Monday 31 October 2011

Witness: Jackson's doctor didn't follow protocol

FILE - In this Oct. 21, 2011 file photo, Anesthesiology expert Dr. Steven Shafer holds an intravenous line as he is cross examined by Ed Chernoff, a defense attorney for Dr. Conrad Murray, background right, during Murray's involuntary manslaughter trial in Los Angeles. The final weeks of Dr. Conrad Murray's trial have hinged on the competing theories of Shafer and his colleague, Dr. Paul White. Murray has pleaded not guilty and faces four years in prison and the loss of his medical license if convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Michael Jackson's death. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, Pool)

FILE - In this Oct. 21, 2011 file photo, Anesthesiology expert Dr. Steven Shafer holds an intravenous line as he is cross examined by Ed Chernoff, a defense attorney for Dr. Conrad Murray, background right, during Murray's involuntary manslaughter trial in Los Angeles. The final weeks of Dr. Conrad Murray's trial have hinged on the competing theories of Shafer and his colleague, Dr. Paul White. Murray has pleaded not guilty and faces four years in prison and the loss of his medical license if convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Michael Jackson's death. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, Pool)

Dr. Conrad Murray listens as defense attorney J. Michael Flanagan (not pictured) questions witness Dr. Paul White, during Murray's involuntary manslaughter trial in Los Angeles on Friday, Oct. 28, 2011. Murray has pleaded not guilty and faces four years in prison and the loss of his medical licenses if convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Michael Jackson's death. (AP Photo/Paul Buck, Pool)

Dr. Paul White, right, an anesthesiologist and Propofol expert, demonstrates an IV drip with the assistance of defense attorney J. Michael Flanagan during Dr. Conrad Murray's involuntary manslaughter trial in Los Angeles on Friday, Oct. 28, 2011. Murray has pleaded not guilty and faces four years in prison and the loss of his medical licenses if convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Michael Jackson's death. (AP Photo/Paul Buck, Pool)

(AP) ? A prosecutor grilling a defense expert got the veteran anesthesiologist to acknowledge Monday that Michael Jackson's doctor deviated from the standard of care.

Dr. Paul White was repeatedly questioned about the ways in which Dr. Conrad Murray had broken guidelines and rules in his treatment of Jackson.

White acknowledged that the type of pulse monitor that Murray was using on Jackson's finger was inadequate to properly monitor the singer when the physician left the room.

Murray, who has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter, has acknowledged he was giving Jackson doses of the anesthetic propofol in the singer's bedroom as a sleep aid. He told police that he left Jackson's room for two minutes on June 25, 2009, and returned to find the pop superstar unresponsive.

White also said he would not leave the room if he were treating a patient who had indicated he liked to inject propofol into himself, as Murray claims that Jackson had told him.

Deputy District Attorney David Walgren pointedly questioned White, a retired professor and clinical researcher, about the circumstances of Murray's care based on his interview with police two days after Jackson's death. White told jurors last week that he believes all the evidence in the case shows that Jackson must have self-administered propofol when Murray left the room.

Walgren and White noted the unique circumstances of the case.

"Have you ever administered propofol in someone's bedroom," Walgren asked.

"No I have not," White replied.

"Have you ever heard of someone doing that prior to this case," the prosecutor asked.

"No I have not," White responded.

Later, White said Murray's treatment of Jackson was different from how propofol is supposed to be used ? as an anesthetic used in hospital or clinical settings.

"This was an unusual case because the doctor was trying to allow the patient to achieve a sleep state," White said.

White retired last year after conducting research on propofol before it was approved for use in the United States. He told jurors that he has been paid $11,000 for his work on the case so far.

White's testimony has put him at odds with his colleague and longtime friend, Dr. Steven Shafer, who testified for the prosecutor. Shafer said White's self-administration theory is not supported by the evidence in the case, in his view, and he called the theory "crazy" during his testimony earlier this month.

White and Shafer were colleagues at Stanford University and conducted research on propofol before it was approved for use in U.S. operating rooms in 1989. Both help edit a leading anesthesia journal. Until White's retirement last year, both were practicing anesthesiologists.

Shafer said Murray committed 17 egregious violations of the standard of care and should never have been giving the singer propofol as a sleep aid.

"We are in pharmacological never-never land here, something that was done to Michael Jackson and no one else in history to my knowledge," he told jurors.

___

McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-10-31-Michael%20Jackson-Doctor/id-375730b887fe491c9661ce1be01969ec

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Sunday 30 October 2011

Beth Phoenix and Natalya taunt Eve on Twitter

At WWE Vengeance, Eve put on a competitive match with current Divas Champion Beth Phoenix. Through use of Brazilian jiu-jitsu and sheer athleticism, the brainy beauty left many - including The Glamazon herself - surprised. But as WWE.com tried to catch up with Eve, the former Divas Champion said she couldn't talk, as her ring gear had gone "missing."

Eve discovered the culprits via Twitter - as @TheBethPhoenix and @NatbyNature?tweeted pictures of themselves posing with @EveMarieTorres' golden ring attire. For two "Sisters of Destruction" who are supposed to be "pin-up strong," the two may have left the WWE Universe wondering why they have sunk so low.

@NatbyNature:?I dont know what's worse, the smell of @EveMarieTorres?boots or her lack of fashion sense?

@NatbyNature:?@TheBethPhoenix?we need to have a locker room meeting on "people" with stinky boots. Gross.

@NatbyNature: @TheBethPhoenix?I love how cute we look in this photo. But not a fan of cheap jewelry.

@NatbyNature: You left this in the locker room, @EveMarieTorres. Finders keepers, losers...

@NatbyNature:?I'm taking matters into my own hands @EveMarieTorres. Your boots smell as bad as your lousy moonsault.

@TheBethPhoenix:No, @NatbyNature?and I didn't go dumpster diving. We just borrowed @EveMarieTorres?stuff.

@TheBethPhoenix:I've always wanted a cheap flea-market, turn your skin green necklace. Thanks, @EveMarieTorres!

@TheBethPhoenix:?I guess @EveMarieTorres?career isnt the only thing going down the toilet...

?

@TheBethPhoenix:?Putting @EveMarieTorres' crap where it belongs

@TheBethPhoenix:?Ooops!!! Ive been a very very naughty Glamazon ;) @NatbyNature?why do u let me act so bad??!!

@TheBethPhoenix:?I enjoy breaking hearts as much as breaking bones. Who's next???#crybaby?#crycry

Never one to back down, Eve responded to The "Sisters of Destruction" with some biting words of her own on Twitter.

