, in order of simplistic data model. That's distance? These queries are
great for some things, but most of the data inside of the enterprise is very complex." He cites the massive, and growing, databases centered around network management, content management, property and asset management, relationship management (CRM, ERM), all of which are emphasized by the connections between data and the complexity of their interrelationships. These map most poorly to key/value stores. Enterprises also said the database needs to support transactions -atomic-level processes which enable consistency across multiple users, and which can be rolled back or undone without damage to the data sets. "It's never okay if you've killed the database after you've stored data, and the data disappears," says Eifrem matter-of-factly. Third, and by Eifrem's measure most importantly, is the emerging fact that most enterprise applications are written in Java. There's great momentum behind Ruby, Python, Scala, and don't forget PHP. But the other 90% of functionality, he says, is Java. "If you want to catch on in the enterprise, you need to have great Java support." While key/value store technology LATEST page 40
Technology/
33
Nokia Lumia 800 and 710 Compare and Contrast

Chris Burns (SlashGear)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:47:21 PM
Its time to take a look at both of the new Windows Phone enabled devices Nokia has announced today at Nokia World 2011, the Nokia Lumia 800 and the Lumia 710. While both devices do run the newest version of Windows Phone, that being version 7.5 Mango, thats where the perfect consistency ends. Nokia has made two different devices here for two different crowds see if you can tell which is aimed at who! Nokia Lumia 800 The Nokia Lumia 800 is a device that should very much remind you of the recently reviewed by Chris Davies Nokia device by the name of Nokia N9. While that device ran MeeGo, this new one rolls out with Windows Phone and is therefor modified physically to meet the needs of the alternate mobile OS. Youve got the three Microsoft designed buttons at the bottom of a 3.7-inch 480 x 800 pixel AMOLED display, inside youve got a 1450mAh battery for nearly 10 hours of talk time, and inside youve got the lovely 1.4GHz single-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor to back you up. Inside youll find 16GB of builtin storage, 512 MB of RAM, and the ability to use the cool 8-
megapixel camera on the back of the device, this camera capable of 720p HD 30fps video as well as HD photos. The single piece of bright colorful polycarbonate should have you agreeing with Nokia that the whole experience is pillowy and without a doubt this is a high contender for the top class of smartphone devices out there, being described by many as the first true Windows Phone
device right out of the gate due to its unique design and top-tier specifications. Nokia Lumia 710 The device that for one reason or another appears to be taking a second seat to news about the 800 is the Lumia 710, another Windows Phone 7.5 Mango device with a 3.7-inch display at 480 x 800 pixel resolution. This time the display is a TFT LCD and the 1300 mAh batter should
be giving you nearly 8 hours of talk time. Inside youll find the same single-core 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon chip, while the back of this device has a slightly smaller 5-megapixel camera still capable of 720p HD video at 30 fps. Built-in storage is set at 8GB, while system memory is 512 MB and, just like the 800, this device has a candybar design. Youll see
right away though that these certainly dont taste the same, and if they were made of candy, they wouldnt both be chocolate, thats for sure. While the 800 is 4.59 x 2.41 x 0.48 inches in size and weighs in at 142 g, the 710 rings in at 4.69 x 2.46 x 0.49 inches and weighs 126 g. I suppose at this point youre NOKIA page 37
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Technology/ Obituaries
iPhone 4S vs Lumia 800

Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:18:35 PM
While we know good and well its more about the full package than it is about any single specification on the device, its always interesting to compare one hero device to another. Thats why what were going to do here is to take Apples current best in class, the iPhone 4S running iOS 5, and compare it to the Lumia 800, the newest Nokia hero running Windows Phone 7.5 Mango, also Microsofts newest mobile OS. Will this device that looks RATHER similar to what weve seen in the Nokia N9 MeeGo device be able to run Windows Phone successfully enough to take a cut into the iPhones mighty market share? Both the Nokia Lumia 800 and the iPhone have rather unique looking casings going on. With the 800, youve got a solid piece of polycarbonite and a single piece of curve-edged glass up front on top of a 3.7-inch display and the three standard Windows Phone buttons. With the iPhone, youve got a 3.5-inch display covered with a single sheet of flat glass, glass on the back of the device as well, and an aluminum ring around the edges. The iPhone
design as well as the design of the 800 have been called perfectly suited for the hand by Vincent Nguyen and Chris Davies, so where do we go from here? We could note that the iPhone has an app store with several hundred thousand apps in it, each of them hand-approved by Apple, the Windows Phone device has a tiny market in comparison again the apps are well curated, but the point is of course that the Apple device has an undeniable gigantic
following of developers while Microsoft has yet to find even a fraction of the support for their own platform. On the other hand, with Nokia jumping in on the Windows Phone 7.5 Mango game, there might be hope yet. If we can rely on the several casing colors of the Nokia N9 to move over to the Lumia 800, weve got a much larger array of choices for the actual physical phones look than the iPhone who currently still only comes in black
or white. The iPhone is flat on all sides with curved corners while the Lumia is pillowy. Then of course the Nokia manufacturer stance on Windows Phone is that itll drive them through the next few years at least, this device one of the first TWO theyve ever made with the software, while Apple has only ever had the iPhone. Check out our hands-on with the Nokia Lumia 800 as well as our full review of the iPhone 4S if
you want to compare specifications any closer than weve done here, and check out the videos below to see how these devices look in the hands and tap under the fingers. Are you deciding between the two? Bonus point: the Nokia Lumia 800 will be rolling out in stores by November internationally, but this first release wont include the USA. That affect your decision any? It sure as heck does mine. Relevant Entries on SlashGear.com Nokia Lumia 710 official Qualcomm Snapdragon Processor powers first Nokia Lumia smartphones Nokia Lumia 710 Hands-on Nokia Lumia 800 and 710 Compare and Contrast Nokia Lumia 800 and 710 Windows Phone devices leaked Nokia App Highlights curated store revealed Were Live at Nokia World 2011! Nokia Lumia 800 Hands-on iPhone 4S vs Lumia 800 is written by Chris Burns& originally posted on SlashGear. 2005 - 2011, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Poland's last Battle of Britain pilot dies (AP)

(Yahoo! News: Obituaries)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 11:17:31 AM
AP - A Polish World War II airman, believed to be the last surviving Polish pilot from the
Battle of Britain, has died at the age of 97 in a Canadian nursing home.
Technology/
35
Skype Launches Expanded App Platform, Aims High With New Video Calling & More API Offerings
Marshall Kirkpatrick (ReadWriteWeb)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 1:54:56 PM
This Summer one of the world's biggest social networks, VOIP and chat service Skype, released an application developer platform for makers of electronic hardware to integrate features like Skype video calling into their gadgets. Today those same features were made available to developers of desktop applications and the new Skype App Directory was officially unveiled. There aren't a lot of apps in it yet - but there sure could be soon thanks to the new technical offerings for app developers. Skype-powered apps have always been a source of huge unrealized potential. People say that your telephone contact list represents your real social network and the ultimate social graph to build apps on top of, but people do a whole lot of calling on Skype these days too. Add in video calling, screen sharing, text chat, file transfer and the P2P protocol it all runs on top of and what have you got? An awe inspiring opportunity. "Imagine the possibilities of
Skype Video Calling directly in one or more of the desktop applications you use each and every day," the company says, "be it office productivity software or games." Sponsor Now that Microsoft owns Skype, it wouldn't be a shock if the Skype developer community started getting a whole lot more love. Here at ReadWriteWeb, we use the Skype API for inbound and outbound messaging. We haven't used any video chat APIs to date, though options like TokBox and recently the Google Hangouts API have made that seem easier than ever. We are bloggers, though, so pantslessness is an occupational hazard and other forms of communication tend to be more viable on a day-to-day basis. The app directory is almost entirely filled with call and chat recording apps, which are great, but Skype has so much more
potential than that. Unfortunately, signal quality is not always great on Skype. Cross -platform support is uneven: frustrating for Mac users and maddening for Linux users. Skype's mobile offerings sometimes feel out of their weight class, too, when up against a big stream of data they are asked to transmit. "[Chris Andrews, Senior Business Development Manager at Skype] says that potential products using the API could focus on specific Skype desktop apps for kids, or seniors," writes Leena Rao at TechCrunch this morning. "He adds that some partners who are using the Video APIs are focused on distance learning and telemedicine opportunities. For, now, there are no plans for a mobile API, he says." Will Microsoft and Skype be able to build a thriving ecosystem of apps that let seniors practice telemedicine on kids around the world, record the video, translate the dialogue in text and voice, all while transferring files? That would certainly be fabulous if they could. Discuss
Pastebin Surpasses 10 Million Active Pastes

Greg Kumparak (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:56:11 PM
It took 8 years for Pastebin.com(which, for the unassociated, is sort of like the Internets clipboard. Anyone can paste in a big ol wall of text and share it with anyone else, often anonymously) to reach 1 million active (read: not spam or expired) pastes. In the year and a half since, its spiked all the way up to 10 million. Interestingly enough, Pastebins original owner chose to sell it off just before the massive uptick bet you cant guess why! Pastebin lulled along at a fairly steady pace for most of a decade, driven largely by IRC users. Pasting a massive length of text into IRC is bad practice, akin to suddenly shouting over everyone else in a conversation. Instead, users paste their epics into a site like Pastebin, sharing the link in IRC for anyone interested. Then came Twitter. Suddenly, being succinct wasnt just polite it was mandatory. Wordy twitterers flocked to the service as a means of getting their lengthier
rants out there. Usage began to spike. Then came Anon. Best known for their myriad acts of online mischief, Anonymous turned to Pastebin (with its fittingly anonymous uploading) as a means of distributing their news releases. As these releases spread around the Internet, it acted as a free word-of-mouth campaign for Pastebin. Usage exploded. Alas, the legal attention that the more nefarious Pastes drew were a bit too much for the sites original owner, Paul Dixon. Dixon sold the site for an undisclosed amount in 2010. In a post we wrote on Pastebin back in August, Dixon commented: I started pastebin.com in 2002 but sold it to its present owner in 2010 after it became too much of a time drain dealing with the posts which had piqued the interest of law enforcement agencies! Im glad I did, as I dont think Id have enjoyed dealing the Lulzsec exposure. I applaud the present owner though, I think theyve added a lot to the original idea
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Technology/
Qualcomm Snapdragon Processor powers first Nokia Lumia smartphones

Submitted at 10/26/2011 11:21:34 AM
This morning at Nokia World 2011, two flavors of Nokias Lumia line were released, the Lumia 800 and the Lumia 710, and Qualcomm now reports that yes, indeed, they are being powered by no less than their very own Snapdragon processors. This is the first time Nokia has entered into the Windows Phone world as well as the first time Nokia has worked with Qualcomm to combine both of their well-loved architectures. With all the coverage on the smartphones themselves this morning, one must see the energy here, in the motor, and what better way to usher in a single new collaboration than with a second! Another point to make here is that Qualcomm has currently cornered the Windows Phone market with their processors. Thats right, Qualcomms Snapdragon processors power 100 percent of Windows Phone
Compare and Contrast Qualcomm Snapdragon chip to end up in 250 more devices Nokia Lumia 710 official Nokia Lumia 710 Hands-on Nokia Lumia 800 and 710 Windows Phone devices leaked Weeks and months before Nokia Windows Phone hardware reveal First pictures of Qualcomm Snapdragon netbook appear to be a tablet Nokia N9 Rumored to Feature 4 -Inch OLED Screen and 1GHz Processor devices on the market right now, and they dont plan on stopping there! With the Windows Phone 7 marketplace on the rise, its in Qualcomms best interest to continue to hold on to the entirety of the platform. Enrico Salvatori, senior vice president and president of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies Europe, is more than pleased with the situation of course. Salvatori notes that the process from start to finish only took six months, quite a feat for two manufacturers working to optimize eachothers products for one another for market release. The completeness of the Snapdragon processor and deep integration between Snapdragon and Windows Phone 7 have enabled a unique smartphone experience in record development time for Nokia. Sounds good and dandy! Check out our Hands-on with the Lumia 800, our Hands-on with the Lumia 710, and hit up the entire Nokia experience this week by seeking out the Nokia World 2011 portal. Hands-on with the Lumia 800 Hands-on with the Lumia 710 Relevant Entries on SlashGear.com Nokia Lumia 800 and 710 Qualcomm Snapdragon Processor powers first Nokia Lumia smartphones is written by Chris Burns& originally posted on SlashGear. 2005 - 2011, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Recycled plastic bridge spans Welsh river

Duncan Geere
made out of 50 tonnes of recycled plastic waste. There are multiple benefits of A Welsh startup called Vertech building a bridge out of plastic, has built a 30-metre footbridge rather than metal. It doesn't rust. It maintainence. It doesn't need to be across the Tweed River in Wales, d o e s n ' t n e e d r e g u l a r painted. It's also 100 percent
Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:12:00 PM
recyclable, so when the local Nate Lanxon Continue reading... community decide they don't want it any more, it can be broken up and turned into another bridge elsewhere. By: Duncan Geere, Edited by:
Technology/ Talk/
37
Sincerely Raises $3 Million To Deliver Real-World Postcards, Holiday Cards On The Way
Jason Kincaid (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:22:06 PM
NOKIA
Thanks to services like iCloud and Google+, snapshots flow like water between mobile devices and the web these days. But many of those photos never make the jump from pixels to paper. And, as it turns out, people still love to stick photos and cards to their family refrigerator. Thats where Sincerely comes in. The company builds products that revolve around easily creating and sending physical, real-world postcards at a low cost. And today its announcing that its raised a $3 million Series A funding round led by Spark Capital, with Sparks Bijan Sabet joining the board. Other participants in the round include a strong roster of investors: First Round Capital, Charles River Ventures, SV Angel, Chamath Palihapitiya, Drew Houston, Paul Buchheit, Adam Smith, Ariel Poler, Shan Sinha, and Paul Freedman.
So far Sincerely has built three products. The first is Postagram, an app available for Android and iOS that lets you snap photos with your phones camera and quickly shoot off postcards to friends and family. The second is Sincerely Ship, an iOS library that lets other developers quickly bake Postagram-like functionality into their own apps. Finally, Sincerely is announcing a new product today: Sincerely Ink, which will let you create and ship holiday cards personalized using your own photos, which can be inserted into one of 40 professionally designed templates. These holiday cards will begin at $1.69 apiece including postage, and will be printed on 57 inch postcards. If that sounds up your alley, the first 200 people to sign up at www.sincerely.com/ink with the code TC will be able to send their first holiday card for free. The app isnt out just yet, but will be released for iOS and Android shortly.
Of course, Sincerely now has another, very large, competitor: Apple. The company introduced the Cards app for iOS, which also lets you send real-world postcards to friends and family. Apples offering is significantly more expensive though its charging $2.99 to send a postcard to someone in the US, and $4.99 to send it anywhere in the world. Postagrams price? 99 cents wordwide for its standard postcards. Crunchbase SINCERELY Company: Sincerely Website: sincerely.com Launch Date: October 26, 2011 Sincerely is focused on making it easy to send real photos in the mail from your phone. We believe printed photos are meaningful & a photo sent to a friend is the most ubiquitously appreciated gift on the planet. Learn more
confused whether these two devices are nearly the same or completely different. Truth be told, theyre going to be held up by you in the store next to one another and its likely the price thatll do the deciding for you. That or your ability to choose certain fantastic color cases for one and different sets of colors for the other. Whatever happens, happens! Also feel free to check out another competition from this morning by the name of Lumia 800 vs iPhone 4S, then see how youll be getting some sweet app options with Nokia App Highlights curated store as outlined this morning as well. See our full Nokia Lumia 710 hands-on post or just check out the video here: And see our full Nokia Lumia 800 hands-on post or just check out the video here: Then let us know which one youd choose if you had the
choice right this second! Relevant Entries on SlashGear.com Nokia Lumia 710 official iPhone 4S vs Lumia 800 Qualcomm Snapdragon Processor powers first Nokia Lumia smartphones Nokia Lumia 710 Hands-on Nokia Lumia 800 and 710 Windows Phone devices leaked Were Live at Nokia World 2011! Nokia App Highlights curated store revealed Nokia Asha 303, 300 and 200 Hands-on Nokia Lumia 800 and 710 Compare and Contrast is written by Chris Burns& originally posted on SlashGear. 2005 - 2011, SlashGear. All right reserved.
TED: Malcolm Gladwell: The strange tale of the Norden bombsight - Malcolm Gladwell (2011)
TEDTalks (TEDTalks (video))
Submitted at 10/26/2011 10:21:28 AM
Master storyteller Malcolm Gladwell tells the tale of the Norden bombsight, a
groundbreaking piece of World War II technology with a deeply unexpected result.
38
Technology/
MacBook chassis plant conquers odor, reopening soon

(CNET News.com)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:09:19 PM
Apple Senior Vice President Jonathan Ive explaining the company's move to unibody enclosures at an event in 2008.(Credit: James Martin/ CNET) A Chinese manufacturing facility that is said to have played a large part in the creation of Apple's MacBook notebooks is expected to reopen in November after being closed earlier this month, a new report says. Reuters reports that Catcher Technology, which shut down on October 16 after nearby residents complained of "strong odors" from the plant, is set to finish improvements by the end of the month that will aim to fix those issues. The report says that the company plans to have everything back up and running next month, pending inspections from officials. According to a report in electronic component news site DigiTimes last week, 80 percent of Catcher's capacity at its facility in Suzhou, China is for creating the chassis Apple uses in its MacBook Pro line. That includes milling out a solid piece of
Indie Royale bundle starts a price war between the stingy and the wealthy
Mark Brown
Submitted at 10/26/2011 1:00:00 PM
aluminum, a technique the company began employing in 2008 to increase the strength, while cutting weight in its notebook computers. Despite any issues with that particular plant, Apple moved forward with plans to refresh its notebook computers this week, introducing new versions of its MacBook Pro computers with boosted processing speeds and improved graphics. Those new versions do not differ from previous models on the outside enclosure, short of tweaking two
of the keyboard keys to match up with updated software features in Mac OS X Lion. Beyond the plant closure, one other threat that still looms for Apple's MacBook Pro production pertains to hard drives. Flooding in Thailand threatens pricing and production levels of hard drives from Hitachi, Seagate, Toshiba and Western Digital. Apple continues to use hard disk drives in its MacBook Pro notebook line, while using flash memory in its MacBook Air line. During the company's fourth quarter earnings
call last week, Cook said such issues have been accounted for in the company's forecast for its current quarter. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Every fortnight Indie Royale will bundle together four independently-made games and sell them on the cheap. Then, with the flood gates open, a frantic price battle occurs as every purchase can affect the minimum possible price. Starting today, four top games worth about $40 are available to buy together for any price point you wish over $1.99. But if people go in for the lowest possible price that minimum cost will gradually increase. Early adopters get it cheap, but johnny come latelies will have to pay more. By: Mark Brown, Edited by: Duncan Geere Continue reading...
Technology/
39
App sniffs out links hidden in the real world

(CNET News.com)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:05:25 PM
"Hey honey. Did you see this thing in the paper?"(Credit: Video screenshot by Eric Smalley/ CNET) Imagine sweeping your phone around a room and seeing a plethora of information about the pictures, music, and video around you. The Digimarc Discover app lets your phone read QR codes printed on products, identify tunes playing nearby, buy tickets when movies are advertised on a TV playing near you, and follow watermark links hidden in articles and product packaging. Digital watermark purveyor Digimarc demoed the technology
this spring and has now made the free app for iOS and Android available for download. The app falls somewhere between simple bar code readers and augmentedreality apps that recognize realworld objects and link information to them. Digimarc Discover is the Swiss Army knife of real-world identification. It figures out the most appropriate identifying technologies for a given situation-QR code, watermark, audio and/ or video--depending on where you are and how you've used it in the past. Watermarks, which are invisible to the naked eye, are a big aesthetic improvement over QR codes and bar codes. The
downside is you can't tell if there's a watermark in an image, so you may end up holding your phone in front of a magazine or poster and getting no digital love. The key to Digimarc's scheme is
getting publishers and advertisers to use watermarks. The company acknowledges this on the Digimarc Discover page: "There must be widespread encoding of digital watermarks in all forms of
media." Looks like a chicken-and-egg problem. Are businesses going to splash invisible watermarks all over the place on the promise that your phone will be looking for them? Maybe the audio and video components will be enough to get people to download the app and get the ball rolling. (Via Technology Review) This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Mint launches iPad app that's better than its Web site
(CNET News.com)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:09:35 PM
"Honey, we need to talk." Mint gives you a good intuitive grasp on why you're going broke.(Credit: Intuit) The personal finance site Mint is getting an iPad app to go along with the smaller iPhone app that's been out for a while. It's being pitched as the full-on Mint experience, not a companion or "sidecar," according to Aaron
Forth, Intuit's VP of personal finance. The free app will offer offline access to data it's downloaded, so you can see how far you are in the hole when you are, actually, in a hole. Forth says the new fullscreen graphics are both intuitive and "good for having a discussion around finances." If you take your iPad out into the world, it can use geolocation to help you automatically enter in merchant data when you create
cash transactions on the device (you don't need to enter in credit card transactions; they'll get
downloaded automatically). I got a brief demo of the app and agree with Forth that it's more intuitive and attractive than the Web-based service that made Mint popular. But Mint users like me are still waiting for the service to catch up to Intuit's other finance app, Quicken, in a few key features like investment tracking and bill payment. See also PageOnce, an interesting competitor to Mint that just launched a strong bill-pay feature
on its iPhone app. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
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Technology/
Mint.com's New iPad App Offers Better Engagement
LATEST
-- the core of the NoSQL movement -- has its roots in Weboriented technologies and consumer-facing companies such as Google and Yahoo, Eifrem says, Neo4j's roots come from the Alicia Eler (ReadWriteWeb) accounts in one simple UI. The enterprise. Specifically, it dates site was re-designed in 2008. Submitted at 10/26/2011 3:30:00 PM back a few years to a phone call Intuit bought the company in from Cisco. As Neo's CEO Personal finance manager 2009. relates to us, Cisco was in the Mint.com just released their longBecause Mint.com was originally process of building a master data awaited iPad app. It is now built for a Web-browsing management system -- a project available in the iOS App Store. experience, using it on the iPad that began with an Oracle rack The Mint iPad app offers a more has been less than optimal. It was five years earlier. "They were just engaging way to view your only a matter of time before Mint banging their heads on this one finances than the browser-based launched an iPad app, something problem, because their master service can. The app's home discussed at SXSW 2011. data management system had a lot screen lets users move through Tablet-users prefer to engage of complexity, and the joins were their finances at a glance; the with their devices in the evenings. charts module at the top shows e x p e n s e s , w h i c h c o m e s i n They read magazines, books and just killing them. For whatever graphs of spending overview, particularly handy if you prefer to newspapers, play games and reason, they had found us, spending over time and net pay in cash but still want to use w a t c h v i d e o s . O r g a n i z i n g downloaded Neo4j, and found a thousand times better income. The app takes advantage the app. personal finances using a slick, Mint.com was founded in 2006 easy-to-use interface like the Mint performance than what they had." of multi-touch gestures for navigation, prioritizing swipes as one of the first financial iPad app seems like a natural It was the start of a beautiful over a cumbersome "back" button. i n f o r m a t i o n s i t e s t h a t addition to these more leisurely There's also a search function that acknowledged a very simple idea: activities that iPad users tend to allows users to search transactions People would prefer to see a easy- do in the home. to-view dashboard of all their Image via tuaw.com. Discuss by merchant, categories or tags. financial accounts. Mint.com Sponsor The Mint iPad app also gives achieves all of that by aggregating users the opportunity to add checking, credit card, and loan
friendship. Now Cisco teams up with Neo Technologies in giving lectures to the open source development community on the flexibility and performance of graph databases. "This was pretty crazy for us. We're six guys in a garage in Malmo, Sweden," says one of those guys. "And we have this Fortune 50 company betting a mission-critical system on us. If this system goes down, they have to write invoices by hand. This, to me, was a huge indication that there's a lot of pain out there, and a lot of pain inside of the enterprise." Discuss
Couture Canvas Carriers - The Chanel Cabas Ete Brings a Touch of Summer to Colder Months (TrendHunter.com)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 11:57:02 AM
50 Awesome Upcycled Accessories From Stunning Soda Can Jewelry to Garbage Necklaces (TrendHunter.com)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 11:47:03 AM
( TrendHunter.com) Winter might be just around the corner, but that
doesn't mean a person can't hold onto the feeling of summer with the Chanel Cabas Ete bags. These couture canvas totes may remind fashionistas about hotter,...
( TrendHunter.com) One man's
trash is said to be another's treasure, and this couldn't be more true with all of the emerging artists tapping into the creation of upcycled accessories. From
necklaces to bracelets, from bags...
Technology/ TV/ Culture/
41
iPads, Angry Birds to Toyota's Touch Life travel to International will "mirror" your Space Station iPhone's display
Mel Martin (TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog) Matt Tinsley (TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 2:00:00 PM Submitted at 10/26/2011 1:30:00 PM
iPods and iPhones(in Airplane Mode? Spaceship mode?) have traveled to the International Space Station(ISS) via American and Russian launch vehicles. Now you can add the iPad to the list of iDevices that have left the planet. That's the word from Collect Space, which reports that 2 iPads will visit the ISS next month. NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries says the iPads will be used for entertainment purposes only, and that they will be the first tablet devices to fly in space. The space station is already stocked with laptops, but NASA is exploring the idea of using iPads on future space missions. Also on the manifest is an Angry Birds plush doll. It's part of a Russian tradition of hanging a toy from a string in the launch vehicle. About ten minutes after
One of the frustrating things about driving a car with an iPhone (or other smartphone) in tow is syncing its contents with the car's audio or navigation system. But liftoff, the bird will start to thanks to Toyota's new Toyota become weightless, indicating to Touch Life, that doesn't have to the space explorers that they have b e s o m u c h o f a p r o b l e m left the gravity of earth. anymore. There's no word on whether or According to Engadget, Toyota's not the iPads have the Angry new Touch Infotainment system Birds game installed, but it lets iPhone and iPod touch users wouldn't be a shock if they did. access a handful of apps directly iPads, Angry Birds to travel to f r o m t h e i r i D e v i c e . B y International Space Station d o w n l o a d i n g T o y o t a ' s originally appeared on TUAW - "application launcher," a free app The Unofficial Apple Weblog on from the App Store, users can Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:30:00 EST. access certain apps on the in-car Please see our terms for use of display, which mirrors iPhone's feeds. screen...in part. Only certain apps Source| Permalink| Email this| are compatible, including Garmin Comments StreetPilot and some Internet news and radio apps like
The Best Time Tracking App for iPhone [Iphone App Directory]
Adam Dachis (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 10:30:00 AM
AUPEO!, plus Stitcher, Facebook and Twitter. Touch Infotainment is exclusive to new new Toyota Verso-S, Yaris and Hilux cars. We don't know if will become available to the Avensis, Prius or Verso models or as an add-on to existing Toyota vehicles. Toyota's Touch Life will "mirror" your iPhone's display originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Source| Permalink| Email this| Comments
There are a surprisingly high number of time tracking apps for the iPhone, but most of them aren't that good. Our favorite from the mountain of options is HoursTracker, thanks to its versatile feature set, ease of use, and handy data export features. More
Showtime Renews 'Homeland' For Season 2

