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সোমবার, ৩১ অক্টোবর, ২০১১
Honda's profit sinks, Thai flooding clouds outlook (AP)
TOKYO ? Honda's quarterly profit tumbled 56 percent, battered by the strong yen and production disruptions from the March tsunami disaster that are likely to be compounded by flooding in Thailand.
The automaker, which makes the Accord sedan and Odyssey minivan, said Monday that net profit for the July-September fiscal second quarter fell to 60.4 billion yen ($788 million).
Quarterly sales sank 16.3 percent from a year earlier to 1.885 trillion yen ($24.6 billion), with sales in North America falling the most ? 22.3 percent.
Honda Motor Co. said flooding in Thailand, where the automaker has parts suppliers and assembly lines, made it too difficult to forecast earnings for the full fiscal year through March 2012. A projection will be announced when it becomes available, the company said.
The Thai floods are the latest blow to Japanese manufacturers as they struggle to recover from the tsunami while also being pummeled by the yen's record surge. Japanese automakers in particular use Thailand as a production base in Southeast Asia.
Earlier Monday, Japanese authorities intervened in the currency market to weaken the yen against the dollar and ease pressure on Japanese exporters. That caused the dollar to jump nearly 5 percent to above 79 yen after earlier touching a post World War II-low of 75.32 yen ? a level that is excruciating for exporters such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Nintendo Co.
The strong yen, which erodes foreign earned income, took a bite out of Honda's profits. The automaker estimated that if sales were calculated at the same exchange rate as last year, quarterly sales would have fallen a less severe 12.3 percent.
Revenue from nearly all regions declined. Domestic sales were down 13.2 percent, revenue from Europe sank 10.4 percent, and in Asia outside Japan sales fell 10 percent. Sales to South America, Africa and the Mideast inched up 0.8 percent from a year earlier, the company said.
Honda's motorcycle business was one of its few bright spots in the quarter, with sales rising 14.2 percent to 357.3 billion yen ($4.6 billion).
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রবিবার, ৩০ অক্টোবর, ২০১১
Gov't considers testing anthrax vaccine in kids
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Should the anthrax vaccine be tested in children?
Concerned that terrorists might use the potentially deadly bacteria in some future attack, the government has stockpiled the vaccine, and it's been widely tested on adults. But never on children.
The question is whether to do those tests now so that doctors would know if and how well children respond to the shots ? or just wait and, if there is an attack, offer the vaccine experimentally at that time.
That issue was before the National Biodefense Science Board on Friday. The board gives advice to the Department of Health and Human Services on preparations for chemical, biological and nuclear events.
Even if the board recommends testing, there is no deadline for the government to decide whether to go along. And if it does agree, it's not clear how much time it would take to find money for such research and get clearance from review boards at medical centers that would conduct studies.
Another big question is whether parents would sign up their children to test a vaccine when there is no immediate threat. It's not possible to get anthrax from the vaccine, but there are side effects. In adults, shot-site soreness, muscle aches, fatigue and headache are the main ones, and rare but serious allergic reactions have been reported.
Anthrax is among several potential bioterror weapons and is of special interest because it was used in letters sent to the media and others in 2001, claiming five lives and sickening 17. That prompted extensive screening of mail and better ventilation and testing at postal facilities and government agencies.
The FBI has blamed the attacks-by-mail on Bruce Ivins, a scientist at an Army biodefense laboratory, who committed suicide before he could be charged.
Anthrax can be difficult to treat, especially if someone has breathed anthrax spores. Millions of doses of antibiotics have been stockpiled since the 2001 episode, and two experimental toxin-clearing treatments also are being stored.
U.S. troops deploying to Iraq, Afghanistan and some other countries are required to get anthrax shots. Since 1998, more than 1 million have been vaccinated. After lawsuits objecting to the requirement, a federal judge suspended the program in 2004, finding fault in the Food and Drug Administration's process for approving the drug. The next year, the FDA reaffirmed its finding that the vaccine was safe.
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Arianna Huffington: Sunday Roundup
Halloween is tomorrow, so this week people in the news were trying on costumes and masks, deciding who they want to be. In sports, the St. Louis Cardinals were the ultimate Cinderella, going from 10.5 games behind in late August to World Series champs. In the GOP race, Rick Perry couldn't make up his mind. At first he decided to go retro, donning a Steve Forbes-inspired look as Flat Tax Man. But I guess that wasn't scary enough, so he switched to a more modern -- and much creepier -- mask: Birther Guy. Meanwhile, the Oakland police department apparently has decided to come as Richard Daley's 1968 Chicago police force, with injured Iraq war vet Scott Olsen left looking like the civil rights protesters bloodied on Selma's Edmund Pettus Bridge. Lastly, what's the over/under on how many "Sodomized Gaddafi" outfits we'll see tomorrow night? Boo!
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Iowa Poll: Cain, Romney top field ahead of caucuses
Brian Ray / AP
Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain campaigns outside of Kinnick stadium in Iowa City, Iowa, on Oct. 22.