?

@EveMarieTorres:?@TheBethPhoenix?@NatbyNature?Talk about me all you want but take my things??#OhHeckNo?We've just entered vale tudo zone. Hope u're prepared.

@EveMarieTorres:?All the diamonds in the world couldn't make u classy. RT @NatbyNature: @TheBethPhoenix?isn't that cheap looking? I'm a Tiifany's girl myself

@EveMarieTorres:?Actually, it's just begun. RT @TheBethPhoenix: I guess @EveMarieTorres?career isnt the only thing going down the toilet

What's next for these bickering beauties? Tune in on Raw Monday at 9/8 CT on USA Network to find out!

Source: http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/eve-missing-ring-gear-beth-phoenix-natalya

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Recap: Florida State vs. NC State

E.J. Manuel threw for 321 yards and two touchdowns as the Florida State Seminoles shut out the NC State Wolfpack, 34-0, in an ACC affair at Doak Campbell Stadium.

Manuel converted 25-of-34 passes and was intercepted once, while being sacked three times in the triumph. Greg Dent caught three passes for 70 yards and a touchdown in the win for Florida State (5-3, 3-2 ACC), while Kenny Shaw hauled in seven receptions for 57 yards and a score as well. The Seminoles have now won three straight

Mike Glennon completed 19-of-34 passes for just 130 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions in a tough day under center for NC State (4-4, 1-3). T.J. Graham, who entered the game with a country-best 185.7 all-purpose yards per game, was limited to just five catches for 39 yards and 76 yards on four kick returns as the Wolfpack saw a modest two-game win streak come to an end.

A seven-yard Devonta Freeman touchdown run midway through the opening period of play gave the Seminoles a 7-0 lead, while a 43-yard field goal by Dustin Hopkins extended the lead to 10-0 late in the stanza.

Lonnie Pryor gave the Seminoles a 17-0 lead late in the second quarter following an eight-yard TD scamper, while a 20-yard scoring toss from Manuel to Shaw with under a minute remaining earned Florida State a 24-0 halftime advantage.

After a scoreless third frame, the Seminoles got on the board again midway through the final period of play with a 39-yard Hopkins field goal conversion. Manuel put the final touch on the rout with a 26-yard scoring completion to Dent late in the stanza.

The Wolfpack, which entered the week averaging 370.6 ypg of total offense, managed just 166 yards offense during the contest, compared to 444 total yards by the Seminoles.

Game Notes

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IdahostatesmancomBSUFootball/~3/e0Md7rDFI_c/recap-florida-state-vs-nc-state.html

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Saturday 29 October 2011

There is losing and there is LOSING (AP)

There are losers, and then there are the hopeless, hapless, possibly even historic losers.

Through nearly half of the NFL season, three teams are threatening to run the table ? in the wrong direction. The problems of the Dolphins, Colts and Rams are overshadowing the ineptitude in Arizona, Minnesota, Seattle and Denver.

First, a look at the guys who can't find a win anywhere, anyhow.

Already, there are debates at stadiums, in bars and chat rooms about which of the 0-fers will remain winless and ensure itself the first pick in next spring's draft, unofficially called the Andrew Luck Derby. Some side with the Dolphins because they aren't a good home team, taking away one supposed edge; are down to second-string quarterback (Matt Moore) who appears in over his head; and they find unique ways to lose regardless of the circumstances ? ask anyone who watched them fold to a previously incompetent Tim Tebow and the Broncos in the final minutes last Sunday.

All good arguments, along with a minus-7 turnover margin (only four takeaways), an underachieving offensive line, inefficiency in the red zone, and overly conservative coaching.

"This game isn't about could'ves or should'ves," coach Tony Sparano said. "We're where we are right now and we're the only ones that can get ourselves out of where we are right now so that part of it has been the most difficult, but the guys are upbeat... `'

Others point to the Rams, who were supposed to contend in the weak NFC West after nearly winning it in 2010. Instead, the 49ers are the ascendant team and the injury-ravaged Rams can't score ? their 56 points are 34 fewer than the wretched Dolphins have managed, also in six games ? and can't stop anyone from scoring. Through six games, they have yielded more points than 10 teams have through seven.

"It's frustrating," said A.J. Feeley, the starting quarterback while franchise QB Sam Bradford heals from a high left ankle sprain. "But then again you can't get too down on yourselves because we've got a lot of games left."

And a lot of losses left.

As for the Colts, well, as former coach Tony Dungy joked (we think), Peyton Manning should sweep the NFL's Most Valuable Player voting. Without him, Indy has become IndiaNOplace, or IndiaNOwins, or IndiaNohope.

The Colts seemed to be making some progress with a string of close losses and a semblance of an offense ? though nothing like what Manning can run ? before the 62-7 debacle in New Orleans last Sunday night. On national TV, no less.

Colts President Bill Polian lamented the demise of the defense after that one, but there is no statistical category in which his team has performed well.

Even worse, and unlike the Dolphins and Rams, the Colts appear almost numb to all the losing. They are in a place unimaginable to them when Manning was around for the last dozen years, and perhaps they don't know how to escape it.

"There are mental errors, there are breakdowns, there are coverage miscues," Polian said. "So I don't know what to tell you other than what the results are. So the question is how do we change that and we have to take a hard look at that."

Which of these three teams will wind up the worst and win the Luck Derby? It might take a replicate of the Lions' 2008 fiasco to earn that pick, and Miami could have the edge there with no games in which it will be favored now that it handed Denver last week's win. The Rams still have two games with Arizona and two with Seattle, plus Cleveland on the schedule. Indy has home games with Jacksonville and Carolina, and finishes at the Jaguars.

The three-team race of disgrace has obscured how poorly the Cardinals, Vikings, Seahawks and Broncos have performed. Their level of losing isn't quite so epic ? Seattle did beat the Giants in the Meadowlands; Minnesota had a shot at undefeated Green Bay in the dying minutes last Sunday in rookie QB Christian Ponder's first start ? but it shouldn't be ignored.

Most disappointing for Arizona has been the lack of production on offense after the big trade last summer to get QB Kevin Kolb. Certainly the adjustment period has been longer than expected, but with coach Ken Whisenhunt's track record, he surely deserves more time to fix things.

"I don't think anybody can take too much heat when your record is where it is," Whisenhunt said. "Our expectations are not to be where we are as a team. We are disappointed. It hurts. We hurt all the time, because we want to be good."

