Angelina Jolie Takes Her Brood To Buy Halloween Costumes

Angelina Jolie Takes Her Brood To Buy Halloween Costumes

Angelina Jolie and her children are all geared up for Halloween! The Oscar-winning actress took three of her children ? Shiloh, Knox and Vivienne Jolie-Pitt, [...]

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Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2012/10/angelina-jolie-takes-her-brood-to-buy-halloween-costumes/

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Stock markets to close Monday, possibly Tuesday

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock and options markets will be closed on Monday, and possibly Tuesday, as regulators, exchanges and brokers worried about the integrity of markets in the face of Hurricane Sandy.

Market participants and regulators decided to shut the market because the storm will make it difficult to ensure the safety of employees, major exchanges said.

The decision to close stock and options markets came after regulators, exchanges, and dealers discussed the unknowns that would have been tested if the markets opened on Monday, three of the sources said.

For example, NYSE Euronext's New York Stock Exchange had planned to shut its physical trading floor, which would have meant operating as an all-electronic exchange for the first time.

Bond markets will remain open, but will close at noon, a trade group said.

The decision to shut down the stock markets came after Wall Street had prepared to open for business on Monday with limited staffing, booking hotel rooms for key employees and leaning on offices in other cities. The storm forced the New York mass transit system to shut down on Sunday evening, leaving tens of thousands of employees stuck at home.

Wall Street banks, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Citigroup Inc, activated their emergency plans, which many firms put in place after the September 11, 2001, attacks. Banks were putting key staff, including some traders, in hotels and also are relying on others who live near the bank's offices.

It was not immediately clear if those plans had also changed.

Some offices in lower Manhattan's Financial District are in evacuation zones and most non-critical staff and employees who don't rely on high-speed systems, including some investment bankers, were asked to work from home.

The storm is expected to slam into the U.S. East Coast on Monday night, bringing torrential rain, high wind, severe flooding and power outages. The rare "super storm" - created by an Arctic jet stream wrapping itself around a tropical storm - could be the biggest to hit the U.S. mainland, forecasters said.

The scramble on Wall Street started early as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the subway, bus and rail system in the city would begin to close at 7 p.m. EDT on Sunday (2300 GMT).

About 8.5 million commuters use the Metropolitan Transit Authority's transit lines daily, meaning most Wall Street employees would be unable to get to work. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg also closed public schools and ordered an evacuation of 375,000 people in coastal areas, including downtown offices of banks such as Citigroup.

All of the U.S. exchanges, as well as major broker-dealers, and regulators were involved in the decision to close the markets, according to several executives at exchanges and financial firms.

The U.S. markets have seen three high-profile snafus this year, beginning with the failed IPO of BATS Global Markets, the No. 3 U.S. equities exchange, on its own exchange; Facebook Inc's botched markets debut on Nasdaq's exchange; and a software glitch that cost trading firm Knight Capital well over $400 million, nearly forcing it into bankruptcy.

TRANSIT SHUT DOWN

The major exchanges and most big trading firms have alternate trading facilities if downtown Manhattan is inaccessible, but the storm's wide path may affect a number of sites in the New York metropolitan area. Authorities have warned of possible widespread power outages that could last for days.

Wall Street was spared the worst of Hurricane Irene in August last year. Officials had feared Hurricane Irene would flood lower Manhattan and cripple business in the world's financial capital, but the flooding was minor and there were no major disruptions at the exchanges.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association said earlier on Sunday it is recommending an early close of noon EDT on Monday for the trading of U.S. dollar-denominated, fixed-income securities. It said its member firms should decide for themselves whether their fixed-income departments remain open for trading.

The foreign exchange market's activity generally follows the fixed income markets.

The New York Federal Reserve has calls scheduled for early Monday morning with dealers to see what each dealer is doing to cope with the storm, and will modify its market activities accordingly.

In Washington, the Commerce Department said it would post its report on personal income and spending for September on its website at 8:30 a.m. as scheduled, even though the federal government was closed.

The Federal Reserve said it would postpone its regularly scheduled releases, including its weekly report on selected interest rates and daily commercial paper data. The Fed said it would release the data when federal offices in the Washington area reopened.

Hurricane Sandy also led to some events being canceled or postponed. Citigroup Prime Brokerage postponed a hedge fund event that had been scheduled for Tuesday.

(Reporting by John McCrank, David Gaffen, Caroline Humer, David Henry, Charles Mikolajczak, Richard Leong, Edward Krudy, Lauren LaCapra, Dan Wilchins and Rick Rothacker; Editing by Paritosh Bansal, Jennifer Merritt, Tiffany Wu, Maureen Bavdek, Dale Hudson, Gary Crosse and Robert Birsel)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stock-markets-closed-monday-storm-hobbles-york-042724131--sector.html

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Lukas Volger Visits HBO! | The Experiment

Lukas Volger Visits HBO!

Lukas Volger

In celebration of Vegetarian Awareness Month, Lukas Volger, author of Veggie Burgers Every Which Way and Vegetarian Entrees That Won?t Leave You Hungry, was invited to HBO?s Times Square headquarters on Tuesday to sign books as five of his delicious recipes were featured on the HBO employee lunch menu. The food caused quite a stir among the lunch-goers, many of whom stopped at Lukas?s table to compliment the dishes and, in some cases, buy his books. The kitchen staff also seemed more than happy to serve Lukas?s food. One of the cooks went home with a copy of Vegetarian Entrees and the head chef mentioned that he plans to make a few of the recipes regular staples of his menu.

Founded by the North American Vegetarian Society, Vegetarian Awareness Month?which kicks off on October 1st of each year with World Vegetarian Day and ends on November 1st with World Vegan Day?is intended to raise public awareness around the many health and environmental benefits of a vegetarian diet. The recipes featured on Tuesday?recipes such as Bulgur Salad with Kale and Feta and Black-Eyed Pea Salad with Roasted Squash Radicchio?perfectly demonstrate one of the key points of Vegetarian Awareness Month: that one can enjoy the benefits of a vegetarian diet without sacrificing taste. For proof of this, look no further than the self-professed meat-lovers who went home on Tuesday with Lukas?s books.

For more information on Lukas (who?s gearing up to run the New York City Marathon!) visit his blog.

---

Source: http://theexperimentpublishing.com/2012/10/lukas-volger-visits-hbo/

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Stellar duo target Ohio's working class for Obama

PARMA, Ohio (AP) ? Lest anyone forget the importance of Ohio's white, working-class voters, President Barack Obama sent a clear reminder on Thursday.

Make that two reminders: Bill (Clinton) and The Boss (Bruce Springsteen), two aging baby boomers still at the top of their game.

"No retreat, believe me, no surrender," Springsteen sang, performing without the backing of his E Street Band in a darkened gymnasium lit by a spotlight. The lyrics seemed aimed both at the president and his supporters.

With less than three weeks until Election Day, Clinton and Springsteen took the stage to rally support for Obama among the critical middle-class voting bloc in this tightly contested Midwestern swing state.

"For 30 years, I've been writing about the divide between the American dream and the American reality," Springsteen said. "Our vote is the one principal way we get to determine that distance."

Clinton implored voters to reward Obama for bailing out the auto industry, which has deep roots in Ohio.

"When you were down, you were out, and your whole economy was threatened, the president had your back," said the former president and a top surrogate for Obama.

Ohio is at the center of both Obama and Republican Mitt Romney's campaign strategies. Winning the state would put Obama on the brink of the 270 Electoral College votes required to win the White House. Romney, who has fewer pathways to victory than the president, almost certainly needs Ohio's 18 electoral votes if he hopes to claim victory.

Both campaigns are paying special attention to Ohio's working class ? many of whom are white and don't have a college degree. They've made up about half of voters in the state in each of the last two presidential elections.

