Widow to Supreme Court: DOMA is unconstitutional

Andy Kropa / Getty Images

By Miranda Leitsinger, Staff Writer, NBC News

A federal law that leaves hundreds of thousands of same-sex couples without any recognition of their marriage violates the Constitution, lawyers for a woman whose wife?s death left her unprotected from more than $350,000 in estate taxes said in a legal brief Tuesday, one month before the Supreme Court hears her case.?

The landmark case is one of two the court will hear in March about the battle over whether same-sex couples can legally wed, and if they do, whether they can receive spousal benefits and get the same rights that heterosexual couples currently enjoy.

The former is a legal fight over California?s Proposition 8, which bans gay marriage, and the latter centers on Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, which bars recognition of same-sex marriage at the federal level.

Of a few cases brought to the high court challenging DOMA, the justices chose to hear the one brought by Edie Windsor, whose wife, Thea Spyer, died in 2009. The New York couple married in 2007 in Canada, though they were?together for 44 years before Spyer died.

Spyer left her estate to Windsor. As a married heterosexual couple there would have been no estate tax. But Windsor was left with a federal tax bill of $363,000 since the couple?s marriage was not recognized by the U.S. government.

The lawyers? brief filed Tuesday by Windsor?s lawyers argues that DOMA's?Section 3, which defines marriage at the federal level, ?violates the Constitution because it treats married gay couples differently than married straight couples? for ?no logical reason,? the American Civil Liberties Union, part of Windsor's legal team, said in a summary of the brief.

Gays and lesbians, who have already endured a long history of discrimination, the ACLU said, were subjected to further discrimination from DOMA, which they noted Congress passed in 1996 ?based on fear of and stereotypes about gay people, rather than any legitimate government purpose.? ?

?But the Constitution doesn?t permit the government to pass a law just to disadvantage a politically unpopular group of people,? the group added.

DOMA affects more than 1,100 provisions of federal laws, denying gay couples the right to file joint taxes, the protections of the Family Medical and Leave Act, and blocks surviving spouses from accessing veterans? benefits, among other things, Windsor?s lawyers said.

?DOMA excludes married couples who are gay from all of the rights, privileges and obligations that the federal government otherwise affords married couples,? her lawyers? brief said.

Two lower courts have agreed with Windsor and her attorneys. Other lower courts that reviewed DOMA challenges elsewhere, such as in Boston, reached similar findings.

The Obama administration filed a brief last Friday?in the case with the Supreme Court asking it to throw out Section 3, which it had already stopped defending.

The administration also mentioned California's Proposition 8 and similar measures in other states as evidence that anti-gay discrimination remained a major problem.?

The appeal of the lower courts? decision was brought by the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group, a congressional group made of three Republicans, including House Speaker John Boehner, and two Democrats.

In its brief, filed in late January, the group argued to let the debate over same-sex marriage continue to play out as it has been through votes in many states and public debate, saying ?gays and lesbians have substantial political power, and that power is growing. Victories at the ballot box that would have been unthinkable a decade ago have become routine,? it said, apparently referring to wins for same-sex marriage in four states last November.

?There is absolutely no reason to think that gays and lesbians are shut out of the political process to a degree that would justify judicial intervention on an issue as divisive and fastmoving as same-sex marriage,? the group said, as it urged the court not to step in.

?Indeed, the democratic process has substantial advantages over constitutionalizing this issue. Same-sex marriage is being actively debated in legislatures, in the press, and at every level of government and society across the country. That is how it should be,? the group added.

The court will hear on DOMA from both sides on March 27, one day after Proposition 8 supporters and opponents go before the justices.

Related:?

Once 'inconceivable,' Republican leaders sign pro-gay marriage brief
US asks Supreme Court to strike down law denying benefits to same-sex couples
Supreme Court to take up same-sex marriage issue??

?

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/26/17106674-widow-to-supreme-court-same-sex-marriage-ban-is-unconstitutional?lite

Russell Means Taylor Swift Red Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 2 celiac disease san francisco giants Medal of Honor Warfighter Richard Mourdock

Email, voicemail, text: no response. What gives?

AP file

"We connect more but communicate less, in many ways" now despite all our gadgets, says Janet Sternberg, an assistant professor of communication and media studies at Fordham University.

By Martha Irvine, Associated Press

Technology is supposed to make us easier to reach, and often does. But the same modes of communication that have hooked us on the instant reply also can leave us feeling forgotten.

We send an email, a text or an instant chat message. We wait ? and nothing happens. Or we make a phone call. Leave a voicemail message. Wait. Again, nothing.

We tend to assume it's a snub, and sometimes it is.

Erica Swallow, a 26-year-old New Yorker, says she's heard a former boyfriend brag about how many text messages he never reads. "Who does that?" she asks, exasperatedly.

These days, though, no response can mean a lot of things. Maybe some people don't see messages because they prefer email and you like Twitter. Maybe we're just plain overwhelmed, and can't keep up with the constant barrage of communication.

Whatever the reason, it's causing a lot of frustration. A recent survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 39 percent of cellphone owners say people they know complain because they don't respond promptly to phone calls or text messages. A third of cell owners also have been told they don't check their phones frequently enough.

It happens in love. It happens in business.

"Tell me to go to hell, but just tell me something! I'm getting lonely over here." That's what Cherie Kerr, a public relations executive in Santa Ana, Calif., jokes she's considered putting after her email signature.

It happens in families.

Last year, Terri Barr, a woman on Long Island, N.Y., with grown children, sent her son a birthday present ? a $350 gift certificate for "a wonderful kayaking trip for six, lunch, wine, equipment," she says.

She sent him an email with the details, but he didn't respond. She says she then telephoned and texted him to tell him it was a present. He eventually sent a one-line email, she says, telling her he was too swamped to open her email gift right then.

Instant communication "can be wonderful ? but also terrible," says Barr, who shared the story more as a lament of modern communication than a reprimand of her son, whose busy work life, she acknowledged, often takes him overseas.

So this year, she sent him a birthday gift by snail-mail in a box. "He actually opened it," she says, and they've been talking more frequently since then.

Connecting more, communicating less
Many other people, though, sit waiting for responses that never come.

"That's where the frustration lies ? it's in the ambiguity," says Susannah Stern, a professor of communication studies at San Diego State University.

Though we often assume the worst, experts say we shouldn't.

Frequently, they say, people simply ? and unknowingly ? choose the wrong way to contact someone.

There are times in life when you need a little help, not from your spouse or an expert, but from your friends. TODAY's Willie Geist and his best bud of almost 20 years, Megan Colarossi, share a little friendly advice on everything from relationship issues to parenting challenges.

"I admit to having often been lax with checking my work number voicemail, which has led to me not responding to people waiting for my reply," says Janet Sternberg, an assistant professor of communication and media studies at Fordham University.

