Panasonic sees $5.5 billion annual loss, worst in a decade (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) ? Japanese electronics maker Panasonic Corp forecast an annual net loss of 420 billion yen ($5.5 billion), its worst in a decade, as restructuring costs soared and weak demand in the United States and Europe eroded income.

Panasonic, grappling with the cost of layoffs as it cuts expenditure and strips out overlapping businesses after its buyout of subsidiary Sanyo, was also hit by a soaring yen.

The loss, which will be its second biggest ever, compares with the company's previous forecast for a net profit of 30 billion yen in the year to March 2012 and last year's net profit of 74 billion yen.

"What we need to tackle is the television and related semiconductor businesses," Chief Financial Officer Makoto Uenoyama told reporters.

"If we downsize these, our profits will be completely different."

The maker of Viera televisions and Lumix cameras cut its full-year operating profit forecast to 130 billion yen from 270 billion yen.

That is far below market expectations of a 225 billion yen profit, based on the average estimate of 21 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

It also slashed its estimate for annual TV sales to 19 million sets from 25 million.

For July-September, the company reported an operating profit of 42 billion yen, beating its own forecast of 4.4 billion yen profit, but falling short of analysts' average estimate of 50 billion yen. It had reported an operating profit of 85.2 billion yen a year earlier.

Global consumer confidence remained weak with more than 60 percent of consumers saying it was not a good time to spend and one in three North Americans saying they had no spare cash, according to a survey by Nielsen published at the weekend.

The soaring yen is making it harder for Panasonic to compete with the likes of Samsung Electronics.

For the remainder of the business year, Panasonic estimates a dollar-yen rate of 76 yen and a rate of 105 yen against the euro.

In April, Panasonic said it would cut 17,000 jobs and close up to 70 plants. Sources have said it will slash plasma TV panel output and drop plans for a solar panel factory and a battery plant expansion in Japan.

Shares of the company closed 2.1 percent lower before the results. They have fallen 31 percent so far this year, compared with a 13 percent decline in the broader market.

($1 = 75.760 Japanese yen)

(Writing by James Topham; Editing by Vinu Pilakkott)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111031/bs_nm/us_panasonic_results

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Video: The Week Ahead

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45080534#45080534

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Pink Floyd member's son loses jail term appeal (AP)

LONDON ? Judges have upheld the 16-month jail sentence given to the son of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour for a violent rampage during student protests last year.

Charlie Gilmour was one of thousands of students who demonstrated in December against rising university tuition fees. He was among a group that broke away from the main demonstration and attacked the convoy carrying Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla.

Gilmour also was photographed hanging from a Union flag on the Cenotaph, a memorial to British war dead.

The 21-year-old Cambridge University student pleaded guilty to violent disorder but challenged the length of his sentence.

But the Court of Appeal said Friday that the sentence was neither "manifestly excessive (nor) wrong in principle."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111028/ap_en_mu/eu_britain_pink_floyd

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Daily Crunch: Glass

Here are some of yesterday’s stories on TechCrunch Gadgets: Glareless Glass, Flexible Solar-Powered E-Paper, And More From FPDI Best Buy Has 32GB TouchPads For $149, But There?s A Catch Video: Murata Shows Robotic Walking Aid / Shopping Cart Nintendo Is Planning In-Game Virtual Item Sales For 3DS Google TV Update Rolls Out On Sunday: Better Content Discovery, Android Market, But Hulu Is Still Blocked

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/TEK3fxT14pE/

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Gov't considers testing anthrax vaccine in kids (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Should the anthrax vaccine be tested in children?

Concerned that terrorists might use the potentially deadly bacteria in some future attack, the government has stockpiled the vaccine, and it's been widely tested on adults. But never on children.

The question is whether to do those tests now so that doctors would know if and how well children respond to the shots ? or just wait and, if there is an attack, offer the vaccine experimentally at that time.

That issue was before the National Biodefense Science Board on Friday. The board gives advice to the Department of Health and Human Services on preparations for chemical, biological and nuclear events.

Even if the board recommends testing, there is no deadline for the government to decide whether to go along. And if it does agree, it's not clear how much time it would take to find money for such research and get clearance from review boards at medical centers that would conduct studies.

Another big question is whether parents would sign up their children to test a vaccine when there is no immediate threat. It's not possible to get anthrax from the vaccine, but there are side effects. In adults, shot-site soreness, muscle aches, fatigue and headache are the main ones, and rare but serious allergic reactions have been reported.

Anthrax is among several potential bioterror weapons and is of special interest because it was used in letters sent to the media and others in 2001, claiming five lives and sickening 17. That prompted extensive screening of mail and better ventilation and testing at postal facilities and government agencies.

The FBI has blamed the attacks-by-mail on Bruce Ivins, a scientist at an Army biodefense laboratory, who committed suicide before he could be charged.

Anthrax can be difficult to treat, especially if someone has breathed anthrax spores. Millions of doses of antibiotics have been stockpiled since the 2001 episode, and two experimental toxin-clearing treatments also are being stored.

U.S. troops deploying to Iraq, Afghanistan and some other countries are required to get anthrax shots. Since 1998, more than 1 million have been vaccinated. After lawsuits objecting to the requirement, a federal judge suspended the program in 2004, finding fault in the Food and Drug Administration's process for approving the drug. The next year, the FDA reaffirmed its finding that the vaccine was safe.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111028/ap_on_sc/us_sci_anthrax_vaccine

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Obama welcomes Europe's plan for dealing with debt (AP)

WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama says Europe's new debt plan lays a "critical foundation" for a comprehensive solution to the continent's financial crisis.

In a statement, Obama says the U.S. looks forward to the rapid implementation of the plan. European leaders agreed to a deal Thursday to have banks take bigger losses on Greece's debts and to boost the region's weapons against market turmoil.

Obama says he will continue to support European allies in their efforts to address the financial crisis. The president will meet with some European leaders next week in France during the G-20 world financial meeting.

The president has said economic instability in Europe has been a drag on the U.S. economy.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111027/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_europe

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Palaszewski pulls big upset on Griffin with nasty KO at UFC 137

LAS VEGAS - Hands be damned. Bart Palaszewski thought he may have broken his hands, but when he had the chance to pound out Tyson Griffin, he went for broke.

Palaszewski scored a vicious knockout of Griffin at the 2:45 mark of the first round at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. The former WEC fighter was a plus-260 underdog.

Griffin is now 1-1 back down at featherweight. The 28-year-old climb near the top of the mountain at lightweight with a close loss to Sean Sherk at UFC 90. Since then, his career has been derailed by weight issues, injuries and bad knockouts. Tonight, we witnessed another low.

Griffin and Palaszewski circled for the first few minutes. Palaszewski was effective with the jab and few front kicks. Griffin tried to counter with the overhand right.

Palaszewski (36-14) landed a left hook that changed the fight with 2:30 left and backed it up with another left that sent Griffin bouncing to his knees. Griffin bounced up and Palaszewski hopped on him. He unloaded 18 straight punches. Several right hands softened him up before another right got Griffin to drop his hands. Palaszewski landed a three-punch combos that included two hard lefts. Griffin went down and was out of it.

Griffin (15-6, 8-6 UFC) has now lost 4-of-5. He returned to featherweight with a fight at UFC on Versus 5. He won a tight fight that night against Manny Gamburyan. He didn't do himself any favors for this one by missing weight by four pounds yesterday. He was fined 25 percent of his purse.

