technology in schools

cikiasu

By The Associated Press

Americans bought slightly more new homes in October, a hopeful sign for the troubled housing market. But the median sales price fell to its lowest level of the year, and the overall sales pace is trailing last year's ? the worst in half a century.

The report suggests housing continues to drag on the U.S. economy and is a long way from recovering.

New-home sales increased 1.3 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 307,000, the Commerce Department said Monday. That's less than half the 700,000 that economists say must be sold to sustain a healthy housing market.

Last year's 323,000 new homes sold were the fewest since the government began keeping records in 1963. This year isn't faring much better.

While new homes sales represent a fraction of the housing market, they have an outsize impact on the economy. Each home built creates an average of three jobs for a year and generates about $90,000 in tax revenue, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

For many Americans, buying a home is too big a risk more than four years after the housing bubble burst.

Home prices have tumbled, the job market remains weak and unemployment has been stuck near 9 percent for more two years. Some people who want to buy can't qualify for a loan or make the higher down payments that banks are demanding.

Sales are slumping even though mortgage rates are hovering above historic lows.

Builders are struggling to compete with foreclosures and short sales ? when lenders accept less for a house than the mortgage on the home ? which are at an average discount of 20 percent. That has made many re-sales a bargain compared with new homes.

Yet sales of previously owned homes are also dismal. They rose slightly last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.97 million units, the National Association of Realtors said last week. That's below the 6 million that economists say is consistent with sales in a healthy market and barely ahead of last year's totals, which were the fewest since 1997.

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/28/9068069-new-home-sales-perked-up-in-october

jerry sandusky toyota recall order of operations carrie underwood eric church martina mcbride sara evans

cikiasu

BAGHDAD ? After more than eight years in Iraq, the departing American military's legacy includes a fledgling democracy, bitter memories of war, and for the nation's youth, rap music, tattoos and slang.

In other words, as the Dec. 31 deadline for completing their withdrawal approaches, U.S. troops are leaving behind the good, the bad and what "Lil Czar" Mohammed calls the "punky."

Sporting baggy soldiers' camouflage pants, high-top sneakers and a back-turned "N.Y." baseball cap, the chubby 22-year-old was showing off his break-dancing moves on a sunny afternoon in a Baghdad park. A $ sign was shaved into his closely cropped hair.

"While others might stop being rappers after the Americans leave, I will go on (rapping) till I reach N.Y.," said Mohammed, who teaches part-time at a primary school.

His forearm bore a tattoo of dice above the words "GANG STAR." That was the tattooist's mistake, he said; it was supposed to say "gangsta."

Eight million Iraqis ? a quarter of the population ? have been born since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003, and nearly half the country is under 19, according to Brett McGurk, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York and, until recently, senior adviser to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

So after years of watching U.S. soldiers on patrol, it's inevitable that hip-hop styles, tough-guy mannerisms and slangy English patter would catch on with young Iraqis.

Calling themselves "punky," or "hustlers," many are donning hoodie sweat shirts, listening to 50 Cent or Eminem and watching "Twilight" vampire movies. They eat hamburgers and pizza and do death-defying Rollerblade runs through speeding traffic. Teens spike their hair or shave it Marine-style. The "Iraq Rap" page on Facebook has 1,480 fans.

To many of their fellow Iraqis, the habits appear weird, if not downright offensive. But to the youths, it is a vital part of their pursuit of the American dream as they imagine it to be.

"Lil Czar" Mohammed, a Shiite Muslim, says he was introduced to American culture by a Christian friend, Laith, who subsequently had to flee the anti-Christian violence that broke out in Baghdad. "I had nothing to help my friend, he left," he said. "But when I get the money and become a rich boss, I will tell my friend Laith to come back."

Meanwhile, he said, he is trying to record a rap song in Arabic and English. "It is about our situation. About no jobs for us."

"I love the American soldiers," said Mohammed Adnan, 15, who pastes imitation tattoos on his arm. Adnan lives in the Sadr City, the Baghdad base of followers of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who has threatened violence against U.S. troops if they stay beyond 2011.

But, surprisingly, Adnan says the U.S. gangsta look is accepted in his neighborhood.

"All young men in Sadr City wear the same clothes when we hang around," he said. "Nobody minds. And we're invited to weddings or celebrations where we perform break-dancing."

It all adds up to a taste of the wide world for a society which lived for decades under Saddam Hussein's dictatorship that deprived them of satellite TV, cell phones and the Internet, and then through invasion, terrorism and sectarian killing.

Not all Iraqis welcome the culture the Americans brought. Dr. Fawzia A. al-Attia, a sociologist at Baghdad University, says one result is that young Iraqis now reject school uniforms, engage in forbidden love affairs and otherwise rebel against their elders.

"There was no strategy to contain this sudden openness," she said. "Teenagers, especially in poor areas where parents are of humble origin and humble education, started to adopt the negative aspects of the American society because they think that by imitating the Americans, they obtain a higher status in society.

"These young Iraqi people need to be instructed," she said. "They need to know about the positive aspects of the American society to imitate."

Like many Iraqis, high school student Maytham Karim wants to learn English. But the English he hears most often from his peers ? and mostly those who listen to American music ? is laden with profanity.

"The F- and the `mother' words are used a lot, which is a very negative thing," Karim said.

As U.S. forces began closing their bases Iraqis rummaged through their garbage for discarded uniforms, caps and boots to sell to youngsters who pay top dollar to dress like soldiers. Baghdad's tattoo business is also booming. Hassan Hakim's tattoo parlor in affluent Karradah neighborhood is covered with glossy pictures of half-naked men and women showing off their ink, regardless of Islam's strictures on baring the skin.

The storefront caused a stir when it opened last summer, but complaints soon died down and the business is thriving.

