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Saturday, December 3, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
VOTE! What Do You Think of Taylor Swift's Haircut?
The country darling updated her look with bangs! Check out more star tress-formations and tell us what you think!
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Monday, November 28, 2011
In 2012 race, GOP candidates rely less on fill-ins (AP)
MANCHESTER, N.H. ? At Mitt Romney's New Hampshire headquarters, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie played a time-worn shtick for the cameras, picking up a telephone alongside volunteers who were dialing undecided voters on behalf of the candidate they support.
Christie actually called Romney and the two chatted about an upcoming debate.
"Be yourself," Christie advised, as he accomplished what he needed to while a dozen reporters watched: He generated positive media attention for a candidate who was elsewhere at the time.
When they can't be in New Hampshire, Iowa and other early voting states, presidential hopefuls traditionally have sent others in their stead.
But this campaign season, surrogates such as Christie have been scarce, in large part because the field of candidates was so slow to develop. Christie, for example, thought of jumping in until October.
"In the past, you would have had full campaign staffs for all the candidates six to eight months out at least, and some campaigns here are still just starting to put boots on the ground," said South Carolina political consultant Luke Byars.
He said aside from the candidates' wives and adult children, no stand-ins have spoken in his state, though he expects activity will pick up.
In Iowa, Rick Perry's wife, Anita, has campaigned and one of Romney's sons, Josh, filled in for his father this month at a GOP event in Des Moines. In 2008, Romney's five sons traveled the country in a Winnebago.
New Hampshire has seen a bit more activity beyond politicians' family members. In addition to Christie making pitches for Romney, former Homeland Security Secretary and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge has campaigned for Jon Huntsman. But otherwise traffic has been light.
Tom Rath, a veteran New Hampshire political operative who has advised Romney's presidential campaigns in 2008 and this year, said surrogates are of limited use in states where voters are accustomed to close encounters with the candidates.
"Frankly, New Hampshire doesn't take kindly to surrogates. We like the candidate," he said.
He does consider Christie the ideal type of surrogate, someone who can bring independent validation of a candidate's message and explain clearly how he came to his endorsement.
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Mayor: Occupy LA must leave City Hall camp Monday
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and LAPD Chief Charles Beck announce plans to close City Hall Park to Occupy protesters as of midnight, Sunday, Nov. 27, Friday, Nov. 25, 2011, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Los Angeles Times, Robert Gauthier) NO FORNS; NO SALES; MAGS OUT; ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER OUT; LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS OUT; VENTURA COUNTY STAR OUT; INLAND VALLEY DAILY BULLETIN OUT; SAN BERNARDINO SUN OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT, TV OUT
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and LAPD Chief Charles Beck announce plans to close City Hall Park to Occupy protesters as of midnight, Sunday, Nov. 27, Friday, Nov. 25, 2011, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Los Angeles Times, Robert Gauthier) NO FORNS; NO SALES; MAGS OUT; ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER OUT; LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS OUT; VENTURA COUNTY STAR OUT; INLAND VALLEY DAILY BULLETIN OUT; SAN BERNARDINO SUN OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT, TV OUT
Protesters bang against the main entrance to City Hall as Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and LAPD Chief Charles Beck announce plans to close City Hall Park to Occupy protesters as of midnight, Sunday, November 27, Friday, Nov. 25, 2011, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Los Angeles Times, Robert Gauthier) NO FORNS; NO SALES; MAGS OUT; ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER OUT; LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS OUT; VENTURA COUNTY STAR OUT; INLAND VALLEY DAILY BULLETIN OUT; SAN BERNARDINO SUN OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT, TV OUT
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? The mayor of Los Angeles set a deadline for anti-Wall Street protesters to leave an encampment by City Hall, while demonstrators elsewhere in California took their message about corporate greed to Black Friday shoppers, at times facing off with police.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa lauded the Occupy movement for "awakening the country's conscience," but he said that after 56 days, the encampments that flank the two grassy areas adjacent to City Hall must be removed by 12:01 a.m. Monday for public health and safety reasons.
At an afternoon news conference with police Chief Charlie Beck, Villaraigosa said the movement that has spread in two months from New York to numerous other U.S. cities has "awakened the country's conscience" ? but also trampled grass at City Hall that must be restored.
"The movement is at a crossroads," the mayor said. "It is time for Occupy LA to move from holding a particular patch of park land to spreading the message of economic justice and signing more people up for the push to restore the balance to American society."
The camp of about 485 tents was unsustainable because public health and safety could not be maintained, and the park had to be cleared, cleaned and restored for the public's access, he said.
Later Friday, protesters demonstrated in the streets near San Francisco's tony and touristy Union Square during the annual Macy's Christmas tree lighting ceremony, disrupting traffic but otherwise causing few other problems.
Lines of police officers in riot gear faced off with dozens of demonstrators who were trying to discourage shoppers from shopping at Macy's and other stores in the popular tourist area.
Demonstrators used signs to spread an anti-consumerism message. One, 9-year-old Jacob Hamilton, held a sign that read, "What is in your bag that's more important than my education?"
Earlier, some of the protesters from the Occupy movements in San Francisco and Oakland clashed with police when they briefly blocked the city's iconic cable cars until officers pushed them out of the street.
Some of the participants in what protesters called "Don't Buy Anything Day" sat down in the middle of Market Street, San Francisco's main thoroughfare, and blocked traffic while chanting, "Stop shopping and join us!"
"I wanted us both to be here for the children," said protester Steve Hamilton, a screenwriter who traveled to the city from Winters, Calif., with his son Jacob. "I see how the education deficit directly affects the schools; how the teachers struggle with so many kids in the classrooms and a lack of books. It's not fair to this generation."
A group of about 20 Occupy protesters in Sacramento marched from a park to a small outdoor mall where many of the storefronts are empty. A police officer on a bicycle trailed the crowd.
A few puzzled shoppers, many toting large shopping bags, stopped to stare at the crowd as they read a manifesto asking people to support local merchants.
