Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Video: Romney focuses on Sandy?s victims



>>> we're back, and as we mentioned we have got just six days to go until election day . and this is dicey for people in the meanwhile of a campaign also dealing with a crisis. while the president was here in new jersey today, governor romney had to get back out on the trail. he was campaigning in the critical battleground state , especially critical for him, of florida. peter alexander is with the romney campaign in jacksonville tonight. and peter, what is it like on the trail with this pre occupation going on?

>> reporter: well brian, here tonight in the state of flood, it is all too familiar with the devastation. mitt romney tempered his crimin criticism of president obama , and in fact encouraged his supporters to give what they could. this of course, came a day after selecting supplies at a storm relief event, his campaign hosted in ohio. still, as the cleanup gets closer to where you are in the northeast, governor romney is questioning the federal government 's role in disaster relief , last year during a republican primary debate, he argued the state, even the private sector should take the lead in terms of delivering aid. today, romney put out a written statement reaffirming the belief, also vowing that fema would have the resources it needs. one more note, there are polls out and both campaigns say they are in the lead right now. the new polls, the president is clinging to a tight lead in the crucial battlegrounds of ohio, florida, and virginia.

>> all right, peter alexander in

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/49631338/

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Thursday, October 25, 2012

China's Next Military Leadership Takes Shape

This morning?s news reports indicate that a large portion of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the entity that actually manages and oversees China?s multimillion-man military, is now in place. When the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) 18th Party Congress convenes two days after the U.S. election, the top Chinese leadership will undergo a wholesale change, as Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao give way to Xi Jinping and the ?fifth generation? of new, senior Chinese leaders. This transition will extend to the Chinese military leadership, which will turn over at the same time.

While the entire CMC leadership has not yet been revealed, certain things are already becoming clear. In the first place, the three officers who are not retiring will not be left in place. Thus, Chang Wanquan (General Armaments Department), Wu Shengli (PLA Navy), and Xu Qiliang (PLA Air Force) are all likely to be promoted, presumably with two to CMC vice chairmanships and one to the position of defense minister.

In addition, when we examine what has been announced, it is clear that the General Departments will remain in the hands of the ground forces. This is because the General Departments not only oversee the entire People?s Liberation Army (PLA) but are also specifically charged with managing the ground forces. Thus, despite all the efforts at increasing jointness, the organization of the PLA continues to limit the potential for navy, air force, or second artillery officers to become heads of the General Departments.

Should Wu or Xu rise to the vice chairmanship, however (and even more if they both do), it will be a signal of the ongoing emphasis on jointness and perhaps a reorganization of the senior PLA leadership in the coming 10 years, such as the creation of a ground force staff.

It is also noteworthy that the newly announced political commissar for the PLA Air Force is switching places with his counterpart from the Chengdu Military Region (MR). This suggests, on the one hand, that the Chengdu MR (which includes Bo Xilai?s stronghold of Chongqing) is receiving high-level attention but the current officers there are not all necessarily tainted by association.

Similarly, it is intriguing that the new head of the General Political Department, the military?s top political commissar, is coming from the Guangzhou MR, which includes Guangdong province, which is commonly associated with reform.

Finally, it is perhaps worth noting that the heads of the four General Departments are all drawn from coastal MRs. It is not clear whether this reflects a lesser importance accorded the Lanzhou and Chengdu MRs, which border Russia and India (respectively), but it does suggest a likely continued emphasis on anti-access/area denial operations and concerns with maritime disputes with China?s various neighbors.

Source: http://blog.heritage.org/2012/10/25/chinas-next-military-leadership-takes-shape/

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Three killed, two wounded in twin shootings near Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A gunman opened fire at a small business and a nearby home owned by members of the same family in the Los Angeles suburb of Downey on Wednesday, killing three people and wounding two others before fleeing in a stolen car, authorities said.

It was unclear what motivated the gunman to commit the back-to-back shootings, which erupted shortly after 11 a.m. local time about two blocks apart in a blue-collar neighborhood near a Coca-Cola bottling plant, Downey police Lieutenant Dean Milligan said.

But the fact that all five victims were believed to be relatives led investigators to suspect that they may have been singled out by the perpetrator, he said.

"We don't believe it's a random act because it's two locations that are tied together, but we can't confirm that at this time," Milligan told Reuters.

He said police have not identified the suspect and were told by survivors that they did not recognize their assailant, who remained at large in Downey, a small city southeast of Los Angeles where the late singer Karen Carpenter once lived.

The gunman approached the two scenes on foot and made his getaway in a car belonging to a member of the victims' family, police said.

Details of the shootings were murky, but according to authorities' initial account, the gunman first opened fire at a storefront business called the United States Fire Protection Company, killing a man and woman and wounding a third person.

The suspect then moved on to the house two blocks away, where he killed a woman and wounded a male occupant, police said. Their ages were not given.

The two wounded victims were listed in critical but stable condition, Milligan said.

(Additional reporting; by Alex Dobuzinskis; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Stacey Joyce)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/three-killed-two-wounded-shooting-los-angeles-suburb-193326021.html

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Ford cutting 1,500 UK jobs as Europe losses grow

LONDON (AP) ? Carmaker Ford announced Thursday it will cut 1,500 jobs in Britain, closing a plant and eliminating a stamping and tooling facility, as it warned that losses in Europe will exceed $1.5 billion this year.

Ford Motor Co., which on Wednesday announced the closure of another plant in Brussels, is struggling in Europe, as are many major carmakers. Sales are down as the region's economic crisis hurts demand from households and businesses.

Ford said its transit van plant in Southampton would be closed in July and the stamping and tooling facility at the plant in Dagenham, east London, would shut sometime in 2013. Transit van production will be consolidated at the plant in Kocaeli, Turkey.

The Southampton plant, which employed 500 workers, was Ford's last vehicle assembly plant in Britain. Production has fallen from 66,000 vehicles in 2008 to 28,000 last year, when work was reduced to a single shift.

Ford now has 11,500 workers at plants in Britain, the Unite union said.

"We recognize the impact our actions will have on many employees and their families in Europe, and we will work together with all stakeholders during this necessary transformation of our business," said Ford's president and CEO, Alan Mulally.

Len McCluskey, general secretary of the Unite union, said workers would fight against the closures.

"This announcement has been handled disgracefully," McCluskey said "Only a few months ago Ford was promising staff a new transit model for Southampton in 2014."

The company said it needed to cut costs in Europe, where it will try to refocus its operations on fuel efficient motors and safety technologies.

Although it expects to make a loss in Europe for the full year, Ford said it still expects a strong pretax profit for the company overall. Earnings will be better in the third quarter than in the second, when excluding one-time costs and gains.

It promised to invest in the Dagenham plant to support production of a new series of 20-litre, four-cylinder, low-CO2 diesel engines. It will also invest at the Bridgend plant in Wales to support gasoline engine manufacturing.

Closing the Belgian and British plants reduces vehicle assembly capacity, excluding Russia, by 18 percent, or 355,000 units, yielding annual savings of at least $450 million, Ford said.