And they were well-represented among the 3,000 people packed into a community college gymnasium for the Clinton-Springsteen appearance.

"I think Clinton is key," said firefighter Matt Sparling of Parma Heights, Ohio. "He's got an amazing way of keeping it simple." Springsteen, he added, helps draw the crowd.

As Ohio officials opened the event, some in the crowd bellowed "Bruuuuce" ? a standard fan shout-out to the musical legend.

Clinton, too, reveled in the chance to serve as Springsteen's opening act.

"I am qualified because I was born in the U.S.A. and unlike one of the candidates for president, I keep all my money here," Clinton said, referring both to one of the rocker's classic songs and Romney's overseas financial holdings.

Polls show Obama with a lead in Ohio, but Romney has made gains following his strong performance at the first presidential debate.

Each candidate has struggled to connect with white, working-class voters, in Ohio and elsewhere.

Nationally, Romney holds a strong edge among white voters with jobs and no college degree. But his advantage is narrower in union-heavy Ohio. A recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll showed Romney ahead 51 percent to 44 percent among likely noncollege, white voters.

Those heavily-courted voters backed Republicans in the past two elections.

In 2004 in Ohio, 55 percent of white voters without a college education voted for Republican George W. Bush and 44 percent voted for Democrat John Kerry. Four years ago, they voted for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., over Obama 54 percent to 44 percent.

This time around, Obama's team sees opportunities to increase its levels of support.

The campaign has blanketed the state with television advertisements portraying Romney as a corporate raider who moved manufacturing jobs overseas. The state's 7.2 percent unemployment rate is more than a half-point lower than the national average. And the auto bailout is credited with saving thousands of jobs in the state.

"I'm thankful GM is still making cars," said Springsteen, whose songs often reflect the stories and values of the people who work in places like auto factories. "What else would I write about?"

Clinton stayed in Ohio on Thursday for another campaign rally, while Springsteen headed to Ames, Iowa, for a second appearance on Obama's behalf.

In addition to that stellar duo, Obama is relying on Vice President Joe Biden to rally support among white working-class voters. Biden, raised in a middle-class family from Scranton, Pa., has been a frequent visitor to Ohio. He's scheduled to make a three-day swing through the state next week.

Romney has also relied on his running mate for help in Ohio. Rep. Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin native, has put his Midwestern sensibilities to use, dropping by college football tailgates and a Cleveland Browns practice. Ryan is due back in Ohio on Saturday.

Springsteen, an avid supporter of Obama in 2008, had planned to sit out this election. He never explained exactly what changed his mind in the campaign's closing weeks, saying only that he believes Obama understands the struggles of "everyday citizens."

The rocker kept his comments brief during a six-song set, which included "Youngstown", a song about the economic woes of the Ohio city. Seeking to hew a bit more closely to Obama's re-election message of shared prosperity, he also played a newer song that has become a staple at the president's campaign rallies.

"Wherever this flag is flown," Springsteen sang. "We take care of our own."

___

Associated Press writer John Seewer in Parma and AP Deputy Director of Polling Jennifer Agiesta in Washington contributed to this report.

___

Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stellar-duo-target-ohios-working-class-obama-205956279.html

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Cardinals Beat Giants 3-1 In NLCS Game 3 After Long Rain Delay

ST. LOUIS ? Carlos Beltran limped to the trainer's room, taking the St. Louis Cardinals' biggest clutch October bat with him.

Turns out they had the perfect substitute.

Matt Carpenter hit a two-run homer after subbing for Beltran and the Cardinals chased Matt Cain before a 3 1/2-hour rain delay in the seventh inning of a 3-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night for a 2-1 NL championship series lead.

Beltran strained his left knee running out a double-play ball in the first innings and the Cardinals said he was day to day.

Kyle Lohse worked around a season-worst five walks in 5 2-3 innings. Mitchell Boggs struck out Hunter Pence and Brandon Belt with two on to end the seventh. Jason Motte earned the first two-inning save of his career to reward what remained of a sellout crowd of 45,850 ? perhaps a third ? that stuck around for a game that lasted 3 hours, 2 minutes, about a half-hour shorter than the delay.

"They said if we didn't score I was going to go out there. I was in the clubhouse running around, I've never really had to sit around like that," Motte said. "It was probably the most nervous I've ever been."

Giants second baseman Marco Scutaro had two hits and a clean game in the field, two days after Matt Holliday rammed him breaking up a double-play ball. Manager Bruce Bochy had said there would be no retaliation, and Game 3 was collision-free.

The big winners in a delay that featured about a half-hour without rain while officials awaited a second, smaller front: Beer vendors, by a single out. Alcohol sales are cut off after the seventh inning in all stadiums.

Cain lost for the second time this postseason, giving up three runs on five hits in 6 1-3 innings. The Giants, who entered the game batting just .217 in the postseason, were 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position.

The Cardinals snapped the Giants' five-game road winning streak in the postseason, three of them this year. Game 4 is in St. Louis on Thursday night, with Adam Wainwright pitching for the Cardinals. Tim Lincecum will start for the Giants.

"He's a guy we want out there. He's been throwing the ball well," Bochy said. "We've got to bounce back."

Carpenter followed Jon Jay's two-out single with a homer off Cain in his first at-bat of the NLCS.

Beltran is batting .400 in the postseason with three homers and six RBIs, but Carpenter had big numbers against Cain. He was 4 for 4 for his career against Cain, all four of the regular-season hits for singles.

"He's a really good pitcher obviously," Carpenter. I've had some success. I just go up there and try to battle, get a good pitch to hit."

This one was a much bigger deal, a drive on a 2-2 count that soared over the Cardinals bullpen in right field and was estimated at 421 feet.

Carpenter entered the game 1 for 5 in the postseason, all five pinch-hit appearances. He had an RBI single in the wild-card playoff against Atlanta. He got 14 of his 46 RBIs in April as the primary sub at first base for injured Lance Berkman.

On Tuesday, Carpenter was among a group of seldom-used hitters trying to stay sharp by facing Jake Westbrook in a simulated game. The rest of the team had the day off.

Umpires called for the tarpaulin right after the Cardinals made it 3-1 on a run-scoring single by Shane Robinson and Cain was lifted.

It was the third game delayed by rain this postseason and a fourth, Game 4 of the Yankees-Tigers ALCS, was postponed later Wednesday night. Two games between the Yankees and Orioles in Baltimore began late because of inclement weather.

The rain intensified less than 10 minutes after the field was covered, chasing most fans who had remained in their seats up to that point. Spotters for the National Weather Service reported 60 mph winds in nearby St. Charles County.

A highlight of the delay was a Pac-Man style chase. Ushers pursued and finally apprehended a fan who jumped out of the stands to get a baseball near the warning track in left field, and then jutted in and out of aisles to elude several ushers who had been closing in.

The storm had been widely anticipated. Some forecasts called for a 70 percent chance of rain. Both managers fielded questions Tuesday and Wednesday about whether the probability of precipitation would affect their selection of the starting pitcher.

Both said they couldn't worry about the weather, and the starters combined for 208 pitches.

"I've been caught before where you try to predict what's going to happen with the rain and started," Bochy said. "Just a couple years ago I started a pitcher thinking the same thing and it didn't rain for four or five innings. Then I put my starter in and then it started raining, and so it came back to bite me."

Lohse is 2-1 with a 1.96 ERA this postseason despite uncustomary control woes. He was among the majors' best control pitchers this season, averaging 1.62 walks per nine innings.

The Giants entered 70-22 when scoring first, including the postseason, and took the lead in the third on Pablo Sandoval's run-scoring groundout after leadoff hits by Angel Pagan and Scutaro, whose legs looked just fine on an opposite-field double flared just over first baseman Allen Craig's glove.