By NBC's Alex Moe
DES MOINES, Iowa?The two candidates who least frequently visit Iowa are currently leading in the race to win the state's January caucuses, the new Des Moines Register poll showed Saturday evening.
Former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain leads the Republican presidential field in the Hawkeye State, narrowly surpassing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for the top spot, according to the poll conducted this past week.
The highly regarded Iowa Poll shows Cain with 23 percent and Romney at 22 percent among likely caucus-goers ahead of Jan. 3's caucuses, the first nominating contest of the 2012 cycle. Cain has seen his stock rise by 13 percentage points since the last edition of the poll; Romney only dropped one percent despite the fact that neither candidate has visited Iowa more than once since the weekend of August 12th.
The advantage for Cain and Romney seems unusual in a state that typically prides itself on retail politics.
"Iowans seem to be saying 'we've tried politicians, it's time to shift gears and try a CEO to run our country.'? The more desperate our country's financial situation, the more voters are looking for someone from the business world who can turn this ship around," said Steve Grubbs, Cain's Iowa state chairman.
As a matter of comparison, Romney led the field ? at 29 percent - to former Arkansas governor and eventual caucus-winner Mike Huckabee's 12 percent in the October 2007 edition of the same poll.
Texas Rep. Ron Paul places third in the Register?s poll, with 12 percent, followed by Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann at 8 percent, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Gov. Rick Perry tied at 7 percent, former Sen. Rick Santorum at 5 percent, and finally former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman at 1 percent.
The Iowa Poll suggests a slight shift within the margin-of-error in the race for Iowa's caucuses since the NBC News/Marist poll was conducted at the beginning of the month. Romney led at 23 percent to Cain's 20 percent in that poll, conducted Oct. 3-5.
Bachmann, who is staking her campaign on Iowa, has dropped 14 percentage points since June and into fourth place. This news comes after winning the Ames Straw Poll and spending a lot of time in the state, including recently expanding her staff here.
"Poll numbers have bounced up and down on weekly, sometimes daily basis. We?ll see much more of that before caucus night but one thing I?m convinced of is that Michele Bachmann will come out on top in on Jan. 3," said Bachmann's Iowa campaign manager Eric Woolson.
It has been four months since the Register released its last poll. The June poll had Romney leading in the state with 23 percent?just in front of Bachmann, who jumped in the race two days after the poll came out, at 22 percent. Perry had yet to throw his hat in the ring.
Though Perry joined the race just over two months ago, both he and his wife, Anita, have made quite a few trips here, yet Perry is tied for fifth place with Gingrich.
Perhaps the most disappointing showing, at least in terms of time spent in Iowa, has to be for the former Pennsylvania senator, Santorum. He will be the only candidate to visit all of Iowa?s 99 counties as of Wednesday, but still remains at the bottom of the poll.
The Register?s poll was based on telephone interviews Oct. 23-26 with 400 likely Republican caucus-goers, and has a margin of error plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.
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Are birds? tweets grammatical?
But are the rules of grammar unique to human language? Perhaps not, according to a recent study, which showed that songbirds may also communicate using a sophisticated grammar?a feature absent in even our closest relatives, the nonhuman primates.
Kentaro Abe and Dai Watanabe of Kyoto University performed a series of experiments to determine whether Bengalese finches expect the notes of their tunes to follow a certain order. To test this possibility, Abe and Watanabe took advantage of a behavioral response called habituation, where animals zone-out when exposed to the same stimulus over and over again.
In each experiment, the birds were presented with the same songs until they became familiarized with the tune. The researchers then created novel songs by shuffling the notes around. But not every new song caught the birds? attention; rather, the finches increased response calls only to songs with notes arranged in a particular order, suggesting that the birds used common rules when forming the syntax of that song. When the researchers created novel songs with even more complicated artificial grammar?for example, songs that mimicked a specific feature found in human (Japanese) language?the birds still only responded to songs that followed the rules.
Birds isolated as babies from other birds were still able to learn artificial rules of grammar, but they failed to respond to songs with modified syntax?that is, normal Bengalese finch songs with the notes shuffled. However, after being reintroduced to other birds, it took them only two weeks to learn to respond to the shuffled songs, indicating that the birds needed to hear other birds? songs to absorb the precise rules of Bengalese finch grammar.
This study revealed that Bengalese finches can learn grammar and, furthermore, that their grammatical abilities involve a specific part of the brain region distinct from other brain regions involved in singing. This is similar to what neuroscientists understand about human language processing.
If the tweets of birds can be roughly likened to strings of human words, and if birdbrains process songs in a way similar to how human brains process language, future research may tackle whether these animals possess other cognitive abilities once thought to be singularly characteristic of human intelligence. The next time you hear a bird chirping outside your window, you might think twice about what?s going on inside his little birdbrain.
Images: photos by BS Thurner Hof and Kclama at Wikimedia Commons. Graphic of the brain, provided by the author.