She's also had technical glitches. For instance: thinking she'd sent a text message to someone overseas and then, when he didn't respond, realizing she had his international number programmed incorrectly in her phone.

"The sheer management of all these devices and channels is exhausting and sometimes daunting, leaving less and less time for actual communication," Sternberg says. "We connect more but communicate less, in many ways."

That's why many people say they have no choice but to prioritize ? and to respond only to the most urgent messages.

That describes Mahrinah von Schlegel, who's working to launch a Chicago-based "incubator" that will offer shared office space and other resources for fledgling tech entrepreneurs.

"People get angry when not answered and send multiple messages," says von Schlegel, the 30-year-old managing director of the firm, known as Cibola. She says missed communication has caused her to lose some business deals. Often, it's when people try to contact her by Facebook or direct message on Twitter and she doesn't see the messages for days. Email, she says, is her preferred mode of communication.

But even then, she says, there are only so many hours in the day: "I still need time to eat and sleep and shower."

As she sees it, getting no response ? even when she's the one unsuccessfully trying to contact someone ? is just part of life in a high-tech world. A lot of young people say that, so they've become accustomed to having to try again, or try a different mode of communication if something is truly urgent.

"I think there's this understanding because we've grown up being bombarded by communication," says Mike Gnitecki, a 28-year-old special education teacher in Longview, Texas.

So he's willing to try "multiple points of contact" when trying to reach his students' parents ? because, if he wants a response, "that's just how it is."

Mass texting
David Gillman, a 25-year-old Chicagoan, also opts for brevity and efficiency by sending mass texts to several friends at once to save time.

He only expects those who have time or inclination to respond, and doesn't take it personally if they don't.

It gets trickier, he says, with people from older generations, including his parents, because they like to leave him voicemails, which he doesn't like to take time to check.

"I need to get better about that," he concedes.

Those types of missed communications ? and a lack of response ? can cause "turbulence" in a relationship, says Dan Faltesek, an assistant professor of social media at Oregon State University. But, he adds, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

"It can be a little awkward, but you should talk to people about how you like to talk," Faltesek says. "Everyone will be happier when they say what the rules are."

And it'll go even more smoothly, he says, when people are willing to step outside their own favorite mode of communication to those preferred by the person they're contacting.

"Use the reverse golden rule," Faltesek advises. "Treat others the way THEY like to be treated."

An example: Gnitecki, the teacher in Texas, is considering sending a survey home to ask parents how they'd like to be contacted.

Tech and communication experts agree that choosing a primary means of communication, and letting it be known, is one way to improve communication.

Rebecca Otis, content and social media manager at Digital Third Coast, an Internet marketing firm in Chicago, also recommends getting rid of email and social media accounts you don't check regularly. And text messaging, she says, should be reserved for communication that requires a more urgent reply.

Finding ways to prioritize, and receive, the most important messages also helps.

San Francisco-based AwayFind Inc. is among companies that have developed applications that help filter email ? in this instance, alerting users to important emails on their mobile devices.

In the end, we can't possibly respond to everything, says Jared Goralnick, the company's founder and CEO, who's also part of a nonprofit group called the Information Overload Research Group, which looks for ways to deal with out-of-control communication.

As he sees it, it's good to be responsive, "but not to set an expectation that you'll be available for everything."

"That's just not sustainable," he says.

In other words, if we're going to keep our sanity, we'll sometimes have to accept the no response.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

More from Digital Life:

Source: http://digitallife.today.com/_news/2013/02/26/17106226-email-voicemail-text-no-response-what-gives?lite

ohio state football cyber monday lupus iCarly banana republic gap Victoria Secret

PFT: Is Te'o gay? Teams want to know? |? Florio

Getty Images

As the public and the media begin to grow weary (we hope) with the controversy involving former Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te?o, the fake dead girlfriend story hasn?t begun to die for teams interested in Te?o's talents.

The lying to his father and Te?o's failure to come clean once he knew or should have known that the dead girlfriend was neither real nor dead are minor issues in comparison to things other players do.? That?s a point former Chiefs G.M. Scott Pioli made eloquently during Friday?s Pro Football Talk on NBC Sports Network.

But the elephant in the room for many scouts relates to the question that Katie Couric abruptly posed to Te?o ? and that Te?o answered in a way that speaks volumes as to the current culture of football:? Is Te?o gay?

If he is, it shouldn?t matter.? Still, people go to extensive lengths in an effort to conceal who they really are, thanks to a society that in many respects still doesn?t tolerate or accept those who are different.? Thus, the fact that no current NFL player has come out of the closet proves that the NFL isn?t ready for a player to come out of the closet.? Who, after all, would be better to gauge the response to an openly gay NFL player than a closeted one?

With Te?o, the fact that his fake, dead girlfriend was actually a real, live male has done nothing to resolve questions that originated with speculation that having a pretend female in California provided plausible cover for not chasing real ones on campus.? With Ronaiah Tuiasosopo admitting to Dr. Phil that Tuiasosopo was in love with Te?o, the unanswered question became whether Te?o had any inkling that he, too, was in love with a man.

It shouldn?t matter.? In the NFL universe, it just does.? Right or wrong (i.e., wrong) for it to matter, it does.

And so at a time when everyone seems to be bracing for the moment when the league will welcome an openly gay player, teams are trying to figure out whether they would be drafting a closeted one.

This doesn?t mean that any teams would take Te?o off the board if he turned out to be gay.? (Of course, some could choose to shy away from him without ever articulating the reason.)? Given the realities of NFL locker rooms, however, teams simply want to know what they?d be getting.

Again, it shouldn?t matter.? In the NFL universe, it just does.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/02/24/sexuality-remains-the-elephant-in-the-room-for-teo/related/

superbowl ads Super Bowl Ads 2013 Buffalo Wild Wings Superbowl Start Time Iron Man 3 cbs Jim Harbaugh

Clues to climate cycles dug from south pole snow pit

Feb. 25, 2013 ? Particles from the upper atmosphere trapped in a deep pile of Antarctic snow hold clear chemical traces of global meteorological events, a team from the University of California, San Diego and a colleague from France have found.

Anomalies in oxygen found in sulfate particles coincide with several episodes of the world-wide disruption of weather known as El Ni?o and can be distinguished from similar signals left by the eruption of huge volcanoes, the team reports in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published the week of February 25.

"Our ability to link of reliable chemical signatures to well-known events will make it possible to reconstruct similar short-term fluctuations in atmospheric conditions from the paleohistory preserved in polar ice," said Mark Thiemens, Dean of the Division of Physical Sciences and professor of chemistry and biochemistry, who directed the research and dug up much of the snow.

Thiemens, graduate student Justin McCabe and colleague Joel Savarino of Laboratoire de Glaciologie et G?ophysique de l'Environnment in Grenoble, France, excavated a pit 6 meters deep in the snow near the South Pole, with shovels.