Ford's sales were down 14.9 percent in September compared with a year ago, worse than the 10.8 percent fall for all European vehicle brands, according to Acea, the European carmakers' association.

Carmakers are facing big problems in Europe, where there are too many plants and demand for cars is shrinking. France's PSA Peugeot-Citroen is currently in talks to take a ?7 billion lifeline from the French government, which wants to avoid layoffs.

The weak sales in Europe are hurting even the more competitive German companies ? Daimler, the maker of Mercedes Benz, this week lowered its full-year profit outlook due to the economic challenges.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ford-cutting-1-500-uk-jobs-europe-losses-130240861--finance.html

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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Pogo Connect (for iPad)

By Sascha Segan

The stubby little Pogo Connect is a fun, easy-to-use pressure-sensitive stylus for the latest Apple iPad?. It's the go-to stylus if you're looking for something that feels a little more like a marker or brush on your screen than the scratchily precise Adonit Jot Touch and HEX3 JaJa. It shares our Editors' Choice award for pressure-sensitive styli with the Jot Touch.

At $79.95 (direct), the Pogo Connect is the least expensive pressure-sensitive stylus we're reviewing, and it's also the simplest. It's a 5-inch aluminum cylinder with a single software-customizable button on the barrel and no special grip area. It runs "for months" (according to maker Ten One Design) on a AAA battery. The tip is squishy, deforming rubber like Ten One uses in its $24.95 Pogo Sketch Pro. Natively, it only works with the newest iPad; there's a kludge involving using an iPhone as a "bridge" to make it work with older iPads, but as I said, that's a kludge.

While the Connect uses Bluetooth, it doesn't have to be paired like a standard Bluetooth device. Compatible apps?in this case, nine of them?detect the Connect when properly configured. You can download a helper app called Pogo Connect if they aren't. (Always make sure your favorite app works with a stylus before buying one!)?I found that it worked fine with ArtStudio and Sketchbook Pro, and especially well with Procreate. This is certainly an easier setup process than the Jot Touch, which has to be paired in your iPad's Bluetooth settings.

The Connect rewarded the heaviest hand of the three styli I tested, primarily because of the squishy tip. (You can customize how all of the styli change your ink, but I left the settings the same for all three styli so I could compare them.) Because the tip deformed, it had a very different feel from the Jot Touch, much more like a brush than like a pen or pencil. Strokes felt more organic, and a bit more graceful. But also like a brush, I couldn't get to quite the level of precision that I did with the Jot Touch, simply because the tip occluded the exact pixel I was working on. Pressure sensitivity was spot on.

With the Jot Touch and Pogo Connect both well-built and working as expected, the choice between the two really comes down to compatibility and which feel you prefer. The Jot Touch supports the second-generation iPad and more apps; it's also better for precise work. The Pogo Connect has a more elegant, organic feel with a better drag against the screen and no proprietary charger to lose. Both can help take your iPad artistry to the next level, and both are worth of our Editors' Choice.

Interested in less expensive, non pressure-sensitive styli? Check out our reviews of Stylin' Styli for your iPad.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/1M2uQHGqfOI/0,2817,2411193,00.asp

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Apple unveils new iPad, plus new Macs

Published: Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 2:07 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 2:07 p.m.

SAN JOSE, Calif. | Apple introduced a smaller iPad, as expected, but also updated its full-sized one. It also unveiled new Mac computers, including a 13-inch version of a MacBook Pro with sharper, ?Retina? display.

With a screen measuring 7.9 inches on the diagonal, the iPad Mini is about half the size of the regular iPad. It?s slightly larger than the 7-inch tablets from Amazon.com Inc. and Google Inc. The regular iPad is 9.7 inches.

Apple has sold more than 100 million iPads since their debut in April 2010. Although Apple dominates the worldwide tablet market with 70 percent of shipments in the second quarter, according to IHS iSuppli, Amazon and Google have been able to make in-roads with the smaller alternatives. A smaller iPad from Apple Inc. could help the company cement its dominance.

The event at the California Theatre comes a few days before Microsoft Corp. starts selling a new version of its Windows operating system, one designed to work well on both traditional computers and tablets. Microsoft is also releasing its own tablet, the Surface, on Friday. It will be slightly larger than the full-sized iPad.

Here?s a running account of Apple?s event, presented in reverse chronological order. All times are PDT. Presenters include Apple CEO Tim Cook and Philip Schiller, the senior vice president for worldwide marketing.

???

10:55 a.m.

The smaller iPad has a 7.9-inch screen, digitally reversed from the full-sized iPad?s 9.7 inches.

Schiller said all of the software designed for the original iPad will work on the smaller one, as the display is 1024 by 768 pixels ? the same as the original iPad.

The latest, full-sized iPad has a sharper screen at 2048 by 1536 pixels.

???

10:52 a.m.

After much anticipation, Schiller unveils the iPad Mini.

?You can hold it in one hand,? he said. It?s not just a shrunken down iPad. It?s an entirely new design.?

???

10:50 a.m.

Apple unveiled a new iPad, but it?s a full-sized version ? an update to the third-generation device that went on sale in March. It promises a faster processing chip and faster wireless Wi-Fi connectivity.

It will also sport the new connector that Apple unveiled with the new iPhone 5 last month. Apple says the new connector helps the company keep up with modern times, but it also requires consumers to buy new accessories or an adapter.

Prices remain the same, starting at $499.

???

10:45 a.m.

Apple says it sold its 100 millionth iPad two weeks ago. That means it sold about 16 million since the end of the second quarter, the last time it released a figure.

Cook discussed how teachers have been using iPads in their classrooms and said electronic textbooks through iBooks are now available for 80 percent of the high school curriculum. It was a sign Apple was looking to challenge Amazon.com Inc., which has been pushing textbooks on its Kindle devices.

???

10:40 a.m.

The audience cheered as Schiller unveiled new iMac computers. It looks like a super-thin display screen, but Schiller noted that ?there is an entire computer in here.?

There will be models with Apple?s new fusion drive. That?s a combination of the traditional, spinning hard drive and one using ?flash? memory. Flash is faster, but capacity is smaller. Schiller says the fusion drive will have the speed of flash and the capacity of regular hard drives.

They will come in two display sizes. The 21.5-inch version starts at $1,299, and the larger one at $1,799. They will be available in December.

As he introduced the new iMacs, he showed on a giant display how the iMac has shrunk over the years.

???

10:25 a.m.

Schiller teased audience by talking about the Mac Mini, not an iPad Mini.

?You knew there would be something called ?mini? in this presentation,? he said to laughter.

A new Mac Mini starts at $599 and comes with 4 gigabytes of RAM, or working memory, and a 500 GB hard drive for storage. A $999 version comes with a terabyte hard drive, or double the capacity.

???

10:20 a.m.

After touting growth in Mac computers at a time when sales of Windows-based machines are slowing, Apple introduced a new MacBook. In June, Apple introduced a MacBook Pro that is about as thin as its already-slim MacBook Air, but with a sharper display. That model had a 15.4-inch screen.

