Online service common in businesses | South China Morning Post

Using the internet to provide customer service has become a common tactic for businesses, a survey shows.

The poll of 500 people, commissioned by the Hong Kong Association for Customer Service Excellence, found 71 per cent had received customer service online.

"Online services provide the customer with broad services such as answers to inquiries and basic information," said Pauline Chan, an executive director of the association.

"They complement the traditional [channels] of customer service, such as phone lines, which are used for more detailed and personal services."

The potential for online customer service does not stop there.

According to the survey, a high level of public awareness and usage of social media has allowed businesses to provide customer service through social media.

Electronic products and food and beverages were the highest-ranked industries in the survey for providing customer service through social media.

Facebook and YouTube were found to be popular platforms for customer service representatives to interact with customers.

"The mobility of social media via the mobile phone has allowed customers to obtain information at any time and location," Chan said.

Andrew Lam, an associate director of Ipsos, which conducted the survey, highlighted the usefulness of the social media platform for customer feedback.

"Social media allows customer comments to be compiled into a structured data format, allowing 'best practices' to be recorded for future reference," Lam said.

Buston Chu, the chairman of the association, warned that while social media might be convenient, there were a few drawbacks.

"Customers using platforms like Facebook are also able to comment and trade opinions about the company's products and services in a short period of time," Chu said.

"Negative comments by customers can influence public opinion.

"Social media is a neutral platform that should be used effectively and properly. If not utilised properly, it will ruin a company in a short time."

Source: http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1133373/online-service-common-businesses

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1/18/2013 : admission counselor from Moorehouse College January 18th at 9:30am

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://yonkers.ypschools.org/site_view_calendar.aspx?id=4d9c7b4c-82e7-11d6-8106-009027a836c8&date=1/18/2013&rssItem=1

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Obnoxious phone behavior declining, says Pew

Getty Images stock

Maybe we're getting better about our cellphone behavior in public. Or -- maybe we're in denial?

By Suzanne Choney, Contributing Writer, TODAY.com

There's actually good news to report on the annoying-phone-etiquette front: Cellphone users who are loud and irritating in public are getting better about that obnoxious behavior, which is "less common" than it used to be.

So says Pew Research Center, which happily shares that 74 percent of adults say they see this annoying activity "frequently" or "occasionally," while 25 percent say they "rarely" or "never" encounter it.

Pew Research Center

And it's been getting better in the last six to seven years. In March 2006, Pew said, 50 percent of adults said they "frequently" experienced cellphone users from Hades, compared with 39 percent who said so last year. Perhaps the cause is the rise of texting, a much quieter activity. Or perhaps we just notice this kind of behavior less, because it's so common.

While most of us are only too happy to complain about others' cellphone etiquette, few of us admit to those times when we're not exactly sterling examples for Miss Manners.

"Just 6 percent of cell owners say that they themselves have drawn criticism or dirty looks from someone else because of the way they were using their phone in public," Pew said. "This is largely unchanged from the 8 percent of cell owners who had experienced this the first time the question was asked in early 2006."

?

Like her great-great-grandmother and etiquette expert Emily Post, Anna Post strives to make the world politer. She speaks with msnbc.com's Rosa Golijan about smartphone etiquette ? and rude phone users.

More from Digital Life:

Check out Technology, GadgetBox, Digital Life and InGame on?Facebook,?and on Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.

Source: http://digitallife.today.com/_news/2013/01/17/16566913-obnoxious-cellphone-behavior-on-the-decline-says-pew

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Tragedy when loss of dat leads to loss of life ? IT Business Blogs ...

Security assessments are always interesting. I know, I do them all the time. You can never guess what you?ll find when you?re investigating a breach and a federal agency recently found that to be true.

Aaron Swartz is a 26-year-old programmer and entrepreneur that was found dead in his New York apartment over the weekend.

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada lost a USB key with personal information on some 5000 Canadians. As is the case with things you?re looking for, those are precisely what you don?t manage to find. While investigating the missing memory stick the agency discovered the disappearance of an entire hard drive containing personal information on more than half a million student loan borrowers.

It?s an embarrassing incident and the Human Resources Minister has expressed disappointment even as the RCMP is assisting with the incident. The federal Privacy Commissioner?s Office is now investigating too.

The complicated part now that the agency?s reputation has taken a direct hit is that the personal information required to notify potential victims happens to be the very information that is most likely to have changed. While social insurance numbers, dates of birth and full names may remain the same, changes in address make it tricky to contact the victims whose lost records date back more than a decade. Individuals are invited to call a toll free number to determine if they are affected.

Related Story: Arch-Bishop says Facebook can lead to suicide

Is it embarrassing for the HR Minister? You bet. But imagine you were one of the staffers whose lapse of awareness created the embarrassing mess in the first place.

In a situation loosely reminiscent of the nurse that recently took her own life after falling for a radio prank targeting the Duchess of Cambridge, a former Ministry of Health employee was found dead this past week, after being investigated and fired over an internal privacy breach.

In another similar situation Aaron Swartz, a talented young man and ardent advocate for freedom of information has taken his own life after a long legal battle against allegations of hacking into an online repository that sold academic research papers with intent to distribute them for free. He was facing 35 years in jail and a $1 million fine. Ironically, the site he hacked recently started distributing the papers for free.

These are apparently different situations that I see similarities in. Talented people facing an enormous degree of depression, anxiety and the prospect of severe repercussions. A dedicated nurse and mother of two, a Canadian PHd student just days from completing his term, an Internet whiz kid known for co-creating the ubiquitous RSS feed mechanism that powers many Internet news feeds and Reddit.

We?ve gotten really good at investigating security and privacy breaches. We have frameworks in place to point fingers at the guilty and impose punishments designed to act as a strong deterrent to script kiddies and other curious hackers. But if indeed this is what the evolution of intangible assets has come to, it is a sad reality. Even if other factors played a major part, the value of lost data is never equal to the loss of human life.

However severe, the damage of an organization?s reputation can never be worth the loss of dignity of a human being. Not if that person is led to feel their only choice is between watching powerlessly as their life is destroyed (by the media circus or a hard charging legal process), or ending it before someone else has a chance to do so.

As for the damage to large organizations, TJX, Equifax, CIBC and dozens of other publicly traded companies repeatedly demonstrate that even the largest, most embarrassing breaches have little effect on stock prices. In the public sector, of the 80 (!) privacy breaches reported by Canadian federal agencies last year a quarter were the responsibility of Human Resources and Skills Development.

Claudiu Popa is a Toronto-based security and information management expert and founder of Informatica Corporation. He is an ardent supporter of information security and privacy awareness, as well as a frequent speaker on the topic.

