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Source: http://sureshsing524.blogspot.com/2012/10/personal-computer-fix-technicians.html
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Raw Judita: Cool New Finds
I love discovering tasty new products. When I was in NYC earlier this month I came across this unique, hand crafted kombucha from Beyond Kombucha. Made in a solar powered brewery in Queens, NY they have a very cool array of kombucha flavors as well as fermented ale and wine using organic and wild crafted ingredients. Though it's known that kombucha has a trace amount of alcohol this was the first time I've seen one that had 1.5% alcohol. I only had a chance to try their Yerba Mate and Oolong flavors which where spectacular. Smooth tasting albeit a tad sweet for me, I did get a tiny buzz but in no way did I feel tipsy. I'm really looking forward to trying more but, unfortunately, I don't know where they distribute to aside from the greater NYC area. For those in Brooklyn, I found this at Organic Planet on Bedford Avenue between North 7th and 8th.
With raw kale chips all the rage in the past few years, it was exciting to see new veggie chips popping up. Alive & Radiant by Kaya foods, one of my favorite kale chip companies, has recently introduced 3 new leafy green snacks called Veggie Krunch: Arugula Cabbage, Teriyaki Greens, Sweet Onion and Roots Confetti. Arugula Crunch is seasoned with sesame, dill and garlic but also chia seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, olive oil, apple cider vinegar and caraway seeds. At first bite I found them to be quite bitter but they grew on me pretty quickly. The seasonings definitely helped make them palatable, plus, I love how nutritious they are. Going to try the other flavors next time I'm at the health food store. I found these at Whole Foods and Mother's Market in southern California.
I am totally in love with the low glycemic, raw chocolate bars from Coracao Confections. This superfood chocolate company has a stunning collection of sweet treats. I've yet to try them all as I'm finding myself constantly grabbing for these chunky bars. It's a three way tie between Rawmond Butter, Caramel and Kefir Lime. The caramel bar is made of Organic Raw Cacao Paste, Organic Coconut Palm sugar, Organic Cashew Butter, Organic Raw Cacao Butter, Organic Agave Nectar, Organic Yacon Syrup, Wild-Crafted Vanilla Bean, Himalayan Crystal Salt. I've only seen them at Mother's Market but you can order them online here.
I tried this stimulating chocolate drink mix from Essential Living Foods last week at my friend's house when I was suffering from a mid-afternoon energy slump. I blended 1 cup almond milk with a tablespoon of the mix and I was instantly bright eyed and bushy tailed. I've been avoiding stimulants (besides cacao) for a while now so this affected me much more than someone who usually enjoys a cup of caffeine each day. This mix contains all organic ingredients: coconut sugar, cacao powder, lucuma, mesquite, guarana, vanilla and sea salt. You can find these at Whole Foods and online.
Have you discovered anything new I need to try? Leave a comment if you want to share. :)
Source: http://rawjudita.blogspot.com/2012/10/cool-new-finds.html
PFT: Panthers fielding calls about Steve Smith
Getty ImagesRedskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall was ejected from Sunday?s game against the Steelers for a confrontation with an official, and he likely faces a hefty fine. But Hall says any discipline he faces should be handed out to the official as well.
Hall said on 106.7 The Fan that head linesman Dana McKenzie was giving just as good as he got in their verbal exchange. It sure didn?t look that way on TV ? it looked like Hall was screaming in McKenzie?s face and sticking his finger about an inch from McKenzie?s nose, and that McKenzie was showing admirable restraint ? but Hall said the TV angles were deceiving.
?From that particular camera angle you can?t see what that ref?s saying to me,? Hall said, via the Washington Post. ?So it looks like I?m just out there giving him a piece of my mind and he?s smiling and walks away. And that?s not the case at all. He?s dishing it out just as much as I?m dishing it out.?
Hall said he?s hoping to show the league office a different angle of the incident before the league determines any punishment.
?It was just a back and forth between me and that particular ref,? Hall said. ?And I can?t go into too many details because it?s still under review. But that?s kind of how it took place. If you look at the TV copy, you can only see me. That?s why we?re trying to get other copies and other angles so you can see both sides. But me and the ref was equally at fault on that particular play.?
Hall also indicated that he wants the league office to consider what kind of person he is.
?I?m not a criminal. I?ve never been in trouble with the law. I?m a great guy. Like I said, off the field I?m a different person, you know what I mean, than I am on the field,? Hall said. ?We?re just trying to get every point of view, make sure we get as much proof as possible that happened in that situation and bring it to the forefront so we can come up with the right solution handed down to both sides.?
Hall was upset that Steelers receiver Emmanuel Sanders took a shot at him and wasn?t flagged for it, and Hall says he?s also upset about the way the officials treat him.
?Nobody is going out there trying to bully the referees and likewise, they shouldn?t be out there trying to bully us,? Hall said.
Hall is right that the officials shouldn?t try to bully the players. But it sure didn?t look like the official in question was trying to bully Hall. It looked like the official was doing his job, and Hall was acting like a jerk.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Amazon reports weak results, shares slip
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc reported weak quarterly results on Thursday as the world's largest Internet retailer spent heavily and suffered from an economic slowdown in Europe.
Amazon shares slipped slightly to $221 in after-hours trading after the results.
The company said its third-quarter net loss was $274 million, or 60 cents a share, versus net income of $63 million, or 14 cents a share, in the third quarter of 2011. Part of the loss was related to an impairment charge from Amazon's investment in daily deal company LivingSocial.
Third-quarter revenue was $13.81 billion, up 27 percent from a year earlier, Amazon also said.
Amazon was expected to lose 8 cents a share in the third quarter on revenue of $13.9 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Before Thursday's report, Amazon had generated 18 straight quarters of net income, according to BGC Partners.
For the crucial fourth-quarter holiday shopping period, Amazon forecast revenue that missed analysts' expectations. The company also gave a wide forecast for operating income in the period.
"There's increased competition from mass merchants and big box retailers embedded in that guidance," said RJ Hottovy, an equity analyst at Morningstar. "There's a lot of competition this holiday and it's not clear how this will play out, even for smart operators like Amazon."
Amazon is facing more competition this holiday season from big retailers such as Target and Best Buy, which are planning to match some of the company's prices online.