Beltran leads all players with eight extra-base hits in the 2012 playoffs and is a career .375 hitter in the postseason, highest ever among players with a minimum of 100 at-bats.

NOTES: Danny Cox, who pitched for Cardinals World Series teams in 1985 and 1987, threw a perfect strike on the first pitch. ... According to STATS LLC, Lohse walked two batters in the same inning four times in 2012. ... Jay, who was hit by a pitch to start the game, was plunked 15 times in the regular season. ... Matheny had 122 lineups during the regular season but has stuck with the same eight throughout the postseason. ... The Cardinals are 9-2 in Game 3 of the NLCS, the lone losses coming in 2004 and '05 at Houston. This win ended a streak of scoring at least six runs in the last eight postseason victories dating to Game 3 of the World Series last year, the longest streak of its kind in postseason history. St. Louis entered averaging 7.6 runs in 16 wins the last two postseasons and just 2.3 runs in the 10 losses. ... The Cardinals have played in eight best-of-seven series in which they were tied 1-1 and played Game 3 at home, and have won all of them. They won six of the previous seven series, according to STATS LLC

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/17/cardinals-giants-3-1-nlcs-game-3-rain-delay_n_1976351.html

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Incorporate A Business: Choosing A Legal Entity - Small Business ...

If you?re ready to incorporate a business, one of the simplest ways to create a legal entity for your company is to set up an LLC. ?The LLC stands for ?limited liability company,? and it gives you the ability to create a separate legal entity for your business which is separate from your identity as the owner. Like other corporate structures, the LLC gives you a ?corporate shield? when you incorporate a business,?to separate and protect your personal assets from those of your business.

About the LLC (Limited Liability Company)

The LLC is a popular choice with small business owners and solo entrepreneurs when it comes time to incorporate a business, because it does not have as many formalities and ?red tape? requirements as a C Corporation or S Corporation. The filing requirements are easier, and you don?t have to set up a board of directors, host an annual shareholders? meeting, or deal with as many other regulatory formalities.

An LLC also offers ?pass through taxation,? meaning that the company itself does not pay income taxes. Instead, the company?s earnings are passed through to the company owners. This makes the LLC a simple and effective choice for many solo entrepreneurs, who get the personal asset protection of a corporation without having to deal with the additional paperwork involved with setting up an S Corporation. ?Here?s a comparison of the S Corp versus the LLC.

Another unique feature of an LLC is that the owners can choose different ?tax treatment? by filing additional forms with their tax returns. For example, you can choose to have your LLC taxed like a C-Corporation, or you can choose pass-through taxation like a sole proprietor, or you can choose to treat your LLC like an S-Corporation for tax purposes. ?If you?re?ready to incorporate a business and?form an LLC to protect your personal assets and boost your business credibility, talk to CorpNet today for a?free business consultation.

About the S Corporation

If you?ve decided to incorporate a business, perhaps you?ve wondered:

?What is the difference between an LLC and an S Corporation and what are the tax benefits of choosing one business structure over another??

One option for business owners who want to minimize the amount of taxes they owe while still enjoying the most flexibility in how to set up and run their company is to incorporate as an S Corporation.

The S Corporation is a corporate structure governed under subchapter S of Chapter 1 of the IRS Code. As such, S Corporations have unique tax rules which can offer special benefits for the owners. The S Corporation is one of the most popular business structures in America, with over 3 million small businesses incorporated as (or filing taxes as) S Corporations.

Perhaps the biggest tax advantage of an S Corporation is that they can help the business owner minimize the amount of self-employment tax that is owed. When you?re a sole proprietor, often the biggest line on your tax bill is the amount of self-employment taxes collected for Social Security, Medicare, unemployment and other programs ? this can add up to approximately 15% of your eligible earnings.

With an S Corporation, the company is governed by pass-through taxation (like an LLC), and so the company itself does not owe any taxes. Instead, the company?s earnings are listed on the owners? individual tax returns. But with an S Corporation, the owners have some flexibility in how they report their earnings, and in doing so, they can often minimize their self-employment income tax liability.

For example, an S Corporation that earns $100,000 in profit could pay the owner a $50,000 salary (which is subject to self-employment taxes) and also pay the owner a $50,000 distribution (which is not subject to self-employment taxes). Assuming approximately a 15% self-employment tax rate, the owner of the S Corporation would have saved $7,500 on self-employment taxes.

One drawback of the S Corporation is that you are limited in the number of shareholders that can own a piece of the company. There is a maximum of 100 shareholders that can take part in an S Corporation, and only one class of stock can be issued. This means that S Corporations cannot be used for an initial public offering, and it also makes it hard to use an S Corporation if you want to raise venture capital. Another restriction of S Corporations is that only U.S. Citizens can be shareholders.

If you incorporate a business?as an S Corporation, it is not to be taken lightly, as there are numerous business filings and regulatory requirements that need to be done throughout the year. So you?ll have to decide if the S Corp is right for your small business. ?If you want to learn more about how you can incorporate a business?as an S Corporation to protect your personal assets, talk to CorpNet today for a?free business consultation.

All About The C Corporation

The third main choice of business structure that entrepreneurs can choose when it?s time to?incorporate a business?is the C Corporation. Although the C Corporation has more complicated tax and regulatory filing requirements, it is an ideal choice for certain types of companies with certain business goals.

A C Corporation is a standard corporation owned by shareholders who elect a board of directors to oversee the management of the business. Shareholders generally have limited liability, even if they are involved in the day-to-day management. The shares of a corporation are freely transferable unless limited by agreement of the shareholders.

The corporation exists indefinitely, unless and until it is dissolved by the shareholders. It is a separately taxable entity, meaning that the company must file its own tax return and pay corporate taxes on its profits. There is no limit on the number of shareholders a C corporation may have.

C Corporations can create multiple classes of stock, such as ?preferred shares? with advantageous terms for certain shareholders. This makes C Corporations a popular choice for businesses that want to raise venture capital or make an initial public offering (IPO).

One potential drawback of C Corporations is that they are subject to ?double taxation? ? meaning that the company itself has to pay corporate income taxes on profits, and then those profits are taxed again as dividends when paid out to shareholders. Working with a professional tax accountant can help you understand your options to effectively minimize your tax liability. ?If you?re?ready to incorporate a business?as a C Corporation to protect your personal assets and boost your business credibility, talk to CorpNet today for a?free business consultation.

Choosing a business structure can be complex, but you don?t have to worry about making ?the wrong choice,? because you can always change your choice of business structure by filing the appropriate forms. If your business is growing or your business needs have changed, you can switch from an LLC to an S-Corporation to a C-Corporation and back again.

Whether you need a basic LLC to protect your personal assets, or whether you need a more complex C Corporation structure that could help your company raise venture capital or ?go public? someday, you can?incorporate a business?according to your needs and can change as your business evolves.

One of the best things about entrepreneurship is the way it enables us to adapt and evolve as our interests and the needs of our markets change ? and incorporating a business is the same way.

Even if you?re not sure of which business structure to choose, you don?t have to fear making the wrong decision. Just get started. ?Incorporate a business and?protect your personal assets, and you can move forward from there.

Researching Photo via Shutterstock

Source: http://smallbiztrends.com/2012/10/incorporate-a-business.html

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Obama: Renew Assault Weapons Ban

President Obama tonight said he's interested in seeing an assault weapons ban reintroduced, breaking his silence on the legislation, which has persisted in spite of at least five mass shootings during his term.

At the end of a long answer to the question, "What has your administration done or planned to do to limit the availability of assault weapons?" Obama said this:

"My belief is that, (A), we have to enforce the laws we've already got, make sure that we're keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, those who are mentally ill. We've done a much better job in terms of background checks, but we've got more to do when it comes to enforcement.

