Wall Street sells off after Fed sticks with stimulus cuts

NEW YORK - U.S. stocks dropped more than 1 percent on Wednesday, hitting session lows after the Federal Reserve stuck with its plan to scale back stimulus even in the midst of emerging market turmoil.

With the day's decline, the S&P 500 is down 4 percent for the month - its worst monthly loss since May 2012. Some investors have been bracing for a correction, given the S&P 500's gain of 30 percent last year.

Trading was volatile after the Fed's move, which further reduces its monthly bond purchases by $10 billion a month. Declines were fairly broad-based, with nine of the 10 S&P 500 sector indexes ending lower. Shares of Boeing Co ranked among the biggest drags on both the Dow and the S&P 500.

Overall improvement in the U.S. economy suggested the central bank would continue to cut the purchases, but some investors had speculated in recent days that the Fed might rethink its plan because of the emerging market problems.

"I think investors had hoped that the Fed would somehow respond to the recent turbulence and show they had their back," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer of BMO Private Bank in Chicago.

But the Fed really wants "to move to the sidelines here and get out of the QE business."

In its announcement, the Fed said it would buy $65 billion in bonds per month starting in February, down from $75 billion now. In what was Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's last policy-setting meeting, the central bank also maintained its longer-term plan to keep U.S. interest rates low for some time to come.

The benchmark S&P 500 has lost ground in four of the past five sessions as fears over slowing growth in China and large capital outflows from developing markets prompted investors to seek safe-haven assets.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 189.77 points or 1.19 percent, to end at 15,738.79. The S&P 500 ost 18.30 points or 1.02 percent, to finish at 1,774.20. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 46.53 points or 1.14 percent, to close at 4,051.43.

The CBOE Volatility Index or VIX, Wall Street's barometer of fear, jumped 9.81 percent to end at 17.35.

The Fed's quantitative easing program has supported not just the U.S. economy but overseas economies as well by increasing liquidity, so cutting the stimulus has been a big factor in the emerging markets' selloff.

Stocks were lower early in the session even after bold efforts by Turkey and South Africa to stabilize their currencies.

South Africa's central bank raised interest rates for the first time in six years. Its move followed a dramatic rate hike by Turkey's central bank late Tuesday, designed to defend its crumbling currency.

Boeing's stock fell 5.3 percent to close at $129.78, after the aerospace and defense company issued conservative forecasts for profit and cash flow. Investors focused on those projections, though the company reported a surge in quarterly profit.

Yahoo shares dropped 8.7 percent to end at $34.89, a day after the Internet company reported a drop in online ad prices that hurt its revenue for a fourth consecutive quarter.

Among other profit reports, Dow Chemical Co posted a quarterly profit that was well ahead of expectations. It also raised its dividend 15 percent and expanded its stock-buyback program. Dow Chemical's stock rose 3.9 percent to end at $44.73.

After the bell, shares of Facebook rose 9.2 percent to $58.45 after the world's largest social networking company reported quarterly revenue increased 63 percent.

Quarterly earnings expectations for the S&P 500 have improved as more companies have reported results. Growth is now estimated at 9 percent, compared with 7.6 percent at the start of the month, Thomson Reuters data showed.

As the stock market rallied last year, valuations rose for S&P 500 companies. The forward price-to-earnings ratio is at 14.9, compared with 13.1 at the start of 2013.

Volume was higher than average for the month. About 7.5 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, compared with the average of 6.8 billion so far this month, according to data from BATS Global Markets.

Decliners outnumbered advancers on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq by slightly more than 3 to 1.

source: interaksyon.com

Amid Durant vs LeBron hype, Thunder cruise to easy victory over Heat

MIAMI — The individual matchup between the NBA’s top two candidates for MVP did not disappoint.

But the battle between the reigning two-time NBA champion Miami Heat and the top team in the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder, turned out to be a bit of a dud, especially in the final 42 minutes.

The Thunder overcame an 18-point first-quarter deficit to drill the Heat 112-95 on Wednesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Over those final 42 minutes, the Thunder outscored the Heat 108-73.

“There’s no running away from it,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Other than the first (six) minutes of the game, they outclassed us.

“Our guys were up and ready for this game. (The Thunder) were up and ready, and they played better than us.”

In the matchup of superstars, Heat forward LeBron James, a four-time league MVP, had 34 points on 12-of-20 shooting. But he did not play his usual stellar floor game — just three rebounds, three assists and three turnovers. He was 9 of 9 on the foul line but just 1 of 5 on 3-pointers.

Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant, a three-time NBA scoring champ, had 33 points, seven rebounds and five assists with four turnovers. He was 5 of 5 from the foul line and 4 of 9 on 3-pointers.

“We were down 22-4, and we could have easily folded up, especially on the road,” Durant said. “It could be my last game any time I step on the floor, so I have to give it my all.”

Durant enjoyed his 12th consecutive game with 30 or more points. His streak is the third longest in the NBA in the past 30 years, trailing only runs by Kobe Bryant (16) and Tracy McGrady (14).

“(James and Durant) are going to go down as two of the greatest players ever to play the game,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “Defensively, they are solid. Offensively, they are amazing.

“They were challenging each other. It would’ve been fun to clear the court and watch them play one on one. But the thing I love is that they are both team guys.”

Forward Serge Ibaka scored 22 points to help Oklahoma City (37-10) extend its winning streak to nine games. The Thunder also got major contributions from reserve guards Jeremy Lamb (18 points) and Derek Fisher (15 points). Fisher made all five of his 3-point attempts.

“Our effort was great — it was a good team win,” Brooks said. “I thought Fisher did a great job inspiring us when we got down. He made a couple of big threes, and everyone chipped in.”

Miami (32-13) lost at home for just the fourth time in 23 games this season. Forward Chris Bosh added 18 points for the Heat, guard Dwyane Wade scored 15.

Oklahoma City won the game largely due to 3-point shooting. The Thunder made 16 of 27 from beyond the arc (59.3 percent), while the Heat made just 3 of 19 (15.8 percent).

After the Heat got off to their hot start, the Thunder got back in the game with a 12-0 run.

By the end of the first, the Heat led 30-21. Bosh had 11 of Miami’s first 22 points, and the Heat outshot the Thunder 55 percent to 36 percent in the period.

The Thunder won the second quarter 34-20 and led 55-50 at halftime. The Thunder outshot the Heat 52 percent to 42 percent in the quarter. Bosh cooled off in the second quarter — only one point — and Lamb heated up with 13 points.

“(The Heat) doubled off the pick and roll,” Lamb said. “We swung the ball to find the open shots.”

At the half, Durant (16 points) and James (15) virtually negated each other.

The Thunder outscored the Heat 36-25 in the third quarter and headed into the fourth leading 91-75. Fisher closed the quarter by banking in a 3-pointer at the buzzer. It was the second 3-pointer Fisher made off the glass in the game.

The Durant vs. James duel heated up in the third quarter as each scored 12 points. Durant made 4 of 7 shots, including two 3-pointers, and James made 5 of 7.

“He made some great shots,” Spoelstra said of Durant. “Those are the shots that everyone will remember. From our standpoint, we will remember some of the close-outs we didn’t make to give Lamb and Fisher some open threes.”

NOTES: After Sunday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs in which he came off the bench for the first time in eight years, Heat G Dwyane Wade returned to the starting lineup Wednesday. Wade was used as a reserve Sunday because he missed four games due to knee soreness and wanted to work his way back into fitness. … Since the Thunder clinched the best record in the West by the Feb. 2 cut-off date, Scott Brooks will coach the conference’s team at the All-Star Game. He also coached the West in 2012. … Thunder F Kevin Durant was averaging 28.2 points when G Russell Westbrook was healthy. In the first 17 games since Westbrook got hurt, Durant averaged 36.5 points. His shot total went up from 18 to 22 per game. … Next up for the Heat is a Saturday night game at the New York Knicks, where the teams will be part of the pre-Super Bowl hoopla. … The Thunder will also be in New York this weekend, playing the Brooklyn Nets on Friday.

source: interaksyon.com

Pope Francis lands cover of 'Rolling Stone'

Pope Francis is taking his place alongside the icons of American popular culture by appearing on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, which hits newsstands Friday.

It's the first time the staunchly liberal rock-music bible has featured a Roman Catholic pontiff on its cover, which is typically graced by pop stars and movie idols.

