Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/155046896?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Monday, October 31, 2011
GamesRadar Reviews Pets | Simprograms
You know the drill, here?s another review of the Pets Expansion.
Today, I?m here to offer our publication?s human audience a real horse?s perspective on The Sims 3: Pets. The latest expansion in the series offers the usual extras with new lifetime wishes, skills, career opportunities, buildings, and items ? all set in the fresh country-side neighborhood, Appaloosa Plains. But of course, the biggest and most important addition the expansion brings are horses and the ability to play as them.
To be fair, felines and canines are also available. But they are not important. As usual, weak-minded cats and dogs sit under the shadow of the unquestionably superior equid. That?s how it is in real life. And so it is in The Sims 3: Pets. Dogs can learn simple tricks and will catch fleas, while cats can learn to pounce on inanimate objects. But again, I digress. It?s hard to hate on how useless dogs and cats are in The Sims 3 and in life when there?s so much to love about horses.
Continue?
Source: SimsVIP
About the author
The Black Scorpion loves anything Maxis. The Black Scorpion especially loves The Sims and SimCity franchises (excluding Societies). I am a Texan, but not by choice. I am a so-so cook. I sometimes refer to myself in third person. That is all for now... or is it? Muahahaha!!!
Source: http://www.simprograms.com/36257/gamesradar-reviews-pets/
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Restaurant foods that are ripping you off
If you thought you bagged a bargain by skipping the $29 burgundy-braised short ribs and opting for the $18 baked ziti with mushrooms, marinara sauce and chicken, you?d be wrong. With food costs only accounting for about 18 percent of the menu price, the pasta dish is where the restaurant is making the most profit. Believe it or not, the beef is actually the better deal, since it costs nearly half the menu price to source and prepare it.
If price alone isn?t the best indicator of value on a menu, what criteria should we use to ensure the most bang for our buck? ?Choose labor-intensive, time-consuming, complex dishes, that call for hard-to-find ingredients,? suggests New York-based restaurant consultant, Clark Wolf. ?If you can whip it up yourself in 20 minutes with stuff from your kitchen cupboard ? do that,? he says.
Wolf has a point. Avoid the ubiquitous, low-cost chicken breast dish. Dishes comprising of everyday, bulk ingredients like pasta or rice are cheap to prepare and as simple for the restaurant chef to put together as it is for the home cook. For this same reason, restaurants love brunch when they turn out highly-profitable, egg-centric meals, and bread, flour and dairy-based dishes, such as French toast, waffles and, pancakes.
Forbes.com slideshow: Restaurant foods that are ripping you off
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Then there?s making the most of specialized equipment ? and relationships ? that eateries have. Steakhouses, for example, Clark adds, not only have dry-aging cabinets to hang meat to develop flavor and add value, but the best ones have built links with suppliers that deliver the most prime cuts that aren?t available in retail.
Just as a diner should mull over these factors when selecting a meal, the restaurateur also considers them, and several others, when pricing his menu. ?Food cost, what nearby restaurants are charging for similar dishes, and perceived value ? what customers are willing to pay for certain foods, are all taken into account,? says Linda Lipsky who runs a Pennsylvania-based hospitality operations consulting firm.
While the average raw food cost for fine-dining restaurants is 38 percent ? 42 percent of the menu as a whole, there is no standard mark-up across the board for appetizers, entrees, and desserts. There is also significant fluctuation within these categories. If $1.50 worth of chicken and $1.50 worth of shrimp features in two distinct appetizers, the shrimp dish will be more expensive because customers perceive the crustacean to be of higher value, and so will shell out more for it. However, with a range of quality available, chefs can use a cheaper variety of shrimp unbeknownst to the diner who continues to pay a premium, says Lipsky.
Forbes.com: america?s best chain restaurants
Other than to avoid out low-quality shellfish, there?s another reason why diners should pay more attention to their appetizer order. According to Jody Pennette, founder of CB5 Restaurant Group, in the last 15 years restaurants have raised the price of appetizers disproportionately to the increase in food costs. ?This has gone under the radar because people form their perceptions of value by looking at the price of entrees,? Pennette explains. ?Restaurants keep mains as competitive as they can, knowing they have leeway in other parts of the menu.?
Sides are another area featuring unpalatably high mark-ups, especially when sold as ?family style? servings to be shared by the table. ?Diners have a hard time deciphering value when portion sizes become more abstract,? says Pennette, something that makes it easier to add extra dollars to the check. Throw in exotic, luxury or ethnic ingredients, like caviar, saffron, or fresh lemongrass even in the tiniest quantities, and again the diner swallows a disproportionate price hike. ?People are thrown off the scent of seeking out value with foods they are unfamiliar with and don?t know how to cost,? adds Pennette.