At a Macy's store, the group stayed for several minutes chanting slogans such as, "They call it profit; we call it robbery." Several shoppers crowded around taking photos with their cellphones.
In Emeryville, a small city on San Francisco Bay, more than 60 people attended a Native American community's 10th annual Black Friday protest of the Bay Street Mall.
Corrina Gould, a lead organizer for Indian People Organizing for Change, said the goal is to educate shoppers that the mall was built in 2002 on a sacred Ohlone burial site.
About one-third of the people came from neighboring Oakland's Occupy movement, and Gould said having the new voices was invigorating.
In his comments, Villaraigosa told campers to start packing up their tents and said he believed the move would be peaceful, unlike some of the tumult other cities have seen.
"I'm proud of the fact that this has been a peaceful, non-violent protest," he said. "I trust that we can manage the closure of City Hall Park in the same spirit of cooperation."
Outside City Hall, Occupy LA protester Opamago Casciani, 20, said he found the Mayor's priorities insulting, and he intends to continue demonstrating peacefully through the deadline.
In response to the Mayor's comments, Casciani said "What I got from it is 'I value grass more than the people.'"
Beck said police will be patient with laggards who were working to leave at the time of the deadline ? but said the city's law enforcement will no longer look the other way.
"After 56 days of not enforcing three city laws that prohibit the use of that park, the time is now," said Beck.
___
Associated Press writers Juliet Williams in Sacramento and Terry Collins in Emeryville contributed to this report. Beth Duff-Brown reported from San Francisco.
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Sunday, November 27, 2011
Russian anchor off air for finger gesture in Obama story (Reuters)
MOSCOW (Reuters) ? A famous Russian TV anchor has been taken off the air for making an obscene gesture after mentioning U.S. President Barack Obama in a live newscast, the channel said on Thursday.
Tatiana Limanova, an award-winning journalist and host of a news show on the REN-TV private channel, waved her middle finger when presenting a story about the APEC summit in the United States, a moment after mentioning Obama.
The video went viral on the internet, with many viewers speculating the gesture had been meant to insult the U.S. president, who met his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on the sidelines of the summit.
"The gesture was addressed to the members of the editing crew, there was no implication of any kind and it had no reference to the information delivered by Tatiana Limanova," a spokesman for the TV station told Interfax.
Limanova thought she was reading the news off-screen by the time she raised a finger, the spokesman said. There were no details on how Limanova's duties would change after the incident.
Relations between Russia and the United States have been strained recently over U.S. plans to deploy a missile defense shield in Europe.
REN-TV is broadcast across Russia and the former Soviet Union. It is owned by tycoon Yuri Kovalchuk, believed to be close to Russia's paramount leader, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
But the channel is widely regarded as a relatively free and unbiased one in a country where the government has a tight grip on much of the media.
(Reporting By Alexei Anishchuk; editing by Andrew Roche)
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Analysis: Sprint network upgrade may curb unlimited data (Reuters)
NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Sprint Nextel may be forced to abandon the biggest advantage it has over its rivals - unlimited data services for a flat fee - because of heavy data users and a shortage of wireless airwaves.
Moreover, the increasing likelihood that AT&T's plan to buy T-Mobile USA, the nation's fourth-largest mobile operator, will fail may have the paradoxical result of making Sprint's position even more untenable, according to analysts who follow all three companies.
Sprint, the nation's third-largest mobile service provider, is planning to upgrade its network with the latest mobile standard, Long Term Evolution. But it is launching that service with only half the wireless airwaves bigger rivals Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc have assigned, leading experts to suggest that the popularity of Sprint's unlimited data plan could put a strain on the network or slow down Web surfing speeds.
Sprint has assigned just 10 megahertz of spectrum for the launch compared with its rivals' 20 megahertz, analysts say. It will have to reassign airwaves being used for other services in order to expand its capacity for LTE.
Unlike AT&T and Verizon, which cap data use to stem overcapacity issues brought on by heavy users, Sprint is the only big U.S. carrier still selling unlimited data for a flat fee to users of smartphones, including the Apple Inc iPhone, on its current network.
"It's a very bare-bones implementation of LTE," said Tolaga Research analyst Phil Marshall. "The risk is, if you don't have headroom as your LTE subscriber base grows, then the speeds will go down."
In that situation, Marshall does not see Sprint being able to continue to offer unlimited services.
"Unlimited is going to kill them," he said. "I think they're going to have to back off from the all-you-can-eat plan."
Unlimited data is a strong selling point for Sprint, which has been struggling for years to retain customers. For Sprint to keep the marketing advantage it has over rivals, one option could be for it to institute usage caps that are considerably higher than those of its competitors.
"That's a lever they can play if they run into being constrained," said an industry source who asked not to be named due to a lack of authorization to speak publicly. "It's inevitable that they will eventually have to put caps (on their data use)."
SPRINT: NO HEADACHE
Sprint, which is spending $7 billion to upgrade its network to LTE by the end of 2013, says concerns about its capacity are overblown, arguing that advanced technology allows it to make the most of its spectrum resources. Bob Azzi, a Sprint executive in charge of the company's network, said the company's plans assume that it will keep its unlimited data service during the LTE rollout.
"I don't consider it a headache," he told Reuters, "We have a good understanding of the nature of those plans and what they do."
Azzi added that the section of the 1,900 megahertz spectrum band Sprint has set aside for LTE is currently unused. He also plans to reallocate spectrum in its 800 megahertz band to use for the high-speed service by early 2014, provided it can secure regulatory approval to do so. That spectrum is currently being used by the aging iDen service Sprint hopes to shut down in mid-2013.
Sprint is also in talks with Clearwire Corp, its majority-owned venture, about expanding their partnership to cover LTE. Sprint currently depends on Clearwire's network for its fastest service based on WiMax technology, and the latest talks are aimed at allowing it to piggyback on Clearwire's LTE to help it boost capacity in the "hottest of hotspots" by 2014 when Azzi says Sprint will need more capacity.
But the future of Sprint's tempestuous relationship with Clearwire is murky since it is not yet certain if Clearwire will raise the roughly $1 billion in new funding it needs to upgrade its network to LTE.