"At an elevation of 10,000 feet and 55 degrees below zero, this was quite a task," Thiemens said. Their efforts exposed a 22 year record of snowfall, a pileup of individual flakes, some of which crystallized around particles of sulfate that formed in the tropics.

Atmospheric sulfates form when sulfur dioxide -- one sulfur and two oxygen molecules -- mixes with air and gains two more oxygen molecules. This can happen a number of different ways, some of which favor the addition of variant forms of oxygen, or isotopes, with and extra neutron or two, previous work by Thiemens's group has shown.

Unlike polar ice, which compresses months of precipitation so tightly that resolution is measured in years, relatively fluffy snow allowed the team to resolve this record of atmospheric chemistry on a much finer scale.

"That was key," said Robina Shaheen, a project scientist in Thiemen's research group who led the chemical analysis. "This record was every six months. That high resolution made it clear we can trace a seasonal event such as ENSO."

ENSO, the El Ni?o Southern Oscillation, is a complex global phenomenon that begins when trade winds falter allowing piled up in the tropical western Pacific to slosh toward South America in a warm stream that alters marine life crashing fisheries off Peru and Chile, and disrupts patterns of rainfall leaving parts of the planet drenched and others parched.

The warmed air above the sea surface lifts sulfur dioxide high into the stratosphere, where it's oxidized by ozone, which imparts a distinctly different, anomalous pattern of oxygen variants to the resulting sulfate particles.

In the Antarctic snow samples, the chemists found traces of these oxygen anomalies in sulfates trapped within layers of snow that fell during strong El Ni?o seasons.

Volcanoes too can shoot sulfur compounds high into the atmosphere where they react with ozone to produce sulfates with oxygen anomalies. Three large volcanoes, El Chich?n, Pinatubo and Cerro Hudson, erupted over the course of this time sample, which stretched from 1980 to 2002 and encompassed three ENSO events as well.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - San Diego.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. S. Chakraborty, T. L. Jackson, M. Ahmed, M. H. Thiemens. Sulfur isotopic fractionation in vacuum UV photodissociation of hydrogen sulfide and its potential relevance to meteorite analysis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1213150110

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://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/LfVdYx0ik8Q/130225153126.htm

etch a sketch romney sean payton saints bounty program toulouse france ny jets ny jets the situation

The ABCs of Twitter, Part II

In his book The Ultimate Guide to Twitter for Business, online marketing expert Ted Prodromou offers an easy-to-understand guide to using Twitter that will help small-business owners generate leads and connect with customers. In this edited excerpt, the author explains the most common Twitter terms so users can get up to speed right away. Part II of a two-part series. Read Part I.

In the first of our two-part series, we introduced you to the very specific language of Twitter. Let?s finish up our review of the most common Twitter terms so you?ll understand and recognize the words when you see them.

Reply
A Reply is a Tweet that is posted in reply to another user?s message. A Reply is usually posted by clicking the ?reply? button next to their Tweet in your timeline. A Reply always begins with @username. If the @username is not the first word in the Tweet, it is considered a Mention.

RT or ReTweet
When you like someone?s Tweet, you can forward it to your Twitter followers by ReTweeting it. I like to add comments to my ReTweets to let people know why I?m Tweeting it. This can get tricky if the original Tweet is very long because of the 140-character limit. Sometimes you just have to ReTweet it without a comment. ReTweeting is like forwarding a funny joke someone emailed to you, or sharing a Facebook post you like.

Search or Twitter Search
The box in the top right corner of your Twitter homepage is the Twitter Search box. Twitter Search lets you search all public Tweets for keywords, usernames, hashtags, or subjects. Searches can also be performed at http://search.twitter.com. Twitter Search works just like any other search engine, but the results are limited to Twitter content.

Related:?The ABCs of Twitter, Part I

Short Code
A short code is the five-digit phone number used to send and receive Tweets via text message.

Stories
Stories on Twitter are found in the Discover tab. Think of Stories as expanded Trends. Stories are the Trends plus the links to the video, images, blogs, and web content mentioned in the Tweet.

Timeline
Your Timeline is a real time list of Tweets from users you?re following on Twitter.

Timestamp
Every Tweet is time stamped, which can be found in gray text directly below any Tweet. The timestamp is also a link to that Tweet?s own URL.

Top Tweets
Top Tweets are determined by a Twitter algorithm to be the most popular or resonant on Twitter at any given time. They are usually Tweets by people with the most followers or by people who Tweet often.

Trends
With over 150 million Twitter users Tweeting over 500 million Tweets a day, some topics become more popular than others. When a major earthquake hits Japan or a terrorist bomb explodes in the Middle East, thousands if not millions of people start Tweeting about the event. Usually they will add a hashtag to their Tweets so people can easily follow that topic. The Trends list on Twitter is a real-time summary of the most popular topics being Tweeted about at that moment.

Related:?The 5 Biggest Twitter Marketing Fails of 2012

Tweet
A Tweet refers to a single Twitter post or text message. Your Twitter homepage consists of your timeline, which is a history of all your Tweets and the Tweets of all the people you?re following.

Tweeter
An account holder on Twitter who posts and reads Tweets is a Tweeter; also known as a Twitterer.

Tweetup
An in-person networking event that's promoted almost exclusively via Twitter is called a Tweetup. Tweetups have become very popular because you can quickly bring together a group of like-minded people who are following each other on Twitter. When you publicize the Tweetup on Twitter, the general public sees the invitation so you can attract new people to your networking groups with little effort.

Unfollow
When you want to stop following another Twitter user, you unfollow them. Their Tweets no longer show up in your home timeline.

URL Shortener
URL shorteners are used to turn long URLs into shorter URLs. Shortening your URLs is important because you only have 140 characters available for your Tweets. Some URL shorteners include www.bit.ly, www/TinyURL.com, and www.Ow.ly.

Username
Your username is also known as your Twitter handle. Your username must be unique and contain fewer than 15 characters. It is also used to identify you on Twitter for replies and mentions.

Verification
A process whereby a user?s Twitter account is stamped to show that a legitimate source is authoring the account?s Tweets is a verification. It is sometimes used for accounts that have experienced identity confusion or to verify a celebrity?s real identity for their Twitter account.

Who to Follow
You?ll find Who to Follow in the Discover tab. You'll see a few recommendations of accounts the Twitter algorithm thinks you?ll find interesting. The recommendations are based on the types of accounts you?re already following and who those people follow.

Widget
A widget is a bit of code that can be placed anywhere on the web. Widgets are very common in content management websites like WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla. A widget placed on your website or blog can automatically display your Twitter updates in real time.