Chris Harnick (AOL TV)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 7:30:00 AM
Filed under: TV News Fictional terrorists beware! Claire Danes
will remain on your tail for another season. Showtime has renewed the political thriller for a second season. 'Homeland' stars Danes, Damian
Lewis and Mandy Patinkin and is
executive produced by '24' guru Brody (Lewis) has been turned by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa. Al Qaeda. Danes plays Carrie Mathison, a Permalink| Email this| Linking C I A o f f i c e r w h o b e c o m e s Blogs| Comments convinced rescued POW Nicholas
42
Technology/ Policy/ Culture/
TUAW TV Live at 5 PM EDT: The iPhone 4S review show

Steven Sande (TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 1:00:00 PM
Air Power: Lessons from Libya

(AEI.Org: Articles)
The iPhone 4S has been in the hands of this Apple fan for well over a week, and that's been enough time to get a good feel for the speed and abilities of the newest member of the iPhone family. Today on TUAW TV Live, I'll do some side-by-side comparisons with the iPhone 4, perform a comprehensive deep dive into Siri and answer your questions about the top-of-the-line iPhone. As usual, I'll be starting the show at 5 PM EDT (2 PM PDT / 10 PM BST) sharp, and we'll take a few minutes to chat before the demos start. To join in on the chat and watch the live streaming video, drop by TUAW about five minutes before the start time to learn how to participate. If can't join us live, subscribe to the video podcast and watch at your leisure in iTunes or your favorite podcatching app. Previous episodes are also available on the TUAW YouTube channel. The chat is now available on
IRC, too. Join us on server chat1.ustream.tv, chat room #tuaw -tv. TUAW TV Live at 5 PM EDT: The iPhone 4S review show originally appeared on TUAW The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Source| Permalink| Email this| Comments Whitson Gordon (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 10:00:00 AM
at least once, if not twice, this past summer. Nearly 8,000 allied strike sorties kept Gadhafi's forces With resources thinning and on the defensive, destroyed their China rising, the U.S. Air Force is command-and-control network, all the more vital--yet it's due for and eliminated much of their major budget cuts supply infrastructure. Much of the Moammar Gadhafi was killed direct air-combat activity was last week by Libyan rebel forces borne by the British and French on the ground, but his regime but, as then-Secretary of Defense would never have met its end if Robert Gates noted, without U.S. not for the Western air power that a i r - r e f u e l i n g t a n k e r s , a n d targeted his troops from the skies. intelligence, surveillance and As Washington considers slashing reconnaissance (ISR) assets, the $500 billion from the defense NATO missions would have been budget over the next decade, the severely hampered and largely lessons of Libya should give ineffective. pause to anyone whose plans will Considering the broad range of reduce the U.S. military's ability U.S. interests and commitments to control the air. The United around the globe, the capabilities States cannot fight in the future offered by the U.S. Air Force will with a hollow Air Force. remain essential national assets. Allied air power saved the As Mr. Gates argued shortly Libyan revolt from being crushed before leaving office, in the postSubmitted at 10/25/2011 11:00:00 PM
Iraq/Afghanistan future, the U.S. is more likely than not to be unable or unwilling to commit large numbers of ground forces to overseas campaigns. This article is available in full by subscription to the Wall Street Journal. The full text will be posted to AEI.org on Monday, October 31 Michael Auslin is a resident scholar at AEI Senior Airman Nathanael Callon/ US Air Force This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
How Do I Fix My Bricked Android Phone? [Video]

bricked my phone. Is there anything I can do? More well, but I've tried to flash a custom ROM and now I think I've Dear Lifehacker, Rooting my Android phone went
Policy/
43
Libyas Sexual Revolution - By Ellen Knickmeyer

ELLEN KNICKMEYER (Foreign Policy)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:32:38 PM
How the uprising turned young Libyan men from hopeless layabouts into marriageable heroes. BY ELLEN KNICKMEYER| OCTOBER 26, 2011 JANZOUR, Libya When it comes to love, Muammar alQaddafi's Libya was unlucky for unmarried 33-year-old truck driver Ahmed Nori Faqiar. His looks would have benefited if his parents could ever have sprung for a dentist. Lack of means forced him to live unhappily at his childhood home well into adulthood. Marriage, a home of his own, kids -- all are dreams that the wiry Libyan had long ago steeled himself to stop hoping for. "Before, I was not even daring to look at girls as wife material, because I knew I could not afford" to get married, say Faqiar now. These days, though, Faqiar wears the mismatched camouflage of Libya's rebels and a dashing bandana on his head, pirate-style. He carries a gun. He is a veteran of battles for Libyans' freedom from Qaddafi's regime -- and it's the women who are talking to him. "Girls around the area come up to
you and say, Thank you! You made us proud, you made us happy,'" Faqiar told me one night recently. He spoke on the sidelines of a camel and couscous feast that the people in this Tripoli
suburb threw for several thousand young rebels, after slaughtering 10 camels. From a specially raised dais, speakers praised the young rebel fighters late into the evening.
Hundreds of excited young women and girls in head scarves mingled near rifle-toting young men, a novelty in this conservative country that was overwhelming to members of both
genders in the crowd that night. "It's like a wedding!" Faqiar exclaimed, shaking his head in surprise. LIBYAS page 44
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LIBYAS
Relations between Libyan men and women -- deeply distorted by the eccentric Libyan leader's refusal to provide normal opportunities for Libya's young people -- have changed "100 percent" in the days since Qaddafi fell, the young rebel said. His comrades listening around him voiced agreement. "Thank God," Faqiar added. Nearby, young women -- a group of cousins and neighbors, clustered together, in long skirts and shirts and head coverings -said the same, and laughed about taking their pick of a husband from among the rebels when the war was done. Before the revolution, young men her age "were just lazing around in the streets, no future. I didn't care about them at all," said Esra'a el-Gadi, 20. "Now I look at them in a totally new light -- they stood up against Qaddafi. It's something." "We saw them as lost youth, unemployed," Rahana el-Gadi, 19, said of men of her generation. "Now we were surprised, so surprised to see what they're capable of," she added. "We dream of the day they come back, and we welcome them." Jokes passed by cell phone text messages across Libya confirm the newfound eligibility of the young civilians turned fighters. "Forget doctors and engineers: We want to marry a rebel," one of the widely circulated text messages goes. "Looking for a rebel to wed?" another SMS asks: "Press 'M' for a husband from
Misrata, 'B' for a husband from Benghazi..." But Libya is still a deeply observant Islamic country, and very few -- if any -- of those unacquainted young men and women were actually talking to each other during the night of rallying that followed the camel feast. Only once in my visit last month, in Tripoli's Martyrs Square, packed with celebrating crowds each night since Qaddafi's overthrow, did I see a tall, armed rebel and a young woman in headscarf with their cell phones out, exchanging numbers. The young male Libyan activist I was with watched as the rebel and young woman appeared to head out of the square together, a discreet 10 feet apart. "This has never happened before," my Libyan colleague said, shocked. But the budding of wartime romance means a lot more in Libya than merely giddiness at overthrowing a four-decade old dictatorship. With dictators falling in much of the Middle East and North Africa, Arab men and women in newly liberated nations hope to redress one of the most profound and damaging iniquities wrought by rulers like Qaddafi -- the lack of economic opportunity that stunted every aspect of the lives of the region's youth. The Arab region has the secondlargest percentage of young people in the world. Almost two out of every three Arabs are under 30, a level exceeded only in subSaharan Africa. And the Middle
East and North Africa boast both the highest youth unemployment and unemployment overall on the planet. Years ago, political scientists, including Diane Singerman, began using the term "waithood" to describe the crippled outlook for the young generations of the Arab world. Unable to find jobs, or jobs that paid a living wage, millions of young Arabs were fated to live unhappily at home, unable to afford marriage. And in conservative Islamic societies, marriage for many is the only launch there is into independence, dignity, and a life of one's own. In effect, for young Arabs of ordinary means, "If they're unemployed, they have no hope of becoming adult," Singerman, an associate professor at American University in Washington, D.C. told me earlier this year. Around the region, the average age of marriage has edged up -and not, for most, because millions of young Arab men and women were enjoying their single years. Young Libyans had it especially bad. Qaddafi didn't just fail to develop well-paying jobs for the young -- he destroyed jobs with erratic socialist schemes that warped Libya's economy. So much so, in fact, that the Libyan government officially estimated unemployment in recent years at 20 percent, twice that of the already high regional rate. As U.S. diplomats in Libya noted in a 2009 WikiLeaked cable that looked closely at the country's
high rate of waithood, that more than 60 percent of those Libyans lucky enough to have jobs worked for the state. Qaddafi, quixotically, had blocked wage increases in most of those jobs for decades. Most employed Libyans I spoke with said they made only a few hundred dollars each month. Despite Libya's vast oil wealth, gross domestic product per capita is less than $10,000. A single wedding can cost almost that much in Libya, young Libyan men told me. Marriage in Libya is particularly expensive, with days of celebration and gold-laden dowries expected. Housing is in short supply, but suitors are expected to line up an apartment before the wedding. The result was countless hardluck stories. On a 2007 visit, I met a Tripoli family of six educated brothers and sisters in their 20s and 30s -- all of whom, male and female, had already bought outfits for their future weddings, which none had any hope of actually affording. The stories of most Libyan young men I met, then and again this year, were variations on the same theme. "What he's saying, it's all of us," said the Libyan man in his 20s who translated for me as I talked to Faqiar, the rebel fighter, about his lack of prospects before the revolution. No one in Libya's regime seems to have bothered to have tracked precise figures. Libyan women have a perception that there is a shortage of marriageable young men, both because of the death
tolls of Qaddafi's military adventures in Chad and elsewhere and because of the lack of jobs. "If you tried to count the number of spinsters among us, you couldn't, you'd make mistakes -there are too many," said Rahana el-Gadi, the 19-year-old young woman at Janzour's rally for the young rebels. The unease over the lack of opportunity for marriage was reflected in the unexpected declaration last weekend, in a victory speech by the head of Libya's opposition national council, that the new Libya would reinstate polygamy, which Qaddafi had limited. But because, according to Islam, only those with the means to support all wives equally can take more than one, easing the way for polygamy would seem likely to make it worse for Libya's unmarried young men of modest means. So did all this frustration really have an impact on the course of the revolution in Libya? In 2009, an Economist article mentioned the Arab world's "waithood" problem but shrugged off any possible political impact. "Hardly the stuff of which political revolutions are generally made," the magazine wrote. Young Arabs, post-revolution, told me differently. In Janzour, I asked Faqiar how much his lack of hope for a normal life -- a job, marriage, a home, kids -- played into his decision to take up arms. "100 percent," he said, not LIBYAS page 47
Policy/
45
GOP Not Giving Obama Enough Credit on Libya

(AEI.Org: Articles)
Submitted at 10/25/2011 11:00:00 PM
By any objective standard, the Obama approach to Libya has been a huge success. Not a single American life was lost, the United States worked in concert with the Arab League and in partnership with our NATO allies, a hated and oppressive regime was toppled and a hated, oppressive and dangerous dictator was wiped out, at a price less than a thousandth of the cost of the Iraq War. It is a measure of the outrageous lengths the permanent campaign and our partisan polarization have gone that, according to Smart Politics at the Humphrey Institute of the University of Minnesota, only one Republican, Rep. Leonard Lance (N.J.), gave even a smidgen of credit to President Barack Obama in a press release or statement. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), to his credit, did give a gracious nod to the Obama administration (even if he gave more credit to others.) But the norm here was set in a cringe-worthy fashion by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who was all over the airwaves after Moammar Gadhafi's death praising the French and British-and not even mentioning our own military.
While most press statements by Republicans simply failed to acknowledge Obama or the administration, Rubio took the occasion to issue more harsh criticism of the president, claiming that if we had gone in earlier and harder, with massive unilateral American action via bombing, we could have toppled the regime, saved a lot of innocent lives and done more to ensure that the transition would lead in a good direction. Would that have ended the conflict earlier, and in a better and less bloody way? I would argue that it could have been a colossal mistake. Bombing by American forces alone would have caused a reflexive and harshly negative reaction by the entire Arab world-there goes the United States, killing Muslims again. It would have been an unfair reaction, but a lasting one nonetheless. That alone would have given some traction to Venezuelan President and Iranian toady Hugo Chvez in his support for Gadhafi and criticism of the United States (instead of the ridicule he received when he called the dead dictator a martyr). There is a good chance that American bombing would have caused plenty of collateral damage, building resentment
inside Libya, and probably with some American casualties. It is entirely possible, maybe even likely, that if we had stepped in alone, NATO would have stepped back--why risk lives and blowback if the Americans are going to take it all head on? It is also likely that if we had succeeded quickly in wiping out the Gadhafi regime, there would have been a massive power vacuum in the country, with no one able to step in with any sense of legitimacy, nor any tribal council or coalition to try to implement a reasonable transition. Libya, with no history of unity across its tribes and no record of democracy or legitimate government by self-rule, may well flounder and be the scene of a new dictator, a fundamentalist takeover or anarchy. But this has played out in a way that gives a great chance of success, at a lower cost to the United States, than anyone might have imagined. And it is clear that there is genuine gratitude to the United States for its role--one that was much more than a secondary one, that pushed and prodded NATO to do more, that used American military capacity where the rest of NATO is extremely weak and limited, and that used skillful diplomacy to achieve a highly
desirable end. In a functional political system, there would be bipartisan kudos for a president who has been tough enough to take on his own left while nailing Osama bin Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki, and who has found a new model for American leadership in a resource -constrained and hostile world that can help us navigate through difficult engagements such as the Arab Spring and emerge as a force for freedom and liberty without taking on our own collateral damage. It may not always work, and it may, as in Libya, take longer to unfold than we would like, but this should be the occasion for cooperation in the national interest, instead of ham-handed, partisan spite of the sort we have just seen from Rubio. As Libya now struggles in its transition to (we hope) a better form of government, along with Tunisia, Egypt and Iraq, and we navigate through the ongoing battles for change in Yemen and Bahrain among others, there is another critical point that cries out for bipartisan cooperation--the even more pressing need to double-down on our smart power weapons to keep these victories for freedom from becoming Pyrrhic ones.
The U.S. Institute of Peace has its resources on the ground in many of these countries, and the weapons of aid and diplomacy are powerful ones, appreciated far more by our military leaders, such as CIA Director David Petraeus, than by our politicians. We cannot let the drive for budget discipline, which continually focuses on the sliver of spending in discretionary domestic accounts to the exclusion of the big-ticket items, damage our fundamental national security. In that kind of climate, foreign aid and diplomacy will lose to more politically potent domestic categories of spending, unless liberals and conservatives alike realize the fearsome price we will pay down the road via mindless cuts now. Norman Ornstein is a resident scholar at AEI Pete Souza/White House This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
46
Policy/ Culture/
Housing Affordability: US Is the Envy of the Developed World

(AEI.Org: Articles)
In the early 1990s Congress, responding to pleas by community groups such as ACORN for Affordable markets are those loosened underwriting standards where the median house price is to make home ownership "more less than or equal to three times affordable", imposed affordable median income. The United States housing mandates on Fannie Mae as a whole is affordable with an and Freddie Mac. Their goal was average score of 3.0. As the to replace common sense credit nearby chart indicates, this places standards based on a reasonable the U.S. at the head of the amount of equity, a good credit affordability class among seven history, and adequate income. ranked countries, with the other Yet in 1989 nearly 90% of U.S. six ranging from moderately markets were already rated as u n a f f o r d a b l e t o s e v e r e l y affordable with only 4% rated as unaffordable. severely unaffordable. Not much Significantly, half of the 211 has changed as these four were housing markets in the U.S. are Honolulu, San Francisco, Los ranked as affordable, with another Angeles, and New York City. In 3 5 % r a n k e d a s m o d e r a t e l y 1992 the national home ownership unaffordable. For the other six rate was 64.4% and had changed countries, almost eighty percent little over the previous 30 years. of their 114 markets were ranked By 2005, after more than a as either seriously or severely decade of government affordable unaffordable. While the U.S. has housing policies that led to 15 severely unaffordable markets, hollowed out lending standards, they are concentrated in a few less than a third of markets were geographies, including Honolulu, rated affordable and 20 markets nine markets in California, and w e r e n o w r a t e d s e v e r e l y two in the Northeast, including u n a f f o r d a b l e . B y 2 0 1 1 t h e New York City. homeownership rate had slipped The U.S. high affordability back to 65.9% from a 2004 high ranking is noteworthy in at least of 69.2%. Subtract homeowners three respects: currently in foreclosure and the Government policy made things 2011 rate falls to 63%. Some worse: policy-a lower homeownership
Submitted at 10/25/2011 11:00:00 PM
rate, reduced affordability, and trillions wasted. No lessons learned: Second, federal housing policy has long been driven by an undue focus on using broad policy interventions to address narrow or geographically limited problems. We saw an example of that shortsightedness just last week when the Senate approved legislation to restore modest reductions to the loan limits applicable to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA. Except for the housing lobby, there is widespread agreement that reducing these limits is a key first step towards ending the government's chokehold on the now nationalized housing finance market. Yet sixty senators voted to raise the mortgage limit from $625,000 to $729,750 for homes that sell for about $1 million. Notwithstanding that these limits help relatively few potential homebuyers, they were initially a temporary measure, and were passed at a time when home prices were substantially higher. Is it reasonable to postpone reducing interventions that distort our markets in order to preserve federal benefits for buyers of million dollar homes? Yet there is good news:
Even though overall affordability today is lower than in 1989, homes in most areas of the country are affordable and that's before taking into account current low interest rates and the impact of rising rents. This means that once policies promoting permanent private job creation are put in place, the housing market is poised to respond. This worked for Ronald Reagan in the 1980s when his pro-growth policies helped spark a recovery from both 10% unemployment and, what was then, the biggest foreclosure crisis since the 1930-the result of the collapse of a regional housing bubble in the Oil Patch. The sooner this takes place, the sooner the Fed can end its price-setting policies for long term interest rates. Edward Pinto is a resident fellow at AEI This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
The 100-year-old marathoner snubbed by Guinness World Records

(Holy Kaw!)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:44:00 PM
Hearts were warmed around the world earlier this month when Britain's Fauja Singh, 100, became the oldest man ever to complete a full marathon. On Oct. 16, Singh finished the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in eight hours, 25 minutes, and 16 seconds. It was one for the record books, or so it seemed. Now, Guinness World Records is refusing to recognize Singh's feat because he can't produce his birth certificate from 1911. Full story at The Week. Photo: Josiah Mackenzie, CC 2011 All the top stories from The Week. Permalink| Leave a comment
Economy/ Culture/
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LIBYAS
smiling. Around the region this year -- in Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen -- many, though not all, young protesters and fighters told me the same. "All of them, they had nothing to lose. They saw their life wasting away," Israa Khalil, a 25-year-old woman in Tripoli, said of her male friends and relatives. "So they all went to fight." For years, Arab leaders and others treated the youth bulge and delayed marriage as "kind of like a funny thing," Singerman told me. The attitude was, "This is a cultural thing so we shouldn't pay attention to it. They're not laughing anymore." With the tyrant now out of the way, transitional leaders have pledged to raise the artificially low Qaddafi-era wages. Young Libyans -- whether fighters, activists, or onlookers -- say they have new hope of their lives
getting better as their country shakes off four decades of Qaddafi's weirdness and isolation. Already, Khalil and a group of young women in Tripoli told me, men and women have shed the Qaddafi-era notion of the other sex as representing dangerous, impossible entanglements, since all knew few suitors could afford marriage. In the "family" section of a Tripoli caf, Khalil told me a story of one evening in the revolution, in August. At sunset, with gunfire blasting around their homes, she and other women and girls burst out of their houses, sprinting with water and sandwiches to young fighters who had been observing the daytime fast of Ramadan. The women trilled their tongues as they ran, trying to lift the spirits of this unknown band of rebels on their way to a front. Moved, the fighters had tears in their eyes as
they accepted the food, Khalil said. Before, "there was a barrier," and Libya's hapless young men were to be pitied, Khalil said. "Now, he's the man who protected me," Khalil said. "Since the revolution I have the confidence to go up and tell them 'Thank you," and that in turn gives them confidence in themselves. And we know we were part of this. And they know we were part of this." This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Here's Why Everyone Should Ignore Yesterday's Awful Consumer Confidence Number
Sam Ro (Money Game)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:25:40 PM
Turn Your Desktop to the Dark Side with These Evil Wallpapers [Wallpaper Wednesday]
Adam Dachis (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 11:00:00 AM
It's Evil Week, so it's time adorn your desktop with some darkly sinister images. We created a few evil wallpapers for you, and dug
up some of the best on the web. Check 'em out! More
Yesterday's consumer confidence reading missed expectations by a wide margin. The headline number of came in at 39.8 versus the expectation for 46. However, in a note to clients today, Deutsche Bank thinks you shouldn't worry too much about it because consumers' actual spending activity has been telling a totally different story. From the note: The recent further decline in consumer confidence was unwelcome economic news. (October confidence fell to a postrecession low of 39.8 from 46.4 previously.) However, we are inclined to marginalize the importance of the confidence news, because there has been a break between what consumers are saying and what they are doing over the past few months. Over broad periods of time, consumer confidence is a useful forecasting tool of consumer spending. The correlation between the two series is approximately 75% over the last 25 years. However, there have been notable occasions in which a sharp break has occurred between confidence and spending, specifically the periods shortly after the recessions of 1990-91 and 2001... A similar divergence appears to
be occurring at present: confidence has declined by 26 points over the past six months, but consumer spending has continued to expand at a decent pace. Retail sales were up 7.9% year-on-year in September, and unit motor vehicle sales are running at the fastest pace since April, when the Japan earthquake disrupted supplies. We would become more concerned about the level of confidence if there was evidence of a consumer retrenchment, but the latest weekly retail data suggest this is not the case. Two key metrics of same store sales reported gains of +2.4% and +4.1% in the latest week (compared to year-ago levels), and this is consistent with further forward momentum for consumers. In short, the divergence between attitudes and spending continues. Please follow Money Game on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story See Also: HORRIBLE MISS In Consumer Confidence REVEALED: The Real Reason The Stock Market Has Had Such A Huge Rally FedEx's Busiest Day Of The Year Will Be 9% Busier Than Last Year's
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Economy/
Talks Suspended in Deadlock; German Parliament Approves "Blank Check" on EFSF Leverage; Belgian PM Seeks Firepower Exceeding One Trillion Euros
noreply@blogger.com (Michael Shedlock) (Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis)
second Greek rescue package are deadlocked and have been suspended, an EU official said. The EU is seeking voluntary Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:07:00 PM Today the German Parliament participation by banks, though a approved the use of leverage forced solution cant be ruled out, without specifying an amount, the official said in Brussels today thereby giving Chancellor Merkel o n c o n d i t i o n o f a n o n y m i t y an effective "blank check" on the because the talks are private. amount. While policy makers and bankers In a nonbinding (on the ECB) are converging on a 50 percent resolution, the parliament seeks to writedown for Greeces lenders, h a l t E C B s o v e r e i g n b o n d the disagreement centered on the purchases. Unfortunately, the specifics of the transaction. The issue will be up to the ECB to dispute focused on how much of decide, not Germany. the risk of newly issued Greek Given Italy has the ECB deck bonds should be insured, the stacked, I would expect the official said. purchases to continue in clear The Institute of International violation of the Maastricht Treaty. Finance, which lobbies on behalf Otherwise, the main news is talks of 450 financial firms, yesterday are deadlocked with open issues proposed investors make a larger regarding the size of the haircuts, writedown than the 40 percent the whether or not the haircuts are group offered last week, said two voluntary, the amount of EFSF people with knowledge of the leverage, the size and timing of talks. The European Union is bank recapitalization efforts, and calling on investors to forfeit as how much of the new Greek much as 60 percent, a person bonds will be insured. familiar with the talks said last That's a lot of open issues. week. Talks Suspended Following To safeguard banks finances, EU Deadlock leaders will set a deadline of June Bloomberg reports EU Talks 30, 2012, for banks to have core With Banks on Greece Said capital reserves of 9 percent after Deadlocked writing down their holdings of European Union talks with banks sovereign debt, according to a on bondholder losses as part of a draft statement prepared for the
summit. The reserves must be of the highest quality, according to the document obtained by Bloomberg News. Lenders are expected first to tap private sources to make up any capital shortfall and should be subject to constraints regarding the distribution of dividends and bonus payments until the target has been attained. The document doesnt give an estimate of total capital EU banks must raise to comply with the rule. Germanys Parliament Approves EFSF Leverage ForexLive reports Germanys Lower House Of Parl Approves EFSF Leverage Models Germanys lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, on Wednesday approved with a large majority the broad outlines agreed to at the EMU leaders summit last weekend to enlarge the capacity of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) without extending the guarantees underpinning the E440 billion fund. Of the 596 parliamentarians present, 503 voted for the motion, 89 against it and four abstained. In the motion, the Bundestag states that after the EFSFs capacity has been enlarged there is no necessity for the ECB to
continue the secondary market program (SMP) of bond purchases. On Tuesday, Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Germany does not agree with a paragraph in the draft communique for todays European summit that says the ECB is to continue its nonstandard measures. Germany does not accept this sentence, Merkel told reporters. We are negotiating at the moment to get a statement from the European Central Bank on what it plans to do and then we will take a position on that. The Chancellor stressed that Germany wants to see in the wording [of the communique] much more clearly what the European Central Bank wants to doin order to prevent the misunderstanding that politics are expecting something of the ECB. Leverage Approved, Amount Open Note the open issues in just those few paragraphs. There is no agreement on the amount of leverage, the method of leverage (the SIV model vs. the Insurance Model), or what the role of the ECB will be going forward. It was the "blank check" provision that had the market giddy at the open, even though the
greater the leverage, the quicker this mess is going to blow sky high. Belgian PM Seeks Firepower Exceeding 1 Trillion Euros Yahoo! Finance reports Belgian premier: bailout fund needs more than euro1bn The prime minister of Belgium says the eurozone's bailout fund should have a firepower of more than euro1 trillion ($1.4 trillion) to prevent the currency union's debt crisis from spreading. Yves Leterme said Tuesday "I think that effectively, it has to be able to intervene a good deal beyond euro1 trillion." He was heading into a crucial emergency summit of European leaders in Brussels. At the summit, the leaders will seek to set up a complicated scheme to give the euro440 billion bailout fund more leverage, reduce Greece's massive debt and strengthen banks across the continent. Throwing Money with Leverage Never Solves Problems Throwing money around with leverage has never in history permanently solved any problems but that does not stop Monetarist and Keynesian clown fools from TALKS page 50
Economy/
49
Holiday Price Wars Begin Because "Price Matters"