Wal-Mart Stores, the world's largest retailer, is also testing same-day delivery in some cities this holiday, while Target is selling more exclusive products that cannot be bought at lower prices online.
Amazon is also spending heavily on new distribution warehouses and technology to support its cloud-computing businesses, Amazon Web Services. It is also investing hundreds of millions of dollars a year on digital content to sell through its Kindle tablets and e-readers.
Those Kindle gadgets are being sold at cost, pressuring earnings in the short term. Amazon hopes to make money when customers use them to buy more physical and digital products from the company.
Europe's sovereign debt crisis and recession is reducing consumer demand, sparking concern that even fast-growing Internet companies may be affected.
EBay Chief Financial Officer Bob Swan said last week that the company expected an "OK" holiday season, partly because of macro pressure in Europe.
Amazon said on Thursday that revenue from North America was $7.88 billion, up 25 percent from a year earlier. International sales, including Europe, totaled $5.92 billion, up 17 percent from the same period in 2011.
(Reporting By Alistair Barr; Editing by M.D. Golan)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/amazon-reports-big-quarterly-net-loss-201043409--sector.html
Wall Street ends up slightly, but business spending weighs
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks eked out small gains on Thursday in another uninspiring session on Wall Street, with worries about weak business spending keeping investors wary.
There were a few bright spots, such as Procter & Gamble
Investors were awaiting results from Apple Inc , the most valuable public company in the United States.
The broad S&P 500 has declined 3.6 percent over the previous five sessions. A string of high-profile disappointments pointing to weak global demand has sapped buying enthusiasm after what has been a strong run in 2012.
U.S. durable goods orders rose more than expected in September, though orders excluding volatile defense goods and aircraft were unchanged, and business investment showed signs of stalling.
"Global concerns are always in the background and people haven't forgotten about it. That's what markets on Friday and earlier this week told us," said Jaewoo Nakajima, associate managing director at International Strategy and Investment Group, in New York.
With about 244 companies in the S&P 500 reporting results so far, 62.3 percent have beaten expectations, a slight improvement on the typical 62 percent average, Thomson Reuters data showed.
Revenue this quarter has been less than stellar, with just 36.3 percent of companies reporting higher-than-expected revenue - compared with a historic beat rate of 62 percent.
"We had 50-some companies report today, and it's all a continuation of companies beating on earnings, but coming in lower on revenue," said Terry Morris, senior vice president and senior equity manager for National Penn Investors Trust Company in Reading, Pennsylvania.
Big-picture uncertainty has also had a quiet dampening effect on stock prices as the countdown to the U.S. presidential election and the impending fiscal cliff begins in earnest.
"Certainly, the fiscal cliff continues to weigh on the market. If it weren't for that pressure, we'd probably be higher," Morris said.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> rose 26.34 points, or 0.20 percent, to 13,103.68 at the close. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> gained 4.22 points, or 0.30 percent, to 1,412.97. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> advanced 4.42 points, or 0.15 percent, to end at 2,986.12.
Tech bellwether Apple was scheduled to report earnings after the close. The iPad and iPhone maker was expected to report quarterly earnings of $8.75 a share, according to Thomson Reuters data. Apple's stock lost 1.2 percent to end the regular session at $609.54 ahead of the results.
Colgate-Palmolive
Volume was relatively light, with just 6.18 billion shares traded on U.S. exchanges.
Advances outnumbered decliners on the New York Stock Exchange by a ratio of about 3 to 2. On the Nasdaq, about seven stocks rose for every five that fell.
(Reporting by Atossa Araxia Abrahamian; Editing by Jan Paschal)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stock-index-futures-signal-early-gains-100048315--finance.html
How a 5,000-fps Camera Captures World Series Swings in Extreme Slow-Motion
Christina Applegate Is Clueless About the Terrible Twos
"She's starting to get really defiant when we say no and look back at us with an evil look in her eye."
Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/2Tu82xizZSc/
Preliminary hearing in Colorado movie rampage case set for January
CENTENNIAL, Colo. (Reuters) - A preliminary hearing on the merits of the criminal case against James Holmes, accused of indiscriminately firing upon patrons of a Colorado theater, was set for the second week of January by a judge during a brief court proceeding on Thursday.
The preliminary hearing, scheduled for the week of January 7 by Arapahoe County District Court Judge William Sylvester, will likely last several days.
It will mark the first time prosecutors will be able to lay out evidence they have amassed against Holmes and present their arguments for the case to proceed to a jury trial.
Holmes, a 24-year-old former neuroscience graduate student, is accused of opening fire inside a suburban Denver movie theater during a midnight screening of the Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises" on July 20.
The rampage, one of the bloodiest acts of gun violence in the United States in recent years, killed 12 people and wounded 58.
Prosecutors have previously depicted Holmes as a young man whose once promising academic career was in tatters at the time of the shooting. He failed oral board exams for graduate school in June, and a professor suggested Holmes may not have been a good fit for his competitive doctorate program.
Holmes' lawyers, who analysts have suggested may be laying the groundwork for an insanity defense, have said Holmes suffers from mental illness and sought to get help before the shooting.
Holmes appeared in court on Thursday during the ten-minute hearing, handcuffed and shackled and growing a heavy but neatly trimmed beard.
(Writing by Mary Slosson; editing by Todd Eastham)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/preliminary-hearing-colorado-movie-rampage-case-set-january-212043762.html
In Latin America, incumbents increasingly dominate
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) ? After four election wins, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is on track to completing at least 20 years in power, and supporters such as street bookseller Cristina Tovar say they're glad to have him in charge.
Tovar has signed up to receive new public housing, and the government has installed brightly painted kiosks for her and other vendors. Nearby, the city's streets are still lined with campaign posters emblazoned with the president's image.
In a region where military dictators ruled by force for decades, millions of Latin Americans such as Tovar are backing a new crop of leaders extending their rule and dominating power through the ballot box.
Already the Western Hemisphere's longest-serving president, Chavez has helped lead the charge of incumbents who have secured constitutional changes and stayed on for multiple terms, overturning provisions that had barred or limited re-election. Chavez won the right to indefinite re-election through a 2009 referendum and earlier this month was elected to another six-year term.
"He deserves to win as many times as the people elect him," Tovar said. "I adore my president."
Ecuador's leader, Rafael Correa, is widely expected to seek a third term in February, which could extend his rule to 10 years, while presidents in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Colombia have also won re-election since 2006.
