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Source: http://yesbuthowever.com/new-satellites-to-extend-chinas-military-reach/
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Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, December 30, 2011
Markets in Europe, Asia end 2011 down but US up (AP)
LONDON ? Stock markets around the world were seeing out 2011 fairly positively Friday, but many are still posting big declines for the year in the wake of Europe's debt crisis, a faltering U.S. economy and signs that China's economy is no longer sizzling.
Markets have also been rocked by natural disasters, trading scandals, sharp fluctuations in commodity prices, and the up-and-down price of oil amid the political turmoil in the Arab world.
In Europe, the trading backdrop has been particularly grim, with many of the main markets posting their worst year since 2008. That's perhaps unsurprising given that most of the financial world's attention has centered on the debt crisis, which has already seen three relatively small countries bailed out and is threatening a much-bigger country ? Italy.
Trading in Europe on Friday was fairly quiet with many traders using the opportunity to close out their books for the year ? many markets were only trading for half the day.
The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed up 0.1 percent at 5,572.28, meaning that it ended the year 5.6 percent lower, while Germany's DAX ended 0.9 percent higher at 5,898.35, a 14.7 percent decline over the year.
The CAC-40 in France, which is trading normal hours, was 0.2 percent higher at 3,134. Despite the rise, it's still looking like it will end the year around 17 percent lower from where it started at 3,804.78.
With policymakers failing to convince markets that they can deal with the crisis and the eurozone widely-predicted to slip back into recession next year, the euro is ending 2011 around the $1.2945 mark after falling to a 15-month low against the dollar on Thursday at $1.2857. The euro started the year at $1.3345.
Much of the attention next year will center on Italy, the eurozone's third-largest economy. Italy is the focal point of the eurozone's struggle to deal with a crisis, caused by heavy levels of government debt in a number of the 17 countries that use the single currency. Fears of default on those debts mean that bond investors demand ever-higher interest. If a country can no longer borrow affordably to pay off bonds that are maturing, it winds up needing a bailout or defaulting.
Markets had grown fearful over the past few months over Italy's massive debt burden of euro1.9 trillion ($2.5 trillion) and Italy's ability to continue dealing with it. Next year alone, Italy has some euro330 billion ($431 billion) of debt to refinance and it will want its borrowing rates to start falling. It will start the new year with its benchmark ten-year yield standing around the 7 percent mark, a level that is considered unsustainable in the long-run and eventually forced Greece, Ireland and Portugal to seek bailouts.
"There is no hiding from the fact that Italy's benchmark ten-year bond yield is up over 2 percent on the year compared to declines in other major European economies," said Will Hedden, sales trader at IG Index.
Wall Street was expecting a fairly flat opening but U.S. stocks have performed much more solidly than their European and Asian counterparts, largely on the back of a strong year-end performance related to an upbeat run of U.S. economic data.
The Dow Jones industrial average looks like it's going to end up higher for the year having closed Thursday at 12,287, above the 11,577.51 mark it started the year. It's still touch and go though whether the broader Standard & Poor's 500 futures will end up in the black. Thursday's close of 1,263 is only marginally up on the year's startpoint of 1,257.64.
Though the performance of the U.S. economy has played second fiddle to Europe for much of the year, it has the potential for shoring up confidence in 2012 if the recent positive news continues.
"Crystal ball-gazing can begin in earnest over the weekend but I am tempted to conclude ? more of the same in Europe, easier policy in China, and further asset reflation in the U.S., which finally gets life back into the housing market and thereby drives optimism about the 2013 economic outlook," said Sebastien Galy, an analyst at Societe Generale.
Asian markets have already closed out the year and most markets had a year to forget. Japan's Nikkei 225 index, after three straight days of losses, managed to eke out a 0.4 percent rise Friday to end the year at 8,429.45. However, that was its lowest closing since 1982.
Meanwhile, China's benchmark gained 1.2 percent to close at 2,199.42 ? still, a 21 percent loss for the year as the impact of Beijing's multibillion-dollar stimulus faded and the government tightened curbs on lending and investment to cool blistering economic growth.
Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.2 percent to close at 18,434.39 ? a precipitous slide of 19.7 percent from a year ago. Singapore's Straits Times Index closed down 1 percent at 2,646.35 ? a 17.5 percent dive.
Australia's benchmark S&P ASX 200 ended the year at 4,140.4 ? down 0.4 percent on the day and 14.5 percent lower for 2011. A day earlier, South Korea's benchmark Kospi closed at 1,825.74 on Thursday ? 11 percent down on its last trading session of the year Thursday.
Oil prices meanwhile were poised to close out the year around the $100 a barrel mark ? benchmark crude for February delivery was down 57 cents at $99.08 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
____
Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.
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Ruby Love murder: Man charged with murder after woman's body found in London's Grand Union Canal
- Manzar Juma accused of murdering Ruby Love
- Her body was found in Grand Union Canal in Southall
By Tom Kelly and Rebecca Camber
Last updated at 1:01 AM on 30th December 2011
The mother of a month-old baby was murdered and dumped in a canal on Christmas Day as her family waited for her to come home and open her presents.
Ruby Love?s body was spotted floating in the Grand Union Canal in Southall, West London, on Sunday morning.
Police believe the 23-year-old was thrown into the water just hours earlier, after being hit on the back of the head and strangled.
Ruby Love: The mother of three was described as 'the most lovely girl'
Miss Love, who also had a two-year-old son and nine-year-old daughter, was last seen at 6pm on Christmas Eve before going out for the evening.
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She had been expected to return home on Christmas Day to open presents with her children and her mother and sister, with whom she lived in Harrow, North London.
Last night police charged Miss Love?s boyfriend of five years with her murder. Manzar Juma, 27, is due to appear before Brent Magistrates Court later today.