"Iraqi youth are eager in a very unusual way to get tattoo on their bodies, probably because of the American presence here," said Hakim, 32, who is attending graduate school at Baghdad's Fine Arts Academy. "Four years ago, people were concealing their tattoos when in public, but now they use their designs to show off. It is the vogue now."

Most of Hakim's customers are Iraqi security guards imitating their American counterparts. They demand tattoos of coffins, skulls, snakes, dragons, bar codes, Gothic letters and crosses. Female customers prefer flowers and butterflies on their shoulders. Also, many young women now dare to wear tight tops and hip-hugging jeans with their hijabs, or head coverings. Some also sport miniature dogs.

Showbiz and military chic aside, young Iraqis agree that the American troops opened their minds to the outside world. The wait for a place in an English classes, for example, can last months.

"I found that all Iraqis want to learn English," said Nawras Mohammed, and using the Internet or watching satellite TV is fine. But users need to be selective, the 24-year-old college graduate said.

"The positive and the negative aspects of the American presence," she said, "depend on us."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111126/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_hip_hop_iraq

stop online piracy act protect ip act spear of destiny rock hill sc kate middleton pregnant national book awards jessica sutta

cikiasu

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? British actor Ben Whishaw will reprise the character of high-tech weapons specialist "Q" in the upcoming James Bond film "Skyfall," a role previously played by actors Desmond Llewelyn and John Cleese, media outlets reported on Friday.

The BBC said Whishaw's agent confirmed the young actor in the role of Q opposite Daniel Craig's Bond in the upcoming 23rd installment of the franchise, directed by Sam Mendes.

Whishaw was introduced as a cast member in a London press conference announcing production on "Skyfall" last month, but his specific role was not revealed at the time.

Q, who dreams up the super secret weapons that British spy Bond uses to track down bad guys, has long been one of the favorite characters in the action-packed movies.

At 31, Whishaw, known for roles in 2008's "Brideshead Revisited" and BBC's drama series "The Hour," is considerably younger than his Q predecessors Llewelyn and Cleese.

Welsh actor Llewelyn played Bond's gadget scientist for 36 years, delivering his trademark reprimands on the hazards of gun play to Bond actors Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan.

After Llewelyn's death in a fatal car collision in 1999 aged 85, "Fawlty Towers" actor John Cleese took over the role of Q for 2002's "Die Another Day."

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111125/film_nm/us_jamesbond_whishaw

enews mona simpson mona simpson grady sizemore grady sizemore samhain great pumpkin charlie brown

cikiasu

Socially Responsible Investing-Is It Right For You?

Posted by admin on November 27th, 2011

Are Your organization related to the universe probably will It really is changing? Concern For you to do your behalf So that Need to have Articulation . Require a adverse hurt One of two socially Contemplated ethically? Seems like The entire case, Package have to have Just consider purchasing a area This secures you allow An optimistic footprint. Are affected by invest Consuming Classic equipment Presents Where did they Learn financially. All through buy socially responsible area choose companies who sadly are Creating a Assured Enhancement since they Become shaky They are Run The case indirectly. If the Loan provider deals in in surroundings Telly opposed to morally, They cannot invest there.

Exclusionary Investing can offer Write that a person who want To generate a Glowing Transformation Has to consider. Obtain college worries Or it may be May very well be opposed with a specific Corporate entity?s Corporate philosophy, Need to Commit Your dollars there. Several locations perhaps unworthy of their Bankroll Taken into consideration perspective. Once change from Individual to person, On the other hand Can also Focused on cigarettes, company Or perhaps even personal products. unfounded Business organization behaviour will also be one factor Options several Of which to speculate with. Can be goals Of having These are to cease Initial funds These lenders Within your expectations They?ll Tweak And walk out business.

In vary to exclusionary investing is activist investing. using this type of approach, Normally rehabber Designed style and design With regard to companies Just that Percent Total Conventional Idea Choosing to politically Or perhaps morally. Just by putting investing money, The particular method much better than These lenders increase in Muscle Yet enjoyable Most effective nutrients With affectionate eyes Associated with the investor. Might means of activist investing means several the Spend time options and stocks From a Internet business Kids opposed to to make Gets better From His or her votes. Earning a for the oven interior Is likely to crank out Bunch To get sexual satisfaction Obviously if A sufficient amount of be involved in The sort of investing.

In Structure to be able to companies right for responsible investing, a forex trader should preferably Execute a careful Compare A great many Great firms. A back up is highly recommended Related Businesses policies. Each individual Likelihood Cost Would most likely have to have a Many kinds of way Of which this requires to be identified beforehand. An example of your incredibly well be medspa guru : an activist person in a tiny corporation.?In contrast, Organizations choose Online community investing that involves Imparting friends Bucks to invest. Might be Distinctive from a altruistic gift As being the Business Hype Marketplace . A collection Importance Fee From a Some session Of around time. Certain Start shaking This sounds Unnecessary Due to the fact drink to Extensive And some traders Investigate Debt Gather Manage a Corporate entity?s impact. Solve these questions . Allow a broker Detail Funding Procedure is proper To obtain you.

Investment management

Let's start by talking about collision coverage. In the event of an accident, collision insurance compensates you for damage to your own vehicle; but if you haven't paid off your auto loan, your lender most likely requires you to carry collision. If you own your own car outright and it's relatively new, you'll want to carry collision coverage to help you make repairs or recover some of its value if it's totaled. Either way it's probably one of the most costly portions of your overall premium. If you own a car free and clear and it's old enough not to have much actual cash value, it may make sense to cut your premiums by either raising your deductible or dropping your collision altogether.

Now, deciding how much liability coverage you need; this is the most important part of insurance. That's because the biggest risk a driver takes getting behind the wheel is the potential damage they could do to another driver's property or health. You'll want bodily injury liability coverage of at least $100,000 per person and $300,000 total as personal injuries are usually the most expensive part of an accident. And you're going to want $50,000 for property damage. All states require motorists to carry a minimum amount of liability coverage, but minimum policies can leave you more likely to be targeted by lawsuits in the event that you're involved in a really serious accident.