Some critics are uneasy about the health of the democracies in which a single person can remain in office for a generation. Even Chavez's friend and ally, former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, publicly advised the Venezuelan leader last week that a fourth term ought to be enough.
Silva, who was hugely popular and served two terms before stepping down in 2010, said in an interview with the Argentine newspaper La Nacion that "Chavez should begin to prepare his succession." Silva said that in Brazil he forbade his political allies from seeking a constitutional amendment to give him a third term.
"If I had done it, I would have wanted a fourth term, and then a fifth," Silva said. "For democracy, alternation in power is a conquest of humanity, and that is why it should be maintained."
Increasingly, though, popular incumbents have appeared virtually unstoppable, despite controversy about their efforts to stay in power.
As countries have benefited from a decade of economic growth, many presidents have won the allegiance of the poor and the working class, which for some has translated into a kind of fanatic devotion often seen in the past century, when populist leaders such as Brazil's Getulio Vargas and Argentina's Gen. Juan Peron rode popular support to long years in presidential palaces.
Since 1985, 15 of 17 incumbent presidents in Latin America seeking re-election have won, said Javier Corrales, a political science professor at Amherst College in Massachusetts.
Only two incumbents have fallen short: Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua in 1990 and Hipolito Mejia in the Dominican Republic in 2004, both amid economic troubles. In Ortega's case, he returned to power in 2007 and won re-election last year, extending his total potential time in office to 15 years. Nicaragua's Supreme Court in 2009 effectively removed term limits.
"It seems that in Latin America all you really need to know to predict an election is, well, is the incumbent running for office?" Corrales said.
Experts say that record speaks volumes about both the advantages incumbents traditionally enjoy and also the strong powers that Latin American presidents wield in often-fragile democracies.
"The fact is that these presidencies tend to be really powerful offices, much more powerful than the U.S. presidency is, relative to the other actors out there," said John Carey, a professor of government at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. "And the prospects for being able to self-perpetuate by abusing the authorities of the office are really big, in particular manipulating the courts, manipulating the media and manipulating budgets."
After Chavez beat rival Henrique Capriles this month by 11 percentage points, his narrowest margin ever, opposition leaders accepted defeat but also complained of Chavez's heavy spending on public housing and other social programs before the vote.
Some say that with Chavez entrenched for another six-year term, Venezuela runs the risk of further concentrating powers in the president, especially with his allies controlling the legislative branch. Voters in 2007 had narrowly defeated Chavez-backed constitutional changes that included abolishing presidential term limits, only to approve indefinite re-election in another referendum two years later.
"It's really depressing," said Gabriela Montero, a renowned Venezuelan pianist who lives in the Boston area. "I think having so much power and having so much money ... Chavez has been in a position of incredible advantage."
Montero composed a piece last year called "ExPatria," saying it grew from feelings of losing her homeland. Reflecting on the result of this month's election, Montero pointed to the words of 19th century independence hero Simon Bolivar, the namesake of Chavez's Bolivarian Revolution movement, who once warned that "nothing is so dangerous as to permit a citizen to remain in power a long time."
For his part, Chavez has also been invoking Bolivar while pledging a renewed push for oil-exporting Venezuela to become a more equitable, socialist society.
"Socialism equals democracy, democracy equals socialism ? the power of the people," Chavez said in a televised Cabinet meeting last week, saying he aims to create a "21st century socialist democracy."
The trend toward multi-term presidents in the past decade has been dominated by left-wing leaders but has also included conservative Alvaro Uribe in Colombia. He stepped down in 2010 after a court blocked a referendum on whether he could seek a third term.
Term limits have a long history in Latin America as a way to check presidential power, with many countries imposing strict limits after the fall of military or civilian dictators.
Peru became one of the first to loosen those limits in recent years under President Alberto Fujimori, who shut down Congress in 1992. His allies then drafted a constitution that allowed him to be re-elected twice ? before he fled into exile amid a corruption scandal. Peru went on to bar re-election to two consecutive terms.
Since 1995, seven Latin American presidents have followed suit and won the right to re-election through constitutional changes, said Ignazio De Ferrari, a doctoral student in political science at the London School of Economics. Several countries such as Mexico, Honduras and Paraguay still permit only a single term for presidents.
The latest fight over term limits is brewing in Bolivia as President Evo Morales gears up to run in 2014. Morales first won election in 2005 and then pushed for a new constitution in 2009 that allowed re-election. He now argues that the two-term limit began only with his 2009 win.
His opponents argue Morales is manipulating the rules, and the country's Constitutional Court has been called on to settle the dispute.
In many cases, Latin America's incumbent presidents have fared much better than incumbent parties that put forth a new candidate, giving leaders an incentive to loosen term limits.
As country after country follows suit, Corrales summed up his concerns in the subtitle of a recent research paper: "Can anyone stop the president?"
___
Associated Press writers Carlos Valdez in La Paz, Bolivia, and Gonzalo Solano in Quito, Ecuador, contributed to this report.
___
Ian James on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ianjamesap
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/latin-america-incumbents-increasingly-dominate-173441514.html
Ex-manager of Britney Spears says he was punched
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Britney Spears' ex-manager described from the witness stand Wednesday a scene of domestic warfare, saying the superstar's father chased him around a kitchen, punched him and threatened his life.
Sam Lutfi, who is suing Spears' parents for defamation, testified while they watched from across the courtroom.
He denied accusations made in a book by Lynne Spears that he was a Svengali who became the gatekeeper of her daughter's world, locking her parents out of her life.
He contends he was a benevolent caretaker who protected Britney during her highly publicized meltdown.
Lutfi's direct testimony concluded in dramatic fashion as he was overcome by tears while describing the aftermath of the publication of the book.
"After the book came out, there was a huge spike of death threats that were pretty bad," he testified. "People I know were shunning me. Websites were created to kill me. People wished I was dead. People wished my family ... "
He didn't finish the sentence because he was crying.
"How did it make you feel," asked his attorney, Joseph Schleimer.
"Depressed, anxious and suicidal," Lutfi testified.
Lutfi told of days leading to Britney's hospitalization at a psychiatric unit, and jurors saw a video of the star ordering him around outside her home hours before she was taken away.
