Utilizing Automotive Contact-Up Paint | Seening.Org

30 Oct

Article posted by ReignerPozzobon666 as Credit

Here?s news you may need to brush up on: Using touch-up paint in your automotive may be a cheap strategy to shield its value. Some scratches can remove all the paint all the way down to the metal and the area can begin to rust, causing everlasting damage.

There are a number of choices for applying touch-up paint. Spray cans can be used for big areas and with patience and follow you may achieve excellent results. For smaller chips and scratches, you may brush the paint or use a paint pen. Typically, a paint pen can be simpler to use to very small chips, as you may apply the paint extra precisely.

Ladies discover using touch-up paint is straightforward as a result of they?ve had a lot follow applying nail polish. In reality, based on paintscratch.com, some girls have even painted their nails with automotive contact-up paint to match their vehicles.

The simplest place to find contact- up paint is on the Web. First it?s a must to know your coloration code. There are sites the place the paint colours are damaged down by year, make and mannequin, so finding your color code is easy. With the proper paint and good instructions, making use of touch-up paint must be no more difficult than coloring your nails.

With the appropriate paint and good directions, making use of touch-up paint to your automobile could be as simple as coloring your nails.

For info concerning car paint protection, stop by Delia Graffertingz?s web site at once.

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Heavy drinking tied to higher stomach cancer risk (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) ? Men who down more than four alcoholic drinks in a day may have a heightened risk of stomach cancer, a large European analysis suggests.

A number of studies have looked at whether people's drinking habits are related to their risk of stomach cancer, and come to mixed conclusions.

These latest findings, from a study of more than 500,000 European adults, suggest that heavy-drinking men are more likely to develop the cancer than light drinkers are.

At the start of the study, 10,000-plus men said they averaged more than four drinks per day. And their odds of developing stomach cancer over the next decade were twice those of light drinkers (who had the equivalent of about half a drink per day or less).

When the researchers looked more closely at the type of alcohol people consumed, they found that beer, in particular -- as opposed to wine or liquor -- seemed to be connected to stomach cancer risk.

There were no similar connections seen in women, according to the researchers, led by Dr. Eric J. Duell of the Catalan Institute of Oncology in Barcelona, Spain. But there were also far fewer heavy drinkers among the female participants (just under 2,300).

The findings, reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, do not prove that alcohol itself leads to stomach cancer in some men.

And the absolute risk for any one heavy drinker may be small. Of nearly 13,000 men and women who were heavy drinkers when they entered the study, just 33 developed stomach cancer over the follow-up period.

Still, experts already recommend that people who drink do so only in moderation. That generally means no more than two drinks per day for men, and no more than one for women.

Heavy drinking is linked to cancers of the mouth and throat, as well as other serious conditions like scarring of the liver.

Stomach cancer is relatively uncommon in the U.S. and other Western countries, though it's much more prevalent in other parts of the world, particularly developing nations. About 21,500 Americans will be diagnosed with stomach cancer this year, according to the American Cancer Society.

Smoking is one of the risk factors for the disease. And in some past studies, it's been hard to separate the possible effects of heavy drinking on stomach cancer from those of smoking -- since the same people often have both habits.

In the current study, though, Duell's team found that heavy drinking was linked to stomach cancer in men regardless of smoking habits.

The link also held when the researchers factored in people's diet habits (red and processed meats, for example, have been tied to stomach cancer) and any infection with H. pylori -- a type of bacteria that contributes to ulcers.

While most people with H. pylori do not develop cancer, persistent infection is thought to raise the risk of stomach cancer in certain people.

If heavy drinking is a cause of stomach cancer, it may be related to one of the metabolic byproducts of alcohol -- called acetaldehyde. The substance is a known human carcinogen, Duell's team notes.

On top of that, beer contains compounds known as nitrosamines, which cause cancer in animals. So it's possible, the researchers speculate, that the combination of those substances and acetaldehyde could explain why beer, in particular, was tied to stomach cancer in this study.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/s9GAVg American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, online October 12, 2011.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/cancer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111028/hl_nm/us_drinking_cancer

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Renting a Movie from Redbox Will Cost More Than a Dollar [Redbox]

Redbox, the easiest way to rent a movie for a buck a day, is getting a price hike. And it's a 20% increase! Which makes the price of a Redbox DVD rental a more inconvenient $1.20. Bye, bye dollar days. It's something to do with debit card fees. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/cxtvluqd8hA/renting-a-movie-from-redbox-will-cost-more-than-a-dollar

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Former top Wall Streeter denies insider trading (AP)

NEW YORK ? A former board member of Goldman Sachs and Procter & Gamble pleaded not guilty Wednesday to federal charges accusing him of acting as "the illegal eyes and ears in the boardroom" for a friend, a billionaire hedge fund founder sentenced this month to 11 years in prison in the biggest insider trading case in history.

The case, built partially on wiretaps used for the first time in insider trading, has offered unprecedented insight into greed at the highest levels of Wall Street. The arrest of Rajat Gupta took it one step higher.

The indictment unsealed Wednesday accuses Gupta of cheating the markets with Raj Rajaratnam, the 54-year-old convicted hedge fund founder who was the probe's prime target.

Gupta, 62, quietly surrendered early in the day at the FBI's New York City office, a few blocks north of the ongoing Occupy Wall Street demonstration against what protesters call a culture of corporate greed. His lawyer called the allegations "totally baseless."

Swarmed by photographers, Gupta left the courthouse shortly before 4 p.m.

Gupta, of Westport, Conn., pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and five counts of securities fraud, charges that carry a potential penalty of 105 years in prison. He was freed on $10 million bail, and conditions require him to remain in the continental United States. An April 9 trial date was set.

The indictment in U.S. District Court in Manhattan alleges Gupta shared confidential information about both Goldman Sachs and Procter & Gamble at the height of the financial crisis from 2008 through January 2009, knowing that Rajaratnam would use the secrets to buy and sell stock ahead of public announcements.

In a release, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said Gupta broke the trust of some of the nation's top public companies and "became the illegal eyes and ears in the boardroom for his friend and business associate, Raj Rajaratnam, who reaped enormous profits from Mr. Gupta's breach of duty."

Alluding to the wide scope of the prosecution, he added: "Today we allege that the corruption we have seen in the trading cubicles, investment firms, law firms, expert consulting firms, medical labs, and corporate suites also insinuated itself into the boardrooms of elite companies."

In all, 56 people have been charged in insider trading cases since Bharara took over shortly before Rajaratanam's October 2009 arrest. Of those, 51 have been convicted and 21 sentenced to prison terms ranging from no prison time to 11 years, the longest prison term ever given in an insider trading case.

FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Janice Fedarcyk said Gupta's arrest was the latest to occur in an initiative launched by the FBI in 2007 against hedge fund cheats.

"The conduct alleged is not an inadvertent slip of the tongue by Mr. Gupta," she said. "His eagerness to pass along inside information to Rajaratnam is nowhere more starkly evident than in the two instances where a total of 39 seconds elapsed between his learning of crucial Goldman Sachs information and lavishing it on his good friend."

Authorities said they relied on wiretaps for the first time because it became apparent inside traders were employing the tactics of common criminals to evade detection. If the Gupta case goes to trial, taped conversations would be key evidence, as it was in the Rajaratnam trial.

The Rajaratnam probe led to a major spinoff investigation of expert networking firms, with investigators targeting those who enabled corrupt employees at public companies to divulge secrets to hedge fund managers as if their conversations were legitimate research.

Gupta's lawyer, Gary P. Naftalis, said in a statement Wednesday that his client had only legitimate communications with Rajaratnam.

"The government's allegations are totally baseless," he said. "The facts in this case demonstrate that Mr. Gupta is innocent of any of these charges and that he has always acted with honesty and integrity. ... We are confident that these accusations ? which are based entirely on circumstantial evidence ? cannot withstand scrutiny and that Mr. Gupta will be completely exonerated of any wrongdoing."

Aside from being a former director of the Wall Street powerhouse Goldman Sachs, Gupta is the former chief of McKinsey & Co., a highly regarded global consulting firm that zealously guards its reputation for discretion and integrity.

Gupta was also a former director of the huge consumer products company Procter & Gamble Co., a pillar of American industry and one of the 30 companies that make up the Dow Jones industrial average. P&G owns many well-known brands including Bounty, Tide and Pringles.

The Indian-born defendant's name played prominently at the criminal trial this year of Rajaratnam, who was convicted after prosecutors used a trove of wiretaps on which he could be heard coaxing a crew of corporate tipsters into giving him an illegal edge on blockbuster trades.

Jurors heard testimony that at an Oct. 23, 2008, Goldman board meeting, members were told that the investment bank was facing a quarterly loss for the first time since it had gone public in 1999.

Prosecutors produced phone records showing Gupta called Rajaratnam 23 seconds after the meeting ended, causing Rajaratnam to sell his entire position in Goldman the next morning and save millions of dollars.

Rajaratnam also earned close to $1 million when Gupta told him that Goldman had received an offer from Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway to invest $5 billion in the banking giant, prosecutors said.

In one tape played at trial, Rajaratnam could be heard grilling Gupta about whether the Goldman Sachs board had discussed acquiring a commercial bank or an insurance company.

"Have you heard anything along that line?" Rajaratnam asked Gupta.

"Yeah," Gupta responded. "This was a big discussion at the board meeting."

Prosecutors sought to maximize the impact of the Gupta tape by calling Goldman Sachs chairman Lloyd Blankfein to testify that the phone call violated the investment bank's confidentiality policies.

The Securities and Exchange Commission also brought civil insider trading charges against Gupta on Wednesday.

Besides highlighting the Goldman allegations that came out during the Rajaratnam trial, the indictment also accused Gupta of providing Rajaratnam in January 2009 with a tip that P&G was not going to meet sales growth expectations for the fiscal year. As a result, prosecutors said, Rajaratnam told a portfolio manager about the tip and certain funds sold short about 180,000 shares of P&G stock.

Daniel Alpert, managing partner at the investment bank Westwood Capital LLC, said Gupta, who did not benefit financially, demonstrates that passing information to friends is just as dangerous as trading on secrets.

"There is not a single person out there who doesn't know he is playing at the edges of propriety when he is doing it, and few who don't feel a pang of guilt after having done so," Alpert said.

"This has many of the same attributes as organized crime prosecutions," he said. "Until you throw the kingfishes in jail, there is unlikely to be any deterrent effect."

___

AP Business Writer Daniel Wagner contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111026/ap_on_re_us/us_hedge_fund_insider_trading

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TD Ameritrade 4Q profit up 44 pct on heavy trading (AP)

NEW YORK ? Market turmoil during the summer helped push online investment broker TD Ameritrade Holding Corp's fiscal fourth-quarter profit up 44 percent.

The Omaha, Neb.-based company said Tuesday that it earned $163.7 million, or 29 cents per share, in the three months ended Sept. 30. That compares with $114 million, or 20 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.

There were 2 percent fewer shares outstanding in the most recent quarter, the result of company buybacks.

Revenue rose 16 percent to $703.5 million from $608.8 million last year.

The results fell short of Wall Street projections. Analysts, on average, had forecast profit of 31 cents per share, on revenue of $713.6 million, according to data provided by FactSet.

Shares of Ameritrade fell during Tuesday trading as the broader markets dropped. The stock lost 54 cents, to close at $15.69. Shares have changed hands between $13.43 and $22.90 in the past 52 weeks.

The July-to-September quarter was the worst in the markets since the 2008 economic crisis, as worries about the European debt crisis, the U.S. debt ceiling debate and credit rating downgrade and the general health of the world economy whipsawed stocks.

During the period, TD Ameritrade saw average client trades per day of 415,739, up 31 percent from 317,684 per day last year.

CEO Fred Tomczyk said the quarter brought the top five trading days in the company's history. In particular, the U.S. downgrade resulted in one of its busiest days ever. "We processed nearly 900,000 trades in one day with virtually no interruptions for clients. Quite simply, that would not have been possible three years ago," he said during a conference call to discuss results.

Investments in infrastructure and technology can be credited for the company's ability to handle the increased activity, he said.

He noted during the call that the summer months are typically slow for the market. "It is unusual to have record quarter in the September quarter," he said. "Our organization really did take advantage of the uncertainty in the market, and we did pick up a fair bit of business in August and September."

Trading has remained heavy during October, with average client trades per day at 394,000.

Total trades reached 26.6 million for the quarter, up from 20.3 million. The average commissions and fees per trade slid 4 percent to $11.85.

"It was a solid quarter," said David Trone, head of U.S. banks and brokers research at JMP Securities. He said the shortfall compared with Wall Street expectations came mostly because of higher expenses and lower money-market fees.

Money-market fee revenue fell 66 percent to $1.2 million as balances fell. With interest rates near zero, it's difficult to charge fees on money-market accounts, Trone said. "Fee waivers are piling up."

Operating expenses rose 6 percent during the quarter to $435.2 million. Almost all of the increase came from employee compensation and benefits. Clearing and execution costs also rose, reflecting the higher volume.

TD Ameritrade said customers opened 150,000 new accounts during the quarter, for a total of 5.6 million funded accounts. The company ended its fiscal year with a net gain of 162,000 accounts.