"But I also share your belief that weapons that were designed for soldiers in war theaters don't belong on our streets. And so what I'm trying to do is to get a broader conversation about how do we reduce the violence generally. Part of it is seeing if we can get an assault weapons ban reintroduced. But part of it is also looking at other sources of the violence. Because frankly, in my home town of Chicago, there's an awful lot of violence and they're not using AK-47s. They're using cheap hand guns."

As a candidate in 2008, Obama campaigned on permanent reinstatement of the expired assault weapons ban, and Attorney General Eric Holder in 2009 indicated that the administration would lobby for a bill. But that never materialized and the White House has largely avoided talking about it.

In August, after the Sikh Temple shooting, Jay Carney said, "He does support renewing the assault weapons ban."

But tonight is the first time during his first term that the sentiment has come from the president's mouth.

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-calls-renewal-assault-weapons-ban-034956718--abc-news-politics.html

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Experts: Costa Concordia equipment malfunctioned before crash

7 hrs.

NBC News staff and wire reports

GROSSETO/GIGLIO, Italy - An Italian court heard on Tuesday that equipment aboard the Costa Concordia luxury liner may not have been functioning when she ran aground and capsized, killing 32 people.

The list of issues compiled by a panel of court-appointed experts included a wide range of alleged malfunctions, from lights that did not work during the disaster to the?possibility?that radar equipment had been turned off or broken.

The hearing is closed to the public because the huge media interest could not be accommodated.

The 114,500-ton luxury cruise ship capsized on Jan. 13 after approaching the Tuscan island of Giglio to perform a maneuver close to the shore known as a salute. It struck a rock which tore a gash in its hull.

Previous?story:?Packed court as Costa captain hears evidence

Also on Tuesday, Francesco Schettino,?the captain blamed for the disaster admitted he made?mistakes?but accused the cruise liner company of mishandling the response.?He said last week he was suing Costa Cruises, a unit of Carnival Corp., for unfair dismissal following the accident.

His lawyer Francesco Pepe said the hearing would show his client was not solely responsible for the disaster.

"Schettino's responsibility needs to be established and it needs to be established that others may have contributed as well," he said after the conclusion of the hearing's first day.

Meanwhile in Giglio, where the stricken liner still lays on her side awaiting salvage, news has emerged that thieves broke into the Costa Concordia earlier this year, stealing furniture, paintings and luxury goods from a gift shop. Sources at Costa Crociere say the thieves had used entry holes and guide ropes made by search and rescue teams to get into the ship.

'I saved your lives'
Schettino?slipped into court by a back door on Tuesday, wearing dark glasses and offering just a brief wave to waiting journalists. According to Italian TV network Tg1, he spoke to two German Costa passengers inside court, saying, ?I saved your lives and those of many other passengers.?

This week?s hearings will help the judge decide if Schettino should stand trial. He is accused of manslaughter, causing the shipwreck and abandoning ship while passengers and crew were still aboard. He denies the accusations and has not been charged.

Previous?story:?Costa Concordia cruise ship captain says sacking unfair

A key question is how much of the blame Schettino should shoulder himself and how much responsibility lies with his crew and employer, Costa Crociere, a division of the Miami-based Carnival Corp. Costa Crociere has denied negligence and has distanced itself from Schettino, firing him in July.

In all, nine people face the prospect of criminal trial, which would be unlikely to begin before next year.

The company's lawyer defended the ship's other crew.

"I believe that everything that came out yesterday -- and the conclusions drawn by the court appointed experts -- acknowledge that everything that could have been done by the Costa Concordia crew, was done,"?Marco de Luca, a lawyer for Costa Crociere, told NBC News, outside the courtroom.?

"The one fact that has been completely underestimated is that more than four thousand people were disembarked in a short period of time -- some two hours -- and this was done exclusively by Costa personnel.?

Praxilla Trabattoni and Claudio Lavanga of NBC News, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.?

More world stories from NBC News:

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Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/travel/experts-costa-concordia-equipment-may-not-have-been-working-crash-1C6496546

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Taliban says they will try to kill injured schoolgirl who defied them

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - A Pakistani schoolgirl fighting for her life after being shot by Taliban gunmen was transferred on Thursday from a hospital in a province that is a militant haven to a specialist hospital in the army garrison town of Rawalpindi.

Malala Yousufzai, 14, was unconscious in critical condition after being shot in the head and neck as she left school on Tuesday, but doctors said she had moved her arms and legs slightly the night before.

Pakistani surgeons removed a bullet on Wednesday from Yousufzai who was shot by the Taliban for speaking out against the militants and promoting education for girls.

Her courage made her a national hero. The shooting has drawn condemnation from world leaders and many Pakistanis.

Yousufzai began standing up to the Pakistani Taliban when she was just 11, when the government had effectively ceded control of the Swat Valley where she lives to the militants.

Her father, Ziauddin Yousufzai, who runs a girls' school, said his daughter had defied threats for years, believing the good work she was doing for her community was her best protection.

A Reuters correspondent watched as she was moved from an army hospital in the regional capital of Peshawar to the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology in Rawalpindi to help her treatment.

"Pray for her," her distraught uncle, Faiz Mohammad, said before the ambulance left the hospital.

A husband-and-wife team of two British doctors who were attending a seminar in Pakistan at the time of the attack on Thursday joined local surgeons in treating Yousufzai.

She was shot with two other girls on Tuesday as she left school in Swat, northwest of Islamabad. One of the girls is out of danger and the other remains in critical condition.

A Taliban spokesman said she was targeted for trying to spread Western culture and that they would try to kill her again if she survived.

"BARBARIC AND COWARDLY"

Authorities had identified her attackers, said regional governor Masood Kausar. The local government has posted a 10 million rupee reward for their capture.

"The security agencies are closely working with each other and they have a lot of information about the perpetrators. We hope our security agencies will soon capture them and bring to justice," he said.

The attack outraged many in Pakistan, with small, impromptu rallies held in her support in many cities. Schools had also closed across Swat in protest over the shooting and a small demonstration was held in her hometown of Mingora.

Pakistan's president, prime minister, and heads of various opposition parties joined human rights group Amnesty International and the United Nations in condemning the attack.

On Wednesday, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the United States had offered any assistance necessary.

"The president found the news reprehensible and disgusting and tragic," Carney told reporters.

"Directing violence at children is barbaric, it's cowardly, and our hearts go out to her and the others who were wounded as well as their families."

Yousufzai had spent the last three years campaigning for girls' education after the Taliban shut down girls' schools. She received Pakistan's highest civilian award but also a number of death threats.

In 2009, the army pushed the Taliban out of her hometown of Mingora, but the attack showed the militia's ability to strike even inside heavily patrolled towns.

(Writing by Katharine Houreld; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pakistani-schoolgirl-shot-taliban-moved-army-hq-hospital-123901592.html

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7 Exercises fitness is necessary to avoid | Max Burn

For most of my adult life, I have to believe that there is no such thing as bad exercises ? just bad manners to make good exercises.

You can take the most effective exercises and render them useless and compromise as it is possible to transform an ineffective exercise in a safe place and functional.

That said, some exercise equipment and movements are just flat-out terrible.

Here are the "Unlucky 7" -: the years in which the risks far outweigh the benefits.

Inverted Leg Press:

• The angle on most of these machines can cause injury due to the uncomfortable position of the hips and spine.
• It ?s very hard not to push the lower back in the back in this exercise. In this way, the stress placed on the disk when it is loaded.
• Straighten Up (like a squat) obtains full employment hamstring and butt muscles. The leg press keeps the fixed upper part of the body, which takes this.

Best Alternative: Squat (barbell or dumbbells)

Smith Machine:

Any way you slice this machine (AKA "the towel expensive") is biomechanically horrible.