"Pope Francis: the times they are a-changin'," reads the cover headline that borrows the title of Bob Dylan's classic early 1960s anthem.

The Argentine-born pope, who took office in March last year, has previously been Time magazine's Person of the Year. He also made the cover of The Advocate, the respected US gay rights magazine.

In an accompanying 8,000-word profile, seen on its website Wednesday, Rolling Stone hailed the pontiff's relaxed style and his less aggressive stance on such hot-button issues as homosexuality compared to his two predecessors.

In a statement, Rolling Stone's editors said they had been struck by his seeming effort to play down "culture war issues" and his willingness to talk "about real world economic issues in starkly moral terms."

"His tone is a breath of fresh air, but his message is a wake-up call," they said.

Roman Catholics make up the biggest Christian denomination in the United States, but polls indicate lay Catholics don't all share the national church leadership's hardline stance on abortion, contraception and gay marriage.

source: interaksyon.com

Smile, you’re now on Google Street View camera

MANILA, Philippines — The online search giant Google will now deploy its vehicles to the country to capture street-level imagery as well as panoramic views of different streets and destinations in the Philippines.

The initiative, which is being undertaken with support from the Department of Tourism (DO)T, will kickoff in Manila where the colorful Street View cars, which has a crystal ball-like special camera perched on top, will roam to collect panoramic imagery. The collected images may then be viewed at Google’s Street View, which allows users to explore cities through 360-degree images at street level.

As a start, Google has published Street View panoramas of four key sites in Intramuros, namely San Agustin Church, Baluarte de San Diego, Plaza San Luis Complex, and Fort Santiago. The initial panoramas were collected using Google’s Street View Trekker, which is a wearable backpack with a camera mounted atop the gear. Google said that they are planning to use the Street View Trekker in conjunction with the Street View Trolley, a pushcart camera system, to capture more of the country’s off-road locations.

DOT is hoping that the technology will help showcase the country’s beauty to the world.

“Our partnership with Google to bring Street View to the Philippines will allow us to create a digital experience of our landscapes, which we hope will entice more people around the world to learn about our diverse offerings,” DOT Secretary Ramon Jimenez said in a press release.

“For us here at home, Street View can also help make the maps of our country even ‘more fun’ and interesting, as well as enable Filipinos to explore their country more, which in turn can help boost domestic travel and tourism,” Jimenez added.

Ryan Morales, Google Philippines marketing manager, said that they are “delighted to work with the DOT.”

“The Philippines is a diverse archipelago with heritage and beauty to be found within and in between every island. By providing people and businesses alike with more useful map information, Street View can also help celebrate Filipino culture and even create lasting economic impact,” Morales said.

Addressing concerns that the Street View invades privacy, Google said that they use technology to blur human faces and license plates of vehicles. The company said that they are also open to requests from users to further blur any image that features them.

source: interaksyon.com

Lea Salonga heads all-star line-up of acclaimed symphonic concert

Lea Salonga believes there should be no let-up in the fundraising efforts for the survivors of typhoon Yolanda.

“There are lots of people there who were affected by the disaster so I think fundraising will be an ongoing thing for a very long time. Even when we have the permission to smile, it will keep going,” she told InterAksyon and other entertainment media during the press conference for her well-received “Playlist” concerts in December.

After starting the year with a repeat of “Playlist”, Lea is now headlining the Manila staging of the acclaimed symphonic concert “Do You Hear the People Sing?”, which features the music of Alain Boublil and Claude Michel Schonberg, creators of “Miss Saigon” and “Les Miserables”.

The benefit concert will take place at the Newport Performing Arts Theater of Resorts World Manila on January 29 and 30. Lea will lead an all-star line-up of singers and seasoned theater performers, including guest soloists Rachelle-Ann Go, Jon Joven, Carla Guevara Laforteza, Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, Jed Madela, Cocoy Laurel, Michael Williams and Leo Valdez.

Except for Jed Madela, all of the above performers have appeared at one time or another in several stagings of either “Les Miz” or “Miss Saigon” or both. Rachelle Ann Go is London-bound for the coming West End revival of “Miss Saigon” where she will star as Gigi.

The show, which was a hit with both critics and audiences when it debuted in Indianapolis, was also successfully staged in Ottawa, Canada and Shanghai, China. Each of the show had Lea as a featured performer along with four other soloists.

“This will be the first time we will stage this in Manila. For this particular show, we have additional soloists and additional material. It will feature more Kim stuff, more Eponine stuff. I get to sing a little more than some people,” Lea said during the recent press conference for the concert.

Lea said she’s particularly proud of the fact that composers Boublil and Schonberg initiated the staging of “Do You Hear the Voices Sing?” in Manila not just as a fundraising in support of the Yolanda rebuilding program through Habitat for Humanity Philippines.

“It’s also their way of saying thank you to the Philippines for everything this country has given to them as far as their shows are concerned. They found so many performers from this country to perform in their shows not only in London but also in other countries. There’s always a Filipino in every ‘Miss Saigon’ and more Kims of Filipino descent than any other Asian group,” she exclaimed with her usual wide-eyed enthusiasm.

Lea revealed that after Boublil and Schonberg initiated the project, it was just a matter of making phone calls to get everyone on board. “We contacted people one by one. And everybody wanted to be a part of it. ‘Okay, what do I need to do, what do you want me to do. Kahit anong anything, we just want to be part of it’,” she recalled most of the performers as saying.



Aside from the guest soloists, other veteran performers like Pinky Amador and Jake Macapagal did not at all mind being part of the ‘Miss Saigon’ Ensemble, along with Analin Bantug, Edward Bungalon, Tricia Canilao-Buser, Robbie Guevara, Natalie Everett, Lora Nicolas, Jun Ofrasio, Ivy Padilla, Aileen Payumo, Amparo Sietreales, Christine Sambeli Marquez, Arnold M Trinidad, Jojo Urquico, Gina Respall, Meliza Reyes and Christian Rey Marbella.

Accompanied by the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of maestro Gerard Salonga (who will also serves as musical director/conductor of the Asia-Pacific tour of the show, the star performers will be joined by an 80-member adult choir consisting of members from the Ateneo Chamber Singers, Mass Appeal, Aleron and the former members of the San Miguel Master Chorale. Twenty children from the International School Manila Middle School Honor Choir will also perform. Choirmaster for this event is Jonathon Velasco.

“This is going to be a huge show in terms of the number of people participating. It’s going to be fun,” Lea beamed.

With Bouberg Productions, Enda Markey and the performers waiving their talent fees, the event hopes to raise funds with the goal of building 200 homes in areas ravaged by Typhoon Yolanda through Habitat for Humanity Philippines.

Directed by Andrew Pole, “Do You Hear the People Sing?” is the latest effort of RWM in a series of fundraisers to help in the relief and rebuilding phase following the destruction brought about by the typhoon—the first being the “1tayo” relief operation in partnership with other players in the industry and the second being the “Kami Naman Ang Taya” benefit concert held at the NPAT last December 3.

Tickets are available at Ticketworld and Resorts World Box Office.

source: interaksyon.com

Banking apps on Android phones most at risk of virus: Kaspersky

JERUSALEM — Banking applications on Android phones are most vulnerable to cyber crime, the chief executive and co-founder of Russian anti-virus software maker Kaspersky Lab said on Monday.

Eugene Kaspersky said 99 percent of mobile attacks are towards Android-based phones, since Apple has strict controls and does not allow third-party applications.

The most disturbing trend in cyber attacks was a growing shift to mobile devices from computers and a major cyber attack using mobile phones was bound to happen since cellular users are not properly protected, he told Reuters.

“I expect something really bad to happen to change people’s minds and awareness,” he said, noting that it took the Chernobyl virus in 1998 for people to properly protect their computers.

“Cyber crime is moving to mobile but people are not aware. It’s still not as big as computer crime but it’s growing fast. The trend is a very dangerous situation,” he said at a cyber-tech conference in Israel, where he wants to open a research and development lab.

Kaspersky makes one of the top-selling anti-virus programs in the United States, where it has gained market share in recent years against products from Symantec Corp, Intel’s McAfee and Trend Micro.