Clearwire lost one-third of its value after Sprint said on October 7 that a bankruptcy filing by the company could be "constructive." Clearwire shareholders again fled on November 18 after the company said it may skip a debt interest payment due December 1. Many analysts saw that pronouncement as a negotiating tactic to try to force Sprint's hand into an agreement with favorable terms for Clearwire.
SOAP OPERA
One investment manager described the Clearwire/Sprint relationship as a "soap opera" that will end with an agreement because they are both heavily dependent on each other.
"In the short term Sprint doesn't need them beyond (WiMax) but they do need them later," said the manager, who asked not to be named.
Even if Sprint and Clearwire reach an agreement, however, Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett is skeptical about how much it would help because of the frequency Clearwire's spectrum is on, which he said causes signal problems within buildings.
"Now that the person next to you at the conference table is surfing away on Verizon ... the shortcomings of Clearwire become painfully apparent," Moffett said.
Moffett also noted that even if Clearwire upgrades its network, it will still have coverage for only about one-third of the U.S. population because it would need to raise a lot more funding than it is currently seeking to extend its network into new markets.
Since Sprint has already had to tap capital markets for $4 billion in debt and needs up to $3 billion more in funding for its own network upgrade, analysts are skeptical it can come up with the money to help Clearwire expand further.
"What are you going to do with the (rest) of the United States? You can't just limp around on one leg," said Moffett, who has a "hold" rating on Sprint due to the uncertainty around its strategy.
The uncertainty around AT&T's deal for T-Mobile USA is another big wrinkle in the Sprint story. On Thursday, AT&T withdrew its application for deal approval with the Federal Communications Commission, saying that it would focus on its legal battle with the Department of Justice. If that deal is approved, it leaves Sprint as a distant No. 4. But if it is blocked, as many analysts now expect, T-Mobile USA may look for another partner, according to the investment manager.
Instead of forging a deal with Clearwire or Sprint, Moffett suggested that T-Mobile USA would instead turn to U.S. cable operators such as Comcast Corp and Time Warner Cable. Some investors had hoped these companies would come to Sprint's aid as they are part-owners in Clearwire. But since the cable operators have unused spectrum in the same band as T-Mobile USA, Moffett suggested that the cable providers would instead create a partnership with that company if it has to abandon the AT&T deal.
Sprint has loudly opposed the AT&T/T-Mobile USA deal, a position that Moffett said was against its best interests.
"Now Sprint loses its logical partners in the cable operators," said Moffett, who described a potential cable/T-Mobile deal as a "match made in heaven."
Moreover, some analysts said that the $6 billion breakup package AT&T will have to pay T-Mobile if the deal fails would make T-Mobile into a more formidable rival to Sprint in the market for cost-conscious mobile consumers.
The uncertainty means that Sprint does not "know exactly how desperate they are at any given point in time," said the investment manager, noting that Sprint's $2.38 share price speaks volumes about investor confidence in the operator's strategy.
"It shows there's not a whole lot of faith out there that they'll be able to successfully execute on these things,' this person said.
(Reporting by Sinead Carew; editing by Peter Lauria and Matthew Lewis)
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Saturday, November 26, 2011
NKorea threatens to attack SKorean leader's office
South Korean marines stand during a rally denouncing North Korea on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. South Korea marked the first anniversary of the North's deadly artillery attack on the front-line island on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
South Korean marines stand during a rally denouncing North Korea on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. South Korea marked the first anniversary of the North's deadly artillery attack on the front-line island on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
South Korea Marines run during a military exercise on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. The South's military staged drills involving aircraft, rocket launchers and artillery guns to send a strong message to North Korean rivals stationed within sight just miles (kilometers) away, and to their authoritarian leader, Kim Jong Il. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
South Korea Marines participate at a military exercise on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. The South's military staged drills involving aircraft, rocket launchers and artillery guns to send a strong message to North Korean rivals stationed within sight just miles (kilometers) away, and to their authoritarian leader, Kim Jong Il. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A man pays a silent tribute in front of two bust sculptures of two killed marines during a memorial service on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. South Korea marked the first anniversary of North Korea's deadly artillery attack on the front-line island Wednesday. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
South Korean Air Force F-15K fighters get ready to take off during an exercise to mark the first anniversary of North Korea?s artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island, at a South Korean military base, in Daegu, South Korea, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. The South's military staged drills involving aircraft, rocket launchers and artillery guns to send a strong message to North Korean rivals stationed within sight just miles (kilometers) away, and to their authoritarian leader, Kim Jong Il. (AP Photo/Yonhap, Lee Jae-hyuck) KOREA OUT
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? North Korea threatened Thursday to turn Seoul's presidential palace office into a "sea of fire," stepping up its rhetoric one day after South Korea conducted large-scale military drills near a front-line island attacked by North Korea last year.
On Wednesday, South Korea mobilized aircraft, rocket launchers, artillery guns and naval boats for the first anniversary of the artillery attack on a military garrison and fishing community on Yeonpyeong Island in the Yellow Sea. Two marines and two construction workers were killed in the attack, the first on civilians since the 1950-53 Korean War.
A similar "sea of fire" threatens to engulf Seoul's presidential Blue House if South Korean forces fire a single shot into North Korean territory, the North's military warned in Pyongyang. The statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency was typical of the threats the North has made over the years at times of tension between the two Koreas.
The Korean peninsula remains in a technical state of war because their conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. However, North Korea disputes the maritime border drawn by the U.N. in 1953, and the waters have been a flashpoint for violence over the years.
Pyongyang accuses Seoul of provoking last year's attack, saying it struck after warning the South not to hold live-fire drills in the disputed waters.
Since then, South Korea has spent millions of dollars beefing up its arsenal. Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Jung Seung-jo said his forces would "crush the enemy" if they strike again.
Wednesday's maneuvers took place off Baengnyeong Island, South Korean-held territory near the maritime border. The drills were meant to send a strong message to North Korea but did not include live-fire exercises, military officials said.