She was demanding that he let her drive her car and told him to get in the passenger seat. The scene outside her home was surreal, with TV lights and paparazzi surrounding her.
Lutfi said Britney feared her father Jamie Spears and fled her home when she heard he was coming. Lutfi said the father confronted him twice and punched him on the second visit.
"Jamie came barging into the house. He lunged at me and chased me around the kitchen island. He was spitting, yelling, shouting at me, and said I had hurt his daughter and he was going to beat the hell out of me and I'd better get out of the house," Lutfi testified.
After 10 minutes, he said, Jamie Spears was escorted out by security guards. But the next morning, he got into the house again and the battle resumed, Lutfi said.
"He cornered me in the kitchen, punched me in the solar plexus and threatened to kill me," Lutfi testified.
"How did it feel?" Schleimer asked.
"It hurt," Lutfi replied.
Asked what he did, he said, "I ran to the game room and locked myself in."
A lawyer for Spears said in opening statements that the father never physically assaulted Lutfi and merely touched him on the chest.
With Schleimer reading excerpts from Lynne Spears' book, Lutfi methodically denied every one of her accusations.
"Were you in complete control of Britney's life?" Schleimer asked.
"No," Lutfi said firmly.
"Did you attempt to keep Britney's family away?" he was asked.
"To the contrary, sir," Lutfi answered.
He denied cutting wires to phone lines in the house and hiding Britney's cellphones. He also said he never drugged the superstar.
Court proceedings ended for the day and were set to resume Thursday.
Lutfi is suing for damages for defamation and for a 15 percent share of the millions of dollars Britney made while he was with her.
The singer remains under the conservatorship of her father and has been told by a judge not to attend or testify in the trial.
She has made a remarkable comeback from her hard times, now acting as a judge on TV's "The X Factor."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ex-manager-britney-spears-says-punched-211533510.html
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Pfizer lung cancer drug gets conditional EU approval
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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pfizer-lung-cancer-drug-gets-conditional-eu-approval-153313830--finance.html
Galactic snack time: Stream of stars slowly being ingested by the Milky Way
ScienceDaily (Oct. 25, 2012) ? Using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, researchers have discovered a band, or stream, of stars believed to be the remnant of an ancient star cluster slowly being ingested by the Milky Way, Earth's home galaxy.
"The Milky Way is constantly gobbling up small galaxies and star clusters," said Ana Bonaca, a Yale graduate student and lead author of a study forthcoming in Astrophysical Journal Letters. "The more powerful gravity of our Milky Way pulls these objects apart and their stars then become part of the Milky Way itself."
Researchers have previously found evidence of the Milky Way eating up dwarf galaxies. Bonaca argues that the newly found stellar stream is the remnant of a star cluster rather than of a larger galaxy, because the stream is very narrow.
"Our discovery is more of a light snack than a big meal for the Milky Way," says Marla Geha, associate professor of astronomy at Yale and a co-author of the study. "Studying this digestion process in detail is important because it gives us new insight into how all galaxies form and evolve."
The new band of stars, or stellar stream, it is the first of its kind found in the southern Galactic sky, a region that has been hard to examine due to a relative lack of deep-sky imaging there. Deeper imaging enables astronomers to detect fainter stars.
Named the Triangulum stream, the newly discovered stellar stream could also help astronomers reconstruct how the Milky Way's mass is distributed, further revealing its dynamic structure.
Galaxies are believed to form hierarchically through the merger of smaller galaxies and still smaller star clusters. Stellar streams form as they are ripped apart by the gravitational force of galaxies. This process may be the primary way galaxies such as the Milky Way grow in mass, the researchers say.
Triangulum was found by searching a region recently surveyed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III), an international collaboration that is mapping the sky through wide-field photometry.
Bonaca, Geha and co-author Nitya Kallivayalil, a Yale postdoctoral fellow, relied specifically on the survey's Data Release 8, which included information about vast new areas of the southern galactic sky.
Research support was provided by the National Science Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Yale University, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
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Journal Reference:
- Ana Bonaca, Marla Geha, Nitya Kallivayalil. A Cold Milky Way Stellar Stream in the Direction of Triangulum. Astrophysical Journal Letters, 2012; (submitted) [link]
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/strange_science/~3/HKWKSexCMxA/121025130920.htm
Taliban leader says insider attacks will increase
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? Taliban insurgents will increase the number of insider attacks against coalition and Afghan forces, which have resulted in the deaths of at least 52 foreign troops so far this year, the movement's reclusive leader said Wednesday.
In an emailed statement congratulating Muslims as they prepare to celebrate the Eid al-Adha holiday, Mullah Mohammad Omar urged "every brave Afghan in the ranks of the foreign forces and their Afghan hirelings ... to strike them."
"Jihadist activities inside the circle of the state militias are the most effective stratagem. Its dimension will see further expansion, organization and efficiency," he said. "Increase your efforts to expand the area of infiltration in the ranks of the enemy."
Also Wednesday, NATO said in a statement that two of its soldiers died following an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan. It did not provide further details about the attack or the nationality of the victims.
The surge in insider attacks is throwing doubt on the capability of the Afghan security forces to take over from international troops ahead of a planned handover to the Afghans in 2014. It has further undermined public support for the 11-year war in NATO countries.
The attacks have not been limited to members of the NATO-led international coalition. More than 50 Afghan members of the government's security forces also have died this in attacks by their own colleagues.
The Taliban leader also claimed his fighters were winning the war and vowed to continue the struggle "against the invaders who have invaded our country until the occupation ends completely."
"We told the enemy 11 years ago that their coming (to the country) will be easy but their presence and exit will be full of complications," he said.
Omar also exhorted his fighters to "pay full attention to the prevention of civilian casualties," saying the enemy was trying to blame them on the insurgents.
Last week the United Nations called on the Taliban leadership to stop the use of homemade roadside bombs and mines. The Taliban say they use only remote-controlled roadside bombs which ? unlike the mines automatically activated by pressure-plates ? allow a bomber to choose the time of the blast and specifically target coalition troops and their Afghan allies.
But the world body says that insurgent-placed homemade bombs, also known as improvised explosive devices or IEDs, continue to be the deadliest weapon for civilians. IEDs killed 340 civilians and injured a further 599 over the past nine months, an increase of almost 30 per cent compared to the same period last year, the UN said.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/taliban-leader-says-insider-attacks-increase-170535713.html
GaryMoller.com - Health, Fitness - Naturally!: Vaccines containing ...
