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September 20, 2012

Nike sets $8 billion share buyback program

Sept. 20, 2012
By Greg Morcroft

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Nike Inc. NKE +1.37% said on Thursday that its board has approved a new $8 billion share buyback plan over the next four years. The plan will follow the company's current $5 billion repurchase plan that will wrap up at the end of the 2013 second quarter. Nike said that it has bought back $10 billion of its shares in the last 10 years.

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Yogurt Linked to Lower BP

By Crystal Phend, Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Published: September 19, 2012

Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Dorothy Caputo, MA, BSN, RN, Nurse Planner
Yogurt may help prevent hypertension as part of a healthy diet, an observational study suggested.

People who ate at least the equivalent of one serving every three days were 31% less likely to develop high blood pressure than those who ate no yogurt at all, Huifen Wang, PhD, of Tufts University in Boston, and colleagues found.

Shakira is pregnant by footballer boyfriend Gerard Pique

By Emma Brant
Newsbeat reporter, 20 September 2012

Shakira is expecting her first child with her footballer boyfriend, Gerard Pique, who plays for FC Barcelona.

The Grammy award-winning Colombian singer confirmed the news on her website: "Gerard and I are very happy awaiting the arrival of our first baby".

The 35-year-old star also revealed she is going to cut down her work schedule.

'"We have decided to give priority to this unique moment and postpone promotional activities".

Atlanta disputes travel magazine’s ‘dirtiest’ ranking

By Christopher Seward
Sept. 19, 2012

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sure Atlanta is big and vibrant, but it’s also dirty and unsafe, according to a national magazine’s survey of travelers.
So dirty is the city, Travel & Leisure ranks Atlanta as the fifth filthiest among 35 major metro areas, following New York (1), New Orleans (2), Baltimore (3) and Los Angeles (4).
Travel & Leisure’s 2012 America’s Favorite Cities report said Atlanta “moved up a full four spots” in the ranking of dirtiest cities from the previous year, partly because of its nightlife. The magazine said big cities that bustle with nightclubs attract plenty of young partiers who may not care much about the trash they leave behind.
“Studies have consistently found that youths and young adults are the most prone, or willing, to litter,” Steve Spacek, author of the “American State Litter Scorecard,” told the magazine. The group ranked Georgia as the seventh most littering state, tied with Illinois and Oklahoma.
A city spokeswoman took issue with the article.

What Mitt Romney Got Wrong About the 47 Percent

Posted by: Joshua Green on September 20, 2012

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney boards his plane after a campaign stop in Salt Lake City.

Mitt Romney’s videotaped remark to wealthy supporters that 47 percent of Americans “believe they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name it” and that “my job is not to worry about” people who won’t “take personal responsibility and care for their lives” was pretty stunning any way you look at it.

It cements the impression of Romney as someone who cares only for the rich. It shows a contempt for others who had previously existed only in Democratic attack ads. It writes off half the nation. And it diminishes and undermines the substantial tradition of conservatives who do care about helping the less-fortunate. In this way, Romney’s self-revelation illuminates a troubling shift within the Republican Party that he has now come to embody.

The Forbes 400: The Richest People in America

By Luisa Kroll and Kerry A. Dolan | Forbes
Sep 19, 2012
Forbes launched its definitive ranking of the nation’s superrich in 1982. Back then the price of admission into this most exclusive of clubs was a mere $75 million of net worth. Even after adjusting for inflation, this year’s entry fee ($1.1 billion) is roughly ten times what it was thirty years ago. There were just 13 billionaires at the time and the total worth of the 400 club was a mere $93 billion. Today the combined net worth of the 400 richest Americans is $1.7 trillion, up from $1.5 trillion a year ago. The average net worth of a Forbes 400 member is a staggering $4.2 billion, up from $3.8 billion, and the highest in at least a decade, as two-thirds of the individuals added to their fortunes in the past year.

Jeremy Lin begins workouts

Associated Press September 18, 2012

HOUSTON -- Jeremy Lin is finally getting his own bed.

The 6-foot-3 point guard, who became an international phenomenon during one dazzling month with the Knicks last season, went through his first workout with the Houston Rockets on Tuesday.

Naturally, he drew a horde of media to the Toyota Center, evidence that Linsanity has plenty of life left in it.

"I don't know if I'm the face of the franchise just yet," Lin said. "I think we're a young team and we're all going to buy in. The thing about us is it's not going to be any one person that's going to carry us to where we want to go, it's going to be everybody. I think it's so early on, I'm just trying to get to know the guys."

Justin Bieber is 'top musician under 21'

Wednesday, 19 September 2012
From bbc news

Justin Bieber is the world's top young musician under 21 according to a list compiled by the American magazine Billboard.