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Shedlock) (Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:03:00 AM
In yet another indication of a weak holiday shopping season, stores aim to outdo each other as shoppers focus on getting the best deals. This shopping season is shaping up into two key words " Price Matters" A week before Halloween and two full months before Christmas, stores are desperately trying to outdo each other in hopes of drawing in customers worn down by the economy. Wal-Mart, the biggest store in the nation, joined the price wars Monday by announcing that it would give gift cards to shoppers if they buy something there and find it somewhere else cheaper. Staples and Bed Bath & Beyond have already said they will match the lowest prices of Amazon.com and other big Internet retailers. Sears is going a step further, offering to beat a competitor's
best price by 10 percent. In a recent poll of 1,000 shoppers by America's Research Group, 78 percent said they were more driven by sales than they were a year ago. During the financial meltdown in 2008, that figure was only 68 percent. Duncan MacNaughton, chief merchandising officer for WalMart's U.S. stores, told reporters Monday that he has noticed "much more promotional intensity and gimmicks" among competitors. The holiday price wars mark an acceleration of a trend that has already swept the retail industry. Lowe's, the nation's No. 2 home improvement store, said in August it was starting to focus on everyday low prices for items that customers can easily comparisonshop at rivals like Home Depot and Sears. 64 percent of shoppers polled said that it would take discounts between 30 percent to 50 percent to get them to spend, up from 54 percent last year, according to a
recent Citi Investment Research & Analysis survey of a little more than 1,000 customers. Customers looking for 60 percent off as a big motivator to spend increased to 10 percent from 8 percent last year, the survey showed. "The reality is consumers are targeted. They're well informed, and they've searched the Internet for price information," said Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak, which expects foot traffic to drop 2.2 percent during the holiday season compared with a year ago. It is extremely rare to see shopping estimates lower than last year. That does not mean lower traffic and lower sales are written in stone, but that is the way consumer sentiment numbers and shipping stats are shaping up. For details, please see ... Unprecedented Drop in Port Traffic: A Sobering Omen for Holiday Sales or Should we Listen to Analysts? More Alarming Shipping News
and Charts: Railfax Railroad, Ceridian Trucking, HarperPetersen Shipping; Reader Anecdotes Even if spending does not drop, expect profits to drop on reduced markups and increased discounts. Mike "Mish" Shedlock h t t p : / / globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot. com Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http:// www.sitkapacific.com/ account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.
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Economy/ Culture/ News Photos
TALKS
trying. Regardless, talks are so contentious now over resolution of all these issues they have been suspended. Bear in mind, these are easy issues compared to treaty changes that would allow ECB printing, eurobonds, fiscal unity, etc. Whatever agreement is worked out (or forced upon Germany) is sure to cause serious resentment starting immediately. Moreover, the next set of meetings down the road on treaty changes (or still more leverage after this is quickly used up), will make this suspended meeting look like a birthday party in comparison. Mike "Mish" Shedlock h t t p : / / globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot. com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http:// www.sitkapacific.com/ account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.
LIVE COVERAGE: Europe Tries To Save Itself At Huge Summit

Simone Foxman (Money Game)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 1:05:00 PM
Photos: Atlanta police arrest Occupy Wall Street protesters Denver Post
(news photos - Google News)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:47:43 PM
Click here for more details on that schedule. But we'll be hearing lots of news EU leaders are meeting today at a about a new plan all day. Follow highly anticipated summit to it here by refreshing. discuss important changes to their Please follow Money Game on July agreement to expand the Twitter and Facebook. European Financial Stability Join the conversation about this Facility and bail out Greece. story Expectations are really negative See Also: for the summit, with rumors UK Confirms Fin Mins Won't circulating that few numbers will M e e t T o m o r r o w : R E A L L Y actually be released on the S o u n d s L i k e N o E u r o z o n e amended plan. However, we still R e s o l u t i o n W e d n e s d a y think some important progress This Is The Progress We Can will come from this meeting. Expect From The Big EU Summit The European Council leaders Today of all 27 EU states will meet at Here's Where We Stand Right 12 PM EST in Brussels. That will Now On The Europe Crisis be followed by a meeting of eurozone leaders at 1:15 PM.
Photos: Atlanta police arrest Occupy Wall Street protesters Denver Post (AP Photo/David Goldman) A protestor of the Occupy Atlanta demonstration is arrested after refusing to leave after Mayor Kasim Reed revoked his executive order allowing the protestors to camp out in Woodruff Park early Wednesday, Oct. 26,... and more
Jessica Alba Has a Day at the Park With Her Mother and Daughters
Lindsay Miller (PopSugar)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 10:14:05 AM
Jessica Alba kept a watchful eye on her daughter Honor Warren yesterday at a park in NYC while she fed her baby Haven Warren a bottle. The mother of two took her kids to a playground in the West
Village and the Alba-Warren girls were joined by Jessica's own mom, Catherine, for their day out. Catherine and Jessica traded off holding Haven for a bit so Jessica could play with Honor on the swing set, and Catherine doted on her new granddaughter, who was Alba-Warren family has been on cozied up in a pink beanie. The the East Coast for more than a
week. Jessica and Cash Warren dressed up for a night at a fundraising event hosted by Ralph Lauren, but for the most part, the parents have been focusing on their two kids with trips to the park and outings around town. Before heading to NYC, the foursome also took a chance to
get into the Halloween spirit a bit early, visiting the pumpkin patch in LA. Honor even wore a princess costume for the visit! View Slideshow
Economy/ Culture/ Food/
51
You Won't Believe This, But There's Another Report About China Saving Europe And Markets Are Rallying
Joe Weisenthal (Money Game)
Simon Spurr Spring 2012

Simon Spurr (AskMen Latest Articles)
Summit> Please follow Money Game on Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:43:00 PM Twitter and Facebook. Take 45329805923.... Join the conversation about this There's an AFP headline floating story around about China investing in See Also: the European Financial Stability CHART OF THE DAY: China Fund, and markets are rallying. Catches Up To The US In One Of course, we've heard this a Embarrassing Way million times. Goldman's Jim O'Neill On The And already this morning there True State Of The Chinese And was a a report about the EFSF US Economies chief going to China to pay a visit. Here Are The People Who But still, people like this news. Could Ruin China For China Dow up 97. LIVE COVERAGE: Europe Tries To Save Itself At Huge
Online Features November 2011

Submitted at 10/26/2011 3:00:00 AM
Meet our Superfast Fan of the Month Meet our Superfast Fan of the Month winners and take the challenge: Prepare any Superfast dish and share how your family l i k e d it, what tweaks you made, your quick tips, and pictures of the finished dish. more This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it
on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Click here to follow AskMen Fashion on Twitter. Take a look at the author of this article. Yes, that is the Simon Spurr. The man knows his trade and has risen to the top of his game through hard work, patience and passion. Here, he answers your style questions and talks to us about his Spring 2012 collection. In a fashion quandary? Send your question to fashion@askmen.com. Sachin Bhola Fashion Editor, AskMen Fashion Q&A With Simon Spurr Fall Suiting Hi Simon, I've been transitioning out my summer suiting (seersucker, linen, boat shoes), but am now left with the basics: a black and navy-blue suit. I'm looking to add some pieces to my work wardrobe for fall. What pieces, colors and patterns do you suggest? Thank you, Joshua L. Flannel (my preference being a mid-gray) is an easy option for fall. It has the versatility to be worn as a suit and broken apart with jeans. Maybe also try a black peak-lapel tuxedo jacket. As we near the Christmas season, you'll have a few functions that you'll most likely want to look sharp for, without looking too dressed. A tuxedo jacket and black jeans
should suffice. I'd also recommend a black peacoat and a good pair of tightly fitting black driving gloves. Combat Boots Hi Simon, I just bought my first pair of black leather combat boots, which I plan on wearing with jeans. But is it OK to wear them with a suit? How should I wear them? Thank you, Liam D. Combat boots are also very versatile. It's OK to wear them with a suit as long as they are black like yours and are worn in a more casual environment (probably not to the office). But note that the styling of the boot is important: too open, and the look is sloppy. Worn closed or slightly open is better. Custom-Made Shirts Online Hello Simon, My wife came across a website that produces custom-made shirts at a
reasonable price, and she's pushing me to try it. I'm not sure how I feel. Will it fit? What's the quality like? I don't want to deal with returns. What's your general opinion on these types of services? Thanks, Dough G. I've actually never used these websites. I'm sure they are good, but I'd maybe suggest to make one shirt first before you order your next paycheck's worth. Test them out. See how they deliver, how the shirt performs and then go back for more. I personally like to shop in person so I can feel the product. That said, if you are already familiar with a brand, buying online is fast, convenient and probably the way forward.A closer look at Simon Spurr's Spring 2012 collection, next... Continue Reading
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Culture/
Bummer: Feds Stonewall Pot Treatments For Traumatized Vets

Katie Drummond (Wired Top Stories)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 11:30:00 AM
An Arizona psychiatrist is tantalizingly close to federal approval for a groundbreaking study of marijuanas potency in treating PTSD if only the National Institute on Drug Abuse would stop stonewalling her. Dr. Sue Sisley, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and a psychiatrist whose practice treats mostly war veterans, wants to add evidencebased science to the ubiquitous anecdotal reports, not to mention animal research, that point to marijuanas effectiveness at quelling symptoms of posttraumatic stress. Although plenty of vets smoke up, medical marijuana can only be prescribed to PTSD sufferers living in New Mexico where 27 percent of those with an approved ID card suffer from PTSD, making it the states number one qualifying diagnosis and nary a study has evaluated whether the illicit drug actually works. Plenty of the veterans Ive treated use marijuana, only they usually buy it illegally and use it covertly, Sisley told Danger Room. With research, we can actually figure out which
symptoms it might page 53 and BUMMER: help with,
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BUMMER:
what an optimal dosing strategy might look like. With PTSD afflicting as many as 37 percent of this generations Iraq and Afghanistan vets, and no fail-proof treatment available, the Pentagons already turned an eye to unconventional research. Military docs look into everything from brain rebooting to neck injections. But theyve yet to offer anybody a joint, and Sisleys efforts are now at a standstill: After months of back-and-forth, federal regulators just wont give her proposal the green light. At this point, I cant help but think they simply dont want to move forward, she said. Maybe they figure if they stall long enough, well give up and go away. Sisleys study would be tripleblind and placebo-controlled, meaning none of the researchers or veterans would know whos getting high and who isnt. She plans to evaluate 50 veterans, all of whom would spend 30 days marijuana-free before participation. For two two-month stretches, theyd be asked to either smoke or vaporize a maximum of 1.8 grams a day, and would be given weekly supplies of various strains of marijuana with THC levels ranging from 0 percent to 12 percent. Of course, Sisley acknowledges that its a study with potential for abuse. (Cheech and Chong marathon, anyone?) Thats why participants will be given small supplies of the drug, asked to
videotape each smoking session and return any leftover weed. If we get a chance to do this, were not taking liberties, she said. This is a carefully controlled, rigorous scientific study. Were not sitting around trying to get these vets high. And already, Sisley and her sponsor, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) a non-profit that advocates for medical research of banned substances, and is currently sponsoring a study on ecstasy as a PTSD treatment have made significant progress in getting the study approved. Earlier this year, the FDA okayed their research proposal, after which it was sent to a panel of five reviewers at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Public Health Service (PHS). Marijuana is the only controlled substance whose use in research needs to be approved by the NIDA. The federal agency has a monopoly on supplies of research weed, so aspiring investigators need the NIDAs approval before they can legally buy the stuff. But after four months of evaluation, the panelists in September rejected the proposal, citing, among other factors, Sisleys lack of experience in treating veterans with PTSD and concerns over patients using such a substance associated with a number of safety issues outside a medical facility. And in order to move forward
with funding, the panelists need to reach unanimous approval. But theyre all over the map when it comes to Sisleys study. In the rejection document, one panelist noted that researchers should only perform the study in marijuana naive subjects. Another advised using an experienced population. All that incoherence makes Rick Doblin, the executive director of MAPS, fear for Sisleys proposal. Theyre making absolutely contradictory statements, he told Danger Room. Not to mention that were asking for marijuana from an agency designed to prevent people from using marijuana. Theres something fundamental that just doesnt work here. NIDA didnt respond to requests for comment. But a spokesperson helpfully informed the Washington Post that the production and distribution of marijuana for clinical research is carefully restricted under a number of federal laws and international commitments. Sisley might not have the health officials on her side, but she is catching the eye of some Veterans Affairs staff members. Several have offered to (quietly) refer patients for the study, and two VA doctors in Phoenix Dr. Deb Gilman and Dr. Lauren Lee, both with significant experience treating PTSD have signed on as co-investigators to help Sisleys proposal pass NIDA muster.
The doctors I know think this war on marijuana is awful, and theyre tired of being in the middle of it, Sisley said. They just want to do real research, or read real research, and not operate around all of these agendas. As Sisley prepares to tweak and re-submit her proposal, Doblin and MAPS are busy trying to break up NIDAs marijuana monopoly. Theyre stuck in an ongoing lawsuit with the DEA, after the agency in 2001 rejected MAPS proposal to build their own medical-marijuana growing facility. And potential study participants Sisley has heard from hundreds of interested vets might be wise to hope the MAPS lawsuit works out before the study is okayed. Turns out, NIDAs pot kinda sucks anyway. At one point, years and years ago, they were selling it to researchers for $7 a gram, which is not a bad price, Doblin said. But really, its terrible quality. Photo: Noah Shachtman This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Taxing America's largest corporations [infographic]

(Holy Kaw!)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:25:00 PM
Taxes. If the word makes you wince, youre not alone even Americas biggest corporations have to pay them. Still, some corporations (like ConocoPhillips) pay a whopping 42% effective tax rate, while others (like GE) pay a rate in the single digits. Click on the infographic above to expand it and learn whos paying what. (Click on the infographic below to learn more.) Via Mint.com Like infographics? So do we. Permalink| Leave a comment
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Culture/
Space Junk Crisis: Time to Bring in the Lasers

Adam Mann (Wired Top Stories)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:38:00 PM
Several hundred thousand pieces of waste, commonly known as space junk, litter low-Earth orbit, potentially causing hazardous conditions for rockets and satellites. A group of scientists would like to shoot this junk from the ground with high-powered laser pulses. The heat from the laser blasts would vaporize a minuscule part of a piece of space junk, resulting in a plasma jet that could slow the object down enough to bring it out of Earth orbit. Youre essentially creating a laser-powered rocket, using the object to be its own fuel, said engineer Claude Phipps of the company Photonic Associates, LLC, who co-authored the laserremoval paper, published Oct. 17 on arxiv. Space junk, which ranges from tiny paint flecks to bulky decommissioned satellites and spent rocket stages, is reaching a tipping point. After decades of assuming that low-Earth orbit could handle almost unlimited waste, space agencies have recently realized that the current density of space junk is high enough for collisions to start becoming inevitable, with each
crash potentially creating hundreds of new objects to worry about. This scenario, originally posited by astrophysicist Donald Kessler back in 1978, means that spacecraft entering low-Earth orbit would have to fear running
into space junk that could puncture their hulls. Two years ago, a communications satellite crashed into a defunct Russian spacecraft in the first major sat-on -sat collision. And earlier this year, the crew aboard the International Space Station was
forced to take shelter in the Soyuz escape craft when a bit of space junk wandered precariously close. NASA has considered many proposals for cleaning up space, including mesh nets strung between inflatable booms or unmanned collecting barges that
would fly around picking up trash. They have even previously contemplated a ground-based laser removal system: a mediumpowered laser that would use the small momentum imparted by SPACE page 57
Culture/ TV/
55
Street Style For Men

Miriam Brown (AskMen Latest Articles)
TheArches/ Flickr" /> Editor's Note: Like many malecentric publications, we place much emphasis on fashion and looking better. In a recent article we published, which featured Andre Benjamin as the lead image, we discovered a commenter whose views on (heterosexual) men and the epidemic of street-style blogs caught our attention. They're grabbing mostly because it's a perspective that's often overlooked: a woman's. Miriam Brown is the creator of Thirtythoughts, and here, she elaborates on what she thinks men should look like. Do you agree? Share your thoughts with us at fashion@askmem.com or in the comments field below.- Sachin Bhola Fashion Editor Whoever coined the phrase "be careful what you wish for because you just might get it" was wise beyond their years. For so long, women have been complaining about their mans frumpy, unimaginative style, but little did we know that our demands for competency in assembling an outfit would bring about such a drastic and undesirable result. Guys, all we really ask is that you match, avoid skinny jeans and wear clothes that fit. Further, creativity, as evidenced by the men in blogs like The Sartorialist and Street
lightly. Frankly, I found most of the clothing, in the manner it was assembled, to be loud and offputting. The Sartorialist is no better, as the founder, Scott Schuman (who is actually dressed quite smartly in his bio picture), dares to call paisley pants and striped pants paired with patterned scarves fashionable, suggesting an appropriate way to present oneself. But to whom? The fairer sex?While theres nothing wrong with making a statement with your clothing and showcasing Etiquette, could have you kicking Traipsing around in these overly your own personal style, I would rocks after the first date -- if you exuberant colors and jewelry not encourage men to emulate the even get that far.Fashion, to the would definitely scare the average looks displayed in these blogs, or average Joe, has never consisted woman away, and maybe that's to accept every look shown on of anything more than jeans and a your intent. However, men who celebrity fashionistas like Pharrell T-shirt. If he is required to dress are looking to attract women and Kanye West. This style of up for work or play, slacks and a s h o u l d t a k e t h e w a r d r o b e dress is great for a fashion spread button-down shirt will do just suggestions from said blogs and (well, maybe not the paisley fine. If he's really in touch with media outlets with a grain of pants) and can even be pulled off his style, he might even sport a salt.Fortunately, it seems that this by performers and entertainers (I tailored suit, but only on special phenomenon has been confined don't even think Prince could pull occasions. Fashion has never primarily to the East Coast. off paisley), but much like runway really been a widely held interest Hopefully, it stays there. As a fashions for women, heterosexual among heterosexual men -- until West Coast girl, I can't say that men would look ridiculous if they now. Assuming the pioneers of men dressing in this manner actually wore this stuff in public. I this fashion-conscious era, like would do well for the dating scene appreciate the effort, but floralAndre Benjamin and the editors at here -- it's already in dire straits. print shirts and pants for guys is a Details, are in fact heterosexual, Street Etiquette, a fashion-focused turnoff. If I'm rushing out of the it's safe to say that a phenomenon blog created by native New house one day, and it's possible has been born. What a girl wants I Yorkers Travis Gumbs and Joshua that, in haste, I might grab one of can't say that I am pleased with or Kissi, was recently featured in a your shirts instead of mine, we excited about this phenomenon, as New York Times article titled definitely have a problem.What this flamboyant garb takes away Pushing the Boundaries of Black do women really want to see you f r o m t h e r u g g e d n e s s a n d Style, and, I must say, they're in? That's next... simplicity that makes men, well, pushing it all right. Enter the Continue Reading men. Women do appreciate a man bloggers In the article, their style who can dress himself properly, is described as prep with a but let's not get carried away. twist, but I think that's putting it
NBC's Ratings Decline Explained via Taiwanese Animation (VIDEO)

Chris Harnick (AOL TV)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 8:00:00 AM
Filed under: TV News NBC, the fourth place broadcast network, hasn't had a lot of luck this TV season. No new series has been a ratings hit and old favorites are starting to lose viewers. How did the network go from being on top to the the bottom of the heap? That's the subject of the latest Next Media Animation video. Done in the typical overthe-top Taiwanese animation style, the video features Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Cosby-esque characters and even has a Playboy bunny kneeling before an executioner. Check it out below. Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs| Comments
56
Culture/ Sports/
Discover What's New in CSS 4