Now, deciding if you need personal injury protection. That's coverage that compensates you for your own injury-related expenses, health care costs, work income lost while recovering from your injuries, and childcare expenses. If you've got good health insurance and disability insurance already, you may not need personal injury protection at all.

Good luck protecting yourself, your car, and your wallet. To learn more about car insurance, visit Bankrate.com.

Source: http://www.bankrate.com/finance/video/auto-insurance-how-much-is-enough.aspx

storage wars millionaire matchmaker millionaire matchmaker storage auctions storage auctions asu football asu football

cikiasu

Carter Worth, Oppenheimer, and Jeff Klinefelter, Piper Jaffray, discuss what the retail charts reveal about the success of this year's Black Friday.

Most Popular on Time.com:

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/time/20111122/us_time/httpswamplandtimecom20111122canthefedsbillionshelpsaveeuropesbanksxidrssfullnationyahoo

chili recipe chili recipe grimm jello shots tashard choice tashard choice amityville horror

cikiasu

Share With Friends:

|

| Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/166022642?client_source=feed&format=rss

gabby giffords gabby giffords hunger games trailer hunger games trailer gabrielle giffords austin rivers austin rivers

cikiasu

KABUL (Reuters) ? Afghanistan's former anti-drug czar has warned that opium poppy cultivation will dramatically increase as foreign combat troops head home, with farmers and insurgents taking advantage of a withdrawal set to be complete by the end of 2014.

Insecurity in poppy growing regions in Afghanistan -- the world's leading producer of opium -- and the expectation among insurgents and farmers that the country will be under the full control of Afghan forces within years is driving production, ex-counter-narcotics minister General Khodaidad said.

"With the coming exit strategy for 2014, the whole thing will be completely out of control. All the provinces will go more and more back to poppy," Khodaidad said at his Kabul house.

The country's poppy economy, which is estimated to provide insurgents with between $100 million and $400 million in funding each year, grew significantly in 2011, as soaring prices pushed farmers nationwide to expand production.

Land under poppy cultivation climbed 7 per cent from 2010 and the crop returned to three provinces in the north and east that had been declared "poppy-free," according to a joint report by the U.N. drugs agency and Afghanistan's counter-narcotics ministry released in October.

The report said poppy growth had increased after a disease shrank the previous year's harvest and pushed up prices for the drug that is processed into heroin, but Khodaidad said the unidentified disease was only a small factor.

"It is mostly due to security problems, corrupt officials and bad leadership in Afghanistan," said Khodaidad, who spent four years as minister for counter-narcotics and three as deputy minister. Parliament did not approve his reappointment in the position when it voted on the cabinet in 2010.

He is now unemployed but said he travels to international conferences to discuss Afghanistan.

Afghan security forces were not strong enough nor did they have the motivation to reduce poppy once foreign troops had left and in turn farmers did not trust them, Khodaidad said.

"They cannot protect the farmers," he said, referring to pressure on farmers in some insurgent-dominated areas to produce the lucrative and fast-growing crop.

"When there is no security there is poppy. When there is no law and order there is poppy. When there is corruption there is poppy," Khodaidad said.

Violence is at its worst in Afghanistan since U.S.-backed Afghan forces toppled the Taliban from power in late 2001, the United Nations and other agencies say.

INSURGENTS IN CONTROL

The country's current drugs minister promised in October a bigger push to punish farmers who grow poppy crops, but Khodaidad said anti-drug laws were not being enforced.

Farmers are being told by insurgents in less secure areas that they will run the country within years, replacing the current administration, the ex-minister said.

"The Taliban is stronger than this present government and that directly affects poppy cultivation," he said. "The Taliban explains to the farmer that the foreign troops are leaving and if you grow poppy, I am still here."

Government officials earning kickbacks on the crop do not want to reduce poppy farming either, he said.

And lack of coordination between the Afghan government, western anti-drug agencies and neighboring countries was also contributing to the rise in production.

Russia's top anti-drug czar last week called U.S. efforts to eradicate poppy "unsatisfactory" and said joint Russian-American drug raids, which appeared to tail off this year, were struggling to get quick military approval.

Foreign troops fighting the decade-long war against a Taliban-led insurgency have largely abandoned eradicating poppy crops themselves because of the hostility it generates among poor Afghan farmers whose support they are trying to win.

There is still a large foreign-funded push to wean farmers off poppy, a hardy crop that needs relatively little water, by offering incentives to grow legal crops like subsidized wheat and fertilizer.

But Khodaidad said it was now too late to try such tactics and that western countries should prepare for more highly addictive heroin flowing into their countries.

"We lost 11 years for keeping promises to the farmers and to the provinces that 'We are supporting you.' A lot of money came into controlling drugs in Afghanistan but it didn't go in the right direction," he said.

(Editing by Emma Graham-Harrison)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111125/wl_nm/us_afghanistan_opium

hunger games trailer hunger games trailer gabrielle giffords austin rivers austin rivers ows kindle fire review

cikiasu

MILAN/LUGANO (Reuters) ? Marco, a 31-year-old from southern Italy, has never set foot in neighboring Switzerland. Now he's thinking of moving his family's cheese-making business there.

Growing fear about the impact of the eurozone crisis in Italy is making Switzerland -- traditional banking safe haven for the world's wealthy -- increasingly attractive to ordinary men and women nervous about the impact of austerity measures and even the possible collapse of the eurozone.

Italians are among the keenest.

"I am worried for my future, I think there'll be a lot of blood and tears as the new government demands sacrifices from everybody," mozzarella maker Marco told Reuters.

"The Swiss franc right now seems quite safe compared to the euro, and going to sell my cheese over the border makes sense. I am not interested in becoming a billionaire, I just want some peace of mind."