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শনিবার, ২৯ অক্টোবর, ২০১১
Europe's New Debt Crisis Agreement: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly (Time.com)
Sometimes I think the euro zone debt crisis is like watching a remake of the Bill Murray classic Groundhog Day, with the screenplay written by Financial Times correspondents. I wake up and read the news coming from Europe: worries mount about a Greek default, contagion spreads across the continent, the euro zone leaders are lost in befuddled bickering, and then a new pact to fix the problems emerges, hailed as historic. Then I get up the next day to find we're in exactly the same place we were before, with the cycle just repeating itself. Again and again. The only difference is that Groundhog Day made me laugh. The euro crisis version makes me want to cry.
So today, again, we find ourselves with yet another supposedly historic agreement, the one that will finally, really, once-and-for-all put an end the debt crisis, the most dangerous threat to global financial stability today. But is this the big one? Or will I wake up tomorrow listening to the same euro zone version of "I Got You Babe," sung by Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel? (See pictures of the global financial crisis.)
This latest pact, reached after all-night, hard-fought negotiations Thursday morning, is still short on details and has a long way to go before it can be called actual policy. But looking at the general outlines, I see some good aspects, some bad, and some truly ugly.
First, the good. The euro zone is finally getting real. Its leaders had been in denial that far greater and more comprehensive measures were necessary to quell the crisis, but this agreement shows they're waking up to reality. Everyone knew Europe's banks needed to be repaired; now, finally, we have a plan to recapitalize them. Everyone knew Greece needed a more drastic debt restructuring; now we have a bigger bailout (130 billion euros, or $180 billion) with a bigger reduction of debt. Everyone knew the euro zone's bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility, or EFSF, was too small to fight contagion; now we have a deal to increase the fund's capabilities by using it to guarantee private bondholders against losses on sovereign debt purchases. These are all important ? in fact, crucial ? steps to tackling the debt crisis, and Europe's leaders should get kudos for taking them. (Read: "Euro Zone Strikes a Deal With Lots of Promise But Few Details")
But then there's the bad: As has been the custom, the plan is ultimately no more than a politically determined collection of half-measures. With voters at home turning more and more sour on euro bailouts, the zone's leadership has attempted to tackle the crisis with hardly any new money being put on the table. And, as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. The bank recapitalization plan calls for banks to raise 106 billion euros ($150 billion) in fresh capital. But that's about half what private estimates say is necessary, so it's unlikely to be a final cure for Europe's banking woes. Nor is it clear what role European governments will play in providing that capital. On the expansion of the EFSF, the deal is aimed at giving the fund more firepower without adding any more ammunition. The actual size of the fund will remain the same; after the Greek bailout, no one is sure how much may actually be left. And as to that second bailout, Greece's situation will improve due to the 50% haircut being imposed on private bondholders. (Yes, imposed. Let's not kid ourselves that this debt restructuring is "voluntary." No one "voluntarily" loses half their money.) But Greece will still be stuck with a dangerously high debt burden. The new deal will lower its government debt to GDP ratio to a still-lofty 120% ? by the end of the decade. And even that estimate is based on unrealistic assumptions ? that Greece can close its budget gap with its economy in free fall, or raise tens of billions in a privatization program that has yet to get off the ground. So my guess is that this deal resolves none of the major issues. The Greek debt crisis will continue; the banking crisis will continue; and Europe still hasn't put its money where its rhetoric is.
And now the ugly. The deal includes a proposal to tap China and other cash-rich emerging markets to participate in bolstering the EFSF, possibly through the IMF. French President Sarkozy is expected to phone Chinese President Hu Jintao to woo him into the scheme. This whole idea is truly pathetic. If I were Hu, I'd be insulted. The euro zone leaders are unwilling to spend more to solve their own debt crisis, so they think the Chinese are gullible enough to put in their savings? I don't think so. If Sarkozy called you up and asked for your paycheck to bailout Italy, would you give it to him? China is not a global ATM machine, or a charitable organization. In the end, China will invest its money as any other financier would ? in ways that increase its return and preserve its wealth. Perhaps the Chinese can be bribed into cooperating ? a notion has been floating about that Europe would promise Beijing more voting rights at the IMF. But even if China throws Europe a bone to boost its political influence in the region (or to gloat that the Europeans have come begging), the euro zone needs hundreds of billions of dollars, perhaps even trillions. They're not getting that from China. (See why it's make-up or break-up time for the euro zone.)
So in the end, this historic agreement will likely get dumped in the dustbin of history like all of the other historic agreements. So the same cycle will repeat itself again. We'll probably be talking about a new grand agreement to halt the debt crisis by early next year. I guess it could be worse. I could be the groundhog.
Is it time to admit the euro has failed?
See 25 people to blame for the financial crisis.
View this article on Time.com
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Rapper 50 Cent Admits He Was a School Bully
Many celebrities have come forward lately to help the anti-bully cause and to share their own experiences with bullying in school -- and now it's 50 Cent's turn. But instead of talking about being the victim of bullying (like most stars), the rapper admits he was the one doing the bullying.
His new young adult novel Playground is written from the perspective of the bull -- an overweight student named Butterball, who bullies his classmates because he can't come to terms with his own emotions.
The issue is important to 36-year-old 50 Cent (ne: Curtis Jackson) in more ways than one. As a father, he could see how bullying was affecting adolescents.