He said it was hard to determine where most cyber attacks are coming from geographically but cyber criminals typically speak Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian.

source: interaksyon.com

Pesticide DDT linked to Alzheimer's disease - study

WASHINGTON DC -- Exposure to the pesticide DDT, which was banned in the United States since 1972 but still being used in some countries, may increase the risk and severity of Alzheimer's disease in some people, a US study said Monday.

The study, published online in the US journal JAMA Neurology, found patients with Alzheimer's disease have significantly higher levels of DDE, the chemical compound left when DDT breaks down, in their blood than healthy people.

Of the 86 Alzheimer's patients involved in the study, 74 people, whose average age was 74, had DDE blood levels almost four times higher than the 79 people in the control group who did not have Alzheimer's disease, researchers from the Rutgers University, the Emory University and the University of Texas said.

"Our data may help identify those that are at risk for Alzheimer's disease and could potentially lead to earlier diagnosis and an improved outcome," lead author Jason Richardson, assistant professor of the Rutgers University, said in a statement.

The researchers said DDT and DDE could increase the amount of a protein associated with plaques believed to be a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. These sticky amyloid proteins, which may form in regions of the brain involved in memory, learning, and thinking, break off and clump together in the brain and increase as the disease progresses.

This new research is important, Richardson said, because it suggests that DDT and DDE may directly contribute to the process of plaque development.

DDE levels, however, weren't the sole determinant of whether someone gets Alzheimer's. Some Alzheimer's patients in the current study had non-detectable levels of DDE and some healthy control samples had DDE levels that were relatively high.

The researchers said that a gene called ApoE4 may combine with environmental exposures to drive disease development.

"We need to conduct further research to determine whether this occurs and how the chemical compound interacts with the ApoE4 gene," Richardson said.

In the United States, DDT was used extensively in agriculture and for mosquito control from the 1940s until it was banned in 1972.

Concerns over DDT's effects on wildlife, especially birds, played an important role in the history of the environmental movement. Around the world, DDT's use continued in many countries until more recently.

source: interaksyon.com

Kevin Durant scores 41, hits game-winning shot to lift Thunder past Hawks

OKLAHOMA CITY — NBA games in late January are supposed to be tedious. With the All-Star break around the corner, many players and teams don’t put much stock into them.

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant is not one of them. On a night he described as emotional, the MVP candidate scored 41 points and hit the game-winning shot in a 111-109 comeback victory over the Atlanta Hawks Monday at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.

“I’m just trying to inspire the team by my play,” Durant said. “Just playing hard. Being emotional, hopefully it helps. Sometimes it may not. I got to take that risk. Take that chance. That’s how I am on the court. I’m an emotional player. I know we play a lot of games. A lot of people say January don’t mean anything. But when you are playing this game with your heart and passion like we do, sometimes you have to sit back and just enjoy it.”

With 2:34 left on the clock, Durant went to the foul line and hit one of two to close Atlanta’s (23-21) lead down to 107-105. Hawks forward Paul Millsap missed a jumper and Durant made him pay with a contested layup to tie the game.

Millsap tried to post up guard Reggie Jackson but Durant came from behind with the blocked shot.

After another loose-ball scramble, the Hawks got a wide-open 3-point attempt that was off. But Millsap got the rebound. However, a few seconds later, Millsap was called for traveling and Oklahoma City (36-10) got the ball back with 34 seconds on the clock.

Coming out of a timeout, guard Derek Fisher got the ball to Durant. With Atlanta forward DeMarre Carroll guarding him, Durant hit a step-back jumper to put the Thunder up 109-107 with 25 seconds left.

Millsap answered right back when he drove into the lane and flipped a left-handed shot over guard Thabo Sefolosha. With 22 seconds left, the Thunder took over. Durant got the ball with seven seconds remaining at the top of the key and quickly recognized the “San Antonio umbrella defense” as the Hawks sent a double-team at him. He drove the other way and knocked down a 15-foot jumper with 1.5 seconds left.

“I was going to pass it, then I saw I was in my spot and I just had to pull up,” Durant said.

Atlanta was unable to get a shot off in the final seconds. Along with Durant’s 41 points (15-for-25), he collected five assists and three blocked shots. He also extended his scoring streak to 11 games with at least 30 points.

Jackson added 18 points and five assists. Forward Serge Ibaka had six blocked shots and nine points.

The Hawks had seven players score in double figures. Millsap led with 23 points on 9-for-19 shooting. Guard Shelvin Mack and Carroll each posted 15 points. Forward Mike Scott came off the bench to score 16 points.

“Losing is very hard in this league and our guys are hurting,” Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer said. “You have to give Oklahoma City a lot of credit. It was a heck of a fourth quarter and a heck of a basketball game. They made a couple of more plays than we did.”

The Hawks bullied the Thunder on the offensive backboards. Even though they only had a 15-10 advantage, they led in 31-15 in second-chance points.

But that wasn’t enough to offset Durant’s clutch fourth quarter, which has become the norm for the league’s leading scorer.

“It was an emotional game,” Durant said. “I was up and down the whole game. My emotions were everywhere. So I just had to try and keep it together at the end of the game and come through for my team. By the grace of God, I was able to hit a few shots.”

NOTES: For the second week in a row and the fourth time this season, Oklahoma City F Kevin Durant was named the NBA’s Western Conference Player of the Week after averaging 38.0 points, 8.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists for games played Jan. 20 through Jan. 26. Durant was joined on the court by the Eastern Conference Player of the Week, Atlanta F Paul Millsap. He led the Hawks to a 3-1 record while posting 21.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.5 steals. “I think that’s a huge compliment to him,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “Obviously he’s been great for us all year. To get that recognition is something that is good for him and good for our group.” … Atlanta G Kyle Korver hit a 3-pointer to start the game. It extended his streak to 113 consecutive games with a 3-pointer. … Oklahoma City continued its tradition of honoring the military with the sixth annual Military Appreciation Night Monday. More than 1,000 military personnel were in attendance for the game against Atlanta. “I think it’s great,” Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said. “It’s very cool to see. Our season ticket holders are very generous to give up a lot of their tickets for tonight. It’s an honor for us to have them here. I wouldn’t be surprised one day in the future if all 19,000 of our season ticket holders give it up for a game.”

source: interaksyon.com

American folk singer and activist Pete Seeger dies at 94

NEW YORK | Pete Seeger, who helped create the modern American folk music movement, co-wrote enduring songs like “If I Had a Hammer” and in turn became a leading voice for social justice, died on Monday at the age of 94.

He was variously hailed in social and traditional media as a “hero”, “America’s conscience” and “A man of the people”.

Seeger died of natural causes at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, his record company, Appleseed Recordings, said.

Seeger was well known for his liberal politics, working as an environmentalist, protesting against wars from Vietnam to Iraq. He was sentenced to prison for refusing to testify to Congress about his time in the Communist Party.

In January 2009, Seeger performed at a concert marking Barack Obama’s presidential inauguration.

He then celebrated his 90th birthday in May of that year with a concert in New York’s Madison Square Garden that drew 15,000 spectators and performers, including Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Emmylou Harris, Arlo Guthrie, Joan Baez and Kris Kristofferson. Proceeds went an environmental group Seeger founded.

“Like a ripple that keeps going out from a pond, Mr. Seeger’s music will keep going out all over the world spreading the message of non-violence and peace and justice and equality for all,” Jim Musselman of Appleseed Recordings said in a statement.

Seeger and Woody Guthrie started the Almanac Singers in the early 1940s and in 1949 Seeger was a founding member of another key folk group, the Weavers. Those groups opened the way for Bob Dylan and another generation of folk music singer/songwriters in the 1960s and ’70s.

The Weavers had a No. 1 hit with a version of Leadbelly’s “Good Night, Irene” and by 1952 the group had sold more than 4 million records. The members soon drifted apart, however, after being blacklisted for links to the Communist Party.

Seeger and Lee Hays wrote “If I Had a Hammer” for the Weavers, along with the hit “So Long, It’s Been Good to Know You”.

Seeger also wrote the modern classic “Turn! Turn! Turn!” with lyrics from the Bible’s Ecclesiastes and “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” with Joe Hickerson. But he was modest about his songwriting.

“Hardly any of my songs have been written entirely by me,” he once said in an interview. “I swiped things here and there and wrote new verses” to old tunes.