Despite inflated prices in the appetizer sections, there are still parts of the menu where diners can find good value. Red meat and seafood dishes will get more bang for your buck ? and don?t forget the dessert list. ?Dessert used to be a low-cost, money-maker until the ambitions of the modern day pastry chef got in the way,? says Pennette. Nowadays, indulging in elaborate, luxurious desserts is reason alone to eat out. Go on, order that triple-layered chocolate torte. You owe it to your wallet.
Forbes.com: 10 secrets about store brands
Forbes.com: 10 of the world?s most expensive comfort foods
Forbes.com: 15 useful items with a lifetime warranty
Forbes.com: 10 foods to skip in public
? 2011 Forbes.com
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45019409/ns/today-money/
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Sunday, October 30, 2011
Video: Romney flips again?and again and again
No. 4 Stanford has just enough Luck, tops USC in 3OT
??Stepfan Taylor ran for the tying touchdown with 38 seconds left in regulation and the go-ahead score in the third overtime, and Stanford's defense preserved its 16-game winning streak by forcing Curtis McNeal's end-zone fumble to end the No. 4 Cardinal's 56-48 victory over No. 20 Southern California on Saturday night.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/45082595#45082595
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Man dies after being pulled into industrial dryer (Reuters)
(Reuters) ? A worker at a uniform cleaning company in Louisville, Kentucky died on Friday after he was pulled into an industrial dryer, police said.
The worker died from blunt force trauma to his body, Louisville police Lieutenant Barry Wilkerson said in an interview on WLKY, a local television station.
"It appears safety mechanisms were not in place, and it appears the dryer did start, which actually pulled him into the dryer," Wilkerson said.
"It does appear to be an industrial accident."
Cintas Corp, which owned the uniform rental facility where the man worked, issued a statement saying: "Cintas is devastated to have learned about the accident that took the life of one of our employee-partners."
"A thorough investigation has begun to determine the cause of this accident," Cintas said.
(Reporting by Roy Strom: Editing by Mary Wisniewski and Greg McCune)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111029/us_nm/us_dryer_death
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Saturday, October 29, 2011
Conservative, leftist up for Bulgaria presidency (AP)
SOFIA, Bulgaria ? Bulgarians on Sunday are choosing between a member of the ruling center-right party and a leftist ex-foreign minister in an election run-off for the presidency of the impoverished, corruption-plagued country.
Although most of the power in Bulgaria rests with the prime minister and Parliament, the president leads the armed forces and can veto legislation and sign international treaties.
Polls opened at 6 a.m. (0400 GMT) on Sunday and close at 7 p.m. (1700 GMT). Some 6.9 million people are eligible to vote.
A vote last Sunday yielded two top candidates, neither of whom achieved the 50 percent required for outright victory. Ruling conservative party candidate Rosen Plevneliev garnered just over 40 percent of votes, while Ivailo Kalfin ? who ran on the opposition Socialist party ticket ? got nearly 29 percent.
With the gap between the front-runners just over 375,000 votes, both candidates have tried to rally support outside their parties' traditional voters.
Plevneliev, 47, a former entrepreneur, has been lauded for pushing through several large-scale infrastructure projects as regional development minister in the incumbent cabinet. He has pledged to reduce the budget deficit and pursue business-friendly policies in the economically struggling country.
Kalfin, 47, has pledged to safeguard democracy and the rule of law. The European Parliament member is one of the few top left-wing politicians seen as largely untainted by the Socialist party's communist past. During his term as foreign minister, Bulgaria joined the European Union in 2007.
The winner replaces Georgi Parvanov, a former leader of the Socialist Party who has often criticized the government and used his powers to veto legislation or key judicial office or diplomatic service appointments. Parvanov has served two five-year terms, the legal limit.
Former European Commissioner Meglena Kuneva, running as an independent, came in third in last Sunday's vote. But Kuneva has refused to endorse Kalfin or Plevneliev for the second round, saying they both stand for things she cannot agree to.
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Occupy Boston Removes Two From Finance Team ? CBS Boston
Tents set up in Dewey Square for Occupy Boston.
BOSTON (CBS) ? Occupy Boston has pulled two members from its finance team for their lack of transparency and accountability.
Read: Police Threatened After ?Occupy? Arrests
The group, which is seeking more transparency in financial institutions has excluded Paul Carnes and Sidney Sherrel from financial decisions.
Read: Keller @ Large: ?Occupy? ? Declare Victory, Clear Out
The pair allegedly didn?t follow the group?s rules when it comes to spending money and organizing a fundraiser.
Occupy member Nadeem Mazen says the actions of one of the accused were in poor taste.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030?s Bernice Corpuz reports
He says Paul was using his spending, ?To appropriate channels of power and channels of influence.?
Mazen hopes this incident will serve as a lesson for financial institutions and the government to address failures transparently.
Source: http://boston.cbslocal.com/2011/10/27/occupy-boston-removes-two-from-finance-team/
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Video: HP Keeps Its Computers
Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45082443#45082443
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Friday, October 28, 2011
Democrats Propose $1.5 Trillion in New Taxes (ContributorNetwork)
COMMENTARY | With the statutory deadline approaching in less than a month, congressional Democrats still have their heads buried in the sand when it comes to the federal budget.