Miss Love?s distraught mother Precious said: ?She was just the most lovely girl, the best daughter I could have asked for.
?We were having our Christmas dinner and opening our presents as we were waiting for her. I waited and waited and I texted her through the night.
Sealed off: Investigators were still at the scene where Miss Love was found
?I waited until it had got to 24 hours after [she left] and then I gave it one more hour, and then there was a knock on the door. It was the police.
?It?s such a loss ? I do not know how we are going to cope.?
The 45-year-old identified her daughter?s body on Boxing Day. She said she appeared to have been hit on the back of? her head, and that the body bore strang- ulation marks.
An initial post-mortem examination was unable to establish a formal cause of death.
Yesterday Miss Love?s sister Sarah, 22, fought back tears as she described her devotion to her children.
?She loved her kids but she was a mother to everyone,? she said. ?She always protected me and I could not protect her. She was an angel. We have just not stopped crying.?I still cannot believe this.?
Murder inquiry: The body of Ruby Love was found in the Grand Union Canal (pictured) in Southall, west London on Christmas Day
Grim discovery: Officers were called to the scene by a member of the public who had spotted the young woman's body
As a tribute, her mother has painted a white cross on Miss Love?s front door under the words: ?Ruby?s Angel House.? The Hindu-Sikh family had converted to Christianity and changed their surname from Malik. Miss Love worked in their property business.
Yesterday police divers were still searching the section of the canal where her body was found. The area forms part of the popular Hillingdon Trail walk.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: ?Police have launched a murder investigation following the discovery of a body in the Grand Union Canal.
?Officers are appealing for anyone who witnessed anything suspicious on, or before Christmas Day.?
He added that officers ?are aware of? previous incidents which will form part of our investigation?.
? An Indian student ?executed? on Boxing Day may have been the victim of a racially-motivated attack, police said yesterday.
Anuj Bidve, 23, was shot in the side of the head as he walked with friends in Salford, Greater Manchester.
Five people ? including a boy of 16 and two aged 17 ? have been arrested by police on suspicion of murder.
Mr Bidve?s father Subhash, speaking from the family?s home in Pune, Maharashtra, said he learned of his son?s death via a message posted on Facebook.
? A mother was stabbed to death after an apparent domestic dispute.
A man believed to be the 36-year-old?s partner was yesterday fighting for his life in hospital after he was discovered unconscious at their flat.
Neighbours said the victim?s schoolboy son raised the alarm after stumbling out of the family property in Wolverhampton ?covered in blood?.
Police are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.
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Thursday, December 29, 2011
Top 10 political blunders of 2011 (Politico)
There are only a few pivotal moments in politics that really live up to the billing; most incremental, tactical decisions matter far less than reporters and strategists are inclined to believe.
But every year, there are a handful of decisions, good and bad, that shift an election cycle in meaningful ways. A good number of those choices fall into the category of ?amazingly self-destructive political malpractice.?
Continue ReadingThis last year had more than its fair share of those moments, but we?ve narrowed it down to a short list of 10. Here are POLITICO?s choices for the worst political strategic decisions of 2011:
Obama pivots to deficits
Battered by the midterm Republican wave election, President Barack Obama went to Congress in January with a proposition: let?s get serious about debt reduction.
?Now that the worst of the recession is over,? Obama said in his 2011 State of the Union address, ?we have to confront the fact that our government spends more than it takes in.?
The trouble was, most Americans were still more alarmed by 9 percent-plus unemployment than they were by the ballooning size of the national debt. That didn?t stop the president from spending months emphasizing deficit reduction, avoiding any new economic stimulus that might require additional spending and chasing a grand bargain on the national debt.
During all that time, the subject Obama didn?t own was jobs ? the most important issue of the 2010 campaign, and likely the 2012 race as well.
The worst setback for Obama came in early August, when months? worth of talks with House Speaker John Boehner over the national debt ceiling ended in a paltry and conciliatory final agreement, and a lot of wasted time for a president with little to spare.
Republicans vote on the Ryan budget
It was the most famous piece of legislation proposed in 2011 ? a sweeping plan, trumpeted by Republican leaders, to restructure taxes, spending and entitlement programs and bring the federal budget under control.
The backlash against the plan was powerful and immediate. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan?s proposal passed the House. The Senate stopped it cold, but not before a powerful backlash against the Ryan plan?s proposed changes to Medicare handed a GOP-leaning New York congressional seat to the Democrats.
The Ryan plan will be back next year, just in time for Democrats to accuse vulnerable Republican lawmakers of trying to ?end Medicare.? As one congressional aide predicted to POLITICO in April: ?You have a couple dozen members who are going to pay a pretty serious price for this vote if they end up in a tough race ? It?s not just cuts to Medicare. It?s ?Republicans are ending Medicare as we know it.? That?s not demagoguery. That is the case.?
Defenders of the Ryan plan say that it helped the GOP corner the market on fiscal conservatism and point out that the website Politifact called the Democrats? Medicare argument the ?lie of the year.? None of that changes the fact that marginal Republican members are heading into 2012 with the Ryan budget on their voting records, and without a law to show for it.
Tim Pawlenty bets it all on Ames
As the Republican primary race has cycled through a list of would-be challengers to Mitt Romney, one question keeps popping up: what if Tim Pawlenty hadn?t dropped out in August?
We wouldn?t have to imagine if the former Minnesota governor hadn?t decided to stake his entire White House bid on a summer straw poll in Ames, Iowa ? a costly, activist-dominated event with no actual delegates at stake. When Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul relegated Pawlenty to a distant third, he pulled the plug on his campaign.
Pawlenty advisers now reflect with some frustration that if they had treated the Ames contest for what it is ? a circus-like state party fundraiser ? their guy might still have had a shot at the big time. At an October event unveiling his official portrait in state Capitol, Pawlenty said that he, too, regretted the decision to put all his chips on Iowa.