Like the Cardinals, the Vikings, Seahawks and Broncos have made quarterbacking changes this season. All of their defenses have flopped, ranking anywhere from 19th to 29th in yards allowed in the air. None has had a particularly effective offensive line.

What they all have, though, are victories. And even one win might be too many to get "Lucky" in April.

___

AP Sports Writers Tom Canavan in East Rutherford, N.J., and Michael Marot in Indianapolis contributed to this story.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111029/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/fbn_on_football_levels_of_losing

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Madoff's wife: We tried suicide after Ponzi arrest (AP)

NEW YORK ? The wife of disgraced financier Bernard Madoff says they tried to kill themselves after he admitted stealing billions of dollars in the largest Ponzi scheme in history. Ruth Madoff will appear on Sunday's episode of CBS' "60 Minutes." It's her first interview since her husband's December 2008 arrest.

She says the time after Bernie Madoff's arrest was "horrendous." She remembers receiving angry phone calls and hate mail.

Ruth Madoff says they took "a bunch of pills" including Ambien on Christmas Eve, but both woke up the next day. She says the decision was "very impulsive" and she's glad they didn't die.

The couple's son Andrew will also talk about his experience. Another son, Mark, killed himself last year.

Bernie Madoff is serving 150 years in prison.

___

Online:

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/60minutes/main3415.shtml

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111026/ap_on_en_tv/us_people_ruth_madoff

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Friday 28 October 2011

How to Effectively Use Email Auto-Responders Without Being Annoying [Email]

How to Effectively Use Email Auto-Responders Without Being AnnoyingNobody likes to receive an automatic response to their email. It's frustrating for anyone to take the time to craft a message and end up relegated to a computer script. That said, sometimes auto-responders are useful and have their place. Here's how to use them effectively so you get your message across without being annoying.

Avoid the Obvious

Your automatic response is going to be sure to annoy if it tells the recipient something they already know or could easily assume. Here are a few phrases you'll want to avoid:

  • I have received your email - This is, for some reason, a popular statement in auto-responses. First of all, it's not true because if you received it you'd have ignored it or responded by now in most circumstances. A computer has received it and will relay it to you once you have the time. Also, obviously that happened.
  • I will read your email as soon as possible - Unless you're providing a specific time frame and have good reason to do so, don't. As soon as possible is pretty much when everybody responds to emails. This is something you can leave out.
  • Thank you for your message - Unless you thank the majority of people who contact you for simply taking the time to do so, you should leave this out. Chances are you're not thankful at all, considering your inbox is so full you probably won't read half of it, and so this can come across as pretty disingenuous in an autoreponse. While it may seem nice, it's more likely to annoy right off the bat.
  • Please expect a response within 24-48 hours - This isn't always annoying. If you're a customer support team it's actually helpful. You are likely not, however, and so it's just kind of weird. It's good to set expectations but if you can respond in such a specific time frame you probably don't need an auto-responder in the first place. If you're overwhelmed, you also don't want to set expectations you can't keep. If you need to provide a time frame, it's better to be a little less specific (e.g. "it'll take me a few days longer than usual to respond")

Appeal to the Recipient's Good Nature

How to Effectively Use Email Auto-Responders Without Being AnnoyingYou wouldn't need an auto-response if you weren't so busy and desperate, right? So convey that and get people to understand your plight. If you're so overwhelmed by work?or at least your inbox?that you can't respond to email in a timely fashion, or sometimes at all, then say so. A message like this can be effective:

My inbox is very full at the moment and work is remarkably overwhelming. While I'm making my best efforts to respond to all messages in a timely fashion, I'll be slower than usual for the next few weeks. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

This is a bit formal, so if you're the more casual type then read on!

Use Humor

How to Effectively Use Email Auto-Responders Without Being AnnoyingNothing erases a bad feeling like a little humor. When you're feeling upset, frustrated, or any kind of negative, a good laugh or even a smile can cheer you up. That's why crafting an auto-response with a little humor can deter the hate it automatically inspires. Here's an example I came across in the comments on James Altucher's blog (from user mypaisa):

You have successfully reached me. I am, however, terrible at responding to emails. Rest assured, I have read your message, and you may or may not receive a response from me in the next day to decade. I realize that this could result in a missed opportunity for me. If you think this is too important for me to pass up, please email my wife, and if she finds the message important, she will not sleep with me until I respond to you.

This works because it's lighthearted and clever. It tells the recipient that your email volume is unreasonably large and you're bad at handling it while also (hopefully) making them smile. That's about the best you can hope for when employing a less-than-ideal tactic like an auto-responder.

Be Brief and to the Point

How to Effectively Use Email Auto-Responders Without Being AnnoyingConcision is your friend when writing emails, and this couldn't be more true with auto-responders. When people are receiving a response they don't even want to read in the first place, you can take some of the pain away by making it short. The examples above demonstrate the amount of brevity you want. Basically, you're looking to write about three sentences that convey the following three things:

  1. That you're sending an automatic response
  2. Why you're sending it
  3. What the recipient should expect as a result (and what action they should take should you be, for example, on vacation and want them to contact someone else)

That's really all you need. If you accomplish that, you've done your job. It's already significantly less annoying thanks to its brevity. If you can appeal to the good nature of the recipient or make them laugh as well, then you might actually have an auto-response that someone nearly enjoys. While it's best to avoid using auto-responders whenever possible, there are times when you have to use them. So long as you take the care to craft a message that isn't obnoxious, they won't be so bad after all.

Bonus Tip: Set Up a Delayed Auto-response

We've mentioned this tip before, but it bears repeating. Kevin Rose, who is undoubtedly inundated with emails, set up something he calls an email bankruptcy filter. Sometimes despite our best efforts, we miss messages we do care about. He suggests setting up an auto-responder that fires off this message (or something like it) after two weeks:

Your email (below) is now 14 days old and has not been opened. To minimize email buildup your email has now been placed in the archive. Should you still require a response simply respond back and you'll automatically be added to the priority queue. Thank you.

It's not the kindest auto-response in the world, as it's basically suggesting that the recipient's message may not have been important, but it's also a good way of apologizing for missing a potentially worthwhile email as well as offering a means to rectify the situation. If you just can't keep up with the number of messages in your inbox, this may be a good way to handle the problem.


Got any clever auto-responses you like to use? Share yours in the comments!