Scott Gilbertson (Wired Top Stories)
CSS 4 includes a means of controlling which element in the selection chain is actually being Submitted at 10/26/2011 11:07:00 AM styled. The easiest way to CSS 3 is still slowly making its understand the subject selector way onto the web, but the World is by example. Say you want to Wide Web Consortium (W3C), style a list ( ul), but only when the the governing body that oversees user has clicked on an item in the t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f w e b list. You add a class clicked to standards, is already plotting the the item ( ul li.clicked) when the future of CSS with CSS 4. The user clicks on it, but how do you W3C recently released the first style the whole list from that draft of CSS 4 adding dozens of class? n e w r u l e s t o m a k e w e b With the subject selector its developers lives easier. simple:$ul li.clicked { The CSS 4 spec is brand new and b a c k g r o u n d : w h i t e ; } no web browser actually supports The $ means that the rule is any of these rules yet, but if applied to the ul, rather than the youre curious what the next few li.clicked as it normally would. years will mean for CSS, the first The dollar sign may not end up draft offers a sneak peek at whats being the subject indicator and the in store for web developers. exact syntax will likely change The biggest news in the current before the spec is finalized. But draft of CSS 4 is support for the regardless of the way it ends up m u c h - r e q u e s t e d p a r e n t o r being implemented, the subject subject selector. In CSS rules selector opens up a whole new are typically applied to the realm of CSS possibilities. innermost selected element. That Other highlights in CSS 4 include is, given the chain body header some new pseudo selectors like h1, the actual CSS rule will be the:matches() pseudo-class which applied to the h1 element at the greatly simplifies the process of end of the chain. CSS 3 offers no writing complex, nested CSS. For way to, say, style the header tag e x a m p l e you could but only if it has an h1 child write::matches(section, article, element. CSS 4 changes that. aside, nav) h1 { font-size: 3em; }
/some/post/, a:local-link(0) would match anything point to http:// www.mysite.com/, a:local-link(1) would match anything pointing to http://www.mysite.com/some/ and so on. CSS 4 offers some handy pseudoclasses for styling user interface elements based on state, including:enabled,:disabled,:chec ked and half a dozen others. For more info on whats coming in CSS 4, check out the W3C The:matches() syntax eliminates spec(fear not, its surprisingly the need to write out section h1, readable as specs go). Also worth article h1 and so on. Its handy for a read is W3C WG member David even simple nestings like the Storeys blog where he did a nice example above, but it becomes write up on CSS 4, including a really powerful when youre few things not covered here, like selecting elements that are two or the awesome-sounding timethree levels deep. For more info dimensional pseudo-classes. on:matches(), check out our [CSS pumpkin by mauricesvay/ earlier write up on Mozillas:any() CC/Flickr] selector, which is the basis See Also: for:matches(). This entry passed through the Also new in CSS 4 is the:local- Full-Text RSS service if this is link pseudo-class which allows your content and you're reading it you to style links based on on someone else's site, please read domain. For example you could the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentstyle all internal links with a only/faq.php#publishers. Five simple selector like a:local- Filters recommends: Donate to link(0). The number refers to the Wikileaks. amount of the local URL path to match. For example, if the current address is http://www.mysite.com
Brandon Marshalls PSA on Borderline Personality Disorder

MJD (Y! Sports Blogs - Yahoo! Sports)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 11:05:23 AM
Continuing today's theme of " Videos from people in need of therapy", here's Brandon Marshall's public service announcement for Borderline Personality Disorder. You can say what you want about Brandon Marshall, and he has been known for some irregular behavior, but the way he's stepped up as an advocate for those with BPD is nothing but admirable. He's vowed to be the "face" of the disorder, has been very forthcoming with his personal battles with it, and spoke to students at Harvard on Monday night about it. It can't be easy to display such vulnerability so publicly, especially in Marshall's profession, where toughness (the real kind, or the imagined kind) is valued so highly. Gracias, Sweater Punch.
Culture/ Daily World/
57
SPACE
photons to nudge an object out of orbit. But such an approach would be mostly limited to lighter objects, leaving behind the most hazardous material, said Kessler, who is NASAs former Senior Scientist for Orbital Debris Research. More powerful lasers, with roughly 150 kilowatts of power, should be capable of adjusting the orbit of almost any size object. The smallest debris (less than 3 feet in size) would burn up in the Earths atmosphere after being slowed down and falling out of orbit, while larger pieces might need to be aimed properly to land in the Pacific Ocean. Using ground-based lasers eliminates the need to launch a vehicle into space, which could cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Phipps team estimates that removing a small object would cost a few thousand dollars and large objects would be about $1 million. Still, the technique requires caution, said Kessler. If youre not careful, you might hit the wrong part of a satellite or could vaporize enough to cause it to explode, he said.
Phipps is confident that a dedicated 10-meter telescope could be built with the necessary capabilities to track space junk and properly calculate where and how to hit it. All of the technology needed for such a facility, including a large enough mirror and powerful enough laser, currently exists or is under development. Perhaps the main criticism of such a project would come from the international community, which might fear that a powerful enough laser could be used for military purposes such as hitting enemy satellites. Because of such political complications, NASAs official line is that any laser proposal is dead on arrival, said Kessler. But Phipps, who has advocated for the ground-based laser solution since 1996, thinks that the junk-tracking facility would have to be part of an international effort. Roughly half of space debris comes from either Russia or the U.S., so they should be natural partners in addressing this issue, he said. Other countries interested in space launches could also get involved.
If we get the right international cooperation, no one would believe the laser to be a weapon in sheeps clothing, he said. Image: E. Victor George, Centech Corporation, Carlsbad CA See Also: Lost in Space: 8 Weird Pieces of Space Junk Space-Junk Scare Sends ISS Crew Scrambling The Looming Space Junk Crisis: Its Time to Take Out the Trash Shuttle Dodges Space Junk Risk How to Track Space Junk Online This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
A Shirtless Henry Cavill Shows Off His Abs of Steel as Superman

Lindsay Miller (PopSugar)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 9:42:55 AM
Henry Cavill showed off a buff physique as he went shirtless on the set of Man of Steel in Vancouver yesterday. Henry plays the new Superman in the reboot of the classic franchise and has bulked up considerably for the role. Yesterday, he joined a group of extras to film in front of a green screen for an apparent rescue sequence. Production on the film moved to Canada after a stint in Illinois late this Summer, during which Henry was spotted on the set in Superman's famous suit. He looked considerably scruffier during yesterday's sweaty shoot, however, in ripped cargo pants and combat boots. Henry might be focusing on this
film for now, but he will take a break from the project to promote another of his action movies, Immortals, early next month. Henry stars opposite Freida Pinto in the ancient-Greece epic and both of them are expected in LA for the movie's big premiere on Nov. 7. View Slideshow
Psalm 93:5 (10-26-11)

(Verse of the Day)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 2:00:00 AM
Your statutes stand firm; holiness adorns your house for endless days, O LORD. Psalm 93:5(NIV) Thoughts on
Today's Verse... So many of the material things we pursue are temporary. Their usefulness lasts only a matter of months or at most a few short years. Even our lives, and the lives of those we love, are short. But God's character, his
defining quality ("Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty!"), and his demands for our holiness are forever. So as we build our lives, let's build on a secure foundation -- the will of God and a commitment to share in his
holiness. My Prayer... Holy God, I thank you for making me holy and forgiving my sin by your grace. Fill me with your Spirit and bring forth the Spirit's fruit in my life so that it reflects your grace and your character. Give me a hunger to
know your will and to seek your truth and an ability to understand and apply it to my life. I want to build my life with you as its center and its goal. In Jesus' precious name I pray. Amen.
58
Culture/
How To Tie A Scarf

Michael A. Lubarsky (AskMen Latest Articles)
Isla Fisher and Tobey Maguire Get Dressed Up For The Great Gatsby
Lauren Turner (PopSugar)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 10:46:13 AM
Click here to follow AskMen Fashion on Twitter. A scarf tied with aplomb adds style and warmth to your winter wardrobe. A scarf, in its basic sense, works because it surrounds and protects your neck and keeps cold drafts of air from spiraling down your collar, leaving you susceptible to catching a chill. Once you know how to tie a scarf around your neck in different knots, you can leave that parka you shuffle around in at home and actually begin wearing the stylish fall clothes youve been reading about. So heres our guide on how to pull it off, as well as our suggestions of the best jackets to rock each knot with. Parisian Knot The Parisian is the most popular knot. Heres how to tie a scarf in a Parisian knot: Take the scarf in both hands and fold it over lengthwise; drape it around your neck; insert the loose ends through the loop hanging in front of you and pull them through.
You can play with the tautness of the knot and the thickness of the scarf by doubling the scarf lengthwise, if you wish. This knot looks great on a short leather jacket with a notch collar left down. On a very cold day, you can tuck the scarf into the jacket and pull the zipper up. OnceAround Knot The once-around knot is your entry-level knot for all those brisk days when you need a little extra comfort but dont want to go with complete arctic readiness. Most men will use this knot for a quick commute to work or an evening out with a
Isla Fisher was in full character as Myrtle Wilson on the Australian set of The Great Gatsby today. Her costar Tobey Maguire was also in costume for the day of filming, which took place at an old power station in fitted blazer. The point of this Sydney. They'll soon welcome knot is casual warmth. To learn another member to the cast since how to tie a scarf in a once- model Gemma Ward has been around knot, drape the scarf confirmed to play Myrtle's sister around your neck allowing one Catherine. Isla and Tobey have end to be longer than the other. their families with them Down Take the long end and bring it Under while they work on the around your neck and let it fall film adaptation of the iconic book. over your chest. If you have a Isla got away from the cameras to long neck, overlap the scarf in spend time with her husband back just a bit so that most of your neck between the jacket and the base of your skull is covered. Youre not done learning how to tie a scarf just yet Continue Reading
Sacha Baron Cohen and their daughters Olive and Elula earlier this month, and the foursome celebrated Sacha's 40th birthday with a boat ride. View Slideshow
Politics-Left/
59
EU leaders begin debt crisis meeting

(AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE))
Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:58:37 PM
mechanism set up to provide support to eurozone economies at risk of defaulting on debts. Leaders remain divided on key "The world is watching Germany issues, on day German chancellor and Europe to see if we are ready gains parliamentary backing for and able to take responsibility. If more robust bailout fund. Last the euro fails, Europe fails," said Modified: 26 Oct 2011 18:03 Merkel ahead of the vote. E u r o p e a n U n i o n l e a d e r s Merkel has called for a 50 per a r e a t t e n d i n g a c r u c i a l cent write-down of Greek summit meeting in Brussels to debt held by private sector a d d r e s s t h e m o u n t i n g companies including many pressure they face to finally craft European banks; far more than the a solution to the two-year-old 21 per cent loss which the private eurozone debt crisis, which sector agreed to in July. a n a l y s t s s a y t h r e a t e n s t h e "We will do all we can to get economic stability of the entire Greece back on its feet as soon as region. As the summit began on possible," she said, adding: "A W e d n e s d a y , t h e e u r o z o n e debt write-down alone will not leaders remained deeply divided solve Greece's problems ... on some of the key issues they structural reforms must still be needed to solve or risk renewed implemented." turbulence on financial markets Greece, the region's most across the globe. Germany wanted troubled nation with debts of $484 Greek private debt holders to bear billion, has already implemented l o s s e s , w h i l e F r a n c e , t h e unpopular austerity cuts to access European Commission and the bailout funds from the EU and the European Central Banks insisted IMF, but there are fears the crisis that any debt relief had to remain could spread to larger economies voluntary. Earlier in the day, within the eurozone including A n g e l a M e r k e l , G e r m a n y ' s Italy and Spain. chancellor, received a boost ahead As the eurozone's biggest o f t h e s u m m i t w h e n t h e economy, any eventual deal will German parliament voted in likely require Germany's backing. favour of plans to boost the B u t M e r k e l n e e d e d t o European Financial Stability win Wednesday's vote to give her Facility (EFSF), the $600bn a mandate to negotiate a deal with
other EU leaders aimed at delivering a range of measures to stop the debt crisis from spiralling. Measures under consideration include enhancing the EFSF's powers, further debt relief for Greece, a bank recapitalisation programme of about $139bn and growth initiatives. Meanwhile, Yves Leterme, the Belgian prime minister, has said the eurozone's bailout fund should have a firepower of more than 1 trillion euro ($1.4 trillion) to prevent the currency union's debt crisis from spreading. "I think that effectively, it has to be able to intervene a good deal beyond 1 trillion euro," he said before the summit. European stock markets closed narrowly mixed in choppy trade, with London's FTSE-100 index of top companies up 0.50 per cent at 5,553.24 points, while in Paris, the CAC-40 slipped 0.15 per cent to 3,169.62 points. Heightened tensions Wednesday's summit will begin with an evening meeting of leaders from all 27 European Union member states, prior to a session involving only eurozone leaders - the 17 states which use the euro single currency. The summit is taking place amid
heightened political tensions in several countries. Greece has been pushed out of the limelight in recent days by Italy, which is under intense pressure to implement promised austerity and growth measures. "If the euro is in danger today it is not because of Greece, which is a small country, but because of Italy," Hannes Swoboda, a socialist EU deputy from Austria, told the Italian daily Mattino. In unusually blunt terms, French, German and EU leaders have told Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's prime minister, to follow up on his reform commitments by Wednesday, in order to reassure markets. The Italian prime minister has averted a government collapse to clinch an overnight deal on emergency growth measures demanded by the EU. Berlusconi and coalition partner Umberto Bossi reached a compromise on raising Italy's retirement age - a point of disagreement that had threatened his leadership. But questions remained on whether it would meet the EU's expectations for concrete details and a clear timeline. Also still to be settled is whether leaders will manage to hash out
agreements with banks on the value of Greek debt holdings which most expect to be partially written off, and among themselves on how to stretch out the capacity of the EFSF bailout fund. Europe has already bailed out three small eurozone members Greece, Portugal and Ireland - but there are fears it cannot bail out the troubled economies of Italy and Spain, the third and fourth largest economies in the bloc. The summit comes just over one week before European leaders have to face their G-20 counterparts in Cannes, France. China and the US have warned European leaders of the urgency to solve the debt crisis amid concerns that failure could push the world into another recession. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
60
Politics-Left/ TV/
Turkey steps up earthquake relief efforts

Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:47:46 PM
Erdogan admits government response was inadequate as woman is found alive after nearly three days buried under rubble. Last Modified: 26 Oct 2011 17:47 Emergency workers have rescued a 27-year-old woman alive from a collapsed building, nearly three days after a powerful earthquake killed hundreds of people and left tens of thousands homeless in southeastern Turkey. The woman, Gozde Bahar, went into cardiac arrest en route to hospital after her rescue on Wednesday, in the town of Ercis, one of the hardest hit by Sunday's 7.2 magnitude quake. Bahar, a teacher, was later revived and remains in a critical condition. Rescue workers continued to search for survivors on Wednesday amid fading hopes that anyone else could still be alive. Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said the death toll had climbed to 461 and the number injured was 1,352. As attention turned to relief
efforts, Erdogan acknowledged that the government's initial response to the disaster had been inadequate. "We admit that we failed in the beginning, within the first 24 hours. We acknowledge flaws but these mistakes are pretty normal in such incidents," Erdogan said. Turkey's government's has now approached 30 countries, including Israel, that offered help on the first day and formally requested temporary housing and emergency materials for the region's thousands of homeless. Erdogan pledged to build a new city in Van, the provincial capital devastated by the quake, as well as a new town in Ercis, which also suffered bad damage. The governor of Van province said 3,000 buildings had collapsed or were made useless. He estimated that 600,000 people had been "affected" by the quake, but not all needed temporary accommodation. The exact number of homeless was unclear. "Some residents with no damage in their homes are unable to go back because of the aftershocks. That is why everyone wants
tents," Munir Karaloglu said. Fight over tents Complaints over the lack of tents have grown louder with each passing day, and some desperate survivors fought among themselves to try and grab tents being distributed by relief workers from the back of a lorry. The Turkish Red Crescent has been struggling to deliver fast enough to provide shelter for victims of the quake shivering in freezing temperatures at night. "There is absolutely no coordination, you have to step on people to get a tent," Suleyman Akbulut, an 18-year-old jobless man, said. Sunday's 7.2-magnitude quake was Turkey's most powerful since a pair of earthquakes in 1999 in northwestern Turkey killed more than 20,000 people. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Glenn Beck Tears Up In 'Today' Interview With Kathie Lee (VIDEO)

Alex Moaba (AOL TV)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 8:30:00 AM
Filed under: TV Replay Glenn Beck left Fox News in June after a bombastic, controversial and highly-rated run in which he leveled relentless and often hysterical criticism at the Obama administration. No longer on the Fox airwaves after advertisers began to drop his show, Beck has moved on to his own media venture, a streaming network called GBTV. He's also got a new novel out called the 'The Snow Angel,' which touches on themes
of childhood abuse. In a fairly surreal meeting of the minds, Beck sat down for a'Today'(weekdays, 9AM ET on NBC) interview with Kathie Lee Gifford, and it didn't take long for him to tear up. Talking about his childhood, he said, "When you live in an alcoholic family or an abusive family, you tiptoe, you don't want to step on any mines," he said, fighting through tears. "Now the 'Today Show' is going to make fun of me again," he continued. Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs| Comments
Politics-Left/ Products/
61
Deadly blast near main US Comcast Keeps Sending Same Guy Who base in Afghanistan Couldn't Fix Switch
Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:50:19 PM
Wednesday. "I heard a small explosion and when I went outside, I saw a At least 10 people killed and tanker was leaking fuel," Ajmal, a dozens more injured in explosion 35 year-old farmer told the as oil tanker queued to enter Reuters news agency. Bagram air base. Last Modified: "A few minutes later people came 26 Oct 2011 17:50 with buckets and jugs to collect A t l e a s t 1 0 p e o p l e h a v e fuel when suddenly everywhere been killed and dozens of others was on fire." injured after a fuel tanker burst Our correspondent said it was i n t o f l a m e s i n n o r t h e r n unclear what had caused the Afghanistan, sources tell Al deadly second explosion. Jazeera. Abdul Baseer Salangi, Parwan's T h e i n c i d e n t o c c u r r e d o n governor, urged people "not to Wednesday in the Bagram district risk their lives for fuel" after of Parwan province, 40km north saying the injured and killed were of Kabul. all collecting the fuel at the time Al Jazeera's Bernard Smith, of the explosion. r e p o r t i n g f r o m t h e A f g h a n 'Terrorist attack' capital, said the lorry was in a Khalil Farhangi, the provincial queue to get into Bagram air base, hospital chief, said at least three the main US military base in p e o p l e w e r e k i l l e d o n t h e Afghanistan, at the time of the scene. The interior ministry explosion. said up to 39 were injured. Roshna Khalid, a Though no one has taken credit provincial spokesperson, said that for the explosion, Salangi said a smaller explosion [on Tuesday "this was a terrorist attack." night] caused by a magnet bomb Our correspondent said "this type made a hole" in the lorry. It was of attack is a fairly recent tactic when people had gathered to that those who align with the collect the pooling fuel that the Taliban seem to be using" in an "bigger explosion took place" on attempt to disrupt vital supply
lines to foreign forces. Khalid said that at least two similar explosions had been prevented by Afghan security forces in the past three months. Hundreds of fuel tankers come and go from Bagram air base every day. Al Jazeera's Smith reported quoting Afghan officials that rather than sending a suicide bomber, the Taliban and those aligned with them were "just sending people to stick a mine" on fuel tankers. Lorry drivers say that "if this can happen so near to the Bagram base, then nowhere is safe", he said. A mine blast in the eastern province of Nangarhar wounded two Afghan policemen on Monday. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Ben Popken (The Consumerist)

Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:00:00 PM
will get resolved and said the higher level tech would come and even scheduled it. If the definition of insanity is Who did they send out the second doing the same thing over and time? The tech who couldn't solve over again and expecting different it before. He called and they told results, then you have to worry him someone was already here to about the mental health of fix it. Comcast. They keep sending the I don't buy that because 1) you same technician out to fix Brian's need a key to get to the basement switch, even though the tech of our building and 2) the problem d o e s n ' t h a v e t h e p a r t s o r persists. competence to repair it. They have known what the issue This is bad because the switch's is for more than two months but latency issues are negatively yet no one that comes here has impacting the phone system for any institutional knowledge or Brian's office. Without reliable any information on it. phone service, it's really hard for The solution is pretty them to do business. Brian writes: straightforward - fix or replace the For more than two months I have switch. been trying to get Comcast to Meantime, I've lost many hours resolve a network latency problem on the phone and waiting for techs with our business class service. to show up. Plus this latency They've already determined that problem is effecting our phone the problem is with the switch in system and keeps us from doing our building and is effecting other business. For speedier results, you customers. might want to try twittering your I have had them out here multiple woes to@comcastcares. times. Last week a tech came out This entry passed through the and tested the router in our office Full-Text RSS service if this is and said it was fine. I had to make your content and you're reading it him go in the basement and test on someone else's site, please read the switch. He found the problem, the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentbut couldn't fix it so he escalated only/faq.php#publishers. Five it to a more senior tech. Filters recommends: Donate to The phone support people and the Wikileaks. field tech have promised that this
62
Products/
Consumerist Talks To Jeep's CEO About Being The Most Reliable U.S. Auto Brand -But Still Middle Of The Pack
Meg Marco (The Consumerist)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:15:00 PM
Yesterday, our gearhead cousins at Consumer Reports released the results of their Annual Auto Reliability Survey, which had Jeep jumping up seven spots from the previous year to become the top-ranked domestic brand, though it was still #13 overall. Soon after this news came out, we got the chance to speak to Jeep CEO Michael Manley about this mixed blessing CONSUMERIST: Jeep is now the most reliable domestic auto brand. What happened? MANLEY: Well (laughs) it... (long pause) the only reason for my delay is that I'm smiling when you say that because obviously, it's huge news for us and for the brand. Since we came out of our restructure process we've been talking a lot about all of the work we've done on our product development process as well as the increases that we've made in terms of our reliability testing. And that combined with the changes we made in our manufacturing plants with "World Class Manufacturing", I think you are now beginning to see the results of those things come
through in our products and our reliability in the marketplace. And it's good news that it's beginning to be recognized. CONSUMERIST: Would you say that Fiat has actually helped you build more reliable SUVs? Because that seems a bit counterintuitive. MANLEY:(laughs) Well, remember that from the birth of a vehicle there's obviously a lot of different things that go into it. We still have a full complement of our Jeep engineers who work on the vehicle itself, but in terms of the product development process, absolutely [Fiat has] helped us. I think we've put much more rigor in that whole process. As I said, it's completely overhauled. It was after our alliance with Fiat that we introduced World Class Manufacturing. World Class Manufacturing is a fairly broad program that looks after safety and looks after cost and efficiency, but also very much focuses on the quality of the vehicle as it goes through the plant. And the Grand Cherokee really was the first vehicle to completely benefit from those changes in process. Even from the beginning, our internal indicators showed that the reliability of this
Grand Cherokee had improved by 50% over the previous one. So we were really looking forward to getting this result and seeing it come through from the customer perspective. CONSUMERIST: One of our readers was concerned that the very close bond that Jeep owners have with their mechanics would deteriorate and that we would have fewer friends. MANLEY:(laughs) You mean as a result of the of the improvement in reliability? CONSUMERIST: Yep. You're having a deleterious effect on our social lives. MANLEY:(laughs) Well, I would say to the to the readers that all of that money that they're gonna save, maybe a good place to meet is in a nice restaurant. CONSUMERIST: This one that might hurt your feelings, but I think it's important to hear. One reader said, "When your products are completely unreliable pieces of crap, you have nowhere to go but up." Does that hurt? MANLEY: No. I think in general that sort of statement is absolutely true, but the result is in the feedback that you see today in terms of reliability. We gained seven places over the previous
year and we are now the Top Domestic Brand. This is one of the industry standards in terms of reliability, and there are, I think, 28 manufacturers... We're now 13. Heading in the right direction. We're gonna continue to work on our reliability. We're gonna continue to work on the quality. And I expect the brand to continue to go up. But to be the Top Domestic Brand with a solid seven-place jump year over year I think is one of the best indicators that we can have from an external party, of the interventions that we've made to the vehicles. CONSUMERIST: The top nine spots are still dominated by Japanese brands. Can your customers expect Jeep to be competing for the top spots up there with the Japanese brands or are you happy just being the Top Domestic Brand now? MANLEY: We have really focused on our brand and trying to continue to make all of the improvements so that we can offer our customers very, very reliable high quality vehicles. So despite the nice year over year increase... I believe in the future you are gonna see continued improvements with Jeep. The new processes have been in place now
for a couple of years. They'll continue to be improved and refined. We won't be stopping here, but it's a great start. CONSUMERIST: What does the President and CEO of Jeep have nightmares about? Is it Congressional hearings or fuel standards? MANLEY:(laughs) No, from a fuel standard perspective, we've got, I think, a very clear plan to make sure that we can comply with all of the fuel standards. I think one of the things that I wouldn't say keeps me up at night, but I continue to think about it is how we can continue to keep the momentum going with Wrangler and with Grand Cherokee. We've had some significant year-over-year gains with those vehicles and I think rightly so. And I obviously want to keep those two icons moving in the right direction. It's a very competitive marketplace. We've been able to do it so far. I just need to be able to keep that going for a while. CONSUMERIST: I am a confessed Wrangler owner. For really hard-core Jeep enthusiasts who are worried that the Wrangler CONSUMERIST page 66
Products/
63
Woot Watches Wideos: Sean Adams's Top Five [flawed] Scary Movies
(Woot! - One Day, One Deal)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:00:00 PM
This is a shark movie," a genre of its own really, but the films intention is to strike fear into When the grocery store parking viewers, so Ive included it here. lot starts to get scummy with the The story focuses around a guts of smashed pumpkins, you husband and wife who go on a know that it's the season for scuba diving trip in the Caribbean scares. So our Woot Writers will and end up stranded in sharkbe spending the week running infested waters after their boat down their top Scary Movies so leaves without them. The premise you can check out, judge, and is great because its every berate them as horribly recreational divers worst inadequate. Today, Sean presents nightmare. In fact, Ive only a list of his favorite horror talked to a handful of people movies... to complain about. whove actually seen the film; the (and as a word of warning, we did rest were too scared by the OMGour best to find non-offensive that-could-happen-to-me premise. YouTube videos, but these are Theyre lucky, but not because horror movies so watch out for they are spared any terror. No, scary images and/or NSFW they're lucky because they were language.) spared 79 minutes of boredom. I dont like horror movies The problem with Open Water is because I scare easily. So, when that it incorrect assumes that, if compiling a list of 5 horror you put people in the water with movies, I had two options: 1) I sharks, the viewer is going to care could do the mature thing and about their well-being, even if make a list of movies that actually they're awful and boring. That's ascare me, thus embracing my just not the case here, and in the inner-wimpdom and admitting my end, when theyre eaten by the own flaws; or 2) I could pretend sharks, you really feel nothing but to be above the horror genre by relief. selecting five bad movies and 4. The Village commenting on their flaws. M. Nights catalogue has quite a So, here are my top 5 flawed few stinkers to choose from, but I horror movies ( note: spoilers-a- think The Village is the most plenty): intriguing because it was the last 5. Open Water of his movies that anyone had any
hope for. Lady in the Water was dead on arrival, as was The Happening. But The Village followed Signs, which, despite flawed itself, managed to win over some viewers and critics. Then there's the fact that the film featured Adrien Brody only a year or two after his Oscar for the Pianist, so it seemed like Mr. Shyamalan might just have a hit. But no. Having built a reputation for his twists, M. Night throws not one but two at you here. First, the creatures in the woods arent real but have been made up by the elders of the village to scare people from venturing too far into the woods. And why? Because (twist two) THEYRE LIVING IN THE PRESENT TIME IN A F A K E W I L D L I F E SANCTUARY!! Unfortunately, by the time this is revealed, youve sat through hours of dumb, stilted dialogue spoken by uninspired characters. 3. Terror Train Its Halloween ON A TRAIN! Seriously. Thats what it is. In fact, according to an IMDB trivia nugget, it doesn't aspire to be anything more. The writer woke up in the middle of the night and said, Hey! I should put Halloween on a train. His wife
said, That sounds terrible. So he wrote down Terrible Train." Then he changed the title to Terror Train the next morning. The plot hinges on a prank gone wrong. The problem is the prank itself immediately torches any chances of feeling pity for the protaganists. Here's their idea of some wacky hoodwinkery: Jaime Lee Curtiss friends (Yes JLC is in this too) convince her to lure an awkward frat pledge into a dark room with promises that theyre going to you know. Except in the dark, they do this HILARIOUS thing: they put a womans corpse in the bed with him! Not surprisingly, he goes crazy, and then comes back later to kill all the fratty pranksters while theyre partying on a train. How these people a) have not arrested or kicked out of school, b) haven't killed or eaten each other for fun (because they're clearly sociopaths), and c) are able to get a freaking train to have a party on is beyond me. 2. Identity A storm traps John Cusak, that snarky doctor from Scrubs, and some other people at a motel in the middle of nowhere, and then someone starts offing them one at a time. Perfect! A classic slasher!
Nice and simple! Right? Wrong. Identity is the classic case of a screenwriter failing to understand that less is more. At some point, we start to see images of a mental patient being rolled through an asylum. Soon we learn that all of the characters are people living in his head, and the doctors need to find which one is killing everyone because thats the voice thats making him crazy and dangerous. Well, low and behold, it ends up being the little boy and he manages to kill them all! Because in every one of the not-shown killing scenes, no one had the smart idea to just kick that little brat in the face! 1. Birdemic Mostly, flawed movies are frustrating. But every so often, you find one so flawed that its beautiful. In a typical bad movie, the bad parts stand out, distracting the viewer, but in a movie like Birdemic you get the feeling that any moment, no matter how fleeting, of good cinema would harshly contrast its otherwise uniform terrible-ness. No need to sum up the plot or describe what's wrong. For this one, I'll let the trailer do all the talking.
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Products/ Gaming/
Singer Fashion Mate Sewing Machine

Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:00:12 AM
Nightwing DLC footage is electric, sticks Nov. 1 landing

Alexander Sliwinski (Joystiq)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 1:07:00 PM
Not Much To Sew For It Now girls, I know Daddy said he would make you any Halloween costume you wanted, but there were some complications. I know, I know. I got this Singer 5500 Fashion Mate Sewing Machine with Hard Cover for this exact reason. But, sewing is complicated. All of the Automatic Needle Threaders and Built-In Stitches in the world cant help you if you really have no idea what youre doing. Luckily, it came with a Machine Intro DVD, so I was able to make some costumes just maybe not the exact ones you girls asked for. Jenna, I know you wanted to be a cowgirl princess, but I couldnt seem to get that one quite right, even with the Heavy Duty Metal Frame making for easy, skip-free sewing. However, I was able to make you the next best thing a potato costume! Oh it might look like a big beige bag with eye holes, but trust me, everyone in kindergarten is going to go nuts over this spud-tastic outfit! And Lisa, I wasnt able to put together your girl-ninja astronaut suit. However,
keeping with the theme of lunar travel, I was able to put together this moon costume. Sure, it might look like I just sewed together two white circles of cloth, but dont concern yourself with Daddys process. Instead, look how even those stitches are thanks to the Singers Automatic Tension! If any of the other fourth graders make fun of you, just show them those! Not that anyone is going to make fun of you Now Amy, you said you wanted to go as the undead corpse of your friendship with Zoe. Im sorry to hear the seventh grade has gotten off to a rough start, sweetie, but the good news is Im pretty sure I got what you were thinking. Yes, it appears to be a hastily-made poncho thing at first, but really its symbolic! Like, these little holes. I wasnt just testing out the Singers 6 Fully Automatic 1-Step Buttonholes. I was showing that Zoe punctured your friendship with her mean words. Thats also why it looks kind of torn there in the back. Not because Daddy got angry or anything. Oh, and that reminds me: for Halloween, Im going to be someone who doesnt get yelled at by Mommy, and you girls can
help me by not showing her your costumes. How does that sound? Warranty: 25 Years on Machine Head; 5 Years Motor, Light Assembly, Wiring, Switches, Speed Control & Electric Components; 1 Year Adjustments, Belts, Rings, Bulbs & Attachments Condition: New Features: 100 built-In stitches with stitch guide included in manual Automatic Needle Threader sewings biggest timesaver! Automatic Stitch Length & Width ensures the right stitch settings every time 6 Fully Automatic 1-Step Buttonholes offer professional results at the touch of a button Automatic Tension keeps stitches balanced and even Extension Table included for large sewing projects Hard-Sided Cover to safely transport and store your machine Heavy Duty Metal Frame for skip-free sewing Quick Start Guide included for easy set up Machine Intro DVD for a complete introduction to sewing machines Additional Photos:
Front Profile Rear Profile Pattern Number Reference Guide Hard Cover Accessory Box Package Contents Packaging In the box: Singer 5500 Fashion Mate Sewing Machine Hard Cover Extension Table Accessory Box Foot Control Power Cord (3) Needles (2) Bobbins Auxiliary Spool Pin (2) Spool Pin Felt Discs Spool Pin Cap Buttonhole Opener/Seam Ripper and Brush Screwdriver for Needle Plate Darning Plate Zipper Foot Buttonhole Foot Instruction Manual Quick Start Guide Instructional DVD Discuss this product Price: $149.99 I want one!
Nightwing, the original boy wonder grown into twentysomething slugger, will be available as Batman: Arkham City DLC come November 1. The pack includes Dick Grayson in Nightwing costume, two additional challenge maps, Wayne Manor and Main Hall, and an Animated Series Nightwing skin for $6.99. As was accidentally revealed a couple weeks back, the "Robin Bundle Pack," featuring the Dark Knight's third Robin (don't ask about the second, it's a sore subject), Tim Drake, will hit on November 22 for $6.99. [Thanks, Garrett M.] Nightwing DLC footage is electric, sticks Nov. 1 landing originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments
Products/
65
Here it is, the biggest refrigerator we've ever tested

Consumer Reports News (Consumer Reports)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 9:46:59 AM
Here it is, the biggest refrigerator we've ever tested There are about 180 models in Consumer Reports' current refrigerator Ratings. Since we started testing this appliance back in 1939, too many to count have come and gone. But it's safe to say that no model has been as mammoth as the new Kenmore Elite 7205 French-door bottomfreezer, with its claimed 31-cubicfoot capacity. Setting aside for a moment the question of whether so much space is necessary, let's take a closer look to see how Kenmore managed the feat. The first space-saving innovation is in the walls of the Kenmore Elite 7205, where vacuuminsulated panels (VIPs) replace the conventional insulation found on most refrigerators. VIPs are thin and flat, which results in
narrow walls and a roomier interior. That coupled with a slightly larger footprint (its 35inch depth is a few inches above the norm) accounts for much of the expanded capacity. Inside the refrigerator, the first thing you might notice is what's missingno bulky icemaker taking up interior shelf or door space. Instead, the "Slim In-door Icemaker" fits neatly in the door panel holding the exterior ice and water dispensers. Then there's a bevy of expansive storage options, including door bins that are deep enough to hold a gallon container and then some, say a bottle of ketchup; a full-width pantry drawer for deli meats and cheese; dual crisper drawers; and a tilt-out freezer door that allows you to access the double pull-out drawers and deep bin without sliding out the entire freezer compartment. There's also multilevel LED lighting, which doesn't affect the actual dimensions, but
7205? From a performance standpoint, several French-door models in our Ratings do better for less, including the top-rated Whirlpool for $1,700. That makes the decision mostly about size and features. Industry guidelines have, in the past, recommended refrigerators with a total capacity does make the interior feel bigger of between 19 and 22 cubic feet for a typical household of four. and brighter. Beyond its ample capacity, the By that estimate, the Kenmore Kenmore Elite 7205 performs Elite 7205 would make sense only very well. It scored an excellent in for very large families, say those our temperature tests, which with six or more members. m e a s u r e a c c u r a c y a n d However, if you entertain consistency. Noise was also frequently, you might also value excellent, while energy efficiency this record-setting refrigerator. and ease-of-use were very good. Subscribe now! S u b s c r i b e t o And the fridge's dual evaporators maintain high humidity levels in ConsumerReports.org for expert the fresh-food section and keep Ratings, buying advice and freezer odors from migrating, r e l i a b i l i t y o n h u n d r e d s o f which together could help extend products. Update your feed preferences the life of your food. So is it worth spending upwards of $2,800 on the Kenmore Elite
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CONSUMERIST
is actually still your least reliable model...What's the future of that iconic vehicle? MANLEY: We've just finished two phases of intervention in the Wrangler. We, we put the new interior into it last year. This year we made a very major upgrade in terms of the transmission and the engine, and the initial reports coming back from that have been incredibly positive by the press. The Pentastar engine that's now in that vehicle has won a number of awards. I think what we've been able to do is not only improve its on-road capability - its fuel economy, its power, and its torque - but that also has translated into continued leadership in off-road capability as well. And what I would say to all of the Jeep fans out there, and the Wrangler fans, is that we as a brand know just how important Wrangler is to us. It is the icon, it's the standard, and we have no absolutely no intention of doing anything but to continue to improve that. And as I
said, the power train changes that we made this year have gone a long way to addressing some of the concerns that our customers have had. And when you get a chance to drive it, I'd love to get your feedback in terms of the comparison with the one that you have. CONSUMERIST: You came into a controversial political situation with the bailout of Chrysler. How do you deal with that? What is your obligation to the American taxpayer is in terms of producing a great product? MANLEY: We are talking about a brand that's 70 years old this year and is known in every continent around the world. We sell Jeep in over 120 countries. So what comes with that is a great deal of responsibility. The brand leading up to 2009, I think it had a difficult few years. And what we wanted to do was to really focus on what the brand means, focus on the products, make sure that they were in line with everybody's
expectation of what a Jeep is. I think we were able to do that. We're gonna continue to continue to do that into the future. And, that for me has been the key focus from me and, as well as everybody else here in the company... It's a great job for me in terms of leading the Jeep brand and I've got a phenomenal team. And I think our engineers, our guys in the plants, everybody will be, rightfully, very pleased with the results from Consumer Reports. They know it's just a start. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Jitterbug: Woot Weads The Wire

Submitted at 10/26/2011 11:00:00 AM
into a covered pool. Official word is that, though trapped in the water, he still could Every week in this space, well not be made to drink. take a look at the news and offer LONDON ( Reuters) -o u r o w n i n c i s i v e b l e n d o f WikiLeaks will have to stop commentary, analysis, and poop publishing secret cables and jokes. The news you need, from a devote itself to fund-raising if it is voice you can trust, in the 90 u n a b l e t o e n d a f i n a n c i a l seconds you have to spare: thats "blockade" by U.S. firms such as Woot Weads the Wire. Visa and MasterCard by the end LONDON ( UPI) -- A tooth said of the year, founder Julian to have belonged to the late John Assange said on Monday. Lennon is up for auction in Rumors say that Assange plans to England, with a reserve bidding r a i s e m o n e y b y e m u l a t i n g price of just under $16,000. traditional PBS pledge drives, and Sources hint the DNA from the h o p e s t o p u b l i s h u n k n o w n tooth could be used to create a scandals about Agatha Christie, clone of John Lennon, who will reveal the sins of aging 50s doothen most likely punch the idiot wop stars, and bring to light who just spent sixteen grand on a hidden documents regarding tooth. James Taylor and his special RALEIGH, N.C. ( UPI) -- Anti- guests Carly Simon, Sheryl Crow, abortion centers and groups in and the Boston Pops. North Carolina will get funding MYSTIC, Conn. ( UPI) -from state-approved "Choose Officials at the Shedd Aquarium Life" license plates available later in Chicago said a 2,100-pound this year, officials said. beluga whale was flown to The custom plates are expected to Connecticut to try breeding with a sell well to religious groups and pair of females. also fans of 80s band Wham! Aquarium directors are unsure if SWANSEA, Mass. ( UPI) -- the final paper will appear in a Authorities in Massachusetts say m a j o r s c i e n t i f i c j o u r n a l o r an old horse walked away with P e n t h o u s e . only minor bruises after falling
Products/
67
Big Lots recalls gliding recliners and ottomans for entrapment dangers
Submitted at 10/26/2011 9:44:59 AM
Vegas Dismisses $896 Ticket They Gave Car Parked In New York
Ben Popken (The Consumerist)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 1:00:00 PM
Big Lots recalls gliding recliners and ottomans for entrapment dangers The U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission and Big Lots of Columbus Ohio have announced a recall of 375,000 recliners and ottomans. The furniture, which glides horizontally, has exposed mechanisms which can inadvertently crush fingers and even entrap small children. According to the CPSC, there have been two reports of small children (under two years old) who have had their necks trapped by the chair's gliding mechanism. Both children were freed by parents without permanent injury. The CPSC recall affects the Microfiber Glider Recliner and
Leather Glider Recliner, sold at Big Lots stores from January 2005 to December 2009 for about $170. Both the chair and ottoman sit on circular metal bases made from 1.25 inch metal tubing and have cushions covered in either light brown or green microfiber fabric or dark brown simulated leather fabric. A label under the seat of the chair identifies the manufacturer as Dongguan Shindin Metal & Plastic Products Ltd. There is a small label on the front metal rod under the seat that states "Maximum wt load 250
collectors who had been hounding Charlotte know that the debt was null. lbs." Sometimes it just takes a little THE TAKEAWAY: "Calling Consumers are urged to followup. That's what got a $896 r e p e a t e d l y a b o u t t h e s a m e immediately stop using the ticket vaporized that the city of problem can be a useful tactic furniture and contact Big Lots for Las Vegas had erroneously w h e n g r a p p l i n g w i t h a free repair kit which will cover slapped on Charlotte's car while it bureaucracy," writes Charlotte. the exposed moving parts. was 2,000 miles away in New "Who picks up on the other end For more information, consumers York state. can make all the difference." can contact Big Lots toll-free (866 As I wrote previously, Charlotte Parking Office Confirms: New -244-5687) or visit the company's had received the ticket and called Y o r k C a m r y D i d N o t website: www.BigLots.com. up the Las Vegas parking lair, Spontaneously Materialize in To report dangerous incidents only to be met with a befuddled Vegas to Receive Gargantuan with consumer products, visit the and bumbling clerk who could Parking Ticket[Hello, my name is CPSC's Safer Products website: only suggest that she mail in a Charlotte] www.SaferProducts.gov. letter. Charlotte decided to call PREVIOUSLY Big Lots Recalls Glider Recliners back today, and this time got a Car Racks Up $896.80 Vegas with Ottomans Due to Entrapment different clerk, Brandy. Brandy Parking Ticket While Sitting In and Finger Crushing got on the case right away. New York Hazards[CPSC] Brandy pulled up the ticket and From ConsumerReports.org: Product recall information[Big found that the officer, who had This entry passed through the Lots] Subscribe now! written the ticket by hand, had Full-Text RSS service if this is S u b s c r i b e t o transposed a U for a V in the your content and you're reading it ConsumerReports.org for expert license plate. The ticket had also on someone else's site, please read Ratings, buying advice and been written for a Kia, while the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentreliability on hundreds of Charlotte's car was a Camry. only/faq.php#publishers. Five products. Update your feed The clerk then voided out the Filters recommends: Donate to preferences t i c k e t , a p o l o g i z e d f o r t h e Wikileaks. inconvenience, and let the debt
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Products/ Sports/
Report: Amazon making 'millions more' Kindle Fire tablets

Starbucks guy vindicated by Epstein - YAHOO!

(- Bing News)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 11:40:41 AM
footnote in Cubs history remains to be seen," write Trib reporters Paul Sullivan and Ronnie Reese. B y C B S C h i c a g o | L o c a l "But there's no denying [Pinzur] Submitted at 10/26/2011 10:10:08 AM Chicago had a cameo role in the longJeff Stacklin, Yahoo! Local running Theo Epstein saga, Report: Amazon making 'millions Editor blowing the cover of the Cubs' more' Kindle Fire tablets Cubs fan Noah Pinzur -- aka "the new baseball boss when Epstein The new tablet from Amazon Starbucks guy" -- has been came to town for a top secret won't ship till November 15, but vindicated. interview Oct. 8." the company's CEO Jeff Bezos said in a statement that the Amazon content and services, Pinzur's the guy lamented in a In today's Trib article, Pinzur volume of pre-orders that Amazon including books, video, and C h i c a g o T r i b u n e a r t i c l e , recounts what happened, saying has received has caused a huge music, with a curated selection of headlined"Fans see what they that he was at the Starbucks at ramp-up in production of the apps from Amazon's app store for want .. they want to see Epstein," Racine and Wrightwood avenues earlier this month after he emailed and noticed Epstein and his wife, Fireto "millions more" than Android devices. originally planned. Amazon Is Making 'Millions the newspaper and said he saw Marie Whitney. The 7-inch Kindle Fire tablet was M o r e ' K i n d l e F i r e s T h a n Boston Red Sox GM at a coffee Pinzur said that, at the time, Epstein denied that it was him, a announced on September 28, Originally Expected After Huge shop in Lincoln Park. which, as Amazon reported in its D e m a n d [ B u s i n e s s I n s i d e r ] Theo Epstein apparently was on a fact that Epstein admitted during a secret visit to the Cubs. Pinzur news conference at Wrigley Field third-quarter earnings statement, S u b s c r i b e n o w ! was the " biggest order day ever S u b s c r i b e t o told his friends, talk-radio hosts, on Tuesday. for Kindle." At $199, the Fire's ConsumerReports.org for expert and -- it seems -- anyone who'd From the Trib: price is appreciably lower than Ratings, buying advice and listen that he met Epstein. No one "It was funny," he said. "When I'm somewhere when I don't want that of any current version of the r e l i a b i l i t y o n h u n d r e d s o f believed him. Apple iPad and is also lower than products. Update your feed Turns out, Pinzur did see Epstein. to be recognized and someone And the Trib gives Pinzur his due recognizes me, I have a couple most other Android tablets on the preferences credit today: standard lines I go to. I usually market. The Fire will feature "Whether Lincoln Park resident always say, 'Oh, no, that's not me, Noah Pinzur will become a but I guess I kind of look like
him. I get that a lot.' Or I say, 'Theo Epstein? Who's that?' "And I was so excited to be in Chicago and so surprised to be recognized that I dropped both lines on this guy without stopping to think they really don't work very well in concert with each other. My mistake." The Trib writers peg Pinzur as a "diehard Cubs fan." He's certainly that. And, from the way it sounds, Pinzur indeed did see what he and every other Cubs fan wanted. Hopefully for Pinzur and other Cubs fans, Epstein can serve up a winning team faster than the Starbuck's barista can whip up a Pumpkin Spice Latte. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Sports/
69
Dolphins Fasano calls fans sick for cheering Suck for Luck initiative
Doug Farrar (Y! Sports Blogs Yahoo! Sports)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 10:40:39 AM
There's little doubt that the Miami Dolphins are not only one of the NFL's worst teams, but also quite possibly the most dysfunctional. Their 18-15 overtime loss to the Denver Broncos last Sunday saw a tribute to the 2008 national champion Florida Gators (which, of course, included Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow), a visit by Urban Meyer to the sidelines as Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano is on Dead Man Walking watch from a job perspective, and several late comeback plays by the aforementioned Mr. Tebow that allowed the Broncos to come back from a 15-7 deficit late in the fourth quarter to ice the game. We've written about the Xs-andOs of the Dolphins' loss and the odd defensive calls that defined it, but what hasn't been discussed as much is how this season is wearing on the players. When fans show up in the colors of the opposing team and root the opposing team's quarterback on, that's bad enough. But at least one Dolphins player has come out swinging against something far more insidious the idea that the team should tank the rest of their season to insure that they can
procure the services of Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck with the first pick of the 2012 NFL draft. The Dolphins are playing badly and that's very clear, but tight end Anthony Fasano told New York radio station WFAN this week that he's had enough when it comes to the alleged 'Suck for Luck' campaign. "It's sick, actually," Fasano said. "I can't even fathom those thoughts of those people that conjure up that stuff. They have
never played sports and pretty much aren't really our loyal fans. I can't really put any weight into that and I know the players don't listen to it. It's a shame, but people are going to talk and we just have to block that out." The Dolphins aren't the only team facing this issue there are those who say that the equally pathetic Peyton Manning-less Colts should blow the season out to get the quarterback many are calling the best college prospect since
Manning himself but it's different in Miami. Owner Steven Ross hasn't always been good about hiding the fact that he sees his team as an entertainment venture, while it's a bit more about football first in Indy. For Fasano and his teammates, there's little to do but keep their heads down, try to move past the distractions, and find a way to win, talent deficit or not. "No matter how you try to approach it, the start of the season has been
tough. I think it starts with Tony Sparano. He sets a great challenge for us week in and week out. He keeps us motivated and we are professionals, so we have to come to work every day and find a challenge and try to improve this thing and fix it and find solutions. I'm proud with the way our team has handled this situation so far, but it's definitely not acceptable. We are going to try to turn it DOLPHINS page 71
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Sports/
NBA lockout: Owners, players to meet Wednesday - Los Angeles Times Blogs
(- Bing News)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 11:47:51 AM
-- The New York Daily News' Mitch Lawrence reports that representatives for NBA owners and the players union will return to the bargaining table Wednesday in a midtown Manhattan hotel. -- TrueHoop's Henry Abbott analyzes the points both sides can negotiate during Wednesday's meeting. -- The New York Times' Howard Beck and Ken Belson explain the different perspectives among the NBA owners. -- CBS Sports' Ken Berger believes a deal can be made so long as both sides become reasoned. -- The Orange County Register's Janis Carr talks to Lakers television announcer Bill Macdonald about his new gig. -- Ball Don't Lie's Kelly Dwyer believes Phil Jackson was justified in kicking Jerry West out of practice. -- ESPN.com's Scoop Jackson says the players need to miss the whole season to make a point. -- Sports Illustrated's Zach Lowe explains why the NBA's pursuit of competitive balance remains complicated. -- NBA.com's Shaun Powell
wonders if Wednesday's meeting will actually be productive. -- SheridanHoops.com's Chris Sheridan reports that owners have dropped their insistence that players agree to a 50/50 split of revenue. -- ESPN Los Angeles' Stephen A. Smith says both the owners and players need to compromise more during negotiations. -- Fox Sports' Chris Tomasson talks to USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo, who says the
NBA lockout has increased the league's players in competing in the 2012 London Olympics even more. -- CBSSports.com's Royce Young remains skeptical about the NBA's insistence on competitive balance. -- Lakers Nation's Alex Torres looks at the top five clutch playoff victories during the Kobe Bryant/ Pau Gasol era. -- Forum Blue and Gold's J.M. Poulard sizes up where Dwight Howard might play next season,
including for the Lakers. President Obama also remains perplexed as to why the NBA lockout has lasted for so long. His thoughts in the video below on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." Tweet of the Day:"Feeling strangely optimistic about today's NBA lockout talks. They made a little ground on Monday. Not sure there as far away as we think. Could see players conceding 50/50 BRI, but in
return they get 5 yr max deals, midlevel starting at 5m + opt-out before next TV rights deal." -sportsguy33(ESPN.com's Bill Simmons) Rick Friedman Reader Comment of the Day:"The new CBA will basically be constructed so as to dismantle the Lakers, Heat and Mavs. Dan Gilbert, Pete Sarver et al are just sick and tired of having to make decisions. Despite the fact that they pay people to make them, it's now on the rich owners, the players, the fans and the arena staff to shoulder the hardships of life so the billionaires can go light another Cuban. Please, this is getting absurd." -- Jamie Sweet -- Mark Medina Email the Lakers blog at mgmedin@gmail.com Photo: NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver addresses the media before an NBA labor negotiation session last week in New York. Credit: Patrick McDermott / Getty Images This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Sports/ Food/
71
Stosur heard Serena yell at Open, thought outburst wasnt nice