Source: http://blogs.itbusiness.ca/2013/01/tragedy-when-loss-of-dat-leads-to-loss-of-life/

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Too early to evaluate Obama Cabinet picks? (CNN)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/276716964?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Florida amateur astronomer recounts 'massive black rectangle'

VIRGINIA PARANORMAL INVESTIGATIONS

UPON WHICH I FIND THE TRUTH

A Sarasota County, FL, witness recalls watching a "massive, black rectangle" crossing the sky while being pursued by two military jets, according to January 11, 2013, testimony from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness reporting database. The Englewood, FL, resident is a longtime amateur astronomer and often scans the sky from a backyard observatory - but was standing outside on a porch about 11:15 p.m. on January 17, 2003, when the incident occurred. Aside from some minor editing, the witness tells the story in his own words in Case 45140.

Click Here to Visit Article

COMMENTS

Source: http://www.paranormalnews.com/newslink.aspx?id=11641

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Turn an Old Game Boy into a Gamepad for Your Android Phone

A touchscreen interface isn't all that great if you enjoy using your Android phone as a portable retro game arcade. If you have an old Game Boy lying around and a Wiimote, you can combine those to make your own hardware controller for your phone.

Instructables user alpinedelta offers this interesting solution. The Wii remote is used for the Bluetooth interface in the Game Boy shell:

With the use of the "Wii Controller IME" App on the Play App store, this retro controller will really control anything which lets you use the android touch keyboard as input. Although i've only tried with a SNES emulator, in theory you should be able to play and do all kinds of things with the Gameboy's buttons. The project is essentially a gutted Game Boy with a Wii remote inside. ... The limitation is really the support of your device with the Wiimote App. Technically you could control your wii with the Gameboy minus some functionallity.

Head over to Instructables for detailed photos if you, too, would like to get that old school gaming experience on your Android phone.

Game Boy Android Gamepad | Instructables via The Next Web

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/tp1ObSxZ4J8/turn-an-old-game-boy-into-a-gamepad-for-your-android-phone

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BofA to pay in $10 billion to settle bad mortgage claims

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) ? Bank of America says it will spend more than $10 billion to settle mortgage claims resulting from the housing meltdown.

Under the deal announced Monday, the bank will pay $3.6 billion to Fannie Mae and buy back $6.75 billion in loans that the North Carolina-based bank and its Countrywide banking unit sold to the government agency from Jan. 1, 2000 through Dec. 31, 2008. That includes about 30,000 loans.

Its shares briefly edged up 9 cents to $12.20 in morning trading, its highest level since May 2011.

CEO Brian Moynihan said the agreements were "a significant step" in resolving the bank's remaining legacy mortgage issues while streamlining the company and reducing future expenses.

Bank of America bought Countrywide Financial Corp. in July 2008, just before the financial crisis. Countrywide was a giant in mortgage lending, but was also known for approving risky loans.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which packaged loans into securities and sold them to investors, were effectively nationalized in 2008 when they nearly collapsed under the weight of their mortgage losses.

Bank of America's purchase of Countrywide originally was lauded by lawmakers because the bank was viewed as stepping in to eliminate a bad actor from the mortgage market. But instead of padding Bank of America's mortgage business, the purchase has drawn a drumbeat of regulatory fines, lawsuits and losses.

Bank of America said that the loans involved in the settlement have an aggregate original principal balance of about $1.4 trillion. The outstanding principal balance is about $300 billion.

"Fannie Mae has diligently pursued repurchases on loans that did not meet our standards at the time of origination, and we are pleased to have reached an appropriate agreement to collect on these repurchase requests," Bradley Lerman, Fannie Mae executive vice president and general counsel, said in a statement.

Bank of America Corp., which is based in Charlotte, N.C., also said that it is also selling mortgage servicing rights on about 2 million residential mortgage loans. The loans have an aggregate unpaid principal balance of approximately $306 billion.

The transferring of the servicing rights is expected to take place throughout the year.

In addition, the bank will pay $1.3 billion to Fannie Mae to settle loan servicing compensatory fee obligations.

Bank of America said its fourth-quarter will include various items related to the settlement and other matters, but that it expects "modestly positive" earnings for the period.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bank-america-10b-plus-mortgage-settlement-141939585--finance.html

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Felt Pulse and Rewind Bluetooth speakers hands-on

We've been seeing Bluetooth speaker after Bluetooth speaker debut as of late, but Felt Audio's $99 rechargeable Pulse is one of the smallest of its kind. It supports Bluetooth for up to 40 feet, and it pairs with enabled devices in about three seconds. Battery life is rated for about four hours, and the speaker recharges via micro-USB. The controls are intuitive: you can manage calls and change the device's volume via buttons on the side. A clip on the back can be used as a stand for propping the device up during conf calls and the like.

Felt also showed off its larger Rewind speaker (also for $99), which adds more functionality in the form of built-in earbuds that retract up to 3 feet. When we cranked up some tunes on an iPhone, the 9.2mm drivers cranked out enough noise to be heard over the raucous CES showroom floor. Both the Pulse and Rewind can attach to optional cases -- currently only available for the iPhone, iPod and iPad. Both speakers will be available in April, though pre-orders begin in March. Get a closer look in our hands-on gallery.

Gallery: FELT Pulse and Rewind hands-on at CES Unveiled 2013

Joseph Volpe contributed to this report.

Filed under: Peripherals

Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/06/felt-audio-pulse-rewind-bluetooth-speakers/

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Tanker hits San Francisco Bay Bridge: Coast Guard

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - An empty oil tanker struck a tower of the San Francisco Bay Bridge on Monday but did not appear to spill any oil into the bay, the U.S. Coast Guard and California state officials said.

The 750-foot-long "Overseas Reymar," sailing under a Marshall Islands flag, was leaving the bay amid heavy fog on Monday morning when its starboard hull scraped one of the towers supporting the Bay Bridge.

Officials played down the incident, which occurred about 5 miles from the Golden Gate Bridge, where the San Francisco Bay opens into the Pacific Ocean.

There were no injuries reported, according to officials.

None of the channels or ports in the San Francisco Bay were listed as shut as of Monday afternoon, and the Bay Bridge, the busy span that links San Francisco and Oakland, remained open.

The tanker struck a fender at the foot of a support tower in the bridge's western span but did not appear to otherwise damage it.

"This was basically a scrape," said Bart Ney, a California Department of Transportation spokesman. "The fender system performed as was designed. There's no damage to the bridge."