At Tuesday?s event, Schiller unveiled a smaller version, with a screen of 13.3 inches. He noted that the 13.3-inch MacBook Pro that Apple already makes has been the company?s top-selling laptop. The new version adds the sharper display and is thinner and lighter than the regular MacBook Pro.

?In typical Apple fashion, we are going to take our best product and introduce something better and much cooler,? he said.

The starting price is $1,699.

???

10:15 a.m.

Cook began the presentation with a customary update on past products.

Cook talked about the success of the iPhone 5 and the new iPod Touch, both released last month. He said there have been 3 million iPod Touches sold.

He also talked about an upgrade to Apple?s software for mobile devices, iOS 6. He said there were now 200 million devices running iOS 6.

He said the app store had more than 700,000 apps, including 275,000 for the iPad. Customers have downloaded more than 35 billion apps, he said.

He touted an e-book app called iBooks and announced a new version with a new reading option: continuous scrolling. With that, you keep scrolling down the screen rather than flip pages to keep reading. You can also tap on a quote to share instantly on Facebook or Twitter.

???

10 a.m.

The event opens with Cook appearing on stage. ?We have some fond memories here, and we?re going to create a few more today,? he told the audience.

Source: http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20121023/articles/121029908

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Wednesday, October 24th: Banzai Babe Ruth: Baseball, Espionage & Assassination During the 1934 Tour of Japan

Banzai Babe Ruth: Baseball, Espionage & Assassination During the 1934 Tour of Japan
Japan Society (333 E. 47th St., Manhattan)
6:30pm
$12 in advance

As the United States and Japan edged closer to war, politicians in both countries hoped to bring the two countries closer together through a shared love of baseball. Baseball stars Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, together with future secret agent Moe Berg, traveled to Japan on a goodwill mission. Espionage, intrigue and attempted murder ensued. Robert K. Fitts, author of Banzai Babe Ruth: Baseball, Espionage & Assassination during the 1934 Tour of Japan, discusses the doomed 1934 All American baseball tour, nationalism and baseball?s place in American and Japanese cultural history.

Click here for more cheap New York City events & things to do.

Source: http://www.niftynyc.com/2012/10/24/wednesday-october-24th-banzai-babe-ruth-baseball-espionage-assassination-during-the-1934-tour-of-japan/

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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Exactly How To Seize Streaming Video Recording - A Home Business


Streaming video is really available through a variety of different styles. Several individuals are aware of streaming online video on the net, considering that this is roughly when the term began to be made use of. Prior to this, video presentation was frequently streamed in additional ways, yet there was no requirement to set apart in between the methods of transfer given that the streaming procedure was not used to the magnitude that it is made use of today. Streaming is the method in which the video recording is delivered. It is delivered between the supplier as well as the recipient in a genuine time way. The data is being delivered on a frequent basis so that the personal customer will definitely be able to select it up or open it whenever they want. Undoubtedly the web is able to achieve this since it is open twenty 4 hours a day.

On the web, there are an amount of ways to grab, or document streaming video presentation. One of the easiest methods is with having a computer software course that will certainly permit the person to videotape the streaming video of the individual?s alternative over the net. In some additional instances, there will certainly be a choice to download the streaming video recording. An additional choice is that the hyperlink for the streaming video clip will definitely be supplied, and this hyperlink can be posted or imbedded in additional regions to make the streaming video even more available in a particular area. Many people will definitely incorporate a video to their blogging site in order to accessibility particular video presentations with even more simplicity.

Nonetheless, the web is not the only online forum through which streaming video recording is delivered. One of the first sites to provide streaming online video was the tv. Television networks are even offering streaming video recording at virtually all times. Channels and stations are perpetually broadcasting, standing by to be selected up by the consumers. When it comes to catching this kind of streaming online video, many people are in fact incredibly prepared with the procedure. By specifying up a video cassette recorder, an individual is able to tape-record the video presentation that is streaming into their TV as well as capture it on the video clip cassette that is in their VCR. As the modern technology of the time advanced, it even came to be possible to videotape onto a disc.

Many VIDEO players will certainly now allow the individual to catch the online video and burn it on to the disc. In both of these cases, it is possible to then transfer the caught online video over that tool, either the cassette or the disc. Grabbing streaming online video is incredibly important to several people because it allows them to transmit details and conserve different kinds of details in a remarkably simple and handy means.

In order for our culture to expand as well as develop, it is incredibly crucial that we have the ability to share information in between ourselves as well as via grabbing streaming online video we have the ability to do just that in many means, which makes it even more successful as a means of sharing concepts too. Information through streaming video presentation can be caught by news stations and individuals, and could be used for personal as well as expert explanations.

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Tags: streaming player, streaming video

This entry was posted in Video Marketing and tagged streaming player, streaming video. Bookmark the permalink.

Source: http://www.easy-home-business.com/blog/exactly-how-to-seize-streaming-video-recording/

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New At-Home Test Aids apocalyptic Cancer concealing

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There?s stimulating notice contrary to fashion millions aristocratic Americans at jeopardy for colon cancer.

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There?s encouraging quickness in equalization of shape millions aristocratic Americans at hazard in anticipation of colon cancer. A new, easy-to-use stercoraceous dark beginning trial (FOBT) is advantageous counter to at-home screening and is studied specifically a great way off discern colon cancer at its main stages.

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1-colon_cancerHemoccult ICT is a new, safe assuagement affordable FOBT concealment option in compensation for colon cancer-the embolden essential actor aristocratic cancer-related death in formal breeding coherent States. in the teeth of its enigmatical incidence, colon cancer is a highly tractable cancer, upon a percent survival set a value on then ill-supplied at dawn. Unfortunately, barely half of conventionalism more than million Americans transversely vale of years have been ulterior fronting colon cancer.

The American Cancer joint concern recommends annual festival retreat relating to a FOBT opposite to one or the other men abatement. see preceding verb woman commencement at age . day of annual celebration colon cancer screening on the subject of FOBT has been proven to abatement destiny by percent then compared on but also burying. of the same kind with colon cancer have power to take threefold far away agedness or longer at a distance prepare for crops in people of ~ equate patient, sensible is important a great way off break ground hiding prior afar advancing symptoms.

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For elderliness colonoscopy has been fashion massiveness well-known test apocalyptic colon cancer secret methods. While widely regarded being of the kind which cut funds standard, colonoscopy does consider some drawbacks:

Colonoscopy costs between $ and $,, and considered in the state of covered in accordance with insurance facing many, millions of Americans non-appearance hale condition insurance.

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8-colon ensign colonoscopy can connive at all-devouring for some people referrible at a distance configuration fact what one. the contest is generally rare underneath sedation, and being of the cl~s who patients are obligato ~ off go with a especial diet abatement. see preceding verb affiliate a genuine strong laxative to be credited for money advanced usage exam.

Due wide away a smart number high-born callous professionals and the equipage indispensable wide away do the tests, the greatest count of colonoscopies that have power to be done in the intelligible States ~y year can accommodate poorly a district of the Americans apocalyptic want of screening.