‘LOST MY HEART TO THE BANJO’

Seeger, born on May 3, 1919 in Patterson, New York, was the son of two teachers at the famed Juilliard School of Music – his father an ethnomusicologist and his mother a violinist.

He became interested in folk music through his father, who directed family friend Aaron Copland to the music of West Virginia coal miners, resulting in the classical music works “Appalachian Spring” and “Fanfare for the Common Man.”

Another of his father’s friends was folk archivist Alan Lomax, who hired the younger Seeger to classify recordings at the Library of Congress in Washington.

A key moment in Seeger’s life was attending a mountain dance festival in North Carolina with his father.

“I lost my heart to the banjo,” he said later. “It was an exciting sound and there was a kind of honesty in country music that I didn’t find in pop music.”

In 1938, Seeger dropped out of Harvard University and took his banjo on the road. During his travels he met Guthrie at a benefit concert for California migrant farm workers.

Seeger’s career was derailed in 1951 when a book listed the Weavers as Communists. During the next year, the group’s record company dropped them and they were refused radio, television and concert appearances.

Seeger had been a Communist Party member but left about 1950. Still, he refused to answer questions from the U.S. House of Representatives Un-American Activities Committee in 1955, was prosecuted and sentenced to a year in jail in 1961. The conviction was overturned on appeal but Seeger’s career did not begin to recover until the Smothers Brothers invited him to appear on their television show in 1967.

Seeger spent the next two decades performing on college campuses, at folk festivals and political rallies.

Despite his impact on American music, Seeger won just one Grammy for an album, 1997′s “Pete” in the best traditional folk album category. He also received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 1993.

In 2007 Springsteen won the best traditional folk Grammy for “We Shall Overcome – the Seeger Sessions,” a collection of songs popularized by Seeger.

He was a founder of Clearwater, a group to clean up the Hudson River, and wrote children’s books.

Seeger’s wife Toshi, who he married in 1941, died in 2013. They lived in upstate New York and had three children.

source: interaksyon.com

After surgery, Vhong Navarro executes sworn testimony in hospital

Actor-TV host Vhong Navarro executed his sworn testimony in his hospital bed on Tuesday afternoon, his eyes a black mask of bruises and his nose heavily bandaged after the five-hour reconstructive surgery he underwent the night before.

With the help of his lawyer Atty. Alma Mallonga, Navarro signed the six-page document that allowed Mallonga to file on his behalf criminal charges against the group of student-model Deniece Cornejo, businessman Cedric Lee, and other men in connection with an incident at Cornejo’s condominium unit on January 22.

Mallonga proceeded to the NBI later in the afternoon and filed charges of serious physical injuries, illegal detention, grave threats, unlawful arrest, grave coercion, and blackmail against the group.

On Monday, Mallonga considered the filing of an all-encompassing and non-bailable serious illegal detention case against Cornejo’s group.

Navarro has alleged that the group ganged up on him when he visited Cornejo and that they mauled, tortured, and videotaped him naked, then blackmailed him into paying them P1 million.

Cornejo has claimed that Navarro had attempted to rape him, while Lee has said that he and a companion he identified in one interview as Zimmer Raz caught Navarro with his pants down in the act of forcing sexual contact with Cornejo in her bedroom.

Lee also clarified that the P1 million Navarro had agreed to pay his group was for the damages to Cornejo’s condo that resulted from the scuffle.

Cornejo said on Monday that she will sue Navarro for attempted rape and libel.

source: interaksyon.com

Google fixes Gmail after brief outage around the world

SAN FRANCISCO — Google Inc suffered a service outage on Friday that briefly took down Gmail, the email service used by hundreds of millions of people and many businesses across the globe.

Google, which first acknowledged the outage at 11:12 a.m. Pacific Time (1412 ET), said a little over an hour later that the problem with Gmail had been resolved.

As of late Friday, the company did not offer an explanation for the outage, which affected users in at least India, Britain and the United States and prompted a stream of complaints on Twitter from users in many more countries.

“We’re investigating reports of an issue with Gmail. We will provide more information shortly,” the company said on its “App Status” dashboard online, which tracks the state of various Google services.

Google Docs, the cloud-based productivity application that competes against Microsoft Corp’s Office suite, also suffered a service disruption, according to the Google dashboard. Other Google properties, the social network Google Plus, and YouTube, appeared to load slowly as well.

Gmail, which includes calendar and chat features, has soared in popularity over the past decade to become one of Google’s most successful product offerings. With more than 420 million users, it has begun to make small inroads against Microsoft Exchange in the battle to provide email services for corporate customers as well as individual consumers.

Yahoo Inc, which also runs a rival Internet mail service, seized the moment to post a screenshot of the Gmail error page to Twitter. Yahoo later apologized for the barb and deleted the tweet.

Google users attempting to sign on saw a “temporary error” message and a brief note: “We’re sorry, but your Gmail account is temporarily unavailable. We apologize for the inconvenience and suggest trying again in a few minutes.”

source: interaksyon.com

New and old stars vie -- or team up -- for Grammys glory

LOS ANGELES - Music's top stars gather Sunday for the Grammys, with artists ranging from the Beatles and veteran rapper Jay-Z to French electro duo Daft Punk and newcomers like New Zealand's Lorde up for honors.

Rapper Kendrick Lamar, pop diva Taylor Swift, chart-topper Justin Timberlake, and Seattle hip hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis are also among those vying for prizes at music's version of the Oscars in Los Angeles.

The show will also feature some eye-popping collaborations, including rockers Metallica with acclaimed Chinese pianist Lang Lang and Lamar with the Imagine Dragons rockers.

Surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr will perform as Recording Academy organizers belatedly bestow a Lifetime Achievement Award on the Fab Four.

Performers at the awards show include a who's who of music's finest, ranging from Katy Perry and Robin Thicke to veterans Carole King, Chicago and Madonna.

The first couple of hip-hop, Jay-Z and Beyonce, are also expected to perform at the show, brought forward from its usual February date to avoid media conflicts with the Sochi Winter Olympics.

Going into Sunday's show, Jay-Z topped nominations with nine nods, followed by California hip-hop star Lamar, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Timberlake and Pharrell Williams with seven each, while Canadian rapper Drake scored five.

Tipped by many for coveted Record Of The Year is Daft Punk's "Get Lucky," but rival nominees include Kiwi teenager Lorde's "Royals," "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons and Hawaiian crooner Bruno Mars's "Locked Out Of Heaven."

Thicke's "Blurred Lines," made infamous by Miley Cyrus's twerking at last year's MTV Video Music Awards show, is also competing for the evening's top prize.

In the Album of the Year category, Swift's "Red" will compete with Daft Punk's "Random Access Memories," Macklemore & Ryan Lewis's "The Heist," Lamar's "Good Kid, M.A.A.D City" and Sara Bareilles's "The Blessed Unrest."

Shortlisted for Song of the Year -- for songwriters -- are "Just Give Me A Reason" sung by Pink, "Locked Out Of Heaven" sung by Mars, "Roar" sung by Perry, "Royals" sung by Lorde and "Same Love" sung by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis was also nominated for Best New Artist, against Lamar, country singer Kacey Musgraves and British singer-songwriters James Blake and Ed Sheeran.

The 56th annual Grammy Awards show will include a "Grammy moment" bringing together country music veterans Merle Haggard, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson and Blake Shelton.

The show, at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, will climax with a rock supergroup featuring Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl and Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham.

Some observers have poured scorn on the Grammy's tradition of throwing unlikely performers together.

Washington Post pop music critic Chris Richards said the so-called "Grammy Moments" were little more than "brand synergy masquerading as artistic collaboration," boosting sales by attracting new demographics to artists.

"Over the past decade, the music industry's biggest awards show has mutated into a Frankenstein-ish pop concert clogged with duets that feel as desperate and illogical as speed dating," he wrote Friday.

McCartney will accept a lifetime achievement award for the Beatles, one of seven to receive the honor also including Kristofferson, the Isley Brothers and German electro music pioneers Kraftwerk.

McCartney and Starr will also reunite for a Grammys tribute event being recorded Monday, and set to air on February 9 -- the 50th anniversary of their appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show," launching Beatlemania in the United States.

source: interaksyon.com

GM’s new chief seeks global share gain

DETROIT — The new chief of General Motors vowed to keep a steady hand on the wheel Thursday as she seeks to expand global market share and complete a major turnaround at the US automaker’s troubled European unit.