Related:?10 Things Entrepreneurs Should Be Tweeting About

Copyright ? 2013 Entrepreneur.com, Inc.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/50919467/ns/business-small_business/

ann romney farrah abraham Paul Ryan Speech chris cooley chris cooley condoleezza rice Perry Hall High School

Sebastian County Asks Voters to Extend 1% Sales Tax - Ft. Smith ...

Posted on: 9:56 pm, February 21, 2013, by Mallory Cooke, updated on: 10:30pm, February 21, 2013

Sebastian County leaders will ask voters to extend a 1-percent sales tax in a special election on May 14.

Money from the tax will go to the Sebastian County Adult Detention Center, sheriff?s office, rural fire departments, senior centers, and the Sebastian County EMS Service.

?We want to make sure that we have enough beds and stuff to house people that society says is dangerous,? said Sebastian County Sheriff Bill Hollenbeck. ?This is not a new tax. This is a continuation of an already existing tax that supports the daily operations of public safety.?

The tax comes up for renewal every 10 years.

?It?s been generating about $21 million,? said Sebastian County Judge David Hudson. ?It?ll be in the $20 million category and those funds are distributed to all 11 cities and the county government.?

Hollenbeck says the tax would pay for deputies and possibly additional staffing at the jail.

?When we have so many people who are incarcerated and we don?t have the staff, a proper staff to run the jail, then of course is becomes dangerous for those deputies,? said Hollenbeck.

The county says money from the tax would also go towards street programs, parks, and the Scott-Sebastian County Public Library.

Source: http://5newsonline.com/2013/02/21/sebastian-county-asks-voters-to-extend-1-sales-tax/

JJ Watt jerry sandusky johnny depp hayden panettiere raul ibanez completely wrong mila kunis

Bond set for Vicksburg mayor charged in federal bribery case

A federal judge has set a $10,000 bond for Vicksburg Mayor Paul Winfield, who is facing federal bribery charges.

Winfield, who was handcuffed and wore an orange inmate jumpsuit, was arraigned in federal court Thursday. He is accused of seeking a $10,000 payment for a city contract.

Click to read more.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/50894699/ns/local_news-jackson_ms/

sean payton saints bounty program toulouse france ny jets ny jets the situation tim tebow jets

If Josh Barnett signed with UFC, a fight with Junior dos Santos would have been...

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

Source: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151471533665853&set=a.331435450852.194532.319295540852&type=1

norad 12/21/12 winter solstice Jabari Parker 2012 australia Brothers Grimm

Mayweather signs record-breaking deal with Showtime/CBS

(Reuters) - Eight-time world champion Floyd Mayweather has left HBO in favor of a 30-month, six-fight deal with Showtime and its parent company CBS in what is being called the richest pact in boxing history.

Financial terms of the deal between the undefeated boxer and Showtime/CBS, announced on Tuesday in a statement by Mayweather Promotions, were not disclosed.

In making the announcement, Mayweather also confirmed a May 4 fight with Robert Guerrero which will mark the fighter's Showtime debut.

Widely recognized as boxing's top pound-for-pound fighter, Mayweather (43-0, 26 KOs) has been a part of boxing's four biggest non-heavyweight pay-per-view events.

The 35-year-old fighter was listed as the highest paid athlete in 2012 by Forbes after earning $85 million from two fights against Victor Ortiz and Miguel Cotto. Filipino southpaw Manny Pacquiao ranked second with earnings of $62 million.

According to the statement, Mayweather averages more than 1 million pay-per-view buys per event, the highest of any boxer, and if all six fights take place it could result in the richest individual athlete deal in all of sports.

(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto; Editing by Frank Pingue)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mayweather-signs-record-breaking-deal-showtime-cbs-222058581--finance.html

san antonio spurs greta van susteren tony parker the five year engagement chris kreider correspondents dinner 2012 white house correspondents dinner 2012

Florida man accused of fraud after name change in 'act of love'

About

What's there to know about me? I'm from Albuquerque, New Mexico, itching to move to New York, New York. I'm in school for theater so I can be an actor-director-producer (and yes, I have adopted the hyphen system for describing myself (and others). I guess I should mention my age. I'm 21. And my name is Dach, in case any of you were wondering. Or Dachary. Or Dach Attack. Or Bright Eyes. Whatever you want to call me, I'll probably answer to. Oh, you know, I always wondered why people would question my sexuality, it's because I never put it in my description before: I'm gay. Like a rainbow. Or a unicorn. Or Christopher Sieber. Also, because this has become sort of important in my work, you should know that I go by he/him pronouns. Although, the occasional "gurl" isn't neccesarily a bad thing. Oh, back to single, btw

Facebook
Dach's World
Dachary does lame pick up lines at work
Dachary takes webcam photos at work

Who am I anyway?
Point me toward tomorrow.

Source: http://dachattack.tumblr.com/post/43412033446

oceans 11 ferris state hockey mary poppins john derbyshire kinkade thomas kinkade paintings easter bunny

Rhapsody posts Windows Phone 8 app with offline playback

Just because Rhapsody is an old hand at online music doesn't mean it has to lag behind: the company just posted a new version of its app tailored to Windows Phone 8 listeners. Besides the native OS tie-ins, it adds offline downloads and access to the personalized My Music section. Windows Phone-focused listeners who've stuck to Rhapsody's $10-plus service through thick and thin -- or just aren't wedded to options from Microsoft, Nokia and Spotify -- can hit the source for the new jukebox.

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio/Video, Mobile

Comments

Via: VentureBeat

Source: Windows Phone Store

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/cr92empJRqQ/

walmart black friday Target Black Friday PacSun apple store bestbuy bestbuy gamestop

Top 6 Carnival samba schools parade again in Rio

RIO DE JANEIRO -- The glittering costumes and floats that last week marked Rio de Janeiro's iconic Carnival are back as the top six finishers of the annual samba school competition take part in the Parade of Champions.

The final parade takes place every year on the Saturday night after Carnival.

The first group to enter the Sambadrome will be sixth-placed Academicos do Grande Rio. This year's winner was Unidos de Vila Isabel, which will parade last.

Unidos de Vila Isabel's agricultural-themed parade featured a sexy spider samba queen, lady bug musicians and a giant grasshopper float.

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/02/16/3238071/top-6-carnival-samba-schools-parade.html

polar bear plunge lovelace antioch the grey review demi moore 911 call ipo jim rome

Large Hadron Collider starts 2-year shutdown

Get a look inside the caverns and tunnels that house the Large Hadron Collider, the world's biggest atom-smasher.

By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

After coming through with evidence for the long-sought Higgs Boson, Europe's Large Hadron Collider has begun a two-year "Long Shutdown," during which its underground components will be upgraded to run at even higher energies.

The last interacting particle beams were extracted from the machine at 7:24 a.m. Thursday Geneva time, the CERN nuclear physics center said in a news release. Most of the final beam runs were conducted with lead ions as well as protons, to study the conditions that existed in the universe just after the big bang. CERN said single-beam studies will wind down this weekend, and then the LHC's super-cooled components will be brought up to room temperature so that work can begin.