The Palaszewski knockout is the only candidate right now for the Knockout of the Night bonus. At most of the previous UFC pay-per-views, the awards have been $75,000. This was Palaszewski's first win in the UFC. Fighting for Zuffa's smaller promotion, he posted a 4-3 record with the WEC.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Palaszewski-pulls-big-upset-on-Griffin-with-nast?urn=mma-wp8711

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Hugo Chavez: 'There is no government in Libya' (AP)

CARACAS, Venezuela ? Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he won't recognize Libya's new government, and he predicts there will be more war in the country.

Chavez says that as far as Venezuela is concerned "there is no government in Libya."

The Venezuelan leader again condemned the killing of Moammar Gadhafi, whom he had considered a friend. He defended Gadhafi throughout the conflict in Libya and has condemned NATO's military involvement in the country.

Chavez said Wednesday that NATO has effectively "installed a government" in Libya through the conflict.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111026/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_venezuela_libya

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Japan factory output falls 4 percent in September (AP)

TOKYO ? Japan's factory production fell for the first time in six months in September as the export-reliant country grappled with a strong yen and global economic turmoil.

The government said Friday that factory output fell 4 percent from the previous month as manufacturers produced fewer cars, chip-related machines and cellphones. The result was worse than market expectations for a mild decline.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry described industrial production as "flat," suggesting that Japan's recovery from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami is tapering off in the face of new economic worries.

A strong yen is battering exporters, whose overseas earnings shrink in value as the Japanese currency climbs. Some companies are shifting production abroad as a result, and officials worry openly about a hollowing out of Japanese industry.

The dollar hit a record low against the Japanese currency for a third straight day in New York, dropping to 75.63 yen at one point. That prompted Finance Minister Jun Azumi to warn of possible foreign exchange intervention by the government.

He reiterated his belief that speculators are behind the yen's rise and said currency levels should "reflect the real economy."

"We will closely watch the Tokyo market," Azumi told reporters in Tokyo, according to Kyodo News agency.

Officials will "take decisive action when it proves necessary" to combat speculators, he added.

The government projects industrial production to rebound in the fourth quarter. The government's survey points to an output expansion of 2.3 percent in October and 1.8 percent in November.

But those improvements may not materialize as expected because of the heavy flooding in Thailand, where many Japanese manufacturers have factories. Toyota Motor Corp., Sony Corp. and others face significant supply chain disruptions that are undermining production in Japan and elsewhere.

Separately, the government says the unemployment rate dropped to 4.1 percent in September from 4.3 percent in August. The survey was the first one since the disaster to include the tsunami-devastated prefectures of Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima.

The figure, however, does not necessarily mean more people are working.

"Despite improvements in some areas," said Kyohei Morita, chief economist at Barclays Capital in Tokyo, in a note to clients, the lower jobless rate was "less because unemployed people found jobs and more because they stopped looking for work."

The government also released monthly data on household spending, income and consumer prices that underscore the economy's impact on families.

Average monthly household spending in September fell a real 1.9 percent from the previous year to 270,010 yen ($3,555). The figure is a key barometer of private consumption, which accounts for more than half of Japan's gross domestic product.

Monthly household income declined 0.7 percent to 422,720 yen ($5,566), according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

The September core consumer price index, which excludes volatile fresh foods, rose 0.2 percent from a year earlier on higher fuel costs. Preliminary CPI for the Tokyo area ? considered an indicator of broader price trends for the country ? fell 0.4 percent in October.

___

Follow Tomoko A. Hosaka at http://twitter.com/tomokohosaka

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/japan/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111028/ap_on_bi_ge/as_japan_economy

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Man loses mother, wife, 4 children in Turkey quake (AP)

ERCIS, Turkey ? Murat Sonmez's mother, wife and four daughters were crushed to death in their home by Turkey's 7.2-magnitude earthquake, leaving him so distraught he found it difficult to speak.

While media coverage has centered on tales of against-the-odds rescues including a 2-week-old baby girl who was pulled alive from the rubble, most stories of the trapped have ended the way that Sonmez knows, with death and unfathomable pain for those left behind.

"I was not at home," Sonmez said, lapsing into silence at times Wednesday. "God gave them, God took them away. I can't find anything to say.

"I can't describe my pain," he said as he stood by a leveled four-story apartment building.

He listed the dead: 32-year-old wife Meral, four daughters ? 2-year-old Nisa Nur, 7-year-old Meryem, 12-year-old Asli and 15-year-old Meral ? and his 65-year-old mother, Hatice. They lived on the second floor, above some businesses. The third and fourth floors were occupied by Sonmez's brother and father, who managed to escape.

He said he and relatives pulled out their dead and buried them, just a few of the victims of the quake that struck eastern Turkey on Sunday, killing at least 461 people.

Elsewhere in Ercis, the town hit hardest by the quake, two teachers and a university student were rescued from ruined buildings on Wednesday, but searchers said hopes of finding anyone else alive were rapidly fading.

NTV television said 25-year-old teacher Seniye Erdem was pulled out around the same time that rescue workers also freed another teacher. The woman was thirsty and asked about her husband, who had died, it said.

Excavators with heavy equipment began clearing debris from some collapsed buildings in Ercis after searchers removed bodies and determined there were no other survivors. More than 1,350 people were injured.

Gozde Bahar, a 27-year-old English teacher, was pulled out of a ruined building on Wednesday with injuries as her tearful mother watched anxiously. The Anatolia news agency said her heart stopped at a field hospital but doctors managed to revive her.

Earlier in the day, rescuers pulled out 18-year old university student Eyup Erdem, using tiny cameras mounted on sticks to locate him. They broke into applause as he emerged from the wreckage.

Olcay Kotiloglu, a miner, was one of the first rescuers to respond to Erdem, whose ankle was stuck under a big column and who was shouting for help.

"He first asked: 'Brother, will you be able to take me out?" Kotiloglu said. "He said his leg was stuck and it was dark."

Erdem, however, showed signs of losing consciousness as well as patience as the hours passed.

"At one point, he kept asking: 'When will I get out, you always say half an hour. When?'" the miner said. "But he helped us a lot when we asked about his position."

As he was taken to an ambulance on a stretcher, Eyup exclaimed to his rescuers: "Thank God for you!"

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said 63 teachers were among the dead and he alleged that shoddy construction contributed to the high casualty toll. He compared the alleged negligence of some officials and builders to murder because they ignored safety standards.

"Despite all previous disasters, we see that the appeals were not heeded," Erdogan said.

Sonmez, the man who lost his family, said the building where they lived was 25 years old.

"We had it built on our own, the technology was not as good as today in the past. But even if it had been built better, it probably could not have withstood the temblor," said Sonmez, who is in his 40s. "It was so powerful."

Mattresses, pieces of clothing and plastic red and yellow flowers were mixed with twisted metal and chunks of bricks and concrete. A small heart-shaped red pillow, bearing the words "I love you" was seen at the edge of the rubble. A green potted plant stood on the debris.

Erdogan acknowledged problems in sending aid for thousands of people who were left homeless, but said close to 20,000 tents have since been sent to the quake zone. Turkey has said it will accept prefabricated homes and containers from other countries to house survivors, many of whom have slept in the open in near-freezing temperatures for three nights.