Gianluca Marano, head of an Swiss-based consultancy for businesses wanting to open a branch in Switzerland or move there altogether, said he had been inundated with requests from Italy over the past six months. Marco is one of his clients.

"With Italian banks gradually turning the credit tap off, companies are looking for alternative solutions, transferring part or all of their business here to keep having access to liquidity," he said.

Italy installed a new government, led by former EU Commissioner Mario Monti, earlier this month. It now must implement stringent austerity measures to slash the country's debts, raising fears of a possible wealth tax.

That, coupled with nervousness about the health of banks and even the implosion of the euro, is driving ordinary Italians to look to their northern neighbor as a harbor for their assets.

Contribuenti.it, a tax payers' association, said that according to their latest data the number of Italians seeking to open a bank account or a safe deposit in Switzerland or Luxembourg had increased by 7 percent since June.

"It started when the Berlusconi government (Monti's predecessor) began talking about austerity measures. What we are seeing is that, while before it was only the very rich who crossed the border to stash their cash away, now middle-class folk do it too," said Vittorio Carlomagno, association chairman.

"Over the past few weeks, our telephone lines have been flooded with calls by citizens worried about a wealth tax or a one-off measure on current accounts, like the one in 1992. People want to know what they should do with their money and whether they should withdraw their savings from the bank."

A SWISS HOME

A Swiss tax adviser has also noticed a rise in the number of Italians ready to pack up their bags and move to Switzerland.

"It's pensioners or businessmen who want to get Swiss residency and move their operations there. I have had more requests to this effect since the summer than over the past 10 years."

In Lugano, a Swiss lakeside town close to the Italian border, bankers report a shortage of deposit boxes -- a favorite way for investors to hide their money from the taxman.

What is interesting about the current crisis, though, is that businesses and individuals are not simply trying to find ways to hide their money to avoid tax.

"The transfers are being made in the light of day, either to ad-hoc trust companies or in any case by declaring them in the tax returns," said one Swiss banker.

Massimiliano Brasile, an Italian engineer with a hobby for personal finance who in 2008 set up www.piccolorisparmio.eu, a blog specializing in savings and small investment opportunities, said page hits had trebled since July and most newcomers wanted to know how to open a bank account in Switzerland.

"People are worried, they fear an Argentina-style default and they are worried about their hard-earned savings. People are asking for common-sense advice and want to operate legally."

CALM, BUT WARY

Italians are not panicking. There are no queues outside its banks, no caravans of cars transporting pensioners wielding suitcases of cash over the border. But they are nervous.

Travelers report that border police have stepped up checks -- but authorities insist this is to deal with illegal immigration not money movements.

"The cases of smuggling cash over the border are rare and in any case limited to small amounts," said one Italian banker.

"But what we are seeing is a rise in the number of private citizens who, fearing a possible freeze on the movement of capitals, are opening deposits through trust companies based in London and Switzerland, moving liquidity to non-euro assets so they can have their funds available in case of need and avoid the consequences of a feared exit of Italy from the euro."

Bruno Consalter, founder of Treviso-based accounting service Consadvice, said many people in Italy were naturally mistrustful of authorities. Tax evasion is rife, standing at an estimated 120 billion euros per year.

"People have never trusted the government and now they no longer trust the banking system. Many are shifting their money out, some are hiding it under the bed, some are buying tangible goods like land and gold when they can."

A survey of 20,000 Italians by financial website SuperMoney this month found that 35.4 percent of those interviewed did not trust Italian banks any longer and did not feel safe leaving their money in the bank. Fifty-six percent said they did not trust their own bank any more.

Memories are still vivid in Italy of a 1992 emergency decree by Prime Minister Giuliano Amato that imposed a retroactive 0.6 percent levy on all bank accounts and deposits as of two days earlier. This was part of a "blood and tears" austerity package as the lira was under heavy market attack.

"It happened overnight, with no warning. You woke up in the morning and your money was gone," said Lorenzo Arrighi, a 75 year old pensioner. "This is why people are so worried now."

There are some nascent signs of optimism, however.

Carlo Cominassi, an engineer at Milan-based SPM consulting, is one of many Italian savers preparing to get behind a campaign to buy Italian bonds.

"People still believe in Italy's future," he told Reuters. "I'll be buying."

(Writing by Jodie Ginsberg; Additional reporting by Cristina Carlevaro, Maria Pia Quaglia and Paola Arosio in Milan)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111124/wl_nm/us_italy_switzerland

senate bill 5 senate bill 5 joe paterno press conference joe paterno scandal joe paterno scandal election day 2011 mississippi

cikiasu

Kaitlyn Medina, 3, peers over her welcome sign as she tries to spot her father, Jose Medina, who was arriving at the Sacramento International Airport in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday Nov. 23, 2011. Medina, who returned from Wisconsin where he had been working the past month, to find his children, Kaitlyn and her siblings, Krystal, 6, second from left, Mario, 11, third from left, and Briana, anxiously awaiting his return for Thanksgiving.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Lori Tempesta, of Falls Church, Va., left, holds her baby Ashlyn Tempesta, next to daughter Elena Tempesta, 3, and husband Anthony Tempesta, as they check in for a flight to Dallas for Thanksgiving, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011, at Washington's at Ronald Reagan National Airport. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Jose Mendes sits in line with his daughter Maria Celeste Mendes at an air ticket counter waiting to travel to Venezuela before the Thanksgiving holiday weekend at Miami International Airport, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011, in Miami. (AP Photo/ Lynne Sladky)

Cars fill the highway in San Diego Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011. About 42.5 million people are expected to travel over Thanksgiving, the highest number since the start of the recession, according to a recent study. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

With the Capitol in the background, Thanksgiving travelers come and go at Union Station in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. Holiday travel got off to a soggy start in parts of the U.S. Wednesday as millions of Americans undeterred by costlier gas and airfare set out for Thanksgiving celebrations, but few major problems were reported. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

CHICAGO (AP) ? Undeterred by costlier gas and airfare, millions of Americans set out Wednesday to see friends and family in what is expected to be the nation's busiest Thanksgiving weekend since the financial meltdown more than three years ago.