Still, the incident harked back to a similar collision in 2007, when the tanker Cosco Busan spilled more than 200,000 liters of heavy fuel oil after striking the Bay Bridge, also in the midst of heavy fog.

Coast Guard Lt. Commander Shawn Lansing said it was unclear why the Overseas Reymar veered into the bridge, but he noted that the morning fog had reduced visibility to a quarter-mile.

The collision failed to breach the hull of the vessel, which remain anchored in the bay near Alcatraz Island as of Monday afternoon as it underwent inspections.

On Sunday night, the Overseas Reymar, owned by Norton Lilly International, had safely offloaded 350,000 barrels of crude oil at Royal Dutch Shell PLC's refinery in Martinez, said Erin Hallissy, a Shell spokeswoman.

The busy waters of the San Francisco Bay are a vital conduit for California's energy market.

Nearly two-thirds of California's oil comes from out-of-state and is processed in coastal refineries. The Bay Area's five refineries represent almost half of the state's total capacity.

(Reporting by Gerry Shih, Erwin Seba and Braden Redall; Editing by Cynthia Johnston, Gary Hill, M.D. Golan and Joseph Radford)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tanker-hits-san-francisco-bay-bridge-coast-guard-003048911.html

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Vittorio Missoni, Wife Missing as Plane Disappears Off Venezuelan Coast

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/01/vittorio-missoni-wife-missing-as-plane-disappears-off-venezuelan/

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Splashsys webtch

Have you any business website? In the case, you must be optimized your web site by crisp and unique quality content because this is helpful to attain more traffic and visitors on your site. The Web writers are very helpful to construct your site articles attractively to grasp probable viewer?s awareness.?Therefore your business site should be well designed and eye-catching as well as your site content should be catchy and attractive. While your well site has appropriate and good design then it will capable to attain more traffic and visitors on your site. The Freelance Content Writer also provides unique quality and informative content for your website.

The professional content developer should always contemplate about the quality and pertinent content according to your business keywords. The appropriate web content is helpful to attain more traffic and visitors to boost your business site ranking in different search engines. This is also assisted you to attain more sales and probable customers also. If you want to construct good reputation of your business then you must hire proficient designers and writers to optimize your website in international market. The skillful writers are well proficient to maintain you?re your website by short, simple and crisp sentences.

These are some major advantages with Blog Writing Services?and article advertising as: High search engine rankings, Name branding, Link popularity, increased web traffic, increased sales and qualified leads for your business. Due to enhance usage of internet the online marketing services are very popular now days. If you want to acquire online visibility of your business then website design and content is vital to upsurge your business. If you want success in your online marketing business then the website design and content should be optimized on regular basis.

Posted in Uncategorized.

By John peter ? January 4, 2013

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" ; document.getElementById(popdiv).childNodes[2].childNodes[0].innerHTML = data ; document.getElementById(popdiv).childNodes[0].style.display='block'; var contentdiv = document.getElementById(popdiv).childNodes[2].childNodes[0] ; //var toppos = (document.body.clientHeight - parseInt(contentdiv.style.height))/2 + scrolltop; var toppos = (document.documentElement.clientHeight - parseInt(contentdiv.style.height))/2 + scrolltop; document.getElementById(popdiv).childNodes[2].style.top = toppos+'px'; document.getElementById(popdiv).style.display='block' ; } function hidePopUp(popdiv) { document.getElementById(popdiv).childNodes[0].style.display='none'; document.getElementById(popdiv).childNodes[1].style.display='none'; document.getElementById(popdiv).childNodes[2].style.display='none'; }

Source: http://blogs.rediff.com/splashsyswebtch/2013/01/04/38/

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India rape victim's friend recounts ordeal

In this image taken from video obtained from Network 1 News and Information Syndicate (NNIS), which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, Bikram Singh Brahma, center, a leader of India's ruling Congress party, is slapped by a woman in the village of Santipur, India, on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. Police said Brahma was visiting the village of Santipur on the Bhutan border when he entered a woman's house and raped her at 2 a.m. In a sign that attitudes might be changing since the rape of a 23-year-old woman in New Delhi, who died of severe internal injuries over the weekend, police have arrested Brahma. (AP Photo/NNIS)

In this image taken from video obtained from Network 1 News and Information Syndicate (NNIS), which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, Bikram Singh Brahma, center, a leader of India's ruling Congress party, is slapped by a woman in the village of Santipur, India, on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. Police said Brahma was visiting the village of Santipur on the Bhutan border when he entered a woman's house and raped her at 2 a.m. In a sign that attitudes might be changing since the rape of a 23-year-old woman in New Delhi, who died of severe internal injuries over the weekend, police have arrested Brahma. (AP Photo/NNIS)

In this image taken from video obtained from Network 1 News and Information Syndicate (NNIS), which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, Bikram Singh Brahma, center, a leader of India's ruling Congress party, is slapped by a woman in the village of Santipur, India, on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. Police said Brahma was visiting the village of Santipur on the Bhutan border when he entered a woman's house and raped her at 2 a.m. In a sign that attitudes might be changing since the rape of a 23-year-old woman in New Delhi, who died of severe internal injuries over the weekend, police have arrested Brahma. (AP Photo/NNIS)

Students shout slogans during a protest against a leader of the ruling Congress party, who was arrested on accusations he raped a woman in a village in the early hours of the morning, in Gauhati, India, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. Footage on Indian television showed the extraordinary scene of local women surrounding Bikram Singh Brahma, ripping off his shirt and repeatedly slapping him across the face. A Dec. 16 gang rape on a woman, who later died of her injuries, has caused outrage across India, sparking protests and demands for tough new rape laws, better police protection for women and a sustained campaign to change society's views about women. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Indians stand in a queue to enter the District Court complex where a new fast-track court was inaugurated Wednesday to deal specifically with crimes against women, in New Delhi, India, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. Indian police were preparing Thursday to file rape and murder charges against a group of men accused of sexually assaulting a 23-year-old university student for hours on a moving bus in New Delhi. The Dec. 16 attack on the woman, who later died of her injuries, has caused outrage across India, sparking protests and demands for tough new rape laws, better police protection for women and a sustained campaign to change society's views about women. (AP Photo/ Manish Swarup)

A young Indian girl lights a candle in memory of a gang-rape victim in New Delhi, India, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. Indian police were preparing Thursday to file rape and murder charges against a group of men accused of sexually assaulting the 23-year-old university student for hours on a moving bus in New Delhi. The Dec. 16 attack on the woman, who later died of her injuries, has caused outrage across India, sparking protests and demands for tough new rape laws, better police protection for women and a sustained campaign to change society's views about women. Placard left reads "Why aren't you able to protect the womb that gave birth to you?" (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

NEW DELHI (AP) ? The companion of a woman who was gang-raped aboard a bus in New Delhi recounted in a television interview for the first time Friday how the pair was attacked for 2 1/2 hours before being thrown on the side of the road, where passersby ignored them and police debated jurisdiction issues before helping them.