“To me, what’s important is we’re focused on the product,” Mary Barra, who took over as chief executive officer last week, told reporters at GM headquarters in Detroit.

Barra said she did not expect to make major changes in the strategies she inherited from outgoing chief Dan Akerson, who successfully steered GM back into profitability and independence after a government-backed bankruptcy.

“There is a strategy and the word (from me) is accelerate,” she said in her first lengthy discussion with journalists since becoming the first woman to head a major automaker.

“Don’t expect any right or left turns.”

GM plans to maintain robust investment in the development of new vehicles and continue its disciplined approach to pricing and incentives even as the rapid growth in US sales is expected to plateau.

“We’re in it for the long term,” said Barra who started her career with GM more than 30 years ago and worked her way up through the ranks after receiving a degree in electrical engineering from the old General Motors Institute in Flint.

“We have to maintain the fortress balance sheet. This is a cyclical business. We want to make sure we have the financial performance that allows us to reinvest in the business.”

GM, which for 77 years was the world’s largest automaker in terms of sales before being overtaken by Japanese rival Toyota in 2008, was once again relegated to second place Thursday when Toyota announced record 2013 sales of 9.98 million vehicles.

GM sold 9.71 million cars last year, while Germany’s Volkswagen logged annual sales of 9.5 million.

While she didn’t indicate any strong desire to regain the crown, Barra said she was “looking for modest share growth” both in the United States and globally.

“We have a strategy. I think there is a lot of opportunity,” around the world, she said.

Barra expects GM to continue its expansion in China where the company and its partners are second behind Volkswagen.

“Clearly we have great opportunities in China,” she said.

Europe — where GM has lost money for 16 consecutive years and expects to post another loss when it reports 2013 results next month — remains a trouble spot.

But Barra expressed confidence in the automaker’s restructuring plan, which aims for profitability by mid-decade, and said she doesn’t have any kind of hard and fast deadline for the turnaround to be complete.

“Europe is an important market,” Barra said. “I’m a glass half-full kind of person. I think Europe is very great opportunity for GM.”

While it’s “important to operate profitably everywhere we operate,” Barra noted that the automaker’s transformation in Europe — and particularly at its subsidiary Opel — is nonetheless impressive.

“We’re no longer talking about the viability of Opel,” said Barra, who has served on Opel’s board for the past couple years.

“Instead the focus is on showing of Opel products and rebuilding the image of the Opel brand,” she said. “We’re going to do everything we can to strengthen the Opel brand.”

source: interaksyon.com

If not for Sony’s iconic VCR, your digital world is nothing

MANILA, Philippines — Much like hairsprays, shoulder pads, and stone tablets, the analog videocassette format Betamax is now a dusty relic of a bygone era, its relevance consigned as a footnote to the evolution of our digital age. But unknown to many, everyone streaming, downloading, or uploading videos owe a it big to the antiquated video tape recorder due to a controversial U.S. Supreme Court decision thirty years ago.

In the same manner that Youtube revolutionized computer screens, Sony’s launch of the Betamax in 1976 ushered in a sea change to the viewing experience of household television sets. The device empowered households to record TV content and watch it at their own time of convenience — a practice known as “time-shifting.” Wary that the technology would cannibalize television viewership, well-established giant film and television studios Universal and Disney sued Sony, arguing that Betamax aids copyright infringement.

The District Court of California ruled in favor of Sony, but Hollywood won the suit at the appellate court, prompting a showdown at the Supreme Court. But in a 5-to-4 ruling, after a reported last minute change of mind of a Justice, the case was eventually held in favor of the Betamax after determining that the recording of home videos constitutes fair use.

In his majority decision, Justice John Paul Stevens said that struck down the argument that the technology is “contributory” infringement and said that to rule thus would “block the wheels of commerce.”

Robert S. Schwartz, who was a reported counsel to the Home Recording Rights Coalition in the ’80s, said that the landmark decision established two key pillars of present day consumer rights: that the recording and storage of an entire copyrighted material is lawful, and that the selling of a product that has non-infringing uses is lawful as well.

“Without these twin protections for consumers and innovators, we could not today buy most consumer digital products or log on to most online services that search for, store, and respond to copyrighted information,” Schwartz said.

“The Internet itself would have remained a closed circuit primarily for government, educational, and industrial use. There would be no social networks,” Schwartz said.

source: interaksyon.com

Wall Street falls as China data trigger selloff in risky assets

NEW YORK - U.S. stocks fell on Thursday, with the Dow Jones industrial average recording its third consecutive day of losses, as risky assets sold off in wake of disappointing manufacturing data in China.

Financials and materials stocks were the day's biggest losers while telecom services was the only positive sector as investors sold growth-oriented stocks and bought defensive ones. Trading volume was heavier than in recent sessions.

The market sentiment was dented by a report on manufacturing in China which showed a mild slowdown at the end of 2013 in the world's second-largest economy had continued into the new year.

U.S.-traded Chinese stocks were down sharply after a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission judge ruled that the Chinese units of the world's top accounting firms should be suspended from auditing those companies.

Among the biggest losers were Internet services provider Baidu Inc, down 6.2 percent, and SINA Corp, down 5.9 percent, on heavier-than-usual volume. The U.S. shares of Petrochina, the country's largest stock by market value, fell 3.1 percent.

The CBOE Volatility index VIX often used as a fear gauge on Wall Street, closed up 7.2 percent at 13.77 after rising more than 11 percent earlier.

"The day's panic was largely associated with China and I think it's a temporary reaction," said Randy Frederick, managing director of active trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab in Austin, Texas.

"If we have good corporate earnings from a couple of big names or good economic reports, I think we will be right back up to where we were a couple days ago."

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 175.99 points or 1.07 percent, to 16,197.35, the S&P 500 lost 16.4 points or 0.89 percent, to 1,828.46 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 24.126 points or 0.57 percent, to 4,218.875.

Trading volume was higher than usual with 7.4 billion shares traded on all U.S. platforms compared to a five-day average of 6.7 billion shares, according to BATS exchange data. Both on the NYSE and Nasdaq, decliners beat advancers by a ratio of about 2 to 1.

After the bell, Microsoft Corp said fiscal second-quarter profit rose 3 percent, as strong sales of its Office software to businesses offset another weak quarter for its flagship Windows system, and as consumers increasingly favor tablets over personal computers. The stock rose 3.7 percent in extended trade.

Starbucks Corp's sales at established stores in its U.S.-dominated Americas region cooled more than analysts expected in its latest quarter as consumers spent more time holiday shopping online than at physical stores. The stock rose 1 percent in extended trade.

Apple Inc rose 0.8 percent to $556.18. Activist investor Carl Icahn picked up another $500 million of Apple shares, taking the billionaire's total investment in the iPhone maker to $3.6 billion.

In other earnings, McDonald's Corp reported weaker-than-expected revenue as fewer customers ate at its restaurants. Shares rebounded from earlier losses to close up 0.5 percent to $95.32.

Netflix Inc shares surged 16.5 percent to $388.72 as the best performer on the S&P 500. The world's largest video-streaming company said Wednesday it added more than 2.3 million U.S. customers in the fourth quarter.

Shares of Herbalife fell 10.3 percent to $65.92 in heavy volume after Massachusetts Senator Edward Markey asked for more information about its business practices. The nutrition company has been accused by prominent hedge fund manager William Ackman of running a pyramid scheme.

Thomson Reuters data through Thursday morning shows earnings for the fourth quarter are expected to grow 7 percent. Of the 102 companies in the benchmark that have reported, 63 percent beat expectations, in line with the long-term average.

source: interaksyon.com

Chris Bosh has big game as Heat hold off Lakers

MIAMI — It was forward Chris Bosh to the rescue.

With guard Dwyane Wade out with knee soreness for the fourth straight game and forward LeBron James not quite as efficient as usual, Bosh — the most-criticized member of the Miami Heat’s Big Three — had a huge night.

Bosh made 15 of 22 shots, including eight straight in the second half, to lead the Heat to a 109-102 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night at AmericanAirlines Arena.

As a team, the Heat shot 71.4 percent in the fourth quarter, holding off the Lakers, who pulled to within four points with 2:41 remaining in the game. Bosh and James combined to score the Heat’s final eight points.