"There was a failure in the first 24 hours, but in such situations such shortcomings are normal," Erdogan said. "There may not be sufficient equipment in depots at the start, but these have (now) been resolved with equipment from other depots."

The quake destroyed one school and Turkish engineers were making sure other schools were safe or rendering them fit to resume lessons. About 800 students at that school in Ercis were probably saved because the quake hit on a Sunday.

Hundreds of angry people in Ercis and nearby villages on Wednesday protested what they say was a lack of coordination of aid distribution outside the office of the local governor, complaining that they were not able to receive tents yet. A senior police official with a loudspeaker tried to calm the crowd as dozens of Turkish soldiers and policemen blocked entrances of the governor's office.

The head of the Turkish Red Crescent organization, Ahmet Lutfi Akar, said 17 trucks were looted before aid could be distributed.

Health officials said they had detected an increase in diarrhea, especially among the children, and urged survivors to drink bottled water until authorities can determine whether the tap water may be contaminated.

With thousands left homeless or too afraid to return to damaged houses, Turkey said it would accept international aid offers, even from Israel, with which it has had strained relations. Israel offered assistance despite a rift between the two countries over last year's Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla that killed eight Turkish activists and a Turkish-American one.

Turkey expelled top Israeli diplomats and cut military ties, saying relations won't normalize until Israel apologizes for the raids and compensates victims' families. Israel insists its soldiers acted in self-defense during the raid.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered a team to supply aid for Turkey "within minutes" of hearing the request for emergency housing units, an Israeli Defense Ministry spokesman said. A first set was scheduled to arrive in Turkey on Wednesday evening while more would be sent by sea.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, speaking at a news conference during a visit to Jordan Wednesday, said the Israeli assistance would not change Turkey's "principled position" toward the country.

"Our political conditions continue," Anatolia quoted him as saying.

Over 500 aftershocks have rattled the area.

On Wednesday, authorities in the city of Van, 55 miles (90 kilometers) south of Ercis, transferred about 350 prison inmates to jails in other cities after prisoners, demanding to be let out after an aftershock Tuesday, set bedding on fire inside the city's 1,000-bed prison.

The region is mostly-Kurdish populated and an area where Kurdish rebels are waging an armed campaign for autonomy from Turkey. The conflict, which has killed tens of thousands since 1984, continued despite the quake. Suspected Kurdish rebels detonated a roadside bomb as a military vehicle drove by 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Van on Monday. Four soldiers were injured, it said.

Turkey lies in one of the world's most active seismic zones and is crossed by numerous fault lines. In 1999, two earthquakes with a magnitude of more than 7 struck northwestern Turkey, killing about 18,000 people.

Istanbul, the country's largest city with more than 12 million people, lies in northwestern Turkey near a major fault line, and experts say tens of thousands could be killed if a major quake struck there.

___

Suzan Fraser reported from Ankara.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111026/ap_on_re_eu/eu_turkey_quake

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Obesity Increases Cancer Risk ? CBS Philly

(Torsten Blackwood/Getty Images)

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - We know that being obese is bad for the heart and it certainly does not help with your breathing either. And, the more weight you carry on your body, the greater the odds of developing cancer.

Considering the fact that we are facing an obesity epidemic, a much quoted study in the journal The Lancet is quite distressing.

Remember, obesity increases the risk of developing diabetes as well as various forms of heart disease. Now, this study was a big one. It looked at 141 articles involving over 282,137 cancer cases and 20 different types of cancer. They used it to calculate the cancer risk associated with a 10 pound weight gain in the average person.

Another interesting point, different forms of cancer were worse in men than in women. For instance, weight gain increased the risk of colon cancer more in men than in women.

Reported By Dr. Brian McDonough, KYW Newsradio Medical Editor

Source: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2011/10/26/obesity-increases-cancer-risk/

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Subjects Move Virtual Chopper With Thoughts

60-Second Tech | Technology

Subjects using a new software package were able to control the movement of a virtual helicopter through an obstacle course using their thoughts alone. Larry Greenemeier reports.

October 27, 2011

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For years scientists have been developing ways for people to control objects using only brainwaves. Researchers use EEG to measure electrical activity along a person's scalp. These electrical signals can move a computer cursor, play video games and perform other two-dimensional tasks.

Now a team of University of Minnesota engineers has upped the ante with software that lets people use EEG to move a computerized helicopter through virtual rings on a 3-D obstacle course.

To test the software, researchers had three subjects wear caps laden with EEG sensors and hooked up to a computer. The subjects moved the virtual helicopter forward by imagining their arms moving forward. When they imagined no movement, the helicopter moved backwards. Imagining the movement of their left or right hands caused the helicopter to rotate in either direction. Thinking about the movement of their tongue or feet raised or lowered the chopper. Subjects were able to get their helicopter through the rings with 85 percent accuracy. The work appears in the journal Public Library of Science ONE. [Alexander Doud et al, Continuous Three-Dimensional Control of a Virtual Helicopter Using a Motor Imagery Based Brain-Computer Interface]

These kinds of systems could eventually open new doors for the disabled. Literally.

?Larry Greenemeier

[The above text is a transcript of this podcast]

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=186eb5234db2e4f251d84c65bdfe1ada

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Prehistoric greenhouse data from ocean floor could predict Earth's future, study finds

ScienceDaily (Oct. 27, 2011) ? New research from the University of Missouri indicates that Atlantic Ocean temperatures during the greenhouse climate of the Late Cretaceous Epoch were influenced by circulation in the deep ocean. These changes in circulation patterns 70 million years ago could help scientists understand the consequences of modern increases in greenhouse gases.

"We are examining ocean conditions from several past greenhouse climate intervals so that we can understand better the interactions among the atmosphere, the oceans, the biosphere, and climate," said Kenneth MacLeod, professor of geological sciences in the College of Arts and Science. "The Late Cretaceous Epoch is a textbook example of a greenhouse climate on earth, and we have evidence that a northern water mass expanded southwards while the climate was cooling. At the same time, a warm, salty water mass that had been present throughout the greenhouse interval disappeared from the tropical Atlantic."

The study found that at the end of the Late Cretaceous greenhouse interval, water sinking around Greenland was replaced by surface water flowing north from the South Atlantic. This change caused the North Atlantic to warm while the rest of the globe cooled. The change started about five million years before the asteroid impact that ended the Cretaceous Period.

To track circulation patterns, the researchers focused on "neodymium," an element that is taken up by fish teeth and bones when a fish dies and falls to the ocean floor. MacLeod said the ratio of two isotopes of neodymium acts as a natural tracking system for water masses. In the area where a water mass forms, the water takes on a neodymium ratio like that in rocks on nearby land. As the water moves through the ocean, though, that ratio changes little. Because the fish take up the neodymium from water at the seafloor, the ratio in the fish fossils reflects the values in the area where the water sank into the deep ocean. Looking at changes through time and at many sites allowed the scientists to track water mass movements.

While high atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide caused Late Cretaceous warmth, MacLeod notes that ocean circulation influenced how that warmth was distributed around the globe. Further, ocean circulation patterns changed significantly as the climate warmed and cooled.

"Understanding the degree to which climate influences circulation and vice versa is important today because carbon dioxide levels are rapidly approaching levels most recently seen during ancient greenhouse times," said MacLeod. "In just a few decades, humans are causing changes in the composition of the atmosphere that are as large as the changes that took millions of years to occur during geological climate cycles."