New client assets reached $12.4 billion during the period, which the company said translates to an annualized growth rate of 12 percent. The funds were about 60 percent institutional and 40 percent retail, although the majority of the company's clients remain retail investors, the CEO said.

For the full fiscal year, TD Ameritrade earned $637.8 million, or $1.11 per share, up 8 percent from $592.2 million, or $1 per share, for fiscal 2010.

Tomczyk said the company expects the "difficult business environment" to continue through 2012. The company has a few strategies planned, including introducing checking accounts with debit cards in the coming months. "It's nice to be introducing it while the banks are introducing new fees."

The company forecast profit for its next fiscal year will come in between $1 and $1.35 per share. That range encompasses the $1.20 per share annual profit projected by analysts, whose estimates range from $1.10 to $1.45 per share.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111025/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_td_ameritrade

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Cancer patients require extra workplace support | NOLA.com

Lisa Tighe was sitting in her law firm office when her doctor called with test results. She insisted he give her the information over the phone. "You have breast cancer," he said. Before absorbing what he said, she marched over to her supervisor's office and told him the news. He responded just how she expected: "You have our total support."

"From that minute on," Tighe said, "He has given me whatever I wanted or needed."

With more than 2.5 million breast cancer survivors in the United States and about 230,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer a year, employer reaction to a diagnosis has been mixed. Some respond like Tighe's firm, Greenspoon Marder, helping their employees balance work and medical treatment; Greenspoon Marder even gave Tighe's daughter, who works at the firm, paid time off to help her mother. Others, though, talk their employees into leaving, dock pay during treatment, refuse to give flexibility or move the women into more menial positions.

Those diagnosed say employer response can make all the difference in their health. "The support you get from management and from co-workers can actually get you in a better frame of mind so you can come back faster from treatments," said Tighe, 52.

Cancer and the workplace

• Check the amount of leave you're entitled to in your personnel policy. Employers are not obligated to provide unlimited leave.
• Consider the timing of your treatment. Plan your work and your days off around treatment days.
• Talk to co-workers who might be affected by your taking time off.
• Speak directly to your supervisor about time off for medical treatments and tasks you can do from home.
• Talk with your employer about reasonable accommodations in work hours if you're fatigued upon return.
• Pay your health insurance premium on time. Do not risk losing coverage.
• Disability coverage varies by insurer. Read your policy very carefully.

Those women whose workplaces respond in a less supportive manner say they feel like they are blown a double whammy. Jan Elledge, a 50-year-old Fort Lauderdale, Fla., day-care worker, lost her job, her insurance and her outlet for mental distraction when she learned breast cancer returned after a two-year remission. Elledge realized it would be difficult to keep her job. She explained to her boss she wouldn't be able to come in after surgery because she couldn't lift the children or be exposed to germs. "They said they had to replace me because they couldn't go without a (caregiver) in the classroom."

A difficult part of healing, Elledge said, is the feeling of being unproductive. "It's frustrating sitting around not being able to work." With no income or health insurance, Elledge has relied on government assistance and American Cancer Society programs to keep her afloat.

Some women who feel they lost their jobs over their disease have taken their cases to court.

Earlier this month, law firm Proskauer Rose LLP was hit with a $10 million gender discrimination suit by its former chief financial officer, Elly Rosenthal. She claims the firm demoted her after her medical leave for breast cancer treatment, denied her pay increases and eventually fired her. The firm says the case, filed in Manhattan, is meritless and that it has steadfastly supported colleagues who have suffered illnesses.

And then there's Pamela Fink, who rushed to have a genetic test after discovering her two sisters had breast cancer. When she learned she did have a predisposition, she decided to have a preventative double mastectomy. She said when she returned to work, the Connecticut-based company began giving her fewer responsibilities, then demoted her and ultimately fired her. She filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, one of the first claiming illegal dismissal under a new federal law that prohibits employers from considering someone's genetic background in firings or promotions.

As the country celebrates National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, breast cancer patients battling the disease face an emotional tidal wave that often carries into their workplace. Some patients want to focus their energy on their treatment program and take time off work. But others want or need their jobs for income and health insurance. Their days are about fighting fatigue and difficulty concentrating, trying to do their jobs and stay part of the team.

In this economic climate, businesses often find themselves torn on how to handle an employee who needs treatment. Many want to support their workers who need time off, but they are operating with bare-bones staff and need to keep their companies on track. Some situations may only need a temporary patch ? letting other employees fill in while someone gets treatment.

Other situations may require a longer-term solution, hiring a temporary worker or consultant to fill in. Most women say what they need most at work is flexibility and what they cherish most is co-worker and management support.

"The ones who do get support are the ones who are less stressed," said Bobbi Meyers, executive director for the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale affiliate of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure. "You never want to put your health in jeopardy because of the stress of how to manage everything."

As CFO of Greenspoon Marder, Kathryn Bass, 56, understands the challenges for an employer. But she knows firsthand that balancing work and cancer treatment demands workplace support. Bass learned she had breast cancer only two months after she divorced and moved closer to her office. Some days, she would lie on her couch, feeling too nauseous or weak to drive three miles to work. Other days, she would go in for a few hours, leave and finish up at night.

"The staff was incredible what they took on for me," she said. Not only would they pitch in with work needs, her co-workers went grocery shopping for her, drove her to medical appointments and always made the extra effort to keep her in the loop.

Both Bass and Tighe are back at work full time and say they feel fortunate and even more dedicated to their employer and co-workers.

They believe their experiences have helped with firm recruiting and retention: "It showed everyone else who work here how well they treat employees," Tighe said.

Source: http://www.nola.com/breast-cancer/index.ssf/2011/10/cancer_patients_require_extra.html

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US pulls ambassador out of Syria

AMMAN, Jordan?? The United States has pulled its ambassador out of Syria because of what it said were credible threats to his safety after his public support for protesters led to attacks on the U.S. Embassy and his diplomatic convoy by supporters of President Bashar al-Assad.

Syria immediately followed suit by recalling its envoy to Washington for consultations, signaling a further deterioration of relations between Syria's rulers and Washington, which has called for Assad to step down and deepened sanctions on Damascus to include the country's small but key oil sector.

Story: Syrians rally for Assad, Libya recognizes opposition

U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford left as a crackdown on protests and a nascent armed insurgency intensified despite Western condemnation and more businesses closed in southern Syria in the most sustained strike of the seven-month uprising.

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"Ambassador Robert Ford was brought back to Washington as a result of credible threats against his personal safety in Syria," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Monday.

"At this point, we can't say when he will return to Syria. It will depend on our assessment of Syrian regime-led incitement and the security situation on the ground."

'Smear campaign'
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Ford was expected to return to Syria and demanded the Syrian government provide for his protection and end what she called a "smear campaign of malicious and deceitful propaganda" against him."