The "Long Shutdown 1," or LS1, marks the longest hiatus for the $10 billion collider since physics runs began in 2009.

---

"We have every reason to be very satisfied with the LHC?s first three years," CERN Director-General Rolf Heuer said. "The machine, the experiments, the computing facilities and all infrastructures behaved brilliantly, and we have a major scientific discovery in our pocket."

That discovery, announced last July, was the detection of a new subatomic particle fitting the expected characteristics of the Higgs boson, the last big piece of the puzzle for particle physics' Standard Model. The Higgs boson is thought to play a role in producing the rest mass of fundamental particles. Physicists are continuing to analyze data from the LHC's detectors and are expected to provide further details about the new "Higgs-like particle" in the weeks and months ahead.

The LHC has been running at a top energy of 4 trillion electron volts, or 4 TeV per beam, but during the Long Shutdown, the facility's magnets and connections will be checked and upgraded to the point that it can run at its maximum design energy of 7 TeV per beam, starting in 2015. Problems with the LHC's magnets and connections bedeviled the collider during its construction phase: In 2008, a faulty connection caused an explosion that delayed the start of science operations for nearly a year. That incident led CERN to take a go-slower approach to ramping up the LHC's energy.

Other parts of the facility will be upgraded during Long Shutdown 1, ranging from CERN's proton synchrotrons to the ventilation system for the LHC's 17-mile-round (27-kilometer-round) underground tunnel.?

CERN reports on the start of the Large Hadron Collider's "Long Shutdown 1."

CERN

CERN details the upgrade work to be done at the LHC during 2013-14. Click on the graphic for a larger version.

Detecting the Higgs boson was the top goal for the LHC's thousands of scientists, engineers and support personnel. During the next phase of operations, researchers hope to tease out insights about other mysteries, such as the nature of dark matter, the possibility that all subatomic particles have as-yet-unseen supersymmetric partners, and the potential existence of extra dimensions of space. So far, the LHC's research teams have reported no evidence of such exotic phenomena, but they're hoping that higher energies will reveal "new physics" beyond the Standard Model.

Scientists won't be idle during the tunnel's shutdown: CERN's mass-storage systems are hanging onto 100 quadrillion bytes of data to analyze, most of which was acquired over the past year. CERN says that amount of data is equivalent to about 700 years' worth of HD-quality movies.

"There will be plenty of physics to do during LS1, and not only at the LHC," CERN Research Director Sergio Bertolucci said. "The LHC is the flagship of CERN's experimental program, but is nevertheless just one component of a very varied research infrastructure. All of the other experiments here have ongoing analyses, so I'm looking forward to many interesting results emerging as LS1 progresses."

More about the Large Hadron Collider:

---

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's?Facebook page, following?@b0yle on Twitter?and adding the?Cosmic Log page?to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out?"The Case for Pluto,"?my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

Source: http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/14/16964634-large-hadron-collider-shuts-down-to-prepare-for-bigger-bangs-in-2015?lite

christine christine will ferrell double fine adventure turbo tax katharine mcphee cold mountain

Medal of Honor recipient: Taliban 'simply couldn't have' outpost

Staff Sgt. Clinton Romesha was awarded the Medal of Honor for preventing the Taliban from overrunning his outpost in 2009. Tuesday he was inducted into the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes.

By Anna Mulrine,?Staff writer / February 12, 2013

President Barack Obama bestows the Medal of Honor on retired Staff Sgt. Clinton Romesha for conspicuous gallantry, Monday, in the East Room of the White House.

Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP

Enlarge

It was?6 a.m. on October 3, 2009 when Staff. Sgt. Clinton Romesha and 52 of his fellow soldiers awoke to find their small outpost not far from Afghanistan?s border with Pakistan, under attack.

Skip to next paragraph

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
' + google_ads[0].line3 + '

'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_adtest = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // -->

Subscribe Today to the Monitor

Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of
The Christian Science Monitor
Weekly Digital Edition

They were outnumbered ? eight times over ? by more than 400 heavily armed Taliban fighters who had occupied the high ground on all four sides of the small base, nestled on the floor of a tiny valley of the Hindu Kush.

?Four hundred Taliban versus 53 American soldiers. It just doesn?t seem fair ? to the Taliban,? Mr. Romesha joked at a Pentagon ceremony Tuesday, before sounding a somber note. The outpost ?was our home,? he said, ?and they simply couldn?t have it.?

But they were going to try. The Taliban were raining down fire upon the American troops at Combat Outpost Keating, using rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), mortars, anti-aircraft machine guns, and small arms to fire into what senior military officials described as a ?fish bowl.??

It was a battle that was to last one full day ? a day that ultimately became the deadliest of that year for US troops, leaving eight American soldiers dead and 80 percent of the buildings on the base destroyed.

On Monday, in a ceremony at the White House, Romesha, who was wounded in the battle, was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Obama. Mr. Obama cited the now retired staff sergeant?s ?conspicuous gallantry? and adherence to the code of never leaving behind a fallen comrade as he rallied the American force and called in airstrikes to repel the Taliban attackers.

On Tuesday, it was the Pentagon?s opportunity to pay tribute to one of its own as it inducted Romesha into the Hall of Heroes, only the fourth living recipient to be awarded the military?s highest honor for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.?

Romesha ?embodies the essence of a soldier, and represents what every man and woman who dons this uniform strives to be,? Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno, the service?s top officer, said during the ceremony.

General Odierno pointed to Romesha?s fellow soldiers from his Bravo troop of the 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division, which became one of most decorated units in US military history, earning nine Silver Stars, 18 Bronze Star medals with Valor, and 27 Purple Hearts.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/-6Gs91_4zNg/Medal-of-Honor-recipient-Taliban-simply-couldn-t-have-outpost

Paul Harvey ihop Sasquatch 2013 super bowl commercials wheres my refund Fast And Furious 6 superbowl ads

Obama pitches manufacturing plan on plant tour

President Barack Obama speaks at Linamar Corporation in Arden, N.C., the day after delivering his State of the Union address, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

President Barack Obama speaks at Linamar Corporation in Arden, N.C., the day after delivering his State of the Union address, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

President Barack Obama is greeted after giving his State of the Union address during a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday Feb. 12, 2013. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

President Barack Obama greets audience members after speaking during a visit Linamar Corporation in Arden, N.C., Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013, the day after delivering his State of the Union address. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

President Barack Obama gestures as he speaks to workers and guests at the Linamar Corporation plant in Arden, N.C., Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013, as he travels after delivering his State of the Union address Tuesday. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) ? Striking a decidedly populist tone, President Barack Obama stood in a resurrected factory Wednesday, imploring lawmakers to work as hard as American blue-collar workers as he pitched his plan to jump-start manufacturing and expand opportunities for the middle class.