The Dec. 16 attack has outraged Indians and led to calls for tougher rape laws and reforms of a police culture that often blames rape victims and refuses to file charges against accused attackers. The nation's top law enforcement official said the country needs to crack down on crimes against women with "an iron hand."

The 23-year-old woman died over the weekend from massive internal injuries suffered during the attack. Authorities charged five men with her murder and rape and were holding a sixth suspect believed to be a juvenile. A hearing in the case is scheduled for Saturday.

The woman and her male friend had just finished watching the movie "Life of Pi" at an upscale mall and were looking for a ride home. An autorickshaw driver declined to take them so they boarded the private bus with the six assailants inside, the companion told the Indian TV network Zee TV.

Authorities have not named the man because of the sensitivity of the case. The TV station also declined to give his name, although it did show his face during the interview. The man has a broken leg and was sitting in a wheelchair during the interview.

After a while, the men on the bus starting harassing and attacking the pair, he said.

"I gave a tough fight to three of them. I punched them hard. But then two others hit me with an iron rod," he said. The woman tried to call the police using her mobile phone, but the men took it away from her, he said. They then took her to the rear seats of the bus and raped her.

"The attack was so brutal I can't even tell you ... even animals don't behave like that," he said.

Afterward, he overheard some of the attackers saying she was dead, he said.

The men then dumped their bleeding and naked bodies under an overpass. He waved to passers-by on bikes, in autorickshaws and in cars for help.

"They slowed down, looked at our naked bodies and left," he said. After about 20 minutes, three police vans arrived and the officers began arguing over who had jurisdiction over the crime as the man pleaded for clothes and an ambulance, he said.

The man said he was given no medical care. Instead, he spent four days at the police station helping them investigate the crime. He said he visited his friend in the hospital, told her the attackers were arrested and promised to fight for her.

"She has awakened us all by her courage," he said. "People should move ahead in the struggle to prevent a similar crime happening again as a tribute to her."

On Friday, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said crimes against women and marginalized sections of society are increasing, and it is the government's responsibility to stop them.

"This needs to be curbed by an iron hand," he told a conference of state officials from across India that was called to discuss how to protect women.

He called for changes in the law and the way police investigate cases so justice can be swiftly delivered. Many rape cases are bogged down in India's overburdened and sluggish court system for years.

"We need a reappraisal of the entire system," he said.

In the wake of the rape, several petitioners appealed to the Supreme Court to take an active role in the issue of women's safety.

On Friday, the court dismissed a petition asking it to suspend Indian lawmakers accused of crimes against women, saying it doesn't have jurisdiction, according to the Press Trust of India. The Association for Democratic Reforms, an organization that tracks officials' criminal records, said six state lawmakers are facing rape prosecutions and two national parliamentarians are facing charges of crimes against women that fall short of rape.

However, the court did agree to look into the widespread creation of more fast-track courts for accused rapists across the country.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-04-India-Gang%20Rape/id-30cc8505b07645d69d84e8839372169b

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Chavez allies re-elect legislative chief

National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello, center, gestures to supporters of President Hugo Chavez as Vice President Nicolas Maduro, left, looks on after a session by lawmakers at the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013. Allies of President Hugo Chavez on Saturday chose to keep Diosdado as National Assembly president who is the next in line to step in as a caretaker leader in some circumstances. Just five days remain until Chavez's scheduled inauguration on Thursday, and government officials are suggesting the swearing-in could be delayed as the president fights a severe respiratory infection after cancer surgery in Cuba. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello, center, gestures to supporters of President Hugo Chavez as Vice President Nicolas Maduro, left, looks on after a session by lawmakers at the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013. Allies of President Hugo Chavez on Saturday chose to keep Diosdado as National Assembly president who is the next in line to step in as a caretaker leader in some circumstances. Just five days remain until Chavez's scheduled inauguration on Thursday, and government officials are suggesting the swearing-in could be delayed as the president fights a severe respiratory infection after cancer surgery in Cuba. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Lawmakers attend a session at the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013. Allies of President Hugo Chavez on Saturday chose to keep Diosdado Cabello as National Assembly president, who is the next in line to step in as a caretaker leader in some circumstances. Chavez's allies hold a majority of the 165 congressional seats. Cabello is sitting at the very top center. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

A supporter of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez poses for a portrait as he holds a photograph of Chavez outside the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013. Just five days remain until Chavez's scheduled inauguration on Thursday, and government officials are suggesting the swearing-in could be delayed as the president fights a severe respiratory infection after cancer surgery in Cuba. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Supporters of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez hold up a picture of him alongside a statue of Venezuelan folk-saint Doctor Jose Gregorio Hernandez outside the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013. Venezuelan lawmakers are meeting to select a new president of the National Assembly in a session that could give clues to the future of the country amid uncertainty about ailing Chavez. The late Doctor Jose Gregorio Hernandez gained fame in Venezuela for giving free treatment and medicine to the poor. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

National Assembly Diosdado Cabello President claps before addressing lawmakers at the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013. Allies of President Hugo Chavez on Saturday chose to keep the same National Assembly president - a man who could be in line to step in as a caretaker leader in some circumstances. Cabello was retained as legislative leader in a vote by a show of hands, quashing speculation about possible political reshuffling in the midst of Chavez's health crisis, pointing instead to an effort for continuity and stability within the party leadership. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) ? Allies of cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez on Saturday chose to keep the same National Assembly president ? a man who could be in line to step in as a caretaker leader in some circumstances.

The vote to retain Diosdado Cabello as legislative leader signaled the ruling party's desire to stress unity and continuity amid growing signs the government plans to postpone Chavez's inauguration for a new term while he fights a severe respiratory infection nearly a month after cancer surgery in Cuba.

The opposition has argued that if Chavez is unable to be sworn in as scheduled on Thursday, the president of the National Assembly should take over on an interim basis.

Cabello's selection quashed speculation about possible political reshuffling in the midst of Chavez's health crisis, and it came a day after Vice President Nicolas Maduro joined other allies in suggesting that Chavez could remain president and take the oath of office before the Supreme Court later on if he isn't fit to be sworn in on the scheduled date.