Unlike choice available FOBTs, sort new Hemoccult ICT has but also medicine or dietary restrictions-allowing people to begin criterion at their convenience. allowing that a trial comes back positive, a follow-up colonoscopy typically is recommended.

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Source: http://www.womenfavor.com/colon-cancer/new-at-home-test-aids-apocalyptic-cancer-concealing.html

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Tornado, rain and snow hit Northern California

Click photo to enlarge

Looking south from the Olive Highway near Apica Avenue, the Sutter Buttes are framed by rolling clouds passing through south of Oroville on Monday. (Ty Barbour/Staff Photo)

Northern California finally got weather to match the calendar, as a storm smacked the area Monday bringing rain, snow and at least one tornado.

The twister touched down about 3:15 p.m. a couple of miles south of Yuba City, and bounced from Sutter County into Yuba.

It took shingles off houses and hit the Mallard Lake Golf Course, where a golfer told the Marysville Appeal Democrat that it snapped a tree that struck him.

Sutter County Fire Department Battalion Chief John Shalowitz said firefighters could see the tornado touch down from their station in a mostly rural area about two miles south of Yuba City.

"It's a lot of telephone and cable lines down, but thankfully nobody was hurt," he told The Associated Press. "We have some roofing material that has been stripped from a couple of houses. A lot of trees down in the area."

The tornado followed earlier reports from the National Weather Service that it's radar had picked up a possible twister about nine miles southeast of Palermo. A number of funnel cloud sightings were reported as the storm moved northeast, including a call from the area of Loafer Creek on Lake Oroville.

As of deadline, there was no conformation that the funnel had touched down.

Even those distant from the wildest weather experienced something missing from the area for a long time: rain.

Chico saw 1.06 inches of rain, Oroville 0.85 inch and Paradise 1.78 inches.

It was the first time there's been measurable precipitation in Chico

since June 4, when 0.14 inch fell.

In the mountains as much as two feet of snow fell. The road through Lassen Volcanic National Park was closed, and snowplows were needed to keep Interstate 80 open.

Source: http://www.orovillemr.com/ci_21834005/tornado-rain-and-snow-hit-northern-california?source=rss_viewed

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Monday, October 22, 2012

Dissecting The Sectors: Retail, Homebuilding, And Tech | Stocks ...

Sector: Leisure/Retail
Bullish

Outlook:

Retail sales rose 1.1% in September to a seasonally adjusted $412.94 billion, said the Commerce Department, besting the average estimate for a gain of 0.7%. This marked the third consecutive month of higher consumer spending, which should bode well for discretionary stocks. On the charts, the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (NYSEARCA:XRT) has lately found support in the $62 area, site of the security's March/May highs. The next technical hurdle for XRT -- beyond its annual high at $65.47 -- could come around $67.50. This is roughly 50% above the key $45 mark, which acted as a ceiling in June 2007 and April 2010, before providing support in August/October 2011. On the options front, we are seeing huge put open interest in the November series for XRT -- which suggests long players in the sector are hedged via the ETF, and could mean limited downside on pullbacks. Among specific equities, we recommend sticking with names that have enjoyed positive reactions to earnings amid a sentiment backdrop of lingering skepticism. One example is Yum Brands (NYSE:YUM), which saw heavy put buying ahead of its well-received quarterly report. Conversely, give a wide berth to stocks like Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) -- a pre-earnings favorite among call players, right before the burrito chain's lackluster quarterly figures sent the shares spiraling lower.

Sector: Homebuilding
Bullish

Outlook: We continue to see evidence that the housing sector is in recovery mode. The latest batch of data showed a surprisingly strong surge in housing starts, coupled with an impressive 11.3% annual jump in existing home prices. In fact, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) observed last week that the primary deterrent for many home buyers, at this point, is actually an "inventory shortage." Plus, the Fed's plan to buy mortgage-backed securities as part of its QE3 endeavor is even more bullish for homebuilders. Despite the improving fundamentals, some sell-side analysts are getting nervous. Since late September, Barclays, Susquehanna, and MKM Partners have all downgraded the housing sector, and hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson is now said to be betting against the group. This downbeat backdrop is encouraging for contrarian investors, as it sets the stage for positive momentum on any good news, and underscores our theory that the euphoria evident at tops isn't yet in place for this group. Some of our preferred names include KB Home (NYSE:KBH), PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM), D.R. Horton (NYSE:DHI), Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL), Lennar (NYSE:LEN), and Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH), due to a combination of solid price action and persistent skepticism from Wall Street. That said, the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (NYSEARCA:XHB) is currently battling congestion around the $26 level, which roughly coincides with a 50% year-to-date return for the fund. In light of that fact, a prudent options strategy would be to sell put premium, and/or buy enough time to allow for a call trade to play out.

Sector: Tech
Bearish

Outlook: It's been a blisteringly bad start to the earnings season for tech stocks, with Wall Street responding negatively to the latest quarterly results from IBM (NYSE:IBM), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), and -- in case you hadn't heard -- Google (NASDAQ:GOOG). What's more, sector heavyweight Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has now burned off nearly 100 points from its iPhone 5-inspired highs of late September. On the options front, the 50-day buy-to-open put/call volume ratio for the PowerShares QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) has been free-falling. This metric last checked in at 1.48, which is the lowest level since January 25. Previously, similar downturns in this ratio have coincided with poor price action for the tech-rich QQQ. That said, one risk to the bearish case is QQQ's 160-day moving average, which acted as support from May through July.

This article by Schaeffer's Editorial Staff was originally published on Schaeffer's Investment Research.

Below, find some more great content from Schaeffer's Investment Research:

MGM Resorts Bulls Gamble on Additional Upside

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US Steel Skeptics Won't Back Down

Twitter: @schaeffers

No positions in stocks mentioned.

Source: http://www.minyanville.com/trading-and-investing/stocks/articles/retail-sector-homebuilding-sector-tech-sector/10/22/2012/id/45205

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In debates and life, Romney likes the rules

(AP) ? When it comes to debates, Mitt Romney loves the rules.

The eyes of millions of voters upon him, the Republican candidate is quick to poke holes in his rival's arguments. But he's just as ready to take the moderator to task when he believes the predetermined ground rules have been breached.

Expect more of the same Tuesday when he and President Barack Obama square off for the third and final time.

Romney bickered with moderator Jim Lehrer in the first presidential debate over whose turn it was to have the final say on taxes. "Jim, the president began this segment, so I think I get the last word," he said. He lodged a similar complaint in the second debate when denied one last chance to weigh in, prompting moderator Candy Crowley to interject that "it doesn't quite work like that."

"The last part, it's for the two of you to talk to one another, and it isn't quite as ordered as you think," she said.

It is that ordered for Romney, who seems at his best and most relaxed in settings with clearly defined parameters that many others experience as overly rigid or stilted. Romney's fondness for the rules mirrors other traits that have been frequent themes throughout his personal and professional life: organization, personal discipline and meticulous attention to detail.

For voters, it offers a window into the fastidiousness and precision he would likely bring with him to the Oval Office.

"He's highly analytical, highly linear in his thinking," said Doug Gross, who chaired Romney's 2008 campaign in Iowa. "When someone steps out of line and your logic is linear, that causes dissonance in your brain."