Chris Chase (Y! Sports Blogs Yahoo! Sports)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 11:02:56 AM
Sam Stosur told a British newspaper she heard Serena Williams yell "come on!" during their U.S. Open final and had difficulty keeping cool during Williams' subsequent tirade against chair umpire Eva Asderaki. Donald McRae writes in The Guardian: Was Stosur shocked by Williams's venom? "Yeah," she says wryly. "You don't expect anyone to say that to an umpire. I
certainly wouldn't want to be on the other end of it. It definitely wasn't nice." Williams was fortunate to escape with a $2,000 fine but she was completely outplayed in a 6-2, 6-3 defeat. And yet Stosur's greatest triumph was overshadowed by the furore surrounding Williams. [...] [...] Did she hear Williams's infamous screech of "Come on"? "Oh yeah," Stosur murmurs. "Absolutely. I was just trying to get the ball back; but Serena did something you can't do." What does Stosur think of Williams's behaviour seven weeks later? "Well, I know it was not
in these comments, they prove what most believed all along: Stosur heard the yell, stayed poised during the outburst and continued playing her game after it to win her first Grand Slam title. Not that Stosur thinks she played a perfect match. "The final wasn't one of those unsustainable matches where you almost close your eyes and do whatever you want," she told McRae. "But I directed at me," she says dryly. d e f l e c t i n g q u e s t i o n s a b o u t was still close to my absolute best "The umpire got all of it which Serena's behavior with brief against Serena. She was definitely probably makes me feel better." answers that didn't expound on feeling the pressure." Stosur had been quiet about the her true feelings. Though the incident following the match, modest Australian is still reserved
DOLPHINS
around." Having all those fans cheering for Tebow didn't help the Gators tribute was singularly ill-advised in that respect, though it did put butts in the seats. "Yeah it was awful," Fasano said. "Showing up at the stadium and seeing all the Gator stuff and the Tebow stuff. It was disheartening, but as players we kind of put ourselves in that position because the Dolphins are in the business of winning football games and making money. We haven't been winning football games, but it's still a smack in the face -- it's unfortunate we couldn't rain on
their parade and get the win." With all the talk in Miami about Jon Gruden or Bill Cowher or [insert name of flashy coach who will get the team more TV time in 2012], it's a sure thing the Dolphins will look very different next year, Andrew Luck or not. For the guys just playing out the string and doing their best, it may seem as if they're caught up in circumstances they can't control. ( H/T: Sports Radio Interviews)
Butternut Squash Recipes

Submitted at 10/26/2011 3:00:00 AM
This easy-to-make risotto is buttery, sweet, and creamy. While the pancetta makes it a savory Of all the winter squashes, meat-lovers' meal, momsdecoop butternut squash is the easiest to also suggests making it vegetarian work with; it has thin skin and can friendly, This is a recipe I crave be easily peeled with a vegetable all the time and I don't have to peeler. Its dense flesh and robust feel guilty about it! I eliminated flavor work well in a variety of the pancetta and used veggie dishes, from sweet to savory. stock to serve this dish to Here, find our top-rated recipes vegetarians. They loved it. voted by Cooking Light fans. View Recipe: Risotto with
Butternut Squash, Pancetta, and Jack Cheese Next Roasted Butternut Squash and Bacon Pasta This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
72
Gaming/ Politics-Right/
Tell Old Pharaoh, Let My Orca Go

(The Feed)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 8:31:40 AM
Steel Battalion trailer brings together WayForward's Shantae headed to Kinect and controller
iOS this Thursday

Griffin McElroy (Joystiq)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 1:30:00 PM
Whether you're a fervent supporter of independent development studio WayFoward or you're a diehard fan of the illustrious Shantae franchise -and, really, who isn't -- you'll have reason to celebrate tomorrow. WayForward just announced on Twitter that Shantae: Risky's Revenge will arrive on the iOS App Store tomorrow. If you're familiar with the DSiWare original, you're in for a
Via Herald Sun: PEOPLE for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is accusing SeaWorld parks in the US of keeping five star-performer killer whales in conditions that violate the 13th Amendment ban on slavery. A Federal court is being asked to grant constitutional rights to five killer whales who perform at marine parks an unprecedented legal action that is nonetheless likely to stoke an ongoing, intense debate at Richard Mitchell (Joystiq) favorite: Scrabbling for a live Americas law schools over expansion of animal rights. grenade. Submitted at 10/26/2011 1:59:00 PM Steel Battalion trailer brings S e a W o r l d s a i d t h e s u i t a s While the jury is still out on together Kinect and controller b a s e l e s s . . . exactly how well Steel Battalion: originally appeared on Joystiq on I dont think killer whales should similar experience, though the be in captivity, but calling them game has been optimized to make Heavy Armor plays, one thing is Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:59:00 EST. clear: Capcom has no problem Please see our terms for use of slaves diminishes, you know, it a bit more virtual-controlleractually slavery. Chalk this up to friendly. Which is to say, it's a making excellent trailers for it. feeds. The latest highlights the many Permalink| Email this| Comments just another PETA publicity stunt, little bit easier this time around. without the nudity Also, whenever you die because actions you can perform in the though. Greg Pollowitz you jumped when you meant to cockpit of a vertical tank. Our This entry passed through the attack, a soothing note pops up, Full-Text RSS service if this is reminding you not to hurl your your content and you're reading it phone into oncoming traffic. on someone else's site, please read WayForward's Shantae headed to the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentiOS this Thursday originally only/faq.php#publishers. Five appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 26 Filters recommends: Donate to Oct 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please Wikileaks. see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments
Featured/
73
The RSS community wakes up

(Scripting News)
Escaping from GoDaddy

(Scripting News)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 10:50:10 AM
contacts now, and can make more. Especially if I can show that there's a consensus among It was really interesting to read developers to cooperate. This is the followup from Brent's post the kind of project that students about synchronizing the user can and should work on, imho. interface of RSS reading apps. 2. Really simple notification. Comments appeared on a bunch RSS 2.0 provides for notification of blogs, and it's a fresh group of with the cloud element. I have people, which is good to see. built on this in my aggregator and To be clear, I have developed a see how the problem is any more content tools. It's the kind of thing river-of-news RSS reader that's complicated than that. (And I'd be that needs to be provided by many based on the same idea in the surprised if this doesn't already vendors. So far WordPress has original aggregators I wrote, exist in some browsers, and is on supported it. We need to do better. dating back to 1999. Only now its way for the rest.) To be clear, there are no patents the user interface is a jQuery app What we do need, however are on anything in the RSS 2.0 spec, written by a community of two very important features that including this feature. developers who are fluent in this are easily provided, without My goal is to create an open and new environment. In my talk requiring the creation of any new distributed equivalent of Twitter yesterday with Anderson of computer science. that runs on lots of people's Couchbase, I got a much better 1. A central place to subscribe. servers, and give up none of the idea of the variety of ways jQuery This is why Twitter and Facebook ease-of-use and maybe just a bit beat RSS in simplicity. Because of performance (there are some is being used. There's absolutely no doubt that managing your subscriptions is a advantages of centralization). I the technology Brent was writing mess in RSS. To follow someone don't want anything from Google about was a blind alley. RSS has in Twitter means just clicking a at this time. But I do want to always been a great basis for a button. It can be that easy in RSS. provide incentives to them to web app. I don't think it should be It just means that the developers s u p p o r t o p e n f o r m a t s a n d a desktop app. Brent illustrates have to give up control of the protocols in a cooperative way in that so clearly. That means there's subscription list. Let that be the future. I don't ever want to be a tradeoff, offline reading would s o m e t h i n g t h e u s e r s t o r e s in a position where to participate work differently if you're using a elsewhere, that you reference, and in a community you have to web app for RSS. And that could can write to, but do not own. support an undocumented API be handled by the web browser. A How to develop that? I propose that's implemented by a single simple function that says suck that a university or group of vendor. I'm sure by now we all down all the pages linked to from universities develop and run this understand why that is too fragile my river and put them in the system. If there's a consensus a foundation to build on. cache. I'm about to unplug. I don't among developers, I have good
Submitted at 10/26/2011 10:15:16 AM
Somehow I got subscribed to a $4.99 per year program on GoDaddy that is impossible to turn off. I seriously suspect that there are actually no commands on their website to turn it off. When I ask their support people to do it, they point to the Terms of Service that apparently gives them the right to continue to charge me for a service that I never used, don't want and have explicitly told them to unsubscribe me from, several times. In writing. They refuse to do it. So it looks like I need to finally cut the cord with them. Unfortunately I have registered a lot of domains with them. I will move them to another serivce and just close the account. It seems that should get rid of the autorenewing service that I don't want. Yes? I am that foolish. I will spend several days of my life as a matter of principle to get rid of a nasty vendor that has no sense of honor, and is willing to risk an account that pays them several hundred dollars a year for a benefit of $4.99, and the possibility that they get in trouble for stealing money from
customers. That should get them in a lot of trouble. Imho. I'm so sick of companies whose systems screw their customers automatically, always erring in their favor (so forget about it not being intentional). They make it impossibly hard to opt-out and figure you'll just go ahead letting them take the money from your account because it isn't worth your time to actually get rid of them. PS: If there were a corporate death penalty, I'd vote for GoDaddy getting it. PPS: I sent a link to this blog post to the "people" at GoDaddy I'm theoretically emailing with. They never give you a name, and their responses are clearly from a database. So to think I'm conversing with an actual person is wildly optimistic. PPPS: After I sent a link to this post, they cancelled the subscription. They also apologized "for any inconvenience this might have caused." That's all they'll ever cop to, inconvenience. A more responsible apology would be: Sorry about all the money we took out of your account while you weren't watching.
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Science/
Thrilling Wonder, This Weekend In New York and London

<p>Ryan Bradley</p> (Popular Science - New Technology, Science News, The Future Now)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 10:56:41 AM
Thrilling Wonder Stories HIDE Since 2009, an annual Thrilling Wonder Stories event has taken place at the Architectural Association in London, bringing people together from multiple disciplines to explore the spaces between fiction, science, and design. This year, we're teaming with the Architectural Association and Studio-X NYC for Thrilling Wonder Stories 3. This Friday, October 28th, at Studio-X NYC, Thrilling Wonder Stories 3 will kick off at 1pm New York time, lasting till 4 or 4:30pm. Speaking that day are: NICHOLAS DE MONCHAUX Architect and author of Spacesuit: Fashioning Apollo HARI KUNZRU Novelist and author of Gods Without Men, Transmission, and The Impressionist BJARKE INGELS Architect, WSJ Magazine 2011 architectural innovator of the year, and author of Yes Is More: An Archicomic on Architectural Evolution SETH FLETCHER Superbatteries, Electric Cars, and Senior Editor at Popular Science the New Lithium Economy and author of Bottled Lightning: JACE CLAYTON AND
LINDSAY CUFF OF NETTLE Nettle's new album, El Resplandor, is a speculative
soundtrack for an unmade remake of The Shining, set in a luxury hotel in Dubai
Then, Saturday, October 29th, from 2-7pm at Studio-X NYC: JAMES FLEMING Historian and author of Fixing The Sky: The Checkered History of Weather and Climate Control MARC KAUFMAN Science writer for the Washington Post and author of First Contact: Scientific Breakthroughs in the Hunt for Life Beyond Earth ANDREW BLUM Journalist and author of Tubes: A Journey to the Center of the Internet DAVID BENJAMIN Architect and co-director of The Living DEBBIE CHACHRA Researcher and educator in biological materials and engineering design, featured in Wired UK's 2010 "Year In Ideas" HOD LIPSON Researcher in evolutionary robotics and the future of 3D printing CARLOS OLGUIN Designer at Autodesk Research working on the intersection of bio -nanotechnology and 3D visualization CHRIS WOEBKEN Interaction designer SIMONE FERRACINA Architect, winner of the 2011 THRILLING page 75
Social Media/
75
THRILLING
Animal Architecture Awards, and author of Organs Everywhere DAVE GRACER Insect agriculturalist at Small Stock Foods ANDREW HESSEL Science writer and open-source biologist, focusing on bacterial genomics The events in New York will be moderated by Studio-X NYC codirector Nicola Twilley and PopSci senior associate editor Ryan Bradley. In both locations, events are free and open to the public; however, if you plan on attending the Studio-X NYC event, please register as limited space will be available. Here's a map. Meanwhile, in London, t's an all day blow-out, lasting from noon to 10pm, featuring: VINCENZO NATALI Director of Cube, Splice, and forthcoming feature films based on J.G. Ballard's High-Rise and Neuromancer by William Gibson BRUCE STERLING Scifi author, commentator, and futurist KEVIN SLAVIN Game designer and theorist of " how algorithms shape our world"
ANDREW LOCKLEY Academy Award-winning visual effects supervisor for Inception, compositing/2D supervisor for Batman Begins and Children of Men PHILIP BEESLEY Digital media artist and experimental architect CHRISTIAN LORENZ SCHEURER Concept artist and illustrator for computer games and films such as The Matrix, Dark City, The Fifth Element, and Superman Returns CHARLIE TUESDAY GATES Taxidermy artist and sculptor-to lead a live taxidermy workshop DR. RODERICH GROSS AND THE NATURAL ROBOTICS LAB Head of the Natural Robotics Lab at the University of Sheffield-to lead a live Swarm Robotics demonstration GAVIN ROTHERY Concept artist for Duncan Jones's film Moon GUSTAV HOEGEN Animatronics engineer for Hellboy, Clash of the Titans, and Ridley Scott's forthcoming film Prometheus JULIAN BLEECKER
Designer, technologist, and researcher at the Los Angelesbased Near Future Laboratory RADIO SCIENCE ORCHESTRA Theremin-led electro-acoustic ensemble SPOV Motion graphics artists for Discovery Channel's Future Weapons and Project Earth ZELIG SOUND Music, composition, and sound design for film and television Matt Jones of the ultra-talented design studio BERG will join Liam Young to serve as co-host for the day. Here's a map for how to get there; the event is free but space is limited. If you can't make it in person, find posts on PopSci.com and follow Thrilling Wonder Stories on Twitter .
The Colbert Report Comes to Flipboard

Lauren Indvik (Mashable!)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 1:07:53 PM
episodes, as well as tweets from the show and Colberts Twitter account, says Erik Flannigan, It looks like earlier rumors are EVP of digital media at parent true: Flipboard is indeed getting company Viacom. into TV and film starting with In an interview with Reuters this The Colbert Report. past summer, Flipboard CEO The iPad app, which has long Mike McCue suggested that the b e e n p o s i t e d a s a s o c i a l company was working to bring newsreading magazine, welcomed video to the app by the end of the Comedy Centrals Colbert Report year, something investor Ashton Wednesday. Bud Light and Kutcher no doubt has a hand in. Paramount Pictures have both The company is also in the final signed on as inaugural advertisers stages of releasing its iPhone app. for Flipboards new video section. Image courtesy of MikeBrowne The show is not coming to the via Flickr app in full though. Users wll be More About: Comedy Central, able to browse clips of recent Flipboard
76
Science/
Fukushima Fallout Was Almost Twice as Bad as Official Estimates, New Study Says
Rebecca Boyle (Popular Science - New Technology, Science News, The Future Now)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 1:04:54 PM
Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Plant, March 14, 2011 DigitalGlobe via Getty Images This spring's nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant released almost double the amount of radiation the Japanese government has claimed, according to a new analysis. The authors say the boiling pools holding spent fuel rods played a role in the release of some of the contaminants, primarily cesium137 - and that this could have been mitigated by an earlier response. Researchers at the Norwegian Institute of Air Research examined radiation monitoring stations throughout Japan and the rest of the globe, extrapolating their findings from initial radiation-release estimates. They say the amount of cesium-137, a long-lived isotope that persists in the atmosphere, was about twice as high as the Japanese
government's official estimate. That number (3.51016 bequerel, for those of you keeping track) is about half the emission from Chernobyl. The researchers also say about 20 percent of the total fallout landed over Japan, but the vast majority fell over the Pacific Ocean. (The effects of this fallout on fisheries and aquatic wildlife are still being determined.)
The Fukushima Daiichi power plant, you'll recall, shut down after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that wracked Japan March 11. The tsunami knocked out backup power needed to keep the plant's six reactors cool, and the active reactors overheated, venting hydrogen gas in a series of explosions. These explosions started fires and also exposed a pool containing spent fuel rods
from reactor No. 4. The rods started heating up, releasing a radioactive isotope called cesium137, among other radionuclides. Cesium-137 emissions peaked three or four days after the quake and tsunami, remaining high until March 19, according to this new study. That's the day authorities started spraying water on the spent-fuel pool at reactor unit 4, the researchers note. "This
indicates that emissions were not only coming from the damaged reactor cores, but also from the spent-fuel pool of unit 4 and confirms that the spraying was an effective countermeasure," they say. This contradicts Japanese government reports claiming the pools released no radiation, as Nature News points out. Nature News says the disparity between the Japanese government's totals and this new study, led by atmospheric scientist Andreas Stohl, can be explained at least in part by the data set. Japanese researchers used monitoring stations in their country, whereas Stohl used monitoring stations throughout the world, which captured much of the radiation that blew over the Pacific and toward North America. The paper was just posted online for peer review in the open-source journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. [ Nature News]
Science/ News Photos
77
Diamond Industry Invests in LabCreated Knockoffs For Semiconductors

Rebecca Boyle (Popular Science - New Technology, Science News, The Future Now)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:00:42 PM
Michael Lohan's Ex Bruising Photos TMZ.com

Submitted at 10/26/2011 11:43:30 AM
Synthetic Diamond A startup called Apollo Diamond created this gem with a patented chemical vapor deposition process. Wikimedia Commons After ages of controlling the international market for natural diamonds, the diamond cartel De Beers is starting to spread its tentacles into Silicon Valley, where the hardest form of carbon is prized for much more than glitter. De Beers is investing heavily in convincing IT pros that lab-grown diamonds - not long ago, the bane of diamond dealers' existence - are the semiconductor substrate of the future. During the past several years, a few firms have honed the process of manufacturing synthetic diamonds, using anvil cells to supplant billions of years of crustal compression and building
diamond crystals atom-by-atom using chemical vapor deposition. These gemstones appear flawless and are chemically identical to the roughs mined from Africa and other places. Along with their hardness, diamonds are prized for their high thermal conductivity - a diamondbased processor could run at
much higher speeds than a silicon one, potentially enabling much more powerful computers. They can also withstand prodigious amounts of radiation, so they are useful for detecting radiation in things like particle accelerators. So De Beers would like to get in on the game, reports Technology Review.
Element Six (like carbon, get it?) is a De Beers subsidiary that just opened a San Francisco Bay-area office, investing venture capital in seven companies. "Part of our goal in being here in Silicon Valley is to go out and really proselytize diamonds to the technology companies based here," said the company's managing director, Susie Wheeler, in an interview with GigaOM. Some of these investments have already yielded interesting technology - Element Six invested in a firm called Diamond Detectors, which makes the Large Hadron Collider's radiation detectors. Much more could be to come, given that De Beers has apparently placed no limits on the depths of its planned investments. [ Technology Review, GigaOM]
Access Hollywood Michael Lohan's Ex Bruising Photos TMZ.com TMZ has obtained photos... showing the damage Michael Lohan allegedly caused to his exgirlfriend's body during a domestic violence incident early Tuesday morning. The pictures show bruising on Kate Major's upper right arm ... where she claims Lohan... Access Hollywood - Celebrity News, Photos& Videos Access Hollywood Lindsay Lohan At Morgue as Rumor Hits That She's Going Full Frontal For... Celebuzz Lindsay Lohan Enters Playboy Mansion For Nude Photo Shoot ( PHOTOS) Huffington Post AstroChicks- International Business Times- Examiner.com all 1,420 news articles
78
Health/
Supporters Of Health Overhaul Look To Reclaim 'Obamacare'

(Shots - Health Blog)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 9:58:00 AM
Samantha Appleton/ The White House President Barack Obama greets people outside the Old Market Deli in Cannon Falls, Minn., on the Aug. 15, during a Midwest bus tour. The same day he said he likes the term "Obamacare."
"Thanks Obamacare." Sounds like sarcasm, right? Sure, opponents of the federal law overhauling health care tagged it with the"Obamacare" moniker to belittle the measure even before it had passed. To many of them, the law is an ill -considered attempt to fix America's health care problems with a one-size-fits-all approach
that thrusts the government into the most personal of issues. But now, two nonprofit advocacy groups, ProgressNow Colorado Education and the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative, are trying to take back "Obamacare," as something to be proud of. They're painting it as a positive brand in a campaign(complete with its own Twitter feed and
hash tag, #thanksobamacare) that launched Monday. The campaign highlights 10 reasons people should be thankful for the health law. Among them: allowing people younger than 26 to stay on their parents' health insurance plans and stopping insurers from denying coverage to children with preexisting conditions (the law does the same
for adults beginning in 2014). During a Minnesota town hall meeting in August, President Obama said he kind of likes the label: So part of the Affordable Care Act health care reform, also known as "Obamacare" by the way, you know what? Let me tell SUPPORTERS page 79
Daily World/ News Photos
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SUPPORTERS
you, I have no problem with folks saying "Obama cares." I do care. If the other side wants to be the folks who don't care, that's fine with me. The derisive use of "-care" as a suffix tacked onto a politicians name for dramatic effects is practically a tradition. And it may be tough one to overcome. Republican candidates slapped former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's health overhaul law in the state with "Romneycare" and even " Obamneycare" to link it more directly with the federal law advanced by President Obama. And then there was "Hillarycare," named for the former first lady and current secretary of state,
which was used to describe the Clinton administration's attempt at overhauling the health care system. In the 2008 presidential primaries, the GOP candidates in trotted out " Hillarycare" to attack Romney, before anybody had even thought of Obamacare. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Winehouse 'ignored GP's warnings'

(Evening Standard - News)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 8:47:03 AM
Rob Gronkowski apologizes for those photos with the adult film star - Washington Post (blog)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 1:05:04 PM
Gronkowski has explained and apologized for photos of him and adult film star BiBi Jones that Boston Herald surfaced during the... Rob Gronkowski apologizes for Gronkowski apologizes for bye those photos with the adult film week photos Comcast SportsNet star New England (blog) Washington Post (blog) Porn Star BiBi Jones One of Rob Rob Gronkowski in a photo that Gronkowski's Many Lady Friends does not feature an adult film star. ( Photos) NESN.com (blog) (Ben Margot / AP) New England all 88 news articles Patriots tight end Rob
26 Oct 2011 Amy Winehouse ignored her doctor's warnings about her alcohol consumption - and was more than five times the legal drink-drive limit when she died, her inquest has heard. The Back To Black star was found dead in bed in her Camden flat in north London on the afternoon of Saturday July 23 this year. She had 416mg of alcohol per decilitre of blood in her system the legal driving limit is 80mg. The singer did not drink for the first three weeks of July but then hit the bottle days before her death. Dr Christina Romete, her GP, said this fitted a pattern in which Winehouse would abstain from alcohol for weeks on end only to drink again for weeks at a time. She said she warned the 27-yearold of the many dangers if she kept drinking.
She said: "The advice I had given to Amy over a long period of time was verbal and in written form about all the effects alcohol can have on the system, including respiratory depression and death, heart problems, fertility problems and liver problems." Winehouse, who was taking medication to cope with alcohol withdrawal and anxiety, was reviewed last year by a psychologist and psychiatrist about her drinking but "had her own views" about treatment. Dr Romete saw Winehouse the night before she died. She was tipsy but coherent and said she did not know if she was going to stop drinking but "she did not want to die". "She was looking forward to the future," said the doctor as Winehouse's tearful parents Mitch and Janis listened in the public gallery. They said later it was "some relief" to finally find out what had happened to their daughter. Winehouse was clear of illegal drugs when she died.
However police found three bottles of vodka in her bedroom, two large, one small. St Pancras coroner Suzanne Greenway recorded a verdict of misadventure. She said: "She had been specifically advised of the harm to her health and her life. However, she had her own views about therapy, particularly of the treatment she would accept and whether she would continue with it at any point in time." She said Winehouse "voluntarily" drank the alcohol and added: "She had consumed sufficient alcohol at 416mg per decilitre (of blood) and the unintended consequence of such potentially fatal levels was her sudden and unexpected death." This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
80
Politics-Right/
Whats Down There? Chinas Tunnels and Nuclear Capabilities