The Heat (31-12) now trail the Indiana Pacers by three games in the battle for the top record in the Eastern Conference.

For Bosh, it was his highest-scoring game since he had 37 on Dec. 28. During that span, he had two games in which he scored less than 10 points, and it is that inconsistency that frustrates some Heat fans — although not coach Erik Spoelstra.

“We’re not a your-turn play-call team,” Spoelstra said. “Chris has been critical to our execution since we put this team together because he has the great understanding of balance of when to be aggressive and when to facilitate.

“He has a great temperament. It’s not about one game if he only gets 10 points that he complains he didn’t get his touches. He’s not about that.”

Lakers guard Nick Young, who scored 19 points off the bench, said it was a vintage performance.

“It seemed like the old Bosh,” Young said. “We had hands up, but he was making tough shots.”

James wasn’t bad, either, making 9 of 15 shots for 27 points while adding 13 rebounds and six assists. But James also had a game-high five turnovers and was only 7 of 13 from the foul line.

As a team, the Heat made just 11 of 23 free throws and turned the ball over 18 times.

That, to some extent, negated the Heat’s routinely brilliant shooting — 57.7 percent — and a better-than-normal rebounding effort in which Miami beat the Lakers on the boards 48-35.

“A win in this league is hard to come by,” James said. “Nick Young made a tough shot that rattled around the rim. Jodie Meeks made a pull-up at the end of the shot clock. We can live with those shots.

“We played hard and won the game, and that’s all that matters.”

The Lakers (16-27), who lost 14 of their past 17 games, were led by center Pau Gasol, who had 22 points and 11 rebounds, and guard Jodie Meeks, who added 22 points, including four 3-pointers. Guard Kendall Marshall added 11 assists and just three turnovers.

Wade wasn’t the only star who missed the game. The Lakers were again without guards Kobe Bryant, who has been out since Dec. 17 due to left-knee surgery; and Steve Nash, who has a foot injury and has been unable to play since Nov. 10.

James, Wade and Bryant were named All-Star starters on Thursday.

Also Thursday, James, a three-time Olympian, was named to the pool of 28 players from which the 2016 USA Olympic team will be chosen. No other Heat or Lakers players were on the list, including two-time Olympian Wade, 2008 Olympic Bosh or two-time Olympian Bryant.

The Heat on Thursday improved their record without Wade to 7-6.

Miami, which shot 50 percent or better in every quarter, never trailed. They led 30-27 after the first quarter and 57-46 at halftime. Of their 25 first-half field goals, 17 were layups or dunks.

The Heat led by as many as 16 points in the third quarter and took an 85-75 advantage in the fourth.

Los Angeles challenged in the fourth quarter but couldn’t stop the Heat, especially Bosh and James.

“We hit some big shots down the stretch, but they hit some bigger shots,” Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni said. “We will find a way to score. That’s not our problem. Our problem is defense.”

NOTES: Four Heat players — SG Dwyane Wade and F LeBron James, F Shane Battier and F James Jones — were at the University of Miami on Wednesday night when Duke defeated the Hurricanes. Battier is a former Duke player and Jones went to Miami. … Lakers SG Kobe Bryant and F Ryan Kelly, who played for Duke last season, were also at the game. … Lakers PG Steve Blake, who is out two more weeks with an elbow injury, played his high school ball locally at Miami High, where he won a 1998 state title with Heat F Udonis Haslem. … Lakers PG Jordan Farmar (hamstring) is also out for two more weeks. … The Lakers end their seven-game road trip with stops on Friday at Orlando and on Sunday against the New York Knicks. … The Heat play the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday and end their four-game homestand on Wednesday against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

source: interaksyon.com

Justin Bieber arrested for drag-racing while intoxicated - reports

MIAMI - Justin Bieber was arrested in Miami early Thursday for drag racing while intoxicated, news reports here said, in the pop singer's latest in a series of run-ins with the law.

The local NBC television affiliate in Miami reported that at the time of his arrest, Bieber was driving a rented Lamborghini.

The incident is one in a long line of controversial headlines which have tarnished the once clean-cut image of Bieber, who has sold more than 12 million albums since emerging on the music scene in 2009 as a schoolboy sensation.

Just last week, police searched Bieber's Los Angeles mansion over an egg-throwing attack seized illegal drugs and arrested one of the singer's associates.

The 19-year-old Canadian teen idol was accused by a neighbor of causing thousands of dollars in damage to a neighbor's house after pelting it with eggs.

News reports said that in July, authorities at the US-Canada border confiscated marijuana and drug paraphernalia from one of Bieber's tour buses. He was not on board at the time, media reported.

He also attracted criticism on a recent tour of Australia after allegedly spraying graffiti on a hotel wall.

A tour of South America last year also ran into turbulence, with allegations that he tagged the wall of a Rio de Janeiro hotel and failed to pay a bill in a Buenos Aires nightclub.

Bieber also caused offense by stepping on an Argentine flag thrown onto a stage during a concert. He was also evicted from a luxury hotel in Buenos Aires after a room was damaged.

Over the Christmas holidays, Bieber announced via Twitter that he was "officially retiring."

 source: interaksyon.com

WeChat announces latest version, 3 new games

MANILA, Philippines — Mobile app WeChat announced the launch of the latest version of the popular social messaging application on Thursday, revealing three new games, animated stickers, an expanded group chat feature, and a complementary app to enhance photos.

“We want to offer WeChat users a very, very exciting mobile, social experience,” said WeChat business development manager Steve Zheng.

Free for download through the Games section of the app are Gunz Dash, 2Day’s Match, and Craz3 Match.

Side-srolling race game Gunz Dash is, in event host Spanky Enriquez’s words, WeChat’s version of Super Mario. To rescue a girl captured by a vampire, users may assume the character of any of the three heroes as they slide and jump through the obstacle course: “cute and sometimes clumsy” Kattie, “blonde beauty” Nikita, and “passionate and strong” Leo. They are accompanied by pets, as well.

With 2Day’s Match, users match similar tiles as fast as they can to kiddie-party background music.

Craz3 Match, meanwhile, has users matching animal faces in groups of three or more in WeChat’s version of Bejewelled and Candy Crush.

These are only usable when online, however, as they were designed to add to social messaging experience, said Zheng.

Animated stickers also make conversations more fun. Some of the newest characters include Frog and Horse, “crazy friends who escaped from the zoo (who) super love to dance”; Sinkcomic, “famous webcomic artist from Taiwan”; and Puppy, an adorable creature who’ll make a stressful day better.

StoryCam, a free complementary app, allows users to tell the stories behind their photos. They can add real-time, location-based information; alter their photos using any of 13 filters; put watermarks; and share easily through chat, e-mail, or Moments. The latter is similar to profile pages on social media sites, which features snippets of the user’s daily life. Liking and commenting are enabled, too.

Group chat has been expanded to accommodate 100 members, too.

Other changes made include the ability to save users’ favorite text and voice messages, photos, and videos to Favorite Messages, “the first cloud-based storage service on mobile communication apps”; and integration with Gmail.

The new 5.1 version of WeChat may be used on the latest versions of iOS and Android, as well as on BlackBerry, Symbian, and Windows Phone operating systems, too. Downloading is free on these markets, and on PC, as well.

WeChat, developed by Chinese company Tencent International Service Pte. Ltd., has seen a 2,000-percent growth in the Philippines from May, when the first television commercial was rolled out, to August last year. Zheng, however, did not give the numbers of Filipino users.

Nevertheless, the app already has 500 million registered users as of July last year, including 100 million users outside China.

Citing findings from Google Trends, Zheng added that WeChat was the most searched social messaging app, as well as the third most searched mobile app, in the Philippines.

source: interaksyon.com

Same-sex couples sue Florida for right to wed

MIAMI -- Six same-sex couples filed suit against the US state of Florida Tuesday for refusing to let them marry.

The suit, filed in Miami-Dade county by the couples and the rights group Equality Florida, was immediately slammed by conservatives.

"Marriage equality is inevitable and coming soon for Floridians because brave couples are demanding the dignity under the law that marriage provides," said Daniel Tilley, staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.



"We are hopeful that the court hearing this case will agree with courts across the country that the constitution requires that same-sex couples be permitted to marry," he added.