"It strikes me that the government has decided to put things on hold, to wait and see what happens with Chavez's health and other political factors, and figure out the best way to insure continuity," said Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue think tank in Washington. "Maduro and Cabello are clearly the key players within Chavismo today, each heading separate factions, but for the time being the idea is to reaffirm both and project a sense of unity."

Cabello, a former military officer who is widely considered to wield influence in the military, was re-elected by a show of hands by Chavez's allies, who hold a majority of the 165 congressional seats.

Pro-Chavez party leaders ignored calls to include opposition lawmakers among the legislative leadership, and opposition lawmaker Ismael Garcia said the choices represented "intolerance."

Hundreds of Chavez's supporters gathered outside the National Assembly to show their support, some holding flags and pictures of the president.

The Venezuelan Constitution says the presidential oath should be taken Jan. 10 before the National Assembly. It also says that if the president is unable to be sworn in before the Assembly, he may take the oath before the Supreme Court, and some legal experts in addition to Chavez allies have noted that the sentence referring to the court does not mention a date.

"When, it doesn't say. Where, it doesn't say either," Cabello told supporters after the session. Apparently alluding to possible protests by opponents over the issue of delaying the inauguration, Cabello told Chavez's supporters: "The people have to be alert on the street so that there is no show."

Without giving details, Cabello urged them to "defend the revolution."

The latest remarks by Cabello and Maduro sent the strongest signals yet that the government intends to try to postpone the 58-year-old president's inauguration.

If Chavez dies or is declared incapacitated, the constitution says that a new election should be called and held within 30 days, and Chavez has said Maduro should be the candidate. There have been no public signs of friction between the vice president and Cabello, who appeared side-by-side waving to supporters after the session and vowed to remain united.

If the government delays the swearing-in and Chavez's condition improves, the president and his allies could have more time to plan an orderly transition and prepare for a new presidential election.

Opposition leaders have argued the constitution is clear that the inauguration should occur Thursday, and one presidential term ends and another begins. They have demanded more information about Chavez's condition and have said that if Chavez can't make it back to Caracas by Thursday, the president of the National Assembly should take over provisionally.

If such a change were to occur, it might not lead to any perceptible policy shifts because Cabello is a longtime Chavez ally who vows to uphold his socialist-oriented Bolivarian Revolution movement. But the latest comments by pro-Chavez leaders indicate they intend to avoid any such changes in the presidency, at least for now.

"We're experiencing political stability," Soto Rojas said as he announced the choices of Chavez's United Socialist Party of Venezuela. Referring to Chavez, the former legislative leader said: "Onward, Comandante. ... We're continuing with the Bolivarian process."

Speaking on television Friday, Maduro read from a small blue copy of the constitution, arguing that opponents were using erroneous interpretations to try to drive Chavez from power.

Maduro called the swearing-in a "formality" that could be taken care of before the Supreme Court at a later date. He echoed other Chavez allies in suggesting that the president should be given more time to recover from his cancer surgery if needed.

Shifter said the government's stance has left opposition on the defensive, with its only tactic being to insist that Jan. 10 is the established date.

"The opposition's strong objections to the government's plan are unlikely to get much political traction," Shifter said. "What the government is doing may be of dubious constitutionality but it fits a familiar pattern under Chavez's rule and will probably have minimal political costs."

Chavez was re-elected in October to another six-year term, and two months later announced that his pelvic cancer had returned. Chavez said before the operation that if his illness prevented him from remaining president, Maduro should be his party's candidate to replace him in a new election.

Chavez hasn't spoken publicly or been seen since his Dec. 11 operation. The government revealed this week that Chavez is fighting a severe lung infection and receiving treatment for "respiratory deficiency."

That account raised the possibility that he might be breathing with the assistance of a machine. But the government did not address that question or details of the president's treatment, and independent medical experts consulted by The Associated Press said the statements indicated a potentially dangerous turn in Chavez's condition, but said it's unclear whether he is attached to a ventilator.

Chavez has undergone four cancer-related surgeries since June 2011 for an undisclosed type of pelvic cancer. He also has undergone chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

Other legislative leaders chosen Saturday included Dario Vivas as first vice president and Blanca Eekhout as second vice president, keeping her in the same role.

___

AP Interactive: http://hosted.ap.org/interactives/2012/venezuela/

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-05-LT-Venezuela-Chavez/id-6a175766ac1c46bab988abc990c520ce

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Utah school recasts musical with sexy Elvis songs

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) ? A parent who was "All Shook Up" about Elvis Presley songs in a high-school drama prompted educators to cancel the musical, deeming it too sexual. But, the decision was reversed Thursday by administrators at the high school south of Salt Lake City.

The administrators at Herriman High School received permission from the copyright owners of "All Shook Up" to edit some of Presley's songs and make scene changes in the American jukebox musical that borrows from William Shakespeare.

"The show will go on," said Sandy Riesgraf, a spokeswoman for the Jordan School District. "Our biggest concern early on, we wanted to make some changes to keep the play within community values. It's a win-win for all of us."

Presley warbles about a sweetheart whose "lips are like a volcano that's hot" in his song from 1957. "I'm proud to say she's my buttercup. I'm in love. I'm all shook up."

His song lyrics together with a scene suggesting cross-dressing were deemed offensive by a person the school is refusing to identify.

Some think school administrators folded too easily at the start.

"I'm at a loss," Jill Fishback, whose daughter worked on the production, told The Salt Lake Tribune. "They're singing Elvis songs. A girl dresses up as a boy and kisses a boy. ... It's not promoting homosexuality. It was supposed to be a farce."

"All Shook Up" brings a modern twist to Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night," which portrays a female castaway who dresses as a boy to evade detection in ancient southern Europe, said Martine Green-Rogers, a theater fellow at the University of Utah.

"There's a misunderstanding about the plot of the play," Green-Rogers said. "It happens a lot in theater. Artists push boundaries."

The female castaway dresses as a boy as cover to wander about, but reveals herself as she falls in love with a young man. "By that time, the genders have been righted," Green-Rogers said. "The audience knows it's not a homosexual relationship."

Nonetheless, Herriman High School, about 20 miles from Salt Lake City, will make some scene changes to the musical version of the Shakespeare play that Riesgraf couldn't immediately specify on Thursday.

"We weren't asking for a lot. It will not change the intent of the play. They gave us their blessing," she said of the musical's producers.

Rehearsals for "All Shook Up" had been briefly canceled. The production is back on for a February run.

It wasn't the first time some Utah parents balked at a school drama. In August, the family values group Eagle Forum got Jordan School District administrators to cancel "Dead Man Walking," a play about a Catholic nun who counsels a death-row inmate in Louisiana.