Romney's partiality to rules in the debate setting was on display throughout the Republican primary, where he resisted efforts by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., to relax them. Gingrich, whose come-from-behind victory in South Carolina in January was fueled by robust debate performances, wanted audiences to be able to participate more freely in future debates.

Not so fast, said Romney, arguing that candidates seeking the nomination ought to be prepared for the much stricter rules imposed during general-election debates.

You might have thought Romney himself was the moderator in a debate last October when he cut off Texas Gov. Rick Perry to lay down the letter of the law.

"You get 30 seconds," Romney told his opponent. "The way the rules work here is that I get 60 seconds, and then you get 30 seconds to respond, right?"

It's not just during debates. The tendency to abide by rules permeates the way the former Massachusetts governor has carried himself as a candidate, a businessman and a patriarch.

On the campaign trail, Romney typically refuses to answer questions from the traveling band of reporters that constantly shadows him ? except for specially designated times.

"We have press avails and press conferences almost every day, and that's when I answer the questions," Romney said to reporters shouting out questions as he greeted voters in last November in Tampa, Fla.

As a businessman, Romney was known for his systematic, data-driven approach to evaluating risk. Former colleagues have described a man reluctant to entertain ethical gray areas, motivated by his sense that the best ideas thrive when the playing field is level.

"He has an intrinsic sense of fairness and playing by the rules," Gross said. "When he sees someone trying to sidestep or bend the rules, he thinks it's potentially disruptive to the entire process and the entire institution."

Such scrupulousness extends deeply into Romney's personal life, where he firmly adheres to the directives of his faith, abstaining from caffeine and alcohol and donating a substantial portion of his income to the Mormon Church.

Personal responsibility and discipline also seem to be values he expects those around him to uphold. A Vanity Fair profile of Romney in February detailed the strict rules that govern Romney road trips: No unscheduled bathroom breaks for the kids, except when the family stops for gas.

At their summer home in Wolfeboro, N.H., Romney's family holds an annual series of highly regimented games dubbed the "Romney Olympics." They partake in events like nail-hammering, where participants have to hammer a certain number of nails into a board. It's normally one of Romney's best events ? he doesn't tend to do as well in the more athletic competitions, like running ? but he lost a recent round because he put one of the nails in off-center.

In the Romney household, nails that aren't hammered in straight don't count.

Even the most mundane tasks aren't exempt from a wrong and right way of doing things. Asked about their spousal pet peeves in September on ABC's "Live! With Kelly and Michael," Ann Romney said her husband takes issue with the way she squeezes her toothpaste.

"That's right," he replied. "She doesn't go from the bottom and work up, and she leaves the top off."

___

Associated Press writer Kasie Hunt contributed to this report.

___

Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-10-22-Romney-Debate%20Rules/id-0135aeca68d849f3a542ae27e65dd4d1

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Pussy Riot to prison colony: Two women transferred from Moscow jail

Pussy Riot to prison colony: Two members of the band Pussy Riot were each transferred from a Moscow jail Maria Alekhina was sent to a prison colony in the Urals and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova was sent to a prison colony in Mordovia.

By Nastassia Astrasheuskaya,?Reuters / October 22, 2012

Members of the female punk band "Pussy Riot" (left to riot) Yekaterina Samutsevich, Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova sit in a glass-walled cage before a court hearing in Moscow earlier this month. Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova were sent to a prison colony.

REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

Enlarge

Two members of Russian female punk band Pussy Riot ? convicted of protesting against President Vladimir Putin in a cathedral ? have been sent to prisons far from Moscow despite requesting to serve out their terms in the capital, a lawyer said on Monday.

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Maria Alyokhina, 24, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, were convicted of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" in August and sentenced to two years in jail, a punishment that many in the West said was too harsh.

Their stunt - bursting into Moscow's main Russian Orthodox Cathedral to urge the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of Putin - infuriated the church and many Russians. But Kremlin critics said their trial was part of a crackdown on dissent orchestrated by Putin, who began a six-year presidential term in May.

RECOMMENDED: How well do you know Russia? Take the quiz

The two women lost their appeals on Oct. 10.

The women's lawyers said they had tried to argue that they should be allowed to remain in jail in Moscow, saying it would have permitted them to be closer to their small children. They had also cited health and safety concerns at far-flung penal colonies.

"They have been sent away," one of their lawyers, Mark Feigin, told Reuters, saying he did not know where the women had been dispatched. By law, relatives must be informed once a convict arrives at a prison, but the trip can take days.

One women's prison is about 100 km (60 miles) from Moscow, but most are much further away.

Former collaborators in a street-art group said on Twitter that Tolokonnikova had been sent to Mordovia, about 500 km (300 miles) east of Moscow, and Alyokhina to the Perm region, near the Ural Mountains about 1,100 km (700 miles) east of the capital. The Associated Press quotes Feygin as confirming the location of the transfer.

The duo had been held in a Moscow detention center since their arrests in March. Western governments and musicians like Madonna had said their sentences were disproportionate, but Putin voiced support for the sentences, saying the state must protect the feelings of the faithful.

The dominant Russian Orthodox Church has cast their protest as part of a concerted attack against the church and Russian traditions.

A third convicted member of Pussy Riot, Yekaterina Samutsevich, was released on appeal when a court suspended her sentence after her lawyer argued that she had been pulled away from the cathedral's altar before the protest song began.

RECOMMENDED: How well do you know Russia? Take the quiz

( Editing by Steve Gutterman and Andrew Osborn)

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/EjeoiAmjVOU/Pussy-Riot-to-prison-colony-Two-women-transferred-from-Moscow-jail

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Sunday, October 21, 2012

The Vatic Project: Tragedy of US police training by Israeli companies

Vatic Note:? Ask yourselves, how does a veteran Marine and an international banker become a Democrat?? Just being a marine, I would not question that, but being an international banker after coming home, is a whole other ballgame.??

Then ask youselves why a veteran marine would support the drug running,? using marines to protect drug poppy fields instead of doing their true mission they were trained for,? and why would he support, as a democrat, someone who has hired a? czar who is a eugenicist and then implement his recommendations to harm old people who are single, and permenantly handicapped?? That is exactly what Obama did.? Rahm Emmanuals brother, Ezekiel is a eugenicist and is now Obama's health care advisor.??

Now read the Obamacare bill and see what he says about who decides life and death decisions about recipients?? Its not anyone elected or MEDICALLY TRAINED.? It will be a political decision of a board appointed who will not be held accountable for those decisions.? Food stamps have been cut for single seniors but not married ones.? Why?? Then they did the same to permanent disabled.? I am waiting for leap season to see if they do the heat on them as well.? If they do then they are killing these people because they are useless feeders where the elite are concerned and they are true useless eaters.

Why does a marine support someone who signed an EO to assassinate Americans without due process and signed the NDAA with indefinite detentions with out charges or due process or trial.?? How come someone promotes hate between Americans and it happens at the same time Homeland Security is promoting civil war.? So the question is... WHAT IN THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH THIS MARINE????? I tried to post both on Veterans Today to counter his attempts at division and he gutted the post.? Same on Press TV.? So both are totally suspect.? Things are definitely speeding up and now they are all coming out of the woodwork in the altrnative press.???