• Like any other machine, which must conform to a fixed movement ? which does not take into account natural mechanical lifters, and does not allow fine mechanical adjustments.
• This can cause problems in the knees and back, when used for the squat.

Eric Cressey, who is the king of debunking smith machine, gives these 10 uses good for it (hint-none of them include squats or bench presses.

Best Alternative: Each barbell or dumbbell alternative

Perform Extension:

• This machine promotes forced to put back into a hyperextended position.
• Combine the location undesirable end with the typical way in which people perform the movement (read fast and jerky) and may cause damage to the spinal joints (facet joints).

Best alternative:On all fours ? raising the opposite arm / leg at a time (birddogs / pointing dogs).

Ab Twist machine:

Or any year in which the lower part of the
body is fixed and the upper part of the body is in rotation against the great strength.

• The abdominal muscles are designed to prevent rotation, not encourage it.
• In addition, the rotation is almost exclusively on the lumbar spine ? an area that is prone to injury when placed in this position.

Best alternative: Twists short-range pipe or cable ? allowing some movement of the hip

Vertical lines:

• Because of the socket and the nature of the movement, vertical rows place stress on the shoulder causing a bone bone frontal collision with each repetition.
• Eventually, this can lead to tendonitis of the rotator cuff.

Best Alternative: Lateral dumbbell raises

Shoulder Press Machine:

• The positioning and the plane of movement of the arms when pushing over the head is highly individual.
• When the power and movement are stuck in a plane of movement, you may be asking for trouble over time.
• Have your arms in front of you too much or too far back can put the accent on the shoulder.

Best Alternative: Dumbbell shoulder presses

Sit Ups (especially on a ball):

• Furthermore, the architecture of large abdominal muscles dictate that it is not meant for large movements as a whole sit-ups on the ball.
• In addition, sit-ups promote a decline often undesirable posture (rounding).
• In fact, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommends a limit of 3400 newtons of force to keep your back safe. Sit-ups help 3413 Newtons.

Best alternative: Short-range crunch, tables, prayers.

Bottom Line

So while we need to take the individual factors of training, like-ability, goals and experience into account in determining the value of a year, I do not think there is much room for one of these in a routine safe weight but effective way of training.

Source: http://maxburnreview.com.br/7-exercises-fitness-is-necessary-to-avoid/

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New Android apps worth downloading: SkyMotion, Chaos Rings, TheEndApp

Here are three great Android apps to enjoy. SkyMotion gives you an idea of exactly how much precipitation you can expect in a specific area over the upcoming few hours ? perfect for event organizers everywhere. Chaos Rings is an epic RPG from Japanese game developers Square Enix, creators of the Final Fantasy series. Last, but not least, we?ve got TheEndApp, a port of a popular iOS endless runner with a post-apocalyptic vibe.

SkyMotion (Free)

What?s it about? It?s not always enough to have an approximate idea of the weather, sometimes you really need to know exactly how wet it might be right where you are.

What?s cool? The app helps you plan the next two hours with the precise knowledge of how precipitation will impact you, your family or your business. It automatically detects your location from 16 million zones across the United States and Canada. SkyMotion can be used year-round to detect hail, snow, rain, sleet and ice pellets.

Who is it for? If you?re someone who organizes or is planning an outdoor event, the level of detail offered by SkyMotion could be invaluable, especially during the summer. The morning weather report discussing a ?60 percent chance of showers? may not be enough. However, reviews are somewhat mixed in Google Play, and it definitely sounds like a widget would be a useful addition.

What?s it like? Serious meteorology apps like RadarNow offer very sophisticated weather data while Rain Alarm can notify you of precipitation in your immediate area (but you?ll need the full $4.00 version to really zero-in on your exact location).

Chaos Rings ($12.99)

What?s it about? Here?s another massive new RPG from Square Enix, the creators of the Final Fantasy series.

What?s cool? This one?s been on iOS for a while, so it?s good to see it finally ported to Android. The story concerns the Ark Arena, a tournament where combatants fight for their lives. You choose a pair of characters, (one male and one female) then fight against the other pairs. Each pair have their own tale, and the truth behind the Ark Arena is not revealed until each story is complete.

Who is it for? Chaos Rings is definitely a game for RPG fans. It features great 3D graphics, smooth animation, and a deep story with multiple endings. It uses a traditional RPG battle system, and there are hours and hours of gameplay to enjoy, despite the high price. Prospective purchases should understand that the game requires 1GB of storage space.

What?s it like? Square Enix already offer their famous RPG titles in Google Play like Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy III as well as their popular strategy game Crystal Defenders.

TheEndApp (Free)

What?s it about? Here?s a fun, challenge-based endless runner with a vivid but creepy post-apocalyptic vibe.

What?s cool? Another popular iOS game comes to Android. This one features the over-the-shoulder camera view popularized by Temple Run. The world has come to an end and you must run like hell, pick up duct tape and buy goodies for your survival camp. Each day brings a different set of challenges as you zoom through deserted streets avoiding lava pools and leaping over burned police cars.

Who is it for? Fans of endless runners will definitely enjoy TheEndApp. It does a great job of merging the best elements of previous titles, and the challenges keep you trying just one more time to complete them. The swipe controls are good and the 3D environments adapt depending on the time of day. Plenty of power-ups keep things varied and interesting.

What?s it like? Naturally, all endless runners from this perspective draw immediate comparisons with Temple Run, but the game?s challenge system is a bit like Jetpack Joyride. Other good over-the-shoulder runners include Agent Dash and Rail Rush.

Download the Appolicious Android app

Source: http://www.androidapps.com/tech/articles/12838-new-android-apps-worth-downloading-skymotion-chaos-rings-theendapp

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Djokovic, Federer advance at Shanghai Masters

SHANGHAI (AP) ? With another win at the Shanghai Masters, Roger Federer guaranteed himself the No. 1 ranking for the 300th week of his career.

The top-ranked Federer beat Davis Cup teammate Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-0 on Thursday in the third round.

Federer struggled to string points together early, with his backhand looking shaky through much of the first two sets, but he recovered late and advanced to the quarterfinals.

Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray also reached the quarters. Djokovic defeated Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-3, 6-3 and Murray beat Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6-2, 6-2.

The second-seeded Djokovic had 12 aces and won 27 of 29 first-serve points. The third game of the second set was the only time in the match that the Serb lost two points on serve.

"I'm trying to enjoy the efficiency of my serve," said Djokovic, who had three aces in one game in the first set. "I'm not very well known around the tour for big serving. But so far in this tournament, and also in Beijing, it has been working very well for me. It has been giving me a lot of free points, a lot of confidence into the matches."

Fourth-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic defeated Sam Querrey of the United States 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-4, and fifth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 6-2, 7-6 (2).

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/djokovic-federer-advance-shanghai-masters-144232794--spt.html

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GlaxoSmithKline to reveal more drug secrets

LONDON (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline, criticized in the past for keeping important information about its medicines to itself, is to lift the lid on more of its drug secrets.

Three months after GSK was fined $3 billion for fraud in the United States, where prosecutors accused it of concealing safety issues, chief executive Andrew Witty said on Thursday detailed data from its clinical trials would be made available to other researchers. That would include anonymised patient-level results that sit behind clinical trials of approved and failed drugs.

Britain's biggest drugmaker will set up an independent panel of experts to review requests submitted by researchers, which will then be vetted for scientific merit, a company spokesman said. The new system will start at the beginning of next year.

The move is a first for a major pharmaceutical company.

In July, GSK reached a record $3-billion settlement with the U.S. government, pleading guilty to charges that it had provided misleading information on some drugs, including antidepressant Paxil and diabetes pill Avandia.

"By being more open with our clinical trial data, we also hope to help further scientific understanding," Witty said in a statement.