Hours after delivering his first State of the Union address of his second term, Obama issued a new challenge to a nation still picking itself up from an economic slump: "If you work full time, you shouldn't be in poverty."

"There's no magic bullet here, it's just some common-sense stuff. People still have to work hard," Obama said at an auto parts plant in Asheville. He argued that just a few changes ? like increasing the minimum wage, investing in research and incentivizing companies to do business in the U.S. ? could go a long way toward a resurgence in American manufacturing.

With sleeves rolled up on his white dress shirt, Obama gazed up at giant, high-tech milling machines, each the size of a small room ? symbols of a dispirited American manufacturing sector that Obama insisted can thrive once again.

Joining him for the tour were workers from Linamar Corp, a Canadian-based company that produces heavy-duty engine and driveline components. The company moved in to a defunct Volvo plant and has hired 160 workers at the Asheville plant, with plans to hire 40 more by the end of the year, Obama said.

Jason Furman of the National Economic Council told reporters aboard Air Force One that the company's expansion was "emblematic of the trend of insourcing we're seeing in the United States."

Manufacturing and jobs were a key focus for Obama in his Tuesday night speech, where he worked to tie issues like immigration and climate change to economic growth by arguing the right investments will lay the groundwork for future prosperity. On Wednesday, he sought to rally support for some of his newest proposals, including an increase in the minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $9 and expanded access to preschool.

"It's not a Democratic thing or a Republican thing," Obama said of his initiatives. "Our job as Americans is to restore that basic bargain that says if you work hard, if you meet your responsibilities, you can get ahead."

His last election behind him, Obama now hopes that the prospects for enacting his sweeping second-term agenda could be boosted if he can lock in support from the same centrist voters whose backing he eagerly sought during the re-election campaign. But with most lawmakers hailing from safe districts, even a wave of popular support might not be enough for Obama to win over many congressional Republicans.

Wednesday's trip to North Carolina brought Obama back to a competitive state where he campaigned heavily, but lost. The visit had all the trapping of a campaign-style rally ? barricades, platforms and professional lights, and patriotic music drowning out the cheers of a few hundred people who gathered at the factory to hear him speak.

On Thursday, Obama will seek support for his proposals in Georgia, a conservative-leaning state, before making his case on more familiar terrain Friday with a visit to Chicago ? his hometown.

Republicans have already made clear that the president's renewed emphasis on jobs and the economy may not win over their support.

"When you raise the price of employment, guess what happens? You get less of it," House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, told reporters Wednesday morning. "At a time when the American people are still asking the question, 'Where are the jobs?' Why would we want to make it harder for small employers to hire people?"

Obama is asking Congress for $1 billion to create a network of "manufacturing innovation institutes" ? partnerships among the private sector, the federal government and colleges. He's also advocating for an end to tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas, tougher enforcement of trade laws and new steps to open markets in Europe and Asia.

Obama's aides sees improvements in manufacturing as a bright spot in the U.S. economy and an opportunity to showcase his economic efforts in light of Republican complaints that he has allowed other issues to interfere with the focus on countering unemployment. The White House says manufacturing added 500,000 jobs the last three years after more than 10 years of decline.

___

Follow Josh Lederman at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-02-13-Obama/id-485d037cb1ce44349d1280730e832eb0

monkees songs rail gun harrisburg top chef texas great pacific garbage patch ben affleck and jennifer garner google privacy changes

Watch: 'Capturing Love': The Art of Lesbian and Gay Wedding Photography

Home > Video > Most Popular

Christopher Dorner Search: LA Police Chief Reopens Former Officer's Case

Christopher Dorner Search: LA Police Chief Reopens Former Officer's Case

Clayton Sandell details the latest information in the manhunt for ex-LAPD cop.

Manhunt for Alleged Cop Killer Heads to California Mountains

Manhunt for Alleged Cop Killer Heads to California Mountains

Police continue tireless search for fugitive Christopher Dorner.

Christopher Dorner Manifesto Posted Online

Christopher Dorner Manifesto Posted Online

Investigators are combing the former cop's 11,000-word manifesto for clues in alleged killings.

Christopher Dorner Search: Officials Search for Ex-officer in the Mountains

Christopher Dorner Search: Officials Search for Ex-officer in the Mountains

The manhunt continues to track alleged murderer, former LAPD officer.

Pope Benedict to Resign, Vatican Says

Pope Benedict to Resign, Vatican Says

Vatican says Pope Benedict XVI will be resigning on Feb. 28.

Fun. Delivers Fun Grammy Speeches

Fun. Delivers Fun Grammy Speeches

The band injects humor into acceptance speeches for their multiple Grammy wins.

Pope Benedict XVI Resignation: Inside The Conclave

Pope Benedict XVI Resignation: Inside The Conclave

A look at the process Cardinals go through to select a new pontiff.

Arizona Police Officer Demoted Over Racy Pics

Arizona Police Officer Demoted Over Racy Pics

Diana Lopez lost lieutenant rank after allegedly having sexually explicit photos of her taken while in uniform.

Carnival Cruise Ship Adrift Following Fire

Carnival Cruise Ship Adrift Following Fire

Cruise liner experienced fire in engine room off coast of Mexico

Kelly Clarkson Gets Stuck on Miranda Lambert

Kelly Clarkson Gets Stuck on Miranda Lambert

The singers' embrace led to a lock of outfits at the Grammy Awards.

Justin Timberlake Returns to Grammy Stage

Justin Timberlake Returns to Grammy Stage

The singer's last Grammy Awards performance was in 2009.

Cruise Ship Stranded Without Power in Gulf of Mexico

Cruise Ship Stranded Without Power in Gulf of Mexico

A fire in the engine room knocked out power on Carnival Triumph cruise ship.

Chris Brown: No Standing Ovation for Frank Ocean

Chris Brown: No Standing Ovation for Frank Ocean

Brown didn't leave his seat after rival Frank Ocean wins for Urban Contemporary Album.

Jennifer Lopez's Leg Takes Center Stage at Grammys

Jennifer Lopez's Leg Takes Center Stage at Grammys

The singer jokes about wardrobe memo while presenting at awards show.

Florida Couple Can't Stop Their Coffee Enemas

Florida Couple Can't Stop Their Coffee Enemas

TLC's "My Strange Addiction" episode profiles couple's cleansing ritual.

1 of 2 | Next

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/video/capturing-love-art-lesbian-gay-wedding-photography-18466077

lin j.r. smith espn jeremy lin sleigh bells meek sturgis sturgis

School Of VII Bells' Benjamin Curtis Cancer Diagnosis

School of Seven Bells songwriter Benjamin Curtis has been diagnosed with cancer and requires immediate treatment.