Reuters reported Thursday that the super committee Democrats introduced a $3 trillion savings package that aims to far exceed the $1.2 trillion they are required to cut before Thanksgiving. The plan was dead on arrival, according to Republican staffers for the ultra-secret committee.
Democrats seek $1.5 trillion in new revenues from tax increases and new taxes. What part of "no new taxes" do they not understand? The House is not going to pass any new revenues - they have been perfectly clear on that all year. For Dems to present a plan that calls for 50 percent of the proposed savings to come from new revenue is a waste of breath in proposing it, and a gallant waste of time should any committee give it debate time.
The proposal doesn't have the support of all Democrats on the special committee, and is likely to have problems with the Democratic leadership. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has repeatedly said she will not consider cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, although The Hill reports she is mum on the subject today wanting to "wait until I can see the whole package." That's an interesting comment from the former speaker who insisted the Congress pass Obamacare before they knew what was in the bill.
Nearly $100 billion in Medicaid cuts are proposed, as well as long term Medicare cuts. The details were carefully omitted from leaks to the media. The cream of the plan includes another $300 billion stimulus plan.
Basically, the Democrats are proposing massive tax hikes that cannot pass either chamber. They are proposing social program cuts that even their own leadership will not support, therefore effectively killing it in the Senate. And, they are proposing new stimulus spending that Republicans will not allow to happen. The time it took to design the plan was a further waste of government spending.
House Speaker John Boehner told Seattle Times that it would be difficult to pass any plan from the super committee, but he would strive to accomplish some compromise. The clock is ticking - the committee needs to get serious and make some concerted tough decisions. Then they need to muscle it past their respective caucuses.
Dan McGinnis is a freelance writer, published author and former newspaper publisher. He has been a candidate, campaign manager and press secretary for state and local political campaigns for more than 30 years.
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Flip-Flopping Can Mean a Candidate Actually Thinks About the Issues (ContributorNetwork)
COMMENTARY | The derogatory epitaph "flip-flopper" has been applied liberally during this presidential campaign season, primarily to describe Republican candidates, Mitt Romney and Herman Cain. But a new article by ABC News reporter Z. Byron Wolf questions the appropriateness of condemning a candidate for changing his mind.
"It's supposed to be a sign of a faulty character," Wolf writes, "But flip-flopping can be a good thing. Our best presidents did it. Our best candidates are doing it now." I'm not sure I agree with the "best candidates" comment, but Wolf has a point. Changing your mind can be a good thing.
In fact, I'd be a whole lot more concerned about a person who never examines his beliefs with a critical eye than one who's made a few revisions. We add new information and new experiences to our understanding of the world every day. If we keep our minds open we are all bound to flip-flop on some of our beliefs every now and again.
That's not to say every change of heart is pure. Romney has been accused of changing his position for political gain, rather than because he truly "saw the light." I'm not privy to his private thoughts, and I don't believe that his public behavior has been extreme enough to make that call.
However there are people who's opinions ebb and flow like the tide, pushed in one direction or another by the needs of the moment. That type of behavior is reprehensible and, most importantly, dishonest.
Cain has a completely different problem. He flat doesn't seem to know what his opinion is on a lot of issues. His confusion may in part be attributable to his lack of experience in politics.
He gets himself in trouble when he tries to write his own policy on the fly, as when Wolf Blitzer asked him whether he would free prisoners at Guantanamo Bay in exchange for an American hostage. Cain responded in the affirmative, then later realized that this is essentially the same as saying he would "negotiate with terrorists," which he opposes.
Cain is just beginning to think through all the complex issues he would face as president, which shows he isn't ready for that responsibility. But at least his flip-flops are honest. As far as I'm concerned, it's ok if he continues to change his mind.
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Thursday, October 27, 2011
Facebook's Massive Security System Scans Your Messages to Kill Spam [Facebook]
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Man who blabbed about courthouse plot convicted
Darren Wesley Huff, of Dallas, Ga., waits in his truck for a verdict to be returned in his federal trial on two firearms charges, including a charge of causing a civil disturbance, Monday, Oct. 24, 2011 in Knoxville, Tenn. Huff has described himself as a member of the Georgia militia and Oath Keepers, a part of the so-called "birther" movement that disputes President Barack Obama's U.S. citizenship. Before his arrest, he told the FBI and authorities in Tennessee that he was going to Madisonville to support Walter Fitzpatrick in trying to arrest local officials. (AP Photo/Knoxville News Sentinel, J. Miles Cary)
Darren Wesley Huff, of Dallas, Ga., waits in his truck for a verdict to be returned in his federal trial on two firearms charges, including a charge of causing a civil disturbance, Monday, Oct. 24, 2011 in Knoxville, Tenn. Huff has described himself as a member of the Georgia militia and Oath Keepers, a part of the so-called "birther" movement that disputes President Barack Obama's U.S. citizenship. Before his arrest, he told the FBI and authorities in Tennessee that he was going to Madisonville to support Walter Fitzpatrick in trying to arrest local officials. (AP Photo/Knoxville News Sentinel, J. Miles Cary)
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) ? Prosecutors described a frightening standoff at a Tennessee courthouse between law enforcement and an armed man who vowed to take it over in his quest to oust President Barack Obama. The man's attorney said he was just a "loudmouth" expressing his political opinions.