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Irwin to receive community service award
Tom Irwin knows a lot about the value of teamwork.
Irwin, who is well known for his many years as head football coach at Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic High School, will receive the 2012 Respected Citizen Award from the Central Blair Recreation and Park Commission Feb. 25 at the Bavarian Hall.
The award is presented to an individual who motivates and inspires others through their vision, leadership, dedication, community service and work with youth throughout their lives.
Irwin is a worthy recipient, said Michael Hofer, commission executive director.
"When we looked at the applications we received, we looked at his and threw it to the top. The award is not based on all of the good things he did as a coach at Guilfoyle but the things he is still doing today and what he has done working with kids at places like Evergreen Manors," Hofer said. "He is still giving back to the community after all of these years."
Irwin, 69, an Altoona native and 1960 graduate of Altoona Catholic High School, said he is honored to receive the recognition.
"There are so many people behind the scenes working with the kids. I am just part of a team doing a lot of good things," Irwin said. "All I did was say 'yes' when I saw the possibilities. When you say 'yes,' one thing leads to another. It has been very enriching for me and my family."
Irwin said he always wanted to be a teacher. He graduated from Millersville State Teachers College in 1966 with a bachelor's degree in secondary education.
He got started in his teaching career while still in college, working at Cathedral Elementary School in 1965. He taught at Keith Junior High School from 1966 to 1967, then moved on to Bishop Guilfoyle from 1967 to 1974. From there, he taught at Hollidaysburg Area Senior High School from 1974 until he retired in 2004.
He served as head football coach at BG from 1967 through 1973, at Hollidaysburg from 1974 through 1977 and then returned to BG as coach until his retirement.
As a coach, he helped many young men, Hofer said.
"He has been able to touch so many lives over the years, molding young boys into young men. That is a very influential time in their lives, and to have someone like Coach to provide himself as a role model and to teach them the right way to go about their business is so important," Hofer said. "With Coach it was not always about winning, it was about sportsmanship, your family and the community you live in."
Over the years, Irwin has been involved with many organizations starting as a director at the 12th Ward Center for the recreation and park commission in 1966.
His retirement from teaching and coaching in 2004 at the urging of his wife, Lenora, enabled him to have even more time to devote to young people.
Irwin serves as president of the board of the Gloria Gates Memorial Foundation, an organization founded by Dr. Zane Gates, a childhood friend of Irwin's son Joey, and serves as a daily volunteer working with young children.
"They get so excited about what you are doing [to help them]. I get the same kind of satisfaction from them as I did coaching," Irwin said.
Irwin's volunteer efforts are important to the children, said Toni Bilik, the foundation's executive director.
"The greatest part of having Tom Irwin volunteer is he is so consistent and our children need that. He is always there and they can count on him and he believes in them," Bilik said. "With some of these kids, there is no one else in their lives, and he provides them with so much consistency. He is a person who shows up for them. That shows them they are important."
Irwin also is a member of the Pennsylvania Prison Society, a group that visits the Blair County Prison once a month.
"We try to help them with problems and provide counseling. We take care of a lot of logistical problems for inmates," Irwin said. "There are things we can do to prepare them for when they re-enter society. We try to make it an experience they can grow from. They are really appreciative of us coming."
Irwin admits he is busier since he retired.
"The freedom allows you to say yes to a lot of things. When you have a full-time job, you can't do this. I got to do other things you can't do if you coach football and teach full-time," Irwin said. "I am still teaching and still learning, but the playing field has changed."
Irwin doesn't enjoy being in the spotlight.
"I want to do a lot of good things, but the goal is to be insignificant, do what I am supposed to do without getting any notoriety for it," Irwin said. "There are a lot more people doing more than I am doing but they are not getting a reward for it."
Irwin said his wife has played a key role in all he has done.
"Lenora is such a good person. She lives life with a passion. She never does anything halfway; she is very thorough in everything she does. I credit her for a lot of my success," Irwin said.
Tickets for the Community Classic Dinner are $30 each. Former Penn State cornerback Adam Taliaferro will be the guest speaker. For tickets, call the Central Blair Recreation and Park Commission at 949-2231 or visit www.cbrcparks.org.
Source: http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/556566.html
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Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Perry shifts views on abortion, opposes exceptions
Republican presidential candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry answers questions during a campaign stop at the Glenn Miller Museum in Clarinda, Iowa, Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Republican presidential candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry answers questions during a campaign stop at the Glenn Miller Museum in Clarinda, Iowa, Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
OSCEOLA, Iowa (AP) ? Republican Rick Perry is shifting his opposition to abortion, saying he opposes it even after rape or incest.
Perry on Tuesday told potential caucus-goers in Iowa that he has changed his mind.
Previously, he believed abortion was acceptable in cases of rape, incest or when the mother's life is at risk. Now, he says abortion in all forms should be prohibited.
Perry told a pastor who asked him about his views that, in his words, "you're seeing a transformation."
Perry says he recently watched former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's documentary about abortion. He says he met a woman in the film and that she told him she was the result of rape and that her life has worth.
Perry says that encounter led him to rethink his position.
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Gingrich sharpens attacks on Romney, Paul (AP)
DYERSVILLE, Iowa ? So much for staying positive.
In just the last 24 hours, Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich has blasted rival Mitt Romney as a "Massachusetts moderate" who isn't "man enough" to take responsibility for the harsh attack ads being run on his behalf. And he lambasted Ron Paul's views as "totally outside the mainstream of virtually every decent American."
As his lead in Iowa polls has evaporated, Gingrich's rhetoric has grown ever sharper, even as he insists ? sometimes in the same breath ? that he's running a positive campaign.