"Dead Man Walking" was scratched even though much of its profanity had been removed from the script. The backlash prompted policy changes that allowed administrators to swiftly suspend "All Shook Up" before the reversal.

Jordan officials gave parents a greater role over student plays. They required actors to secure a parent's permission and drama teachers to seek clearance for plays not on an approved list.

It wasn't immediately clear Thursday how "All Shook Up" got off the ground. It had been in rehearsal for months.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/utah-school-recasts-musical-sexy-elvis-songs-224131157.html

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Fiscal deal leaves science in limbo

The deal that lawmakers and the White House finalized late Tuesday to avert going over the fiscal cliff leaves science agencies in limbo, delaying a decision on budget cuts for two more months.

The agreement does, however, reduce the potential impact of these cuts.

"I am hopeful they will find a deal that spares the worst of these cuts, that takes a much more balanced approach," said Matt Hourihan of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Tuesday's tax deal, he said, "is a step in that direction."

The mandatory cuts would affect the current year's budget as well as future ones, leaving agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, NASA and the National Science Foundation in limbo.

"This deal doesn't change that at all, it just extends that condition of uncertainty into the next couple of months," said Hourihan, director of the AAAS research and development budget and policy program.

Had no deal been reached as the New Year began, Hourihan estimates that mandatory across-the-board cuts to research and development, both in defense and elsewhere, would have come to about 9 percent.

Negotiators managed to knock off about one-fifth of that cut for this year, then kicked the can down the road by delaying the deadline until March 1. [ 7 Great Dramas in Congressional History ]

These budget cuts, mandated by the Budget Control Act of 2011 and known as sequestration, were an important element of what is known as the fiscal cliff. Politicians struggled to address the fiscal cliff, which also involved the expiration of tax cuts.

The highest-profile element of Tuesday's deal ?income tax increases on those making $400,000 per year or couples making $450,000 or more ? was separate from sequestration. It does not affect the prospect of mandatory spending cuts.

For this fiscal year, the mandatory cuts would have reduced federal spending by $109 billion. But the deal made changes to rules regarding retirement accounts, with the intent of raising $12 billion. It also trades one type of cut for another. Congress has agreed to make $12 billion in cuts, divided between this year and next.

1. Science news from NBCNews.com

   1. What tribal elders can teach Congress

      Updated 106 minutes ago 1/5/2013 12:56:52 AM +00:00 Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: Researcher Jared Diamond, the author of "The World Until Yesterday," says Congress could learn a lesson from tribal societies: Listen to your elders.

   2. Why dinosaurs shook their tail feathers
   3. Secret to fish's waterfall-climbing ability
   4. 'Daytime' primates have active nightlife, too

Under sequestration, the Office of Management and Budget must allocate the cuts as mandated by the law. However, the $12 billion in cuts made as part of the deal are different. This time, Congress will have the power to pick and choose the areas that lose funding, Hourihan said.

This means science agencies may or may not be affected by the $12 billion in cuts.

The deal reduces the potential cuts to this year's budget to $85 billion, but potential cuts for future years remain unaffected, according to an analysis by the AAAS.

Budget cuts for science agencies mean less money to spend on equipment, facilities or research. For NASA, for example, this could mean cuts in missions, Hourihan said.

For the NIH or the NSF, both of which provide funding to the academic community, cuts could mean fewer and smaller grants and, as a result, less support for graduate students and others becoming established as scientists, he said.

Prior to the deal, NIH Director Francis Collins told a congressional subcommittee that sequestration would require the NIH to award 2,300 fewer grants.

Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook and Google+.

? 2012 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50366640/ns/technology_and_science-science/

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How Many People Have Been Killed by Guns Since Newtown?

Each victim under 13 years of age is designated "child"; from 13 to 17: "teen"; 18 and older: "adult."

The same icons used to represent male victims is also used to represent victims of unknown gender.

The same icons used to represent female victims is also used to represent victims of unknown age group.

The data are not comprehensive and are not suitable for statistical analysis.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=69ac6522a826ffe41ff70e9f2b4324be

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Slideshow: White House releases 'The Year in Photographs'

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/photos/best-of-2012-white-house-photos-slideshow/

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Brotherhood official urges Egypt's Jews to return

CAIRO (AP) ? A leading Muslim Brotherhood member and adviser to Islamist President Mohammed Morsi created a stir in Egypt when he called on Egyptian Jews in Israel to return home because Egypt is now a democracy and because the Jewish state won't survive.

Essam el-Erian's remarks in a TV appearance put the Brotherhood, which holds power in Egypt, on the spot as opponents ? and some allies ? jumped on the comments to denounce the group. Morsi's office this week disassociated the president from the comments, saying they were el-Erian's personal opinion.

The criticism ran an unusual gamut of Egyptians' attitudes toward Jews, Israel and the Brotherhood itself.

Some denounced the Brotherhood for trying to put up a veneer of tolerance by inviting Jews to return while Egypt's other religious minorities, particularly Christians, are increasingly worried about persecution under the new Islamist rulers and an Islamist-slanted constitution.

Others saw the comments as a sort of outreach to Zionists, considered the enemy, and as a new example of how the Brotherhood has had a hard time melding its longtime anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish rhetoric with its new responsibilities since coming to power. Under Morsi ? who hails from the Brotherhood ? the government has continued cooperation with Israel, upheld the two countries' peace deal and Morsi last month helped mediate a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel.

Some warned that el-Erian was opening the door for Egyptian Jews to demand compensation for property taken from them or left behind in Egypt and could even undermine the Palestinians' right to return to homes in Israel. Still others were simply outraged that a Brotherhood official would invite back Jews, and one hardline Islamist politician threatened any Jews who come back.

And there were a few voices calling for Egypt to sincerely look at past treatment of its Jewish community ? including why they left or were expelled ? and whether they should have the right to return.

Speaking on private ONTV, historian Khaled Fahmy suggested taking el-Erian's comments at face value. "I am taking the call seriously. I would like to see it in part as respectable, as addressing morals and high principles." He said Egyptians should talk about the past "harm to Egyptian Jews" and consider them as still having Egyptian nationality.

"I wish this was put to a public discussion," he said.

Egypt's once thriving Jewish community largely left Egypt more than 60 years ago amid the hostilities between Egypt and Israel. Estimates say about 65,000 Jews left Egypt since the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, most of them to Europe and the West, with a small portion settling in Israel. Their departure was fueled by rising nationalist sentiment during the Arab-Israeli wars, harassment and some direct expulsions by then-President Gamal Abdel-Nasser, and attacks on Jewish properties, some of them blamed on the Brotherhood, which renounced violence in the 1970s.