The defense didn't work for Darren Wesley Huff, who was convicted Tuesday on a federal firearms charge that could send him to prison for up to five years.
Huff, 41, was armed with a Colt .45 and an assault rifle on April 20, 2010, when he and about 15 others, some also armed, arrived in Madisonville, a small town about halfway between Knoxville and Chattanooga.
About 100 law enforcement officers also were there because Huff had told an FBI agent who visited his home in Dallas, Ga., and police who stopped him for a traffic violation in Tennessee that he was prepared to help take over the Monroe County Courthouse if necessary.
"Huff said he was ready to die for his rights and what he believed in," Special Agent Mark Van Balen wrote in a pre-trial affidavit. Huff was convicted of carrying a firearm in interstate commerce with the intent to use it in a civil disorder and acquitted of another charge of using a firearm in relation to another felony.
The prosecution presented the courthouse plot as a serious and frightening.
"It was the tensest day we ever had," District Attorney Steve Bebb testified. Bebb coordinated the law officers that day as they prepared against the plot Huff had described.
"Every one of you all may think he (Huff) and his ilk are kooky as all get out," defense attorney Scott Green told jurors at the beginning of the trial last week. He said his client was a "loudmouth" but "not the scary guy they have been trying to paint."
Huff himself testified, fighting back tears as he told jurors how hurt he was that "my government has called me a potential domestic terrorist."
Jurors also heard at length from Huff thanks to a dashboard camera video taken after he was stopped and given a warning for driving too closely. In the tape, Huff chatted for an hour about religion and guns with officers, volunteering many details about what he was planning to do in Tennessee.
"I like y'all," Huff told the officers in the recording.
He said he was motivated to go to Madisonville by Walter Fitzpatrick, a Navy retiree who has had a beef against the federal government since he faced a court martial decades ago.
Fitzpatrick was facing charges in the eastern Tennessee town about halfway between Knoxville and Chattanooga because he tried to use a citizen's arrest warrant to take into custody local officials who wouldn't pursue a legal case to oust Obama. Fitzpatrick's warrant called the local officials "domestic enemies" and Obama an "illegal alien, infiltrator and impostor."
Huff said in the video that he and others were ready to help carry out the citizen's arrests Fitzpatrick wanted.
"I've got my .45 because ain't no government official gonna go peacefully," Huff told the police.
Green argued that Huff had a permit to carry the guns and right to express his opinion and didn't cause a disturbance.
"I have never made a statement about taking over the courthouse, the city, the state, nothing," Huff testified. "I never said anything about taking anything over."
That was disputed by two employees of his local bank who testified that he had threatened to take over the courthouse. They alerted the FBI, which then visited Huff at his home northwest of Atlanta the day before he left for Tennessee.
The 12-member jury in the case heard a week of testimony and arguments. It reported late Monday that members were hung, but U.S. District Judge Thomas Varlan told them to try again Tuesday and the verdict came back with a conviction on one charge and acquittal on the other.
"The verdict on count one reflects exactly what the law is supposed to do, which is prevent harm before shots get fired, people hurt, or property damaged," Assistant U.S. Attorney Will Mackie told reporters after the verdict.
Defense attorney Green didn't comment after the verdict but when he spoke The Associated Press on Monday he quoted former New York City Mayor John V. Lindsay: "Those who suppress freedom always do so in the name of law and order."
Huff was taken immediately into custody and couldn't be reached for comment. His sentencing is scheduled for February.
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Wednesday, October 26, 2011
'Steve Jobs' delves deep into complex man's life (AP)
"Steve Jobs" (Simon & Schuster), by Walter Isaacson: "Steve Jobs" takes off the rose-colored glasses that often follow an icon's untimely death and instead offers something far more valuable: The chronicle of a complex, brash genius who was crazy enough to think he could change the world ? and did.
Through unprecedented access to Jobs with more than 40 conversations, including long sessions sitting in the Apple co-founder's living room, walks around his childhood neighborhood and visits to his company's secretive headquarters, Isaacson takes the reader on a journey that few have had the opportunity to experience.
The book is the first, and with his Oct. 5 death at age 56, the only authorized biography of the famously private Jobs and by extension, the equally secretive Apple Inc. Through Apple, Jobs helped usher in the personal computer era when he put the Macintosh in the hands of regular people. He changed the course of the music, computer animation and mobile phone industries, and touched countless others with the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad, Pixar and iTunes.