"I am not going to go negative, period," Gingrich said Tuesday at a campaign stop in Dyersville, Iowa, to appreciative murmurs from the crowd that had crammed into the National Farm Toy Museum to hear him speak. That remark came after a CNN interview in which he said he wouldn't vote for Paul if the Texas congressman became the GOP nominee and he mocked Romney for not having the courage to face him in a one-on-one debate.
It is classic Gingrich, the bomb-throwing leader of the Republican revolution who even now seems to chafe at minding his manners. He acknowledged Tuesday that it has taken "discipline" not to counterpunch as the attacks have flooded in.
So he is trying to have it both ways.
In Dubuque, Iowa, at the first stop of a 22-city bus tour leading up to Jan. 3 caucuses, Gingrich offered Romney praise, then promptly opened fire.
"I don't want to be invidious about Gov. Romney, who I said I think is a very competent manager and a very smart guy," Gingrich said. "But to have somebody who is a Massachusetts moderate, who said he did not want to go back to the Reagan-Bush years, who voted as a Democrat for Paul Tsongas in `92, who campaigned to the left of Teddy Kennedy.... to have him run a commercial that questions my conservatism?"
In the evolving Gingrich playbook, statements which are factually accurate are not attacks.
"I was describing him accurately," he said in South Carolina last week after taking a jab at Romney.
For Gingrich, taking the high road may be a strategy born as much out of necessity as ideology.
His campaign nearly collapsed earlier this year, so he trails the other Republican frontrunners in fundraising, which limits his ability to launch a sustained negative campaign.
The former Georgia congressman also seems to have made the political calculation that to win over voters, he must soften some of the brash rough edges that defined his tenure as House speaker.
After all, he made his political reputation perfecting the art of using words as weapons.
A 1996 memo to Republican House candidates, which Gingrich endorsed in a cover letter, urged Republicans running for office to use words like "traitor," "pathetic" and "sick" to define Democratic opponents, their proposals and their party. "Language matters,'" the memo said.
Campaigning for the White House, he has taken his own advice.
A favorite Gingrich technique in recent weeks has been to extol his campaign's positive tone while eviscerating nameless GOP opponents, using words like "disgusting" and "reprehensible."
"Shame on them for not caring enough about America to be positive," he said.
He has a receptive audience in Iowa voters, weary of being bombarded with nasty robocalls, mailers and television ads as the primary hurtles into the final days.
"I'm just sick of it all," said Bette Carlson, who showed up to hear Gingrich speak at Mabe's Pizza in Decorah, Iowa, Tuesday night. "Anyone who stays out of the mud improves their chances of getting my vote."
Still, the Gingrich camp maintains it is giving the pledge more than just lip service. They note an Iowa staffer had to resign after calling Mormonism ? Romney's religion ? a cult.
And Gingrich argues he has enough cash to run a negative ad war if he wanted to. He notes his campaign made the choice to run positive ads across Iowa beginning Wednesday.
Still, Gingrich might know better than most this election cycle that negative ads work.
He has seen his support slide as the airwaves in Iowa have filled with ads reminding voters of his ethics woes, a public service announcement he shot with Democrat Nancy Pelosi and his lucrative work for Freddie Mac.
The libertarian-leaning Paul has assailed Gingrich for "serial hypocrisy," painting him as a career politician who lined his pockets after leaving office by selling access.
In an interview, Romney called him "zany."
How long can Gingrich keep up the positive facade? Asked if he would he would continue the commitment in a general election against Democrat Barack Obama, Gingrich dodged the question.
"Barack Obama's record is so terrible that if you just tell the truth it sounds negative," Gingrich said
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Follow Shannon McCaffrey at www.twitter.com/smccaffrey13
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Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Sears to close 100 to 120 stores - Crain's Chicago Business
(Updated 1 p.m.)
(AP) ? Gov. Pat Quinn says it's bad news that Sears Holdings Corp. plans to close up to 120 stores nationally after poor holiday sales. But he says the news doesn't directly affect Sears' agreement to keep its headquarters in Illinois.
Quinn says he hopes Sears won't close stores in Illinois.
Sears' decision to close stores was made public less than two weeks after Quinn signed legislation guaranteeing the company $15 million in tax breaks. The Hoffman Estates-based company had threatened to move its headquarters from the state.
The retailer plans to close between 100 and 120 Sears and Kmart stores after poor sales during the holidays, the most crucial time of year for retailers.
The closings are the latest and most visible in a long series of moves to try to fix a retailer that has struggled with falling sales and shabby stores.
In an internal memo Tuesday to employees, CEO and President Lou D'Ambrosio said that the retailer had not "generated the results we were seeking during the holiday."
Sears Holdings Corp. said it has yet to determine which stores will close but said it will post on its website when a final list is compiled. Sears would not discuss how many, if any, jobs would be cut.
The company has more than 4,000 stores in the U.S. and Canada. Its stock dropped $8.67, or 18.9 percent, to $37.18 in morning trading. The shares dipped to their lowest point in more than three years at $36.51 during the first few minutes of trading.
The company's revenue at stores open at least a year fell 5.2 percent to date for the quarter at both Sears and Kmart, the company said Tuesday. That includes the critical holiday shopping period.
Sears Holdings said the declining sales, ongoing pressure on profit margins and rising expenses pulled its adjusted earnings lower. The company predicts fourth-quarter adjusted earnings will be less than half the $933 million it reporter for the same quarter last year.
Sears Holdings also anticipates a non-cash charge of $1.6 billion to $1.8 billion in the quarter to write off the value of carried-over tax deductions it now doesn't expect to be profitable enough to use.
Sears said it will no longer prop up "marginally performing" stores in hopes of improving their performance and will now concentrate on cash-generating stores.
"These actions will better enable us to focus our investments on serving our customers," D'Ambrosio said.
The weaker-than-expected performance reflects what analysts say is a deteriorating outlook for the retailer.