Dean Cheng (The Foundry: Conservative Policy News Blog from The Heritage Foundation)
o f m i n i m u m deterrencefielding only enough warheads to severely damage other nations. The Submitted at 10/26/2011 11:00:33 AM Recent news reports have existence of these thousands of highlighted Chinese construction miles of tunnels raises the of a system of underground possibility that, in fact, China has t u n n e l s a n d r a i s e d s e r i o u s much more than a minimum questions about what they might deterrent. imply regarding Chinas nuclear The larger points, however, are capabilities. One story highlighted neither about the tunnels nor the that the Peoples Republic of number of warheads that might be China (PRC) may have some hidden in them. Rather, this story 3,000 miles of tunnels, sufficient should remind readers: to move systems underground China is opaque. We have no across the breadth of the country. good idea of the number of Much of this was apparently dug nuclear weapons that the PRC by the Second Artillery Force, fields. Chinese officials have which is responsible for Chinas o f t e n s t a t e d t h a t t h e y a r e nuclear forces, so the assumption interested only in a minimal is that many of these tunnels are nuclear deterrent. But even if r e l a t e d t o C h i n a s n u c l e a r these statements are correct, it is deterrent. still an assumption that China has The most commonly enunciated developed a limited number of fear is that China has far more warheads and, just as importantly, nuclear weapons than it is that it is pursuing and will pursue generally credited with. Among only a minimal deterrent strategy. the initial group of nuclear powers These assumptions, in turn, are (U.S., Russia, U.K., France, and grounded in ones view of China t h e P R C ) , t h e C h i n e s e a r e more generally. The reality is that generally believed to have the Chinas nuclear forces, much less smallest nuclear arsenal, with its nuclear strategy, are hidden only a few hundred warheads. from view. This is consistent with a strategy
Chinas nuclear needs are different. The lack of understanding of the PRC is only partly due to Chinese obfuscation and silence. It is also rooted in the insistence of many analysts on applying Cold War superpower mental models to the PRC. Both the U.S. and the USSR needed large numbers of ICBMs, because their main opponent was on the other side of the globe. But for the PRC, deterring Russia need not entail ICBMsonly deterring the United States does. So, while China may only field a few dozen ICBMs, it is a flawed assumption that it does not also field a substantial regional nuclear force, holding at risk the range of targets from Tokyo to Moscow to Delhi. Chinese views of what constitutes stability are radically different from our own. Many American analysts argue that nuclear states have never gone to war with each other in the belief that nuclear weapons are by their nature stabilizing. Such blithe statements are belied by the SinoSoviet border clashes of
1969, when the Chinese precipitated a series of battles in Manchuria that soon spread along the border to Xinjiang. China was the weaker of the two, having only exploded its first atomic bomb in 1964 and its first Hbomb in 1967, which underscores that the Chinese do not necessarily see deterrence in the same way Western analysts (much less Western arms control advocates) do. None of this means that the tunnels necessarily conceal thousands or tens of thousands of warheads or missiles. Half of the tunnels were apparently dug during the Cold War, when Mao warned the nation to dig deep holes, and store grain, in preparation for a possible Soviet or American nuclear attack. But this should be cold comfort, for the reality is that it is not clear what those tunnels conceal. In this context, it is irresponsible to be arguing for global zero when the actual number of nuclear weapons fielded by potential opponents is simply not known. President Obamas push for yet another nuclear arms
control treaty with Russia to further lower the number of nuclear forces, as well as his advocacy of global nuclear disarmament, presumes that only Russia can rival the U.S. in nuclear forces. The President appears totally unconcerned that the Chinese might have substantial numbers of nuclear weapons(including launchers) hidden away. The fact that the United States is also the only nuclear nation with no program of nuclear force modernization raises further questions about what providing for the common defense means for this Administration. All of this should be food for thought for Congress and the Administration as defense budget cuts are debated. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
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The Libyan Rebels Massacre

Arnold Ahlert (FrontPage Magazine FrontPage)
The Libyan authority at the m o m e n t i s the National Transitional Council Submitted at 10/25/2011 11:27:36 PM (NTC) chaired by Mustafa AbdelBarack Obama and his supporters Jalil, and the likelihood of a are no doubt hoping the lions competent investigation taking share of the credit for the p l a c e i s s l i m : o n M o n d a y deposing and killing of Libyan volunteers were busy scrubbing dictator Muammar Gaddafi will the garden of the Mahari Hotel, go to the president, who himself where the alleged atrocity appears expressed praise for the rebels t o h a v e t a k e n p l a c e . T h e back in September. Today, the volunteers, who said the dead Libyan people are writing a new were comprised of at least two chapter in the life of their nation. former Gaddafi government After four decades of darkness, officials, local loyalist fighters they can walk the streets, free and maybe civilians, have from a tyrant, Mr. Obama said at collected dozens of bodies. But the time. They are indeed free other evidence of the massacre, from a tyrant. Whether they are such as shell casings, plastic ties free from tyranny is another used to bind the hands of the matter. The final days of the victims, and patches of bloody fighting in and around the city of grass remain behind. Sirte resulted in a massacre, with Complicating any investigation is 53 people methodically executed the fact that the bodies, which at a hotel apparently by a were found clustered together, faction of the same rebels who were already in an advanced state have assumed control of the of decomposition when they were country. viewed by HRW observers on We found 53 decomposing October 23rd. HRW noted that the b o d i e s , a p p a r e n t l y G a d d a f i condition of the bodies suggests supporters, at an abandoned hotel t h e v i c t i m s w e r e k i l l e d in Sirte, and some had their hands approximately one week prior to bound behind their backs when their discovery, between October they were shot, said Peter 1 4 a n d O c t o b e r 1 9 . T h e Bouckaert, emergencies director bloodstains on the grass directly a t H u m a n R i g h t s W a t c h below the bodies, bullet holes ( H R W ) . T h i s r e q u i r e s t h e visible in the ground, and the immediate attention of the Libyan spent cartridges of AK-47 and FN authorities to investigate what -1 rifles scattered around the site happened and hold accountable strongly suggest that some, if not those responsible. all of the people, were shot and
dealing with formal investigations and prosecutions remain largely undeveloped. Politically speaking, the NTCs attempt to burnish its own legitimacy requires it to establish relationships with the leaders of those militias, which may lead to more than a few alleged incidents of extra-legal activity being downplayed, ignored altogether or blamed on Gaddafi and his loyalist forces. This last fallback position appears to be the stance the NTC is adopting with regard to the killing of Gen. Abdul Fattah Younes, the rebels top military killed in the location where they f a c i l i t y a s a b a s e o f commander, as well as two of his were discovered. operations. HRW did not directly a i d e s , b a c k i n A u g u s t . According to witnesses HRW accuse these five brigades of Younis, former aide and interior interviewed, anti-Gaddafi rebels conducting the massacre, but said minister to Gaddafi, defected on from the city of Misrata had been their presence at the hotel when it February 20th, and was credited in control of that section of Sirte occurred requires immediate with helping the rebels overthrow the regimes military garrison in since early October. Anti-Gaddafi investigation. brigades are organized according T h e c u r r e n t r e c o r d o f the city of Benghazi. When the to their city of origin, and the city the National Transitional Council murders occurred, Younis was of Misrata has more that 100 suggests such immediacy is a pipe reportedly in the hands of rebel brigades (katiba) which contain dream for both practical and forces. NTC Chairman Abdel-Jalil small numbers of fighters who political reasons. Practically had promised to investigate that operated semi-autonomously s p e a k i n g , t h e r e b e l s w h o incident, claiming no one, not during battle. The names of five ostensibly liberated the nation are even the highest officials would of those brigades, the Tiger comprised of several separate remain above suspicion. Yet he B r i g a d e ( A l - N i m e r ) , t h e m i l i t i a s . D e s p i t e r e p e a t e d proposed that Gaddafi loyalists Support Brigade (Al-Isnad), the attempts, the NTC has failed to were responsible, even as other Jaguar Brigade (Al-Fahad), the establish a chain of command members of his organization Lion Brigade (Al-Asad), and among those militias or form a revealed that rebels remained the the Citadel Brigade (Al-Qasba), national army. Thus, despite chief suspects in the killing. covered the walls and entrance of several alleged incidents of the hotel. This was apparently due arbitrary arrests, torture or to the fact that they used the murder, the mechanisms for
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The Lefts Confused Reactions to Qaddafis Death

Joseph Klein (FrontPage Magazine FrontPage)
statement on the day that Qaddafis death was announced declaring that Moammar Submitted at 10/25/2011 11:25:10 PM Qaddafis demise today represents The predominant, although not a measure of justice for the unanimous, sentiment amongst countless individuals he and his the Lefts opinion leaders is that regime terrorized in Libya and the Libyan dictator Muammar around the world during his 40Q a d d a f i s g r i s l y d e m i s e year rule. represents a complete vindication Ben Armbruster, national o f P r e s i d e n t O b a m a s security editor for the centers multilateralist foreign policy. ThinkProgress blog, praised For example, left-wing New NATOs successes in Libya and York Times columnist Nicholas validation of the presidents Kristof tweeted soon after the policy. news of Qaddafis death broke, The United States spent just over If Qaddafi is dead, this is $1 billion on the war in Libya and (tentative) vindication of a brave not one American life was lost, Obama decision to back rebels Armbruster wrote. Now, Qaddafi trying to overthrow him. is dead and the National How ironic it is that, back in T r a n s i t i o n a l C o u n c i l i s 2003, Kristof warned we have positioning the country toward a been midwives to growing Islamic democracy. fundamentalism in Iraq. Women In an exchange between the two did relatively well under Saddam left-wing commentators Bill Press Hussein Iraq wont follow the and Keith Olbermann on the theocratic model of Iran, but it latters Countdown TV show, could end up as Iran Lite: an Press said: Islamic state, but ruled by [L]ook at Libya, right? Where we politicians rather than ayatollahs. went in the beginning, but we What does Kristof think today were in cooperation with our about the Obama-backed Libyan allies, it was under the U.N. flag, Transitional National Councils NATO operations countries plans to institute Sharia as the joined us in paying for it. Not one governing law in Libya and to boot on the ground, not one life begin by removing the Qaddafi- lost, and its over in seven era ban on polygyny? months. The George Soros-funded Center The leftist comedic for American Progress issued a commentators Jon Stewart and
Bill Maher also got into the act in support of Obama. Is there no Republican that can be gracious and statesmanlike in this situation? the Daily Show host Jon Stewart asked. We removed a dictator in six months, losing no American soldiers, spending like a billion dollars instead of a trillion dollars. Bill Maher on his HBO program said, If you just presented the Republicans with Obamas resume and didnt say who it was, they would erect statues to this guy. At least Jon Stewart can at times be funny. Maher is just plain mean-spirited, as he showed in following up with this ugly sexist remark: Just the killing alone, Michelle Malkin would name her
directly as a result of President George W. Bushs successful military intervention in Iraq that brought down Saddam Hussein. Although Obama did not seek congressional approval for American military intervention in Libya which President George W. Bush did obtain prior to initiating military action in Afghanistan and Iraq the Lefts congressional anti-war Bush critics heaped praise on Obama. For example, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA), who famously was for the Iraq war before he was against it, gushed vibrator Obama. Note that none of these Obama about the Obama administrations l e f t - w i n g b o o s t e r s h a v e clear-eyed leadership, patience, questioned the circumstances of and foresight by pushing the Qaddafis summary execution international community into without trial, NATOs bombing of action after Qaddafi promised a a childrens hospital, a market, massacre. Once again, Kerry and private residences that killed seems to have gotten things or wounded innocent civilians, or backwards. It was the Arab the gross human rights violations League, United Kingdoms Prime that the U.S.-backed Libyan Minister David Cameron and rebels were openly committing Frances Nicolas Sarkozy who during the war and its wind down. p u s h e d h a r d f o r m i l i t a r y The Lefts Obama cheerleaders intervention and led the effort to also conveniently forget that obtain the UN Security Councils Qaddafi would have posed a far blessing under the pretext of graver danger to his own people protecting Libyan civilians. and to American security interests Obama reluctantly joined the had he not been forced to abandon bandwagon already in motion, his pursuit of weapons of mass leading from behind, as one of destruction, including his nuclear LEFTS page 83 arms program. Qaddafi did so
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Morning Bell: The Serious Risks of the Russian Reset

Ericka Andersen (The Foundry: Conservative Policy News Blog from The Heritage Foundation)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 9:09:51 AM
LEFTS
his senior advisors put it.
President Obama may believe that Americas reset policy with Russia is the correct move to cover important foreign policy bases, but the policy is deeply flawed. It puts the United States at a disadvantage we cant afford and forces us to lay aside fundamental American principles of human liberty. The reset concessions are simply not worth the exchange of empty promises from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who is merely a talking head for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. As Heritages Ariel Cohen & Kim Holmes wrote recently in a memo on U.S.Russia Relations, Putin would like nothing less than a Soviet-like superpower prestige and status through forced nuclear equality with Washington. The large reset payoff requires America put it all on the line by cutting U.S. strategic nuclear forces and engaging in missile defense talks with Russia, in addition to abandoning missile
defense deployment in Poland and the Czech Republic and keeping quiet about political freedom violations running rampant throughout Russia. America may never have won the Cold War 22 years ago with policies such as these. It is imperative that America lead with the cause of freedom and justice when dealing with Russia, or any other nation for that matter. In Heritages Understanding America series, Matthew Spalding explains that the United States was founded and thrives on universal principles that appeal to a higher standard. Such universal principles of freedom should be the foundation of Americas foreign policy strategynot an afterthought. Yesterday at a Heritage Foundation conference focused on the reset policy, House Speaker John Boehner (ROH) recalled the international leadership that prompted America to victory in the Cold War not so long ago. He applauded President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as two who quite simply, loved
freedom[and] made their feelings well-known, contagious, as if no one or no force could stand in their way. Boehner urged America not forget what life was like for the Soviets before these two warriors of freedom refused to stand for it. As Boehner said, freedom most inspires those who remember life without it. While the Obama Administration may believe the reset policy as it stands is necessary, the deal raises a lot of red flags. In his paper, Cohen urges that America must not tolerate Russian mischief or fail to make its priorities of freedom loud and clear. As Boehner said, instead of negotiating with Russia, Washington should call its bluffPublicly, forcefully, frequently. As the leader of the free world, America has a responsibility to remain in control and end the idea that it is leading from behind when it comes to Russia. In a recent memo, Cohen explained why the Obama Administration must stop its policy of please Moscow and
push Russia to reset its own policies. He writes: Moscow has continuously promoted in word and deed the idea that there is or should be a multipolar world order that constrains U.S. foreign policies. A reset policy that ignores Russias global efforts to undermine the U.S. recalls the illfated dtente of the 1970s. As experts at yesterdays conference attested, the risks involved in Americas reset relations with Russia are many. Foreign policy dealings with any nationespecially Russiamust be guided by Americas Founding values first and foremost. The consequences of doing otherwise will be great. Quick Hits: This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Tunisian Elections Dominated by the Islamist AlNahda Party

James Phillips (The Foundry: Conservative Policy News Blog from The Heritage Foundation)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 10:07:25 AM
Tunis, Tunisia - Announcement of results of elections for the Constituent Assembly of Tunisia to the seat of the winner, the Islamist party Ennhadha. Photo Credit: Corentin Fohlen/Sipa The Al-Nahda(Renaissance) Party, a long-banned Islamist movement that was legalized after the ouster of Tunisias autocratic President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in January, is emerging as the big winner in Sundays elections. Although the final results have not yet been announced, AlTUNISIAN page 84
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The Anti-Semites of Occupy Wall Street

Ben Shapiro (FrontPage Magazine FrontPage)
Submitted at 10/25/2011 11:26:43 PM
TUNISIAN
There is a disturbing undercurrent to the current Occupy Wall Street movement. It isnt merely its passionate denunciations of capitalism and excuses for corporatism. It isnt merely its perverse love for a president who has received more Wall Street money than any candidate in American history, and its hatred for Wall Street itself. Its anti-Semitism. Even as President Obama comes out in support of Occupy Wall Street, more and more Occupy rallies are laced with anti-Semitic signs, placards, and slogans. In New York, ralliers hold signs reading, Google: (1) Wall Street Jews; (2) Jewish Billionaires; (3) Jews & Fed Rsrv Bank, Gaza Supports The Occupation of Wall Street, and shouting ugly canards like Jews control Wall Street. The American Nazi Party is supporting OWS, with leader Rocky Suhayda stating, Who holds the wealth and power in this country the Judeo-Capitalists. Who is therefore the #1 enemy who makes all this filth happen the Judeo-Capitalists. Not everyone occupying Wall
Street is an anti-Semite. But there is far too high a comfort level among those in the movement for anti-Semitism. If the Tea Party had been even one tenth as laced with racism as the OWS movement is with anti-Semitism, it would have been put out of business by the mainstream press long ago. The OWS complacency with regard to anti-Semitism in its midst finds a mirror in the White House. President Obama supports OWS wholeheartedly and why
shouldnt he? After attempting time and again to force Israel to the negotiating table with terrorists, after using Rahm Emanuel to threaten Israel into concessions by warning that the US would allow Iran to go nuclear, after backing anti-Semitic revolutionaries from Egypt to Libya, after making friends with notorious Jew-haters like Rashid Khalidi and Jeremiah Wright why shouldnt Obama extend that open hand to the folks at Occupy Wall Street?
Nahda has reportedly won 27 out of the 62 seats, over 40 percent of the seats filled so far, in the 217member constituent assembly. The landmark electionthe first genuinely free election to be held The question is not why the left in Tunisia since it gained supports the anti-Semitism at independence in 1956will Occupy Wall Street. The question determine the members of the is why the left seems to support assembly that will draft a new anti-Semitism across the globe. constitution, appoint an interim Europe is a leftist continent of government, and set dates for that there can be little doubt. Yet parliamentary and presidential anti-Semitism runs rampant elections next year. More than 90 through it. Socialist Spain leads percent of Tunisias 4.1 million the way in anti-Semitic polling, registered voters cast ballots, an but countries like France and extremely high turnout that Austria arent far behind. reflects strong support for Britains anti-Israel policy is democratic change. More than cover for anti-Semitism; 100 parties are competing for Germanys post-World War II seats in a proportional history of stamping out antirepresentation system. Semitism is beginning to fade into Tunisian secularists, leftists, and the past. Crimes against Jews are liberals were dismayed by the up across Europe. poor showing of many of their In the United States, the left is preferred parties. Some gathered just as anti-Semitic, if less in front of the office of Tunisias violent. Their anti-Zionist electoral commission to protest rhetoric is certainly a cover for alleged voter fraud by Al-Nahda, anti-Semitism, since Zionism which did better than expected in stands merely for the principle the vote. The secretary general of that Jews deserve a state. The left the International Federation for has no problem with anyone else Human Rights in Tunisia having a state Palestinian, Kurd, complained thatthe problem of Tibetan. When it comes to the Nahda is that they have a different Jews, however, they find it discourse. Today they will stick respectable to reject out of hand with the republic, but their right to a self-governing tomorrowwell see. homeland. Opposing specific Al-Nahda was expected to win policies of the Israeli government the largest share of the votes, but is not anti-Semitic. Opposing it appears to have exceeded Israels right to exist as a Jewish expectations. Unlike many of the state is. newly formed secular political TUNISIAN page 86
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Two Questions for AEIs Nick Schulz

David Frum (FrumForum David Frum)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 8:17:11 AM
1) Do you believe that people are better off if their hospital raises its prices to their health insurer? 2) Do you believe that people are better off if they borrow against their home equity to pay bills they otherwise could not afford? If yes, then its valid to treat consumption as a measure of
economic well-being as Schulzs American blog does in this chart. If not then better stick to money income. And if youre sticking to money income, you owe your readers an alert if you intend to deviate from the generally accepted figures for income, as AEI does. The US Census shows inflation-adjusted money income declining between 2000 and 2007, from $53,164 per household in 2000 to $52,823 in
2007. AEIs figures show inflation-adjusted money income increasing slightly. The discrepancy? The answer is that the AEI chart substitutes a new definition of inflation, one that posits that poor people are less affected by inflation than rich people. That gives a little income boost to poorer Americans, raising the median number slightly. The effect of that change is to suggest that things got
slightly better for the typical American over the 2000-2007 period, rather than (as generally thought) slightly worse. Its not an utterly indefensible claim. But if youre going to make it out of context, it does call for a red flag that you have substituted your own numbers for the generally accepted and recognized numbers. Otherwise we have moved from a world in which we are all entitled
to our own opinions, to a world in which we are all entitled to our facts. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
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parties, it is well-organized with a strong grassroots presence. It was also well-financed due to access to funds from Islamic charities. There are also rumors of financial support from oil-rich Arab kingdoms of the Persian Gulf. Just as Tunisias Jasmine Revolution was a harbinger of other popular uprisings in the Arab Spring, Tunisias elections may be a harbinger of Islamist victories in upcoming elections in two other countries influenced by the Arab Spring: Egypt and Libya. The leaders of Egypts secular political parties are reportedly already apprehensive about the
Tunisian election results, fearful that they will also be sidelined in Egypt by an Islamist victory in Egypts November parliamentary elections. If secular political parties fare so poorly in Tunisiawhich had a strong secular tradition, a welleducated population, and a relatively large middle classthen they may attract even fewer votes in Egypt and Libya, which have much stronger Islamist political movements. Despite the fact that the initial leadership of most of the Arab Spring protests were secular prodemocracy liberals, the election
results from Tunisia suggest that secular liberals could soon become canaries in the coal mine. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
How Gamification Can Make News Sites More Engaging

Meghan Peters (Mashable!)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:31:40 PM
Joanna trial jury considers verdict

but admits the manslaughter of the 25-year-old at her Clifton flat. Submitted at 10/26/2011 7:48:23 AM The judge told the jury: "It is 26 Oct 2011 your responsibility, and your Jurors at the Joanna Yeates responsibility alone, to judge the murder trial have retired to evidence and decide all the consider their verdict. relevant facts, and that is a heavy The judge urged the six men and responsibility. You must not six women trying Vincent Tabak allow emotion or sympathy for to reach a unanimous verdict. Joanna and her family and for Jurors at Bristol Crown Court Greg to cloud your judgment." "should not allow emotion or Mr Justice Field said the jury s y m p a t h y " t o c l o u d t h e i r needed to focus on what was judgment in deciding whether Tabak's intention at the time the Tabak intended to kill Miss landscape architect died. Yeates, Mr Justice Field said. "Did he intend to kill her or cause The defendant, 33, denies murder her really serious harm?," the
judge asked. "The fact that afterwards the defendant may have regretted what he had done does not amount to a defence. "If having examined the evidence, and despite the defendant's denial, you are sure that when the defendant strangled Joanna Yeates he intended to kill her or cause her really serious bodily harm, your verdict will be guilty. "If you are not sure of his intentions when he strangled Joanna Yeates your verdict should be not guilty." Mr Justice Field carefully recounted the evidence taking the
jury through Tabak's oral evidence and his account of his movements on the night of December 17. He also spoke of the evidence given by pathologists Dr Russell Delaney and Dr Cary. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Gamification, the use of gameplay mechanics for nongame applications, is transforming online news into an engaging, social and fun activity. Its quickly becoming the next frontier in web and mobile technology. But what makes gamification successful? Simply put: motivation. By tracking readers success, news organizations provide a sense of progress. This, in turn, motivates readers to continue reading, commenting or performing whatever actions on the site that will contribute to their overall progress. At Mashable, weve incorporated gamification into Mashable Follow, our social layer and content curation tool. Readers sign up for Follow with their Facebook or Twitter login to comment on and share stories, manage their news streams by HOW page 87
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following the topics they care most about, and connecting with fellow readers by viewing and commenting on their site activity. Activity is the core of Follow. Readers must be logged in to comment on articles and are encouraged to share to any or all of their social media accounts with a single button. Rewarding readers for taking these actions was an important component of Follow. We decided to use Badges as the reward systems because they are native to our audience. The Badges are central to Follows game mechanics. Readers earn badges for everything, from gaining followers to connecting social networking profiles to their account. So far, there are 26 badges that Mashable community members can earn. Most are named after web memes, such as Strutting Leo and Double Rainbow. Of course Follow badges are just one example of game mechanics on a news site and heres why they work. Fostering Community As a result of the hunger for badges, readers develop a more personal and valuable community on our site. All badge-worthy actions are tied to Mashable community contributions, such as commenting and inviting friends to use Follow. This inadvertently creates a stronger bond between Follow users and our site, making for a more engaged and committed readerbase.
Andrew David Baron, an avid Follow user, can attest to the badges encouraging Mashable readers to comment more. [The gamification] lends itself to creating an informed hierarchy of Social followers not many people are willing to take a risk and put their comment out there first, he said. Bob Aycock, another frequent Follow user agrees. Once Mashable launched Follow it made me start leaving comments and replying to other folks comments, he said. I also read more posts now that Follow has become such a hit (and personal addiction). Resonating With Readers Mashable coverage is driven by web culture. Thats why we chose web memes as the main theme for Follow badges. Some of the most popular ones are David After Dentist, the unforgettable YouTube video of a child reacting to dental surgery medication, and Dramatic Chipmunk, yet another notable (albeit short) YouTube video. Keeping the badges consistent with our content area helps give readers a deeper connection to Mashable. It really makes people smile to see something funny, referential, nerdy, etc. things that we can relate to and feel even more at home at Mashable, Baron said. The Sad Keanu badge, inspired by a viral Keanu Reeves photo, is his favorite. Creating Competition In real life and on the web,
badges are status symbols. Each earned badge shows as an update in the readers My Activity stream as well as the Friends Activity stream. Followers can comment on these updates and often do so, sharing congratulations or jealousy. Knowing what badges friends are earning makes the game more of a friendly competition, which increases readers motivation to use the service. In addition, each Follow user profile has a Badges tab that shows what badges a reader has earned and which they have yet to unlock. These publicly displayed achievements make keeping up in the badge-earning race essential. Room For Growth Just as the next big web meme is always around the corner, so are future Follow badges. We aim to give readers something to continue striving for as a motivation to remain active. Our team is continuously brainstorming badge design and milestone ideas. It seems our readers are too. They recently got involved with the process by entering our Follow Badge Contest, which resulted in our newest badge: The Honey Badger. Involving the community in the gaming dynamics gets readers further excited about and vested in Follow. Conclusion Though badges have worked well for Mashable Follow, there are a number of gaming mechanics and strategies. Points, challenges and virtual currency have been
successful for some sites as rewards, while behavior and callsto-action are examples of viable game dynamics. Gamification remains an open book for the news industry. Weve only scratched the surface on the potential for community building, revenue and more. At the heart of gamification is games and games are intended to be enjoyable. News organizations should explore it and challenge themselves to take a fresh angle on engaging their communities. And, remember, have fun. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, rubenhi Event management for Mashable Media Summit 2011 powered by Eventbrite Presenting Sponsor: AT&T More About: community, content, curation, gamification, journalism, mashable, mashable follow, Media For more Business coverage: Follow Mashable Business on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Business channel Download our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Sociable Labs Strives to Make Ecommerce More Social and Profitable