Now only a handful of Jews, mostly elderly, remain in Egypt, along with a number of heavily guarded synagogues, open only to Jews.

El-Erian, who is also deputy of the Brotherhood's political party, made his comments last week on a late night talk show on the private station Dream TV.

"I wish our Jews return to our country, so they can make room for the Palestinians to return, and Jews return to their homeland in light of the democracy" evolving in Egypt, he said. "I call on them now. Egypt is more deserving of you."

"Why stay in a racist entity, an occupation, and be tainted with war crimes that will be punished, all occupation leaders will be punished," he said. He added in separate comments that the Zionist "project" will end.

The comments didn't make much of an impact in Israel, and there was no official comment about them and little discussion of them in the press. In contrast, they raised widespread ridicule and debate in Egypt on TV shows, newspapers and social websites.

Belal Fadl, a popular Egyptian columnist and satirical writer, said the comments were hypocritical given other Brotherhood officials' statements accusing Egypt's Christians of threatening Morsi's legitimacy as president, fueling anger against the minority community.

"How can we believe the tolerance of el-Erian amid all the sectarian statements by leaders of the groups and other sheiks that all seek to chase away Egypt's Christians in the footsteps of the Jews," Fadl wrote in the daily al-Shorouk Thursday.

Youssef el-Husseini, a prominent TV presenter known for his liberal views and harsh criticism of Morsi and the Brotherhood, said el-Erian was showing a fake tolerance for Jews to impress Israel and the United States ? setting aside the anti-Israel parts of his statement. El-Husseini said that if a liberal made the comments he would be branded a traitor and would be accused of inviting Zionists back to Egypt.

"Is el-Erian flirting with the Zionist state to say we are fine and you are friends," el-Husseini said on a Sunday morning talk show. "Or is he flirting with Obama" because of U.S. aid to Egypt. "Is the group taking their political garb bit by bit?"

On Tuesday, Morsi's spokesman said the presidency is not responsible for comments made by el-Erian. "These are his personal opinion," Yasser Ali, the presidential spokesman said.

Mohammed Salmawy, the head of Egypt's Writers Union, called el-Erian's comments "delirium."

"What is this superficial understanding of matters that borders naivet??" he wrote, saying the problem of Palestinian refugees is not one of "making room" for their return.

"What the Jews who were living in Egypt want is not to return, particularly in the current circumstances. What they want is compensation for their properties" they left behind.

He said el-Erian was recognizing a right of return for Israeli Jews of Arab origin, which he said would allow for a quid-pro-quo forcing Palestinians refugees to drop their demand to return to homes in Israel so that Jews drop demands to return to Arab nations.

"It seems the way to deny the Palestinians the right of return or compensation is to exchange that right for ... the right of the return of Jewish refugees to Arab countries," he wrote Thursday.

The leading member of a former Islamic militant group, Gamaa Islamiya, which is now a political party allied to the Brotherhood, simply said Jews were not welcome back.

Quoted in the Rose el-Youssef newspaper, Tarek el-Zumor said his group will not tolerate their return "except over our dead bodies or after they change their religion and become Muslims."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/brotherhood-official-urges-egypts-jews-return-185639623.html

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Trip To Mars Could Damage Astronauts' Brains

No amount of engineering, terraforming, or any other science fiction magic will ever make any other body within human reach survivable for long

Space is far more hostile than any planet, and we can manage to survive up there for quite a long time.

Terraforming is not "magic", and small scale examples of humans changing conditions where they live abound.

Even the most hostile environments on earth usually have at least SOME oxygen, water, soil, air pressure

The moon even has most of those.

Mars has all of them.

no colony out there could survive for long without constant support from earth.

They will not if you never try.

We are stuck here. There is no escape.

You might be, but all the trapping being done is by your own mind, not any kind of scientific basis.

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/8EqxfchOtKc/story01.htm

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Obama's Push for Immigration Reform Starts Now

Everybody knew that Obama was going to tackle immigration reform in his second term. We just didn't know how soon. Well, the word is out, and it's good news for anybody eager for lawmakers to tackle an issue that's troubled the country for years. Obama will take on immigration reform this month. A fresh report from The Huffington Post's Elise Foley and Sam Stein quotes anonymous administration officials and Democratic aides in explaining that the president is going to move fast on immigration reform, as well as gun control, and advocates couldn't be happier.?

RELATED: Liberal Bloggers Are Breaking Up with Barack Obama

None of this is a tremendous surprise, though the expedited timeline is sort of curious. Obama's been talking about sweeping immigration since he took office and, at least until 2009, has left many guessing if and when that's going to happen. He made progress last year when he kept 800,000 young people who had been brought to the United States illegally as children?from being deported, making a DREAM Act-like policy initiative as the DREAM Act itself floundered in Congress. Immigration remained an issue through the election, and almost as soon as Obama won his second term, whispers of a renewed push for immigration reform started, though the White House vowed to deal with the fiscal cliff first. Obama then reiterated his commitment to tackle immigration soon on his Meet the Press appearance last weekend.

RELATED: Voters Don't Care How Much Money Romney Has

With a fiscal cliff deal (sort of) sealed, it would appear it's immigration time, and details about how the president will handle the challenge are trickling out. Stein and Foley say that California congresswoman Zoe Lofgren will lead the Democratic effort in the House and pushes back at the idea that House Speaker John Boehner will be able to stonewall the effort. "In the end, immigration reform is going to depend very much on whether Speaker Boehner wants to do it or not," she said. Democrats will inevitably have to navigate more than Boehner's will, but some say that the challenge of the fiscal cliff has Capitol Hill ready for some easier negotiations. Or as one pro-immigration reform executive told HuffPost, "The chance to legislate through regular order on immigration reform might have leaders in both parties working together and singing 'Kumbaya.'"

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obamas-push-immigration-reform-starts-now-015245817.html

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DoubleLine launches stock management division

NEW YORK (Reuters) - DoubleLine Capital LP, the $53 billion firm run by star bond investor Jeffrey Gundlach, said on Wednesday it is now managing stock portfolios in a new division called DoubleLine Equity LP.

The firm, which surpassed $50 billion in bond assets last year after launching in 2009, said in a news release that it has tapped former TCW Group Inc portfolio managers Brendt Stallings and Husam Nazer to expand its stock division.

In an interview on Wednesday, Gundlach, DoubleLine's chief executive officer and chief investment officer, said stock mutual fund strategies suffer from a lack of new ideas.

"We think the equity business is ripe for creative thinking," he said.