The Canadian singer was number one in the 21 Under 21 list for the second year running.

He beat previous X Factor UK acts like One Direction and Cher Lloyd to the top spot.

Barbra Streisand, Liza Minnelli sing at Marvin Hamlisch memorial service

Barbara Streisand performs during A Tribute to Marvin Hamlisch, a memorial concert, at The Juilliard School's Peter Jay Sharp Theater, Sept. 18, 2012, in New York. (Credit: AP)

(CBS/AP) Barbra Streisand, Aretha Franklin and Liza Minnelli took turns singing songs by the late Marvin Hamlisch during a stirring memorial service for the composer on Tuesday.
Minnelli sang "If You Really Knew Me" from the musical "They're Playing My Song," Franklin gave a soulful rendition of "Nobody Does It Better" from the James Bond film "The Spy Who Loved Me" and Streisand brought the crowd to its feet when she finished "The Way We Were" from the film of the same name.

U.S. mortgage refinancing applications rise as rates hit record low: MBA

NEW YORK | Wed Sep 19, 2012

A U.S. flag decorates a for-sale sign at a home in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, August 21, 2012. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

(Reuters) - Applications for home mortgages dipped last week, though demand for refinancings rose as mortgage rates fell to a record low, an industry group said on Wednesday.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, edged down 0.2 percent in the week ended Sept 14.

Lindsay Lohan arrested in New York after striking pedestrian outside nightclub

The actress was driving through a crowd of people outside Dream Downtown when she bumped one man in the knee, police said.

BY ROCCO PARASCANDOLA AND RHEANA MURRAY / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
PUBLISHED: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012

HOLLYWOOD, CA - AUGUST 13: Actress Lindsay Lohan attends the Will.i.am album wrap party at Avalon on August 13, 2012 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic)

Lindsay Lohan is back in trouble: The actress was arrested Wednesday morning.
Lindsay Lohan was arrested early Wednesday in New York after hitting a pedestrian with her Porsche, police said.

The troubled actress was maneuvering around a crowd of people in an alley between the Dream Downtown, a hotel and nightclub in the Meatpacking District, and the Maritime restaurant.

eBay sellers: iPhone 5 is yours for a mere $1,600

People are selling the iPhone 5 at a premium on eBay in yet another sign that demand for the smartphone is high.

by Greg Sandoval September 19, 2012

Those trying to cash in on the iPhone 5 craze have taken to eBay to sell off iPhone 5s even before they've gone on sale.
A check of eBay shows that the range of prices varies wildly. The secondary market thinks nothing of asking more than $1,000 for an unlocked 64-gigabyte iPhone 5 and there were was one going for $1,625. Unlocked 32 GB models could be found for between $800 and $1000. Those selling unlocked

First Class Travel for Luxury Yachts

By JIM CARRIER
Published: September 19, 2012

GENOA, ITALY — On the eve of the 65th Cannes Film festival this year, Lady Joy, a star American attraction, arrived by ship under gray, rain-spitting skies in this grimy north Italian port, before setting off along the coast for the French Riviera, her stylists and makeup artists primping her for a cocktail party she would shortly host.

Lady Joy is a $38 million, 157-foot, or 48-meter, superyacht.

Launched in Seattle in 2007 and one of the largest private seagoing vessels in the world, she was perfectly capable of sailing to France from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, her last port of call.

Back to school in Chicago as teachers' strike ends
By Greg McCune
CHICAGO, Sept 19 | Wed Sep 19, 2012

Striking Chicago public school teachers attend a press conference by The Chicago Teachers Solidarity Campaign outside the office of Mayor Rahm Emanuel in City Hall in Chicago on Sept. 17, 2012.

(Reuters) - Chicago students return to school on Wednesday after a teachers' strike ended, thrilling parents who had to stay home from work to care for their kids, pay for alternative childcare or leave them with friends and relatives for more than a week.

Representatives of the 29,000 striking Chicago public school teachers and support staff voted on Tuesday to suspend their strike and accept a compromise agreement on a new three-year contract with Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Some 350,000 kindergarten, elementary and high school students return to classes after missing seven school days in the third-largest U.S. school district after New York and Los Angeles.

It was the first time since 1987 that Chicago teachers had walked off the job and nearly everyone in the city seemed relieved that it was over.

New study again links ‘sexting’ with risky sexual behaviour in teenagers

Genevra Pittman, Reuters | Sep 17, 2012

One out of every seven Los Angeles high school students with a cellphone has sent a sexually explicit text message or photo, according to results of a 2011 survey that also found “sexters” more likely to engage in risky sex behaviours.

In the new study, the L.A. teenagers who had sent racy texts were seven times more likely to be sexually active than those who said they’d never sexted.