The paper, "Changes in North Atlantic circulation at the end of the Cretaceous greenhouse interval," was published in the October online edition of the journal Nature Geoscience. Coauthors include C. Isaza Londo?o of the University of Missouri; E.E. Martin and C. Basak of the University of Florida, and A. Jim?nez Berrocoso of the Unviersity of Manchester, United Kingdom. The study was sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

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Journal Reference:

1. K. G. MacLeod, C. Isaza Londo?o, E. E. Martin, ?. Jim?nez Berrocoso, C. Basak. Changes in North Atlantic circulation at the end of the Cretaceous greenhouse interval. Nature Geoscience, 2011; DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1284

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111027150213.htm

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Analysis: California school districts to take down reserves (Reuters)

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) ? When California lawmakers reached a deal to close a $10 billion budget gap in June, critics warned the agreement relied too heavily on $4 billion in additional tax revenue projected to materialize with a rapidly rebounding economy.

Now, with the state's recovery stalling, the new revenue is not coming in -- setting the stage for automatic budget cuts that could threaten the solvency of some state's largest school districts.

According to the state controller's office, revenue since the start of fiscal year has fallen $705 million short of projections. That signals big new cuts to school spending, said political scientist Larry Gerston of San Jose State University.

"There is nothing out there that indicates that $4 billion will appear," Gerston said.

School districts are in an especially bad spot because teacher payrolls, by far their largest expense, are off limits; the 325,000-member California Teachers Association won a guarantee against teacher layoffs as part of the budget negotiations.

That deal was critical in getting a budget passed on-time -- a rarity in California -- but was denounced by school district administrators.

"We were appalled," said Rick Pratt of the California School Boards Association. "It was the kind of thing that got slipped into legislation, literally, at the last minute."

EATING SEED CORN

School districts will have few options in managing cuts, which would come on top of several years of belt-tightening.

They can shorten the school year, but that would require difficult negotiations with all their employees, and talks could stretch out for many months.

Non-teaching staff could be sacked, schools could be closed and after-school programs could be scrapped -- but not without resistance from employees and parents.

Another option is to "eat some of your seed corn," said Kevin Shelley, superintendent of the Palo Alto Unified School District, noting that districts may have no other choice but to dig into their reserves.

That's not what credit rating agencies want to see.

"If you're at the minimum, you have that much less flexibility," said Karen Ribble of Fitch Ratings.

'FISCAL EMERGENCY' FOR SCHOOLS

Prudent school districts have been preparing for lean times by fattening reserves in recent years, said Bob Blattner of education consulting firm Blattner & Associates.

"The school of hard knocks has taught them to be cautious," Blattner said.

Some districts, however, may not be able to withstand the loss of money from the state. The San Diego Unified School District, for instance, faces a challenge in balancing its books and maintaining its solvency if state funding is cut, according to its superintendent.

Meanwhile, California's education department says 13 districts will not meet their financial obligations this fiscal year, while another 130 districts, including the sprawling Los Angeles Unified School District, may not meet their financial obligations this year and next.

Credit ratings of districts caught flat-footed by triggered spending cuts could suffer.

"They will stay under pressure," said Moody's Investors Service's Eric Hoffmann.

The school boards association and other education groups see a gloomy scenario if cuts come about -- a "fiscal emergency" for public schools, according to a letter they sent last month to Brown and top lawmakers.

"Accordingly (and regretfully) we urgently ask that you and the Legislature enact legislation giving districts emergency authority to take steps necessary to avoid insolvency, including the one-time ability to either lay off teachers and increase class sizes or impose mandatory furloughs if the budget trigger is pulled," the letter said.

(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111024/us_nm/us_economy_california_school_cuts

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Analysis: Dragon tail risk: The cost of a China crash (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? The China hard-landing debate is a classic tail risk story -- an unlikely scenario, but if it materializes the consequences could be catastrophic.

Because of their close trade links, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong would be among the first to feel the pain should China's growth weaken dramatically.

However, it would probably take a shock even bigger than what followed the 2008 Lehman Brothers bankruptcy to spread significant damage beyond Asia.

Judging from the latest HSBC survey of China's manufacturing sector, released on Monday, there is no evidence that growth is collapsing in the world's second biggest economy.

Indeed, not one of the 30 economists polled by Reuters last week predicted China's 2012 growth rate would dip below 8 percent.

But that has not silenced speculation that China is heading for an economic disaster. Some economists have tried to calculate the potential fallout just in case their forecasts prove to be overly optimistic.

Bank of America-Merrill Lynch economists estimated that if China's real per capita gross domestic product fell by 2 percentage points, the pain would remain contained within Asia.

"It would take a severe shock to China for the negative spillovers to be transmitted beyond Asia," they wrote in a note last week to clients.

A 4 percentage point drop would be enough to spread to parts of Europe and the Middle East, with growth suffering in countries including Russia, Kuwait and Finland. Annual global growth would probably drop by 0.5 percentage points.

The last time China's economy recorded a decline anywhere close to that magnitude was after the Lehman bankruptcy. Year-over-year growth dropped to 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, down from 9.0 percent in the prior three-month period.

A full-blown crash, which BofA-Merrill described as a 6 percentage point drop in China's real per capita GDP, would harm Europe's biggest economies -- Germany, France and Britain -- and even nick U.S. growth. It would probably shave 0.8 percentage points off global growth.

That would be a significant hit considering the International Monetary Fund thinks world output will be up a relatively modest 4 percent in 2012.

DOOMSDAY SCENARIO

BofA-Merrill considers the risk of a China crash negligible -- a 0.13 percent probability event.

But the China bears are growing louder in their warnings of an impending doom. China simply cannot rely on fixed-asset investment to drive 8-percent-plus growth forever, they argue.

Heavily indebted local governments could default. A property market crash may drive hundreds or even thousands of developers out of business. Bad loans may pile up on banks' books, and China could face an all-out credit crisis.

"China is undoubtedly a severely imbalanced economy, suffering from credit-fueled investment and housing excesses that could easily spin out of control and crash, just like all the other 'highly regarded' economic bubbles before it," Societe Generale strategist and well-known bear Albert Edwards wrote in an October 20 research note.

Jim Walker, founder of Hong Kong-based consultancy Asianomics, said it would be a "miracle" if China's 2012 GDP slows to just 7 percent.

"We're really looking for something much, much worse than that," he said. "China will be lucky to get away with 5 percent."

That would be a drop of more than 4 percentage points from 2011's expected growth. Not only would China's regional trade partners take a hit, but so would commodity exporters such as Australia and Indonesia. China accounted for 65 percent of the world's iron ore imports in 2009, and 15 percent of coal imports, according to IMF data.

LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE

A China slowdown would bring some benefits for Asia, albeit small ones. Lower prices would bring welcome inflation relief for Asia's commodity importers, said Johanna Chua, chief Asia-Pacific economist for Citi in Hong Kong.

It might also swing a little bit more foreign investment toward other Southeast Asian economies that have struggled to compete with China for overseas funds.

China itself invested only about $2.4 billion last year into the 10 countries that make up the Association of South East Asian Nations, according to Bofa-Merrill economist Chua Hak Bin in Singapore, too little to pose a systemic threat on its own.