"The concern here is that the kinds of falsehoods that are being spread about Ambassador Ford could lead to violence against him, whether it's by citizens, whether it's by ... thugs of one kind or another," she said.

In the central city of Homs, 140 km (85 miles) north of Damascus, two people were killed when troops and loyalist militiamen fired at majority Sunni Muslim districts that have been a bastion for protests and, lately, a refuge for army defectors leading armed resistance emerging there, residents said. Syria is dominated by Assad's minority Alawite sect.

Story: Syrian regime accused of targeting doctors

The killings bring to at least 10 the number of civilians killed in tank-backed assaults on districts in Homs in the last two days, activists said.

The official Syrian news agency said "terrorist groups" fired at a shared taxi carrying university students in Homs on Sunday night, killing a young woman. Security forces arrested several members of other groups and seized automatic weapons and automatic rifles and Molotov cocktails.

A Youtube video shot by activists purportedly showed a young protester dying from a gunshot that hit him while he was dragging a body off a street in al-Khalidiya district. Their comrades are heard shouting "God is greater" as the two bodies lay next to each other on the asphalt.

Reuters could not confirm the authenticity of the footage. Most foreign media have been banned from Syria, making it difficult to verify events on the ground.

Syrian authorities say they are fighting "armed terrorist groups" in Homs who have killed civilians, security forces and prominent figures.

They blame the unrest across the country on such groups, which they say have killed 1,100 army and police. The United Nations says the crackdown has killed 3,000 people, including 187 children.

A spokeswoman for the Syrian embassy in Washington, Roua Sharbaji, said Syrian Ambassador Imad Moustapha had been recalled to Damascus for consultations on Monday.

Ford left Syria over the weekend, a Western diplomat told Reuters, following a series of incidents that resulted in physical damage but no casualties.

'Inciting' articles
"Articles, more inciting against Ford than usual, have appeared in state media recently. He left Saturday," said one of the diplomats, who like others asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue.

At the end of September Assad loyalists threw concrete blocks at his convoy and hit the cars with iron bars as Ford was visiting centrist politician Hassan Abdulazim, according to an account published by the ambassador the next day.

"One person jumped on the hood of the car, tried to kick in the windshield and then jumped on the roof," Ford wrote on the U.S. Embassy's Facebook page on Sept 30. "Another person held the roof railing and tried to break the car's side window.

"...Syria's problems come not from foreign interference but from intolerance -- the same kind of intolerance we saw in front of Abdulazim's office. Unfortunately, those problems now are growing worse and more violent."

In July several Assad loyalists broke into the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, tore down signs and tried to break security glass. They also attempted to break into Ford's nearby residence but failed to gain entry.

The mounting security clampdown has triggered a strike by private businesses in towns across the Hauran Plain, which was the first region where masses publicly turned against Assad.

Anger has grown over the killings of several protesters last week in the towns of Dael and in Ibtaa. The region has seen nightly protests in solidarity with Homs.

"Troops have entered into several towns to end the strike but protesters want to expand it into wider civil disobedience," said one activist who said army reinforcements had been sent to several towns in the Deraa countryside.

In Deraa city, capital of the agricultural province, businesses across the city were closed for the fourth day. In the town of al-Hirak to the east, the strike picked up steam in the last two days, activists said.

'More defiant than ever'
"This strike is intensifying every day as more businesses shut and people become more defiant than ever angered by the increasing brutality and daily roundups and arrests," said one Deraa resident who gave his name as Abu Abdullah.

With troops concentrating on urban centres, protests have expanded in rural regions, including some areas which were once bedrocks of Sunni support for Assad and are seeing defections from the military and armed resistance.

The 46-year-old president is from the Alawite community, which dominates the state, the army and security apparatus in the majority Sunni Muslim country.

In an interview with Reuters last month, Ford said Assad was losing support among key constituents and risked plunging Syria into sectarian strife between Sunnis and Alawites by intensifying the military crackdown.

Ford also infuriated Syria's rulers with his high profile gestures of support for the seven-month-old grassroots protest movement demanding an end to 41 years of Assad family rule.

He was cheered by protesters when he went in July to the anti-Assad hotbed city of Hama, which was later stormed by tanks. He also visited a town that had witnessed regular protests in Deraa, ignoring a ban on Western diplomats traveling outside the Damascus area.

Along with a group of mostly Western ambassadors, Ford later paid condolences to the family of Ghayath Matar, a 25-year-old protest leader who had distributed flowers to give to soldiers but was arrested and died of apparent torture, activists say.

Washington, seeking to convince Assad to scale back an alliance with U.S. arch-foe Iran and backing for militant groups, acted to improve relations with Damascus after President Barack Obama took office in 2009.

Obama sent Ford to Damascus in January to fill a diplomatic vacuum prevailing since Washington withdrew its envoy in 2005.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved Ford's nomination, with Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., praising Ford for continuing to visit cities under siege and "speak truth to power."

Kerry said Ford has been steadfast "despite even being physically attacked and assaulted by the regime's goons."

But relations deteriorated anew after the uprising broke out and Assad ignored international calls to respond to protester demands that he dismantle the Syrian police state and allow political pluralism.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45013668/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

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Heri Automotive to unveil value proposition | Commercial Carrier ...

Published October 24, 2011

Heri Automotive will hold a briefing to unveil its value proposition and commitment to the aftermarket at 3 p.m. on Nov. 2 at the Sands Expo Center Room 102 during the AAPEX 2011 meeting in Las Vegas.

Dick Adams, the company?s president, and Tim Phillips, executive vice president and general manager, will host the event and provide an update on the company?s product launch, technical innovations and support. Lending his support to the company?s North American launch, the president of Heri Automotive?s parent company in China, also will be introduced to the North American aftermarket media at the event.

Heri Automotive was founded in 1986 and has a new CV manufacturing facility in China with a forging facility. Heri Automotive opened its North American headquarters in Phoenix in June and supplies the North American market from warehouses in New York and Miami. The company plans to open a third warehouse on the West Coast early next year.

Source: http://www.ccjdigital.com/heri-automotive-to-unveil-value-proposition/

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Viewsonic VX2753mh

For gamers, pixel response, screen size, and multiple digital inputs are all key factors to consider when choosing a new desktop display. The ViewSonic VX2753mh ($349.99 list) covers all those bases, and more. This 27-inch monitor delivers solid color and grayscale performance, is relatively thin, and doesn't require much power. My gripes?it had trouble displaying some of the smallest fonts in my tests, and while its off-angle viewing performance isn't terrible, it could be better?are certainly minor, and neither prevents us from giving the VX2753mh our Editors' Choice for big-screen mainstream monitors.