Some things go far beyond music. On Friday (February 8th) Brooklyn group School of Seven Bells shared an important message with fans, revealing that Benjamin Curtis is suffering from cancer.

Diagnosed with T-cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma, the musician requires immediate medical attention. In a note written by Alley Deheza, she emphasised that all hope is not yet lost: "the good news is that it's TREATABLE."

"These next few months will be tough, but he is the toughest person I know (even while here, he was trying to figure out a way to sample the MRI)."

The note in full:

Dear Friends,
It feels so surreal to be writing this to you. In fact I still can't wrap my head or my heart around it, but here it goes. A few nights ago Benjamin was admitted to the hospital for symptoms that have been getting worse for a few weeks now. After a dozen tests and scans (which he's endured like a champion) , the doctors say it's T-cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma. It developed pretty aggressively, and the chemotherapy to treat it will be pretty aggressive, but the good news is that it's TREATABLE. These next few months will be tough, but he is the toughest person I know (even while here, he was trying to figure out a way to sample the MRI). I wanted to share this with you all, because you guys are such a huge and important part of our lives. Send all of the light and love that you can his way. Every bit will count towards a strong and fast recovery. I believe that with all of my heart. I will be doing the same.
Love, Alley

- - -

Photo Credit: Abbey Drucker

Source: http://www.clashmusic.com/news/school-of-vii-bells-benjamin-curtis-cancer-diagnosis

Lynsi Torres Fall Out Boy Alabama hostage mta Beyonce Superbowl weather.com nemo

US Condemns Attack on Refugee Camp in Iraq

LONDON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Formula One must bring rising costs under control to help struggling teams race on in tough economic circumstances, even if talk of impending crisis is wide of the mark, principals agree. The folding of Spanish-based HRT since the end of last season owed as much to the economic troubles of the team's debt-stricken homeland as to its lack of success on the track but it still flashed up warning signs. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-condemns-attack-refugee-camp-iraq-012716417.html

sunoco titanic ii babe ruth new jersey nets nba playoff schedule rondo morris claiborne

Nissan quarterly profit dives on China sales slump

TOKYO (AP) ? Nissan Motor Co. suffered a 35 percent plunge in October-December profit to 54.1 billion yen ($579 million) as global sales languished, especially in China, where anti-Japanese sentiment flared over a territorial dispute.

Quarterly sales dipped 5.3 percent from a year earlier to 2.2 trillion yen ($23.5 billion), Yokohama-based Nissan said Friday. Nissan's earnings fell short of the 61 billion yen ($652 million) profit forecast by a FactSet survey of analysts.

All the Japanese automakers have reported sales declines in China, where a territorial dispute set off anti-Japanese riots and boycotts in the last months of 2012. A slowdown in Europe added to Nissan's woes. Nissan also struggled in the key U.S. market, which was booming for rival Toyota Motor Corp.

Corporate Vice President Joji Tagawa acknowledged Nissan's performance had not reached its targets, but promised a recovery.

China sales in January showed some recovery and Nissan was also planning new models in the U.S., he told reporters.

Nissan's sales were strong in other parts of the world, including Brazil, the Middle East and Asia excluding China as well as Japan.

Nissan, based in the port city of Yokohama, stuck to its forecasts for a 320 billion yen ($3.4 billion) profit on 9.82 trillion yen ($105 billion) sales in the fiscal year ending March, despite the solid perk it is getting from a weaker yen.

Nissan, which makes the Leaf electric car, the Infiniti luxury model and March subcompact, gained 21.9 billion yen ($234 million) in operating profit for the latest quarter from the weakening yen. Earlier this week, the yen was a near three-year low against the dollar on expectations of super easy monetary policy under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

"This should work as a plus for our business," Tagawa told reporters of the cheap yen. "The overly expensive yen is finally getting corrected."

Nissan left unchanged its global vehicle sales forecast for the fiscal year at 5.08 million vehicles, up 5 percent from the previous year, when Japanese automakers were hurt by parts supply disruptions caused by the earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan.

Other Japanese automakers have also reported upbeat quarterly results, helped by the yen.

Toyota raised its fiscal year profit forecast after reporting its October-December profit jumped 23 percent to 99.91 billion yen ($1.09 billion). Toyota is now expecting annual profit of 860 billion yen ($9.3 billion). It had initially expected a 780 billion yen ($8.5 billion) profit for the fiscal year ending March.

Earlier this week, Mazda Motor Corp. raised its annual profit forecast to 26 billion yen ($278 million) from 10 billion yen ($107 million).

Tokyo-based Honda Motor Co.'s quarterly profit surged nearly 63 percent to 77.4 billion yen ($850 million), but it lowered its full-year profit forecast slightly because of sales losses in China.

__

Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at www.twitter.com/yurikageyama

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nissan-quarterly-profit-dives-china-sales-slump-100811648--finance.html

the godfather

The Great Big Stock Market Disconnect

Friday, February 8th, 2013
By Mitchell Clark, B.Comm. for Profit Confidential

Don?t buy this stock market. It isn?t worth the risk. Relative to earnings, most stocks aren?t expensively priced?but there?s a reason for that. There just isn?t enough real economic growth in the marketplace. Some companies are doing well (as we?ve been highlighting), and I?d say buy great companies when they?re down on the stock market; but the trouble is that the market is trading right near its high.

A lot of companies reported solid earnings in the fourth quarter, and the stock market was happy about it. The problem is that revenues either came up short, or revenue outlooks weakened for 2013. The market always focuses on earnings, but the most important financial metric that?s worth betting on isn?t earnings?it?s revenues. This is especially the case in a slow-growth environment.

Cummins Inc. (NYSE/CMI) is a company I?ve admired for a long time. It makes great engines, and since 2005, the company has been a great wealth creator on the stock market. The stock just reported its fourth-quarter earnings results, and the story went like this: Cummins beat the Street on 2012 fourth-quarter revenues and earnings, but its guidance for 2013 fell short of consensus. So, the stock went up on the revenues and earnings results.

However, the problem is that the company?s earnings only beat consensus in that they dropped less than the Street was expecting; fourth-quarter revenues fell 13% to $4.3 billion, also dropping less than consensus. To me, this isn?t good news at all, yet the stock went up on the announcement. The company?s stock chart is below:

Chart courtesy of www.StockCharts.com

This is the great big disconnect in the stock market today. Stocks are going up on better-than-expected results, but in a lot of cases, there isn?t any real economic growth at all! The only reason I can think of why many stocks are going up on mediocre news is because most are trading below their historical valuations.

Corporations have done an outstanding job of maintaining their earnings throughout the last recession and in the current slow growth environment. Large corporations are especially good at this through cost control. But what we need to see is meaningful top-line growth, and we?re not getting it consistently from industry. This is the reason why I?m not bullish on the stock market and why I wouldn?t be a buyer right now.