The results point to "deepening problems at this struggling chain and renewed worries about Sears survivability," said Gary Balter, an analyst at Credit Suisse. "The extent of the weakness may be larger than expected but the reasons behind it are not. It begins and some would argue ends with Sears' reluctance to invest in stores and service."
Balter also said Sears' weakening performance may lead its vendors to start to worry about their exposure.
The company has seen rival department stores like Macy's Inc. and discounters like Target Corp. continue to steal customers. It's also contending with a stronger Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, which has hammered hard its low-price message and brought back services like layaway, which allows financially stressed shoppers to finance their holiday purchases by paying a little at a time.
The tough economy hasn't helped, either. Middle-income shoppers, the company's core customers, have seen their wages fail to keep up with higher costs for household basics like food.
But the big problem, analysts say, is Sears hasn't invested in remodeling, leaving its stores uninviting.
"There's no reason to go to Sears," said New York-based independent retail analyst Brian Sozzi, "It offers a depressing shopping experience and uncompetitive prices."
Sears said that the store closings will generate $140 to $170 million in cash from inventory sales. The retailer expects the sale or sublease of real estate holdings to add more cash.
Sears Holdings appeared to stumble early in the holiday season, as it opened its Sears, Roebuck and Co. stores at 4 a.m. on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. Rivals including Best Buy Co., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Toys R Us opened as early as Thanksgiving night. Sears stores had opened on Thanksgiving Day in 2010. Kmart has been opening on Thanksgiving for years.
A hint that trouble might be brewing came in mid-December when Sears Holdings unexpectedly announced that 260 of its Sears, Roebuck and Co. locations would stay open until midnight through Dec. 23.
Kmart's 4.4 percent decline in revenue at stores open at least a year was blamed on diminished layaways and a drop in clothing and consumer electronics sales. Part of Kmart's layaway softness likely stemmed from competitive pressure. Wal-Mart had said that its holiday layaway business had been popular. Toys R Us expanded its layaway services to include more items. Kmart's grocery sales climbed during the period.
Sears cited lackluster consumer electronics and home appliance sales for its 6 percent dropoff. Sears' clothing sales were flat. Sales of Lands' End products at Sears stores rose in the mid-single digits.
Sears Holdings said it also plans to lower its fixed costs by $100 million to $200 million and trim its 2012 peak domestic inventory by $300 million from 2011's $10.2 billion at the third quarter's end.
D'Ambrosio acknowledged in his internal memo that criticism over Sears Holdings' performance was likely to come, but that the company was prepared for the days ahead.
"We will bounce back and become stronger than ever," he said.
? ?(Note: Your first name and last initial will appear with your remarks.)
Source: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20111227/NEWS07/111229889/sears-to-close-100-to-120-stores
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Shelby church serves annual Christmas dinner
Inside, volunteers wearing red and white Santa caps scurried around tables and filled plates with piping hot food.?
Central United Methodist Church in Uptown Shelby has served a Christmas meal for the community?s hungry since 2007. This year, the volunteers nearly outnumbered the people they served.
?Most of the (volunteers) who are here today have been here before,? said Barbara Schafer, a Central United Methodist Church member.
Schafer said the expected to serve about 50 people Sunday at the church. Nearly 40 people volunteered their time on Christmas Day to serve the annual holiday meal. Many others helped by cooking and preparing food for the meal several days in advance.
People who ate during the Christmas meal also received a bag of toiletries and other necessities. Children received special gifts, too, Schafer said.
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Food prepared
-Five spiral hams
-Eight large-size containers of macaroni and cheese
-About eight green bean casseroles
-Rolls
-Numerous desserts including pies and cakes
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What do you like about volunteering?
?We started doing this a couple years ago. It?s a family thing.?
-Christian Mabry, Shelby
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?It?s Christmas, and God?s love needs to be shared with those less fortunate.?
-Bob Yelton, Shelby
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?I love doing this. I just like helping people.?
-Virginia Lloyd, Shelby
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Reach reporter Jordan-Ashley Baker at 704-669-3332.?
Source: http://www.shelbystar.com/news/shelby-60906-serves-annual.html
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Monday, December 26, 2011
Egyptian gas line to Israel blown up again
For the eleventh time this year, the gas line from Egypt to Israel and Jordan was blown up.
The company responsible for the line, GASCO, sent investigators out to see the extent of the damage. It also informed the Misr Insurance Corporation of the damage so it could be compensated.
Hmmm.
Earlier this week, Jordan and Egypt negotiated new pricing for the gas.
Source: http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2011/12/egyptian-gas-line-to-israel-blown-up.html
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Google News: Blizzard Hits Western U.S. - Daily Beast - Daily BeastBlizzard Hits Western U.S.Daily BeastIf you'r... Source: http://twitter.com/zeitgeistblog/statuses/150417400305692673
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Sunday, December 25, 2011
Milestone in Care Packages for Troops
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Source: video.foxnews.com --- Thursday, December 22, 2011
Grieving mother continues son's legacy ...
Source: http://video.foxnews.com/v/1342894030001/milestone-in-care-packages-for-troops/
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Which ACC Teams will make the NCAA Tournament?
So a few days ago I wrote which ACC teams looked like NCAA Tournament participants, but that was my opinion.
Now here?s your opportunity to vote on which ACC Teams you think will make the Big Dance.
Just select all the teams that you feel will make the tournament then submit your vote. Any surprise teams out there?
?
?
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/allsportsdiscussion/rMtK/~3/Z9I0cXa44wQ/
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Saturday, December 24, 2011
CA_DMV: A Parade For An Organ Donor. http://t.co/vvSh1lHv #cadmv
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Source: news.ca.gov --- Friday, December 23, 2011
CA_DMV: A Parade For An Organ Donor. http://t.co/vvSh1lHv #cadmv ...