But John Stemberger, who heads the conservative Florida Family Policy Council and led the 2008 referendum movement against same-sex marriage in the state, called the new lawsuit a publicity stunt.

Following the referendum, Florida's constitution was amended to bar same-sex marriage.

source: interaksyon.com

China, Europe to drive telecom network investment in 2014

STOCKHOLM/PARIS — Telecoms network operators are expected to spend more on equipment for the second straight year in 2014, with China and Europe bringing a fresh spurt of growth as service providers need to build out high speed 4G mobile broadband networks.

Market research group Gartner sees global sales of network equipment to carriers rising 6 percent to $85.4 billion this year, up from 3 percent last year. Asia, excluding Japan, should grow 7 percent, and Europe and North America 6 percent.

Specialist telecoms forecaster Dell’Oro is less bullish but still expects 3 percent growth, compared with 2 percent in 2013.

The predictions are good news for Europe’s network equipment makers – Sweden’s Ericsson, Finland’s Nokia and Franco-American group Alcatel-Lucent – but analysts do not expect a softening of brutal price competition with low-cost Chinese rivals.

Nor will all the vendors fare the same. China Mobile’s huge roll-out of 4G will be more of a boon for domestic firms Huawei and ZTE that won two thirds of the work. But China is a mixed bag for Ericsson, Alcatel and Nokia, boosting sales but dragging on margins since sales there commanded lower prices.

In Europe, Ericsson and Huawei are best positioned to benefit from growth because they are major suppliers to Vodafone, which is due to spend 7 billion pounds under its ‘Project Spring’ program by March 2016 to increase the speed and coverage of its networks.

“Ericsson has higher exposure to Europe, so that will largely offset the weight from China contracts and protect the margins, while Alcatel-Lucent is more at risk because of its smaller scale in Europe,” said Bernstein analyst Pierre Ferragu.

U.S. slowdown

Analysts are less certain how much United States operators will spend this year as market leaders Verizon and AT&T have largely finished building their 4G networks, leaving them to add further capacity when customer demand requires it.

However, others want to catch up on 4G to compete. Third-largest operator Sprint plans to spend $8 billion this year and next on a major network upgrade. Backed by Japan’s Softbank, Sprint chose Alcatel, Nokia and Samsung as suppliers, dropping long-time vendor Ericsson.

T-Mobile US, which is owned by Deutsche Telekom, also spent $3.3 billion in January to buy mobile spectrum from Verizon to beef up its coverage.

Gartner predicts North American operators will spend 9 percent more on mobile gear this year, from 6 percent last year. But investment bank UBS expects capital expenditures on mobile networks to rise only 1 percent and Bernstein sees it as flat.

Gartner analyst Akshay Sharma said Sprint’s plan showed that upside surprise was possible. “That could be a game changer, if you are all of a sudden spending billions on network roll-outs,” he said.

However, if Sprint and T-Mobile merge, as sources have said Softbank is currently working on, it could throw operators’ network investment plans into question.

Europe could also grow faster than expected if Telefonica, Telecom Italia and Deutsche Telekom react to Vodafone splashing out on its networks.

“Vodafone is putting pressure on everyone. We could end up with a pretty good year in Europe in mobile equipment,” said Exane BNP Paribas analyst Alexandre Peterc.

Prices fall

Despite a positive outlook for growth, few executives or investors expect an end to a decade-long price war launched by the Chinese vendors when they were trying to conquer foreign markets. Industry leader Ericsson’s margins have dropped below 10 percent from more than 20 percent in 2005, while Alcatel-Lucent has posted an annual profit only once – in 2011 – since it was formed in a transatlantic merger in 2006.

Although some price pressure has faded as Huawei has stopped fighting for market share to focus on margins, equipment prices look set to keep falling, according to a UBS survey of purchasing managers.

Some 42 percent of respondents expect telecom equipment prices to drop even more than usual over the next year, whereas 30 percent expected a “typical” decline of 10 to 15 percent. This was a shift from the last survey when 80 percent expected prices to fall at their normal rate or less.

Nokia’s network equipment business NSN could sacrifice margins to win contracts this year because it needs to boost revenues, which analysts say fell by around 17 percent last year.

“They will be aggressive, but I don’t think it will totally kill pricing in the sector, because there simply aren’t enough new contracts up for bid this year,” said Exane’s Peterc.

Nokia is first to report earnings for the fourth quarter and full year, on January 23, with Ericsson following a week later and Alcatel-Lucent two weeks later, on February 6.

source: interaksyon.com

Car Donations California.

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Present Yоur Vehicle Tо Vehicle Donation Software programs Fоr Individuals In Hаvе tо hаvе




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source: donateacarblog.net

World tourist numbers surge to nearly 1.1 billion

MADRID - International tourist numbers surged to nearly 1.1 billion in 2013 in defiance of global economic troubles, with Asia-Pacific destinations enjoying the fastest growth, a United Nations body said Monday.

The rise in tourism coincided with sluggish economic growth worldwide and unrest in top destinations such as Egypt, shunned by visitors fearful of the turmoil unleashed by the army's ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July.

Despite those troubles, the number of international tourist arrivals beat expectations by soaring five percent to 1.09 billion in 2013, the UN World Tourism Organization said in a report, tipping further growth in 2014.

"The tourism sector has shown a remarkable capacity to adjust to the changing market conditions, fuelling growth and job creation around the world, despite the lingering economic and geopolitical challenges," said the UN body's secretary general, Taleb Rifai.

"Indeed, tourism has been among the few sectors generating positive news for many economies," he said, hailing 2013 as an "excellent year".

Expectations of stronger economic activity set the scene for a further expansion in tourism in 2014 with international arrivals expected to grow again by 4.0-4.5 percent in 2014, the body said, urging countries to support fair and sustainable growth in the sector.

International tourist arrivals rose at the fastest rate in the Asia-Pacific region, where numbers were up by six percent to 248 million, it said. Southeast Asia performed best, with arrivals up 10 percent.

Europe, however, remained the biggest destination overall, with international tourist arrivals up five percent to 563 million.

In the Americas, arrivals grew by four percent to 169 million.

The number of international tourists arriving in Africa grew by six percent to 56 million.

But results in the Middle East were "mixed and volatile", with arrivals from other countries unchanged at 56 million, the report said.

Among countries of origin, Chinese tourists -- already leading the way with expenditure of $102 billion in 2012 -- pushed up total spending by 28 percent in the first nine months of 2013, the UN body said.

Tourists from Russia, the fifth largest country of origin of international tourists, drove up spending by 26 percent in the same period, it said.

source: interaksyon.com

Johnny Depp, 50, engaged to wed Amber Heard, 27

LOS ANGELES | Hollywood actor Johnny Depp and the actress Amber Heard are engaged to be married, People magazine reported.

“They couldn’t be happier to be engaged and excited to share the rest of their lives together. Amber has really taken well to the kids and really enjoys spending time with them,” the People report said, citing an unnamed source.



Representatives for Depp, 50, and Heard, 27, did not immediately confirm the report.

Depp, a veteran whose diverse career includes “Edward Scissorhands,” and the recent “Pirates of the Caribbean” series, was previously in a 14-year relationship with French singer and actress Vanessa Paradis.

They have two children and were not married, ending their relationship in 2012.

When the couple separated, entertainment media speculated Depp may have had a relationship with Heard, at the time a co-star in the film “The Rum Diary.”

Heard is known for the film “Zombieland.” She has spoken of her bisexuality and was recently in a four-year relationship with photographer Tasya van Ree. They split in 2012 around the same time as Depp and Paradis.

Depp was married in the 1980s to Lori Anne Allison. He also dated actress Winona Ryder and British supermodel Kate Moss.

Depp and Heard are starring in the upcoming film “London Fields”.

source: interaksyon.com

PFF welcomes FIFA sanctions against Hong Kong for racism toward Filipino fans

The Philippine Football Federation on Sunday welcomed the decision of world football governing body FIFA to fine the Hong Kong Football Association following incidents of racial abuse toward Filipino fans during a friendly match last year.

“The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) welcomes the FIFA decision concerning the racist behavior of and acts of violence made by Hong Kong spectators against Philippine players and fans during the 04 June 2013 friendly match between Hong Kong and the Philippines,” the PFF said in a statement sent to InterAksyon.com.