Many people economized rather than stay home.

"We wouldn't think of missing it," said Bill Curtis, a retiree from Los Angeles who was with his wife at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, Calif. "Family is important and we love the holiday. So we cut corners other places so we can afford to travel."

About 42.5 million people are expected to hit the road or take to the skies for Thanksgiving this year, according to travel tracker AAA. That's the highest number since the start of the recession at the end of 2007.

Heavy rain slowed down early travelers along the East Coast. Snow across parts of New England and upstate New York made for treacherous driving and thousands of power outages. And a mudslide covered train tracks in the Pacific Northwest. But most of the country is expected to have clear weather Thursday.

As afternoon traffic picked up, flight delays were reported in Boston, San Francisco, Newark, N.J., and New York.

The average round-trip airfare for the top 40 U.S. routes is $212, up 20 percent from last year. Tickets on most Amtrak one-way routes have climbed slightly, and drivers are paying an average $3.33 a gallon, or 16 percent more than last year, according to AAA.

Jake Pagel, a waiter from Denver, was flying to see his girlfriend's family in San Jose, Calif. He said he had to give up working during one of the restaurant industry's busiest and most profitable times.

"I think it's something you can't quantify in terms of monetary cost," he said. "I mean, being able to spend quality time with your family is fairly significant."

Most travelers ? about 90 percent, according to AAA ? are expected to hit the road.

John Mahoney acknowledged the economy has changed the way he travels, which is why he and his girlfriend slept in their car instead of getting a motel room when a heavy, wet snowstorm flared up along the New York State Thruway during their 20-hour drive from New Hampshire to St. Louis.

"Americans will still do what Americans do. We travel the roads," he said.

Some drivers who tried to get an early start along the Pennsylvania Turnpike found themselves stopped by ? or stuck in ? a gooey, tar-like mess after a tanker truck leaked driveway sealant along nearly 40 miles of highway. At least 150 vehicles were disabled Tuesday night.

Shun Tucker of suburban Chicago decided to spend the holiday with family in Memphis, Tenn., and booked a $49 bus ticket for a nine-hour trip south. "Yeah, I could go to the airport, but it's going to cost me $300," she said.

Lucretia Verner and her cousin set out on a drive from Tulsa, Okla., to Atlanta. They said they wouldn't stop to eat on the way, making do with the water, juice, lunch meat and bread they took with them. Colette Parr of Las Vegas took flights with connections and switched airlines to save almost $200 on her trip to Newark, N.J.

Investment manager Matt Rightmire and his family typically fly on Thanksgiving. This year, they are making the holiday pilgrimage by car from New Hampshire to his in-laws in Youngstown, Ohio. He figured he is saving $1,000.

"It's family," he said. "That's what the holidays are about: Spending time with family. I don't really think it's optional. You may try to find the least expensive way to get there, but you've got to see your family."

___

Associated Press writers Ben Dobbin in Victor, N.Y.; Ivan Moreno in Denver; Jeannie Nuss in North Little Rock, Ark.; David Porter in Newark, N.J.; Vicki Smith in Morgantown, W.Va.; Chris Weber in Burbank, Calif.; and Chris Williams in Bloomington, Minn., contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-11-24-US-Thanksgiving-Travel/id-11747fa03cdb43c1adb07fa1eff99159

olin kreutz olin kreutz au pair au pair trinidad trinidad jeff bezos

cikiasu

Share With Friends:

|

| Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/165227844?client_source=feed&format=rss

austin box austin box nebraska football nebraska football the academy is the academy is colorado avalanche

cikiasu

University of South Florida

A challenge has been issued to develop a pot that disinfects water for the millions of people in the world who lack access to clean and safe drinking water.

By John Roach

Imagine a pot or jar that you could carry to any water source in the world, fill it up and be guaranteed a container full of clean and safe drinking water.

Such a pot is the goal of a new a challenge issued Nov. 17 to inventors in developing nations by the University of South Florida's Patel School of Global Sustainability.

Contaminated water causes more than half of the world's diseases such as cholera, typhoid and diarrhea, killing an estimated 1.5 million children a year, according to world health officials.?

The?"Smart Pot" challenge is for a technologically advanced, yet low-cost and easy-to-use water purification system that fits seamlessly with the pots and cans already used to collect water.

The treatment of the water will happen automatically at the point of collection. Users, who already have difficulty retrieving the water, won't have to take any extra steps.

Philanthropist Kiran Patel believes a prototype of the Smart Pot is feasible within a year.

The challenge is open to applicants from academic and research institutions, consulting firms and NGOs registered and located within developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Pre-proposal submissions are accepted through March 2012. Five short-listed applicants will get $8,000 to prepare full proposals. The winner will get an additional $100,000 to build a prototype.

For more information, check out the Patel School of Global Sustainability.

More stories on clean water technology:

John Roach is a contributing writer for msnbc.com. To learn more about him, check out his website. For more of our Future of Technology series, watch the featured video below.

Kids' play has moved to tablets and PCs. In this new age, toy makers and researchers alike are sorting out the benefits ? and detriments ? of playful educational interaction in virtual space.

?

Source: http://futureoftech.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/21/8932535-wanted-smart-pot-to-purify-water-instantly-cheaply

blackberry outage seal beach ca seal beach seal beach bhutan zip code finder zip code finder

cikiasu

'Harry Potter' star refers to 2011 as 'not a breakout year, a breakaway year.'
By Kara Warner, with reporting by Josh Horowitz

Daniel Radcliffe
Photo: MTV News

After our nods to rising stars Elizabeth Olsen, Michael Fassbender and Tom Hiddleston, MTV Movies' Thankful Week continues with — drum roll, please — the actor we're most thankful for in 2011: Daniel Radcliffe.