You can follow Adam Dachis, the author of this post, on Twitter, Google+, and Facebook. Twitter's the best way to contact him, too.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/0CK9MAu5-Qs/how-to-effectively-use-email-auto+responders-without-being-annoying

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Thursday 27 October 2011

New Videos: Selena Gomez Meets her BIGGEST Fans

Selena Gomez joins two of her biggest fans in these brand new videos. Join Dream Out Loud contest winners Jessica, and Lisa as they embark on the trip of a lifetime to a Selena Gomez concert where they’re treated to special VIP access to Selena’s soundcheck…and more!

Source: http://www.celebritymound.com/new-videos-selena-gomez-meets-her-biggest-fans/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new-videos-selena-gomez-meets-her-biggest-fans

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China's cradle of entrepreneurs braces for debt reckoning (Reuters)

WENZHOU, China (Reuters) ? After China's cradle of private enterprise was rocked recently by woes of its vast underground banking market, a full-blown debt crisis was averted -- but the real test is still to come.

That test will take place in January, when companies and individuals have to settle their bills ahead of the Lunar New Year.

Wenzhou, a hive of entrepreneurship on the coast around 400 km (250 miles) south of Shanghai, came into the spotlight in the past month for the cracks appearing in its vast underground lending market, whereby loan sharks and pools of depositors extend credit to small companies that have trouble getting loans from banks.

In late September, worries in Wenzhou, a city of about 2.3 million people, grew sharply. Media reports said that some company chiefs fled and that one shoe-business boss jumped to his death after not being able repay their high-interest loans -- sometimes rumored to carry annual rates topping 100 percent.

The government has since intervened, with Premier Wen Jiabao visiting the city this month and ordering banks to support small businesses, which often have turned to the underground market after getting rejected by banks.

Wen's move helped improve sentiment and pushed back the possibility of a series of bankruptcies, which analysts have said could spread into the formal banking system.

Still, many people in Wenzhou are awaiting with dread the most tense time for businesses even in very good years -- debt collection time.

"Chinese like to settle their debts between January 1st and the start of the Lunar New Year," said Hu Zhenhua, a professor of economics at Wenzhou University. The first day of Lunar New Year celebrations is January 23.

"If we don't pay attention to this period, we may see more bosses running away," Hu warned.

POSSIBLE DOMINO EFFECT?

To be sure, a blowout of the informal lending market in Wenzhou would not itself pose a serious threat to the Chinese financial system or economy.

The underground credit market nationwide was worth 2.4 trillion yuan ($377 billion) at the end of March 2010, less than 6 percent of China's total lending, according to estimates by the central bank. Wenzhou accounts for just a small portion of that total.

But there is still reason for authorities to worry about the possibility that bankruptcies in Wenzhou could start a domino effect of defaults.

Any social unrest that would ensue could be seen as a preview of what might happen elsewhere in the country should the property market or broader economy experience a harder-than-expected landing, potentially leading to defaults in both the formal and informal banking systems.

In Qiaotou, a button-making town on the outskirts of Wenzhou, luxury sedans and SUVs line the streets. Many button bosses have poured money into a 33-story luxury apartment building, now under construction, that is surrounded by farmland, with polluted streams and fume-belching factories in the background.

Yet outward signs of confidence and wealth mask an underlying state of suspense that hangs over the business community here. Many business people wonder whether their debtors will pay them and whether they, in turn, will be able to pay their creditors come January.

"There's a lot of concern about whether clients will be able to pay back the money they owe for the goods," said 34-year-old button maker Chen Wensheng, who left school at 15 to join the family business.

The problem is not just Chen's clients, who currently owe him around 500,000 yuan ($78,000) and, he says, are seeing their clothing business slow.

PRESSURE TO DIVERSIFY

More important is that many businesses have themselves started relending money or borrowing for speculative purposes -- a practice that paid off handsomely in good times but is now exposing many to big losses.

"I just wish that my clients, if they have cash, wouldn't invest in things like stocks, gold, and property. If it's not properly managed, it will be dangerous for our industry," said Chen.

Throughout China, the people of Wenzhou are known not just for their entrepreneurial spirit, but also for their betting on everything from property to commodities.

For many of Wenzhou's entrepreneurs, even if they survive the winter unscathed, hard questions will remain about how a city that built itself on producing low-cost products will be able to evolve. Traditional industries such as button-making and shoes are becoming less viable as China's costs rise.

Even Hu Xuchang, who runs a pipe company that has more than $100 million in sales a year and considers himself a relatively conservative businessman, feels the pressure to diversify his business if he is to survive given razor-thin margins.

Hu has made sure not to over-extend himself as many other business have done, but has himself gotten into the private equity business, making investments in start-up technology and finance firms elsewhere in China.

"I considered expanding the main pipe business in a big way. But profits have slowly fallen over the years and it would have been difficult. So I looked for a business with higher profits and value added," he said.

Come the Lunar New Year, Hu and other businessmen in Wenzhou may be wondering where is the value in their investments.

(Writing by Jason Subler; Editing by Brian Rhoads and Richard Borsuk)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111027/wl_nm/us_china_debt_wenzhou

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Wednesday 26 October 2011

Blood test could identify smokers at higher risk for heart disease, UT Southwestern researchers find

ScienceDaily (Oct. 25, 2011) ? A simple blood test could someday quantify a smoker's lung toxicity and danger of heart disease, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

Nearly one in five adults in the U.S. smoke, and smoking-related medical expenses and loss of productivity exceeds $167 billion annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Levels of a lung protein found in the blood of smokers could indicate their risk of dangerous plaque buildup in blood vessels, said Dr. Anand Rohatgi, assistant professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern and co-lead author of the study available in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, a publication of the American Heart Association.

"We now are close to having a blood test to help measure the smoking-related effects that contribute to atherosclerotic heart disease," Dr. Rohatgi said. "Smoking is one of the biggest contributors to the development of heart disease."

Smokers are at an increased risk of heart attack, stroke and dying from heart disease, but the risk varies among individuals. Until this study, there had been no simple blood test to measure the varied effects of smoking on heart disease.

Researchers determined the amount of circulating pulmonary surfactant B (SP-B), a protein found in damaged lung cells, in more than 3,200 Dallas Heart Study participants ages 30 to 65. The Dallas Heart Study was a groundbreaking investigation of cardiovascular disease that first involved more than 6,100 Dallas County residents who provided blood samples and underwent blood vessel scans with magnetic resonance imaging and computerized tomography.

The researchers found that smokers who had higher levels of SP-B also had more buildup of dangerous plaque in the aorta -- the largest artery in the body, with branches leading to the abdomen, pelvis and legs.