There is considerably more money flowing the other way. Since 1995, ASEAN has invested about $75 billion in China, with Singapore far and away the most exposed, accounting for $62 billion of that. A China hard landing could cause "significant" portfolio losses, BofA-Merrill's Chua said.

But it also looks clear that Beijing will act if growth looks likely to weaken dramatically. It has room to ramp up government spending, ease credit conditions, and slow the appreciation of the yuan currency to give exports a boost.

"If China is hard landing, I agree with the bulls on one thing: expect the authorities to become aggressively stimulative," SocGen's Edwards said.

(Reporting by Emily Kaiser in Singapore; Editing by Mathew Veedon)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111024/bs_nm/us_economy_china

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HP Pavilion Elite h8-1124

The HP Pavilion Elite h8-1124 ($899.99 list at Best Buy) follows its forbears as the newest version of the HP Pavilion Elite line. This desktop is one to consider if you want high-end computing power to edit photos and re-encode videos for your tablet, smartphone, and on the Web. Even tasks like surfing the Web are fast, and it's nicely priced. There's an intangible price to pay, however: the system is full of extra programs you may never use, and it's somewhat limited in expansion room. The h8-1124 is, therefore, recommended with reservations.

Design and Features
The h8-1124 looks a lot like the other systems in the Pavilion Elite h8 series, like the HP Pavilion Elite h8-1050 ($1,299.99 direct, 4 stars) that we gave an Editors' Choice award to earlier this year. It's an upmarket tower, with a red-backlit line bisecting the front panel, plus an indented tray with USB ports on the top of the system for servicing your smartphone or tablet. Like other towers, the h8-1124 has a decent amount of internal upgrade space: There's room for three PCIe x1 cards, an extra internal hard drive, and one more optical drive. The desktop's two memory DIMM slots are full, as is the PCIe x16 graphics card slot, but these two components won't need to be upgraded for a while. The h8-1124 comes with a 300W power supply, which is a little light for future upgrades.

It comes with quite a bit of pre-installed software, which is surprising for a Best Buy system (we'd rather see a pre-installed e-commerce app like the Best Buy PC app, then install nothing else but the hardware drivers and a few utilities). On the desktop screen alone are six unnecessary icons: Blio (an online book store), eBay, Office 2010, HP Games, Snapfish, and Zya Music store. Aside from these, there are other programs strewn all over the Start menu: Skype, Kobo (another book store), Press Reader, Zinio, HP Download Store, HP Movie Time (yup, you guess it, a movie store), and Sprint Mobile Broadband. The last program is puzzling, as the h8-1124 is not a mobile device. The desktop's Norton Internet Security is a short 60-day trial. There are a couple of useful apps however, like the HP Link Up software that lets you remote control another Windows 7 desktop on your LAN or wireless network.

Performance
Performance is the h8-1124's raison d'?tre. Its Intel Core i7-2600 processor, 8GB of DDR3 memory, and ATI Radeon HD 6570 graphics card combine (like Voltron) to provide enough power for complex multimedia tasks, like editing photos and encoding video. It was able to turn in a quick 1-minute 12-second run time on our Handbrake video encoding test and 2:58 on Photoshop CS5. Both scores are at the top of our charts, especially compared with desktops like the Dell XPS 8300 (x8300-4004NBK) (1:21 on Handbrake; 3:35 on CS5) ($699.99 list, 3.5 stars) and Apple Mac mini (Thunderbolt) ($799 list, 4.5 stars) (1:42 on Handbrake; 3:47 on CS5).

The h8-1124 was a decent performer at medium quality settings on our 3D game benchmarks: 70 fps at Crysis (DiretX 10) and 28 fps at Lost Planet 2 (DirectX 11). Crysis is most definitely playable, and Lost Planet 2 could be playable with some tweaking. The Dell XPS 8300 has a discrete graphics card too, but its lower-powered ATI Radeon HD 6450 results in scores on the 3D tests (29fps Crysis, 13fps Lost Planet 2). The Mac mini is in the middle performance-wise, thanks to an ATI Radeon HD 6630M graphics card (48fps on Crysis; 19fps on Lost Planet 2). Either way, you'll need a beefier GPU in order to play newer DirectX 11 titles.

The HP Pavilion Elite h8-1124 is a vexing choice. It's a better performer than the Dell XPS 8300 (x8300-4004NBK), justifying some of its added cost. But the h8-1124 is held back by its bloatware and more limited expansion. For the person who has an unused copy of Windows 7 lying around, it would be nice if you bought an h8-1124 and then put a "clean" install of Windows 7 on the system. Unfortunately, this isn't an option with the included version of Windows 7 on the h8-1124 (since that version already has the bloatware pre-installed). The more expensive HP h8-1050 holds on to its Editors' Choice award because its added features (Blu-ray, USB 3.0, HDTV Tuner, etc.) justify its higher price tag. The HP Pavilion Elite h8-1124 still comes in as a recommended high-performance desktop, but one recommended with reservations.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the HP Pavilion Elite h8-1124 with several other desktops side by side.

More desktop reviews:
??? HP Pavilion p7-1110
??? HP Pavilion Elite h8-1124
??? Toshiba DX735-D3201
??? HP Pavilion p7-1154
??? Dell XPS 8300 (X8300-4004NBK)
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/YAY-DYeM6jI/0,2817,2395103,00.asp

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Courtney Stodden Booted from Pumpkin Patch for Revealing Outfit, Responds Via Scripture

Courtney Stodden got ejected from a pumpkin patch this weekend for... well, being Courtney Stodden.

According to reports, the 17-year old and her middle-aged husband, Doug Hutchison, were simply minding their own business in Santa Clarita Valley, getting into the Halloween spirit, when parents around them complained about Stodden's revealing outfit. 

It was comprised of a plaid shirt, tied into a knot on her bare stomach, and short jean shorts.

Of course, there are no witness quotes or reliable sources reporting on the story, meaning it might be as manufactured as everything you'll see on Stodden's upcoming reality show.

How did Courtney respond to this alleged diss? By appropriately quoting John 7:24, of course: "Have a beautifully blessed Sunday! :) Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment," she Tweeted.

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/10/courtney-stodden-booted-from-pumpkin-patch-for-revealing-outfit/

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Panetta makes first Asia trip as Defense chief (AP)

BALI, Indonesia ? U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is in Indonesia's resort island of Bali to begin his first visit to Asia as Pentagon chief.

Panetta arrived Saturday on an overnight flight from Washington and will begin a series of meetings Sunday.

He told reporters flying with him that his main message in talks with Indonesian and other Asian leaders is that the United States intends to remain a "Pacific force" for decades to come.

An important backdrop to Panetta's weeklong Asia tour is the intense pressure at home to slash defense spending as part of a deficit-reduction effort.

Panetta will also visit Japan and South Korea.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111022/ap_on_re_as/as_panetta_asia

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AC Milan VP dreams of signing Balotelli

Associated Press Sports

updated 3:06 p.m. ET Oct. 23, 2011

MILAN (AP) -AC Milan vice president Adriano Galliani says it is his dream to bring Mario Balotelli to the Serie A club.

Balotelli, who joined Manchester City little over a year ago, has long been linked with a move to AC Milan - the club he supported growing up.