His biography, therefore, serves as a chronicle of Silicon Valley, of late 20th- and early 21st-century technology, and of American innovation at its best. For the generation that's grown up in a world where computers are the norm, smartphones feel like fifth limbs and music comes from the Internet rather than record and CD stores, "Steve Jobs" is must-read history.
Isaacson, whose other books include biographies of Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin and Henry Kissinger, uses anecdotes from friends, family, colleagues and adversaries to illustrate sometimes deep contradictions in Jobs.
Given up for adoption at birth, the young Jobs would go on to deny his daughter Lisa for years. The product of 1960s counterculture who shunned materialism, he'd go on to found what would become the world's most valuable company. Deeply influenced by the tenets of Zen Buddhism, Jobs rarely achieved the internal peace associated with it and was prone to wild mood swings and mean outbursts at people who weren't living up to his expectations.
But it's these contradictions that make the out-of-this-world Apple magician human to a fault. And it's his uncanny ability to meld art and technology, design and engineering, beauty and function that allowed him to put the Macintosh, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad into the hands of millions of people who didn't even know they wanted them. Jobs changed our relationship with technology because he understood humanity as well as he understood chips and interfaces.
"I'm one of the few people who understands how producing technology requires intuition and creativity, and how producing something artistic takes real discipline," Jobs tells Isaacson in one of the extended passages in the book that are in his own words.
These longer interview excerpts pepper the book like rare gems. In them, Jobs offers eloquent, no-apologies explanations of why he did things the way he did and what was going on in his mind amid decisions at Apple and in his own life.
Apple fanboys, tech geeks and encyclopedic-minded journalists will likely comb the book for previously unknown details about Jobs and Apple. I went into it with only a little more knowledge than the average reader, and a tenuous, nostalgic connection to him through having attended high school with his daughter, Lisa Brennan-Jobs. I found myself combing the book not for secrets about Apple, but secrets about Steve Jobs the man, the father, the son.
With little patience for technical details, I found myself skimming through some of the book's passages detailing the creation of the Apple I computer, the Macintosh and the i-gadgets of Jobs' later years. It's in these passages, though, where the reader might find explanations for why the iPhone's battery is not replaceable, why Macs cost more than PCs and why the iPod's headphones are white.
The intimate chapters, where Jobs' personal side shines through, with all his faults and craziness, leave a deep impression. There's humor, too, especially early on when Isaacson chronicles Jobs' lack of personal hygiene, the barefoot hippie who runs a corporation. And deeply moving are passages about Jobs' resignation as Apple's chief executive, and an afternoon he spent with Isaacson listening to music and reminiscing.
"Steve Jobs" was originally scheduled to hit store shelves in 2012. Its publication date was moved up after Jobs died. As such, there are bits that might have benefited from another round of editing. There are anecdotes, for example, that Isaacson repeats as if introducing them to the reader for the first time.
In the end, it's a rich portrait of one of the greatest minds of our generation.
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Move over, Maks! Cher blasts 'Dancing' judges
Maksim Chmerkovskiy isn?t the only one angry at the judges of ?Dancing with the Stars.?
Superstar entertainer Cher also is getting on their case.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: ?Dancing With The Stars? Season 13: Week 4 Highlights
(SPOILER ? this story contains details of Tuesday?s ?DWTS? elimination)
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After an angry confessional camera featuring Cher?s son, Chaz Bono, blasting Bruno Tonioli for comparing him to a penguin ? and previously an Ewok ? aired on Tuesday?s show (the confessional was taped Monday night), Cher leapt to her eliminated son?s defense.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Chaz Bono Over The Years
?Going Home is Fine but why insult him b4 he Goes! Maybe Rudeness & Flapping Arms take the place of TALENT,? Cher tweeted, clearly singling out Bruno.
?As for the Older Gentleman ?.every Show Needs A Grumpy Old Man !? she added.
Maks: 'DWTS' rant wasn't selfishCarrie Ann Inaba, however, escaped Cher?s criticisms, as she was moved each week by Chaz?s journey.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: ?Dancing?s? Marvelous Maksim Chmerkovskiy
?Thank u Carrie Ann 4 your Gentility u r beautiful inside & out,? Cher wrote.
?The Chick is beautiful & Polite ! The Men suck,? Cher added later.
Chaz and partner Lacey Schwimmer were eliminated on Tuesday?s ?DWTS.?
'Dancing' finally boots a less talented hopefulWhat do you think of Cher's tweets? Share your thoughts on the Facebook page for our TV blog, The Clicker.
Copyright 2011 by NBC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45041447/ns/today-entertainment/
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Lockheed, Pentagon at odds over F-35 costs: sources (Reuters)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? Lockheed Martin Corp is pushing back against Pentagon efforts to make the company pay for problems that arise with the F-35 fighter jet during testing as a way to lower costs of major weapons programs, according to sources familiar with the emerging dispute.