The test is still being evaluated and is not available for commercial use. The next step, said Dr. Rohatgi, is to investigate whether SP-B causes atherosclerosis or is simply a marker of the disease, and to determine whether decreasing levels of SP-B will improve heart disease outcomes.

Other UT Southwestern researchers involved in the study were co-lead author Dr. Ann Nguyen, resident in internal medicine; Dr. Christine Garcia, assistant professor in the Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development and in internal medicine; Colby Ayers, faculty associate in clinical sciences; Dr. Sandeep Das, assistant professor of internal medicine; Dr. Susan Lakoski, assistant professor of internal medicine; Dr. Jarett Berry, assistant professor of internal medicine; Dr. Amit Khera, associate professor of internal medicine; Dr. Darren McGuire, associate professor of internal medicine; and Dr. James de Lemos, professor of internal medicine.

The study was funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. Alere provided assay measurements.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by UT Southwestern Medical Center.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. A. B. Nguyen, A. Rohatgi, C. K. Garcia, C. R. Ayers, S. R. Das, S. G. Lakoski, J. D. Berry, A. Khera, D. K. McGuire, J. A. de Lemos. Interactions Between Smoking, Pulmonary Surfactant Protein B, and Atherosclerosis in the General Population: The Dallas Heart Study. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, 2011; 31 (9): 2136 DOI: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.111.228692

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

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

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111025091644.htm

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Tuesday 25 October 2011

Perry wants flat tax with some popular deductions

Republican presidential candidate Texas Gov. Rick Perry, speaks at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition presidential candidate forum, in Des Moines, Iowa, Saturday, Oct. 22, 2011. A half-dozen GOP contenders flocked to Iowa on Saturday, barely 10 weeks before the state's Jan. 3 caucuses. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

Republican presidential candidate Texas Gov. Rick Perry, speaks at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition presidential candidate forum, in Des Moines, Iowa, Saturday, Oct. 22, 2011. A half-dozen GOP contenders flocked to Iowa on Saturday, barely 10 weeks before the state's Jan. 3 caucuses. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

GRAY COURT, S.C. (AP) ? Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry proposed a sweeping economic plan Tuesday that includes a flat tax proposal, private retirement accounts for Social Security, a lower corporate tax rate and reforms aimed at keeping Medicare solvent.

In a pitch to right-wing conservatives, the Texas governor outlined a proposal he calls "Cut, Balance and Grow" that he says is bolder and more aggressive than what his Republican rivals or President Barack Obama would do.

"America is under a crushing burden of debt, and the president simply offers larger deficits and the politics of class division," Perry said. "Others simply offer microwaved plans with warmed-over reforms based on current ingredients."

In his speech, Perry outlined a broad plan that would make fundamental changes to the tax code and to the nation's entitlement programs.

After weeks of calling Social Security a "Ponzi scheme," he offered five concrete principles for reforming the program. Perry said he wants to keep benefits intact for current retirees, but allow younger workers to choose to put their income into private accounts instead. He wants to allow states and local governments to opt out of the federal program and invest in different funds instead. And he wants to raise the retirement age for younger workers.

Perry also wants to make major changes to Medicare. His plan would allow Americans to receive a payment or a credit for the purchase of health insurance instead of the direct benefits provided through the current program. He would also gradually raise the Medicare eligibility age and pay people benefits based on their income levels.

Perry's plan sets a flat 20 percent income tax rate, but also gives taxpayers the option of sticking with their current rate. He would also maintain popular deductions for families making less than $500,000 a year and end taxes on Social Security benefits. Perry would end corporate loopholes and lower the general corporate tax rate to 20 percent.

Many elements of Perry's plan are controversial ? and others have tried and failed to pass them. President George W. Bush tried to add private accounts to Social Security, but the proposal was widely condemned and did not pass.

"I am not na?ve. I know this idea will be attacked," Perry said of the proposal. "Opposition to this simple measure is based on a simple supposition: that the people are not smart enough to look out for themselves."

President Barack Obama's campaign immediately criticized Perry's plan as hurtful to middle class Americans. Perry's plan, Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt said, "would shift a greater share of taxes away from large corporations and the wealthiest onto the backs of the middle class."

The major policy rollout is a critical part of Perry's efforts to right a struggling campaign. It's an opportunity to demonstrate a heft and seriousness that wasn't on display during recent debates.

Distracting from Perry's speech, however, were new comments he made questioning whether Obama was born in the United States, a debunked controversy that centered on Obama's birth certificate.

In an interview with CNBC, Perry said it was "fun to ? to poke" at the president on the birth certificate issue. "I don't have a clue about where the president ? and what this birth certificate says," Perry said. He was defending an interview he did with Parade magazine, when he said he did not have a "definitive answer" about whether Obama was born in the United States.

Republican strategist Karl Rove ripped Rick Perry for casting doubt on Obama's birth. "You associate yourself with a nutty view like that, and you damage yourself," Rove told Fox News.

But the comments do appeal to a segment of the Republican Party's right wing ? a group Perry is clearly trying to court. Perry's policy speech Tuesday sets him distinctly to the right of chief rival Mitt Romney, who wants to make less sweeping changes to the tax code.

The birth certificate comments and policy rollout comes as Perry prepares to air TV ads in Iowa and has hired a roster of experienced national campaign operatives to help him. Perry's chief adviser on the economic plan is former presidential candidate Steve Forbes, who proposed a 17 percent flat tax when he ran for president in 1996.

It's taken Perry about 2 1/2 months to put together an economic policy package, and he's had to attend the series of debates without his detailed proposal. Romney also has attacked him repeatedly for not having a plan. Romney released a 59-point jobs plan in early September, about three months after officially announcing his bid.

Perry's plan would make more dramatic changes than Romney's. While Perry's plan includes the flat tax, Romney would lower rates on corporations and on savings and investment income for middle-class Americans.

Back in 1996, Romney criticized Forbes' flat tax plan as a "tax cut for fat cats." In the CNBC interview, Perry said if Romney renews that criticism, "he ought to look in the mirror, I guess. I consider him to be a fat cat."

Perry chose South Carolina, where he announced he was running for president, to unveil his economic plan. The first-in-the-South primary state is critical to his path to the nomination, though he has fallen in the polls here just as he has dropped nationally.

He also planned a news conference in the state capital, Columbia, and a fundraiser at the home of former South Carolina GOP chairman Katon Dawson, his top South Carolina adviser.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-10-25-Perry-Economy/id-4b6ffe2f83764678b2d6ac3fd49ff49a

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Venezuelan inmates hold 12 hostages at prison (AP)

CARACAS, Venezuela ? Prison inmates freed a new group of hostages but were still holding 12 prison employees captive to press for demands including the transfer of some inmates to other lockups, Venezuelan authorities said.