Relations between the two Koreas sank to the their lowest point in years in 2010 after two incidents: the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island and the sinking of a South Korean warship that killed 46 sailors. Pyongyang denies involvement in the sinking.
However, there have been some signs tensions are easing, with both sides seeking to discuss ways to resume nuclear disarmament-for-aid talks and allowing South Korea's religious and cultural figures to travel to North Korea.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said Wednesday during a visit to a military command that he was sorry North Korea had not yet apologized for the shelling. He said Pyongyang must apologize if it wants relations to improve.
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Review + Giveaway: Golla Pouches for iPhone 4S
If you're the type of person that doesn't like to put a physical case on their iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S, the Golla line of pouches may be more up your alley. While you aren't using your iPhone they'll do a great job of protecting it as well as giving you a bit of storage space for things such as credit cards or an ID.
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/c3mzkuZhqzQ/story01.htm
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Friday, November 25, 2011
Where in the World Are Your Twitter Followers? TweepsMap Knows (Mashable)
The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. Name: TweepsMap
[More from Mashable: 3 New Takes On Personalized Web Video]
Quick Pitch: TweepsMap provides a visual, interactive map of your Twitter followers by country, state or city.
Genius Idea: Measures the effectiveness of Twitter campaigns by analyzing the locations of your followers.
[More from Mashable: Who Should You Follow on Social Media? Proliphiq Knows The Answer]
Knowing where your Twitter followers are located can not only feed your curiosity, but it can also help you measure the success of your social campaigns. To do this, TweepsMap links to your Twitter account, analyzes your followers and provides a map or chart that shows where they're located by country, state or city.
Launched in October, the tool helps Twitter users learn if their campaign is successful in a targeted region. For example, if your Twitter campaign is targeted toward Chicago residents, TweepsMap helps you see how many of your followers are actually located in Chicago.
"One of the most important aspects of a campaign is to measure location to see where your followers are and if they are engaged or not," says Samir Al-Battran, founder of TweepsMap. "TweepsMap helps you learn whether you need to adjust your campaign to reach your targeted audience."
After authorizing the TweepsMap API, it generates a color-coded map with Twitter birds spread across it to show the number of followers in that specific location -- red birds represent the largest number of followers, and yellow represents the second largest number.
Check out a TweepsMap of Mashable's 2.5+ million users:
The map shows that most of Mashable's followers are located in the United States, South America, the United Kingdom and India. TweepsMap also provides the percentages of Mashable's followers in three top locations - "44% of mashable's followers are from #United States, 7% from #United Kingdom & 4% from #New York".
Users can use the TweepsMap widget to display their own statistics on any website or blog.
"For individual users, TweepsMap is a fun tool to check out the distribution of their followers and share them on Twitter," says Al-Battran. "For larger organizations, the goal of TweepsMap is to help them measure the effectiveness of their campaigns."
TweepsMap does not automatically tweet results without the users permission or store personal Twitter account information.
One of the challenges with TweepsMap is that less than 10% of Twitter users do not add accurate locations on their Twitter accounts, says Al-Battran. Most users only add their country or state instead of their residing city. That's why most of the Twitter birds on the TweetsMap represent the number of followers in a country rather than in a city.
The site now has about daily 1,000 users and Al-Battran plans to expand TweepsMap by launching premium services in the future for larger Twitter accounts.
Where are your Twitter followers located?
Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark
The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.
This story originally published on Mashable here.
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UK lawyer: Tabloid phone hacking was widespread
Gerry and Kate McCann, front, arrive to testify at the Leveson inquiry at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. McCanns' daughter Madeleine went missing from her family's holiday flat in the Algarve, shortly before her fourth birthday in 2007. The Leveson inquiry is Britain's media ethics probe that was set up in the wake of the scandal over phone hacking at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World newspaper, which was shut in July after it became clear that the tabloid had systematically broken the law. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
Gerry and Kate McCann, front, arrive to testify at the Leveson inquiry at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. McCanns' daughter Madeleine went missing from her family's holiday flat in the Algarve, shortly before her fourth birthday in 2007. The Leveson inquiry is Britain's media ethics probe that was set up in the wake of the scandal over phone hacking at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World newspaper, which was shut in July after it became clear that the tabloid had systematically broken the law. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
Gerry and Kate McCann arrive to testify at the Leveson inquiry at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. McCanns' daughter Madeleine went missing from her family's holiday flat in the Algarve, shortly before her fourth birthday in 2007. The Leveson inquiry is Britain's media ethics probe that was set up in the wake of the scandal over phone hacking at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World newspaper, which was shut in July after it became clear that the tabloid had systematically broken the law. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
Gerry and Kate McCann, front, arrive to testify at the Leveson inquiry at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. McCanns' daughter Madeleine went missing from her family's holiday flat in the Algarve, shortly before her fourth birthday in 2007. The Leveson inquiry is Britain's media ethics probe that was set up in the wake of the scandal over phone hacking at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World newspaper, which was shut in July after it became clear that the tabloid had systematically broken the law. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
Sheryl Gascoigne, the ex-wife of former England footballer Paul Gascoigne, arrives to testify at the Leveson inquiry at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. The Leveson inquiry into Britain's media ethics was set up following a scandal over phone hacking at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World publication, which was closed in July 2011, after it became clear that the tabloid newspaper had systematically broken the law. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
Sheryl Gascoigne, the ex-wife of former England footballer Paul Gascoigne, arrives to testify at the Leveson inquiry at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. The Leveson inquiry into Britain's media ethics was set up following a scandal over phone hacking at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World publication, which was closed in July 2011, after it became clear that the tabloid newspaper had systematically broken the law. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
LONDON (AP) ? Illegal eavesdropping was widely practiced by Britain's tabloid journalists, producing stories that were both intrusive and untrue, a lawyer for several phone hacking victims said Wednesday.
Mark Lewis told a U.K. media ethics inquiry that phone hacking was not limited to Rupert Murdoch's News of the World tabloid, which the media mogul shut down earlier this year as outrage grew over the hacking scandal.
Lewis claimed that listening in on voice mails was so easy that many journalists regarded it as no more serious than "driving at 35 mph in a 30 mph zone."