Company executives will raise the issue in a quarterly earnings report on Wednesday, the sources said.
The Defense Department's push to change the terms of its next production contract for the F-35, or Joint Strike Fighter, could expose Lockheed to possible losses in coming years, said consultant Loren Thompson, who has close ties to the company.
"The government wants to radically change its approach to sharing risk on new weapons programs so that all of the exposure is shifted to industry," Thompson said.
Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Pentagon acquisition officials have been targeting overhead costs and other factors as part of a major drive to reform major weapons contracts after years of cost overruns and schedule delays.
Defense officials have put new focus on acquisition reforms as they search for ways to trim the Defense Department's budget by $489 billion over the next 10 years.
Shay Assad, the Pentagon's director of defense pricing, told Reuters in a recent interview that he was braced for resistance from industry to some reforms. "We're going to be breaking some glass here," he said.
Assad and a team of more than two dozen pricing experts are finishing a review of what the fifth batch of F-35 production jets should cost this month, which will pave the way for Lockheed and the Pentagon to begin formal contract talks.
But defense officials have already told Lockheed that they expect it to share in the costs of "concurrency" or changes that must be made to the new warplane, which has already entered production as developmental testing continues.
The extent of the "share line" would be determined during contract negotiations, said one source familiar with the issue.
A second source said the government wanted the company to shoulder all those costs.
The last F-35 production contract already included a switch to fixed price terms with an incentive fee, abandoning the cost-plus type contracts usually signed early in the life of a new weapons program and compelling the company to share the costs if the program exceeded its budget.
MOVE COULD WIPE OUT PROFITS, ANALYST SAYS
Thompson said most changes to the weapons program resulted from government decisions, not contractor error. Forcing Lockheed to pay for such changes could reduce the company's ability to make any profit on the program, and would likely result in strong opposition from shareholders.
"If the government succeeds in shifting the ultimate risk to Lockheed Martin, then it could easily wipe out any profit on the program and leave the company unprotected against future liability," Thompson said.
Officials estimate it will cost $382 billion to develop and build 2,447 of the new radar-evading fighter jets for the U.S. military -- a cost that budget experts say makes the program vulnerable to big cuts as defense spending declines.
But Carter, who moved to the Pentagon's No. 2 job this month from his previous post as chief weapons buyer, has vowed to drive the cost down to a far lower "should cost" level.
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program has seen massive cost growth and schedule delays since its start 10 years ago, and is under intense scrutiny now, given the Pentagon's need to cut at least $489 billion from its spending over the next 10 years.
Assad's "should cost" review, one of the first to be done of all major weapons programs, is being closely watched by Lockheed and major F-35 suppliers like Northrop Grumman Corp, Britain's BAE Systems Plc, and other major suppliers on the F-35 program.
Pentagon changes to weapons contractors have also drawn a reaction from contractors bidding to build Humvee replacements for the Army. Sources say several companies are considering withdrawing from that competition if the Army does not change draft requirements issued earlier this month.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa, editing Bernard Orr)
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Amnesty deplores police abuse in Dominican Republic (Reuters)
SANTO DOMINGO (Reuters) ? Amnesty International issued a scathing report on the Dominican Republic on Tuesday, saying its national police force was responsible for killing and torturing with impunity.
The police force was responsible for an average of 15 percent of recorded violent deaths each year in the Dominican Republic from 2005 to 2010, according to the report.
"That proportion is alarming and raises significant concerns that police frequently employ disproportionate force with deadly consequences," the report said.
The London-based human rights group said police abuse in the Caribbean nation came against the backdrop of a surge in violent crime linked to drug trafficking, a proliferation of firearms and growing social inequality.
It said "hardline policing methods" were contributing to escalating violence and crime rather than helping to curb it and that police abuse had flourished due to inadequate government oversight and reforms.
The Dominican Republic is a nation of 10 million people that shares the Caribbean island of Hispaniola with Haiti.
"At the heart of the failure to implement effective reforms and ensure that Dominicans have the effective policing that they need is a lack of political will," Amnesty said.
"Those in power have failed to confront those with a vested interest in maintaining the current system in which corruption is deeply rooted and human rights abuses by the police are pervasive," the report stated.
Amnesty also said there are no independent institutions mandated to oversee the police and independently investigate complaints of police abuses.
There was no immediate response to the report from the Dominican government or police.
In addition to what it described as widespread police torture of criminal suspects, Amnesty said there was evidence to suggest that some killings by the police were so-called "extrajudicial executions."
"A significant number of allegations of extrajudicial executions are reported in the context of the policing of demonstrations," it said.
"In some cases, police shootings injure or kill bystanders or people living nearby. In a few cases, there is evidence to suggest that police killings were intended to eliminate witnesses to unlawful killings," the report added.