With its thin profile, beveled cabinet, and piano black bezels, the VX2753mh is a stylishly designed monitor. The cabinet is only 0.75 inches thick around the sides and is 1.5 inches at its thickest point, which is at the rear of the cabinet where the ports are located. The 27-inch TN+ panel has a resolution of 1920-by-1080 and a matte anti-glare coating that is not the least bit reflective.

The 10-pound cabinet is supported by a square base with a flat 5.25 inch mounting arm that provides forward and backward tilt adjustability. Pivot, swivel, and height adjustments are not supported, but if you remove the base, the mounting arm can be used as a bookstand support similar to a picture frame stand. I'm not sure that too many users will use this monitor as an oversized digital picture frame, however.

A power indicator on the bottom bezel glows blue when the monitor is on and orange when it goes into power-saving mode. Behind the right bezel are four well marked buttons and the power switch. Button 1 launches the main menu screen and button 2 is used to choosing an input and for selecting menu items. The up and down arrow buttons are used to navigate the OSD menu, which is intuitively designed and very easy to follow. Picture controls include contrast, brightness, and color temperature adjustments, and there are sharpness and fine tuning settings that are only available with a VGA (analog) signal. The audio menu offers a volume slider, mute, and input selector.

The LED-backlit VX2753mh has three eco modes including standard, optimize, and conserve. The optimize setting decreases the brightness by 25-percent and the conserve setting drops it to 50-percent. The panel draws just 28 watts in standard mode, which is very good for a 27 inch panel and just a tad more than the HP 2711X ($399.99 direct, 3 stars) (24-watts). Setting it to the optimize mode brings power usage down to 23 watts, and the conserve mode uses 18 watts. The standard setting offers the best picture, while the other two modes are a bit too dim for my liking. That said, the VX2753mh's low power usage and Energy Star 5.0 certification earn it our Greentech seal of approval.

If you'll be using the VX2753mh as a gaming monitor you'll love the inclusion of dual HDMI ports located at the rear of the cabinet. There's also a VGA port and two audio jacks (headphone and audio-in). The headphone jack would be more convenient if it were mounted on the side or front. A pair of USB ports would be welcome also, especially for gamers who frequently change controllers and other input devices. The embedded 2 watt speakers, driven by SRS audio processing technology, are loud but somewhat thin sounding and pale in comparison to the Apple Thunderbolt Display's ($999 direct, 4 stars) 2.1 channel speaker setup. ViewSonic includes VGA and HDMI cable sin the box and covers the VX2753mh with a generous three-year parts, labor, and backlighting warranty.

The VX2753mh handled my DisplayMate LCD diagnostics tests with relative ease. On the 64-Step Grayscale test it was able to display all but the very lightest shade of gray, which was washed out. Dark grayscale performance was also good but not as sharp as what you'll get from an IPS monitor, like the NEC MultiSync PA301W ($2,299 list, 4.5 stars) or Apple Thunderbolt Display, both of which are significantly more expensive than the VX2753mh. Color quality was very good for a monitor in this price range, and although the matte screen doesn't provide the pop of a glossy screen, colors were well saturated and ramped evenly from dark to light. I'll almost always take a matte screen with slightly less punch over a reflective glossy screen that feels like I'm staring into a mirror.

Thanks to its 1-millisecond (G-G) pixel response the VX2753mh is ideal for gaming and watching video. The PS3 version of Need For Speed: Carbon, a fast moving racing game, played flawlessly with no motion blur or smearing, while the PC version of Far Cry 2 played smoothly without any significant artifacts or stutter. My favorite Blu-ray test disc, the BBC's Planet Earth, looked fantastic; picture detail was sharp and there was no ghosting or motion lag.

I was a little disappointed with the VX2753mh's ability to display small text. Small fonts (5.3 points) on the DisplayMate Scaled Fonts test were certainly legible, but not as crisp as I've seen with other monitors, such as the Acer HN274H ($699 list, 4 stars). Viewing angle performance was decent but not great; colors remained relatively intact when viewed from an off angle but the screen darkens when viewed from the side.

With the ViewSonic VX2753mh you get a lot of screen real estate, a touch of style, and good performance at a reasonable price. It won't put a strain on your electric bill, and its dual HDMI ports make it easy to connect to multiple digital devices without having to constantly unplug cables. A three year warranty sweetens the deal. Its small text and viewing angle performance could be better, but neither is so terrible to prevent us from giving the VX2753mh our Editors' Choice for big screen mainstream monitors.

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Viewsonic VX2753mh with several other monitors side by side.

More monitor reviews:
??? Viewsonic VX2753mh
??? AOC e2243FW
??? Gateway FHX2402L
??? Apple Thunderbolt Display
??? Acer HN274H bmiiid
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/k-ZUJ78Tobw/0,2817,2395181,00.asp

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Fizzy, Sugary Soft Drinks Are Making Teens Hulk Out [Video]

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Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/k8r5Tn3jnFk/fizzy-sugary-soft-drinks-are-making-teens-hulk-out

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Argentine president wins landslide re-election (AP)

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina ? Argentine President Cristina Fernandez was re-elected in a landslide Sunday, winning with the widest victory margin in the country's history as voters were mobilized by popular programs that spread the wealth of a booming economy.

Fernandez had 53 percent of the votes after 24 percent of polling stations had been tallied nationwide, while her nearest challenger got just 17 percent. Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo predicted the president's vote share would rise, saying very few of the ballots in her party's stronghold of Buenos Aires province, the country's largest, had been counted.

Thousands of the populist leader's supporters crowded into the capital's historic Plaza de Mayo in a jubilant, flag-waving celebration.

Fernandez is Latin America's first woman to be re-elected as president, but the victory was personally bittersweet ? the first without her husband and predecessor, Nestor Kirchner, who died of a heart attack last Oct. 27.

Her voice almost broke as she spoke about their shared legacy with a mixture of pride and sorrow after voting in his hometown, the remote Patagonian city of Rio Gallegos. "In this world where they have criticized us so forcefully, all this makes me feel very proud, that we're on the right track," Fernandez said. Kirchner "would be very content."

Fernandez appeared to have won a larger share of votes than any president since Argentina's democracy was restored in 1983, when Raul Alfonsin was elected with 52 percent. Her margin over Gov. Hermes Binner and five other candidates was wider even than the 1973 victory margin of her strongman hero, Juan Domingo Peron.

Her political coalition also hoped to regain enough seats in Congress to form new alliances and regain the control it lost in 2009. At play were 130 seats in the lower house and 24 in the Senate.

Fernandez suffered high negative ratings early in her presidency, but she soared in popularity as a widow by softening her usually combative tone and proving her ability to command loyalty or respect from an unruly political elite.