"In a way, I feel sorry for the News of the World, or certainly the News of the World's readers," Lewis said. "Because it was a much more widespread practice than just one newspaper."
He said the News of the World got caught because it hired a private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire, who kept detailed records of his snooping assignments. Mulcaire and News of the World reporter Clive Goodman were jailed in 2007 for hacking into the voice mails of royal aides.
"The fact that evidence doesn't exist in written form doesn't mean to say that the crime didn't happen," Lewis said.
Lewis said when a News of the World reporter was arrested for phone hacking in 2006, he had a "eureka moment" about the source of a false story concerning two of his clients.
The story alleged a romantic relationship between soccer players' association chief Gordon Taylor and lawyer Joanne Armstrong, with whom he had been photographed having lunch. Taylor said he believed the story was based on a voice mail message from Armstrong thanking Taylor for speaking at her father's funeral.
The message said: "Thank you for yesterday. You were wonderful."
Lewis said a tabloid journalist "added two and two and made 84. ... If it hadn't been so sad, it would have been funny."
In 2008, Murdoch's News International agreed to pay Taylor hundreds of thousands of pounds (dollars) in compensation for the hacking of his phone in return for keeping quiet about the deal ? one of several attempts by the company to hush up the scale of its illegal activity.
Murdoch shut down the News of the World in July after evidence emerged that it had routinely eavesdropped on the voice mails of public figures, celebrities and even crime victims in its search for scoops.
Lewis has represented many prominent hacking victims, including the family of murdered 13-year-old Milly Dowler, whose voice mails were accessed by the News of the World after she disappeared in 2002. The girl's parents spoke Monday before the U.K. inquiry, saying the hacking gave them false hope their daughter was still alive during the investigation into her disappearance.
Prime Minister David Cameron set up the public inquiry into media ethics and practices in response to the still-evolving hacking scandal. This week it has heard testimony from celebrities including actor Hugh Grant and comedian Steve Coogan.
Later Wednesday it will hear from the parents of Madeleine McCann, who vanished from a hotel room in May 2007 during a family vacation in Portugal.
The inquiry, led by Judge Brian Leveson, plans to issue a report next year and could recommend major changes to media regulation in Britain.
___
Online:
Leveson Inquiry: http://www.levesoninquiry.org.uk/
Jill Lawless can be reached at: http://twitter.com/JillLawless
Associated PressTop 10 hottest pet gifts | Pets Best Blog
By: Dr. Fiona Caldwell
Vet at Idaho Veterinary Hospital
For Pets Best Insurance
As pet lovers and pet insurance enthusiasts, you?re probably planning to get your kitty or dog a little something for the holidays. But did you know that over 50% of pet owners in the US will buy presents for their pets this year? The average family allots just under $50 to purchase toys, treats and food, bedding, clothing, grooming products and leashes and harnesses for their pets during the holidays. With Black Friday just around the corner, I?ve compiled a list of the top ten most awesome and unique pet products that for the dog or cat that has it all!
1. Pet Observation Porthole
This contraption is a plastic, submarine-like porthole that when attached to a wooden fence, allows pets to see the action on the other side. It helps keep your pet safe, but lets them sneak a peek when their curiosity gets the best of them!
2. DJ Cat Scratch Turntables
This unique product looks like a DJ?s set of turn tables, but is actually a scratching post! DJ kitty will love to and scratch this funny cat gift.
3. Tug-Preventing Dog Trainer
This ingenious gadget attaches to the leash and emits a non-painful ultrasonic tone which is irritating to dogs, ultimately training them to not tug on the leash.
4. Float-a-pet
This is a float collar for pets that live with swimming pool access or that like the lake. When the pet is submerged, this floating collar will keep their heads above water. Much like a doggie life jacket, this is a great gift for any pup who loves the water.
5. Heated pet bed
For the pampered pet, or the pet that spends time outside, this is a nice way to keep them comfortable and cozy in the winter months.
6. Doggy Treadmill
Yes, this really exists! For the owner who is unable to walk his four-legged friend, or for a pet that requires physical therapy, an indoor doggy treadmill is a great way to provide controlled exercise.
7. Edible Christmas cards (Bone Idle Cards)!
Just for dogs, this is a fun and tasty way of saying ?I love you? this Christmas to your best friend. He probably won?t read the card, but he?ll sure enjoy munching on it.
Or Call 866-929-3807 to Add a Pet to Your Current Policy
8. Cat Genie Cat Box
Sick of cleaning the litter box every day? This gadget frees up some the responsibility and can wash, sanitize and dry the box without you having to do anything. This is a great gift for the busy cat owner!
9. RoamEO Pup Collar
This GPS tracking device connects to your dog?s collar and can track where they are. Not only is this great for the escape artist, but it would also make a good gift for dogs that go camping or hunting with their owner.
10. And number ten! The ultimate gift that keeps giving! Drumroll please? dog and cat insurance! Giving your pet the gift of pet health insurance will allow them the necessary veterinary care, should they fall ill or have an accident. Pets Best Insurance offers great coverage for your dog or cat. For more information about the best pet insurance, visit Pets Best Insurance.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011 at 9:30 am and is filed under Pet Health Insurance.
Source: http://www.petsbest.com/blog/top-10-hottest-pet-gifts-to-buy-on-black-friday/
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Thursday, November 24, 2011
What's ailing investors? Global debt deadlock
By John W. Schoen, Senior Producer
There?s only so much bad news the stock market can ignore.
Investors woke up Monday morning to news that a select congressional committee had failed, as expected, to break a long-running deadlock on solutions to the federal budget deficit.?Analysts had been saying for weeks that the committee?s work would have much less impact on the markets than the high-profile bickering that sent stocks reeling in August.?
But the deepening debt crisis in Europe is harder to ignore.
?Complacency is running at an uncomfortably high level,? said Gluskin Shiff's Chief Economist David Rosenberg. "Hope is one thing; denial quite another. ?Neither are very effective investment strategies.?
That complacency was tested Monday, as heavy selling sent stocks lower, knocking more than two percent off the major market indices.