Galliani says, "Balotelli is my great passion because he is a great player. AC Milan? Who knows. For now it remains a passion ... Balotelli is a dream. I think about that nearly all the time, as does the president (Silvio) Berlusconi, it's a thought we all have in our club."

Balotelli spent three controversial years at Inter Milan. He came under heavy criticism during his time there when he donned a Milan shirt on a television show.

Balotelli scored two goals Sunday to help fire City to a 6-1 victory at fierce rivals Manchester United in the Premier League.

? 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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'It was our worst ever day'

The Alex Ferguson era isn't over at Manchester United, but this did feel like the beginning of the end. A 6-1 humiliation to Manchester City.

Eriksson fired

??Former England coach fired as manager of the second-tier club Leicester.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45007171/ns/sports-soccer/

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ACLU in NY accuses FBI of racial profiling (AP)

NEW YORK ? The American Civil Liberties Union accused the FBI on Thursday of abusing increased powers it was given after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks by collecting and analyzing racial and ethnic demographic information across the country based on widespread stereotypes.

The civil rights group based findings in its report on documents obtained from the FBI through Freedom Of Information Act requests made last year through 34 ACLU affiliates. It said the partially redacted documents put on its website show the FBI crossed the line in its assessment of Arab Americans in Michigan, blacks in Georgia, Chinese and Russian-Americans in California and large groups of Hispanic communities in Michigan.

"The FBI's own documents confirm our worst fears about how it is using its overly expansive surveillance and racial profiling authority," said Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU National Security Project. "The FBI has targeted minority American communities around the country for investigation based not on suspicion of actual wrongdoing but on the crudest stereotypes about which groups commit different types of crimes."

In response, the FBI defended its practices while adding that it "joins the ACLU in opposing racial or ethnic discrimination." It said it "does not investigate individuals, groups or communities based on ethnicity or race."

The agency said guidelines from the attorney general's office and its own Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide prohibit initiating investigative activity based solely on race or ethnicity or on the exercise of First Amendment rights, including freedom of religion.

"Often, though, certain terrorist and criminal groups are comprised of persons primarily from a particular ethnic or geographic community, which must be taken into account when trying to determine if there are threats to the United States," the FBI said in a statement.

It said the mapping reports it creates "are intended to address specific threats, not particular communities." It said it uses available government data to locate and better understand communities that are potential threat victims and put resources in those areas.

"To fulfill its national security mission, the FBI cannot simply wait for people to report potential threats," the FBI said.

It compared its own map building to make connections "that might otherwise go unnoticed" to a local police chief's use of push pins on a map to identify high-crime areas.

The ACLU, though, said the FBI has stepped out of bounds since it was allowed in 2003 to conduct racial and ethnic profiling in national security and order integrity investigations.

"What's the harm here? The harm is that basing criminal and national security investigations on unlawful profiling is not just unconstitutional, it's ineffective because it produces flawed intelligence, it's counterproductive because it alienates local communities from their government and it also sends the message that the government finds prejudice is acceptable," Shamsi said.

The ACLU said it has sent a request to the attorney general, who oversees the FBI, asking that he amend its rules about race to prohibit racial and ethnic profiling without any exceptions and to add religion and national origin to the barred profiling criteria.

In the documents it released on its website, the ACLU highlighted a 2009 Detroit FBI field office memo referencing Department of State-designated terrorist groups originating in the Middle East and Southeast Asia and saying that "because Michigan has a large Middle-Eastern and Muslim population, it is prime territory for attempted radicalization and recruitment by these terrorist groups."

It also released documents it said show the FBI is focusing improperly on First Amendment-protected activity by members of Georgia's black community, such as non-violent community protests after police shootings and the National Black Panther Party's reported support of a congressional candidate.

The ACLU said it exposed two San Francisco FBI memos that the agency used to justify the opening of an investigation involving racial and national origin mapping of its Chinatown community because it believed within that community "there has been organized crime for generations." The same reasoning was used to map the Russian population there, the ACLU said.

The FOIA request also resulted in documents from FBI offices in Alabama, New Jersey, Georgia and California that show the FBI is using the threat posed by a criminal gang started by Salvadoran immigrants to justify broad investigations targeting large sections of Hispanic communities.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/terrorism/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111021/ap_on_re_us/us_aclu_fbi_racial_mapping

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Eli Lilly's 3Q profit falls 5 pct, expenses climb (AP)

INDIANAPOLIS ? Eli Lilly and Co.'s third-quarter earnings fell 5 percent on rising expenses fueled by foreign exchange rates, the health care overhaul and the drugmaker's preparations for a critical patent expiration.

The Indianapolis company loses U.S. patent protection for its top seller, the antipsychotic Zyprexa, on Sunday. Zyprexa generated $1.18 billion in sales during the third quarter, or 19 percent of total revenue.

Lilly has said it expects "rapid and severe erosion" of Zyprexa sales. It hopes to fill that hole by relying on its animal health business, emerging markets like China, sales in Japan and its pipeline of drugs under development.

It has 10 potential drugs in late-stage testing, the last phase before seeking regulatory approval, including treatments for Alzheimer's disease and depression. Lilly also is collaborating with German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim to develop diabetes drugs, and the company cited that as a factor behind its 10 percent rise in operating expenses to about $3.2 billion in the quarter.

The company's cost of sales, or the expense of making its products, also climbed 35 percent to $1.34 billion. Spokesman Mark Taylor said a stronger euro, which helps revenue, leads to higher overseas manufacturing costs.

Lilly reported on Thursday net income of $1.24 billion, or $1.11 per share, in the quarter that ended Sept. 30. That's down from $1.3 billion, or $1.18 per share, in last year's third quarter. Revenue climbed 9 percent to a better-than-expected $6.15 billion.

Excluding $25 million in restructuring charges, adjusted profit was $1.13 per share, and that matched Wall Street expectations. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected, on average, earnings of $1.13 per share on $6.07 billion in revenue.

Lilly said the U.S. health care overhaul, which aims to eventually cover millions of uninsured people, delivered a $465-million hit in the quarter. Rebates for Medicare prescription drug coverage reduced revenue by $330 million, and a drugmaker's fee increased expenses by $135 million.

Revenue from Lilly's second-best seller, the antidepressant Cymbalta, climbed 29 percent to $1.07 billion in the third quarter, helped mostly by higher prices and demand. Revenue from its animal health business jumped 28 percent to $451 million.

But cancer drug Gemzar's revenue plunged 72 percent to $91 million. Gemzar lost patent protection last year.

Lilly also loses U.S. patent protection for Cymbalta in 2013, and the drugmaker faces one of the steepest so-called patent cliffs in the pharmaceutical industry.

Analysts expect Lilly earnings to drop through about 2014 before possibly rebounding with newer revenue sources. Edward Jones analyst Linda Bannister said the company's challenge is sharpened because it will lose revenue sources while raising expenses with late-stage testing of several drugs. Those studies are the most expensive phase of testing because they typically involve a large number of patients.

"It's going to be a challenging time for the management of Lilly, I don't think there's any doubt about it," she said.

Some analysts have questioned Lilly's ability to maintain its dividend, which currently stands at a quarterly rate of 49 cents per share. Chief Financial Officer Derica Rice addressed that during a Thursday morning conference call with analysts.

"As we head into the teeth of our patent expiration period, we have positioned the company to fund the (research and development) necessary to fuel our future growth, recapitalize our fiscal assets and maintain our dividend," he said.