"
CBS K-EYE Medical Watch with Seema Mathur describes how two studies in the Journal of Pediatrics suggest that vaccines containing mercury preservatives "may actually be associated with improved behavior and mental performance." Following is microscopic footage from the University of Calgary depicting How Mercury Causes Brain Neuron Degeneration."
Gary:
Research claims that mercury which is found in childhood vaccines actually improves behaviour and mental performance beggars belief! ? ?The fact is that mercury is a powerful neurotoxin that is not safe at any level. ? It is the last thing that anybody, especially an infant or child needs.
CBS K-EYE Medical Watch with Seema Mathur describes how two studies in the Journal of Pediatrics suggest that vaccines containing mercury preservatives "may actually be associated with improved behavior and mental performance." Following is microscopic footage from the University of Calgary depicting How Mercury Causes Brain Neuron Degeneration."
Gary:
Research claims that mercury which is found in childhood vaccines actually improves behaviour and mental performance beggars belief! ? ?The fact is that mercury is a powerful neurotoxin that is not safe at any level. ? It is the last thing that anybody, especially an infant or child needs.
Research like this makes a mockery of science
Please take a few minutes to view the video below which shows exactly the damage that the tiniest amount of mercury wreaks on the nerves:_______________________________________
The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation. ?Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.Source: http://blog.garymoller.com/2012/10/vaccines-containing-mercury.html
A roundup of the best photos of the day
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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/photos/photos-of-the-day-1340925511-slideshow/
Deal of the Day: 46% off the Incipio OVRMLD Case for iPhone 5
Today Only: Buy the Incipio OVRMLD Case for iPhone 5 and save $15.99!
The OVRMLD case is engineered with raised NGP barriers to protect the soft touch finish from unpredictable scratches and surface wear. The dual-injected design combines impact resistant, semi-rigid NGP with a rigid Plextonium frame. Color options include black, purple, turqoise, orange and white.
List Price: $34.99???? Today's Price: $19.00
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/tSHaOZpVnjg/story01.htm
Kindle Paperwhite, Fire and 7-inch Fire HD now up for pre-order in Japan
Amazon's just announced that it's bringing the entire Kindle family to Japan. The basic Paperwhite is now available to pre-order for 8,480 yen (around $106) from the online retailer, with the 3G version arriving at a slightly pricier 12,980 yen (approximately $162) -- both will start shipping November 19th. Obviously you're going to need stuff to read, so the Kindle Store is opening its doors tomorrow and shelves are stocked with over 50,000 Japanese language books (including 10,000 for free) and more than 15,000 manga titles. Amazon's tablet range is heading to Japan, with the Fire costing 12,800 yen (approximately $160) and the 7-inch Fire HD setting wallets back 15,800 yen (almost $200). You'll have to wait a bit longer for these two, however, as shipping is slated to begin December 19th -- hopefully arriving in time to fill those stockings.
Continue reading Kindle Paperwhite, Fire and 7-inch Fire HD now up for pre-order in Japan
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Washington's Corcoran museum seeks lifeline, sale an option
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Corcoran Gallery, Washington's oldest art museum, would seem to have an unbeatable combination with its top collection, a landmark building and tourist-friendly site near the White House.
But behind its Beaux Arts facade, which houses works from a 17,000-piece collection that include artists Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper, John Singer Sargent, Eugene Delacroix, Claude Monet and Willem de Kooning, the Corcoran's board of trustees is looking for a lifeline after years of losing money.
Sale of the building, links to another institution or a move from the city are being weighed as ways to save the museum.
The Corcoran, which is a nonprofit institution, said this month it was in talks with the federal National Gallery of Art and George Washington University about "sustainable options" for the museum and its 550-student Corcoran College of Art and Design.
The Corcoran, the biggest private museum in the U.S. capital, "is one of the premier landmark pieces of history in the city and it has to be preserved," President Fred Bollerer told Reuters.
He said the museum was also talking with other institutions but declined to name them. It hopes to decide on its future by the first half of next year, Bollerer added.
The museum hired real estate firm CBRE Group Inc as its adviser in September.
POTENTIAL SALE "OBSCENE"
Opponents, who say loss of the Corcoran would tear a hole in Washington's cultural fabric, have vowed to fight a move or sale.
"The very idea of selling the building and moving to the suburbs is as absurd as it is obscene," said Bill Dunlap, an artist and member of the Save the Corcoran coalition.
Founded in 1869, the Corcoran moved to its current building in 1897. But it has a serious handicap because it charges admission while other public museums in Washington are free. Attendance has dropped markedly, with 68,000 visitors foreseen for 2012.
Donations have roughly halved with the recession and as potential donors channel their money into the November 6 election, Bollerer said.
Finances "are still challenging" even after two years of trying to stabilize them and design a sustainability plan, Bollerer said.
After running deficits for years, the shortfall for the current fiscal year is expected to top $7 million. The building also needs at least $130 million in renovations.
The Washington Post reported last week that officials in Alexandria, Virginia, had approached the Corcoran as early as July 2011 about relocating across the Potomac River.
In a potential hurdle to a sale, the District of Columbia Historic Preservation League sought this month to extend the landmark designation for the museum's exterior to the interior. Approval would mean public review of any major construction.
(Reporting by Ian Simpson; editing by Patricia Reaney and Leslie Adler)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/washingtons-corcoran-museum-seeks-lifeline-sale-option-203235932.html
Facebook stock pops 8% as ad sales surge | FOX13Now.com ? Salt ...
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) ? Facebook?s second earnings report as a public company came in just above Wall Street estimates, but that was enough for investors to give shares a nice boost.
The social network reported sales of nearly $1.3 billion for its third quarter, up 24% from the same period last year.
Facebook?s shares fell 3% just after the announcement, but quickly turned around to rise more than 8% in after-hours trading. Facebook needs every stock boost it can get: Its shares had lost half their value since the company?s May IPO.
Facebook?s earnings for the quarter were complicated by a hefty tax bill related to the company?s equity compensation for employees. The company?s took a $431 million income tax provision for the quarter, representing an eye-popping 116% effective tax rate.