Most voters polled beforehand said they wanted government stability to keep their financial situations improving in what has been one of Argentina's longest spells of economic growth in history.

Fernandez, 58, chose her youthful, guitar-playing, long-haired economy minister, Amado Boudou, as her running mate. Together, the pair championed Argentina's approach to the global financial crisis: Increase government spending rather than impose austerity measures, and force investors in foreign debt to suffer before ordinary citizens.

Argentina has been closed off from most international lending since declaring its world-record debt default in 2001, but has been able to sustain booming growth ever since.

The country faces tough challenges in 2012: Its commodities exports are vulnerable to a global recession, and economic growth is forecast to slow sharply in the coming year. Declining revenues will make it harder to raise incomes to keep up with inflation. Argentina's central bank is under pressure to spend reserves to maintain the peso's value against the dollar, while also guarding against currency shocks that could threaten Argentina's all-important trade with Brazil.

Boudou could now win attention as a potential successor to Fernandez, but navigating these storms will require much skill and good fortune.

Opposition candidates blamed Fernandez for rising inflation and increasing crime and accused her of politically manipulating economic data and trying to use government power to quell media criticism.

Former President Eduardo Duhalde, who fell from front-running rival to near-last in the polls, said in a dour closing speech that "the country is dancing on the Titanic," failing to prepare Argentina for another global economic crisis.

But economist Mark Weisbrot said Argentina is in far better shape than most countries in the region to face such problems.

U.S. President Barack "Obama could take a lesson from this," said Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington. "It's an old-fashioned message of democracy: You deliver what you promise and people vote for you. It's kind of forgotten here in the U.S."

The exit polls said Binner, 68, a doctor and governor of Santa Fe province was followed by Ricardo Alfonsin, 59, a lawyer and congressional deputy with the traditional Radical Civic Union party and son of the former president, in third place; Alberto Rodriguez Saa, 52, an attorney and governor of San Luis province whose brother Adolfo was president for a week, in fourth; and Duhalde, who preceded Kirchner as president, in fifth. Leftist former lawmaker Jorge Altamira, 69, and Elisa Carrio 54, a congresswoman who came in second behind Fernandez four years ago, trailed the rest.

When Fernandez is inaugurated Dec. 10, her Front for Victory coalition will become the first political bloc to begin a third consecutive presidential term since 1928, when President Hipolito Yrigoyen of the Radical Civic Union took office, only to be toppled by a military coup two years later, said Leandro Morganfield, a historian at the University of Buenos Aires.

Voting is obligatory in Argentina, and nearly 29 million citizens among the 40 million population were registered.

"I've been a political activist my whole life, but I haven't always been able to vote," Fernandez said, referring to the 1966-1973 and 1976-1983 dictatorships, which tried and failed to eliminate Peronism as an electoral force. "To be able to vote freely in the Argentine republic is an achievement."

___

Michael Warren can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/mwarrenap

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111024/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_argentina_election

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1B umpire Kulpa misses call, Cards take advantage (AP)

ARLINGTON, Texas ? A missed call by first base umpire Ron Kulpa has helped the St. Louis Cardinals score four runs in the fourth inning during Game 3 of the World Series.

After Albert Pujols led off with a single Saturday night, Matt Holliday hit a perfect double-play ball. The Texas Rangers seemed to turn it, too, with first baseman Mike Napoli catching a high toss and slapping a tag on Holliday's left shoulder before he reached the bag.

Replays clearly showed Holliday was out. But Kulpa called Holliday safe, drawing an argument from Napoli and Texas manager Ron Washington. The Cardinals took advantage and took a 5-0 lead.

The Series is tied at one game each. In the opener, Kulpa missed a call at third base, ruling a ball was caught in the air when it actually bounced. That mistake did not lead to any runs.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111023/ap_on_sp_ba_ne/bbo_world_series_missed_call

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Longterm Partner search.

Okay. So, I've never really posted here before but I've been looking for a roleplay partner for a while now. I am a firm believer in quality over quantity, so you won't be seeing any 500+ words per post requirements coming from me. Although, if we can avoid one-liners totally, that would be amazing and I'd love you forever.

So. As for what I roleplay, I'm more of a modern, realistic etc. kinda gal. I'm a big fan of Odd Pairings, so any suggestions for those would be nice. (hinthint today I'm kind of looking for a best friend x best friend roleplay based loosely off of a song I've been really into lately.)

Erm, what else.

OH.

I don't do fandoms, I'm just not that into roleplaying a certain movie or television series, or book series.

I think that's it?

I don't know.

Any questions, anything I missed, then just ask.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/K5NBNxmTfmw/viewtopic.php

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Plane diverted over screaming passenger

By Joy Jernigan, senior travel editor

A Southwest Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Kansas City was forced to divert to Amarillo, Texas, on Tuesday after a passenger was reportedly screaming obscenities in the cabin.

Ali Reza Shahsavari, 29, of Indialantic, Fla.,?was?arrested and?charged with interfering with a flight crew, said Patrick Rhodes, Amarillo's aviation director. He was booked into the Randall County Jail in Canyon, where he awaited an appearance before a magistrate.

Flight 3683 was en route from Los Angeles to Kansas City when Shahsavari reportedly began making a disturbance. The Transportation Security Administration told NBC News that man was screaming.

Rhodes told the Amarillo Globe-News that the flight crew asked for emergency clearance to land?around 3:30?p.m. CDT. Despite earlier reports that the man was attempting to break into the cockpit, Rhodes said that?the passenger "was being disruptive and unruly on the flight, but he was not specifically trying to break into the cockpit.?

Passenger Doug Oerding told the?Amarillo Globe-News?that the man started screaming obscenities at other passengers during the flight. ?All of us guys were looking at him like are we going to have to do something,? Oerding said.

Southwest spokesperson Ashley Dillon told NBC News that the plane?was carrying?136 passengers.

After a delay of just over an hour, the?Southwest flight?continued on to Kansas City.

The suspect's father, Mohammad Shahsavari,?said that?he understood his son was well, but he did not know what led to the incident.

"I don't know what to say," he told The Associated Press from his Indialantic, Fla., home.

The FBI said initial indications were that the incident did not appear to be terrorism related. The passenger's identity was not immediately released.

"The FBI continues to investigate, but initial indications are that there was no terrorist intent. This guy is a U.S. citizen," said FBI Special Agent Mark White in Dallas.

Information from The Associated Press was included in this report.

More on Overhead Bin

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Source: http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/18/8386225-southwest-plane-diverted-due-to-screaming-passenger

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Goldman Sachs loses $428 million in third quarter (AP)

NEW YORK ? Goldman Sachs, the banking industry's perpetual winner, was this quarter's loser.