Source: http://twitter.com/CA_DMV/statuses/1.5041038732453E+17
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Friday, December 23, 2011
Democrats turn tables on GOP as Boehner relents on payroll-tax deal (The Christian Science Monitor)
Washington ? In a stunning reversal, House Speaker John Boehner late Thursday abandoned a bid to force Senate Democrats to the bargaining table to resolve an impasse over the expiring payroll tax cut ? a strategy that had risked tax hike for some 160 million American workers.
In the end, carrying on the fight was a losing proposition for a party that took back the House in 2011 on a pledge never to raise taxes. And ??? in a new development ??? Democrats learned to say, "No."
The deal marks a capitulation by the speaker, who appeared at the podium alone to announce the agreement, worked out with Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D) of Nevada and endorsed by President Obama.
RECOMMENDED: Why 'temporary' tax cuts never die: Payroll tax and 3 other examples
It also marks a breakthrough for Senate Democrats and Mr. Obama, who said "no" from the start of this impasse ? and stuck with it.
As a result, near empty chambers in the House and Senate on Friday will pass by unanimous consent a slightly modified version of a Senate bill that extends by two months the payroll-tax cut and other expiring measures, congressional leaders hope.
newslook
If the bill passes Friday, Obama will sign it before joining his family for vacation in Hawaii. If any member objects, the next step would be to call the full House or Senate back into session next week, when the measure is all but certain to pass.
This agreement means that the payroll tax cut, worth about $40 on the average paycheck, will remain in effect through February. Federal jobless benefits up to 99 weeks will also continue, and a proposed 27.4 percent payment cut for physicians serving Medicare patients will not take place on Jan. 1.
For five days, House Republicans struggled for traction to get the Senate to the negotiating table to take up the House version of that bill, which extended expiring provisions for a full year, and the so-called ?doc fix? by two years. But by midweek, they found themselves isolated and fighting alone.
In contrast with previous standoffs, this time the White House and Senate majority leader Harry Reid didn?t budge or even blink.
?Democrats learned to say, 'no,' and it worked for them,? says Stan Collender, a longtime federal budget analyst now with Qorvis Communications in Washington.
When Speaker Boehner on Thursday renewed calls for the Senate to appoint conferees to work out a one-year bill, Senator Reid declined. ?Once the House passes the Senate?s bipartisan compromise to hold middle-class families harmless while we work out our differences, I will be happy to restart the negotiating process to forge a year-long extension,? Reid said.
When Boehner rang up Obama, requesting that he send advisers to Capitol Hill to discuss flaws in the Senate plan, the president declined. ?Enough is enough,? he said at a rally with Americans concerned about a payroll tax hike. ?The people standing with me today can?t afford any more games.?
???The House needs to pass a short-term version of this compromise, and then we should negotiate an agreement as quickly as possible to extend the payroll-tax cut and unemployment insurance for the rest of 2012,??
In a final blow, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday broke silence to urge Republicans to accept the Senate plan and for Democrats to name negotiators to an eventual conference over a one-year extension. That proposal became, in effect, the compromise that broke the impasse.
Up until this week, House Republicans, backed by a strong freshmen class stared down Senate Democrats and the Obama White House in one clash after another. With the new GOP House majority, the conversation on Capitol Hill shifted from stimulus spending to deficit cutting, from new green energy to fossil fuels. Deficit was cutting in. Tax hikes, including for the highest income taxpayers, was out.
The president tried to compromise with the new majority and Senate Democrats capitulated, dismaying elements of the Democratic base. Republicans won every encounter.
House Republicans threatened to shut down the government over unfinished spending bills for fiscal year 2011 ? a standoff that was settled after Democrats agreed to billions in spending cuts.
Boehner announced a new rule for raising the national debt limit ? that any hike in the debt ceiling must be accompanied by at least equal spending cuts ? and took the nation to the brink of a first-ever default on the national debt to hold that line. Negotiations between Boehner and Obama broke down after GOP conservatives rebelled at reports that the Speaker had agreed to $800 billion in revenue hikes.
Until now, House Republicans had stopped the Democratic agenda cold. Obama?s fiscal year 2012 budget and jobs program were blocked in the House, and his legacy from the last Congress ? health-care and Wall Street reforms ? placed under permanent siege.
But by late August, Democrats were weary of appearing rolled the by the tea-party wing of the House Republican caucus ? and heartened by signs that the public mood was turning against them.
The debt-ceiling debacle, which produced the first-ever downgrade of the US credit rating, battered the reputation of Congress, now at record low levels. It also battered public perception of the tea-party movement and of House Republicans, who were especially blamed for the brinkmanship in Congress.
?Our data shows that Americans want compromise in Washington more than sticking to principle,? says Frank Newport, editor of the Gallup Poll.
After the debt-ceiling crisis in August, ?We saw a big drop in several measures,? he adds. ?Economic confidence dropped nearly 20 points. Faith in Congress is so low now it?s discouraging in a democracy.? In a survey of the perceived honesty of various professions, Congress ranked dead last with lobbyists and car salesmen.
Boehner appeared to recognize that shift in public mood. In a two-hour conference call on Saturday, Boehner called the Senate bill to extend expiring measures a victory. But conservatives strongly objected. They called on Boehner to reject the Senate?s two-month extension and hold the line for the one-year House extension, including approval of the Keystone XL pipeline and a reduction of unemployment benefits from 99 to 59 weeks.
The House on Tuesday voted, 229 to 193, to reject the Senate bill and hold out for a new negotiation with the Senate over a one-year extension. But this time, Senate Democrats had resolved not to cave.
?Republicans and Democrats already negotiated an agreement and there is no time and no need to haggle over this any further,? says Sen. Charles Schumer (D) of New York in a conference call with reporters on Wednesday.