The tax bill pushed Facebook to a net loss of $59 million, compared with a gain of $227 million in the year-ago quarter. Stripping out the tax bill and other equity compensation expenses, Facebook had net earnings of $311 million, slightly ahead of analysts? expectations.
Highlights for the quarter that ended Sept. 30 included a 26% yearly gain in monthly active users, who now number just over 1 billion. Facebook pulled in $1.1 billion serving ads to those users ? up 36% from last year.
Facebook called out a few of its its efforts to monetize its everyday users. In September it unveiled Facebook Gifts, a feature that lets users send friends real, physical goods.
In October ? which isn?t part of the quarter Facebook is currently reporting ? it released a ?Promote? feature to a small group of U.S. users. The experimental program lets Facebookers pay a fee, currently around $7, to promote important pictures or announcements.
A central element of the monetization problem is Facebook?s sluggish transition to a mobile-dominated society. The site wasn?t built with mobile in mind, and the company was slow to develop device-optimized apps. An overhauled iOS app launched in August ? but Facebook still isn?t showing mobile users as many ads as it would if accessed on a desktop.
That?s a missed revenue opportunity. Facebook revealed Tuesday that its mobile customer base rose 61% from last year, to 604 million active users.
Also of concern in Tuesday?s report: It?s getting more expensive for Facebook to do business. Excluding some compensation expenses, Facebook?s operating margin shrank to 42%, down from from 51% a year ago.
Facebook will hold a conference call Tuesday afternoon, during which analysts are likely to ask probing questions about Zynga, the game maker that accounts for a significant portion of Facebook?s sales.
Earlier this month, Zynga scaled back its outlook for 2012, citing a bunch of problems including ?reduced expectations? for certain games and delays in launching new titles.
Problems for Zynga means problems for Facebook. Zynga accounted for 14% of Facebook?s revenue in the first six months of 2012, including payment processing fees, direct advertising, and outside ads shown on pages generated by Zynga apps.
The-CNN-Wire
? & ? 2012 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.
Source: http://fox13now.com/2012/10/23/facebook-stock-pops-8-as-ad-sales-surge/
Tab-X 9.7 Android Tablet Brings HD Big Screen Tablets To The Low End Market
In all the iPad Mini hoopla today, it was easy to miss that another (slightly less rumored) tablet was released. If $499 for an iPad is too rich for your blood, and you?re hankering for an HD tablet with a large screen, it looks like the non-mainstream brand Android tablet makers are catching up. Enter the Tab-X 9.7 from Arena Scientific.
On paper, the specs sound pretty decent:
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The real cherry on top of these specs is the price, starting at $239! Granted, this could end up being the technological descendent of the knockoff tablets that were sold with resistive touchscreens and poor components for $99 at your local Walgreens?but it is certainly intriguing looking, and a cheap way to keep a toe in the Android market without settling for a 7??screen (or rooting an eBook tablet like the Fire or the NOOK HD).
If you see one in the wild, or know the brand, let us know what it?s like in the comments!
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Iraq seeks tenders for oil field development and refinery construction
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Wednesday, October 24, 2012
An Avalanche of GOP Voter Suppression and Fraud is Threatening the Election
see more posts by Rmuse
Human beings are programmed with a need to control their environment whether it is in their place of abode, their job, or their community. There are countries in the world where government is chosen by military might, religious institutions, or by royal birth, but the people have little control of their own lives. America?s founders did not believe every resident had a right to choose their representatives, and it has taken over two hundred years to give every citizen a voice in choosing their representatives in government. When America invaded Iraq, one of the first tasks the military accomplished was providing Iraqi citizens with free and fair elections for the first time in decades, and it was a watershed moment for the people who suffered under the oppressive regime of Saddam Hussein. It is ironic then, that in America, the prospect of free and fair elections is being threatened by an avalanche of reports of voter suppression and fraud by the Republican Party.
Republicans are notorious for projecting their beliefs and practices on their opponents, and for the past two years their state legislative arm, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) passed restrictive and harsh voter ID laws to combat what they claimed was massive voter fraud. Over the past few months, reports of voter suppression and registration fraud have built up to the point that, like Iraq, this country?s election will be monitored by an international group to stop fraud and intimidation. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is a United Nations affiliate that will deploy 44 observers around the country on Election Day and an additional 80 to 90 members of parliament from nearly 30 countries to monitor American elections. The OSCE election monitors are from its human rights office that focuses on democratization, and they will be looking for voter suppression activities by conservative groups.
Americans should be embarrassed the country best known for promoting democracy around the world requires human rights monitors to ensure free and fair elections at home. The founder and leader of True the Vote, a conservative group seeking to crack down on election fraud was outraged and said, ?activist groups sought assistance not from American sources, but from the United Nations,? but after months of reporting fraud, and Republican leaders refusing to follow court orders, there was little choice but to appeal to an outside source. The Justice Department cannot possibly keep up with the overwhelming number of cases committed exclusively by Republican groups who claimed voter fraud had reached epidemic proportions, but as usual, it is Republicans committing fraud.
OSCE is monitoring the elections after reports of ?coordinated political effort to disenfranchise millions of Americans ? particularly traditionally disenfranchised groups like minorities? that makes it a civil rights as well as an election issue. It has been widely reported (in liberal blogs) that the RNC hired a known Republican strategist with a reputation of voter registration fraud and attempts to suppress Democratic voter turnout for $3.1 million. Reports of destroying voter registration forms in Virginia last week drew minor attention from local media, and on Friday in Ohio, a Republican election official blamed a computer glitch for sending out notices to three precincts with improper polling places and news the election was Thursday, November 8 instead of Tuesday, November 6. There are myriad reports of voter suppression and fraud that one expects in young democracies like Iraq, and over the weekend two Iraq combat veterans noticed a parallel between elections in America and Iraq.
The young men served in Iraq leading up to the nation?s first free and fair elections, and it was their only source of pride at having served in Iraq. Although they felt betrayed and deceived at being sent to war over a lie, they said it was worth it to see Iraqis participating in their first fair election. Both men felt betrayed that after fighting to give Iraqis the right to participate in a fair election, their party was guilty of suppressing the vote and wondered if they should be deployed to protect Americans? right to vote. They had heard a World War II veteran was purged from voter rolls in Florida, and opined that the President should send a squad of Rangers to guarantee the veteran was allowed to vote.