Ben Parr (Mashable!)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:42:56 PM
Sociable Labs, a startup focused on integrating social actions and social sharing into ecommerce websites, emerged from stealth Wednesday with $7 million in funding, as it launched its ROIGuided Social Design, an ecommerce tool. The San Francisco-based startup was one of the 22 companies Facebook invested in with the fbFund in 2009. Since then, the company has been heads-down, focusing on finding ways to give online retailers the ability to harness social sharing to generate more revenue. The company has several products retailers can integrate into their website. Sociable RSVP and Purchase Share, its two leading products, are integrated directly into a retailers website, making it possible for customers SOCIABLE page 88
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SOCIABLE
to share their purchasing via Facebook. The focus is on delivering hard ROI to retailers that is to say more traffic, sales and conversions. The company claims that its technology works up to 20 times better than simply adding a Like or Share button. Sociable Labs technology is driving referral traffic to Active.com that converts at a 300% higher rate than Facebook Fan Page traffic, Active.com VP of marketing Kristin Carroll says. The company also counts Rue La La, Backcountry, HauteLook and Chegg as customers. Sociable Labs also announced that it has raised $7 million in Series B financing from Battery Ventures, with Javelin Ventures, KPG Ventures, Quest Venture Partners and Founders Fund also participating. The money will be
used to accelerate the companys growth and add more people to its team of 25 employees. The social ecommerce space has been gaining traction in recent months. It will face stiff competition from companies like Y Combinator-funded Curebit and SocialFeet as it tries to make bring social to ecommerce. More About: Battery Ventures, fbfund, Sociable Labs For more Business coverage: Follow Mashable Business on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Business channel Download our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Cameron set for new eurozone summit

Submitted at 10/25/2011 9:27:28 PM
26 Oct 2011 Prime Minister David Cameron has arrived in Brussels for another summit after risking the wrath of French President Nicolas Sarkozy with a new call to eurozone leaders to solve the crisis once and for all. The pair clashed at last weekend's summit when Mr Sarkozy told Mr Cameron he was sick of Britain telling the others what to do about the problem while refusing to join the single currency project. In the Commons before leaving for Brussels, Mr Cameron called once again for "decisive" action
on Greece, a "proper recapitalisation" of the banks and a "firewall" to prevent contagion spreading. He won the argument to attend the latest emergency meeting - but only for a brief gathering of the 27 leaders, after which the 17 eurozone heads will show the others out and settle in for what could be marathon talks to finalise economic rescue plans. At that point Mr Cameron is planning talks with leaders of other key non-eurozone member states, including Poland, Sweden, Denmark and the Czech Republic. Then he will fly on to Australia for a long-scheduled visit, having already cancelled the Japanese
and New Zealand legs of his tour to attend the EU meeting. At a noisy session of Prime Minister's Questions, Mr Cameron insisted: "What is absolutely necessary this evening is to deal with the key elements of the eurozone crisis, which is acting as a drag anchor on recoveries in many other countries including our own." This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Video of the Day: Occupy Wall Street Camps as 'Obamavilles'

Chris Good (Politics : The Atlantic)
that economy is almost certainly fueling the nationwide protest movement. Submitted at 10/26/2011 11:13:50 AM Highlighting that fact, the GOPRepublicans have claimed a l i g n e d A m e r i c a n A c t i o n repeatedly that Occupy Wall Network released the above video Street protesters are angry at comparing Occupy Wall Street government, rather than banks. tent-camps to the Depression-era Whether or not that's true, s h a n t y t o w n s k n o w n a s attacking the "Obama economy" "Hoovervilles" -- a term originally is the GOP's best bet in 2012, and coined by Democratic National
Committee publicity man Charles Michelson during Republican Herbert Hoover's presidency. The term first appeared in print in 1930. American Action Network spent over $20 million during the 2010 elections, most of it to attack Democrats. Chaired by former Wisconsin senator Norm Coleman (R) and founded by GOP
strategist Fred Malek, the group is a 501(c)4 nonprofit, the type of group attacked by Obama and Democrats as "shadowy" because it is not required to disclose donors. Image credit: American Action Network/YouTube This article available online at: http://www.theatlantic.com/ politics/archive/2011/10/video-of-
the-day-occupy-wall-street-camps -as-obamavilles/247409/ This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
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89
The GOP's Reform Renaissance

Josh Kraushaar (Politics : The Atlantic)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 10:19:33 AM
Republican governors are supplying the party with a new campaign playbook, rising to popularity after instituting tough policies Republicans searching for a positive governing message that doesn't rely exclusively on opposing President Obama need look no further than Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and his landslide reelection on Saturday. Jindal's ambitious government reforms in a state with a reputation for corruption has made him one of the most popular governors in the country, leading to across-the-board Republican dominance in the Pelican State. MORE FROM NATIONAL JOURNAL: Super Committee Holds Public Hearing on Cuts Perry Airs First TV Ad in Iowa 2012 Narrative Still Being Written Jindal won 66 percent of the vote in an all-party ballot, facing only nominal Democratic opposition. His coattails extended the length of the Louisiana ballot: Democrats didn't even field candidates in four of the seven statewide races. Where they did, the Republican won more than two-thirds of the vote. The GOP also won its first-ever elected majorities in the state Legislature on Saturday.
(Republicans took control of both chambers in the last year, thanks to party-switchers and special elections.) Republicans netted two state House seats and could gain as many as four state Senate seats if all the upcoming runoffs go their way. It's unusual for an executive to win so convincingly after spending four years taking on entrenched interests. Calling for change and making controversial decisions rarely leads to such popularity. In fact, shaking things up often leads to political trouble, as Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker
found out upon unveiling an ambitious budget this year. But Jindal shattered the conventional wisdom, changing nearly every aspect of Louisiana governance in his first term--and he's reaping the rewards. His bold agenda tightened the state's notoriously lax ethics rules, streamlined its inefficient government, provided competition for New Orleans' failing public schools, and cut spending while simultaneously improving services during the tumultuous, post-Hurricane Katrina period, as profiled in a
National Review feature story by Jim Geraghty. Jindal is hardly a lone wolf. He's a crest in a wave of Republican governors proving that tough reforms may cause short-term pain but lead to long-term political gain. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is enjoying his highest approval ratings of his term after averting his state's near bankruptcy by cutting entitlements and taking influential public-sector unions head on. In the latest Quinnipiac poll, 58 percent of Garden State voters approve of his job performance,
15 points higher than President Obama's rating in this solidly Democratic state. The leader of this pack is Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels who, like Christie, saw his popularity dip in the wake of controversial decisions. He privatized state services, such as the Indiana Toll Road--initially a wildly unpopular move--and ended collective bargaining with public unions to close the state's sizable deficit. He eventually rebounded to win a second term comfortably and GOP'S page 92
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When Did It Become Legal to Spy on Americans?

Emily Berman (Politics : The Atlantic)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 11:58:54 AM
Congress and the public should demand more oversight of changing FBI rules on domestic surveillance It just got easier for the federal government to collect information about innocent Americans -- and those Americans have had surprisingly little say in the matter. On October 15, the FBI reportedly implemented new rules that relax restrictions on, and oversight of, the FBI's intelligence collection activities. Although they are not available to the public, reports indicate the changes permit FBI agents to search an individual's trash with the goal of finding material that might pressure him into becoming a government informant, grant agents the authority to search commercial or law enforcement databases without first opening an investigation, and reduce the type of investigations subjected to heightened oversight because of their relationship to protected First Amendment expression, association, or religious practice. This is the third modification of the FBI's intelligence collection authorities since September 11, 2001. First in 2002, again in 2008,
and finally, just last week, amendments were adopted with scant public attention and with minimal -- if any -- congressional involvement. Groups and communities concerned about the new rules' impact on civil liberties, particularly the risk of religious or ethnic profiling, also had no constructive input. That such momentous changes can take place essentially under the political radar is something of
a historical accident, but it has serious contemporary implications. In the mid-1970s, a congressional investigative committee known as the Church Committee conducted a comprehensive inquiry into the activities of the American intelligence community over the course of six presidential administrations, from Roosevelt through Nixon. The Committee found that the intelligence
community, over the course of several decades, had engaged in multiple illegal programs, all of which were carried out in secret and without legislative oversight. The FBI had employed covert action to disrupt and discredit peaceful civil rights, anti-war, and women's rights groups. The CIA, in violation of its charter, had engaged in massive domestic intelligence collection targeting lawful protest activity, plotted to
assassinate foreign leaders, and conducted covert experiments that included the administration of LSD to unwitting subjects. The result of these revelations was a groundswell of outrage that fueled significant reforms. These reforms introduced limits on the collection of both foreign and domestic intelligence, increased congressional and judicial WHEN page 92
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91
Poll shows Obama beating Romney, Cain and Perry in Ohio

Tina Korbe (Hot Air Top Picks)
advantage of these presidential negatives. The next year will determine if the GOP is able to Submitted at 10/26/2011 11:45:01 AM nominate a candidate who can do Ohio voters arent exactly fans of so. President Obama, but, as of right All along, Ive viewed the now, they still would choose him presidents abysmal approval for president over any of the GOP ratings with a grain of salt. As frontrunners. According to a new Ive written before, its one thing poll from Quinnipiac University, to disapprove of the way a 51 percent of Ohioans disapprove president performs; its another to of the way the president has done vote against him. Consider again his job, compared to just 43 that some polls show even liberal percent who approve. A plurality v o t e r s d i s a p p r o v e o f t h e even go so far as to say he doesnt presidents job performance deserve reelection. but those folks arent about to Yet, the poll shows that Obama vote for the GOP candidate. At would best Mitt Romney by 45 best, they might stay home out of percent to 41 percent, Herman disappointment or apathy. Cain by 47 percent to 41 percent The GOP candidate will have to and Rick Perry by 47 to 36 turn out strong support in Ohio if percent. he or she hopes to beat Obama Peter Brown, assistant director of t h e r e a n d O h i o i s n o the polling institute, said it insignificant state. Remember: best: Ohio voters are not happy Ohios 18 electoral votes are with the presidents performance expected to be pivotal in the 2012 and dont think he deserves a presidential election. George W. second term. But elections are Bush sealed his 2004 re-election about choices. At this point none by narrowly winning the state of the Republicans are able to take over Sen. John Kerry. In 2008,
Obama beat Sen. John McCain in the state by 5 points. But the GOP won big there in last years midterm elections, taking back the governors office and five House seats held by Democrats. Right now, of the GOP candidates, Cain is the favorite among Ohio voters. The former Godfathers pizza CEO has lined up 28 percent support there. Compare that with Mitt Romneys 23 percent or Rick Perrys poor 4 percent. (Ron Paul receives 8 and Newt Gingrich 7.) According to Brown, a zero-sum relationship exists between how well Cain and Perry do; Cains ascent has almost exactly corresponded with Perrys descent in Ohio. But if Cain is to beat Obama in Ohio and nationwide, hell have to up his name recognition. For that, viral ads however bizarre should help. As has often been pointed out about Cain, once voters know him, they like him. Incidentally, lest we forget about other important races to occur in 2012, the poll also shows
Democratic incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown still in the lead in the Senate race there. Thats a seat the GOP should be able to take, if for no other reason than that Brown has been closely affiliated with the green energy loan program that has cost taxpayers so much and returned so little. The GOP has a strong candidate in Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel. All he needs to win is a little more visibility. Again and again, Ill say it: Obamacare repeal is only possible with the support of the Senate and repeal still remains essential to restoring the economy and federalism and also, frankly, to devising a truly affordable and accessible health care system. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
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WHEN
oversight of intelligence gathering, and narrowed the scope of the intelligence community's mandate, particularly within the United States. But these rules were not implemented in uniform fashion. The rules governing foreign intelligence surveillance were set out in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. A presidential executive order banned U.S.-sanctioned assassinations of foreign leaders. And the FBI's domestic intelligence authorities were governed by internal Justice Department policies, known as the Attorney General's Guidelines and the Domestic Investigation and Operations Guide, or DIOG. In recent years, the government has tried to relax all three sets of rules -- and for two of them, this move spurred lively public debate. When President Bush in September 2001 reportedly instructed the CIA to kill Osama bin Laden, a public discussion of
whether such activity would violate the assassination ban ensued (and continues today). And, in the wake of revelations that the Bush administration engaged in illegal warrantless surveillance, the country embarked on a nearly three-year long public tug-of-war over the proper scope of the government's foreign intelligence surveillance powers. The same cannot be said for changes to the Justice Department policies governing the FBI's domestic intelligence-collection powers. In 2002, the Attorney General's Guidelines, for the first time since their inception, permitted the Bureau to spy on religious and political gatherings without probable cause. Another sea change came in 2008, when the Guidelines gave the FBI license to engage in investigations unsupported by any indication of wrongdoing or threat to the national security. Even though these changes represented
dramatic expansions of the FBI's powers, Congress was sidelined in the process, and the issue barely registered on the public radar. Now, these rules have changed once again. Because the rules are implemented through FBI policy guidelines, the Bureau can change them at will -- without external oversight or approval from either the public or Congress. But this neither explains nor excuses the lack of public and congressional engagement. Over the past decade, a range of executive efforts to both define and employ unilaterally its powers -- war powers, detention powers, foreign surveillance powers -- have been met with reactions ranging from outspoken congressional skepticism to public fury. The rules governing the FBI's domestic investigations may be non-statutory, but they are no less essential to the protection of Americans' rights to privacy, as well as freedom of expression, religion, and association.
Congress and the public should insist on playing just as vocal a role in their modification as they have played in other issues defining the scope of executive branch power after 9/11. It's not too late to have a debate on these new authorities -- and, if the consensus is that they go too far, to call for their repeal. Image credit: REUTERS/Stephen Lam This article available online at: http://www.theatlantic.com/ politics/archive/2011/10/when-did -it-become-legal-to-spy-onamericans/247410/ This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Video: Rise of the Obamavilles

Submitted at 10/26/2011 11:05:42 AM
Since the Occupy Wall Streeters first appeared in prominent spaces of New York City, speculation has been rampant about how long theyll stay outside. NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been gracious to them, the owner of Zuccotti Park hasnt complained about the unsanitary conditions theyve created and even the NYPD have looked the other way as some protesters recently erected tents contrary to code. Its becoming increasingly clear: Cold wont chase these protesters away at least not immediately. Nor are the NYC protesters alone in VIDEO: page 93
GOP'S
maintains that popularity today. Even Scott Walker, who was a national target for Democrats and unions, is seeing his numbers inch upward in Wisconsin, despite state Democrats' efforts to recall him from office. There is one glaring exception to the trend: Ohio Gov. John Kasich, whose law curbing public workers' collective bargaining, among other budgetary changes, has run into a buzz saw of
opposition. A clear majority (57 percent of Ohioans) wants to repeal it, according to a new Quinnipiac poll, and Kasich has one of the lowest gubernatorial approval ratings in the country. Kasich's experience has struck fear in the hearts of Republican political operatives and reflects the policy timidity on the Republican presidential stage. To wit: When former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney
stopped at an Ohio Republican phone bank on Tuesday to support the volunteers, he refused to say whether he backs Kasich's controversial move--only saying it's "up to the people of Ohio." That won't win him a profile in courage and brings his appetite for tackling entitlements into question. It also explains why some Republicans so publicly pined for Christie or Daniels to run--they touched the third rail of
politics and lived to tell the tale. The GOP presidential field is similarly silent on education--a vital issue that conservative governors such as Jindal, Daniels, and Florida's former executive Jeb Bush took the lead on. But when asked about Obama's innovative "Race to the Top" competitive grants during a debate, the candidates sprinted to distance themselves from the plan, which many conservative thinkers
embrace. Texas Gov. Rick Perry, in opposing the plan, even said his state "must not surrender control to the federal bureaucracy." One of the president's vulnerabilities is the perception that he's a weak leader--a direct result of his aversion to taking political risks. He hasn't touted his administration's impressive education reforms for fear of GOP'S page 93
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VIDEO:
their persistence. Across the country (and even around the world), countless others have joined the movement and appear similarly committed to sticking to their spots as long as possible. The little tent cities theyve created resemble nothing so much as they resemble Hoovervilles. Sure, most of the protesters arent homeless, but many are jobless and thats the point. Whatever they say it is theyre protesting, they wouldnt have occupied whatever street or city theyre occupying if the country were in a time of lower unemployment. Many of the policies President Barack Obama has championed not least Obamacare have contributed to the countrys joblessness. So, it seems neither unfair nor inappropriate to say, regardless of whether they realize it or call it by name and regardless of who else has contributed to the
borderline corrupt culture of a federal government in bed with business, the protesters are, in fact, protesting the Obama economy. And that would make those Hoovervilles Obamavilles. The American Action Network has capitalized on that comparison with this new video that lays it all out clearly and plainly, investing the Occupy Wall Street protests with more meaning than the protesters themselves have: As always, the numbers and the president speak for themselves. Hes comfortable owning the economy (as are Joe Biden and Debbie Wasserman Schultz), so let him own it. He inherited 7.8 percent unemployment. The rate now stands at 9.1 percent and the only proposals the president has put forward are proposals that cant even pass the Democratically-controlled Senate.
Obama might throw a bone to the protesters now and then as he has with student loans, for example but hes not about to actually disavow his own questionable business associations nor is he likely to create conditions in which employment and middle class incomes go up. If the protesters remain until the unemployment rate goes down, theyll be there for a very long time. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Romney: I really, really support Gov. Kasichs collective bargaining reforms

Submitted at 10/26/2011 12:25:08 PM
GOP'S
aggravating teacher unions. He punted on his own deficit commission's entitlement plans, preferring to use such cuts as a political cudgel against the GOP. He delegated key elements of his stimulus plan and health care overhaul to Congress. As Jindal demonstrates, advancing good policies is good politics. The wonky Jindal is far from a natural pol, but his handson approach allowed Louisiana to rebound beyond expectations in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. As
the Republican front-runner, Romney would be well-advised to take a cue from Jindal instead of worrying whether doing so would become fodder for Democratic attack ads in a general election. It's called leadership, and it's something voters across the political spectrum yearn for. Image credit: Patrick Semansky/ AP This article available online at: http://www.theatlantic.com/ politics/archive/2011/10/the-gopsreform-renaissance/247398/
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Mitt Romney raised eyebrows yesterday by his refusal to take an explicit position on Ohio Gov. John Kasichs effort to limit the ability of public-sector employee unions to engage in collective bargaining. Efforts by Kasich and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to clean up state budgets and to bust the monopolies of public-sector unions have been particularly controversial, both attracting and alienating voters. For Romney, then, to stand squarely in support of Kasichs reforms yesterday especially given his previously expressed support for the law would have been a particularly principled thing for Romney to do. Well, lower the eyebrows, people, because he expressed unequivocal support today: Im sorry if I created any confusion in that regard, Romney said, according to POLITICOs Reid Epstein. I fully support [Republican] Gov. [John] Kasichs I think its called Question 2. I fully support that. Romney said in Ohio that he wouldnt be addressing particular ballot issues. In Virginia today, he said he meant
he wouldnt be addressing ballot issues other than the labor law. What I was referring to is I know there are other ballot questions there in Ohio and I wasnt taking a position on those, he said, per Reid. With regard to Question 2, which is the collective bargaining question, I am 110 percent behind Gov. Kasich in support of that. And, as it turns out, he probably had good reason to ignore the other ballot questions in Ohio because one of them happened to be an initiative to prevent the government from requiring individuals to purchase health insurance. Why raise the specter of Romneycare himself? Still, even with this clarification, folks still say Romneys resistance yesterday reinforces his spineless image. Certainly, it didnt do anything to dispel the popular notion of him as a flipper but, given that Kasichs law looks likely to be repealed, Id say Romneys support for it today suggests that, on this, at least, he has actual conviction. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
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Insert Coin: PhaserTape turns your smartphone into a rangefinder (video)

Sharif Sakr (Engadget)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 1:12:00 PM
Pioneer PotterNavi: a 3G bike GPS that encourages you to meander

Daniel Cooper (Engadget)
Submitted at 10/26/2011 1:57:00 PM
attractions, shops and toilets are -just be careful, as your journey data (including any extended A G P S t h a t e n c o u r a g e s stops) gets uploaded to the Cycle meandering won't be the dish of Lab site. The SGX-CN700-W the day (month, or year) for ( w h i t e ) a n d S G C - C N 7 0 0 - K hypermilers, but might do well in (black) models launch in Japan in the slightly more genteel world of F e b r u a r y f o r $ 5 3 0 b e f o r e cycling. Pioneer's PotterNavi sits peregrinating westward next o n t h e h a n d l e b a r s o f y o u r summer -- like the cyclists it will velocipede and can let you decide inspire, the container ship is between straight or scenic routes. taking the scenic route. The 100 gram device packs a 2.4- Pioneer PotterNavi: a 3G bike inch 240 x 320 LCD screen and GPS that encourages you to fortunate Japanese buyers get two meander originally appeared on years of 3G data for free, courtesy Engadget on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 of benevolent overlords NTT 13:57:00 EDT. Please see our DoCoMo. Button-free navigation terms for use of feeds. Permalink is possible with the included A V W a t c h ( t r a n s l a t e d ) , accelerometer, tilting the device T e c h C r u n c h | P a n a s o n i c will let you scroll without having ( t r a n s l a t e d ) | E m a i l t h i s | to stop riding. It'll also tell you C o m m e n t s where the nearest tourist
In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line. You've scoped that little laser dot on the cabinet at the far end of the room, right? Well, don't worry, you're not about to see an innocent stationery cupboard get perforated by a sniper. Nope, this episode of Insert Coin is actually
about measuring distances using PhaserTape -- a peace-loving iOSand Android-compatible peripheral that needs your help
over at Makible. We think it could be a sweet little investment, and you only have to click past the break to discover why. Continue reading Insert Coin: PhaserTape turns your smartphone into a rangefinder (video) Insert Coin: PhaserTape turns your smartphone into a rangefinder (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Makible| Email this| Comments
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95
The Engadget Interview: Nokia's Peter Skillman talks design (video)

Myriam Joire (Engadget)
and the nuances of the N9's sinuous taper. We even discussed the Play 360 Bluetooth / NFC Peter Skillman knows a thing or speaker, which follows the same two about making beautiful basic aesthetic principles. Take a devices. He's Palm's former VP of look at our exclusive video design, and he's the man behind interview after the break. Nokia's glorious N9-- its look, Continue reading The Engadget feel and user experience. We Interview: Nokia's Peter Skillman bumped into him at Nokia World talks design (video) here today and asked him what The Engadget Interview: Nokia's went into the N9's -- and by Peter Skillman talks design association the Lumia 800's-- (video) originally appeared on design. He shared quite a few Engadget on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 i n t e r e s t i n g d e t a i l s w i t h u s , 13:33:00 EDT. Please see our i n c l u d i n g t i d b i t s a b o u t t h e terms for use of feeds. Permalink| "curvature continuous" form of | Email this| Comments MeeGo's icons, Nokia's Pure font
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