While Congress once again kicks the U.S. debt can down the road, European leaders remain equally frozen in a political stalemate over how to head off looming debt defaults by Greece and Italy. As one failed plan followed another, bond investors have been fleeing.
Earlier this month, the Italian government edged toward the financial abyss after investors demanded higher interest rates on Italian bonds to offset the rising risk of a default. Now, yields on bonds issued by France, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands ?- so-called ?core? European economies -- have risen sharply.
?Investors are increasingly concerned that policymakers will not be able to contain the crisis and perhaps even keep the euro-zone together at all,? said John Higgins, a market economist at Capital Economics in London.
Bond investors got another jolt Monday after ratings agency Moody's warned that if the recent rise in France's borrowing costs continue, that would have "negative credit implications" for the country?s triple-A credit rating. The agency cited "significant downside risks," noting that higher taxes and lower spending could undermine France?s economic growth. Until recently, the hope was that Europe?s stronger ?core? economies, including France and Germany, could come to the rescue of the weaker ?periphery? countries like Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Ireland.
While the European crisis has not yet produced the immediate panic brought by the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, the European credit crisis has begun to take a toll. Last month, losses on European bonds forced the breakup of Belgian French bank Dexia and forced U.S. investment firm MF Global?to seek bankruptcy protection.
In response, European banks have begun shedding their holdings of Eurozone debt and tightening credit. With fewer buyers, governments are forced to pay higher interest rates to attract investors. Higher rates have crippled Europe?s?weaker economies. As the credit squeeze widens, the entire eurozone is slipping into recession.
So far, the U.S. economy has held up relatively well; a series of fresh economic data last week helped raise hopes that the European debt crisis would not spread across the Atlantic. But even as U.S. growth appears to have to have perked up in the third quarter, the recovery remains fragile. Public and private forecasters, including economists at the Federal Reserve, have pared back estimates for growth next year.
The latest cautionary note came from a survey of business economists released Monday, which found that they see the U.S. economy avoiding a recession next year but not growing rapidly enough to make significant improvements in the job market.
In its latest outlook, the National Association for Business Economics sees the economy growing by 2.4 percent in 2012, up slightly from the 1.8 percent growth they expect for this year.
The survey highlighted one of the key reasons for lackluster growth: business leaders are reluctant to ramp up until the dust settles over the U.S. budget debate and until the European debt crisis subsides. Some 72 percent of the panel members characterized the economic outlook as either "somewhat" or "much" more uncertain than usual.
According to the NABE outlook, recession is not in the cards. Insight on the results and an economic forecast, with Bill Strauss, Chicago Fed Reserve senior economist/economic adviser and CNBC's Steve Liesman.
Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/21/8932675-whats-ailing-investors-global-debt-deadlock
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Amid upheaval, No. 20 PSU 1 win from title game (AP)
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. ? Penn State receiver Derek Moye is trying to ignore questions from outsiders. Safety Drew Astorino has leaned on his family for support.
Yet for all the anger, tears and upheaval in Happy Valley following child sex abuse charges more than two weeks ago against retired assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, the 20th-ranked Nittany Lions find themselves in a remarkable position entering Saturday's regular-season finale at No. 15 Wisconsin.
One win secures Penn State (9-2, 6-1 Big Ten) the Leaders Division title and a berth in the inaugural conference championship game.
"I was in the equipment room the other day and some of the players were asking the equipment managers how they were doing," interim coach Tom Bradley said Tuesday at Beaver Stadium. The players "are more concerned with how we're doing. They're a resilient group. They've stuck together. They've unified from this."
Sticking with a team-first message, the Nittany Lions have vowed to try to block out the distractions and media frenzy that has enveloped Penn State since Sandusky was charged Nov. 5.
Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno was fired four days later by school trustees ? he had announced his retirement hours earlier and bid farewell to his team in an emotional meeting ? and Bradley was picked to replace him. Paterno faced pressure from the state's top cop and university trustees for not having done more about a 2002 abuse allegation allegedly witnessed by a graduate assistant in the team showers than pass on the report to his superior.
The graduate assistant, Mike McQueary, is now the receivers coach but on administrative leave. Paterno has said specific details alleged to have occurred in a grand jury report about the Sandusky investigation were not relayed to him. Prosecutors have said Paterno isn't a target of a state investigation.
In the aftermath of Sandusky's arrest, the trustees, federal Department of Education and the NCAA have all said they are launching their own investigations.
Another shocker came last Friday, when Paterno's son, quarterback coach Jay Paterno, told Bradley on the team plane on the way to Ohio State that the 84-year-old Paterno had been diagnosed with a treatable form of lung cancer. Bradley said he hasn't spoken to his former boss since the diagnosis.
"He wants us focusing on going to school and going to class," right tackle Chima Okoli said. "He doesn't want anyone going back to him. He doesn't want any sympathy."
Astorino's family, including uncles and cousins, has helped guide him through this stormy period. He and the other current players have been caught by a scandal involving accusations that have nothing to do with them. Sandusky retired in 1999.
"I know my parents have been there, especially the last couple weeks," said Astorino, a senior. "I've had more support than I've ever had."
Nearly everyone Moye has encountered on campus wants to talk about the situation. He tunes out their questions.
"As far as being on the players' minds, it's not a big deal for us going out there," Moye said. "We have goals that we set at the beginning of the year."
One of those goals was winning the Big Ten championship. Back in the preseason, long before the program descended into turmoil, that idea seemed a little far-fetched.
Not with newcomer Nebraska and solid Michigan State ready to pounce in the Legends Division.
And certainly not with powerhouse Wisconsin seemingly on course to steamroll its way to the Leaders Division crown.
But the Badgers stumbled at midseason to Michigan State and Ohio State in back-to-back road games. Penn State, led by star tackle Devon Still and its stingy defense, has won a slew of close games to move into position to spoil Wisconsin's dream.
The Nittany Lions lost the school's first game without Paterno as head coach in nearly a half-century, a 17-14 defeat Nov. 12 to Nebraska, before beating the Buckeyes 20-14 last week to set up Saturday's showdown at Camp Randall Stadium.