"Because my son is 15-years old, it's a relevant issue for me because of him. I wrote it because I wanted to do something about it," he said on the Today show on Wednesday.
But the Grammy-winning entrepreneur, who has been working on the book for more than a year, has another even more personal reason to tackle the subject -- he was himself a bully growing up in Queens, New York.
"I had more experiences where I was a part of the problem, where I was actually bullying," Jackson admits. "To know now from an adult's perspective and be able to write things, I can look back on those actual situations and say, 'That was completely wrong.' But I know what was motivating it now."
If only all bullies could grow up to redeem themselves like 50 Cent!
Watch 50 Cent talk about bullying below:
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Source: http://www.ivillage.com/rapper-50-cent-admits-he-was-school-bully/1-a-396634
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Cablevision misses Street estimates, shares tank (Reuters)
(Reuters) ? Cablevision Systems Corp's quarterly earnings widely missed Wall Street estimates as it faced a weak economy, high programing costs and increased competition from phone companies offering TV services.
Cablevision shares fell more than 14 percent on the profit miss of 14 cents per share.
Cable companies have been losing video customers to phone companies such as Verizon Communications, which offers FiOs TV, satellite providers as well Internet companies such as Netflix Inc and Hulu.
Cablevision was the second cable company in two days to report disappointing earnings and then have it shares fall by double digits. On Thursday, Time Warner Cable lost more video customers than expected and its shares fell 10 percent.
Cablevision, which mainly serves the New York area but now has operations in Montana and Wymoming, said it lost 19,000 video subscribers in the third quarter.
While some analysts were expecting deeper losses, Wall Street was not impressed with Cablevision's results on Friday.
"Cablevision's numbers are very weak," said Brean Murray analyst Todd Mitchell. "They are having trouble in their New York clusters."
Verizon competes with Cablevision in the greater New York area and in the same period it added 131,000 video customers. Earlier this month, Verizon said it expects to add 200,000 FiOS TV customers in the fourth-quarter.
Cablevision executives also blamed the weak economy for stunting housing growth and hurting its business. If people are not moving into new homes, they will not sign up for new TV service. The company's finance chief called it a "cyclically challenging time."
"You have a situation currently where you have pretty slow housing growth, virtually no housing growth, and actual reduction in household formation," said Cablevision's CFO Gregg Seibert on the conference call.
Cablevision also said its revenue took a hit of $16 million
because of Hurricane Irene, a storm that affected the New York area in August.
One bright spot for Cablevision was its Internet additions. Analysts were expecting it to add 5,000 new Internet customers and it added 17,000 in the quarter.
Cablevision posted a profit of $39.3 million or 14 cents per share, down from $68.4 million, or 23 cents per share, a year earlier.
Adjusted for various charges, the company reported an EPS of 17 cents, which missed analysts' expectations of 31 cents per share.
Cablevision, which is controlled by the Dolan family and also owns a newspaper and TV networks, saw its total revenue increase 8 percent to $1.67 billion, which was in line with analysts' estimates, according to Thomson-Reuters I/B/E/S.
The company's shares fell $2.49 to $14.82 on the New York Stock Exchange.
(Reporting by Liana B. Baker in New York, editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Dave Zimmerman)
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শুক্রবার, ২৮ অক্টোবর, ২০১১
Thoughtful Animal in Print! Of Flashmobs and Four Loko
October 26, 2011?|
If you?re a subscriber of the Scientific American print magazine, you might have noticed a new feature in the Advances section recently ? excerpts of recent posts from the blog network!
In November?s issue, you can find a version of my post about the Copenhagen Philharmonic and Four Loko ? which you can also find online: Of Flashmobs and Four Loko.
Photo by AV Flox
About the Author: Jason G. Goldman is a graduate student in developmental psychology at the University of Southern California, where he studies the evolutionary and developmental origins of the mind in humans and non-human animals. Jason is also Psychology and Neuroscience Editor for ResearchBlogging.org and Editor of Open Lab 2010. He lives in Los Angeles, CA. Follow on Google+. Follow on Twitter @jgold85.More??
The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.
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What are the Israeli-Palestinian peace talk preconditions? (The Christian Science Monitor)
By Ariel Zirulnick Ariel Zirulnick ? Wed?Oct?26, 4:08?pm?ET Follow Yahoo! News on , become a fan on Facebook More on the Mideast Conflict
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Deficit-cutting panel looking at benefits, taxes (AP)
WASHINGTON ? Rival deficit-cutting plans advanced by Republicans and Democrats on Congress' secretive supercommittee would both mean smaller-than-expected cost of living benefit increases for veterans and federal retirees as well as Social Security recipients and bump up taxes for some individuals and families, according to officials familiar with the recommendations.
In all, the changes would reduce deficits by an estimated $200 billion over a decade, a fraction of the committee's minimum goal of $1.2 trillion in savings.
A final decision by the panel on legislation to reduce deficits is still a few weeks off, and given the political difficulties involved, there is no certainty that the six Republicans and six Democrats will be able to agree.