The storied investment bank lost $428 million in the third quarter, driven by sharp drops in underwriting and trading revenue brought on by the wild swings in markets this summer. Goldman also had losses from souring investments in stocks, bonds and other holdings.

The loss announced Tuesday, which was worse than analysts expected, marked just the second time that Goldman has posted a quarterly loss since going public in 1999. Other Wall Street banks also had trouble in their investment banking divisions, but Goldman fared worse.

It's too early to tell if the loss at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is a temporary blip driven by a wild period in the markets or a sign of cracks in the bank's long-held business strategies. Whatever the case, the results of the bellwether company suggest that big banks are still struggling to figure out how to navigate a new world of weaker economies and tighter government control.

"This is the best proof that the financial crisis is far from over," said Ken Thomas, a Miami-based banking consultant.

Analysts point out that Goldman is naturally more susceptible to swings in the stock market, which has been under pressure because of fears about weak European banks and the losses they could suffer if the Greek government goes through a messy default. Those banks have large holdings of Greek bonds.

Goldman relies heavily on market-driven investment banking services, such as trading bonds and underwriting companies' stock offerings, for its revenue. It doesn't have the same level of plain-vanilla borrowing and lending to fall back on when the investment banking operations falter.

Chief financial officer David Viniar said on a conference call with analysts that he's confident the economy and markets will improve, eventually.

"Last week, big market rally; yesterday, big market decline," Viniar said. "So I think there's still a lot of uncertainty and a lot based on who says what on what day."

Goldman Sachs is known for beating the pack of other Wall Street banks. That didn't happen this time. Bank of America's investment banking and trading business reported a loss of $302 million, on a 26 percent decline in revenue. Goldman's overall revenue fell 60 percent. Citigroup Inc. reported a 12 percent decline in its securities and banking division, excluding an accounting gain.

Goldman's losses in the third quarter included losses of $1.1 billion on its stake in the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, $1 billion on other stock holdings and $907 million from bonds and loans.

Despite the latest quarterly losses, Viniar indicated Goldman wasn't planning to change its long-term strategy. The bank has "a strong track record" for making investment decisions, Viniar said.

Goldman also has a long history for standing when other banks fall. It safely weathered the financial crisis that crippled or killed many of its competitors, posting only one quarterly loss, at the end of 2008. Bank of America and Citigroup have each lost money in six quarters since the beginning of 2008.

Goldman has also churned out a number of senior government officials, including former Treasury Secretaries Hank Paulson and Robert Rubin and former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine.

At the same time, Goldman has become a lightning rod for the wrath of regulators, lawmakers and protesters. Some have come to view the bank as the epitome of the greed and risky practices that led to the financial crisis. Goldman, which set aside $59 million in the third quarter for litigation and regulatory proceedings, has been subject to regulatory fines, probes and other headaches.

The bank has been retrenching in some areas. In July it said it would eliminate as many as 1,000 jobs to shore up cash. Tuesday it said had 34,200 employees, down 1,300 from the previous quarter.

The loss of $428 million was equivalent to 84 cents per share. The bank earned $1.7 billion, or $2.98 per share, in the same period a year ago.

Revenue slumped 60 percent to $3.6 billion, missing analysts' estimates. Year-over-year revenue has fallen for each of the past six quarters, and in the second quarter, Morgan Stanley took in more revenue than Goldman.

Some observers have questioned whether Goldman will try to shed its status as a bank holding company, which could free it up to make more money in certain investment banking services. Goldman and Morgan Stanley both converted to bank holding companies in September 2008, which gave them easier access to capital but also placed them under stricter federal regulations.

"If they remain a bank holding company, the future for them is not as bright," said Mark Williams, a former Federal Reserve bank examiner. Bank spokesman Stephen Cohen said Goldman has "no plans" to change its status as a bank holding company.

Investors were unfazed by the quarterly loss, which had been widely expected due to the turmoil in financial markets this summer. Goldman's stock rose 5.5 percent to close at $102.25.

Analysts said the stock, which is down from more than $128 when second-quarter earnings were reported, had already priced in Tuesday's dismal earnings report.

Thomas, the banking consultant, acknowledged that Goldman might be unpopular on Main Street but said that wouldn't affect its long-term strength.

"They're the Gordon Gekkos of today," Thomas said. "But that doesn't mean they're in any way diminished of their abilities."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111018/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_goldman_sachs

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Wall Street opens flat on Europe, earnings (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Stocks opened little changed on Tuesday after Moody's said it would review France's credit rating and investors grappled with less-than-stellar earnings from some big corporations.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) dropped 49.65 points, or 0.44 percent, to 11,347.35. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX)(.INX) shed 0.03 points, or 0.00 percent, to 1,200.83. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) slipped 2.06 points, or 0.08 percent, to 2,612.86.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

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

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Video: Esmark's Steel Resolve

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/44964059#44964059

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George Clooney Hits Red Carpet With Stacy Keibler (Photos)

George Clooney Hits Red Carpet With Stacy Keibler (Photos)

  George Clooney debuted his sexy young girlfriend Stacy Keibler on the red carpet at the New York premiere of his movie “The Descendants”. Clooney, [...]

George Clooney Hits Red Carpet With Stacy Keibler (Photos) Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2011/10/17/george-clooney-hits-red-carpet-with-stacy-keibler-photos/

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Euro zone pushing for tougher policing of Greece (Reuters)

BRUSSELS (Reuters) ? Some euro zone countries want a European Commission task force to be given extra powers to oversee the sale of Greek state assets and the country's civil service under a far-reaching plan to tighten supervision of Athens, EU sources have told Reuters.

The radical proposal, dismissed by some officials as a form of colonialism and which may be shot down in the face of strong opposition, underscores mounting pressure for stricter policing of Athens, with some ready to see its sovereignty clipped.

Euro zone leaders meet on Sunday to discuss further aid for Greece and tighter controls are high on the agenda. One official said there was wide support for closer supervision of Athens, which has made scant progress on privatization and other reforms.

"It's that or not getting the money," said one euro zone source, who supports the idea of letting the Commission's Greece task force "take over some of the sovereign functions of the state" to "get the machine running."

"It is assistance imposed from outside. It's where outsiders take over some elements of the operation," he said of the proposal, which would involve deploying several hundred technical experts on the ground to administer Greece.

"The idea is living in some capitals. There is no alternative."

The Commission has already dispatched a small number of officials to Greece as part of the EU/IMF 'troika' that is responsible for assessing how well Athens is doing with meeting economic targets. In addition, the Commission's task force helps Athens on tax reform and tapping EU structural funds.

"The scale of the intervention is unparalleled," said the source. "If there was a track record of responsible management, such as in Ireland, things would be different. But that track record is lacking in Greece."