Bradley said he's kept an open-door policy and tried to be as transparent as possible with players. A team captain, Still said the players, in turn, are trying to address any issues on their own as much as possible to help the popular Bradley through the crisis, too.
"He reminds us every day this is our team," said Still, named a finalist this week for postseason awards for the nation's top defensive player and interior lineman. "We're just trying to handle as much as we can, so he has a lighter load."
Still and his teammates see the practice field as a haven, a place where there's no choice but to focus on football and get ready for a game. There will be time, though, this week, for some lighter moments with Thanksgiving approaching and most other students away on break.
The Nittany Lions plan to watch the action flick, "The Immortals," together Wednesday night before a traditional holiday turkey dinner on Thursday.
___
Follow Genaro C. Armas on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GArmasAP
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Angelina Jolie Thankful To Be Alive After ?Bad Girl? Past (VIDEO)
Angelina Jolie Thankful To Be Alive After “Bad Girl” Past (VIDEO)
Angelina Jolie is opening up about her darker days, realizing she is lucky to be alive. The actress, who is in a long-term relationship with [...]
Angelina Jolie Thankful To Be Alive After “Bad Girl” Past (VIDEO) Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News
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Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Pentagon 'doomsday'? Or are super committee failure fears overblown?
Pentagon leaders have said the automatic cuts set to kick in now that the deficit super committee has failed would be catastrophic. But in reality, the cuts might not be too bad, experts say.?
It is the Pentagon?s self-described worst nightmare: The failure of the super committee to reach a deficit deal will now trigger what Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has described as a ?doomsday? scenario.?
Skip to next paragraphNamely, this entails $600 billion in mandatory budget cuts during the next decade ? in addition to $450 billion in cuts that the Pentagon had already agreed to.?
Mr. Panetta for his part has provided impassioned pleas against the mandatory cuts, warning for months against their dangers to the US military. ?It is a ship without sailors. It?s a brigade without bullets. It?s an air without enough trained pilots,? he told lawmakers on Capitol Hill earlier this month. ?It?s a paper tiger.?
In short, he warned, ?It invites aggression.??
Such dire exhortations, however, are causing some budget analysts to roll their eyes, as they note that even the most extreme cuts would merely bring Pentagon spending back to 2007 levels.?
Others have calmly pointed out that the mandatory cuts ? which are not slated to go into effect until January 2013 ? are unlikely to survive the election year. At such times, politicos are generally loath to take on the Pentagon. Instead, presidential candidates and lawmakers alike tend to compete to outdo each other in assuring voters that they are more committed to strong national defense than their opponent.
For their part,?Pentagon number-crunchers are so confident that the mandatory cuts will be rolled back that they have not made any plans for how to carry them out.
Some in Congress have already vowed to fight the mandatory cuts. The scolding on both sides of the political aisle began almost as soon as the super committee?s failure to reach an agreement was announced.
The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Howard ?Buck? McKeon (R) of California, said Monday that he would introduce legislation to block any automatic defense cuts. ?I will not be the armed services chairman who presides over crippling our military,? he said.?
Not to be outdone, Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the committee?s top Democrat, signaled his opposition. ?The Department of Defense now faces deep, indiscriminate cuts that would not be based on sound policy or strategic review and could undermine our national security,? he said in a statement released Tuesday. ?This is no way to defend our nation.?
Yet even the worst-case scenario ? the $600 billion in defense budget cuts triggered by the mechanism known as ?sequestration? ? would bring the Pentagon?s base budget to roughly $472 billion in fiscal year 2013, says Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. ?This would bring the budget back to approximately the same level of funding as FY 2007, adjusting for inflation,? he notes.
Funding would fall by about 11 percent in real terms from fiscal year 2012 to fiscal year 2013, and ?only grow with inflation for the rest of the decade,? Mr. Harrison adds.?
War funding would not be a part of this math. It?is specifically exempted from sequestration.
This means, Harrison points out, that there is an ?incentive for the Pentagon to move items from the base budget to the war budget in order to avoid the budget caps in future years,? he adds. ?While it is not clear how much maneuvering Congress will tolerate, it is notable that Senate appropriators moved some $10 billion of funding requested in the base budget to the war budget in their markup of the FY 2012 defense appropriations bill.??
For these reasons, it appears that a number of senior defense officials remain rather sanguine in the face of sequestration.?
Many believe Capitol Hill will heed Panetta?s warnings. ?The secretary?s effort, which I think has been pretty visible, has been to argue why [sequestration is] a bad outcome,? Mike McCord, the Pentagon?s deputy comptroller, told the industry publication Defense News.
?We?re not doing any planning at this time,? he pointedly added, ?for how we would implement such a cut.??
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Let's Talk About Evolution [Video]
November 21, 2011 |??
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About the Author: Bora Zivkovic is the Blog Editor at Scientific American, chronobiologist, biology teacher, organizer of ScienceOnline conferences and editor of Open Laboratory anthologies of best science writing on the Web. Follow on Twitter @boraz.More??
The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=fbcf6df4c44965a50ca72f46b0bf670d
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Growing protest pushes back troops in Tahrir Square (San Jose Mercury News)
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Hugh Grant: Non-Murdoch tabloid hacked me in 2007 (AP)
LONDON ? Actor Hugh Grant told a London courtroom Monday about the dark side of celebrity life, describing mysterious break-ins, leaked medical details and hacked voice mails ? and laying blame on the entire tabloid press, not just the now-shuttered News of the World.
Grant's testimony to a judge-led media ethics inquiry capped a tough day for Britain's beleaguered press. Earlier, the parents of a murdered schoolgirl whose phone was targeted by the tabloid described how the hacking had given them false hope that their daughter was still alive.
Grant said he believes his phone was hacked by Britain's Mail on Sunday tabloid ? the first time he has implicated a newspaper not owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch in the wrongdoing.
The actor said a 2007 story about his romantic life in the paper, owned by Murdoch rival Associated Newspapers Ltd., could only have been obtained through eavesdropping on his voice mails.