In other cases, it said the killings may have been aimed at "eliminating repeat offenders" or linked to "reprisals by corrupt officers against their former criminal associates."
The National Police said 2,367 people had been killed by its officers from 2005 through 2010, according to the report.
(Writing by Tom Brown; Editing by Will Dunham)
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Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Turkey 7.2, 6.0 Earthquakes and Japan, Spain, Tonga Quakes FAQs (ContributorNetwork)
A magnitude 7.3 earthquake hit Turkey Sunday close to the Iranian border, killing at least 138 people. Many more are missing. At a news conference, Mustafa Erdik, the general manager of Kandilli Observatory, said that based on a previous magnitude 7.2 earthquake, he fears thousands are dead in Van, a city of 1 million people. Van Mayor Bekir Kaya said "We can't assess the entire damage immediately," as locals had jammed the phones because of the massive panic.
A 6.0 aftershock also hit the area. There have been other recent deadly earthquakes.
South Pacific Island of Nuku'Alofa, Tonga -- 7.6 on Oct. 21
This quake hit off the coast of Nuku'Alofa, Tonga, an island in the South Pacific about 122 miles from Kermadec Islands, a volcanic range in New Zealand. There was no damage. With a depth of 24 miles, it created a tsunami alert that officials quickly canceled. A tsunami was recorded to have happened, according to reports of the ocean's levels, said the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
Japan -- 9.0 on March 11
The earthquake off the nation's coast caused a massive tsunami to make its way to the U.S. The quake was not only deadly, but it was massive as well. Shifting the island so it now rests 13 feet closer to the U.S., the quake knocked Earth off its axis, making days shorter by 1.6 milliseconds.
The quake and its many aftershocks, some of which registered as strong as 7.2, damaged the Fukushima nuclear plant. Officials issued a nuclear evacuation order to the surrounding towns a few days after the quake. More than 10,000 are confirmed dead and hundreds of thousands more were injured, missing or homeless. In the last 30 days, 49 earthquakes have hit the area, with magnitudes of 4.0 to 5.3, although none has done much damage.
Spain -- 4.5 and 5.3 on May 11
Two relatively small earthquakes hit Spain south of Murcia. Both earthquakes were shallow, originating from a previously unknown fault line 1 kilometer deep. When the earthquake is shallow, it causes more shaking, which is why officials attribute the shallowness to the massive damages and recorded deaths. This general area of Spain has a history of strong earthquakes, with last strongest quake recorded on April 11 2010, a magnitude 6.3.
Jessica (JC) Torpey is a self-taught computer technician with more than 10 years experience in the field. JC's passion is studying the various political and business aspects of the technology industry. Combining that knowledge with her love of computers, JC uses it to influence her writing.
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Deluxe insurance was New Orleans criminal judges' illicit perk ...
Lots of light-fingered characters troop daily into the courthouse at Tulane and Broad, where some of them proceed to don robes. Technically, it has not yet been established that the title "criminal court judge" is apposite in more ways than one.
As David Caldwell, who heads up the public corruption unit for his dad, Attorney General Buddy, points out, "Sometimes things that are not legal are not necessarily criminal."
Let us not quibble. The popular prejudice runs strongly in favor of judges whose behavior is legal. Criminal or not, this bunch has been making off with our money sure as the most brazen mugger, and on a much larger scale. No mugger could hope for a haul of $2 million, which is what their honors are estimated to have spent illicitly in the last five years on deluxe life and health insurance.
Freeloading judges have for years been a staple of the local news, whether they sit on district, appeal, traffic or municipal court. The usual dodge is to travel, often to distant shores, on some flimsy pretext and stick it to the taxpayer for ritzy hotels, fancy cars and well lubricated meals. Criminal court judges are among our most dedicated junketers, but this appears to be the first time they have been discovered meeting household bills from the fees they impose on guilty defendants. The judges can stuff $2,000 for each felony, and $250 for a misdemeanor, into a fund that is supposed to cover court-related expenses.
Caldwell was wheeled out to investigate, after the legislative auditor questioned judicial perks, because DA Leon Cannizzaro was obliged to recuse himself. Cannizzaro "thinks" he got the insurance benefits himself when he was a criminal court judge. If he really is uncertain, it must be the first time in living memory. The notion that our driven and obsessive crime fighter is prone to absent-mindedness seems very droll.
Whether the judicial money-grab qualifies as criminal is a question that may not be worth settling. The cops are not going to swoop down and quote Miranda to the entire bench, and it seems unlikely that the attorney general would file charges. Still, the law is quite clear, and, if the judges did not know they were breaking it, they are in the wrong job.
Judges are forbidden to accept any "additional salary, compensation, emolument or benefit from the state or any of its political subdivisions." That would appear to cover it. There are a few exceptions, but life insurance is not one of them, and health insurance premiums are allowed only for "programs contributions to which" are "at the same rate as those paid by other state employees."