“The decision shows that FIFA vigorously implements the non-discrimination provisions of the FIFA Statutes wherever the conduct is displayed and whoever the guilty party is. It also stressed the responsibility of the host Member Association for the spectators’ conduct in any friendly match within its territory.

“Indeed, any discriminatory conduct or acts of violence during any football match cannot be condoned. Football should unite and not divide.”

The PFF last year filed a complaint to FIFA shortly after the Azkals’ 1-nil victory over Hong Kong last June 4 at the Mong Kok Stadium, where Filipino fans at the venue recounted the hostile treatment they received from local fans there, ranging from bottle-throwing to the Philippines being called a “slave nation.”

FIFA slapped a fine of 30,000 Swiss francs ($33,000) on the HKFA after its violation of Articles 58, 65 and 67 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, which lay out the responsibilities and liabilities of concerned football bodies on discrimination and proper conduct of spectators during matches.

The HKFA was also ordered to pay 3,000 Swiss francs ($3,000) to cover the cost of investigation done by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee.

FIFA made the decision after vowing last year to slap heftier sanctions over racism in football.

The HKFA expressed its disappointment on FIFA’s decision, claiming that the incidents “were very minor” and some Azkals players even made “significant provocation” to local fans during the match. The body declared that it will send an appeal on the matter.

Diplomatic ties between the Philippines and Hong Kong have turned sour since 2010 when a botched hostage-taking rescue killed eight Hong Kong tourists.

The Hong Kong government has since issued a black travel warning to the Philippines, only one of the three countries on the list aside from strife-torn Egypt and Syria.

source: interaksyon.com

Paris menswear makes way for couture

PARIS - Lanvin headlined the last day of the Paris menswear shows on Sunday with a rock-and-roll inspired collection billed as anti-uniform, before Versace kicks off six days of haute couture.

"Freedom to choose" was the byword for menswear designer Lucas Ossendrijver, with pants both slim and wide, waistlines high and low, and classic tailoring and streetwear paired with coloured sneakers and chunky-knit scarves.

"It's not about a single look, or a single man. It's about individuality," said Lanvin's creative director Alber Elbaz after the show, where the actor Will Smith sat front row.

Elbaz took the uniform as starting point for the line.

"It's the opposite of what makes people happy," he said. "You have to be yourself."

Shows by Paul Smith and Saint Laurent were to wrap up the Paris men's fashion, before a late evening show by Versace which opens six days of haute couture collections -- showcasing jaw-dropping creations aimed at A-list stars and the world's richest women.

More than 40 years after the death of its founder, Italy's legendary house Schiaparelli makes a much-anticipated comeback to haute couture Monday, under the Italian designer Marco Zanini.

Elsa Schiaparelli, who died in 1973, was among fashion's most prominent figures between the two world wars and became Coco Chanel's biggest rival.

Haute couture is a legally protected appellation in France subject to strict criteria such as the amount of work carried out by hand, and the size of a house's workforce.

Altogether, 15 French houses including Dior and Chanel will be showing couture collections, along with six foreign labels and 10 guests including Britain's Ralph & Russo and Belgian designer Serkan Cura.

source: interaksyon.com

Flying car spreads its wings in Slovakia

BRATISLAVA - Mankind's primordial dream of flight is taking off with a new twist as a Slovak prototype of a flying car spreads its wings.

Inspired by the dreamy books about flying by French authors Jules Verne and Antoine de Saint Exupery, Slovak designer and engineer Stefan Klein has been honing his flying machine since the early 1990s.

"I got the idea to start working on a vehicle of the future at university, but honestly, who hasn't dreamt of flying while being stuck in the traffic?" Klein told AFP.

"Flying's in my blood -- my grandfather and my father flew ultra-light aircrafts and I got my pilot's license before I was old enough to drive a car," said Klein, who has designed cars for BMW, Volkswagen, and Audi and now teaches at the Bratislava-based Academy of Fine Arts and Design.

His elegant blue-and-white vehicle for two is six meters (20 feet) long so it fits neatly in a parking space or a garage and tanks up at any filling station. But once it reaches an airport it can unfold its wings within seconds becoming a plane.

Dubbed "the world's prettiest and best-designed airborne automobile so far" by US aviation magazine Flying and Inhabitat.com design, an innovation website, the Aeromobil also has the distinction of originating in Slovakia, the world's largest per-capita car producer.

"So far there have been about twenty attempts to manufacture a flying car around the globe," the president of the Slovak Ultra Light Aviation Federation, Milan Ciba, told AFP.

"Among them, Aeromobil appears very viable," he said.

'Make their lives easier'

Other models include the US-based Terrafugia's "Transition" flying car expected to be launched on the market within a year, while the helicopter-type Dutch PAL-V gyrocopter could go on sale in this year.

Klein's dream took to the skies in September when he piloted the Aeromobil during its first wobbly test flight.

Once airborne, the it can reach a top speed of 200km/h (124 mph) and travel as far as 700 km (430 miles), consuming 15 liters (4 gallons) of petrol per hour.

"A combination of a car and a plane will always lose against the competition when we start comparing energy consumption," Jan Lesinsky from the Slovak University of Technology told AFP.

But would-be users could glide by long lines and security checks at airports, saving time on medium-distance journeys.

Klein and his team are currently working on the next generation of Aeromobil that will go into production in a few months and hopefully receive Slovak Ultra Light Aircraft Certification (SFUL).

"Would-be users would have to follow the legislation already in place for ultra light aircraft," SFUL president Federation Milan Ciba told AFP.

"Pilot/drivers will need to have both a driver's and pilot's licence with at least 25 flying hours," he added.

An enthusiastic pilot himself, Klein remains down to earth when looking to the future.

"I don't expect Aeromobil to go into mass production, it will always be an alternative means of transport," Klein said.

"It can, however, be very interesting for countries with vast areas lacking infrastructure like Russia, China, or Australia," he added.

Flying cars will most likely take off among pilots licensed for ultra-light aircraft, says Ciba.

"It would make their lives so much easier -- they would be able to park their car/aircraft at home, drive to the airport, take off, land and drive to their destination without switching vehicles," he muses.

source: interaksyon.com

‘Brokeback Mountain’, the opera, makes world premiere this month

MADRID | “Brokeback Mountain”, the Oscar-winning epic about the relationship between two cowboys in the American West, is coming to the stage as an opera, with a world premiere in Madrid this month.

The opera, brought to the screen in 2005 and based on the 1997 short story of the same name by Annie Proulx, opens January 28 at the Teatro Real in the Spanish capital, some six years after it was commissioned.

“The whole opera is about a typical kind of impossible situation, a tragic situation,” said the opera’s 75-year-old American composer, Charles Wuorinen, who was supervising rehearsals in Madrid this week.

“In this case, it is two people who in some way want to have a relationship, which in their time is forbidden by society,” he told AFP in an interview.

Wuorinen said he worked closely with Proulx, whose original short story was published in The New Yorker before being transported to the screen by Taiwanese director Ang Lee.

Depicting the tormented love story of two young cowboys, Jack and Ennis, who meet in the spectacular yet hostile mountainous region in Wyoming, won three Oscars.

“The importance of Annie Proulx’s novel is that great love is great love even if social reflections and conventions are opposed to it,” said the Teatro Real’s departing director, the Belgian Gerard Mortier, who commissioned the adaption to opera in 2008 from the American composer and Proulx.

Mortier said he deliberately scheduled “Brokeback Mountain” to open straight after the performances of Wagner’s opera of the adulterous love tragedy, “Tristan und Isolde”.

“Tristan, Isolde, Jack, Ennis; they all don’t understand what’s happening to them but are all prepared to die for the love they feel,” Mortier said in a statement.





The author of more than 260 orchestral, choral, piano and percussion compositions, as well as of electronic music and ballets, Wuorinen, a New Yorker, denies creating “Brokeback Mountain”, in which the two heros kiss on stage, as a message in favor of homosexual rights.

“If that helps, that’s good. But I’m more interested in the fundamental human problem because I would not want the opera to be thought as an ideological or propaganda piece for a particular point of view,” he said.

Composed in two acts over two hours, with dialogues in simple English with some swearing, “Brokeback Mountain” is scheduled to run at the Teatro Real until February 11.

source: interaksyon.com