Inmates at Tocuyito prison in north-central Venezuela released 15 more hostages on Monday, regional prison administrator Reinaldo Rangel said. He told the state radio station YYKE Mundial on Monday night that the authorities were continuing talks with the inmates to convince them to free the remaining 12, most of whom are women.

The standoff began in mid-October and has once again heightened tensions in a severely overcrowded prison system where guns and drugs are commonplace and where protesting inmates have periodically seized hostages as bargaining chips.

"What we've asked is for them to put aside that position," Rangel said in earlier comments posted on the Venezuelan private news website Noticias24. "They should free them and turn over their weapons."

The prisoners took more than 50 guards and other prison workers hostage earlier this month. Rangel first confirmed the release of 25 hostages on Sunday in the most detailed remarks about the event from a government official since activists reported the hostages seized on Oct. 14 near the city of Valencia.

Inmates released the captives over the weekend after authorities agreed to transfer 30 prisoners to other facilities, Rangel said. The inmates have demanded improved prison conditions and the transfer of about 50 inmates to lockups closer to their families and the courts where their cases are being heard, said Carlos Nieto, a lawyer and prisoner rights advocate who heads the group Una Ventana a la Libertad (A Window to Freedom).

Milena Mendoza said she and a dozen other relatives of hostages have been nervously waiting outside the prison every day for any news about those inside. She said her 21-year-old daughter, a computer teacher, had just started giving classes in the prison.

"I only leave to go eat nearby, and then I come back," Mendoza told The Associated Press by telephone. "With this sort of anguish, who can sleep?"

Mendoza, 39, said her daughter managed to call her two days ago using a phone inside the prison, and told her she was worn out and had no way to bathe.

"She was hungry because food was scarce," said Mendoza, who said she and other relatives were standing under intense sunshine outside the prison on Monday. It wasn't immediately clear whether her daughter was among those freed later Monday.

Many inmates in the country's prisons have been held for months if not years while waiting for their cases to be heard. Nieto told the AP that the cases of some inmates in Tocuyito have been delayed because courts far from the prison are hearing them.

Across the country, inmates have regularly seized relatives of prisoners during visiting hours, and most recently, have taken prison guards and other officials as hostages.

In May, inmates took the warden and 14 other officers hostage at a Caracas prison, holding them for more than a day before freeing them after authorities pledged to investigate complaints that several inmates had been abused.

President Hugo Chavez's government has recognized prison crowding as a problem, and a newly appointed prisons minister, Iris Varela, has pledged to come up with solutions. The countries' more than 30 prisons were designed to hold about 12,000 prisoners but are currently packed with about 47,000 inmates, according to official figures.

A bloody prison uprising in June focused new attention on the country's prison problems. That rebellion exploded after thousands of troops stormed one of two adjacent prisons seeking to disarm inmates days after a riot killed 22 people. The raid set off gunfights between troops and inmates that killed one prisoner and two soldiers.

The 27-day standoff ended after negotiations between officials and inmates.

Last year, 476 people died and 967 were injured in prison violence, according to figures compiled by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

Nieto was visiting Washington this week to urge the commission to put pressure on Venezuela to urgently address its prison problems, which he said are "getting worse all the time."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111025/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_venezuela_prison_hostages

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Monday 24 October 2011

Aussie coast fears rogue shark may have killed 3

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) ? The sudden death of an American diver in the jaws of a great white shark off Australia's southwest coast has raised the specter of a rogue man-eater preying on a renowned aquatic playground and killing three men in two months.

Scientists say three sharks more likely are responsible, and the three cases are sheerly unfortunate encounters with nature.

Australia's southwest corner has been better known for whale and dolphin-watching cruises, white sandy beaches, world-class surf breaks and the peppery shiraz of its Margaret River premium wineries than for fatal shark attacks.

"This is a unique set of circumstances, and I'm desperately ... praying this is not the beginning of a new trend ... and we're going to have these on a regular basis," Western Australia state Fisheries Minister Norman Moore said on Sunday, referring to the three recent deadly attacks.

The latest was Saturday when American George Wainwright was attacked while diving solo off a boat near Rottnest Island, a few miles from the city of Perth in Western Australia state.

His mother, Sharon, in Panama City, Florida, said the family was in shock and she declined to comment further when reached at home Sunday morning by The Associated Press.

The state government set tuna-baited hooks off the island Sunday, the first time authorities have used an emergency legal exemption from the state protection of great whites as an endangered species in the interests of protecting the public.

Western Australia Premier Colin Barnett also said his government would consider shark culls, responding to locals' complaints that shark numbers are increasing off bustling beaches in one of Australia's fastest growing population areas.

But Barry Bruce, a federal government marine biologist with extensive research experience in tracking the movements of tagged great whites via satellite and in examining their behavior, said it was unlikely that a single, lurking predator killed the three recent victims.

"What we've seen tragically is three cases of people by sheer bad luck being in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said.

"If you're in the path of a white shark that is in the process of hunting its natural prey, that's an exceptionally dangerous situation to find yourself in," he added.

He said the great white population was not growing but shifting around the world for reasons that scientists do not fully understand.

Great whites are known to follow whale migration up the west Australian coast through the current spring and return south late in the summer.

Bruce dismissed theories of a single man-eater as unfounded speculation.

"A more plausible explanation is that this is the time of year when sharks move along the coast, and there are undoubtedly multiple sharks out there following this exact pattern," Bruce said.

Barbara Weuringer, a University of Western Australia marine zoologist and shark researcher, agreed. She urged against a shark hunt, saying there was no way of telling which shark was the killer without killing it and opening its stomach.

"It sounds a little bit like taking revenge, and we're talking about an endangered species," Weuringer said.

But a southwest coast-based diving tourism operator called on the state government to kill sharks that pose a threat to humans.

"The nuisance sharks ? the problem sharks that move into an area and are aggressive ? should be dispatched to remove the risk of future attack," Rockingham Wild Encounters director Terry Howson told the AP.

Howson has been campaigning for government action on sharks since one of his tour guides, Elyse Frankcom, was injured in a shark attack last year.

"It's absolutely hurting the tourist trade," he said. "Australia is getting a name for itself as being full of dangerous animals."

Wainwright's two companions said the diver was already dead when his body surfaced beside their boat moments after a flurry of bubbles had erupted on the gray ocean surface.