If everyone on the state payroll got the same coverage as the judges have awarded themselves, health insurance would eat up pretty much the entire budget. The judges even signed on with a company that specializes in high-end coverage for top executives, freeing them from the inconvenience of co-pays, deductibles and prescription costs.
The company, Exec-U-Care, believes its customers "deserve recognition for the contributions and sacrifices they make on a daily basis."
This must surely bring a smile to Cannizzaro's face after his repeated exhortations for the judges to try working hard for a change.
The judges are clearly embarrassed that their prodigality with the public dollar has come to light, for they have refused to provide records of how much the expense fund has paid for their benefits. Their attorney, Norman F. Pizza, told the newspaper its public records request was being denied on grounds that medical records are confidential.
Excuses don't come any more pathetic than that. Nobody is asking for information on the health of any judge. All that is requested is information on where public money has been spent, and it is pure effrontery to maintain the public is not entitled to it. The medical history of the judges is their business; the money they pay insurance companies is ours.
The law that established the judicial expense fund is pretty vague about what it may be used for, blessing "any purpose connected with, incidental to or related" to the court. It does, however, rule out salaries and can hardly be construed to authorize these monkeyshines, which clearly violate the general prohibition on supplementary compensation.
In truth, it is inaccurate to suggest that robes are the only difference between judges and the thieves whose cases they hear at Tulane and Broad. The judges, who make more than $130,000, are much better dressed overall.
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James Gill is a columnist for The Times-Picayune. He can be reached at jgill@timespicayune.com.
Source: http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2011/10/deluxe_insurance_was_new_orlea.html
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Monday, October 24, 2011
iPhone 5 rumor rollup for the week ending Oct. 21
News
By John Cox
October 22, 2011 01:39 PM ET
Network World - For the iOSsphere, it's like the iPhone 4S never happened. The fever of speculation around the Next Apple iPhone rises and ebbs like a great tide, ever restless.
This week: questioning Apple's supremacy, LTE or Die, the rise in iPhone 5 Facebook scams, and why Apple turned a deaf ear and a blind eye to the strong call from the faithful for NFC.
You read it here second.
"So, it's probably not unreasonable to expect the iPhone 5 to be a 'complete redesign,' as the source said--meaning both externally and internally, though probably less so internally when compared with pronounced user-facing changes like the display size."~ Brooke Crothers, CNET.com
iPhone 5 better have LTEor else!
It was a headline sure to iGnite iPhanatics's iRe: "TeliaSonera exec questions Apple's supremacy."
The exec in question is Tommy Ljunggren, senior vice president and head of system development for mobility services at TeliaSonera, that famous, big, important mobile carrierin Sweden. And boy did he question it, in an interview at Telecoms.com.
"If you asked me two years ago I would have said Apple would be very important," he said. "But now it will be a bad mistake not to include LTE in the iPhone 5 as otherwise they will really be run over by the others."
Ljunggren went on to say, according to Telecoms, that:
* competitors are quickly catching up with Apple* the company's supremacy in the handset space is coming into question* "They are not unique enough and there is disappointment over the 4S it was too small a step for them."
That did not sit well with 9to5Mac's Christian Zibreg. "Ljunggren, of course, is confused and here's why," Zibreg said. But Zibreg doesn't actually explain why. He just lays out numbers that show Apple's success to date in the smartphone and tablet market worldwide. Of course it's had considerable success. Apparently the idea is that Apple is Too Successful to Fail. An idea which many people had until recently said about companies like, say, Nokia and RIM.
TeliaSonera isn't exactly in the forefront of LTE deployment. Ljunggren admitted the carrier doesn't currently support any LTE smartphones. TeliaSonera is waiting for "true LTE smartphonesnot the ones that the US has right now with two radios." That sounds like he's questioning U.S. supremacy insomething.
The fake U.S. LTE smartphones "drain the batteries flat very quickly as they have one LTE terminal for data and a CDMA voice terminal. It's basically a dongle and phone that they glue together. They work just not for long!" That's pretty good point, and Zibreg is spot-on to note that it's a point Apple has been making for months: waiting for silicon that's highly integrated, and power efficient, because it's all about the User Experience.
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Surprise! The Tea Party Is Making the GOP More Diverse
Kevin Brennan & Sean Sullivan:
?Despite some of the caricatures that are out there, Republican primary voters are color-blind,? said Alberto Martinez, an early Rubio backer. ?They care about issues.?
If tea party voters don?t regard race as a factor in their electoral decisions, it?s not because the movement itself is racially diverse; many minority voters recoil from the tea party?s emphasis on shrinking government. According to a CBS News poll taken last October, 93 percent of self-identified tea party supporters were white. But that doesn?t mean they are unwilling to elect minority candidates who share their values.
[...]
Precisely what I and others have been saying all along.
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Source: http://blackkettle.wordpress.com/2011/10/22/surprise-the-tea-party-is-making-the-gop-more-diverse
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