Other companies have faced similar charges in the United States and Witty's decision to expose his company to greater scrutiny may push rivals to follow suit.

The industry is, in any case, under pressure from regulators to open up. The European Medicines Agency recently decided to make its own data vaults containing drug company trial results available for systematic scrutiny.

Critics of the drug industry, including the respected Cochrane Collaboration, which carries out systematic healthcare reviews, have long argued that researchers need access to full data from clinical trials.

Such information is a treasure trove for scientists wanting to test drug company claims and expose product deficiencies.

The industry's failure to provide full access to such data was blasted in a recent book which received widespread public attention in Britain; "Patients are harmed when data is withheld," Ben Goldacre, author of "Bad Pharma", told Reuters.

"It is great that GSK has made further promises of greater transparency, but promises are not enough, because they have been broken in the past. We will only see if this promise is different in the years to come."

Witty reaffirmed a commitment to seek publication of results of all clinical trials evaluating its medicines - regardless of whether the results were positive or negative for the company - in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

He also said he would make GSK's library of compounds with potential activity against tuberculosis (TB) freely available to outside research groups, matching a similar move in 2009 to put malaria compounds in the public domain.

The GSK boss will set out details of the new openness strategy at a meeting on Thursday in London, hosted by the Wellcome Trust medical charity.

(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Dan Lalor and Alastair Macdonald)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/glaxosmithkline-pledges-more-openness-drug-data-065749634--finance.html

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Legal Aid Schedules Wills Clinic for Tuesday, October 24 ...

Legal Aid will be celebrating Pro Bono Week the week of October 22.? As part of this celebration, they have scheduled a wills clinic for Wednesday, October 24, at 3:00 PM at the Mabel Wiggins Center.? They are in need of 5-6 students to assist with this clinic.? No training will be required for this clinic.? Students will assist the assigned attorneys with making changes to the documents that the clients request during the clinic and act as Witnesses and Notaries, if any of the students are Notaries.? Students?may also prepare simple documents, such as Powers or Attorney and Living Wills.

If you would like to participate in this clinic, please contact Jina Scinta at jina.scinta@louisville.edu.? The first six students to e-mail will be signed up.

Our office is working with Legal Aid to schedule a wills clinic training for our students in the very near future. Please keep eye out on the Daily Docket for further details of the training.

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Source: http://www.law.louisville.edu/node/9341

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Kenseth wins when Stewart gets knocked upside down

TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) ? The championship contenders said Talladega Superspeedway would be the wild-card race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

That was an understatement.

Talladega delivered yet another "big one" Sunday, when defending NASCAR champion Tony Stewart triggered a 25-car pileup as he tried to protect the lead. His bid to block a long line of traffic on the last lap backfired, and his car was sent sailing through the air in a chaotic crash that collected 10 of the 12 title contenders.

Daytona 500 winner Matt Kenseth won under caution, and everyone else was left wondering when NASCAR will do something dramatic to alter the dangerous racing at restrictor- plate tracks.

"It's not safe. It's not. It's bloodthirsty," Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. "If that's what people want, that's ridiculous."

Stewart, who assailed the wreckfests at Talladega with a sarcastic diatribe in May, took full responsibility for creating the latest carnage.

He had charged to the lead on the first lap of a two-lap sprint to the finish, but got too far ahead of the pack to hang on to any drafting partners.

Kenseth was charging on the outside of him and Michael Waltrip was leading a line of traffic on the inside. Stewart was blocking all over the track, and said he mistakenly chopped across the front of Waltrip's car to trigger the accident.

The contact hooked Stewart to send him into a spin, and his car lifted into the air and sailed on its roof and then on its side over several other cars. It created chaos through the pack, which was running three-wide in a frantic dash to the finish.

"I just screwed up. I turned down and cut across Michael and crashed the whole field," Stewart said. "It was my fault, blocking and trying to stay where I was at.

"I was trying to win the race and I was trying to stay ahead of Matt there and Michael got a great run on the bottom and had a big head of steam, and when I turned down, I turned across the front of his car. Just a mistake on my part but cost a lot of people a bad day."

Stewart gamely waved to the crowd as he climbed from his battered car, while Jimmie Johnson sat on the ledge of Earnhardt's window for a lift back to the garage. Everywhere they looked, they saw crumpled cars.

Five-time Talladega winner Earnhardt said enough is enough with the carnage. He was credited with a 20th-place finish that dropped him four spots in the standings to 11th.

"If this was what we did every week, I wouldn't be doing it," he said. "I'll just put it to you that way. If this was how we raced every week, I'd find another job. That's what the package is doing. It's really not racing. It's a little disappointing. It cost a lot of money right there.

"If this is how we're going to continue to race and nothing is going to change, how about NASCAR build the cars? It'll save us a lot of money."

Of the 12 Chase drivers, only race winner Kenseth and second-place finisher Jeff Gordon avoided the final wreck and it pushed Gordon up four spots in the standings to sixth with six races remaining.

But there was little change beyond that as everyone else ended up with a sub-par finish.

"That was the craziest, craziest finish I've ever experienced at Talladega," Gordon said. "It was just insane. I remember when coming to Talladega was fun, and I haven't experienced that in a long time. That was bumper-cars at 200 mph. I don't know anybody who likes that."

It took NASCAR more than an hour to sort the final finishing order. When the results were finally posted, Kyle Busch was third and was followed by David Ragan and Regan Smith, who grabbed a season-best fifth-place finish in his final race with Furniture Row Racing.

Chase driver Greg Biffle was sixth, followed by points leader Brad Keselowski, Travis Kvapil, Ryan Newman and Jeff Burton.

Keselowski considered himself lucky to be leaving with a 14-point lead over Johnson. Keselowski said he was holding on trying to stay in the bottom lane because he figured that would be his escape route when the inevitable accident happened.

He was credited with a seventh-place finish, but his Penske Racing team had a photo that showed Keselowski on the apron in fourth with the caution lights on ? when the field should have been frozen. Both owner Roger Penske and team president Tim Cindric believed the driver wasn't awarded the proper finish.

"That's pretty big; I just feel lucky to survive Talladega," Keselowski said. "Just a bunch of guys running four-wide. You know it's a matter of time before they wreck. We all did."

Most of the race was tame, which seems to be the norm anymore as drivers use varying strategies to ensure they are still running at the end. The highlight before the final drama was Kurt Busch being parked by NASCAR for driving away from safety workers as they attempted to check on him after he wrecked.

Busch had lost fuel pressure while leading, which led to his accident in his final race with Phoenix Racing. He's scheduled to join Furniture Row Racing, the team that signed him for 2013, next week, but could face sanctions from NASCAR.

Busch wasn't wearing his helmet, which he said prevented him from hearing a NASCAR official telling him to not to move. When he drove away, a safety worker's bag fell off the back of his car.

"Now I'm in worse trouble. This is the story of my life," he said. "Kurt Busch leads the race, runs out of gas, gets yelled at by NASCAR, and now I have a storm of media around me, and I don't know what to do or what to say next."

So he was long gone as the race roared on seemingly incident-free.

Because Talladega is the fourth race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, the championship contending drivers had to do everything in the power to leave with a good finish.

It meant Denny Hamlin spent most of the race at the back of the pack ? so far back, he was in danger of not being able to make up any ground when he needed to hustle.

"It's what you have to do," Hamlin said. "You kind of give up the chance at a win riding in the back all day, but you've got to miss the wreck."

A spin by Jamie McMurray brought out the final caution and bunched the field together, which gave Kasey Kahne, Martin Truex Jr. and Hamlin a chance to salvage their day. They had two laps to get to the finish line, and Stewart darted from fifth to first on the restart.

But he couldn't win without some serious defensive driving, and it led to the accident that is part of Talladega's legacy.