The two sides exchanged initial offers earlier this week, and each side swiftly found fault with the others' proposal in the privacy of the committee's rooms as well as in public.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, noting published reports that Democrats are seeking $3 trillion in higher taxes, said, "This is the same number that was in the president's budget, the same number that ? that they ? I don't know that they found any Democrats in the House and Senate to vote for."
"I don't think it's a reasonable number," he said. Boehner also chided Democrats for recommending $50 billion in savings from Medicaid over the next decade, well below what Republicans are seeking.
"Let's understand over the next 10 years, we're going to spend $10 trillion on Medicaid. I just think there's a lot more room there to help find common ground," he said.
At the same time, Boehner emphasized, "I am committed to getting to an outcome" that clears the committee and Congress. The speaker negotiated privately with President Barack Obama over the summer in deficit-reduction talks that failed to produce an agreement.
At a news conference of her own, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California said she wanted a compromise that was "big, bold and balanced," a phrase that Democrats use to convey an insistence on higher tax revenue.
She pointedly declined to embrace what Democrats had presented to the supercommittee. She called it "Sen. Baucus' package," a reference to the Montana Democrat and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. That ran directly counter to his aides' statements earlier in the week that he was speaking for a majority of Democrats on the panel ? and tacit confirmation that at least two of the party's members had not signed on as supporters.
Ironically, while the Republican and Democratic panel members remain far apart, one of the relatively few items in common was a potentially controversial recommendation to change the calculation for annual cost-of-living increases in federal programs as well as the yearly adjustments in income tax brackets.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the recommended change "produces lower estimates of inflation than the traditional" measurement of the Consumer Price Index. Since December 2000 the difference on average has amounted to 0.3 percentage points, according to the agency.
A decision to base annual cost of living increases on the new calculation would lower Social Security costs by $108 billion over a decade, and the impact on benefits for federal civilian and military pension programs and veterans' benefits would save an additional $23 billion, according to calculations made in February 2010.
Congressional experts said the list of federal programs that would be affected is extensive, and included Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps and more, but the absence of a written description by either side in the deficit negotiations makes a complete listing impossible.
Officials in both parties said their plans would affect income tax brackets, which currently are adjusted annually to make sure that inflation alone does not expose more earnings to taxation.
By slowing the rate of the adjustment, more income would be taxed than is currently forecast, a change that Congress' Joint Tax Committee recently estimated would produce $59.6 billion in revenue to the Treasury over a decade.
Just as changes to Social Security and benefit programs are politically problematic for Democrats, tax increases are difficult for Republicans.
Americans for Tax Reform, an organization led by anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist, earlier this year said slowing the pace at which tax brackets are adjusted for inflation "would most certainly be a tax hike."
There was one caveat, though.
"This idea can of course be part of a discussion of comprehensive and revenue-neutral tax reform, but stand-alone it is a tax hike."
Both Republicans and Democrats included tax reform in their presentations inside the supercommittee, and the issue has great political appeal.
But the two sides differ dramatically on the details. Democrats called for tax reform that would generate an additional $1 trillion in revenue over a decade, while Republicans said they envisioned no increase.
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বৃহস্পতিবার, ২৭ অক্টোবর, ২০১১
Poor clerk first to win million on India game show
In this Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2011, photograph, Sushil Kumar, left, with Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, shows $1 million check after winning on an Indian game show, in Mumbai, India. Kumar, a government clerk from a desolate region of eastern India, has become the first person ever to win $1 million on the popular Indian version of "Who wants to be a Millionaire." (AP Photo)
In this Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2011, photograph, Sushil Kumar, left, with Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, shows $1 million check after winning on an Indian game show, in Mumbai, India. Kumar, a government clerk from a desolate region of eastern India, has become the first person ever to win $1 million on the popular Indian version of "Who wants to be a Millionaire." (AP Photo)
NEW DELHI (AP) ? A poor government clerk from a desolate region of eastern India has become the first person ever to win $1 million on an Indian game show.
Sushil Kumar's staggering win on the popular Indian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" has transformed him into a role model for millions of aspiring youth yearning to escape from lives of poverty and find a role in India's burgeoning economy.
Kumar's win echoes the plot of the 2008 Oscar-winning film "Slumdog Millionaire," whose impoverished protagonist won the grand prize on the show.
Kumar and his wife of five months wept when Indian movie legend Amitabh Bachchan, the show's host, handed them a check for 50 million rupees (just over $1 million) after the contestant gave all the right answers on the show.
"You have created history. Your grit and determination has made you come so far in this show," Bachchan said.
Before Kumar went on the program, which was taped Tuesday and will air next week, he earned $120 a month as a government office worker and supplemented his income by working as a private tutor in the small town of Motihari in the eastern state of Bihar.
Kumar, 26, told viewers his family was so poor they couldn't afford a television set, forcing him to go to a neighbor's home to watch the quiz show. Watching him tick off correct answer after correct answer, his neighbors persuaded him to try out for the show, he said.
The trip to the Mumbai studio where the show is taped was his first ride in a plane and his first visit to a big city, he said.
Kumar had clear, if modest, plans for the money.