Samsung downplays rumors of Galaxy S4 for early 2013

The company takes to Twitter to pour cold water on what it says are overheated reports of a March 2013 release for the next Galaxy S phone.
by Lance Whitney September 18, 2012

Consumers awaiting Samsung's Galaxy S4 may face a longer wait than reported yesterday.
The Korean handset maker today denied rumors that the next Galaxy S phone would launch next March. Loosely translated from the Korean, Samsung's Twitter post stated: "Please note that some media reported speculation that the Galaxy S3 subsequent models will be released in a simple rumor is not true. [If] not doing anything, why spread these rumors?"

Thousands of LSU student return to dorms after bomb threat (+video)

Louisiana State University's entire campus was evacuated after a bomb threat was called in Monday morning. By evening students were able to return to their dorms after bomb-sniffer dogs had swept the area.
By Sheila V. Kumar, Associated Press / September 17, 2012
BATON ROUGE, LA.

The thousands of students who live on the Louisiana State University campus will be able to return to their dormitories after bomb-sniffing dogs and police methodically swept residential halls Monday following a threat that sparked a campus-wide evacuation.

LSU spokesman Herb Vincent said officials hope to reopen the Baton Rouge campus by Monday night, but they aren't certain if a building-by-building sweep will be complete before Tuesday.

"Residential Life buildings have now been deemed ready to return to normal operations. That notification is going out now to the campus community," Vincent said.

Pink’s butter argument song

Published on September 18th, 2012 | by newsdesk
Pink has told Spotify she wrote a song about an argument over butter.
The singer explained how ‘Just Give Me a Reason’ on her new album, ‘The Truth About Love’, is inspired by the small signals a person can give when a relationship is breaking down.

She told music streaming service Spotify: “Sometimes [one partner] can be like, ‘The way you passed me the butter this morning, I kinda feel like we’re going to be over in a month and we need to talk’ and he’s like, ‘I just passed you the f***ing butter, what are you talking about?’ and that’s how I felt the song should go, ‘We’re growing apart, you don’t spoon any more, like it’s all over’.”

FedEx Says Economy Is Worsening, Cuts Outlook

By: AP With CNBC.com | 18 Sep 2012

FedEx said the global economy is worsening and it's again cutting its forecast for the fiscal year ending in May.
The company said it also expects net income for the current quarter ending in November to fall well below last year's quarter.

For the full year, the Memphis, Tenn., company now expects to earn between $6.20 and $6.60 per share, compared with a previous forecast of $6.90 to $7.40 per share.

State Department warns travelers away from Sudan, Tunisia

Embassy staffing cut in Tunis and Khartoum as part of rising tide of violence.
September 17, 2012

By MATTHEW LEE
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The State Department on Saturday cut embassy staffing to minimum and issued travel warnings for Sudan and Tunisia due to security concerns over rising anti-American violence.

"Given the security situation in Tunis and Khartoum, the State Department has ordered the departure of all family members and nonemergency personnel from both posts, and issued parallel travel warnings to American citizens," said department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.

Luxury Travel Misses The Point

09/18/2012 by Robert Schrader

This weekend, I decided to travel with my boyfriend Henrique to the island of Koh Samet. Less foreigner-infested than sex tourism hotspot Pattaya, but approximately the same distance from Bangkok, Koh Samet provides a more "real" Thailand travel experience.

Unfortunately, we succumbed to one the less-savory aspects of real Thailand travel: We got scammed. The driver of our bus abandoned us at a gas station in the middle of nowhere and, when we refused to pay the exorbitant rate the conveniently-placed taxi driver quoted us, found ourselves quickly stranded in a place where nobody spoke English.

President Obama’s real opponent in 2012

Posted by Chris Cillizza and Aaron Blake on September 18, 2012

With total television ad spending on the presidential race now having crested $500 million, the real fight on the airwaves is not between President Obama and Mitt Romney but rather between President Obama and a cavalcade of conservative-aligned outside groups, according to an analysis of ad buy information provided to the Fix.
As of Friday evening, Republicans had spent $314 million on ads with Romney accounting for just 27 percent ($86 million) of that total. Democrats had spent $277 million on ads with Obama accounting for 80 percent ($222 million) of that total.

New York Manufacturing Level Keeps on Falling

Monday, 17 Sep 2012
By: Reuters

Factory activity in New York state contracted for a second month in a row in September, falling to its lowest level in nearly 3-1/2 years as new orders shrank further, a report from the New York Federal Reserve showed on Monday

The New York Fed's "Empire State" general business conditions index dropped to minus 10.41, from minus 5.85 in August, frustrating economists' forecasts for an improvement to minus 2, according to a Reuters poll. It was the lowest level since April 2009.

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