It cost two-time defending race winner Clint Bowyer, who was the leader on the restart and trying to make it to the finish before Stewart's car landed on top of his. Bowyer wound up 23rd and said the accident started when Stewart "hung a pretty hard left on Michael."

"That's just Talladega. That's why we all come out and watch," Bowyer said. "We need to shorten this race up because it's all waiting to see what happens right there at the end, anyway."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kenseth-wins-stewart-gets-knocked-upside-down-214020930.html

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Apple 'shortage' unlikely despite crop damage

Michael Conroy / AP

Frost- and drought-damaged apples hang on a tree Monday at Tuttle Orchards in Greenfield, Ind. Although this year's apple supply has been hard-hit, shoppers are unlikely to see a shortage at the store.

By Ben Popken, TODAY contributor

First bacon, now apples. The crispy, sweet, tart treat is the latest food that headlines suggest is in danger of going missing from your supermarket due to crimped supplies.

The culprit is an early warm spring that brought out the blossoms on the apple trees, followed by a March-April cold snap that killed them off. No blossom, no apple.

The crop in Michigan, the nation's third largest source of apples, is down 80 percent. New York's, the second largest source, is cut by half. The U.S. Apple Association estimates this year's inventory at 202 million bushels, down about 10 percent from a 5-year average of 225 million. A bushel equals 42 pounds. That's 966 million fewer pounds of apples to go around for biting, bobbing, and baking. The USDA's estimates are for even less, down 14 percent and the lowest harvest in 20 years.

Buffering the shortfall somewhat is Washington state, boasting a near-record crop of 145 million bushels, up from their usual output of about 125-130 million. The state normally supplies 60 percent of the nation's apple inventory. The question is whether they can get enough hands to pick them before the apples begin falling. If they're not in the back of the truck by Thanksgiving, they're on the ground and all that surplus goes to the worms.

But even if Washington plugs their picker gap, a recent USDA report says it won't be enough. The harder-hit central and eastern states are responsible for supplying most of the processors, who in turn use fresh sliced apple slices and frozen apples for pies, baking, canning and juice. Production in those categories is projected to fall 30 percent, which could boost prices in these categories, although there are "strategic apple supplies" distributors can dip into. There apples are put "to sleep" naturally and placed into storage year-round.

Local apples may be hard, or impossible, to find in the more heavily dinged geographies, but overall you should see full bins of apples at the supermarket throughout the year. The most commonly produced apple in America, the Red Delicious, is actually seeing slightly lower prices this year from last, down .025 dollars from a year ago. Otherwise prices for early varietals are running about a dime more per pound than a year ago.

"Right now, we are expecting no shortage and should be able to keep the apple supply steady," the U.S. Apple Association's Mark Gedris told NBC News. "We don't expect people to be paying more for apple pies this Thanksgiving." It's not until the spring that shoppers might notice changes at the supermarket level, although by then imports from Chile and New Zealand can start to pick up some of the slack.

That said, your homemade apple pie isn't totally safe this Thanksgiving.

Two of the most popular varietals for baking are also the two hardest hit.?Macintosh and Empires apples, which come from Michigan and New York, respectively. Instead you can try using Honeycrisp or Macouns, or the Golden Delicious.

More money and business news:

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Source: http://lifeinc.today.com/_news/2012/10/08/14294431-apple-shortage-unlikely-despite-damage-to-nations-crop?lite

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Woes deepen in Europe and China; U.S. the bright spot

LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The euro zone's economic woes accelerated last month and China's slowdown looked likely to extend to a seventh quarter, surveys on Wednesday showed, while the United States proved the bright spot with better-than-expected news on services and jobs.

Purchasing managers indexes (PMIs) suggested the aggressive actions taken by the world's central banks over the last two months have yet to convince consumers to start spending again.

The chances have dwindled of the euro zone in particular seeing growth again before next year.

Falling new orders and more layoffs marked a worsening decline for euro zone companies, the PMIs showed, while growth of China's normally robust services weakened to an almost two-year low last month.

Economic data in the United States were cheerier in tone, however.

The pace of growth in the massive U.S. services sector picked up more than expected in September on the back of new orders, according to an industry report. And a private sector employment report showed companies added more staff than expected last month, although it revised down the number hired in August.

Growth in the United States has been stronger than elsewhere, yet the world's largest economy remains mired with high unemployment and uncertainty about taxes and government spending next year. Europe's crisis and China's slowdown have already begun to infect the long-stumbling U.S. economic recovery, a grim prospect for world growth.

"Is the global economy heading into another recession? This is now becoming a genuine possibility, given events in recent months," said Gerard Lyons, chief economist at Standard Chartered in London, in a research note.

A good gauge of economic growth, Markit's Eurozone Composite PMI, fell to 46.1 in September from 46.3 in August.

While revised up slightly from a preliminary reading two weeks ago, the index has been stuck below the 50 mark that divides growth and contraction for all but one of the last 13 months.

The data helped send world share markets and oil prices lower on Wednesday, while the euro edged lower against the dollar as traders await Spain's next move to solve its mounting debt problem.

Although the German downturn eased last month, hopes for an imminent recovery in the 17-nation currency bloc were dealt a blow by steeper declines for firms in France, Italy and Spain - the euro zone's three largest economies after Germany.

"There therefore seems little scope for a return to growth in the fourth quarter," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, which compiles the PMIs.

Outside the euro zone, Britain's services sector growth slowed last month and companies shed jobs for the first time in 10 months.

The data lend weight to a consensus that both the European Central Bank and Bank of England will ease monetary policy further before the end of the year, although few economists believe they will announce anything at their meetings on Thursday.

'VERY MODERATE GROWTH'

The dollar hit a fresh two-week high against the yen and U.S. stocks briefly paired losses after the Institute for Supply Management said its U.S. services index rose to 55.1 last month from 53.7 in August, topping economists' forecasts for a slight decrease to 53.2.

The forward-looking new orders index jumped, but growth in employment eased, the ISM report showed.

The news comes on the heels of a comparable report on Monday for U.S. manufacturing that was surprisingly strong - another sign of resiliency as Americans prepare to head to the polls for next month's presidential election.

"It looks more like things are heading in the right direction," said William Larkin, fixed income portfolio manager at Massachusetts-based Cabot Money Management. "It is this new reality - we don't have robust growth, we just have very moderate growth."

The ADP National Employment Report, meanwhile, showed private sector companies added 162,000 jobs in September against the 143,000 expected. Still, the August figure was revised down from 201,000 to 189,000.

Economists often refer to the ADP report to fine-tune their expectations for the highly anticipated official payrolls numbers, due on Friday, though it is not always accurate in predicting the outcome. That report is expected to show job growth improved slightly, with employers adding 113,000 jobs.

To kick-start hiring, the U.S. Federal Reserve last month waded deeper into uncharted policy territory with a third and potentially massive program of asset purchases.

THE KNOCK-ON EFFECT

While the U.S. economy has managed to deflect some of the huge uncertainty emanating from Europe, Asian countries that rely heavily on exports to rich Western peers have not fared so well.

China's official services PMI fell to its lowest point since November 2010, as slow growth in manufacturing finally began to feed through to the rest of the economy.

Weak construction services and transport, as well as lackluster new orders overall, pushed the PMI to 53.7 in September from 56.3 in August, signaling economic growth will slow for a seventh quarter.

A Reuters poll last month forecast China's annual economic growth could ease to 7.4 percent in the third quarter, before picking up to 7.6 percent in the final three months. That would likely leave growth for 2012 below 8 percent, its lowest in more than a decade.

News Australia's trade deficit blew out to its widest in 3-1/2 years in August provided a further reminder of the knock-on effect of the uncertainty emanating from Europe, via China.

Falling prices for iron ore and coal ate into export earnings, just the latest sign of how China's slowdown is hurting resource-rich Australia.