He said he will use some to pay for a preparatory course so he can take India's tough civil service exam, which could lead to a secure and prestigious lifetime job.
He said he will also buy a new home for his wife, pay off his parents' debts and give his brothers startup cash so they can set up small businesses.
And he plans to build a library in Motihari so the children of his village will have access to the books and knowledge he so desperately craved, he said.
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Remains in Maine freezer could be missing woman
LEWISTON, Maine?? State authorities are planning an autopsy on the remains of a body found in a Maine storage unit last week that may be those of a woman missing since 1983.
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The Sun Journal reports that an autopsy is set for Monday on the remains found in an unplugged freezer in Lewiston.
Law enforcement authorities think the remains may be Kitty Wardwell, who was reported missing in July 1983 after last being seen with her former boyfriend, Frank Julian. She was 29 at the time.
The storage locker had been rented since 1992 by Julian. Julian died earlier this month at age 80 and the remains were found by his family cleaning out the locker.
State police say they hope DNA testing confirms that the body is Wardwell.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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US pulls envoy out of Syria over security concerns
FILE - In this June 20, 2011 photo taken during a government-organized tour for foreign diplomats and the media, US ambassador in Syria Robert Ford, covers his nose during his visit with other foreign diplomats to a mass grave, in Jisr el-Shughour, north of Syria. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Monday, Oct. 24, 2011, that Ambassador Robert Ford returned to Washington this weekend after "credible threats against his personal safety." (AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi, File)
FILE - In this June 20, 2011 photo taken during a government-organized tour for foreign diplomats and the media, US ambassador in Syria Robert Ford, covers his nose during his visit with other foreign diplomats to a mass grave, in Jisr el-Shughour, north of Syria. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Monday, Oct. 24, 2011, that Ambassador Robert Ford returned to Washington this weekend after "credible threats against his personal safety." (AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The United States pulled its ambassador out of Syria over security concerns, blaming President Bashar Assad's regime for the threats that made it no longer safe for him to remain.
Ambassador Robert Ford returned to Washington this weekend after the U.S. received "credible threats against his personal safety in Syria," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Monday. Ford has been the subject of several incidents of intimidation by pro-government thugs, and enraged Syrian authorities with his forceful defense of peaceful protests and harsh critique of a government crackdown that has now claimed more than 3,000 lives.
"We hope that the Syrian regime will end its incitement campaign against Ambassador Ford," Toner said. "At this point, we can't say when he will return to Syria."
Toner said the U.S. embassy will remain open in Damascus and that the threats were specifically directed toward Ford. His return is conditional on a U.S. "assessment of Syrian regime-led incitement and the security situation on the ground," Toner said.
An American official said there were no plans to expel the Syrian ambassador in Washington in retaliation. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation
Ford was the first American ambassador to Syria since 2005. President George W. Bush's administration withdrew a full-time ambassador from Syria over charges the country was involved in terrorism and the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Syria has denied any involvement.
The Obama administration decided to return an ambassador to Syria earlier this year in an effort to persuade Syria to change its policies regarding Israel, Lebanon, Iraq and support for extremist groups. Syria is designated a "state sponsor of terrorism" by the State Department.
Although Ford's appointment in January, while the Senate was out of session, was originally criticized by some Republicans in Congress, he has won praise within the administration and beyond for his determination to meet Syrian opposition leaders in a hostile environment, and tough criticism of the Assad regime's brutal military response to mass demonstrations.
The Senate unanimously approved Ford's nomination earlier this month, with Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, a Democrat, praising Ford for continuing to visit cities under siege and "speak truth to power."
Ford was greeted by demonstrators with roses and cheers when he traveled to the restive city of Hama in July, prompting immediate recriminations from the Syrian government, which tried to then limit where Ford could travel. Only days later hundreds of regime supporters attacked the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, smashing windows and spray-painting obscenities on the walls.
Ford also has been the subject of several incidents of intimidation by pro-government thugs, often in coordination with pro-Assad media capturing the humiliation. Media reports said Ford was hit last week with eggs and tomatoes while going to a mosque in Damascus. Other such incidents have occurred after meetings with dissident groups or individuals, and his postings on Facebook have provoked thousands of Syrian and other responses, and even some death threats from pro-Assad hardliners.
The U.S. last month decried Ford's treatment and "unwarranted and unjustifiable," after Assad supporters tried to force their way into a meeting he was having a prominent opposition figure. Syrian police were slow in responding, and Ford was trapped inside the building for about three hours. But White House press secretary James Carney insisted at the time that the U.S. had no plans to remove Ford for his safety.
Haynes Mahoney, the embassy's deputy chief of mission, confirmed that Ford has left Syria but said Washington hadn't not formally recalled him ? a symbolically significant diplomatic step.
At the time of Ford's arrival in Damascus, Syria was bouncing back from years of international isolation. Still, Assad largely shrugged off U.S. attempts to pull it away from its alliances with Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah. And as the Arab Spring protests escalated in Syria, Ford dropped his engagement efforts and took on an increasingly high-profile role defending the rights of Syrian protesters.