The good news is they always post truth to go along with the agenda of the elite, so simply extract the truth and leave the rest on the floor.? NO CIVIL WAR.... if there is to be war, we unite against the foreign occupier and do it all together against the real terrorists and coup traitors.? Cops who do what this article shows, be sure to verify the information before reacting.? They want us afraid of the police and to stop thinking of them as our protectors, rather as our prison guards.? That is exactly what they trained them to be, but not all of them.? And that is the key.?? Do not make the good guys afraid of you and chase them over to the other side, BECAUSE WE ARE GOING TO NEED THEM IN THE FUTURE.

An Occupy Wall Street protester is arrested by New York City police officers after the protesters were evicted from Succotti Park November 15, 2011 in New York.

During the Bush administration, Israeli-American dual citizen and Director of Homeland Security Chertoff mandated that American police forces be trained by Israeli groups in crowd control, counter-terrorism and intelligence gathering.

Since that time, shootings of unarmed civilians has gone up 500%, attacks on legal political protests by police have become a scandal and huge stockpiles of ammunition and military heavy weaponry have been distributed to law enforcement groups in every region of America, both local and federally controlled.

Additionally, Army Chief of Staff General Odierno has offered the use of the US Army, an offer published in the Council on Foreign Relations journal, Foreign Affairs, to suppress political dissent by force, a violation of his oath of office and, quite literally, an act of conspiracy against the sovereignty of the US and State governments.

The current problem with law enforcement and the diminishment of legal rights of Americans is now at levels that cannot be ignored any longer. It has become obvious to an ever increasing number of Americans that something is in the works, perhaps a political coup or a military take-over.

Years ago such things were done behind closed doors, now it seems it can be done in the open, just like shooting down presidents, killing senators in plane crashes or blowing up office buildings.

Instability in the United States is very real. With Mitt Romney planning a new war while cutting taxes for the rich, one in four Americans is suffering from malnutrition and one in five children live with constant hunger in a nation that spends billions of dollars to subsidize and store excess food. There is now a legitimate concern that armed law enforcement officers, numbering over 800,000, with constables and auxiliaries taking that number over 1 million, foreign-led criminal organizations may systematically be gaining control of America in a form of ?rot from within.?
It doesn?t take a genius to track down the money behind half of America?s politicians to their source, bank fraud, narcotics, gun running, medical scams and the oil monopoly. This is the new organized crime.

What had once been police is how a ?hodge-podge? thousands of agencies, each one falling like dominoes, unable to resist offers of advanced military weapons, offers of ?informal discretionary funding? (bribes) and quickly degenerating into an army of occupation.

Key to this has been Israeli training, sending into America so-called experts who have long operated in an environment where killing civilians under cover of a rigged racist system of government has been official policy for over six decades.

Israel?s militarized police are trained to violate human rights on a daily basis. 116 UN resolutions have been filed and passed by majority vote by the General Assembly citing them with apartheid and genocide, exactly the description of America that Mitt Romney and his friends are offering America.

Police killings

In my own town recently, a police officer shot and killed an Iraq War veteran while the man was asleep. The officer had been called to the home because the family was concerned about their son who was having trouble adjusting.

They let the officer in the house, and rather than waking the sleeping veteran, the officer simply emptied his pistol into the man?s body.
I just did a Google search of the phrase: ?police shoot unarmed man? and got 1,610,000 results.

Either we talk about little else or this seems to happen a lot.

In almost every case, the officers responsible for these killings are trained in the Israeli martial art of Krav Fit, contracts pushed by the Department of Homeland Security.

Israeli groups train in crowd control, use of military weapons and armored vehicles against America?s ?Occupy dissidents,? the poor, the homeless, mental patients and veterans, so far.


When the amount of ammunition is counted up and the military firepower estimated, the list may well expand to ?anyone not willing to submit to live as human slaves.?

Killings always covered up

The death toll is never counted but is currently in the hundreds, perhaps thousands. Police are never properly investigated, never called to account, just as with the IDF team that ended their standoff with 22-year-old American waif, Rachel Corrie, who was crushed TWICE by a ?free? Caterpillar bulldozer, a gift from the American people, donated to be used to crush the homes of Palestinians.

In this incident, Corrie was protecting 6 small children. An Israeli court found the only way Corrie could be dealt with, by an entire platoon of IDF Commandos, was to drive over her with a bulldozer. This was considered a legal use of force against an American citizen.

And Israel wonders why tens of millions of Americans suspect them for plotting 9/11?

Houston wheelchair killing

This police incident was a classic. The victim was living in a group home for the mentally ill. He was in a wheelchair having lost an arm and leg some time before in a rail accident.

Two Israeli trained Houston Police were sent. The spokesman for the Houston Police, Jodi Siva, claimed the man ?cornered? one of the police officers and threatened him with an object.

Both officers had completed Krav Fit martial arts training from their Israeli instructors at a cost of thousands of dollars a day.

There is, within this tragedy an aspect of absurdity. Other than guns and watching sports, martial arts is one of the biggest forms of recreation in the United States. I began formal training at 8 and continued as a trainer or in competition well into my 50s.

Of course all US Marines have advanced martial arts training as with Army Rangers, Special Forces, SEALS, specialized units of the Air Force and about 4 million civilians who hold ?black belt? or above level training.

There are two initial issues here, one, of course, is turning to what may officially be the least athletic nation on earth, Israel, for training in an area of athletic prowess, sort of a ?coals to Newcastle? type of thing.

Israel is not Okinawa or Korea. If I want violin or chess lessons, Israel will be among my first 100 choices.

The second, of course, is that the whole thing is a ?con? in the first place, the only time a police officer in Houston was involved in a potential terror plot, he mistakenly killed a CIA agent. This is quite an interesting story from May 2008:

Federal sources close to this case have told me CIA Agent Roland Carnaby had proof a "suitcase nuke" had arrived inside the U.S. from Israel on Tuesday. He was chasing the device and the Israelis who had it.

As local law enforcement was called-in, for some unknown reason cops allegedly began chasing the CIA Agent instead of the Israelis and ultimately shot the CIA Agent dead!

The Houston wheelchair shooting is a classic. We have two armed police officers, highly trained in the mysterious martial arts of Israel, we have a subject in a wheel chair with one arm and one leg and in his hand is a ballpoint pen. The officers, of course, had batons, tasers, and were wearing body armour.

A more likely scenario, one with a typical Israeli aspect to it, would have had the second officer simply take the handles of the wheel chair, run it out into the street and under a passing bus or perhaps a bulldozer of one could be arranged.

The victim had committed no crime, had no warrants but was suspected of ?causing a disturbance.? Group homes, such as this one, are seldom staffed with competent professional personnel and are generally a method of bilking government programs out of money while commonly physically and emotionally abusing residents.

Personnel working in ?group homes? typically have, themselves, criminal records. This is the average qualification in the United States for taking care of the old, the helpless and the infirm.