The shark, a 10-foot (3-meter) great white, surfaced and even nudged the dive boat as Wainwright's friends hauled in his remains and powered for shore, officials said.

A great white of the same size is believed to have taken a 64-year-old Australian swimmer off Perth city's premier Cottesloe Beach on Oct. 10. The beach is 11 miles (18 kilometers) east of Rottnest Island.

The man's remains were not found, but his shredded swimming trunks suggested the size and type of shark that took him.

Both attacks followed the Sept. 4 death of a bodyboarder attacked by a shark described as 15 feet (4.5 meters) long at a beach south of Perth. Witnesses were unsure of the type of shark.

The continent averages little more than one fatal attack a year along an expansive 22,000-mile (35,000 kilometer) coast. But it is a primary home of the fearsome great whites, a large species in which some animals can grow to 20 feet long (6 meters).

The film classic "Jaws" famously used a mechanical shark for close-up action, but live shark footage was filmed in Australia. One is a scene in which Richard Dreyfuss is in an underwater shark cage, and live sharks doubled for the movie killer in long-range shots as well.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-10-23-AS-Australia-Shark-Attack/id-b677a68ac61046459b44a7ea4230fa87

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Sunday 23 October 2011

Search for Rochester school chief must be multi-faceted (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/152124420?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Computers piece together scattered medieval scrolls

It's like something out of "The Da Vinci Code": Hundreds of thousands of fragments from medieval religious scrolls are scattered across the globe. How will scholars put them back together?

The answer, according to scientists at Tel Aviv University, is to use computer software based on facial recognition technology. But instead of recognizing faces, this software recognizes fragments thought to be part of the same work. Then, the program virtually "glues" the pieces back together.

This enables researchers to digitally join a collection of more than 200,000 fragmentary Jewish texts, called the Cairo Genizah, found in the late 1800s in the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Cairo. The Cairo Genizah texts date from the ninth to the 19th centuries, and they're dispersed amongst more than 70 libraries worldwide. Researchers will report on their progress in digitally reuniting the Cairo Genizah during the second week in November at the 2011 IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision in Barcelona.

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Genizahs are storerooms for holy texts, which under Jewish law cannot be simply tossed in the garbage when they're worn out. The Cairo Genizah, however, also contains merchants' lists, divorce documents and even personal letters, a firsthand look at hundreds of years of history in the Middle East.

A non-profit organization, the Friedberg Genizah Project, is working to digitize the fragments of the Cairo Genizah. Meanwhile, Tel Aviv University computer scientists Lior Wolf and Nachum Dershowitz have the difficult task of joining the fragments into a continuous whole.

To do so, they developed a computer program that analyzes document handwriting, physical properties of the page, and even spacing between the lines of writing.

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"Its big advantage is that it doesn't tire after examining thousands of fragments," Wolf said in a statement. The program has made 1,000 confirmed connections between fragments of the Cairo Genizah in the span of a few months, almost the same amount made in 100 years of human scholarship.

The researchers are now applying the same technology to fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls, a collection of hundreds of text found along the Dead Sea in the 1950s.

"It's a more complicated challenge," Wolf said, referring to the Dead Sea Scrolls. "The fragments are for the most part much smaller, and many of the texts are very unique. These texts shed light on the beginnings of Christianity."

Wolf and Dershowitz's effort is part of a Google project using high-resolution photographs of the Dead Sea Scrolls in order to put these biblical texts online.

You can follow LiveScience senior writer Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience and on Facebook.

? 2011 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44983463/ns/technology_and_science-science/

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Saturday 22 October 2011

Nearing 1 Million Users, Path Stays The Course

IMG_2495Founded by Dave Morin, the co-inventor of Facebook Connect, Sean Fanning, the co-inventor of Napster, and Dustin Mierau, the co-inventor of Macster, Path has some serious street cred when it comes to social and sharing. What's more, there was the impressive list of investors backing the photo-sharing app in November of last year, and the sizable series A follow-on investment led by Kleiner Perkins in February. In spite of this, questions about slow user adoption have continued to be hurled at Path; today, however, CEO Dave Morin put some of the speculation to rest, announcing from the stage at The Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco that the app is nearing 1 million users. Not too bad for less than a year's work.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/deHtd_lAaq4/

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Edward thinks Bella's baby is 'Satan's spawn'

?Twilight? fans? it?s almost here!

With less than one month until ?Breaking Dawn ? Part 1? hits theaters on Nov. 18, Access Hollywood has three new exclusive features from the set!

VIEW THE PHOTOS: Robert Pattinson: Hollywood?s Hottest Vampire!

In the first, Access goes behind the scenes with Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart as they talk about filming the highly anticipated wedding & honeymoon scenes!

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?It?s just a relatively momentous moment for the series. It?s been building up and building up ? I think Edward has proposed to her about 50 times by now,? Pattinson says in the behind-the-scenes interview. ?It?ll be quite nice ? at least he doesn?t have to propose anymore!?

VIEW THE PHOTOS: ?Twilight?s? Leading Lady Kristen Stewart

?Bella is absolutely certain that she wants to spend forever with Edward but there?s just something with marriage that she?s apprehensive about,? Stewart explained of her character. ?There are a few beats right before the wedding actually occurs? there are a few looks from Edward that are kind of unclear to her."

Story: Edward sweeps Bella off her feet in new 'Breaking Dawn' photo

As for the honeymoon, which features the now-infamous headboard-breaking sex scene, Robert explained that things quickly take a dramatic turn.

?It starts off quite nice and just gets progressively worse,? he laughed.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: ?Twilight? Heartthrob: Taylor Lautner

Indeed, the honeymoon gets cut short when Bella finds out she?s pregnant.

?Bella obviously wants to have the baby and Edward is just terrified of it and thinks it will destroy her and thinks that she?s ridiculous for thinking she?s strong enough to have a vampire baby. He thinks it?s just like Satan?s spawn, because that?s how he feels about himself,? Stewart explained of the dramatic revelation.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: ?Twilight? Stars Invade Comic-Con 2011!

Full interview with Pattinson and Stewart

In the second exclusive, Taylor Lautner sits down to talk about the evolution of his character, Jacob Black, and also reveals what he thinks the fans will love most about the final chapters in the film saga.

?Towards the beginning of the movie, he?s still the same Jacob he always has been. He?s jealous. He?s still in to Bella and he?s hot-headed. Throughout the movie, he matures a ton,? Lautner explained of his werewolf character.