Even the editorial board of conservative-leaning The Wall Street Journal turned against them, dubbing GOP strategy over the expiring payroll-tax cuts ?a fiasco.? Provoking a crisis over an expiring tax cut affecting 160 million Americans was a tough sell. Most Americans supported extending the payroll-tax cut. By rejecting a Senate bill to extend those cuts, House Republicans, for the first time, appeared to be on the side of a tax hike.
Democrats saw the payroll tax clash as an opportunity to end a disappointing year on offense."It was opportunistic," says analyst Mr. Collender. ?Shortly after the debt-ceiling fight in August was the point at which 'no' for Democrats started to be an acceptable answer."
Until that point, Democrats were ?reflecting the president,? he adds. ?The president was trying to compromise, but each time they found that House Republicans kept raising the bar, and they were getting hurt with their base by appearing to be weak.?
But with the sharp turn in public-approval ratings after the debt-ceiling debacle, Democrats grew bolder in opposition and, in the end, left House GOP leaders no place to go but over a cliff.
?Support for Congress in general is close to its lowest point ever. Republicans are generally getting blamed for that, and support for the tea party is at its lowest point since the 2010 election. Put that together, and what?s the down side for Democrats in taking a strong position?? Collender adds.
RECOMMENDED: Why 'temporary' tax cuts never die: Payroll tax and 3 other examples
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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/democrats/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20111223/ts_csm/441460
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Thursday, December 22, 2011
Mary J. Blige Takes On Pat Benatar, Journey In 'Rock Of Ages'
Queen of Hip-Hop Soul tells MTV News her character in the big-screen '80s musical is 'a light in a dark place.'
By Jocelyn Vena
Mary J. Blige
Photo: MTV News
Mary J. Blige is already one of the biggest divas in the music industry, but she's gearing up to set the big screen on fire in 2012 with the movie version of the hit Broadway show on "Rock of Ages."
"In the movie 'Rock of Ages,' I play a gentleman's club owner and her name is Justice Charlier and she has to try to be a light in a dark place. ... [My role is] to make these chicks feel better about their lives and move past the strip club," she told MTV News at "VH1 Divas Celebrates Soul" where she took the stage alongside Jennifer Hudson, Kelly Clarkson and Jill Scott.
But the movie's not sad all the time. The singer noted that, much like the stage spectacle the film is based on, there are good times to be had. And for anyone who loved the Broadway show or has watched the "Rock of Ages" trailer , it's clear that '80s nostalgia and merriment will be celebrated in abundance. "[It's] a lot of '80s classic rock that I'm singing: Pat Benatar, Journey even," she said. "It's fun."
Directed by Adam Shankman, the film drops next summer and co-stars Tom Cruise, Julianne Hough, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Alec Baldwin.
Blige also was just nominated for a Golden Globe for her song from "The Help" soundtrack. Blige's "The Living Proof" also landed on the Oscars short list for Best Original Song. So, 2012 could be the year that Mary J. takes La La Land by storm.
"I'm excited about all of the success because I work really hard," she explained. "I put time in. I'm the type of artist that doesn't get anything for free. I have to bust my tail for everything, and I did exactly that."
Check out everything we've got on "Rock of Ages."
For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.
Related ArtistsSource: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676314/mary-j-blige-rock-of-ages.jhtml
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Monday, December 19, 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011
iVoices: Optimistically Unemployed
As unemployment continues to plague the work force, iVoice Latina Angelica Perez, takes a look at how some women are dealing with finding a job.
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Saturday, December 17, 2011
Today on New Scientist: 16 December 2011
Friday Illusion: Morphing blobs conceal trippy effects
Watch spinning ellipses trick your brain as their shape and colour are tweaked
New taker for 'world's smallest frog' crown
Say hello to the smallest frog in the world - and, possibly, the smallest tetrapod
Did Iran capture US drone by hacking its GPS signal?
Reports today suggest that Iran may have jammed a US drone's signal and tricked it into landing at an Iranian base
Snowmageddon: What's behind extreme winter weather
Is the freakishly cold weather that hit Europe and the US in the past two years a fluke or a trend, asks Michael Le Page
Don't blame the usual suspect for cancer
What if proliferation is the norm for cells - and a very different theory of cancers' cause is waiting in the wings, ask Carlos Sonnenschein and Ana M. Soto
The Bollywood psych ward
A theatrical production brings the high drama and glitz of Bollywood into a Danish psychiatric hospital.
Bedbugs owe their success to inbreeding
A genetic analysis suggests that some building-wide infestations of bedbugs may have originated from a single pregnant female
Most chimp experiments unnecessary, says US panel
Outright ban in US ruled out, but bar raised for justifying experiments on chimpanzees
Remote robots: Human-free by land, sea and air
Our gallery of super-secret remote-controlled vehicles include a plane that flies for five years non-stop and a captainless boat
Hubble images celestial snow angel in 3D
See a stunning visualisation of a star-forming region home to a violent young star
Why naked mole rats feel no pain from acid
The pink, hairless subterranean mammal is insensible to pain caused by acid. Now we know why, which could lead to treatments for arthritis
Fix acid oceans by dumping alkali in them? Forget it
Suggestions that we can dump alkaline chemicals into the oceans to prevent acidification seems dead in the water - it would cost trillions of dollars
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Britney Spears Is Engaged ? Will Third Time Be The Charm?
Britney Spears is ready to walk down the aisle for the third time. The 30-year-old pop star has agreed to marry her longtime boyfriend and former agent Jason Trawick. Trawick announced Friday on “Access Hollywood” that he and Spears are engaged. The two have been dating since 2009. Spears hinted at the big news with [...]
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Friday, December 16, 2011
China shifts focus to growth, as momentum falters (AP)
SHANGHAI ? Weakness in the West is exposing China's failure to make consumers a bigger part of the economy, pushing its leaders to promise a more balanced response to tough times than they managed during the previous barrage of stimulus. For China's stability, and world growth, they need to get it right.