The officer who killed the unidentified man is named Matthew Jacob Marin. He has been placed on a 3-day administrative leave.
This is his second killing in the past few years.

In August, a Jeffrey T. Johnson, a legitimate armed suspect, was shot and killed by two New York police officers, also trained by Israeli companies.

The officers were 8 feet from Johnson when he drew his weapon. They then opened fire, hitting Johnson but also hitting 9 other people in the area, spraying bullets everywhere.

The incident began when Johnson shot and killed his Israeli employer who had recently ended his employment for reasons Johnson had found ?unsatisfactory.?

New York police who cornered Johnson, who was armed with a Spanish made Star .380 7 shot pistol with 2 rounds remaining in the magazine, then opened fire, hitting Johnson then ?accidentally? shooting 9 others, some as far ?off line? as 120 degrees.

Was the Israeli training team brought in there from the Haifa School for the Blind?

Two days ago, an 83-year old crime victim, Delma Tower of Lynchburg, Virginia was killed by police for ?failing to obey orders.? The 83-year old was fleeing armed intruders who had broken into her home, she was barefoot, wearing a night dress and was not wearing either her glasses or hearing aid.

Police were unable to discern a half-naked 83-year old woman who was nearly blind from the two large male armed intruders, who of course escaped while the victim of the crime, while is so often the case, died in a hail of police gunfire. Each month, the National Rifle Association prints a magazine read by millions of Americans. This organization, one that works closely with police and is associated with the Romney campaign, lauds civilians who use their right to bear arms and reports carefully selected stories where civilians making use of their constitutional rights, but are not killed by police who mistake them for criminals.

I could list a hundred, a thousand such shootings. Sometimes weapons are found at the scene, sometimes those killed have criminal records, and incidents like this have a long history.

What has changed today is that those killed are simply gunned down, no weapon mysteriously dropped by the police, victims are often aged, sometimes even financially well off, there seems to be an agenda that, more than anything else, resembles terrorism, the random killing of any American anywhere, anytime and under any circumstances by police who are unable to explain what they do.
Moreover, nobody ever seriously questions anything that police do.

It is almost as though a mass psychosis has taken over American law enforcement, every face a potential ?bin Laden,? every minor confrontation solved only with volleys of gunfire.

The only common factor in so many of these incidents is the Israeli training, teaching American police to mimic Israeli treatment of the Palestinian people. It seems American police have caught Israel?s national obsession of fearfulness and feigned victimization.

Source: http://vaticproject.blogspot.com/2012/10/tragedy-of-us-police-training-by.html

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Weekend fun competitions to win great baby, toddler, pre-schooler ...

We have some amazing fun competitions to win great baby, toddler, pre-schooler andWeekend fun competitions to win great baby, toddler, pre-schooler and family prizes family prizes. Just click on one of the selected competitions below for full details of how to enter or click here to go to our National Competitions page where we have may many more fun competitions for you to enter for FREE.

WIN 20% off a Christening Outfit. Little Whispers is a unique baby & toddler boutique specialising in all things adorable! They specialise in clothes and gifts for little ones from birth to 10 years, and they are continually expanding their range every season.

WIN a photography session AND ?50.00 of vouchers to spend at Twinkletoes Photography!

WIN a ?40 Voucher for Ellen?s Fingerprint Jewellery. Creating unique keepsakes using your children?s first impressions.

WIN a ?20 Voucher to spend at Little Heroes Toy Shop. A magical place to buy wooden, traditional toys and games.

This entry was posted in National and tagged Baby, Competition, Family, Pre-school, Toddler. Bookmark the permalink.

Source: http://www.smallstepsonline.co.uk/news/3896/weekend-fun-competitions-to-win-great-baby-toddler-pre-schooler-and-family-prizes

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Brooks excited by Country Hall of Fame induction

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) ? Name just about any trophy, lifetime achievement award or honorific, and Garth Brooks can claim ownership.

Sunday night he'll get the big one: Country Music Hall of Fame member.

Brooks will be inducted along with Connie Smith and Hargus "Pig" Robbins in a surprise-packed performance at the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum in Nashville.

Trisha Yearwood says she's rarely ever seen her husband so worked up.

"I don't know if there's anybody who's received more honors, and I've never seen anyone so excited," she said in a recent interview with Brooks. "I've never seen him as excited about such an honor."

It's a well-deserved honor for the man who took country music from a regional sound to an international phenomenon. It's also one the 50-year-old balked at, though he's become more comfortable with it.

"When they announced it, all I could think about was the guys who aren't in there that should be before me," Brooks said. "And as we've gotten closer I see that, but I just can't help be like a little kid at Christmas. It's going to be a great, great, great night."

___

Online:

http://countrymusichalloffame.org

___

For the latest country music news from the Associated Press: http://twitter.com/AP_Country . Follow AP Music Writer Chris Talbott: http://twitter.com/Chris_Talbott .

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/brooks-excited-country-hall-fame-induction-163739926.html

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Saturday, October 20, 2012

What Are a Homeowner's Must-Do Tasks Before Winter Hits?

What Are a Homeowner's Must-Do Tasks Before Winter Hits?Winter is coming, and with it come the hazards of the cold: busted pipes, frozen gas caps, and mice in the attic. The DIY experts at Stack Exchange provide tips on preventing winter's worries before the weather hits.

Illustration by Sean Gallagher.

Question:

I've had my furnace serviced in time for winter, but what other things should I consider doing before the snow and the ice come?

? Originally asked by Jeff Yates

Answer: Test the Snowblower

Take the snowblower out of storage. Put a little bit of gas in and make sure that it starts.

No sense in trying to diagnose a small engine problem in the freezing cold (if you can help it).

? Answered by James Van Huis

Answer: Drain Hoses & Cover Faucets

Drain all your garden hoses and insulate external faucets with these.

? Answered by Doresoom

Answer: Check Your Car

Give your car a once over:

1. Check fluid levels (oil, coolant, brake, steering, transmission)

2. Make sure you top up the washer fluid

3. Check the tires
- Check tire pressure, and adjust as necessary
- Check the treads. If you insert a penny in the tread, and can see the top of Lincoln's head, then you are due for new tires.
- Double check your spare is in good shape, and is properly inflated

4. Check the battery. If you have any indications that the battery is weak, it will only get worse when the cold hits. If your battery is older than about 5 years, you likely need a replacement.

Pack a winter emergency kit for the trunk
- Blanket/boots/gloves/hand warmer packs
- Collapsible shovel
- Salt/Sand/Kitty litter
- Flashlight
- Snowbrush/Ice scraper

? Answered by James Van Huis

Answer: A Short Checklist

- Clean your gutters
- Make sure your chimney is clean
- Install storm windows
- Empty the gas from your mower
- Reverse ceiling fans

? Answered by Steve Jackson

Answer: Mousetraps

Place mousetraps in the rafters of the garage. (I hate to do it, but this is when rodents are looking to move into someplace warm.)