Story: 'Twilight' stars to be immortalized in cement

?I think the most exciting thing [fans] can expect from ?Breaking Dawn? is seeing all of the characters in a different light. All of the characters change so much from the beginning of the movie until the end,? he revealed. ?I think it?s going to be really exciting to see.?

Full interview with Lautner

Finally, singer Christina Perri ? a self-proclaimed Twi-hard who lends her voice to the film?s soundtrack ? sits down to talk about writing the official love song for Edward and Bella, ?A Thousand Years,? and the special connection it has to the film.

Story: Pregnant Bella faints in 'Breaking Dawn' ad

?I actually recorded the song on August 13, which is when Edward and Bella get married in the story, so it?s pretty magical,? she revealed.

As for the song, Perri said it?s a track she?s extremely ?proud? of.

?It?s classical and it?s really romantic and it?s really pretty and simple. It?s probably the simplest song I have and one of the prettiest that I?ve ever written,? Perri says.

Full interview with Perri

Did you find the final book in the series satisfying or a letdown? Tell us on Facebook.

Copyright 2011 by NBC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44966652/ns/today-entertainment/

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Friday 21 October 2011

Dow, S&P slightly add to gains after data (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? The Dow and S&P 500 slightly added to gains and the Nasdaq pared losses on Thursday after data on manufacturing activity in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region, housing market and a research group's leading index of economic indicators.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) gained 32.32 points, or 0.28 percent, to 11,536.94. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) added 2.92 points, or 0.24 percent, to 1,212.80. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) was down 10.92 points, or 0.42 percent, to 2,593.12.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111020/bs_nm/us_markets_stocks

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Thursday 20 October 2011

Huntsman: Poster Child of the NH Primary (ABC News)

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Heather Mills Accused of Sucking, Stiffing Stylist


Heather Mills is a b!tch who spread horrible lies about Paul McCartney and a cheapskate who never paid for $5,000 haircuts, according to a lawsuit.

Mills is being sued by her former hairstylist David Paul, who says starting 2005, Mills often hired him at his out-of-shop rate of $5,000-per-day.

Her goal? To become a celebrity.

Heather M.

At least he gave Heather some great hair ... NOT!

According to the suit, David claims Mills told him she couldn't afford to pay him up front, but promised she'd deliver the green when McCartney - her then husband - gave her money to do so. Guess that never ended up happening.

David claims Mills used his services at least 20 times, but never paid up, even after she received a multi-million dollar divorce settlement from Paul.

David says Mills began to avoid him in 2008, after he made several requests for his paychecks -which totaled $80,000 - she never, ever paid him.

Worse yet, Mills says Heather would tell terrible lies about McCartney, insisting he was "a cheap tyrant who was often a drunk and abusive husband."

Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell, a seemingly nicer and more stable influence on his life than wife #2 ended up being, got married this month.

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/10/heather-mills-sucks-sued-for-stiffing-stylist/

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Wednesday 19 October 2011

Yahoo meets low earnings expectations (Reuters)

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) ? Yahoo Inc has managed to meet low third quarter earnings targets, a rare feat for a company that has continually disappointed investors.

Yahoo, which is both fielding offers from potential buyers and searching for a new chief executive, posted slight decreases in net revenue and profit, but those declines were not unexpected.

Profit in the third-quarter totaled $293 million, or 23 cents per share, compared with net income of $396 million, or $29 per share, in the year-ago period. Yahoo's net revenue -- which excludes fees paid to partner websites -- was $1.07 billion, compared with $1.12 billion at this time last year, and in line with Wall Street expectations.

"It looks OK, nothing spectacular, but nothing disastrous, and nothing disastrous is good news for these guys," said Macquarie Research analyst Ben Schachter. "They're keeping their heads down and just trying to execute. As long as these guys didn't have completely terrible guidance, and they didn't, they should be OK."

Shares of Yahoo, which fired former CEO Carol Bartz in early September before the end of the third quarter, gained roughly 3 percent to $15.98 in after hours trading on Tuesday.

Not everyone was pleased by the results, however.

"What I really want to see is that they can stop the declining revenue. If we got a little revenue beat, that would be really nice. You can always squeeze more out of earnings," said BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis.

Yahoo has been in a state of chaos since the departure of Bartz. The company retained investment banking firm Allen & Co to help conduct a "strategic review" of its business and is reportedly working with executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles to find a new CEO. Interim-CEO Tim Morse declined to provide an update on either the strategic review or the CEO search process. Of the latter, he said only that "the board process was underway."

A number of potential buyers have expressed interest in a deal with Yahoo. Private equity firms Silver Lake Partners, Providence Equity Partners, Bain Capital, Hellman & Friedman, Blackstone Group, and KKR are among those likely to get a look at the limited financial data Yahoo's advisers are circulating.

Strategic buyers, including AOL, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Ltd, which already has a partnership with Yahoo, and Microsoft Corp are also interested. AOL Inc boss Tim Armstrong is said to be pushing investors for a Yahoo deal, while Microsoft, which offered to acquire Yahoo for $47.5 billion a few years ago, is weighing making another run, either by itself or in partnership with others.

Despite its struggles, Yahoo continues to be a marquee destination, with page views to the company's media properties up 9 percent in the quarter. The flip side, however, is that search queries were up a paltry 1 percent, while search page views fell 3 percent.

The Sunnyvale, Ca-based Internet icon, which has struggled to revive its online advertising business, said it agreed to extend the revenue per search guarantee in its deal with Microsoft through March 2013. The extension applies only to the United States and Canada, however.

Yahoo said it remains fully committed to the success of the search alliance and the extension represents an "important sign of that commitment."

Earlier this year, however, Yahoo said the partnership was taking longer than expected to pay off due to technical imperfections in the search advertising system. As a result, Yahoo said it did not expect revenue per search to return to pre-Microsoft levels until the end of the year.

Morse also declined to provide an update on when revenue per search would return to pre-deal levels.

"Having extended the RPS guarantee, there's no real reason to be talking about when we think the line crosses," Morse said.

Morse did say that premium display advertising sales were on target for the third quarter, but that non-premium ad sales has a bit of an "underrun." Morse added that, on a year-over-year basis, premium display ads sales were up less than 5 percent and non-premium ad sales were down a similar amount.

For the fourth-quarter, Yahoo projected net revenue of $1.125 billion to $1.235 billion, compared with $1.22 billion expected by analysts.

(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic; editing by Andre Grenon)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111018/bs_nm/us_yahoo

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