Toner lamented that the threats deprived the United States of a valuable emissary to the Syrian people at a time they face daily violence from Assad's security forces. Clashes on Sunday saw forces flood into villages where residents have been on strike and shoot two people dead, according to activists.
President Barack Obama has called on the U.N. Security Council to sanction Syria for using deadly violence against citizens who are rising up against the authoritarian government there.
A seasoned diplomat with extensive Middle East experience, Ford "has worked diligently to deliver our message and be our eyes on the ground" in Syria, Toner said. "This decision was based solely on the need to ensure his safety, a matter we take extremely seriously."
___
Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, contributed to this report.
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Birmingham says farewell to Fred Shuttlesworth (AP)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ? As he fought discrimination in his native Alabama, the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth endured bombs, beatings and the constant threat of death ? the price of seeking change in one of the most violent cities of the segregated South.
On Monday, Birmingham said farewell to the fiery Baptist preacher, honoring him at his funeral as a liberator who helped free the community and the country.
Shuttlesworth was "one of the founding fathers of the new America," who put his life on the line in the 1950s and 1960s to end segregation and racial discrimination, said Rep. John Lewis of Georgia.
"Fear, real fear, smothered the air, not just throughout Birmingham but throughout the American South," Lewis said from podium just a few feet above Shuttlesworth's open casket. The two met in 1961 during the Freedom Rides.
"Birmingham is different today. Alabama is different today. America is different today, because this man passed our way."
Lewis was joined by pastors and other foot soldiers from the civil rights era who remembered Shuttlesworth as an architect of the movement, a man whose courage and persistence persuaded the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to come to Birmingham in 1963 to take part in historic protests that drew the eyes of the nation.
That visit helped paved the way for passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and for King to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
In their tributes, speakers described a state long synonymous with hate that was forever changed by Shuttlesworth and his fellow clergymen.
Shuttlesworth brought international attention to the brutality of discrimination in the South. And for decades after the 1963 campaign, he continued to fight racial injustice in Birmingham, even after moving to Cincinnati.
Former United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young said Shuttlesworth "raised the cloud of hell off the city."
Joining the crowd of mourners at Faith Chapel Christian Center were members of King's family, along with the Revs. Joseph Lowery and Jesse Jackson, and the widow of the Rev. Ralph David Abernathy. Shuttlesworth died Oct. 5 at age 89.
His wife was able to attend the service, even after falling the night before and staying overnight in a hospital. The crowd at the funeral stood and applauded as Sephira Shuttlesworth was wheeled to her husband's casket, where she stood to view his body before leaning down to kiss him.
Her spokeswoman, Malena Cunningham, said she was sore after falling at a panel discussion Sunday night, but she wasn't going to let it "stop her from giving a proper farewell to her husband."
Republican Gov. Robert Bentley spoke frankly to the mostly black mourners about his own experiences with segregation. He grew up on the other side of Jim Crow as a young white man in Shelby County and later as a student at the University of Alabama.
Before men like Shuttlesworth agitated for an end to segregation, the governor said, he never gave much thought to the culture of discrimination that hung over the state.
He thanked Shuttlesworth for undoing "the teachings of a misdirected society."
When King took the helm of the Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott in 1955, Shuttlesworth was already in Birmingham trying to start a movement. But hardly anyone was paying attention.
Shuttlesworth was from a small church, and it was easy for local whites to dismiss him as a radical. Until King came to Birmingham, Shuttlesworth couldn't get the national press to recognize his city as the embodiment of the horrors of segregation.
King became the icon of the civil rights movement, overshadowing Shuttlesworth throughout the struggle. Shuttlesworth was eclipsed by King again in death.
Though he died nearly three weeks ago, Shuttlesworth's burial was postponed because of last weekend's dedication of the King Memorial on the National Mall, which drew many prominent civil rights figures to Washington.
But Shuttlesworth's record of commitment ranked him among the movement's top leaders.
He survived a Christmas 1956 bombing that destroyed his home, an assault during a 1957 protest, chest injuries when Birmingham authorities turned fire hoses on demonstrators in 1963 and countless arrests.
He moved to Ohio in the early 1960s but returned frequently to Alabama for protests. He came back to live in the Birmingham area after retiring a few years ago.
Friday's funeral was the last in a series of events remembering Shuttlesworth, including a memorial service Sunday with remarks by Attorney General Eric Holder, the first African-American to hold that position.
___
Follow Errin Haines on Twitter at www.twitter.com/emarvelous.
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L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. Third Quarter Earnings Sneak ...
Scottrade: $7 Online Trades. Real-Time Stock Quotes 
S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LLL) will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, October 27, 2011. L-3 Communications is a system contractor in aircraft modernization and maintenance, serving customers in commercial telecommunications and government.
L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. Earnings Preview Cheat Sheet
Wall St. Earnings Expectations: The average estimate of analysts is for profit of $2.15 per share, a rise of 3.9% from the company?s actual earnings for the same quarter a year ago. During the past three months, the average estimate has moved down from $2.16. Between one and three months ago, the average estimate moved down. It has been unchanged at $2.15 during the last month. Analysts are projecting profit to rise by 4.4% versus last year to $8.71.