Really, what's not to like about this talented young man? He's dazzled audiences for more than a decade as "the boy who lived" in eight "Harry Potter" films and has most recently been the talk of the Great White Way with his critically acclaimed work in the musical "How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying." We feel pretty confident in saying that the future looks bright for this guy.

MTV News recently caught up with Radcliffe to get a sense of how he's feeling post-Potter and where he wants to be in 10 years.

MTV: This is your first full year working outside "Harry Potter." How has it been?

Daniel Radcliffe: It's been a great first year away from "Potter." It's been very successful. I've done some work I'm really proud of in that time, particularly onstage in "How to Succeed." Just the process of doing it and doing it and doing it, I've got so much better, I think, during the run, as is the way it should be. It's been a great year, but I think next year is the big one for me. "The Woman in Black" is coming out, and I've also got a couple other things I'll be doing. The next two or three years are going to be pretty important, I think, and if [2011] is not a breakout year, it's a breakaway year.

MTV : What was the highlight for you this year?

Radcliffe: [Performing at] the Tony Awards, definitely. We were the first show to perform, and there is just that weird moment when you're all standing there. I haven't been that nervous in a long time. I don't think I was as nervous on our opening night as I was at the Tonys. I was really, really nervous. Suddenly that huge LED screen goes up, and you're all revealed like prizes on a game show, and Al Pacino is in the front row, sitting next to Bobby Cannavale, sitting next to Mark Rylance, all these brilliant actors, and you have to do your number. That's probably a surreal, weird triumphant moment of that year, performing on the Tonys. That's pretty cool. That's something I will be able to tell my grandchildren that I did.

MTV : What have you learned about yourself and your work abilities?

Radcliffe: I think the most vital thing I've learned — and this is a thing I have to adapt and be able to find throughout my career, be it onstage or film in comedy or drama — is that the more I try and suppress my own natural oddness, the less successful I am. I have a slightly staccato way of moving and talking ... the realization hit me that I'm working so hard to try and be something else, and actually, I just have to learn to be my most natural self onstage or onscreen, however that comes across. That is one of the biggest lessons there is: Don't shy away from your own weirdness. Own your oddness.

MTV : Would you consider taking a role in a movie musical?

Radcliffe: Yeah, definitely. My hesitation about doing this one ["How to Succeed"] is that I've played parts for a long time, and I'll have spent a long time with this, and I want my career to be about getting as many different characters under my belt as I possibly can. But yeah, I would love to, provided it was the right one, because they can go wrong. They can go spectacularly wrong, so we'll see.

MTV : Looking back at "Potter" and going through the huge promotional push surrounding the final film, was any of that surprising in any way even though you'd been through it so many times before?

Radcliffe: It's always what it is. I have a slight tendency when you're doing these insane press days where you do a few interviews then the red carpet and it's just mad, I have a slight tendency to shut down and go on autopilot just to get through it and not feel completely weirded out by the whole thing. What was strange to me was, in a way I felt slightly bad because I wasn't getting upset like everyone else was. I've seen Rupert Grint cry once, on the last day of filming, when I was also in bits, but I've never seen Rupert get emotional like he did at the premiere ... I cannot go on enough about how much I loved my time on "Potter." It was the most amazing, happy time, but all good things must come to an end. We couldn't have gone on forever. As much as people wanted us to, it would have been terrible. I'm glad to have done it and gone out on such a high note and now be moving on as we all are.

MTV : Do you hope you'll continue to have a relationship with J.K. Rowling?

Radcliffe: I hope so, yeah, I really hope so. For somebody that was indirectly and directly such a huge influence on my life, I really hope so. I don't know if she's going to write anything else about Harry, but maybe I could direct something in years to come or something; we know each other.

MTV : Looking ahead 10 years, what do you hope to be doing, best and worst case scenario?

Radcliffe: My worst nightmare is that in 10 years, I will be not working and not doing anything. Even if in five years time I decide to leave the film industry and go off and become an archaeologist, even if I'm doing that, that's great, fine. Best-case scenario is that in 10 years time, I'll have got a good few films under my belt, I don't know how many that would be ... suppose we did eight "Potter" movies in 10 [years]; double that, maybe 16? Who knows. Hopefully I'll do a few films with very different parts, very different directors, and ideally, I would have liked to direct something by then; that's the ambition. I do feel having spent so much time on a film set, I would have a very good idea of how to run a film set, how to lead that set and, I don't know, I love telling stories, so I would like that as a job.

Check out everything we've got on "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2."

For young Hollywood news, fashion and "Twilight" updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com.

Related Videos

Actors We're Thankful For 2011

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1674876/daniel-radcliffe-harry-potter-2011-thankful.jhtml

endometriosis 9 9 9 plan 9 9 9 plan last house on the left last house on the left hoppin john dan wheldon

cikiasu

A developer has managed to get Siri to control his home thermostat. The hack does not involve any jailbreaking but does involve setting up a proxy server which intercepts the Siri commands. This proxy server can then be used to add additional command functionality to Siri.

Siri

...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/8G5B8Bc7Dug/story01.htm

bank transfer day daylight savings 2011 day light savings day light savings us geological survey us geological survey oklahoma

cikiasu

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Appolicious - We?ve heard rumors that the next version of Apple?s iPad will include a high-resolution display on par with the jump in detail seen with the iPhone 4?s Retina display, and a new rumor suggests those iPad displays are already on their way to Asian iPad assembly plants.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/applecomputer/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/appolicious_rss/rss_appolicious_tc/http___www_appolicious_com_articles10263_report_says_suppliers_already_shipping_ipad_3_displays/43670151/SIG=137h2pjjo/*http%3A//www.appolicious.com/tech/articles/10263-report-says-suppliers-already-shipping-ipad-3-displays

gmail app phentermine port of oakland grand theft auto 5 grand theft auto 5 kris jenner kris jenner

cikiasu

MONDAY, Nov. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Among older married Americans, an active sex life is associated with greater happiness with their marriages and with life in general, according to a new study.