For the full year, Lilly now expects adjusted earnings of $4.30 to $4.35 per share, compared with its forecast in July for earnings of $4.25 to $4.35. The new forecast would result in a drop of between 8 percent and 9 percent compared with last year's results.

Lilly shares fell 9 cents to close at $38.61 Thursday.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111020/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_eli_lilly

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Cain's 9-9-9 Tax Plan -- Making Certain 84 Percent Remain the '99' (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | Shortly after everyone began taking presidential hopeful Herman Cain seriously (just after the Florida Straw Poll) as a viable Republican Party nominee for 2012, his 9-9-9 tax plan became headline news as questions were raised about what it proposed as opposed to what the candidate said it was designed to do.

According to the Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan Washington think tank that had initially noted the tax plan looked like a regressive tax system, it does not lower taxes for most Americans. In fact, under the Cain 9-9-9 tax plan, which would eliminate the current tax code, taxes would increase for 84 percent of Americans.

As incongruous as it might seem, Rep. Michele Bachmann had been correct in her assessment that the "devil is in the details" of the 9-9-9 plan. But, then, she was a federal tax lawyer.

"It's very, very regressive compared to the current system, and that's largely because we're exempting capital gains, and we're taxing your spending with the sales tax," Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center, said of Cain's proposal. "People at the top end don't spend all their money and they get a lot of capital gains, so they are doing pretty well here."

And those hit hardest? Those that could least afford it, according to the study. Households making $10,000 to $20,000 (below the poverty level of $22,350 annual income for a household of four) would see their tax burden rise by 950 percent.

"You're talking a $2,700 tax increase for people with incomes between $10,000 and $20,000," Williams told the Associated Press. "That's huge."

And what about the wealthy, the so-called 1 percent? According to the Tax Policy Center, they would receive enormous tax cuts from the 9-9-9 tax plan. Those enjoying $1 million or more in income per year would see their tax burden eased by half.

In fact, overall taxes would begin to go down (on average) at the $50,000 to $70,000 income level, where the average household would pay $4,326 per year, while those making less, from $40,000 to $50,000, would pay $4,400 per year.

Bear in mind a large proportion of these families pay only payroll taxes, nothing in income taxes and even receive an income tax return check from the government. Part of Cain's proposal, the 9 percent consumption tax, would be flat, nonreturnable. Taking away tax deductions would further impact the gross income amount.

For a family of four with a household income of $20,000, where most of its expenditures will be for services and goods, that $2,700 tax burden just dropped their expendable income to $17,300 -- some of which will go toward property taxes, state taxes, federal taxes not eliminated by Cain's plan like the federal gas tax, universal phone taxes and the luxury taxes on alcohol, tobacco and firearms.

The burden on the poor would suddenly get a lot heavier. The plan, which is also a proposal for "economic growth," would actually leave wage earners with less money to spend, less money to expand the economy.

Which is not what Cain has been saying about his plan. He has touted the plan as fairer than the current tax code, where most will pay less than now, including the wealthy. But many have challenged his claims and with the Tax Policy Center's study findings, he will have a more difficult time selling his simple flat tax plan.

Called out by his fellow Republican presidential contenders at the presidential debate on Tuesday, Cain defended by saying, "The reason our plan is being attacked so much is because lobbyists, accountants, politicians, they don't want to throw out the current tax code and put in something that's simple and fair. They want to continue to be able to manipulate the American people with a 10 million-word mess."

Still, the current tax code -- the "10 million-word mess" he was referring to -- is far less onerous on the nonwealthy and relatively more fair in its progressive structure. It is the basis for so many "lobbyists, accountants, politicians" defense of the tax code in comparison to the 9-9-9 plan. Even the leader of conservative Americans for Tax Reform's Grover Norquist, who has called for the elimination of taxes and has had hundreds of congressional legislators sign a pledge promising they will do nothing to raise taxes, told ABC's "Top Line" that Cain's tax plan was "a very dangerous project" due to a fair tax implementation that Norquist believes is too open-ended and would allow for additional taxation.

Ultimately, with so many saying the plan is burdensome on the poor, a windfall for the wealthy, there seems to be little to commend the proposal. When 84 percent of Americans would pay more taxes, it would appear Cain was telling the truth about those demonstrators of Occupy Wall Street that he said he did not understand. For they are the 99 percent of Americans who are on the disproportionate end of the income scale. The Cain plan would ensure at least 84 percent of them remained as part of that 99 percent.

Cain has stated the demonstrators had misplaced their blame. Instead of blaming Wall Street, they should blame themselves for being jobless and poor. Attempting to shift at least some of the blame at the debate, Cain said he would stand by his statement.

Texas Congressman Ron Paul quickly disagreed with Cain. "I think Mr. Cain has blamed the victims," he said. "There's a lot of people that are victims of this business cycle. We can't blame the victims. But we also have to point -- I'd go to Washington as well as Wall Street, but I'd go over to the Federal Reserve. They create the financial bubbles."

But Cain's plan would do more than just blame the victims, regardless of the fault of Wall Street, Washington or the Federal Reserve. At least for 84 percent of those victims of the financial crisis, the current economy, the mortgage meltdown and other recession-caused problems, it would increase their taxes.

And the only "economic growth" the plan would see would be the tax savings incurred by those that have the least to lose.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20111020/bs_ac/10243033_cains_999_tax_plan__making_certain_84_percent_remain_the99

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World's most entrancing islands

AFP/Getty Images

An Orthodox bell tower overlooks the port town of Fyra, Santorini. On this Greek island, everything appears brighter, from the whitewashed houses to the lapis lazuli sea to the sunsets that light up the island's caldera.

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By Jennifer Miranda, Travel+Leisure

After a long flight and a steep hike, you finally reach your own slice of paradise: Kauai?s private white-sand Pali Ke Kua Beach, where the only other living creature is a sea turtle laying her eggs.

Slideshow: World's best islands

Islands naturally ignite wanderlust, and the Hawaiian island of Kauai (ranked No. 8) is a longtime favorite among Travel + Leisure readers. Maybe it?s the frisson that comes from leaving the mainland ? and your everyday cares ? behind as you cross that watery barrier, a physical reminder that you are, indeed, cut off from the rest of the world. Whether your journey is a short ferry ride or oceans away, the extra effort it takes to get to that island seems to heighten the experience exponentially.

But which islands are most worthy of the trip? We asked readers to cast their votes in Travel+Leisure?s 16th annual World?s Best survey, and the results reveal one universal truth: a predilection for islands with astonishing natural beauty. Bali continues to hold on to its ranking in the top five, but there are also surprises. Two of last year?s European islands fell off the list, while a desire for the far-flung raised the profile of destinations in the South Pacific and Asia.

One such newcomer, Boracay in the Philippines, may be one of the last undiscovered Asian beach getaways. The sandy-shored speck is accessible via a frequent hour-long flight from Manila to Caticlan, followed by a 10-minute ferry ride. Now is the moment to go, as the openings of five-star properties like the Shangri-La Boracay Resort & Spa and Discovery Shores will only spur tourism.

Even if islands get you dreaming of remote places, you don?t need to abandon North America to find an unspoiled shoreline. On Nova Scotia?s Cape Breton Island, rugged beaches and forested headlands set the scene for a rich local culture that blends Scottish, Acadian, Irish, African and native Mi?kmaq influences. Take them all in at a ceilidh (kay-lee) dance gathering.