Americans should be outraged at Republican attempts to suppress votes, but the media has been negligent by not reporting the rampant voter suppression. In a large newspaper in Central California, there has not been one article or story reporting voter registration fraud or suppression efforts throughout the campaign. The paper said it was not ?that big of a deal? and that it would cast unfair aspersion on Republicans so close to the election, so they would not report on it. Recently, it was brought to their attention the Republican chair of the Committee on Legislative Ethics committed voter fraud and faces removal from the ballot, but they demurred again because ?it was a Southern California senator and not that big of a deal.?
Therein is the problem, and why Republicans continue flaunting the law, suppressing votes, and committing fraud; because ?it?s not that big of a deal.? However, it is a big deal to the American people who lose their right to vote, and it is a big deal to an international human rights organization or they would not send monitors to stop ?a coordinated political effort to disenfranchise millions of Americans ? particularly traditionally disenfranchised groups like minorities.?
It is a sad commentary when America needs an international organization to monitor a general election, but it is crucial to save our democracy from Republican malfeasance. ?The founders believed only wealthy land owners deserved the right to vote, and after valiant struggles and Constitutional amendments, instead of celebrating every American?s right to vote, Republicans are suppressing voting rights. Hopefully with international monitors in place, every American who wants to vote will get the opportunity, but at the rate the GOP has suppressed the vote, it does not look very likely. It is a shame that the country that sent its soldiers to protect Iraqis right to vote cannot deliver that assurance to its own people; maybe the United Nations will do the job and save America?s democracy.
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Posted by Rmuse on October 23rd, 2012. Filed under Commentary,Featured News,rmuse. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.Source: http://www.politicususa.com/avalanche-gop-voter-suppression-fraud-threatening-election.html
NH Sen. Ayotte cancels event with IN's Mourdock
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) ? New Hampshire Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte has cancelled her plan to campaign with Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock, who said that when a woman becomes pregnant during a rape, "that's something God intended."
Mourdock said on Wednesday said he abhors rape and meant only that God creates life.
But Ayotte's spokesman, Jeff Grappone, said that the senator disagrees with Mourdock's comments, which do not represent her views. Ayotte was scheduled to campaign with Mourdock on Wednesday, but canceled her trip and is in New Hampshire instead.
Mourdock's comment, made at a debate Tuesday night, has pushed the issues of rape and abortion to the forefront. The campaign of Republican Mitt Romney, who appears in a television ad for Mourdock, said the presidential nominee disagrees with Mourdock.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nh-sen-ayotte-cancels-event-ins-mourdock-160117110--election.html
Trinity Mirror hit by phone hacking claims
LONDON (Reuters) - Around 17 million pounds ($27.26 million) was wiped off the value of Trinity Mirror after a phone hacking scandal spread to the owner of the British tabloid Daily Mirror.
On Monday the lawyer who handled many of those phone-hacking cases filed legal claims against Trinity Mirror on behalf of four people, including the former England soccer manager Sven-Goran Eriksson.
The reputation of British journalism was rocked by the revelation of hacking by journalists at Rupert Murdoch's now defunct News of the World into voicemails of celebrities, politicians and even crime victims.
Trinity Mirror said in a statement it had yet to receive any claims, and it repeated assurances that its journalists worked within the law.
"We have not yet received any claims nor have we been provided with any substantiation for those claims," Trinity Mirror said in a statement.
Shares in the group were down 9.4 percent at 1221 GMT as investors digested the threat of increasing legal costs and damage to the reputation of a group that is already grappling with falling advertising and circulation revenues.
News International has settled dozens of civil cases, paying tens of millions of pounds, and its journalists are still facing criminal charges over the allegations that its staff routinely hacked into voicemail messages to generate salacious stories.
Billions of dollars were wiped off the value of Murdoch's News Corp at the height of the scandal last year and executives were forced to step down.
Singer analyst Johnathan Barrett said the legal claims would weigh on Trinity Mirror's share price because although the number of claims was small compared with News International, they could rise over time.
The legal action will also provide a stiff test to the group's new chief executive Simon Fox, who joined the publisher in September and to Piers Morgan, a former Daily Mirror editor who is now a CNN talk-show host in the United States.
The claims allege phone hacking took place at the Daily Mirror when Morgan, who previously edited Murdoch's News of the World, was editor.
Morgan has denied authorising phone hacking during his time as editor of the Mirror, most recently at the Leveson Inquiry, which was set up to investigate the conduct of the press. It is due to report in the coming weeks and is expected to heavily criticise the British media.
The other three claimants are Abbie Gibson, a former nanny for the family of soccer player David Beckham, soccer player Garry Flitcroft and actress Shobna Gulati.
(Additional reporting by Rhys Jones; Editing by Erica Billingham and Louise Heavens)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/trinity-mirror-hit-phone-hacking-claims-102016501--finance.html
Anjali + Suchit?s Elegant Gold Foil Hindu Wedding Invitations
Bride and groom Anjali and Suchit wanted invitations that were both elegant and modern to complement their Hindu wedding. ?Designer Rashi Birla created a gorgeous wedding invitation suite that combines gold foil and deep royal purple letterpress elements, along with an airy botanical pattern and classic type throughout the suite. ?Gorgeous!
From Rashi:?Anjali and Suchit have a keen eye for design and wanted to take a modern approach to their Hindu wedding. Anjali loves letterpress and there was no question that I was going to design the invitation with letterpress printing in mind. We wanted the invitation to feel airy and simple, but with Indian touches. I created an organic pattern that was used throughout the suite.
The invitation text was set to look elegant and regal. We decided to use gold foil and purple letterpress for the two main cards. The deep purple envelopes were also stamped in gold foil.
To save costs, we printed the reception, Sangeet, and ceremony RSVP cards digitally in purple and yellow (a ?Sangeet? is an Indian tradition and a big pre-wedding party that happens the night before a wedding). A gold folder with gold cord and contrasting green ribbon completed the look.
Thanks Rashi!
Design: Rashi Birla
Letterpress Printing:?The Ligature
Check out the?Designer Rolodex?for more tal?ented?wed?ding invi?ta?tion design?ers?and?the?real invi?ta?tions gallery?for more?wedding invitation ideas!
Photo Credits: Rashi Birla
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Confirmed: Apple Will Live Stream Today's iPad Mini Event On Web ...