After two years of cooling the economy following the splurge in spending in 2009, China has pledged a more "pro-active" economic agenda for 2012. The aim: to keep growth steady while preventing a potentially destabilizing rebound in inflation through what Beijing calls a "prudent" monetary policy.
But the long-promised shift to growth that is less reliant on supercharged and often wasteful levels of investment could be even harder to swallow this time around: China cannot count on support from recoveries in the U.S. and Europe to buoy exports, and another investment binge would lead to even greater imbalances.
Foreign investment in China fell nearly 10 percent in November in the latest evidence of the rising toll that weakness in the West is taking on the world's No. 2 economy.
With the European Union ? China's largest export market ? in the doldrums, Commerce Ministry spokesman Shen Danyang described trade prospects Thursday as "grim."
An economic planning meeting this week ended with pledges of greater flexibility in moving to fend off the chill from the European debt crisis.
After 30 years of rapid growth, the economy is bound to slow, Yu Bin, head of macroeconomic research at the Development Research Center of the State Council, or Cabinet, said Thursday.
"We believe China is now coming to the end of this period of high economic growth," he told reporters in Beijing.
The question is by how much.
China's economy grew 9.1 percent in July-September, after expanding 9.5 percent in the first half of the year. Yu said the government's forecast for growth in the coming year was "lower than 9 percent."
Three years ago, with exports plunging, a 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) stimulus package backed by lavish bank lending helped China's manufacturing sector bounce back quickly from the ripple effects of the global crisis. Investment in construction projects and real estate went into overdrive.
That helped shift the economy toward a greater reliance on domestic demand instead of exports ? a needed rebalancing sought both by Beijing and by its trading partners. But the lending spree was so heavily weighted toward investment that it failed to raise consumer spending as a share of the economy, economists say.
Investment rose from 43 percent of economic activity in 2008 to over 50 percent in 2010. Consumer spending, the lion's share of activity in most modern industrial economies, fell.
"The failure to make significant progress in reorienting the economy toward household spending is now being exposed as foreign demand is again slowing," economist Mark Williams of Capital Economics said in a research note Thursday.
Despite the double-digit growth in retail sales, partly because it is coming from a low base, spending remains too low to make up for the demand lost from the no longer free-spending American baby boomers.
China's leaders have acknowledged the country's need to expand social services, slash household tax burdens and put more money in consumer pockets.
"It is unsustainable to have China's long term economic growth be overly reliant on investment," said Yu, of the Development Research Council. "The government has recognized that, which is why it has emphasized the importance of boosting domestic demand, especially consumer demand, to shift away from a model excessively reliant on investment."
Still, as China's leaders prepare for a succession to a new generation of communist leaders, the likelihood of major reforms appears slight. With labor unrest flaring and financial conditions deteriorating across many sectors, from small companies to government-backed building projects, Beijing is obsessed with stability.
Though most recognize the urgency for a more balanced, consumer-led economy, "Officials are most likely to err on the side of maintaining growth," Williams said. "In practice, the imbalance is likely to grow."
For now, China's leaders are committing to "fine-tuning" policies, such as easing credit by further loosening bank reserve requirements to put more cash back into the economy.
Reports say the government will support exports by setting up special trade "bases" and aiding exporters in inland areas, which have lagged behind the richer coastal regions.
Controls on the property sector will remain as authorities work to deflate a bubble brought on by the lending spree unleashed in 2009.
Stringent curbs on bank lending helped bring inflation down from a 6.5 percent peak in July to 4.2 percent in November. Property prices also have begun coming down, but they remain a priority for leaders anxious to prevent unrest linked to a weakening of the gains in quality-of-life that buttress the Communist Party's claim to power.
Other likely strategies include tax cuts and increased government spending in areas such as high-tech and renewable energy that Beijing hopes will help drive growth while keeping inflation in check.
Beijing has little choice, given the massive debt loads for banks and local governments left over from the 2009 lending bonanza, says Ren Xianfang of IHS GlobalInsight.
Though the investment boom worked wonders then, it carried risks of its own.
"The bottom line is: the policy tools available to China this time around will be much more limited compared with three years ago ? leaving the country's economy much more vulnerable to severe shocks," she said.
___
Alexa Olesen in Beijing contributed to this story.
___
Follow Elaine Kurtenbach on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ekurtenbachsh
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"American Horror Story" house goes on the market (Reuters)
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) ? For sale: Historical brick home in Los Angeles. Includes a grand ballroom, Tiffany light fixtures, six bedrooms, five baths -- and maybe a body or three in the basement.
The house where FX filmed its pilot for the creepy hit "American Horror Story" has been placed on the market, and for a cool-as-a-corpse $4.5 million it could be yours.
The three-story, 10,440-square-foot home, also known as the Alfred F. Rosenheim Mansion, boasts "a museum-quality set of Tiffany glass doors," six vintage tile fireplaces, and and a formal dining room with antique gold and silver-leaf hand-painted ceilings, among other amenities, according to its listing.
The house is a "one-of-a-kind residence" that "evokes the quality and grandeur of a bygone era," the listing adds.
We'll bet ...
Not to worry, though; the sale of the home -- is Marilyn Manson in the market for new digs? -- won't affect the filming of the Ryan Murphy/Brad Falchuk series.
Connie Britton -- who plays Vivien Harmon on the series -- told the Washington Post in October that, while the show's pilot was filmed at the house, the series itself is filmed within replicas of the structure.
"When we're on the set, it feels like we're in that house, to the point where on the set you know if you run up the stairs to the second floor, it kind of ends. It sort of just ends into nothingness, like you could actually eventually walk off of a platform," Britton explained to the paper.
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