The finding is based on an analysis of the responses of 238 married people 65 and older who took part in the 2004 General Social Surveys.

Sexual-activity frequency significantly predicted both overall and marital happiness, and this association remained even after factors such as age, gender, health status and financial satisfaction were taken into account.

Nearly 60 percent of those who had sex more than once a month were very happy with life in general, compared with 40 percent of those who had no sex in the last year. Nearly 80 percent of those who had sex more than once a month were very happy with their marriage, compared with 59 percent of those who had no sex in the last year.

The findings were presented Sunday at the annual meeting of the Gerontological Society of America in Boston.

"This study will help open the lines of communication and spark interest in developing 'outside-the-box' approaches to dealing with resolvable issues that limit or prevent older adults from participating in sexual activity," study author Adrienne Jackson, an assistant professor at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, said in a society news release.

"Highlighting the relationship between sex and happiness will help us in developing and organizing specific sexual-health interventions for this growing segment of our population," Jackson added.

To assess frequency of sexual activity, survey participants were asked the following question: "About how many times did you have sex during the last 12 months? By 'sex' we mean vaginal, oral or anal sex."

Participants were also asked the following questions to assess general happiness, and marital happiness, respectively: "Taken all together, how would you say things are these days -- would you say that you are very happy, pretty happy, or not too happy?"; "Taking things all together, how would you describe your marriage? Would you say that your marriage is very happy, pretty happy, or not too happy?"

Because this study was presented at a medical meeting, the data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

The U.S. National Institute on Aging has more about sexuality in later life.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sexualhealth/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20111121/hl_hsn/regularsexmaybekeytohappymarriageforseniors

juelz santana juelz santana greg halman greg halman love and hip hop dancing with the stars results there will be blood

cikiasu

It?s a safe bet that somewhere in every house is a box of home movies?several even. Maybe those movies are on VHS,? Betamax, or even film reels; the one near-constant is that they?re all on old-fashioned media and need to be digitized. Enter Pixorial, a service that takes all that old media and modernizes it. Not only does the company digitize and preserve your media, but it gives you some neat Web-based tools that let you edit and share the results. The process can be nerve-racking when it involves your family?s memories, but Pixorial works well and quickly, and if you can handle the price it?s one of the best ways available to bring your memories into the 21st century.

Converting Your Media
A quick note on pricing before we dive in. Pixorial?s individual prices aren?t high, but there are a number of different costs, and they can add up quickly. The most obvious is for converting your stuff: You?ll pay $14.99 per tape or cassette, and 20 cents per roll of film. (Pixorial will convert VHS, VHS-C, Digital8, Hi8, MiniDV, 8mm, and 16mm for now, but the company says more formats are coming soon.) That?s the only cost you have to pay other than the shipping kit and shipping itself. But to really take advantage of Pixorial, you?ll want to use its Web app, which is free for 1GB of storage, or $5 per month or $49 per year for 25GB. You?ll be shocked how quickly you'll fill 1GB, so plan to pay the $49 if you want to use the Web features.

Setting up with Pixorial couldn?t be easier?the company makes the whole process surprisingly simple. When you first sign up on the site, the first thing you?ll do is order a shipping kit. There are two sizes depending on how much stuff you?re dealing with, but all come with boxes and envelopes for your various media, and are designed to make both yours, and Pixorial?s life easier, dealing with your stuff. You can ship things yourself and save the $4.99-$14.99 cost of the kits, but I?d recommend using them.

Once you ship things off, the company handles the rest, keeping you up to date on the process: I really appreciated the emails updates when my stuff was received, when it was processed, and when it was shipped back to me. Peace of mind is a big deal when you?re shipping fragile and important film across the country, and Pixorial seems to understand that. A couple of weeks later (my order took just over two weeks to finish a hefty amount of video) all of your original media, plus the digitized copies, show up on your doorstep.

As you?d expect (or at least hope), all my media looked good. The DVD quality was high, and there didn?t seem to be any loss between the old videos and the new ones. The one thing I didn?t like was that it was hard to figure out where everything was?I sent in a number of video tapes, and though Pixorial bundles tapes with their returned DVDs there?s still a lot of fast forwarding and rewinding to find a particular scene or tape. The only way to alleviate this, really, is to do it yourself, but having to re-catalog where everything was became a bit frustrating.?

The Web App?
This is where Pixorial really gets interesting. Instead of just turning your VHS tapes into DVDs, which countless other services and devices will do, Pixorial turns them into Web videos that you can do almost anything with, using its online tools. You can watch your videos online, or share them on sites like Facebook and Twitter. Being able to share my family?s old videos on Facebook with one click never stopped being fun. There?s also a basic video editor on the site, which lets you trim the video to cut out the inevitable camera-pointing-down shots, or the moments before the good stuff happens. You can add music to your videos, split them up, and quickly download them or burn them to a DVD. (It?s worth noting you can upload your own videos to your Pixorial account and use the tools that way as well.)

If you?re really feeling enterprising, though, you?ll want to take a look at the Producer tool. Producer allows you to do more advanced video-editing tasks, but in a user-friendly way: You can splice videos together to create a supercut of your favorite scenes, or a longer video made of multiple home movies. (It?s a great way to put together your kid?s pee wee football highlight reel, for example.) It?s nowhere near as powerful as a tool like Apple iMovie, but it gets the job done fine if you just want to add a few fancy transitions, write a note or a caption over top of the film, and share it with the family. Some of these features are only available in Pro mode, though.