Jordan Crook studied English Literature at New York University before entering the tech space. Prior to joining TechCrunch, Crook dabbled in mobile marketing and mobile apps as well as doing device reviews for MobileMarketer and MobileBurn. Crook is fascinated with alternative energy production and greentech. She is now a writer for CrunchGear. Hello ? Learn More
It?s been a long while since Apple live streamed its press events. In fact, some people may not even remember a live-streamed Apple event, instead hunting out the best possible live blog until we can check out the whole video post-excitement.
But the company?s website now has a dedicated channel for the event, and promises that we can ?Watch a live video stream of the special event online or via Apple TV starting at 10:00 a.m. PDT.?
Plus, some folks over at MacRumors have noticed a new ?Apple Events? icon on the Apple TV, which leads us to believe that Apple may live stream today?s iPad mini event.
According to MacRumors, a click on that particular channel offers up a few other Apple press event videos, dating back to June 2011.
It?s unclear whether or not Apple will be live streaming the event on other channels, such as its website. Apple has historically stopped doing live streams of their events due to bandwidth issues. But since there are far fewer people with Apple TVs than people with Internet access, an Apple Events channel via Apple TV makes much more sense.
Not to mention, Apple will be broadcasting to the ideal audience.
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Swing-state voters hit with mail ad barrage
In this photo taken Oct. 19, 2012, Jean Gianfagna displays some of the political mailers her family receives at her home in Westlake, Ohio. Gianfagna says her family is ?deluged? and sometimes gets four of the same piece at a time _ her husband and two grown kids all get their own. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
In this photo taken Oct. 19, 2012, Jean Gianfagna displays some of the political mailers her family receives at her home in Westlake, Ohio. Gianfagna says her family is ?deluged? and sometimes gets four of the same piece at a time _ her husband and two grown kids all get their own. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
MANITOWOC, Wis. (AP) ? Around lunchtime each day, the latest missives promoting or pillorying Democratic President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney arrive in Diane Ouradnik's mailbox. Before long, they're in her trash.
Tearing and tossing has become routine for battleground-state voters drenched in caustic mail ads from the presidential candidates, political parties and their allied groups.
Television commercials may be king, but millions of dollars a week are fueling the pinpointed mail ads: Gun owners are told Obama is a threat and Romney is "the clear choice." Bilingual ads going to Latino voters are questioning Romney's commitment to opportunities for "regular people." Senior citizens are getting dueling pieces from Obama and Romney casting the other as detrimental to Medicare.
"I don't even read it. It's just too overwhelming. It's too much ? from all sides," says Ouradnik, a customer service representative in this lakeside Wisconsin city. She voted for Obama four years ago but is leaning toward Romney this time because she feels the incumbent has let her down and is too willing to blame others.
Political mail at all levels is big business. Some 1.8 billion political mail pieces were sent in 2010, resulting in $338 million in revenue for the U.S. Postal Service, a spokesman said. The Postal Service expects to significantly surpass those marks in 2012.
In Romney's corner, the super political action committee known as Restore Our Future sank more than $1 million into its direct mail efforts in the past two weeks alone. Another $1 million was spent last week on anti-Obama mail by Citizens Awareness Project Inc., a new group that hasn't disclosed its donors.
Aiding Obama, the AFL-CIO has sent tens of thousands of candidate contrast fliers to union households in battleground states. A healthy share of NARAL Pro-Choice America's $1.1 million of independent spending on the race has been on bulk mail.
Strategists count on voters to at least scan what they get. In the best case, people hand the ads off to undecided neighbors or carry them to the voting booth for reference.
In a presidential campaign dominated by a focus on jobs and the economy, the mail ads often tackle peripheral issues important to niche voters.
A tri-fold flier from the pro-Romney group Crossroads GPS pans Obama as weak on border security and in favor of a plan that "rolls out the red carpet for illegal immigrants." The New Hampshire Democratic Party has a piece charging that Romney would give too much power to employers and insurance companies to deny coverage of contraceptives. A group called Catholics for Ohio addresses the birth control debate from the opposite angle with a mail piece saying Obama "wants to tell the Catholic Church what to do."
The mailers are typically more cost-effective than television ads, with some pieces costing a dime or less. And they have a more scientific reach.
"It's the difference between using a rifle and a shotgun," said Randy Borntrager, political director of People for the American Way, which is sending anti-Romney mail into Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin. "With a shotgun you have a pretty widespread approach, with a more targeted rifle approach you can aim at a target at who you think is going to be persuadable."
Within the battleground states, the pieces are more likely to be steered to people with a regular history of voting. Groups like the National Rifle Association and the AFL-CIO feed off their well-honed lists. Organizations hoping to convert 2008 Obama voters have concentrated on geographic areas that backed the president four years ago but a Republican gubernatorial or congressional candidate two years later.
The Ending Spending Action Fund, a conservative super PAC bankrolled by billionaire Joe Ricketts, was on pace to send out nearly 2 million mail pieces in the month before the election, mostly in the presidential race. The group is focused on Iowa, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin. In one mailing, Obama is slammed for rising debt, nagging unemployment and higher dependency on food stamps. "Obama made things worse," it says.
Brian Baker, the group's president, said the mailers are a key part of a "surround sound campaign" to also drive the same message over the airwaves, on doorsteps and through email.
On the political left, People for the American Way is directing its mail efforts at pushing up the Latino vote, a crucial bloc for Obama. The group's mailers are printed in English and Spanish, and they portray Romney as an elitist whose policies would squeeze funding for Head Start, special education and college Pell Grants. "No dejes que te enganen ? Don't be fooled ? Mitt Romney is not for us," the ad concludes.
There are drawbacks to the mail pitches. Mail takes more time to develop and distribute, so pieces prepared for the stretch run won't pivot off late-breaking moments in the same way radio and television spots can. And there's no denying that even mail can reach a saturation point.
Outside Cleveland, Jean Gianfagna has days when six or seven political mailings come in ? occasionally four versions of the same one for herself, her husband and two college-age students. The marketing consultant knows the power of mail persuasion, but even she questions whether the investment is worth it at this stage.
"At some point you reach burnout and everyone I know is completely burned out in this election. We see hundreds and hundreds of ads," said Gianfagna, who is backing Obama but getting mail from both sides. "At some point you just tune it all out."
Associated Press
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