North America, Europe, Asia ? every continent except for Antarctica is accounted for among the World?s Best Islands.

More?from Travel+Leisure

?

Source: http://itineraries.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/13/8304263-worlds-most-entrancing-islands

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Bruno Mars' 'Breaking Dawn' Video Debuts Wednesday!

MTV debut of 'It Will Rain' clip, from latest 'Twilight' soundtrack, to be followed by a live-stream chat with Mars on MTV.com.
By James Montgomery

Bruno Mars
Photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez/ Getty Images

"Twilight" fans, get ready: Bruno Mars is set to debut the video for "It Will Rain," the first single from the upcoming "Breaking Dawn - Part 1" soundtrack, and MTV is going to help him do it.

On Wednesday, October 26, at 7:54 p.m. ET, MTV will premiere the video for "Rain," and when it comes to an event this big, we're pulling out all the stops. The "Rain" video will feature a never-before-seen clip from the film, which hits theaters November 18. Immediately following the video's premiere, the action switches over to MTV.com for a live stream featuring MTV News correspondent Sway Calloway's exclusive interview with Mars, plus "Twilight" music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas, who will discuss everything about "Breaking Dawn."

Mars will also be answering your video and text questions, which you can submit starting today at MTV.com, or via Twitter using the hashtag #AskBruno.

It's all in celebration of the world premiere of the "It Will Rain" video and the "Breaking Dawn" soundtrack (available November 8), featuring new music from the likes of Theophilus London, the Joy Formidable, Iron & Wine and Christina Perri.

Work by "Twilight" composer Carter Burwell and actress Mia Maestro (she plays Carmen of the Denali Coven in the films) also shows up on the soundtrack, as do songs by Angus and Julia Young, the Features, the Belle Brigade and Cider Sky.

It all kicks off Wednesday, October 26, at 7:54 p.m. ET on MTV with the premiere of "It Will Rain," so grab your umbrellas, tune in, and prepare to be wowed. Oh, and then stick around for out exclusive live stream on MTV.com, where you can learn even more about the "Breaking Dawn" soundtrack and maybe even get your question answered by Bruno himself!

Bruno Mars' "It Will Rain" video premieres Wednesday, October 26, at 7:54 p.m. ET on MTV, with a live stream to follow on MTV.com. Fans can submit their questions for Bruno through MTV.com, or via Twitter, using the hashtag #AskBruno.

Related Photos

• Twilight: Breaking Dawn

Related Artists

• Bruno Mars

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1672886/bruno-mars-twilight-breaking-dawn-video-it-will-rain.jhtml

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Using new technique, scientists uncover a delicate magnetic balance for superconductivity

ScienceDaily (Oct. 19, 2011) ? A new imaging technology is giving scientists unprecedented views of the processes that affect the flow of electrons through materials.

By modifying a familiar tool in nanoscience -- the scanning tunneling microscope -- a team at Cornell University's Laboratory for Atomic and Solid State Physics have been able to visualize what happens when they change the electronic structure of a "heavy fermion" compound made of uranium, ruthenium and silicon. What they found sheds light on superconductivity -- the movement of electrons without resistance -which typically occurs at extremely low temperatures and that researchers hope one day to achieve at something close to room temperature, which would revolutionize electronics.

What they found was that, while at higher-temperatures magnetism is detrimental to superconductivity, at low temperatures in heavy fermion materials, magnetic atoms are a necessity. "We found that removing the magnetic atoms proved detrimental to the flow [of electrons]," said researcher Mohammad Hamidian. This is important, Hamidian explains, because "if we can resolve how superconductivity can co-exist with magnetism, then we have a whole new understanding of superconductivity, which could be applied toward creating high-temperature superconductors. In fact, magnetism at the atomic scale could become a new tuning parameter of how you can change the behavior of new superconducting materials that we make."

To make things finding, the researchers modified a scanning microscope that lets you pull or push electrons into a material. With the modification, the microscope could also measure how hard it was to push and pull -- a development that Hamidian explains is also significant. "By doing this, we actually learn a lot about the material's electronic structure. Then by mapping that structure out over a wide area, we can start seeing variations in those electronic states, which come about for quantum-mechanical reasons. Our newest advance, crucial to this paper, was the ability to see at each atom the strength of the interactions that make the electrons 'heavy.'"

The Cornell experiment and its results are presented this week by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research team included J.C. S?amus Davis, a member of the Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science and developer of the SI-STM technique. Working with synthesized samples created by Graeme Luke from McMaster University (Canada), the experiment was designed by Hamidian, a post-doctoral fellow in Davis' research group, along with Andrew R. Schmidt, a former student of Davis at Cornell and now a post-doctoral fellow in physics at UC Berkeley. This research was supported by the DOE's Office of Science, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. Additional collaborators included Ines Firmo of Brookhaven Lab and Cornell, and Andy Schmidt now at the University of California, Berkeley.

For the complete interview with Hamidian, visit: http://www.kavlifoundation.org/science-spotlights/Cornell-disturbing-nanosphere-superconductivity

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Journal Reference:

1. M. H. Hamidian, A. R. Schmidt, I. A. Firmo, M. P. Allan, P. Bradley, J. D. Garrett, T. J. Williams, G. M. Luke, Y. Dubi, A. V. Balatsky, J. C. Davis. How Kondo-holes create intense nanoscale heavy-fermion hybridization disorder. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2011; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1115027108

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111019174328.htm

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Droid RAZR image leaked, shows off a super slim figure (Digital Trends)

October 18 is a date that most Android fanboys have circled on their calendars, first Motorola is hosting a press conference and then later in the night Google and Samsung are hosting an event in Hong Kong. It is assumed that Motorola will be announcing the Xoom 2 tablet and a phone called the Droid RAZR. Droid-Life was able to find a leaked press image of the Droid RAZR, and we are catch a glimpse at just how thin this phone is.

We have seen images of the Droid RAZR before when it was called the Droid HD, but this new image is official and shows off just how thin the phone is. It better be thin seeing how the tag line for Motorola?s press conference is Faster, Thinner, Smarter, Stronger. The leaked information we have for the RAZR seems to be true to those claims. The RAZR is rumored to house a 1.2GHz dual core processor, 1GB of RAM, LTE antenna, and 8MP camera. The phone is also supposed to have a gorilla glass screen, be wrapped in Kevlar, and be splash resistant to meet the ?stronger? claim.

It wouldn?t be a true RAZR phone unless it was insanely thin, so much so that it better be one of the slimmest phones on the market. The fact that it is an LTE device worries us that it might not be as thin as we hope, seeing how the Droid Bionic is currently the thinnest LTE phone and is 11mm thick at its thinnest point. To put that number in context the iPhone 4S is 9.3mm thick, and the original Samsung Galaxy S 2 is 8.49mm thick so the RAZR has some work to do to catch up to those two.

It seems odd to us that Verizon would carry both the Droid Bionic and Droid RAZR, as it seems that there is not much difference between the two phones. Both have a 4.3 inch screen, dual core processors, and LTE radios. It seems as though the RAZR could make the Bionic old news even though it hit the market just over a month ago.

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personaltech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/digitaltrends/20111017/tc_digitaltrends/droidrazrimageleakedshowsoffasuperslimfigure

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