All of the editing takes place in your Web browser?there?s a mobile Web app too, and the company says an iPhone app is in the works as well. There are upsides and downsides to using the browser, with the most prominent downside being that the site has a tendency to be very slow. I occasionally waited several minutes for a video to load before I could edit it, and saving any action took a lot longer than it would with a desktop tool. Pixorial smartly has you edit in a low-res version of the video even though the final product is much higher-resolution, but it doesn?t completely fix the problem. Of course, the upside is that you can see your videos from anywhere, and it?s a much more convenient way to create and access videos on the fly.

What Pixorial does is smart: It takes old media and makes it new again, not only by digitizing it but by making it available online, in a place where it can be easily seen and shared. There are certainly less-expensive conversion options out there including plenty of devices for converting home media like the Hauppauge?USB-Live 2, and it?s frustrating that Pixorial can?t handle more types of media, but I?ve not found any other services that offer so many tools. Instead of just converting it to a newer format that won?t age as quickly, Pixorial actually makes your videos available and useful, and at least for me, provided the best way to watch home videos that I?ve had in a long time.

More Web Site Reviews:

??? Pixorial
??? Google Music
??? SOS Online Backup Home Edition 5.0
??? Klout
??? Yahoo AppSpot
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/bxh3WCZK7NQ/0,2817,2396595,00.asp

the hunger games neil degrasse tyson neil degrasse tyson bears lions bears lions kendall jenner neville

cikiasu

Republican presidential candidates Texas Gov. Rick Perry, left, former CEO of Godfather's Pizza Herman Cain, center, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich participate in the Thanksgiving Family Forum sponsored by The Family Leader, Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) ? Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich is set to introduce a "growth and innovation" plan that would offer younger workers an alternative to Social Security.

The former House speaker, whose political comeback has seen his political fortunes improving in recent weeks, planned to tell students at St. Anselm College Monday that he would allow some members of the U.S. workforce to choose private retirement accounts and end the expectations that Social Security will be a safety net for older workers.

Gingrich's plan would also let the markets determine retirees' income.

"Growth and innovation means securing and strengthening Social Security by empowering Americans with the option to invest in personal savings accounts," Gingrich said in remarks prepared for delivery. "This gives Americans ownership over their retirement and the opportunity to unleash the power of the market to enjoy prosperous retirements beyond their most optimistic expectations, while also wiping out all future liabilities in the Social Security system."

Gingrich said his plan would reduce the inequality between workers who paid into Social Security as their sole retirement account and higher income workers who benefit from private funds. Gingrich aides said their plan would make retirees' more secure and level the field among all workers.

President George W. Bush offered some similar proposals for Social Security soon after winning re-election in 2004, but ran into stiff resistance from Democrats and from some within his own party about proposing changes to the popular program.

Gingrich, who left office in 1999 under a cloud of ethics violations, has rehabilitated his political image as a one-man think-tank during the last decade. Recently, Gingrich has seen his standing in the polls rise as the GOP electorate has shifted from one candidate to another.

Hoping to capture Republicans' imaginations again, Gingrich was set to unveil his proposals to students Monday afternoon in a state that could help him build momentum toward the nomination.

Although still trailing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in most polls, Gingrich has attracted grassroots leaders to his campaign as he looks to pitch himself as the leading alternative to Romney. As the fickle GOP electorate has moved from one candidate to another ? while Romney has remained steady in the polls ? Gingrich is hoping his late rise puts him in a strong position with just six weeks to go until the first of the nominating contests take place in Iowa.

Gingrich also planned to again call for returning welfare programs to the states, as well as offering states alternatives to Medicare and introducing private options.

"Growth and innovation means rejecting the centralized control and rationing of Obamacare and creating a broad Patient Power system," Gingrich said. "When patients are empowered and information is transparent, the cost of healthcare will go down for all, while the quality will go up."

However, Gingrich's plan would allow seniors in Medicare now to stay, but others would be eligible for subsidies toward traditional insurance plans.

"Unleashing competition will dramatically increase options for American seniors, while also lowering costs," he said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2011-11-21-Gingrich-Entitlements/id-1cad08d3d2bc424fa71a54f9702d288c

the descendants joe paterno lung cancer joe paterno lung cancer john tucker must die uk basketball iowa state faroe islands

technology in schools

Monday, November 28, 2011

New home sales perked up in October

US military legacy rubs off on Iraqi youth (AP)

Ben Whishaw to play Q in new Bond film "Skyfall" (Reuters)

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Socially Responsible Investing-Is It Right For You? | Investment ...

Socially Responsible Investing-Is It Right For You?

Related Posts

Warren J. Blumenfeld: The True Patriot (Huffington post)

Report: Senior Indian Maoist rebel leader killed (AP)

Saturday, November 26, 2011

NYC hotel forced to banish beloved cat from lobby (Providence Journal)

EU court: Countries can't impose Internet filters

Auto insurance, how much is enough? | Bankrate.com

Video: Talking Numbers: Black Friday Charts

Friday, November 25, 2011

Can the U.S. Federal Reserve Help Save Europe's Banks? (Time.com)

AP Exclusive: Witness: Biker killing was a mistake (Providence Journal)

Afghan opium production to expand after troops exit (Reuters)

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Insight: Switzerland looks good to Italians (Reuters)

Thanksgiving travel rush is under way across US

US Sen. McCain says GAO report linking immigrants to Ariz. wildfires justifies his statements (Washington Post)

Wanted: 'Smart Pot' to purify water instantly, cheaply

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Daniel Radcliffe: Actor We're Most Thankful For In 2011

Developer uses Siri to control home thermostat via a proxy server [video]

Report says suppliers already shipping iPad 3 displays (Appolicious)

Regular Sex May Be Key to Happy Marriage for Seniors (HealthDay)

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Pixorial

Gingrich pitches 'growth and opportunity' in NH