Gundlach said he plans to start with one or two mutual funds that offer a strategy focusing on U.S. stocks, and quickly follow with a hedge fund whose strategy would focus on "best ideas" in international stock investing.

"We're really not prepared to do a lot of individual stock selection outside of the United States," he said.

Gundlach had hinted at the firm's move into stocks in a webcast on September 11, citing the broad disinterest in equities and their potential as a hedge against inflation.

He said on Wednesday that some of the stock funds he plans to offer will have a strategy that focuses on specific sectors among small and mid-cap stocks, while others will have a broader strategy that could vary widely in its stock selection.

Gundlach said DoubleLine's business plan had been to build the firm's bond management side to between $50 billion and $60 billion in assets before diversifying into areas such as stocks, a goal it has achieved.

"This is our first move to diversify. There's very likely to be one if not two more over the course of 2013," Gundlach said. He said he is seeking to reach a maximum of about $10 billion in assets within DoubleLine's equity division.

Gundlach has made pointed calls on stocks in the past, including one at the Ira Sohn investing conference in May to buy natural gas while betting on a decline in the shares of Apple Inc, the world's most valuable technology company.

On Wednesday, Gundlach recommended trading the volatility in Apple's stock price.

"Apple's flopping around like a fish in a boat. When it has a big rally, you should probably sell it. When it goes down a lot, you should probably buy it," he said, and reiterated a call he on CNBC in November that its stock price may drop to $425 a share. Apple's stock was up 3.2 percent to $549.03 at the close of trading on Wednesday.

DoubleLine Total Return Bond Fund, the firm's flagship, earned a return of 9.2 percent in 2012, beating 97 percent of other U.S. mortgage-focused funds, according to Lipper. The fund, which oversees $37.1 billion, took in $19.7 billion last year, making it the most popular mutual fund by asset growth.

Pacific Investment Management Co, the world's largest bond fund manager with $1.92 trillion in assets as of September 30, 2012, began moving into equities when it launched its first actively managed stock mutual fund in 2010.

Gundlach told Reuters that his foray into stock investing could also come with a downturn in the stock market, which he said he could overcome through active management.

"There's a really good argument that you could have a major correction in the S&P 500 in 2013," he said. He cited the heavy influence of U.S. policymakers on markets.

Stallings and Nazer were previously group managing directors at TCW, the highest title for managers at the firm, where they oversaw $5 billion in assets in stock portfolios.

Gundlach founded DoubleLine after a nasty split with TCW, where he was fired as chief investment officer in December 2009. The two sued one another in 2010, but settled in December of that year without disclosing terms.

Private equity firm Carlyle Group struck a deal in August to buy a 60 percent stake in TCW from French bank Societe Generale. TCW management and employees will own the remaining 40 percent stake in the Los Angeles-based investment firm, which has $135 billion in assets.

DoubleLine, which is also based in Los Angeles, employs more than 80 people. Stallings and Nazer plan to hire at least five investment professionals this year, the news release said.

Nazer said in an interview on Wednesday that dividend-paying stocks in general and consumer staple stocks are particular bright spots.

(Reporting by Sam Forgione; Editing by Kenneth Barry and Mohammad Zargham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/doubleline-launches-stock-management-division-030706683--sector.html

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Relative says Venezuela's Chavez 'stable'

AFP

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez speaking during a press conference in Caracas on Oct. 9.

By NBC News staff and wire reports

Updated at 5:15 a.m. ET: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is in stable condition and spent Monday with his daughters, the cancer-stricken leader's son-in law-said in an appeal for supporters to ignore rumors about his condition.

Chavez has not been seen in public nor heard from in more than three weeks. The vice president said on Sunday that the 58-year-old was suffering a third set of complications after surgery in Cuba on Dec. 11, his fourth operation in 18 months.

"President Chavez spent the day quietly and stable, together with his daughters," his son-in-law, Science Minister Jorge Arreaza, wrote on Twitter from Havana, where the family has been at the president's bedside.?

Arreaza urged his countrymen not to "believe in ill-intentioned rumors" about the president's health.

On New Year's Eve, a major party in Caracas was quickly turned into a more somber gathering.?Jacqueline Far?a, head of the Capital District governing Caracas, canceled a free concert, calling instead for Venezuelans to "unite in prayer" for Chavez and to include his "prompt recovery" among their wishes for 2013.

---

On Monday afternoon, Venezuela state television began airing a live Catholic mass for Chavez that was being held at the Palacio de Miraflores, the building that houses presidential work offices. Meantime, the Ministry of Communications was organizing a massive prayer meeting at San Francisco Church at 5 p.m.?(4:30 p.m. ET) and other Chavez supporters were planning a political rally at 6 p.m. at Plaza Bolivar.

On Sunday night, Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro delivered a somber address to the nation from Havana, Cuba, where Chavez, 58, remains hospitalized after his fourth operation for an undisclosed form of cancer.

Maduro, flanked by one of Chavez?s daughters, Rosa Virginia, and her husband, Arreaza, read a prepared statement revealing that the Venezuelan president was now suffering "new complications" stemming from a respiratory infection he contracted after an operation on Dec. 11.

Archival video: Venezuela's controversial president Hugo Chavez -- who makes no secret of his dislike for the US -- was re-elected to an unprecedented third term, fending off a serious challenge to win decisively, 54 to 45 percent. NBC's Kerry Sanders reports from Caracas. October, 2012.

These problems developed on top of profuse bleeding Chavez experienced during the six-hour surgery in Havana. Chavez has been battling cancer for the past 18 months ? flying to Cuba for surgery as well as chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

Maduro indicated that Chavez was conscious and able to speak, dispelling rumors circulating earlier in the day that claimed Chavez was only breathing with the help of a respirator and close to death.

Sept. 20: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez took his verbal battle with the United States to the floor of the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, calling President Bush "the devil." NBC's David Gregory reports.

"Just a few minutes ago we were with President Chavez," said Maduro. "We greeted each other and he himself talked about these complications."

Again Sunday evening, Maduro described Chavez?s condition as "delicate" and with "risks" while warning the nation to prepare for difficult times. Chavez has not been seen since his surgery three weeks ago and no additional information on his condition has appeared in Cuba?s state-run media.

"We trust that the avalanche of love and solidarity with Comandante Chavez, together with his immense will to live and the care of the best medical specialists, will help our president win this new battle," Maduro said.

For the moment, Maduro remains in Havana and said he was spending time with Chavez's medical team and relatives.

NBC News' Mary Murray and Reuters contributed to this report.

More world stories from NBC News:

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Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/31/16268884-venezuelas-chavez-stable-in-hospital-son-in-law-says?lite

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