Cummins is a solid company with a great history. The stock is trading near its all-time high, even though its fourth quarter was terrible. (See ?Stock Market Investor Sentiment Drops Again?Why??) According to the company, its 2012 total revenues fell four percent to $17.3 billion, with North American sales up nine percent, offset by a 15% drop in international markets. The company noted that sales in Brazil, China, and Europe were particularly weak. Fourth-quarter engine sales were down 18% to $2.5 billion; component sales were down 14% to $939 million; power generation sales were down 17% to $765 million; but distribution sales were up nine percent to $907 million (but that?s only due to a recent acquisition). (Source: Cummins Inc. fourth quarter and 2012 financial results.) All this, and the position is trading right near its all-time record high on the stock market.

Unless revenue growth materializes next earnings season, the stock market is dead. Because corporations are so lean now, revenue growth will translate straight to earnings, and that?s what this stock market needs to stay afloat.

After the dismal fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) numbers, the stock market basically ignored the news, figuring it was a one-off aberration due to military spending cuts. So, how is the first quarter of 2013 suddenly going to be so magical? It isn?t. And stock market investors need to be very cautious going forward.

Fourth-quarter and full-year 2012 revenues were mediocre, and earnings came in flat. Some companies are doing well, both operationally and on the stock market. A lot of other companies aren?t doing so great, but their share prices are up anyway. It?s the classic sign that the bull market has run its course.

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]

Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]

Source: http://www.profitconfidential.com/stock-market/the-great-big-stock-market-disconnect/

Olympic Medal Count 2012 Olympics 2012 Olympic Schedule 2012 NBC Olympics NBC Olympics schedule 2012 Olympics Chad Everett

Beilue: Military uniforms tell long history | Amarillo Globe-News

Please Note: You may have disabled JavaScript and/or CSS. Although this news content will be accessible, certain functionality is unavailable.

Skip to News

? back

next ?

IHOP National Pancake Day Papa Roach Concert Kicker Monster Truck Nationals Amarillo Bulls vs Texas Tornado 020113 Harlem Globetrotters Man and Woman of the Year Martin Luther King Jr. Day March George Strait concert in Lubbock

Source: http://amarillo.com/news/2013-02-05/beilue-military-uniforms-tell-long-history

is snooki pregnant snooki pregnant gbc hedy lamarr

Youth group: Students need better sports safety

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Student athletes need access to health care professionals, better-trained coaches and up-to-date equipment, a coalition of groups recommended Wednesday in a call to action aimed at protecting the almost 8 million students participating in high school sports each year.

The Youth Sports Safety Alliance of more than 100 organizations released the proposed rules, which call for health providers such as athletic trainers or doctors available for every school, warnings about performance-enhancing substances for athletes and the creation of a national registry to track student athlete deaths. The rules also would require schools to have clean and well-maintained facilities, and require students to have a pre-season physical exam, including testing for some of the 400,000 concussions students suffer annually.

Many of the proposed requirements are already standard practice, state athletic officials said. The biggest hurdle, however, is medical care.

Only 42 percent of high schools have access to an athletic trainer and 47 percent of schools even come up short on the federally recommended nurse-to-student ratio.

"You get into schools with less than 30 kids in the schools, they're not going to have the money," New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association executive director Patrick Corbin said. "They're lucky if they can find a physician in those places."

In his state, for instance, schools are required to have medical care for students during games and practice. But that can range from an on-site physician in the densely populated southern part of his state to a cellphone to call an ambulance in the rural north.

Additionally, a student athlete in New Hampshire can use a freshman-year physical exam for all four years of competition.

"In some of these places, good luck affording and finding a physician to do one," he said.

Organizers called their "Secondary School Student Athletes' Bill of Rights" the first comprehensive and national plan aimed at protecting students who participate on their schools' teams. The group is urging each state athletic association to adopt their blueprint.

While state athletic officials agreed with the premise of protecting students, logistical and financial challenges were clearly visible. Every state is on its own to put in place rules for its student athletes and athletic trainers aren't always a priority amid tight school and state budgets; the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a $41,600 median salary for athletic trainers.

In Ohio, students already are meeting many of the requirements, said Deborah Moore, associate commissioner of the Ohio High School Athletic Association.

"It's not a requirement but most high schools have access to athletic training services," she said, noting the larger schools have athletic trainers on staff and smaller ones have contracts with local hospitals or rehabilitation facilities.

It's the same in Colorado, said Bert Borgmann, an assistant commissioner with the Colorado High School Activities Association.

In some cases, coaches step in.

"Coaches pick up the important aspects of athletic training because they know their responsibility is the kids on the floor and the kids on the field," Borgmann said. "You rarely, if ever, find a coach who is in this who is in this to hurt kids."

Texas, the state with the largest number of student athletes, already is following most of the advocates' requirement. Each school district is required to have a concussion-prevention program led by at least one medical professional but does not require schools to have an on-staff athletic trainer.

California, the state with the second largest number of student athletes, comes up short on the advocates' demand for on-site athletic trainers but officials there have considered it amid the state's budget crisis.

That's not enough for advocates.

"You wouldn't put a football team out on the field if you don't have enough money to buy helmets," said Dawn Comstock, an expert on school sports who teaches at the Colorado School of Public Health. "Why are you putting a football team on the field if you don't have enough money to hire a fulltime certified athletic trainer?"

Others objected to coaches setting the rules for the more than 7.6 million students who played high school sports last year and scores more who played on club or private-league teams.

At least 34 student athletes died that year, the alliance said.

"In most states, the state high school athletic associations control all the health and safety policies for our student athletes," said Douglas Casa, an expert on sudden deaths in sports and a professor at the University of Connecticut who helped write the proposed rules. "That should scare a lot of people in this room. If you had a family member with cancer, would you seek out a coach for advice? Their opinion on health and safety issues is not relevant."

Some 400,000 concussions occurred in high school sports during the 2008-09 school year. More than 7.5 million students played that year, the National Federation of State High School Associations reported.

Thirty-nine student athletes died in 2011 and 49 in 2010.

The decline is in part because 43 states have passed laws that require a doctor's note before an athlete returns to play after a concussion injury.

But while the total number of injuries has fallen, the rate of concussions has risen, leading to long-term health risks for these athletes.

"Think about this: You get an injury in the NFL, you have two guys at your side right away," said Christopher Nowinski, the co-director of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at Boston University's School of Medicine.

That is seldom the case in high school fields, where more students die than in college or professional competitions.

"We do not provide a single professional medical person to half of high schools," the former Harvard football player and WWE professional wrestler added.

.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-02-06-Student%20Sports%20Safety/id-4baa24f89f0142b6b0bfda7974ac1f37

brewers matt cain adastra holocaust remembrance day chesapeake energy dick clark death yom hashoah