He said he could not think of any other way the newspaper could have obtained the story alleging that his romance with Jemima Khan was on the rocks because of his conversations with a "plummy voiced" woman the paper identified as a film studio executive.
Grant said there was no such woman, but he did receive voice messages from the assistant of a movie producer friend.
"She would leave charming, joking messages ... and she had a voice that can only be described as plummy," he said.
Grant sued the newspaper for libel and won.
Challenged about whether he had hard evidence, Grant acknowledged he was speculating.
"But ... I'd love to hear what the Daily Mail or the Sunday Mail's explanation of what that source was if it wasn't phone hacking," he said.
Over two and a half hours of testimony, Grant ? by turns charming and censorious ? described years of tabloid pursuit that began after his breakthrough hit, "Four Weddings and a Funeral," in 1994. Incidents included a mysterious break-in at his apartment during which nothing was stolen. Descriptions of the apartment later appeared in a tabloid newspaper.
He also said an article published earlier this year in The Sun and Daily Express about his visit to a hospital emergency room was "a gross intrusion of my privacy."
"I think no one would expect their medical records to be made public or to be appropriated by newspapers for commercial profit," he said. "That is fundamental to our British sense of decency."
And he said paparazzi had hounded Tinglan Hong, the mother of Grant's baby daughter, despite the actor's efforts to keep his paternity secret. He said he did not attend the baby's birth in late September, but the next day, "I couldn't resist a quick visit."
"There seems to have been a leak from the hospital," Grant said. "They even knew the fake name she had checked into the hospital under."
Grant had initially refused to confirm the baby was his, but earlier this month released a statement acknowledging it. He told the inquiry that the statement ? intended in part to rebuff claims he had "jilted" Hong, with whom he remains friendly ? had been composed during a phone call with his publicist while he was on a film set in Germany.
"It was not ideal circumstances," Grant said. "I was dressed as a cannibal at the time."
Prime Minister David Cameron set up the inquiry into media ethics in response to an evolving scandal over phone hacking in Britain. Murdoch shut down the discredited News of the World tabloid in July after evidence emerged that it had routinely eavesdropped on the voice mails of public figures, celebrities and even crime victims in its search for scoops.
The inquiry, led by Judge Brian Leveson, plans to issue a report next year and could recommend major changes to the way the media in Britain are regulated.
Grant, who has become an outspoken campaigner against press intrusion, called for a media code of ethics and tougher regulation.
"There has been a section of our press that has been allowed to become toxic over the past 20 or 30 years," he said, urging Britain to find the courage to stand up to tabloid "bullies."
Grant is one of a string of high-profile witnesses, including actress Sienna Miller and author J.K. Rowling, who will testify about how they were followed, photographed, entrapped and harassed by journalists from Britain's tabloids, which collectively sell millions of copies a day.
The first witnesses Monday were the parents of murdered teenager Milly Dowler, whose mobile phone voice mails were hacked after she disappeared in 2002.
Her mother told the inquiry that she believed her missing 13 year old was still alive once she reached the girl's previously full voice mailbox.
Sally Dowler said when she could finally leave a message on Milly's voice mail weeks after the girl disappeared, she shouted: "She's picked up the voice mails! ... She's alive!"
In fact, messages had been deleted by someone working for the News of the World while the Dowlers and police were still searching for Milly, who was later found dead.
The Dowlers said they had been utterly shocked when police told them, much later, that Milly's phone had been hacked.
Bob Dowler said he recognized immediately that the information was "dynamite." News that tabloid journalists had targeted not just celebrities but a murdered girl shocked many Britons and triggered a police investigation and media recriminations that are still unfolding.
The Dowlers took the stand together and spoke in quiet, composed voices during their 30 minutes of nationally televised testimony.
They described their shock and anger when a private walk to retrace their missing daughter's last steps was secretly photographed by the tabloid.
"It just felt like such an intrusion into a really, really private grief moment," Sally Dowler said. The couple said they later realized that their own phone, as well as their daughter's, had been hacked.
More than a dozen News of the World journalists and editors have been arrested and several senior Murdoch executives have resigned over the still-evolving scandal. Two top London police officers also lost their jobs, along with Cameron's media adviser.
Later this week the inquiry will hear from "Harry Potter" author Rowling, comedian Steve Coogan, actress Miller and former Formula One boss Max Mosley ? whose taste for sadomasochism was revealed in a widely publicized News of the World sting.
It's a courtroom lineup that Britain's celebrity-obsessed tabloids would love, if only they weren't the ones in the dock.
____
Online:
The Leveson Inquiry: http://www.levesoninquiry.org.uk/
Jill Lawless can be reached at: http://twitter.com/JillLawless.
Associated Press writer Raphael G. Satter contributed to this report.
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Trump says his name worth $3 billion (Reuters)
NEW YORK (Reuters) ? What's in a name? About $3 billion, if you happen to spell it T-r-u-m-p.
Real estate mogul, reality television star and author Donald Trump estimates his net worth at $7 billion in a forthcoming book.
In his latest tome, Trump, known for promoting everything from his real estate projects to board games, vodka and reality TV shows, spells out his net worth, coming up with a figure billions more than Forbes magazine, which in September put the figure at $2.9 billion.
Much of the $4 billion-plus discrepancy lies with something Trump calls "brand value," in the financial detail contained in "Time to Get Tough," due out Dec. 5.
On page 182, Trump lists holdings including $1.37 billion in New York City commercial properties and $1.22 billion in club facilities and related real estate. Liabilities include some $374 million in loans and mortgages.
At $3 billion his biggest asset -- by far -- is brand value, which according to a note "has been established by Predictiv, the highly respected brand valuation company."
The company, the note continues, "measures the financial impact of intangibles such as brand, strategy execution, innovation and post-merger integration."
In its latest look at his finances Forbes conceded that "yes, Trump remains adamant that Forbes is underestimating his brand value" -- which they put at $200 million.
His response: "You're ridiculous," Forbes reported.
(Reporting by Chris Michaud; editing by Mark Egan and Cynthia Osterman)
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