Wednesday's data showed the deficit on goods and services yawned out to A$2.03 billion ($2.1 billion) in August, from a revised A$1.5 billion in July. That was far beyond forecasts of a A$700 million shortfall and the largest deficit since March 2008.

"It means the current account deficit will blow out in the quarter and the trend is clearly for further deterioration," said Su-Lin Ong, a senior economist at RBC Capital Markets.

(Additional reporting by Lucy Hornby in Beijing and Wayne Cole in Sydney; Editing by Jeremy Gaunt and Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/europes-woes-deepen-china-slows-145111458--business.html

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UK government ditches rail contract

LONDON (AP) ? The British government's rail policy was thrown into chaos Wednesday after it canceled a disputed contract to run one of the country's busiest lines following the discovery of "unacceptable mistakes" in the way it awarded the franchise.

The announcement is a partial victory for the line's present operator, Richard Branson's Virgin Group, which lost out on the 13-year contract to run the west coast London-to-Scotland service in August to rival operator FirstGroup.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin called off the contract because of "deeply regrettable and completely unacceptable mistakes" made by his department in the way it managed the bidding process.

The errors were uncovered as the department was preparing to deal with a High Court challenge brought by Branson, who challenged the contract's award.

McLoughlin said staff had been suspended and an investigation had been launched. The bidding process will be run again.

The government's errors related to how the level of risk in the bids was evaluated. The department said in a statement that "mistakes were made in the way in which inflation and passenger numbers were taken into account."

The problem raises questions about the department's overall ability to assess and make decisions on contracts, said rail expert Christian Wolmar. Everything will be placed on hold.

"It's a very small team there," he said.

The announcement struck a nerve in a country where the privatization of railways in the 1990s has left a troubled legacy. Critics say the nationalization was rushed and resulted in a system that is both complicated and inefficient. Trains are often crowded and consumer groups argue that services are often three to five times more expensive than their European counterparts.

Train tracks are not maintained by train operators. And with some contracts as short as five years, rail operators are largely discouraged from investing in the system.

What's often lost in discussions on contracts are the passengers, said the consumer group Campaign for Better Transport.

"It shows the difficulties with the current system," said Richard Hebditch, the campaign director. "The point of the franchising is to improve the service, but I don't think that really happened."

Branson, the Virgin chief, praised transport authorities for reconsidering their decision. He said he was hopeful Virgin, which had been running the route since 1997, could continue operating the franchise.

FirstGroup said it was "extremely disappointed" at the news. Its shares plunged just over 20 percent Wednesday in London trading.

The uncertainty over the line's franchise also prompted concern about the economy in the region. Adam Marshall, director of policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, said that the government needs to move quickly to ensure that investment in the railway network does not suffer.

"The West Coast line is one of Britain's most important business corridors, and companies in cities up and down the country will be concerned that this situation could affect both current services and future investment in critical passenger services," he said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/uk-government-ditches-rail-contract-121147315--finance.html

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Is social media insurance scammy or just plain smart? | Digital Trends

In the age of the hacker, is it time we get on board with social media profile protection or is it up to us to keep our own data safe?

Your online life has become an important and valuable commodity. Your Facebook photos, your Twitter mentions, your Tumblr posts ? these things are worth something to you and me. We?ve spent years curating these online representations of ourselves, and many of us use them to store and share content. Not only are these profiles valuable to us, it turns out that they?re also worth a lot to marketers, advertising agencies, brands.

Your social media accounts are a thing that you have ownership over, and now some think that, like other things you own, it needs an insurance policy. The argument: You insure your car, your home, your stuff ? why not your Facebook profile?

U.K.-based information privacy company ALLOW recently started offering policies through Legal Insurance Management to protect your social media accounts for??3.99/month (about $6.50). ?We could see that people were becoming increasingly worried about privacy,? head of PR for ALLOW Joe Wiggins tells me. ?ALLOW set out to help people in the battle for their personal data. The social media insurance is just the latest development.? ALLOW also focuses on helping users analyze where and how their data is being used, as well as offers protections again identity theft. The natural extension of this appears to be specifically providing insurance policies for Facebook profiles, Twitter accounts, and so on.

According to Wiggins, in the event of a client needing to use the insurance, a member would call the provided claim line ? run by Legal Insurance Management ? and would be assigned a case worker. Once it?s been verified that the person is who they say they are and that they are the owner of the Facebook account in question, ALLOW gets Facebook to disable the account as quickly as possible.

?We also take steps to locate and remove potentially offensive material,? says Wiggins. ?If it can?t be removed, then we bring in reverse SEO experts to begin the process of burying it.?

At the moment, this coverage through ALLOW isn?t available stateside (though Wiggins says the company is ?just looking for the right partners? here). On one hand, it seems absurd to talk about insuring an intangible, digital representation of your identity, but on the other hand? is it all that crazy?

?Accounts are getting hacked all the time,? Wiggins points out. ?Sometimes its mischievous, sometimes it can be very malicious. Online reputation is very important.? It?s true that hijacking social accounts has become a popular pastime: This week we all got a look at the underground market for the buying and selling of Twitter handles, and Mat Honan?s now infamous run-in with identity theft was fueled by social media. In a less serious twist, several major baseball teams had their Facebook accounts hacked back in August and fell victim to pranksters that mocked the teams? players on their own pages.

Sometimes, it?s nothing more than the Internet?s version of prank calls, but other times mistakes can be made that have far greater consequences. ?I definitely think that?s a great idea,? Chris Lang, who runs Email Delivery Jedi, an email reputation and spam filter service, says about social media insurance. ?If you?re using your social accounts to make money and you have the money, you should certainly be paying for it.? Lang found his own Web business nearly buried when in 2006, he was incorrectly added to a security company?s block list, which kept him barred from a huge number of users? Web browsers as well as barricaded from reaching inboxes. He knows all too well how important visibility is online, and part of his Email Delivery Jedi service is making sure that his customers? domains are never blocked. Essentially, it?s blog and website insurance.

Lang reasons that if you?re using a social profile as a means of revenue ? which plenty of Twitter users who act as 140 character, human billboards for products do ? something like what ALLOW is offering makes far too much sense. ?If you?re making $5k a week, you should be paying someone to monitor your account.?

The flip side of all this is that social media account insurance just sounds like a scam. ?It sounds like a dishonest business,? says Millennial Branding founder Dan Schwabel. ?I think that eventually, none of this is even going to matter because owning your profile will be so part of our culture.? As people become smarter and more aware of their personal, virtual brand, the less likely it is that we?re going to let them fall into someone else?s hands ? including those of data brokers trying to buy your info. Schwabel brings up an interesting point, asking ?The big question right now is who owns your social network profiles ? the company or you?? Because while ALLOW might help you get your profile back from hackers, that particular policy has nothing to do with keeping your information out of third party companies? hands. ALLOW does have opt-out and ?remove my name? services, but the social media insurance shouldn?t be confused with these tools.

What should we be more scared about: Losing our carefully curated social profiles to hackers, or data brokers who want to hoard and profit off of them? Right now, it seems like a tossup. The one sticking point is that many of us are in danger of losing so much more than a profile in the event of being hacked. Plenty of people default to Facebook to store photos, and various profiles have personal information that could be used in order to get into other accounts ? say your bank account or work email.

As the evolution of social networking continues as does our investment in it (both professional and personal), it seems logical to assume that users will pay for this type of coverage. But right now, the best protection to avoid losing all that falls to one place: You. You have to backup your photos somewhere else, and you should be making better passwords. Someday, social media insurance might be as common as car insurance, but until that happens it?s on humans to make sure our Internet selves belong to us.?

Source: http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/do-you-need-insurance-policies-for-your-social-media-accounts/

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