Past Earnings Performance: The company has beaten estimates the last four quarters and is coming off a quarter where it topped forecasts by 4 cents, reporting net income of $2.15 per share against a mean estimate of profit of $2.11 per share.
Investing Insights: Amazon.com has a Stock Chart Technical Analysts Dream About.
Wall St. Revenue Expectations: On average, analysts predict $3.85 billion in revenue this quarter, a rise of 0.3% from the year ago quarter. Analysts are forecasting total revenue of $15.49 billion for the year, a decline of 1.2% from last year?s revenue of $15.68 billion.
Analyst Ratings: Analysts seem relatively indifferent about L-3 Communications Holdings with 13 of 16 analysts surveyed maintaining a hold rating.
A Look Back: In the second quarter, profit rose 6.6% to $243 million ($2.26 a share) from $228 million ($1.95 a share) the year earlier, exceeding analyst expectations. Revenue fell 5% to $3.77 billion from $3.97 billion.
Key Stats:
The increase in profit in the second quarter came after net income fell in the previous quarter. In the first quarter, net income fell 7.7%.
Revenue has fallen in the past two quarters. In the first quarter, the figure fell 0.6%.
Competitors to Watch: Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE:NOC), FLIR Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLIR), Cubic Corporation (NYSE:CUB), The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA), Rockwell Collins, Inc. (NYSE:COL), ITT Corporation (NYSE:ITT), Herley Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:HRLY), Innovative Solutions & Support Inc (NASDAQ:ISSC), Implant Sciences Corp. (IMSC), and Irvine Sensors Corporation (IRSN).
Stock Price Performance: During September 23, 2011 to October 21, 2011, the stock price had risen $10.22 (17%) from $60.15 to $70.37. The stock price saw one of its best stretches over the last year between April 18, 2011 and April 28, 2011 when shares rose for eight-straight days, rising 7.3% (+$5.38) over that span. It saw one of its worst periods between July 1, 2011 and July 18, 2011 when shares fell for 11-straight days, falling 8.3% (-$7.26) over that span. Shares are up $1.11 (+1.6%) year to date.
(Source: Xignite Financials)
Investing Insights: Amazon.com has a Stock Chart Technical Analysts Dream About.
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Oakland cops arrest 85 anti-Wall Street protesters
OAKLAND, Calif.?? Police in riot gear cleared anti-Wall Street protesters on Tuesday from a California government plaza where they had been camping for two weeks, arresting 75 people and leaving a sea of overturned tents, signs and trash.
Hundreds of officers entered the camp before dawn with tear gas and beanbag rounds, police said. The arrests were on suspicion of misdemeanor unlawful assembly and illegal camping.
"It was definitely chaos. People didn't want to get gassed," said protester Anthony Owens. Police said none of the roughly 170 protesters there were injured, but some protesters complained of rough handling. Television news footage showed protesters being taken away in plastic handcuffs.
The Occupy protests over economic inequality have spread from a single camp in New York City to cities across the United States and beyond since mid-September, overlapping with similar, earlier protests in Europe. An attempt earlier this month to clean the New York site, which protesters there feared was a tactic to shut them down, ended with authorities backing off.
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In Tuesday's sweep, officers fired tear gas and bean bags when one group of protesters pelted them with rocks and bottles near the camp's kitchen area, Jordan said.
Tensions between the city and protesters rose last week as officials complained about what they described as deteriorating safety and sanitation. The city ordered the protesters to vacate, though they did not set a deadline
Some people in the camp left as word spread about possible police action, Owens said. Many of the remaining protesters locked arms and shouted as officers surrounded the plaza and moved in Tuesday morning.
City officials had originally been supportive of protesters, with Oakland Mayor Jean Quan saying that sometimes "democracy is messy."
But the city later warned the protesters that they were breaking the law and couldn't stay in the encampment overnight. They cited concerns about rats, fire hazards, public urination and acts of violence at the site, which had grown to more than 150 tents and included areas for health care, child care and cooking.
"Many Oaklanders support the goals of the national Occupy Wall Street movement," Quan said in a statement on Tuesday. "However, over the last week it was apparent that neither the demonstrators nor the City could maintain safe or sanitary conditions or control the ongoing vandalism."
There were reports of a sex assault and a severe beating and fire and paramedics were denied access to the camp, according to city officials, who said they had also received numerous complaints of intimidating and threatening behavior.
Protesters disputed the city's claims. They said the protest was dominated by a spirit of cooperation that helped keep the site clean and allowed disputes to be resolved peacefully.
Lauren Richardson, a 24-year-old college student, said the disheveled state of the camp following the police raid gave a false impression. She said volunteers collected garbage and recycling every six hours, that water was boiled before being used to wash dishes and that rats had infested the park long before the camp went up.
"It was very neat. It was very organized," Richardson said.
Volunteers at the medical tent erected on the site said paramedics had not been kept away.
The city said protesters would be allowed to return to the plaza after it was cleaned up and could stay between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. but not overnight.
Many protesters said the raid had only served to strengthen their resolve that the Oakland protests would continue.
? 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45030431/ns/us_news-life/
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