Greece is set to receive another 8 billion euros ($11 billion) of EU/IMF aid in November -- the latest payment from a 110 billion euro bailout agreed last year -- and is expected to get another multi-billion-euro package of support soon.

With the economy stagnating, lenders are banking on Athens' selling assets such as ports and power companies to raise funds. It has said it will generate 50 billion euros by 2015, but has so far raised roughly 1.3 billion euros via privatizations.

Other officials, while declining to comment on the specific tighter-oversight proposal, said there was widespread political support to impose stronger policing on Athens.

"Support for stronger supervision is certainly there," said one.

Another source said there was a desire to establish a permanent body to take on some of the work of the troika, which consists of inspectors from the Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

"You need someone who can speak Greek but who is not on the side of the Greeks," said the source. "Their powers would be tied to the conditionality of the loan. It has to be presented carefully -- call it technical assistance or something. You can't trample all over them."

Such a blatant move to impinge on sovereignty would put the European Commission in an uncomfortable position. It wants a bigger role in setting national budgets, but draws the line at implementing them.

"The task force is administrative," said a spokesman for the EU's executive arm. "Its role is to support Greece and we don't intend to change this mandate."

AUTHORITY

Under the proposal, which chimes with a Dutch initiative for countries asking for financial aid to be placed under "guardianship," the Commission's Greek task force could be bolstered to hundreds of staff.

The body, run by a German, Horst Reichenbach, would be handed some executive powers, giving it the final say over, for example, privatizations.

It echoes a suggestion made earlier this year by Germany's top official in Brussels, energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger, that EU officials should take a leading role in Greek tax collection and privatizations.

"It is a matter of authority," said the first source. "There will be a lot of resistance. The formal authority is not in their hands -- Greeks must accept that."

However, one EU official cautioned that the idea would encounter fierce resistance in Athens, Dublin and other capitals, making it all but unworkable as such a program would require their support.

"Giving the task force executive powers is an idea which has been in the air," he said. "But the Greeks would never accept that and neither should they."

While such a move may reassure lenders such as Germany that further loans to Greece are safe, it would likely antagonize Ireland, which would fear receiving the same treatment, despite having made rapid progress on spending cuts.

(Additional reporting by Ingrid Melander in Athens; Reporting By John O'Donnell; editing by Luke Baker)

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

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Boy survives 3-story drop from burning building

BOSTON?? A 6-alarm arson fire tore through a large apartment building, including the apartment of a couple on the third floor who dropped their young grandson into the arms of a waiting firefighter, officials said.

A man who came to a hospital with burns and claimed he started the fire was arrested, police said.

Firefighters rescued at least 15 people, including the 6-year-old grandson of Herbert and Judith Lamb, who live on the third floor of the apartment building and said they were woken by an explosion and smoke.

The Lambs broke a window and dropped their 6-year-old grandson, Xavier, into the arms of waiting Boston firefighters.

"I had to drop him out the window," Judith Lamb told The Boston Globe. "The firemen caught him."

Boston Fire Lieutenant Glenn McGillivray told the newspaper he was the one who caught Xavier Lamb.

"I knew she wouldn't be able to hold him until we got help, so they dropped him, and I caught him in my arms from the third floor," McGillivray said. "Thank God I caught him. I've never had to do that before, and I hope I never have to do it again."

He said firefighters used a ladder to rescue Judith Lamb.

The blaze damaged or destroyed more than two dozen apartments in the large, U-shaped building on Wardman Road in the city's Roxbury neighborhood.

Residents who escaped said they heard an explosion at about 1 a.m.

Confession?
A short time later, fire department spokesman Steve MacDonald told the Associated Press a man showed up at a hospital and said he started the fire.

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"He walked into Boston Medical Center with burns and admitted certain things to investigators, so he was placed under arrest for arson of a dwelling," MacDonald said.

The man's name was not immediately released. It was not clear if he lived in the building or was visiting, MacDonald said, and no motive was known.

NBC affiliate WHDH reported that the suspect was charged with arson of a dwelling and multiple counts of attempted murder. Damage to the building was said to be about $3 million.

MacDonald said the windows and frame were blown out in one corner of the building and bricks were littering the street.

Ten residents of the building were taken to hospitals, most suffering from smoke inhalation. Two firefighters and a police officer were also treated for what were believed to be minor injuries, MacDonald said.

Firefighters said all residents were accounted for, though MacDonald cautioned that crews had not yet been able to enter the building.

About 160 firefighters were called to the scene and they were still pouring water on the building several hours after the blaze started.

A temporary shelter was set up in the city for residents displaced by the blaze.

MacDonald could not immediately confirm initial reports that the fire may have been started after a gas line to a stove was cut.

The Associated Press and WHDH contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44928811/ns/us_news-life/

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How To Get The Greatest Automotive Insurance coverage | MY ...

If you really find this article helpful Give it a PLUS from below and help us to spread it.

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Source: http://www.myarticlepoint.com/how-to-get-the-greatest-automotive-insurance-coverage.htm

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Chinese fighter jet nose-dives into field at show

BEIJING?? A Chinese air force jet crashed at an air show Friday, leaving one of the pilots missing and presumed dead.

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Footage aired by China Central Television showed the jet sputtering and then nose-diving into a field outside the northern city of Xi'an as one of the pilots ejected from the cockpit and landed beneath an open parachute.

Only one parachute was seen opening, and the plane burst into flames upon crashing.

The other pilot's seat appeared not to have ejected.

Trapped
The pilot who ejected suffered only minor injuries, but his comrade appeared to have been trapped in the doomed plane, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing eyewitnesses and air show organizer, He Liang.

"One pilot parachuted out of the plane and is alive, the search for another pilot is ongoing," the China International General Aviation Convention told the AFP news agency in a statement. "There were no casualties on the ground."

The plane crashed more than a mile from the nearest onlookers.

Xinhua said the plane was a two-seater JH-7 "Flying Leopard" fighter-bomber, but AFP cited a report that it was a Xiaolong or "Fierce Dragon" fighter jet.

AFP said U.S. aerobatic teams along with others from Hungary, Sweden, and Lithuania were invited to take part in the three-day show.

The crash is being investigated and it wasn't clear if mechanical problems or pilot error was to blame.

The plane is powered by two highly reliable license-built Spey Mk202 engines and it was considered unlikely that both would have stalled at the same time.

The Chinese-made JH-7 entered service in 2004 and is a mainstay of the country's air force and naval aviation, with more than 100 built.

At least one of the planes crashed previously ? during a China-Russian joint exercise in 2009, killing both pilots.

China rarely released information about military accidents, but the public nature of the crash and the rapid spread of images of it happening on the Internet made it impossible to keep secret.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44902049/ns/world_news-asia_pacific/

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