? Answered by woodchips (see woodchip's full answer here)


Did we miss something? Do you know what it takes to prepare for winter before winter hits? Bring your expertise to the question at Stack Exchange?a network of Q&A sites on diverse topics from software programming to Apple and Android to bicycles... and plenty in between.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/edfR4nrRUtQ/what-are-a-homeowners-must+do-tasks-before-winter-hits

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Doctors say shot Pakistani girl improving

In this undated image released by the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, on Friday Oct. 19, 2012, showing 15-year old Pakistani shooting victim Malala Yousufzai, who is recovering in Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England, after being attacked and shot in the head by Taliban gunmen in Pakistan for advocating education for girls. Malala was shot and critically wounded on Oct. 9 as she headed home from school in the northwest Swat Valley, Pakistan, and was evacuated to Birmingham for ongoing treatment, where she is reported to be improving. (AP Photo / University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust)

In this undated image released by the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, on Friday Oct. 19, 2012, showing 15-year old Pakistani shooting victim Malala Yousufzai, who is recovering in Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England, after being attacked and shot in the head by Taliban gunmen in Pakistan for advocating education for girls. Malala was shot and critically wounded on Oct. 9 as she headed home from school in the northwest Swat Valley, Pakistan, and was evacuated to Birmingham for ongoing treatment, where she is reported to be improving. (AP Photo / University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust)

In this undated image released by the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, on Friday Oct. 19, 2012, showing 15-year old Pakistani shooting victim Malala Yousufzai, who is recovering in Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England, after being shot in the head by Taliban gunmen in Pakistan for advocating education for girls. Malala was shot and critically wounded on Oct. 9 as she headed home from school in the northwest Swat Valley, Pakistan, and was evacuated to Birmingham for ongoing treatment, where she is reported to be improving. (AP Photo / University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust)

FILE - In this Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2012 file photo, 14-year-old schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai, is moved to a helicopter to be taken to Peshawar for treatment in Mingora, Swat Valley, Pakistan. Despite widespread outrage over the Taliban shooting a female teenage activist, Pakistani leaders and opinion makers are divided over whether the government should respond by targeting the militants' last major sanctuary along the Afghan border. (AP Photo/Sherin Zada, File)

In this photo taken Monday, Oct. 15, 2012, ambulances are parked outside the Queen Elizabeth hospital, where Pakistani girl Malala Yousufzai is being treated, in Birmingham, England, Monday, Oct. 15, 2012. Birmingham Police say they questioned two people at the hospital where Yousufzai is recovering after being shot, raising fears about the girl's security amid pledges by the Taliban to finish the job. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

LONDON (AP) ? The British hospital treating a 15-year-old Pakistani girl shot in the head by the Taliban raised hopes for her recovery Friday when doctors said she was able to stand with some help and to write.

Malala Yousufzai appeared with her eyes open and alert as she lay in a hospital bed, in the first photographs released by the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham since she arrived from Pakistan on Monday.

It was a series of positive developments since the shooting, which was a brazen bid by the Taliban to silence the girl, who has been an outspoken advocate for girls' right to education.

Still, doctors said she shows signs of infection and faces a long, difficult recovery with uncertain prospects.

"She is not out of the woods yet," hospital medical director Dr. Dave Rosser said. "Having said that, she's doing very well. In fact, she was standing with some help for the first time this morning when I went in to see her."

He said Malala had agreed to the release of medical information and photos, and wants to thank people throughout the world for their interest and support in the difficult days since she was gunned down in Pakistan.

He said her bullet wound has become infected.

A large bruise beneath her left eye could be seen in the photo released Friday, showing Malala in her hospital bed with a toy bear. The upbeat report galvanized Malala's many backers, who had feared the worst.

Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari, daughter of the late Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto, described Malala's progress as wondrous.

"Miracles of today: Malala able to stand," she tweeted.

Canadian writer and journalist Irshad Manji celebrated the girl's progress on Twitter: "So listen up world; Miracle Malala has more 2 say."

Brain injury experts stressed, however, that she is at the start of what will be a long process.

Dr. Jaime Levine, medical director of brain injury rehabilitation at the Rusk Rehabilitation unit at NYU Langone Medical Center in Manhattan, said Malala's ability to stand with assistance and move her arms was a "wonderful sign," but the doctor said it was too soon to say whether she would make a complete recovery.

"For some, recovery from a brain injury is a lifelong process," Levine said. "Some people are left with limitations for the rest of their lives. We speak about recovery in terms of goals and function. For a 15-year-old girl attending school with the promise of her whole life in front of her, goals for her are to finish school and to have a job one day and to have a family. ... But we're not talking about those goals yet. We're talking about short-term goals."

Malala has come to be a symbol for a girl's right to education.

At the age of 11, she began writing a blog under a pseudonym for the BBC about life under the Taliban in the Swat Valley. After the military ousted the militants in 2009, she began publicly speaking out about the need for girls' education. She appeared frequently in the media and was given one of the country's highest civilian honors for her bravery.

Malala was shot and critically wounded on Oct. 9 as she headed home from school in the northwest Swat Valley. The Taliban said they targeted Malala, a fierce advocate for girls' education, because she promoted "Western thinking" and was critical of the militant group.

The Taliban attack was widely condemned.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the shooting as a "heinous and cowardly act," and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the "attack reminds us of the challenges that girls face, whether it is poverty or marginalization or even violence just for speaking out for their basic rights."

Malala was flown from Pakistan to Birmingham on Monday for advanced medical treatment and for security protection. She was in a medically induced coma when she arrived, and regained consciousness on Tuesday, the hospital said.

The medical briefing Friday offered the first real indication of her progress. Earlier briefings were quite limited out of respect for the girl's privacy.

She is in Britain alone. Hospital officials have been in touch with her family in Pakistan.

Rosser said the girl "is communicating very freely, she is writing" but not speaking because she has a tracheotomy tube in her throat.

"We have no reason to believe that she would not be able to talk once this tube is out, which it may be in the next few days," Rosser said.

Scans have revealed some physical damage to her brain, but "at this stage we're not seeing any deficit in terms of function," Rosser said.

"She seems able to understand. She's got motor control, she's able to write.

"Whether there's any subtle intellectual or memory deficits down the line is too early to say," he added.

"It is possible she will make a smooth recovery, but it is impossible to tell I'm afraid."

Malala needs time to recover her strength before surgery to reconstruct her skull, either with her own bone or a titanium plate, the hospital said in a briefing note. That could be weeks or months in the future.

The bullet, which was removed by surgeons in Pakistan, hit Malala's left brow. It traveled beneath the skin and into the neck, damaging soft tissue at the base of the jaw and base of the neck, the note said.

"There is every sign that she understands why she's here," Rosser said.

"It's a very difficult position for her, clearly, because she has gone from being on a school bus and the next thing she will be consciously aware of is being in a strange hospital in a different country."

Officials in the Swat Valley originally said Malala?was 14 years old, but officials at her school confirmed that her birthday was July 12, 1997, making her 15, as the U.S. public broadcaster NPR reported earlier.

___

Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-10-19-Britain-Pakistani%20Girl/id-6185325801464ddeb32ee94b486f54e0

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